viable stem cell lines? what viable stem cell lines?

None of Bush's approved stem cell lines may actually be usable.

All of the human embryonic stem cells available to federally funded scientists under President Bush's three-year-old research policy share a previously unrecognized trait that fosters rejection by the immune systems, diminishing their potential as medical treatments, new research indicates.

A second study has concluded that at least a quarter of the Bush-approved cell colonies are so difficult to keep alive they have little potential even as research tools.

3 years ago, Bush stated that more than 60 stem cell colonies were approved for federal funding. Most scientists were surprised by this number, and pressed for more information that the administration did not provide. There's an interesting article from 2002 regarding this.

At the moment, only 22 of the purported 60 exist, and it looks like most of them are may have no research value.

At least five of those colonies "will never be useful for the clinic" because they are so difficult to grow, said Carol Ware of the University of Washington, who led the study.

All of these lines were produced using 2001 or earlier technology. Today there are 150 lines, but only 22 are eligible for federal funding.

Frankly, I'd like to know what qualifies Bush to make science decisions. I don't think anyone would argue that he's intelligent. Would you want him telling your doctor what tests to run on you?

There's a really interesting article about a politically divided Wisconson family. It illustrates both stances nicely.

I will agree with Frieda that Bush is common," Kathe interjected. "He's so common, he's stupid.

Yeah baby! Red Sox win!

Read about it!

go red sox

Go Boston!

1 step closer to winning the World Series.

avoid rental phones

Or at least Action Cellular, which operates out of San Francisco.

They charged me a huge amount on a 5 day rental phone. I knew I should have gotten a pre-paid phone. It's entirely likely that the shocking rental phone bill is perfectly valid, which just is a shame, since it's more than 5 times the cost of a pre-paid phone and plan. I should have just bitten the up-front cost of a pre-paid phone. Of course, I thought that a pre-paid phone would turn out to be cheaper in the long term, not in 5 days!

Sad. But hey, no one's hurt. Action Cellular is a bit richer and I'm a bit poorer, but I'm still safe and sound. Iraqi citizens can't say the same about their brush with the Bush. Heck, Americans can't say that about Bush. Now that's a shame.

T-shirt sighting

"UR
underground
rathole"

(-.-;)

Oppose the intelligence reform act

The current bill H.R. 10, is absolutely appalling. Under the pretense of intelligence reform, it attempts to strip away the checks and balances which protect the execution of justice in the U.S.

There are too many reasons I am opposed to Bush. It would be really nice if he would try to lower the number, but he just keeps increasing them.

An interesting editorial by a Japanese reporter, regarding the evidence that the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was patently false, hence there was no justification to go to war against Iraq.

Male fish producing eggs

I found this headline amusing:

Male bass producing eggs. They suspect pollution is the cause.

Snippet

My coworker was playing one of those online rpg fantasy games. When wandering through the marketplace, another coworker came up to watch, and asked,
"Can you kill those other people?"
"Nope (terrorism isn't really proper, you know)." Literally, he said "いや、テロは…"

Kind of interesting how terrorism is a commonly used word these days.

tshirt

we were the generation that grew up on this planet.

Stranded in Paradise

Alex Gold's "Stranded in Paradise" is very nice. Faint 80's flavor.

abstract classes vs. interfaces

Study point.

I was trying to explain the difference between an interface and an abstract class the other day, but it didn't come across in Japanese.

I found this nice comparison of the two constructs (in the context of the Java language).

word of the week

Since I haven't posted Japanese words frequently enough to claim to have a word of the day, 挫折（ざせつ） is my word of the week. Or one of my words of the week. It is not a particularly positive word, so I'll have to find a nice positive word to accompany it.

挫折 is a noun and a verb. It means a breakdown; a setback; a frustration.

The other word is 積極的（せっきょくてき）which is a na-adjective. It means positive; active; aggressive; enterprising; enthusiastic. A good personality trait.
積極的に考えるようにします。 "I will try to think positively."

Grammar point:
～ようにする
make an effort to ～
日本語で話すようにします。
I'll make an effort to speak in Japanese.

nuclear drugs

A person on a mailing list referred to a dose of radioactive iodine as a "nuclear drug."

I don't believe that all things radioactive are automatically nuclear.

Another person used the term "naturopath." Another term I am unfamiliar with. Do you suppose that they're like psychopaths? Pathological about nature? Probably not. From the context, it sounds like they advise you on a natural diet. Ah, I looked it up and it is a system of treatment of disease.

american express online security

American express online security is a joke. The main login screen doesn't use https. If you go to the specific credit card login page, that uses https, but not the default main screen.

house for sale

My parents' house in MD is for sale. It's a nice house in a very quiet neighborhood. It was built a year after I was born and we lived there the whole time.

bush is not a leader

A leader can distinguish the difference between Osama bin Laden (murdered Americans and citizens from around the world in the attack on the World Trade Center) and Saddam Hussein (former dictator of Iraq).

Bush is clearly not a leader. In fact, Bush doesn't even think Bin Laden is a threat. I find that seriously disturbing. Iraq didn't kill 5,000 people (on American soil, no less). Neither did Hussein. bin Laden did. Where is bin Laden? Why are we in Iraq, terrorizing Iraqi families? How is this security?