short notes:
will brady's ruminations
will brady's ruminations
2010-01-03
human rights alert - electroshock devices
This is a reminder that comments are due to the FDA on the safety of electroshock machines by January 8, 2009.
The FDA Wants to Declare Electroshock Machines Safe without a Safety Investigation. TELL THEM NO!
It has allowed these machines to be used on millions of patients over the past generation without requiring any evidence whatsoever that shock treatment is safe or effective! This is so even though shock machines are Class III---high risk---devices, which by law are supposed to be investigated by clinical trials as thoroughly as new drugs and devices just coming onto the market.
In April 2009---20 years after it first ruled the devices high-risk and named brain damage and memory loss as risks of the treatment---the FDA belatedly announced it would call on the manufacturers of the devices to provide evidence of safety and efficacy. The deadline for submissions has passed, but the manufacturers have not conducted any clinical trials, claiming they cannot afford them.
The FDA is now supposed to require Electroshock machines to undergo the rigorous PreMarket Approval process (PMA) that is required of new devices, including clinical safety trials. These machines, technically known as "devices," are referred to as Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT).
If you have personal knowledge or expertise about Electroshock, writing about that can be good. Or you can pull information from various sources. For more information a Briefing Sheet is available, http://psychrights.org/Actions/FDA/FD...
If you are not in a position to write something up, then please print out the section below, fill it out and send it in to the FDA:
To: Food and Drug Administration,
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305),
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061,
Rockville, MD 20852
Re: Electroconvulsive Therapy Device (882.5940), Docket #FDA-2009-N0392
The undersigned opposes the reclassification of the ECT device to Class II by the FDA in the absence of adequate scientific evidence of its safety, and asks the agency to call for PreMarket Approval Applications for the device.
Name: _____________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Signature:_____________________________
This is a reminder that comments are due to the FDA on the safety of electroshock machines by January 8, 2009.The FDA Wants to Declare Electroshock Machines Safe without a Safety Investigation. TELL THEM NO!
It has allowed these machines to be used on millions of patients over the past generation without requiring any evidence whatsoever that shock treatment is safe or effective! This is so even though shock machines are Class III---high risk---devices, which by law are supposed to be investigated by clinical trials as thoroughly as new drugs and devices just coming onto the market.
In April 2009---20 years after it first ruled the devices high-risk and named brain damage and memory loss as risks of the treatment---the FDA belatedly announced it would call on the manufacturers of the devices to provide evidence of safety and efficacy. The deadline for submissions has passed, but the manufacturers have not conducted any clinical trials, claiming they cannot afford them.
The FDA is now supposed to require Electroshock machines to undergo the rigorous PreMarket Approval process (PMA) that is required of new devices, including clinical safety trials. These machines, technically known as "devices," are referred to as Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT).
If you have personal knowledge or expertise about Electroshock, writing about that can be good. Or you can pull information from various sources. For more information a Briefing Sheet is available, http://psychrights.org/Actions/FDA/FD...
You can make comments in writing to Food and Drug Administration, Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852
You can also submit comments by going to http://www.regulations.gov/, and scroll down to complete the form regarding electroconvulsive therapy, or the number of the federal register notice: 2009-N-0392
If you are not in a position to write something up, then please print out the section below, fill it out and send it in to the FDA:
To: Food and Drug Administration,
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305),
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061,
Rockville, MD 20852
Re: Electroconvulsive Therapy Device (882.5940), Docket #FDA-2009-N0392
The undersigned opposes the reclassification of the ECT device to Class II by the FDA in the absence of adequate scientific evidence of its safety, and asks the agency to call for PreMarket Approval Applications for the device.
Name: _____________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Signature:_____________________________
SEE: Jim Gottstein's Psyche Rights; Wikipedia's Electroconvulsive Therapy and Terry Messman's Mad in America for more detail.
Labels: ECT, electroconvulsive therapy, electroshock, FDA, health care, mental illness, ontol, social control
¶ 08:18 0 comments
2009-11-15
roman catholic "christian" charity towrad gays and poor people
• Catholic Church in Washington D.C. will shut down services to the homeless and the poor if a gay marriage law is passed there.
