- Good news (thanks to P.T.): the first 11 markets where Atlas Shrugged will be released.
- And a tiny hint of hopeful news (courtesy of Jim. B). Remember Nathan Fillion’s recent comment about wanting to revive Firefly? Well …
- The secret of long life isn’t what we’ve been told. But it may — no surprise — involve a depressing amount of exercise (NYTimes free subscription link). Whatever it involves, it doesn’t hinge on any “medical establishment” — as this depressing graph makes clear.
- For more impressive charts, check out Dave’s Friday blog. Silver. Shazam.
- The FDA pulls 500 prescription cold and cough medicines. And the reason (such as it is) sounds like something from The Onion: “‘We don’t know what they are, whether they work properly, or how they are made,’ said Deborah M. Autor, director of the FDA’s Office of Compliance at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) in Silver Spring, Md., during a teleconference. ‘The problem is that we don’t know what the problem is.’” Er … didn’t the FDA go through some elaborate process to approve these drugs in the first place?
- You might have seen this last week, and let’s hope none of us ever need it. But it bears repeating. The great Wendy McElroy on “When the Police Question Your Child.”
Kind of funny, 100% of the government people would say that families one of the most important things in life.
Yet they pass all kinds of laws that wreck families; police state laws, more taxes that make it impossible to have a one-income family, more laws that make people work longer hours. In the name of “security” they throw a kid in a cage, a small offense ends up wrecking a family.
When it comes down to it, they just want to be able to force people through violence to do things they wouldn’t normall do.
So, the FDA sort of admits it let modern day snake oil slide by? On questioning/detaining children. I’ve heard a few stories from people I know and trust-it ain’t pretty. It isn’t just cops-teachers are required to rat out students for suspicion of a variety of “offenses”. My cousin’s son got semi-detained(sent to the principal’s office for questioning) over a oddly shaped metal zipper pull that was thought to be a “weapon”(a image of Marvin the Martian leaning against a giant spark plug…maybe the school thought he had a Aludium Pu-36 explosive space modulator?). Do any laws that are supposed to “protect” us actually protect anyone from anything unpleasant?
Firefly..coolness. In the for-it’s-worth’dept. The ‘Verse is a multiple star system with quite a few terraformed planets and moons. No routine interstellar travel. Part of my Lunchtime Research.
“So, the FDA sort of admits it let modern day snake oil slide by?”
LOL. Nope. It may be snake oil. It may be 500 miracle drugs. “The problem is that we don’t know what the problem is.” So just in case there is a problem — which there may not be — we’re banning 500 drugs as a precaution. For your own good, you know. Just as we okayed the drugs in the first place for your own good.
Do you understand the logic now, Little Citizen?
Ah, freedom. Ain’t it grand?
P.S. That’s completely nuts about the zipper. Completely, totally nuts. The lunatics are running the … schools.
In defense of at least some teachers-they are required to be rats, if what I’m told is true(I know one high school teacher(I think she retired),who has a variety of weird tales to tell),a teacher can be locked up(or sued..maybe both) if they fail to report whatever it is they’re supposed to be reporting,and something goes wrong as a result. File it all under Hell If You Do and Damned If You Don’t.
I wouldn’t want to be a teacher in a public school. Again, from what I hear from people with children,school seems to be closer to prison than anything else. If I had children, they’d go to a private school, homeschooled if possible.
Is there a Government Intital School where budding bureaucrats go to learn fubarness? Seems that way.
Why do people let the police in without a warrant? Don’t they realize if the police show up at your door, it is not to help you?
A co-workers husband was recently arrested because he let the police in and talked to them and gave them probable cause for the arrest. Now, in discovery phase for the trial (he pled not guilty) it is apparent from the police reports that they did not have grounds to arrest him prior to making contact. Fortunately their procedures were so bad the case will likely be thrown out. A lot of hassle could of been prevented if he had told the police to stay out, and not answered any questions.
School administrators are not on the side of you children. When my daughter was in 7th grade she got the hell beat out of her by another girl, and her life was threatened. The school did not give a crap until we called the police. School wasn’t interested enough to report it. School was pissed when we called the police because it was only an unprovoked attack and death threats. It was also the last day my daughter attended that school.
“Avoiding Imperial entanglements” is always a good idea-if you can leave the law,bureaucrats, inspectors,any and all gov’mint three letter initial types out of your life, you are almost always better off.
Schools have changed. I went to school mostly in the 1970s-the bully was your problem-running to the teacher was,well, looked upon as a sign of wussdom. Deal with it yourself. That said,what happened to the bully was his problem. Pick on a smaller kid and they bust Mr. Bully upside his head with a board,and kick him in the crotch when he’s down?-his problem. Don’t pick on people,and these things won’t happen(Yes, this happened when I was in junior high-didn’t involve me). You were generally expected to fight your own battles.
Yeah, I had to learn that the hard way with bullying, and finally did in the sixth grade, which resulted in resulted in me and the bully being sent to the Assistant Principal’s office.
On another note.
We need to be aware that while the Internet can be a Freedom Fighter’s best friend, it can also be the Tyrant’s best friend as well.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928026.100-the-internet-is-a-tyrants-friend.html