Drugs and Afganistan

I was revising away and my brain drifted to thinking that it was probably in America's interest to have a thriving drug trade in afganistan. A quick search brought up this article. Of interesting note are the fact that the taliban had almost completely irradicated poppy cultivation back in 2001 (documented by the UN just before the bombing started) and that while growing opium contibutes 2.3bn pounds to the afgani economy it probably represents more than 54bn pounds of profit for the western countries (ie US and UK) where it ends up. Like coffee its not the growers who are making a killing... (no pun intended)

Have a read and see what you think

Kreg

The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
Washington's Hidden Agenda: Restore the Drug Trade

Would I rather not know?

Life is a great teacher and you learn something everyday. Its a good thing don't get me wrong and knowledge is power, but sometimes innocence is bliss.

There have been a few occasions now when i have learned some new fact. Interesting in its own right and while it is processed through the gears of my mind it trips a few flags and forces me to realise things I don't want to. Its a bit like finding the hidden puzzle piece and then realising you don't like the completed picture. On a very very small scale its like discovering TNT and knowing almost instantly that it will be used to take lives. But that is perhaps melodramatic.

What I learned today is simple enough, a random stat. 20% of people who fracture their hip because the bones are weak will be die in the next year.

There isn't anything really dangerous in that, nothing too sinister. I cant see how it will be of USE to me but I suppose its one of those things you just have to learn if you want to be a doctor.

And then, when I think about it and its starts to find its resting place somewhere in my mind it stirs up all sorts of thoughts that id rather not think.
What about so-and-so, didn't they have a hip fracture... it wasn't too long ago either was it...
Or what about Mrs J she has pretty frail bones and is a bit unsteady, i hope she doesn't have a bad fall.
Or cool, now I have something to say if i know someone has broken a hip... wait a sec, why on earth would I say that...
Or what if someone asked me what knew about broken hips...

Maybe I'm over analysing but I cant see why i would want to know. The best possible use that could come of it would be to make me the bearer of bad news, of the grim prognosis.

Or consider another example, I have been given a Cancer patient to follow he is a great guy, a 82 year old man, still running his own business and doing very well by it. We had a nice chat (as nice as one does given the circumstances) and when i went away I tried to read up more on his condition. My tome of a text book was strangely empty, all it said was, 'little is known about this type of cancer and prognosis is poor 5% at 5 years.'

Did I really want to know that? When I next met him he ask what I'd learned... I said not much.

Or in less medical surrounds you suddenly realise the world isn't as friendly as you thought it was. In a sense your glad to know, a lesson hard learned and all, on the other hand the friendly world wasn't all that bad.

The question is, would I rather not know?

What if a family member or friend were to call me up and describe symptoms to me which were not at all pretty. Would I rather not know? Would I be glad i could be of help or would I even tell them what I knew. Would I pretend that wasn't my area and suggest they see a GP?

What if I found out a friend had had an affair, stolen or back stabbed. Would I want to know. Would you? I know I would be eager to hear the gossip as it came out. Eager to learn each new fact in the lecture, but at the end of the day would i be pleased with what I had learnt? Would you?

At the end of the day, when I've grown up and experienced the big bad world, will I look back and wish I never had? Will I wish I lived in a world where as long as you had a few plasters you could mend a broken heart. Where you'd always be friends forever, no matter what, and where a pound dropped in a bucket would feed all the hungry children in the world.

Would I rather not know?

Life is a great teacher and you learn something everyday. Its a good thing don't get me wrong and knowledge is power, but sometimes innocence is bliss.

There have been a few occasions now when i have learned some new fact. Interesting in its own right and while it is processed through the gears of my mind it trips a few flags and forces me to realise things I don't want to. Its a bit like finding the hidden puzzle piece and then realising you don't like the completed picture. On a very very small scale its like discovering TNT and knowing almost instantly that it will be used to take lives. But that is perhaps melodramatic.

