R&D Gap

There are two things I take away from this story. First, despite what some would say, the main reason that drugs are more expensive in the US is because the US is doing the research.

Only three EU companies have made it to the global top ten for investors in research and development, according to an EU report on R&D investment.

US companies dominate the list – five in the top ten, and the first four of the top five - with pharmaceutical company Pfizer being the champion on R&D spending.

If the US began importing drugs, what would happen to the future? First of all, break through would suffer and people would continue to suffer from things that could have been prevented. Of course where there is money there is corruption. But on the other end there is a struggle to actually market what has been developed.

The second thing (this is actually the main thrust of the story) is gap in research. That gap relates to the gap in technology and indirectly to the standard of living. This is reflected in a higher population but lower GDP when comparing the EU to the US. Look at the chart from the study and remember that non-EU consist of the US, Japan, South Korea and Switzerland. The EU has 18 companies among the top 50 R&D investors, the same number as in the 2006 Scoreboard. The USA has 20 companies, two more than last year. Japan has 9 companies, one less than in last year , Switzerland has 2 and South Korea has 1.

The only two categories where the EU is in the lead is fixed line communication and aerospace & defense.

By their own definition, the EU has not been able to compete.

The comparison of research spending between the EU and the rest of the world is considered to be one of the main indicators to determine whether the EU will
become the most competitive economy by 2010 - an EU goal set out in the Lisbon
strategy.

The World of Torture

I guess this means Germany won’t be talking about our record on torture anymore.

German prosecutors attempting to prove a salesman guilty of al-Qaida membership have been relying on the results of his interrogation in Pakistan. He says his testimony was extracted by means of torture.

All I can really say is I would rather be helded by US authorities than any other nation.

Breast Cancer and Abortions

Abortion for health reasons has always been a gray area to many but it seems it is a little grayer.

Peter Carroll of London's Pension and Population Research Institute reports in "The Breast Cancer Epidemic: Modeling and Forecasts Based on Abortion and Other Risk Factors" that countries with high abortion rates, such as England and Wales, can expect a substantial increase in the number of cases of breast cancer
over the next few decades.

This isn’t the first study to point to this but they always seem to be swept under the rug.

At the time, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the study "mischief making" whose only purpose was to cause anxiety. "This report should not influence women in making decisions about abortion at difficult times in their life," the organization said.

In other words, right now is more important then later on. The need to have abortion on demand is more important to some people then the child’s life or apparently the mother’s.

The NCI has their own take on this.

The newer studies consistently showed no association between induced and spontaneous abortions and breast cancer risk.

So there it is, two sides with different studies to back up their view. One side wants to continue abortion as a healthy choice and the other wants to caution the use of abortion, but what about a different look.

One study shows pregnancy may even have a good effect on the immune system, one that could prevent recurrences of breast cancer, said Dr. Mirhashemi. According to this theory, fetal antigen cells during pregnancy can evoke a strong memory response from the immune system (created by previous exposure to breast cancer cells), and will keep any small cancers in check. However,Dr. Mirhashemi says, "This is a very complex theory and only one small study has addressed it. It?s a very interesting fact that fetal antigens share common antigens with breast
cancer cells. It is certainly worthy of further study."

If a full term pregnancy after cancer treatment is beneficial, does logic dictate that a cut short pregnancy would be detrimental (how about several)?

Still Giving Lessons on Tyranny

Burma/Myanmar continues to give the world real examples of tyranny.

Burma's military junta is continuing its bloody crackdown on protesters. People accused of having taken photos and leaking them to other countries have been detained, and journalists are being threatened by state radio.

Burma's state radio is currently berating and threatening journalists critical of the country's military junta, describing them as "public nuissances" and "saboteurs." Meanwhile, news agencies are reporting the arrests of several Burmese journalists.

In contrast to what can be publish in the US.
Tyrant in the White House
General Petraeus or General Betray Us?
Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. to Fight Terror
Clinton sex scandal great news for Web
Watergate

Anyone calling the US a land of tyranny doesn’t understand what the word means. I suggest that for the true mean one only needs to ask someone from Burma.

The Extremes of Intelligence

I came across this story some time ago and it stuck but I have to say the title is really misleading in several respects.

Men are smarter (and more stupid) than women, say scientists.

But the article doesn’t really say that. It does not show that men have higher IQ’s nor lower IQ’s.

When scientists measured the intelligence of more than 2,500 brothers and sisters, they found a disproportionate number of men in both the top 2 percent and the bottom 2 percent.

There were twice as many men as women in the smartest group. But there were also twice as many men among the dunces

Putting that to the numbers, it means if you picked the three smartest people out of a group of 300 there would be two men and one woman. On the opposite end there would be two men and one woman that would qualify as the dumbest. The difference between the three on each end is immeasurable.
It means the men have a tendency, with a 2:1 ratio, to be on the extremes of intelligence. In other word men have a greater chance of being genius or imbeciles and women have a greater chance of being average.

Of course this study ignores a potentially important concept.

Being a successful person does not entail having only a successful career, or having lots of money, or simply possessing a high intellectual/academic intelligence (IQ). In fact, as data from more developed countries shows, only 20% of a person's success in life is attributed to IQ, leaving 80% to other factors -- especially to his/her emotional
intelligence.

Faith in Science

An atheist conference called for science to destroy religion.

Science must ultimately destroy organized religion, according to some of the leading atheist writers and intellectuals who spoke at a recent atheist conference in Northern Virginia. God is a myth, and children must not be schooled in any faith, they said, at the "Crystal Clear Atheism" event, sponsored by the Atheist Alliance International.

The two keynote speakers seemed to have slightly different views about religion in general. One said all religions are the same while the other marked differences. One basically said there are no moderate religions just ones who haven’t decided to blow themselves up yet, while the other just felt that believers just need to smarten up. One got a standing ovation while the other received a polite clap.

The black and white and highly popular Dawkins did have two interesting quotes. The first one, I think he is on to something but then loses it in the end.

"Religion is not the root of all evil, but it gets in the way of [determining] how we got here and where we find ourselves," Dawkins said. "And that is an evil in itself."

Religion can be used in evil way without a doubt. The Spanish Inquisition jumps right out in my mind, followed by suicide bombing in the name of Allah. I could go on to name endless examples on how evil was done in the name of religion but then again I could also list evil after evil where religion had nothing to do with it. The evil comes from a lust for power. There are many tools used to gather that power such as money, political influence, physical strength, knowledge and religious doctrine but it all boils down to becoming your own god. That is the point I think he is missing, he is blaming the tool.

The second one I happen to completely agree with him but probably not for the same reason.

Dawkins was particularly critical of parents who raise their children as a "Catholic child" or "Protestant child." Children must not be labeled as subscribing to a particular religion, he said, and should be allowed to examine the evidence and determine their beliefs for themselves.

Becoming a Christian is a choice that each person should make on their own. Parents, as Christians, do have a duty to expose their children to words of God but they should not try to force anything upon them.

Many of the attendees seemed to have developed an aversion to religion from
conservative, Protestant Christians. Several of the atheists Cybercast News Service spoke to complained of living under fundamentalist parents who frowned upon any questioning of the Bible or any activity condemned in Scripture.

Each and every person should be free to question the Bible. As for activities condemned by the Bible, there is not a Christian out there that hasn’t committed an activity condemned by the Bible. It is called sin and everyone does it no matter how holy they pretend to be (which in itself is a sin). There is a fine line between condemning the sin and condemning the sinner and it is a line that is cross a lot. When that line is crossed, there tends to be negative effects. Nobody likes to have a finger pointed at them even if they are in the wrong.

This wouldn’t be Mutt Lounge if I didn’t make one dog reference in such a long post. When house training a puppy, one can beat them in to obedience but there are some very negative effects. A beaten dog is never as affectionate and is more likely to bite. They tend to be less loyal and run away when given the chance.
Lastly, I will make one Biblical reference. King David (from David and Goliath) is repeated called “a man after God’s own heart” and even he committed adultery and murder.

Church and State

Balking Senators

Yet another example on why I think Senators don’t make good Presidents, especially those still serving. Here is a perfect chance for those run for the highest office to put their votes where their mouth is and they balk.

Not Voting - 5
Biden (D-DE) Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT) McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)

There is little doubt where McCain would have voted so maybe that’s why Captain Ed gives him a pass while taking the Democrats to task. When decisiveness is needed, you have the four Democrats running for possible deniability. They probably don’t want to upset the Moveon.org sugar daddy who is calling for the immediate pull out of Iraq. I guess they don’t want to be caught like Kerry did.

Senators politic and nuiance every thing to death when leadership is needed. We need a President that will make a stand and have their word mean something.
Aaron Tippin had a song a while ago that says it all when comes to Senators.

He'd say you've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything
You've got to be your own man not a puppet on a string
Never compromise what's right and uphold your family name
You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything