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Thursday, November 14, 2002
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We lost electrical power again last night, and it wasn't even raining. Another lesson in sustainable living?
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Donivan Bessinger writes: It is the question that defines ethics: How ought we to live? ... In its broadest sense, ethics is the complete enterprise of making correct decisions. In a complex world, ethics must take into account interactions at many levels. Actions must be right in all their effects. An ethic is only as valid as the worldview on which it is based. To be adequate, an ethic must be based on a correct view of the world as it is. One of our most basic "ethical problems" is that we have lost confidence that there can be a "correct view." Yet, even though twentieth century philosophy has left us the legacy that truth is indeterminate, it can still be "correct" to seek dynamically the best view based on the most coherent integration of current knowledge. In our patterns of thinking to date, we have emphasized the rigid compartmentalization of knowledge. Confronted with problems, we typically go to some particular aisle in the stacks of mankind's library, and hide there in search of rules on which to base our decision-making. Confronted with today's complexities, however, we must bring the books from many shelves into the large central reading room of knowledge, and into the collective consciousness. Individually and collectively we must synthesize a new worldview that is consistent with all knowledge and is harmonious with human nature and human aspirations. At the personal level, we must deal with the dichotomy between the aspirations of our inner selves and our achievements in the outer world. At the level of the cosmic analyst's couch, we must deal with the serious neurotic dichotomy between the human aspirations of civilization and the outer world of global conflicts and predicaments. Unfortunately, instead of a new way of thinking, the conventional wisdom has called for a collective faith in economic, political or strategic theory, and the world has continued to draw into a deeper neurosis ... (11/14/02) | |
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Vladimir Putin speaks: No one can accuse Russia of suppressing freedom, Russia de facto gave full independence to the Chechen republic [in 1996]. In 1999 we had to pay for it. Wide-scale aggression against Russia, the republic of Dagestan, took place under the slogan of creating a caliphate [Muslim theocracy] ... by tearing apart territories of the Russian Federation. What does that have to do with Chechnya's independence? ... People who inspire and finance Chechen fighters are religious extremists and international terrorists. But Russia is only the first line of defense, because the radicals have wide ambitions and speak about the creation of a global caliphate. ... They speak about the necessity to kill Americans and their allies. I think you come from a country that happens to be an ally of the United States -- you are in danger. ... They are talking about the need to kill all kaffirs [infidels], all non-Moslems, or Crusaders, as they say. If you are a Christian, you are in danger! But if you decide to reject your faith and become an atheist, you are also subject to liquidation according to their way of thinking. You are in danger! ... If you decide to become a Muslim, even that won't save you. Because they consider traditional Islam also to be hostile to the goals they put forward. Even in that case you are in danger! ... If the so-called freedom-fighters terrorize us and threaten to take over nuclear and other vital facilities ... we will either have a common interpretation of such activity or we will have a problem. I only want to warn you that you should not create any loopholes for these people. Anything, even the smallest trifle that's to their advantage, is perceived by them as a weakness and will be used by them against those who demonstrate this weakness. (11/14/02) | |
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Quicken News -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday on broad selling amid persistent concerns over the outlook for the Japanese economy, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to a new 19-year closing low. ... The Nikkei 225 lost 26.25 points, or 0.3%, to end at 8438.52 - its lowest close since April 1983. (11/14/02) | |
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The London Times -- Ms Lawal comes from the northern state of Katsina, one of a dozen in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north that have adopted Islamic law, or Sharia. ... One day, after accepting a lift on a motorcycle, she was raped by a man she thought was a friend. When it became obvious that she was pregnant the fundamentalist vigilantes, known as Hisbah, turned her over to the Sharia court. ... For the alleged adultery that led to the birth of Wasila, now ten months old, she is to be buried up to her neck and stoned until she dies. ... When Ms Lawal heard her sentence, she bore it stoically. “I will get through this, with God,” she whispered, holding Wasila against her cheek. She tries not to think about what will happen to this baby, or her other children, if the sentence is carried out. Ms Lawal is not the only victim of Sharia, which was introduced in the Zamfara state as a political platform by the campaigning governor in 1999, then quickly taken up by 11 other northern states. There are four other cases of women sentenced to be stoned for adultery. There are also 11 children in Sokoto state awaiting amputation for stealing. Ms Lawal’s lawyer, Hauwa Ibrahim, said: “We have heard they are waiting for the amputation machine to arrive.” ... The victims have one thing in common: they are poor. They have all, according to aid workers, been used as examples by the court to frighten others into submission. “The rich do exactly the same thing but they are not punished,” said one worker. “One of the judges who tried these women got his girlfriend pregnant. Other members of the Sharia court had daughters who got pregnant. Nothing ever happens to them.” (11/14/02) | |
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New Scientist -- A war against Iraq could kill half a million people, warns a new report by medical experts - and most would be civilians. The report claims as many as 260,000 could die in the conflict and its three-month aftermath, with a further 200,000 at risk in the longer term from famine and disease. A civil war in Iraq could add another 20,000 deaths. Collateral Damage is being published on Tuesday in 14 countries and has been compiled by Medact, an organisation of British health professionals. ... In the report's worst-case scenario, nuclear weapons are fired on Iraq in response to a chemical and biological attack on Kuwait and Israel, leaving a massive 3.9 million people dead. (11/14/02) | |
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The Independent UK -- The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said yesterday the famine threatening his country could be worse than that in 1984, which killed a million people and triggered a global relief effort. Mr Meles told BBC radio that the number affected by the famine in 1984-85 "was roughly a third to one half of the number of people involved now". He added: "So if that was a nightmare, this will be too ghastly to contemplate. Some six million people already need food aid and the number facing starvation could rise to 15 million in the coming months if international donors did not respond. Ethiopia needs food aid in "huge amounts" to avoid catastrophe. "That is going to be in the realm of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions." (11/14/02) | |
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Detroit Free Press -- A 40-year-old Detroit area woman had endured painfully infected foot sores for more than a year. ... Her sores were infected with a virulent new strain of the bacterium staphylococcus aureus, or staph aureus. By stealing genetic material from another bug, the new strain became totally resistant to vancomycin,the longtime drug of last defense against it. Health officials would not identify the metro Detroit woman or what hospital treated her. The infection was the first of its kind in the world and a landmark defeat for doctors and public health officials in the fight against growing antibiotic resistance. It also was evidence that the Detroit area has become an incubator for resistant strains. "From a scientific point of view, it's probably one of the most remarkable and significant events in my lifetime," said Dr. Steve Lerner, vice chief of infectious diseases at Detroit Medical Center. ... The bacteria causing the Detroit area woman's infection this year was even more virulent. The emergence of a vancomycin-resistant strain has medical experts concerned that the number of U.S. patients who die from infections may soon exceed 100,000 a year. "In the scheme of public health threats, this has to rank close to the top," David Ropeik, director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, said of antibiotic resistance. "It's a serious threat now, and it's getting worse fast. It's dramatically more of a public health threat than pesticides on food." (11/14/02) | |
http:/www.synearth.net/
6:05:06 AM 
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© TrustMark
2002
Timothy Wilken.
Last update:
12/3/2002; 8:09:14 AM.
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