Ferocious, Weak, and Crazy

In 2013 George Friedman, of the global intelligence firm Stratfor.com, wrote an interesting analysis of the national strategy of North Korea titled "Ferocious, Weak, and Crazy." Mr Friedman described the strategy this way:

"... the North Koreans positioned themselves as ferocious by appearing to have, or to be on the verge of having, devastating power. Second, they positioned themselves as being weak such that no matter how ferocious they are, there would be no point in pushing them because they are going to collapse anyway. And third, they positioned themselves as crazy, meaning pushing them would be dangerous since they were liable to engage in the greatest risks imaginable at the slightest provocation."

Three years later, I wrote a post which drew on that article and used ferocious, weak, and crazy to describe the behavior of Der Furor, then a candidate for president. Today, nine years and two presidential terms later, the adjectives apply more than ever.

Der Furor likes to appear ferocious, threatening real or perceived enemies with "fire and fury like the world has never seen." He is certainly one of the most bellicose men ever to hold the presidency, having offered to send the US military into Mexico to attack drug cartels, seize Greenland for national security purposes, and make Canada the 51st state ... and even to deploy the military for law enforcement within the United States. He works overtime to project an image of overwhelming strength and manly virtue, aided by his admirers who churn out laughable images of him as an impressively muscled, heroic, and heavily armed figure. He's besotted with the idea of having a massive military parade in the streets of Washington on his birthday (ostensibly in honor of the birthday of the US Army, which conveniently falls on the same date). And he enjoys striking heroic poses in the style of past strongmen like Benito Mussolini and (dare I say) Adolf Hitler ...

But for all his belligerence and posturing, Der Furor is a weak man. He has staffed his administration with slavishly obedient toadies he knows will not oppose him. When met with actual pushback, whether from state governors or foreign leaders, he is quick to back down, although in such a way as to have someone else to take the responsibility - he recently suggested that the 145% tariffs he imposed on imports from China might be reduced to a mere 80%, although he said that the decision would be "up to [Treasury Secretary] Scott B[essent]."* He will never admit to making an error, for fear of appearing weak. He is a weak man's imitation of a strong man.

And Der Furor is, indeed, crazy ... whether crazy like a fox (as his followers fervently believe) or crazy as a bedbug is for medical professionals to determine. But in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board he claimed he would not have to use military force to prevent a blockade of Taiwan, because President Xi “respects me and he knows I’m [expletive] crazy.” Der Furor appears to subscribe to the “madman theory” of foreign policy, that a leader's suicidal threats may seem credible if the opponent believes the leader is irrational**. In any case, his wildly unstatesmanlike behavior, which includes the silly dance moves at his rallies, the making of national policy and announcement of major personnel changes by social media post, and the resort to childish insults and threats when his desires are thwarted, hardly inspires confidence in the mental stability of the leader of a formerly great nation.

Ferocious, weak, and crazy ... it used to be North Korea. Now it's our own president.

In precise legal language, we're screwed.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Translation: if it doesn't work out, I'll blame it on Bessent. As we now know, (reported in the news since I drafted this post earlier in the week) Der Furor has, indeed, backed down from his tariff war with China and is describing it as a victory, although there seems to be no identifiable advantage gained by the US.

** The term is often used in reference to President Richard Nixon, who wanted North Vietnamese leaders to believe he might be crazy enough to resort to nuclear weapons.

What If?

I tend to be a generally positive person, but the way things are going lately, it's hard to keep looking on the bright side, especially when the bright side could be an atomic fireball generated by someone who doesn't know how to handle the power at his fingertips. After all, just claiming to have a bigger button than the other guy isn't a very mature way to approach something as ugly as nuclear war.

Here's something I found online a week or so ago: a generator that overlays the effects of a nuclear detonation over your choice of targeted area. You can choose among four different nuclear weapons of increasing power, the lowest being the 15 kiloton "Little Boy" dropped on Hiroshima during World War II, and the highest being the 50,000 kiloton* Russian "Tsar Bomba;" the default value is the W-87 warhead carried by the US Minuteman III ICBM, which has a yield of 300 kilotons. You can also choose between a surface explosion and an air explosion.

I ran the model with a surface burst of a W-87 warhead centered on the White House. The estimated results were 303,476 killed, 258,126 injured.

Just a little something for you to think about when you think about those who cavalierly talk about using the nuclear arsenal.

