Reality Talk

Objectivist Author Craig Biddle at Ohio State

Brian — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:38:55 +0000

The Ohio State University Objectivist Club and the Young Americans for Liberty at Ohio State in conjunction with the Ayn Rand Institute are hosting a lecture by Craig Biddle, author of Loving Life: the Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It and editor of The Objective Standard, a quarterly journal of culture and politics written from an Objectivist perspective.

What: “Capitalism: The Only Moral System”, a lecture by Craig Biddle

When: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:00 PM

Where:
Wexner Center Performance Space
1871 N. High Street,
Columbus, OH 43210

Information is available at the OSU Objectivist Club website or the Facebook event page.

Interview: Jared Rhoads of the Lucidicus Project

Brian — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:59:12 +0000

The Lucidicus Project is an effort to promote individual rights and capitalism to the next generation of medical professionals. As statists work to violate a doctor’s right to his life, and lay on him a moral duty to be his brother’s healer, the Lucidicus Project aims to show healthcare providers that their lives are their own, that nobody has a right to their services, and that it is right for them to achieve true, guilt-free happiness in their career.

I am pleased to present the following interview with Jared Rhoads of the Lucidicus Project, who offers insight on the current debate, the Project’s plans and goals, and suggestions for intellectual activism. Donations are being accepted to support the Project’s “Self-Defense Kit” awarded to medical students.

What is the Lucidicus Project?

The Lucidicus Project is an initiative that I started in 2005 to encourage medical students to learn more about the moral and economic foundations of a free society. The purpose of the project is to help young healthcare professionals become better defenders of individual rights, so that someday we can all benefit from the innovation and affordability that comes from a market-based healthcare industry.

We do a variety of things, including publish editorials on Lucidicus.org, write letters to newspapers, and write to Congress (which we can do, since the project is not a registered nonprofit). We have attended several Tea Party rallies, and spoke at one this past October. Last week, we attended a Scott Brown rally here in Massachusetts and also did some election-day coverage through Twitter.

The centerpiece of the project, though, is definitely the self-defense kits that we give away to medical students across the United States and around the world. The kits contain books to help clarify the moral and economic case for individual rights and capitalism. Helping med students learn to defend themselves philosophically against socialized medicine (and advocate for capitalism) is the core of the project.

Tell us more about the Medical Intellectual’s Self-Defense Kit (MISDK). What’s in it, and what do you hope recipients will get from it?

The MISDK is a small set of books and materials that introduces medical students to the moral and economic case for capitalism. The kit includes a lecture on CD by Dr. Leonard Peikoff; assorted essays by Dr. Peikoff, Ayn Rand, and George Reisman; the book Noble Vision by Gen LaGreca; and the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. We ship the kit for free to any med student who writes to us and expresses a genuine and sincere interest in learning more about these ideas.

The kit is intended to expose students to concepts and ideas that they may not have encountered before. Most med students do not study philosophy or economics as undergraduates, and are thus at a disadvantage when colleagues, friends, or politicians repeat the erroneous claims made by their professors. Those claims, of course, usually include the notion that capitalism is “unjust” or that individuals have a “right” to healthcare.

The materials in the kit help to make it clear what a right really is, and what capitalism actually consists of—not the caricature definitions we hear in pop culture (or the universities). The benefit is that the more doctors that understand the objective meaning of these concepts, the better off we will all be in defending medicine.

What motivated you to promote capitalism in medicine, of all fields?

I chose to focus my efforts on medicine for several reasons: First, healthcare is an extremely important issue. Whatever happens with health reform will profoundly affect the lives of all of us and our loved ones, and I firmly believe that to continue along the path of increased government intervention in healthcare will be nothing less than disastrous.

Another motivating factor for me, personally, is that the complexity of healthcare makes it an intellectually challenging and enjoyable issue to work on. There are dozens of variables, stakeholders, and other moving parts to consider in any given policy proposal. In that sense, healthcare policy is similar to economics (another subject I enjoy). Of course, this issue also has tight connections to philosophy, since a proper defense of capitalism must be grounded in individual rights and rational egoism.

Finally, another personal factor is that I work in the healthcare industry professionally. To be clear, I am a healthcare industry analyst and consultant—not a clinician—but I still encounter many of these issues and deal with these concerns on a regular basis.

