As a doctor, I can tell you that stress has reached pandemic levels, though many still hold back from admitting it to themselves or their peers. Our normalcy bias prevents us from taking notice that tens of millions of people in Western countries are dropping like flies from illness, depression and self-destruction. I came across this article by David Kupelian on Americans' health and agreed with some of the observations made about the dire state of affairs:

• Suicide has surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of injury death for Americans. Even more disturbing, in "the world's greatest military", more U.S. soldiers died last year by suicide than in combat.

• Fully one-third of U.S. employees suffer chronic debilitating stress, and more than half of all "millennials" (18 to 33 year olds) experience a level of stress that keeps them awake at night, including large numbers diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder.

• Shocking new research from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that one in five high-school-aged children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with ADHD, and likewise a large new study of New York City residents shows, sadly, that one in five preteens - children aged six to 12 - have been medically diagnosed with either ADHD, anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder.

• New research concludes that stress renders people susceptible to serious illness, and a growing number of studies now confirm that chronic stress plays a major role in the progression of cancer, the nation's second-biggest killer. The biggest killer of all, heart disease, which causes one in four deaths in the U.S., is also known to have a huge stress component.

• Incredibly, 11 percent of all Americans aged 12 and older are currently taking SSRI antidepressants - those highly controversial, mood-altering psychiatric drugs with the FDA's "suicidality" warning label and alarming correlation with school shooters. Women are especially prone to depression, with a stunning 23 percent of all American women in their 40s and 50s - almost one in four - now taking antidepressants, according to a major study by the CDC.

• Add to that the tens of millions of users of all other types of psychiatric drugs, including (just to pick one) the 6.4 million American children between 4 and 17 diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin or similar psycho-stimulants. Throw in the 28 percent of American adults with a drinking problem, that's more than 60 million, plus the 22 million using illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants, and pretty soon a picture emerges of a nation of drug-takers, with hundreds of millions dependent on one toxic substance or another - legal or illegal - to "help" them deal with the stresses and problems of life.

Likewise, the CDC has reported that antidepressant use in the U.S. has increased nearly 400 percent in the last two decades, making antidepressants the most frequently used class of medications by Americans aged 18-44. The U.S. population makes up 5% of the world population, yet are prescribed two-thirds of all psychiatric drugs used worldwide. If this is not a sign of looming mental health collapse, I don't know what is!

Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me...

- some guy, some place, some time long ago

Don't bother reading this essay, it won't do any good. I mean it, stop reading now, there is no point, it's hopeless. There is nothing worth saying anymore.

All day yesterday the talking heads on the TV informed me that the entire city of Boston is "on lockdown" as enforcement officials search door to door for the one remaining "suspect" in the Marathon Bombings.

And like the obedient, traumatized robots they are, the good citizens of Boston just rolled over and complied. Grateful for the protection of their black-combat-gear-laden overlords, they accepted being harassed and corralled like sheep in their own homes.

Filled with the adrenaline of being directly involved in the center of this clearly manufactured crisis, they waited, trembling inside their bedrooms, not even dimly aware of how they were manipulated and played.

Seriously, how is it possible that people still buy this crap?

Ever wonder why scores of people numbly and willingly lined up for the gas chambers in World War II, without a shred of resistance, without even trying to fight back?

This is why.

This is what we've become.

A nation of slaves.

Blind, deaf, dumb and paralyzed with fear.

Today is April 19th. Today is the 20th anniversary of the dreadful end of the Waco Siege and Massacre, when Janet Reno and Bill Clinton cleared Federal agents to set fire to the Branch Davidians' compound in Waco, Texas, killing all 76 men, women and children inside.

Today is also the 18th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City was blown up, killing 168 people. The blast was so powerful that 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius were destroyed or damaged, 86 cars were burned, and glass shattered in 258 nearby buildings. Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for his role in the attack, although how a 'truck bomb loaded with fertilizer' caused so much damage remains a mystery. We were told he did it to avenge the Waco massacre and oppose the Federal Government's 'gun control measures'. The Oklahoma City Bombing went down in history as a case of 'domestic terrorism' by wannabe revolutionaries, but everyone ought to know by now that that was a 'Noble' Lie.

