Opposing Digits

Conventional medicine, as practiced today, is actually pretend medicine. Doctors and drug companies pretend to make patients healthier by giving them drugs. The FDA pretends to protect the safety of the public. Medical journals pretend to print only rigorous, scientifically-sound research papers. Drug companies pretend to care about the lives and health of patients. Non-profit disease front groups pretend to be searching for the cure while, in reality, most of them are only searching for more ways to recruit patients into conventional medicine treatments like drugs, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

How do we know it's all pretend? Aside from all the junk science, corruption, fraud, collusion, conflicts of interest and intellectual dishonesty that characterizes modern medicine, there's one more all-important thing to consider: The results. If modern medicine really worked, and wasn't just pretend, wouldn't we be the healthiest population in the world?

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:08 PM 0 comments

President Hu can’t suppress dissent in the United States like he does in China, but the Bush adminstration is helping out where it can.

According to a CNN Wire report, CNN producer Joe Vaccarello was removed by Secret Service officers “from covering a private meeting Friday at Yale University after calling out a question about whether Chinese President Hu Jintao had seen protesters lined up outside”:

Vaccarello was told he had broken a rule against asking questions at the “photo op,” during which Hu and Levin exchanged gifts and Hu met with four students. Vaccarello was escorted from the building by members of the Secret Service who were escorting people in and out of the building.

Vaccarello said he had not been told he could not ask questions at the event.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:53 AM 0 comments

The CIA has fired an employee for leaking classified information to the news media, the agency announced in Washington Friday.

Citing a CIA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, The Washington Post reported the terminated officer failed a polygraph test.

"A CIA officer has been fired for unauthorized contacts with the media and for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information," CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano told the Post. "The officer has acknowledged these contacts."

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:43 AM 0 comments

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaked national defense information to a pro-Israel lobbyist in the same manner that landed a lower-level Pentagon official a 12-year prison sentence, the lobbyist's lawyer said Friday.

Prosecutors disputed the claim.

The allegations against Rice came as a federal judge granted a defense request to issue subpoenas sought by the defense for Rice and three other government officials in the trial of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman. The two are former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee who are charged with receiving and disclosing national defense information.

# posted by madthumbs @ 8:35 AM 0 comments

The U.S. State Department is recalling U.S. Ambassador Reno Harnish from Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani media is rife with speculation that Harnish is being recalled because of a burgeoning human smuggling scandal which came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Moscow newspaper Trud newspaper reported on Thursday that FBI agents began interviews with embassy officials about the smuggling of Azerbaijani prostitutes into the United States and the issuing of visas.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:06 PM 0 comments

PHOENIX The Minutemen are telling the government to deal with immigration, or they will.
The border watch group is proposing a new fence along the U-S-Mexico border.

Minutemen leader Chris Simcox says they're sending President Bush an ultimatum -- either deploy the National Guard and military reserves to the border by May 25th or beginning Memorial Day weekend, they'll break ground and begin building a border security fence.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:37 AM 0 comments

Santa Monica, CA -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights released a new study today of rising gasoline prices in California that found corporate markups and profiteering are responsible for spring price spikes, not rising crude costs or the national switchover to higher-cost ethanol, as the oil industry claims.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:27 AM 0 comments

Recently, the state of Massachusetts passed a universal health care bill which is being hailed by the media as an ideal model for federal and state level legislation to extend health care to all Americans. While Congress and state governments across the nation should start taking action to achieve the goal of extending health coverage to all those who deserve it, they would be better advised to formulate a different approach. The legislation championed by Mitt Romney is unfair to consumers because it imposes large tax penalties upon those who choose not to purchase a health insurance plan.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:24 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON - Members of Congress occasionally lose elections, but they never lose retirement and health benefits that most Americans can only envy.

A lawmaker who retires at 60 after just 12 years in office can count on receiving an immediate pension of $25,000 a year and lifetime benefits that could total more than $800,000

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:20 AM 0 comments

Yahoo Inc. turned over a draft e-mail from one of its users to Chinese authorities, who used the information to jail the man on subversion charges, according to the verdict from his 2003 trial released Wednesday by a rights group.

It was the third time the U.S.-based Internet company has been accused of helping put a Chinese user in prison.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:18 AM 0 comments

Alvaro Uribe's procession to a second term as Colombia's President hit a stumbling block yesterday as he responded wildly to allegations that his government colluded with paramilitaries to kill civilians.

