How person overcomes an addiction to crack cocaine to becoming a two-time world powerlifting champion

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A new law eliminating mandatory minimum drug sentences in Rhode Island has taken effect without the governor’s signature.

Similar measures had been vetoed in past years by Gov. Donald L. “Don” Carcieri, but supporters say they compromised on this year’s legislation by removing a provision that placed a cap on the maximum sentence a judge could give for drug possession crimes.

The new law, which took effect this month, leaves the sentence to the judge’s discretion.

Under the old law, anyone caught manufacturing, possessing or dealing up to one kilogram of heroin or cocaine, or up to five kilograms of marijuana, could face a minimum 10-year sentence.

Despite that, many drug offenders in Rhode Island actually receive and serve far shorter sentences.

The recent $4 billion private-equity buyout of IMS Health raises an irresistible question: What other health-care companies might catch private equity’s eye?

A Bloomberg News story out this morning takes a stab at answering the question, and comes up with a list that includes a few solidly profitable drug makers that have market caps between $1 billion and $3 billion and relatively low debt burdens.

• Endo Pharmaceuticals, which sells pain drugs, was cited as a possible target by a Credit Suisse analyst, Bloomberg notes. The company generated $339 million in free cash flow last year. It had $371 million in debt as of the quarter ended Sept. 30 and has a market cap of $2.6 billion.
• King Pharmaceuticals sells generic drugs and recently had a branded, tamper-resistant narcotic approved by the FDA. The company has a market cap of $2.9 billion. It generated $433.9 million last year in free cash flow and had $400 million in debt as of the quarter ended Sept. 30, Bloomberg says.
• Ratiopharm, the family-owned generic drug maker is collecting bids right now — and as we noted recently, there have been reports that several private equity shops are interested, including KKR, TPG, Permira and Goldman Sachs’s private-equity arm.

Image: iStockphoto

When you know your life is not on the right path just type DMX to google and click the Wikipedia link and learn that life aint shit but DMX knows how really to fuck up a career. But shit in Grade 9 he was one of the greatest through the 90’s, so DMX you have earned a post and much love TO U & your lyrics and Music….ARRF ARRF !!!!

Criminal record:

In 1999, DMX joined rappers Jay-Z, Method Man and Redman for Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life tour. DMX was arrested but later cleared of a stabbing that occurred at a tour stop in Denver, Colorado; he was also cleared of an assault charge back at his hometown of Yonkers. However, in the summer of 1999, DMX and his wife were arrested and charged for animal cruelty and possession of drugs and weapons after his manager uncle was accidentally shot at a hotel in New Jersey. Eventually, he successfully plea-bargained simply for fines, probation, and community service. DMX was arrested in March 2000 for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, speeding, failure to signal, driving without a license, failure to notify the DMV of an address change, and possession of marijuana New York State Route 33 in Cheektowaga, New York, following a concert in Buffalo, New York. He was then scheduled to appear in Cheektowaga Town Court on March 21, but failed to appear, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest. He later turned himself in, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving without a license and was sentenced to 15 days in jail and fined $400. Since beginning public life as a rapper, DMX has made headlines for multiple arrests, such as for animal cruelty,^[19] reckless driving,^[20] unlicensed driving, drug possession,^[21]and identity falsification.^[22] In 1999 officers from the Fort Lee Police Department executed a search of his home, which led to Earl Simmons aka DMX surrendering himself the next day on weapons charges.^[23] He has served some jail time, such as a 15-day sentence in 2000 for possession of marijuana^[24] and another in 2001 for driving without a license and possession of marijuana. His appeal to reduce the 2001 sentence was denied, and he was charged with assault for allegedly throwing objects at prison guards.

In June 2004, he was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on charges of cocaine possession, criminal impersonation, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, menacing, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol while claiming to be a federal agent and attempting to carjack a vehicle.^[25] He was given a conditional discharge on December 8, 2004 but plead guilty on October 25, 2005 to violating parole.^[26]

On November 18, 2005, DMX was sentenced to 70 days in jail for violating his parole; the lateness charge caused a 10-day extension from the original 60-day plan.^[27] For good behavior, DMX was released from jail early on December 30, 2005.^[28]

As of December 31, 2008, DMX had pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession, theft and animal cruelty and was sentenced to 90 days. ^[29][30] On May 22, 2009, DMX entered a plea agreement/change of plea. He pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated assault. On July 2, 2008 DMX was arrested in Phoenix at Sky Harbor airport after arriving from Miami for outstanding warrants and failing to appear in court. His bond is $1075 for driving without a license and $10000 for previous drug charges on May 9th.Two weeks later, DMX was arrested at a Phoenix mall on suspicion that he gave a false name & Social Security number to a hospital to get out of paying for medical expenses.DMX is suspected of having used a false name, “Troy Jones” and failed to pay a $ 7,500 bill to Scottsdale’s Mayo Clinic in April. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said DMX’s bond had not been set, and if he remains in 4th avenue jail, he would be isolated from the rest of the inmates for his own safety. “They may not like his music.” His judgments took place on June 8. DMX entered rehab to stop his addiction to drugs in 2002.^[31][32]

My good friend Duncan showed me this movie the other night and I laughed out loud almost the whole time. Not only is it funny because the writing is good but it’s funny because its true…sadly,sadly true. It didn’t get huge distribution but for those of you with Netflix you should be all set. For those of you without Netflix, join us in the 21st fucking century and get Netflix for christ’s sake!

Jobs continue to appear each week despite the impending holiday.  See downloadable list Jobs That Crossed My Desk Through Nov. 22,2009

Remember to take some time to celebrate all the things you can be thankful for and remember you will survive this economic downturn. I say this with voice of experience–I was unemployed 3 out of the last 5 downturns starting with my job search just after completing my Ph.D. I am thankful to all the wonderful industry contacts you helped me redirect and/or chart a new course each time. Shake off any tendency to feel bitter about a layoff or punish yourself for not getting the job at your last interview. The most unwelcome addition to a firm is a person who views the glass half empty.

It’s common that after returning to full time work, people regret that they didn’t take more time to smell the roses, exercise, cultivate friendships, attend their children’s soccer games, work in the garden, even clean out the storage room while they had so much available time while transitioning. High achieving folks miss the accomplishments of work and feeling of satisfaction that feeds the mind and spirit. Experiencing achievements through projects at home, fraternal, civic and religious organizations can help feed your unconscious with positive experiences that maintain your good spirits and sense of purpose and self respect.

