Call Medicine Medicine, Even When it Means Calling Marijuana Medicine

  Brian Scott carried the Hurricane Tigers to their first state football title, and won three state wrestling titles. Today, he is turning to a marijuana extract in hopes of saving his life.
  His story was told in the Salt Lake Tribune more than a week ago, and it underscores the need to utilize medicines where medicines might be useful. Don't turn them away because they come with the title "marijuana."
   One of the arguments against medical marijuana is that if we go that route, youth will be more inclined to say, "Hey, this is a treatment for cancer, for Parkinson's disease, and for seizures. It is good for me." And, with that, there is an uptick recreational marijuana use.
   I do not buy that as a legitimate reason for not allowing a medicine to be used as a medicine. If someone is dying, and a marijuana extract will save them, do we say, "No, you can't use that. The kid next door might learn that you used it, and learn that it has beneficial properties, and he'll go out and get some for himself."
   I say, allow medicine to be used as medicine, even if it means allowing marijuana to be used as medicine.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57085069-78/brian-marijuana-cannabis-cancer.html.csp

'Tis the 150th Anniversary of these Most-Cherished Words

   These words are to be cherished, uttered by our 16th president 150 years ago tomorrow, Nov. 19th. Some would say his 2-minute address is the greatest American speech of all. If so, consider that it is much just the statements at the first, and at the end, on which the speech hangs much of its greatness.
   The whole speech is great, but more than the rest of it, just those two statements are so indelibly embedded into our minds, stirring love and favor in our hearts for this little address.
   Just 30 words to start, and 17 to close.
   "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. . . .
   ". . . that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
   In a different day -- our day -- perhaps Abraham Lincoln's final words would have been counted as plagiarism. I think they are not, but I note that historians see a foreshadowing of his words in the words of others. Some suggest the earlier versions of what he said may have served as source material for Lincoln. Perhaps the thought of government of and for the people spun down from one speaker to another, finally evolving into the words offered by Lincoln.
  There was abolitionist Theodore Parker of Massachusetts, who said, "Democracy is direct self-government, over all the people, for all the people, by all the people."
   And Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster had said the federal government was "made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people."
   And, before Parker and Webster, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall said, "The government of the Union, then . . . is, emphatically and truly, a government of the people. In form and in substance, it emanates from them. Its powers are granted by them, and are to be exercised directly on them, and for their benefit."
   Of all versions of what was said, Lincoln said it best.
   Those three quotes similiar to Lincoln's are provided in an article in Wikipedia.
   (Post altered a little on Nov. 19.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address#Text_of_Gettysburg_Address

One Year Since Israel-Gaza Missile Crisis

   Throughout 2012, about 1,600 missiles rained down on Israel, causing maybe as much as one in five Israelis to live within range and in fear of the missiles.

   We are now at the one-year anniversary of the missile crisis, when for the first time in maybe 40 years, terrorists targeted Jerusalem with the missiles. Israel, after showing restraint for so many months, responded with attacks of its own. On Nov. 14, an air strike took out a top Hamas military commander, and on Nov. 18, another Israeli air strike shook Gaza.

   I thought tonight to try to research a related topic, alleged human rights violations by Israel, but did not get around to it in time and the night is now here. I wish there were a website taking the accusations one by one, and replying to them, but if such a website exists, a quick search is not turning it up. I do know, many of the charges are trumped up. Israel is baited, often. But, that does not mean all the charges are false. I wish could determine, which, if any, are correct.

Neat to See Mike Lee Rallying Us to Help the Poor

   It is neat to see a politician call on not the government, but the people to help the poor, as Sen. Mike Lee is doing. He is asking us, as a society, to find a way to take care of those in poverty. "They are not some government's brothers and sisters -- they are ours," he said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865590623/Lee-urges-conservatives-to-fight-poverty-echoes-Brigham-Youngs-appeal-to-bring-them-in.html

