I had some random thoughts, none of which were enough for a stand-alone post.
Regarding the Wikileaks...
I had mixed feelings on this, particularly as someone old enough to have grown up with the Watergate scandal brewing. I absolutely want as much transparency in government as possible. On the other hand, there is a need for some secrecy; there are some bad people and bad governments out there in the world. But the thing I find a little funny is the shock that American diplomacy involved secret meetings, dealing with some allies that are neither good nor reliable, backdoor deals-- isn't this pretty much how diplomacy has always worked?
Regarding the horrific event in Tuscon this last weekend...
When the behavior and words of the alleged perpetrator became public, I knew right away the guy was a paranoid schizophrenic. When I did the psychiatric leg of my clinicals last semester, I worked with a number of paranoid schizophrenics, and the behavior is remarkably similar in paranoid schizophrenics: delusions of grandeur, paranoia, jumbled ideas, the idea that the government and others are spying on them, increasing isolation, etc. The only unusual thing is the violence; people suffering from that particular mental illness are rarely violent. They generally just start avoiding contact with others.
The family should have gotten him started on some kind of treatment for two reasons. One, he needed it; there are effective treatments for what he probably has. Secondly, if they'd had him in treatment at any point, he wouldn't have been able to purchase a weapon. His family dropped the ball, and a bunch of people paid the price.
Lastly, regarding Fred Phelps and the Westboro Church...
The Arizona State Legislature passed emergency legislation to prevent demonstrations within a certain distance of a funeral. The jagoff Phelps and his whack-job church plans on circumventing this by tying up a nearby intersection. I'd throw this thought out. Some years back, my son's mother for some reason lived in a really bad neighborhood-- I think she was trying to show me that despite being a rich girl who grew up in the suburbs, she could be "urban." So when ghetto people started sitting on her stoop drinking "40's," she asked me what she should do. I don't remember where I read or heard this, but I gave her a suggestion that ended up working. You pour ammonia all over the steps. The ammonia makes it unbearable for an hour or two, and they end up moving somewhere else. The ammonia evaporates, and is therefore relatively innocuous environmentally in the long term. Just a thought...
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5 comments:
I pretty much agree with what you've said. One thing further on the Arizona killings. I truly believe that if not for all the political venom present in our country right now, this wouldn't have happened.
Nice post buddy!
Those Westboro people are just the lowest form of life around. I don't know how they can live with themselves.
Pat-
I absolutely agree with you. The political venom has reached a really horrible level.
SD-
Agreed. They definitely have something wrong with them.
Great post. JFK was secretly dealing with the USSR during the Bay of Pigs, using diplomacy to avert disaster.
And agreed about the AZ shooter, although if he refused treatment there wasn't anything his family could do. Even the mentally ill have the right to refuse medication. And I agree - most folks with schizophrenia or other forms of psychosis just hole up somewhere and chain smoke.
Here in my town, lots of rough teens and young adults were congregating in a downtown grocery store parking lot. So the store installed outdoor speakers and played classical music. They left.
I've heard there is a group of counter-protesters who are wearing angel's wings made of sheets that they use to shield the mourners from the Westboro vermin.
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