The Syria Pullout

I wonder if “pulling out of Syria” was a cover story to cover at least some of the troop movements needed to get al-Baghdadi. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

Intersectionality

Dividing us into groups. The smallest group is one.

Pandering to the individual IS liberty. That is their end game.

I don't think they have thought this through.

Two Ecologies

After spending a lot of time on the 'net (too much) I have come to some conclusions about the recent election. I was discussing those conclusions with the blog master at this blog post.

It turns out that each side of the two main opposing groups in the last election is sure the other side is unrepentantly evil. And in fact that is correct. They are.

How is it possible that both of them are correct? Well each side is correct because they live in different environments. And the different ecologies require different moralities. The rules for success are different. I explained that in A Thermodynamic Explanation Of Politics. You should read the longer article linked there to get a deeper feel for the thermodynamics of each ecology and its associated culture.

A short hand explanation that most Americans will get is City vs Country. In recent election terms we had Hillary Clinton who won the City folk and Donald Trump who won the Country folk. It becomes obvious in this map.

The morality difference is highlighted when you hear City folk disparage Country folk. "Rubes" (the current version of rubes is deplorables) is what City people call Country people. And when the shoe is on the other foot, the Country folk call City people "liars and crooks". Does that sound like an election you just experienced? It should.

What happened on 8 Nov. was that Country folk won. In time City folk will win again. Each side believes it is correct about everything. And they are right. For their ecological niche. Where we get it wrong is in thinking one set of laws can cover both niches. It is not possible. We should be thinking about how to handle this. Instead each side is sure the other side is totally demonic and should be punished accordingly.

Country is conservative. City is liberal. It is a fact of nature. We should take a more knowledgeable view of the situation and get over it. If we had sense enough to leave each other alone we would all be better off. "Mind your business" used to be a motto printed on our money. I'd like to see a revival of that with one minor modification. "Mind your own business."

I came up with this idea while talking to the OL about this article.

The City is a structured environment, the people are wild.

The Country is a wild environment, the people are structured.

Evidently nature requires a minimum amount of chaos to function properly. We see that in electronics. You can make some circuits more accurate adding a little noise. The noise helps prevent the circuit from getting stuck at a close but not as exact as possible value. But you have to "tune" the noise. Too little noise and there is no effect. Too much noise and the results get too noisy.

Now let us get back to politics. Why hasn't this understanding gotten more attention so we can better optimize our political systems? Divide and rule. With Country and City at each others throats ('they are a direct threat to my way of life' - "they" of course being the "other" side). While that little (as in full time giant) war is going on our owners can focus on using government for their own ends.

Here is a guy who agrees with my premise.

...the left versus right dynamic is being instigated by global elites, and that this could result in both sides moving to opposing extremes of the political spectrum; communism versus fascism. That said, they also wanted to know what I thought should be done about the left in particular? Sure, the elites are the root cause of the threat, but what about all the crazed leftists the elites hide behind and exploit? Don’t we have to deal with them at some point as well?

I'm against dealing with them in the ordinary sense. We should try to figure a way to acknowledge our different ecologies and form a solution based on that. The author has some ideas. (Emphasis added)

The danger is that while conservatives now appear to hold the keys to the behemoth that is government after wrestling it from the left (again, at least in appearance), we will be tempted to swing the cannons of the bureaucratic battleship towards our foes and in our favor. I’ll have to use the old Lord of the Rings analogy once again here — big government is like the “one ring;” it will always result in evil, no matter who is wearing it. Good people will take hold of it thinking they can resist abusing it and that they will exploit its incredible power to help others; and they will fall into darkness like everyone else.

The solution? Conservatives must face leftist extremists on equal ground. We must avoid the temptation of using government as a weapon to extinguish them. We must avoid stooping to their level. Otherwise, there is an serious risk that we will falter in our principles and become just as bad if not worse than the regressive left. And yes, this means a decentralized civil war — a war in which government is denied as a player.

