God, the Father, is being an irresponsible parent by letting wars, torture, pain and anguish continually occur amongst his children without doing anything to stop it. No striking anyone down with lightning; only random and baseless floods. It's time to sue God and report Him to the children services agency.
The Japanese robot moon base is a spectacular announcement. It provides the ability to perform all kind of work and activity on the moon without the burden of human life support, or risk to humans considering cosmic radiation cancer risk, silica moon dust hazards, etc.
But here on Slashdot, many respond with nationalistic bickering and insults. Shouldn't this tech-savvy bunch be smarter and above this?
Maybe humans in their present physical and psychological state aren't meant for really space? Off World will end up being a refuge for the robots and replicants.
Darwinism again in action. So let's just have a nanny state and "protect" everyone from their genetic information.
"Not at all. The issue here isn't statistics. It's that less-than-brilliant people could potentially be making huge, life-changing decisions based on this test."
Maybe Darwinism should take its course.
"Yes, the tests might give you an idea about your risks for certain health problems, but there is no real benefit to these kits. The same testing (or better) is available through labs, if someone feels it's necessary."
These genetic test kits are processed by CLIA-certified labs using state of the art equipment (Illumina for example - http://www.illumina.com/systems/iscan.ilmn ).
"Not to mention, as someone said above, family history is a pretty accurate (and free) way to get similar information."
Not if: 1) you don't know who your family is; and 2) there's a history of mis-diagnosis. Looking at a family that is now recognizing widespread Celiac Disease and gluten-intolerance, decades of past GI-related ailments in deceased family members including ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, colon and esophageal cancer suggests a common basis that was never considered in individual cases. I've seen bad drug interactions diagnosed as epilepsy, peanut allergies diagnosed as candida to chronic infections, other food allergies diagnosed as Barrett's esophagus, allergies diagnosed as personality disorders, etc., etc., etc...
The kits that Walgreens proposed having in their stores seemed to have an element of bait and switch in them (low initial cost followed by a variety of add-ons), so the tests packages should be clear as to what the consumer is really getting. On the other hand there are big pharm companies making huge amounts of money off consumers who neither understand their meds, nor side-effects/contradictions, nor general effectiveness, nor how lifestyle changes can often be far more effective than the meds they're prescribed.
As soon as I heard about the iPad 3G, the first thing I though of was velcro-attaching it to the dashboard to use as a GPS unit, with full true Google Maps functionality ("My Maps"). A couple of 3m Command Jumbo Hook "velcro" strips should hold an iPad on the dash just fine, until some company makes a decent suction mount.
Never heard of Mark Fiore before Apple making a stink out of an app. Checked out Fiore's website and love it, can't wait for the iPad app !!
The Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO) sued the City of Chicago this morning, charging that because of the meter deal taxpayer money is illegally being used to benefit a private company, Chicago Parking Meters LLC. You can click on to the Chicago Reader blog story here...
Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke of the Chicago Reader have been excellent investigative journalists uncovering the corrupt parking meter fiasco. What it comes down to is the meters being sold off for peanuts ($1.5 billion over 75 years is nothing), and the public's right to know trashed. Clauses in the meter contract have been said to inhibit transportation innovation in the city. If one wanted to expand bike lanes or add streetcars and needed to remove meters to facilitate that, the city would have to pay LAZ/Morgan Stanley for lost revenue. Here's a link to their blog postings on the Chicago parking meters...
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ArticleArchives?tag=parking%20meters
And hats off to the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), finally someone steps up to sue the City of Chicago. I'm becoming a member today...
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion
