Sleepless in Midland

David Dao, tear down that settlement confidentiality wall and tell us how much you got

There's always something discomforting about settlement agreements with non-disclosure clauses. They all have them, but it suggests that it was all about the money.

The msm made a victim and a hero out of Dr. Dao by showing the video of him being dragged off a plane. One radio commentator said he was removed from the plane then came back on displaying facial injuries. We don't know how he got the injuries -- did the security officers beat him up? Did he inflict the injuries on himself?

In any event, his lawyers parlayed the bad publicity for United into what we have to guess was a pretty big settlement. But they won't disclose the amount, obviously because of a non-disclosure clause in the contract.

I call on Dr. Dao to disclose the amount. United would ask him to give the money back. He could refuse, like he did when they asked him to get off the plane. Maybe he'll retain that hero status. People are always saying, "It's not about the money." But he could demonstrate that it wasn't about the money. Otherwise, we are left to surmise that it was about the money.

12:59 PM 4/29/2017

Does the government have a duty to warn us of malware vulnerabilities?

Those agencies warning us of global warming and saturated fats act as if they have such a duty to warn, although there doesn't seem to be any penalty for failure.

Anecdotally, the movies are rife with scenes in which a law enforcement officer warns a mobster under surveillance that there's a contract out on him. Does that really happen? Don't know.

But how about malware vulnerabilities on someone's computer which the government knows about? It could be subverted by the agency into a spy tool. Or they could warn the individual or company of the danger. Apparently, that's an ethical dilemma they are trying to navigate.

This is brought to our attention in The Zero-Day Dilemma: Should Government Disclose Company Cyber Security Gaps?.

In that article Levi Maxey provides both sides of the issue. On one hand, the possibility that the vulnerability is discovered by someone inclined to misuse it isn't that great. On the other hand, an agency with knowledge about it may itself be vulnerable to Snowden like spies. But they have no duty to disclose it to the vulnerable entity.

It's a jungle out there on the net. The best advice is to keep operating systems and software, especially antivirus software, updated.

Hans A. von Spakovsky on the next Supreme Court nomination

Rumors abound. Chuck Grassley was the first that I heard talk about it in a news report. The rumor was that a Supreme Court justice will retire this summer. Ideally, that prospective retiree would be one of the justices who always side with the Democrat position. But if Grassley is in the loop on that then speculation that the prospective retiree is one of the conservative justices seems appropriate. That would be a wasted opportunity to get another originalist on the court.

Which of the justices will be the next to retire? Bloomberg says Kennedy.

Here's Hans A. von Spakovsky on that prospect. Trump's first 100 days: Our next Supreme Court pick will be the kicker:

But even if it is Justice Kennedy who resigns (and he is the justice the rumor mills are concentrating on), replacing a justice who is only a part-time conservative with a full-time conservative could make a significant and very crucial difference in the outcomes of the decisions that come before the Court.

Whoever the next departing justice is, President Trump must make sure the next Supreme Court justice is someone who believes in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights 100 percent of the time, not just when it is convenient to achieve the particular policy goal the justice wants.

And President Trump will need someone who doesn't care what the New York Times, MSNBC, or the Washington cocktail circuit says about him or her.

He needs a rock-solid, principled lawyer who understands that the U.S. Supreme Court is the last defense against an increasingly powerful, oversized, busybody government that seems to believe it has the right to dictate every aspect of our lives.

Would it be too crude to say, "drain the swamp?."

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1:52 PM 4/27/2017

Heritage Foundation shrugs off demonstrators, points out Soros connection

Lefties, as a rule, are usually opposed to any attempt to cut government expenditures. And that seems to be the excuse for the demonstrations at the Heritage Foundation on 4/25/2017.

Heritage's internet outlet, Dailysignal.com, contains an astute observation from a Heritage spokeswoman. See Demonstrators Descend on Heritage Foundation to Protest Trump Budget. Excerpt:

“These groups do not represent the majority of Americans who have continually called for a return to fiscal discipline and an end to ballooning federal debt,” Sarah Mills, a spokeswoman for The Heritage Foundation, said in a statement. “If the protesters were serious about reforming the way Washington works, they would join us in fighting for an end to special interest policies that harm the American people.”

“Heritage will not back down. We will keep fighting for a responsible budget, a pro-growth tax system, a repeal of Obamacare, and a stronger national defense—only then will we have opportunity for all and favoritism to none,” she continued.

Dailysignal tried to interview some of the demonstrators, but they refused to comment. However, Dailysignal did some digging into the group. And up popped a familiar face, George Soros.

The protesters were affiliated with a group called People’s Action, a Chicago-based nonprofit founded in 2016. ...

People’s Action and National People’s Action, a network of grassroots organizations, operate out of the same office in Chicago. The latter group was founded in 1972 and has received at least $1.3 million in funding from billionaire investor George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, according to GuideStar, an organization that tracks nonprofits.

