Reflections on America's gun culture and collapse

These are the personal reflections of an outsiderwho has never set foot in the United States of America.

Of Guns and Men

The events in Las Vegas bring the whole issue of guns and gun control to the fore once more. Every Clinton-voting liberal on social media are getting on the bandwagon placing the need of gun control (perhaps right up there with various obsessions like rights for transgenders).

They seem particularly riled by the following infographic.

Well, I come from a country that (relative to the U.S.) we have both relatively strict gun control and of statistics for deaths by gunshots.

I have been aware for a long time – going back before Bowling for Columbine – that America has a gun problem and in the past would definitely have agreed that something needed to be done about it.

Personally I’ve never handled a firearm since my time at school when I was forced to in school cadets and I have a lifelong aversion to the gun culture.

If guns have been around since the War of Independence and Americans have been shooting each other since I have been alive then what has changed so radically and so quickly?

It is assumed by these same liberals that if you take guns away from the nasty Trump-voting “deplorables” then all problems will be solved.

Is this really true?

Perhaps there are other factors that need to be taken into account?

First among these is the incontrovertible fact that millions of Americans are on drugs - whether narcotics or prescribed drugs such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and of course there are the opioids.

I’ve never heard that argument used by the Left. I have to assume that they are all in favour of the huge profits of the pharmaceutical industry – certainly those who run the Democrat Party are. We couldn’t solve the problem by coming down hard on the drug problem.

Instead America fights wars (such as in Afghanistan) to keep the whole things going.

I wouldn’t mind wagering that prescription medication accounts for a large part of the problem

I read a quote from someone saying that America has a mental health problem rather than a gun problem.

Certainly in the case of Stephen Paddock IF he is behind the shooting at all had a problem.

CONFIRMED: Las Vegas Shooter Was On Medications Linked To Aggressive Behavior

It has just been revealed that the Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was on psychotropic medications infamous for causing aggression and delusions.

And this is no conspiracy theory directed at Big Pharma—the warning labels on the back of the bottles openly warn of the dangerous side effects.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Paddock was on diazepam, which is more known by its commercial name Valium.

The report states:

“Records from the Nevada Prescription Monitoring Program obtained Tuesday show Paddock was prescribed 50 10-milligram diazepam tablets by Henderson physician Dr. Steven Winkler on June 21.

“A woman who answered the phone at Winkler’s office would not make him available to answer questions and would neither confirm nor deny that Paddock was ever a patient.

“Paddock purchased the drug — its brand name is Valium — without insurance at a Walgreens store in Reno on the same day it was prescribed. He was supposed to take one pill a day.”

Scientific American seems to agree even if they are not saying as much.

1 in 6 Americans Takes a Psychiatric Drug

Antidepressants were most common, followed by anxiety relievers and antipsychotics

One in six U.S. adults reported taking a psychiatric drug, such as an antidepressant or a sedative, in 2013, a new study found.

The new data comes from an analysis of the 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), which gathered information on the cost and use of health care in the United States.

An earlier government report, from 2011, found that just over one in 10 adults reported taking prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," the authors wrote in a research letter published today (Dec. 12) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine

And never mind the abortions and deaths from obesity, diabetes and the like – the statistics show that drug overdoses (and that certainly means opioids) are responsible for more deaths than people with guns are.

Drug Overdoses Kill More Americans Than Guns In 2015, more than 50,000

Americans died from drug overdoses. This is a staggering number, especially when compared to traffic accidents, which claimed 37,757 lives in the same year. Drug overdose deaths also outpaced the 36,252 people who died due to gun-related injuries in 2015

This data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the analysis was conducted by reporters with access to the database. According to the findings, “Heroin deaths rose 23 percent in one year, to 12,989,” while “[a]buse of drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin killed 17,536,” CBS reports.

The high rate of overdose-related deaths has largely been attributed to heroin and prescription painkiller abuse. Heroin is an illicit drug, and law enforcement efforts to crack down on its use have increased in recent years, with the National Seizure System confirming there has been an “80 percent increase in heroin seizures in the past five years.”

