Posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Our View: One vote can make a huge impact | Hudson Star-Observer | Hudson, Wisconsin
Our View: One vote can make a huge impact | Hudson Star-Observer | Hudson, Wisconsin: "Also, keep in mind that if you vote, it gives you right to complain when you are upset with government. We believe that voters who refuse to go to the polls give up the right to complain!"
Are You Dying for a Fix of Burger and Chips? | Patrick Basham and John Luik | Cato Institute: Commentary
Are You Dying for a Fix of Burger and Chips? | Patrick Basham and John Luik | Cato Institute: Commentary: "There are a number of problems with Johnson and Kenny's rat study.
* First, there is the major problem about rat research in general, namely, it is rat research. It proceeds on the unargued-for assumption that conclusions about animal dependency are transferable to issues of human dependency and that any behavioural differences are trivial. But behavioural differences are not trivial. The dominant model of human beings proceeds on the assumption that they, in fact, can resist and, indeed, can act in defiance of compulsive drives. Altered brain circuitry is not destiny, as the empirical evidence about other addictions amply shows.
* The rat study makes the unfounded assumption that overweight and obesity are caused by overeating. The study fails to provide any evidence in support of this assumption and there is considerable evidence against it. One of the major problems about the war on fat is that there isn't much clear evidence about what exactly causes overweight and obesity. For example, studies have shown that obese people do not routinely eat more than the non-obese - something that calls into question the entire relevance of the addicted rat study to the obesity debate.
* The entire idea of addiction cannot be substantiated as a scientific theory since there is no way in which it can be independently established beyond the subjective claims of the addicted individual. Whatever a supposed food addict might claim, there is no scientific way in which his alleged inability to stop eating can be distinguished from the fact that he either does not wish to stop or has not tried hard enough to stop. Indeed, being unwilling to stop or failing in self-discipline to stop is as probable an explanation as being 'addicted'.
* Unlike smoking, where the addicting agent is nicotine, proponents of food addiction fail to specify which particular chemical or combination of chemicals or nutrients is actually addictive. Instead, they make the claim that what is addictive is an entire food category, that is, junk food, or specific nutrients like carbohydrates. The problem is that junk food contains an enormous number of chemicals, as well as proteins, fats and carbohydrates, making it impossible to specify either which individual ingredient or combination of ingredients is supposedly addictive. And this is true of other foods as well.
* There are additional problems with carbohydrates as the supposed source of food addiction. Human, as opposed to rat, studies have found that obese women prefer high carbohydrate and high fat foods while obese men prefer high protein foods. If the cravings — the driver of addiction — of the obese are for foods with carbohydrates, fat and protein, then it is difficult to believe that carbohydrates alone are the addictive substance. Moreover, addiction, rat or human, supposedly involves compulsive cravings, yet carbohydrate consumption does not involve craving. Several studies have shown that supposed carbohydrate addicts do not improve after a carbohydrate-laden meal, which they should do if they are in fact addicted.
* Pharmacological treatments for supposed food addiction do not work, whereas behavioural therapies do. If food addiction were in fact produced through some sort of opioid-like process in the brain, then we would expect that opioid antagonists, which are used to treat drug dependency, would work. But there is no evidence that opioid antagonists prevent food cravings or the desire to overeat.
If addiction is pharmacologically produced, as the authors of the rat study claim, then animals who have been genetically modified so that their neuro-reward networks cannot process an addictive drug should not display addictive behaviours. But a number of studies have shown that this is not the case, as dopamine deficient animals still display so-called addictive behaviours.
* Finally, Johnson and Kenny's claims about food addiction fall apart with their comparison of addiction to junk food to addiction to such drugs as heroin. That's because human beings, unlike rats, are regularly able to escape the so-called addictions to psychoactive substances. The scientific literature is full of studies in which drug users were able, despite their 'addiction', to stop using their drug of choice. For instance, a 1974 study of Vietnam veterans by Leen Robbins found that only 50 per cent of those who used drugs in Vietnam continued using them after returning to the US, and only 12.5 per cent of these became regular users. And in their study on heroin addiction, Gerry Stimson and Edna Oppenheimer found that users of heroin and other substances move through a cycle of addiction and recovery that is inconsistent with the model of pharmacological compulsion and brain circuitry that dictates behaviour."
