odds and ends & odd ends

The FDA approved two drugs on this date historically - sort of twin pharmaceutical bastards are they - Valium in 1963 and Halcion in 1982. The latter is described as a "chemical substance used to reduce tension and anxiety and induce calm (sedative effect) or to induce sleep (hypnotic effect). Also called a sedative-hypnotic drug". Hmm... "Most such drugs exert a quieting or calming effect at low doses and a sleep-inducing effect in larger doses. Sedative-hypnotic drugs tend to depress the central nervous system. (...) these actions can be obtained with other drugs, such as opiates (...)" Yes... the FDA knows what we need, don't they? I wonder why in blue blazes the legalization of marijuana is such a huge polemic in that case... oh yeah, of course - giant pharmaceutical mega-companies don't see it with a gentle eye that people can produce their very own homemade drugs - there is no money in it for THEM! See if I care though - I make use of exactly NONE of these "products" - my drugs are herbal teas, The Word and, on occasion, caffeine - the old-fashioned way! The FDA can keep their recommendations for all I care...! ;)

Did you know that, this past November 1st (what we have as the Day of All Saints now - not merely All Hallows), Death was in action live on television? Best Mate, an award-winning Irish racehorse only 10 years of age (although that is rather old enough for a horse), died of a heart attack while racing in front of millions of television viewers.

On November 3rd, Franck Kangundu and his wife Helene Paka, both Congolese political journalists, were assassinated on the eve of the elections there. Some countries will simply never get democracy right...

On the 4th of this month, Afghan poet and journalist Nadia Anjuman was found dead in her home in the western city of Herat. It was reported that she died as a result of injuries to her head. Her husband, according to police, has confessed to battering her but not to killing her. Anjuman was 25 years-old and is survived by her six-month-old daughter. What a fine husband she had...

Eddie Guerrero was not the only 38 year-old to die so prematurely this month - Minako Honda, a Japanese pop singer, was the exact same age when she passed on, nine short days ago. She had been diagnosed with myelocytic leukemia in January 2005 and died in Tokyo on November 6, 2005. She was single at the time of her death.

Not all November deaths are so sad or deplorable - five convicted murderers have been executed so far this month (two in Texas - what a surprise).
That is... hoping that all five were truly guilty and not one of them was a miscarriage of justice too many...

Really - it's a sad world we live in - especially when one has not FAITH to lean back on...
And thinks that there is nothing else beyond... this.
Trust me - there is lots more beyond this life... indubitably!

Eddie Guerrero knew so much (and it was a relief to see that so many other sports entertainers -such as Shawn Michaels, for one- know that too) and so do I.

More on that... in a jiffy.

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