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And then there is the big question of America itself.It is a country on the verge of social, economic and political breakdown and people (to the extent they are aware of what is going on around them) seem to recognise this – except for the ideologically-driven Looney Left,

Except for the Loony Left if we can call them that. They are faux-Left because these people are coming out as pro-war, pro-CIA, pro-corporate which goes against everything the real Left stands for.

I believe that reasonable Americans are being manipulated through events like that in Las Vegas to abandon the middle ground and support either the extreme Right (KKK and neo-nazis) or the extreme Left (Antifa),

Everyone associated with governance is equally to blame. Obama and his Democrats want to take away people’s guns while Trump and the Republicans want to further the police surveillance state.

It is time for Americans to come to the realisation that no-one in government is a friend.

We do live in an era where the State is violent and more than capable of killing its own citizens in False Flag attacks.

Would I want to surrender my guns to a State that is armed to the teeth?

I suspect not.

Even al-Jazeera recognises the problem in this documentary

Here is the trailer for a new documentary “Do Not Resist”

John Whitehouse is not, I believe, a raging white-supremacist, nazi conspiracy theory but accurately identifies the growth of the surveillance police state

I do not believe that you have to be a raving Alex Jones fan insisting on Americans’ God-given right to bear arms and carry them in public to see the problem

Taking the guns away at this particular junction will mark the enslavement of Americans.

I would rather part Americans away from all their meds.

But that is not going to happen and the further collapse of American society is going to be very, very ugly and will make an event like the collapse of the Soviet Union seem like a walk in the park

The effects of austerity in New Zealand

NZ's homelessness the worst in OECD - by far

New Zealand has the worst homelessness in the OECD, new figures show.

Newshub,

21 July, 2017

YaleGlobal Online, a magazine published by the prestigious US university, says "more than 40,000 people live on the streets or in emergency housing or substandard shelters" - almost 1 percent of the entire population, citing OECD statistics.

Per capita it's well ahead of second-placed Czech Republic, and close to double the rate in Australia, which placed third.

"Homelessness is often considered embarrassing, a taboo subject, and governments tend to understate the problem," writes Joseph Chamie, former director of the United Nations Population Division.

While homelessness is usually higher in developing countries and failed states such as Somalia, South Sudan and Syria, Mr Chamie says there are still hundreds of thousands going without in the world's most stable and wealthiest countries.

Labour Party housing spokesperson Phil Twyford said homelessness was "National's legacy".

"Families living in motels, cars and garages; a record waiting list for state houses; Auckland City Mission forced to turn people away; homeless people dying in the street - these are the human costs of National's housing crisis, along with falling homeownership and skyrocketing rents," he said in a statement.

"It is simply shameful that National has not built the houses we need to give all our people a home. Labour first proposed KiwiBuild in 2012 - if National had adopted that plan five years ago, we would have built nearly 50,000 houses by now."

Figures released by Auckland Council earlier this week suggest there are around 24,000 homeless in Auckland alone.

Nearly 24,000 homeless in Auckland

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett admitted on The AM Show on Friday the Government's response had been too slow.

"We had no idea how much it was going to cost," Ms Bennett said. "We had no idea it would ever be this big... In hindsight, you always wish you'd gone earlier".

It's costing the Government about $140,000 a day to house needy families in motels and other emergency accommodation.

Govt admits it had 'no idea' of emergency housing costs

"After nine years, even Paula Bennett now admits National got it wrong but, truth is, they won't change," says Mr Twyford

Ms Bennett told The AM Show she couldn't give "actual numbers" on how the Government's emergency housing build was going, because she "didn't know we were going to talk about it this morning. I haven't looked at it for about a year."

After New Zealand, Czech Republic and Australia, the worst homelessness in the OECD per capita can be found in Canada, Germany, Sweden, UK and France.

The lowest rates are in Japan, Croatia, Portugal, Lithuania and Mexico.

Newshub.

Seven deaths in Kiwi synthetic cannabis epidemic this month

NZ Herald,

21 July, 2017

Seven people are dead after using synthetic cannabis this month in Auckland, with ambulance staff saying they also see 20 users a day suffering "life-threatening effects" from the illegal drug.

