LegendaryLife Blog

I must admit, being paid to walk around with a big gun, driving rather unique and powerful vehicles does sound like a fun until you realize that your main purpose is to be an efficient killing machine.

Documentary Summary

You should watch this video but here is a summary if you don’t have time.

• war doesn’t only cause physical scars but also mental ones that remain with soldiers for a lifetime, hidden from sight
• solders, when they first entered Iraq, needed verification from their buddies that what they where seeing wasn’t just in their imagination, from destroyed vehicles to dead bodies laying along the road
• reports of suicide bombers where rampant as soldiers first entered Bagdad so they where very fearful as everybody looked like a potential enemy
• solders opened up fire with over 15 weapons against a woman in a black burka that didn’t obey their commands, slowly approaching them only to discover she was trying to pull out a white flag to show the soldiers
• soldier who initiated the first shots decided to hide this experience from others but it began to have a mental toll on him
• there is no protection during war for the mind as you are constantly witnessing death by the hands of others and yourself
• once soldiers return from the battlefield, they begin to regain their emotions and realizing, replaying, the tragedy that they had witnessed
• returning veterans have frequent troubling dreams, feelings and thoughts
• nobody comes back from combat unchanged
• depression, anger and emotional turmoil take their toll and the army re-enforces these thoughts by telling them that their lives are already over and not to worry about their mortality as it don’t make things better
• on any given day, there are more psychological casualties then physical ones during war
• psychological trauma was referred to as shell-shocked in WW1 and battle fatigue in WW2
• 1/3 of returning Vietnam vets suffered from psychological problems upon returning, referred to as post-Vietnam Syndrome
• after Vietnam, the medical community called this problem Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• military focuses too much on physical abilities at the cost of being able to mentally handle the ramifications of an action
• solders are not suppose to show any weakness
• there is a huge stigma towards receiving psychological help, it’s even career ending for soldiers
• Iraq was the first time that psychologists where introduced onto the battlefield to help soldiers cope with what they where experiencing, referred to as Combat Stress Control Teams by the Pentagon
• after a soldier asked for help from the Combat Stress Control Teams, they where mentally abused by the command structure and later discharged for cowardice
• military heavily frowns upon soldiers who refuse to fight or fear dying
• Veterans Affairs is not part of the military and any information given to them is strictly confidential
• resilience treatments are being performed by the military in order to help soldiers cope with their mental problems, ironically, once they are “cured”, they are sent right back into the environment that caused the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• few studies have been made on sending somebody with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder back into a battlefield, military states that combat is their job, regardless of the impact on the mental or physical costs
• purpose of the military is to win wars, people with mental or physical problems are of no use to them
• in January 2005, the Department of Defense slowly began to take steps towards dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in it’s ranks

The Bottom Line

War is the ultimate failure for both diplomats and the soldiers tasked with fighting them.

Frontline Documentary: The Soldier’s Heart

I read these two books a while back… here are a few quotes which stood out while reading them.

Trump! Surviving at the top

What separates the winner from the loosers… is how a person reacts to each twist of fate… life is a series of struggles.

I know that, whatever happens, I’m a survivor, a survivor of success, which is a very rare thing indeed

What’s Luck got to do with it?

If you make a mistake, admit it and it will be OK. If you don’t admit a mistake and try to cover it up… then you’re going to have real problems.
-Ted Waitt, Founder of Gateway 2000

The real key to success is the contact economy. Humans crave connections and anything you do to boost that connection, those units of social intimacy, is going to be wildly successful.
-Jim McCann, Founder of 1-800-FLOWER

…in business you have only 2 ways of surviving: Either your product is better than your competitor’s or it’s cheaper
-Jim Koch, Founder of Boston Beer Company

When you appeal to the highest level of thinking, you get the highest level of performance.
-Jack Stack, Founder of Sprinfield ReManufacturing Corporation

Let’s push for more discussion, not less – everywhere. Let’s seek common ground wherever we can find it.
-Gary Hirshberg, Founder of Stonyfield Farms

As far as an entrepreneur is concerned, I think the successful entrepreneur never feels that the game is over
-Steven Hamerslag, Founder of MTI Technology Corporation

Sudan is Africa’s largest country but has been strife with war for decades as has much of Africa. Muslims use to live side by side with their Arabian friends for centuries within the Darfur region but when great oil wealth was discovered this all changed for the worse. Sadly, Darfur has been characterized as a Rwanda going in slow motion and still, even to this day, little has been done to stem the tide of death and rape.

Background

Sadly, our colonial raping of the continent of Africa continues to this day but slavery has been replaced by something far worse, indifference. We are all responsible for what is occurring as the precious commodity that sparked this tragedy is what goes into your gas tank, is molded into your Barbie Dolls and what powers much of the worlds machinery… we are talking about OIL. So far in the 21st century, from Nigeria to Iraq, OIL has been the catalyst to cause so much misery and death.

