Scarlett Johansson & Ewan McGregor in “The Island” (2005) – Clone Rights & Organ Harvesting >>> Human Trafficking

[johnkarls]

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I’m embarrassed to admit that Prof. Suber’s focus on memorable movies GULLS ONE (or at least it did me) INTO FAILING TO FOCUS ON MOVIES THAT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED BUT AREN'T!!!

[And, obviously, our 9/18/2024 meeting should IMHO focus in this regard on the following.]

“The Island” (2005) starring Scarlett Johansson & Ewan McGregor was the focus of our June 2006 meeting nearly two decades ago.

Scarlett and Ewan portrayed two members of a large community of clones, each of whom was created and maintained at the expense of a wealthy person to be killed when the wealthy person should have need of her/his clone’s vital organs for transplants.

[NB: In addition to the guarantee of immediately-available organs, there would be the advantage of no remaining-lifelong need for anti-rejection drugs because the DNA would be identical.]

Since Scarlett and Ewan seemed as real as they in fact are in real life, everyone agreed at our meeting that they were human beings and that they should have the same constitutional rights as non-cloned human beings.


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Yale U’s Human “Lab Rats”

Our 4/9/2008 meeting re-visited the issue because, inter alia, the PBS’ 11/20/2007 MacNeil-Lehrer Report trumpeted that a Yale U Biology Prof had succeeded in creating an animal whose DNA was 25% of the way from chimpanzee to human - that is, for the DNA that is not shared by chimps and humans, he had substituted 25% human DNA for chimp DNA.

[Yale had been extremely controversial for various reasons over the previous 15-20 years with respect to its research regarding chimpanzees, the animals that have the most DNA in common with human beings.]

The Yale Biology Prof was then in the process of creating an animal whose DNA was 50% of the way from chimp to human and intended to begin work on creating an animal whose DNA would be 75% of the way from chimp to human!!!

However, per the usual ethical “blind eye” of MacNeil-Lehrer, there were no questions about whether the 25% human chimp, the 50% human or even the 75% human would have any constitutional rights, or be treated instead like a lab rat!!! Or even whether the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) shouldn’t take an interest in the 25% human, 50% human and/or 75% human!!!

WE ALL AGREED THAT THIS WAS UNFORGIVABLE EVEN THOUGH THE INTERVIEW OF THE YALE BIOLOGY PROF WAS CONDUCTED BY GWEN IFILL (1955-2016), AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WHO WAS THEN A SENIOR CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MacNEIL-LEHRER REPORT (which morphed into the PBS NewsHour) AND WAS THEN THE LONG-TIME MODERATOR OF PBS’ WASHINGTON WEEK IN REVIEW (in 2013 she became co-anchor and co-managing editor of the PBS NewsHour which was re-named from the MacNeil-Lehrer Report at that time) --

(1) Gwen Ifill was oblivious to the issue of the Nazi’s definition of a Jew based on the percentage of Jewish heritage and the Ante-Bellum American South’s definition of African-American based on the percentage of Sub-Saharan-African heritage.

(2) Even more appallingly, Gwen Ifill in her adoration failed to ask the obvious question -- What happens if the 50%-50% “Chimaera” then already being created happens to exhibit as DOMINANT TRAITS 100% Human DNA and as RECESSIVE TRAITS 100% Chimp DNA!!! Which, of course, would mean that Yale U. was treating as a lab rat a “Chimaera” that is 100% Human!!!


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The 4/9/2008 Proposed Public-Policy Issue --

How would you like to be an involuntary soldier, sex slave, human "lab rat" etc. WITH NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS JUST BECAUSE (1) the stem cells from which you were created came from skin cells rather than an embryo, or (2) your DNA is only 99% of the way from chimp DNA to human DNA (or any of the chimp-human DNA combinations the Yale U Biology Dept has created and is creating)??? Re (2), how do legal classifications based on % of human DNA differ from legal classifications in the Old South based on % of African-American blood, or legal classifications in Hitler's Third Reich based on % of Jewish blood???


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The text of the Original Proposal for our 4/9/2008 meeting is available at viewtopic.php?f=49&t=256&sid=ab70494ca2 ... 54ed367eac.

Five sets of “Participant Comments” for 4/9/2008 are available at viewforum.php?f=50&sid=ab70494ca2ef5b5fbb873d54ed367eac.


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Our 9/22/2023 Plea to Pres. Biden To Support the United Nations Campaign Against “Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children” (now in its 24th year)

Before getting into details, you might wonder how this relates to clones created for “organ harvesting” and Yale U’s human “lab rats.”

The suggested answer???

Human trafficking per the U.N. is the largest business for Organized Crime – larger than illegal drugs and illegal guns!!!

And although most humans are trafficked to become sex slaves, or workers on farms/vineyards or in factories, PERHAPS THE MOST LUCRATIVE IS TRAFFICKING FOR “ORGAN HARVESTING” BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH EXTRA WORK IN MATCHING DNA!!!


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The text of our 9/22/2023 Plea to Pres. Biden is available for download at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2401&sid=ab70494ca ... 54ed367eac.


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Since we first focused on the UN’s War on Modern Slavery (aka “Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children”) at our 9/18/2019 meeting, we have often summarized it as follows from the U.N. Biennial Reports on “Trafficking in Persons” and a book by the then-Director of the Harvard U. Kennedy School of Government’s “Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery” –

(A) Trafficking human slaves is more profitable for organized crime than illegal guns or illegal drugs.

(B) There are more slaves today than ever throughout history!!!

(C) Indeed, at least TWICE AS MANY people are CURRENTLY TRAPPED in some form of slavery as were traded throughout the 350 years of the transatlantic slave industry!!!

(D) And virtually all of the slaves come from refugee camps where they are easily enticed by the false promise of a better life!!!

(E) Indeed, the retail price of a slave delivered in the U.S. is only $5,250 as a result of which the average price of a sex act is only $27.50 which has unleashed incredible demand!!!

(F) And the average sex slave performs 3,296 sex acts per year for $90,648 of gross income which means that the net return after expenses (meals, bribery of officials, etc.) is an ANNUAL net profit of MANY TIMES the initial investment – with no workforce training!!!

(G) Of course, you can use your slave for anything you want including working in your vineyard or on your farm under whatever inhumane working conditions you like and, of course, for no remuneration other than enough calories to keep the slave alive!!!

(H) AND QUITE A FEW SLAVES ARE PURCHASED FOR ORGAN HARVESTING!!!

(I) The average sex slave is dead by age 35!!!