Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Are There Any Good Arguments Against Cutting Income Taxes? Sinclair Davidson, of Australia's Centre for Independent Studies, looks at four key arguments used by opponents of lower taxation, and finds they are misleading or contestable. He finds that in a sharply ‘progressive’ tax system like ours, higher income earners pay much more than their fair share in taxation. Not only this, but cuts in marginal tax rates induce people to work harder in situations where they have an effective choice between work and leisure hours. In regards to the arguments that tax cuts are immoral because they pander to human selfishness, Davidson shows that the highest earners in Australia already pay much more than their ‘share’ of charitable donations, and that ‘high levels of taxation – especially high rates of taxation – crowd out philanthropy.’
Deaths exceeded births in Japan by 31,034 in the first half of the year, the Health Ministry said this week, raising the possibility that the population will start to shrink in 2005, two years earlier than previously forecast. Japan's falling birth rate and ageing population have fuelled concerns about future growth in the world's second-largest economy, and experts have previously said the population was likely to start shrinking in 2007.[Japan has very tough immigration policies, so they're not likely to be looking to that source to increase population, as many western countries do.]
In case you'd like to read exactly what the Iraqi Constitution says (rather than what people say it says), there's a copy here. PS: Its beautifully simple language is a model for any country.
A ruined church on the banks of a fjord marks the remains of a Viking farming civilisation. The sun casts shadows through the arched window to the site of the altar, last used in the 1400s before the area was abandoned when it became too cold to support habitation. Today, the farmers are back. Sheep once again graze the surrounding hillside and shiny new tractors work the fields near the southern coast. Greenland is turning green, something the rest of us should be very worried about indeed. [We're going to have to rewrite the old hymn!]
A British cosmetic surgery clinic is offering loyalty card discounts to repeat customers. Anyone who has four consecutive procedures is entitled to £200 cash back off the next one. The procedures include liposuction, Botox injections and tummy tucks. A spokesperson for the Transform Medical Group explained: "Most of our patients need to have their procedures re-done every six months or so anyway, so it's nice to be able to offer them a little thank you." Other plastic surgeons are not impressed. Dr Patrick Mallucci, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, lashed out: "I am shocked at the way people are encouraged to seek plastic surgery as if it were a commodity, like a handbag or a tie... They are preying on the vulnerabilities of a society increasingly obsessed with physical perfection."
Too much choice can be a nightmare for patients, according to a feature in the New York Times. "Many find the job of being a modern patient, with its slog through medical uncertainty, to be lonely, frightening and overwhelming." Although doctors are trained to respect patient autonomy and patients are often well informed after researching their ailments on the internet, their well-being can suffer nonetheless.
Until recently, adultery has been a sin of the flesh. Temptation arrives, chemistry sizzles and before long the unfaithful spouse is spending stolen nights in cheap hotels. Now there is a new threat: the virtual affair. While some argue online affairs aren't real, research shows some spouses take them as seriously as the offline variety - and they're becoming a gateway to divorce.
News reports out of South Korea keep announcing advances in human cloning. The following are a few myths circulating about the latest cloning experiments: Myth #1: Human beings are not being cloned. Fact: Unfortunately, South Korean scientists have already cloned humaneings -- purely for the sake of destructive scientific research. Leading Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang says he believes cloning human beings is "unsafe and unethical" and claims his new "creations" are not human and have no potential to ever become human. His statements directly contradict the facts of his research techniques. In their experiments, Hwang and his colleagues used a technique called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) -- also known as cloning. When the nucleus from an unfertilized egg is replaced with genetic material from a donor cell and the cell begins to divide, a new, genetically complete human is formed. The South Korean scientists then kill these new humans to harvest their stem cells. SCNT is the same process that was used to clone Dolly the sheep. Scientists never questioned whether Dolly was a real sheep. In fact, they proclaimed the event as a scientific breakthrough because she was a sheep. The same thing has happened here: Hwang and his team have successfully cloned and destroyed human beings. [Three more myths are explored in this article.]
Dear Abby: Mother's Day is coming up and I want to take my mother out for a nice lunch. Only I have to decide: Melissa was the one who gave birth to me in the hospital 24 years ago, and she nursed me (though I don't remember any of this). My other mom, Sally, the woman with whom my mother lived and also who took care of me; in fact, she was the one who drove me to my first day of school and was home much more often than Melissa, who made lots of money but had to work downtown at a law firm to do it. Now Melissa and Sally aren't speaking to each other anymore; and I can't mention the name of one in the presence of the other. The last time I mentioned Melissa to Sally, I was told that Sally gave the egg that turned into me, so I was really Sally's son, not Melissa's. I asked Melissa about this, and she told me it was all true, but that Sally didn't really do very much and that she, Melissa, put up with morning sickness and nine months of pregnancy, which almost cost her her career, and a very difficult birth (C-section), plus nursing for a month. I want to have lunch with Melissa and Sally, but I can't since they won't see me together and are only free at the same time. Melissa has other plans later in the day and Sally won't be free later because she is celebrating Mother's Day with her other two children, in vitro children, she had several years after she broke up with Melissa. What should I do? I can't ask my Dad; he was never married and gave the lab a little shot of his stuff so Sally's egg could be planted in Melissa; later he died of AIDS. Two years ago I joined a synagogue, the first time I have ever been involved in religion. I means a lot to me now. I learned I am supposed to "honor my mother and father," but how can I? I am not sure who is my real mom or what that word even means anymore. What should I do?
