A few days ago, some people from the LeagueOfReason came together and discussed a potential new format for LoR-blogging and videos and the like. We'll see how that develops, but in the mean time I thought I'd start blogging again myself.
My new content will be mainly about news stories, on the topics of science, morality, economics and politics. That's a lot to cover, so I'll only take stories that interest me and I'll pretty much focus on Europe and German-speaking countries.
So without much ado, here's the first story:
Guardian - Organic food no better for you, suggests US study
The whole thing is basically the summary of a study (when, which one?) that suggests the above. To be honest, I'm not terribly shocked. Why would organic food have more nutrients than "normal" food? With the amount of fertilizing being done, I actually wouldn't have been surprised if it turned out that organic food actually has less nutrients in it.
Impact of this story on my life? 0%. None. Nada.
I'll still buy organic foods as much as possible for two reasons:
1) It's better for the environment and, if we're talking about meat, it's also better for the animals.
2) In most cases, organic food is also local food. Not importing food from far away means that a) the farmers from lower economically developed countries (LEDC's) actually have a shot at subsistence economy and b) you need less fuel to bring it to your plate, thus lowering the total CO2 output.
And if those are not enough reasons for you to buy organic food, except of course if you really can't afford it, then you're a twat. Simple as that.
The second story comes from the fabulous and extremely well researched "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung". (FAZ) Yeah I know, German. In fact, many of my stories will come from that newspaper. I'll give you the gist:
FAZ - Wissenschaftler als Arbeitstiere -> Are scientists workaholics?
The short answer is "yes". They link to an excellent scientific paper, henceforth known as paper, which explains the study in English. Go, read it!
Done? Good.
The examiners basically looked at the amount of downloads of scientific papers done by scientists over a course of eight days. They looked at how many papers they'd download and when during the day. Unsurprising fact? Scientists work a lot during the weekend and they work very late at night.
Slightly surprising fact, at least to me? Chinese scientists take their lunch- and dinner-breaks very seriously, but they work more during the weekend.
The researchers conclude that scientists are working too much and should balance their workload with... a life. But then, who would do that when there's cancer to be cured and DNA to be sequenced? And particles to be smashed? AND!!!
The next story is also from the FAZ:
FAZ: Europa droht die Schlusslaterne -> Europe to be last in race for patents
The article basically suggests that everybody's passing Europe when it comes to making patents. I'm not going to dispute that, but one thing the article does not mention: How successful are the articles? I mean I could patent an object that removes boogers from my nose, but who will want that?
In any case, Europe: Pick up the fucking ball!
That was kinda short, so let's go to...
FAZ: Jacobs Beschneidung -> Jacobs circumcision
The article explores the depraved Leo Latasch's comparison of an eight day year old's (Jacob) circumcision to a girl getting her ears pierced. There are two videos right at the bottom, I'll link to em here:
"The Circumcision of Jacob Chai" (uncut cut version)
Kylie's ear piercing trauma
Now the "good" Jewish doctor suggests the following: We don't know if the babies (at a circumcision) are crying out of pain or out of hunger, because they haven't eaten in a few hours, which is standard medical procedure. I think if you watch the video, it's clear the boy is crying because he's being a) disturbed in his sleep and b) having his penis cut!
He then compares the whole thing to a girl getting her ears pierced and, because the girl cries longer, suggests that they're at least on equal footing.
No, they're not you inhumane asshole! Here's why:
1) To remove the blood from the boys penis, a man (usually the rabbi) takes a mouthful of wine and sucks the blood from the boys genitalia. Sometimes, he even covers the genitalia with his mouth to "disinfect" the wound. Here's the problem: It doesn't actually disinfect, it INFECTS. That's right, people can actually die from that. The kids can get herpes, permanent brain damage and they can die.
As much as I dislike kids with pierced ears, I have never heard of one dying from it. Ever.
2) One is done for a religious reason, the other isn't. As weak a reason as "being pretty" may be, "because God said so" is an even weaker one. The one can heal and close again if she doesn't want it, the removal of foreskin is permanent.
Leaving that aside though, I'd condemn both of those actions. If your child is old enough, say 12 or so, she can get her ears pierced. But if she's only 4 or 5, you do not do it for her and she doesn't get a say in the matter. It's the same thing with circumcision: If your boy wants to get circumcised when he's of age, he can do that. But DO NOT make that choice for him. It's inhumane. And that's an understatement.
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