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october 7, 2010
3
Letters to the
Reader
Dear University of Southern
California,
Youve tried to do away with USC
gear for the Gamecocks and now you just
won a suit over the interlocking SC logo,
too? Can we maybe have the South part
of South Carolina, even though theyre
the first few letters of Southern? Would
that be okay? Oh, and we could really use
University too, with youre permission.
Hopefully, you havent found a way to
copyright that and sue the rest of the
nation. Speaking of legal trouble, it seems
like you folks have way bigger fish to fry
these days in your athletics department.
Why dont you just switch your S to a
more accurate $ to depict Southern Cal
athletics and well call it a day?
Columbia City Paper
Dear City Council,
We appreciate your legitimate efforts
to address teen violence in Five Points,
but a city wide 11 p.m. curfew has
fiasco written all over it, from potential
civil rights issues all the way down to
practical enforcement. That one idea about
corralling them all in a city-sponsored
teen night at Martin Luther King Jr. Park
has been most accurately described in the
CCP office as channeling a fascist June
Cleaver. Maybe a curfew just for the Five
Points area could work, similar to what
Greenville does in its bar district; just one
big nightly sweep like breaking up a large
party. All that said, heres our idea and its
relatively cheap: install large bullhorn-
like speakers on the light poles at every
corner in Five Points and start blasting Air
Supplys Greatest Hits starting at 10:55
every night. Those teens will scurry like
rats, guaranteed.
Columbia City Paper
Dear sweetie,
Im still rattled from the conversation
we had the other day. I asked if you still
would have dated me if I was a primordial
dwarf and your answers, frankly, planted a
seed of doubt.
Me: It would still be me. The same
brain, same personality, same history, only
Id be two feet tall and talk in a high-
pitched voice like an animated doll.
You: Uh-uh. No way!
Me: I still wouldve dated you. If you
would have waddled up to me at the bar
and tugged on my pant leg--
You: Yeah, right! Youre way too
shallow.
Me: What if I contract some type
of shrinking disorder now that were
married?
You: Would EVERYTHING shrink?
Me: Theoretically.
You: Then youre theoretically shit
out of luck.
How is a guy supposed to take that?
...Sweetie?
Columbia City Paper
Dear state legislators,
We would like to go on record in
support of the legalization of pari-mutuel
horse betting in South Carolina as put forth
by an Aiken area thoroughbred owner. He
believes it would bring in more money
than the lottery. To say nothing of tourism
dollars. In reality, it would probably flop.
We just want the spectacle. Men with mint
juleps and cigars clucking around in white
suits, ladies in large sun hats and white
gloves, while the poor and desperate in
the cheap seats wring crumpled betting
tickets in their hands, praying that babys
formula money isnt lost on James Henry
Hammonds Lap Dance in the fourth race.
Instead of pimping our state out to
the nuclear waste industry, we should
oust the businessmen pretending to be
moralists in the State House, get some
real businessmen in there and give this
gambling thing a shot. Heck, why stop
there? Churches get a tax break; the way
we see it, theyre just getting in the way
of progress and not even contributing
to the state treasury, to boot! Vice, dear
legislators, is where the money is. After
setting up the horse tracks, we could
ease up on our states beloved prostitutes,
legalize them, health screen them, and
tax the crap out of them. From there we
look ahead to windswept acres of tax-rich
hemp and marijuana fields where tobacco
once grew. If you tax vice, gentlemen, the
deficit would be gone in a single term and
we would have one of the most vibrant
state economies on the eastern seaboard.
...Were just sayin.
Columbia City Paper
CORRECTION:
Last week, Aaron Johnsons Op-Ed
piece entitled So You Want to Ruin a
Community? incorrectly stated that the
art work Busted Plug Plaza was publicly
funded [referred to in the story as the Blue
Sky fre hydrant]. In fact, the fre hydrant
piece and all of Blue Skys work has been
privately funded, so far, according to a
spokesperson for the artist. City Paper
regrets the oversight.
4
october 7, 2010
Though the use of antipsychotic drugs
on children is believed to carry significant
risks even when used properly to treat bipolar
disorder and schizophrenia, its not uncommon
in some states for juveniles in detention to be
prescribed antipsychotics simply to counter
mood disorders or aggressive behavior,
according to an investigation by Youth Today,
which covers the juvenile justice system and
youth services.
