Genetic Enhancement / Therapy:

Altering Ourselves and/or Our Progeny Dr. Harold T. Shapiro

Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University

UPCOMING

ZOOM MEETINGS

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8

AUGUST 2020 Cigar Box Bulletin

RETIRED MEN’S ASSOCIATION

B orn and raised in Montreal and gradu-

ated from McGill U., Dr. Shapiro lat-

er earned his PhD in Economics at

Princeton in 1964. He then joined the U. of

Michigan faculty as an assistant professor of

economics, eventually becoming Economics

Chairman. By 1980, he had been appointed

President, there, where he stayed until joining

Princeton as President in 1988. He was elect-

ed Fellow of the American Academy of Arts

and Sciences two years later. Retiring in

2001, Dr. Shapiro is a professor emeritus in

economics and public policy at Princeton. He

is a trustee emeritus at the local Institute for

Advanced Study. He writes extensively on

bioethics. He chaired the National Bioethics

Advisory Commission for the White House in

the 1996-2000 Presidential Term.

Leading up to this treatment of the ethics of

modern genetics, Dr. Shapiro surveyed genet-

ics research over the past 170 years. In 1859,

Darwin gave his theory of evolution. He de-

scribed an ongoing process, starting with bac-

teria (beginning 4 billion years ago) and car-

rying through humans (starting 250,000 years

ago). The process, which he called Natural

Selection, showed species descended from

their ancestors with changes due to environ-

mental influences. Beyond general curiosity

on the natural evolution, some people wanted

to systematically modify environmental influ-

ences to try to control human evolution. The

claim was that controlling the evolution of

humans would be a force for good.

In the 19th Century, cells were understood as

the building blocks of life. By the early

1950's, the mechanism controlling cell

growth began to be known. The dual-helix

DNA molecule was identified as guiding the

foundation and growth of cells that make up

living bodies. This study effort led to the

understanding of how to alter the cell DNA to

Continued on Page 2

Continued on Page 3

Reporter: Bill Beebee

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

August Meeting Minutes Ship’s Bell Rang at 10:00 AM

Reporter: Bill Beebee

C hris Hammer called the August 13

meeting to order, allowing for mem-

bers joining the Zoom session

(including later entries).

Chris thanked the following Members for

their contributions to the Meeting:

Reporting on the Minutes - Bill Beebee

Reporting on the Speaker - Bill Beebee

Bulletin - Bob Diefenbacher (Chris thanked

Bob for publishing both bulletins and mini-

bulletins, doing a GREAT JOB.)

Slide Show - Don Sherman

Website - Ken Mattes

Members Support Help Line - Al Persson

Chris Hammer said that the RMA helped

the kids of Merrill and Nancy Mack to cele-

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN P AGE 2

ultimately change these bodies. This research area is called

Medical Genetics. The twin impulses for developing Med-

ical Genetics were 1) relief of suffering and 2) human im-

provement.

The downside of the opportunity for significant change is

that it can cause societal anxiety, often expressed in con-

temporary popular literature. Matthew Arnold's 1867 nov-

el Dover Beach told of some being able to retreat into "the

good old days" of a private life. The theme of "science

playing bad" was seen in Mary Shelley's novel Franken-

stein. Huxley's novel Brave New World talked about Eu-

genics, applied with racism to achieve very negative re-

sults. (Reporter's clarification: Eugenics is a set of beliefs

and practices intended to improve the quality of a human

population, excluding supposed inferior groups (forbidding

some marriages and using selective forced sterilization) to

allow supposedly-superior groups to prosper.)

T.S. Eliot produced the words for a 1934 play called The

Rock. These words, called Choruses from the Rock, were

published as a poem in a book of his poetry. In the poem,

Eliot decries too much technology progress without the

knowledge coming from inner stillness. He says "we need

wisdom and ethical guidance as we proceed forwards."

This year, Robert Pensky wrote the think piece Beach

Glass in The New Yorker. He decries making large num-

bers of plastic bottles containing clean drinking water, but

with those bottles ending up in huge pollution formations

in the World's oceans.

With the speed of Genetic Engineering developments, are

we presented with a boundary (moral or otherwise) the

crossing of which is a "step too far"? What is Genetic En-

gineering / Genetic Therapy? There is a difference be-

tween the Therapy (curing something) and the Engineering

(making something better). Do we want to cure a disease,

or to enhance ourselves and our progeny, or to achieve

both?

Genetic Engineering / Therapy is the emerging ability to

change our DNA and the inheritance of our progeny. The

Ethics Question is:

"Is gene therapy moral if it is designed to ensure or restore

normal functions but immoral if it is aimed at enhancing

functions beyond normal?"

