Opposing Digits

The FDA has now approved a patch for depression. Slap one of these patches on your skin, and a slow dose of mind-altering drugs is slowly absorbed into your blood. This approval, of course, comes from the same federal agency that claims skin care and cosmetic products containing toxic chemicals aren't dangerous because the skin doesn't actually absorb anything.

Like most drugs, the approval of this patch for depression is based on the absolutely loony (and scientifically dishonest) idea that depression is caused by a lack of synthetic chemicals circulating in the brain. All disease is just a matter of chemical deficiency, according to Big Pharma and the FDA. And if all Americans just had all the right chemicals pumped into their bodies (at several thousand dollars a month in prescription drug costs, by the way), we'd all be healthy and pain free!

Believe it or not, bottled water is now being sharply criticized in the U.S. by the Earth Policy Institute, an environmental group. While the group does some great work in many areas, it misses the point on bottled water: if people weren't buying bottled water in plastic bottles, they'd be buying soft drinks in aluminum cans anyway. There's a container garbage problem either way.

The group also says that tap water is just as good as bottled water, which makes me wonder what they're drinking. Sure, tap water is probably okay if you're a horse (although I would never let my dog drink it). But unless you enjoy consuming carcinogenic chemicals and fluorosilicic acid -- a chemical dripped into the water supplies in many U.S. cities -- then tap water just isn't a safe option.

# posted by madthumbs @ 9:44 AM