Edward Orzechowski, President and CEO of Catholic Charities of DC, speaking at the October 26 hearing on Washington, DC's same-sex marriage bill. Today, November 12, the Archdiocese threatened the Council to withdraw services to thousands of District residents over gay marriage. At the Council hearing, was answering questions from Councilmen Phil Mendelson and David Catania. As was discussed, Catholic Charities gets 75% of its money from public funds, and according to Washingtonian, Orzechowski has a[n annual] paycheck of $268,000. As Catania stated, that's taxpayer dollars going to an organization that says it does not intend to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
[for the rest of the story... go here
...or you could watch the YouTube hearings where a DC city council member, David Cantina, [who has a long history of supporting taxpayer dollars being given to Catholic Charites] says he ...finds it offensive that DC Catholic Charities is willing to accept 40 million dollars of government funds, but be exempt from providing services in a fair and equitable manner. They arre threatening to shut down ALL public services if the major funding source [i.e. taxpayers] dont do what the Catholic Church wants.
Perhaps this means the church will then have more money to pay off the victims of pedophile priests.
Edward Orzechowski, President and CEO of Catholic Charities of DC, speaking at the October 26 hearing on Washington, DC's same-sex marriage bill. Today, November 12, the Archdiocese threatened the Council to withdraw services to thousands of District residents over gay marriage. At the Council hearing, was answering questions from Councilmen Phil Mendelson and David Catania. As was discussed, Catholic Charities gets 75% of its money from public funds, and according to Washingtonian, Orzechowski has a[n annual] paycheck of $268,000. As Catania stated, that's taxpayer dollars going to an organization that says it does not intend to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
[for the rest of the story... go here
...or you could watch the YouTube hearings where a DC city council member, David Cantina, [who has a long history of supporting taxpayer dollars being given to Catholic Charites] says he ...finds it offensive that DC Catholic Charities is willing to accept 40 million dollars of government funds, but be exempt from providing services in a fair and equitable manner. They arre threatening to shut down ALL public services if the major funding source [i.e. taxpayers] dont do what the Catholic Church wants.
Perhaps this means the church will then have more money to pay off the victims of pedophile priests.
Labels: BIGOTRY, CATHOLIC CHURCH, discrimination, gay rights, PREJUDICE, social control, TAXPAYER DOLLARS
¶ 16:14 0 comments
2008-11-13
politics: the know nothings
Now that the US Presidential election is over and the 21st Century version of the Know Nothings have completely overrun the Rethuglican Party leadership we can get back to work at solving our various social, economic and political ills.
There are some notable replacements from the Catholics, Irish and Chinese immigrants with Muslims, Arabs and "the Gays", but I expect the new know nothing leadership [still up for grabs but could include Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, maybe even Sarah Palin?] will be able to improvise.
Formally named The American Party, the Know Nothings had some basic tenets which included:
• Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries
• Restricting political office to native-born Americans
• Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship
• Restricting public school teachers to Protestants
• Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools
• Restricting the sale of liquor
Thanks to the persistent dumbing-down of public education that has taken place since the Reagan Era, the evisceration of the Fairness Doctrine [You know, that FCC policy that mandated broadcast media had an obligation to provide for for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance], the odd promotion of "home schooling" [with precious little oversight as to whether or not the teachers were even prepared], Dubya's so-called "No Child Left Behind", the upsurge of violent thought numbing video games, and the proud braying of opinionated propagandists to blot out any opinion save their own [the Fairness Doctrine's reinstatement could help counter that], the social atmosphere for a new generation of intolerant uninformed know nothings is ripe.
Can't say I'm happy to see this resurgence, but now we know it's there, I do think one of the Obama Adiminstration's goals ought to include re-examining and rebuilding the engine that successfully provided universal education for USA citizens more than half a century.
Now that the US Presidential election is over and the 21st Century version of the Know Nothings have completely overrun the Rethuglican Party leadership we can get back to work at solving our various social, economic and political ills.
