Police spending $267,000 to save on health costs.

Spending money on health to cut health care costs! A novel idea. Should we call that health care spending? Analogous to changing the oil instead of replacing the engine.

Too bad our health care system administrators are incapable of fathoming this logic.

Struggling Health Orthodoxy

I get thoroughly entertained by orthodox views of the Alternative-health paradigm in Alberta; indeed, I am often reminded of a not-to-be-identified close relative. It is always rather fun to read of someone unknowingly constrained by a monopoly construct being slowly exposed to intriguing yet sacrilegious ideas of a competing ideology.

Remember when other monopolistic, status quo ideologies ridiculed competing interests? In my lifetime I witnessed the defeat of blatant religious discrimination, sexual discrimination, political discrimination, and more. These discriminations all occurred because one social construct suppressed another. And the same thing ensues in health care – to its detriment. The truth of health practices can never be properly vetted within a monopoly construct.

The drug and surgery mantra of monopoly medicine suppresses competing views on health care. This is especially true in Alberta where the legacy of draconian legislation has created a scholastic environment devoid of competing health views. Only ethereal, touchy-feely concepts were tolerated here as they were seen as no threat to the established medico order. Alternative-paradigm strategies are not so apologetic of modern evils as the medicos tend to be.

The orthodox view places emphasis on proof and placebo as discrediting argument, yet fails to note that Standard-paradigm medicine suffers from the same shortcomings. A significant portion of medical care is simply feckless, ineffective, inefficient, or unevaluated.

Do people pay hard-earned cash for Alternative approaches in lieu of subsidized medico care because it holds no merit? I enjoy seeing health bigots struggle in resistance to the palpable tide of open dissent toward the health care system. Rights activists know that a plurality of theories and methods must openly compete in order to demonstrate their respective validity. Praise to computers, desktop publishing, and the internet for giving voice to the populace.

The government, in my name, transfers to the medico monopoly over $5000 per year on health care. I think we would get far more efficient, appropriate, and effective health care if those monies were transferred to Mr. and Mrs. Public for allocation or accumulation toward the future. After all, we self-direct our pay cheques for the betterment of the whole economy … except in health care. And consumer-funded (instead of supplier-funded) health care complies perfectly with the Canada Health Act.

Hmm, at $5000 / year for 58 perfectly healthy years, including compound interest at 2%, that's $547,624.84 in my Alberta Treasury Branch health trust account. More than enough for any old age health issues that may emerge in the future.

UN Walkouts

Canada walks out on Iran's UN speech in 2009.
Canada walks out on Iran's UN speech in 2010.
Canada walks out on Iran's UN speech in 2011.

I wonder what the rules are for UN Walking? We should have some guidelines, shouldn't we? From the last three walkouts I've determined that the existing rules are: "when Iran talks, we walk."

Not very UNy.

Kinda got me thinking how we (in Canada) could formalize this sorta thing so that we know when to walk out on a speaker. My criteria for walking out would be:
- walk out on states that refuse to separate church and state;
- walk out on states with fewer than three viable political parties;
- walk out on states with "live fire" military forces in more than two foreign countries; and,
- walk out on states with gradated human rights (eg sexual, religious, political).

Hmm, maybe I'll add to this list later ...

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Consumer-directed health care.

Why should the government cover ONLY a drug-and-surgery mantra when the consumer (along with the health care provider and other taxpayers) believes an alternative to be more efficacious (eg acupuncture and herbs)? For this reason I want:
1) An end to the medico monopoly via recognition of a vetting, competing health paradigm;
2) Pro-rated funding of the health-care consumer rather than the health-care provider (ie choice in health care); and,
3) A restriction of the governmental role (ostensibly) to approval, certification, inspection, and enforcement.

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Health queue jumping

Don't be surprised at health queue jumping. We have a medico monopoly in all of its aspects. In this type of atmosphere there can be no health truths and no retribution. Hell, even the President of the CMA can endorse queue jumping without nary a boo in protest.

Break the medico monopoly! Introduce real-life healthcare.

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Some improvement.

My hockey skills improve ... slightly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1sTRwxX2YQ

That is J playing centre.
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Terrorist? or Pardoned?

Hamas and Fatah to join. All terrorist Hamas supporters are now pardoned here in Canada; OR, all Canadian Fatah supporters are now home-grown terrorists!

Stupid politics we have here.

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Yeah, but howz your hockey?

