Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks

Cenk Uygur is not just another political pundit. Unlike political pundits on the left but on the right Cenk sets himself apart from the pack simply by telling the truth. People like to characterize his views as liberal or progressive but if the political spectrum was what was in the 60s, 70s and 80s Cenk would be a moderate. It seems today to telling the truth and calling a liar a liar somehow makes one a liberal.

Earlier in life Cenk held what are considered conservative views. In fact in the 90s, he supported and voted for Republicans. By 2000 after seeing the hypocrisy of the Republican Party and its members he voted for Al Gore in 2000. He was logical enough to see that when it comes to most issues the Democrats are right and the Republicans are wrong. He saw Bill Clinton take a train wreck of an economy that he inherited from 12 years of Republican control and turn it into the longest sustained prosperity in the history of the United States.

You have to admire a man who can look at the facts and change his mind. Yet admire a man who doesn't hold his ideology with this zealotry a religious fanatic.

For a short time Cenk Uygur had a show on MSNBC and in spite of the fact that his show continued to rise in the ratings the suits, and I don't mean the Hart Schaffner Marx suits, I mean the Armani suits, and a tailor-made suits decided to take him off the air. Turns out that his honesty, integrity and hard-nosed style angered some of the criminal elite in Washington DC. Some piece of trash at MSNBC offered him a lot of money to take a less visible role on the corporate controlled prescription drug advertising whore of a network. They were afraid of what Cenk might say. They were afraid that he might tell the truth on members of the criminal elite so they tried to buy him. They threw a lot of money at him to stay but Cenk told them very nicely to go fark themselves.

Right now the only talking heads on MSNBC that I think is worth a shit are Ed Schultz and Chris Mathews. Pierce Morgan is mealymouthed, Lawrence O'Donnell is the same blowhard that Keith Olbermann was and Rachel Maddow is a bit too smug although she's not one to pull punches. Like Ed Schultz and Chris Matthews, Cenk is not afraid to call a punk a punk and a liar a liar. Like Ed Schultz, he doesn't mince words. If MSNBC wants to grow its audience they need to hire more honest and aggressive journalists and newsmen like Cenk. Cenk is a real guy who simply tells it like it is while offering an honest and fresh perspective.

I would urge my readers to subscribe to the Young Turks on you tube or follow him on Twitter. Or watch them on Current TV

The Newton School Shooting

I can't say much and I won't say much. I found out when someone near and dear to me tearfully told me about this horrific event. I was numb for an hour.



The talking heads are running their mouths and the journalists I respect, Rachel Maddow and Ed Shultz have disapointed me as has the rest of the media. One common thread that the media will not report is the prescription drug connection in almost all these shooting.

I will provide some links with data regarding the role prescription drugs play in these acts of violence. The media's knee jerk reaction to blame guns while ignoring the role drugs play makes me want to vomit.

Switzerland has more guns and they have very little gun violence.


Contact your elected officials and mention the drug connection. Get informed and please leave comment with information about SSRIs and violence.

I will update this story with links to data on antidepressants and violence.

Rachel and Ed are right about one thing... we do need stricter gun laws but I would oppose banning semi auto guns no matter how scary they look.

AR-15 found in the shooter's car

A 9mm Sig Sauer was used in the shooting

A Glock 9mm was used in the shooting

This Colt semi-automatic hammerless pistol was produced between 1903 and 1945. It operates similarly to the Glock and the Sig Sauer. The point is, these style of hand guns have been around for over 100 years.

Astounding increase in antidepressant use by Americans

Posted October 20, 2011, 12:46 pm

Peter Wehrwein, Editor, Harvard Health

Remember when the best-selling book Listening to Prozac came out almost 20 years ago?
Now Americans aren’t just reading about Prozac. They are taking it and other antidepressants (Celexa, Effexor, Paxil, Zoloft, to name just a few) in astounding numbers.

According to a report released yesterday by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the rate of antidepressant use in this country among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older) increased by almost 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008.

The federal government’s health statisticians figure that about one in every 10 Americans takes an antidepressant. And by their reckoning, antidepressants were the third most common prescription medication taken by Americans in 2005–2008, the latest period during which the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected data on prescription drug use.

Here are a few other stand-out statistics from the report on antidepressants:

• 23% of women in their 40s and 50s take antidepressants, a higher percentage than any other group (by age or sex)
• Women are 2½ times more likely to be taking an antidepressant than men (click here to read a May 2011 article in the Harvard Mental Health Letter about women and depression)
• 14% of non-Hispanic white people take antidepressants compared with just 4% of non-Hispanic blacks and 3% of Mexican Americans
• Less than a third of Americans who are taking a single antidepressants (as opposed to two or more) have seen a mental health professional in the past year
• Antidepressant use does not vary by income status.

So is it a good thing that so many more Americans are taking antidepressants? Many (perhaps most) mental health professionals would say, yes, because depression has been undertreated and because antidepressants are effective.

But there are also plenty of critics, as shown by this review in the New York Review of Books, who say the benefits have been overstated and that pharmaceutical company marketing is responsible for the surge in prescriptions.

Of course there’s a middle ground that combines—some might say muddles—these two points of view: depression was neglected and sometimes antidepressants are the remedy, but there is some overuse and has been a major factor in the 400% increase.

What do you think? Has an antidepressant worked for you? Have the benefits been exaggerated and the side effects downplayed?