Remember what goes around comes around–play “pass it forward.” Good jobs come from relationships you’re established that were reciprocal in nature. So become involved with helping others in your network, establish one if you haven’t so far. Research companies carefully before interviewing–you need to establish connection of your skills and experience to possible solutions needed by company to which you’re applying. Practice your “elevator pitch” while networking with these safe contacts at local meetings.

Be sure to find contacts at the target hiring company to whom you might request they submit your resume directly. The Bio2Device Group is ideal for this since it’s a large group with weekly events and 60 to 100 attendees from diverse companies and functions. Even those who are in transition can help you connect with jobs of which they become aware but that don’t fit for them but do for you.

I send you a virtual hug to embrace your outstanding capability and innate good nature and caring on this Thanksgiving! Although it may sound silly, you can achieve a real lift from self embracing yourself (that’s right–wrap your arms around yourself) and remind yourself that you are a valuable person. I believe you can find the career that suits you and in which you can continue to grow and prosper but you need to believe in yourself.

See you on Dec. 1st at the upcoming Bio2Device Group meeting when we have an outstanding speaker on how a foundation such as the Parkinson’s Institute right in our backyard can play a role in bringing important drugs to market. I’ll only be able to stay until 10:15 am this week due to meeting that follows so won’t have as much time to network individually with you but will be more available at the BayBio Medical Device breakfast on the 8th and that evening at the Bio2Device Group when we have another outstanding industry speaker traveling from the East Coast to speak to us.

I look forward to seeing some of you at the upcoming UCSC Ext. Bioscience Business Development course in Santa Clara, Dec. 3-4th.

Have a great week and wonderful holiday! You deserve it.

Audrey

6 ianuarie

Problemele mele, problemele unei generatii: it’s easy to find shit (drugs), but hard to find good shit! Same w/sex.

8 ianuarie

O zi de stat acasa pe un viscol de-ti ingheta rinichiul numai uitandu-te afara a produs urmatoarea concluzie (ca si ceva vizite interioare prin Encarta):
Nu e adevarat ca suntem prima generatie care nu-si pune probleme. Suntem, in schimb, prima generatie care nu admite ca isi pune probleme.

9 ianuarie

Am luat de la Sfinxa “Nothing Else Matters”. Asta era cantecul meu si al Catalinalinei, fara sa fi stabilit ceva cu voce tare, chiar inainte sa-mi dau seama ca spunea povestea noastra inainte sa se petreaca (“Trust I seek / And I find in you.. si toate fazele celalalte)..
Azi m-am hotarat sa ma las in voia depresiei. Albastra, sigura si sensibila: perfect, serioasa, beata. In gat mi se opreste aerul; merg pe strada de parca as fi beat pentru ca nu mai conteaza; iar zapada pare sa se opreasca in mine cantr-o fundatura. Cine mai are nevoie de viata? Astept, inconstient, sa fiu salvat. Astept miracolul cel imposibil, si e logic ca n-o sa mi se intample. Dar m-am saturat sa ma chinui eu: oricat si orice am incercat, fara speranta si cu speranta, nu s-a intamplat nimic. Vreau ca sa nu mi se mai intample nimic, dar de data asta prin voia mea. Sunt curios de ce o sa se intample. FF curios.

If you buy psuedophedrine in Kentucky, there’s a computer system that keeps track of it. If you buy too much, the computer (and, more importantly, the police) decides you’re probably making meth.

Governor Steve Beshear has touted this program’s effectiveness, and now psuedophedrine manufacturers agree. They’ve helped put together the National Precursor Log Exchange, which helps officials track purchases nationwide, if state law allows for it.

The program might help identify possible meth dealers, but LMPD Sgt. Stan Salyards told the C-J that NPLEx is just one tool, and still requires police work and officers on the street.

Some time ago, I passed on information given to me by a resident regarding drug dealing on Pasture Road.  I’m pleased to report that police have recently arrested a man for dealing drugs from his car. 

As well as this, two men have been arrested after a drugs warrant was used on a flat in nearby Furze Way.  Well done to our local police and, if you suspect someone near you is dealing, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Remember that song by Queens of the Stone Age? You know… the one that goes “nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol. c-c-c-c-c-cocaine.”

Man, that song takes me back. No, there was never a time when I was a totally drug addled mess, it just reminds me of when I first heard the album “Rated R” by them. Also, it gives me a lovely idea for a series of posts… Why? Because everybody likes learning about drugs! So, I’ll be detailing some of the unique chemistry/science behind the drugs, and perhaps any experiences I’m willing to share…

For starters, we have nicotine: a stimulant naturally produced in the nightshade family of plants! Right off the bat, we can see that there’s a single chiral center. This naturally occurring S-enantiomer is responsible for all of the physiological effects associated with nicotine. But, if for whatever you ingest a genetic oddball plant or a synthetic racemate, don’t worry, because the R-enantiomer is still biologically active, but only about half as potent.

If you’re getting your fix from nicotine, you’re most likely getting it by smoking tobacco, but there are a few alternatives: dip, snuff, snus, or chewing tobacco. All of which are inherently gross, albeit enjoyable, because ultimately, all of these routes of ingestion can lead to some form of cancer. It’s not the nicotine that’s the problem, but it’s the other carcinogens present in tobacco and tobacco smoke that’ll do you in. Considering that smoking is the most common method of nicotine ingestion, this is doubly upsetting due to the inefficient nicotine delivery method of smoking.

The flashpoint of nicotine is a low 95 C, and the point of autoignition is right around the point of vaporization^1,2. So, if you smoke, you actually ingest much less nicotine than is present in the leaves. Therefore, you’re also ingesting more combusted plant material, naturally occurring carcinogens, etc, than optimal. I don’t mind that people smoke, but I’m dumbfounded that we haven’t developed a more efficient method of nicotine intake, that would still pair well with reading a newspaper, drinking coffee, or going out to a bar/party.

Once nicotine is ingested, it’s carried through the bloodstream to the brain, zips through the blood-brain barrier, and gets to work as an acetylcholine receptor agonist³, which boosts the levels of a few neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, resulting in that “nicotine buzz.” In addition, tobacco leaves contain a few natural monoamine oxidase inhibitors⁴ (MAOIs). MAOs do a whole bunch in your body, in particular, they can metabolize certain neurotransmitters such as (surprise, surprise…) dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. In addition to helping you keep that nicotine buzz going a bit longer, whatever evolutionary advantage the nightshade family gained by producing nicotine or other metabolites, it also developed a method to increase certain metabolites’ effectiveness in mammals! Call it evolution, call it ‘design’, call it whatever, but it’s brilliant engineering of some kind, and I think that’s pretty fucking cool.

