All the President's Accomplishments?

A family member today made a statement to the effect, "the president has accomplished a lot of good things in the past year." Mmmh. I might have to disagree.

One could argue that one of the main things the country needs is some sense of unity. President Trump has brought the antithesis of unity. In fact, I can't think of any other president who has even come close to the havoc he has wreaked.

Yes, he has gotten some judges on the courts and helped with the GOP tax bill. But his main selling point during his campaign seemed to be him building the wall between Mexico and the U.S. One might say "we haven't seen a brick yet." Moreover, not much of his agenda has been passed in Congress.

One final point, a point not related to the previous information: Trump got into the political arena using his shtick that the former president was not born in the United States. He seemed to be like a zealous minister preaching the gospel of doubt: "I really question if President Obama was born in the U.S. What I say is, if you were Pres. Obama, show us your birth certificate."

The irony is amazing. Now President Trump is the one withholding something desired by a large part of the populace: his taxes. I believe those who want to see his taxes should be as insistent as Trump was with Obama.

***

An Excellent Essay on Chicken Tenders

I just read a wonderful essay by Helen Rosner. It's titled, "On Chicken Tenders," and it's about more than those fried bird parts. I want to wax poetic and say it's about life, meaning, and reality, and, in a sense it is. It's also about her being a restaurant critic and, as is said in psychology, the hedonic treadmill.

In any case, it's published in the quality magazine, Guernica, and it won the 2016 James Beard Award for Personal Essay. Beautifully well-written.

***

Michael Pollan--An Excellent Writer

I just finished reading my second book by the author Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. It is basically an indictment of the way we Westerners eat. And from my viewpoint, the author has a strong argument. As I've gotten older, I have seen the folly of the thinking that what you eat has little bearing on your physical and mental health. Indeed, consider the person who eats no breakfast, eats a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke for lunch, and for dinner "pigs out" (e.g., a big piece of beef, lots of white bread, macaroni and cheese, a Coke, and a piece of apple pie); now, consider the person who eats oatmeal for breakfast, a healthy snack mid-morning, a large salad for lunch, a healthy snack mid-afternoon, and a dinner with lots of vegetables and fruits.

Eating in either manner like that for years on end, has to make a difference to the way your body operates and how your mind works (or doesn't work).

***

Quotes on Politics

These are the times that try men's (and women's) souls. Maybe some quotes will help mollify the pain:

--Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.    Ronald Reagan

--The world is a dangerous place to live--not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it.    Albert Einstein

--Ultimately politics in a democracy reflects values much more than it shapes them.   Arnold Rogow

--Politics is the science of how who gets what, when and why.    Sidney Hillman

--In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.   Charles de Gaulle

--Money is the mother's milk of politics.    Jesse Unruh

***

Maybe Good Writing is More Sweat than DNA

I was just thinking of two great writers--Vladimir Nabokov and Joseph Conrad. Both wrote in a language that was not their first language; indeed, Conrad didn't even know English until he was an adult.

So many writing books push the idea that anyone (or almost anyone) can become a published writer. I used to think that was just boosterism so as to sell more copies, but Nabokov and Conrad have convinced me otherwise.

For up-and-coming writers, this can be kind of encouraging.

***

The Article, "Billionaires Desperately Need Our Help"

I just read a delightful op-ed by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. It was funny and insightful. It was titled, "Billionaires Desperately Need Our Help," and it sardonically lambastes the Grand Old Party's recent tax plan. Probably the most pointed and poignant line in the piece is, "The tax bill underscores a political truth: There's nothing wrong with redistribution when it's done right."

Damn, that's true. Many conservatives get riled up when they see the government helping the poor because they deem that to be income redistribution, but when phenomenal tax breaks are given to the wealthiest people in the U.S., they see this as perfectly kosher.

 Also true is that many in that party rail against the federal debt. Yet, this tax bill could raise the national debt by 1.7 trillion dollars;the rationale, they say, is that we have to temporarily owe more to let the tax cuts for the wealthy spur on the economy.

There's only one problem with this thinking: It's never worked in the real world. Some might say it's never really been tried, but if that is the case, do we really want to gamble with adding nearly two trillion dollars to the national debt on a hunch that is, well, a hunch?

***

Mass Shootings and Mental Illness

I have continued to read on the topic of my last post. That is, the comment the president recently made about the mass shooting in Texas: "Mental health is your problem here. This was a very, based on preliminary reports, a very deranged individual, a lot of problems over a long period of time. We have a lot of mental health problems in our country, as do other countries. But this isn't a guns situation."

I have mulled that comment over in my head for a while and I'm still not able to refute it. Yet, I do feel confident in saying that any country that has about one firearm per citizen is a scary place to be. In other words, if China had one firearm for each person (they have around 1.4 billion people), I wouldn't be excited about visiting that country. If I did decide to visit it, I would make sure to bring along one thing--a truckload of Kevlar.

