Bacteria aren't human. Killing them is about as wrong as killing other non-human creatures that aren't remotely endangered.
* Millions of living creatures are murdered when someone has sex.
Living cells die, yes. But they aren't zygotes.
* Sperm and egg cells aren't alive, and unliving things magically turn into living things when they combine.
So there was an poor choice of terms. You are just being pedantic.
So twins are the same entity?
I assume you mean identical twins.
I knew a girl that was going to be identical twins, but the two merged back together into a singe fetus. I'd say they are capable of being a single entity, although at some point they will be separate for too long to recombine.
No it won't. First, the embryo needs to be free of genetic defects.
I assume you mean "free of extensive genetic defects". If they truly were free of defects, we wouldn't have hereditary genetic diseases. I would still count it as human, although I would not be surprised if it miscarries very soon (maybe even before the first cell division?). Unfortunate, but it happens. The important thing is that it died because there was nothing we could do to prevent it, not because someone decided to kill it.
Second, the embryo needs to be implanted.
Is malaria part of the body, or a separate organism? Tapeworm? Just because an organism is dependent on a host for survival, that doesn't make the two a single entity. Same with embryos. Totally dependent on the mother's body for nourishment and protection, but it is not a part of the mother.
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.
I don't think it matters much which womb you attach it to (see: surrogate mothers), except for issues with the immune system (blood type incompatibility) and nourishment of the mother.
What counts is a nervous system and perhaps some sort of brain function
So 5 minutes before we could identify brain function, it isn't alive? The boundary is just too fuzzy. An embryo hasn't developed a great deal compared to where it was a hour beforehand.
I understand wanting to protect life, but saying that even the potential for life must be protected can be taken to absurd extremes -- as religious proscription of contraceptive measures has shown -- and is really just absurd in itself.
I agree, potential for life != life. That's why I don't care one way or the other about preventive contraception. But I am not of the opinion that a fertilized egg is merely "potential life".
I feel that conception is a good point because it is the single most defining instant of a human's development. The eggs and sperm won't grow into an adult human on their own, no matter how much nutrients you give them. An embryo will.
only the embryos are no more a human than that egg you had for breakfast is a chicken
I disagree. Most of those eggs in the supermarket are unfertilized. A fertilized egg is an actual chicken. I just don't care about chickens as much as I do people. You can't point to any one spot in an embryo's development (except fertilization) and say "There. Now it is human." With that ambiguity, is it not better to err on the side of caution?
with the end result being people having some incurable genetic illness.
Are the majority of disabled individuals unhappy that they are alive? It's not our place to make that judgment for them.
whats ethical about allowing someone to die a horrible death from cancer when you could have most likely been prevented?
This isn't really prevention. Sure, the child that is born will have a reduced risk of breast cancer, but that is because they simply throw out the ones that don't meet their criteria. So instead of having a higher chance of dying from breast cancer, these rejects have a guarantee of dying because their chances are higher than the one that was selected.
I'm willing to consider Debian Proper in exchange for a wee less Newbie-fying if that's what it takes to get a more coherent rolling experience.
Actually, I would recommend Testing. It is a little more up-to-date than Stable, and it is a better rolling release (make sure you remove the "lenny" and "lenny/security" entries from your/etc/apt/sources.list and replace them with "testing", because anything with a "lenny" label will eventually become stable.)
The interesting question becomes uBuntu vs. Debian proper. I'll have to do my research on that whole Proprietary-but-easy vs. Ultra-Free thing. But at least I'm hearing that the problems I am running into are not a mirage either.
Debian has non-free repositories. Here's a sample from my sources.list: deb ftp://debian.osuosl.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
The part that says "unstable" is where you would insert "testing", and you add "contrib" and "non-free" to the end of the entry to enable those repositories. (and/. has made a link out of my URL, ignore the TLD in square brackets)
Your other note had the crucial remark that the next version of uBuntu is the one with OO3. To me, THAT is THE killer App I need, so I will plan my entire strategy around that. I think I'm slowly evolving into the decision to use that as a trial run, and then get the NEXT LTS release (whatever animal that comes out to) as my Park distro that I camp out on and "just do work".
I don't know if they have got OOo 3 into it at this time (it isn't yet in Debian Unstable, so probably not), but Jaunty had it's second Alpha release yesterday (hmm... not downloadable yet...maybe they need a few more hours to build the disc image?)
Over in Windows land we're coming up on the 8th anniversary of Win XP and still lamenting the failings of "New Kid Vista".
The version numbers of the software that is used is what defines a particular release. Every six months, Canonical takes the latest stuff from Debian Unstable (which I use) and "freeze" the version numbers. Basically, no big new version numbers for that release, just bugfixes (The current version of Ubuntu will stick with Firefox 3.0.x bugfixes and OpenOffice 2.4, and the next version will get 3.1.x and OpenOffice 3.0)
The point of all this is to provide a point of stability somewhat near the cutting edge. New software is dependent on other new software. All the packages that are included in a release can be trusted to not change and break everything for six months (or 3 years for Long Term support releases), at the sacrifice of putting off that new upgrade until the end of April, when the next version comes.
