What’s interesting in the news today?
1. It’s system wide.
From TheDailyBeast “Last week, President Obama pledged to address allegations of corruption and dangerous inefficiencies in the veterans’ health-care system. But before the president could deliver on his pledge, the scandal has spread even further. New whistleblower testimony and internal documents implicate an award-winning VA hospital in Texas in widespread wrongdoing—and what appears to be systemic fraud.
Emails and VA memos obtained exclusively by The Daily Beast provide what is among the most comprehensive accounts yet of how high-level VA hospital employees conspired to game the system. It shows not only how they manipulated hospital wait lists but why—to cover up the weeks and months veterans spent waiting for needed medical care. If those lag times had been revealed, it would have threatened the executives’ bonus pay.
What’s worse, the documents show the wrongdoing going unpunished for years, even after it was repeatedly reported to local and national VA authorities. That indicates a new troubling angle to the VA scandal: that the much touted investigations may be incapable of finding violations that are hiding in plain sight.
“For lack of a better term, you’ve got an organized crime syndicate,” a whistleblower who works in the Texas VA told The Daily Beast. “People up on top are suddenly afraid they may actually be prosecuted and they’re pressuring the little guys down below to cover it all up.”
They have a lot more details and paperwork proof at the link. You should read it all if you have time.
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2. Everybody’s gettin’ in on the scam.
From TheWashingtonTimes “Retired military officers deeply involved in the climate change movement — and some in companies positioned to profit from it — spearheaded an alarmist global warming report this month that calls on the Defense Department to ramp up spending on what it calls a man-made problem.
The report, which the Obama administration immediately hailed as a call to action, was issued not by a private advocacy group but by a Pentagon-financed think tank that trumpets “absolute objectivity.” The research was funded by a climate change group that is also one of the think tank’s main customers.”
“One of the CNA panel’s vice chairmen, retired Navy Vice Adm. Lee Gunn, is president of a private think tank, the American Security Project, whose prime issue is warning about climate change.
The other vice chairman, retired Army Brig. Gen. Gerald E. Galloway Jr., is a prominent adviser to the Center for Climate and Security, a climate change group.”
The piece is long on details as to all the connections.
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3. They know they can’t do it thru proper channels, the legislative way, so they’ll try it thru regulation and executive order.
From TheDailyCaller “Despite being soundly rejected a few years ago, cap-and-trade will soon get its U.S. encore — but not in Congress. The Obama administration will likely use its executive power to unilaterally impose carbon dioxide emissions trading systems.
The Environmental Protection Agency will unveil regulations for existing U.S. power plants early next month. For months, onlookers have been speculating about what could be included in the EPA’s rule for existing power plants.
But over the past few days it has become clear that the Obama administration will use the EPA to push cap-and-trade systems and other anti-fossil fuel policies on U.S. states. Administration insiders have told news outlets that cap-and-trade will likely be one of the options the EPA gives states to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.”
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4. It appears that stories of their demise have been greatly exaggerated, at least in some areas.
From CBSNews/Houston “Republican voters appeared ready to push Texas even further to the right Tuesday, backing Tea Party favorites and casting out longtime Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for a state senator and firebrand radio talk show host who criticized the incumbent as too moderate for one of the state’s most powerful political jobs.
Dan Patrick, who emerged as the front runner from the first round of voting, easily beat Dewhurst in the primary runoff for the GOP nomination, ending the political career of a multimillionaire energy businessman who has been lieutenant governor since 2003. Dewhurst had said this would be his final campaign.”
“With Texas Democrats again the underdogs in November, many Tea Party-aligned candidates who won Tuesday are poised to pursue an aggressively conservative agenda that would likely include further spending cuts, expanded gun rights, and more restrictions on abortion and illegal immigration.
Tuesday’s Republican runoffs settled nominations for four major offices and nearly a dozen statehouse seats.”
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5. Time to shill for Hill. And of course, run interference.
From Politico “An array of Democrats — including Hillary Clinton’s allies — are meeting this week to hammer out a united front on national security issues, including a clear response to Republicans over the Benghazi controversy.