With regard to more recent developments in nicotine enjoyments, there’s menthol. It will give your cigarettes or dip a minty refreshingness, and will also prolong the time it takes for your body to metabolize nicotine to cotinine.⁵ Cool, right? (No pun intended…) However, the cooling sensation apparently makes it easier to smoke more with each drag, and ingest more nicotine, thus eventually making it harder to quit.⁶ I’m going to posit that the combination of more nicotine and a longer half-life isn’t exactly helping the addiction situation, either. Also, maybe some of you have heard that if you smoke menthol cigarettes, the menthol will “crystallize your lungs”? I’ve so far been unable to find any definite scientific data regarding it, but according to the most legit source I found, it’s all just a myth. And a hokey one at that…

Once you’ve had your way with nicotine, cytochrome p450 enzymes get to work metabolizing it into cotinine, and a bunch of other goodies:⁷

Next up on the hit-list (pun intended), Valium!

Because it’s not chemistry, supporting anecdotes info is included below, along with references.

Well, I was a smoker, originally picking up the habit in high school, and continuing halfway through college. I eventually realized I needed to quit sometime, for fear that if I didn’t set a hard deadline, I’d be sucked in forever. Quitting during school would have been a terrible, bitter, face-clawing experience, so I planned to quit after finals last year. After my last final in May, I smoked a well needed cigarette, threw away the rest of my pack, and went cold turkey. That being said, it’s just over 6 months later, I’m still smoke free, and now I have plenty of money for tasty beers. Definite improvement. So don’t smoke, kids.

[1] Oxford MSDS Database

[2] Cameo Chemicals via the NOAA

[3] Sorry, but I’ll have to pass on describing any biochemical processes with anymore detail than wikipedia can offer. I wouldn’t consider myself qualified. And, to be honest, with respect to nicotine, I’m not all that interested the the biochemistry side of things. I just wanted to share the weird decomposition fact, the MAOI thing, and the menthol oddities. That being said, Future “Summer Series” posts will include more fun, gritty organic details (syntheses, anyone?) and reserve biochem data/info only if there’s something specifically neat about it, e.g., a synergizing metabolite somewhere down the metabolic pathway.

[4] Human monoamine oxidase is inhibited by tobacco smoke: [beta]-carboline alkaloids act as potent and reversible inhibitors

[5] Mentholated Cigarette Smoking Inhibits Nicotine Metabolism

[6] Science Direct: Menthol Cigs More Addictive

[7] Metabolism and Disposition Kinetics of Nicotine (Exceptionally detailed, and also gets credit for the equally exceptionally detailed reaction scheme)

I’ll say from the off, I don’t do drugs and never have. I don’t anticipate I ever will, which puts me in a bit of a minority but that’s modern life for you. I’m just not interested in them. I also know enough people that have or do drugs, not to judge anyone either. But I like this clip. Professor Nutt has a very clear point in that the Government cannot manipulate scientists to back up their policy. The scientists provide the facts and it’s up to the government to manage situations and perceptions. Otherwise if you undermine the people providing the facts, then not only will the scientists be reluctant to work with the government, the credibility of the government is undermined too.

That said, I can see the point that just as people have knee jerked by saying “oh he’s condoning drugs” there will be the opposite reaction of people saying “great ! We can do as much drugs as we want”. I don’t think he’s saying either….

            Shaniya’s lifeless 5 year old body was found off the side of the road in Sanford, North Carolina after a week long search.  Preliminary autopsy results indicate she was raped and died from asphyxiation on Tuesday, November 10^th.  Her father claims Antoinette, the mother, trafficked her to pay off a drug debt.  Whatever the reason, the life of a beautiful, precious 5 year old soul has departed after a gruesome event.  Now, her mother sits in a jail cell two months pregnant.  Antoinette’s 7 year old son has been removed from her residence.

             One precious soul has departed, finally resting at peace in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16).  Shaniya’s father raised her for the majority of her life.  He will never share another holiday with his little girl, take another picture, hear another laugh, or feel the tight embrace of her arms wrapped around his neck.  He lost her due to sin.

             Our Almighty Father has a child currently sitting in a jail cell due to sin.  Antoinette has been lost in drugs and other sins that have kept her from the fellowship of the Divine Creator.  Antoinette has been separated from the life of hope that the gospel offers every one.  She has been lost to a life so desperate that she would allegedly trade her daughter to pay her debt. 

            Jehovah had His Son die for Antoinette (John 3:16).  Jesus died, wanting nothing more than for Antoinette to be forgiven of her sins, and be reconciled to the Father (Rom 5:6-8; Luke 23:34).  Jesus wants Antoinette to know that drugs will not bring peace to her life.  Jesus wants Antoinette to know that life in this world is temporary, but life in God’s kingdom, which is now present, lasts for an eternity.  Jesus wants Antoinette to have hope in the resurrection.  He wants her to know that no matter what, His way is always better and that there is always hope. 

             Our Father wants Antoinette’s 7 year old son to know about the gospel.  The Almighty wants her precious 2 month old residing in the womb to be raised knowing the security and peace that only the life lived by the gospel can provide. God wants Antoinette to know that He WANTS to forgive her, and live with her for an eternity.  Jehovah wants Antoinette to know that drugs, prostitution, or any other sin will not bring her life back.  God wants her to know that the only way she can ever be reunited with her beautiful 5 year old daughter is to believe and submit to the gospel of Christ. 

            Shaniya’s father already lost his little girl due to sin.  Antoinette’s Father does not want her to be lost forever due to sin.  Antoinette needs the church.  She needs our prayers, as do all involved in this case.  Most importantly, Shaniya’s mom needs the gospel.   That is why the church is here.

L’ ossicodone e’ una morfina prodotta da una casa farmaceutica.

Negli Stati Uniti viene prescritto da medici a malati terminali e altre persone che stanno da cani all’ interno delle “terapie del dolore“. Altre volte viene commerciata da pain manager: “Dopers” (Dai! che e’ solo bisnes inglish! Non te la prendere per questa cazzata dell’ inglese!).

Rimane poi da chiedersi quanto costa.

Spesso le aziende non osservano la legge e i medici si fanno i cazzi loro. Come te. Come tutti. Tutto qui. Alcuni e’ brava gente. Non si fanno tante domane. Ok? Non si masturbano il cervello davanti ad un cazzo di codice penale come era solito fare Emanuele Canta. Ti procurano cose di cui hai bisogno Estremo. KFC fa lo stesso. Quelli che ci marciano sono marci. Questo è tutto.  Denti marci. Difficile che cadano da soli. puzzano e fanno schifo. Per il resto sono persone-commercianti, che commerciano e recitano una parte come te, come me. A volte non puzzano nemmeno.

Una dipendenza e’ una dipendenza.

