Go to http://www.theartoftheblog.com for my new site.
CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush celebrated a package of tax cuts which, with his promised signature, will send refunds to some parents, increase the size of many paychecks and provide more benefits to investors.
posted by TAotB at 8:33:00 PM
NEW YORK — Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Rick Bragg (search) was reportedly suspended by The New York Times (search) for two weeks as the newspaper published an editors' note about his handling of a feature story about Florida oystermen.
posted by TAotB at 8:32:00 PM
I just love the descriptions. Too funny!
It may take a while to load since it is all in jpeg format.
posted by TAotB at 4:29:00 PM
With all the criticism the Dems are throwing at the tax cut passed today, I thought we might want to look at some points relating to the tax cut and the criticism.
posted by TAotB at 3:22:00 PM
The Washington Times: Commentary
The land to which Jews began to return in large numbers during the final two decades of the 19th century — the land they transformed from desert to orange groves, cities and kibbutzim — was largely empty, not the thriving "nation of Palestine," as the current myth has it.
posted by TAotB at 12:41:00 PM
OpinionJournal - Featured Article
One hundred and forty-five billion dollars! It was the biggest punitive damage award in U.S. history--and it resulted from a "fundamentally unfair" trial in which plaintiffs' lawyers "succeeded in inflaming the jury's passions," most notably through "egregious" appeals to racial sentiment, to the point that its members "ran amuck." That's what a unanimous state appeals court said on Wednesday when it struck down the award--$145 billion!--against the tobacco industry purportedly on behalf of all sick smokers in the state of Florida.
The decision isn't the final word on the much-hyped Engle class action, since appeal to the Florida Supreme Court is likely. But Wall Street cheered, bidding up tobacco stocks by more than 10%. And other businesspeople should take note, since defendants in other industries are only too vulnerable to the tactics and techniques justly rebuked by the appeals court this week.
posted by TAotB at 12:40:00 PM
SALEM -- The Oregon House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill making it clear that law enforcement officers should not shoot at low-level criminals and suspects to prevent them from fleeing unless they threaten an officer's or the public's safety.
posted by TAotB at 6:45:00 PM
In Washington, proponents of global warming continue to pursue legislation to cap carbon dioxide emissions and push the United States into ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change—a treaty that the Senate has steadfastly failed to ratify. In fact, in 1997, the Senate passed a resolution stating that any such resolution would have to include developing nations, and that such a treaty should not harm the U.S. economy. The Kyoto Protocol fails on both these accounts. This year, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, considered but ultimately excluded a climate change title in the energy bill. Adopting such a title would have implicitly endorsed the assertion that human induced greenhouse gas emissions significantly contribute to global warming and opened the door to Kyoto Protocol-style caps on emissions, most notably carbon dioxide.
Proponents of the Kyoto-style restrictions on energy use have not abandoned the fight, however, and are gearing up for a floor fight with amendments to include more stringent global warming policies. Supporters such as Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) already made a push for more aggressive climate change policies earlier this year. Other stalwarts, such as Sens. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) will be prominent in the coming debates as well.
posted by TAotB at 6:33:00 PM
Go to this site and email your representatives to tell them to pass this law!
Now, you may wonder why I, a believer in ending the drug war, should support this bill.
It's simple:
So, tell the Congress to vote FOR this legislation!
House GOP Targets Medical Marijuana States - Sierra Times.com
WASHINGTON - House Republicans are pressing for legislation that would strip federal anti-drug money from local police in states that have passed medical marijuana laws.
posted by TAotB at 6:32:00 PM
NtheDrgWar at Liberty For All - Online Magazine
In what has become a War on People and on the Bill of Rights, millions of nonviolent high school and college kids have had their lives shattered by prison sentences that are not at all proportional to their "crimes". Ironically, many of these "criminals" were caught doing the very things that politicians have been accused of, and even admitted, doing. In the 2000 presidential campaign, both Bush and Gore decreed that the punishment for doing what many believe they themselves did, should be a minimum of 10 years in prison. As the former LP Presidential candidate Harry Browne wanted to ask both Bush and Gore, "Would your lives had been better had you spent 10 years in a federal prison for your youthful indiscretions?"
posted by TAotB at 6:20:00 PM
Herald.com - Your Miami Everything Guide
A state appellate court on Wednesday sledgehammered the record $145 billion punitive-damage judgment against the tobacco industry, concluding that a Miami judge should never have allowed a vast group of Florida smokers to present their complaints collectively at trial in 2000.
