(Disclaimer: I am NOT a Scientologist, I think it's a repressive, fraudulent cult. Disliking some aspects of modern psychiatry does NOT mean I have any love for Scientology.)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...

I don't normally read the health blogs very much, but seeing this story made me click, though I know I probably shouldn't have for how pissed off I became after reading it.

Suicide is a very personal issue for me. I've had suicidal friends, and I would be lying to say it hasn't crossed my mind at times. I'm also a part of something where one of the most influential people involved at one point (it could be argued that he co-created visual kei) died of a tragic accident that people to this day hastily write off as intentional suicide.

And it it my opinion that the psychiatric response to suicide and narrative of what it means to be suicidal is thoroughly inadequate. . .

I am very glad to be an American.

Have Americans done some great things? Of course. Does the country stand on some great ideas? Of course. Have the American people done some pretty special things? Of course.

Have we also done some pretty bad things? Of course? Have we done some things we should not have done? Of course. But overall what to me makes me glad I am a citizen of America is that if something is wrong, we can try via our system to make things better.

But am I "Proud" to be an American? I guess that is the main point of this diary.

<More after the break>

This commentary was written by B. Edwards, an American and professor abroad.

The current frenzy over the extra-marital affair of John Edwards brings to light some interesting facets of the American political scene. Why in all the hubbub of news and events is the most popular point of media interest whether John Edwards has an illegitimate son or not? What stokes the desire to feed upon this man's misdeed?

One obvious answer is the Republican political machine, which like the Democratic one seeks to capitalize on any advantage it can get to win elections.  Elections have become major displays of the power of quantification, with every single element being weighed by a cadre of analysts seeking that one extra percentage point to tip their boss into power.

This is going to be a stream of consciousness so please hang in there.

Throughout the last months, we have heard the candidates do a little dance around the issue of race. Then, the accusations are thrown out. "McCain is playing the race card." "Obama is playing the race card." No matter who you are voting for, I think it may be down right ignorant to believe that race is not an issue in this election. Although in my eyes racism is racism, I do believe that there are differences in how they are expressed, if expressed at all. I will even go one step further and say that this problem not only applies to race, but to other areas, such as religion. This is a discussion America needs to have, but are we ready for it?

A detainee, a computer engineer working in the Empire State Building, living in Queens. Jason's wife is a citizen and he has two sons born in America.

He died in US custody. Held in New England, his body riddled with cancer. Had a fractured back as well. He was denied medical examinations and treated horribly until a few days before his death.  Even though he was told he didn't have much time to live, once he finally was able to be examined, they made it difficult for his family to visit. He was barely able to see his little boys, ages one and three. Shame, shame on America.

nytimes, "Ill and in Pain,"  

Once a robust man who stood nearly six feet and weighed 200 pounds, his relatives said, Mr. Ng looked like a shrunken and jaundiced 80-year-old.

For those of you who don't know: anime is, generally, Japanese or Japanese-inspired animation (the word itself is an abbreviation). You know... cartoons. But they're generally not written and produced, like kids' Saturday morning toons, to get laughs; they much more often have fairly serious and elaborate stories. Some of them are at least vaguely relevant to modern issues, e.g., global conflict over oil. Others are high fantasy or cyberpunk in nature. The style is usually heavily influenced by pulp comic books called manga.

Still with me?

There's also the fan convention. This can be extremely odd, in terms of the people who show up, and the official and unofficial things that go on. There may be panel discussions, performances by professional or amateur performers of pretty much any art (heavy metal or stand-up comedy, you name it), trade in art and in products related to the convention theme, and probably a lot of heavy drinking.

I bring this up because just this past weekend, I attended Otakon (billed as "convention of otaku generation", otaku being a pathological fan), and I thought: this, in a way, is a microcosm of America.

I thought I would share a slice of American life in 2008 with you. My partner and I live in a fairly affluent upscale suburb of New York in northern New Jersey. We're about 22 miles from midtown Manhattan as the crow flies. The population of our town is predominantly white, average age around 45, have beautiful homes complete with maids and landscapers, own two or three cars, are generally professional types, have 2.4 kids, and in general are highly educated people. In other words, very white and very wealthy. They claim to be Republicans but they mean the Rockefeller branch of the GOP, i.e., not very conservative and generally with a strong libertarian streak.

i am going to reveal to you

and you only

america's best kept secret

the beach extending northward from from venice california to a mile past the santa monica pier is one of the most serene in the world. during the day you can enjoy bright sunshine ocean waves and a beautiful view of nearby mountains. at night stroll along the shore beneath a silvery moon and admire the colorful lights of the pier's ferris wheel and roller coaster

but what really makes it special is whether you are beautiful woman or handsome man no one will care because desire, the source of all societal ill, has been extinguished

i am revealing this to you alone so make sure to cross your heart and promise not to tell a soul            

Hello, fellow Slave-a-reenos!

