Category Archives: Cloning

You are at level one of crazy dog parent when you throw your pooch a birthday or bark mitzvah. You are at level two when your dog has more clothes than you do. And you are at level 100 when you store your dogs skin samples and spend $50,000 (39,000) to clone it.

David and Alicia Tschirhart are level 100 pet parents. The Californian couple made headlines recently for cloning Marley, their pet Labrador. Marley was an extremely good boy; he once fought off a rattlesnake, possibly saving a pregnant Alicias life. When Marley died from cancer, his owners had a hard time letting him go, so they didnt: they used a pet cloning company to create a genetically identical puppy called Ziggy. They have the same personality, they play the same, they favour the same toys, Alicia told reporters.

I didnt grow up with pets, apart from a short-lived stick insect (regular readers may remember poor Fatima). So there was a time when I would have thought anyone who cloned a dog was barking mad. I would probably have been holier than thou about how irresponsible it was to spend a fortune genetically reproducing an animal. I would have wrung my hands over celebrities such as Barbra Streisand, who cloned her dog Samantha and then had the facsimiles pose at the grave of their mother.

That was in the years BC (before canine). Now that I have a dog, I understand completely. If money were no object I would 100% clone Rascal, my tiny rescue mutt. Rascal has never saved me from a rattlesnake and, to be honest, I doubt he would. He would probably just sniff the snake while it killed me. But he has saved me in other ways and I would do anything to extend my time with him. It would be a doggone shame not to.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

Excerpt from:

I would clone my dog and Im not ashamed to admit it - The Guardian

One of the biggest surprises to come out ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerwas its controversial revelation that Rey wasnt actually nobody. But less surprising is that theStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization continues to give us information about the movie that we never asked for. The latest is another whopper about Reys identity or rather, her fathers identity.

TheStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novelization reveals that Reys father is actually a failed Palpatine clone, thus ending the months-long discussion over what woman would actually let a wrinkled, undead Palpatine father her child.

Youve probably heard the revelation that the Palpatine we see inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker isnt the exact same Palpatine we saw in the prequel and original trilogies. Before his demise inReturn of the Jedi, Palpatine transferred his consciousness into a clone body, which led to the decaying form we ultimately meet inThe Rise of Skywalker. When Rey meets her grandfather for the first time, she passes by other unfinished clones, which means he had tried this process before. Little does she know, the last clone attempt was her own father.

During the scene when Rey pretends to take part in the Sith Ritual on Exegol to trick Palpatine, she has visions of her grandfathers past. In this vision, the novelization describes (via ScreenRant) that Palpatine thrust his consciousnessinto a clone body, but the transfer was imperfect and the members of the Sith Eternal worked to engineer a new vessel for Palpatines essence. One of these attempts was labeleda useless, powerless failurewho wasa not-quite-identical clone. That failed clone would still manage to live on, escape Exegol, meet Jodie Comer, and become Reys father.

This isnt the first time that cloning has produced offspring in the galaxy far, far away. When Jango Fett agreed to be cloned for the Republicans army on Kamino, he received as part of his payment an unaltered clone who aged normally and became the iconic Boba Fett. And of course, theres the former Supreme Leader Snoke, who also ended up being a clone. No word yet on whether he is anyones grandfather.

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'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Novelization Reveals Rey's Father is a Failed Palpatine Clone - /FILM

How is it that February had one extraday this year and yet it seems like I still lost a couple of weeks out of themonth?

Honestly, it feels as though I missedout on some things because I felt they were still several days away when inreality, they had already happened.

It was Saturday, Feb. 29 which wasfull of events for me to cover in Escalon when I realized that somehow, theRead Across America event to celebrate Dr. Seusss birthday had been observedthe day before, on Friday. I was driving by Dent Elementary School which hadsent me an invitation to be a guest reader when that fact hit me. Having beena reader in the past it would have been fun to do so again, and I always,always get to at least a couple of the Escalon schools to cover the event. Butnot this year.

So what happened? Just too much elsegoing on and not marking the date on my calendar as soon as I got theinvitation to read. It just quietly slid right past me. We also were wrappingup two other outside publication projects on Friday (yes, we routinely work onmore than just our three weekly newspapers) so there wasnt much time duringthe day for anything else.

It left me feeling sad, though, as Ilook forward to many of these school site events.

Saturday, however, was a day ofcelebration for Escalon, as the high school observed its 100th anniversary andthere was plenty of other good stuff happening as well, including home baseballgames and the fun color run first thing in the morning.

Sunday, as I picked up a few groceries,I ran into a friend who said she was surprised she hadnt seen me covering anevent that occurred Saturday in Oakdale. As I shared that I was already busywith three events in Escalon but I would have gotten to Oakdale if I could have,she simply asked: You mean you havent been cloned yet?

We both chuckled over that and I toldher I would check with my boss to see if that is something we should look into.So far, there has been no cloning; I just keep up a pretty hectic pace.

Also on Sunday, I was able to take acouple of hours out of the day to be entertained by the version of ToyStories put on at the Oakdale High School theater by the Drama Department, asort of compilation of all four movies in the series. Their production kept thoseof us in the matinee audience laughing and there were lots of standoutperformances.

Definitely a whirlwind weekend butpacked with plenty of fun and work that didnt necessarily seem like work.

Now we dive into March and personally,even though it would wreak havoc on spring sports schedules, I really hope weget some rainy weather to make up for what was nearly a precipitation-freemonth of February. There has already been talk of the drought word so Im notsure any of us would mind a few rainy days over the next few months if we couldavoid that situation.

We are also now entering the zone wherethings seem to start happening fast. Once the holidays are over and we get intospringtime, it is almost like time itself goes into overdrive, at least in ourbusiness. One day its early March and the next, we are getting ready for highschool graduation ceremonies and people are putting in time off requests forsummer vacation.

