Monthly Archives: April 2010

Panama Canal Crossing and into the Pacific

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After leaving the San Blas it was full steam ahead so to speak as far as organising our transit through the Panama Canal and onwards into the Pacific. Fortunately the guys of Ghost were a bit ahead of us and had arranged for Stanley the Agent to meet us at Shelter Bay Marina and he was the agent we were going to use to help us organise customs and immigrations into and out of Panama as well as a

In Dublin’s Fair City….

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Blog Day 30.Woke at about 7.30. I took a pill could see the writing on the wall as far as noise was concerned. Poor Roly had a very poor night. I woke at one stage at about 3.00am to loud caterwauling from some drunken yob. Just got back to sleep when the street cleaning vehicles came up and went down again very noisily Went cautiously down to breakfast. No cards for good service here girls

Tours in China

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April 22 2010Our day began at 330 am. Sadie was up and bright eyed. We needless to say were not. But we rallied and Ethan took her for a walk around 530 and found things coming to life slowly on the streets. We saw a horse drawn flat bed and quite a few dogs out for their morning walks. Our favorite corner store provided some milk to start the day out right. After another huge breakfast wi

Fun in the sun

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We have sadly departed from the Smith family and we left them in Cusco while we hopped on the Andean Express and headed off to visit Puno. The train ride was the best one that we have had yet the seats were quite luxurious and there were some live entertainment. It was nice to have the freedom to move around during our ten hour ride into puno as well as a bathroom to use whenever needed. Th

Demonizing “Big Pharma”

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To be blunt up front – SBM is not apologetic about the pharmaceutical industry. We get zero funding from any company, and have no ties of any kind to “big pharma.” In today’s world I have to spend time making that clear, because despite the reality critics are free to assume and falsely claim that our message is coming straight from the bowels of hell (a.k.a. the pharmaceutical industry).

We promote science-based medicine and criticize pharmaceutical companies along with everyone else when they place other concerns ahead of scientific validity, or promote bad science, for whatever reason.

It has become fashionable, however, to not only criticize the pharmaceutical industry but to demonize them – and the term “big pharma” has come to represent this demonization. Cynicism is a cheap imitation of skepticism – it is the assumption of the worst, without careful thought or any hint of fairness.

A recent article by Martha Rosenberg is an excellent representation of the mindless demonization of the pharmaceutical industry – good for scoring cheap points, but very counterproductive. She essentially accuses big pharma of inventing diseases in order to sell their products.

The premise strikes me as profoundly naive – which diagnostic entities are considered legitimate diseases is actually a complex question that is debated within the medical field. Rosenberg acts as if diseases can be invented out of whole cloth and then imposed upon medicine by a pharmaceutical executive. It is a grand-conspiracy type of thinking which erodes under scrutiny.

After hinting at anti-vaccine leanings, she writes:

Now pharma is back to creating new diseases, patients, risks and “awareness campaigns” faster than you can say thimerosal (the vaccine preservative that started the backlash.)

No – thimerosal did not start the backlash, Andrew Wakefield demonstrably did, with the MMR vaccine that never contained thimerosal. Thimerosal was simply act 2, after the evidence failed to find a link between MMR and autism (and of course there is also no link between thimerosal and autism either). But Rosenberg acts as if the anti-vaccine movement is a justified backlash against the excesses of big pharma – nice historical revisionism.

The sad fact is, Rosenberg might have a kernel of a legitimate point if she did not come across with her anti-scientific conspiracy mongering. That is why such demonization is so counterproductive – it actually backfires and let’s pharmaceutical companies off the hook for their real excesses.

Harriet Hall, for example, wrote an excellent piece on osteopenia – (Osteoporosis Drugs: Good Medicine or Big Pharma Scam?) which takes a properly nuanced and balanced approach to such questions. Do we really need to be treating pre-osteoporosis? The evidence should ultimately guide us. What pharma is guilty of doing is jumping prematurely on the bandwagon of a questionable diagnosis because it is a new market for them.

I think the same is true of the drugs that are now approved for the treatment of fibromyalgia – a controversial diagnosis, to say the least. But here we see more complexity and nuance. The FDA requires that a drug be indicated to treat a disease – not a syndrome or symptom. So there is no drug indicated for treating neuropathic pain as a symptom – drugs have to be indicated for diabetic neuropathy or post-herpetic neuralgia.