***

"It's All About Mental Health, Not the Guns," He Said

I just read an article at www.usnews.com concerning the recent Texas shooting. It's about the president's view on the shooting. He said the mass shooting in no way relates to guns; it has to do with "mental illness at the highest level."

As a licensed therapist, I don't see that. In fact, I'm not entirely clear on what he means. Does he mean because we have so many mentally ill people in our country that is why we have all these shootings? Or, if we had a better mental health system, there would be less of these mass shootings?

I guess a lot could be said on the intersection of mental illness and gun violence, but I think any time a country has over 300 million firearms, people are gonna get shot--a lot. It could make the average person feel, as the joke goes, like a hemophiliac in a razor blade factory.

***

Dreamland

I am reading an excellent book, Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, by Sam Quinones. It is a well-written expose of how the opiate epidemic became, well, an epidemic. I have only read about one-seventh of the book and am greatly enjoying it.

The part I find most interesting is the detailed background Quinones goes into concerning some of the dealers and their lower-level workers. He makes it more understandable why so many young Mexicans want to get involved with this business. And I would surmise he knows much more than the average journalist because he lived in Mexico for about 10 years.

And he does a good job of breaking down the science behind opiates, helping you understand the details concerning black tar heroin and prescription pain pills.

Yet, its biggest asset is probably that it is just plain great storytelling. Whereas some books on the  subject can contain too many statistics and be too polemic, this one is exceedingly user-friendly.

***

Value in Acknowledging Adolescents' Perspectives

A recent study in the journal Child Development found some interesting things. The gist of the study showed that when parents acknowledge the viewpoints of their adolescent children and encourage them to express themselves, "the youths have a stronger sense of self-worth, intrinsic motivation, and engagement, and also have less depression."

This applies across cultures. This study did delve into other issues related to agency and control, but I found this main finding to be noteworthy. This is something I've believed in and practiced, so it is good to see more backing for it.

Journal Reference: 

Kristine N. Marbell-Pierre, Wendy S. Grolnick, Andrew L. Stewart, Jacquelyn N. Raftery-Helmer. Parental Autonomy Support in Two Cultures: The Moderating Effects of Adolescents' Self-Construals. Child Development, 2017; 10.1111/cdev. 12947 

***

More Euphony

As I wrote in an earlier post, I find euphonious phrases and sentences pleasurable. Here is some more I've collected:

--[Playing on] "the stereos of hand-me-down minivans all over the country" (Sasha Geffen)

--"Sometimes a little self-deprecation can go a long way." ("   ")

--"If you don't expect too much from me/you might not be let down." (The Gin Blossoms)

--"Life is a zetetic adventure." (Myself)

--[to] "keep us in a permanent state of agitation" (Alan Jacobs)

--"All bend the knee to the dollar, and all are in service to capitalism." (Myself)

--"What can be found in the liminal space between human and machine?" (Katie Walsh)

--"at the dawn of the digital age" ("     ")

--"the array of faces that populate the library" ("    ")

***

On Not Leaving Las Vegas

The recent rampage by a shooter in Las Vegas is in the news. The shooter killed almost 60 people and wounded over 500.

The incident brings up the familiar topic of gun control vs. gun rights. I lean heavily toward the former. Probably the main reason has to do with the gun violence in other countries. The question arises, Why does the U.S. have such a wild, over-the-top number of gun deaths compared to other high-income countries? To me, it has to relate mainly to the U.S. having over 300 million firearms.

I know, the N.R.A. sees it differently. Yet, the leaders of the N.R.A. have a vested interest in keeping their members happy and staying on the good side of firearms manufacturers. It relates to money.

As of 2010 data, Kayne B. Robinson, the executive director of general operations, made just over $1 million. Wayne Lapierre, chief of the N.R.A., made $970, 000. And Chris Cox, executive director of lobbying, made just over $660,000.

Wow! I hope these people can make ends meet.

***

The American Workplace

I had mentioned in an earlier post a major study on the American workplace. The findings come from research done by investigators at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, Harvard Medical School and UCLA. The raw material came from the American Working Conditions Survey.

I'll quote some material from the article, "American Workplace Is Physically and Emotionally Taxing; Most Workers Receive Support from Boss and Friends at Work," published on the RAND Corp. website.

About the level of work and the time to do it in: "More than one-in-four American workers say they have too little time to do their job, with the complaint being most common among white-collar workers. In addition, workers say the intensity of work frequently spills over into their personal lives, with about one-half of people reporting that they perform some work in their free time in order to meet workplace demands."

And about the negative working conditions of American workers: "...more than half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions. Nearly one in five workers --a "disturbingly high" fraction--say they face a hostile or threatening social environment at work. Younger and prime-aged women are the workers most likely to experience unwanted sexual attention, while younger men are more likely to experience verbal abuse."

Hopefully the findings will lead to some practical results.