Between now and then, though, there willbe plenty to both keep us busy and to fill the pages of the paper from theOakdale Rodeo to Easter egg hunts to the Chocolate Festival and Relay For Life.

And, I am actually already thinking ofgetting away for a bit of a summer vacation this year myself.

Well, if that cloning thing comesthrough. Stay tuned.

MargJackson is editor of The Escalon Times, The Oakdale Leader and The RiverbankNews. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 847-3021.

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Send In The Clones - Escalon Times

Even as banks are bolstering security at multiple levels, they are yet to plug significant loopholes especially in securing deposits and preventing fraud. In a major scam unearthed in Kochi, unidentified fraudsters siphoned off crores of rupees from various nationalised banks using cloned cheques last year.

More than Rs 2.6 crore were siphoned off in five transactions from Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Canara Bank. It is suspected that a racket based out of north India could be behind the fraud. It is suspected that more banks may have fallen prey to fraud in this manner.

Modus operandi

Preliminary assessments revealed the fraud was committed by printing exact copies of the cheque leaves issued to account holders. Their signatures could also have been forged.

The money was withdrawn from the accounts in bank branches in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra by people from these same regions. However, the cheque was given for clearing in Kochi and nearby areas.

When money is withdrawn from the account, the account owner gets a message. However, none of the affected accounts in this case belonged to individuals. These are rather owned by institutions such as colleges, schools and societies, and thus the messages likely went unnoticed. These institutions usually check the account statements periodically.

From Faridabad to Kadavanthra

The fraud happened during August-September 2019.

The cheque issued in the name of a company for Rs 43,10,119 from the account of a consumer forum at the Punjab National Bank's Faridabad branch in Haryana was deposited in the drop box of the Central Bank's Kadavanthra branch.

The cheque was passed by the clearing house in Chennai. The money transferred was withdrawn from the account in the following days. This account owner is yet to be traced.

The consumer forum approached the bank after a month, pointing out that no cheque was issued for Rs 43 lakh. The cheque book was also presented, taking the lid off the cheque leaf cloning fraud.

In a similar manner, three cheques of the Canara Bank were used to withdraw Rs 30 lakh, Rs 40 lakh and Rs 40 lakh on various days.

Rs 1.10 crore was siphoned off from the Central Bank. The scam was unearthed after a cheque of Rs 31 lakh from the Union Bank was detected to be fake at Canara Bank's Aluva branch. Then the Canara Bank general manager sent a circular on the fraud to various branches on December 23.

Whodunnit?

It is not known whether any bank staff had colluded with the fraudsters and given details of the money in the accounts and the signatures of the account holders. Nor is it clear whether the banks have apprised the Reserve Bank of India of the fraud. The role of institutions that print cheque books on outsourcing basis is also under the scanner.

(This story was originally published in onmanorama)

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Cheque cloning in Kochi: How north Indian racket scammed banks of Rs 2.6 cr - THE WEEK

Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo. (Photo : Moeletsi Mabe / Sunday Times)

So thoroughly have South Africas security and intelligence services been corrupted and repurposed that if they were an ailing person in need of psychological diagnosis, one would immediately offer pathological liar.

And so we must treat information that the cellphones of State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo and her deputy, Zizi Kodwa, as well as those of several other ministry officials, had been cloned, with the prerequisite caution.

So too reports that an undisclosed sum of money, as well as classified documents, had been stolen from the safe of the State Security Offices in Pretoria in January in what is believed to have been an inside job.

That is what unfortunately happens when state institutions are unconstitutionally repurposed, plundered, corrupted and weaponised as political tools in factional battles.

The security needs of the South African Republic play second fiddle to those who have climbed the greasy pole of politics and personal power, and this is especially so in the murky and unaccountable world that passes for South African intelligence.

The phone cloning story first surfaced on 26 February 2020, in Independent Group titles. The incident was later confirmed by department spokesperson Mava Scott who told News24 that the matter had been reported to the Gauteng SAPS, which had allocated high-profile investigators to look into the matter.

On the surface, this would appear to be perfectly reasonable until one pauses to grasp for logic and to ask the question: Why take it to the SAPS? Surely the State Security Agency has its own counter-intelligence capacity?

Until you realise that its own counter-intelligence capacity might not be on the books at all and that the Special Operations Unit (SOU), headed by Zumas spy Thulani Dlomo and its 186 rogue agents have still not been rounded up by law enforcement agencies.

This is despite evidence to the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture and the findings of the High-Level Panel Review report on state security which found the SOU was being run as a private, parallel and unconstitutional unit reporting only to Jacob Zuma while paid for by the citizens.

In fact, it was the inspector-general of intelligence himself who revealed, during a conversation with the public protector, that about 186 rogue SSA agents were still out there somewhere, operating merrily, unaccountable to the SSA or anyone else. They had access to safe houses stuffed to the rafters with cash.

So, what do we know about the phone cloning?

The lore so far is that a message appeared to have been sent from Kodwas mobile phone to other staffers in the department. It is an important detail as these are ministry and not SSA staff.

Kodwa has insisted he did not send the message and it was this that led to the discovery that the phones of the ministers and officials had been cloned. Of course, it would shed a tiny shard of light should Deputy Minister Kodwa share the message sent from his phone. It would provide a vital clue as to the intention of the cloners.

When the message was sent and how the cloning of the ministers phones, as well as that of other officials, was discovered would also help to unravel the tight knot of smoke and mirrors.

But perhaps something is being pre-empted here?

Perhaps, in time, some sort of message will surface and when it does Kodwa will be able to respond whether this is/was the message sent from his cloned phone.

The most baffling question is, why hand the matter to the SAPS when the SSA should surely have some sort of relatively reliable counter-intelligence capacity despite the deep rot? Are there no ethical members who can be relied on?

Maybe not.