Needs work.

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Political Quadrant

I consider myself to be VERY Green and yet the CBC poll places me closer to Liberal. I am 57 years old and have seen many Liberal governments ... I know I am not Liberal. The poll simply shows how far the Greens have drifted from the Charter of the Global Greens.

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Civil War

In Libya, Canada is involved militarily in yet another civil war. I am disgusted. Is there no political party believing in peace, non-intervention and self-determination of nations? Is there no end to Canada's new American-style role of meddling militarily in the affairs of other nations?

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The F-35 is needed, question mark

I'm sitting here all juiced up from a pot of strong coffee and it pops into my head that the F-35 purchase may not be necessary, at all. I mean, we don't pack F-35s onto our frigates.

Is the F-35 supposed to protect us from the Russians? or the Americans? I think not. To fight these guys we would need something more insidious and intimidating -- like mobile surface-to-air and drone air-to-air thingys.
Is the F-35 supposed to protect us from the Taliban air force? Is a 5th generation fighter really necessary for shooting down airliners?

I guess we need F-35s for enforcing no-fly zones over Libya, and the such. Hmm. I can't really see why Canada would ever be extending foreign policy in such a way. I do remember that Canadian fighter pilots shot some half million dollar air-to-air missles at some fleeing pick-up trucks in the Iraqi-Kuwait adventure. I am not convinced that justifies investment in a 5th generation fighter.

My preferred role for the Canadian military, other than clever defense of sovereignty, is as impartial third-party guarantor of two parties desiring peace. A nostalgic view, I know.

Anyway, as the franchise is MY most powerful weapon, the Conservatives with their predilection for picking sides in civil wars may rest assured that they will NEVER get my vote.

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Libya

It looks to me like Canada is again willing to pick a side in a nation's civil war. This is a definite no-no in my book. If you don't like a nation then don't trade with it or maintain connections to it. A blockade is an act of war. All nations have the right to self-determination!

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Egypt

Good luck to the people of Egypt in the trying times ahead.
Self-determination of nations.

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Cancer is common.

Fourteen percent of people who have a heart attack will get cancer within three years.

Just thought I would relay this statistic.

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Measles

I just watched CBC's wonderful "fart in the mist"-sized Wendy Mesley do a measles-oriented video piece on Autism and the MMR Vaccine. The piece was quite good (as compared to the hatchet job Marketplace did on Homeopathy). My criticism is that it was done from the context of the monopoly medico paradigm.

Let us assume that the unacknowledged war between the medicos and the monopoly dissenters is a given and is static relative to today's situation. In other words, assume that there will always be those choosing not to vaccinate their children (I'm an example). The question is: just how dangerous is measles?

Well, to those who believe in the medico monopoly and are vaccinated then there is no perceived danger. It really shouldn't be much of an issue. You are protected.

To those of us who do doubt the veracity of the medicos and avoid the vaccination then there may be danger. What is the danger of avoiding the vaccine? It is that if things continue as they are then, odds are, there will likely be one measles death in Canada within the next 300 years.* Now, to me, I'd rather avoid the vaccination (and other things).

I generally discount the verbiage of the monopoly medico construct. Their credibility is suspect. My assessment of risk differs from that of the medicos.

A supposedly debunked study on Autism and the MMR vaccine is of little relevance to the argument. What I see is poorly explained sky-rocketing illness and disease. The monopoly medicos seem only intent upon acting as apologists to unrestrained growth and development. We who choose what we think are healthier options are constantly butting heads with the apologists.

That is my position.


*10 measles cases in Canada per year. One death per 3000 measles cases.
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Self-determination of Nations

I am glad for the people of Egypt. Self-determination of nations at its best.

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The force (of the inquisition) is strong, ObiWan.

Women are inferior. Conservatives are criminals. Homosexuals are sinners. Catholics are doomed to hell. Homeopathy is sham. What! Hold on! Homeopathy is a sham? (Nod to Woodshed for the opening-line inspiration.)

I'm a little surprised at the degree of medico bigotry rearing its ugly head wrt homeopathy. I can understand disagreeing with homeopathy but out-n-out calling it a sham is a bit severe, I think.

I can understand the medicos calling it a sham. After all, they are inculcated within their system of medicine. I wouldn't expect them to be tolerant of alternate thought any more than I would expect the Pope to endorse Islam. Still, I naively expected ordinary people to be tolerant of differing health care views. I was wrong. There are still cross burners out there.

