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Thursday, September 2, 2010

News Morning News: Peace, Sodomy, There Is No God.

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 7:00 AM

Seattle Times Blows Dale Chihuly: Calls him the bees knees, ponders whether a Chihuly museum is the answer to Seattle Center's financial woes.

Scandal at Dick's: A poll to help decide the location of the next Dick's Drive-In was hacked, says a spokeswoman. The poll has been fixed and voting will continue.

Alleged Rape and Sodomy: New Mariners player comes with baggage.

Bush's Tax Breaks for the Rich: May be sticking around, thanks to moderate democrats.

Botox Settles for $600 Million: After illegally promoting the face-freezing drug up until 2005 for unapproved uses like treating headaches. (Although now, five years later, the FDA is seriously considering authorizing Botox for the treatment of chronic migraines.)

The Mideast Talks Peace: Israeli and Palestinian leaders gather today with leaders from Jordan and Egypt, under the watchful stare of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to find a regional solution to decades of conflict. (Israel is even willing to divide Jerusalem in order to reach peace, says one Israeli cabinet member.)

"Sedated, drooling and overweight from the side effects": Six-year-old Kyle Warren was prescribed with the antipsychotic Risperdal, the antidepressant Prozac, two sleeping medicines and one for attention-deficit disorder, all before his third birthday. More than 500,000 children and teens in the U.S. are now on antipsychotic drugs, according to the FDA.

You Love Reading About Sedated Children, Don't You? New study finds that older people enjoy reading negative news stories about younger generations because it boosts their self esteem. (Monsters.)

God Didn't Create the Universe: So says Stephen Hawking.

Hurricane Earl Followed by Fiona and Gaston: Storm warnings issued from North Carolina to Massachusetts.

Comments (14) RSS

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I wonder how many kids experiencing "extreme temper tantrums" at such a young age would benefit from addressing the problem first with a change of diet? It would be interesting to know what this family's diet was, was it predominately white-flour, sugary, processed foods? Obviously, there are going to be some toddlers and young children who do have significant mental health issues, but imagine if the majority of patients heard that before they would be given drugs to control ADHD, for instance, they had to switch to a whole-grain, bean, vegetable and lean meat diet for a period of time? Any parent who limits sweets knows the effect a sugar high has on their kids. I'd imagine there are plenty of children who live on Kraft Dinner, chicken nuggets, and drink Sunny D 24/7, whose parents wonder why they're so hyper.

Posted by Canuck on September 2, 2010 at 7:24 AM

Some kids are just crazy - even at 2 - its a DNA problem - not a diet problem

Posted by DavidC

on September 2, 2010 at 7:36 AM

If they allow those tax cuts to stay, they deserve a election thrashing.

Posted by True on September 2, 2010 at 7:44 AM

@2 Oh yeah, I get that, I just think there are a LOT of kids out there whose hyperactivity could be managed, to some degree, by diet. My point was that I think we, as a society, want to treat symptoms, rather than looking at the causes of those symptoms. And yes, genetically "crazy" may be the cause, but I think the easier solutions should be investigated first!

Posted by Canuck on September 2, 2010 at 7:45 AM

REGARDLESS of how out-of-control (or perceived out-of-control) a kid is, the idea of giving a 3 yo antipsychotics is scary. This is SERIOUS medication. Anti-depressants make you feel good, antipsychotics make you feel NOTHING.

Posted by Chris in Vancouver WA on September 2, 2010 at 8:03 AM

"The economy is very weak right now. Raising taxes will lower consumer demand at a time when we want people putting more money into the economy."
Bullshit, the rich don't create consumer demand. Also, they don't need to enact a tax raise for taxes to go up. They expire naturally--this article conflates the expire/tax raise. But those conservadems are actively working to extend rich people's tax cuts/deficit spending program.

Posted by dirac on September 2, 2010 at 8:21 AM

5- that's a little inaccurate. I've taken both of those types of drugs together and separately and I can attest they make you feel like absolute shit. What's really funny (not in a feel good way) is that we feel fine just giving this stuff in multiple combinations to children who won't have fully developed nervous systems for another 20 years give or take a few. This is also compounded with the fact that we don't know what they do longterm to adults as well.

Posted by dirac on September 2, 2010 at 8:29 AM

Hawking didn't deny that God created the Universe per se; rather, he said that God's existence isn't *necessary* for an explanation of the Universe's creation. A subtle distinction to be sure, but an important one.

More about this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2010/09/go…

Posted by yelahneb

on September 2, 2010 at 8:32 AM

I was able to vote multiple times in the Dick's poll this morning through blindingly simple means, just as I can in Slog polls. Fortunately Slog polls don't amount to a hill of beans, but Dick's--Dick's is (are?) everything!

Posted by rob!

on September 2, 2010 at 8:41 AM

@1 - I had the exact same thought reading the piece. @2, it's true that diet change would not help every single child, but it might help many, and wouldn't harm any. And it could provide another filter to try to determine who are the very, very few children who should even be considered for such powerful meds (I can't even wrap my head around the idea that such a thing could be done without AT LEAST a second opinion).

Posted by teamcanada on September 2, 2010 at 9:00 AM

New poll for a place called "Dick's"?
/b/ shall hear of this.

Posted by venomlash on September 2, 2010 at 9:45 AM

Consider me on Team Hawking.

Posted by mitten on September 2, 2010 at 10:10 AM

"New study finds that older people enjoy reading negative news stories about younger generations".

Here we have the basis for every war throughout human history. Shriveled up old bone bags (Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, et al) are always eager to sentence young juicy morsels to their deaths for nebulous reasons. It's probably a genetic sequence to send your younger rival to his or her death given the power.

Posted by zombie eyes on September 2, 2010 at 11:30 AM

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Posted by benjrobjohnson on September 7, 2010 at 8:04 AM