Quackery.

Sadly, all of us have been touched by cancer in one way or another. We all know someone who has suffered from it, or at least the threat of it. The plague of the twentieth century has taken many lives, so it's no surprise that those diagnosed with the horrific disease can be desperate to find a cure.

Of course there are many who'll promise a cure, or at least a simple remedy, for a hefty fee of course. Not surprisingly, none if any of these miracle cures have actually been proven to work, but many in the "alternative medicine" business will defend the unscrupulous practice of selling snake oil to the sick and dying with the zeal of a religious fundamentalist.

This brings me to Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who operates a cancer treatment clinic out of Houston, Texas. He makes strong claims for something he calls antineoplaston therapy, which is found in urine and supposedly replaces missing peptides in the bloodstreams of cancer patients. It sounds like a reasonable way of tackling cancer, but as most things in medicine and life, if it sounds too good to be true, it often is. As I'm aware there have been no randomized clinical trials that prove this therapy to be effective at all. The FDA tried to bring down the hammer on Dr Burzynski, but an appeals court decided he could continue with the quack treatment, so long as he calls them trials instead of therapy.

So patients shell out hundreds to thousands of dollars to Dr Burzynski for a method that hasn't passed the test of science, of whom I can't really fault. If I or a loved one had cancer I can't say I wouldn't try anything to save them, even if it meant abandoning all sense or reason.

This brings me to Rhys Morgan, a seventeen year old blogger from the UK. He saw some of his fellow countrymen take donations from people in order to be flown to Houston for Dr Burzynski's trials. He wrote a factual blog about how it's a load of horseshit, so as alternative medicine practitioners do, Burzynski had his lawyer threaten a teenager with a libel suit. Morgan decided not to take this lying down and posted the exchange with the mentally challenged attorney online. I suggest reading about it here.

The lawyer, some fool with serious ethical issue named Marc Stephens, has also threatened other bloggers who have wrote about the quakassery of Burzynski, even going so far as to include his subjects' families in the correspondence. His incompetence has created the Streisand effect for Burzynski, and more people are being educated about what a fraud his claims are.

So why am I blogging about this? Well personally I have a special kind of hatred for 'alternative medicine' practitioners and their supporters, as they prey upon the sick and dying while selling snake oil. Homeopathy, anti-vaccine, and other nonsense have endangered public health with their bullshit. Even well meaning, intelligent folks subscribe to this, but they're just as guilty as those who know full well they're peddling crap to the weak and needy.

Also Rhys asked other bloggers to tell the story of Mr Stephens, attorney extraordinaire, and quack Burzynski, in hopes people actually take science seriously and maybe spend their money on finding a real cure for cancer. In Rhys' words:

"So in order to spread the word, I need your help. I would really appreciate
it if you could do the following two things:
Tweet about the Burzynski clinic. You could either write your own tweet or
you could retweet my suggested tweet: RT @rhysmorgan Patients need to know the
whole truth about Burzynski’s cancer treatment claims: http://josephinejones.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/stanislaw-streisand-and-spartacus/
OR you could retweet this: RT @rhysmorgan Dr Burzynski does not want you to
know the whole truth about his cancer treatments, which is why he tried to sue
me http://rhysmorgan.co/2011/11/threats-from-the-burzynski-clinic
Add a link to this blog from your website so that it will increase the
PageRank for this blog so that when patients search for Burzynski, they discover
this blog as well as Dr Burzynski’s propaganda. This way, they can discover the
whole truth and determine for themselves whether it’s worth investing in his
treatment."

Bravo to you Rhys and others who have been bullied by these jerks.

"I posted the blog so that patients, their friends and families would be aware of the whole story about Burzynski and his unproven therapy. I want them to be aware that the treatment seems to be in a constant cycle of trials generating unpublished results. As Dr Howard Ozer, director of the Allegheny Cancer Center in Philadelphia, said – it is scientific nonsense." - Rhys Morgan

We're all doomed.

