Happy Birthday, Sir Winston Churchill!

We Shall Fight on the Beaches

"There never has been, I suppose, in all the world, in all the history of war, such an opportunity for youth. The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past-not only distant but prosaic; these young men, going forth every morn to guard their native land and all that we stand for, holding in their hands these instruments of colossal and shattering power, of whom it may be said that

Every morn brought forth a noble chance

And every chance brought forth a noble knight,

deserve our gratitude, as do all the brave men who, in so many ways and on so many occasions, are ready, and continue ready to give life and all for their native land."

 

 

 

So what would I do if I had PTSD?

A Dangerous Method (2011)

1. Not drink any alcohol for the duration.
2. Start a rather intense physical exercise regimen.
3. Not take any benzodiazepines (e.g., Xanax, Ativan).
4. Eat more healthy than I ever have (probably full paleo).
5. Not take any sleep medications (e.g., Ambien, Lunesta).
6. Ask everyone I know for the name of a really, really good psychotherapist. Not a marriage counselor. Not a "life coach." Not a substance abuse counselor. Someone who treats people with serious mental health problems, every day. Someone whose caseload usually includes suicidal patients. Someone who calls them "patients" and not "clients." Probably, somebody I address as "Doctor." Probably, somebody who dresses for work better than I do. Most definitely, somebody who reads Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, and Homer. Somebody who has read plenty of Freud, and Jung, and Frankl. Someone much more likely to interpret a dream than to assign me homework in which I identify my "cognitive distortions."
7. After a few sessions, if I don't like this therapist or don't feel that he or she understands me or is not putting my best interests ahead of their own, then I would find someone else.
8. Once I find the right psychotherapist (with the right office -- I'm partial to Oriental rugs and leather armchairs), I'd settle in for twice-weekly sessions for the next six months.
9. If I didn't see any improvement after two months of twice-weekly psychotherapy, I would consider antidepressants. If I was still having trauma-related nightmares more than twice a week, I would consider prazosin. But I would probably end up not taking any psychiatric medications.
10. Throughout the therapy, I would be trying a multitude of live-enhancing activities, e.g., hiking, oil painting, learning a new language, bricklaying, meeting new people, etc.

That's what I would do. I suspect that many other mental health professionals would do something similar. What I wouldn't do is go knocking at the door of a VA hospital, begging to be let into one of their Cognitive Processing Therapy groups.

By the way, those 48 sessions of individual psychotherapy, at $150 per, cost $7,200 (if I don't have insurance). It seems like a lot, until you consider the economic impact of having PTSD (i.e., how it reduces your earning capacity).

So, ladies and gentlemen, why don't we give each of our combat-PTSD veterans a voucher worth $7,200 for psychotherapy from a quality independent practitioner of their choice? Such an initiative would cost a lot less than giving them lifelong disability pensions of over $2,000 a month.

Group vs. Individual Cognitive Processing Therapy for Combat-related PTSD

The only problem I have with Cognitive Processing Therapy is that  I wouldn't seek it out if I had PTSD.

So the results of this clinical trial have been published. A total of 268 combat veterans with PTSD were randomly assigned to receive either individual (one-on-one) or group CPT. At the end of 12 sessions, the veterans in the individual arm showed more improvement that those in the group arm (although half of them still had PTSD).

This study is certainly going to go onto the pile of evidence which supports the use of CPT with this patient population. It might do a little to reduce the VA's usual practice of placing 8 to 10 veterans in a room for 90 minutes with a masters-level therapist, versus the vastly more costly, but clinically superior approach of matching individual patients to highly skilled therapists. But I doubt it.

One problem, however, is just how weak this study actually is. Look at the main outcome measures -- the PCL and the BDI-2, two self-report checklists that patients can complete in under 5 minutes. You enter a study, take those two surveys, then do 12 sessions with a nice therapist, who has you then complete the same two surveys again. Even if you were mentally retarded or psychotic, you would know that your scores on those surveys are supposed to be lower than they were when you started. A huge part of the supposed efficacy in these studies are just demand effects -- giving the nice therapist a "tip," if you will.

