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Category: Health and Science

Doings at the Cabal

Cabalistas (or people who might want to be): For those who haven’t visited the Cabal in a while, our community is growing and we have a little something for everybody going on in current discussions. A sampling: We’ve got a thread on “things made with milk” (with the biggest thing being cheese, but plenty of related items, as well); there’s a discussion on the meaning of survival, both in terms of “survivalism” and in terms of life; and we’re extremely fortunate to be getting lessons in the art of statement analysis, a powerful technique for determining the truthfulness (or not)…

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Friday links

  • Diagnose 17 diseases with a single blow into a breathalyzer? I doubt it’s that elegant and easy (especially with only 86% accuracy). But an interesting potential development.
  • Prepare to be shocked: the DEA pays millions to informants with somewhat less accountability than your local library uses to keep track of paperback books.
  • And if that wasn’t enough of a shock, I know you’ll just faint dead away to know that the Department of (Achtung!) Homeland Security is riddled with bribery and corruption. (I’m truly sorry to deliver all this bad news to you; I know how much you trusted and admired your federal government.)
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  • Tuesday links

  • Sigh of relief. That damned election is finally, finally over. And of course Trump won. Despite death threats to electors. Despite Russians hiding under every bed. Despite the media being the media. Despite four out of 12 Washington state electors going rogue. And despite one valiant Texan casting an electoral college v*te for Ron Paul. Can we talk about something else now?
  • If you’e old and don’t want to die before your time get a female doctor, sez some new and highly sexist research. (Do you think NPR would be running this story if the research concluded that male doctors were superior?)
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  • Weekend links

  • One of these things is not like the other. A meditation on Sesame Street, shotguns, and the irrationality of the NFA courtesy of L.S. and David Codrea.
  • Seventeen signs you’re intelligent — even if it doesn’t feel like it. Hm. Twelve of the 17 fit me. Does that mean I’m only slightly above dimwitted?
  • So much change. A delegation from the stodgy old American Legion has met with Trump in the cause of getting cannabis re-scheduled.
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  • Friday links

  • Taking toys to a new level of creepy. (Via RecoveringStatist.com)
  • Dear scientists: please be careful when you edit those genes. A “bad” gene may also be a great and necessary gene.
  • Kevin D. Williamson on the left’s silly obsession with people they wrongly believe to be obsessed with Ayn Rand. (Note: Contains one of the most hilarious and true remarks ever made about “professional libertarians.”)
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  • Midweek links

  • Turns out that, as pot has been legalized, teens have had a harder time getting the stuff. Sure, that’s against all predictions — except predictions by people who grok how markets work.
  • Teen drug and alcohol use has fallen in general. Of course, that’s according to the Washington Post, so it may be fake news.
  • It takes seven shots to kill a 73-year-old man suffering dementia. But then, he was armed with a deadly crucifix, so I guess they had to do it.
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  • Tuesday links

  • I don’t really care who hacked the DNC and John Podesta. Whoever handed that info over to Wikileaks did the world a big favor. But I agree (once again) with Glenn Greenwald: these sketchy bits of third-hand gossip being reported as “news from the CIA” claiming the Russians did it do not qualify as news by any standard.
  • Justin Raimondo calls this businesss an attempted CIA coup. One of many, but don’t they usually stick to third-world countries?
  • No more John Stossel show. 🙁
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  • About that FDA ban on OTC veterinary antibiotics

    From Commentariat member AE comes this warning that as of January 1 the FDA is banning certain over-the-counter veterinary antibiotics. Since preppers have long relied on feed-store meds to get around both the screamingly high prices and absurd regulations around human-grade prescription meds, this could be a big deal. Or not. First important thing to know: It doesn’t affect all veterinary antibiotics. In theory you should still be able to buy that injectable penicillin that’s been the mainstay of so many medical kits. Primarily at stake are feed-grade antibiotics, whose casual use has become so notorious in milk and meat.…

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    Weekend links

  • Uber is now tracking customers after they’ve closed its app. But not to worry; it’s for your own good. (Close app, turn off phone, remove battery — if your battery is still a removable one.) (H/T MJR)
  • Can’t afford to rent your very own malicious botnet (per last links)? Well, there’s always this $50 USB killer. It’s not perfect; but for mere couch-cushion change, what do you expect?
  • It’s truly a human tragedy that this type of humane research on psychoactive drugs has been curtailed for so many decades. Thanks, War on Drugs.
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