Ethics Palace: Where ethical questions go to live or die

Ah, how exciting it is for Democrats. So much so that they forgive and/or forget moral lapses elsewhere, such as that old Virginia trick of state-sponsored discrimination. To avoid such easy ignorance, The World's Fair's Gift Shop and Haberdashery proudly links to the next great T-Shirt, available here (and courtesy of J.L.). Go wild, buy a dozen. They make a great holiday gift.
The Silencer (being performed in Blacksburg, VA, on November 1, 2, and 3, ahead of its London opening in 2007) is a play about Global Warming and Climate Science. How about that, a play about global warming and climate science. Not your everyday occurrence. I can't say if it's Michael Frayn-level theater, but I can say that it's not the usual approach to confronting climate science issues. Here's a summary of the play: Dr. Brian Heath must decide whether to protect his family or publicize his alarming findings about the impending threat of climate change. His predicament stands for our…
The new Border Fence Law: What a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid , stupid, stupid, stupid , stupid idea. Hmmm, a billion bucks or two... What would I spend it on? Healthcare? Education? Scientific resources? Critical infrastructure? Arts funding? Language classes? New TiVos? Me? Not on a border fence, that's where I wouldn't. Not on a technological fix in the worst way, one meant to "fix" an issue that is not even addressed by said fence fix, an issue that remains underspecified and deeply morally problematic, one that is a point of ignorance or is the most recent…
I saw two more reviews of Dawkins' new and widely discussed The God Delusion recently. Both were critical about the book. Both had points that I thought were very well made. One review is by Terry Eagleton, in the London Review of Books. The other is by Marilynne Robinson, in the November 2006 Harper's (not on-line). (Interesting to the Scienceblogs community itself is my completely different interpretation of Eagleton's review than PZ's.) Eagleton starts by saying this: Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have…
"January 19, 2009: Monsanto announces scientific breakthrough: Genetically Modified Chicken Eggs that will save the world. Patent Pending..." Speaking of animal biotechnology, I think the sub-text of this video is: which is more frightening? GM chickens run amock? Or a year 2009 with someone called President Cheney? (And, it's in keeping with this other breakthrough.) Ole Monsanto, maybe the only thing left for them is a Halliburton connect.
First, check out this Washington Post article explaining that the "FDA Is Set To Approve Milk, Meat From Clones." Second, note that there's a symposium being held in DC tomorrow, "Animal Biotechnology: Considering Ethical Issues," sponsored by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology and Michigan State University. My office-mate, Michael Rodemeyer -- he a Senior Consultant for the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology -- is moderating the event. So, while the two sides of the debate about animal biotech are reduced into newpaper story format at the WP to say that its (a) farmers and…
Amy Bentley, a Profesor of Public Health at NYU, has this well-done* review of Food, Politics, Food Politics, Morality of Food Production, the Ethics of Foopd Systems, and what not, at the Chronicle. The books reviewed in her essay are: Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany, by Bill Buford (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006) Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food, by Warren J. Belasco (University of California Press, 2006) The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan (The Penguin…
Since Ben has posted on the new hypoallergenic cat, I thought it pertinent to talk a little about the Granddaddy of transgenic pet services, that is the company known as Genetics Savings and Clones. Here's a company with some pretty strong research credentials having been published in the not too shabby Nature (this was the cloning of a cat named "cc:"). In essence, they were the first to provide a pet cloning service with the February 2004 launch of their "Nine Lives Extravaganza," to the first 9 clients for $50,000 each. This by the way, was adverstised as coming with a "free video",…
Another contribution to Science in the Public Disinterest (see last contribution, on nanotech and golfballs): this one tells us about "Cat Lovers Lining Up for No-Sneeze Kitties." And I've got only one response: Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! By the by, Joseph at Corpus Callosum picked up on earlier reports of this, back in June, and it looks like "progress" is being made. I feel obliged to keep the desirous public in the know. Allerca, a smalll California biotech company, is making headway: Last month, an Allerca public relations consultant, Julie Chytrowsky, kept Joshua, an Allerca cat…
Archer-Daniels-Midland CEO Patricia Woertz blasted ethanol for use in fuesl when she was with Chevron (7 years ago). Now she's acquired a taste for it, as the new CEO of ADM (supermarket to the world). The New York Times reports in "A Bet on Ethanol, With a Convert at the Helm." Let's see, let's see, what are my options here... "Delicious irony?" No, not quite direct enough. "Yummy mix-up?" That's probably worse. Could get lewd, but I won't try that. How's about, "Corny Consequences Abound: For ADM, and, worse yet, For Bad Blog Lines." Well clearly self-defeating there. "Cornrows…
The diagnosis we would all shudder to get. The below image is actually a joke (reprinted from an issue of Esquire in July of 2000) But even in reality, Craig Venter is a piece of work. I mean it's perfect that he can be quoted as saying "People who are motivated by pure greed only get their money when they produce something that's beneficial to society." And so, I invite you to check out an interview of Dr. Venter from The Believer which has an introduction that begins: What would it be like to know the details of your own personal programming--every A, C, T, and G as it swirls along the…
However, unlike the MRI (which had strong personal significance), this time the sequencing data, hung by the lamp to the right, is of nothing in particular. Thanks everyone for the comments - it was interesting and also valuable. Nice to know that readers appreciate the nuances in scenarios such as this. Nuances are important in so many things.
