I surely don't expect someone that believes a three month old can consent to sex to understand the need for some regulations, especially involving the legal drug industry. For example, without looking it up, tell me what the indications, contraindications, adverse reactions, drug interactions and dosage of benazepril. Tell me what should be monitored when a patient is taking it. There's a reason that doctors dispense this medication and why a layman shouldn't but I truly don't expect you to understand.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Why without looking it up, and what does this have to do with the discussion? I doubt the average McDonald's customer has memorized the entire list of contents (and their quantities) of McDonald's products. Surely someone who is not licensed can still look it up. And it is still none of your business. What they do to themselves should be up to them.Of course there are. I also think it would be safer if a layman didn't get to choose what he or she ate. Do you feel that aspect of our lives should be left up to licensed government agencies, too?

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

The point is that if you have to look up such a common drug, then you're obviously not a trained medical professional and therefore are unqualified to correctly diagnose yourself or dispense the proper medication. You also aren't qualified to know what lab tests are necessary when taking certain meds. It's also obvious that you're not intelligent enough to understand that medications taken improperly are far more dangerous in many cases than not taking any at all.
You're silly comparison of drugs and food is just that---SILLY. Most foods don't have the ability to kill you in a matter of minutes if you consume too much of them, unless of course, you're allergic to them. Making all medications OTC would harm not only the uneducated public but also the science of medicine altogether. What drug company is going to have money to pour into research when they're busy spending it all on lawyers defending them from the self-diagnosing and self-medicating idiots who got it all wrong?

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

I'm still waiting for you to explain why it's any of your business what someone uninterested in your advise is taking. Shouldn't people be allowed to kill themselves if they want to do so?Which is fine as a suggestion, but you must still explain why your statements must have the force of law.It's not silly at all. It simply questions the issue of whether or not people should have the right to their own bodies.This is silly because I don't support frivolous lawsuits.

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

I look at it this way:

Congress spending time investigating this was stupid. Surely there are more pressing issues.

Second, if an organization like MLB or the NFL decides to ban them, then that's fine. If they are not to be used, then they're not to be used. If they are, an offender should, in my opinion, be banned for life...

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Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

No, and I seriously doubt you know the truth about steroids. A nurse does not a doctor make.

Do some impartial research. Talk to folks, men and women, who have used them for decades.

I do know guys who have used steroids for decades. They get regular bloodwork done, they see their doctors, and their doctors know what they are doing. They have zero side effects from the steroids.

These guys use responsible amounts, although they are supraphysiological dosages. I have a buddy who has been doing 500 mgs of test enanthate a week for YEARS, and he is perfectly fine.

I'll take real world experience over alarmism any day of the week.

And neither do steroids. This is an example of the alarmisim I'm talking about. There have been MILLIONS od people use steroids. It's estimated that few million a year in America use them. How many deaths are due to steroids?

Lyle Alzado did NOT die from steroids. Look into the real reason he died. It may surprise you, and lot's of other people.

Not according to these guys

its use is to treat a hives-like condition.

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Hope is the opposite of audacity. It's passive, an excuse for inaction.

Socialism doesn't create a rising tide that lifts all boats. It drains the lake and teaches the boat riders not to help themselves by rowing.

“What's the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama?”

“One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let's be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy.

“The other kills her own food.”

OK fine, so they only suppress your immune system, cause manic insanity and make men develop breasts, hell, we should feed 'em to toddlers, never too early to teach our children the need to WIN.

Fer Pete's puking sake, it's JUST A GODDAM GAME. This is what comes of making the movement of an inflated pigskin up and down a gradated field into a national obsession. Now we have people putting their lives at risk TO KNOCK A BALL A FEW YARDS FURTHER, boy, there's a real demand for that skill, sure as hell beats knowing how to run a computer anyday.

Home runs, worth dying for.

And please, please, don't try the old saw about sports teach us "life lessons". I always thought LIFE was supposed to teach us life lessons, but if you go by our present President, (who was baseball commissioner once) he sure as hell didn't learn any.

Why do you so frequently make use of weird false dilemmas? What the hell does "knowing how to run a computer" have to do with anything?

