CT scans, mammograms: Be aware of the risks

 Health care, United States  9 Responses »
Dec 162009
 

Just a little public service announcement regarding what they don’t usually tell you. Beware the cancer risk of CT scans. Also read up on the raging debate sparked by a federally funded US task force of physicians who found that the benefits of regular mammography for women between 40 and 50 are outweighed by the risks. I have always wondered why cancer is on the rise. Might not some of the cancer cases be due to tests/scans like these? This from the Wall Street Journal: The risk of cancer associated with popular CT scans appears to be greater than previously believed, according to two new studies published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Tamiflu: US$3b spent – but does it really work?

 Accountability, Health care, United States  14 Responses »
Dec 152009
 

This is something that I have been wondering about for a while now: why do so many people believe everything that Big Pharma tells them without conclusive evidence? One would have thought that governments and the medical community would want to see rigorous testing before spending big bucks for some ‘miracle’ drug. Why have governments around the world spent US$3 billion since the emergence of H1N1 on Tamiflu, a drug that seems to do very little? That’s the question raised by The Atlantic, after the British Medical Journal revealed that researchers were unable to conclude that the drug is really effective. Reuters reported in May that Malaysia was boosting its Tamiflu stockpile to cover 10 per cent of its 27 million population from 7.5 percent. Now, in an explosive report, The Atlantic reveals: Governments, public health agencies, and international bodies such as the World Health Organization, have all based their [Read more]

Iraq Occupation: What has it accomplished?

 Iraq, Militarism, United States  7 Responses »
Oct 312009
 

What has the US-led Invasion and Occupation of Iraq really achieved? What have the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of American troops really accomplished? If you ask me, a lot of people made a lot of money out of this military adventure – that’s what it has accomplished. Yes, war is all about Big Business for a few: the oil price rockets up, military budgets are pumped up, weapons sales soar, strategic oil pipelines are laid, funds for dubious “reconstruction” are siphoned off and a few favoured corporations reap huge profits for their well-connected share-holders. Leila Fadel of McClatchy reports: I couldn’t understand what thousands of American soldiers had died for and why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been killed. I didn’t see a budding democracy in an Iraqi government that was more like Saddam Hussein’s every day. I didn’t see a land long divided [Read more]

Japan’s LDP dumped in massive opposition win

 Malaysian elections, Other Asian countries, United States  13 Responses »
Aug 312009
 

This Merdeka brings news that Japan’s LDP has been dumped after virtually unbroken rule since 1955. The new Democratic Party-led government, which is expected to adopt a less subservient relationship with the United States and to expand the welfare state, is forecasted to win 308 of the 480 seats in the lower house.

Climate chaos concerns could affect exports

 Economy, Environment, Europe, Malaysian finance/business, United States  2 Responses »
Aug 172009
 

Ever notice how we have blissfully buried our heads in the sand when it comes to the effect of climate chaos on our economy and our country? It is obvious that the prospect of climate chaos doesn’t figure prominently in our economic planning. Why, it’s just business as usual – though there is some recognition that our economy is too dependent on exports. For the most part, however, we are still stuck in the mould of trying to increase our exports to places like the US and the EU. Well think again, those of you who think climate change has nothing to do with the way we do business. To cope with higher transport costs and to reduce their carbon footprint, firms in the West are now turning to suppliers closer to home. This is a major development, considering Malaysia’s traditional reliance on export-oriented manufacturing to drive our economy.

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