And golly, they're tasty.

Today Obama helped greatly to put science back on track in the US, by throwing into the ash heap of history Bush's moronic and despicable ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. That particular Bush-era stupidity was not just a sop to halfwit zealots, it was a crippling roadblock to a promising and highly competitive arena of basic medical research. Because Bush and his ilk believe that fertilized cells have tiny sparkling magical faerie-people inside them, biomedical research in the US got stuck in a holding pattern for eight years. Thankfully, we now have permission to land.

Bush and other vicious hypocrites who oppose embryonic stem cell research do so for reasons that have nothing to do with reality and everything to do with fanatical religious delusions. Embryonic stem cells may or may not be the best hope for curing cancer, Parkinson's disease and a host of other hideous ailments, but without basic research there is no way to find out. But even if eventually it is discovered that embryonic stem cell therapies are less effective than adult stem cell-based therapies, in the process of studying embryonic stem cells we can learn much more about how embryos develop... including how to prevent fetal deformities and developmental defects that ruin real - not theoretical - lives.

Religious kooks love to shriek and wail about the sanctity of life, as if every sperm really were sacred, but they apparently care nothing for actual, living people. Why should they? To them, life is a disposable preface, trivial in comparison to their psychomasturbatory delusions of eternal groveling before a pillar of highly demanding radiance. Anti-choice nutcases are unconcerned with the fact that all - as in all, meaning 100% - of embryos dissected for stem cell research in the US would never have been used to cook up a living human in the first place. Embryos for research come from the trashcan queues of fertility clinics. Because of stem cell research, thousands of fertilized, frozen cells that were destined for the garbage can be salvaged in the pursuit of disease cures. It's quite an easy logic problem: choice A = microscopic frozen cell clusters are destroyed in an autoclave, prior to being labeled as medical waste and thrown in a dumpster, or B = they are preserved for life-saving research that will make the world a better place. My, my... which to choose? Bible fascists tend to go with option A. Option B is for people who actually value human life, health and happiness.