Sometimes getting into the Pro Life / Pro Choice debate:

"Is it immoral for a couple to avoid having a disabled

child?"

Theologically, is altering genes "Playing God"? Is the nat-

ural genetic lottery an inherent part of "God's Plan"? Is

chance intrinsic in what it means to be human? Is it moral-

ly acceptable to alter one's traits?

What about disease? Should genetic testing be used to ID

currently untreatable diseases? Do carriers of currently

untreatable diseases have an obligation to avoid pregnan-

cy?

Is it morally acceptable to test embryos and discard unde-

sirable ones (use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis

(PGD))? Could the past-maligned Eugenics come back?

Actually, Eugenics is back, and it is out of the closet (but

without some of the revulsions of the past). Populations

are not exterminated (as the Nazis so horrifically em-

ployed) and marriage-banning or forced sterilization is not

used (as was followed in supposedly civilized countries

like the UK and US). Now, the genes, themselves, are

transformed much of the time. Improved athletics perfor-

mance is a sometime-goal. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) has

become commonplace. Before the fertilization, the eggs

and sperm are operated on to adjust their genetic codes.

This is called germline editing. Unfortunately, it is not as

successful as the above-noted PGD, which destroys embry-

os.

Modern Eugenics is the dream of control over human fate

and chance. Who can disagree with the treatment of dis-

ease and the enrichment of human beings? Who can disa-

gree with reducing human suffering and the improvement

of human beings?

What is wrong with this dream? Here are three criticisms

to remember:

If this dream does not also in- Continued on Page 9

Speaker — Continued

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8 P AGE 3

The Cigar Box Bulletin

P. O. Box 261

Wayland, MA 01778

Board of Directors

Chris Hammer President

Larry Vifquain 1st Vice President

TBD 2nd Vice-President

Merrill Mack Treasurer

Chris Hammer Program Chairman

Bob Diefenbacher Editor of Bulletin

Board Members

Ray Atkins* Bill Beebee

Bob Diefenbacher Bill Ely*

Chris Hammer Merrill Mack

Bob Malnati Al Persson* Ron Riggert Richard G. Smith

Paul Sturgis Nick Veeder

Larry Vifquain

*Past RMA Presidents

Thank You To Our Proof Readers:

Yutaka Kobayashi, Stan Wulf

And to Our Photographer:

John McKinney

Published monthly by the Retired Men’s Association of Weston,

Wayland, Sudbury and surrounding communities.

Continued on Page 4

brate the Mack's 60th Wedding Anniversary. Those kids

sent the RMA a nice Thank You note:

"We send you our deepest appreciation and heartfelt

thanks for your role in making our parents' anniversary

celebration one of fun, fellowship, music, and song. Their

day was filled with love, laughter, and surprises and ex-

ceeded our expectations on every level.

With Gratitude, Linda, Richard, and Sarah"

Chris announced the passing of William (Bill) Buckley on

7/1/20. His family thanked the RMA for our memorial

donation.

Chris said that at this time, we plan to hold Zoom meet-

ings for the remainder of 2020. The Next Zoom meeting

will be September 11 at 10 AM. The topic will be "A

Race to Remember" and the Speaker (speaking live) will

be Larry Kerpelman of the American History Magazine.

The October Speaker visit is close to being arranged.

Chris noted that there will likely be no Annual Dinner

Dance this year. MA Gov. Charlie Baker says that no

meeting will be allowed to have more than 50 attendees.

The Spring of 2021 may be another opportunity. The

RMA Board will Zoom Meet in September to try to final-

ize these plans.

Chris mentioned the Discussion Group, which will meet

via Zoom at noon on Wed., August 19. The meeting will

select the topic (have suggestions ready). Let Chris know

if you will attend, and he will send the link and instruc-

tions. His e-mail address is chammer6060@gmail.com

Don Sherman announced the Birthdays and Anniversaries

for August. Oldest-birthday honor is 91 years young,

shared by Peter Beckwith and Bert Sellier. Oldest-

anniversary belongs to Gail and Derena Drake, still in

love after 70 years.

Chris Hammer told of the Health of Our Members. Mort

Brond is at the Willows in Southborough. He had aortic

surgery about a month ago. He is in rehab and is recover-

ing. However, he sounded tired and somewhat discour-

Minutes—Continued

Emeritus Members

Morton Brond Wayne Clemens*

Barry David

Karl Geiger

John Kiladis,

Frank Lyons*

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8 P AGE 4

Hi all,

Hope all are safe and enjoying time with your family and friends, I am and it is fun, especially the grandkids.