Basically, the new release is the FF3 (and everything else) update. It's more of a snapshot of current software than a whole overhaul.
I hope I haven't confused you, I am not sure I am being coherent.
So anyways, if you don't want to reinstall every six months, you can stick with just the Long Term Support releases, of which you have the oldest. The more recent one is 8.04, and it has Firefox 3. If you want to keep most of your setting and such:
open your home folder
Press Ctrl-H to show your hidden files
Copy everything to some external media
Install new version
Copy everything back (you will need to press Ctrl-H again to show and move those hidden files)
Generally, the only hidden folder I keep is the.mozilla one, because it holds all my Firefox settings.
I made the assumption that you did not create a separate/home partition when you installed Drake. If you did, you don't have to bother with copying your files away. You just need to set that partition as you/home folder next time you install. (Googe on how to do this, or explore the partitioning section of the installer.)
No reason to not incorporate. Just integrate the behavior you desire into the bylaws and/or never own less than half the shares (and make your wishes very clear to the CEO).
Passwords can be learned with muscle memory. Maybe a simple puzzle, instead? Or you could get an Optimus Maximus and make it display a random keymap when you need to log in.
I write email and forum posts in my sleep on a semi-recurring basis [the more stressed out I am and physically exhausted, the more often it occurs].
Have you tried preventing this (unplug something?) Obviously this approach wouldn't help for falling asleep during the day, but maybe at night...or do you fall asleep at the computer at night, also?
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* It's wrong to kill bacteria.
Bacteria aren't human. Killing them is about as wrong as killing other non-human creatures that aren't remotely endangered.
* Millions of living creatures are murdered when someone has sex.
Living cells die, yes. But they aren't zygotes.
* Sperm and egg cells aren't alive, and unliving things magically turn into living things when they combine.
So there was an poor choice of terms. You are just being pedantic.
So twins are the same entity?
I assume you mean identical twins.
I knew a girl that was going to be identical twins, but the two merged back together into a singe fetus. I'd say they are capable of being a single entity, although at some point they will be separate for too long to recombine.
Was it right or wrong to let Terri Schaivo die?
Tough question. On one hand, she was "alive" in the technical sense. On the other hand, she wasn't coming back. We think.
Is it right or wrong to abort a pregnancy when it is known that the baby will die in horrible agony shortly after birth?
Such as?
Is it murder when a woman's body flushes out a fertilized egg?
Not if the flushing wasn't induced with the intention of disposing of the embryo. Yes, a human being died.
But a conscious choice wasn't made.
Is it murder when a geneticist fails to implant a fertilized egg into a woman's uterus
It would be intent that matters, not how things actually play out. In this scenario, it was a failed attempt at saving the child.
The ones they don't try to implant, however, are a different story.
1) Evolutionary imperative. We better not give as much of a shit about anything else as we do about our own species...
Not even pwnies?
No it won't. First, the embryo needs to be free of genetic defects.
I assume you mean "free of extensive genetic defects". If they truly were free of defects, we wouldn't have hereditary genetic diseases.
I would still count it as human, although I would not be surprised if it miscarries very soon (maybe even before the first cell division?). Unfortunate, but it happens. The important thing is that it died because there was nothing we could do to prevent it, not because someone decided to kill it.
Second, the embryo needs to be implanted.
Is malaria part of the body, or a separate organism? Tapeworm? Just because an organism is dependent on a host for survival, that doesn't make the two a single entity. Same with embryos. Totally dependent on the mother's body for nourishment and protection, but it is not a part of the mother.
The point of conception as a defining moment of human-hood is not the best approach, unless you're willing to define any egg+diploid human DNA = human.
By Jove, I think he's got it!
Note to Nazlfrag: it may be a a good idea to include in your definition "able to grow into an adult human without extensive genetic manipulation".
I doubt you could coax the Hela line to form embryonic stem cells
If you can, I would count those cells (the embryonic ones) as human.
No it won't - you need to attach it to a womb
I don't think it matters much which womb you attach it to (see: surrogate mothers), except for issues with the immune system (blood type incompatibility) and nourishment of the mother.
What counts is a nervous system and perhaps some sort of brain function
So 5 minutes before we could identify brain function, it isn't alive? The boundary is just too fuzzy. An embryo hasn't developed a great deal compared to where it was a hour beforehand.
I understand wanting to protect life, but saying that even the potential for life must be protected can be taken to absurd extremes -- as religious proscription of contraceptive measures has shown -- and is really just absurd in itself.
I agree, potential for life != life. That's why I don't care one way or the other about preventive contraception. But I am not of the opinion that a fertilized egg is merely "potential life".
I feel that conception is a good point because it is the single most defining instant of a human's development. The eggs and sperm won't grow into an adult human on their own, no matter how much nutrients you give them. An embryo will.
I doubt that the antenna makes up the majority of your iPhone's power usage.
