Cloning in California - the newest 'thing?'

Noah - an endangered clone...
Originally uploaded by Brite Lights photos.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The state assembly here turned down a bill yesterday that would have outlawed the cloning of pets - lots of people who have lost Fido the dog or Felcity the cat apparently are interested in the whole idea.

But there are doubters who are worried that this will lead to the cloning of humans.

Do you think so?

The photo with the blog today is of Noah, a baby bull 'gaur' who was born several years ago in a test of cloning. In his case, they were trying to show that they could use cloning to preserve endangered species. Noah didn't live very long, but they made their point.

Reminds me a little of Jurassic Park and that 'fictional' nightmare.

The ethical questions about human cloning are mind boggling, so it's nice that the California State Assembly decided to sidestep the whole issue, perhaps because they have pets they would like reproduced.

But when it comes to human cloning, well, I don't know.

One thing I do know is that virtually all technological innovations end up being used for something other than what they were intended for. Take the VCR. When they hit the market, the makers were sure that everyone would record all those great TV shows.

Not.

Instead, a new industry was spawned (the renting of tapes and now DVDs).

So the proponents of cloning say the science would not be used to reproduce humans in total, just to maybe grow the occasional kidney or liver for a transplant. Of course, that means that if you think your kidneys and liver are headed south from too much Grey Goose vodka, you better get cracking on that cloning now.

At least while it's still legal in California.

Education war heating up in Sacramento

Who could deny his school funding?
Originally uploaded by Brite Lights photos.

STATE CAPITOL, Sacramento - The newspapers have been full of photos like this of protestors at the state capitol, angry over Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's broken promise - a promise of about $2 billion in funds for schools.

Last year the schools said he could use the money to help balance the budget - provided he paid it back.

This year he said he changed his mind and wasn't going to give it back.

He's learning how to be a politician very quickly.

But while he has been able to kick around a lot of people (most recently immigrants), when you start fooling around with the future of people's kids, the cuckoo comes out of most heads very quickly.

Are we paying too much for education? How much is too much?

On the job, working for the 'Bureau'

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - This morning started my consulting job with the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (I work for 'the Bureau,' honest!) in which I'll be working as a 'Special Correspondent,' writing about health care issues and some environmental stuff for the biggest news organization you have never heard of.

Except, I discovered a LOT of people have. The news group has been around since 1929 and does specialty publications in dozens of fields. Lawyers, doctors, professionals, you name them - they all seem to subscribe to these newsletters, most of which are all online (yahoo!), including some daily stuff.

I'm working on getting my Clark Kent wardrobe refurbished for my trips to the Legislature and the various health service offices around Sacramento.

And I get to call my big boss in Washington D.C. "Chief," just like on Superman.

Will it interfere with blogging, writing 'The Class of '66?', or the movies?

Naw...It's only half-time at most (at least that's all I get to bill the company for.) But it will be fun.

And I have an official California Governor's office press pass to hang around my neck when I go downtown.

Whoops, gotta run, D.C. is on the line, must be The Chief.

But I'll be baaaack...

The not-so-friendly World of Disney

Disney and Nehru
Originally uploaded by Brite Lights photos.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Today's San Francisco Chronicle carried a hilarious story about how Walt Disney, Uncle Walt, the guy who discovered Annette Funicello and founded the Mousekeeters, was actually kind of a crabby old fart.

Disneyland itself, of course, is an American icon and my kids STILL sadly point out that their Neanderthal father never took them there when they were kids.

Guilty as charged. It was too goddamned expensive. Probably even worse today.

The story can be found at www.sfgate.com. The writer is Steve Rubenstein.

M-I-C, see you real soon, K-E-Y, why, because we love you, M-O-U-S-E...

COMPUTER UPDATE:

Add my Olympus camera to the list of problems with the new computer. The three-year old camera needs on older version of system software to work - a version I'm NOT going to install on this computer.(MAC OS9).

So, later today, we go shopping for a new still camera, too.

Jaysus.

We did receive word from the Sabbatical delivery crew that they are wet, not-yet-cold and heading straight for Hawaii, hoping for a wind shift in the next five or six days.

If not, well, Aloha! I've always wanted to visit the Kona coast and see what Hunter S. Thompson was writing about in his best book, 'The Curse of Lono.'