This forces pharmaceutical companies to find a disease, even when they have a drug that can potentially alleviate a symptom. Fibromyalgia is the perfect example of this – the very diagnosis itself is mostly used as a garbage pail diagnosis for vague syndromes of muscle pain and tenderness with fatigue and poor sleep. But you cannot get FDA approval to treat vague muscle pain.

Meanwhile, doctors are struggling to understand these syndromes and come up with a proper system of labeling what we find. We don’t want to prematurely use the “disease” label, but we also need to recognize patterns of patient complaints. I prefer terms like “myofascial pain syndrome” because it says what it is without implying a specific disease.

But regulation exists in its own world, and the FDA demands a disease label. So we have drugs, which are likely fine for the symptomatic treatment of myofascial pain, indicated for a dubious diagnosis (at least as it is often applied) like fibromyalgia. But it is doctors that invented the concept of fibromyalgia, and we still debate about it.

Rosenberg, however, cuts through all this nuance and goes for the simplistic and cynical conspiracy theory – pharma “invented” fibromyalgia to sell its drugs. She writes:

Nothing proves pharma’s when-the-medication-is-ready credo better than the legions of people who have fibromyalgia now that Cymbalta, Savella and Lyrica are available to treat it.

This is more historical revisionism. Having lived, and practiced medicine, through the fibromyalgia controversy it is clear that what happened is fibromyalgia became a popular diagnosis for the common vague syndrome I described above. Much after fibromyalgia became a popular diagnosis, some pharmaceutical companies saw it as a potential market. Rosenberg therefore has it backwards.

What we do have to recognize is that, now that there are drugs indicated for fibromyalgia, those pharmaceutical companies that make those drugs are invested in the reality and popularity of the diagnosis. They may therefore seek to distort the debate in that direction.

Rosenberg also embarrasses herself by criticizing the notion that there is an epidemic of sleep disorders in our society – the evidence suggests that there is, and it is under-treated. She further goes after adult ADHD and adult autism. The alternative is that autism and ADHD are childhood diseases only and always spontaneously resolve by adulthood – a scientifically untenable, and even laughable, position.

She further completely distorts the notion of “treatment resistant” conditions. She misinterprets that fact that many drugs are initially approved for adjunctive (add-on) therapy. This is not because the notion of “treatment resistance” was invented by big pharma. It is partly due to the fact that it is easier to do clinical trials where a new treatment is added to an established treatment, rather than to prove equivalence as stand alone therapy. So pharmaceutical companies go after the low-hanging fruit to maximize their return on investment.

Also – some patients are difficult to treat, and when one approach is not adequate it is nice to have more options. Rosenberg somehow turns this into a negative.

Conclusion

Rosenberg’s approach to this complex issue is simplistic, naive, and conspiracy-mongering. She brings no useful insight to the discussion.  She also demonstrates nicely the method of “demonizing” a convenient target – re-write history, white wash over all complexity and nuance, and cast everything into a maximally sinister light.

But further Rosenberg shows that taking such an approach is highly counterproductive. The pharmaceutical industry, like every industry, needs an effective watchdog to guard against abuse and excess. I also think they require thoughtful and effective regulation (although this question is difficult to disentangle from political ideology).

Rosenberg and other big pharma conspiracy theorists make ineffective watchdogs and critics, because their criticisms are paper thin and easily countered . By not recognizing the complexity of the issues involved, or making any attempt at fairness, Rosenberg is easily dismissed.

If I were a conspiracy nut I might even suspect that people like Rosenberg are actually fronts for big pharma, used to create a straw man of criticism that they can then easily knock down to show that all criticism is weak and invalid.


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An Analysis Of I Corinthians 15 – Blogger News Network (blog)

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Washington Times
An Analysis Of I Corinthians 15
Blogger News Network (blog)
For these philosophies tended to downplay the role and need for the body in the quest for spiritual enlightenment. For example, the Docetics believed that ...
"Always in need of being purified"(2): Jesus, Children and Church LeadershipAmerica Magazine (subscription) (blog)

all 57 news articles »

Wyoming Republicans try to out Anti-Fed each other

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by Michael W. Dean, Libertarian Punk

I LOVE livin’ in the Cowboy State.

In a debate on Thursday night of Wyoming Gubernatorial Republican candidates Matt Mead, Rita Meyer and Ron Micheli (candidate Simpson didn’t bother showing up) and Libertarian Party candidate Mike Wheeler, they all tried to out-do each other on how anti-Fed each one is.

