Monthly Archives: August 2015

Genetic Engineering – HowStuffWorks

Posted: August 14, 2015 at 8:45 pm

Genetic Engineering, the process of extracting DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid, which makes up the genes of all living things) from one organism and combining it with the DNA of another organism, thus introducing new hereditary traits into the recipient organism. The nature and characteristics of every living creature is determined by the special combinations of genes carried by its cells. The slightest alteration in these combinations can bring about significant changes in an organism and also its progeny. The science of devising techniques of modifying or controlling genes and genetic combinations is referred to as genetic engineering. It was practiced in one form or another in the past by farmers and agriculturists trying to create economically viable species of plants and animals through various breeding techniques Genetic engineering, as a science, was developed in the mid-1970's primarily to create new strains of microorganisms that produce certain chemicals useful in manufacturing or as drugs. Genetic engineering is now also applied to improving plants and creating transgenic animals (animals containing foreign genetic material).

Some persons oppose genetic engineering on religious, ethical, or social grounds. Among the religious questions is whether humans have the right to transfer traits from one organism to another. A social concern is the possibility of creating harmful organisms that, if accidentally released into the environment, could cause epidemics.The creation of human clones, for example, is facing serious opposition especially on moral grounds. Organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are seeking to control the harmful effects of genetic engineering by imposing guidelines and safety measures for genetic experimentation. Treatment of hereditary defects through gene transplantation and controlled interchange of genes between specified species was approved in 1985 and 1987 respectively by the NIH and the National Academy of Sciences. The USDA has framed regulations for the genetic alteration of plants by plant breeders.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that genetically engineered microorganisms could be patented. In 1988 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued its first patent for a higher form of life, a transgenic mouse that is highly susceptible to certain cancers that appear frequently in humans. This mouse is used in cancer research.

Go here to see the original:
Genetic Engineering - HowStuffWorks

Posted in Genetic Engineering | Comments Off on Genetic Engineering – HowStuffWorks

The Big Story: Politically Incorrect

Posted: at 8:44 pm

photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Politically Incorrect: A Eulogy Maher was one of the few with enough guts to dissent

by Chris Raphael

When ABC moved to cancel Nightline and replace it with Letterman, a furor arose in the public and press. Where was the furor when ABC censored then canceled Politically Incorrect?

In yet another effort to appeal to younger viewers and bring in more advertising dollars, ABC recently canned Politically Incorrect and host Bill Maher in favor of a new "variety" show with Jimmy Kimmel, host of Comedy Central's The Man Show. Politically Incorrect, with about 2.5 million viewers, never took off the way ABC expected, always trailing Letterman (approximately 4 million viewers) and Leno (6 million viewers) for market share. It was just a matter of time before ABC buried the show, which it also brought over from Comedy Central in 1997.

But the final kiss on Politically Incorrect's casket may have been Maher's "coward" comments, and the subsequent rebuke from the White House. Maher became an example of what can happen during those unusual periods in American history when the national discourse is so unified that the public, armed with a twisted truth, moves to stifle speech and the media and government comply.

Let us pause to remember.

In the weeks after September 11, critics wondered how late-night talk shows would change. Predictably, Leno and Letterman told fewer and safer jokes, mostly at the expense of easy targets like the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart was so shaken he cried. But Politically Incorrect, true to form, crashed the somber late-night party. Appearing on Sept. 17 for the first show since the attacks, Maher made it starkly clear his show would live up to its name.

"I do not relinquish - nor should any of you - the right to criticize, even as we support, our government," Maher said. "This is still a democracy and they're still politicians, so we need to let our government know that we can't afford a lot of things that we used to be able to afford. Like a missile shield that will never work for an enemy that doesn't exist. We can't afford to be fighting wrong and silly wars. The cold war. The drug war. The culture war."

What Maher said later in the show, however, is what made headlines. Panelist Dinesh D'Souza mentioned that he didn't think the terrorists were "cowards," as George Bush had described them. Maher replied: "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right."

