Building vaccines through Biotech...

Yes, I`ve been away for a while. I know. It`s not likely to get any better anytime soon, either. I`m busy with some political stuff in Ottawa, Canada for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, I`ve said it, others have said it... the future of the new economy is in biotechnology. New advances in biotechnology will affect everything from the food we eat, the medicine we take, the cars we drive to the fuel that powers them.

And as if to provide proof: Scientists think they have discovered a vaccine to the infamous bird flu. And it`s not going to be generated in chicken eggs, but built through genetic engineering.

The benefits are multiple - quicker turnaround time, the ability to modify the vaccine further to fight new strains, and ease of scale-up.

It`s a whole new world out there, folks.

Celebrity Activists, Breasts, Chickens and Military Men...

The Diva of Good Taste, Pamela Anderson, is attempting to get the legislators at Kentucky's State Capitol to remove a bust of Harlan Sanders.

The ironies here are just -ahem- finger licking good. (Note to readers - I will resist all juvenile humour attempts to draw a comparison between chickens, Pamela Anderson, statues and busts/breasts.)

We can talk about the fact that Pamela wouldn't know anything about Harlan if she sat across from him in a bus. We can talk about the fact that as a Playboy model and Baywatch actress, she's hardly qualified to discuss the role of oxygen in her life, much less animal care issues. Or perhaps we can discuss the fact that as a California resident and Canadian citizen, she's probably only been to Kentucky once in her life.

Or maybe we'll just let this one slide away and let the story stand on its own merits.

For the record, KFC spokeswoman Laurie Schalow called the move to oust the colonel "just another misguided publicity stunt by PETA in their attempt to create a vegan society."

Public Water Utility buys bottled water.

Do as we Say... Not as we Do...

Just a simple case of non-verbal actions completely overriding verbal words.

The Department of Water Protection for the City of Los Angeles, which spends over $1 million per year to convince the public the tapwater is safe to drink, spent close to $90,000 on bottled water.

I've been there myself. When I was doing communications in Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, one of the initiatives we undertook was to get rid of bottled water inside our offices. And this was BEFORE the Walkerton water disaster struck (2,000 people became ill from drinking contaminated tap water.)

This really is a no-brainer, folks.

Media Bias Is Real

This should shock no one - a study has revealed that American mainstream media is almost universally biased to the left.

"While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper's news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times. The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left. Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left."

"Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal. Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter."

"The fourth most centrist outlet was "Special Report With Brit Hume" on Fox News, which often is cited by liberals as an egregious example of a right-wing outlet. While this news program proved to be right of center, the study found ABC's "World News Tonight" and NBC's "Nightly News" to be left of center. All three outlets were approximately equidistant from the center, the report found."

And for those who'd complain the study itself is biased, two points: First, the study comes to us from UCLA. While UCLA doesn't have as liberal a reputation as say, Berkeley, UCLA is hardly considered a bastion of conservative thought.

Secondly : "The researchers took numerous steps to safeguard against bias — or the appearance of same — in the work, which took close to three years to complete. They went to great lengths to ensure that as many research assistants supported Democratic candidate Al Gore in the 2000 election as supported President George Bush. They also sought no outside funding, a rarity in scholarly research."

It's a fascinating look into what the average American thinks about newsworthy topics, and what actually gets reported...

Facing Boycotts... from Stupid Folks.

Note: Usually, I try to avoid religious topics, for some pretty obvious reasons. What I have to say is usually controversial enough - I don't need to recklessly throw fuel on the fire just for fun and giggles. But on this one, I couldn't resist.

A group of religious protesters demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart superstore Saturday, hoping to turn away customers by calling attention to the retailer's decision to use "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas" in its seasonal advertising.

(OK - so some folks are upset, and a number of conservative Christian organizations are organizing petitions and boycotts... check.)

Ready for it? Here's the kicker:

"About 50 protesters took part in Saturday's demonstration, organized by religious leaders. Dick Otterstad of the Church of the Divide donned a Santa Claus costume and greeted shoppers with the message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas."

Wow. I'm shaking my head here. Talk about not thinking through your optics, folks.

Why are some people black, others white?

Yes - it's a racial thing. :)

Forget about societal impacts, prejudices, or what we term 'racism.' The question is WHY some people are different colours.

Scientists have been asking the question as well. And it appears the lowly zebrafish may have an answer.

After all - some fish are white, some golden, some brown, yet they're all the same species. Scientists think they've isolated the gene that causes colour differences, and have tracked it back to humans as well.

I'm sure this may raise a number of future ethical quesions about race and the aforementioned societal impacts. Through genetic manipulation, will white parents be able to produce black children? Vice versa?

Personally, I default to the verse I learned in Sunday School... "Red, Yellow, Black and White... all are precious in his sight..."

The Worst Ecological Threat to Humanity? Yeah, right...

The 157 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol have agreed to hold future talks on post-2012 reductions in greenhouse gases.

Some people hail it as a broad step to secure the future, others are laughing it off as yet another waste of time and effort.

All I know - the hot air generated by 157 political delegations is a more acute threat to the world's environment than the emissions they're discussing.

The rhetoric is awesome. Canada's Environment Minister, Stephane Dion, claims the agreement is momentous: "You have upheld the trust the people of the world have placed in us," he said. "Facing the worst ecological threat to humanity, you have said: the world is united and together, step by step, we will win this fight."

Excuse me - the 'worst ecological threat to humanity?' Wow. That's ballsy.

Greenhouse gas emissions are more of a threat than the bubonic plague, influenza, or the lack of clean drinking water?

If Dion is serious about change instead of just making political points, he can address what concrete steps the Canadian Government will be taking in the future.

But he won't. Because aside from a few publicly funded commercials, they've done nothing. Which is partly why emissions are 24 per cent above 1990 levels. (Kyoto calls for six per cent reductions for Canada from 1990 levels by 2012 - meaning he has to bring total emissions down 36% - over a third - in only six years.)

'Threat to humanity?' Who knows. Maybe.

'Ridiculous hypocrisy and political doublespeak?' Absolutely.