Data on antipsychotic expenditures and
individual diagnoses show that for juvenile
detention facilities in Connecticut, Louisiana,
New York, Texas and West Virginia, 70
percent of prescriptions were filled for
conditions other than bipolar disorder and
schizophrenia the disorders for which
these drugs generally are FDA-approved.
(Doctors can still prescribe the drugs for off-
label uses, or to treat conditions for which
they have not been approved.)
Most states, when surveyed, either could
not or would not demonstrate that they were
even monitoring the use of these drugs on
incarcerated juveniles, Youth Today reported.
Of the 34 states that provided no answers
when queried, 16 refused to answer.
A piece in The New York Times over the
weekend provided additional context on the
subject. Over the years, drug companies have
aggressively marketed second-generation
antipsychotics known as atypicals
to be safer than the first-generation drugs.
While some side effects appear to be less
severe, the atypicals have a range of other
side effects, and the safety claims regarding
these second-generation drugs have been
greatly exaggerated, Jeffrey Lieberman,
chairman of Columbia Universitys
psychiatry department, told the Times.
The industrys response? Again from the
Times:
The drug companies say all the possible
side effects are fully disclosed to the F.D.A.,
doctors and patients. Side effects like
drowsiness, nausea, weight gain, involuntary
body movements and links to diabetes are
listed on the label. The companies say they
have a generally safe record in treating a
difficult disease and are fighting lawsuits in
which some patients claim harm.
In recent years, four major drug
companies Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli
Lilly, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have settled
lawsuits brought by the government, which
accused them of illegal practices related to
the marketing and promotion of antipsychotic
drugs. Some of these lawsuits were related to
promotion of off-label use which doctors
may prescribe, but drug makers are not
allowed to promote once a drug has been
approved by the FDA for specific uses.
Youth Todays report raised the question
of whether these drugs are being used off-
label as chemical restraints or sedatives for
youth with behavioral problems that could be
treated more effectively by other means. Not
all psychologists have a problem with the use
of antipsychotics to alter behavior, the piece
pointed out:
Adolescent psychologist LeAdelle
Phelps has been involved in the juvenile
justice system for decades first as a girls
program director in Utah and more recently
as a professor at the State University of New
York-Buffalo and she views the atypicals
as an important means to an end: ushering
juveniles to a mental place where they are
amenable to psychotherapy.
Asked if she thinks the diagnosis used
to establish a prescription mattered, Phelps
replies bluntly, Not really. In the end, what
youre trying to do is get him to be responsive
to treatment. By reducing aggression by
having calming, soothing effects, it makes
[the youths] more malleable.
But others expressed concern about the
risks, especially to youth:
Im concerned about using [atypical]
medications with any adolescent, says
Ron T. Brown, former dean of the Temple
University College of Health Professionals,
now provost and senior vice president at
Wayne State University.
The way to think about using atypicals
for youths is in terms of risks and benefits,
explains Olfson. If an anti-psychotic does
not address the patients problem, he says,
the benefit derived is vanishingly small or
nil. But the risks are going to be the same,
roughly, whether you have a psychiatric
illness or not.
Studies have shown it is cheaper to
medicate children than to pay for counseling,
which is why children from low-income
families are four times as likely to receive
antipsychotic drugs compared to the privately
insured, according to the Times.
visit propublica.org
talkback@columbiacitypaper.com
october 7,, 2010
5
I used to think things would be better
when bastards like Strom Thurmond
and Jesse Helms were dead. It was
inconceivable that we could have worse
senators representing the Carolinas.
Younger somehow meant better. But,
that was before Jim DeMint. Thurmond
was horrible in his defense of repressive
norms. DeMint wants something new.
He wants to overturn the secular world
and create a simultaneously pro-business
and fundamentalist empire that resembles
nothing so much as Saudi Arabia.
This week, the big Washington pubs
put out stories on DeMint. Steve Perlstein,
the Washington Posts Business columnist
asked Can Business Afford DeMint?
He addressed fiscally conservative
Republicans directly from their point of
view, and the answer was a resounding
no. Jonathan Cohn, in the New Republic,
began his piece Your Government, Held
Hostage by declaring that DeMint was a
fourth branch of government.