Experts in the field are in agreement that once suspicions have been raised that a phone or device has been cloned the best and most logical course would be to keep it quiet, set a trap and bust the snooper.

Detective work 101.

One would imagine that the Ministry of State Security and its staff would have sophisticated encryption software on their government-issued phones. Whoever it was that allegedly cloned the phones themselves must have been in possession of sophisticated systems.

Which points to the rogue SOU and Dlomo, with the SOUs immense capacity built up over years.

So, are Dlodlo and Kodwa the targets of a disinformation campaign?

While Dlodlo came out in a full-throated support of ANC SG Ace Magashule in 2018, she is known to be flexible.

Dlodlo has been in reported conflict with SSA domestic branch head Mahlodi Muofhe. The SSA acting head, Loyiso Jafta, too is viewed as being a Thuma Mina acolyte.

There are those who are of the opinion that the High-Level Panel Review report did not go far enough. Sure, it exposed the whole shadow world of Zumas private army of spies who blew billions in taxpayers money, but the institution itself should have been disbanded

It has been a long time coming.

We should not only blame Zuma for the mess which continues to place South Africas national security at risk every day.

As Professor Jane Duncan noted in her 2018 book Stopping the Spies Constructing and resisting the surveillance state in South Africa, the rot is not episodic but systemic. The illegal spying on domestic political groupings as well as anyone else in the republic has virtually been normalised for more than 20 years.

Duncan notes that the downhill trajectory began around 2003 when the Thabo Mbeki presidency required an expansion of the NIAs mandate, resulting in a directive that included political and economic intelligence.

In the case of political intelligence, the NIA was to focus on the strengths and the weaknesses of political formations, their constitutions and plans, political figures and their role in governance, said Duncan.

By 2004, the intelligence service had ballooned in size and personnel and accounted for an unsustainable 74% of the total domestic intelligence budget.

In 2005, signs emerged that intelligence operatives were becoming embroiled in the factional battles in the ANC: a problem that was proved to exist by a commission of inquiry which partly blamed the culture of secrecy in the intelligence services as the problem.

These are dangerous times.

A tipping point will soon be reached as the vast, deep and dangerous network of corrupt officials most of whom belong to the ruling party across all government departments are exposed and their pipelines to unlimited illicit funds are slowly being shut off in an attempt to bring South Africa back from the brink.

In the meantime, always remember, where there is smoke, there are mirrors, and often a raging fire. DM

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Spy vs Spy: cloned phones, break-ins and rogue agents all in a days work at the State Security central - Daily Maverick

Phish rang in 2020 to a sold-out crowd at New York CitysMadison Square Garden like theyve done a dozen times before. While they have played other New Years Eve shows outside of the Big Apple over the years, no place feels quite as much like home as the Garden. The newest decades gag did not see the band pull off a midnight-to-sunrise set, a runaway golf cart marathon, a JEMP truck ride, or hot dog flight, but it was the third set that fans new and old will remember forever.

Looking back to previous Garden parties, the 12/31 calendar date does not typically top the other nights of the run in terms of musical exploration, expansive jams, or massive bust-outs, but that doesnt stop Phish from being unapologetically Phish at the transition of each new year.

Following their stellar, jam-filled 12/30 show on Monday night, the band took the stage loose and excited to have fun as the Disney sample from 2014s Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House Halloween set blared through the arena. The Martian Monster opener was followed by Buried Alive in its customary early-first set position. Digging further back into their massive repertoire, Trey Anastasio shined as Phish continued to get this show on the road with a sing-along AC/DC Bag.

The World Most Famous Arena in the central part of Manhattan was treated to a lengthier-than-usual Halleys Comet next, complete with an impressive light display by designer Chris Kuroda. Since Comet returned to orbit in 2009, it hasnt been given the improv treatment fans of earlier Phish years enjoyed, but Tuesday night was another story as Mike Gordon and Page McConnell developed a funky synth-bass groove that eventually morphed into Prince Caspian.

A standard, high-energy Sparkle and a short but potent Axilla led to the first banter of the antics-filled night. All four band members continued the hit in the head with a pan story tangent from the 12/30/19 show, adding a new layer to the true tale. After Storytime Trey amusingly placed the pan story version of himself in a hallucinated recreation of the classic Steven King movie, Carrie, Trey and Page joked that they were fuzzy on the rest of the details of the strange saga.

It was Gordon who finally chimed in on the saga of the pan with a useful new insight: You know, Im starting to figure something out here, Mike hypothesized. Its a different kind of pan! Its the panflute. Who was the guy from the TV commercials that played the pan flute?

Oh, I think, are you saying Zamfir? Fishman offered. I remember that guy! He continued, And there was a weird thing about that guy. That, uh, I think the guy died, but if you say his name, you can conjure him. All you gotta do is say his name, hes got one of those magical names. Fishman then put that theory to the test, calling out the pan flutists name. As he did, haunting pan flute melodies and TV infomercial audio began to play over the sound system. Just like that, Zamfir (a.k.a. tour manager Richard Glasgow), ambled onstage with his pan flute. Yes, it was just as strange as it sounds. Weird sh*t happens when you hit me in the head with that pan, Fishman confirmed. This is amazing, added Trey, doing his best to hold back his laughter.

Phish Zamfir Story 12/31/19

[Video: monihampton]

To finish the whacky story and introduce Maze, McConnell utilized the THX Deep Note effect introduced with much hilarity at the 11/30/19 show in Providence, Rhode Island. The Chairman of the Boards took the spotlight during the rocking Maze, jumping from organ to grand piano before Anastasio kicked off an always-welcome Fluffhead. Rise/Come Together closed the interesting first set, giving fans a few moments to discuss the Zamfir story and sit-in with appropriate confusion.

