Category Archives: Science and Research

Follow the Money

“Follow the money,” was the memorable quote from All the President’s Men. Deep Throat advised Bob Woodward that the key to understanding the Watergate mystery was the money.

May 6, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Sex is a big industry in America. Forget pornography. Don’t even consider prostitution.

Leaving them aside, the sex industry permeates every detail of our life in America. If you want to understand much of the cultural war dealing with issues between the sexes, you will do well to understand the influence business has…and wants to have…in helping to shape our sexual ethics…and actions.

We can each make a short list of the more obvious and visible business profit motives:

Cher, Madonna and Lady Gaga, their music, their dress, and their public behaviors.
Abercrombie and Fitch advertising campaigns featuring groups of half-dressed teens suggestively staged together in group hugs.
Abercrombie for Kids and its line of underwear for young girls with the sayings “Wink Wink” and “Eye Candy” screenprinted on them.
Publishers who fight for the right to publish Fifty Shades of Grey as a trilogy. One story, three opportunities to profit. Anyone want to predict Son of Fifty Shades?

But the most pernicious profits made in shaping the sexual ethics of our culture are made in industries you would not immediately think of. These profits are pernicious because of the lies needed to cultivate and protect sexual products and habits that hurt men and women.

Consider the world of medicine. In the purest sense, doctors, hospitals and drugs are supposed to serve the needs of people. They are supposed to preserve and restore health. For the most part, they do this job well.

But when health is tied to sexual behaviors, we enter a new realm where free sex becomes a direct path to free money. As sexual behavior has exploded in our culture, so have profits.

The first wave of profits washed up on America’s shore with the introduction in 1960 of “the Pill”. The key to liberation of human sexual behavior, Enovid manufactured by G.D.Searle was first introduced “for the benefit of married women” to help them “plan their pregnancies.” By the end of 1961, 132 reports of thrombosis and embolism were filed, reports that included 11 deaths.

Approved as “safe and effective,” Enovid sales continued, as evidence of its dangers was shelved. Barbara Seaman dedicated her career as a reporter to finding the evidence…by following the money…digging into reports, interviewing doctors and women, and attending hearings.

Evidence existed to indict the pill. But, as Seaman remembers, “[it] was scattered in the international medical literature, was difficult to interpret, and was obscured by a mantle of ‘diplomatic immunity’ granted the pill in response to fears of unchecked population growth.” Seaman dogged the industry and compiled her evidence into an expose, The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill.

In the 25^th Anniversary Edition, Updated, feminist Gloria Steinem puts Seaman on a well-deserved pedestal. “Barbara Seaman is the first prophet of the women’s health movement and The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill is a prophecy that is still coming true. By alerting us to the dangers of the high dose contraceptive pill, Seaman won drug labeling for all health consumers. This 25^th anniversary edition takes that model of empowerment into the future.”

That was just what Seaman had wanted. “My goal was to pull together all the evidence on side effects, dramatize (or melodramatize) it as much as possible, and issue a plea for women’s informed consent.” With her book, women would finally get the truth they deserved: their “safe and effective” pill had ”over 50 potential side effects…linked to infertility, breast cancer, menstrual irregularities, and emotional disturbances.”

Money…lies…profits…this is a recipe for the kind of success some people think is fair game. In his book Adverse Reactions, author Thomas Maeder, reveals the philosophy of Harry Loynd, once a president of Parke-Davis. Loynd’s motto, loudly touted, was, “Pills are to sell, not to take.” At sales meetings he boasted, “If we put horse manure in a capsule, we could sell it to 95 percent of these doctors.”

After 25 years, Seaman got praise from Gloria Steinem. But in 1969, when The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill was published, Seaman suffered severe financial and legal attacks. Planned Parenthood, in conjunction with drug industry companies, raised $100,000 for an injunction, attempting to kill publication of the book.

When Seaman’s book did hit the shelves, drug companies then killed her magazine connections. Drug ad executives approached publishers with a do-or-die offer. “Corporation X is launching a seven-and-a half-million-dollar campaign for its new diaper-rash ointment.” Your magazine is our first choice for these ad dollars…except… “on the editorial side you have an individual [Seaman] who is hurting sales of our most important prescription drug.”

What was at stake? For the women of America, their lives were at risk. For drug companies, it was profits. By 1969, an estimated 12 to 15 million women were taking the pill. At a time when teacher salaries were less than ten thousand, profits from the annual sale of more than 15 million pill bottles was a lot of money. It still is.

