Category: Culture

SEARCHING FOR ALTERNATIVES TO OPIOIDS

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Alternatives To Opioids

By D. S. Mitchell & Trevor K. McNeil

Definitions: *Opiate and opioid are often used interchangeably although that interchange of usage is not precisely accurate. The following would be more correct:

Opiate: A drug (such as morphine, codeine or heroin) containing or derived from opium or the opium poppy, used to alleviate pain, or induce sleep or euphoria.

Opioid: A synthetic or semi-synthetic drug producing an opium-like effect, often prescribed for the alleviation of moderate to severe pain; a prescription painkiller in the opiate class.

Balancing Act

With drugs, even those considered alternatives to opioids, there is always a risk. Even a “safe” drug such as caffeine.  Caffeine is regularly consumed by children, and has had documented negative effects. The same goes for nicotine, deemed for the most part “safe” except when smoked by children. Some of those effects include paranoia, muscle spasms and heart arrhythmia’s. The question becomes how much of a risk is there; and are the positive effects worth the negative risks?

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25 Things To Love About America

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By D. S. Mitchell

I have been on a hair pulling rant for the last 48 hours.  I recognize that. I am taking off my Calamity Politics Editor’s cap, and putting on a ball cap, and getting the hell out of this office. The blogger’s life is a good life, most of the time. Sometimes, however, U.S. politics and political rhetoric can just sap the energy from a person, no matter how earnest their intent.

So, let’s take time, lighten up, smoke one and check out, ‘25 Things To Love about America.’ These strange bits of illumination were partly supplied by Bowers’ and Gottlieb’s amazing book ‘1,000 Things To Love About America.’  Although I have used some of their text, but I have changed the numbering.

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Save The Orangutan Project

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Orangutans will most likely only be found in zoos within the next decade.

Orangutans will most likely only be found in zoos within the next decade

THE ORANGUTAN PROJECT: DEFORESTATION HURTS

Deadly Effects

We @calamitypolitics are deeply concerned about deforestation and the deadly effects it is having on the planet. Rain forests are important because they are home to thousands of unique animal species, some not even identified yet. Calamity Politics contributor, Michael Leonard Douglas, has written a compelling article explaining the hazards of deforestation. Please watch for it.

Palm Oil

One of the worst offending industries in the deforestation calamity is the palm oil industry  “Deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty, and indigenous rights abuses in countries where it is produced, because land must be cleared for development and planting of the palm oil plantations,” The Orangutan Project.

Video

Please take the 3-4 minutes to watch this video from the Orangutan Project. The loss of habitat is leaving many of our close cousins homeless and afraid. Deforestation hurts. Join the effort to stop palm oil atrocities and other devastators of our precious and rapidly disappearing rain forests-Darlene

HANLON’S RAZOR: Cutting Through the Hype

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HANLON’S RAZOR:

CUTTING THROUGH THE HYPE

By Trevor K. McNeil

A “culture war” by American definition implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal. It is most obvious when urban and rural American values come into clear conflict–T. K. McNeil

Origins

Little is known about the originator of Hanlon’s Razor, Robert J. Hanlon. To the point that it came to be thought that it might have been a misspelling of the famous science fiction author Robert J. Heinlein. Although this similarity proved to be purely coincidental. Originally composed as an entry for a writing contest based on the largely satirical “Murphy’s Law”. An axiom which states that anything that can go wrong invariably will. Though, Hanlon’s philosophy is generally more optimistic. Showing a modicum of faith in human nature. Attributing seeming misconduct to human frailty and incompetence rather than inherent cruelty.

Hanlon’s Razor

Much of the rhetoric based on gross exaggerations may not be  intentional manipulations of the truth. Hanlon’s Razor states, A truth most clearly expressed in the political aphorism known as Hanlon’s Razor.  Hanlon’s Razor states, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” Or as former British press secretary Bernard Ingham rephrased it: “Cock-up (screw up) before conspiracy.”

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TRANSGENDER TEENS REMAIN UNPROTECTED

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Transgender Teens Remain Unprotected

By Quinton Reed

Wait Until After Class

Current and former high school students can probably agree on one thing: it’s hard to get a restroom break during class. For transgender teens, however, that difficulty is amplified. Choosing a restroom that aligns with a transgender person’s identity is preferable to many trans teens as it can affirm their sense of self and – particularly for transgender girls – a sense of safety. When a school restroom choice is denied to the student, the basic and universal need to relieve one’s self becomes not only complex, but also heartbreaking and potentially dangerous.