Punch You in the Eye opened the second set for the first time since the standout July 19th, 2017 rendition and immediately got the floor of the arena shaking once again. Wolfmans Brother was funkified by a juicy Clavinet-bass groove that Anastasio used as a launchpad for his intricate riffing. While the experimentation didnt exceed the 10-minute mark, Tuesday nights Wolfmans once again contained a dark improv section, as it has throughout 2019.

An excellent Light kicked off the strongest portion of the set with a synthy, ethereal section that moved into a heavy peak before Anastasio pulled the plug and dove into Twist. Gordon plucked away to create dank bass undertones that paired nicely with Fishmans choppy drum fills. The guitarist summoned the spirit of Jimi Hendrix and developed a dirty riff reminiscent of Foxy Lady as the entire band built upon the sinister Twist to combat the tranquil Light that came before it, completing a two-song segment thats surely worth revisiting.

Soul Planet reminded New Years Eve veterans of the 2017-2018 run inside the same venue, where a massive pirate ship brought the glowing-wristed fans into January 2018. A danceable, funky breakdown in Soul Planet was short-lived as the band transitioned into a relatively standard Mercury and a faster-than-usual, dynamically varied Possum to close out the second of three sets.

As the lights came up for setbreak number two, a swarm of stagehands descended upon the stage, presumably to set up for whatever shenanigans were coming in set three. Except Wait, are they putting everything away? Sure looks that way. As setbreak wore on, the crew quickly packed up all the gear on stage, leaving only a few nondescript black boxes and a chorus of confused queries of but what are they going to play on? echoing throughout the crowd as the clock approached midnight.

As the lights went down to beckon the final act of the nightthe stage still conspicuously emptythe voices of the band members began to emit from the PA. Hello? Hey, Trey? These microphones are not on, are they? asked Page. Nope, Treys voice responded. Our microphones are not on. No one in the Garden can hear a single word we say.

As the Garden roared with laughter, Page continued, unaware that the crowd could hear him, I am so excited right now, I cannot contain myself. I cant believe we are about to walk on stage and perform an entire set ofjazz ballads, a cappella, for our New Years extravaganza. Added a giddy Trey, 25 years into our career at MSG, we arefinally gonna give the people what they want and walk on stage and do an entire set of jazz a cappella ballads for our New Years set. Its gonna be perfect. The crowd cheered and groaned as they crossed their fingers that this was, indeed, a joke.

Fishman continued, That is, provided that Zamfir does not show up at the last second and hit us with a pan. Because whenthat has happened in the past strange things have occurred.

You know what I think, Mikes body-less voice added. I think thats him right there walking toward us! So weird. The requisite sound effects ensued as the Garden heard the pan flute master once again accost The Phish with his pan.

With that, the members of Phish slowly strode onstage in peculiar outfits as the piano intro to Send In The Clowns began to play. Fishman donned an inverted version of his ubiquitous muumuu (red dress, blue donuts), while the remainder of the band sported solid-color outfits and headset microphones: Page in blue, Trey in green, and Mike in yellow. True to their word, the four colorful musicians started into a (mostly) a cappella rendition of the classic number from the 1973 Stephen Sondheim musical, A Little Night Music. So theyre actually doing this, huh?

However, as Send In The Clowns continued, fans quickly became aware that something strange was afoot. With excitement, Trey altered the lyrics of the song to Send In TheClones. The rest of the lyrics proved to be telling, as well. File away me here at last on the ground, you in mid-air, one who keeps tearing around, one who cant move, making my entrance again with my usual flair and well maybe next year for later

As the band reached the end of Send In the Clones, Trey emphasized the songs final lines. Where are the clones? There ought to be clones! Send in the clones! Send in the clones! Send in the clones!

Phish Send In The Clones 12/31/19

[Video: monihampton]

After a moment of suspense, the band cleared the stage once again, only to reappear shortly after when four free-hanging, colored platforms filled with colored instruments matching the bands outfits descended from the ceiling. As Phish launched into First Tube while suspended in mid-air, dozens of clones of each memberwith outfits identical to those worn by the band, down to shaggy, red wigs worn by the Trey clones and the bald-spotted wigs for the Page clonesflooded the empty stage underneath the floating musicians.

The Phish clones would remain onstage throughout the set, performing elaborate, synchronized dance numbers and choral flourishes as their originators played overhead, rising and falling in time much like the lights on Kurodas rig. Later, theyd pull out a set of long, thin mirrors to reflect the stage lightingeffectively cloning Kuroda, as well.

As the final minutes of 2019 ticked away, the platforms were lowered back to normal stage level while the clones constructed appropriately colored risers behind the band out of the mysterious black cases left onstage at setbreak. The colorful Phish clones served as the backing choir the customary New Years countdown and ensuing Auld Lang Syne and balloon drop before helping the still-floating band usher in 2020 with a Sand extravaganza. The clones continued to dance and sing through the theatrical Sand as the bands platforms lifted and droppedthat is, except for Anastasios. Strangely, he had stopped moving with the rest of the band

Phish w/ Clones First Tube > Auld Lang Syne 12/31/19

[Video: monihampton]

A sense of anxiety soon began to set in for the Garden crowd. Was a clone going to replace Trey for good? Was he actually in danger? Was this all part of the gag? Phish loves to elicit that oh-so-familiar what the f*ck is going on? reaction from their fans, but even the band shared this sentiment as the reality of the situation set in. As the rest of the bands platforms dropped to stage level, Trey remained conspicuously suspended. The green-suited guitarist was, indeed, stuckthe band here at last on the ground, Trey in mid-air.

Heres where things got hairy. A long pause ensued as the MSG crew tried to figure out how to get Trey down while Anastasio no doubt reflected on the Murphys Law situation going on before his eyes: There he was, just after midnight on New Years Eve, at the dawn of a decade, in a green suit, at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the bands first MSG show with an elaborate, aerial stuntand his sh*t just broke in mid-air. The situation had moved beyond gag status. This was real. Trey was stuck hanging precariously above the Garden crowd with half a set still left to play. What in the world do you do from here?