Hmm. Brings this to mind: Mike Lee Warns Trump About Taxpayer Funding of Soros Groups Overseas. One-world-government seems to be Soros' goal. Unfortunately, there's a long line of entities with the goal of bringing down the United States. Hopefully, none will be successful, although we seem to have a permanent spot on the brink.

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1:01 PM 4/26/2017e

Thomas Sowell addresses the challenge of assimilation when their leaders are holding them back

He's talking about black people in this Wall Street Journal interview, linked below. But the same principle applies to any one of the identified ethnic groups. What holds them back is their leaders telling them that it's other people holding them back and that they need to stand up and resist their culture.

Here's the relevant part:

Has there been any change for the better? “Oh, yes, yes, yes,” he says. “In fact, for blacks who have education and who have not succumbed to a new lifestyle—the grievances, and the coarseness represented by rap music—it’s gotten tremendously better. What’s disheartening, though, is that when you study ethnic groups around the world, the ones that are lagging behind are those where their leaders always tell the same story: that it’s other people holding you back, and that therefore you need to stand against those other people and resist their culture. But that culture may be the key to success.”

Here Mr. Sowell pivots to 18th-century Scotland and the philosopher David Hume: “Hume urged Scots to learn the English language,” he says. “He didn’t do that because his job was that of an ethnic leader. He did it because he was an intellectual.” Yet it helped bring progress to his homeland. “One of the most miraculous advances of a people occurred in Scotland from the 18th century into the 19th,” Mr. Sowell says. “A wholly disproportionate share of the leading British thinkers was Scottish. I mean Adam Smith in economics, Hume in philosophy, Sir Walter Scott in literature, James Watt in engineering. You can run through the whole list. A people who were really far behind in one century had suddenly come out of nowhere and were on the forefront of human progress.”

Could black Americans one day be like the Scots? “They can be,” says Mr. Sowell, “and for those who haven’t gotten into this corrosive new culture, they’re already doing that. But it’s going to be very hard. Both the media and academia promote the idea that people fall behind because others are holding them back.”

Here's the link to the WSJ.com (paywalled) site, and here's a link to a free reproduction.

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3:22 PM 4/25/2017

There should be march for scientific accuracy instead of advocacy

The other day people demonstrated in various spots around the nation in what they called the March for Science. Now at what appears to be an official march-for-science website, we see the words: "On April 22, 2017 We marched. Now, we act." So basically it was a community organizing movement for political action. These days global warming is the popular theory that community organizers want to promote, and it's hard to imagine any other scientific theory that has been so polarizing. The smartest source of information on global warming can be found at Watts Up With That? The photo of the sign on the right came from there.

But this post isn't about global warming. It's about bad science. A while back some friends bragged on a book about Henrietta Lacks, the black lady whose unique cervical cancer cells got their own name - HeLa - and which have been involved in countless research projects. (The prevailing narrative is that Ms. Lacks was taken advantage of because she had not given knowledgeable consent for cloning of her cells and publication of her DNA sequencing.)

Unfortunately, it turns out that the cells had been contaminated early on, and much of the subsequent research was flawed. An article in the Wall Street Journal says an independent group studying misidentified cells reports that 113 of the 450 cases they've found involved the HeLa cells as the contaminate. That's from The Breakdown in Biomedical Research (paywalled).

Scientist who have spent countless hours and dollars on research are slow to fess up to mistakes. And when others try to reproduce the same results, they can't. We even have NPR explaining How Flawed Science Is Undermining Good Medicine.

So let's make the next march about scientific accuracy instead of advocacy.

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4:10 PM 4/24/2017

Obama's Interior Dept denied gravel road to Alaskan city -- claimed to listen to the animals instead

Channel surfing the other day took me to a Heritage panel discussion on C-Span. The speaker told the story about that road in Alaska the construction of which was blocked by the Dept of Interior. I can't find the C-Span video, but here's something even better, a link to a 2014 article directly on point. Feds to Alaskans: No road for humans, lots of land for animals.

The small town of King Cove, Alaska, doesn't have a hospital or an all-weather airport. And medical emergencies that occur during inclement weather go untreated. All they wanted was an 11 mile gravel road connecting their city to Cold Bay which does have an all-weather airport so patients could be flown the 625 miles to Anchorage.

President Obama's Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said nope. Here's the part that will make you cringe:

“She stood up in the gymnasium and told those kids, ‘I’ve listened to your stories, now I have to listen to the animals,” Democratic state Rep. Bob Herron told a local television station. “You could have heard a pin drop in that gymnasium.”

The idea that animals couldn't cross a one lane gravel road is preposterous. Fortunately, there was a regime change in Washington. And a couple of weeks ago this comes out: Interior Department will take new look at Alaska’s King Cove road project shelved under Obama.

Now that's progress. The Department of Interior should certainly be familiar with draining the swamp. Perhaps the suggestion that it be applied to them was an inspiration.

