Truth (Plus Lies)

Unnecessary quotes alert:

via Andrew Sullivan

Life with the FLDS

Slate’s condensed version of Carolyn Jessop’s memoir of life as a fourth wife in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is really fascinating. Tidbit: After her escape Jessop earned some money sewing costumes for Big Love.

Artificial Eggs and Sperm

Scientists are working to create artificial eggs and sperm from other cells, which could allow same sex couples and some otherwise infertile people to reproduce. Predictably, there are doubters:

Josephine Quintavalle, from Comment on Reproductive Ethics, a campaign group, said the technique went against the natural reproductive process and could result in passing genetic fertility problems on to offspring.

Right because that would never happen otherwise.
via The Morning News

Are Rich Countries Happier than Poor Countries?

Don’t let anyone tell you different. People in rich countries are happier than people in poor countries.

Lead in Pot

… we detected a common pattern: the patients were young, were unemployed or were students, had a history of smoking, and had body piercings. On questioning, all the patients eventually conceded that they were regular users of marijuana smoked in “joint” form or with the use of a water pipe.

Yes, it turns out that the people suffering from lead poisoning had smoked marijuana that had been laced with lead to increase its weight, presumably in order to increase the drug dealers’ profits.

Good Campaign, Good President?

Today in Slate, Jeff Greenfield asks if strong campaigns make good presidencies. His answer is no — governing and campaigning are so different that the skills you demonstrate in one don’t necessarily translate to the other.

But I think he glosses over the obvious point that a well-run campaign shows that the candidate at least has the potential to run an endeavor (any endeavor) well. Likewise, a falling-apart campaign shows the potential to run any endeavor into the ground.

Of course, there’s not a powerful correlation between the performance of a campaign and the performance of an administration (Hi George!). But the fact that Hillary can’t keep her shit together now should still raise concerns about her keeping-shit-together abilities across the board.