<p>At <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050525/news_1n25stem.html">George W's recent press conference</a> in which he held fast in his opposition to using human embryos for advancing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell">stem cell</a> research, I couldn't help but notice that the all of the "snowflake" babies where white as snow. Isn't that interesting! The snowflake babies/children were created from donated embryos left over from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVF">in vitro fertilization</a> (IVF).  The inherent hypocrisy stems (pardon the pun) from the fact that IVF wastes many embryos because many IVF attempts do not implant successfully and die/are wasted depending on your perspective. Additionally, once a women is successfully implanted (becomes pregnant), her left over embryos are discarded. It seems those who are crying foul on stem cell research, should also be protesting IVF. Wouldn't you think?</p>
Archive for May, 2005
The Social Cost of ChoicePoint is Too High!
Posted in Industry watch on May 15, 2005 by Blog Admin<p>I believe we should all consider the social cost of any business transaction before we think that we got a good deal. For example, that burger you just bought for 99 cents isn't such a great deal when you consider the portion of the rainforest that got burned in order to grow the grass to feed the cows for the cheap beef that permits McDonalds to profit from that same burger. The too low wages of people who serve you the burger and the horrible working conditions of the meat packing workers also merit mention. Thus, the social cost of that burger is quite high.</p><p>When I consider the social cost of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChoicePoint">ChoicePoint </a>my anger goes to such heights that I become depressed. You recall <a href="http://www.csoonline.com/read/050105/choicepoint.html">ChoicePoint's most recent blunder</a> in which they sold private information of individuals to identity thieves. ChoicePoint's Corporate Information Security Officer believes that information security and fraud are separate and unrelated issues. Clearly, this is not true, and now thousands of people must contend with identity theft.  The truly socially expensive "blunder" of ChoicePoint was to deny primarily African-American voters their rights to vote by listing them as felons, and thereby give us George W. as our next President. Given that <a href="http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/12/04/voter_file/print.html">ChoicePoint has close Republican ties, how can this firm be trusted to provide a list of names to be purged from voter rosters?</a> Does the fact that Florida Secretary of State (the person responsible for Florida elections) was George W's Florida campaign chair, sound a little suspicious? Given how close the Florida election was, we can attribute George W's victory to ChoicePoint's inaccurate felon list.  The hundreds of billions of dollars and many innocent lives wasted in Iraq are all because of ChoicePoint's sleazy tactics. Who would do business with ChoicePoint other than a crook? Please break any business ties with this sleazy company.</p>
Please just shoot the "runaway bride"
Posted in Media Watch on May 8, 2005 by Blog AdminAre there really so few things to report, that the majority of mainstream news outlets, NPR excluded, have spent an inordinate amount of time on <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/all-jennifer0504,0,4085414.column?coll=ny-top-headlines">Jennifer Wilbanks' runaway bride story?</a> Is it coincidental that this story is about a pretty, middle-class woman? I was doing my morning workout about a week ago, watching CNN for a bit of distraction, when I first encountered the story of the runaway bride. Since then I have been sickened by the amount of coverage dedicated to this fluff! Do we not have anything better to talk about?! How about some clarifications on the George W's assault on the Social Security System? This excessive coverage is particularly disheartening in the face of the zero (again other than NPR) of the <a href="http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/11159.html">recent gay-bashing in SantaFe New Mexico</a>. What kind of "free press" do we have. Is our press doing its job informing the US citizenry of important social issues? Does this help explain why after four years of blunder after blunder George W. still got re-elected?
The "no fault" President
Posted in Media Watch on May 1, 2005 by Blog Admin<p>Back in the day of "The Gipper" we had the Teflon President. Nothing could stick to ol' Ronnie, mining the harbors of Nicaragua, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran-Contra_Affair">Iran-Contra Affair</a>, sticking it to the little people, nothing. Now Boy-George goes one better. He doesn't have to worry about anything sticking to him, when he's never wrong.  Despite so few high-ranking women in the US military, somehow <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13114-2004May9.html">Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski</a> is found to be culpable for the entire <a href="http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=2444">Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal</a>, with no male superior implicated.  </p><p>The latest incident that W's administration claims no culpability for is the wounding of the Italian journalist, <font size="2">Giuliana Sgrena, and murder of her body guard, Nicola Calipari. The "investigation" found no culpability, claiming that Sgrena's car failed to slow down for a checkpoint. <a href="http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=7544">According to an interview with Sgrena in Z Magazine</a>, at the time of her shooting she was not at a checkpoint at all, and in fact was on a VIP road, reserved for embassy and US officials. We need a real investigation into this matter, the abuse in Abu Ghraib, the entire rationale for making a preemptive strike on Iraq, and so many other issues. Let's hear some straight talk from this administration for once! Let's see what kind of mensch you are Georgie. Can you take a hit?</font> </p>