The Third District Court of Appeal ruled that Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye erred by letting a jury hear the first-ever smokers' class-action lawsuit. The reason: Each of the estimated 700,000 plaintiffs had different smoking and medical histories.
In other words, each smoker should first have to win an individual claim for compensatory damages for illnesses such as lung cancer before joining a class action to seek punitive damages. Legal experts say such a process could take decades for everyone.
posted by TAotB at 6:18:00 PM
For more information on Genetically Modified Organisms, go here.
Bush Lashes Out at Europe (washingtonpost.com)
"By widening the use of new high-yield bio-crops and unleashing the power of markets, we can dramatically increase agricultural productivity and feed more people across the continent," Bush said in a commencement address on the drizzly west bank of the Thames River. "Yet, our partners in Europe are impeding this effort. They have blocked all new bio-crops because of unfounded, unscientific fears."
In related news, a German Official called for the EU to accept GMO.
German official calls for end to EU biotech ban
WASHINGTON - A top German official this week sided with the United States in a dispute over the European Union's ban on new biotech food products.
In a speech to the German American Executive Summit, German Economic Affairs Minister Wolfgang Clement said it was important for the world trading system that the United States and the EU resolve a number of outstanding disputes.
posted by TAotB at 6:16:00 PM
Righting a UN wrong | csmonitor.com
The conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia began to lobby for annexation of the mostly Armenian Nargorno-Karabakh region in neighboring Azerbaijan. Ten years ago this spring, when the war escalated, creating tens of thousands of Azerbaijani refugees in a matter of days, the UN Security Council passed a series of resolutions aimed at stopping it. More resolutions were passed in 1993 after the fall of Agdam and other Azerbaijani cities created hundreds of thousands more refugees. These UN resolutions demanded the "immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces" from Azerbaijani territories and expressed "grave concern at the displacement of large numbers of civilians in the Azerbaijani Republic and at the serious humanitarian emergency in the region."
Despite the resolutions, the region has languished as more than 1 million refugees remain uprooted, and one-fifth of Azerbaijani territory remains occupied by Armenia.
posted by TAotB at 6:15:00 PM
Ok, so this guys a bit over the top. If you watched the series, you'll appreciate the "Top 10" episode list. If not, find the reruns, you'll love it. ;-)
"BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER" is the best show in the history of television.
How about that for a declarative statement. Is it an arguable one? Sure. "M*A*S*H," "Mary Tyler Moore," "Seinfeld," "Cheers," "The Honeymooners," "I Love Lucy"--they're all great shows. They're also all half-hour comedies. Besides "Buffy," what other hour-long drama belongs on the short list? Probably "Homicide: Life on the Street." That's about it.
What makes "Buffy" so good? For one thing, it's got layers. Unlike "ER" or "Hill Street Blues" or "St. Elsewhere," "Buffy" isn't just a straight drama. It deals with larger themes--good and evil, honor and duty, faith and disbelief. And then there's the acting and the writing and the satire and . . . well, you get the point.
posted by TAotB at 6:12:00 PM
Similar to the way that Dems tried to manually adjust election in Florida in 2000 and in New Jersey in 2002, the Reps are trying to get an exception made in Illinois to current election law.
Illinois election law says that all presidential candidates must be certified 67 days prior to the election. The Rep convention is being held 61 days prior to voting day.
While not exactly analogous (Reps are trying to do this BEFORE the eleciton and are ASKING the right authorities instead of demanding it post facto, the Reps should work on getting the Illinois legislature to make the change. The courts and the State Board of Elections should stay out of it. If the legislature, who right the laws, doe snot see fit to make the change prior to next September, then the Reps need to play by the rules and find an alternative.
Law could keep Bush off ballot
In November 2004, millions of people will go to the polls to vote for the next U.S. president. But if the Libertarian Party has its way, President George W. Bush may not be a choice for Illinois voters.
The Libertarian Party is challenging an effort by the Republican National Committee to bend a state election law that requires presidential candidates to be certified as nominees more than 67 days before a general election.