The history of homeopathy is fascinating. It was an organized and practicing medical system in North America even before allopathic medicine. It has a long history of treating epidemics far, far more successfully than the allopaths. Indeed, the allopaths still have no defense from pandemic. I can see why the logical, thinking, result-oriented person would choose homeopathy over allopathy for protection. I can see why parents would opt for homeopathic "immunization."

Medico bigotry, of course, can tolerate no disaccordance. The allopaths can only gnash their teeth at superior health outcomes in China with TCM after both bird flu and swine flu. The medicos here merely whacked people with their supposed anti-virals (ex oseltamivir) and corticosteroids, and if the patient lived claimed to have saved them.

The ironical credo of herbalists is "a plague upon humanity." It is wishful statement for an end of modern society's cornucopian thinking and, one of its inherent horsemen of the apocalypse, the apologist medicos. And, it represents firm belief in an alternate system of medicine that would prove far more successful than allopathic medicine during such events.

Homeopathy is not my way. I have differing views. Still, I would not ban homeopathy. I would not question whether children should be removed from a household if parents chose homeopathic options. I recognize alternative health care systems and the right of choice amongst them. I would not denigrate one system to maintain and support a single monopolistic, bigoted health care paradigm.

What triggered this post? The Marketplace hatchet job on Homeopathy: Cure or Con and the dross of dangerous opinion which emerged afterward.

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Margarine, healthy yet again.

Holly shit! Margarine (aka shortening and hydrogenated oil) is a health food again.

Two little babies, lying in bed
One was sick and the other 'most dead
Sent for the doctor and the doctor said
"Give those children some shortnin' bread."

Mammy's little baby loves short'nin', short'nin',
Mammy's little baby loves shortenin' bread.

Probably the greatest killer of modern times is again being touted as a health food! We have still not been able to shake the sixty-year legacy of corporations promoting margarine as heart healthy (better than butter) and they want to promote more industrial waste by-product additives as a health solution. The utter gall.

The old margarine-great-for-the-heart stuff has virtually been eradicated from history by the monopoly medico revisionists. Now the evidence, again, is being lined up to prove margarine to be good.

Gotta love evidence-based medicine.

Edit: added this wiki link.

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Homeopathy and CBC's Marketplace

I watched CBC's Marketplace show on homeopathy entitled Pro or Con. It was a hatchet job.

I am no believer in homeopathy. Still, I do not show distain for those choosing it in health matters. Choice in health care is a fundamental human right which has been severely suppressed in Canada for the last 85'ish years. Fortunately, it is an emerging right here in Canada. The internet, computer publishing, and personal communications are all allowing health information to be disseminated beyond the control of our current monopoly health care system. No one can deny the strengthening groundswell of support for choices outside of Standard medicine's "approved" heath care behaviours.

I do not state one religion is superior to the exclusion of all others nor do I state one political party deserves monopoly positioning over all others. We are inundated by religious truths and by socio-economic facts yet a plethora of systems exist. This blog aggregator is an example of I'm-right-you're-wrong power mongering.

Truth in health care is determined by choice of  people. The medico monopoly needs to be destroyed, to be replaced by parallel and competing health concepts. Only in this way can truth (as determined by CHOICE) be vetted by citizens within the populace.

I do not have much respect for those claiming superiority of religion, politics or of health care beliefs. It is discrimination, pure and simple.

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We can recognize Lebanon!

Hey, now that the nasty terrorist organization, Hezbollah, has resigned from the Lebanon government we are finally free to recognize the country.
; )

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Fluoridation, again

Calgary may once again have a chance to get added fluoride out of our water supply. I found this to be a good site arguing against fluoridation.

I don't have much to add except that I've noticed that ALL the countries with longer life expectancies (the gold standard in health care) do NOT fluoridate.

I really can't think of any good reason to fluoridate (or even iodize salt) in this day and age. And I can think of many reasons not to.

I'll be voting against fluoridation.

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Alberta Election

I am starting to look forward to the upcoming Alberta provincial election in 2012. Of particular interest to me are the candidates who will emerge in support of Green Principles. In a manner similar to the American Tea Party movement, Visionary Greens will again stand candidates bringing to voters viable options and interpretations of the Charter of the Global Greens.

It will be nice to have a party (or a candidate) with universally known values and predictable tendencies.

