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HuckleB
HuckleB's Journal
HuckleB's Journal
May 25, 2016
"...
In Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, (Ron Miscavige) paints his son — the leader of the Church of Scientology and the successor to founder L. Ron Hubbard — as an abusive tyrant who has transformed a once-useful religion into a cult devoted to worshipping him, squeezing every possible cent out of church members and treating those who devote their lives to the church like sharecroppers whose measly wages will never get them out of debt at the company store — or off the church’s palatial plantation.
And if they do try to leave, the elder Miscavige says, they are typically tracked down and brought back by a combination of force, coercion and psychological intimidation. For the very few who do manage to escape and forge a new life outside the church, there awaits a special form of punishment: disconnection. That’s the church’s policy of requiring its members to shun family members who dare to leave the church or even criticize it.
“I wrote this book specifically to expose the disconnection policy,” the 80-year-old Miscavige said in a recent interview. “Four years after I escaped, my two daughters, their children and my great-grandchildren are still not talking to me and won’t allow me to see them. And it’s not just my family that’s been shattered — it’s happened to a lot of people.”
...
This is a more subtle approach to Scientology and its flaws. It’s a painful-to-read attempt to answer a fundamental question: How the hell did a young boy who was an affectionate, happy, bright kid with a great sense of humor and a genuine desire to help others grow into a selfish, abusive monster who surrounds himself only with people who suck up to him? Someone who lives a lavish lifestyle while those who work for him live no better than medieval serfs?
..."
--------------------------
David Miscavige's Father Exposes Scientology's Cruelest Policy
http://www.laweekly.com/arts/david-miscaviges-father-exposes-scientologys-cruelest-policy-6957079"...
In Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, (Ron Miscavige) paints his son — the leader of the Church of Scientology and the successor to founder L. Ron Hubbard — as an abusive tyrant who has transformed a once-useful religion into a cult devoted to worshipping him, squeezing every possible cent out of church members and treating those who devote their lives to the church like sharecroppers whose measly wages will never get them out of debt at the company store — or off the church’s palatial plantation.
And if they do try to leave, the elder Miscavige says, they are typically tracked down and brought back by a combination of force, coercion and psychological intimidation. For the very few who do manage to escape and forge a new life outside the church, there awaits a special form of punishment: disconnection. That’s the church’s policy of requiring its members to shun family members who dare to leave the church or even criticize it.
“I wrote this book specifically to expose the disconnection policy,” the 80-year-old Miscavige said in a recent interview. “Four years after I escaped, my two daughters, their children and my great-grandchildren are still not talking to me and won’t allow me to see them. And it’s not just my family that’s been shattered — it’s happened to a lot of people.”
...
This is a more subtle approach to Scientology and its flaws. It’s a painful-to-read attempt to answer a fundamental question: How the hell did a young boy who was an affectionate, happy, bright kid with a great sense of humor and a genuine desire to help others grow into a selfish, abusive monster who surrounds himself only with people who suck up to him? Someone who lives a lavish lifestyle while those who work for him live no better than medieval serfs?
..."
--------------------------
May 25, 2016
"The tension between the “business of pharmacy” and the professional responsibilities of pharmacists, as health care professionals, has always been present in retail (“community”) pharmacy practice. For much of the past several decades, pharmacies have generally been owned by pharmacists, elevating pharmacy ethics and professional responsibilities to the level of the owner. But the era of the independent pharmacist-owner-operated pharmacy is disappearing, and the era of the massive pharmacy chain is upon us. In the United States, CVS and Walgreens command 50% of the retail pharmacy business in major cities. In Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart has been purchased by the grocery giant Loblaw, and the Rexall chain has been purchased by American giant McKesson. And in the United Kingdom, retail pharmacy chain Boots has about 25% of pharmacy market share.
With this retail consolidation, are we seeing a decline in the autonomy of the front-line pharmacist? A scathing series of articles in The Guardian is raising questions about whether pharmacy giant Boots is putting a drive for profits ahead of safe and appropriate pharmacy care. And pharmacists are speaking up.The Guardian column is scathing. “How Boots went Rogue” was the headline in a long piece by Aditya Chakrabortty:
..."
-----------------------------
A most worthy read.
Is a profit-first philosophy in retail pharmacy compromising working conditions and patient care?
https://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/is-a-profit-first-philosophy-in-retail-pharmacy-compromising-working-conditions-and-patient-care/"The tension between the “business of pharmacy” and the professional responsibilities of pharmacists, as health care professionals, has always been present in retail (“community”) pharmacy practice. For much of the past several decades, pharmacies have generally been owned by pharmacists, elevating pharmacy ethics and professional responsibilities to the level of the owner. But the era of the independent pharmacist-owner-operated pharmacy is disappearing, and the era of the massive pharmacy chain is upon us. In the United States, CVS and Walgreens command 50% of the retail pharmacy business in major cities. In Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart has been purchased by the grocery giant Loblaw, and the Rexall chain has been purchased by American giant McKesson. And in the United Kingdom, retail pharmacy chain Boots has about 25% of pharmacy market share.
With this retail consolidation, are we seeing a decline in the autonomy of the front-line pharmacist? A scathing series of articles in The Guardian is raising questions about whether pharmacy giant Boots is putting a drive for profits ahead of safe and appropriate pharmacy care. And pharmacists are speaking up.The Guardian column is scathing. “How Boots went Rogue” was the headline in a long piece by Aditya Chakrabortty:
This is the tale of how one of Britain’s oldest and biggest businesses went rogue – to the point where its own pharmacists claim their working conditions threaten the safety of patients, and experts warn that the management’s pursuit of demanding financial targets poses a risk to public health. (Boots denies this, saying that “offering care for our colleagues, customers and the communities which we serve…is an integral part of our strategy.”)
At the heart of this story is one of the most urgent debates in post-crash Britain: what large companies owe the rest of us – in taxes, in wages, and in standards of behaviour.
At the heart of this story is one of the most urgent debates in post-crash Britain: what large companies owe the rest of us – in taxes, in wages, and in standards of behaviour.
..."
-----------------------------
A most worthy read.
May 23, 2016
Fact-checking naturopathic talking points at DCFLI
http://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/fact-checking-naturopathic-points-dcfli/#more-1550
May 23, 2016
http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/05/20/inenglish/1463727520_302272.html
"Mexico took another important step in the fight against discrimination this week after President Enrique Peña Nieto announced he will send a proposal to Congress to amend the Constitution to allow marriage between same-sex couples. The initiative would also require the Foreign Ministry to accept new birth certificates that reflect gender confirmation as valid forms of identification for the issuance of passports. The president made the announcement at an event held at Los Pinos, the presidential residence, to celebrate Mexico’s National Day Against Homophobia, a holiday he created by decree on March 21, 2014.
“It seems simple for us to gather here in Los Pinos but we are turning the page on a new chapter,” said Luis Perelman, an LGBTI activist who spoke at the event. Perelman, the president of the Mexican Federation of Sexual Education and Sexology, recalled how ingrained homophobia is in the country. Forty percent of Mexicans say they are not willing to share their home with a homosexual. “It is one of the few [cases of] discrimination where family is the biggest enemy,” he told the crowd.
The government wants to reform Article Four of the Constitution, which guarantees the rights of the individual, to incorporate the Supreme Court’ June 2015 ruling that gay marriages are equivalent to marriage between heterosexuals. The Court thus legalized this kind of union and declared any law that forbids it unconstitutional. Several Mexican states, however, were reluctant to adapt to the ruling. “We cannot have people in our country who have certain rights in some states but not in others,” Peña Nieto said.
Mexico will create an amendment to enshrine that right in its Constitution. “I trust that once this change has been approved for the Federal Civil Code it will eventually be added to the civil codes of different federal states that do not yet have it,” the president added.
..."
-----------------------------------------
Mexico’s President Peña Nieto backs legalizing same-sex marriage
Leader will send Congress proposal for constitutional reformhttp://elpais.com/elpais/2016/05/20/inenglish/1463727520_302272.html
"Mexico took another important step in the fight against discrimination this week after President Enrique Peña Nieto announced he will send a proposal to Congress to amend the Constitution to allow marriage between same-sex couples. The initiative would also require the Foreign Ministry to accept new birth certificates that reflect gender confirmation as valid forms of identification for the issuance of passports. The president made the announcement at an event held at Los Pinos, the presidential residence, to celebrate Mexico’s National Day Against Homophobia, a holiday he created by decree on March 21, 2014.
“It seems simple for us to gather here in Los Pinos but we are turning the page on a new chapter,” said Luis Perelman, an LGBTI activist who spoke at the event. Perelman, the president of the Mexican Federation of Sexual Education and Sexology, recalled how ingrained homophobia is in the country. Forty percent of Mexicans say they are not willing to share their home with a homosexual. “It is one of the few [cases of] discrimination where family is the biggest enemy,” he told the crowd.
The government wants to reform Article Four of the Constitution, which guarantees the rights of the individual, to incorporate the Supreme Court’ June 2015 ruling that gay marriages are equivalent to marriage between heterosexuals. The Court thus legalized this kind of union and declared any law that forbids it unconstitutional. Several Mexican states, however, were reluctant to adapt to the ruling. “We cannot have people in our country who have certain rights in some states but not in others,” Peña Nieto said.