* First, there is the major problem about rat research in general, namely, it is rat research. It proceeds on the unargued-for assumption that conclusions about animal dependency are transferable to issues of human dependency and that any behavioural differences are trivial. But behavioural differences are not trivial. The dominant model of human beings proceeds on the assumption that they, in fact, can resist and, indeed, can act in defiance of compulsive drives. Altered brain circuitry is not destiny, as the empirical evidence about other addictions amply shows.
* The rat study makes the unfounded assumption that overweight and obesity are caused by overeating. The study fails to provide any evidence in support of this assumption and there is considerable evidence against it. One of the major problems about the war on fat is that there isn't much clear evidence about what exactly causes overweight and obesity. For example, studies have shown that obese people do not routinely eat more than the non-obese - something that calls into question the entire relevance of the addicted rat study to the obesity debate.
* The entire idea of addiction cannot be substantiated as a scientific theory since there is no way in which it can be independently established beyond the subjective claims of the addicted individual. Whatever a supposed food addict might claim, there is no scientific way in which his alleged inability to stop eating can be distinguished from the fact that he either does not wish to stop or has not tried hard enough to stop. Indeed, being unwilling to stop or failing in self-discipline to stop is as probable an explanation as being 'addicted'.
* Unlike smoking, where the addicting agent is nicotine, proponents of food addiction fail to specify which particular chemical or combination of chemicals or nutrients is actually addictive. Instead, they make the claim that what is addictive is an entire food category, that is, junk food, or specific nutrients like carbohydrates. The problem is that junk food contains an enormous number of chemicals, as well as proteins, fats and carbohydrates, making it impossible to specify either which individual ingredient or combination of ingredients is supposedly addictive. And this is true of other foods as well.
* There are additional problems with carbohydrates as the supposed source of food addiction. Human, as opposed to rat, studies have found that obese women prefer high carbohydrate and high fat foods while obese men prefer high protein foods. If the cravings — the driver of addiction — of the obese are for foods with carbohydrates, fat and protein, then it is difficult to believe that carbohydrates alone are the addictive substance. Moreover, addiction, rat or human, supposedly involves compulsive cravings, yet carbohydrate consumption does not involve craving. Several studies have shown that supposed carbohydrate addicts do not improve after a carbohydrate-laden meal, which they should do if they are in fact addicted.
* Pharmacological treatments for supposed food addiction do not work, whereas behavioural therapies do. If food addiction were in fact produced through some sort of opioid-like process in the brain, then we would expect that opioid antagonists, which are used to treat drug dependency, would work. But there is no evidence that opioid antagonists prevent food cravings or the desire to overeat.
If addiction is pharmacologically produced, as the authors of the rat study claim, then animals who have been genetically modified so that their neuro-reward networks cannot process an addictive drug should not display addictive behaviours. But a number of studies have shown that this is not the case, as dopamine deficient animals still display so-called addictive behaviours.
* Finally, Johnson and Kenny's claims about food addiction fall apart with their comparison of addiction to junk food to addiction to such drugs as heroin. That's because human beings, unlike rats, are regularly able to escape the so-called addictions to psychoactive substances. The scientific literature is full of studies in which drug users were able, despite their 'addiction', to stop using their drug of choice. For instance, a 1974 study of Vietnam veterans by Leen Robbins found that only 50 per cent of those who used drugs in Vietnam continued using them after returning to the US, and only 12.5 per cent of these became regular users. And in their study on heroin addiction, Gerry Stimson and Edna Oppenheimer found that users of heroin and other substances move through a cycle of addiction and recovery that is inconsistent with the model of pharmacological compulsion and brain circuitry that dictates behaviour."
The Inhumanity of War | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Inhumanity of War | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, recently made an astonishing admission of civilian deaths, so often euphemistically referred to as 'collateral damage.' At a meeting with U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal discussed the problem of shootings at checkpoints: 'We've shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force.' He added that he knew of no case when 'we have engaged in an escalation of force incident and hurt someone has it turned out that the vehicle had a suicide bomb or weapons in it.'"
Terrorism Isn't an 'Existential Threat' | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Terrorism Isn't an 'Existential Threat' | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "As the analysts at the Human Security Report Project explain, 'the overwhelming majority of terrorist campaigns fail to achieve their strategic objectives.' And, despite media sensationalism, fatalities from terrorism have actually declined by some 40 percent in recent years.