Summary

I believe this is worth watching but if you don’t have time, here is a summary of the key points outlined in the documentary:

• Darfur is the first genocide of the 21st century and has gone on pretty much unimpeded over the past 4 years
• camps in Chad (neighboring country where many refuges head to for safety) have a 3 week waiting period
• 200 000 dead, 2.5 million forced to move
• the motto of the UN was “Never Again” after what occurred during the Holocaust but the it has been bogged down by political semantics
• Mia Farrow has given thousands of interviews to push Darfur into he forefront of the worlds consciousness, using her celebrity to spread the word
• Mia has traveled to Darfur (Sudan) 7 times so far
• sudanreeves.org is an influential site to bare witness to the genocide within Darfur
• most attacks begin with an uncoordinated areal attack with a retrofitted cargo plane dropping barrels of explosives onto a village to cause panic followed by the Jajaweed coming into the village by camel, killing the men and raping the woman before moving onto the next village
• in 2003, the security council got together to discuss reports about mass killings happening within Darfur, a province of Sudan
• China partnered with Sudan after oil was discovered in the 21st century and has becoming one of their biggest offshore suppliers
• when oil wealth came into being due to historic agreements in China, the ruling military elite became extremely wealthy as they kept this wealth to themselves with little making its way into the region of Darfur
• Darfur region was comprised of 6 million Muslims use to share scarce water resources with nomadic Arabian herdsmen
• rebel groups formed to claim a share of the countries new found wealth from the ruling elite but instead of sharing, the ruling elite decided to wage war against the rebels by arming militias to do the dirty work, the Janjaweed
• Janjaweed translates to “devil on horseback”
• government arms the Arabs to kill off the Muslims, no more sharing of resources
• government used the Arabs because its a cheap way to wage war, they loot instead of receiving a salary and they reposes land by force
• in 2004 the Muslims thought the UN was coming to rescue them from systematic annihilation but now they have realized that the UN doesn’t care about them
• by 2007, camps in Eastern Chad and Western Sudan comprise of most of the settlements within that region
• the UN provides aid but fails to do anything to prevent the problems causing refuges needing the camps to begin with
• by the end of 2003, 700 000 people in Darfur where forced from their homes
• by 2004, areal photographs showed villages burning to the ground followed by a number of alarming reports
• 200 000 to 500 000 people so far are estimated to have been killed during the conflict so far
• in the book A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide, Samantha Power shows that world governments have a history of being shy to intervening when genocide is occurring even when faced with overwhelming proof, they want it stopped but don’t want to take risks
• the UN sat idly by as Bosnia and Rwanda occurred, when Sudan began to occur, the lessons learned from past failures regarding genocide where not practiced
• the United Nations security council is the most powerful council within the UN but sadly, it’s also where most of the politics of inaction towards Sudan took place
• Russia couldn’t condemn Sudan because it was doing the same thing in Chechnya, United States wanted action but it lost status due to its carelessness within Iraq, China didn’t want to do anything that would affect its relationship with the Sudanese government providing it with much needed oil
• Sudan ignored security council resolutions and suffered NO REPROCUSIONS
• on September 9th, 2004, Colin Powell told the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee that genocide had occurred within Sudan and the Sudanese government along with the Janjaweed bear responsibility for what was occurring
• war crimes and crimes against humanity where discovered within Darfur by the UN after extensive investigations but still nothing has happened
• woman living in camps within Chad and Sudan risk rape daily simply because they need to leave the camps to gather firewood to feed their family
• Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, the Sudanese Ambassador to the UN, said much of the genocide occuring is blown out of proportion and made up, they say bad things happen during war and that is basically the way life goes
• in 2005, the UN continued to talk about what is happening within Sudan and the government didn’t do anything while the Security Council was in a stalemate
• the UN doesn’t have the ability to enter a country against the governments wishes
• it took 5 years of Canadian advocacy before the UN passed a resolution allowing it to enter sovereign states without their permission during the world summit in 2005, it now had the authority to enter a country and protect its citizens from their own government
• in 2006, 8 resolutions happened against Sudan (7 in 2005, 4 in 2004) and they where systematically ignored like the previous ones by the Sudanese government
• one of the resolutions allowed the UN to enter by force to protect the populations within Darfur but China added a demand that it must be done with the approval by Sudan, which Sudan then declined
• the problems within Darfur has now spread into Chad, turning the border between the two country into a new killing field
• Chad is the 5th poorest country in the world but now they have the Janjaweed to worry about in addition to abject poverty and malnutrition
• on the United States Mall, in Washington, The worlds largest antigenocide rally occurred in May 2006 with many celebrities trying to highlight the cause including George Clooney
• in 2007, the Janjaweed and Sudanese leader where indited by the International Criminal Court (world court) for crimes against humanity but the Sudanese government said it would not hand over these two criminals
• Olympic Games in China called by some the “Genocide Olympics” to make China personally responsible for the Genocide occurring in Sudan due to its direct investments in Sudanese Oil which was the cause of this genocide to begin with
• on July 31st, 2007, there is an agreement within the UN Security Council to send 26 000 troops to Darfur by the end of the year but there is no mandate to protect the citizens nor disarming the Janjaweed

What can YOU do?

