DrDNA

Just "mixing it all up" would be like combinatorial genetics and at best one or just a very few in billions might be viable (if you are lucky). You might actually see a result if you have an unlimited supply of things to mixupclone and a few million years to wait for one positive outcome. Success in this would be on a similar scale as the randomly generated identical copy of my left tennis shoe, which has the same mud stains, knots in the shoelaces, and identical scent as the one on my left foot, that is floating around somewhere in the universe. Got lottery tickets?

Funny how my boss has never asked this..... If I tell you, you'll know more about it than they do:cool: Wow! That sounds strangely familiar.......Is it really you, Fearless Leader????

It appears that they are just exercising their rights to move to place that they find more suitable to their faith and belief system. Aren't many of the prototypical stories about immigration to the US filled with similar accounts? As long as they aren't, for example, marrying off 12 old kids to 60 year old self proclaimed "prophets", what's the issue? I honestly don't understand why anyone would have a problem with this. Ok. You don't believe that all creationists are idiots........ but all creationists are not well informed?

The advocates for pitbulls might want to read this report. I found it enlightening: http://www.dogbitelaw.com/Dog%20Attacks%201982%20to%202006%20Clifton.pdf To summarize, of 2209 dog attacks doing bodily harm, 1110 were by pit bull terriers. This is not counting pit bull mixes. "Pit bulls seem to differ behaviorally from other dogs in having far less inhibition about attacking people who are larger than they are. They are also notorious for attacking seemingly without warning, a tendency exacerbated by the custom of docking pit bulls' tails so that warning signals are not easily recognized. Thus the adult victim of a pit bull attack may have had little or no opportunity to read the warning signals that would avert an attack from any other dog." Regarding German Sheps and Wolf Hybrids (Sorry, I can't find similar data on pure wolves): " German shepherds and German shepherd mixes in which the German shepherd line predominates together amount to 16% of the entire U.S. and Canadian dog population, according to the data we have on breed-specific licensing, or just about nine million total dogs. There are by contrast only about 300,000 recognized wolf hybrids: about one for every 30 German shepherds.Relative to their overall numbers, wolf hybrids are accordingly 60 times more likely to kill or maim a child than a German shepherd--and that is before even beginning to consider the critical behavioral distinctions." "In the German shepherd mauling, killing, and maiming cases I have recorded, there have almost always been circumstances of duress: the dog was deranged from being kept alone on a chain for prolonged periods without human contract, was starving, was otherwise severely abused, was protecting puppies, or was part of a pack including other dangerous dogs. None of the German shepherd attacks have involved predatory behavior on the part of an otherwise healthy dog.Every one of the wolf hybrid attacks, however, seems to have been predatory. Only four of the fatality victims were older than age seven, and all three were of small stature. The first adult fatality was killed in the presence of her two young sons, whom she was apparently trying to protect. The second was killed while apparently trying to protect her dog. Most of the victims were killed very quickly. Some never knew the wolf hybrid was present. Some may never have known what hit them. Some were killed right in front of parents, who had no time to react. Unlike German shepherds, wolf hybrids are usually kept well apart from children, and from any people other than their owners. Yet they have still found more opportunity to kill and maim than members of any other breeds except pit bull terriers and Rottweilers, each of whom may outnumber wolf hybrids by about 10 to 1." Unless you don't believe these numbers, I personally don't see a case for Pit bulls or wolve hybrids. Again, that is my opinion, but I think you will agree that the data does support it.

