Statins are completely worthless... and On the Way to Wellness

An article which talks about how this whole cholesterol lowering drug business is a scam: The link: http://goo.gl/mR4R7r

"Statins are totally worthless" - this is not surprising, have known this all along - in fact have several earlier posts where I have mentioned this.

What is sad is that it needs another 'scientific' study to disprove all the studies that have shown statins to be good - this whole 'scientific' study business is a waste of time when it comes to health. You can be sure there will be a few more studies that prove these wrong, or tout some other bunch of medicines as the new panacea.

Other things that are worthless: going for a preventive medical checkup, aggressively treating various incipient 'diseases' based on these 'tests', taking antibiotics indiscriminately, or in general pill-popping...

I had a stye in the eye (actually what is termed as a 'chalazion') recently, and two doctors ( I went to one more since I didn't trust the diagnosis of the first) prescribed me antibiotics. A little reading convinced me that chalazions don't require any treatment, and I did not take the medicines. I got ok in two days - with the antibiotics, I would have taken another week to recover from the effect of the medicine! My point is not that antibiotics are never required, but that prescribing medicines indiscriminately has become the norm nowadays.

Modern western medicine proved effective in countering infectious diseases which were rampant at the turn of the last century. The 'germ theory' has its uses, but extending it to our entire lives is a problem. Germs exist everywhere, they are both good and bad. The only way to ensure the bad ones don't get you is to maintain your immunity at a high level through a proper lifestyle. Unfortunately for the pharma companies this does not involve any medicines.

Most illnesses we have nowadays are lifestyle related - diabetes, blood pressure, IBS, ulcers, kidney problems, backaches, mental sluggishness (yes, that is a disease though it is so common that it is accepted as normal), ... the list can go on. The pharma industry convinces us that aggressive intervention is necessary with medicines like 'cholesterol' lowering drugs, statins, sedatives, anti-depressants, pain-killers, aniti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, and the like. These things don't really help, and in most cases they cause more harm than good. What they do which is good for the companies is to have enough side effects which manifest as a continuous list of other diseases all the time, which keep the companies perpetually in business.

What we are asked to do as a consequence of the 'germ theory' is fundamentally flawed. Instead of being told to maintain our bodies in an optimum state of immunity, the 'modern' approach is to kill all germs. Take Hand Sanitisers for example. It will just kill all the good germs along with the bad germs, in effect making your hand dead. Environments are completely sanitised, children are kept away from 'unhygienic' environs, etc. - as a result the body loses the ability to adapt to the environment. Children playing in the mud is essential to a healthy growth, but nowadays there is no mud (it is all concrete), and where there is mud, you can be sure there are no children!

The other major flaw with 'modern' medical science is its reductionist approach - treating each condition as if it is a lab experiment in physics, and countering 'what is wrong' with the opposite, in the process ignoring the entire body-mind system and its interconnectedness. The term 'holistic' is much abused nowadays - I have seen ads from major hospitals offering 'holistic diabetes treatments' - today's doctors don't even understand what holistic means.

There are a thousand and one ways in which things can go wrong, and a thousand and one ailments that you can get. Our approach is to develop a thousand and one therapies to counter each of these ailments, with substances which are poisonous to the body, thus entering into a vicious cycle of ailments. We also in the process forget what good health means.

Health is not mere absence of disease. Health is complete and total well-being, a positive vibrancy, a joyous state where you feel light in mind and in body. It is not growing old at all ( in the conventional sense) but having a body (and mind) that acts as an instrument for joyful, fulfilled living.

There is only one way to achieve that health (as opposed to a thousand and one ways in which you can fight ailments), which makes things easy. Focus on this one way, the way of right living, of a proper lifestyle, of maintaining and enhancing your body, mind and spirit (for all three are interconnected). Focus only on rules that will keep you healthy and enhance that well-being of yours. In fact this sloka from the Gita, though Arjuna said it in a different context, fits perfectly here:

• In the debate about the path of knowledge and the path of action, and which of them is superior, (very similar to the various debates we have on health and disease), Arjuna asks: "With this apparently perplexing speech, thou confusest my understanding; therefore tell me that one way for certain by which I may attain bliss" (chapter 3, verse 2) - the implication being, that the ways of confusion are many, but the one true path is just that - One.

