Well, it's a "good news/bad news" kind of day. On the "good news" side (unless, of course, you're into "alternative" medicine), there's this little article from Open Medicine, Canada's very rough equivalent to JAMA. I've got nothing against alternatives (except, of course, when the alternative involves waste of scarce medical dollars on useless fakery, or death for the patient). What I don't like is untested alternative medical treatments - which most of them are. A better name for these would be "faith-based medicine". In the case of acupuncture, anyone who knows anything about simple anatomy and physiology could tell you that there's very little chance that it works. Try telling that to the faithful. Of course, simply dismissing it out of hand isn't necessarily the best idea, despite there being no known way acupuncture could work. So, go ahead - test it. If there's a surprise waiting, and it turns out to work, fantastic! Nobody's going to turn down an effective alternative to current treatments. (Spoiler - it doesn't.)

On the "bad news" side, there's this fine example of why the Democrats in the U.S. have such a hard time getting, and then retaining, power. I couldn't begin to count the number of ways this is stupid using all my fingers and toes. It'd take the digits from at least a family of six. How many serial murderers, rapists, and psychopaths-in-general currently reside in the U.S. prison system (the biggest in the world, by the way)? And these guys, none convicted of anything mind you, are too scary? You're kidding, right? Ummm, apparently not. The Democrats talk a good game. Then, well.....um......golly! Is that the time?!?