***

Pizza Hut Flubs Up

The last post I talked about dysfunctional workplaces. As luck would have it, I just read about a Pizza Hut in Florida that cared more about the green stuff than about their employees' lives. It is in The Washington Post, dated September 11th. The writer is Maura Judkis, and it is titled, "A Pizza Hut told Irma-fleeing employees they could be punished for skipping shifts."

The manager of the Pizza Hut said that employees could not evacuate more than 24 hours before the storm and must return within 72 hours. One Twitter writer (not the President) said my sentiments the best, "Pizza Hut wants it minimum wage employees to risk their lives for corporate profits."

Yet, the official statement from Pizza Hut said this is not their policy and the manager was not following company guidelines.

Yet, some companies put so much pressure on their workers to produce, these companies lay the groundwork for this type of behavior.

***

Workplaces & Families--Both are Systems

Right now I'm leaving one job and going to another. What it has brought to mind--okay, maybe I'm not the first--is that there are some crazy workplaces out there.

I've always been fascinated with this subject. And I'm surprised more people don't talk about it; they seem highly disenchanted with their job environments, but rarely wonder why that is. I've always wondered why that is, why some work settings are highly toxic (in an interpersonal sense) and why some seem almost healing.

I'll write about that in a few upcoming posts. By the way, a major study was recently released looking at many aspects of people's work. Just what I saw of it, though, didn't have many surprises. Yet, I will look closer and see if there are any surprising findings.

***

The Psychology of Euphonic Writing

I have always been fascinated--okay, maybe only in the last few years--by pleasant-sounding writing. Indeed, it has become an obsession with me.


I have about ten notebooks filled with writing I like; the bulk of the writing is from others, but some of the material I wrote myself. Most of it is simply phrases, some are sentences, and even fewer are paragraphs.


Here's a sampling:


--"deep, Cimmerian caverns" (dictionary.com)


--"a fascination with perplexity" (Denis Dutton)


--"A maze and amazement go together, no?" (Jorge Luis Borges)


--"its behind-the-scenes creative force" (Mike Sacks)


--"then just played to exquisite silence from the audience" (James Downey)


--"and polished by the erosive action of wind-driven sand" (dictionary.com)


--"dismissed his embattled chief strategist" (Ashley Parker)


--"who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation" (myself)


--"aides and advisers going rogue" (Ashley Parker)


--"now fallen into literary silence" (Richard Brody)


--"The silence lessened; in other words, the noise rose." (myself)


Euphonious writing has a way of calming my helter-skelter mind. And for that, I'm thankful.

***

Easily Forgotten

I do commend Sen. Orrin Hatch for bringing up a salient point recently. Concerning the Charlottesville, Virginia, incident he brought up his brother serving in WWII, and the brother fighting against Nazism.

It is easy to forget. Even though these racist groups seem small in numbers and don't appear able to do much damage, it is good to remember some of what they stand for.

I am sure, though, many people in the world wondered after WWII, how in the world could a civilized country like Germany reach such a level? Maybe it began as something small.

***

The Heat May Keep on Coming

I read an interesting--and shocking--article at news.nationalgeographic.com titled, "Parts of Asia May Be Too Hot for People by 2100." The title sounded like something in one of the tabloids, something akin to "Vampires Learning to Steal Identities from Cyberspace with the Help of Al Gore and Richard Simmons." Yet, being from National Geographic, it does command attention.

One quote captures the warning of the article: "Unless carbon emissions are curtailed, climate change may expose 1.5 billion people in South Asia to potentially lethal heat and humidity in the near future." And one quote captures the takeaway of the article. "Emission cuts will make a big difference in the lives of the most vulnerable people in the region. This is not an abstract concept," said [Elfaith] Eltahir [MIT professor of environmental engineering].

***

Tobacco Industry at it Again

Now that the tobacco industry has been losing customers in the Western world, they are diligently trying to recruit more smokers in developing countries, or they are trying to mitigate efforts of those trying to end smoking in these countries.

For instance, a recent WHO (World Health Organization) report talks about the tobacco industry doing just that. "The tobacco industry is increasingly using domestic and especially international trade litigation in attempts to block progress on many tobacco control measures, such as smoke-free public places, pictorial health warnings, plain packaging and product regulation...This strategy includes bringing lengthy and expensive legal challenges against countries to intimidate them into retracting their tobacco control policies..."

Instead of making amends for their past transgressions  (e.g., not being forthright about the negative effects of cigarettes when they first knew), they are hoping we all forget.

We have to remember to not forget.

***

CPAP Study

I read an interesting study at https://sciencedaily.com. The title of the article that contains the study is "After watching disturbing video, CPAP usage soars." The article is dated 7.12.17.

The gist of the article is that people who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and were supposed to wear a CPAP mask, usually don't. Over 50 percent don't wear the mask.

Researchers first showed patients videos of other people who struggled with breathing while sleeping without the CPAP mask. Seeing these videos did little to change the watchers. Then the viewers were shown themselves struggling to breathe at night. Those who saw themselves used their CPAP machines about 150 minutes more a night than those who saw others on the videos.

