Kite & Key: The Asylums on Our Streets
Julian Walker is a yoga instructor, writer, and co-host of the podcast Conspirituality. He and Bridget discuss the growing overlap between new age spirituality and conspiracy theory culture in the last few years, how QAnon-influenced ideas started to take hold in the yoga space, the growing trend of anti-intellectualism and shying away from science, the difference between freshman skepticism and healthy skepticism, and why he’s committed to the principle that politics should be boring. Julian talks about growing up in South Africa amid the dismantling of apartheid and the perspective it gave him about reality bubbles, authoritarianism, propaganda, and what a charismatic candidate that arouses a passionate response in their followers means in a society. They talk empathy, morality, purity, cults, gurus, political stability, and why we should give people the benefit of the doubt in conversation rather than going from zero to calling them a Nazi in two seconds.
Trump Supports Helping the Mentally Ill
We have failed the mentally ill of this country. In trying to save government money, we have watched them become subject to increasing job loss, homelessness, imprisonment, emergency room treatment, substance abuse, or vulnerable to violence. How did this happen and what is being done?
The Institutes for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion began in 1965 as part of the Social Security Amendments Act of 1965, which created Medicaid and Medicare. Here are the basics of the exclusion:
The IMD exclusion prohibits the use of federal monies through Medicaid for any care (including non-mental health services) provided to patients from 21 to 65 years old, in mental health or substance abuse residential treatment facilities with more than 16 beds. A facility is determined to be an IMD based on its ‘overall character,’ or the totality of whether the facility is a licensed psychiatric facility, is under the state’s mental health authority’s jurisdiction, specializes in providing psychiatric care or treatment (based on the proportion of staff trained in psychiatric care), or whether more than 50 percent of patients are admitted to the facility for mental health care.
Jessica Michelle Singleton, stand-up comedian, bonds with Bridget over their mutually dysfunctional upbringings. They compare notes about raised by parents with borderline or narcissistic personalities, processing trauma with dark humor, overcoming abandonment issues, and the disassociation that makes them feel like robots or aliens – observing people who miss their families is very odd to them. In a frank and hilarious conversation, Jessica shares her story of moving to Alaska from Mississippi as a child, being left at a Waffle Hut by her dad, being raised by an alcoholic mother, and discovering a hidden family secret at 19. They talk the struggles and joys of stand-up comedy, living with a scarcity mindset, the terror of accepting love and not running from intimacy, and how we all struggle with some form of mental illness. Check out Jessica’s podcast, Ignorance is #Blessed.
Full transcript available here: WiW62-JessicaMichelleSingleton-Transcript
500 Pages Later, This Ain’t the Mueller Report
The Portland Police Bureau released the transcript of their investigation into the officer shooting of a mentally ill man on the streets of Portland. The 555 pages of investigation work is far more important than the Mueller Report and the amount of time that has been spent on trying to nullify an election. The will full ignorance, and misplaced compassion of refusing to address the problems of the mentally ill by turning them loose on the streets is a national disgrace. It is not only a disgrace, but it’s also dangerous.
The story from OregonLive:
We are Losing our Kids
After listening to the screed of Greta Thunberg, recently discussed in a post by @exjon, as well as reading the comments by alarmed members of Ricochet, I felt compelled to speak about the the distortions that are being presented to our kids and the effect it is having on them. If this young 
woman, who had clearly been propagandized and therefore abused by her parents, was any example of the mindset of our own children, we are all in deep trouble. The teens of today, of course, are our future. And they are seriously struggling with the possibility of a very dark future, even exhibiting mental illness.
I wanted to know the role of mental illness, in particular anxiety, depression and suicide in the lives of our teenagers, and how these factors might affect their mindset. You have likely heard stories regularly about teens committing suicide; the reasons are many, and include the following factors:
In light of the recent tragedies that both involved weapons that caused the deaths of dozens in a matter of minutes, it occurred to me that the gun argument falls flat for this reason: The law-abiding citizen who passed the background check, has a carry license and is shopping for shampoo and cat food will […]
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Propaganda of the Marijuana Lobby: A Con Job
We’re all being conned. As legalization of marijuana is being pushed forward in the US, we are discovering how little we really know about the drug, and the information we do have is not widely publicized:
Despite being a substance that targets the brain, if and how long-term cannabis use alters brain structure and function remain unknown. There are some known adverse effects. It acutely impairs mental functions and may exacerbate depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and use of other substances. Whether it is more harmful than substances such as alcohol or nicotine is still undetermined. On the plus side, there is conclusive evidence that cannabis provides relief from symptoms related to chemotherapy and multiple sclerosis. Other potential benefits remain unknown.
Ten states have already allowed the recreational use of cannabis. According to an op-ed piece by Alex Berenson, the pro-marijuana groups have changed the discussion by talking about medical marijuana and the relief it can provide, rather than focusing on its recreational use.