There's an easy fix to this, and that is to use a real outcome measure, such as the MMPI-2 -- a 567 item True-False questionnaire that measures a wide range of psychopathology, not just explicit PTSD symptoms and obvious depression symptoms. The MMPI-2 also detects when patients are exaggerating or minimizing their symptoms, which you think would come in handy in a clinical trial. It measures PTSD and depression. About 90% of patients can complete it in 90 minutes or less.

So why not use it? Because there is absolutely no way that 12 sessions of CPT or any other "evidence-based" cognitive therapy is going to show any serious effect on combat PTSD veterans' MMPI scores after just 12 sessions. No way. MMPI scores are vastly more reliable than PCL and BDI scores, i.e., they are more stable over time. MMPI scores are more reflective of how the patient is really doing, and are far less susceptible to demand effects.

I don't know of any clinical trials that have used the MMPI as an outcome measure. I will take a look and see if I can find any. Using just the PCL and BDI-2 renders the studies clinically useless, in my opinion. I could run a study today that shows that reading Chinese restaurant menus lowers PCL and BDI-2 scores. Why? Because study participants are nice people and they don't want the researchers to look like idiots/fail at their jobs, so they help them by giving themselves lower scores after the treatment. This is a lot harder to do on the MMPI because it is not at all obvious which of the 567 items are measuring PTSD. Even if you did know which items measured PTSD, you might not be able to figure out whether to answer them True or False in order to raise or lower your score.

Empire of Dreams -- Charles Simic

On the first page of my dreambook

It’s always evening

In an occupied country.

Hour before the curfew.

A small provincial city.

The houses all dark.

The storefronts gutted.

I am on a street corner

Where I shouldn’t be.

Alone and coatless

I have gone out to look

For a black dog who answers to my whistle.

I have a kind of Halloween mask

Which I am afraid to put on.

 

 

 

 

President-Elect Donald J. Trump Statement on the Death of Fidel Castro

December 29, 1962. President Kennedy promised to return the flag to the Brigade 2506 leaders in a "free Havana." I wonder where that flag is now?

"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. 

While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve. 

Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba."

A Kiss to Build a Dream On -- Louis Armstrong (1951)

Give me a kiss to build a dream on
And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss
Sweetheart, I ask no more than this
A kiss to build a dream on

 

Give me a kiss before you leave me
And my imagination will feed my hungry heart
Leave me one thing before we part
A kiss to build a dream on

 

And when I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true

Oh, give me your lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on

 

When I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you
Weaving romances, making believe they're true

Oh, give me lips for just a moment
And my imagination will make that moment live
Oh, give me what you alone can give
A kiss to build a dream on

 

Songwriters
RUBY, HARRY / HAMMERSTEIN II, OSCAR / KALMAR, BERT

Be Thankful for What you Got -- William De Vaughn (1974)

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall

Just be thankful for what you've got

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back

You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you've got

Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back

You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall

Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh

[Instrumental Interlude]

Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh

It's Too Late -- Carole King (1971)

 

Stayed in bed all mornin' just to pass the time.
There's somethin' wrong here, there can be no denyin'.
One of us is changin', or maybe we've just stopped tryin'.

 

And it's too late, baby now, it's too late,
Though we really did try to make it.
Somethin' inside has died, and I can't hide,
And I just can't fake it, oh, no, no.

 

It used to be so easy, livin' here with you.
You were light and breezy, an' I knew just what to do.
Now you look so unhappy, and I feel like a fool.

 

And it's too late, baby now, it's too late,
Though we really did try to make it.
Somethin' inside has died, and I can't hide,
And I just can't fake it, oh, no, no.

 

There'll be good times again for me and you,
But we just can't stay together; don't you feel it too?
Still I'm glad for what we had and how I once loved you.

