30 May 2006
Well-Intentioned Food Police May Create Havoc With Children's Diets

Great essay on the unintended consequences of "fighting fat" the government way.

Earlier this year, our small Midwestern school district joined the food wars, proposing a new policy that would discourage all food in classrooms, ban nuts and sugary foods and do away with vending machines.

So much for peanut butter sandwiches, snacks for kindergartners and birthday cupcakes.

(link) [New York Times]

via MyAppleMenu:Reader

07:11 /Agriculture | 3 comments | permanent link

Stolen Lives: Technology and Easy Credit Give Identity Thieves an Edge

I often wonder why credit card companies send blank checks in plainly marked envelopes to their customers, many of whom are already firewalled on their credit limits anyway. And I wonder how it works for the other victim of the fraud: the merchant who accepts the bogus money. Do the card companies stick them for part of the bill? Are such losses tax deductible?

One in six adults in Arizona had their identities stolen in the last five years, about twice the national rate.

(link) [New York Times]

07:06 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Hypocrisy on stilts

Quite a screed from a man not normally labeled 'liberal' - although I'm sure that once the administration gets a hold of it Mr. Zuckerman will find himself right up there with Lenin and Mao.

The Republicans were once fond of the phrase "tax and spend liberals". Which I suppose makes them "don't tax and spend anyway conservatives". In any event, we're slowly drifting towards national bankruptcy.

The American public, not to speak of its elected officials, has been stunningly indifferent to our reckless fiscal course of the past five years. Maybe it's because our focus has been so much on terrorism, but the numbers are terrifying, too. President Bush inherited a budget surplus estimated at $5.6 trillion over 10 years. He has converted that giant plus into a giant minus--deficits estimated at $5 trillion over those same 10 years. Talk about a U-turn!

(link) [U.S. News & World Report]

07:02 /Politics | 2 comments | permanent link

Report: Top Democrat took free boxing tickets

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover that the vaunted "culture of corruption" is not limited to legislators with an 'R' following their name...

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who has criticized Republican ethics, accepted free ringside tickets to three professional boxing matches from Nevada officials who were trying to influence his federal legislation regulating the sport.

(link) [CNN.com]

06:58 /Politics | 3 comments | permanent link