And that One Way of achieving health is to follow the prescriptions of the Gita, Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy, Unani, traditional wisdom of all societies (not just Indian, not by a long shot) - it is to tap into the ancient knowledge that is a collective heritage of mankind, to follow a lifestyle that will not only keep us free from disease (which is a very limited objective), but which will help us achieve our full potential.

Sovereign Gold Bonds

The fourth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB's) are open for subscription right now, from Sept. 1st to Sept. 9th, 2016. They are bonds:

• with the sovereign guarantee of the Indian Government,
• linked to the price of gold,
• available in 1 gram multiples,
• carrying an interest rate of 2.75 percent per annum, payable half-yearly,
• with an eight-year tenor,
• to be redeemed at the end of eight years, with an option to redeem prematurely at the end of 5^th, 6th or 7th years

Each individual can subscribe upto 500 gm. In case of joint holdings, the first holder shall be considered for this limit 

 

Liquidity (apart from redemption on fixed dates) will be through listing in the secondary market

 

The tax treatment is as follows:

• Any gains (or losses) on sale of these bonds shall be treated as Capital Gains, with the normal provisions applicable for most capital assets, i.e.
• long term means greater than three years,
• long term gains will be taxed as per the following formula: tax payable will be 20% of the sale price less indexed purchase price.
• Short term gains (if held for less than three years) will be taxed at the normal rates on your marginal slab rate, meaning the gain will be added to your normal income for all practical purposes for the purpose of tax

 

• For the fourth tranche (the current one), the government has notified that any individual "redeeming" the bonds (i.e. not selling in the secondary market), will be exempt from capital gains tax (CGT). What this means is that if you subscribe to the bonds now, and hold till maturity, or redeem them prematurely through the normal window, there will be no CGT.

If you sell the bonds somewhere along the way in the secondary market without waiting for redemption, then the usual capital gains rules explained in the previous bullet-point will apply.

My reading is that it also means that if you buy these same bonds later in the secondary market, and then "redeem" them, no tax should be applicable, though I have not seen any specific clarification anywhere on this.

 

• The interest of 2.75 percent per annum will be taxed as any normal income - i.e. at your applicable slab rates

 

• There will be no TDS deducted either on the interest or on redemption.

 

 

TO INVEST OR NOT TO INVEST?

 

This question is better answered keeping in view broader asset allocation objectives. Your money can broadly be invested in four different asset classes: Debt, Equity, Gold (includes Siver) and Real Estate. Contrary to what some banks who are into "fee-based income" might claim, I don't think commodities, derivatives, or forex trading are asset classes.

 

Within that broad portfolio it is generally recommended that you hold 10 to 15 percent in Gold. However, I know people who would want zero gold in their portfolio, and some who would want more than fifteen percent.

The characteristics of Gold are:

·      It is a conservative asset. In the long run, it is likely to give returns averaging to a little above inflation

·      It automatically protects you from Indian Rupee depreciation against the dollar, since gold prices which are denominated in dollars, are uniform worldwide

Gold can be bought as:

·      Ornaments: Ornaments are not an "investment", so we shall not discuss that further

·      Physical Gold:

o   Is the best form of investment in gold.

o   Only buy 24 carat gold biscuits, and buy from the wholesale markets (like Zaveri Bazar in Mumbai). Never buy from a bank, that is the stupidest thing you can do, since you will end up paying high margins on what is essentially a commodity purchase.

o   I am assuming that physical gold purchases and sales will be in cash, so taxes, both direct and indirect, don't apply – I am not talking law here.

o   Physical Gold has no 'management fees' like in ETF's, or counterparty risk

o   If you are investing in gold as the 'ultimate fallback asset' in case of any major calamity or war, etc., physical gold kept in your possession is the best

·      Electronic Gold:

o   This includes ETF"s and SGB's.

o   ETF's carry a counterparty risk. They don't necessarily have all that gold kept in their vaults. Some of it may be merely "gold-backed securities" and some of the gold may be lent out in the market. Further, in case of a national emergency, the government can easily lay its hands on that gold.

o   ETF's charge 'management fees' averaging to one percent per annum, which is a continuous drain on your return.

o   Capital gains on ETF's are taxable.

o   SGB's carry a sovereign guarantee – for an Indian citizen this equates to zero risk. Also, they pay interest. Further, with respect to the fourth tranche, Capital Gains Tax is exempt under the conditions already explained above.

o   Therefore, SGBs are definitely superior to ETF's, except for the fact that ETF's have more liquidity. Though the SGB's are listed they may not be as easily tradable, since the market is likely to be shallow

 

Recommendation: SGB's are a good product (especially fourth tranche) to consider including in your portfolio.

