I'm sorry. I must have misread. I thought you said something about having years of experience as an infectious or contagious disease doctor. Was it someone else? Anyway, I got all excited. I've spent a good deal of time in the last couple of years hanging out w/ medical professionals. And so I've learned a lot of the language and culture. Thought we might connect on that level.
Never mind. This is still worth talking about, though. . .
On 2005-09-24 15:25:00, tom s. wrote:
When the brain is becoming non-functional due to drug orientated strokes,clots,decreased synaptical response,hemmoraging,or what ever it loses its' ability to oversee the automatic care it has provided all those years.The girls' left or right side also was becoming numb and paralyzed.It was a nightmare to hear about and a nightmare to remember.
But why do you attribute this girls tragic ending to her drug use? Maybe cause your dad told it that was it? I can understand why you'd find that to be compelling. But I know a doctor who put his kid in the program. Actually, my oldest daughter owes her existance to him. I should try and find out his name so she can thank him.
Here's how that happened. I was pinned to the floor for a couple of hours when I started to get scared. The numbness in my lower body turned to pain and it started to dawn on me that I might actually be getting permanently injured.* So I lied. I started shouting out "If I miscarry, I'm gonna kill somebody!"
So they send me and the other girls back to group. Next day, they take me out of group to the little medical room in the corner. There I meet another kid's father, who was (presumably) some kind of doctor. For some damned reason, he saw fit to do a full pelvic exam in addition to the standard urin test to determin if I were pregnant. I told him I knew I wasn't, that I had just made it up to get them to quit sitting on me. Didn't phase him in the least.
Next he informs me that, due to my permiscuous sexual activity, my fallopian tubes were all scarred up and permanently blocked. I knew enough to disregard his assertion that it was due to severe infection. I had never had any sort of infection or female problems. Hadn't been anything close to easy, either. But I believed he was telling me the truth about the condition of my innards. He was, after all, a professional doctor, right?
But, more than that, he was a program believer, donating his professional services to the cause. And the cause was all about convincing us kids and each other that drugs are the biggest, worst, most frightening new threat to an entire genearation of Americans. Since that's not true, it's often necessary to make shit up. And so he did.
That's a lot of prose. But I really want you to understand what I'm asking and what I'm trying to say. I don't take it lightly that this girl died, not at all. Hell, I have teenaged daughters and older. Trust me, it's impossible to read a story like that and not shed a tear for everyone involved.
But that doesn't mean that Art &Co. are above spinning such a tragedy to serve their agenda. Not only did the girls brother suffer an unconcionable mindfuck over it, but I think maybe you have too. It's these tragic stories that justify the most untenable aspects of the Program. And they so often turn out to be embellished or even made up out of whole cloth.
* BTW, Thom, do you remember when our sister read somewhere that you could stand on someone's most tender gut w/ one foot and, if they relaxed, it wouldn't hurt or injur them? She and I demonstrated in the livingroom, which we often used as a stage for the audience at the table. Well, that came in real handy in this instance. Fat old Lisa P. sat right on my stomach for something close to an hour. Didn't even phase me. I think it freaked staff out just a bit. That made it worth it.
No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the sources of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679737898/circlofmiamithem' target='_new'>P. J. O'Rourke
