A Dark Knight Indeed: The Colorado Shooting Spree.

English: Memorial for the victims of the spree shooting in Urfahr 1995 Deutsch: Denkmal für die Opfer des Amoklaufs 1995 am Bezirksgericht Urfahr-Umgebung (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the reports pour in, we all hang our heads and send our thoughts and prayers to those involved.

http://www.eonline.com/news/331806/the-dark-knight-rises-horror-gunman-kills-12-injures-38-at-colorado-screening

What can we do to prevent these from happening?  What is it about our culture that allows this to take place again and again?  There is no single, simple solution, but we all need to examine this most recent tragedy and look to our own communities about how to prevent it in the future.

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• 14 Dead, 50 Injured After Late Night Shooting at ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Screening in Colorado: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• 14 Killed, 50 Injuried in Midnight Massacre of ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Premiere in Colorado (nymag.com)
• Mass-shooting Kills Several At Colorado Movie Theater (wibw.com)
• Police confirm at least 14 dead, 50 injured after movie theater shooting in Colorado (minbcnews.com)
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• Eff A Coldhearted Thug: 14 Dead And 50 Injured After Gunman Opens Fire In Aurora, Colorado On “Dark Knight Rises” Theatregoers (bossip.com)
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Alas, Stephen Covey Did Not Write Seven Habits of Effective Bicycle Riding Before He Passed.

Professor Stephen R. Covey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I heard that Stephen Covey had died at the relatively early age of 79, I wondered if he’d had some sort of long-standing illness.  Surely someone so efficient and so directed in his life would not allow his health to slip away.  Then I heard he died of complications after a biking accident.  At a time when others are busy in rockers, he was still rocking it a little too fast and furious.

We never think anyone like Stephen Covey will pass.  In my mind he has joined others like Cary Grant who may have passed but still live on as part of our collective memories.  Somewhere in heaven, he is making things more proactive.

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• Dr. Stephen R. Covey – R.I.P. (khamneithang.wordpress.com)
• Stephen R. Covey, ’7 Habits’ author, dies at 79 (forbes.com)
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• In Honor of Stephen Covey (imlikingit.wordpress.com)
• RIP Stephen R Covey [Martin Dewhurst] (ecademy.com)
• ’7 Habits’ author Stephen R. Covey dies after bicycle accident (foxnews.com)
• Stephen Covey, “7 Habits” author, dies at 79 (boston.com)
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We All Need Statins, STAT!

Rafael Statin [6685Crop] (Photo credit: Juan N Only)

English: Statin Pathway from WikiPathways (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Family Medicine – Focus on… News Article | The effects of lowering LDL cholesterol with statin therapy in people at low risk of vascular disease: meta-analysis of individual data from 27 randomised trials |4075225.

In a stunning analysis, researchers found that the healthiest among us do as well or better on statins than the sickest.

The results found that:  “Reduction of LDL cholesterol with a statin reduced the risk of major vascular events (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.77–0.81, per 1.0 mmol/L reduction), largely irrespective of age, sex, baseline LDL cholesterol or previous vascular disease, and of vascular and all–cause mortality.”

In other words, we all need statins, STAT!  Everyone should take them, because they are good for everyone.  Forget all those silly risk factors, and above all, forget that life could possibly be lived without taking prescription medications.

All this brings up another question:  wouldn’t we be better off taking everything?  Hypertension meds, anti-diabetic meds, statins, anti-depressants, etc.?

These are the answers to life’s ailments and gosh, they would all individually be good for our statistical lives.  But somewhere in all that goodness is a creeping uncertainty.  We just haven’t done the studies on the interactions between all these miracle pills.

The term polypharmacy applies to an ever increasing portion of the population.  At five or more medications (and yes, we include your multi in that mix)  no expert in the world can truly tell you what’s going on in your body over time.

I wonder if they factored that into the glowing report that statins are great for everyone.

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• Oh I have high Cholesterol, I must cut out fatty food, and take statins and ……… STOP please and get informed. (deeoconnor.wordpress.com)