Views on the news

Human Rights and world scourges

2011-11-25T23:22:00.001+01:00

Fleausolution.com a French blog about human rights, world scourges and solutions.

With some friends we're working on a new blog/mag in France called http://fleausolution.com/. It's mainly run by Scientologists but not exclusively, our purpose is just to raise the awareness of the world scourges and show that there are solutions to these.

Human Rights are a problem in far too many countries, even in the west there are huge problems with human right, racial discrimination, religious discrimination and more. Just look at the news, how some journalists are stigmatizing Muslims with terrorism it's wrong. It's part of the disrespect for human right.

Drug addition is a massive problem and it get's watered down and "made nothing of" in books like Steve Jobs' biography which is almost an advertisement for LSD, one of the most mind bending and probably the most permanently damaging drug on the market.

And the list goes on. We thought that instead of just talking about the problems and how it's all bad we would balance it between the problems and the solutions and show that there are solutions.

If you can write French then drop by our site and propose an article, we'd love to have more viewpoints.

Norway killings is the world unsafe?

2011-07-24T19:39:00.000+02:00

I'm still trying to get over the insane and tragic news of this weekend with the Norway killings. How a peaceful country like Norway can be the victim of such a killing spree. I've lived in Copenhagen for a long time and I've always regarded Denmark and Norway as some of the most peaceful countries in the world.

But this incident is beyond me. My condolences go to all the victims their families and to the people of this country whose minds have been scarred by a psychotic guy (or several).

Now I see comments on twitter and in the news how the world has become unsafe because of this? And that we're all in danger etc etc. Here are people taking advantage of some psychos to spread chaos to everyone. As long as there are psychos around (and unfortunately it's not tomorrow that they'll all be gone) of course we can be victims of such insanity, but that does not mean the world is unsafe.

There have been psychos for thousands of years, yes I agree that since those that are meant to fix the problem (psychiatrists) are now just feeding them mind bending drugs then telling the world "there's nothing that can be done about it" and worse letting them loose on the population with statements like "well nobody really knows" or crap like that. BUT that doesn't mean we all need to run around feeling unsafe and terrified of our lives.

Societies work because everyone in them make them work. If we're all aware of what is happening around us and aren't looking the other way when we see someone being weird we can make our area safe. It's not luck or fate that determines how safe we are. It's us as individuals that create the safety, it's us making sure that our neighbors, co-workers, friends, acquaintances and what not are doing well, helping them in times of need, lending a hand and building an atmosphere of safety that's what makes us safe.

When some nut who should have been locked up long time ago, does go loose he stands out like a sore thumb because he will inevitably not be part of that neighborhood or workplace and these guys will be seen before they do such insane acts.

And if and when they slip through and commit such atrocities, then we better get even closer and help each other make it safer. Not dish out classic merchant of chaos statements that we're all unsafe.

Let's try and make our world a better place for our kids and for their kids. It starts with us and we make it safer.

Wikileaks and Operation Payback

2010-12-09T23:07:00.003+01:00

I've been following the Wikileaks and Operation Payback a little recently and have a couple of viewpoints to share about this.

Wikileaks, a service like that can actually be quite practical. In theory it could help put pressure on governments around the world that possibly forgot that they are there SOLELY in order to help the people (sometimes it seems they think the people are there to help them). Well such a site would help keep the moves of governments in line. Somewhat like Yelp or Qype does for restaurants and hotels. They can't mess around anymore since they know future customers will find out.

Unfortunately it seems Wikileaks is turning into another merchant of chaos system of who can create the biggest scandal. For example the last release - well how much of that actually helps anyone?

Haven't we all told a friend about how stupid the waiter was? Now show those comments to the waiter, wow did you help anyone?

Such sites should be careful and keep a real ideal, something that helps the people.

The second point is Operation Payback. Yet another Terrorist move by the Anonymous banner. That Wikileaks hasn't distanced themselves from that bunch sort of tells us where they are at.

Terror, destruction, intimidation, these are just not healthy ways to lead the world for a change. For example the French revolution, did it bring more freedom to France... well if Napoleon was freedom.

But look a Gandhi, he actually did make a change. Look at Nelson Mandela, he actually managed to get his message through.

I agree that free speech tools need to be used to make known what is happening in those "secret" places like corrupt governments. But it's got to be done right.

What this Operation Payback is going to do for Wikileaks is classify it as an extremist "conspiracy" site for the people and lose it's credibility.

Ash Cloud - really that bad?

2010-04-19T20:12:00.002+02:00

The recent ash cloud has been the story for several days. There is something about it that doesn't quite make sense.

Shutting down almost all European airports for 4 days? I have never seen that happen in all my years.

How is it that no planes can fly another route? The sky is huge, there's got to be a way to fly around the cloud.

Then on TV they announce that "unfortunately there is no rain to push away the cloud" which is just another non-sense since the cloud is seemingly over 10,000 meters.

Frankly there is something about this whole shutting down of airports that makes no sense. Who is going to benefit on this?

Well if someone knows more about this please comment as I am sure many others don't understand this either.

H1N1 Swine flu virus - what about those healed?

2009-12-03T23:26:00.003+01:00

What's happening with all the people that had swine flu and don't have it anymore?

TV reports daily about the increase and increase of people infected. It just goes on and on, but what about those not infected any more?

The kid of a friend of mine had it. She is totally OK now, TV didn't mention anything.

Maybe there are only a few thousand that still have the flu, maybe it's all cool and nobody is telling us.

A few days ago the French TV media line was that there were very few people showing up to get their vaccines. They showed schools with only 10% people showing up. They showed other places ready to get their vaccines but nobody attending.

Since then the Minister of Heath seemingly got her self vaccinated on TV (was it really a vaccine), the TV media line has changed to promote the howling success of the vaccine and the two recent deaths were specifically announced as being people that haven't been vaccinated.

Can someone do a count of how many people are cured? I know of 1 at least.

H1N1 - Swine Flu remedy?

2009-09-05T13:40:00.001+02:00

The daughter of a friend of mine was diagnosed with swine flu some days ago. I was pretty concerned and asked her immediately what she was doing about it.

Her daughter had high fever for several days and was told to wear a facemask and to take Doliprane.

Aside from that I asked what the doctor had told her to do. As far as I know doliprane is a painkiller and as such doesn't actually fight the virus much. She (the girls mother) told me that the doctor told her to give orange juice and kiwis to her daughter for breakfast as they contain C vitamin.

That was it. NOTHING MORE!!!

I was shocked. What about telling her to take C Vitamin? What about the classic flu/infection remedy of taking garlic? What the hell!? Just Doliprane and wait?!

This is sick. Obviously if someone has a virus for several days the natural immune system of the person is fighting the disease, it needs to be helped with elements that make the immune system stronger.

So why in the world does this MD just say "pain killers"?

I'm not even going to get started on the whole hype around the swine flu, frankly I think it's massive media hyperbole and drug companies need something to boost their economy. The French government has already spent upward of 1 billion euros to finance an untested drug.

Wow that's the best "beta product" I have seen released on the market. So what, after many failures we'll see "version 1.0" and then it's another few billions?

Sick.

Exxon, Shell and Fortune 500

2009-08-15T18:34:00.001+02:00

On my return from holiday I bought Fortune magazine to read on the 4 hour train ride from south of France to Paris. It's first time I buy the mag and I actually enjoyed it. It changes from the usual bad-news/gossip mags that are out there.

But when going through the global list of fortune 500 companies I was slightly taken aback.

The number one company for profits in 2008 was Exxon Mobil? Hold on a second, I must have read wrong. We had an oil crisis in 2008, the price of crude oil skyrocketed. Low-cost airlines went broke across the world due to skyrocketing gas prices. People were left without jobs, travelers were left around the world needing to pay new flight tickets. And I could go on about the problems the oil crisis.

Yet what am I reading... that Exxon Mobil had the highest ever profits in their history AND not only that, it seems they beat the records for profits of any American company.

Wow, that's slightly disturbing. It's just against any concept of exchange, value for money or service that I know of. If the price of crude goes up, it is understandable that the price to the consumer would raise. But the price of crude went up to about $151 in 2008. It then went back down to $67 today.

That change hasn't been turned over to the consumers.

Now I went through the list of global 500 companies and find the oil companies all over it. It's OK that they make a lot of money and we all heard the story of the Black Gold. The next surprise... Shell is the biggest company in the world!

In fact Fortune's editor puts a little comment "America's Exxon Mobil remains the most profitable company, with income last year of $45.2 billion. In fact, last year's high oil prices allowed global energy companies to dominate this year's list, capturing 7 of the top 10 slots."

It's a little sad to see that while the world is struggling to find solutions for the incredible pollution problem, for the low economy and incredible job losses.

And in the back of that the oil companies (which make or break many industries since they all rely on oil) are racking in the profits on their backs!

As a Scientologist there is one fundamental datum that is taught again and again. It's the concept of exchange, to always give slightly better service or product than one has received exchange for. I have always lived with that concept and apply it on my work all the time. The results speak for themselves. The companies I work with are all turning around their sales in an otherwise difficult year.

It seems oil companies could learn from these concepts.

French human rights

2009-07-18T13:30:00.003+02:00

France claims to be the originators of human rights with their Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which was issued after the revolution in 1789.

The document is good but incomplete. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as issued by the United Nations after second world war was more complete and covered more rights.

However that the French would claim being the center point of human rights is a bit odd. This is a country that is so anti-religion that muslims can't wear their head-scarves in school. Where the President gets critisized for having spoken to the Pope on his last visit to France (because he is mixing religion and government), where a politician gets heavily attacked in the media because he met with an actor who is also a Scientologist.

How can a government take a religion to court and try to disband it because someone claims there have been mistakes done?

Here is where the simple concept of human rights simply does not exist in that country. Freedom of thought, freedom of beliefs? Where did that go?

It seems some people think they respect human rights because they don't torture people and that's about it. Or that they respect human rights because they don't condone slavery. Ok, well let's pat them on the back for that. Now what about the rest of the points?

