In an unintended consequence of the new health care law, drug companies have begun notifying children’s hospitals around the country that they no longer qualify for large discounts on drugs used to treat rare medical conditions.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed concern Thursday that India’s ambassador to the U.S. was patted down by a TSA agent in Mississippi.

India’s foreign minister called last week’s pat-down of Ambassador Meera Shankar unacceptable. Shankar had attended a conference at Mississippi State University and was catching a flight to Baltimore from Jackson-Evers International Airport.

Witnesses told the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson that Shankar was told she was singled out for additional screening because of her sari, which drapes across the body and is worn by many Indian women.

The Department of Homeland Security will be running ads in over  500 WalMart stores  in the upcoming weeks².

“If you see something, say something” ad campaign has been featured in the Mall of America and is supported by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, sports and general aviation industries, and state and local fusion centers across the country¹.

Walmart Managers are now our frontline for terrorist defense? …
Canadian Citizenship Information

1: Here

2: Here

Hardly any doctors still practicing can remember life before antibiotics, when people were routinely hospitalized for common infections, and the threat of deadly Staphylococcus shadowed even the simplest surgery. But infectious-disease specialists like Brad Spellberg of UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine have been reading up on those days because of a growing fear they are not all in the past. Wealthy countries take for granted the triumph of science over bacteria, but increasingly doctors are coming up against infections that can be quelled only by the most powerful antibiotics known to medicine—or by none of them. “It’s already happening,” says Spellberg, to the tune of roughly 100,000 deaths a year from antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States alone. “But it’s going to become much more common.” Imagine a world in which antibiotics resemble chemotherapy drugs—producing toxic side effects and unpredictable outcomes instead of the guaranteed cures we have come to expect—and you can understand what keeps Spellberg awake at night.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A 101-year-old pedophile who was New York’s oldest state prison inmate has died.

Authorities say Sypnier molested children as young as 4 years old for decades in Buffalo and later in the Town of Tonawanda. He was released from prison in 2008 after serving time on a 1999 conviction for molesting two young sisters but was returned in April after violating his parole by skipping sex offender classes.

You may have heard of “Movember”, a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer and other men’s health issues, such as depression. The event was conceived in 1999 by a group of Australian men from Adelaide.

***

Thus, inspired by an article on the popularity of the unibrow in Tajikistan sent in by reader Jess (thanks, Jess!), I hereby declare that the current month shall heretofore be known as….DECEMBROW.

Decembrow is, of course, all about the brow. Specifically, the unibrow.

While women in the U.S. generally rock two groomed brows, I say let’s be inspired by Movember and take this opportunity to let our facial hair grow…for a cause.

The boldfaces agreed to “kill” themselves on social media until they raised a $1 million for the charity, which helps fund HIV/AIDS relief in Africa and India. But it took longer than expected, and insiders say the celebs became frustrated.

“It’s the worst mismanagement of star power I’ve ever seen in my life,” said a source close to the program.

Sources said the organization expected to raise the $1 million in a week. But by yesterday, after six days, it had taken in only about $450,000. Stars including Kim Kardashian, who can earn about $10,000 a tweet, started getting itchy fingers.

One source blamed servers that crashed for 12 hours on the first night for the slow-paced donations. Others blamed lack of promotion and overestimating the participants’ Twitter power.

The Wife^® and I have been having ongoing discussions regarding the ever-increasing crudeness of the “Breast Cancer Awareness” movement.

It started, as far as I can remember, a few years ago.  I started noticing those awareness ribbons emblazoned with slogans like “Save the Ta-Tas.”  It was a bit shocking, but probably effective, since it was certainly memorable.

Things have gone down-hill rapidly.

The other day I was invited to sponsor a Breast Cancer walk team called “Walkers for Knockers.”   The “I Heart Boobies” bracelet movement has caused some issues in schools.

And now, courtesy of New Zealand, we’ve taken the next logical step down the slippery slope: send in a pic of your boobs to my website.  It’s like totally for cancer research and stuff. (Link is decidedly NSFW)

I’d venture that I’m as pro-boob as anyone, but I’m not really sure that we’re on the right path here.  But maybe that’s just me.

Update: Maybe I’m not alone after all.  The following update was posted to the boob site today.

Tuesday 7th December 2010. The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation have requested we clarify any reader confusion and state that the ‘lovely pair’ campaign is in no way supported or endorsed by The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.

A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama – and championed by the first lady – gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom.

Republicans, notably Sarah Palin, and public school organizations decry the bill as an unnecessary intrusion on a common practice often used to raise money.

“This could be a real train wreck for school districts,” Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association said Friday, a day after the House cleared the bill. “The federal government should not be in the business of regulating this kind of activity at the local level.”