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Messages - todd

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1
General / Calling all Veterans... for Peace
« on: July 16, 2011, 01:45:53 PM »
Not sure how many former military people we have on the board, but I am interested in your help and opinion.  I joined Veterans for Peace a little over a year ago, and I am not surprised to see it is inundated with many lefties and socialists.  While we all agree that war sucks, we disagree as to the cause of war and solutions.  I know libertarians are notoriously bad at joining groups, but I would really like it if everyone who is a veteran to were to get involved.  I think we can make a big impact and enlighten a lot of people on how liberty can solve many of our problems (war included).  You can get a lot of info here: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/.  No, I am not spamming; I think the antiwar, pro-peace message is very important to liberty.  After all, without government, there would be no war.

2
General / Re: Has anyone tried Acupuncture? How was it?
« on: October 16, 2009, 12:47:18 PM »
no, of course i am not against traditional surgery.  i was pointing out that there is potential harm, even with alternative treatments.  you need to weight the risks and benefits, and a lot of people fall for the "what's the harm?" trap.  they think that there is a possible benefit with no downside to alternative medicine.  anyone who would tell you that there were no potential harm to traditional medicine would be lying, but people ignore this fact with alternatives.  the fact that acupuncture likely has no potential benefit makes those harms much more valid.  getting traditional surgery has great potential benefit (when needed) but also comes with a real risk.

sanitary conditions of the needles are just one of the risks.  some acupuncturists have punctured much more than the skin.  plus, the basic premise is hokey.

3
General / Re: Has anyone tried Acupuncture? How was it?
« on: October 15, 2009, 10:18:33 PM »
Acupuncture became popular in the West after Mao came to power. One of the communist's big sell points was universal health care.

Well that selling point and the other one where he was killing everyone who stood up and disagreed with him.

Sorry off topic.

I tend to agree with Mike on this one. Just cause it came from China doesn't mean it is worth anything. If fact, I'd say it means the opposite. Never trust anything out of China.

That being said, I would give acupunture a go. What's the harm?


http://www.thebody.com/content/world/art26467.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-03-15-canada-hiv-tests_x.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1024753.stm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14568778http://books.google.com/books?id=rrzZb9K6QWIC&pg=PA379&lpg=PA379&dq=may+1995+40+woman+died+acupuncture+heart&source=web&ots=zFZRdPmDOB&sig=VYXmqkDR8mY03ETLK2sxWZbE0Wo#v=onepage&q=may%201995%2040%20woman%20died%20acupuncture%20heart&f=false

there's the harm.  and not really any benefit, other than placebo.  falling for the logical fallacy that if something is old, it must be valid.  studies have shown sham acupuncture to be more effective than real acupuncture or about the same.  the main issue is that the whole premise of acupuncture is based on 'chi' or 'qi' or whatever, which does not exist.  opening up the blocked energy portals throughout the body which can neither been seen or proven is a hugely extraordinary claim.

4
General / Re: One third of doctors do not want swine flu vaccination
« on: October 04, 2009, 01:11:21 AM »
In 1976 roughly 40 million Americans received the vaccine and some 4,000 developed GBS.

The printed material that was distributed reiterated these horrific statistics and we were asked to accept the assumption that, “the estimated risk for more serious reactions (e.g. Guillain Barré syndrome) is between 1-10 per million persons vaccinated”.

This is a less direct way of stating that the risk is about the same as existed during the 1976 mass vaccination attempt and that as many as 1 in every 100,000 recipients will develop GBS or some other serious adverse reaction. The CDC is setting up a new intensive surveillance system with which to monitor and track GBS cases that result from the novel H1N1 vaccine.

Merriam-Webster defines assumption as a fact or statement taken for granted and assumed to be true. If we accept the documented assumption presented by the CDC, we are to consider it a fact that 1 in every 100,000 vaccine recipients will suffer a serious adverse effect such as GBS.

This means that if the entire U.S. population is vaccinated (a stated goal of the CDC), we are to assume as a fact that 30,000 Americans will suffer debilitating or lethal side effects. Apparently the CDC considers this an acceptable level of collateral damage.

in 1976, 40 million people were vaccinated, and about 500 cases of gbs reported possibly due to the vaccine (not 4000).  latest stats show that more than 900 people have died from h1n1, not like the 1976 episode where it never reached outside fort dix.  please keep in mind that the flu virus itself can cause gbs.  the vast majority of people recover completely from gbs, but it is quite debilitating and i would not wish it on anyone.  it has been estimated that 30000 people will die from swine flu- the same number who die from seasonal flu each year.  it's your arm, and your body, make an informed choice.

5
General / Re: One third of doctors do not want swine flu vaccination
« on: October 03, 2009, 12:45:17 AM »
It's not dangerous, but it's not necessary. It's the damn flu.

