I’m very confused — how does Newtella intend to make money? What will differentiate their product from Gnutella, Gnotella, or any of the other clones? Their only press release has no information in it (surprise!), except that they “address the security issues inherent in the gnutella protocol and provide stability.” Huh?

Finally, the government has implemented guidelines that allow for human embryonic cell research. Much of the pool of embryonic cells is made up of a very special class of cells — stem cells, which are far enough “back” in the developmental ladder that they can differentiate into almost any kind of cell in the human body. A single cell can become a pancreatic islet cell, a muscle cell, a neuron, you name it. Being able to research how these cells differentiate, and how they could be used to replace diseased tissue, will most likely lead to a few breakthroughs in the medical world.

The Boy Scouts’ decision to fight for the right to be intolerant pigs is coming back to bite them, as expected — organizations and public bodies are stemming their support of the Scouts, and there is now a bill before Congress to revoke the Scouts’ Congressional charter. I’d love to see a suit brought at the Federal level, across multiple jurisdictions, which challenges any public organization’s right to fund the Scouts.

Dubya: “We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.” Does anything go on in this man’s head?

Looks like Cam and Damien have been screwed by the worst company, bar none, ever to grace the face of Earth Verizon for the billionth time in their quest to get DSL. Because of the plight of the Barrett twins, Brad, and Dan (among others), every time a friend asks about getting DSL, I explain what a poor, poor choice that would be.

Last night was a weird night in the ER; most of my cases were a far stretch from the normal asthma, stomach pain, and headache that we normally get. I had a kid who had been hit in the eyelid with a baseball bat (five stitches), a young girl who had a breast abscess (conscious sedation, aspiration of abscess), a little boy who knocked his head against a desk (two staples), a toddler who had big swollen lips and tongue (reassurance that gingivostomatitis goes away quickly), and a young boy who had nearly sliced off the tip of his finger in a can (finger nerve block, four stitches, and followup to orthopedics). The nine hours flew by, feeling like about 20 minutes.