There are a number of websites dedicated towards making genocide a thing of the past, here are a few of the more well known ones.

http://www.darfurgenocide.org

http://www.genocideintervention.net

http://www.sudanreeves.org

The Bottom Line

Todays oil is tomorrow water, hopefully we become more civilized before this transition takes place.

Watch the documentary at:
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/darfur/video.html

Entrepreneurship is a muscle that must constantly be exercised, otherwise, the sparks stop flying and igniting other fires! As part of this regimen, I am happy to announce that I have launched WoodMarvels.com to the world. I have been reading about product recalls due to lead in childrens toys and I decided to take the initiative to do something about it. Although the idea came to me a few years ago, technology, media attention and lifes circumstances prompted to push this idea a little further along.

You can read more about this by visiting WoodMarvels.com or see visit other i3DS International Corporation properties.

Americans spend over 40 billion dollars a year on potions, products and programs designed for a singular purpose – to loose weight. Ironically enough, the more Americans spend on loosing weight, the more weight they gain! Frontline has looked into this phenomena in it’s documentary Diet Wars.

Summary

I believe this is worth watching but if you don’t have time, here is a summary of the key points outlined in the documentary:

• January is when most Americans think of shedding the weight
• many obese people realize the damage they are doing to their health but simply cannot change their habits
• heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol and cancer risk factors are all influenced by carrying excess weight
• 2/3rds of Americans are overweight with most living in a state of denial
• Pritikin diet consists of fruits, fish, vegetables, soy milk, beans, it’s basically an ultra-low calorie reduced diet
• Atkins consists of eating all the fat you can while limiting the starches, fruits and cereals
• Atkins contradicts everything the government and scientific community has told the public
• Atkins works by reducing caloric intake, just like all diets that are effective
• the anti-fat (low fat diet) dogma is difficult overcome
• in the 90s, the food industry began removing fat from our foods (to reduce caloric intake and reduce weight of consumers)
• all commercial foods are made up of protein, water, carbohydrates and fats but removing the fat from a product requires the addition of one of the other three (usually carbohydrates) which gives them the same calories as regular “non-low-fat” products
• 3 000 calories of carbohydrates = 3 000 calories of fat
• low fat era of the 90s caused Americans to before fatter then ever with a third being obese by the early 2000s
• eating too much refined sugars (rice, white bread, pasta) cause sugar rushes which then causes the pancreas to over-compensate with insulin which in turn stimulates hunger
• Atkins works by satisfying your hunger due to the high protein and fat content (it’s burned slowly by the body verses carbohydrates which are burned quickly)
• saturated fat and cholesterol help clog up the bodies arteries
• Harvard recorded the lifetime diets of health professionals and after 20 years of research they found out that saturated are animal fats are linked to heart disease and cancer but unsaturated fats from fish and vegetable oils help protect people from these conditions
• unrefined carbohydrates are filling and nutritious while refined carbohydrates have the opposite on the effects on the body
• nuts are very high in fat and protein but also very nutritious
• South Beach Diet outsells Atkins now in the United States
• 80-90% of people who loose weight from specialized diets gain it back within a year due to cravings and returning to old habits
• Weight Watchers keeps the weight off longer then other plans due to the community support lacking from many other diet programs, it isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change
• Weight Watchers uses a buddy system, teamwork, to maintain weight loss
• 65% of Americans are overweight or obese
• Americans live in a dream world compared to our ancestors where food is plentiful and cheap without requiring physical activity to acquire it
• childhood obesity rates are skyrocketing due to improper diet and lack of activity (some 12 year olds already have type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol)
• one child in two within the United States is at risk of developing diabetes over their lifetime
• most school cafeterias are full of junk food which works against their abilities to get a proper education
• children don’t play outside as before, families don’t eat together and the television has become a baby sitters (societal values have changed)
• sedentary lifestyle reduces calorie requirements by the body so even a normal diet can cause obesity
• America On The Move promotes healthy weights by using pedometers, creating fun, goal orientated activities to loose weight
• schools that cut out physical education to save funds are now returning towards physical activity as part of the school curriculum
• food is an important part of American culture, which is why limiting food consumption is a difficult task for most Americans
• all diets are gimics, long term changes are required after the initial weight loss and self-control isn’t a sexy marketing catch-phrase

My Dieting Views

The entire diet industry is made up of a lie, that of money. To be more specific, that you need to spend money to get the body you want… things couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead of giving your power to a third party, save your money and time, invest in yourself instead!

The Bottom Line

Permanent weight loss is easy if you are willing to change your lifestyle.

Buzzvia
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/diet/view/

People suffering from mental health issues use to be housed in psychiatric institutions but now, in the United States, they are increasingly being held in jail. If fact, one out of every 10 patients are now housed behind bars with the general inmate population, which now represents over half a million of those held in detention facilities around the country.

