Friday, December 09, 2005
The government seems to be blind to the inherent incompatibility of its economic and social policies. A report from the New Zealand Institute this week points out that exports currently make up only 29% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is well below international standards, even for other small countries. The Institute says we will have to substantially lift our game if we are to maintain economic growth. In response, Government minister Trevor Mallard says one of the problems is that New Zealand has too few risk takers. Here lies the government blindness. Entrepreneurs take risks only when they think there is going to be a financial return. They do not take risks if they are taxed too heavily when they make a success of the venture. Furthermore, New Zealand does not encourage risk-taking because when people are successful they are criticised for being rich, and the government uses its social redestributive policies to reduce the gap between rich and poor. The government cannot have it both ways. If it wants successful entrepreneurs - and that is the only way the economy will grow - it has to stop slamming them when they achieve. Too many have already voted with their feet and shifted production overseas.
Chinese authorities have admitted for the fist time that organs from executed prisoners are being sold to ailing foreigners. According to the London Times, Huang Jiefu, the Deputy Health Minister, says that the practice is widespread and must be regulated more consistently. The aim of new legislation, says Mr Huang, is to end the commercialisation of organ transplants. It will also improve China’s image and give condemned prisoners a greater say in what happens to their bodies. There are no official figures on the number of official executions in China, but Amnesty International estimates that there are between 3,400 and 6,000.
~ London Times, Dec 3
Therapeutic cloning has taken another body blow with a report in a leading journal that cloned embryos appear to be genetically normal, even though most cloned embryos develop abnormally. The implication is that scientists are still far from understanding the cloning process. The findings also suggest that therapies from therapeutic cloning are not around the corner. “Even if cloned embryos are born, many are not normal and die prematurely,” Wolf Reik, of the UK’s Babraham Institute, told The Scientist magazine. At first embryonic stem cells may look normal, but problems may emerge later on.
~ The Scientist, Nov 29
For a performance in its "winter program," a Wisconsin elementary school has changed the beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night," calling the song "Cold in the Night" and secularizing the lyrics. According to Liberty Counsel, a religious-liberty law firm representing a student's parent, kids who attend Ridgeway Elementary School in Dodgeville, Wis., will sing the following lyrics to the tune of "Silent Night": Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm.
It appears the morning-after pill does not reduce pregnancy and abortion rates. During a panel discussion at the National Press Club's Newsmaker Forum last week, Kirsten Moore, president and CEO of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, admitted that the morning-after pill does not reduce pregnancies and abortions as originally touted.
Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel under legislation devised not to offend Jewish law, which forbids people taking human life. A special timer will be fitted to a patient's respirator and will sound an alarm 12 hours before turning it off. Normally, someone would override the alarm and keep the respirator turned on, but, if various stringent conditions are met, including the giving of consent by the patient or legal guardian, the alarm would not be overridden.
Chinese authorities have admitted for the fist time that organs from executed prisoners are being sold to ailing foreigners. According to the London Times, Huang Jiefu, the Deputy Health Minister, says that the practice is widespread and must be regulated more consistently. The aim of new legislation, says Mr Huang, is to end the commercialisation of organ transplants. It will also improve China’s image and give condemned prisoners a greater say in what happens to their bodies. There are no official figures on the number of official executions in China, but Amnesty International estimates that there are between 3,400 and 6,000.
~ London Times, Dec 3
Therapeutic cloning has taken another body blow with a report in a leading journal that cloned embryos appear to be genetically normal, even though most cloned embryos develop abnormally. The implication is that scientists are still far from understanding the cloning process. The findings also suggest that therapies from therapeutic cloning are not around the corner. “Even if cloned embryos are born, many are not normal and die prematurely,” Wolf Reik, of the UK’s Babraham Institute, told The Scientist magazine. At first embryonic stem cells may look normal, but problems may emerge later on.
~ The Scientist, Nov 29
For a performance in its "winter program," a Wisconsin elementary school has changed the beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night," calling the song "Cold in the Night" and secularizing the lyrics. According to Liberty Counsel, a religious-liberty law firm representing a student's parent, kids who attend Ridgeway Elementary School in Dodgeville, Wis., will sing the following lyrics to the tune of "Silent Night": Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm.
It appears the morning-after pill does not reduce pregnancy and abortion rates. During a panel discussion at the National Press Club's Newsmaker Forum last week, Kirsten Moore, president and CEO of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, admitted that the morning-after pill does not reduce pregnancies and abortions as originally touted.
Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel under legislation devised not to offend Jewish law, which forbids people taking human life. A special timer will be fitted to a patient's respirator and will sound an alarm 12 hours before turning it off. Normally, someone would override the alarm and keep the respirator turned on, but, if various stringent conditions are met, including the giving of consent by the patient or legal guardian, the alarm would not be overridden.