As long as conservatives refuse to wield government as a sword in our arsenal, we will win against all enemies.

The second we wimp out and beg government to aid us in our fight, we will be co-opted and assimilated by the elites.

My god. Do you see what he is saying? He is advocating some kind of libertarian solution. Stop government growth? Who ever heard of such a thing? Limited government? Isn't that some kind of blasphemy? Doesn't government need control? More control? Unlimited control to keep order? I don't think so. Too much control promotes disorder by making government unadaptable. And that leads to chaos. Too much chaos.

Also note: I have been saying for years that if Republicans stuck to economics and gave up their war on Democrats (the culture war) they couldn't lose. The benefits of a prosperous economically sound country would be a boon enjoyed by all. Winning a culture war battle only satisfies half the country.

The abortion war is a prime example of how the Republicans should work to achieve a goal. The abortion rate has been cut by a factor of four over the years and it is still declining. It has gotten to the point where a vast majority of the country opposes abortion. And it shows up in the abortion rate. It should also be noted that despite wide spread personal objections to abortion, over half the country wants abortion to remain legal. But of course that tends to vary by State and population density. What should be done? Keep talking. And keep government out of it. In fact that ought to be a general rule.

Keep government out of it.
Probably a rule for all ages. Our founders generally thought so.

Does Ted Cruz Have Sex With Rats?

Yeah it is nuts. But look at what Ted Said.

“He’s a man for whom a term was coined for copulating with a rodent,” Cruz said. “Well let me be clear, Mr. Trump may be a rat but I have no desire to copulate with him.

That kind of says that he prefers other rats.

Uh. Ted. May I give you some unsolicited advice? You should think through your "extemporaneous" expressions before you make them. Lest they be misinterpreted.

Behavioral Sink Behavior And Thermodynamics

You can't eliminate behavioral sink behavior unless you eliminate behavior sinks.

That means for one drug "addiction".

Addiction in a behavioral sink

The abortion/gestation question comes to mind.

Many [female rats] were unable to carry pregnancy to full term or to survive delivery of their litters if they did. An even greater number, after successfully giving birth, fell short in their maternal functions. Among the males the behavior disturbances ranged from sexual deviation to cannibalism and from frenetic overactivity to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals would emerge to eat, drink and move about only when other members of the community were asleep. The social organization of the animals showed equal disruption. [...]

Behavioral Sink

It is more than obvious that the two parties represent the two ends of the spectrum and you are not going to eliminate the behavioral sink party until you eliminate behavioral sinks. And efforts to change behavior by politics are for the most part useless. And I might add counterproductive.

The party that claims to be so in touch with natural law is for the most part ignorant of it.

Here is an article that discusses the issue from a thermodynamic viewpoint.

The Red And The Blue

What is my conclusion relative to politics? Both political parties are right about the proper way to live. In their ecological niches.

A look at the Weimar Republic:

What people leave out of the Weimar experience and IMO its foundation is the lack of men – killed in the war. We are doing something similar with our divorce laws. And our drug war on the Black Community.

And the 60s? Similar. Look up the M/F ratios.

When there are not enough men you get loose women. Culture dives when the M/F ratio is out of whack.

The Weimar Experience

If only the two parties had some understanding of each other politics might not be quite so rancorous.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Update: More discussion at Talk-Polywell

A Link Between Autism and Cannabinoids

I have a new post up at Rockford For Safe Access discussing the scientific and anecdotal evidence between autism and the body's endocannabinoid system. It includes a number of videos about treating autistic children with cannabis.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Some Thoughts On Female Hypergamy

Never settle for one. Two is the minimum. Competition improves the service.

===

Men:

Q: Does the bliss a man seeks with a woman exist?

A: Actually it does exist. But only if the woman is willing to bond with you. Odds run from zero to not for long. Mostly.

