Friday--

Grist had this post this morning.  I love the last paragraph which perfectly illustrates why we ignore most of the dietary advice and take the rest with a considerable grain of salt--or a large dose of skepticism.  The next fad is always coming along and the news media is always ready to publicize initial (and possibly probably mistaken) results.

And another "preliminary" study that is sure to get publicity.  First the health care establishment agreed that a blood pressure reading of 140/90 was the limit and anyone with greater had to go on medication to reduce their bps to "normal range."  Then came the studies which claimed that nearly everyone in the country should be on these medications "just in case."  The suddenly the rules were relaxed and people over age 50 were fine if their bps were in the 150/90 range.  Now another change of direction: we absolutely must keep our blood pressure under 120/90 based on a study where the experimenters put their subjects diagnosed with high blood pressure (under what definition??) on "aggressive" medications and found that the lower readings reduced strokes, etc.  I wonder how many other risk factors did their subjects have and how many suffered serious side effects from the medications.  The author notes those problems and also notes that analysis on side effects won't be published for a year.  And asks some very pertinent questions on what, if anything, all this means given that the results have not been peer reviewed, replicated or published in a reputable journal.

More Repthuglican assholery!!  The entire party seems to consist of moral and mental midgets.

David Kaiser has a right on point essay concerning our political quagmire at History Unfolding.

Infidel753 also covers the dysfunction in our political institutions.  What is really terrifying is his reminder that who ever gets the Speaker's job is third in line to the presidency.