The New York Times Blogs have an interesting post this morning concerning a report on how America — the medical industry and the government — deal with chronic pain. To sum up: not well at all. I was amazed to see that 70 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. That’s much more than I was expecting. For those that need a definition, usually pain is considered chronic after a patient suffers for about 3 months, but it varies quite a bit depending on what’s causing it. I’m definitely a sufferer, and can attest to how pain gets to the point where you would do anything to make it go away. It sucks almost all enjoyment out of life, and can cause a cascading problem in your life, going from pain, to depression, to inactivity, which causes more pain, etc.
There’s something deeply, deeply wrong in this country that the authorities are more concerned with making sure people don’t enjoy a drug or become addicted rather than relieving people of never ending pain. I think it comes from our puritan past: enjoying, well, anything is suspicious, if not downright bad. And on the flip side, pain is something to be dealt with stoicly, offered to God, and bourne silently. Do seek out a chemical treatment for that pain? Well, you are either weak, trying to get high, or more likely both.
Categories: General · Politics
Tagged: chronic pain, dea, narcotics, pain
Even though ongoing research changes the known value of foods almost on a daily basis, it’s still fun to read about how good some foods that you love are for you. Thanks Prevention! The biggest surprise for me was #1: eggs. Even though ongoing research changes the known value of foods almost on a daily basis, it’s still fun to read about how good some foods that you love are for you. Thanks Prevention! The biggest surprise for me was #1: eggs.
Categories: General
Tagged: food
In an extension of yesterday’s post (and again, thanks to Instapundit), here’s another example of politicians and school bureaucrats hiding behind “the rules”.
A 17-year-old Eagle Scout in upstate New York has been barred from stepping foot on school grounds for 20 days — for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car.
Read the whole thing, of course, but there’s no misleading gotcha in the article, like he was a gang member or something. In fact, he already had finished 10 weeks of basic training, is an Eagle Scout, and was applying to West Point. And these… bureaucrats could very well affect his chances of going to his school of choice. Like I alluded to yesterday, the issue here is the amount of power someone like this vice-principal has over this kid’s life. Every time you give up liberty is needs to be a damn good reason. Keeping pocket knives out of school isn’t one of those reasons, in my opinion. It doesn’t even come close.
Categories: Politics
Tagged: idiocracy, school, school violence, zero tolerence
Well, perhaps it’s stories like this one, out of the NY Times:
NEWARK, Del. — Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him.
Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon to school. He was so excited about recently joining the Cub Scouts that he wanted to use it at lunch. School officials concluded that he had violated their zero-tolerance policy on weapons, and Zachary was suspended and now faces 45 days in the district’s reform school.
“It just seems unfair,” Zachary said, pausing as he practiced writing lower-case letters with his mother, who is home-schooling him while the family tries to overturn his punishment.
Seems unfair? Maybe to a six year old, but to me, it seems utterly without intelligence or common sense, and a policy for those to hide behind without a back bone. This is the type of story that makes people pull their kids out of public school, and instead put them through either private schools, parochial schools, or just sacrifices to home school.
School shootings? I know! Let’s suspend a 6 year old from school for brining a spork to class. CYA at it’s most bureaucratic worst.
This isn’t an isolated issue standing all by itself that can be “fixed” by passing a new law or writing more regulations. This is a small symptom of a deep cancer in our society. A sickness of too much government interference in the lives of citizens, and not enough responsibility taken by those citizens.
Thanks to Instapundit for the find.
Categories: Politics
Why the name change? Oh, you remember when it was called, “Global Warming”, right? Well, now the carbon haters get to see, “Told you so!” no matter which way the mercury moves. Oh no! The climate is a-changin’!
Anyway, forgive me if I’m a bit touchy on the subject. Read Burt Rutan’s monumental take down of environmentalist fear-monger’s dream fund raising idea. The presentation takes a while to get through, but it’s worth it.
For those with shorter attention spans, these are both pretty telling stories from today:
Scientist: Carbon Dioxide Doesn’t Cause Global Warming
Over the Summer, a Spread of Thicker Arctic Ice
My favorite part of the NY Times blog piece about the Arctic ice is the quick explanation that hey, this doesn’t mean the end’s not coming if we don’t do something (an open Arctic Sea!). Of course.
Categories: Politics
I had no idea there was such thing as goat’s milk butter. It makes sense though: you can’t get the butter separated without an industrial process, so normal farmers and homesteaders can’t do it. Interesting. I’d love to try some someday.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: butter, food, goat
My wife has been asking me to read Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which I do intend on following with (I always have way too many books lined up to read — a failing, certainly). After I do read it, I’m going to come back and read this and other writings by Ronald Bailey, Reason Magazine’s science editor:
A Food Elitist Strikes Back
He’s usually pretty right on the money with regard to the more controversial science topics of the day. Not always, but usually. This is on the heels of reading this:
‘No evidence’ organic foods more nutritious: study
Of course, as anything regarding science, developing…
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: food, gmo, organic
John Stossel nails it talking yesterday on Reason Online about health care reform. This is definitely one of those “read it all” pieces. Here’s the start, though, as a teaser:
It’s crazy for a group of mere mortals to try to design 15 percent of the U.S. economy. It’s even crazier to do it by August.
Yet that is what some members of Congress presume to do. They intend, as the New York Times puts it, “to reinvent the nation’s health care system.”
Well, John, it’s only crazy if you think it’s about improving efficiency. There are three reasons why this health care bill is being pushed: the reason for moderates, the reason for the true believers, and the real reason.
For the moderates, it’s being sold as a way to “fix” the system by making it more efficient and saving tons of money in the process for “the American taxpayer”. This is demonstratively false, and really, an outright lie. The reason why the polls keep reversing against Obama is because people are figuring this out.
For the true believers, it’s being sold as making the system more “fair”. This is the reason for Obama’s conference call with the lefty bloggers out there, reassuring them that no matter what he says, it’s going to be a socialist system (in so many words). This is a lie too, but more insidious. The upper class in Britain and Canada can still get better health care than the working rabble, make no mistake. The price for ensuring that the poorest get free health care is that the middle class majority get less quality and less choice. Fair? No, not really, depending on your point of view.
So, what’s the real reason? Power. Pure, naked, narcotic-like corrupting power. To gain control of 15% of the national economy in one fell swoop is a power grab not seen since the Great Depression. If the President succeeds in getting this passed, it’ll make the working rabble that much more beholden to the Government for yet another basic, needed service, and make it that much easier for Democrats to get elected. How many large scale government programs in the United States have ever been repealed? Oh yeah, zero.
Categories: Economy · Politics
Tagged: healthcare, obama, power, stossel
I happened to spy this in Craigslist for the Columbia Gorge this morning: Eighteen Mile Island is for sale. This is only a few miles up river from where I grew up in White Salmon, and I saw it just a week and a half ago, thinking as I almost always do what it must be like to own your own island in the middle of the Columbia, and if this is even something I’d want to do.
The house is pretty puny for the cost, but I guess it’s quite the pain to haul the building materials over by boat.
And hey, you get no HOA fees for your 1.65 million!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 18mileisland, columbiariver, gorge, realestate
I think I’ll copy and paste gratuitously for once, this time from Instapundit. It’s short, and full of great advice:
SECRETS OF LONGEVITY: “Allingham, who was the world’s oldest man when he died Saturday at 113, attributed his remarkable longevity to ‘cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women.’”
Heh. Guess I shouldn’t have quit. (Which one, comes the inevitable question?)
Categories: Futurism · Singularity
Tagged: longevity, smoking, whiskey
