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Psychotherapists struggle to deal with Trump issues

Soumya Karlamangla
Los Angeles Times
Fri, 24 Feb 2017 21:17 UTC
therapy
In her 35 years as a therapist, Arlene Drake has never heard so many clients talking about the same issue. Week after week, they complain of panic attacks and insomnia because of President Trump. They're too anxious to concentrate at work. One woman's fear turned into intense, physical pain.

"It's just a nightmare," said Drake, who practices in West L.A.

Drake was trained not to reveal her personal beliefs, but now will agree with clients if they say they don't support Trump.

"If this were just another session, if this weren't such a big thing, if this weren't so evil, I wouldn't," she said. "But I have to stand for what I stand for and that does cross over into politics."

Therapists nationwide say they've been overwhelmed by the strong feelings triggered by one of the most divisive figures in modern political history.

Comment: And now a bit of satire:



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Blackbox

New Jersey to replace its broken bail system with a computer algorithm

Sarah Kramer
Vice
Sat, 25 Feb 2017 14:39 UTC
Prison
© Stephen Lam / Reuters
The state is trying to fix the biased bail system—but do reform efforts go far enough?

New Jersey is trying a new algorithm to fix its broken bail system, a flashpoint for criminal justice advocates who argue that court-assessed fines can discriminate against low-income and highly policed communities—most often, people of color.

Guidelines for how judges set bail vary across the country, but generally use a combination of a bail schedule, which prices out fees for specific offenses, and their own assessment of whether the defendant will appear at their hearing or commit a crime before their trial. If you can't pay up, you stay in jail until your trial date, sometimes for up to a month.
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War Whore

Los Angeles officials request ICE stop identifying themselves as police


RT
Sat, 25 Feb 2017 02:33 UTC
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
© Lucy Nicholson / ReutersLos Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
Three Los Angeles officials have signed a letter asking US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop introducing themselves as police. They argue that doing so undermines the trust built between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.

A letter from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Attorney Mike Feuer and City Council President Herb Wesson requested that ICE cease calling themselves police when interacting with the public to prevent alienating undocumented immigrants from the LAPD.

Inspired by a Los Angeles Times article discussing ICE officers who refer to themselves as "police" to get people to open their doors or talk to them, the letter says: "The LAPD manual states that participation by undocumented residents in police activities serves to 'increase the Department's ability to protect and serve the entire community.'"

The letter argues that ensuring undocumented immigrants feel comfortable reporting crime to police officers is integral to public safety, because it encourages "witnesses and victims of crime to come forward, irrespective of their immigration status."


Comment: See also: ICE 'removal orders' for 950K illegal immigrants is less than 1 percent captured in raids

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Chart Pie

In attempt to balance US budget, Tennessee could be about to start a 'Constitutional crisis'

Tyler Durden
Zerohedge
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 05:25 UTC
US constitution
The State Senate of Tennessee has laid the legislative groundwork for something that hasn't been done in the United States of America since the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. With a vote of 27-3, the Tennessee Senate has voted to call a "convention of the states" in order to draft and pass an amendment to the Constitution that would require balanced budgets to be passed every year.

For those who are little fuzzy on their high school U.S. history knowledge, the Tennessean explains that the U.S. Constitution can be amended in two ways. The first would require a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of Congress, an unlikely outcome in today's hyper-partisan political arena. The second, on the other hand, requires that two-thirds of the states (34 in total) pass a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention.
There are two ways to propose amendments to the Constitution. The first and more traditional method is through a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then the amendment is sent to the state legislatures, where it needs ratification by three-fourths or 38 states in order to become law. Nearly all 27 amendments have followed this path.

But the Constitution also provides a second, more populist path to amending the document. If two-thirds or 34 states pass a resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention, delegates from all 50 states will meet to draft an amendment. This is what the Tennessee lawmakers are calling for in their resolution.

Comment: In order to arrive to a good solution, the people of the US have to more correctly identify the problems. With literally trillions of dollars gone missing from places like the unholy Pentagon - and no accountability - how could any new laws ever manage to shore up the economic health of the US? And this is just one (if not one of the worst) examples.

See: What would you do with 8.5 trillion and total secrecy? US government clueless about missing Pentagon cash

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Heart - Black

BigPharma's quest for profit keeps life-saving medicines out of reach for the developing world

Dr. Tomasz Pierscionek
RT
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 16:25 UTC
illness developing world, lack access medicine developing world
© Siegfried Modola / Reuters
Expensive medicines remain inaccessible for many. Lengthy patents prevent development or importation of cheaper generic drugs. The quest for profit trumps the needs of the developing world, violating the basic tenet of justice to provide healthcare to all.

