Comments

Episode-1096- Listener Feedback for 3-25-13 — 51 Comments

  1. Most Cypriots consider themselves ethnic Greek. I think around 20% are Turkish from when they invaded.

    (Wiki)
    In 1974, seven years after the intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,[15] an attempted coup d’état by Greek Cypriot nationalists[16][17] and elements of the Greek military junta[18] with the aim of achieving enosis (union of the island with Greece) took place.[18] Turkey used this as a pretext to invade the northern portion of the island. Turkish forces remained after a cease-fire, resulting in the partition of the island; an objective of Turkey since 1955.[18] The intercommunal violence and subsequent Turkish invasion led to the displacement of over 150,000 Greek Cypriots[19][20] and 50,000 Turkish Cypriots,[21] and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriots political entity in the north.

  2. The ECB “template” bail-in is just taking a page out of the FDIC/Bank of England playbook.
    http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/news/2012/nr156.pdf

    Under such a scenario, deposit guarantee schemes may be required to contribute to the recapitalization of the firm, as they may do under the Banking Act in the use of other resolution tools. The proposed RRD also permits such an approach because it allows deposit guarantee scheme funds to be used to support the use of resolution tools, including bail-in, provided that the amount contributed does not exceed what the deposit guarantee scheme would have as a claimant in liquidation if it had made a payout to the insured depositors. That is consistent with the contribution requirement that is already imposed on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the U.K. in the exercise of resolution powers10 and simulates the losses that would have been incurred by those deposit guarantee schemes during bank insolvency. But insofar as a bail-in provides for continuity in operations and preserves value, losses to a deposit guarantee scheme in a bail-in should be much lower than in liquidation. Insured depositors themselves would remain unaffected. Uninsured deposits would be treated in line with other similarly ranked liabilities in the resolution process, with the expectation that they might be written down.

    http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/changes.html

    December 31, 2012 – TAG program expires
    As scheduled, the unlimited insurance coverage for noninterest-bearing transaction accounts provided under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act expired on December 31, 2012. Deposits held in noninterest-bearing transaction account are now aggregated with any interest-bearing deposits the owner may hold in the same ownership category, and the combined total insured up to at least $250,000.

    Was there any MSM coverage of this expiring?

    So how many businesses, churches and government entities have accounts over $250K to fund payroll and other operating expenses?

    Many of these entities are required to bank at AAA rated banks, limiting how much they can spread there accounts.

    So if your paycheck is being written on BOA or Chase, and the Merryl Lynch or JPMorgan sides of their businesses hit a problem, do you think you are going to get paid?
    Do you think businesses will have to shut down?

    At best they will get a nice haircut.

    Joe six pack may not directly loose money, but as we can see, having a months worth of cash is the smart thing to do.
    Take Cyprus and UK’s Northern Rock as an example.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sKjdT8I6TnE

    Good show Jack, THX!

  3. Home educating “Mama” to 4 in VA— so glad that you point out the ridiculous extremes so many subscribe to. This is a very important issue for future generations. Being mama isn’t the hardest job in the world by any means, but it is one of the most important and one of the most rewarding… at least it should be. My mother left me and my father when I was a year and a half old. I realize (perhaps more than most) just how important that role is in the life of a child because I didn’t really have it. By God’s grace that experience has made me take my role much more seriously.

    A couple of thoughts on anti-deppressant dependent moms: First, I have seen numerous cases where the disciplinary needs of children are neglected because their mamas are zombies–no emotions–dead inside. I think we have to realize that anger (while not a tool!) is a necessary God-given emotion. I am THANKFUL that I saw anger from my father toward certain things I did growing up. I needed my conscience developed not deadened.

    So many many good things have come from someone being angry at injustice and evil. Other negative emotions (like guilt) are necessary God-given feelings that we are medicating away. Guilt is a healthy thing to feel when we have done wrong. Too often, we “throw out the baby with the bather water”. Mamas are failing to develop the consciences of their children and society is left to deal with their soul-less/dead inside offspring.

    Second, I had a small glimpse one day in a pharmacy of a serious crisis on the horizon… I was waiting there in line for an antibiotic or something and a woman was having some kind of issue getting her anti-anxiety meds because of some insurance mix-up. She was literally having a melt-down in the store. I thought to myself of all the adults and children on mind/mood altering meds that will likely have them suddenly no longer available. The result is sure to be a major breakdown in society.

    Thanks again for the show! = )

  4. “Any congressman who anonymously adds amendments to legislation should have his ass kicked in the streets”. Amen, brother, preach it!

  5. you may not be able to brew it(for drinking) but what’s stopping you from making ethanol from it( fuel grade). Or if you compost it at least bio- digest it and get the compost and the methane.

    You could also make make ethanol by just throwing a little bread mold on it till it smells like cheese and is covered in white mold. then cover it and vent it for 2 month and then distill it.