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1:46 PM 4/23/2017

Ken Buck tells us why we need to drain the swamp

TV program note: Ken Buck will be on the C-Span2 show After Words at the following times:

Apr 22, 2017 | 10:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 2
Apr 23, 2017 | 9:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 2
Apr 24, 2017 | 12:00am EDT | C-SPAN 2
Apr 30, 2017 | 12:00pm EDT | C-SPAN 2

Dailysignal.com provides a hint at what he might talk about in Congressman Says Corruption in Washington Is ‘Worse Than You Think’. Excerpt:

Buck said his book addresses corruption present in government today that he was not prepared for after being elected to Congress in 2014. “One of the things that I found startling when I got here is that you have to pay dues to be on a committee,” Buck said.

During the time he served on the House Judiciary Committee, Buck said he had to pay periodic dues of $200,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign committee of the House of Representatives.

Now, as a member of the House Rules Committee, Buck’s periodic dues are $450,000.

The obligation to pay dues, Buck said, forces members of Congress to hold fundraising receptions and encourages corrupt influences from special interest organizations who attend the fundraisers.

“Who comes to those receptions with checks?” Buck said. “Lobbyists, special interests that want something in return. So there is a game that goes on that you owe the party money and you are expected to vote with the chairman and you are expected to help special interests groups in Washington, D.C.”

Play along to get along. Congress is part of the swamp.

A gun for every militiaman -- Maduro's armed supporters vs unarmed protesters

Many gun owners in the U.S. are opposed to gun control because they are law abiding citizens who believe they have a right to protect themselves, their families, and their property against villains who would ignore the gun control laws. Also, lurking in the recesses of their minds is the nagging fear that they might need to protect themselves from the government that disarmed them. Couldn't happen here, you say?

It's hard to predict the future, but there probably weren't many who predicted it would happen in Venezuela, either. But it is happening there as President Maduro called for arming citizen militia with military weapons. See 'A gun for every militiaman!': Venezuela's president wants to beef up armed civilian groups:

Maduro said he hopes to expand the number of civilians involved in the Bolivarian militias created by the late Hugo Chavez to 500,000, up from the current 100,000, and provide each member with a gun.

This is to protect his regime from protesters who he calls "traitors."

See also A lesson in Democracy from Venezuela where Russ Vaughn warns against Democrats' calls for disarming Americans. Ha! With record numbers of guns having been purchased by citizens in the last few years it's not likely those new gun owners will be too eager to relinquish them.

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2:20 PM 4/21/2017

What exactly did Bill O'Reilly do, anyway?

Sometimes it seems like there's a new sport called, "pin the tail on the celebrity male."

There was Bill Cosby. Women came out of the woodwork to blame him for sexual misdeeds. Surely not all of them were non-consenting in their relationships with him. But social mores changed over the years, and they were transformed into victims.

Also Roger Ailes. Gretchen Carlson, according to her petition, was a Stanford University graduate, a former Miss America, an accomplished concert violinist, a best selling author, an award-winning journalist and a Trustee of the March of Dimes. But apparently, she didn't have the wherewithal to tell the boss to back off. Here's a quote from said petition:

22. During that meeting in Ailes' office on September 16, 2015, Ailes stated to Carlson: "I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better," adding that "sometimes problems are easier to solve" that way.

Boy, if only Ailes had known that what would have been laughed off a few years ago would cost him his job and his boss millions of dollars. Read the whole petition and one comes away thinking that with all of Ms. Carlson's accomplishments she could have handled Mr. Ailes with her verbal skills. Nope.

Aside: Years ago my girlfriend at the time worked at a small corporation owned by the boss. One day he hugged her and tried to feel her ass. She pushed him away and said, "You dirty old man!" It never happened again. God, I loved that woman!

So now O'Reilly is the target. His attackers will walk away with millions, and he will be left looking for another job. If he is as popular as the media claim, he'll land on his feet -- after spending time with the family, of course. But what exactly did he say or do? We need to know so we can decide who is the real villain.

There's a current trend telling us we are supposed to believe the woman in a he-said-she-said dispute, even if she's set to win money in seven figures.

But this brings to mind another recent news headline -- Mike Pence's habit of not dining alone with woman other than his wife. One has to wonder how many of those people chortling about Bill O'Reilly's fate also snickered at Mike Pence's approach to avoiding false claims. Careful men could learn something from Mr. Pence.

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4:16 PM 4/20/2017

EMPs -- another warning we shouldn't ignore

The good news is that DARPA is working to protect the electric grid from attack. The bad news is that they are only concerned with cyber-attacks and the defense won't be ready til 2020. That's the gist of this Washingtonexaminer article: Getting ready: Pentagon to protect electric grid from massive attack.

But enough people have been warning of missile delivered overhead nuclear explosives that plenty of us are worried. They say a paralysis of the electric grid -- which a massive exposure to gamma rays would do -- is a very real threat given so many of our enemies are or soon will be able to deliver a nuclear armed missile.

