The Lies and Statistics of the Breast Cancer Lobby

In the US, nearly 300 thousand women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Nearly 40 thousand women die. About 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.

Breast cancer is the celebrity of the cancer world. Celebrities such as Kathy Bates, Ann Romney and Edie Falco survive to appear on television and commercials during the one month every year dedicated to raising the awareness for breast cancer. 

It's also not surprising that all this media attention is getting results. 25% of research grants and 18% of the money went to breast cancer, more than twice the next type (lung cancer).

Unfortunately, this focus on breast cancer is killing women!

 

The Folly of Allocating Resources by Media Buzz

When we talk about disease, prevalence isn't everything. We really should ask 3 questions:

• How prevalent is it?
• How lethal is it?
• How long does it take to die from it?

How about breast cancer?

• 300,000 will be diagnosed (1 in 8)
• 40,000 will die 
• 89% will live past 5 years, 77% will live past 15 years

Meet the devil - Pancreatic Cancer

• 43,920 will be diagnosed 
• 37,390 will die 
• 80% will not last the year, 96% will not live past 5 years.

This is the exact opposite of breast cancer. There are no inspirational tales of survival. There are no celebrities available to tell their story. No one survives to start a support group, go fundraising or lobby for more research. They die before they get a chance.

 

The Problem

The problem with the breast cancer lobby is that it worked. It solved the problem. Women today have an excellent chance of a long and normal life.

Every year, nearly 20,000 women in the US die from pancreatic cancer. It's about half the number of deaths from breast cancer. But they die a lot faster. Most don't last the year compared to the vast majority who survive to live a full lifetime for breast cancer.

It's time to shift the focus elsewhere.

www.breastcancer.org
www.cancer.org
www.pancreatic.org

The Internet, Product Reviews and Cynicism

I'd like to tell you a story about how I read the most cynical, shameless and well, 'Hutzpah' review on the Internet. We all (should) know that the Internet isn't what it seems. You look for product reviews in different web sites and if it's all the same, it should mean it's correct. But thanks to some clever SEO, all these different sites could really be one guy pushing an agenda. The following story, isn't like that. It's about a guy who thinks we're morons.

So I was interested in Rosetta Stone, a software for learning languages. What's the success rate, what happens after you finish it, etc. Googled some reviews and stumbled on the following website - language101.com. Here are some pearls from the review.

"I wish I didn’t have to say that because the people who work at Rosetta Stone are a talented great bunch of people.  Hopefully they will eventually develop language learning programs that really work."

Harsh words, but there's more!

What Works Better than Rosetta Stone?
There are two companies with programs that work much better than Rosetta Stone.  They are Pimsleur and Language101.com.

Dude, that's like your own website?!

There is a link to my Pimsleur Review near the bottom.  The overall Rosetta Stone review starts just below this.  If you are learning Japanese, you will want to read our Rosetta Stone review for Japanese.  There’s a link to it near the bottom.

I would totally read your in depth and impartial review. I'd even look at the review of the Japanese version or that Pimsleur product, if it weren't for what came next:

Try Language101.com – Click Your Language then “Try It”

No, I think I'll click on the back button or possibly that x in the top right corner of the window. I didn't bother imitating the above graphics but I will just say this:

Fail!

The right of the Jewish people to the land of Israel

It is a little confusing that the Jewish people speak Hebrew and lay claim to the land of Israel. You would expect them to speak Judaish and claim Judea. But that’s just the way we used to roll, back in the olden days, before Christ and the Roman Empire.

When Jordan demands the return of Dead Sea scrolls seized by Israel, it bases its claim on the 1954 Hague convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. But they are wrong because the Dead Sea scrolls are the earliest known surviving copies of the bible and they were written (partly) in Hebrew, not  Arabic.

Jordan, an Arab and Muslim country does not have claim to the earliest copy of the bible. The Jewish people have that claim. It is our holy book. It was written in Hebrew, our language and was found in Judea, part of the land of Israel.

When Jesus gave the sermon at the temple, it wasn't a random temple. It was the temple of the Jews. Jesus himself was Jewish and the original form of his name was Yeshua.

The Jewish people did not originate in Europe, but in Israel. We are not colonists. Other people may have a claim to it, but so do we.

Survey: Most people would eat puppies to survive a plane crash in the mountains.

The first post in my blog dedicated to the lies people tell.

This is a response to an article by Gideon Levy in Haaretz on the 23^rd of October – as published in Haaretz (requires subscription) by and the guardian.

“More than two-thirds of Israeli Jews say that 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank should be denied the right to vote if the area was annexed by Israel. Three out of four are in favour of segregated roads for Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank.”

Really?

Let me just start by saying I’m in favor of annexing the ‘settlement blocks’. 85% of all settlers live in these settlement blocks spread over 6% of the west bank. Inside these areas, 95% percent are Jews. Outside, it’s 2.6% 1.

Previous talks with the Palestinians focused on leaving these blocks in place. This is why any Israeli asked this question would assume it refers to them.

This brings us to the 2.5 million Palestinians in the second question. If all we’ve read were true, these 2.5 million would mean the end of Israel as a democratic or Jewish state. Fortunately, it isn’t true.

You see, only 5% of those would be annexed along with the areas. That’s around 125 thousand or two Knesset seats (out of 120). Hardly a game changer.

But when you forcibly link two inaccurate questions together, half of the Jewish public wants to annex all of the west bank and 70% would then deny the Palestinians there voting rights.

Other minor tidbits

Q: Is there Apartheid in Israel?
A: This is misleading in two ways. It doesn't mean we support it and it's vague.  A little apartheid (19% agree), is like a little pregnant. You probably mean discrimination and the answer is yes. We have discrimination (and affirmative action) in Israel and we're not perfect. But we're not the only ones and we're certainly not South Africa.
My dentist is Arab. So were the girls leasing my parent's apartment.  Also, a couple of Knesset members, a minister, a supreme court justice, several army generals, a deputy commissioner in the police and one beauty pageant winner.

Q: How do you feel about the segregation between Israelis and Palestinians on the roads in the occupied territories?

A: That's segregation by nationality, not ethnicity. It's also based on necessity - Ten years ago, Palestinian terrorists would overtake Israeli cars and open up with automatic fire. 

Q: Should we boycott those who call for a boycott on Israel due to the Apartheid?

A: Do I really have to say this? Half of the Israeli public thinks we should embrace these people and show them the real Israel. Another quarter thinks we should ignore them. Only 15% think we should respond negatively. 

Is there Apartheid in Israel? Are Israelis evil and immoral? Are puppies on the menu in restaurants?

The answer to all 3 questions is no. Nothing to see here. Move on!  

 1 Source: Shaul Ariely Haaretz