Monthly Archives: June 2016

Malignant Narcissism

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…and things that go bump in the night

The term “malignant narcissism” was first coined by Dr. Sam Vaknin, author of the famed Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited. We now have a website by a Dr. George Simon called Manipulative-People.com, subtitled Your resource for coping with life’s most troubling characters. Dr. Simon offers Consultations, Seminars, Workshops and Webinars. Dr. Simon advises, “The consultations are neither meant to be construed as therapy nor are they meant to supplant therapy.  As such, they are not billable to George-Simon-5254-214x300-214x270insurance.” However, “payment for the consultations can be made via PayPal and credit card.” He advertises himself as “an internationally-recognized expert on manipulators and other problem characters and the author of 3 bestselling books: In Sheep’s Clothing (which has been translated into 12 foreign languages), Character Disturbance, and The Judas Syndrome.” He now has an essay entitled Malignant Narcissism: At the Core of Psychopathy.

Interesting for a number of reasons. I always thought there was a difference between narcissism and psychopathy. Most psychopaths certainly think there is a difference. Narcissists are not highly regarded by my kind. The difference is that “narcs” need “narcissistic supply” (another term coined by Sam Vaknin) and psychopaths do not. Just knowing we’re ahead of our own game is usually enough to keep us happy. (We have other problems, such as boredom and loneliness but the intense need for validation is not one of them.) The film IPsychopath, starring Sam Vaknin has perhaps begun to blur the distinction. Sam is a self-professed “malignant narcissist” and is very well known as such. But in IPsychopath, he also claimed to be a psychopath. The film ends with him taking the PCL-R and proving his psycho-creds. So when Simon speaks of “malignant narcissism” being the “core of psychopathy,” it has precedence.

SamSam Vaknin is an interesting person. He seems to be working both sides of the street. He is simultaneously a proud predator, as he declares on a website called The Art of Charm, “As a psychopath I abuse as thoughtlessly and automatically as you breathe … I find it pleasurable to inflict pain on people.” At the same time, he is helping victims of narcissists. On Narcissistic Abuse Recovery, he says, “Are you walking on eggshells with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?  Welcome to our Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Psychopath Survivors Group. A Learning, Resource and Support Forum.” Perhaps Sam wants to be a resource for those who would embrace their narcissism and psychopathy as well as for those who reject it in others.

Laura, an administrator of the Cassiopaea Forum  confronts the contradiction straight on. When asked how he can be a healer and a narc, “Mr. Vaknin replies, ‘Indeed, only seeming. I may have misphrased myself. By “helpful” I meant “intended to help.” The martyr.jpgbook was never intended to help anyone. Above all, it was meant to attract attention and adulation (narcissistic supply) to its author, myself. Being in a guru-like status is the ultimate narcissistic experience. Had I not also been a misanthrope and a schizoid, I might have actually enjoyed it. The book is imbued with an acerbic and vitriolic self-hatred, replete with diatribes and jeremiads and glaring warnings regarding narcissists and their despicable behavior. I refused to be “politically correct” and call the narcissist “other-challenged.” Yet, I am a narcissist and the book is, therefore, a self-directed “J’accuse.” This satisfies the enfant terrible in me, the part of me that seeks to be despised, abhorred, derided and, ultimately, punished by society at large.'” Um…OK.

fishDr. Simon is a fish of a different color. He isn’t a narc (as far as we know) and he is firmly on only one side of the street, the side that declares itself normal and good. He does something I have yet to encounter in discussions or narcissism or psychopathy. He calls them character disorders. I googled the term and found a definition by Dr. Simon! under Counselling Resource. “Personality and character disorders are not the same thing. Our personality defines the stylistic way we tend to interact, while our character is defined by the level of social conscientiousness and virtue in our personality.” If I’m not mistaken, we are back to old fashioned morality. Sure enough, “the term ‘character’ generally refers to the extent of one’s virtuousness and social conscientiousness.”

lostinsnowIt figures. The experts have already said “psychopathy is forever.” Incurable. Writing someone off seems to have already left the medical model behind. Dr. Hare has said we’re “probably not very nice people.” Has psychology taken us, declared us “sick” and then thrown away as too far gone for redemption. Is psychopathy something that needs redemption? I always suspected that psychiatry was another system of morality in medical drag. What is a disorder? A disease? Aren’t they something that has been deemed a problem? Something that shouldn’t even be? Something that needs to be fixed?

cancerWhat does the word “malignant” mean? Dictionary.com calls it “A descriptive term for things or conditions that threaten life or well-being. Malignant is the opposite of benign. Note: The term malignant is used in describing cancerous tumors (see cancer) because such growths are a threat to the health of the individual.” It sounds like malignant is the worst thing anything can be. MedicineNet says, “The word malignant comes the Latin combination of ‘mal’ meaning ‘bad’ and ‘nascor’ meaning ‘to be born’; malignant literally means ‘born to be bad.'” There we have it. Psychopaths are born with “aberrant” brains. We are simply born to be bad. 

I guess I’ve always known in my heart that I was rejected by society on a very deep level. One of my earliest memories was seeing myself as an “outlaw.” Of course, being seen as and treated as an enemy can only confirm the deepest level of alienation. What kind of loyalty can I owe the world that collectively disowns me? Is this the price of freedom? Alive and free. Or, in the words of Tom Petty, “Free Falling.”

 

Persuasion and Control

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puppeteerIn Grace Metalious’ novel, Peyton Place, one character, Leslie Harrington, was kind of a “dictator” over the town. He owned the mills, the only place of employment for most of the town’s people and he also owned the bank where everyone had his account and mortgage. This position gave him a great deal of economic power which led to political power. Another character, Seth Buswell, wanted to take him on. But Leslie always won. “Seth…said that the people would soon tire of Leslie’s dictatorial methods, but in this he was wrong for Leslie did not dictate, he bargained.”

Most people don’t understand what a great role bargaining and negotiation plays in power. Naked, brute force is exercised much less frequently. It negotiationhas the weakness that keeping up with such methods requires enormous effort. People find loopholes in the system and circumvent that which they can’t challenge. I’m thinking of another novel, Hunger Games, where the heroine, Katniss, would regularly slip into forbidden territory guarded by an electrical fence. She discovered that the powers that were didn’t want to pay for that much electricity and often left it off. Even this totalitarian society on the Hunger Games depended on popular approval to stay in power.

Tough Love, a system whereby mostly middle-class parents sought to regain control over their wayward teens seemed to use naked power to force their children to obey and do what the parents wanted. Their method was about forcing consequences on their teens. If the consequences were severe enough, they could force their kids to “straighten up and fly right” no matter how repugnant that was to the kids.

gotojailWhat these parents did wasn’t really new or revolutionary. Society has always imposed a power structure on those it would control. The reigns of power could be held loosely or tightly. B.F. Skinner, the father of behaviorism, liked to use the term “behavioral engineering.” Control was achieved by means of reinforcement. There were two kinds of reinforcement: positive or ratengineersnegative. Skinner was a firm believer in the power of positive reinforcement, which he once referred to as “the power of love,” in Walden Two (1948, New York). The society which existed when tough love came onto the scene was based largely on the positive kind of reinforcement. People strove for reward and jumped through the right hoops, for the most part, to get the goodies society doled out. This was true of teenagers as well as adults.