Summary

I urge you to view the video yourself but if you don’t have time, here is a summary:

• prisons have become the new state mental health facilities as they where systematically shutdown due to budget cuts and policy changes
• 50 000 mentally ill stay in state hospitals but 500 000 stay in prison
• 16% of prison inmates in Ohio are mentally ill requiring special services (medication, follow-up… ) that most facilities aren’t built to provide
• 30% of those 16% mentally ill will always require hospitalization and professional services to keep their condition manageable
• patients requiring acute care or constant watch are sent into the prison infirmary
• patients become suicidal, depressed and delusional due to being housed in a prison facility
• prisons are built to provide safety and security for the local population, not mental health services
• most mental health patients are in prison due to minor offenses and not following orders by lower level detention facilities
• Ohio prison system tries to triage those who are mentally ill verses criminal intent regarding disciplinary action
• mentally ill patients require more force then the general prison population because they quickly become out of control
• mentally ill inmates are often cycled between maximum security prison to mental health facilities for stabilization then back again into prison
• once mentally ill inmates return to prison, their conditions quickly degrade
• prison mental health services are often better then those in community based settings as close monitoring and force can be applied
• some inmates believe prison makes their condition better while others say it makes it worse
• isolation makes those who are already mentally ill worse and they fall apart due to lack of intellectual stimulation
• parole is a difficult goal to achieve due to their mental illness which often leads to an extensive rap sheet being produced in addition to their own bias towards wanting to guarantee mental health services in prison for the inmates own good
• some mentally ill inmates fear leaving prison because they fear the complexity of everyday life, they believe they are better off in the confines of a controlled environment
• mentally ill inmates have a high rate of return after parole as they often stop taking their medication, believing they don’t need it anymore and are cured
• two million people are behind bars in the United States, of which 25% have mental problems

The Bottom Line

Mental illness requires close attention by medically educated professionals, not people involved with law enforcement.

Buzzvia
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/asylums/

Let’s face it, AIDS is going to be with us for at least the next half century if not more. The reason that HIV Disease has been such a successful virus around the world is because it exploits all the human weaknesses that make up our various civilizations. Each year, there are new promises made by scientists regarding eradication of this deadly virus but this simply leads to more knowledge being acquired regarding the complexity of this virus.

Summary: Part 1

I encourage you to view this program online but if you don’t have time, here is an extensive summary.