The Republican Party will nominate their candidate during its national convention Sept. 3, 2004, 61 days before the Nov. 2 general election. That candidate most likely will be Bush, who filed re-election papers last week and is not expected to face any significant challenges.
posted by TAotB at 5:36:00 PM
Obviously, he trampled upon these poor defenseless gentlemen's lives by shooting at them. He must be mad to pay!
Business owner fatally shoots burglar
A business owner who stayed overnight to protect his construction-equipment yard from thieves shot and killed one of two suspected burglars during a confrontation early Tuesday, authorities said.
The owner, Douglas Click, opened fire with a shotgun after he was attacked by two men who broke into Arizona Hi-Lift after midnight Monday, according to Phoenix police spokesman Detective Tony Morales. . . .
"We do not foresee any arrest being made on the owner. ... He was in fear of his life, and he was being attacked," Morales said.
posted by TAotB at 5:30:00 PM
FOXNews.comThe president claimed victory on the economic package, although the tax cuts were less than half of what he had requested. Bush once called a $350 billion tax-cutting plan "itty bitty."
posted by TAotB at 1:53:00 PM
I have no problem with confronting people LEOs have reason to believe have terrorist ties or leanings. But this is ridiculous and censurable.
Tarrytown judge's remark sparks outrage
TARRYTOWN — An Arab-American woman who fainted in village court said she suffered an anxiety attack after the judge asked if she were a terrorist.
Anissa Khoder has filed a complaint against Tarrytown Village Justice William Crosbie with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Khoder went to court on Thursday to contest a pair of parking tickets. As she approached the judge's table, she said, Crosbie considered her name out loud and asked if she were a terrorist. She said she was stunned by the implication, but responded with a weak, reflexive smile.
"I felt offended, and I kept it to myself," she said, but then it got worse. After completing her explanation for why the tickets should be dismissed, she said the judge asked her, "You don't really want to pay these tickets, do you?"
"Then he said something like, 'You have money to support the terrorists, but you don't want to pay the ticket,' " Khoder said. "I could not believe I was hearing that."
posted by TAotB at 12:33:00 PM
Once more the UN has shown that it KNEW about something dastardly done by some evil dictator and yet did nothing about it. Did not even TELL people it was going on to try and get some help to correct it. Yep, we sure need more of them.
ABCNEWS.com : Saddam Stole Billions From U.N.
L O N D O N, May 20— United Nations officials looked the other way as Saddam Hussein's regime skimmed $2 billion to $3 billion in bribes and kickbacks from the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program, said U.N. officials who told ABCNEWS they were powerless to stop the massive graft.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 6:33:00 PM
There is reason to hope that the worst aspects of H.R. 1298 -- the imposition of gender feminism, the slighting of male AIDS victims, the enrichment of the World Bank -- may not be realized. The bill does not provide actual funds, which must come from congressional committees. Perhaps in arguments presented in that arena, science will triumph over politics, men and women will be treated equally and expenditures will be tied to accountability. Perhaps.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 3:55:00 PM
Neo-Conservatism Explained by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Thus the great fallacy of neo-conservatism is the one that afflicts all non-libertarian ideologies: they believe that society can be managed by the state in both its political and economic life. They believe this to a lesser extent than some left socialists, but to a far greater extent than most thinkers on the right.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 3:21:00 PM
First, some de-twaddling. The question before the Court is said to be whether race may be a factor in admission. This is not at all the question—and we all know it. The question is whether blacks should enjoy special privilege in admission.
Suppose that a college, using race as a factor, decided to give unqualified whites preference over qualified blacks. The federal government would bring its full punitive force to bear on the malfactorous institution. No matter how one may try to disguise it, no matter the weasel-wording and clouding and evasion, the issue, always, is special privilege for a particular race. . . .
Second, the dispute has nothing to do with racism against blacks. The white population would, if polled, overwhelmingly support a policy of neutrality with respect to color. The bone in contention is special privilege. Nothing else.
Third, the prevalent racism is not intended as a temporary measure. There is never any talk among its advocates of phasing it out. They want it forever. . . .
