We Don’t Know Nearly Enough About Cannabis and Its Effects

Large Study Links Cannabis Use to Sleep Disruption, Especially Among Heavy Users (sciencealert.com)

We spent all these years saying, “Legalize Pot! It’s safe! Legalize Pot!” without having done any widespread tests to see if it really was safe.

Now we’re paying the price.

Getting roughly eight hours of sleep is crucial for most of us to avoid feeling like a zombie at work the next day. While some people use caffeine to keep alert during the day, others have turned to cannabis as a sleep aid.

Now, a large-scale study on the effects of cannabis on sleep duration and quality has called into question the drug's reputation as a beneficial pre-slumber choice.

Data on cannabis use and sleep duration for 21,729 adults were obtained from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a cross-sectional survey designed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

More at the link.

This Is a Risk, But...

Like so many things in climatology and astronomy, we really don’t know enough to predict with any kind of accuracy.

A "Mini-Ice Age" Could Hit Earth By 2030, Scientists Warn - Science world (sciencenatures.com)

They’re talking about an upcoming “Maunder Minimum”, which based upon sunspot activity may be happening soon. Or it may not. We just don’t know. Also, we don’t really know enough to even accurately predict sunspot activity. The sun has been very quiet for the last several years, which is why we’re having this discussion. But it could get noisy again tomorrow. And while that would be surprising, it probably wouldn’t be more surprising than the low sunspot period we’re in now.

According to the model, the two magnetic waves will become increasingly offset during Cycle 25, which peaks in 2022. During Cycle 26 between 2030 and 2040, the waves will become out of sync, causing reduction in solar activity by as much as 60 percent.

“In cycle 26, the two waves exactly mirror each other — peaking at the same time but in opposite hemispheres of the Sun,” Zharkovareportedly said in 2015 while conducting a previous research on the phenomenon. “Their interaction will be disruptive, or they will nearly cancel each other. We predict that this will lead to the properties of a 'Maunder minimum'.”

Although Zharkova claimed 97 percent accuracy for the model that corresponds to previous mini ice ages, she did warn that her model could not be used as proof of a future mini ice age, partly because of global warming. The new research paper on the findings was published this year in Astronomy & Geophysics.

“I hope global warning will be overridden by this effect, giving humankind and the Earth 30 years to sort out our pollution,” Zharkova told Sky News, adding that any possible downward impact on global warming will last until 2050s when the Sun's two magnetic waves become active again. “We have to be sorted by that time and prepare everything on Earth for the next big solar activity.”

We just don’t know. Could get a little warmer. Could stay the same. Could get a little cooler. Could get a lot cooler. Make your picks and place your bets.

I’ll Miss Anne Rice Too

Interview with a Vampire Author Anne Rice Dead at 80 | PEOPLE.com

A little bit crazy, and way too many Vampire books. Her Sleeping Beauty series was incredibly odd.

But still, a very prolific writer, who wrote what she wanted to write and damn whatever people thought of it. The first few Vampire books are fantastic. I may try to pick up the series again.

Anne Rice, the beloved author behind the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire, has died. She was 80.

On Saturday evening, Anne's son, Christopher Rice, announced her death in a social media statement shared on Facebook.

Christopher said his mother died of complications from a stroke and will be buried in a family mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony.

A public memorial is also planned for sometime next year in the Louisiana city, Christopher added.

RELATED: Celebrities Who've Died in 2021

In his Facebook statement, Christoper wrote that Anne "left us almost 19 years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died."

RIP, Ms. Rice. You will be missed.

Goodbye Big Al, You’ll Be Missed

Al Unser, four-time Indy 500 winner, dead at 82 | Fox News

This makes me sad.

Probably no racing family has done more for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway than the Unsers, with 9 wins between them.

Al Unser, a driver who won the Indianapolis 500 four times during his career, died Thursday following a long illness at his home in Chama, New Mexico, Indianapolis Motor Speedway said early Friday.

I tip my hat to you, Big Al. RIP.

12 December, 2000

Bush v. Gore is resolved by the Supreme Court

Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court had ordered a statewide recount of all undervotes, over 61,000 ballots that the vote tabulation machines had missed. The Bush campaign immediately asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the decision and halt the recount. Justice Antonin Scalia, convinced that all the manual recounts being performed in Florida's counties were illegitimate, urged his colleagues to grant the stay immediately.^[1] On December 9, the five conservative justices on the Court granted the stay for Bush, with Scalia citing "irreparable harm" that could befall Bush, as the recounts would cast "a needless and unjustified cloud" over Bush's legitimacy. In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that "counting every legally cast vote cannot constitute irreparable harm."^[1] Oral arguments were scheduled for December 11.