Non so se tutto cio’ che fa male fa male, ma sono sicuro che non tutto cio’ “che fa bene” faccia bene.

Il marchio “fa bene” e’ solo una certificazione.

Si vende.

Capita che questa certificazione si manifesti sotto forma di ricetta medica.
E tu su una ricetta medica trovi scritto solo cosa ti fa bene.
Non perche’ stai male.
Ma forse quello e’ scritto sulle avvertenze informative,
merda

For those not living in Australia a little preface might help.

Schoolies is a yearly event participated in by throngs of school-leavers (aka Year 12 students who just graduated from high schools) at Surfer’s Paradise. There are often official events where it is supposed to be drug and alcohol free. It’s supposed to be a week for the school leavers to party and celebrate the end of their compulsory formal education.

The problem is that, even though the official events held during schoolies week is sectioned off with guards and entry is only granted on the occasion that the participant can produce a current school identification. However, due to this event being held on the Gold Coast, many school leavers from far and wide converge on this small tourist strip and literally take over the town. They drink, and get drunk. Every year the police force wastes unnecessary man power to guard the youth of this generation from drugs which somehow manage to infiltrate the strictest security.

This weekend past alone, 69 people got arrested due to being too drunk on the streets. Seriously, 17 year olds wandering the streets drunk. There was even a 12 year old who went to Surfer’s Paradise with a friend so that she could party with the older kids. What is this society turning into? Binge drinking era where booze is the only outlet one can find?? That’s some major screw up. I don’t see why booze are such an attraction anyway, you pay big bucks for the results which are, but not limited to, lack of coordination, lost of mind control over bodily functions, incoherency, tendency to act rashly, and so on.

I understand that a lot of people enjoy the feeling of being tipsy. It boosts their confidence in being able to do things that are otherwise impossible to them. However, that does not apply to me. I hate the feeling of not being in control of your actions. It’s so dangerous. What if in that state of mind, you accidentally do something that you would regret for life? So why the attraction of ecstasy pills, marijuana and alcohol utterly baffles me. But I guess being young, consequences aren’t high on the priority list. Timely enjoyment is more of a priority.

or: I’ll trade you civil liberties circa 1980, for the right to beat your wife circa 1920

or: If Glenn Beck were a decade, which one would he be?

For almost a year now, and even further back possibly, I have been fascinated with politics and punditry. I have become a self-proclaimed politico and I follow politics and media pretty closely, as closely as my tenuous hold on sanity will allow. In following politics my liberal mind has always been perplexed by the conservative party line of ‘returning to traditional American values’ and trying to recapture the ‘lost spirit of what it is to be an American’. In recent months it as been the loud ram’s horn call of Glenn Beck, and his ever growing audacity matched only by his ever growing audience, that has caused me to pontificate further on this subject. For the past few weeks this idea of lost values and traditional American fundamentals has led me to research where we might have gone wrong. Is there a specific time and place, a particular era that the GOP and other right-leaning hard-liners would want us to return to? If I can put my finger on the ethos that these guiding principles existed in, can we get back there? I delve in to this quagmire of American history to try and find “Glenn’s America”, so that he and others can stop preaching in general broad strokes and say, “we need to get back to what we believed in 19XX (or 18XX as it may be).”

When examining the general party ideas of what I understand to be the GOP’s fundamental idealogical structure I take my understanding from some 25 years on this planet, though you can’t count the first 16. I think that until you turn 17 and start trying to find yourself and begin to shape your views and identity in preparation for voting and contributing to society you are more of a blank slate in terms of personal free thought; up until this point you do not question a source but only try to fit in to the general parameters of ‘normal’ life as to not rock the boat and interfere with the indoctrination that American public schools instill in our youth. My true views have been shaped in my most recent years and as such I have adopted a view of the world quite different from my parents’, a direct result of informing myself for the first time in my life. In my home growing up as a small boy liberal leaders and democratic ideals warranted venom and crass, lewd criticism. The views I set forth will be of my own creation, independent of those I was raised on, either despite or in spite of them, I cannot tell. A crazy person isn’t crazy if he knows he’s crazy. Indeed.

The GOP seems to feel that gays should not marry, and are sinful. This makes no sense to me as sinful is a religious idea, not a political one; though it seems one position is quite often the result of the other. Gun rights should be protected at all costs to personal safety and public responsibility. Abortion is a no-no, ‘nuff said. They want smaller government, tax cuts, reform to let states decide things, though not gay marriage rights or any of the other items I just mentioned. They are for fiscal responsibility. GOP feels that a free market should regulate itself, again smaller government. They claim to fight for the middle class but public programs and universal anything is bad, that’s more government. They hate the environment as far as I can tell. Campaign finance reform (yeah right), education in America (no child left behind has gone so well after all). Prayer in school is ok, capital punishment and the death penalty are pretty much thumbs up, and the Ten Commandments should be at the steps of a courthouse flying the confederate flag. I am pretty close on this, right? So, basically it is a small government that has an abridged copy of the constitution, a cliff’s notes of the Bill of Rights, and a bible as it’s guiding principles. Hmmm, ok.

So, in American history, where can we find this utopia we strive for every day? This shangri-la we lost so long ago would obviously be the one saving grace for this country of godless sodomites. If we could only return to this point in time then everything would be fine. As far as I can tell it is the GOP that can save us if you believe the rhetoric. The liberals and the liberal media have scattered us across the nation and we are divided along partisan lines and are all doomed unless we jump on the Republican band wagon like some lifeboat after the Titanic sank. This is what self proclaimed “libertarian” Glenn Beck would like you to believe. I will give him credit for criticizing the government as a whole, even in the Bush days, though not in such inflammatory terms, but in reality he is like a Liber-publican. So, let’s take a step, Glenn, in to the way back machine and start a search for the time in American history you would like us to return to, as well as all of the Republican nay-sayers.

I want to start by saying that I am skipping the nineties completely being that he wasn’t happy with Clinton either, and it is far too close to the 21st century and the liberal progress this country has made; there is no way anyone wants to get back to how we were in the nineties, not even me and I loved my teen years in the nineties. And I am going to come back to the eighties later, they were too soon as well, but I will look at them briefly. We are sending our way back machine to a time when I think this country went bat-shit crazy and we were in maybe the most turmoil as a nation than anyone today can recall. I want to start out in the era that good old Glenn was born in, and that many of our current figure heads today, that make our decisions, can remember very ‘fondly’…the sixties.

