Because the tech is owned
Fisrt of all, you say America and Europe. Now i know the EU is trying to become more uniform and sorta globalized, but it's not a country: it's many different countries! In size, age, culture, economical development, etc. Don't sum all those differences to 'europe'.
When it comes to 'europe' fearing GMs i can only speak for myself, of course. I have no scientific knowledge whatsoever relating genetics (nor do you, i assume) but i also do share a part of that hysteria. Yes, weather resisting crops and alike have advantages, if well explored they could even end world hunger (or am i dreaming too high?) and it's a great concept. You can grow stuff that'll grow just fine. But you don't think any big corp. ('cos they're the ones with the kind of money it takes to support this) will stop at that naive step, do ya? I don't think 'europeans' fear GM by itself, given that the use of that technology is gradual, professional and of public knowledge. And above all controlled.
So, according to me, can such promissing technology be managed with responsability? In the light that the majority of the cake will be held by the big money-drive companies, i doubt that. If profit is above everything (it's not that uncommon) there'll be room for error, for "minority reports" (forgive the borrowed metaphor but i think it fits like a glove - and i like the movie too!).
Also there's the issue about GM products being used right now. Without any statistic grounds whatsoever to support me i'm inclined to speculate that the US is the country with the highest use of frankenfood, right? Processed cheese and what not - does the consumer know? In theory yes 'cos "it comes in square slices" but how much of the food out there is somehow gm-ed and you don't know about it? And why don't you know about that?
I'm all for it, but i wouldn't jump out of an airplane without a 'shute just because the pilots tell me it's ok.
Addiction and the Reality Of It
Recent media attention on Multnomah County RFPQ (Request for Programmatic Qualifications) RO37745 for translator and interpreter services requires clarification.
There is no cost to the county and no contractors are selected or paid through this RFPQ. "Not a penny of public money has been or will be spent on Klingon translation. I have issued an addendum to the RFPQ that officially removes it from the list of languages for county translation services effective immediately," states Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn.
"Certainly, the idea that Klingon is on a list of Jasminelive languages that our safety net services might have to translate sounds absurd and about as far out as you can get. It was a mistake and a result of an overzealous attempt to ensure that our safety net systems can respond to all customers and clients," states Diane Linn, Multnomah County Chair.
The county deals with a wide range of clients with severe mental health issues including manic depression, schizophrenia, multiple personalities, and delusions. It is our legal responsibility to respond with all resources and means necessary to communicate with clients.
The intent of the RFPQ is to standardize rates and the rules of service delivery for language services across the county. Additionally, the target of the RFPQ process is to develop a more comprehensive, cost effective approach to providing required and valuable translation services to clients in need. The end result is a list of qualified providers available to all county agencies, including languages spoken by a small number of potential clients.
Over 50 languages are included in the RFPQ. The county's responsibility is to provide the best possible care to the people who seek our help, particularly in the midst of a mental health or health crisis, whatever the language they speak.
"While this may sound like a quirky, peripheral issue, I would like people to take a moment to think about the kinds of things we are confronted with when we must help those who are mentally ill. The problems faced by those with mental illness are no joke, especially when they pose a threat to themselves or others. And what I hope people understand is that thanks to state budget cuts, we have little ability to help the severely mentally ill in any language. That is why we are working so hard to pass Measure 26-48," added Linn.
I just wanted to thank you for bothering to read the original Klingon interpreter story. I was appalled when I saw the AP version that went out over the wires. You were right on in your remarks. Thanks again.
Glossolalia?
I have written this story for the web edition of a large European newspaper. While I was sceptical of the story initially, I decided that it was a valid story, with good first-hand info. I fail to see why the would be an urban legend if the spin-off story contains the fact that
a) The language is actually accepted on the list
b) The story points out that this is a contract basislivejasmin job
c) There has not been any cases yet of anyone speaking Klingon exclusivly.
Then it is a story, backed up by the Oregonian, a serious source. After all the purchaser admits it could happen "But the possibility that a patient could believe himself or herself to be a Klingon doesn't seem so far-fetched. ".
I have seen mental patients who refused to speak anything other than French, even though they clearly aren't. So having Klingon on the list seems like a quite ordinary thing to do, lbeit a bit bizarre.
Could be those "Klingon speakers" just took the wrong turn on the way home from Wednesday night prayer meetin'. Interpreters are readily available at pentecostal churches everywhere.
There have been a few news articles
I recognize the jocular nature of the original schtick. Civil service is incredibly dull, and civil servants do things like this to maintain their sanity.
That having been said, I used to go to science fiction conventions a lot, and I've met dozens of people I wouldn't put it past someday to wind up with a schizophrenic diagnosis speaking only Klingon.
Humans are at least as numerous as pigeons, their brains are not significantly costlier than pigeon brains, and for many tasks they are actually superior.--Richard Dawkins
Efforts and attitudes like this are a vaccine for all the crap the web has come to offer. In the same Chaturbate spirit of level-headed objectivity, I'd also recommend Spinsanity--fund-raising Salon partnership notwithstanding, they do a remarkable job of cutting through BS from the left and the right. All too rare.
yep, it even made it to the front page in one of the New Zealand news papers... I guess very little else was going on huh? how does the quote go... History never repeats, Historians merely repeat each other..
...over the years in which I, my friends, or my family have appeared. In almost every single case there have been significant errors in the reporting. Names incorrect. Job titles incorrect. Incorrect attribution of jasminlive credit. Incorrect reporting that my company had entered into a deal with another. In one extreme case my previous company was reported in an Australian blow-our-own-trumpets newspaper article as being a successful Australian company. It was in California and had no Australian office (we have a client that does work in Oz).
If they can't get these kinds of trivial facts right then I don't trust them to report complex situations even vaguely correctly.
Our Army of Reason Cannot Be Defeated
i think the u.s. has a point about this being a de facto trade barrier. they may even convince the wto of the vailidity of this argument. the hard part will be convincing an extremley anti-gm european population that they have been mislead on the risks over the past few years.
if nothing else it may encourage something approaching rational debate here (the u.k.). there has been much of that to date, unless you count prince charles jumping onto whatever populist bandwagon he can find.
the crying shame about this whole gm thing is that it diverts people's attention away from the fact that most of their food chain is filled with muck and controlled by corporate interests with strong connections to government (lord sainsbury anyone?).
I think you'll find that the main objection is not some overblown fear of GMOs (although that is undeniably a factor for some people), but the fact that such crops are also modified to not reproduce naturally.
If a country becomes dependent on GM crops, they are effectively beholden to the corporation that supplies them. That is hardly a desireable position to be in, now is it?
If you are my answer, I must have asked the wrong question.
This sarcastic jab of reason sounds the death knell for the emotionally charged, politicized debate over [your issue here]. By getting the enemy to engage you in a battle of wits and facts you have blunted the power of their pulpits and rendered their vast financial resources moot.