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Isn't there a difference though?

If I want to have a Scandinavian child, I just reproduce with someone from Sweden.

If I want my child to be immune to the sun and skin cancer, I just add a gene from the leaf of a tree, inject it into his DNA and see what happens?

I support GMOs but nuance is important.


"nuance is important"

Says someone comparing plants with human children to make a point. (And no, not much of a difference, other than with modern technique we have more control over the results)


Perhaps the example was not the best, but surely you see the difference between splicing DNA from different species, and selecting certain specimen based on desired traits?


I see the difference in the "means" (and one is way faster\efficient), but not in the "ends".


Rand had a cool limited bumper sticker silhouette with just his first name, like this. Seemed like good branding-http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5522b0ec6da811ae3f3...


Where is his first name? I don't see it in this image.


He linked an unrelated image. The one he was talking about is this one:

https://store.randpaul.com/get.php/media/catalog/product/cac...


Thanks, I'd actually never seen that one.


Even as a general supporter of Rand, that silhouette logo, to me, looks a little more "Satan" than "Mad Men".


Her Facebook page is working now. Earlier when I clicked on it, it would just go back to my newsfeed. (She was on my friends list prior to this story. She already had 5,000 friends.) Perhaps some bug or automated restriction, maybe from a bunch of people reporting her profile.

Her page is facebook.com/shona.banda


Terrence McKenna's lecture on McLuhan is also excellent-

https://youtu.be/9dROH6aOIUc


Her profile appears in my friends' list but when you click on it, it goes nowhere and opens back up my feed.


Great, but where does that prove the police were involved? The source article mentioned no evidence for that, and it doesn't strike me as the most reputable source in any event.


She doesn't seem to have taken it down. Facebook doesn't generally take down random peoples accounts.

The simplest explanation is that it was taken down against her will. Likely by someone with pseudo-legal authority to do that.

i.e. "legal" authority, even if the application of that authority doesn't actually follow the law.


I simply think that when presented a dubious claim with no evidence from a shady source we should be skeptical.


Are you suggesting the page was shut down on purpose to prompt internet mob support already? If so, seems it worked.


How do you know which profile is hers? I noticed a bunch of Shona Banda related fb pages, but none that I can confirm are affiliated. I am wary of opportunist scammers who would pose as her and try to shunt donations to accounts they control.


I was friends with her prior to this.

Her profile is working now. Not deleted but something was broken with it earlier.


Reminded me of George Carlin's last standup special, where he said "it's part of their [cops'] job to commit perjury whenever it helps the state's case":

https://youtu.be/jgxyCudDiM4


Child abduction by strangers is extremely rare and around 100 per year in the US although that may be an outdated number. The one stat I just checked said 515 stranger abductions between 1990 and 1995. And that was when free range children were far more common than today.


Overprotective parents will claim that's a result of their actions.

Also, as less parents allow their children to roam, the risk to the remaining ones increase as there are a smaller pool of children readily abductible.

Meanwhile 3 million children a year have substantiated reports of abuse (50% of reported) https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/


Evan Spiegel is clearly smart but it's weird to hail him as some visionary when someone else came up with the concept and someone else coded the app.

When an app takes off like that, is it even possible to fail running the company? You get funding, all types of input from experts and all you need to do is guide the rocket you are attached to.


I don't know anything about Spiegel, but have you ever tried to guide a rocket you are attached to? I can't imagine it's all that easy.


It's kind of like riding a cat and trying to tell him where to go. He either ends up stopping to clean his bollocks or he brings you into the litter box.


That's a big cat.


As a metaphor, it will get you to outerspace but you may miss your target. You don't actually need to guide it, there's so much thrust/traction that you'd have to be super talented and purposely trying to sabotage it for it to fail.

That being said, Snapchat has made some incredibly good decisions, new products and so forth.


No app just takes off like that. Even so, you have to deal with the challenges associated with it.

I'm a huge cynic when it comes to Snapchat and in no way agree with it's valuation, but they've made some pretty big moves and Evan has shown to be more than competent.


Do you have a link for that? Wikipedia has Spiegel listed as a developer (but that's unreferenced too).


See Digg for a case study on how bad execution post launch during iterative stages can crush a business.


I think you are overreacting. Maybe he does have a better grasp on a few areas in life than you or I do.

It's just a book. One that might make people think a bit and question their own life more.

What I find gross are people scared of criticism and offended by anything that remotely challenges one's beliefs or actions.


> Maybe he does have a better grasp on a few areas in life than you or I do.

Then why can't he phrase them precisely, giving real moral guidance instead of pious-sounding virtue-ethical platitudes?

Anyone want to check if David Brooks has signed up for anything like that "Giving What We Can Pledge"? $50 says he hasn't.

(For the record, I haven't signed the pledge, but I do try to donate 10% of gross income.)


Seems related to why I feel compelled to say "ummm" or "uhhh" before responding to a Subway employee asking me what I want on my sandwich. It just feels like I am being nicer and not barking out commands.


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