[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

[r-man]

The Mayans never said nuffin.

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/05/10/11639788-maya-calendar-workshop-documents-time-beyond-2012?lite

BBC

"The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue, that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this," he said.

"We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It's an entirely different mindset."

[Jaspersharpe]

Indeed:

http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2012/12/not-mayan-calendar.html

[Snoops]

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9761543/Connecticut-school-shooting-NRA-chief-calls-for-guns-in-every-school.html

You couldn't make it up

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

Other news:

This sort of stuff is heartbreaking.

Your son is seriously ill.

He needs treatment.

You disagree with the doctors who say in order to give him the best chance of survival he must undergo the following treatment.

And you are so firm in your belief you try to stop your son being treated.

Meanwhile, your estranged husband and father to your son disagrees with you and wants the treatment to be started.

Where do you start?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20807984

[tregiffian]

Is mother always right?

[slackline]

Be careful with the veg over xmas...Man overdoses on brussel sprouts

[slackline]

Other news:

This sort of stuff is heartbreaking.

Your son is seriously ill.

He needs treatment.

You disagree with the doctors who say in order to give him the best chance of survival he must undergo the following treatment.

And you are so firm in your belief you try to stop your son being treated.

Meanwhile, your estranged husband and father to your son disagrees with you and wants the treatment to be started.

Where do you start?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20807984

"survival" has to be offset by quality of life and the expected length of survival.  Is it worth putting a child through innumerable nasty surgical procedures and radio/chemotherapy that will make them feel like utter shit if they're only going to live another six months*?   Or do you savour the time you do have with them and make it as enjoyable as possible for them rather than being hooked up to tubes pumping chemicals into them that make them feeli like shit. 


* In general prognosis for brain tumours isn't great with very low median survival lengths.

[Oldmanmatt]

Other news:

This sort of stuff is heartbreaking.

Your son is seriously ill.

He needs treatment.

You disagree with the doctors who say in order to give him the best chance of survival he must undergo the following treatment.

And you are so firm in your belief you try to stop your son being treated.

Meanwhile, your estranged husband and father to your son disagrees with you and wants the treatment to be started.

Where do you start?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20807984

"survival" has to be offset by quality of life and the expected length of survival.  Is it worth putting a child through innumerable nasty surgical procedures and radio/chemotherapy that will make them feel like utter shit if they're only going to live another six months*?   Or do you savour the time you do have with them and make it as enjoyable as possible for them rather than being hooked up to tubes pumping chemicals into them that make them feeli like shit. 


* In general prognosis for brain tumours isn't great with very low median survival lengths.

In truth, the side effects of Chemo and RT are more than off set by the relief from the cancer symptoms and these days mitigated well by drug suppression. Tumours release all sorts of unpleasant things into the body...
Symptoms and discomfort from the treatment usually lasts 3-4 days, but might provide 3-4 weeks of symptom relief. I would expect "Cyber knife" for the RT, so minimal side effects or burning.

I can sympathise with any parent (anyone, in fact), faced with this.

But...

Cancer treatment has come a long way, even from 10 years ago, life extension and quality of that extension have improved. Unfortunately, stories of the terrors of the treatment live much longer in the imagination of the population...

Listen to the Doctors.

They are not monsters. Most will fight like mother bears to save their patients and when the time comes; to ease the passing.

[slackline]

Its not a decision I'd ever want to have to make for myself let alone anyone else.

[DaveC]

We've just had a message through from Melbourne.

"Hello everybody. Rest assured, the World hasn't en"

I was actually thinking of posting something like that but completely forgot about it on the day. 

[lagerstarfish]

Es are good - for PTSD sufferers

http://jop.sagepub.com/content/27/1/28.full.pdf+html

[Wood FT]

suffer PTSD -> get wighty masted -> alleviates PTSD -> end up at crusty after party -> suffer PTSD

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

Dead paedophile was busy adding insult to injury:

[Quite literally]


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20797726

In letters they exchanged, released by the National Archives, Savile tells Mrs Thatcher that the patients at the hospital love her - and he does too.

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

What.

The.

Fuck?

[Warning - link is to the Dially Mile]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253797/DNA-Sandy-Hook-killer-Adam-Lanza-examined-evil-gene-study-kind-conducted-mass-murderer.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

And the first "Darwin Award" nominee of the year goes to -

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/02/showbiz/california-bieber-paparazo-death/

A photographer, who thought he spied Bieber sitting in his parked white Ferrari, was struck by oncoming traffic as he walked across a Los Angeles freeway to get back to his car after snapping photos.

An opportune picture of the 18-year-old celebrity can rake in hard currency -- but Bieber was not in the car at the time of the New Year's Day incident.

[DaveC]

Some light relief...so to speak...

http://www.theage.com.au/world/dental-nurse-hits-out-as-court-upholds-decision-to-sack-her-for-being-an-irresistible-attraction-20121224-2bu9t.html

Best quote - "if you see a bulge in my pants you'll know your clothes are too tight..."   

[slackline]

It would be great if this could be adopted, but given the twats in power and the myopic outlook most have that only sees to the next election I doubt it will work.

Test, Learn, Adapt: Developing Public Policy with Randomised Controlled Trials

Goldacre has been harping on about this for some time on twitter/blogs/posterous and was on Radio 4 talking about it the other day.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Mo fo lands

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

"Christ! There's two of 'em"

"His understudy, Greg Barrowman, has already stepped in to finish the rest of the show."

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

"It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak."

Because the cat was cool and never said a mumblin' word

[slackline]

Rail fares minister commutes in £80,000-a-year government car 

[psychomansam]

It would be great if this could be adopted, but given the twats in power and the myopic outlook most have that only sees to the next election I doubt it will work.

Test, Learn, Adapt: Developing Public Policy with Randomised Controlled Trials

Goldacre has been harping on about this for some time on twitter/blogs/posterous and was on Radio 4 talking about it the other day.

I remember they tested the ATOS disability benefits system on a small scale. It proved disastrous, with massive amounts of appeals going to court, a large proportion of which won.

So they rolled it out nationally.

To be fair, they did adapt the system - they cut legal aid. 

(I think we're beyond the help of Ben Goldacre sadly  )

[aLICErOBERTSfANkLUB]

Just on the off chance there's any West Mids-based folk on here who recognize this man -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-20940593

[dave]

Thats one hell of a hangover.