    • I completely agree! Ethanol is the fuel I intend to use for cooking, driving, farming, heating my home, and heating my water (maybe not all at the same time but I want them all capable of running on ethanol because…. IT STORES FOREVER, no stabilizers needed!

    • That will go in my 13 skills for bio digesting for gas and compost. Make it 14 because I like the ethanol idea too.
      Thanks

    • Well I’m glad to hear somebody else thought of making fuel out of it! We’ve heard enough out of making our own gas, I’m surprised Jack didn’t pick up on that one… can’t win them all I suppose… at least not without his audience 🙂

  6. Thanks for the response on the free amendments Jack, luckily I have been saving coffee grounds at work for a few weeks now and almost have a 5 gallon bucket full. I’ll start asking around at Starbucks and other shops.

    And yes I strongly agree it should be illegal for any laws/amendments to laws, ET to be submitted anonymously. WTF are representatives elected for if they can’t represent anything? I’m seeing a lot of that in Colorado right now unfortunately. Thanks again for the great show Jack.

  7. throw a little comfrey in the mix to dredge up nutrients from the way deep. Comfrey also breaks up the hard pan. Mow it down 3 times a year and throw it in pile. you’ll have all the high nutrient compost you’ll ever need.

    Caution: Place comfrey with a bit of thought one you plant it YOU WILL NEVER GET RID OF IT.

  8. Here is my take on anti depressants. I was married for 20 years to a man who made it clear from the first day of our honeymoon that he was not happy with the way i was and would spend our whole marriage trying to change me. That on top of no self confidence to begin with was a crushing way to begin marriage. I did have 2 children and ultimately 4 grand kids because of it. That doesn’t change the fact that depression is not a mental thing it is a physical thing. Zoloft corrects that. This was explained to me by my “real” doctor who accepts NO insurance. He stopped filing insurance because he got tired of them telling him how to treat his patients.
    He gave me xanax for the times (holidays with my disfunctional family) that the zoloft is not enough.

    But at age 45 I decided I was tired of being angry all the time and took the dive.

    I wish more then anything I had not waited so long! And yes it will be a life long thing for me. At age 51 now and enjoying life, it is not worth giving that up. My life is finally normal.

    • With all due respect your problem wasn’t phyical it was marrying a complete asshole, staying married to an asshole and letting him tell you that you were not good enough the way you were. You didn’t need Zoloft you needed a divorce attorney the day the honeymoon ended.

      I am sure the medication “helps” but the damage was done by spending your life with an asshole telling you that you were not good enough.

      Your real “cure” would be realizing that you indeed are good enough in fact better then good enough, that you are wonderful human being and that what you do matters and is important.

      • Wow! I’m sure this is rubbing some people the wrong way. Let me just testify to what Jack is saying. My wife spent her fist 10 yrs of her adult life married to one of these assholes. It has been a long hard road, but after a divorce & 10 years of a good marriage, she realized she didn’t need these drugs anymore. With encouragement from this group, in the past 6 months she has reduced her dependency to 25% of the SSRIs she was on. It takes time to wean off, almost 1 year, but you can do it! I would suggest you consult a doctor before trying to wean off these drugs, but honestly they will just tell you to stay on them. Also, I’ll mention, because it may matter, stop drinking during this time. Alcohol is a depressant, and it is not helping your situation. God Bless, Rex

  9. Thanks for the suggestions Jack. Since soaking and planting on friday no sprouting took place but it sure did get my hogs lips a smackin when I tossed the soggy mush at it. So I am going to soak some before feeding tomorrow. I am going to definitly try a batch of beer just for fun. Also we’ll be picking up few more piglets. Also my prepper pal Brian mentioned this to a friend of his who owns and runs small microbrewery and got me another two hundred pounds of grains. I will try bartering pork for beer. I was told by the warehouse to expect the same amount of grains every few months. Quite a sight these hundred pound sacks stacked up on a pallet.

  10. Jack, I noticed an interesting link between two segments in todays show — food. You talked about people getting sicker and fatter because of the crap we eat that we didn’t eat 50 years ago, and then you shared the piece about mothers being “better” with drugs. What a lot of folks don’t understand is that modern processed foods are developed to be addictive. They interfere with many of the mormal pathways in our brain for neurotransmitters. Combine that with the increased number of poisons that we’re exposed to today, and no wonder we have all these people thinking they need meds to survive.

    It’s interesting. As a blind person, I hear things all the time like, “I’d never survive as a mother if I couldn’t see,”, or, “I just don’t know how you do it.” Even with the challenges that low vision presents me, my job is not the hardest job in the world. That being said, I feel like it’s one of the most important. As parents, we do have a special job when it comes to raising respectful, responsible, moral children so that they grow into adults that’ll make us proud. It’s one of the ways we can really affect change, and I take that responsibility very seriously. It is NOT the hardest job in the world though.

