MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'big'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:56:02 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5181895&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F09%2F02%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-september-2-2011%2F It starts at a young age. Schools encourage it. Our families help define it. We begin our lives with the labels they give us like big brother, baby sister, only child. And as we get older, they just get more serious. Sometimes the way we’re perceived such as the “good one,” the “bad one,” the “troubled one,” the “drama queen,” inevitably follow us throughout the rest of our life. Sometimes these seemingly harmless labels take on a life of their own. If we don’t achieve our own sense of self, they begin to define who we are. And we grasp on tight. These lyrics from the Barenaked Ladies song What a Good Boy reminds me of the pressures they can have on us: “When I was born they looked at me and said What a good boy, what a sma... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5181895 Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:04:52 +0100 5181895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5174597&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFiy1IQMguDM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe White House has announced that it is nominating Alan Krueger, a professor at Princeton, to be the new Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. In a Freudian copy-editing slip, the Fox News story (at least as of 8:44 a.m.) says “Krueger’s job will be to provide policy prescriptions on ways to spur unemployment.” That’s obviously tailor-made for a joke about the Obama Administration not needing any help when it comes to stimulating joblessness. On a more serious note, though, I’m worried about Krueger’s sympathy for a value-added tax (VAT). Here’s what he wrote back in 2009. …a 5 percent consumption tax would raise approximately $500 billion a year, and fill a considerable hole in the budget outlook. In addition, a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5174597 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:00:06 +0100 5174597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5169527&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiJw-R41i5MA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’ve commented on the failure of Obamanomics, with special focus on how both banks and corporations are sitting on money because the investment climate is so grim. Not exactly flattering to the White House. Using Minneapolis Federal Reserve data, I’ve compared the current recovery with the expansion of the early 1980s. Once again, not good news for the Obama administration. And I’ve shared a couple of cartoons — here and here — that use humor to show the impact of bad public policy. But here’s a Bloomberg story that provides what may be the most damning evidence that the President’s big government agenda is a failure: U.S. regulators have asked some banks to take more deposits from large investors even if it’s unprofitable, and ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5169527 Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:09:27 +0100 5169527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159088&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2F24%2Flean-in-or-lean-back%2F When your quality assurance manager wants to talk with you about a call you ran, do you lean in or do you lean back? When the local nursing home calls for a patient who’s been feeling ill, do you lean in or do you lean back? When the monthly continuing education lecture starts, do you lean in or do you lean back? When the E.R. doctor wants to talk to you about the care you just gave her patient, do you lean in or do you lean back? When you are scheduled to work with the partner who’s has the social skills of warm Bisquick, do you lean in or do you lean back? When it’s near the end of your shift and there are inter-facility transfers pending, do you lean in or do you lean back? Today you’ll be presented with countless opportunities. There will be opportunities for gr... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159088 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:52:40 +0100 5159088 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158943&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkYybUa_rHFo%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe Congressional Budget Office has just released the update to its Economic and Budget Outlook. There are several things from this new report that probably deserve commentary, including a new estimate that unemployment will “remain above 8 percent until 2014.” This certainly doesn’t reflect well on the Obama White House, which claimed that flushing $800 billion down the Washington rathole would prevent the joblessness rate from ever climbing above 8 percent. Not that I have any faith in CBO estimates. After all, those bureaucrats still embrace Keynesian economics. But this post is not about the backwards economics at CBO. Instead, I want to look at the new budget forecast and see what degree of fiscal discipline is necessary to get rid of red ink. Th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158943 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:34:41 +0100 5158943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159654&cid=t_124536_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fgood-character-or-great-body-what-are-we-teaching-our-kids%2F When I was a teenager, all the girls my age were concerned about the size of their breasts, their weight, and how they looked. Thirty years later, teenage girls are still obsessed with the same thing. How sad — if only young women were more interested in becoming intelligent, caring human beings! Not that these young women don’t care about both their bodies and global issues, it is just that body image has such an effect on how they feel about themselves and can even impact what they accomplish with their education and careers. Breast cancer has a dual effect on women who are diagnosed. On the one hand it affects our wellbeing and health, but on the other it impacts how we feel about ourselves as women especially because of the disfigurement of our breasts. I wonder if it would be ... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159654 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:56:04 +0100 5159654 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158949&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-rwtMJquWYA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellJust last week, I made fun of Paul Krugman after he publicly said that a fake threat from invading aliens would be good for the economy since the earth would waste a bunch of money on pointless defense outlays. Yesterday, there were rumors that Krugman stated that it would have been stimulative if the earthquake had been stronger and done more damage, but he exposed this as a prank (though it is understandable that many people — including me, I’m embarrassed to admit — initially assumed it was true since he did write that the 9-11 terrorist attacks boosted growth).  But while Krugman is owed an apology by whoever pulled that stunt, the real problem is that President Obama and his advisers actually take Keynesian alchemy seriously. And since Presid... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158949 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:44:30 +0100 5158949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5159742&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F21%2Fseroxatpaxil-addiction-studied-by-glaxo-or-not%2F This a repost – originally from March 2007. It’s worth reading again because of recent legal stuff that I can’t talk about at the moment. You might think that after all the years of doctors and patients all around the world saying Seroxat is highly addictive and Glaxo saying “Oh no it isn’t” – that Glaxo would simply undertake the definitive study to prove us all wrong and to show the world once and for all really how safe and non-addictive Seroxat is… well, it turns out Glaxo has already done this – or maybe they haven’t….? Confused – now read on. Finding a copy of the Paxil Protest website once again has been great. It’s a veritable treasure trove of fantastic stories and link, such as this one: The following exchange is f... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5159742 Sun, 21 Aug 2011 07:47:07 +0100 5159742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5125738&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-new-meaning-of-the-refrigerator-nurse%2F2011.08.13 Meet Nurse Prudence Perfect. She is the unit’s refrigerator nurse. It’s her job to make sure that everything is perfect and meets Joint Commission standards because you never know when the old JC will drop by for an unannounced visit. Insulin vials labeled and dated? Check. Refrigerator thermometer easily accessible and log up to date? Check. Hey, who put their lunch in here? There is to be no food in medication refrigerator! Prudence is gearing up. Stand by for one of her Joint Commission inservices. For you nursing history buffs, the term “refrigerator nurse” goes way back to a time when Prudence was a graduate nurse. The term was coined back when it only took one paycheck to support a family, and when nurses, typically women, quit working once they got married. A nurse who went... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5125738 Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:00:50 +0100 5125738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118610&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ffr7x6uGcJwg%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI wrote earlier this year about the connection between a morally corrupt welfare state and the riots in the United Kingdom. But what’s happening now is not just some left-wing punks engaging in political street theater. Instead, the UK is dealing with a bigger problem of societal decay caused in part by a government’s failure to fulfill one of its few legitimate functions: protection of property. To make matters worse, the political class has disarmed law-abiding people, thus exacerbating the risks. These two photos are a pretty good summary of what this means. On the left, we have Korean entrepreneurs using guns to defend themselves from murdering thugs during the 1992 LA riots. On the right, we have Turkish entrepreneurs reduced to using their fists (and some hid... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118610 Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:31:49 +0100 5118610 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107616&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F09%2Fthe-situation-of-antitrust-law%2F Maurice E. Stucke recently posted his thoughtful paper, “Reconsidering Antitrust’s Goals” on SSRN.  Here’s the abstract. * * * Antitrust policy today is an anomaly. On the one hand, antitrust is thriving internationally. On the other hand, antitrust’s influence has diminished domestically. Over the past thirty years, there have been fewer antitrust investigations and private actions. Today the Supreme Court complains about antitrust suits, and places greater faith in the antitrust function being subsumed in a regulatory framework. So what happened to the antitrust movement in the United States? Two import factors contributed to antitrust policy’s domestic decline. The first is salience, especially the salience of the U.S. antitrust goals. In the past thirty yea... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107616 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 05:54:43 +0100 5107616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107490&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsIIy7QIG65A%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama just spoke about the downgrade and his remarks were very disappointing. He uttered some empty platitudes, offered no plan, (amazingly) called for more government spending, and continued his advocacy of class-warfare taxation. So what does this mean? Other than expecting volatility, I have no idea what will happen in financial markets over the next few days. But I can opine about the downgrade, Obama’s unserious response, and what it means in terms of public policy over the next few years and into the future. Notwithstanding the President’s cavalier attitude, America is in trouble. But while the crisis is severe, we have some breathing room. Our fiscal crisis is akin to a very dangerous, but slow-developing cancer. It is not a car wreck with ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107490 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:59:48 +0100 5107490 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096205&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwill-patients-accept-the-patient-portal-as-the-next-big-thing%2F2011.08.04 There seems to be an inverse relationship between the amount of spin one hears about “the next big thing”…and reality.    First it was EMRs and virtual e-visits, then social media, and now patient portals seem poised to be next big thing.  The drumbeat of vendors and pundits is unmistakable….physicians that don’t adapt will be toast.   It can all sound pretty convincing until you ask to see the evidence.  What do patients think? Take the physician patient portal.   If you read between the lines, patient portals are frequently being positioned as the new “front door” to physician practices.   By signing on to a secure website patients will have real time access to the electronic health record and will be able to communicate with their physicians by e-mail.   Addit... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096205 Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:00:59 +0100 5096205 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096210&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fjust-a-woman-with-diabetes-who-had-a-baby%2F2011.08.03 When Jeff Hitchcock approached me last year and asked if I would feel comfortable leading the Pregnancy and Diabetes session at Friends for Life, I was honored.  But also a little confused.  What on earth was I going to tell the session attendees?  I couldn’t spout off medical information.  I am not a licensed medical professional. “I’m just a person with diabetes who had a baby.  And my pregnancy was a bit of a tangled one, too!”  I remember emailing to Jeff, wondering if they’d be better off with a doctor at the helm of that discussion. He replied within minutes, telling me that was exactly why they wanted me to lead the session.  And I grinned, but felt nervous. Before the little bird joined our family, I did a lot of research about pregnancy with di... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096210 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:00:36 +0100 5096210 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096211&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39261&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvactruth.com%2F2011%2F08%2F02%2Ftime-to-say-enough%2F There comes a time in everyone’s consciousness and life when one realizes that too many things are going off beam and that life is becoming more problematic day by day, especially now when it comes to our health, which probably is our most valued personal possession, and which seems to be undermined in various and sundry ways and fashions. Let’s examine some of the medical ‘fashions’ for starters, since most healthcare consumers think that those professionals wearing white coats topped with stethoscopes really know what they are talking about.  White Coats and Cigarettes First, and foremost, I’d like to remind everyone that MDs were proud to recommend Camels cigarettes as the brand most doctors preferred and smoked. Don’t believe me; check out this advertisement http://www.y... vactruth.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096211 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:14:44 +0100 5096211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086149&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4iF1ARFK_3I%2F By Daniel J. MitchellWhile driving home last night, I had the miserable experience of listening to a financial journalist being interviewed about the anemic growth numbers that were just released. I wasn’t unhappy because the interview was biased to the left. From what I could tell, both the host and the guest were straight shooters. Indeed, they spent some time speculating that the economy’s weak performance was bad news for Obama. What irked me was the implicit Keynesian thinking in the interview. Both of them kept talking about how the economy would have been weaker in the absence of government spending, and they fretted that “austerity” in Washington could further slow the economy in the future. This was especially frustrating for me since I’ve spent years... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086149 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:13:51 +0100 5086149 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5077651&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fk-GVclYFIbo%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIn a perverse way, I’m glad that there are places such as Greece and Illinois. These profligate jurisdictions are useful examples of the dangers of bloated government and reckless statism. There also are some cities that serve as reverse role models. Detroit is a miserable case study of big government run amok, so I enjoyed a moment or two of guilty pleasure as I read this CNBC story about the ongoing decay of the Motor City. Here are some excerpts: Detroit neighborhoods with more people and a better chance of survival will receive different levels of city services than more blighted areas under a plan unveiled Wednesday that some residents fear may pit them against each other for scarce resources. …[T]he boundaries of the 139-square-mile city aren’t ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5077651 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:12:19 +0100 5077651 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5069441&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-ptqhNzL54Q%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI testified before the House Ways & Means Committee yesterday. As always, my trip inside the belly of the beast was an interesting adventure. The tax-writing committee was holding a hearing on the value-added tax. I was on a panel with five other witnesses, and all of the other people testifying were sympathetic to a VAT. But since I had truth on my side, that made it a fair fight (though it did cross my mind that it’s not a good sign when a Republican-controlled committee stacks the witnesses in favor of a European-style tax system). I made two points. First, a VAT is less destructive than the current income tax. As such, if we somehow repealed the 16th Amendment and replaced it with something ironclad that would prevent the income tax from ever again haunti... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5069441 Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:35:13 +0100 5069441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5051166&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F22%2Fthe-murdochs-and-glaxo-the-parallels%2F I’ve been following the News International story with great interest. What surprised me today is the news that people think it’s wrong that James Murdoch paid off Gordon Taylor (£700,000 according to some estimates) and  included a gagging order in the agreement to stop the truth from coming out. Of course, Murdoch did this long before the details of the case were in the public domain, so he was spending big in order to try and avoid exactly what’s happening at this very moment. There seems to be outrgage that someone would do such a thing… well, I’ve got news for you – Glaxo has been doing for years and still does.. Here’s an old post from 2007: Buying our silence Buying our silence – that’s what it’s all about when Glaxo opens its cheque... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5051166 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:37:12 +0100 5051166 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050537&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtukJttLWUFI%2F The on-again, off-again “Gang of Six” has come back on the scene and is offering a “Bipartisan Plan to Reduce Our Nation’s Deficits.” The proposal is quite similar to the one put forth by the President’s Simpson-Bowles Commission, which isn’t too surprising since some of the same people are involved. At this stage, all I’ve seen is this summary (A BIPARTISAN PLAN TO REDUCE OUR NATIONS DEFICITS v7), so I reserve the right to modify my analysis as more details emerge (and since I fully expect the plan to look worse when additional information is available, the following is an optimistic assessment. The Good Unlike President Obama, the Gang of Six is not consumed by class-warfare resentment. The plan envisions that the top personal income tax rate will fall to no higher than ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050537 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:36:45 +0100 5050537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036528&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Falternative-treatments%2Fharm-reduction-guide-to-coming-off-meds-greek-translation The Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, published by The Icarus Project and Freedom Center, is now available in Greek - thanks to the dedicated volunteer translation work of Marianna Kefallinou.You can download the Greek version here.Οδηγός Μείωσης της Βλάβης για τη Διακοπή των Ψυχιατρικών Φαρμάκων (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036528 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:25:03 +0100 5036528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036220&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVKuTAMhLV_c%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIn my speeches, especially when talking about the fiscal crisis in Europe (or the future fiscal crisis in America), I often warn that the welfare state reaches a point of no return when the people riding in the welfare wagon begins to outnumber the people pulling the wagon. To be more specific, if more than 50 percent of the population is dependent on government (employed in the bureaucracy, living off welfare, receiving public pensions, etc.), it becomes difficult for taxpayers to form a majority coalition to fix the mess. This may explain why Greek politicians have resisted significant reforms, even though the nation faces a fiscal death spiral. But you don’t need me to explain this relationship. One of our Cato interns, Silvia Morandotti, used her artistic sk... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036220 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:02:43 +0100 5036220 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028142&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeqERmfPy4Hk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe United States has been on a decade-long spending binge. Thanks to the profligate policies of both Bush and Obama, the burden of federal spending has climbed to about 25 percent of economic output, up from 18.2 percent of GDP when Bill Clinton left office. The political class tells us that more government is good for the economy since it an “investment” and/or a “stimulus.” The academic research, however, tells a different story. Here are some brief excerpts from a recent study by two Swedish economists, including a critically important observation about the impact of bigger government on economic performance. …most recent studies typically find a negative correlation between total government size and economic growth. …the most co... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028142 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:36:25 +0100 5028142 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008155&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FZM20phiwWic%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of the rating agencies. I’ve warned in TV interviews that they generally wait too long before downgrading profligate governments. So when the rating agencies finally catch up to everyone else and lower their outlook for failing welfare states such as Greece and Portugal, one would think that this would be seen as a useful – albeit late – warning sign. But European politicians are not very happy about this development. At the risk of mixing metaphors, they want everyone to keep their heads buried in the sand and to continue complimenting the emperor on his new clothes. Here are some excerpts from a BBC report. The European Commission has strongly criticised international credit ratings agencies following the downgrade of Portugal by Moody�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008155 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:29:15 +0100 5008155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992692&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsupreme-court-data-mining-ok-even-when-physician-privacy-is-compromised%2F2011.07.01 The Supreme Court has sided with Big Pharma in their challenge to the Vermont Law limiting the pharmaceutical Industry’s access to physician prescribing information. The nation’s high court handed down a verdict Thursday in the Sorrell v. IMS Health case, striking down by a 6-3 vote a 2007 Vermont law that that bans the practice of data mining — the sale and use of prescriber-identifiable information for marketing or promoting a drug, including drug detailing — unless a physician specifically gives his or her permission to use the information. Apparently, Big Pharma’s right to “free speech” trumps my right to privacy. How getting access to my prescribing information has anything to do with free speech is beyond me.  In the twisted logic of the pro-business, anti-citizen Sup... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992692 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:00:14 +0100 4992692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4992662&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaF-AQlQNX1Y%2F By Daniel J. MitchellFor both political and policy reasons, the left is desperately trying to maneuver Republicans into going along with a tax increase. And they are smart to make this their top goal. After all, it will be very difficult – if not impossible – to increase the burden of government spending without more revenue coming to Washington. But how to make this happen? President Obama is mostly arguing in favor of class-warfare tax increases, but that’s a non-serious gambit driven by 2012 political considerations. Moreover, there’s presumably zero chance that Republicans would surrender to higher tax rates on work, saving, and investment. The real threat is back-door hikes resulting from the elimination and/or reduction of so-called tax breaks. The big spenders on the left a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4992662 Fri, 01 Jul 2011 02:12:15 +0100 4992662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975913&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2F27%2Fargumentum-ad-antiquitatem%2F The argmentum ad antiquitatem is sometimes better known as the appeal to tradition or the appeal to common practice. If you’ve ever heard anyone say, “I know this is right because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” You’ve heard the appeal to common practice, the argumentum ad antiquitatem in action. In EMS, the appeal to common practice is everywhere. So much of what we do, from c-spine immobilization to intubation to oxygen administration, is based on the idea that we’ve just always done it that way. Any time new research suggests that we we may have been doing it wrong all along, the appeal to common practice rears it’s ugly head. The longer we’ve been in EMS, the harder it can be to admit that, perhaps, we were doing it wrong all ... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975913 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:09:45 +0100 4975913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975841&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fm_tMpvIn4JY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThis new video, based in large part on the good work of Michael Cannon, explains why Medicaid should be shifted to the states. As I note in the title of this post, it’s good federalism policy and good fiscal policy. But the video also explains that Medicaid reform is good health policy since it creates an opportunity to deal with the third-party payer problem. One of the key observations of the video is that Medicaid block grants would replicate the success of welfare reform. Getting rid of the federal welfare entitlement in the 1990s and shifting the program to the states was a very successful policy, saving billions of dollars for taxpayers and significantly reducing poverty. There is every reason to think ending the Medicaid entitlement will have similar positive... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975841 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:55:48 +0100 4975841 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952986&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F21%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-june-21-2011%2F Today is my dad’s birthday. And in honor of his birthday and belated Father’s Day, I’m posting an old post I wrote for him and in honor of all dads out there… Perhaps the greatest evidence of age comes in comparison to those around you.  When I was big enough to walk, but small enough to need daddy’s hand to hold, the world was still young and so was he and I.  Big hands to cover tiny fingers were what security embodied looked like.  I needed him for support and he willingly obliged.  As I got older, my father would run past me calling me “slowpoke” because I would always fall behind. I remember our weekly walks to the neighborhood park where I would stare at his feet gigantic in comparison to mine.  To walk beside him I needed to take double steps to his... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952986 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:10:26 +0100 4952986 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934107&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F9OkYj3oryb8%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’ve explained before that one of the most damning pieces of evidence against Obamanomics is that the economy is suffering from sub-par growth, something that is particularly damning since normally one expects to see faster-than-average growth following an economic downturn. In a recent presentation, Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago included a couple of graphs that illustrate this phenomenon. This first chart shows the history of U.S. economic growth over the past 140 years. As you can see, the growth rate was remarkably constant over time, and there were always periods of rapid growth following economic downturns. Lucas, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1995, then looks at the data for the recent downturn and recovery. As you can see, we have been s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934107 Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:43:32 +0100 4934107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4902616&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FUPd_4dJzp1g%2F Tweet I would suggest that all my friends in the world of bioinformatics read this fabulous article by Pat Helland. Pat’s on of the leading experts in distributed transactions and knows more about databases than most of us put together. His ACM article goes into some the tradeoffs and changes in mindset that need to me made when working with data that changes and comes from different sources, and all so o ften has ambiguity associated with it. It also tells you a little but about the differences in SQL and NoSQL systems when it comes to transaction semantics and in a way that meets complete sense. Perhaps the most interesting part of the article was the section on “Mulligan stew” where we also provides the example of building a heterogeneous catalog. A product catalog... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4902616 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:16:36 +0100 4902616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883558&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOQRfT8bXzW4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOn July 8th, Sheila Bair will step down as Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  While I believe she’s gotten a lot wrong (such as not preparing the fund for the coming crisis), she has been about the only voice among senior bank regulators for actually ending too-big-to-fail.  With her departure, we might lose that one voice.  Later this year, Kansas City Fed President Tom Hoenig is also scheduled to leave his current position. Hoenig has actually gone beyond Bair in trying to address too-big-to-fail, having called for the largest banks to be broken up.  While I don’t believe that should be our first approach, having an advocate for both the taxpayer and the overall economy at the helm of the FDIC could make a significant difference... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883558 Tue, 31 May 2011 16:09:00 +0100 4883558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4883612&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2F29%2Fnone-of-it-is-personal%2F All that stuff that drunk aggressive patient says. Or the stressed out soccer mom, or the angry husband, or the grumpy old scared guy. It can’t be personal. For it to be personal, they would have to know you. Not just know you, but know you personally. Unless they know you personally, know your thoughts, know your motives know your dreams, goal, desires, strengths, weaknesses and all that other stuff that comes along with being you, they don’t know you personally. So why are you taking it so personally? When those people talk to you, they aren’t really talking about you. They’re talking about themselves. What they say speaks too who they are. How you respond speaks to who you are. How you respond is personal. Read More Stuff Like This: Overcoming EMS Burnout Jumpin... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4883612 Mon, 30 May 2011 02:28:20 +0100 4883612 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4876473&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FNumKmYkZXMY%2F Tweet Steve O’Grady has written a blog post about a recent talk he gave at OSBC. In the post he welcomes the Age of Data. The talk covers two topics of great interest, software and data. In the context of the life sciences I have worked on both the “data as a product” side and on the packaged software side. He notes that none of the top “software” companies in the world are of recent vintage. These are companies making money from selling software (a really difficult business in the sciences). He argues that data driven products is where the market is. The success of Google and others is a testament to this, but in the sciences the entire model of data as product has never worked. I would argue that this is partly cause we’ve always sold the data itself ... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4876473 Sun, 29 May 2011 00:38:14 +0100 4876473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872390&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F27%2Fthe-seroxat-paxil-pil-over-the-years-%25e2%2580%2593-ch-ch-ch-changes-re-post%2F Here’s an old post (December 30, 2009) which contains some important information: It’s at this time of year that we all look forward to a new decade and look back on the years that have brought us to where we are today. I thought it would be useful to look back at 20 years of Glaxo spin – to review the information supplied by Glaxo over the past 20 years to patients like you and me. The PIL – the Patient Information Leaflet is what I’m talking about. As you download the PDFs and read them, please remember each of the leaflets is referring to EXACTLY the same drug – hard to believe. I’m very happy to be able to supply what is a truly historic document – the very first Seroxat PIL – click on the link to download it – Original Seroxat PIL 1990. This is a relic of a byg... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872390 Fri, 27 May 2011 07:00:37 +0100 4872390 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862516&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOPScn72xeE0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellOne of the biggest threats against global prosperity is the anti-tax competition project of a Paris-based international bureaucracy known as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD, acting at the behest of the European welfare states that dominate its membership, wants the power to tell nations (including the United States!) what is acceptable tax policy. I’ve previously explained why the OECD is a problematic institution – especially since American taxpayers are forced to squander about $100 million per year to support the parasitic bureaucracy. For all intents and purposes, high-tax nations want to create a global tax cartel, sort of an “OPEC for politicians.” This issue is increasingly important since politicians f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862516 Tue, 24 May 2011 13:06:06 +0100 4862516 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828862&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIwlo5uy3QJk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere’s a lot of buzz about a Wall Street Journal interview with Stanley Druckenmiller, in which he argues that a temporary delay in making payments on U.S. government debt (which technically would be a default) would be a small price to pay if it resulted in the long-term spending reforms that are needed to save America from becoming another Greece. One of the world’s most successful money managers, the lanky, sandy-haired Mr. Druckenmiller is so concerned about the government’s ability to pay for its future obligations that he’s willing to accept a temporary delay in the interest payments he’s owed on his U.S. Treasury bonds—if the result is a Washington deal to restrain runaway entitlement costs. “I think technical default would... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828862 Mon, 16 May 2011 13:48:30 +0100 4828862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828938&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2F15%2Fovercoming-ems-burnout%2F Yeah, It’s been a ride… I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one Now some of you might still be in that place If you’re trying to get out, just follow me I’ll get you there - Rapper Eminem, I’m Not Afraid, Recovery I’ve been there. Sure, I’d like to say that I was always a positive, proactive and optimistic EMS employee but that isn’t the case. I’ve been through periods of burnout. More than once to tell you the truth. I know what it’s like to dread getting up in the morning and going to work. I also know what it’s like to feel like you aren’t valued by your employer. I’ve been through phases where I just didn’t care about the service that I worked for or the quality of the care that I provided... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828938 Sun, 15 May 2011 19:12:06 +0100 4828938 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4813256&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsGbxfO-7udg%2F By Tad DeHavenPostal Vision 2020 is a conference scheduled for June in Arlington, VA, that will discuss the U.S. Postal Service’s long-term prospects in our increasingly digitized world. Here’s how the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe frames the gathering: As mail volume continues to plummet and more Americans use the Internet to pay bills and keep in touch, Google executives, social media experts and some of the most passionate tech evangelists are planning to meet in Crystal City in mid-June to sort out how to save and remake the nation’s mail delivery service. That sounds like a good group for discussing ideas on how to “remake the nation’s mail delivery service” given that the USPS is the antithesis of companies like Google. Creative, innovative, entrepreneurial, and compet... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4813256 Tue, 10 May 2011 21:36:26 +0100 4813256 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4803473&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2F08%2Fstan-kutcher-stan-kutcher-stan-kutcher%25e2%2580%25a6-postscript%2F Sad to say poor Stan didn’t get elected in the recent poll in Halifax, Canada. He failed by an impressively large margin. Still, I’m sure he’ll be back at some point and perhaps by then we will have seen Study 329 retracted… it is still on the books, still saying, “Paroxetine is generally well tolerated and effective for major depression in adolescents. It’s a testimonial to the worst of times, and it needs to be retracted for the same reason that the statues and monuments of despots are destroyed when their regimes finally fall”. So says a retired physchiatrist, 1 Boring Old Man, in this article. I have to agree that it’s high time  Study 329 was retracted – and Marty Keller and Stan and the rest of the doctors that put their names to it... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4803473 Sun, 08 May 2011 12:57:20 +0100 4803473 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4797763&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=34591&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.badscience.net%2F2011%2F05%2Fasking-the-wrong-question-how-crap-research-gets-drugs-to-market%2F Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 7 May 2011 Some of the biggest problems in medicine don’t get written about, because they’re not about eyecatching things like one patient’s valiant struggle: they’re protected from public scrutiny by a wall of tediousness. Here is one problem that affects millions of people. What if we had rubbish evidence [...] (Source: badscience) badscience blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4797763 Sat, 07 May 2011 17:40:36 +0100 4797763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789245&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fnational-strategy-to-reduce-prescription-drug-abuse-is-playing-big-brother-ok-in-an-emergency%2F2011.05.05 The White House released its plan last week entitled “Epidemic: Responding to America’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis” [LINK to pdf of this 10-page plan]. Below are some of the elements in this plan that is part of the National Drug Control Strategy (like that has worked so well :-/). The areas of this plan involve education of prescribers and users, monitoring programs, making it easy to dispose of controlled dangerous substances (CDS for short), and enhancing enforcement. The plan establishes thirteen goals for the next five years, and also creates a coordinating body, the Federal Council on Prescription Drug Abuse, to oversee and coordinate it all. If any of our readers have comments on specific items (I’ve numbered them for ease of reference), including uninte... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789245 Thu, 05 May 2011 21:00:00 +0100 4789245 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775390&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbig-brother-taken-to-another-level-physician-movements-tracked-with-rfid-tags-at-medical-conferences%2F2011.05.02 Not everything that counts can be measured. Not everything that can be measured counts. -Albert Einstein Recently, a disturbing trend of monitoring physician quality and accountability has taken another ominous turn: tracking physician’s movements at scientific conferences (so called “tag and release”) using RFID tags imbedded in attendees name badges at national scientific sessions. Having had personal experience with the recent American College of Cardiology meeting, this technology will also be imbedded in the name badges for attendees at the upcoming Heart Rhythm Society meeting to be held in San Francisco in May. On first blush, it shouldn’t be such a big deal, right? It was all just a great way for companies to obtain, for a fee, the names and institutions of ... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775390 Mon, 02 May 2011 16:00:00 +0100 4775390 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4768222&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F30%2Fstan-kutcher-stan-kutcher-stan-kutcher%2F … have I got you attention now Stan? Now running for public office in Halifax, Stan is clearly not happy to have his past ‘experience’ brought up. A Halifax website, The Coast, ran this apology – and took down the article it refers to – no doubt after Stan’s lawyers had threatened to sue: On April 28th, The Coast published an article online and in print, regarding Dr. Stan Kutcher. In that article, The Coast referenced, without limitation or criticism, statements to the effect that, Dr. Kutcher, being one of the authors of a research paper, distorted the outcome measures and essentially lied. The Coast retracts those statements and without reservation, apologizes to Dr. Kutcher for having published them. We recognize that Stan Kutcher is the federal Libe... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4768222 Sat, 30 Apr 2011 10:28:30 +0100 4768222 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734613&cid=t_124536_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fthe-original-working-manuscript-of-alcoholics-anonymous%2F The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics AnonymousThe original manuscript of Bill Ws (co-founder of AA) last year sold for over a million dollars. It was handed to Hazelden to copy in its entirety. Complete with notations by Bill W and others it forms a unique record of the writing of the Big Book.Click on the image to see reviews and purchase.- Share, print or e-mail this articleAA Original Manuscript (Copy on Sale)Bill and Lois’ Story on VideoFree AA MP3s and Film of Bill W.Should AA be open to other Maladies10 Pointers to Recovery (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734613 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:32:29 +0100 4734613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4719883&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F34bI-IHWah4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellBy taking advantage of  “must-pass” pieces of legislation, Republicans have three chances this year to restrain the burden of government.  They didn’t do very well with the “CR fight” over appropriated spending for the rest of FY2011, which was their first opportunity. I was hoping for an extra-base hit off the fence, but the GOP was afraid of a government shutdown and negotiated from a position of weakness. As such, the best interpretation is that they eked out an infield single. The next chance to impose fiscal discipline will be the debt limit. Currently, the federal government “only” has the authority to borrow $14.3 trillion (including bookkeeping entries such as the IOUs in the Social Security Trust Fund). This is a ver... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4719883 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:57:04 +0100 4719883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4719918&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2F14%2Fyour-charachter%2F Reveals itself when you are tested. (Source: The EMT Spot) The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4719918 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:12:34 +0100 4719918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714786&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2F14%2Fyour-charachter%2F Reveals itself when you are tested. (Source: The EMT Spot) The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714786 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:12:34 +0100 4714786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4709188&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtZHrzH9jheE%2F By Daniel J. MitchellResponding to widespread criticism of his AWOL status on the budget fight, President Obama today unveiled a fiscal plan. It already is being criticized for its class warfare approach to tax policy, but the most disturbing feature may be a provision that punishes the American people with higher taxes if politicians overspend. Called a “debt failsafe trigger,” Obama’s scheme would automatically raise taxes if politicians spend too much. According to the talking points distributed by the White House, the automatic tax increase would take effect “if, by 2014, the projected ratio of debt-to-GDP is not stabilized and declining toward the end of the decade.” Let’s ponder what this means. If politicians in Washington spend too much and cause... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4709188 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:49:48 +0100 4709188 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4709249&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F13%2F6-reasons-why-its-good-to-be-a-loser%2F It was impossible to miss the white sign that hung over the wall of Saint Mary’s high school lacrosse field yesterday. The thing was as tall as our two-story house with letters as big as construction cranes. With just one word: “Prom?” On the hill behind it stood an adorable high-school junior with red roses. It would have been a perfect scene right out of a Jennifer Aniston movie… had she said yes. Ouch. So the poor guy packed up the humongous sign and his roses, and walked to his car with his chin buried in his chest. I wish I could have run up to him and said, “This experience will make you stronger in the long run … trust me.” Because that’s not just a shallow attempt at consolation. It’s absolutely true. John Grohol wrote a great piece the other day, “Be th... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4709249 Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:54:20 +0100 4709249 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734374&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diet-blog.com%2F11%2Feating_meat_is_child_abuse_says_ad.php PETA has caused a stir of sorts with a very blatant billboard advertisement in Merthyr, Wales. The poster - depicting an overweight boy indulging in a burger with the tagline; "Feeding kids meat is child abuse - fight the fat - go veg."19 Comments | Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734374 Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:00:00 +0100 4734374 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684356&cid=t_124536_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2Foah4J7BW6Qo%2F Thanks to the wonders of modern science, not only are we able to 'medically' justify every ache, pain, whinge, grimace and gripe we suffer - but we are also offered a cure at the same time! (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684356 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:56:21 +0100 4684356 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684330&cid=t_124536_88_f&fid=35612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheknifeman.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fbig-chill.html In case you were wondering... (Source: The KnifeMan) The KnifeMan blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684330 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:44:00 +0100 4684330 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684638&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FrSNtgf1kFnE%2F Tweet I have long channeled Jeff Jonas and his ideas around on data finds data. His recent blog post on the data being the query extends some of those thoughts. I find this trend fascinating, although I favor the just in time data approach, since not all information needs to be acted upon instantly, but the broader point holds. I had a similar discussion with Richard Durbin recently around data first science, where we discussed collecting data and then querying it to generate hypotheses and to see how the new data impacted existing knowledge. It’s going to be interesting how today’s life science data systems evolve. The data-driven approach which I talk about a lot is one that is essential for modern biological research (saw a great talk on this by Joel Dudley recently); usi... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684638 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:54:59 +0100 4684638 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4676763&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTUO4cBW_7tQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThis Thursday, April 7, Senator Corker of Tennessee will be the opening speaker at the Cato Institute's conference on "The Economic Impact of Government Spending" (an event that is free and open to the public, so register here if you want to attend). The Senator will be discussing his proposal to cap and then gradually reduce the burden of government spending, measured as a share of gross domestic product. With federal outlays currently consuming about 25 percent of economic output, excessive federal spending is America's main fiscal problem. Corker's proposal would put federal spending on a 10-year glide path so that it eventually shrinks to 20.6 percent of GDP. This chart, from the Senator's upcoming presentation, shows that government will grow at a much slower pace... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4676763 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:37:10 +0100 4676763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4670171&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F02%2Fgoogle-science-fair-2011%2F I’m pleased to help spread the word today about the world’s first online global science competition, the Google Science Fair! Google has partnered with CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific American to create a new kind of online science competition that is more global, open and inclusive than ever before. Students aged 13 – 18 from around the world are invited to enter and compete for awesome once-in-a-lifetime experiences, scholarships and real-life work opportunities. Click continue to see the Rube Goldberg-inspired video and learn how to sign-up. Who doesn’t like a good science fair? It gives kids the opportunity to join in a new kind of online science competition that is more global, open and inclusive than ever before. Best yet, it offers full-time... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4670171 Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:00:21 +0100 4670171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664152&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgmJwZ_hLORU%2F By George Scoville The Obama Doctrine fails to address the limitations of Washington's attempts to shape foreign conflicts. The 2012 Republican presidential field has thus far failed to produce a small-government conservative. FREE E-BOOK: Government Failure: A Primer on Public Choice is available for reading and download (PDF) for a limited time on our website. Republicans and Democrats are quibbling over a measly $61 billion in spending cuts--that's a failure of leadership. Under the failing status quo, Big Sugar wins, and Joe Taxpayer loses. Ian Vásquez, director of Cato's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, joined C-SPAN's Washington Journal to talk about the failure of foreign aid: Thursday Links is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664152 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:36:18 +0100 4664152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653305&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fckf64u9fopA%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAccording to news reports, Democrats and Republicans are unlikely to reach any sort of budget agreement before April 8, when a short-term spending bill for the current fiscal year expires. Barring some new development, this could mean a shutdown of the non-essential parts of the government. This makes both sides very nervous. Democrats don't want the spending spigot turned off and are worried that voters might conclude that there's no reason to ever re-open departments such as Housing and Urban Development. Republicans, meanwhile, mostly worry that they might look unreasonable and get blamed if certain parts of the government are mothballed and voters can't get passports or visit national parks. Given this state of play, what's the best strategy for fiscal conservative... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653305 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:25:44 +0100 4653305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4653491&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FX92wTUvET3w%2F Tweet The scale of modern life science research, where scale is not just about data volume, but also about rate of change, number of users, geographic scale, etc means that resources have to look at how they provide services differently and, more importantly, funding agencies and philanthropists have to decide where to draw the line. Is this an opportunity for commercial efforts? Is the market ready to do this, or are they willing to live with overall inefficiencies and limitations? Is there a tiered model that would be acceptable. Recent discussions and observations of what various companies and orgs are doing leads me to believe that we need to really think hard about overall efficiencies and consider the value of time. More later (Source: business|bytes|genes|molecules) business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4653491 Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:03:03 +0100 4653491 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4622227&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSIOeasC-sIk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAmong advocates of limited government, there is growing unease about the fiscal fight in Washington. This is not because anything bad has happened. Indeed, Democrats thus far have been acquiescing -- at least on a temporary basis -- to conservative demands for $61 billion of spending cuts over the rest of the current fiscal year. This is remarkable after 10 years of endlessly expanding government. Here's what Jennifer Rubin wrote at her Right Turn blog. A senior Senate adviser wisecracked, “A month ago, they said they couldn’t possibly cut a dime. Then they said the $4 billion [in] cuts in the first CR were a non-starter. Now they’re bragging about cutting spending?” It is a remarkable turn of events and another sign that Reid was bested in this round of budget... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4622227 Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:34:28 +0100 4622227 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610795&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F8PneG7ZOVVw%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere's an interesting debate in the blogosphere about whether President George W. Bush was a conservative. Here's a good summary of the discussion, along with lots of links. (I especially like this analysis since it cites my work.) I've already explained that Bush was a statist rather than a conservative, and you can find additional commentary from me here, here, here, and here. Simply stated, any president who doubles the burden of federal spending in just eight years is disqualified from being a conservative — unless the term is stripped of any meaning and conservatives no longer care about limited government and constitutional constraints on Washington. But if you don't want to read the blog posts I linked above, this chart should make clear that Bush was a big ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610795 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:55:13 +0100 4610795 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610832&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2F18%2Fhow-fast-will-things-change%2F Change is a part of EMS. Our profession changes faster than most. Many of the treatments you learned in EMT class will be changed or refined before you reach your second year of EMS service. Advances in technology and research will place an ever-increasing demand on the field EMS provider to learn new skills and treatment modalities. EMS is not a job for folks who don’t like change. But what about your organization? Will they keep up? How tolerant is your organization to change? If you want to find out if the people you work for are resistant to change, listen for how often you hear people say these three key phrases. These are my top three “anti-change” catch phrases. The more frequently you hear people say these three things, the more likely that change will occur slowl... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610832 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:38:24 +0100 4610832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4592308&cid=t_124536_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fdetails-light-transplant-recipient-received-lungs-big%2F Medical authorities in the UK are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Meena Vij, who did after British surgeon and consultant Carl Wong allegedly transplanted lungs into the patient that were too big to fit into her chest cavity. The transplant took place at Harefield Hospital. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4592308 Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:38:09 +0100 4592308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4577934&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F12%2Ftoo-many-options-try-closing-some-doors%2F I have become increasingly aware that one of the stumbling blocks to my recovery from depression is my inability to make decisions, and my disdain for closing options. And yet closing doors is good for your sanity. Even in writing this post, I have saved the word file in five stages, so that if the material I cut out in version one seems important later on, I can go to file A and retrieve it. The horror of losing a precious sentence in penning this thing! My grieving over each decision — i.e. letting go of the options I didn’t pick — is precisely why I loathe grocery shopping and every other kind of shopping. Especially in America when you get to choose between eight kinds of apples: Washington local, organic, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Red Delicious, yada yada yada. I get over... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4577934 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:54:57 +0100 4577934 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4575097&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F11%2Fstressed-out-working-from-home-join-the-club%2F I love it when I read a study that confirms what I’ve been feeling or thinking. Psych Central’s Senior New Editor Rick Nauert discussed a few days ago a new study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior that says women find it especially stressful to receive work-related communication at home, even when the phone calls or emails are within the working hours they defined. Much more so than men. Meaning, if the boss emails or calls a guy, even if it’s outside normal working hours, the typical male doesn’t think much of it, takes care of it, no problem. A woman? Even it happens within 9 to 5, she frets a little. Why? Think long and hard, even if you aren’t Catholic… Guilt. And here it is again … Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. Boy do I know that feeling. B... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4575097 Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:22:26 +0100 4575097 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560269&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbig-herbas-research-deficit-why-it-isnt-about-the-money%2F2011.03.08 This is a guest post from Erik Davis of Skeptic North. ********** Bankers, Buyouts & Billionaires: Why Big Herba’s Research Deficit Isn’t About The Money It’s a scene from the blogosphere that’s become all too familiar. A skeptic challenges a natural health product for the lack of an evidentiary base. A proponent of that product responds that the skeptic has made a logical error — an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and in such a scenario it’s not unreasonable to rely on patient reporting and traditional uses as a guide. The skeptic chimes back with a dissertation on the limits of anecdotal evidence and arguments from antiquity — especially when the corresponding pharma products have a data trail supporting their safety and efficacy. The pr... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560269 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:00:09 +0100 4560269 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560283&cid=t_124536_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2Fx2HOtSmjTvQ%2F Jelinek and Brown announce that Emergency Medicine Australasia is taking a stand against drug company advertising. The LITFL team applauds! (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560283 Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:54 +0100 4560283 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4560251&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLizuL3o0-Bs%2F By Michael F. CannonIn a column for Kaiser Health News, Michael L. Millenson, President of Health Quality Advisors LLC, laments that conservatives in the U.S. House are approaching ObamaCare like, well, conservatives.  He cites comments by unnamed House GOP staffers at a recent conference: The Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services? "An innovation center at CMS is an oxymoron," responded a  Republican aide..."Though it's great for PhDs who come to Washington on the government tab." There was also no reason the government should pay for "so-called comparative effectiveness research," another said. "Everything's on the chopping block," said yet another. No government-funded comparative-effectiveness research?  The horror!  For my money, those staffers (and... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4560251 Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:26:48 +0100 4560251 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4552124&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2F3JkrNEoA2Ks%2F Tweet A couple of great posts on the Metamarkets blog recently that might be of relevance to the bioinformatics crowd. The first one, by Mike Driscoll, talks about lessons for building a petabyte data platform. Their four guiding principles Experiment often, fail fast Keep things simple to scale well Keep things modular to accommodate change Avoid undifferentiated heavy lifting I still feel that the data systems we have in the life science domain aren’t doing enough to learn good lessons from the web world, which is embracing change, complexity and scale, and even small teams, like the one at Metamarkets is able to do a lot with less, due to the kinds of principles mentioned in the post. One of the problems I see in informatics is a lack of appreciation for some of the skill... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4552124 Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:38:59 +0100 4552124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540559&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJqdfGOdXcp8%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA large number of Democrats voted with Republicans in the House yesterday to pass a two-week spending bill that includes $4 billion in cuts compared to what Obama requested. This is a modest victory for the GOP since they can truthfully claim that they are on target to impose the equivalent of $100 billion of cuts over a full fiscal year. And it appears the Senate will go along with the House proposal, as reported in today's Washington Post: The deal, which eliminates dozens of earmarks and a handful of little-known programs that President Obama has identified as unnecessary, sailed through the House on a 335 to 91 vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who initially resisted including any cuts in a short-term funding extension, predicted that it will pas... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540559 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:37:42 +0100 4540559 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522092&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBBzkQTqLRz4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe showdown in Wisconsin has generated competing claims about whether state and local government bureaucrats are paid too much or paid too little compared to their private sector counterparts. The data on total compensation clearly show a big advantage for state and local bureaucrats, largely because of lavish benefits (which is the problem that  Governor Walker in Wisconsin is trying to fix). But the government unions argue that any advantage they receive disappears after the data is adjusted for factors such as education. This is a fair point, so we need to find some objective measure that neutralizes all the possible differences. Fortunately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has a Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and this "JOLTS" data includes a measure of ho... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522092 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:34:35 +0100 4522092 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4517170&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhen-dietary-supplements-are-used-as-medicines%2F2011.02.24 I was surprised to get this e-mail from a reader: Surely, Dr. Hall, the public mania for nutritional supplements is baseless. All the alleged nutrients in supplements are contained in the food we eat. And what governmental agency has oversight responsibility regarding the production of these so-call nutritional supplements? Even if one believes that such pills have value, how can the consumer be assured that the product actually contains what the label signifies? I have yet to find a comment on this subject on your otherwise informative website. My co-bloggers and I have addressed these issues repeatedly.Peter Lipson covered DSHEA (The Diet Supplement Health and Education Act) nicely. It’s all been said before, but perhaps it needs to be said again — and maybe by writing this post... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4517170 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:00:56 +0100 4517170 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4507262&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FA4YRqrIWVIY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellAmerica faces a fiscal crisis. The burden of federal spending has doubled during the Bush-Obama years, a $2 trillion increase in just 10 years. But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Because of demographic changes and poorly designed entitlement programs, the federal budget is going to consume larger and larger shares of America's economic output in coming decades. For all intents and purposes, the United States appears doomed to become a bankrupt welfare state like Greece. But we can save ourselves. A previous video showed how both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton achieved positive fiscal changes by limiting the growth of federal spending, with particular emphasis on reductions in the burden of domestic spending. This new video from the Center for Freedom an... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4507262 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:16:41 +0100 4507262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4501576&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcVbgzYorgg0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere will be several pivotal fiscal policy battles this year and the fight over the debt limit may be the most crucial. This is a "must-pass" piece of legislation, so it will be a rare opportunity for fiscal conservatives in the House to impose some much-needed spending restraint. But it's also a high-stakes game. If Obama (or Reid) refuses to accept the fiscal reforms approved by the House and there is a stalemate, the federal government ultimately would lose its ability to borrow from private credit markets. And while that notion has some appeal for many of us, it almost certainly would require more fiscal discipline than the political system is willing to accept (i.e., actual deep cuts rather than just restraining the growth of spending). In a bit of reckless demag... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4501576 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:08:49 +0100 4501576 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4545160&cid=t_124536_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancerlifeandme.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fmembrane-theory%2F Some of the smartest people on Earth are also the most creative. Consider the theoretical membrane theory, or M-theory: Think of our gigantic 3D universe, from the Earth to the farthest edge of the cosmos. Next, imagine this same universe as a sheet of fabric, or membrane. Kind of like a sheet hanging on a clothesline, rippling Continue reading Membrane Theory (Source: Cancer, life, and me) Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4545160 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:00:52 +0100 4545160 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4501788&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F20%2F2011-ssri-related-deaths%2F It’s Sunday, 20 February 2011 51 days into the year 43 incidents listed already   SSRI Related Deaths 2011   Does anyone care? HOW LONG MUST THIS LIST GET BEFORE GOVERNMENTS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES ACKNOWLEDGE THE GLOBAL PROBLEMS SURROUNDING SSRIs? IT’S NOT ABOUT MONEY, STOCKS, SHARES! IT’S ABOUT HUMAN LIFE STOP * LOOK * LISTEN [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4501788 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 11:25:12 +0100 4501788 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4501701&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FxlaIlbJEDSg%2Fparents_buy_bad_food_if_athletes_endorse_it.php Parents are more likely to buy less healthy food if sports stars promote it, claims a new study. Researchers said study participants perceived a product as healthier and of higher quality if an athlete was on it; more than half did not read the nutrition facts. Parents buying junk food contribute to the global obesity epidemic, especially childhood obesity. According to the World Health Organization, in 2010, 42 million children were overweight worldwide. 10 Comments | Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4501701 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4501701 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4498369&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F19%2Fconfirmation-that-there-is-a-difference-between-seroxatpaxil-and-other-ssris%2F A very topical subject this – it seems that Seroxat is actually different from other SSRIs… but I’m worried that it has come just too late. Before you read this article please bear in mind that no-one actually knows just how SSRIs work – the hypothesis of chemical imbalance has been exposed as a lie. However, what this new research does seem to point to is that Seroxat/Paxil acts in a different way to other SSRIs – perhaps this could explain why Seroxat/Paxil is so hard to stop taking? The most widely prescribed antidepressants — medicines such as Prozac, Lexapro and Paxil — work by blocking the serotonin transporter, a brain protein that normally clears away the mood-regulating chemical serotonin. Or so the current thinking goes. That theory about how sel... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4498369 Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:31:11 +0100 4498369 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4495401&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F19%2Fcrusaders-highly-deserved-recognition%2F Surely, one of the proudest moment’s in Bob Fiddaman’s quest for justice in the eternal fight against SSRI’s . As Bob writes in his blog “What could piss off GlaxoSmithKline more than Bob Fiddaman getting an award for basically highlighting their dark history?” Way to go Fiddy!!!!!! [Click the pic to read the full story] [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4495401 Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:00:57 +0100 4495401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489923&cid=t_124536_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fpink-wristbands-to-remember-a-life%2F My son, the Big Guy, has a new girlfriend. She is adorable and not just because she only comes up to his waist. She is beautiful with big dark eyes and is refreshingly direct and witty. We had the opportunity to meet her at Christmas when the Big Guy brought her by for a visit. Since then we’ve got to know her a little bit and are as taken with her as he is. When I met her, the one thing I noticed right away was the pink band she wore around her wrist. She explained that it was in memory of her dance teacher. A woman who had been a big part of her life had not only been diagnosed with breast cancer, but had died from it. It had impacted this special young woman and gave her a reason to become part of the fight against the disease. I am always surprised by people’s connection to breast... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489923 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:04:37 +0100 4489923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482738&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMv71wpKQzWM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellFiscal policy wonks (like me, I'm forced to admit) sometimes miss the forest because we focus too much on individual trees. So while I think my posts on the spending and revenue sides of Obama's new budget contained lots of useful information, I didn't pay any attention to the elephant in the room (I'm really going overboard with metaphors, huh?). The most important number in Obama's budget is that he is proposing $5.7 trillion of spending in 2021, about $2 trillion more than is being spent this year, according to table S-1 of the budget. Here's everything you need to know about Obama's budget, in one chart. It's important to make three additional observations. First, Obama's budget is based on all sorts of optimistic assumptions and rosy scenarios, as explained by Br... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482738 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:40:05 +0100 4482738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4478139&cid=t_124536_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fmore-dave-brennan-he-likes-word-trust.html (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4478139 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:14:00 +0100 4478139 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477698&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOKdeJvN1w8A%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 has been released and there is lots of rhetoric in Washington about "budget cuts." At first glance, this seems warranted. According to the just-released fiscal blueprint, the federal government is spending about $3.8 trillion this year and the President is proposing to spending a bit more than $3.7 trillion next year. In other words, the White House is going beyond a budget freeze and is actually proposing to spend $90 billion less next year than is being spent this year. That certainly seems consistent with my proposal to solve America's fiscal problems by restraining the growth of spending. But you won't find a smile on my face. This new budget may be better than Obama's first two fiscal blueprints, but that's da... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477698 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:47:45 +0100 4477698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477705&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwJFsb7B85WQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama unveiled his fiscal year 2012 budget today, and there's good news and bad news. The good news is that there's no major initiative such as the so-called stimulus scheme or the government-run healthcare proposal. The bad news, though, is that government is far too big and Obama's budget does nothing to address this problem. But perhaps the folks on Capitol Hill will be more responsible and actually try to save America from becoming a big-government, European-style welfare state. The solution may not be easy, but it is simple. Lawmakers merely need to restrain the growth of government spending so that it grows slower than the private economy. Actual spending cuts would be the best option, of course, but limiting the growth of spending is all that's needed ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477705 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:17:13 +0100 4477705 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4477981&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2F61xj8hYcsnw%2F Tweet Lots of interesting discussion around the web on the rise of data-driven startups and product teams. Russell Jurney’s blog post on Analytic Product Teams has picked up a lot of press, and in general that is a topic that the LinkedIn SNA team talks about quite a bit. Bradford Cross has eloquently covered Research-driven startups and more recently, this comes up in a Dataspora article on mining big data What strikes me about this, especially light of Neil’s recent post on data scientists and my own past is that in some ways the social science space is going through a fascinating discovery about the value of data-driven products, something that some of the web giants have been doing for a long time. The difference now is that (a) there is an abundance of data, data sources ... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4477981 Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:32:43 +0100 4477981 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4472946&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqBapCXmGzEg%2F By Daniel J. MitchellChalk up another victory -- at least on the rhetorical level -- for the Tea Party. President Obama will release his fiscal year 2012 budget tomorrow and he's apparently become a born-again fiscal conservative. Here are some excerpts from a Washington Post story: President Obama will respond to a Republican push for a drastic reduction in government spending by proposing sharp cuts of his own in a fiscal 2012 budget blueprint that aims to trim record federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next decade. ...two-thirds of the savings would come from spending cuts that are draconian by Democratic standards... When it lands Monday on Capitol Hill, Obama's plan will launch a bidding war with Republicans over how deeply and swiftly to cut, as the two parties seek a path to ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4472946 Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:48:07 +0100 4472946 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4545164&cid=t_124536_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancerlifeandme.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fan-unexpected-awakening%2F Okay, the last post was definitely a needed rant/venting. Felt good to get it out and return to honesty. BUT… it was more representative of how I felt months ago. Recently, I have begun a real shift in my perception of life, and suffering. I’m what you might call an armchair cosmologist. I absolutely love and am Continue reading An unexpected awakening (Source: Cancer, life, and me) Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4545164 Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:00:35 +0100 4545164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4455410&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35006&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnsaunders.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F02%2F09%2Falgorithms-running-day-and-night%2F Warning: contains murky, somewhat unstructured thoughts on large-scale biological data analysis Picture this. It’s based on a true story: names and details altered. Alice, a biomedical researcher, performs an experiment to determine how gene expression in cells from a particular tissue is altered when the cells are exposed to an organic compound, substance Y. She collates a list of the most differentially-expressed genes and notes, in passing, that the expression of Gene X is much lower in the presence of substance Y. Bob, a bioinformatician in the same organisation but in a different city to Alice, is analysing a public dataset. This experiment looks at gene expression in the same tissue but under different conditions: normal compared with a disease state, Z Syndrome. He also notes ... What You're Doing Is Rather Desperate blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4455410 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 03:41:21 +0100 4455410 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4445777&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FF-J4qTLWp2Y%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity gives four reasons why big government is bad fiscal policy. I particularly like the explanation of how government spending undermines growth by diverting labor and capital from the productive sector of the economy. Some cynics, though, say that it is futile to make arguments for good policy. They claim that politicians make bad fiscal decisions because of short-term considerations such as vote buying and raising campaign cash and that they don't care about the consequences. There's a lot of truth to this "public choice" analysis, but I don't think it explains everything. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think we would have better fiscal policy if more lawmakers, journalists, academics, and others grasped the common-se... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4445777 Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:44:10 +0100 4445777 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4445786&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSQe9ZSH2R2w%2F By Michael F. CannonFrom my latest Kaiser Health News op-ed: When 34 Senate Democrats joined all 47 Republicans last week to repeal ObamaCare's 1099 reporting requirement, their votes confirmed what their talking points still deny: ObamaCare will increase the deficit, no matter what the official cost projections say... This public-choice dynamic [of concentrated benefits and diffuse costs] is why the Congressional Budget Office, the chief Medicare actuary, and even the International Monetary Fund have discredited the idea that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit. It is one of the principal reasons why, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." In other words, the game is rigged in favor of bigger government. It als... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4445786 Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:22:35 +0100 4445786 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4442078&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FfIV7JtZnFas%2F Tweet This talk from Jeff Hammerbacher is worth a listen. Gives you a good history of enterprise data challenges and some of the reasons why Hadoop became a big deal so quickly and a good sense of the evolving Hadoop ecosystem Jeff Hammerbacher on Evolving a New Analytical Platform – Orbitz IDEAS from Orbitz IDEAS on Vimeo (Source: business|bytes|genes|molecules) business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4442078 Sun, 06 Feb 2011 05:35:47 +0100 4442078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4429001&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FeTTbx3E-cfM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellRonald Reagan would have been 100 years old on February 6, so let’s celebrate his life by comparing the success of his pro-market policies with the failure of Barack Obama’s policies (which are basically a continuation of George W. Bush’s policies, so this is not a partisan jab). The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has a fascinating (at least for economic geeks) interactive webpage that allows readers to compare economic downturns and recoveries, both on the basis of output and employment. The results are remarkable. Reagan focused on reducing the burden of government and the economy responded. Obama (and Bush) tried the opposite approach, but spending, bailouts, and intervention have not worked. This first chart shows economic output. The employ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4429001 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:05:52 +0100 4429001 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419409&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F31%2Fgsk-gives-in-last-minute-deal-in-avandia-suit%2F A federal court in Philadelphia was all set to hear a liability lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline today, but an 11th-hour settlement took that case right off the docket. GSK made a deal with the family of Avandia patient James Burford to resolve claims that the diabetes drug caused his fatal heart attack. GSK recently took a $3.5 [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419409 Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:21:31 +0100 4419409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4411698&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F29%2Fpharmageddon-by-charles-medawar%2F Taken from http://www.socialaudit.org.uk Pharmageddon has been defined as, “the prospect of a world in which medicines and medicine produce more ill-health than health, and when medical progress does more harm than good”. We see the need to investigate and explore that risk and to identify the factors and features that describe it. Pharmageddon embraces the [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4411698 Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:00:32 +0100 4411698 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405756&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi_fqsUVGRmQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellMany of the politicians in Washington, including President Obama during his State of the Union address, piously tell us that there is no way to balance the budget without tax increases. Trying to get rid of red ink without higher taxes, they tell us, would require “savage” and “draconian” budget cuts. I would like to slash the budget and free up resources for private-sector growth, so that sounds good to me. But what’s the truth? The Congressional Budget Office has just released its 10-year projections for the budget, so I crunched the numbers to determine what it would take to balance the budget without tax hikes. Much to nobody’s surprise, the politicians are not telling the truth. The chart below shows that revenues are expected t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405756 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:00:32 +0100 4405756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4406013&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F26%2Fready-get-set-go-deja-vu-strikes-again%2F Reps Hired for Viibyd Launch …….. Now that Clinical Data has an FDA approval in hand, it’s gearing up to grab a piece of the $12 billion antidepressant market. The company is hiring sales reps and rolling out a marketing campaign to support its new drug Viibryd, hailed as the first SSRI without troublesome sexual [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4406013 Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:09:59 +0100 4406013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399798&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F25%2Fglaxo-avandia-settlement-latest-news%2F Oh Dear!!  GSK in the spotlight a lot this week. Reports said Monday thatGlaxoSmithKline is bound to face a multi-district litigation amounting to an estimated $3.4 billion against its anti-diabetes drug, Avandia. According to the reports, a number of pending litigations against Avandia, an oral anti-diabetic agent which acts primarily by increasing insulin sensitivity, are filed in different states [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399798 Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:15:04 +0100 4399798 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399799&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F25%2Fgsk-pulls-ed-ads-to-help-rehab-its-image%2F Whoopy bloody dooooo!!!  Not before time that they [GSK] started to take some responsibility for their actions (inactions)!!!! GlaxoSmithKline is pulling ads for its erectile dysfunction drug Levitra. And it’s making a big show of that choice; North American President Deirdre Connelly said it’s part of the company’s new push to be more transparent and [...] (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399799 Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:53:33 +0100 4399799 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382755&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSamESHnA_8M%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’m not a big fan of central banks, and I definitely don’t like multilateral bureaucracies, so I almost feel guilty about publicizing two recent studies published by the European Central Bank. But when such an institution puts out research that unambiguously makes the case for smaller government, it’s time to sit up and take notice. And since these studies largely echo the findings of recent research by the International Monetary Fund, we may have reached a point where even the establishment finally understands that government is too big. The first study looks at real-world examples of debt reduction in 15 European nations and investigates the fiscal policies that worked and didn’t work. Entitled “Major Public Debt Reductions: Lessons From... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382755 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:37:43 +0100 4382755 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4372241&cid=t_124536_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fpicture-is-worth-thousand-words-public.html This report is a "must read"! (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4372241 Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:27:00 +0100 4372241 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4361281&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35772&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshutah.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F18%2Flegal-no-go-area%2F Is this fair? The BBC has been told that Legal aid cuts will make it impossible to challenge pharmaceutical companies in the courts. The government plans to cut the legal aid budget by £350m which means lawyers representing claimants against drug companies will be unlikely to get funding in England and Wales. The current alternative is a mixture of no-win no-fee agreements with lawyers, and insurance against a patient losing and being liable for the winning side’s substantial costs. The government is currently consulting on its proposals and insists reforms will be fair. Listen to the programme and share your comments below. Thank you. Tagged: Big Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Litigation, Paxil, Seroxat (Source: SEROXAT WEBLOG) SEROXAT WEBLOG blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4361281 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:06:09 +0100 4361281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4355744&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2F16%2Fyou-bet-your-life%2F What would you bet your life on? In 1996 I took a job about 40 minutes south of San Jose, California with a small mom-and-pop ambulance company. The service was named after the owner and had been serving a mostly rural area of northern California for a couple of decades before I arrived in town. They were, without a doubt, the worst ambulance company I ever served under. The owner ran the place like a dictator. I started work the day after my interview on a dirty ambulance wearing an old uniform that was two sizes too large. My partner was the grumpy silent type. The station conditions were deplorable and the policies and procedures were down-right unethical. (As an example, the owner would frequently order crews to respond to scenes, after they had been canceled enroute, so that they coul... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4355744 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:05:51 +0100 4355744 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4343364&cid=t_124536_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FgX8bqc_al_U%2F I have grown up near the ocean my entire life and I have learned much about the strong currents, rough surf, and powerful nature of a storm at sea. As a long-time diver, I have recently begun to notice that the nature of the sea is much like the nature of the land. Life above the waves is very similar to the depths below, and there are many parallels with what is simple and beautiful and what is difficult and scary. A tranquil sea can turn rough, choppy, and dangerous within minutes – you could be driving along content in your car, listening to your favorite music, when your tire blows sending you into a spin and a maelstrom of danger. In life, as with the sea, you never know when the good or bad will hit. I have come up with five principles I learned at sea that mirror the lessons I... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4343364 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 07:21:42 +0100 4343364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4338092&cid=t_124536_117_f&fid=38856&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timemastermd.com%2F%3Fp%3D1626 FINGER MATTERS Big fingers = big penis?  Scientists say finger length may help a girl know a guy’s penis length when he is not erect, but not when he is excited.  Most of the time, erect size is much larger- but not always, so don’t “judge a finger by it’s cover.” The longest finger should be 7/8th of the length of the palm of the hand.  Any shorter – you might be sporting a small penis, but also have an increased risk of cancer in the prostate, poor sports skills, small bank account, and increased odds of homosexuality!  Wow, that is a lot a pressure for an simple finger! Why do men with the longest fingers seem to want to become protologists and urologists, and women with the smallest fingers become gynecologists?  Seems like it should be reverse... Timemaster MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4338092 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:39:45 +0100 4338092 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337916&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5B9bA0hn2vw%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere is a very bizarre race happening in Illinois. The Governor and the leaders of the State Senate and General Assembly are trying to figure out how to ram through a massive tax increase, but they’re trying to make it happen before new state lawmakers take office tomorrow. The Democrats will still control the state legislature, but their scheme to fleece taxpayers would face much steeper odds because of GOP gains in last November’s elections. As a result, the Illinois version of a lame-duck session has become a nightmare, sort of a feeding frenzy of tax-crazed politicians. Here’s the Chicago Tribune‘s description of the massive tax hike being sought by the Democrats. The 3 percent rate now paid by individuals and families would rise to 5 perce... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337916 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 19:15:04 +0100 4337916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337919&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkHbk2m319fQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThanks to decades of reckless spending by European welfare states, the newspapers are filled with headlines about debt, default, contagion, and bankruptcy. We know that Greece and Ireland already have received direct bailouts, and other European welfare states are getting indirect bailouts from the European Central Bank, which is vying with the Federal Reserve in a contest to see which central bank can win the “Most Likely to Appease the Political Class” Award. But which nation will be the next domino to fall? Who will get the next direct bailout? Some people think total government debt is the key variable, and there’s been a lot of talk that debt levels of 90 percent of GDP represent some sort of fiscal Maginot Line. Once nations get above that level... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337919 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:53:45 +0100 4337919 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4327003&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FqMAAzjXOv1A%2F Tweet I am fascinated by the entire field of social network analysis. Given all the data, however incomplete and noisy, at our disposal today, we can learn a lot about our behavior and habits. While some companies and organizations leverage these data to sell more targeted advertising and improving the relevance of search results, there is a whole slew of socio-economic and other metrics/trends that we can evaluate as well. For example, Jake Hofman does some fabulous work on how to analyze social network dynamics. There are many others doing much the same. An example of some interesting work in this area comes to us from Marcel Salathé and co-workers at Penn State. Their paper on “A High-Resolution Human Contact Network for Infectious Disease Transmission” looks into the num... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4327003 Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:39:37 +0100 4327003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322491&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FB1rlY0rXtbM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellGrousing about the GOP’s timidity in the battle against big government will probably become an ongoing theme over the next few months. Two items don’t bode well for fiscal discipline. First, it appears that Republicans didn’t really mean it when they promised to cut $100 billion of so-called discretionary spending as part of their pledge. According to the New York Times, As they prepare to take power on Wednesday, Republican leaders are scaling back that number by as much as half, aides say, because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law. This is hardly good news, particularly since the discretionary portion of the budget contains entire departments, such as Housing and Urban Devel... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322491 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:37:59 +0100 4322491 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4318332&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbad-science-and-the-gift-of-medical-skepticism%2F2011.01.06 Discover magazine had an article about Dr. Ben Goldacre, a British physician who writes for The Guardian, is the author of the new book “Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks,” and is considered a gift to skepticism. His column is also called “Bad Science,” and he recently gave a short and interesting talk about non-evidence-based medicine at the Pop!Tech conference held in Camden, Maine. Enjoy! Ben Goldacre Talks Bad Science from PopTech on Vimeo. *This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4318332 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:00:52 +0100 4318332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313989&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPremGoVsvgM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe news is going from bad to worse for Ireland. The Irish Independent is reporting that the Swiss Central Bank no longer will accept Irish government bonds as collateral. The story also notes that one of the world’s largest bond firms, PIMCO, is no longer purchasing debt issued by the Irish government. And this is happening even though (or perhaps because?) Ireland received a big bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (and the IMF’s involvement means American taxpayers are picking up part of the tab). I’ve already commented on Ireland’s woes, and opined about similar problems afflicting the rest of Europe, but the continuing deterioration of the Emerald Isle deserves further analysis so that American policy makers h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313989 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:47:36 +0100 4313989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4314128&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FGNYhesxVaJ8%2Fbritains_obesity_solution_coupons.php It seems like a step in the right direction, across Britain, big businesses are giving away $390 million in discount coupons. These will let shoppers get cheaper healthy options like wholegrain rice, fruits and vegetables. But, is this new scheme really a sign that big business and the food industry are starting to back healthy eating, instead of profits?3 Comments | Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4314128 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0100 4314128 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309592&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FIougkQG-aIU%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe mid-term elections were a rejection of President Obama’s big-government agenda, but those results don’t necessarily mean better policy. We should not forget, after all, that Democrats rammed through Obamacare even after losing the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts (much to my dismay, my prediction from last January was correct). Similarly, GOP control of the House of Representatives does not automatically mean less government and more freedom. Heck, it doesn’t even guarantee that things won’t continue to move in the wrong direction. Here are three possible bad policies for 2011, most of which the Obama White House can implement by using executive power. 