====

A woman says:

I’m glad I made the choice never to get into a relationship. You men think you’re gods.

I say:

But honey, we are gods.

You eatin’ regular? Got a warm hut and a screen to communicate? Men did that. With the help of a few women.


Inspired by the comments at Women In Love

Marijuana Cured My Cancer

Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl: "I thanked God... ...medical marijuana has saved my life."

I don't understand why the endocannabinoid system isn't better appreciated.

NIH: Endocannabinoids in the immune system and cancer.

Modulation of the endocannabinoid system interferes with cancer cell proliferation either by inhibiting mitogenic autocrine/paracrine loops or by directly inducing apoptosis....

And that is only one cite among thousands.

Go to nih.gov and use their search function to search - endocannabinoid cancer - we know a lot. And we are learning more every day.

H/T The Weed Blog

Cross Posted at Rockford For Safe Access

They Took Her Kids

A lady with MS who was taking marijuana for her condition has had her kids taken away. She lives in Idaho and was part of an activist family. Idaho is not a medical marijuana state.

Here is more of the story.

While Lindsey and Sarah were vacationing, along with Lindsey’s husband Josh (the director of Idaho NORML), their four children were staying with a babysitter when police, acting on a tip from an elementary school friend of one of their boys, arrived with child protective services. The police, without a warrant, intimidated the babysitter into allowing them into the home, where they allegedly found Lindsey’s medical marijuana. Based on that imminent threat to the children, all four boys, ages 11, 10, 6, and 5, were placed into foster care.

You can donate to their legal fund.

There are more endocannabinoid receptors in the body than any other receptor type. The endocannabinoid system is a major regulator in the body implicated in almost all diseases including cancer.


 
 
 
 
 
Here is a telephone interview with two of the ladies involved. The audio is not very good.


Cross Posted at Classical Values

Why Everybody Hates Republicans - Libertarian Edition

Classical Liberal links to a post of mine They Really Don't Like Libertarians and then goes off on a rant of his own. You really, really, should read the whole thing. Especially since he accurately pegs where I used to live politically. "a libertarian who's been a long-time conservative ally" - and "been" is the operative word. I am no longer except in matters of convenience. Just as I will ally with Democrats in matters of convenience. Like Medical Marijuana

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Endocannabinoids - A Video

About two minutes. If you want some text to go with it may I suggest: Endocannabinoids The Science. Heart surgeon Dr. David Allen considers cannabis an essential nutrient for heart health.

An interesting fact from the video: There are more cannabinoid receptors in the body than any other receptor type.

Endocannabinoids - The Science

I did this piece for a major Right Wing site I have written for before. It was rejected for a number of reasons.

1. The punch line "Marijuana" wasn't mentioned until later in the piece.
2. It was too technical.
3. The evidence is probably accidental correlation.

And most important:

4. The audience would not be receptive generally.
5. The audience would not be receptive to being called Drug Nazis.

Which was in fact an admission that they are Drug Nazis. Because I never said it directly. What I said was my usual:

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

I guess I cut a little too close to the bone. Amputations can be crippling.

=================

Endocannabinoids - The Science

Today I'd like to do something Republicans do when confronted with a question. Look at the science. The science I'd like to look at is the science of endocannabinoids. Let's start with a definition. An endocannabinoid is a marijuana-like substance produced by the body that acts on specific receptors in the body. There are two known cannabinoid receptor systems in the body. They are the CB1 system and the CB2 system.

Since this is for a non-biochemistry trained audience (I'm an electrical engineer by trade) I'm going to make some simplifications. Those of you who are better trained please excuse my lapses unless they are egregious.

The CB1 system is mostly distributed in nerve tissue of the brain and the spine. The CB2 system is found in the immune system, the peripheral nervous system, the brain, and the digestive system. Various endocannabinoids in the body can either activate or inhibit the operation of the various systems by binding to the receptors in the system. Regulation is achieved by a balance of the chemicals involved. The systems can also evolve by increasing or decreasing the number of receptor sites in response to stimulation (bonding) or a lack of stimulation to those sites.