• by the time HIV Disease was diagnosed in the United States, over 250 thousand people where infected, by the time it was diagnosed in Africa, millions where already infected
• the AIDS virus is 150 times smaller than the size of the blood cell it attacks and eventually kills, progressively over several years, the body dies from an infection due to an overwhelmed (now severely compromised) immune system without anymore t-cells to combat infection
• originally, most patients died within a few months upon diagnosis
• June 1981, CDC reports in the MMWR the occurrence of a mysterious disease which will soon be labeled as AIDS
• originally, infections where among healthy gay men who had a number of recreational drugs and sexual partners so the point of infection was very difficult to track down
• infection diagnosis then spread through the Haitian community, the CDC couldn’t figure out the connection between the gay men in large cities and the Haitian Community in Florida
• in Europe, infections began to show up in heterosexual couples who where not from Haitian backgrounds nor homosexual ones
• November 1981, three drug users where diagnosed in New York with AIDS which later lead to an epidemic of AIDS within the drug communities
• diagnosis of AIDS leads to becoming a social outcast within their peers, as this was mostly hitting the gay and drug communities, they where not a priority by the government (they didn’t care)
• government didn’t want public tax dollars going towards helping people who deserved to die based on actions against the Laws of God
• CDC warns that AIDS has entered the blood supply after a child becomes infected with AIDS
• Hemophiliacs are the next group to be infected with AIDS en mass, CDC then realized that AIDS had to be a virus spread through sharing of bodily fluids
• blood banks refuse to admit that AIDS could be spread from blood transfusions, even when faced with evidence by the CDC, it took two years before they began screening procedures, leading to 35 thousand confirmed new AIDS cases
• President Reagan comes into power and institutes a 25% cut in funding to the CDC, leading to two years of stagnation in the AIDS epidemic
• scientists had trouble finding the original source of AIDS, leads lead to the Congo
• once scientists visit the Congo, they realize that woman can also be infected with AIDS, once this is reported to high ranking government officials, they still cannot put two and two together as the gay and drug user biased is systemic throughout the administration
• Haitians where contracted by the now independent Congo once the Belgians left in the 1980s to teach the Congonese population, once they return, they infected many Haitians (the connection is now made)
• many gay men would travel to Haiti for cheap sex, then returning to the United States, leading to further infections within the gay community
• AIDS spread quickly through the closed and impoverished Haiti population
• bathhouses in the gay community became huge points of infection among the population, government officials debated the impact
• 1983, AIDS was a political disease even in the face of overwhelming evidence that it didn’t discriminate against host (sexual orientation, race or background)
• in the summer of 1983, HIV Virus was isolated by the French but scientists in the United States couldn’t wrap their head around more then one retro-virus existing
• HIV is thought to come from Chimpanzees that carried SIV hunted by humans in Central Africa sometime in the 1930s
• 1959 was the first confirmed case of somebody dying of AIDS
• one infection from a Chimpanzee to one Human lead to the current AIDS epidemic
• in May of 1984, the first AIDS blood test was developed and work on a vaccine is promised within two years
• AIDS blood test reveals that somebody can be HIV positive but completely healthy for decades before symptoms become apparent, leading to exponential infection rates
• in 1985, the gay community was going through an incredible challenge as people where dying daily, half of hemophiliacs died from AIDS as well
• during the second term of Reagan’s administration, AIDS was still not acknowledged and still seen as a mainly a gay problem
• Rock Hudson was a gifted Hollywood actor, known for his looks and ability with the woman, the personification of a perfect male, was the first major figure diagnosed with AIDS
• Rock Hudson’s death lead to AIDS becoming mainstream with widespread public fear, discrimination and paranoia spread across the country
• Ryan White, a 14 year old hemophiliac infected with AIDS is forced to quit coming to school due to unfounded fears and ignorance
• in September 1985, the Reagan’s administration re-enforces stigma that AIDS can be spread by casual contact, which is then denied by the scientific community which says AIDS is spread by exchanges in bodily fluids
• AIDS hides itself behind the bodies own sugars that essentially make it invisible to the human immune system
• in 1985, two million people where infected (mostly in Africa) and over 500 thousand Americans
• sex and homosexuality are taboo subjects in Africa which lead to exponential infection rates
• Jonathan Mann encountered AIDS in Zaire in 1984 during a study for the CDC and lead a WHO global program across the world, breaking taboos and forcing the issues behind AIDS into the public
• Irine Kaliba lead the development of the first AIDS support organization in Uganda after her husband died from AIDS caused by a blood transfusion, promoting education and hope to stop the AIDS infection growth rates (leading to a decrease)
• in 1985, heroin and the sex industry caused an explosion in new AIDS cases within Thailand
• 1 in 10 new army recruits where found in Thailand to be infected with AIDS, the government acted quickly to promote the use of condoms among sex workers while neglecting the drug users who had infections rates of up to 40%
• in Britain, AIDS was primarily spreading through the Heroin community from 0% to 56% within an 18 month period, in response, the government sets-up needle exchanges across the UK
• in 1987, United States Senator Jesse Helms was insulted by publications spreading knowledge about AIDS prevention and pushed for a ban against homosexual materials which is still on the books today, this was seen as a blow to the AIDS fight
• AZT was a cancer drug from the 1950s that caused immune system regeneration in AIDS patients, it was a public funded drug whose patent was given to a private company by the United States government at the price of 10 000$US a year
• mass demonstrations against the slow process of AIDS drug approval and extremely high drug prices
• AZT doesn’t totally knock out the AIDS virus, as a result, it adapted and became drug resistant to the once promising drug
• in 1987, the AIDS memorial quilt is displayed in Washington, over 40 thousand Americans had already died from AIDS
• on May 31st, 1987, president Reagan finally speaks-out about AIDS, while pushing for education, he also took steps that would be counter-productive such as testing new immigrants and not promoting condom use
• by 1990, a million Americans are infected with AIDS, equivalent to 1 on every 250 people across the United States population
• Ryan White Care Act is passed by Washington to begin putting a wedge in the exponential global increase in AIDS infections
• Jonathan Mann departs the WHO because of personality conflicts, his high profile work lead to conflicts with his boss who was jealous of Jonathan’s success on the AIDS front

