Friday, February 13, 2004
Korean and US researchers clone human embryo
The Brave New World edges closer as South Korean and US researchers say they have cloned a human embryo and extracted sought-after embryonic stem cells. The experiment, the first published report of cloned human stem cells, means so-called therapeutic cloning is no longer a theory.
Supporters of medical cloning say it can transform medicine, offering tailored and highly effective treatments for diseases ranging from Parkinson's to diabetes. It could eventually lead to grow-your-own organ transplants.
But critics say it involves destroying a human embryo, however tiny, and is thus unethical. US President George W. Bush and supporters in Congress are seeking to outlaw the technology in the United States and worldwide.
Scientists have cloned sheep, cattle, mice and other species but have had trouble cloning a human being.
What has not been quite so widely reported is that attempts at cloning have produced a close to 99% rate of failure, and all clones have developed severe medical problems and died prematurely.
The Brave New World edges closer as South Korean and US researchers say they have cloned a human embryo and extracted sought-after embryonic stem cells. The experiment, the first published report of cloned human stem cells, means so-called therapeutic cloning is no longer a theory.
Supporters of medical cloning say it can transform medicine, offering tailored and highly effective treatments for diseases ranging from Parkinson's to diabetes. It could eventually lead to grow-your-own organ transplants.
But critics say it involves destroying a human embryo, however tiny, and is thus unethical. US President George W. Bush and supporters in Congress are seeking to outlaw the technology in the United States and worldwide.
Scientists have cloned sheep, cattle, mice and other species but have had trouble cloning a human being.
What has not been quite so widely reported is that attempts at cloning have produced a close to 99% rate of failure, and all clones have developed severe medical problems and died prematurely.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
You’d better watch out – the EU is not Santa!
You’d better watch how you walk and talk in Britain from now on. At the beginning of 2004, the UK implemented the European Arrest Warrant, under which you can be summarily extradited to another European country, without any examination of the evidence against you, for conduct that is not even a crime in England. As Boris Johnson, the editor of The Spectator, says: “For the first time, British citizens, in Britain, will be subject to the criminal law of other countries - even if the law here says they have no case to answer. And if we protest against this infamy, we are told it is part of the war on terror; and that, of course, makes it politically hard to oppose.�
The EU Arrest Warrant is the first stage towards implementation of a treaty called Corpus Juris, which aims to bring the legal systems of all European countries into line. As Britain, with its Westminster system, is the odd-man-out, guess who will change the most? So what’s at stake? For starters, the writ of habeas corpus (described as the jewel in the crown of British justice), under which a person cannot be detained without being charged with a crime. Also out would be trial by jury for all but the most major crimes.
A huge scythe is being taken to British justice – I cannot understand why there is not rioting in the streets over it.
You’d better watch how you walk and talk in Britain from now on. At the beginning of 2004, the UK implemented the European Arrest Warrant, under which you can be summarily extradited to another European country, without any examination of the evidence against you, for conduct that is not even a crime in England. As Boris Johnson, the editor of The Spectator, says: “For the first time, British citizens, in Britain, will be subject to the criminal law of other countries - even if the law here says they have no case to answer. And if we protest against this infamy, we are told it is part of the war on terror; and that, of course, makes it politically hard to oppose.�
The EU Arrest Warrant is the first stage towards implementation of a treaty called Corpus Juris, which aims to bring the legal systems of all European countries into line. As Britain, with its Westminster system, is the odd-man-out, guess who will change the most? So what’s at stake? For starters, the writ of habeas corpus (described as the jewel in the crown of British justice), under which a person cannot be detained without being charged with a crime. Also out would be trial by jury for all but the most major crimes.
A huge scythe is being taken to British justice – I cannot understand why there is not rioting in the streets over it.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Beyond Murphy's Law
Murphy had it right, but only half right. There are lots more laws that govern daily existence. Here's a small sample ( Click here for a fuller list ):
Bevan's Law of Judgement: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
Burke's Gardening Doctrine: All you need to grow healthy, vigorous grass is a crack in your footpath.
Clancy's Marketing Principle: People will buy anything that is one to a customer.
Conway's Law: In any organisation there will always be one person who knows what is going on - this person MUST be fired.
Fifth Law of Applied Terror: If you are given an open-book exam, you will forget your book.
Herman's Law: Mistakes are often the stepping stones to utter failure.
Hurewitz's Memory Principle: The chance of forgetting something is directly proportional to...to...uh...
Kyle's Statute: Horse sense is that quality a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.
Main's Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite government program.
Malek's Law: Any simple idea will be worded in the most complicated way.
McGowan's Axiom: (a) If an item is advertised as "under $50", you can bet it's not $19.95. (b) Anything labelled "NEW" and/or "IMPROVED" isn't. The label means the price went up. (c) When the label is entitled "ALL NEW", "COMPLETELY NEW", or "GREAT NEW" it means the price went way up.
Oliver's Law: Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
Parker's Law: Beauty may be only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone.
Preudhomme's Law of Window Cleaning: It's on the other side.
The Reaper's Law: Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
Smith's Precept: Every absurdity has a champion who will defend it.