"For every fatal dog bite in the United States, there are 230,000 bites that are not treated by a physician. ................ Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, has conducted an unusually detailed study of dog bites from 1982 to the present. (Clifton, Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to November 13, 2006; click here to read it.) The Clifton study show the number of serious canine-inflicted injuries by breed. The author's observations about the breeds and generally how to deal with the dangerous dog problem are enlightening. According to the Clifton study, pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included in the study, 68% of the attacks upon children, 82% of the attacks upon adults, 65% of the deaths, and 68% of the maimings. In more than two-thirds of the cases included in the study, the life-threatening or fatal attack was apparently the first known dangerous behavior by the animal in question. Clifton states: If almost any other dog has a bad moment, someone may get bitten, but will not be maimed for life or killed, and the actuarial risk is accordingly reasonable. If a pit bull terrier or a Rottweiler has a bad moment, often someone is maimed or killed--and that has now created off-the-chart actuarial risk, for which the dogs as well as their victims are paying the price. Clifton's opinions are as interesting as his statistics. For example, he says, "Pit bulls and Rottweilers are accordingly dogs who not only must be handled with special precautions, but also must be regulated with special requirements appropriate to the risk they may pose to the public and other animals, if they are to be kept at all." The financial impact of dog bites Dog attack victims in the US suffer over $1 billion in monetary losses every year. ("Take the bite out of man's best friend." State Farm Times, 1998;3(5):2.) That $1 billion estimate might be low -- an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, in 1995, State Farm paid $70 million on 11,000 claims and estimated that the total annual insurance cost for dog bites was about $2 billion. (Voelker R. "Dog bites recognized as public health problem." JAMA 1997;277:278,280.) According to the Insurance Information Institute, dog bites cost insurers $345.5 million in 2002, $321.6 million in 2003, $317.2 million in 2005, and $351.4 in 2006. The number of claims paid by insurers was 20,800 in 2002, but fell to 15,000 in 2005. The insurance payment for the average dog bite claim was $16,600 in 2002, but rose to $21,200 in 2005. Liability claims accounted for approximately 4 percent of homeowners claims. Dog bite claims in 2005 accounted for about 15 percent of liability claims dollars paid under homeowners insurance policies." http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/statistics.html

Perhaps....In fact I'm actually sure that I have a different interp for middle of the road than many others....and I think that's fine. I'm not advocating conformism or more regulations, but I meant that I would be comfortable flying under those circumstances. I think others would also, but I can't and won't try to speak for everybody, just myself. I never did like flying. 9/11 certainly didn't help that. Are you advocating less security on flights? Inow, In post 23 I said that perhaps we should thank the swat team for showing restraint......Not sure how you came to your conclusion based on that. I still think that given the current state of affairs, they did not over react. In fact, I think the system worked (for once maybe). of course I wasn't there and I don't know everything that transpired...just the reports. How do you get an argument against freedom in general from my post 14? I intended that I gladly give it up for the few hours of flight (even more when it is international). Everyone gives up many personal rights and freedoms every time they fly. Don't you agree? I believe that you got my intent on 36.

Why have the arguments in this thread become so heated?

The only response I can think of is perhaps medication and/or therapy.... Although it has been tried and attempts will continue, I don't believe that we can engineer the world to prevent every possible negative consequence. I know that some believe that we should design the world to protect us completely from ourselves, but we might not want to live in that world. I take a middle of the road stance on things like that. I say food and drug regs for safety, yes; airline regs for safety, yes; set belts and helmets, between you and insurance company; etc. How about you? Do lean towards the protect people from themselves camp or the more darwinist go ahead and let it happen to them camp?

Isaac, There is great chance that someone in the microbio dept could help. They also might be able to help you figure out exactly what is on those test strips so perhaps you could make you own assay, based on the same tech, much cheaper. Good luck.

Uh huh. Yeah, sure Mr Chris whatever your last name is.....

"German saboteurs claimed they were planning to attack wartime Britain using exploding cans of processed peas, according to secret files." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3264257.stm Basc, did you see the link to the exploding canned peas plot on the page that your candy bar link was on? Ladies and gentlemen, you see before you what a real bomb looks like. Case closed.

I'm not going to click on it. For all I know it could contain illegal content and you could be that Chris whatever his last name is dude from that TV show "To Catch a Predator".....