Failure to Provide

In 2016, Donald Trump said that transgender students should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.” His administration has thus far fallen short on supporting that statement. School restroom choice has, in fact, been dismissed by the Department of Education . Transgender teens asking for help from the department now have their cases indefinitely on hold or dismissed altogether. What is the justification for yet another denial of protection toward transgender teens and younger children? According to a Buzzfeed news interview with Department of Education spokesperson Liz Hill, the 1972 federal civil rights law Title IX does not include transgender students. The law, Hill says, “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, not gender identity.”

What is Biological Sex, Anyway?

The 1972 amendment to Title IX does, in fact, fail to specify protection on the basis of gender identity, instead providing protection on the basis of “race, color, or national origin” as well as “on the basis of disability”. However, one must consider the definitions of “sex” when navigating the amendment. Time magazine’s article addresses the Trump administration’s relationship with the definition of sex; the concept of sex as binary is not only oversimplified but it is also wrong. If transgender students are not given their choice of restroom usage at school on the basis of Title IX’s exclusion, intersex people are also excluded because these individuals fail to fall within the commonly understood binary of sex.

Ignoring the DSM-5

Even if the definition of sex were to exclude transgender teens from protection under Title IX, the protection on the basis of disability is another angle to consider. Whether one considers a transgender person to have a mental disability or a physical disability, gender dysphoria is listed as a condition in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Again, the nature of transgenderism as a disability is a matter of debate. However, from a legal standpoint, gender dysphoria is considered a disability. According to the American Psychiatric Association, “treatment may focus primarily on affirming psychological support, understanding feelings and coping with distress, and giving children a safe space to articulate their feelings”. Affirmation can be given by granting school restroom choice; to deny treatment to those suffering with gender dysphoria can therefore be considered to be discrimination on the basis of disability.

Self-sabotage

The Education Department released a statement, saying it is “committed to defending the civil rights of all students and ensuring all students have an equal opportunity to learn in an environment free from harassment and discrimination”. Considering the amendments to Title IX, the agency has failed to protect transgender teens not only on the legal level but also on a personal one. As a result of feeling forced into using a school restroom of their assigned sex, transgender teens often suffer from emotional and physical discomfort. Faced with no choice, trans teens may fast in order to prevent the need to use the restroom, or simply wait to relieve themselves which can result in urinary tract infections and other complications.

Forceful Erasure

Speaking of the “commitment” of the Education Department, the 2017 election of Trump saw the removal of resources for transgender people, including information intended to help transgender teens and children fight for their right to choose their restrooms at school. Specifically, the resources deleted were to seven civil rights complaints and three federal court filings, including the court documents written under the Obama Administration in support of Gavin Grimm, whom – by no small coincidence – won his court case.

Moving Backwards

If the true intention of the Education Department was to give transgender students protection and assurance of equality of access opportunity, why remove resources that educate the transgender  community or their supporters? Is the Department afraid knowledge may stimulate activism? Furthermore, when the Trump administration rescinded Obama’s transgender rights directive, the rescission was based on the pressure of “significant litigation” from numerous states opposing the Obama directive.

Identification and Assignment

If true choice in bathroom access is to be achieved perhaps we should do some research on the effects of having people use the bathroom based on birth identification and assignment rather than identity choice. Research should be a priority. In order to accurately research the matter of transgender rights, it would make sense to pool research from the party affected most: transgender people. Yet, the removal of resources on the Education Department website suggests there is little concern with transgender rights; and such conduct by the department shows little interest in providing protection to a group in great need.

Slaps on the Wrist

Even with the removal of resources, the few transgender students that have managed to make their cases known to the Department of Education have steadily had their cases dismissed. During an investigation conducted by Politico, five of the six complaints regarding trans students’ bathroom rights were dismissed; that’s over 80 percent. Furthermore, the language of one dismissal letter, given to Texas high school student Alex Howe by the Title IX compliance officer for his school’s district, is not only insensitive but also incorrect. The school district’s “investigation” concluded Howe was “provided with equal access to all school facilities as there was a plan in place for (him) to use a particular restroom which was gender neutral,” according to compliance officer Valerie Little.

Separate But Not Equal

Which is by its nature not equal. Alex Howe identifies as male, not as “gender neutral”. No other students were required to use the gender neutral bathroom. This designation of a “gender neutral” bathroom versus the binaric “male/female” restrooms used by Howe’s peers is the problem. The “gender neutral” designation invalidates Howe’s identity as male, reducing him to “none of the above”. Quite simply unless all bathrooms are gender neutral, such designation is an act of segregation.  The policy designates a space where a transgender student is “expected” to be and where a transgender student is “not allowed”.

