Baclofen: New Version of an Old Drug Could Treat Autism (and Addiction Too)

Time

One night in 2006, Kathy Roberts rushed her autistic daughter, Jenny, to the hospital. Nothing had been able to stop the young woman, then in her mid-20s, from vomiting. Jenny had recently suffered several major seizures and her entire gastrointestinal system was going haywire.

To try to calm Jenny's GI tract, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital prescribed baclofen, an antispasmodic drug that is also being studied as a potential treatment for alcoholism and other addictions. The drug relieved Jenny's vomiting, but it did something else too — a completely unexpected and welcome side effect. (More on TIME.com: Could Anorexia Be a 'Female' Form of Autism?)

"Within 24 hours, I saw a change," says Roberts. "Right away, I saw that it was globally calming. I've always described a state that she would get into where it seemed like she wasn't comfortable in her own skin, and was trying to crawl out. I saw that calmed down."

Roberts, founder of the Giant Step school for children with autism in Southport, Conn., called Mark Bear, professor of neuroscience at MIT and advisory board member of Giant Step. In 2005, Bear had co-founded a drug company called Seaside Therapeutics to develop treatments for autism and other developmental disorders. Roberts told Bear about baclofen's effect on her daughter, and a new line of research was born. (More on TIME.com: Picky Eating May Be Early Sign of Autism). [...]

Is Israel ‘a rogue state’? You’d better hope so

An expectation-defying speech delivered at a Cambridge University student debate last month.

Background information JPost

JPost  by GABRIEL LATNER 

This is a war of ideals, and the other speakers here tonight are rightfully, idealists. I'm not. I'm a realist. I'm here to win. I have a single goal this evening – to have at least a plurality of you walk out of the "Aye" door. I face a singular challenge – most, if not all, of you have already made up your minds.

This issue is too polarizing for the vast majority of you not to already have a set opinion. I'd be willing to bet that half of you strongly support the motion, and half of you strongly oppose it. I want to win, and we're destined for a tie. I'm tempted to do what my fellow speakers are going to do – simply rehash every bad thing the Israeli government has ever done in an attempt to satisfy those of you who agree with them. And perhaps they'll even guilt one of you rare undecided into voting for the proposition, or more accurately, against Israel. [...]

Self-declared Israeli rabbi convicted of abusing eight children

Haaretz

The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday convicted a self-declared rabbi for abusing the eight children of the woman with whom he lived.

Last week, four of Rabbi Elior Chen's followers were sentenced to lengthy prison on similar child abuse charges. [,,,]

Conjoined Twins See Through Each Other's Eyes

AOL News

Twins share a unique bond, often claiming to know each other's thoughts and frequently finishing each other's sentences. But one set of sisters has taken twin powers to a whole new level: They can see through each other's eyes.

Meet Tatiana and Krista Hogan of Vernon, British Columbia, Canada -- 4-year-olds conjoined at the head, known as craniopagus twins.

"They are very interconnected. They share a lot of things normal conjoined twins don't. They have the special ability to see what each other's seeing through each other's eyes," Felicia Simms, the girls' mother, said in a television interview with ABC News. [...]

Novominsker Rebbe publicly discusses child molesting at Aguda Conference

The following is a link to a recording of this year's Aguda Convention. Between minutes 31-35 the Novominsker Rebbe publicly announces that it is time to take the issue out from under the rug. While he places the main responsibility on parents  and does not acknowledge any responsibility of the yeshivos or community - accept to praise the Aguda and Torah uMesora for producing behavioral standards for teachers in conjunction with their lawyers and  fighting against the Markey Bill -  it is clearly a small step forward that is long overdue.

	2010_Thur_Night_Session_01 - 01 - Track 1.mp3	9.55 MB

Chinuch: Divine Providence applies only to man

Chinuch (#169): There are some groups that believe that Providence applies to every living creature - both man and animal. There are also those who extend Providence further and say it applies to every entity in the world - living or non-living. In other words they say that the smallest entity only moves as response to G-d’s will and decrees. They go so far as to say that even when a single leaf falls off a tree that G-d decreed that it should fall. That it is impossible that its falling be delayed and advanced by an instant. However such a belief is ridiculous - extremely far from human intelligence. There are also evil groups that assert that there is no such thing as Providence for anything in the world whether for people or the rest of living creatures. This view is the view of heretics and it is evil and bitter. However we Jews believe that Providence applies to living creatures only in general – other than man. In other words, the different species are sustained so that the species themselves don’t become extinct. In contrast we believe that regarding man that there is Providence for each and every person which varies according to his deeds. This teaching we know by tradition passed down by the great sages - as well as many verses that teach these principles.