I will now use my mask more.

***

"Cuckoo for Cocoa"

I just read about a study that is good news, from a number of angles. Simply put, it says cocoa is beneficial for cognition. More specifically, the cocoa flavanols.

I read about the study at psychcentral.com. Some quotes from the article include:

--"Investigators explain that the cocoa bean is a rich source of flavanols: a class of natural compounds that has neuroprotective effects."

--"Researchers discovered factors such as attention, processing speed, working memory and verbal fluency were improved. These effects were, however, most pronounced in older adults with a starting memory decline or other mild cognitive impairments."

Also interesting it that the scientists who did the study are practicing what they preach. They say they always eat dark chocolate--every day.

The article is in the journal, Frontiers Research Topic. And the name of the article is "Chocolate and Health: Friend or Foe?"

***

Cults and Stuff

I just read an interesting article at https://aeon.co. It was titled, "How totalism works," and it was written by Alexandra Stein (June 20, 2017). The article talks about the writer's time in a political cult called The Organization (The O). The writer got involved in the Minneapolis-based group because the group said it worked for social justice; yet there appeared to be little that could be called social or justice in this group.

She talked about the leader being essentially a maniacal control freak. It did remind me of a documentary I saw on Jim Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple. Both appeared as severely narcissistic and adept at using fear and threats to keep people in line.

The article is well written and does a great job of tying attachment theory in with cult members. Her personal experience may have given her insight one cannot get through academic study alone.

***

"The Language Wars"

I just read an excellent article at JSTOR Daily. It was titled, "The Language Wars," and was written by Chi Luu. The article is dated 2.24.17.

It starts off with a great line: "This is a strange time for language." And, indeed, it is. The article centers around the rise of President Trump and delves into why now he was elected, rather than in the past (which the article argues that he probably wouldn't have been).

It also talks about the growing rift between the political left and right. "More than ever before it seems the left and the right are unable to communicate in the same language without rancor or misunderstanding. Both sides of the political spectrum hopelessly talk past each other, all while using exactly the same words. How can this be? Don't words just mean what they mean?"

What I found most interesting in the article is the delving into some of the specifics of President Trump's speech patterns. Linguist George Lakoff argues that Trump knows very well what he is doing in this realm because Trump has been a salesman all of his adult life.

Also the article has a number of good references for those interested in linguistics and social psychology.

***

The Genesis of the End

Today is the day the former F.B.I. Director, James Comey, testifies before the Senate intelligence committee. I don't know a lot about the Internet, but I would guess Sir Tim Berners-Lee is praying that his invention does not implode because of the plethora of tweets that will be coming forth from President Trump. 

June 8th. It may be a day that will live in infamy.

***

The Forest, the Trees, and Other Foliage

I was just reading over a book I read about one year ago. It's called, The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers, by Betsy Lerner. I have read quite a few writing books and this one is at the very top. Books by William Zinsser, Ralph Keyes, Dani Shapiro, Constance Hale, and Arthur Plotnik come to mind. There is much practical material and wisdom in these writers' books. But I find Lerner is able to speak to the group of writers out there who are drenched in doubt, who want to write but feel almost powerless to follow through on the desire, and those who obsess over writing (that is, they spend 90 percent of their time obsessing, and little time actually doing the deed of writing).

And the book is written so damn well, it is something to behold. Indeed, as the line goes, it "flows" so beautifully. To me, it seems like an MFA degree in writing, all within the compass of 300 pages.

I'm surprised the book is not talked about more. Who knows, even Mr. Hemingway might have liked it.

***

Not a Panoply of Options

President Trump appears to be in hot water and the water keeps getting hotter. It seems like they are starting to come at him from various angles, with a new one added just recently--former F.B.I. director Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Mueller has been appointed special counsel investigating Russia's ties to the Trump campaign.

Only four months into his presidency and only forty-four months to go. But President Trump, I think, will not make it. He will be impeached. The writing, as they say, is on the wall. Others say, the writing on the wall can sometimes be a forgery.

Well, it doesn't appear to be in this case. What Trump had going for him as a businessman, as an entertainer, and as a campaigner, was that he could say the wildest things and get away with it. The reason being is, he was always playing in the court of public opinion. But in the not-too-distant future, he will be playing in a different court. And they don't offer much leeway.

But after that, the public will make the final determination. And like Nixon, I think Trump's options will be very few.

***

Tempers Flare and Confusion Swirls

No, we're not talking about backstage at The Jerry Springer Show. This relates to the president of the United States.

I just read an article in The New York Times that portrays the president's situation as bad, and getting badder by the day. The article, "At a Besieged White House, Tempers Flare and Confusion Swirls," talks about the intensifying stress the president and his staff have been feeling as of late. Especially with "[T]he disclosure that President Trump divulged classified intelligence to two high-ranking Russian officials was a new blow to an already dispirited and besieged White House staff still recovering from the uproar and recriminations from the president's firing of James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director."

