[QUOTE=chalsall;456938]The smart mass killer would grow some Castor Oil plants (the fastest growing plant known to man) and harvest the seeds. Extract the oil, and then introduce the by-product into the human food supply.[/QUOTE]
People have been caught stockpiling significant amounts of ricin. A little bit goes a long way, so obviously people have [I]thought[/I] of using the stuff to kill many people. One appealing aspect (for the would-be killer) is that there's no antidote or effective treatment. Once there's enough in your system, you're a goner.

However, the only attempts I know of (both successful and not) to use ricin as a weapon, were to kill a small number of individuals (e.g. London in 1978 and Washington, DC in 2013).

Perhaps it is not practicable to introduce it into the food supply far enough upstream, so to speak, to inflict mass casualties. As an alternative, it might be possible to deliver it by inhalation or through a water supply. Since ricin has a bitter taste, delivery via drinking water is probably out. Using it as an aerosol weapon might kill a lot of people if it could be dispersed in a confined space full of people, but you'd probably need too much of the stuff to use it out in the open like poison gas.

I don't know how the oil is usually extracted, but castor oil has long been used as a laxative or purgative. Taking it is reputed to be unpleasant, but the stuff is not generally regarded as toxic. It is possible, I suppose, that industrial-scale production of castor oil could lead to a source of large quantities of ricin, but it might be difficult to get hold of it without being detected.

Also WRT castor oil, there is now a wondrous new emulsifier made by chemically transmogrifying vegetable oils; sometimes soybean oil, but sometimes castor oil. It is called PGPR, and the "R" stands for "ricinoleate." It is not toxic AFAIK.

[ASIDE]However, producers of chocolate have tried to use the stuff to make chocolate more cheaply, by using this amazing emulsifier to produce the same "mouth feel" while using less of the expensive cocoa butter in the recipe (or something like that), hoping the consumer won't be able to tell the difference. However, some consumers can. I suppose the way around this problem is to require that [I]all[/I] chocolate be made with PGPR, thereby eliminating any basis for comparison.[/ASIDE]

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;457036]It is possible, I suppose, that industrial-scale production of castor oil could lead to a source of large quantities of ricin, but it might be difficult to get hold of it without being detected.[/QUOTE]

The reason I brought up ricin is the castor oil tree grows wild in many parts of the world. As an example, we bought some top soil about 18 months ago, and within a few days several caster oil trees started popping up.

They grew incredibly quickly, and provided good visual and wind blockage while our chosen hedge plants established.

About a month ago we decided that the caster oil trees had done their job, so we cut them down. But I'm still having the pull up the "babies" by the dozens, daily, as they pop up out of the soil -- the results of the seeds dropped by the mature plants we removed. They are almost a weed, but can also be very dangerous.

Tangentially, few realize that a single aspirin can be lethal to a cat, and only a little bit of chocolate can be lethal to both cats and dogs.

[QUOTE=chalsall;457048]Tangentially, few realize that a single aspirin can be lethal to a cat, and only a little bit of chocolate can be lethal to both cats and dogs.[/QUOTE]The same amount of aspirin per kilogram of body mass isn't a good idea for human consumption either ...

[QUOTE=xilman;457053]The same amount of aspirin per kilogram of body mass isn't a good idea for human consumption either ...[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but humans have the [URL="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/03/29/why-is-aspirin-toxic-to-cats/"]UGT1A6 protein[/URL]. Cats don't have a working version.

Evolution can be a harsh mistress.

[QUOTE=chalsall;457056]Yeah, but humans have the [URL="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/03/29/why-is-aspirin-toxic-to-cats/"]UGT1A6 protein[/URL]. Cats don't have a working version.

Evolution can be a harsh mistress.[/QUOTE]
Indeed. As the article you link to points out, cats are not alone among carnivores in lacking a robust detoxification system. This means that they can die from things that wouldn't even give most critters a tummy ache. One coping mechanism they have is their natural aversion to eat anything other than live prey.

And cats are true carnivores, in the sense that their GI tracts simply aren't equipped to deal with vegetation. So, one might ask (particularly if one has never had to take care of a cat), why do cats frequently eat grass? They eat grass because of another shortcoming of their digestive tracts: they can neither digest hair, nor even get it past their stomachs. And their frequent grooming by means of licking their fur insures that they swallow a lot of their own hair. It accumulates into "hair balls" in their stomachs. If they didn't get rid of the hair, it would fill their stomachs and/or plug up the passage to their intestines, and they would die. And so, cats eat grass to help them barf up their hair balls.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;457098]Indeed. As the article you link to points out, cats are not alone among carnivores in lacking a robust detoxification system. This means that they can die from things that wouldn't even give most critters a tummy ache. One coping mechanism they have is their natural aversion to eat anything other than live prey.[/QUOTE]

On the evolutionary plus side for the kittehs, their urinary systems can process saltwater up to ocean-salty levels. And they have successfully domesticated a widespread hominid species on order to have all their needs taken care of. I.e. the "cute and fuzzy" gene set they possess makes up for a lot of missing things.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;457098]So, one might ask (particularly if one has never had to take care of a cat), why do cats frequently eat grass?[/QUOTE]

Dogs have owners; cats have staff.

