Comments for 20th Century Woman

Comment on Drugs, food and science by lawyer daughter

lawyer daughter — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:45:16 +0000

So, your granddaughter has now written a blog about this. Figures. My family. Here it is.
http://politicalfailblog.com/archives/7277

She’s been asked to be a guest speaking at a huge protest against Monsanto in San Francisco on the 25th this month.

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Pat Hayes

Pat Hayes — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:18:52 +0000

Hi Anne– Looking forward to you and Jerry getting back home to the island!
I agree with much–even most–of what you’ve written here, but I no longer have an unskeptical view of “science” as it has been practiced in the last several years. Starting with corporations funding of university research to underfunding of watchdog groups like the FDA, I no longer have blind faith that medicines or foods can be trusted, prima facie, to be pure and safe.
Skepticism is very “scientific” I should think; look at the evidence. In the case of new gene-splicing GM foods, evidence of their safety for human consumption and the environment over the long run is simply not there yet. Show me the research and evidence and I’ll embrace the new foods. We’ve observed the wreckage left in the wake of many scientific developments in the form of dire unintended consequences. I am not a true believer in either camp but I would hold “scientific breakthroughs” (especially that make huge corporations like Monsanto billions) to the same rigorous observation and testing, over time, that all true scientists insist on.
Looking forward to your return! Lots to talk about over mahjongg! Pat

Comment on Drugs, food and science by naomi dagen bloom

naomi dagen bloom — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:27:40 +0000

Enjoyed reading your post as well as many comments. Blogging as I had viewed it when began six years ago would be a way to exchange ideas, come to know others with different perspectives, thereby grow personally/intellectually. Thanks for moving your readers onto that path. Along with other I do fear Monsanto and other voracious corporations whose goals are soulless, unrelated to anything other than the bottom line.

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Hattie

Hattie — Sun, 05 May 2013 03:33:59 +0000

OK. And thank you. All the best to you.

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Old Woman

Old Woman — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:49:47 +0000

Of course you can use this, with my name if it means anything. I do have a Ph.D. in Biology and I did work in the field of medical and biological research for a number of years, also taught biology at the college level. So I have some credentials. I was going to write you an email, but am traveling and my internet connections are iffy. Will write when I get home. Anne

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Cathy Thompson

Cathy Thompson — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:00:10 +0000

Hi Anne – 1st of all, I do hope you are correct that GMOs are safe, since as you say they seem to be mostly unavoidable. And you’ll never lose me as a friend if we disagree on a topic. I have to agree with some of the comments above about Monsanto – “despicable for the economic power they wield over farmers, which has nothing to do with GMO. ” I do have a bit of knowledge about one type of GMO product, since my cousin owns the family farm and actually grows GMO corn seed for Monsanto – it’s been developed so it can withstand massive sprays of Roundup – not sure that’s a good thing, but that’s what he grows for them, and there are now fields of corn all over the world that can be sprayed with Roundup and only the corn survives. He explained Monsanto seed patenting, and I do worry that Monsanto may eventually own the patents on most of the seeds for our world’s food sources – I don’t think that is a good idea if that’s how it pans out.

On another note – can’t wait to see you and Jerry back on the island – you will absolutely LOVE the weather here – the new San Diego we call it!

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Hattie

Hattie — Sat, 04 May 2013 06:18:36 +0000

Many sick people are turning to “alternatives” because they can’t afford medical care. And snake oil salesmen have always been a feature of American life. So someone wants to sell green goop and books about raw foods. Can’t hurt you, I guess, if your over-all health is good, although there are reasons for cooking food! Ever tried digesting raw kale? Have you thought about the way cooking food kills pathogens?
Anyway, I am glad you are willing to take this on, Anne. It can be intimidating, I know, to enter into the fray on this stuff.
And can I show your essay around? Anonymously, if you wish? We’ve got a lot of nuts and berries people around here who drive me crazy with their willingness to entertain some pretty goofy notions. They are not stupid, but they don’t have the perspective of people who remember what it was like before vaccinations for measles and polio. Before antibiotics. One of my mother’s sisters died of diabetes before she was 17, a pathetic matter. I doubt if diet would have saved her. She needed insulin. If the insulin producing cells have been destroyed, which is the definition of Type I diabetes, the only way to survive is to take insulin. That is just one of those pesky scientific facts.
BTW: This has nothing to do with being conventional or unconventional. I see people all around me who have bought into nutso ideas about science and health, and they do not impress me. I just think they’re deluded/ and or opportunists.

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Randy Smith

Randy Smith — Sat, 04 May 2013 01:40:43 +0000

I’ve known the young man making the green smoothie film/study since he was about 14 years old. He is a very serious and accomplished young fellow who is, alas, bereft of a graduate degree. He had juvenile diabetes and his mother was unwilling to accept the scientific sentence of a life of pharmaceuticals. She researched and discovered the raw food diet. One could call it a “natural” diet. It cured his diabetes and he has turned into quite the healthy athlete. The entire family have become evangelists for raw food with websites, books and videos. I realize this cure is anecdotal and anecdotes are the bane of the religion known as “science.” Our family learned the hard way that “science” is very limited, often misdirected and, more often, bought and paid for. Re: your Facebook post, the essay didn’t make me mad, but a bit disappointed to learn how absolutely mainstream your thinking is on all these issues.

Comment on Drugs, food and science by Old Woman

Old Woman — Sat, 04 May 2013 00:28:39 +0000

Just thought I’d all this comment that my baby son (he’s 40) left on my Facebook page:
Ben wrote: “Great blog mom. Mystics are mystics. On the right we have the Christian mystics, on the left we have the neuvo-quazipagan green-but-confused mystics. The low value placed on empirical, demonstrable information in this modern age, when it’s so readily available, is certainly frustrating.”

Comment on Drugs, food and science by lawyerdaughter

lawyerdaughter — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:45:12 +0000

I really don’t understand why people can’t be rational about this. When I told you that I didn’t want to take HRT, and was taking flax seed oil and other herbal supplements, you told me I was just taking plant estrogen which was estrogen just the same, but with less oversight. What you said made sense. So I stopped taking it because I didn’t want to take the hormones for safety reasons.
I don’t understand why people have to invest so much emotion in defending “natural” remedies. What smart people should want is the most effective and safest substance, and that is best found through the sort of controlled testing required for drugs by governmental entities like the FDA.
BTW-I sent you an email, please check your email.