...unfortunately it's in ... Libra. that's a long drive away.

Tay, Grand Arms tech is still several generations off. Otherwise we would be there by now.

Apparently nobody on myspace cares about this, so I'll share it here instead:

This is cool. Astronomers have discovered a planet which would be potentially habitable for humans. This is the first planet we have discovered where this looks like it could be feasible. Bear in mind however that current technology is nowhere near the point where we can say anything for sure about this planet. But as it stands, it is the only known planet which is BOTH the right size (only 50% larger than earth), AND the right distance from the sun (surface temperatures estimated to be between 0 and 40 degrees celcius). It would be interesting if scientists could determine whether or not it has a largely nitrogen-based atmosphere such as our own.


Anyway, read the full story here:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1906138.htm



PACK YOUR BAGS. LET'S GO THERE.

Cool:

While we're detailing activities, a reminder of ye olde-fashioned roade hockey this Sunday. From Pleasure Motors's announcement:

What: HOCKEY!!!! (Road/Street)
Where: Hockey courts behind the Yardbird Suite (About 103st & 85 ave)
When: 1pm on Sunday, April 29
RSVP to coveredinpleasure (at) gmail dot com or jfranchuk (at) gmail dot com

So, details for paintball

Paintball Action Games, May 5th
Start at 1PM, try to get there at 12:30 cause it takes a while for everyone to get set up
It's south of beaumont, map on the website
www.paintballaction.ca

theoretically, I am DONE!... and will never have to take another class again ever in my life. we'll see how long that holds true!


and now comes the hard part of writing the damned thesis...

Happy administrative professional day!

that sort-of takes the oomph right out of the Hippocratic Oath, doesn't it?

it scares me that America has such skewed values. drugs vs weapons or violence charges. the most a druggie does is stimulate an underground economy that the government doesn't benefit from (do you think the legalisation and then taxation of narcotics would change that?), meanwhile violent criminals pose an actual threat to society and they're back on the street in 5-8.

i think the doctor has a valid point... that he wanted to care for his patients even if they were potentially abusing his treatment. i dunno, maybe he tends to treat low-lifes... but all the same, as a physician, i though you were required to treat your patients for their benefit and to improve their well-being. ... mind you, America is also moving towards abolition of abortion and the criminalization of abortion procedures even extreme cases of rape, incest and threats to the mother's health... so it's pretty obvious the law makers in the states have different priorities than ensuring the health and wellbeing of their people.


(sorry if this seems scattered, i'm running near empty and have a stats exam to write tomorrow. so i'm not thinking in sentences any more, i'm thinking in sound bites and statistical programs, whee!)

William E. Hurwitz, M.D., is a Virginia based pain management physician who, in 2004 was aggressively prosecuted and convicted by the United States Government for prescribing pain medication to patients, some of whom subsequently abused and redistributed it on the black market. Before his conviction, Dr. Hurwitz had had a series of running battles with the Virginia Board of Medicine which, in 2003 found fault with some of his prescriptions but also held that all were written "in good faith".

Convicted of over 50 counts of distribution of narcotics, Hurwitz was originally sentenced to four 25-year sentences and forty-six 15-year sentences, all of which were to be served concurrently, and was fined more than $1 million (U.S.). During the prosecution of the first case, all of Dr. Hurwitz's property was seized.

Surveys have found that one in five adults deals with chronic pain, and that it is treated adequately only about half the time.

Prescribing opioids was once taboo because of concerns over patients’ becoming addicted. But medical opinion gradually shifted over the past two decades as researchers concluded that high doses of opioids could sometimes be safer and more effective than alternatives like surgery or injections.

...

When Dr. Hurwitz testified last week, he spent hours going through the histories of those he called his “misbehaving patients,” [those who were refilling prescriptions early, or using illegal drugs, such as cocaine] telling why he believed they all had genuine problems. “Ultimately, pain is what the patient says it is,” he told the jury, contrasting his approach with what he called the traditional “Father Knows Best” approach of old-school doctors.

In retrospect, he acknowledged, he should have been more suspicious of patients who asked for early refills, reported losing prescriptions and tested positive for illegal drugs. He did get rid of the worst patients, he said, but he believed others were reforming, and he feared they would not get help anywhere else if he dismissed them.

“I felt that I had a duty to the patients,” he said. “I hated the idea of inflicting the pain of withdrawal on them.”