Irrational Drug Laws

Florida has recently published some research findings on what drugs cause the most deaths. In summary, legal drugs kill far more people than illegal drugs. Also, parents and ad councils on tv and billboards constantly try to scare people away from using the dangerous drug of marijuana. Well, the reefer maddness was responsible for zero (0) deaths in Florida. Why is it illegal again?

Once again, it is obvious the war on drugs has been a complete failure.

The Florida report analyzed 168,900 deaths statewide. Cocaine, heroin and
all methamphetamines caused 989 deaths, it found, while legal opioids — strong painkillers in brand-name drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin — caused 2,328.
Drugs with benzodiazepine, mainly depressants like Valium and Xanax, led to 743 deaths.
Alcohol was the most commonly occurring drug, appearing in the bodies of 4,179
of the dead and judged the cause of death of 466 — fewer than cocaine (843) but
more than methamphetamine (25) and marijuana (0).

Consequences of Raising the Minimum Wage

If you are having a hard-time finding summer work, there may be a good explaination for it. Research from Northeastern University shows that raising the minimum wage is causing extremely high unemployment rates for low-paying jobs.

It is simple econ 101 that raising the minimum wage hurts the low-paying labor industry. Why do Democrats (mostly) still insist on this measure?

This year, it's harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as "the worst in post-World War II history" for teen summer employment, and those same researchers say that 2008 is poised to be "even worse."
According to their data, only about one-third of Americans 16 to 19 years old will have a job this summer, and vulnerable low-income and minority teens are going to fare even worse. The percentage of teens classified as "unemployed"—those who are actively seeking a job but can't get one—is more than three times higher than the national unemployment rate, according to the most recent Department of Labor statistics.
One of the prime reasons for this drastic employment drought is the mandated wage hikes that policymakers have forced down the throats of local businesses. Economic research has shown time and again that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty. According to
economist David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine, for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment for high school dropouts and young black adults and teenagers falls by 8.5 percent. In the past 11 months alone, the United States' minimum wage has increased by more than twice that amount.

Responsible Rapture...ing

For all of you out there who believe that Jesus is going to be returning to earth soon and are worried about family and friends left behind - worry no more.

A company called You've Been Left Behind has created an email service where if the rapture occurs, an email will notify left behind family and friends where you are and what they can do to be saved!

The email will be sent out 6 days after the rapture occurs...but how does it know when? Apparently, there are 5 members that login to the site each day but if three of them do not login within 6 days, the email alerts are triggered. Oh, and by the way, the service is $40 a year.

There are some good arguments the rapture is not meant to be taken literally but incase you believe, doesn't this seem strange? First, how does the staff of the company know that atleast 3 of their 5 members are going to be taken up in the rapture? I guess they must be some pretty special people. Second, they say the service is to inform left behind loved ones of where you are. If this really did occur and millions of people vanished at once, I think there would be atleast one person left behind who could explain what is going on. I'm sure the personalized email message would set them at ease. Look at it from their perspective. Millions upon millions have vanished, the world is in chaos, yet an informative email is going to make someone think, "Oh, they were raptured to Heaven...thanks Bob, now I can go on with my life." Err...no. Finally, what if 3 of those 5 people die suddenly and the emails are sent out. That will be embarrassing. I guess some family members will know Bob secretly thinks they are going to hell. I'm sure that will make for an awkward moment.

Once again, it seems someone is looking to make an easy buck off of some gullible people. What a shame but hey, like PT Barnum says "a sucker is born everyday."

I'm sure this concept is set to become a footnote on "Its the end of the world as we know it."

The 2008 Democratic Nominee

I have been meaning to write something about Obama's improbable victory, but there are so many storylines running around, I don't even know where to start. Thankfully, my undergrad academic advisor - Dr. William Cunion - has written a perfect summary to the conclusion of the democratic primary season. I'm going to copy it in its entirety since 1)he does not create direct links to individual articles, 2) Google's block quote formatting sucks and 3) it is that good.