Well I start here, in this decade of utter unrest by trying to illustrate that this can’t possibly be the America Glenn wants back. This cannot be the period in American history we want to recapture. This was a time that the late Strom Thurman must have hated with more zeal than any other period in history. It is hard to decide where to start. The sixties started out innocent enough, Kennedy beat Nixon and became the President, what followed was the Bay of Pigs incident, rumors about Marilyn, the meager beginning of Vietnam, the cuban missile crisis, then the man is assassinated. Further Vietnam BS, Malcolm X is killed, the Compton Cafeteria Riots in San Fran, then Nixon and all his Vietnam BS and his ‘secret plan to end the war’, the massive inflation crisis, MLK Jr. is killed, Bobby Kennedy is killed, the Stonewall riots of ’69, oh and a little thing who was named Manson did some killing. Great decade.

The sixties were a time of massive riots in the black and gay communities. Civil rights on all fronts tore the fabric of this country apart from women liberation, blacks, gays, even the Chicano revolution in this country. Outside of that was the acid wave of the sixties, a complete change in television, film, art, and especially music. The counterculture as it came to be known galvanized this country after the death of JFK, I think. The nice, homely manners of the 50’s were gone in a big way and now came very free thinkers, revolutionaries, protests exploded, demonstrations, inflation choked the middle class as they tried to compete with the changes in the landscape. The sixties were an ugly, hate-filled time, the emerging civil rights movement after the death of JFK was really the catalyst for it all. There is no way we want to return to the sixties as a country. America was in a violent turmoil and unsure of it’s identity and where the road we were on was going to lead us and people were strung out or scared for their lives, or both. I don’t think Glenn wants that back, so let’s move on.

How about we take a step forward and find Glenn in the seventies as a small boy, maybe these are the innocent and moral times he wants back…but I doubt it. Well in the seventies music really got good including the first ‘rap’ song, movies got weird, TV got lewd, and the country just got fucked up worse. This country started watching shows like All In The Family and the Brady bunch, dealing with some of the issues of the day. Vietnam choked the first few years while a little thing called Watergate slipped by the news press during Nixon’s re-election campaign and then killed him by ’74. It was the most embarrassing and shocking scandal in American political history, which in my opinion was the death of politics. I think that Nixon and his escalation of the doomed Vietnam war and his scandal killed the American political system. Outside of the US revolution was abundant across the world. Woodstock was a shining beacon of what drugs and music and mud can do for young people, a complete change from how we started the decade on the campus of Kent State where the National Guard gunned down peaceful protestors of the war on a college campus; unthinkable today, one would hope. The draft was the height of outrage, an unbelievable moment when Ali fought the draft and Elvis went in. Protest and anti-war sentiment was as widespread in this country as pant legs were flared. The Cold War ramped up a bit and this country got really scared, really fast. Our involvement in a few revolutions and military coupes as well as an assassination or two was a continuation of poor foreign affairs decisions. The middle east started down the road to where we are today with Israel, Egypt, Syria, the Soviet Union, and Afghanistan, all starting to kick each others asses.

The seventies brought women’s rights to the forefront as the sixties had civil rights for minorities eclipsing women’s rights to some extent. Vietnam ended finally, well our involvement, leaving the North to just wait for us to leave and drop Saigon to it’s knees and claim the country unified again. A sad end to a war we should have not been in and an end that was mostly our fault. Oh and lest I forget the massive recession we were in mixed with oil crises a couple of times resulting in rationing and further middle class stresses that included a very high unemployment rate. Then of course there was Jonestown, about 900 dead there. Idi Amin started his tyrannical, violent rule of Uganda as well. Is this the era we should return to? Hatred, war, violence, and tragedy pock marked this era. The seventies hold within their years scandal, racism, and fear-mongering, of the most epic scale one can imagine. There is no way we want to return to the moral or political views of this era. The seventies were the time for change for sure, but it came at great expense on the heels of a decade of radical change and upheaval. The 70’s continued the massive crime rate spikes that the sixties brought and the country still sat on the edge of it’s seat every day as nothing seemed to get better. Surely we don’t want the seventies back.

Ok, the eighties might be better, the days of Reagan and Bush, this might be the most likely time we want to return to. The eighties would be the most formidable years of Beck’s life; the decade of excess. The eighties brought the yuppie, and with it, all the coke, parties, and BMW’s we could handle. We saw great multinational growth and wall street was glamorous, they were kings then, still total scum, but they had better PR people then. Of course Reagan declared a War on Drugs, the Cold War raged to a massive scale. Sure, communism fell apart as did the Berlin Wall, but we saw the further mishandling of the middle east that is the source of our problems and involvement there today, can’t argue with that. Reagan put a major black eye on his presidency with the discovery of the Iran-Contra debacle that Oliver North was the mastermind behind. This country saw massive economic growth against the backdrop of very complicated and protracted battles all over the world including Asia, the middle east, central and south america, and ever Ireland with ‘the troubles’ brewing. (Only badass Irish would call a modern, religious civil war ‘the troubles’, an understatement to say the least)

The eighties, I think were a time of thinking that we could not be beaten, being the short attention span of Americans forgetting the seventies. We were coked out of our minds, living beyond our means, and we were kicking Commie ass. But the eighties, world wide, were complicated, painful growth, some democratic, but on the whole we saw massive famine and destruction abroad as the industrialized countries were making head way. The middle class of nations was being evaporated as the gap between rich and poor nations grew drastically. Domestic issues were tough though, as it seemed we were trying to use our power for good as a people with things like LiveAid and becoming more aware of issues in Africa and other countries, the eighties saw the rise of the religious right. They really got fired up on the gay issue and the discovery of AIDS, ‘the gay plague’. This country grew in many way, a decent decade I guess, I don’t really remember much of it but it seemed like a lot of people were having a lot of fun, safer fun.

Glenn probably liked the eighties, he used to be a liberal and an alcoholic, he draws a fine parallel between the two in a Katie Couric interview you should look up on YouTube, and this might have been his favorite time. Old enough to enjoy and understand it, he probably had a great time. Conservatives in power, strides made internationally, excess and money everywhere. The eighties were a wild party time, a decade that seemed to be a release of the past twenty years of hard work, growing pains, and controversial conflict. The 60’s and 70’s were going to lead inevitably to a time when we finally just cut loose and took a deep breath after so much bloodshed, upheaval, and serious talk. It was the decade we all remembered fondly on VH1. Music was weird, movies were great, TV was filled with classics we all watched, and standup comedians were making it big; the country was having a good laugh, a bump, and some beer. Not too bad.

