Saturday, June 18, 2005
Canada OKs cannabis drug for MS pain
Sativex is a metred spray, administered under the tongue or inside the cheek. It's derived from extracts of the marijuana plant and is said to taste like peppermint.
OK, not exactly what I thought, which is that the plant itself had been approved. Pity.
See Google cache http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:YCYZdli_LyQJ:www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2005/04/19/MS-cannabis050419.html+%22Canada+OKs+cannabis+drug+for+MS+sufferers%22&hl=en>cached
Bloody blogger and its crappy knowledge of HTML...
Assimilation nation
Once again, Mr. Krauthammer steps aside from the pack for a different view and makes sense.
Despite such as the fringe that wants to "reclaim" the Southwest for "Latinos" (not mestizos or indios of course! Only those who can claim to have Euro-immigrant blood!) people come to this country any way they can because they want to enjoy what we have - and are largely smart enough to know they can do so without forcing us to become them but rather just being able to keep some of the old while adopting/adapting what is here that was not there.
And while it may seem repellent to some, [US-]English is the language here. If I were to emigrate to Brazil, I would expect to have to learn at least a basic seven thousand words of their brand of Portuguese. So, yes, education in English is a first step. Other steps, some less daunting (if you have a refrigerator, you do not have to shop every day - but yes, you can keep doing so if you want) and others more (no, you can't kill your sister because she flirted with a boy) so.
America's genius has always been assimilation, taking immigrants and turning them into Americans. Yet our current debates on immigration focus on only one side of the issue — the massive waves of illegal immigrants that we seem unable to stop.
...
By all means we should try to control immigration. Nonetheless, given our geography, our tolerant culture and the magnetic attraction of our economy, illegals will always be with us. Our first task, therefore, should be abolishing bilingual education everywhere and requiring that our citizenship tests have strict standards for English language and American civics.
The cure for excessive immigration is successful assimilation.
Despite such as the fringe that wants to "reclaim" the Southwest for "Latinos" (not mestizos or indios of course! Only those who can claim to have Euro-immigrant blood!) people come to this country any way they can because they want to enjoy what we have - and are largely smart enough to know they can do so without forcing us to become them but rather just being able to keep some of the old while adopting/adapting what is here that was not there.
And while it may seem repellent to some, [US-]English is the language here. If I were to emigrate to Brazil, I would expect to have to learn at least a basic seven thousand words of their brand of Portuguese. So, yes, education in English is a first step. Other steps, some less daunting (if you have a refrigerator, you do not have to shop every day - but yes, you can keep doing so if you want) and others more (no, you can't kill your sister because she flirted with a boy) so.
Onward, Moderate Christian Soldiers
Moderate Christians are less certain about when and how our beliefs can be translated into statutory form, not because of a lack of faith in God but because of a healthy acknowledgement of the limitations of human beings. Like conservative Christians, we attend church, read the Bible and say our prayers.
But for us, the only absolute standard of behavior is the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. Repeatedly in the Gospels, we find that the Love Commandment takes precedence when it conflicts with laws. We struggle to follow that commandment as we face the realities of everyday living, and we do not agree that our responsibility to live as Christians can be codified by legislators.
I think JOHN C. DANFORTH makes a point I have felt for some time: Jerry Falwell and his "conservative Christian" ilk do not speak for me.
If anything, I do not think the point is made stridently enough. Nor at all completely: for instance, "In recent years, conservative Christians have presented themselves as representing the one authentic Christian perspective on politics" misses that this group of subsets (ie, sects) of religion has always claimed to be the only holders of true beliefs, and that what has recently changed is that the MainStreamMedia has gone from showing Oral Roberts and Jim Bakker as fringe nuts to portraying similar types as the mainstream of Christianity.
That latter is, to me at least, an indication of political indoctrination practiced by the MSM whether with forethought or just unexamined prejudice. Why is it that war-on-terror-takes-decades POTUS Bush is vilified as "a born-again Christian" while killer-rabbit dictator-adulator former POTUS Carter never has this label applied to him?
Friday, June 17, 2005
FDA admits one size does not fit all
The drug's trial, on just over 1,000 individuals, was launched after the FDA turned away the medication following a study involving all races that showed little improvement - but also gave hints that blacks might have had some benefit.
The maker, NitroMed of Lexington, Mass., then decided on a trial using blacks only, a population that has more than twice the rate of heart failure as whites.
And now, BiDil is approved by a review committee and moves toward full approval. But still with at least two problems. Some question that it can work on one subset of humanity but not others (apparently never heard of sickle-cell anemia or Tay-Sachs) so doubt both original and new tests, others debate whether it should carry a "blacks only" label.
Argentina Amnesty Ruling
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A Supreme Court ruling that struck down amnesty laws protecting human rights violators during Argentina's "Dirty War" won widespread support ...
The Supreme Court Tuesday voted 7-1, with one abstention, to throw out two laws forbidding charges in scores of cases of disappearances, torture and other crimes during the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
The Supreme Court Tuesday voted 7-1, with one abstention, to throw out two laws forbidding charges in scores of cases of disappearances, torture and other crimes during the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
two weeks from retirement
By WAYNE PARRY
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - A 64-year-old police officer just two weeks away from retirement will be promoted to detective after throwing himself in front of a woman and her two young children when a gunman opened fire inside a precinct house.
Michael Gullace, who has spent 38 years on the job, was working a desk shift Wednesday night when he heard gunfire.
Gullace grabbed the gunman's girlfriend and their two young children and threw his body over them. When a detective returning fire at the suspect ran out of bullets, Gullace tossed him his own weapon, enabling the officer to keep firing.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - A 64-year-old police officer just two weeks away from retirement will be promoted to detective after throwing himself in front of a woman and her two young children when a gunman opened fire inside a precinct house.
Michael Gullace, who has spent 38 years on the job, was working a desk shift Wednesday night when he heard gunfire.
Gullace grabbed the gunman's girlfriend and their two young children and threw his body over them. When a detective returning fire at the suspect ran out of bullets, Gullace tossed him his own weapon, enabling the officer to keep firing.
PETA cruelty
PETA Employees Arrested
Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have been charged with animal cruelty after dumping dead dogs and cats in a shopping center garbage bin, police said.
Nice.
