Any comment on the teratogenic effects of marijuana consumption? It's surprising that not more research has been done. The effects will should be seen in the 2nd generation offspring of marijuana users, i.e. it should show up in the grand-children of baby-boomers.

@neilehat -- the OSHA standards and Ohio plumbing rules conflict and our engineer thought that the local standard was safer. OSHA surrendered on that one, but it cost some legal feels to make them go away.

Mattnotda -- "enumerated powers" -- only they can't count. I didn't ever think I would become a libertarian until OSHA took a tour of our plant and told us we had to move the eye-wash station 18 inches.

The gerrymandering also prevents "upstarts" from challenging incumbents in their own party, to the point that only incumbents who are ready for the glue factory are primaried. Slightly OT -- perhaps the best thing which we could do to fix Congress would be to go back to making the State legislative bodies elect Senators. Popular election of Senators has just created an entrenched political class, something Madison warned about.

Bravo Dr. Becker. WRT neilhat -- 15% of the US will always be in comparative poverty. Compared to the US median which is very high relative to other countries.

Less optimistic on Mexico -- tremendous natural resources, bad internal governance and worse still constitutional system.

It's a red herring -- the White House prefers 1) having a demonizing issue which paints their opponents into a corner than 2) lower unemployment amongst women, teens and minorities. Logical analysis? -- for the Chicago crowd now transplanted to Washington, it's like the line in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre": "Logic, we don't need no to show you no stinkin' logic".

Rules replace trust.

What accounts for 125 Harvard students being censured for cheating on a "Governments" class? I mean, who has to cheat on something which should be hard-wired into the fabric of their existence?

#jim kirby -- kudos -- your point brought up in this morning's (12/26/12) NYTimes. It's nigh unto impossible for the Federal Government to achieve the personal income tax revenues estimated by the White House for 2015, 2016 and 2017 without broadening the tax base, or increasing the top marginal tax rates to the levels recently imposed in France. Meanwhile, the White House estimates that debt service costs will exceed defense spending in 2017. That's a wonderful situation to impose upon our children and grand-children. Linked here:http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf

And Dr. Becker has a series of lectures hosted by University of Chicago, free to all. (Or at least this was the case a few months ago courtesy of a youtube search.) As an alum, I am always intrigued to capture some of the stuff I missed in my youth. It's different 35+ years later, not bothered with the distractions of the draft, job search or impending marriage. A big thanks.

May want to consult a molecular biologist on this -- but "chance" not luck determines genetic makeup -- while "methylation" of your genes is a mixture of "luck", and processes/environments over which we have some control. ...and on the trading floor, the managing director in charge would say: "I'd rather be lucky than smart." and he certainly proved this in some of his unfortunate life-choices.

It was easier with nuns, the orders sent the bad ones to darn the altar linens...and I am not kidding. Good parents make teaching a lot more efficient.