Pax Nortona – A Blog by Joel Sax
From the Land of the Lost Blunderbuss
Month: October 2007
Patriotism Defined?
Posted on October 19, 2007 in Reading
“What a thing it is to have a country that can’t be wrong, but if it is, is right, anyway!”
– William Dean Howells
Fifteen New Nowhere Facts
Posted on October 18, 2007 in Humor?
So little time, so much to fabricate
Jeremy Hilary Boob (unattributed)
You will, of course, doubt these. But my last set of “Nowhere Facts” did cause a few eyebrows to tilt, so I had to do it again.
- [[John Lennon]] wrote the song “Nowhere Man” after screenwriter [[Eric Segal]] told him about dumping a Yale undergraduate on the Bonneville Salt Flats between Salt Lake City and Elko, Nevada. The student was [[Gary Trudeau]].
- [[Richard Nixon]] sent [[John Dean]] to Cuba to negotiate a new Bay of Pigs invasion as a way of diverting the overenthusiastic energies of his White House Plumbers. [[Fidel Castro]] showed Dean a few trick shots in his croquet game before sending the lawyer back to Washington.
- [[John Kerry]] was slated to be the last man out of Saigon, but he so angered his superiors that they sent him home seven years early.
- [[Boris Pasternak]] was a fan of [[Joan Crawford]] and sent her several impassioned letters which led her to contact the Russian embassy, begging them to intercede so that he would stop.
- [[Bill Richardson|Bill Richardson’s]] great uncle on his mother’s side was the last American ambassador to Tibet.
- [[Nikos Katantzakis]] was an intense admirer of the Flash Gordon serials, so much so that he wrote [[Buster Crabbe]] asking him to star as Christ in The Last Temptation. Crabbe, however, was dumbfounded by the letter’s Demotic Greek and could not answer.
- [[Joe McCarthy]] became a virulent anti-Communist when a collective bought his brother’s bankrupt dairy farm.
- [[Evelyn Waugh]] wrote The Loved One after the task of burying [[Aldous Huxley]] fell upon him as senior writer in the Hollywood British expatriate community.
- While he was in California working for Warner Brothers, [[William Faulkner]] liked to sneak down to Ensenada to enjoy fish tacos.
- Congressman [[John F. Kennedy]] once flew to Martinique for a tryst with actress [[Betty Davis]].
- During the filming of The Petrified Forest, [[Humphrey Bogart]] was arrested for stealing pieces of petrified wood. Charges were dropped when he agreed to narrate a Movietone trailer condemning the practice.
- [[Hunter S. Thompson]] fooled a psychiatrist into scheduling him for Electro-Convulsive Therapy so he could get off on the experience, but withdrew after he learned he would be under general anesthesia.
- In the twilight of his years, Director [[John Huston]] began laying out plans to film the life of the Buddha starring a young [[Mel Gibson]] in the title role.
- While on a trip to fascist Italy, [[Errol Flynn]] was asked to demonstrate his fabled culinary skills by making a hot dog for [[Benito Mussolini]].
- [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] used to chant “The eyes of Texas are upon you” to his beagle.
From Nowhere Land, goodbye!
Compliance and Complaint
Posted on October 17, 2007 in Psychotropics Uncertainty
A brief article at John Gale’s Mental Health Update notes that older psychiatric patients are more likely to take their meds than younger ones:
A study of 32,991 people in the U.S. compared adherence to antipsychotic medication in older (over 60) and younger patients with bipolar disorder. The researchers found that among the older group 61% were fully adherent, 19% were partially adherent and 20% were non-adherent compared to 49.5%, 21.8% and 28.7% respectively for the younger patients.
One wonders about the possible reasons for this trend.
- Those who fight compliance the most may not be alive by the time that they are sixty due to suicide or self-negligence.
- Older people may live in nursing homes where they are given their meds every day.
- People learn from experience if they survive long enough.
Articles like this remain in the back of my mind as I read accounts of people in episode who won’t take meds (yes, there are more than one going through this right now) around the blogging world. There’s not much you can do when someone doesn’t want to do the drugs: it’s more important to reduce your own stressors and keep to your own program. (Oh God. I’m sounding like a Toastmaster!) While I do not know the full circumstances of each and every person going through the combined traumas of memory and chemical imbalance, I do know that years of talk therapy did not help me. Going it alone isolated me, worsened my condition. The thing that eased the pain in the end was allowing a psychiatrist to work with me, to develop a chemical and psychotherapeutic answer.
