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Saturday, January 05, 2008

  • Can you successfully clone a human?

    I haven't been on Xanga or blogged in...months.  Wow.

    But I needed to vent and think about weighty philosophical questions in my mind, and this place seemed a great place to do it. I hope to get a lot of comments fom the faithful few on Xanga now.

    So, to the meaning of my title. Can you successfully cone a human?  I know Dr. Wilmut successfully cloned Dolly (may she rest in peace) several years back, but a sheep is very different than a human.

    I guess I should define "successfully." I'm thinking "succesfully" means what Dolly had--a living, beathing body with horrible medical problems and maturing and dying four times faster than average sheep.  For me, to answer that question as best I can, I have to go to one of the most basic questions out there: What is life?

    It's so basic but so complex. We hardly ever think about it. What is life? Why do we die? And no, living is not having a brain working or heart pumping. What makes our brain work? What tells our heart to pump? Why, when we are shot in the head, do we die? What is life?  As far as I can answer, Life = breath, or Soul.  To live like a human you have to have a soul. To have emotions, to have a working body, to have rational thought, and to make moral judgments--you must have a soul.

    So, where do we get ourselves a soul? From God, of course.

    When do we get ourselves a soul? Conception, we think. That's why we hate abortion. It kills a soul.

    Where is our soul? Ahh. That's a toughie. Where is it? We know it's "in" our body. We know it's a part of our body. But it's separate. C.S. Lewis said. "People think we have a soul. No. You are a soul. You have a body."  (And by the way, people, I picked cloning because it was the least icky. I could've picked embryonic stem cells or parthenotes--that's a sticky and icky subject right there.) We know our soul is connected to our body, because when we're shot with a bullet our soul "dies" in a way and leaves our body.

    But back to cloning. So, we can clone animals. That's relatively easy. They have no soul. So it'd be easy to clone a human body. But what would happen once scientists do that? How do they breathe life into the body? Dr. Frankestein electrocuted his monster, I think. How does one create life? We don't create life with conception. I think we just provide all the right circumstances for God to create life, giving an embryo a soul.

    So, if humans can't create life, can they clone it along with the body?  Would that work?  How can you physically clone something spiritual by definition and nature?  I have a few theories on what would happen:

    1) Scientists would end up with a "dead" human body.

    2) Scientists would end up with a human-looking animal (chimanzee, maybe? lol)

    3) Everything would fall apart in the labaratory and it wouldn't happen

    4) God would graciously intervene human's manipulation and provide a soul for the cloned and new human being.

    What do y'all think it is? Do you disagree with anything I've said? Can you come up with a different theory?  Please tell me if you read this lengthy musing!

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

  • "I am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen"

    Well, not quite anymore. I've been seventeen now for about a week. That's just really weird. As my birthday approached, I began to feel...ambivelant. I was excited on one hand, but it was another year, growing older. So I'm okay with seventeen. Thank goodness I don't feel any different.

    ~Adrianne

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

  • Okay, I saw this on a blog somewhere. I thought it was pretty funny, then not funny at all because someone was poking fun at me, then hilarious because a fellow conservative set it straight.

    I have to share this with somebody, so I've decided to send it off into the vast void of cyberspace. If this reaches anyone, comment.

    18 Ways to be a good liberal

    1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
    2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and
    governments create prosperity.
    3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens
    are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands
    of Chinese and North Korean communists.
    4. You have to believe that there was no art before federal funding.
    5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by
    cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer
    moms driving SUV's.
    6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial, but being
    homosexual is natural.
    7. You have to believe that the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of
    federal funding.
    8. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach
    4th-graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids
    about sex.
    9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but PETA
    activists do.
    10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than
    actually doing something to earn it.
    11. You have to believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own
    money to make "The Passion of the Christ" for financial gain only.
    12. You have to blieve the NRA is bad because it supports certain
    parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports
    certain parts of the Constitution.
    13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high.
    14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are
    more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, Gen. Robert
    E. Lee, and Thomas Edison.
    15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial
    quotas and set-asides are not.
    16. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked
    anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in
    charge.
    17. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag queens
    and transvestites should be constitutionally protected, and manger
    scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
    18. You have to believe that this message is a part of a vast,
    right-wing conspiracy.

    Posted by Wally at 10:30 PM  

    Labels:

    4 comments:

    cattieloves said...