The politics behind global warming has intrigued me for the past few years. America seems to stand alone in the global community with it's stubborn insistence that climate change isn't real, much less caused my pollution at the hands of it's own citizenry. I'm not exactly sure why the US is so opposed to it. Well I can speculate.

Of course Republican politicians don't want to buy into the science as they would have to admit the EPA is a good thing, causing their largest donors to have a coronary. The Christians hate the idea of the world choking on it's own excesses as that would mean Armageddon came from something other than a battle between Christ and Satan on some field in Palestine. Americans' fear science as they love conspiracies and are really uneducated about the scientific process, but can recite each character from Jersey Shore on cue.

Our president promised that we'd cut carbon emissions in half by 2025, but that was ambitious at best. To pass any serious climate change bill through Congress would be laughable if it weren't pathetic. The Tea Party Republicans would filibuster it at all costs, because freedom to pollute is paramount to a strong Republic.

The Kyoto protocols are up for renewal, and our country, along with China, won't be signing it again. Strange company we keep.

"Kyoto was a flawed process. There isn't one industrialized country around the world that has ratified that treaty, and so that is a non-starter." - Andrew Card

Ahead Of Climate Talks, U.S. Leadership In Question

Why I hate Black Friday, and so should you.

There are two kinds of American consumers, those who love Black Friday and those who can't stand the thought of being around a retail outlet on the wretched day. When I was young I was blissfully unaware that this god forsaken tradition existed, until I worked at a photo lab in a department store. They informed me of the holiday sales event, and I was to report for work at 5 in the morning.

I arrived at work to find a line of people at the door, salivating at the mouth at the laundry list of great savings on items no one needs. People were jumping in place, trying to stay warm in the wet Northwest winter, because hypothermia was worth the risk of a big screen television. These weren't just middle class folks living paycheck to paycheck, there were upper class folks selling their souls for a bargain, insuring that they stay in the tax bracket they felt was allotted to them.

Polaroid once decided to make 35mm film, which it quickly abandoned. As part of our Black Friday deal, we sold the stock at one dollar per role. (See kids, back in my youth there was a thing called light sensitive emulsion, which made photographs.) The doors opened and people ran to the electronics department, hoping to grab the best television and VCR. (Now kids, in the olden days we watched movies on a device called a Video Cassette Recorder. The movies were stored on a thing called tape, and we called them video tapes.) One man approached the photo counter and asked about how much polaroid film we had in stock. I answered and he decided to buy our entire supply, over two hundred dollars worth.

A while later a man came in with his wife and young son. He asked about the polaroid film, after I watched him read the sign I wrote up saying we were sold out. I answered while pointing to the sign that he just read. He was unhappy with my response and vocalized how unfair it was he wasn't going to partake in the super savings on 35mm film. I apologized that we were sold out and asked if there was anything else I could help with. He went on a rant about how much of an asshole I was for "false advertising" and he was "going to sue", which was dabbled with some mono-syllabic swearing.

So here I was, waking my ass up to be at work at 5am, but happy to do so as I had a great time with my family and was thankful for them and the many things I had in my life, including the shitty job I was underpaid for. This jackass who was lucky enough to have at least four days off in a row was yelling at me over the price of some film, which was of questionable quality. I attempted to be empathetic to him, but finally my patience ended when he decided to threaten me to a fight.

Yes the guy said he would be waiting outside of the store to "beat my ass". I have no idea what I said or did that said him off, probably nothing, but he seemed serious about going fisticuffs. I told him when I got off work and which row of cars I was parked in. He seemed taken aback by this and not surprisingly was nowhere to be seen when my shift was over.

We live in America, and to 80%+ of the world, our living standards are seen as luxurious. Yes including yours. So often to people forget how good they have it, and this jackass is no different, displaying his entitled whiny ass in front of his family no less, but he's not completely at fault. He's just a man following the commandment of good consumerism, a bill of consumer rights that's been fed to him since the day he received his first allowance. He feels he has a right to products at an affordable price, and anyone who stood in the way of his pollutant mentality is as tolerable as a Bolshevik. I was that enemy of the czar, and I was paid to take the abuse of this mindless idiot who had more time than he should've been granted.

