MARILYN CORNWELL: Marilyn's Posts - Oct 18 2026

Dog news is a great go-to for generally happy ending stories. The news is smart enough in that regard.

But then stories can range a bit when there are celebrities involved. And we humans like celebrity news.

Here's an interesting headline - All the celebrities who have cloned their dog from Tom Brady to Barbra Streisand. First up is Tom Brady whose dog died in 2023 and last year he showed off the clone of Lua
named June. Barbra Streisand decided on two clones. And there's Diane von Furstenberg who cloned their late Jack Russell and now has five daughters. (I hope the original was well-behaved - can you imagine 5 bad dogs rather than just one?) The article included her cost - $100,000. Simon Cowell hasn't done it yet but says he's on record that he will clone his dogs. Finally Paris Hilton cloned her chihuahua and now has two twins. She'll need another purse to put the second one in.

Stop there when it comes to Hello News. Stick with the dog stories. Keep scrolling and the Hello News turns creepy - Mick Jagger's 39-year-old fiancee...Irina Shayk poses topless...Kate Hudson's tiny red bikini...

The New York Times had an advice column question a few years ago on this topic. A couple was breaking up. She wanted the cloned dog, but he had paid for it - $30,000. I guess the question itself was there as an entertainment moment given the obvious answer. Add to that she wanted shared access and had to be told that dogs are property - not people - so aren't subject to custody and access rights.

There's something we're starting to worry about now with AI "tools" - they are not people - they are products so cannot be sued directly. And the organizations owning them cannot be charged with criminal acts - there has to be criminal intent involved. They can only be the subject of civil lawsuits. No easy advice will be forthcoming from the New York Times.

Do you see a figure at the centre of this paint/wood grunge picture?