It’s A Dog’s Life
Murphy Smith of Bentonville, Arkansas was subpoenaed to testify in a murder case, but he encountered the same problem as Monty Slater in Manchester, England, who was offered a Gold Master Card with a £10,000 limit and a chance to win frequent flyer miles by the Royal Bank of Scotland: Murphy, like Monty is a Shih Tzu.
I realized that Shih Tzus are little better that mobile dust mops, but it is pure speciesism to deny them their day in court, or dismiss their credit worthiness.
March 9, 2005 Comments Off on It’s A Dog’s Life
When The Free Market Is The Problem
, Not The Solution
Len at Dark Bilious Vapors has a great article on the health care system called Such a wonderfully ironic twist…..
It is a lengthy post but covers a large topic and explains why the current non-system in the US costs so much more than any other country, but produces less.
One of the main points is that a truly efficient health care system is not profitable, and, therefore, the private sector has no incentive to develop such a system.
Read the article and understand why a single payer system is the best of the current options for controlling spiraling health care costs and providing access.
March 9, 2005 Comments Off on When The Free Market Is The Problem
Science Wednesday
In a post on Asian bird flu, Trish Wilson mentioned that PZ Myers, champion of the spineless¹, was looking for more scientific posting.
The Beeb has an article on a promising Type-1 diabetes treatment. Doctors are harvesting the insulin producing cells, islets, from the pancreases of donor cadavers and injecting them into the pancreases of diabetic subjects.
All the subjects have a reduction of insulin need, and one subject seems to have been cured completely. There is a shortage of donors, so research needs to be done on the possibility of production with stem cells, or using cells from living donors.
This is certainly hopeful news for hundreds of thousands of Type-1 diabetics throughout the world who are subject to multiple, often fatal, side effects from the disease, as well as the burden of buying expensive medication and testing equipment.
1. PZ is a biologist who would like to see greater invertebrate representation at The Friday Ark.
March 9, 2005 Comments Off on Science Wednesday
