Happy New Year, y'all. I didn't finish my web site, but I'm rushing to get it done before classes start on the 13th. Those of you who read this boring shit will get a sneak peak as soon as I'm ready to beta test.

Are the Raelians yanking our chain? I'm not willing to dismiss them just yet. Rael and that doctor with the bad teeth make Clonaid look like a legitimate company (check out their Clonapet service, coming soon for "wealthy individuals"). Furthermore, it's not like there haven't been similar claims by noted scientists. We'll know the truth soon enough.

The public furor over human cloning is fascinating. The fear is fueled by science fiction and religious zealotry. Cloning is not (yet) the Brave New World process of making Alphas and Epsilons, nor is it Homer Simpson's recent magic hammock. It's a detailed, painstaking process frought with problems. Dolly has many physical problems, blamed primarily on the age and quality of the source cells. And since the clones have to develop in a womb, they won't become the engineered slaves or soldiers of tomorrow.

The religious fear is more palpable. It's the same "where does life begin?" question that fuels abortion debate, though, ironically, this issue is about creating life, not destroying it.

Perhaps it's my own Baptist-cum-Pentacostal upbringing, but I do oppose abortion in the third-trimester. At that point, the child can live, so I think it's too late. On the same token, I say no way to reproductive cloning, too. The problems are too great for the child's quality of life. Theraputic cloning, like making stem cells for research, is A-OK in my book.

I do hope, however, that Eve is real. Then governments will have to make a decision, and the decision will probably be the one I agree with. :)

Besides, when there are already too many people on the planet, when we have too much death control and not enough birth control, why would we want cloning anyway? Try to close that can of worms.

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!