They see an opportunity to wrest control of a narrative that some allies fear could be damaging to Clinton if she moves ahead with a 2016 presidential campaign.”
“A major milestone in the effort will take place this Friday, when a coalition of Democratic-leaning groups and influentials converges at the headquarters of the centrist think tank Third Way for a briefing that includes top Clinton adviser Philippe Reines.”
“Several people involved in the meeting say Reines was invited to speak at Third Way on Friday to discuss the chapter of Clinton’s upcoming book “Hard Choices” that covers the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. diplomatic outposts in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead — including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Reines is one of a few guests expected to speak on various topics. Other anticipated topics of discussion include President Barack Obama’s Wednesday speech about foreign policy.”
Let’s face it, the book will be nothing more than an attempt at CYB, and an attempt to list her “accomplishments,” pathetic as they are.
I say, what difference does it make at this point? The 3 am call came, and she and the White House ignored it. Attempts at revisionist history won’t change that.
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Wandering Views 
2. Putin will get a good laugh when the American military gives up its tanks and modern ships and is issued bows and arrows and sailboats.
Smaller countries who previously depended on the US for security need to make other plans. The Southern states need to re-establish strong state militias for their own protection. These should be made up of fit heterosexual males.
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Why are we surprised when many of our youth take drugs when so many of our adults take prescription drugs or drug their own kids instead of disciplining them?
http://countdowntozerotime.com/2013/12/08/psychiatric-insanity-over-20-of-young-boys-labeled-adhd-what-ritalin-is-doing-to-our-childrens-heads/
The Bible is a much more useful guide to parents than “science”. Too many in the scientific/medical community are sheep (they follow the crowd) or prostitutes (they do what they have to do to make a living).
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Come soon Lord Jesus!
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This is Chas
HRW seems to only visit this thread, and we disagree so often that I thought I would take this opportunity to say I generally agree with yesterday’s 11:00.
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No wonder America elects bad leaders. We are all on drugs:
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/18-crazy-facts-that-show-that-no-nation-on-earth-is-more-doped-up-on-prescription-drugs-that-america-is
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rickyweaver,
I have a doctor who is also a Pharmacist. He likes his drugs. He has me on 10 prescriptions and 3 OTCs.
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From >i>The Washington Times26 May 2014, “The Ring” by Bill Gertz.
“Russia conducted a flight test of an ICBM Tuesday that state media in Moscow said included the test of an advanced warhead.
The road mobile SS-25 missile was fired from a test range …..
‘The purpose of the launch was to test a perspective warhead of intercontinental ballistic missiles,’ the official Interfax news agency (said).
Defense analystsay the latest test highlights Moscow’s strategic nuclear modernization program and raises concerns abut Russia’s earlier threats to develop missile defense-defeating warheads in response to U.S. and NATO defenses in Europe.”
Since the relationship with Russia has been reset, this test is obviously for peaceful purposes.
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If you don’t read The Washington Times and watch Fox News, there are lots of things you don’t know.
There is a new TV channel out there “One America” that gives all the news. May be a competitor to Fox.
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Bob, You are not alone and here is why:
http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2013/12/big-pharma-company-ends-doctor-kickbacks/
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I’d like to say that in my experience medical doctors are all about body chemistry–which is why they prescribe medicine so much.
I joke that my teenage doctor (he looks very young) sees me as a long-term chemistry experiment, which hurt his feelings when I said it out loud. One of my relatives is a physician and their house is where you want to get sick–the medicine cupboard is full and they’re happy to diagnose and drug while you stand there.
Because they look at ailments from that point of view, many are quick to prescribe. It’s faster that way. To really listen and suggest alternates takes time they may not feel they have. It’s one reason why I prefer to see the nurse practitioner if I have the choice and why we’re encouraging our daughter in her question to be a PA.
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HRW from yesterday — I always thought the “chemical imbalance” theory of mental illness sounded plausible, too; very possibly having organic or biological causes, like you said. I’d have to say, though, that reading the small portion of Anatomy of an Epidemic that I did, and especially reading the whole article I linked to yesterday, has made me a lot more skeptical about that theory (which isn’t really a theory, as the article points out, but was a “hypothesis that hadn’t panned out”).