Sleep well.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when we return to happier topics with more Great Moments in Editing and Signage.

Bilbo

* That's 50 million tons of TNT.

Oh, Poo, Revisited

India is one definitely one of the most bizarre nations on earth. On the one hand, it has a space program and a booming high-technology sector*. On the other hand, its government is working hard to get Indians to stop pooping outdoors.

You may recall that three years ago, I wrote a post about a major Indian government program called "Poo2Loo" that uses clever songs and animated cartoons with dancing poop to try to convince Indians, who are seriously short of public toilets (and of indoor plumbing in many areas) to stop relieving themselves at will in public places. The Poo2Loo campaign invested millions of dollars** to convince Indians that they really ought to do their business in appropriately private locations.

Which brings me to this article from last Sunday's Washington Post: India Turns to Public Shaming to Get People to Use Its 52 Million New Toilets. Yes, Dear Readers, the Poo2Loo campaign having not quite squeezed out*** its goal of getting Indians to quit defecating in public, "teams of government employees and volunteer 'motivators' roam villages to publicly shame those who relieve themselves in the open," such as this poor fellow, whose post-relief wash-up bucket was seized and broken by a local poop patrol, and who was presented with a rose as a peace offering ...

In some areas, according to the article, "... people without toilets risk having their welfare benefits taken away and can be barred from running for public office."

Hmm ... if people who are full of crap can be barred from running for office, perhaps India - without knowing it - is on to something. I wish I'd thought about this a year ago.

Have a good day. Poop in designated places to avoid embarrassment.

More thoughts tomorrow, when we unveil the latest collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage. See you then.

Bilbo

* Your favorite help desk and telephone service center is probably in India, as are many of the online scammers looking to separate you from your money and your data.

** According to the article, the US Agency for International Development has also pledged $2 million annually and introduced ranking systems to trigger “(sanitation) competition between cities," and the World Bank has also offered a $1.5 billion loan to help encourage public sanitation efforts.

*** Sorry.

Beyond Disgust

The day before a special congressional election in Montana, GOP candidate Greg Gianforte, enraged by questions posed by a reporter that he didn't want to answer, physically assaulted the reporter, slamming him to the ground, breaking his glasses, and screaming that he (the reporter) should "get the hell out of here." Gianforte's spokesman spun the incident this way in a statement released later:

"It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."

In the election the next day, Gianforte was elected by a comfortable margin.

Think about that for a minute: a man who who believes he should be elected to Congress physically assaulted a reporter doing his job. And the next day, a majority of the people of Montana decided that was okay.

This is the oath of office that members of the House of Representatives take* when assuming their positions:

“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” 

Mr Gianforte, his spokesman, and everyone who voted for him seems to have forgotten that freedom of the press is part of the Constitution he is supposed to support and defend ... but although everyone shouts about the Constitution, few actually read it, or understand that there are freedoms it enshrines other than the right to pack iron everywhere, for any reason. 

What Mr Gianforte did was beyond despicable. The statement issued by his spokesman which heaped blame on the victim was equally despicable and should have appalled anyone who seriously believes in the rights established under the Constitution. Things are bad enough when Donald Trump heaps verbal abuse on those he claims convey "fake news" - defined as that with which he disagrees. They've grown far worse when an elected official believes he can - without consequences - physically assault a reporter in front of a room full of witnesses.

This is not the country I loved and served in my Air Force career.

Bilbo

* Spelled out in law at 5 U.S.C. §3331.

What Are We Thinking?

Agnes and I have a lot of friends and relatives living in Europe, and we communicate with them often by phone, e-mail, and the occasional ink-on-paper letter. One of the most common comments we hear from them is some variation on what are you people thinking? Here's an example from one of our friends in Switzerland, who last week wrote,

"Ja, über eure neue Regierung spricht wohl die ganze Welt! Vielleicht wäre es wirklich besser, die ganze Welt würde den Präsidenten und seine nächsten Berater ganz einfach ignorieren, und niemand würde mehr das getwitter von Herrn Trump lesen! Wir fragen uns oft, wielang dies weitergehen kann????"

Translation: "Yes, the whole world is talking about your new government! Perhaps it would be better if the whole world would just ignore the President and his closest advisors, and nobody would read Mr Trump's tweets! We often ask ourselves how much longer this can go on????"

