Merit-bound Alley

If you go out and check the southwestern sky just before sunup, you will be treated to the following sight: This is Venus and Jupiter hanging right next to each other. I know my picture is amazing, but go out and see it for yourself. It is a breathtakingly beautiful scene. 

I know I have plenty of my own, but I need some of yours. I’ll soon be moving M-BA to a dedicated host, and have been plying around with designs. Please click here and tell me what you think. For the sake of consistency, please give your criticisms in this post. Thanks! 

 EDIT: Added citations

 Every time that I think I couldn’t be more disgusted with this administration, some moron in office sinks to a new low.

This story via NPR starts off so well by bringing attention to a $9.50 kit that public health workers across the country are using to immediately reverse an overdose of heroin. The kit contains a vial of Narcan (naloxone) with a nasal spray attachment. Narcam is a drug that has been used for years in emergency rooms to reverse the effect of an opiate overdose, as it quickly blocks opiate receptors in the brain. An intravenous injection of .4 to 2mg of Narcan can completely reverse an overdose in 1-2 minutes [1]. Side effects of Narcan are very rare, but can include mild heart arrhythmia and the symptoms of acute opiate withdrawal[2], however you cannot OD on Narcan. The dosage of .4 to 2mg of Narcan is suggested, though additional doses are recommended until the patient shows the desired effect. ”Failure to respond to a total dose of 10 mg usually indicates: a) that poisoning is not due to opiates; b) that poisoning is due to a partial agonist/antagonist; or c) that hypoxic brain damage has occurred.”[3].

Because of this inability to overdose Narcan and the delivery method is via nasal spray, public health officials have decided to offer these kits and usage training to drug users. The training includes questions about the trainee’s recent drug use, signs of an overdose, and how to administer the treatment. From the article:

New data compiled for NPR by researcher Alex Kral of the consulting firm RTI International show that more than 2,600 overdoses have been reversed in 16 programs operating across the nation.

Over 2600 lives saved at a calculated cost just shy of $25000. This doesn’t include the benefit of sending the message to drug users that the public does care for them and wants to give them every opportunity to change their ways. That’s a powerful message to send.

So, what else is there to say about this? Ah, yes. The Bush administration… Deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy Dr. Bertha Madras, yet another ignorant monster on Team Dubya, opposes these life-saving programs. Why, you may ask? From the NPR article:

“First of all, I don’t agree with giving an opioid antidote to non-medical professionals. That’s No. 1,” she says. “I just don’t think that’s good public health policy.”

Madras says drug users aren’t likely to be competent to deal with an overdose emergency. More importantly, she says, Narcan kits may actually encourage drug abusers to keep using heroin because they know overdosing isn’t as likely.

Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug user’s motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.

“Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services,” Madras says.

Obviously, Dr. Acula has not researched either the antidote or the method of administration. I guess a procedure shown to save thousands of lives does not deserve that level of scrutiny. As to taking away a drug users motivation, any fool can see the value of extending the life of a user, as it gives them that much more time to try to turn it around. My gut feeling is that somewhere near to 0% of users who have died of an overdose were later able to kick the habit. I’m sure research would prove that feeling correct.

Speaking of gut feelings, where does Dr. Acula get her opinions? It turns out she gets them from Nowhere At All. She’s not quoting studies, or giving facts, she’s using limp terms like “aren’t likely to be competent” or “might take away”. One could argue that she has the credentials to make those statements, but I disagree based on the fact that she seems to exhibit no knowledge at all of the drug or its administration procedure.

In short, a procedure that has been documented and proven to save thousands of lives has no support from the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, because it might sorta maybe make users that much less likely to seek help for their addiction. I can’t wait until this monstrous and idiotic administration is nothing more than a bad memory. Is it January 20, 2009 yet?

 Citations:

[1] IPCS/CEC Evaluation of Antidotes Series, International Programme on Chemical Safety, section 2.12.2 Advised routes and dose

[2] IPCS/CEC Evaluation of Antidotes Series, International Programme on Chemical Safety, section 2.13.3 Precautions/Contraindications

[3]IPCS/CEC Evaluation of Antidotes Series, International Programme on Chemical Safety, section 2.13.2 Dosage and route

(h/t to Pharyngula via Inverse Square via The Reality-Based Community, Compassionby Mark Kleiman)

As some of you may be aware, I’ve been dealing with a few health issues that have made it difficult for me to concentrate on M-BA. I apologize for the lack of posts, but I can say that I haven’t been completely complacent and have used some of my better moments of the past two weeks to my advantage to research my first medicine-related post. Check back before too long to catch it.

My sincerest thanks to those of you who have checked in during the current dry spell!

