La Belle Vie et Les Insectes Cyborg
In honour of my possible summer employment I decided to go with a French Title. That's right! I will probably be living in La Belle Montreal cet ETE! The possibilities are endless. I was there this weekend and went to an Art Gallery, watched Canadian Idol Auditions (it was really funny), walked around for hours and just enjoyed the French city like its meant to be enjoyed. Besides Vancouver, Montreal is my favourite place to be in Canada. Actually I like Montreal better. Maybe because it reminds me of Europe, and oh how I miss France, Italy, Holland, etc etc.
Onto the Blog. I'd like to discuss today something I read the other day on BBC NEWS. The title of the news report was Pentagon Plans Cyber-Insect Army. The title alone warranted a blog. But further reading revealed that it was a definite bloggable article. The basic premise is that the US has commissioned a study on implanting chips into insects during the pupae stage in order for the insect to grow around the micro chip and have it incorporated into its physical being.
The chip then remote controls the insects movements. The insects can check out explosives, send transmissions and do various other tasks. In reading more about this it seems that there is a history of the US using animals in military operations. But the manipulation of Insects to become army spies through altering their physical state seems a little sci-fi. What next? Create super bugs that can kill, bomb, maim, torture? I can just see it. What makes it morally acceptable? I don't agree with animal testing and I sure as hell don't agree with the use of animals/insects/whatever for military advancement. It gives the US and other powers the right to manipulate nature by exploiting it for their own gains. We've done enough damage to the earth, why do we have to use animals to do our dirty business? Why can't warfare be more simplified. War had rules once, not necessarily official but it was understood. What happened to the Ethics of War, when we've seen a trend in Intent to Harm rather then Intent to Kill (The difference being the Intent to harm civilians or the Intent to simply kill combatants). If we read up on Jus in Bellum, Jus in Bello, the IR theories explain that war should have cause and a goal.
I don't see that in the daily press on war around the world, there is no just cause in the wars being fought today. The development of 'cyber-insects' is just another example of the unfairness of war today. What are we to do when we can't even trust that our opponents in this ever violent world will act in a just manner?
Any thoughts?
Onto the Blog. I'd like to discuss today something I read the other day on BBC NEWS. The title of the news report was Pentagon Plans Cyber-Insect Army. The title alone warranted a blog. But further reading revealed that it was a definite bloggable article. The basic premise is that the US has commissioned a study on implanting chips into insects during the pupae stage in order for the insect to grow around the micro chip and have it incorporated into its physical being.
The chip then remote controls the insects movements. The insects can check out explosives, send transmissions and do various other tasks. In reading more about this it seems that there is a history of the US using animals in military operations. But the manipulation of Insects to become army spies through altering their physical state seems a little sci-fi. What next? Create super bugs that can kill, bomb, maim, torture? I can just see it. What makes it morally acceptable? I don't agree with animal testing and I sure as hell don't agree with the use of animals/insects/whatever for military advancement. It gives the US and other powers the right to manipulate nature by exploiting it for their own gains. We've done enough damage to the earth, why do we have to use animals to do our dirty business? Why can't warfare be more simplified. War had rules once, not necessarily official but it was understood. What happened to the Ethics of War, when we've seen a trend in Intent to Harm rather then Intent to Kill (The difference being the Intent to harm civilians or the Intent to simply kill combatants). If we read up on Jus in Bellum, Jus in Bello, the IR theories explain that war should have cause and a goal.
I don't see that in the daily press on war around the world, there is no just cause in the wars being fought today. The development of 'cyber-insects' is just another example of the unfairness of war today. What are we to do when we can't even trust that our opponents in this ever violent world will act in a just manner?Any thoughts?
posted by Melanie G at
8:33 p.m.
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