This and that and even some good news

Good News in Medicine

Scientists have developed A NEW TEST THAT IDENTIFIES PATIENTS WHO COULD BENEFIT FROM THE CHEAP TREATMENT.

They found that the people whose CANCER CELLS “FED” OFF HIGH-ENERGY COMPOUNDS were more likely to see their tumours spread or to die.

This meant THEY COULD BE HELPED BY BEING GIVEN THE DIABETES DRUG, METFORMIN, which stops the “fuel supply” for aggressive cancer cells.

Professor Michael Lisanti, from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at the University of Manchester, said: “We’ve shown that the saying, ‘you are what you eat’ holds true for cancer. The food cancer cells consume is crucial to how well a patient does and what treatment they need.

“If cancer cells are consuming high-energy food, this makes a tumour more aggressive and harder to treat. HOWEVER, PATIENTS COULD BENEFIT FROM METFORMIN, WHICH CUTS OFF THIS FUEL SUPPLY. There is more work to do but this test could be an important new way of tailoring treatments to a patient’s needs, across a range of cancers.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8450489/10p-diabetes-drug-could-treat-breast-cancer-patients.html

Wonderful news from the world of medicine.



Self Parody?

PETA ASKS THE MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO: RENAME THE TENDERLOIN “THE ‘TEMPEH DISTRICT.’”

San Francisco is now renowned for some of the best vegan cuisine in the world, and the city deserves a neighborhood named after a delicious cruelty-free food instead of the flesh of an abused animal. IF TEMPEH DOESN’T EXCITE YOU, HOW ABOUT GRANOLA FLATS OR SEITAN’S LAIR?

Unintentional self-parody, or deliberate? You be the judge

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http://volokh.com/2011/04/15/self-parody/



Obama likely to lose in 2012

Suppose everything we think we know about the president’s political position is wrong? That’s what I think became clear this week.

You know the conventional wisdom. It is that unemployment ticking down, plus the economy inching back, plus the power of the presidency to affect events, equal a likely Obama victory in 2012. Smart people, especially Republicans, believe this. But how about this for a thought: It’s not true. It’s all wrong. Barack Obama can be taken, and his adversaries haven’t even noticed. IN FACT, HE WILL LIKELY LOSE IN 2012. Only one thing can save him. More on that further down.

Let’s start with the immediate and go to the overarching. The president is immersed in another stressed and unsuccessful spring after a series of losing seasons. Internationally, he’s involved in a confused effort that involves bombing Libyan government troops and sometimes their rebel opponents, leaving the latter scattered and scurrying. Responsibility to protect is looking like tendency to deflect. DOMESTICALLY, THE PRESIDENT’S OPPONENTS SEIZED THE HIGH GROUND ON THE GREAT ISSUE OF THE DAY, SPENDING AND DEBT, AND HELD IT AFTER THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH THIS WEEK. In last week’s budget duel, the president was outgunned by Republicans in the House and outclassed by Paul Ryan, who offered seriousness and substance as a unique approach to solving our fiscal problems.

In this week’s polls: AN IPSOS SURVEY SAYS 69% OF AMERICANS BELIEVE THE COUNTRY IS ON THE WRONG TRACK, UP FIVE POINTS SINCE MARCH. ZOGBY HAS ONLY 38% OF NATIONAL RESPONDENTS SAYING MR. OBAMA DESERVES RE-ELECTION, with 55% wanting someone new. Mr. Obama carried Pennsylvania in 2008 by double digits; a poll there this week shows only 42% approving his leadership, with 52% disapproving. GALLUP HAD THE PRESIDENT’S SUPPORT SLIPPING AMONG BLACKS AND HISPANICS, with the latter’s numbers dramatic: 73% supported him when he was inaugurated, 54% do now. SUPPORT AMONG WHITES ON INAUGURATION DAY WAS 60%. NOW IT IS 39%.

http://peggynoonan.com/

I very much believe this. The election is not for Obama to lose, it will take the Republicans to lose it.



Margaret Sanger: The USSR shows us the way

“[W]E COULD WELL TAKE EXAMPLE FROM RUSSIA,” advised Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, “where birth control instruction is part of the regular welfare service of the government.”

Sanger, racial-eugenicist who spoke to a 1926 KKK rally, whose work included a “Negro Project,” who wished to rid America of “human weeds” and “morons” and “imbeciles,” and who wanted birth control for “race improvement,” had just returned from a pilgrimage to Stalin’s Russia. Like many progressives (click here for John Dewey’s experiences), she went there to soak in the alleged triumphs of the communist motherland, MARVELING AT LENIN’S AND STALIN’S ADVANCEMENTS FOR WOMEN.

And so, in the June 1935 edition of her publication, Birth Control Review, in an article titled, “Birth Control in Russia,” Sanger concluded:

Theoretically, there are no obstacles to birth control in Russia. It is accepted … on the grounds of health and human right…. [W]e could well take example from Russia, where there are no legal restrictions, no religious condemnation, and where birth control instruction is part of the regular welfare service of the government.

I could quote more, including this jaw-dropping prediction: “All the officials with whom I discussed the matter stated that as soon as the economic and social plans of Soviet Russia are realized, NEITHER ABORTIONS NOR CONTRACEPTION WILL BE NECESSARY OR DESIRED. A FUNCTIONING COMMUNISTIC SOCIETY WILL ASSURE THE HAPPINESS OF EVERY CHILD, AND WILL ASSUME THE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS WELFARE AND EDUCATION….”

http://townhall.com/columnists/paulkengor/2011/04/15/on_margaret_sanger,_the_soviets,_and_democrats/page/full/

There you have it. The progressive naiveté on display. Is it really so different from what we hear today from the Democrat Party?



Obama's $5 Billion Weatherizing Program Wastes Stimulus Funds

The most dramatic example can be found in Delaware, where "GROSS MISMANAGEMENT AND POTENTIAL FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY" THAT FEDERAL AUDITORS FOUND LAST YEAR COULD AFFECT HUNDREDS OF HOMES, a senior administration official told FoxNews.com. The subsequent repairs and inspections reportedly will cost the state a significant chunk of the $7.5 million remaining from $13.7 million of stimulus it received in 2009.

Delaware is the only state where the weatherization program has been suspended, but PROBLEMS HAVE SURFACED IN OTHER STATES, INCLUDING FLORIDA, ILLINOIS, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, TEXAS, TENNESSEE AND VIRGINIA.

"It's a complete cesspool of waste," Leslie Paige, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, told FoxNews.com. "When it's over, we will never know how much went down the tube. They cannot track the money. By the time they get to it, a lot of the money will be gone….."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/14/obamas-5-billion-weatherizing-program-wastes-stimulus-funds-auditors/

The Energy Department defends their oversight but recognize it’s difficult when you try to spend so much money so quickly. Right now approximately ½ of the $5 billion has been spent.