The End of the World As We Know It

That's great, it starts with an earthquake,
birds and snakes, an aeroplane - Lenny Bruce is not afraid.

REM - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

      Michael Stipe and the guys from Athens penned that catchy little tune way back in 1987. Reagan was president, the Soviets were definitely not our allies, and as far as anyone knew the Cold War could turn hot at any moment. Since the early '60's the world had lived in the shadow of the threat of nuclear destruction and nobody seemed to know or care about what we now have come to realize was the bigger threat, the REAL threat...the end of the Mayan calender on December 21st, 2012, which according to some folks means the world will be destroyed by some means or another. Oddly, the Mayans, who apparently knew of this disaster, failed to specify the exact nature of this event which leaves us no choice but to speculate, which Al Gore has been doing for some years ever since he found himself with time one his hands after inventing the internet. 

     Some suggest we will be destroyed in a great fiery conflagration brought on by a giant asteroid hitting the earth. Actually, according to Mayan legend and supported by today's science, this is a plausible scenario. The Mayans and other ancients believed the world has been destroyed four time so far, by water, wind, fire, or some earth event like an earthquake. The cycle ending in 2012,  supposedly the fifth and final cycle, may be brought to a close by the massive impact of a so far undetected gigantic asteroid which would unleash a devastation unseen on this planet since the time of the dinosaurs. The recent close call (by astronomical standards) with the asteroid 2011MD this month which passed earth at the cat's whisker distance of 7500 miles underscores that possibility. While not large enough to cause worldwide damage it was undetected until a month before the close encounter. Of course that wouldn't be much consolation if it decided to impact in your back yard.

     In the book of Revelations John writes that in the end times a blazing star strikes the earth poisoning the earth and darkening the sky. Nostradamus also predicted that sometime after 1999 a comet would impact the earth which would cause massive destruction and start WW III. A ten kilometer asteroid impacting earth would would release roughly 60 million megatons of energy. This would be about the amount produced by the simultaneous detonation of 100,000 nuclear warheads give or take 10,000 or so. Anyone surviving the initial impact would be challenged first off with finding uncontaminated water as the ash cloud formed by impact ejecta would produce contaminants which would settle into ground water. The ash cloud itself would choke out sunlight for a time possibly resulting in nuclear winter; plants would not grow, herbivores would starve followed soon thereafter by people, if the lack of oxygen produced by the plants didn't get them first. Not a pretty picture for sure. Hopefully we will be able to detect any future potential collision in time to take some kind of action like sending Robert Duvall in the space shuttle on an intercept course armed with a few nukes to knock it off course. Or better yet, send Al Gore.

     It's doubtful the Mayans had any secret knowledge of the future that modern science hasn't as yet been able to determine. There was an editorial cartoon a while back showing a Mayan stonemason chipping the date 12/21/2012 on the very last open spot on rock he was working on. A second Mayan fellow is observing and comments that future people are going to freak out when they see that. So that may be all there is to the so called Mayan prophecy...they just ran out of room on the rock.

    

No to Fed Funded Stem Cell Research

     Using federal funds, i.e., tax dollars, to fund stem cell research is another bad idea in long list of governmental intrusions into the lives of American citizens. Supporters of federal funding claim that without this money stem cell research in this country will come to a screeching halt and any future advances in the field will come from outside the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine goes so far as to postulate that government money is "a prerequisite to the availability of a well-prepared research workforce" without which "these experiments would probably be conducted outside the United States". In fact, in a recent article the Journal repeats that last sentence over and over like a mantra, or more accurately, a broken record.

     The NEJM is guilty of obfuscating the issue. Stem cell research in the United States is perfectly legal and ongoing in private labs, with private funding. Proponents of federal funding are only annoyed that they may be denied the opportunity to run an industrial vacuum cleaner through the public treasury. The claim that U.S. scientists can't compete with other countries such as Israel, the U.K., Australia, the Czech Republic, Singapore, and Korea (no mention as to whether that's North or South Korea...I'll assume they mean South) is inflammatory, not to mention asinine. One can only imagine the gasps of shock...we can't compete with Singapore? The Czech Republic? The NEJM, leftist publication that they are, is merely adopting the default fall back position of the leftist/progressives in this country, that everybody else in the world does things better than the U.S.. Well, like my granny used to ask, if everybody was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too? Evidently yes, if I worked for the NEJM.

     The NEJM does not say anywhere in the article if government funds are driving stem cell research in any of those supposedly superior countries. For the sake of argument let's say they are. What does that change? Are our scientists going to jump ship for a villa on the outskirts of Prague? Will there be a mass exodus to the islands of Singapore? Are there really that many American scientists with a taste for kimchi that would make a move to South (North?) Korea attractive? Probably not. But again, suppose they do? If stem cell research is the hope of humanity what does it matter where the research is conducted? Wouldn't the most important thing be that the research continues?

     And there you have it. No matter what language the argument is couched in, it's always about the money.  In this case the most money for the least amount of effort. How hard is it to rob someone at the point of a gun anyway?

     It's probably safe to assume that opponents of stem cell research, as they are labeled, are in actuality opposing the use of taxpayer dollars to fund such research. Their argument is that if advances in the field are to be made, let the private sector fund the research. If the potential pay off appears promising continued funding will never be a problem. Here also it's about the money. Difference being, it's not about the easy, upfront money but the possible profits resulting from investment and hard work.

     Throughout the history of our country it's how we've done things. If an idea has merit some entrepreneurial individual is going to invest in it. It's how our capitalistic society does things. Who cares how they do it in Prague?