Say Anything Blog

How do you win a war against an enemy that wears exploding underwear? This is just one of the seemingly unanswerable questions faced by President Obama after a turbulent first year in office.

While the deficit is expected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2011, the President’s proposed budget would increase military spending next year to $750 billion, up from around $720 billion this year. To put this in perspective, military spending will be 26 times the outlay for humanitarian aid and development assistance and six times the outlay on education.

Government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, along with military spending, take up pretty much all the tax revenue of the Federal Government. That explains why we won’t be returning to the moon anytime soon. While we can put off for a decade or two our need for a lunar Starbucks, we can’t discontinue most other spending, much of which is needed for national security or to keep the economy from collapsing. That is why we are in so much debt to the rest of the world, mostly China. Some things we can’t cut: homeland security, unemployment compensation, infrastructure such as roads and bridges, environmental protection and conservation, emergency relief and reconstruction (from natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina), and the judicial and penal systems. Programs such as food stamps and other welfare programs are needed, even though some people would like them to go away.

The best example of gridlock in Washington is the battle for health care reform. Most of those who swept Obama into office were in favor of a major overhaul of the health care system. Even the public option was thought of favorably by a majority of Americans. Even most Republicans agree that the status quo is unsustainable, and others, like Sarah Palin, are just plain misinformed…or worse. She talks of government “death panels” as if she actually believes it. The sad part is that she probably does. Many Americans believe what they hear, especially when it comes from Palin, who is now more of a rock star than a politician. Palin is trying to position herself as the Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential election, but although she has a loyal following, it’s not big enough to win.

Comedian/talk-show host Bill Maher has challenged Obama to “stand up for the 70% of Americans who aren’t crazy”. I assume he’s referring to the other 30% of Americans who support Sarah Palin or listen to Rush Limbaugh. And don’t forget those who believe Dick Cheney knows what he’s talking about. Maher, though, had harsh words for Obama. He called the current administration “cowards” for not fighting back hard enough against right-wing attacks on everything from end-of-life counseling (i.e. Palin’s “death panels”) to Obama’s speech to schoolchildren, which the far right warned was an indoctrination to socialism and a viral spread of liberal propaganda.

As for his criticism of Obama, Maher had a point. Obama has said he’d rather be a “really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.” If that’s really the case, Maher points out, why is Obama trying so hard to win over his “delusional” critics, the “sentient majority” as Maher calls it. Maher makes a lot of sense, but it is safe to assume it’s easier being a comedian/talk-show host than president of the United States.

Obama is the first to agree that his first year in office wasn’t a complete success. But even Bill Maher agrees that we would be in a lot worse shape had John McCain and his side-kick Sarah Palin been on the winning side. In this age of government bureaucracy and partisan political in-fighting, there is a lot that Obama has accomplished. The economy, for example, would be in much worse shape had Obama not stepped in with government stimulus money and help for the banking and auto industry. For example, did he move too quickly, not regulating bonuses for bailed out company’s executives? As Sarah Palin would say, “You betcha!” But Obama averted something that could have been much worse – a depression, or at least a more severe recession.

A short-term and effective boost to the economy was Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, which included a $288 billion middle-class tax cut, $275 billion to bail out financially strapped states and a large-scale infrastructure plan. Addressing House Republicans at their annual policy caucus in Baltimore on January 29, the President noted: “A lot of you have gone to appear at ribbon cuttings for the same projects you voted against.” As Obama’s approval rating declines, it’s clear that much of the public isn’t paying attention to the Republicans’ obstructionism and hypocrisy.

Well into his second year in office, now is the time for Obama to reclaim his popularity. After all, as Bill Maher has said, there are 70% of Americans who aren’t crazy. So how does Obama govern from here on?

First, we must answer the question: How do you reduce the deficit without raising taxes? The answer: Apparently you don’t.