Federal Courts Know Better

While the Department of Education continues to attest to a lack of clarity in Title IX as being grounds for exclusion, federal appeals courts in the 6th and 7th circuit have already ruled that Title IX does indeed allow transgender students the right to choose the restroom matching their gender identity. As highlighted in the 7th circuit court case Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified School District, a three-judge panel came to the conclusion that “policy that requires an individual to use a bathroom that does not conform with his or her gender identity punishes that individual for his or her gender non‐conformance, which in turn violates Title IX.”

It’s Even Worse

The fact that the Education Department under DeVos ignores this ruling is bad enough, but to then dismiss all possibility of further ruling, after such a ruling, is wrong.  Refusal to accept the court mandate is to act in favor of prejudice. The agency presents itself as the protector of children, but under the Trump administration, it has not only under performed but intentionally regressed. To refuse a child’s right to feel comfortable when they are extremely vulnerable is cruel and unconscionable. These kids are human beings and our human physiology requires defecation and elimination. Such actions by both federal and local school authorities is inexcusable and indefensible, regardless of the “definition” of “biological sex”.

 

REBEL GIRLS: Women In Combat

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REBEL GIRLS: Women in Combat 

By Trevor K. McNeil

Unfair Exclusion

Women in combat comes across like a complex issue. Particularly in the United States with its military culture. As demonstrated by the fact that it had compulsory service longer than most other comparable Western democracies. Not stopping it entirely until 1973. There is still a Selective Service System that requires all male born US citizens to register for potential conscription by their 18th birthday. Which has raised questions as to whether the draft should be brought back and force women as well as men to serve. Raising and rehashing questions as to whether women are physically and mentally capable of combat.

Not An Enemy In the World

Generally speaking, bringing the draft back to America is unnecessary. America already has one of he largest military’s in the world and no viable enemies in terms of conventional warfare. Are there rogue states who could launch a nuclear weapon? Possibly but direct invasion by land, sea or air is essentially impossible. And almost always has been. The United States has not been directly attacked by an official government actor since WWII. And even that was not the mainland United States, in fact at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Hawaii was not even a state.

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WE CAN STOP THE KILLING.

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Adding Up The Dead

We at www.calamitypolitics just keep adding up the numbers of lives lost to gun violence in America on a near daily basis. We can’t be the only ones horrified and appalled. At some point it will sink in; we need gun control. We cannot continue wasting these beautiful young lives. Let’s have some common sense conversation–D. S. Mitchell

 

RESPONSE to “IN MY OPINION: Clean and Sober”

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RESPONSE: to “Clean and Sober”

By David Shadrick

Introduction

Hello, my name is Reverend David Shadrick but I’d appreciate it if you would just call me Dave. I run a small non-profit called Street Level Resources. I would like to respond to Jennifer’s Troy’s two recent articles; “Homeless Helping Homeless” and her follow-up article, “Clean and Sober.”

For Education

Education is my goal, not conflict. Most people understand that a large part of the homeless population are mentally ill, or are alcoholics or drug addicts, or all three. The reality of homelessness is that 85% of the chronically homeless are mentally ill.  “Chronically homeless” is a category that describes people who are homeless in excess of one year.

Who Are We Talking About?

I’m not sure how the homeless participants for the Kenton Women’s Village were selected.  Did the project contain only handpicked people who complied with certain prerequisites?  Were they required to be clean and sober? Were they on prescribed anti-psychotic medications? The reason I ask is because Jennifer’s results are very good when the demographic for the homeless is applied. One to two participants out of such a group of 14 is good.

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GLOBAL SEX TRAFFICKING: PART VI-AUSTRALIA

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GLOBAL SEX TRAFFICKING:

PART VI – AUSTRALIA 

By Trevor K. McNeil

On the Surface

Australia is generally seen as a tough, sporty, happy-go-lucky western democracy. A small isolated continent surrounded by water in a geographic region known as Oceania. A tangle of contradictions and mix of traditions making it one of the most unique, unusual and interesting nations on earth. Sadly it is also a tier 1 level country in terms of international human and sex trafficking. This despite consistently complying with minimum requirements.

Not Enough

It turns out the minimum is not quite enough. Trafficking is rampant in Australia in terms of both labor and sexual exploitation. It is difficult to know exactly how bad the problem is, as there is little reliable data on the issue. The government is quite scattershot in terms of acknowledging the issue. Often downplaying it as not to sully their international reputation.

No Significant Steps

According to a report by the United States Justice Department, while levels of sex trafficking are relatively low, it remains a persistent problem. Mostly due to a lack of significant steps on the part of the government. Of the 87 cases of sex trafficking in 2014, less than half ended in prosecution. Despite cases such as a 15-year-old girl who, after suffering horrific abuse requiring surgery for severe damage to her anus, was sold to an undercover police officer for $5,000.

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