Mr Uribe, the last man standing among Washington's right-wing allies in South America, is riding high in the polls ahead of the presidential election on 28 May. His success is crucial to the White House, which has seen a succession of sympathetic governments defeated in the so-called "pink wave" of left-wing leaders who have swept to power in Latin America.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:09 AM 0 comments

I was talking to a physical therapist today, and he was trying to convince me that the human body wears out with use, sort of like car parts. He said to me, "Bone is bone." He explained that people who do a lot of running or punching have a lot of joint problems when they get older because the joints wear out when bone rubs against bone. There is a lot of misinformation and distortion in that belief system, though, as you'll see here.

For one thing, bone is not merely a solid, inanimate object. A bone lying in the desert is a bone, but a bone inside the human body is living tissue. It is not dead, and it is not rock solid. In fact, it is quite porous. A bone is like a sponge. A bone is living, and it grows or breaks down, depending on circumstances. A bone gets denser when you use it and gets more fragile when you avoid using it.

# posted by madthumbs @ 2:45 PM 0 comments

Author of Vatican Assassins III, Eric Phelps, explores the true motives of Jesuit General Pete Hans Kolvenbach, as well as exploring his connection to 9/11.

# posted by madthumbs @ 2:38 PM 0 comments

Consolidation among health insurers is creating near-monopolies in virtually all reaches of the United States, according to a study released Monday.

...carriers are not only creating monopolies and oligopolies in many regions...they're also the biggest purchasers of health care and can dictate prices and coverage terms...

Data from the American Medical Association show that in each of 43 states, a handful of top insurers have gained such a stronghold that their markets are considered "highly concentrated" under U.S. Department of Justice guidelines, often far exceeding the thresholds that trigger antitrust concerns.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:41 AM 0 comments

When Vice President Dick Cheney shuttled across the state Monday on Air Force Two, raising as much as $500,000 for the Republican Party and its candidates, taxpayers footed most of the bill.

The campaigns of GOP Senate candidate Mike McGavick and House hopeful Doug Roulstone will reimburse only a tiny fraction of what it cost to fly Cheney to Washington, drive him around in motorcades, put him up for the night, pay the salaries of traveling staff and provide Secret Service protection.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:38 AM 0 comments

A CONTRACTOR in Iraq has pleaded guilty to providing money, sex and designer watches to US officials in exchange for more than $US8 million ($10.8 million) in reconstruction contracts.

Philip Bloom faces up to 40 years in prison after admitting paying more than $US2 million in bribes to US officials with the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ruled Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:25 AM 0 comments

Oxford University scientists have built an enzyme based biological fuel cell that takes oxygen and hydrogen from an atmosphere to power electrical devices.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:22 AM 0 comments

Apr. 19, 2006 | The analogy between Iraq and Vietnam has proved to be most compelling to the generals who planned and conducted the invasion of Iraq. They kept to themselves their profound disquiet about the rapid rejection of the original plan for invasion that had taken 10 years to develop, the inadequate downsized force, the absence of preparation for the occupation, and the disastrous decision to disband the Iraqi military.

Almost all these generals voted for George W. Bush in 2000 as a statement of conservatism; they never expected radicalism. Serving their civilian neoconservative superiors, they endured contempt. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's closest aide, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, joked that the problems of the Army "could be solved by lining up fifty of its generals in the Pentagon and gunning them down," report Michael R. Gordon and Gen. Bernard E. Trainor in their new book on the Iraq invasion, "Cobra II." It was the sort of joke that Uday Hussein could have made. On Sept. 10, 2001, Rumsfeld held a Pentagon town meeting at which he declared the "bureaucracy" -- the career military professionals -- to be "a serious threat to the security of the United States."

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:09 AM 0 comments

A Palmerston North inventor is driving the length of New Zealand in a car powered by cooking waste from McDonald's to try to prove that vegetable oil can be used as a reliable motor fuel.

James MacDonald hopes to patent the engine modification he has spent two-and-a-half years developing.

"You can use hemp oil, vegetable oil, tallow, chicken fat etc, so any hydro carbon chain," he says.

His trip from Bluff to Cape Reinga is expected to take a fortnight.