The deaths have prompted the Chief Coroner and police to issue a public warning about synthetic cannabis.

Chief Coroner Judge Deborah Marshall said the seven dead are believed to have used synthetic cannabis recently or were found with it on them.

"I've also been advised by St John that there have been a significant number of non-fatal cases where people have been hospitalised after using the drug, which is known to cause potentially fatal seizures," Marshall said.

"While the police and coronial investigations are still at an early stage, and the final causes of death have yet to be established, the number of cases where synthetic cannabis appear to have been a contributing factor has prompted me to issue this public warning," she said.

Police are releasing CCTV footage that shows a man in the Auckland CBD last year unable to stand after smoking synthetic cannabis.

Detective Inspector Gary Lendrum said today a press conference the synthetic cannabis was better described as a "psychoactive drug" as police "don't really know what is in the product that is being consumed"

Lendrum said the message from police was clear - people should stop using the product and those who are aware of family members using it, should intervene

"If they can't get them to stop, please seek help. If we don't do something about this further people are going to die."

He said police have been targeting distributors for some time but needed the public's help to continue doing so.

"Please contact us if you are aware of people in your community selling this drug".

Lendrum said synthetic cannabis is an issue right across the country with frontline staff reporting a spike in the number of people under the influence of the drug.

"They are coming across people that are acting like zombies"

"That are vomiting, lying on the street unconscious, that are stripping off in public"

Police have had reports of people from the age of 13 right up to 60 years old, taking the drug.

Four of the seven deaths have been "very recent".

When asked about concerns regarding police sharing footage of someone on the drug, Lendrum said there was already footage on social media already for anyone to see.

"What we are trying to do there is focus people's attention, 'this is what's happening in our community, this is what's happening to our family members'."

He said while there have always been deaths associated with drugs in New Zealand, this was a "significant spike"

Lendrum said one of the deceased was in his 60s and another was 44.

It has been suggested that the product is synthetic cannabis, laced with chemicals.

Police seized close to 5kg of synthetic cannabis in Counties Manukau in May at a property connected to gang members.

Lendrum said police are releasing the footage to highlight the effects of synthetic cannabis.

"We have grave concerns as users don't know what poisonous chemicals they are potentially putting into their bodies when they're smoking this drug," he said.

Lendrum said police have searched multiple properties and arrested numerous people across Auckland as they crack down on the drug.

One synthetic cannabis operation in Avondale has resulted in 12 arrests over the past few months.

"It is a dangerous, illegal substance and we will arrest those who are selling this harmful drug and place them before the courts," he said.

Emergency medicine specialist at Wellington Hospital Dr Paul Quigley said a single smoke of synthetic cannabis is the equivalent of 15 marijuana joints.

"Synthetic cannabis is one of the more dangerous products around and is responsible for some immediate health harms."

"It is known that there is a significant supply available through the black market and in particular the organised gangs. Much of this is supply that was legal, then stockpiled when it became illegal," he said.

"It appears that it has returned into illicit use particularly into our lower socio-economic groups and those marginalised in society."

Quigley said they have "very few, if any" presentations at the Wellington emergency department.

"However our colleagues at Hutt Valley Hospital report regular attendances by users of synthetic cannabis."

Police Minister Paula Bennett said in a statement: "Any death of a young person is incredibly sad."These drugs are insidious. Let the message be that the consequences of of these drugs can be incredibly tragic."

In March, Bennett was challenged by NZ First on whether she was doing anything to combat synthetic cannabis, in particular one drug called Spice.

Bennett said at the time that there was no evidence of any increase in supply or demand for that specific drug. She also said that the use of all synthetic drugs, and harm related to them, had dropped substantially since they were banned in 2014 while a testing regime was set up.

Asked today whether the situation remained the same, Bennett said she wanted to seek advice before commenting.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said he was "desperately concerned" that illegal, synthetic drugs were leading to deaths.

He also said that he warned of the consequences of having an unregulated market when synthetic drugs were banned in 2014 until they could pass a rigorous testing regime.

