vi
death. The line between grants and refugees is not easy to draw in most of these
cases. There have been migrations in all parts of the world in the twentieth century,
but the UN Refugee system seems to have been unable to cope with the present situation. Despite the presence of regulatory regimes such as Dublin III, Regulation
2013, the sheer numbers have led to a collapse of the EU migration system. In some
cases like that of Italy’s Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega, he simply decided to
close all parts and give in to populist demands for “sealing the borders.” Dellapenna
concludes that the protection of refugees’ rights is at great risk at this time.
Part II addresses the issue of public health. Carl Cranor discusses the presence of
numerous unchecked chemicals everywhere, posing a grave risk to the biological
integrity of persons. Cranor differentiates between infectious diseases and chronic
ones, and the fact that the latter can sometimes be treated but not always cured.
Patients are recommended to avoid risky behaviors. The main issue is that chronic
diseases are often caused by products or actions of others, and justice requires that
the risk to others should not be permitted. There are some laws intended to prevent
these exposures. But not enough to make a difference, as the scientific evidence
demonstrates that, as far as chronic diseases are concerned, there are clear “developmental origin of disease” and re-birth exposures mayhem not only children but
adults as well. Current legal regimes are insufficient and science should play a
stronger role in dictating appropriate policies.
The next chapter is by Colin Soskolne who chaired the session on Public Health.
Soskolne, a career occupational and environmental cancer research methodologist,
addresses the obligation of health scientists to protect public health and safety from
established, as well as suspected, avoidable harms. The prevention of illness and
premature death is central to public health’s mission. Being a soft science, epidemiology provides the core methods for public health protection. Because epidemiological evidence can be influenced by interests that manipulate the scientific method
to cast doubt, thus fomenting uncertainty designed to mislead both the public and
policy-makers, Soskolne describes some ethical and practical dimensions of influence that result in delayed policy action. He provides glimpses of some instances
with ways of addressing the challenges posed. To protect the public interest, he
emphasizes the need for vigilance by professionals with the capacity to speak truth
to power; he notes the need to train students to diagnose manipulation and provide
strategies for calling deception to account.
The final chapter in Part II has Shauna Lange emphasizing the role of women in
the achievement and protection of ecologically valuable goals. From Jane Goodall’s
gorillas to Greta Thunberg’s amazing work rallying children and young adults to
environmental causes, many women have fought to denounce environmental crimes,
and some have lost their life doing so. Lange proceeds to discuss what precisely is
shared by the women she names. She suggests perhaps the tendency to be global
thinkers, to fight traditional cultural roles, to tend to be caregivers, this being closer
to nature than men are. Both states and local governments are most often run primarily by men, who often do not share the ultimate goal to view humanity as a
whole as a species worth preserving, as women end to do.
Preface
death. The line between grants and refugees is not easy to draw in most of these
cases. There have been migrations in all parts of the world in the twentieth century,
but the UN Refugee system seems to have been unable to cope with the present situation. Despite the presence of regulatory regimes such as Dublin III, Regulation
2013, the sheer numbers have led to a collapse of the EU migration system. In some
cases like that of Italy’s Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega, he simply decided to
close all parts and give in to populist demands for “sealing the borders.” Dellapenna
concludes that the protection of refugees’ rights is at great risk at this time.
Part II addresses the issue of public health. Carl Cranor discusses the presence of
numerous unchecked chemicals everywhere, posing a grave risk to the biological
integrity of persons. Cranor differentiates between infectious diseases and chronic
ones, and the fact that the latter can sometimes be treated but not always cured.
Patients are recommended to avoid risky behaviors. The main issue is that chronic
diseases are often caused by products or actions of others, and justice requires that
the risk to others should not be permitted. There are some laws intended to prevent
these exposures. But not enough to make a difference, as the scientific evidence
demonstrates that, as far as chronic diseases are concerned, there are clear “developmental origin of disease” and re-birth exposures mayhem not only children but
adults as well. Current legal regimes are insufficient and science should play a
stronger role in dictating appropriate policies.
The next chapter is by Colin Soskolne who chaired the session on Public Health.
Soskolne, a career occupational and environmental cancer research methodologist,
addresses the obligation of health scientists to protect public health and safety from
established, as well as suspected, avoidable harms. The prevention of illness and
premature death is central to public health’s mission. Being a soft science, epidemiology provides the core methods for public health protection. Because epidemiological evidence can be influenced by interests that manipulate the scientific method
to cast doubt, thus fomenting uncertainty designed to mislead both the public and
policy-makers, Soskolne describes some ethical and practical dimensions of influence that result in delayed policy action. He provides glimpses of some instances
with ways of addressing the challenges posed. To protect the public interest, he
emphasizes the need for vigilance by professionals with the capacity to speak truth
to power; he notes the need to train students to diagnose manipulation and provide
strategies for calling deception to account.
The final chapter in Part II has Shauna Lange emphasizing the role of women in
the achievement and protection of ecologically valuable goals. From Jane Goodall’s
gorillas to Greta Thunberg’s amazing work rallying children and young adults to
environmental causes, many women have fought to denounce environmental crimes,
and some have lost their life doing so. Lange proceeds to discuss what precisely is
shared by the women she names. She suggests perhaps the tendency to be global
thinkers, to fight traditional cultural roles, to tend to be caregivers, this being closer
to nature than men are. Both states and local governments are most often run primarily by men, who often do not share the ultimate goal to view humanity as a
whole as a species worth preserving, as women end to do.
Preface