The Placenta Placebo
Posted on | December 2, 2009 | 3 Comments
Recently, I read about a Dutch soccer player’s curious medical treatment. Robin Van Persie injured his ankle during an international friendly competition with Italy. The original diagnosis was ligament damage effectively keeping the forward from playing for the rest of the year. However, after hearing of an obscure treatment of rubbing the juice from a horse placenta into the skin around the affected area the striker sought out treatment. Apparently the placenta is made into a cream and applied by a Serbian woman, Mariana Kovacevic (nicknamed Madame Placenta), and causes miraculous recoveries. The odd thing about this treatment, besides the use of horse placenta as a medical tool, is that this treatment was sought out with the approval, or without contest, from the Holland National team or Arsenal club doctor.
In fact, Frank Lampard, Yossi Benayoun, Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Nigel de Jong, and several others have all sought out this treatment and are recovering faster than originally expected. The English club, Manchester City, has attempted to hire on Madame Placenta as part of the team’s medical staff but she has refused. Now the Serbian government is after her because she not registered as a medical provider and effectively owes back-taxes on the services she has been provided to the sporting community.
This brings up an interesting topic in medicine – the placebo. The placebo is essentially anything that causes a positive medical outcome that has no real therapeutic value. This effect was discovered during WWII when an Anesthetist ran out of pain medication on the battle field while attending to injured soldiers. The nurse that was accompanying him started telling the soliders that she was injecting them with pain medication when she was actually injecting them with salt water. However, the salt water was subsiding pain and preventing shock. This speaks to the rudimentary fact of how a placebo operates; the patient has to believe that what they are taking actually works.
Prescription medications go through a rigorous process to gain approval from the FDA that includes multiple double blind studies and takes several years to finish. Many medications fail trail studies along the way because the placebo that is used as a measuring stick is either as effective or more effective than the actually medication attempting to gain approval. The implications of this are enormous. Imagine a whole branch of medicine where the medication and treatment have no real provable medical justification but cause cures and recoveries. Take one pill to cure cancer, one to prevent Alzheimer, and another to keep your cholesterol low but they are all sugar pills and all effectively do what they are “intended” to do. The rub would be that no one could ever expose this facade, because then it wouldn’t work. If people knew that what they were taking was rubbish then they would no longer believe and the medication would cease to do its job.
I believe in the power of the placebo. Typically, people trust those in the medication profession and believe that the treatments they suggest are in our best interests. People blindly take medication that is prescribed to them without any real knowledge of how the medication works; they trust that the doctor understands their symptoms and has given them a cure to their aliment.
Right now, Jason believes that the end-all-be-all cure to any aliment or uncomfortable situation is his blanket. His blanket was used to comfort him when he was an infant; given to him by the two most trusted individuals in his life, his mother and father. He calls it “mine” and does not say “please” for it. It is his blanket that he carries everywhere with him (well, he is not Linus but it is definitely within arm’s reach). Washes are painful and do not let him catch you sitting on it. His blanket actually makes him feel good; it is, literally, his security blanket. It is just a blanket but my son believes it is much more than that and because he does, it is.
More on Van Persie
More on Placebos
Buyer Beware
Posted on | November 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
Upon making a purchase online, have you ever received a pop-up window with a web ad offering cash back or a coupon if you key in your email address? The companies behind this marketing ploy, Vertrue, Webloyatly, and Affinion, have recently become the subject of a Senate hearing about the nature of their business. Apparently, upon entering your email address, these companies then retrieve your credit card information from the site you just made a purchase from and begin to charge your credit card anywhere from $9 to $12 a month. The charge is so small that most people do not realize they are being charged. In fact, the notification that you have just enrolled and will begin to be charged in a “web loyalty” program is located in the fine print at the bottom of the offer. This has become big business; the three a fore mentioned companies have generated more than $1.4 Billion through this marketing deception.
The most shocking part is that the company that you just made a secure, encrypted purchase from willingly shares your financial information to these companies for further, unauthorized processing. Security has always been a major concern for e-business retailers but these companies are intentionally transferring your credit card information to another company for kickbacks. “When people shop online, they have the right to expect that the stores they entrust with their credit card and other personal information will not share it,” said Sen. John Rockefeller, (D-W.V.), the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chairman. “What’s happening is many online merchants have decided to betray their customers’ trust…fine print is the (biggest) scam of all time.”