In the ’60’s, a lot of people rebelled against the behavioral engineering that was in place. Teens and young adults, especially, began hippiesthinking outside the box. They started taking drugs that were not the approved kind (alcohol and tobacco). They dropped out of the “rat race” and formed counter-cultures, communes where different values were practiced. They changed their appearance as a visible sign that they were not on board with the mainstream form of programming. Long hair, beards, grannie dresses and “trucking boots” made the hippies stand out in a way that defied the accepted structure. Others, stood against the political structure, studying Marx and other forms of seriously revolutionary ideology. Women also challenged their role in society.

angryparentsSociety was, in part, tolerant with the new trends but also felt, in part, threatened. During the years characterized by Reaganism, a reaction to all this rebellion developed in the working and middle-class public. They missed their hold on their kids and wanted to reassert their power. This is where  tough love came in. Kids were not about to relinquish the freedom and autonomy (their own kind of power) that easily. Tough love was a strategy to force them. The purpose of this blog post is to examine the degree in which their strategy consisted of naked force and to which it involved negotiation.

beststudent.jpgParents make rules. When kids break the rules, parents usually punish the kids some way. By obeying the rules, kids usually manage to get treated better. Sure the parents are getting the kids to act a certain way that the parents want. But the kids are also getting the parents to do what they want by acting “good.” It’s a trade. Any behavior that is conditional involves a trade. Manipulation involves getting the best deal. Convincing parents that you are “good” because you love them and think they know best is likely to win you the best deal. It takes time to really get them to think that. The kid that’s always been good will be the most trusted. On the other hand, a prodigal child can gain many points due to shear gratitude in such a drastic change.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
prodigal25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

spankingThe term “tough love” is manipulative. It’s obvious that being “tough” with someone is a form of coercion. It’s “behave or else.” But the word “love” after “tough” makes it sound like it’s really all for the kid’s own good. Google defines love as, “an intense feeling of deep affection.” To love obviously implies the wish for the object’s well-being. So locking your child out of his house, letting him languish in jail rather than taking him home, ignoring him on holidays, giving away all his possessions (all things recommended by the Tough Love program) are really intended for his benefit, no matter how great the cognitive dissonance. By calling it “love,” parents are deflecting the hostility their actions might otherwise arouse. By acting in concert with a group, they are gathering power. Naturally, parents already have more power than their children. They own the house the kid lives in. They have the money and social standing. The kids, on the other hand, have emotional power in most cases. Most parents do feel strong emotional ties with their kids. After all, they made them and raised them. The more one does for someone, the more one is likely to love. Kids do well to use that bond long before estrangement ever reaches the level where the parent will turn to an organization like Tough Love for support.

nocontactThe “survivor” blogs on the web usually involve adult children who are estranged from their parents or people who have been hurt in a love relationship. Their most frequent remedy is “no contact.” If someone is really serious about totally severing a relationship completely and absolutely, the manipulation and trade that have gone on in the past are at an end. You don’t know what is happening with the other person. You can’t affect each other. Of course, enforcing no contact can be difficult. There are people who know bother you and the other. They can try to bring about a reconciliation. The person who doesn’t want to be cut-off can do lots of things to sabotage the goal of no-contact. And the person who declares “no contact” might have a hidden agenda of his/her own in which the relationship goes on but he/she wins strategically. But that’s negotiation for you.

Stalker Videos

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From Cute to Demonic

Jay Jones said psychopaths are basically hunters. Robert Hare said we’re “predators.” Well, here’s some rock videos about stalking.

You Might Think by the Cars makes stalking look cute.

Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf, makes it look like one of the old adventure movies.

The Police’s, Every Breath You Take, appropriate to their name, make it a stake-out. The exhaustion and disgust of a stake out are palpable here.

Not to make this exclusively about men stalking women, here’s One Way or Another by Blondie:

Manifesting the purest predatory spirit of them all, I Put a Spell on You by Diamonda Galas shows how it’s done:

She seems to want to devour her prey and even likens herself to a shark.

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Splitting

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When I was a child, my parents were close friends with another couple who had children, angel&devila boy and a girl, whose ages corresponded to the ages of my sister and me. When we got together, the kids liked to play “Devils and Angels.” We girls got together and were angels. We assigned the boy, David, the role of devil. Mostly, we tried to sneak up on him and run away. Although we knew it was a game, the sense of being “good” seemed to infiltrate our consciousness during the course of the game. It was fun but sometimes I felt limited by my role.

As an adult, during the years of the “Satanic Panic” (when people not in the lunatic fringe believed there were satanic cults which practiced atrocities on children), my partner and I were “good” girls. We were Catholic, went to church and passed this news vendor we believed to be a “satanist” with our noses in the air. At this time, I felt I was sacrificing something by limiting myself to one side of the equation.

kidsAs a kid, I belonged to two “gangs.” Nothing serious. Just kid stuff. But these “gangs” were enemies of each other. I told each one that I was spying on the other for them so I got to play with both groups of kids. There was never anything to report as a result of my “spying.” It was just fun.

greekgodThe belief in “good” and “evil” is deeply endemic in Western civilization. The ancient Greeks worshipped gods who were capable of both. But the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam all insist on a great divide between the two. That has forced people to feel they had to take sides and either be “good” or “bad.”

In psychology, this mentality is called “black and white thinking” or splitting. It is a known characteristic of Borderline Personality Disorder. But it is really characteristic of the Abrahamic religions.

abrahamicMore people identify with the “good” side than the “bad.” We can find this just about everywhere. In politics, for example, Leftists are convinced they (we?) are on the side of the angels. The other side is cruel, heartless, destroying the planet and on the wrong side of history. Rightest are just as firmly convinced that they are the morally justified. Leftists are godless sinners, without standards of righteousness. It can be shocking to go from an atmosphere which is peopled by only one side to the other side. It’s a lesson on how thoroughly the moral significance of ideology can be split.

gayrightsSometimes people can redeem their self-image by looking at an unflattering role assigned to them by society as a form of oppression. Identity politics has done wonders in transforming the experiences of many people who grew up with the idea that they were defective, inferior or even “bad” to the awareness that they were really victims of evil “isms.” That would include sexism, racism, looksism, etc. People who felt like freaks because they were molested as children, now saw themselves as victims. Gays weren’t “perverts” any more. They were victims of homophobia. Fat people rejected the standards imposed upon them by the culture and asserted their right to accept themselves as they were. Rape victims rejected the stigma that had long been attached to them  as having somehow deserved it. Politics was redeeming the outcast and people were feeling empowered.

NAMBLAHowever, the newly empowered didn’t always want to accept certain others into their ranks. For example, gays wouldn’t accept pedophiles although they organized their own identity driven liberation organization, NAMBLA, for an obvious reason. Gays had long been stigmatized as “child molesters” and accepting actual pedophiles would have sabotaged their long, uphill climb to be seen as acceptable. The taint of predator that continues to color the “boy lovers” still hung over the group like a poisonous miasma.

comingAnother group that was rejected by the feminist and lesbian community were sadomasochists. Male gays didn’t seem to have that much of a problem with the gay leathermen. But feminists believed sadomasochism to be at odds with their values. While NAMBLA brought with it a huge public-relations problem, the tension between s/m women and the rest of the lesbian-feminist community was more ideological than PR. I was personally part of this interesting piece of social/political history. As a againstmember of SAMOIS  (the name was taken from Story of O). I was physically present at protests against WAVPM (Women Against Violence in Pornography and the Media). The interesting thing about these “Sex Wars,” was the absolute conviction each side had in it’s moral rectitude.