Enjoy-

We've all seen it coming since the first week of January, when a first-term senator - only three years removed from the Illinois State Legislature - and the only African American in the entire United States Senate - somehow defeated the "invincible" Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses. Some setbacks here and there - some at the polls, some in the news - did little to derail what was becoming obvious to everyone. (Well, to everyone other than Hillary Clinton, who still seems unable to see it - see below.)
Whether you agree with his politics, whether you believe that the media has given him a free pass, whether you like him or not, Barack Obama has run the single most amazing political campaign in modern American history. (I'm tempted to say that it is the most astonishing political campaign ever, but let's hold back something until November. There is still, you know, the little matter of an election to be had.) I don't believe there is anything fundamentally different about Obama - he is a politician, and he can never be all things to all people as a result - but he has demonstrated more than just a powerful gift of rhetoric. He has shown remarkable executive leadership in the campaign itself, fully in command of the process while somehow remaining above the fray. Republicans will regret it if they underestimate his strength as a candidate. If the election were held today, he would be the 44th president of the United States.
So much is being said today about the historic event of nominating an African American candidate, and even many on the right are observing it with pride in a country moving beyond its shameful past. John McCain would have been wise yesterday simply to acknowledge the moment and to congratulate Senator Obama...and leave the debate for another day. And there will be debates - some thoughtful exchanges of ideas about the direction of the country - and some lowbrow smear campaigns that have always been part of the undercurrent of American politics. To be sure, while both candidates are men of honor and decency, they do have significant differences of opinion about some crucial issues, and we all must exercise our critical faculties in deciding which one of them will be a better leader for this country.
But that is for another day. For today, all Americans can set all of that aside and say together, yes we can. Such is the audacity of hope in the United States of America.

Time to Go Home, Hillary.
Yesterday afternoon, a local radio station called to ask for my reaction to the news that Hillary Clinton would be conceding defeat last night. I responded that we should probably wait to hear what she actually says. Sure enough, right on cue, Senator Clinton completes her metamorphosis from the historic presidential candidate who would shatter the final glass ceiling to the last girl at the party who has had way too much to drink but refuses to go home. You know the one - attractive and witty at 9pm, ugly and embarrassing at midnight, belligerent and hostile at 3am...and maybe passed out on the living room couch at 6am. Well, the sun is up in the United States of America, and it is time for you to go home, Senator Clinton. Her speech last night was disgraceful and incoherent (for what was she congratulating Senator Obama, if she was not conceding defeat?), but most of all, it was completely without class - a fitting end to her shameful candidacy.
There is so much commentary around the Web this morning that I couldn't possibly do it justice. But just a few of my favorite lines:
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "Whoever said that after denial comes acceptance hadn’t met the Clintons. If Hillary could not have an acceptance speech, she wasn’t going to have acceptance."
The Jed Report: "If I had any respect for Hillary Clinton going into tonight, after watching her speech, it is now gone....completely self absorbed."
Brendan Loy: "Hillary Clinton had one last chance, tonight, to exit the stage with dignity. She missed it."
Noam Scheiber of The New Republic: "What a disaster."
James Fallows of The Atlantic: "You HAVE LOST the nomination. There are NO MORE primaries....This is a new low."
I do wonder what her immediate plan is in terms of the actual campaigning. After all, Fallows is correct that there are no more primaries. Where will her events be? Who will be her audience? Why would anyone send her money at this point? This is bizarre.
Maybe I'm being too kind with the party analogy above. This isn't just like having a little too much to drink; it's pathological - maybe even sinister. I'm not the only one now thinking of Hillary Clinton like a character from a horror movie. Like Freddy Kruger or Jason, she just keeps coming back for more. Like the last scene from Carrie, you expect her to reach up through the dirt covering her grave for one last kill...only she refuses even to be buried. I expect the party to unify around Senator Obama this summer, but I do not think she will exit gracefully - perhaps it's too late for that, anyway. Nor do I expect her to be offered the VP slot; surely Obama has more self respect than that (I'm tempted to return to the party girl analogy, but I better let it go).
I don't know whether the radio station used my soundbite warning that she may refuse to exit stage left, but I sure hope so. Still, it's not all that insightful, and no one should be surprised. What a sad end to a sad story. Only it's not quite the end, is it?

Contradictions of Compassionate Conservatism

Sen. Coburn of OK wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this past week detailing what Republican's need to do in order to avoid a blood-bath in the fall. One of his points is on President Bush's so called "compassionate conservatism" platform of the government helping the poor and needy.

Compassionate conservatism's starting point had merit. The essential
argument that Republicans should orient policy around how our ideas will affect
the poor, the widow, the orphan, the forgotten and the "other" is indisputable –
particularly for those who claim, as I do, to submit to an authority higher than
government. Yet conservatives are conservatives because our policies promote
deliverance from poverty rather than dependence on government.
Compassionate
conservatism's next step – its implicit claim that charity or compassion
translates into a particular style of activist government involving massive
spending increases and entitlement expansion – was its undoing. Common sense and
the Scriptures show that true giving and compassion require sacrifice by the
giver. This is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell his possessions, not
his neighbor's possessions. Spending other people's money is not
compassionate.

Once again, it becomes clear that President Bush was not a conservative and the Republicans are going to pay dearly for failing to stand up against his large government and unlimited executive power policies.