Since the hearing, Vertrue and Webloyalty have changed their business practices to require some credit card information to be entered as well in order to receive a coupon. U.S. Airways has stopped doing business with any web loyalty companies. Although many companies have made a very good profit through their partnership with these companies. Hopefully, through knowledge of this scam, those profits can cease.
Check out the below chart. Some have called for a boycott of the partner companies as well…
ACTA – The Treaty You Will Never Know About Until It Is Too Late
Posted on | November 17, 2009 | 2 Comments
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is a treaty that is currently being negotiated between the US, Canada, Australia, and the European Union (40 countries in all) and different interested trade industry groups, specifically the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the PRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America). The scope of ACTA is indeterminably broad with references to actual physical goods and “internet distribution and information technology” according to eff.org. It is not currently known what this treaty actually encompasses because the negotiations and the treaty itself are currently undisclosed to the public. In fact, a nondisclosure agreement is part of the conditions of the treaty. However, leaked draft pieces have surfaced speaking to internet piracy.
According to reports, the current draft of ACTA would have any person accused of downloading copyrighted material be cut off from the internet by their ISP upon their third offense. The ISP would then be required to distribute your information to all other ISPs effectively banning you from the internet for life without due process, burden of proof of guilt or means for appeal. The ISPs would be allowed to do all this without a warrant or any legal recourse. It has also been suggested that customs agents could begin to search all types of media devices such as iPods, iPhones, laptops, MP3 players, etc upon entry into those countries that sign the treaty.
In all honesty, I do not see how custom agents would have the time to search each person’s individual media devices (most would have an average of 3 or at least 2) or the knowledge that what they are looking at is actually stolen and not purchased. Imagine the amount of receipts you would have to carry to prove your purchase. Although, I could see the ISPs turning off your internet and blackballing you for the rest of your life, because they have provided unwarranted information before to the RIAA. A ban from the internet would effectively limit that person’s right to goods and services, information, and entertainment. The effects on commerce alone would be astounding on an individual basis.
The process that this treaty lays out is Un-American and the means by which the trade groups are going about to make it become law are circumventing the means by which laws become laws. Typically, laws are debated with open transparency in the US congress. However, the trade groups are purposing an international treaty that when signed will become law. Behind closed doors, the current administration is allowing the rights of US citizens to be stripped away by corporations.
Please visit www.eff.org/action to send an autodrafted email to your representatives in congress. There have been 6 negotiation conferences so far with the 7th set for January 2010 in Mexico where a ratification is expected. It is extremely important that more light be shined on this treaty and what it exactly entails. There is the remote possibility that this is all an overreaction to an issue where the facts are limited and restricted and the treaty could be perfectly harmless allowing for the protection of consumers from sub-par goods, which is probably why groups like PRMA are involved with it and the RIAA has latched onto the treaty as a way to push through their own agenda. Nevertheless, the secrecy behind the treaty is disturbing and full disclosure is needed.
Tags: ACTA > activism > Australia > burden of proof of guilt > Canada > congressman > eff.org > EU > PRMA > RIAA > Secrecy > Treaty > Undisclosure > USA
Iran’s Dirty Money Trick
Posted on | November 15, 2009 | No Comments
Last week, the US Government has petitioned the court for the seizure of 4 US mosques and a New York City skyscraper run by a Muslim organization believed to be controlled by the Iranian government. The Alavi Foundation manages the 37 story office building with a yearly profit of $3.5 million has been accused of funneling money to corporation considered to be a front, called the Assa Corp., which was then transferring the collected rent to Iran’s state run Bank Melli. Bank Melli has been accused of funding Iran’s nuclear weapon development program and is illegal to conduct business with in the United States. In other words, the Iranian government has essentially been laundering money through these dummy corporations in order to fund their own nuclear agendas.
This would represent the largest counterterrorism seizures in US history at a time where relations are strained between Muslims and Americans. It makes me proud that the US attorney’s office is brave enough to do this. This seizure would hit the Iranian government where they are sure to feel it – in their pocketbook. The President of Iran has stated that he “hates America,” that the Jewish Holocaust of WWII is a farce and that he would prefer to whip the nation of Israel off the map. He has sought the development of nuclear grade Uranium under the guise for use as a means of generating electricity. However, the Uranium he has sought out is diverse enough to be used for nuclear power generation or military nuclear weapons.
It does not really bother me too much that this guy hates America; he is well within his right to dislike anyone he chooses. And the denial of an event in history is, for lack of a better word, silly. However, the negative style of leadership that this projects can’t be good for the Iranian people and I can not imagine any US President speaking in this manner. According to the CIA Factbook, Iran is a theocratic republic; theocracy is a form of government where a recognized deity or god is the state’s ruler, so Iran has essentially elected a deity as their ruler (?). This explains a lot about the actions and attitude of Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad.
At least, for the time being, the US government has dealt a blow to this fool’s plans, whatever they may be. The simple fact that money is being sneaked around between and through Iranian government controlled companies is evidence enough of something more sinister. It makes you wonder where else this is happening.
King Jordan
Posted on | November 14, 2009 | 1 Comment
Earlier this week, LeBron James commented that he would be giving up the #23 jersey after this season in honor of Michael Jordan. He has said that he will start a petition to to have every player in the league wearing #23 to give up the number. LeBron is attempting to give an unofficial honor to the former player and legend. I remember, as a child, watching Michael Jordan play and then attempting to imitate him on my driveway basket. I remember successfully selling my parents on the idea of a $100 pair of Jordan shoes in 1988 at the age of 8 and thinking that they would somehow boost my developing athletic ability. Michael Jordan has always exhibited class, humility and competitiveness. He proved that you can be the best and not let it go to your head.
But the most important thing that I learned from watching Jordan play was that there is always room for improvement. Jordan was constantly striving to become a better athlete and competitor. Along with with a yearning to be great, break records and earn championships. Micheal Jordan is still current enough to be at the top of any respectable list of athletes who could serve as an athletic role model. Jordan’s playing philosophy is easily summed up in his own words from his 2009 NBA Hall of Fame acceptance speech, “limits, like fears, are often an illusion.”
I think that what LeBron is doing is honorable and respectful. Jordan’s influence in LeBron’s life has been positive. I believe that LeBron has the potential, by the end of his career, to be in the same category as Jordan. LeBron is motivating, fun to watch and impressive when he is on the court and he is only 24 years old. He has a long illustrious career ahead of him. This act of humility is character defining. He gains nothing, except reticule, if he states that he is better or as good as Jordan was, but by honoring and respecting those players that made the league what it is today he has the chance to one day be considered one of the greatest to play the game.
I Love Trash
Posted on | November 10, 2009 | 1 Comment
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the beloved children education show, Sesame Street. For 4 decades, this show has entertained and delighted preschoolers and I am included. I have very clear memories of watching Sesame Street when I was younger. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the television eating raw carrots, because the show had professed how tasty and good for you they were. I never became a big carrot eater, but I was willing to try them for the show. I have a very clear memory of learning to spell the word “Cat” from one of their skits, practicing the spelling over and over, and then reciting my newly discovered spelling skill to my mother who reacted in a typically motherly fashion of impress and delight – I eat it up. I learned from Ernie how important brushing your teeth was; in fact, I have a vague recollection of a top hat and cane Ernie singing about dental hygiene complete with dancing teeth and tooth brushes which I still recall sometimes at night when I forget to brush my teeth.
Sesame Street taught me more than how to eat right, spell and brush my teeth. It was the first place where I learned humor. Ernie, who was sloppy and a little annoying – to be honest, lived with his close friend Bert, who was a analytical stick-in-the-mud. Bert had his way of doing things and did not care how Ernie got to the completion of the same task as long as the task was completed. But Ernie would play on Bert’s neuroses on purpose for his plain amusement. It was as though Ernie would go out of his way to drive Bert crazy. My first impression of Ernie was that he was a jerk. Alone he was fine, singing rubber ducky in the bathtub or dancing with a chorus line of teeth, but with his best friend I saw him as the antagonist picking on the weaker Bert just because he could. Maybe I had this view point because I am the youngest of five? Who knows? I don’t remember the tipping point but as some point I began to see the fun in annoying Bert. It was never as cold or mean as I had originally viewed it; in a nutshell, Ernie taught me how to mess with people…respectfully.
I learned sarcasm from the grumpy old Grouch; today, he is still my favorite. I thought he was hilarious. The whole premise still brings a smile to my face. A green grumpy monster living in a trash can who hates everything and everyone. Brilliant! The joke with the Grouch is that everything is really the opposite of what he says. For instance, if there is going to be a party on Sesame Street then his natural reaction would be that the party is an awful idea and why would anyone want to go. I still know the words to his “I Love Trash” song.