Summary: Part 2

• Africans migrate en mass to South African in search of jobs
• next to the hostels where the men live are brothels where AIDS is spread through the population
• when Mandela is released from Jail, 1% of the South African population had been infected with AIDS but the government did very little to combat the growing epidemic over the following four years
• in 1984, Mandela saw his job being mostly that of reconciliation and led his vice president to take the helm of the AIDS fight
• during the five years that president Mandela was in office, he rarely discussed AIDS as infections where doubling on a yearly basis within his country
• Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 promising to take the lead in the AIDS fight, in stark contrast to Reagan
• HIV was thought to be dormant for several years before infection but scientists found out that it replicated by the billions on a daily basis starting on the first day of infection, it just took a long time before these actions progressed to compromise the immune system
• replication of HIV isn’t a perfect process, as such, drug resistance is a given
• in 1996, the triple cocktail developed by the team working under Dr. David Ho shows incredible promise against the AIDS virus, the cost was 16 thousand dollars a year
• by 1996, 20 million Africans where infected with HIV with no way of affording the cost of treatment, which lead to an enormous moral question being asked
• AIDS patients in the United States with health care could afford the drugs but not those without it while in Brazil the triple cocktail is freely available to anybody who needs it, yet it’s banned in South Africa
• Brazil had 500 thousand infected AIDS patients in the 1990s, the government built the AIDS clinics in poor neighborhoods but it wasn’t until a patient brought the government to court did they provide the triple cocktail to their population
• AZT can prevent transmission between mother and child
• President Mbeki continues to see that AIDS is an environmental and social disease, infection rates are now to 20% within the population which was completely preventable
• infection rates within the black communities skyrocketed while they stabilized in the rest of the American population
• 40% of new AIDS infections come from IV drug users within the United States
• AIDS becomes a global pandemic which is met with absolute ignorance many governments around the world who deny its existence
• 20 million people died by the end of the 1990s by HIV/AIDS infections while most of the international community still looked the other way
• in the late 1990s, President Mbeki repeats his denials about AIDS, saying it’s caused by poverty, not a virus during the first AIDS conference in Africa
• the pharmaceutical industry stand behind their intellectual property rights behind the AIDS drugs they had developed at the cost of poor peoples lives
• George Bush creates a 15 billion dollar PEPFAR fund to help provide free AIDS drugs to Africans dying of AIDS to sidestep the UN Global Fund pushed by Kofi Annan
• United States leadership still think that AIDS was a consequence of sinful behavior, as a result, not their problem, hence funds where released with strings attached in 2002
• Christians see AIDS as an opportunity to spread the word of God to dying patients around the world
• UN Global Fund against AIDS targeted over 160 countries while the Bush plan concentrated on mostly African countries
• SARS in China affected the global community to open transparency about health problems
• disease, for the first time, seen as a situation that can affect economic and national security of a country
• triple cocktail needs to be taken for life as the infection returns afterwards, HIV never go away from a persons body, you can suppress it but not eradicate it
• Bush’s AIDS plan relies on prevention, where 20% of funds are allocated and shies away from direct sexual talk such as condom use
• prostitution, homosexuality and condom distribution are no-nos regarding receiving funds from the Bush administration
• the challenges posed by AIDS are far and wide with the implications of an entire global community relying on a constant supply these life saving drugs
• triple cocktail users live up to 8 years longer on the drugs but the costs take up a large portion of government health care budgets
• in 2008, both the UN and US funds against AIDS run out
• 95% of new infections take place in poor countries with 40 million in new infections over the next several years
• drugs and treatment programs cannot keep-up with infection rates
• India already has 5 million infections
• HIV spreads among mostly heterosexual populations now
• 5 million new cases per year, no cure and no vaccine exists
• current generation don’t know the face or challenges with AIDS, they tend to think it’s a manageable disease with little consequences, which is false
• AIDS fight is now towards mitigation, not beating it as too many have died and are being infected daily
• Nelson Mandela’s son has died from AIDS
• AIDS shows how interconnected we really are

The Bottom Line

HIV/AIDS is a condition that will be with us for at least the next generation if not more but prevention is always a more effective mechanism to control the spread then treatment.

Buzzvia
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/view/

Although this documentary was done in the early 1980s, the same issues are alive and well today. From forced abortions in China to fit the “one child policy” to mothers who aren’t ready for the burden of motherhood. Abortion isn’t an easy topic to tackle but this documentary does a fantastic job of outlining the situations real women face on a daily basis around the world.

Summary

• old seminary transformed into an abortion clinic
• pregnancy termination is a very complex issue and a very difficult situation for many woman to deal with even once they have entered the clinics wall
• Christian group try to trick woman away from their choice to have an abortion
• abortionist has no problem with this title but does have problem with being defined only as an abortionist when the doctor provides far more services to the woman then simply pregnancy termination services
• clinic offers counseling for each of the patients before and after the procedure
• Christians essentially equate a first term child with a fully developed human being but in a smaller form factor
• many of the woman seeking abortions do so because of financial and societal pressures that would adversely affect their life in a negative way
• woman seeking abortions seem to come from dysfunctional families on the lower side of the economical and educational ladder (at least in this documentary)
• abortion occurs in a very clinical setting by people who are professionals at dealing with the various issues associated with the procedure
• entire abortion takes only a few minutes to perform from start to finish and seems like a relatively painless procedure when compared to childbirth
• emotional impact doesn’t seem to hit the patient until after the procedure is completed
• first trimester material is mostly placental, not a fully formed small human being that Christians anti-abortionists claim
• abortionist admits that second term abortions can take their toll emotionally, hence, first term abortions are preferred (sooner is always better)
• anti-abortionists try to associate an emotional connection with their unborn child, giving it human traits such as ability to suck their thumb, heartbeat, brainwaves, bowel movements etc.
• interesting anti-abortionist quote: “it’s not whether to have a baby or not, the baby is already there, the question is what to do with the baby”
• anti-abortionists focus on the graphic nature of having an abortion performed instead of the emotional, lifelong toll of woman having children they cannot take care of
• dedication of both anti-abortionists and doctors performing abortions for their causes is admirable
• clinical counseling asks very tough questions to the soon to be potential patient and lets them know that alternatives are available
• anti-abortionists paint a rosy picture of what happens if they keep the baby no matter how bad their situation in life really is

Interesting Observations

I am sure that having an abortion is a very difficult decision for any woman to face no matter their socio-economical background but in this documentary, I am surprised at how down and out the woman really are. Their decisions are not based on the love for their child but on the burden it may have on them and their family. Another interesting observation is how the boyfriend during the two abortions performed on camera are nowhere to be seen and aren’t the most upstanding citizens to begin with. On a final note, if you take away the religious philosophies behind the anti-abortionists beliefs, their arguments have absolutely no legs to stand on.