I suppose other parties (based on historical action) have generated their own pseudo manifestos.
Conservatives: Corporate globalization and harmonization of all business and culture. Buy from Fortune 500 companies!
Liberal: Status quo. The nation does not seek change.
NDP: Guaranteed jobs for life.

Greens: (based on the six Green Principles -- see side-bar)

1. Ecological Wisdom
   Duh. Who can possibly doubt that Greens won't work to protect the environment?
2. Social Justice
   All should have full opportunities for education, health, sport and artistic development.
3. Participatory Democracy
   Increased civil service support of local and regional communities. Dependence upon your smarmy MLA should be a thing of the past. And, of course, proportional representation.
4. Non-Violence
   Addressing the causes of aggression, strife and inequality within society is a Green priority (as are all the six tenets).
5. Sustainability
   Long-term sustainable use of renewable resources and long-term sustainability in finance.
6. Respect for Diversity
   We honour cultural, linguistic, ethnic, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity.

The people of Alberta deserve a chance to vote Green. The franchise is a citizen's most powerful tool.
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Herbal Medicine may be risky for kids

Herbal medicine may be risky for kids, says a CBC headline.

 "Perhaps the most serious harm occurs when effective therapies are replaced by ineffective alternative therapies," he said. "In that situation, even an intrinsically harmless medicine, like a homeopathic medicine, can be life-threatening," Ernst said.

The danger noted is quite broad and all encompassing. It could range from the herb itself through to doing research and having a different prioritization of health care options. I didn't know that being informed was a "risk." One must not disagree with the medico monopoly, I suppose. The consumer of health care is apparently not allowed to have a different risk aversion priority set than the provider of health care. Differing values is a problem with all monopolies.

 

The dangerous and often feckless modern medical paradigm does not like competition. Fortunately, the individual's right to choice in health care is exerting its power (just as choice has overcome monopoly religion and monopoly politics).

Consumer-driven health care will continue to grow the Alternative paradigm. And, eventually, the Alternative paradigm will hold the same responsibility in life and death as the medicos. One should not be surprised by this development. And this is a good thing.

Just as in politics and religion, only competing views can properly vet truths. In health care, if the medico monopoly cannot hold the trust of individuals because of differing beliefs then competing interests should prevail.

"Choice" and "each to their own" will make for a better system.

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X-spouse from Hell

I have been reading up on the new 2010 changes to family law in Australia. Apparently significant changes have been made there with respect to family law and child rights.

Specifically, what tickled my fancy was:

A Child Has the Right to Spend Substantial and Significant Time With Both Parents.
Equal shared parental responsibility.
A child has the right to a relationship with both parents.
The principle has changed the way fathers and non-custodial parents spend time with a child. Where circumstances allow and it is in a child’s best interests, weekly time is now split more evenly with children spending half the time, including school time with each parent.

This is very much in tune with my sentiments.

In Canada, 97% of child custodies are awarded to the female parent! Clear institutionalized discrimination. This alone probably accounts for most pay and poverty inequities.

Nice to see the Green Party (Green Vision 4.11.2) making some noises about protecting the rights of children and eliminating gender inequities.

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Control Group

I want somebody to pay me a million bucks to state the obvious. I can prove that black is darker than white, for example. Or that cars can go faster than turtles. Or that a "Healthy diet tied [is] to longer life in 70s" ... oh, wait, somebody did that already.


Most of us know that Canadians are choosing alternative-health treatment options both to treat illness and to maintain health. Few of these options are covered by our health care system. And despite evidence that more and more Canadians are paying out-of-pocket for health, by-passing free monopoly health, there has been little policy discussion about alternative health within the political parties of Canada.

I have written before about establishing a voluntary, healthy health-control group. Such a control group could be used to prove medico efficacy (or its fecklessness).
I have written before of idiot studies like the healthy-diet one above. I call these studies Duh-factor studies.

Canadians have a right to health information, a right to access health care, and a right to practice health care of their choice. None of this currently exists.

The solution is to break the medico monoploy and fund consumer-driven health care, instead.

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Savage Review of Alberta Health Care

Enlightened Savage wanted some debate on these points.