Identity politics continues to be a banner behind which people fight for acceptance while antipsychopathinsisting on their right to retain their identity as a group. A recent addition to the frey is the dichotomy between the victims/recoverers of abuse by narcissists and psychopaths and psychopaths, ourselves, who, weary of being discussed in the third person, have newly found a voice of our own. In my own engagement with people on the “other side,” I have become aware of how completely some of them identify as the “good girls.” I discovered a particularly vehement denunciation of my kind which I took on on my blog as Pus Spewing Haters. This blog brought commentary from another blogger, ifonlymommy. She and I entered into a dialog which continued into another blog called Tough Love which her comments inspired. What impressed me about her input was the sense that I was dealing with a “good girl” or an “angel” from my old, childhood game. “Have I ever abused anyone? No. I’m not perfect but I haven’t ever abused anyone. My husband and I are separated. There wasn’t any much give and take in our relationship. He just took. Was I perfect l, no but in comparison to him, I was a saint.” It reminds me of myself when I was active politically. I felt I had a goodevilpurity I had to maintain. One of the truly liberating things about being a psychopath is that I am not stuck in this limiting persona. Sure, it bothers me somewhat when I am stigmatized as an “evil” doer. Ifonlymommy even asked me once, “Are you ever abusive in any way to anyone else?” This was a good, if difficult question as it forced me to look for the meaning of “abuse” and especially psychopathic abuse. While I stumbled to find an honest answer to her question, I learned that she believed she has never abused another person.

I guess these exchanges define our roles so far. I am glad not to be limited to only being “good.” My favorite diety is the Hindu Goddess, Kali, who represents both the good and the terrible aspects of nature. I think of myself as being “beyond good and evil.” Is this grandiose? I suppose it is. A friend on this blogosphere, Lucky Otter, talks about her faith in God a lot. I am my own God. But I accept that everyone else is as well. So that is more mystical than grandiose. Whatever I am, it is all mine.

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Tough Love

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“toughlovebookTough Love” is a legacy of the Reagan years. It should have died in the 90’s. But it intruded upon my consciousness the other day when ifonlymommy commented on the mean-spirited expression of some “victims” of the ever-awful psychopaths by saying, “I think tough love is what they were advising even with the harsh words of throw them into an institution and forget about them.” Harsh is exactly what it is. In the book, Toughlove by Phyllis and David York and Ted Wachtel (1982, New York), the chapter entitled Toughlove Is Tough says, “Yes, you do want to abandon that hurtful, rejecting, uncooperative, irresponsible, blaming child who just got himself committed hoping that you’ll pick up the bill. That irresponsible child who held a job for over a year but at Thanksgiving chose to skip his medication, smoke dope, and launch himself into a rage. That rejecting child who lost his job because he toughlove-moviewould no longer do the work, thinking he was too good for everyone in the office, although other Toughlove parents helped him get the job in the first place when he was desperate for employment.” This is the soul of Toughlove.

Yes, Toughlove is tough. But I don’t accept that it is love. It seems to only be directed at those who don’t have much power but who rebel against the rules. In other words, soft targets.

Blaming someone for being  committed to a mental hospital as if serious professionals were mere stooges of the family scapegoat in this charming little fantasy. Assuming he lost his job through his own fault when we all know how shitty people can get at a work place.  What the victims-movement has in common with Toughlove is a deep anger that completely dehumanizes its object. “Like clones stamped out in some satanic laboratory, they share an underlying selfishness and similar ways of demonstrating it.”

kristenPeople who feel victimized by their exes, whether they consider them narcissists or psychopaths, have one “solution” they resort to most often: no contact. There are thousands of websites advising victims of how to go “no contact.” They are discussed in A Psychopath’s Guide to Haters. But I guess it was inevitable that someone would start a site directed at the object of this “no contact” thing. Ask the Love Doctor has a page on How to Respond to Your Ex’s No Contact Rule: How to Respond to Your Ex’s No Contact Rule. The author of this page takes a dim view of no contact. “It’s immature, manipulative and undermines any efforts to have a healthy relationship. If he/she doesn’t see what’s wrong with this approach to resolving conflict, then it’s best that you both move on.” This blog also offers coaching sessions for $70 to help people reconnect with their “ex.” The things we do for love.

Thomas Sheridan, who has said some of the most outrageous things about psychopaths toxic.jpgand who has a page on my blog just for him, has actually shown originality and stepped up to the plate big time in exposing some of the illogic of the usual victims’ pages. Here, he says, “These self-proclaimed ’empaths’ have just found a new slur to compensate for their own life of failure and poor choices. Many (not all) ‘recovery’ forums are filled these anonymous ‘unhinged’ misery mongers who love throwing terms such as ‘psychopath’, ‘spath’ and ‘narc’ around at real people as their own hidden (and devious) identity allows them to indulge their own psychotic delusions/unresolved vendettas without direct consequences.” I am so loving it!
A blog called The Culture of False Oppression — A modern snare: A critical view of unprofessional “abuse recovery” material and “progressive” agenda  includes an article called, “No Victim Blaming” Vs “Tough Love.” Thoughtful examination of both sides of the issues.

aaronBacon
Aaron Bacon murdered by sadistic tough lovers

I, myself, have written a hard-hitting indictment of the whole Tough Love phenomena, not only the organization but it’s presentation in the media, the cultural mentality and the rotten fruit that has grown on the poisonous tree which I consider tough love to be. I’m speaking especially of the centers meant for rehabilitation of kids gone “bad.” Especially disturbing are the “wilderness camps” run by non-professionals with unbelievable cruelty and leading to death in some cases. Tough Love in the Media and Society.

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You Know Who

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Psychopathy in Modern Literature and Myth

hpbookVoldemort, the über-villain of Harry Potter has all the characteristics in the PCL-R (Robert Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist, Revised). As a boy, Tom Riddle was glib and charming, an adroit liar, expert manipulator, grandiose, and guiltless. In his maturity, he changed his name to Voldemort and began to look more and more reptilian. His school house, Slytherin, was represented by the serpent.

nwoThe internet is full of stories about “reptilian shape shifters” and the “Illuminati.” The real Illuminati was founded in Bavaria, Germany 1776. It was a Masonic order which espoused Enlightenment values and touted reason above all. They were at odds with the government which wiped them out. This organization had little to do with the “Illuminati” of today, a product of rumor and fantasy. Not that there are no actual groups calling themselves “The Illuminati.” Is there an Illuminati in the world today? I would be very surprised if no such organizations exist. Probably more than one. But they are not the Illuminati which was over in the 1800s. The mythological Illuminati exists to bring tomriddleabout the “New World Order,” something nefarious involving a one-world dictatorship. The New World Order, a creation of the Illuminati, is part of the Masonic conspiracy, of course. But every American president until JFK has been a Mason. That is why the seal of the New World Order appears on our money. The Latin slogan under the truncated pyramid translates to “New Order of the Ages.” Wooooo…………….

Most celebrities and political leaders are said to belong to this Illuminati where they are slaves to the order where they are forced to perform satanic rituals.  I believe this is a holdover from the Satanic Panic of the 80’s. A man named David Icke is largely responsible for developing this fantasy. “Most unbelievable of all is former TV presenter David Icke’s claim that the world’s leaders are actually super-intelligent lizards in human guise who control our reality from the Moon. Those who remember Icke from his days on Grandstand may be surprised to know his theories about our reptilian overlords – who have included the Rothschilds, Bob Hope and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother – have amassed a faithful following on the internet.” Who Are the Illuminati and do they control these pop stars?

