Here's something you should know…

Keep those sugarless treats out of Fido's reach. Veterinarians warned on Friday that a commonly used sweetener might cause liver failure in dogs, and perhaps even kill them.

Their report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association appears to strengthen the suspected link between the sugar substitute xylitol, thought to make dogs sick, and possible liver failure.

Xylitol, a naturally occurring product, is found in many sugar-free chewing gums, candies, baked goods and toothpastes.

…

Gwaltney-Brant said for dogs, ingesting even a small amount of xylitol can trigger significant insulin release, which drops their blood sugar and can be fatal.

"A 22-pound (10-kg) dog who consumes one gram (0.03 ounces) of xylitol should be treated," she said, adding that further studies were needed to definitely establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

If it's doing that much damage to a dog, what in the heck is it doing to people?

The Food and Drug Administration is considering not using the word "recall" to warn patients and doctors about defective pacemakers and defibrillators at the request of a physicians' group struggling to deal with a loss of public confidence in the safety of implantable heart devices.

FDA officials say they are conducting focus groups to see whether the currently used "recall" term is causing undue alarm when used to refer to heart devices the agency has decided might be faulty.

…

The Heart Rhythm Society released guidelines today, asking the FDA to use "safety advisory" or "safety alert" when referring to device problems.

If your pacemaker or defibrillator is defective, does it really matter what "term" they use? Honestly. People should know what's happening with the devices in their chests. If the FDA finds a brand of devices faulty, wouldn't it be prudent to to just say so?

Why would the Heart Rythm Society want the FDA warnings to have that "warm fuzzy" feeling? The cold hard truth usually works best, especially when you are dealing with peoples' health. You can't recall the truth.

In fact, dead still means dead, no matter how warm and fuzzy you felt when you read the latest "safety advisory" and didn't think it was a serious issue that applied to you.

Nice, but it sure took long enough.

In a post 9/11 world, border security is a matter of national security. Securing our borders is not an insurmountable problem … but it has been a problem that too many have been willing to ignore for too long.

While our borders are still inexcusably porous, we’ve made a great deal of progress in the last two years. With the passage of Defense and Homeland Security appropriations bills, we will have added 3,736 new Border Patrol agents … 9,150 new detention beds … and 1,373 detention personnel. We’ve more than quadrupled spending on border and immigration enforcement … increasing funding from $4 billion prior to 9/11 to over $16 billion today. We’ve seen apprehensions at the border increase by 45%. We’ve ended catch-and-release.

And, just moments ago, the Senate invoked cloture on the Secure Fence Act of 2006 by a vote of 71-28. Tomorrow the Senate will pass this legislation and send it to the President’s desk for his signature.

Just think, in five more years they might actually do something about the illegal aliens already here.

There's nothing as satisfying as seeing our government make a speedy response to an immediate problem, if you ask me.

Another fine moment in French history:

UN and Israeli tanks have been involved in a brief face-off on a road in southern Lebanon where the Israeli army has been setting up checkpoints.

Four French Leclerc tanks with UN peacekeepers moved up the hill to stand 500 meters (yards) from the entrance to the border village of Marwaheen, as two Israeli Merkava tanks operated nearby on Lebanese soil.

Standing some 50 meters from each other, the tanks were locked in a 20-minute face-off, the first between the Israeli army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been boosted to oversee the current truce.

The French tanks then withdrew from the area, as observers of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation deployed in the area.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

At least they're consistent and do what they do best.
You couldn't have scripted that any better if you tried.

by TD of The Right Track

A quick and dirty search through Google News for articles, news, and editorials revealed no less than 14 pieces written in the last month regarding the FairTax. Fully 1/3 of those were editorials agreeing with the need for the FairTax.

A sampling:

From the Denver Daily News, an editorial titled "FairTax, not flat tax, needed to fix nation's taxation woes":

Dear editor,

The IRS needs to be eliminated and replaced with the FairTax, not the flat tax, as suggested by columnist Aaron Harber in Monday's Denver Daily News.

The flat tax changes absolutely nothing — the IRS, tax code, regulations, 16th Amendment, corporate taxation and payroll taxes (the way Social Security is funded) stay exactly the same under the flat tax.

At best, the flat tax is temporary, the wrong direction to move towards simplification.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "The Fairer Tax":

The Fair Tax (FairTax.org) will make our true tax burden — most of which is concealed in the price of goods and services — visible to all and is a necessary first step toward smaller and less-intrusive government.

We cannot allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.

So first, let's replace the current complex and dishonest system of taxation with a fair and transparent system that will allow the people to choose how much government they can afford in full knowledge of how much it really costs.

The Raleigh/Durham News & Observer has an editorial headlined "Total Replacement":

Our tax code has grown steadily more complex, unwieldy, expensive and out of control ever since its overhaul in 1986. The IRS is increasingly unable to cope with the tax code, and puts much of its resources to uses unrelated to raising revenue and contrary to the wishes of the Founders.

Like Icarus flying ever closer to the sun, the tax system appears to be headed for self-destruction. It is far beyond any fix and is losing respect and credibility. The only reasonable solution is to finally and completely scrap it and replace it. I support the revenue-neutral FairTax plan. (http://www.fairtax.org/ 1-800-FairTax).

This is just a sampling of what people are saying all across the country. Truly a grassroots effort, it takes people willing to step up and show public support for the FairTax to convince politicians that it's in their best interest to support the bills.

One way to show public support is to write an editorial to your local paper, no matter how large or small. Use the FairTax category that may appear on this participant blog, visit http://www.fairtax.org/, or read the FairTax book by Boortz and Linder to learn more. Get your facts straight, then write your editorial and submit it. Many papers now have a way to submit online or via e-mail.

However you decide to do it, your public support for the FairTax is vital.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.