But I feel sad, very sad, when I see people in obvious torment, screaming about conspiracies against them or about their suspicions of psychiatrists. Each has her or his own cheering section of supporters who will tell them that they are doing the right thing. I can do nothing for them. My hands are full. My own life needs saving from the disease and from the world.
Another Reason Why O.J. Should Be in Jail
Posted on October 17, 2007 in California Watch Scoundrels The Orange
[[O.J. Simpson|O.J. Simpson’s]] name appeared — along with [[Dionne Warwick]] and Sinbad (wtfih?) — on a list of California’s top tax cheats. But let’s not keep it to tabloid stars. It is fit and becoming to identify my fellow Orange County residents who made the anti-pantheon:
- Shirley Davis of Midway City, CA 92655 owes $2,518,669.83
- Jerome W & Jean M Stewart of Orange, CA 92869 owes $532,036.66
- Chris A Carmichael Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 owes $493,047.78
- Maryline Guyot of Garden Grove, CA 92840 owes $487,050.87
- Frank D Harris of Cypress, CA 90630 owes $485,499.11
- Denise Dimacale of Newport Beach, CA 92660 owes $409,868.14
- Eric A Wardrop of Santa Ana, CA 92706 owes $401,949.44
- Mary A Hagstrom of Lake Forest, CA 92630 owes $388,479.08
- Jeffrey S Benice of Irvine, CA 92623 owes $363,054.67
- Victoria A Fonseca of Santa Ana, CA 92705 owes $358,781.08
- Stephen B Cornelius of Newport Beach, CA 92660 owes $358,583.56
- John H Kang of Coto De Caza, CA 92679 owes $346,891.55
- Richard S Nguyen of Santa Ana, CA 92704 owes $339,974.57
- Miguel A Oleta of Santa Ana, CA 92704 owes $281,031.94
O.J. totted up $1,435,484.17 in unpaid personal income taxes. I guess this makes him into a hero of many of those who villified him, namely those who want less government on your backs and more prosecutions.
Prayer Wheels Spinning
Posted on October 17, 2007 in Morals & Ethics Peace
Let’s be real: the reason why Bush gave the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama is that he knew the world would be flooded with the news of [[Al Gore]] winning the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. Bush knows that there is no way in hell — aside from the invasion of Norway — that he will ever win any legitimate peace prize so he hopes that some of the Dalai Lama’s cachet will rub off on him in a difficult time.
The [[Dalai Lama]] kept to rather neutral remarks, of course. He did not attack the Bush regime’s war in Iraq for example, but concentrated his concerns on China which has occupied [[Tibet]] since 1952. His desire to make a stand for his people may have interfered with his perceived status as the international voice for Buddhists. (We should remember that his authority is no more universal than the Pope’s.) But then Buddhism — like primitive Christianity — is an existential religion: you alone are responsible for your salvation and peace of mind.
Bush’s prayer wheel must be spinning wildly now as he watches his place in history grow darker. In a generation or so, someone will write a vindication of this scoundrel administration, but what is more likely is placement in the pantheon of American villains, particularly as historians reexamine the 2000 and 2004 elections.
I am disappointed that the Dalai Lama allowed himself to become a tool for this man for no better reason than to gain a platform for Tibetan autonomy. I am disappointed that this award was not given out by Speaker of the House [[Nancy Pelosi]] because, after all, this is the Congressional Gold Medal and not the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dubya had no place on that grandstand. The show belonged to someone else.
[tags]Buddhism, Dalai Lama, peace prize, awards, Tibet[/tags]
Whining Republicans
Posted on October 16, 2007 in Campaign 2008
Republican members of Congress are leaving in droves and the Grand Old Putridity is having trouble raising money, too! Representative [[Ray LaHood]], for one, kvetched to the Los Angeles Times: “I don’t like being in the minority,” he said. “It’s not that much fun, and the prospects for the future don’t look that good.” Glad to hear that.
No Rollercoaster
Posted on October 16, 2007 in Crosstalk Mania
Here’s a charming piece from McMan’s Depression and Bipolar Web about the real character of bipolar disorder:
The last roller coaster ride I was on, in fact every roller coaster ride I’ve been on, and there have been plenty, has been a blast! Clackety- clack on the big old fashioned wooden ones, round and round on loops, up the hills, down into the troughs with your stomach 100 yards behind you, through Space Mountain with R2D2 and C3PO, the whoosh of cool air and mechanical noises, up the Matterhorn in toboggans run by helpful lederhosened Disney employees, past the Yeti, round the bend where centrifugal force keeps you in the sled, then another whoosh! Down the mountain, through the water, and out. OUT. Controlled, hysterical fun, and then OUT.
Let’s look at it this way: If manic depressive illness were like a roller coaster ride, there would be people lined up around the block for it. They would spend a fortune trying to get it, rather than trying to get rid of it, and there would be an adorable kiosk on the corner selling ice cream and souvenirs rather than a pharmacy selling lithium. Manic depression being likened to a ride on a roller coaster is about as accurate as a heart attack being compared to heartburn.
I wonder to what degree has our perception/memory of our mania’s have been influenced by the common folk description. Many people have told me “oh I know how it must feel. It’s really good when you’re in mania, right?” No, it sucks in mania just as it does in depression but for different reasons. My mouth is flapping at a mile a minute, my body is shaking, and my temper is gunpowder spread on the floor of a smoking car of a railroad. I don’t like being manic because I know I will crash, repeatedly. The only thing to do is to hide in my room so that I don’t make a fool of myself, to pull all my energy together and act like a six foot four mouse who only squeaks in response to questions because he doesn’t want to appear insane.
Maybe some people feel the whoosh, but I am not one of them. As for the supposed crash of depression, I wouldn’t describe it as that at all. You just find yourself in it. It’s more like closing the blinds on acid-bright sunshine. You feel like your head has turned to jelly and it’s sticking and dragging on the floor.
The disease ain’t no theme park. It really is a sickness.
Blackwater Doesn’t Sink the Sunken Ship
Posted on October 16, 2007 in Journalists & Pundits Occupation of Iraq Scoundrels
I’m stealing Kathryn Cramer’s usual thunder here by posting about the Blackwater Scandal:
The Blackwater scandal has gotten plenty of media coverage, and it deserves a lot more. Taxpayer subsidies for private mercenaries are antithetical to democracy, and Blackwater’s actions in Iraq have often been murderous. But the scandal is unfolding in a U.S. media context that routinely turns criticisms of the war into demands for a better war.
Many politicians are aiding this alchemy. Rhetoric from a House committee early this month audibly yearned for a better war at a highly publicized hearing that featured [[Erik Prince]], the odious CEO of [[Blackwater USA]].
A congressman from New Hampshire, [[Paul Hodes]], insisted on the importance of knowing “whether failures to hold Blackwater personnel accountable for misconduct undermine our efforts in Iraq.” Another Democrat on the panel, [[Carolyn Maloney]] of New York, told Blackwater’s top exec that “your actions may be undermining our mission in Iraq and really hurting the relationship and trust between the Iraqi people and the American military.”
But the problem with Blackwater’s activities is not that they “undermine” the U.S. military’s “efforts” and “mission” in Iraq. The efforts and the mission shouldn’t exist.
As Ronald Reagan put it, there they go again. We elect them in 2006 by a landslide because we’re sick and tired of a war that even the bellicose [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] found doomed to failure. They turn around and become the biggest fans of the war. I saw this happen when the war broke out. I had arguments about it. People decided that although they believed that the war was a crock that they had to make a public display of supporting it so that they would not be accused of not being patriots. Out came the flags and the assurances that they would be behind the unelected Bush Adminstration. And now, when the war has not only been shown to be a crock but an utter disaster, some Democrats and most journalists continue to find the silver lining in the sooty cloud.
[[Norman Solomon]] says it best:
Terrible as Blackwater has been and continues to be, that profiteering corporation should not be made a lightning rod for opposition to the war. New legislation that demands accountability from private security forces can’t make a war that’s wrong any more right. Finding better poster boys who can be touted as humanitarians rather than mercenaries won’t change the basic roles of gun-toting Americans in a country that they have no right to occupy.