With the faith in communism and other "socialistic" systems fading more and more countries are electing more and more right wing governments. I am neither for nor against that, but if the people aren't well educated in human rights the chances are these governments will eliminate them.

The French method of taking it to the streets isn't the solution to everything. Education and integrity will help on the longer run.

My conclusion is that we need to educate ourselves, our children, our neighbours and with that education demand our governments stick to these rights. They can fool the ignorant but not those that know.

Who killed Michael Jackson?

2009-07-13T20:33:00.006+02:00

Michael Jackson probably died of medical drugging overdose. But before he started taking medecine to overcome his problems someone or something probably drove him down enough to need to take that route.

In 2003 Michael Jackson allowed Martin Bashir into his ranch, his life and basically everything. He allowed him to film everything, he talked about everything and aside from minimizing the plastic surgery operations, he kept no secrets.

That's a pretty bold move by Michael Jackson - not many stars let a journalist into their lives to such an extent. I mean you probably wouldn't let anyone that close to your life.

If you haven't seen the videos or don't know what I am talking about, I am embedding the first in a series of video interviews that Martin Bashir did entitled Living with Michael Jackson.

There are 10 videos in the series. In these videos Martin Bashir twists facts a la Mad City making great conversations into media spectacle and in the end making Michael Jackson look like a perverted weirdo that would fit with the media line - Wacko Jacko.

How much he twisted these facts comes to life when one watched "Living with Michael Jackson, take two" a follow up documentary made from Michael Jackson's own recordings of the Martin Bashir interviews... a totally different story and a totally different Martin Bashir.

When someone who has been shut off to media for decades, finally opens up and decides to give the media and thus the world, gets stabbed in the back like that, it's a cut that goes deep.

And the audience, who has been dying to get any information about Michael Jackson for year, now is finally given a whole lot of twisted viewpoint making their idol look like pedophile weirdo.

It's no wonder he then secluded himself even further. Following that the drugs became a necessity and a "solution" to avoid the real world and from there it's a matter of very little before he hits the bottom.

It's a misuse of human rights, the right to freedom of speech that give journalists the power to say anything and turn it in any way. But with the internet maybe that right will be taken from them and given to the people that can find out for themselves and separate fact from fiction and truth from opinions.

For human rights... 17th July

2009-07-03T20:21:00.002+02:00

On 17th July bloggers from the whole world are going to unite and blog for Human Rights.

It's a cause I believe in. If everyone knew their rights and knew them well (and I am the first to say I could know them better) we would not be finding ourselves in situations like we do.

Human Rights exist, they are based on common sense, they should be made known and put to use!

Join us on http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights-2009

Scientology in France

2009-06-02T22:14:00.003+02:00

Scientology has this court case going in France. It's annoying as a Scientologist to see someone working at religions again.

Then again that's a bit of French history repeating itself isn't it. Its understandable that there is a bit of a bitter aftertaste in the mouth of some French when one goes through history and what some religions have done to minority groups.

But we're in the 21st century... people have learned to think now and to look and observe (well most have I'm excluding those rabid fanatics that spend most of their time on the internet destroying lives).

Well anyways, back to the post: Scientology in France, the Court case? well really how can one ban a religion? It's a pretty silly thing to even think. It's like banning an idea, so what's next the Thought Police?

Whatever happens - the idea grows as long a people believe it and find truth in it.

Scientology just happens to be going through a very stabilizing phase called the Golden Age of Knowledge where all the basic texts of the religion have returned to their originals plus hundreds of additional lectures released to go with it.

Scientolgists understand and apply it much more.

So... it's not really about to go too far.

The future of Wikipedia?

2009-06-01T19:16:00.006+02:00

I've often had my doubts on the value of the Wikipedia. And yet I often find myself using it when searching for information.

My doubts on it's validity started when I saw the text on Scientology. Some true some false but constantly changing and often to the worse. In fact the whole page is quite slanted and really doesn't give a full factual view of Scientology. It's just not really what one would expect from a source that is meant to have some authority. Somehow after reading the article one would expect to have an overview of the subject. The plus and the minus equaling out and in the end being able to make up one's own mind.

What has always had me rather skeptical was how could people who randomly consider themselves experts on a subject decide to update an entry. Sure they have to base it on facts but "facts" are so easily made up.

Unfortunately this affects the dream of the web 2.0 encyclopedia.

I believe in web 2.0 and I have loved it since it started. But it works as long as nobody claims to be an authority on a subject. A blog is perfect, it's an opinion and most people can make the difference between a fact and an opinion.

An encyclopedia can't be web 2.0 its just against the whole concept. Its like calling a meeting with a thousand people and doing a dictionary with them. "The definition of the word computer is:..." and a thousand answers later we have a useless mess or something that is 168 definitions long and equally useless.

If someone were to start an article about me and decide to "factually" spread a bunch of crap about me, dig out somethings I did when I was a teenager and focus on that, I guess I wouldn't be happy. And then when I edit it I am banned from the site because it then becomes slanted? Wait a minute - who is slanted here?

Well the wikipedia has a future and in my opinion it will go either of two ways:
(a) crash and burn and the articles become more and more slanted or
(b) like any encyclopedia, they will need to hire scholars and professionals and get all their facts verified and edited before they publish them.

I hope they take the latter, because it does have some value that everyone in the world can propose articles and we could create a massive encyclopedia that would be much bigger than anything ever done before.

PS: BTW if you really want an honest view of what Scientology is, find a Scientologist and take him/her out for a coffee and find out all about it. Then read a book and make your own opinion. But that will be the subject of another post at another time.

Scientology goes to court in France

2009-05-26T21:58:00.004+02:00

Scientology is being sued in France by a woman who claims that the religion has been manipulating her and pressuring her to pay large sums after having been offered a free personality test. The case is against the entire church of Scientology - the belief.

I don't know the details of the court case and am getting more facts on that. But looking at the information I do find, it seems like a pretty ordinary "case" against Scientology.

The scenario goes something like this.
1. Find something about a group that the general public wont understand.
2. Publicize it as the standard thing of that group and give it an angle of evil and bad intent.
3. General public who doesn't have the time to study up on it for real will believe what he hears.
4. Roll out with "evidences" if you can't find any, look for unhappy former members and get their interviews. In most cases for a bit of money or some status reward.

Voila you have a "good" case. Add a bit of controversy, money and big names and you even have a news story! It's not that hard.

In fact there was a TV Program on M6 (French TV station) called "Enquête exclusive" it depicted the story of Senegalese salesmen under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on tourist locations in Rome and on street stands in New York or elsewhere around the world. Per that piece of journalistic wonder these "salesmen" are part of a "very organized" religion in Senegal and that part of all the money made by these "salesmen" goes to the head of that religion.

The connection between the religion and these salesmen is dubious. The evidence on screen is a bunch of people praying in a medium to small sized, dropping coins in a bag and a few doller bills in a box. Right after that claims are made that "Religion and Business are mixed here" shortly after a member of the church is interviewed who says that any believing member would give everything he had to the church.

And with that and a few more images which the narrator clearly tinges with his opinions, the "investigation" links the street salesmen to a religious group. The street salesmen seemingly being the "money machine" for the religion.

But when you look just about 1 nanometer under the surface - that is what the narrator is saying based on no fact. Unless putting a few coins in a donations bag is part of a secret financial system of a mysterious religion of Africa...

Well back to Scientology now. The court case is about someone who claims Scientology is an extortion and took their money by force. Well if Scientology really did that and if that really was part of the religion it would long since have ended and people (not the justice system) would have shut down the religion long ago.

Could it be that someone (i.e. the media) is only listening to what they want to hear? Could it be that there is something more to Scientology than money? and that the donations made to the church are actually valid donations with a valid purpose?

Could it be that people donate because they truly are feeling spiritual enlightenment?

For some info from the Scientology site in France there is a link here: http://scientologie-espace-presse.fr/ it is all in French but could be of use if you want to hear some background info to what the news says.

Financial Crisis, a great way to justify ineffectiveness

2009-01-13T08:42:00.001+01:00

I hear about the Financial crisis all the time, it's a bit tiring after all these month.

And now fellow employees are telling me that the reason for less sales is the Financial crisis - that is when I realize how much the media actually manages to dupe the population.

Steve Jobs had a great thing to say about that once:

"A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets."
Steve Jobs

The fact of the matter is that the financial crisis is a great way to explain to everyone that one is ineffective at conceiving a good product, producing it in a high quality and then marketing it and selling it. And this works for anyone on any job. If one is a great cleaner and cleans better than the rest one will be able to sell his product.

Despite the crisis there are still 6 billion people out there and they need products every day. Whether the banks have money or not they will want to buy those product even those considered a luxury!

Where I work we sell luxury goods and we're breaking all records month after month. Why? The product is great, the price is high but competitive and we market the product, people come in droves and they love it!

Elections... please vote!

2008-10-31T14:57:00.001+01:00

American elections are always something to behold. The fanfare and hullabaloo that goes on is amazing. The money spent at campaigns is quite amazing too (Actually I hope someday that gets some form of control as it is totally unreal and really doesn't need to be - they would have a president without all that).

I just watched a French documentary movie called "Being W" which was released about one month before "W" by Oliver Stone, it is quite hilarious actually.

You can see the trailer here:

While we can definitely discuss the possibility of a conspiracy to get W on as president - I am sure enough people are doing that already. It is true that due to lack of votes the polls were tight enough to be able to proclaim him president.

I loved the video below featuring an amazing gamut of stars.
(Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Snoop Dogg, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Justin Timberlake, along with Sacha Baron Cohen as “Borat,” Zach Braff, Colin Farrell, Neil Patrick Harris, Scarlett Johansson, Shia LeBeouf, Tobey Maguire, Ryan Reynolds, and Jason Segal)

Check it out.

Borat's comments sporadically inserted take the video from being funny to hilarious. And the message really comes across well.

I would vote after seeing this.

