Health & Wellness

And Here Is The Documentation Assembled By The Critics Of Cato of The Cato Institute.

Part of the “Critiques of Libertarianism” site.
http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html

Last updated 08/27/10.

The Cato Institute is a “libertarian” quasi-academic think-tank that acts as a mouthpiece for the globalism, corporatism, and neoliberalism of its corporate and conservative funders. There is no significant participation in Cato by its tiny libertarian minority. These libertarians do not fund Cato or affect its goals. Cato is a creature of corporations and foundations.

The major purpose of the Cato Institute is to provide propaganda and soundbites for conservative and libertarian politicians and journalists conveniently free of reference to funders such as tobacco, fossil fuel, investment, media, medical, and other regulated industries.

Cato is one of the most blatant examples of “simulated rationality”, as described in Phil Agre’s The Crisis of Public Reason. Arguments need only be plausibly rational to an uninformed listener. Only a tiny percentage will notice that they are being mislead. That’s all that’s needed to manage public opinion.

Links

A Critical Assessment of “Lies, Damned Lies, & 400,000 Smoking-Related Deaths”.

The Cato Institute, heavily funded by tobacco companies, hired Levy and Marimont to denounce statistics about smoking related deaths. This article refutes their key arguments, finding them unscientific and inflammatory.

Media Moguls on Board: Murdoch, Malone and the Cato Institute

An Extra! (the magazine of FAIR, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting ) article that describes how media giants use Cato to lobby Congress for corporate welfare and legal monopolization.

Why Privatizing Social Security Would Hurt Women

An Institute For Women’s Policy Research rebuttal to Cato Institute proposals and claims about Social Security privatization.

An Analysis Of The Cato Institute’s “The Case Against a Tennessee Income Tax”
Senate finance panel examines Cato report, recognizes propaganda

Citizens For Tax Justice lay open the shoddy errors behind this typical example of the claims Cato makes. The Tennessee Senate finance panel also identified a large number of other errors.

Who knew? The Swedish model is working.

Paul Krugman points out that CATO and other conservatives were dead wrong in their predictions for Sweden, and that big welfare states do sometimes work well. From The Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive.

Libertarian Think Tanks

Tom Tomorrow’s “This Modern World” gives credit where it is due.

Do Windmills Eat Birds?

David Case, executive editor of TomPaine.com, exposes a quotation out of context by CATO in a case of pretend environmental concern.

Millionaires One and All

(PDF) Details the fallacies underlying the CATO Social Security Calculator. Under realistic assumptions, you’d accumulate 1/10th to 1/30th of what CATO estimates. Part of The Social Security Network.

Rethinking the Think Tanks

Sierra Magazine’s article detailing the corporate financing of anti-environmental propaganda from thinktanks like Cato.

Internet Bunk: The Junk Science Page

The CATO Institute is a corporate front that employs Steven Milloy to tarbrush opponents scientific arguments as “Junk Science”. Robert Todd Carroll’s excellent The Skeptic’s Dictionary details Milloy’s unscientific part in this PR campaign.

Read more…

Thursday, August 26, 2010
Posted by One (PST)

Your Welcome to Sage Crossroads

It’s mission Statement:

“SAGE Crossroads is the premier online forum for emerging issues of human aging. The onset of the senior boom, coupled with new discoveries in aging-related science and technology is setting the stage for great debate on medical interventions and longevity science. SAGE Crossroads aims to be the balanced, “go-to” site for those interested in engaging in lively discussions about the ethical, political, economic, and societal implications of aging-related science.”

It is a site that has many of the discussions we would like your attention directed to.  Here are some of our *suggestions:

#55 – Compression of Morbidity – The origin of the compression of morbidity theory

About this Sagecast: Jim Fries, the mind behind the compression of morbidity theory, discussed what the research has been showing on the subject.  He offered Crossroads his assesment as to whether or not a compression of morbidity is occurring across the spectrum and what this all actually means for society. About James Fries: Dr. Fries is a research professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  To read more about Dr. Fries, click here.  To view his Sage Trading Card, click here. [ View ]

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#43 – Economics of Longevity Science – Why living longer can only be beneficial to society
	About this Sagecast: Dr. Gregory Stock firmly believes that increased longevity will change the way in which wealth is transferred among generations in families, and it will disrupt the family structure itself.About Dr. Gregory Stock: Dr. Stock is the CEO of Signum Biosciences.  Read more about Dr. Stock here. [ View ]

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#41 – Economics of Longevity Science – How does longevity science contribute to the economy?

About this Sagecast: Daniel Perry talks about exciting volunteer opportunities that are emerging for those leaving the workforce.  For example, retired members of the community are giving back by teaching prison inmates how to read or tutoring children after school.  These types of volunteer jobs not only capitalize on the expertise that retired members of the community have, but they also stimulate and benefit the economy.About Daniel Perry:  Daniel Perry is the executive director of the non-profit organization, the Alliance for Aging Research.  Read more about Daniel Perry here. [ View ]

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*Please note that by clicking on any [View] above, not only can you access the bio of the speaker, but you can also see a pdf transcript of their talk… or actually listen to it via a downloadable podcast!

In addition to these discussions of the impact of longer living citizens on society itself, there is much on the site about how we age, what may be done to slow that process, and other discussions of the science of it all.

To access the entire site, go to:

http://sagecrossroads.net/

The Immortal Jellyfish

From Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth to Dr. Douglas Grey’s theory of Engineered Negligible Senescence¹, humans have always been fixated on immortality. Yet, in spite of all of our medical and genetic engineering advances, we have still not managed to achieve this feat. Mother Nature, however, has already beaten us to the punch, with an immortal jellyfish.

The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may, in fact, be the only immortal creature in the world. It is the only one we have discovered thus far.

This jellyfish achieves everlasting life through the process of transdifferentiation: a process by which one type of cell transforms into another type of cell. Usually, animals can only use transdifferentiation in order to regenerate organs or limbs (e.g. salamanders). Turritopsis nutricula, however, transdifferentiates throughout its entire life, enabling it to cycle from an immature polyp stage, to a mature adult, and then back to its polyp stage again.

http://blogs.currentprotocols.com/2010/04/06/immortal-jellyfish/

About Getting Older from the Old LA Free Press

Two things to check out here:  ‘Pensions for Housewives’, and ‘Ecological Cookery’.

'Getting Older' Los Angeles Free Press, 1971

Yesterday, it was the Counter Culture. Today it’s
******** Thursday, August 26, 2010 *******
**********More Here @ 3 pm (PST)*****

Est. 1964 Re-Incarnated by Public Demand

This is the original, 60’s, counter culture, LA Free Press. Today’s Best Alternative View & Our Old Hippie Headlines, Too! A Head Trip for Smart Minds.

(This article refers directly to today’s issue of the Los Angeles Free Press. If you have not yet seen it, please, before reading further, click HERE.)

Yesterday, it was the Counter Culture. Today it’s…

Another transformation of Society: Immortality (for us humans) could soon be a reality, but extended life spans are already here.

by Steven M. Finger

This is what you will want to know:

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Here are the keywords to our thinking today: Life span, extended life spans, Immortality,  Changing Society, Self-Improvement, Social Change, and Society & Culture

Here are links to today’s items:

[1] Your Welcome to Sage Crossroads

[2] The Immortal Jellyfish

[3] About Getting Older from the Old LA Free Press