There's that ominous prediction that if the electricity goes off 90% of the population will perish within the first year -- not a welcome prospect. From time to time I order some dried food to tide me over while I fend off the gangs of armed urban marauders aiming to kill me for whatever scraps of food I have left. But worst of all, this blog will go dark once the power goes off.

Anyway, here's a roundup of some articles I've collected on the subject:

Could North Korea Destroy the US?
Getting ready: Pentagon to protect electric grid from massive attack
Winning the Cyber-War Under Trump
Texas May Become a Testing Ground for Defending the Grid From EMPs The Cyber Threat: Cybercom Trains for Infrastructure Attack as Power Companies Play Down Threat to Grid
Government, Industry Studying Threat of Nuclear EMP Attack on Electric Grid
FBI Warns of Cyber Threat to Electric Grid
Former CIA Director Warns of Nuclear-Generated Electromagnetic Pulse Attack
Air Force warns of 'coordinated physical attacks' on electric grid

Enjoy your day.

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1:49 PM 4/19/2017

Let them eat cake while missiles fly -- Trump's art of deterrence

One of the most colorful news item of the past few weeks was Donald Trump gushing over the beautiful chocolate cake he and the Chinese President Xi Jinping ate as missiles struck that base in Syria. It sounded absolutely delicious.

Many now suggest that that and the MOAB attack in Afghanistan were attempts to deter North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Did it work to that effect? We don't know yet, but it was a good effort.

It brings to mind the movie quote from the one and only Dr. Strangelove:

Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the FEAR to attack.

Niall Ferguson has a commentary in which he addresses North Korea's military capability. In short, except for the possible nuclear or dirty bomb, it's not that great. See Are we on the brink of a second Korean War?. But there's this astute observation:

Remember: Brinkmanship is only effective if your adversaries believe that you are more prepared to go over the brink than they are. Nor should the domestic political benefits of successful brinkmanship be forgotten.

Commentators say Kim Jong-un is crazy. But they say that about Donald Trump, too. That works for me -- crazy is a pretty good defense. If we can convince Jong-un that we are crazier than he is then it just might produce in his mind sufficient fear for effective deterrence.

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12:31 PM 4/18/2017

MIT publishes communism for kids book -- for more realism the kids should be forced to give away all their toys

There's a story famous in the blogosphere in which a college prof responds to his students keenness for socialism by applying it to his grading system. Each student's test scores would be averaged with each of the other student's scores. The arithmetic mean would be the grade that each of them received all the way through the semester, including the final exam.

As you might have predicted, the first test scores ran the range from high to low. But the students who made the highest grades realized that too many others were free-loading off their work. So they slacked off, too. The final grade they all ended up with was well below the mean of the first test score.

Lesson leaned. The story is so good even Snopes can't debunk it except to say "his scheme was actually more a demonstration of communism than of socialism." Alrighty then.

So when we hear that MIT Press Publishes ‘Communism for Kids’ Book, one has to wish the kids could be given a real life experience like the one above. For example, each would be required to put his/her favorite toy in a community box, and any other child could take it. The kids who grabbed the best toys would like it.

For a real life example, see Venezuela. Oh wait, that's not communism, that's socialism. OK then, see Russia. The end result is totalitarianism.

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3:51 PM 4/17/2017

Lefties love the fearless girl facing down the Charging Bull

Lefties loathe capitalism*. And that beautiful bull sculpture symbolizing the power, freedom, and wealth capitalism produces must have been a thorn in the sides of the anti-capitalists which represent the left.

So when the sculpture of the playful little girl showed up appearing to face down the bull, the left cheered. Right on cue, De Blasio slams Charging Bull as symbol of ‘unfettered capitalism’. Ah yes, capitalism, that boogie man of the left.

Sherri and Rob Tracinski nailed it in ‘Fearless Girl’ Is What Happens When Art Is Only About Politics. Here's an excerpt:

It was created by Italian artist Arturo Di Modica after the stock market crash of 1987 as a representation of his adopted country’s vitality and resilience. Di Modica placed it in front of the New York Stock Exchange in secret overnight, and it was received so well that it was eventually given a permit and a permanent location in the Financial District.

Now Di Modica is complaining because the “Fearless Girl” hijacked his work of art—for promotional purposes, no less—and is attempting to give it a new meaning. What was created as a symbol of vitality and prosperity is now recast as a symbol of rapacious capitalism and toxic masculinity, to be faced down by “girl power.”

This is what happens when art becomes just about politics.

*Lefties loath capitalism, although they certainly like that large pool of tax receipts. But never learned the lesson from the parable of the goose that laid the golden eggs. They don't seem to realize that if they kill it, no more eggs. The residents of Venezuela are learning the lesson, however slowly.

surveillance on citizens -- Sharyl Attkisson tells us how it's done

Freelancing sleuth Sharyl Attkisson penned an insightful article based on interviews with "formerly high-placed intelligence officials" titled When “incidental” intel collection—isn’t incidental in which she detailed the various ways intel agencies can spy on someone without a FISA order.

