April 2009

Reuters is reporting that 5 soldiers and 2 Iraqi police officers were killed in a suicide bombing  in Mosul today. You sure wouldn’t know about it watching the news. Instead they are on the 100% coverage of a high speed chase in California.

That’s exactly what Congress is doing. The new tobacco bill will give the cigarettes the appearance of being safer by simple saying “FDA approved”:

The bill will place tobacco under the authority of the FDA. However, writing in the New York Times, Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health, worries that by persuading smokers that cigarettes are safer, they will encourage smokers to smoke more.

She also points out that the bill gives the FDA authority to reduce nicotine in cigarettes. As it is the smoking that does the damage and not the nicotine, and as smokers tend to draw more heavily when they smoke, this would only increase the damage done to smoker's health.

The article also points out that the bill received heavy support from one tobacco company. Now why would a company champion more regulation on themselves, unless it could mean an increase in sales?

E-Cigarettes also receive a great bit of support in this article:

One of the new alternatives is the electronic cigarette. Despite highly publicised criticism of the electronic cigarette, some tobacco experts argue that it removes 99% or more of the risk of smoking traditional cigarettes.

In one interview with us David Sweanor, who has previously advised the WHO on tobacco control, argued that: "If there is anyone who believes cigarettes are no more hazardous than e-cigarettes I'd recommend a remedial course in basic sciences."

It looks like RedState master mind Erik Erickson has declared war on Levi Johnson (via Sully):

The real Levi Johnson is something altogether different. The left, when it decided Bristol Palin was fair game, went after Levi Johnson for being a thug and redneck. He was not interested in college — only in scoring with the Governor’s daughter. The classic tale of the high school jock who is, in essence, a low life loser in it for a good time. The left and media regaled the rest of us with tales of what a loser the Palin kid slept with.

The left was right. Now, though, they can’t be bothered by it. Below is the actual Levi — no preppy clothes. No polish. Just good old boy who knocked up the Governor’s daughter. Not exactly the image Tyra Banks and he would like you to think about.

What’s even more creepy is that the other person in the picture is his sister. And, as if lifted from the pages of Deliverance, she has his name tattooed on her back finger. Think about that one for a minute.

Yup Levi – you better watch out or Erik might get ya! Hell he’s already starting with the implications of inbreeding.

How this is going to be fun and hey Erik – how’s “Operation Leper” going?

There is a lot of discussion about the blogosphere and a lack of advertising right now. Most of it has been sparked from a post by Greg Sargent, in which some of the top liberal bloggers voice their displeasure with progressive organizations not spending advertising money on blogs.

I know first hand that running these blogs carry a huge financial burden. Of the four bloggers Greg talks so, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos carry the highest monthly costs just in terms of equipment. I don’t know Kos’ expenses first hand, but can only guesstimate from what I know of his server infrastructure. I do know Crooks and Liars system first hand, since I am the site’s developer. I am not going to give out the exact expense, but I can tell you that our monthly internet bill alone is more than many make in a month. Pushing out videos is an expensive business.

But now we are at a point of stagnation in the blogosphere. Traffic spiked during the election last year, then it fell off drastically. It has been slowly creeping back up, but not like we would like to see. Perhaps its time to look for new ways to promote our product and offer our readers a sense of involvement.