All live virus vaccines are a little dangerous.  Last time there was a push for swine flu vaccinations more died from the vaccination than the flu.  Sure only a dozen out of millions that got vaccination died and that is pretty good odds but only one person died from the swine flu.


flu is a dead virus vaccine in shot form.  the intranasal form is a live attenuated virus.  there are no proposed adjuvants (sqaulene, etc) in the vaccine.  if thimerosol scares you, you can opt for thimerosol-free varieties (single doses instead of multidose vials).  there have already been more than 500 deaths from swine flu, about the same number of cases of guillian barre (not deaths) possibly attributed to the original vaccination.  this flu is no more deadly than seasonal flu, and the vaccine is going to be done the same way as the regular flu vaccine.  really should not be a big deal, but govt and conspiracy folks love a crisis. 

6
General / Re: flu
« on: September 24, 2009, 10:54:52 PM »
You contradict yourself when you say the mind can create, and then say that mind cannot create disease.  


um, no.  the mind can create feelings, not diseases.  there is a difference.

you are using the logical fallacy of the argument from ignorance (since i can't figure out how x happens, it must be false).

let's take a hypothetical:  a newborn baby is born and the mother dies in childbirth- no maternal influence.  the baby then gets a fever; a spinal tap is performed; pus comes out.  a bacteria starts to grow.  the child gets sicker.  antibiotics are started.  the child still is sick.  cultures show that the doctors need to use a different antibiotic.  the medication is changed and the baby gets better.  a repeat spinal tap (generally not done) shows clear, sterile fluid.  infection=disease.

pain is real too.  when someone gets a cut, it hurts.  the doctor puts lidocaine into the wound to anesthetize it and the stitches don't hurt.  yes, the mind can help alleviate pain, but so can medications.

do you wash your hands?  if so, why?  that would be contrary to your whole world view. do you brush your teeth?  the bacteria in your mouth cause the cavities, but you don't believe in that.  do you bathe?  bacteria on your skin contribute to body odor, but they don't exist, right?

would you get surgery with non-sterile instruments and no anesthesia?  of course, you would never consent to surgery since they can't prove to you that your excrutiating belly pain is from your infected appendix rupturing.

please stop writing everything in bold text.

7
General / Re: flu
« on: September 24, 2009, 01:14:54 AM »


Do you wish to answer my previous question: "Let me ask you, do you suppose it's not possible for the mind to be used to create some effect within the body or some idea just as we use the mind to create other ideas that are outside the body?"

yes, the mind can create an effect in the body- happiness, sadness, pain, tiredness, hunger, etc.  no, the mind cannot create a disease that is the same as most everyone infected with the same organism.  now, you answer my question- do you disbelieve in germ theory so much that you are willing to innoculate yourself with a virus?

8
General / district 9
« on: September 24, 2009, 12:12:55 AM »
i am tired of talking about vaccines.  did anyone see this movie?  i thought it was great and thought provoking.  how would a free society handle this situation?  would the property owners who own the air that the ship occupied take care of things?  could you just blast it out of the sky for blocking your access to sunlight or would that be initiating force, or did they trespass and therefore initiate force?  if you can't tell them to leave since they don't speak the same language, how can you avoid the use of force?  cool movie at any rate.

9
General / Re: flu
« on: September 23, 2009, 10:53:17 PM »
it is addictive to talk to you since i can't believe that you are sincere.  please tell me that you believe congenital anomalies are all made up.  babies born without arms or legs actually have them but their mind did not imagine them.  a heart defect that never closed at birth is a product of the mother.  cerbral palsy and downs syndrome are creations of the parents?  what about miscarriages?   is trauma real, or just imagined?  when a platelet plug gets stuck in an artery in the heart,the person has pain his or her chest, has a heart attack, a cardiologist opens up the vessel and he or she feels better and survives.  placebo?  you have to understand the limitations of the placebo effect.  the human body has its own endorphins and opioids which can alleviate pain.  diseases have specific presentations based on the cells they infect and the pathology of the infection.  are you suggesting that every person imagines the same symptoms and then can be tested for the infection, and somehow, the physician can get the same result in the lab?  sounds made up to me.  do you seriously not believe in germ theory?  would you go so far as to infect yourself since it is all placebo?

10
General / Re: One third of doctors do not want swine flu vaccination
« on: September 23, 2009, 11:54:24 AM »
the reason they don't do trials every year for the flu vaccine is because it is a variation of the same thing every year.  they spend 3 months discussing what are the most likely 3 strains to enter the population, then form the vaccine with dead forms of those 3 strains.  they use the same method every year, only the strains are different (so it is not a new vaccine every year, in effect).  the h1n1 vaccine is the same thing as the regular flu vaccine except that it will contain h1n1 as the dead virus.  i am not sure why they are running trials- maybe to allay some public fears.

