Category: Psychology

Why Yes, Antonin Scalia has Gone Nuts

No Comments

It appears that there is a growing consensus on this matter:

In January, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of “high-handedness.” He was just getting warmed up.

Over the next 3 1/2 months, Scalia asked whether federal immigration policy was designed to “please Mexico,” fired off 12 questions and comments in 15 minutes at a government lawyer in a case involving overtime pay, and dismissed part of Solicitor General Donald Verrilli’s defense of President Barack Obama’s health-care law as “extraordinary.”

Scalia’s tone this year, particularly in cases involving the Obama administration, is raising new criticism over the temperament of a justice who has always relished the give-and- take of the Supreme Court’s public sessions. Some lawyers say Scalia, a 1986 appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, is crossing the line that separates tough scrutiny from advocacy.

“His questions have been increasingly confrontational,” said Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor who served as Reagan’s top Supreme Court advocate. While the justice has always asked “pointed” questions, in the health-care case “he came across much more like an advocate.”

Scalia’s approach is fueling the perception that the biggest cases this term, including health care, may be influenced by politics, rather than the legal principles that he and other justices say should be their guide. A Bloomberg News poll in March showed that 75 percent of Americans think the court’s decision on the 2010 law will be based more on politics than on constitutional merit.

Scalia has always been a partisan political hack, but lately, he’s not even trying to pretend that he has an open mind.

Because they are Whiny Babies

No Comments

Brad Delong wonders why Wall Street dislikes Barack Obama so much:

A worker bee at a mainline investment bank told me last fall:

Back in 2008 Wall Street was split 40-60 Obama-McCain. Now it is split 10-90 Obama-Romney.

Why? It is not as though Wall Street has done badly under Obama. Stock prices are up and interest rates are down, so leveraged financial institutions long assets–as Wall Street inevitably is–have done very, very well indeed. The standard bargain that the Democrats offer Wall Street has held. It is:

We will try to tax you (and, given the power of your lobbying operation in Congress, probably fail to do so), but we will give you competent economic management in striking contrast to that offered by the ideologically-blinded wingnuts who are the Republicans.

That has been the bargain that the Democrats have offered Wall Street from the days of Hoover to Bush II, and when Wall Street has had a sense of its own long-run interests, it has taken the Democrats up on it. And it has been happy.
But not this time.

Why not? What is going on? What is there about 50% real increases in equity values over less than 3 1/2 years that is not to like?

For the past 30+ years, these guys have been surrounded by people who treat them like they were Pashas, both in their social circles on Wall Street as well both sides of the partisan divide in Washington, DC, so when Barack Obama  calls them “Wall Street Fat Cats”, their heads explode.

This is despite the fact he, and his sidekick Timmy Geithner, bail them out, and quash prosecutions.

One wonders just how insecure these guys are about their value to society. 

Hmm…come to think of it, this answer was a bit more involved than I intended.

Here’s a hint:  You are all worthless parasites.

Well Duh!

No Comments

This just in, a new study has shown that homophobes are likely to be self deluded closet cases:

Homophobes are a group of people who have a negative feeling towards homosexuality, but new research claims that people who express hatred of gays are secretly more likely to be attracted to the same sex.

Researchers from the University of Rochester, the University of Essex and the University of California in Santa Barbara have discovered that homophobes are actually attracted to the same sex but they do not admit it because they grew up with authoritarian parents who forbade such desires. They found this when they conducted a series of psychology studies.

The researchers assert that people who define themselves as straight and who hate homosexuality are often attracted to the same sex. They believe that homosexual people remind them of similar tendencies within themselves.

“Individuals who identify as straight but in psychological tests show a strong attraction to the same sex may be threatened by gays and lesbians because homosexuals remind them of similar tendencies within themselves,” said Netta Weinstein, a lecturer at the University of Essex, in a statement.

Yes, Mr. Frothy Mixture is Nuts

No Comments

Charles Blow looks at Rick Santorum’s public statements and discovers that what drives him is his revulsion directed towards the sexual revolution of the 1960s:

Rick Santorum wants to bring sexy back … to the 1950s, when he was born.

That is because Santorum seems to have an unhealthy fixation with, and passionate disdain for, the 1960s and the sexual freedoms that followed.

To fully understand Santorum’s strident rejection of the 1960s, it’s instructive to recall a speech and question-and-answer session he gave in 2008 to a course on religion and politics at the Oxford Center for Religion and Public Life in Washington.

The speech was interesting, but the answers he gave to the questions that followed were truly illuminating.

