Quacks, The Psychiatrist, The Prisoner, and The Lion

¡Hola! Everybody...

If you get a chance, shoot over to the Police Reform Organizing Project, a grassroots campaign aimed at promoting "changes in the wasteful, ineffective, unjust, illegal, bullying and racially biased practices of the NYPD" (click here). If you have ever been a victim of racial profiling and would like to share your story, please contact either myself or someone at the project (Alternatively, you can submit your story in your own words by following the link).

I just don't know about you, but people like Michelle Bachmann and Rick Perry are an absolute disgrace to our country. People: all around the world they're laughing at us!

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-=[ Quacks ]=-

If you really want to know what's wrong with our country, all you need is to look at the following:

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This clip illustrates what I consider one of the greatest of sins: ignorance. Presented with evidence that challenges his unfunded belief, Rick Perry discards the evidence and clings to the belief. There are Americans who vote for this nonsense.

And speaking of quacks, allow me to share the following (true) story. I won’t name names here folks, but some of you might know…

Some time ago, a recently incarcerated man was going through “orientation” at a New York State prison. Orientation, from a penal perspective, resembles a brainwashing experience: your head is shaved, you are deloused, you are humiliated, your name is taken away and you’re given a number instead. You’re instructed that that number is now your name and must respond when it is called out. You’re also given a series of measures in order to gauge your academic attainment and personality.

As part of the psychological profiling, this individual was called into a psychiatrist’s office for an examination. As part of the questioning process the following took place:

Psychiatrist: What would you do if you were to suddenly discover that a lion was in your cell?

Inmate: well, I would reach for my gun under my pillow and shoot the lion!

Psychiatrist: (somewhat taken aback) Where would you get such a gun?

Inmate: From the same place you got the lion... bitch!

Of course, the man in question was beaten by the guards and immediately diagnosed as suffering from an anti-social personality disorder. The psychiatrist, on the other hand, is probably still “practicing.”

My name is Eddie and I'm in recovery from civilization...