  11. With all due respect Jack,

    I think that you are very biased when it comes to pharmaceuticals in general and mental illness specifically. It’s a pure numbers game. If you are a male, married and middle class and between the ages of 20-40–the numbers show that people in that demographic are in PEAK states of health. It makes sense then , that people in this demographic (like you) would find the need for medications worthless and the people who take them to be weak and pathetic.

    Anxiety and depression are very real illnesses…..Whether you are Veteran from Afghanistan who has PTSD because you have flashbacks of your friends getting blown up by EID’s or a 24 year old mother who thinks if she buys the wrong diaper–she will kill her child–the result is the same. These people cannot function. They cant drive or leave their homes. Their quality of life is diminished. They become depressed. Depression, which leads to suicide, can kill you as dead as Cancer or a bullet. Yet you trust a doctor to save you if you are shot or have Cancer—but Doctors have NO integrity if they treat mental health conditions like anxiety? You lead people to believe that they are just shills for the drug Cartel; pushing pills.

    Lastly, your rants against anti-psychotic medications and the drug companies that produce them is very un-libertarian. You often use the very same language against them that people use against us as preppers; “You don’t NEED an assault rifle” ….”Get RID of those damn chickens and just go to the grocery store”. If one American is sells a product that helps another American…..and the buyer is happy: Who are you to tear it down. If you don’t like it–don’t use it.

    • If you think even 80% of these drugs being used are needed you are indeed in need of drugs! Do you even know the history of psychotropic drugs? The history of the establishment of mental illnesses and other disorders.

    • @Mmo –
      IMHO
      With the exception of people with permanent body chemistry imbalances (and I’m not sure there is such a thing)..

      Medication is like slapping a bandage over a shrapnel wound. Its a great first step to get the bleeding to stop, but its not a ‘solution’ to the injury.

      Replacing the bandage (daily dosing) will never heal the underlying wound, which will continue to get worse without proper treatment (removal of the shrapnel).

      In our ‘take a pill’ system, that means the bandage (dose) has to get bigger and bigger to deal with the ever growing wound.

      So, it has its place (stabilization). But its only step one of the healing process. Not the ‘solution’.

      As for the libertarian view, you can take all the pills you want. 🙂

      But dependence on a pill, and the system that supplies those pills doesn’t represent self-sufficiency, so its not SurvivalPodcasty.

      again IMO 🙂

      • @Insidious, let me add.

        If such true chemical imbalances exist why is there not a single scientific medical test that can show that they are present?

        If you say I have low testosterone we can test that and see my levels.

        If you way I have a B12 deficiency we can also test that.

        Most people defending this stuff don’t know that there isn’t a single test that has ever been done EVER in history that clearly showed something was to low or two high in the body, NOT ONE, NOT EVER.

        Most don’t even know how a SRI (serotonin reuptate inhibitor) works and why that are so dangerous.

        Are some really helped by meds? I am sure a few are! I am sure there are people so messed up it is the only way they can function but I am also sure they are probably a single digit percentage of those on such drugs.

        How did all the men who were in constant battles for many years in WWI and WWII come back to society with out all these so called wonder drugs? How did the men who freed the prisoners in the concentration camps manage?

        You are also dead on about the libertarian view, I never said to outlaw this stuff did I?

    • So you are saying white males age 20-40 don’t have these illnesses? Seriously that is what you are trying to tell me?

    • I have to begin with saying that even though I am against medicating things like depression, anxiety, etc… I have genuine compassion for the people who turn to them. I was a pot-head and alcoholic in the past–doing the very thing that people do on prescription drugs–trying to cope with reality. One thing that really burns me up are people who look down on (street)drug addicts and alcoholics that are themselves on Prozac or something. What hypocrisy eh.

      I have personal experience with the drug Paxil. When I was going through a divorce several years ago and in deep depression, a friend suggested I try to get a prescription for something from a Dr. I did and after a couple of weeks I began having no problem getting up and DOING the things I needed to do. In fact, the pill was so seductive(?) I didn’t realize it WAS in fact blocking the depression. I just thought I was back to my old self. In reality, I was an emotionless robot. I found that out because I threw the pills away thinking they weren’t really responsible for the change–I could NOT detect them.

      However, when I threw them away I crashed down so low so fast–WORSE than I had been before taking them. It scared me that a pill could change the function of my brain—maybe permanently. I know it sounds dumb, but I chose to drink instead, thinking it was safer because at least I would have some control over when I would or would not have all of my mental faculties.

      You say that anxiety and depression are very real illnesses and you are 100% right, but what I have been led to see is that every human being born into this world have them. We are all ill. We are all dying. Yes it varies in degree, but it is there for all of us just the same. We simply deal with it in different ways—some through drugs, some money, some ways that are clearly destructive, some seem positive but are STILL ultimately destructive in one way or another.
      I found (or was found by) the only thing capable of healing ALL forever–that is an eternal HOPE– Jesus Christ. I know that name will get a lot of grief but He alone gives life and that more abundantly.