I discount the nineties entirely so let’s jump back to a more general era I don’t think we can reasonably go back to, the 50’s to the 30’s. This was another era of massive wars, depression, civil rights injustice, bigotry, no women’s liberation, industrialization, organized crime, et al. These were times when blacks were openly hung from gallows, women were expected to be barefoot and pregnant in front of the stove, except when they were making tanks for the troops overseas for next to nothing wages. A time where minorities were rightfully scared at night of police or white boys out for a joyride. The prohibition, crime in the streets, Bonnie and Clyde, the Tommy gun, the B.A.R., saloons, speakeasy’s, and rampant bank robberies and crooked cops on the beat. This was a different time for this country and I don’t think we can agree with many of the ideals that were held to in this time and apply it today, the role of women alone is too much inequality to bare, let alone the rest.

OK, let’s take a big jump to my favorite era, the old west. You know the times, I’m talking post manifest destiny, pre-FBI. A time of no gun laws, showdowns in the streets, legal prostitutes, and riding in to town on a horse. Tombstone, San Francisco, Indian and cowboys. A time where gold was rushing and crazy white drunks ran amok and contracted TB and polio. Yes, when there were still a few Indians around, you had ranchers with thousands of acres, cattle drives, train robberies, and the men of storied legend lived and died by Winchester, Colt, and Smith&Wesson. I like to think I lived in the times with a town sheriff, shitty beer, floozies, and general martial law over most of the country. A time where you could shoot a man in the street in broad daylight in front of 50 people, and they might actually clap and then go about their day. The good times.

I think this might not be far enough back though. When I hear Glenn speak, he talks about the founding father’s principles. The true foundation of the country as he sees it with the men who earned America through blood, sweat, and tears. Jefferson’s America. OK, well let’s first examine the fact that we are talking late 1700’s and early 1800’s. These are pre-electric, pre-phone times. We are talking Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, plantations, etc. If this is the time Glenn thinks we need to get back to I want to highlight a couple of things. First off, slavery was alive and well…need I say more? Secondly, this country treated women like shit, there were no civil rights, and it was unindustrialized. This country was populated and run by rich, white land owners, and then there was everybody else. I don’t want anyone to romanticize this era. This country was created, founded, and declared on the bodies of millions of natives and the death and suffering of minority races of people removed from their homes and treated worse than dogs in the time period.

America has never been truly righteous. We revolted for selfish reasons, nothing simpler than that. We turned against the imperialism of the Queen and her rule and declared our independence; the worst “dear John” letter ever. Up to that point we had slaughtered, tricked, infected, raped, and pillaged our way to the Mississippi and thought very highly of white skin and could kill a black man for any reason at any time, or sell them, whatever struck our fancy. What I am about to say is going to piss off the right, but if I could meet George Washington I think I would take the opportunity to shake his hand and then slap the wooden teeth out of his head. These were racist white bigots with an knack for the written word and hard on for ‘freedom’ by their definition as it applied to them as an emerging nation of first class citizens at the top of the shit pile. All due respect, but their ideas and principles were fundamentally offensive and their beliefs of equality were for themselves and those they agreed with. How many minorities or women were running around enjoying their freedom of speech or right to bare arms…or even read? I rest my case.

So maybe Glenn does have a time in mind. Maybe he wants the scandalous, violent 70’s, or the civil unrest and inequality of the 60’s. The old west certainly had smaller/non-existent national government, and the 40’s sure were good times to be a gangster, Nixon would have done well, that’s for sure. The eighties surely had the best coke, and some unprecedented growth, outside of post-industrialized America (without all of these pesky labor laws we got). Maybe he wants the great depression era, maybe to live amongst the greatest generation, or rub elbows with white men who raped their slaves on their plantation as a matter of principle and patriotism. The history of America is short, embarrassing, and seemingly without a lesson learned throughout. Glenn, I dare you and your constituents to point out that shining beacon in American history that is so much better than now, ‘cause I must have missed it. All those moments have led up to now, and I’ll be damned if where we are isn’t a hell of a lot better than where we were; you can pry this progress from my cold dead hands, pal.

Chemotherapy is unsafe,radiation destroys healthy cells, other drugs cause severe side effects.
We do not know how many cancer inducing drugs are prescribed to cure patients.
At this rate it seems fair to let the disease take its course.

Laboratory tests suggest morphine could in fact encourage the spread of cancer, for which it is routinely prescribed to relieve pain from surgery and tumours.
US scientists say the opiate promotes the growth of new blood vessels which deliver tumours oxygen and nutrients.
Speaking at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Boston, they also claim to have found a drug which counters this effect.
Cancer Research UK said more tests were needed before any changes in treatment.
Dr Patrick Singleton from the University of Chicago told the meeting of experts that in laboratory tests, morphine not only strengthened blood vessels but also appeared to make it easier for cancers to invade other tissues and spread.
But he said this could be overcome by a drug – methylnaltrexone or MNTX – developed in the 1980s to prevent morphine-related constipation but only recently approved in the US. It appears to work without interfering with the pain-relieving properties of the opiate.
‘Long history’
In mice with lung cancer, MNTX inhibited the apparent tumour-promoting effects of opiates, and reduced the spread of cancer in the mice by 90%.
“If confirmed clinically, this could change how we do surgical anaesthesia for our cancer patients,” said Dr Singleton, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center and principal author of the research.
“It also suggests potential new applications for this novel class of drugs which should be explored.”
The tests were started after his colleague, anaesthetist Jonathan Moss, noted that several patients receiving this kind of opiate blocker survived longer than might be expected after surgery.
Dr Laura Bell of Cancer Research UK said the drugs had a long history of providing effective pain relief.
“Research in this area is in the early stages, so it’s too early to tell whether opiate-based painkillers have an effect on cancer growth.
“Much more research would be needed to justify changing the way opiates are used to treat people with cancer.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8367301.stm

Latar Belakang

Obat tradisional Indonesia telah berabad-abad lamanya dipergunakan secara luas oleh masyarakat Indonesia, meskipun masih banayak bahan baku standar yang belum memiliki persyaratan resmi. Obat tradisional pada umumnya menggunakan bahan-bahan alam yang lebih dikenal sebagai simplisia. Simplisia ialah bahan alamiah yang dipergunakan sebagai obat yang belum mengalami pengolahan apapun juga, kecuali dinyatakan lain, berupa bahan yang telah dikeringkan.

Semakin maraknya penggunaan obat tradisional berdasarkan khasiat yang turun temurun semakin memperluas kesempatan terjadinya pemalsuan simplisia bahkan ada beberapa jamu yang mengandung bahan kimia obat (BKO) yang telah jelas dilarang penambahannya baik sengaja maupun tidak disengaja kedalam produk obat tradisional.

