59 Comments

I should have realized this long ago, but recent Republican behavior makes it clear that they've never care about law and order. They care about white supremacy and believe that anything they do to preserve it can't possibly be a crime. As awful as these last years have been, a friend of mine suggested to me that they've provided some real clarity about what is wrong with America. Unfortunately, a lot is wrong.

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Special thanks today for the story about the South Carolina senators. I wasn’t aware of their courageous stand and it has given me quite a lift. We fought so hard to get the abortion question as settled law that to have it overturned was gut-wrenching. A slight hint of positive news gives me hope that women will continue to fight for the agency my generation thought we had handed to them fait accompli.

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Since I’m on the topic and I am at lunch and I’m not in a great mood anyway I’d also like to add that having served as healthcare for the homeless psychologist for 5 1/2 years in Fresno. The majority of homeless people are not mentally ill either. Or not in the sense that you might think the majority of people that are homeless. The majority of people that are in prison and the majority of people who are community members that I serve in my private practice, have the following diagnoses major depressive disorder and post traumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, combined with some substance use disorder those four diagnoses are overwhelmingly what Americans are facing. The majority of people with these mental health issues are not violent they’re likely to be the victim of violence, but they’re not violent. Everybody thinks they’re a mental health expert, but they are not. We actually have Are overwhelmingly what Americans are facing. The majority of people with these mental health issues are not violent they’re likely to be the victim of violence, but they’re not violent. Everybody thinks they’re a mental health expert, but they are not. We actually have scientific tools, such as reliability and validity of our instruments and consistent testing in arguments among professionals . Yet everybody who invented an app or any reporter who interviews two or three people or anybody who wants to talk about it thinks they have the definition of mental health and they also have the treatment of mental health and it’s going to save the world maybe Americans need to grow up and start working on their inside issues and there family issues. What’s even more shameful is the very young mental health professionals who are being sold avail of goods from their professional schools and their Internet schools etc. that if only they can learn EMDR or CBT or DBT The actual research indicates that no one system is better than any other system, and the biggest indicator of success is your relationship with your therapist your prescribing Medicaid, or your family and your community don’t even get me started on the relationship between “mental health” problems, and the way the one percent a stolen all the money from the other 99% lunch is almost over I have to get back to work

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May 12·edited May 12

What is so frightening about those followers of the trump doctrine is that they have been psychologically lobotomized. Of course they don't know it. They are like the proverbial sheep. They must follow because they have no ability to lead. Their so-called leader is a disgrace to humanity. He is a caricature. A very dangerous one. We must keep fighting for our very lives & freedom. What has occurred in the US since 2016 is astounding. How rapidly chaos, which is the "traditional" tool of fascist dictators, has brought forth draconian laws & revealed the ugliness of the wrong wing's real intent. Where have these monsters been hiding all this time? Just look again at the monster who made it ok to be the worst possible person imaginable. And for the repub leaders, so-called, to stand up and support these criminals means that they are complicit in any & all criminality themselves. SO SICK OF IT ALL.

Thank you for the music and the meaning of the song. Norma Rae. Such an inspiration, not just for women.

But back to the beginning,I love otters. Watching them floating out in Monterey Bay with a crab they had caught & cracking it open with a rock. Your baby otter so adorable. So fluffy when dry & out of the water. A whole different aspect.

Thank you for your writings and for telling the truth. We can never delude ourselves into thinking "this too shall pass" if we do nothing.

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Thank you for your insightful analysis. The statistic that keeps me up at night is that 77 million of my fellow citizens voted for this heinous individual after experiencing his malfeasance for four years. That is terrifying. I have neighbors, who are otherwise good people, tell me that he is a good man and that Joe Biden is a communist. I shake my head and (exercising maximum control) tell them it is sad they have joined his cult. No amount of reasoning or arguing with them will disuade them. It is a terrifying situation we currently find ourselves in.

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Kareem for U.S Senator. Who would be better? Who is more intelligent? Who would bring a fresher and unique new perspective?Notwithstanding the already declared candidates, I say “no one.

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Thanks for the reminder about Norma Rae. Her fierce and courageous character is the inspiration I sometimes need to carry on.

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The mass shootings can only be considered horrific. The proliferation of weapons is not the only issue. The rise in shootings coincides with the rise of social media algorithms designed to scare or anger people, (almost any medical symptom search result includes "possibly cancer") and hyperviolent video games and movies where mass killing is common, rewarded and desensitizing. We need to be more mindful of the media society consumes. How, I'm not sure. But I'm sure social media and the simulation of mass killing by people gaming and watching hyperviolent movies isn't helping.

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As a doctor of clinical psychology, who has helped create prison programs as well as worked in the community, I wanna address a couple of things. Most of these mass shootings are not done by people who have mental health issues most people on death row don’t have mental health issues. Most people in our prisons don’t have mental health issues in the California prisons about 25% of the inmates have mental health issues. These are mainly depression and anxiety and substance-abuse issues when the mental health programs were founded in the California department of corrections in the 90s we thought that there would be a whole lot of schizophrenia and major mental illness. In fact, those programs are the smallest , the misconception that the mentally ill are causing the problems in the society it’s just not true. Also, the ways people think we should deal with mental health often have no validity or reliability as far as the science of psychology and psychiatry. Apparently anybody could be a psychologist or psychiatrist now and mental health consists of anything people say it is after all aren’t we all simply like coaches? I think there needs to be some serious attention to the actual professionals in the field and the actual members as far as violence and the mentally ill

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Many people who commit mass murder were law-abiding up to that point. All criminals were once law-abiding. Moreover, whatever weapons are available to law-abiding people are available to criminals.

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founding

If you're not depressed you're not paying attention. We need hope

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish a desire with anticipation". Wikipedia

Kareem thanks for your contributions to a hopeful future with justice and liberty for all.

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That last paragraph under the Trump section was brilliant. Just a fantastic summary by Kareem.

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Great song choice Kareem! With the WGA strike going on I’ve been thinking of this film a LOT lately!

Thanks as always for your great insight and thoughtful, elegant prose.

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Wow. “It Goes Like It Goes” is the perfect song for the tail end of this insane week.

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Excellent as always, thanks for the time you take.

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There is no end to the destruction of our lives that is perpetrated by the GOP. Destruction in the form of mass shootings, ignoring the rule of law, ignoring the Constitution, embracing racism, misogyny, antisemitism, using laws to discriminate against anyone who is not like them. This is fascism and it is up to us to stop it. Every American who cherishes the above and believes all are truly created equal no matter what their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation. If we don’t act now, there is no way to stop them.

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