Friday, October 23, 2009 Morning

President Obama has a habit of blaming all current problems on the previous administration. And in some cases, that might be justified. President Bush has followed the gentleman’s agreement not to criticize Presidents who came before or after you. But former Vice President Dick Cheney is making it clear there’s no such muzzle on him.

In a speech to the Center for Security Policy, Cheney accused the White House of dithering over what to do in Afghanistan. He says the delay over whether to grant the commander’s request for more troops is hurting our allies and soldiers and emboldening our enemies, who take it as a sign of weakness and lack of resolve. He urged Obama to “do what it takes to win.” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dismissed Cheney’s advice, once again saying they’d inherited a war that was adrift. But Cheney addressed that. He said that before leaving office, Bush staffers wrote a confidential assessment of Afghanistan, and the strategy Obama announced last March was strikingly similar to what they’d suggested. But Obama still hasn’t decided whether to go through with it.

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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute discovered that when they blocked a particular molecule from binding to its cell surface receptor, healthy skin, muscle and bone marrow became almost completely immune to the effects of radiation. But cancerous cells still died. So far, it’s only been done with mice. But if it works on humans, this could be what they call the Holy Grail of cancer treatments: radiation that only harms cancerous tissues.

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Two New Zealand authors have a new environmental book out called “Time to Eat the Dog.” The title is a joke, but they do claim that a medium-sized pet dog creates the same ecological paw-print as driving over 6,000 miles a year in a Land Cruiser. They suggest you offset your dog’s eco-impact by living in a smaller, greener house, going vegetarian, or keeping more sustainable pets, like hamsters or chickens.

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Finally, I always like to kick off the weekend with a good laugh from a Huck’s Criminal Mastermind. Like the bank robber from Rapid City, South Dakota, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years. His lawyer might have wanted him to plead innocent, but when they booked him into jail and made him fill out an admission form, under “Occupation,” he wrote…”Robbery.” Well, I’ve gotta admit, he’s probably the most honest bank robber I’ve ever heard of.