Olympics 2016

One bronze and one silver,

Is not cause to celebrate.

Sindhu or Sakshi alone,

Do not a whole nation make!

We admire them for their grit,

In rising above the muck;

But to clean it, do nothing;

Apathy, progress does not make!

The officials fly business class,

Athletes have no shoes to wear.

Minister wants photo ops

Now, with those who have won!

We shower them with riches,

Afterwords: To those who won.

We would rather worship them,

Than send our kids out to play!

We troll De who dare suggest,

That, we, and our athletes suck;

It may not be to our taste,

But 'tis truth we need to accept!

A billion people watching

The only one to fight for Gold;

'Tis enough for cloud of gloom,

To have one silver lining!

Sports is meant for the playing,

Medals are but a byproduct;

Why not each chase our passion,

And, each of us, aim for our best?

Dinesh Gopalan

22 August, 2016

My wife lost her phone

My wife lost her phone recently,

When she was shopping at an exhibition.

She realised it was gone instantly,

Since she felt an emptiness in her soul.

By the time she turned it was gone.

She panicked, looked around frantically,

Ran from stall to stall with desperation,

looking under tables and everywhere generally.

She continued shopping, putting on a brave face,

Though she knew, and I, what the loss to her meant.

The loss festered, in about an hour, she was in ferment,

For the emptiness in her soul just grew.

She was deprived of her regular feeds,

While I was checking mine every five minutes.

The brain that is devoid of dopamine, 

starts getting nervous, jittery, and panic begins.

Her colleagues at work were writing her off,

She was disconnected and off the grid.

Her friends all around were living it up,

and she was lonely, friendless and alone.

She came home, got on to the mail,

Which only worsened matters; she realised with some dread,

She needed her phone to approve several things,

All of which were of course very urgent.

Meanwhile, she had called, blocked her sim,

Driving one more nail into her own coffin.

For all people had was her number,

And no one nowadays comes calling.

She had no cash, could not withdraw more,

For her phone was where she saved her pins.

Music could have uplifted her mood,

but all her songs went with the phone.

Slowly the realisation started sinking in,

that without her phone, life was nothing.

She was totally distraught, she could not sleep,

The world didn't care: it had left her behind.

We are waiting now at the mobile store, 

for it to open, at nine on a Saturday morning.

Fifteen hours is a long time, an eternity, 

to live life without the phone.

Dinesh Gopalan

13 August, 2016

Irom Shormila

After sixteen years of fasting to get the Armed Forces Special Provisions Act repealed in Manipur, and being fed through tubes running through her nose all these years, Irom Sharmila has broken her fast. But the people are not amused... 

She fasted for sixteen long years,

On a matter of high principle.

On the way, she was idolised,

and her status raised to Godhood.

Society needs its Gods to worship:

Ideals they themselves cannot reach.

But every God is cast in stone,

locked up, and is surrounded by priests.

They are revered, they become legend,

Prayers are composed in their name;

They are feted, there are rituals,

To ensure the legend grows with time.

They are imprisoned, they cannot run,

There's reason they were cast in stone.

In their name, there's now an empire,

Grown prosperous in God's name.

She broke the mould, she broke her resolve - 

She broke her fast, she just changed her mind!

The empire that was built in her name,

Crumbled, the God just walked away!

Now they are screaming in outrage,

They pillory her, put her to shame.

There's price to pay for their worship,

Gods are cast in stone, they cannot change!

For our Gods are but an excuse,

To continue in our corrupt ways;

Once bribed through prayer, neither us,

Nor the Gods we create can change!

Dinesh Gopalan

12 August, 2016