Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the July 2005 issue

Assets

Ephedra Case

The FDA's ban on ephedra lasts barely a year, as a federal judge in Utah directs the agency to rewrite its April 2004 rule. A dietary supplement maker challenged the FDA finding that ephedra was dangerous, citing years of safe and effective use.

Opening Hey!

Members of the D.C. Public Schools Full Funding Campaign protest at the Washington Nationals' home opener, citing the city's misplaced priorities. The Nationals are slated to get a new $535 million ballpark underwritten by the cash-poor district.

Freedom Drive

Women in the Afghan city of Herat test the local tolerance for female drivers. A new governor for the region means driver's education classes are now open to all.

Connected Costs

Researchers at the University of London Institute of Psychiatry dampen fears about the effect of pot on productivity. A study of 1,100 volunteers finds that cell phones and e-mail have a similar, perhaps more debilitating, effect on attentiveness, I.Q., and...uh, stuff.

Neander Porn

Archaeologists in Germany find 7,200-year-old figurines fashioned to resemble a copulating couple. This is hard to square with the view that human sexuality is an instinctually taboo topic.

Screen Gems

The Government Accountability Office finds that private security did a better job than the Transportation Security Administration's in-house screeners. The exact findings are classified, of course, but the private screeners discovered test threats more often than the TSA did.

Liabilties

Beer Wimps