 

And it's too late, baby now, it's too late,
Though we really did try to make it. (we can't make it)
Somethin' inside has died, and I can't hide,
And I just can't fake it, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

 

It's too late baby, it's too late now darling
It's too late.

 

Songwriters
CAROLE KING, TONI STERN

 

 

Neither One of Us -- Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973)

It's sad to think
We're not gonna make it
And it's gotten to the point
Where we just can fake it (Ooh)

For some ungodly reason
We just won't let it down (let it down)
I guess neither one of us (neither one of us)
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

I keep on wondering (wondering)
What I'm gonna do with out ya (do without you)
And I guess you must be
Wondering that same thing too (Ooh)

So we go on
Go on together living our lives (living our lives)
Because neither one of us (neither one of us)
Wants to be the first to say goodbye

Ooh every time I find the nerve
Every time I find the nerve to say I'm leavin' (leavin')
Oh, memories, those old memories
Get in my way (my way my way)

Oh (Ooh) Lord knows it's only me only knows it's only me
That I'm deceiving
When it comes to say goodbye
That's a simple word that I just cannot say

There can be no way (be no way)
This can have a happy ending (happy ending)
So we just go on (we go on)
Hurting and pretending

And convincing ourselves
To give it just one more try (one more try)
Because neither one of us (Neither one of us)
Wants to be the first to say

Neither one of us (neither one of us)
Wants to be the first to say
Neither one of us (Neither one of us)
Wants to be the first to say

Farewell my love, goodbye (goodbye)

Songwriters
James Weatherly

Ooh Ooh Child -- The Five Stairsteps (1970)

Ooh child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh child
Things'll get brighter

Ooh child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh child
Things'll get brighter

Some day, yeah
We'll put it together and we'll get it undone
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter

Ooh child
Things are gonna be easier
Ooh child
Things'll be brighter

Ooh child
Things are gonna be easier
Ooh child
Things'll be brighter

Some day, yeah
We'll put it together and we'll get it undone
Some day
When your head is much lighter

Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter

Some day, some day, some day, some day yeah
We'll put it together and we'll get it undone
Some day
When your head is much lighter

Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter

Ooh child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh child
Things'll get brighter

Ooh child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh child
Things'll get brighter

Songwriters
STAN VINCENT

I'll Take You There -- The Staple Singers (1972)

Oh mmm I know a place
Ain't nobody cryin'
Ain't nobody worried
Ain't no smilin' faces
Mmm, no no
Lyin' to the races
Help me, come on, come on
Somebody, help me now (I'll take you there)
Help me, ya'all (I'll take you there)
Help me now (I'll take you there)
Oh! (I'll take you there)
Oh! Oh! Mercy! (I'll take you there)
Oh, let me take you there (I'll take you there)
Oh-oh! Let me take you there! (I'll take you there)
Play your, play your piano now
All right Ah do it do it
Come on now
Play on it, play on it
Daddy daddy daddy
Ooh, Lord
All right now
Baby, easy now
Now, come on, little lady
All right
Dum-dum-dum-dum
Sock it, sock it
Ah, oh, oh!
I know a place, ya'all (I'll take you there)
Ain't nobody cryin' (I'll take you there)
Ain't nobody worried (I'll take you there)
No smilin' faces (I'll take you there)
Uh-uh (Lyin' to the races) (I'll take you there)
Oh, no Oh! (I'll take you there)
Oh oh oh! (I'll take you there)
Mercy now! (I'll take you there)
I'm callin' callin' callin' mercy (I'll take you there)
Mercy mercy! (I'll take you there)
Let me (I'll take you there)
Oh oh! I'll take you there (I'll take you there)

Songwriters
ALVERTIS ISBELL

The Back Stabbers -- The O'Jays (1972)

(What they do)
(They smile in your face)
All the time they want to take your place
The back stabbers (back stabbers)
(They smile in your face)
All the time they want to take your place
The back stabbers (back stabbers)