Oleh karena itu, maka diperlukan adanya analisis terhadap sediaan jamu yang beredar dipasaran yang meliputi analisis makroskopik dan mikroskopik serta analisis kimia untuk melindungi masyarakat luas dari peredaran obat tradisional yang mengandung simplisia palsu maupun bahan kimia obat.

Teori Umum

Definisi :

Simplisia ialah bahan alamiah yang dipergunakan sebagai obat yang belum mengalami pengolahan apapun juga kecuali dinyatakan lain, berupa bahan yang telah dikeringkan. ⁽¹⁾

Simplisia nabati ialah simplisia yang berupa tanaman utuh, bagian tanaman atau eksudat tanaman. Eksudat tanaman ialah isi sel yang secara spontan keluar dari tanaman atau isi sel yang dengan cara tertentu dikeluarkan dari selnya, atau zat-zat nabati lainnya yang dengan cara tertentu dipisahkan dari tanamannya dan belum merupakan zat kimia murni. ⁽¹⁾

Simplisia hewani ialah simplisia yang berupa hewan utuh, bagian hewan atau zat-zat berguna yang dihasilkan oleh hewan dan belum berupa zat kimia murni. ⁽¹⁾

Simplisia pelikan (mineral) ialah simplisia yang berupa bahan-bahan pelikan (mineral) yang belum diolah atau telah diolah dengan cara sederhana dan belum berupa zat kimia murni. ⁽¹⁾

Obat tradisional adalah bahan atau ramuan yang berupa bahan tumbuhan, bahan hewan, bahan mineral, sediaan sarian atau galenik, atau campuran dari bahan tersebut, yang secara turun-temurun telah digunakan untuk pengobatan berdasarkan pengalaman. ⁽²⁾

Bahan  baku adalah simplisia, sediaan galenik, bahan tambahan atau bahan lainnya, baik yang berkhasiat maupun yang tidak berkhasiat, yang berubah maupun tidak berubah, yang digunakan dalam pengolahan obat tradisional, walaupun tidak semua bahan tersebut terdapat dalam produk ruahan. ⁽²⁾

Dasar Teori :

Berdasarkan undang-undang kesehatan bidang farmasi dan kesehatan, yang dimaksud dengan Obat bahan Alam Indonesia adalah Obat bahan Alam yang diproduksi di Indonesia. Berdasarkan cara pembuatan serta jenis klaim penggunaan dan tingkat pembuktian khasiat, Obat bahan Alam Indonesia dikelompokkan menjadi : jamu, Obat Herbal Terstandar, dan Fitofarmaka. ⁽²⁾

Jamu harus memenuhi kriteria aman sesuai dengan persyaratan yang ditetapkan, klaim khasiat dibuktikan berdasarkan data empiris dan memenuhi persyaratan mutu yang berlaku^{. (2)}

Berbeda dengan obat-obatan modern, standar mutu untuk jamu didasarkan pada bahan baku dan produk akhir yang pada umumnya belum memiliki baku standar yang sesuai dengan persyaratan. Simplisia nabati, hewani dan pelican yang dipergunakan sebagai bahan untuk memperoleh minyak atsiri, alkaloid, glikosida atau zat berkhasiat lainnya, tidak perlu memenuhi persyaratan yang tertera pada monografi yang bersangkutan. Identifikasi simplisia dapat dilakukan berdasarkan uraian mikroskopik serta identifikasi kimia berdasarkan kandungan senyawa yang terdapat didalamnya. ⁽¹⁾

Berikut ini adalah alur pemeriksaan mutu dan identifkasi terhadap simplisia : ⁽³⁾

Identifikasi meliputi : (1) organoleptis (warna, rasa, bau) yaitu secara fisika, kelarutan, indeks bias, bobot jenis, titik lebiur, rotasi optic, rekristalisasi, mikrosublimasi ; (2) mikroskopik ; (3) biologi & mikrobiologi ; (4) instrumentasi (kromatografi :  kinerja tinggi, lapis tipis, kolom, kertas, gas) ; (5) mikrokimia (reaksi warna, pengendapan, pendesakan, penggaraman, reaksi kompleks). ⁽³⁾

Obat tradisional tidak boleh mengandung bahan kimia obat (BKO). ⁽²⁾

1. Berdasarkan hasil pengawasan obat tradisional melalui sampling dan pengujian laboratorium tahun 2006, Badan POM menemukan sebanyak 93 produk obat tradisional yang dicampur dengan bahan kimia obat keras seperti Fenilbutazon, Metampiron, Deksametason, CTM, Allopurinol, Sildenafil Sitrat, Sibutramin Hidroklorida dan Parasetamol.
2. Mengkonsumsi obat tradisional mengandung Bahan Kimia Obat Keras membahayan kesehatan bahkan mematikan. Pemakaian obat keras, harus melalui resep dokter.
3. Berbagai  resiko dan efek yang tidak diinginkan dari penggunaan Bahan Kimia Obat Keras tanpa pengawasan dokter, telah dilaporkan.
4. Kegiatan memproduksi dan atau mengedarkan obat tradisional yang mengandung Bahan Kimia Obat, melanggar Undang-Undang nomor 23 tahun 1992 tentang kesehatan dengan pidana penjara paling lama 5(lima) tahun dan denda paling banyak Rp. 100.000.000,- (seratus juta rupiah) dan Undang-Undang nomor 8 tahun 1999 tentang Perlindungan Konsumen yang dapat dikenakan sanksi dengan pidana penjara paling lama 5(lima) tahun dan atau denda paling banyak 2(dua) miliar rupiah.

Prosedur Analisis

1. Uji Organoleptis dan Uji Makroskopik
   1. Dilakukan uji organoleptis dengan mengamati bau, rasa, warna serta kelarutan jamu.
   2. Dilakukan uji makroskopik dengan mengamati struktur dari simplisia bahan baku dari sediaan jamu yang dianalisis.
   3. Hasil pengamatan dicatat dan dilaporkan dalam bentuk tabel.
2. Uji Mikroskopik
   1. Dipersiapkan alat dan bahan yang akan dipergunakan.
   2. Sediaan jamu dalam bentuk rajangan dan serbuk dihaluskan, bagian serbuk halus diletakkan diatas object glass (dibuat 2 preparat).
   3. Preparat pertama ditetesi dengan kloroform dan preparat kedua ditetesi dengan fluoroglusin, kemudian difiksasi dengan lampu spiritus.
   4. Diletakkan deck glass pada tiap preparat, lalu diamati pada mikroskop dengan perbesaran 10 X 10.
   5. Diamati dan dicatat pengamatan mikroskopik sampel,

Uji Kimia

Uji Kandungan Kimia

A. Uji Alkaloid

Sampel yang telah dilarutkan dalam etanol 70%, ditambahkan pereaksi dragendorff sebanyak 3 tetes, diamati pembentukan endapan. Hasil positif bila terbentuk endapan orange.