    19 Ways to be a good conservative

    1. You have to be against abortion, but support capital punishment on demand.
    2. You have to believe that governments create oppression and businesses create prosperity.
    3. You have to believe that the man wearing a turban in the airport is more of a terrorist than the white man carrying a concealed gun.
    4. You have to believe that federal funding is a handout and that disadvantaged people should be able to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps," just like you and your daddy and his daddy before him.
    5. You have to believe that someone made up global warming to scare you into not driving that gas-guzzling SUV.
    6. You have to believe that being sexually confused is an abomination that God hates.
    7. You have to believe that the people advocating those afflicted with AIDS should "stop whining."
    8. You have to believe that if schools don't provide sex education and/or condoms, then kids just won't think about sex and it will all just go away.
    9. You have to believe that animal rights activists aren't doing "what God intended," but hunters are.
    10. You have to believe that if someone has fallen on hard times it is their own fault and they should be given no help.
    11. You have to believe that God lives in your own little box and that He hates all the same things and people you do.
    12. You have to believe that the ACLU is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the NRA is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
    13. You have to believe that the tax on your yacht is too high and that the homeless man isn't being taxed enough.
    14. You have to believe that the contributions to American history made by Caucasian men are more important than those made by women and African-Americans.
    15. You have to believe that Black History Month is reverse racism, but the Confederate flag is just a historical symbol.
    16. You have to believe that any war we fight is for a good reason, because the president said so.
    17. You have to believe that God loves everyone, except for gay people.
    18. You cannot believe in change or progress.
    19. You have to believe that this message is part of a crazy, left-wing revolution.

    September 23, 2007 9:34 AM  
    BaldwinTM said...

    Looks like I'm neither a good liberal, nor a good conservative.

    What would I be labeled?
    Am I an "undecided"? No, I know where I stand on all of these issues.

    Take Number 2 for example:
    I believe that both governments AND businesses create oppression and prosperity, therefor we need to have a balance of each.

    September 23, 2007 11:35 AM  
    Todd said...

    Let me correct the last comment (Note, I left #2 unchanged--can you say Saddam Hussein? Adolf Hitler? Microsoft? AT&T?):

    19 Ways to be a good conservative

    1. You have to be against abortion, but support capital punishment for those convicted by due process of law.
    2. You have to believe that governments create oppression and businesses create prosperity.
    3. You have to believe that more terrorist attacks have been committed by islamofascists in an airplane than anybody legally owning and carrying a gun with a permit requiring a background check.
    4. You have to believe that no poor person got rich off of welfare, but plenty of poor got rich through free enterprise.
    5. You have to believe that global warming is very hyped and made-to-order for environmentalists who don't want you to drive gas-guzzling SUVs.
    6. You have to believe that being sexually confused is not a sign of strength and well being.
    7. You have to believe that the people advocating those afflicted with AIDS should stop blaming everybody else.
    8. You have to believe that if schools provide sex education and/or condoms, then kids will think more about sex and it will be a bigger problem.
    9. You have to believe that PETA kills animals, that it's ok to have animals as a pet, and that regulated hunting is good for the ecology.
    10. You have to believe that if someone has fallen on hard times should try to help themselves and not sit around in poverty, staying there for years, waiting for the government to save the day when even with all the money they spend, it doesn't.
    11. You have to believe that the nature of God is clearly explained in the Holy Bible.
    12. You have to believe that the ACLU is bad because it misinterprets the constitution as saying terrorists have the same rights as citizens and that whether the person is actually guilty has no bearing on the fact that he should not be punished.
    13. You have to believe that the most yacht owners contribute more to society, to the benefit of people of all levels of prosperity, than most homeless, that the yacht owners do more for the homeless than the homeless do for the yacht owners.
    14. You have to believe that the contributions to American history made by the founding fathers is more important than those made by leaders of extremist liberal fringe groups that, in the long run, have no effect on the population as a whole.
    15. You have to believe in free speech.
    16. You have to believe that any war that enemies declare on us must be fought rather than surrendered to.
    17. You have to believe that God loves his children, but that those who hate him will go to hell.
    18. You cannot believe in change that is not progress.
    19. You have to believe that the original blog post struck a nerve in the previous commenter.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

  • Courtroom Quotations

    Hey, guys!

    The following quotations are taken from official court records across the nation, showing how funny and embarrassing it is that recorders operate at all times in courts of law, so that even the slightest inadvertence is preserved for posterity.

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    • Lawyer: "Was that the same nose you broke as a child?"
    • Witness: "I only have one, you know."

    • Lawyer: "Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?"
    • Witness: "By death."
    • Lawyer: "And by whose death was it terminated?"

    • Accused, Defending His Own Case: "Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?"

    The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in jail.

    • Lawyer: "What is your date of birth?"
    • Witness: "July 15th."
    • Lawyer: "What year?"
    • Witness: "Every year."

