Autism and Vaccines

A few of my friends are currently engaged in a discussion about the causes of Autism.  Their focus is on a study of the MMR Vaccine in which the scientist was completely unethical.  Though I agree that THIS study doesn’t exactly support the claim that vaccines cause autism, I don’t think it completely discounts it, either.

I chose have the vaccine separated (when that was an option) with my son, and I’ve chosen to delay it with my daughter because she’s small for her age and there is no separated vaccine available.  I’m not avoiding it completely, but I don’t feel I can simply ignore the idea that vaccines may have been a trigger for Autism in the past.  I’m sure that if it were a trigger, drug companies have changed the formula at this point, so what may have been a trigger 10 years ago may not be one today.

The fact is, though research has advanced, I don’t think there has been enough discovered to completely rule out vaccines as a trigger, if not a cause.  I definitely think that many of the diseases children are vaccinated against are worse than Autism, but I also think that parents should read as much research as possible and make decisions about what they feel is best for their children.

Legalizing It?

Representative Barney Frank introduced legislation to decriminalize penalties for carrying up to 100 grams of marijuana.  I have no doubt that it will be buried in committee like most of Barney Frank’s legislation.  Of course, the White House and the DEA are against it, mostly because they’ve been spending years falsifying the research about medical marijuana and they can’t make themselves look bad now.  The argument is that marijuana is not a harmful drug, certainly no more so than alcohol or tobacco, the benefits for those in pain or suffering from a variety of mental illnesses are great, and our prisons are seriously overcrowded with nonviolent offenders.

My stance is this: A lot of my students are convinced felons who shouldn’t be because they were carrying or smoking marijuana, which isn’t the case in the suburbs where just as much, if not more, is carried and smoked by young adults.  My kids are guilty of smoking while black, as is the case with many people in jail for marijuana related “crimes”.  Also, medical marijuana has a variety of uses for illnesses such as fibromialgia, depression, anxiety, glaucoma, the side effects related to cancer treatment, etc…  It is inhumane to force people to suffer when an aide is readily available just because the drug companies and the government can’t figure out a way to make a huge profit on it.

Nearly Half

I heard a report on NPR that nearly half of all Americans are on some sort of prescription drug.  While the story tried to convince us that it’s a good thing because it means that we have had major advancements in medical technology and science, I tend to think that it has more to do with pharmaceutical companies making billions of dollars on health care that many Americans have to pay for out of their own pocket.  I highly doubt that so many Americans would be on so many drugs if the government was footing the bill. 

Our health care system has become a money making industry and has strayed so far from its original intent that I wonder if doctors have forgotten the “do no harm” part of their oath.  Easy health care doesn’t mean it’s good health care.  Prescribing a pill instead of diet and exercise doesn’t do anyone any good, especially since we’re in this particular health care nightmare of rampant diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure because of what we eat and our propensity to sit on the couch rather than go for a walk.

In the Water

A report came out yesterday saying that there are all sorts of prescription drugs in our water.  Of course, the FDA (who can be blindly trusted because they’re a government agency) says that because the drugs are in the parts per billion, they can’t really have an effect on us.  Or can they?  Has it occurred to anyone that the severe rise in strange illnesses, tumors, etc… among the American public could be attributed to the prolonged effects of fertility, psychotropic, and various other medications in our WATER.  You know, the substance that gives and sustains nearly ALL life on the planet.  Does this concern anyone else?

Pills Instead of Pot

Because pills are easier to get in most American and Canadian communities than pot, our teenage population has turned to them as the drug of choice. Due to the government’s misinformation campaign, many kids believe that prescription drugs are safer than marijuana. I wouldn’t necessarily call pills “the new marijuana”, especially since pills are addictive, they’re easier to overdose on, they can cause serious and irreversible liver and kidney damage, and have a litany of side effects depending on the drug.

I think the more important question is this: why are our kids feeling the need to heavily medicate themselves? Why are we so heavily medicated as a society? If kids are abusing these drugs in record numbers, doesn’t it stand to reason that adults are doing so as well (which probably contributes quite a bit to our health care crisis)? Is it possible that one of the reasons Americans aren’t getting angry about what’s happening to them is that they’re taking Xanex, Valium, pain killers, and anti-depressants? It’s hard to feel anything when you’re that doped up.

Is there a pill for this?
3,593 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
26,558 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Media Cover-Up

In this article, 20 journalists (such as Dan Rather) describe the ways in which corporate media ownership prevented them from reporting important – and often troubling – stories. Rather than allowing these stories to air and letting the people decide their importance, they were stifled by corporate brass and the threat of pulled sponsorship. Some writers and journalists have even been fired.

Not all of these stories would be detrimental to the government, but they would have an impact on the profits of key government employees. Some expose things like the expensive and pointless war on drugs or the hormones put into our milk supply, but others talk about the detaining of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and voter fraud in the 2000 election. Most important is the reason why all this censorship is possible – the consolidation of the country’s major news outlets.

Let’s not forget that in a fascist government the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives, sometimes under the guise of consumerism. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

Especially this weekend, but as always, take a look at these faces:
3,435 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
25,378 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

Drugs… And Not the Good Kind

Some doctors are prescribing Adderall, a drug most typically used to treat ADHD, to treat obese and overweight children, not that it’s been approved for that use. One of the side effects of Adderall is weight loss, but it can also stunt children’s growth. My question is: why is it legal for doctors to prescribe drugs for conditions they weren’t designed to treat? Why isn’t the FDA paying more attention to regulating legal drugs? More importantly, why are doctors handing out drugs like candy? Is it possible that the reason Americans are so complacent is because they’re sedated? How many people are on anti-depressants and other mind-controlling substances like Adderall? I’m not saying that some people don’t need these drugs. If you’re bi-polar, take the medication, but if your depression is being caused by major life changes and some serious bad luck, put down the pills and get some counseling first.

