Shaw's Eco-Logic

This movie review is now on HuffPo.  It might just be the only honest one on the Web.

This HND piece looks AGAIN at problems with diabetes drugs. But, don't blame me for having repetitive themes. Blame Big Pharma and the FDA for developing and approving these drugs.

The latest class of diabetes drugs to cause concern are the sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors. They lower blood sugar by blocking reabsorption of glucose by the kidneys, and increase its urinary excretion.

On May 15, 2015, the FDA issued a warning that SGLT-2 inhibitors have caused several cases of diabetic ketoacidosis, which is potentially fatal. All reported patients required emergency room visits or hospitalization to treat the condition. What makes this especially disturbing is that the condition had heretofore only been seen in type 1 diabetics, and it was associated with relatively high blood glucose levels. Not any more.

As if that's not bad enough, the instructions given in the FDA warning are pretty much useless.

Read the complete article.

Finally, sanity from a government health agency!

An expert independent evidence review published 19 August 2015 by Public Health England (PHE) concludes that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than tobacco and have the potential to help smokers quit smoking.

This is a game-changer, folks.

This HND piece is a follow-up to an earlier posting.

As you might suspect, there are not too many legit uses for fetal tissue, even though there is a demand. We take a look at some of the NIH-sponsored research using human fetal tissue, and you're not going to be too impressed. In fact, you might be shocked to discover what NIH wastes your money on—and this really is only the tip of the iceberg. Ironically, the best research in the category examined occurs with the smallest grants. ("Best" = Actually having a possible application to improving human health.)

Riddle me this, Batman: What's the difference between an academic scientist and a third-generation welfare mother? One difference is that the scientists are a whole lot more expensive to maintain.

Read the complete article.

We review this one over at the Mike's Comments.  The movie is compelling enough the first time through, but would have been much better had the screenwriter closed some of the gaping plot holes.

Read the complete review.

This HND piece exposes the rather obvious, and strangely unreported fact that Planned Parenthood, by its own admission, is violating at least one federal law in this lovely matter of selling baby parts. Heck, there is little doubt they are violating two, in that the "donations" are clearly intended to gain profit.

As we describe in this and the follow-up piece, there are precious few legitimate uses for human fetal tissue, and certainly nowhere near enough to justify the scale of the ghoulish harvest, exposed by the recent Center for Medical Progress videos.

Imagine that. People running an abortion mill doing despicable things. Read the complete article.

How often do you hear someone say that to fix our country, we "need to get back to the Constitution?"  Sorry, but this is a non-starter...

1.     I reject the notion that "all" the country need do is to get back to the Constitution. Upon a moment's reflection, it should be clear that this is no solution at all.

The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) gives Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes." Covers a whole lot, doesn't it?

Article I, Section 8 contains 18 clauses, and here is the 18th: "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." In other words, they can do anything they want.

Amendment XIV, Section 1 provides:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." All by itself, this little gem has given us Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges (same sex marriage).

Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the absurd notion of judicial review, thereby forever ruining the balance of powers, and making the Supreme Court the super-branch. No less an authority than Thomas Jefferson himself was dismayed at this state of affairs.

Given the four precepts described above, coupled with the reality that virtually every court decision expands, rather than limits federal power, no rational argument can be advanced that the Constitution is our saving grace.

2.     Perhaps "getting back to the Constitution" is a shorthand for the wish that we get back to some earlier Spirit of the Founders, or Spirit of America. That would be a marvelous idea, but it may be difficult to achieve in the 21st century.

Instead of a Christian country in which only property owners (aka stakeholders) could vote, we now have a "diverse" land in which a heroin addict on welfare, who has to be propped up at the polling place, has the same vote as a productive citizen.

3.     As to the military and its legitimate use, getting back to the Constitution will probably not help much. True, Article I Section 8, Clause 11 provides that Congress has the power: "To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water."

However, Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 provides that: "The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States."

Thus, the last time war was formally declared by Congress was on December 8, 1941. Of course, any number of bellicose acts subsequent to that date can be counted up. Arguably, there were plenty of them (non-declared) in the build-up to World War II, as well.

4.     Kinda makes you wonder how many of the "patriots" endlessly talking about getting back to the Constitution have even read it