Deaths exceeded births in Japan by 31,034 in the first half of the year, the Health Ministry said this week, raising the possibility that the population will start to shrink in 2005, two years earlier than previously forecast. Japan's falling birth rate and ageing population have fuelled concerns about future growth in the world's second-largest economy, and experts have previously said the population was likely to start shrinking in 2007.[Japan has very tough immigration policies, so they're not likely to be looking to that source to increase population, as many western countries do.]
In case you'd like to read exactly what the Iraqi Constitution says (rather than what people say it says), there's a copy here. PS: Its beautifully simple language is a model for any country.
A ruined church on the banks of a fjord marks the remains of a Viking farming civilisation. The sun casts shadows through the arched window to the site of the altar, last used in the 1400s before the area was abandoned when it became too cold to support habitation. Today, the farmers are back. Sheep once again graze the surrounding hillside and shiny new tractors work the fields near the southern coast. Greenland is turning green, something the rest of us should be very worried about indeed. [We're going to have to rewrite the old hymn!]
A British cosmetic surgery clinic is offering loyalty card discounts to repeat customers. Anyone who has four consecutive procedures is entitled to £200 cash back off the next one. The procedures include liposuction, Botox injections and tummy tucks. A spokesperson for the Transform Medical Group explained: "Most of our patients need to have their procedures re-done every six months or so anyway, so it's nice to be able to offer them a little thank you." Other plastic surgeons are not impressed. Dr Patrick Mallucci, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, lashed out: "I am shocked at the way people are encouraged to seek plastic surgery as if it were a commodity, like a handbag or a tie... They are preying on the vulnerabilities of a society increasingly obsessed with physical perfection."
Too much choice can be a nightmare for patients, according to a feature in the New York Times. "Many find the job of being a modern patient, with its slog through medical uncertainty, to be lonely, frightening and overwhelming." Although doctors are trained to respect patient autonomy and patients are often well informed after researching their ailments on the internet, their well-being can suffer nonetheless.
Until recently, adultery has been a sin of the flesh. Temptation arrives, chemistry sizzles and before long the unfaithful spouse is spending stolen nights in cheap hotels. Now there is a new threat: the virtual affair. While some argue online affairs aren't real, research shows some spouses take them as seriously as the offline variety - and they're becoming a gateway to divorce.
News reports out of South Korea keep announcing advances in human cloning. The following are a few myths circulating about the latest cloning experiments: Myth #1: Human beings are not being cloned. Fact: Unfortunately, South Korean scientists have already cloned humaneings -- purely for the sake of destructive scientific research. Leading Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang says he believes cloning human beings is "unsafe and unethical" and claims his new "creations" are not human and have no potential to ever become human. His statements directly contradict the facts of his research techniques. In their experiments, Hwang and his colleagues used a technique called "somatic cell nuclear transfer" (SCNT) -- also known as cloning. When the nucleus from an unfertilized egg is replaced with genetic material from a donor cell and the cell begins to divide, a new, genetically complete human is formed. The South Korean scientists then kill these new humans to harvest their stem cells. SCNT is the same process that was used to clone Dolly the sheep. Scientists never questioned whether Dolly was a real sheep. In fact, they proclaimed the event as a scientific breakthrough because she was a sheep. The same thing has happened here: Hwang and his team have successfully cloned and destroyed human beings. [Three more myths are explored in this article.]
Dear Abby: Mother's Day is coming up and I want to take my mother out for a nice lunch. Only I have to decide: Melissa was the one who gave birth to me in the hospital 24 years ago, and she nursed me (though I don't remember any of this). My other mom, Sally, the woman with whom my mother lived and also who took care of me; in fact, she was the one who drove me to my first day of school and was home much more often than Melissa, who made lots of money but had to work downtown at a law firm to do it. Now Melissa and Sally aren't speaking to each other anymore; and I can't mention the name of one in the presence of the other. The last time I mentioned Melissa to Sally, I was told that Sally gave the egg that turned into me, so I was really Sally's son, not Melissa's. I asked Melissa about this, and she told me it was all true, but that Sally didn't really do very much and that she, Melissa, put up with morning sickness and nine months of pregnancy, which almost cost her her career, and a very difficult birth (C-section), plus nursing for a month. I want to have lunch with Melissa and Sally, but I can't since they won't see me together and are only free at the same time. Melissa has other plans later in the day and Sally won't be free later because she is celebrating Mother's Day with her other two children, in vitro children, she had several years after she broke up with Melissa. What should I do? I can't ask my Dad; he was never married and gave the lab a little shot of his stuff so Sally's egg could be planted in Melissa; later he died of AIDS. Two years ago I joined a synagogue, the first time I have ever been involved in religion. I means a lot to me now. I learned I am supposed to "honor my mother and father," but how can I? I am not sure who is my real mom or what that word even means anymore. What should I do?