If Obama truly believes his statement about being a one-term president, he may need to take a cue from George H.W. Bush, who famously said, “Read my lips,” when declaring that he wouldn’t raise taxes, and then changed course. Even if we immediately pulled our troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, we’d still be deeply in debt. Health care costs are still spiraling out of control, including Medicare and Medicaid, which could surely be made more efficient. But even in the area of health care reform, where doing nothing isn’t really an option, we’re fighting an uphill battle. How do you offset the rising bills that are inevitable, given our aging population? The good news is that because of medical advances and new technology, every child born today will have a 50% chance of reaching 100. The bad news is, what happens to Medicare, Social Security and other government services? Even if we reform the core entitlement programs, we’re not going to be able to see any substantial savings. Eliminating the infamous earmarks would save less than 1% of the budget deficit.

Obama’s campaign pledge of tax cuts for all households earning less than $250,000 per year got a lot of votes. That promise is not feasible if the government is going to bring back some form of fiscal responsibility. There is no way to close the budget deficit by merely cutting waste and taxing the wealthy.

America is living like my 18-year-old son. He’s got a good part-time job for $8.00 an hour, but he hits me up for $20 a day for things like food, clothes, headphones and sneakers. He’s living beyond his means. He’s spending more than he’s making, and he’ll probably repay me someday when I’m 90 or 100. To complicate matters, he’s planning to go to college, but doesn’t quite know or care who’s going to pay the $53,000 a year in tuition. The only way he can afford his lavish lifestyle is by still living at home. When he leaves for college, it will be a different matter. He’ll have to take out student loans, guaranteeing that when he graduates, he’ll owe $200,000 plus, and the only thing he’ll be guaranteed is his $8.00 an hour job. I guess he won’t have enough money to repay me when I’m 90 or 100, so I’m on my own. President Obama is in a better position than my son, however. Not only can he set this country on a path of fiscal responsibility, but he can help college students and the elderly, the two groups most impacted by our country’s staggering financial inefficiency.

When our children are older, will they still be dealing with the financial burden of the previous generation? That’s a tough question. Obama must make decisions that can somehow be explained to the American people so that they don’t start believing the rants of people like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. If Sarah Palin can so eloquently explain the falsehood of “death panels”, why can’t the Democrats expose the truth?

Still, the biggest question remains: Does it really take $750 billion to stop a bunch of fanatics who are trying to build a better underwear bomb?

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger became a household name last January 15th when he landed U.S. Airlines flight 1549 safely in the Hudson River despite losing power minutes after takeoff. All 155 passengers and crew, including a baby, were saved. The man known as “Sully” became an instant hero.

The year ended with another airline story. This time there was another hero, an unlikely passenger by the name of Jasper Schuringa. The Dutch passenger jumped on “Underwear Bomber”, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, after the 23-year-old student allegedly tried to detonate explosives he had hidden in his crotch, as Northwest Airlines flight 253 was on its descent into Detroit. The 289 passengers and crew were safe, although shaken up.

The media jumped on the “Underwear Bomber” story, making it the biggest story of 2009. Of course, that’s because the Christmas Day incident was the last major story of the decade. It didn’t hurt that after a few days of waffling on the subject, the Obama Administration admitted lapses in national security.

President Obama blamed “human and systemic” failures for the terror attempt. Then Dick Cheney burst back onto the scene and blamed Obama for “pretending we are not at war.” It should be noted that Obama just sent 30,000 troops to Afghanistan and the U.S. military has taken out more terrorists in 2009 with unmanned Predator drones and other strikes than in any year of the Bush Administration.

The fact that the Nigerian “Underwear Bomber” was trained in Yemen and was on a terrorist watch list (but not on the no-fly list) is a little unnerving. Also troubling is that his actions should have set off alarms at the two airport checkpoints prior to entering the U.S. He paid $3,000 cash, had no luggage, and was dressed for a trip to Southern California, not Detroit. I’m not saying that we should use racial profiling, but it seems odd that the guy wasn’t pulled aside at any checkpoint.

