The Coming Downfall of Medicine: Scientific Corruption

Some recent news about a(nother) scandal in the pharmaceutical industry has led me to post on something that is critical to the future of medicine and science.

Let me start off by saying that I believe strongly in most medicines. I think the data behind their safety is incontrovertible. But for medicines that were invented recently, that same data would still leave me quite suspicious.

Here's why.

America Doesn't Have a Gun Violence Epidemic- We Have a Poverty Epidemic and an Outbreak of School Shootings

Many people are talking about a gun violence epidemic.  This is understandable, in light of what seems like a never-ending stream of horrific school shootings.  Sandy Hook Elementary School, Santa Monica Community College, Arapahoe High School, UC Santa Barbara- the list goes on and on.

Those with more liberal views are responding to all this chaos and violence by going so far as to call for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment.  As you can imagine, this has predictably gone over quite well with the NRA and it's allies.  These are the folks who, in the immortal and inconceivably badly phrased words of President Obama, "cling to their guns and religion."  Matching the President's lack of tact with an insensitivity that borders on psychopathy, Joe the Plumber addressed the parents of the kids killed at UCSB by declaring, "your dead kids don't trump my constitutional rights."

Amidst all this back and forth between right and left is a shared delusion:  There IS NO gun violence epidemic.  There IS a school shooting epidemic.  These two problems are not the same.  And the solutions that can actually save hundreds if not thousands of lives become clear once the problems have been elicited and defined

Why Colleges Fail at Punishing Rapists, and a Radical Idea for Justice

Sexual Assault on campus is problem that has been receiving unprecedented amounts of attention lately.  Just a few days ago, it was announced that 55 colleges are under investigation for failing to adequately handle sexual assault and create a non-discriminatory environment under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in all institutions that receive federal funding.  It is commonly held that 1 in 4 female students will be assaulted during their time in college, though it must be acknowledged that all such statistics are disputed.  Nevertheless, it is increasingly clear that no American college does anything approaching a decent job of punishing rapists and doing justice to survivors.

Why Your Doctor Doesn’t Work For You

Many doctors are ambivalent about the Affordable Care Act. This is not due to the primary aims of the bill- after all, more people with health insurance means more paying patients, so what’s not to like? Rather, doctors are worried about the other, less publicized pieces of the bill, and related changes to Medicare and Medicaid that have quietly reshaped medicine- and often not for the better.

The Political Picking of a Surgeon General

There's a bit of buzz in the news recently over President Obama's nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy.

What's Going on in Ukraine, and Why?

There's been a lot of uproar recently over Ukraine.

Cliff notes version: Pro-Russian dictator in the making was driven out by protesters longing for closer ties with the US/EU, and Russia responded by sending in troops to its existing military bases.  War is imminent.  Pro-democracy protesters vs. autocrats is always a sure draw for readers, so journalists are trying to catch every minute of it in any way possible.

(Only Slightly) Longer version:

Gay Marriage, "Drawing the Line", and the Media

EDIT: I suggest you all read to the end- I'm not making the point you may think I am making.

I'd like to preface this post by saying that I fully support gay marriage.

A Tea Party-backed Senatorial candidate in Kentucky, Matt Bevin, was doing an interview, and giving a rather typical anti-gay marriage stock answer.   Surprisingly, it had less direct gay-bashing than usual for a Southern Tea Party candidate- Bevin mostly made points about state's rights.

Of course, we have to remember here that historically, racist policies and segregation were defended by southern (then-Democratic) politicians under the guise of state's rights.  Starting with Nixon, the Republican party purposefully adapted the rhetoric of "state's rights" as a code word for segregation, to attract white southerners who became disaffected from the Democratic Party after President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.  This was the infamous "Southern Strategy", and has been publicly confirmed by a recording of the late, great GOP strategist Lee Atwater.

Back to Bevin.