| Time |
Event |
| 3:47a |
Henrietta Lacks’ family settle lawsuit over HeLa tissue harvested in 1950s
The family of Henrietta Lacks settled a lawsuit demanding to be paid
for the sale of a cell culture made from a sample of cancer cells that
was excised as part of
treating her cancer in the 1950s.
I don't think there is anything basically wrong in cultivating
Henrietta Lacks's cell culture for sale for use in medical research.
(It would not be wrong if it were you or me instead.) This does no
harm to the person that the cells came from.
Today's US medical business exploits patients dreadfully and this does
enormous harm. Some are driven into penury. That issue is an important
injustice and we must fix it ‐ for instance, with a well-funded
national medical system.
However letting a few patients charge for use of their cell cultures
for research would do almost nothing to address this real problem.
That would establish a sort of lottery that would benefit a few people.
What we need is a bigger change that would help everyone.
Nowadays the practice raises a privacy issue: anyone who gets a sample
of the culture could sequence its DNA and derive about that person
(and per relatives). This could indeed do some them some harm. The
overall issue of using people's DNA information against them is a big
issue, but the special case of selling useful cell cultures
is only a small part of it. |
| 3:47a |
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| 3:47a |
Twitter, now X, sues group that researched hate speech on platform
Ex-Twitter has actually sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate
for reporting on how Ex-Twitter
publishes hate messages.
I can only expect that Musk aims to bankrupt the organization through
legal expenses.
|
| 3:47a |
Welcome to ‘asbo Britain 2.0’
Tories plan to allow thugs to decide on their own what actions
constitute "nuisances" and
fine anyone for them.
Putting this together with the fossil fuel plans, it looks like
the Tories intend to cause mayhem in as many areas of life as they can
before next year's election.
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| 3:47a |
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| 3:47a |
Ukrainian counteroffensive’s slow going offers reality check
*Ukrainian counteroffensive’s slow going offers
reality check but
could yet pay off.*
I conclude that Ukraine needs to attack the rear of the Putin forces
more.
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| 3:47a |
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| 8:47a |
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| 8:47a |
Choosing smiles over health
*In-N-Out Burger doubles down on choosing "smiles" over health.*
Employees are forbidden to wear masks just because they know they have
a cold. They have to get a doctor's note — which will cost them time
and money. |
| 8:47a |
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| 8:47a |
Fake electors charged with forgery
*16 fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming [the
corrupter] won in 2020 election have been criminally charged with
forgery.* |
| 8:47a |
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| 8:47a |
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| 8:47a |
Replika chatbot
Many customers tried the Replika chatbot, which was set up to simulate
love for the customer. Then the company changed it to be rejecting
and distant. The customers were outraged.
The article compares the chatbot to a pet. I think that is valid.
Pets are animals and some of them can develop a sort of real affection
and attachment for a person. But Replika could never really feel
affection or other feelings, only imitate them. For me, that makes
people's attachment to Replika very sad, because they were falling for
a fake (despite, ironically, knowing that all along).
The article shows how an emotional chatbot running nonfree software,
or a copy that belongs to anyone but the user, puts the user in a
terribly vulnerable situation.
Compare this with my science fiction story, Made for You.
Sandra is not a chatbot, she is a real person (though not based on
biology). She really feels various emotions, including love, and my
love for her strengthens her just as her love strengthens me. A
super-intelligence, she understands me, and that's how she knows how to
help me grow to love her better and understand her better.
Sandra is free software and no company can alter her code. Neither
can I do so — because she is not my pet, not my property. She is a
person and has the rights of a person. |
| 8:47a |
Ways the US refuses to play by global rules
*3 Ways the US Refuses to Play by Global Rules.*
I have to point out that the US is hardly alone in dragging its feet
on preventing global heating disaster. Most countries are doing that.
The fact that a country is not alone in doing that is no excuse at all. |
| 8:47a |
China bought support of newspaper in Solomon Islands
China seems to have bought the total support of a newspaper in the
Solomon Islands with a donation of equipment.
Billionaires have bought famous US and British newspapers
outright and obtained their permanent total support. It is easier
to condemn this when China does it, but I think the domestic billionaires
are more dangerous. |
| 8:47a |
Aim to ease monopoly-busting
*FTC rewrites rules on Big Tech mergers with aim to ease
monopoly-busting.*
US antitrust law needs to be made far more strict, and this is surely
not enough, but these new guidelines look like a good step. |
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