The article goes on to say that the president's mood has become "sour and dark," and that he has been taking his anger out on his staff. To me, that fits to a T how dysfunctional bosses run their companies. Their sole goal is the maximization of profits, and the quicker, the better. All other concerns are not really a concern. Only if it impinges upon profits and how fast we make them.

President Trump appears to fit in this club. His goal is not profits, but more likely power (and maybe the profits come later down the line). It looks like he and his staff are starting to reap the whirlwind.

The country may be next.

***

Talking With a Really, Really Huuuuugeeeeee Forked Tongue

It seems the president is in the news again. Yes I know, President Trump is always in the news, but he appears to be taking up a lot more bandwidth than ever before.

Of course I'm speaking of his ever-growing, ever-mounting situation that is the Trump-campaign/Russia connection. President Trump's recent firing of the head of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, has raised a few eyebrows, more Democratic eyebrows than Republican, but I sense more Republican leaders will come on the bandwagon.

I must say, this appears to be turning into curious amalgam of the Keystone Kops, the Ziegfeld Follies, and Who's on First. I'm sure if it was happening to the Democrats I wouldn't be laughing so hard, but it's hard not to laugh either way.

Poor President Trump reminds me of the title character from The Office, Michael Scott. In a number of episodes Mr. Scott is caught in the middle of  a Catch-22 situation. He tries to wriggle out of these situations by putting on a persona, reaching for creative interpretations of what happened, and pleading all-around misunderstanding by everyone, except himself. Yet these flailing actions usually appease no one.

It seems like the President is starring in a new show (on pretty much most cable channels) called The West Wing Office. He is doing an admirable job fending off the questions and accusations of many. And obviously I don't know if the president is telling the truth or lying, but it sure looks like the latter.

It's beginning to look a lot like 1973, and someone not being a crook.

***

About Mary McGrory

Recently I just found out about a fascinating woman. Her name is Mary McGrory and I had never heard of her before. She was basically someone who had no clear career direction when she got out of college but got involved in the newspaper industry, almost by happenstance.

She started out as a book reviewer. But she brought a freshness to her writing that was not seen in the newspapers at that time. Her writing caught on magnificently and, in time, she was allowed to broaden her writing scope. Ultimately, she seemed to fall into the category of investigative journalist/commentator.

It does seem hard to peg here. She seemed to combine the writing of a columnist (e.g., David Brooks, E.J. Dionne Jr., Maureen Dowd, etc.) with the hit-the-streets reporting of a daily reporter.

In any case, her columns are stunning. She seemed to do what political cartoonists do so well--skewer the pompous and grandiose. And do it so well that it is highly entertaining and also informative. And more importantly to me it confirms what Martin Luther King Jr. said about the arc of the moral universe being long, but it bending toward justice. That is, those who misuse their power, to some degree, get their comeuppance.

And hell, now maybe more than ever, at least in the political realm, some are overdo for their skewering and comeuppance.

***

Hiding in Plain Sight

I just read an excellent article by E.J. Dionne Jr. in The Washington Post titled, "Trump's greatest single achievement almost never gets mentioned." And what is that achievement? It is "whether Russia colluded with Trump's campaign to help elect him."

Great point. Maybe as some have said, we are living in the age of the spectacle. That is, little stays in the public eye for long. Just a few months ago it was the key topic discussed by columnists in newspapers. I thought (maybe naively) it would never go away, that it couldn't go away. It seemed that there were so many angles to the story that it would be solidly faceted in the news for many months. Well, I was mistaken.

But there is some light. As Dionne says, "Fortunately, as John Adams taught us, facts are stubborn things, and the Russia story cannot be suppressed forever. Indeed, there was progress on Tuesday when--in a display of bipartisanship that is truly astounding at this moment--Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) of the House Oversight Committee jointly asserted that [Michael] Flynn [Trump's first national security adviser] may have violated the law by not fully disclosing his Russian business dealings when seeking a security clearance."

Former President Nixon said, "If the president does it, it's not illegal." It might be deja vu all over again.

***

Derealization and Depersonalization

I recently met with someone who was experiencing what is called "derealization." This is where the person looks out on the world and experiences it as unreal or less real than he or she did in the past. Closely related to derealization is "depersonalization." This is where the person questions their existence, either their physicality (i.e., their body) or their sense of being a self (i.e., a coherent being), usually both. Extreme episodes of these can be terrifying.

Seeing this young person going through this episode brought home to me the intensity these events can cause. I myself have experienced both, a number of times. Like a lot of cases I've read about, my worst few times were brought on by smoking marijuana. One time in particular, when I was about 17 or 18 was the worst episode. My case seems similar to many others.

