2010 Reflections: Life is Stranger than Fiction

As I write, on April 30, 2017, the United States is in a saber-rattling war with several of our enemies.  “Their” enemies, rather.  I’m referring to enemies of the military-industrial empire that likes to win by losing.  It is teaching the world what not to do, but lone voices like mine, unrepresented on Wall Street, are not worth heeding.  Which manufacturers participated with the US government to create this “Mother of All Bombs”?  How are their stocks doing on Wall Street?  Rather, how many private war contractors helped enable the US government to play stupid?  Let’s have their names and boycott their stocks and products, it you want peace.

In another tent in this circus, we have Obamacare clunking along because President Trump has not felt as compelled to keep the threat/promise of repealing it.  The Republicans still believe government should provide health care, in blithe disregard for the Constitution.  To let Obamacare fail and replace it with nothing is as heretical amongst the lawyers and lobbyists as suggesting we abolish the federal government to save money.

The “Affordable Care Act,” otherwise known as “Obamacare” passed seven years ago this month.

This, along with other musings from my April, 2010 journal, is noted below:

FREUD

Thursday, April 1, 2010—Freud was no stud, so his belief that little girls want to have sex with their fathers—as my mother perceived it—was his ego talking.  He probably got perverse gratification into prying into women’s secrets.  In one sense, Freud was the ultimate voyeur, and that’s a big reason everyone is so screwed up now.  They’d rather watch sex on TV than give their own spouse foot rubs.

So Freud has nothing to teach about sex, but a good foot rub does.  And it’s free.  If my parents had given each other foot rubs, perhaps, my father wouldn’t have wanted the Playboy magazines.

OBAMACARE AND FREEDOM

Friday, April 2, 2010—“Freedom” needs re-defining.  Howard Zinn discusses political freedom for blacks, but they were no freer than the land owners, the poor whites, or the soldiers who were drafted to fight the Mexican and other wars.  Freedom is self-determination, self-control, and responsibility to an inner ideal.  Economic freedom is the only one you can obtain politically, but the Constitution stole that.

I think of the irony of my being a psychiatrist, with all the right credentials, but none of the right attitudes for fulfilling the stereotype.  Unless you count “eccentric” among the labels, I am the world’s worst example of psychiatry, because I promote sanity.

The news and net are full of whining and fighting over Obamacare.  One Georgia representative wants to impeach Thurmond Baker, Georgia Secretary of State, because he won’t join the 14 or so other states suing the Feds over Obamacare.

It’s more effective to quit paying taxes to the Feds, but does anyone listen to me?  No.  They are up to their eyeballs in trade-offs, so they are not “free” to stop the human capital power grab this represents.  You want slavery?  Welcome to Obama’s version of caring.

FREEDOM

Friday, April 2, 2010—Freedom cannot grow from violence.  It grows from ignoring those who seek control–passive resistance and aggression in psychiatric terms–but even this suggests subverted violence.  The control freaks are losing their grip.  They don’t know what to do with a populace that ignores them, so they keep beating their drums to get a rise out of the exhausted troops.  What happens if the troops simply refuse to get out of bed of a morning, roll over on their guns and go back to sleep?  Will the President come shoot them personally?

Yawn.  “He died in his sleep.  Didn’t you know?”

METHANE FROM LANDFILL

Friday, April 2, 2010—On a positive note, Southern Company has contracted with Waste Management to develop usable methane from landfill at one of its sites in Savannah.  This is possibly a realistic and practical approach.  Never mind that I have issues with SoCo.  Maybe it won’t need its new nuclear power plants, after all, if this flies.

FREE COUNTRY

Saturday, April 3, 2010—You can’t have a free country when everyone is leaning on each other or the government for support.  Perhaps we are learning what freedom requires.

What began as my “obnoxiously independent” teenage self has matured into an obnoxiously independent middle-aged spinster with a growing intolerance for people who want to lean on me.  Yesterday, an acquaintance took issue with my reluctance to prescribe controlled substances and anti-psychotics to minors.  Later, after we parted ways, I came up with the perfect response:

If you want to waste your time judging movie stars’ husbands for philandering, that’s your choice, but don’t waste my time telling me how to practice psychiatry.  The very idea that this is the hottest news topic of the day proves the whole world is insane, in my humble opinion, so be a slave to the groupthink mass media mind-meld, but it’s your choice to do it, and I’m sorry if it hurts your feelings that I believe it is nuts.  A little free psychiatry, and you are free to take it or leave it.