If it was a kid? no. An adult? maybe. I'll admit that other factors would weigh in........and don't you dare try to trap me in an ethnic or religous profiling scenario LOL If you ever take a self defense class, note that they will tell you that one of the most important tools for survival is your own instincts.....to listen to your instincts, to that voice inside your head. When it says RUN, you should run. Don't think about it. Just get out of there. Para, You sir are apparently a REAL libertarian. The genuine article PS: I must disagree with you; at least partially. It defintely should be illegal for some people to go without clothes.

Yes Chief....and the shoe bomb, the motor oil bomb, lump of coal bomb, and the plum bomb.......remove the cone of silence.

Stock up on ammunition.

Oh tey Buckwheat. Hollywood is not reality. And I hardly think that a group of individuals with a website devoted to maintaining and advancing the american pit bull breed is an unbiased source of info regarding pit bulls. Actually, it does say that wolves do not make good pets. It states: "Wolves are wild animals and geared to their last fibre to survive in the wild. Wild animals do not make good pets in people's homes. Wolves are not wild pet dogs." The assumption is we are talking about a pet in the standard sense. Not a pet as in the wild bear in Grizzly Adams or the dolphine in Flipper. You are obviously nit picking. We are discussing first generation wolves. An issue came up whether or not wolves make good pets or not. A wolf is no more a domestic dog than we are the primates that we evolved from. The key here is many generations of selective breeding separates dogs from wolves. I think you know what I meant by "domesticable" in the sense of taking a wolf pup and trying to make a pet out of it.....not selective breeding over generations.

When is Einstein going to return?

Holy hershy bar Batman. What kind of a sick, perverted individual would put explosives in chocolate? Is nothing sacred? Basc, That link was very interesting. I really enjoyed reading it. BTW: If someone is standing next to my child and they are eating a chocolate bar, than I probably won't be alarmed. But if that same person is also wearing a circuit board, wires, batteries, some kind of clay, and blinking lights I will quickly and quietly move my child out of the immediate area. When I see evidence of someone taking down a plane or blowing up a subway with a candy bar, my initial reactions to chocolate (eg, slobber running down my chin, calm, etc) may change.

You are right. Test strips are usually designed to be qualitative. But they are generally derived from somewhat quant tests. I'll bet that whatever is on that test strip can be calibrated to measure conc. For example, set a dilution series of know conc of salmonella to calibrate...time for responce and/or color change/intensity, etc....whatever is appropriate for the strip. Importantly, you will also need to determine the time span in which the responce is linear. That is critical

speed of light? what happened to terminal velocity = 150ft/sec?

I thought that you would need to do a test with antibodies but here is an "instant" home test "strip" kit for ecoli and salmonella for 20 bucks: http://www.exit15.com/instant-food-test-strip-kit-for-salmonella-and-ecoli-p-1360.html

Good grief. Information overload [DrDNA throws his hated cell phone into the toilet] How long until people start crashing their cars relaying and reading *these* dumb messages?

Good. Are you denying that the group has an agenda and/or that it is controversial? Now I just wish Verizon would stop sending their own "free text messages" to my cell phone marketing their stuff.

It does sound like he was treated in an unnecessary manner....and while in grief over his loved one. It's very sad. You would think they could have at least found some illegal shrooms growing in those Pitre dishes. When law enforcement comes accross something that looks and/or smells fishy, I think that most of us will agree that it is their duty to investigate further. Unfortunately, they have been trained to be zealous in their efforts.....or is it fortunate?

The only thing that cancer has in common with evolution is mutation. Cancer is a mutation that leads to DEATH. There is no selective advantage and no evolution in death. What the.....the rest of what you wrote (about monarchies and stuff) is REALLY out there dude........ Plenty of cancer cells are grown in "Pitre dish environments". Thousands of (even commercially) available cell lines originated in the bodies of cancer patients. Are they a "lifeform"? Wow. Interesting question, but probably not. Along similar lines. Would you consider the millions of endothelial cells that your body sheds from you digestive system everyday (insert flushing sounds here) a "lifeform"? We can grow them in Pitre dishes also.