Great scientific and medical advances were made over the course of the 20th century, manifesting in the development of myriad medicines, sophisticated surgical techniques, and significant improvements in healthcare provision. Average life expectancy in the USA increased by almost three decades during this period, concomitant with a steep fall in infant mortality. In England and Wales, average lifespans rose from 49 (males) and 53 (females) in 1910 to 75 (males) and 80 (females) by the end of the century.

The development of antibiotics, novel vaccinations, and an ever-widening array of medicines are some of the reasons behind the virtual eradication of infectious diseases such as measles, rubella, and TB in the developed world.

Not everyone has equally benefitted from this scientific progress, however. The aforementioned diseases are still frighteningly prevalent across the developing world. The average life expectancy in some African nations is as low as the sixth decade of life, as millions succumb to diseases and die without access to vaccinations, medicines, or decent healthcare.

Comment: It's not difficult to understand why the pharmaceutical industry is so despised. While poorer countries of the world suffer from a lack of necessary medicines, those in the developed world are over-medicated with drugs that are often harmful causing needless suffering and countless deaths.

Experts calling for urgent public inquiry into drugs firms' 'murky' practices - Big Pharma greed is killing tens of thousands around the world

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Pistol

Case of a slain Palestinian framed by Israel as an Islamic State terrorist will undergo probe

Maureen Clare Murphy
The Electronic Intifada
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 00:00 UTC
funeral al-qiyan
© Keren Manor ActiveStillsThanks to a human rights group petition, Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan was buried on 24 January after Israel’s high court ordered the release of his body.
An Israeli justice ministry probe is expected to contradict police claims that a Palestinian citizen was attempting a car ramming attack when he was shot dead in January, Israeli media reported this week.

Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan
© Seen ThisYaqoub Abu al-Qiyan (Mossawa)
Yaqoub Abu al-Qiyan, 50, was shot by police while driving his vehicle, during a pre-dawn raid to destroy homes built without permits in Umm al-Hiran. The Israeli government seeks to evacuate the Palestinian Bedouin village in the south of Israel in order to build a Jewish settlement in its place. An officer was also killed and several demonstrators - including a Palestinian member of Israel's parliament - were injured by sponge-tipped bullets and other weaponry fired by police during the 18 January raid.

Eyewitnesses and the slain man's family told media that Abu al-Qiyan was attempting to leave the village and that his vehicle accelerated only after he was fired on, suggesting he became incapacitated and lost control of his car before it veered off course and drove into a group of police. But police and senior Israeli government officials wasted no time in framing Abu al-Qiyan as a terrorist immediately after his death.

Comment: Deflection with blame is an Israeli mastery.

See also: Father of slain Palestinian dies 'of shock' in Umm al-Hiran

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Camcorder

Illegal Clinton fundraiser makes secret videotape as insurance against assassination

Alana Goodman
Daily Mail
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 19:51 UTC
Johnny Chung with the Clintons
Trusted: Johnny Chung's fundraising made him someone the Clinton were keen to be seen with - and to thanks. But when the businessman (left) got caught up in scandal, he feared for his life. Quite how close they were is shown in this picture - signed by Hillary Clinton.

A Chinese-American businessman at the center of a Clinton campaign finance scandal secretly filmed a tell-all video as an 'insurance policy' - because he feared being murdered.

In footage provided exclusively to DailyMail.com, Johnny Chung spills details on how he illegally funneled money from Chinese officials to Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election bid.

The Chinese-American Clinton fundraiser recorded the 'elaborate videotaped testimony' while in hiding in 2000.

He smuggled it to trusted friends and family with instructions to release it to the media in the event of his untimely death because he believed he was at risk of being assassinated.

Chung is believed to still be alive and living in China.

The video was obtained by author and historian Doug Wead for his new book Game of Thorns, which traces Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful 2016 campaign and the Chinese government's long-running operation to buy political influence in Washington.
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Bomb

Deadly bomb attack in Lahore, Pakistan, latest in string of attacks - UPDATE


RFE/RL
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 19:04 UTC
lahore pakistan bomb scene
© AFPPakistani security officials cordon off the site of a deadly bomb attack in Lahore on February 23.
A bomb explosion in the Pakistani city of Lahore has left at least eight people dead and about 20 injured, officials say.

