Bill Cook visited the CalamityPolitics studio for Episode 3 of the Mushroom-Cannabis Chronicles. Bill joined Dave Shadrick to explore the spirituality of mushrooms. The boys are smiling as they discuss the centuries old experience.
We are admitted President Joe Biden supporters. We just wanted to take a couple minutes to thank Joe for not being Donald Trump and point out 12 reasons Trump was a flop and Joe’s not.
COVID Catastrophe
The Real Illegal
The People Have Spoken
An A– And Class
The Right Way, Not The Right-Wing Way
Bill Cook stopped by the Calamity News and Politics studios to talk to Dave Shadrick about his experience growing commercial cannabis in Oregon. Its been an up and down ride for producers in Oregon. Take a few minutes and listen to what Bill had to say about the highs and lows of growing weed in Oregon.
A-fib can lead to blood clots in the upper chambers of the heart increasing the risk of having a stroke fivefold.
By D.S. Mitchell
Costco Connection
I am a Costco member and as such I get a copy of the Costco Connection magazine every month. The publication is full of useful information. In the February 2023 issue, I found a great article by Andrea Downing Peck, on the dangers of atrial fibrillation, a very dangerous heart rhythm disorder. I’m a retired RN and I’m always looking for information that will help people recognize symptoms of dangerous health conditions.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Recently, I have seen numerous public service announcements made by NBA basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who tells us that he suffers from atrial fibrillation. Well Kareem is not alone; an estimated 2.7 million American live with atrial fibrillation (a-fib). A-fib is the most common sustained heart rhythm disorder seen by doctors.
What Is A-Fib?
A-fib is an irregular, disorganized heart rhythm where the heart’s upper chambers (the atria) no longer beat in coordination with the lower chambers (the ventricles). The rate is usually more rapid than would normally be expected for the level of activity being engaged in. A-fib is extremely dangerous because the rhythm commonly causes blood clots and blood clots cause strokes. Patients may experience a-fib without symptoms, but when symptoms do appear they may include chest discomfort, light-headedness, palpitations, shortness of breath, and fatigue. If left untreated it can be deadly.
Common Victims
The risk for a-fib increases after age 65. Several medical conditions also increase the risk of developing a-fib whether you are young or old: High blood pressure, Sleep apnea, Obesity, Heart failure, Diabetes, Overactive thyroid, Pericarditis, and coronary artery disease.
Triggers
Lots of studies and research have been done over the last fifty years to discover how to prevent heart disease. Researchers have known that the risk of coronary disease increases with predictable lifestyle factors. Now much of that research is telling us that those same factors and prevention strategies are most likely relevant to heart rhythm disturbances such as a-fib.
Alcohol vs Caffeine
Caffeine has been suspected as a trigger in patients who experience intermittent a-fib. Intermittent a-fib is defined as a temporary episode of the disorder that starts suddenly but resolves quickly without medical interventions, usually within 24 hours. The studies clearly indicate that caffeine does not appear to increase episodes of a-fib, but alcohol did frequently act as a trigger. Drinking more than one alcoholic beverage per day is clearly a trigger for the disorder.
More Than One Trigger
Smoking, sleeplessness, dehydration, stress, obesity, high blood pressure, and sedentary lifestyle are factors that seem to trigger a-fib events. The caveat here, as with many things, it is often a combination of several factors that trigger the event. Over the next several decades the prevalence of a-fib is expected to increase significantly. It’s the combination of these co-morbidities that increase the risk of a-fib.
The Answer
There’s an epidemic of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, inactivity, and alcohol abuse, in the United States. According to experts, we need the population to move, lose weight, drink less alcohol, and as practitioners, doctors need to aggressively treat diabetes and high blood pressure.
Treatment
Treatments can vary. Medication or surgical intervention, in some cases, may be required. Medications are used to control heart rate and rhythm. Anti-coagulants are used to prevent clotting. A cardioversion is sometimes used as an emergency intervention. A catheter ablation is a procedure used to permanently restore the heart’s proper electrical currents. There is also for some patients an implant called the Watchman that offers an alternative to blood thinners.
Outcomes
It is important to educate the public about a-fib and other heart rhythm disorders. It is important that if an individual is experiencing symptoms, they should contact their physician as soon as possible to diagnose the problem and above all prevent stroke.
Editors Note:
The Trump Town Hall on CNN the other night, had the hair on my arms standing up and I felt a deep visceral anger and disgust I haven’t felt since Trump was president. With that disgust of everything Trump renewed, I was prompted to go back and revisit numerous calamitypolitics.com articles from Trump’s first few months in office.
Listen folks, all you need to do is read the newspaper to know Trump is a bad dude. He is a shameless narcissist, a fake and a liar, a sexual predator, a grifter, a tax fraud, among many other proven things, but most importantly he is a real threat to our democracy. Now here he comes again, after fomenting an insurrection, asking us to give him a second chance to bring down the damn government. It’s happening in Israel, Hungary, and Turkey. It could happen here. We must stop Captain Chaos. Donate to the re-elect Biden-Harris 2024 presidential campaign.