This is a nice contrast. In my former state, California, the candidates generally praise Washington DC and talk about how if elected (or re-elected), they will enact more programs and entitlements. In Wyoming the candidates talk about calling out the Wyoming National Guard against the federal government (RLC-endorsed candidate Rita Meyer), and taking federal land in Wyoming away from the Feds (RLC-endorsed candidate Ron Micheli). Statist Matt Mead even talked boldly about “securing the nation’s borders.” (Not really a bold issue for a non-border state gov candidate, but hey…more conservative than some RINOs would try to get away with.)

I love it. So far Wyoming has no Democrat announced for the November election, and the Republicans are fighting on a platform of who hates the Feds more. I find it refreshing.

Editor's Note - Dean is Coordinator of the Wyoming Republican Liberty Caucus. The WY RLC recently held a meeting at the public library and 8 interested individuals showed up. They are also planning to have an information table at an upcoming Gun Show in Casper.

The Republican Liberty Caucus makes two Big Senate Endorsements: John Hostettler in Indiana, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania

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The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus, which represents the libertarian wing of the GOP, met in conference call and voted to endorse two high profile candidates for US Senate.

INDIANA

According to RLC Board Member Aaron Bitterman of Wisconson, and Metro-DC:

U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D) decided to retire this year, leaving Democrats to hope that Blue Dog Brad Ellsworth can win statewide. Because of where Ellsworth is from in the state and the political climate, Republicans in Indiana would be best served to select former Congressman John Hostettler to face him in the upcoming May primary.

Hostettler favors the dissolution of the Department of Education, and voted against the No Child Left Behind Act because he believes education is a state matter. He also voted against most federal health care bills with the view that health care is a private or state matter. He maintains that many federal environmental laws and regulations infringed on individual property rights. He is active in promoting issues of freedom of religion and expression. He supported repeal of the estate tax, capital gains tax, and marriage tax penalty. Hostettler was recently endorsed by Congressman Ron Paul, and his supporters are having a MoneyBomb tomorrow.

He’s not a perfect candidate, as he opposes a Balanced Budget Amendment and term limits, supports a closed border, and is too conservative on most hot-button social issues (but doesn’t usually believe the federal government should be involved).

PENNSYLVANIA

More from Bitterman:

The Republican Liberty Caucus also endorsed Pat Toomey for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Toomey’s Republican primary opponent is Peg Luksik, who is affiliated with the far-right [social conservative wing] of the Republican Party. His general election opponent will likely be Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Spector.

Pat Toomey is a former Congressman who upheld his term limits pledge in 1998 to only serve three terms. While in Congress, Toomey voted to reduce the capital gains tax, to eliminate the estate tax, to cut small business taxes and to eliminate the marriage penalty. He publicly opposed the stimulus package passed in 2009 and supports a Balanced Budget Amendment.

Toomey takes a libertarian position on Roe v. Wade, believing it should be overturned and returned to the states.

Pat Toomey would be a competent and pro-liberty Senator for Pennsylvania.

http://www.rlc.org

Libertarian Party of New York State Convention to nominate Governor candidate this Weekend: Davis vs. Redlich

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Developing...

From Eric Dondero:

The New York Libertarian Party will holds it statewide convention this weekend in Albany at the Hilton Garden Inn. At issue is the nomination of their slate of candidates for state offices, most notably governor.

Warren Redlich, a local town councilman, looks to be the favorite. Kristin Davis, Manhattan Madam, is his main challenger. Efforts have been made by various Libertarian Party officials within the last two weeks, both on the state level and nationally to work out a compromise whereby Redlich would seek the AG's spot allowing Davis and an as-of-yet un-named celebrity candidate as her running mate. Redlich had previously indicated an interest in that position, and he is an attorney. But Libertarian Republican has learned, that talks have broken down.

The Campaign Manager for Davis, Roger Stone and Redlich have had fiery conversations. At main issue allowing candidates seeking the nomination to send out a mailing to delegates using the state party list.

Additionally, Redlich has accused Stone of having dual loyalties, also supportive of rival Republican candidate for Governor, Tea Party-affiliated Carl Paladino of Buffalo. Stone has been critical of Redlich's tone, and also charging that some associates of Redlich are restricting new delegates from participating in the convention.

