Econ Geekery!

Woo Hoo!

Beer could be the new weapon against cancer

From The Scotsman:

MEN now have another excuse to go down the pub thanks to new research suggesting that a compound in beer may prevent prostate cancer.

Tests showed that the ingredient, xanthohumol, blocked a biological pathway that allows prostate cancer to be fuelled by the male hormone testosterone.

The disease is commonly treated with drugs that act in a similar way.

Xanthohumol is a powerful antioxidant derived from hops. It belongs to a family of chemicals called flavonoids found in fruits and vegetables that are known to have anti-cancer properties.

Previous studies have already suggested that xanthohumol may block the female hormone oestrogen’s ability to stimulate breast cancer. Scientists now believe it may have a similar effect in men.

In laboratory tests, the compound blocked the molecular “switch” that allows testosterone to trigger changes in prostate cells that may lead to cancer.

Do you think I could get Medicaid to pay for beer?

Why the nation is in trouble

When the majority (or even a substantial minority) has no tax burden, they will demand more from the federal purse, since someone else will be paying.  Once the getting is separated from the paying, the federal floodgates swing wide.

Heh!

And this is simple compared to what health care politics will look like!

I’m a Doctor, not a scriptwriter!

Heh!

Letter to the Editor published today

I worry about Dan Carpenter. It appears he has an eight-year gap in his memory. To write, as he did in his Sept. 9 column, “Has any White House resident, even Richard Nixon, ever been so dissed?” with a straight face bespeaks a mendacity of epic proportions.

Does he not remember the calumny heaped on President George W. Bush? Does he not remember the incessant claims that Bush lied, that Bush bombed the World Trade Center in order to please his oil buddies, that Bush intentionally bombed the New Orleans levees to kill poor and minority residents of New Orleans, that Bush stole both elections, that Bush was going to declare martial law to stay in power, that Bush cheated on his National Guard obligations, or that Bush was Hitler or Satan, or both?

But Carpenter’s selective memory apparently is much more extensive. Does he not remember that the issue with Obama’s speech was not the speech, but the lesson plan that asked teachers to have students write letters to themselves about how they could help Obama — not their country, not their community, not their school, but Obama?

Carpenter also conveniently forgets that when President George H.W. Bush made a similar speech, it was denounced by the National Education Association and congressional Democrats. In fact, it was conduct so heinous that the Democratic House directed the GAO to investigate whether laws were broken and convened congressional hearings on the speech. Those small details are apparently unimportant to Carpenter.

More concerning is Carpenter’s implication that any objection to Obama’s politics or plans is motivated by racism. Carpenter has coupled his mendacious memory with the slander of racism. It is beneath him.

Michael Beason

This takes care of at least 3 of the 7 deadly sins