The Doctors’ Case Against the Pill remains a riveting story about the David and Goliath size battle. One fiercely determined woman wins against multi-million dollar corporations and their greed, lies and deceit.

In the 60’s, the contraceptive pill was an entirely new product. Since then, the pill has spawned a whole arsenal of drugs and practices that promise us “free sex”: Norplant, Depo Provera, emergency contraception, Plan B, abortion, Gardasil, and more…much more.

Think Seaman’s book has ended the stream of lies that conceal dangers to women and men related to our sexual practices? Hardly. The lies…and truth…are out there. Just look for the money…and follow it.

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April 29, 2013: Lies, Lies and Damned Lies

STAY CONNECTED…

From the Home Front is committed to shining the light on truth,exposing lies and deceit. Future columns will address the full extent of the profiteering by companies promoting the “safe sex” message and culture.

Risking Death

April 22, 2013

Jane Jimenez

Summer is the time to celebrate health! We are heading into the season for flip flops, sun screen and watermelon. And with all of our attention on health and fun, what better time is there to consider the possibility of risking death?

In the summer of 1975, moviegoers huddled together in dark theaters, watching death unfold on Amity Island. The new Sheriff in this small beach community discovered the remains of a shark attack victim. And horror exploded on the screen, leading to three sequels of JAWS and a theme song that, forty years later, children can hum with glee.

Sharks…and death…what is your risk this year? According to OCEANA, only about a dozen of the approximately 500 shark species should be considered potentially dangerous to humans. White, tiger and bull sharks are responsible for more than half of all shark attacks. In five years (2006-2010), an average of 4.2 fatal shark attacks took place each year world-wide. Between 2006 and 2010, a total of 179 shark attacks occurred in the U.S., resulting in three fatalities.

Bathtubs…and death? You might want to take your baths in the ocean with the sharks. In 2003, 320 U.S. citizens died in the bathtub…no sharks involved.

How many ways are there to risk dying? LiveScience on the web has saved us much work, speculating on 10 Easy Paths to Destruction. Saying Amen to Rocker Tommy Lee who once said, “[W]’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time,” they warn us away from the ten “easiest catalysts to self-destruction.” Are you surprised when you learn you should not eat junk or smoke cigarettes?

Junk food…and death? Are you thinking candy bars and deep-fried Twinkies? Think again.

Researchers analyzed the diet, health and death data on 37,698 men and 83,644 women over two decades. Participants completed questionnaires about their diets every four years. During the study follow-up period of more than two decades, almost 24,000 of the participants died, including 5,910 from heart disease and 9,464 from cancer.

Death…by eating red meat? Here are the facts. Over 10 years, eating the equivalent of a quarter-pound hamburger daily gave men in the study a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease. Overall, one serving per day of processed red meat increased risk of cancer by 16%.

Death…and eating chicken? Using a statistic model, the researchers estimated that replacing one serving a day of red meat with one serving of with poultry would decrease the risk by 14%; nuts, 19%; beans, 10%; low-fat dairy, 10%; whole grains, 14%, and fish, 7%.

Sharks…red meat…are vegetables starting to look better on the grill?

The largest study of its kind found vegetarians have healthier hearts than those who eat meat or fish. According to two large studies, vegetarians are a third less likely to need hospital treatment for heart disease or die from it, and the diet could mean living nine additional years than you might consuming meat based diets.

So…let’s get real. And let’s get serious.

Do you know someone who has breast cancer? While Americans are planning trips to the beach this summer, do you know someone who is undergoing chemo and meeting with the attorney to write out their end-of-life wishes?

What if you knew important information about risks that lead to breast cancer? And what if that information could make a difference for you, your wife and your daughters? Would that gain your attention just as much as the stats for death by shark attack, bathtubs and eating red meat?

As reported in the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute Newsletter, “This past February, the news media widely covered a study in JAMA which showed that the incidence in breast cancer had almost doubled over the past 34 years, 2% per year, compounded. This represents an over 90% increase in women between 20 and 39 years old. The cancers they were citing were invasive and had already spread outside of the breast which are life threatening. The Author, Rebecca Johnson, had been diagnosed herself at age 26 with breast cancer.”

So…let’s consider. What is contributing to this dramatic increase in the incidence of breast cancer? Swimming with sharks? Eating hot dogs and steak?

If swimming with sharks led to breast cancer, you can be sure we would be reading about it in The New York Times. They would lead with this story at least once a month, and NFL football players would have decals of Pink Sharks on their helmets this year.