More troubling in the discussion of airplane security is the fact that it is up to the public, and not trained law enforcement, to be in charge of apprehending suspects. The near-disaster brought back memories of 9/11, when passengers joined together to foil one airliner from reaching its destination, the White House. They all died, but they died as heroes.

What is the head of the Transportation Security Administration doing to prevent further attacks? Nothing, because the TSA is still waiting for leadership as the Republican party has blocked President Obama’s nomination, former FBI agent and security expert Erroll Southers. The TSA is an important part of national security and has been politicized to the point of having no power to do anything. The Republicans are blaming Obama for taking too long to appoint someone to fill the post. Obama nominated Southers in September. South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint has been the major obstacle to nominating a TSA chief. The TSA is the division of Homeland Security that oversees airport security, but DeMint is concerned that Southers might let TSA screeners join a labor union. DeMint called the failed bombing attempt a “perfect example of why the Obama Administration should not unionize the TSA.” He claims unionization of TSA workers would give the “union bosses” the power “to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports.”

In between airline stories, there were other highlights in 2009. The historic inauguration of Obama, on a cold day in January, brought more than a million people to the National Mall in Washington D.C., to witness the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States. “We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America,” Obama said in his inaugural address. It may not be all that original, but Obama’s oratorical skills made it possibly the sound bite of the year, except, of course, for the unusual breach of Congressional decorum when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted “You lie!” during a speech to Congress in September. Wilson blurted out his famous line immediately after Obama said, “There are those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal aliens. This too, is false. The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.” So much for health care reform.

The economy went from bad to worse to a little better. Sarah Palin cashed in on her memoir “Going Rogue” as most Americans were going broke. President Obama continued Bush’s policies of bailing out failed banks and the auto industry. The swine flu, renamed H1N1, was deemed a major pandemic, but most of us are still waiting to see what all the hype was about. As the news media were fixated on two wars and a cratering economy, a little political scandal seemed to come as a breather.

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, a Republican, saw his presidential ambitions go up in smoke as he made national news by disappearing after telling aides he was going for a hike on the Appalachian Trail on June 18th. He surfaced six days later, saying that he actually had been in Argentina “with his soul mate.” The media went wild… Until Michael Jackson died a few days later.

The news of Michael Jackson’s untimely death at the age of 50 caught the media by surprise, but they stayed with the story, even delving into Anderson Cooper’s discovery of Jackson’s old friend Bubbles the Chimp, whom he dressed in matching clothes and taught to do the “moonwalk”. Bubbles has been found living in retirement in Florida.

From “Balloon Boy” to Tiger Woods, pop culture news gave Americans a respite from the actual horrors of two wars and the global economic catastrophe. Carrie Prejean went from first runner-up in the Miss USA 2009 beauty pageant to media star when she famously objected to same-sex marriage in favor of “opposite marriage”.

While we’ve all been trying to figure out how our government gets anything done, as the health care reform bill passed in the House and got torn apart in the Senate, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, and everyone scratched their heads wondering why.

As the symbol of economic excess, Bernie Madoff, is serving 150 years for bilking investors of millions of dollars, the economy is slowly making its way back. Cash For Clunkers was supposed to be a much-needed boost to the auto industry, but overall sales fell over 25%. General Motors and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection.

After hijacking the news media for much of the year, the Michael Jackson story ended on a fitting note. As the year wrapped up, it was announced that the “Thriller” video has been added to the film archives of the Library of Congress, the first music video to be so honored.

“And that’s the way it was…”
-Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com

Elvin Perelli walked out the front door to look at his new car. Elvin was very proud of his investment, a bright, shiny Lexus with a leather interior…with a lease that in about a year-and-a-half he wouldn’t be able to afford. But for now, he was happy with his life: new house, new car, new wife, and twins on the way. A two-car garage was his boyhood dream. And he was in the “business”—location manager for the hit Saturday morning kids’ show “Fillmore High School, U.S.A.”. Now he had it all.