In response to a question about the kinds of words he had heard “attached to religion and politics” during his years in the Senate, Santorum ventured off onto sex:

“It comes down to sex. That’s what it’s all about. It comes down to freedom, and it comes down to sex. If you have anything to do with any of the sexual issues, and if you are on the wrong side of being able to do all of the sexual freedoms you want, you are a bad guy. And you’re dangerous because you are going to limit my freedom in an area that’s the most central to me. And that’s the way it’s looked at.”

………

But let’s not let facts slow us down. Santorum, predictably, deflected back to sex:

“Woodstock is the great American orgy. This is who the Democratic Party has become. They have become the party of Woodstock. They prey upon our most basic primal lusts, and that’s sex. And the whole abortion culture, it’s not about life. It’s about sexual freedom. That’s what it’s about. Homosexuality. It’s about sexual freedom. All of the things are about sexual freedom, and they hate to be called on them. They try to somehow or other tie this to the founding fathers’ vision of liberty, which is bizarre. It’s ridiculous. That’s at the core of why you are attacked.”

The next question was: “Do you see any possibility for a party of Christian reform, or an influx of Christian ideas into this [Democratic] party?”

Santorum’s answer included what? That’s right: Sex!

Blow (heh) is implying that Santorum has an unhealthy fixation about sex.

I’ll be more specific. I think that Santorum is indicative of a strain of Republican thought that I saw a lot of when I was in the SGA Senate working alongside future Abramhoff : basically, they are really pissed, because they weren’t getting any during the sexual revolution.

I understand how it feels.  Not only was I a war-gaming/Dungeons & Dragons geek in high school, I founded the Woodrow Wilson High School war gaming club.

I was as likely to get laid in high school as I was to fly to the moon.

The thing is, I got over it, and not end up with a sociopathic need to tell women what to do with their bodies.

Mr Santorum, not so much.

What Is The Difference Between A Broker And A Psychopath?

No Comments

The answer appears to be, “psychopaths are much better for the rest of us“:

What makes individual stockbrokers blow billions in financial markets with criminal trading schemes? According to a new study conducted at a Swiss university, it may be because share traders behave more recklessly and are more manipulative than psychopaths.

Two weeks ago, yet another case of rogue trading shocked the financial world when UBS trader Kweku Adoboli was arrested for allegedly squandering some $2.3 billion with a risky and unauthorized investment scheme. The 31-year-old, who had been based in London for the Swiss bank, remains in jail. The bank’s chief executive Oswald Grübel, meanwhile, has resigned over the scandal — the third major embarrassment to rattle the institution in just a few years.

…………

According to a new study at the University of St. Gallen seen by SPIEGEL, one contributing factor may be that stockbrokers’ behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths. Researchers at the Swiss research university measured the readiness to cooperate and the egotism of 28 professional traders who took part in computer simulations and intelligence tests. The results, compared with the behavior of psychopaths, exceeded the expectations of the study’s co-authors, forensic expert Pascal Scherrer, and Thomas Noll, a lead administrator at the Pöschwies prison north of Zürich.

…………

“Naturally one can’t characterize the traders as deranged,” Noll told SPIEGEL. “But for example, they behaved more egotistically and were more willing to take risks than a group of psychopaths who took the same test.”

So, Dr. Noll, could you explain to me why we cannot, “characterize traders as deranged?”

It seems to me that if there is any lesson of the past few years, it is that traders are deranged.

Why Does the Media Not Doing Even the Most Basic Due Diligence?

No Comments

So, the news media is reporting how the Occupy movement is starting a super PAC.

Yeah, bull sh%$. It turns out that in the space of a few minutes, with the aid of Google you can find that the person behind it is a fanatic Ron Paul supporter with a history of severe mental illness:

Last week, several news organizations carried a story about an alleged Occupy PAC that, if true, would have driven another stake of political cynicism in the heart of the fractured movement, built on idealism and opposition to the corruption of American politics.

Paperwork for the PAC was filed with the FEC by 32-year-old John Paul Thornton of Decatur, Alabama, who says he was inspired by Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC. Mother Jones reported that “[u]nlike Colbert’s Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, though, Thornton says in his first interview on the subject that OWS PAC is no joke.” Meanwhile, The Atlantic Wire wrote that the organization was specifically registered as a “SuperPAC” that could raise unlimited amounts of funds that Thornton intended to funnel to “federal candidates pledging to get money out of politics, including Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.”

