American businesses just can't catch a break. Consider this story about pharmaceutical companies data-mining physician prescribing practices. As usual, the typical bugaboo of patient privacy rights is used to attack drug company efforts to better understand their market--in spite of the fact that patient privacy is clearly and carefully being protected.

If government or a Leftist non-profit were to perform such research to show evil-doing on the part of drug companies, nothing would be said. Much would be made, though, of the value of such information in understanding the cost and efficacy of the heathcare industry.

Not so much, however, when private enterprise does it.

English asks, and Russia refuses. I'm glad to see that Litvinenko's death remains a priority for someone. It's doubtful that his murderer (cough, Putin?, cough) will ever be brought to justice, but it's important that Russia's slide (back) into dictatorship remains in the news.

In this Gallup Poll, Ron Paul registers a solid zero. Nada. Zilch. The opposite of something.

And so, it suggests that Internet movements are less a barometer of society's politics and more an indication of how a small handful of very vocal people can make hay. This is particularly true at sites like Technorati and Digg, where Ron Paulism is particularly virulent.

Anyone who lets politics determine their diet is a fool. Someone who let politics determine their infant's diet is an evil fool. Here's an article on why a vegan diet isn't good for anyone, let alone for developing children.

It might make sense, from a health perspective, to reduce the intake of red meat and increase the intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole wheat. Naturally, increasing the "nutritional density" of the food one eats makes sense, and veggies are very dense. But, one makes such decisions based on biology and physiology, not on politics.

These "parents" found out the hard way. As the father said, "We're vegetarians; we are against animal cruelty, so why would I be cruel to my son?" How's that for asserting moral equivalence between animals and humans?

This is pretty cool: water on Mars!

The Iranian regime doesn't need rewards to halt its nuclear ambitions. It needs to be removed from power. This op ed in the New York Times first states the obvious, that Iran is a threat, but then asserts that there's "no military solution" and that we need to offer "a clear offer of full diplomatic relations and security guarantees should Iran agree to verifiably contain its nuclear ambitions."

Is this guy channeling Jimmy Carter?

Celebrity Alert: A nice piece from Dennis Miller. Although, since he only does political stuff nowadays, for the most part, I'm not sure if it's appropriate to include him in a Report. Nevertheless, decent stuff.

Fighting proxy wars against the Soviets was one thing. The alternative was, perhaps, total destruction, on both sides. But fighting a proxy war with Iran?

This is getting embarassing. I blame the Left, of course, in part, but Bush and the Republican party are just as culpable.

If we finished things with Iran and Syria, the problem in Iraq would go away. And both the Democrats and the Republicans know this. Hell, they can't not know it. Not if they're at all competent. Either way, a curse on both of them.

As usual, Cox and Forkum are right on the money. This time, it's about Jimmy Carter and his ludicrous assertions (and his subsequent backpedaling is embarrassing).

If you're interested in smart, timely discussions on a variety of technology (and other) topics, visit Jerry Pournelle's site. A long-time contributor at Byte (both in print and on-line), a prolific science fiction writer, and someone long involved in the aerospace industries, he provides a unique and interesting perspective. I don't always agree with him, but he's truly well-informed and intelligent, and that counts for something.

Give a visit. I doubt that you'll be disappointed.

Digg Report: Today's #1 Digg, at 7384 Diggs: it's back! Yes, the same story about the cancer cure that "Big Pharma" won't touch is again highly Digged. Same comments, too.

Normally I find REALTECHNEWS.com to be a largely uncontroversial site for general technology news. Or, at least, I've never noticed them being particularly so. But, this piece bothered me, in two ways. First, I'm not sure af the story's point; is it in favor of MySpace giving up the sex offender information (not sure how one can be against it), ambivalent about it, or is it saying that such an attempt is merely worthless?

Ultimately, what left me with a bad taste was the "hehe" at the end. Really, I don't find the issue of sex offenders and their access to ever minors a laughing matter.

As I write this, I'm enjoying a freshly brewed cup of French Roast, made in my Keurig coffemaker. It's relatively expensive (compared to regular coffee, but not to Starbucks), but it's tasty and convenient.

I bought my maker at Costco, my favorite store. As usual, they have a great price on the unit I bought, which includes a good supply of coffee (thus making their price even more impressive). Note that Costco changes their inventory quite often, and so that link might not work forever.

All in all, highly recommended.*

*In case anyone's wondering, I don't work for and am not compensated by either company. But, if they want to sponsor this site, I'll be happy to put up some ads. I'll never take money to lie about a product, but if it's something I like, I'm game.

This corroberates my earlier post about Fair Use. Thanks to Ars Technica.

The Fujitsu FMV-U8240 UMPC looks nice. This does away with one of my concerns with the UMPC, which is the typicall smallish or non-existent physical keyboard. I'm sure I could type on this one. Now, I'm only left with the sure-to-blind-me screen--1024X600 on a 5.6" LCD would likely give me migraines. Still, it would be nice for taking written (and perhaps voice) memos while on the run.

And here's a story that show's Russia's predilection toward dictatorship and mayhem won't necessarily end with the deaths of the last Soviet-era leadership. An entirely new generation of oppression is being created right under our very noses, and I fear it won't end well.

I continue to believe that Russia is the greater threat to long-term American security, and this story about Russian spies makes me feel no better.

The oil economy won't last forever. Dubai should remember this. I mean, these are some crazy cool skyscrapers, but how will they pay for such things when the oil money runs out?

More Starcraft II info, specifically some nifty-looking in-game videos. I can't wait for this thing. Of course, I probably don't have a system that will play it like this (my fastest system is an Acer 8204 with an ATI X1600 Mobility GPU, which I'm sure will be inadequate), and so I better start saving up.

Digg Report: Today's #1 Digg, at 4118 Diggs, is anti-Bush. My own anecdotal information would show that the #1 Digg isn't often of a political nature, at least not recently (or since I started this blog). And so, I can't make that particular claim.

This one's pretty bad, though. The story linked is an opinion piece that doesn't make sense in the context of the presidential directive it references. The piece even quotes the directive, as follows:

"Enduring Constitutional Government," or "ECG," means a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government, coordinated by the President, as a matter of comity with respect to the legislative and judicial branches and with proper respect for the constitutional separation of powers among the branches, to preserve the constitutional framework under which the Nation is governed and the capability of all three branches of government to execute constitutional responsibilities and provide for orderly succession, appropriate transition of leadership, and interoperability and support of the National Essential Functions during a catastrophic emergency;

And also:

The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.

I'm no constitutional scholar, but I highly doubt that offering up the Executive Branch as the "leader" of the government (during catastrophies or otherwise) would be considered unconstitutional. In fact, I'm pretty sure that this is the definition of the Executive Branch (i.e., the branch that executes the law). In fact, if this directive is guilty of anything, it would appear to be redundancy.

My question is: did the 4118 Digg readers who Dugg this story actually read it and think about it? Or was their Digg just a knee-jerk reaction to an inflammatory anti-Bush headline?