However what scares me most about this election is the choice of candidates. The two main candidates (Obama and McCain) just fail to convince me on their abilities to lead the most powerful nation in the world. It is like a status race for personal benefit rather than getting the country back on track.

I saw the video of an unlikely winner (Ron Paul) which seems to convince a lot more.

But unfortunately - as usual I just doubt that the ones that really care and who actually mean to make some real positive improvements, just don't get voted in.

Well all I can say to all Americans is VOTE! Your vote makes a huge difference on the world scene!

The financial recession ... en passant

2008-10-11T21:19:00.001+02:00

Ok so we're being repeatedly reminded by the press that we are in a financial recession. There is probably a bunch of truth in that but I don't understand why the press is so keen to keep spreading the news of the "catastrophe" that is about to happen.

At the end of the day this is their money too!

Which news editor doesn't know that the more one can bring panic to the people the more they will try to take their money out of the banks and the more they do that the worse off the whole situation will go? It is one of the first things we all learned about banks.

Yet they are all too happy to repeat it in the news EVERY DAY and SEVERAL TIMES a day! At the end of the day it is their own savings they are messing up.

If I were an editor I would be slightly worried about my own money - and maybe I would try to find some good news about the financial situation so I could cool the whole thing down a bit.

Sometimes I wonder what really goes on in the mind of a news editor...

Now back to banking. I recently read a simple and excellent text that L. Ron Hubbard wrote about banking to the financial departments of Scientology Churches. It is from September 1982 it's called "AND THAT IS BANKING".

It explains in simple terms what banking is, what inflation is, what the role of a banker is etc. I advise it to anyone who can read.

It is volume 3 of the Management Series by L. Ron Hubbard. In the section called Finance Series. And exists in about 11 languages or more.

ADHD and Michael Phelps

2008-08-26T18:44:00.001+02:00

Just like the many millions of others I spent the last few weeks intensely following the Olympic games and seeing the results. The other day when Michael Phelps won his eighths Gold medal for these Olympics he mentioned that his teacher had once told him he would not be able to do anything in his life.

I thought that was a pretty extreme statement from a teacher (shouldn't teachers be encouraging students to become something?) well I checked up on it and found that he had been labeled with ADHD and even put on ritalin for it!

Yet here he goes and becomes not only an Olympic champion but THE Olympic champion of all time! Not just winning by chance but actually setting himself the exact goal and then doing it. In other words a true winner. Deciding to do something and then doing it, is the definition of a win.

It again goes to say how wrong the ADHD label is. Because a student has trouble concentrating (something that is very simply explained in the Study Technology) is no reason to put him on drugs!

They labeled Tom Cruise the same way and look at him now, probably one of the most successful actors of all time.

How do they get away with this?

There are real solutions to such lazy labels like ADHD, I am linking to a couple here but I am sure there are more.

http://www.appliedscholastics.org/
http://www.whatcausedmysymptoms.com/

Check them out.

Open-Source Terrorism

2008-03-15T12:14:00.003+01:00

I love the internet, it's a great way for people to be able to communicate and for others to remain informed of what is happening. Probably thanks to the internet things like the second world war will never be able to happen again.

Recently I've been seeing these articles about a "group" called Anonymous. And it got me thinking. Who would want to call themselves anonymous leave no traces and just destroy the lives of others "for fun" what fun. The last person I knew who thought that was fun was in Germany and that was in the 1940s.

Well back to my headline. What is this anonymous thing? is it really some sort of organized on-line terrorist group? Or is it just open-source terrorism. I.e. anyone who wants to vandalize something in cyberspace just signs Anonymous and gives the idea that this was some sort of organized activity?

I think it is the latter.

It's so easy now to just create havoc, mess people's lives and assign it to some ambiguous group "anonymous". Some poor student sitting at home being bored can go in hack a computer, crash a window or whatever and sign it anonymous.

Meanwhile a few merchants of chaos can sell the idea, instigate the hate, propagandize the idea a la Goebbles and tell everyone that they are operating off some group called "anonymous".

Well, the bottom line is free speech doesn't mean free messing up of people's lives. And the internet is about free speech not free destruction.

Just an environmentally friendly idea

2007-09-15T00:56:00.000+02:00

I had a crazy idea the other day. Maybe it could work - of course it would require someone to lobby the big petrol companies and governments and so forth and while I know by blog is good ;-) I don't know if it is that good yet.

In order to reduce the traffic in the cities we could increase the public transport use. That is a known fact and many big cities are promoting that. However taking a bus, the metro, a subway or train in most countries costs a fortune. And the prices are going up every year. It is like they are trying to get rid of customer!

Now what if the big oil companies did a super PR stunt. They would sell the gas for all buses in the cities at cost. i.e. no profit for them. Even maybe donate some of it (it isn't like they are low on cash - what with all the Iraq resources being opened to them in the last few years). They get a label on the buses saying they have sponsored that and it's great PR for them.

Then we get all the taxes on these buses and metros cancelled, just slash it down to nil. Basically nobody makes profit on the money - but everybody makes profit on the environment sustaining itself a little longer.

The oil companies get good PR on it. The Politicians get good PR on it. The people get less cars and less polution.

We all get to live a few years more on our lovely home.

Well it was a thought, if you have a comment POST it.

PS: It's great to be back.

What's happening to these kids? the contrasts of our generations

2007-08-02T17:10:00.000+02:00

I got this on an email. I it pretty fun. And at the same time quite revealing on the social and moral decline that we are living through (and hopefully doing something to change).

I posted a similar fun series of comparisons of the last 30 years called All in the Name of Progress.

And if you don't read anything - at least check out the quote from Jay Leno on the bottom.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's
and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. (That we know of)

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! S, no Internet or chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Not only would our parents spank us, but other adult members of the community would feel free to either spank us or threaten to spank us – AND WE RESPECTED THAT AND THEM!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them...CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Tom Cruise, Religion, Germany and the Freedom of Press - or irresponsible reporting in the name of the buck

2007-07-04T00:41:00.000+02:00

I was somewhat surprised about all the media stories being run last week about "Germany" not allowing Tom Cruise to make his new film.

At first I sort of wondered if they had really stepped out of line that far. I mean it would be almost as stupid as starting to yell at the person you are doing a documentary on. Then I realised that the article just could not point to any specific source - it was all general statements like "German Government" and other such ambiguous people.

Then when someone starts really doing their investigation it turns out it is one not so tolerant politician that voiced her opinion (It would be like asking Le Pen what his opinion is of the foreigners in France and publishing it as the official statement). The media hid that fact and then had stories to sell for another week.

My point is Freedom of Speech includes a certain responsibility. The Free Press can be helpfull if they are responsible.

But nobody even looks at it that way anymore. "That's just the way it is" doesn't make our lives easier to live. As bloggers we have the power to report the truth no matter what the media says. Let's not waste it!

A fellow blogger, Grahame did a really great post on this whole hullabaloo, called Unfair Treatment of Germany in the Press. Actually an honest piece of "journalism". More people should do this.

Travolta, On psychotropic drugs

2007-06-21T01:42:00.000+02:00

I read this article, it is nice how Travolta is just cool about stuff. He's just smooth. Even though loosers like John Sweeney try to upset him at his movie premiere (actually I never figured out what Sweeney was trying to do there, probably trying his old poke in the eye tactic) well Travolta is just cool.

The connection between school shooters and psychiatric drugs is pretty amazing. As a note I read in a paper the other day that in the last 20 years the number of people with migraines has increased, the number of depressed has increased and yet the number of drugs sold also increased. Doesn't it prove that the drugs aren't the solution?

When the germ theory came out 100 years ago people started washing their hands and diseases decreased, that was a correct solution. Is it really so hard to see?

Travolta Echoes Cruise on Psychiatry

Jun 19 09:18 PM US/Eastern

NEW YORK (AP) - John Travolta says his thinking is in line with fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise, who has publicly defended the religion's stance against psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Cruise, during a famously heated debate on NBC's "Today" show in 2005, criticized Brooke Shields for taking anti-depression drugs and berated host Matt Lauer for suggesting that psychiatric treatment might help some patients.

"I don't disagree with anything Tom says," Travolta says in the July issue of W magazine, on newsstands Friday. "How would I have presented it? Maybe differently than how he did, but it doesn't matter. I still think that if you analyze most of the school shootings, it is not gun control. It is (psychotropic) drugs at the bottom of it."

"I don't want to create controversy; I just have an opinion on things, and there is nothing wrong with stating your opinion if you are asked," he continues. "Everyone wants that right, and because you are famous doesn't mean you have less of a right."

Travolta, who also talks of his habit of going to 6 or 7 in the morning and waking in the early afternoon, says being famous has little impact on how he lives his life.

"I will tell you the things that would be the same, fame or no fame," he says. "Being up all night would be the same. Liking empty restaurants, liking empty movie theaters¡ªunless I am starring in it."

Travolta, 53, portrays Ms. Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray," the adaptation of the stage musical that was spun from the 1988 John Waters film of the same name. The new film opens July 20. The role, in which he dons a fat suit and feminine garb, has added fuel to ongoing speculation about his sexuality.

"I have never been compelled to share with you my bathroom habits or share with you my bedroom habits," says the married father of two. "Everyone has a right to privacy, so I have never felt¡ªeven though I am famous¡ªthat I had to share that with anybody."

Do the rumors bother him? Does he think they've affected his career?

"No and no," he says. "What affects your career is the quality of the product. I don't think anyone can hurt me."

"Hairspray," a New Line release, also stars Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah.

Sandy Smith - amazing last words...

2007-06-09T00:51:00.000+02:00

Sandy Smith is the editor of BBC's Panorama show. I won't go over the whole story with the BBC Panorama show. I've posted enough about that. But in my last post on the subject entitled BBC Versus Scientology Why? I referred to a statement by Sandy Smith. I thought I would quote the whole thing, it's quite an amazing statement when you think it over.