      My hope is not in myself, not in a man, not in a government, not in a plan–just God and I have truly found rest in Him. All the preparedness in this world will ultimately fail–except for that. I do what I do–homesteading and what not because of freedom not fear.

      We trust FAR too much in man/doctors/”professionals”—Did you know that at one time being homosexual was considered an illness by psychologists? Now they say it’s an alternate lifestyle. Will that be said one day about pedophilia? Just an honest question…

      Anyway, just wanted you to know that I have compassion for people who are held captive by these things because I once was a captive myself.

  12. Right on, Jack, the “perfect mommy” propaganda is just that: marketing. It’s an offshoot of keeping up with the Jones’ marketing, which keeps the masses distracted while banks siphon off our money and congress-clowns anonymously slip megacorp riders into BS legislation.

    “Ask your doctor about …” = treat your symptoms and avoid dealing with the underlying problem. Flip the drug dispensing racket on it’s head by eating real food and finding real methods to alleviate the stressors in your life. Men: have sex with your wife, it helps.

    Bill Burr is great, thanks for the levity, Jack.

  13. Congressman who anonymously introduce bills should be dragged out into the streets and be tarred and feathered. Also are you planning on having Gregory Mannorino back on the show anytime soon?

  14. How do you talk about wood chips/mulching without talking about Paul Gautschi? Being relatively new to the listening audience perhaps you have and stand corrected. Thought his movie Back to Eden was informative. Love the show, lots of good information.

    • @Danny you are not going to like this but for many reasons. Just remember you are choosing to read on and you asked.

      1. His work is not unique people including me were using deep wood mulching long before his one DVD.

      2. His work is one dimensional, it has no resiliency as it relies on a single input.

      3. His conclusions are factually wrong, stating “this will always work and it will work anywhere” as it most certainly won’t. Try that crap “with zero irrigation” in the Phoenix deserts or Central Texas in August. Not going to happen, put wood chips in a true wetland environment and you will create nothing but a stinking pile of anaerobic compost that will burn roots and starve them of oxygen. When anyone says a single technique “always works everywhere” when used as a stand alone you know you are not dealing with a person with much experience beyond their own back yard.

      4. I honestly don’t like the angle that seems to infer that he is some sort of wood chip pioneer or something. There is nothing unique about what he has done, nothing innovative and he doesn’t even understand why his own method works. I was busting the “nitrogen loss” myth with wood chips with this audience 3 years before his DVD came out and I barely knew about permaculture at that point. He can be all religious all he wants it doesn’t mean he isn’t being misleading in acting as if this is his method or that he some how discovered or rediscovered this or that god revealed it to him or many of the other inferences in the films angle.

      For instance when he is like, “you put wood chips on wet ground and they take up excess moisture, then when the ground is dry they release it and that is just beyond my understanding” as if only God can explain such a miracle. Well it is called osmosis, which is “the net movement of solvent molecules through a permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in order to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides.” I learned that in 6th grade.

      This can be explained by a 2nd grader’s science project where a dry sponge is placed on a wet sponge and a few hours later both sponges hold the same amount of water.

      The people I admire for the work they do know why what they are doing works, they are doing things for the first time in living history combining techniques into true permacutlure systems, not claiming to do so with out the most basic understanding of permaculture principles. What I mean is Paul’s method (which is anyone’s method that mulches with wood meaning millions of people) is linear. It has no redundancy, the entire system is add chips – plant – add more chips as needed. A basic permaculture system is all systems need to be net based not linear meaning there must be additional redundancies that account for input failure.

      I also believe he oversells the low amount of replacement of the wood chips. I don’t believe he goes years between adding chips and if he did he would not have tree companies regularly dropping stuff off for him on such a small land holding.

      Don’t get me wrong he is a good guy and all and his video (which I have mentioned several times mostly because it does at least prove wood chips don’t steal nitrogen and it is theatrically interesting) is somewhat entertaining (though I don’t need a scripture tossed at me every 90 seconds) and educational for the true beginner and VERY WELL produced but he isn’t some pioneer that deserves mention whenever wood chips come up.

      When I discuss earth works, swales, damn systems, food forestry I am going to mention people like Geoff Lawton and Bill Mollison. When I discuss mob grazing I will bring up people like Joel Salatin, Greg Judy and Alan Savory. If I discuss reversing the advance of deserts I will bring up Yacouba Sawadogo, John D. Liu, Professor Legesse Negash and again Geoff Lawton. If I discuss hugulkulture Sepp Holzer will come up.