Still, if I were among [the Supreme Court], I would reflect on affirmative action . . . thusly:
First, its continuance would illuminate the awful truth that the government is not an impartial institution of the people, but the special tool of some people. To put it clearly: My own government discriminates against me on grounds of race, and does so by law. It is a form of corruption worse than nepotism or croneyism. Nepotism, though it occurs, is disapproved. Racism is the legal bedrock of American politics.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 3:19:00 PM
Reason: H: The surprising truth about heroin and addiction
The fact that heroin use is so rare -- involving, according to the government’s data, something like 0.2 percent of the U.S. population in 2001 -- suggests that its appeal is much more limited than we’ve been led to believe. If heroin really is "so good," why does it have such a tiny share of the illegal drug market? Marijuana is more than 45 times as popular. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicates that about 3 million Americans have used heroin in their lifetimes; of them, 15 percent had used it in the last year, 4 percent in the last month. These numbers suggest that the vast majority of heroin users either never become addicted or, if they do, manage to give the drug up. A survey of high school seniors found that 1 percent had used heroin in the previous year, while 0.1 percent had used it on 20 or more days in the previous month. Assuming that daily use is a reasonable proxy for opiate addiction, one in 10 of the students who had taken heroin in the last year might have qualified as addicts. These are not the sort of numbers you’d expect for a drug that’s irresistible.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 3:09:00 PM
Now if we can only them to admit that most terrorists are Middle Eastern males between 16-40. . . .
Dodgeglobe.com: AP News
Foreign visitors arriving with visas at U.S. airports or seaports next year will have their travel documents scanned, their fingerprints and photos taken and their identification checked against terrorist watch lists.
posted by TAotB at 2:55:00 PM
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
In a five-page memo released at a news conference Thursday, the centrist DLC fired off a blistering salvo against the party's liberal activist wing, charging that the liberal wing is "defined principally by weakness abroad and elitist interest group liberalism at home."--30--
"Not only is the activist wing out of line with Democratic tradition, but it is badly out of touch with the Democratic rank and file," said DLC founder Al From and President Bruce Reed in a memo widely circulated Friday among party leaders. . . .
"On every social and economic issue, registered Democrats' views were closer to those of all registered voters than to those of Democratic delegates," the DLC said.
Most of the DLC's offensive was aimed at liberal, special-interest groups such as the National Organization for Women, People for the American Way, labor unions and other leftist activist organizations that can activate large numbers of campaign workers and influence the outcome of key presidential caucuses and primaries.
posted by TAotB at 2:46:00 PM
TheDenverChannel.com - News - High School Oral Sex Article Stirs Controversy
The story begins by citing a "survey" of Montrose high school students which determined that 60 percent of the students do not consider oral sex to be "sex."
And a related story from the NYT: Study Finds 1 in 5 Youths Have Sex Before Age 15
About 20 percent of adolescents have had sexual intercourse before their 15th birthday — and one in seven of the sexually experienced 14-year-old girls has been pregnant, according to a report by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.--30--
posted by TAotB at 2:39:00 PM
Once again, freedom of speech ensures that the government will not stop you from speaking. It does not mean that your words don't have consequences. That is the lesson this reporter/graduation speaker should take away from this. I bet he does not.
Rockford Register Star - Rockford's Newspaper and Website - Local & State News
ROCKFORD — New York Times reporter Chris Hedges was booed off the stage Saturday at Rockford College’s graduation because he gave an antiwar speech.--30--
posted by TAotB at 2:34:00 PM
AP Wire | 05/20/2003 | Justice Thomas Defends Views on Diversity
"I have my own opinions and my ideas. They're mine," he said. "I won't tell you you must believe certain things because of your skin color or because you're bad for not agreeing with me. That's all I can see, is that people are upset because I disagree with them."
Thomas was quizzed by the students about his views on affirmative action; about his vote in Bush v. Gore, which ended candidate Al Gore's chances of winning the presidency; and about replacing civil rights trailblazer Thurgood Marshall as the second black justice on the court.
A note about "ending Al Gore's chances of winning" . . . the voters took care of that. The Supreme Court merely told the Florida Supremem Court that the law would apply to everyone equally. The SC told them that they could not selectively recount votes in only those places where they thought they could garner more votes. Besides, in all (to my knowledge) the ways of counting the votes that they tried, Algore never came out on top. NEVER.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 2:30:00 PM
This has been tried with Mario Cuomo, Jim Hightower, and several others. We'll see if it works this time. If it does, good for them. That means they have found a product that the people want and will be able to provide it for those interested in such things. If not, think they might admit that their views are not quite as universal as they would have us think? As pervasive as most major media outlets and Hollywood movies portray? Me neither.