We already have one. Unfortunately, someone dropped it a little too far south.
only the embryos are no more a human than that egg you had for breakfast is a chicken
I disagree. Most of those eggs in the supermarket are unfertilized. A fertilized egg is an actual chicken. I just don't care about chickens as much as I do people. You can't point to any one spot in an embryo's development (except fertilization) and say "There. Now it is human." With that ambiguity, is it not better to err on the side of caution?
with the end result being people having some incurable genetic illness.
Are the majority of disabled individuals unhappy that they are alive? It's not our place to make that judgment for them.
whats ethical about allowing someone to die a horrible death from cancer when you could have most likely been prevented?
This isn't really prevention. Sure, the child that is born will have a reduced risk of breast cancer, but that is because they simply throw out the ones that don't meet their criteria. So instead of having a higher chance of dying from breast cancer, these rejects have a guarantee of dying because their chances are higher than the one that was selected.
Use a bigger stock ticker. You have the screen real estate for it.
I'm willing to consider Debian Proper in exchange for a wee less Newbie-fying if that's what it takes to get a more coherent rolling experience.
Actually, I would recommend Testing. It is a little more up-to-date than Stable, and it is a better rolling release (make sure you remove the "lenny" and "lenny/security" entries from your /etc/apt/sources.list and replace them with "testing", because anything with a "lenny" label will eventually become stable.)
The interesting question becomes uBuntu vs. Debian proper. I'll have to do my research on that whole Proprietary-but-easy vs. Ultra-Free thing. But at least I'm hearing that the problems I am running into are not a mirage either.
Debian has non-free repositories. Here's a sample from my sources.list: /. has made a link out of my URL, ignore the TLD in square brackets)
deb ftp://debian.osuosl.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
The part that says "unstable" is where you would insert "testing", and you add "contrib" and "non-free" to the end of the entry to enable those repositories. (and
Your other note had the crucial remark that the next version of uBuntu is the one with OO3. To me, THAT is THE killer App I need, so I will plan my entire strategy around that. I think I'm slowly evolving into the decision to use that as a trial run, and then get the NEXT LTS release (whatever animal that comes out to) as my Park distro that I camp out on and "just do work".
I don't know if they have got OOo 3 into it at this time (it isn't yet in Debian Unstable, so probably not), but Jaunty had it's second Alpha release yesterday (hmm... not downloadable yet...maybe they need a few more hours to build the disc image?)
You remark that Drake (From June 2006 per Ubuntu wiki) is no longer supported!?
Actually, Drake is (technically) supported until June.
Over in Windows land we're coming up on the 8th anniversary of Win XP and still lamenting the failings of "New Kid Vista".
The version numbers of the software that is used is what defines a particular release. Every six months, Canonical takes the latest stuff from Debian Unstable (which I use) and "freeze" the version numbers. Basically, no big new version numbers for that release, just bugfixes (The current version of Ubuntu will stick with Firefox 3.0.x bugfixes and OpenOffice 2.4, and the next version will get 3.1.x and OpenOffice 3.0)
The point of all this is to provide a point of stability somewhat near the cutting edge. New software is dependent on other new software. All the packages that are included in a release can be trusted to not change and break everything for six months (or 3 years for Long Term support releases), at the sacrifice of putting off that new upgrade until the end of April, when the next version comes.
Basically, the new release is the FF3 (and everything else) update. It's more of a snapshot of current software than a whole overhaul.
I hope I haven't confused you, I am not sure I am being coherent.
So anyways, if you don't want to reinstall every six months, you can stick with just the Long Term Support releases, of which you have the oldest. The more recent one is 8.04, and it has Firefox 3. If you want to keep most of your setting and such:
Generally, the only hidden folder I keep is the .mozilla one, because it holds all my Firefox settings. /home partition when you installed Drake. If you did, you don't have to bother with copying your files away. You just need to set that partition as you /home folder next time you install. (Googe on how to do this, or explore the partitioning section of the installer.)
I made the assumption that you did not create a separate
No, that'd be use as a server.
Interesting
No, you got "Insightful". Better luck next time.
Let me guess: gun control?
XP won't install on the Cat 7000 I just bought from a firesale. OMG what should I do????
You should have gotten the Dead Badger Mk I. I don't know about XP, but Linux runs on it.
No reason to not incorporate. Just integrate the behavior you desire into the bylaws and/or never own less than half the shares (and make your wishes very clear to the CEO).
Kinda like how Konqueror is (was?) used for both filesystem navigation and web browsing?
In any case I find excercise difficult as I also have a bad ankle due partly to arthritis and partly to an injury I sustained ice skating in my teens.
Does biking strain it too much?
Where is the evil bit in all of this?
And because there's no way not to immerse water in self...
Yes there is.
Apple doesn't strike me as a company that would contract out such a project.
Passwords can be learned with muscle memory. Maybe a simple puzzle, instead? Or you could get an Optimus Maximus and make it display a random keymap when you need to log in.
I write email and forum posts in my sleep on a semi-recurring basis [the more stressed out I am and physically exhausted, the more often it occurs].
Have you tried preventing this (unplug something?) Obviously this approach wouldn't help for falling asleep during the day, but maybe at night...or do you fall asleep at the computer at night, also?