tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5562646842824932830..comments2024-03-18T17:09:55.964-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Getting the lead out: a quirky tale of saving the worldDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37640430514895197752022-10-15T04:32:31.904-07:002022-10-15T04:32:31.904-07:00@Alex Tolley
I remember when this report and the s...@Alex Tolley<br />I remember when this report and the studies it is based on came out over 10 years ago, I considered it pretty much the direct connection between lead and crime levels.<br />https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2858639/<br />See the section on Effect of Lead on Neurodevelopment<br />Even low levels of lead will affect development of the pre-frontal cortex around the age of 2. <br /><br />Note that as the removal of lead paint and TEL decreased their factor in the environmental presence of lead and exposure for children, many others remain.<br />https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/contaminants/lead/common-sources-lead-poisoning<br />One which seems to affect a specific community is firearms use when care isn't taken with decontamination or when cleaning firearms (my granpappy cleaned his gun on the kitchen table and if it's good enough for him then it's good enough for me!)<br />https://www.healthywa.wa.gov.au/Articles/J_M/Lead-exposure-and-firearms-useIklawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17979221818730375959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44816043619605318932021-02-15T06:57:17.280-08:002021-02-15T06:57:17.280-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.buygold jewelery onlinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12956931367360609903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64924363990981943442020-10-29T03:57:20.178-07:002020-10-29T03:57:20.178-07:00Nice article, very nicely explained, Also checkout...Nice article, very nicely explained, Also checkout: <a href="http://zipleaf.auz.net/Companies/Supple" rel="nofollow">Best Seo and Webdesign company in Australia</a> <br />Kate Westallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12813870888355883912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41998638751389467842014-04-03T08:04:03.855-07:002014-04-03T08:04:03.855-07:00Amazing that the role of the catalytic converter i...Amazing that the role of the catalytic converter is overlooked here. Those were added to reduce pollution - but mainly from unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, which created visible pollution that people could readily see and understand. NOT because of popular demand to "get the lead out". So they were mandated.<br /><br />And it happened that they couldn't be used with leaded gas - they stopped being effective and gave off a rotten egg stench if you did. So they were made mandatory - again, not in order to eliminate lead, but to reduce visible pollution. Yes, of course, reduced lead was recognized as a side benefit, but was not the primary motivator for public acceptance.<br /><br />Naturally many idiots of the day tried to disable the devices, so they could keep using cheaper leaded gas and getting better power/mileage. But as more and more cars used unleaded, leaded gas started to disappear, and eventually that particular brand of stupidity died out.<br /><br />So no, public opinion against leaded gas did not drive the lead out. <br /><br />MAYBE you could argue for a "conspiracy" by those who pushed cat-converters as a solution to smog. Certainly idiots of the day argued vaguely that it was a conspiracy of some sort!<br /><br />In short, assuming this study is correct, we more or less accidentally dodged the lead bullet in the process of avoiding smoke from the gun... <br /><br />Clever, weren't we?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12427148404084368542013-12-01T03:47:14.456-08:002013-12-01T03:47:14.456-08:00Violent crime did rise in Japan. Sailer's an ...Violent crime did rise in Japan. Sailer's an idiot. You have to look a little harder to spot the rise in crime in Japan due to *reporting bias* -- Japanese crime statistics are unreliable -- but evidence is that it did rise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83147361712425282422013-01-23T11:05:51.042-08:002013-01-23T11:05:51.042-08:00Sailer takes this whole argument to pieces. For e...Sailer takes this whole argument to pieces. For example<br /><br />"Back in the late 1960s, densely populated Japan was notorious for automobile-induced air pollution. Yet crime didn’t rise in Japan. The country remained an orderly, intelligent, non-impulsive culture."<br /><br />http://takimag.com/article/did_heavy_metal_brain_damage_cause_the_1960s_steve_sailer/print#ixzz2Ilgt76yf<br /><br />This theory amounts to wishful thinking handwaving and argument by vigorous assertion, not science.Rollorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36673885548892584552013-01-10T17:29:46.923-08:002013-01-10T17:29:46.923-08:00
... onward...