1. A back-door bailout of the states from the Federal Reserve &#82... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309592 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:02:34 +0100 4309592 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4305087&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F03%2F60-minutes-and-glaxosmithklines-whistleblower%2F Yet another ‘how does Glaxo get away with it’ story…. Cheryl Eckards’ job, as manager of Glaxo’s global quality assurance, “was to inspect plants to make sure that the drugs had the right ingredients, the right potency and met government standards for purity.” In fact, she was sent in because an FDA inspection had already seen problems as this plant [Cidra] (noting that “FDA inspections of drug plants are only occasional, so it’s up to drug companies to police themselves” – which is why litigation is such a critical backup.)  But as 60 Minutes put it, Eckard “found much more than the FDA had.”  For example, The employees were contaminating products, including the anti-bacterial ointment Bactroban, which was made in a sealed tank to prevent co... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4305087 Mon, 03 Jan 2011 14:10:36 +0100 4305087 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4302236&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2Fpb9DlJ7Snls%2F Tweet Hans Rosling is a great presenter on the value of statistics and he now has a BBC documentary to go with it (Source: business|bytes|genes|molecules) business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4302236 Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:51:33 +0100 4302236 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4298724&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FXahj6n5yQJY%2Fculinary_trends_for_2011.php A survey of over 1500 chefs conducted by the American Culinary Association has revealed the top 20 culinary trends for 2011. Environmentally-consciousness reigns supreme in this list, with sustainability figuring prominently in the top 20. In fact, "green-friendly" choices take up the top 3 spots and include;3 Comments | Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4298724 Wed, 29 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4298724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4275390&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F12%2F20%2F7-tips-to-smooth-over-your-holiday-stress%2F Ahh, the holidays. Christmastime is here, and many will be traveling this week to rejoin loved ones and family members. We’ll be traveling too, as we often do during the holidays, to visit with long-distance family. Wouldn’t you like your holidays to be a bit smoother? Me too. So here are some tips to help smooth over your holiday stress and make this time of the year more enjoyable for you and those you’ll be visiting. 1. Plan early. Well, it’s a little late for this one. If your trip isn’t yet planned, I can’t help you. But this is good information for next year, as sometimes people wait until the last minute to plan their travel or where exactly they’ll be and when, when visiting the family. These tips can also help you reduce stress about holid... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4275390 Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:59:58 +0100 4275390 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4266190&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F18%2F20-years-of-pharmaceutical-company-fraud%2F How much longer will big pharma be allowed to get away with it? Something’s got to change, because along with all the settlements shown below, the pharmaceutical industry is responsible for killing thousands of patients each year. You’ll see from the chart that the last few years have been the worst for settlements – the reason is that the pharmaceutical companies that are all too happy to create drugs (and aggressively market those drugs) in the knowledge that the drugs are unsafe – putting their wealth before patients’ health. The age of the truly innovative blockbuster drug is over – Big Pharma knows this but continues to market sub standard products to the public. This is also the reason why we have seen marketing and advertising spend leap ahead of (by two ... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4266190 Sat, 18 Dec 2010 10:39:02 +0100 4266190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265680&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F9OUF4u0l76g%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere’s a lot of attention being paid to yesterday’s landslide vote in the House to prevent a big tax increase next year. If you’re a glass-half-full optimist, you will be celebrating the good news for taxpayers. If you’re a glass-half-empty pessimist, you will be angry because the bill also contains provisions to increase the burden of government spending as well as some utterly corrupt tax loopholes added to the legislation so politicians could get campaign cash from special interest groups. If you want some unambiguously good news, however, ignore the tax deal and celebrate the fact that Senator Harry Reid had to give up his attempt to enact a pork-filled, $1 trillion-plus spending bill. This “omnibus appropriation” not only had a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265680 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:09:25 +0100 4265680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4266281&cid=t_124536_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2F10-pointers-to-recovery%2F Seek and yee shall findThese Ten Pointers are a summary of the lifesaving directions to recovery from alcoholism given in ‘How It Works’, chapter 5 of Alcoholics Anonymous – the AA Big Book.Completely give yourself to this simple Program.Practice rigorous honesty.Be willing to go to any lengths to recover.Be fearless and thorough in your practice of the principles.Realize that there is no easier, softer way.Let go of your old ideas, absolutely.Recognize that half measures will not work.Ask a Higher Power’s protection and care with complete abandon.Be willing to grow along spiritual lines.Accept the following ideas:that you cannot manage your own life;that probably no human power can restore you to sanity;that A Higher Power can and will if sought.See also12 Spiritual QuestionsThe L... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4266281 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:29:38 +0100 4266281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4258929&cid=t_124536_109_f&fid=38950&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shockmd.com%2F2010%2F12%2F15%2Fwhat-kind-of-teachers-do-students-want%2F This study didn’t focus on the students’ personalities. Should we use these findings for the selection of lecturers? We probably won’t have enough lecturers and all university lecturers have other tasks to fulfil besides lecturing such as patient care, research, administration. Moreover, in our med school teaching is not appreciated as much as research. What do you think? SWAMI, V., FURNHAM, A., MAAKIP, I., AHMAD, S., HUDANI, N., VOO, P., CHRISTOPHER, A., & GARWOOD, J. (2007). A cross-cultural investigation of students’ preferences for lecturers’ personalities in Britain, Malaysia and the United States Learning and Individual Differences, 17 (4), 307-315 DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2007.03.006   Related posts:What Kind of a Person Blogs Specia... Dr Shock MD PhD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4258929 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:57:57 +0100 4258929 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4259154&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Fhttp%253A%2F%25252Fwww.theicarusproject.net%2Fethan-watters-discussion-about-dsm-gone-global%2F read more (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4259154 Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:32:37 +0100 4259154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4253119&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlR0NxOqnxWQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere are plenty of reason to like and dislike the tax deal between President Obama and congressional leaders. On the plus side, we dodge a big tax increase for the next two years. We also replace a goofy and ineffective “make work pay” tax credit with a supply-side oriented reduction in the payroll tax rate (albeit only for one year, so there probably won’t be much economic benefit). On the negative side, the deal extends unemployment benefits, which has the perverse effect of subsidizing unemployment. The deal is also filled with all sorts of corrupt provisions for various interest groups such as ethanol producers. Then there are provisions such as the 35 percent death tax. Is this bad news, because it is an increase from zero percent this year? Or ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4253119 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:20:07 +0100 4253119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4251104&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlR0NxOqnxWQ%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere are plenty of reason to like and dislike the tax deal between President Obama and congressional leaders. On the plus side, we dodge a big tax increase for the next two years. We also replace a goofy and ineffective “make work pay” tax credit with a supply-side oriented reduction in the payroll tax rate (albeit only for one year, so there probably won’t be much economic benefit). On the negative side, the deal extends unemployment benefits, which has the perverse effect of subsidizing unemployment. The deal is also filled with all sorts of corrupt provisions for various interest groups such as ethanol producers. Then there are provisions such as the 35 percent death tax. Is this bad news, because it is an increase from zero percent this year? Or ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4251104 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:20:07 +0100 4251104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4251253&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F11%2Fchuck-nemeroff-really-really-pissed-off-but-still-really-really-rich%2F Did I mention the textbook that Chuck Nemeroff wrote, oops – or rather he didn’t, but he might have done, or at least he might have seen some drafts and approved them… who knows? Probably not Chuck  because his memory is so bad – maybe that’s why he forgot to disclose all that cash he got from drug companies (wasn’t it about $1.5 million?). That’s one poor memory! Anyway, now he’s really pissed off and wants to sue POGO because they ran a story about the ghostwritten Nemeroff textbook – and so did the the New York Times in their story: Drug Maker Wrote Book Under 2 Doctors’ Names, Documents Say Here are some downloads for you while away the long winter hours with – thanks to 1 Boring Old Man POGO Letter to NIH on Ghostwritin... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4251253 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:53:29 +0100 4251253 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4249059&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-virtue-of-unnecessary-care%2F2010.12.10 I case you didn’t hear the news, the American healthcare system is in financial crisis. One of the biggest culprits indicted in this crises is “unnecessary care,” with estimates ranging from $500 to $650 billion (total spending estimate is $2.6 trillion) going toward things labeled “unnecessary.” Personally I think this is an underestimate, as it doesn’t take into account the some big-ticket items: Brand name drugs given when generics would do. Antibiotics given for viral infections (and the additional cost due to reactions and resistance). Unproven costly care considered “standard of care” (PSA testing, robotic surgery, coronary stents). The unnecessarily high price of drugs. One of the main reasons I am an advocate of EMR is to measure and analyze care, eliminating tha... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4249059 Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:00:19 +0100 4249059 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241926&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F08%2Fwikileaks-big-pharma-revelations-next%2F In a rare, two-hour interview conducted in London on November 11, Julian Assange said that he’s still sitting on a trove of secret documents, about half of which relate to the private sector. And WikiLeaks’ next target will be a major American bank. “It will give a true and representative insight into how banks behave at the executive level in a way that will stimulate investigations and reforms, I presume,” he said, adding: “For this, there’s only one similar example. It’s like the Enron emails.” “You could call it the ecosystem of corruption. But it’s also all the regular decision making that turns a blind eye to and supports unethical practices: the oversight that’s not done, the priorities of executives, how they think they’re fulfilling their own self-inter... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241926 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:34:39 +0100 4241926 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230309&cid=t_124536_140_f&fid=35436&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseroxatsecrets.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F12%2F05%2F1-boring-old-man-chuck-nemeroff%2F A retired Doctor (the 1 Boring old Man) writes about Nemeroff and Ghostwriting: Like Dr. Healy, I have some personal reasons for being upset about all of this. In 1974, I changed careers from Internal Medicine to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis because of an interest in the mind, and I never looked back. I was in academic medicine at Emory University after retraining. In the early 1980’s, a new Chairman arrived, and it was clear that my interests were not compatible with the wave of Biological Psychiatry that was sweeping the specialty, and I left for private practice, continuing to teach in the Psychoanalytic Institute, but no longer involved with the Psychiatry Department. At that time, I wasn’t bitter and enjoyed my private practice. A few years later, Dr. Nemeroff became Chairman. I ... seroxat secrets... blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230309 Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:54:52 +0100 4230309 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225532&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FEQGwfrXIYX4%2F Tweet There’s a lot of interesting stuff out there which I don’t have time to blog about, so here are some links that I might end up blogging about later NASA, a little bit of hyperbole, but some cool biochemistry. You’ve all seen the news. Here is thhe (paper in Science). A few interesting blog posts by Steve Betz, PZ Myers and Derek Lowe Science and gameplay. Phylo is to comparative genomics what Foldit is to structure prediction LinkedIn, the place for data scientists. Or so it seems, as they add Daniel Tunkelang to an excellent team of data geeks (Source: business|bytes|genes|molecules) business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225532 Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:56:31 +0100 4225532 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225222&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi2k8vsZwsD0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe fiscal disintegration of Europe is bad news, though I confess to a bit of malicious glee every time I read about welfare states such as Greece and Portugal getting to the point where they no longer have the ability to borrow enough money to finance their bloated public sectors (I have mixed feelings about Ireland since that nation at least has been a good example of low tax corporate tax rates, but I still think they should get punished for over-spending and bailouts). This I-told-you-so attitude is not very mature on my part, but one hopes that American politicians will learn the right lessons and something good will come from this mess. I have not written much about the topic in recent months, in part because I don’t have much to add to my original post a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225222 Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:51:28 +0100 4225222 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4225466&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FAEOJ3ljJ88k%2Fvideo_exposes_horrible_conditions_at_embattled_egg_farm.php Earlier this month, Jackson, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods Inc., recalled 24,000 dozen eggs purchased from Ohio Fresh Eggs LLC, of Croton, Ohio, over possible salmonella contamination. After routine sampling, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Cal-Maine that eggs tested positive for salmonella, spurring the immediate recall. And now, a Humane Society video taken by an undercover investigator working at the Cal-Maine farm in Waelder, Texas, reveals rampant animal abuse and food-safety violations. 