      But Paul Gautschi? To be totally honest I watched his film 3 times trying to lean something anything I didn’t know, anything I found revolutionary or unique, anything and while entertained I found nothing. Frankly I didn’t even remember his last name, for a guy with my memory that says something. The men I mention above I was fortunate to find online, those with DVDs can be viewed online for free and I still went and purchased the DVDs AFTER watching them free to support their work and be sure I always had their information. I bought many of Salatin’s books as well. I haven’t and won’t purchase Paul’s DVD, it brings no real value to the quest for knowledge.

      You want the whole thing quickly here you go, deep mulch with wood chips, add compost when needed and weed with a hoe, there i just saved 90 minuets that can be used for deeper study.

      In short if you like hearing lots of bible passages, listening to someone who doesn’t understand permaculture design telling you about permaculture, listening to the most basic phyical science described as a miracle beyond human comprehension and have 90 minutes to kill, go watch Back to Eden. Oh and if you are waiting for “Return to Eden” or “Back to Eden 2” something tells me it will be a long wait. I don’t think he has anything left to explain or show, perhaps a follow up with say a dozen Eden gardens would be good? Likely such would result in some evolution of the concept beyond it’s most basic components.

  15. Being a mommy isn’t the hardest job in the world, but it has some of the hardest moments, especially when the babies are little and colicky and you are sleep-deprived for long periods of time. Sometimes, with only a few hours of sleep a night for several nights, you are still responsible for the lives of the baby and toddlers with an effectively suicidal curiosity. It could get rough. It was rougher because we lived in NYS at the time, and the medical profession there tended to assume that any injury or illness was the first sign of child abuse. That scared me silly.

    I also had a grandfather who died of miner’s lung before I had the chance to meet him. Even in my worst mommy moments, I would not have exchanged my life for the one he had lived.

    I think your take on drugs is exactly right. The few people with a medical condition requiring such drugs will know about it. They will not have to see a doctor to see if drugs might be a nice thing for them. They’ll know they need help. The attempt to encourage more mommies to use drugs to get though day to day frustration (and thereby become addicted) is criminal.

  16. On psychotropics (and other mood altering drugs):

    “There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.” – Aldous Huxley

    As with all medicines, they have their place (temporary ’emergency’ treatment of imbalance).

    Making an intolerable situation ‘tolerable’ and therefore not worth changing or doing anything about is NOT their place.

    Rather than deadening the pain, use it to spur you to action. Seek its remedy.

  17. In the article “is raiding Russian mafia bank accounts really a good idea” there is a quote that I find particularly interesting but I’m not sure if I’m reading it correctly:
    “because if you want to take a banking system down to the European average, you have to remember that 60% of all export come from services rented, meaning basically banking services.”

    I read this as saying that 60% of all that Europe exports is banking services. If I am reading it correctly and it is true, this is a VERY scary problem.

  18. @Spirko Very much appreciate your time taken to respond. As I said earlier, only been listening and “catching up” on podcast recently(1 month to be more precise). Don’t doubt and had an inkling that you had already covered/recommended such practices. I do think the movie provides visuals for people starting out in gardening. In a sense it “put it all together” for me. I also doubt that a garden would last through August in Charleston, SC without some occasional watering sans daily rain. My knee jerk is to till the soil yada yada yada. Starting to rithink all this stuff.

  19. Jack,

    What happened to Episode 1096? When I download them the numbers are correct, but on these pages it looks like you went from 1095 to 1097. Is this the mysterious “13th Floor” of TSP? 😉

  20. Jack, THANK YOU for calling Steve Aukstakalnis from Threat Journal out on his paranoid, fear mongering bs. I subscribed to Threat Journal after his appearance on TSP, as I was quite impressed by his claims of feds, leo’s etc. using his service as their “first line of defense” so to speak. It didn’t take me very long though, to get REALLY irritated with the borderline tin foil hat/ Alex Jones tone that his updates often took.

    The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was the update he sent out shortly after Barrack Obama got re- elected. It read- “It is our belief that given the President’s Muslim heritage, combined with the administration’s ultra close association with the Muslim brotherhood and other Islamic groups as was covered in a recent issue of Threat Journal, it is highly likely that the commander in Chief, no longer facing the prospects of another election, will hold U.S. forces on the
    sidelines.” The was in regards to the US possibly not helping Israel in the event of an Iranian/ Israeli conflict in the Middle East.

    I’m no fan of Obama, but give me a break with this crap, seriously. Whether or not you agree with the US foreign policy in the Middle East, this is just ridiculous fear mongering speculation. I’ll take a pass on any more fear mongering than I need, the mainstream media provides me with enough of it as it is.

