Sunday, May 29, 2011

Approved HGH products average hundreds per dose

According to the FDA the cost of approved HGH products is high, averaging several hundred dollars per dose. It is because of this high cost, HGH drugs have been counterfeited and unapproved HGH products are offered for sale to U.S. consumers. Some companies promote compounded HGH for anti-aging purposes. It is sold as a "fountain of youth" in longevity clinics and to build body mass, weight loss, increase libido, and gain stamina. Consumers should know that the FDA does not approve the use of HGH for these "cures."

Consumers are also advised to be careful of HGH products imported into the U.S. from other countries. All of these facts in addition to reading product reviews at places like www.hghsupplementreviews.net should be taken into consideration before taking any supplement product. As well as the standard advice to talk to your health professional first.

A different take on Pawlenty at Cato

This piece from the Washington Post gives a bit of a different take on the meeting at the Cato Institute. The audience questions are not really referenced in great detail.

Pawlenty also had little to say about the Republican plan to overhaul Medicare, which some GOP leaders are blaming for the party’s loss of a special congressional election Tuesday in a heavily Republican district in Upstate New York. Asked what he thought of the Ryan plan in the wake of Tuesday’s results, Pawlenty credited Ryan for a “courageous” plan but said he would put out his own, different proposal soon.

Pawlenty's lack of plenty in answers

David Weigel's piece on some of the answers provided by presidential contender Tim Pawlenty is a recommended read. One part:

In the wake of NY-26, what did Pawlenty make of the Ryan plan? This elicited the safe, smart, tapioca answer that Pawlenty's been giving for weeks.
"In general," he said, "I think the direction of it is positive, but I'm going to have my own plan."
Issue, dodged. Pawlenty pointed into the crowd again.
"We'll take the guy in the purple tie," he said. "That's a Vikings color!"
Unfortunately, the wearer of Vikings colors worked for the Marijuana Policy Project, who asked Pawlenty how he could be taken seriously on health care since he had opposed "my group" on medical pot.
"What was it?" asked Pawlenty? "Marijuana? Yeah. Well... I stood with law enforcement issue on this issue... we just have a respectful difference on this issue."
End of audience questions.

He should have kept answering questions, rather than create the impression that drugs are a key issue or that he will avoid tough questions on the Ryan plan ...

Sunday, May 22, 2011

From the quote gallery

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul, can always count on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw
America needs fewer laws, not more prisons. – James Bovard
War is just one more big government program. – Joseph Sobran
Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. – John Adams (1814)
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. – Thomas B. Reed (1886)
If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all. – Jacob Hornberger (1995)
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke
The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates. – Tacitus
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. – George Washington
No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session. – Mark Twain (1866)
There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. – Robert Heinlein
The true danger is when Liberty is nibbled away, for expedients. – Edmund Burke (1899)
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. – Thomas Jefferson
The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society. – Mark Skousen
A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. – Thomas Jefferson (1801)

Ripped? Really?

While I love the concept of a free market place, there are times when I come across the name of a product and it makes me laugh. I admire the creativity, but I still laugh. Take testoripped as an example. It's clearly designed from the name to increase testosterone, to make you ... "ripped" as in having muscles. The visual derived from the name immediately creates the vision of a muscled Adonis ... Which goes to show you in marketing? The name really does matter ...

Bock touchstone on Libertarian Issues

Libertarian columnist Alan Bock has died at age 67.

Bock wrote four published books: Ecology Action Guide (1970) and The Gospel Life of Hank Williams (1976), Ambush at Ruby Ridge (1995) and Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana (2000). He attended UCLA as a National Merit Scholar and majored in political science and journalism.

He died early Wednesday morning at his home in Lake Elsinore, from cancer. He was a senior editorial writer and columnist for the Register’s Opinion section from 1980 to 2011.

So you wear a uniform?

While some would say the uniform for a blogger is pajamas, which to be honest is probably my usual attire when I am able to work from home, many of you have to wear some sort of uniform as a part of your employment. A favorite brand for many is cherokee workwear, it's marketed for it's price and it's durability. They have a variety of uniform items, including the popular scrub wear.

Libertarian Party builds big war chest for 2012

WASHINGTON - In its most recent FEC report, for the period ending March 31, 2011, the Libertarian Party reported $284,882.95 in cash with $0 in debt. At the same point four years ago, the party reported $21,962.37 in cash with $31,589.74 in debt.
Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle said, "Four years ago, we were $10,000 in the red. Now we're almost $300,000 in the black. That's a big step forward for the LP, and should help us a lot going into the 2012 campaign.
"If our candidates, volunteers, and donors keep it up, 2012 may be one of the biggest years ever for the Libertarian Party.
"

Holiday marketing already?

Believe it or not, now begins the time of year where some companies start marketing items for the holidays. Things like Christmas Cards will start to appear in various online advertising to get people to consider picking out their designs and ordering their cards early. It can create some savings to order during the "off-season" ... As long as you remember where you put the cards when it comes time to send them. Given the increase of "Christmas in July" parties for those who want more than one Christmas, you have time to order those invitations as well.

Libertarianism versus Statism

Jacob G. Hornberger's piece is a recommended read and for those of you wanting to read something older and slightly similar? Collectivism vs Individualism may interest you as well.

From the recent piece:

What makes libertarians different from liberals and conservatives is that, although we too have been born and raised within the statist box, we have broken free of it, in an intellectual and moral sense. Moreover, unlike liberals and conservatives, we recognize that statism isn’t freedom at all. It’s the opposite of freedom. Genuine freedom, libertarians contend, entails a dismantling of the statist box in which we all live.

From the older piece:

Collectivism is defined as the theory and practice that makes some sort of group rather than the individual the fundamental unit of political, social, and economic concern. In theory, collectivists insist that the claims of groups, associations, or the state must normally supersede the claims of individuals." -- Stephen Grabill and Gregory M. A. Gronbacher

Individualism is at once an ethical-psychological concept and an ethical-political one. As an ethical-psychological concept, individualism holds that a human being should think and judge independently, respecting nothing more than the sovereignty of his or her mind; thus, it is intimately connected with the concept of autonomy. As an ethical-political concept, individualism upholds the supremacy of individual rights ..." -- Nathaniel Branden

Paul says he would have opposed 1964 Civil Rights Act

Ron Paul making headlines again:
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews pressed Paul during a TV appearance on whether he would have voted against the '64 law, a landmark piece of legislation that took strides toward ending segregation.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't vote against getting rid of the Jim Crow laws," Paul said. He explained that he would have opposed the Civil Rights Act "because of the property rights element, not because they got rid of the Jim Crow laws."

It's not a new position from some in the Libertarian party:

"This gimmick, it's off the wall when you say I'm for property rights and for states rights, and therefore I'm a racist," said the Texas congressman. "That's just outlandish."

Paul appealed to the free market, and argued that if a business owner were to post signs declaring segregation in his or her business, people wouldn't patronize it.

"For you to imply that a property rights person is endorsing that stuff, you don't understand that there would be zero signs up today saying something like that," he said. "And if they did they would be an idiot and out of business."

That written, there are quite a few postings out there labeling Paul as a racist for this position. He really had two choices, support his free market theory and have some label him a racist or say he would have supported it and then be called a hypocrite for not believing his stance on the free market ...