Things change. People change. But 250 pounds is a lot for a 5-foot-4 Jewish schmuck from Encino to carry around. At 45, his doctor told him to lose about 100 pounds and quit smoking, or he only had about six months of quality life to look forward to.

“How about a triple bypass, emphysema, lung cancer, and an aneurysm—most likely resulting in a coma,” said Dr. Sanderson, the cardiologist.

“Sure. That’s easy for you to say. You’re making six hundred dollars an hour,” said Elvin.

“In my professional opinion, money has nothing to do with it,” the doctor replied.

“Stick the money up your ass. And your 2008 Jaguar XKR Convertible, too,” said the fat man.

“Take two aspirin, and call me in three months,” came the reply.

Back on the home front, Melissa was baking cookies and whistling “The Sound of Music”, while Jerry Springer was scolding a guest in the background. The sounds of children playing next door gave the happy housewife a sense of community. Ten years younger than her husband, she was just happy to be married. Her looks left a little to be desired, if you get the picture, and she wasn’t a hundred percent upstairs. But she got her man, Elvin Perelli, all 250 pounds of him. And she wanted to have those cookies ready when he arrived…which would be any minute.

Guess what? A brand new Lexus just pulled into the driveway, screeching to a halt. Mrs. Perelli looked out the window and saw Elvin squeeze out of the driver side. She smiled. She was living the American dream.

http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com

The tall, gray-haired man in the tan trench coat made his way up the elevator and stopped at the fourth floor. The receptionist said “hello”. The man didn’t look up. Something was wrong. He didn’t belong there. It was clear by his demeanor.

An uneasy silence came over the room. All the people looked downward, trying to avoid eye contact. Then the man pulled out a shotgun and killed everyone in the room.

To be continued…

A lot of people have been wondering what I’ve been up to lately. I’m writing a light-hearted book of short stories about life in the San Fernando Valley, the area known for tract homes laid out on asphalt grids which make up part of the northern edge of Los Angeles, where the smog settles in like cheap hairspray and you can fry an egg on the streets during the summer.

My blog disappeared for longer than I had anticipated, as I realized that I didn’t enjoy writing every day, and instead preferred to sit around the house eating Cheez Doodles and watching “Law and Order” reruns.

I did find the time to finish my third screenplay, written with my friend and colleague Vincent Blanco. I’m trying to get financing for my current script, a low-to-mid-budget romantic comedy, but the economic climate isn’t so good right now. There is some hope, however.

“The age of movie stars is over,” according to this week’s Time magazine. The stars just aren’t needed any more to sell a movie. The comedy “The Hangover” was a hit, but with no stars it cost just $35 million, yet grossed $270 million domestically.

I remember when $35 million was a lot of money. I figure I can produce my movie for under $35 million, especially when washed-up stars like Christian Slater become available, or if Dylan McDermott wants to work during his hiatus from the cable TV series “Dark Blue”. My first choice, Mario Lopez, was turned down by my co-producers because he can’t play Jewish.

It’s apparent that my daily blog is no more. I will, however, be writing one or two articles a week about anything that pops into my head. My days as a journalist, from my stint as the obituary writer at The Los Angeles Daily News, to my controversial work as an op-ed writer at DigitalJournal.com, are apparently over. What’s left is a life free of obligations and a new start as a writer of important works. In addition, my new title of executive producer means that I’m only a little over $34 million short of financing for my movie.

I’m tired of waiting for Christian Slater to return my call. I’ve decided on Shia LaBeouf. Oh well…There goes my budget.

For more articles by Paul Solomon, please go to his website at: http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com.

What does Nicole Kidman have in common with Barry Bonds? According to Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz, both have used performance-enhancing drugs. In Kidman’s case, Weisz is referring to Botox.

“It should be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen,” Weisz said in the August issue of the UK edition of Harper’s Bazaar.

