- Sure, it’s miles away from 3D printing metal guns. Ages. But this gadget is probably making the ATF nervous about the future. And maybe someday soon some far more advanced version will make gunfolk very cheerful. (H/T MJR)
- Okay. Short quiz: When’s the last time you felt your life was endangered by a Jack Russell terrier? A. Absolutely freaking never; are you kidding me? B. Once, when one was riding on the back of a charging Rottweiler. C. There was that time my ex tried to stuff a Jack Russell terrier down my throat; that was scary. D. When I worked for the government; after all, that dog weighed 12 whole pounds! It was a menace, I tell you! A menace!
- And speaking of
thugs Our Heroic Protectors, the state of Utah answers an open records request with a gobsmacking response.
- I’m not sure how big a “win” this is going to be for Bitcoin. But it’s interesting. Sorta reminds me of this, though. (Tip o’ hat to D in comments.)
- In this day of escalating medical costs, this is pretty darned great: testing for Alzheimers with a ruler and a scoop of peanut butter.
- Damnit! You shouldn’t have to opt out of being used in anybody’s ad scheme! But since that’s Google’s repugnant new policy, here’s how to avoid being sold as a product endorser. This is mainly for people who’ve spread themselves all over various Google sites. You don’t do that, do you?
- But be of good cheer. Microsoft (Microsoft???) wants you to be able to protect your privacy … using digital rights management. Huh.
- And be of even better cheer. The Internet is about to free itself from the U.S. surveillance state. (Via Wendy McElroy.)
- News of the weird just in time for Halloween: How Norway is … ulp … solving the problem of bodies that aren’t rotting.
So sad about the dog.
Hey, I’ve just seen Vader’s 3D system at the Makerfaire. When I realized that it can print metal, and seen a couple of samples, my first thought was this might be good for printing receivers for you know what. I was glad to see that your link provided some ideas of pricing because I had been looking for that. And it’s not just for you know what. Hopefully there will be some competition soon so it’ll get bigger, and better.
It’s not just Utah. Or city police.
“Ohio State University Acquires Military-Style Armored Truck”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/ohio-state-university-armored-truck_n_3949750.html
But it’s still a “gun-free school zone.”
Right.
In the Alzheimer’s test, I’m not sure what difference a left- or right-nostril loss means, or if/why one nostril deficit over another can help form a diagnosis.
I guess I’m just tired of hearing so many simplistic answers. When somebody comes up with a real explanation for Alzheimer’s, and a cure for it, then THAT will be news. These tests for projecting the incidence of diseases are just so many reasons to manufacture another drug to lessen symptoms; they are _not_ researching the cause and cure for that disease.
The article also stated, “Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition that’s characterized by memory loss and cognitive declines *beyond what’s expected from normal aging,*…” (My emphasis)
What is normal? I’ve never seen any honest, objective studies done on what’s expected from normal aging. I’ve read a lot of speculation, assumption, and correlation based on what the researchers hoped to prove – but never any real evidence or definitive proof. Besides, what’s “normal” in one culture is not “normal” in another.
When does aging start? (At birth, would be my answer.) How can the researcher arrive at any conclusions regarding what is “normal” when each of us begins aging from a different point of reference? Our genes, diet, activity, cell changes, health or illness, congenital and environmental influences all play a part, and most of them alter several times throughout our lifetime.
My answer is A.
And google doesn’t know about me, so far. I think that’s for google plus people anyway (?)…..
Lifelong bad sinus’ has left me with limited smelling ability. Therefore I must have had Alzheimers by 6 years old. (pause for eye roll)……
Peanut butter, my foot. In the first place, a person who smoked, had sinus troubles, allergies or a host of other problems would have a harder time smelling peanut butter, or anything else, than those with clear, young nasal passages and working taste buds (seriously linked).
There are at least a thousand things that can and will affect memory, mental acuity and cognitive ability. Nutrition and stress, chemical toxicity and genetics being only a few. There is no such thing as “normal” for most physical indicators, only AVERAGE. One person’s normal is often another person’s bad news. I dealt with all kinds of people, from newborns to those dying in advanced old age. The people who took care of their mind and body reasonably usually lived longer and died easier…
Now, as for this thing in Norway. Excuse me? The bodies didn’t decompose over 20 years when wrapped in plastic? What kind of plastic and how did that work? “Bodies” of all sorts, both vegetable and animal, decompose very quickly in my refrigerator no matter how much plastic I wrap them in. In fact, it’s a faster way to wind up with techicolor organic goop than any other storage method.
I suspect some parts of that story may be missing or distorted just a wee bit.
Everything in my being told me to flee my city of birth and move to the country. Now I am wondering if all is for nothing. With police being armed via the army and dogs doing what the Lord made them to do being shot with impunity by the same police, is it worth all my preparations and self sufficiency?
I can shoot, but what will a 22 and Glock training do for me against these overly well-armed agents?
I don’t know, Claire, but I have fought against this takeover by the government for years, and I seem to be on the losing side. It’s hard to stay cheerful, and hell, sometimes I want to be crabby and ugly. Like now.
MamaLiberty- The peanut butter test was describing the difference in ability to smell the peanut butter between the right and left nostrils of the same person. I guess a smoker’s/allergy sufferer’s nostrils would be symmetrically damaged, so the test might still work. If it has any validity.