"The fact that you've got backyard manufacturers putting together goodness knows what in a totally unregulated market, supplying in a totally unregulated market to all sorts of people just creates the potential for this sort of tragedy to occur.

"This is precisely what we were trying to stamp out at the time of that legislation.

"I warned at the time ... that this would create a black market that would be far more dangerous than a regulated market. And sadly, that's what it's proved to be.

"The testing regime is now in place, but it is not functional because the Government banned the use of animal testing to prove whether recreational drugs were low-risk. A non-animal test has not yet developed which can provide robust results about the risk level of a drug."

Dunne said he has urged officials to update him about any alternatives which would allow the testing regime to work.

The Government was also working with other countries on establishing an early warning system for psychoactive substances which might be coming across the border. It is likely to be in place next year.

"Had it been in place, that would have, I think, had some preventative effect in these instances.

"I guess they just tragically underline the risk of the situation we face once we have a totally uncontrolled environment, which we have at the moment."

NZ First police spokesman Ron Mark said the Government was partly to blame because it was sending the wrong message to the public by legalising synthetic drugs.

"We were always going to end up in this sad situation. There is a subtle message that says taking synthetic drugs is OK and we have a problem with that."

Mark said the Government's plan for a regulated market was a "pipe dream" which had failed.The Government should instead be increasing its policing of drug manufacturing and dealing, he said.

"Take these drug dealers off the streets. Put then in jail. Eliminate them. That's clearly not happening."

Mark also said police had failed to completely get rid of synthetic drugs when they were banned in 2014."You can go to any city in the country and buy this stuff. And the Government sits there turning its Nelson's eye."

St John medical director Tony Smith said the service was dealing with "up to seven deaths that appear to be linked to synthetic cannabis".

Smith said up to 20 people a day were showing up at hospitals, mainly in Auckland, with "life-threatening effects".

He said people were losing consciousness, having seizures and in some cases their hearts had stopped. St John "believed" the cases to be related to synthetic cannabis.

Smith said St John was "very concerned regarding the dangers of synthetic cannabis".

"We have seen a spike, particularly in Auckland, over the past month where we're seeing up to 20 [people] a day with some life-threatening effects following synthetic cannabis," Smith said.

Smith said numbers had peaked this week with ambulance officers responding to 23 incidents on Thursday and 20 cases on Wednesday related to synthetic cannabis.

"Patients under the influence of this drug are exhibiting grossly disturbed behaviour,

suffering seizures. Most concerning is that the drug appears to be linked to some

people's hearts stopping beating and we have had seen seven sudden and

unexpected deaths," Smith said.

"If these patients are lucky enough to wake up, they can exhibit abusive, threatening

behaviour towards ambulance officers and are very difficult to manage."

"We're dealing with up to seven deaths that appear to be linked to synthetic cannabis. We don't know what this drug actually is; it's just been labelled synthetic cannabis.

Smith said St John didn't know if the product was a specific brand or type of synthetic cannabis, but that police were working to identify that.

Auckland DHB chief medical officer Dr Margaret Wilsher said Auckland City Hospital has a had a rapid increase in people turning up to hospital under the effects of synthetic cannabis.

"We have experienced a dramatic increase in patients coming to our emergency

department who have smoked synthetic cannabis, having seen 22 cases and one

death over the past five days. This is a very worrying trend in presentations.

"The presentation features are often dramatic, including agitation, psychosis, an increased heart rate, seizures, and sometimes collapse," she said.

"Auckland's emergency departments are currently very full, and every patient makes

a difference."

Most of the cases are occurring in central Auckland, and ambulance officers are also seeing incidents across the greater Auckland region.

Patients range in age from teenagers through to middle-aged.

Synthetic cannabis has been referred to as a "zombie drug" after video emerged of users slumped and incoherent

A suicide epidemic in New Zealand

Russell Malcolm via Facebook

Todays NZ FB is laden with suicide awareness items. Of late politicians have asked for cameras on them as they say "they are now concerned." Yeah really, its part of being a born again human at each election.

