cloning people?

There is a lot of concern about the possibility of closing people. No doubt, the kind of people who are a negative force in the world, such as Rush Limbaugh, would clone themselves if they could. But I am undecided whether I think it should be banned. All new technology has unexpected consequences, usually or almost always including negative consequences. But I have to say there are some people I would like to see cloned. Eg., Leonardo Da Vinci. Considering the things he was able to invent that would have worked if technology had been advanced enough, I would love to see what he could do today. I would like to see some composers cloned, esp. those whose died young, such as Mozart. I would like to have been able to clone my favorite cat!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051005074900.htm
There may be good arguments against cloning people, but the one about it depriving people of individuality is nonsense. Being a clone would not automatically deprive people of their own identity. Identical twins are clones. The five Dionne quintuplets were identical, thus clones, but each was an individual. Some chromosomes are randomly turned off and on in different cells of the body, esp. the X chromosome. The problem I would see in this regard is that I would expect that narcissistic people and power freaks would especially be attracted to cloning, seeing the children as an extensions of themselves, and being even less likely to allow the children to be themselves than with there regular children.

It's conceivable that it might be a good thing to have the capability, in case it would be helpful at some time. Eg., we might someday be in the position of the human race being decimated by some disease, and find the only person who is resistant to it is not fertile. I think that is highly unlikely, but it is also not impossible.

In regards to the recent research on the possibility of greatly increased life spans, the ability to find out what happens to humans and the rest of the world in the future is one of the big reasons I find the possibility of a greatly increased life span appealing.