What kind of success have you had so far?

I am proud to say that we recently surpassed the milestone of having given away our 50th kit, and we are now up to number 52 and counting. The response from those who hear about the project has been almost entirely positive, and thanks to the web, our message has reached all parts of the globe. Most of our recipients are located here in the United States, but we have sent kits to places as far as Poland, Pakistan, and Brazil.

Web traffic on Lucidicus.org is also up dramatically this year, which means that many more people are reading our commentary as well.

Have you had any memorable exchanges or experiences over the past few years?

This may sound schmaltzy, but just about every exchange I have with med students is special and memorable. Many of the students who write to us are so thrilled to have discovered The Lucidicus Project that when they request a kit, they go on and on for paragraphs—usually along a storyline that roughly conveys the following: 1) everyone around them believes in some flavor of state intervention in healthcare, for example single-payer, 2) they know that there is something wrong with that approach, but 3) they don’t know exactly what it is or how to articulate it. The materials in the kit help recipients discover these answers for themselves, at their own pace and on their own time. The students really are very thankful.

Do you have any big plans in the future that you would like to mention?

One of the ideas that I revisit at least once a year is the possibility of converting The Lucidicus Project to registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Presently it is simply a private organization—an extension of me. The nice thing about that is that there are no external administrative hassles or legal fees. The downside is that donations are not tax-deductible. If I were to make Lucidicus a bona-fide nonprofit, then some doors would potentially open up in terms of getting funding to grow the number of kits that we can give away to students. It’s just hard to know exactly at what point it is worth doing so, if at all.

Other projects and plans are always in the works, too. For example, I have compiled a detailed mailing list of all the medical schools in the U.S. and Canada, and would like to reach out to those schools in some way this year. Another example: for the first time since 2005, I am seriously considering adding a new item to the kit: Henry Hazlitt’s book Economics in One Lesson. The national debate on health reform has made it clear that many people simply do not know how to trace the effect of a policy through to its full effects. This is a decision that will most likely be driven by funding.

Do you have any suggestions for other people who are thinking about engaging in intellectual activism?

Yes. If the idea of getting involved in some sort of intellectual activism appeals to you, then try it out on a small scale and take it from there. No matter how much or how little time, money, or effort you can expend, there is always something that you can do. Pick an issue that is important to you and become fluent in it. Of course, depending on your idea, realize that you may need to be patient. People are not going to link to your blog right away, or start sending you money, or publish your article without knowing who you are. Some forms of activism (like letters to editors) can yield relatively quick results; others take time. The effort is usually worth it!

For more information, please visit the Lucidicus Project website. I also recommend Leonard Peikoff’s essay, “Medicine: Death of a Profession“.

Venezuelan Collapse Watch

Brian — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:25:23 +0000

Beginning Friday, January 8th, Chavez simultaneously devalued his currency by half, and created a three-tiered currency system. When Venezuela tried this exact same stunt in the 80s, it led to widespread corruption, food shortages, and inflation. So we see they’ve learned from their mistakes…

In addition to the currency devaluation, Chavez ordered stores to keep their prices at the same nominal value as before - effectively forcing every store and company to incur 100% of the damage of his devaluation. He sent armed troops into the streets to crack down on stores attempting to raise prices, and set up phone lines for consumers to report stores that raise prices. Stores and companies are now being seized and nationalized for attempting to stay in business.

A few days later, he enacted rolling blackouts throughout the country, for four hours per day, every other day. Soon after - and Likely due to personal inconvenience - he repealed the blackouts for the nation’s capital, Caracas.

Now, in the latest stunt aimed at combating inflation, Chavez has chosen to raise the minimum price for a person’s services by 25% over the next few months. Yes, you read that right: Chavez is trying to combat increasing prices by raising the price of the most important natural resource:

Mr Chavez said the minimum wage will increase by 10% in March and 15% in September to offset inflation, which is widely expected to surge following the devaluation.

Now obviously, stores and companies are expected to completely absorb this huge increase in the minimum wage. The inevitability will be more inflation, more nationalization of companies, increased unemployment, and decreased production.