Maybe Non-Organic is Okay, but I'll Continue Organic for the Moment

   The political issue of my night has been, Shall I eat organic or non-organic? And, I suppose my little study has led me to say, Continue organic, for the moment.
   One site said there is not one shred of evidence that pesticide residue on crops makes the food harmful. Not a bit. The author of that page (Ray Scraggs) pointed to the father of pharmacology/toxicology, Paracelsus, who discovered it is the dose that determines the poison, not necessarily the poison itself.
   So, what little pesticide is left on my apple is not going to hurt me.
   So, a little Malathion might not go a long ways, and maybe not even a little DDT? I don't know.
   You pretty much have to identify the harmful effect, before you go looking to see if it is occurring. It is kind of like drug testing. I'm told that when you test for drugs, you have to know which to look for, or you won't find them. So, it is with residue on crops. If you are aren't considering the harmful effect that might be occurring, you won't find it.
   My guess is, admittedly, that we are being careful with how much pesticide use we allow as residue on our crops, and the food is safe. I just don't feel totally confident as of this brief study.
   And, there is another thought to consider: Even if the amount of pesticides on the food are not harmful, is organic food more nutritious? I read that it is. So, why should I not continue organic for that reason, alone?
   Other thoughts of the night include, what of the pesticide residue left in the soil? A farmer might decide to go organic, and start raising crops organically, but, he if he is using the same soil that has absorbed pesticides in past years, won't they still affect the crops?
   And, then there is the thought I had from way back in my youth: What of the farmers who use manure for fertilizer? If agrochemicals are harmful, what of manure? I picture a neighboring farmer where I grew up, and in my mind's eye, I see his manure spreader throwing cow manure on the field. No, if that is organic food, I'm not so confident about eating it. Can I get a food label to say, "Organically grown, no GMOs, and raised without manure fertilizer"?

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrary/Arun/Facts%20&%20figures%20from%20soil%20association.pdf

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/FactSheet/Pesticide/fs24.consumer.cfm

http://www.nationofchange.org/7-nasty-and-crazy-effects-pesticides-food-exposure-1350220273

http://www.livestrong.com/article/230346-the-effects-of-pesticides-in-food/

http://voices.yahoo.com/pesticide-residues-food-not-harmful-health-2342961.html?cat=5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide_residue#Organic_vs_Non-organic

On Retirement: The More People Who Work, the Better the Economy

   Today, I would ask people to not be so quick to retire, to hold off, if  healthy and able to work. The greater the percentage of people in the workforce, the better the economy will be. So, it makes sense: The more of us who do not retire unnecessarily, the better.
   If we had a coach, pointing out all the things that strengthen an economy, surely he or she would be encouraging us to work past age 62, indeed, to work as long as health permitted. If you want a strong economy, you do all the things that help, and this is one of them.
   I'm not sure how my health will hold out. I'm but three years from being 62 and being able to receive Social Security. I would hope I will be able to remain in the workforce beyond that, but don't know. Let's not fault each other individually if we do retire, but, as a collective whole, let's encourage each other to press on.
   In the name of the economy.

Of all Our Freedoms, Don't Forget this One

   In listing all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, I think you would miss one of the most basic ones, one of the most important ones, and I fear some might even deplore it when they heard what it was.
   For this freedom kind of boils down to criminal rights, or more correctly, the rights of those accused of being criminals. And, to me, it seems that when someone is railroaded, it is often the poor who getting railroaded.
    I think of two examples tonight. One is Ernesto, a refugee from Cuba. He got off work one day, and rounded up a ride home, only to find the guy who was going to drive him home was intoxicated. Ernesto didn't like that idea much, so he offered to do the driving.. Part way home, the police stopped them, looked in the glove compartment, and found some alcohol. Now, since Ernesto was driving, he got the rap.
   Ernesto doesn't even drink. He's a teetotaler.
   As he told me his story, and seeing him as a humble, poor person, I almost cried. How wrong is a justice system that would hold him responsible for the alcohol in the glove compartment.
   The second story is of George Stinney. You ever heard of him? A black boy, he was convicted of murder about 65 years ago on basis of his own shaky confession. Now, his family wants a new trial. No, I don't know that he wasn't guilty. But I wonder. I wonder if he wasn't railroaded into the confession. His two sisters say he was with them the whole of the day when the murder was committed.
   If we, as country and as a people, cannot protect such people, we are not so free. All men and women deserve freedom from injustice.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/09/supporters-14-year-old-sc-boy-executed-in-144-for-killing-2-girls-want-new/