Thursday, November 29, 2007
Stem Cell Research Breakthrough
For those of you who may not have seen the announcement in your local paper, there has been a confirmed breakthrough in this morally "dicey" area. It does not seem to be part of a campaign to raise funds for further research as too many of these kind of announcements seem to be.
A group of researchers announced that they had "...successfully reprogrammed human skin cells into cells indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.”
Here's what one conservative commentator, Chuck Colson, had to say about the event and the future of stem cell research controversy.
Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel and what you think about what you've just read. For
example: "Are you in favour or opposed to stem cell research and why?" or "In light of the new announcement, should stem cell research be totally banned or not and why?" (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)
Labels: Current Hot Potatoes
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
So, What's The Big Deal About Illegal Immigration?
You may change your mind or become more concerned, depending on your current opinion, after reading this short article.
In the U.S., illegal immigration is currently a hotly debated topic. In Canada, my country, it's a big yawn issue for the majority of us ...yet still a significant problem.
Dr. Douglass is an American, self-labeled politically-incorrect, medical writer. Below is Dr. Douglass' astonishing take on my question above. I extracted it from his November 26, Newsletter which I highly recommend if you too read food labels and to which you can subscribe here:
"A lot of people avoid red meat because of concerns about fat content, so they
turn to chicken as a healthier alternative. But here's a disgusting little item
that could get you re-thinking the health benefits of chicken. Not because of
its fat content - but because it may be contaminated with dreadful human
diseases.
"In early November, 212 workers at a single Alabama poultry
processing plant tested positive for tuberculosis. And doctors with the Alabama
State Department of Public Health are still waiting on X-ray results for 165
other employees to see if they are contagious as well. Worse still, two of the
poultry processing workers were found to have active TB - the airborne bacteria
of which is easily spread by coughing, laughing, or even talking.
"Yummy! Chicken salad, anyone?
"Now if you're my age, you may be surprised to
hear about an outbreak of tuberculosis, a disease that's been largely eradicated
in the U.S. And that's the key phrase, my friends: eradicated in the U.S. In
third-world countries like Mexico, it's still quite common. Of the 212 workers
who tested positive, many were Hispanic - including the two with the active
virus.
"It's a well-known fact that a large proportion of the work force
in the poultry industry is Hispanic. And it's also a well-known (and often
denied) fact that a majority of these workers are illegal immigrants.
"As illegal immigration continues to run amok thanks to business and the government
turning a blind eye, tuberculosis is making a comeback in the States. Reports
say that over three-quarters of the TB cases reported in California were found
in foreign natives.
"And what's worse: Some of my colleagues in the
medical community have difficulty diagnosing TB because they're unfamiliar with
the symptoms. They rarely encounter this largely extinct illness, so it's tough
to recognize. (If you find your furniture scratched up, you think "cat," not
"saber toothed tiger," right?)
"This is a telling incident. It reveals
one of the least talked about issues within the larger debate over illegal
immigration.
"I'll be the first one to step up and get a tear in my eye about huddle
masses yearning to breathe free and live "the American Dream" in this "Land of
Opportunity." But the cold fact is that the people coming to America for a
better life are coming here from countries with markedly lower and even
non-existent health standards. In some of these countries - Mexico included -
diseases that you only read about in Victorian novels (cholera, TB, typhoid, and
even plague) are daily occurrences.
"Let me spell this out for you: These
are people with a highly contagious disease, and they're handling your food.
It's more than disgusting - it's downright dangerous. And it's the least talked
about and most potentially deadly danger of illegal immigration. Public health
officials are not concerned enough by this. As for me? I'm terrified. Because
the most frightening part of this is that there are emerging strains of
drug-resistant TB being brought into the country by illegal immigrants who, of
course, bypass the health screenings regularly conducted with legal immigrants.
"You can probably recall stories told to you by parents or grandparents
about time spent on Ellis Island when they arrived in the U.S. Today, people
consider these screenings and quarantines of new immigrants the policies of a
bigoted and xenophobic country. But the truth is, the government was afraid -
and rightly so - of people bringing epidemics into the country.
"The poultry farms in Alabama? Well, they claim that the laws don't really allow for
pre-employment screening because of HIV privacy laws. Which sounds like a
convenient excuse from an industry that relies on the labor of illegal
immigrants to turn a profit. Any why not? The only ones at risk are their
customers - everyone in the U.S. that eats chicken.
"As you know, I'm not a fan of political correctness, so I'm not afraid to tell you that I think it's
high time someone in our government do something to stop illegal immigration
before it brings this country to its knees - and puts us all in the hospital.
Put up that border fence and keep those diseases from the third world on the
other side.
