Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Political Bytes March 31 2010

Few things caught my eye, which are fairly noteworthy, but which don't need more than a few words.

  • UK Pirate Party Candidates
  • Politicians and lobbyists
  • Glenn Beck fan's towed
  • Biotech patents ruled invalid




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First, the UK Pirate Party have launched their list of Candidates for the 2010 UK General election. The ten candidates cover a fairly straight line from London to Glasgow, with the exception of the party leader, standing in Worcester. Most are, as expected, in the 18-21 age range, but three are actually around 40 years old, so not just kids, as some talentless hacks might suggest. I'll be supporting them, as always, by doing any odd-jobs (like working on press releases etc)
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Next, an interesting quote from a US Republican. Over comments about misuse of party funds by GOP chairman Michael Steele, one republican was quoted in the Huffington Post as saying "No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself, if you are giving a political party your hard-earned money, you should have no doubts that it is going to be spent as advertised and not to provide a spoiled, egocentric, out-of-touch chairman with frivolous luxuries which are out of reach of the vast majority of the American people. Michael Steele needs to resign and let the RNC vote in a man or woman who understands that his or her needs do not come before the needs of the nation or the party." (Douglas MacKinnon, former press secretary to Majority Leader Robert Dole.)

The funny thing? changing a very few words, you get the general impression people have about politicians in general, becoming (additions in bold, removals in red) "No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself, if you are giving a political party POLITICAL CAPITAL your hard-earned money, you should have no doubts that it is going to be spent as advertised and not to provide a spoiled, egocentric, out-of-touch chairman FEW with frivolous luxuries which are out of reach of the vast majority of the American people."

That's lobbying for you, lobbyists can't vote anyone in any more than anyone else, but they're the ones that the politicians listen to. We need lobbying reform (or at least a transparent and accountable government)
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53 cars were towed away from a frat house parking lot, after people parked there to listen to Glenn Beck sing. The people at the even at the university of Central Florida, in Orlando, said there were signs up, when they went to park, claiming the Kappa Sigma frat 'set them up'. Did they? Possibly, but it would have been nice of them to check signs first. Then again, checking facts, (or knowing the law) is a very un-Glenn Beck thing to do.
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Finally, some common sense it seems on patents. A New York judge ruled two DNA patents invalid, causing a small but measurable dip in the Biotech market. The patents, which relate to Breast Cancer genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, were hindering screenings, and tests. Naturally, there were some critics (biotech firms worried about the loss of genetic patents, for one, which is why their stocks dipped) while lawyers questioned the legal reasoning. Personally, I give a big hand to Judge Robert W Sweet for recognising that it's pretty hard to patent a DNA sequence that occurs naturally, unless someone can point out how the patent holder, Myriad Genetics, invented these gene sequences (and thus, it seems, developed breast cancer...) As I remember the US Constitution, "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." patents on naturally existing DNA aren't discoveries, nor was Myriad an inventor (they didn't invent this DNA). The people who have these genes, they're pretty darned strong 'prior art' (especially if they're over 20).

Regardless, 2 patents down, thousands to go...

Do you like this? Want to see more like this? Think it sucks, or that I'm a Liberal Communist spawn of Satan? Let me know in the comments.

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