Mexico will create an amendment to enshrine that right in its Constitution. “I trust that once this change has been approved for the Federal Civil Code it will eventually be added to the civil codes of different federal states that do not yet have it,” the president added.
..."
-----------------------------------------
May 23, 2016
"...
"Something is there with vaccines, because they're not tested in some ways the way other medicines are, and they're just taken for granted and mandated in some states," he explained. "And people do get sick from it. Not everybody, but certain people are sensitive, like anything, penicillin."
So, in light of all this, he is now teaming up with one of the top film execs to get the true story out there.
"I'm working on something else," De Niro said. "Harvey Weinstein and I are working on doing a documentary, but I don't what to talk much about it, because when I talk about it, something happens. But that's what we plan to try to do."
..."
-------------------------------
Idiots out to harm people with CT ignorance.
Robert De Niro on Vaccines: 'Harvey Weinstein and I Are Working on Doing a Documentary'
http://www.indiewire.com/article/robert-de-niro-developing-vaccines-documentary-harvey-weinstein-vaxxed-20160521"...
"Something is there with vaccines, because they're not tested in some ways the way other medicines are, and they're just taken for granted and mandated in some states," he explained. "And people do get sick from it. Not everybody, but certain people are sensitive, like anything, penicillin."
So, in light of all this, he is now teaming up with one of the top film execs to get the true story out there.
"I'm working on something else," De Niro said. "Harvey Weinstein and I are working on doing a documentary, but I don't what to talk much about it, because when I talk about it, something happens. But that's what we plan to try to do."
..."
-------------------------------
Idiots out to harm people with CT ignorance.
May 20, 2016
"it was less than a year ago that I described a bill wending its way through Congress called the 21st Century Cures Act “old vinegary wine in a new bottle.” The reason I characterized the bill that way was because it really was nothing new and it rested on a very old fallacy, namely that the only way to speed up medical “innovation” is to weaken the FDA and its standards for drug and medical device approval, which is exactly what the 21st Century Cures Act would do if passed into law. It’s basically the American cousin to the British Saatchi Bill, which in essence proposed to do very similar things, but even more so, so much so that Andy Lewis referred to it as the “quack’s charter.” Fortunately for the British, the version of the bill that ultimately passed bears little resemblance to the original Saatchi bill and lacked the most onerous removals of patient protections. I’m not so optimistic that the American Saatchi bill will be so watered down.
...
When I wrote about this misbegotten bill, I pointed out just this aspect of it. What I perhaps didn’t emphasize enough, is that the bill is in essence a “grand bargain,” as Silverman puts it. The bargain is this: Congress will step up funding for the NIH in return for a loosening of regulatory standards at the FDA. Not surprisingly, Silverman thinks that this is a bargain the American people should turn down. Even less surprisingly, I agree even more strongly.
...
Unfortunately, as I discussed last year, the NIH and by extension the American public don’t get very much for giving up a lot, as this is a bad deal. That’s not to say that there aren’t some good things. For example, the 21st Century Cures Act doesn’t add that much to the NIH budget, a 3% increase per year for three years plus $1.86 billion a year “innovation fund” to support precision medicine initiatives and young scientists. Given that the current budget of the NIH is approximately $32 billion, 3% per year is less than $1 billion a year, which means that nearly two thirds of the increase is spoken for, much of it for “precision medicine.” Having been around, I’m also cynical enough to doubt that the part of the funds allocated to “young investigators” will actually benefit young investigators as much as Mr. Alexander thinks it will. If Mr. Alexander is willing to pump $2.86 billion a year for three years into the NIH, it would do a lot more good if there were no strings attached to the budget increase.
...
The 21st Century Cures Act is cynical politics played to increase pharmaceutical company profits. It is not, nor has it ever been, about protecting patients. Although its advocates genuinely believe that its purpose is to bring cures faster to patients who need them, the 21st Century Cures Act will do no such thing, and tying changes in the FDA regulatory framework to increasing NIH funding is the ultimate cynical political ploy to gut the FDA and turn back the clock on drug development at least 50 years."
---------------------------------
Not good, and I can only imagine how much worse it could get under a President Trump.
