- Dicks Detestable Sporting Goods — you remember them from when they hired lobbyists to work for victim disarmament — gets sued by an ammo manufacturer.
- Tyler Bariss, whose chronic SWATting and calling in of bomb threats finally got an innocent man killed last year, has gotten hit with 46 more charges. Usually I find it despicable how the feds heap charges upon charges to intimidate people into plea bargains; but I hope Bariss goes away for a long, long, long time. And the trigger-happy SWAT sniper with him.
- LOL, a judge in Washington state rips off his robe and sprints after two escaping prisoners. Catches one, too.
- Doug “Krikkit” Krick, founder of the Pink Pistols, has died at 48. Suicide.
- Our poor neglected cerebellums (cerebella? cerebelli?) play a bigger role in our lives than previously recognized.
- Women’s Outdoor News asks, what is this crazy business of opening our doors to strangers on that one night of the year and how can we make it safer for homeowners?
- Just in time for that special night, an analysis and great examples of what makes music sound scary. Very interesting, even if they don’t mention the theremin or the blaster beam. (H/T Shel)
- When the doctor says get rid of the dog for the sake of your allergies or your lungs, most dog people say hell no.
How you form the plural of cerebellum depends, I suppose, on how much fidelity to Latin you want to maintain. As a Latin noun, cerebellum would be neuter-gender, and the plural would be “cerebelli.” On the other hand, if you want to form the plural according to English, “cerebellums” should be perfectly fine. It’s up to you, of course. Myself, I speak English, so I’d do that.
That’s one judge in Washington state I wouldn’t want to piss off.
I am particularly fond of my cerebellum, as I am of my caudate nucleus.
A perfect name for a cat, owned by an allergist, would be Fel d 1. That is the abbreviation of the most prominent allergen produced by cats. It flows off the tongue, like Obewan from Star Wars. Actually, it would probably be the spouse of an allergist that would own the cat, much to the dismay of the allergist.
Owners won’t get rid of their dogs (or, other pets), because they are truly members of their family. It would be like putting Grandma on an ice floe. As a plus, they are territorial and better than any fancy electronic alarm system.
I had to look that one up, Dr. Jim.
“The caudate nucleus is one of the structures that make up the dorsal striatum, which is a component of the basal ganglia.”
I feel SOOOOO enlightened now. 😉
“putting Grandma on an ice floe”
Dunno about Grandma; I loved the one grandmother I knew. But I can think of other relatives I’d …
Ahem.
Delivery in November, 2016? Sounds like Dick’s was counting on a certain election going the way everyone thought it would, resulting in a run on ammo.
Oops.
Barriss’ violated a P.O. taken out by his grandmother? I agree with Claire; dude needs to be put away.
I actually go beyond just not opening my door to strangers: I also don’t make a sound and stay completely out of sight.
This, from a retired LEO? What about the burglar who is knocking to see if anyone’s home, before breaking in?
Fascinating scary-music article. I’ve performed the Dies Irae, with a men’s chorus a cappella, for an All-Hallows Eve party. It does give you shivers.
Claire, my caudate nucleus kicked in once when I was attacked by a dog. It was dark, and I was walking down a street, when something prompted me to look behind me. I saw a big dog charging at me, angling across the street from about 100 yards away. It was not barking. I figured it would stop and bluster and bark at me, and I foolishly did not take out my gun. It did not stop. Finally, at the last moment, when it was about 8 feet away, still running, I heard a bang. I looked down to see that I had drawn my gun and fired from the hip without thinking. I do not know if I hit the dog, but it stopped on a dime and turned and ran. The caudate nucleus helps to coordinate complex, sequential motor activity at a subconscious level. Muscle memory, if you will. My training of drawing and firing put the pattern into my caudate circuitry, where it coordinates with the cerebellum, the cerebral cortex, and other parts of the basal ganglia. Nifty. I relearned this from one of my favorite books, Guyton’s Textbook of Medical Physiology. I highly recommend it. It is an uplifting and inspirational book. To me, learning of the complexity and elegance of the human body is a testimony of creation.
“Finally, at the last moment, when it was about 8 feet away, still running, I heard a bang.”
WOW. GOOD caudate nucleus!
“Delivery in November, 2016? Sounds like Dick’s was counting on a certain election going the way everyone thought it would, resulting in a run on ammo.”
Exactly. Another victim (although in this case a deserving one) of Hillary’s ineptitude. From the article it sounds as if they’ve made something of a practice of abusing their suppliers in similar ways.
Is the basal ganglia the one that keeps telling me to take my weapon and go into the woods and grill hunks of meat over an open campfire? I like that one.
Fred, that would probably be your limbic system.
[…] tip to Claire Wolfe and her Friday Links, which you should also check […]
Scary music: I read, many decades ago, that a 50 cycle per second sound was added to the sound track of horror movies (at appropriate times) to augment a fear reaction in the audience.
DR, I heard something like that, too, except that I think the frequency might have been much lower than 50 Hz. The human ear is supposed to be able to “hear” (perceive as sound) vibrations at frequencies between 20 Hz and 20KHz. I’m guessing that significantly below 20 Hz, you’re feeling it but not being aware of it as sound, and it probably does tend to produce feelings of dread.