Letters to the Editor
Silenced
Published Letters: 1358 Editor's Choice: 75
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Democrats beware
[Read the article: State official resigns amid Blackwater woes]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's looking like Blackwater is going to be a part of the new $1.4 billion "Plan Mexico" being proposed right now by Bush. Since Bush promised to train the Mexican army for drug interdiction but also promised not to send any US troops, he must intend to accomplish this mission with Blackwater, and that's why they're establishing an office near the border.
That would be interesting if the Drug Czar ended up having to resign because of Blackwater war crimes in Mexico.
But since this whole Blackwater-in-Mexico adventure probably won't explode into a scandal until after the next election, Democrats in Congress had better think really hard while they're debating this "Plan Mexico" proposal.
Do we want a Democratic administration embarrassed by Blackwater? Do we want a Democratic Drug Czar forced to step down because our drug war proxies in Mexico have been accused of murdering civilians?
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Some media outlets are even refusing to cover the war at all
[Read the article: Journalism and its discontents]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh wait, he isn't talking about Mexico. I guess this article only refers to the war in Iraq. Sorry. My mistake.
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Here's the deal with my thyroid problem
[Read the article: Is thyroid disease the new hysteria?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This noxious psychobabble makes me mad. But hold on while I take my thyroid medicine first.
Okay now I can write.
I have hypothyroidism because my immune system is attacking my thyroid. It's not because of my emotions. It's because of my genes. I have a flawed copy of a gene that encodes antibody proteins, so my immune system makes antibodies that attack my thyroid, and my liver as well.
(By the way, if you have hypothyoidism caused by autoimmunity, get your liver enzymes checked ASAP. The same autoimmune effect that attacks the thyroid can also go after your liver. Autoimmune liver disease can make you even more depressed and crazy than autoimmune thyroid disease can.)
I have discovered that it's diet and exercise, not emotions, that influences the strength of the immune system attack on my organs.
Vegans might not want to hear this but I have been able to reduce my thyroid medication down to a bare minimum by getting the following foods and cosmetic products out of my life:
soy, flax, beans, tea, grapes, raisins, apples, chocolate, avocado, lavender, and anything containing dibutyl phthalates
Scientists have discovered that tea has an enzyme that makes your T cells secrete more interferon, and interferon can make an autoimmune attack accelerate. Apples, chocolate and grapes have the same enzyme as tea, but less of it.
The avocado is rich in vitamin E, which is also implicated in stimulating the production of interferon.
Women get autoimmune diseeases much more frequently than men do because estrogen seems very much involved in triggering an autoimmune attack.
The soy, flax, beans, lavender and dibutyl phthalates contain plant and chemical estrogens that seem to trigger the problem very strongly.
I can't even eat food cooked in a pan that has recently cooked tofu, without triggering an autoimmuine flareup by the next day. So goodbye Chinese food. :-(
Almost all frozen dinners and high protein products aimed at women contain large amounts of soy protein. So if you have hypothyroidism caused by an autoimmune response, cut out the Lean Cuisine and the high protein bread.
Almost all commercial bakeries now use soy flour as a dough conditioner, so say goodbye to apple fritters and Danish from commerical bakeries. And read fine print on the label before you buy bread.
It also helps to get vigorous cardio at least once a week, and keep my tummy fat down. A week of eating too many carbs and not working out can trigger a flareup too.
I keep saying we're in the middle of an uncontrolled experiment in just how plant and chemical estrogens women can consume without getting sick.
My doctor thought I was way off base with my theory four years ago but now he's agreeing that I am probably right, because I have succeeded in getting all my medications down a bare minimum and I've been staying healthy following this program.
Remember -- if your thyroid problem is caused by an autoimmune attack, get your liver enzymes checked ASAP, because your liver might be under attack as well.
Especially if you feel a lot of anger every day. That can be the sign of a liver problem. That's how I know when mine is flaring up -- when I get so mad that I can't think at all.
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The place where emotions seem to fit BTW
[Read the article: Is thyroid disease the new hysteria?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Scientists are discovering that PTSD can overstimulate the immune system. People with PTSD have way more T cells active in their system than is normal. I grew up with chronic PTSD. So it fits that I have lots of problems with an overactive immune system.
Germs almost never make me sick but my own immune system is threatening to kill me every day.
If you have chronic PTSD, then don't drink tea, neither green nor black, because an enzyme in the tea will make your overstimulated immune system even more overstimulated.
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Why would drug kingpins support a drug prohibitionist?
[Read the article: Drug Kingpins for Rudy Giuliani]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The same reason Al Capone didn't want Alcohol Prohibition to end. The man got rich on illegal alcohol. No way can anyone get that rich from legal alcohol. The profit margins are not big enough in a legal business.
If drugs were legal like alcohol, the drug kingpins would have to pay taxes and obey labor and environmental regulations. They couldn't get rid of their competition by killing them or narking them out to the DEA. They couldn't use murder to fire their worst employees, or settle a competition for CEO.
They'd have to behave like a normal business and accept normal profit margins.
Of course the drug kingpins want a rabid prohibitionist like Giuliani in office.
And I suspect they like the new pro-Drug War editorial policy at Salon as well.