Psychopaths have been identified as being reptilian, even being reptilian shape shifters. A lot of that is because of our eyes. Reptiles do have a very steady gaze. They never appear to be ill-at-ease. Psychopaths are also known to have an intense, steady gaze. I think this gaze represents interest. It also shows dominance. People who have self-mastery are not easily flustered and can meet other people’s eyes. Scientologists have a special exercise where they learn how to out-stare each other. But it is also described as the look of a predator sizing up its prey. Robert Hare has said, “It’s their eyes that are the most remarkable feature. How they drill into you.” And, as has so often been pointed out, it’s reptilian.

Another way in which psychopaths are associated with reptiles is in our brains. The part of our brains called reptilian is the brain stem and the cerebellum. “The term “reptilian” refers to our primitive, instinctive brain function that is shared by all reptiles and mammals, including humans. It is the most powerful and oldest of our coping brain functions since without it we would not be alive.” The Reptilian Coping Brain explains that this most primitive and ancient part of our brains has to do with survival. “Humans and all other vertebrates have two instinctive ways to defend themselves when threatened or injured. Their reptilian coping brain instincts are either attack to protect one’s life, or we can hide. Since we are born with these response options, humans may act like lizards or alligators when threatened or wounded, if they didn’t have the other Coping Brain functions to help control reptilian brain instinctive impulses.”

Our eyes and our brains. Hmmm…. Well, it’s one thing to point out similarities between psychopaths and reptiles. But some people go further and actually claim that we can shift shape between the two forms of life. There is even a Biblical element into this wacked-0ut fantasy: Is the reptilian shapeshifter phenomena true or Biblical?

Does the reptilian shapeshifter phenomena have a Biblical basis? Well, lets first address the shapeshifting issue. In the book of Exodus in the Bible, we do see the phenomena of shapeshifting occur. First it occurred when Moses by the power of the Holy Spirit transformed a rod into a serpent, but we must also remember that the Egyptian sorcerers, through the power of fallen angels could also turn rods into serpents. Remember that the Egyptians could counterfeit most of the miracles Moses performed. The fallen angels do have the ability to materialize matter out of nowhere, and to also change the molecular structure of an object. The fallen angels can also materialize into our dimension in any physical form they wish. However in the spirit realm (outside our three dimensional space), I believe the fallen angels have their own true form. Remember that all angels are different, some angels have multiple heads and faces (remember the angels in Ezekiel had the face of an: eagle, lion, ox and human), other angels such as Lucifer are serpent/reptile type beings (remember in Eden, his form was that of a serpent). There are also other angels that look human (there’s many instances of angels appearing in the Bible looking human like. From a Biblical standpoint, I would say its fair and reasonable to state that there are different species of angels (even amongst the righteous angels, there are different species as shown in the book of Ezekiel).
giantsIn Genesis 6 in the Bible, there’s clear scripture that states angels came down from Heaven, and had sexual intercourse with human females. This sexual union between the angels and human females produced giants who had 6 fingers and were over 12 feet tall. It should also be noted that there have been numerous discoveries of giant human skeletons all over the world, when these discoveries occur, they are often hushed up by government science institutes. Many prominent researchers such as L.A. Marzulli have stated that the Smithsonian science institute, often seizes giant human bone discoveries, and the bones are never seen again. Why is the government covering this up? What don’t they want us to know? Researcher and author Steve Quayle has also written books, and documented with evidence, the existence of a race of giants on earth.

At least we know Harry Potter is fiction. Some writers claim to be dead serious in trying to “prove” that there are reptilian shapeshifters. These people are not just anyone. They are prominent members of society, political leaders, pop stars. Reptilians Alien Race, Species, and Shapeshifters Pictures and Videos|Alien-UFO-Research said,

The Reptilians have been around since the beginning of man kind and have been thought to have given the human race much of it’s early technology, helped build the pyramids, worked with the Mayans, and helped start early religions pretending to be Gods and manipulating Adam and Eve in the Bible (While dealing with the story of the Garden of Eden, the Midrash also deals with the serpent. It declares that before causing Adam and Eve to sin, “it had legs” (Bereishit Rabbah, 19). According to this, the serpent was once a tall, splendid and regal creature. When its fate was decided and it is written that “upon thy belly shall thou go” (Bereishit 3:14), “the ministering angels descended and cut off its arms and legs” (Bereishit Rabbah, 20).

This tradition gives the image of the enticing serpent an impressive dimension, that has repercussions on many viewpoints of the ancient world, which saw the serpent as representing forces of evil on one hand and as possessing supernatural powers on the other hand.). Unfortunately their final goal is to eventually enslave the human race in the “New World Order” and use humans for mining and other physical tasks when the time is right.

Out of all the different types of aliens visiting Earth the Reptilians are by far the most dangerous to our very existence as humans. They have very little respect for us and want the Earth for themselves. Some say that the greys have been working against the Reptilians in order to help the human race but it is unclear why. They may have a similar agenda and just don’t want the reptilians to acquire the Earth before them.

In the world of Harry Potter, reptiles are clearly identified with evil. The Slytherin House has a serpent for its mascot. Harry’s rival is named Draco which means “dragon.” Voldemort becomes more and more reptilian as the novel progresses and as he goes further and further along the path of evil.

voldemortIt is apparent that things in this world are not what they seem. Most of us recognize that the United States is being run by a shadow government. I call the puppet-masters who run things behind the scene, “the 1%.” I don’t think we are in the hands of supernatural evil. Are the 1% psychopaths? Circumstances have a lot more to do with behavior than most people realize. Politicians are corrupt, not because they are psychopathic. They have no choice. The puppet-masters can wipe them out with their money. They either go along with the program or the opposition and the media make them disappear. There is nothing more sinister than that. (But that is plenty sinister.)

The Illuminati and reptilian shapeshifters make our world seem a lot more exciting. The banality of evil  is a let-down. Who wouldn’t rather be engaged in a cosmic struggle? What I wonder is how people who believe in Christianity could believe the Illuminati has so much power.

Pus Spewing Haters

13 Comments

This is a rant.

shrugI have addressed this issue before. However, I have just come across some blather that is so ugly and which so exposes the hypocrisy of the anti-psychopath community, I have to address it. The following appeared on  an Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders Forum.  The ostensible topic was the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. The topic is addressed responsibly and reasonably. The authors appear to be fair and professional. However, they invite comments from random readers. I have reproduced the entire contents of the resulting forum in order to expose and respond to it as this goes beyond even the usual hate.

catPsychopathy is the only kind of so-called mental illness that is only seen as a problem for others. I am sick of seeing stuff about how to “spot” a psychopath and how to protect oneself from one. Now, we learn from these “worthy” people that empathic people like themselves should  throw their 84-year-old mother on the street and abandon her, institutional their 16-year-old son or “kick him out and forget about him.” Mel’s contribution is stunning. “These people do not deserve kindness and for those psychopaths commenting on this forum asking for the non-psychopaths to have pity on you – can just go to hell.” And yet you people wonder why psychopaths treat you as the enemy. Mel: You go to hell. Mike expresses the same conviction that we deserve no mercy. And, Jocha, as far as I’m concerned, you must have come out the wrong side of a horse.

 

scaptgoat
scapegoat

There are two contributions from psychopaths, well, actually three now as the last one is my own. It is obvious that neither one of them is a monster. Nevertheless, Kid sees us as “a constant threat.” R. Smith believes his stepson is dangerous and kicked him out of the house. He now “worries,” not about the kid who has been thrown away but about the safety of others. K thinks we should be shown how “good” behavior will get us more success than criminal behavior and asks psychopaths for feedback on this idea. I think it is on the right track and psychologists have also tried it successfully. Deborah expresses concerns for the classicism and racism of the approach that only focuses on those who fall afoul of the criminal “justice” system. Good for you, Deborah and K.

lucy7I reproduced these responses verbatim so readers can see just how toxic public hostility can get. These are not the folks who see Silence of the Lambs and think we are just serial killers and the like. These are people who have known psychopaths in their personal lives and have (for the most part) decided to discard us as trash. They seem completely oblivious of their own toxicity and think they are among the justified. Well, “good folk” are the ones who commit genocide. (Native Americans, Jews and Palestinians come to mind.) They shake their heads at our “lack of empathy” but show a “stunning lack of empathy” of their own and enable psychopaths and other outcasts to write them off as they have written us off.