Four days ago on April 15th 2013, Tax Day in the U.S., someone set off two shrapnel bombs at the Boston Marathon. The resulting carnage is identical to that seen in Baghdad day in, day out for 10 years. The Boston Tea Party was a key turning point in the growth of the American revolutionary movement. The annual Marathon is always held on the third Monday in April - Patriots' Day - a public holiday in Northeastern U.S. states to commemorate the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War - the Battles of Lexington and Concord - on April 19th, 1775.

The whole world seems content to assume that, because the Texas explosion two days ago occurred at a fertilizer factory, it must have been fertilizer that caused the explosion. The problem with that theory is that the factory in question did not stock the commonly used fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, which is a solid, prone to exploding (with the proper ignition source) and is widely used by farmers and bomb makers (both the legal and illegal kinds). What the factory did stock was anhydrous ammonium, a gas, that is less volatile and, when ignited, less likely to explode with such force as seen at the West plant. For this reason, all mainstream media reports that have attempted to explain the explosion have been forced to refer to ammonium nitrate, despite the fact that there was no ammonium nitrate at the plant. This historical revisionism has already infected Wikipedia (no surprise there), where the West explosion is referred to as having been caused by ammonium nitrate.

'Marathon Monday' will never be the same for Bostonians. The 117th Boston Marathon ended abruptly when two bombs went off in quick succession at 2.50 pm EST near the finish line on Boylston Street in downtown Boston. As we go to press, 3 people have been confirmed dead, 17 are critically wounded and another 176 have been treated for injuries. The bombs - spaced some 500 yards and 10 seconds apart - went off on the same side of the street, where many spectators had gathered to cheer runners on to the finish line.

Flying limbs and streets awash in blood from what were effectively anti-personnel bombs, designed to maximise trauma, are daily occurrences in countries occupied by the U.S. military, but such gruesome scenes aren't usually seen on the streets of the 'homeland'. Until now.

As the initial shock subsides to make way for an official narrative that will no doubt squeeze every ounce of political capital from this heinous deed, we want to point out some of the inconsistencies we've noticed thus far.

In this second in our series of shows on the topic of science and its benefits and negative consequences for mankind, we took a look at the use and abuse of psychiatry and psychology.

From the psychotherapist's chair to anti-depressant drugs and diverse therapeutic modalities, psychiatry and psychology have come up with as many solutions for mental health issues as there are theories of what makes people tick.

While many individuals have benefited from some form of intervention or another, the application of psychological knowledge for propaganda purposes, mind control experiments and pure corporate greed has apparently left most people's psychological health more fragile than ever.

This week, we attempted to sort the good from the bad and the ugly by 'psychoanalyzing' some of the questionable practices and theories of the mind, and untangling the confusion produced by psychological terminology that frequently overlaps the same basic underlying problems people encounter in our stressful modern world.

Running Time: 02:16:00

Download: MP3

In this first in our series of shows on the topic of science and its benefits, or otherwise, to human beings, we subjected modern medicine to an in-depth and experience-based analysis of the root causes of human illness.

In combination with modern technology, modern medicine has undoubtedly brought various benefits for human health and longevity. At the same time however, a startlingly high percentage of people today, particularly those living in Western 'first world' counties, suffer from an increasing number of 'modern diseases' that have proven to be incurable with modern allopathic techniques.

From various forms of cancer to heart disease and diabetes, modern medical treatments can only alleviate the symptoms of these diseases by way of a plethora of pills (like statins) that sufferers often must consume for the rest of their lives. In addition, many of these pills carry significantly deleterious side-effects.

On the 'bright' side, as the sole purveyors of these pills to the doctors that prescribe them, multi-national pharmaceutical companies have grown outrageously wealthy, bringing into question whether or not there may be a conflict of interest and if these companies are truly committed to improving human health in a real way.