It's a question I often ask myself.

I must admit, with a certain amount of embarrassment, that I cannot bring myself to say, write, or type the words "President" and "Trump" together. I know he was legally and Constitutionally elected, and I know it sounds small and petty, but Mr Trump is a small and petty person who has made not the least effort to act presidential or look like a statesman and who, rather than reaching out to try to heal the nation's divisions, has spread gasoline on the fires with his baseless accusations, insults, and blatant lies and evasions.

Most observers believe Trump won the election because voters were angry. I get that. I'm angry, too. But never was the old adage about cutting off one's nose to spite one's face more appropriate. Why would you hire someone with absolutely no experience in government to fix the problems ... if there's a problem with the airplane you're riding in, would you want someone with no flying experience to land you safely? If your doctor has a heart attack in the middle of your open-heart surgery, would you want someone who'd never been to medical school to take her place?

There are a lot of very interesting articles out there about the psychology of the American voter, and why so many of them are willing to support a pathological liar like Donald Trump. All those theories are fine, but the bottom line remains what are you thinking?

I wish I knew. And so does the rest of the world.

Have as good a day as you can in this environment.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Don't Get Sick

Now that I'm retired, I'm faced with all the malarkey that goes along with my status as an increasingly senior citizen. Social Security is one part of it, although I have to say that as long as you are a US citizen with well-documented earnings and can do everything online, dealing with Social Security is relatively painless. Unfortunately, if you have a spouse who is a Permanent Resident Alien (green card-holder), he/she must do virtually everything in person at a Social Security office, which is not fun*.

But the worst thing about retirement and advancing age is making sure you are properly cared for health-wise. It is illegal, of course, under the Affordable Care Act** not to have health insurance, but that is not to say that securing such insurance is easy or - despite the name of the law - affordable.

For those of you who have not yet had to worry about all this, here's a cautionary tale ...

First of all, along with Social Security comes Medicare, the federal government's national health insurance plan for the elderly. It has four parts: A, B, C, and D. In order to get "supplemental" health insurance that covers things Medicare won't (such as illness), you must subscribe to parts A and B. This is because all the other supplemental insurers want to bill the government first, and so they want to make sure you're square with the Feds. Part C - Medicare Advantage - involves additional fees and paperwork, and Part D covers Prescription Drugs*** and also has additional fees.

Let's talk about "supplemental" insurance for a minute.

Because the federal government is notoriously cheap and slow about paying doctors who accept Medicare patients, an increasing number of doctors do not accept patients whose only insurance is Medicare ... hence the need for "supplemental" insurance at an additional fee. When I was employed, Agnes and I enjoyed health care under an HMO with which we were very satisfied, and so I contacted that HMO again to try to register for their Medicare Supplement program.

Well ...

Because nothing with health care is ever easy, they sent us a package of forms and explanatory information that the mailman (excuse me ... letter carrier) needed a forklift to deliver^†. The application form was seven pages long (each page in triplicate), and began by asking me which of nine different programs I wanted to enroll in. This decision required reading 6,839 pages of directions which explained the monthly premium for each program, what it covered and didn't cover, and how much extra co-payment every conceivable sort of doctor's visit would require. I eventually made my selection^††, and proceeded to the next six pages of the application, most of which were dedicated to making sure I'd identified any other insurance I already had in addition to Medicare, so that the largest possible number of organizations could share in the billing should I ever get sick.

I then signed my name, attesting that everything I'd put into the application was true and correct, and that if it wasn't, I'd get my ailments back. I mailed the application to the HMO (they did, generously enough, include a postage-free return envelope), and am now waiting for the Green Eyeshade Brigade to render a decision. 

In the meantime, my health plan is simple: don't get sick.

Have a good day. Eat lots of apples. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Had Dante known about this, he'd have made it one of the circles of Hell, along with the DMV (or your state equivalent).

** AKA "Obamacare."

*** Which are almost as expensive as printer ink.

† Just kidding. But it was close.

†† A key component of which involved coin-flipping.

Sport?

Another busy morning, so just a quick post for today ...

You may have seen the news reports about the death of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Joao Carvalho, who died in a hospital after suffering head injuries during an MMA fight in Dublin, Ireland.

