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from the swine-version-of-the-universe-championships dept.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims that Cambodian farmers are breeding "double-muscled" pigs. "Double-muscled" refers to a mutation in the myostatin gene (MSTN) which normally keeps muscle growth in check. Disruption of MSTN can lead to the abnormal proliferation of muscle cells in an organism:
Mutant pigs bred to grow to an enormous size just to be slaughtered and eaten? No, we aren't talking about the plot of the eye-opening Netflix sensation Okja—rather, this is the very real horror that seems to be unfolding on a Cambodian farm, where genetically altered pigs are being bred to develop heaping knots of muscle mass. Disturbing video footage and images captured on the farm have exploded around the web, sparking discussions about the many ways that animals suffer and are abused when they're treated as nothing more than "food."
[...] When South Korean and Chinese scientists created 32 double-muscled piglets in 2015, according to reports, only one was considered even marginally healthy. But pigs suffer even without this "Frankenscience"—on typical pig farms, their tails are cut off, their sensitive teeth are ground down, and the males are castrated, all without so much as an aspirin. Then, even though we have a wealth of nutritious plant-based foods to eat, these intelligent, playful, sociable animals' throats are slit and their bodies are turned into pork chops or sausages.
Breeders have exploited natural double-muscling, which occurs in Belgian Blue cattle, to create behemoth animals who suffer from a slew of health problems—just to yield slightly larger profits.
[Note: On Google News, only corroborating sources seem to be British tabloids right now]
Previously: "Double-Muscled" Pigs Created Using Simple Gene Modification
Scientists Create Extra-Muscular Beagles
(Score: 2, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 02 2017, @06:03PM (3 children)
Uh...if you're a Christian, you don't exactly have the moral high ground here. Your God runs an endless, eternal, inescapable concentration camp full of fear, fire, pain, torture, and suffering for nonbelievers, i.e., political prisoners. He is literally infinite Hitler, combined with a dash of Kim {Il Sung/Jong Il/Jong Un}'s "worship me!" narcissism.
Wasn't there some passage in that anthology of yours about not giving your neighbor grief for the speck in his eye before you pull the beam out of yours?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 02 2017, @06:43PM (1 child)
"Uh...if you're a Christian, you don't exactly have the moral high ground here. Your God runs an endless, eternal, inescapable concentration camp full of fear, fire, pain, torture, and suffering for nonbelievers, i.e., political prisoners. He is literally infinite Hitler, combined with a dash of Kim {Il Sung/Jong Il/Jong Un}'s "worship me!" narcissism."
God runs heaven. The Devil runs hell. If you are going to argue against religion, at least get the basics right. Unless you consider heaven "hell", but even then, your post makes little sense.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 02 2017, @09:12PM
...uh, no. No, the Devil does not run jack shit. It's a pop-culture trope that Satan is sitting on a throne of red-hot skeletons in Hell or something, but if you ACTUALLY READ THE GODDAMN BIBLE, you will see references to "...the fire prepared for the Devil and his angels" (Mt. 25:46) and various places in Revelation. Do your research before you post.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday October 03 2017, @07:46AM
The Bible is a strange book... full of metaphor and symbolism. Different people seem to arrive at different interpretations. Who am I to disagree?
I have my own interpretation ( which has got me into hot water with preachers ) of John 1:1 which states "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God.".
Something snapped in me when I read that.
I parsed it thus: God is the very laws of physics under which everything operates. Those laws were in operation before the Universe existed. They will exist after the Universe burns out... that is if it does. Everything operates subject to those laws. The law is not a respecter of persons. If there is a hell, its when the Universe collapses back upon itself, and everything supposedly vanishes back into the nothingness from which it apparently became. "Let there be Light" is another word for "The Big Bang".
Admittedly, I place the highest regard for what I consider God's law... the Laws of Physics. Math. Disrespect for that Law will certainly lead to my ruin.
Seems like it is us that form this existence into what we perceive it to be.. not only do we do it to ourselves, we do it to everyone else as well. We have made both a paradise and a hell. We have a tendency to gravitate toward one or the other.
I have to admit my ignorance on how to actually *communicate* with the laws of physics. I just try my best to understand them so the stuff I make will work as intended. I feel I am terribly naive to think I have more intelligence than something which fomented the creation of the universe. I feel more like comparing me as an ant to a human is more the scale, but even that is being quite generous to me. I *seriously* believe I could not possibly annoy God as much as an ant can annoy me. Even if I set doing that as my whole life objective.
Tinfoil hat time ... I also have a strong suspicion that we are planted here ... Sumerians ... Ezekiel ... by a people of significant technological advancement that we have yet to accomplish. Maybe hundreds of thousands of years ago.
I get the idea the books were written by men as leadership instruments. Some men were in the know about physical law and how stuff works. Even down to what is edible and what should be shunned. "Worshipping God", so to speak. Others degraded into what we would call foolish activity, failing to do the things we need to do to survive.. "Baal Worshippers". Spend their time in wine and song and fail to prepare for the winter. Eat stuff that isn't good for you. Doing things that are gonna get you in trouble with your neighbor.
I believe we all are the "Children of God", while collectively we may well be the vessels in which God himself resides. I cannot explain consciousness, nor intelligence, nor explain how what looks like such simple things are capable of such profound things. Things like how my cat came from one tiny fertilized cell I can barely see with my microscope, yet that tiny cell it started as grew up into a momma cat that knows how to raise kittens.
Take the above with large grain of salt. I WASN'T THERE. How would I know? Above is just a core dump of what's in me right now. That could change as I integrate more data.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]