Cats are to women as dogs are to men.

And I have often wondered why an animal which cleans itself with its tongue rolls around in the dirt, but then I observed birds eating small rocks....

Trump's gold, oops, golf outings
 

[URL]http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-trump-golf-20170327-story.html[/URL]
It is not just golf weekends, either. It is Melania and her kid requiring protection in Manhattan, where they spend most of their time. It is Jared and Ivanka requiring protection on [U]business trips[/U] and [U]ski vacations[/U].

[QUOTE]Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” — the TV show from the 1980s and 1990s that wallowed in the obscene excesses of the super wealthy — needs to be brought back to do an extended series on America’s new First Family. There would be an ironic twist in the theme this time around: The [URL="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html"]Trump[/URL] family’s lavish living is being heavily subsidized by taxpayers who struggle to pay their bills every month.[/QUOTE][QUOTE]At the current rate of spending, the Post estimates that travel and protection costs will surpass [I]half-a-billion dollars[/I] by the end of Trump’s four-year term, vastly more than has been spent for any other president.[/QUOTE]

Potential attempted hacking of French candidate Macron's campaign
 

[URL="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-russia-hacking-france-macron-20170425-story.html"]http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-russia-hacking-france-macron-20170425-story.html[/URL]

Looks like it's attributed by Trend Micro to one of the groups purportedly involved in the US hacking.

o France: [url=https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2017/04/25/meet-emmanuel-macron-the-consummate-banker-puppet-bizarre-elitist-creation/]Meet Emmanuel Macron – The Consummate Banker Puppet, Bizarre Elitist Creation[/url]
[quote]Further hints that Macron is a total manufactured elitist creation can be seen with the following.

At the bank, Mr Macron mastered the art of networking and navigated around the numerous conflicts of interest that arise in close-knit Parisian business circles, making good use of his connections as an Inspecteur des Finances — an elite corps of the very highest-ranking graduates from ENA.

In 2010, he advised, for free, the staff of Le Monde when the newspaper was put up for sale. Journalists at the daily started doubting his loyalty when they happened upon him in conversation with Mr Minc, who was representing a bidding consortium that the staff opposed. They did not know that it was Mr Minc, a fellow Inspecteur des Finances, who had helped the young Mr Macron secure his interview at Rothschild.

A media executive who was part of the same consortium recalled: “It wasn’t clear who Emmanuel worked for. He was around, trading intelligence, friends with everyone. It was smart, because he got to know everybody in the media world.”

Indeed, who does he work for? I’m sure the French people would like to know.

Meanwhile, Macron is like a conspiracy website’s wet dream. Not only was he groomed by Rothschild bankers, he was also a Bilderberg meeting attendee in 2014. Of course.[/quote]

o Obama begins his major post-White-House avocation, of [url=http://www.ianwelsh.net/obama-starts-cashing-in-directly-for-bailing-out-wall-street/]cashing in big as reward for bailing out and immunizing the Wall Street TBTF crime syndicstes[/url].

[url=www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/02/despite-everything-i-am-happy-hillary-lost/]Despite Everything, I Am Happy Hillary Lost[/url] | Ted Rall, CounterPunch
[quote]Page after page [of the current nonfiction bestseller "Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign"] reinforces the conclusion that this is a woman who does not, cannot, does not want to learn from her mistakes.

When you think about her policy history, this rings true. After all, she voted to overthrow the secular socialist dictator of Iraq in 2003, lost the presidency in 2008 because of that vote, yet then as secretary of state advised Obama to arm and fund the radical jihadis against the secular socialist dictators of Libya and Syria. About which — despite creating two failed states — she has no regrets. There’s really no other way to put this, so I’ll just say it: this makes her an idiot.

She didn’t have the right personality to lead human beings. She didn’t deserve to be president. America, and the world, are better off without her.

Which does not mean I'm not scared of Trump.[/quote]
Hey, pal, didn't you get the memo? Hillary cannot fail, she can only be failed. Or sabotaged by bad, wicked, naughty, evil, deplorable Russkies and their fifth-columnists in the non-mainstream media.