Is ten million American children on powerful antidepressant drugs enough? Apparently not, because the US government wants to expand it's program. The Presidents 'New Freedom' Commission on Mental Health came out with their recommendations for the US Mental Health system in 2001, and since then the number of children on Seretonin re-uptake inhibitors and a range of other psychiatric drugs has increased dramatically.

Pharmaceutical companies are making big profits marketing these new 'medicines' at children, and US citizens are no doubt supposed to be reassured that their benevolent government is looking after the future mental health of the nation. New labels of 'illness' are being applied to children, and a whole range of psychiatric drugs are now being administered. It is entirely debatable wether the labels being attached to the children in any way represent real mental illness, or instead reflect certain peoples judgments about behavior.

We are told that the drugs themselves do not cause any ill effects, they are merely required to treat the problem, (in this case), the children. They tell us that these are societal illnesses 'clinical depressions' or schizophrenia's, and can be treated with the appropriate drugs. If this is true then why are such a high percentage of the children and young adults involved in school shootings on these antidepressant drugs? Jeff Weise who last week shot and murdered 9 people including his grandfather was taking the Prozac medication fluoxetine, and his dosage was increased 1 week before the shooting.

But of course these things are in no way connected. What is needed apparently, is to expand the number of children receiving these 'medicines'. Research has shown that these drugs can produce sleep depravation cycles, and lead to confusion between dream states and reality. Derangement of the forces that effect consciousness, and states of intense agitation and toxic central nervous system reactions have also been observed as side effects. But not to worry, it's for the benefit of your child!

The expansion of state power to cover all spectrums of society, and to provide intrusive and all pervasive psychological testing and drugging of young children (as well as many millions of adults), is another dangerous and frightening trend. Making early mental health screening a common practice in schools changes them. Instead of being places of learning and growth they become a recruitment centres for the diagnosis of alleged mental health problems in young children. The traditional school is replaced by a system where coercive force is applied both from inside the school, and from outside, by the mental health authorities providing the 'diagnosis' and the Pharmaceutical companies providing the 'medicine'. In this instance state 'access' to your child means their right to recruit your family into this system. The 'integration' of the various services to provide this health care, means your coercion into a closed loop of psychological evaluation, categorization, and treatment.

There are numerous natural alternatives to these horrible and ghoulish policies. Even accepting that some people do suffer from genuine forms of mental illness, there are other more natural ways to address the problems. Personally, I find it impossible to believe that 10 million children require daily doses of psycho-tropic medicine in order to be 'normal'. This is not the way to fight mental illness. Making the state 'god' over your child, and allowing them to determine his or her mental fitness, is nothing but Brave New World type thinking.

I can't get the Terri Schiavo case out of my head at the moment, and the round the clock feeding frenzy on US TV is not helping much. I feel (as I'm sure many others do), that something important and fundamental is happening here. I'm not a citizen of the US, but in this increasingly connected world, I feel in some way 'involved' and emotionally invested in this story. Given the tragic circumstances, it's pretty hard not to.

My basic problem, is that I simply cannot see the justification for the action being taken by Terri's husband Michael Schiavo, and by the judicial and federal authorities supporting him. Upon what basis has it now become acceptable to starve a human being to death? Regardless of the severity of the condition, I fail to understand what possible justification could support the deliberate and prolonged assisted murder of this young woman?

It is equally distasteful that having upheld the husband's position, the courts then endorse a method, that helps to turn Terri's death into a long running, and ghoulish daily media event, complete with hourly updates, press conferences, and endless 'expert' interviews paving the way to her grave. Since when has this become an honorable or acceptable way for the judicial branch of US society to behave? How has a country whose constitution is meant to protect the rights of life and liberty arrived at such a horrible place?

I realize that some people champion the (so called) 'right to die' and believe there is a moral basis for this kind of action. Whatever merits there are to this position (I do not intend to argue them here), it seems to me, that the decision to remove food and water from Terri, rests entirely on the assertion by Terri's husband that this represents her final wish. He has argued that he is only carrying out these wishes, and in doing so, is serving her in his capacity as her husband.

The problem is that it has also emerged in a deposition that Michael Schiavo has been involved in relationships with two other women since his wife’s collapse. One a nursing assistant at the home where Terri was being cared for, told the attorneys acting for Terri's parents that Schiavo would “whine all the time” about how Terri’s illness had ruined his life, and that he couldn’t wait to collect the malpractice settlement. She described him as obsessive, and claimed he stalked her for more than a year after their breakup. (source MSNBC)

There are other unfavorable stories and rumors circulating about Mr Schiavo in the news media and on the internet, but I don't think it does much good to repeat them here. It should be understood though, that it in the final event it is the Florida courts that have made the decision to uphold Michael Schiavo's request that his wife's feeding tube be removed. The Schindlers (Terri's parents), have consistently opposed this, and argued that Terri would have wished to continue life-prolonging measures. Therefore the courts have acted as surrogate decision makers and have made a determination on Terri's behalf.