User Contributions:

1
KiD
helcast, what do we do? Unfortunately many pyschopaths remain unidentified and are members of society- a constant threat and an unnerving thought. The guy in the VT shooting, however, was not diagnosed because his instructors and family ignored the warning signs (which to me seemed quite blatant). It’s scary world.

Geri, my cousin is also a psychopath. You’re so noble for caring for your granddaughter and her mom. I wish you strength and blessings. For my cousin, we just have to constantly be frank but nurturing to him. We make sure he knows that he is being erratic when he’s behaving as such…we let him know how he SHOULD feel about certain things. The more we individualize him, the more he’s able to recognize what will gain him affection and respect.
2
gregg
so should we nurture such behaviour and guide them as to whats right and wrong or socially acceptable?i have recently come out of a 4 year relationship with a sociopath and still am unable to break the bond.
3
Jesse
I am a psychopath, as I have been recently diagnosed. We are not all violent and mean. Some of us, me for example, are simply empty. We feel little and are as shallow as a baking pan. I am not out to hurt you or anyone else for that matter but, Gregg, do not get your hopes up about guiding us to the social norm. Actually understanding the social norm is the problem. Our brains are wired so differently that society and its patterns make no sense. I, personally, have to ask “why” to everything. If no one can provide a clear why, I create one and it’s usually a very askew perspective. Therein lies the problem. Things have to fit our schema before we can apply them. Violence is often associated with psychopaths and sociopaths because it makes for great drama but a psychopath can have a very successful life without harming anyone; They just don’t connect to others as normal people do.
4
Cindy
My son is just 16 and all his life he has been diagnosed Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD kidand ODD. Recently his psychologist said he is extremely concerned about his cruelty to animals, his manipulation, physical and verbal abuse and lying. He is obsessed with fires, lies profusely and denies all actions unless backed into a corner then has no guilt and justifies his actions and says ‘so what’. His Psychologist said he is heading towards a psychopathic diagnosis. I am tired and emotionally drained and no one will help. He has just had a IQ test that said he is socially (.3%) and memory (9%) retarded but because in everything else he is high functioning, all Govt agencies wont fund us for help and we don’t know where to turn. He rules our house simply by saying ‘I have rights and you can’t do anything about it’. We have been advised to put him on the streets but as a parent that isn’t an easy answer to the problem. Bar the criminal record (which I am sure will come eventually) he fits all the categories for psychopath. Can anyone help me with where I can turn next before this child ruins his and our families life?? (We are in Australia)
5
R Smith
Is there anything that can be done in order to evaluate someone who is Psychopathic? My stepson has antisocial personality disorder, is a pathologic liar, and probably Psychopathic. After my wife and I witnessed a violent outburst we believe he is dangerous and kicked him out of our house. I worry about the safety of others that he may or may not harm, (especially children).
6
K
There must be program for psychopaths to be not necessarily expected to understand society’s rules naturally, or through intuition, and empathize with people, but to at least be shown how to project their actions forward in their mind, to emphasize that certain actions won’t get them the best result. From there, they could be shown how to think of other actions that get them what they want without hurting anyone.

This way, even if they never understand how it feels to be hurt and empathize with their victims, they can be taught to at least see that society will retaliate if they hurt others and stop their control of their own lives, so it doesn’t do them any good in the long run either.

In other words, they could be taught to work with their cold, calculating ways to plan actions ahead in better ways, perhaps ?

Any psychopaths out there have feedback on whether they think this approach would help, or if they know any such programs already in place ?
7
Marti
I have an 84 year old mother who is bi-polar and has psychopathic personality disorder (under medication and psychiatrist care). I am now caring for her and have moved her in to live with me and my family and I am wondering how to protect myself and my family from her cunning and manipulative behavior. She has already had one of her “so-called” friends report me to Adult Protective Services saying that I “pushed her” down our stair way. Approximately one year ago, she fell down the stairs in our home, but it was on her own. Luckily, she’s been under a psychiatrist care since she’s been living with me and he is well aware of her history and her background. He knows that she has a major problem with tellling the truth but I’m concerned about protecting myself and family from any future drama she may cause.

Any advise will be greatly appreciated!!!
8
jocha
Response to all the people here:

elderlyhomelessMarti – Get rid of your mother. Put her in a nursing home or just dump her. Why jeopardize you and your family members’ well being for someone so obnoxious. She is not young but your kids are. They are also vulnerable.

Cindy – For your and your other kids’ sake, Institutionalize or kick him out and forget about him.
9
Adam
Cindy,

Unfortunately, your son is exhibiting sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies. The anger and sadism manifesting in animal mutilation is considered a significant precursor to violent behavior later in life. If you can’t get him proper mental care, or begin fearing for your or your family’s safety, he may be too far removed from normal life, and should be institutionalized. If you explain to him how animals simply desire to live, to explore, and continue to survive, then ask him why he would want to stop that, the response should give you a lot to think about.
10
Deborah
It seems to me that 11 of the traits listed above describing psychopathic behavior can be true of anyone, the remaining 9 are for those who have been caught committing crimes. What about the rest of the society where their behavior seens to be normal. Many of those going undetected are people of wealth and affluence. These people are running the country and dictating what is morally correct in society. Psychopathic behavioral traits include but are not limited criminal activities, but also demonstrates a lack of concern for other peoples feelings, a lack of regard for their safety, along with many, many lies for selfish gain are spread through propaganda via the media. This type of psychopath has been rewarded and gone undetected due to being distracted by survival. I find your testing to be discriminatory and racist, and many of the people incarcerated in the USA are people of color.
11
susan
I stayed married to a sociopath for 20 years. I tried to help him “heal” while he destroyed me physically, financially, etc. My message is that you cannot help these people. Get rid of them as soon as you realize that everything you thought about him or her turns out to be a lie. Save yourself and especially your children. I wish I had.
12
K

I find your comments fascinating. Fascinating because I myself am a sociopath. It’s very sad that sociopathic/psychopathic people cannot be more forward with doctor’s and clinicians with their disorder. Imagine if you didn’t have feelings for anyone but you couldn’t tell anyone because of fear of how they would react? It’s a very lonely existence. I remember when I became aware that I was a sociopath and how disturbed I was by it. I’m non-violent which makes it easier for me to function in society but I can’t imagine how hard it is for others. It really bothers me that the only psychopathic people who receive treatment are the ones who have committed crimes and are incarcerated. Those of us who have never broken the law however, have no choice but to remain silent.

