The Tobacco Pirates

So how much money has the Illinois increase on cigarettes made for the state?  Teachable moment?  Probably not.

Judge blocks contraception mandate in religious liberty lawsuit

A federal judge in Colorado relieved a private company owned by Roman Catholics of the requirement to provide employees with contraception, pending further litigation of the contraception mandate.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Two more men with HIV now virus free. Is this a cure?

More than two years after receiving bone marrow transplants for cancer, HIV remains undetectable.  The donor cells, it appears, killed off and replaced the infected cells.

Why is the USDA attacking meat-eating?

Comments and links at HotAir: Pointing to the United Nations as their informational authority, the USDA’s newsletter said that going meatless is good for the environment.

‘We Tried Our Plan, And It Worked.’

Geraghty writing at NRO:

Forty-one straight months of unemployment above 8 percent,  8.2 million people working part-time who want full-time work, a record 88 million Americans not in the labor force, 1.9 percent GDP growth in the past quarter, more bad GDP numbers expected tomorrow, a stagnant housing market, $5 trillion in new debt, the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating,  38 percent of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, 45 million Americans on food stamps, food prices continuing to increase dramatically, the poverty level likely to rise to the highest level in nearly fifty years

… and this means the plan “worked”?!?

Between “the private sector is doing fine,” “you didn’t build that” and “we tried our plan, and it worked,” the president sounds unhinged.

Wonder drug to stop blindness

The breakthrough gives hope to millions of people suffering from inherited and age-related blindness. Scientists in the US used the technique to bring back sight to blind mice. They are now developing an improved version of the chemical, known as AAQ, which they believe could be just as effective on humans.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul

It's George Bernard Shaw's (1856-1950) birthday.  In addition to his plays (Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893), Arms and the Man (1894), The Devil's Disciple (1897), Caesar and Cleopatra (1899), Man and Superman (1905), Major Barbara (1905), Pygmalion (1913), Heartbreak House (1919), and Saint Joan (1923), among others), he was a prominent Fabian socialist.

The Fabian socialist movement favored gradual change - rather than revolutionary upheaval - and derived its name from the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (died 203 B.C.), nicknamed Cunctator - "the delayer" - who thwarted Hannibal's invasion of Italy during the 2nd Punic War by tactics of harassment and attrition, rather than direct confrontation. Sound familiar?

A personal favorite quote, in addition to the heading, above: "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it."

Harmful Effects of Florescent Bulbs to Skin

The response of healthy skin cells to UV emitted from CFL bulbs is consistent with damage from ultraviolet radiation... incandescent light of the same intensity had no effect on healthy skin cells.

Hollande to French Business: The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Comments and links at American Interest, via Instapundit.

You cannot build a successful economy by punishing and penalizing legitimate business anymore than you can raise morale by beating the crew.  French socialists forget that from time to time; it is an expensive lesson to relearn.

Babies born in the fall live longer

September through November births yielded many more 100 year plus life spans, although it seems likely that seasonal differences in nutrition and weather conditions have pretty much disappeared since the late 1800's.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Media Underplays Successful Defensive Gun Use

Dr. Paul Hsieh, writing at PJM: "if journalists allow their biases against defensive gun use to color their reporting, they do the rest of us a grave disservice. It’s wrong for reporters to highlight the criminal misuses of firearms while underreporting the thousands (if not millions) of honest defensive gun uses each year in America."

Media Invents Story That Chick-fil-A President Condemned Gay Marriage

He never actually said anything condemning gay marriage.

"CNN, Time and many other news organizations owe Cathy and Chick-fil-A some serious corrections and/or clarifications. It should further cause news organizations -- particularly in the wake of ABC's absurd speculation that the Aurora killings were done by a Tea Partier and many news organizations falling for Greenpeace's intentionally deceptive campaign against Shell Oil -- to reflect on why these kinds of egregrious media errors habitually reflect left-wing political narratives."

A Ghost Haunting Obama Named Barofsky

Former TARP Inspector General's new book is a devastating indictment of Obama’s team, especially Geithner.

via Lucianne.

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Dumbest Western Ever Made

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter: capturing the worst elements of both dumb Westerns and cheesy monster movies.

Zeppelin alert: Robert Plant Admits He Lives in Austin

Plant finally confirmed his status as a married man and honorary Texan.

Update: I originally put Pink Floyd instead of Zeppelin.  Sheesh.

Buy a Volt, return it, get a $7.5K tax credit

Tax Consequences of GM's 'Love It Or Return It' Promotion.

Plus thisTax Implications: You may be subject to federal, state, or local tax on any benefit paid. You should contact a tax advisor/consultant if You have any questions regarding the tax implications associated with this program.

So, if the car you return with 3.9K miles on it is worth $5K less than a new one, are you responsible for tax on the $5K "benefit"?

Hungry World Population? Let Them Eat Ethanol!

Here come the corn riots. The amount of ethanol to be produced is a mandate, not an option.

Climate change policies—much more than the vagaries of climate–are now beginning to create the instabilities that cooler heads have been warning about for years.

Witness: Someone Let Gunman Inside Colorado Movie Theater


"As I was sitting down to get my seat, I noticed that a person came up to the front row, the front right, sat down, and as credits were going, it looked like he got a phone call. He went out toward the emergency exit doorway, which I thought was unusual to take a phone call. And it seemed like he probably pried it open, or probably did not let it latch all the way. "