For me it was like taking a strong sleeping medication and falling asleep, and someone moving my body to a new setting I've never been in. And when I woke up, I felt totally disoriented. Wondering where I was, and how did I get here? (Anyone who has a read some of Haruki Murakami's short stories realizes he sometimes picks up on this theme.) Yet, for the rest of that evening that disorientation didn't go away. There was a sense of questioning everything, as if a fog had come down and all things seemed "less real" than I previously thought, myself included.

Yet, the heartening thing about these experiences is finding out the bulk of the population has gone through some version of it--usually to a milder extent--and that the episodes are self-limiting (meaning the feelings gradually decline, so long as the person doesn't continue to fuel them with extreme thoughts). From what I can surmise, a good bit can be explained by biology. Just as when someone has a panic attack (which appears to relate to these disorders, making the episode much worse), many symptoms can be explained by how the body is reacting to our thoughts.

***

Hitting "Pause" on the Rat Race

I just read an interesting article by David Leonhardt in The New York Times. It was titled, "You're Too Busy. You Need a 'Shultz Hour.'"

The article is about George Schultz, who was secretary of state in the 1980s. Mr. Schultz would take an hour each week just to think. He would try to look at the larger questions of his job, rather than being mired in the usual day-to-day details. He would only receive phone calls from his wife or the president. Schultz said this hour helped him greatly.

The article reaffirms a lot of what I've read lately. That is, that being on the go all the time just ain't wise. Yet, few people take it to heart. Most people I know, and that I know about, seem to have their smart phones appended to their bodies. What I'm most surprised about is how many people, when you text them, will text you back within one minute. Doesn't anyone watch movies anymore (without constantly looking at their phone)?

It is puzzling. People can read stories and studies about what is best for them, agree to it, but keep on doing what they've always been doing.

And alas, sometimes I'm the chief of sinners.

***

Some Random Thoughts

I was just thinking (not to sound like the late Andy Rooney) about some of the people who could qualify as "seers" or "prophets," those who have seen deeper into some of the dynamics of our American society.

Some individuals come to mind.

Rollo May, for one. A great therapist and an eloquent writer, he seemed to be one of the few who could perceive much that was subterranean in our society, and state it clearly. I think there are a number of academics who see various aspects of our contemporary society with clarity, but most can't state it so the average lay person could take it in. But May, especially in his work, The Cry for Myth, shows us some of the ways our society ticks.

And I would sum up his message simply as, "America's god is money." Which may remind some people of William James's famous statement concerning success in America (the bitch-goddess, success).

The older I get, the more I agree with May and James.

***

Maybe Less is More

I just read an interesting article at nautil.us. It was titled, "Darwin Was a Slacker and You Should Be Too," by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang. It's actually an excerpt from his book, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less.

I've given a lot of thought to the debate about how we can be the most productive. And all that thought led to, well, confusion. There seemed to be little clear evidence one way or the other. The author of the article (and book) comes down decisively on the side of working less but working more intently and intensely.

In the article, he mentions a number of famous authors who worked about four hours a day. Yet, he also says these four hours were intense, focused work and they did put in other work during the day, but it was of a more ancillary nature. Some of the authors mentioned include Dickens, Thomas Mann, Alice Munro, W. Somerset Maugham, and Hemingway.

Also, the author stresses that the four to five hours were usually broken up into two or three work periods. Drawing on a study of the traits of outstanding violinists versus merely good violinists, Pang says three periods of eighty to ninety minutes with half-hour breaks between them would be ideal.

An interesting article, indeed. I will probably be getting the book.

***

Getting More and More Confused (And Slightly Bemused)

The recent happenings with our president has me baffled (more baffled than I usually am). He ran his campaign as a populist but, as the columnist Dana Milbank has said, he is now governing as a plutocrat. What are we to make of this?

Well, it's beginning to look like he hoodwinked a lot of people. He said he was going to help those that government has left behind and that he was going to do a lot of good things, really, really fast. But it seems the main thing he is doing fast it trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and, more specifically, he seems hell-bent not so much on that as on looking for ways to benefit some of his already very-well-off constituents.

I'm wondering when there will be a backlash against his actions? That is, from the voters he promised to help.

My sense is that it will happen way down the road and happen in unexpected ways. And it will lead to impeachment. I'm not Nostradamus, nor do I play him on TV, but the situation reminds me of how other mighty ones have been taken down. Particularly how certain dictators were driven out of their countries. They come in as saviors and leave as pissed-off Judas Iscariots.

The Book, Trump Revealed

I have finished the excellent book by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher, Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power. The writers write for the Washington Post. A stunning book--detailed (there are about 60 pages of notes), well-written, and fair.

What did I learn about President Trump?

One key takeaway is that, for Trump, virtually any publicity is good publicity. In the book, Trump talks about his first divorce and he appears almost gleeful because he sees it as a boon to his businesses.

Another point that stood out was his apparent lack of friendships. In a way, it was sad. You could see he was a bit apologetic for not having friends, but he brushed that off by saying, essentially, his businesses having always been all-consuming.

