Shaw's Eco-Logic by Mike Shaw

Have mercy...on those infected with MRSA
This HND piece covers yet another outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus aka MRSA. What makes this one plain awful is that it occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit, and would not have even been reported publicly, but for "leak" from a hospital employee to a state official.  You'll love the excuse they used when confronted by the media. My friend, infection control guru Lawrence Muscarella, weighs in on this, and while polite, he minces no words.  Read the complete article. 

CBD and the NFL

This HND piece discusses how retired and suffering NFL players are turning to cannabidiol (CBD) to relieve their symptoms. Unlike denial, which was the NFL's primary response to concussions, the league sure knows how to deal with chronic pain—and that's with drugs. Loads of them. Too bad there are side effects.  Way back in the 60s, I knew a UCLA football player (a defensive back) who was taking enormous doses of ibuprofen for his constant pain. While I guess it helped him with the pain, it also burned out his kidneys. Too bad they didn't have CBD back then.  One of the groups promoting CBD to the former players is CW Hemp, famous for coming up with the formula that saved the life of little seizure sufferer Charlotte Figi. (CW as in Charlotte's Web).  CBD is a cannabis extract that has no hallucinogenic properties, but does wonders for a variety of symptoms. Naturally, the Feds are years behind the curve on this one.  Read the complete article. 

Unneeded or outdated meds? Get rid of them!

This HND piece examines the very real problem of prescription drug abuse. The title derives from the sad fact that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.   We cite some disturbing statistics, including this charmer: 45 people die every day from overdosing on opioid prescription painkillers, and that's more deaths than fatal heroin and cocaine overdoses combined.  The good news is that the government and private sector are teaming up in a big way to mbat this epidemic. Read the complete article.

Hear ye, hear ye 

This HND piece covers a bill being promoted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), that would allow certain types of hearing aids to be sold, without the need for a professional consult. At first blush, this seems like a reasonable libertarian concept—coming strangely from a Leftist senator. Besides, a professional consult is necessary for best results.  As it happens, Medicare and most private insurance do not cover hearing aids, even though hearing loss affects 48 million Americans, most of whom are on Medicare. One wonders why Warren was not an avid supporter of the bills that would have forced Medicare to cover these devices.  It might be because the company that would benefit the most from OTC hearing aids is in her state.  Read the complete article.

Searching for self-help resources--in mental health 

This HND piece takes to heart this statement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA):  "Consumer self-care is becoming an important part of efficient and effective healthcare delivery. By exercising best practices of promoting wellness and preventing illness, informed consumers can dramatically improve outcomes and reduce costs. Learn about what you are experiencing. This will allow you to make good decisions about all parts of your life, like: your treatment; how and where you are going to live; who you are going to live with; how you will get and spend money; your close relationships; and parenting issues."  Within the mental health field, a host of self-help resources are available from the Open Forest initiative. As such, we cover them in some detail.  Read the complete article.

Observations From the Back Row: 5-14-11

...
“De Omnibus Dubitandum”

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. -  Eric Arthur Blair AKA George Orwell

***Featured Article***

The Hijacking of Earth Day By Gilbert Ross, M.D.

The last weekend in April saw the confluence of Earth Day and World Malaria Day. The very first Earth Day back in 1970 found many of us devoted to saving the world from polluting corporations and their toxic smog. And in fact, over the course of the next two decades or so, major strides were made in cleaning up our air and water. The sky over Los Angeles was even seen to be blue on occasion, and Hudson River fish were pronounced safe to eat again.

The Sierra Club's Profitable Descent into Leftism The Sierra Club was once an honorable organization, and not that long ago either. A few decades ago, it was truly bipartisan, as befitted a group trying to protect wilderness. Conservatives were not shunned as members, but were welcomed as part of the team. One example was life-long Republican Dr. Edgar Wayburn, who helped save more than 100,000 acres of scenic wild places during his 103-year lifetime. He was a five-term president of the Sierra Club during the 1960s. But it's inconceivable that a member of the GOP could be elected to that post in today's organization, which has been fundamentally corrupted by left-wing political influence and millions of dollars with ideological strings attached…..The impetus for the loss of integrity was simple greed. In the 1990s, the Club came across a deep-pocketed donor with an interest in the environment, one David Gelbaum, a Wall Street investor who had made hundreds of millions of dollars. He was willing to be a generous funder to the Sierra Club, but with one stipulation. As he was quoted…….."I did tell [Sierra Club Executive Director] Carl Pope in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me."………Had SUSPS members known in the beginning that the Sierra Club had been bought and paid for, I doubt we would have spent eight years trying to reform a morally bankrupt and dishonest institution.

Computer Models: The Bane of Modern Society In a hearing before Rep. Henry Waxman’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board (a position touted as one of the most powerful unelected offices in the world), said he got it wrong in answer to questions about his role in the recent financial meltdown. His extremely mobile face deadpanned that his economic models, which he had relied on for 40 years, were wrong. He did not apologize; it was merely a statement of fact that portrayed no irrational exuberance. He gave no hint of concern about the massive damage his reliance on the models had done. Huge losses of money among those who exploited the situation his models allowed garnered no sympathy. However, the dashing of hope at the bottom of the economic pyramid, the disaster of losing one’s home or job, the stress created by worrying about losing either, and myriad other such stories in the US and across the world appeared to be dismissed with a wave of the academic and intellectual hand.

