I remember way back to the late 1980's, maybe the early 1990's, when I started seeing these petitions at my local health food store calling on Congress to pass legislation exempting dietary supplements from federal regulation. It had a weird list of sponsors, from Orin Hatch to our own Pat Leahy, and including Tom Harkin, who is one of the best friends of quacks, health scammers, and the antiscientific mindset in Congress.

I never signed the petition. We didn't have blogs back then, but I told everyone who would listen about how dangerous I thought the idea was, and experiences like the way a dietary supplement called ephedra killed people showed that I was right.

 Now there's a new study on dietary supplements, using science-y stuff like DNA, and what do you know? If you buy these dietary supplements there is an excellent chance you aren't getting any of what you thought you were paying for.

As reported in today's Times, “DNA tests show that many pills labeled as healing herbs are little more than powdered rice and weeds.”

In fact, the study shows that some of the products from some of the companies contain some of the ingredient people are paying for, but the herbal products from two companies contained no–zero–of the product named on the label. Even where there are some herbal products with some minimal evidence to support a beneficial effect, such as St. John's Wort for mild depression, the active ingredient couldn't be counted on to be there.

People are buying these products under the understandable misimpression that they are going to cure their medical conditions. (And yes, what are code words like  “promotes normal cholesterol levels”, “slow down the doubling time of your PSA (male prostate) levels when cancer is present” but thinly disguised claims to cure medical conditions?) Nevertheless, don't you think people should at least get what they're paying for?

I don't go so far as to say that every peddler of herbal supplements is an outright fraud: I leave that to the homeopathic remedies.

There have been instances, such as the ephedra case, where dietary supplements have been taken off the market, but this new study makes it clear that the entire industry is irredeemably corrupt, and the only way to correct the situation is to repeal the law.

WWho is the most popular Republican politician among extreme conservatives? Setting aside the ghost of Ronald Reagan, whom they would continue to vote for if they could, the top contender would seem to be Randy Paul, the eye doctor who decided the best way to become board certified, which is kind of the gold standard for medical specialist recognition in the United States, was to make up his own board to certify him.

Anyway, this isn’t about that, it’s about another area of dishonesty from young Randy. This time it’s his plagiarism in a speech, and Rachel Maddow has been all over it.

Here’s Rachel:

Pretty damning, right? I think she lets him off a little easy by allowing that he might not understand what plagiarism is, but there’s no getting around the facts.

Now here’s where the challenge to conservatives comes in. Back in 1987 Joe Biden plagiarized a speech by Neil Kinnock, a Welsh politician who made some great observations about the nature and reasons of his success. It was great when Kinnock said it and it would have been equally great if Biden had pointed out that the same lessons were true in his own life. What was not great was for Biden to adapt Kinnock’s story to his own life and tell the story as though it had just occurred to him on his way into work.

Conservatives have never let him forget it.

The extreme right wing of the Republican Party is particularly receptive to the message of Ron Paul. By some weird quirk, they also embrace this weird self-image as intellectually rigorous independent thinkers, so this is their chance to prove it.

Let’s hear some Republicans call out Randy Paul for plagiarizing Wikipedia and lying about it.

We’ll wait.

With the government shutdown and everything apparently we missed this story from the Times.

 With early admission deadlines looming for hundreds of thousands of students, the new version of the online Common Application shared by more than 500 colleges and universities has been plagued by numerous malfunctions, alarming students and parents and putting admissions offices weeks behind schedule.

I'm a parent of two grown sons who managed to apply to college electronically (or at least one of them; I'm not sure about my older son) and it went pretty smoothly. 

Nevertheless, I've paid careful attention to the criticism of the Affordable Care Act and the widespread computer problems that have attended the roll-out, so I know exactly how to fix the college application problem some students are encountering.

ABOLISH COLLEGE!

One popular claim among right-wing Republicans is that, regardless of what we claim, Democrats are the real racists and it is only the Republicans who are willing to see America's minorities as able, self-sufficient individuals. The line of “reasoning” goes that by supporting antipoverty programs the Democrats are keeping black Americans on the plantation.

This has been so commonplace that the latest darling of the Republican Party, a doctor named Ben Carson, is saying that the Affordable Care Act is the worst thing to happen to the United States since slavery.

 Last week was a particularly great week for the Republicans and their proud history of anti-racism. 

First off, remember Joe the Plumber? You know, the guy whose name wasn't Joe and wasn't a licensed plumber? Last week he published a column, not written by him, about the current political scene. The article, “America Needs a White Republican President,” opines: “Admit it. You want a white Republican president again. Wanting a white Republican president doesn’t make you racist, it just makes you American.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/joe-plumber-publishes-racist-article-blog-article-1.1484131#ixzz2hhIs5QDQ

In case you're wondering, he also refers to people arguing for immigrants' rights as “deranged Mexicans”.

The initial reports on this column suggested that Wurzelbacher had written the column. He didn't, but he has gone wide on Twitter defending everything he published, so I think it's fair to tag him with the opinions he published.

Of course, he's just one guy, right?