Our first regular RMA meeting (Thursday, August 13, 2020) held over Zoom went smoothly. There were 31 attendees and 2 who thought it was Friday.

Our next RMA meeting will be Friday, September 11 at 10:00 am. The Zoom link and sign on information will be sent to all about a week prior to the meeting. Block out the date so you can join us.

If you have questions about signing onto Zoom, check the RMA website, there is a written document explaining how to do it and a video explaining Zoom sign on.

CHALLENGE – if you attended the August meeting; contact an RMA friend and get

them to join all of us at the September meeting or invite a friend.

If you missed the August meeting, join us in September.

The live speaker will be – Larry Kerpelman; Topic: “A Race to Remember”

Larry Kerpelman's writing and editing reflects both his widely varied personal interests and his educational background. His work has

appeared in a variety of popular publications, such as The Boston Globe, The Boston Globe Magazine, HealthWorks magazine, and

Green Prints magazine, as well as in professional journals, among them The Journal of the American Medical Association, Physi-

cians News Digest, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Journal of Counseling Psychology.

Race to Remember Gunplay at Lexington and Concord had rebels and British general Thomas Gage in competition to spin the story for the world

For your planning; all of the RMA meetings in 2020 will be held via Zoom. Consider joining your friends at the Zoom RMA meetings.

If you have questions and want to try to sign on to Zoom prior to the meeting give me a call and I will work with you – 978 239-6764

Join the fun.

Best,

Chris Hammer

Letter from RMA President Chris Hammer—

aged because the recovery has been slow. Mort would

appreciate phone calls. He can be reached at (508) 212-

7599.

Chris also noted that Ron Riggert is recovering from eye

surgery.

Humor was provided by Nick Veeder. A neighbor of his

saw another neighbor having a long, in-depth conversa-

tion with his cat. The observing neighbor thought that so

remarkable that he related the details of what was said to

his own dog. (Bob Diefenbacher will receive more hu-

mor, for the Bulletin, from Harold Wilkinson.)

Our Speaker, Dr. Harold Shapiro, speaks to us via a rec-

orded address previously given to the RMA in Green-

wich, CT. (This RMA, started years before ours, is

Minutes, Continued—

RMA Jokes for August, 2020 Who said “Old dogs can’t learn new tricks?” This group of “old dogs” seems to have

mastered the new world of electronics & Zoom!

________________________________________

Bill Beebee: Zingers from Phyllis Diller: Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.

Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?

Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: Eat out.

I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them.

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling

them to sit down and shut up.

My photographs don't do me justice – they look just like me.

You know you're old if they have discontinued your blood type.

_________________________________________

Al Persson: The Korean War, in which the US Marine Corps fought some of its most brutal battles, was not without its

gallows humor:

During one such conflict an ROK (Republic of Korea) commander, whose unit was fighting along with the Marines,

called legendary Marine General Chesty Puller, to report a major Chinese attack in his sector.

"How many Chinese are attacking you?" asked Puller.

"Many, many, many, many, many Chinese!" replied the excited Korean Officer.

General Puller asked for another count and got the same answer, "Many, many, many, many Chinese!"

"Dammit!" swore Puller, "Put my Marine Liaison Officer on the radio."

In a minute, an American voice came over the air: "Yes Sir?"

"Lieutenant," growled Chesty, "Exactly how many Chinese you got up there?"

"General, we've got a whole shitload of Chinese up here!

"Thank God!" exclaimed Puller, "At least there's someone up there who knows how to count!"

________________________________________

Iberg: Witty double entendre’s

The meaning of opaque is unclear.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.

It's not that the man couldn't juggle - he just didn't have the balls to do it.

So what if I don't know the meaning of the word “apocalypse”! It's not the end of the world.

Police were called to the daycare center. A 3-year old was resisting a rest.

Did you know they won't be making yardsticks any longer?

A relief map shows where the restrooms are.

________________________________________

Iberg: Wine Taster

In a wine factory the regular taster died and they were looking for a new one. A ragged, dirty drunkard came to apply for

the position. The director was about to send him away, but first they tested him. They gave him a glass of wine. He tried

it and said, “It's red wine, a Muscat, three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers.”

"That's correct", said the boss.

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN P AGE 5

From Harold Wilkinson...