After several minutes (which felt like an eternity) of waiting nervously, Trey began to cautiously joke about his current predicament. Well, he said with sincerity, I guess, if Im about to fall to my death, I might as well tell you guys all how much I love you. So much! At least this is gonna be one of the great rock and roll deaths that youll all be a part of. Kind of always wanted to go out with a bang, so

Fishman tried to add some levity to the situation, joking that I think youd just get maimed from there its not high enough for death. Dont worry. Death dont hurt very long But the comic relief did little to quell the mounting nervousness that permeated the Garden. Even Treys quip about how this would be a good time for him to do one of thoseEddie Vedder crowd divesyou guys will catch me, right? did little to ease the tension.

As fans will remember, the 12/30 Pan Story ended with Trey joking about how he felt like he had walked himself out onto the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go. As the New Years gag born from this bizarre tale went further off the rails with each moment Trey remained stuck, that imagery became all too real.

After receiving word from in his earpiece that they were not, in fact, going to be able to get him down, Trey cautiously decided that the show must go on: Hey Carm, Im just gonna play it from up here. F*ck it, just leave me up here.

With that decision, Trey cautiously started into Drift While Youre Sleeping, the Phish clones below continuing their choreographed antics. Its probably worth noting that, despite the admirable, rock-and-roll character of choosing to continue, all four band members were notably timid throughout the song. With Phish, you can never really be sure whats real and whats a joke, but the truth shined through in the music. Both Trey and the clones below his faulty platform were potentially in actual danger, and it took the band more than a few minutes to shift their focus from that fact back to the music being played.

Despite the understandable timidness, the clone-assisted set continued admirably with Whats The Use?. While clearly planned ahead of time (see: elaborately choreographed dancing), this song choice felt cosmically appropriate. Whats the use in worrying about how Treys going to get down? Were here, were plugged in, and weve got a wild show planned. May as well go for it.

Its also worth mentioning the clearly apparent difference in Treys body language and playing as his best friends and bandmates continued to rise and fall as planned. When he was suspended solo, he was noticeably reserved, but each time Page, Fish, and Mike rose to his level, he seemed to momentarily regain his full confidence. Plenty of strange things have happened at Phish shows over 35+ years. When Trey was alone above the stage, he seemed to feel exposed, even kneeling to play at points to help keep his balance on the edge of this cliff. But as soon as his bandmates were at his side, he was ready to conquer any obstacle in his path. If thats not Phish in a nutshell, I dont know what is.

The clones cleared the stage as the rest of the bands platforms rose to meet Treys above the stage for You Enjoy Myself. While the band members remained necessarily stationary on their platforms, the Phish clones returned to act out their usual YEM anticsfrom Mike and Trey clones bouncing on trampolines to Trey clones dancing to the Mike bass solo section. As the band moved into the Boy, Man, God, Sh*t section, the aerial guitarist put a noticeable emphasis on the Sh*t!, a tensely amusing nod to his sticky situation.

Phish w/ Clones You Enjoy Myself 12/31/19

[Video: LazyLightning55a]

Unusually, the highlight of this YEM turned out to be the vocal jam, as the clone choir helped Trey conduct some call-and-response melodies with the crowd before eventually winding up in a clone theme of sorts to close things out.

We can assume that, at this point, the band had planned to exit the stage for an encore break. However, with Trey still stuck hanging over the Garden, Phish did what they do best: they improvised.

Thanks, everybody, thank you, a sheepishly giggling Trey announced, Okay, were gonna do something very strange here, but thats cool. Its fun. We just walked off, were back on. This is the encore, and then all four us are gonna watch you guys leave, and then were just gonna stay up here in the airuntil next year! Its the encore!

With that, Phish launched into the Tweezer Reprise that had gone missing on 12/30 as the clones once again took the stage for their final numbera climactic ending to a crazy set, to be sure. But for the crowd, the show was not over. No, we werent leaving until we were sure that Trey was safely on the ground.

As Mike, Page, and Fishman descended to the ground after Tweeprise and started to walk backstage, Trey laughed nervously. You guys are leaving me? What the hell?!

Bye, Trey, Fishman laughed. See you next year, added Page as a helpless Trey continued to laugh at his ongoing predicament.

As Trey continued to dangle, he took to his guitar to pass the time for a little (necessary) bonus improv, crafting an off-the-cuff ditty about how its time to leave. Its a whole new year, and someones coming to rescue me at least I hope so. This is pretty strange, but its kind of cool, I kinda like it up here, theyre gonna rescue me, goodbye, goodbye 2019, lets have a big cheerfor the rescue squad! he sang.

The crowd continued to cheerone could argue, louder than they did for any of the planned NYE anticsas the stage crew mounted Fishmans drum platform and rose to Treys assistance. They placed a bridge over to Treys platform and guided him over to the working lift to help him down. Once again, with nothing but time and an instrument in front of him, Trey sat down behind Fishmans kit and beat out an improvised Rescue Squad chant as he finallythankfullydescended to safety.

The Rescue Squad Saves Trey 12/31/19

[Video: LazyLightning55a]

[Video: monihampton]

The Phish Clones New Years gag was meant to be all fun, games, and spectacle, but after its precarious malfunction, it took on a more sincere air of significance. As we watched Trey dangle from the ceiling, fans throughout the Garden realized their deep love for this man and this band all over again. You cant just clone Trey Anastasio. Sure, its fun to see them do elaborate things like this, but everyone in the hallowed venue seemed to telepathically agree: Wed trade this admittedly amazing spectacle to ensure this mans safety and longevity any day of the week (or year, or decade). Now that hes down, however, were looking forward to the inevitable tsunami of memes, jokes, and future antics born from this stunt gone awry.

