Hundreds of thousands of people have no food, water or shelter. International aid agencies on the ground say seven tonnes of high-energy biscuits have been distributed in the delta region, but they have reached only 10% of those that need help.
Despite this, Burma’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday saying it was not ready to allow foreign aid workers to enter the country.
The junta said it was happy to accept aid, but insisted it would control the distribution itself.
‘Murdering own people’
WFP spokesman Paul Risley said two flights of “critically-needed food aid” - including 38 tonnes of high-energy biscuits - arrived in Burma on Friday but was confiscated.
The Dalai Lama, exiled in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala since 1959, said that introduction of “industrial food practices” into Tibet would perpetuate animal suffering.
He said in the letter: “I have been particularly concerned with the sufferings of chickens for many years.
“It was the death of a chicken that finally strengthened my resolve to become vegetarian.
“These days, when I see a row of plucked chickens hanging in a meat shop, it hurts.
I am relooking at some notes and slides I prepared for this topic. Its an interesting topic not only because of the science behind it but also the ethical, social and legal implications (that makes the acronym “ELSI”) which blur the lines between right and wrong. Here are two very good resources
The first is the NOVA programs. The videos capture authentic situations that individuals face with regards to genetic diseases and also feature the scientists, science behind the project. Its more information packed in multimedia than I can summarize in a set of lecture notes. More information meaning the drama of the video that will contribute to affective learning and hence motivate students to learn more about the subject.
The 2nd is this free,… yes free, online book you can download. Its easy to read and the examples giving illustrate clearly the perplexing “ELSI” issues about genetic testing, abortions, genetic determinism… that will surface once genetic tests become more accessible..
Think ELSI and genetic testing are still far off… well read this groundbreaking and probably as “Brave New World” as it can get article in the New York Times on how you can pay just under USD$1000 for the company 23andMe to scan your genome for 580,000 SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms). You actually can order the kit.. not sure how it works but I guess you can do it at home for yourself and children. There are at least 3 companies who will do that for around that price.
Just spit..
This NYT journalist got her own genome scanned by just spitting saliva into a little test tube . Here’s a snippet of the article titled “My Genome, Myself: Seeking Clues in DNA“
“I don’t like brussels sprouts. Who knew it was genetic? But I have the snippet of DNA that gives me the ability to taste a compound that makes many vegetables taste bitter. I differ from people who are blind to bitter taste — who actually like brussels sprouts — by a single spelling change in our four-letter genetic alphabet: somewhere on human chromosome 7, I have a G where they have a C.”
But that’s just information…. trivia about your genes. It gets more serious when people actually use that information to determine the genetics of their progeny. This couple actually had their daughter “genetically determined” so that she wouldn’t inherit forms of genes that would make her highly susceptible to a certain form of colon cancer. This testing is termed preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or P.G.D., which means you need to cull embryos to get the right one. An eight-cell embryo has gone through fertilization.
For this couple, 4 were culled leaving 10 good ones that didn’t have those forms of genes that cause cancer, 2 more were culled when a Down’s syndrome test was done. Think that is unethical? Well there are people who actually remove their large intestines or breasts as a prophylactic measure against such cancers once they find they harbour just the forms of genes that make them susceptible. They may have siblings who have died because of that disease. Watch the 3rd video called One Wrong Letter in the set of videos on Nova and you will know why it becomes so grey.
(thanks to Kevin Lam who pointed out the genome scan link).
Was cycling back from school when I met Gray Matter. Here’s the story. It was drizzling still after that storm we had this afternoon. I decided to cycle anyway so after about half an hour I was on the Yio Chu Kang pavement (cos I dont want to get knocked down by the lorries) and I saw what I thought to be another dead kitten on the pavement. But wait a minute, cats don’t sit down when they die, they lie on their side or something.
I stopped and saw that it was drenched and hardly moved. I pinched its scruff and held it up and then heard her mewing. Okay, its a good thing that I had a basket on my bicycle.. not cool but lucky for the kitten. And wait a minute, its going to freeze when I cycle and the wind goes through the net of the basket… but luckily I had my work shirt in my bag (a 7 year old blue Giordano shirt). So i wrapped it up and set it comfortably in the basket.
Well, to cut the long story short, we bathed it with warm water, dried it till its fur fluffed up and fed it warm milk and cat food. Josh is playing with it now and it looks in good shape.
I am reminded of the time when I was reading so much about the Mahatma. Perhaps its time to read him again. I tire of the things that don’t really matter and perhaps its time to look at things with renewed perspective
