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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Dec. 22, 2006 / 1 Kislev 5767

Send in the clones

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | The fall and winter holiday season is always a time of hustle and bustle, so if you happen to have missed some big news a couple of months back I won't hold it against you. The news had to do with a new possible FDA ruling on certain foods. No, it's not trans fats this time, although if New York Mayor Bloomberg had his way, the FDA would follow his lead and ban trans fats immediately, if not sooner. Mayor Bloomberg would like to be the chief of the food police for the entire hemisphere I think.


The FDA is not looking to ban anything this time; actually they appear to be on the verge of ALLOWING something that, at least in my estimation, is a bit more controversial than cooking oil. According to the Associated Press, the FDA is moving closer to approving meat and milk from cloned animals for public consumption. Not cologned animals, although that would be interesting, but CLONED animals. You know, like Dolly, that sheep that was cloned by Scottish scientists back in 1996.


Most of us remember Dolly being cloned but how many of us remember Dolly being euthanized and why. In 2002 she developed acute arthritis, a condition usually expected in older animals, and was diagnosed with progressive lung disease the following year. The decision to end her life at the age of six was made after a veterinary exam confirmed the lung disease. Most normal sheep live to 11 or 12 years of age. Clearly Dolly became old and sick before her time. It was not clear whether the cloning process led to the arthritis, but research in 1999 suggested that Dolly might be susceptible to premature ageing — a possibility raised after a study of her genetics.

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The Bush administration is reviewing the plans of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate cloned animals and food derived from them. A draft of the plans is supposed to be released by the end of the year, the FDA said. Here's a quote from the agency itself. "Studies show that the meat and milk from cattle clones and their offspring are as safe as that from conventionally bred animals." So there. So now would you like a nice glass of chocolate milk cloned from contented cows?


I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I really find the thought of eating meat from cloned animals unappealing. It's like eating a Xerox of something. I mean, would I be eating a real steak or just a copy of a steak? It reminds me of an episode of the Twilight Zone — the one where the guy's wife wasn't a real person. Would a copy of my wife be just the same as the real thing? Would I know the difference? After all, if Martians from outer space stole my wife and made an exact duplicate of her and sent that duplicate down to me, would I be able to tell that it was not her? And if I couldn't tell the copy from the real wife, then what's the difference?


The biotech industry claims that cloning allows breeders to do what they've always done — select the best animals from the herd for reproduction. Excuse me, but wasn't that the Nazis' goal? I guess the fact that we're only doing this to cows, sheep, and pigs for the purpose of food makes it all okay. Just what we need — a super race of pork.


The ethical question is troubling enough because I don't doubt for a moment that if science is able to create a "designer cow," eventually somebody, somewhere, sometime will start doing it with people. Remember that we live in the age of people obtaining cosmetic plastic surgery on a whim. This is the extreme makeover generation. A time of nose and boob jobs, collagen injections, performance enhancing drugs, fat suctioning, intestine tying, botox, hormone injections, and any number of other medical/scientific procedures which are performed regularly in order to satisfy one's personal vanity at any particular moment.


We are the culture of biological change for the sake of ego. What was that commercial tag line for G.E. years ago? "Better living through science." And wait until Madison Avenue gets a hold of the cloning thing. Don't you know that if the "in" look is, say Paris Hilton, that thousands upon thousands of cloned Paris Hiltons will be created in labs all over the world? That all by itself is a really scary thought and should give us all pause.


Putting the whole ethical issue aside, I still don't want to eat a copy of lamb chops, I want the real thing. And if that means that sometimes the chops will be tender and juicy and other times they may be a little tough, well, so be it. That's life. Or rather, that used to be life. When all the waitresses in all the restaurants start looking like Paris Hilton I guess cloned lamb chops will be the least of my worries.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

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© 2006, Greg Crosby

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