Continued on Page 6

P AGE 6

Securely erase your data with Active@ ZDelete

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8

D id you know that the normal way of deleting data

doesn't actually remove the files? This might

sound strange, given how you usually receive such

a warning before you empty the recycle bin or format a

drive. But everything you delete can be recovered using

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Active@ ZDelete helps you overcome this problem freely

and easily. Firstly, however, it's important to understand

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occupied by the file are made available to the operating

system. The files appear to be gone, but they're really still

there on the disk until something else overwrites it. This

can happen at any time but, until it does, the data can be

recovered. The only thing that changes during the normal

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The only way to properly delete data so that it may never

be recovered is to ensure it gets overwritten by something

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It mostly depends on how often you use the drive and how

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cle bin. Only, when you drag and drop a file or folder into

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When you use Active@ ZDelete by dragging and dropping

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You can choose from various erasure and wiping methods,

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tional hard disk. Fortunately, you can also choose even

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can simply delete files the normal way too. However, when

you empty the bin, it will ask you if and how you want to

overwrite the data.

Active@ ZDelete is now fully freeware, and you no longer

need to register to use any of the erasure methods. The disk

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systems, alongside various minor improvements and bug

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By George G. Johnson, who works in a large data center

where obsolete information needs to be securely deleted

without any possibility of recovery.

Another glass. "It's red wine, cabernet, eight years old, a southwestern slope, oak barrels."

"Correct."

The director was astonished. He winked at his secretary so she brought in a glass of urine.

The alcoholic tried it. " It's a blond, 26 years old, pregnant in the third month. And if you don't give me the job, I'll also

name the father".

_______________________________________

Beebee: General Norman Schwarzkopf was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness for the people who har-

bored and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America. His answer was classic Schwarz-

kopf. The General said, "I believe that forgiving them is God's function. It’s OUR job to arrange the meeting."

Continued from Page 5

Anniversaries in August

P AGE 7 C IGAR BOX BULLETIN

Member Spouse Anniv. Yrs.

Curtis Schubert Marcy 08/13/1988 32

Jim Carlton Joan 08/06/1972 48

Paul Kudirka Marcy 08/22/1970 50

Niranjan Sheth Helen 08/08/1970 50

Thomas Travers Jo 08/17/1969 51

Daniel Miller Mary 08/05/1967 53

William M. Carleton Donna 08/21/1966 54

Robert Joseph Susan 08/15/1965 55

Robert Malnati Ruthanne 08/28/1965 55

James Fraser Diana 08/03/1963 57

Alfred V. Persson May 08/25/1957 63

Phil Lenentine Mary 08/18/1956 64

Norman E. Sears Dorothy 08/07/1955 65

Robert A. Vannerson Alice 08/28/1954 66

Robert Mainer Marjorie 08/11/1951 69

Gail V. Drake Derena A. 08/06/1950 70

Average Years Married—56

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8 P AGE 8

Birthdays in August

Member Birthday Age

Average Age— 84

James Bright 08/27/1949 71

Stanley Wulf 08/14/1943 77

John Iberg 08/09/1941 79

Terrence Thoman 08/23/1939 81

Robert Diefenbacher 08/23/1937 83

Firoze Jungalwala 08/28/1936 84

Robert McKown 08/25/1936 84

Sam Merra 08/06/1935 85

Paul Neeson 08/15/1935 85

Phil Lenentine 08/09/1933 87

Arthur Phipps 08/28/1931 89

Peter Beckwith 08/05/1929 91

Bert Sellier 08/13/1929 91

Happy Birthday

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN P AGE 9

corporate the impulse to improve the current condition of

life, it is impoverishing.

We choose to explain human nature in terms of heredity,

because it promises a technological solution to our prob-

lems which seems easier than pursuing social/political so-

lutions.

Its great risk is that it obscures the power of diversity, the

beauty of chance, and the virtues of tolerance by illusions

of (technological) perfectibility.

(Reporter's opinion: a great virtue of diversity for human

survival is that a wide selection of human characteristics

allows a greater chance that some humans will successfully

adapt to unknown future calamities. Since humans sur-

vive by helping each other, a calamity can be overcome by

those adapted to it cooperating with others (less-adapted)

to make sure that the group as a whole comes through it.

Without diversity in the group to deal with a wide variety

of problems, the group as a whole is less likely to survive.

By choosing our genetics, we accept the risk of ruling out

diverse survival characteristics that might save us in un-

known futures.)

(Reporter's appreciation: Ken Mattes provided repeated

and essential help in getting the Speaker's input into usea-

ble form so that this Report could actually be written.)

Speaker, Continued—

Hi all

A friend sent me a very interesting article from Scientific

America about the Corona -19 virus. If you are interested in

getting a look into the virus’ complexity, open the link be-

low.

I thought this article was outstanding, almost too technical,

but not really.

Note that the COVID virus amazing DNA strain allows it

to initially hide itself from our body's immune system so

that it can quickly replicate itself in our lungs, etc. for sev-

eral days. Only later does it the immune system find the

intrusive virus, resulting in symptoms finally showing of

COVID-19. This is unique among viral infections. This is

why so many infected carriers are so asymptomatic!!