Terrorists bank on overreaction. As Osama bin Laden put it in 2004, 'All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and political losses.'
Adam Gadahn, the U.S.-born al Qaeda spokesman, recently called for more 'lone-wolf' strikes, because 'even apparently unsuccessful attacks on Western mass transportation systems can bring major cities to a halt [and] cost the enemy billions.'"
"When the enemy's best recent shot involves lighting his pants on fire, we shouldn't torture ourselves with nightmarish visions of weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons are exceedingly hard to come by.
As political scientist John Mueller notes in his recent book Atomic Obsession, 'no state has ever given another state — even a close ally, much less a terrorist group — a nuclear weapon (or chemical, biological, or radiological one either).' And home-grown WMD tend to be ineffective.
The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo had roughly a billion dollars devoted to developing chemical and biological weapons, the most sophisticated such program in the history of terrorism. But when it released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in 1995, it only managed to kill 12 people."
"The low risk of terrorist WMD doesn't make guarding against it a waste of time. It makes sense, for example, to boost funding for international efforts to prevent nuclear smuggling, as the Obama administration has done. But when we overreact, we're doing terrorists' job for them.
Conservatives understand that exaggerated fears of environmental threats make government grow and liberty shrink. They'd do well to recognize that the same dynamic applies to homeland security."
Terrorists bank on overreaction. As Osama bin Laden put it in 2004, 'All that we have to do is to send two mujahedeen to the furthest point east to raise a piece of cloth on which is written al Qaeda, in order to make the generals race there to cause America to suffer human, economic, and political losses.'
Adam Gadahn, the U.S.-born al Qaeda spokesman, recently called for more 'lone-wolf' strikes, because 'even apparently unsuccessful attacks on Western mass transportation systems can bring major cities to a halt [and] cost the enemy billions.'"
"When the enemy's best recent shot involves lighting his pants on fire, we shouldn't torture ourselves with nightmarish visions of weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons are exceedingly hard to come by.
As political scientist John Mueller notes in his recent book Atomic Obsession, 'no state has ever given another state — even a close ally, much less a terrorist group — a nuclear weapon (or chemical, biological, or radiological one either).' And home-grown WMD tend to be ineffective.
The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo had roughly a billion dollars devoted to developing chemical and biological weapons, the most sophisticated such program in the history of terrorism. But when it released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in 1995, it only managed to kill 12 people."
"The low risk of terrorist WMD doesn't make guarding against it a waste of time. It makes sense, for example, to boost funding for international efforts to prevent nuclear smuggling, as the Obama administration has done. But when we overreact, we're doing terrorists' job for them.
Conservatives understand that exaggerated fears of environmental threats make government grow and liberty shrink. They'd do well to recognize that the same dynamic applies to homeland security."
Morality and the IRS | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
Morality and the IRS | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "It is unambiguously true that the tax code and IRS are creatures of Congress, with all of its self-dealing, corruption, ignorance and incompetence. But it also is true, and was made explicit at the Nuremberg trials, that those who carry out orders that they know to be wrong or should know to be wrong are not absolved of personal responsibility."
"The French political and economic philosopher Frederic Bastiat correctly said, 'No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree, but the safest way to make them respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality are in contradiction to each other, the citizen finds himself in the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense, or of losing his respect for the law.'"
"The French political and economic philosopher Frederic Bastiat correctly said, 'No society can exist unless the laws are respected to a certain degree, but the safest way to make them respected is to make them respectable. When law and morality are in contradiction to each other, the citizen finds himself in the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense, or of losing his respect for the law.'"
The Iraq War: Still a Massive Mistake | Malou Innocent | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Iraq War: Still a Massive Mistake | Malou Innocent | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The broad consensus is that the war has cost the US economy well over $700 billion – with the meter still running. The Iraq war has also left nearly 4,400 American troops dead, more than 31,000 physically disabled, and countless more psychologically traumatized.
According to most estimates, more than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion. More than 2 million displaced Iraqi Sunnis, who fled into neighboring Jordan and Syria, are adding instability to an already politically precarious region of the world.
