Thoughts for the week of June 17, 2013

In a 7-2 vote the Supreme Court has struck down an Arizona law that required voters to prove they are United States citizens in order to vote.

In the name of public safety our phone calls and emails are now monitored.  (Maybe, in response to my daughter’s call today, the NSA will stop at the store and bring home milk.) Our state driver license pictures are now a part of a national database used in police searches, amounting to a national ID system.  What are your thoughts or concerns?

Director James Cameron, recipient of National Geographic’s “Explorer of the Year” award, addressed their 125th anniversary gala dinner last week. After the shrimp cocktails were served he urged the attendees to all become vegan and save the planet.  Then the main course, bison, was served.

The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that human genes can’t be patented.  This could open up more gene research and lower genetic testing costs.  “Groundbreaking, innovative, or even brilliant discovery does not by itself” get someone a patent, said Justice Clarence Thomas in the Court’s opinion.