Why is anybody taking these people seriously. That is my question when it comes to radical political organization consisting of a minority of a group, but speaking in the name of the whole group.

Today I listened to my favorite podcast Democracy Now! and I heard this story:

So, curious I am, I started reading about the American Medical Association. Of course they are just an example of a systematic problem, where priorities are totally screwed up. Why would organization that is focusing on a salary of its members be at all concerned about the quality of the service the members provide. As long as they have a guaranteed business, everything is ok. And they do. People will keep on getting sick. The AMA and its members make sure that is the case by fixing symptoms instead of showing and helping people how to live a healthy life. Actually, the problem is that if you live a healthy life, that is one less client for the AMA members. So, no wonder they don’t want the system to change. Who cares about the 50 million uninsured in USA, where there are 250 or more million that happily pay their dues. Of course, the politicians have no problem participating in this scheme, since they get money from the drug and insurance companies. Also, how can AMA talk in the name of doctors, while it only represents about a sixth of the actual doctors.

As Ralph Nader points out, if USA would replace the current health care system with a single payer one, the same amount of money per person would pay about double of what other countries pay for about the same level of service. Just think about it. Is it really so much more expensive to be a doctor in USA than in France, Japan, or UK? If it is, well, US doctors should fix that. Other industries are trying to minimize the costs, why would healthcare be different.

Now, here are some typical complains people have against a single payer systems:

You have to wait to see the doctor

• Well, I clearly remember so far every single time I wanted / needed to see the doctor, I had to wait. For example, when I got a nasty wasp sting, I had to go to the urgent care center, where I waited about two hours fainting in the waiting room. The nurse came out to check on me every once in a while, but that was it. Also, to get a checkup to a dermatologist, I had to wait 6 months and to get a physical, I had to wait 4 months. 4 months for a physical? Why? Because schools have physical exams, so all the doctors are booked for like 4 months.

Government bureaucrat makes decisions on your health

• How is that different from the current system, except that the bureaucrat works for a health insurance, whose aim is to minimize the amount of money they pay. My insurance for example does not pay for STD tests unless you are symptomatic. Imagine that you contract AIDS and you are not symptomatic. Wouldn’t you want to know that ASAP? And this is just one example.

Single payer system would waste a lot of money

• As opposed to the $350 billion that is wasted now?

There would be no innovation

• Yes, if you slash NIH budget. But, are you saying there is no innovation in space exploration, aviation, weapons, etc?

Quality of health care would go down

• If the quality of health care is so great, then why is the life expectancy in USA lower than the life expectancy in most industrialized single payer countries. It is actually lower than in Israel and people in Israel are being attacked by terrorists.

And so on. Why are we even talking about this? The current system has been proven to be bad. Its cost increases three times the rate of inflation, the quality is at the lower end of the industrialized world, the emphasis is on fixing symptoms instead of curing disease, and finally there are 50 million people in this system that don’t have access to it. So, why does a minority of people with an obvious conflict of interest deciding this?

I listened to several great talks lately. Here are some of my favorite speakers.

• Noam Chomsky (Example talk)
• David Korten (Example talk)
• Howard Zin (Example talk)

Many vegetables are actually better for preventing bone loss than cow’s milk. Preventing osteoporosis is about more than calcium intake. It is also about calcium absorption and the calcium in many vegetables is more absorbable than calcium from cow’s milk. A number of vegetables also have more calcium per calorie than dairy milk and vegetables have other nutrients for bone health that dairy milk does not.

Highlights from page 103 [of Brenda Davis's "Becoming Vegetarian"]:

Cow’s Milk
1 cup – 300 mg – 32% absorbed, 96 mg net

Turnip Greens, cooked
1 cup – 198 mg – 52% absorbed, 102 mg net

Bok Choy, cooked
1 cup – 158 mg – 53% absorbed, 84 mg net

Mustard Greens, cooked
1 cup – 128 mg – 58% absorbed, 74 mg net

Kake, cooked
1 cup – 122 mg – 49% absorbed, 60 mg net

Broccoli, cooked
1 cup – 70 mg – 61% absorbed, 42 mg net

Tofu, made with a calcium based coagulant
1 cup – 516 mg – 31% absorbed, 160 mg net

Taken from: change.org: On Lactose Intolerance and Absorbing Calcium.

Go Vegan!

Excellent talk by Howard Zinn on “War and Social Justice” as broadcasted by Democracy Now!. Please watch/listen to this talk and support Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for its excellent work in the independent journalism.

As you are probably aware if you live in US there will be some minor elections this fall. There are several interesting propositions on those elections. Here are some that I have a strong opinion about:

Proposition 1: Build a high speed train between the San Francisco and Los Angeles area. The major opposition falls into three major camps. There are people who say that since California cannot pay for education and health care, why spend money on this. Second argument is that it would never really be complete and it is a waste of money. Finally, the third argument is that it would have a huge environmental impact. Since I am not a finance person, I will ignore the first two. I assume somebody did the math. The only thing to add is that the money will be saved by people not having to drive or fly there. Also, since less people would drive, there would be substantial positive impact on the environment.

Proposition 2: This one has to do with the ethical treatment of farm animals. Though I don’t agree with people abusing farm animals in any way especially not for food production, I think baby steps can help sometimes. That said, baby steps when they really do something, not like a recent PETA fiasco with the Canadian KFC, where now PETA is promoting KFC. But hey, opposition says that the cost of eggs will go up. That is a good thing, isn’t it. So, I would say opposition to any animal cruelty is a great thing. Especially when it involves words such as “Go Vegan!“.

Proposition 4: Requires parents to be notified and consent to the abortion on a minor. Though in general I agree that the parents should be involved with the life of their children, unnecessary delaying potentially harmful pregnancy on a minor can be extremely serious. In addition this law would increase the underground abortion sites which are generally extremely unsafe, unsanitary and dangerous, compared to the abortion in the proper medical setting. Finally, I see this proposition to be a stepping stone towards making abortion illegal.

Proposition 8: Constitutional amendment with text “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” To quote a famous philosopher Wanda Sykes: “if you don’t believe in same sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same sex.” But in general the message that people should get into their thick head is that this one does not affect them at all! Environment, diet, exercise, financial decisions, etc.. will all affect them, but letting same sex people to marry will not. For more information, check out Let California Ring. Also, check out the arguments against same sex marriage.

Let’s all work together to make this world a happy place. Let’s not bicker about who can associate with who, who has a right to live and who does not, who has access to prosperity and who does not. We are here together and let’s work together to make everybody’s life happy. That includes your life, my life, cats lives, chickens lives, and even lives of people that you do not agree with. And finally, let’s make the lives of our children happy, buy not destroying the environment they will be forced to live in, but protect our precious planet for our children, cats children, chickens children, and anybody else they will share it with.