FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog

Hugh Hewitt has an excellent piece, The Stuff They Teach At USC: A Trojan Dean’s View of Fascism:

Earlier today I posted an excerpt from an article in the current issue of Los Angeles Weekly, “The New Blacklist,” which deals in part with some Christians refusal to buy products from companies sponsoring gay-themed entertainment. The University of Southern California has an Annenberg School of Communications, the associate dean of which is Martin Kaplan, a way left talking head. Kaplan’s appearance in the piece is this:

“Martin Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg School of Communication at USC, calls the new Christer offensive a drive toward ‘theocratic oligopoly. The drumbeat of religious fascism has never been as troubling as it is now in this country,’ adding that ‘e-mails to the FCC are more worrisome to me than boycotts’ in terms of their chilling effect .”

Martin Kaplan is duplicitous at best and a hyocrite at worst regaling against “theocratic oligopoly” yet supporting a “secular oligopoly” which has been prevalent in the MSM since the 1960’s. It is OK for the United Farm Workers to boycott grapes and Gallo wine because of labor rules and benefits but fascist for the Christian Right to write letters and boycott companies that are their anathema and intolerant to their religious beliefs.

Somebopdy should send Professor Kaplan to some senistivity training or a course on the First Amendment over there at my alma mater.

Of course, he is a director of the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg School of Communications. Whatever happened to the People for the American Way, that Lear founded? They used to pounce on religion whenever it was propitious.

This inane and repulsive quote and the post in which was contained was erased during site maintenance today, but I don’t want you to miss it. Or the best context for understanding Kaplan’s smear as the latest manifestation of secular fundamentalism in the U.S., which would be last week’s speech to the OCSE in Cordoba, Spain by Denver Archbishop Chaput, in which he said in part:

“An equally dangerous trend now dominates other OSCE states, where public expressions of religious faith often seem to be ridiculed as fundamentalism. In the name of respecting all religions, a new form of secular intolerance is sometimes imposed. Out of fear of religious fundamentalism, a new kind of secular fundamentalism may be coerced on public institutions and political discourse.

At the same time, various media in the OSCE area now often allow symbols of Christian identity, Christian believers and their faith to be publicly abused. Programs like “How to cook a crucifix” and sacramental confessions recorded without the confessor’s knowledge are deeply contemptuous of Catholic believers. This is unworthy of Europe’s moral dignity and religious heritage. Furthermore, it stands in stark contrast to OSCE commitments to promote religious freedom.

Europe has given the whole world the seeds of democracy. Today’s growing anti-religious and often anti-Christian spirit undermines that witness.”

Kaplan’s attempt to gag and condemn a vast cross-section of Americans because he doesn’t like their point of view and to try and do so by labeling them “fascists” is not only inane, but impossible to reconcile with the left’s assault last campaign season on Sinclair Broadcasting’s sponsors and with yesterday’s announcement by the UFW of a renewed boycott against Gallo. Consumer boycotts seem to be fine in the eyes of the left, except when undertaken by religious believers, in which case they become tools of fascists.

No, it doesn’t make any sense. We offered Kaplan a chance to come on the radio show today to discuss and explain his comments. He declined. The Ward Churchill of the West Coast isn’t in a hurry to debate, just proclaim.

Thanks Hugh and Flap challenges Professor Kaplan to PUT UP (debate his inane views) or SHUT-UP (which is very doubtful).

Fight On!

In a late night session of Parliament, Canadian Prime Minister and his Liberal Party survived a series of no-confidence votes:

The Liberals, with the support of the NDP and Tories, easily defeated the Bloc Québécois in a vote on a federal budget bill, 249-53.

That was just one of a handful of confidence measures voted on in a marathon session in the House of Commons.

The Liberals came within a hair of collapse just a few weeks ago.

But the tension in the Commons has cooled somewhat, as the Tories have been slumping in public-opinion polls and are less eager for an election.

The opposition predicts the Liberals will survive the remaining votes and would only lose if they engineered their own defeat.

It is obvious form the voting pattern, the Tories simply did not have sufficient votes to even tie a no-confidence test.

With the decline in the polls for the Conservative Party, even with the Adscam Scandel and Gomery Inquiry the government has been ripe to fall.

Stephen Harper has been unable to orchestrate a change.

Is it time for the Tories to choose new leadership?

Senate Republican leaders prodded Democrats today to allow a vote on the nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations and said they might try to break the Democrats’ opposition this week.

“It is time to reform the U.N., it is time to bring Bolton to the floor for an up-or-down vote,” said Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the majority leader.

In my usual non-confrontational fashion, I have urged Senator Frist to schedule a vote and get everybody on record … I hope later this week or as soon as possible, we can schedule another vote,” Senator John McCain said Tuesday.

Too much delay and obstruction from the Lefties.

Just vote him up or down!

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa today fired his deputy president and heir apparent, Jacob Zuma, less than two weeks after a Durban court convicted Mr. Zuma’s financial adviser of paying him nearly $200,000 in bribes in exchange for political influence on government contracts and other matters:

Speaking in Cape Town, Mr. Mbeki told a joint session of Parliament’s two houses that Mr. Zuma’s dismissal was in the best interests not only of Mr. Zuma but of “the government, our young democratic system and our country.”

The dismissal averted a looming crisis over the integrity of South Africa’s justice system, which has been under political assault during its long inquiry into the bribery scandal and the trial that followed. In his speech to Parliament, Mr. Mbeki said that he anticipated that his decision would underscore the need for accountability in public office and strengthen citizens’ confidence in government.

But the firing set the stage for a political battle within the African National Congress, where Mr. Zuma, a charismatic politician and an icon in the struggle against apartheid, maintains a devoted following. At a new conference today, Mr. Zuma said that he had not ruled out a bid for the presidency when Mr. Mbeki’s term in office ends in 2007.

“My conscience is clear. I have not committed any crime against the state or the people of South Africa,” he said. “I need to be given the opportunity to tell my side of the story, and bring finality to these accusations and speculations.”

Zuma, a Leftie, is probably not finished in South African politics. If he is not convicted of a crime look for in-fighting within the African National Congress for Mbecki’s replacement.

The Los Angeles Lakers will announce that Phil Jackson will be rehired as head coach of the former NBA champions.

Phil Jackson is returning to theLos Angeles Lakers following a reconciliation with the team that cut him loose last year after three NBA championships in five seasons. Spokesman John Black said Tuesday the team has rehired Jackson, who was let go by owner Jerry Buss last June 18.

A news conference was set for 5 p.m. EDT at Staples Center.

Jackson agreed to a three-year contract. Terms were not announced, but it’s believed he’ll be earning around $10 million per year.

Flap certainly missed Laker’s basketball this past season.

Now, let Phil work his magic.

From the award winning Santa Maria Times series on Methamphetamine: meth·am·phet·a·mine: a drug that destroys bodies and lives:

Dr. Chuck Merrill sees the medical wreckage of methamphetamine on almost a daily basis.

“I’ve seen so many that they are all kind of alike after a while,” said Merrill, an emergency room physician at Marian Medical Center.

Truthfully they are a pain in the neck for us to deal with because they spit at us and hit us,” Merill said. “They are sort of a management problem for us up front.

“If somebody’s really crazy and fighting and trying to grab stethoscopes and choke you, or tries to grab a pen out of your pocket and stab you, there’s a net, like a fish net, that you put over them. But that’s only rarely.”

Merrill said he is mostly unphased by the constant barrage of meth-induced problems.

“We look at cases in terms of managing them,” he said. “And we tend to not be emotional about it. We don’t tend to see someone come in and say, ‘Oh, that’s really sad, they have drug problems.’

“I’m worried about whether they are going to have a stroke or have a heart attack. Or whether some 22-year-old kid is going to come in and wind up brain dead.”

“We have these paranoia-like fears that we know that something might happen and we want to do everything we can to prevent it.”

On the days he works, Merrill typically sees at least one meth-related patient coming through the ER doors.

“The fact that we see one a day means there’s a lot more of it going on,” Merrill said. He guesses there are about 35 cases each month. Michael Parsa, an emergency room doctor at Lompoc Health Care District, estimates there are 10 to 20 per month at Lompoc’s hospital.

The majority of the cases are young people, from adolescence to their mid-30s, Merrill said.

