Mmmm, yummy and Eww, creepy...
Jun. 20th, 2003 09:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsThe Mmm, yummy part: Omaha yesterday had a terrible allergy attack, so in the hopes of counteracting the horrible effects to some limited degree, I made chicken soup, which had the desireable side-effect of using up the vegetable stock in the 'fridge. Omaha chopped up the onions, carrots, and other veggies while I ran to the store for the noodles, but when I got back I finished the saute'ing, tossed in the vegetable stock and a touch of chicken stock needed to round it out, the chicken and finally the noodles.
Both Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan ate it all. Yamaarashi-chan was particularly hungry as she said she'd eaten nothing all day except a cliff bar and some cookies from a snack at school.
The kids played out in the yard. We did a little more of the day before. I managed to get out the camera and snap one decent photo of Kouryou-chan. It's an old camera, the backlighting estimate sucks so most were over-exposed.
The Little Slugger.
After I drove Yamaarashi-chan back to her mother's house, I stopped to get some ice cream. My jaw was killing me. The first convenience store I stopped at didn't have any, so I went to the QFC supermarket. They had some, but their automated checkout lines were shut down, they had only two checkers and a backup of nearly twenty people, and the two gentlement at the front of the line were arguing with the clerk on and on and on about whether or not she could sell beer to them. It took for freakin' ever to get through the line.
At least I got my ice cream bar.
Today, Omaha cooked whiskey-and-mushroom pork chops with home-made mashed potatoes. Of course, Kouryou-chan decided she'd rather eat macaroni and cheese, and all we had was the cheap stuff. She eats so well for breakfast we don't worry too much about it, but tonight she didn't eat much at all. She didn't even ask for dessert.
The Eww, creepy part: Britain has a new goverment agency, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. A family in England have a son who is dying of a rare blood disease, a cure for which can be found in the umbilical cord of a healthy sibling. The HFEA forbade that family from using in-vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to determine whether or not their next child will have the characteristics necessary to save the first. There is no risk to the second child at all: all of the medical tools necessary are by-products of the birthing process.
I find something called the "Fertilisation and Embryology Authority" just a little creepy, myself. We can debate the merits all we want of having a second child in the hopes of saving the first. But having decided to do it, the fact that the government chooses to step in and say, "You're not allowed to know if it'll work, just live with the roll of the dice and accept the outcome as God's will" infuriates me.
Both Kouryou-chan and Yamaarashi-chan ate it all. Yamaarashi-chan was particularly hungry as she said she'd eaten nothing all day except a cliff bar and some cookies from a snack at school.
The kids played out in the yard. We did a little more of the day before. I managed to get out the camera and snap one decent photo of Kouryou-chan. It's an old camera, the backlighting estimate sucks so most were over-exposed.
The Little Slugger.
After I drove Yamaarashi-chan back to her mother's house, I stopped to get some ice cream. My jaw was killing me. The first convenience store I stopped at didn't have any, so I went to the QFC supermarket. They had some, but their automated checkout lines were shut down, they had only two checkers and a backup of nearly twenty people, and the two gentlement at the front of the line were arguing with the clerk on and on and on about whether or not she could sell beer to them. It took for freakin' ever to get through the line.
At least I got my ice cream bar.
Today, Omaha cooked whiskey-and-mushroom pork chops with home-made mashed potatoes. Of course, Kouryou-chan decided she'd rather eat macaroni and cheese, and all we had was the cheap stuff. She eats so well for breakfast we don't worry too much about it, but tonight she didn't eat much at all. She didn't even ask for dessert.
The Eww, creepy part: Britain has a new goverment agency, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. A family in England have a son who is dying of a rare blood disease, a cure for which can be found in the umbilical cord of a healthy sibling. The HFEA forbade that family from using in-vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to determine whether or not their next child will have the characteristics necessary to save the first. There is no risk to the second child at all: all of the medical tools necessary are by-products of the birthing process.
I find something called the "Fertilisation and Embryology Authority" just a little creepy, myself. We can debate the merits all we want of having a second child in the hopes of saving the first. But having decided to do it, the fact that the government chooses to step in and say, "You're not allowed to know if it'll work, just live with the roll of the dice and accept the outcome as God's will" infuriates me.
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HFEA
Date: 2003-06-20 10:38 am (UTC)Believe me, we don't like it much over here either (for some version of "we" -- I'm a scientist and a Christian). The scientist in me believes that the ability to save a child's life in this way is one of the precious gifts that scientific progress gives us, and the Christian in me praises God for the ability he gives the scientists to make this progress.
The specific point of law is as follows: genetic screening is permissible if it's for the benefit of the unborn child, but not if it's for the benefit of any other individual. Go figure.
Good luck to the family, I say -- and I hope that the debate that this case has opened leads to a corresponding progress in the associated legislation.
Legislative minds and legal minds were always more closed than scientific ones -- here in Britain anyway.
Re: HFEA
Date: 2003-06-20 12:04 pm (UTC)So I think it's 'no you can't have your dead husband's sperm, he didn't say you could' (the Diane Blood case) ruling was right.
And I think this one's defensible too. Let's imagine we're several years in the future... "Hello Kid2. You were selected in order to save Kid1. Unfortunately, it didn't work and Kid1 died." How's Kid2 going to feel?
Re: HFEA
Date: 2003-06-20 04:35 pm (UTC)The parents' attitudes would be key here. Good attitude: "We wanted another child. We also wanted to do whatever we could to help kid1. We did both. We are lucky and glad to have kid2."
Sucky attitude: "Kid2 was supposed to save kid1's life. Kid2 failed."
Re: HFEA
Date: 2003-06-23 01:30 pm (UTC)hmm
Date: 2003-06-21 08:01 am (UTC)2) your lil girl is adorable
3) hmm whiskey and mushroom porkchops sound good
--WarStoke