The war also upset the regional balance of power, as it substantially strengthened Iran's influence in Iraq and severely limited US policy options toward Tehran's clerical regime."
According to most estimates, more than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the invasion. More than 2 million displaced Iraqi Sunnis, who fled into neighboring Jordan and Syria, are adding instability to an already politically precarious region of the world.
The war also upset the regional balance of power, as it substantially strengthened Iran's influence in Iraq and severely limited US policy options toward Tehran's clerical regime."
The Problem with Alliances: Britain and the Falklands | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Problem with Alliances: Britain and the Falklands | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The appropriate question for Washington is: what does this have to do with the U.S.? Alas, both Argentina and Britain want America's support. And out of London has come the plaintive plea: aren't we allies?
The U.S. has no discernible interest in the controversy. England controls the islands, but that doesn't mean its control is legitimate: Washington's position has been to support British administration, not sovereignty. Obviously, the dispute should be handled peacefully."
"the U.S. should back London when the latter is in the right."
The U.S. has no discernible interest in the controversy. England controls the islands, but that doesn't mean its control is legitimate: Washington's position has been to support British administration, not sovereignty. Obviously, the dispute should be handled peacefully."
"the U.S. should back London when the latter is in the right."
Eritrea Doubly Evil | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary
Eritrea Doubly Evil | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The U.S. also should welcome refugees seeking to escape a countrywide prison camp. We know what happens when asylum applicants are sent back to Eritrea: Amnesty International has reported on cases of asylum-seekers from other nations who were forcibly returned and who then disappeared from public view, apparently arrested on their return. Torture and lengthy imprisonment likely followed.
Finally, the rest of us should seek to discomfit Eritrean officials and protest Eritrean policies. We should help refugees fleeing repression of all kinds and back groups which support religious liberty. And we should pray for the martyrs of faith today. People around the world continue to pay the ultimate price for freedoms which we in America take for granted."
Finally, the rest of us should seek to discomfit Eritrean officials and protest Eritrean policies. We should help refugees fleeing repression of all kinds and back groups which support religious liberty. And we should pray for the martyrs of faith today. People around the world continue to pay the ultimate price for freedoms which we in America take for granted."
Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases
Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases: "“From the day that I learned about the warrantless wiretapping program in 2005, I have been convinced that it was illegal."
Well Obama is continuing that program so do you still object to it?
Well Obama is continuing that program so do you still object to it?
FOXNews.com - Watchdog: Obama Foreclosure Aid Leaves Many Out
FOXNews.com - Watchdog: Obama Foreclosure Aid Leaves Many Out: "The Congressional Oversight Panel says in a report released Wednesday that the administration projects only one million families will end up with lower monthly payments as a result of the program. The report says six million families are more than two months behind with their payments, and 200,000 more families receive foreclosure notices each month.
A year and a half after launching the program, 'Treasury is still fighting to get its foreclosure programs off the ground,' Elizabeth Warren, who heads the independent panel set up by Congress, told reporters Tuesday.
Warren warned that borrowers who have their monthly payments lowered as a result of the program still could lose their homes because the payments remain high and many Americans are facing new financial strains.
'Redefault signals the single worst form of failure' by the Treasury Department, said Warren, who is a professor at Harvard Law School. 'Billions of taxpayer dollars will be spent and families will nonetheless lose their homes.'"
"The executives told lawmakers on Tuesday they are reducing the amount that troubled borrowers owe on their home loans only in limited cases. That's because consumers who are paying their mortgages on time are likely to see such reductions as unfair, they said."
A year and a half after launching the program, 'Treasury is still fighting to get its foreclosure programs off the ground,' Elizabeth Warren, who heads the independent panel set up by Congress, told reporters Tuesday.
Warren warned that borrowers who have their monthly payments lowered as a result of the program still could lose their homes because the payments remain high and many Americans are facing new financial strains.
'Redefault signals the single worst form of failure' by the Treasury Department, said Warren, who is a professor at Harvard Law School. 'Billions of taxpayer dollars will be spent and families will nonetheless lose their homes.'"
"The executives told lawmakers on Tuesday they are reducing the amount that troubled borrowers owe on their home loans only in limited cases. That's because consumers who are paying their mortgages on time are likely to see such reductions as unfair, they said."
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