Stephen Law and the Morality of Eating Meat

In "Carving the Roast Beast", philosopher Stephen Law states a strong thesis, one with which many people probably disagree. As a good academic, Law then does what we expect: he supports his controversial thesis statement. Although "Carving the Roast Beast" is not from an academic journal, Law is an academic, and his writing in this short essay reflects some important characteristics of academic writing as he presents a strong argument to support his challenging thesis.

And I do think that his thesis is challenging: we are rational, moral people, and if Law is right, we must stop eating fried chicken, roast pork, beef steak and other tasty lumps of dead animals. If we disagree with him, we need a solid reason for thinking that he is wrong.

So the obvious question is: Is Law right?
How well does he support his thesis? Does he persuade you?
If he fails to persuade you, why? For what reason do you think that Law is wrong?

__________

References

Law, S. (2003). Carving the roast beast. In The Xmas Files: The Philosophy of Christmas (p.124 – 140). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

What is a drug?

As we saw yesterday, and again this morning, it isn't easy to give a good definition of exactly what a drug is. The definition we agreed on yesterday is that a drug is "any substance which has an effect on the body, mind or emotions". As we also agreed after some debate, it is irrelevant whether the substance is legal or illegal, and it is also irrelevant whether it's used for good or bad purposes. I thought that the definition worked out yesterday was pretty good for a start. But as we saw this morning, there might still be some problems with this definition: Top did not seem happy with the idea that sugar, for example, is a drug.

The discussion on this question reminded me of the three paragraphs that Hartmann wrote when she was working out a definition of abnormality, in "What is Abnormal?" (2007, p. 173 - 175). She starts with something like a dictionary definition, but discovers that that is not a very useful definition, and ends up with something very different. And we now have a similar problem. Everyone's ideas on the question of what defines a drug yesterday were very good, and they correctly reflect different ways that people do in fact use the word drug, as shown, for example, in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary [OALD], where the two definitions, both for the singular form, of the noun drug are:

1. an illegal substance that some people smoke, inject, etc. for the physical and mental effects it has
2. a substance used as a medicine or used in a medicine (2011). 

The first definition in the excellent OALD is not very good because, as we saw yesterday, whether something is legal or illegal does not change it's properties, and these seem to the important factor in deciding whether some substance is a drug or not. For example, in some countries, marijuana is legal and in others illegal, but it's the same thing every where. It does not change because politicians decide to make it legal or illegal. And the second definition fails to be very good for similar reasons: surely things are drugs before and after they happen to also be useful to doctors. Heroin, for example, did not stop being a drug just because doctors stopped using it to control pain in their patients or to help them sleep. 

Like Hartmann's second definition on page 173, the definition that you worked out yesterday is much better than either of those in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. But it still seems to have some problems. 

So, can you help us? What is a better definition for us to use of the word drug? 

Of course, just as Hartmann does in her third paragraph (2007, p. 173, What is Abnormal Behaviour sect.), you will need to give some solid support to persuade us to agree with your new, improved definition of the noun drug. And although checking and quoting other dictionaries or sources might give you some useful ideas, simply citing another dictionary probably will not be very strong or persuasive support. 

__________

References

drug, noun. (2011). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary [Online version]. Retrieved March 27, 2012 from http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/drug

Hartmann, P. (2007) Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Economic inequality kills babies

Since 1990s, UK government launched the "Back To Sleep" campaign in order to reduce the rate of infant death. As a cot death is a serious problem for every family, solving this problem will benefit a lot in medical society.

In BBC News, " Cot deaths advice 'did not reach deprived areas' " on 17 march 2012, it shows that cot death or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) that occurred to 1 in 500 live-born in the past, but after campaigned today its less than 1 in 2000 babies in UK die from SIDS. From the research in the article shows that the rate of infants' death in low deprived areas was dramatically decreasing in just two or three years after launching "Back To Sleep" campaign, on the other hand it's much slower in high deprived communities which took 10 to 15 years in order to get the same low rate as the low deprived one. However, Ian Currie, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that the high deprived areas need extra help and more good access to their society


In my opinion, i feel good to born in Asia because after reading this article i found out that if you change the babies sleeping position it helps infant not to die by sudden infant death syndrome and normally Asian babies will sleep with their parents by this sleeping habit it will keep babies not to sleep too deep at night. On the other hand, the European or American will sleep in another room separated from their parents and its too quiet finally they may die by SIDS.

__________

References 

Cot deaths advice 'did not reach deprived areas'. BBC News (2012, March 17), retrieved 17 march, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17398728.

What is a new job of Thai traffic Police?

Catching a driver who run the red light, apprehending the offending driver, solving the car crashed problem, and managing traffic chaos about traffic rule among people are the activities of traffic police in Thailand. The majority of traffic police in Thailand are smart men who always work in early morning and stay late until night for driver and passenger on the roads. What do you think if traffic police need to do another special job? Can you guess? Which kind of this special job is?

According to “Thai traffic police deliver 100 babies in 15 years” on the BCC’s news, it reported that traffic police men health have been delivered 100 babies in last fifteen years. Because of heavy traffic jam in Thailand, many pregnant women cannot go to hospital on time for giving birth. Therefore, the training courses for traffic policemen in emergency medical best practice is needed. This courses help to deliver newborn baby safely by traffic police officers where a medical staff is not available in the road with medical deliver kit.

