Complying with a judge’s orders, and enforcing them, is central to rule of law. But what if a judge flouts all the rules of law? Should his order be ignored? Two wrongs don’t make a right; if we start doing that, the law doesn’t exist anymore. Matthew Kacsmaryk shouldn’t be a[...]
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A tale of two judges
In Texas, a blatantly partisan federal judge who worked for a Christian law firm before Trump and GOP senators put him on the bench revoked the FDA’s approval of an abortion drug on Friday, April 7, 2023, blocking its use nationwide (see stories here). The ruling was expected, because Judge Ka[...]
November 23rd, 2022 - 5:03 pm § in Health
Would you pay $87.50 to save a stranger’s life?
Yesterday the FDA approved a drug treatment for hemophilia B that costs $3.5 million per patient (story here). That’s not necessarily a ripoff by the drug maker. Developing new drugs is expensive, especially gene therapies, which this is. And drugs for rare diseases, lacking a mass market, usu[...]
October 29th, 2022 - 7:52 pm § in Politics, Republicans
Where does the GOP get these candidates?
Don Bolduc, the GOP Senate nominee in New Hampshire, last week told a crowd at a campaign event “that children are being told they can identify as anthropomorphic cats and use litter boxes in schools,” CNN reported on Saturday, October 29, 2022 (see story here). “Guess what? We have fu[...]
Are Republicans cannibals?
Look, this isn’t my idea, and I didn’t choose that word, nor is this new. Over 15 years ago, in 2007 to be exact, Huffington Post published an essay titled, “Cannibals on the Right: Republicans Eating Their Own.” Sample quote: “Then the Republican ‘you eat me, tha[...]
July 11th, 2022 - 4:45 pm § in Law and Courts
Could abortion trigger a constitutional crisis or worse?
In 1973, the Supreme Court created a right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. On its face, all the court’s 2022 Dobbs decision does is rescind that right. What the court giveth, it taketh away. Which leaves abortion to federal and state legislation. If you follow this string all the way back to the h[...]
How old are you? How much would you pay to find out?
The calendar lies. You may be younger or older than you think. That’s because chronological and biological age are different. But measuring the latter is tricky. There are several ways to do it, some better than others. Scientists consider “epigenetics” the “gold standardR[...]
June 5th, 2022 - 1:23 am § in Misc.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Gasherbrum IV
Cold, remote, Gasherbrum IV (center) is located in the greatest concentration of high peaks in the world — Pakistan’s Karakoram range — and is part of a 6-peak massif that includes two of the world’s 14 eight-thousand-meter peaks. It’s the world’s 17th highest mou[...]
April 10th, 2022 - 1:55 pm § in Health
Covid-19 is still here, and not to be trifled with
Jarrett Banwart (photo), 59, of Seattle, got Covid-19 in March 2020 before vaccines were available. He survived, but two years later, still suffers from fatigue and other “long Covid” symptoms that keep him from going for bicycle rides or working regularly. He wonders if his Covid-19 ord[...]
GOP candidate threatens doctors who refuse to prescribe ivermectin
A GOP candidate for Wisconsin attorney general says she’ll prosecute doctors for murder if they refuse to prescribe ivermectin to dying Covid-19 patients (read story here). Karen Mueller (photo, left), who runs a solo practice in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, also has brought lawsuits against mas[...]