Human Accidents

Dukes of Douches is a relatively new and interesting blog concerned with hypocrisy and injustice on the world stage and often in the US mainstream media. It sometimes sinks to the level of a celebrity tabloid, but shines through with insight and relevance when its attention is turned to the larger issues of mankind and its leaders. I was particularly impressed by the recent post regarding the Bopal criminal decision. The post makes reference to the Yes Men, producers of two films everyone should see.

The recent Bopal court decision sets dangerous precedent and the topic fits in well with our previous post on Environmental Accidents. We are witnessing an incomprehensible lack of punishment of Union Carbide or compensation for the victims of an industrial and environment disaster. Such court decisions only incentivise companies to externalise their costs - even in the form of human lives and suffering.

We must recognise that by design, Corporations are psychopathic. We should not expect them to make moral or socially responsible decisions. Instead, they should be assumed to maximise their own profit potential while minimising financial risk, even if it means placing enormous costs on others. Rather than worrying about whether corporations are good or evil, the laws and the enforcement of laws must effectively internalize costs to the corporation and guarantee prohibitory insurance requirements for companies who in an extreme scenario might inflict costs on other lifeforms. Courts bear the brunt of the responsibility to ensure these requirements are enforced so as to protect human life and the environment from the inexorable profit maximisation calculations and occasional incompetence of industry.

All the Pb in Zhong Guo

This story from the financial press ignores what is really going on. Forget importation of toxic goods; why is Zhong Guo so backwards that they are even manufacturing toys, or other consumer products, that contain lead. If Zhong Guo is ever to be part of an advanced glorious civilistation, this will have to stop.

Love and Castration

I have always found it bizarre that people profess their love for their pets, treating them in many respects better than fellow humans, yet castrate these beloved animals as a matter of course. In my view, castration is a vile mutilation and an extreme violation of a creature's dignity. An animal that requires castration for the purposes of taming perhaps should not be kept as a pet in the first place. Clearly there is a need to control population. Less invasive and potentially reversible measures such as vasectomies are more humane but rarely used alternatives.

Once again, technology comes to our rescue, allowing us to be more civilised. A new drug has been released in Australia which limits both sperm and testosterone production for several months thus fulfilling the targeted aspects of castration whilst preserving dignity and reversibility. There is an argument to be made for administering this to some people.

Petroleum and Obeisity

In the United States, a morbidly obese country, rising fuel prices will have a very positive effect on public health. Sustained high energy prices should accelerate the effect owing to increased investment in public transit and more rationally designed cities.

Politics and US Healthcare

As I have mentioned before, the biggest flaw I see in the current US system is the problem of the limited supply from the American Medical Association doctor's labour union. This aside, I would like to draw attention to Brad DeLong's FT opinion article endorsing Barak Obama's proposed healthcare "solution." Obama should be applauded for having the courage to announce such a detailed proposal which exposes him to political attacks.

Designer Babies

Assuming humanity is not destroyed by its own poor decisions nor by a cosmic event, the human species will flourish, become far more varied, and eventually speciate into unrecognisable multifarious forms most beautiful and wonderful, to borrow from Darwin. This process would occur naturally, but humanity's knowledge about its own genetic makeup will greatly accelerate the process. What starts with "Designer Babies" now to eliminate disease from the population, will certainly expand into mere cosmetic engineering, life extension, and superhuman abilities. When in vitro fertilisation was developed, many ignorant reactionaries even questioned if the children born of this would have a soul (while of course assuming that the rest of us do). Now that your best friend could be a test tube baby, the mob has for the most part come to terms with in vitro fertilisation and often see it as a necessity and a right for couples with fertility difficulties. Being a proponent of adoption, I discourage test tube babies for environmental and social reasons. Nonetheless, I do not have an inherent problem with the technology. Similarly, genetically engineered people are as inevitable as genetically engineered crops. You may wish to stay organic, but that will not stop anyone else from moving forward towards greater health, prosperity, and complexity. I instead would call for further research and development and government sponsorship of this technology and its implementation. After all, it is in society's best interests.

The position of the Roman Catholic Church in this matter prompted these thoughts.

Human Papillomavirus

Human Papillomavirus or HPV comes in over 100 strains which infect skin and mucous membranes of humans and many animals. Some of these strains are fairly benign and unnoticeable, some cause common warts or plantar warts (warts on the bottom of the foot). Other strains are more malignant causing genital or anal warts or cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is responsible for the death of over 280,000 people per year and is almost always caused by sexually transmitted HPV infection. Unfortunately the use of safe sex practices such as condoms to prevent HPV has been clearly shown to be only partially effective since transmission is skin to skin. Conservatives are correct in suggesting that abstinence is the only way to be truly safe.

I had the good fortune lately to dine with a friend who is working at Merck pharmaceuticals company promoting the use of their new HPV vaccine, Guardasil. Guardasil defends against four common cancer causing HPV types responsible for 70% of cancers and 90% of genital warts. The European Union has already approved the use of guardasil in both men and women while the more backwards and highly politicised US Food and Drug Administration, who deny any medical benefit of cannabis, have so far only approved Guardasil for young women and girls. My friend did inform me that some enlightened US doctors will nonetheless prescribe Guardasil to men even though it is not "indicated."

The State of Tejas recently decided to implement mandatory HPV vaccination for middle school girls with exceptions made for allergic or religious conflict. This is an extremely wise decision by the State legislature and much to the benefit of the people of Texas and those who might have sexual contact with a Texan woman. The move is much to the credit of Texas which is often stereotyped as a bastion of ignorant fundamentalist Christian extremism.

Hopefully new vaccines will emerge combating other strains of the virus and others which plague the human species.

Regarding the ethics of infectious disease transmission and sensible public health policies, I will have much more to say. In the meantime, my readers may ponder this post from Volokh Conspiracy. Most importantly I wish my readers to recognise the tremendous prevalence of HPV in our society, and to take a much more sober view of sexual contact than pop culture and health classes would have you believe. 27 million Americans have genital HPV infection. Many people with HPV, HSV-2 or even HIV, even those who know they have it, will lie about their status and knowingly infect their partners out of shame or selfishness.

Be safe and Ja Bless.

Proper Drugs Policy

The Confoederatio Helvetica, or Switzerland as it is commonly known, in my opinion the best designed and run State on Earth, has perhaps the most sensible drugs policy in the world. Cannabis is legal for personal use, and each person is permitted to grow three personal plants at a time. Meanwhile diamorphine (heroin), a far more dangerous and addictive drug is treated as a medical condition for which the state provides treatment which often includes supplying the diamorphine itself to addicts unable to overcome their addiction so that they might still function as normal, productive and law abiding citizens. This liberal policy has led to heroin addiction being viewed as a dead end ignoble drug among the youth, and its use has dramatically fallen largely owing to its legal toleration and availability.