Back in 2016
Millions of people across the country were deeply disturbed and shocked in 2016 after the Electoral College determined Donald J. Trump to have been elected president of the United States. Many protested in the streets, some like me took to the computer to Resist the insanity of a TV huckster and an absurdity like Donald Trump becoming president.
Mental Illness Effects All Of Us
Raise Awareness And Educate
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The purpose of Mental Health Awareness Month is multipronged. First and foremost it is designed to raise awareness and educate the public about: mental illnesses. More than 1 in 5 Americans suffer from a diagnosed mental illness and an unknown number of Americans suffer from an undiagnosed mental illness. It is estimated that 80% of the population suffers from a mental illness at some point in their lives, some as benign sounding as nail biting and bed wetting. The most familiar and the most catastrophic in their effects on the lives of sufferers are depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Another goal is to reduce the negative attitudes and misconceptions that surrounds mental illnesses. An additional goal is to draw attention to suicide which can be precipitated by some mental illnesses. In 2020, 45,979 Americans committed suicide, and another 1.2 million attempted suicide.
Suicide Check List
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms please seek help.
Please, if you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, or are showing any of the listed signals, tell someone. Call the suicide lifeline @Lines for Life: 1-800-273-8255 for young people call: 1-877-968-8491
Growing and using Psilocybin mushrooms
Psilocybin Mushrooms are just one of the “drugs” made legal in Oregon in 2020. Bill Cook a friend of Calamity Politics and expert on the cultivation of Psilocybin mushrooms stopped by the Calamity studio on 5/2/2023 and talked to Dave about the positive effects of growing and using Psilocybin Mushrooms. Over the next few weeks Bill will be stopping by the studio to chat with Dave on a number of topics including the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana in the State of Oregon. We are looking forward to these conversations. Stay tuned as they say.
*An earlier version of this article was published here July 12, 2022.
By Megan Wallin-Kerth
Ludicrously Simplistic
With the overturning of Roe many conservative talking points have come to the forefront; for, let’s just say, reconsideration. Most of these I’ll leave for others to debate, but one really gets under my skin, because—unlike the hundreds of other thoughts, some more sensible than others—this refrain is ludicrously simplistic and yet very familiar to me. You’ve probably heard it too, at least a hundred times. Here’s a hint: What’s the oh-so-wonderful alternative to abortion?
Adoption.
Always. Without fail. Rarely a dissenter. And yet, how many people shouting this have actually adopted a child? And of those, how many adopted the kids who are considered “difficult to place?”
For those willing to admit that they know diddly-squat about the adoption process or the foster care system, I’ll give more context.
Color Preference
Most infants, particularly white infants from healthy but low-income mothers (think high school or college students), are placed easily into homes that are generally also white, generally middle class or upper middle class, and have usually passed several levels of intensive screening (varying in different states) prior to becoming a parent through adoption. Those are the facts. White babies usually get sent to somewhat affluent white homes. Babies from other backgrounds sometimes linger for longer times, or often get adopted into homes where their culture of origin is, if anything, a sidenote. Add identity crisis to abandonment issues.
Age Matters
However, infants of any monetary, cultural or ethnic background truly have it much easier than children: The children who are taken away from their natural parents after they’ve already started to reach the stage of being toddlers or even older children have a more challenging path ahead.
Loss and Grief
First, they have the grief and loss that comes with being torn from the parents and family system to whom they are already well acquainted, as well as the customs, traditions, sense of belonging and additional factors that make up one’s feeling of being “home.” They lose it all, and yet they are expected to accept the culture of a new household, family structure, and repeatedly relay their trauma to a constant barrage of social workers and therapists who make it clear that the events which occurred “need to be discussed.” (That need, mind you, is more to provide quotes for said figures to use while testifying about the child’s best interests in court, quite ironically.) What’s not always clear to those kids is that none of it is their fault. Not a single bit of it.
Ill Prepared
Many of those kids are there because their parents were ill-prepared, young, poor, or impacted by trauma or drug-abuse. Some of them were likely told not to get an abortion, because that would be throwing away the “gift of life.” Not all of them wanted their children, but most of them probably wanted to do right by them. However, wanting to do the right thing and being able to successfully carry out the responsibilities of parenthood are entirely different.
Mental Health Conditions
It should be no surprise these kids are more likely to be diagnosed with a slew of mental health conditions, ranging from attachment disorder to ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). They are more likely to have trouble regulating their emotions. They are more likely to come from families with histories of trauma or self-medication with drug-use. They are more likely to have been witness to domestic violence. And they are all victims of a system that is primarily run by well-intentioned but vastly undertrained and overworked case managers, many of whom get burnt out quickly if they truly care about the children under their broadly defined supervision.