If the principle basis for the determination to remove life support from Terri is the testimony of her husband, I fail to see how it will ever be possible to know that he has honestly represented her final wishes. Personally I am very uncomfortable at the notion that the state should ever have the right to terminate an innocent adult life without absolute and verifiable evidence that this represents that individuals wish. There does not appear to be such proof in this case. Thus the sad saga is compounded and magnified still further by rumor and speculation as to the true motives and intentions of those involved.

Vox discusses podcasting, the latest earthquake, and Terri Schiavo.

Happy Easter holiday folks!
Vox provides a few Easter stats!
Personal news
The pinky accident!
Dr Who
Get well Gran!

Can you imagine working at the following company? It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics:


29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses
3 have been arrested for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug related charges
8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are current defendants in lawsuits
In 1998 alone:
217 traffic violations
Over 100 were stopped for drunk driving
3,000 unpaid parking tickets were issued


Can you guess which organization this is? Give up? Scroll down for the answer...
















It's the 535 members of your United States Congress. The same group that perpetually cranks out hundreds upon hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line. By claiming "Constitutional immunity" our political overseers avoid criminal prosecution for all traffic crimes. These are only statistics for Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland police files, and do not reflect traffic crimes committed in other jurisdictions. [court records]


PS: This is not a joke.

Reprinted by kind permission of September 911 suprise

I don't feel like putting together anything complex today, besides which, I am turning my attention towards getting the next podcast sorted this weekend. Still you have taken the time to come here, and on Good Friday as well. So here is some linkage fun to keep you amused!

Why not explore the wonderful and slightly unerving eccentricities of Modern Living

If you're feeling plain bored than this might help.

Perhaps you need a little intelectual stimulation to stave off your anxiety?

Or maybe you like Elmer Fudd you just want to catch that crazy rabbit?

On a more practical note, if you ever get tired of sites where you need to register to get to the content, this might help you get a little less bugged out!

If none of that works, I guess you just need to get lost!

Have fun, and check back over the weekend for the voxcast! ;-)

I was really chuffed to get a mention in the first Blogharbor Podcasting Cruise! John and the team are doing a great job, and I for one have received brilliant support from them, (particularly John), in the community forum. They always give you the answer you're looking for, and when you have a question, and don't know what to do, that is EXACTLY what you need! So cheers guys, and thanks for all the hard work you do on our behalf.

Not only that but it's a great idea for a podcast!

Comment

I apologize for my late arrival at this particular informational party, but I would like to review and comment on the following story. Paying it more than casual attention will invariably lead you off in a lot of different directions, many of these are difficult and even dangerous to venture into. If you do choose to spend an hour or two educating yourself on this matter, you will find that some of the sites you visit contain adult content. I do not endorse or condemn the material, but merely suggest you consider it's relevance to the overall story. However, what we see on the surface here is very likely only the ripples moving over the face of a very deep and murky body of water. So watch yourself (!), don't fall in, and just in case.. bring a life-jacket!

Article

The increasingly surreal and psychotic political theatre, that is the present-day United States of America, comes into even sharper focus when you look closely at one of the current hot topics swirling around the political blogosphere. Dubbed 'Gannongate' it has sparked a wave of blogging interest, and investigation from all quarters. The story revolves around how and why '"Jeff Gannon"' an uncredentialed 'journalist' whose only training consisted of a two day course at the Broadcast Journalism School gained access to the inner core of the White House, and was able to pass himself off under a false name or pseudonym, for over 2 years.

The first record of his doing this, appears on February 28th 2003, and continues from then until very recently. Mr Gannon was issued with a daily White House press pass by the Secret Service under his real name of James Dale Guckhert, but would introduce himself as "Jeff Gannon" during White House press briefings. He was generally percieved by commentators and insiders as someone who asked leading (or 'softball') questions. Fox News once hailed him as "a terrific Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent", and he has frequently appeared as an expert guest on various rightwing radio shows. He was also involved as one of the reporters questioned by special prosecutors about the leak of a secret CIA memo, that disclosed the identity of Bush war critic Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative.

Blogger's have since dug up even more related material on Mr Gannon/Guckhert and those companies and individuals affiliated with him. Included, is his involvement with a number of porn websites such as Militarystud.com, MaleCorps.com, WorkingBoys.net, and MeetLocalMen.com. It also emerged that he offered his services as a gay escort. He has been linked with the Republican backed GOPUSA a company run by Texas based business man and activist Bobby Eberle. Gannon's boss at Talon News and GOPUSA is a friend of leading Republican strategist Karl Rove.

Talon News was not in existence until March 29th 2003, (and is currently down), yet Mr Gannon maintains that he merely asked to attend the White House briefings because he wanted to report on the activities there, and was susequently issued with the relevant clearance.

Opinion

At the very least it seems likely that the Bush administration planted a fake reporter to ask soft questions of the president at White Hose press conferences. It also appears that (baring a massive security blunder), senior Bush officials were aware of Mr Gannon/Guckherts past, and his work as a male prostitute/escort.

