Notable News Worth Following

I don't claim to follow the news very closely, so the announcement today by Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) took me quite by surprise (Senate speech here). He has thrown his support behind a bill that would restore federal funding for human stem cell research, which is an attempt by Congress to overturn President Bush's Executive Order in 2001 that restricted such funding. Since the President has already promised a veto on the legislation, there are those that will chalk up the move by Frist as political posturing as he looks to launch a 2008 presidential bid. More significantly this signals a potential challenge to the ultra-conservative christian minority that has the party in its grips. From the scientific standpoint, this will finally allow scientists in the United States to begin to catch up with countries like South Korea that have moved forward with research. Indeed, with potentially so much money at stake and the possibility of large numbers of jobs to be gained, it's ironic that the Republicans would look past money just to stand on principle. Let's wait and see.