The Over-the-Counter Sleeping Pill That’s Too Good to Be True
Thomas FuchsOnce upon a time, insomniacs counted sheep. Today, they take melatonin. Referred to by scientists as the “hormone of darkness,” melatonin is naturally produced by a gland in the brain at night, but it can also be purchased at any major drugstore. Millions of Americans take it, whether swallowing it in pill form, spritzing it…
Evangelicals Love Roy Moore Even More Following Abuse Allegations
David Atkins: Yesterday I wrote that Roy Moore’s behavior was in keeping with hardcore conservative evangelical culture of sanctioned patriarchal sexual abuse. I have also stated that the release of the Access Hollywood tape almost certainly actually helped Trump with some evangelicals because, despite being a philandering adulterer, Trump established a more fundamental cultural rapport…
Chart of the Day: California’s Mysteriously High Gasoline Prices
This chart illustrates a mystery: Because of special formulation requirements, California gasoline is always more expensive than gasoline in the rest of the country. As you can see, from 2010 through 2015 it averaged about 36 cents more per gallon. In February 2016, an explosion at a refinery in Torrance took 10 percent of California’s…
Black Americans Have Our Own National Anthem. Stand Up and Sing It With Us.
James Weldon Johnson.Mother Jones illustration; National Archives and Records Administration; Jose Luis Magana/AP; Jane Kelly/Getty On a cloudy day in May 2015, several hundred Howard University seniors, myself included, filed into the school’s main quadrangle for commencement, a ceremony that kicked off with “The Star Spangled Banner.” I can’t honestly recall whether my fellow black students…
Quote of the Day: “It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls”
From a former deputy DA who worked alongside Roy Moore: It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls, everyone we knew thought it was weird…We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall. Okey dokey.
Reminder: Republicans Need 60 Votes to Pass Their Tax Plan
I keep seeing stuff like this: If Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee [for Alabama’s open Senate seat], wins next month, Mr. McConnell’s majority will shrink to one, possibly imperiling the Republican push to overhaul the tax code and most everything else that lawmakers are aiming to do to reverse their spiral before the midterm elections.…