Stuff

Bullets in a box. Yes you may save the pic to somewhere in your computer, caption it if you want to, and upload it to social media. Link back to this blog is not necessary. As usual, copyright monopolist trolls are unwelcome here. I took the photo myself and I can prove that. So go away.

     Measles Outbreak: I noted with interest the measles outbreak, particularly in California. I suppose that the reason is actually "reasons" and therefore multi-factorial. Having said that, I have to admit that my first inclination was to blame the "Vaccines cause autism" crowd in general and Jenny McCarthy in particular. [To be fair, hers is the only name that I associate with this issue]. I was also horrified to discover that one of the Wahlberg brothers married her and that they now have their own show. I remember hearing or reading somewhere long ago something like "Love is blind and marriage is an institution for the blind." On the other hand, politics and mystical false medical beliefs aside, I know nothing about Ms. McCarthy the human being so I will stop myself here. Except to note that I am no fan of the organization that I associate with her-- something about autism squeaking-- and that's all about that.

     I am Charlie Hebdo: I'm not Charlie Hebdo. My take on this as an American is absolute horror that twelve people lost their lives over cartoons in a magazine that regularly publishes satirical cartoons. Seriously, if you don't care for the material that a magazine publishes then quit reading that magazine. To persist is a form of mental masturbation.

     Disability Services: It's a continuing saga which appears to be full of disconnects and non-connects, at least for me. Hey, if you aren't going to help me, then don't hinder me. Get out of my way.

     "Free" Community College: It's a nice thought. I want to know more about how Obummer is planning to have this one paid for. Dad used to tell me that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The other problem is the sense of entitlement that this sort of thing will foster in a society that is already full of people thinking that they are owed that free lunch.

     Guns: I like guns. I think hunting is cool so long as the hunters et. al. actually eat the animals they shoot. It's people that need control, not guns. And not all people either. Just a few people. 

     The Government: Less government, more fun. The government should stay out of healthcare, out of the marriage business altogether, out of spying on the citizens. And now Obummer [once again] is calling for "hackers" to be prosecuted under RICO. The political insanity does not end.

                                      radical sapphoq

     

Going Quackers Over Duck Dynasty

     I love Duck Dynasty. I don't care that the Robertson family has different beliefs than I do. I don't care that they are considered to be "rednecks." They make me laugh and they remind me of Louisiana. I lived in Louisiana for almost a year once. 

     Things are different in the Deep South than they are in the Frozen North. When people don't like each other in Louisiana, they say so. When they disagree, they say so. Up here, not so much. Up here people hide behind their masks, pretending that they object to Susie and Josh mixing it up for any other reason than a difference in skin color. Louisiana is a far more honest place and I miss that part of living there in particular. 

     One place in particular up here in the Frozen North that I used to work at had a "morality clause" in their employee handbook. We were not under contract and this state is a "work at will" state and not a "right to work" state for those who know what that means. The fact that we had no legal protection made the clause that much more odious. The wording ran something like "We can terminate your employment if you commit any immoral or indecent act even if you do it on your own time and not here on the work site." The language sounded more official than that but the message was plain. Do something we don't like-- even on your own time away from the facility-- and we reserve our option to give you the ax. 

     I do not know what A&E's contract with Phil Robertson says. I propose to you that the reason why a television station thought it could get away with suspending Phil Robertson because of something he said during an interview with a magazine was similar to the outdated reasoning behind my previous employer's morality clause. Then GLADD had to get into the act. A&E went quackers and GLADD made the whole thing worse in my opinion.

     Phil Robertson has the right to express his beliefs clearly to someone interviewing him for a magazine. He was asked what he considers to be sinful behavior and he answered the question according to what his church teaches about what the Bible considers to be sinful behavior. He did not say "Homos are scum and all of them deserve to die." He said what he believes. And yes people, the vast majority of preachers and congregations are not ready to roll out the welcome mat to non-heterosexuals who are not celibate. Lest non-hets feel slighted, Phil also added adulterers and practitioners of beastiality to the mix. He went on to say that he treats all people with respect.  http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson

     The adulterers and fornicators did not come blasting out of the woodwork screaming "That big meanie Phil said what we are doing is wrong." Neither did the folks who do it with four-leggeds. And there are some of those in Louisiana. I knew two of them within five miles of each other. Neither one knew the other. I suspect it might have been fun for them to compare notes if they had. Sheep man was an older fellow who liked sheep overly much. Goat man preferred goats. They were not ashamed of what they did. They embraced their nicks openly. [Both of them were heterosexual men by the way]. I don't advocate that particular lifestyle. I'm just saying that it exists in Louisiana and elsewhere in the world.

     The idea of being attracted sexually to a four-legged is foreign and gross to me just as the idea of wanting a man is not something that is logical to Phil Robertson. Phil Robertson is a straight man living a straight man's life. Of course he does not understand why two men would want to have anal sex. That plus his religious beliefs makes for a man who says "That's illogical."

     A&E un-suspended Phil Robertson and I am glad of that. I suspect that GLADD is not so glad but I don't give a damn about them. In looking up the interview, I noted that there is now an old vid that has surfaced featuring Phil talking about marrying teen girls. Again, Phil Robertson has a right to say this. Furthermore, the age of consent for marriage is set by each state in the United States and not by federal law. In some states, that age is set at sixteen. In others, that age is set at eighteen. In a few, that age is set at seventeen. http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/state-by-state-marriage-age-of-consent-laws.html Folks under the age of sixteen can marry with parental permission or under special circumstances in some states. If you don't want to marry a teenager, you don't have to. 

radical sapphoq says: I am an atheist and a bisexual woman and I am a fan of Duck Dynasty. Phil Robertson has the right to freedom of speech just like all other civilians do in the United States. A&E (probably, I suspect) had the legal right to suspend him. Fans of Duck Dynasty had the right to protest the suspension. I protested it also because I am a fan of the show. Even though A&E has lifted the suspension, the Robertson family has the right to move their show to a Christian station, or to a station that will not edit out any of the "in the name of Jesus" or "in Jesus' name" from the praying, or even to get their own station. And I hope the Robertson family does pull their show from A&E and go to another station. I for one will follow them and continue to watch Duck Dynasty.

