As with the Titanic, thought to be unsinkable - we carry the delusion that the ship of state cannot sink, that the atmosphere can never fail us, that the seas will never rise. And everything will be cool
Denialists feed and support such a delusion that humans so willingly carry.
Now the two giant teams are playing chicken, the Captains of Industry and the Governments of the World. Neither will act. And the physical laws of the planet trumps all.
Indeed. Especially so in light of the Suskind allegation about a fabricated documentation of an operational tie between al Qaeda and Iraq. As <a href="http://dailydoubt.blogspot.com/2008/08/slam-dunk-case-for-impeachment.html">I wrote</a>
<blockquote>When it comes to finding out how it came to be that domestic anthrax attacks - mailed to "liberal" figures - which originated from a military lab were used to help sell an invasion of Iraq despite those anthrax letters having nothing to do with Iraq; and when it comes to investigating whether or not the White House attempted to retroactively fabricate evidence linking al Qaeda and Iraq - is it possible that as a nation we might take an interest in such matters that is equal to, at least, that which we take in Britney Spears or the children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt?
The anthrax letters thing is just disturbing that we still don't know what happened. And this is in relation to an event that hints at the possibility that it wouldn't be all that difficult to generate our own Reichstag fire like event, especially since we've <a href="http://dailydoubt.blogspot.com/2007/05/president-bush-thinks-of-another-way-to.html">the President already effectively asserted a lower threshold</a> for the abrogation of the rule of law than the Weimar Republic had.
Take note: I am not implying any sort of conspiracy, I am merely pointing out what is obvious from the above stories -if such an event as the anthrax attacks (which were taken advantage of to garner public approval for a war with a country that had nothing to do with the anthrax) or the Suskind charge of retroactive intelligence fabrication can occur without the press, Congress, and the public bothering to get to the bottom of it; then it is possible that such events can be utilized towards achieving undemocratic ends.</blockquote>
My concern: are Doctors inclined to give "free" drug samples copiously to patients because they are "free", instead of other medications which may be better for the patient. Research is warranted by Doctors before they begin handing out "freebees". To all the Doctors in the audience, I’m sure you’re all above suspicion.
That means in any population, when weight gain shows up, diabetes goes up. But that in itself does not prove causation. It could be there is something that causes both weight gain and metabolic change.
This argument reminds me a bit of the old "itchy lung" hypothesis that tobacco industry apologists used to circulate in their attempt to dispute the link between smoking and lung cancer. They argued that smoking itself didn't cause the cancers; rather, there was some other undefined "third factor" that caused them, and this third factor somehow also made people more inclined to smoke.
In the case of weight and diabetes, of course, the causation isn't quite as simple as "gaining weight causes diabetes." Diabetes itself makes weight gain more likely, so in that sense, "diabetes causes weight gain." Moreover, there are clearly other factors that cause both weight gain AND diabetes. Genetics, for example, is one such factor. (as, for example, in the [http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/pima/obesity/obesity.htm Pima Indians]). Eating lots of chocolate chip cookies would be another factor that obviously causes both weight gain and increased risk of diabetes.
What's clear, however, is that body weight is determined IN PART by individual behavior, and that changes in behavior that reduce body weight will also reduce the risk of diabetes.
Superb article.
As with the Titanic, thought to be unsinkable - we carry the delusion that the ship of state cannot sink, that the atmosphere can never fail us, that the seas will never rise. And everything will be cool
Denialists feed and support such a delusion that humans so willingly carry.
Now the two giant teams are playing chicken, the Captains of Industry and the Governments of the World. Neither will act. And the physical laws of the planet trumps all.
Who will make the first significant move?
Richard Pauli
http://theBoyWhoDeniedWolf.com
My concern: are Doctors inclined to give "free" drug samples copiously to patients because they are "free", instead of other medications which may be better for the patient. Research is warranted by Doctors before they begin handing out "freebees". To all the Doctors in the audience, I’m sure you’re all above suspicion.
Pani113 wrote:
This argument reminds me a bit of the old "itchy lung" hypothesis that tobacco industry apologists used to circulate in their attempt to dispute the link between smoking and lung cancer. They argued that smoking itself didn't cause the cancers; rather, there was some other undefined "third factor" that caused them, and this third factor somehow also made people more inclined to smoke.
In the case of weight and diabetes, of course, the causation isn't quite as simple as "gaining weight causes diabetes." Diabetes itself makes weight gain more likely, so in that sense, "diabetes causes weight gain." Moreover, there are clearly other factors that cause both weight gain AND diabetes. Genetics, for example, is one such factor. (as, for example, in the [http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/pima/obesity/obesity.htm Pima Indians]). Eating lots of chocolate chip cookies would be another factor that obviously causes both weight gain and increased risk of diabetes.
What's clear, however, is that body weight is determined IN PART by individual behavior, and that changes in behavior that reduce body weight will also reduce the risk of diabetes.
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