Lets cut to the issue: People dont want to be here. Abused, feeling worthless, disempowered, controlled, targeted , all the very things Govt policies is deliberately doing.

Kids and adult screwed around by Cyfs , family courts, totally disempowered psychologically tortured . Useless harmful unaccountable bureaucracies given power of others lives.

Why have successive NZ govt worked hard to keep NZ suicide toll suppressed? WHY. Why was it planned for in advance?

NZ official horrendous toll is 11 per week , yet Mental health worker say it could be 3 x times that. THATS 30 DEATHS PER WEEK. A Pike river every week.

For starters suppressing the human spirit by oppressive controls, frustrations, sabotaging, incompetence, interference, stuffs up the gut function, that leads to depression, illness and never diagnosed for what it is.

Its debating symptoms and not cause. Poisons, stress, cruelty, loss of personal power. Why have they a policy of not ruling deaths suicides if the victim had consumed alcohol or drugs, or didn't leave a message of clear intent, or did not die immediately?

WHY work so hard to hide things? and this is also fact, the only way to get a quick ruling on suicide is if the deceased was unarmed and shot by police...that is also fact.

At the top of the cliff is a bulldozer, it needs to be destroyed. The system, its by design. Hence the rigorous suppression with forethought , they knew it was coming.

So called mental illness is an injury with cause, its not unknown, its covered up with blinkers on.

Get this lesson from USA, the stats on Vets suicides is put at 22 per day. most put in down to PTSD from combat, HOWEVER some doctors are now saying that suicides from LAS legal abuse syndrome is Pandemic.

While they may have suffered damage from traumatic events in war, it the mistreatment in the system pushing them over the tolerance level. These things have cause. its an injury inflicted, not an illness .

This comment from Mary : is worthy advice. "I think the medications are making things worse. They need to try things like high dose b vitamins, magnesium, st Johns wort, a change if diet. Heaps of people might feel hugely better if they cut out bread for instance.

What if everyone suffering from depression was given the best diet, lots of sunshine, moderate exercise when they felt like it etc etc?

Why is self styled suicide awareness campaigner and people hero Mike Smith being shut down by the very bureaucrats who have failed?

Drug treatment for melanoma in New Zealand

The treatment of melanoma in New Zealand - along with Australia the melanoma capital of the world - is a disgrace.

There has been discussion about the government Pharmac funding a drug that has been proven successful but unavailable in this country unless you are rich enough to be able to und your own treatment.

A petition is being delivered to parliament today.

I have discussed my (and my partner Pam's) experience HERE.

Here is an email I received on this.

In New Zealand one person dies every day from advanced melanoma

Dear Robin,

I’m 45 years old and I have Stage IV Advanced Melanoma. This means the melanoma has spread to other parts of my body including my organs. It is very aggressive and chemotherapy and radiotherapy will not cure my cancer.

The public health systems in places like Australia, the UK, and Canada, fund new cutting-edge, life-saving treatment for advanced melanoma.

But here in New Zealand, Pharmac has said it cannot fund such drugs. They simply don’t have enough money to fund new, breakthrough drugs, because they haven’t seen a real increase in funding in the last three years.

In New Zealand, one person dies every day from advanced melanoma. Yet the Government does not offer any significant treatment for those with the diseчase.

Tomorrow, I’ll be joining other advanced melanoma patients and their families to deliver our huge petition to Parliament, demanding the government fund a new drug - Keytruda - which is showing the best results ever seen in treating advanced melanoma.

Annette King, Labour’s Health Spokesperson, has agreed to meet us to hear our stories. But so far, the National Health Minister, Jonathan Coleman, has declined to meet us.

But we still continue to hope he will change his mind.

If you’re in Wellington tomorrow lunchtime, please come and join us to deliver our petition. Please show support for those of us campaigning on this issue. We’re meeting in front of the Seddon statue in front of Parliament at 12.15pm. It would be great if you could be there.

Thanks for your support so far – it means the world to us.