Sad Outcomes
Lastly, the longer a child stays in foster care, the more they face several unfortunate facts: Adoption rates are lower, foster homes are increasingly scarce (and often resort to abusive or coercive methods to control trauma-based behaviors), and it’s not uncommon at all to age out of the system with no solid support. It’s also likely that those with severe trauma—and corresponding behavioral issues stemming from a lack of care—will end up incarcerated, filling jails and prisons. And let’s not even get into the number of failed adoptions, where families commit to adoption and change their minds (this happened to me and another family member), sometimes going so far as to relinquish parental rights after the whole matter has been legally confirmed.
Not So Fast
This is the true nature of the so-called alternative to abortion. People do not understand what they are presenting. It is not a world of lollipops and s’mores. It is not the fairytale full of compassion and hope that we have been indoctrinated to believe when we hear the word “adoption.” It is rather a dysfunctional and overburdened system.
When The Time Is Right
Furthermore, those stating that they would “love to be foster parents once the time is right for their family” should also take heed of the fact that doing so is a sacrifice to any children already in your home, whether biological, adopted or foster. It requires everyone in that household to possibly shift expectations, routines, etc.—and to frequently practice more emotional regulation if the child coming in has some emotional struggles themselves (and spoiler alert: many of them will).
I read somewhere recently, single doesn’t necessarily mean ready to mingle. Scientists are confirming that sentiment; not all singles are looking to partner up. In 2023 at least 40% of all U.S. adults are living solo. At least half of that 40% state no interest in dating, or developing a relationship.
March Time
I’m at the doctor’s office and for the first time since the pandemic I see magazines filling the wall racks and the table tops. Yahoo! magazines are back. As I waited to be called, I flipped through the pages of Time (March 14/ March 20). I quickly landed on Angela Haupt’s article, “5 Ways To Find Happiness On Your Own” and thought I’d pass on to my readers what Ms. Haupt had to say about those “5 Ways” to find happiness if you are living a single lifestyle.
Not So True Anymore
For at least the last fifty years researchers and psychologists have told the public that married and partnered folks tended to live longer, be happier, and experience more satisfied lives than their single counterparts. According to new studies that old truism may no longer be true. With marriages down and divorces up it says that a lot of people in this country like it better alone than in a miserable relationship. The quality of the relationship is what counts. If it’s a bad one, the stress and abuse shortens lives and stunts personal growth and happiness.
Five Ways To Be Happy:
If you are experiencing acute stroke symptoms remember time is critical, every minute treatment is delayed can result in irreparable brain damage. DO NOT CALL your friends and family to ask advice, CALL 9-1-1 immediately.
No Longer Just For Seniors
Strokes are not just a health concern for the elderly. Strokes can happen to anyone of any age from infancy through adulthood, most however do occur after the age of 60. Alarming statistics however indicate that over the last 15 years younger Americans, in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50’s are suffering strokes at increasing numbers.
Celebrity Strokes
Recent headline grabbing stroke victims include entertainer Jamie Foxx (55), politician John Fetterman (53), musician *Kid Cudi (32) and influencer Hailey Bieber (25). The reasons are many, some genetic, but mostly the experts are pointing at lifestyle choices; unaddressed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, stress, cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, and *drug use (Kid Cudi admitted a two week cocaine binge before checking into rehab and subsequently suffering a stroke). Of those factors poor food choices and lack of exercise are probably the most common factors for younger stroke victims.
What Exactly Is A Stroke?
A stroke is quite simply a sudden loss of brain function. The two direct causes of stroke occur when a blood vessel is blocked (ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke). Onset of symptoms is usually sudden. Symptoms can include weakness or loss of sensation, frequently to only one side of the body, confusion, difficulty speaking, blurred vision, loss of balance and coordination, and headache.
FAST
FAST is the acronym used to teach people how to recognize dangerous stroke symptoms.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE YOURSELF TO THE HOSPITAL, you might end up killing yourself and someone else in a collision. Call 9-1-1. When you call 9-1-1 you will not only get an ambulance with all the necessary emergency equipment onboard along with trained EMTs, but the 9-1-1 call also triggers actions at the nearest hospital where professionals will be preparing for appropriate testing and treatment.
Treatment Options
Treatment may include the removal of a single blood clot or multiple clots. Procedures such as angioplasty, stents, or medications such as blood thinners, to prevent further clots from forming may be used. The residual damage from a stroke may take weeks or months of physical and speech therapy to strengthen affected areas. Thankfully due to research and the development of new treatments for strokes there are better outcomes. Having a stroke doesn’t mean your life is over, you can still have a meaningful and productive life.
"If puppies and kittens don't make you smile, you might consider therapy." D. S. Mitchell 2015.
Self-isolating has forced us to turn even more to telecommunication and social media.
The Major Cause Of Sex Trafficking Is Poverty
Many great charities, here are a couple that I support: Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.