That day a couple got into an actual fight, over a breadmaker. A fucking breadmaker was worth hurting another human being and going to jail for.

A lot of people don't have that Friday off, and end up serving the masses who are fortunate to have vacation time. They would like nothing better than to be home with their families and friends, eating leftovers and enjoying quality time with loved ones. Think of that when you shop for that shitty product you don't need, that will break right after the warranty expires.

"Thanksgiving is nothing but a toast to genocide." - Stephen Jones

Why I support the OWS movement.

Yesterday a friend of mine asked me if I support the OWS movement. I paused, thinking that really I have done nothing to give the protestors any kind of assistance. I haven't driven down to downtown Dallas to join their ranks, nor have I passed out food or anything of value. I would probably be unwelcome at any of their events anyways as drum circles make me violent.

Still I support the idea of protestors excersizing their rights to battle corporate corruption infiltrating our republic. In many ways they're like the Tea Party, except I haven't seen the rampant racism and general ignorance that their conservative bretheren have displayed with misspelled signs that spread mis-information and nutty conspiracies. Both have a lot of the same goals while their methods of acheiving it vary greatly.

People claim to be confused about the OWS message, but I can't understand why anyone with internet connection who spends maybe an hour consuming news can claim this. Sure there may not be one unifing message, which is fine considering the movement seems diverse. The tea party are a bunch of pissed off white people who think Obama is a socialist, Kenyan, and practicing muslim, so it's no surprise the partiers have a coherent thought process, insane as it may be.

Still I hear a lot of people bitching about OWS and I'm not sure why. I mean should we hold so much resement for folks so willing to excersize their constitutional right?

"Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters." - Victor Hugo

Wiwille goes to Chuck E Cheese, ends well.

Sunday I was invited to go to a three year old's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. When I told people about this they grinned and warned me about the outing. I didn't understand why, but I haven't been to one of their establishments in years.

I walk in their in the afternoon, beating the birthday folks by a few minutes. I sit down and soak in the atmosphere, which was an assault on the senses. Kids were screaming and games were blaring at a decibel that creatures on four legs could hear, the smells of pizza and wings fumigated the place. Merriment was being had by many a tyke, but the parents looked exhausted as they opened their wallets and seeing their checking account deplete as kids begged for tokens. I sat nervously as I know I'll be one of them soon enough.

The stage didn't contain the animatronic Pizza Time Players band anymore, which didn't please me. It was my goal to play it over and over again and watch the adults' blood pressure skyrocket, but alas. Instead it had some activities for birthday kids, which was just as well.

Hudson, the birthday boy in question, was having a grand old time playing the games and getting all sorts of attention. As he opened his gifts with his mom, he found mine, which contained some kiddie Star Wars action figures and a Darth Vader lightsaber. I soon drew the ire of his parents as he was excited about the plastic weapon, beating balloons and his grandpa was the way of the sith, and he was then crowned Darth Hudson. Yes I'm not a favorite amongst his parents anymore, but I assume they thought the display was cute and he was having fun.

After I left I thought about all the times I'll be dealing with screaming kids at birthday parties, and after this experience I'm actually looking forward to it, shocking as that may be. There's quite nothing like seeing a child's face light up when in a place they deem as cool, and I can't wait to see Kenadie's smile.

Another politician that sucks (shocking I know).

Some politicians would rather see the country be destroyed than admit the opposition was correct, and this can't be better illustrated than the recent behavior of the GOP. With their championing the insurance industry during the health care debate, even hinting that granny may face a death panel, and their opposition to any sort of financial bill that may have any success and help Americans keep their jobs, the Republicans cannot conceed defeat to an uppity Democrat.

