Carl Schmitt’s friend-enemy distinction today

Memories of Carl from an improbable friend

The Tower Room in the Beckman Institute goes silent as all heads turn to the door. An unearthly figure in a full neck brace strides into the room and takes a seat at the end of the long conference table. Already seated are representatives of the W. M. Keck Foundation, the Provost, several Deans, myself, and a few others from the campus. The site visit by the foundation was the moment of truth t...

ICT: Health's Best Friend and Worst Enemy?

I propose a paradigm shift for health care, as there is an urgent need for i) continuous (semi-)automatic medical checkups, ii) cost reduction, and iii) cure for the 21st century black plague (i.e., stress-related diseases) are very much needed. To realize this ICT’s Paradox has to be solved. On the one hand, ICT can cause i) musculoskeletal problems, ii) vision problems, iii) headache, iv) obe...

Stethoscope: a friend or an enemy?

CONTEXT The stethoscope is a universal tool in the hospital that is in direct contact with many patients and can therefore be a vector in the dissemination of bacterial infections. OBJECTIVE To research the presence of bacteria, fungi and yeast on the stethoscope diaphragm and the resistance of bacteria to antimicrobial drugs. DESIGN Descriptive, prospective, non-controlled. SETTING A ter...

Bee Venom Phospholipase A2: Yesterday’s Enemy Becomes Today’s Friend

Bee venom therapy has been used to treat immune-related diseases such as arthritis for a long time. Recently, it has revealed that group III secretory phospholipase A2 from bee venom (bee venom group III sPLA2) has in vitro and in vivo immunomodulatory effects. A growing number of reports have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of bee venom group III sPLA2. Notably, new experimental data have...

volatile anesthetics in ischemic liver injury: enemy or friend?