1. Not enough experienced and trained medical professionals, incl. family doctors
2. Misuse/overuse of the system for non-essential services
3. Lack of care for the poor
4. Limited access to non-trauma Urgent Care Centres
5. Organizational instability/Governance issues
6. Acute care beds being taken up by people well enough to leave but who have nowhere else to go (lack of long-term beds)
7. Lack of personal responsibility for maintaining health/education regarding healthy & preventative living
8. Over-medicalization of seniors
9. Lack of home care support for seniors/disabled
10. Lack of a team approach
11. Front line staff bogged down by distant/out-of-touch/large bureaucracy
12. Rising costs created by increased use of technology
13. Lack of public education about which health care provider is appropriate in a given situation

So here goes:

1. Not enough medical professionals.
Pretty bogus, this. With a snap of the fingers plus six months an army of health professionals can be brought to the fore. Thousands of immigrant medical professionals are here and virtually every one of them can be a GP or a Nurse. Also, hundreds and hundreds of Alternative practitioners are trained up to near GP standards.

The system restricts practitioners because it is its only way of restricting costs. Stupid and gut-less politicians caused this to happen. (One can't really blame the medico monopoly).

2. Misuse of system.
Nonsense. People are not insane. There are simply no suitable choices available and no suitable system of health care. It's a monopoly! ... What would you expect?

3. Lack of care.
Just a prioritization issue. The suppliers of health care have different priorities than the consumers of health care, and the suppliers hold monopoly power. Again, what would you expect?

4. Trauma and Urgent Care.
We need concentrated specialization in emergency care. We also need access to a full gamut of non-emergency care services. They are separate issues. I can see the government running emergency care centers. There is no reason, none at all, for the government to run non-emerg facilities.

5. Governance.
Screw'em. Allocate health care dollars to the consumer of health care instead of the suppliers of health care. The medicos will very quickly and efficiently optimize their delivery systems according to consumer demand.

6. People, if given the option, will always choose the most appropriate "bed." It is a supply-of-bed failure within the monopoly medico system. The system is not responsive to health care consumer demand (but is instead responsive to the toys demanded by the suppliers of health care).

7. Personal responsibility. Why should any health care consumer be practically responsible for something over which they have absolutely no control. Give people free houses or free cars and they would simply burn through them one after the other. Everyone will demand the biggest and best right from the git-go.

My pay check is never enough, of course, but I manage to responsibly allocate it and prioritize it. Same thing would happen with a health-care-pay-check that I could spend or save for future contingency.

8. Over-medicalization of everybody! This is an efficiency issue. There is no restraint mechanism other than bottle-necking entry into the monopoly system. The suppliers of health care must excessively treat to cover-their-ass from pie-in-the-sky, unrestricted consumer demand.

Consumer demand can be restricted if appropriate, demand-driven health care is available.

9. Lack of home care.
This is simply inappropriate resource allocation. Perhaps our aging population would re-prioritize health care dollars toward this issue if they had the power. The suppliers of health care don't care to prioritize their dollars toward this end.

10. Team. Screw that. If I have consumer heath care dollars to spend then the health providing professionals will fall all over themselves with services trying to pry those dollars from my hand ... just like the malls at x-mas.

11. Front line staff are constrained by the mega-monopoly. No mega-monopoly works well. If we had one political party and one religion we wouldn't see any change there, either, and front-line staff would simply decry the system.

12. Technology costs.
Again, no mode of cost-benefit testing as there is only health care supplier control and no consumer of health care counter.

13. Make suppliers of health care flog their wares like everyone else. Truth is attained by competing opinion for a constrained dollar. We buy cars, clothes, toasters according to we miserly allocate our dollars in the face of infinite supplier encouragements.

Thar you go. Change things for the better. Fund the consumer not the supplier.
Kill the medico monopoly.

CSIS influence

Canada's spy agency suspects that cabinet ministers in two provinces are under the control of foreign governments, CBC News has learned.

This sounds very McCarthyesk. I wonder if CSIS is under the influence of an affluent foreign government.

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Body World

I will not be going to Body World ... an exhibit of plastinated human bodies.

An Alternative health practitioner respects the human body. There is no gainful reason for me to view human indignities.

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Protecting rights

Imposing our values on others: dirty job but somebody has to do it. Perhaps when we are done converting Afghanistan into a fleshier state we can invade the Amazon and convert it to a clothier state. Gotta teach the world how to get the balance right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16fvTonR_gA&feature=related
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Yaa Canada!

We are number four! The richest country in the world is number 13.

Seems to me, long, long ago, we used to oscillate between 1 and 2. A certain country is probably a bad influence on us.