Now this is nothing new. It's been the politics as usual since voting was made available to the public so long ago. The other day on member of the party of Lincoln sank to a new low, he denied businesses tax credits for hiring a veteran, because it's a trick of the Democrats. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina was really oposed to seeing Democrats use a tax break to appeal to business and veterans, so he thought maybe swinging their votes his way was to deny them a better chance at employment.

So while this stupid Congress reminds us of things we already know, such as the fact that 'Under God' exists in the pledge of allegiance, they actually do something useful for once. Yes instead of spending three days debating the name of a federal building they wanted to do something nobel and help veterans find employment that they may deserve. Not such luck with Senator DeMint, who stood alone. Why South Carolina residents haven't demanded a recall of that jackass yet is anyone's guess.

"I know what I'm about to discuss won't be very popular. I'll probably be accused of not supporting veterans by the politicians pandering for their votes, but I'm not going to be intimidated to vote for something that may make sense politically but is inherently unfair." - Jim DeMint.

Jim DeMint: Veterans Hiring Bill Is A Democratic 'Trick'

Image

For those who have never lived nor traveled to the Northwest I have some breaking news for you, there are people so full of their redneck self in Washington they'd make your average rural Texan seem like an Ivy League educated individual. Yes it's true for I've lived among them, befriended them, learned their ways, and since I've moved to Texas I've known more northwesterners that are more stereotypical Texan than most Texans I know.

Yes my small town upbringing in Oregon and Southwest Washington has made me wonder why Texas is the butt of all jokes, when redneck ire can just be directed to Wenatchee, Longview, and the hell hole that is Yakima. Then again, Washington has never given the nation one of the worst Presidents in history, or any President for that matter. And Texas has a huge ego, so it deserves some scorn for it's fat head. Given the size and diverse population you'll always find some nut job who'll make the news doing something racist, and it can be on a daily basis.

Still Texas does have it's redeeming members, and today the Department of Motor Vehicles has done the state a favor by rejecting a license plate with the Sons of Confederate Veterans symboly, which contains the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia. Why they didn't use the Texas state Confederate flag is anyone's guess. The moron behind the idea of putting the flag on state property swears it's about commemorating soldiers and not politicians. Uh-huh. So why should Texans commemorate the soldiers of Virginia? Granted I get the Army of Northern Virginia was diverse when it came to which state each soldier hailed from, but I don't get what the point of putting this on a license plate is, instead of harming Texas' already fragile public image. I guess the DMV decided against putting the flag that was flown by traitors to the Constitution and who fought and killed for the right to own people was the right thing to do, because to adopt and honor those who held such values just doesn't make sense to any reasonable human being.

If you want to honor the fallen Confederate soldiers, there are many ways to do so instead of public funds. We have enough people trying to romanticise the antebellum south, which only existed in pulp-fiction and for the one percenters if you will, and if they want to have their revisionist history while celebrating those with twisted values, they can do it on their own damn dime. Why the Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans hasn't adopted the actual

Bravo Texas DMV. Bravo to you.

BTW I've seen far more instances of Truck Nutz in the northwest than here in Texas. I'm not kidding.

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth." - Alexander Stephens

DMV rejects Confederate license plates

Love makes you fat, being skinny makes you cheat.

They say loves makes you fat, and in my case it's true. Well love, and a big fat slab of BBQ and fast food. People often get comfortable in their relationships and slack off on having a keen diet and exercise. Pounds pack on for most couples.

This is not newsworthy, but the Daily Mail contends that people in a relationship who suddenly decided to lean up are secretly planning on upgrading their current significant others for someone else. Now this shouldn't be too surprising as losing weight builds confidence and those who are not secure in the idea of leaving their loveless relationship feel the need to start competing in the dating world.

But seriously, do all people just do this to look good? Whatever happened to the idea of wanting to see your grandchildren, or to just not waddle around and eat like Jabba the Hutt? Are we such a superficial society that only peer pressure to lose weight matters above all? The correct answer is yes, yes we are.

