Hitchens: “Ahmad and Me.” The Hitch has a lot of positive takes about Ahmad Chalabi. The question left wholly unanswered in this analysis is why did the U.S. just raid his house?

This could be the worst article ever written. I guess that’s the trouble with featuring an article by the editorial staff. There’s no one left to edit it.

People pay for the right to be there. They pay to get there. Sometimes they have to compete to be welcomed at the place where they want to go (although they’ll happily settle for a second or third choice). The partying can be nonstop. The environment is highly sexualized (my own experience excepted). And when it’s all over, well over half of those who came end up leaving with nothing.

Am I talking about Vegas? Nope.

College.

Quick Update:

Smoking causes everthing.

Back in the day, traveling salesmen used to visit a town, sell a few bottles of a natural and miraculous cure-all and the then pull-out of there before the townspeople realized that they’ve been duped.

Today, we have Walgreens and Rite-Aid.

While there is often no solid evidence that so-called natural cures (from echinacea and ginkgo baloney to chiropractors and biofeedbackists) have any real impact – and while there is little evidence that some of these products are even safe – Americans are still buying it all up schnook, spine and sinker.

Part of it is a predisposed need to try something, anthing, when you’re feeling lousy. I have never had a good experience at a chiropractor and everything I’ve read on the subject (along with the cracking sound) leads be to believe it’s a bad idea. But when my back goes out, I’ll try anything. Maybe the next chiropractor will have the key. I have likewise never felt any discernible impact from taking echinacea at the onset of a cold and no study that I know of has ever confirmed that echinacea does anything. But if I sniffle, I still put a few drops into a tall glass of water. It’s worth a try…

Maybe the snake-oil salesmen never needed to leave town in the first place. They could’ve just set up a permanent store. The consumer’s goal was never to prove them wrong. We want to believe. First item didn’t work, well this time Dr. Snake-oil has the perfect solution.

Most people would eat a plate of dirt if someone convinced them that it would make their cold go away faster.