Move Over, Right Wing Radio - the Liberals Are Coming
At a Saturday talk radio industry event put on by Talkers Magazine, Gabe Hobbs, Clear Channel Radio's vice president of News/Talk/Sports, announced that in the near future this corporate owner of over 1200 radio stations is considering programming some of their talk stations "in markets where there are already one or two stations doing conservative talk" with all-day back-to-back all-liberal talk show hosts.--30--
Using the analogy of how music radio stations wouldn't run different categories of music on a single programming day, Hobbs said talk radio was similarly "all about format." This, he said, is why liberal talkers haven't succeeded when sandwiched between conservatives - radio stations shouldn't mix formats but instead should market to specific listener niches. Understanding this, it's clear that only all-liberal/all-day programming can fill the demand for liberal talk radio, Hobbs' comments suggested.
posted by TAotB at 2:25:00 PM
Gephardt skips 85% of House votes=TheHill.com=
Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) has missed 162 votes in the House this year — 85 percent of the total — prompting Republicans to charge that he has abandoned his congressional duties in his pursuit of the presidency.--30--
posted by TAotB at 2:16:00 PM
CNN Concedes, Sort of, Distorted "Assault Weapon" Demonstration--5/20/2003-- Media Research Center
Reeling from NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre charging CNN with fabricating and "deliberately faking" a story last Thursday to demonstrate how a banned "assault weapon" has much more dangerous firepower than a legal model, on Monday's Wolf Blitzer Reports, substitute anchor Miles O'Brien didn't go so far as to offer a retraction, but he did concede CNN's demonstration needed further amplification.--30--
posted by TAotB at 2:14:00 PM
WASHINGTON - Quietly tucked into the Senate's $350 billion tax-cut bill, just before its passage late Thursday night, were a host of breaks for such groups as liquor wholesalers, citrus growers and operators of sightseeing flights.--30--
posted by TAotB at 4:38:00 PM
BERLIN: The German government has intercepted a cargo of 30 tonnes of sodium cyanide, which can be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons, at the request of Washington which believes the shipment was bound for North Korea, according to the German weekly Der Spiegel.--30--
posted by TAotB at 4:22:00 PM
Surprise surprise. Those who supported the Coalition against Iraq, France, and the UN are getting rewarded for their actions. Maybe it is smart to help the most powerful nation in the history of the planet . . . especially when that nation is RIGHT!
USATODAY.com - Bush rewards backers of Iraq war
WASHINGTON — When President Bush hosts Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo tonight at a state dinner, he will possibly be sending a signal to nations that opposed the war in Iraq: Friends get rewards. Foes pay a price.--30--
Ever since combat in Iraq began winding down, Bush has been hosting leaders of nations that supported the war and snubbing those that didn't. The meetings are a political boon for those who receive them, including many from smaller nations.
posted by TAotB at 4:20:00 PM
This time it is a smoking treaty, the text of which can be found here in PDF format. According to NoSmoking.ws, an anti-smoking website, the treaty would allow for the following:
In other words, it would restrict a legal product and, per usual with the anti-smoking crowd, rely on junk science for it's primary support.
Dodgeglobe.com: AP News
"Much to the surprise of many around the world, I am going to be supporting the tobacco treaty," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said on the eve of the meeting of health ministers.
But he stressed it would be a first step since the treaty still needs to be signed by President Bush and ratified by Congress.
Anti-smoking activists and developing countries have accused the United States of trying to undermine the tobacco accord.
The language of the treaty was agreed in March over U.S. objections that it did not allow countries to opt out of individual clauses — a procedure known as taking reservations.
Also, The Washington Times: Commentary
Tobaccophobes such as Michael Bloomberg and Stanton Glantz are determined to eliminate smoking from bars and restaurants regardless of what the evidence shows. But those of us who have more respect for the truth should not let them banish skepticism along with cigarette smoke.
--30--
posted by TAotB at 4:17:00 PM
Yahoo! News - Science confirms -- politicians lie
--30--
In a study described in the Observer newspaper, Glen Newey, a political scientist at the University of Strathclyde, concluded that lying is an important part of politics in the modern democracy.
