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[Reelya]

I know about all the classic stuff already. But all that stuff is actually less harmful than what they gave these soldiers. Speed, meth, ganja, alcohol is what you listed there. People actually take quite a lot of those and then stop, and get on with their life without serious issues most of the time. Sure, you'll lose some brain cells from alcohol but generally people can get drunk and still live a productive life.

The nerve toxin stuff they gave these soldiers is the type that cripples you for life, it's not comparable to a drug hit. Soldiers who were given the pills also got sick even if they didn't get deployed to Iraq, and some of them became permanent invalids.

[mainiac]

The. Cause. Is. Proven.

Yeah, Gulf War Syndrome was caused by exposure to retroviral treatments of Big Boss's DNA.  Everyone should know this by now.

[Shazbot]

So its okay to give troops meth but not an FDA-approved lifesaving pre-treatment for Soman? I remember the pre-war media coverage and its doom-and-gloom of 10,000 casualties or more, and their prior use of chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds. Some preventative measures do harm to prevent greater harm. Its just the nature of a cruel thing.

[Helgoland]

Waterloo's mid-battle rum distribution

Do continue...

[Egan_BW]

The. Cause. Is. Proven.

Yeah, Gulf War Syndrome was caused by exposure to retroviral treatments of Big Boss's DNA.  Everyone should know this by now.

No really, it's the only rational explanation.

[Reelya]

That was approved for that use only in 2003, and they passed a special rule to literally exclude that one drug from requiring the normal testing of an FDA approved drug
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm130342.htm

Pyridostigmine bromide is the first drug approved under a recently issued FDA rule (frequently referred to as the "animal efficacy rule") that allows use of animal data for evidence of the drug's effectiveness for certain conditions when the drug cannot be ethically or feasibly tested in humans.

So, it was never actually tested for approval, and they had to pass a new rule to get it passed in the end, 13 years later, under a Texas-born, Bush appointed, head of the FDA. Does the stuff work? Does it save lives? It hasn't saved any yet so we can't be sure. It also doesn't work as well as a gasmask, clearly.

The Department of Defense plans to provide all military personnel with extensive training, prior to deployment, on the proper use of pyridostigmine bromide, as well as other methods used in the prevention and treatment of nerve agent poisoning.

That would have been nice in the gulf war but unfortunately
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq/faq_pb.jsp

However, troops did not receive enough information about the possible side effects of pyridostigmine bromide. Information was prepared for distribution in the field, but it did not arrive before hostilities began...

And since they kept not specific records about the usage, we can guess it was a bit haphazard, causing the side effects as noted. You're also supposed to stop taking it when you actually get exposed to the toxic weapons. Without any handbooks on usage, exactly what were the Gulf War soldiers doing? Maybe chugging down a packet of pills every time a shell landed nearby just to be safe?

The Defense Department estimates that approximately 250,000 personnel took at least some pyridostigmine bromide during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, all U.S. troops were to have received packets containing pyridostigmine bromide pills.

That estimate is the exact number who reported symptoms, but probably a coincidence.

Yeah, "meth" might sound scary but it has less long-term effects than this stuff.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The. Cause. Is. Proven.

Yeah, Gulf War Syndrome was caused by exposure to retroviral treatments of Big Boss's DNA.  Everyone should know this by now.

No really, it's the only rational explanation.

Fortunately, we know better now. The essence of the solider is not merely contained within DNA but the emergent space of mind. By using VR adaptation training instead, we will soon have an army made of those who have relived all the training and expertise of Big Boss. These thoughts, these memes, will make us unstoppable.


Oh yeah, and Jimmy Carter's Stage IV metastatic cancer is in full remission. At age 91. Fuck yeah medical science.

inb4 someone lets say Strife is all like "that's nice if only he was as good at being president as he was at fighting cancer" and then Reelya is all "here's my five page essay on why Carter is actually the only good president and should have invited the sandinistas to the white house for whiskey and cigars".

[My Name is Immaterial]

IM CRYING

[Loud Whispers]

LITERALLY

[wierd]

That is horrible.

Also, Implication of Son of Trump as Luke Skywalker. (shudder)

[Shazbot]

Waterloo's mid-battle rum distribution

Do continue...

You didn't think guys stood up to cannonballs sober, did you?

https://books.google.com/books?id=9kh9AwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT261&dq=drunk%20in%20battle%20waterloo&pg=PT183#v=onepage&q&f=false

Yeah, Reelya, I'm sure they were chewing them like M&Ms. Your own source says it was approved in 1955 for the treatment of another disease. I'm not sure what "myasthenia gravis" is, but it can't be more of a health risk than 1mg of Soman on your skin, which a gas mask does not protect against. Your own source explains it was approved after a careful review, and you're mischaracterizing that.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"During Operation Desert Storm, the threat of use of nerve agents by Iraq was very high. After careful deliberation by a specially constituted human-use review committee of the Food and Drug Administration, it was determined that the pretreatment could help save the lives of many Service members if nerve agents were used. Approval for the use of pyridostigmine bromide was based on extensive scientific information that supported the safety and effectiveness of pyridostigmine bromide as a preventive treatment.

Pyridostigmine bromide is not an exotic or experimental drug. The Food and Drug Administration approved it in 1955 for use in treating myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness and fatigue. However, when approved for use in the Gulf, the approval was as an investigational new drug. This classification means that pyridostigmine bromide had not been formally approved for general commercial marketing as a nerve gas antidote."

You're also mis-characterizing this "special rule to exclude that one drug through a Bush conspiracy".

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Pyridostigmine bromide is the first drug approved under a recently issued FDA rule (frequently referred to as the "animal efficacy rule") that allows use of animal data for evidence of the drug's effectiveness for certain conditions when the drug cannot be ethically or feasibly tested in humans.

The "animal efficacy rule," which became effective on June 30, 2002, is an important component of FDA's efforts to make medical countermeasures available to treat or prevent the effects of biological and chemical agents.

FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., said, "Today's action will help protect American troops and others from nerve agent attacks."

The "animal efficacy rule" enabled FDA to approve pyridostigmine bromide to increase survival from Soman poisoning despite the impossibility of ethically conducting human studies on the effectiveness of the drug.

Since, you know, you can't have a double-blind clinical trial for the effectiveness of a chemical weapon antidote. Who do you give the placebo, convicts?

[wierd]

If it werent for that pesky Geneva convention----  Why, you could test it on POWs, like Japan did!

(hides)

[Shazbot]

They already tested the N in NBC.

(hides with)

[Loud Whispers]

If it werent for that pesky Geneva convention----  Why, you could test it on POWs, like Japan did!

(hides)

China will have vengeance

[smjjames]

They already tested the N in NBC.

(hides with)

Huh?

Anyhow, http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/democrats-gun-control-216494 while I do agree that something needs to be done to close the loopholes that terrorists are taking advantage of, I don't think using the no-fly list is the right way to go about it because it's so hit and miss. Seems like 'stopping terrorists from getting guns' is one way of finding unity on the whole gun rights issue, theres gotta be better ways of doing it.

Also, this article, aside from the apparent push for the no-fly list inclusion, does make the point on the terror gap.

Funny how closing the 'terror gap' is something that people on both sides of the aisle can unite over, yet they STILL can't agree on a way to do it, or even an effective way.