That whirring sound you can hear is JS Mill spinning in his grave after a spectacularly stupid piece at Comment in Free today. Mild insults here, an entirely appropriate response here. The piece itself is here. Worth noting a comment by "olching" which mentions a meta-study done a few years back. The only effect found upon children of their parents' smoking at home was a reduction in lung cancer in later years. So even the "for the children" trope doesn't work here. "Health facism" was a phrase coined for a reason. And things were very different a century ago.
More stupidity , this time from the private sector, the RIAA. They're suing a man for copying his own, legally purchased, CDs onto his computer. They might indeed win "Dumbass of the Year 2007" with this late entry. More here .
This time it's government stupidity. Netsmith isn't really certain that this is true: no one, surely, can be, even if in receipt of tax money, quite this insane can they? Sex education in Scotland is not allowed to discuss contraception. (Sweary but righteously so) discussion here and more here.
As if this wasn't enough, Australia has decided to start censoring the internet.
It's true that John Edwards is indeed reporting jobs gained and lost in the normal political manner. However, it's that normal political manner which is wrong, not just John Edwards (we should, of course, be using net figures).
Some good news though: $30 oil should be just around the corner.