Monthly Archives: March 2016

Some good news on cancer, for once

tl;dr: A new combination of drugs long used in the treatment of breast cancer has produced some stunning results:

New breast cancer treatment wipes out tumours in just 11 DAYS

A new treatment for breast cancer has completely eradicated tumours in just 11 days.

Doctors today described the unexpected results as ‘staggering’ – and said the new two-pronged technique could spare thousands of women from gruelling chemotherapy.

The UK team, announcing their results at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Amsterdam, said they had never seen breast patients respond so quickly to a cancer treatment.

Women who were newly diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer were given the therapy at 23 UK hospitals.

Of the participants in the trial the vast majority – 87 per cent – responded to the treatment, with tests showing that the cancer had stopped producing more cells.

But for some women the results were more dramatic.

In 11 per cent the tumours had completely vanished, to the surprise of surgeons, and for another 17 per cent they had significantly shrunk.

The drugs involved aren’t particularly expensive, either, as cancer drugs go: around $2150 for an 11-day course.  The patent on one of them is about to expire, which should knock that price down a fair bit.

Facts are inconvenient things

These results were predictable to anyone with a triple-digit IQ.  “Feel the Bern?”  I’ve got your burn right here:

The Chart That No Minimum-Wage-Supporting Socialist Wants You To See

A new report from JP Morgan Chase & Co. finds that the summer employment rate for teenagers is nearing a record low at 34 percent. The report surveyed 15 US cities and found that despite an increase in summer positions available over a two year period, only 38 percent of teens and young adults found summer jobs.

[…]

Most of the 15 cities studied in this report have minimum wage rates above the federal level, with cities such as Seattle having a rate more than double that. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics seen in the chart show exactly how a drastic rise in the minimum wage rate affects the rate of employment.

Seattle has experienced the largest 3 month job loss in its history last year, following the introduction of a $15 minimum wage. We can only imagine the impact such a change has had on the prospects of employment for the young and unskilled.