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Not as close as the score indicates. Can people stop pretending that Ohio State has any business playing for the National Championship? Ever again? Make it the rest of the Big Ten while we're at it. What a joke. On the other hand, congratulations to new Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini on his first (hopefully of many) National Championships. (The rest to come at Nebraska, of course.) The defense was not that spectacular, frankly. I'm trying not to read too much into that. And, in general, thanks for beating the hell out of Ohio State. That never gets old. One more thing: With two National Championships this decade, is LSU the team of the double-aughts? (For reference, Nebraska was the team of the '90s and will be the team of the '10s.) Words words words words words.

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Yesterday saw the advent of a new era in embryonic stem (ES) cell research. Researchers at a private company in Boston have found a way to generate ES cell lines by removing a single cell from a two-day old embryo. Removing this cell does not reduce the viability of the embryo. Incredible. Amazing. Ethical crises averted. Last one out, turn out the lights… …(sigh) if only. The President still opposes this line of research. People say he has a tin ear but this is maddening. Why is he still opposing it? Because right wing conservatives have decided (if you can decide something without even considering anything) that they still oppose it. All of the benefits, none of their concerns. What more do they want? These embryos have a cell removed, then they go into a liquid nitrogen freezer right next to the other 400,000+ IVF embryos that will never, ever see the light of day again. That is reality and (with the exception of the Catholic Church) no one ever says a damn word about it. I’ve written about this hypocrisy before. Candidates should immediately call for a rescinding of the executive order that denies federal monies to ES cell research. DO NOT ACCEDE TO THE ASSERTION THAT ES CELL RESEARCH TAKES LIFE! (Aside from the fact that this claim is dubious at best, to not strongly make this point would undermine all previous assertions to the contrary.) Despite the fact that traditional ES cell research is not immoral, Science has gone to the trouble of finding a way to assuage the fears of a vocal minority (despite not sharing those fears). It must be pointed out that, despite this attempt by Science to address the ethical concerns of conservatives, the conservatives are still unwilling to let the technology move forward. This, in the face of the great benefit to humanity that ES cell derived treatments will be, is unacceptable and should be treated as such. The intractableness of the religious right on this issue will either label candidates who stand with them as wildly out of touch with mainstream America (2/3 of whom approved of ES cell research before this new discovery) or, for those who reject it, alienate them from their base. Win/win. The best part? Maybe, just maybe we may move out of the black hole that stymied ES cell research and begin to catch up with the rest of the world…

Bit O' Flag-y