Monday, January 29, 2024

Tom Cotton Demands War With Iran

Sen. Tom Cotton (R) Arkansas, has demanded the United States start a war with Iran in response to US Forces in Syria being hit by Iranian-backed proxies, resulting in the death of three US soldiers and about twenty-five wounded. The incident is the latest in a series of back-and-forth attacks between US forces and militant groups in Syria, though the first time that US forces have gotten the worst of it.

Tom Cotton said "The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East," said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a longtime supporter of war with Iran. "Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief."

So the Senator is calling Biden a coward if he doesn't start the war that Arkansas-born general Wesley Clark has claimed the neo-cons in Washington have been after for decades.

My question is, what are US forces even doing in Syria, besides stealing oil that does not belong to us? President Trump ordered US troops out of Syria, and two of the neo-cons he surrounded himself with resigned rather than carry out the order and the rest simply lied to him about US troop levels in Syria and never carried out the order. 

Did Congress ever authorize US troops to invade Syria and take over the oil-rich section of the country? No. They filtered in without congressional approval and stayed despite Trump giving the order to pull them out. The Deep State has its own agenda and war is on that agenda. The neo-cons (from both major parties) like Cotton are dragging us into a war they have tried to engineer for decades. They have finally got the dead US servicemen they need to drag us into this thing, but the servicemen should have never been there in the first place. It isn't worth the life of one Delta farm boy. We have our own oil, and besides that as Trump said of the place "there is nothing there but sand and death."







Saturday, June 03, 2023

Breakthrough: Autism Studies Point to a Treatment

Excess neuronal N2O is what causes most of the symptoms of autism, that is the conclusion of several studies. 

This recent astonishing study (summary) showed that mice genetically engineered to have autism were successfully treated by an application of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor, 7-nitroindazole (7-NI or S-nitroso-N-acetyl penicillamine), for 10 consecutive days. They tested two types of mice with different autism-inducing mutations. In one type treatment reversed autism symptoms in both sexes, the other reversed them in males.

This study shows not only that oxidative stress from N2O contributes to autism pathology, but that there is another compound (NDGA) which helps the body convert N2O into the non-deleterious form also effectively treats autistic symptoms.  

Here is yet a third study that shows yet another N2O inhibitor (catechin hydrate)(or convertor to another form) successfully treats autistic symptoms in rodents.

Indeed, even curcumin seems to have some positive effect, though I suspect it is mopping up the damage after the excess N2O is created rather than cutting of the problem at its core. Also, the study was done on rats where autism-like symptoms were artificially induced whereas the other studies also used rodents genetically modified to have autism. Just as in the Revesterol study, which also had positive results for the same reason. I don’t say these two will be effective as they are general, not nervous-system targeted, and deal with mopping up the damaging excess N2O after it has been present.

You may say “but that was with rodents”. It turns out they have understood the connection for years. Here is a human study from 2013 where children were given a compound (sapropterin) that was more broadly targeted but also impacted N2O. It is an anti-fungal too I believe, so it may be promising for more than one reason. It showed significant improvement on some but not all of the spectrum. And they suspected even then that it was the effect on NO that was making the difference. They also did a human study with the closely related Tetrahydrobiopterin and found that it did not improve everything but did improve social awareness, autism mannerisms, hyperactivity, and inappropriate speech. This was ten years ago. 

I suspect that if their brain had years to heal and repair, they would see improvements in the other areas too. Take a brain that has been battered by long-term immune response, just because you remove the source of the abuse doesn't mean the brain heals right away. 

The epilepsy/bipolar drug I had noticed before was effective if the cause of autism is a mutation in a particular gene, but the N2O theory of autism would apply to a wide variety of stem issues. There are lots of ways the N2O balance could be off, and restoring the balance would treat a wide variety of things that could lead to the same issue.

The body needs N2O. So using a general inhibitor over a long time without monitoring would be too risky. Inhibition interventions are best when targeted and there is monitoring of levels from time to time. But leaving the nervous system with all of this excess is a known problem.

Monday, May 01, 2023

Ediacaran Forms Don't Explain Cambrian Forms

I want to preserve this snippet of an online debate I had for re-use. People seem to think that the presence of Ediacaran forms somehow means they were ancestors or relatives of the Cambrian forms. Despite some inevitable superficial similarities, every time they look at ideas like this in detail they find out the connection cannot be supported by the evidence. Here I answer a post where they tried that, along with the usual "they existed we just don't have fossils". 