The mantra to govern the next Democratic campaign should be: It’s the war, Stupid.
Simple
Posted on October 16, 2007 in Photos Site News
Here’s a brief guide to commenting at Paths of Light:
- Register for an account.
- Log into that account.
- Select the photo you want to comment upon by clicking on the image. If you want to see a larger version of the photo, click on the photo on its page.
- To comment, go to the bottom of the page. Just above the line of flags which allows you to choose the language that you want to surf in, there’s a single empty box labeled Comments. That’s where they go.
- Click on the OK button to the right of the comments box when you are ready.
That’s all there is to it.
Pipe Spring
Posted on October 16, 2007 in Photos Vacation Fall 2007
The wind made us change all kinds of plans: on our last day on the Arizona Strip, we avoided visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes because I did not want the lens of my camera sandblasted. Instead, we sneaked a peek at Pliggytown* USA (aka Colorado City, Arizona) and visited a national monument meant to interpret the region’s Mormon and Paiute history.
Pipe Spring National Monument exists mostly to fill the space between Grand Canyon National Park and Zion National Park — a place where tourists could pull out for a bit of history on a plot of land big enough for forty acres and a mule. The main feature is an old Mormon “fort” — more of a ranch house with gunslits carved into the sandstone walls.
We came here for the history, but up on the Ridge Trail I found views that fascinated me. Miles of unbroken sage prairie with hints of old trails and roads. A wedge of my heritage came out of districts such as this — around Richfield, Utah — where my polygamist ancestor Jorgen Smith lived with his three wives. Pipe Spring was a place where polygamists scattered their wives: no one big happy family lived here, but isolated sister-wives hid here and helped with the raising of church cattle and passing on telegraph messages.
Everywhere there were signs of hard work: butter and cheese were churned out daily. Men minded the herds. One sister-wife kept her ear to the telegraph wire and, for her pains, was rewarded with her own bedroom. There were fields of crops and grapes. And, in the evening, when all other chores were finished, the women worked at needlepoint and the men whittled.
We went back twice in a day, the first time to take the tour of the fort (which was blessedly free of any effort by the Mormon Church to evangelize) and then, GPS in hand, to map the Ridge Trail. I spoke at length with a park ranger who gleaned what she could from my tales of my polygamist ancestors and told me about the problems the park had in keeping its livestock.
It was a day when no rain fell, only the shadows of clouds.
We wrapped up our day with a meal at Houston’s Trail’s End in Kanab, Utah, a suitable inn for our last day at the foot of the [[Grand Staircase]].
*Polygamist Town
Here is the album in my gallery (8 pics). Please comment over there.
Click on more to see important notes.
Grand Canyon – North Rim
Posted on October 15, 2007 in Photos Vacation Fall 2007
At the last minute, we switched our plans and visited Bryce Canyon before the North Rim because the weather forecasts said there would be extreme winds on the day when we orginally thought to go. We did not evade the winds, but it was sunny and when we dipped below the rim, they did not affect us.
The next day we visited the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park where the foehns found us. Two minutes after we asked at the Visitor’s Center about the Cape Final Trail, they announced that the road leading to the trailhead had been closed. Winds blew through the ponderosa pines and there were gray clouds overhead. It wasn’t much of a day for going out, so we spent most of it in the lodge looking through the picture windows at the gorge below us. The one trail we attempted — Bright Angel Point — led along a perilous, fenced ridge. Fifteen feet from the end — a lookout which leaned out over a cliff — I announced to Lynn that I had had enough and declared that I would not go to the end. I held onto my hat and turned back after she had taken in the view for herself.
Two ranger talks gave us something to do before we turned back to our motel in Fredonia, Arizona. On the park exit road, we came to a spot where a tree had fallen on the road and shattered into bits so small that we had no trouble driving over them. Four cars lined up next to a riderless bike. We assumed that the biker had been hurt, so we left word at the entrance station.
Rain pelted us as we descended the Kaibab Plateau. About a mile south of Fredonia, it abruptly stopped. The ground at our motel was entirely dry.
Here is the album in my gallery (24 pics). Please comment over there.
Click on more to see important notes.
