Methland 2

The last reading I did in Methland was rather uneventful. I was introduced to Major, a former meth junkie and member of the biker gang, the Sons of Silence. Major was living with his parents when Reding met him. He had just gotten clean from a long history of meth use. He was living with his 2 year-old son, Buck. Buck was a meth baby. Reding hasn't looked at how meth affects children. Reding did mention earlier in the book that "at least 7,000 kids were living every day in homes that produce five pounds of toxic wast, which is often just thrown in the kitchen trash, for each pound of unusable methamphetamine." (30). One would think that kids would be taken away. One would think that kids would know that their home isn't safe. But unfortunately, kids don't.

When Major lived with the mother of his children, he would microwave coffee filters that he used to strain meth's impurities. The heated paper would then give him a good deal of powdered meth. The microwave became coated in the powdered meth and then used to cook Buck's food. Buck had to have consumed ungodly amounts of homemade crank. It is disgusting to think a parent would give their kid meth.

Reding tells about the physical difficulties of trying to quit meth. While in jail, Major said that one guy became convinced that he had the ingredients to make meth in his body. He thought that his vein was a lithium strip and sat for hours uprooting the vein with his fingernails. Meth also causes users to become paranoid.

Reding says "This, really, is the genius of the meth business. Cocaine and heroin are linked to illegal crops--coca and poppied, respectively. Meth on the other hand is linked in a one-to-one ratio with fighting the common cold." (114).  The DEA was trying to monitor the importation of ephedrine, the main ingredient in both meth and Sudafed (or other cold medicines). The DEA had finally gotten to the point to where all the cold medicine companies weren't using ephedrine anymore, but they were using pseudoephedrine or pseudo, for short. Pseudoephedrine is the "mirror image" of ephedrine. The DEA had succeeded in stopping illegal meth production using ephedrine, but now cooks were making meth using pseudo and it was even stronger than the earlier meth. Why does crime have such aggressive loopholes? I don't know. I find it ironic how the government outlawed one ingredient and it only benefitted the criminals. The pharmaceutical companies would push against the governments monitoring. Therefore, the small town cooks, like Roland Jarvis, would be protected by the big pharmaceutical companies. It's a perfect scheme.

Methland 1

This semester, I am reading Methland by Nick Redding. I was wanting to read a book about marijuana in the United Stated but decided that Methland  would offer information about something I knew very little about. As the title suggests, Methland investigates the horrible power of methamphetamine in rural America. Specifically, Oelwien, Iowa.

I knew meth was a horribly addictive drug. I knew that meth could be made at home. I also knew that meth would destroy your mouth due to the glass pipes used to smoke meth. Other than that, I didn't know very much about meth. I decided to do some research about meth and watched some YouTube videos about meth. I learned that meth can be produced from any over-the-counter cold medicine.The ingredient in cold medicine that makes meth is psuedoephendrine. Federal law states that each person can only get about  9 grams (about 7 packs of cold medicine) each month. The meth producers will gather as much cold medicine as they can in a process called "smurfing". They gather as much as they can and then pool together their purchases. Sometimes they will steal. Others will pay other people to go and buy their limit in cold medicine.

The first section of reading revealed that meth was the #1 "feel good" drug. Redding explain that "the truly singular aspect of meth's attractiveness is that since its first wide-scale abuse--among soldiers during World War II--meth has been associated with hard work…crank has been the choice of the American working class." (16). It is pitiful to think that in the land of opportunity people need to resort to such damaging measures to get by.

Roland Jarvis, Oelwein's very own meth superstar is famous for blowing up his mothers house when a cook went bad. He lit a cigarette after pouring two gallons of hydrochloric acid down the drain in the floor. He then had turned his basement into a vacuum and it ignited. To me, what happens next is most powerful. "Jarvis looked down and saw what he though was egg white on his bare arms. It was not egg white; it was the vicious state of his skin not that the water had boiled out of it." (42). Jarvis was able to flick the chunk of skin off himself and didn't think anything of it. When the fire entire Oelwein Fire Department showed up, he begged for somebody to shoot him.

 Jeffrey Rohrick blew up his mothers basement while cooking meth.

If that's not bad, I don't know what is. Oelwien suffers from a meth epidemic and I look forward to see what comes of the town. Redding mentions that towns similar to Oelwien have disappeared over time.

A Blurb of Flu

This winter has been eventful for the flu. The flu season started early this year and it is likely it will stay longer. There have been 20 reported pediatric deaths because of the flu this season. I find this absolutely crazy. We can get flu vaccines at any local drugstore nowadays, and people are still dying! I don't understand why everybody doesn't take the small steps like washing hands and getting the flu shot. These simple preventative measures could save lives. According to the Huffington Post article "Flu Outbreak 2013: Many Americans Caught Off-Guard; CDC Unveils Updated Numbers", only 37% of Americans have received the vaccine. I understand a fear of needles. But there are other options out there. The very least people could do is regularly wash their hands.

Newtown.