*************

I don't see how any position could be less reasonable than what you are suggesting. Any proposed natural explanation must be accepted over a Divine explanation, even one that fits with the evidence. Why, because we are doing science here? No we are not. We are debating whether something beyond nature, and thus not detectable by science, was involved. Yet here you are, still attempting to impose philosophical naturalism on the terms of the discourse. Nothing seems possible if you a priori refuse to consider it.

Differences in fossilization rates may be a field of study, but we have fossils, even tiny trace fossils, from before. We have fossils of hard stuff and fossils of soft stuff. There was nothing about the earth which prevented fossilization. The obvious conclusion is that fossils were rare before the Cambrian because animals were rare. The Cambrian is thick with fossils. Instead of accepting the evidence you are coming up with hypothesis which contradict all known evidence to explain the absence of the evidence you need to be there. The sample size is the earth. If there are a tiny amount of fossils from the period in question, the obvious conclusion is it wasn't there. Indeed my link provided evidence for the position that the putative ancestors of sponges weren't there, and I can provide similar peer-reviewed studies that make the case for other forms. I doubt it would move you though as your mind appears closed to evidence with dogma predominant.

//The scientific explanations are things that are known to exist and have known properties. If the supernatural were known to exist then maybe, based on the demonstrated properties of the supernatural, we could include it in the conversation too//

The supernatural is known to exist, it just can't be verified by science because science by definition is blind to it even if it does exist. So demanding scientific evidence for the supernatural makes as much sense as demanding supernatural evidence that nature is all that there is. You have stated the truth- you are not willing to include the supernatural in the conversation. I am saying you should open your mind to it.

//You think you have a "gotcha" because scientists are debating whether spriggina was an arthropod or just similar to an arthropod. //

It didn't even have bi-lateral symmetry. We don't even known if it would be classified as an animal, much less an arthropod. It is not a credible arthropod ancestor so talking about superficial similarities is irrelevant.

//They debate whether something they found is a pre-cambrian sponge or some kind of mineral formation or some kind of sponge-like-but-not-exactly-a-sponge kind of organism.//

And I presented a long study that showed in detail why they were mineral formations and their is no good evidence for sponges until the Cambrian. You are acting like these are small differences. One conclusion supports my case strongly and the other yours. I show you studies explaining why a close look at the evidence supports my conclusion and you just go right back to the could-bes as if I had not made my case.

// Kimberella is a candidate for a pre-cambrian chordate ancestor//

No, it isn't. 15 years ago they thought so, but they tested the hypothesis and found it wanting. Here is how WIki puts it..

"These traces, named Radulichnus and Kimberichnus, have been interpreted as circumstantial evidence for the presence of a radula. In conjunction with the univalve shell, this has been taken to indicate Kimberella was a mollusc or very closely related to molluscs.[8] In 2001 and 2007 Fedonkin suggested that the feeding mechanism might be a retractable proboscis with hook-like organs at its end.[11] Kimberella′s feeding apparatus appears to differ significantly from the typical mollusc radula, and this demonstrates that Kimberella is at best a stem-group mollusc.[19] Notably, the scratch marks indicate that the 'teeth' were dragged towards the organism, not pushed away as in molluscs, and that the maximum impact on the sediment was when the mouthpart was furthest from the organism.[20] The direction of grazing is also backwards, as opposed to forwards as in molluscs.[20] Furthermore, the constant width of grooves implies stereoglossy – a trait that is very derived in molluscs.[21] It has been argued that the shape of the feeding traces is incompatible with a radula, and that despite the molluscan body form, the lack of a radula places Kimberella well outside the molluscan crown group.[10] Butterfield points out that plenty of other groups of organisms bear structures capable of making similar marks.[3][22]

Taken together, sceptics doubt that the available evidence is enough to reliably identify Kimberella as a mollusc or near-mollusc, and suggest that it is presumptuous to call it anything more than a "possible" mollusc,[7] or even just a "probable bilaterian".[3]"

//Arkarua is a candidate for a pre-cambrian echinoderm ancestor.//

Again, not a good one. Again, you don't have to go any further than Wiki to know why....

"This identification rem
ains suspect, as the fossils do not appear to have either madreporites, or plates of stereom, a unique crystalline form of calcium carbonate from which echinoderm skeletons are built. These two features are diagnostic of all other echinoderms, as all extinct and extant echinoderms have either one, the other, or both features present.[2]"

//but for you to imply that nothing is known and no fossils have been found and scientists are totally in the dark is purely dishonest.//

Me being dishonest? I didn't imply "nothing is known", my point is that a great deal is known and it all directs to the same conclusion- the Cambrian biota show up suddenly, with great diversity, and no good candidates for their ancestral forms. All pointing to more than nature at work. You keep grasping one straw after another of outdated hypotheses to try and show some way that the evidence points in a different direction and I keep giving one specific fact after another to show why these speculations are incorrect and won't help you.

Friday, April 07, 2023

The Biggest Disgrace of the Legislative Session Happens Every Session

 Nick Horton of Opportunity Arkansas thinks the biggest disgrace of the session is suspending the rules of transparency and accountability to ram through a bunch of bills at the last minute. The legislators don't even have a chance to read them, and can no longer ask for a study of how much they would cost! I agree with him. This makes a farce of the legislative process.

The man excuse seems to be "this happens every time". Yes, and it is a disgrace every time and no one will do anything to fix it. Senator Bryan King tried. He pushed for a change in the rules that would limit the number and timing of bills that Senators could introduce. They shrugged him off. The system is broken and a farce, and very few of them seem willing to do anything about it. 

Monday, December 26, 2022

Cotton, Boozman, Safely Re-elected, vote for Omnibus Bill with Many Gun Control Provisions

  Gun owners of America gave a few of the worst examples of anti-2nd Amendment provisions in the Omnibus Act......

🚩Massive 14.1% ATF budget increase to facilitate Biden’s Pistol ban 

🚩50% increase for the ATF part of the budget that maintains the illegal near-billion record gun registry 
🚩$700+ million in funding available to bribe states to pass “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation Laws 
🚩 Money for anti-gun CDC research while the agency suppresses self-defense statistics 

Eighteen Republican Senators joined the Democrats to pass this measure. Two of them were Tom Cotton and John Boozman. Tom Cotton talks a good game, but when the chips are down supports the establishment. This was also recently shown by his support for Mitch McConnell as Majority Leader. McConnell was another one of the 18 Republican votes for the measure, along with the usual suspects like Romney and Susan Collins. 

Boozman doesn't even talk a good game, except sometimes during the six weeks before the election. He's mostly silent and inert as the Republic collapses around our ears. I'll let you form your own opinion as to which approach is the worst. ...The guy who doesn't even pretend he is representing us or the guy who does when he's really on the establishment team. 

Monday, November 14, 2022

Cotton, Quoting Pro Wrestler Quoting FB Coach, Will Back McConnell

 When a unit under performs for a long time and the leader of that unit has sufficient authority and resources, it is almost always the fault of the leader. Especially when they use those resources in a way that undermines part of their own brand. Donald Trump has blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls a lot of campaign funds, for the poor performance of Republican senate candidates. There is discontent, and not a few have suggested that McConnell be replaced as Leader. 

When the chips are down, you can count on Senator Tom Cotton to let his true establishment colors show. Citing the wisdom off a pro wrestler citing a football coach, he is supporting McConnell

Tuesday, November 01, 2022

Lockdown and Vaxx Authoritarians Now Selectively Appeal to Single Christian Virtue- Forgiveness (for Them)

 "The Atlantic" has come under harsh criticism for suggesting that people should let bygones be bygones concerning the vast harmed caused by authoritarian lock-down and vaccination policies. Zerohhedge has an article citing numerous responses from angry people who lost loves ones, who have been disabled, or whose mothers had to die alone, due to useless authoritarian measures and under-tested vaccines that have been increasingly shown to be unsafe. Those who implemented these measures are now suggesting that "forgiveness" is in order. 

These are in large part the same people who reject God and take pains to expunge Christian values from all of society in exchange for the shifting sands of their own opinions. Yet when caught in monstrous crimes against their neighbors, they selectively appeal to the primary Christian virtue of forgiveness. Not for your sins against them, mind you. You are still to be held to full account for each and every perceived micro-aggression. They mean that you are to forgive them. Not due to their heart-felt repentance, but rather their desire to evade justice and accountability.

