Food for Thought?

A thought for the World as it is a present….remind me it is the year 2012? jboy2244

 

 

CSW speaking up for Iran’s Christians

Church’s pastor has been targeted in the past

Pastor Farhad has been detained on several occasions in the past and warned not to allow Muslim converts into his church. This is also not the first time that Christmas celebrations in Iranian churches have been raided in this way. Similar raids and detentions during the Christmas season have occurred in Iran for the last three years.

This wave of arrest comes as Iranian media has been publicising a Christmas message sent to Pope Benedict from Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, in which he congratulated his Christian counterparts on the “auspicious anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ”, wished blessing, happiness and prosperity to the Pope and all Christians in the coming year, and stated that the world’s ills were caused by ignoring ethics and justice.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Mr Larijani’s Christmas message may have been well intentioned, but it is entirely undermined by these arrests, which violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Iran’s own constitution. The Iranian authorities often insist that Christians are being arrested for indulging in actions that threaten public security, however, it is difficult to conceive how children attending Sunday school or, for that matter, legitimate Christmas celebrations fit into this category. It increasingly appears as if the Iranian regime has decided to deem every act of Christian worship a threat to national security. If this is indeed the case, then the right to freedom of religion or belief is gravely under threat in Iran.”

Image via Wikipedia

Danielle Tarantola spends £32k to have her dog cloned after her beloved pet died

 

It mutt be love: Woman spends $50,000 to have her dog cloned after his death

A distraught dog lover had her beloved pet cloned so that she could be with him even after he had died.

New Yorker Danielle Tarantola paid an incredible $50,000 for the procedure using pet Trouble’s DNA to create another dog exactly the same as the first.

She named the new pup Double Trouble after she contacted the world’s only animal cloning company in South Korea.

Double Trouble: The cloned pup may only a few months old but already he is living the same life as Trouble, in this photo the little pup is dressed as an angel, complete with halo.

Clone ranger: Trouble dressed as an elf at Christmas time, his DNA has since been cloned by his New York owner

And she said of her new pooch: ‘I really can see no difference between them. So many of their gestures and the way they play is identical.’

Just a few months ago, the former Wall Street worker got a phone call from the company’s scientists informing her that the surrogate bitch carrying the embryos developed from Trouble’s DNA had been successfully impregnated.

Weeks later, the surrogate went into labour and Danielle watched the birth by webcam from her home in the U.S.

Danielle had been so upset by the death of her constant companion three years ago that she shelled out the massive fee so that she could have an identical replacement.

She said: ‘He was like the child I never had – and I probably did treat him better than most people treat their children.’

Beloved pet: Danielle Tarantola paid £32,000 to have Trouble cloned, she is pictured in her New York home with the massive portrait she had painted of him after his death

She even dressed the dog up in elaborate costumes which included a tuxedo for her wedding and an elf at Christmas.

After his death Danielle, who got Trouble as a pet when she was just 18, had a huge portrait of him painted on the wall of her home.

She still talked to him every day and even had his face printed on her pillowcases and bedspread to remind her of the pet she had lost.

Danielle first heard of the Asian cloning company in 2005 when Trouble was still alive.

She toyed with the idea of having the pet cloned while he was still with her so that he could meet the second dog.

But she decided against it and instead choose to have Trouble’s vet take a DNA sample during a routine check up.

Coverage: Danielle’s deal with a TV station meant that her incredible £32,000 fee was only half that originally quoted.

Doggy throne: Trouble’s comfortable bed, no expense spared for the little dog

She said: ‘Originally I wanted to clone Trouble in his lifetime as I would love to have seen how they interacted together. But in the end I waited – and Double Trouble is the result.

‘I know this isn’t for everyone but it was my decision and I’m incredibly happy with it. I can never replace Trouble but I love Double Trouble to pieces.

And she added: ‘Trouble loved to hide under the bed and then nip your feet when you came near and Double Trouble does that too.’

Danielle negotiated a reduced fee from the original $100,000 price tag for the operation after she secured TV coverage of her quest to replace Trouble.

The cloning of animals was first achieved in 1996 when researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland successfully produced Dolly the sheep.

The world’s first cloned mammal sparked huge debate and opened the door for researchers across the world to experiment in the controversial techniques.

Deer, cattle, dogs, cats and horses have since been cloned.

But the commercialisation of the process has sparked controversy.

John Woestendiek, the author of ‘Dog, Inc.’, a book about the dog cloning industry, says that the practice is centred in South Korea because there are much lower ethical standards for the treatment of dogs than in Europe and the United States.

‘You can rent [dogs] from farmers for the laboratory and, hopefully, everything goes OK, return them to the farmer, but everything’s not going to go OK.’

The author says that some of the dogs used in the cloning process as egg donors or surrogate mothers are later sent back to the farms where they are killed and eaten.

In South Korea, dogs are raised on farms for their meat.

Danielle Tarantola spends £32k to have her dog cloned after her beloved pet died | Mail Online

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:48 PM on 12th January 2012

Police condemn 147mph Jaguar driver –

 

Police condemn 147mph Jaguar driver

 

Press Association – 20 hours ago

Owen Swift was caught driving at 147mph by an officer using a laser speed gun

A police sergeant who caught a pensioner driving a luxury car at 147mph on a bypass has described the incident as "the worst case of excessive speed I have ever seen in 26 years of policing".

Company director Owen Swift, 68, was clocked travelling at more than twice the speed limit in his Jaguar XKR on the Malton bypass, in North Yorkshire, on the evening of June 11 last year.

He was caught by Traffic Sergeant John Clayton using a laser speed gun.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed Swift was found guilty of speeding at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court after his claim that he was not the driver of the car was rejected.

A force spokeswoman said he was fined £700, ordered to pay £650 costs and an admin fee of £15.

He received six penalty points which were added to six points already on his licence and he was therefore disqualified from driving for nine months under the "totting" rules.

Speaking after the case, Mr Clayton said: "This is the worst case of excessive speed I have ever seen in 26 years of policing.

"Swift’s disregard for his own safety and the safety of other road users beggars belief.

"The potential consequences of such shocking driving do not bear thinking about.

"I have seen first-hand the destruction caused by excessive speed. Swift should consider himself extremely lucky to be here to face the court and walk away with just a ban and a fine."

By the: Police condemn 147mph Jaguar driver – Yahoo!