So, for the last couple of days, I've been feeling a little unsettled. Here's the backdrop, but I'm also interested on what folks think, if they care to comment. Basically, for about a week or so, I had a MRI head scan of someone I care about on one of my office walls. Initially, the reason to do this was that MRI's are first and foremost impressive looking, and the sort of thing that one can marvel at - that is, the ability to see the brain in different swaths etc. On occasion, people dropping by the office would ask about it, and this would inevitably lead into an anecdote that is part…
This article by David Ewing Duncan, "The Pollution Within," is in the new issue of National Geographic. (He was also on NPR this morning.) So, while we're on the subject of consumption her at The World's Fair, I think we need to get far past very narrow senses of what consumption means. So, Duncan asked himself, what is he really consuming? The tag line on the piece: Modern chemistry keeps insects from ravaging crops, lifts stains from carpets, and saves lives. But the ubiquity of chemicals is taking a toll. Many of the compounds absorbed by the body stay there for years--and fears about…
I'm way late to the Ask a Scienceblogger of a few weeks ago. So late that the question has come back around in a new Ask for this week (and this after being trumped by last week's Organic query - and both subjects are of great interest to me and soon I will converge them, plausibly, not as a lark). I fear now that I may have waded into a mini-manifesto below. The actual article referenced in the Global Warming Ask category is not worth addressing, though it is actually kind of funny (by intent, I suppose). But I am concerned that Global Warming talk is becoming the end-all and be-all of…
The 13 Sept "Ask a Scienceblogger" query is: When I think about global warming, I feel completely powerless. Is there any meaningful action I can take to help?... The answer is yes: consume less. In individual acts, on a daily basis, consume less. This isn't the same thing as suggesting that we consume nothing. It is to say, rather, that we have opportunities in everday life to avoid the destructive tendencies of a hyper-consumer philosophy of life.
But most of it isn't. You've eatin it, this food they speak of, good or bad or middling. I bet. No no, think again. I'm sure of it. I think later today I'll do it again. Mmmm, foody. I'll be posting something next week in response to this week's wildly interesting "Ask a Scienceblogger" topic of Organic Food. They query: What's up with organic foods? What are the main arguments for buying organic? Is it supposed to be better for me, or better for the planet, or what? Are organics, in any sense, worth the higher price?... For today, this Friday, here's a discussion forum from The Nation…
Oh, how to load a question, eh? And a dangerous one, at that. I mostly think of this topic, of progress and science and technology, as one of faith. Saying that doesn't explain much about what I'm talking about, but I don't intend here to be unnecessarily obscure. Rather, here's a poem instead of a diatribe or monologue or pontificatory (not a word) uber-blurb. It's by a Portuguese poet, and I thank WG for sending it along. Affonso Romano de Sant' Anna"Letter to the Dead" (2000) [translated from the Portuguese] Friends, nothing has changed in essence. Wages don't cover expenses, wars…
This is not a clue. More a hint, mostly. For any newbies, here are the past posts on the PF: Most recent (and most impressive; a compilation of sorts) Before that, Update #B (on evidence) Before that, whence we provided the final clue Before that, the 4th clue Before that, Update #A And the original posting.
How great is this book? It's that great, that's how much. But beyond superficial (and meaningless) qualifiers like "great," this book does a remarkable job of fascinating me, interesting students, and standing alone as entertaining fiction. I use it in my class on Science, Technology, and Progress, and since I just re-ordered it for the new semester it reminded to make a point of asking how to characterize a book that you can read a dozen times and still enjoy. I was looking up some quotes and old reviews, and realized that The Vonnegut Web is an extraordinary site, collecting, collating…