One of the neurotransmitters in the body that affects these systems is called anandamide which comes from a Sanskrit word which means bliss. The CB1 and CB2 receptors in the body were discovered by tracking where delta9-THC (one of the active ingredients in marijuana) traveled in the body and which receptors it was bound to. From the facts developed by that kind of study a team led by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam at the Hebrew University in Israel discovered the anandamide molecule. As discoverers they got to name it. Dr. Mechoulam is one of the pioneers in the field of cannabinoid science. Why he hasn't won a Nobel for his work is beyond me, unless it has something to do with the prejudices against cannabis. Let me quote (slightly edited for ease of text rendering) from his wiki:

Raphael Mechoulam (born 1930) is an Israeli professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Mechoulam is best known for his work (together with Y. Gaoni) in the isolation, structure elucidation and total synthesis of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active principle of cannabis and for the isolation and the identification of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide from the brain and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) from peripheral organs together with his students, postdocs and collaborators.

All the above is probably enough general information to get you started if you want to delve deeper into the subject matter. Now I want to look at a more controversial aspect of all this. Marijuana. And specifically medical marijuana. As you can see from the above information, cannabinoids in the body affect a large number of systems in the body. I particularly like this quote from the CB2 wiki on the subject.

Changes in endocannabinoid levels and/or CB2 receptor expressions have been reported in almost all diseases affecting humans,[34] ranging from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative, psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer. The prevalence of this trend suggests that modulating CB2 receptor activity by either selective CB2 receptor agonists or inverse agonists/antagonists depending on the disease and its progression holds unique therapeutic potential for these pathologies [34]

That explains why some people claim wonder drug status for marijuana. Except things are not quite as simple as that. Marijuana is not marijuana. What do I mean by that? The anandamide analogs in cannabis are called generically CBDs. They include such chemicals as Cannabigerols (CBG), Cannabidiols (CBD), Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), Cannabinol (CBN), and a number of other compounds. Their expression in a given cannabis plant varies. Some of the cannabinoids bind to various CB system receptors and some of them prevent binding to a receptor, mimicking the function of the various endocannabinoids in the body. So marijuana is not marijuana. Since there is no regulation in the marijuana industry due to its illegality at the Federal level this has led to various novel names for the different cannabis strains. Names such as "Northern Lights" and "Charlotte's Web". "Charlotte's Web" was named for a child with severe pediatric epilepsy. The strain called "Charlotte's Web" was developed especially to treat her condition. Thus the name. You can check out this eleven minute video introduced by a doctor and her mother to learn more about how this strain was developed and used.

Well obviously we need regulation of medical marijuana. Don't we? My answer is yes. Absolutely. But surprisingly what we are getting is self regulation. And it seems to be working fairly well. Various companies are springing up to fill the analysis void. They do High Pressure Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy on submitted marijuana samples to determine the quantities of the various CBDs in the samples. One such company is SC Laboratories in California, but there are a number of others around the country in medical marijuana states.

Obviously the subject is involved and I could go on at much greater length. But I'm not going to do that. Instead I'll leave you with what I think are a few more helpful links.

FDA To Study Cannabis For PTSD - includes a video.
What If Cannabis Cured Cancer - with an appearance by Raphael Mechoulam in the video.
CB(2) cannabinoid receptor activation is cardioprotective in a mouse model of ischemia/reperfusion. Translation: if you are predisposed to heart disease regular cannabis use may improve your odds of living.
Marijuana Stops Lung Cancer
DEA Judge Rules On Medical Marijuana. The Judge says, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."
Conditions treatable by cannabis with links to the medical literature.

And finally to wind this all up what is my political stance on the matter?

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Grillo The National Socialist Fascist

My friend Diogenes alerted me to an American Thinker article on Beppe Grillo.

Europe's political class is shocked and panicked. They are pretending Grillo is just a "populist" and a "reformer" -- but he also wants to "process" all the Jews in the world, who are responsible for all the evil. Grillo wants to nationalize the banks and abolish interest rates, "just like the Islamic Development Bank."

Well as you know banks can't survive without interest. So Grillo wants to destroy the banking system. But as I recount here the banking system can't survive without the black market. Particularly the black market in drugs. which brings us back to the original link.

Government at all levels is corrupt. It's the only way people can survive. Everybody is playing double games. People are doing two jobs and running their own businesses out of government offices. Everybody cheats on taxes. The mafia controls half the country. Survival depends on the black market, the black economy. The currency is kept artificially high, so exports crash.

It's happened to Italy under the European Union. Don't think it can't happen here. Obama is a Euro socialist, representing faculty lounge socialism in America, so completely arrogant and cocksure that Paul Krugman just knows how to run the trillion-dollar US economy. Nobody else can figure it out, but Krugman knows that he knows. Our new rulers are control freaks, just as free market economists have said since Adam Smith. They are six year olds steering the family car and thinking they are in control until...

... until it all blows up.

This week Europe blew up. The media haven't caught up yet, because they are what they are. But the markets are catching up fast.

This is a huge event for the United States, because our political elite is bound and determined to turn us into Europe. Hasn't the EU found the answer to war and peace and prosperity forever?

There is way more at that link (you should check out the comments too to get a taste) but what is Movimento 5 Stelle's (Movement 5 Star - M5S) program? American Thinker has a list.

1. High-flying jets spray mind-altering chemicals over Rome to drive Italians crazy. Those are the jet "chemtrails" you can see overhead.

2. A good bloodletting will purify your body and cure any disease. This is the word of God. But flu vaccines are dangerous.

3. The Islamic Development Bank gives away free money to deserving borrowers.

4. The Jews are a small, wandering minority of Arabs who stole the Holy Land from the others 2,500 years ago.

5. They now run the world through the Illuminati, the Masonic Lodges, the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds.

6. The Jews are responsible for Italy's mess, because they own the banks that charge usurious interest rates.

7. The woman-hating mullahs in Iran represent ancient Persian civilization, the most advanced culture in the world.

8. Cancer chemotherapy is a Big Pharma conspiracy to kill patients.

9. GMO food will kill you, along with nanoparticles.

10. The Jews who run the world need to be "processed" en masse. Grillo supporters will not define "processed," but they love the idea. Whatever it means.

11. Beppe Grillo can save Italy by nationalizing the banks and cutting off trade to Europe. The fact that Italy is physically part of Europe is no impediment.

Gee. That has certain correspondences with the National Socialist movement that once ravaged Europe. Well it is some 70+ years on and it looks like they intend to ravage it again with their former allies the Islamic Fascists. Except this time it is not the Muslim Brotherhood. It is the Persian Fascists. Grillo's father-in-law is on the commercial side of those fascists. This article goes into that.

...Beppe Grillo is married to a lady born in Iran, where children soak up Death to Israel! Death to America! slogans ... every single day of the week. So do all the soldiers, bureaucrats, Revolutionary Guards, and the Basiji -- the regimes imported thugs from the countryside.

Beppe tells the world that "Everything I know about the Middle East I learned from my father-in-law!"

After marrying his Iranian wife, by some miracle, Beppe suddenly got a lot richer. His public career took off, and from being a comedian he became a politician. Or maybe just an idealistic truth-teller to a corrupt Italian state.

Beppe bought his motor yacht and his Ferrari, then purchased three separate villas.

Dad-in-law runs a giant construction business in Iran, where he has to lie in bed with the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards every day of his life.

So Beppe learns everything about the Middle East from his dad-in-law, who maybe gets it straight from the Ayatollah himself. (Who heard it directly from Allah.)