The Bottom Line

Abortion should be a freely available option for any woman who thinks, justifiably or not, that she isn’t really for motherhood.

Buzzvia
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/twenty/watch/abortion.html

Modifying kids behavior in order for them to fit inside of a “one size fits all” mold is never a good idea but sometimes, this is all that can be done because of lack of resources (financial, chronological and emotional).

Background

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and begins in childhood in which the child is difficult to control due to lack of attention, hyperactivity and other behavioral problems. ADD is simply the condition without the hyperactive aspect being expressed by the child. It is mostly treated with medication and neither the cause nor ways of preventing it are known.

Summary

I encourage you to view this video but here is a summary in the meantime:

• children failing preschool, being told they suffer from brain disorders and need psychiatric medications to control behavior in schools
• each class within a school in the United States have 2-3 kids consuming behavior modification drugs and this is only increasing
• 4x more psyciatric medication prescribed to Americans kids then what is prescribed around the world combined
• Family A
  • their child was misbehaving, impulsive, unfocused and to his teacher, he needed medication to “fit in”
  • 6 million school kids diagnosed with ADHD / ADD in the United States
  • diagnosis based on list of 28 multiple choice questions, child, which is three and a half, was diagnosed with ADHD by psychiatrist and being told he needed medication to calm him down
• Family B
  • child takes 3 tables in the morning, some more during lunch then later in the day to help child concentrate
  • parents told child needed medication based on teachers assessment, such as talking with others and being social during classes
  • Retalin is being sold as the safest medication to help a child get over ADHD
  • child approached parents to get on the medication to help develop focus in school
  • child went from failing to great achievement in school, helped athletic performance and had a dramatic difference in personality traits
  • in 7th grade, child had doubts as to effectiveness of taking Retalin and decided to stop medication against wishes of school, psychiatrist and family
  • teachers noticed changes in childs behavior during 7th grade even when they didn’t know she was diagnosed with ADD
  • after a month off Retalin, child returned onto drugs, making teacher happy that the student can once again focus
  • half way through 7th grade, Retalin was replaced with Adderall
• medication prescribed so child is within a normal range of behavior
• in the 50s and 60s there wasn’t a need to have 6 million children medicated for ADD / ADHD, so what changed?
• ADD / ADHD is considered a fraud by Scientologists and they pushed school boards to stop pushing for medication of their student population
• ADHD is a lifelong condition, neurological and inherited which can only be “cured” via medication
• ADHD drugs cannot be advertised directly to patients so “public talks” about ADHD used to open “awareness” about the problem and the drugs that can sure it
• ADD / ADHD is a billion dollar a year industry, diagnosis is a booming industry
• Shire Richwood, drug maker of ADHD drugs, advocates under the association CHADD
• CHADD pushed for children to be eligible under disability act, so they can have less homework, extra services and classes for their child paid by school
• in the 1980s ADD / ADHD incidences where stable but diagnosis boomed in the 1990s after the United States made this condition eligible under the disability act as parents found out about the advantages of such a program
• lawsuits flying all over the place that there is a conspiracy between Novaris (Retalin manufacturer), Shire Richwood (Adderall manufacturer) and CHADD to over-prescribe ADD / ADHD drugs to children to help their bottom line
• Family C
  • diagnosis of ADD / ADHD is complex as it co-exists with other psychological problems such as depression, self-esteem and other factors
  • child is very sensitive and depressed
  • child had problems hanging out with the wrong crowd, suffered from peers making fun of him due to weight and other insults
  • child became overly concerned about future (in negative way)
  • child brought to church where a therapist thought he suffered from suicidal tendencies
  • child attempted suicide after being put on medication for several months, was tired of his life no matter how much medication was prescribed
• ADHD linked with depression in 18% of cases, additional drugs prescribed which also helped him loose some weight (child is morbidly obese)
• scientists have a tough time finding out more about ADD / ADHD as to cause after close to 20 years of study
• stimulants (Retalin, Adderrall etc. ) are effective against ADD / ADHD, it’s seen as a disorder of efficiency which may be due to size of cerebellum (being smaller in ADD / ADHD vs normal child)
• CCHR, association funded by Scientologists, doesn’t recognize psychiatric industry, says medication for psychological conditions is nothing but witchcraft
• Family D
• child diagnosed with ADHD in grade two, put on Retalin and by the time child was in 6th grade, was on a host of drugs to control behavior but no drugs seemed to work
• parents got court order to put child on Adderrall against his wishes, his condition lead to breakup of family

My personal views about ADD / ADHD debate

I believe that ADD / ADHD in 95% of the cases is based on environment and diet, there is nothing wrong with a child who is inattentive nor hyperactive, we are all different.