The whole thing started when DeMint
was quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek
as saying he desired complete gridlock
in the Senate. DeMint claims he was
misquoted, but even in his explanation to
Greta Van Sustern on FOX, DeMint said
that gridlock would keep people from
wondering what the Federal government is
going to do next.
All this got me to thinking: If DeMint
really doesnt want anything to get
accomplished, how is he any different than
Alvin Greene?
I hadnt talked to Greene for a while,
so I called him up.
Jim DeMint started this recession,
Greene insisted numerous times throughout
our discussion. Hes proved that hes
about getting nothing positive done. He
started the recession in his first term. Well
do whatever it takes.
I was happy for a moment. That was
a little more like it. Greene needs to attack
DeMint. He needs to make DeMint put
up a little bit of a fight and spend some
money. So far, he has done nothing but
feed the DeMint monster. Greene allows
DeMint to be the Senior Senator of the Tea
Party instead of the Junior Senator from
South Carolina.
DeMint is able to travel around raising
money for radical candidates because he
is not facing a serious challenger. In the
primaries, he supported the worst of the
new Radical Right who will later be his
acolytes. He told the Wall Street Journal
that he had several opponentsthe White
House and the Congress.
As DeMints national stature grows,
you can already tell that he hopes to be
president. Meanwhile Greene seems to
shrink. When I went to Greenes house,
it seemed as if he were a man getting
sucked into the twenty-four hour news
cycle through the television in his living
room. This was reinforced when I recently
watched the footage of Greene, in his
underwear, closing the door on a reporter
on the day he was indicted for showing
porn to a minor on a USC computer. He
wailed No! Go! from the front window
his home as his brother, wrapped in a green
poncho, talked to the reporter in the balmy
Manning rain.
Greene did not holler or yell when I
talked to him, but there was something
sad about it. He didnt seem to understand
the game he was playing. I wanted him to
say more about DeMint. He caused the
recession, was as far as it went. When
I asked whether he thought Green Party
candidate Tom Clements would take votes
away from him, Greene replied:
Why wouldnt they take them from
my opponent? There is only one man in the
South Carolina Senate race that caused the
recession. He should take his votes away.
Sure, he shouldbut this is American
politics. Well, but he is trying to appeal to
Democrats, I said. Youre competing for
the same votes.
The person who started the recession
should be in the most trouble, he insisted,
hesitantly.
Greene wouldnt say much about his
campaign organization and I got the sense
it was because he had none. He has not
even raised the five thousand dollars that
would require him to make his spending
public. Meanwhile, DeMint raises millions
for other radical candidates.
After my conversation with Greene,
celebrated Lowcountry chef Nathalie
Dupree entered the race. Of DeMint,
Dupree says that she wants to cook his
goose. I hope she does. But she wont
be able to do it alone. Dupree, Greene,
Clements, and anyone else who can, ought
to go on the full-out attack against DeMint.
They may not be able to drive him from the
Senatebut they could keep him from the
White House.
talkback@columbiacitypaper.com
THE PERSON WHO STARTED THE RECESSION
SHOULD BE IN THE MOST TROUBLE
The 2010 South Carolina race for the
U.S. Senate has left many voters scratching
their heads in bewilderment, shrugging
their shoulders in apathy, or rubbing
their faces in annoyance. Jim DeMint
has become the brash new kingmaker
of the rightwing Tea Party movement,
alienating moderate Republicans and
Independents and making progressives
consider moving to another state. Alvin
Greene, the Democratic candidate, has
been a controversial and perplexing figure
since his come-from-nowhere defeat of
Vic Rawl in the Democratic primary and
hasnt been able to mount a formidable
campaign or garner much support even
among his own party.
But there is, however, another choice,
another party. Enter Tom Clements, the
Green Partys candidate. Clements was
kind enough to sit down with me for a few
minutes at his office on Sumter St. before
heading to a meet and greet at Goatfeathers
in Five Points. After meeting him for the
first time, I was sure of three things: hes
an intelligent yet down to earth man, he
has the knowledge and experience to make
him a serious candidate, and hes looking
for a fight.
