Calls to New York City’s 311 hot line for help to quit smoking surged in the week after cigarette taxes went up in early June, driving the cost of a typical pack up to around $8.50 (and in some cases to more than $10), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced on Thursday morning.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Who ya' gonna call?
Cigarette Tax Increase Brings a Surge in 311 Calls
Thursday, July 10, 2008
No fun allowed anymore, anywhere...
Build a Wiffle Ball Field and Lawyers Will Come
This is why you don't see kids outside just having fun anymore..... We are over-organized, over-ruled, and certainly over-lawyered!
This is why you don't see kids outside just having fun anymore..... We are over-organized, over-ruled, and certainly over-lawyered!
Radley right on the money...
Like Loaves and Fishes:
"Of course the left will celebrate when they ram this though, because though we’ll all then have equally crappy health care, it’s the equal part that’s most important to them."
Matt Yeglesias:
Am I the only one who still doesn't understand why Jesse Jackson said he wanted to cut Barack Obama's nuts off? Jackson seems to be so deep in apologizing-and-backpedaling mode, that we're not getting much of an explanation of what he was saying.
UPDATE: Why Jesse Jackson attacked Barack Obama. "Barack Obama represents an existential threat to Jesse Jackson. If he succeeds he badly undermines Jackson and his methods. Jackson needs Obama to fail, even if he must avoid having anything to do with the failure." Ironically, however, nothing is more likely to help Obama succeed than a public attack from Jesse Jackson.
Via Instapundit
LARRY LESSIG: The Fairness Doctrine is unconstitutional. Well, yeah.
Don't tell Nancy Pelosi - she won't care....
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Oh Yeah!!
Instapundit.com -: "When Obama wants to put a surveillance camera in everyone's house, Olbermann will praise it as an aid to self-expression."
A slight attitude problem...
We All Pay for Leona Helmsley’s Bequest to Dogs
You see, it's not your money to give away - it's ours. And we come to the crux of the matter in this very revealing Op-Ed in today's Times. While I am no fan of Leona Helmsley and her very stupid idea to leave a charitable donation to all things canine, the embedded notion here is that her (your) money belongs to the state; and we shouldn't just be allowing folks to do what they want with it.
If that frightens you, good. If it doesn't - then we don't have much to talk about - do we?
Megan agrees (mostly) with me...
You see, it's not your money to give away - it's ours. And we come to the crux of the matter in this very revealing Op-Ed in today's Times. While I am no fan of Leona Helmsley and her very stupid idea to leave a charitable donation to all things canine, the embedded notion here is that her (your) money belongs to the state; and we shouldn't just be allowing folks to do what they want with it.
If that frightens you, good. If it doesn't - then we don't have much to talk about - do we?
Megan agrees (mostly) with me...
Wow!!!
Police Discover World's Most Expensive Marijuana
"A search of the vehicle yielded 104 pounds of hydroponically-grown marijuana stuffed inside eight black plastic trash bags. Police said the marijuana had an estimated street sale value of more than $4.7 million."
This is really an incredible discovery and I'm surprised it hasn’t generated more attention. At $4.7 million for 104 pounds, we're talking about an ounce that's worth $2824.51! That just blows away everything listed at High Times's market quotes section, where ounces of high-grade marijuana in Ohio last month were listed at $400. It also overwhelms the STRIDE data collected by drug enforcement officers showing that U.S. marijuana prices averaged around $200 per ounce as of 2003.
Ann Althouse has a little deja vu'
Obama echoes the phrase that made me turn against Kerry:
Ugh. I've been cheered by Obama's move to the center. I like Obama and I want to like Obama. (Note: I'm not against McCain. I've taken a vow of cruel neutrality.) But I hated to see him use this Kerry-esque locution. Unlike Kerry, Obama has taken some clear positions on Iraq. But he's been moving and he's denying it and blaming us as bad listeners. How irksome!I guess the Second Coming is beginning to look a bit tiresome, even to the very intelligent Ms. Althouse.....
Those who do not pay attention to history....
The Onion Ringer
Tellingly, the absence of that option for onions now has some growers asking Congress to lift the ban. But instead of learning from its onion mistakes, the political class seems eager to repeat them.
Instapundit:
WORST CONGRESS EVER: "Remember when only 14% approved of the job Congress is doing? A year later, only 9% do." The Pelosi/Reid leadership team is taking Congress places it's never been before!
UPDATE: So why are the Republicans running scared, and why aren't they going after the "new Democratic Congress" hammer-and-tongs? Beats me. Because they're idiots, I guess.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Andrew Sullivan
This attack on the Second Amendment cannot stand:
"In Connorsville, Wisconsin, it is illegal for a man to shoot off a gun when his female partner is having an orgasm."
Via Instapundit
YOUR WORLD LEADERS AT WORK: "Gordon Brown and his fellow world leaders have sparked outrage after it was disclosed they enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit where the global food crisis tops the agenda. . . . On the flight to the summit, Mr Brown urged Britons to cut food waste as part of a global drive to help avert the food crisis."
Monday, July 7, 2008
Back to the days of the Hitler Youth....
Racist Babies
Now the British nanny state is actually warning nursery school teachers to be on the lookout for racist babies.
Dazed and confused...
Some Seem A Bit Threatened By The Yellowcake In Iraq News:
Read it all; and then wonder what all the fuss was really about. (It was really about the press trying to screw Karl Rove, folks)
"The debate isn’t about if Saddam was on the verge of obtaining nukes or not. Rather, it is about the fact that Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame are liars - something that most of the press refuses to acknowledge. Notably, Mahablog doesn’t mention the Joe Wilson controversy at all."
Read it all; and then wonder what all the fuss was really about. (It was really about the press trying to screw Karl Rove, folks)
At least someone's having some fun...
Man Flies To Idaho … In Lawn Chair:
"Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho."
What else is new?
Instapundit.com
"If you have to go to The Belmont Club to find out how it's going, then it's a success. Failure, the NYT has no trouble covering."
