News you might use

This is probably too good to be true. I would have thought someone would have noticed the correlation before if the consumption of certain foods reversed Alzheimer’s.

scientists at Tufts University are working to understand what might slow the progression of the disease. They tested 21 different compounds in Alzheimer’s-afflicted neural cells in the lab, measuring the compounds’ effect on the growth of sticky beta-amyloid plaques. These plaques develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

The team found that two common compounds—green tea catechins and resveratrol, found in red wine and other foods—reduced the formation of plaques in those neural cells. And they did so with few or no side effects.

The applicability of this to humans drinking green tea and red wine are somewhat tenuous. The experiments were done on an artificially grown 3D neural tissue model. I presume the treatment was done via the nutrient bath or some such thing. So there was no passage of the active compounds through the digestive system, into the blood stream, and through the blood brain barrier to the brain.

Still, the risk/reward ratio for drinking green tea and/or red wine (and/or eating grapes) is favorable.

Quote of the day—J.D. Tuccille

It’s difficult to see the future as anything other than more closely surveilled, and in a more coordinated way. Law enforcement agencies are likely to coordinate their efforts through multi-jurisdictional efforts such as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Regional Information Sharing Systems which increase reach while reducing costs and technical challenges. They can also sign up as subscribers to one or more privately developed plug-and-play surveillance networks.

Those of us who are especially surveillance-averse will still take active measures to obscure our trail, through purchases made in cash, face masks, clothing that confuses algorithms, and leaving our cellphones at home. But we will still be watched, and chances are that making efforts to preserve anonymity will itself come to be seen by the powers that be as suspicious.

J.D. Tuccille
November 21, 2022
See the Surveillance State at Work in Your Own Community: The Atlas of Surveillance lets us monitor the agencies that snoop on the public.
[Via a message from Stephanie.

The Atlas of Surveillance gives you some clues as to how thoroughly you are surveilled. It’s not complete so just because your area of operation shows as relatively clean doesn’t mean it actually is. Bellevue, where Barb and I live, doesn’t show anything at all. Yet, I can show you cameras on traffic lights and know people who have received automated tickets from those type of cameras in Bellevue.

I have to agree with Tuccille. It is only going to get worse.

I was talking with Mike B. last night night about cellphone location data and how it might apply to the mass murders in Moscow a few days ago. And, as suggested by Tuccille in the last sentence quoted above, I suggested surveillance cameras in Moscow could be used to identity time and place of vehicle activity. Combine data around the time of the murders with cellphone location data. If a camera visible car did not have a cellphone, then it is suspicious and should be investigated.

Other suggestions included:

  • The, obvious, look for cell phones visiting the house during the time of the murders.
  • Look for cellphones which were turned off during the time of the murder.
  • Get location data from popular phone apps as well as the cell providers. I know the Facebook app collects location data. Probably Twitter and others do as well.

We live in interesting times.—Joe]

Quote of the day—John Gregg

The right to carry a bowie-knife for lawful defense is secured, and must be admitted. It is an exceeding destructive weapon. It is difficult to defend against it, by any degree of bravery, or any amount of skill. The gun or pistol may miss its aim, and when discharged, its dangerous character is lost, or diminished at least. The sword may be parried. With these weapons men fight for the sake of the combat, to satisfy the laws of honor, not necessarily with the intention to kill, or with a certainty of killing, when the intention exists. The bowie-knife differs from these in its device and design; it is the instrument of almost certain death. He who carries such a weapon, for lawful defense, as he may, makes himself more dangerous to the rights of others, considering the frailties of human nature, than if he carried a less dangerous weapon. Now, is the legislature powerless to protect the rights of others thus the more endangered, by superinducing caution against yielding to such frailties? May the state not say, through its law, to the citizen, “this right which you exercise, is very liable to be dangerous to the rights of others, you must school your mind to forbear the abuse of your right, by yielding to sudden passion; to secure this necessary schooling of your mind, an increased penalty must be affixed to the abuse of this right, so dangerous to others.”

John Gregg
Texas Appeals Court Judge
1859
John Cockrum v. The State Page 402
[Via The legal history of bans on firearms and Bowie knives before 1900 by David Kopel.

