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people are sums of their influences, reagan included.
he was an actor, so he was paid to act. not think.

his perspective was of that of someone who benefited greatly from the gilded age of pax americana, so his views reflected that. Nothing started with HIM.
But as a spokesperson for fucking yourself and voting against your own interests, he was incredibly sincere.

@criticalthud
Yeah, I've been accused of that, but I blame that on the "arguing on the internet" aspect of things, rather than my actual mindset. For instance, as much as I talk up Medical Science, I still don't trust doctors, and in the last 10 years, have only visited to A) get a Physical Examination required by a job, B) get a prescription for a PT, C) Get innoculated for one of the bird/swine flu, as I had been sick for a week after spending a weekend at a "Gamer Convention" (PAX), where there were many confirmed cases.

But, while I don't trust doctors, I actively campaign against "Alternative Medicine", as I've seen many people hurt by it. I've seen one person poison themselves after getting food poisoning, because "like cures like", and I've had one friend commit suicide after they were convinced that the anti-psychotic medicine they were taking wasn't "natural", and quit it.

Whenever I think of alternative medicine practitioners and their criticism of Proper Medicine, I have one quote that sticks in my head, courtesy of The Big Lebowski:
"You're not wrong, Walter. You're just an asshole"

Sure, Medical Science can be improved. But you can't improve it by removing the science. You improve it by removing the politics. Remove the kickbacks from big pharma. Remove the groveling and begging for research funds. Remove the Actual Politics of Insurance and Medicare and Medicaid and VA Benefits. Remove the Actual Politics of the 'War on Drugs".

Those are the problems in our current medical community. But rather than attempting to solve the actual problems that we all agree on, most naturopaths are just treating the symptoms... working on the edges of society, and contributing to the distrust of the individual doctors, rather than the overhaul of the entire system.

And there are certainly many types of naturopaths. Of those that I've met (my wife spent three years in a "Traditional Western Herbalism" school, so I've met quite a few), most have problems differentiating between an idea and a fact. An unsettling amount believed that herbalism is effective because the ancient aliens that brought us to earth also brought us a dramatic and intelligent plant-system which was created to diagnose and treat all of our illnesses.

They believe that through meditation, they are able to connect to this awareness, and this awareness is what will tell them what to give their patients.


It's not the individuals I have a problem with, it's their poor education that I have a problem with. Some NPs can overcome the disadvantage of their environment that de-values scientific method and fact-gathering. Many MDs can overcome the disadvantage of years of de-valuing their own intuition.

But acknowledging the similarities between the two ignores the actual harm that is caused by alternative medicine. Alternative medicine shares the same risks as Proper Medicine, with the same chances of mis-treatment.... but it removes any chance of surgery or active treatment to cure issues. It removes the huge base of shared understanding, and replaces it with a very small base of folklore that has been accumulated through "give the patient this plant, if they don't die, it must have cured them".

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>> ^criticalthud:

This is one big reason:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=afghanistan-holds-enormous-bounty-of-rare-earths
rare earth.


I knew they has some sort of exploitable resource,but didn't know what. Usually its Oil,but that is nearly as good: some neccessity for keeping industry going and profits up.If America wants to be the New Rome and spread Pax Americana across the world,then they should follow the Roman idea through and kick back some of those spoils of war back to the homeland where all the cannon fodder comes from. Who will buy all this crap we import from China if noone has jobs? Greed will be their downfall,that and an embaressing short sightedness that hopefully won't doom the rest of us along with them.

indeed.
on a positive note, pax americana is almost over.

>> This douche:

I just wanted to apologize for the way our emails progressed I didn’t know how big your site was and I really didn’t believe you ran Pax , So for what’s its worth I am very sorry.




Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me?

You're sorry because the guy you're now being rude to is influential? Not because you were being a total dick, but because someone worth brown nosing was involved? Shameless.

oh man... I love when stuff like this happens and a complete douchebag gets his ass handed to him.

I also LOVED his "apology":

"I just wanted to apologize for the way our emails progressed I didn’t know how big your site was and I really didn’t believe you ran Pax , So for what’s its worth I am very sorry. "

LOL... what a fucking little piece of shit of a turd. So, it's basically: "I'm sorry you're so influential, had I known, I wouldn't have done this, but I still think I'm in the right".

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http://cinemassacre.com/2011/08/31/avgn-nintendo-world-championships-premiere-at-pax-2011/ -- AVGN: Nintendo World Championships Premiere at PAX 2011!

>> ^L0cky:

http://videosift.com/video/New-Game-from-Portal-Creator-Quantum-Conun
drum


*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/New-Game-from-Portal-Creator-Quantum-Conundrum

This video has been seconded as a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof seconded with isdupe by chicchorea.

*isdupe>> ^Stingray:

dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/PAX-tv-presents-The-Sopranos

*dupeof=http://videosift.com/video/PAX-tv-presents-The-Sopranos