There’s only one problem: The alleged “Occupy PAC” story isn’t at all what it seems, and had any of the reporters who first “broke” it last week bothered applying a little professional skepticism, the story never would have got off the ground, and never would have created yet another layer of disillusionment and cynicism that Occupy’s enemies have been actively sowing.

There many obvious warning signs about Thornton on the public record. For example, John Thornton admitted to a reporter from Capital New York that he was a Ron Paul supporter. You don’t have to be a veteran journalist to know that a guy who supports a far-right Republican libertarian who wants to abolish financial regulations and laws protecting labor and the environment, and favors Citizens United and unregulated lobbying, isn’t exactly representative of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Being a Ron Paul supporter in Occupy is one thing; it’s another thing altogether when a libertarian sets up a SuperPAC in Occupy’s name.

………

According to newspaper accounts, Thornton lost his defense-contracting job in the summer of 2008, after a violent psychotic episode landed him a criminal conviction and a nearly two-month jail sentence. His parents said that Thornton, who was 28 at the time, started losing his mind after getting out of the National Guard. And after string of run-ins with law, which included the violation of a protection order filed by his ex-wife, a judge sentenced him to 60 days in the tank.

The kicker here is that Breitbart actually scooped the reporters on the fact that this guy is a Paulite nut job, because it makes good copy for him, and it syncs with his goal of sliming the Occupy movement.

The more conspiratorially minded of you might think that this is something from the corporate task-master, but the reporter who broke this was Andy Kroll of Mother Jones, and while Mother Jones may be a number of things (after all, they fired Michael Moore, and had to settle out of court for wrongful termination),. they are not a corporate mouthpiece.

This just a lazy sloppy reporters who saw a story with some pop to it, and decided that it was easier to write the story without doing any leg work.

Unfortunately, this is the rule, rather than the exception.

Why Yes, Republicans are F%$#ing Nuts

No Comments

The latest target of their mishugas? Why it’s the Girl Scouts of America:

Next time you buy a box of Tagalongs, you might be helping to fund an abortion.

Or, at least, that’s what one Republican lawmaker in Indiana might have you believe. State Rep. Bob Morris (R) wants to kill a resolution honoring the Girl Scouts because they are a “radicalized organization” that promotes “homosexual lifestyles” and funds Planned Parenthood.

In a letter to his fellow Republicans on Saturday, Morris said he would refuse to support a resolution celebrating 100 years of the organization because “after talking to some well-informed constituents, I did a small amount of web-based research, and what I found is disturbing.”

The letter, obtained by the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, says that the Girl Scouts of America and the World Association of Girl Guides “have entered into a close strategic affiliation with Planned Parenthood,” though “you will not find evidence of this on the GSA/WAGGGS website—in fact, the websites of these two organizations explicitly deny funding Planned Parenthood.”

Seriously, when did those guys with newspapers wrapped around their feet and standing on street corners screaming obscenities at passers by become the Republican Party mainstream?

You Have Got To Be Kidding

2 Comments

Guess what, the heavy duty Randroids out there are now going after their enemy du jour, George Bailey, president of the Bailey building and loan:

It’s been a standing joke for ages to claim that some free-market Randroid was so clueless that he or she would watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” and cheer for Mr. Potter while hissing at George Bailey. It would be the equivalent, say, of someone hoping that Scrooge would tell the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to sod off or that Spielberg would leave E.T. to die alone in a ditch in Southern California or that Dorothy would be stranded in Oz for the rest of her life as the Wizard’s concubine.

But, of course, this, or so everyone thought, was all just cute and snarky hyperbole. No one, not even the High Priestess Ayn Rand herself, could possibly actually watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” and come away not sobbing like a child but instead thinking that George Bailey was a social parasite spouting vile commie propaganda against the heroic Mr. Potter, the job creator who knew what was really best for the people of Bedford Falls.

Yes, they are demonizing the hero, played by honest to God war hero Jimmy Stewart, of Frank Capra’s treacly bit of cinema, It’s a Wonderful Life, which is considered by many (not me) to be an American cinematic icon.*

Seriously, what the f%$# are wrong with these folks?

I’m beginning to understand what led Ayn Rand to have a doting crush on one William Edward Hickman, a monster who kidnapped and dismembered a twelve year old girl, it’s because Randian libertarianism is not so much a philosophy as it is a beard to conceal from the rest of the world that they are sociopaths.

*Personally, I’m not a big fan of the movie, and it was viewed as a resounding failure when released.  My interest was in the fact that it became popular when it passed out of copyright, and TV stations showed it repeatedly in the holiday season, creating a classic.  My interest is how a series of court rulings allowed it to be snatched out of the public domain.