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Out of curiosity, are you willing to say you'd leave the list of "banned substances" up to the league itself, but think that Joe Public should have a say in the punishment? Or are you just saying what you would do, if you were commish?

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

I was making a comparison with something I find useless, (hitting a ball) and something useful (running a computer)

Which one has more relevance and use in the modern world? And which one are we trying to argue that children should see adults wrecking their health in order to do better at??

I don't mind the government discouraging unhealthy practices when it makes sense. In this case, it is not so much about professional sports as it is about the levels that lead up to that.

The problem with steroid use among professionals is that all you are doing is raising the bar for everyone. You render inferior the people who are naturally developed.

Then there is the culture of it. And it is very real. That is what seeps down into university, high school, and, believe it or not, youth sports. There is untold damage to be inflicted on our young people because of this. Any deregulation or legalization would only make it worse.

My boy has been a wrestler for years, now. He's not even 12 yet. Some parents and/or their children are so competitive - even at absurdly young ages - that they go to extremes to gain an edge. It is disgusting to see the father of an 8 year old make his kid wear a trash bag and deny them sustenance so they can drop a few pounds to wrestle a lighter opponent. I weigh my kid in at whatever he is - the greatest lengths we go to include him weighing in wearing only his underwear. That's it. Quite often, he'll be 1 or 2 pounds into the next level. He has to wrestle slightly bigger opponents than he would otherwise have to...so what. I'm sure it cost him a few pins and a few trophies, but he did not get pinned once all season, so that's plenty good for him and me.

I also coach football. I've heard of people going to extremes to get their kid to "make weight". One kid showed up (not for my team) about August 1 last year at 120 pounds...had to be 100 by the second week of September to be eligible to play (at that level). The kid was a little flabby, but not 20 pounds worth. He made it down to 98 pounds or so. I found out (through unprovable rumor) after the fact that in addition to the extreme regimen, the kid was on "water pills" like old people take. Insane.

Without legal intervention, fierce competition would absolutely lead to kids and young men destroying themselves. There is so much at stake, even for the "casual" athlete.

If individual leagues and professional organizations want to remain credible, they have to enact testing above and beyond whatever government controls are in place. They need to take it a step further and test out of house...kick the various players' unions in the balls and demand frequent impartial testing. They need to be very clear about what is and what is not acceptable.

Seeing as few would argue against regulating the drugs we can pump into race horses, I don't see how/why anybody wouldn't want to give humans the same consideration.

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"Compassionate Conservatism"?!?! That is a stupid phrase. Conservatism is inherently compassionate. It is liberalism that is cruel for the sake of maintaining a constituency.

I mean no insult, and I hope you'll pardon me if that's the impression I make, but, given your tag/sig line, the above quote seems not only contradictory, but even moreso WAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

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All things serve The Beam

How on Earth can you see any sort of advantage to sports being dominated by physically and psychologically damaged steroid junkies? How is it "WAAAAAA!!!" to assert that it is ridiculous to place at a disadvantage athletes who would choose to not become steroid junkies? How ignorant of reality does somebody have to be to know the progression would be from a few people abusing steroids to get an edge to a culture requiring steroid abuse just to achieve mediocrity?

I'd almost be willing to buy the concept of separate "anything goes" leagues. Let 'em do crystal meth on the sidelines...do lines off a cheerleader's ass...shrink their nuts to raisins and take obscene amounts of steroids. That, unto itself, is fine with me. However, the probability of adversely affecting lower tier sports and damaging our youth negates whatever benefit you might imagine from such a league.

On top of everything else, as is usual, any from the left in favor of this legalization are also in favor of not forcing the abusers to actually suffer the consequences. If the Leftists' Dream Health Care System emerges...why the fuck should I have to pay for those morons' bad choices? Why should any money/resources go to these people and/or their families when they willingly hurt themselves? Why were we expected to give a flying fuck about Lyle Alzedo - how did this dude become some sort of martyr? Oh, because he was trapped in a culture of steroid use - abuse it or, your job, lose it. Yeah, that's a plan.

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"Compassionate Conservatism"?!?! That is a stupid phrase. Conservatism is inherently compassionate. It is liberalism that is cruel for the sake of maintaining a constituency.