This is the new special job of Thai traffic police whereas the majority is man. At the emergency, people may concentrate how to save mother and child rather than how to embarrass between pregnancy woman and a smart policeman. This new activities is good approach for Thai traffic police officer, for example, policemen can save one woman and her new lovely baby life and he can develop his skill to be skill birth attendant. If I was born in a hand of a traffic police officer, I will respect him to be my doctor and special person who give chance for me to see this world. How is this job wonderful!

This is the really surprise news for me. I have never heard about this training, I always imagine that ambulance and nurse always come to give this kind of emergency. In reality, no car can move and how ambulance can come on time of delivering a new baby. This training course is really useful and it is extraordinary idea of Thai medical teams for save new born child. Later on new mother and child should refer to nearest hospital for antenatal care. How is this idea wonderful!_________

References

Thai traffic police deliver 100 babies in 15 years. (2012, March 15). BBC News. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17374225

BBC news (2012). Thai traffic police deliver 100 babies in 15 years. JPG. Bangkok, BCC's news. 642 x 263.

Behind of Food-safety issue

Food-safety is a kind of Chinese pain produced not only by local companies but also by foreign companies, even some famous internal companies such as McDonald’s and Carrefour are exposed these kind of scandals.

According to "McDonald's, Carrefour Apologize to Chinese Consumer", Burkitt L. states because China Central Television accuses McDonald's fast food and Carrefour selling expired chicken, the two companies express their apologies to Chinese customers. The two companies both attribute their violation to employees’ mistakes. CCTV, a station-owned television station, is an important way to help the public to safeguard interests of consumers on World Consumer-Rights Day (March 15). Whatever in which business spheres or which country’s companies, violate operations which harm consumers’ benefit probably become their targets. Burkitt lists examples: HP generates inferior tablets and China Merchants Bank sells customers’ information.

Although it is a good news that McDonald's and Carrefour apologize, it isn’t enough to safeguard consumer’s right. An apology of a company on their website is one kind of sales and marketing strategy rather than a real and efficient modification to their work. The public need real punishment to companies’ violations which might be reduction sale or die out so that they will never commit same mistakes again. Obviously, McDonald's or Carrefour which already monopolizes the relevant market in China couldn’t be punished in those ways, that is to say, their sale will not be affected seriously even their products don’t up to standard sometimes.

It goes without saying, checking goods’ quality is routine jobs of Quality Inspection Bureau. Why they are in scrimshank? CCTV usually uncovers one or two companies’ problem about food-safety on March 15. How about other days a year? How about the other problem companies which don’t have chances to appear on TV? When they can be revealed and by who?

Most Chinese can discern that Food-safety in China isn’t an issue about food. It shows a government’s inability and corruption behind it. Yes, it is a corruption which is a cancer hampering our economy and society developing healthily and normally.

References
Burkitt, L. (2012, March 16). McDonald's, Carrefour Apologize to Chinese Consumers. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304459804577285023783102062.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

Must Meat Be Banned?

My last post suggested that there was nothing wrong with eating every kind of meat: dog, pig, elephant, dolphin, chicken, whale, horse and so on. But maybe I was wrong.

According to a very large study done by the Harvard Medical School and reported in "Red meat increases death, cancer and heart risk, says study", there is strong evidence that red meat at least is unhealthy. The Harvard researchers collected data on more than 120,000 men and women over more than 20 years, which shows a strong correlation between eating red meat and a higher risk of death. For people who have as little as one normal daily red meat serving, such as steak, the increased risk is 13%, but for processed meat, such as bacon or hamburger, this increases to 20%. Despite these results, which correlate with death mainly by cancer or heart disease, a British Heart Foundation dietitian says that some meat is still reasonable in a balanced diet, although replacing red meats with chicken or fish is also recommended.

Actually, I didn't think that there was anything new or surprising in this report. What made it interesting is that it's a very large study, which makes the results much stronger. It has been known for many years that most of us eat far too much meat, especially red meat, but also other kinds, and health professionals have long been recommending less meat in our diets for a healthier life. In fact, it's pretty clear that most people need no meat at all in their diet, and we would probably be much healthier if we stopped eating meat completely. I'm not about to do this, but I would have to agree that this is what the evidence tells us. Human beings do not normally need to eat meat: we eat it because we love the taste.

And that brings me to another connection with an idea in a couple of recent posts: the excuse that some drugs should be illegal because they are unhealthy. An important part of this argument is that if something is unhealthy or has some bad effect on others, that that is a sufficient reason to ban it. Well, clearly, the facts are that eating red meat is unhealthy and has a bad effect on other people, such as the children who lose a mother early from cancer linked to her consumption of red meat. Therefore, red meat must be banned and McDonald's owners and employees thrown into prison for dealing a dangerous product to innocent children and others because of their love for large financial profits. I think that there is a serious flaw in this argument, but the flaw is not that eating hamburgers and steak has a clear and strong correlation with an increased death risk.

__________

References

Red meat increases death, cancer and heart risk, says study. (2012, March 12). BBC News. Retrieved March 17, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17345967

How do you feel if you have to swallow reused pill?

Many things in the world are reused for many reasons such as for cutting cost, conserving environment, replacing rare items. Especially, at the present, the world has a problem about green house effect, so human being should help not to waste unneccessary stuffs and try not to generate more pollution to the air. A story I read on the BBC News is an instance of reused stuffs to reduce carbon emission; as a result, mitigating climate change.

