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When has speaking on public record to Congress prevented an appointee from acting the way they always wanted to?

From http://www.haciendapub.com/ran..., both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, during their confirmation hearings, agreed that District of Columbia v. Heller affirmed that the Second Amendment guarantees individual rights, then voted to attack those rights in McDonald v. Chicago.

Are you seriously suggesting that the germ theory of disease (ie, the reason for improvements in hygeine and sanitation) isn't part of the field of medicine?

http://www.dorway.com/symptoms.html
        * List of doctor's writings on various illnesses!
        * HOW MUCH IS THIS LIST COSTING THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD FOR HEALTH INSURANCE?

Now for Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. writings:

Excitotoxins -- The Taste That Kills
Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
Book Review by Reviewed by Lawrence R. Huntoon, MD, PhD
Jamestown, NY Dr. Huntoon, a board-certified neurologist with a Ph.D. in physiology (neurophysiology), practices in Jamestown, New York, and is a member of the AAPS Board of Directors.

http://www.haciendapub.com/excito.html
quote example:

"Dr. Blaylock is in private practice and is a board-certified neurosurgeon, clinical assistant professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and President of the Mississippi Chapter of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)".

"The blood brain barrier, however, is not fully developed in the very young, and it can be damaged by a variety of brain insults that are common and often asymptomatic in older people. Those with neuro-degenerative conditions or those who are at risk for developing conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, Alzheimer's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), may be especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of glutamate and Aspartame (Nutrasweet). Those who have suffered strokes may also be at high risk because of disruption of the blood brain barrier. Various common metabolic conditions including hypoglycemia and hypoxia also place people at risk due to dysfunction of energy --- requiring, protective, cell transport mechanisms.

The damage produced by these excitotoxins seems to selectively involve areas of the brain which have a high density of glutamate receptors. This includes important structures like the hypothalamus and the hippocampus. The former structure is, in turn, involved in the regulation of many important endocrine functions in the body, and the latter structure is intimately involved in memory function. Nerve cells in the substantia nigra (Parkinson's disease) and anterior horn cells in the spinal cord (ALS) are also susceptible to damage via glutamate toxicity".

Excitotoxins, Neurodegeration and Neurodevelopment
by Russell L. Blaylock, M. D.
http://www.dorway.com/blayenn.txt

interesting quote:

"These toxins ( excitotoxins) are not present in just a few foods, but rather in almost all processed foods. In many cases they are being added in disguised forms, such as natural flavoring, spices, yeast extract, textured protein, soy protein extract, etc. Experimentally, we know that when subtoxic levels of excitotoxins are given to animals in divided doses, they experience full toxicity, i.e.they are synergistic. Also, liquid forms of excitotoxins, as occurs in soups, gravies and diet soft drinks are more toxic than that added to solid foods. This is because they are more rapidly absorbed and reach higher blood levels".

"So, what is an excitotoxin? These are substances, usually acidic amino acids, that react with specialized receptors in the brain in such a way as to lead to destruction of certain types of neurons. Glutamate is one of the more commonly known excitotoxins. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamate. This amino acid is a normal neurotransmitter in the brain. In fact, it is the most commonly used neurotransmitter by the brain.

Defenders of MSG and aspartame use, usually say: How could a substance that is used normally by the brain cause harm? This is because, glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, exists in the extracellular fluid only in very, very small concentrations - no more than 8 to 12uM. When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this level the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the cells undergo a specialized process of delayed cell death known as excitotoxicity, that is, they are excited to death.

Uh ok. First of all, please show us the numbers. Of course if, as you say, it depends on the numbers you use, then maybe you can prove anything. But just for the fun of it, try comparing two similar and bordering nations like, say, the USA and Canada. See what you come up with. And by the way, I'd much rather be attacked by a kid with a knife than a kid with a gun. There's a reason why there's not much knife regulations: it's much easier to kill with a gun than a knife.

Well, I did a quick Google search, and here are just a few links:
http://www.haciendapub.com/stolinsky.html
http://www.ncpa.org/pi/crime/crime21.html
http://www.jpfo.org/data-docs.htm

But then again, as I said, there are rather varying numbers on the subject. Kinda like eggs. There's always a study every two months about how eggs are good for you, but they're bad, but they're also good. Personally, I think our gun control laws are pretty good as they are, but could certainly due to at least have a bit more strictness to it. If I were actually making the policy I'd probably like to better review the laws and the statictics, as well as more theories about how they affect eachother, but I don't have the time, so I can only make vague generalizations.

Only 15% of the country voted for him

Well, more like 20%. Of course, only 40% voted. And yeah, that does actually suck. It'd be nice if more people voted. Well, I shouldn't talk, because I didn't vote due to my bizarre political beliefs, but I think that the 60% who didn't vote were just too lazy/apathetic to do so. Well, I guess it makes sense, then, that his job approval ratings are near around the percent of the population who voted for him! As for myself, I don't really like the president too much. He does things that I agree with (i.e. staying in Iraq; I agree that the war was on shaky moral ground, but I think that leaving now would be doing more of a disservice to the Iraqis...), but I'm becoming increasingly fed up with his bullshit (I once had high hopes for his second term, where he'd be less of a Republican ass, but not so much; for example, he keeps talking about "alternative energy", but I see nothing happening. And his in-ability to veto a single spending bill makes me wonder...)

99% of Americans ARE voting for him everyday by letting him in power.

I keep hearing that Americans need to "overthrow" the government on this thread, but how are we suppose to do this without guns? But that aside, what makes you think that the resulting government would be any better, especially how crazy the American people are/are percieved? No offense, but I doubt that will work. But there's good news on the horizon: based on Bush's poor ratings, there's expected to be in a backlash in the 2006 Congressional elections, leading to a Democratic congress and a Republican presidency. Kinda like a reversed version of the Clinton era. Personally, I think that the balance will make for better policy over the next two years.

Mod me down all you want. That doesn't change the fact that, in reality, despite what CNN and Fox might say, Americans are seen as a bunch of morons pretty much everywhere. Don't blame me, that's just the way it is and will be until you show some common sense.

I agree with you in general, if not in the specifics. Whether we deserve it or not we are percieved rather poorly overseas. Hell, we're often poorly percieved in our own country. I think a fair amount of this in undeserved (we're the only remaining superpower, so we're bound to be a target; plus, anti-american sentiment has alot of historical roots), but yes, there is alot of stupid things that America, as a people AND as a government, do. Hopefully in the future things will get better.

Maybe it won't be quite as bad as you think. The families I've seen rasing Downs Syndrome kids seemed to be doing ok. The goals and milestones are very different, but they still grow and progress, however slowly, and they have their triumphs. Some friends of ours had a baby with DS. About six months later, they adopted a second DS child. They said that those were the most pleasant, loving babies they'd ever had (and they'd had a passel of 'em). The DS adults I've known were a pretty good bunch, too. They didn't have a mean bone in them, and they seemed to be pretty happy most of the time.

You will have some worries that most parents don't have. Better start thinking sooner rather than later about how the kid is going to get by after you're gone. Time enough for that when she's 10 or so.

I'll be praying that she's born normal, just as you are, but don't panic if not: it's not the end of the world for you.

Our doctors wanted to advise us about our "options". ... I just can't imagine anyone wanting to do such a thing - especially since we've seen her in full motion 3D video on two seperate occasions ...

I think that high resolution ultrasound has to be the abortion industry's greatest nightmare. After you see that baby in there, it's not a choice you're killing, or a foetus, but your baby. And that's different.

And for the worst shame of all, doctors who repeatedly promote termination of even marginally defective babies and are constantly harping about options -alternatives! - to life.

Anyone who is in favor of killing innocent people isn't fit to practice medicine. ``Euthanasia'' is how the Germans got started on their ``final solution''. The German medical establishment began killing defective people, like the old and the retarded and the terminally ill. Then they moved on to the crippled (Germany had lots of those, after WWI). This was promoted by the country's leading doctors. By the time the Nazis were ready to do something final about the Jews, the medical establishment was ready to accept large scale slaughter of innocents, and doctors like Mengele were accepted in the German medical profession.

Any doctor who will do an elective abortion is unfit to practice medicine, just surely as Dr. Mengele and Charles Manson are.

As of 1996, your categorization of the US's murder rate as "one of the lowest in the world" is misleading. Only 23 of 86 surveyed countries had higher rates.

http://www.haciendapub.com/stolinsky.html/

Despite pro-death marketing, studies pretty consistently show that capital punishment has no deterrent effect.

http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-07/capital-punishmen t.html/

In fact, murder rates tend to go up during periods in which death sentences are actually carried out.

http://www.prisonactivist.org/death-penalty/dpstud y.html/

Let's see ... in Canada if my cat has a tumor I can pay a guy to remove it. If my son has a tumor, I can't. He has to sit on a waiting list to be sacrificed on the alter of private health care. Unless of course you're a canadian politician http://www.haciendapub.com/caps3.html/

Wait, I thought all guns were banned in Australia? That didn't fix this problem? Guess they better make like the EU and Germany and start banning simulations of shooting people such as Counter-Strike and Lasertag!

These statistics are somethat dated now, but in 1997 the US had 187 violent deaths per million population, compared to Japan with 176 in 1996. (Note that family members murdered in murder-suicides were classified as suicides in Japan.)

1. Improving sanitation (specifically, drainage) is the best way to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne malaria. Sanitation covers more than just personal hygiene. It also includes public measures, such as proper and timely garbage removal, clean water supplies, etc. How you can say that sanitation is largely irrelevant when pools of stagnant water are the only way mosquitos that transmit malaria can breed shows a lack of perception, or an unduly-low caffeine intake :-)
2. As for AIDS, I could be living in a country where 80% of the population is infected, and I would still be in the low-risk category, since I don't engage in casual sex, etc.
3. As for TB, you can be exposed to it and test positive for antibodies against it, without actually developing the disease. Been there, done that, so I'm not too worried about that, either. Please note, however, that, again,:

   The conquest of TB was due to the advances made in understanding the pathogenesis of tuberculosis and its milieu, better education, isolation, use of x-ray, the old standbys --- better hygiene and sanitation --- and, of course, the use of effective antibiotics e.g., streptomycin (1952), isoniazid (1953), and rifampin (1969).

   : from here

Most pathogens spread better through direct contact than any other means. Better hygiene and sanitation work. Washing your hands with plain soap for 30 seconds kills 93% of all bacteria. (Using an anti-bacterial soap only adds 1%. )

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