I’m not sure if you read the whole article, or were only responding to the part I quoted yesterday, but I think these are key points relating to the idea of a biological component to mental illness:
“Psychiatry, all along, knew that the evidence wasn’t really there to support the chemical imbalance notion, that it was a hypothesis that hadn’t panned out, and yet psychiatry failed to inform the public of that crucial fact.”
Also this, reasons for why some in psychiatry are starting to admit what was known all along: “One, the low-serotonin theory of depression has been so completely discredited by leading researchers that maintaining the story with the public has just become untenable. It is too easy for critics and the public to point to the scientific findings that contradict it.
Second, a number of pharmaceutical companies have shut down their research into psychiatric drugs [see Science, 2010], and they are doing so because, as they note, there is a lack of science providing good molecular targets for drug development. Even the drug companies are moving away from the chemical-imbalance story, and thus, what we are seeing now is the public collapse of a fabrication, which can no longer be maintained. In the statement by Dr. Pies, you see an effort by psychiatry to distance itself from that fabrication, putting the blame instead on the drug companies.”
I thought this was especially noteworthy: “Researchers haven’t identified a characteristic pathology for the major mental disorders; no specific genes for the disorders have been found; and there isn’t evidence that neatly separates one disorder from the next. The “disease model,” as a basis for making psychiatric diagnoses, has failed.”
Finally, I thought this was a good wrap-up: “Psychiatry’s three domains, in the marketplace, were diagnostics, research and the prescribing of drugs. Now, 34 years later, we see that its diagnostics are being dismissed as invalid; its research has failed to identify the biology of mental disorders to validate its diagnostics; and its drug treatments are increasingly being seen as not very effective or even harmful.”
It’s true that we don’t have all the facts, so it is possible there could be an organic cause found some day, but the fact that Whitaker, an investigative journalist, had documented evidence that standard drug treatments were not only not helping many people (in the long run), but were/are, in fact, making many patients worse over the long term is, I think, an important wake-up call that we need to take a hard look at other possible causes, especially, IMO, spiritual realities.
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Very well put, 6Arrows. The percentage of American women and American boys who are currently taking drugs for mental issues is stunning. My first clue that something was amiss came when my son was in high school. A number of his classmates were suspended for selling or distributing “drugs”. What surprised me is that in virtually every case the drugs were not marijuana, cocaine or heroin. They were perscription drugs from the medicine cabinets of the students’ mothers. After Facebook was created I saw middle-aged women (my former high school classmates) routinely make reference to taking some mental health drug or another. I am convinced the biggest problem with our healthcare system is we are grossly over-medicated and over-doctored with a huge number of unnecessary surgeries. That is what happens when people get stuff for free. I used to tell myself that at least a portion of my tax dollars were used to provide medical care to the poor and the elderly. It turns out many of those tax dollars were used to turn adults into addicts and children into zombies.
We would do well to study Singapore. The biggest difference in their system is that there are no freebies. There is insurance, but citizens always pay a reasonable deductible. This discourages unnecessary surgeries, doctor visits and drug-taking.
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6Arrows, any honest health professional will admit that we have only rudimentary knowledge of how the brain functions. It is by far the most complex organ in the body. It is also certain that the drugs we use to treat such disease as schizophrenia, bipolar, or depression have very risky side effects and results will vary widely between patients.
As an example, I have two relatives, both of whom were diagnosed with depression. One was put on medication – when she became suicidal, she stopped taking it and managed to work through her depression with the support of her family. The other was not diagnosed with depression until she attempted suicide, twice. It was only then that she was placed on anti-depressants. That was nearly twenty years ago and she has been on anti-depressants ever since and thriving. Both were and still are Christians.