And there's this example of how "Incidental collection of a U.S. citizen target may be “orchestrated” for political reasons by those who have tools and tradecraft available to them because of their positions of power. There are ways to do it with no fingerprints." To wit:

1. Locate a foreign target already under CIA surveillance.
2. Have a government agent use the foreign target’s phone and/or computer to make it look like the foreigner contacted the U.S. citizen whose communications are sought. The contacts can be benign, but they establish a record that falsely implies a relationship exists between the U.S. citizen and the foreign target.
3. The government agent can also mimic a communication back from the U.S. citizen to the foreign target, creating an appearance that the U.S. citizen initiated contacts. This could be favorable to justifying a warrant on the U.S. citizen later.
4. The U.S. citizen is now tied to the foreign entity and is now an “incidental” collection target that can be surveilled in a “masked” format. Although “masked,” the surveilling agency knows the U.S. citizen’s identity.
5. If the U.S. citizen does anything that can be construed as illegal or suspicious, it’s possible the intel agency can then receive approval to surveil him directly rather than only “incidentally.”

Before the names are unmasked a plausible cover story might be developed from the communications to justify the unmasking.

Meanwhile, the raw number won't mean much, but Microsoft's biannual report ending last year shows that the company received 25,837 Law Enforcement Requests covering 44,876 accounts.

3:12 PM 4/15/2017

Expect North Korea to use human shields to protect its missiles

The use of the MOAB in Afghanistan the other day (Good Thursday?) was a pretty good demonstration of what a non-nuclear bomb could do. Seems like a pretty big bomb to kill only 39 ISIS fighters. But you go to war with the systems you have, to paraphrase a famous man.

The size of the damage area for the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) was impressive with a radius of one mile. And it was probably a flex of the muscle meant to instill some fear in our enemies. Was Kim Jong-un watching CNN that day?

The Russian Pravdareport.com says this:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered 25 percent of Pyongyang residents to leave the city immediately.

In accordance with the order, 600,000 people should be urgently evacuated. Experts note that the evacuation will most likely be conducted due to extremely strained tensions in relations with the United States of America.

That was the day before the Mother of All Bombs was dropped, and that bomb might give Kim an idea. If he plants enough civilians around his military targets then the U.S. will be reluctant to bomb them.

Would there be babies? Trump, who just the other day avenged the death of babies, would have to make a tough choice.

2:22 PM 4/14/2017

gun sales still high in spite of what was previously reported

It wasn't too long ago that the media were reporting that gun sales fell off a cliff as soon as Donald Trump was elected president, i.e., as soon as it appeared that gun grabbing regulations became less likely.

But look at this: NICS Checks in the Trump Era: March 2017 Near Record. Applications to the National Instant Criminal Background  Check System are used as an approximate measure of gun sales during the applicable period. And while the comparison of the March, 2017, numbers with previous March numbers may not mean much, it's interesting that the difference wasn't so great as to justify the panic drop in gun sellers' stock prices.

Sturm, Ruger & Company for example. The stock price bottomed out shortly after the November election but has moved up almost 20% off its low. Maybe that was a dead cat bounce. Or maybe the panic selling was overblown. I certainly don't know.

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3:38 PM 4/13/2017

Greg Gutfeld explains how to explain Trump

Gutfeld is my favorite comedian. Maybe there are other conservative comedians out there, but he could be the only one in the public eye these days. So his work always gets my attention.

His latest written effort found online is this article: Greg Gutfeld: How to explain Trump to your liberal friends (not that they'll listen). Here are some truncated snippets:

1. The Syrian strike reveals that Trump’s response, even to ghastly attacks, is a firm “just enough.” Take away: I compare it to smacking a dog’s nose with a newspaper, or spanking an unruly child in aisle 3 of Walmart. It’s not an act of war. It’s an act of “Yo, we’re back.”

2. Pragmatism prevails, as was predicted by many who refuse to give in to apocalyptic notions about Trump. Take away: New Yorkers always talk tough, then become “flexible.”

3. Economic nationalism will also show itself out, as global deals and coalitions call for cooperation. Take away: You can’t isolate yourself in a phone booth.

4. Even perceptions of force are enough. Take away: Illegal crossings into our country have dropped dramatically, to a nearly two-decade low.

5. Trump’s white nationalist fanboys are deeply wounded. Take away: White nationalists are essentially the Republican versions of Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers — kicked to the curb, where they belong. And their whining is proof that the guy they once liked has no use for them. 

6. Trump made it safer for honest people. Take away: Trump, to his credit, redefined the literality of language and the context of public conversation. ... And comedians should admit this to themselves, or they’re false: Trump helps you.

OK, maybe that wasn't a barrel of laughs. But aphorisms aren't always funny. If you don't agree, you're worse than Hitler.