In Are you willing to swallow a recycled pill?, Dr David Pencheon, director of the national NHS Sustainable Development Unit, tells us "An estimated £300m of medicines are wasted each year in England, but around £89m could be saved by making a 2.5% reduction in medicines wastage."(2012, ¶ 13). He also says that recycling medicine could make the NHS become more sustainable financially and environmentally. It is suddenly going to be a great saving when we garuntee the reused drugs that it is safe for patients. However, it still has a significant question whether patients want to take these reused pills. After polling 1,000 people, he found that 52% tent to use these pills, but 19% will not take it. Futhermore, the NHS also trys to find the ways to prevent diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease in order not to use pills for cure.

I think that the NHS is a good organization which try to help the world by imitating carbon emission and reused drugs is a good way to help it, because I am a person who always waste a lot of pills after I get over from my illness. Sometime I still have remain pills after I am better, but I have no idea to deal with them. It may be more benefits to take them for recycle which at the present nobody takes responsibility about.

If I have to take reused drugs, I still have many questions. For example, how do you assure that they are safe because I now cannot imagine the way to assemble and manage several kind of medicines with diverse brand, different expiration date and different ways to keep them before bringing them to recycle. I think that it will be easier to make people accept reused drugs by make them clear how to assure them.

References
Dr David Pencheon. (2012, March 2). Are you willing to swallow a recycled pill? Retrieved March 16, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17219584

Have you ever had your name written on Starbuck cup?

New marketing of coffee chains Starbuck, is asking UK customer name to become closer to their customer. Some people don’t like this idea because baristas write the wrong name on the cup.

According to “Will you tell Starbuck your name” the article on BBC News, normally barista always called by type and size of coffee that customer orders. But Starbuck policy has change to asking their customer and write name on the coffee cup. Barista was miswritten and spelling the wrong name, as "Accents are tricky," sympathies contributor Paul Carr, of his new name Pole. "This is how you spell my name if you want to say it with a sexy voice"(2012 ¶ 12) so, customers gave the fake name to them. But some people said they come to Starbucks’ café to drink coffee; they didn’t come to make friends. Anyway, people will love it or not. On the other hand, it’s unique and people will talk about it.

I used to name on my Starbuck cup once time, I think it was very funny. I was so wondered when barista asked my name and write down on the cup, but she asked me to spell my name. It’s not happened in UK but in Boston. There was a first and last Starbuck café that was asked my name. If they miswritten and miss spelling my name I won’t mad or do nothing. I will make to funny. I think it’s very unique and good advertisement because when you do things that other won’t do; it will become talk of the town, people will talk about it and it will be famous easily

Many people love coffee, love Starbuck coffee, why? I think because of smell, taste, and service. Everywhere, every corner of the street, every department store has Starbuck.

Many people are addicted to coffee. My aunt is coffee lover, she drink coffee every day after lunch, but one day in the afternoon she didn’t drink a coffee and she walk across the street, suddenly she falling, she said ”because she didn’t drink the coffee”, there is the reason of her fell. I think we should concern about disadvantage of coffee before it hurt you.

__________

References

Barford, V. (2012, March 14). Will you tell Starbuck your name?. BBC News Retrived March 16, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17356957

Why do we need to sleep?

            Everyday every people need to sleep in different amount of hour such as some need more than 7 hours and some need less than that. Do people know the reason for them to sleep?

            According to “Why do we need to sleep?” the article in BBC news about sleeping, It shows that sleeping helps people in term of processing, consolidating, and maintenance brain which include our new memories. For instance, the research from the University of California conducted by Matthew Walker and colleagues, aptitude tests like remembering sequences of patterns fired at them on a computer was given to volunteers that half the volunteers were allowed to sleep, and half of them were disallowed to sleep. The result showed that volunteers who were allowed to sleep had more ability to recall the test pattern.

            I have experienced a lack of sleep and I would be blurred if I do not have enough sleep that I cannot remember things, and learn new things effectively which sometimes lead me to the stress. I do not sure what other people think because some of them are possible to handle things very well with less sleep, but enough sleeping is very important for me. It helps me restore and boot my mental procedure, and. For instance, before examination date, some people like to spend much time on revising until last night but I prefer spending appropriate time that I can have enough sleep like 7 to 8 hours before I go to take the exam because if I do not have enough sleep, I can remember less information.

            Enough sleep not only relates to people’s mind but it also relates to people’s body that sleep helps people to refresh and restore. For instance, people who love to exercise and build their body believe that sleep helps them. According to “http://www.bodybuilding.com/”, there are many articles about sleep which helps to build muscle and there are the real experienced people.

            Since both people’s mind and body is very important, people should do as much as they can to take care of it. Sleep is one of the most effective ways to process, restore, and maintain both psychological and physical, so people should definitely get enough sleep.

References

Stafford, T. (2012, February 28) Why do we need to sleep?. BBC News, Retrieved March 11, 2012 from http://www.blogger.com/goog_1057566849       

How to solve malnutrition for our new generation?

The world is going to end in 2012(Clarke, 2011), this speech is going to prove in the end of this year. Although, there are many other unstable coincidence phenomena affected people around the world, a one of interesting topics should be concerning our new generation because children are our future population and there is our future. If our children are getting hungry or sick at this morment or if they have a very bad health since they was young, what should be happen for their later life? It is a big concern among donors and researchers nowadays to fight with hunger in a story of a news from United Kingdom.

In the BBC news on February 15th, 2012 presents a children’s story that “500m children ‘at risk of effects of malnutrition’ ” (2012). This news report state in four main points. Firstly, half a billion children have stunted growth due to malnutrition from high food prices. Secondly, the “Save the children” organization in UK concern that hunger leads to child deaths in the world’s poorest countries such as Bangladesh, Peru, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Next, a nutritionist from the Save the children in Kenya said to the BCC news that a downward spiral consequence is the series of drought. Lastly, a CEO of this organization in UK raises a concern of starving children caused by high food price, climate change whereas he plan to arrange hunger summit for stop child malnutrition, which lead to child death.