The recent events in Newtown, Conn. are tragic and inexplicable. I read article after article arguing the causes of it. I need to share some of my thoughts.
First of all, as noted by videoblogger Dan Brown, the epidemic of mass murders is a new phenomenon. He also notes that as more and more mass murders are committed, they get more and more twisted. In the beginning, there was a sense of strange justice. Brown talks about how there was a USPS worker who got fired and came in to work the next day and killed his boss. In interviews, the coworkers of the murderer said that the boss was a bully to the fired employee. And that there was some sort of justice. But as time goes on, things get more "f***ed up."
It seems that most recently, the mass murders have gotten more inexplicable and more unacceptable. Don't get me wrong, no murder is acceptable. Or at least, the vast majority of murders aren't. But the most recent murders have been the most twisted. It seems like the murderers are trying to see how much of a "wow" they can get. This isn't necessarily true, but it's just a trend that I have noticed.

I am on both sides of the debate of gun control. As a hunter and sportsman, I believe that gun ownership for sport shouldn't be restricted. I know from experience that hunters treat guns differently. We take different precautions. In my own family, guns are locked up in a fireproof safe. There is no circumstance in which we point a gun at another person, even if it's a toy gun. I think there is a difference between people who have guns for sport and people who just own guns. I don't believe that people should have guns to use on other people. I'm really on the border with owning guns for things like self defense. I haven't done enough research and I haven't heard enough opinions.
I think that our mental illness assistance in the US should be reofrmed. If someone is having a mental breakdown, they should be able to get help immediately. The mental institutions should somewhat resemble LAMP Community in Los Angleles, California. They provide shelter and food to the homeless with mental illness and provide services for them. They don't pressure patients into care but they nurture. I believe that this is the best way to help people with mental illness.
I am torn by the shooting and humbled by the entire nations support of Newtown. I think that this shooting is vastly different from the previous shootings because it really sounds like people truly want to prevent this. I am hearing "this can't happen again" more and more.

A Small Follow-Up on the Death Penalty

In class, we have recently finished talking about the death penalty after having several mock-capital court cases. Going into this unit, I didn't have a particular stance on the death penalty but I leaned against it. After all of the debates, I feel that the death penalty is far too imperfect to be implemented in all cases. The death penalty is too arbitrary. There are too many factors to consider such as the manner of the crime committed and the possible non statutory mitigating factors. There is too much burden on the jury and on the potential executioners to have to sentence someone to be executed or execute someone. I think that all non-statutory mitigating factors should also be considered by the jury. In a capital case, a life is at stake, therefore a culmination of one's life should be considered.
I think the only humane way to execute someone is through lethal injection. I am shocked that other methods such as electrocution and gas chamber aren't considered cruel and unusual punishment. I understand that if the crime is bad enough, the offender should be punished more severely, but there has to be limits. The punishment should be death, not the unnecessary pain that may come with it.
I am still unsure whether an inmate on death row should be allowed to change his/her ways, like Clifford Boggess. I think that there is no way to tell if someone has actually changed and therefore, there is no way to give someone the chance to change.
I am against the death penalty now because I believe there are better solutions that an eye for an eye.

R.I.P. Dave Brubeck

This week, jazz legend Dave Brubeck died on December 5th, 2012, one day before his 92nd birthday. Brubeck was born on December 6th, 1920 in Concord, California. His father, Peter, was a cattle rancher and his mother, Elizabeth, was a piano teacher. His mother taught him piano, but he could not read music and faked his way through. He entered College of the Pacific with the intention of studying zoology, but he switched over to study music. He was almost thrown out of the conservatory when his professor found out he could not read music but his understanding of harmony and counterpoint saved him. After graduating, Brubeck was drafted in to the army. He volunteered to play piano and was so popular that he was ordered to form a band. Brubeck then made one of the first integrated military bands. He returned to school after his service. His long musical career took off from there.
Brubeck's contributions to jazz are beyond the music. He has stood to fight racism in the music industry. His quartet's bass player was black and he was sometimes declined performances because they wouldn't let his bass player play. In 1958, Brubeck turned down a $17,000 deal to tour South Africa because of ordinances that prohibited a black person from being on stage into the country.
Dave Brubeck is not only inspiration through his music but through his actions against racism.

Live forever? Let's go!

I don't know about you, but aging is a natural thing. Aging is not a disease and it is unpreventable and unavoidable. British scientist Dr. Aubrey de Grey believes that aging is a disease and that we can prevent it. Ultimately, he believes that if we start this research and development today, then in the next century, people will be able to live for up to 1,000 years.
He explains that a body is like a car. A body can run for an infinite amount of time if taken care of. Like a car, a body needs to be maintained. If we begin developing the technology to keep people alive today, then there will be breakthroughs with time. de Grey says that the technology will boom just like every other major technological breakthrough in history.
de Grey makes certain that there is a distinction between what he is trying to do and immortality. His goal is to prevent the chronological advancement of time determine when you die. His goal is not to make it so that if you get hit by a truck you will be able to get up and be perfectly fine. de Grey has founded the SENS Foundation for Advancing Rejuvination Biotechnologies.
I think that we should really invest in this technology. On the surface, I see nothing wrong with this type of research and development. I can see how some people may argue that this invincibility will keep alive terrorists and murderers and criminals alike. I don't think this may be the case because with all new things, there are going to be restrictions on them.