Responding to already-fierce price competition and a new tax hike on cigarettes by the reigning Socialists, Philip Morris lowered the price of Marlboros in Spain. This prompted an outcry from consumer health groups and doctors that the tobacco giant is trying to lure Spainards into the vile habit of smoking. Over time, prices will often fluctuate according to market conditions. If all it takes is a price cut to hook new addicts, there wasn't much hope for them in the first place. The responsibility for not smoking, or not eating too much crappy food, or not drinking too much, or...you name it...lies with the individual. Who is not quite an exalted being under Socialists, I realize. But still. Government already controls the taxes, should they be setting the prices of things that are bad for us, as well?

An employee of People For Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has legally changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. And the web site includes a testimonial from The Rev. Al Sharpton, preaching compassion for chickens. I'll take mine extra-crispy, thanks.

A Syracuse University biologist has closely examined 334 different species of bats. He has determined that in species where the females have multiple sexual partners, male bats develop enlarged testes and smaller brains, compared to their male counterparts in other bat species whose mates are monogamous. The pressing question now is whether the findings might also prove true for the human species.

A cruel fate has befallen the French museum in Normandy that was founded to commemorate World War II and the famous Battle of Normandy - where 53,000 Allied soldiers gave their lives in 1944 to help take back Western Europe from The Nazis. Opened in 1988 by then French President Francois Mitterand, but run by the town council of Caen, Normandy, The Memorial Museum of Caen is awash in political correctness and controversy, and sinking fast, The Times of London reports. Exhibits on topics such as "the need for eco-responsibility" and "the principal disorders in the world today" have coincided with a drop in visitors and revenues. Frustrated, the director quit; his replacement's recovery plan includes ditching the tours of the famous Normandy beach battleground, while opening a new exhibit on "living without petrol."

"Ditches are for Snitches," and "Snitches Get Stitches" are emblazoned on T-shirts worn in public by some gang members in and around Oakland, the San Francisco Chroncile. The MYOB ethic goes back a long way: mobsters call it "omerta," or the code of silence. In the black community, fingering criminals is hard not just for all the usual reasons, but because cops today are still percieved as too alike the white racists overlords of the slavery era. So says hip-hop historian Davey D. Yeah Davey, that'll wash. I guess it's better all around if we let thugs and killers run free; and give a soul shake to all them permanently checked out thug-daddies, too. In the meantime, get some Kevlar underclothes, and ixnay on red or blue outerwear.

TECHNORATI TAGS: PETA, CHICKENS, SPAIN, MARLBOROS, CIGARETTES, OWLS, TESTES, BRAINS, FEMALES, NORMANY, MUSEUM, OMERTA, T-SHIRTS, BAY AREA

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at January 29, 2006 12:01 PM

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