It will be interesting to watch all of this unfold. I have created a discussion thread at the Objectivism Online Forum to monitor the collapse.

Objectivist Roundup #116

Brian — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:22:25 +0000

Welcome to the October 1, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup. Writers of the following pieces are motivated by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. According to Ayn Rand: “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Gaia M presents Lessons on Managing posted at Life on Marrs, saying, “My thoughts on good management practices inspired by Steve Jobs and Diana Hsieh.”

Diana Hsieh presents RSR: Episode #8: Craig Biddle on Sacrifice Versus Liberty posted at NoodleFood, saying, “In this podcast, I interview Craig Biddle about the conflict between ethics of sacrifice and politics of liberty.”

Stella presents A dirty smear job posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “I expose the dirty tactics of a Salon.com author who attacks a healthcare entrepreneur.”

Greg Perkins presents Hitler’s War Against Reason posted at NoodleFood, saying, “What difference does epistemology make to people and cultures? The Objectivism Seminar finds out as it continues its exploration of Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s book, The Ominous Parallels by discussing (jaw-dropping) Chapter 3, Hitler’s War Against Reason.”

Gus Van Horn presents Hollow Praise posted at Gus Van Horn, saying, “Only Barack Obama got what he deserved in this fiasco.”

John Cox presents My Journey to Objectivism posted at John and Ansley, saying, “After being raised as a Christian for 18 years, I discovered Atlas Shrugged and Ayn Rand as a freshman in college. Here is the story of how, after many years of grappling with the inherent contradictions between the two philosophies, I finally decided to cast off all of the remnants of my Christian upbringing and begin to fully live my life for myself.”

Doug Reich presents Michael and You: Deconstructing Michael Moore and the Modern Left posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Understanding Michael Moore’s philosophy can help us to understand his new documentary, the Modern Left, and the premises that are destroying the world.”

Doug Reich presents “Deliver Us, Obama”: Religious Left Update posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Community activists literally chanting prayers to Obama while demanding socialized medicine offers another stark dramatization of the Religious Left.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Objectivist Roundup #114

Brian — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:18:16 +0000

Welcome to the August 27, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup. Writers of the following pieces are motivated by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. According to Ayn Rand: “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Joseph Kellard presents ‘He was absolutely a leader’ posted at Joseph Kellard, saying, “An obituary I wrote about an innovative FDNY firefighter. The obit was printed in the Long Beach Herald.”

Roderick Fitts presents Concepts from an Objectivist Perspective, Part 1 posted at Inductive Quest, saying, “The first part of my post explaining my understanding of concepts as an Objectivist. I discuss what concepts are, generally understood, and the differences between concepts and perceptions; this lays the groundwork for my upcoming summary of Rand’s Theory of Concepts in Part 2.”

Stephen Bourque presents Cash for Clunkers posted at One Reality, saying, “For every $4500 that Cash for Clunkers puts into someone’s pocket, it takes more than $4500 away from the Americans to whom that money belongs. The program is not a “stimulation” of anything; it is a carefully disguised welfare package.”

Roderick Fitts presents Concepts from an Objectivist Perspective, Part 2 posted at Inductive Quest, saying, “A summary of key elements of Rand’s theory of concepts, the unit perspective and measurement-omission. Also discusses the nature of abstraction in relation to measurement.”

Diana Hsieh presents Delegation Galore posted at NoodleFood, saying, “Often, maximizing one’s productive potential means delegating work to others, but delegation is a skill that must be learned. This post has some advice on how to delegate effectively.”

Rational Jenn presents PD Tool: Curiosity Questions posted at Rational Jenn, saying, “Using open-ended questions in discipline and problem-solving situations (among others) encourages kids to use independent thinking.”

Kelly Elmore presents I Summon Dr. Johnson, As He Summoned Democritus posted at Reepicheep’s Coracle, saying, “My thoughts on a Samuel Johnson poem that has some relevance to the corruption in our modern world.”

Trey Givens presents Hoplophobia and Anthropophobia posted at Trey Givens.com, saying, “I was a little surprised at the number of people who have been commenting recently in anger and fear that anyone other than the military or police might publicly carry a gun especially in the general vicinity of the president. So, I comment briefly that I think this fear of guns has the tint of a general fear of people. What are your thoughts?”