I found this take on the use of large knives versus guns very interesting. There are several facets to this, but the following is the most intriguing. Those who would restrict access to guns would increase the use of weapons the courts have found to be more deadly.—Joe]

Quote of the day—The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial

Happy Friday you kings and queens, it’s always a good day to remind everyone that under that under The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Communists are not people.

The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial
Tweeted on April 29, 2022
[Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind.—Joe]

Quote of the day—William Melhado

Perez-Gallan had a restraining order issued against him, in which case federal law prohibits the possession of a firearm.

Counts ruled that the federal government’s disarming of Perez-Gallan did not sufficiently consider the historical context of domestic abuse law when revoking his Second Amendment rights. In September, the same judge ruled that it’s unconstitutional to disarm somebody who has been indicted but hasn’t been convicted yet.

William Melhado
November 14, 2022
Federal judge in Texas rules that disarming those under protective orders violates their Second Amendment rights
[Nice!

It is long past time which the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms was recognized as a first class right instead of an embarrassing dog turd on the bottom of someone’s shoe.

I would think there are some due process issues involved as well.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Johnny Memphis @johnnymemphis

Wow can you even see your own penis?

Johnny Memphis @johnnymemphis
Tweeted on June 6, 2022
[It’s not only another Markley’s Law Monday, it is another science denier!

When they have no facts, no principles, and no legal argument they let you have it with the best they can delivery… childish insults.

Via a tweet from In Chains @InChainsInJail.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Handwaving Freakoutery

Ladies and gentlemen of the 97 Percent panel, thank you for letting me participate in the conference today as a representative of the gun community. I appreciate and endorse your stated mission of reducing gun deaths in America by conducting original research to identify common ground, to change the conversation around gun safety to include gun owners, and to leverage technology to make our communities safer. All of these goals are goals that the gun community shares with you.

But I must tell you something very important.

I have never heard a more delusional, more dishonest stream of bad faith bullshit as I have just heard. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.

Handwaving Freakoutery
November 18, 2022
Ninety Seven Percent: Epistemic status: gun policy fiction based on that embarrassingly awful 97% zoom call yesterday
[Good fiction humor based on a lot of facts.—Joe]

I fear global cooling more than global warming

If humans actually have some control over the global temperature we should error on the side of making things too warm rather than too cold. It’s a lot easier to deal with a few feet of rise in the level of the ocean than it is to deal with a mile of ice over Seattle, Chicago, and New York and everything north of there.

Ethical question never discussed in Sunday School

Is it ethical for researchers to fertilize a human egg with Neanderthal sperm?

Uhh… that is something I never heard discussed in Sunday School.

Mugme street update

I used to work in the tall building you see in the background.

Never waste a crisis

You’ve head that politicians never let a crisis go to waste. Now we apparently can add never waste a crisis:

President Joe Biden would veto a proposed U.S. Senate resolution that would terminate a national emergency declared in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said on Tuesday.

Moscow mass murder update

More information on the tragic mass murder in Moscow Idaho last Sunday as been slowing dribbling out. It seems that the information raises as many questions as it answers.

Here are the points of interest I have found:

University of Idaho victim’s friend says dorm door-lock code wasn’t usually activated. I’m not too surprised. When my family lived in Moscow we always locked our doors. But I know people that leave the keys in the ignition of their vehicles when at home.

Over the last few days, police officers have come knocking at a local home improvement store to inquire about potential sales of a Ka-Bar knife – as they continue to try to locate the murder weapon. They appear to be specifically looking for a knife “with a smooth edge on one side and a serrated edge on the other.” But the picture they provide is of a knife without any serrations. My reading on Ka-Bar knives seems to indicate that Ka-Bar’s an not typically serrated.

Autopsies were conducted on November 17th. The Latah County Coroner confirmed the identity of the four murdered individuals and their cause and manner of death as homicide by stabbing. The coroner stated that the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times. There was no sign of sexual assault. This same posting tells us, “At this time in the investigation, detectives do not believe the two surviving roommates … are involved in the crime.” Also, there are over 128 people in law enforcement involved in the investigation. This includes the Moscow Police, Latah County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Patrol, and the FBI.

The 911 call that led to the discovery of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle’s bodies was not made by their roommates, I don’t really trust parts of this report. It could just be former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman wanted another 15 minutes of fame and speculated on things for the camera.

One of the University of Idaho murder victims called the same person seven times shortly before she was killed, her sister claims… “Kaylee calls [the man] six times between 2.26am and 2.44am. From 2.44 to 2.52 Maddie calls [the man] three times, then Kaylee makes a final call to him at 2.52am,” Alivea said. If this was after the attack started, why didn’t they call the police? See also this report which identifies the person the victims called as “Jack”.

Quote of the day—Jason Pollock

Oregon faces a crisis in its criminal justice system because the leftists elements in Salem have refused to hold criminal[s] accountable for their behavior. Banning large capacity magazines will only turn law-abiding citizens into criminals. Assuming that restricting magazines to 10 rounds will make you safe is one of the most ignorant statements ever made.

Jason Pollock
Jefferson County Sheriff
November 15, 2022
Oregon sheriffs won’t enforce new gun law: ‘Infringes on Second Amendment’
[Politicians need to be prosecuted over this crap. They implement “catch and release” policies for criminal. They defund the police. Then they pass blatantly unconstitutional laws to make it difficult or impossible to purchase effective self-defense tools. It cannot get much clearer. These people are evil and/or insane.

By telling them, “I hope you enjoy your trial.” I am advocating on their behalf. This is because if they aren’t prosecuted, they risk angry mobs with tar, feathers, pitchforks, and short ropes on tall trees.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Rohail Saleem

Proponents argue that a digital U.S. dollar will allow the Federal Reserve a much greater level of precision in enacting its own monetary policy. For instance, if the Fed wants to juice up consumer spending, it can start penalizing the digital U.S. dollars stored in each citizen’s wallet, thereby creating a perverse incentive to spend those dollars. Similarly, the Fed can also provide targeted relief to those most in need by depositing a set balance of the digital U.S. dollar directly within designated wallets.

Rohail Saleem
November 15, 2022
Here Comes the Digital U.S. Dollar: The NY Fed Has Now Launched a 12-Week Pilot Program for Digital Dollar Tokens
[This is what the proponents are saying? Wow! That’s like a used car salesman telling you, “This car is a ticking time bomb and by morning it will take out your house and family in a huge fireball. Just give us your money and in a few minutes it is yours to drive off the lot.”

This is a really bad idea. I prefer cash and perhaps precious metals for money. Change my mind.—Joe]

4473s must be saved forever

Daughter Kim and I had a meeting with ATF inspectors yesterday regarding the renewal of our license to manufacture high explosives.

We were just chatting about various changes and one of the inspectors said 4473s now have to be retained forever. The ATF website still says just 20 years. But that page hasn’t been updated since June of 2018.

I asked if congress changed the law or it was a regulation change by the ATF. She said, “I think it was just a regulation change.”

Looking at the law I think I see what they did:

(b) Firearms Transaction Record. Licensees shall retain each Form 4473 until business or licensed activity is discontinued, either on paper, or in an electronic alternate method approved by the Director, at the business premises readily accessible for inspection under this part. Paper forms over 20 years of age may be stored at a separate warehouse, which shall be considered part of the business premises for this purpose and subject to inspection under this part.

The law only references 20 years in the context of an alternate storage location. But, technically, says they must be kept forever. Apparently the ATF regulations originally just said, “Never mind what the law says, after 20 years no one cares.”

My guess is someone in the current administration decided anything to increase the hassle factor on gun dealers, even it there was no net benefit to society, was a good thing.

Quote of the day—Robert Epstein

What happened to the gigantic red wave that was supposed to crush the Democrats in the midterm elections? Every Republican in the country is blaming everyone else for this disaster, but almost no one is looking in the right place—and that’s exactly how the Big Tech companies like it.

Based on my team’s research, Google, and to a lesser extent, Facebook and other tech monopolies, not only took steps to shift millions of votes to Democrats in the midterms, but they are using their influence to spread rumors and conspiracy theories to make sure people look everywhere for explanations—except at them.

Robert Epstein
November 15, 2022
How Google Stopped the Red Wave
[What he says happened is technically fairly easy and plausible. Assuming they actually did this, I find it very irritating. It is little different than suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story. But, I can’t see they did anything illegal or that a law to punish such activity would pass constitutional muster.

It is a different case than restaurants, motels, and other public accommodations being required to serve people of all races, religions, etc. They aren’t, in this case, denying anyone service. Should the Republican party be required to send “Vote today!” email to everyone instead of just people they believe are likely to vote for their candidates?