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:10 PM 0 comments

MEXICO CITY - Mexican soldiers seized 5 1/2 tons of cocaine worth more than $100 million from a commercial plane arriving from Venezuela, Mexico's Defense Department announced Tuesday.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:46 AM 0 comments

US President George W Bush has backed his Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, against calls from former generals for him to resign.

"I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain," Mr Bush said.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:41 AM 0 comments

Frito-Lay has launched a new "Natural Doritos" product that doesn't have the usual monosodium glutamate (an excitotoxin) and artificial colors found in its flagship product, but it does contain another offensive ingredient: yeast extract. It's listed right on the package of the new Natural Doritos products.

Yeast extract is a flavor-enhancing additive that many food manufacturers use in place of MSG. The problem is that yeast extract is a hidden source of MSG (monosodium glutamate), according to my sources (see below).

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:18 AM 0 comments

Dr. David Kelly, esteemed mircrobiologist and international weapons inspector, told Observer reporter before his 2003 untimely death, the laboratory weapons found in the Iraqi were fakes.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:16 AM 0 comments

One of the largest studies of the impact of food and drink on mental decline has found that eating a Mediterranean diet cuts the risk of Alzheimer's disease by up to 40 per cent. The diet of southern France, Italy and Spain, rich in olive oil and red wine, is known to protect against heart disease and high blood pressure but this is the first time it has been shown to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers monitored 2,258 healthy, elderly people in New York who were part of a research project into ageing. Their medical and neurological history was assessed, they had standard physical and neurological tests and their cognitive function was measured every 18 months.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:14 AM 0 comments

MOSCOW: The US is pressing other world powers to consider what it called targeted sanctions against Iran as an April 30 United Nations deadline looms for Tehran over its nuclear program.

World crude oil prices topped $US70 ($95.50) a barrel on Monday, the highest level for nearly eight months, as Iran's pursuit of its nuclear program heightened market fears that Washington might take military action against the oil-producing Islamic republic.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:05 AM 0 comments

In what appears to be a reversal of previous policy, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Julie Gerberding, says that "there is no evidence that it will be the next pandemic, commenting about avian flu. This article in the Tacoma News Tribune says that the remarks were made during a pandemic flu conference that drew 1,200 people from across the state, mostly health department officials and others involved in emergency planning.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:55 AM 0 comments

In more than 3 years of war, there has never been a positive citing of alleged terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi. This has led many to believe that he is merely a creation of Pentagon propagandists working with their agents in the western press. Colonel Derek Harvey strengthened those suspicions last week when he admitted in a Washington Post article that the military intentionally “enlarged Zarqawi’s caricature” to create the impression that the ongoing struggle against occupation was really a fight against terrorism. But, that is not the case. As Harvey notes, “The long term threat is not Zarqawi or religious extremists, but former regime types and their friends”.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:21 AM 0 comments

Thirteen of the nation’s most prominent physicists have written a letter to President Bush, calling U.S. plans to reportedly use nuclear weapons against Iran “gravely irresponsible” and warning that such action would have “disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world.”

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:40 AM 0 comments

According to this AP item, Microsoft and Yahoo may soon build massive data storage facilities in a rural corner of Washington state known for wide open spaces and potato farms. Coincidentally (hmmmm?), the site is not far from a large NSA data-mining facility. BoingBoing reader Stricky thinks something sinister may be afoot:

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:38 AM 0 comments

We learned last week that a dubious program in which thousands of pages of once-classified historical documents were removed from public view was protected by an agreement in which the National Archives and Records Administration covertly helped the Air Force, the CIA and other agencies to pull the documents and cover up the reclassification effort.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:34 AM 0 comments

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which maintained it had no plans for expansion, is now changing course. Mongolia, Iran, India and Pakistan, which previously had observer status, will become full members. SCO's decision to welcome Iran into its fold constitutes a political statement. Conceivably, SCO would now proceed to adopt a common position on the Iran nuclear issue at its summit meeting June 15.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:32 AM 0 comments

US-led forces in Afghanistan say they are investigating two separate incidents in which they may have killed civilians and Afghan policemen.

Seven civilians died during a battle with insurgents in the eastern province of Kunar on Saturday.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:26 AM 0 comments

"This is one of the things we saw on TV. God knows how many crimes they have committed which we have not seen."