Without appearing to make light of an appalling tragedy, one might reasonably ask: why on earth would someone make a living by trying to beat the hell out of other persons, and risk his (or her) own life at the hands of someone making a living by trying to beat the hell out of him (or her)? And what does it say about us that we cheer them on?

As disgusting as political campaigning is, it has to be better than this. And I think you'd have to agree that an MMA fighter like, say, Paige vanZant looks better on the dance floor looking like this than lying battered and bloody on the floor of the octagon ...

Have a good day. Special post tomorrow ... be here.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

I Know the Slogan Says "Let's Go Places" ... But Please Don't

There was an interesting story on CNN the other day about a US Treasury Department investigation into ... of all things ... where the so-called Islamic State* is getting all the Toyota pickup trucks that appear in their propaganda videos ...

A spokesman for Toyta said that,

"Toyota has a strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities, and we have procedures and contractual commitments in place to help prevent our products from being diverted for unauthorized military use,"

but nevertheless, the group seems to have acquired many hundreds of Toyota vehicles and modified them for use as improvised fighting vehicles, or "technicals."

But why Toyotas?  Why not mighty Dodge Rams or Chevy Silverados, or massive Ford F-150s with crew cabs and all the other bells and whistles? Perhaps they're turned on by the slogan ... Toyota's current sales slogan is "let's go places," and the peaceful and benevolent members of ISIS are certainly doing that ... currently to places like Syria, Libya, and Iraq.

Maybe because the Toyota models are smaller than the other huge pickups, they send the subliminal message of the plucky little guy standing up to a bully. Of course, when you're a violent religious bully yourself, that message gets a bit thin, but who's going to call them on it?

Perhaps Toyota trucks can be more easily equipped with such desirable options as mounted machine guns, armor plating, slave-proof doors**, detachable bulldozer blades for demolishing historic sites, and compasses that always point to Mecca.

Perhaps Toyota has a new truck model called "The Caliphate" for sale in the Middle East.

Or maybe it's just that they can't stand trucks made by the Great Satan.

I wish it wasn't just trucks that could be recalled by the Maker.

Have a good day. Keep on truckin' ***. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Also known as "ISIS," "ISIL," or "Those Crazy, Murderous Bastards from the Seventh Century."

** Child-proof doors are so Western.

*** No, "Islamic State"/ISIS/ISIL, not you.

Warning Signs

We've entered a dangerous and traumatic time for the nation. Crazy people with guns run around shooting people, while other crazy people with guns think they should stand guard on the rest of us. Donald Trump, of all people, is leading in the polls as the favored GOP candidate for president. Hackers can seize control of your car. You can't say anything about anyone without being accused of being some sort of -ist. There's a crazy place where the United States of America used to be, and we need to be more careful every day about everything we say and everything we do ...

A long time back, I think I shared some of these useful warning signs with you. It's time to break them out again as we navigate our way through the legions of tinfoil hat wearers and those who are absurdly touchy about everything you say and do. Use as needed ...

No need to thank me. On top of everything else, it's an election year, and everyone is pissed off and armed to the teeth ... you need all the help you can get.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

Surviving the Apocalypse in Style

Back in the 1950’s, when ol’ Bilbo was a student in grade school and our homework was done on clay tablets in cuneiform, our parents worried about the apocalypse. Not necessarily the one with the Four Horsemen, which Angel and I have already discussed, but the one with the long-range bombers and missiles ready to sprout mushroom clouds across the country. If you are of my generation, you probably remember the duck-and-cover exercises we did in school, in which we practiced crouching under our desks with laced fingers holding our heads between our knees … obviously the right way to survive a nuclear holocaust.

Nowadays, of course, we laugh at such exercises. Instead, our schoolchildren practice “active shooter” drills in response to the more realistic … and, in many ways, more horrifying … threats we face today.

But such threats lead us to think about dangers that might be equally terrifying, but less likely – like the zombie apocalypse. Television shows like “The Walking Dead” and movies like “World War Z” imagine a world overrun by the walking dead*, and the list of daily book deals I receive by e-mail from BookBub contains an amazingly large number of books about heroic people facing armies of the undead.

And wouldn’t you know, there are those who offer you various measures of protection against the walking dead.

Consider for a moment that Tiger Log Cabins is ready to sell you the ZFC-1 (Zombie Fortification Cabin, Model 1), which comes complete with rooftop barbed wire; a specially designed 4-way chamfered notch-joint system ensuring a tight fit to all boards with little room for damp, wind or zombie penetration; and a ten-year anti-zombie guarantee**. Weapons are, of course, extra.