Jon Stewart is Right

No Comments

At about 3:30, but it’s worth it to watch the whole thing

You can make fun of Rick Santorum without having to resort to making ass juice/frothy mixture/Google jokes.

There’s simply way too much insanity even without Dan Savages bit of literary genius.

Case in point, he just said that the “American left” “hates Christendom”, because, among other things, they think that the Crusades were an aggression against the Arab world.

Because, the mass slaughter in Jerusalem, and the pogroms and murders that swept through Europe was all hunky dory.

On behalf of my ancestors, who were doubtless murdered and raped by your ancestors, go Cheney yourself.

H/t The Reality-Based Community, who asks the obvious question, “Is he going to endorse the Inquisition next, and expose Voltaire as an undercover jihadist and proto-Marxist?”

Seriously, I’m not sure if Santorum is simply bat-sh%$ insane, if he’s just used to saying this crap because it’s what College Republicans do to tweak people in order to get their juvenile jollies.

Truth be told, it doesn’t matter.  The end result is the same.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot … Little Green Footballs?!?!?!

1 Comment

Here is a moment of WTF for you, Charles Johnson of the right wing cesspool Little Green Footballs is calling out the so-called Values Voters summit as a bunch of bigoted haters:

If there’s one right wing event that sums up the reasons why I ran screaming away from these lunatics more than any other, it’s the Values Voter Summit, put on every year by a devil’s brew of extreme religious fanatics preaching virulent hatred against everyone who isn’t them.

At the Values Voter Summit, you’ll find every sick and twisted right wing meme in existence; open racism, white supremacists, theocrats (real ones, who want to literally replace the Constitution with the Bible), creationists, historical revisionists, End Times believers, hard core misogynists, deranged homophobia and bigotry of all kinds. And those are just the speakers.

This year, as in every year, it’s attended by all the major Republican politicians, sucking up to these freaks for the almighty vote — because the haters have a dedicated base of deluded drones. Their votes can make a difference for Republicans, and the hate groups are always trying to force their primitive beliefs on the rest of America. It’s a match made in hell.

If the Republican party base, at least as understood by the Republican Presidential candidates, is too crazy for LGF, we are in a world of hurt.

Only One in 25?

No Comments

A study has found that 1 in 25 business is a psychopath:

One out of every 25 business leaders could be psychopathic, a study claims.

The study, conducted by the New York psychologist Paul Babiak, suggests that they disguise the condition by hiding behind their high status, playing up their charm and by manipulating others.

Favourable environmental factors such as a happy childhood mean they can function in a workplace rather than channelling their energies in more violent or destructive ways. Revealing the results in a BBC Horizon documentary, Babiak said: “Psychopaths really aren’t the kind of person you think they are.

“In fact, you could be living with or married to one for 20 years or more and not know that person is a psychopath.

“We have identified individuals that might be labelled ‘the successful psychopath’.

“Part of the problem is that the very things we’re looking for in our leaders, the psychopath can easily mimic.

On Wall Street, I would expect the number to be closer to 24 out of 25.

I’m Going Long On Republican Crazy

No Comments

First, we have Allen West, who just unleashed a truly unhinged tirade against Debbie Wasserman-Schultz:

A Republican congressman from Florida turned to email on Tuesday to call a Democratic colleague from the state “vile, despicable and cowardly” after she called into question his stance on Medicare during the debate over a spending cap and balanced budget bill before the House.

Rep. Allen West, a first-term Republican from south Florida, wasn’t shy about his online outburst. He sent his peppery email to numerous lawmakers as well as his target, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

The subject line of the email: “Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman Schultz.”

The e-mail said: “Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up.”

Is it me, or did he just challenge her to a fight?

It certainly sounds like Zell Miller challenging someone to a duel. The only difference is that it was email, which means that it’s less likely to end up on Stewart.

And then there is Michelle Bachmann’s staff, who in response to a reporter asking about the reports that she is taking a veritable pharmacy of drugs for her stress related migraines, which regularly incapacitate her for days at a time, roughed up the reporter, and not just any reporter, but ABC’s Brian Ross:

Bachmann said 30 million Americans suffer from migraines and that “nearly 1 in 4 American households” have a migraine sufferer. “While I appreciate the concern for myself and for my health,” she added, looking to climb back down to safer ground, “the greater concern should be the debate that is occurring today in Washington, D.C., over whether or not we will increase our debt spending and taxes.” Bachmann reiterated that she would not vote to raise the debt ceiling. And with that, she departed without taking questions.

