Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Sep 07 2005
Full-On Coastal Wars
With all the horrific news lately, I decided to hunt up a water story with a softer edge to it. But I guess everyone's nerves are just frayed lately. When Senator Joe Simitian tried to get a resolution passed that would make Santa Cruz the official "Surf City USA" he got some flack from Southern California. It seems that Huntington Beach officials want their town to have the title and have taken steps to make it so. The battle's been going on for some time now, with both towns claiming bragging rights. If you go to the web domain surfcityusa.com you'll see which town is using the title right now.
I propose a compromise, with Huntington Beach being Surf City South and Santa Cruz being Surf City Central. The two can take turns hosting a surfing festival that pits their respective local surfers against one another and brings out the true spirit of friendly competition and West Coast ingenuity.
Meanwhile, turn up your speakers and enjoy the song at surfcityusa.com. This battle could mean some fun for the rest of us, no matter who wins.
posted at: 15:22 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
With all the horrific news lately, I decided to hunt up a water story with a softer edge to it. But I guess everyone's nerves are just frayed lately. When Senator Joe Simitian tried to get a resolution passed that would make Santa Cruz the official "Surf City USA" he got some flack from Southern California. It seems that Huntington Beach officials want their town to have the title and have taken steps to make it so. The battle's been going on for some time now, with both towns claiming bragging rights. If you go to the web domain surfcityusa.com you'll see which town is using the title right now.
I propose a compromise, with Huntington Beach being Surf City South and Santa Cruz being Surf City Central. The two can take turns hosting a surfing festival that pits their respective local surfers against one another and brings out the true spirit of friendly competition and West Coast ingenuity.
Meanwhile, turn up your speakers and enjoy the song at surfcityusa.com. This battle could mean some fun for the rest of us, no matter who wins.
posted at: 15:22 | category: /Playing | link to this entry
Meth For All The Wrong Reasons?
While doing some research I ran across an interesting article on Attention Deficit Disorder, which seems to be diagnosed more and more frequently lately. The author of the article, John Alston, seems to feel that many cases diagnosed as ADD may actually be Bipolar Disorder. As early as 1999 there were behaviorists warning that too many children might have been diagnosed as having ADHD and that physicians might be premature in prescribing drugs to control their behaviors.
It's also a bit disturbing to read the various difficulties associated with delivering these drugs in a safe, controlled manner. Just reading the list of side effects was enough to make me wonder if the treatment might be worse than the illness. We're talking about a class of drugs that are mostly classified as amphetamines, and we know that the drugs affect not only ADD and ADHD symptoms, but blood pressure, gastrointestinal workings and other functions in the body. Sometimes yet another drug is prescribed to counter the adverse affects of the stimulant drug. Are doctors making socially acceptable drug abusers out of kids, and even adults, because no one knows what else to do? Whatever happened to "do no harm"?
I just hope the research can find a better way to diagnose, treat, and most importantly, prevent such problems in the future. I'm concerned that doctors are giving too many people too many drugs for a pathology that isn't well understood at all. In the future we may be looking at really horrid consequences from having so many kids on these drugs that widely affect the balance of major systems of the human body.
posted at: 09:27 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
While doing some research I ran across an interesting article on Attention Deficit Disorder, which seems to be diagnosed more and more frequently lately. The author of the article, John Alston, seems to feel that many cases diagnosed as ADD may actually be Bipolar Disorder. As early as 1999 there were behaviorists warning that too many children might have been diagnosed as having ADHD and that physicians might be premature in prescribing drugs to control their behaviors.
It's also a bit disturbing to read the various difficulties associated with delivering these drugs in a safe, controlled manner. Just reading the list of side effects was enough to make me wonder if the treatment might be worse than the illness. We're talking about a class of drugs that are mostly classified as amphetamines, and we know that the drugs affect not only ADD and ADHD symptoms, but blood pressure, gastrointestinal workings and other functions in the body. Sometimes yet another drug is prescribed to counter the adverse affects of the stimulant drug. Are doctors making socially acceptable drug abusers out of kids, and even adults, because no one knows what else to do? Whatever happened to "do no harm"?
I just hope the research can find a better way to diagnose, treat, and most importantly, prevent such problems in the future. I'm concerned that doctors are giving too many people too many drugs for a pathology that isn't well understood at all. In the future we may be looking at really horrid consequences from having so many kids on these drugs that widely affect the balance of major systems of the human body.
posted at: 09:27 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