Of course, the ZFC-1 is intended as a tongue-in-cheek advertising gimmick***. But considering that we live in a world where real products like bullet-resistant backpacks for school children and bullet-proof whiteboards are being sold to protect our children against real dangers, as well as the "everybody coffin" for use in responding to "mass casualty events," I think I'll take the zombies any day.

At least they're slow, and don't pack heat or seek "martyrdom."

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* As opposed to the simply brain-dead, which would focus on the shambling mental zombies of Congress.

** According to the Tiger website, medical evidence of the presence of a real zombie is required to support a claim under the 10 year anti zombie guarantee.

*** I think.

The Things We Could Have Bought

The election is over, thank goodness. We're done with attack ads and robocalls ... until the next election. The hundreds of thousands of yard and roadside signs will eventually be removed. The anger and gridlock and political childishness will continue. And we'll come to grips with the realization that this was the most expensive midterm election campaign in history - nearly four billion dollars was spent to convince us to vote for one person or the other, one party or the other.

Maybe it's just me, but I think this is beyond shameful. Do you have any idea how much money that is? Most of us can't fathom such enormous numbers ... so let's look at them in a different way: what does that much money look like? Here are some pictures that put it in perspective:

This is what $100 looks like ...

Here's $10,000 ... it's a convenient size to slip into an inside jacket pocket for those short-notice opportunities to make a down payment on a politician ...

This is $1,000,000 ... it would probably fit comfortably in a suitcase ...

This is what $100,000,000 looks like ... it fits pretty nicely on a standard-sized shipping pallet, with a bit left over ...

And this is what a billion dollars looks like ...

Multiply that by four, and you have an idea of the number of hundred dollar bills that was spent on yesterday's election.

Don't you think we could have done more for the country with four billion dollars? This article gives us a few ideas on things we might have done with that much money.

Four billion dollars would buy a lot of schools. A lot of libraries. A lot of quality health care. It could repair bridges, roads, and sewers.

Instead, we spent it on road signs, glossy and uninformative mailers, disgusting and insulting television commercials, and annoying robocalls. We spent it on buying certain individuals and groups a level of government service and attention not available to you and I.

A few days ago when I complained about this on my Facebook page, one of my coworkers commented that "... this is private money. Not public money. I don't want people telling me how to spend my money, so I'm not going to tell others how to spend theirs."

It's a free country. People can spend their money however they want. I just wish they'd be more responsible about what they spend it on.

Have a good day. Expect more from your elected reprehensives, even if you aren't the one who paid for them.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

At Least Republicans and Democrats Aren't Killing Each Other*

Warning - political-religious rant. Come back tomorrow for something lighter.

You have been warned.

A while back in this space, I offered a plan for peace in the Middle East that basically involved walling off the entire area, filling it up with sand, and starting over. It was tongue-in-cheek, of course, but - as I pointed out at the time - it was at least as workable as any other plan anyone has offered to bring peace to that tortured part of the world.

Today, as the political crisis and horrifying slaughter continue in Gaza, I have to reluctantly fall back on my plan as the only one that will ever work.

The problem with the Middle East is that it combines the very best of the very worst in human nature: intense and utterly rigid religious beliefs, irreconcilable political demands, and the presence of a resource (oil) that the world needs and wants. Each side has a claim to the same territory, each side believes their claim is just and all others are illegitimate, each side believes God gave that plot of land only to them, and each side believes that it must deal from a position of unquestioned strength in order to prevail. If ever there was a witches' brew of political, historical, and religious hatreds, it's in what we for some reason continue to refer to as the "Holy Land."

The Israelis contend that they are entitled to a homeland in what used to be called Palestine, and cite both religious history and modern politics (such as the Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the 1947 UN resolution partitioning Palestine) as proof of their claim. They point to their sufferings in the Holocaust as a reason why they need a nation that is their own, that they can defend, where they will be safe.

Many Arabs despise the Israelis (Jews) on religious grounds and will never rest in their hatred until the Jews have been driven from the land. Others contend, logically enough, that perhaps the Jews do deserve a homeland as a result of the Holocaust, but that it should be carved out of Europe, where the Holocaust took place, not out of Palestine.

Good luck reconciling all those positions.