    • Lawyer: "Can you tell us what was stolen from your house?"
    • Witness: "There was a rifle that belonged to my father that was stolen from the hall closet."
    • Lawyer: "Can you identify the rifle?"
    • Witness: "Yes. There was something written on the side of it."
    • Lawyer: "And what did the writing say?"
    • Witness: "'Winchester'!"

    • Lawyer: "What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?"
    • Witness: "Gucci sweats and Reeboks."

    • Lawyer: "Can you describe what the person who attacked you looked like?"
    • Witness: "No. He was wearing a mask."
    • Lawyer: "What was he wearing under the mask?"
    • Witness: "Er...his face."

    • Lawyer: "This myasthenia gravis -- does it affect your memory at all?"
    • Witness: "Yes."
    • Lawyer: "And in what ways does it affect your memory?"
    • Witness: "I forget."
    • Lawyer: "You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?"

    • Lawyer: "How old is your son, the one living with you?"
    • Witness: "Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which."
    • Lawyer: "How long has he lived with you?"
    • Witness: "Forty-five years."

    • Lawyer: "What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning?"
    • Witness: "He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'"
    • Lawyer: "And why did that upset you?"
    • Witness: "My name is Susan."

    • Lawyer: "Sir, what is your IQ?"
    • Witness: "Well, I can see pretty well, I think."

    • Lawyer: "Did you blow your horn or anything?"
    • Witness: "After the accident?"
    • Lawyer: "Before the accident."
    • Witness: "Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it."

    • Lawyer: "Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?"
    • Witness: "Yes."
    • Lawyer: "Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?"
    • Witness: "Yes, sir."
    • Lawyer: "What did she say?"
    • Witness: "'What disco am I at?'"

    • Lawyer: "Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?"
    • Witness: "No."
    • Lawyer: "Did you check for blood pressure?"
    • Witness: "No."
    • Lawyer: "Did you check for breathing?"
    • Witness: "No."
    • Lawyer: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?"
    • Witness: "No."
    • Lawyer: "How can you be so sure, Doctor?"
    • Witness: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar."
    • Lawyer: "But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?"
    • Witness: "Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere."

    • Lawyer: "How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?"

    • Lawyer: "And you check your radar unit frequently?"
    • Officer: "Yes, I do."
    • Lawyer: "And was your radar unit functioning correctly at the time you had the plaintiff on radar?"
    • Officer: "Yes, it was malfunctioning correctly."

    • Lawyer: "What happened then?"
    • Witness: "He told me, he says, 'I have to kill you because you can identify me.'"
    • Lawyer: "Did he kill you?"
    • Witness: "No."

    • Lawyer: "Now sir, I'm sure you are an intelligent and honest man--"
    • Witness: "Thank you. If I weren't under oath, I'd return the compliment."

    • Lawyer: "You were there until the time you left, is that true?"

    • Lawyer: "So you were gone until you returned?"

    • Lawyer: "The youngest son, the 20 year old, how old is he?"

    • Lawyer: "Were you alone or by yourself?"

    • Lawyer: "How long have you been a French Canadian?"

    • Witness: "He was about medium height and had a beard."
    • Lawyer: "Was this a male or a female?"

    • Lawyer: "Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?"
    • Witness: "I went to Europe, sir."
    • Lawyer: "And you took your new wife?"

    • Lawyer: "I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture."
    • Witness: "That's me."
    • Lawyer: "Were you present when that picture was taken?"

    • Lawyer: "Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?"

    • Lawyer: "Do you know how far pregnant you are now?"
    • Witness: "I'll be three months on November 8."
    • Lawyer: "Apparently, then, the date of conception was August 8?"
    • Witness: "Yes."
    • Lawyer: "What were you doing at that time?"

    • Lawyer: "How many times have you committed suicide?"
    • Witness: "Four times."

    • Lawyer: "Do you have any children or anything of that kind?"

    • Lawyer: "She had three children, right?"
    • Witness: "Yes."
    • Lawyer: "How many were boys?"
    • Witness: "None."
    • Lawyer: "Were there girls?"

    • Lawyer: "You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?"

    • Lawyer: "You say that the stairs went down to the basement?"
    • Witness: "Yes."
    • Lawyer: "And these stairs, did they go up also?"

    • Lawyer: "Have you lived in this town all your life?"
    • Witness: "Not yet."

    • Lawyer: (realizing he was on the verge of asking a stupid question) "Your Honor, I'd like to strike the next question."

    • Lawyer: "Do you recall approximately the time that you examined the body of Mr. Eddington at the Rose Chapel?"
    • Witness: "It was in the evening. The autopsy started about 8:30pm."
    • Lawyer: "And Mr. Eddington was dead at the time, is that correct?"