Steroids have been a major issue in baseball the last few years, and Bonds is the most prominent athlete to be tied to steroid use. The latest baseball star to be linked to steroids, Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers, came back after a 50-game suspension to thunderous applause. His fans didn’t seem to care.

Steroid use is mostly associated with athletes, but Botox is less harmful and more widely used. When we think about plastic surgery, Michael Jackson is the first person who comes to mind. Botox use, however, is different than other major types of plastic surgery. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimated that 4.6 million Botox procedures were performed in 2007, making it the most common cosmetic operation in this country. Practically anyone can do the operation: plastic surgeons, dermatologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, physicians’ assistants, and medical spas.

Although Botox is mostly used by women, there are an increasing number of men who have started using the drug, which is injected into the skin to smooth out wrinkles. According to the Web site eMedTV.com, side effects of Botox for cosmetic use include “droopy eyelids, nausea, muscle weakness, facial pain, indigestion, tooth problems, and high blood pressure.”

Don’t look for your favorite actor or actress to show signs of these side effects on the big screen, as they are very rare - less than 3%, according to eMedTV.

According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, side effects of steroid use include, for men, “shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, and development of breasts”.

The 39-year-old Weisz is best known for her roles in the “Mummy” movie franchise, and won an Academy Award for her work in “The Constant Gardener” in 2005 co-starring with Ralph Fiennes.

The English-born actress admits that she likes it better in London than in New York. She said that English women are much less worried about their physical appearance than in the United States. “I love the way girls in London dress. It’s so different to the American ‘blow-dry and immaculate grooming thing’.”

The whole “Nicole Kidman is to acting what Barry Bonds is to baseball” analogy is coming under some scrutiny. Typically, and Barry Bonds is a good example of this, steroids improve performance. In addition, they’re much more dangerous. Weisz asks us, on the other hand, “why would you want to iron out a frown?” Botox would, in that case, diminish the performance.

Weisz said Botox injections should be banned for all actors. But to compare the procedure to steroids is like comparing a Chihuahua to a mountain lion. Barry Bonds’ head has grown as much as his body. You can see the effects of years of steroids. It’s not known by the general public what other side effects he may be suffering, like “shrinking of the testicles,” but long-term use is extremely dangerous.

Nicole Kidman, on the other hand, looks just fine. I agree with Rachel Weisz that Botox injections are a waste of money, and she seems to be doing well without them. But steroid use is a real problem in this country, and to trivialize it by comparing it to Botox makes absolutely no sense.

If I see Nicole Kidman with “droopy eyelids,” then I’ll start to worry. In the meantime, Manny Ramirez is back to hitting home runs for the Dodgers, and instead of apologizing to his fans, he said: “Why do I have to? I’m one of the best players to put the uniform on.” He’s one role model we can do without.

Steroids and Botox have nothing in common. Rachel Weisz is right, though. In America, we are obsessed with the way we look. That’s more of a psychological problem. But she goes on to say that the use of Botox injections leave actors less able to convey emotion, and that it harms the acting industry as much as steroids harm athletes.

You’ve got to be kidding.

For more articles by Paul Solomon, please go to: http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com.

World-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman, whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic drugs in children, has been caught up in controversy since a Congressional inquiry by Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2008.

Biederman has been criticized for being an advocate of diagnosing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder in even the youngest of children, and using antipsychotic medicines to treat them. Pharmaceutical companies are continuing to profit from the sale of these powerful and sometimes unnecessary drugs. The problem was that much of Biederman’s work was underwritten by drug makers for whom he was a private consultant. He was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

The Congressional inquiry revealed last year that Biederman earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007, but failed to report all but $200,000 to Harvard officials. This constituted a major conflict of interest.

Biederman appeared at a deposition on February 26, 2009, and was questioned by several lawyers for the states, who were claiming that makers of antipsychotic drugs defrauded state Medicaid programs by marketing their medicines improperly.

At the deposition, Biederman was asked what rank he held at Harvard.