You may remember a my NH predictions story from the 7th. Little did I know that that stupid little bit of satire would prove that I am, in fact psychic. Read and fear:

Third place will instead be taken by Ron Paul, whose impressive internet support will not be sidetracked by the release of the new World of Warcraft expansion which is luckily due out later this year (hopefully not on Election Day).

As it turns out, the RP-ites didn’t even have to log out to show their support for the embattled presidential hopeful. No, they decided to throw a Ron Paul campaigh rally in game! Through several bits of online media and community, WoW gamer whoisronpaul came up with the idea, and it exploded to 300 Ron Paul supporters hanging out in Kharanos and probably asking each other, “d00d, r u a chick 4 reel???” and “ken u sp4re 10g for my mount???”

Ron Paul, no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary campaigning would probably appreciate the gesture. When asked about the Azerothian rally, he raised his arms into the air and exclaimed, “HORDE SUX!!!”

We’ve heard some fairly irrational things for that new Darth Pope, but let’s take a look at a few:

• “Above all, we must have great respect for these people who also suffer and who want to find their own way of correct living. On the other hand, to create a legal form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in reality, does not help these people.”
• “It is good, that you enlighten people about Harry Potter, because those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly.”
• “Unlimited trust should only be placed in the real Word of the Revelation that we encounter in the faith transmitted by the Church.”
• “If Buddhism is attractive, it is because it appears as a possibility of touching the infinite and obtaining happiness without having any concrete religious obligations. A spiritual auto-eroticism of some sort.”

Considering that this is a man that is so dedicated to doctrine at the expense of rational thinking, James “The Amazing” Randi was struck dumb when he read the following quote in a message about global warming issued for World Peace Day.

Any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not dubious ideology.

If only people like him were to extend this skepticism into every facet of their thinking.

Maybe it was the horror of seeing Hillary win the NH primaries, but as of Wednesday morning, the back pain has returned. Having just changed to a new doctor, I was nevertheless able to make a last-minute appointment and was diagnosed with sciatica. Because of the intense agony I’ve been dealing with, I have not had the concentration or the will to put anything up. Let’s take a quick look at a summarized comparison of my new doc versus the old.

• Old doctor
  • First visit, said that it wasn’t sciatica because I’d be in constant agony, and at the time of my appointment, I was able to walk fairly well. Suggested I go to Borders and get a book on Yoga and “learn some stretches”.
  • Second visit, after back pain had returned in force, and he wanted to send me to a quack Chiropractor, where I could also indulge my love of fantasy with hypnotherapy and homeopathy. NOTE: the old doctor did not suggest hypnotherapy or homeopathy, they were just extra “services” for people who find that their doctors need no firm grounding in reality and an education in actual medicine.
• New Doctor
  • Took all of five minutes to figure out that I do have sciatica, and prescribed medicine for inflammation, pain, and muscle relaxation. He also ordered me an MRI to get a better look at what’s going on back there. Is also forwarding my medical records to a back and spine specialist with whom I have an appointment at the beginning of February.

Everyone who thinks my move to a different doctor, please raise your hands…….  No hands? Huh, I guess it was a good move.

CNN is giving me more than enough ammo for making fun of the NH primary coverage.

Bill Clinton: Can’t make Hillary ‘younger’

If he could, he may have never been impeached in the first place.

Clinton: ‘I actually have emotions’

Not surprisingly, this new catchphrase is going over with the voters much better than those from late last year, “I do not understand this thing  you humans call love” and “Does not compute!”

Hey, want to hear some jackass wax poetic about boots and pretend it’s political commentary? Well, then do I have a treat for you!

Pharyngula has posted a wonderful email that he received which makes some interesting points. Here’s a few clips, but please read the full post.

Like in the witchery, at her age of 61 years old Senator Hillary RODHAM CLINTON is to become overnight a candidate for a change, pulling a rabbit out of her hat. This can happen only in the witchcraft that she and her husband William J. CLINTON, former President reportedly believe in and practice.

She returned to have co-run the White House with her husband William J. CLINTON as President and to have done so under the their motto “to elect one and to get two”.

Senator Hillary RODHAM CLINTON belongs to the old generation of outgoing (extroverted? -ed.) leaders with the past visions. She relies upon the political oldies (”We Shall Overcome” -ed.) in developing, presenting and eventually implementing the vision which does not meet the present needs of the American people.

As the standard procedure, KGB and GRU recruit and ensure careers for those who give their souls to the communist movements. As reported by the American media, co-presidents William & Hillary CLINTONS pursued the policy of financing KGB and GRU during the tenure of President Boris YELTSIN and facilitating their transformation into the Russian global organized crime.

This email, abysmal grammar and all is a gem that was perfectly summed up by Pharyngula commenter, Scrofulum:

At last, sensible political punditry.