‘The medication had to play a part in it’

"Anybody who knows Garrett knew that this was not Garrett," Richie said. "And the medication had to play a part in it, because he was so outgoing and had his life planned out, everything planned out. And this is something that just went wrong real quickly, in a matter of hours."

She found Garrett Bardin's prescription bottle of Paxil while the search was still ongoing, and the discovery gave her pause even then.

As the events unfolded and the facts became known, Richie mourned as any mother would, and that mourning will continue. But she was also compelled to dig deeper into the bottle of Paxil.

"I suspected earlier, when I actually found the medication bottle," Richie said. "And it was overwhelming when I started looking into it."

What Richie discovered was that Paxil has a dark side rarely mentioned by those who peddle the pill.

In June 2004, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed suit against GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Paxil, charging the company of withholding information concerning the potential dangers of Paxil, particularly during withdrawal from the medication.

Paxil is classified as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and has been shown to cause akathisia, or severe inner restlessness, in some patients. This can often lead to insomnia and anxiety, as well as aggressive, violent, or suicidal thoughts or actions.

This discovery has led Richie to start a non-profit group in the area named Garrett's PALMS, which stands for Prevention, Awareness, Legislation against Medications that may cause Suicide.

 

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King's children: He'd be proud

"In 1968, Bobby Kennedy said we would have a black president in 40 years. None of us were willing to take a bet on that," Lowery said. "Tonight I am in awe, not so much by what he said but what he [Obama] is doing—accepting the nomination for president."

The Kings said they were witnessing what has become of their father's dream.

 

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War, like poetry, is meant to woe women

Cherchez la femme, so to speak...

 

Women and property are the cause of male aggression

 

The hunger for women, along with property, are blamed for the evolution of belligerence and bravery by a study of the mathematics of warfare.

 

Today's research chimes with the findings of earlier genetic studies that revealed an estimated 16 million men today, plus an uncounted number of women, are the direct descendants of Genghis Khan, the 13th century Mongolian warlord who carved out a vast empire.

Other work has shown Viking genetic signature from the frontiers of their empire, such as the Scottish Western Isles, the Isle of Skye and Iceland, which fits the popular image of male invaders who took local wives. And studies of chimpanzees suggest that the urge to go to war is lies in our genes.

Now a Californian team has studied the evolutionary forces that shaped the need for males to be belligerent, which raises their probability of trying to conquer neighbours, and of bravery, which increases the probability of succeeding in conquest.

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