Prayer Study: Humans Fail to Manipulate God

ScrappleFace:More wit and sarcasm from my perennial favorite, Scrappleface.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Rethinking the drug war by John Stossel - Mar 29, 2006

Townhall.com :: Columns :: Rethinking the drug war by John Stossel - Mar 29, 2006:

"Government's declaring drugs illegal doesn't mean people can't get them. It just creates a black market, where even nastier things happen. That's why I have come to think that although drug addiction is bad, the drug war is worse."

Repeat this over and over until it sinks in ... drugs are easily obtainable today basically everywhere in the country -- so what benefits do we get from fighting the drug war? Why not legalize it, save the 40 BILLION dollars annually and spend that money educating the public and treating addicts? Heck we'd probably make tons of money in simply taxing the stuff. Again -- the drugs are already easily available! Making it legal wouldn't make them any more available than they already are.

the horror

Samizdata.net

: "The role of government is to provide good health care for our seniors. We made that commitment, interestingly enough, when Lyndon Baines Johnson was the President.

President George W. Bush
15 March 2006"

Why, oh why did people ever buy into this crap?!? I can see the founding fathers rolling over in their graves -- the role of government is what!?! Here's a crazy idea -- the role of government is to enforce the rule of law, protect the basic human rights of citizens, and defend the country from foreign adversaries. I'll take care of my own health-care plan, thanks.

Programmable Liquid Container

EngadgetYes, its true -- soon I may have access to vanilla coke again! Follow the link to see the high fruits of modern engineering.

This Essay Breaks the Law

New York Times:

"• The Earth revolves around the Sun.

• The speed of light is a constant.

• Apples fall to earth because of gravity.

• Elevated blood sugar is linked to diabetes.

• Elevated uric acid is linked to gout.

• Elevated homocysteine is linked to heart disease.

• Elevated homocysteine is linked to B-12 deficiency, so doctors should test homocysteine levels to see whether the patient needs vitamins.

ACTUALLY, I can't make that last statement. A corporation has patented that fact, and demands a royalty for its use. Anyone who makes the fact public and encourages doctors to test for the condition and treat it can be sued for royalty fees. Any doctor who reads a patient's test results and even thinks of vitamin deficiency infringes the patent. A federal circuit court held that mere thinking violates the patent.

All this may sound absurd, but it is the heart of a case that will be argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday."

Read the whole thing. The root problem is that our laws have accepted the absurd notion that ideas are property, that people can own things like numbers or words. Disgusting.

SXSW to MPAA: STFU

Powazek: Just a Thought:

"And then I remembered all those awful anti-piracy trailers they make us watch before the movies we paid to see, the total unabashed lie of their 'we just wanna protect artists' line, and the way they want to make us pay over and over for the same content in multiple formats, and all my sympathy for the MPAA evaporated."

I just love to hate the MPAA ;) I wish I could have been at the conference cited by Powazek in the link above, it would be nice to be able to vent directly to our shared adversary. Long live the copyfight!

WinXP on MacIntosh box

XP on MacTel is official: Engadget:

"Chalk up another victory for the invisible hand of capitalism- it's amazing how fast $13,000 can get folks to code."

Good news for all the suckers who overpaid by 50% for a mac -- now it can run windows and open the doors to all of that windows-only software out there.