My Take – I linked this article because so much of the claptrap about global warming is based on computer models. There is entirely too much speculation in studies today, and not enough science. Excessive amounts of government grant money creates garbage in….garbage out.

Superbug Germ Detected in Bedbugs, Study Finds Scientists in Canada have found MRSA in bedbugs from three hospital patients who live in a poverty-stricken Vancouver neighborhood. Although bedbugs are not known to spread disease – they do lead to scratching – which can cause the skin to tear and make people at risk for bacteria, said Dr. Marc Romney, an author on the study.

Bedbugs, meat can carry drug-resistant MRSA bacteria Bedbugs may carry deadly drug-resistant bacteria, according to one of two studies published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The staph germ methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, was found in the bugs, Canadian scientists said in a report. Human handlers may contaminate meat, Wayne State University researchers wrote in a separate study. The CDC released the findings of both reports today and will publish them in its June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases

My Take- Bed Bugs and MRSA Require Consistency, By Rich Kozlovich

Here is another great article by Patrice Lewis that deals with "the basics" once again.  Kids are being indoctrinated in the schools with every sort of greenie nonsense.  This is where it all starts.  We need to get that!  RK

The tyranny of socialization Have you ever noticed that socialization has now become – apparently – the sole and exclusive purpose of education? Every single homeschooler on the planet, it seems, has heard the question: "But what about socialization?" (The proven quality of homeschooling be damned.) The implication is that unless children attend public schools, their socialization skills will atrophy to the point where they will become drooling blobs unable to mingle with their coworkers at a cocktail party when they grow up. And naturally, the ONLY place where "correct" socialization is possible is in government schools . We have elevated this mythical necessity for "socialization" into an oracle-like status. ……Many years ago I heard a radio interview between a homeschooling advocate and a bewildered host who asked that age-old question, "What about socialization?" The guest gave an answer I'd never considered before: "What is the purpose of school? Is it to teach academic basics, or is it to teach socialization?"

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax -

Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

###

Bed Bugs and MRSA Require Consistency

By Rich Kozlovich

Recently there was a number of articles published releasing information that:

“Scientists in Canada have found MRSA in bedbugs from three hospital patients who live in a poverty-stricken Vancouver neighborhood.”

The article went on to say:

“There’s no evidence of whether or not the bedbugs actually spread the MRSA bacteria or another less dangerous drug-resistant germ, but the study is “an intriguing finding” that needs to be looked at further’.  

They did note that the researchers:

“saw a spike in both bedbugs and MRSA in the area; they decided to see if there was any correlation”. 

I am somewhat surprised at how many have read the articles about this. I have been asked a number of times:

“Do you believe bed bugs spread disease”.

I always answer that I believe that they may be capable of it, but not for the reasons everyone thinks.

Bed bugs aren’t like mosquitoes, which carry diseases and transmit them through their bites. In effect, they inject the causative agent directly into our blood streams. Bed bugs can’t do that, and they don’t seem to carry any particular disease carrying agent consistently.

They have pathogens on their bodies, that’s it! And until more information comes out, it seems the only way they could possibly spread diseases would be through indirect exposure. There was research being done in the 1920’s and 30’s that attempted to show that bed bugs were vectors of disease, but DDT made all of that research moot. But until more research is done we need to get this into perspective.

Many years ago I read an article discussing cockroaches and their ability to carry pathogens. The article went on to say that they had discovered that cockroaches carry at least 5 or 6 different pathogens on their bodies and a number of them associated with feces. In one Asian hospital they discovered a cockroach with a bubonic plague pathogen on its body. So what? We have to be consistent regarding all of this.

Over the years I have stated over and over again the correlation isn’t necessarily causation. I believe that! I have stated over and over again that these kinds of “studies” should have never been released to the media because they prove nothing. They are mere speculation….or in scientific terms…..hypotheses. Since when do real scientists publish hypotheses? This is an affliction of an overzealous media that could care less about what is really science and what is “yellow journalism”.

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) recently released a paper stating their position on this matter saying:

 “The National Pest Management Association has reviewed the report and found that it leaves many questions unanswered. We do not plan to fuel this conversation and public fear by promoting news coverage of the survey. Comments from NPMA will cite the study as one of the many examples of why additional, scientific research on bed bugs must be conducted. We encourage members to refrain from comments suggesting that bed bugs may contribute to the spread of MRSA or other diseases.”

The NPMA and I have had many differences on many issues, but this is one which we are in total harmony. We need to discuss it with our customers, but we don’t need to sensationalize it.   Speculative scare tactics are a pattern of the left leaning greens. We stand for science and facts, which we are prepared to follow wherever they may lead. That means that we must be strong on consistency and truth. Something of which the greens seem to be incapable.

We need to be consistent because “truth will very patiently wait for us”, and when we get there we don’t want it to be found that we were residing in the camp of the insane.   The greenies can have that residence all to themselves.

I have long been an advocate of the need to overturn that piece of junk science and regulatory bullying called, The Food Quality Protection Act, and returning organophosphates and carbamates to our arsenal of tools. However, I am not prepared to do so because of claims that have no basis in science; and speculation isn't science.