Well, scripture is something that I know a little bit about. I've a Youtube channel that is primarily devoted to the study of Genesis for example. And I've noticed that the same bible that says "love your enemies" and forgive them also says that government is supposed to be a minister of God to honor those who do good AND bring wrath on evil doers.

So yes, the Christian ideal is that we should forgive those who sin against us, and that civil government should punish them. It is a tension. There are two things that are true at once that seem in conflict in this world but the conflict is resolved in Christ.

So in practical terms, if you were to write an encouraging letter to a penitent Anthony Fauci as he serves his life sentence, you would be doing well. If you were to feed a hungry former doctor or bureaucrat who has been stripped of all of their possessions as partial compensation to their victims, then you would be doing a good thing. Unlike the woke mob, Christians do have mercy and do forgive. But this does not mean that we do not also pursue justice.

Friday, October 28, 2022

Democrat Candidate for Auditor of State Arrested

 The Democrats were careful to say that "we did not recruit her to run". Wow. Terroristic threatening of a Judge? This is not jaywalking! So they tossed her right under the bus. 

Arkansas Democrats, your party just gave you "permission" to vote for Libertarian Simeon Snow for Auditor of state. Not that you ever needed it. 

Thursday, October 06, 2022

Libertarians Win Ballot Access Case (Again)

Federal Judge Kristine Baker ruled in favor of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas and against Secretary of State John Thurston on Friday, saying the states recent changes to ballot access law for new parties was unconstitutional on six counts. The party only had 2020 ballot access due to an injunction against enforcing the law until the constitutionality of the law was determined. That access is now assured.

Among the complaints, the state legislature had changed the number of voter signatures required for ballot access from 10,000 to 3% of the vote (over 26,000 at the last election), and that new parties should not have to file with the major parties 425 days before the election because new parties nominate by caucus and thus do not participate in the primary. Regarding the timing and the level of scrutiny the state should undergo, in 2019 I was plaintiff in a case that touched on the same issue for independents and my case was a primary cite for the court in determining those issues. 

Congratulations to the Libertarians for winning in court. The state legislature has a rather thuggish habit of waiting a decade or so until the judges are not looking and changing the law back again. This upcoming documentary will investigate that shameful record. 


Saturday, July 02, 2022

Bragging About Corruption in Broad Daylight

 


---

The "Arkansas Economic Development Commission" hands out taxpayer money to favored business interests. The overall philosophy of the commission can be taken from their own about page where they describe Arkansas as a place where we have "a streamlined state government designed to act on corporate interests quickly and decisively." I haven't noticed the same amount of responsiveness towards us everyday flesh and blood citizens. 

So it appears that this state commission which hands out taxpayer dollars has an executive director who gets a big bonus every year from a private group. Hey, what do you call it when a state official gets money from private interests for doing their job a certain way? Everywhere else on this planet, it is called a bribe. Usually, it is done in secret. In Arkansas, it is called a "performance bonus" and it is done in broad daylight. They brag about it like it is something good for the state. 

Would there be, after maybe one or two degrees of separation, a connection between the people who fund this "Economic Development Foundation" and those who benefit from the taxpayer funded largess of the Commission? You can bet on it. If we had an actual media in this state with real investigative journalists instead of frauds who are only there to parrot and defend the establishment's looting, you would already know about these connections, because the media would be talking about it. 

Instead, they, including Michael Wickline who wrote this bit, are hip-deep in this effort to con the public into accepting this open bribery of public officials as normal behavior. Then, to add insult to injury, Wickline attacks independent forces that are trying to clean up state government, like Conduit for Action and Bryan King. Not only will pseudo-journalists like Wickline refuse to do their job, they actually attack others who try to do what they are supposed to be doing.

Remember Moore's Media Maxim: The establishment media does not exist to inform the public. The establishment media exists to protect the establishment. 



Friday, June 17, 2022

The NRA is Not Your Friend

 In Arkansas, we have an independent state-based gun rights group (Gunowners of Arkansas) that hasn't been captured by the establishement or become rife with corruption. But if you look at the history, if you look at the record listed at the bottom of this post, you will see that the NRA have been controlled opposition tasked with incrementally negotiting away our rights for some time. 