Just give it a minute of thought... You're making a documentary about something but you knowingly are giving it a unilateral view. It just doesn't make sense - well read my other post and it suddenly does.

from the morning news interview with Sandy Smith
Journalist: And is it a balanced film? I mean it isn't more heat than light is it? Because there is so much passion involved...

Sandy Smith: There is a fair amount of heat as you've seen. It doesn't claim to be the definitive film about Scientology we'll have to do that another time.

Psychologist Encouraging students to Sex and Drug experiments

2007-05-31T15:10:00.000+02:00

I read this article and I figured I need to republish this. Why? Because the moral decay that this society is experiencing didn't just happen, it is caused by people like Joel Becker.

And unfortunately when you start digging and doing some research you find a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist at the bottom of most of the moral decay we have been going through in the last 100 years. I know these are harsh words and I am not giving you too many facts, you can find them for yourself, you can go and see CCHR.org.

I Never Thought This Could Happen
by James Robison

Teenagers at Boulder High were told to have sex with anyone and use drugs. "I am going to encourage you to have sex and encourage you to use drugs appropriately."

That was the message preached by clinical psychologist Joel Becker at a recent mandatory high school assembly in Boulder, Colorado. Children as young as 14 sat captive in the audience while other school administrators listened in silent consent. (It is revealing to note that Becker is a part of the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association of Southern California.)

"Now, what is healthy sexual behavior? Well, I don't care if it's with men and men, women and women, men and women -- whatever combination you would like to put together," Becker said in an event labeled, "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs."

I am shocked and outraged that our culture has become so depraved that school officials require children to attend an assembly where supposed “experts” advocate rampant sexual relationships, including homosexuality and group sex. Abstinence was dismissed as unwise and indicative of “religious hang-ups."

But it gets even worse.

"We all experiment,” Becker was recorded as saying. “It's very natural for young people to experiment with same-sex relationships. When you are 13, 12... one of the most appropriate sexual behaviors would be masturbation. Even today, there are psychiatrists who will do sessions under the influence of ecstasy. If I had some maybe I'd do it with someone, but you know."

The nationwide outcry has been lukewarm at best. Compared to Don Imus’ racially offensive comment, there has been little media coverage or public upheaval. Apparently, rude comments are taboo, but pedophilic psychology is no big deal.

Words are not strong enough to express my disgust with this blatant manipulation of children to convince them that immoral acts should not only be considered normal, but perfectly acceptable. This predatory tactic lays the foundation for irresponsibility and abuse. Colorado’s public school officials mentally molested these children by sanctioning dangerous and destructive behavior.
One parent that objected to the indoctrination was Priscilla White, whose daughter is a sophomore at Boulder High.

"The panel discussion was a completely irresponsible and dangerous invitation to Boulder High students to have sex and take drugs," White told the Boulder Valley school board. She read the transcript of the assembly, but was asked to stop because the language was “inappropriate.”

"But it was at Boulder High School," Priscilla White told the board members. "If they can listen to it, I think you can listen to it."

Board members agreed that they should “investigate.” Investigate? Are you kidding me? I’ll tell you what should happen. Those who approved this assembly should be fired immediately. The Conference on World Affairs, which puts together these types of assemblies, should be banned from all public schools. (Jim Palmer, who heads the CWA, defended the presentation by saying, “When you're talking to high school students about these issues, I think there is a responsibility on the part of adults to be informed and to be candid.")

It is tough enough for parents to raise children without public schools holding them hostage to lessons promoting the very things that most families find unwholesome and damaging. Young people face enough temptation in their lives learning to control appetites and desires. They struggle with right and wrong as they face situations that will impact them forever. Will the Boulder school district take responsibility when a student contracts AIDS after a night of “normal experimentation”? Will the Conference on World Affairs comfort the family of a student who dies of an overdose?

The sickness of this mentality absolutely staggers my mind. I cannot imagine the entire community not being up in arms and literally protesting in mass. An old proverb says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Joel Becker is that man and Boulder High has paved the path for its students.
Sources: The Denver Channel, WorldNet Daily, The Denver Post.

Publishing
Information
Author: James Robison
Word Count: 630

About the author:
James Robison is the founder and president of LIFE Outreach International, an
international humanitarian aid ministry; host of the television program, Life
Today; and author of The Absolutes: Freedom's Only Hope.

Media Contact:
Randy Robison, editor@jamesrobison.netPO Box 701Euless, TX 76039817-267-4211

© JamesRobison.net. Photo available upon request. Reprint rights granted with attribution for complete, unedited article. Revisions allowed only with approval.

The BBC Panorama vs. Scientology - WHY?

2007-05-23T01:01:00.000+02:00

John Sweeney - a week of branding has given his photo
and name (and the BBC's) a whole new view in the eyes of the public.

Why would the BBC Panorama show do a documentary on Scientology, knowingly making it mainly or entirely negative when they know Scientology will never let that go down without notice?

Answer: Panorama needs more viewers.

How to get more viewers, get in the media. How to solve getting in the media - get some big controversy going and start being in the news.

How to get controversy - religion is always a great place. Taking on Islam is a little too dangerous, the Danish newspaper did that last year and some of their staff are still hiding. So they take Scientology.

Scientology is doing pretty good in UK with two new centers opened in October 2006 and lots of expansion. They are sure to get a pretty big reaction to that. How to do it? Put the roughest journalist you have on the case and be 90% smear. Result, the Scientologists will do something and media will follow.

You saw the part in between.

The viewers on the show increased. Sandy Smith delivered to his bosses.

The flaw, BBC Panorama didn't know how bad their roughest journalist would mess up and didn't know how far the Scientologists would take it AND forgot to enter in the fact that YouTube and the Internet exists and they no longer have a monopoly on the news.

Result, yes they got more viewers that night but they've also spent a week with a branding iron stuck to them. BBC, Panorama, John Sweeney, Sandy Smith and the rest of the team have become synonymous with: exploding tomatoes, Banorama, yelling, loosing it, lame journalism and plus some.

The idiocy is as Sandy Smith said in his interview on the BBC the only positive on the show that he had included was going to be a few interviews with some celebrities. So he admits that it was going to be a big smear. Things like that are better left unsaid, at least not on TV. It makes me wonder what the qualifications are for working at the BBC - or maybe those are the people Sweeney talked about in his description of the BBC? but then two of them on the same team?

Enough said
(note these are just a bunch of opinions from seeing these stories :0)

Visit the exhibition where John Sweeney lost it!

2007-05-16T20:17:00.000+02:00

Here's a press release that was sent around by CCHR. This is the exhibition where John Sweeney the reporter from the BBC lost it.

"Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" Museum Draws Controversy in International Media

Take a video tour of the museum

(Click on the picture to watch the video)

Denouncing the fact that internationally more than 100,000 patients die each year in psychiatric institutions, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) has opened an interactive and visually spectacular museum in Hollywood called Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

The museum features 14 documentaries with statements from scores of health professionals, academics, legal and human rights experts, and victims of psychiatric brutalities ranging from electroshock and involuntary commitment to political torture, psychosurgery and the devastating effects of psychotropic drugs. Accompanying each documentary are dozens of displays chronicling mental health barbarity spanning hundreds of years right up to present day. Included are sections on the destructive psychiatric influence on our youth, with 6 million children in the U.S. alone taking prescribed cocaine-like stimulants, and psychiatry’s infiltration of Hollywood and the creative industries, resulting in a staggering loss of talent in many artistic fields, including Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland. The state-of-the-art museum documents that psychiatry is an industry driven entirely by profit, and provides practical guidance for lawmakers, doctors, human rights advocates and private citizens to take action in their own sphere to bring psychiatry under the law, and to help protect themselves and others from the abuses rampant in the mental health field.

A sampling of current statistics and facts shown in the new museum include:

Psychiatrists are using electroshock, drugs and other barbaric means to torture political dissidents.
20 million children worldwide are taking psychiatric drugs, which can cause suicide, hostility, violence, mania and drug dependence.
More than 100,000 patients die each year in psychiatric institutions.
Annually, psychiatrists kill up to 10,000 people with their use of electroshock—460 volts of electricity sent searing through the brain. Three-quarters of all electroshock victims are women.
Psychiatrists and psychologists have raped 250,000 women. Studies show that 10 to 25 percent of psychiatrists sexually assault their patients; of every 20 of these victims one is likely to be a minor.

Visitors to the museum, which have included celebrities, doctors, educators and legislators, have described it as, “inspirational,” and that the museum should be viewed by “everyone who breathes.”

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights is an international psychiatric watchdog group co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.

You can also watch the Introduction to our new Documentary, Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

For more information, contact the Citizens Commission on Human Rights at 800-869-2247 or email humanrights@cchr.org

BBC Reporter gets a taste of his own medicine and doesn’t like it

2007-05-15T20:27:00.000+02:00

BBC Reporter John Sweeney, one of the main journalists behind the BBC Panorama show Scientology and Me should be quite experienced with journalism and the routines of the job.

We all know the techniques of journalists to elicit an unexpected emotional response from the subject. Nobody likes being in the camera spotlight like that with a fast paced and prying journalist in your face trying to make you err at every step.

They stalk the subject and film it at every possible moment, hopefully trying to capture something that nobody else has so they can have some sensational materiel for their show.

This is John Sweeney’s profession – he’s a journalist for a living on one of the worlds largest TV channels.

Now what does a journalist like John Sweeney say when the tables turn and he is the one being documented? When a journalist starts to investigate him, his actions and his life?

We’ve all seen the video on youtube.com, but before you look at it again, let’s rapidly look over the journalistic philosophy of John Sweeney per the BBC’s Panorama site. He says "First, find a crocodile. Two, poke it in the eye with a stick. Three, stand back and report what happens next. If it's a sodden log you'll be quite safe. If it's a crocodile you've got a story."

And let’s see the video now

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxqR5NPhtLI

Have we got a story here? Per John himself I think we do.

We will all agree that one of the most fundamental journalistic skills is the mastery of language. Let’s see how John excused himself after this outburst; we would all expect a quick twist of words that would make it all seem rational and intelligent.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVAeL8AyYeI&NR=1

For someone whose job it is to investigate and write stories one would expect a little more creativity than “I wanted to show you that my voice was louder than yours”. (I’ll have to try that next time I start yelling at someone I am investigating).

