Percodan begat Oxycontin and now they Die.

My dentist used to give these great pain pills which sort of killed the pain and sort of made me drunk.  Percocet was helpful and who knew it became Oxycontin and now all the cool people seem to live for it and die from it.  Now we have hipster DJ AM dead and we know that Michael Jackson included it in his various cocktails, so it is “all the rage,” right?  Heath Ledger and countless others loved the Oxy.  Oh hell, I almost forgot that the self-impressed Rush Limpbaugh loved it, too.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percocet )

   

Why not just take it for pain?  Is life that horrible for these people that they lie, cheat, steal and hire their maids to get it for them?  How smart is it to mix it with booze and pot and valium and xanax and heroin and methadone and propofol?  How strange am I that I like a beer or two, maybe some wine, and a Long Island Iced Tea from time to time?  When things really suck who really needs depressing meds?  And if there is real pain, Vicodin, perhaps.   

    

As a nation, it seems we need some serious treatment, and soon.  How many more have to die getting high on prescription drugs?

  

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AP source: DJ AM autopsy finds pills in stomach

“…prescription pills in his stomach and one in his throat… six pills were found in the celebrity disc jockey's stomach and that the pill in his throat appeared to be the powerful painkiller OxyContin.”

 

 

AP – FILE - In this March 18, 2006 photo, celebrity

disc jockey Adam Goldstein, also known as DJ AM, spins …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_on_en_mu/us_dj_am;_ylt=ApX7RJaWpLRFpnVyx_4nuaOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJxNmYyYzVtBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwOTAyL3VzX2RqX2FtBGNwb3MDNgRwb3MDMwRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA2Fwc291cmNlZGphbQ--

 

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ABC News: Gibson retiring, Sawyer will be anchor

 

AP – FILE - In this July 9, 2009 file photo, Diane

Sawyer attends the premiere of 'Harry Potter and the Half …

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090902/ap_en_ot/us_abc_gibson;_ylt=AlQ3nusMdNnsHiNLtsLxpgQnHL8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJnbnE0OWpuBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwOTAyL3VzX2FiY19naWJzb24EY3BvcwMzBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDYWJjbmV3c2dpYnNv

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Control?  When we've totally lost it.

A couple of sad pictures.

 

Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images   

  

 

   (AP)

  

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Speculation rises that Supreme Court Justice Stevens will retire

John Paul Stevens, who will turn 90 early next year, has hired only one clerk for the 2010 term. That could be a tipoff that he plans to retire before then, although he has not said he will.

  

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-stevens3-2009sep03,0,5471894.story

  

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He’s Craig Crawford!

 

One of my favorite guys who do the talking head thing on TV is Craig Crawford.  He’s smart and funny and love to read his columns.  He brings a nice “southern sensibility” to things.  Check him out!

  

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/

   

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Please note that I’ve added some links to blogs and news sites and I’ll be adding more.  Some will be far less serious than the political and news sites.  There is fun out there, weirdness, free expression, and talent, so I’ve become a “Surfing-Bird” on the net.  Hell, I may even start to Tweet.

  

XCon

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Need more?  Check out Truthout.org:

   

Dean Baker | Reverse Bank Robbery
http://www.truthout.org/090109R?n
Dean Baker, The Guardian UK: "Most of us work for a living, the rest are bankers. These days the news is filled with great tales about how America's banks are coming back. Even that giant corpse Citigroup is showing signs of life. Its stock is now selling for more than five times the lows it hit earlier this year. Its market capitalization is up near $57 billion, a bit more than the $45 billion that the government lent them through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. Some are even expecting that the government will make a profit on its Citigroup investment."

Six Health Insurance Companies Investigated for "Purging" Small Businesses
http://www.truthout.org/090109S?n
Jared Allen, The Hill: "Two House committees asked six large health insurance companies for information about the 'purging' of small businesses from their plans. Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, asked the companies for data regarding the purging of small businesses when the employees of those businesses become ill and the companies' health insurance claims increase."

Wendell Potter | Against Wall Street's Health Care Takeover
http://www.truthout.org/090109T?n
Wendell Potter, Common Dreams: "I would like to begin by apologizing to all of you for the role I played 15 years ago in cheating you out of a reformed health care system. Had it not been for greedy insurance companies and other special interests, and their army of lobbyists and spin-doctors like I used to be, we wouldn't be here today."

Iran Says Ready for Nuclear Talks With World Powers
http://www.truthout.org/090109U?n
Parisa Hafezi, Reuters: "Iran has prepared an 'updated nuclear proposal' and is ready to talk to world powers, state television quoted the Islamic Republic's chief nuclear negotiator as saying on Tuesday."

Barry Scheck | Innocent, but Executed
http://www.truthout.org/090109V?n
Barry Scheck, The Huffington Post: "In his final hours on death row, Cameron Todd Willingham and his attorneys tried frantically to show the governor of Texas a new scientific report proving his innocence. The evidence was apparently ignored, and Willingham was executed on February 17, 2004."

EPA to Declare CO2 a Dangerous Pollutant
http://www.truthout.org/090109W?n
Jennifer A. Dlouhy, The San Francisco Chronicle: "Carbon dioxide will soon be declared a dangerous pollutant - a move that could help propel slow-moving climate-change legislation on Capitol Hill, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday."

Obama's Power Over Internet Central to Cybersecurity Debate
http://www.truthout.org/090109X?n
Kim Hart, The Hill: "Legislation that would give the president authority to shut down at-risk Internet networks would strengthen the country's cyber infrastructure in an emergency, according to some security experts."

VA Won't Pay Benefits to Marine Injured by Vaccine
http://www.truthout.org/090109Y?n
David Goldstein, McClatchy Newspapers: "It wasn't a bullet or roadside bomb that felled Lance Cpl. Josef Lopez three years ago after nine days in Iraq. It was an injection into his arm before his unit left the states."