15 Comments | Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4225466 Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4225466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4214478&cid=t_124536_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fdrug-discovery-is-as-much-art-as.html GSK's "More Than Medicine" blog posts today announced that GSK CEO Andrew Witty "recently wrote a forward-looking essay focusing on the future of the pharmaceutical industry for 2011 and beyond." In that essay -- published in the Economist (here) -- one paragraph stands out: "Art, not just science" is the heading, under which Witty says: "First, we need to recapture the ability to empower creative talent in the discovery phase of r&d by creating an environment in the labs that reflects the fact that discovering a drug is as much an art as it is a process."Maybe Witty envisions "Jackson Pollock" wannabe lab researchers throwing chemicals against a wall & seeing what sticks? (Source: Pharma Marketing Blog) Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4214478 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:12:00 +0100 4214478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4197287&cid=t_124536_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FRIJGBsQcMHk%2Froche-social-media-summit---skeptics.php Just a quick note today.  I'm a few minutes shy of heading out to play some lunchtime basketball, and I can't wait to get there!  I've got a short week of exercise this week because of the holidays, so I'm anxious to make the most of what I've got.For the past two years I have attended the Roche Social Media Summit.  I think it was well received, overall.  But there were also many skeptics who shared reservations about what it was all about.  Rightfully so, in my opinion.  Living with diabetes and dealing with a lot of crap out there definitely affects our opinions, and bravo to those who were brave enough to share how they felt.  That is important.I hope that most of you saw The BiG blue test video.  It is an amazing video, and each unique view (bef... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4197287 Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:53:11 +0100 4197287 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190135&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsJ3FWjNyh7c%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI haven’t commented much on earmarks, but an oped in today’s Washington Post was has goaded me into action. A former Reagan Administration appointee (the Gipper must be spinning in his grave), who now makes a living by selling our money to the highest bidder, made several ridiculous assertions, including: …earmarks are largely irrelevant to balancing the budget. The $16.5 billion Congress spent on earmarks in fiscal year 2009 sounds like a lot, but leaves a minuscule footprint – about 1 percent of 2009′s $1.4 trillion deficit. Those seriously concerned about deficits should look elsewhere for meaningful spending reductions. …On Capitol Hill, party leaders must appeal to lawmakers’ interests as well as their principles to get th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190135 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:48:36 +0100 4190135 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190189&cid=t_124536_101_f&fid=38969&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheemtspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2F21%2Fjumping-to-no%2F A recent student of mine is talking about looking for his first EMT job. He tells me how he’s thinking about an ER tech job but he explains how much competition there is for the limited number of jobs. Then we talk about some of the local ambulance services and he explains that they’re mostly looking for folks with previous experience. Finally and I stop him and I say, “John, why don’t you let them decide why they don’t want to hire you?” Sometimes we’re so quick to say no to ourselves to avoid ever encountering the possibility of someone else saying no to us. Showing up and saying you want the job, the promotion, the raise or anything else in life feels a lot like failure. And we all know how scary failure is. Let’s face it, it’s easie... The EMT Spot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190189 Sun, 21 Nov 2010 14:25:48 +0100 4190189 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4186983&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FQ959qqtZw4c%2Fcheerios_commercial_in_the_middle_of_a_soap_opera.php I don't like marketing. Mind you, I have a degree in it, so I understand the beast. But I still don't like it. Advertising techniques are either deceptive cons or ridiculous mini-movies that have little to do with the product being sold. Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4186983 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4186983 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175671&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fsg6VpRicAgY%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI’ve already commented on the proposal from the Chairmen of President Obama’s Fiscal Commission (including a very clever cartoon, if it’s okay to pat myself on the back). Now we have a similar proposal from the so-called Debt Reduction Task Force. Chaired by former Senator Pete Domenici and Clinton Administration Budget Director Alice Rivlin, the Task Force proposed a series of big tax increases to finance bigger government. I have five observations. 1. Notwithstanding a claim of $2.68 trillion of “spending cuts” during the 2012-2020 period, government gets a lot bigger during the decade. All of the supposed “cuts” are measured against an artificial baseline that assumes bigger government. In other words, the report is compl... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175671 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:51:16 +0100 4175671 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4175693&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Funintended-consequences-of-cheaper-generic-drugs%2F2010.11.17 There’s an article in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled the “Unintended Consequences of Four-Dollar Generic Drugs.“ Ever one to hone in on unintended consequences of all stripes, I quickly clicked through. Oh, dear! What bad could possibly come of making drugs significantly more affordable? Were more people demanding prescriptions for drugs they didn’t really need now that they were so cheap? (Dream on. I’m still twisting arms to get my high-risk cardiac patients to take their generic statins.) Were pharmacies going out of business, no longer to make ends meet without massive markups on brand name drugs, contributing to skyrocketing unemployment and otherwise adding to the country’s general economic malaise? Were cardiologists’ incomes plummeting because of saggin... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4175693 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:00:35 +0100 4175693 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4172062&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhrt-and-breast-cancer-deaths-%25e2%2580%2593-just-in-case-you-weren%25e2%2580%2599t-listening-the-first-time%25e2%2580%25a6%2F2010.11.16 A new analysis of long-term data from the Women’s Health Initiative confirms what we already knew the first time around: Use of combination hormone replacement (HRT*) is associated with a small, but real, risk of breast cancer. This new 11-year followup data carries that knowledge out to its not unexpected conclusion — namely, that some (although not most) breast cancers can be fatal, and therefore the the use of HRT can increase breast cancer mortality. While it may seem a bit of a “duh,” this study was, in fact, necessary to quell the WHI critics who continued to argue that the breast cancers caused by HRT were somehow less aggressive than those occurring off HRT (which they are not.) It was also a wake-up call for many women who were continuing to use HRT and thinking that s... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4172062 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:00:50 +0100 4172062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164652&cid=t_124536_134_f&fid=35187&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDiabetesDaily%2F%7E3%2FnWIxUoC3ZTY%2Fbig-blue-test---in-pictures.php If you are reading this, you probably know that today is World Diabetes Day. You also probably know about the Big Blue Test (whose video got over 100,000 views so $75,000 will be donated to children in need).Here is what the Big Blue Test looked like for me:First, while I tested and exercised, the cats did this.I got my WiiFit board set up and ready to go.At 2 pm, I checked my blood glucose.Then I hopped (not really, you aren't supposed to jump on it) on the WiiFit board and got to work.After 14 minutes, I checked my blood glucose again.There was an immediate reduction in my numbers - the power of exercise!If you want to see the longer term effects of exercise, check out the Dexcom almost a half an hour later.Check out this page to find out more about the Big Blue Test around the world.&nb... Diabetes Daily blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164652 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:36:47 +0100 4164652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164705&cid=t_124536_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fthe-aa-tools-of-recovery%2F Many AA meetings read what is called the Tools of Recovery at the beginning of the meeting. ABSTINENCE We commit ourselves to stay away from the first drink, one day at a time. MEETINGS We attend A.A. meetings to learn how the program works, to share our experience, strength and hope with each other, and because through the support of the fellowship, we can do what we could never do alone. SPONSOR A sponsor is a person in the A.A. program who has what we want and is continually sober. A sponsor is someone you can relate to, have access to and can confide in. TELEPHONE The telephone is our lifeline — our meeting between meetings. Call before you take the first drink. The more numbers you have, the more insurance you have. LITERATURE The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is our... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164705 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:30:23 +0100 4164705 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164600&cid=t_124536_129_f&fid=34869&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fdiet-blog%2F%7E3%2FeNYlk_IH9IE%2Ffast_food_companies_marketing_more_to_kids.php Never underestimate the power of screaming child. It's like nails on a chalkboard, only a gabillion times worse. Most parents can barely stand their kids, especially if they're throwing a tantrum. Make them stop, make them stop! That's why advertising to kids is so successful. It taps into the nag-factor. Why argue with a 5-year old, when you can just give them what they want and be done with it. Fast food companies know this all too well, so they've stepped up advertising to children.Continue reading... (Source: Diet Blog) Diet Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164600 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0100 4164600 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4159222&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fzs-AIlTX99k%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI have many pet peeves, but one that causes me endless frustration is the Washington “spending cut” scam. This happens when politicians increase spending, but claim that they’re cutting spending because they previously had planned to make government even bigger. The proposal unveiled yesterday by the Co-Chairman of President Obama’s Fiscal Commission is a good example. If you read through their report, it sounds like there are lots of spending cuts. But they never explain that these supposed cuts are really just reductions in previously-planned increases. Here’s the bottom line. As shown in the graph, it is quite simple to balance the budget (and permanently extend all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts) if politicians simply limit spending gro... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4159222 Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:02:04 +0100 4159222 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151790&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fyour-insurance-plan-you-can-keep-it-if-you-want%25e2%2580%259d%2F2010.11.09 Forgive me for being a little late to the healthcare insurance reform discussion. I was busy, y’know, providing actual healthcare to sick people while that whole rigamarole was going on. But that one sentence, uttered over and over by everyone from the President on down, always stuck in my craw. At long last, I’m finally able to properly articulate my response. Trying to pass sweeping health insurance reform legislation while telling people that, of course, they “can keep their current plans if they want” is like legislating tough new laws against wifebeating and assuring women that, of course, they can stay with their husbands if they like. No one tries to force victims of domestic violence to leave their abusers, but they do try to help them understand that they h... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151790 Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:00:17 +0100 4151790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4142924&cid=t_124536_132_f&fid=35011&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fmndoci%2F%7E3%2FQ4Z3IdCJ2QM%2F Tweet Ben Black has a great blog post on GigaOm on scale-driven database architecture. There are two key messages there that I would like reiterative in the context of modern biology. The first comes right at the beginning of the post Scale breaks everything. Scale even breaks your assumptions about how best to store and query data. Scale does not care about your personal engineering preferences, or about SQL vs. NoSQL. The demands of rapid growth and ever-higher expectations for availability, performance, and cost efficiency force you to re-evaluate and re-imagine what you need, what is possible, and how to best achieve your businessscientific goals. The second message comes in right at the end Lost in all the debates about SQL vs. NoSQL, ACID vs. BASE, CAP, and all the rest is simply ... business|bytes|genes|molecules blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4142924 Sat, 06 Nov 2010 18:41:39 +0100 4142924 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4139217&cid=t_124536_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fal8GNm8Xlb4%2F By Sallie JamesQuote of the day from outgoing Chairman (and soon-to-be Ranking Member) of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson (D., MN): “I’ll be able to take care of sugar, that’s not even a question,” Peterson said. “We’ll keep the same program; it doesn’t cost anything. That won’t be hard.” (Source: the North Dakota InForum, which has many more gems from the Chairman about why the election is not a problem for Big Ag) Au contraire, Mr Peterson.  The U.S. sugar program costs sugar consumers, including food manufacturers, billions of dollars a year, by the government’s own figures. I just love the way that so many politicians (and bureaucrats) assume that if something doesn’t show up as a line item in the budget, ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4139217 Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:55:10 +0100 4139217 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4143023&cid=t_124536_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Faa-still-works-2%2F An Historical Piece – AA Still Works After Twenty-Nine Years Marty M’s story "Women Suffer Too" was the first woman’s story in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Today, as it was in April 1939 when I attended my first meeting, the Twelve Steps are to me the heart of the AA program. Desire to stop drinking By the time I gathered up courage to attend a meeting, I had read the Big Book three times. And I had studied several hundred times the pages containing the Twelve Steps and the suggestions on how to use them. They didn’t seem easy to me — they didn’t even seem simple, in spite of the clarity of language. But I was eager to go to work on all of them, for they seemed to me the key to that which I so desperately needed: assurance that I wo... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4143023 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:37:14 +0100 4143023