Links With Your Coffee - Thursday
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"All truth is simple." Is that not doubly a lie?—Nietzsche
The stem-cell breaktrough that could lift ethical taboo (tip to inwit)
Stem-cell research, which specialists believe holds the key to treating many diseases, has been severely hampered in the US by the Religious Right, backed by the Bush Administration. Federal support for such research has been banned because it involves the destruction of embryos.Now scientists have found that it is possible to create human stem cells using one or two cells from an early embryo, without doing any damage to the embryo. In theory, the technique could be used to create both a baby and a set of immortal stem cells unique to that baby that might be used decades later to cure the same person of ailments such as Parkinson’s or heart disease.
However, it is much more likely that it will be used as a research technique to advance stem-cell science.
Ramesh Ponnuru's scary thoughts on life and moral status in The Party of Death.I think that killing the kitten would be worse than killing the embryo. If you agree, dear reader, you stand beside me in the party of death.
Jon Benet Suspect Outpolls Bush
War-Torn Middle East Seeks Solace in Religion
George Bush cancels trip to the arctic Study: Polar Bear Genitals are Shrinking (tip to Kes)
The icecap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic. The genitals of polar bears in east Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants.Scientists report this shrinkage could, in the worst case scenario, endanger polar bears there and elsewhere by spoiling their love lives and causing their numbers to peter out.
Back o (Public) School (tip to Matthew)
There's an interesting piece on MSNBC's website about public versus private school. It notes that much of parents' nervous gossip about schools conveys less about the quality of the schools themselves than it does about the values of the parents. And while most people assume that private schools are generally of higher quality than public schools, a recent study shows better scores, controlling for economic background, among public school students.
Comments
Wow, is Ramesh Ponnuru actually insane? Pretty much by definition and embryo is NOT a 'living human organisms and the second two are not' - not at the stages up for debate at any rate. Either
1) He means by complete ontologically or physically complete - there are no gaps in the fabric of existence or the universe in the middle of the object. He's probably right.
2) He is unaware that babies aren't conceived fully formed. Would you allow yourself to appear on a book so ill researched?
3) He doesn't believe that a brain or central nervous system are important parts of a human being, and so are excluded from the use of the term 'complete'. This does sort of go against all medical science since Hippocrates, but I suppose that's faith-based medicine for you.
4) He's either spoutting republican-feel-good inanities to get a gig/royalties cheque.
5) He is incredibly, profoundly stupid.
To my knowledge, MOST democrats would have objections to the abortion of a 'fully formed human organism', but a blastocyst is a bundle of cells. The brain isn't anything NEAR formed until the 14th week, and synaptic formation (read; the /potential/ for networking and anything meaningfully described as a mind) doesn't take place until the 17th week and doesn't really take off until week 28. A while ago the crazies were saying 'embryos are potential people', now they're saying they're 'fully formed people'. Dangerously sliding into complete insanity.
If you really think that what makes it acceptable to kill a human being is whether or not they are fully formed then that's fine, but that also means that you believe pre-puberty abortion is fine, as a human being isn't fully formed (in the most reasonable understanding of the term - a fully developed example of the species) until they've gone through puberty. I don't, I believe aborting 8-year olds is morally wrong, that's what my secular humanist 'faith' tells me.
Weep America, the dark age is upon you.
Stem Cells and ethical taboo.
I've been thinking about this from another angle and I am wondering if the issue isn't the life of the child at all.
Well sure the right to life is an issue but I think this may be the icing in relation to the whole stem cell research and the latest story seems to compound on this.
Think about this. Lets say the embryo is life. Christians define life as something that has a soul (well in once sense)
Stem cells can create another embryo. So are we creating a new soul? Or are we duplicating the soul?
Would such a system prove that there is no such thing as a soul? Or that which we perceive a soul to be is nothing more then chemicals and electrical signals.
Which is another point. Should the christian be upset about abortions. As the child goes to heaven and the abortionist goes to hell when they die. So ultimitely the justice is left up to god?
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