Kirk presents Thomas Sowell’s “The Housing Boom and Bust,” A review posted at A is A.

Paul Hsieh presents Health Care Debate Shifting onto Moral Grounds posted at NoodleFood, saying, “President Obama now claims that universal health care is a ‘moral obligation’. This is good news for us.”

Stella presents See? We’re not crazy. posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “A brief example of a healthcare protester whom liberals can’t call ‘crazy’.”

Amy Mossoff presents Children Vows posted at The Little Things, saying, “My husband and I thought very carefully before we decided to have a child. We wanted to be very concrete and specific about our reasons and our goals in taking this biggest of all leaps into the unknown. So we decided to write what we call our Children Vows.”

Amy Mossoff presents Announcing the Virtual Objectivist Club posted at The Little Things, saying, “Announcing a great new opportunity for students interested in the ideas of Ayn Rand: the Virtual Objectivist Club.”

Ari Armstrong presents Rationing I: Price Distribution Is Not Rationing posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, “What is the meaning of rationing? First of a four-part series.”

Stella presents Another lesson on making deals with the devil posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “It’s inevitable that Big Pharma will pay for its mistake of championing the increase in Medicare prescription benefits of the Bush administration. If Henry Waxman has his way, the industry will be paying sooner rather than later.”

Dan Edge presents EC Playhouse: A Musical Romp in Sunny-Sided Theater posted at The Edge of Reason, saying, “From the introduction: “This past Friday I had the pleasure of attending Electric City (EC) Playhouse’s musical production of Keep on the Sunny Side. I was so enamored with the story, the songs, and the cast that today I am taking on the role of amateur theater critic. Keep on the Sunny Side is a touching, knee-slapping, benevolent, and delightfully executed biographical musical. The history of The Carter Family is an inspiring tale in its own right, but coupled with timeless folk classics performed by a talented ensemble cast, Sunny Side yields the perfect recipe for an enriching theatrical experience.”"

Doug Reich presents Waiting Under Socialized Medicine posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “While British women deliver babies in elevators and toilets, the pragmatist health care bureaucrats wait for more ‘details’ to better understand what is happening. If they could think in principle, no one would have to wait.”

Doug Reich presents Who Are The Real “Masters of Deception”? posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Round up of links related to previous posts analyzing and debunking leftist smear tactics directed at opponents of liberal policies.”

Doug Reich presents Jours Heureux! - Follow Up posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Follow up to a post wherein I discussed the intriguing affair between Thomas Jefferson and Maria Cosway.”

Brian Phillips presents Altruism and the Health Care Police posted at Houston Property Rights, saying, “If concern for the welfare of others is a moral duty, then we must do more than simply pay for the health care of the needy. We must also take steps to improve their overall health.”

Michael Labeit presents A Critique of “Religious Roots of Liberty” by Reverend Edmund A. Opitz posted at Coroner’s Bureau, saying, “Another libertarian argument gone awry.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Objectivist Roundup using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Objectivist Roundup #106

Brian — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:21:54 +0000

Welcome to the July 23, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup, jam packed with 26 articles! Writers of the following pieces are motivated by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. According to Ayn Rand: “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Khartoum presents Loving Life: The Morality of Self-interest and the Facts that Support It posted at Philosophy, Law and Life., saying, “A review and some of my notes on Craig Biddle’s Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support it”

Becky Daley presents Collectivism and the soda tax posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “Congress is considering instituting a soda tax to help pay for government health programs. Improper means to improper ends!”

David Crawford presents How Obama Killed the Iran Election Protests posted at The Undercurrent, saying, “Obama’s timid response to the Iranian election protests lends legitimacy to a very dangerous regime.”

Rituparna Basu presents The Cost of Being Too Good posted at The Undercurrent, saying, “What kind of message does the European Union send to companies when they impose fines on Intel for offering products more cheaply than the competition?”

Roberto Sarrionandia presents Altruism, Collectivism and the British National Party posted at Ayn Rand Forum, saying, “The failure of the mainstream to counter nationalism in British politics.”

Michael Gold presents Want Excellence in Education? Return to Reason posted at MGTutoring.com.