A few last words from Bill Maher

Appearing on Larry King in January and February to defend his show, Bill Maher let loose a tirade:

"If the theory is that terrorists get some of their money from drugs, well, let's go to where they get their real money from, oil instead of putting a flag on your SUV, which is just going to put more money in the pockets of people who fund terrorism, change the car, not the flag."

"I certainly worry about naming something the Patriot Act, because that's a form of intimidation...who could vote against the Patriot Act, you know, really? You can legalize crack if you had Patriot Act on top of it."

"We do have this sort of arrogance that [American] lives are worth more than yours. And human life - we're supposed to be a religious country - is human life. It's not an American life. And whenever there is an accident overseas, you always hear, you know, 150 people were killed, two were Americans. Two were Americans! That's what gets us interested in [it."

"You know, the Congressman who said that this was a bank robbery and Enron robbed the bank, and Andersen, the accounting company drove the getaway car? He left out that Congress and the president are the cops paid to look the other way."

"There are 11 dating shows opposite me. You could watch any one of them."

Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, says Maher's commentary was alone in its criticism of the U.S. government. "He was the only dissenting voice out there that week," said Thompson. And for that dissent, Maher paid a heavy price.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the comment went unnoticed at ABC until a conservative talk show host in Houston hosted byDan Patrick urged listeners to complain to two of the show's advertisers, Sears and Federal Express, who subsequently dropped their ads. Several ABC affiliates temporarily dropped Maher, including what one would think a key market for the show - WJLA in Washington, D.C.

Maher's "coward" comments, misinterpreted as saying the U.S. military was "cowardly," also found its way to the ears of the White House. U.S. Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, responding to a question about the comments, said he had not read the show's transcript. He nevertheless urged Americans "to watch what they say."

"This is not a time for remarks like that," Fleischer said, adding, "There never is."

By admonishing Maher, said media critic Thompson, Fleischer tried to solidify the national consensus and control the press. "Bill Maher becomes this perfect example of what happens if you step outside that consensus," Thompson said. In at least one instance, that strategy paid off: WJLA dropped the show again after Fleischer's remarks, and hasn't brought it back since.

Politicians have long realized the power of late-night television, talk shows and sitcoms as a public relations tool. Dana Carvey's impersonation of President Bush on Saturday Night Live made "points of light" a household phrase, though few viewers actually saw the speech in which George Bush the elder uttered the phrase. Dan Quayle had a running feud over single motherhood with Murphy Brown. Bill Clinton appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show; George Bush and Al Gore have chatted with Oprah.

Maher's show, however, stood out for its hybrid blend of politics and comedy and its ability, in a time of war, to alter the national discourse and step out of line when other shows played follow-the-leader. ABC News noted that a "vein" of Maher's criticism may have been reiterated when President Bush warned Congress that the war on terrorism would be different than Kosovo: ground troops would be used. In other words, America is not a cruise missile-firing coward.

That Maher was able to rankle the political process is a testament to his individuality, intelligence and brash style. A self-described libertarian, Maher defies the two-party punditry system in government on newspaper op-ed pages and on television talk shows - George Wills on one side, Paul Begalas on the other. Maher supported the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he's also cracked jokes about the Bush administration's misguided environmental policies and its crooked energy deals.

It is no wonder that those who rushed to the show's defense include both civil liberties groups and the likes of Rush Limbaugh. Maher never fit neatly into a black-and-white world of with-us or against-us, and probably couldn't fit in at all after September 11.

Like all shows, Politically Incorrect had its weaknesses. On one hand, it can be "entertaining to hear the opinions of people who know nothing about a subject," Thompson noted. On the other hand, "why would I care what Fred Savage thinks about something like the war in Iraq?"

"What bothered me was that there was this eagerness to stifle dissension," Thompson said, "that we needed to silence Maher."