DARIEN CAVANAUGH: I didnt
know about your campaign until a few
weeks ago, but since then Im hearing more
and more people talk about you, and youre
starting to get some considerable media
coverage, both locally and nationally. The
Charleston Post & Courier ran an article
on you last week and The Nation ran one a
couple of weeks back. Why dont we start
with you telling those who still might not
be familiar with you a little about yourself?
TOM CLEMENTS: I was born in
Georgia. Lived a good part of my life
in Atlanta, but I was born in Savannah
and grew up out in the country. I got a
bachelors degree from Emory in Atlanta,
and I have a masters in forest resources
from the University of Georgia in Athens.
My main professional work has been
related to environmental issues. I worked
for the U.S Forest Service for a while.
Then I worked in Kentucky with the U.S.
Office of Surface Mining, where I was a
strip miningcoal mininginspector for
environmental regulations, so Im quite
familiar with the environmental destruction
wrought by mountain-top removal for coal.
I lived here in 89 and 90, working mostly
on the Savannah River Site. Then I went
to Atlanta, working for Greenpeace, and
then switched to Greenpeace International,
which is based in Amsterdam. I went
to Washington and lived in the D.C.
area for 13 years. During that time I
also became the director of the Nuclear
Control Institute, which focuses on the
proliferation of nuclear technology and
materials. Then I went back to Green
Peace International. After that I went to
South America and worked for a human
rights organization called Peace Brigades
International. We accompanied human
rights defenders all around Colombia. That
was quite an experience. Then I came here
to work for Friends of the Earth and Im
now the Southeaster Nuclear Campaign
Coordinator for them.
I gained a lot of experience meeting
with foreign governments during my
work for Green Peace International and
the Nuclear Control Institute, and also as
an advocate for human rights in South
America. I was constantly meeting with
governments, including the Colombian
government. My work on nuclear non-
proliferation led me to travel around the
world to meet with government officials,
particularly in Geneva, and Europe, and at
the UN in New York and a whole host of
embassies in Washington.
DC: Your background suggests youve
always been politically engaged, but youve
never run for public offce before. Why
now, and why as a Green Party candidate?
TC: The Green Party approached me,
and Im fed up with the divisiveness in
Washington. I think we need to break open
the two-party system to allow participation
of more diverse views and by more parties.
I believe that a more European-type
system, which is often a parliamentary
system where there are multiple parties,
would allow for a broader discussion in
American politics. In Germany the Green
Party held the balance of power in the
last government. They actually had the
foreign minister and environment minister
positions. So, Im running, in part, as a
way to expand political representation and
participation beyond the views of those in
the Republican and Democrat parties.
I was already the Green Party nominee
before the Rawl-Greene primary was
decided. I did check out Mr. Rawl and
his campaign but I didnt think he would
challenge Jim DeMint like Jim DeMint
needed to be challenged. Then when he
lost, I realized it was urgently important
that I step up my campaign because I
didnt think that the Democratic candidate
was going to present the challenge to Mr.
DeMint that he merited. I certainly realized
the limitations of a so-called third party
that doesnt have a big apparatus or a lot of
money, but, considering those limitations,
its pretty amazing the reception weve
had and the things weve been able to
accomplish in a short amount of time.
DC: Your two main opponentsAlvin
Greene for the Democrats, and Jim DeMint
for the Republicansare controversial
in various ways. What do you think of
Greene and DeMint, as candidates, and
how do you differ from them?
TC: Well, first, about Mr. DeMint, Im
not sure that he really is a candidate. Hes
going to be on the ballot and hes listed as
a candidate, but Im not aware that hes
doing anything in South Carolina. Mr.
DeMint is AWOL from South Carolina.
Hes been afraid to come back and discuss
the important issues that are going on
in our country. Hes taken the voters
for granted. I have not run across him,
nor any of his surrogates speaking for
him, anywhere on the campaign trail. He
may be coming back on the weekends
and doing some events, but hes not out
campaigning. Ive challenged him to
debates. One of my steering committee
members asked him on a radio show over a
month ago if he was going to come back to
South Carolina to debate with me and Mr.