"Politicians need to be more honest about lying," he told the newspaper.
posted by TAotB at 2:20:00 PM
ArabNews: Drying Up The Wells of Terrorism
The most important source is ideological. It is no secret that there has for a long time been an active current determined to disregard, discredit and demonize others. These people believe in one truth, and they regard themselves as its founders, keepers and executioners. The weakness of their “truth’s” logic and its even weaker legislative base, especially in a tolerant, multi-doctrinal, living and abundant religion, meant that they had to resort to callousness in its application, in order to impose a single vision and thought.--30--
This ideology managed in the last few decades to impose itself and to infiltrate all areas that affect public consciousness from media to education, from mosque to university, from books to tapes. Since we are by nature a Muslim and conservative nation, and because many in our society have become used to receiving without question, believing without investigation, and to learning from that single source without research or investigation, it was easy for this force to convey what it wanted and direct us in the manner that it wished.
posted by TAotB at 2:13:00 PM
Yeah, this story is a week old, but it is definitely worth reading. An embedded reporter talks of how the mainstream press refuses to cover pro-US events in Iraq.
But you won't see much of this on TV or read about it in the papers. To an amazing degree, the Baghdad-based press corps avoids writing about or filming the friendly dealings between U.S. forces here and the local population--most likely because to do so would require them to report the extravagant expressions of gratitude that accompany every such encounter. Instead you read story after story about the supposed fury of Baghdadis at the Americans for allowing the breakdown of law and order in their city.--30--
posted by TAotB at 1:44:00 PM
Here we go again. This time it's The Matrix that is turning normal, well-adjusted, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly citizens into cold-blooded killers. Yep. The four people listed in this story of a string of slayings would never have done the damned deeds if not for the malovolent movie mayhem making them murder meople . . . umm, people.
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Matrix films blamed for series of murders by obsessed fans
One of the attractions of The Matrix, the film whose sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, opens in Britain next week, was its blending of fantasy and reality. A series of murders in the United States suggests some people have been unable to distinguish between the two.--30--
posted by TAotB at 1:32:00 PM
Bush Press Secretary Fleischer Resigns (washingtonpost.com)
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, the public face of the Bush administration through two wars and a terrorist attack, said Monday he will resign in July to enter the private sector.--30--
"I love this job," Fleischer told reporters at his informal Monday morning briefing. "I believe deeply about President Bush as a man and I believe deeply in his policies, but it's my time to go."
posted by TAotB at 1:24:00 PM
The Salt Lake Tribune -- Study Finds Secondhand Smoke Doesn't Up Cancer Risk
Enstrom and Kabat focused their work on 35,561 people who had never smoked but had spouses who did. The scientists reviewed the histories of the participants from 1960 to 1998 and found no significant increase in their death rate for coronary heart disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
But the study contradicted the conclusions of a variety of studies over the years. The World Health Organization and other health agencies have concluded that second-hand smoke carries heightened risk for such diseases, on the order of a 20 percent increased risk for lung cancer and a 30 percent increase for heart disease. The American Cancer Society and several scientists said the study was flawed in several ways. For instance, the study only examined 10 percent of the people originally enrolled in the American Cancer Society study. Additionally, in the early years of the study, people were exposed to secondhand smoke in many other places than the home, such as movie theaters, restaurants and the workplace. This would have the effect of dwarfing the effects of secondhand smoke in the home.
See also Secondhand Smokescreen from JunkScience.com via FoxNews.com
Just when it seemed anti-smoking activists finally succeeded in producing scientific reports establishing secondhand smoke as a health risk, a federal judge overturned the EPA report in 1998. He ruled the EPA cheated on the science.--30--
Later in 1998, the WHO published the largest study ever done on secondhand smoke and lung cancer. The study reported no statistically significant association between secondhand smoke and lung cancer. Oops.
posted by TAotB at 1:17:00 AM
Jonah Goldberg: Liberals twist privacy arguments
This very wide zone of privacy can be explained in part by the elitist conservatism of the media at the time. And part of it can be explained by the general awe the overwhelmingly liberal establishment held for Kennedy and other liberal presidents.--30--
But the reason the zone eroded can be laid primarily at the feet of the left, particularly the feminist left. Senators John Tower, Robert Packwood and even Gary Hart, as well as Judges Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and Douglas Ginsburg, all had their private lives spilled out for public view, some deservedly, others not.
