Via Pandagon we see that at least one administration official knew ahead of time the types of troubles we would encounter trying to occupy Iraq.
Denialism Blog
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AMA and Prescription Data Mining
It’s a few weeks old, but I just came across this oped in the San Francisco Chronicle by Robert Restuccia and Lydia Vaias. They’ve painted a big target on the American Medical Association for its role in prescription data mining. It’s important to note exactly what AMA is doing here, because, from the oped, it appears that AMA is simply selling lists of doctors that are later enhanced for prescription mining purposes.
Few people recognize the role the AMA plays in making physician information available to companies that use it for pharmaceutical marketing purposes. The AMA sells information from its physician “Masterfile” to health information organizations that pair the identifying information with prescribing records from pharmacies and sell the whole package to pharmaceutical companies, a practice commonly called “prescription data-mining.”
Let me note that basically every non-profit with a membership sells lists. You can search for these lists on Direct Magazine’s Listfinder, which has over 60,000 “datacards” from businesses and non-profits. The fact that other organizations sell membership data doesn’t excuse AMA’s actions, but I think what’s happening here is that the activists are targeting AMA because the “health information organizations” and pharmaceutical companies are difficult to influence without passing legislation.
Nevertheless, AMA’s opt out program smacks of bogusity, and those of you who are doctors (AMA member or not), should be upset about it:
Last year, in response to this growing pressure, the AMA created an “opt-out” measure, called the Prescribing Data Restriction Program. Difficult to navigate, poorly publicized, with only a quarter of physicians are aware of it, and used by less than 1 percent of doctors, the opt-out program is a step toward reform, but a small and inadequate one. The program does not bar the sale of prescriber information to pharmaceutical companies; it merely requests and then relies on the industry to prevent the transmission of this data to its sales teams.
AMA’s move recalls what the Direct Marketing Association did to prevent people from opting out of telemarketing. DMA created the “telephone preference service,” poorly publicized it, make it difficult to enroll, etc. And then when the Federal Trade Commission proposed a national Do-Not-Call Telemarketing Registry, DMA said it wasn’t necessary and that the private sector had created a better opt out system.
So, doctors, take the time to opt out. Why? Because if you don’t, AMA will claim that you don’t care about having your information sold, and that people who complain about prescription data mining and the like are just fringe lunatics!
Hat tips: US PIRG, PAL, Consumerist.
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Turdblossom quits
I wonder what this means? This administration has so little transparency one always feels like interpreting their actions is like trying to read tea leaves. Does this mean they realize Karl Rove’s advice isn’t pulling Bush out of his terrible approval ratings? Is Rove trying to avoid going down with a sinking ship? Is it to avoid trouble with congressional subpoenas over the AG firings?
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Sworn Virgins and Albanian Feminism
The Washington Post had a fascinating article over the weekend entitled The Sacrifices of Albania’s ‘Sworn Virgins’. It turns out that in the rural and mountainous regions of Albania, there developed a custom several hundred years ago by which women could assume all the rights of men, but in return had to sear to never marry, never have children, and dress and act like men for the rest of their lives.
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Scott Hatfield to debate Uber-Crank
Responding to an idiotic challenge from Vox Day Scott Hatfield has chosen to debate Vox at some point after August 15th.
I don’t know what to think. On the one hand, debating a crank like Vox day is unlikely to do anyone any good. It’s not like a guy who doesn’t think that science is valid (all science I know, he’s crazy) is likely to be receptive to anything but their pre-formed worldview. On the other hand, it may help people see just how much of a lunatic crank Vox Day is. Although I don’t know that we need evidence beyond the fact he writes for World Nut Daily.
In the end, I think it’s worth it for the sheer humor value of such an exchange. We have an early hint from Vox that this is going to be a side splitter. He writes:
“Since biology is entirely outside my areas of both interest and expertise, I think this should be an interesting experiment as to whether decades of science is enough to trump raw intellect.”
Ha!
Scott is sharpening up his arguments in preparation. Drop by and give him some moral support.
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Is it economics they want taught or religion?
The Wall Street Journal comments on some select results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing which this year included some questions on economics.
Pop quiz. Which has been most important in reducing poverty over time: a) taxes, b) economic growth, c) international trade, or d) government regulation?
Now this is an interesting question, does it have a simple answer? Here’s what the WSJ says.
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Please KQED, Stop it with the Bogusity
Where does one start with this?
Some bald dude who lives in Maui and talks about ancient Chinese texts and gives advice on “The Power of Intention” belongs in a strip mall, not on PBS.Looks like the PBS Ombudsman has commented on objections to Dr. Wayne Dyer (PBS can’t say his name, not once, without prefacing it with Dr.) in the past, in the way that ineffectual ones always do–by simply restating individuals’ objections. Yes, I heard you. You said X. Congratulations. Sincerely, the Ombudsman.
What’s most annoying about this is that it must work. Loopy Californians must watch this guy, like him, and donate. All one needs to say is “Eastern Wisdom” here and brains stop working and pocketbooks open!
What’s next for PBS? Are they going to sell crystals?
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Get a First Life!
Today’s WSJ has a profoundly sad article about the real life of some Second Lifers. It’s worth a read, especially the end of the article, where you find gems like this:
Back in the world of Second Life, Mr. Hoogestraat’s avatar and Tenaj have gotten bored at the beach, so they teleport to his office, a second-floor room with a large, tinted window overlooking the stage of the strip club he owns. Tenaj plays with her pug, Jolly Roger, commanding the dog to sit and fetch its toy. Dutch drinks a Corona, Mr. Hoogestraat’s beer of choice in real life, and sits at his desk. For a while, Mr. Hoogestraat, sitting at his computer, stares at an image of his avatar sitting at his computer.
[…]
Sue Hoogestraat thinks her husband Ric spends too much with his Second Life wife.
From the kitchen, Mrs. Hoogestraat asks if he wants breakfast. He doesn’t answer. She sets a plate of breakfast pockets on the computer console and goes into the living room to watch a dog competition on television. For two hours, he focuses intently on building a coffee shop for the mall. Two other avatars gather to watch as he builds stairs and a counter, using his cursor to resize wooden planks.
At 12:05, he’s ready for a break. He changes his avatar into jeans, leather motorcycle chaps and motorcycle gloves, and teleports to a place with a curvy, mountain road. It’s one of his favorite places for riding his Harley look-alike. The road is empty. He weaves his motorcycle across the lanes. Sunlight glints off the ocean in the distance.
Mrs. Hoogestraat pauses on her way to the kitchen and glances at the screen.
“You didn’t eat your breakfast,” she says.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see it there,” he responds.
“They probably won’t taste any good now,” she says, taking the plate.
Over the next five hours, Mr. Hoogestraat stares at the computer screen, barely aware of his physical surroundings. He adds a coffee maker and potted palms to the cafe, goes swimming through a sunken castle off his waterfront property, chats with friends at a biker clubhouse, meets a new store owner at the mall, counsels an avatar friend who had recently split up with her avatar boyfriend, and shows his wife Tenaj the coffee shop he’s built.
By 4 p.m., he’s been in Second Life for 10 hours, pausing only to go to the bathroom. His wrists and fingers ache from manipulating the mouse to draw logos for his virtual coffee cups. His back hurts. He feels it’s worth the effort. “If I work a little harder and make it a little nicer, it’s more rewarding,” he says.
Sitting alone in the living room in front of the television, Mrs. Hoogestraat says she worries it will be years before her husband realizes that he’s traded his real life for a pixilated fantasy existence, one that doesn’t include her.
“Basically, the other person is widowed,” she says. “This other life is so wonderful; it’s better than real life. Nobody gets fat, nobody gets gray. The person that’s left can’t compete with that.”
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This is a think tank?
The critical word being “think”. Cato’s Daniel Mitchell writes The More You Tax, the Less You Get . His stunning proof? Cigarette taxes. Wow.
An article in USA Today notes that big tax hikes on tobacco have dramatically reduced consumption of cigarettes. This is hardly surprising. Indeed, politicians openly state that they want higher tobacco taxes to discourage smoking, and their economic analysis is correct (even if their nanny-state impulses are not).
It is frustrating, though, that the same politicians quickly forget economic analysis when the debate shifts to taxes on work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship. But just as tobacco consumption fell when taxes rose, it is inevitable that there will be less productive activity if statists in Congress follow through on plans to hike tax rates on capital gains and corporate income:
Yes, because working/investment and cigarettes are so alike. People pay for this kind of output?
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I love Blogs 4 Brownback
Today’s post is one of the best ever. Woodwinds are the instruments of Satan.