The Italians have learned nothing from their history. Perhaps we can learn something from their history and current events before it is too late.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Laws Prohibiting The Use Of The Endocannabinoid System

I was tracking my usual haunts and came across a petition headlined The Federal Government: Eliminate laws prohibiting the use of the endocannabinoid system.

Because every human being born has an endocannabinoid system, a network of receptors exclusively designed to capture cannabinoids and process them. Prohibiting the only source of cannabinoids, Cannabis, aka marijuana et al, prevents this receptor network from functioning. Everyone has this receptor network and everyone should be allowed to supply it.

That wording is a little clunky. I would have written that cannabis can aid the functions of the endocannabinoid network when necessary. But it fits in with something I have been saying:

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

So click the link above and sign the petition if you are a mind to.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Videos Like This Will Destroy The Republican Party

The video is from Montana PBS KUFM

Lots of good search terms in the video:

"Dr William C Woodward"
"DEA Judge Francis Young"
"chronic wasting cannabis"
"cannabis epilepsy"

CBD Science - HPLC Analysis

CB2

Changes in endocannabinoid levels and/or CB2 receptor expressions have been reported in almost all diseases affecting humans,[34] ranging from cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative, psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer. The prevalence of this trend suggests that modulating CB2 receptor activity by either selective CB2 receptor agonists or inverse agonists/antagonists depending on the disease and its progression holds unique therapeutic potential for these pathologies [34]

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept - heal the sick.

Pass it on.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

How I Intend To Destroy The Prohibition Party

Medical Marijuana prohibition is a crime against humanity and a violation of the religious precept – heal the sick.

Pass it on.

Grandma Should Smoke Pot

The Silver Tour
Patients Out Of Time - The History Of Medical Cannabis
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Citizens Opposing Prohibition

Dr. Raphael Mechoulam - video
Dr. Andrew Weil - video
Marijuana and Traffic Accidents
Omega-3 oils & marijuana may stave off Alzheimer’s
Lester Grinspoon, M.D. - Marijuana The Forbidden Medicine
Index Of Medical Conditions
Judge Gustin L. Reichbach - A Judge’s Plea for Pot - This is not a law-and-order issue; it is a medical and a human rights issue.
Yeah - the "Grandma" video is kinda long at about 30 minutes. It is worth every minute of your time. Oh. Yeah. Pass it on.

H/T The Weed Blog

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Mohamed Atta and the Venice Flying Circus

The video here goes into the heroin smuggling connection. Osama was well known as a heroin smuggler.

The al Qaeda terror group has embraced heroin trafficking to such an extent that its leader, Osama bin Laden, is now a "narco-terrorist," says a U.S. congressman just back from a fact-finding mission in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"It seems clear to me heroin is the No. 1 financial asset of Osama bin Laden," Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican, told The Washington Times. "There is a need to update our view of how terrorism is financed.

"And the view of Osama bin Laden relying on Wahhabi donations from abroad is outdated. And the view of him as one of the world's largest heroin dealers is the more accurate, up-to-date view."

Well this is interesting.

Dekkers, the owner of Huffman Aviation, purchased the flight school at just about the time the terrorist pilots moved into town and began their lessons. Atta and al-Shehhi paid $28,000 each for flight instruction that was available nearby for a fraction of the price. Yeslam bin Laden also provided several students for training at Huffman, though he claims to be estranged from his step-brother.224

Dekkers had reportedly been indicted in his native Holland on charges that included fraud and money laundering. More might have been known about Dekkers’ dubious history, but following 9/11, the FBI removed the files at Huffman, and loaded them onto a C-130 military cargo plane at the Sarasota airport, which took off for Washington with governor Jeb Bush on board.225

