Religion of Obama downgraded from denomination to mere cult

    These photos were already posted on The Drudge Report, but I found them worth reposting, if for no other reason than to have them in my "scrapbook."
    The top photo is of Barack Obama campaigning in Pittsburgh in October 2008. Since he never had really done anything to qualify himself to be president, he had never taken a position that would make anyone angry. As a state senator he tended to vote "present" instead of voting for or against legislation. The result was that Americans could imagine him to be whatever they wanted him to be. Oh, and they could prove to themselves that they weren't racist by voting for a black man. The public adored the man and multitudes turned out to worship him wherever he went.
    The second photo is of Barack Obama campaigning in Pittsburgh a few days ago. He's now taken positions on things, and the doltish American public has suddenly realized that they voted for a far-left socialist when most Americans are slightly right of center. Most people want this disaster out of the White house. They still don't know who they want to replace him, but in the meantime they would rather stay home and rearrange their sock drawer than turn out to listen to another pablum-puking liberal make his case for more taxes and bigger government.
    Does it bring to mind the saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

99-percenters right to protest crony capitalist bankers

    While the 99-percent movement is a bit ridiculous at times, it also makes some valid points. One point in that a few large banks are essentially destroying this country.
    Make no mistake, the government encouraged these banks to make risky loans to marginal borrowers. When they found out they could make a dollar they went at it full tilt. Much of the blame for our current problems belongs with the belief that every citizen just has to own their own home, a mantra still being chanted by some in Washington.
    But the real problem is the same one we had several years ago: Banks which are too big to fail.
    If the economy is functioning normally there will be bank failures from to time. And some bondholders might get their fingers burned just a bit. But in the end, no problem.
    But in today's economy we have a few large banks that can seek profits without regard to risk, because they know they are too big to fail. The government gives them all kinds of sweetheart deals, including unlimited money at one-half percent interest, in order to fatten their bottom line. Don't you think you could make money if you had unlimited funds at half-a-percent interest?
    So the government and the federal reserve are shoveling taxpayer money into these big banks, which now are recording record profits. And since they are profitable they are paying their top executives lots of money, which is fine when they are earning the profits on their on, but not so great when the government is essentially just handing them the treasury.
    The solution is the same today as it was four years ago. Force these big banks to get smaller.
    All we need to do is tax banks based on their size and charge bigger banks higher FDIC premiums. Leave the small banks alone, but hit the bigger ones with a progressively larger tax. These banks are run by businessmen who will soon see the benefit of breaking up their banks into smaller firms -- the kind of banks that helped build this country.
    And if a few of them fail, so what? We will have created an economy where banks are free to be successful -- or to fail. For the rest of us, life will go on.

Perhaps the biggest bid day in Ole Miss history

    Last week was Rush week at Ole Miss. There was an increase in the percentage of freshmen going through Rush, although the percentage still a fraction of what it was back in the days when Rush was the week before school started.
    But Ole Miss is a bigger place each year, and I think this year's rush group was the highest in Ole Miss history. 1,082 men signed up for rush and 804 received bids. 1,215 women signed up for rush and 1,073. received bids.
    The Daily Mississippian reports that sorority quota this year was 117, with an additional quota of 10 for upper-class rushees (that's upper class as in sophomores, juniors and seniors, not rich girls). It is reportedly the second-highest quota in the history of the American Greek system. The highest was also this year at the University of Arkansas, which was higher by three.
    After the girls get their bids they walk or run down Sorority Row to join their new sisters. I decided to take my 11-year-old daughter, Lucy, to observe the proper way to squeal. When you view the video below you will hear that I have created a squeal-instruction masterpiece!
    To any high school kids out there, if Ole Miss looks like a fun place, that's because it is. But there is plenty of school work going on. The Barksdale Honors college just announced that the average ACT score of its roughly 1,000 students is almost 31.
    But Sunday wasn't about studying, it was about having fun. And there was plenty of that to go around!



Oh, and by the way, feel free to post a link to my blog, but don't steal my video, as poor as it is!

Eminent domain scholar to speak at UM law school Monday

    Ilya Somin, a professor at George Mason University and a scholar on issues involving constitutional law, property and eminent domain, will speak at the Ole Miss Law School Monday, Oct. 10 at 12:30. The lecture is sponsored by the University of Mississippi Federalist Society. As usual there is no publicity for this as Ole Miss does not publicize campus events.
    Somin is a regular contributor to Eugene Volokh's "Volokh Conspiracy" blog, a libertarian-leaning blog which I feature on the left side of my blog page.
    Rather than write a long story, I'll take the easy way out and reprint Somin's post from the Volokh blog:

On Monday, October 10, I will be speaking at the University of Mississippi School of Law on a Mississippi eminent domain reform referendum initiative, Measure 31 (which is on the ballot this November). The talk is sponsored by the University of Mississippi Federalist Society, and will begun at 12:30 PM in Room 2094.

