 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Sunday, February 04, 2007
The first clone ever, Dolly, started a new revolution in humankind - The war to see who could become god (no capital G yet).
Humans have become so advanced
that DNA is now a new toy on science lab shelves. It is amazing how far
humans would play around with genetics, to create beings without a
soul. Playing god... that's what they call it. Colning shouldn't even
be an issue. It shouldn't even be discussed, because it shouldn't exist
in the first place. It is human foolishness at its best.
I am amazed at how far
technology has gone, and looking back in the past ten years of my life,
the digital world I once knew, is no more digital, it is something
totally way beyond that already.
Cloning, for whatever reason, is
still wrong, and unethical. Who said we have the right to make another
human being exactly like how we want it to be? It takes away the
suspense in life, and takes away the creativity of God. We're
manipulating nature. We're transferring genes as we like between
species. We're fooling nature. One day, nature will fool us back.
As we speak, bioengineers are putting human genes into pigs, in order to produce human blood. Sickening.
One day, we will be creating
clones as backups. If we get a kidney failure, just call up your clone
and take his kidney instead. Think the movie "The Island" is rubbish?
Think again. The movie shows the very rawness of human greed. In the
far future, if all goes "well", we will be making humans, making every
organism.. making is probably the wrong word. We will be creating and
designing what should or should not be on this earth....
Imagine reading the bible in the year 2080....
"So man created man in his own image, in the image of man he created him.."
"And man saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."
Posted at 01:33 pm by seizetheday
Permalink
A 'Pink Elephant' is an oratory phenomena, and rhetorical error. The
speaker denies something without yet being accused of it. This invites
the audience to draw the link between the speaker and that which is
being denied - a link they might not have drawn otherwise. The speaker
thus effectively accuses themselves. For example, when a person is
asked where they got particularly expensive jacket and they respond, 'I
definitely didn't steal it'. Another example is Richard Nixon's
well-known disavowal regarding the Watergate scandal, 'I am not a
crook'.
My close friends would know that I've read this book many times, 'Drop The Pink Elephant'. And like what was mentioned above, a PInk Elephant is something very simple, yet, it makes a whole big difference to our lives if everyone was aware of the little Pink Elephants around us. There are, however, several definitions for Pink Elephant, but you can check that out yourself if you want to.
This is what the book looks like, and can be found in any major bookshop like MPH, Times, Kinokuniya etc.
Here is something I took out from the book:
"There can be no whitewash at the White House." (Richard Nixon). These
nine words turned the American nation against their President. Why?
Because people hadn't linked the White House with a cover up until
Nixon himself made the connection. His own denial created the story.
So, basically, Pink Elephants are the unnecessary negatives that clutter your
conversation and meaning, sending out the wrong signals to anyone you
communicate with.
The book teaches how to communicate more effectively, by giving a picture on what IS rather than what ISN'T. For example, if I asked you where you'd like to go, a PInk Elephant would be: "I don't want to go to the beach to eat". Instead, we should say something like, "I feel like eating chicken so let's go to somewhere that serves chicken". At least the picture is clearer. Imagine trying to land a helicopter, and the guy on the radio says "no don't land there", then again "no no you can't land there either" then again in a few minutes "no, you can't land there, it's not allowed". How annoyed would you be? Why can't the guy on the radio just say "land there where you see the sign"?.
Pink Elephants also refer to words like DID NOT,
or NO or anything negative, which we use so much in our daily
conversations. We must learn to DROP them. Why?
"I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky"
US
President Bill Clinton in January 1998 on his relationship with the
White House intern. Ten months later he apologized for misleading the
American people with what he said.
"Telling my story was NEVER about money"
Paul Burrell, former butler to Princess Diana, who sold his story to the Daily Mirror for a reported 300,000 pounds.
Isn't it interesting how we can make a fool out of ourselves simply by the wrong choice of words and the wrong sentence structure.
There is this cute story in the book.
A little kid was in the kitchen trying to grab the jar of cookies placed high above the kitchen shelf. Chocolate chip cookies, what little boy can resist the sight of them. He tries hard to reach for the jar, grabbing a chair, climbing onto the chair, jumping up to reach for the chocolate treasure. Suddenly, after a few attempts of jumping up and down continuously, the chair leg breaks, and he falls. Mommy comes rusing in to the kitchen, worried about what had just happened. The little boy looked innocently at his mom... "I wasn't (pink elephant) trying to get the cookies"
Nobody said he was.. he just admitted it!