Rumors also continue to circulate that "Gannon" 'entertained' British PM Tony Blair when he visited the White House on July 17, 2003. According to notes in the minutes report of the TKE fraternity chapter at West Chester University's alumni association, "Gannon" was a member of the alumni chapter. The minutes report
of August 24, 2003 shows that Gannon was engaged in entertaining Blair.

If this is true it only adds another layer of mystery to an ever deepening saga. This story seems to run as far as you can push. However I'm not going to do that, and certainly there are others better qualified or disposed to do so. For me, 'Gannongate' is not about Gannon/Guckherts sexuality, his politics, or even his apparent servility to the current administration. All of those things are obvious and perhaps even intended messages and signals being given off by this story. What is far more interesting, is what it begins to reveal about the reality behind the carefully staged facade of American politics.

Guardian reporter Vikram Dodd reports on a British man currently held in Guantanamo Bay because of an alleged association with the militant Palestinian cleric Abu Qatada. Mr Qatada is accused of being a key recruiter of mujahedeen for al-Qaeda, and is currently the subject of a British government control order. The information is taken from documents of hearings conducted at Guantanamo last year, which have been made partially available. Key sections are apparently still classified.

The man named in the article as Bisher al-Rawi, claims that MI5 urged him to remain in association with Mr Qatada so that he could inform upon him. He also says, that MI5 reassured him that he would not get into trouble for doing this. He alleges that MI5 knew of Mr Qatada's location when he was supposedly in hiding, because he himself had told them, and also that he acted as a "go-between" between the cleric and MI5 when the authorities were saying they did not know where he was.

Comment

Whilst I can't even begin to ascertain the real truth of this story, several things are apparent. Firstly a man is imprisoned, charged with a crime he claims he was assured by MI5 that he would not be charged with. Secondly the Home Office who is responsible for his imprisonment, has nothing to say on the matter. They state that Mr Rawi is an Iraqi citizen, despite the fact that he has resided in the UK for many years, and that his family are British citizens. Therefore no action is apparently needed to ascertain the truth of this man's claim.

Is this another matter upon which we the people are not required to have a point of view? Is it still valid to in any way question the administration of Justice in this country? Of course, we are free to question whatever we like, but nonetheless policy will be enforced. We are to rest easy, and trust in the wisdom of our humble ministerial servants, and the discretion of the intelligence community they work with.

It seems a strange 'war on terror' to me, when Mr Rawi is currently imprisoned in the hell of Guantanamo, whilst Mr Qatada is merely the subject of a control order. If the original object of the governments intelligence operation was to capture Mr Qatada, why is the man who claims he helped the government to do that, currently the one with the lesser degree of liberty?

In the opening decade of the 21st century we are are implementing technologies with incredible creative and destructive potential at a frantic pace. At the same time our political systems seem to be sliding inexorably towards societal barbarity and Judicial tyranny. The enactment of new governmental powers in the US and Europe that removes the rights of the individual and supersedes them with those of the state, is only one small facet of a troubling trend taken by our species in recent times towards totalitarianism.

The suspension of old protections and freedoms should alert us to the fact that something is amiss. The rapidly beating drums of war should awaken us. The climate of fear and suspicion all over our news media should alarm us to the point where we recognize that something is terribly wrong, but does it? For some reason we seem largely indifferent to the erosion of our freedoms. The culture of fairness and tolerance that is supposedly our societies foundation stone is crumbling, yet we barely seem to notice.

We are unable to recognize that we live in a society where our consent is obtained by a process of persuasion, coercion, secrecy, and fabrication. We are not 'informed' as we naively believe, so much as we are subtly led. Nor are we really asked for our real opinions, so much as we are presented with carefully crafted predefined choices that we are assured, represent what the majority of us want.

We are not aware of how little we know, because we happily entrust others with the management of our secrets. We believe our media and our government largely free from the kinds of abuses we have so often seen elsewhere, even when there is very little basis in reality for this belief. Despite constant abuses, lies, deceits, and manipulations, we stubbornly ignore the evidence of our own eyes and ears, and cling to the certainties that deep down we know to be false. All the while blaming others for abuses we ourselves do little or nothing to correct.

The only reason this fraud can be perpetuated upon us, is because we happily continue to allow it. Will we ever wake up, and even if we do, will it be enough? Whatever utopian dreams we might treasure for humanities' future, the question remains, can anything perfect ever result from the minds of imperfect men?

Financial

Money is being spent even as I write, you can see the constantly updated numbers here.

Human

I do not recommend this site to anyone that does not have a strong stomach, or suffers from a weak heart. It is deeply disturbing to imagine that this kind of human carnage is budgeted for out of our taxes.

Somedays I need a reality check but the thing is, even then I can't distinguish the real from the fake. As the news factory transforms into the propaganda zone, I find I can no longer distinguish as easily between real news, (?) and a government briefing.

It's finished!!!

Vox discusses Japanese Robots, MOD propaganda, and a wardrobe malfunction!
(13:22 - 6.1mb)

My brother sent me this great little link. It's a search engine that returns montage images as links. Another funky little way to view the web.

58 seconds of the day!