Back to Magazine contents

Original post:
The Big Story: Politically Incorrect

Posted in Politically Incorrect | Comments Off on The Big Story: Politically Incorrect

From Cyborgs to Nanobots: 5 Ways Scientists Hope to …

Posted: at 8:43 pm

Via Outerplaces.com

Is immortality within our reach? Maybe not yet, but we are definitely trying. While the new film Self/Lessfeatures an interesting science fiction take on achieving immortality, various advances have been taking place in the very real scientific community. We may have a long way to go before we can transfer our consciousness into Ryan Reynolds body, butscience is working pretty hard on some fascinating alternatives to the notion of immortality:

Anti-Aging Genetic Engineering Maybe someday anti-aging will really reverse aging and keep us young forever, but until that day current anti-aging discoveriesare atleast helping to slow down specific aspects of the aging process. This spring, scientists at UC Berkeley discovered a drug called the Alk5 kinase inhibitor that helps restore brain and muscle tissues to youthful levels through stem cells used in tests on mice. The Alk5 kinase inhibitor limits the release of TGF-beta1, a chemical that restricts astem cells ability to repair the body. This chemical tends to become over-produced as people age, but in restricting its release, it is hoped thatthe Alk5 kinase inhibitorcan keep people healthier in old age by lessening the onset of aging related diseases, such asAlzheimers, increasing the quality of life and cutting down medical costs.

The inhibitor is currently in trials as an anticancer agent, and the hope is that one day death will not be the result a prolonged, painful disease, but through a quicker, more natural means like cardiac arrest or stroke. Heres what Irina Conboy, one of the scientists at UC Berkeley, said about the motivations behind the teams efforts.

The goals of my colleagues and I are not to live forever. Instead of becoming old and becoming a burden on society, we can age ourselves more with integrity.

Regenerative Medicine One of the main goals of regenerative medicine has been developing the ability to produce hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) suitable for blood cell transplants, or bone marrow transplants. These transplants are limited by the challengeof finding a good match and the rarity of naturally occurring HSCs, but in 2014 researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute programmed mature blood cells in mice into reprogrammed HSCs by reversing the process of stem cells, to progenitors, to mature effector cells.

Tests have not yet been performed on human subjects, but the progress seen so far is enough to makeStuart Orkin of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, feel very confident about the future.

This discovery could have a radical effect on transplantation You could have gene-matched donors, you could use a patients own cells to create iHSCs. Its a long way off, but this is a good step in the right direction.

But thats not the only advance in stem cell research. This year, scientists at the Salk Institute discovered a type of stem cell whose identity is tied to their location in a developing embryo, and not their time-related stage of development. These region-selective pluripotent stem cells (rsPSCs) are easier to grow in the laboratory, offer advantages for gene editing, and, unlike conventional stem cells, have the ability to integrate into modified mouse embryos.

As Jun Wu, a postdoctoral researcher describes; understanding the spatial characteristics of the stem cells could be crucial to generate functional and mature cell types for regenerative medicine. It could well be that in the near future, parts of the body that have degenerated due to age, could be regenerated at will by the introduction of these fascinating stem cells.

Nanomedicine We have previously featured nanobots in medicine, but there are many more theoretical uses of nanomedicine that could someday affect our lifespan. According to Frank Boehm, author of Nanomedical Device and Systems Design: Challenges, Possibilities, Visions,a conceptual Vascular Cartographic Scanning Nanodevice could scan the entire human vasculature down to the capillary level and transfer the image to a Pixel Matrix display, holograph, or virtual reality system, allowing for a detailed inspection of the system to find aneurysm risks, especially in the brain.

Ananodevice imbued with data on toxins and pathogens could be used to enhance the human immune system by recognizing and destroying an invasive agent. Nanotechnology could also be used to remove lipofuscin, a product that accumulates in lysosomes negatively impacting cell function and manifesting in age related conditions. All of these technologies are speculative, but nanobots are already lengthening our lives in tests to fight cancer, and many believe such technologies are truly the future of the medical industry.