Christopher F. Rufo joins City Journal editor Brian Anderson to discuss an urban struggle with street homelessness and the political fight around it in the Pacific Northwest’s largest city.
Known as the “Emerald City” because its surrounding areas are filled with greenery year-round, Seattle has recently seen an explosion of homelessness, crime, and drug addiction. Municipal cleanup crews pick up tens of thousands of dirty needles from the streets, and tent-villages have become a regular presence.
Kanye West and Donald Trump: Eccentric Maybe But Not “Mentally Ill”
The Left thrives on its condemnation and demonizing of the Right, including slurs like homophobic, racist, Islamaphobic, Nazis, fascists and other insults too numerous to list. Now they’ve begun to use other attacks to try to get the Right to line up with its agenda: just call the person mentally ill.
These attacks were and are especially prevalent against Donald Trump. But the most public attacks recently have been against Kanye West, a rapper and superfan of Donald Trump. I confess I don’t know much about Mr. West or his music, but he is one more celebrity in a long list of celebrities who have endorsed Presidents of the United States.
The problem for the Left is that Kanye is breaking the rules: he’s encouraging black people to think for themselves; he’s pointed out the economic improvements for blacks in the midst of the Trump Presidency. And he has an unconventional way of doing it, which horrifies and embarrasses the Left and some members of the black community. Kanye West simply refuses to walk in lock-step, because he’s an independent, creative thinker.
Is the Maryland Mass Shooting Perp Mentally Ill?
Member Post
Xavier Amador was recommended to me by a friend; I thought he was going to be some sort of alternative Guru, but he’s a clinical psychologist who works with major mental illness. This is his TED talk on YouTube about dealing with mentally ill people who will not “admit” they are sick and need help—clinically defined as “anasognosia.” […]
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Shouted Out “Who Killed Michael Shereda?” When After All, Was It You and Me?
Another verse of Sympathy for the Demos? On Saturday, the 1st of September, 57-year-old Michael Shereda was surrounded with family, celebrating the joyous occasion of one of his granddaughter’s first birthday. Nearby, 22-year-old Miguel Mansour, sat on a bench inhaling a hallucinatory gas. Mr. Shereda moved, alone, to tell Miguel to stop his lawless conduct in front of children.
On Friday, September 7th, over 100 people gathered to honor Mr. Shereda’s memory as the murdered man was laid to rest. Miguel Mansour is in jail, pending psychiatric evaluation, prior to possible prosecution for first-degree murder. He had stabbed Shereda in a rage.
@bethanymandel did a post on her friend’s new book called, ”Leaving Cloud 9”, By Erica Anderson. http://ricochet.com/532746/when-you-leave-cloud-9/ I ordered a copy and just finished it. The story is about Erica’s husband Rick, who grows up in a broken home, broken in every way. The trailer, the parent, the poverty, the terrible abuse, a story repeated in […]
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I looked up the definition of mental illness on the Mayo Clinic’s web site (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968). Although there’s not a single, concise definition, the list of signs and symptoms caught my eye: Examples of signs and symptoms [of mental illness] include: Preview Open
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America look at a bunch of new polling that shows America sharply divided on banning “assault weapons,” in large agreement on mental illness needing to be addressed, and a majority now liking the tax cuts. They also rip the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for redrawing the congressional map of the state, ignoring the will of the people through their elected representatives and making the map much more favorable to their Democratic friends. And they shudder as fears grow that North Korea may punish their Olympic athletes for failing to medal at the Winter Olympics.
Stephen Eide joins City Journal associate editor Seth Barron to discuss the New York Police Department’s “crisis intervention team” (CIT), which trains police officers to respond to situations involving people with serious mental illnesses.
In 2016, NYPD officers responded to more than 400 calls a day concerning “emotionally disturbed persons,” some of whom are suffering major psychiatric episodes. Officers receiving CIT training are better prepared to de-escalate these encounters.
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America breathe a sigh of relief as the U.S. Army announces it will scrap a rule that would allow waivers for people dealing with depression, bipolar disorder or self-mutilation to apply to serve. They also slam Minnesota Sen. Al Franken after one of his colleagues on a 2006 USO tour accuses Franken of a forced kiss and provides a photo of him groping her while she is asleep. And they respond bluntly to a New York Times op-ed from a Christianity Today writer who thinks the Mike Pence policy of a man never being along with a woman other than his wife is a damaging to women’s careers and is actually a “sanctified cousin” to “Weinstein-ian behavior.
DJ Jaffe joins Stephen Eide and Howard Husock to discuss severe mental illness and the deficiencies in mental-health services in New York City and across the country.
DJ Jaffe is the author of an important new book, Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill. He is executive director of Mental Illness Policy Org., a nonpartisan think tank that creates detailed policy analysis for legislators, the media, and advocates.
Vincent van Gogh is often held up as the example of the “benefits” of mental illness, usually by people sure that the suffering they themselves need not endure is worthwhile since it produces the art they so enjoy. There is a lot of mental illness in my family and also a lot of creativity, so I […]
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