In 2004 California voters passed Proposition 71, legislation to give human embryo and cloning researchers $3 billion over 30 years. The CA attorney general determined the final cost for taxpayers will be $6 billion, including interest.

There will a couple huge gaffes in Prop 71:

1. It did not allow for the people to share in the profits. So pharmaceutical and biotech companies getting hand-outs from the state not only don't have to pay the people back but can keep any windfall revenues resulting from their research.

2. If treatments are developed, Prop 71 did not mandate that corporations make them available at a cheaper rate to the state's poor or uninsured, or to anyone else in California for that matter. So corporations that have gotten grants from the good people of CA can charge them just what they would charge out-of-staters for treatment.

Yesterday, negotiations via legislation were launched to fix all that. Not surprisingly, the biotech industry opposes it.

All those supporting taxpayer funded human embryo and cloning experimentation should bear all this in mind, which is, legislators are stupid, and the biotech industry is greedy.

SOMG will be so proud !

First my taxpayer money will go to embryonic stem cell research and then he gets to save money by not allowing the poor, price reductions...

His version of a 'wet dream'...

Ha ha. I love that picture of the fat cat. Reminds me of a kitty I had growing up, though I think he was fatter yet.

Reminds me of SOMG

Ooooooh, it's a kitteh...I looove kittehs.

But I dare say, my feline friend was definitely more obese than that cat.

Hehe, fat cats like that always look so glarey. I wish to snuggle him and make him not quite so angry.

Jill, I think by posting the kitteh you've derailed us! Plus you made me miss my cat! Curse you, Jill! *shakes fist*

Less, all: Had I known adding pictures of cute little animals to my posts would disarm you, believe me I would have started doing that before now! *smile*

Haha, that picture just looks SO much like my kitteh that I couldn't resist!

As we discussed in comments to another post, it's unlikely that this research will directly uncover any treatments or cures.

First we need to learn HOW the stem cells specialize. That's basic science, not clinical. Treatments and cures will likely come from additional work based on that information, further down the road.

Cute FAT CAT!!Just wanna squeeze him.

On the cat...isnt that animal abuse? I know that doctors can turn a mother into DFACS if she is overfeeding her baby, and I would hope the same is true of morbidly obese animals.

Samantha, it depends. I know that if the cat is actually unhealthy, it can. But I have a cat about the size of the above one, maybe bigger, and the vet told us that everything was fine and that Toby was just big. *shrugs* Some cats are like that.

We had to have him hardcore checked out because he was eating some of the food that was recalled.

I think he ate the Easter bunny. And his four brothers too...
:)

MK

I have a 30-lb cat. I love him to death (please believe me, we've tried everything to get him to lose weight, we have him on special food, water pills to keep adema from setting in, everything!). With four other cats besides him, it's rather tough...the rest of our cats are rather normal in size (two of them are slight hefty, but they're not unhealthy hefty).

If I submitted a picture of my two big boy cats (the really fat one and his brother) would you post it, Jill? :)

I'd love to see them! :)

I love my cat...I wish I could bring him to college with me....or even the really tiny cat I have...she wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Do you have pets, Bethany?

Alyssa, sure, send it quick. I'm working on a post having to do with animals. jillstanek@comcast.net

No, but I used to own almost a whole zoo! LOL

Before I became pregnant with my first baby, here is the list of animals I had:

1 hedgehog
6 pregnant bunny rabbits who kept having bunnies
3 cats, two of which were pregnant and had 15 kittens together
1 pregnant dog who had 6 puppies
3 chickens, who we got eggs from
a bunch of goldfish and one oscar fish

I guess I was really bored? lol

Once I became pregnant, it became too much for me to go out and continually feed the animals and make sure they were okay, so I had to give them all away to make sure they had good homes.lol

My friend has a cat bigger than this.Her belly drags the ground.Her name is Melrose.Can't lose a pound to save her life.Gosh is she cute though! Hey,what was this article about again?

Bethany:

Might I suggest a pet that's really good with children? Pomeranian dogs. They are small, so they can't crush small children, and they are exceedingly energetic and very, very friendly...they'll definitely keep your kids on their toes through play! :)

Oh,I love Pomeranians! Too cute and lovable! I call em pom- poms.