The February 23 blast struck an upscale shopping district, a spokesman for the Punjab provincial police said.

Police said the area had been sealed off and the cause of the explosion, which appeared to target a popular restaurant, was under investigation.

There were reports of a second explosion, but police said that turned out to be a false alarm.

The explosion came one day after authorities announced a national antiterrorism alert after the country was rocked by a spate of attacks that left more than 130 people dead.

On February 16, a militant detonated explosives at a Sufi shrine in Sindh province, killing 90 people. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for that attack.

On February 13, a Taliban suicide-bomb attack in Lahore killed 13 people.

Comment: The uptick in attacks in Pakistan comes at an interesting time. See: Update (Feb. 24): Pakistani police are now saying this wasn't a terror attack, but a gas leak:
Authorities said on February 24 that the explosion was "an accident" and that there were no indications of explosives.

Earlier, numerous officials sources had said with certainty that the incident was a terrorist attack.

Punjab provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah blamed the error on chaos following the incident and suggested a need for new procedures on communicating with the media in emergencies.


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Snow Globe

"Dog Whisperer" Cesar Milan: Millennials too selfish, distracted by technology for dog ownership

Brad Hunter
Toronto Sun
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 16:07 UTC
Cesar Milan with Tazo
© Craig Robertson/Toronto SunCesar Millan with Tazo a five-year-old Shih Tzu in 2010. Millan visits Pet Valu during his first Canadian tour.
Much-maligned millennials are now getting a ruff ride from dog whisperer Cesar Millan.

The "dog whisperer" barked to the Daily Mail that the me, me, me generation are so distracted by technology, selfish and hampered by their inability to pay attention to other humans, canine ownership would be a disaster.

"They've being given everything, how are they going to maintain a dog?" Millan said. Worse, Millan says millennials are cornering canines into being replacements for babies. "The new generation brought the dog inside. But that's because the new generation don't have children. You need to fill that empty space," he told the tabloid.

"You need to love somebody and you need to touch somebody." He added: "The dog is no longer a worker, it has evolved into becoming a personal fulfillment formula for a human." And millennials? Forget it.

"Millennials shouldn't adopt dogs yet. They are always on their phone and have no idea how to relate on a personal matter," Millan said. "They're not ready to have a one-on-one relationship. A lot of millennials feel independent and can do their own thing, but they have no idea how to relate with other human beings."
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Newspaper

Islamophobia motion in Canada will target moderate Muslims

Tarek Fatah
Toronto Sun
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 19:32 UTC
Quebec City funeral
© The Canadian Press/Paul ChlassonMourners look on as the caskets of three of the victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting are lined up before a funeral at the Maurice Richard Arena in Montreal, Thursday, February 2, 2017.
In the wake of the tragic massacre at a Quebec City mosque that killed six Muslims, a motion will be debated in the Canadian Parliament Wednesday asking MPs to "condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination."

Many in the mosque establishment and right-wing Islamic groups in Canada are celebrating this as a victory.

But Muslim critics of the so-called "Motion 103", which mentions only Islamophobia by name and not any other form of religious persecution, are in disbelief that so few members of parliament have objected to this giant step backward and the watering down of our freedom of expression.

Perhaps, since the motion is being put before the Commons by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid, a Muslim Canadian, MPs don't want to be seen as insensitive to Muslim victimhood, or oppose the motion, lest they be labelled racist, misogynist and, of course, "Islamophobic".

Khalid introduced her motion on Dec.1, 2016, before the Quebec City massacre on Jan. 29, 2017.

That said, popular TV host Asif Javaid argues that it "echoes the agenda of Islamists and Islamic extremists in North America who are shamelessly taking advantage of the Quebec City tragedy to advance the international Muslim Brotherhood agenda to silence any critique of Islamism." In a post on his Facebook page Javaid wrote:
"(E)xtremist Muslims who came here as refugees are making preparations to turn Canada into a ... nightmare."

Comment: What a mind-job. Fifteen years of "Muslims are our mortal enemies" rhetoric, now this. Someone must be laughing. This is a bad idea all around, even if it had 'good' intentions. First, it will only make the real Islamophobes double down on their positions, because now they'll feel persecuted for them. They'll only get more resentful. Second, it could criminalize any valid criticism of Islam or the very real "radical Islam" thought-virus and the various "moderate rebels" that espouse it.

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