Dakryn's Batshit Theory of the Week

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives Friday and sent into busy Baghdad markets, where they were blown up by remote control, a top Iraqi government official said.
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Iraqi soldiers secure the scene of a bombing Friday at a popular pet market in central Baghdad.

The bombs killed at least 98 people and wounded more than 200 at two popular pet markets on the holiest day of the week for Muslims, authorities said.

In both bombings, the attackers were mentally disabled women whose explosive belts were remotely detonated, Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, told state television.

Atta said the women were strapped with dynamite and ball bearings, citing members of the bomb squad. The explosives were detonated via cell phone, he said.

An Atta aide said that people referred to the bomber at central Baghdad's al-Ghazl market as the "crazy woman" and that the bomber at a second market had an unspecified birth disability. Video Watch how bombers target large crowds »

The aide said authorities believe the women were unaware of plans to detonate the explosives.

The nationalities and identities of the women have not been released.

U.S. military officials referred to the two attacks as suicide bombings, saying both women detonated the explosive devices.

The U.S. officials also gave a much lower casualty toll, with 27 civilians dead and 53 others wounded.

The Pentagon attributed the attacks to al Qaeda in Iraq and made no reference to the mental conditions of the women.

"By targeting innocent Iraqis, they show their true demonic character," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman for the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

"They care nothing for the Iraqi people; they want to subjugate them and forcefully create a greater Islamic sharia state," he said, referring to Islamic law.

The violence marked the bloodiest series of attacks in Baghdad since August, breaking a brief stretch of relative calm as attacks and deaths dropped after the 2007 increase in U.S. troop strength called the surge.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the attacks show the reality of the continuing struggle against militants, adding that Iraqis have turned against "these terrible, violent people in their midst who will do anything."

"It certainly underscores and affirms the decision of the Iraqi people that there is no political program here that is acceptable to a civilized society, and that this is the most brutal and the most bankrupt of movements that would do this kind of thing," she said at a press briefing. "And I think that will underscore for the Iraqis, and it will make them tougher in the fight."

The first bomb blew up at al-Ghazl animal market around 10:30 a.m., killing 69 and wounding more than 140. The second blast happened about a half-hour later in the New Baghdad neighborhood pet market, killing 29 people and wounding 67.

Al-Ghazl pet market is a popular destination where people buy and sell cats, dogs, monkeys and other animals. Attackers have struck the market on Fridays -- its busiest day -- several times in the last year or so.

A January 2007 bombing killed 15 and wounded 52 at the pet market, and 13 people died and 58 were wounded in a November attack.
 
HPV increasingly causes oral cancer in men
Incidence rates likely due to increase in oral sex and decline in smoking

ATLANTA - The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women is poised to become one of the leading causes of oral cancer in men, according to a new study.

The HPV virus now causes as many cancers of the upper throat as tobacco and alcohol, probably due both to an increase in oral sex and the decline in smoking, researchers say.

The only available vaccine against HPV, made by Merck & Co., is currently given only to girls and young women. But Merck plans this year to ask government permission to offer the shot to boys.

Experts say a primary reason for male vaccinations would be to prevent men from spreading the virus and help reduce the nearly 12,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in U.S. women each year. But the new study should add to the argument that there may be a direct benefit for men, too.

"We need to start having a discussion about those cancers other than cervical cancer that may be affected in a positive way by the vaccine," said study co-author Dr. Maura Gillison of Johns Hopkins University.

The study was published Friday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22956090/
 
Also, men are now obsolete when it comes to creating life:

Scientists turn bone marrow into sperm
Link


SCIENTISTS are ready to turn female bone marrow into sperm, cutting men out of the process of creating life.

The breakthrough paves the way for lesbian couples to have children that are biologically their own.

Gay men could follow suit by using the technique to make eggs from male bone marrow.

Researchers at Newcastle upon Tyne University in England say their technique will help lead to new treatments for infertility.

But critics warn that it sidelines men and raises the prospect of babies being born through entirely artificial means.

The research centres around stem cells - the body's "mother" cells, which can turn into any other type of cell.

According to New Scientist magazine, the scientists want to take stem cells from a woman donor's bone marrow and transform them into sperm through the use of special chemicals and vitamins.

Newcastle professor Karim Nayernia has applied for permission to carry out the work and is ready to start the experiments within two months.

The biologist, who pioneered the technique with mice, believes early-stage "female sperm" could be produced inside two years. Mature sperm capable of fertilising eggs might take three more years. Early-stage sperm have already been produced from male bone marrow.

Taking stem cells from an adult donor - possibly a cancer patient - removes the ethical problems associated with using embryos.

Researchers at the Butantan Institute in Brazil, meanwhile, claim to have turned embryonic stem cells from male mice into both sperm and eggs.

It sets the stage for a gay man to create eggs from his own cells that could then be fertilised by his partner's sperm and placed into the womb of a surrogate mother.

Other scientists warn, however, that the research is still in its infancy and any treatment is years away.

There are also fears that children born from artificial eggs and sperm will suffer severe health problems, like the mice in the Newcastle experiments.

Couples who have children from artificial sperm created from women would be able to have girls only. This is because the female sperm would lack the Y-chromosome needed for boys.

Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "We are looking at absurd solutions to very obscure situations and not addressing the main issue. Nobody is interested in looking at what is causing infertility - social reasons such as obesity, smoking and age."
 
I'm not really the biggest fan of that type of research. I really don't think the ethical dillemmas you face here weigh up against the supposed benefit that it would have. There already are plenty of ways for couples who cannot conceive (whether it be because they are gay or because they are somehow infertile) to have children. Is the fact that this would allow them to have children made up from their own genetic material really that important? Doesn't seem like it to me.

I think research that straddles the line between what is and isn't ethically acceptable should only be done when the potential benefit from it would be big enough to outweigh that (stem cell research for instance, and some specific applications of cloning). Unless the research they are doing here will be have significant side benefits in other areas it just doesn't seem worth all the bad press it's going to create.