I think that cat is bigger than a Pomeranian.

That's it...he ate a Pomeranian !

mk

Sorry, Jill...I didn't make it in time...I had to leave for class right after I made my last post. Thanks anyway...I'll still send the picture if you might use it for another post. :)

Jumping in the animal thread...I can't resist...lol.

I'm an animal lover too. And having kids hasn't stopped us one bit. My Mother always jokes that she can tell when I'm "in a nurturing mood" because I either end up pregnant or rescue some poor animal. Currently, we have three cats and an insane Jack Russell Terrier. Despite the breed "standard" as far as behavior goes, he is great with our kids. He's considered an Irish Jack and they are supposed to have a better temperment.

I also do a ton of rescue work with a local shelter. My kids have learned so much from the litters of kittens we have cared for. We usually have to bottle feed them and keep them healthy for a few months until they are old enough to be adopted. But since I'm pregnant, we aren't taking any new kitties in. And I just got an email about five 5-6 day old calicos....waaaahhh! It's killing me...lol!

Anyway, I have found that fostering animals is a great teaching tool for my kids and my husband is happy because they don't stay forever...lol!

I raised my kitty Otis from 2 days old (he was born on my birthday) because his mom abandoned him (she couldn't feed all of her kittens). We used an eyedropper to feed him...he was unbelievably tiny. :)

Alyssa, did that baby kitten turn into one of your huge cats?! And send the photo whenever you want.

PB&J -

I understand completely! I had 3 cats when my son was born and was constantly taken in litter of kittens that needed care. I loved it. But my son was born prematurely and couldn't breath well. When he came home it got worse so I took my cats to work and kept them there for a couple weeks. He got better so we had to find them good homes, plus I can't take in any more litters. I still get calls from some of the shelters and its been almost 5 years! It about kills me to say no.

Since we are talking about dogs that would be good with kids, I have to brag on my dogs. We have an English Mastiff and a Newfoundland. Together they weigh 300 pounds! They are great with the kids. Whats wonderful about them is that they don't hurt the kids and the kids can't hurt them! My son used to use the Mastiff's head as a step stool to get on the sofa. Sometimes she would never even wake up. My daughter learned to walk by holding on to the Newfoundlands fur and he would walk real slow so she could keep up. Every time I try to get a picture she lets go - bummer! I do have pictures of my son sleeping on top of the dogs though. ;-)

Valerie...There's an absolutely cute as heck picture of me when i was really little (I had curly blonde hair and looked like Shirley temple, only much, MUCH chubbier) with my coonhound mix, Maggie. My father and I were devastated when we had to put Maggie down. I could NEVER live without pets, it's bad enough living in a dorm. Maggie Mae and Willamena were my two dogs growing up (Willy's still alive, but she's really old.) I'm not looking forward to going home and seeing how much she's slowed down. I keep thinking of the puppy I had when I was in 2nd grade (I'm 19 now), and how she used to run and catch rabbits in our field and how athletic she was. Now she can barely stand up. :(
I love, absolutely LOVE, big dogs. I currently have a German shepherd, Bella, and Willy, who is a german shepherd/collie mix. And my mom's newest arrival, a miniature Dachshund longhair named "Fraulein Inga Von Schnitzel", or Inga, for short. :D

Jill, I will send my fat cat pictures soon. I apologize ahead of time for the manners my cats seem to have, as we cannot keep them off of the dining room table. As soon as we leave the room, one will sneak in and jump up on it. :D

*sigh* Bad animals... :D

Can't wait to see them Alyssa.

Alyssa,

Pretty much every cat owner I know denies that their cat sits on the diningroom table, kitchen counter ect. They're all lying...LOL! I gave up a long time ago. One of my kitties is a centerpiece on the table now...lol. Well, I do throw him off when we eat. And when we have company we have to pretend he is committing a serious crime. ;) But I think my kids are way more germy then my feline. LOL!

pbj-I couldn't help but crack up.I was laughing at the kitty as a centerpiece.[your comment]I think we,re all guilty of that one.When company comes,act appalled.

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