The Palestinians don't trust the Israelis. The Israelis don't trust the Palestinians. The Palestinians have earned a reputation for violence that makes much of the world indifferent to their plight, while the Israelis have earned a reputation for intransigence and heavy-handed violence that often undermines their desired image as a plucky little democracy under siege.

Regardless of who you blame for all the historical events that led to today's situation, I absolutely believe the leaders of Hamas bear the ultimate responsibility for the current ongoing carnage. They launched salvos of rockets at Israel in the certain knowledge that the Israelis would retaliate with full force. They chose to launch those rockets from the densely populated Gaza Strip, knowing full well that any Israeli retaliation would kill large numbers of innocent Palestinians. That didn't matter. All that mattered was their hatred of the Israelis. The fact that innocent Gazan Palestinians would be caught in the crossfire was fine with them, because they would be able to show endless photos of devastated neighborhoods and dead children as "proof" that the Israelis were at fault.

I am not an apologist for Israel. I think that the Israelis have brought much of the hatred of the local population on themselves by their actions and policies. But at some point, people on both sides with brains and hearts have to step back and say yes, I may hate you, but enough is enough.

The Palestinians must accept that, however unjust in the beginning and however bitter now, the state of Israel is a reality on the ground. The Israelis will never be rocketed or suicide-bombed into leaving. Such actions will only continue the cycle of violence. They need to stop dreaming of an idyllic past that will not return, and start concentrating on building a future for their children and grandchildren. When Israel withdrew from Gaza, it left behind a territory with an established infrastructure that could have been developed into a thriving center of commerce and tourism. Instead, hard-core Palestinian elements - driven by hatred rather than focused on building for the future - turned it into a constant battleground. Their callous indifference to the well-being of their own people deserves the condemnation of people of good will everywhere.

The Israelis, for their part, must accept that creation of their state resulted in dislocation and hardship for thousands of people who were already living there. They cannot destroy Hamas and the even more extreme groups any more than those groups can destroy the state of Israel. They must stop building settlements in the occupied West Bank, withdraw from that territory as they did from Gaza, and work with the Palestinians to help build a functioning state that can eventually become a partner for development in the region. Given the established hatreds, this will be no easy task, but the alternative is endless repetitions of the same misery and bloodshed.

Regardless of what each side believes, both are at fault.

And the chances of them recognizing it and trying to resolve things peacefully is about nil.

Have a good day. Don't let this happen to us.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Yet.

Oh, Poo!

A few years ago (back in July of 2009, to be exact) I wrote a post in praise of toilet paper. And today, in the interest of your continued enlightenment, we return to the subject of ... well ... poop.

And I'm not talking about Congress, Faux News, the NRA, or the GOP, although they're all plenty full of it.

One of the most serious public health issues in many developing countries is the lack of sanitary facilities, in particular, public toilets. In India, for example, public defecation* is such a huge health problem that UNICEF - the United Nations Children's Fund - has started a unique program to convince people not to defecate on public streets ... Poo2Loo. According to the Poo2Loo website:

"WHY TAKE POO TO THE LOO?

Daily 620 million Indians are defecating in the open. That's half the population dumping over 65 million kilos of poo out there every day. If this poo continues to be let loose on us, there will be no escaping the stench of life threatening infections, diseases and epidemics.

It's time to take the poo to the loo."

It's a wonderful public health program, complete with its own YouTube video - "Poo Party" - featuring dancing poop and a catchy tune ...

Sort of makes the hard time you get when you leave the lid up seem pretty minor, doesn't it?

So remember, Dear Readers, to take your poo to the loo. We take enough crap from Congress, and they don't need the help.

Have a good day. Come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday, when we will not pursue our discussion of fecal material. You're welcome.

Bilbo

* My brother Mark, once stationed in Bahrain with the Navy, tells ... colorful ... stories about this topic. 

Where the Psychopaths Are

If you watch TV shows like "Criminal Minds," "Hannibal," and "Law and Order: SVU," you could be forgiven for thinking that every other person you see on the street is a sadistic serial killer. The psychopath is the new villain of choice ... the crazy person who haunts the dark corners of our fears.

A psychopath is not necessarily a killer, though. In psychological terms, a psychopath is generally understood to be a person characterized by shallow emotions (in particular reduced fear) and lacking in empathy and guilt. A psychopath tends to be superficial, coldhearted, egocentric, manipulative, irresponsible, impulsive and antisocial, and usually lives a parasitic lifestyle and engages in various criminal activities.