<br /><br />... onward...<br /><br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26669082912614908532013-01-10T17:26:09.845-08:002013-01-10T17:26:09.845-08:00The whole first half of the amendment, that the do...<br />The whole first half of the amendment, that the doofus conveniently left off... THAT's the part that the doofus ignores.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54621913707791364412013-01-10T16:08:38.269-08:002013-01-10T16:08:38.269-08:00http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2097...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20972620<br /><br />Rising concentrations of Mercury threaten to undo some of the benefits from the reduction in lead exposure.<br /><br />Mercury emissions are falling globally but there are two problems: <br /><br />1. it's extremely persistent so environmental levels are going to continue to rise <br /><br />2. while emissions are falling in he developed world, they're rising in parts of the developing world - which can least afford to deal with the resulting health problems.<br /><br />(Of course, that persistence means that today's Mercury problem in Indonesia is next year's Mercury problem in Australia.)<br /><br />The two principal sources of Mercury are coal-fired power plants and small-scale mining using Mercury leaching. <br /><br />The latter source would be more easily fixed - if the affected countries had well-established property rights and effective environmental laws.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78360449312546504672013-01-10T14:53:52.280-08:002013-01-10T14:53:52.280-08:00I think ToddR was referring to the cut downedness ...I think ToddR was referring to the cut downedness of the quote he received. The omission of that pesky well-regulated bit that smells of big guvmint<br /><br />Personally, I think everyone has the right to bare arms; especially on warm days when tee-shirts are much more comfortable (it's forecast to be 37 C in Melbourne today: just you try'n stop me!)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66724002635933266682013-01-10T14:31:01.273-08:002013-01-10T14:31:01.273-08:00Actually, you're incorrect about the capital T...Actually, you're incorrect about the capital T.<br /><br />This is the entirety of the Second Amendment:<br /><br />As passed by the Congress:<br /><br /> A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.<br /><br />As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:<br /><br /> A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.<br /><br />-------<br /><br />In short, it can be ruled that the people allowed to keep and bear arms are: the military. The security of the free state being the United States itself, not the people or democratic government within the United States.<br /><br />Furthermore, define "arms" please? It does not specifically state firearms. That's what it means, but it doesn't state it. Thus if the Supreme Court were to rule that "arms" does not mean "firearms" then firearms could thus be banned and confiscated. In theory.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-3617148783943785812013-01-10T14:08:33.276-08:002013-01-10T14:08:33.276-08:00Re David Brin's recent comment about the NRA, ...Re David Brin's recent comment about the NRA, second amendment, and Jefferson Rifle, here is the entire text of a bit of propaganda I received recently. You know -- some of the stuff flying around all over the place after Sandy Hook.<br /><br />I did not edit. This is cut-and-paste. Of the whole thing. Including the capital-T and the quotation marks.<br /><br />-- ToddR<br /><br />------------------------------------<br /><br />"The right of the the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."<br /><br />So...What word don't you understand?<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77297251657799846342013-01-10T13:26:48.690-08:002013-01-10T13:26:48.690-08:00And (apologizing for multiple postings...) any fan...And (apologizing for multiple postings...) any <a href="http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/Sequence-a-Science-Fiction-Writer/38705" rel="nofollow">fans of SF author John Lake and/or gene sequencing may wish to chip in to this effort to do one for the other.</a><br />Currently gene sequencing to fight cancer is uncommon and expensive, but the cost curve has seriously bent downwards lately. Most interesting!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36973231847181206892013-01-10T12:11:21.606-08:002013-01-10T12:11:21.606-08:00On the lighter side ... How We Will Know Space Tra...On the lighter side ... <a href="http://www.optipess.com/2013/01/07/no-escape/" rel="nofollow">How We Will Know Space Travel Has Become Mundane</a>rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31362425057533214442013-01-10T12:07:18.580-08:002013-01-10T12:07:18.580-08:00Strict punishment laws may be a good thing, but it...Strict punishment laws may be a good thing, but it's pretty doubtful that they would cut gun crime significantly. The utility curve of the average criminal is, obviously, not like yours or mine.<br /><br />Call me cynical, but an unspoken decisive factor in this debate is that the health insurance industry is far more powerful than the gun industry. The NRA lost almost all of its contests in 2012; it's still noisy but politicians need no longer fear it ... even before its frankly insane ("video games did it!") response to Sandy Hook. rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-46845962950978167932013-01-10T11:48:19.199-08:002013-01-10T11:48:19.199-08:00locumranch, your claims about lead are diametrical...