Taking somebody's money without permission is stealing, unless you work for the IRS; then it's taxation. Killing people en masse is homicidal mania, unless you work for the Army; then it's National Defense. Spying on your neighbors is invasion of privacy, unless you work for the FBI; then it's National Security. Running a whorehouse makes you a pimp and poisoning people makes you a murderer, unless you work for the CIA; then it's counter-intelligence.
Health
Should we subsidize bad decisions?
Wed, 08/12/2009 - 20:23 — JCAs per this article in WSJ
two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
So, if most of the health care cost is due preventable issues, should I pay for bad decisions of others? If we get govt. health care, it looks like that is what we will have to do.
10 Surprising Facts About American Health Care
Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:22 — JC10 Surprising Facts About American Health Care
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians.
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians.
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K.
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed.
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians.
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K.
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations.
Conclusion: Despite serious challenges, such as escalating costs and the uninsured, the U.S. health care system compares favorably to those in other developed countries.
Source: Scot Atlas, NCPA
Reduce cholesterol and high Blood pressure naturally in 12 days without medicine or supplements
Tue, 12/09/2008 - 00:26 — JCIn an experiment by BBC had 9 volunteers follow an "Evo" diet for 12 days. The results were nothing short of miraculous. Some excerpts :
Overall, the cholesterol levels dropped 23%, an amount usually achieved only through anti-cholesterol drugs statins.
The group's average blood pressure fell from a level of 140/83 - almost hypertensive - to 122/76...
.....Ms Garton looked for inspiration to the plant-based diet of our closest relatives, the apes, and devised a three-day rotating menu of fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey. The prescribed menu was:
• safe to eat raw;
• met adult human daily nutritional requirements; and
• provided 2,300 calories - between the 2,000 recommended for women and 2,500 for men,
Volunteers could also drink water. In the second week, standard portions of cooked oily fish were introduced - a nod to a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