12:40 PM 4/12/2017

The FDA should get on board with E-cigarettes instead of opposing them

Smokers in Novato, California, have it tough. They can smoke only in private cars or in single family detached houses if they wish to comply with a new ordinance there.

By all accounts it's hard to quit smoking. E-cigarettes seem like a reasonable way to get nicotine without lighting up the old cancer stick. But the FDA declines to list that as a way to quit.

Of the techniques recommended Watchdog.org says this:

Research varies, but one study found 9.2 percent of people who used the patch were still smoke-free after six months, versus 8.4 percent for Nicotine gum. According to WebMD, quit rates for all five NRTs range from 19 percent to 26 percent, while Chantix and Zyban are 33 percent and 24 percent effective, respectively.

That comes from E-cigarette critics get research dollars from industry competitors which goes on to say:

Researchers have found that e-cigarettes are not only 95 percent less harmful than the cumbustible version, but they have helped 6.1 million people in Europe quit smoking and another nine million have cut back on their habit.

The point of the article is the possibility of bias against E-cigarettes due to the source of funding for some of the research. The fact that E-cigarette competitors help fund the research doesn't mean it's wrong. But one doesn't have to look far to find examples of misleading research results presented as news. After all, the tobacco industry became a pariah because of allegations of fake news. The anti-smoking campaigns may simply be using tactics they learned from big tobacco.

12:15 PM 4/11/2017

That Pepsi commercial -- would a real cop drink out of an open container given by a stranger?

By now everyone has see that famous Pepsi commercial and heard of the controversy. Apparently, some political groups claim the exclusive right to protest in the street. And while the commercial shows a march for peace, love or some such, said groups took offense for reasons only a social justice warrior would understand -- cultural appropriation and privilege are the left's buzz words these days.

It's a fictional scene in the commercial, but the thing that stands out is the willingness of the police officer to accept a container from a demonstrator and take a swig. We don't see him open it. So was it already open when he accepted it? Oh boy, that would be a dangerous undertaking. Heaven only knows what could have been in it.

Even if it was unopened the can's lip could have been smeared with LSD, or worse, the stuff that killed Kim Jong Nam.

Editor's note: At least we know it didn't contain Aspertame. Robo-ed.

12:58 PM 4/10/2017

23andme test sounds tempting but customers' dna information might go on the market

Who wouldn't want to know whether their body has the gene for Alzheimer's Disease? 23andme.com claims to be able to detect the gene that is associated with the late onset variety. And the price tag of $200 seems reasonable. But there's a catch.

Charles Seife addressed it a few years ago in 23andMe Is Terrifying, but Not for the Reasons the FDA Thinks. "The genetic-testing company's real goal is to hoard your personal data."

Oh sure, they have a privacy policy in which they promise not to do anything illegal with your data. But that leaves a pretty broad area uncovered.

Add to that the plague of hacking. The data will be on the internet for ease of customer access. And it will be secure only as long as their security stays ahead of the hackers. Unfortunately, it seem as though anything on the net is vulnerable -- hardly a week goes by in which we don't hear of some company or government entity getting hacked.

In any event, Here's some useful information pulled from alzinfo.org What you Should Know About Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease – New Guidelines. Excerpt:

The science remains imperfect and more research needs to be done, but experts are learning more about the role of genes in Alzheimer’s disease. Over all, the lifetime risk of getting Alzheimer’s is estimated at between 10 and 12 percent. So the average person in the general population living to 75 or 80 has about a one in 10 chance of getting Alzheimer’s. Having a mother, father, brother, sister or other close relative with the disease increases that risk two-fold.

[Early-onset familial Alzheimer’s] has been linked to specific genes, and inheriting a mutated gene from either parent – a parent has a 50 percent chance of passing it on to a child — almost always causes the disease to arise.

But the far more common late-onset Alzheimer’s, which occurs after age 60 to 65 and grows increasingly common in people in their 70s and 80s and older, is only partly influenced by genetics. It clusters in families only 15 to 25 percent of the time, and is generally referred to as sporadic Alzheimer’s. In these cases, having a mother or father, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, grandparent or other close relative with Alzheimer’s increases your risk for the disease. But a family history by no means guarantees that you will get it. ...

It’s possible to inherit one or two copies of APOE-E4, from one or both parents. Those who carry only one copy have a two- to three-fold increased risk compared to the general population, though the risk is uncertain and experts can’t assign a definitive number to it. In people who carry two copies of APOE-E4, the overall risk is increased two- to 10-fold. Some studies suggest that having the APOE-E4 gene may cause symptoms like memory loss to appear at an earlier age than if you didn’t carry the gene. And some forms of APOE, like APOE-E2, may actually help protect against Alzheimer’s. In addition to APOE-E4, other genes that increase risk have been identified, and more may be found, though APOE-E4 seems to be most important.

Insert your own memory loss joke here.

Schumer is the face of the coastal elites

One significant piece of news that came from the presidential election was the gap between the coastal elites and the rest of the nation. Chuck Schumer has become the face of that coastal elite. Did he cultivate that image, or did it just come about by chance?