Tussman's Law: Nothing is as inevitable as a mistake whose time has come.
Xander's Principle: There is no time like the present for postponing what you ought to be doing.
Murphy had it right, but only half right. There are lots more laws that govern daily existence. Here's a small sample ( Click here for a fuller list ):
Bevan's Law of Judgement: Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
Burke's Gardening Doctrine: All you need to grow healthy, vigorous grass is a crack in your footpath.
Clancy's Marketing Principle: People will buy anything that is one to a customer.
Conway's Law: In any organisation there will always be one person who knows what is going on - this person MUST be fired.
Fifth Law of Applied Terror: If you are given an open-book exam, you will forget your book.
Herman's Law: Mistakes are often the stepping stones to utter failure.
Hurewitz's Memory Principle: The chance of forgetting something is directly proportional to...to...uh...
Kyle's Statute: Horse sense is that quality a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.
Main's Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite government program.
Malek's Law: Any simple idea will be worded in the most complicated way.
McGowan's Axiom: (a) If an item is advertised as "under $50", you can bet it's not $19.95. (b) Anything labelled "NEW" and/or "IMPROVED" isn't. The label means the price went up. (c) When the label is entitled "ALL NEW", "COMPLETELY NEW", or "GREAT NEW" it means the price went way up.
Oliver's Law: Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
Parker's Law: Beauty may be only skin deep, but ugly goes right to the bone.
Preudhomme's Law of Window Cleaning: It's on the other side.
The Reaper's Law: Death is nature's way of telling you to slow down.
Smith's Precept: Every absurdity has a champion who will defend it.
Tussman's Law: Nothing is as inevitable as a mistake whose time has come.
Xander's Principle: There is no time like the present for postponing what you ought to be doing.
Monday, February 09, 2004
Marriage benefits women as much as men
Marriage makes life much better for men but worse for women - right? Wrong. The persistent 1960s sociological myth has been laid to rest by a major piece of Australian research which shows that, far from driving women crazy, marriage protects the mental health of both women and men. The research is the subject of an article by La Trobe sociologist David de Vaus in the Winter 2002 issue of Family Matters.
In 1996 the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults, in which personal interviews were conducted with a random sample of 10,641 Australians. De Vaus says it is the largest study of mental health ever conducted in Australia and one of the most comprehensive in the world. The survey questioned people about symptoms of mood, anxiety, drug and alcohol disorders during the previous 12 months.
Analysis by gender showed that men and women are equally at risk of having a mental disorder, but that women are more likely to have mood and anxiety disorders while men are more prone to alcohol and drug disorders - and these differences are significant.
When marital status was looked at it was clear that married people are the least likely to suffer from any mental disorder; divorced and separated adults are the most prone to mood and anxiety disorders; and never married adults are the most at risk of drug an alcohol disorders. Differences in mental health between married men and women were of type rather than degree.
Jessie Bernard wrote of women in 1972 that "marriage typically eliminates much of her way of life … and children deliver the coup de grace". But de Vaus says today's married full-time mother "is no more at risk of mood, alcohol or drug disorders than the married working mother or the childless full-time housewife - children do not seem to add to the risk of mental disorders …" The single working woman without children is at considerably greater risk of mood, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.
The survey showed that being single and out of work are major risks for both men and women - around a third in this category suffer some mental health disorder. But married fathers without a job are also at high risk, nearly 29 per cent suffering some disorder. When people - men or women - are both married and employed they have the lowest risk.
Marriage makes life much better for men but worse for women - right? Wrong. The persistent 1960s sociological myth has been laid to rest by a major piece of Australian research which shows that, far from driving women crazy, marriage protects the mental health of both women and men. The research is the subject of an article by La Trobe sociologist David de Vaus in the Winter 2002 issue of Family Matters.
In 1996 the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults, in which personal interviews were conducted with a random sample of 10,641 Australians. De Vaus says it is the largest study of mental health ever conducted in Australia and one of the most comprehensive in the world. The survey questioned people about symptoms of mood, anxiety, drug and alcohol disorders during the previous 12 months.
Analysis by gender showed that men and women are equally at risk of having a mental disorder, but that women are more likely to have mood and anxiety disorders while men are more prone to alcohol and drug disorders - and these differences are significant.
When marital status was looked at it was clear that married people are the least likely to suffer from any mental disorder; divorced and separated adults are the most prone to mood and anxiety disorders; and never married adults are the most at risk of drug an alcohol disorders. Differences in mental health between married men and women were of type rather than degree.
Jessie Bernard wrote of women in 1972 that "marriage typically eliminates much of her way of life … and children deliver the coup de grace". But de Vaus says today's married full-time mother "is no more at risk of mood, alcohol or drug disorders than the married working mother or the childless full-time housewife - children do not seem to add to the risk of mental disorders …" The single working woman without children is at considerably greater risk of mood, anxiety and substance abuse disorders.
The survey showed that being single and out of work are major risks for both men and women - around a third in this category suffer some mental health disorder. But married fathers without a job are also at high risk, nearly 29 per cent suffering some disorder. When people - men or women - are both married and employed they have the lowest risk.