In other words, a psychopath can be a thoroughly unpleasant person, although not necessarily your neighborhood Hannibal Lecter.

Time Magazine recently pondered whether certain professions tend to attract more (or fewer) psychopaths. You can read the full article here, but in case you'd rather have the short version, here are the top ten professions that attract psychopaths (with my comments, of course):

1. CEO. Plenty of room to do all sorts of evil stuff in that corner office;

2. Lawyer. Don't tell me you were surprised about that one;

3. Media (TV/Radio). Rush Limbaugh. Anne Coulter. Glenn Beck. Oy;

4. Salesperson. Think used cars, subprime mortgages, and hedge funds;

5. Surgeon. Now that's scary;

6. Journalist. Faux News. 'Nuff said;

7. Police Officer. Now that's scary, too ...;

8. Clergyperson. Now that's really scary;

9. Chef. Hmmm ... I'm not a professional chef, but I really like to cook. Hmmm ... ;

10. Civil Servant. Ever been to the DMV? Or watched C-SPAN? Yep ... this one's nailed down.

These professions place people in positions of power relative to everyone else, often able to impose their will or opinions on others. People in these professions must be able to make objective decisions without regard for personal feelings and empathy ... appealing jobs for psychopaths.

And these are the occupations least likely to attract psychopaths ... most of them seem pretty obvious to me, as they're all professions that involve empathy and caring. They wouldn't appeal to a psychopath as much as the professions we discussed above:

1. Care Aide;

2. Nurse;

3. Therapist;

4. Craftsperson. This one sort of surprised me. I guess a true craftsperson is a creative artist, putting himself (or herself) into the art;

5. Beautician/Stylist;

6. Charity Worker;

7. Teacher;

8. Creative Artist. See what I said above about craftspersons;

9. Doctor. I could see this one going either way. While a doctor should have a reasonably good bedside manner, he or she also needs to make life-or-death decisions, often dispassionately. The "mad doctor" is a staple of horror movies for a reason;

10. Accountant. This one surprises me ... I think there are a lot of CPAs who had a hand in the murder of the economy.

So, Dear Readers, what do you think? Any other professions you think might attract psychopaths? Leave a comment so we can try to avoid them.

Have a good day. Try not to go Norman Bates on anyone without genuine provocation.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

The Knockout Game

You may have read of the recent spate of random attacks in which young people approach a victim and strike the person as hard as possible, with the aim of rendering the victim unconscious with one blow. This bizarre and hateful activity is known as "The Knockout Game," and it makes you wonder what we've come to. Here's an excerpt from a longer article by CNN's Morgan Winsor ...

"Youth violence expert Chuck Williams blamed the media and parents for what he called extreme aggression by America's youths. Negative attention, he said, is often rewarded.

"'That's America. America loves violence, and so do our kids,' he said. 'We market violence to our children and we wonder why they're violent. It's because we are.'

"Williams, a professor of psychology and education at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said some young people are desperate for attention. He called it the 'Miley Cyrus effect,' where teens will do anything to get noticed, no matter how unconscionable.

"'These kids know the consequences,' he said. 'They want to get arrested. They want to get caught, because they want that notoriety. They know they won't go away forever because they're kids. It's a win-win all around for them.'"

What sort of example are parents setting, and what are we teaching our children when their idea of a game is brutally assaulting a random stranger? Are our children indeed so desperate for attention that they find it necessary to injure others in order to "be noticed?"

I think there are a lot of negative things coming together to create this unfortunate trend*.

One is the glorification of violence in television and the movies, much of it loud and cartoonish and not reflective of the real blood and terror that's involved with all the gunfire and explosions and fights that are choreographed in blazing color and thundering sound on the screen.

Another is the abdication of personal responsibility for one's actions, in which bad things are justified by all sorts of excuses that put the blame everywhere but on the perpetrator.

The increasing anonymity of modern life also plays a role. Our children spend more time in impersonal contacts on social media than actually dealing with real people, and this can make it difficult to relate to live, breathing persons. This is related to the idea I explored a few posts back about the lost art of conversation ... if you only communicate via SMS using OMGs and LOLs, it can be tough to actually talk to someone.