"Protecting our borders,
"William Campbell Douglass II, M.D. Now It's Your Turn!: Please
share how you feel and what you think about what you've just read. For
example: "Is Dr. Douglass fear-mongering?" or "Should the U.S and Canadian governments take more assertive action against illegal immigrants? or "What about required and legally-enforced quarantining of individuals with communicable diseases?" (My
'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you
when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word
Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to
prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
In the U.S., illegal immigration is currently a hotly debated topic. In Canada, my country, it's a big yawn issue for the majority of us ...yet still a significant problem.
Dr. Douglass is an American, self-labeled politically-incorrect, medical writer. Below is Dr. Douglass' astonishing take on my question above. I extracted it from his November 26, Newsletter which I highly recommend if you too read food labels and to which you can subscribe here:
"A lot of people avoid red meat because of concerns about fat content, so they
turn to chicken as a healthier alternative. But here's a disgusting little item
that could get you re-thinking the health benefits of chicken. Not because of
its fat content - but because it may be contaminated with dreadful human
diseases.
"In early November, 212 workers at a single Alabama poultry
processing plant tested positive for tuberculosis. And doctors with the Alabama
State Department of Public Health are still waiting on X-ray results for 165
other employees to see if they are contagious as well. Worse still, two of the
poultry processing workers were found to have active TB - the airborne bacteria
of which is easily spread by coughing, laughing, or even talking.
"Yummy! Chicken salad, anyone?
"Now if you're my age, you may be surprised to
hear about an outbreak of tuberculosis, a disease that's been largely eradicated
in the U.S. And that's the key phrase, my friends: eradicated in the U.S. In
third-world countries like Mexico, it's still quite common. Of the 212 workers
who tested positive, many were Hispanic - including the two with the active
virus.
"It's a well-known fact that a large proportion of the work force
in the poultry industry is Hispanic. And it's also a well-known (and often
denied) fact that a majority of these workers are illegal immigrants.
"As illegal immigration continues to run amok thanks to business and the government
turning a blind eye, tuberculosis is making a comeback in the States. Reports
say that over three-quarters of the TB cases reported in California were found
in foreign natives.
"And what's worse: Some of my colleagues in the
medical community have difficulty diagnosing TB because they're unfamiliar with
the symptoms. They rarely encounter this largely extinct illness, so it's tough
to recognize. (If you find your furniture scratched up, you think "cat," not
"saber toothed tiger," right?)
"This is a telling incident. It reveals
one of the least talked about issues within the larger debate over illegal
immigration.
"I'll be the first one to step up and get a tear in my eye about huddle
masses yearning to breathe free and live "the American Dream" in this "Land of
Opportunity." But the cold fact is that the people coming to America for a
better life are coming here from countries with markedly lower and even
non-existent health standards. In some of these countries - Mexico included -
diseases that you only read about in Victorian novels (cholera, TB, typhoid, and
even plague) are daily occurrences.
"Let me spell this out for you: These
are people with a highly contagious disease, and they're handling your food.
It's more than disgusting - it's downright dangerous. And it's the least talked
about and most potentially deadly danger of illegal immigration. Public health
officials are not concerned enough by this. As for me? I'm terrified. Because
the most frightening part of this is that there are emerging strains of
drug-resistant TB being brought into the country by illegal immigrants who, of
course, bypass the health screenings regularly conducted with legal immigrants.
"You can probably recall stories told to you by parents or grandparents
about time spent on Ellis Island when they arrived in the U.S. Today, people
consider these screenings and quarantines of new immigrants the policies of a
bigoted and xenophobic country. But the truth is, the government was afraid -
and rightly so - of people bringing epidemics into the country.
"The poultry farms in Alabama? Well, they claim that the laws don't really allow for
pre-employment screening because of HIV privacy laws. Which sounds like a
convenient excuse from an industry that relies on the labor of illegal
immigrants to turn a profit. Any why not? The only ones at risk are their
customers - everyone in the U.S. that eats chicken.
"As you know, I'm not a fan of political correctness, so I'm not afraid to tell you that I think it's
high time someone in our government do something to stop illegal immigration
before it brings this country to its knees - and puts us all in the hospital.
Put up that border fence and keep those diseases from the third world on the
other side.
"Protecting our borders,
"William Campbell Douglass II, M.D. Now It's Your Turn!: Please
share how you feel and what you think about what you've just read. For
example: "Is Dr. Douglass fear-mongering?" or "Should the U.S and Canadian governments take more assertive action against illegal immigrants? or "What about required and legally-enforced quarantining of individuals with communicable diseases?" (My
'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you
when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word
Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to
prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)
Labels: Current Hot Potatoes
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Should You Guard Your Children Against This Movie?