Mississippi is one of only a handful of states that have not enacted any eminent domain reforms at all since the Supreme Court’s controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which ruled that the Constitution allows government to forcibly transfer private property to other private entities for purposes of “economic development.” Forty-three other states have enacted new laws, though many of them are likely to be ineffective.

Mississippi has a considerable history of dubious takings. Republican Governor Haley Barbour is a prominent advocate of massive condemnations that transfer property to big business interests such as auto manufacturers. In 2009, he vetoed a legislative eminent domain reform billIn this article, I explained why the kinds of economic development takings Barbour supports generally create more economic harm than benefit.

Although Measure 31 is not perfect, it would be a major improvement over current Mississippi law, which allows a wide range of economic development takings for big development projects, and also defines “blight” so broadly that virtually any area can be declared blighted and condemned. The initiative precludes economic development takings almost entirely by forbidding the transfer of condemned property to private interests for at least 10 years after the taking. It does create an exemption to this rule for property that is unfit for human habitation or poses a “direct threat” to public health or safety. But that is much more restrictive than the state’s current blight law. Broad definitions of blight that license abusive takings are a serious problem in many other states, including New York.

I will have more to say about Measure 31 at my presentation, and probably in a follow-up post that I will write after the talk for readers interested in the issue who are unable to attend.

    According to the George Mason Law School website, Somin's research focuses on constitutional law, property law, and the study of popular political participation and its implications for constitutional democracy. Somin currently serves as Co-Editor of the Supreme Court Economic Review, one of the country's top-rated law and economics journals. His work has appeared in numerous scholarly journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Critical Review, and others. He has also published articles in a variety of popular press outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com, Newark Star Ledger, Orlando Sentinel, South China Morning Post, Legal Times, National Law Journal and Reason. He has been quoted or interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, and the Voice of America, among other media. In July 2009, he testified on property rights issues at the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
    For anyone who cares about property rights, regardless of their position on the proposed eminent domain amendment, this should be an interesting presentation.

McEwen's on the Square has upscale lunch at reasonable price

    Jinny and I went out for lunch yesterday and decided on McEwen’s, on the Square in Oxford in the old Waltz location.
    I had always wanted to eat at the old Waltz, but everything was priced a few dollars too much for me. McEwen’s had their menu posted and their prices seemed quite reasonable, particularly for lunch.
    I’ve posted a copy of the lunch menu below. Jinny took a look at the “small plates” dinner menu on the way in and said, “They all look so good I want one of each.” So McEwen’s does have a good menu.
    Jinny and I both got the lunch special for the day, which was stuffed pork loin. It came with two sides. I got garlic mashed potatoes and squash casserole; Jinny got the squash casserole and fried okra.
    The food arrived and was beautiful on the plate. I wish I had snapped an iPhone photo. I thought the pork loin and potatoes were good. Jinny and I both thought the squash casserole could have used some more cheese and butter. Jinny said her fried okra was outstanding.
    Jinny really didn’t like her pork loin as she felt the stuffing had too much sage, and so she only picked at it. Sometimes there will be a dish that some customers will like and others won’t. It’s probably a good idea when trying new things not to have two people ordering the same item. That way if one person is disappointed they can swap.
    Of course, one of the problems with restaurant recipes is that if McEwen’s adds less sage to their stuffing and more cheese to their casserole some people will say they are using too little sage and too much cheese. Well, maybe; does anybody ever complain about too much cheese?
    One of the best parts of the meal was the check – it came to just over $23; that’s with Jinny getting tea and me getting water. For that $23 we had one of the most upscale lunches once can experience in Oxford. We’ll be back and I wish this restaurant well!

Note: You may need to click on this menu twice to read it! The first click will open it in a new window. The second click will magnify it.

A nearly free genetic test that just might save your life

    Today I’m going to tell you about a nearly free genetic test that could save you a lot of medical grief and in rare instances might even save your life. In fact, chances are you’ve already performed this test on yourself, you just don’t know what the results mean.
    As always, my disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, although I play one at cocktail parties.
    Everybody loves a story about someone else’s grief and misery, so I’ll share mine. Several years ago I saw a weight-loss ad in the paper and decided to go see a fat doctor, who I will call “Dr. Aflac.” For any of you who might be hard of thinking, what’s the Aflac duck say? Quack, quack!
    Dr. Aflac prescribed me phentermine, generic Prozac, and pig thyroid for weight loss which makes sense. Prozac, an SSRI, does promote weight loss for some patients, although not as effectively as the banned fenfluramine. Phentermine, a mild stimulant, has long been known to cause weight loss. And thyroid supplements will increase metabolism, although the body tends to resist efforts to increase thyroid levels by reducing production.
    The drugs were effective, but after a week I started having trouble sleeping and my legs and arms would have spasms, particularly at night. After two weeks it was much worse, and I could only get to sleep by taking some Ativan, which I had in reserve for airplane rides.
    I reported my problem to Dr. Aflac and he assured me it would go away, and that Prozac never caused these types of problems. So I continued two more weeks. By this time I was totally sleepless and could not hold a fork steady enough to get it to my mouth. I had to hold a drink cup with two hands.
    I must say I had lost some weight, though. The inability to keep food on one’s fork is highly conducive to the loss of weight.
    At this point I decided to take my case to the Internet, where I soon found that Prozac is processed by a liver enzyme known as CYP2D6. Somewhere between three and seven percent of the white population suffers from a severe deficiency of this enzyme. I suspect I produce virtually none of it. At the other end of the spectrum are a few people who produce a lot of this enzyme.
    It’s possible to take a genetic test for the CYP2D6 enzyme. These tests can cost hundreds of dollars. If you don’t want to spring for a test right away, you can just ask yourself one question: What do you think of and how much do you like dextromethorphan? That’s the drug in Robitussen DM. Chances are if you take a good slug you either hate it, feel nothing or perhaps find it mildly pleasurable, or absolutely love it.
    If you really love dextromethorphan you are an ultra-metabolizer and have a lot of CYP2D6. It is from this group that people who use dextromethorphan as a drug of abuse come from. So if you have heard of someone “Robi-running” and asked yourself “Why?”, the answer is because they are getting something from the drug that most people don’t.
    If DM is only slightly pleasurable to you, or not particularly pleasurable at all that’s good news. It means you’re normal, and a whole bunch of drugs are going to work for you just like they are supposed to work. Congratulations.
    If you hate dextromethorphan it is likely because you are a poor metabolizer and have little or no CYP2D6. On a personal level, it makes me feel too bad to stay up, but I can’t go to sleep either. My brain feels likes it’s laying atop a razor blade. Ouch!
    So what does all of this mean and why is it important to you? Well, if you have little or no CYP2D6 dozens of drugs – as many as 25 percent – simply aren’t going to work properly for you. In some cases there will be only a slight loss of efficacy, but in others it can be dangerous. When the doctor prescribed me Prozac for weight loss, my lack of CYP2D6 meant that the drug wasn’t being broken down and removed from my system. Not only wasn’t the drug not working exactly properly, but it was building up in massive amounts because by body couldn’t break it down. Codeine, as a cough syrup, is absolutely ineffective on those without CYP2D6, as the body can’t convert the codeine into the morphine which actually suppresses the cough. (Hydrocodone uses CYP2D6, but provides some but lessened effect in those who don’t have the enzyme). SSRIs don’t break down properly without CYP2D6; a few, such as Paxil, can be downright dangerous. Tamoxifen, the breast cancer hormone drug, doesn’t work well or at all without CYP2D6. Obviously knowing whether or not one has the enzyme to process this drug is pretty darn important when deciding on a cancer treatment.
    Many doctors are amazingly unaware of the important of individual liver enzyme profiles in the treatment of patients. I’ve never had one ask me how I felt about dextromethorphan, and I suspect few know of this shortcut to expensive genetic testing.
    Make no mistake, if your life depends on getting the most out of a particular medicine you ought to pay for genetic enzyme profiling. But everyone’s health could be much improved if they would ask and consider their answer to one simple question:
    How does dextromethorphan make you feel?

A football thumping likely ahead, but Alabama has already beaten us for innovation

    The Ole Miss-Alabama game isn't for two weeks but Alabama has already beaten us.
    Two Alabama conservation enforcement officers have started a company called Holy Smoke LLC to fill the need of people who wish to be cremated and then have their ashes mixed with gunshot and used to shoot things. What a concept!    For $850, one pound of ash will be loaded into 250 shotgun shells. The ash is mixed in the cups that hold the shot, not the powder. The person you designate can then go out and shoot things. blowing your ashes around the countryside. Experts suggest not eating any meat from around where the shot enters, though.
    "This isn't a joke. It's a job that we take very seriously," he said. "This is a reverent business. We take the utmost care in what we do and show the greatest respect for the remains."
    Okay Mississippi businessmen, it's time to put your thinking caps on!
    Here's the link: Company will load loved ones' ashes into ammunition