Most people have an atrocious diet, this does nothing to help both mental and physical development. The main reason that medication is being pushed is to help teachers better perform their jobs, these children are simply BORED with where they are and methods being used to teach them. Kids (and adults) of course have no problem focusing on things they LOVE to do. I was bored in University and most of high school, I had a few exceptions when the teacher that taught had a real passion for their courses, others simply treated us like robots to memorize and spit out results. Of course, it’s always easier to simply prescribe medication for all involved (including parents) then to make a drastic change in environment. Maybe your kid isn’t meant to learn via school, throw them on a boat and travel around the world, I believe the symptoms you see would quickly disappear.

I also believe a steady diet of television in the formative years aggravates the condition. Think about it, your brain adapts to the environment around it, if you are watching television, your brain is being taught that something new and exciting is always but a few seconds away… that’s why it’s entertaining. Go from this to a static class room for up to 8 hours a day and no wonder the brain over-reacts (hyperactivity or depression). Think about it.

Of course, there is that 5% of cases where medication may be required, but treating children with drugs while the brain is still developing should be avoided at all costs. To summarize, I believe ADHD / ADD is very similar to cancer, in which environment and lifestyle choices play an enormous role in its development.

The Bottom Line

Real or not, ADHD is here to stay because the alternatives to medications are simply too much of a perceived burden.

References
http://www.myfoodcount.com/healthylife/whatis/adhd.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/medicating/watch/

Haven lost both of my sisters to drug use, I try to keep up to date with what is going on in the drug world for my own personal knowledge. Let me be clear though, I consider addicts to be their own victim, I have no pity for them what-so-ever. They have made decisions for their own selfish reasons, day after day, week after week and year after yet to continue using their drugs of choice. They are no longer a fellow human being in my mind but empty shells of who they once where. They are the closest thing to a zombie, or a walking dead as you can get in the real world, nothing more, hence, deserve everything that happens to them.

Background

Methamphetamine (also known as meth) is a psychostimulant drug that works by causing those to take it to feel extreme euphoria and excitement. It can be smoked, injected, snorted or ingested and the highs can last up to a day. Unlike Cocaine and Heroin, traditional hard drugs, meth is relatively cheap and its key ingredients, ephedrine or pseudoephedrins can only be produced by highly sophisticated manufacturing techniques that are only possible by nine companies worldwide. Hence, meth can be easily controlled off the marketplace if there was a global will and desire to do so.

Summary

I encourage you to view this video but here is a summary in the meantime:

• key ingredient in meth (ephedrine) is also key ingredient in cold medicines, hence freely available for easy production
• feel happy and euphoric when on but people loose themselves when they come back down after the drug effects have worn off
• meth has a distinct effect on the physical appearance of addicts, teeth go missing, open sores on the face as the toxins get released by the body
• meth turns people into a shell of what they once where
• leading cause of property crime and child welfare cases in Oregon
• epidemic has spread west from Oregon towards New York (East cost to West coast)
• meth addicts are responsible for 85% of the crime rate in Oregon
• meth is ultra-stimulant whose effects can last for up to a day
• 50% of children in foster care are due to meth addicted parents, sometimes referred to as meth orphans as a result
• dopamine release into the brain due to meth use leads to 12x increase, brain changes as a result of this extreme release, hence everything seems blah when not on, very difficult to get any type of euphoric or happy feelings
• thought to be the most addictive drug in its class
• crystal meth is considered a super-amphetamine, is cheap and easy to cook
• Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) tries to go after key ingredients instead of cook labs but pharmaceutical industry so far have resisted due to the impact it may have on their profits
• meth labs come in all sizes, from one bedroom trailers to highly automated and advanced factories (superlabs)
• batches take 48 hours to produce and lead up to 100 pounds of meth which equals 4 million dollars of net profit
• you cannot grow meth, unlike marijuana, heroin and cocaine, hence its easily susceptible to enforcement measures as only nine factories in the world produce they key ingredient (ephedrine)
• as meth purity declines, so does meth use and ability for addicts to kick the habit
• pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are interchangeable, when the United States banned ephedrine sales over the counter, labs simply changed key ingredients but this lead to explosions and toxic materials being used as the recipe had to change
• smurfing is how many labs got their key ingredient after the DEA kept taking their key ingredient away, basically, go to pharmacy and buy 3 packs of cold medicine and then repeat until you have the necessary supply
• meth now using Mexican connections after the United States clamped down on supply of ephedrine / pseudoephedrine due to lack of regulation and enforcement
• meth is the most abused drug in the world, there are more addicts of meth then cocaine and heroin combined

The Bottom Line

Drug addiction is a choice, directly or indirectly, the addicts only have themselves to blame for their circumstances.

Reference
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/
http://myfoodcount.com/healthylife/drugskilled/drugs/amphetamines.html