This blog

This blog is a justified act of truth.

Arrest these criminals!

The following people are criminals and should be arrested.

Tony "Liar" Blair
George "Dubya" Bush
George "The First" Bush
Bill "Bomber" Clinstone.
Ariel "Slobodan" Shienerman "Sharon".

I am now drunk.
I have had half a pint of Guiness.
Fair enough you might say.
But then something else happened.
I went to an offy and I bought two bottles of what I thought was Hoegarten white beer.
I like the taste so couldn't resist.
Fair enough you might say.
But it wasn't ordinary white Hoegarden. It was feckin non-white Hoegarten 8 fecking per cent proof. Posh special brew basically.
So now I am properly sozzled.
And one thing is for sure.
I am never ever going to take down this blog.

Plane Stupid

http://www.planestupid.com/

Great organisation.
Direct Action seems to be the only thing that gets any attention which is a shame.

"Schizophrenia" : A load of old cobblers.

From "Schizophrenia - A Very Short Introduction" by Christopher Frith and Eve Johnstone.

O.U.P. 2003.

"Chapter 2. The Concept of Schizophrenia.

Madness (or what we now call mental disorder) has been recognised and studied since medical records began, although the terms psychosis and schizophrenia are of rather recent origin. Psychosis is any severe form of mental disorder in which the patient has lost touch with reality. Schizophrenia is one of the major examples of a psychotic illness. A patient suffering from psychosis has lost touch with reality in the sense that he or she believes things that cannot possibly be true (delusions) or hears voices and sees visions when there are no sensory stimuli to create them (halllucinations)."

------

This first paragraph of Chapter 2 alone self-evidently destroys the validity of the concept of schizophrenia.

A person who believes things which "cannot possibly be true (delusions)" is surely simply mistaken, not ill.
Where is the evidence that they are ill in any way?
How can mistaken beliefs constitute in and of themselves an illness?
Are those who continue to think that Earth is flat "mentally ill" since they have a mistaken belief that cannot possibly be true? Should they be locked away?
Who decides what is reality and what is truth?

Someone having hallucinations might just be using their imagination, as in when you say "Picture this if you will...."
....

If shizophrenia is a mental illness characterised by psychosis, then this involves anyone with a mistaken belief and a break with reality. So anyone with a mistaken belief has schizophrenia.
That surely includes a lot of people.
.....

Another thing I heard was that "schizophrenia" includes "inappropriate emotional responses".
So is this to say that thousands of people in Gaza and elsewhere should be sectioned because they greeted 9-11 with joy?
It all depends on who decides what an inappropriate emotional response is, surely.
.....

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How can I be so sure that "schizophrenia" doesn't exist?
What if they discover it to be "a brain disease"?

I can be totally sure that it doesn't exist because it is defined as "xyz symptoms" and is not defined as a "brain disease". Therefore it cannot exist.
If a (related) brain disease was discovered then it could not be schizophrenia because schizophrenia is by definition not a brain disease or a (biological) disease of any kind.

Excellent Letter

I think the letters' pages of newspapers are often their best bits, where you read what ordinary people actually think and you hear some very original thinking.
For example, here is an excellent letter that appeared in The Independent in October 2006.

Hooked by the desire for growth.

Sir:

The gist of Stern's message is that we have to make some sacrifices now to avert future catastrophe. The sacrifice we are being asked to make is to do without some economic growth.
This is an odd use of the word "sacrifice" because it would mean, in practice, that we would have to work less hard. And it would mean we would have to shop at a less frenetic rate, pay less for a home, and travel in cars and planes much less often. And because we would be less pressured and less stressed, we would probably be happier and healthier and have more time for each other.

The politicians believe climate change can be sorted out by applying a combination of green taxes, carbon trading and new technology. These measures will not be nearly enough. The real problem is the modern world's addiction to materialism and to the belief that "more is better".

We have more speed, but less quality time for ourselves; more choice, but less satisfaction; more schools and universities, but less education in the original sense of the word; more doctors and hospitals, but less health in any deeper sense; more telecommunications, but less relating in any meaningful way; more goods and services, but less self-reliance; more police and prisons, but less security.

Until we address the core problem - our addiction to materialism and our constant dissatisfaction with what we have - things will just get worse. Making driving or flying more expensive will not deter people. They will find the money somehow. If we doubt this, we need look no further than the housing market. What should be a basic necessity of life in an advanced society, a home, has now become a high-priced luxury, yet people are willing to go into lifetime debt to buy one, and to spend their whole working lives paying it off.

That is surely a special form of madness, but it is symptomatic of the pervasive madness of materialism, which generates so many of our problems, including the problem of climate
change.

CHRIS THOMSON
EDINBURGH

Brillo Pad

Andrew Neil's presenting on BBC2's "Daily Politics" and BBC1s "This Week" is once again leaning over into unacceptable bias at various moments. Bias to the right of course.
He really should take more care to be totally impartial, given his openly Thatcherite past.

The same applies to Nick Robinson who is slightly biased.

Defending Western Civilisation

"Defending Western Civilisation."

There's a new magazine out that says one of it's aims is "to defend Western Civilisation."
Two things need to be questioned.
Firstly, is there really such a thing? If so, what is it?
Secondly, is it really something that needs defending - is it really something to be entirely proud of?

----
I can't help recalling a little remark by Gandhi that speaks volumes:

"I think it would be a good idea."
Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization.
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948).

We want Tax Justice please

".... Gordon Brown ... if he wants to put this 10p tax debacle right, ... should reverse the decision he made and pay for it by taxing the extremely wealthy.

In this country at the moment.... Alan Sugar and Roman Abramovich pay a lower proportion of ... taxes than their secretaries, that is a disgrace. 74% of UK people think this country's too unequal. ..."

Johann Hari.

Back from Wales. - A very good book: "Coercion as Cure"

Back from a little jaunt in Wales.
Took down this blog which made me feel a bit more relaxed.
But I'm putting it back up as I can't see anything too bad about putting it up.
I have a right to my views and reflections.
Wales was great. Lovely to get out of London.

Interesting that a government with Plaid Cymru in it seems to be closing schools against the wishes of the locals. Seems odd.

Read a book on holiday: "Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry" (2007) by Thomas Szasz.
A very fine book.
Oddly, I don't recall seeing any reviews of it in the newspapers.
"Let Wisdom Guide".

In this book there is an interesting discussion of the shameful "1949 Nobel Prize for Medicine" which was awarded to Egas Moniz for "discovering" the lobotomy.
I didn't know it was possible to win a Nobel Prize for mutilation.