Digital Immortality At Transhuman Vision 2014, Randal Koene, a neuroscientist and neuro-engineer described his plan to upload his brain to a computer by mapping the brain, reducing its activity to computations, and reproducing these computations in code. While it sounds remarkably like that awful Johnny Depp movie, Transcendence, Koene and many neuroscientists believes that our memories, emotions, consciousness, and more are just the sum of signals from electrochemical signal jumps from synapse to synapse.

Computer programmers have already created artificial neural networks that can form associations and learn through pattern-recognition, but they dont possess the complexity of the human brain. However, if our consciousness is just based on brain activity and if technology can record and analyze them, they could possibly be reduced to computations. Advances have already been made with animal tests, and in 2011 a team from the University of Southern California and Wake Forest University created the first artificial neural implant, a device that produces electrical activity that causes a rat to react as thoughthe signal came from its own brain.

Cyborgization While it may sound the most sci-fi of all these scenarios, cyborg technology is already a part of our lives. We have artificial retinas, cochlear implants, pacemakers, and even deep-brain implants to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinsons. In fact, the list of real world cyborg technologies is seemingly endless, so much so that weve had to reduce it to bullet form. Below youll find a few ways that humans and electronics have merged in beautiful harmony:

Current advances in anti-aging, regenerative medicine, nanomedicine, digital immortality, and cyborgization may only be focusing on prolonging life at the moment. But these technologies have already improved our lives, and as the possibility of immortality is played out on the movie screen, we can see the world of fiction slowly melding with our own reality.

Read more stories like this at:Outerplaces.com. Follow them on Facebook here.

See the original post:
From Cyborgs to Nanobots: 5 Ways Scientists Hope to ...

Posted in Immortality Medicine | Comments Off on From Cyborgs to Nanobots: 5 Ways Scientists Hope to …

AI, Immortality and the Future of Selves | SXSW 2015 Event …

Posted: at 8:43 pm

Lisa Miller is a Contributing Editor at New York magazine. She has won the Wilbur Award for religion writing (2008, 2009), the New York Newswomen's Award for feature writing (2014), and last year w...

Lisa Miller is a Contributing Editor at New York magazine. She has won the Wilbur Award for religion writing (2008, 2009), the New York Newswomen's Award for feature writing (2014), and last year was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in the features and profiles category for her story about Newtown, Ct., one year after the shooting there. Author of "Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife," Miller was formerly on the staffs of Newsweek magazine, the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker. Her articles have also appeared in the Washington Post, Redbook magazine, Self magazine, and the New York Times. She is a frequent guest commentator on radio and television, including appearances on Morning Joe and the Colbert Report. A graduate of Oberlin College, Miller lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and daughter.

Link:
AI, Immortality and the Future of Selves | SXSW 2015 Event ...

Posted in Immortality Medicine | Comments Off on AI, Immortality and the Future of Selves | SXSW 2015 Event …

GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline

Posted: at 8:42 pm

After a short essay on methodology were curious to find out whether there are any master-snoops among our audience. We present exhibit M, a rare specimen we know nothing about but for the fact that it was compiled from bits of Gentoo. Hence we call publicly for any hints or leads regarding this elusive distribution!

Meanwhile, a gentle reader has drawn to our attention the fact that Damn Vulnerable Linux is currently listed as a Slax derivate by the major pundit places, while it certainly boasted a Damn Small Linux pedigree in its very beginnings. The switch has happened, but everyone claims not to have seen when it did! Have you?

And just in case anyone needs more material, heres our current ToDo buffer.