  21. I found a horse farm on Craig’s list that has a couple dump truck loads of horse manure mixed with kiln dried cedar chips and some short straw that they are giving away for free. I was going to get a few bags worth, (don’t have a truck) to put down on the slope behind my house I hate mowing. I was going to put down cardboard or newspaper, wet it thoroughly, cover it with the cured manure and then straw. I was then going to plant comfrey, yarrow, and horehound as a medicinal slope that I didn’t need to mow anymore. I already have 3 small hazelnut bushes started back there. And was contemplating putting a couple blue berry bushes too. I wasn’t even thinking about the cedar chips. Could the piles sitting all winter have made the cedar chips in them less of a problem? The slope isn’t that big, maybe 20 feet long and 10 feet from my fence to the bottom of the slope at the largest point.

    • I would be very leery of any manure unless I absolutely knew the animals were not fed herbicide laced hay. Frankly I just wouldn’t do it.

    • Maybe I will just plant the comfrey and see if it takes over enough to cover the part I don’t want to mow. I can then chop and drop some of it to amend the soil around the other plants.

  22. I will try to address the points made:
    Point #1 the 20-40 year old, married, males—If you are in this group, chances are that you are extremely healthy and use very few drugs and visit the doctor very seldom. This fact predisposes you think that everyone who isn’t as healthy should just “tough things out”…. This makes you marginalize legitimate illnesses and the people who have them. Anxiety and depression is a disease that effects mostly women. I am merely pointing out why you have this bias.
    Point#2–Your sage medical advise–I hate to break this you…but looking at someone with anxiety and depression and saying; “Snap out of it!” or “You’re good enough, just accept it” DOES NOT WORK! Quite honestly, it is a typical response from a young healthy male. It does NOTHING to help the patient.
    Point#3–Band aid remedy–Often people say; “current medical practice is to just give pills–that’s not the cure”. My question to you is—What then is the cure, and why haven’t you come up with it? The truth is that there is NO CURE. Medications and counseling are the only tools we have. If someone breaks into your house while you’re in your scivee’s and all you have is a butter knife to defend yourself–you cant say; “hold on a minute-let me go get my M&P9”. You use what you have. When a patient walks in and needs help–we use the tools available to help them. This isn’t Star Trek–Bones isn’t around. Telling them to “snap out of it” is not effective. These drugs WORK. Full stop. They help people. They have a ton of negative side effects–but people keep taking them because they help-not because of advertising.
    Lastly, the general attitude that –the medical profession just wants to keep people medicated. This may be true for the drug companies that profit from the drugs, but is NOT TRUE of the health care team that tries their hardest to make people better. Its like accusing fireman of starting fires cause thats what keeps them in business. Until you can follow the whole arc of care for a patient–healthy-sick-healthy again –your bias wont let you appreciate the value of these tools. I saw more patients today with anxiety/depression (#14) then you probably know in total with the disease.

    • As a practitioner I’m sure you appreciate how futile it would be to tell most patients to stop eating highly processed foods, high-fructose corn syrup, grains and industrial seed oils – even if you were convinced that would help them. Your schooling likely led you to disassociate food and mental health (though I would love to hear that the curriculum is coming around).

      I’m not saying diet is the end-all be-all but serving up pills and calling it treatment is relatively easy because patients will follow that advice (Americans are suckers for the quick easy fix that involves no sacrifice). Even if it only helped 10% of people reduce their drug intake I wish y’all would try the non-pharma approach. There’s always the pills to fall back on.

      Once upon a time health professionals bled people out to treat them. It was all they had to offer in those situations.

      I sense that you’re coming from a good place, so here are some links if you’re interested:

      http://chriskresser.com/depression

      http://robbwolf.com/?s=depression

      http://www.marksdailyapple.com/search-results/?cx=004987908667488763946%3Akd-fp2c7jek&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=depression

  23. RE cedar mulch.
    There is a business near me that makes utility poles from cedar trees and produces mountains of shredded bark. I pick up 5 yards at a time for $15 and use it on my pathways. It slows the weeds down and mats down nicely. Oh, and it smells nice too!
    RE mixed wood chip mulch.
    A friend of mine has an undeveloped lot on the edge of town and let me stockpile wood chips on it. I called several tree trimmers and faxed or emailed them a map to the property and asked them to dump their chips there. By the end of the second season, there were about 150 yards of chips! I would then take my deuce’n a half and tractor to town and ferry several loads home. Some of the chip piles were three years old before I moved them and were full of worms and castings.

  24. Classic…

    “The government already has this authority and yet we’re going to slide an amendment into a bill designed to keep the country running (another lie) because of the sequester. That’s what this is all about, guys, never let a crisis go to waste. So the government is supposed to cut money, the government agreed to cut money, the government is now reneging on its agreement to cut money and going back in and appropriating different spending that it’s not supposed to spend to null and void the cuts that aren’t cuts in the first place. Got all that?”

    Anonymous legislation is just another tactic that has ruined our legislative process.

