Canada to put bigger health warnings on cigarettes (Reuters)
Will cover three quarters of front and back of cigarette pack. “Unduly” delayed by tobacco lobbying

Judge Rejects City Law on Antismoking Posters (NYT)
Gruesome images won’t be required in convenience stores in NY. Judge: “Even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law, for our sake as well as theirs.”

So Young and So Many Pills (WSJ)
More than 25% of U.S. children and teens take prescription drugs on a regular basis. Most have not been tested on children. (12/28)

Osama bin Laden is dead (Wash Times)
Medical history of bin Ladan. Conclusion: It’s unlikely he’s still alive (12/28)

Any theory that claims to tell us who and what we are contains a potential for abuse. Advice from “legitimate” sources, addressing itself to areas of human weakness and vulnerability, can deprive an individual of the confidence that he could know for himself who he should be. Religion used to have this potential on a wide scale when the population was less educated, less self-conscious, less “sophisticated.” Organized religion still has the advantage of being able to hide behind a veil of crossed intentions and a choirboy squeaky-clean. But any closed system of thought can gain ascendancy using perfected psychological, that is, commercial, techniques.

Most high-income countries today have some form of national health insurance. Why is the US different? What stands in the way? … How to explain American opposition to universal health care. “Nearly every time this country has expanded its social safety net or tried to guarantee civil rights, passionate opposition has followed.”