Proposition 71 Becoming a Farcical Three Ring Circus

This article has pegged the ridiculous joke that Proposition 71 has quickly become. Conflicts of interest, no transparency, not even enough trained researchers to do the cloning that California citizens are borrowing $6-7 billion (including interest) to fund. Here is the key quote: “Proposition 71, already taking on the appearance of a three-ring circus of legislative uncertainty and confusion, nomadic litigation, and serial misrepresentation, with a sideshow of document withholding, took a big step towards becoming a chaotic farce on Friday, September 9, 2005, with the awarding of as-yet-unfunded stem cell research training grants by the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) to anonymous grantees through a process involving the serial recusal of panel members with undisclosed conflicts-of-interest.”

I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.

Dear Reader,

Can I be direct with you?

War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.

First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.

But we can’t do it without readers like you.

Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.


Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.

Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.

GIVE NOW

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Church in the Age of Therapy

Matthew Loftus

In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…

Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot

Anna Farrow

On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…

The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen

Mike Aquilina

Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…