Now in response to this he claims he was feeling brainwashed because he was “being stalked” for several days. Actually the stalking in question here is a Scientology Documentary team that did a documentary on John Sweeney’s making of the Panorama show. But how can this be an excuse? Here is a Documentary journalist complaining of being stalked by a documentary team? Does he not realize what he is saying?

In other words, is documentary journalism brainwashing people?

I don't know about that last statement but I do know that John Sweeney is getting a taste of his own medecine and it's not tasing good.

A fellow blogger wrote an article and has some great videos on this. (the one who put the youtube video on)

Don Grey

RFID chips, BBC reporters and Human Rights ...

2007-05-14T19:53:00.000+02:00

I was looking through some earlier Engadget blogs on RFID lately and remembered one of them about a company that had invented an RFID tattoo to track cows - and then someone mentions that this could also be used for the armed services. The tattoo is readable up to 4 feet away. Only for cattle now but the company wants to get this to military personel second.

It's sort of scary how we're moving into a control society where every move is being tracked. And how many people watch it happen and think that it's inevitable. I know as I've wondered sometimes myself what could be done about it.

Something can always be done about it. That's my motto - I'm a Scientologist and I believe in that. As I'm in the subject of human rights I thought I would write a little blurb.

I was looking at the news recently and it's amazing how human rights like Freedom of Press get perverted into "Freedom to lie and twist the truth". I've lived Scientology for some 12-15 years now and I look at the stuff the media reports, it's just weird - I mean it's just not what is happening, I wonder what planet these reporters like John Sweeney from the BBC are on.

I've always kept a good opinion of the BBC for it's pretty accurate reporting, but either the Management has changed and someone from The Sun became an editor or John Sweeney has been acting like a rogue journalist.

The film Mad City was a great eye opener on how easy it is to twist the truth. It's sad that BBC entered that game.

Why Do They Kill?

2007-05-10T10:38:00.000+02:00

I got this article sent to me and thought I should publish it here. I thought it could shed some light on the recent Virginia Tech Massacre and what goes on in the mind of a killer like that.

INHUMAN BEINGS
The Chemicalized Personality

A mother murders her five children. High school students massacre their classmates. An Iraq vet stabs his wife 71 times. How can this happen?

A common thread in these occurrences is the fact that the killers have been taking psychiatric medications. But that is too simple.

So we hear about “post-partum depression” and “combat stress.” In the case of the teens, it's “the breakdown of the family" or it’s the music, the movies, the video games.

The real answer is the dehumanizing effect of drugs.

A human being has more than one aspect. There is a definite electro-chemical component. The body physically functions via electro-chemical processes.

Then there is that aspect which perceives and reasons and creates. This is not electro-chemical. When people communicate with each other, it is not chemical molecules that are exchanging ideas. This is the spiritual aspect; the conscious, aware individual.

There is also a mental component—a mind—which is an interactive link between the reasoning factor and the physical. A healthy mind (motivated by the spirit) is analytical. A less healthy mind is less analytical and more and more reactive. It operates on a stimulus/response basis, motivated by random factors. A troubled, unhealthy mind doesn't reason. It doesn't perceive well. It reacts to stimuli. [for a more complete description of the mind check this link]

For a long time now, the mental health establishment has been telling us that we are chemical in nature. They would have us believe that they can solve our problems with mood-altering drugs—a little dash of this and a little dash of that. That approach may work at the purely physical level, as in taking antibiotics to handle infection, but it is not the physical component that gives us our rationality, our humanity. It is not the molecules in the brain that are thinking and perceiving, loving and caring, creating great music and poetry. No, the physical component is comprised of cells and electrical impulses, which are as reasoning and creative as an avocado or the electric current that powers your toaster.

When a person is troubled, he is already sliding in the direction of the reactive, unthinking, physical impulse side of his nature. To then give him chemical, mood-altering drugs, pushes him further in that direction. While the sedative effect may appear to calm him down, he is becoming, more and more chemicalized.

So is it any wonder that these killers seem less than human? They ARE less than human. Though they can appear bright and calculating at times, real judgment is gone. They are completely reactive; alienated. Their minds bubble and boil like the mass of chemicals they have become. The analytical capacity is gone. The spirit is gone. Their humanity is gone. They respond randomly and literally to stimuli (enter music, movies and video games). Then, in the extreme, they lash out with violence at the imagined demons and enemies in their own unreal world. They have been mentally short-circuited by the drugs that are supposed to be helping them. It is the ultimate betrayal. [click here for more info on Psychiatry]

And when their bizarre, chemically induced, nightmare world collides with the world of OUR reality—which consists of living people, loving families, children, teachers, learning, accomplishment—a slaughter ensues and we are left to wonder "WHY?" "WHAT HAPPENED?"

The answer: psychiatry happened. And why would anyone perpetrate such a crime as to drug children and adults, driving them insane, all in the name of help? It's too horribly simple. It’s a multi-billion dollar business.The good news is that when society wakes up to these facts, we will cease to allow these evils to occur. It's time.

Tom Solari
tom@tomsolari.com

Tom Solari is a professional writer and video producer, living and working in Los Angeles. He is concerned about a culture that promotes chemical dependency as a solution to problems, when logic and the evidence shows that this approach deepens the problem by numbing the brain, muddling the mind and undermining the human spirit.

Cho was just one in 1500

2007-04-25T10:14:00.000+02:00

Someone put a comment on one of the posts I made about the number of School shooters that are on Psychiatric drugs and linked to this site. I checked out the site and while I knew these antidepressants are bad news, I wasn't aware that anyone had documented it to such a degree. Here are more than 1500 stories of antidepressant related violence. And we're not talking shouting when talk violence, no here are murderers and more. It's amazing that with all this - nobody does anything to take them off the market.

There are real solutions to problems of life and none of them involve drugs or electro-shocks or lobotomies. Click here for a good bunch of real solutions. And click here for more facts on the harm Psychiatry does daily.

Check out these stories for yourself.

SSRI Stories

This website is a collection of 1500+ news stories with the full media article available, mainly criminal in nature, that have appeared in the media or that were part of FDA testimony in either 1991, 2004 or 2006, in which antidepressants are mentioned. These stories have been collected over a period of years by two directors of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness (ICFDA). They experienced firsthand the drugs' power to harm and want to save others from the fate that befell them. Their focus has been on Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), of which Prozac was the first, launched in December 1987. Other SSRIs are Zoloft, Paxil (Seroxat), Celexa, Sarafem (Prozac in a pink pill), Lexapro, and Luvox. These drugs are widely employed as first line treatment for depression. Other antidepressants included in this list are Remeron, Anafranil and the SNRIs Effexor, Serzone and Cymbalta as well as the dopamine reuptake inhibitor antidepressant Wellbutrin (also marketed as Zyban).

The story behind Cho

2007-04-21T16:52:00.000+02:00

I just read this article, it's great. It's not just the Psychiatric drugs that cause these problem - it is the psychiatric system. If someone has been "in treatment" and then turns around to murder 32 people then something is really wrong.

by Dr. Peter Breggin - Read the original article here.
Focusing on Virginia Tech mass murderer Cho as a disturbed mental patient has led media analysts to ponder how he could have been more readily identified by the mental health system. But Cho is not someone who slipped beneath the psychiatric radar. Instead, he was frequently detected as a large object on the screen.
On separate occasions, he was involuntarily hospitalized, sent for psychological evaluation, and referred to the university counseling center. Consistent with getting him more psychiatric "help," experts have also opined on how he might have benefited from medication. These are all the wrong lessons.
The mental health system was fully alert to Cho's existence and to serious manifestations of dangerous behavior. A faculty member of the English department was so frightened by Cho's behavior that she insisted on having him pulled him out of class. The police and the counseling center were notified and ultimately Cho was given individual tutoring, instead of quick removal from the campus. Also, a number of students called the campus police, probably at least twice in regard to his stalking behavior. Furthermore, he had previously been involuntarily hospitalized in Virginia as a danger to himself and others.

The answer to vengeful, violent people is not more mental health screening or more potent mental health interventions. Reliance on the whole range of this system from counseling to involuntary treatment failed. There is not a shred of scientific evidence that locking people up against their will or otherwise "treating" them reduces violence. As we'll see, quite the opposite is true.

So what was needed? Police intervention. Almost certainly, the police were hampered in taking appropriate actions by being encouraged to view Cho as a potential psychiatric patient rather than as a perpetrator. It's not politically correct to bring criminal charges against someone who is "mentally ill" and it's not politically correct to prosecute him or to remove him from the campus. Yet that's what was needed to protect the students. Two known episodes of stalking, setting a fire, and his threatening behavior in class should have been more than enough for the university administration to bring charges against him and to send him off campus.

Police need to be encouraged and empowered to treat potentially dangerous people more as criminals than as patients. In particular, men stalking women should be handled as definitively as any perpetrator of hate crimes. Regardless of whether the victims want to press charges, the police should. Cho shouldn't have been allowed to get away with it a second time.

How would a police action have affected Cho? Would it have humiliated him and made him more violent? There's no way to have certainty about this, but anyone with experience dealing with threatening people knows that a good dose of "reality," a confrontation with the law, is much more of a wake up call and a deterrent than therapeutic coddling. Furthermore, involuntary psychiatric treatment is one of the more humiliating experiences in American society, and tends to make people more angry, not less.

Mental health interventions do not protect society because the person is almost always quickly discharged because his insurance coverage has run out or because mental health professionals, who as a group have no particular capacity to make such determinations, will decide that the patient is no longer a danger to himself or others. Indeed, in December 2005, when the university obtained a temporary detention order against Cho, a magistrate referred him for a mental health evaluation that found "his insight and judgment are normal." Need I say more about the hazards of relying on mental health screening and evaluation to identify dangerous perpetrators--even after they have already been threatening people?

