I really don't like slagging things off and criticizing

I don't actually like slagging things off and criticizing things.
There is a lot of "slagging things off" in this blog (as we say round here).
A lot of criticism and verbal attacks.
Now I don't actually like slagging things off; for various reasons.
Hmmmm....

"Psychiatry: The Science of Lies"

30th December '08.

Read an excellent book, "Psychiatry: The Science of Lies" by Thomas Szasz.

Short and sweet.

Very interesting points made about social or human sciences - if there can be such things - as opposed to natural or physical sciences.

It is a philosophical question whether or not there can even be a social science. One reason is that in such a case we are the things that we are studying.

"Psychology is not a science, but the hope of a science." William James - U.S.American, one of the "founding fathers" of modern psychology.

Such humility is still needed today - and will always be needed. One reason is that in the case of psychology it is we ourselves that we are studying.

Szasz seems to be as critical of psychology as he is of psychiatry.

Very good exposure of Freud.

There is also an interesting discussion of Lord Acton, the originator of the well-used statement that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
It is not well known that Acton was a Catholic and that these words were regarding his views on the questionable and at the time (the late 19th century) very new doctrine of Papal infalibility.

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I have now read four books by Szasz.

"The Myth of Mental Illness".
"Insanity - the Idea and its Consequences."

"Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry"

"Psychiatry: The Science of Lies."

Re: Iran

The USA and England destroyed democracy in Iran in 1953.

And now the USA has threatened to invade and bomb Iran.

Everyone wants to work etc.

Criminalising joblessness... etc.

At the end of the day there are shed loads of people on Jobseekers who do loads of voluntary work already!

There are shed loads of people on Jobseekers - which is incidentally a disgraceful pittance especially compared to other European countries - who simply cannot get work for a variety of reasons.

How are we supposed to go from a situation with at least a million on Jobseekers Allowance who can't get work to a situation where even those on sickness benefits somehow get paid work?
....

I Plan to Conform and Get a Job and Generally Behave at the Nearest Possible Moment

Announcement:

I Plan to Conform and Get a Job and Generally Behave at the Nearest Possible Moment.

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After much thought I have realised that there are many reasons why I have never had a proper job.
One of them is that I literally do not know how to get one.

Pure thick

Calling Karen Mathews "pure evil" as the Police did today is a bit over the top if you ask me.
Pure thick is a bit more like it, considering that she thought she could get away with it.
And putting on a Panorama about it tonight instead of the normal programmes is also a bit de trop.

It shouldn't be forgotten that the media played a role in this crime in the sense that Mathews was trying to gain the financial rewards that are provided by newspapers in such cases.

Que Feriez-Vous Sans Nous?

Was travelling into Brussels today from the south into the north and saw a large graffiti saying
"Que Feriez-Vous Sans Nous?".
Hmm....
Actually, there was some great graffiti to be seen all over the region.

Secularism

Secular does not mean "no religion" or "anti-religion" it means "any, all or no religion."
It means religious liberty.
.....

I reserve the right

If we don't have the right to tell the truth we have no rights.


I have the right to tell my version of the truth because if I don't the coercers and oppressors have won. The people who wanted to destroy us and silence us have won if we remain silent.


To remain silent is to conspire in our own oppression.

There should never be a secret that cannot be told.