I really want to feel emotion and I would love to be a part of program that was dedicated to helping people build emotional responses. These programs need to exist so that people like myself can be treated. It’s hard being trapped in your head all the time. You really don’t understand what that’s like. People always complain of what it’s like to be victim to a sociopath but you rarely hear of what it’s like to victim of sociopathy — to have the disorder.
13
LeeAnn
Susan-I was married to a sociopath for 25 years: he lied for 3.5 years about a job he did not have, forged my name on the mortgage, stole my jewellry and pawned it and ran away when he was found out he ran away and is now trying to get 50% of my assets,inheritance and pensions. He has never apologised and said that I was mean to him. All I did was try to help him. Given I live in the UK he may succeed.
14
Sara Biga
Nick, from my experience it isn’t so much about a lack of emotions, but more about non being able to recognise them. You probably do have emotions and they end up registered somewhere in your body, but you’re not able to recognise them, and even if/when you realise you’re feeling something you have no words to attach to the feeling anyway.
That’s the reason why you hear from the victims – they can verbalise their distress: psycopath or sociopath can’t.
I have no solutions, but why not start from the way you felt disturbed when realising you’re a sociopath. Try to give more details to it, trying to describe the feeling. It’s a bit like describing a taste or a smell, it’s always approximate.
15
Jay
I read this and I am sickened by all the comments. No, I am not exaggerating. I am utterly disgusted by the amount of animosity displayed in these comments. You post these horrible comments about people who have problems and *could* be helped if they were just understood a bit more. You speak of them as monsters before suggesting that society abandons and disowns them. Most of you probably vote for human rights, but you are quick to disown anyone that can’t do something so mundane as feel emotions. Have any of you considered that these sociopaths might not feel any incentive to change because the society in which they live is already so cold and unforgiving? Who would want to get better for such a place to live?

No, I’m not a sociopath- obviously, since I am infuriated by what I’m reading. In fact, I could say that anyone who could so easily dispose of others in the name of social balance is a ‘sociopath’. I understand a lot of you have been hurt by people without empathy, but I’ll tell you what…I have been hurt a *lot* by such a lack of empathy by everyone who is doing OK in life and feels too complacent with life to care about anyone who can’t measure up to their standards.

It’s people like all of you that make me want to say “screw it” to all the ‘knowledge’ about psychology, after years of being taught by therapists and doctors to get better mainly so other people will like me. I have Bipolar Disorder and OCD, and the fact that I am expected to accept that I am ‘flawed’ in comparison to you hypocrites infuriates me. You guys lack the empathy you claim to have more than anyone else, and yet, you only write about yourselves, and do so with such pride. You don’t deserve to call yourselves compassionate individuals. Do that when you realize that the world is a cruel place, and people suffer outside of your comfy little worlds and limited awareness.
16
Nana
This is for Jay, my husband is a psychopath, we are married for 11 years and I just want to get way. You have no idea what is life with such a person, they destroy you. When I had cancer he send me away and said he wanted to get divorced. I was no good anymore. We are still married because I spend many time away but I just want to run away from hem. Hope you never meet one.
17
Tim
Jay. Reading between the lines, can you not see the hurt these individuals cause in other’s lives? It’s not always easy to be compassionate to someone who has destroyed your life. Personally, I don’t give a damn what happens to the sociopath who has recently caused so much pain to two of my friends and me. I don’t think he should be locked up but if I were to hear that someone had administered to him a sound beating, I would not turn a hair. You can’t expect to go through life hurting people so and expect no come-backs. That’s life.

I also had bi-polar for many years, but it just doesn’t bother me that people see me as flawed. We are all of us flawed, and I have tons of awesome amazing friends who don’t see me like that. I seek kind, trusting people out, because that is what I try to be. Sociopaths should leave the rest of us alone and hang out with each other. If indeed they feel nothing, then they can’t get hurt.
18
DianneC
To Jay:

Obviously you have been affected by your problems with OCD and Bipolar Disorder.
Believe me when I say I feel for you and anyone with mental disease problems. I have a friend with OCD and ADHD and sometimes I need time out with him, however he is my friend and he knows that. I have had a few friends with other problems as well and grew up with a mother who frabricated stories and manipulated others to further her own ends…but I would not go so far to say she was a psychopath, simply a very smart woman who did not live to her potential.

Now, having said that…you are dead wrong about psychopaths. Most are dangerous to society at large in one way or another. I will never befriend a psychopath simply because we can never be best friends who love one another. I will work along side with one, but I will always be watchful.

The few overriding factors that separates psychopathy from other mental disorders is: Psychopaths KNOW EXACTLY what they are and definitely know right from wrong. They are usually intelligent and want what they want with no regard for others. I am not talking about the 1% who are killers and criminals…it’s the other 4% that appear normal and live amongst us.

Our only defense (we empaths) is to recognize these differences.

I do agree that before passing judgements, people need to learn more about different mental diseases. For example, I recently learned that autism is opposite to psychopathy.
Psychopaths became really good at reading people so that they can be socially responsive…however usually with ulterior motives. Autistics are empathetic but cannot read people. However they do have human emotions unlike psychopaths.

I am fascinated about what is being learned within the brains. THIS IS SCIENCE!

Perhaps one day, these brain problems can be corrected when discovered in young children.
Now that is what we all ought to hope for.
Also, did you know that psychopathy is inherited (the brain problem I mentioned)?
That ought to tell you something.
19
george porter
From my personal experience I have two sons; one natural, one adopted. Both are sociopaths, one is also bi-polar. The oldest has made a living hell for anyone around him.
At 15 he was convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder, robbery, grand theft auto ad nauseum. He is now 42 and has spent over half his life incarcerated.
On this Christmas Eve he was released from custody. The first thing he did was telephone my 19 year old grand daughter and ask for money and transportation. She gave him neither and received a death threat for her troubles.
We have tried everything possible to help him but nothing works. We have written him off, disengaged ourselves entirely and hope he obeys the state restraining order. Small chance of that though.

The second showed anti-social problems at a very early age of 9 years. He was also incarcerated at 15 for multiple felonies. When he got out at 21 I warned him he would not survive to 30 if he didn’t change his ways. Prophetic words! One day before his 30th birthday he was killed committing another violent crime. Such is life in the real world.

I’ll admit to being firm in my views on sociopaths. I feel they have no place in our society unless willing to learn and change their ways. My twenty seven years in law enforcement has exposed me to too many of this ilk.
20
Mel
nomercyIf you have a psychopath in your life run as fast as you can in the opposite direction! These people do not deserve kindness and for those psychopaths commenting on this forum asking for the non-psychopaths to have pity on you – can just go to hell. We aren’t stupid, we know you are just trying to use our own ability to feel against us. These people pray on those of us who have feelings for sport! We are their entertainment. I have no pity for psychopaths. They do not deserve anything in life. Highly intelligent and great at reading people… they are all bottom feeders who know right from wrong but mess with us just because they are bored. It’s inexcusable and disgraceful. They are unable to feel. Unable to feel!! They destroy the lives of the people around them unnecessarily. My mother in law is a psychopath and while I can’t avoid or escape my abuser I limit contact. If I must talk to her, keep my conversations about the weather. I say please and thank you and when she asks about my family I tell her everyone is great, thank you for asking. Nothing more. I no longer engage her or tell her anything personal about myself. She can turn just about anything into some drama. The things she’s said and done are just amazingly horrible – so horrible that people can’t even comprehend how or why someone could do those things that they usually don’t believe me and think I’m the crazy one! LOL. I get the “why would anyone do that”… why? how” because she can’t feel anything about anyone, not even her own children.
21
Mike
donttreadSympathy and pity are the hallmark characteristics of a socio. If you meet someone and think “wow what a personal thing to tell me..They must really think I’m trustworthy” You are being “baited”…They use the pity and sympathy card to try and find codependents, its like fishing…My dad is one and the only emotion he has is fear. Fear of being “caught” and having his freedom taken away. If he did go to jail his next step would be to figure out how to charm his way out, it wouldn’t be to reflect on the crime…He does not feel shame or guilt at all. My motto I live by is “Never trust anybody that is too giving, too nice, too soon!” This motto has saved me a few encounters the last few years. Also, I don’t think the people claiming to be sociopaths on this blog really are, they may be on the spectrum, but a real antisocial sociopath would never care enough to research their personality. To them nothing is wrong it’s the “other” persons fault.
22
IMAG1274Fran
I agree with Jay that the comments by most of you are heartless and disgusting. Telling Marti to abandon her 84-year-old mother is appalling. You are supposedly the “normal” ones who are supposed to be emphatic. Makes me wonder what empathy really is. It certainly has nothing to do with kindness. You people demonize psychopaths as thoroughly as Hitler demonized Jews. That makes you bigots in my eyes. I don’t know what this kind of garbage is doing on a page about Hare and his checklist. Hare has tried to understand psychopaths all his career. You are just haters. Treat us like demons and we will be demons for you. And you will deserve it.

The pictures illustrating the posts are generic clip art, not actual people (except for the one of me.

Read more: http://www.minddisorders.com/Flu-Inv/Hare-Psychopathy-Checklist.html#Comments_form#ixzz4By9Vggmw

Diary of an Ex-Vegan

1 Comment

I was once a raw vegan for 6 years before I got too bored with the regime and went back to a SAD diet. It wasn’t the only time I was raw. I did it for a year after I recovered from pneumonia and was determined to get healthy. My guru at that time was Norman Walker. “Gourmet Raw” did not exist yet so my diet was very austere. But I’m not gonna blog about diets here.

During the six year period I spoke of, I was into “Gourmet Raw” and depended on Cafe Gratitude and their recipes which I made at home to go so long on such a restrictive diet. But Gourmet Raw depends a lot on nuts. So it is hardly a low-fat diet.

vaganbabeSome years later, under the tutor-ledge of Freelee the Banana Girl, I tried something new. High carb/low fat. Freelee calls herself “the banana girl” because of her devotion to eating fruit, especially sweet fruit like bananas. She once bragged about eating 51 bananas in a single day. She also advocated the “80/10/10” diet, that is 80 parts carbs, 10 parts protein and 10 parts fat. Her guru was Douglas N. Graham with whom she (and most people in the movement) have had a falling out due to the fact that Dr. Graham almost killed a girl who went on his water fast retreat in Costa Rica while she had ulcerative colitis. But that’s neither here nor there. It makes an interesting story and you can find the story on YouTube but it’s not the story I’m discussing here.

Every one of my excursions into raw, veganism both together and/or apart were good for me. I healed myself of Hep C, never again got pneumonia, and reversed diabetes on a high-carb/low-fat vegan diet that wasn’t even raw. So I’m not dissing the diet(s) although I no longer follow them.

veganssuckMany non-vegans resent vegans for what appears to be a moralistic, holier-than-thou attitude. People go vegan for a variety of reasons. Some do it strictly for the sake of sparing animals the cruelty that is inevitable when they are our food. Freelee has many videos on YouTube documenting the enormous amount of pain and suffering that result from our dietary whims. What she doesn’t document, PETA does. You can see it all on YouTube for yourself. As one graffiti proclaimed on a bathroom wall I once read, “Every day is Auschwitz for animals.”

vegan-bingoFreelee also has many videos showing how harmful various animal products are for human beings. There are many persuasive arguments that animals and their products (milk, eggs, etc) are bad for us. I was persuaded and went vegan for health reasons. Sure, I was pleased with myself for not harming animals but that had never been the purpose of my dietary choices. By temperament, I am and have always been a carnivore. I am the only person I know whose mouth waters when I see the picture of cute, little pigs in PETA literature. So my veganism demonstrated a great deal of will power.

Before I even thought of going vegan, I reasoned that man is an animal just like all other species. Animals live on eating other animals. Why shouldn’t we do the same? My vegetarian friends would sometime call me an “animal murderer.” I only laughed, pointing out that “murder” is a legal term for the premeditated killing of another human. Her attempts to make me feel guilty were futile.

freeleeOnce I went vegan (for health reasons), I still considered man another species of animal. But I believed that our natural diet, as a species, was raw plant food. This may be true. There are some good arguments supporting that point of view. But I got too bored by the food to stick it out forever. Now I’m doing the Atkins/Paleo/Ketogenic diet, just the opposite of what I had been eating. It is high-fat and low-carb. If nothing else, it’s a new adventure.

The main purpose of this blog is in response to Freelee and others of her ilk who demand veganism as the only noconsciencemoral diet. But psychopaths are free spirits. We don’t feel compelled to follow some moral path that conflicts with our desire. Sorry, Freelee. She actually says people should be forced to be vegan. People who know the facts and still eat meat and dairy “don’t deserve to live on this planet.” Good for her. I like extremists. Extremism enables us to draw hard and fast distinctions, to take stands. I don’t care for mealy-mouth people who are afraid to take a stand and let the chips fall where they may. Freelee is an interesting person. She has lived on the wild side. She is not some goody-goody who knows nothing of life. Cheers!

Orlando

1 Comment

The Daily Kos has asked me (and everyone else) to write a blog on their space about our parisorlandoreactions to Orlando. I tried to log into their damned web space but it turned into a huge hassle. So I decided to write my blog right here.

It seems endemic of American culture that there are certain events that can become a single word that everyone understands. No need to say I’m blogging about the massacre that occurred at a gay bar in Orlando, Florida. Everyone knows from the word, “Orlando,” what I mean.

carebearI first became aware when a dear old friend posted about it in Facebook. She expressed shock and grief. She wrote, “My heart hurts so much over the loss of these lives. May God bless them and hold them close. Tears. I can’t think straight. This is so wrong.” My unemphatic heart was a bit nonplussed by this extreme expression of grief for people who she didn’t even know. But this was followed by many, many similar statements. Another dear old friend posted, “Anderson Cooper cries while reading names of Orlando massacre victims on CNN.” Some people changed their profile picture in solidarity with the victims. The most interesting statement was “The moment exactly 49 birds flew over the Orlando memorial site during the vigil for the 49 lives lost. They were not released as part of the vigil; they showed up on their own. God truly is wonderful. 49 souls flying free now. May they have God’s love and caring eye on them in their next journey. (Tears for those killed.)”

2016-06-us-orlandoIt all made perfect sense to them. I was relieved to hear from fellow psychopaths that others could be just as puzzled about this as I was. I understand that sometimes a particular case will grab someone’s imagination more forcefully than another, possibly worse case. But a personal connection that person has to something in that particular case, might react cause him/her to react more powerfully to that case. For example, any case of injustice involving blatant hypocrisy bothers me out of proportion to the actual harm or pain caused by that case. What I can’t understand is so many people reacting so personally and emotionally to this one case regardless of the individual differences between the people having these reactions.

ribbonOne thing I’ve noticed, or, rather, sensed, is a kind of feeling of solidarity among the folk who are pulled together with their mutual grief (if grief is the right word for a sorrow that doesn’t involve an actual loss of a loved one). There seems to be a big, cozy “we” feeling among them. The closest think I have experienced was right after 9/11 when I actually felt a surge of patriotism and unity as “our” country had been attacked. I even put up a flag and enjoyed the unfamiliar consciousness of being united instead of alienated from a large portion of my fellow humans. (This didn’t last as the combination of the way Bush used the event as an excuse to enact draconian policies and the increasing evidence of “inside” involvement evaporated the feel-good solidarity.)

orlando-wreathThe fact that the enormous group hug is taking place around an attack on gays is certainly something new. It could be a sign that the mainstream is finally letting go of homophobia and actually seeing gays as human beings. As a bisexual, I am cautiously hopeful. On the other hand, new forms of bigotry are rising to the fore. The shooter has been identified with Muslims. Donald Trump is trying to use it to justify his anti-immigrant ideas although the perp (Omar Mateen) was born in New York. Many, many others are using the occasion as an opportunity to push for gun control (as they do after all mass shootings).

