Today I scheduled an appointment with a GP for my yearly checkup. I’m not physically sick or injured at the moment, but I figured it would be worthwhile setting up an appointment anyway. While on Medicaid here in the District, an insured person is required to establish a particular primary case physician. This PCP is based at a specific location and is, of course, the person one sees in the event of a serious illness. I had meant to do this long before now and finally got around to it.
Tag: disease
Jun 10 2009
Doctors Warn: Avoid Genetically Modified Food
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) is warning people to avoid genetically modified foods.
This is scary stuff.
They conclude, “There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation,” as defined by recognized scientific criteria. “The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies.”
Apr 09 2009
The Thin Green Line
Cross posted from DailyKos.
This is a very disturbing “canary in the coal mine” environmental diary. I’m sure the twenty-seven year old PBS series Nature needs no introduction but this week’s episode The Thin Green Line was by far the most devastating to watch. We are wiping out the frogs and amphibians.
The thirty second preview offers a quick look and some amazing photography;
But the entire program points out that we have created the perfect storm against our amphibians.
Jul 30 2008
Do Religions Arise to Control the Spread of Diseases?
The science editor of The Telegraph, Roger Highfield, reports on a new study by two biologists from the University of New Mexico. The scientists’ theory is that Religions thrive to protect against disease.
Religions thrived to protect our ancestors against the ravages of disease, according to a radical new evolutionary theory of the genesis of faith…
It seems that people became religious for good reason – actually to avoid infection by viruses and other diseases…
The study is the research of Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill. In their introduction, they ask: “Why does the country Cote d’Ivoire have 76 religions while Norway has 13, and why does Brazil have 159 religions while Canada has 15 even though in both comparisons the countries are similar in size?”
May 27 2008
Burma’s Military Unilaterally Extend Aung San Suu Kyi’s House Arrest
From the AP:
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was personally informed of her continued imprisonment by officials from the Home Ministry who entered her villa prior to the announcement, the official said.
snip
The extension was issued despite a Myanmar law that stipulates no one can be held longer than five years without being released or put on trial.
The junta faced a deadline to extend Suu Kyi’s house arrest for another year or release her. Members of her National League for Democracy were marching from the party’s headquarters to her home when riot police shoved the group into a truck.
It was not immediately clear where the truck was headed or exactly how many people were detained.
link: http://ap.google.com/article/A…
According to this YouTube, “Dust In The Wind” has been adapted as a song of protest by Burmese refugees living along the country’s border (it’s YouTube, so take it with the appropriate grain of salt):
May 21 2008
UN, ASEAN Press For More Aid to Burmese Cyclone Victims
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is en route to Myanmar today, but already his presence in the region seems to have had an affect:
“We have received government permission to operate nine WFP (World Food Program) helicopters, which will allow us to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible,” Ban told reporters in New York on Tuesday before departing for Southeast Asia. His announcement was not immediately confirmed by officials in Myanmar.
“I believe further similar moves will follow, including expediting the visas of (foreign) relief workers seeking to enter the country,” Ban said, warning that relief efforts to save survivors of the May 2-3 Cyclone Nargis had reached a “critical moment.”
“We have a functioning relief program in place but so far have been able to reach only 25 percent of Myanmar’s people in need,” he said.
link: http://ap.google.com/article/A…
Progress can’t come too soon, as cyclone victims, desperate for food, beg by the side of the road: