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Superstition, bigotry and prejudice,
ghosts though they are, cling tenaciously to life; they are shadows
armed with tooth and claw. They must be grappled with unceasingly,
for it is a fateful part of human destiny that it is condemned to
wage perpetual war against ghosts. A shadow is not easily taken
by the throat and destroyed.
- Victor Hugo
March 2, 2004
Government Bioethics: Hold the Bio, Hold the Ethics
America is losing its credibility
and its technological edge as the current administration continues
to favor politics over science.
By Scott Anderson
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, a noted
researcher from the University of California, San Francisco, is
a little steamed. And you should be too, if you like your science
served straight up, without political bias...
Click here for the
rest of the article.
February 1, 2004
Choice Words
Can you really suffer from too many
choices? Yes, if one of the choices is psychobabble.
By Scott Anderson
Recent articles by Barry Schwartz,
professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College, have propounded a
most remarkable argument: that Americans have too many choices,
leading them to feel harried and depressed. To encapsulate this
interesting theory, a new term has been coined, the "Tyranny of
Choice" ...
Click here for
the rest of the article.
December 10, 2003
A Worldwide Stem Cell Ban?
A group of Catholic countries, encouraged
by the United States, is attempting to ban stem cell research around
the world.
By Scott Anderson
Last week, a coalition of predominantly Catholic countries,
headed by Costa Rica and with the blessing of the United States,
again attempted to force a resolution in the UN to completely ban
stem-cell therapies around the world...
Click here for
the rest of the article.
July 22, 2003
Could Women Beat the Cloning Ban?
What separates the men from the women? Women have
eggs, men have sperm. If the congress has their way, that distinction
could doom male patients.
By Scott Anderson
The House of Representatives has twice voted overwhelmingly
to ban all human cloning - including therapeutic cloning. The President
has urged the Senate to follow suit with a similar bill that would
put researchers in prison for ten years and fine them a million
dollars if they attempt to clone so much as a single human cell.
The Senate would be wise to ignore this presidential recommendation
for two reasons, one of them political and the other scientific...
Click here
for the rest of the article.
July 1, 2003
Can Religion be Democratic?
People who want to inject "a little religion"
into the government need to think it through.
By Scott Anderson
Increasingly strident voices, from Iran and Iraq to
America, are insisting that religion should play a greater role
in democratic governments. How can a little religion hurt, especially
if the people want it? But this notion is confused: religion and
democracy are fundamentally at odds. Religion is not democratic.
The faithful aren’t expected to vote on the word of god. In most
religions, god long ago passed his word down and it is simply not
up for discussion...
Click here
for the rest of the article.
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