Ironically, both Stone and Redlich have strong Republican affiliations. Stone is a well-known top GOP strategist who has managed numerous campaigns for over two decades. He has long been described in the media going back to the 1980s as from the "libertarian wing" of the GOP. His former wife is Republicans for Choice President, and two-time Republican Liberty Caucus convention speaker Anne Stone. Redlich was first elected to the Guiderland Town Council as a Republican. In addition to the Libertarian nomination, he is currently seeking the Republican nomination for Governor, as well. He is challenging former Congressman Rick Lazio, Suffolk County Commissioner Steve Levy, and ironically, Carl Paladino for that nomination.

No word yet from the Davis camp if she will bow out, still seek the nomination at the convention, or launch a separate independent Libertarian bid for Governor.

Libertarian Republican hopes to have more news as the situation develops.

Statement from the Editor: This blog has been, and remains supportive of both candidates, and wishes the best for the Libertarian Party of NY, for Kristin Davis, for Warren Redlich, and the overall libertarian movement in the Empire State.

Ross Perot: Lower Taxes on the Wealthy best course

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Ross Perot was interviewed about the Tea Party, by the Associated Press at an appearance for Veterans in Kansas City. He had some generally positive remarks on the movement. but offered, "Time will tell how effective it is..."

However, his comments on the economy are also drawing great attention. Perot defended wealthy Americans as job creators.

From AP:

The tea party movement generally unites on the fiscally conservative principles of small government, lower taxes and less spending — also Perot's ideals.

Perot said it would be wrong to increase taxes to increase the size of government. Perot recommended lowering taxes on the wealthy to stimulate job creation.

Note - many of Ross Perot's earliest supporters in his 1992 campaign for president were members of the Libertarian Party, particularly in Florida, where his campaign was launched. In 2008, his campaign manager from 1992, Russ Verney served as campaign manager for Libertarian Bob Barr for President.

Oklahoma City Bombing – Muslim Terrorist Connection, ignored by Mainstream Media

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Press would rather demonize Tea Partiers

From Pamela Geller:

If you suffered through Sunday's morning news shows on the alphabet networks, David Gregory, particularly pompous and moronic, posited yet again that the real threat to America is the threat of one man, one terror attack -- well over a decade ago, Timothy McVeigh. The 15,000 Islamic attacks across the world since 911 are "fringe." Lord knows, nudnik Napolitano's bowels are all in an uproar over the threat of McVeigh.

Last weekend was the terrible anniversary of the Oklahoma Federal building bombing. Worse still is the Democrats' exploitation of OKC to demonize patriots, tea partiers, senior citizens and great Americans working to save this great nation from the scourge of the party of treason and, worst of all, the cover-up of the OKC Islamic connection.

Hussein-al-Husseini, an Iraqi soldier in Saddam Hussein's Army, sat beside Timothy McVeigh in the Ryder truck financed by Ramzi Youseff (Khalid Sheik Muhammad's nephew). The Oklahoma City bombing, 15 years ago, was the first heinous Islamic terror attack on American soil.

See the Chairman's Report "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was there a Foreign Connection" by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman, 2007, Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee. Excerpt:

Committee Chairman's Report, Cong. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)

There is serious, yet in some cases circumstantial, evidence that suggests a possible Middle Eastern connection to the Oklahoma City bombing (named “OKBOMB” by federal investigators):

For example, of all the cities in the world, convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef and Terry Nichols were in Cebu City in the Philippines at the same time three months before the Oklahoma City bombing. Yousef was the perpetrator of the first World Trade Center attack as well as the mastermind behind the planning of other high-profile attacks on Americans. Furthermore, Ramzi Yousef’s phone records, from the months before he detonated the first World Trade Center bomb in early 1993, show calls placed to the Filipina neighbor and close friend of Terry Nichols’ in-laws in Queens, New York. The opportunity for interaction between American terrorist, Nichols, and al-Qaeda terrorist,Yousef, is evident.

One indicator that this terrorist act had broader implications came directly from Abdul Hakim Murad, Yousef’s roommate, childhood friend, and fellow convicted terrorist. On the day of the bombing, Murad claimed responsibility for this terrorist act from his jail cell in New York. He bragged to his prison guards, verbally and in writing, that the bombing of the Murrah federal building was the work of the “Liberation Army.” His confession was similar to the one Yousef had made two years earlier in the immediate aftermath of the first attempt to destroy the Word Trade Center. Hours after he drove a Ryder truck into the garage of the north tower of the World Trade Center and detonated the deadly bomb, Yousef called the FBI from a pay phone in Newark International Airport and boasted that the “Liberation Army” had conducted the attack. He then boarded a plane and escaped, ending up in Manila, Philippines.