You are just as free to think I am crazy to find three lame chickens more interesting and entertaining than Hollywood, the mass media, government, and you, but you care what I think more than I care what you think, because you apparently don’t think, and that’s your biggest problem.  If you thought about it at all, you would see how wacko the whole system is, and you would be as depressed as I have been and feel just as betrayed.

Marital infidelity is merely another betrayal in a world where betrayal is the norm, not the exception, and you are angry with me for pointing it out.  At least my chickens are honest, and so are those teenagers you are so busy protecting from me and my ideas.  You don’t want to protect them from the drugs, but from the truth, because that would betray the lies you have chosen to believe.

CHICKEN WISDOM

Tuesday, April 13, 2010—It helps to talk to the chickens out loud, because I see so clearly the human attitudes I bring.  They respond with a seeming wisdom that is uncanny.  I mention Roscoe (who died in December), and Honey’s head jerks up.  I talk about how shy Laddie is with the ladies, and he starts eating nervously or runs away.  I ask if Lovdov feels left out, and Honey runs to her an dives under her wing.

I sound maudlin at times, when I talk to the chickens, and I hear my patronizing tone.  “We’re fine,” they seem to say.  “We chose this life, these bodies, for good reasons, and we chose you.  We have chosen to live way beyond our expected life spans, and we are relatively healthy and content, feel more or less safe and comfortable, and we are well loved.  Your pity only depresses us.  Go away if you can’t stand it.  Leave us alone.  We have each other.”

LIFE SCIENCE

Tuesday, April 13, 2010—I approach life as if it’s a scientific experiment, which may be the best interpretation of north node in Aquarius at the nadir to date.  My pets, especially the chickens, give me enormous amounts of material in all categories, but primarily in questions of life and death, pain, suffering, physical limitations, sickness and health.  The chickens are so sensitive to my mood. Roscoe was especially excitable when I was nervous or angry.

THE STORIES BEHIND THE STORIES

Sunday, April 25, 2010—At Starbucks I read and scribbled over their New York Times.  All about how Goldman Sachs made huge profits by selling short on the mortgage crisis while Henry Paulson was Treasury Secretary.  Of course, there was nary a mention of his connection, until I noted it in my improved edition.

I let the world know the Tea Partiers are everyone who collects more from the government than they pay in, which implicates about 90% of this country, as well as many foreign governments.

I cast my ballot for “None of the Above” in the November election.  I let everyone know Diebold has the government contract on voting machines, as well as bank ATMs

The Dims are worried they may lose up to 30 seats in Congress in November.  There was an article about the con artists who are selling insurance dubbed “Obamacare” which will protect against “death panels.”  I wrote ”The federal government is a death panel.  Look at history.”

I said the federal government is hemorrhaging money.  Its situation is terminal.

I was careful not to imply any violence or to encourage anything illegal, and I hoped the attitude was as amusing to others as it is to me (never).

Rather, I tried not to be too terribly offensive, but to offer alternative thoughts, so anyone who finds and reads sees a glimpse of the stories behind the stories and gets a sense of the drama of our times.

“Send Congress to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.  That should stimulate the economy.”

“Sell Obama to China.  He’s probably not worth much, though.”

There are economic solutions to economic problems.

“Dims and Pubs—United in wasting taxpayer money.”

Hey, I’m not dead yet, and all the recent upsets are only making me more detached and “divinely nonchalant” about earthly conditions.

So shoot me, if you believe it will save you.  You’ll only put me out of your reach, where I can be even more effective, at less cost to me.

CURRENT EVENTS:  USA TODAY

Monday, April 26, 2010—USA Today had Obama and the governor of West Virginia all teary eyed over the 29 coal miners who were killed in the worst explosion in forty years.  “We’ll solve that problem, sniffle, sniffle,” says Obama.  We’ll create more regulation.  All about how great the miners were, working so their children could have educations and televisions.  Televisions? They actually said that.  They waxed eloquent over the American dream.  Only one miner was quoted saying he knows what happened down there, but no one wanted to write that story.  This was photo-op time for the politicians.

Then there’s a police state law passed in Arizona to allow the local police to harass anyone on whim if they suspect illegal status.  Taxpayers are demonstrating, but the governor says the law is necessary because the federal government isn’t acting fast enough.

And by golly, the stock market is rebounding and everyone hopes recovery is on the horizon.  However, jobs aren’t picking up as fast as the stock market, but that’s just a minor detail.

I must be crazy.  That’s why I’ve been committed to work in an insane asylum.  These people think I should have to kowtow to them to front for their psychotic delusion that they do more good than harm.