July 2, 2016
Published by admin at July 2, 2016
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Eye in the Sky

One of the bonuses of international air travel, especially if you have a busy life, is the option of seeing movies you normally wouldn’t get around to watching. Sometimes the experience is one you’d rather have gone with out. Other times, you find a surprising gem. Eye in the Sky, […]
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December 19, 2015
Published by admin at December 19, 2015
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Abortion Rights

In an earlier article I have argued for a woman’s absolute right to abort her embryo or foetus. This was based on the fundamental principle that the origin of rights is not a human shape or a human genome, but the possession of a thinking mind. The same reasoning implies that […]
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April 28, 2012
Published by admin at April 28, 2012
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Free Will Forever

Continuing the grand tradition begun by the behaviourists of attempting to use the science of the mind to banish free will is Sam Harris’ opinion piece Free will is an illusion – and must be exposed (he also develops this theme in a recent book on the topic). No doubt it […]
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September 2, 2011
Published by admin at September 2, 2011
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Rational Rioting

A recent Scientific American article on the British riots claimed that “contrary to popular wisdom, mobs are not mindless. In fact, they act rationally—a characteristic that suggests ways to prevent riots.” If you go through the reasoning, what it amounts to is: we need to stop rioting, but rioting is […]
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August 16, 2011
Published by admin at August 16, 2011
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Suicides, iPhones and Numbers

A recent New Scientist article mentioned the problem the company that makes Apple’s iPhones etc had a while ago, where they got into trouble because of a “spate” of suicides among their workers, blamed, of course, on the company. It went on to say that the number of suicides in the year […]
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July 30, 2011
Published by admin at July 30, 2011
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Stem Cell Victory

Good news on the stem cell front, a US judge has finally ruled that federal funding for research with human embryonic stem cells (hESC) is legal. Two scientists, of all people, had sued on the grounds that funding the research violated an earlier federal law prohibiting federal funding when a […]
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May 6, 2011
Published by admin at May 6, 2011
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Stem Cell Ban Lifted – For Now

  Good recent news is the sensible decision by a US Appeals Court overturning an injunction that barred the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from funding research using human embryonic stem cells. Good as far as it goes, but it doesn’t put a stop to court action, which is based on a […]
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April 7, 2011
Published by admin at April 7, 2011
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Political Animals

Scientific American reports: Scientists want politics kept out of endangered species decisions Some 1,293 scientists have sent a letter to each and every U.S. senator urging them not to support any endangered species legislation that is based on politics rather than science. But the very existence of an “endangered species […]
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October 11, 2010
Published by admin at October 11, 2010
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Legal and Moral Clarity

An interesting statement in a recent post in The Scientist on human embryonic stem cell (“ESC”) rules in the USA: “Other countries have laws that provide researchers with legal and moral clarity.” The assumption that laws can provide any kind of “moral clarity” is a fascinating one. In terms of […]
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