    • Lawyer: "What is your brother-in-law's name?"
    • Witness: "Borofkin."
    • Lawyer: "What's his first name?"
    • Witness: "I can't remember."
    • Lawyer: "He's been your brother-in-law for years, and you can't remember his first name?"
    • Witness: "No. I tell you, I'm too excited." (rising and pointing to his brother-in-law) "Nathan, for heaven's sake, tell them your first name!"

    • Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?"
    • Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
    • Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?"
    • Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
    • Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?"
    • Witness: "No."

    • Lawyer: "Doctor, did you say he was shot in the woods?"
    • Witness: "No, I said he was shot in the lumbar region."

    • Lawyer: "What is your marital status?"
    • Witness: "Fair."

    • Lawyer: "Are you married?"
    • Witness: "No, I'm divorced."
    • Lawyer: "And what did your husband do before you divorced him?"
    • Witness: "A lot of things I didn't know about."

    • Lawyer: "And who is this person you are speaking of?"
    • Witness: "My ex-widow said it.

    • Lawyer: "How did you happen to go to Dr. Cherney?"
    • Witness: "Well, a gal down the road had had several of her children by Dr. Cherney and said he was really good."

    • Lawyer: "Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?"
    • Witness: "All my autopsies have been performed on dead people."

    • Lawyer: "Were you acquainted with the deceased?"
    • Witness: "Yes sir."
    • Lawyer: "Before or after he died?"

    • Lawyer: "Mrs. Jones, is your appearance this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?"
    • Witness: "No. This is how I dress when I go to work."

    • The Court: "Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present information and prejudice from your minds, if you have any."

    • Lawyer: "Did he pick the dog up by the ears?"
    • Witness: "No."
    • Lawyer: "What was he doing with the dog's ears?"
    • Witness: "Picking them up in the air."
    • Lawyer: "Where was the dog at this time?"
    • Witness: "Attached to the ears."

    • Lawyer: "When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?"
    • Other Lawyer: "Objection. That question should be taken out and shot."

    • Lawyer: "And lastly, Gary, all your responses must be oral. Ok? What school do you go to?"
    • Witness: "Oral."
    • Lawyer: "How old are you?"
    • Witness: "Oral."

    • Lawyer: "What is your relationship with the plaintiff?"
    • Witness: "She is my daughter."
    • Lawyer: "Was she your daughter on February 13, 1979?"

    • Lawyer: "Now, you have investigated other murders, have you not, where there was a victim?"

    • Lawyer: "Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?"

    • Lawyer: "And what did he do then?"
    • Witness: "He came home, and next morning he was dead."
    • Lawyer: "So when he woke up the next morning he was dead?"

    • Lawyer: "Did you tell your lawyer that your husband had offered you indignities?"
    • Witness: "He didn't offer me nothing. He just said I could have the furniture."

    • Lawyer: "So, after the anesthesia, when you came out of it, what did you observe with respect to your scalp?"
    • Witness: "I didn't see my scalp the whole time I was in the hospital."
    • Lawyer: "It was covered?"
    • Witness: "Yes, bandaged."
    • Lawyer: "Then, later on...what did you see?"
    • Witness: "I had a skin graft. My whole buttocks and leg were removed and put on top of my head."

    • Lawyer: "Could you see him from where you were standing?"
    • Witness: "I could see his head."
    • Lawyer: "And where was his head?"
    • Witness: "Just above his shoulders."

    • Lawyer: "Do you drink when you're on duty?"
    • Witness: "I don't drink when I'm on duty, unless I come on duty drunk."

    • Lawyer: "Any suggestions as to what prevented this from being a murder trial instead of an attempted murder trial?"
    • Witness: "The victim lived."

    • Lawyer: "The truth of the matter is that you were not an unbiased, objective witness, isn't it? You too were shot in the fracas."
    • Witness: "No, sir. I was shot midway between the fracas and the naval."

    • Lawyer: "Officer, what led you to believe the defendant was under the influence?"
    • Witness: "Because he was argumentary, and he couldn't pronunciate his words."

Saturday, August 04, 2007

  • Tomorrow Elise and I are headed off to visit grandparents for a week.  We should have a lot of fun. I really hope to be spoiled. 

    ~Adr.

Adrianne90

  • Visit Adrianne90's Xanga Site
    • Name: Adrianne
    • Birthday: 10/24/1990
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 3/6/2005

Pulse

  • Okay, I am so excited! Fred Thompson is running for president! I am voting for him when the time comes!!!!!
  • Isn't America wonderful? I know she's a sinful nation and very depraved, but she's the most moral nation left. Thank God I live here!
  • Josie's coming home today! Josie's coming home today!!  (Can you tell I'm excited?!) It will be three weeks before I'll see her again.