On the pandemic psychiatric treatment of children...

It's outrageous to read the death of the preschooler at http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/23/drugged.todeath.ap/index.html who died of overdose of a combination of psychiatric drugs, mostly out of her trash parents' desire to shut them up.

While it's understandable that the child psychiatrist based the diagnosis primarily on the mother's description of the child's behavior and the supposedly family mental history, should the doctor have done more due diligence on this? When the diagnosis is once dosed out, everything else flows out from it, and everyone (including the parents, for obvious reasons) will claim that "the doctor ok'ed it."

It's so sad that to hear the story of how a child depends so much on the parents, who in turn simply do not want to deal with them, and dispense powerful drugs to keep their mouth shut.

It's also scary to hear how the supposed new symptoms of ADHD, including hyperactivity, distractibility and talkativeness, is now claiming more than 15% of children that are diagnosed and medicated. Kids inherently have lots of energy. How could doctors say a child who likes to talk to be an illness? How could they diagnose a 2 1/2-year-old child to be ADHD out of "distractibility"!?!?! If only the parents would let the kids run around in a safe environment (like a park or a gym), that would probably have removed 2/3 of the children being diagnosed.

The society of US has become so complacent and lazy in child rearing. For almost everything that they don't like to see, they call it an illness. Somewhere along the way, Big Pharma will supply them with a drug, and the AMA will expand their handbook to include more ailments and illnesses that would make it all mandatory to dispense drugs to children. This has gotta stop.

And why would trashy parents like those in the article have children anyways. If they can't take care of themselves, can't they at least have the least decency of birth control, so as not to bring children into this world, only to try to slowly kill them off? Then again, I guess these are not decent beings fit to hold a pet, not to mention children. I hope they rot in jail.

On Karl Rove and testifying under oath to Congress...

Reading articles and articles like http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2A1E9x4XBtw&refer=home really makes one sick of what this Bush Administration will do to stonewall public opinion and in distorting public opinion.

Enough said about that private, closed door sessions that Cheney did with the Congress, without transcript and without an oath. What came out of those meetings was still a he-said-she-said. The Congressional committees are set up to get to the bottom of the events, of why the DA's were fired and how much (not if any) political clout was put in from the executive branch in pushing out these DA's when they're doing (or not doing) the things that the Administration wants them to do, which is to either go after Dems, or drop the investigations of any GOP. It's just plain disgusting.

Karl Rove or any one of the neo-cons would never be able to stand the spotlight, if their actions and words come out, to show what they've done. And for the rest of the people (like Valerie Plame) to have to submit to subpoenas, while everyone on the Bush side is cloaked in immunity, with no accountability or ramifications of the damages and misdeeds that they did, it's just plain wrong and against the law.

I do not subscribe to that line from Bush again and again that the aides or whoever who works with/for him would not be accountable to anyone but him. What does he think he is? The king in America, and no one can (or should) question him?!? The time has now come, for the people to see accountability back and the checks-and-balance to come back.

On anti-Hillary campaign and Hillary 1984

Why would the Dems would so dump as to think that, so early on in the pre-election campaign, Obama might have been that stupid in creating a hate inducing video (Hillary 1984) and posted it on YouTube?!?!

The GOP and their smear doctors have refined their skills on this. I don't think Obama would have drawn the attention to himself, and engaged in negative campaign so early on. I bet my money that GOP is trying to create infightings among the Dems hopefuls.

On Gingrich's affair during Clinton impeachment

Reading article like http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Gingrich-Affair.html?hp on Gingrich's affair during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, I feel so disgusted by the all those "self-righteous" GOP who cast the first stone on fellow human beings when they are probably more sinful and just as guilty.

At least Bill Clinton sticks with Hilary (who reciprocates, for whatever reason that might be), when Newt Gingrich would divorce one wife after another. And then there are others like Mark Foley, who would champion morality when all the while preying on teenage congressional page, scouting for gay sex. GOP are so hypocritical.

(Not that Dems are less hypocritical, but at least they would admit more readily. For GOP, they would never do, for the worry of upsetting the religious right. GOP's are soooooo hypocritical. They make me sick.)

On universal healthcare, and the unaffordability to getting sick...

Reading articles like http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/us/05uninsured.html?pagewanted=all that talks about solid middle class in US who cannot afford health care, and scare shitless of getting sick, it reminds me of what my mother told me one time when I was a kid.

Hong Kong was (and to a large extent still is) a place where you can't afford to get sick. Sure, there is basic healthcare to everyone. But if you get really sick, you're pretty much on your own. One of my mother's long time friends died of ovarian cancer some years back. The doctor found the cancerous tumor when it's still in early stage. If she had had the operation and some chemo, she might still be alive today. But she couldn't afford to pay for private operation. So, she put her name in the public waiting list. And wait, she did. Some 5 years later, she died of the cancer, and she's still in the waiting list.

China is even worse.

One would think a developed country like US would be better. We all know now that the situations are not dissimilar. But then, for my mother's friend, there was universal healthcare. With that, at least you have some hope. You're on waiting list, and if it gets to your turn, you won't have to worry that you can't pay for it. But you just have to wait for your turn.

I suppose, at the end of the day, if one has the money to afford private healthcare, things will be alright (at least financially). It's all about the money, no matter where you are. That's the way things are.