‘However, I would be cautious about labeling everything we cannot fully describe as spiritual. I have seen schizophrenics in psychotic break; I have seen bipolar patients in manic phase; I have seen demon possessed people. The demon possession looked nothing like the psychotic break or manic phase. In Matthew 4:24, it talks about Jesus healing both demon possessed people and lunatics. There is a difference between the two.
Christians have no problem with acknowledging that Alzheimers’ or dementia are physical brain illnesses – even though the medical profession can do little but sedate such patients and cannot fully explain how the brain is destroyed. My relative who is on anti-depressants had a father with schizophrenia and a brother with bipolar illness – does that not seem like a genetic cause? One of the schizophrenic patients I met had developed the disease after a serious head injury – does that not seem like a physical origin? We have no problem with the fact that someone may develop heart disease early or late in life depending on genetics and other factors. Why should not the brain, like the heart, develop disease early or late in life?
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Roscuro, Would you not agree that Americans are over-medicated? I am thinking particularly of the millions of children on ADHD medicine.
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Ricky, the ADHD diagnosis is definitely overused and the medication of energetic children who won’t sit still in school is a major problem. However, I would blame that more on parents who are looking for a quick fix for their lack of proper discipline. We all know parents who are too quick to ask for antibiotics when their child has a cold – I have seen parents look for a medical reason when their child misbehaved.
I remember handing out huge numbers of medication to residents at a retirement home and thinking how dangerous that was. But the truth was, those with the most medications were people who demanded it from the doctor – who complained about every ache and pain and wanted a pill for that. Patients have the right to refuse treatment. I do not fill every prescription my doctor gives me – only the ones that work for me. If people are over medicated, it is because they choose to be.
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I agree with you about the parents’ responsibility. It is a “perfect storm”. The teachers (who are no longer allowed to effectively discipline kids) also often suggest “testing” for ADHD for their problem kids. Then the docs and drug companies are more than happy to turn kids into zombies.
I see other unnecessary “healthcare” on a regular basis. There was a nearby hospital (and doctor) that became infamous for removing the gallbladders of a very high percentage of adult patients who came there for any reason.
I also think 6Arrows made a good point about our failure to consider other causes, including spiritual realities.
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Ricky, I have heard Ritalin has a high street value.
It seems these days Americans (speaking generally — there are certainly exceptions) are inclined toward quick fixes. We want what we want, and we want it now, and it it’s pain and suffering that we wish to get rid of, then we too quickly look to what may deliver the relief we desire in the shortest amount of time.
Doctors know this, and, in addition to the fact that they may be getting kickbacks for the drugs they prescribe, I think they’re inclined to recommend drugs as a solution (that is another general statement — I don’t wish to make sweeping statements). I agree with what Michelle stated above, that it’s easier to aim for a quick route through the problem (even when it doesn’t really help) than to take the time to listen and offer alternatives, where possible.
Fortunately, there are medical professionals who do take the time to really listen and suggest non-drug alternatives, but I do wish there were more. In my experience, they are few and far between.
My husband was having several physical problems of unknown origin all at the same time many years ago. It wasn’t too long before his doctor recommended antidepressants, as if the problems were all in his head. Well, hubby wanted nothing to do with being put on mind-altering drugs for their inability to figure out what was wrong with his body.
Our neighbor told of going to the doctor a certain period of time after the death of his first wife (not a very long time after) and having his doctor recommend antidepressants while he was grieving, because he had reported he felt sad. Responding to the doctor that he would not take such drugs, he said, “Shouldn’t I feel sad?”
I know that some have found relief taking medications short-term for very specific reasons, but it seems to me that there needs to be more understanding in the medical community about the very natural response of grief. Not everything that is a normal response to the sorrows and difficulties of life needs to automatically be drugged into oblivion, or even enough to take the edge off the pain, IMO.
In other words, drugs don’t need to be a first resort, but often, it seems, they are recommended before non-drug approaches are given adequate opportunity to bring relief.
Roscuro — Thank you for adding your perspective. I am glad you weighed in on this conversation.
I didn’t mean to imply that every problem we can’t fully describe is a spiritual problem. And I acknowledge that none of us has all the answers about brain maladies, and that certainly the brain is a highly complex organ.