Instead, this crisis of life is being ignored. We have all the pretty pink ribbons…and NONE of the facts.

If you want to know the facts, they are available. The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute has followed this issue for years. Thanks to the Internet, we no longer have to wait for the facts in The Times. Here they are:

Non-invasive breast cancer, in-situ cancers, has risen by 300% since 1975.
In-situ cancers, treated with mastectomy, radiation, and hormonal therapy, progress into invasive cancers if not treated.
Invasive cancers have risen about 40% over 35 years.

And if it is not sharks…and not red meat…what is leading to all of this cancer?

The Breast Cancer Prevention Institute provides a chart of 70 professional studies investigating elective abortion as it relates to breast cancer. Of these studies, 33 demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between induced abortion and breast cancer. In total, 55 of the 70 studies present a positive correlation between induced abortion and breast cancer.

Our mothers and daughters are being sold down the river…the shark-infested river.

Unwilling to speak truth, abortion proponents prefer to sell pink football gear to the players and to ask for your money at the grocery counter…”for breast cancer research.” Why?

We have research! We can educate women…and the men who REALLY care about women. Abortion is a real link to women and death by cancer.

Summer…fall, winter and spring…this matters! Check out the information. Share it with those you love. This is not political. It is personal. It is about saving the lives of people we love.

Sharks, red meat…and abortion…truth is truth, no matter what. If we are afraid of one shark eating our child this summer, we should fear for the lives of our wives, daughters and friends being sacrificed in silence to shield abortion from critical evaluation.

Summer is coming on. You have time to read. If you care about the women in your life, there is no better time than now to read and learn what we can do to save their lives.

Risking death? Not if we don’t have to. This is a summer for life. Take time to read and to enjoy time with the ones you love!

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BREAST CANCER RISKS

Want more information? Check out the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute publications that give a full picture of this link of breast cancer to induced abortion.

The Invisible Crowd

February 1, 2013

It is a common fantasy of the common man…and woman…finding a way to become invisible, to become the proverbial “fly on the wall” in a room, to witness happenings that would be closed to us, to hear words that would be denied us.

In 1897, H. G. Wells explored this fantasy in his famous novella The Invisible Man, where scientist Griffin finds a way to change a body’s refractive index to that of air. In the same way as air, Griffin’s body reflected no light. He was invisible.

Griffin, the mad scientist, was only able to accomplish his feat through mastery of scientific principles and conducting hours of chemical experiments recorded in three notebooks. But there was an easier way. I know. On January 26, 2013, I became invisible…without performing one scientific trick…sharing my invisibility with a large crowd of nearly 50,000.

On a bright San Francisco morning, blessed with perfect temperatures and clear skies, an estimated 50,000 people congregated at the Civic Center Plaza for the 9^th Annual Walk for Life. I had personally invested hundreds of dollars to make myself visible as an American who values the dignity of each human life from conception to natural death. I had hoped to be seen. I wished to be counted.

In the opening greeting to the crowd, the speaker asked those of us at the Walk for the first time to raise our hands. My hand went up. I wanted people to see me…to see us…all of us.

I shared in the mission for the walk: To change the perceptions of a society that thinks abortion is an answer. Abortion does violence to women and to their children, both physically and emotionally. We deserve better than abortion.

I hoped to further the goal of the walk: To be a vocal and visual message that people of the West Coast stand for life. To reach out to women harmed by abortion. To inform society of the damage done to women by abortion.

The crowd was a wonderful mix of people, each one committed to being a voice for life. Fifty thousand of us walked the two miles to the Embarcadero. Another 500,000 marched in Washington, D.C., despite freezing snowy weather.

And for all of the people and all of the opportunities to talk with us and to photograph us, we were largely invisible. My hotel provided guests with free copies of the San Francisco Chronicle. I waited for a copy of the paper with a front page story and photo to take home to my family and friends. I waited. I am still waiting.

How do you make a crowd of 50,000 people invisible? You work for a San Francisco news service so devoted to abortion of babies at any time and for any reason that every person at the paper is willing to close their eyes to the undeniable tens of thousands of people walking through your city.

Thanks to the Internet, I finally located the Chronicle’s story about the crowds at the march. Instead of focusing on the 50,000 people, the reporter and photographer highlighted pro-abortion activists…across the city at Justin Herman Plaza. The lead photo for the story showed two pro-abortion protestors with their bullhorn yelling and waving their bright orange sign: Abortion on Demand and Without Apology. But who were they yelling at? Where were the 50,000 people?