B.Uji Gugus Hidroksil / fenolik

Sampel yang telah dilarutkan dalam etanol 70% ditambahkan pereaksi besi (III) klorida sebanyak 3 tetes, diamati perubahan warna larutan. Hasil positif bila terjadi perubahan warna menjadi biru-ungu.

C.Uji Saponin

Sampel dilarutkan dengan 3-5 mL air panas, dikocok kuat-kuat. Diamati pembentukan busa. Ditambahkan larutan asam klorida encer dan diamati konsistensi busa. Hasil positif bila busa tetap setelah penambahan larutan asam klorida encer.

1. Kromatografi Lapis Tipis
   1. Dipersiapkan alat dan bahan yang akan dipergunakan.
   2. Lempeng Silica diaktifkan dengan pemanasan pada oven suhu 110⁰C selama 30 menit.
   3. Dibuat bahan pembanding bahan kimia obat dengan ekstraksi dari sediaan tablet.
   4. Dibuat eluen yang akan digunakan yaitu methanol serta kloroform : etanol (3:2)
   5. Disiapkan chamber dan dijenuhkan dengan eluen yang akan digunakan. (Digunakan kertas saring sebagai indicator penjenuhan)
   6. Sampel dalam bentuk serbuk, dilarutkan dengan etanol 70%.
   7. Sampel dan bahan pembanding ditotolkan pada lempeng KLT dengan jarak antara totolan 1 cm.
   8. Lalu lempeng silica dimasukkan kedalam chamber untuk proses pengelusian.
   9. Setelah proses pengelusian selesai, lempeng KLT dikeluarkan dan dikeringkan kemudian diamati bercak yang nampak pada sinar UV 254 dan 366 nm.
   10. Noda/bercak yang tampak, diberi tanda.
   11. Lempeng lalu disemprot dengan reagen penampak noda ( dragendorff  atau  besi (III) klorida ), lalu diamati noda yang timbul.
   12. Dihitung nilai Rf, dan dibandingkan dengan literature.
   13. Dibuat pembahasan dan kesimpulan dari analisis bahan kimia obat dalam sediaan jamu.

contoh profil KLT dibandingkan antara sampel jamu dengan pembanding BKO :

Daftar Pustaka

1. Tim Penyusun Materia Medika Indonesia. 1995. Materia Medika Indonesia Edisi VI. Departemen Kesehatan RI. Jakarta.
2. Frans A. Rumate. A.Ilham Makhmud. 2007. Peraturan Perundang-undangan Bidang Farmasi dan Kesehatan. Fakultas Farmasi – Universitas Hasanuddin. Makassar.
3. Didik Gunawan. Sri Mulyani. 2004. Ilmu Obat  Alam (Farmakognosi) jilid 1. Penebar Swadaya. Jakarta.
4. C.P. Khare. 2007. Indian Medicinal Plants (Electronic Version). Springer Science Business Multimedia. New Delhi.
5. Rosani Tayeb. Mufidah. 2007. Penuntun Praktikum Farmakognosi Lanjutan. Fakultas Farmasi – Universitas Hasanuddin . Makassar

Matthew Roberts, now 41, was given up for adoption as a baby. Growing up in Rockford, Ill., he didn’t know he was adopted until his sister told him in fifth grade and it shocked him.

Like many adopted children, Matthew embarked on a mission to find his biological parents. He wanted to know, most especially, his father and see if there is any identity of him in what the son has become today.

Matthew, who now lives in Los Angeles, started his search 12 years ago when he contacted the Lutheran Social Services agency that located his mother, Terry, in Wisconsin.

He wrote to her immediately and got back an answer from her confirming she is his mother.

“She said she named me Lawrence Alexander and told me she’d tell me my last name some other time in person,” Matthew remembers.

Curious and confused, he pressed his mother for more information until she finally revealed the awful truth in a series of letters. She admitted having been raped by his father in a drug-fueled orgy in 1967.

Matthew, who is the spitting image of his serial killer-father, Charles Manson, is said to have fallen into depression after discovering his identity.

“He’s my biological father – I can’t help but have some kind of emotional connection. That’s the hardest thing of all – feeling love for a monster who raped my mother,” Matthew said.

“I don’t want to love him, but I don’t want to hate him either.”

This is an annual event that i always go to every year. Its good to see that the turn-outs are becoming better as the year goes by. Its always a good look for me i advise you if you are into the vintage clothing scene to check it out.  You can find out by going to the event why for the select few veiw this is a lifestyle rather than a fad.

lo-life bbq 4th annual

And here is some footage from the event. It was funny watching it because i spotted myself in the footage. Im only in there for a couple of a seconds but it was funny to me nonetheless. Enjoy the footage….peace.

His Addiction

“The sky was gold. It was rose. I was

taking sips of it through my nose.”

“Semi-Charmed Life” -Third Eye Blind

A carefree junkie. Always holding.

Wild and spontaneous. Spun into control.

Filling the space. An intense stimulant.

Crystal Meth needs. Dreams fulfilled.

From friends to between the sheets.

Losing room keys in the sand.

Sex in the fitting room, crazy.

Adrenaline relationship.

Late night phone calls and last minute

decisions. Trips to North Carolina.

I-95 at midnight. Dipping dollars in the bag,

coating their rims with white gold.

Takes the hit he was given.

And he bumped up.

A huge rush. Euphoria. Endless dreams.

Never-beginning sleep. Hallucinations.

Blending clouds of colors. Pink and blue

make purple. Obsessively horny.

Sudden slip into paranoia. Giggle attacks

and tickle matches. Avoiding invisible cops.

Pretending it’s just a game. Hiding

from his girlfriend. Falling asleep in closets.

Gliding on a high. Heavenly addiction.

Closer to a wonderful disease.

Outstanding physical condition.

Only 25 a day for half a gram.

Hydro or glass?

Laundry detergent and lighter fluid.

Precise explosive mixture resulting

in green poodles and weight loss.

Methamphetamine induced feelings

lift him up until he breaks.

Exhilarating decline onto the other side.

Snort. Smoke. Inject. Swallow.

Another hit.

He bumps up.

A flip, then a cascade away from

himself. He says he’s in love

and wants to be a better man. Stories

of rehab redeeming success clouds

his mind and pushes him into a sober

statue with winter white walls.

He forgets wild mood swings.

Tina, Krank, Tweak, and Ice

disappear from his once unpredictable

life. A good job and clean haircut

takes center stage, and new act begins.

His potential blooms,

and my heart sinks.