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La sindrome Truman Show
I fratelli Ian e Joel Gold, psichiatri, sostengono di aver scoperto un nuovo disturbo psichico al quale hanno dato il nome: L'illusione delTruman Show.
Le reazioni non sono tardate ad arrivare e in modo particolare dagli ambienti degli psichiatri conservatori i quali sostengono che questo tipo di paranoia non sia affatto diverso da tanti altri già esistenti e che si tratti solo di un tipo di schizofrenia in veste piò moderna. Ma i Gold insistono: i pazienti da loro esaminati hanno fatto riferimento preciso al Film del 1998 nel quale Truman diventa sempre più consapevole del fatto che la sua vita veniva trasmessa in televisione. Anche i loro pazienti, come Truman, sospettano di essere spiati a livello mondiale e in un caso, il paziente teme che i suoi familiari siano tutti attori che tentano di metterlo al centro del mondo. I fratelli Ian e Joel Gold, psichiatri, sostengono di aver scoperto un nuovo disturbo psichico al quale hanno dato il nome: L'ill... more -
Victims of Maryland's police infiltration speak out
In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was given by an undercover agent known to us as "Lucy." She sat in our meetings of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, smiling and engaged, taking copious notes about actions deemed threatening by the Governor of Maryland, Robert Ehrlich. Our seditious crimes, as Lucy reported, involved such acts as planning to set up a table at the local farmer's market and writing up a petition. Adding a dash of farce to this outrage, she was monitoring us in the liberal enclave of Takoma Park, Maryland, a place known more for vegans than violence, more for tie-dying than terrorism..
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the ACLU, we now know that "Lucy" was only one part of a vast, insidious project. The Maryland State Police's Department of Homeland Security devoted near 300 hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 to harassing people whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and Maryland's use of death row.
My dear friend Mike Stark, a board member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty is at times referred to in "Lucy's" report as a "socialist" and an "anarchist." One can only assume this is the pathetic time-honored tradition of reducing people to simple caricatures, all the better to garner Homeland Security grant money.
Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the suit, was as well consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His "primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism - anti-war protestors." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA. Yes, a respected peace organizer of many decades standing is checked as a terrorist, his actions listed as criminal, for doing nothing more than exercising his rights. It boggles the mind.
Former police superintendent Tim Hutchins defended these totalitarian practices by saying, "You do what you think is best to protect the general populace of the state." (The article mentioned that Hutchins is now a federal defense contractor. I guess The Global War on Terror is just the gift that keeps on giving for the Hutchins family.)
But "protect the general populace" from what? The surveillance continued even after it was determined that we were planning nothing more dangerous that carrying clipboards in a public place. Hutchins and the Ehrlich administration have undertaken an ugly violation of our civil rights, manipulating fears of terrorism to stamp out dissent. In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nic... more -
Father of three branded a pervert for taking pictures of his own kids
A father taking pictures of his children playing on a slide was branded a 'pervert' by fellow parents who accused him of taking pictures of kids to put on the internet.
Look, I know everyone wants to protect their children, but isn't this going a bit too far? He had kids in the park, he showed the other parents the pictures he had taken to prove they were only of his own kids--what more could he do? A father taking pictures of his children playing on a slide was branded a 'pervert' by fellow parents who accused him of tak... more -
The Cannabis Consumers Campaign
The goal of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign is to create public policy changes by: 1) dispelling the myths and negative stereotypes that perpetuate marijuana prohibition and all its harsh consequences and 2) providing a more positive and accurate image of adults who consume cannabis. By coming out of the closet, we demonstrate to the general public, the media, and our political leaders that pot smokers are good, responsible, contributing members of society who deserve equal status and treatment before the law and in society as a whole. Come on out with us, Stop being afraid. The goal of the Cannabis Consumers Campaign is to create public policy changes by: 1) dispelling the myths and negative stereotypes th... more
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Can't fly because of a picture of a gun on teeshirt
'This poor guy tried to board a BA flight at Heathrow terminal 5 but was turned back and told to change out of his t-shirt, which featured a Transformer robot carrying a gun -- a robot with a gun that apparently posed a threat to flight safety.
"Go through security, get pulled to the side. I'm wearing a French Connection Transformers t-shirt. Bloke starts joking with me is that Megatron. Then he explains that since Megatron is holding a gun, I'm not allowed to fly. WTF? It's a 40 foot tall cartoon robot with a gun as an arm. There is no way this shirt is offensive in any way, and what I'm going to use the shirt to pretend I have a gun?"' 'This poor guy tried to board a BA flight at Heathrow terminal 5 but was turned back and told to change out of his t-shirt, which... more -
Hey you! Everybody hates you! Or do they?
"IF you think everybody has got it in for you, you are not alone — more than a third of Brits are PARANOID."
And so begins an unfortunately capitalised story from The Sun that details how up to 20 million British people feel threatened or persecuted in some way. The conclusion was reached from a baffling study in which 200 volunteers took a computer-generated four-minute trip in a London tube carriage. Reactions to other interactive 'virtual' passengers were monitored.
Despite it just being a computer game, and a fairly rubbish one at that, one passenger said a 'dodgy' looking character looked as if he might be the type to plant a bomb, a second was scared she might be sexually molested and a third was worried that a virtual passenger might pick his virtual pocket.
Are us Brits a nation of paranoid, timid folk or does this simply highlight that we're just as idiotic and prejudiced in computer games as in 'real life'?
(Also after the link: a handy 'Are you paranoid?' test) "IF you think everybody has got it in for you, you are not alone — more than a third of Brits are PARANOID." ... more -
Vivid Dreams
After years of yearning to go to Africa, Joan’s three-month stint as a Peace Corps volunteer turns sour on Christmas Eve when she is 'psychevac'd' back to the states and admitted to Georgetown Hospital mental ward. The drug required by the Peace Corps to be taken as a protection against malaria is said to cause only vivid dreams, but no one mentions the other side effects of psychotic tendencies, including suicide and murder. After years of yearning to go to Africa, Joan’s three-month stint as a Peace Corps volunteer turns sour on Christmas Eve when she is &... more
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Oldie But Goodie
A classic in American post-9/11 paranoia/stupidity.
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Paranoia