Wally Hilliard, Dekkers’ financier, entered the aviation business in Florida with an assortment of criminal and covert intelligence elements. Less than three months before the two terrorists began flight training, a Learjet owned by Hilliard, carrying 43 pounds of heroin, was seized by the DEA. Charges were dropped for “lack of evidence”, but the DEA refused to return Hilliard his plane. Hilliard had gotten his Learjet from World Jet Inc, owned by drug smuggling brothers Don and Bill Whittington, who had supplied Barry Seal his plane.226

Hilliard was then loaned a plane, a Beechcraft King Air 200, worth over $2 million, by Truman Arnold, for only one dollar. The plane was conveyed from Arnold to a Hilliard company, Oryx, founded by Sheikh Kamal Adham, former director of Saudi intelligence, and BCCI front-man, and Adnan Khashoggi.227

Is any of this true? Who knows? But as I said above. It is interesting.

Update: If you tuned in earlier I have changed the videos and some of the links to give a more complete picture. For instance the video on this page is a longer version of the original.

Eric in the comments reminds me of this post: Financing our enemies.

And if you want to follow more of Daniel Hopsicker's work go here.

Cross Posted at Classical Values.

Bringing A Little Light To The World™

Eric has a post up about a flashlight I'm developing. I'm not going to tell you everything about it in a public forum - yet. Let me just say that it is quite small and uses ordinary batteries. The prototype pictured below uses a standard 6 volt lantern battery case because they are low cost and have lots of room inside for doing different variations. Here is a picture Eric took of the prototype.

What I want to do next is to develop a version much closer to the final design. I also need to do more extensive testing including a more exact determination of battery life and operational temperature range. For that I'm going to need the help of a mechanical engineer and some cash. At this point I'm looking for Angels rather than investors because I have no vehicle that people can legally put money into in the hopes of a return. In fact that is one of the things that needs to be developed to make the light a commercial success. Eric and one of our commenters have been my Angels so far, so they are definitely in on the ground floor as is the First Mate who has helped me considerably by being a personal supporter of my efforts and doing a bunch of grunt work including pulling money out of her food budget when needed to make things happen.

Interested parties can leave a comment here or contact me by e-mail.

And if you are concerned about my engineering ability you can read my columns at ECN Magazine. I have done everything from commercial work to aerospace engineering with a focus on Research and Development.

Forgetting The Jewish Tradition

Commenter Joseph Hertzlinger comes up with the standard social conservative objection to my position on abortion. He thinks that the understanding that the fetus is a person is a brand new idea. Well brand new in terms of human history. Read the comments at the "Joseph Hertzlinger" link to get up to date on the Jewish position on abortion. Or read this: The Jewish Position On Abortion.

In any case, the claim that a child is not a person a moment before birth and is a person a moment after birth should be taken no more seriously than the claim that the universe is six thousand years old. If we can squeeze 19th-century paleontology into Judaism, we can squeeze 19th-century embryology into Judaism.

My reply to Joseph (revised and extended):

Joseph,

The idea that embryology creates a new fact contradicts what Hippocrates knew 2,500 years ago. And the long interaction between the Jews and the Greeks would indicate that the Jews got the message no more than 100 years after Hippocrates proclaimed it.

The Jewish idea stems from the fact that until the baby starts exiting from the mother that it is her property. The alternative is that the mother is the property of the State when she is pregnant. The Jews have a long libertarian tradition (mostly forgotten in practice) but you can read about it in Samuel.

=====

In fact Jesus was in part a reaffirmation of Jewish libertarianism. Which was corrupted by the Council of Nicaea. Clever those Romans.

=====

The Christians don't even know their own tradition. I think it is because they are ignorant of the Jewish tradition. It is why I often not so jokingly say. "Time to get back to the old time religion. If it was good enough for Jesus it is good enough for me."

===

There is no doubt that Jesus as a learned man knew of the Hippocratic Oath. And yet in the New Testament there is not one mention of abortion. You might want to ask yourself why. Might it be that he agreed with the Jewish position?

Cross Posted at Classical Values