Greene, and he said, No, my debate is in
Washington. People ask me all the time,
When is there going to be a debate? I
dont think Mr. DeMint has the guts to
come back and stand up and debate me
in front of a statewide audience, but I still
extend the challenge to him. I think he
has a dangerous agenda that needs to be
challenged, an agenda that is dangerous to
the United States and the people of South
Carolina. And Im putting out an appeal
6
october 7, 2010
7
october 7, 2010
to Democrats to help me challenge Mr.
DeMint. I think its a very sad situation
that hes not here in the race.
As far as Mr. Greene goes, I still
hear people say that they think there was
something nefarious going on with his
primary win. I dont see that. He just
won. It may have been a fluke, maybe
because he was at the top of the ballot or
maybe because people were voting against
Vic Rawl as a vote against the Democratic
establishment. But Mr. Greene is not
really running a campaign either, except
for maybe an occasional appearance.
Although it seems likes hes been getting
more coverage than just about any other
politician in the United States for the
last several months. I think thats a real
testament to the shape the media is when
they focus on him and his missteps so
much. I try to focus on issues and on Jim
DeMints record and the fact that hes
not here. But the media has been more
concerned with Mr. Greenes mistakes and
making a sideshow out of the whole thing.
I think thats unfair to the voter and to Mr.
Greene.
DC: Jim DeMint is a very polarizing
fgure, but he seems to be popular here in
South Carolina. How do you run against
Jim DeMint in South Carolina?
TC: It is difficult to go up against
Jim DeMint. He is taking the voters for
granted here in South Carolina, and I
think hes trying to exploit peoples fears.
Hes using rhetoric that can be attractive
to some people, even though I find it
very empty and vacuous. Hes not really
presenting any solutions. He just says
hes about defending the Constitution
or fighting for freedom or taking our
country back. I dont have any idea what
any of that means exceptyou knowwe
all support the Constitution and freedom
and are against evil. He just uses hot-
button language to try to confuse people,
and a lot of people are falling prey to it.
The Republicans have learned to
manipulate the system and use rhetoric
to get people to vote against their own
self-interests, particularly in relation to
Social Security and Medicare. I think we
have to understand the motivation of the
people in the Tea Party and their anger at
the government. We all share a lot of their
anger, but I think their logic breaks down
in defending Mr. DeMint, because hes on
the side of multinational corporations and
the super wealthy. The vast majority of
people in South Carolina are just average
folks who are not rich. I think one reason
DeMint does not want to come back and
debate me is because it might expose him
for who he really is. What hes about
right now is trying to gain more power
and influence. In fact, he has become the
consummate insider in Washington. Hes
the exact type of incumbent that we need to
remove from office because he is causing
divisiveness and logjams and preventing
the two parties from having a decent
conversation in Washington.
DC: The South Carolina Democratic
Party has more or less walked away from
Alvin Greene. The SC Democratic Party
cant officially endorse you, but have you
been working with any Democrats?
TC: I have spoken before a couple of
lets call them Democratic clubs. [...] A
lot of Democrats at that level, and even
higher up, tell me that they will vote for me
but that they cant offcially endorse me.
For a lot of people, I think this campaign
has kind of become the de facto campaign
for Democrats and Independents.
One problem for me is that a lot of
people, Democrats and Republicans, vote
a straight-party ticket. In my case, you
have to vote for the race. My campaign
manager, Frances Close, had an op-ed
in The State about two or three weeks
ago in which she said, Vote for the
candidate, not the party. And thats what
Im telling people: You have to vote for the
candidate, not the party. If you feel that,
as a Democratic entity, you cant officially
endorse me, spread the word and give me
an opportunity to speak. Actually, I asked
Mr. Sheheen to vote for me last week. He
gave me a thumbs-up, but Im not sure if
that was exactly official.
DC: Are there any closing thoughts
youd like to leave our readers with?
TC: Just that this is a serious
campaign. Ive got a great staff full of
dedicated workers, and were committed to
doing everything we can to challenge Mr.
DeMint on the issues that are important to
South Carolina. We just ask that people
give us a chance and hear what we have to
sayand help us spread the word.
For more information on the Tom
Clements campaign for U.S. Senate visit
http://clementsforsenate.com/
The Republicans have learned to
manipulate the system and use rhetoric
to get people to vote against their own
self-interests
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