Letters to the editor Nov. 25

Carson football team making great strides

I would just like to congratulate the 2010 Carson High varsity football team. It has been a great last couple of years for this program.

Head coach Blair Roman has definitely turned it around 180 degrees. I know it's hard losing the championship game, but the boys should keep their heads held high.

The team had a lot of chemistry and just unfortunately ran into a better team against McQueen. They should have a great chance at returning, and even going further next year.

As a 2005 alumni of Carson High, it is great to see our sports programs succeed.

Chris J. Graham

Carson City

WNC's 'White Christmas' performance was great

Sunday afternoon, my wife Zita, our neighbor Donna Sorenson and I left the Community Center after enjoying a marvelously entertaining performance of "White Christmas" by Western Nevada Musical Theater Company. On the way back to the car, we were having an animated discussion about what part each of us considered to be the best, when I suddenly recalled the most (only?) memorable quote from "Wayne's World," the 1992 comedy about two slacker buddies and their cable access TV show: "We're not worthy!"

How a small city like ours could possibly be blessed with the world-class performance we had just seen in the Bob Boldrick Theater is nothing short of amazing. Other reviewers have done much better than I possibly could praising WMNTC's wonderful production, but Zita, Donna and I just want to add our own sincere thanks to everyone involved in bringing the show to life here in Carson City!  

May they all "break a leg!"

Steve Waclo

Carson City

Sen. Reid will hasten destruction of our nation

Congratulations, voters! Unless the Republicans in Washington truly stick to the Constitution, six more years of Reid will destroy our nation.

Going along with the RINO's, who should be honest and switch parties, and shady happenings, you put one of the most dishonest, anti-Constitutionalists back in office.

Nevada has truly slipped the wrong way. Farmers/ranchers are being destroyed while unions and big government take over.

Pray Nevadans wake up and return to God and the morals on which this great nation was founded, before it is too late.

Connie Chauvel-Gomez

Dayton

Drugs' side effect can include murderous impulses

My heart goes out to Jeannine Brandt of Fernley and her family. As reported in the Appeal, Nov. 11, Jeannine stabbed her 7-year-old son with a kitchen knife. While God and sleepwalking have been blamed for her horrific act, the probable cause is her psychiatric medication.

The Appeal reported that "Brandt was allegedly prescribed anti-depressant medication but apparently had not been taking them." All of the anti-depressants carry a black-box warning from the Food and Drug Administration indicating high risk for harmful side effects.

In 2005, the FDA added "homicidal ideation" to its list of rare adverse events for this category of drugs. By rare, it means one in 1,000, but millions of prescriptions for these are filled every year. The homicidal ideation possibility is buried deep within the information pages included in each box of pills.

Who is going to read through a dozen or more pages of warnings? How many doctors inform patients of the negative side effects? Abrupt withdrawal from an anti-depressant can be more dangerous than continuing with the drug.

In his book, "Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America," Robert Whitaker concludes that psychiatric drugs actually are making people much worse.

Far from fixing supposed broken brains and chemical imbalances, the drugs are aggravating, and even causing the very illnesses they claim to heal. When will America wake up to the threat of toxic biopsychiatry?

Sharon S. Kientz

Carson City