Note: the Oklahoma City Bombing followed a similar pattern to the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center —a rental truck loaded with ammonium-based explosives, using similar detonation devices, based on the strategy of driving a vehicle into or near a target.

Another possibility of Islamic terrorist involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing was pursued by Jayna Davis, a local Oklahoma City television reporter. Davis did extensive research in the immediate and long term aftermath of the crime and concluded that a small group of recent Iraqi émigrés living in the Oklahoma City area helped McVeigh bomb the Murrah building. She documented multiple witnesses who placed Timothy McVeigh with a foreign-looking person (and/or persons) in the days leading up to, as well as the day of, the Oklahoma City bombing. Her witnesses offer substantial support to the theory of a Middle Eastern connection and relate directly to the existence of John Doe Two. The FBI, much to the frustration of some of its own investigators, discarded the possibility of the existence of John Doe Two, two months into the investigation.

Editor's Note - Pamela Geller's blog Atlas Shrugs is one of the top libertarian sites with tens of thousands of visitors a day. She is a friend of this site, and we're proud to have her on our blog roll. Please add her site to your daily favorites.

Another Republican champion for Marijuana Reform in the State Legislatures

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Idaho Rep. Tom Trail - It's a "fairly libertarian" thing to do

The Maryland Senate recently passed a medical marijuana bill thanks to the advocacy of a Republican State Senator. Now Idaho is joining the fray.

From Stephen C. Webster of True Slant:

The first rumblings of the Plan can be heard in Boise, where Republican legislator Tom Trail (R-Moscow) is leading the “compassionate conservative” charge to legalize medical marijuana.

Expect this to become a trend among libertarian-minded statehouse members. Trail is just the beginning of elected Republicans...

Rep. Trail was a guest speaker at an unlikely event for Republicans over the weekend; a Pro-Marijuana Rally. From The Argonaut Univ. of Idaho:

This year’s speaker lineup also has a special addition. Rep. Tom Trail from the Idaho House of Representatives will announce his proposal to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the state of Idaho, making it the 15th state in the nation to do so.
Trail became interested in the proposal almost three years ago when several patients approached him and said medical marijuana was the only way to relieve their pain.

“The local doctor in Moscow prescribed medical marijuana, and the patients got it across the border in Washington,” Trail said. “… it became apparent that medical marijuana seemed to be the only thing that would help relieve pain. So I thought somebody should move ahead and try to make it legal.”

The patients had also used morphine, a legal substance often necessary for pain management, but Trail said it can ruin the kidneys over time.

“I’ve got case studies from all over the state of people needing medical marijuana for their pain, but they’re afraid of being arrested,” Trail said.

He said it would cost half a million dollars to get a ballot initiative in Idaho, so the legislative process is a better option. He has talked with numerous doctors, patients, law enforcement officers, legislators, representatives and the Dept. of Health and Welfare, as they would be the agency responsible for administering the proposal. Now he will speak at Hemp Fest and other events throughout Idaho to educate the public and gain support.

“The (Moscow) community is generally very supportive … I’ve gotten e-mails from all over the state and phone calls in support,” Trail said.

In a conservative state such as Idaho, proposals of this nature are often denied. But Trail said it’s important to remember it is a bipartisan issue. He said states like New Jersey and Maryland had Republican leadership and the same legislation passed with large bipartisan support.

“It presents a fairly libertarian and conservative point of view,” Trail said. “If we are successful, that would be a surprise to many. It is controversial, no question about it. There are folks out there who see things in black and white, good and evil.”

Note - additionally, Libertarian Republican State Senator Bob Hedlund of Weymouth, Massachusetts is a longtime advocate of medicinal marijuana, and has spoken to numerous NORML rallies over the years.

“After-Hours” with all Hoosier Libertarians

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Attention Libertarians from around the State!  Join libertarian advocates from across Indiana for some casual libertarian fun!
April is the month of Libertarian Conventions, and Indianapolis Libertarians will be helping kick-off our state convention with food, drinks and merriment.
Visiting libertarians will get to see our “After-Hours” in action, and local libertarians will get a chance to [...]