Jason does not watch as much Sesame Street as, from what I remember, I did. Although it has caught his attention from time to time. When Sesame Street launched, the field of children shows was not as littered as it is today. It is important to note that it is still here though and a second generation (and sometimes more) of viewers are watching. Right now The Fresh Beat Band, Yo Gabba Gabba and The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, asked for by a pseudonym chosen by Jason, are in heavy rotation on our living room televeision. My only wish for my son, concerning his viewing preferences, is that he gets as much out of these shows as I did out of Sesame Street at his age.
Tags: 40th anniversary > bert > children television > ernie > grouch > i love trash > mickey mouse clubhouse > sesame street > the fresh beat band > yo gabba gabba
Pigs Will Fly
Posted on | November 6, 2009 | 5 Comments
The CDC has issued guidance for parents with children that have been infected with Swine Flu or H1N1. They suggest isolating an infected child, heavy use of hand sanitizers and washing hands, and a face mask. They also suggest that parents should stay at least 6 feet from an infected child, but if physical interaction is absolutely necessary it should be limited while wearing a mask or respirator.
Apparently the people who wrote this advisory do not have children. Wearing a mask or respirator (especially) would scare a child during a period when they are in need of comfort and I don’t know of any good parent that would avoid contact with their sick child. The Swine Flu reaction is been unwarranted. So far about two thousand have perished from the disease while every year regular Flu takes around two hundred thousand individuals. The H1N1 flu has made two appearances on Earth in the last century causing a lasting negative effect on the infected populations; rolled into the current limited amount of available vaccinations and an over reaction to the virus has occurred.
The truth is Swine Flu should give you no more concern than regular Flu should. Those that are at normal risk of Flu should pay attention to Swine Flu but should not anxiously barricade themselves behind masks or respirators or avoid close contact with loved ones.
It is important to note the timing of the seeming pandemic that is upon us. An uncontrollable virus with a limited amount of vaccine is ravaging the nation right at the time congress is pushing for a universal healthcare bill. Fueled by government health agencies issuing overly dramatic advisories, leaders of congress weighing in with audio clips, and our public school systems issuing vaccines leaves the normal individual is inundated with a false sense of vulnerability.
We will survive and hopefully the government does not take advantage of the situation to push their own agenda.
Google Does It Again
Posted on | November 5, 2009 | 2 Comments
Google launched a new feature today called Google Dashboard. This new feature allows you to see how your information is being used or spread across all Google products and servers. This is a handy feature because if you have signed up for a webservice that you no longer use but is still compiling information on you then you can restrict access via Dashboard. Google has rolled out this feature free of charge to all users and plans to integrate all of it’s products in the future. Right now, there is integration for Blogger, Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs, and Contacts to name a few; while there are plans to add Google Chrome Bookmark Sync, Wave, Maps, Adsense and Analytics.
Google is a very innovative company. They are constantly creating great products that actually work they way they are intended to and are accessible free of charge. This business model is one of success where their primary source of income is through ads. They believe that if you create great content/products then people will visit your site and you can make money off ad views. I read once that Google’s business philosophy was simply “don’t be evil.” They have created a interconnection of products that seamlessly becomes a part of users everyday lives. I enjoy and use Google products and you should too.
Tags: adsense > analytics > calendar > chrome > Dashboard > Docs > gmail > Google > maps > wave
Save The Internet
Posted on | November 3, 2009 | No Comments
Net neutrality is an issue that affects all of us. Right now it is taken for granted that when you type a URL into your web browser you are directed to the website that you have just entered. But if telecommunication companies, that control all of the internet pipelines, got their way, they would direct internet traffic in a more profitable way. For instance, directing traffic, first, to sites that pay a fee, restricting traffic to any sites that offer services in direct competition with services offered either by the telecoms themselves or those site that have paid a premium, or charging consumers based a tiered system. A tiered internet is a lot like how the cable or satellite TV company’s price plan is setup where you pay a monthly fee for different channels and content. The telecoms would like to charge a fee for instant message, stream videos from hulu.com or netflix.com, or download music or videos all separate and independent from each other.
