Friday, October 01, 2004
US Marriage Amendment fails
The US House of Representatives today failed to muster the two-thirds' majority needed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment backed by President Bush to ban same-sex marriage. The largely party-line vote in the Republican-led House was 227-186, 49 votes short of what was required for approval. In July, Democratic-led foes blocked a similar measure in the 100-member Senate.
Polls show most Americans oppose gay marriage but are split on whether a constitutional amendment is needed.
President Bush supported the amendment because of his and many Americans concern at the way activist judges are creating new law or wild interpretations of the Constitution in order to allow homosexuals to marry.
The US House of Representatives today failed to muster the two-thirds' majority needed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment backed by President Bush to ban same-sex marriage. The largely party-line vote in the Republican-led House was 227-186, 49 votes short of what was required for approval. In July, Democratic-led foes blocked a similar measure in the 100-member Senate.
Polls show most Americans oppose gay marriage but are split on whether a constitutional amendment is needed.
President Bush supported the amendment because of his and many Americans concern at the way activist judges are creating new law or wild interpretations of the Constitution in order to allow homosexuals to marry.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Of 'Soup Nazis' and 'Calorie Cops'
Things are worse than I realised when I posted yesterday about Food Police.
I've just discovered a web site for the Center for Consumer Freedom, who are monitoring the PC food lunacies that are spreading like a disease in the US. While documenting in fine detail what's going on, they also have a great line in satire, and use TV advertisements to make their point. Here's their opening quote:
"The Center for Consumer Freedom warns in our latest ad -- featuring the actor who played the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld -- that if calorie cops have their way, you could be forced into the Salad Line! While this fictional food cop measures each customer's weight to determine what, if anything, restaurant-goers can enjoy, there is actually a real-world food "Czarina" taking away treats from Texas schoolchildren. She's just one of the food fascists who think you're too dumb to make your own choices. If these diet scolds have their way, we may all soon be told (as the star of our latest ad says): "No food for you! Come back when you're thinner!"
Things are worse than I realised when I posted yesterday about Food Police.
I've just discovered a web site for the Center for Consumer Freedom, who are monitoring the PC food lunacies that are spreading like a disease in the US. While documenting in fine detail what's going on, they also have a great line in satire, and use TV advertisements to make their point. Here's their opening quote:
"The Center for Consumer Freedom warns in our latest ad -- featuring the actor who played the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld -- that if calorie cops have their way, you could be forced into the Salad Line! While this fictional food cop measures each customer's weight to determine what, if anything, restaurant-goers can enjoy, there is actually a real-world food "Czarina" taking away treats from Texas schoolchildren. She's just one of the food fascists who think you're too dumb to make your own choices. If these diet scolds have their way, we may all soon be told (as the star of our latest ad says): "No food for you! Come back when you're thinner!"
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
UK application for licence to clone humans
Scientists who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, have applied for a licence to clone human embryos to obtain stem cells for research into Motor Neurone Disease. Professor Ian Wilmut, of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, hopes to study how the paralysing illness - also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease - develops, with a view to finding an effective treatment.
If the licence is approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Britain's cloning watchdog, it will be the second granted for the controversial research, which has incited fierce ethical debate because it involves creating human embryos which can be mined for their stem cells.
Those concerned with bioethics and where this technology might be taking us are deeply concerned at the push for both cloning and stem cell research. Not the least because the debate is dishonest. Reputable scientists are acknowledging that the likelihood of research producing any sort of cure in the foreseeable future is extremely remote.
The UK seems to be the hot-house for those pushing the boundaries. Therapeutic cloning has actually been banned in many countries. The Germans, who know a thing or two about where science can go wrong, banned it in 1990. Australia banned it last year. The latest country to ban the procedure was Canada, where the ban was finalized in April of this year. The French are next in line. The United States is among the many countries supporting Costa Rica’s attempt to get an international convention banning cloning through the UN. Among the big democracies, only the UK, which has been in the pro-embryo-research lead for 25 years, is in favour of therapeutic cloning.
Scientists who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, have applied for a licence to clone human embryos to obtain stem cells for research into Motor Neurone Disease. Professor Ian Wilmut, of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, hopes to study how the paralysing illness - also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease - develops, with a view to finding an effective treatment.
If the licence is approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), Britain's cloning watchdog, it will be the second granted for the controversial research, which has incited fierce ethical debate because it involves creating human embryos which can be mined for their stem cells.
Those concerned with bioethics and where this technology might be taking us are deeply concerned at the push for both cloning and stem cell research. Not the least because the debate is dishonest. Reputable scientists are acknowledging that the likelihood of research producing any sort of cure in the foreseeable future is extremely remote.
The UK seems to be the hot-house for those pushing the boundaries. Therapeutic cloning has actually been banned in many countries. The Germans, who know a thing or two about where science can go wrong, banned it in 1990. Australia banned it last year. The latest country to ban the procedure was Canada, where the ban was finalized in April of this year. The French are next in line. The United States is among the many countries supporting Costa Rica’s attempt to get an international convention banning cloning through the UN. Among the big democracies, only the UK, which has been in the pro-embryo-research lead for 25 years, is in favour of therapeutic cloning.
Watch out for the Food Police!
The king-size chocolate bar could soon become a thing of the past in Britain, and New Zealand anti-obesity campaigners are keen to see that happen here, too. Cadbury in Britain says it will phase out king-size blocks next year as part of a drive to reduce the country's obesity problem.
Dr Robyn Toomath, head of Fight the Obesity Epidemic, said Britain was well ahead of New Zealand in its initiatives to reduce obesity. The food industry in this country, she said, had got away "scot-free". "The Government in the UK means business on this issue and penalties will occur if they [the food industry] don't start falling into line."