    I have also believed for a long time that any bill introduced into the House or Senate should ONLY consist of one subject and/or interest and any off-subject part or unrelated earmark thrown into a bill should be illegal. These are always used as either some type of negotiation tactic or something to get passed under the radar, neither of which is needed. While this would certainly increase the number of legislation introduced, it would most likely shorten them as well… making them more available to decipher for politicians and the citizens they are “representing” alike.

    I have never been so disheartened. I should be used to it by now, but with every news piece like this I hear, I see the mountain that we all have to climb get bigger and bigger.

  25. This might be a little off topic but as the time not. What power do petitions hold ? I hear things like “anonymous” and all I can think is ” how in the hell is that legal!? We need to petition that BS!”. In this case here, wouldn’t it be great if we could make it illegal to have “anonymous” amendments ? How can we make that happen ?? Can we make that happen ?

  26. @Socal Mike–I agree that we are what we eat. I am only trying clear up some misconceptions. The first is that these people have a choice in being clinically depressed. That its a “state of mind”. These people cant snap out of it any better than someone can snap out of a heart attack. These people need help–immediately. The 2nd misconception is that if you walk into your doctors office and say–“Im sad–help me out”–that you will walk out of there hand full of RX’s. That just is not true. Are these drug over prescribed- YES!! -100% they are!! But I would say that the majority of people that are on them, really need them.

    • @Mmo,

      1. Your first assertion of “The first is that these people have a choice in being clinically depressed. That its a “state of mind”. These people cant snap out of it any better than someone can snap out of a heart attack. These people need help–immediately”

      Okay so change “these people” to some people and loose the word “immediately” as you are not a doctor and are not qualified to say who needs what when and guess what I agree with you 100%. The thing is help isn’t always drugs, sometimes it is but it absolutely should be the MINIMUM.

      Your bullshit that I think people on meds are worthless and weak and can snap out of it etc are your words NOT MINE I never said anything of the kind. Likely you are on this stuff and I don’t know if you NEED it or not but you took my comments personally because some to you seems to means ALL. Some means some, many means many and most means most, only ALL MEANS ALL.

      2. Your assertion that, “The 2nd misconception is that if you walk into your doctors office and say–”Im sad–help me out”–that you will walk out of there hand full of RX’s.”

      On this one you are factually wrong, that happens every single day. I have seen it OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Doctor after doctor does this day in and day out. You are more likely to visit a chiropractor that says you don’t need an adjustment then to visit a Psychiatrist that says you don’t need meds!

      You can twist my words all you want but you can’t change fact.

      Fact one – psychotropic drugs are VASTLY over prescribed in America today.

      Fact two – I never said no one should ever be on meds I said “if you think you need help and need to talk to someone try talking to someone that doesn’t use medications first”, meaning a trained counselor/psychologist such people are quick to refer those that actually need meds to someone who can help them.

      I asked you a question you never answered, frankly three.

      1. Tell me how the current manual for diagnosis of mental illness was created, where is its genesis?

      2. Why is it that if these problems are of a chemical imbalance NO MEDICAL TEST exists to show that?

      3. How does an SRI work and why is that dangerous?

      You know perhaps instead of putting words in my mouth you might do a bit of research? Your assertion that males who are white and 20-40 are somehow not part of mental illness is very telling.

      Likely some white 20-40 male was a dick to you and is part of your problems, well don’t blame me for that. I have met plenty of assholes in other demographics, despite pop culture white young males don’t have a monopoly on being assholes.

      Do you even know how many kids are on these drugs today? What percentage of Americans? Do you know the stated goal of the American Psychiatric Association for the total number of Americans that should be on these meds?

      My guess to the above questions is no, no and no and you don’t want to know.

      I mean I don’t know may be you personally do actually NEED the meds you are on, I don’t pretend to know that, what I do absolutely know is the majority of people on such meds likely shouldn’t be.

      Here are some recognized mental illnesses that the American Psychiatric Association says need drugs for proper treatment

      Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
      Shift differential disorder
      Conduct disorder
      General adaptation syndrome
      Impulse control disorder
      Morbid jealousy
      Night eating syndrome
      Disorder of Arousal
      Restless Leg Syndrome (yes this is now a mental disorder)

      These are ALL recognized conditions with corresponding medications according to the The American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V” (DSM).

      Again can you tell me the origin of this book, why it was created? Can you honestly look at the above list and tell me the drug companies are not at this point just making shit up and trying to sell a billion dollars of drug a and drug b.

      Let’s leave out the people who really do need these meds the way I say we shouldn’t even be worrying about “who will build the roads” if we go to a libertarian government. There are tons of things to cut before we even worry about roads. Just like there are millions of people that clearly should not be on these drugs to deal with before we go splitting hairs with the people who are on the diagnostic edge of who truely needs them and who doesn’t.

      Again you are putting words in my mouth I never said!

  27. – Set your kids free and let them run around.