It seems that there currently is only one thing about Trump which Schumer approves -- retaliation for gas attacks. Put that aside, and Schumer is constantly on the TV screen decrying anything Republicans do or want to do.

Take Neil Gorsuch. Schumer is ticked off that Gorsuch will be the newest Supreme Court Justice. Gorsuch was a good choice by Trump, but since Merritt Garner didn't get a full hearing, Schumer wanted revenge. Fortunately for conservatives, Schumer got out maneuvered.

But whether he likes it or not, Schumer is the TV face of the coastal elites who feel entitled to rule the rest of us. Elizabeth Warren held that post for a while but seems to have been relegated to the sidelines.  Poor gal.

2:06 PM 4/8/2017

How do we know it was Assad who gassed those babies? Just wondering.

Are the intelligence sources who proclaimed Assad responsible for the gas attack the same ones who have provided all that fake news in the past?

Remember Saddam's weapons of mass destruction? Remember the Gulf of Tonkin? Remember how Putin conspired with Trump to win him the election?

It's hard to know who to believe these days. After all, there's at least the possibility ISIS could have planted some sarin containers on the ground hoping Syria would bomb them and release the gas.

Is it too much to ask for the source of the information placing blame?

They may be 100% correct. But these days it's difficult for the average news consumer to give credibility to everything we are told.

Addendum: I began reading Annie Jacobsen's "Phenomena" during lunch Friday. And in the first few pages she described how a famous astrologist named Louis de Wohl wrote columns for American newspapers in the early 40s. Remarkably, he made some predictions that proved true. But they weren't true, they were fake news stories planted by the British. For you see, the astrologist was actually working for British intelligence assigned to help "organize American public opinion in favor to aid Britain." Once the U.S. entered the war, he went back home to England where he directed his propaganda work at the Nazis.

Gears in the Obama political machine helped grind down Obamacare repeal effort

Beating Democrats is tough. They're organized, dedicated, and they've got lots of spare time. That came into play recently when Republicans tried to repeal Obamacare. Republicans bore most of the blame for that unsuccessful attempt. But Democrats were working hard behind the scenes. See Louise Radnofsky's article, How Democrats Aided in the Demise of the GOP’s Health Bill. (Behind paywall. Possibly still archived here. Excerpts:

And it was former leaders from the Obama White House, Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who worked on many parts of the successful behind-the-scenes campaign to chip away at the GOP majority, tapping old relationships, data and experience of the bitter passions sparked by a health-policy debate to keep Republicans’ rifts fresh.

Together, they worked the Republican governors, who were lukewarm to the GOP bill, and the centrist Republicans from swing districts, many of whom withheld support from the bill last Friday and contributed to its withdrawal from the House floor.

“It’s like breathing for a number of these people,” said Chris Jennings, a Democratic health-policy consultant who served in the Clinton and Obama White Houses, of his colleagues’ work. “They are huge assets who are being tapped. It has been their lives and they know the policy, process and politics inside out.”

Ms. Radnofsky provides a cast of characters, then this:

Other senior figures called and texted one another, exchanged ideas, and provided updates on what they were doing after they cleared out their desks. Many of their key assistants followed them, deferring finding “real jobs” for weeks or months.

(Emphasis added by me.)

Proponents of the leftist agenda are highly motivated, and they've got nothing better to do. Do the rest of us have a chance? We'll need to stay vigilant.

1:30 PM 4/6/2017

Trump's personality draws a lot of flak but he has the potential to become a great president

Donald Trump wasn't my favorite among the Republican candidates. But he was on Hillary Clinton's short list of preferred opponents, along with Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, so he had that going for him. One has to wonder what kind of dirt her team had on Cruz and Carson. If they run for president again maybe we will find out.

Team Hillary fired their best shot at Trump when the video was released of him talking to a reporter with an open mic about how women respond to powerful men -- you can grab them by the privates. The media were in an uproar, but Trump brushed them off, and it didn't hurt him. It's doubtful Cruz or Carson could do that so successfully. Herman Cain couldn't.

Trump is a bombastic blowhard which is not an especially appealing trait. And that's what triggers so much animosity toward him. Most of his policies contain a lot of common sense. Sure, lefties are going to do everything they can to thwart him. But basically all they have is a common distaste for blowhards. Never-Trumper Johah Goldberg typifies that distaste in The President Is This Presidency’s Worst Enemy.

But here's a least one highly regarded conservative who has come around to appreciate Trump. Dennis Prager has a suggestion: It's Time for Conservatives to Celebrate This President.

The Trump presidency has a lot of potential, and the country could be better as a result. "Just give him a chance" was the refrain we heard over and over when Obama was elected. We gave him a chance. Now let's give Trump a chance.

Make American Great Again!

