June 8, 2015 Now that the Democrats have succeeded in massively increasing our taxes, Republicans are outraged.Some are blaming the media, claiming biased liberal journalists misled the voters by covering up Governor Dan Malloy’s obvious lie when he pledged not to raise taxes. Others are blaming Republican Party Insiders for manipulating the Convention System and denying electable candidates access to the ballot in order to receive lucrative consulting gigs and yacht rides from unelectable Greenwich millionaires running vanity campaigns. Both are wrong. The real problem is a lack of education. Journalists do not have to take classes in mathematics; thus, they are unaware of some basic concepts. For example, let’s say Sally has 4 apples. She would like to have 5 apples. How many apples does Johnny have to give Sally so that Sally has 5 apples? This problem can be solved by employing what is called subtraction. Since Sally wants 5 apples but she only has 4, we subtract the number 4 from the number 5. 5 – 4=1. This means Johnny must give Sally one apple. Most journalists will get this correct after several attempts. The problem occurs when … [Read more...]
In Defense of Freud
As a medical student, I immortalized myself with my classmates when I informed a lecturing psychiatry professor that I considered Freud's theories slightly more credible than the nuns' tales about guardian angels. The lecturer ignored my obnoxious comment and continued his lecture. But, Freudians have been on the defensive for the past decade. This trend culminated when the Library of Congress was forced to cancel a tribute to Freud in the name of political correctness. Freud has always been viewed with suspicion by cultural conservatives. Freud rejected the concept of sin and explained abhorrent behavior in terms of unresolved conflicts among competing brain factions — id, ego, and superego — that stemmed from childhood experiences. His treatment was to delve into an individual's childhood and attempt to resolve these conflicts — psychoanalysis. But it wasn't pressure from the religious right that canceled the Library of Congress tribute; rather a combination of feminists and neuropsychiatrists. Freud theorized that unflattering female behavior could be attributed to "penis envy," a verboten concept in the age of political correctness. But what is truly destroying Freud's … [Read more...]
Cadillac Health Care Syndrome
May 19, 2015 I describe a new condition called Cadillac Health Care Syndrome. Those afflicted are relatively healthy people who have numerous diagnoses, take multiple medications and have frequent surgical procedures because they have excellent health insurance with little to no out-of-pocket expenses. Risk factors include early retirement, lack of hobbies, jobs with paid sick days, excessive television watching and overuse of the Internet to investigate symptoms. It has been widely assumed that better access to health care improves one’s health. Yet this is a relatively recent concept. For most of human history, patients were aware that allowing physicians to intervene had considerable risk. Hippocrates famous nostrum that persists in every physician’s conscience to this day is “Primo non nocere,” “First do no harm.” Most historians believe that George Washington died because of bloodletting. When President Garfield was hit with an assassin’s bullet in 1881, he died as a complication of surgery. In fact, the lawyer for the assassin argued that his client merely shot the President; his doctors had killed him. But with the advent of antibiotics, sterile technique, … [Read more...]