According to this article, I have found one fascinating Thai research from a journal that explore child stunting from birth to two years among five districts in difference five regions in Thailand. This study recommends many good solutions in Thailand and it would be work if we know the most possible way to solve in the real specific context. The “Prevalence and incidence of child stunting from birth to two years of life in Thai children: based on to prospective cohort study of Thai Child (PCTC)” point out a important solution to solve child stunting problem since early age that government should develop nutrition and improve hospital’s newborn care projects in Thailand. This research can be benefit for Thai government to solve in the right direction and allocate their money to implement what these researchers find out. Even if, Thai government may consider this topic in the last priority, it is still important for our Thai future generation.

It is the good idea to reduce death and sick children by provide vaccinations, treatments and support food for hunger. Unfortunately, the world population is increasing and never stops increasing, whereas the world’s environment is going to deplete of natural resources and many worse scenarios affect to human. I recognize a thoughtful speech of Hans Rosling at TED change website in a title of “Hans Rosling: The good news of the decade?”. His last speech on that video said, “We will not be able to manage the environment and avoid the terrible climate crisis if we don't stabilize the world population”( Rosling, 2010). Is it the extremely humanitarian aspect that we need to reduce child malnutrition in the world? The global population is increasing especially from the biggest families in the poor countries, whereas, it is insufficient resources and food supply for them, which associate with high food prices in their area. Therefore, it show a big number of child hungers in the poorest countries that show in this news. What should we do for balancing child hunger and our limit resource of the world due to population growth in these poor countries?

One observation from this news blog was found in comments on Feb 15, 2012 that BCC’s news had closed the blog’s comments since first day of this blog was posted. It is 453 comments within midnight of that day. If BCC news’ blog allow people to give their comments until now, I think it should be over 10,000 comments in this blogs for almost a month. Refer to those comments show that readers discuss in vary of aspects such as economic, UK society, political, environment, bank, poverty, climate change, illness etc. I do comment this article in a population view.

References

Clarke Suzan. (2011, December 21). 2012 end of the world countdown based on Mayan calendar starts today. ABC news. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/2012-end-of-the-world-countdown-based-on-mayan-calendar-starts-today/

500m children 'at risk of effects of malnutrition'. (2012 February 15). BBC news. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17034134

Mongkolchati, A., B. Thinkhamrop, et al. Prevalence and incidence of child stunting from birth to two years of life in Thai children: based on the Prospective Cohort Study of Thai Children (PCTC). J Med Assoc Thai 93(12): 1368-1378. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from http://www.mat.or.th/journal/index.php?command=preview&selvol=93&selno=12&selids=2857

Rosling H. (2010 October). Hans Rosling: The good news of the decade?

TEDx change. Retrieved March 9, 2012 from http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_the_good_news_of_the_decade.html

http://article.wn.com (2009). North-West: Battling Malnutrition, Child and Maternal Mortality. jpg. f. f. d. b. f. e. grande. London, World news. 468 × 349 (3x larger).

0989621f9f4dc91250b712f5e693‑grande.jpg

Hi-tech and new innovations to human lifes

New innovative androids and new other innovations have been continuously exhibited on many events and on many media. Almost everytime they are showed will be paid attention by a number of people around the world because technologies play a enormous role in human being. They become a part of convenience, marketing, traveling and fashion of human lifestyles.

According to "Cebit's pole-dancing droids and other new technologies" on BBC news, Mohammad Taha report "Robots everywhere, driverless cars, new eco-solutions, screens that "read" feelings, and smart museums and stadiums - just some of the "City of the Future" technologies at this years' Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany" (2012, ¶ 1) and he also wrote that "Many of the devices on show sound like the stuff of science-fiction"  (2012, ¶ 2). Although, innovations in this event would not ready for daily use, innovators show prototypes off how to work. A connection between cars and traffic lights is a one which was demonstrated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology. It was designed to get rid of accidents by remoted cars to decrease their velocity when reach the traffic light which is becoming to red. The institute's Oliver Sawade assured that car can drive itself without a driver will be practise within the next five years. The German Robotics Innovation Centre demonstrated "Shrinkable cars" which can shrink itself into a small parking and it can be transfer data to others for use "train" in order to save enegy. Robots in this exhibit were show in different sort of innovative ideas such as a robot can learn how to deal with a dishwasher by looking at its owner, robots act as DJ in a club while others pole-dance follow beats. the last important innovation Mohammad Taha report have known as "Shore" it can classify the person from others and show his detail such as age, sex, and mood.

In my opinion, Germany is a country that have had high technology. I always look the stuffs which come from this country as good quality things, although they would not be produced in Germany. I think that car innovative ideas are good way to help human being getting more convenience, saving, and safty. If I do not have to drive it myself, I will have more time equal to driving time. How fantastic ideas it is! Ideas about robots which can work instead of human is another helper that I may get comfortable but I have to think more what I will do instead. Shore or face finder is a good idea to help people in many way such as security and find someone. I think that everyone on this world may can find each other easily and no more losing.

I think that technologies and new innovations are so interesting. Many people are pleasure to get some new things such as present's mobile phone with convenient elements. Technologies can be benefits for someone but not everyone. They may affect everyone though someone do not use it directly. For example, many new machinery come to instead of workers, which have an effect to unemployment rate. Therefore, I think that everyone should give an attention to change of the world about technologies and new innovations. I think that everyone should adjust themselves incessantly like developers innovating.


References
Mohammad Taha. (2012, March 9). Cebit's pole-dancing droids and other new technologies. Retrieved March 11, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17302657

The syndrome stealing Uganda and South Sudan's children

Unfortunately, there is a syndrome which is deadly and discriminate only to children and adolescent whose age about 5 – 15 years old. Now it is spreading in Uganda and South Sudan which called “Nodding syndrome”. This syndrome causes the effected children not to grow either their body or brain and finally leads to mental retarded. When the child is affected, he will nod when he try to eat food. This syndrome is first discovered in 2003 and still be a mystery, since there has no any action on identifying, treating or defining the disease.

 In "The syndrome stealing Uganda and South Sudan's children", tell us that Nodding Syndrome "causing its victims to spasm uncontrollably and eventually to waste away and die. Many thousands of children are believed to be affected". Also American doctor was contact with in Asia for helping Uganda authorities to fight Nodding Syndrome, but Nodding syndrome like several other neurological disorders and remains a complete mystery.The World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Ugandan Health Ministry are involved, but a Ugandan official expressed concern about the number of cases is increasing. Unlike bird flu, Nodding syndrome doesn't shows indication transmitted from person to person. Dr Dowell said "we don't have the sense that it is likely to be a threat to the rest of the world in the way bird flu is".

After reading this article, i think environment in Africa is not suitable for children to live in that place and people in Africa need more educate to survive in this situation and not to spread out the disease more and more, also to know how to have a healthy living, so the children in this area will have a good life.

_____

References

The syndrome stealing Uganda and South Sudan's children. BBC News. Retrieved March 11, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17319434.

More Meat on the Menu

Is it OK to eat every animal, or should some beasts not be on the menu? When and why should some animals not be eaten? Although it doesn't directly discuss it, these are the sorts of questions behind "Japan ends whaling season short of quota" (2012).

According to "Japan ends whaling season short of quota", anti-whaling activists forced Japan to end its annual whale hunt this year with less then one third of the targeted number of Minke whales. Whilst the Sea Shepherd activists see this result as "a very successful campaign" (2012, ¶ 8) against what they believe "is a cover for [banned] commercial whaling" (¶ 4), Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research sees their efforts as criminal sabotage. The article also reports that the Australian government is challenging  Japan's whaling in the International Court of Justice, arguing that it violates international law.

As you might already have guessed from my introduction, what first interested me in this article is the apparently inconsistent standards that some human beings apply to how we treat other animals: it's OK to eat pigs, but not dogs; we can enjoy kangaroo steaks, but not elephant steak; it's OK to savour tasty lambs brains, but people get upset if it's monkey brains on the menu. And in the case here, some people get very upset about killing and eating whales, whilst they seem rather less upset about all the beef that is gobbled down every day. It the animals in question were on the brink of extinction, the concern might be understandable, but Minke whales don't seem to be in any danger of disappearing. So, what's wrong with the Japanese catching some to eat?

But I'm also not sure that the Japanese come off entirely spotless (apart from all the whale blood on their hands): it's dishonest to pretend to be catching so many whales for research when there are good grounds for thinking it's a ploy to allow the whale meat to be sold and eaten. It would be better, more honest, to admit the truth when they kill whales for profit because some people lust for the taste or whatever. I don't think that lying is a good thing.

I guess that this concern for animals is fairly modern: my 1961 edition of Larousse Gastronomique  (one of my favourite books to browse through) includes a recipe for elephant trunk soup which I'm pretty sure is not in later editions. Since butchers in Australia tended not to stock elephant trunks even a couple of decades ago, that was one of the recipes I never got around to trying. Kangaroo, on the other hand, is now very widely sold by Australian butchers. Our national symbol has a pleasant taste, a bit stronger than beef, than which it is supposed to be healthier.  I usually have a kangaroo steak or two on my visits back.

So, apart from the threat of extinction, is there any good reason why it should be illegal to eat some animals. such as Minke whales? Indeed, is even the threat of extinction a good enough reason to ban the turning of animals into tasty snacks?

__________

References

Japan ends whaling season short of quota. (2012, March 9). BBC News. retrieved March 11, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17312460

Prosper, M. (1961). Larousse Gastronomique: The Encyclopedia of Food, Wine, and Cookery (C. Turgeon and N. Froud, eds., trans.). New York: Crown.

Who are eligible?

The debate on marijuana legalization has being lasted for a long time. Some states in USA already allow using marijuana for medication and it is strictly forbidden to use marijuana for recreation in the whole country. So when I read the article “Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal” in The New York Times, I am surprised that a famous figure like Pat Robertson, who has deep influence to polity and Christian in USA, advocates marijuana legalization.
In the article, JESSE McKinley lists some reasons given by Pat Robertson for supporting marijuana legalization for recreation and medication. Pat Robertson claimed marijuana should be treated as beverage alcohol and he didn’t find any difference between a marijuana smoker and a no-smoker. Secondly, it costs a lot of money and caused increasing rate of crime to put people who smoke marijuana or do the business involved marijuana into jails. Because of his identity and status, his attitude to marijuana impacted the hesitating people in a ballot to decide to support marijuana legalization. Even though, Pat Robertson said he didn’t encourage people to smoke marijuana, meanwhile, he didn’t think people should be punished. He said “I think on this one, I’m on the right side” (2012, XXVI, 43).
Pat Robertson’s statements sound reasonable, but they are not, actually. Firstly, marijuana used for recreation should be regarded as a non-staple food like beverage alcohol. The important difference between them is that the function of beverage alcohol to people is clear but the function of marijuana not yet. Scientists know marijuana is a kind of hallucinogens and people will have illusions after smoking marijuana; but it is not clear for how marijuana works on brain nervous system and what are the sequelas after smoking marijuana for a long time. For a government to allow a kind of food or non-staple food to be used generally, they should guarantee they are safe and harmless at least. There is nobody who can guarantee marijuana is safe and harmless to health for a long time using at present. So it isn’t an appropriate time to decide using marijuana legally or not.
The second reason about financial issue is a little ridiculous. A government has the responsibility to supervise and educate people who commit crimes even they are “nonviolent offenses” (2012, XXII, 37). A judge can’t sentence people are innocent just because it is expensive to sentence they are guilty.
Lastly, I need to talk about Who are eligible to vote for marijuana legalization. I think they should be marijuana smokers or their families and marijuana experts because only they can really know what happened or will happen on a marijuana smoker. Obviously, Pat Robertson didn’t smoke marijuana and won’t try, so his opinion isn’t persuasive. As an ordinary person, I want to say human being should keep distance from the scientific puzzles like marijuana because nobody can make sure they aren’t sleeping “demons”.


References
McKinley, J. (2012, March 7). Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal. The New York Times. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/us/pat-robertson-backs-legalizing-marijuana.html?_r=1&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

Drinks company changing recipe to avoid putting cancer warning lable.

I saw the noticeable topic of BBC News website “Coke and Pepsi alter recipe to avoid cancer warning label.” I realize that is this the cause of health problems today? People drink a lot of sodas and get fat but the favors of drinks are very good, that’s why many people are addict.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the largest drinks company in the world are changing recipe in their sodas to avoid putting cancer-warning label. California law is command to containing a certain level of carcinogens. The new recipe has already been made for sell in California, and rolling out the new recipe across the US makes the drinks more efficient to manufacture. The chemical had test in mice and rat but there are no evidence that poses the health risk to human, the American Beverage Association has said.

There are many side effects to the people who drink lots of sodas, although it isn’t Coke or Pepsi. I had read in websites and magazine, they said that sugar in sodas has an affect to human body. First, you will gain more weight and increases the risk of obese. Second, you will get more health problems such as diabetes or heart diseases. Third, you will get more unnecessary calories. Forth, effects on your kids’ health, learning abilities and cause dental decay. Sugar is bad for you and your family. Author: The Nutrition Book explained, “Many teenage drink sodas instead of milk is cause of their body decrease the body’s ability to uses of calcium.”

The average American had consumes 26-135 of sugar each year; this number is very high. That's why people in US are the number one obese in the world. People should concern and understand about what are the causes that will make the problems with their body.

__________

References

Coke and Pepsi alter recipe to avoid cancer warning label. (2012, March, 9). BBC News. Retrieved March 10, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17308181

Coca-Cola, Pepsi making changes in caramel colouring to avoid cancer warning label. (2012, March, 9). The Economic Times. Retrieves March 10,2012 from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/coca-cola-pepsi-making-changes-in-caramel-colouring-to-avoid-cancer-warning-label/articleshow/12190895.cms

Heavy Heavy.

As well as the more serious and heavy sections on politics, economics, philosophy and so on, I also regularly browse the food section of The New York Times, and sometimes the BBC News. For example, last term I read a fascinating article about a delicious Korean way of cooking pork which I chose as a source to blog in "Another Helping of Korea". And a week or so ago, I emailed myself the link to "Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame" to remind me that I had found it interesting and might want to blog it. And here it is.

In "Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame", Melissa Clark tells us that although superior to custards made using corn starch, the water bath used to bake custards in the French style, called "pot de crème" (¶ 3) can be a bit messy (2012). However, Clark says that this need not be a big problem because you don't need boiling water and the tray for the water does not need to be large or very full. Clark points out that her only regret about pot de crème compared with American style "custard" thickened with starch is the lack of a "slippery, sticky skin" (¶ 4), which she likes. Clark also discusses the merits of three baked custard recipes she gives in a separate article.

I think that food is important to most people which is why even serious, somewhat academic newspapers like The New York Times have whole sections on it. We eat out with friends, we compare restaurants, we talk about what we eat and ate, and it is an essential part of many social events: food is an important part of life. And I rather like it. Until recently, I used to cook regularly, but I don't do that so much these days. It's much easier to eat out. But I still like to read about restaurants and different ideas on food. In her article, for example, Clark also remembers and relates personal details, such as her opening sentence about spying in a French chef's kitchen.

Reading her article, I was reminded of two things. First, why I stopped going to the Marriot Hotel on Sukhumvit. A group of friends and I had been visiting for a few years for the excellent value of the international buffet, but then they started making the pumpkin soup with ... corn starch! That's right. They same awful thing that so upset Clark's French chef, and I'm afraid I agree with him. Like a real custard, a pot de crème, authentic cream soups are thickened using cream and perhaps some egg yolks to make them rich and creamy. Using corn starch is easy and cheap, and awful. So I haven't been back to the Marriot for a while. The Hyatt Erawan and couple of other hotels get my buffet custom these days. The second thing that came to mind was making custard at home when I was still a young boy in high school. My mother encouraged all of her children to cook, and when I was young, I was more interested in desserts than roasts. Rich, creamy custards were fun. I actually loved the fuss of having trays of water in the oven and little pots of creamy vanilla or whatever all golden yellow slowly setting in the oven. And I don't agree with Clark about the skin - I think it's yukky, but instead, real custards have a crisp top from the baking and a nice sprinkle of sugar that slowly browns. And because I grew up on a farm, there was no lack of fresh eggs for yolks, and fresh, thick cream. I'm sure it's very unhealthy for the heart, but what can you do? At least in those days, it didn't make my waist grow the way it does today.

And that reminds me of my sister's traditional pan cakes, but they can wait for another day. I hope you found this blog post a bit less heavy than my last ones.

__________

References

Clark, M. (2012, February 24). Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame. The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/dining/creamy-custards-that-put-pudding-to-shame.html

Is society becoming less moral?

Reading the news, I often see people complaining that society is becoming less moral, especially that young people are less moral than they used to be. Americans certainly have this idea about American society. But are they right? Is society becoming less moral?

In "Our Great Moral Decline", The Economist's R.M. writes that the Republican contenders who want to run for the job of President of the United States this November are telling voters that America needs "a strong political leader to do something to get us out of the moral slump that we’re in" (2012, ¶ 1). However, R.M. suggests that it is hard to make sense of this claim: Americans are committing less crime than before, with murder and theft both constantly decreasing over the past couple of decades. Even things like the abortion rate and teenage pregnancy are decreasing. Finally, R.M. suggests that perhaps the Republican politicians mean that America is in moral decline because less Americans believe in any god or take seriously any religion, which he agrees is true, but as he also asks: "is the decline in religious observance a moral problem?" (¶ 8). The answer, he suggests, is "No", less religion is not a moral problem for American society.

The first thing I like about R.M's short piece, actually a blog post, in The Economist, which is one of the sources included in the Looking for Something to Read? section on the right, is that he provides links to solid statistical support for all of his important ideas. For example, the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division's Uniform Crime Report clearly shows that violent and property crime in the US is decreasing (2010), and the summary of poll results from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (2010) shows that the younger Americans are, the less religious both in practice and in belief they are, going to church less and believing in god less. The only graph on which Americans born in 1981 or later were at the top was in opposing Bible reading and prayer in government schools. It's isn't academic writing, so R.M. doesn't give parenthetic citations and he does not include a References list at the end of his writing, but the links are there so that interested readers can check the facts and decide whether they are reliable or not. I rather wish R.M. has used at least his full last name, but it's the policy of The Economist not to give author names, unlike The New York Times, which almost always gives the writer's full name.

I also like R.M's post because it corrects what I think is a common mistake: that religion makes people more moral, or that people need religion to behave morally. The statistics showing that people are in fact behaving more morally, committing less crime, at the same time as religion is dying are good evidence that this belief about religion is false. This is not new. About 2,400 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato argued in Euthyphro for something even stronger when he said that religious teaching could not make anything moral or immoral. And I think he was right. This also makes sense because we know that religions disagree on many moral questions, and we also know, as the crime statistics show, that people do not need a religion to tell them what is right and wrong. Worse, religion is often silly or wrong on moral issues. A not so important, silly example is that Judaism and Islam teach that eating pork is morally wrong, but it is not. On the issue of eating pork, these religions are just wrong, and it's generally not a big problem, but some religious teachings are seriously immoral. Christianity, for example, is usually believed to say that abortion and homosexuality are morally wrong and that they must be banned and punished, but these things are not normally immoral. In fact, it is these religious teachings which cause harm, suffering and injustice to many that are immoral.

I think it's very encouraging that as societies become less religious, they also become more moral. The most atheistic countries in the world are the northern European countries such as Denmark and Sweden, and they also have some of he lowest crime rates, along with the greatest respect for all citizens. The US also does well, and it is clearly improving.

And Thailand? Although Thailand is still more violent than the United States, the murder statistics for the past ten years suggest that Thai society is also becoming more peaceful today than in the past ("List of Countries", 2012). And that is a good thing. I don't think that there is any moral decline in Thailand: quite the opposite, even if, like the US and my country, there is still plenty of room for society to improve. Reading the daily newspapers might lead people to think otherwise, but society's morals in most countries are getting better, not worse.

__________

References

Criminal Justice Information Services Division. (2010). Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 Inhabitants, 1991–2010. Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01.xls

List of countries by intentional homicide rate. (2012, February 29). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12:42, March 7, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate&oldid=479443842

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. (2010, February). Religion Among the Millennials. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from http://www.pewforum.org/Age/Religion-Among-the-Millennials.aspx

R.M. (2012, March 2). Our great moral decline. The Economist. Retrieved March 7, 2012 from http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2012/03/morals

The world economics today focus on Asia

The world economics today focus on Asia continent more than in the three centuries past , the sound like Asia is renovated to become the biggest power again after sleeping for a long time. Firmly. I, m talking about "China" ,the country that people foresee to change this world today, not only the economics but also evrythings ,including military power.
         

China's official defence spending will rise by 11.2% in 2012, pushing it above $100bn (£65bn) for the first time, the government has announced. Beijing's defence budget has risen each year for two decades to become the world's second-biggest, behind the US. It is developing an aircraft carrier, a stealth fighter jet, and missiles that can shoot down satellites.Foreign experts have estimated that Beijing's actual military spending could be as much as double the official budget. Beijing is also building new submarines and ships, and developing a range of anti-ship ballistic missiles.The armed forces, known as the People's Liberation Army, boasts more  than two million personnel - the biggest military in the world.

