If You Thought That The Iraq War Was A Waste Of American Lives

According to the website Antiwar.com, there has been 32,021 American combat troops wounded or killed in Iraq since we invaded. Unofficially there has been over 100,000 Americans injured or killed in Iraq since we invaded. And there have been about 1.5 Million Iraqis that have died since we invaded. So let's put the number of people killed since we invaded Iraq at 1.6 Million people. A horrifying statistic.

What if I tell you that the 1.6 Million people dead in a decade because of war was a small number? Would you believe me? Would you believe me that over the past 10 years, that there was something that killed approximately 5.5 Million Americans? While not on the scale of the Black Plague (Bubonic) that wiped out 25 Million Europeans in 5 years, it is still a devastating number. And what if I told you that the cause of these deaths of Americans are making corporations profits and in some cases multimillions of dollars?  Would you be outraged?  Have you guessed what the cause of these deaths are?



I am sure that you have come up with the correct answer. It is cancer. On Saturday, June 8, 2013 I was part of the North Dakota State Hospital Relay for Life team that participated in the Relay For Life here in Jamestown ND. The fabulous event was co-chaired by Amy Walker and Kim Kapp. Both women deserve all the thanks in the world for a great event. The goal for this town is to raise $135,000 for the American Cancer Society. I believe that we will come up just a bit short of the goal. For some reason, the town of Jamestown has become partly apathetic to the Relay for Life. During this year's relay, we has Zumba exercise, a Ms. Mrs. and Mr. Relay contest, a cake decorating contest, a pizza party, and all of the usual things that are required for a Relay gathering. So Kim and Amy are the ones that are bringing the Jamestown Relay for Life into the 21st Century and deserve all the credit that they get.

Anyways, as I was sitting watching people go around the Jamestown College track participating in the relay, I wondered why there are so many different groups doing cancer research.  Here is a very small list of different groups doing cancer research:

• Cancer Research Institute
• American Association For Cancer Research
• American Institution For Cancer Research
• Breast Cancer Research Foundation
• Susan G. Komen Search For The Cure
• Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Cancer Research Foundation
• American Cancer Society
• Imperial Cancer Research
• Children's Cancer Research
• World Cancer Research
• Cancer Research Institute
• International Agency For Research On Cancer
• Women's Cancer Research

And I could go on and on and on listing all the organizations that are doing research on cancer. I am happy that there are organizations out there that worry about cancer and are trying to help eliminate it. However, the first Relay for Life was held 25 years ago. Hundereds of Billions of dollars have been raised to help find the cure for cancer. And yet, a half million Americans will die each year because of the disease. You want to talk about a waste of money. You understand that lots of the money donated never comes close to researching for a cure for cancer. You have salaries to pay, taxes, property to buy and maintain, advertising, promotional costs, and a variety of other things that the money raised goes to instead of research. Dr. Samuel S. Epstein has attacked the American Cancer Society for the way they do business. Here is a paragraph from an article that Dr. Epstein wrote in 2010:

 In 1993, the nation's leading charity watch dog, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, warned against the transfer of money from the public purse to the private hands of the ACS. The Chronicle also warned that "The ACS is more interested in accumulating wealth than saving lives." These warnings are fully supported by the track record of the ACS for well over the last four decades.

And the good Doctor goes into years and instances that the ACS did not really look out for defeating cancer. The article is here. Some of the positions of the national ACS do not correspond to findings that have been researched.

2002: The ACS reassured the nation that carcinogenicity exposures from dietary pesticides, "toxic waste in dump sites, "ionizing radiation from "closely controlled" nuclear power plants, and non-ionizing radiation, are all "at such low levels that cancer risks are negligible." ACS indifference to cancer prevention became further embedded in national cancer policy, following the appointment of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, ACS Past President-Elect, as NCI Director.

I have a problem with anybody saying that chemicals in pesticides, radiation from nuclear power plants and naturally produced radiation ar at such low levels that cancer risks are negligible. Those statements sound a lot like the government denials that "Agent Orange" could cause any lasting side effects for people that were exposed to it. Or that any radiation from the Atomic bombs during World War II would not cause lasting effects. Time has proven both of those thoughts wrong. Maybe some more research into toxic waste, pesticides, and radiation would be in order to see if any of those factors could cause a higher chance of cancer in people that are exposed.

You also have medical professionals running rigged tests because they want to be published and if they are published, then they can get some of the big money involved in cancer research. In 2001, 22 retraction notices from scientific studies had been issued. In 2006, that number went up to 139. In 2010, the number had been increased to 339. Through 7 month of 2011, there was already over 220 instances that retraction notices had been issued for fabricated research. Why is this happening. It is simple accrding to Gaia Health. It is about money and recognition.

It's all about money. Get published in a major medical journal and your future is made. Most peer reviewers are doing their own studies. That's what makes them peers. They want to be able to publish. Therefore, they are not particularly inclined to make more than perfunctory negative comments. Obviously, they don't want to alienate the authors of papers, since they either are or hope to become published themselves.

Peer review is a farce. The only kind of review that makes real sense is professional independent reviewers. Yet, for decades we've had peer review trotted out as the be-all and end-all in determining the legitimacy of papers. It's been unquestioned, while a little examination of the concept demonstrates that it's nearly certain to result in fraudulent work being passed as good science.

It is time for America to get serious about eliminating cancer. And that cannot be done in the private sector. Let's get real for a minute. The only entity that has the resources and the possibility to end this scourge is the Federal Government. They won't be worried about how to make billions upon billions of dollars on something that might work on 5% of people that have cancer. They can coordinate research for all types of cancer which will cost millions less towards the elimination of the disease rather than each and every organization out there in the private sector doing their own research for  the same thing. The government has done this before with Polio. They can do the same thing with cancer. You have to allow them to do it and not worry about every red cent that might be spent. Eliminate tax loopholes and subsidies to Exxon-Mobil if you are worried about costs. That would eliminate the worry about where the money would come from.

Almost every American family has been touched by someone who has lost the battle to cancer. I know that my family has. And we Americans stay silent while over 500,000 people each and every year die in America because of cancer. We are having a political battle about guns which kill maybe 40,000 Amercians each year. For something that kills 10 times more Americans, maybe we should come together and eradicate this disease. And with that also involved figuring out how cancer forms, not just beating it once somebody has been diagnosed. We owe it to ourselves and the future generations of Americans to figure this problem out and solve it as quickly as possible. That is to allow the government to take the lead in this fight and eliminate the Capitalist system that is making money hand over fist in this fight. After all, if you can make billions of dollars each and every year because of the possibility of finding a cure, what is there to say that you might hold off for a period of time to continue to reap the reward of searching for a cure.

After the cure for cancer(s) have been figured out, then you can use the same setup to start research on another deadly disease. It will never stop. Then again, the human spirit never stops as well. We always want to live longer and better. The national center for cancer research would be one of those things that would help us do what we want. It is time for serious research to eliminate cancer instead of the half-assed way we are doing it now. Future generations will thank us for doing it, even if we are not there to hear them.

(Cross-posted to Angry Dakota Democrat)