General Hospital Tackles Medical Marijuana

I’ve been glad to see General Hospital taking on more serious subjects. Since I’ve been watching (about 15+ years), their main topic has been HIV/AIDS, but recently a main character has been diagnosed wit lung cancer (even though she’s NEVER smoked cigars or cigarettes) and she’s been having a bit of trouble with all of the chemicals being put into her body. The chemo makes her incredibly sick, and in order to keep up appearances for her young daughters and to be able to function on a semi-normal level, she took to smoking marijuana (suggested to her by a friend). Though her ex-husband is using this as a ploy to take away her youngest daughter, the rest of the cast has been extremely supportive of this decision, telling her that cancer is a horrible disease, the treatment is as bad or worse, and anything she can do to make herself feel better is fine by them.

You can bet that medical marijuana is going to be an issue, however small, in the upcoming Presidential election, and if it isn’t, the press and the politicians are just being negligent. Marijuana is not a completely harmless herb, but the adverse effects are well within the requirements specified by the FDA for anything Americans put into their bodies, and it’s effects are far less than that of alcohol or smoking cigarettes.

Marijuana is especially helpful for pain in those with certain cancers, especially that of they eyes, and other painful conditions with limited treatment options such as Fibromyalgia (which my sister suffers from after 4 open-heart surgeries, 1 spinal surgery, 1 shunt, and several hearth catherizations, all due to being born with Tetrallogy of Fallot, better known as Blue Baby Syndrome), Multiple Sclerosis (which Montel Williams and my friend and mentor Annie suffers from), chronic back pain, and MANY other conditions.

Eleven states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ME, NV, OR, RI, VT and WA) allow medical marijuana for the treatment of various illnesses or side-effects associated with major illnesses, and many others are debating it. Whatever your opinion, please educate yourself on the benefits AND the risks, then form your own opinion. You owe it to those who are suffering daily and deeply.

Other Americans who are suffering daily and deeply include:
3,129 US Soldiers killed in Iraq
23,530 US Soldiers wounded in Iraq

They’re Gay, Stupid, or Both

Last week New Jersey decided that homosexuals have the the same domestic rights as the rest of us, which is great because now their former Republican governor (Tim McGreevey) can live the life he had been denying for so long. After the Foley scandal and now Ted Haggard, I’m beginning to wonder if all Republicans in government are just hiding the flames coming out of their asses – not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, it’s just nice if you admit to it (and stop trying to legislate against it). Soon instead of saying someone’s “a little light in the loafers” we’ll all say, “He’s a little Republican.” Additionally, why does anyone feel bad that these guys are having their personal lives brought into the campaign? Wouldn’t it be better to ask why they’re so insensitive to a topic or a group of people they’re so familiar with?

In funnier news, Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said that an employee of his opponent, “unfortunately ate a banana laced with marijuana and had to go to the hospital.” Seriously. That’s what he said. This presents several problems. First, how, exactly, do you lace a banana with marijuana? My husband and I spent a good deal of time trying to figure that out. Second, why would you eat a banana that had already been peeled? Bananas are like condoms. When you see the wrapper, you pretty much assume that you’re the first one to get there. Third, do you have any idea how much THC it would take to actually send someone to the hospital? The banana would have to be pure THC. It would keep you regular, but you’d forget where the bathroom was.

It seems to me that the Republicans (of all sexual orientations) are getting a little nervous about the election. Maybe it’s because of these numbers:
Two thousand, eight hundred and twenty two US Soldiers won’t be voting in next week’s elections.
Twenty one thousand, four hundred and nineteen US soldiers have been wounded in Iraq
Possibly over six hundred thousand Iraqis killed
Does it have more impact if I SPELL IT OUT for you???

No, It’s Not.

A personal disease cannot be controlled. A person becomes stricken with disease through no fault of their own. They are accosted from within, ravaged by pain, and humbled by their own mortality. Families are pillaged to pay medical costs. The individual emotional distress can be overwhelming. Cancer and bipolar disorder fall into the category of personal disease.

A societal disease is an affliction that cannot be controlled by the entity effected by it. Whether it is slow and degenerative (like religion) or swift and chaotic (like AIDS), the results are often devastating. Many of these diseases can be constrained by legal restrictions or common sense for a period of time before exploding on a world-scale. Drug and alcohol addiction fall into the category of societal disease, not personal disease.

So everyone say it with me: Drug and Alcohol addiction is NOT A PERSONAL DISEASE. Why? Because a person can decide at any time to put the beer down and back away from the cocaine. No higher power is required. There is only one step. Personal responsibility is a necessary lesson in life, and many people fail the test (and ruin it for the rest of us) by refusing to learn to partake without excess.

Forget the excuses. Addiction runs in my family, too. In fact, it runs in every family. Just because no one calls someone who plays video games 12 hours a day an addict doesn’t mean he’s not one. We all use escapes, some more obsessively than others. To practice them in moderation is the key, but you must be taught to do so. Temperance is not something that is seen often in America, and many of our societal ills have a lot to do with what we teach our children. If we teach people to refrain from drug and alcohol use, we are not teaching them to live in the world around them. There is a time and a place (and a limit) for everything, and addicts have not learned to recognize that fact.