Further, there is an Arizona group trying to expose the corruption in the NRA. They mailed me a flyer that I found very interesting. Here is the front page. Click on image for a larger view. 


Here is an interview in which the #2 in Gun Owners of Arkanas talks about the real work of the NRA and shows why a legislator who is NRA endorsed (Bob Ballinger) actually writes terrible gun bills.....




Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Primary Surprises, Not Surprises

 A good summary of the Arkansas 2022 Primary Election Results can be found here

Insurgent candidates for state-wide offices and congressional seats were thrashed. I've been telling my friends for years that you don't take on the establishment choice in the primary of that party. Not for big offices where you are not personally known by many of the voters. Try running as an independent or start a new party. Then you have all the way to November to get your message out and you are not after a group of primary voters that your opponent is going to have Orwellian level data collection on. 

If you don't have the money they have, at least you both have the same amount of time. When time is in short supply, money is going to be even more dominant. They've never listened. And the results yesterday were quite similar to what they have been for the last twenty years....insurgents get thrashed. Even the ones who are good candidates. 

Doc Washburn didn't even get 20 percent for Governor on the Republican side. Chris Jones dominated on the Democrat side. Jan Morgan did about the same for U.S. Senate. Conrad Reynolds was in my mind a more serious candiate than Morgan, and did better against Congressman French Hill, but still only got 41%  of the vote. Party people are often herd people and they tend to go which way the herd goes. Outsider campaings only work if you are a billionaire who is aleady a household name with basically your own media and you are better than the news anchors at working that media. IOW, Donald Trump is an anomoly. 

Boozman won big. The Democrats passed on former Independent Dan Whitfield to elect Natalie James. There was no real Democrat establishment candidate in that race as the big money interests who run the DPA (and the RPA) are fine with Boozman and are going to let Ms. James twist in the wind with no support this November. I don't think Whitfield would have beat Boozman either, but he would have made the race a lot more fun. 

The only close aspect in the state-wide offices was that Leslie Rutledge managed to avoid a run-off in a six way race - which is pretty impressive when you think about it. She may have also ended a couple of political careers that needed to be ended with their poor performances, though I look for Washington County Judge Joseph Wood to have a future for local offices. 

The State Senate level and below is where insurgent campaigns can under some circumstances have a chance, because at that level people are more likely to vote on personal knowledge of the candidate or their family and less likely to take cues from party brass. Add to that ...this cycle gave us re-drawn district lines so that some incumbents were put in disadvantaged situation compared to the norm. If there is ever a time to make insurgency work, it is after redistricting. 

In District 3 Alderman Steve Crowell beat Senator Charles Beckham. In district six, JP Matt McKee unseated establishment Republican Senator Bill Sample. In Senate district 22 on the Republican side, establishment tool James Sturch finds himself six points behind and in a runoff facing State Rep. John Payton. 

State Senate District 28 is of the most interest to me- Incumbent Bob Ballinger drew four primary opponents and a Democrat opponent in November, due in large part to a serious of dubious ties and scandals, along with a general failure to do his job well. One of them is the man he unseated four years ago, the top vote-getter Bryan King. Back when we were voting "Ten Best" and "Ten Worst" legislators, Bryan King nabbed the top spot after being rated #2 twice. Ballinger made the top ten once himself, before his substance had time to put perspective on his talk. King isn't a corpoprate sock-puppet and he isn't a reactionary demogogue. So I'm wondering if a guy like that still has a place in today's GOP. We will see in a few short weeks. 

District 35 will also have a run-off but there was no incumbent there. Tyler Dees faces Rep. Gayla Hendren-McKenzie. If a Hendren loses up there, it could be the start of the end of a dynasty. 

There are 100 house seats in Arkansas. Only seven will have run-off elections. And that's weighted to the Republican side. The Democrat party in this state is woefully under-competitive. So is the Republican side in my opinion, but that's what happens when the establishment tips the scales too often. Outsiders start getting smart and quit signing up for an unfair fight. 

Karen Baker held her seat against a challenge from Gunner Delay. We may need a recount for the court of appeals race between Wendy Wood and Stephanie Cassidy. With judges, it is true we elect them, but by law they can't tell us much about what kind of judge they would be, so the elections we have in my mind are not as legitimate example of public expression as other office.....or at least they wouldn't be if the two establishment parties didn't have a near choke-hold on ballot access.