There are some notable replacements from the Catholics, Irish and Chinese immigrants with Muslims, Arabs and "the Gays", but I expect the new know nothing leadership [still up for grabs but could include Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs, Ann Coulter, maybe even Sarah Palin?] will be able to improvise.
Formally named The American Party, the Know Nothings had some basic tenets which included:
• Severe limits on immigration, especially from Catholic countries
• Restricting political office to native-born Americans
• Mandating a wait of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship
• Restricting public school teachers to Protestants
• Mandating daily Bible readings in public schools
• Restricting the sale of liquor
Thanks to the persistent dumbing-down of public education that has taken place since the Reagan Era, the evisceration of the Fairness Doctrine [You know, that FCC policy that mandated broadcast media had an obligation to provide for for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance], the odd promotion of "home schooling" [with precious little oversight as to whether or not the teachers were even prepared], Dubya's so-called "No Child Left Behind", the upsurge of violent thought numbing video games, and the proud braying of opinionated propagandists to blot out any opinion save their own [the Fairness Doctrine's reinstatement could help counter that], the social atmosphere for a new generation of intolerant uninformed know nothings is ripe.
Can't say I'm happy to see this resurgence, but now we know it's there, I do think one of the Obama Adiminstration's goals ought to include re-examining and rebuilding the engine that successfully provided universal education for USA citizens more than half a century.
Labels: education, kow-nothings, noise, politics, propaganda, social change, social control
¶ 07:37 0 comments
2008-05-12
web surfing for the apocalypse
I don't want to sound like a Jeremiah ["the broken-hearted prophet" whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely unheeded] but humans are on a psychic roller coaster ride right now that lends itself to think this way.
Nevertheless, there are those who believe that we can do something to stem the drive to self-destruction if we but pay heed to the warming warnings and actually make changes in how we conduct ourselves.
The changes we need to make include addressing global climate change, pulling ourselves [and our kids] away from the destructive re-patterning of our brain waves [be it tossing out the violent video games or weaning off of harmful neuroleptic drugs], even altering the ways we engage in the collective decision-making process.
That said, here's some links to go to, ponder what they present, then get off the Barcalounger and get to work!
350.org. Bill McKibben's site warning of the impact of CO2 gases on Mother Earth. "350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth." The current level of CO2 emission is a 385 parts per million and rising.
What is needed most right now are your actions that take the number 350 and drive it home: in art, in music, in political demonstrations [remember folks, voting is only one small part of participatory government], in any other way you can imagine.
American Hydrogen Association. If for no other reason, this site is worth the visit to check out the growing collection of motorized vehicles [such as the one on the left of this entry] that don't run on gasoline. True, they are not for the technologically challenged, but they offer a start.
"The mission of AHA is to facilitate achievements of prosperity without pollution and to close the information gap between researchers, industry and
the public, drawing on world-wide developments concerning hydrogen, solar, wind, hydro, ocean and biomass resource materials, energy conversion, wealth-addition economics, and the environment.
"The goal of AHA is to stimulate interest and help establish the renewable hydrogen energy economy by the year 2010 by... working in cooperation with organizations, environmental groups and industry, community, and schools to promote understanding of hydrogen technology, and help create a marketplace for pollution-free hydrogen energy."
Violent video games and unchecked use of neuroleptic drugs are major contributors to decreasing out ability to think clearly. You won't find out about this in the mainstream media, but it is true.
I hope society doesn't wait until all those who self identify as "crazy" come out, [since prejudice against
people labeled with mental illnesses is more extreme than homophobia] but It is, indeed, crazy people who know full well the deleterious effects of both these market-promoted phenomena.
You might think otherwise. After all, it seems obvious that glorification of violence through the use of a synapse-stimulating electrical device [video games] would result in altering the brain. Likewise, when introducing massive doses of chemicals into one's body that are intended to alter the chemistry and operation of the brain, would cause some problems. Even as far back as the 1970s it was recognized that forced drugging in the Soviet Union was employed as torture to political dissidents. How is forced drugging of ordinary citizens suspected of being disruptive any different? [rhetorical question here. I don't expect a response unless you want to]
One the other hand, one thing we have to consider altering is how we look at participation in government. It really isn't enought to say you are too busy after work, or that you need to bond with the children when you get home. People in elected leadership positions need to know that those who elect have interests in decision making outcomes that goes beyond the ballot box.