Many of us have an unfortunate idea that unlimited freedom is the ultimate purpose of America. Don't tread on me is one mantra ... leave me alone, it's a free country, and get the government off my back** are others. We focus completely on the rights of the individual, and ignore the responsibilities that go along with them.

If that's what you believe, you deserve what you get ... which might well be a starring role in some bored teenager's YouTube video for The Knockout Game.

Have a good day. Remember the Golden Rule. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* I'm not a psychologist, just an observer.

** Unless I need disaster help, or a tax break for my business.

Non-Essential Personnel

If Congress can't get past its endless buffoonery and cheap political posturing, the government may run out of money and have to partially shut down on Tuesday. This means that a large number of people (including Yours Truly) may be out of work. If the shutdown occurs, only "essential personnel" will be permitted to go to work and get paid ... the rest of us, the "non-essential personnel," will be out of luck. As you might suspect, the uncertainty surrounding who is and isn't "essential," what Congress may or may not do, and the general low regard in which government employees (and contractors) is held nowadays, have contributed to no small degree of angst.

If you ask me, they're looking in the wrong place for non-essential personnel. I think we all know who they are ...

Have a good day. Tomorrow will be Cartoon Saturday for this week, as Agnes and I will be going to Chincoteague Island for the weekend with our local grandchildren, and I'll have other things on my mind than cartoons. Be here for the laughs I know you'll need.

Bilbo

Today is "Go Armed to Starbucks Day." Really.

Yes, Dear Readers, just when you thought things couldn't get any crazier, I note that today is Go Armed to Starbucks Day. From the linked article:

"Gun owners across America plan to on Friday [today, August 9th] go armed to Starbucks outlets when getting their morning (noon and evening) coffee, as part of an “I Love Guns and Coffee” campaign, and a show of appreciation to the coffee giant for letting customers pack heat when it accords with state law."

Oy.

I suppose it's better than the utter lunacy of allowing people to carry loaded weapons into bars, but it's just a matter of degree ... I'm not sure I'd like to be sitting next to someone on a jittery caffeine high with a big iron on his hip*.

Perhaps Starbucks ought to go all in ... if it really wants to honor gun owners, it could rename its drink sizes for the day in honor of gun lovers: instead of "tall," "grande," or "venti," you could order a ".22 caliber," ".38 caliber," or "44 magnum."

So, if you're planning to stop by Starbucks today for your cup of joe, be sure to wear your best casual kevlar vest, and check your common sense at the door.

Have a good day. See you tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday.

Bilbo

* With apologies to Marty Robbins.

The New Crazy

One of the most valuable tools available to those who treat mental illness is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, commonly known as the DSM. The DSM, which is used by doctors, insurance companies, and other mental health professionals, describes and provides numerical codes for all the ways the human mind can go off the rails. It defines more than 300 recognized mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and fetishism. It's quite a book.

This article discusses some of the economics and politics that surround the latest revision of the DSM, and is very interesting. From the economic perspective, a mental disorder must be listed in the DSM and have its own code in order to have its treatment reimbursed by insurance companies, and the National Institutes of Health require DSM codes in order to pay out research grants for the development of treatments. There are also political issues involved, as mental health professionals seek to have new types of disorders documented so that educational and social services will be provided for sufferers of those disorders.

The DSM has been revised several times since its introduction in 1952, and each edition has incorporated new disorders and adjusted the discussion of existing ones. The newest edition of the DSM - DSM-V, due out next year, will include excoriation (skin-picking) and hoarding as recognized mental illnesses, but will not include hypersexual disorder (also known as sex addiction). Go figure.

What other mental disorders won't be included in DSM-V? How about ...

Fiscal Reality Denial - a severe mental disorder common to extreme conservatives, characterized by the delusion that reducing taxes on the wealthy is the best way to assist the poor.

Electronic Communication Addiction - a condition in which sufferers are unable to communicate without the aid of cell phones or text messaging, even with other individuals sitting across a table or at opposite ends of a sofa.

Exertion Avoidance - a mild form of mental illness which manifests itself in a willingness to wait 10 minutes in a running car in order to get a parking place as close as possible to one's destination, rather than parking a short distance further away and walking a bit longer.

So ...

What mental disorders do you think were inadvertently omitted from the new DSM? Leave a comment.

Because it would be interesting to learn whether I'm certifiably crazy or just eccentric.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo