Monday, February 22, 2010

McCAIN'S BRAIN NEEDS SUPPLEMENTS

I sent the following to Senator John McCain.  He's been sniffing something illegal if he thinks this bill will protect the public.  Quite the contrary.  He probably needs to take some supplements to stave off the creeping confusion he seems to be exhibiting!

Senator McCain:  I will not vote for you if you continue trying to advance your bill falsely labeled as the  "Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010" (S. 3002).  The FDA is an incompetent agency and is too friendly with the drug companies.  Your bill, TDSSA,  would repeal key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA protects supplements if 1) they are food products that have been in the food supply and not chemically altered or 2) if they were sold as supplements prior to 1994, the year that DSHEA was passed. If a supplement fits one of these two descriptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot arbitrarily ban it or reclassify it as a drug. You are citing the use of banned substances that may have come through supplements.  The problem is the illegal sale & use of steroids.  Why don't you insist that the FDA do its job to control illegal substances instead of going after the supplement industry.  I will campaign vigorously against you if you continue to pursue this course of action.  If you really want to help the American public, have your staff overhaul and make the FDA into a viable agency which is not beholden to Big Pharma!  The agency needs to be reorganized from the bottom up.

Monday, February 15, 2010

CRIME PAYS

To my way of thinking, lobbying is a crime.  It has been reported that more has been spent on lobbying than investment in new plants or facilities and equipment.  Lobbyists sell out the average US citizen.  Most work for big corporations who can slide lots of money into the sweaty palms of politicians and expect something in return............ despite the protestations of those politicians that they do not give favors to those whose money they accept.  Malarky!

Politicians are supposed to be in the "public service."  That is a fallacy.  They may start out that way but it doesn't take long to get taken in by the quest for power and with power, comes money. 

I don't believe there are more than a handful of politicians who are looking out for the average citizen.  All the others are looking out for themselves, looking to enrich themselves while trying to bring pork to their districts so they can continue in office.  Congressional seats have become increasingly lucrative and the cost of running has skyrocketed.  So candidates have to get money to run from somewhere.  Selling their souls is one way to get that money.  But in the end, they are selling out this country.  This is no longer a country for the people or by the people.  It is owned, bought and paid for by money-grubbing corporations who pay very little in taxes, send jobs to other countries and just don't give a damn about the citizens.

Lobbying should be outlawed............ period.

Monday, February 1, 2010

THE TRAIN OF THOUGHTS

I'm driving in the car, one eye watching the road and traffic in front, one eye on my rear view mirror watching the vehicle behind me...not willing to acknowledge that the driver may be driving a safe distance behind me.  Still a little spooked since the New Year's Eve crash.  I make sure I stop far enough behind the vehicle in front of me so I can see its rear tires....maybe leaving a little more space than that.

That attentiveness to driving should take up all my attention.  It mostly does but then the train starts barreling through.  Not literally, but the train of thoughts that are stored somewhere back in my subconscious: 

Why is the political landscape fraught with such venom?  Why do people kill in the name of G-d?  Whatever happened to critical thinking? What goes on in the minds of those idiots who speed while either texting, talking on their cell phones, reading maps and/or eating a meal?  Why do news organizations rely on small sound bites that become the stories themselves?  There doesn't seem to be any real fact checking anymore.  Whatever happened to originality?  Why is education, care for the elderly and the infirm and programs for the very poor always the first on the chopping block when finances have to be cut?  Why is that car attempting a left turn from the far right lane?  Why do people think they have the right to speed and not get tagged for it?

In the course of a few seconds, the train has barreled through and I am wishing I had some kind of recorder in the car so all those thoughts won't be lost and I can add them to my list of things to blog about.  I do find that the train is getting longer and longer the more I observe and listen.  Humans provide an endless collection of nutty, stupid or funny antics.  But many also pose a real menace to the earth and all its inhabitants. 

If only I could find that magic wand I wrote previously about to make all things right with the world.