Posted at 12:45 pm by seizetheday
Permalink
Friday, February 02, 2007
IT IS TRULY AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
I am actually not sure how the topic changed into Global Warming that night when we were at this little cafe having our little servings of fancy cakes that cost 3 times their sizes. We were talking about Hendry's work, then talked about the recent windy weather, then, AHA! Yeah, we were talking about the weather, when Hendry started the whole discussion about Global Warming.
It got me thinking though. Global Warming? I've heard that term over and over again, in Science class, on TV, almost everywhere come to think of it. What was weird, was that it never struck me how severe it has become. While scientists have been diligently trying to find ways of saving our one and only planet, I've been ignorant and moving on with life as if there were no tomorrow. In fact, with the rate Global Warming is going now, would there even be a tomorrow? Yikes! Better not think so far yet.
But seriously, have we ever sat down to think how seriously damaged our planet is? And how much worse it could get if nothing is done about it? After all, we too are citizens of planet Earth, not just the environmentalists and the scientists.
Shockingly yet again, I came across this quote on a website - a simple quote, straight to the point, but OUCH! - "most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributed to human activities."
Human activities have been causing our planet to go through so much pain. Think about it... our planet is getting hotter, we cannot deny it, science proves it to us, and our bodies feel it too. The ice is melting in the supposedly coldest corners of the planet, natural disasters just pop up out of nowhere, without any warning sometimes, and it is all linked with our planet's warming temperature. Wouldn't it be interesting to say that the warming happening now, is just Earth's 'warming up' session to an even worse thing?
I simply cannot imagine what worse things could happen in the next few decades.
Rising sea levels are a result of Global Warming. Flood The Whole Globe could be Earth's next agenda. But no, I doubt it. I take the rainbow that God showed Noah during the great flood as a promise that will last eternally. But still, it doesn't mean a whole country couldn't get flooded. God has flooded the world before, so flooding a small country could be an easy job.
I found some interesting facts on the net:
- These changes may increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes and tornados.
- The United States is, as of 2005, the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
- Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperatures (0.25 °C/decade against 0.13 °C/decade (Smith, 2005).
- The increased CO2 in the atmosphere warms the Earth's surface and leads to melting of ice near the poles. As the ice melts, land or open water takes its place. Both land and open water are on average less reflective than ice, and thus absorb more solar radiation. This causes more warming, which in turn causes more melting, and the cycle continues.
- In the Sahel, there has been on average a 25% decrease in annual rainfall over the past 30 years.
- In December 2006, a large ice sheet broke free from Canada's Artctic. In January 2007, the UK and Northern Europe experienced hurricane-force winds. This was unexpected, and very unusual for that part of the world.
- Over the past five decades there has been a global warming of approximately 0.4°C at the Earth's surface
- Global mean sea level has been rising at an average rate of 1 to 2 mm/year over the past 100 years, which is significantly larger than the rate averaged over the last several thousand years. Projected increase from 1990-2100 is anywhere from 0.09-0.88 meters.
- The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years
- The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
Well you get the point. Check out http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/ and see for yourself how much worse things could get if we do not start being careful.
I love our planet. It was our home since the day we were born.
Posted at 12:33 pm by seizetheday
Permalink
Thursday, February 01, 2007
The good you find in others, is in you too. The faults you find in others, are your faults as well. After all, to recognize something you must know it. The possibilities you see in others, are possible for you as well. The beauty you see around you, is your beauty. The world around you is a reflection, a mirror showing you the person you are. To change your world, you must change yourself. To blame and complain will only make matters worse. Whatever you care about, is your responsibility. What you see in others, shows you yourself. See the best in others,and you will be your best. Give to others, and you give to yourself. Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful. Admire creativity, and you will be creative. Love, and you will be loved. Seek to understand, and you will be understood. Listen, and your voice will be heard. Teach, and you will learn. Show your best face to the mirror, and you'll be happy with the face looking back at you. ~~ Author Unknown ~~
Posted at 04:06 pm by seizetheday
Permalink
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The good you find in others,
is in you too.
The faults you find in others,
are your faults as well.
After all, to recognize something you must know it.
The possibilities you see in others,
are possible for you as well.
The beauty you see around you,
is your beauty.
The world around you is a reflection,
a mirror showing you the person you are.
Show your best face to the mirror,
and you'll be happy with the face
looking back at you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
