10 Nov 2008
Salvia’s Popularity May Thwart Medical Use

I guess if it can make you feel good it must be banned, even from medical use. Such is the logic of the "War on Drugs".

If we must make war on ideas, I think we as a society would get a lot more mileage out of a "War on Stupidity". We could try it and find out, eh?

The use of Salvia divinorum, a potent hallucinogenic herb, was once limited to revelation seekers in Mexico. Now, the drug is available legally across the U.S.

(link) [New York Times]

07:34 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Daylight Savings Time Increases Energy Use in Indiana

Backwards ClockThis is the second study using Indiana as a model that's confirmed this. If Obama is really serious about cutting energy use, he could immediately save us 1% by repealing DST nationwide.

But I'm not holding my breath.

The Freakonomics Blog reports on a study of Indiana energy use for daylight savings time showing an increase in energy use of 1%. 'The dataset consists of more than 7 million observations on monthly billing data for the vast majority of households in southern Indiana for three years. Our main finding is that — contrary to the policy's intent — D.S.T. increases residential electricity demand.' Maybe that's just from millions of coffee makers being pressed into extra duty.

(link) [Slashdot]

07:28 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link