That’s when things got interesting. Ross dashed after Bachmann, repeatedly asking whether she had ever missed a House vote due to a migraine. She ignored him. Ross pursued her into a parking area behind the stage. Her aides grew alarmed. When Ross made a beeline for the white SUV waiting to carry Bachmann away, two Bachmann men pounced on him, grabbing and pushing him multiple times with what looked to me like unusual force. In fact, I have never seen a reporter treated so roughly at a campaign event, especially not a presidential one. Ross was finally able to break away and lob his question at Bachmann one more time, but she continued to ignore him.

Afterward, I asked Ross — a hard-nosed pro who nevertheless seemed slightly shaken — whether he had ever been treated so roughly. “A few times,” he told me. “Mostly by Mafia people.”

(emphasis mine)

Does anyone know if someone out there has a futures market where I can invest in Republican crazy?

Something like the Iowa Electronic Markets, only one that would allow bigger bets.

I’d make out like a raped ape.

OK, So I’ve Been Watching Keith, and Rachel and Ed…

No Comments

And they all covered the revelation that Michelle Bachmann’s husband, psychologist Marcus Bachmann, has been taking Medicaid money, and then, in violation of regulations, has been performing “repairative therapy,” better known as pray away the gay.

I understand how this might get coverage, it is after all, an interesting juxtaposition of the husband of an anti-Medicaid Congresswoman, and his use of unapproved, and actively harmful, therapy driven by nothing but an ignorant and fundamentalist reading of the bible.

That’s not the part that surprised me. 

The part that surprised me was all of them made a comment to the effect of, “He seems to know an awful lot about gay sex.”

I’ve heard the tapes of him, and he does seem to “mince” a bit, but it seems to me that the “nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” from the hosts bit is a bit much.

Or maybe they have heard whispers that I haven’t.

A Shanda Before the Goyim*

2 Comments

A prominent Orthodox rabbi has endorsed self-mutilation as a means to modesty:

What should a girl do if she wishes to dress modestly but her parents won’t let her? According to Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein she can injure herself in order to use it as an excuse for dressing modestly.

Three weeks ago, Rabbi Zilberstein, the the son-in-law of prominent Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv, received an inquiry from a women’s religious seminary (Midrasha) about a student who is growing increasingly religious. The student said she wanted to dress modestly but her parents were preventing her from doing so, because they were not religious.

…………

“The young woman thought that if she inflicted wounds on her legs she could tell her parents that she is wearing a long skirt to cover the wounds,” the letter said.

Rabbi Zilberstein’s reply came shortly after, with an unequivocal answer: “She is allowed to inflict wounds on her legs in order to dress modestly and evade sin.”

In his reply, the rabbi commended the student’s initiative, saying “the blood from the self-inflicted wound will atone for the people of Israel,” adding that the coordinator [of the woman’s seminary] should allow the student to commit the act.

This “Rabbi” is suggesting that self mutilation akin animal sacrifices last presented at the Temple more than 2000 years ago.

There is a word for people who believe that self inflicted injury is somehow holy, and that word is “nut-case.”

Additionally, he, and the seminary coordinator, are being played as fools.  This girl is not being forced by her parents to dress in hot pants, but rather she is profoundly troubled, and looking for a “get out of jail free card” for cutting herself, a pathological behavior rather common among adolescent girls.

Un-dirtyword-believable.

H/t Failed Messiah dot Com.

*An embarrassment before the rest of the world.

Yep, He’s F%$#ing Nuts

No Comments

Federal Judge Larry Burns has ruled that Arizona gunman Jared Lee Loughner is not mentally competent to stand trial:

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Jared Lee Loughner was incompetent to stand trial, all but ending, for now, legal proceedings in the January shooting spree that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Arizona Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

After studying reports from two mental-health experts who examined the 22-year-old defendant, Judge Larry A. Burns stopped federal death-penalty proceedings against Loughner and sent him back to the federal medical center for prisoners in Springfield, Mo., for treatment and further evaluation.

Burns scheduled another hearing for Sept. 21 to see if Loughner’s condition had improved enough for him to assist in his own defense.

It’s clear to me, and I understand that I am not a psychological professional, but it’s clear that this guy is a couple of fries short of a happy meal.

The question here is whether or not getting him well enough to stand trial means just trying him, or if it means meaningful treatment options, along with a reasonable assessment of what should be done if he is ever well enough to be a part of general society again.

I favor the latter myself, and it should be noted that the way that we address serious mental issues in the US is clearly deficient.