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Two tales.

Postulate: We need to increase our blood pressures excessively to reduce heart attacks.

Proof:
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, high blood pressure rose 77 per cent among Canadians between 1994 and 2005.

The Health Indicators 2009 report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information suggested the rate of heart attacks in Canada dropped 13 per cent between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008.

Science works!

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Obese teen surgery, AGAINST

I see a hospital in Canada wants to perform surgery as a treatment for obesity. I am against such treatments and I disapprove of MY health dollar supporting such efforts.

We frequently see people in clinic who are way, way over 200 pounds AND have had such surgery in the past. It does not work. It is a waste of resources and does not address why someone is morbidly obese. It is like giving bullets to an multiple and repeat killer.

Still, such treatment may not be against YOUR best judgment. You may think it is a great idea for your child, given full and complete information on the myriad of potential alternatives and the option to exercise your choice from amongst them.

Which brings me to my point. Medicos prefer exercising their mantra of drug and surgery solutions, all the while restricting access to potentially more viable options. Now as much as I may like funding the medicos to the point where they can play freely with all their electronic toys and other such beeping and blinking things, there may actually be better alternatives outside of the medico domain that are not currently accessible due to funding constraints. The medico monopoly always likes their options best.

There are many employers now that give their employees a health spending account. Employees may spend their account on pretty much anything they like from yoga through to spa sessions -- no questions asked. The idea being that rational individuals spend wisely and rationally. Kinda like you are the only one who spends your pay check despite dire consequence.

Yes, I support the health allowance. Make the medicos compete for your health care dollar. Fund the consumer NOT the provider. In this way dollars are allocated according to will of the populace instead of directed by a professional monopoly.

Vaccine study

Gee, I am a fair bit surprised to see the amount of play this Journal-renounced vaccine study is getting. The study is almost 20 years old and was done on only twelve children. No conclusion of any kind that it made should have been of any screaming import.

We all know that proving anything definitively in medicine is well-nigh an impossibility. The medical system has moved from proving-things-safe to managing-risks, instead. And herein lies the rub -- a clinician's judgment of risk differs markedly from a patient's informed judgment of risk. The patient is inclined to consider alternatives not within any specific physician's purview.

Informed consent [have the procedure or not] is quite a bit different from informed choice [an unbiased explanation of alternatives]. In our current system there is no "informed choice." We have a single paradigm system of health care. A single paradigm system is much like having only one political party or of allowing only one religion -- why would they lie?

Well, it is the credibility of the medical system that is highly suspect. There is no good source of drug information except from drug companies. Studies are largely funded by drug companies. Medical schools are funded by drug companies. Careers are made and broken by drug companies.

The medicos simply have no credibility; kinda like politicians. People know that the MMR was introduced as a super wad vaccine in 1970'ish and that since then autism has increased some ginormous amount; four hundred percent or seven fold or whatever. People know cancer rates are sky rocketing, even among youth; and, heart disease is reaching ever further across the years (30 is the new 60). Virtually all women will have detectable thyroid cancer on autopsy, half of all men prostate cancer; breast cancer among women may soon be 50% or more.

And where are the medicos? Nowhere helpful to be sure. Who banned plastic baby pablum? Activist groups not medicos. Who lobbys to ban transfats? Activists, not medicos. Pesticides, saturated fat, salt, soft plastics, fluoride?

If we choose to avoid the highly suspect products of modern medicine then there is no one to blame but the medicos themselves. They have a monopoly and they abuse it.

Sickness is caused. The medicos won't, or can't, prove it because proof in the scientific method is impossible. How convenient for the money makers.

If we choose to avoid vaccines it is because OUR multi-paradigmed risk analysis says it is likely safer in the long run.

No ideology -- religious, political, or economic -- can redeem the exercise of monopoly power.

Without open dissent, there can be no effect consent. Without available alternatives, the people cannot exercide their sovereign authority.

In science and technology, for example, a plurality of theories and methods may openly compete in order to demonstrate their respective validity ... Ultimate questions concerning the nature and meaning of life are settled, not by government fiat, but by individual choice.

Down with the medico monopoly!

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Autism study retracted

"A medical journal in Britain has retracted a controversial study it published in 1998 that linked the use of a vaccine in children to autism."

Galileo: Yes, you are right. The earth is the centre of the universe.

Inquisition: See, I told you so.

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We'll rise again ...

