Finally

Finally got updated to the latest version of WordPress so I can post on the blog again. Maybe I’ll actually do that some.

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Exposing Euthanasia through the Arts

By Matthew Eppinette, CBC New Media Manager

A terrific piece from the always insightful Barbara Nicolosi, currently executive director of the Galileo Forum at Azusa Pacific University. Money quote:

Our response to the mercy-killing machine must be more than an occasional op-ed piece; we need a shrewd and all-encompassing cultural strategy if we are going to make a good fight in the euthanasia war.

Shrewd means that we fight smart. It means appealing to the emotions of the masses through stories, not non-fiction tomes. Songs, not philosophical tirades. Heroes, not pundits.

Read the whole thing

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Wow . . . just Wow

Two really unbelievable items:

California Institute of Regenerative Medicine Awards Prize to Poem Equating Embryonic Stem Cell Research With Words of Jesus at the Last Supper

And

[Indian] Govt proposes womb banks to legalize surrogacy
“Infertile couples don’t have to go hunting for surrogate mothers. The bank will help them get one. As a result, the couple will have all information about her background and medical history before hiring her womb,” said Dr R S Sharma, deputy director general of Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR…), who has been involved in the process of drafting the Bill.”

Speechless

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Vanity Cards

I’ve long been a fan of Chuck Lorre’s vanity cards, slides that appear at the end of programs he produces such as Big Bang Theory. I even cited one in a paper I wrote last year (he catalogs them on his website).

Now Slate has written an interview with Lorre and slide show on the cards.

Interesting stuff. Check it out.

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In the News

Greek police have broken up an egg harvesting ring that was harvesting eggs from immigrant women for Greek women seeking IVF.

Most of the women alleged to have been exploited by the gang had been brought to Greece, ostensibly for legitimate jobs, before being sold into prostitution and then being forced to agree to the removal of their eggs.

A clinic in Cyprus has been shut down for purchasing eggs from women. The law there states that donors may be compensated for expenses, but eggs cannot be sold. Now people who have embryos at the clinic are seeking to get them back. Apparently the the police siezed the embryos when the clinic was shut down for suspicsion of human egg trafficking in May.

A hospital chain has been charged with trafficking in human organs for years.

Interesting times.

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Cribs

I’m a big fan of the original Star Trek series, and I’ve seen a couple of episodes of Cribs. So this is fun.

HT: Joe Carter who posted 29 additional videos you might enjoy.

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Adding to my Netflix Queue

Christianity Today has an interview with the writer / director of the film

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Coming Attraction: Never Let Me Go

From the promotional materials:

In his highly acclaimed novel Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day) created a remarkable story of love, loss and hidden truths. In it he posed the fundamental question: What makes us human? Now director Mark Romanek (ONE HOUR PHOTO), writer Alex Garland and DNA Films bring Ishiguro’s hauntingly poignant and emotional story to the screen. Kathy (Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION), Tommy (Andrew Garfield, BOY A, RED RIDING) and Ruth (Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, ATONEMENT) live in a world and a time that feel familiar to us, but are not quite like anything we know. They spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. When they leave the shelter of the school and the terrible truth of their fate is revealed to them, they must also confront the deep feelings of love, jealousy and betrayal that threaten to pull them apart.

See also: Book Review: Never Let Me Go

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Interesting color photos from the 30s and 40s

“These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations . . .”

Denver Post

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Carson Online

Looking forward to being able to watch some Carson online. Doesn’t look like the general public be able to see all of it, but some is better than none.

LA Times

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