What I learned today is simple enough, a random stat. 20% of people who fracture their hip because the bones are weak will be die in the next year.

There isn't anything really dangerous in that, nothing too sinister. I cant see how it will be of USE to me but I suppose its one of those things you just have to learn if you want to be a doctor.

And then, when I think about it and its starts to find its resting place somewhere in my mind it stirs up all sorts of thoughts that id rather not think.
What about so-and-so, didn't they have a hip fracture... it wasn't too long ago either was it...
Or what about Mrs J she has pretty frail bones and is a bit unsteady, i hope she doesn't have a bad fall.
Or cool, now I have something to say if i know someone has broken a hip... wait a sec, why on earth would I say that...
Or what if someone asked me what knew about broken hips...

Maybe I'm over analysing but I cant see why i would want to know. The best possible use that could come of it would be to make me the bearer of bad news, of the grim prognosis.

Or consider another example, I have been given a Cancer patient to follow he is a great guy, a 82 year old man, still running his own business and doing very well by it. We had a nice chat (as nice as one does given the circumstances) and when i went away I tried to read up more on his condition. My tome of a text book was strangely empty, all it said was, 'little is known about this type of cancer and prognosis is poor 5% at 5 years.'

Did I really want to know that? When I next met him he ask what I'd learned... I said not much.

Or in less medical surrounds you suddenly realise the world isn't as friendly as you thought it was. In a sense your glad to know, a lesson hard learned and all, on the other hand the friendly world wasn't all that bad.

The question is, would I rather not know?

What if a family member or friend were to call me up and describe symptoms to me which were not at all pretty. Would I rather not know? Would I be glad i could be of help or would I even tell them what I knew. Would I pretend that wasn't my area and suggest they see a GP?

What if I found out a friend had had an affair, stolen or back stabbed. Would I want to know. Would you? I know I would be eager to hear the gossip as it came out. Eager to learn each new fact in the lecture, but at the end of the day would i be pleased with what I had learnt? Would you?

At the end of the day, when I've grown up and experienced the big bad world, will I look back and wish I never had? Will I wish I lived in a world where as long as you had a few plasters you could mend a broken heart. Where you'd always be friends forever, no matter what, and where a pound dropped in a bucket would feed all the hungry children in the world.

If you need a place to stay

Hey Everyone. I have been thinking about the way I use my resources and well I have a big room. So if you as the reader or anyone or anyone you know is ever in Cardiff and would like a place to stay for the night you/they are more than welcome. I'll even do my best to make you breakfast. Having said that im not sure immediately sure why you would want to trust me, one confused mind and all... but if you are willing then you are welcome.

Kreg

Fatal Attraction

It is amazing the way we are drawn to things we know are bad for us.

For example today I bought junk food. I know that its expensive and I cannot really afford it and I certainly don't need it. I have also wasted time playing games when I know I have better and more important things to do. Perhaps the most potent example is now. I am writing this impart because I have, at times, thought it would be cool to write a blog but mostly because I know I should go to bed and this is a great way to procrastinate.

Tomorrow I will be poorer, fatter, farther behind and more tired.

Yet when faced with each decision I feel compelled to do what is worse for me.

I wonder if it is merely the short term indulgance winning out over the long term gains. Perhaps it is. Sometime I seems like more than that though. I've been through the loop enough times to know that the short term gains are often false. That generally after doing something I thing I shouldn't have I will feel terrible and that the attaction and glitter of whatever it is I am being inticed towards is false.

I still get sucked in almost everytime.

Id like to blame it on some evil force so I dont feel so bad and it isnt my fault.

Unfortunately one of the things I have come to realise is that while we dont choose our circumstance we are still entirely responsible for our actions. In every case I choose what I do. Even if it were life and death it would still be my choice. So that means have no scape goat. I can not blame what I have done on anyone else. It means when im tired tomorrow I will only be able to blame myself.

I guess it also means that before I get too depressed about it I should probably go to bed.

nite.