Child Abuse:October 17 JBAC program - corrected audio links

the links in the previous post stopped working - here are new ones.

I have tested several links.  All the ones I tested did work.

http://boxstr.net/files/6934833_x6mbt/01_Dorron_Katzin_intro.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934834_lpklv/02_Vivian_Skolnick_intro.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934835_ojkyy/03_Elliot_Pasik_intro.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934836_353iv/04_Rabbi_Gedalia_Dov_Schwartz.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934837_ldwqf/05_Mark_Weiss.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934838_gfwcx/06_Pinny_Taub.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934839_j84za/07_Patricia_Sudendorf.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934840_hr2gg/08_Vivian_Skolnick.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934841_ouk4f/09_Rabbi_Mark_Dratch.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934842_d0e16/10_Asher_Lipner.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934843_3jfnw/11_Rabbi_Moshe_Soloveichik.mp3
http://boxstr.net/files/6934844_1ngb5/12_Elliot_Pasik.mp3

Latest medical reversal: High levels of Vitamin D & calcium not needed!

NYTimes

The very high levels of vitamin D that are often recommended by doctors and testing laboratories — and can be achieved only by taking supplements — are unnecessary and could be harmful, an expert committee says. It also concludes that calcium supplements are not needed.[...]

Child Abuse:October 17 JBAC program in Chicago- audio & video download links

Received the following announcement with permission to post

Rabbi Eidensohn,

All the video files are on You Tube.  Search on "JBACChicago" (one word). Some of the content will not show up unless you create a You Tube Account and are logged in.

anyone who is having technical difficulties to contact us at chicago.awareness@gmail.com,

Here are the links to the audio versions of the files.  These are stored so anyone who has the link below can access them.  They can be downloaded (right click on link) or played directly from where they are (left click on link):

Download link                                                           Filesize
http://boxstr.net/files/6909461_5zqo9/01_Dorron_Katzin_intro.mp3            2 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909462_gtdvn/02_Vivian_Skolnick_intro.mp3         10 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909463_8ulgt/03_Elliot_Pasik_intro.mp3            23 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909464_fbvjv/04_Rabbi_Gedalia_Dov_Schwartz.mp3    22 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909465_sfeca/05_Mark_Weiss.mp3                    25 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909466_hnylq/06_Pinny_Taub.mp3                    33 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909467_qpszc/07_Patricia_Sudendorf.mp3            14 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909468_nsjfq/08_Vivian_Skolnick.mp3               20 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909469_cbxm3/09_Rabbi_Mark_Dratch.mp3             25 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909470_ofhd1/10_Asher_Lipner.mp3                  19 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909471_9oiul/11_Rabbi_Moshe_Soloveichik.mp3       15 MB
http://boxstr.net/files/6909472_0gnig/12_Elliot_Pasik.mp3                  23 MB

Here are the links to the video versions of the files.  They can be downloaded, but not streamed, from this location.  People who want to stream without downloading should use You Tube.

Download link                                                            Filesize     Min Sec

http://boxstr.net/files/6910153_aqqoi/01_Dorron_Katzin_intro.mp4            36 MB       01:22

http://boxstr.net/files/6911461_7mxac/02_Vivian_Skolnick_intro.mp4         180 MB       06:53

http://boxstr.net/files/6911462_lohmu/03_Elliot_Pasik_intro.mp4             69 MB       02:38

http://boxstr.net/files/6911463_agtlg/04_Rabbi_Gedalia_Dov_Schwartz.mp4    411 MB       15:46

http://boxstr.net/files/6911504_4gyfy/05_Mark_Weiss.mp4                    474 MB       18:14

http://boxstr.net/files/6911525_umkxz/06_Pinny_Taub.mp4                    622 MB       23:56

http://boxstr.net/files/6911708_pr6f9/07_Patricia_Sudendorf.mp4            268 MB       10:14

http://boxstr.net/files/6911709_ffw4k/08_Vivian_Skolnick.mp4               377 MB       14:28

http://boxstr.net/files/6913025_7pjsn/09_Rabbi_Mark_Dratch.mp4             482 MB       18:30

http://boxstr.net/files/6913026_5ta7q/10_Asher_Lipner.mp4                  368 MB       14:09

http://boxstr.net/files/6913617_ywrfa/11_Rabbi_Moshe_Soloveichik.mp4       289 MB       11:06

http://boxstr.net/files/6913618_8auhe/12_Elliot_Pasik.mp4                  436 MB       16:44

Israel to build detention center for illegal immigrants

Haaretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved Sunday a proposal to establish a detention center for illegal migrants on Israel's southern border with Egypt.

As the cabinet prepared to vote on the proposal, which was aimed at curbing the mass numbers of African migrants trying to enter Israel, Netanyahu clarified: "We will not detain refugees of war, but we must stop the massive entry of infiltrators."

"There is a swelling wave threatening Israeli jobs, a wave of illegal migrants that we must stop because of the harsh implications for Israel's character," Netanyahu added. [...]

The problem of social morality during the time of Yeshaya Hanavi:

From the essay "Social Injustice: When Leadership Fails " found here: http://www.marbitz.com/yeshaya.html

What is Social Justice?

Over and over again, as we have now seen, the prophet admonishes his people over their neglect for others - especially others left vulnerable by difficult lives. Clearly, the problem is more than just a relatively isolated weakness in Torah observance (as we might classify a failure to properly observe the laws of, say, kosher food), but stands directly and violently opposed to everything that a Jew is meant to be.

Overwhelmingly, Isaiah's rebukes are delivered in the context of the words "justice" and "righteousness" - משפט וצדק. Before properly understanding the larger subject, we should see if we can't achieve a better understanding of these words themselves.

(This discussion is drawn from "Collected Writings of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch" Vol IV, pp 69-70.) The verb "shafet" (שפט) means to bring something to its proper place. Its noun, "mishpat" (משפט) is hence a process which seeks (to paraphrase Rabbi Hirsch) the satisfactory fulfillment of justified demands. In other words, a human being has a right to his lawful property, status and dignity. When he is illegally deprived of these possessions, he has the right to demand their return. The institution of mishpat - justice - is the tool through which his claim should be addressed.

The noun "tzedek" (צדק), on the other hand, denotes the place where things belong. An act of "tzedaka" - righteousness - therefore, involves acting as one should; disposing of assets as God would have them disposed. Or, in Rabbi Hirsch's own words: "doing one's duty...in accord with the will of God...The fulfillment of the Torah...It takes into account the requirements, rather than merely the legal claims, of the person concerned."

Thus, mishpat acknowledges and promotes the legal rights of individuals when they come in conflict with each other or the state. While Tzedaka places the burden of Divinely-inspired perfection directly on the shoulders of each individual and each instrument of the state, regardless of the purely legal strengths or  weaknesses of their opponents' claims.

These principles, tzedek and mishpat, are what we mean by the phrase "social justice." Both of these together - the sense of responsibility towards the rights of our fellow human beings and the sense of obligation to the morality of God's Torah - form the only reasonable foundation for a Jewish community. Their absence is inherently corrupting of both communal and private life.

Now, in light of these tzedek and mishpat ideals, let's take another look at the prophet's particular criticism.  Nearly all of the examples from our list above involve abuse of privilege: members of society's powerful classes seeking to enhance their own positions at the expense of the poor and weak. There can be no doubt that crime is wrong no matter who commits it and no matter who is the victim. The poor may no more expect a court to wrongly tilt justice towards them than the rich (see Rashi to Deut. 1:17). But, nevertheless, Isaiah largely ignores the Robin Hoods of the Jewish world. While they, too, may be reprehensible thieves, they are not guilty of quite such a grievous form of oppression.  Tzedek and mishpat are primarily the responsibility of the powerful. Of leaders.

Who constituted the powerful classes of Isaiah's world? Kings and government officials, judges, the wealthy, large landowners and Torah scholars (for particular reference to Torah scholars and judges, see TB Shabbos 139a)...anyone whose social standing allowed him some control over others and who could call on highly-placed allies when needed. These are the people who are most tempted by crimes of power and it is to these people that Isaiah's message of social morality is addressed.