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Liberty's Edge

A thread for sharing and discussing major news stories of the day.

Sufferers of 'locked in syndrome' able to communicate for first time via scan of brain activity

As this syndrome makes it impossible for the person to move any part of their body it has long been believed to be a hellish existence. However, all the participants in the studay were able to answer yes/no personal questions, proving that they were really communicating, and reported that they were happy with their quality of life.


I read about that yesterday. Very interesting.

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Yeah, though I keep having this nagging thought that the technology won't really take off until they figure out how to use it for video games... or porn.


LOL true that.


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Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

The scarier part would be is if things can be 'read', they can be 'adjusted'...


Kids see london, kids see France, kids dont see no.....

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Jobs growth continues

Now at 83 consecutive months of job growth. By far the longest uninterrupted streak since record keeping began.


The world's smallest whale, the Vaquita Porpoise, is down to only 30 individuals

Welp, looks like the Baiji, Steller's Sea Cow, Sea Mink, Caribbean Monk Seal, and Japanese Sea Lion are going to have some company soon :(

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It is horrible when we wipe out species due to converting their habitat for human use... but that we put creatures at risk or destroy them for 'medicinal purposes' that have no basis in reality is just sick.

I find myself wishing that when stocks of 'virility giving' animal parts are captured they would be infused with chemical castration materials and then re-introduced to the black market.

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New robot carries luggage/groceries and follows owner

It can also be given a programmed route to walk your dog.

I have been expecting something like this to become common for delivery functions. As in, instead of some guy in an old car delivering your pizza there'd be a little robot/car with a locked compartment that you can open by swiping a credit card or other ID. This seems to have most of the required functionality.


It's not from today, but is relatively recent and good news.

Tests are promising for a usb device that can test HIV viral load of blood samples.

This is huge for places that lack access to reliable lab/testing space, particularly impoverished areas hard hit in Africa.

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Israel's parliament says settlements are now legal

The nation's high court is expected to disagree.


no news for today

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Putin may 'gift' Snowden to Trump

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Secretary General condemns North Korean missile test

An ego-maniacal regime with long range missiles? What could possibly go wrong?

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Catapult used to hurl drugs over US-Mexico border

Who sez Golarion tech has no practical application in the modern world? :]

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Federal appeals court rules assault weapons not covered by 2nd amendment

NRA going into complete meltdown in 5... 4... 3...


...I definitely expect an appeal on that one, yes.

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Rednal wrote:
...I definitely expect an appeal on that one, yes.

The only remaining possible appeal would be to the Supreme Court... and they've already declined to take a few other cases upholding bans on semi-automatic weapons.

Indeed, the SCOTUS Heller decision, which created the 'individual right' to bear arms, specifically stated that it did not apply to weapons which were primarily designed for military applications (citing the M-16 as an example).

The thing which was significant about this ruling, aside from the fact that it was a 10 to 4 finding with both liberals and conservatives on the majority side, is that it found that such weapons aren't even included in the definition of 'arms' as applicable to the 2nd amendment... only hand guns (with clips of 10 or less), hunting rifles, shotguns, and the like are protected. Military weapons, "and their copies" (like the AR-16) are excluded. If upheld, that would take the 2nd amendment off the table for such weapons and allow them to be easily banned in any jurisdiction (e.g. federal, state, county... even local town ordinances).


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CBDunkerson wrote:
Rednal wrote:
...I definitely expect an appeal on that one, yes.

The only remaining possible appeal would be to the Supreme Court... and they've already declined to take a few other cases upholding bans on semi-automatic weapons.

Indeed, the SCOTUS Heller decision, which created the 'individual right' to bear arms, specifically stated that it did not apply to weapons which were primarily designed for military applications (citing the M-16 as an example).

The thing which was significant about this ruling, aside from the fact that it was a 10 to 4 finding with both liberals and conservatives on the majority side, is that it found that such weapons aren't even included in the definition of 'arms' as applicable to the 2nd amendment... only hand guns (with clips of 10 or less), hunting rifles, shotguns, and the like are protected. Military weapons, "and their copies" (like the AR-16) are excluded. If upheld, that would take the 2nd amendment off the table for such weapons and allow them to be easily banned in any jurisdiction (e.g. federal, state, county... even local town ordinances).

If it's appealed and struck down, I suspect it'll be on the grounds that the reference in Heller was intended to apply to full auto assault rifles, not to civilian semi-auto knock offs.

Which is kind of difficult to argue against. Such weapons have long been more strictly limited with little controversy.


I said I expected an appeal, not that I was sure the appeal would be taken up. XD


Well AR parts are at 10 year lows so stock up now.

In other news, #changepopeyesweriot

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Also, the possibility of eventually locating intelligent life somewhere in the universe just increased substantially

Which is good, because we apparently aren't going to find any on this planet.

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House of Lords fights elitism in support of immigrants... House of Commons sez no way!

I really don't understand UK government. Like, at all.


'Trump of the East' President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philipines starts seeing resistance from the Catholic Church after 7 months' of bloodshed slaughtering more than 7,000 Filipinos in his 'war on crime'.

Earlier articles linked at the bottom include:

Draft bill before the legislature wants to set the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9

Duterte talks severely nasty trash about a Senator, alleging she sleeps with her driver and suggesting she hang herself after a conveniently timed fall from grace after voicing criticisms.


Just found this today: Ongoing police strike in Brazil since 4th February results in widespread looting, robbery, murder and probably worse.


North Korea says the missiles it launched this past Monday was practice to hit U.S. military bases in Japan.

Dictactor-dude, are you trying to start a war with a short-fused Entertainer-in-Chief suffering from a persecution complex who may very well say " Bring it, Bro " with anything vaguely resembling casus belli?!

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Yeah, though on the other hand... they've got a lot in common. Maybe they'll be bros like Trump and Putin.


CBDunkerson wrote:
Yeah, though on the other hand... they've got a lot in common. Maybe they'll be bros like Trump and Putin.

Chuckling

Trump doesn't seem inclined to recognize North Korea's Dear Leader as an equal. Far as I can tell on a quick look, he barely acknowledges his existence. Maybe Trump envies Kim's absolute 'adoration'? ;)

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