If Google should register as a lobbyist to engage in this sort of activity, then should bloggers also be required to register? How about people with Facebook pages or a Twitter account?

Beyond boycotting them and their advertisers what might be the solution?—Joe]

Mass murder with edged weapon

Four University of Idaho students were ‘left to bleed out’ in brutal targeted stabbing attack: Blood is seen oozing through walls of home – as cops call the scene ‘the worst we’ve ever seen’:

  • Sources in Moscow, Idaho, say the house where four students were brutally murdered Sunday was the worst they have ever seen
  • There was so much blood that it oozed through the walls of the three-story house near the University of Idaho campus
  • ‘We have investigators who have been on the job for 20, even 30, years, and they say they have never seen anything like this,’ one police source said
  • Police are now trawling through the contents of trash cans near the scene looking for the ‘edged weapon’ the killer used

This hits harder than it would have had it happened in some distant city, I drove through Moscow on Monday night on my way to Boomershoot territory. I graduated from the University of Idaho as did my ex-wife, one of her sisters, and her mother. My brother and his three children all attended the U of I. My three children, my father, and numerous cousins and high school friends attended the U of I as well. I owned a home and lived in Moscow, at least part time, from about 1990 to 2012. One of my daughters and my ex still live less than 20 minutes away.

It got even more disturbing with this:

Fry said investigators believe two other roommates were home during the attack, but they were “not injured.” When asked if they had been involved in a hostage situation, Fry said no. He did not speculate on why the crime was not reported until noon when uninjured, living people remained in the home, and, to protect the “integrity of the investigation,” would not confirm if the surviving roommates were the ones who called 911. Fry did say that the roommates were still at the house when police arrived.

“We don’t know why that call came in at noon and not in the middle of the night. … We’re investigating everything still to try to pull all the pieces together,” Fry said.

I found out about the murders via a text message from Mike B. Mike played a big role in getting “campus carry” through the Idaho legislature. It didn’t help these students but it might give a number of students comfort and safety in the coming weeks.

One has to wonder… Since this is getting so much attention, and the murderer(s) have got away with something like a nine or ten hour head start on the police, if there will be copycats. Knives are almost completely silent, never need to be reloaded, unrestricted sales, no serial numbers, easy to make, found in every home, etc..

If the murders had been with a gun it would have been called a “mass shooting” and more calls for gun control would have been in the headlines before the bodies were cold. So what will the gun control advocates have to say if “mass stabbing” becomes a trend here? “Common sense knife control”?

What I will say about the potential for copycats is, “People, show any copycats why you don’t bring a knife to gunfight.”

Quote of the day—Kyle Rittenhouse @ThisIsKyleR

How many of you know my lawyer called the FBI to testify during my trial?

How many of you know their testimony was stopped after an assistant US Attorney objected from the gallery over a tail number?

One day the entire story will be told and it will shock every American.

Kyle Rittenhouse @ThisIsKyleR
Tweeted on November 13, 2022
[What a tease!

I’ve thought about asking Rittenhouse to be the dinner speaker at Boomershoot. It isn’t the most perfect match but it could be interesting.—Joe]

Truth

Via Matthew Bracken @Matt_Bracken:

image

Quote of the day—Mac Schwerin

Historically, piecemeal public-service ads have trod cautiously so as not to alienate a core constituency—gun owners themselves, some 30 percent of Americans. They’ve employed inconsistent strategies, sometimes urging gun owners to “lock it up,” other times decrying feeble government regulation. Mixed messages threaten to undercut the impact of these PSAs, and soft targets can make for mealymouthed calls to action. Thoughtful, measured arguments aren’t always the right fit for this medium, which usually requires a villain, like a Big Tobacco. “For us, that starts and stops with the NRA,” Sam Shepherd, the global executive creative director of Leo Burnett, told me.

Mac Schwerin
November 11, 2022
The Ad Industry’s Plan to Fix America’s Gun Crisis
[Interesting stuff in this article. It’s a look into the smartest minds of the enemy.

This at least partially explains the long time blame on the gun manufactures who “care more about profits than children’s lives.” The slogan writers know they need a villain and they have been trying out the NRA and the manufactures.

For some reason criminals as villains are not acceptable. Is it because criminal are their natural ally in the fight against private gun ownership? If the criminals did not exist there would not be a publicly defendable need to restrict gun ownership.—Joe]