“Full professor,” he answered.

“What’s after that?” asked Fletch Trammell, one of the attorneys.

“God,” Biederman responded.

“Did you say God?” Trammell asked.

“Yeah,” said Biederman, after which there was a moment of stunned silence.

The transcripts of this deposition call into question the mental state of the psychiatrist himself. It seems the good doctor is showing symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance. They believe they are superior to others, but in reality, they are masking their own fragile self-esteem, and are vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

For decades, according to Bruce Levine in a July 17 article in the Web site AlterNet.org, “the majority of American doctors, mental health professionals, the media, and the general public have yielded to the dissemination’s of Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Biederman who successfully evangelized for more children - and younger children - to be medicated with powerful psychiatric drugs.”

The “blowback,” according to Levine, can be found in the July 2009 Scientific Mind article “Do ADHD Drugs Take a Toll on the Brain?” The article, by Edmund S. Higgins, clinical associate professor of family medicine and psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, is a sobering report of the long-term dangers associated with ADHD drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta, Vyvanse, and Adderall.

In his article, Higgins cites the Centers for Disease Control. In a recent survey, the CDC found that ADHD afflicts about 5 percent of children in the U.S. - twice as many boys as girls - age 6 to 17. In 2005, according to the CDC, an estimated 9 percent of boys and 4 percent of girls were taking stimulant medications as part of their ADHD therapy. The majority of patients take Ritalin and Concerta, a methylphenidate, and the most of the rest are prescribed Adderall, an amphetamine.

In his article, Higgins writes “although it sounds counterintuitive to give stimulants to a person who is hyperactive, these drugs are thought to boost activity in the parts of the brain responsible for attention and self-control”.

Higgins acknowledges that the ADHD medication can indeed improve attention, concentration and productivity and also suppress impulsive behavior. Significant improvements have been found in some people’s lives.

Severe inattention and impulsive behavior can indeed put individuals at risk for crime and substance abuse, and adults can face unemployment and be susceptible to car accidents. In these instances, appropriate medication might keep a person out of prison, away from addictive drugs, or in a job. But over the last 15 years, doctors have been prescribing stimulants for people with moderate to mild inattention, and even some with a normal ability to focus.

Patients are no longer just taking medications in childhood, but are encouraged to stay on them when they become adults. Vyvanse, an amphetamine, and Concerta were introduced in 2008 by the FDA for treating adults, and pharmaceutical companies are pushing awareness of adult forms of ADHD. Students are taking the drugs to increase academic performance, and professionals such as doctors and lawyers are taking stimulants in hopes of boosting their productivity. These drugs have therefore become increasingly popular. According to a 2007 study, prescriptions for ADHD drugs in the methalphenidate and amphetamine categories rose by almost 12 percent per year between 2000 and 2005.

The increased usage of stimulants is causing questions to be raised about their long-term use. There is a growing concern that the drugs might take a toll on the brain in the long run. Methylphenidates such as Ritalin and Concerta have a chemical structure “similar to cocaine,” according to Higgins, and they act on the brain in a similar way as cocaine.

According to Higgins: “Indeed, a smattering of recent studies, most of them involving animals, hint that stimulants would alter the structure and function of the brain in ways that may depress mood, boost anxiety, and, contrary to their short-term effects, lead to cognitive deficits. Human studies already indicate the medications can adversely affect areas of the brain that govern growth in children.” He goes on to speculate as to what additional harmful side-effects have yet to be found.

In February 2007, the FDA did indeed issue warnings about the side-effects of ADHD drugs, such as stunted growth and psychosis, among other mental disorders. The possibility exists that stimulant treatment during childhood might contribute to high rates of accompanying diagnoses for other mental health problems, according to Higgins. But having ADHD is itself a risk factor for other mental health problems.

