This greatly disturbs me. I don't believe we should halt all progress in these fields, they will clearly have a lot to offer us in the future. However, I strongly believe that these fields are being directed by people with out best interests at heart. We have no idea the long term effects of cloning, or consuming foods from cloned animals.
Similarity breeds weakness. If all the cows on a farm are clones, they are all susceptible to the same diseases. Nature tends towards diversity for reasons of strength and survivability.
I took a biotech class at college. We focused on genetically modified foods. One of the best discussions we had was on tomatoes. Companies are breeding tomatoes to have a longer shelf life, smooth round shape, and a tough bright red skin. I asked if taste ever came into their decision process. Nope. It doesn't' directly translate to a savings or increased profits, so it's not a consideration. Longer shelf life, and more marketable appearance were the things they were looking for. That's why we have tomato's that taste like cardboard.
We're just crossing into a dangerous time where we think we can outsmart nature. But we know just enough to be dangerous. People are afraid (and rightly so) about mad cow disease because cattle farmers found they can save money by feeding brains of other animals to their cattle. The leaders of these companies look as far as the next fiscal quarter's profits. Not the health effects of their products 5, 10, 20 years down the line. Their legal departments are writing the legislation that is supposed to be regulating the industry.
We need real government regulation, and labels are the most basic of first steps. It's hard to slap someone on the wrist when you hand is in their back pocket.
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Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
Winston Churchill
How about one of the manufacturers come out with a user replacable battery. This was a major complaint for the first Ipods, and hasn't been fixed yet. A bigger screen means shorter playtime between charges.
That's one feature that would make me choose one over the other. Besides that, they're all comparable.
a report of a ThinkPad T43 that caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport.
This just in, FAA Bans laptop and PSP batteries because they are made by the same company.
PSP Owners outraged.
How is it that people have talked this much about getting a one armed workout, while never mentioning Dance Dance Revolution?
That one even has a cardio workout mode!
Not that I've ever played, of course...
So now we've got CEO's investigating reporters, and reporters investigating Executives. When will they turn their high powered invest-i-scopes back onto politicians?
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Selective breeding isn't cloning either.
This greatly disturbs me. I don't believe we should halt all progress in these fields, they will clearly have a lot to offer us in the future. However, I strongly believe that these fields are being directed by people with out best interests at heart. We have no idea the long term effects of cloning, or consuming foods from cloned animals. Similarity breeds weakness. If all the cows on a farm are clones, they are all susceptible to the same diseases. Nature tends towards diversity for reasons of strength and survivability. I took a biotech class at college. We focused on genetically modified foods. One of the best discussions we had was on tomatoes. Companies are breeding tomatoes to have a longer shelf life, smooth round shape, and a tough bright red skin. I asked if taste ever came into their decision process. Nope. It doesn't' directly translate to a savings or increased profits, so it's not a consideration. Longer shelf life, and more marketable appearance were the things they were looking for. That's why we have tomato's that taste like cardboard. We're just crossing into a dangerous time where we think we can outsmart nature. But we know just enough to be dangerous. People are afraid (and rightly so) about mad cow disease because cattle farmers found they can save money by feeding brains of other animals to their cattle. The leaders of these companies look as far as the next fiscal quarter's profits. Not the health effects of their products 5, 10, 20 years down the line. Their legal departments are writing the legislation that is supposed to be regulating the industry. We need real government regulation, and labels are the most basic of first steps. It's hard to slap someone on the wrist when you hand is in their back pocket. -- Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry. Winston Churchill
How about one of the manufacturers come out with a user replacable battery. This was a major complaint for the first Ipods, and hasn't been fixed yet. A bigger screen means shorter playtime between charges. That's one feature that would make me choose one over the other. Besides that, they're all comparable.
a report of a ThinkPad T43 that caught fire at Los Angeles International Airport. This just in, FAA Bans laptop and PSP batteries because they are made by the same company. PSP Owners outraged.
How is it that people have talked this much about getting a one armed workout, while never mentioning Dance Dance Revolution? That one even has a cardio workout mode! Not that I've ever played, of course...
So now we've got CEO's investigating reporters, and reporters investigating Executives. When will they turn their high powered invest-i-scopes back onto politicians?