Greenie. An Ubuntu-based distribution that seems to be pretty popular in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and thus probably a good addition to the GLDT. Quick googling leads us to the official page and to DistroWatch. The latter hints at a game oriented Xubuntu fork in early 2008, rebasing to Ubuntu in mid-2008. The official page doesnt seem to sport any change logs or release announcements (while my Slovak is very poor, this isnt much of a problem thanks to Google Translate). The oldest downloads (mirror) seem to have been purged. The forums also only hold comparatively recent posts. Googling a bit further reveals that Greenie was known in 2007. Time to power up the Wayback Machine: voil. Since my Slovak hasnt improved much in the meantime, lets feed again the earliest archive link to the translator The beginning of the project [...] 14th September 2007 and Greenie Linux 1.0 is based directly on Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn. (on a second look, that page was available in English anyway!) Job done.

While checking out the page DW links to Greenie, Newtoos catches the eye. The Slovakian Wikipedia says something about it forking off of Ubuntu in Nov 2008. Researching further, we see that the download ISOs share a common folder. Extracting the URL from the link address, we quickly reveal Newtoos release date: 2008.11.13.

If only project sites had a nicely visible change log / history section Two distributions for the GLDT 11.7 are done, eight still to go!

Read more:
GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline

Posted in Futurist | Comments Off on GNU/Linux Distribution Timeline

Ripple, a Cryptocurrency Company, Wants to Rewire Bank …

Posted: August 13, 2015 at 3:56 am

A digital-currency company thinks it can protect the personal information used to perform identity checks in the financial industry.

Companies built around Bitcoin and other digital currencies mostly focus on storing and transferring money. But at least one company is trying to prove that some of the underlying technology can have a much wider impact on the financial industry.

That startup, Ripple Labs, has already had some success persuading banks to use its Bitcoin-inspired protocol to speed up money transfers made in any currency, especially across borders (see 50 Smartest Companies 2014: Ripple Labs). Now it is building a system that uses some similar cryptographic tricks to improve the way financial companies check the identity of their customers. The system could also provide a more secure way to log in to other online services.

Verifying identity is a constant, expensive headache for financial institutions, which are bound by strict regulations designed to curtail money laundering and support for blacklisted organizations such as terrorist groups. Most banks turn to one of a handful of large data brokers, such as Experian or Acxiom, to power their ID checks. When you open a new account, a bank gathers key personal information and sends it to its broker to verify your identity, and to confirm that you arent on any block list.

Under Ripples system, the same basic process would take place. However, your personal information would be used to generate a unique cryptographic token. A bank could send the token to a data broker that has its own token, made using your personal information at an earlier time. The math underpinning Ripples system would allow the broker to confirm that the data you had given the bank was correct, without either the bank or the broker ever revealing the data itself.

Apples mobile payment technology uses similar technology to protect credit card numbers (see 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2015: Apple Pay). When you use Apple Pay, only a cryptographic token representing your credit card number is transferred to the merchant. That token can be used to charge your card, but it wont reveal anything to anyone who manages to steal it, and it cannot be reused.

Stefan Thomas, chief technology officer of Ripple, says its ID verification system should reduce the risk that personal data will be stolen or accidentally leaked and should also be faster than the systems used today, which have developed gradually over decades and still use outdated technology. He says Ripple decided to develop the technology after it became clear that the financial system needed more than just new ways to transfer money.

Thomas adds that by cutting costs and security risks, Ripples system might allow cheaper data brokers to emerge. It could also make it easier for banks to operate in poorer parts of the world, where verification systems can be particularly expensive to operate, even for U.S. banks, he says. And Ripples engineers are also working on ways their protocol can be used to log in to online services.

Sarah Jane Hughes, a law professor at Indiana University who specializes in payment systems, says Ripple has identified a legitimate opportunity. Companies spend a lot on complying with identity verification rules, and mistakes are expensive, she says. For example, PayPal agreed to pay $7.7 million to the U.S. Treasury last week for failing to block just under 500 transactions involving people subject to U.S. sanctions. If you could do verification more rapidly and with a greater degree of certainty, it would be hugely valuable, says Hughes.