Although, it could get it more complicated then this. Comcast provides broadband internet access to a large portion of the population, and provides VoIP services as well. Skype is a telecommunication voice and video application accessible through the internet that can be used free of charge. Without net neutrality, Comcast could essentially block access to Skype from within it’s network since it is in direct competition with the telecom giants. Or if two different ISPs have to communicate with each other, one or both could charge a special fee for doing so. The price structure gets jumbled and innovation gets stifled because of it.
I am bringing all this up because Senator John McCain has introduced a bill called, “The Internet Freedom Act” that would strip the FCC from formulating rules that would regulate the internet. This sounds great, I mean who would oppose internet freedom, but in all reality McCain is more worried about the telecoms than the individual. According to his quote about the introduction of this bill: “Today I’m pleased to introduce the Internet Freedom Act of 2009 that will keep the Internet free from government control and regulation. It will allow for continued innovation that will in turn create more high-paying jobs for the millions of Americans who are out of work or seeking new employment. Keeping businesses free from oppressive regulations is the best stimulus for the current economy.” The important part of this quote is the last sentence that speaks to regulation of businesses.
Normally, I am all for deregulation of business since I believe government intervention leads to market failure but in this instance, I am strongly opposed to any regulation of the internet. The FCC made a draft rule reguarding net neutrality about a week before McCain created his bill. The FCC rule says that ISPs are allowed to engage in “reasonable network management” but that they are not allowed to prevent a user from using certain web applications or accessing specific websites. EUREKA! This is all that is needed. But the telecoms do not prefer this type of regulation. So McCain who is reported to be influenced by the telecoms (over $700k worth of influence) has proposed a bill that would nullify the FCC’s regulation. If you would like to get involved, please visit: savetheinternet.com.
The Difference Colors Make
Posted on | November 1, 2009 | 3 Comments
Yesterday afternoon, after watching the high scoring Florida State football game, I turned over to the UF v UGA game that is traditionally played in Jacksonville, Florida. I expected Florida to win this game as well but was positive of a Gator win when I heard the announcer say that the Bulldogs were going to be wearing a special colored black helmet which is outside of their traditional red helmets. Now I know the Bulldogs official colors are red and black, but for as long as I can remember they have always worn red or white jerseys with red helmets – always. I typically do not notice uniform colors to this degree and to be honest I had to verify what a typical Georgia uniform looks like, but the reason this color change stuck out in my mind is that when ever Florida State has the brilliant idea to initiate a “whiteout” or “blackout” game, where the team’s uniforms become a unified color of white or black, they lose. Every single time; in fact, I believe the year the first “blackout” game was played, which was played in the middle of the afternoon on about the hottest day in Tallahassee history, was the year of the downward slide of FSU’s domination of ACC football.
I am not sure what it is about a team’s alteration of uniform color that causes their ultimate demise. It is as though tradition is offended and seeks retribution for this unfaithful act. Decades upon decades of spirit gets channeled into a team by their faithful and part of this is a sense of pride associated with the team’s colors; you can still represent your team by wearing a solid tshirt of their color. Teams will chant their repected colors back and forth between sections of the stadium competing for dominance and growing louder and louder further embedding the chanted colors into the program’s psyche. This is tradition and it is unwavering; teams should know better.
Red is a powerful color. According to color psychology, it is associated with heat, blood, and energy and stirs emotions of love, anger, passion and fear. Black is associated with fear, anarchy, emptiness, evil, and mystery (space), and is considered contradictory in that it can represent something new and something that is dead. White is associated with purity, youth, peace, neutrality, and sterility. Black and white do not make for adequate colors for a sporting team or for a society as a whole; think how many flags you know of that are simply black and white. They have 2-3 colors boldly signifying what strengths that country is wishing to portray to the rest of the world (or mainly those nations that reside on their borders).
I am not purely relying the outcome of a sporting event on what the players wear, but simply pointing out that it can be used as a fairly accurate indicator of who will lose a particular game. This is especially true in college sports where so much of the determining factor of the game is based on heart or spirit. Home field advantage is huge in collegiate sports and can move the momentum of the game in the favor of the team with the loudest cheering section. However, the pseudo-Gator Bowl is considered a neutral site and for the most part is. Which is why this theory of mine has become cemented in my mind as a valid indicator. In fact, I believe last year in Jacksonville, when the Gators and Bulldogs last met, the Bulldogs wore all black, lost the game, and lost any chance of competing for the SEC Championship and the National Championship game.