X-Message-Number: 19776
From: 
Subject: Religion and Cryonics 
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 16:56:54 +1000

in response to Mr John Griggs ...

I should probably look up the specifics because I heard about this a while
ago and my facts are a bit hazy but the gist  is ---
there is a patent battle in which an Australian woman with breast cancer
would benefit greatly from a gene therapy that was developed initially in
Australia, but the research was shared with and then developed into a
treatment by an American company which patented the treatment. Now doctors
here need to use the research that was done here to develop a treatment for
this woman, otherwise she has to pay loads of big fat yanky dollars
(something like $15, 000 US from memory) to use the American companies
treatment, otherwise she may well die. When I saw the news item she didn't
have the money. And the American firm was fighting in court to stop doctors
here from using the discoveries which had initially been made here anyway.
The point is, you should be careful about using cultural stereotypes in
relation to theft of information and technology, there's a bit of a
glasshouse issue that shoudn't be ignored. Anyways, I know you were being
fairly light-hearted, and well perhaps everyone should share everything ...
that would be more the spirit don't you think, perhaps Yvan could give his
tech to the christians to create there own 'utopia' with, well away from
his. But I certainly think Yvan has a right to his prejudices - and if he
doesn't want to download christian brains into his communist utopia then so
be it. Quite frankly, I think it's a good thing. It could get a bit scary
with christians trying to convert everyone from that close-up. ;)

BTW, for some reason I assumed Yvan was Russian not French - something about
the accent? 


always,
Tracey Simon.

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