However, Hughes says, switching to a new system would not be easy for most financial institutions. They would probably have to retain the old system for some time for compatibility reasons. That means Ripples idea would have to deliver significant benefits to gain traction.

Read the original here:
Ripple, a Cryptocurrency Company, Wants to Rewire Bank ...

Posted in Cryptocurrency | Comments Off on Ripple, a Cryptocurrency Company, Wants to Rewire Bank …

Town of Liberty, NC

Posted: at 3:55 am

Welcome tothe official Townof Liberty NCwebsite.

We believe you will find it informative and we encourage any and all suggestions to make it even better. Liberty is a charming, inviting, friendly rural Town in the Piedmont region that is convenient to larger cities.Liberty is hometo The Liberty Antiques Festival held twice a year, located20 miles northeastfrom Asheboro and the North Carolina Zoo; 20 miles southwestfrom Burlington and excellent shopping; 20 miles southfrom Greensborowith major transportation hubs; 30 miles from High Point and the semi-annual Furniture Market; and regionally accessible to the State Capital of Raleigh and surrounding areas.

Our Mayor, Town Council, and Administrative Staff along with the invaluable assistance of the many great citizens who sit on our advisory boards and others who volunteer their time and services, all work diligently to make our community a great place to be in North Carolina. Please enjoy our web site and our town, and feel free to contact town hall at any time. The Liberty Team looks forward to serving you and making Liberty an even better place to live, work, visit and play.

Liberty Mission Statement

Liberty is an All American town in the Heart of N.C. We are rooted in our heritage, embracing the present while moving towards the future. We are a diverse community united in our efforts to promote growth, leadership, economic development and family values.

Go here to see the original:
Town of Liberty, NC

Posted in Liberty | Comments Off on Town of Liberty, NC

Liberty Safes, Liberty Gun Safes

Posted: at 3:55 am

For items weighing over 150 lbs we include a free curbside delivery, this will get the truck to your home or business, they will unload the safe with a lift gate to the ground level. The carrier will call in advance to schedule delivery. Depending on the weight of the safe you may want to arrange for additional help to bring the safe inside. Please contact us before the item ships if you live on a rural route, area not serviced by freight carriers, or on an Island. If you have a narrow, steep, or inaccessible driveway for an 18 wheel truck and trailer, you will need to upgrade to our Bronze, Gold or Platinum level service (generally delivered on a 26' truck). If inaccessible by a 26' truck or larger, please call us for further options.

For items under 150 lbs the order will be shipped with FedEx or UPS and occasionally USPS.

Shipping Options

FREE Shipping (Standard): Free curbside delivery with liftgate to the ground level.

Bronze: 1-2 person delivery to garage or first dry area. No weight limitation, stairs or pallet removal.

Gold: Inside placement (ground level delivery only) pallet and debris removal.

Platinum: Inside placement, up to 2 flights of stairs, pallet and debris removal. 900lb weight limitation for this service.

Questions? Feel free to give us a call! 855-248-6723

Go here to see the original:
Liberty Safes, Liberty Gun Safes

Posted in Liberty | Comments Off on Liberty Safes, Liberty Gun Safes

The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment …

Posted: at 3:53 am

By John Paul Stevens April 11, 2014

Following the massacre of grammar-school children in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, high-powered weapons have been used to kill innocent victims in more senseless public incidents. Those killings, however, are only a fragment of the total harm caused by the misuse of firearms. Each year, more than 30,000 people die in the United States in firearm-related incidents. Many of those deaths involve handguns.

The adoption of rules that will lessen the number of those incidents should be a matter of primary concern to both federal and state legislators. Legislatures are in a far better position than judges to assess the wisdom of such rules and to evaluate the costs and benefits that rule changes can be expected to produce. It is those legislators, rather than federal judges, who should make the decisions that will determine what kinds of firearms should be available to private citizens, and when and how they may be used. Constitutional provisions that curtail the legislative power to govern in this area unquestionably do more harm than good.