It also has "intelligence" to autocorrect its own DNA string

if it is mutated. This makes it very tough to kill.

What scientists know about the inner workings of the path-

ogen that has infected the world.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-visual-guide-

to-the-sars-cov-2-coronavirus/

—Chris

A Corona Virus Article...

Knock Knocks for your grandchildren...

Knock knock. Who's there? Hawaii. Hawaii who? I'm fine, Hawaii you?

Knock knock. Who's there? Nana. Nana who? Nana your business.

Knock knock. Who's there? Hatch. Hatch who? God bless you.

Knock knock. Who's there? Mustache. Mustache who? Mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later

Knock knock. Who's there? Amish. Amish who? Really? You don't look like a shoe.

Knock knock. Who's there? Gorilla. Gorilla who? Gorilla me a hamburger.

V OLUME 24 ISSUE 8 P AGE 10

RMA Bulletin Board

Cartoons From The New Yorker

Riddles for Your Grandchildren...

Double my number

I’m less than a score

Half of my number

Is less than four

• SIX

Goes up and down the stairs

Without ever moving

• CARPET

Some men lose it

When they get old

A shiny sight to behold

• HAIR

You throw this out

When you want to use it

But take it in

When you no longer need it

• - ANCHOR

If you change your email address, be sure to let Ron Riggert know so you

continue to receive RMA emails. Ron’s email is: rkriggert@verizon.net

C IGAR BOX BULLETIN P AGE 11

King James I

Queen Elizabeth I of England, the virgin queen, died in 1603. She left no heir. Therefore, King James

VI of Scotland, her nearest relative, became King of England and Ireland. He also remained king of Scotland.

He was the first king of the British Isles and was known as James I.

James I, was highly educated and encouraged the education of those in his realm. He urged the study of

science, literature and the arts.

He, like many others of his day, believed in witchcraft. He wrote several essays on the subject. The

most famous is “Daemonologie,” a treatise on sorcery and witchcraft.

Shakespeare used material from “Daemonologie” in writing Macbeth and Hamlet.

In 1604, James I wrote “A Counterblast to Tobacco,” in which he states that the use of tobacco is of-

fensive to others and very harmful to the liver, heart and lungs of the user.

The tobacco James I was talking about in his thesis was grown in Toledo, Spain, from seeds brought

from Mexico by Hernandez de Boncalo.

Jamestown, Virginia, founded on May 4, 1607, was the first permanent settlement in North America. It

was named in honor of James I, who granted the charter to the Virginia Company of London.

The natives of America had grown tobacco for years. They used tobacco in rituals and not for general

relaxation.

When Jamestown was founded, tobacco had become very popular in England. From the very beginning

of Jamestown, tobacco was the main cash crop. Because of his aversion to tobacco, James I leveled a hefty im-

port tax on tobacco imported into England.

The import tax had little effect on the use of tobacco. In the 1600s and later, tobacco was smoked using

various pipes.

On November 5, 1605, a group of Catholics were planning to blow up the House of Parliament when

James I was in the building attending a ceremony. One of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was discovered in the

basement with barrels of gun powder. The incident is known today as the Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes

day is celebrated every November 5 by the lighting of bonfires or fireworks.

James I did not write, but authorized the translation of the King James Bible from the Greek and Latin.

One of the problems the translators encountered was the lack of English words to express concepts in the Bi-

ble. They often created new words to capture the correct meaning.

At the time, most of the educated class in England was bilingual. They spoke both English and French.

French words often appeared in the translations and later in everyday use by those with little or no formal edu-

cation.

It is similar to the introduction of new words to express new concepts and procedures into the modern

computer world.

A Live Presentation—

Larry Kerpelman's writing and editing reflects both his widely varied personal interests and his educational

background. His work has appeared in a variety of popular publications, such as The Boston Globe, The Bos-

ton Globe Magazine, HealthWorks magazine, and Green Prints magazine, as well as in professional journals,

among them The Journal of the American Medical Association, Physicians News Digest, The Chronicle of

Higher Education, and Journal of Counseling Psychology.

Zoom address link will be sent about a week before the meeting. Watch your email!

First Class Mail

Next Meeting

Friday, September 11, 2020

Web site RMenA.org

E-mail info@RmenA.org

R.M.A. Box 261

Wayland, MA 01778

Next RMA Meeting: Friday, September 11 10:00 am via Zoom

Larry Kerpelman; Topic: “A Race to Remember

Invite a Guest to our September 11 Zoom Meeting!