[In the first place, a person who smoked, had sinus troubles, allergies or a host of other problems would have a harder time smelling peanut butter, or anything else, than those with clear, young nasal passages and working taste buds (seriously linked). ]
Ever have a doctor scrape the bottom of your foot? He’s testing the plantar reflex. If you exhibit a Babinski response you most likely have a disease of the spinal chord or brain. Of course if your foot has been damaged or is missing the test won’t work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_reflex
There are also five very simple symptoms of a stroke that everyone should know. I’ll leave it to readers to look them up. (Effort improves memory.)
Sometimes simple really does work.
I suspect the person testing your sense of smell would ask if it has been damaged.
Regarding the shooting of the dog, which horrified me as much as you, a retired LE friend has offered a different viewpoint: Stomping and kicking won’t do much, and if an animal has rabies neither the size of the dog nor the human will matter. Rabies deaths are slow and painful, and the rabies protocol after a bite is extremely unpleasant, as is the wondering if the animal had rabies. So without actually being there, sadly, it’s hard to tell if the shooting was justified.
The peanut butter story almost doesn’t seem to pass the smell (sic) test; it sounds too good to be true. Even if it works as confirmation for patients who otherwise exhibit the appropriate symptoms and even if early treatment can drastically inhibit the disease progression, it may not matter with Obamacare, as they aren’t likely to want to spend a lot of money on old fogies.
To Betsey: I don’t know, I just don’t know.
Shel — I’m sorry, but the rabies excuse is ridiculous! Although plenty of wild animals have rabies, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bitten by a rabid dog. Cats are far more likely to be rabid than dogs are, and even then we’re talking about a single-digit number of cases per year in a typical state. (I’d have to look up the exact stats; that’s going from memory.)
Furthermore, with a domestic dog, there’s no reason for anybody to have to go through the anti-rabies protocol because if someone is bit, the (live) dog can be put in quarantine for 10 days and observed for symptoms of the disease. (My own Ava went through this before she came to me — simply because she snapped at an unsupervised child who’d been annoying her all day.)
Yet more — the anti-rabies protocol is nowhere near as awful as it’s made out to be. I know somebody who went through it after handling a bat and it was unpleasant, certainly, but no big deal. (I believe a lot of people have a misperception based on an old technique.)
And finally — geezus, cops and their ilk need seriously to recognize the difference between a dog that’s just defending its territory with barking and other forms of “show” and one that’s actually making a potentially deadly attack. They need to learn techniques for both understanding and defusing what are, in fact, perfectly ordinary situations.
Your acquaintance is showing both ignorance and cowardice.
Here are CDC stats on the incidence of rabies:
http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsrabies/
Note that the US nationwide map is for ALL cases of rabies discovered, including wild animals.
Total number of rabid dogs (not rabid dog bites, but just of dogs found to have rabies):
75 in 2008
81 in 2009
Total. Across the entire US.
Personal note: A neighbor’s dog bit me a few weeks ago. It was an accident; she was going for a tennis ball in my hand. Her teeth broke the skin. The bite worried me briefly because I know the neighbor doesn’t take the best care of his critters, and yes, because rabies would be a terrible, terrible disease to die from. Did I get hysterical? Did I pull out my gun and blast her? Hell no. I just watched her behavior over the next few weeks.
Sorry to rant; I know you don’t necessarily share your acquaintance’s view. But his view is SO freaking stupid!
Also, Shel (and again, sorry to rant but your friend’s viewpoint is crazymaking) — your friend’s claim that stomping won’t do anything is also absurd. While I’d certainly try to avoid kicking an upset dog (or any dog) except as a last resort, stomping a foot on the ground and looking fierce has driven off many a snotty little mutt.
I say this from years of personal experience. While there are other techniques to defuse the situation with a defensive dog, the bold little guys will usually back right off if they think you’re scarier than they are. I had to do this several times with one little 20-pound bully in my neighborhood. She still “menaces” like crazy when I walk by, but she keeps her distance.
Cops. And their excuses for bad behavior. A pox on them!
I’m not sure having ICANN et. al. under an international association of governments is much better than under the US government. What is needed is true decentralization.
Kent, that’s pretty much beside the point. 🙂 IF the medical establishment truly knew the root cause of Alzheimer’s… and IF they truly had a cure for it, such “tests” might become valid. Since they don’t know squat about it, really, it’s a silly waste of time at best, and gives false positives/hopes at worst.
There are a thousand different manifestations of dementia, and only a few really tried and true treatments. Good nutrition and patience/love.
Sorry about the delayed response, Claire, but (1) I had multiple misc. things I needed to do, and (2) not being a professional writer, I wanted to try to express myself properly. As I’ve noted before, I have a great amount of respect for you; and I don’t see that changing. One thing I sometimes say is that if two people never disagree on anything, at least one of them isn’t thinking. Being a Libra in such situations is sometimes difficult. Being another pathological dog lover makes this one even harder. Without going into details, the person who expressed that opinion
didn’t do it out of total ignorance but of experience, and the thought of ascribing cowardice almost makes me snicker. Me, though, I’m just chicken s…
Graciously put, Shel. And I understand the Libra “desperately seeking balance” bit. 🙂
I’ll withdraw the “cowardice” comment because that was hasty and judgmental.
But I find it hard to believe that anybody who’s knowledgeable about the instance of rabies in the US and experienced with dealing with dogs would justify slaughtering a small domestic dog because it might conceivably have rabies. Unless he’s been bit or threatened by a rabid animal himself (and therefore might fear them all), I just can’t imagine. I’d love to ask him what percentage of the dogs he’s dealt with had rabies and why he thinks any government official should assume that every dog defending its property is rabid.
By this time next week we will have signed up for prime and placed a sizeable order.
May you have a serene, peace filled week.