The 21st Century Cures Act: Still alive, and still poised to endanger patients
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/05/20/the-21st-century-cures-act-still-alive-and-still-poised-to-endanger-patients/"it was less than a year ago that I described a bill wending its way through Congress called the 21st Century Cures Act “old vinegary wine in a new bottle.” The reason I characterized the bill that way was because it really was nothing new and it rested on a very old fallacy, namely that the only way to speed up medical “innovation” is to weaken the FDA and its standards for drug and medical device approval, which is exactly what the 21st Century Cures Act would do if passed into law. It’s basically the American cousin to the British Saatchi Bill, which in essence proposed to do very similar things, but even more so, so much so that Andy Lewis referred to it as the “quack’s charter.” Fortunately for the British, the version of the bill that ultimately passed bears little resemblance to the original Saatchi bill and lacked the most onerous removals of patient protections. I’m not so optimistic that the American Saatchi bill will be so watered down.
...
When I wrote about this misbegotten bill, I pointed out just this aspect of it. What I perhaps didn’t emphasize enough, is that the bill is in essence a “grand bargain,” as Silverman puts it. The bargain is this: Congress will step up funding for the NIH in return for a loosening of regulatory standards at the FDA. Not surprisingly, Silverman thinks that this is a bargain the American people should turn down. Even less surprisingly, I agree even more strongly.
...
Unfortunately, as I discussed last year, the NIH and by extension the American public don’t get very much for giving up a lot, as this is a bad deal. That’s not to say that there aren’t some good things. For example, the 21st Century Cures Act doesn’t add that much to the NIH budget, a 3% increase per year for three years plus $1.86 billion a year “innovation fund” to support precision medicine initiatives and young scientists. Given that the current budget of the NIH is approximately $32 billion, 3% per year is less than $1 billion a year, which means that nearly two thirds of the increase is spoken for, much of it for “precision medicine.” Having been around, I’m also cynical enough to doubt that the part of the funds allocated to “young investigators” will actually benefit young investigators as much as Mr. Alexander thinks it will. If Mr. Alexander is willing to pump $2.86 billion a year for three years into the NIH, it would do a lot more good if there were no strings attached to the budget increase.
...
The 21st Century Cures Act is cynical politics played to increase pharmaceutical company profits. It is not, nor has it ever been, about protecting patients. Although its advocates genuinely believe that its purpose is to bring cures faster to patients who need them, the 21st Century Cures Act will do no such thing, and tying changes in the FDA regulatory framework to increasing NIH funding is the ultimate cynical political ploy to gut the FDA and turn back the clock on drug development at least 50 years."
---------------------------------
Not good, and I can only imagine how much worse it could get under a President Trump.
May 18, 2016
Full piece...
http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2016/05/watch_police_dashcam_catches_v.html#incart_river_mobile_home
"A police sergeant looking for speeders captured a fireball streaking across the sky on his dashboard camera early Tuesday.
The bright flash visible from several states was apparently left by a meteor burning up as it passed through Earth's atmosphere. Other people and webcams also captured images of the fireball.
The American Meteor Society reported more than 400 sightings in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and parts of Canada.
Portland police Sgt. Tim Farris was parked in front of the Central Fire Station when his camera captured the meteor lighting up the sky around 12:50 a.m.
..."
Very cool, I think!
Police dashcam catches view of blazing meteor
Full piece...
http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2016/05/watch_police_dashcam_catches_v.html#incart_river_mobile_home
"A police sergeant looking for speeders captured a fireball streaking across the sky on his dashboard camera early Tuesday.
The bright flash visible from several states was apparently left by a meteor burning up as it passed through Earth's atmosphere. Other people and webcams also captured images of the fireball.
The American Meteor Society reported more than 400 sightings in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and parts of Canada.
Portland police Sgt. Tim Farris was parked in front of the Central Fire Station when his camera captured the meteor lighting up the sky around 12:50 a.m.
..."
Very cool, I think!
May 18, 2016
"...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder marked by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity and is one of the most common behavioural disorders in children. It is widely believed that adult ADHD is the continuation of the disorder from childhood.
However, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's found that nearly 70 per cent of the young adults with ADHD in their study did not meet criteria for the disorder at any of the childhood assessments. Adults with this 'late-onset' ADHD had high levels of symptoms, impairment and other mental health disorders.
Published in JAMA Psychiatry, these findings have important implications for our understanding of ADHD, as ADHD that onsets in adulthood could have different causes to childhood ADHD.
Findings from this UK cohort are confirmed by evidence for adult-onset ADHD world-wide: a study from Brazil will be published by JAMA Psychiatry alongside this research, which also identified a large proportion of adults with ADHD as not having the disorder in childhood. Both the UK and Brazilian studies support previous findings from a New Zealand cohort.
..."
-----------------------------------
Hmm. Hey, what's that over there? Hmm. Shiny.