Psychiatry's last resort for presumably violent people is involuntary hospitalization. Not only does it almost always lead to rapid release, it does not help the involuntary patient. Coerced treatment is not perceived or experienced as "helpful" by the recipient but as unjust bullying. If coercion accomplishes anything, it teaches the "patient" to stay far away from all providers of mental health services.

And what about drugs for the treatment of violence? The FDA has not approved any medications for the control of violence because there are no such medications. Yes, it is possible to temporarily immobilize mind and body alike with a shot of an "antipsychotic" drug like Haldol; but that only works as long as the person is virtually paralyzed and confined--and forced drugging invariably breeds more resentment.

Instead of offering the promise of reducing violence, all psychiatric drugs carry the potential risk of driving the individual into violent madness. For example, both the newer antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Celexa, and the antipsychotic drugs such as Risperdal and Zyprexa, cause a disorder caused akathisia--a terrible inner sensation of agitation accompanied by a compulsion to move about. Akathisia is known to drive people to suicide and to aggression. Indeed, these tragic outcomes of drug-induced akathisia are so well documented that they are described in the most establishment psychiatric book of all, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

For the past fifteen years or more, I've been writing about the capacity of psychiatric drugs to cause mayhem, murder and suicide. In early 2005 the FDA finally issued a warning that antidepressants cause both suicidality and violence. For example, the FDA's new mandated warning label for antidepressants states that these drugs produce "anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania."

Note the reference to "irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity" in the label or package insert for antidepressants. That's a formula for violence. Note the mention of akathisia, another source of both violence and suicide. And finally, note the reference to mania, yet another drug-induced syndrome associated with violence and suicide.

As a psychiatrist and medical expert, I have personally evaluated dozens of cases of individuals driven to violence by psychiatric drugs of every type, but most commonly the newer antidepressants. One of the cases I evaluated, the Columbine shooter Eric Harris, looks the most like Cho. Both were very emotionally disturbed in an extremely violent fashion for a prolonged period of time. For the entire year that Eric Harris was evolving his manic-like violence, he was taking Luvox, a drug known to cause mania at a high rate in young people

In my book Reclaiming Our Children, I analyzed the clinical and scientific reasons for believing that Eric Harris's violence was caused by prescribed Luvox and I've also testified to the same under oath in deposition in a case related to Columbine. In my book the Antidepressant Fact Book, I also warned that stopping antidepressants can be as dangerous as starting them, since they can cause very disturbing and painful withdrawal reactions.

We have not been informed whether or not Cho was taking psychiatric drugs at the time he unleashed his violence; but even if he wasn't, he might have been tipped over into violent madness weeks or months earlier by a drug like Prozac, Paxil, or Zoloft. He could also have been undergoing severe drug withdrawal. Investigators should set a high priority on obtaining and publishing Cho's psychiatric drug history.

To focus on Cho as a "mental patient" or "schizophrenic" distracts from the real need to enforce security on college campuses, or in any setting, by reacting definitively to lesser acts of violence before they escalate. It also maligns people with serious mental problems, the vast majority who are, above else, inoffensive and overly docile.

The violence unleashed on the Virginia Tech campus should not lead to calls for more mental health screening, more mental health interventions, or more drugs. Instead, the violent rampage should confirm that psychiatric interventions don't prevent violence and instead they can cause it. Early on, Cho should have been confronted by the police and by university administrators with the reality that his behavior was unacceptable and he should have been suspended. In other words, he should have been treated as a criminal who was stalking women, and as an obviously threatening individual, not as a potential mental patient. These measures might have confronted him with sufficient reality to nip his violence in the bud and more certainly would have removed him from the circumstances that the he found intolerably stimulating, while also removing him from so many targets of opportunity.

My scientific papers describing medication-induced violence and some of my cases can be found on www.breggin.com.

How many School shootings are Psychotropic drug users?

2007-04-20T10:10:00.000+02:00

I promised I would look into this and I am still doing it. There is more information to be gotten and I will get it and post it here.

What I have found so far is that 8 out of the last 11 School Shootings are by kids on Psychotropic drug, i.e. antidrepressants.

But the only reason there are 3 which "aren't" is because we can't access their files.

More to come on this.

What's the one thing these killers have in common? Psychiatric drugs.

Could Virginia Tech Massacre have been prevented?

2007-04-18T18:30:00.000+02:00

Watchdog Says Psychiatrists and Mental Health Industry Have Known Since 1991 That Their Drugs Can Cause Violence and Suicide

In 1991 CCHR brought Evidence before the FDA
Click here to watch 7 minute video of 1991 FDA hearing

Cho Seung-Hui May Be 9th School Shooter Under Influence of Psychiatric Drugs -- Documented to Cause Homicidal Ideation, Suicide, Psychosis, Mania and Hostility

In the wake of yesterday's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech by gunman Cho Seung-Hui, state legislators, civic and human rights activists are asking why Congress has failed to investigate the link between psychiatric drugs and school violence, given the high rate of psychiatric drug use by the shooters. According to breaking news from investigators at Virginia Tech, Cho may have taken depression drugs—documented by the Food and Drug Administration to cause suicidal behavior, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, hostility and “homicidal ideation.?If Cho Seung-Hui’s psychiatric drug use is confirmed, it would bring the total to 61 killed and 77 wounded by psychiatric drug-induced school shootings.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a mental health watchdog that initially discovered the psychiatric drug connection in the Columbine shootings, and first brought the violence and suicidal inducing side effects of antidepressants before the FDA in 1991 (see video) warns that the psycho-pharmaceutical industry will once again try to obscure the violence-inducing nature of psychiatric drugs in order to protect the billions in profit from drug sales. CCHR says that Congress must demand a full investigation into the link between senseless acts of violence and psychiatric drug use in the wake of recent FDA warnings on the documented drug risks.

In September 2005, following confirmation that Red Lake Indian Reservation school shooter, Jeff Weise, was under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac, the National Foundation of Women Legislators, together with American Indian tribal leaders, called for a Congressional investigation (link) into the correlation between psychiatric drug use and school massacres. To date there has been no response to this request despite documentation that at least eight recent school shooters were under the influence of psychiatric drugs at the time of the shootings. In other instances, the shooter’s medical records were never made public and their psychiatric drug use remains in question.

September 28, 2006: Bailey, Colorado: Duane Morrison, 53, entered Platte Canyon High School and shot and killed one girl, and sexually assaulted 6 others. Antidepressants were found in his vehicle.
March 21, 2005: Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota: 16-year-old Native American Jeff Weise was under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac when he shot and killed nine people and wounding five before committing suicide.
April 10, 2001: Wahluke, Washington: 16-year-old Cory Baadsgaard took a rifle to his high school, and held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage while on a high dose of the antidepressant Effexor.
March 22, 2001: El Cajon, California: 18-year-old Jason Hoffman was on two antidepressants, Effexor and Celexa, when he opened fire at his California high school wounding five.
March 7, 2000: Williamsport, Pennsylvania: 14-year-old Elizabeth Bush was on the antidepressant Prozac when she blasted away at fellow students in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, wounding one.
May 20, 1999: Conyers, Georgia: 15-year-old T.J. Solomon was being treated with a mix of antidepressants when he opened fire on and wounded 6 of his classmates.
April 20, 1999: Columbine, Colorado: 18-year-old Eric Harris was on the antidepressant Luvox when he and his partner Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 23 others before taking their own lives in the bloodiest school massacre to date. The coroner confirmed that the antidepressant was in his system through toxicology reports while Dylan Klebold’s autopsy was never made public.
April 16, 1999: Notus, Idaho: 15-year-old Shawn Cooper fired two shotgun rounds in his school narrowly missing students; he was taking a mix of antidepressants.
May 21, 1998: Springfield, Oregon: 15-year-old Kip Kinkel murdered his own parents and then proceeded to school where he opened fire on students in the cafeteria, killing two and wounding 22. Kinkel had been on Prozac.

Read this report by CCHR to find out more about the dangerous connection between violence and psychiatric drugs.

Teenscreen - if you're not sure ... just label them suicidal

2007-03-31T01:31:00.000+02:00

This came in on an email I got about Teenscreen. I hear some others have already adopted the teen screen model in some countries and made it mandatory. It is just like George Orwell's 1984 (yes I know I mentioned that before) - but really. I just don't get it like teenagers are committing suicide and throwing themselves out of the window all over the place? Not really - actually why don't we ask the psychiatric profession to supply the rest of society with helmets to protect themselves from the suicidal teenagers?

Jokes aside (actually if we did that people would see how stupid this program really is) it's like finding one problem and then adjusting the whole population to fit the minute possibility that all others are in the same category.

And in any case anything that checks for problems as a systematic check will eventually drive people nutty. There's got to be some evidence or an indication before the checks move in. The Vacin dillema is just one of the same.

Star Tribune

TEENSCREEN

Risks are too great

Your March 26 editorial made a spurious claim that since "schools screen for eye trouble. Why not for brain disorders?" Screening students to assess whether they are "at risk" for suicide or other mental health disorders is a highly subjective, unscientific and extremely difficult task.
David Shaffer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported that for every 16 students correctly identified by TeenScreen as "at risk," 84 were falsely labeled. Since the most common "treatment" for mental health disorders is drug therapy, TeenScreen leads to unnecessary drugging and the proven risks of serious side effects from these powerful psychotropic drugs.
TeenScreen has no place in the public school system. The risks to the mental and physical health of our students are too great.

BONNIE GASPER, EDEN PRAIRIE

Swisscom for Human Rights

2007-03-30T01:14:00.000+02:00

I just heard that Swisscom the Swiss Mobile Phone company are showing the Human Rights Public Service announcements from YouthforHumanRights in their shops.

That's pretty cool - using all those Gadgets for something good!

A more positive note on some issues!

Human Rights in UK?

2007-03-22T23:57:00.000+01:00

I picked this up from Engadget, I've posted on it before and it bears more mention.