CARRY ME HOME TO OL' VIRGINNIE 4/22/07

I happened to be in Denver the other day cabbing it to the no-tell motel after a meeting of Narcotics Anonymous. The cab driver decided that he would talk to me about the shootings that happened in Virginia. Cab driver has four sons, two of them are in college. One of them is in Virginia but not in THAT place. Cab driver went on at length about gun safety and teaching his boys to be responsible about guns. It sounds rather dreadful in the retelling but it really wasn't. The conversation I found to be more enjoyable than downtown Denver was during rush hour.

There are some things about law and mental hygiene law [nope, not laws for those who like to read or look at porn] in particular that folks do not know, do not understand, or haven't had to know or understand. The disclaimer goes like this: I am not a lawyer and you are a jackass if you are relying upon this blog for legal advice. End of disclaimer. "The law is an ass." I must admit here that I do not recall who said it first but I sure wish I had. Anyone who doesn't agree is living in a different universe than the one I've had to deal with my whole life. Or perhaps they just disagree and that's cool too.

The young man who shot up all those students and then died too was hospitalized for his mental difficulties in 2005. Here is something which the cab driver did not know and maybe some of you don't either. If the young man admitted himself-- signed himself in-- then he can truthfully answer "no" on any sort of application which asks if one was ever committed. Most of us mental nutcases, whether we've ever been on any sort of mental hell unit or not, are aware that being 2P'ed [signed in forcibly by a physician and a physician crony physician] is the absolute worst thing one can do in terms of preservation of any sort of human rights. Thus most of us try very very hard to remember that when being threatened with a 2P, it is better to yield pen in hand and sign ourselves in. Under a 2P, a mental health sort of kangaroo court has to do a review every so many hours-- it might be 72 and then in decreasing frequencies-- in order for the hospital to maintain its' hold. It is easier to get out of a mental hospital if we have signed ourselves in-- even A.M.A.
That stands for against medical advice. I agree it is somewhat ludicrous to speak about human rights on a nutward but bear with me here.

So the young man who signed himself in has no proof of disordered thinking when he shows up at the gun shop or wherever to buy his own personal weapon of mass destruction. Fact is, as long as we weren't ever 2P'ed [and maybe sometimes if we were], there is no flashing light following us around screaming, "Don't sell that moron a gun." Maybe we can thank the lawyers for that one or at least thank the idiots at the ACLU who would be comfortable with someone like me having access to a gun, but I digress.

Furthermore, as far as good to excellent mental hell treatment, that is in itself an oxymoron. We do not know what good to excellent mental hell treatment is. Mental hell treatment-- counseling in particular-- does not have a gold standard of care. There is no scientific validity measure attached to talk therapy. People like to talk about talk therapy because somehow it seems more humane than shoveling psychotropics down the throats of those whose lives are unfixable any other way. There is no evidence that counseling works. There is evidence that for various specific conditions the pills do work.

We know for example that someone who has genuine bipolar disorder I [useta be manic depression] has an excellent chance of medicine actually working. We also know that someone who has genuine bipolar disorder I who is unmedicated runs a seriously high risk of that disorder becoming worse, period. [It's all on Medscape, folks.] And we know that pills and combinations of pills do not work well at all for the serious personality disorders that people come down with [assuming that the diagnosis is accurate and not based upon therapist prejudice]. We know that folks with traumatic brain injury traditionally need more of the psychotropic variety of medicine and less of some other classes. And so on.

Here is some really bad news. Read it several times until it sinks in. Ready?
Mental health professionals are notoriously BAD at predicting who
is a danger to society and who isn't.
The F.B.I. people are talking to serial killers and some of them are writing books and it is all fascinating but unless you are a serial killer behind bars, ain't no one really knowing how to look for you before you actually kill anyone. Same goes for kids shooting other kids in school.

Here are some of my own suggestions:
(1). Dump the insanity defense totally. If you are going to say, "I did it but I am nuts" or "I did it but I am nuts and therefore not responsible for my self" or "I did it cuz I am nuts and I don't know when or if I will do it again" etc., then you deserve to be locked up away from society, period. I personally don't care if they lock you up in a mental hospital or in a prison. Harsh? Too bad.
Equal rights are not special rights. If we truly believe that we the mental nutcases deserve the same civil rights as other civils, then we have to be willing to accept the same consequences for bad behavior that everyone else gets to have. Anything less is burrsit.

(2). Anyone who has ever been actively suicidal should not own a gun for any reason. [For exceptions, see number five].

(3). Anyone who has symptoms of personality disorders should not own a gun for any reason. [For exceptions, see number five].

(4). Anyone who has ever experienced a genuine psychotic state should not own a gun for any reason. [For exceptions, see number five].

(5). For exceptions: Let the shrinks sign off on the pieces of paper giving us permission to own and use firearms. And let them share in the responsibility if we make any bad things happen during our handling of a firearm.
Risk-taking is risky. Shrinks are notoriously bad at predicting who is a long-term risk to society. Fine them real money for every person that we kill [including ourselves] with our guns and give that money to the families of the victims. Here's a prediction of my own: No shrink will agree to sign that piece of paper for their patients if their best shrink misjudgment will cost them shrink money. Off the wall? Tough. If I am that off the wall, then why are you still reading this?

radical sapphoq