Another point that stood out is how little Trump had to say about his parents. About his dad, he just kept repeating something to the effect, "My dad showed me the business and I will always be grateful for that." And about his mom, he basically just said she was a good woman and that he loved her.

I'll write more about the book in the future.

***

Promises in Peril?

I am in the middle of reading an interesting (and long) article by Jenna Johnson in The Washington Post titled, "'I will give you everything.' Here are 282 of Donald Trump's campaign promises." It packs quite a punch. It simply takes the president at his word. They are the things he said on the campaign trail.

Here are some I find the most interesting:

--"Create at least 25 million jobs and 'be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.'"

--"Bring back manufacturing jobs from China, Mexico, Japan and elsewhere. States that can expect a rush of jobs include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, New York and Virginia."

--"'Get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries.'"

--"Make the auto industry in Michigan 'bigger and better and stronger than ever before.' Trump plans to return to the state each time a new factory or auto plant opens."

--"Bring the coal industry back to life in the Appalachian Mountain region."

--"Release his tax returns as soon as an Internal Revenue Service audit is complete."

--"Refuse to eat another Oreo until Nabisco fully moves production back to the United States from Mexico."

So far it's an interesting article (I've read up to #63).

Yet, something tells me that President Trump will not do well with these promises. It's rather depressing.

I think I'll go eat a whole bag of Oreos.

***

Sins and Misdemeanors

It seems the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have been in the news. I guess there's no news there. Yet, for the president, not much of it has been good. It seems every day a new brouhaha is brewing, or boiling over.


The latest being (as of a few days ago) that Sessions spoke to a Russian ambassador twice during the presidential campaign, yet when he was in his confirmation hearing, he denied talking to anyone from Russia.


Yet, common sense would seem to dictate he mention that during the confirmation hearing. It is a red flag that he didn't. But, he has decided to recuse himself from any upcoming Russia-Trump investigation.


That is good news. Yet, a number of Democrats in Congress think that's not enough. They think he should resign from his position as Attorney General. As an goodwill gesture I think those Democrats should back off. It was an error on Session's part. An error of omission, not a sin of commission.

On Humor

I just read a good book on humor. It's called And Here's the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft, by Mike Sacks.

As I read through the book I continually asked myself, "How is humor made? What are the precursors in order to create humorous material?"

So far, I haven't found the answers. Yet, piecing together things in this book and comments in other places, it seems the answers encompass a few things (at least):

--The person living a full, rich emotional life. That is, being in touch with his or her emotions.
--Taking in a lot of creative material. For example, essays, books, movies, plays, documentaries, etc. (The writer Ray Bradbury talked a lot about this in his book, Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity.)
--"Downtime" to let things marinate and allow humorous things to bubble to the surface.
--Reading lots of humorous material.
--Writing lots of humorous material.
--And lastly, a suggestion I've seen mentioned in a number of places, and maybe the most important suggestion: "Don't concentrate on becoming a better humor writer, just concentrate on being the best writer that you can become. If you're funny, the work will end up being funny." (John Hodgman)

I will try to take that to heart.

Ailes Helps Ailing Conservatism

I just read an interesting article on Roger Ailes. It called him the man who propelled conservatism to its present stature. It talked about how he got his start working for Richard Nixon, meeting Nixon in 1968 on The Mike Douglas Show. He told Nixon that unless he warmed up to TV, he would continue to lose. Nixon then hired him as a sort of media coach.

But Ailes big break came with the Fox Network. And it was him, not Rupert Murdoch, who was the creative brains behind the network.

And Ailes set the rules on how the network and his politicians would interact with others: through blaming, scapegoating, and blaming the liberals in power.

The article suggests that President Trump used those same tactics to "win" against Ailes, Fox, and the Republican Party. He just used them to a greater extent.

Now, it will be interesting to see what will transpire with President Trump.

With one month in office, his presidency appears in disarray. Even though he says his presidency is functioning like a "well-oiled machine," is seems (to many observers) to be functioning like the Tin Man, sans WD-40.

Bibliography:

Greenberg, David. (2016, July 20). How Roger Ailes Created Modern Conservatism. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com.

2nd Part of Previous Post

In the last post I said I would talk a bit more about the excellent article by Andres Miguel Rondon. The first piece of advice Rondon gives about fighting a populist is Don't forget who the enemy is. Rondon says "Never forget that you're the enemy...What makes you the enemy? It's very simple to a populist: If you're not a victim, you're a culprit."

The second point is to Show no contempt. This is where I think many have fallen down in dealing with Pres. Trump. The attacks against his character have been nasty. Even if a statement is true about Trump, the comment still comes off as bitter and full of sour grapes. Then when the president attacks his enemies he seems to just be playing the game everyone else is playing (and he's quite skilled at the game). The epitome of that was when Senator Marco Rubio went toe-to-toe with Trump during the debates. No one came out a winner, but Rubio came out more of a loser.

