As an obvious right winger, I don't think you have the first clue what "cognitive dissonance" actually is, much less recognize who should suffer from it.

aaaaand that's "exhibit A" for the kind of attitude that leads me to think publishing the blueprint for a viral doomsday machine is not a smart idea.

Thank you for demonstrating a form of fatalism that I'd really NOT like to see in anyone with the plans for this virus.

99% of people and researchers who saw this research would use it for good, or would try to. Unfortunately, the true ratio is irrelevant. Out of the billions of people on earth, all it would take is one competent person who wanted (for whatever reason) to wreak real havoc. If the virus in question maintained the lethality that H5N1 has displayed in bird-to-human transmission, you're literally looking at billions of lives at risk.

This is one of the most relevant comments on this entire story (though Wikipedia puts the current human mortality figure at around 60%).

No, we don't want to censor information. But we DO, in certain cases.

No, in general it's not good for society if scientific information is withheld. But if this baby gets out, would we still HAVE a society? This is truly a nightmare scenario: a virus with mortality rates comparable to ebola, as transmissible as the common flu.

I truly do understand the arguments for putting information out there. But think for a moment about what happens if a suicidal person gets ahold of this, or a religious zealot who thinks it won't affect him or his flock, or some other nut who believes it won't affect him or that society is too sick to go on, etc., etc. All it would take is one.

We're not talking about someone grabbing a high powered rifle and gunning down a few people in a public square (as bad as that can be). We're talking potentially billions dead.

It is the freakin' Middle East, everybody has guns. I see this comment and other versions of it posted around here and other forums by guys with a pretty recent UID. Could there be some spreading of misinformation going on from the powers-that-be that don't want this video out?

Does it make you feel better if you hear it from me? Not saying I necessarily agree that the incident was justified -- just that I don't think it's necessarily cut-and-dry.

That seems to be the point. Either that, or it's an exercise in mental and moral gymnastics.

The Founders were pretty darned progressive in their day :) Folks like you, by contrast, were generally siding with His Majesty.

I'm glad you appreciate the simplicity, by the way. Conservatives have been trying to stuff the Constitution with a bunch of trivial laws (e.g. an amendment against flag-burning) for a while. Maybe your comment indicates they've finally seen the folly of this, and they'll join with progressives in recognizing the purpose of the Constitution for what it is: the basic, highest-level framework for the U.S.' system.

However, since you're such a defender of the Big C, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you'd be against government schools (clearly, something nearly demanded by the grant of authority to Congress for "promoting the general welfare").

You should get right on that.

Yes, you should. And part of "putting the well being of your patient" first is making sure what you're doing will actually help. Throwing crap against the wall in the name of doing something doesn't qualify. That's where clean data and studies come in.