For that matter, the decision makers running the global fiefdoms that we call corporations need to hear your perspectives as well. This may be a little more difficult. After all, Boycotts are notoriously difficult to engineer,much less get started. And you have to buy your way into the boardroom by purchasing shares of stock. But all of us must, [as I said above] get out of the lounger and get our point of view heard!
Off the soapbox for the moment. Stay tuned.
I don't want to sound like a Jeremiah ["the broken-hearted prophet" whose heart-rending life, and true prophecies of dire warning went largely unheeded] but humans are on a psychic roller coaster ride right now that lends itself to think this way. Nevertheless, there are those who believe that we can do something to stem the drive to self-destruction if we but pay heed to the warming warnings and actually make changes in how we conduct ourselves.
The changes we need to make include addressing global climate change, pulling ourselves [and our kids] away from the destructive re-patterning of our brain waves [be it tossing out the violent video games or weaning off of harmful neuroleptic drugs], even altering the ways we engage in the collective decision-making process.
That said, here's some links to go to, ponder what they present, then get off the Barcalounger and get to work!
350.org. Bill McKibben's site warning of the impact of CO2 gases on Mother Earth. "350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth." The current level of CO2 emission is a 385 parts per million and rising. What is needed most right now are your actions that take the number 350 and drive it home: in art, in music, in political demonstrations [remember folks, voting is only one small part of participatory government], in any other way you can imagine.
American Hydrogen Association. If for no other reason, this site is worth the visit to check out the growing collection of motorized vehicles [such as the one on the left of this entry] that don't run on gasoline. True, they are not for the technologically challenged, but they offer a start."The mission of AHA is to facilitate achievements of prosperity without pollution and to close the information gap between researchers, industry and
the public, drawing on world-wide developments concerning hydrogen, solar, wind, hydro, ocean and biomass resource materials, energy conversion, wealth-addition economics, and the environment. "The goal of AHA is to stimulate interest and help establish the renewable hydrogen energy economy by the year 2010 by... working in cooperation with organizations, environmental groups and industry, community, and schools to promote understanding of hydrogen technology, and help create a marketplace for pollution-free hydrogen energy."
Violent video games and unchecked use of neuroleptic drugs are major contributors to decreasing out ability to think clearly. You won't find out about this in the mainstream media, but it is true. I hope society doesn't wait until all those who self identify as "crazy" come out, [since prejudice against
people labeled with mental illnesses is more extreme than homophobia] but It is, indeed, crazy people who know full well the deleterious effects of both these market-promoted phenomena. You might think otherwise. After all, it seems obvious that glorification of violence through the use of a synapse-stimulating electrical device [video games] would result in altering the brain. Likewise, when introducing massive doses of chemicals into one's body that are intended to alter the chemistry and operation of the brain, would cause some problems. Even as far back as the 1970s it was recognized that forced drugging in the Soviet Union was employed as torture to political dissidents. How is forced drugging of ordinary citizens suspected of being disruptive any different? [rhetorical question here. I don't expect a response unless you want to]
One the other hand, one thing we have to consider altering is how we look at participation in government. It really isn't enought to say you are too busy after work, or that you need to bond with the children when you get home. People in elected leadership positions need to know that those who elect have interests in decision making outcomes that goes beyond the ballot box. For that matter, the decision makers running the global fiefdoms that we call corporations need to hear your perspectives as well. This may be a little more difficult. After all, Boycotts are notoriously difficult to engineer,much less get started. And you have to buy your way into the boardroom by purchasing shares of stock. But all of us must, [as I said above] get out of the lounger and get our point of view heard!
Off the soapbox for the moment. Stay tuned.
Labels: alternative fuels, civil discourse, CO2 emissions, neuroleptics, social control, video games, violence, voting
¶ 08:36 0 comments