Studiously ignored by the medical establishment is the increasing evidence that diet is a major contributor to health and that what we eat may be a significant contributing factor to the rise of these modern diseases that have, in some cases, reached almost pandemic proportions.

Running Time: 02:11:00

Download: MP3

"We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality."

The War on Iraq was one of the most brutal events in modern history. Sold to the people on the basis of lies about non-existent WMDs and Saddam Hussein's non-existent ties to non-existent al Qaeda, the above quote from a Bush administration official encapsulates the pathological delusion of grandeur that is US government foreign policy.

On this week's show we'll be marking the 10th anniversary of 'Shock and Awe' by comparing American fantasy with reality and examining the disastrous choices American policy-makers have taken as the economy implodes. 9/11 gave the warmongers their "new Pearl Harbor." Couched in lofty rhetoric about spreading democracy and liberating the world from tyrannical dictators, America's glorious self-image stands in stark contrast to the brutal reality of ten years of bloody mayhem that has left Iraq and its people ripped apart.

But it's not just Iraqis that have suffered. This insane warmongering is having a disastrous effect on the American and European populations, both economically and morally. History shows that when a civilization reaches a certain level of selfishness and depravity, cosmic disaster follows.

Running Time: 02:08:00

Download: MP3

This week we revisit the topic of psychopaths but from the angle of the women who have fallen "in love" with them and suffered the consequences.

Our guest will be Sandra L. Brown. Sandra holds a master's degree in counseling with a former specialization in personality disorders/pathology. She is a program development specialist, lecturer, community educator, and award-winning author.

Sandra is also a writer for Psychology Today and has been interviewed in magazines such as Seventeen. She has appeared in more than 50 television shows including Anderson Cooper's daytime show, "Anderson". She has provided consultation to film producers regarding pathological love relationship dynamics based on her books.

Sandra's books include the award-winning Women Who Love Psychopaths: Inside the Relationships of inevitable Harm With Psychopaths, Sociopaths & Narcissists and How to Spot a Dangerous Man Before You Get Involved

Running Time: 02:05:00

Download: MP3

Ten years ago, more or less to the day, I wrote the following on the then Signs of the Times page:

"As I sit here, a motion in the UK House of commons has been defeated by some 415 votes to 149. Not that any other result would have stopped the US, yet it signifies a full green light for the attack on Iraq. Bush's 'ultimatum' to Saddam expires at midnight (GMT) Thursday (7pm EST). "Shock and Awe" (read "death and destruction") may come at any time between now and then. We have at most one day, one day left to ponder at the edge of the abyss before the coming darkness engulfs us all.

As if to mock those who are against this illegal invasion and the lies and deceit that have been used to justify it, Ari Fleishcer today stated that, even if Saddam went into exile now, the US would still invade. It's not about WMD, it's about domination and the destructive principle. Perhaps Ari feels he can be more truthful now that it is a 'done deal', now that Cheney, Rumsfeld and Blair have told the peace-loving people of the world to go f**k themselves. It must have been hard for Fleischer to stand up in front of the world's media every day and lie so profusely. (Then again, maybe not).

It's hard for me to describe the feelings I have right now; there is an enormous sense of impending doom, mixed with anger at being made to feel so helpless in the face of such rampant psychopathy. Who are these men that they can simply decide to throw the world and its inhabitants into "war without end", and who are we that they could, for so long, fool us with such pathetic and barely-disguised lies and know that we would just roll over and let them get away with it?"

Ten years ago today, the US and British military (with a posse of cowed 'allies' in tow) launched 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' aka 'Shock and Awe' aka, 'Operation Destroy the Critical Infrastructure of Iraq and Initiate an Overt Decade-long Attack on - and Occupation of - the Iraqi People.' To date, at least 1.5 million Iraqi civilians have been murdered, and at least 5 million displaced from their homes as a direct result of 'liberation'. This on top of millions killed and impoverished by US-led economic sanctions in the preceding decade. Deadly car bombings continue to this day. Suffice to say, Iraq was not liberated: it was destroyed, and destroyed deliberately.