A few days ago, several news outlets reported on Newt Gingrich's unfortunate turn of phrase about our President. In a speech in Georgia he referred to Obama as "the most successful food stamp president in modern American history." Promptly, David Gregory of NBC News called Newt on the potential racist connotations of this remark, thus precipitating a maelstrom of "liberal media" accusations from the usual suspects (here and here). And so it goes,...
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Monday, 23 May 2011
All harm and no benefit: Wake up and smell the pus!
May 23, 2011
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Ideas are a little bit like a pimple: There needs to be enough pressure that builds up to cause one to erupt into consciousness. So it has been with my thinking around value of certain consumables. And the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the law of diminishing returns is scowling at us from its perch. Here are 3 examples that I hope will drive this point home.Take cigarettes. They cost money to manufacture, they cost a boat...
Friday, 20 May 2011
In praise of not knowing
Recently I had the occasion to tell my 10-year old an old secret: until I was into my forties, I had a strong belief that the rest of the people in the world knew something I did not know. I don't mean just about stuff I do not know, but about everything! It was unnerving, anxiety-provoking and self-defeating. Until one day I had the epiphany that most humans feel this way, not just me. So, be humbled by not knowing and move on.Yet even more recently...
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Of pigs, Babel and totalitarianism
Here is a weird thought: Our current food production is closer to the Soviet collectivization than to the free enterprise model. Outrageous? Not really.I had avery interesting weekend. As some of you may know, I am finally going back to Odessa (no, not the one in Texas) after a 35-year hiatus -- we left when I was 13. Since I am only spending 3 days there, I have been doing a lot of soul-searching to figure out what I need to get out of the trip....
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
When do diagnostic tests improve mortality?
May 10, 2011
epidemiology, health economics, mammography, Outcomes research, sensitivity
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I thought this post, originally published last May, was worth revisiting apropos this paper that came out in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. Below I discuss some of the data in the paper, as they were presented in an abstract at a meeting last year, as the context for understanding various mortality statistics. The question the title of this post poses is well worth asking, particularly as we argue about the merits of mammography...
Friday, 6 May 2011
How many diseases does it take?
May 06, 2011
free will, human condition, lung cancer, marketing, public health, smoking, tobacco
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It is not a secret that I dislike tobacco companies. Intensely. I do not see the point of allowing them to sell a product whose value is all in the negative. I am appalled that we are looking for expensive ways to diminish lung cancer mortality before considering a complete ban on this disease promotion apparatus. Yet this story in the LA Times got my goat. Briefly, a woman who has smoked for years and has had smoking-related obstructive lung disease...
