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Monthly Archives: April 2010
Copenhagem parte 1
O reino da Dinamarca um lugar a parte no mundo.Tudo ultramegasuper organizado limpo e silencioso. Chegamos no sbado 1004 s 2h da manh devido a um atraso na sada do vo de Paris.Estava a nossa espera o Jnior de agora em diante Antnio com 3 cevas e temperatura de 3C.Do aeroporto at a casa deles Antnio Elisa e a pequena linda Isabela so 35 minutos de carro.Fiquei impressionado
India
After having completed the first stage of my trip in Africa I left the wonderful City of Capetown on the Thursday night knowing I wouldn't arrive in Kochi until Saturday morning. In truth it was a crappy journey with a 12 hour stop over in Qatar which I would not care to repeat. Upon arrival in Kochi it was very hot and humid but the airport transfer had arrived as instructed unlike in Nairob
Luxury Travel Vietnam Company Aims at Gay and Lesbian Tourism
Hanoi Vietnam The company promotes luxury and bespoke travel experiences at affordable prices during the credit crunch and Luxury Travel Company is very friendly to gays from tour guides to drivers and all representatives. Luxury Travel is the first travel company in Vietnam http://www.luxurytravelvietnam.com offering tours for not only couples but also for upscale singles. This travel company of
The Jordan Shoes Influence
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PLAYBOY CHANNEL NIGHT 2008
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NFL squad having too many good football players
Therersquos no such thing as a NFL jersey squad having too many good football players. Thatrsquos like a drunk complaining about a hosted bar. Nevertheless can an authorize have too many very good or even great players Itrsquos workable.And the Chargers may be the ones to find out very rapidly. In their case too much could be too many.ldquoThey are gazebo players they are attractive
II
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GM names Calif. medical school professor to board – The Associated Press
 MLive.com | GM names Calif. medical school professor to board The Associated Press DETROIT — General Motors Co. says it has added a California medical school professor to its board. The Detroit automaker says Dr. Cynthia Telles is the ... General Motors Names UCLA's Cynthia Telles to BoardBusinessWeek |
KU to report on medical school expansion efforts – Kansas City Star
KU to report on medical school expansion efforts Kansas City Star AP TOPEKA | Officials of the University of Kansas are scheduled to report later this week on expansion plans for the university's medical school programs in ... |
Teenage drinking may lead to benign breast cancer: study – The Hindu
India Talkies | Teenage drinking may lead to benign breast cancer: study The Hindu ... some cases of benign breast disease and breast cancer,” said Catherine S Berkey, a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study. ... Teen Drinking Tied to Breast DiseaseFOXNews Benign Breast Disease linked to Teen DrinkingeYugoslavia.com Teen Drinking Linked to Benign Breast DiseaseWebMD TopNews United States -Macleans.ca -eMaxHealth all 84 news articles » |
A homeopathy supporter notices our visit with the director of NCCAM
On April 2, Steve Novella, Kimball Atwood, and I visited the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to meet with its director, Dr. Josephine Briggs. I’m not going to rehash what was said because we agreed that Steve would handle that task, and he did so admirably last week. I agree with Steve that it was encouraging that Dr. Briggs apparently reads this blog and shares many of our concerns about NCCAM, the poor science that it has funded, and its use by promoters of unscientific medicine to promote their quackery. Most heartening of all was that she appeared to recognize how much CAM is infused with anti-vaccine beliefs and, worse, the promotion of these beliefs to the detriment of public health.
Those positive reactions to what was a friendly but frank exchange of views notwithstanding, as we were sitting in a conference room next to Dr. Briggs’ office, I couldn’t help but wonder what the reaction of CAM promoters would be when they found out about this meeting. Now I know. John Weeks over at The Integrator Blog is not happy:
Novella’s posting reads like a Fox News interview: 95% his team’s point, then a brief NCCAM response. That Briggs asked for the meeting likely grew out of an early March conference at Yale at which Novella and she both participated. For this, she deserves the Barack Obama Big Tent award for her proven interest in sitting down with everyone, no matter which party affiliation or belief. (Some have said this was proven in early 2008 when Briggs met with me.) Arguably, Briggs takes her openness to dialogue further than the President. While Obama has kept arms length from leaders who call for the demise of the United States, Briggs has now met with those who have been lobbing bombs at her professional home for years, calling steadily for NCCAM’s destruction.
