Medical news
15-year-old invents new test for early, reliable detection of pancreatic cancer
(Mercola.com VIA FND) “Yes, a 15-year-old boy named Jack Andraka has done what scientists with millions of dollars-worth of research grants at their disposal have failed to do. He invented a dipstick-type sensor to detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer that is: * 168 times faster * 26,000 times less expensive, and * 400 times more sensitive than the current standard of detection … And he did it using Google and Wikipedia as his primary research tools — online resources that are available to virtually anyone on the planet with an internet connection. What’s more, the test costs three cents, takes five minutes, and has a 90 percent accuracy rate. Compare that to the current standard, which employs 60-year-old technology, costs about $800, and misses 30 percent of all pancreatic cancers.” [hat tip — Christian Butterbach] (03/04/13)

Nathan: Anyone want to bet that some (or several) government agency will decide that this isn’t acceptable and must undergo years of “rigorous testing” so that it can be delayed and let million die prematurely?

Mama’s Note: Oh, I’m sure that the government will TRY to do that. But it won’t make any difference if this young man goes “open source” with it… publishes the particulars so people can make their own, just as with the 3D printing of gun parts and, soon, whole guns. You can’t unring a bell.

Stupid people – Stupid government
New York: Man gets summonses … for laughing out loud!
(Source: San Francisco Chronicle) “A New York man says he didn’t know it was a crime to laugh. Robert Schiavelli of Rockville Centre, on Long Island, was slapped with two summonses for ‘disturbing the peace.’ Police responded to his home on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 after receiving complaints from his next-door neighbor that his loud laughs could be heard across the driveway. … At his arraignment Tuesday, a judge declined to dismiss the charges.” [editor’s note: The Onion will soon be out of business if crap like this continues to actually happen in “real life” – SAT] (03/06/13)

Nathan: We’ve all had neighbors like this, but the laughers are NOT as annoying as the Mrs. Grundy types who think we all should be in jail if we do anything to annoy them.  Sadly, the Mrs. Grundy types are also the ones who get elected to office and tell the cops to do this – or they are the cop’s parents who raised their stinking little brats to become jackbooted thugs.

Mama’s Note: Indeed. As they say, good fences make good neighbors. If you have to live in sardine cans, make sure they are well insulated. I can’t imagine living that close to other people myself – at least not on purpose.

Thuggish local tyranny
Minnesota: Family fights county’s abduction, torture of infant boy
(Austin Daily Herald) “Local family members have been pleading their case for more than a month to regain custody of their nearly 3-month-old baby. However, county officials and doctors are hesitant, given the potential circumstances: Tests show the child is HIV positive. But they clearly have other concerns, as well; specifically, an antiretroviral therapy (ART) the family spoke out against in the past. Mower County Human Services [abducted] the child, Rico Martinez Nagel, from Lindsey Nagel and John Martinez’s custody on Jan. 18 …. doctors maintain that the child must stay on ART, and that is listed in the request for [the child’s abduction].” (03/05/13)

Nathan: Can I find a more hypocritical action on the part of doctors and courts and county officials than this?  Three months ago, Lindsey could have paid a doctor (or have welfare pay a doctor) to suck Rico out of her womb, killing him – because it is “her choice” as a woman to get rid of a “parasite” – or a “lump of tissue.”  But now the county and courts claim that she is incompetent to make a decision regarding her child.  It isn’t about the child, it is about control.

Congress in action – GOP idiots-in-charge
GOP Leaders Break 72-Hr Pledge: Rush 269-Page $982B CR to Vote 47 Hrs After Posting
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Sorry, but can ANYONE tell me just ONE pledge since, oh, 1994 (the “Republican Revolution), that the GOP Congressional Leadership has NOT broken?  Why should THIS be any different.  They can’t stand OTHER people whinging.

The “messiah” – It’s fah the chilrun
White House Tours, Arranged by Congress, Closed; But White House Easter Egg Roll Is Still On
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Can’t let those little impressionable minds think that guvmint can’t give them all their hearts’ desires, now can we?

American front – Tranzi losses
Hugo Chavez Dies; Anointed Successor Already Polishing Anti-U.S. Credentials
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Oh, dear, another would be Bolivar or Napoleon.  Just what tired old Venezuela needs.  Of course, one commenter pointed out that it could be an opportunity to replay post-Tito Yugoslavia or post-Saddam Mesopotamia or not-so-post-Assad Syria: is it another opportunity for the US to mess with someone else?

Stupid government – Government-run, tax-funded schools
Chicago Will Require Kindergarteners to Take Sex Ed
(CNSNews.com)

Nathan: Well, considering what California pre-schools have happening, I guess that it is “easy” to see why they would do that.  More crudely, I suppose the mayor and his minions (including the cops) are wanting more servicing from their inferiors, and since so many Chicago teens never make it past their legal age of consent (all those smuggled guns, you know) they have to start them early?  What kind of SICK society teaches five-year-olds about sex?

Mama’s Note: Well, certainly not in “school.” My two boys learned about “sex” the old fashioned way, because we had farm animals. They managed to watch the whole cycle of reproduction from about the age of three. When it came time to explain human sexuality, it was no big deal.