Yours sincerely,

Kathryn Williams

Patient with Advanced Melanoma

PS. The more people who sign the petition, the stronger our message to Jonathan Coleman will be. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, click here to add your name before we deliver it to Parliament tomorrow.

Here is some coverage from Radio New Zealand and John Campbell (on Checkpoint)

Melanoma survivor calls for Pharmac to fund Keytruda

Radio NZ,

1 March, 2016

A terminally ill cancer patient who paid for her own melanoma treatment and survived is taking a petition to Parliament calling for drug Keytruda to be funded.

Australia, Canada and Britain subsidise pembrolizumab, known as Keytruda, which can stall and shrink tumours in some patients.

However, in New Zealand, Pharmac has given it a low priority, saying they are waiting for the results of further studies of the drug's effectiveness.

Leisa Renwick will take a petition to Parliament today.   Photo: RNZ / Checkpoint

Cancer survivor Leisa Renwick will present the petition to Parliament today calling for Keytruda to be made available to all New Zealanders who need it.

Ms Renwick had been told by doctors she would live for only a few weeks but, after paying for her own treatment, which could cost over $10,000 a month, she has survived.

She had wanted to meet Health Minister Jonathan Coleman but said he had refused, saying he was too busy.

The petition was a last-ditch effort and people would die if they couldn't get the drug, she said.

"There is no other treatment. There is nothing else. By standing back like Pontius Pilate, and washing his hands of the affair, he's condemning people to die and to die fast. If he doesn't do something, the people who are coming to see him in Wellington will die."

Listen to Leisa Renwick on Morning Report ( 6 min 7 sec )

Dr Coleman told Morning Report that Pharmac made its funding decisions independent of government - and this would have been a difficult decision to make.

"It's really difficult. The issue is, there's $800 million in the Pharmac budget and Pharmac has to make decisions on the drugs that will benefit the greatest number of New Zealanders, so it's making priorities. There's other drugs, it's trade-offs within that budget.

"But what I can say is we're having obviously the government's budget on May 28th and that budget always gets more money for health, and I will be making the case to increase Pharmac's budget."

Listen to Dr Coleman on Morning Report ( 7 min )

He would be at Parliament to receive Ms Renwick's petition, he said.

"Originally and usually, these things are presented to the local MP but I'm going to go down there and see them."

Labour leader Andrew Little said the government should override Pharmac's decision and make Keytruda available to all New Zealanders, as there were no alternatives to it and melanoma was a common cancer in New Zealand.

Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman has responded to criticism of Pharmac's decision to give Keytruda a low priority.   Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson

Pharmac underspent its budget by $30m last year and money should be put up to fund the drug now, he said.

"Let's have a fund that can take new drugs, like this, newly available, funded for a period of say two years so that we can continue to get the clinical data and the field data, but knowing that because other countries are using it that it is effective."

Listen to Mr Little on Morning Report ( 4 min 8 sec )

Mr Little agreed Pharmac was an independent body but said the government should sometimes step in.

In 2008, when National was campaigning for office, it promised it would fund extended courses of breast cancer drug Herceptin - going around Pharmac to do so.

Dr Coleman said, with hindsight, that was the wrong decision.

"As the PM has said and I have said, look, actually, on reflection that was not the right thing to do ... We've got to let Pharmac make these decisions without political interference and we wouldn't be doing that again in the way we did with Herceptin."

PM: 'Not going to rule it out'

Prime Minister John Key said, at the moment, the decision on whether to fund Keytruda was in Pharmac's hands.

There had always been debate over what the drug buying agency should spend its money on, he said.

"We're also going through the budget process now as you'd expect and so there's obviously a high expectation that there'll be more money for health and potentially therefore more money for Pharma.

"So I'm not going to rule out that it gets funded in the future [but] at the moment, that's in the hands of Pharma."

Mr Key said the pharmaceutical industry created new drugs all the time, and not all of them were successful.

Related

• New Cancer Drugs and Funding Conundrums
• Pharmac's melanoma treatment 'not ideal'
• Drug saved my life - melanoma survivor
• Pharmac won't be swayed on melanoma drug
• Cost of cancer drugs varies wildly between countries - study