Michael Gold presents Rational Standards of Health posted at EGO.

Stephen Bourque presents Caritas in Veritate: A Manifesto for the Right and Left posted at One Reality, saying, “It becomes more clear as time goes on that the alleged opposites of the secular left and the religious right are not opposites at all… and more importantly are not the only choices.”

Amy Mossoff presents The Right Way to Begin posted at The Little Things, saying, “A chapter in my continuing journey towards homeschooling, including thoughts on phonics programs, Classical Education, and teaching Latin at the elementary school age.”

Paul Hsieh presents Feyman’s Nobel Banquet Speech posted at NoodleFood, saying, “Physicist Richard Feynman explains the real reward he received from his work.”

Trey Givens presents Laws of War posted at Trey Givens, saying, “It would seem that Obama fails to comprehend the nature of war at least as completely as his predecessor. If Bush was an idiot, what do we call the person who watches the idiot and then does the same thing?”

Stella presents In search of a fairy tale posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “I used to be a twice-a-month blogger, but our recent rush toward the pit of socialized medicine compels me to speak out more often. Here’s my latest.”

Stella presents Let’s not get distracted by anything important posted at ReasonPharm, saying, “A second submission this week. Don’t let Obama sweep important issues under the rug by pretending that they’re trivial!”

Khartoum presents Books On Islam In India. posted at Philosophy, Law and Life., saying, “This post talks of some of my experiences with Muslims and their objections to the fact that Islam is not a religion of peace. Also, a few book recommendations on Jihad and India.”

Ari Armstrong presents DeMint’s Health Handouts Violate Liberty posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, “Senator DeMint has some good ideas for reforming health care, such as expanding Health Savings Accounts and limiting frivolous law suits. But one core part of his plan violates liberty by redistributing wealth.”

Grant Jones presents The Bigoted, Post Racial President Wants to Destroy Medical Profession posted at The Dougout.

Roderick Fitts presents Bacon’s “More Certain and Guarded Method” of Induction posted at Inductive Quest, saying, “Roderick Fitts presents “Bacon’s ‘More Certain and Guarded Method’ of Induction,” which summarizes the features of Bacon’s method of induction.”

Sarah presents Architect John Lautner posted at Art, Love, & Philosophy, saying, “John Lautner built some of the most beautiful and iconic houses of the 20th century. Extensive interview with Lautner now available to read online.”

Jared Rhoads presents Choose the field YOU want posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “Med students should choose the field or specialty that THEY want, not what Obama thinks we need in order to “serve the needy.”"

Myrhaf presents Obama’s Falling Popularity posted at The New Clarion.

Michael Labeit presents On the Inescapable Contradiction of Fractional Reserve Banking posted at Coroner’s Bureau.

Michael Labeit presents On the Problem of Arguing from the Constitution posted at Coroner’s Bureau, saying, “Why harmony with the Constitution is not the be all and end all of political economy.”

Doug Reich presents How to Stop Socialized Medicine Without Doing Anything posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Doctors could stop the drive towards socialized medicine by doing nothing.”

Doug Reich presents Obama: Please Try This at Home posted at The Rational Capitalist, saying, “Here are some simple experiments to prove why “stimulus” can not work.”

Diana Hsieh presents Values of Harry Potter, Again posted at NoodleFood, saying, “Now that the new Harry Potter movie has been released, I repeat my recommendation of Ari Armstrong’s delightful little book Values of Harry Potter.”

C. August presents Case Study: The Failure of a Conservative’s Defense of Rights posted at Titanic Deck Chairs, saying, “Here is an exchange on the conservative blog of ‘The American Thinker’ about the nature and proper defense of individual rights.”

Objectivist Roundup #101

Brian — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:22:29 +0000

Welcome to the June 18, 2009 edition of the Objectivist Roundup. Writers of the following pieces are motivated by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. According to Ayn Rand:

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

“About the Author,” Atlas Shrugged, Appendix.

And so begins Objectivist Roundup #101:

John Drake presents Business ethics research - a good sign posted at Try Reason!, saying, “An update on my research shows a positive sign for spreading Objectivist ethics to business students.”