11
General / Re: flu
« on: September 23, 2009, 11:16:16 AM »

You speak of viruses very highly.  You are their counsel of defense it appears, oh how foolish this world is to defend the very ideas that destroy it.  Are you aware that not a single medically relevant virus has been isolated?
[/quote]

are you aware that hundreds of medically relevant viruses have been isolated?  now, you are just making things up.  your defense is that since you yourself have never isolated said virus, you then question its very existence.  how do you know that you have a brain, or need it to function?  you have not seen it.  even if you had a ct scan, that could be made up.  i would not recommend you take yours out to examine it and see if it prevents you from living.  do you think that an inventor needs to recreate everything that has happened before him in order to make an advance?  no, you accept the work of others and move on if they are done with sound science.  germ theory is quite well established, but in science, we call things a theory when they are testable.

here is the picture you wanted http://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-first-picture-of-the-aids-virus-attacking-the-inside-of-a-living-cell-1132428.html (yes, it happened 10 years ago).  but you will argue that they are just lying and have no proof that virus was hiv and that it going into the cell caused any harm. 

as for me defending viruses?  that is preposterous.  i would love to destroy them all.  also, do you believe in any disease states at all, or are they all imaginary?  do bacteria cause infections?  what about parasites?  fungi?  this is intriguing.

12
General / Re: flu
« on: September 23, 2009, 01:49:02 AM »
explain what?  these studies were done to test a drug versus placebo in eradication of the cold.  everyone got the cold who got the rhinovirus in the nose- then they tested the meds to see if they worked.  people get sick from viruses; they have symptoms from the virus, we can even run a lab test to check for that virus; its presence with patients symptoms verifies infection- we then kill it with an antiviral or the bodies immune system fights it.  sometimes the virus wins and we die.  herpes causes cold sores (simplex type 1).  you can send a swab from the cold sore to a lab who will confirm it has herpes virus in it.  disease presence and virus presence are therefore proven to co-exist and this far exceeds post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacies- this is as close to proof as you are going to get.

13
General / Re: Patients suffer complications after swine flu misdiagnosed
« on: September 23, 2009, 01:43:22 AM »
the headline is misleading.  these people were just misdiagnosed (not a complication of tamiflu or swine flu; they are just using that title to get readers attention) the doctors figured it was all flu when in fact it was something much more serious.

14
General / Re: flu
« on: September 23, 2009, 01:37:50 AM »
some viruses have trouble living outside of animals (that is why smallpox was nearly eradicated since it could not infect anyone).  there are ways to keep viruses alive in a lab.  evidence that viruses cause disease?  well, i will grant you that germ theory is still a theory in that it can still be tested, but there are studies whereby volunteers have placed rhinovirus into their noses, and guess what, they got a cold!  surgeons use sterile technique and infection rates are incredibly low.  people have been stuck with hiv contaminated needles and subsequently developed hiv.  who knows where viruses first came from- are they damaged bacteria or single celled organisms that can't function without using another hosts cellular machinery?  it is not clear, but many of them are very effective at what they do.  i will continue to wash my hands and practice good hygiene.  flu is very effective in that it can mutate and jump species; this has to do with it being an rna virus that is made up of various segments.  what kind of proof do you need that viruses cause disease?  you are making an error in attributing human characteristics to a virus.  the virus does not think- it attaches to a receptor on a cell, or is engulfed by the immune system.  once inside, it does what it does, takes over the cellular machinery and starts to reproduce.  if the immune system or antiviral medication kills it, it does not lament, nor do its friends hold a funeral.  it is just over.  these are bits of genetic material, not upper food chain organisms.

15
General / Re: flu
« on: September 20, 2009, 12:14:05 PM »
 All DISEASES in this world were created by people and they don't exist outside of the body.

What is health? I know of no better answer than this. It is perfect wisdom, and just as a man is wise just so his wisdom is his health. But as no man is perfectly wise, no man can have perfect health, for ignorance is disease, although not necessarily accompanied by pain. Pain is not disease itself, but is what follows disease. According to this theory, disease is a belief and pain is what follows our fears in this belief. And where there is no fear, there can be no pain since pain is not the act but the reaction of something; therefore that something which creates pain must take place before the reaction. But says one, I never thought of pain before it came. Now if it came, something must have started it; therefore it must be an effect whether it came from some place or from ourselves. I take the ground that it is generated in ourselves and that it must have a cause.

http://endofdiseases.com/file/home.html

 Here is some proof of German Dr. Lanka about Viruses which don't exist.  http://www.neue-medizin.com/lanka2.htm

holy crap!  so every time there is a study done on organisms in a petri dish, it is completely made up?  all those pictures of viruses from electron microscopes- fakes!  we need to go back to the glorious days of blood-letting, phrenology, and extrication of the evil humors.  just think yourself well and the tb/hiv/flu/cancer/etc will just go away....  wow.  you need to call the show.

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