ADHD may emerge after childhood for some people, according to new study
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160518120107.htm"...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder marked by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity and is one of the most common behavioural disorders in children. It is widely believed that adult ADHD is the continuation of the disorder from childhood.
However, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's found that nearly 70 per cent of the young adults with ADHD in their study did not meet criteria for the disorder at any of the childhood assessments. Adults with this 'late-onset' ADHD had high levels of symptoms, impairment and other mental health disorders.
Published in JAMA Psychiatry, these findings have important implications for our understanding of ADHD, as ADHD that onsets in adulthood could have different causes to childhood ADHD.
Findings from this UK cohort are confirmed by evidence for adult-onset ADHD world-wide: a study from Brazil will be published by JAMA Psychiatry alongside this research, which also identified a large proportion of adults with ADHD as not having the disorder in childhood. Both the UK and Brazilian studies support previous findings from a New Zealand cohort.
..."
-----------------------------------
Hmm. Hey, what's that over there? Hmm. Shiny.
May 18, 2016
"The fight between moose and ticks in New Hampshire has become a serious issue as almost 75% of 36 moose calves, which were part of a New Hampshire project, have died due to tick attack. Winter ticks are killers that breed in shorter and milder winters. Therefore, if shorter winters continue in future, moose death is inevitable.
During short winters, ticks latch onto moose and feed on them. A moose offer feeding ground to up to 75,000 ticks on its body. The moose become week when spring comes and they starve to death. When their host dies, ticks look for another host to feed on. The data collected through project revealed that this year is the second to have a high mortality rate for moose calves.
According to moose biologist Kristine Rines, the lower number of moose also means less density of ticks as they rely on these calves' population to survive. The reducing population of moose somehow benefits them. However, the biologists are not aware about when their numbers become proportionate.
"The winter tick is on the moose all winter up until right now when moose are molting and shedding their winter coat and so the three life stages, larvae, nymph and adult are all operating at the moose, taking blood meals on those three occasions", said Maine's moose biologist Lee Kantar.
..."
----------------------------------
Moose calves die in New Hampshire as ticks feed on them during short winters
http://nhv.us/content/16056238-moose-calves-die-new-hampshire-ticks-feed-them-during-short"The fight between moose and ticks in New Hampshire has become a serious issue as almost 75% of 36 moose calves, which were part of a New Hampshire project, have died due to tick attack. Winter ticks are killers that breed in shorter and milder winters. Therefore, if shorter winters continue in future, moose death is inevitable.
During short winters, ticks latch onto moose and feed on them. A moose offer feeding ground to up to 75,000 ticks on its body. The moose become week when spring comes and they starve to death. When their host dies, ticks look for another host to feed on. The data collected through project revealed that this year is the second to have a high mortality rate for moose calves.
According to moose biologist Kristine Rines, the lower number of moose also means less density of ticks as they rely on these calves' population to survive. The reducing population of moose somehow benefits them. However, the biologists are not aware about when their numbers become proportionate.
"The winter tick is on the moose all winter up until right now when moose are molting and shedding their winter coat and so the three life stages, larvae, nymph and adult are all operating at the moose, taking blood meals on those three occasions", said Maine's moose biologist Lee Kantar.
..."
----------------------------------
May 18, 2016
"A novice fossil collector's lucky find in a remote Montana badlands more than a decade ago represents a new kind of spectacularly-horned dinosaur, researchers announced Wednesday.
The bones unearthed near Winifred, Montana represent a previously-unknown species of dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago.
It's scientific name is Spiclypeus shipporum (spi-CLIP-ee-us ship-OR-um) but it's been nicknamed "Judith," after the Judith River rock formation where it was found in 2005 by retired nuclear physicist Bill Shipp.
Canadian Museum of Nature paleontologist Jordan Mallon says Judith is closely-related to the well-known Triceratops. Both had horned faces and elaborate head frills.
..."
--------------------
New horned dinosaur species discovered in Montana by amateur
http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/top-news/new-horned-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-montana-/nrPnW/"A novice fossil collector's lucky find in a remote Montana badlands more than a decade ago represents a new kind of spectacularly-horned dinosaur, researchers announced Wednesday.
The bones unearthed near Winifred, Montana represent a previously-unknown species of dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago.
It's scientific name is Spiclypeus shipporum (spi-CLIP-ee-us ship-OR-um) but it's been nicknamed "Judith," after the Judith River rock formation where it was found in 2005 by retired nuclear physicist Bill Shipp.
Canadian Museum of Nature paleontologist Jordan Mallon says Judith is closely-related to the well-known Triceratops. Both had horned faces and elaborate head frills.
..."
--------------------
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