 Is it  the answer of world today?  I don't know this answer, but I know every country wants a power that can overcome relevant contenders if the war have to occur. The military power may be not  for trespasses but ,at  least, it can protect you if  the battle  begins. I'm not surprise in this news  because when you have enough efficiency , you  must choose the best thing in anyway. If the world's economics stress to  china, more mililitary power must be concerned  to him for become "the one" like a conquerer defeat the foes ,and recieve real suitable conquest.

When i see the past , the fighting begins as possible as humans existing , may be it is  intrinsic of  human because part of human  is  want to survive and   they  can show something that they never thought to be done for become  the  surviver. Unfortunately, after World War II , the triumph of   the battle  not depends on the number of  armies but it is force ability and new technology offering to tthe looser.

In the one hand, every country wants to see the wolrld  is peaceful  and concerns about climate changing, the organization to deal with  was established  and  the  coordination between several countries is crystal-clear to figure out this problems . But,in the oter hand, military forces has never drop theirs neccessity.I will think that when they say they want to see   the pacific world, it maybe mean that they can dominate evrything in the world.

 References.

China military budget tops $100bn. BBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-17249476

Sleep quality 'improves with age'

           The belief that older people tend to suffer worse sleep may be false - in fact the reverse may be true, according to US researchers.

According to “Sleep quality 'improves with age'” of BBC news published on 1 March 2012, a telephone survey of more than 150,000 adults suggested that, apart from a blip in your 40s where sleep quality was poorer, sleep quality gets better with age. Those in their 80s reported the best sleep, says the study in Sleep journal. A UK sleep researcher said while poor health could affect sleep, it was a "myth" that age alone was a factor. While universities have equipment which can measure sleep duration and disturbance in study volunteers, this does not always match the volunteer's own opinion on their night's rest. The research, conducted by the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania, instead focused on asking large numbers of randomly selected people about their sleep. They were also asked about their race, income, education, mood and general health. While being depressed or having health problems was linked to poor sleep quality, once the researchers had adjusted the results to compensate for this, a distinct pattern emerged. Instead, they found that complaints about poor sleep quality fell as age rose, with the lowest number of complaints coming from the over-70s.

Although old people seem to have less sleep in term of hours, older people have better sleep than middle age and younger people. There are some factors which affect an improvement of sleep when age rise.  First, when people are middle age, people work hard and need many hours of sleep to restore their energy for working on the next day that sometimes it is may be not enough for them. Most Teenagers also have bad quality of sleep since they have work really hard on studying, and nowadays in social network and technology era some teenagers keep play games and website until late night. For middle age and teenagers, even if they spend long time on sleep, they still feel tired that can be called bad quality of sleep. Most of old people do not have to work as much as middle age and teenager do. Some of them may already retire from their job. Even though they spend less time on their sleep, they still have the better quality of sleep than middle age. Another reason is very close to the first one. Because of hard working, Middle age and teenagers have more stress. Stress is not good for health both when you sleep and awake. Old people do not have to think a lot, so they have excellent sleep and very fresh waking up.

Quality of sleep does not depend on the hours of sleep. It depends more on people behaviors. In fact people who sleep in fewer hours could have better quality of sleep. Those are the reasons why behaviors of old people make them to have better quality of sleep.

References

Sleep quality 'improves with age'. (2012, March 1)BBC News. Retrieved 0:20, March 5, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17209448

Cybercrime to Nasa computers

No one can refuse that the computer is neccesary for our lifes today. Almost all of company must have computer in working and nearly every single house in developed country has a computer at least. We use computer for drawing up documents, keeping information, being communication machinery and making a pleasure entertainment. Therefore, much information of both individuals and organizations is kept in this kind of machine. Some information of a owner is so much worth that others may need it for some benefits. As Nasa computers were hacked, they contain a lot of space, science and technology information of United States. A relatively one published on March 2nd, 2012 on BBC news is "Hackers had 'full functional control' of Nasa computers".


In "Hackers had 'full functional control' of Nasa computers", Paul K Martin reports that hackers not only could take over all of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) computers but also compromised the accounts of the most privileged JPL users. He added that the attack  involved Chinese IP addresses. Investigation was in process that the clues of Nasa's cybersecurity was handed in to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology's Subcommittee and Oversight. He said that the hackers can be accessible to all of the systems. They are able to modify, copy, or delete sensitive files or upload hacking tools to steal user credentials and compromise other Nasa systems. Mr.Martin reported Nasa was a  "target-rich environment for cyber attacks".The investigations had resulted in arrests and convinctions foreigns China, Great Britain, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, and Estonia. Nevertheless, the chairman of the congressional subcommittee, Rep Paul Broun, quoted in an online report of proceedings, said: "Despite this progress, the threat to Nasa's information security is persistent, and ever changing. Unless Nasa is able to constantly adapt - their data, systems, and operations will continue to be endangered."


When I met this title, I suddently think about the international criminal. If I think of Nasa, I always think and the institution which have high technology about science and space. I think that the highest kind of technologies of the world are assembled in this area. I never think that no one can steal information or some stuff from there. 


I think that cybercrime is extremely danger for all of the people in the world, not just a single institution because some secret information can lead to war and terrorism. For example, military and weapon information is the top secret that terrorist can bring it to make a crime and smuggle something. Moreover, I am also bored by computer viruses. It make my computer have an error and out of work. I often have problems about this kind of cybercrime although I do not have much information in my computer that I am sure that many people have the same problems with me.

References

Hackers had 'full functional control' of Nasa computers.(2012, March 2). BBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2012 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17231695