In a per curiam decision, the Court first ruled 7–2 (Justices Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting), strictly on equal protection grounds, that the recount be stopped. Specifically, the use of different standards of counting in different counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. (The case had also been argued on the basis of Article II jurisdictional grounds, which found favor with only Justices Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and William Rehnquist.) Second, the Court ruled 5–4 against the remedy, proposed by Justices Stephen Breyer and David Souter, of sending the case back to Florida to complete the recount using a uniform statewide standard before the scheduled December 18 meeting of Florida's electors in Tallahassee.^[1] The majority held that no alternative method could be established within the discretionary December 12 "safe harbor" deadline set by Title 3 of the United States Code (3 U.S.C.), § 5, which the Florida Supreme Court had stated that the Florida Legislature intended to meet.^[2] That deadline arrived two hours after the release of the Court's decision. The Court, stating that not meeting the "safe harbor" deadline would therefore violate the Florida Election Code, rejected an extension of the deadline.

The Media’s Disinterest in Hunter Biden Is Almost as Big of a Scandal as Their Fake Stories on Russia

WATCH: Psaki Snaps After Being Asked About Book On Hunter Biden’s Laptop, Chinese Investments | The Daily Wire

“And the second question is: My colleague Miranda Devine has a new book out called the ‘Laptop From Hell,’ and I was hoping that you could confirm that the laptop is indeed authentic and not Russian disinformation, as you seemed to suggest on Twitter last year,” he continued.

“Well, on the first, the President’s son is not an employee of the federal government, so I’d point you to his representatives,” Psaki said. “And as it relates to the book, I have neither had the time nor interest in exploring or reading the book. Go ahead, Tina.”

The reporter tried to get Psaki to answer the question but Psaki repeatedly talked over him, refused to answer, and insisted on calling on a different reporter.

Jen Psaki refuses to commit to transparency around Hunter Biden’s business dealings in communist China because he’s “not an employee of the federal government.” pic.twitter.com/rvgEEwSRNf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 6, 2021

Move on. Liberals always want to move on when things get uncomfortable. We were told that during the Monica Lewinski scandal. Hillary famously asked us “what difference, at this point, does it make” when asked about her failures in Benghazi.

Now Team Biden wants to move on from Hunter. The problem is that Hunter is still Joe’s son, so I don’t think we’ll be moving on any time soon.

That Took Way Too Long

Chris Cuomo Out At SiriusXM Radio Show | The Daily Wire

Cuomo announced his exit from the network on Monday afternoon via Twitter.

“The way my time ended at CNN was hard. While I have a thick skin, I also have a family, for whom the past week has been extraordinarily difficult. So, right now, I have to take a step back and focus on what comes next,” wrote Cuomo. “That means I will no longer be doing my SiriusXM radio show.”

The statement did not immediately specify whether leaving the radio show had been his decision or the network’s. One commentator referred to his statement as “[t]he old I’m being fired but they’re allowing me to make it look like a resignation apology.”

I doubt that this was by choice. I think the network told him, “we’ll let you quit, but if you don’t you’re getting fired.”

The schadenfreude here is delicious.

Hard to Argue With This Statement

Biden to Uyghurs: Drop Dead (freebeacon.com)

The reasons are equally comical and demented. Kerry is lusting for a Nobel Peace Prize for his climate work, which requires the cooperation of the Chinese. To hell with the Uyghurs so long as Kerry gets the international accolades that his failed presidential run and bumbling tenure as secretary of state didn’t give him.

Xinjiang is home to roughly half of the world’s supply of polysilicon, a raw material used to produce solar panels. A ban on its importation would send a message to the Chinese communists that the United States won’t tolerate its barbarous behavior.

Merkley deserves credit for his unwavering support for the bill. The same can’t be said for his Democratic colleagues: House leadership won’t allow any deliberations on China-related legislation this week, despite empty assurances from the White House that it supports the bill’s swift passage.

We were warned about this last year.

But you voted for this anyway. I told you so.

Almost Everything Said by the Left About Project Veritas and James O’Keefe Is a Lie

The biggest is that they deceptively edit their videos. They always post yes, the edited version, just like everyone else. But they also make available the full unedited versions.

WATCH: James O’Keefe confronts leftist protesters outside NY Young Republicans – The Right Scoop

O’Keefe asks them if they’ve heard of Project Veritas and reveals that he’s the CEO. They proceed to call him an ‘insurrectionist’ and make false claims about him, including that he ‘edits’ his videos.

When he asks them to substantiate these claims, to find out why they are saying it, they either clam up or can’t cite any proof whatsoever. It’s just insults, like always.

EU Extends Censorship Campaign. Sad!

Europe extends its coronavirus "disinformation" surveillance campaign (reclaimthenet.org)

Values and Transparency Vice President Věra Jourová said: “The pandemic is not over yet, this is why we want platforms to intensify efforts in addressing COVID-19 disinformation, including on vaccines and in all EU languages. We also expect the platforms to translate lessons learned from the COVID monitoring program into a stronger monitoring framework for the new anti-disinformation Code.”

“Disinformation” like “natural immunity” works better than vaccines. That vaccine effectiveness wanes very quickly over time. That the vaccines are exceptionally dangerous to male children.

These are the kinds of things officials want to censor.

This is very sad.