"In a happy partnership, people tend to get fat. With less competition, the weight difference is low." - Professor Thomas Klein

Conversations with Corey, which include inspiring words from Wiwille

In the few years I've blogged I've seen many others come and go. The statistic is most blogs last only a few months, and then people just either a) get bored, b) lack the creative juices to find a muse, c) try other artistic pursuits, such as learning how to play the spoons. My friend Corey is one such blogger, who decided to dive into the world of online publishing, but suddenly the posts stopped coming.

Listed below is a conversation him and I had about blogging:

Corey: I'm thinking of starting another blog...but one without my name in it...I wouldn't want anyone to know it's me...I just bought the domain...thinking about it...
Me: you bought the domain before you decided to write in it?
Corey: yeah...it was 10 bucks year...I can swing that either way...figured I would buy it just in case..I suspect I will...I just need to write about something other then myself...or I will get bored.
Me: You can write about whatever you want, or whatever's inspiring you at the time.
Corey: indeed...it's just figuring out what I want to write about that is key...I will keep you posted...
Me: You can write about what it's like being sexually harassed by a black man running for president
Corey: hahaha...I'm not really an expert on the subject...but that never stops people from talking about things.
Me: You can write about how Michelle Bachmann has a penis that sings Disney showtunes.
Corey: yes...that is in fact an option.
Me: I would love to read about the adventures of Michelle Bachmann's penis trying to star in off Broadway plays.
Corey: I think you would love to write about it and you should my friend...it's your calling.
Me: It may just be

Blog about what you know I guess....

"All of the problems we're facing with debt are manmade problems. We created them. It's called fantasy economics. Fantasy economics only works in a fantasy world. It doesn't work in reality." - Michele Bachmann

I know there's a joke about not understanding this, but I refuse to say it

I sometimes fancy myself well versed in current events, but I'll humbly admit as awesome as I am at everything, I have no friggin clue what the hell is wrong with Greece. I remember the day when the Euro first came upon us, and a new enlightened economic age was sweeping the small continent, but as Europe does, they find a way to screw it all up. I would've expected such behavior from the Germans, as they're German, or the friggin Irish, but not Greece. Alas the country's economic inequality and deficit spending finally caught up with them and they're ready to take down the Euro and the rest of the continent with them.

So here we are, with a small country holding the world markets hostage, and today they're trying to pass their own spending referendum in spite of what the rest of the global leaders want. The region that invented democracy will use it to kill all of us while they sit around in togas and drink meade and take part as extras in a play laced with boy loving themes.

Bush would've invaded them long before this ever happened, pre-emptive economic strike or some shit. The Guns of Navarone were weapons of mass destruction after all. And we all know what happens when a European power goes into econmic turmoil and nationalism becomes the rallying cry for the populace.

"In Greece wise men speak and fools decide." - George Santayana

Wiwille on the mount

We're all aware of Mt Rushmore, the amazing sculpture that honors four Presidents. Today is it's 70th birthday, and some conservatives don't feel it's finished. While that's partially correct as the sculptor died before finishing Washington's waistcoat and Lincoln's arms, some are calling for Reagan to be included there was well.

I've written before how I don't understand the Republican love for a President who hasn't stood the test of history, but alas. We could just leave well enough alone as we already desecreated the Lakota's sacred mountain, but really, why put Reagan of all people? Why not Eisenhower or FDR? Or hell Polk?

I think they should put my likeness on their, but they didn't ask me, but if they put Reagan up there, I'll blast it so help me. How about saving the tax dollars it would take to put that simpleton up there and use it to teach children who these people actually were. And you know what using tax dollars to promote art is? That's right, socialism. And you know who else uses government money to support ideolgical propoganda for their country's founders? That's right, The Soviet Union! Supporting Reagan on Mount Rushmore is supporting communism.

“Reagan was the most successful president of the 20th century. He took a country that was in economic collapse and military in retreat round the globe and turned it completely around.” - Grover Norquist, Reagan Legacy Project Chairman

Room for Another Bust at 70-Year-Old Mt. Rushmore?