Heard about the new movie, "The Golden Compass" yet? Set to be released worldwide on December 7th. as part of Hollywood's Christmas offering, the buzz is building.
Before buying into the marketing hype though, you may wish to do a little research about this movie yourself ...certainly before taking or letting your kid(s) go and see it.
Here's how one plot summary writer, Tom Aylward-Nally, describes this movie on it's own site: "Adaptation of the Carnegie Medal-winning novel by Philip Pullman, the first volume in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. In a parallel Oxford, young Lyra Belacqua begins a dimension-crossing odyssey that builds from a merely atypical children's adventure into a complex (and frequently quite dark) philosophical epic."
The movie has been described by some concerned writers as "atheism for kids" and Pullman, as the writer "atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed". Pullman is a self-proclaimed militant atheist and secular humanist. He despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia" calling the latter "religious propaganda". Others argue that Pullman's motivation for writing "His Dark Materials" trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Jesus the Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series. One British journalist and author, Peter Hitchens, claimed that Pullman actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda and, in an article in 2002 when Pullman's first award was announced, called him "the most dangerous author in Britain" while warning parents to beware the book.
The official Golden Compass movie site is veeery slick. It has an exciting trailer featuring the movie's major Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, and Sam Elliott. It's a different and "darker" trailer than the one at the movie site.
You also may find it foreboding that the Official Site includes a section, entitled "Daemons", where your kids can connect with their own personal demon that they then can "take with them out into their world".
Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel and what you think about what you've read. For example: "Is Pullman dangerous?" or "Should Jesus Followers bar their still-impressionable children from seeing "The Golden Compass?" (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
Before buying into the marketing hype though, you may wish to do a little research about this movie yourself ...certainly before taking or letting your kid(s) go and see it.
Here's how one plot summary writer, Tom Aylward-Nally, describes this movie on it's own site: "Adaptation of the Carnegie Medal-winning novel by Philip Pullman, the first volume in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. In a parallel Oxford, young Lyra Belacqua begins a dimension-crossing odyssey that builds from a merely atypical children's adventure into a complex (and frequently quite dark) philosophical epic."
The movie has been described by some concerned writers as "atheism for kids" and Pullman, as the writer "atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed". Pullman is a self-proclaimed militant atheist and secular humanist. He despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia" calling the latter "religious propaganda". Others argue that Pullman's motivation for writing "His Dark Materials" trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Jesus the Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series. One British journalist and author, Peter Hitchens, claimed that Pullman actively pursues an anti-Christian agenda and, in an article in 2002 when Pullman's first award was announced, called him "the most dangerous author in Britain" while warning parents to beware the book.
The official Golden Compass movie site is veeery slick. It has an exciting trailer featuring the movie's major Hollywood stars Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, and Sam Elliott. It's a different and "darker" trailer than the one at the movie site.
You also may find it foreboding that the Official Site includes a section, entitled "Daemons", where your kids can connect with their own personal demon that they then can "take with them out into their world".
Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel and what you think about what you've read. For example: "Is Pullman dangerous?" or "Should Jesus Followers bar their still-impressionable children from seeing "The Golden Compass?" (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)
Labels: Guard Your Family
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Homosexuality: What's all the fuss?
Do you think and feel that Christians focus too much on only one of what the Bible calls sins? Do we spend too much time and energy reacting to homosexuality in society? Does this result in us being labeled as "homophobes" rather than "pro-moralists"?
Alternatively, does the stance taken by, what some call, moral relativists demand that Christians focus on this issue above all other "sins". Is the morally relativistic demand that we must all not only agree that homosexuality and same sex marriage are equal to heterosexuality and traditional one man to one woman marriage but we must celebrate these so-called "truths" too one-sided?
There's an interesting discussion of these two points of view by two Christian brothers available to you. Jared Barber, the younger 19 year old, wrote a short article in which he took an articulate position on the first view above. His journalist brother, Matt, thought the article was beyond Jared's years in wisdom. So Matt published Jared's piece and attached a partial rebuttal covering the second view above.
You can check it out if you wish to consider this subject further.
Then please come back and take your turn.
Now It's Your Turn!: Please share how you feel about what you've read. (My 'Comment Section', in which you can share anonymously, will open to you when you click on "comments" immediately below this post. The “Word Verification Procedure” there before you can post is included to prevent spammers from spoiling your enjoyment of my site.)
Until next time, how can I help you? (You can contact me by clicking here. Also, you can contact me directly to be added to Patton Associates S-M-A-R-TBriefing™ Mailing List. Check out recent samples here.)
Labels: Current Hot Potatoes