Isn't it a lovely day here in paradise? Isn't it fun being enslaved?

But how is it that are we enslaved? America is the "freest country in the world." So how can we be enslaved in such a place?

Enslaved by profit - We are all enslaved by profit, from the lowliest worker drone to the high and mighty queen bee - we are all slaves to Big Profit. Think you are not a slave to profit? Really? What did you pay for a gallon of gas today? How much do you pay for medical care? Food? Water?

We’re engaged in an illegal occupation in Iraq. Over 4,000 soldiers dead. Tens of thousands are seriously injured. Perhaps a million Iraqis dead. Our reputation in the world is damaged. We have war being fought in our name but the only people making sacrifices are the soldiers and their families. We have politicians bragging that the terrorists have not "hit us here" and ignoring the obvious – why should they when the have so many targets over there? But I guess our soldiers are no longer part of America when they’re "over there." We are creating an entire generation of young men & women who will carry physical, emotional and/or mental scars and we ignore them at our peril

This is a plea on whatever pitiful and personal level it may be to the Auto Industry, to auto owners, energy consumers ... to America.

You are, if you are willing, about to be led by a ring in your nose like a helpless pig to slaughter to an entirely new narrative about the oil and gasoline you consume.  But I believe that this time, you can do the right thing and stick to the decision you have already made to free yourself from the bonds of oil for good.

Mother Jones got access to a Pentagon study done in 2002 on the lessons America could possibly learn from the great empires in history. This is a worthy question for a powerful nation like the United States to ask, particularly in terms of how America should behave towards the rest of the world. Should the United States stop being in denial that it acts like an empire? Should we stop the imperial actions and act as we believe we are, a benevolent power? Is there such a thing as a benevolent empire? At some point, someone will not like being dictated to by a distant power. We, the United States, for example, really didn't care for England dictating our affairs without representation of some kind. We kicked the English out.

I live in Austin, which is deep blue, but, being in Texas, still has it’s share of wingnuts, as the incident I’m about describe will make obvious.

Somewhere before the end of the Democratic primary, I really got tired of the whole damn thing and stopped listening. I just wanted to be told who finally won. Now, three months before the election, I’m tired of this whole thing. Wake me up when somebody wins it. But no matter who, I bet three years from now we’ll still be in a military quagmire in the Middle East, we’ll still be losing our freedoms piece by piece, the rich and the powerful will still be ruining/running everything, and the "news media" will still be stories of movie stars' sex lives, how to make the best of the _____ crisis, and "Oo! Oo! Senator Dumdum made a no-no in his pants!"
OK, so this time, instead of two double-crossing candidates who talk out of both sides of their mouth we only have one, McCain. Obama is a dreamer of big promise who actually believes in what he says he believes in (though he seems to be on the slippery slope of "If I just change this position, I can get a few more voters..."). But come ON, folks, when was the last time a president actually kept any big promises?

We just returned from Wise County, VA where volunteers provided free medical care for people who had no means to "purchase" it like the rest of us, and are exhausted from the weekend.  I have no official stats, but am quite sure we helped more people than ever before.  I am also quite sure that we had to turn away more people than ever before.  Our three Lions Mobile Sight and Hearing Vans got quite a workout.  I became a patient myself when an ulcer on my foot broke open so I got to see it from both sides.  The Doctor who looked at my foot was once a student I taught in the Medical School at Medical College of Virginia.  She is now at UVA among a fine crew of volunteers from that school.  Virginia Commonwealth University was well represented too.  Let me tell you that this free medical care in tents is as good or better than some I pay through the nose for.  These poor folk are getting some of the best if only one weekend a year.  Look below the break for more.

i walked in and stood against the rear wall. a man and woman each holding microphones were standing about thirty feet away. a woman near them asked a question

" why are you in this lifestyle ?"

The House Judiciary Committee today, Friday, July 25th, will put Impeachment squarely back "on the table" and restored to its prominent place in our Constitution.

Wednesday 07/25/2008 - 10:00 AM
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Full Committee
By Direction of the Chairman