So goes the Phish Welcome to 2020. Lets maybe keep the New Years stunts on the ground this year.

Check out a gallery from 2019s Phish New Years Eve show below courtesy of photographerChris Capaci.

[Review by Ben Boivin & Andrew OBrien]

Setlist: Phish | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | 12/31/19

Set 1: Martian Monster, Buried Alive, AC/DC Bag, Halleys Comet > Prince Caspian > Sparkle > Axilla, Maze, Fluffhead > Rise/Come Together

Set 2: Punch You in the Eye, Wolfmans Brother > Light > Twist > Soul Planet > Mercury > Possum

Set 3: Send in the Clowns[1], First Tube, Auld Lang Syne, Sand, Drift While Youre Sleeping, Whats the Use?, You Enjoy Myself

Encore: Tweezer Reprise, Rescue Squad[2]

[1] Phish debut, with lyrics changed to Send in the Clones; a cappella[2] Debut; only Trey.

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Phish Sends In The Clones As They Float Above MSG, Rescue Squad Saves Trey On NYE [Photos/Videos] - Live for Live Music

As pressure on fees continues across the financial services industry, financial advisers would be wise to never assume that theres not a cheaper version of the same product.

Sometimes that can mean finding cheaper versions of the same index-tracking fund within the same fund family, as will soon be possible for three exchange-traded funds offered by State Street Global Advisors.

According to recent prospectus filings, SSGA is converting three index ETFs to turn them into cheaper versions of three existing index ETFs. This means savvy advisers will be able to save their clients some fees just by swapping out ticker symbols on any new allocations from clients who have been investing in the more expensive versions.

Starting Jan. 24, the plans call for cheaper but identical versions of the $306 billion SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), the $19 billion SPDR S&P Midcap 400 (MDY), and the $1.4 billion SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap (SLY).

The cheaper version of SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 and has an expense ratio of 9 basis points, will be SPDR Portfolio Large Cap (SPLG), a $3.5 billion ETF that charges 3 basis points.

SPLG currently tracks an index of 700 large-cap stocks, but it will start tracking the S&P 500 with the change.

The clone for MDY, which charges 24 basis points, will be SPDR Portfolio Midcap (SPMD), a $1.9 billion fund that charges 5 basis points.

And the clone for SLY, which charges 15 basis points, will be SPDR Portfolio SmallCap (SPSM), a $1.6 billion ETF charging 5 basis points.

SSGA is currently waiving two-thirds of SLYs expense ratio to bring it in line with SPSM.

Matt Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas Research at SSGA, said the clone ETFs are designed for longer-term investors who might not be as concerned about the liquidity issues that could plague smaller funds.

He added that some large institutional investors and active traders will overlook higher fees on funds in exchange for their sizable options markets and liquidity profiles.

Some investors also like the ability to be anonymous when executing larger block orders, Mr. Bartolini said. What were doing is providing products with a purpose. Its more a function of providing choice to investors. You might hold SPLG for a strategic allocation and SPY in your liquidity sleeve.

Thats probably a handy tip for multibillion-dollar institutional traders. But for most financial advisers, the cheaper version will work just fine.

In terms of tradability, it would be difficult to do better than SPYs average daily trading volume of 47.8 million shares.

But at more than 708,000 shares, SPLGs average dialing trading volume is plenty high for most financial advisory clients.

Anything under 100,000 shares in a day is something an investor wants to be mindful of, as long as your trade size can easily get executed in a given day based on historical trading volume, said Todd Rosenbluth, director of mutual fund and ETF research at CFRA.

Tighter spreads are a byproduct of liquidity and trading volume, he added.

There is some precedent for this kind of fund cloning.

In 2012, for example, BlackRock launched iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) as a 14-basis-point version of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (EEM), which charges 68 basis points.

The original fund, which was launched in 2003, has $30 billion, while the newer, cheaper version has grown to $62 billion.

Its a similar story for the $74 billion iShares MSCI Core EAFE ETF (IEFA), which was launched in 2012 as a clone to $64 billion iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA), which has been around since 2001.

The upstart version charges 7 basis points, which compares to 32 basis points for the original version.

SSGA also has some experience in fund cloning.

In 2018 it launched SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM) as a 10-basis-point version of the widely popular SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which charges 40 basis points.

The original version, launched in 2004, manages more than $43 billion in a category known for trading, while the newer version is at $1.1 billion.

In addition to acknowledging the distinct investor appetites that clone funds often target, Mr. Rosenbluth said SSGA might also be playing some defense, at least when it comes to the S&P 500-tracker SPY.

While SPY is still the largest and most popular ETF tracking the S&P 500, it has been steadily losing market share to the $130 billion Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which charges 3 basis points, and the $200 billion iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), which charges 4 basis points.

According to Mr. Rosenbluth, five years ago SPY had 69% of the market share of market-cap-weighted S&P 500 index ETF assets.

That share dropped to 55% two years ago, and to 48% at the end of 2019.

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Using ETF clones to save on fees - InvestmentNews

A slew of state laws take effect in 2020 ranging from mandatory compostingto child abuse registriesto access to diaper changing stations. One state will even begin banning expiration dates for gift certificates.

A few of the more notable changes:

Food scraps can't goin Vermont landfillsbeginningJuly 1. Residents will have four ways to handle rotten leftovers anditems such aspeels, eggshells, seeds, pits, coffee grounds and oils, according to the state's environmental conservation department.

Vermonters can use a household compost bin, buy a Green Cone solar digester to break down the scraps, feed scraps to pigs or leave it to the composting professionals.Theuniversal recycling lawwillrequiretrucking companies to provide food scrap collection services to nonresidential customers and multi-unit apartment complexes, the Burlington Free Press reported.

Restaurants, supermarkets and cafeteriasmust alsocomply with the law, which is the firststate law of its kind. The state hopes to reach a 60% recycling rate through mandatory composting.

Citing a need to respect human life, Arkansas will not allowpublic funding for human cloning or"destructive embryo research," which the statedefinesas medical procedures or investigations that kill or injure developing humans. ACT 653 also blocks state funds from stem cell research involving embryos, the stage lasting to eight weeks after fertilization.

Under the law effective Jan. 1, no state educational institutions can do human cloning for scientific research, either.It does not block state funds frominvitro fertilization.

Businesses in Washington state will be prohibited from putting expiration dates on gift cards beginning July 1.HB1727 will also prevent gift certificate users from being hit by inactivity or service charges.

However, ifa gift card is part of rewards orloyalty program, itcan still expire. The law will also not apply to gift certificates given to charitable organizations as a donation.

Restaurants, stores and other buildings with public restrooms in Illinois musthave at least one babydiaper changing stationunderHB 3711. Effective Jan. 1, the law requires buildings either have a station in both a women's and men's restroom, or a station in a unisex restroom. Building owners must also display a sign near restroom entrances to show that a sanitary andsafe changing station is inside.

Public buildings in New York must now have changing tables in bathrooms for both genders.(Photo: Wittayayut, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Diaper duty: John Legend speaks out about why he changes diapers

Exceptions to the law include bars and nightclubs that don't allow minors, as well as cases where adding a station isn't feasible or would prevent people with disabilities from navigating the restroom.

In federal buildings, theBathrooms Accessible in Every Situation (BABIES) act already requires diaper changing stations in men's and women's restrooms. California has a law similar to Illinois, whileNew Yorkrequires stations in new or renovated public restrooms.

At the beginning of the new year, Nevada will joina dozenother states inpreventinginsurers from denying coverage to patients because ofpreexisting conditions. The federal Affordable Care Act currently protectspeople with preexisting conditions from that and higher coverage costs, but the act is facing legal challenges. A federal appeals court struck down a major partof the ACA last week, which could lead to a Supreme Court case.

'Unconstitutional': Federal appeals court strikes down key part of Affordable Care Act

Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said Nevada'sAB 170will keep health care protections in place if the ACA is eliminated. States with similar protectionsin placefor preexisting conditionsinclude Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington,according to the Commonwealth Fund.

In Georgia, HB 478 will create stricter requirements to list a person on the state's child abuse registry, upping the age from 13 to 18.Previously, the state entered offenders who were minors into the database and didn't remove them until they turned 18,could prove they had been rehabilitated or more than a year passed since the date of the act that prompted the last case.

Effective Jan. 1, the law also updates theprocess to get a name expunged from the state registry. If a judge refuses to remove an offender from the registry after a hearing, the offender can request another three years later.

The state established the registry, which the public cannot view,in 2016. Each year, the state receives about 140,000 reports of child maltreatment, according to theGeorgia Division of Family and Children Services.

Employers cannot screen applicants based ontheir salary history under a New Jersey law effective Jan. 1.AB 1094also prevents hiring managers from requiring that an applicant's salary history falls within a minimum or maximum criteria.

If a worker voluntarily provideshis or her previous salaries, wages or benefits, employers can use the information to determine compensation, however. More than 15 other states, including California, Hawaii and Maine, have similar bans on salary history screening, HR Dive reported.

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Don't throw food in the trash in Vermont, or ask about salary history in New Jersey. Here are 7 state law changes for 2020 - USA TODAY

This undated screen grab shows the cell-division of two fertilized human embryos during the first 24 hours of embryonic development following IVF treatment at a private clinic in London. ( Jim Dyson/Getty Images )

LOS ANGELES - Some of the scientific advancements of the 2010s have been truly mind-blowing, and perhaps none more so than the leaps and bounds weve made in the realm of reproduction.

This was not only the decade in which the first three-parent baby was born, it was the era when a rogue scientist chose to make edits to a set of twin girls DNA, making real the long-imagined scenario of genetically altering human beings while simultaneously thrusting the deeply complicated ethical discussions surrounding this practice into the limelight.

These are the five most life-altering breakthroughs in reproduction from the past decade.

In 2018, Chinese biophysics researcher He Jiankui announced that he had used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify the genes of two twin girls before birth. He and his team said that their goal was to make the girls immune to infection by HIV through the elimination of a gene called CCR5.

When the news broke, many mainstream scientists criticized the attempt, calling it too unsafe to try. Where some people saw the potential for a new kind of medical treatment capable of eradicating genetic disease, others saw a window into a dystopian future filled with designer babies and framed by a new kind of eugenics.

At the time, Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene-editing expert, said Hes work was unconscionable... an experiment on human beings that is not morally or ethically defensible.

Other experts believe Hes work could propel the field of gene editing forward.

The twins, known as Lulu and Nana, have continued to make headlines since their birth. The gene modification that He claims to have carried out may have caused some unintended mutations in other parts of the genome, which could have unpredictable consequences for their health long term something many scientists who argue against Hes work cite as a reason to hold off on using gene-editing technology on humans.

Only time will tell what will happen to Lulu and Nana and if the edits to their DNA ultimately help or hurt them, but their story pushed the topic of human gene-editing and the ethics surrounding it to the forefront of the global scientific community.

In 2016, a technique called mitochondrial transfer was used successfully for the first time to create a three-parent baby grown from a fathers sperm, a mothers cell nucleus and a third donors egg that had the nucleus removed.

This technique was developed to prevent the transmission of certain genetic disorders through the mothers mitochondria. The majority of a three-parent babys DNA would come from his parents in the form of nuclear DNA, and only a small portion would come from the donor in the form of mitochondrial DNA.

A team led by physician John Zhang at the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City facilitated the birth of the first three-parent baby in April 2016.

Using human pluripotent stem cells, researchers were able to make the precursors of human sperm or eggs. In other words, they reprogrammed skin and blood stem cells to become an early-state version of what would eventually become either sperm or an egg.

"The creation of primordial germ cells is one of the earliest events during early mammalian development," Dr. Naoko Irie, first author of the paper from the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge told Science Daily. "It's a stage we've managed to recreate using stem cells from mice and rats, but until now few researches have done this systematically using human stem cells. It has highlighted important differences between embryo development in humans and rodents that may mean findings in mice and rats may not be directly extrapolated to humans."

A 2018 study showed that gene editing can allow two same-sex mice to conceive pups, and two female mice were able to successfully create healthy pups that then went on to reproduce themselves.

A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, led by developmental biologist Qi Zhou, were able to use gene editing to produce 29 living mice from two females, seven of which went on to have their own pups. They were able to produce 12 pups from two male parents, but those offspring were not able to live more than two days.Whether or not the method can one day be used in same-sex human reproduction is still up for debate.

For the first time ever, Chinese scientists were able to clone two primates using the technique that produced Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell via nuclear transfer.

The two cloned female macaques were named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, and their successful birth opened up the possibility of using the same cloning method to one day clone humans.

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What a time to be alive: Reproductive breakthroughs of the 2010s that changed life as we know it - FOX 10 News Phoenix

This weeks episode of The Mandalorian was heavy on the fan service, as Mando and everyones favorite little green Force-user traveled to Tatooine. In an episode full of references, including a trip to the Mos Eisley Cantina, nothing got fans online stirring quite as much as a brief tease that closed the episode. But was it actually Boba Fett?

[Ed. note: this post contains spoilers for the first five episodes of The Mandalorian, as well as speculation about future episodes]

In the closing seconds of The Gunslinger, a fresh pair of boots enters the frame, and walks up to the corpse of Fennec Shand (played by Ming-Na Wen). Immediately, Star Wars fans scrutinized the boots, the only real details provided through the shows dim cinematography, and concluded this masked character must be Star Wars most famous bounty hunter.

Fans quickly cited Bobas appearance in the post-Special Edition versions of A New Hope as having a similar tracking sound to the one in the episode, and even called out the noises of the character walking as being similar to those in The Empire Strikes Back. But if this is Boba Fett, he would have to have gotten an entirely new wardrobe ... and also cheated death by escaping a slow and painful demise in the Sarlacc pit.

We dont get many shots of Boba Fetts full cape in the series, but as we can see from this image of him in The Empire Strikes Back hes only wearing a small half-cape that rests on his left shoulder. The Mandalorians new character wears a near body-length cape. And its not like Boba is the only one to wear something like that. Further muddying the fan theory is Carl Weathers Greef Karga, who wears a long duster in many of his scenes, and who we know is still on Mandos trail.

But if we throw out the fact that the cape looks nothing like Boba Fett, and the fact that the sounds of his boots being similar could mean anything, the idea of him surviving the Sarlacc pit isnt necessarily impossible. As C-3PO says, the Sarlacc digests its prey over the course of a thousand years. Thankfully, this means that youve got a pretty healthy amount of time to escape, especially if youve got a jet pack.

In the old expanded universe, now part of the retired Legends series rather than official canon, Boba Fett did exactly that. Despite being initially eaten by the Sarlacc the bounty hunter managed to activate his jet pack and fly out of the beast and survive. While this isnt part of Disneys Skywalker Saga continuity, it did seem like it might be in the cards early on.

When Disney brought Fantastic Four director Josh Trank on-board to direct his own Star Wars Story spin-off movie, rumors swirled that the film would focus on Boba Fett though based on the track record of Star Wars Story films, it certainly could have been a prequel. When Trank and Lucasfilm parted ways, the film was initially thought to be handed off to Logan and Ford v Ferrari director, James Mangold. However, after Disney changed its plans for the Star Wars franchise, the Boba Fett spin-off seemed to be all but canceled.

Boba Fetts appearance in The Mandalorian would mean a significant new twist in the canon, and while there isnt much evidence at the moment, his potential presence could serve an important purpose to the shows story. As we learned in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Boba Fett is a clone of his father Jango Fett, who provided the genetic basis for the entire Clone Army created on Kamino. Jango wanted a son, and in return for offering his DNA, the Kamino scientists delivered.

While it hasnt been explicitly talked about in the series so far, Kamino and cloning could both play interesting roles in The Mandalorian. Dr. Pershing, the Imperial doctor accomplice of The Client who hopes to extract some kind of material from Baby Yoda, has a patch on the arm of his uniform that set off alarms for Star Wars scholars.

The only other place in the Star Wars universe a similar patch has appeared is in the cloning facility on Kamino. The same symbol appears on the arms of each clone soldier being trained on the planet.

The possibilities for bringing cloning back to Star Wars seem clear: either Baby Yoda is really a clone or even the Empire wants to replicate the genes of a lil kiddo who can wield the Force. Either way, it certainly seems like cloning is involved. In the extended universe of Legends canon, we know that Emperor Palpatine was a fan of the cloning process, even cloning himself multiple times as a way to outrun his own mortality something that could be relevant to his return in The Rise of Skywalker later this year.

If Baby Yoda hails from the cloning labs, maybe even the ones on Kamino, then it could make sense to bring in Boba Fett, the storys most famous clone, as a threat existential or otherwise. This would also make for a very sensible way to resurrect the fan-favorite bounty hunter, while also giving him an important and interesting relationship to the story.

While all this cloning nonsense would certainly make the return of Boba Fett seems plausible, all were missing now is the evidence. Fans may want to believe, and Boba himself may fit The Mandalorians subtly teased cloning twist well, but well just have to wait and see whether or not the show drags the bounty hunter out of the Sarlacc pit or not.

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The Mandalorian fans think episode 5 ending teases Boba Fettheres why - Polygon