BLOGGER HIATUS ENDS IN VIOLENT RAINSTORM

Linda and her Schneider cousins

and some cheap zinfandel

Here is an article that is an appropriate comment on several cancer topics: History of the War on Cancer; the Moonshot; Mammography; and, not least, more evidence that Medicos are not Demigods, but rather normal quarrelsome human beings.  It appeared in Slate, which is somewhat given to splenetic journalism, so don’t confuse it with absolute truth.  Here are some main points, either stated explicitly or implied:

Richard Nixon is responsible for the original War on Cancer (not true)

The original War on Cancer was ill conceived (quite true)

The Moonshot, while better conceived than the War on Cancer, is damagingly over-hyped (also true)

Mammography also is over-hyped; mammography applied to younger women does not reduce mortality (unfortunately true)

We should prevent cancer, not wait until it happens and then attempt to cure it.  (Sure, but how?)

Life is complicated.  (Indisputable)

Anyway, I am safely sheltering in Borrego Springs, until April.  To greet my arrival nature threw a rainstorm at the desert.  There was even a Severe Weather Alert.  So far we have had about 0.1 inches of rain, and it appears to be clearing up.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2017/01/john_bailar_reminded_us_of_the_value_of_evidence.html