Fool at work was arguing with me. I looked this up.

Harvard School of Public Health- by Marge Dwyer

July 25, 2012 — For years health experts have been unable to agree on whether fluoride in the drinking water may be toxic to the developing human brain. Extremely high levels of fluoride are known to cause neurotoxicity in adults, and negative impacts on memory and learning have been reported in rodent studies, but little is known about the substance’s impact on children’s neurodevelopment. In a meta-analysis, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and China Medical University in Shenyang for the first time combined 27 studies and found strong indications that fluoride may adversely affect cognitive development in children. Based on the findings, the authors say that this risk should not be ignored, and that more research on fluoride’s impact on the developing brain is warranted.   Continue reading “Impact of fluoride on neurological development in children”

In Iowa, steps are being taken by the state house of representatives to repeal the practice of giving professors at state universities, which are funded by state taxes, paid vacations known as sabbaticals. The incoming speaker of the house of Iowa, Kraig Paulsen, argues, “Why should the taxpayers of Iowa be paying to basically give these folks a year off from teaching?”

College professors who support sabbaticals say that the paid breaks are necessary, in that they allow professors the chance to advance research, get grants, write books and gain new knowledge to share with their students. They further urge the government to stay out of the affairs of academics.
Continue reading “Entitlement for Some”

“History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.”  This is a quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the man who penned our Declaration of Independence. What examples of bad government did history offer in the second half of the 18th century? The answers are countless, however there are two forms of government that, when inspected, help us understand our own.

Democracy in its purest form takes a vote of the people and makes it law. A historical example of a democracy is the ancient Greek city-state of Athens.  Continue reading “Jefferson on Government”

When one looks at the massive amount of spending done by the elected representatives of the federal government on unpopular wars and unpopular projects, one might ask oneself, “By what authority do these people, some elected not even by popular majority, tax us against our will to fund projects which we do not support?”

Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. constitution states in part:

“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”
Continue reading “Pork Projects, Section 8, and Ancient Worries”