Leading the charge in most, if not all, of the cases were feminists and liberal activists who insisted that "the personal is political." The insistence that conservatives "just don't get it" when it comes such issues as sexual harassment and abortion were used as smokescreens to cover prying into what movies Judge Bork rented and what Packwood wrote in his diary.
But when conservatives joined the game -sometimes to everyone's detriment -liberals balked. Suddenly, when Bill Clinton violated all of the rules established by feminists in the wake of the Thomas hearings, the right to privacy suddenly became sacrosanct. Gloria Steinem was writing op-eds in the Times about how employers should be allowed to make passes at their employees, so long as it didn't get out of hand.
posted by TAotB at 1:11:00 AM
Murray N. Rothbard really hits the nail on the head in this one. A very interesting look at the history of something called "neo-Puritanism" and it's effects.
AMERICA'S MOST PERSECUTED MINORITY
All right, consider this: Which group has been increasingly illegalized, shamed and denigrated first by the Establishment, and then, following its lead, by society at large? Which group, far from coming out of the "closet," has been literally forced back into the closet after centuries of walking proudly in the public square? And which group has tragically internalized the value-system of its oppressors, so that they are deeply ashamed and guilty about practicing their rites and customs? Which group is so brow-beaten that it never thinks of defending itself, any attempt at which is publicly condemned and ridiculed? Which group is considered such sinners that the use of doctored statistics against them is considered legitimate means in a worthy cause?--30--
posted by TAotB at 1:09:00 AM
A very interesting column by Michael Kinsley. Apparently, GW gave a speech at a successful "small business" last Monday. That business was MCT Industries.
Now, Mr. Kinsley's problem with the speech is that he feels that giving tax breaks to entrepreneurs is a bad idea. They don't need it.
In a fascinating bit of logic, Kinsley figures this out all by himself based on the facts that A) MCT Industries is, gasp, SUCCESFUL! It somehow made it by WITHOUT the tax cuts. Ergo - no small business need to keep its own money. And B) MCT Industries has many government contracts. Horror! Since MCT Industries is paid by monies collected through taxation, that means that only through taxation could it be successful. Ergo - no other business (i.e. those without gov't contracts) needs to keep its own money for profit or reinvestment.
Gotta love the way they think, don't ya?
The Fabulist - Bush's absurd obsession with small business. By Michael Kinsley
The myth of small business is one of the more ridiculous bipartisan superstitions that influence government policy. Small businesses, by their nature, come and go. They create more jobs than big businesses and wipe out more jobs, too. Any small-business owner burdened by high taxes is, by definition, more affluent than the typical big-business owner, who is an ordinary working American with an interest in a retirement fund. Small businesses are swell. But special favors for small business make no sense in terms of either fairness or prosperity.
posted by TAotB at 1:03:00 AM
This poor guy is upset that we have not yet found 300 million gallons of chemical weapons or nukes. Forget the two chem weapon mobile labs we have found. (So they were sanitzed. So what? If I have a gun with no bullets in it, does that mean it is no longer a gun? Or that it never had bullets?) Forget that many weapons may have been transferred to Syria. Forget that Saddam may have destroyed the weapons just before the WOI began. It was all actually just a big lie by GW and cohorts.
It's all over but the shouting. And the screaming. And the endless years of U.S. occupation in the Middle East, the quiet building of U.S. military bases in Iraq so we can keep those uppity bitches Syria and Egypt and Lebanon in line, forge ahead with the long-standing plan to strong-arm those damn Islamic nuts into brutal compliance with Bushco's bleak blueprint for World Inc. What, too bitter? Hardly.--30--
Should we care that Osama, the actual perp of 9/11, is still running around free? That terrorism hasn't been quelled in the slightest? That the Mideast is more of a U.S.-hating powder keg than ever, thanks to BushCo? That the economy is in the worst shape it's been in decades?
Should we care that we just massacred tens of thousands of Iraqi (and Afghan) civilians and soldiers and suffered a little more than 100 U.S. casualties and have absolutely nothing to show for it except bogus force-fed pride and this weird, sickening sense that we just executed something irreparable and ungodly and karmically poisonous?
posted by TAotB at 12:40:00 AM
