I'm not planning on blogging much this weekend, so let's discuss these two news items:

1) Skin Cells converted to Stem Cells - scientists have figured out how to make normal skin cells into stem cells, thus forgoing the need for embryonic stem cells. This seems to be a great win for everyone involved. Is this a victory for social conservatives? Can they rightfully claim that their concerns about human life pushed science in this direction. Is this the direction we should go then for cloning?

In Newsweek, in Baghdad, violence is down 50%.

Key quotes:
IED attacks across the country are at their lowest point since September 2004, down 50 percent just since the surge peaked last summer. There hasn't been a successful suicide car bombing in Baghdad in five weeks, and the few ones in recent months have been small and ineffective. There used to be four a day, many of which claimed scores of lives each.

So the following observations do not come so much from the brass: Al Qaeda in Iraq is starting to look like a spent force, especially in Baghdad. The civil war is in the midst of a huge, though nervous, pause. Most Shiite militias are honoring a truce. Iran appears to have stopped shipping deadly arms to Iraqi militants. The indigenous Sunni insurgency has declared for the Americans across broad swaths of the country, especially in the capital.

So the recent news that scientists were able to clone primates has me thinking. Would clones have souls?

Christians believe that human life is valuable because it has an eternal soul that is designed to be in a right relationship with God. It is because humans have souls that we are different and, thus, killing of humans is immoral. However, animals don't have souls so killing them for meat, hides, etc. is morally acceptable.

So, if scientists created a clone, would that clone have a soul? If it had a soul, would there be anything wrong with creating it? If it didn't have a soul, would there be anything wrong with using it as a human-tissue repository?

I saw this video (h/t or whatever to Instapundit) which should make you want to put your fist through the screen several times. A quick search on ask.com led me to this gem. Keep a sick bag close at hand.

Quick summary. The National City city council is giving some regular folks the boot to make way for some posh condos. The mayor, presumably leading the council, is Ron Morrison (you will see him in the video). What makes this classic is the second link above, which is an Hispanic organization's (La Prensa San Diego) 2002 endorsement of Ron Morrison for mayor. The money quote in the endorsement is this:

Off the AP wire this morning:

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people's private communications and financial information.

So let me get this straight. We can't expect to have privacy anymore, but that's ok because it is going to be the government and business entrusted with information about us.

Aren't most privacy issues centered around the government checking up on us?

I place the blame squarely on Republicans for making everything about terrorism and being willing to sacrifice anything including our freedom for the sake of the "War On Terrorism".

November 10, 2007
Day #354 of Eric's imprisonment

We are now in November, the month Doris was senselessly murdered, as well as the start of Eric's unjust arrest and imprisonment. We are only a few weeks shy of marking one full year of this insane experience.

As of this writing there is still no official word from the Appellate Court in Granada, Nicaragua regarding the progress of Eric's appeal. The appeal was filed (within the 6 day period required by law) after Eric's sentencing, February 21. It is unconscionable that the review of this case, with its clarity of evidence, would be held this long.

Tom Perriello, a candidate for VA-5, has been blogging over at TPMCafe.com about his candidacy, but also about the type of America he'd like to live in. His entry "Our Culture War on Greed" captures many of the issues that I feel need to be addressed in America. In fact, he may speak for many of my fellow evangelical friends.

He starts with "Gecko’s “greed is good” logic reflected a moral claim not of apathy (i.e. you have no moral obligation to others) but rather the more seductive idea that the best way to help others was to look out ruthlessly for yourself." and highlights areas where "greed is good" has corrupted our culture and body politic.

• Greed
• Excessive Materialism
• Torture
• Internet Porn
• Tax kickbacks to the wealthy

A friend of mine, Emily, wrote a blog post on her personal blog that got me thinking.

Emily is an intelligent woman and accomplished in her professional field. She and her husband are great friends from our time in Charlottesville. She's also a committed conservative politically, and related but distinct, she is a committed evangelical Christian. You will see that her evangelical faith is related but distinct from her conservative political principles in her post.

You can read Emily's post, "Nothing to Fear" (here).

Emily writes to conservatives in her post and tells them to do their part by:
a. nominating an electable candidate.
b. actually going to the polls and voting for this electable candidate.
c. under no circumstances nominate or support a 3rd party candidate to run on a "Christian values" platform

She then makes the case for Rudy Giuliani to be the GOP nominee.

At first blush, probably many liberal and conservative readers would read this a but one, legit, fairly typical articulation of a political philosophy. The readers may not necessarily share Emily's views, but this would be one acceptable view in a civil public square where a diversity of viewpoints are represented.

While I do think Emily's perspective is welcome in a civil public square, I disagree with her at a second level. Read her words under "b".