Thursday, November 21, 2002

The "PRACTICAL" Benefits of Banning Guns This list of 53 reasons for banning guns starts off funny and then slowly gets very serious. Mike Welch writes: 1) Rednecks would save money not having to buy a rack for each truck. ... 2) The sales of country music CD’s would drop drastically (please note: extreme benefit to society) ... 3) The number of Libertarians and Republicans would dwindle. ... 4) Beer sales would drop, wine sales would soar. ... 5) The reactionary extremists would buy Super-soakers and Toys R Us stock would go way up and they would finally, in the act of squirting each other, discover the benefits of basic hygiene. ... 6) Fewer Christians, or at least less imposters claiming to be (as if Christ would own guns! sheesh). ... 7) More cabinet space. ... (11/21/02) Ecology as a Foundation for Modern Ethics Donivan Bessinger, MD writes: Ecology is the biological specialty that deals with the mutual relationships among living organisms themselves and their physical surroundings. It is concerned with the levels of interacting living systems above and including the individual organism. The key concept in ecology is interaction in large life systems. As such, ecology is a very broad study, involving all other disciplines in biology, such as anatomy, physiology, behavioral biology, zoology, botany, etc. However, since the non-biological disciplines have particular relevance, ecology also gives rise to such hybrid specialties as biometeorology, biogeochemistry, and biological oceanography. In studying the evidence for the wholeness of the universe, some may find that the lessons from the new physics are hard to grasp. However, the lessons of ecology involve us immediately, and are potentially apprehendable directly in ordinary life experience. Nevertheless, consciousness so often remains focused narrowly by self-interest or other preoccupations that we miss the importance of life-relationships at levels immediately touching our own lives. For many of us, supermarkets and asphalt machines have moved our supporting life-forms a level away from immediate experience and usually into unconsciousness. Too often animals are known to us primarily as meat in a freezer case, vegetables as something packaged on a counter or in a can, and trees as expendable decorations. Appreciating our interactions with other life-forms now takes some reflection, some effort to extend our consciousness. Yet such efforts still reward us directly with a sense of inter-relatedness and oneness with the living systems of the universe. These chords of harmony with existence remain close to our direct experience in the immediate unconscious, and may still resonate with the inner sense of mystery reflected by Thoreau on a January morning.  (11/21/02) China Tests Long Range Cruise Missile The Washington Times -- China recently test-fired a new cruise missile with twice the range U.S. intelligence agencies initially estimated, intelligence officials say. ... The test results surprised U.S. intelligence officials. Until recently, the estimated range of the YJ-83 had been assessed to be about 75 miles. The new missile test showed that its range is about 155 miles. The last time the missile was tested was July 4, when the People's Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper, announced the testing of a beyond-visual-range anti-ship missile. This weapon is believed by Pentagon officials to be part of Beijing's efforts to develop a long-range strike capability against U.S. aircraft carriers and ships.Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military with the Jamestown Foundation, said the new YJ-83 will probably be outfitted on the upgraded JH-7a fighter-bomber. "With a range of 250 km [155 miles], it gives the PLA and its export clients a new anti-ship missile that can fire beyond the reach of U.S. Naval anti-aircraft missiles like the Standard SM-2, which will soon equip Taiwan's Kidd-class destroyers," Mr. Fisher said. "This test also indicates that longer-range land-attack cruise missiles are just around the corner," he noted. (11/21/02) US Army to Burn Chemical Weapons in Alabama New York Times -- An alliance of environmental and civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit here today in a last-ditch effort to block the Army from burning tons of chemical weapons in a populated area. The suit demands that the Army complete more environmental studies before proceeding with its plan to incinerate thousands of old shells containing nerve gas, mustard gas and other deadly agents at the Anniston Army Depot. The lawsuit contends that the plan should be halted so scientists can consider recently discovered, less risky alternatives. The Army plans to begin destroying the weapons early next year. To stop the project, one of the issues the alliance must prove is that the weapons disposal poses an "imminent danger" to the community. "To place this burden on us is unacceptable," said Brenda Lindell, a homemaker who has been active in local causes in Anniston, a city of 24,000 people 58 miles east of Birmingham. "If there is an accident, there is no way to protect us. What about our children? What about our elderly? What about those of us who like to be outside?" To help make Anniston residents feel better, local officials said they would pass out gas masks and duct tape to seal homes. That made most people feel worse. (11/21/02) 6:54:24 AM

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