John Fitzpatrick. About New China, the Koreas, Myanmar, Thailand, and also about Japanese and Chinese writers and poets. The main emphasis is on North Asia and the political tectonics of this very important, powerful, and many-peopled area.
Tuesday, 8 January 2019
What other sacred cows can I poke today... Oh, the American opioid crisis based upon prescriptions by real doctors... well, you see, opioids are brilliant for assuaging serious pain. They are the best...especially opium, heroin, morphine. they are brilliant. Nothing can get better than them. We even have developed and evolved opioid receptors to receive them, gratefully, and have our own endorphins are made of similar really good stuff.The simple, natural organic opium poppy. The problem is that once the cause of the pain and the pain itself has resolved, and that's a period of a few months, has passed, then, well, people keep using them...which is not a good idea at all, obviously. this is bad guardianship by doctors. The synthetics, the oxycodones, the fentanyl, the bupremorphines etc aren't as good as pain relievers, and they are far more addictive, yet they are prescribed far more often these days because the people who make them say that they are better and less addictive...simply because the companies can't patent opium...so they invent this artificial shit, and people believe them. fentanyl is ok, if one enjoys hallucinations...usually furless rabbits running about the room...but fentanyl is uneccesary. If you have serious pain, especially pain related to your own mortality/terminality, then stick with morphine, heroin and opium, they are far more effective and far more natural. Many folk will say they are allergic to morphine, but hardly anyone on earth actually is. In 30 years of palliative care, I never met one who is physically allergic to morphine. The best test is to sub-cut 1mg and you will see if there is any allergy, and there isnt. People are just scared of the name, that's all. Morphine with a tad of methadone in it, to prolong the analgesic effect and to cover some bone pain morphine doesn't do well, toss in some midazolam for the fear, a tad of haloperidol to remove any nausea, is always best in terminal cancer situations...they will serve you well...this other shit is all about the profits for the drug companies and to assuage the paranoias of society...whilst watching people die in pain because...hmmm...nothing can be done...poor us. we would rather see someone racked with pain than have them sitting up in bed eating dinner and drinking wine and smoking cigars when it comes to our bizarre fears of mortality. Life has its joys and pains and that won't change. We can fix pretty well all the pains, but we can't fix the greed, nor can we fix the willingness of companies and governments to prefer to do harm rather than do good...that's the human condition...and that won't change.
Friday, 4 January 2019
Pell
A fish rots from the head down: Top Vatican official Cardinal George Pell has been convicted of sexually abusing minors by a criminal court in Australia.
According to multiple reports, Cardinal Pell, who is the Vatican’s third most powerful official and a close advisor to Pope Francis, was convicted in Australia on charges that he sexually abused two choir boys in the late 1990s.
The Daily Beast reports:
The Vatican’s third most powerful official has been convicted in Australia on all charges he sexually abused two choir boys there in the late ’90s…A unanimous jury returned its verdict for Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday (Australian time) after more than three days of deliberations…
The Inquisitor reports:
Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third most powerful official, was found guilty on Tuesday of sexually abusing two choir boys in the late 1990s, a decision that makes him the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to face criminal convictions.
Pell is Australia’s highest ranking Catholic, the Vatican’s Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, and a close adviser and friend to Pope Francis. He is the highest ranking Vatican official to ever go on trial for sex abuse, and he is now the highest ranking Vatican official to be convicted of crimes concerning sexual abuse.
Pell took leave of his position at the Vatican last year to stand trial in Melbourne, where he was accused of sexually abusing two choir boys when he was the archbishop.
The Catholic News Agency reports Pell will be sentenced in early 2019 and will not be incarcerated prior to his sentencing.
In addition to being found guilty of molesting the choir boys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Pell is also accused of sexually assaulting two boys in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria. A criminal trial concerning that case is expected to begin early next year.
Pell has denied all accusations of inappropriate conduct and claims he is innocent. He is expected to appeal his conviction.
In the past Pell has shown little sympathy for the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, and is on record claiming:
The Catholic Church is no more legally responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company which employs a driver who molests women.
Bottom line: Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third most powerful official and a close adviser to Pope Francis, has been convicted of sexually abusing two choir boys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia.
- TAGGED WITH:
- CATHOLIC
- CRIME
- INTERNATIONAL
- NEWS
Thursday, 3 January 2019
Talked with Google executive guru last night over dinner: he said: I talked to the Uber driver on the way here who complained that train drivers get paid $200,000 a year here. It doesn't seem right, I mean the low skills they need to...drive some train. I said 'well, you can either be in a strong union and get paid $200,000 a year, or drive an Uber for $7 a ride. Its up to the market intelligence of the driver.'
Wednesday, 2 January 2019
ETIQUETTE: On the difficult matter of knowing that Chinese Capitalism is the only way forward for the next 300 years, and the heydays of Western Capitalism have eddied away, I take the brilliant attitude of the Australian Government's Scott Morrison, in terms of Cultural Cosplay, and, when Chinese guests arrive and ask if they should remove their shoes, I advise... take off only one shoe per person...this is quite enough. We are very moderate, and clever. We'll trick 'em. Wink.
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