The reporter made obligatory references to the invisible crowd in her story. But it was all packaged in bright colors to tell another story under The Chronicle headline: S. F. abortion rally shows 40-year split. Abortion rally? Clearly, those 50,000 of us attending the Pro-Life rally must have been invisible.

The Chronicle is in good company. Local and national media are loathe to report in any significant way on the growing tide in America that supports human life…all life. It’s OK. I will still pay hundreds to attend the next Walk in 2014 and to be a witness for life.

The best part of walking in 2013 was to share the sidewalks with the impassioned young people who can see the truth, even in a culture that works so hard to make the truth invisible. Life is precious. And the coming generation of young people who are not afraid of the truth will tell the story missed by The Chronicle.

The Chronicle hires the reporters and photographers who refuse to see life. But their failure to tell this story will not prevail. Just ask all of the parents who witness their baby growing in the womb, clearly visible on the 3D and 4D ultrasounds.

Life is precious. Above all, no matter how hard we try, life will tell its own story. Close our eyes, cover our ears…yet through it all…life refuses to be invisible.

Save your pennies. Hitch a ride. Bring your friends. We have a story waiting to be told. Hope to see you with me on the streets in 2014!

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For full video and photographic record, with photographer credits, visit the official website: WALK FOR LIFE WEST COAST

Cooooooool, Man!

January 15, 2013

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ― Isaac Asimov

There are not enough “o”s in Cooooooool to describe the absolutely delicious ten winners of the 2013 Cool Science Image contest sponsored by The Why Files.

Every realm of scientific study is represented in the field of winning photos. At the macro level, a satellite image from October 28, 2012, shows the amount of water vapor in the Earth ’s atmosphere and sea surface temperatures. Brilliant colors of orange and red pass over cooler blues and greens, all of these colors wrapped in a blanket of white cotton fluffs, highlighting the unmistakable brown land of South America in the center field. [Source: Rick Kohrs, staff, Space Science and Engineering Center]

At the micro level, under the microscope, slime mold becomes decidedly more attractive than its name suggests, revealed as a social group of multicellular organisms rising from the ground in a fluid modern dance of single-celled amoebae. [Source: Sheryl A. Rakowski, staff, Bacteriology]

And in the mysterious interior realm of a living creature, we can only wonder at the images of neural pathways tracing the brain activity that produces the physical and emotional activity of the brain’s owner, a monkey. [Source: Christopher Coe, faculty, Psychology]

Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from its Why Files headquarters, the goal of the contest is to highlight the aesthetic aspects of Scientific imagery obtained in the search for data that “can yield important and sometimes striking insights into nature and the way things work.” In its third year, the contest produced 105 submissions and has now gained support from the Madison-based Promega Corp.

Science, seen as a field of analysis quantified in number and calculus is often reduced to the dispassionate exploration of the world we see, touch, hear, taste and smell. What a mistake! Consider the photos from the Hubble telescope. Named with dispassion as STScI-PRC2013-17, one can only marvel at the glory of stellar material hurling through space, larger beyond imagination in a photo, yet a speck of the totality of the universe. [Credit: NASA, ESA, CXC and the University of Potsdam, JPL-Caltech, and STScI]

How amazing is this universe that contains humanity! Yet, the unfortunate result of our accumulation of this large body of scientific information is our creation of an even larger number of people who lack appreciation for the unknown and of the magnitude of human ignorance.

The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be. ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

We are so wrapped up in the “pile of data” we have amassed, that we turn our back on the mysterious, the things we may never know. We continue to map DNA. But when the map is complete, will we be any closer to understanding the intellect that created DNA? Sadly, the spheres of knowing and wondering have moved further and further apart. We are a world of brains that analyze and synthesize separated from the world of the spirit that trembles with humble amazement.

The Knowable and the Unknowable…how vast the distance between the two! We live in that vastness, our intellect confined as much by hubris as by gray matter. The advantage we have at hand with our telescopes and electron microscopy is more than matched by the humble openness of a man who scans the skies in wonder.

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? [NIV]

Science and spirit are not enemies. They are both part of the created existence. Science can reveal both the limits of man and the realities of the absolutely extraordinary universe that is our home. Without this understanding of the unity of science and spirit, a scientist is merely caught up in enumerating the number of genes in a homo sapien, the measuring the circumferance of the moon, and the illustrating the structure of DNA.

What a marvelous gift we have been handed in the third millennium to be able to spy into creation and share our vision through these beautiful photographs. Most importantly, may we stand in humble awe of what we see!

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious – the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. ― Albert Einstein

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