In a report that would never make the news here in the United States, Reuters India has a story about how they have found that many “young people” (the vagueness of that demographic annoys me slightly) support the Church’s teaching on sexuality, and understand the importance of having absolutes even when many fail to follow them.[1] This is an important story, and its a shame that its not being carried more widely.

[1] Heneghan, Tom. “Young Catholics want Pope to uphold Church sex stand” Reuters (India, online). 2005-08-18 http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-08-18T195922Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-213095-1.xml

In a disturbing display of inhumanity, the New York Times has an article on the use of cells derived from an aborted baby to treat burn victims.[1] The entire tone of the article utterly rejects the humanity of these dead babies. The Washington Post and the BBC also had stories on this, that provide somewhat more detail, but differ in their disturbing inhumanity only in that I read them second and third instead of first.[2][3] This type of research has apparently been discussed for decades,[4] totally destroying any claim to credibility scientists have when they claim that they can self-regulate themselves with regard to ethics and ethical violations. Were these cells to be obtained in someway without killing a baby, then this would be an exciting discovery, a way to treat those who otherwise must learn to live with significant impairments. But we cannot, must not, take a life simply for the comfort of another. And while the argument will surely be made that these children were already dead, already aborted, and that this is no worse than organ donation, it simply does not hold water. Because were we to achieve an end to abortion, and if this sort of treatment becomes common before that date, you can be sure that you will see a cry and push to have test-tube babies killed to fill the gap in human flesh. This is a slippery slope we have started down, and I dread to see where it will go in our lifetimes, how far we will descend before people are revolted at their own evil.

[1] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “Fetal Skin Cells Found to Be a Promising Treatment for Burns” New York Times (online) 2005-08-18. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/science/18burn.html?ex=1282017600&en=6f8e67665252be07&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
[2] BBC News. “Burns hope over foetal skin cells” BBC News (UK edition online) 2005-08-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4159592.stm
[3] Brown, David. “Fetal Tissue Heals Burns” The Washington Post (online). 2005-08-18 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081701777.html
[4] See #1 above.

Vincas sent me a BBC article on a group that wants to re-introduce megafauna to the plains of the Midwest and the southwest.[1] Interestingly, this is an idea that I have heard before, in the science fiction/fantasy novel Warrior.[2] Of course, in that series, the reintroduction is part of the back story, and there has been a nuclear winter between then and now. Which puts the fears of “investing all our megafauna hopes on one continent” into a proper context for you I think. The fears here are those who fear the costs of development will do irreparable damage to the natural world. Their fears are certainly realizable, especially while we and the rest of the developed world take the course of funding corruption instead of promoting true progress at the interpersonal level.[3] Still, I do not expect they will get much traction with their plan, people do not tend to much like large predators in their neighborhoods.

[1] BBC News. “Big game ‘could roam US plains’” BBC News (uk edition, online). 2005-08-18 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4160560.stm
[2] Mcquinn,Donald E. Warrior Del Rey 1991-09-13. ISBN: 0345373480
[3] Schierer, Luke. “20050519-1439″ Random Unfinished Thoughts. 2005-05-19 http://www.schierer.org/~luke/log/20050519-1439/20050519-1439