The evidence that ADHD drugs cause adverse reactions such as stunted growth in children are in direct contradiction to Biederman’s findings. Alternet.org’s Levine, himself a clinical psychologist, reports on a 2007 National Institute of Mental Health study of ADHD treatments involving 579 children. Over a three year period, the children, between seven and ten years old, were involved in a growth rate study. In the study, the growth rates of unmedicated children were compared to the growth rates of children who took ADHD stimulants throughout that period. Compared to the children who were unmedicated, the ADHD drug-treated children showed a decrease in growth rate of, on average, two fewer centimeters in height, and 2.7 kilograms less in weight. By the third year, there was no noticeable stunting of growth, but the damage had been done. The ADHD children never caught up to their counterparts.

According to Levine, “there are many children whose only problem in life is not doing their homework but are medicated with ADHD drugs; and the majority of their parents had no idea that they were giving their children amphetamines or amphetamine-like substances. Unfortunately, too many Americans are willing to surrender their own authority to damn near every pompous authoritarian rather than question the legitimacy of exploitive industrial complexes and the predatory people at the top of them.”

The pharmaceutical-industrial complex, according to Levine, is part of a “wave of evil” that “washes not only the financial-industrial complex, the military-industrial complex, the energy-industrial complex, and predatory executives at AIG, Citibank, Halliburton, Blackwater/Xe, Enron, and Exxon.”

Levine was quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote: “The wave of evil washes all our institutions alike.”

According to Levine, the pharmaceutical-industrial complex has “virtually annexed the mental health profession, whose all-star opportunist team is captained by Harvard psychiatrist Joseph Biederman.”

Biederman, as I pointed out earlier, may be suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He has a “God complex” not unlike another well-known person associated with Harvard University, Theodore Kaczynski.

According to Wikipedia, Kaczynski, also known as the Unibomber, “is an American murderer, mathematician, and neo-Luddite social critic who carried out a campaign of mail bombings. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where, as an intellectual child prodigy, he excelled academically from an early age. Kaczynski received an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan. He became an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley at age 25 but resigned two years later.” His occupation is listed as “prisoner, former assistant professor of mathematics.” They left out “bomber”.

While Wikipedia can sometimes be comical in its descriptions and anecdotes, the esteemed Psychology Today has referred to Kaczynski’s acts of terror as being “narcissistic.” It should be noted that Kaczynski suffers from a variety of other mental illnesses.

Joseph Biederman cannot be compared to Theodore Kaczynski, other than that they are both associated with Harvard, and both have a background in academics. Oh, and they both are suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The problem with Biederman is that he has been held in such high regard for so long. His theories on mental illness have been disputed and shown to be dangerous. How many Ted Kaczynskis could have been stopped as children?

The June 22, 2009 issue of Time Magazine includes an article titled “Staying Sane,” by John Cloud. He takes a look at the work of Dr. William McFarlane, who is one of the world’s top authorities on preventing mental illness. He has long felt that forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia, from which Ted Kaszynski suffered, were preventable.

A team of UCLA researchers in the late 1970’s began to publish the results of a long-term study called the UCLA Family Project. The study found that you could predict, with remarkable accuracy, which 16-year-old children would develop schizophrenia later in life.

The UCLA study found, after studying the kids for more than a decade, that those who became schizophrenic were most often from families that displayed “communication deviance,” described as “unclear, unintelligible or fragmented speech.” They also found the parenting to be “critical and intrusive.”

Dr. McFarlane and others began working with some of the families to teach them to communicate better, with “less anger and intrusion”. McFarlane was working on the assumption that schizophrenia could be prevented in asymptomatic kids who were at risk for the disease.

“Once a patient’s perception of reality has cracked the first time, it becomes very hard to walk back to normality,” Time Magazine’s Cloud says of McFarlane’s theory. Early detection is crucial, according to McFarlane.

McFarlane’s schizophrenia-prevention ideas have given other researchers hope in more routine conditions, such as ADHD. Mental illness has long been linked to genes, over which we simply have no control. But according to many mental health experts like McFarlane, your environment and experiences have powerful effects on the way those genes are expressed. This is exactly the opposite of Harvard’s Joseph Biederman.