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:52 AM 0 comments

A study published in April 2005 revealed that more than 70 percent of adults aged 50 or older are now using some form of alternative therapy. This includes medicinal herbs, meditation and chiropractic care. The fact that these people are adopting alternative medicine and using it in their own lives is fascinating in and of itself, but what is really fascinating about this research is the response it has been getting from the conventional medical community.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:05 PM 0 comments

Both the White House and 10 Downing Street trying to cover financial tracks in the illegal arms trade, showing governments on both sides of the Atlantic are facilitating the sale of weapons in the Middle East, weapons used to kill American and British soldiers.

# posted by madthumbs @ 7:02 PM 0 comments

Human Rights Watch says it believes U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be criminally liable for the torture of a detainee at Guantanamo Bay in late 2002 and 2003.

The universally respected international organization was commenting on an Army Inspector General's report which contains a sworn statement by Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt that implicates Secretary Rumsfeld.

# posted by madthumbs @ 6:13 PM 0 comments

A GROUP opposed to AOL's certified email plans has alleged that the ISP has been caught censoring emails from outfits it doesn’t like.

MoveOn.org, a petition group against AOL's certified email plans, sent out its normal optin newsletter to its members, on Thursday, only to find that it had been blocked by AOL.

Not only was the email blocked, but MoveOn didn’t get a note saying that it had been.

# posted by madthumbs @ 5:38 PM 0 comments

White House monitors their media contacts

WASHINGTON -- Scientists doing climate research for the federal government say the Bush administration has made it hard for them to speak forthrightly to the public about global warming. The result, the researchers say, is a danger that Americans are not getting the full story on how the climate is changing.

Employees and contractors working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with a U.S. Geological Survey scientist working at an NOAA lab, said in interviews that over the past year administration officials have chastised them for speaking on policy questions; removed references to global warming from their reports, news releases and conference Web sites; investigated news leaks; and sometimes urged them to stop speaking to the media altogether. Their accounts indicate that the ideological battle over climate-change research, which first came to light at NASA, is being fought in other federal science agencies as well.

These scientists -- working nationwide in research centers in such places as Princeton, N.J., and Boulder, Colo. -- say they are required to clear all media requests with administration officials, something they did not have to do until the summer of 2004. Before then, climate researchers -- unlike staff members in the Justice or State departments, which have long-standing policies restricting access to reporters -- were relatively free to discuss their findings without strict agency oversight.

# posted by madthumbs @ 1:59 PM 0 comments

BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to approve within days a national pandemic influenza response plan under which the government would expand the Internet and possibly permit foreign countries to print U.S. currency during a flu pandemic.

Washington Post reported on Sunday that the document is the first to spell out how the U.S. government would detect and respond to a flu outbreak and continue to function through what could be an 18-month crisis capable of killing up to 1.9 million Americans.

The U.S. Treasury Department is poised to sign agreements with other nations to produce currency if U.S. mints cannot operate, according to the report. The Pentagon is considering stockpiling millions of latex gloves and the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a drive-through medical exam to quickly assess patients who suspect they have been infected.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:23 AM 0 comments

In a recent poll, 57 percent of Russians regard the US as a 'threat to global security.'

MOSCOW – Call it cold war II, the sequel.

An intensifying shouting match between the US and Russia has stirred fears that the two former adversaries could be drifting back to a familiar ideologically charged rivalry.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

AUSTRALIAN boys spend up to a third of their waking hours in front of a screen, putting them at greater risk of sleep disorders, behavioural problems and obesity.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:11 AM 0 comments

A combination of lycopene and vitamin E suppressed the growth of prostate cancer in mice, but had no effect when used independently, say Dutch researchers.

The role of tomato and its extracts to protect against prostate cancer has been reported in several epidemiological studies, which lycopene supplement producers have been quick to promote. The new research, led by Professor Wytske van Weerden from Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, casts doubt on the effectiveness of lycopene by itself, and suggests a synergetic effect with vitamin E, another nutrient naturally found in tomatoes.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:10 AM 0 comments

Millions missing from program for rebuilding

WASHINGTON -- American contractors swindled hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraqi funds, but so far there is no way for Iraq's government to recoup the money, according to US investigators and civil attorneys tracking fraud claims against contractors.

Courts in the United States are beginning to force contractors to repay reconstruction funds stolen from the American government. But legal roadblocks have prevented Iraq from recovering funds that were seized from the Iraqi government by the US-led coalition and then paid to contractors who failed to do the work.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:06 AM 0 comments

Playtime over, a toddler says nighty-night and spreads a blanket on the floor on top of his silver-colored friend. It is an everyday scene at one US nursery school, where robots are immersed among children to find out what it takes for machines and humans to develop long-term relationships.

# posted by madthumbs @ 10:00 AM 0 comments

NEW YORK - Along a gritty stretch of street in Brooklyn, police this month quietly launched an ambitious plan to combat street crime and terrorism.
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But instead of cops on the beat, wireless video cameras peer down from lamp posts about 30 feet above the sidewalk.

They were the first installment of a program to place 500 cameras throughout the city at a cost of $9 million. Hundreds of additional cameras could follow if the city receives $81.5 million in federal grants it has requested to safeguard Lower Manhattan and parts of midtown with a surveillance "ring of steel" modeled after security measures in London's financial district.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:57 AM 0 comments

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel has proposed freeing a leader of the Palestinian uprising if the United States releases Jonathan Pollard, the former Pentagon analyst convicted of spying for the Jewish state, army radio reported Sunday.

The report said Israel would free Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for masterminding deadly attacks, in return for Pollard. Pollard is serving a life sentence in a federal prison for selling military secrets to Israel in the 1980s.

The report said the deal has been proposed by officials in Israel's Foreign Ministry. The ministry declined comment, and U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle called the report "ridiculous speculation."

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:48 AM 0 comments

Does Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi really exist? If he does, could he be serving Israel, the U.S., and other Zionists‘ imperialist interests? One should question how come the U.S managed to capture Saddam Hussein, a president of a country, who used to have palaces with gold toilet bowls, but have failed to capture ‘Zarqawi’, a guy who would be running away in sandals in the sand. The answer is simple: if ‘Zarqawi’ does exist he would have been created by Mossad and the CIA to serve their purposes and is still free to carry out his terrorist activities.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:46 AM 0 comments

WASHINGTON - By the end of the year, the government plans to select the design of a new generation of nuclear warheads that would be more dependable and possibly able to be disarmed in the event they fell into terrorist hands, according to the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:41 AM 0 comments

Jonathan Pollard's attorney said Sunday that the United States would release the convicted spy if Pollard's onetime handler, Rafi Eitan, handed over a secret document which details broad Israeli government involvement in the affair.

U.S. and Israeli officials Sunday denied media reports that Israel may free jailed Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti in exchange for the Bush administration releasing Pollard, who is serving a life sentence for treason.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:40 AM 0 comments

Let me start by addressing the health effects during 9/11.

As a result of exposure to the dust and smoke, many people living and working in downtown Manhattan experienced short-term health effects. Generally, these effects included coughing and eye, nose and throat irritations. In some cases, people experienced an increase in asthma attacks and some health professionals have reported new cases of asthma in previously healthy people. These short-term health effects dissipated for most once the fires were put out. Some sensitive individuals continued to report irritation as pockets of dust became resuspended. Most healthy people will not suffer long-term consequences.(1)

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:33 AM 0 comments

As a rule, Americans don't like losers. Losing football, basketball and baseball coaches are fired at the drop of a penalty flag on the field. Nobody sheds any tears when they exit the sports arena. The same principle applies in politics. Losers don't get much respect.

The United States is losing the war in Iraq. As this is President George W Bush's war, by rights he should be fired. But there is no provision in the US constitutional system for that. So the American people should do the next best thing and demand the resignation of his chief architect of failure, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:24 AM 0 comments

Recently a reader asked my opinion of the Jewish holocaust:

"Some of the 911 people think that there were no 'death camps' as such, but apart from cruel executions to terrorise inmates the vast bulk of deaths occurred because of Typhus and other diseases towards the end of the war when things started to go badly for Germany and food supplies became very scarce. There is a Red Cross document on the internet that estimates the total number of deaths of peoples from all groups in all camps at about 280, 000. Now everyone has an agenda but the 6 million figures and this number are so ridiculously different I wonder where should one begin to look to find the truth about the 'holocaust'."

These events took place more than 60 years ago and we are all dependent on historical and eyewitness accounts. To a large extent, it's a question of whom you believe. I am not an expert on the subject and will continue to research it. I can only give you my opinion and I defer to the truth. I have no ax to grind.

# posted by madthumbs @ 12:38 PM 0 comments