PayPal became one of the first consumer-oriented Internet start-ups to go public since the dot-com bust, and it did so with notable success Not bad for a company that started out with a handful of people in 1999. Perhaps, a sign of things to come.

Researchers at Texas A&M University announced yesterday that they've successfully cloned a calico domestic shorthair named Rainbow - the first companion animal ever cloned. The picture on the left is the donor cat (the original) and the one on the right is the clone ... nicknamed CC or better known as "copy cat" or "carbon copy" by the promoters of this scientific marvel. But, I was thinking that CC could also mean "cha-ching" for the company that sponsored the study as it seeks to get exclusive licensing for this pet cloning technology. Not for nothing, but the cloned cat looks potentially dangerous. I wouldn't mess with it.

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a few weeks ago, In his State of the Union address, President Bush delivered a passionate plea for all Americans to devote 4,000 hours, or two years, to volunteer service. It may seem like a daunting commitment, but spread out over one's lifetime it is a challenge that all Americans can meet.

Click here to see how easy it is to answer the President's call to action

His Writings Were Protests
LANGSTON HUGHES was in the seventh grade when he staged his first social protest using a few well-chosen words to make his point.

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It appears that trouble is calling for Psychic "Miss Cleo" Once again ... "The static on the psychic lines Miss Cleo promotes increased significantly Thursday: A federal agency announced a consumer-protection suit against the companies she represents". Methinks that a psychic should be able to see these things coming ... ya y'know?



Here are two new pieces on the growing phenomenon of weblogging - from Fortune and PCMag.

Testing a town's values ... America's values

The uproar over a group of Kansas high school students who plagiarized parts of their botany project from the Internet has caused an angry debate .

..."It all started with a teacher's finding that 28 of 118 Piper High sophomores had stolen sections of their botany project off the Internet. The students received zeroes and faced failing the semester. But after parents complained to the school board, the teacher, Christine Pelton, was ordered to raise the grades, prompting her resignation. Now, the community is angrily pointing fingers as they debate right and wrong, crimes and consequences, citizenship and democracy".

I think that if we want to create a future for our children where the idea of integrity, good citizenship are paramount then we need to not only teach those values but also live them by example. There's great value to be derived from independent thinking and the formulation of one's own ideas. I'm not sure whether it's laziness that prompts this sort of behavior or a pervasive attitude of instant gratification that permeates today's social atmosphere.

Perhaps there are no easy answers here and the issue is debatable. But I'm certain that if America is going to have a competitive edge in the global economy we have to focus on the standards and expectations that we create for future generations.

Who would have thought that a three-hour epic about elves, dwarfs, wizards and small, hairy-footed hobbits that is just the first chapter in a trilogy of films would dominate the 74th annual Academy Award nominations? New line cinema took a risk in making the film "Lord of the Rings". Many naysayers thought that this might have a been a foolish move, but looks as if it payed off.

Sometimes in life, you have to take risks and be true to your gut feeling. It may not always work in your favor but there's value and plenty of experience to be gained from doing as Robert Frost suggest in his poem "The road not taken"

"...Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference".

Some people will do anything to sell a bottle of wine. Take the company behind Infierno, a red wine launched a few months ago with the slogan "lipopener" and a website called Oral satisfaction.com "The wine is perfectly matched for intimate sharing", it promises the viewer, with a lascivious wink. "It will loosen the tongues of men and women alike." In other words, buy this and you're guaranteed a lay.

So for Valentine's Day, what do you use as a seduction wine? There are two schools of thought here. One favours quantity; the other quality. The quantity approach has obvious drawbacks, most of them physical and few of them pleasant. I'd recommend quality every time. No one likes to be thought of as "cheap" or a "one minute man" as a result of an alcohol induced lack of control.

Personally, I recommend a bottle of Pinot noir. Like love itself, the fickleness of Pinot can break your heart, but at its best it's the most sensual, life-enhancing grape variety of them all. I can't promise that this will seduce your partner on Feb. 14th however, That will have to come from the lover in YOU.

New York Times reporter Frank Bruni has just written a biography of President Geroge W. Bush that claims Bush is [Unfamiliar with Pop culture.] The book, [Ambling Into History] goes on sale March 5. Hey, Bush is one of the coolest guys out there. How can you not like the guy when he is an Austin Powers fan? That qualifies for a reelection.

I've been hearing rumours about R Kelly and this sex scandal that he is alleged to have taken a part in ... say it ain't so . I'm also recently finding out from reading this same article that he was illegally married to the late Aaliyah (although for a very short time) when she was only 15, but the marriage was quickly annuled when her parents found out.
"More recently, Kelly scored attention for his single from the Ali soundtrack, "The World's Greatest." And just last month, he and rapper Jay-Z announced plans to team up for a tour and album, The Best of Both Worlds, hitting stores in March.
Drama has a way of popping up just when a celebrity is at the height of his or her career. And, then again, the wheel has a way of turning where what goes around comes right back around. We certainly wish him well.

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Jhonny Chochran didn't forget where he came from. I didn't forget where I came from either, the only thing is, I didn't get to leave yet.

Former Enron Chairman Ken lay will "assert his right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions when he appears before Congress under subpoena this week". Why doesn't that surprise me. (Via the AP)

"The brain is more like the Internet. Just as clogged phone lines or misrouted signals can slow down or lock up a computer, misplaced molecules and malfunctioning nerve cells can slow down, confuse or lock up the mind".

Biologist are figuring out how cells and molecules interact in our brains and how in some cases can turn things upside down and make us, mentally ill. But I'm not sure if I'd buy that whole internet/brain analogy. the nervous system maybe ... That locking up of the mind stuff is a scary proposition. I wonder if restart procedure will be suggested? I'm sure that ctrl alt del would be out of the question.