“One of the reasons young people do these things, they don’t think they’re vulnerable to the effects,” he said. “Most people start because a friend of theirs says, ‘Hey, try this.’ It’s like a party thing.”

Users say the high makes them feel on top of the world, fast, and capable.

That was the case with former addict Chris Reynoso, 24, who started using meth so he could drink more alcohol and not feel drunk. Eventually meth took over, and he used it steadily for a year and eight months.

“You can be so depressed, (like) someone just died. You smoke it and you get this, like, adrenaline rush to where you’re ahhh, it’s all right,” Reynoso said of meth’s appeal. “You just get like, happy. Real positive.”

Medically, a minor dose of meth triggers a physiological response similar to the body’s reaction when it faces stress.

“If you were imagining that you had six cups of coffee, went on a jog, and were faced with an angry Rottweiler, what you would get in your body is the flight-or-fight response,” Merrill said. “When someone takes an amphetamine, those things occur.”

But the drug has a darker side. A large dose of meth can cause hallucinations, paranoia, anxiety, combativeness and delirium.

“I would be at my place and I’d hear voices,” Reynoso said. “A shadow would sit down right next to me, and I’d look over and boom, it’s not there.”

The comedown causes depression, irritability and a craving for more meth.

“You don’t want no one to talk to, you just want to stay in bed all day, you just want to be left alone,” Reynoso said. “It’s awful, you just feel like the (worst) person in the world.”

Doctors such as Merrill who work in the ER see a host of meth-related problems, from battery of a spouse to extreme paranoia and suicide attempts. Users come to Marian’s ER with elevated blood pressure, rapid heart rate, increased metabolic rate and psychological and emotional disturbances.

“Most of the time it’s a minor complication. They’re paranoid, or freaking out, anxious, feeling out of control, they might be hyperventilating,” Merrill said.

Users sometimes attempt suicide while high, he said.

Symptoms of meth use frequently parallel symptoms of mental illness, Merrill said. Existing psychological problems can be exacerbated, and dormant problems may be triggered by meth. Some patients develop lasting mental illness because of the drug, he said.

“They don’t come in with a stamp on their head that says I’m a meth overdose. They come in as a crazy patient. We have to sort all that out. It’s not easy all the time,” Merrill said.

Short-term, the physical effects of meth use range from hypertension to risk of heart attack or death. Long-term, meth users can waste away and become malnourished because the drug suppresses appetite.

Chronic users sometimes scratch themselves raw because they think bugs are crawling on them, according to Resident & Staff Physician, a medical journal. They suffer constipation due to dehydration or lack of fiber, their muscles cramp from low magnesium and potassium levels, their teeth fall out and their gums bleed, the journal states. Their urine smells stale from the ammonia used to make the drug.

They are irritable, and tend not to sleep. The majority of people treated for meth at Marian are on another drug, such as alcohol or Soma, a popular sedative that helps take the edge off meth’s euphoric high, Merrill said. Users often take prescription pills to help them sleep.

Delusions and side-effects from the drug affect not only those who use it, but their families and friends. Reynoso heard voices saying his girlfriend was cheating on him and telling him to “get her,” though he fought the urge to do so.

“Alcohol and amphetamines are both drugs that cause people to do things to other people,” Merrill said.

“You take a drug like marijuana, for example. We never see marijuana-related complications. Because people that take marijuana know that they’re impaired. So they just stay there and eat cookies, or whatever they do.

“But they don’t start thinking they’re stronger than the next guy, or get angry, or delusional, or paranoid.”

“It’s a bad drug, just no doubt about it. Bad drugs are the ones where people don’t recognize that they’re bad. They get on there, and they feel good, they feel kind of euphoric, they feel like they can conquer the world, and yet they’re not rational. That’s the worst possible thing.”

Local meth stories are so common that they have become a repeated blur of individual lives destroyed by the drug.

“It’s almost too common to have one stand out,” Merrill said.

Additonal Links of Interest on the Unnecessary Epidemic: Methamphetamine:

Methamphetamine: Meth Mouth ReDux

Mexico: Primary Source of United States Methamphetamine Crisis

And the Oregonian Investigative Series: Unnecessary Epidemic