Editorial

Telling it as it is!

Bring on the Clones!

Fertility specialists Panayiotos Zavos and Severino Antinoro this week defied international medical and ethical opinion and announced their plans to attempt human cloning!

Unlike Dolly the sheep which took 200 attempts to get right the idea of cloning human beings is both morally and ethically wrong and no doubt in the process will produce genetic freaks which will have to be destroyed.

Apparently over 2,000 women have volunteered for this which is wrong. Okay I have no problem with the concept of cloning if it was to help anything, but the idea of creating a carbon copy of anyone is plain and simply wrong and completely flies in the face of natural selection and our own identities and individualities.

More seriously is the amount of attempts it will take to produce the perfect human clone. Farm animals is one thing, human life is another.

When I read of this I thought back to the scene in Alien Resurrection in which the Ripley clone stumbles across a lab full of freaks that have gone wrong. If science fiction can make you feel ill think of what science fact will be like.

Bring on the Clones 2

On a lighter note, or should that be lightsabre note, George Lucas announced on Monday the title of his next Star Wars movie.

Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones, a homage to the space operas that George Lucas watched as a kid is scheduled for a May 2002 in the US.

Set 10 years after Episode I, Attack of the Clones marks the first appearance chronologically of Boba Fett and the start of the Clone Wars, as mentioned in the original Star Wars.

Although little is known about Attack of the Clones, there seems to be a positive vibe amongst the fans that this will be the big one. Personally I think this could be the best.

IRA go for decommissioning!

The IRA did what many people thought that they would never do and took the first step towards decommissioning their arms!

This is a historic step towards peace in Northern Ireland and I only hope that other such terrorist groups (from both sides) take their lead and decommission all of their weapons.

This war of terrorism has gone on for too long and weapons solve nothing as the saying goes "The pen is mightier than the the sword" and violence solves nothing.

Clinton/Bush, who as the real power!

This week Bill Clinton had signed a $12 million advance for his memoirs, while it turns out that since taking power George Dubya Bush has only spent 85% of his time doing his job.

Okay of that time in power Bush has spent 100% of that time being disliked by the rest of the world.

I say good luck to Bill Clinton and look forward to reading his book as for Bush the only book he could work on is a colouring book!

I'm sorry but Bush Jr looks and acts too much like his father. Here's a thought, is Dubya the first human (and I use that word in the broadest sense) clone?

Review: Jurassic Park 3

The film that I wanted to see last week but ended up seeing Cats and Dogs instead. Now I wish that I and waited for the Park!

Okay JP3 is not original, a bit (okay very) predictable, but as sequels go this is above standard.

Set again on the second island from JP2 The Lost World, Sam Neill (JP1) is tricked into going pack to Jurassic Park to rescue William H Macy and Tea Leoni's kid who accidentally crashed on to the island!

From the start you can tell the dino bait from the survivors and Director Joe Johnston makes this feel like a Jurassic Park movie with the help of John Williams original JP1 score.

The dinosaurs are excellent as usual and the winged dinosaurs make an excellent twist to the mix. Again the Raptors steal the show for pure frights.

JP3 has likable characters, great special effects and as summer movies go this is above the rest of this and recent years 'blockbusters'.

If they can continue to produce JP sequels like this I look forward to JP4.

Rating: ***.