12:48 PM 4/5/2017

Anyone who wonders what would have happened if Nixon had been a Democrat may be about to find out

Initially, Republicans tried gamely to defend Richard Nixon when the leaks about the Watergate break-in were appearing in the Washington Post. But eventually it became obvious that some dastardly deeds had been done and that Nixon was probably behind it. Then Republicans joined the mob, and Nixon resigned.

Many have wondered if things would have been different had Nixon been a Democrat. Of course they would. We are seeing it play out right before our eyes.

The bombshell news is that Susan Rice was the surrogate who ordered the results from surveillance on Trump to be put together in detailed spreadsheets, presumably for easy dissemination.

But Obama was the kingpin, and he had to have condoned that spy op. So far Democrats and the MSM have circled the wagons to protect Obama. Rice, however, may end up taking the fall for the boss. She'll probably continue to be a good soldier -- like the mobster who does his time and keeps his mouth shut.

1:09 PM 4/4/2017

I like Juan Williams even when he goes off the deep end

Juan Williams had his share of problems with the leftist media -- recall that NPR sacked him because of his job with Fox News.

He's a regular on one or more of the Fox news shows, and he's popular because he's friendly, smart, and respectful. Many Democrats we see on TV are strident Republican haters. And that makes Williams' presence very refreshing.

But when we see thing like this: Juan Williams: Trump's risk of impeachment rises, it makes some of us want to say, "Get real!"

In his article, he contends that polls favor Trump's resignation or impeachment. Well, polls come and go. But hopefully Trump stays. And even more hopefully, there will be some thorough investigations into all the crap that went on before and after the election. Democrats will try to play up any chance encounter by a Republican with a Russian, no matter how innocent. But it looks like the real crimes to manipulate the elections were committed by the Obama administration. Let justice prevail.

Russians use April fools gag to poke fun at the way we've politicized our intelligence apparatus

Should we be offended at this? ‘Press 2 if hackers needed’: Russian FM April Fools voicemail leaves US media unamused. Link goes to RT.com, the Russian propaganda website, and it tells how the Russian embassy's phone tree was rejiggered with amusing messages for incoming calls.

By now most of us believe that the Russians tried to interfere with our election, but whether they wanted one or the other candidates to win isn't yet known. Nonetheless, it's nice to know they have a good sense of humor. And if they felt like lashing back at all the finger pointing, this method is a lot more pleasant than poison umbrella tips.

Meanwhile, it's starting to look like our own intelligence agencies did more to try to influence the election than the Russians. Clarice Feldman breaks it down in Russia? No, the Pony in the Manure Is the Corruption of our Intelligence Officials. Spoiler alert: Obama people in the intelligence agencies were trying to help Hillary and hurt Trump.

Who is worse for America, Russian spies or U.S. spies? As George Smiley used to say in the Le Carre novels, there are angels and devils on both sides.

6:45 AM 4/2/2017

Many conservatives are hoping for a Democrat filibuster of Gorsuch

Senator Claire McCaskill nailed it. Weekly Standard quotes her in McCaskill Worried Gorsuch Filibuster Will Backfire.

"So they move it to 51 votes and they confirm either Gorsuch or they confirm the one after Gorsuch," she continued. "They go on the Supreme Court and then, God forbid, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies, or (Anthony) Kennedy retires or (Stephen) Breyer has a stroke or is no longer able to serve. Then we're not talking about Scalia for Scalia, which is what Gorsuch is, we're talking about Scalia for somebody on the court who shares our values. And then all of a sudden the things I fought for with scars on my back to show for it in this state are in jeopardy."

Sounds rather macabre. But she's planning ahead. As for the filibuster, conservatives are secretly hoping that Chuck Schumer, et al, follow through with their threats to filibuster Gorsuch so they can bypass the old filibuster rule and pave the way for the next one.

But Republicans don't march in lock-step like Democrats do. So it certainly isn't a given that all Republican Senators will want to eliminate the filibuster. After all, Republicans won't hold the presidency and senate forever.

But wait just a sec. Looks like McCaskill walked it back: McCaskill backs filibuster of Gorsuch, makes nuclear option likely. Well, OK then.

3:46 PM 4/1/2017

Is Trump a Keynesian?

That's a possible conclusion from a remark he made about priming the pump. Source is Trump Priming.

Conservatives reject Keynesianism outright. But actually the results are mixed. If it's done right, then there can be a return on the investment better than one for one. Most of the time it doesn't work, though. And that's probably because those doling out the money are merely handing out money to cronies. Obama's stimulus package was a good example of that, and it left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.

So now we have to wonder whether Trump can pull it off. Ramesh Ponnuru explains in the above linked article why he probably can't. But Trump can make deals. That's a given. And it's possible he just might be able to do what few have done and actually make Keynesianism work. We'll see.

Aside: Fans of political satire may recall the time when some sneaky individual held a sign at an Obama rally that asked: "Is Obama Keynesian?" Hilarity ensued as Obama fans, insecure about his background, leaped to denounce any suggestion that he was "Kenyan."