    Except, if you do that now days you run the risk of having “child protective services” come and kidnap your kids for letting them be kids or for having them help around the house, etc. The nanny state comes with risks to the family.

    • Um sounds like you live in Jersey! People let their kids run around here free all the time.

  28. I was looking up the anonymous rider thing on bills and then I saw this nutty crap know as a Senate Hold or more commonly “secret or anonymous hold”.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_hold. It lets 2 senators anonymously hold a bill literally FOREVER. What the deuce!

    Also, every time I see some peeps going off the deep end a little about what Jack says I remember him telling us “If you listen long enough I’m sure I will piss you off”. Or something to that effect. It happened to me once and I got over it I’m sure you will too. That’s what beer is for.

  29. How about a Rep voting anonymously…

    voice vote: A congressional voting procedure in which members shout “yea” in approval or “nay” in disapproval; allows members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills.

    Now I gotta drink another beer, I gotta learn to make my own soon.

  30. Just suck it up and get over it…I have a friend and her ex-husband told their daughter that, and he threw away all her meds unknown to mom. One day she was very worried about her daughter, couldn’t reach her by phone, dropped by dad’s house, and found her daughter with slit wrists, called 911. Any later would have been too late.

    Just back from a visit to my oldest daughter’s for 10 days. She has been suffering from recurrent panic attacks. Sometimes more than one a night, feels like a heart attack or something. Other nights not able to sleep at all without something like motrin pm. During the day, not always her normal cheerful self. Little things get to her, decisions stressful, even something as simple as what to fix for supper. She has a 2 year old and 5 year old.

    What is most frustrating for her is the doctors know she is having panic attacks, but can’t pin point the cause nor solution. Her thyroid levels were a little low, time before that a bit high. Just keep coming back in so they can keep testing, and charging money did little to allay her fears and nothing to solve the issue. She wanted to see a different doctor, highly recommended by friends, but her insurance won’t cover it, in fact it only covers things done a certain way.

    She is not the only mother of little ones with some issues. One friend told me her anti-depressants were such that if someone said “I just ran over your dog” (whom she loved) it wouldn’t faze her, living a zoombie type life. Eventually she was weaned off them, and life was much better.

    Everyone’s body chemistry is different.

    Things my daughter found which help: Fresh air, exercise, other adult company, break from her very demanding little ones, eating good food, certain suppliments. Whether this will be enough to get her out of this danger zone, I don’t know, but she wants to try that route first, and I respect her decision. At one time in her past she problems with depression while in college and couldn’t focus on her classes. Hours and hours in the library trying to write a paper and just couldn’t put it together no matter how long she tried. Antidepressents made her feel wrong. I found her a great doctor who discovered a thyroid issue, thyroid meds (short term), exercise and home grown/cooked food got her well.

    I believe it is harder to be mom in today’s world. They do see these super mom images. Some moms work a different shift than their husband and thus no or little day care for their kids. When I worked a rotating shift in a factory, it was hardest on the young mothers. To save money, they got little sleep when they worked graveyard shift, and then they watched their little ones when they should have been sleeping. One mom fell asleep driving in to work one day.

    Tough on both moms and dads. Some dads are the main caregiver for their kids.

    Even if not raising tea cup kids, try home schooling kids, raising a garden, teaching skills to your little ones with a very limited income, and possibly a home business to help out the finances. Stuff happens such as both cars breaking down along with washer and drier same week, unexpected medical bills etc. Lots of stress in today’s society. Tough on the dad too.

    Parent’s who stay home are isolated. Those who work may be looked down on for “not wanting to raise their own kids”.

    I believe our current society creates stress, thus more such disorders/issues. At one time families were closer, extended family in the same house or at least same neighborhood. Neighbors knew each other, moms worked on projects with other moms while their kids played/learned together. Even a handicapped or elderly family member had something they could contribute.

  31. I was glad to hear you talk about the Teacup Generation again. I have another, five letter less PC word I have come to use, than begins with a P.
    It amazes me the extent that kids are catered to now. I am just floored by the behavior of my brothers kids. (I’m not that old, 45, my grandparents would find it outright shocking.) 5-12 year olds allowed to play video games and consume unlimited online videos constantly when not in school, raid the pantry/fridge to consume processed crap largely anytime of day, “picky eating” catered to, resulting in 30-40% of food thrown away, foods having to be served/presented a specific way or they wont eat; they rarely play outside, have never been camping/hunting…when I half-jokingly mentioned putting a lock on the pantry, their mom told me that it specifically constitutes child abuse according to CPS.
    I literally weep for them, especially during the song lyric ‘sometimes we realize, our children just can’t pay…’
    Is it any wonder why they are selfish and have emotional problems?
    We are raising the first generation of kids exposed to unlimited, anywhere on-demand entertainment facilitated by high speed internet and mobile devices while at the same time catering to their every whim with garbage food and over protectiveness. What will society be when these kids take over?