What Stems From Stem Cell Research

THANKS TO WELLCOME

A couple of weeks ago, President Obama lifted the ban on stem cell research previously decreed by President Bush. It egged me on to probe the issue and see what's fueling the fracas. Basically, the ongoing run-in between liberals and conservatives emerges from the destruction of human embryos. I don't sticker myself as a conservative, but personally, I don't think my beliefs play ball with President Obama's... at least as far as stem cells go. In the realm of science, I'm definitely not a shark, but I do believe that adult stem cells can be utilized in actuating the study. I guess this sort of goes hand-in-hand with the underlying matter of contention of abortion. Embryos = humans... right?

A Job Not-So-Well Done

THANKS AIGCORPORATE

American International Group (AIG) recently gave rise to a flare-up in Washington, D.C. after $165 million was given out in bonuses. The insurance corporation was allotted approximately $170 billion by the bailout plan. This act generates the question about how the money of American taxpayers is being used. Basically, individuals whose minding of the store caused the corporate giant to go bankrupt are now being renumerated for helping it tank.

War of Words

THANKS TO IMGSRV.COM

I'm not one to fervidly follow celebrity feuds, but this one is so worth it. Meghan McCain and Laura Ingraham are still at daggers with each other. The conservative talk-show host went on to gab about how McCain is "being used" by the media and is "the flavor of the month in left-wing media." McCain hasn't retaliated to even the score yet, but I'm guessing she'll let daddy dearest take care of that.

Don't Mess With Meghan McCain

THANKS GETTY.

The daughter of former presidential candidate John McCain, Meghan McCain, has featured her advocacy of bipartisanship in a recent statement. McCain's quote was aimed at propelling Republicans towards reaching an amicable middle ground with members of the Democratic Party. After talk-show host Laura Ingraham learned of this, she thumbed her nose at McCain by stigmatizing her with names such as a "Valley Girl gone awry" and a "plus-sized model." Apparently, Ingraham's attempt at farce resulted in pratfall comedy when McCain shot back a disdainful response of "Kiss my fat a**."

Atta girl.

Guess who's back...

Well, it's not Slim Shady.

Since matters are reaching a pretty searing point in Pakistan's melting pot right now, I think I'll be covering them for the next couple of posts. Today's events have had their share of branding history. The most relevant topic relates to the lifting of the house arrest off Nawaz Sharif after the PML-N was able to rive the blockade. In a televised oration that seemed all too akin to the "Address to the Nation from the Oval Office" given by the President of the United States, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would regain his seat in the Pakistani Supreme Court after the 22nd of March in order to not have his term coincide with that of the current Chief Justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar. Dogar's resignation is set to occur on the 21st of March.

I think Pakistan's government is finally undergoing the antidotal process.

Home Alone

To follow up on the debilitated state of what some may argue is the preliminary stage of a downfall in Pakistan, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League - N (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif has been put under house arrest for 3 days. The PML-N serves as the binding of the efforts made by the lawyers to reestablish the bygone positions of judges dethroned by former President Pervez Musharraf. Sharif's brother, Shahbaz Sharif, has also been the focus of The Supreme Court's gambit after being dismissed as chief minister of Punjab. In an attempt to glean the residue of the intricate situation, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari issued an appeal for a review of the court ruling.

But, on a less bleak note, my uncle was relased on Friday!

Drugbug (no, it's not a spin-off of that song by the vexatious fraternal trio)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been permeating the forefront more frequently now as a member of President Obama's cabinet than she ever did as a presidential candidate. Her next stop: Mexico. She's due to visit "La ciudad de los Palacios" in a couple of weeks to further delve into the issue of drug violence. I read an article recently about two U.S. teens who were embroiled in the infamous Mexican Gulf Cartel. These two clubhoppers were eventually enlisted as hitmen for the gang notorious for its drug-trafficking. Some of the execrable crimes they committed are pretty much turning the "gore-o-meter" dial to a very morbid maximum... long story short, they're in the slammer.

Marching Mayhem

THANKS DAILY TIMES.

Hopefully my alliterative title drew in more absorbed attention.

Anyways, my verbal wit aside, there's a political (I feel that word merits more emphasis than called for) situation that has entered my familial realm. A movement angled towards the establishment of an independent judiciary, the "Long March" broke ground in Pakistan today. Their 1,000 kilometer (the omniscient google acquainted me with the formula for kilometer --> mile conversion, so for all you imperial system aficionados, 1,000 kilometers = 621.371 miles) "hoof fest" began in Karachi and will wrap up in Islamabad. Lawyers participating in the protest are setting their sights on thwarting the government led by Asif Ali Zardari, widower of the late Benazir Bhutto (chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party), and reinstating former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Chaudhry was defrocked by former (who knew one word could elicit so much satisfaction on my part?) President Pervez Musharraf in 2007. So now, to address how I'm bracketed with this uprising on a personal level: my uncle, the prestigious lawyer Muneer A. Malik (we Maliks have quite the gene pool), was the former (this usage doesn't have the same effect on me as the prior) president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He, along with about 150 or so other activists, has been withheld in prison in Hyderabad. All we can hope for right now is that this republic restores its "Ittehad, Tanzim, Yaqeen-e-Muhkam" ("Unity, Discipline, and Faith"... wikipedia is pretty much God-sent).

By the way, I hope you all enjoyed my parenthetic, off-side discourse... :).

I would like to thank this guy for my wonderful photo.

Norris Knows

While perusing the Political Ticker today, four banded words in a title caught my eye:

"Chuck Norris for president." I don't think "shell-shocked" could even begin to accurately portray my reaction at that moment... especially because my stunned expression was followed by a few bouts of chuckles. Then, two more reassuring words in the title jumped out on the page: "of Texas." Ellipses can be pretty misleading, I tell you. I continued skimming the article for other oddities that may announce the holding of Paris Hilton as future Vice President. Anyways, I guess Chuck-(ey?) was just trying to acknowledge a not-so-probable detachment of Texas from the U.S. That's more like the Chuck I know... but don't really love.

Spending Bill passed by Senate

Today, the Senate passed a bill.
A bill for spending.
A spending bill.

This "breed of bill" is tantamount to $410 billion. Okay, how many more bills are they going to prescribe to our nation that is currently plagued by the doleful economy? Apparently it's composed of over 8,000 earmarks. Great, that just means we don't really know where the money is going. The stimulus package basked in its own limelight just a couple weeks ago... and still nothing. I know that it wasn't going to transform the dire reality into a defectless reverie overnight, but I still expected a lot more! I also heard that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi revealed that a second stimulus package may be on it's way.

Pretty convenient, I guess.