I do believe it is a cause for concern that so many people are on mind-altering drugs for long periods of time, quite possibly unnecessarily, and in some cases, dangerously. Though there are some who need and benefit from the types of medication we’re talking about, we need a discussion on how people who do not truly have this level of need can be better served in a more holistic way, considering the many factors that can be contributing to their challenges.
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Roscuro, I also agree with you about the responsibility of individuals who take drugs. That is why the drugging of children by their parents is so disturbing. My wife used to be a public school teacher. She tells the story of a brother and sister who were normal bright middle school students. For some unknown reason, the parents put them on Ridalin. She said the drug literally turned them into “zombies”. I call that child abuse.
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I appreciate your input here, too, Ricky. Thank you. The widespread drugging of our children is cause for concern, in my opinion, as well.
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Ricky, may I remind you that healthcare workers are human? I see unnecessary legal actions on a regular basis – there are law agencies who are infamous for engaging in frivolous lawsuits for any reason. There is both good and bad in any human endeavour and we frequently fail to consider that we are all fallible, even Christians.
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Roscuro, I didn’t see your 9:54 until after I posted my 10:18. I understand that lots of people do demand medications for virtually every ailment they experience. I hope I didn’t sound as if over-medication is always due to medical professionals’ philosophies on patient care. (See my 2nd paragraph in my 10:18.)
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Roscuro, I was not singling out docs for blame. As I noted above, the biggest problem is our government programs (mainly Medicare and Medicaid) that encourage overuse of the healthcare system by providing free drugs and treatment. If we had Accounticare and Accountaid, everyone’s tax return would cost $15,000 to prepare and the accountants would have the million dollar homes. If LBJ had created Legalcare and Legalaid (to provide free unlimited legal services for the poor and elderly), the US would have gone belly-up in less than six months.
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However, I do agree about looking to the Bible. In the story of Elijah, we have the example of a man, worn down by physical hardship and mental and emotional strain, breaking down in depression with suicidal ideation, despite the fact that he had just scored an enormous spiritual victory (I Kings 19). What does God to with this man? Does He berate him for his lack of faith? Does He cast demons out of him? Does He shun him for giving way to this weakness? No, He has him just sleep (sedation?), feeding him when he needs it. Then, He leaves him alone, for forty days. Only then, does He talk to him – letting him complain and then comforts and gently corrects him. Or how about Job, who after a series of tragic events and a terrible illness, wants to die? God reamed out the friends who suggest to Job that he must have sin in his life to reach his state. He also let Job talk out all his pain and agony, before redirecting and restoring him.
Many of the medications given to psychiatric patients are some form of sedative. It is a scientific fact that rest helps to heal – I have seen deathly ill patients with pneumonia or other things, that they will sedate into a come, so that their bodies can be allowed to heal. If they were left conscious, their physical agony would not allow them to rest and they would perish with the pain. So it is with mental agony. Few psychiatric are only given medication. Most are also given therapy of some kind – I witnessed a support group session for schizophrenics living in the community. Not only was it a time where they could express what they were thinking and feeling, it was also an opportunity for the professionals to see how they were coping. Looking at such examples as Job and Elijah, I don’t think healthcare is necessarily on the wrong track with the treatment they give mental illness. I don’t expect them to treat the spiritual – that is the Holy Spirit’s job, and His physical agents are us, the Church. We aren’t going to get very far if we simply brush off the mentally ill with blanket statements.
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Correction: *come = coma. And that should be ” Few psychiatric *patients are only given medication.” It is getting late.
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Congratulations, Tychicus. Your Spurs are killing my Thunder. If I believed in anti-depressants and had one handy, I might be tempted to take it right now. Instead, I think I will give myself a natural sedative by turning off the TV and the iPad and closing my eyes while in a horizontal position. Goodnight all. I enjoyed the nice discussion. 6Arrows, You are so gracious that a little bit of your kind spirit may even rub off on me.
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I enjoyed the discussion, too. Thanks, Ricky and Roscuro.
Good night. 🙂
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