<br />locumranch, your claims about lead are diametrically opposite to fact, top to bottom. Please show us the peer-reviewed studies that you assert these "facts" to be based upon.<br /><br />Re guns: <br />I reiterate. The Second Amendment is a frail sentence that WILL be re-interpreted by some future court. The "regulated militia" part will be all the excuse such a court needs. If Gun Folk had two neurons to scrape together, they would jump all over my proposal which would augment with a new amendment that is brutally clear, saying that it is nobody's damn business if you have a basic, bolt action rifle.<br /><br />That amendment would pass! Gun zealots are in the driver's seat in America. If they asked for an amendment far more explicit than the inherently weak 2nd...<br /><br />... and dangled the prize that all weapons OTHER than the protected rifle could then be regulated and licensed like cars...<br /><br />...do you honestly think the rest of the nation would not fall all over itself to pass the Jefferson Rifle Amendment?<br /><br />The NRA guys are idiots if they think the 2nd will prevent a darned thing some future time when - amid panic - a court insists that you must be a member of the National Guard to own a gun.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85033360876277661842013-01-10T11:47:48.912-08:002013-01-10T11:47:48.912-08:00Robert, that wouldn't be a bad thing to enforc...Robert, that wouldn't be a bad thing to enforce. Use a gun in the commission of a crime, go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. The hard part will be deciding does the gun need to be in hand for the crime, stuffed in a pocket, under the car seat, or ??? Hurt or kill someone with a gun in the commission of a crime, maybe not life, but no parole for you! <br /><br />TheMadLibrarian<br />Iskedte: the proposed but thankfully never produced sequel to <i>Ishtar</i>TheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-87672100140598745602013-01-10T10:40:11.131-08:002013-01-10T10:40:11.131-08:00No. I allowed a group that is pulling itself out o...No. I allowed a group that is pulling itself out of its doldrums and realizing they could capitalize on this horrific incident to force through legislation they would never have a chance with otherwise wake me up to the fact that there is no rational and intelligent gun legislation available. If you give them an inch, they'll take it all. So I'm agreeing with the NRA's approach.<br /><br />Besides. There is an alternative: strict gun punishment laws such as in Florida where a gun's use in a crime results in mandatory sentencing (with life in jail if the gun harms someone). If this is federal policy then more mundane gun crimes will lessen because no one wants to go to jail for ten years because they mugged someone and had a gun in their pocket. And the NRA honestly can't gripe at laws that punish criminals harsher because it's not regulating guns. <br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84444700526342903842013-01-10T09:47:45.726-08:002013-01-10T09:47:45.726-08:00Rob H.
So to summarise: you allowed a group with a...Rob H.<br />So to summarise: you allowed a group with absolutely no political power, who were essentially throwing a tantrum over their absolute lack of power, to convince you to throw in with an industry lobby group which has enormous political power (and funding) and a demonstrated history of using their power (and funding) to harm your country?<br /><br />Ian,<br /><i>"virtually noboy is calling for all gus to be outlawed."</i><br /><br />Nobody <i>with any influence</i> is calling for all guns to be outlawed.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-89193421716751703212013-01-10T06:57:33.859-08:002013-01-10T06:57:33.859-08:00Robert, if it makes you feel any better, essential...Robert, if it makes you feel any better, essentially no liberal democracy enforces what both extremes of the US gun debate seem to mean when they talk about "gun conrol".<br /><br />I.E. while the ownership of particular types of guns (such as semi-auto rifles) my be resericted virtually noboy is calling for all gus to be outlawed.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48717612985267680902013-01-10T06:43:46.712-08:002013-01-10T06:43:46.712-08:00No. I'm not being sarcastic. I went into that ...No. I'm not being sarcastic. I went into that conversation stating that we need reasonable and intelligent gun legislation and after being bombarded by a constant stream of "guns have no purpose except putting holes in things," "you need a reason to own a gun besides personal pleasure," and "we should stack the Supreme Court and 'reinterpret' the Second Amendment" I've come to realize <i>I was wrong</i> and the NRA is right.<br /><br />And I let the Loony Left on that discussion thread know that they changed my mind and that now I'm not for any legislation at all.<br /><br />I do have one caveat. Any and all gun legislation should be one specific law at a time in straightforward language with absolutely no riders attached. That way nothing hidden gets snuck in to bite people afterward. (And maybe a national referendum on gun laws, seeing that it's legislating a Constitutional Right.)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41586956433617444062013-01-10T05:23:00.870-08:002013-01-10T05:23:00.870-08:00Robert @ 2:23PM
????
I take it the post is sarcasm...Robert @ 2:23PM<br />????<br />I take it the post is sarcasm. There is always a range of opinion. Slippery slope arguments amount to saying everything this side of the peak of a mountain flows inevitably into the sea. Yeah maybe, but it seems a lot of things stay in between for a long time, and it sure is unconfortable having to always stay right on the peak all the time.reasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958786975015285323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73594216071882871372013-01-09T23:32:30.285-08:002013-01-09T23:32:30.285-08:00It's still an iffy correlation to claim causal...It's still an iffy correlation to claim causality between violent crime & petroleum-based lead exposure.<br /><br />Problem is:<br /><br />(1) Most childhood lead exposure is/was due to lead-based household paint which was outlawed in the late 1970's;<br /><br />(2) The toxic effects of lead-based paint exposure was regional in the USA, affecting mostly East Coast & Midwestern cities, sparing the newer urban developments on the West Coast; and<br /><br />(3) Petroleum-based lead exposure from leaded gasoline has never been proven to cause significantly elevated serum lead levels in Humans.<br /><br />The NHANES III lead study expresses the opinion that the ban on lead-based petrol may have contributed to a generalized decline in serum lead levels but cannot prove it. It acknowledges that "Other factors contributing to reduced lead exposure include" but are not limited to "the elimination of lead solder in food & soft drink cans", "the<br />ban on lead-containing solder in household plumbing" and "the ban on leaded paint for residential use".<br /><br />In response to adiffer:<br /><br />There is no way to mitigate subjectivity when humans interact with other humans. It just can't be done. We cannot remove our human selves and/or our human beliefs from the human equation.<br /><br />Subjectivity is to humans as liver & a side of fava beans go with a nice Chianti.<br /><br />Best.locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37839829756332233362013-01-09T21:14:38.924-08:002013-01-09T21:14:38.924-08:00Well, late to this party, but anyhow... I've h...Well, late to this party, but anyhow... I've had maybe half a dozen actual ideas in my life, and one of them is that we ought to test our leaders for sociopathy. It's not that sociopaths in power are a new thing; far from it, there were kings, emperors and pharaohs in antiquity who acted as remorselessly as any modern despot. It's just that now we know what to look for and we know we can't run a planet that way anymore. It's just too easy to blow everything up. If pilots and nurses have to pee in a cup, why do bank CEOs, Supreme Court judges, and Presidential candidates not have to prove they are neurologically normal and constrained by actual conscience?<br /><br />If anyone's interested in the long version of this idea:<br /><br /><a href="http://thenonist.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/president_of_the_lambs" rel="nofollow">President of the Lambs</a>, written sometime around 2005 if memory serves.TCBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08153506222271955110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-74876698913661263422013-01-09T20:28:37.502-08:002013-01-09T20:28:37.502-08:00With regards to the lead article, this is a blog p...With regards to the lead article, this is a blog post from the author, Kevin Drum. It includes a graph not in the article showing murders vs lead used in paint and gasoline. It's pretty damning.<br /><br />http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/does-lead-paint-produce-more-crime-toodgaetanonoreply@blogger.com