Ah, no. Saturday there was an anti-Obama rally at the White House held by the intellectual core of the Republican Party, the Tea Party, and what were they rallying around? The Confederate flag.

Keep it up, guys, really. 

News comes that General Vo Nguyen Giap, one of the founders of Vietnam and one of the greatest military heroes of the twentieth century, has died at the age of 102.

As reported in the Washington Post, Giap started his guerrilla army in 1944 with thirty-four men and a handful of weapons. It took him ten years to drive the French colonialists out of Vietnam, then another twenty-one to defeat the American imperialists.

He said: “The United States imperialists want to fight quickly. To fight a protracted war is a big defeat for them. Their morale is lower than grass. . . . National liberation wars must allow some time — a long time. . . . The Americans didn’t understand that we had soldiers everywhere and that it was very hard to surprise us.”
To at least one U.S. military commander, this strategy was apparent even in the early years of American involvement in the hostilities. Marine Corps Gen. Victor Krulak, in a 1966 memorandum to President Lyndon B. Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara, wrote that Gen. Giap “was sure that if the cost in casualties and francs was high enough, the French would defeat themselves in Paris. He was right. It is likely that he feels the same about the USA.”

Ever since the war reactionary elements in the United States have argued that just a greater commitment to victory, or a more ruthless approach to the enemy, could have assured us of victory. General Giap's determined history, starting with thirty-four men and growing to command millions, shows that that was far from the truth.

You should read the rest of the story in the Post, or any of the other stories about his death. One thing is clear, though: Americans value liberty, freedom from oppression, and resistance to conquest. Therefore, he should be recognized as a hero here as he is in Vietnam.

Talking Points Memo and other sources are reporting that a Ku Klux Klan rally scheduled for Saturday at the Gettysburg National Park has been cancelled because of the government shutdown.

In related news, the Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed a piecemeal bill that would restore funding to the national parks, including Gettysburg.

Any chance they can still salvage that Klan rally, you think? 

I read kind of a surprising story in today's Burlington Free Press. It's a note from the publisher, Jim Fogler, and the headline reads “Free Press partners with UVM”.

 Here's what he says:

 We are proud to announce a partnership between the University of Vermont’s CatamounTV and FreePressMedia. This partnership gives Free Press readers real access to UVM sports like never before through sports action video of UVM hockey and other teams. We’ll have you covered with CatamounTV bringing you the best video highlights on BurlingtonFreePress.com. Or, if you’re looking for a segment of a previous game or the winning goal, those video clips will be right at your fingertips. It’s as simple as going to our website BurlingtonFreePress.com under the Sports tab and clicking UVM Sports. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

 Now I know that the sports section has traditionally been called the Toy Department, and not quite taken as seriously as “real” journalism, but I can't help but be a little skeptical about this. 

Doesn't this “partnership” sound like the dominant local newspaper signing up to be part of the public relations department of an institution it covers?

We've just seen earlier this month that The State, a newspaper in South Carolina, had muzzled one of their sports writers because the football coach at South Carolina State didn't like what he was writing about him.

Even though sports reporting isn't necessarily taken that seriously, corruption in the NCAA, big-time sports coverups of life-threatening brain injuries, and other issues have demonstrated that news consumers need unbiased and honest reporting on sports issues. Is this really going to be possible when the local paper is doing PR for the team?

The news this week is that Martha Coakley is running for governor of Massachusetts. She already has an endorsement from EMILY's List.

  But, Martha, just remember one thing. If the question occurs to you, “What do you expect me to do, stand outside Fenway Park and ask people to vote for me?“, the answer is “Yes.”

To have the Republicans nominate Rand Paul for President in 2016.

 Lord knows, I don't ask the Republicans for much, but please, please nominate the guy who goes on the national news and defends Bashar al-Assad.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Sunday portrayed the current conflict in Syria as one between the government of President Bashar Al Assad, who Paul said “has protected Christians for a number of decades,” and “Islamic rebels,” who Paul said “have been attacking Christians” and are aligned with Al Qaeda.

Events are moving fast, and we now know that President Obama has agreed to seek congressional approval for any proposed military action against Syria.

 I think this is a wise and necessary move, but it also means that the burden falls on us to make our opposition known.

Here's how you contact our congressional delegation:

Senator Patrick Leahy

  Here's his statement:

 “The President is right to seek authorization from Congress for a response to the Syrian regime's clear violation of international law, in the use of weapons of mass destruction against innocent civilians.  I continue to oppose introducing U.S. troops into this conflict, and I continue to believe that seeking congressional approval of military action is called for.  Given the positions taken by past presidents, the President's decision to seek congressional approval is especially commendable.  I look forward to this debate, and we should have it openly in the Congress.”

 Senator Bernie Sanders

 Congressman Peter Welch

We always expect our delegation to vote the right way, and they generally do. Nevertheless, it helps to let them know how we feel and how strongly we support the progressive actions they take. 

 One last observation: the Republicans were true to form, being petty and trying to show the President up by not agreeing to cut their current vacation short to consider this. Typical, but it gives opponents of military action more time to mobilize.