Because our previous calls for the closing of a relatively small government institute because we view it as a poor use of taxpayer money is just like calling for the downfall of the United States government. Weeks clearly likes ridiculously overblown hyperbole. Interestingly enough, what appeared to upset Mr. Weeks the most was our discussion of homeopathy with Dr. Briggs. As Steve put it:
Dr. Briggs pointed out that it is not the job of the NCCAM to make final pronouncements about any treatment or medical claim. This is fair enough — but depends on context. The NCCAM is responsible for informing the public about so-called CAM modalities, and that should include a fair assessment of the science. If the science says a treatment is worthless, the NCCAM should not be afraid to say so.
Further, the NCCAM does determine what studies the NCCAM funds. The NCCAM accepts applications for research into homeopathy, but have not funded any in several years. What does this mean? Will they consider funding homeopathy research, and if so they are basically saying that they do not close the door on any medical modality, no matter how implausible or damned by negative evidence.
If they will not consider funding homeopathy, then why are they accepting grant applications for homeopathy research? This could be construed as disingenuous — perhaps a way to not fund homeopathy research without having to say they will not fund homeopathy research.
Steve is correct. The NIH can never totally close the door on any line of research. It can, however, set priorities. It could decide that, given the homeopathically diluted prior plausibility of homeopathy based solely on physics, chemistry, and biology, homeopathy is not a priority. It can make sure that only reviewers with the relevant background in basic and clinical science — not “homeopathic” science — make up the study sections that review NCCAM grants. Indeed, I was much heartened to learn from Dr. Briggs that she had already moved peer review of CAM grants out of NCCAM-sponsored study sections and into regular standing NIH study sections run by the Center for Scientific Review, which is where the vast majority of NIH grants are normally reviewed.
As a sort of counterpoint to our message, Mr. Weeks described in the same post a meeting that Dr. Briggs had with an “international homeopathic team.” Besides the amusement I felt at the word choice (is a homeopathic team a team so diluted that there is no one there?), the content itself was at the same time both disturbing and full of hilarious howlers. For instance, this passage concludes the section discussing our visit:
That said, what would have been especially interesting is if Briggs’ scheduler crossed wires and the anti-NCCAM bloggers and homeopathic researchers had showed up for the same meeting time.
I can’t speak for Steve or Kimball, but I assure Mr. Weeks, that I probably would have enjoyed such an encounter thoroughly, although we would have been disappointed that we wouldn’t have been able to have the discussion that we had planned on.
But how did the meeting between Dr. Briggs and the homeopaths go? This is how Mr. Weeks describes it:
Gahles, in a report to the Integrator, assessed that the meeting went “very well.” In her view, a presentation by Chaplin and Roy on chemistry and slides that “showed activity of homeopathic remedies on basophils and IgG” seemed to be particularly compelling to the NCCAM team in suggesting mechanism of action. Gahles underscored that conventional bio-markers seemed to be key in stimulating interest from the NCCAM team.
On the other hand, a presentation on quantum physics and energy medicine seemed to be less useful in making in the case. At one point, an NCCAM team member who said he found the presentation “powerful” asked what the community of top scientists would think. Those in the meeting responded: “We are the leading scientists in the field.”
More like the leading pseudoscientists in the field. The thought of a homeopath claiming to be a leading scientist, particularly when it comes to physics and energy brings to mind Dr. Charlene Werner’s tortured attempt to explain homeopathy through physics or John Benneth’s attempt to explain it as “nanocrystalloids.” Maybe they’re the “leading scientists” of the field of homeopathy. Or perhaps Mr. Weeks means Dana Ullman. Or maybe Jacques Benveniste. In any case, it’s disturbing that an NCCAM team member apparently found the presentation “powerful.” Anyone who finds the clinical research on homeopathy “powerful” does not understand the true tenets of homeopathy and what pseudoscience they are. Such attitudes will tend to stand in the way of attempts to bring more rigorous science to the study of CAM.
Still, Mr. Weeks has done us an unintentional favor — two, actually. First, he has demonstrated clearly that the CAM community wants its pseudoscience, not rigorous science, to guide NCCAM’s research efforts. This has only reinforced my appreciation of Dr. Briggs’ delicate situation. Every move she makes towards bringing rigorous science to the study of CAM is certain to enrage supporters of the purely pseudoscientific CAM modalities such as homeopathy, reiki, and various “energy healing” modalities that are no better than faith healing under different belief systems than Christianity.
Second, Weeks actually points out the heart of the conflict at the heart of NCCAM. Dr. Briggs is clearly trying to move NCCAM in a direction that we at SBM would approve of, namely towards a more drug discovery-oriented approach towards herbal and botanical remedies and various supplements, as well as the study of exercise and various relaxation techniques. After all, these are the most plausible remedies that fall under the general rubric of CAM, and a pharmacognosy approach is the most likely to yield useful information and scientific advances. But that is not what CAM proponents want. Indeed, they resent this approach, as Weeks demonstrates:
One of the perverse pleasures that comes from the disposition of the NIH to hire NCCAM leaders who have no prior experience in alternative or integrative medicine is to think of the culture shock when they move from a zone of relative comfort — drug research on fractions of botanical — into the far reaches such as homeopathic theory and practice. In truth, forms of energetic thinking and practice are infused throughout the “CAM” universe; homeopathy’s dance with Avogadro’s number merely makes it, with distant prayer, the most challenging.
“Challenging” is putting it mildly. But this is the kicker:
It is probably good that Briggs’ extensive and admirable self-education process over the last 2 years preceded this meeting. The culture shock may had this meeting been in her first months.
I rather suspect that Mr. Weeks is correct here, only not in the way he thinks. I’m willing to bet that it was a major culture shock for Dr. Briggs to find out just how much magical thinking, religion, and pseudoscience underlie so much of CAM. What Weeks calls a “comfort zone” is in reality nothing more than staying within what can be studied and demonstrated scientifically, which is what scientists do. If homeopaths could produce anything more than centuries-old magical thinking to support their quackery, if they could produce actual science in the form of physics, chemistry, and biology to support their mystical beliefs in the “memory” of water and that “like cures like,” then their discipline would enter the realm of science, rather than being relegated to the realm of pseudoscience. The problem, of course, is that homeopathy and the “energy healing” modalities are so removed from science that this is about as unlikely to happen as there is likely to be a single molecule of active remedy left in a 30C dilution.
Therein lies the conflict at the heart of NCCAM, and, although I approve of Dr. Briggs’ attempts to increase the scientific rigor of NCCAM and, given that NCCAM isn’t going anywhere, see that as the best path towards trying to make NCCAM a useful center in the NIH, I’m afraid that her actions will only exacerbate the conflict. It’s the institution and the laws that created it that are the problem, and Dr. Briggs won’t be there forever. Her successor might not be as dedicated to science as she is. (In fact, if people like John Weeks get their way, you can count on it.) No matter how much Dr. Briggs may change the culture of NCCAM under her stewardship, all it takes is a new director to change it right back. Directors come and go, but institutions last for generations.
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Ron Paul backs Chairman Steele
RNC Chairman Michael Steele has come under fire from mostly social conservatives for allowing a disbursement by a junior staffer, at a risque nightclub in Los Angeles. But the libertarian wing sees it as less of a problem. Since the controversy emerged last week, he's had a number of libertarian-leaning Republicans rally to his side, including Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin. Now another often times described libertarian Rep. Ron Paul has joined the Pro-Steele bandwagon.
From CNN Political Ticker:
Washington (CNN) - Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, offered support Monday for embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who he praised for trying to build a bridge between the GOP establishment and the libertarian-minded activists who supported Paul's presidential bid.
"Generally, the Republican leadership [doesn't] want to have anything to do with me and don't want to have anything to do with the Ron Paul people," Paul said in an interview on CNN's American Morning. "They should be looking to us and saying, 'You know, why don't we help these young people who are so anxious and interested in what I'm talking about? Maybe they can be and sure should be in the Republican Party instead of being excluded.' He's reached out."
Ron Paul unequivocal: Obama Care will be repealed
The Daily Caller reports that Texas Congressman and sometimes libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, predicts eventually Obama's Health Control legislation will be completely repealed.
From Daily Caller:
Even without the votes, Paul said, economic forces would eventually compel the bill’s repeal.
“Ultimately, the economics will reverse the tide,” Paul told The Daily Caller. “The medical thing, it will be reversed, because it won’t function.”
Paul will be introducing a bill this week that would completely repeal the individual mandate. He hopes for some bi-partisan support for the legislation.
Standard Disclaimer - LR agrees wholeheartedly with Ron Paul on nearly all domestic issues, but most definitely not on foreign policy.
Cost of compliance for the IRS Code, a huge time consumer
New Video from a former Cato Intern
The IRS always win; You lose.
From Dan Mitchell, International Liberty DanielJMitchell.Wordpress.com
New Look, Leaner Site At Libertarian Republican
Changes at Libertarian Republican
Hey, this is Wes Messamore from HumbleLibertarian.com. As some of you may know, I do professional graphic design work, web page optimization, branding, and other consulting and creative services for bloggers- especially political bloggers (especially conservative and libertarian political bloggers! ...examples here and here).
Eric Dondero has been working really hard here at Libertarian Republican and as he puts the pedal to the metal to turn a corner and take this website to the very top of the conservative political blogosphere and beyond, he figured a site redesign was in order. We've already made a lot of the changes, but there's more to come. Please use the comment thread on this post to leave your feedback on the new arrangement, navigation links, header graphic, logo, and page load time.
Libertarian Republican in your inbox
One of the newest, sweetest features Eric is now offering, is a free subscription to all of his content right in your inbox. For your ease and convenience, all you need to do is drop your e-mail address into the subscribe form at the top of the page, and hit "subscribe." You will then receive a confirmation e-mail and all you need to do is follow the link in your confirmation e-mail to activate your subscription. After that, you will get one e-mail at the end of each day with a table of contents and links to all the new posts at Libertarian Republican for that day.
Please help Eric and me grow this website!
The number one thing you can do to help Eric out as he aggressively grows and improves this blog is to subscribe. If you use a feed reader and prefer that to the e-mail subscription, click the new RSS link at the top of the page. Please help me blow up Eric's subscriber count so we can advertise it and gain some real momentum! If you are a blogger yourself, the number two thing you can do is write a post linking back to Libertarian Republican today and let your readers know about the redesign, new features, and more to come from Mr. Dondero. Last of all, the number three thing you can do to help Eric is grab badge from his new badge page, and post it on your blog for a week or two!
Talking on the phone to Eric, his enthusiasm for politics and political blogging is through the roof! He is really on a mission here and we both appreciate your help a ton!
ELECTION ANALYSIS: 7 months out, GOP looks very, very good
Close in the Senate; definitely the House
SENATE +6 (ND, DE, IN, AR, NV, PA, CO) (relative to 9)
HOUSE +50 (relative to 38)
by Clifford F. Thies
Republicans look to make major gains in this year's elections. First, it is not unusual for a party that got wiped out in the prior election to make a comeback, and the Republicans took big loses in 2006 and 2008. But, as things look right now, the extent of the gains may be historic.
In the Senate, polling data show Republicans to be ahead in six states with Democratic seats and not to be behind in any states with Republican seats. There is another tier of contests, involving both Democratic and Republican seats, where the seat might flip. Thinking only good thoughts, California and Illinois might flip to the Republicans. There is yet another tier of states in which Republican hopes appear to be hinged to possible candidates who have not announced: New York, Washington and Wisconsin (where Tommy Thompson is at least thinking about it).
In the House, going by the Generic Congressional Ballot, and that's about the best we can do at this point, the Republicans appear to be on track to net something like 50 seats. This prognostication is supported by the stream of retirements coming from the other side.
Some people think it would be best for the Republican Party if we were to fall short of controlling both or even one chamber. They fear that a Republican Congress might do to President Obama what the Republican Congress first elected in 1994 did to President Clinton. That is, box the guy in, restrain spending and cut taxes to both balance the budget and spur economic growth, with the consequence of Obama being re-elected in 2012. All I will say about this possible scenario is: until I see a Republican Congress restrain spending when a Republican is in the White House, what would be so bad about that? We don't need the Republicans in Congress to turn into a bunch of lard asses the way they did when George W. Bush got elected.
We'll have more to say about this year's elections through the course of the year, including Governors and state legislatures.
Dr. Thies is the former National Treasurer for the Libertarian Party, and former National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus. He's a professor of economics specializing in econo-metrics and statistics.
Ann Coulter on Steele: It’s a trick, stupid Republicans better not fall for it
"He's doing a magnificent job..."
Ann Coulter debated Al Sharpton on Fox. Coulter came to his strong defense:
I love him, I love him so much, and the reason he’s being attacked for all these silly things is because he so effective, he's attacked for the same things Rush Limbaugh is, Ronald Reagan was, I am, Sarah Palin is. It's because he’s so great. He is being held to a different standard because of his skin color, but not by Americans and not by Republicans, he’s being held to a different standard by Democrats because they’re trying to trick stupid Republicans into dumping the first black head of the RNC who is doing a magnificent job…
(Coulter later on in the interview)
This was an utterly unfair attack. This tacky club out in LA. Not only was he not there he was at a plane at the time. Even if he looked at the receipts coming into the RNC and he doesn’t some accountant does, how’s the accountant going to know what the Voyeur Club is?… And, to even to make an issue of this when the former co-chair of the DNC had a major fundraiser gala at the Democratic National Convention in 2000 at the Playboy Mansion… These are democratic representatives who actually went to a Playboy events and they’re trying to act like Michael Steele some low level person who’s been fired since then is a totally fake issue because he’s effective.
Sharpton defended Steele to some extent, saying that he'd act pretty much as any CEO of a company would to mistakes from underlings.
H/t Gateway Pundit (video there from Mediaite)
Side note from the Editor - I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Hoft of Gateway the other day at a Tea Party in Metro-East, Illinois. Jim immediately recognized Libertarian Republican. I told him we were all grateful for his continuous cutting edge coverage of Right events.
Tea Party unites Libertarians and Republicans says top Illinois Organizer
"Tea Party comes to Metro-East"
According to the Belleville News-Democrat, a leading newspaper for southern Illinois:
The Tea Party came to the metro-east Saturday afternoon, and with it came hundreds carrying American flags and signs denouncing President Barack Obama and recent policies coming out of Washington, D.C.
Organizers estimated about 500 gathered at Woodland Park to unite and protest "socialist" activities and demand change. A number of speakers addressed the crowd, many of whom were carrying American flags, wearing T-shirts and caps with American flags embossed on them or toting signs protesting higher taxes and even some calling to impeach the president.
The Republican Party, the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party were all represented, and had information tables right next to each other under the Gazebo.
The mood of the even was clearly unity in knocking off big taxers and big spenders for November. The event's chief organizer was quoted by the News-Democrat:
Alton Tea Party co-founder Rhonda Linders said the rally Saturday and the series of organized events held since early last year are non-partisan. She said Saturday's gathering showed that more and more people are fed up with overwhelming government taxation through social policies that she claims are unconstitutional.
"It doesn't matter if you're Democrat or Republican. This isn't Republican, Democrat, independent, Libertarian," Linders said. "It's Americans."
Editor's Note - I am currently on a nationwide tour of Tea Party events. I started with Metro-East. And as moving as the speakers were, near the Libertarian Party booth, there was a WWII Vet in a wheelchair. He had joined at 17, and participated in the invasion of Europe, and Battle of the Bulge. Nothing compares to the overwhelming experience of shaking his hand. I was humbled, and immediately broke into tears. I told him all America thanked him for his service.