Big-Brother-Orlando-TragedyMost understandable is the reaction of the gay, lesbian, transsexual community. It was their (our?) own people who were attacked. Homophobia stands front and center as the culprit,  although there is evidence that Omar Mateen was, himself, gay. Since Islam (like Christianity) considers same-sex relationships are sinful, Mateen may have been torn by self-hatred. His personality might be interesting to study but this blog isn’t really about him. It is about the emotional outbursts of grief from relatively uninvolved people.

prayorlandoI wasn’t planning on writing this blog. Frankly, I felt intimidated by the emotional insistence of all who claimed this tragedy as their own. It was only through the encouragement of other psychopaths who admitted they were not transported by grief either that I found the courage to admit the same.  It reminds me of what I have felt all my life: that I was surrounded by volatile, emotionally unstable and, frankly, crazy people. Something to be endured.

News Flash

This is from Facebook:

Thom Prentice posted 12 updates.
  • Allegedly, people inside the massacre location made cell phone calls and texted. But no one took photos or videos? Are there no security cameras? No doormen to notice a heavily armed person enter?

    With 50 people killed and 50 or more wounded and reports of oceans of blood, there 1984should be plenty of evidence Have any of you seen any of it?

    As far as I know, dead bodies, other than those of the perpetrators themselves, seldom if ever emerge from the terrorist attacks. No dead bodies materialized from the Paris attacks except those of the alleged perpetrators. No dead bodies ever emerged from the Sandy Hook shootings. The only dead bodies I recall from the San Bernardino shooting were the husband-and-wife-alleged-perpetrators, and their hands were handcuffed behind their backs. Do police handcuff dead people who the police have shot to pieces? I don’t remember dead bodies from Brussels, just reports of dead bodies.

    minorityOne could say that the media is averse to invading the privacy of dead people and their relatives by showing dead bodies, or that the media doesn’t want to show gruesome scenes—except for the videos of Muslim terrorists cutting off people’s heads.

    Paul Craig Roberts’ Skeptical Take On The Orlando Shooting
    What is most troublesome about these shootings is that the story seems already prepared by the government and is immediately set. We are fed the story before there is time for investigation by government or media. The media never investigate. The media just repeat the government’s story over and ove…
    shar.es

OMYGOD! Is anything real? That would explain the unified response. Careful orchestration.

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Soul

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soleSoul is a word about which there has been as much confusion as any word in the English language.

Some people equate it with another word that is also conducive to confusion — conscience. The definition I found with Google is: noun

noun: soul; plural noun: souls
  1. 1.the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
  2. 2.
    the essence or embodiment of a specified quality.
    “he was the soul of discretion”
    synonyms: embodiment, personification, incarnation, epitome, quintessence, essence; model, exemplification, exemplar, image, manifestation

    “he is the soul of discretion”

soulI gather the meaning boils down to a person’s essence. It is our “spiritual or immaterial” self. That is quite a metaphysical mouthful. What is “reality” in essence? Is it spirit or matter? You pay your money and you place your bets. If you are a complete metaphysical “materialist,” I suppose there is no soul as far as you’re concerned. However, there is another “meaning” that might allow materialists to jump aboard: emotion. Soul can mean “emotional or intellectual energy or intensity.” Another definition, perhaps the best, says, “the essence or embodiment of a specified quality.” As in “getting to the soul of the matter.” If other people are like me, they have an instinctive sense of what the soul is. It is them or me. What I am aside from all external bullshit. I have had the experience of dealing with pain by seeing it as external to the little kernal that is the Self that perceives and knows. (In Thelemic metaphysics, it is the Shiva  or Had point—infinite contraction while Nuit is infinite expansion.) It is useful to be able to withdraw to a point that is infinitely small, that, in fact, takes up no space at all. It is only pure knowledge or experience or whatever. In El Topo, the protagonist is injured and his son cries, “Your pain must be unbearable!” He replied, “My body feels the pain. Not I!”  This seems like the best definition of the soul.

Most people believe that, whatever it is, most people have a soul. It is the part of us that survives anything that can be done to the physical self. The soul is immortal. It is our very Self. The one thing we cannot afford to lose.

In Christian mythology, the soul is vulnerable to destruction or even loss. The devil covets our souls. People can sell their souls to the devil. If he gets them, we can be tortured forever. Buddhists deny the existence of a soul. But they believe in reincarnation. That one stumps me. What is it that reincarnates?

demenIn Harry Potter, there are creatures called dementors, who can suck out peoples’ souls. The person who has lost his soul this way seems like someone with advanced dementia. He forgets his name, his loved ones, everything. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires have no soul. The person who had a soul before he becomes a vampire loses it and a demon takes over. I discussed this at length in Passion. In another episode of Buffy, an evil goddess rapes people’s brains. She is like a junkie who must feed on brains (not physically) to keep from falling into this tormented space that victims of her brain-rape fall into. This state resembles that of the victims of the dementor’s kiss in Harry Potter. Brings up the question dementorof whether people with dementia are as soulless as these fictitious unfortunates.

I have seen dead people and animals. There is an unmistakable difference between a live being and a dead body. The absence of what makes that person or animal alive is palpable. Of course, this is a subjective perception but it has objective support in the fact that bodies lose weight at the moment of death. Something has left. Then there are “near death experiences” which are surprisingly similar to one another. When there is religious symbolism in the experience, it is always the religion the person believes in. But they all experience going through a tunnel. They all encounter some benevolent being(s) and they all see a bridge and know that, if they cross the bridge, there is no returning. They have neardeaththe choice of going back to their body, not having crossed the bridge, and they return (otherwise, it wouldn’t be a near death experience). After the experience, they don’t fear death. Dyed in the wool materialists will pooh pooh these stories and try to find a physiological explanation. But their number and similarity are convincing, at least to me. So I believe in life after death but not in “God.” There is a spiritual reality but I have to discover for myself what that is.

I have experimented with religion, including a Catholic baptism and an initiation into Divine Light Mission, the vehicle of Guru Maharaj Ji (whom most people will recognize as “the fat 14-year-old”). I was driven to Maharaj Ji by a series of acid trips in which I “knew” that nothing mattered. But it still “mattered” that nothing mattered. If that makes any sense. Maharaj Ji promised to give the Knowledge of God to anyone who asked with a guileless heart. So  I received the Knowledge. I was disappointed and appalled at what a small and narrow experience it was. Yet it changed me on a very deep level. I didn’t keep up with the meditation but I had another acid trip that blasted way past the impasse I had experienced with the previous trips. I won’t go into this in much detail. weighingsoulsOther people’s acid trips are way boring. But it left me “knowing” that all is one and that I am god. (This is not grandiose. It is humbling.)  I use quotation marks because this kind of knowing is only for the person having the experience. I don’t expect anyone else to believe in it’s validity. Only those who have had a similar experience will recognize mine for what it is. So I guess I got what Maharaj Ji promised.

I believe in the existence of the soul. It is what makes me me. It is a spiritual entity so it should take up no space and transcend time. Still, I don’t understand why science has proven that the something that leaves a body upon death has weight.  Maybe it’s something else. An astral body?

Sheesh! I sound like a New Ager. Better leave it at that.

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