Well, it looks like the Alberta Greens are again stirring in the primordial, tar ponds-infested ooze and are perhaps attempting a comeback. Read all about it at
vision2012alberta.ca
not to be confused with just plain old
vision2012.ca which predicts the end of the world or something.
Or perhaps Revelation actually means the emergence of the Green Party?

The problem remains: just how does one keep those scorched-earth ultra rightists out of the party? You'd think somebody would have reminded potential entrants to read the Charter of the Global Greens first. Maybe an entrance test is in order?

Maybe we should try some sample test questions out on the federal greens first:
Provoking civil wars in far-flung parts of the world? Y / N [answer = N0]
Limiting the rights of people to vote before an election? Y / N [answer = No]
Fiscal sustainability? Y / N [answer = Y]

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WE should not negotiate with the Taliban.

WE should not be negotiating with the Taliban at all! We should bring our troops home immediately.

WE should have discussions, later, with whatever government the Afghans are able to establish of their own initiative, if we so choose and if they are so willing.

Does anyone remember why we are there in the first place? Canada should not be picking sides in a civil war.

We remain in Afghanistan for VERY dubious reasons. Let's invade the Amazon, too. I'm sure all kinds of human rights are being violated there!

We, and all nations claiming to be superior and enlightened, need only lead by example. Surely other less enlightened nations will simply evolve toward our example at a rate as best they are capable, if our way is the best way (for them). But they must be left free to do so.

Foreign-directed imposition of immediate enlightenment is, of course, a recipe for disaster. Do we never learn?

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Wussa matter, Medicos? Not enough profit?

"The problem was worst among those aged 35 to 49. The prevalence of high blood pressure in that age group increased 127 per cent, diabetes by 64 per cent and obesity by 20 per cent."

Normal blood pressure used to be that tired old saw of 120 / 80. That reading is now called "pre-hypertensive." Wow. We're all just a bomb waiting to blow up. Better drug that puppy.

I live in Calgary. Here they once passed a law restricting transfats in food (funnily, to just above the level found unnecessarily in milk). Then they unbanned it because it wasn't fair to other regions. Then the head provincially-appointed health guy walked away with a massive and gross severance package.

Eat healthier, they say. Maybe eat like 20 years ago when there was no such thing as ice cream or chocolate or cake. We were all so responsible way back then ... NOT!

My mother brought over some ice cream for X-mas dinner. The first ingredient -- "modified milk ingredients" (aka imported US milk/fructose blend). Mmm, that sounds healthy. And also there is glucose, mono & diglycerides, and the ever popular polysorbate80. This same brand, long ago, only had the ingredients cream [what's that? cream], sugar, vanilla. No wonder the ice cream is still in the freezer taking up space.

Ever read the long, long list of ingredients in cakes or sweets at your local grocery store. Need a chemistry degree to understand them.

Blame heart disease on bad eating habits ... shame on you. Blame heart disease on a population being poisoned by corporations and their apologist henchmen -- the medicos.

Transfats, guaranteed heart disease. Ban them. And turf your incumbent politician for it, too.

Break the health care monopoly.

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Raw Milk

Finally, some common sense ... even though it took a trip to the Supreme Court of Canada to do it. Raw milk is, essentially, legal in Canada now. The deadly, toxic brew is now a healthy, unadulterated product -- just like in many US states and in Europe.

The stubborn medico monopoly and its corporate backers have been forced to blink.

I drink raw milk. All of my children were raised on raw milk.

Look at your carton of milk. See any transfats in it? Look at North American made milk-chocolate bars. See any transfats in them? You bet! Stop letting medicos poison you.

If your province hasn't banned transfats then vote out the party in power.

Transfats. Guaranteed heart disease. The leading cause of death.

Iran's moral case

I rarely judge other counties as I am a firm believer in self-determination of nations. However I feel let down by Iran, even disappointed. Iran was a country bold enough to lecture the USA on principles and morality. Rigged elections places Iran firmly in the "immoral by one's own standards" camp. No longer a respectable international voice.

Having elections and rigging the result -- bad form. Just a bunch of petty despots using religion to maintain power.

Dishonest in elections, dishonest in everything ... I say.

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Bread'n Roses

I took this picture last summer in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. A bed'n breakfast called Bread and Roses Country Inn. It just sorta reminded me of PB. This house is just a couple of blocks away from PMS Studio. Annapolis is rather an interesting town.



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