I'm

If you're a regular reader of Engadget then you don't have to live in the UK to know that they loves 'em some surveillance technology. Last year, their Information Commissioner warned that the UK was running the risk of "sleep-walking into a surveillance society." Today, Jack Straw announced that the Commons' Home Affairs committee would be launching an inquiry into the growing use of surveillance. From the kingdom which gave us George Orwell and CCTV cameras with mics, speakers, and the intelligence to detect violent behavior and see through clothes, we're wondering if the move is already a tad too late. Of course, here in the US we shoot each other for game consoles so pick your poison.

What TeenScreen would prefer you didn't do

2007-03-12T20:33:00.000+01:00

I got this in an email from a friend. They got this quote from an email that TeenScreen sent about the people ANTI TeenScreen. Well if they would prefer you don't see it, then I prefer you do.

Below is what TeenScreen does NOT want you to do as they elaborate here: http://dailykenoshan.com/images/news/ts/responding.pdf

Write Letters. To the local school board. To area school principals. To the local paper. To anyone who will listen.

Attend Local Meetings. Express your opinions at local community forums, such as school board meetings or town hall meetings.

Make Web Sites and Blogs. TeenScreen says: "information proliferated by these groups remains on their own Web sites and Web logs, or blogs. It is when members of your community find these sites that the information these groups disseminate becomes problematic."

So you know what to do now...

What part of 1984 did they not understand?

2007-03-05T23:59:00.000+01:00

I read this article here on on the US Army wanting to install cameras around the world.

I think Engadget posted on something like this before about the UK having installed PA system to their CCTVs in the city.

Look I really think the people behind this misunderstood the point behind the book 1984. It wasn't an instruction manual for how to run a good government. It was a satire and a view on how bad it can become in the future!

No honestly, I doubt they misunderstood anything. But lest nobody read 1984 it's a great prediction of how sour the "total control government" can go.

Eh - the right to privacy anyone? The Universal Declaration on Human Rights? It was meant help people not to put in a file cabinet in a basement at the bottom of a flight of broken stairs, locked in a disused lavatory with a sign "Beware of the Leopard". [from Douglas Adam's Hitchickers Guide to the Galaxy]

The real Horrors of how Electric Shock (ECT) "Works"

2007-02-24T00:35:00.000+01:00

I recently got a little description of this "treatment" and how it is meant to work and cure someone. Or maybe the word cure has been removed from the Psychiatric vocabulary. It's pretty disgusting, if you've got an upset stomach I would suggest you skip this post and go to the next one.

Here's a brief description of the process - don't try this at home (nor in a hospital).

1. The patient is injected with an anesthetic to block out pain and a muscle relaxant to shut down muscular activity and prevent spinal fractures.

2. Electrodes are placed on the temples bilaterally (from one side of the brain to the other) or unilaterally (front to back on one side of the brain).

3. A rubber gag is placed in the mouth to keep teeth from breaking or patients from biting their tongues.

4. Between 180 and 480 volts of electricity are sent searing through the brain.

5. To meet the brain’s demand for oxygen, blood flow to the brain can increase as much as 400%. Blood pressure can increase 200%. Under normal conditions, the brain uses a blood-brain barrier to keep itself healthy against harmful toxins and foreign substances. With electroshock, harmful substances “leak” from blood vessels into the brain tissue, causing swelling. Nerve cells die. Cellular activity is altered. The physiology of the brain is altered.

6. The results are memory loss, confusion, loss of space and time orientation and even death.

7. Most patients are given a total of six to 12 shocks, one a day, three times a week.
Ask the foremost psychiatrists and they have no explanation to justify why or how their “treatment” works. It is literally as scientific as sticking one’s head in a light socket. Do it often enough and you will become disoriented, confused, lose your memory or even die. Same result as ECT.

Someone called Neal Fox did an interesting post on this subject on his blog http://news-from-meat-street.blogspot.com/ - I don't have the exact post title but you'll find it.

And now for something completely different

2007-02-20T15:27:00.000+01:00

In a moment of total Pythonian Logic I sat down to blog today about some current event in the news. Something absolutely amazingly important. It was the type of information that would probably have changed the course of earth.

But I got sidetracked today when I saw the blog of John Wood. After seeing this article I decided would scrap all the important things on my agenda and write about a totally unimportant issue.
A fellow blogger has started an encyclopedia of Monty Python things. While I normally blog about Human Rights and the abuses of Psychiatry, the real deal with Global Warming and other issues - but now is the moment for something completely different.

Go to John's blog and then click over to the Wikipeadia!

This will be the end of any serious consideration for the wikipedia.

I am sorry I lost that absolutely important information I had to blog about today - I guess you will never find out about it then.

;-)

Global Warming - no skin off my nose

2007-02-09T19:30:00.000+01:00

Someone sent me this little story, when reading this post related Global Warming on a familiar blog (ourearthlyrights.blogspot.com which I linked to earlier) I check out regularly I thought I would publish it and you can make your own decisions. This is a subject that many are writing about these days. I also found it on this site (johnalexwood.blogspot.com - and you should check out his article on Spamalot).

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, I am so very sorry, Mr.Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house!There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main
ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage and help one another get along.

So... Global Warming no skin off my nose?

Human Rights - also in the west?

2007-02-04T20:04:00.000+01:00

I read this blog called "The dark side of The Sun" on the recent media articles on one celebrity. I sometimes wonder how some of these tabloid papers view things like human rights.

I was thinking it over the other day. And figured out how they get away with this sort of stuff.

Journalist Bob thinks up some story that will be sensational. Bob has two email accounts. He sends himself an email from his Yahoo account under the name of Pete. FictionPete claims to be a great friend of a celebrity and says "I have inside information for you such and such" Journalist Bob now has "evidence" on the story and publishes is saving his home-made email in the files as the document.

One takes Bob or the Newspaper to court and they pull up the "evidence" which is an email from FictionPete.

That's my 5-cents - but I bet that's the way it goes.

All in the name of a bit of money these giddy little people happily ruin lives. Cute isn't it.

Is Psychiatry for Sale?

2007-02-02T20:03:00.000+01:00

I just saw this very neat article on Psychiatry. It's 9000 words so a bit to read but very informative and gives a neat view how Big Pharma is pulling the strings in the medical profession.

Nice piece of research (better than me I must admit).

It sort of puts the text to my earlier post with the cartoon, "could we up the dosage" in fact this is exactly what Psychiatry has become. A Big Pharma pusher - if you don't know what I am talking about you need to see the DVD I posted about earlier Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

Could we up the dosage, doctor? I still have feelings

2007-01-26T22:29:00.000+01:00

Saw this cartoon - it's subtle enough to be quite funny!

Patient says to his psychiatrist: Could we up the dosage? I still have feelings.
By Alex Gregory

ID: 123559, Published in The New Yorker January 22, 2007

How to win any argument

2007-01-25T09:23:00.000+01:00

OK I’ll be frank. I dislike psychiatry and just about anything they do. I have seen the vegetables they make and nothing much they can say or do will make up for the millions of lives they ruin.

So how to they get away with their crimes.

Not too complex.

1. If you oppose a psychiatrist or their profession they challenge you with their diplomas and tell you you haven’t studied.

2. Anyone who tries to have a success (and often does much good) get’s labelled as a fake and they get their propaganda machine (well financed by Big Pharma) to chop them up into little bits.

Grim? Yes I know but unfortunately true.

PS: And when you show them that they don’t have any results = they say can’t possibly get results as they lack the funds. Nice one eh?

Film Premiere puts Spotlight on Sex Trafficking in USA

2007-01-18T14:26:00.000+01:00

Found this article, following my earlier posts on Human Rights I thought it is an intersting point.

Human rights activists from Southern California will gather on Wednesday, January 17th to address the growing problem of human trafficking in Los Angeles and throughout the United States.

A new docudrama that exposes trafficking in the US will be premiered followed by a panel discussion.

The film, Cargo: Innocence Lost, by award-winning film director Michael Cory Davis, unveils the dark underworld of sex trafficking. Cargo provides an insight into this human tragedy through interviews with top officials on the subject, victims' advocates and some of the victims themselves.

The film is interwoven with raw, intense narrative based on numerous true stories.

The event, which will be held at the Garden Pavilion of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles, is co-organized by a number of Southern California groups, united in the fight against human trafficking — now a $9.5 billion a year criminal industry internationally. Human trafficking experts and law enforcement representatives dealing with this issue will lead the panel discussion and answer questions.

Mary Shuttleworth, President of LA-based International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance stated, "Human trafficking is only possible because people are uninformed about modern-day slavery and about their basic human rights. This is why we are promoting a series of public service announcements depicting all 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In less than 30 minutes, any person can gain a working knowledge of their fundamental rights."

Released in June of last year, these emotion-packed PSAs have now aired to more than 130 million people in 60 countries. The fourth in the series, "No Slavery," is a heart-rending message that promotes that we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that slavery is still alive today.

Official estimates of the number of people trafficked into the United States each year range from 14,500 to 50,000. Eighty percent of the cases in California occur in Los Angeles, San Diego or San Francisco, according to a 2005 report from the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley.

According to a United Nations 2005 news report, after drug dealing, human trafficking and arms dealing are the largest criminal industries in the world; however human trafficking is the fastest-growing of the three. Around the world an estimated 27 million people are slaves and every year 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders, half of them children.

The event is being organized jointly by the International Foundation for Human Rights & Tolerance, the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women Human Trafficking, the San Diego Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, Youth for Human Rights International, the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International, Artists for Human Rights, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, the Rescue and Restore Southern Region Coalition and the Salvation Army.

"a lack of respect towards professionals working in psychiatry"

2007-01-11T10:31:00.000+01:00

I found this quote on the site of PsykiatriFonden - who is farily active these days on the PR front in Denmark. They even convinced the Crown Princess Mary to become a "protector" for their association.

The most recent campaign they are running is "anyone who promotes that they can help stress is a fake." - now hold on, that means that they can do something about it? No they even say it themselves.

Quote from PsykiatriFonden, a Politically-Neutral Advocacy Organisation for Mental Illness

The perception of psychiatry and the role of the psychiatrist Despite improvements in the scientific understanding of mental health disorders and advances in their treatment, there is still a lack of respect towards professionals working in psychiatry. Our image in the general public, as well as in our own ranks, is not as good as it should be. The general public is sceptical and the media often carries stories about patients who are overdrugged, patients who receive insufficient psychotherapy and lack of treatment coordination in severely ill patients. Consequently, young doctors are choosing other specialities. Most damaging of all are acts of violence committed by psychiatric patients (most often following noncompliance) that receive adverse publicity and thus, in the minds of the public, confirm the inability of psychiatrists to cope with mental health problems.

Come on. What story are they trying to spin, they know they have no cures they even state it openly. They don't need to work on publicity, they need to work on results.

All in the name of progress...

2006-12-04T18:39:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine sent this to me - I thought it would be relevant. Trace back most of these changes and lo and behold, who or what do you find behind it?

++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Jack pulls into school parking lot with rifle in gun rack.

1973: Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.

2006: School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1973: Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.

2006: Pol ice called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.

1973: Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. He Sits still in class.

2006: Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his father's car and his Dad gives him a whipping.

1973: Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.

2006: Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to Foster care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some headache medicine to school.

1973: Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.

2006: Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Mary turns up pregnant.

1973: Five high school boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.

2006: Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told to be more careful next time.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.

1973: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.

2006: Pedro's cause is taken up by state democratic party. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system & Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.

1973: Ants die.

2006: ATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes hisknee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary... Mary, hugs him to comfort him..

1973: In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2006: Mary is accused of being a sexual predator, and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

All in the name of "progress"!

Alaska Mental Health Act or the "Siberia Bill" - any similarities to UK Mental Health Bill?

2006-11-28T20:11:00.000+01:00

The “Siberia Bill” was the final extension of a decade-long psychiatric effort to simplify commitment procedures, the bill specifically called for the establishment of a remote Alaskan mental health facility and radically streamlined means of incarcerating inmates-hence the nickname “Siberia Bill” to remind the people of precisely what the plan comprised, i.e. an American Gulag. Eventually described by the Superior Court Judge as representing, “totalitarian government at its best” the bill proposed that “any health welfare or police officer who has reason to believe that an individual is mentally ill and therefore likely to injure himself or others if not immediately restrained” may transport that individual to a mental asylum for professional evaluation.
There, “the prisoner” could be detained five days, or if judged mentally incompetent, “for the rest of his natural life.” No statement of probably cause was required, no issue of warrant was necessary, and no hearing.
Sound similar to the Mental Health bill in UK right now?
50 years later to the day... and why is someone still trying to push through such a bill?

More on the UK Mental Health Bill

2006-11-28T19:47:00.000+01:00

I gathered some quotes from articles on the UK Mental Health bill. Interesting how few people agree with it.

FROM: The Independent
The Bill, if approved, will allow local authorities to force compulsory treatment on mental patients whether or not it is beneficial. Wide-spread use of proposed Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) could put severe restrictions on patients after they have been discharged from hospital as well as governing where they live and what medication they take.
Paul Corry of Rethink. "Detention for reasons other than health benefit should be handled by non-health services."
The Bill is the third attempt to reform existing legislation. Previous efforts failed after fierce opposition.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2016145.ece

FROM: YOUNG PEOPLE NOW
The mental health bill, which amends part of the Mental Health Act 1983, would allow health services to detain mentally ill patients for treatment without their permission if they are perceived as a danger to others, whether their illness is curable or not. This would include 16- and 17-year-olds. Currently health services can only detain patients with curable problems.
Louis Appleby, national clinical director for mental health services at the Department of Health, said: "Sixteen- and 17-year-olds will be treated like adults. For under-16s we will need parental consent."

http://www.ypnmagazine.com/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=full_news&ID=12412

FROM: Rethink: reports on politics.co.uk
Dr Tony Zigmond, a psychiatrist in Leeds and Honorary Vice President at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "Of course I sometimes need the authority to treat some of my patients without their consent. The problem with this Bill is that it will increase the stigma and fear that people face when they consider telling me about their mental health problems. As a doctor I need service users to trust that I will always put their health first. We need legislation with principles that strengthen the rights of service users and carers.”

http://www.politics.co.uk/press-releases/health/mental-health/mental-health/rethink-mental-health-service-users-families-and-staff-concerned-about-mental-health-bill-$459426.htm

New Mental Health Bill in UK

2006-11-26T20:45:00.000+01:00

I just read about the new draft Mental Health bill for UK. I read a part of the bill and this looks quite scary.

Involuntary commitment now gets a new form. There is a new Tribunal to be made of minimum 3 people which will decide if someone gets put away or not. And they don't decide based on the problem the person has but rather based on the behaviour even if they don't know the cause.

I stopped reading the rest after that.

I was reminded of the book 1984 by Orwell, what if someone disagrees with the government. Well all it would take is for some psychiatrist to name that as a disorder and there we go.

They already have some 400 disorders and more growing by the day. Everything can be construed as a disorder if one has a different view on the subject.

It is the classical psychiatrist solution. Someone disagrees with them - they label him crazy, he gets locked up and they can continue with what they want to do.

25 years ago Homosexuality was a disorder, now it isn't. What's the difference? Some lawyers put enough pressure on the psychiatric assiciation to take it out of their book. That's not too scientific an approach.

If that bill passes we are heading for a grim future.

Man dead after storming German School

2006-11-20T15:46:00.000+01:00

Just read this article from Reuters. I am quoting a part of it here:
EMSDETTEN, Germany (Reuters) - A masked man opened fire after storming a school in the western German town of Emsdetten on Monday, wounding several students before he apparently committed suicide.

Click here to view it.

Almost all of these stories lead back to someone who had just come out of psychiatric care. And almost each one of the murderers are on psychiatric drugs.

I don't thing this is an exception and we will probably find out soon.

Something needs to be done about it.

I was speaking to a friend of mine lately whose sister is a teacher in Belgium. The school had been ordered to advise their children to take drugs if they aren't doing good. One teacher objected to it and asked the Teachers Board if they were willing to take the same drugs that they are giving to the kids - surprise surprise, nobody was and all were terrified at the idea.

They put off giving the drugs for a few weeks until they received an order that they must give the drugs or their license would be revoked.

It makes me wonder who the pharmaceutical industry has been lobbying. There is a video I mentioned a week or so ago that bears repeating. It is an eye opener! Click here.

And the result are these Men/Kids storming their or other schools and shooting innocent people.
Is it really worth it?

Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Documentary on DVD

2006-11-08T20:56:00.000+01:00

I just watched this DVD for the second time. I am not sure what to say... yuk or wow! The fact of the matter is that this is an eye-opener of the best kind.

It is like a wake-up call. We have psychiatry creeping in on us every day and twisting some of the wildest viewpoints to "ok". OK well pretty much anyone knows instrinctively these guys are up to no-good. They success rate sort of proves it. But nobody really has the evidence to to show it.

This DVD does the job.

What we are looking at here is just like the Emperor's New Clothes, Psychiatry goes around and pretends to be an authority on a subject they actually have no results in, and millions believe they have the answers but nobody dares to look at the results.

Well see the DVD yourself, it is quite revealing.

http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/14396

Ritalin use in Denmark

2006-09-21T13:47:00.000+02:00

Check out this graph on the use of Ritalin in Denmark.

It is in Danish but you can see the statistics. It is odd how this is increasing ever since the pharmaceutical industry started implanting itself heavily in Copenhagen and what they now call "Medicon Valley".

Have the students suddenly become bad or is someone getting in there is a marketing strategy. And the big question is - has the education improved?

As they say in french, a suivre...

The Terror Doctors

2006-09-17T17:05:00.000+02:00

The Terror Doctors; Freedom Magazine publication

This article I just re-read, it deserves its own post. Well written and revealing how the drug trade is sponsoring the Terrorists and how they really have nothing to do with Islam.

So when people make statements like these - I wonder have they done their homework?

Pope tells Muslims he "deeply sorry" for crisis

2006-09-17T16:33:00.000+02:00

How did this happen? We're probably going through one of the most religously heated periods of history.

How the muslims are being held responsible for almost all the violence in the world today is reminicent of how the Communists were being treated in the 1960s through to the fall of the Communist empire.

So how does the Pope do a blunder like this?

I found an article that could explain this here.

It is a good read, there are a couple more in there that are interesting too. Such as this one on terror and violence, and where it really comes from.

Invasion of Privacy?

2006-09-07T01:20:00.000+02:00

Saw this video on the Youth For Human Rights site (definitely worth a visit), which shows a great new view on The Right to Privacy which I posted on earlier. This is not the usual "consipracy theory" they-are-coming-to-get-us kind of view. Click here to watch it.

Nice new viewpoint, eh?

Kind of easier to relate to how "more surveillance" could go wrong. What if the guys watching you are the same as those snatching the paper from the girl?

Danish Privacy laws issue

2006-09-06T20:23:00.000+02:00

I woke up this morning to hear that some 7 people were arrested in Denmark for plotting terrorist acts. Am sure glad they caught them.

But added to that was a comment that maybe the Danish parliament wants to increase surveillance in Denmark so it does not happen again.

There was a neat comment from the former director of the Danish Investigative Police saying something like, we don't need to increase the surveillance as the recently foiled plot was an evidence that the current system is enough. I.e. Don't fix it if it isn't broken!

Then there was a whole radio program on Danish Radio P3 following this about "I don't mind more surveillance, I've got nothing to hide" - well at least that is how it started.

What a narrow minded view, I mean the massive surveillance is fine if everyone was totally honest and totally operating on the greater good. But are they?

Someone should take some of the radio programs they make, edit it a bit and show them what a not-so-honest person could make out of it.

The funniest part is how they repeatedly compared to New York and London as ideals, saying that they have it and nobody minds. But someone didn't check their facts, as in, are their crime statistics better since? Nope.

So really, why fix it if is isn't broken?