Jared Rhoads presents LTE on Karl Rove’s reasons posted at The Lucidicus Project, saying, “Karl Rove gives five reasons to oppose socialized medicine, but preserving doctors’ rights is not one of them.”

Lache presents Once common specimen is now an endangered species… posted at Thoughts of a Feral Capitalist.

Kathryn presents Praise for the film “The Brothers Bloom” posted at The Pursuit, saying, “Daniel, the newest blogger at The Pursuit, gives a glowing review of the film The Brothers Bloom (in theaters now)”

Tom Stelene presents Anti-Gunners Still Misfiring posted at The Audacity of Independence, saying, “Whatever dangerous, fraud-based legislation the anti-gun crowd is concocting now can be easily defeated if the American public gets wise to the inherently deceptive nature of the anti-gunners - which is not hard to uncover.”

Khartoum presents Angels and Demons II posted at Philosophy, Law and Life., saying, “This post analyzes the question posed in the movie Angles and Demons over and over again: Could one ever bridge science with religion?”

C. August presents The Aristocracy of Unproductive Zombies posted at Titanic Deck Chairs.

Kelly Elmore presents Parenting Without Altruism posted at Reepicheep’s Coracle.

Ari Armstrong presents Liberty in Religion and Medicine posted at FreeColorado.com, saying, “Do doctors have the right NOT to perform an abortion?”

Daniel presents Do Your Thing. And Do It Now. posted at The Nearby Pen.

Kirk presents Socrates and the State posted at A is A, saying, “A review of Crito by Plato. In one of the many Diaolgues of Socrates Crito pleads with Socrates to not allow his execution to happen, to flee. Socrates - using logic - explicates his reasoning. Unfortunately, there are many flaws in the reasoning of Socrates.”

Edward Cline presents ABC News aka OBC News posted at The Rule of Reason, saying, “To guarantee that there is no ‘debate’ on the government’s plan to impose mandatory health care ‘reform’ on the nation, President Barack Obama has made a deal with ABC News to conduct a phony prime time ‘town hall’ style meeting from the Blue Room of the White House on June 24. The sanctimonious and overly chummy anchor Charles Gibson will host ‘World News’ from that precious vantage point. He will welcome the nation to the to the first airing of the Obama Broadcasting Corporation.”

Paul Hsieh presents Another Doctor “Goes Galt” posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, “We’ll see more doctors doing this if/when we get ‘universal health care’.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of objectivist round up using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal a “Resounding Success”

Brian — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:57:39 +0000

A study recently released by the CATO Institute examined the effects of Portugal’s complete decriminalization of drug possession in 2001. What was predicted to lead to a “parade of horrors” by opponents has instead resulted in:

Drug usage rates in many categories have decreased, most notably in 13-19 year olds
For four years starting in 2001, marijuana usage was the lowest in the European Union
Drug-related disease and mortality rates have decreased
More people are taking advantage of government-supplied treatments, now that there is no threat of arrest.

Note that drugs are still not completely legalized in the country, due to international treaties. Check out the study, which is written by constitutional lawyer and Salon.com writer Glenn Greenwald. He concludes that when “judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success.”

Dr. Harry Binswanger on Glenn Beck

Brian — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:55:19 +0000

Dr. Binswanger was part of a panel on Glenn Beck today to discuss anti-Semitism in America. Here is the video:

The Definitive Guide to Fish Oils

Brian — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:14:26 +0000

Mark’s Daily Apple has posted a detailed guide to the health benefits of fish oil supplementation. The final paragraph summarizes the results:

Unless you’re eating fatty fish every day, following the Primal Blueprint means you’re a prime candidate for fish oil supplementation. See, the typical MDA reader has a low sugar intake, avoids refined carbs, but is often faced with the prospect of eating less than ideal meat and animal fat. We all wish we could dine on wild venison and fresh caught salmon every day, but most of us just can’t. In cases like these (which is the majority of us trying to eat and live right by Grok’s ways), taking 1-3 grams of fish oil each day is a good way to restore the fatty acid balance in our cells, promote good heart health, provide essential fatty acids for our brains, improve protein synthesis after workouts, and counteract some of the downfalls of modern life.

Personally, I have been taking 3-4 grams of fish oil supplements daily for the last several months. Here is the brand I have used.