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution placed limits on the powers of the new federal government. Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of the Second Amendment, which provides that 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.

For more than 200 years following the adoption of that amendment, federal judges uniformly understood that the right protected by that text was limited in two ways: First, it applied only to keeping and bearing arms for military purposes, and second, while it limited the power of the federal government, it did not impose any limit whatsoever on the power of states or local governments to regulate the ownership or use of firearms. Thus, in United States v. Miller, decided in 1939, the court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that sort of weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated Militia.

When I joined the court in 1975, that holding was generally understood as limiting the scope of the Second Amendment to uses of arms that were related to military activities. During the years when Warren Burger was chief justice, from 1969 to 1986, no judge or justice expressed any doubt about the limited coverage of the amendment, and I cannot recall any judge suggesting that the amendment might place any limit on state authority to do anything.

Organizations such as the National Rifle Association disagreed with that position and mounted a vigorous campaign claiming that federal regulation of the use of firearms severely curtailed Americans Second Amendment rights. Five years after his retirement, during a 1991 appearance on The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, Burger himself remarked that the Second Amendment has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

In recent years two profoundly important changes in the law have occurred. In 2008, by a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court decided in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects a civilians right to keep a handgun in his home for purposes of self-defense. And in 2010, by another vote of 5 to 4, the court decided in McDonald v. Chicago that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment limits the power of the city of Chicago to outlaw the possession of handguns by private citizens. I dissented in both of those cases and remain convinced that both decisions misinterpreted the law and were profoundly unwise. Public policies concerning gun control should be decided by the voters elected representatives, not by federal judges.

In my dissent in the McDonald case, I pointed out that the courts decision was unique in the extent to which the court had exacted a heavy toll in terms of state sovereignty. . . . Even apart from the States long history of firearms regulation and its location at the core of their police powers, this is a quintessential area in which federalism ought to be allowed to flourish without this Courts meddling. Whether or not we can assert a plausible constitutional basis for intervening, there are powerful reasons why we should not do so.

Across the Nation, States and localities vary significantly in the patterns and problems of gun violence they face, as well as in the traditions and cultures of lawful gun use. . . . The city of Chicago, for example, faces a pressing challenge in combating criminal street gangs. Most rural areas do not.

Read more:
The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment ...

Posted in Second Amendment | Comments Off on The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment …

9.22 Particular RightsFourth AmendmentUnreasonable …

Posted: August 12, 2015 at 7:44 pm

9.22 PARTICULAR RIGHTSFOURTH AMENDMENTUNREASONABLE SEIZURE OF PERSONEXCESSIVE (NONDEADLY) FORCE

In general, a seizure of a person is unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment if a police officer uses excessive force [in making a lawful arrest] [and] [or] [in defending [himself] [herself] [others]. Thus, in order to prove an unreasonable seizure in this case, the plaintiff must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the officer[s] used excessive force when [insert factual basis of claim].

Under the Fourth Amendment, a police officer may only use such force as is "objectively reasonable" under all of the circumstances. In other words, you must judge the reasonableness of a particular use of force from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene and not with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.

In determining whether the officer[s] used excessive force in this case, consider all of the circumstances known to the officer[s] on the scene, including:

1. The severity of the crime or other circumstances to which the officer[s] [was] [were] responding;

2. Whether the plaintiff posed an immediate threat to the safety of the officer[s] or to others;

3. Whether the plaintiff was actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight;

4. The amount of time and any changing circumstances during which the officer had to determine the type and amount of force that appeared to be necessary;

5. The type and amount of force used;

[6. The availability of alternative methods [to take the plaintiff into custody] [to subdue the plaintiff;]

Originally posted here:
9.22 Particular RightsFourth AmendmentUnreasonable ...

Posted in Fourth Amendment | Comments Off on 9.22 Particular RightsFourth AmendmentUnreasonable …