If McFarlane is to be believed, and he has a large following, people like Ted Kaczynski are as much a product of their environment as they are their genes. Could Kaczynski have been stopped before he became ill? Probably not. But what about the millions of children who are having trouble focusing on their homework? Are drugs the answer? According to Biederman, yes. But after the February 2009 deposition when he compared himself to God (to be fair, he didn’t say he was God, only that he was next in line), Biederman has lost all credibility. The fact that he failed to report $1.6 million in pharmaceutical consulting fees has been the subject of an ongoing Congressional investigation. His Harvard credentials are about as meaningful as the Unibomber’s.

And one more thing: If you got through this article, you don’t have ADHD.

For more articles by Paul Solomon, please go to his website at: http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com

There is no perfect crime. We live in an imperfect world. But Gerald Applethorpe thought he could come close (but not too close, or there’d be no story).

A gun would be too obvious; an axe too uncommon for contemporary mayhem. No, it would be something easily available, perhaps a shovel. A large one. The gardener comes on Thursday.

So begins my novel.

I will be taking my annual summer break from writing my blog at http://www.paulsolomon.blogspot.com and writing my column at DigitalJournal.com. For the past few weeks I have been working on my other writing projects, and will continue to do so.

In addition to my novel, I’m currently working on a rewrite of a screenplay with my writing partner Vincent Blanco. I can’t disclose the details of it right now, other than the fact that it’s a romantic comedy set in the worlds of advertising and coffeehouses. It will be low budget, similar to all the crap that Tyler Perry puts out, only funnier - and with Jewish people. Don’t expect any car chases or explosions. They’re too expensive. Here’s a rundown of my other projects:

I’m producing a reality show that I hope will be picked up for the 2009-2010 season. Because the television networks have been cutting costs, I’m putting my detective show on hold. All the networks have passed on my crime show about an alcoholic bipolar homicide detective and his sexy young female partner who work the streets of South Central L.A. looking for murdered tourists. Even filming in Vancouver would be too expensive, so even though CBS likes the pilot script, it’s just too expensive to film, especially if I get my first choice, Christian Slater, who commands a high salary. ABC was initially interested. They wanted Pauly Shore for the lead, but he wanted too much money and his own trailer, so they passed.

It’s all about the budget, so that’s why I’m switching to reality shows. I’m pitching my new show, called “Dumb Factor,” a remake of “Fear Factor,” which ran on NBC from 2001-2006. For $5,000, contestants will bungee-jump off a freeway overpass with an extremely frayed rope. The cars will run over the contestants until someone is stupid enough to get out and help, also getting splattered onto the pavement in slow-motion. This scenario will keep repeating until the commercial break. All that we’ll see after the commercial will be a bunch of dead bodies and a massive pile-up of Camrys. The winners will now compete for the second stunt, jumping out of an airplane with a placebo parachute, after which an Internet poll will be taken for the viewer to guess the winner. For those wanting to be a contestant, sign-ups will be on our website at http://www.stupididiot.com . This show will be perfect for ABC’s schedule, because they’re in the process of cancelling all scripted shows.

As you can see, I have a very busy schedule. When I return from my break, this blog will run once a week instead of every day, so that I can devote time to my other projects. I look forward to your comments and feedback on my articles.

Thank you for the unprecedented support for my blog. Many readers have asked for more information about me. I graduated from Hudson University in New York with a B.A. in criminal justice. I started my writing career at the Los Angeles Daily News where I honed my skills writing obituaries and getting coffee for the city desk editor. I was fired for making fliers for my band on the company copying machine.

After many years in the music business playing trumpet and keyboards, I quit to work full time as a freelance journalist. After that, I became a consultant and news commentator. I then took off a year to try to sell my television scripts and reality show ideas. Now I’m concentrating on my screenwriting career. The media can contact me through my representatives.