Just where does this all stop, for goodness sake? Are we going to have Food Police coming into our home soon to ensure that we only put legal sized portions of anything into our mouths? Apart from the obvious fact that people who want chocolate will simply buy two small blocks instead of the one big one they can now, what right does any government have to micro-manage at this sort of level? I am waiting with bated breath to see where the Greens stand on this, in light of their policy to legalise marijuana. But they’re totally confused, because they also support the banning of smoking in public places. D’oh!
The king-size chocolate bar could soon become a thing of the past in Britain, and New Zealand anti-obesity campaigners are keen to see that happen here, too. Cadbury in Britain says it will phase out king-size blocks next year as part of a drive to reduce the country's obesity problem.
Dr Robyn Toomath, head of Fight the Obesity Epidemic, said Britain was well ahead of New Zealand in its initiatives to reduce obesity. The food industry in this country, she said, had got away "scot-free". "The Government in the UK means business on this issue and penalties will occur if they [the food industry] don't start falling into line."
Just where does this all stop, for goodness sake? Are we going to have Food Police coming into our home soon to ensure that we only put legal sized portions of anything into our mouths? Apart from the obvious fact that people who want chocolate will simply buy two small blocks instead of the one big one they can now, what right does any government have to micro-manage at this sort of level? I am waiting with bated breath to see where the Greens stand on this, in light of their policy to legalise marijuana. But they’re totally confused, because they also support the banning of smoking in public places. D’oh!
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Huzzah for our Paralympians!
Let's give a standing ovation to our NZ Paralympics team. 6 gold and 3 bronze! That is one outstanding achievement, matching their success at Sydney four years ago, when they had a larger team. These men and women are amazing, and their courage in overcoming huge handicaps is exemplary. To me they are the real role models in sport.
The only cloud was the pathetic coverage given to the event by TV1. One hour a day is shameful. It was almost worse than no coverage at all, because it was effectively saying that these people are not real athletes.
Well, here's news for you, TV1. I would rather have watched one event of the Paralympics than the whole of that other event that preceded it. Apart from the NZ team performance, the image that stuck most in my mind was the Russian swimmer with no arms who won the backstroke. Perhaps if we want more golds at the Olympics, we should chop the legs off all our NZ athletes.
The NZ Paralympics web site is here.
Let's give a standing ovation to our NZ Paralympics team. 6 gold and 3 bronze! That is one outstanding achievement, matching their success at Sydney four years ago, when they had a larger team. These men and women are amazing, and their courage in overcoming huge handicaps is exemplary. To me they are the real role models in sport.
The only cloud was the pathetic coverage given to the event by TV1. One hour a day is shameful. It was almost worse than no coverage at all, because it was effectively saying that these people are not real athletes.
Well, here's news for you, TV1. I would rather have watched one event of the Paralympics than the whole of that other event that preceded it. Apart from the NZ team performance, the image that stuck most in my mind was the Russian swimmer with no arms who won the backstroke. Perhaps if we want more golds at the Olympics, we should chop the legs off all our NZ athletes.
The NZ Paralympics web site is here.
Monday, September 27, 2004
Growing support for "conscience clause" in health care
Doctors, nurses and pharmacists who have a conscientious objection to abortion, the morning-after pill or contraception are winning more support in the US Congress and in state legislatures, according to news reports. Almost unnoticed, the US House of
Representatives recently passed a provision that would prohibit local, state or federal authorities from forcing persons or institutions to provide abortions, even in cases of rape or medical emergency. Although the chance that it will survive scrutiny by the Senate is slim, some states are enacting even more liberal exemptions. Mississippi passed a law in July which allows health care workers to refuse almost any service they object to on moral or religious grounds.
Abortion supporters are alarmed. The Gay and Lesbian Medical
Association recently launched a petition drive against what it calls "refusal clauses". And Gloria Feldt, president of Planned
Parenthood, says, "We've seen increasing organisation and networking to get more pharmacists to refuse to provide EC [emergency contraception] -- not just in the Bible Belt, but all over." She claims that "It's part of the anti-choice arrogance in which they believe they have the right to impose their ideology on everyone else."
[The fact they have successfully imposed their ideology on everybody else appears to elude Feldt.]
One of Feldt's opponents, Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life, agrees that interest in "conscience clauses" is growing. She even argues that there should be no obligation to refer patients to a pro-abortion doctor. "Forced referral is stupid," she says. "If we're not going to kill a human being, we're not going to help the customer go do it somewhere else."
Doctors, nurses and pharmacists who have a conscientious objection to abortion, the morning-after pill or contraception are winning more support in the US Congress and in state legislatures, according to news reports. Almost unnoticed, the US House of
Representatives recently passed a provision that would prohibit local, state or federal authorities from forcing persons or institutions to provide abortions, even in cases of rape or medical emergency. Although the chance that it will survive scrutiny by the Senate is slim, some states are enacting even more liberal exemptions. Mississippi passed a law in July which allows health care workers to refuse almost any service they object to on moral or religious grounds.
Abortion supporters are alarmed. The Gay and Lesbian Medical
Association recently launched a petition drive against what it calls "refusal clauses". And Gloria Feldt, president of Planned
Parenthood, says, "We've seen increasing organisation and networking to get more pharmacists to refuse to provide EC [emergency contraception] -- not just in the Bible Belt, but all over." She claims that "It's part of the anti-choice arrogance in which they believe they have the right to impose their ideology on everyone else."
[The fact they have successfully imposed their ideology on everybody else appears to elude Feldt.]
One of Feldt's opponents, Karen Brauer, president of Pharmacists for Life, agrees that interest in "conscience clauses" is growing. She even argues that there should be no obligation to refer patients to a pro-abortion doctor. "Forced referral is stupid," she says. "If we're not going to kill a human being, we're not going to help the customer go do it somewhere else."