The third point is Don't try to force him out. "In Venezuela," Rondon says, "the opposition focused on trying to reject the dictator by any means possible--when we should have just kept pointing out how badly Chavez's rule was hurting the very people he claimed to be serving." Indeed, we already are beginning to see this by some of President Trump's cabinet appointments. They surely don't seem like they will work for the welfare of the masses.

The fourth, and last, point is Find a counterargument. Rondon says, "Show concern, not contempt, for the wounds of those who brought him to power." For many of those voting against Trump right after the election, this would be quite difficult. Speaking for myself--at least now--I do find this attainable.

It Could Be Deja Vu All Over Again

I just read an excellent article in The Washington Post. It was titled, "In Venezuela, we couldn't stop Chavez. Don't make the same mistakes we did." The author, Andres Miguel Rondon, talks about the struggle the Venezuelan people have had over the last two decades with their leader, Hugo Chavez.

The author does a great job boiling down populism to one paragraph. It's a beautiful compendium.

"The recipe for populism is universal. Find a wound common to many, find someone to blame for it, and make up a good story to tell. Mix it all together. Tell the wounded you know how they feel. That you found the bad guys. Label them: the minorities, the politicians, the businessmen. Caricature them. As vermin, evil masterminds, haters and losers, you name it. Then paint yourself as the savior. Capture the people's imagination. Forget about policies and plans, just enrapture them with a tale. One that starts with anger and ends in vengeance. A vengeance they can participate in."

His advice on dealing with America's populist is the following:

1. Don't forget who the enemy is.
2. Show no contempt.
3. Don't try to force him out.
4. Find a counterargument.

In another post I'll flesh these four points out.

Nostradamus in Tweed

It is amazing what President Trump recently said about him winning the popular vote for the presidency. He said he would have won the popular vote if it were not for all the illegal voters. Yet he has provided no evidence.

And it is good to see other Republicans pointing out that what he is saying is ludicrous without any solid evidence.

Yet, this does seem to fit in with the notion that we are in a post-factual society.

And I think Neil Postman, the media critic, had predicted this sort of phenomenon in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death. One point he stressed was that politics, largely because of the medium of TV, is now seen as entertainment. He talked about this when an actor became president (i.e., Ronald Reagan).

Our current president would be a fulfillment of what he predicted.

Politics becoming entertainment: who else could better represent that than the celebrated reality-TV star, Donald Trump (now President Trump).

On Understanding the Election of Trump

I am trying--still--to make sense of the election of Donald Trump as president. In a way it seems simple, yet in another way it seems complex and made up of lots of footnotes, and parenthetical statements within those footnotes.

I guess I could sum up my view in that there was a core group (a larger one than thought) of people looking for change and they went with the major populist candidate, one who came across as "not caring who in government he pisses off."

Bernie Sanders also ran as a populist. But there was more--at least this time in history--people on the right looking for change. Right after the Gilded Age or the Great Depression, it was mainly people looking for a left-of-center candidate.

The trouble I see is that populists are good protesting against things, it's just when they are in power they usually don't have a clear vision, and get stuck.

That's what I see will happen to President Trump. That coupled with his many questionable statements and actions, he's almost guaranteed to be in a virtual tailspin. Also, and this is not talked about a lot (at least in a negative sense), but with no government experience, it's like walking into any job where you have no knowledge of the field. Usually that doesn't bode well.

For instance, many, including myself, thought Ray Nagin as mayor of New Orleans would be a great idea. He was a successful businessman, he seemed motivated, he had charisma and was engaging, and New Orleans was ripe for some "new blood."

Unfortunately, it ended badly. A city that seemed to go nowhere under his administration, and him, ending up in prison.

The new blood was worse than the old blood.

***

A New Administration

Yesterday we got a new president, Mr. Donald J. Trump. And from his introductory comments he said, in effect, that he wants to have the government serve the people, not special interest.

I believe I now see why Mr. Trump became president. There was a core group of people who truly felt like government had no interest or desire to assist them in some of their needs. I get that.

These people saw government working for the wealthy, for big businesses, and for other select interest groups. I definitely agree.

I see the wealthy and big businesses taking the lion's share of what government allocates to the public. Whether through tax breaks for the very well-off or setting up laws that favor employers or special-interest groups, politicians tend to remunerate the sectors that give them the most votes or money, especially the latter.

And President Trump is a prime example. A number of his "deals" were little more than quid pro quo, where he gave to politicians and they gave back. Indeed, it usually was a deal for him.

For instance, President Trump got New York's first-ever tax break for a commercial property. And got it through some ingenious sleight of hand.

But maybe our new president does want to have government truly work for the people.

Now is the time for less talk and more action.

***

Introduction

Hello, My name is Mark Haase and I'm a licensed counselor and marriage and family therapist. I've worked in the social service field for over 20 years. I would like in this blog to write about various themes as they relate to psychology, particularly social psychology. With social psychology as a sort of canopy I will look at various subjects--current events, politics, religion, work, and parenting.