All you fellows who have someone
And you really care, yeah, yeah
Then it's all of you fellows
Who better beware, yeah yeah
Somebody's out to get your lady
A few of your buddies they sure look shady
Blades are long, clenched tight in their fist
Aimin' straight at your back
And I don't think they'll miss

(What they do)
(They smile in your face)
All the time they want to take your place
The back stabbers (back stabbers)
I keep gettin' all these visits
From my friends, yeah, what they doin to me
They come to my house
Again and again and again and again, yeah
So are they there to see my woman
I don't even be home but they just keep on comin'
What can I do to get on the right track
I wish they'd take some of these knives off my back

(What they do)
(They smile in your face)
All the time they want to take your place
The back stabbers
(Back stabbers)
Low down, dirty

Smiling Faces Sometimes -- The Undisputed Truth (1971)

Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend.
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within.

Smiling faces, Smiling Faces, Sometimes they don't tell the truth.
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof.

The truth is in the eye 'cause the eyes don't lie, amen.
Remember, a smile is just a frown turned upside down my friend.
So, hear me when I'm saying

Smiling faces, Smiling Faces, Sometimes they don't tell the truth.
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof.

Beware. Beware of the handshake that hides the snake,
I'm tellin' you beware of the pat on the back it just might hold you back.

Jealousy, (Jealousy) misery, (misery) envy.
I tell you you can't see behind

Smiling faces, Smiling Faces, Sometimes they don't tell the truth.
Smiling faces, smiling faces tell lies and I got proof.

Your enemy won't do you no harm, 'cause you'll know where he's comin' from;
don't let the handshake and the smile fool ya.
Take my advice I'm only tryin' to school ya.

Songwriters
Strong, Barrett / Whitfield, Norman J.

For the Love of Money -- The O'Jays (1973)

Money money money money, money (x6)
Some people got to have it
Some people really need it
Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it
You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it
Talk about cash money, money
Talk about cash money- dollar bills, yall

For the love of money
People will steal from their mother
For the love of money
People will rob their own brother
For the love of money
People can't even walk the street
Because they never know who in the world they're gonna beat
For that lean, mean, mean green
Almighty dollar, money

For the love of money
People will lie, Lord, they will cheat
For the love of money
People don't care who they hurt or beat
For the love of money
A woman will sell her precious body
For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight
Call it lean, mean, mean green

Almighty dollar

I know money is the root of all evil
Do funny things to some people
Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime
Money can drive some people out of their minds

Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Some people really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Got to have it, I really need it
How many things have I heard you say
Lay down, lay down, a woman will lay down
For the love of money
All for the love of money
Don't let, don't let, don't let money rule you

For the love of money
Money can change people sometimes
Don't let, don't let, don't let money fool you
Money can fool people sometimes
People! Don't let money, don't let money change you,
it will keep on changing, changing up your mind.

Money (That's What I Want) -- Barrett Strong (1959)

The best things in life are free
But you can give then to the birds and bees
I need money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)

Your love give me such a thrill
But your love don't pay my bills
I need money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)

Money don't get everything, it's true
But what it don't get, I can't use
I need money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)

Money (that's what I want)
Lots of money (that's what I want)
Whole lot of money (that's what I want)
Aha (that's what I want)
Aha ha ha ha ha(that's what I want)
Whoa yeah (that's what I want)

Songwriters
BERRY GORDY JR, BERRY JR GORDY, SMOKEY ROBINSON, WILLIAM ROBINSON JR.

Fury in the Pacific (1945)

Watch the film: Fury in the Pacific (1945), 19 minutes

Fury in the Pacific – The 1st Marine Division takes Peleliu (1944 B&W 20:00) Nine combat cameramen fell filming dramatic, intense fighting shown here. The islands of Peleliu and Angaur in the Palaus (6 miles apart) were considered stepping stones toward retaking the Philippines. The prize was the Japanese airbase on Peleliu. First Marine Division (1st, 5th & 7th Regiments, 9th Artillery) carried out the initial assault on 15 September, 1944, and bore the brunt of the fighting, to be joined later by elements of 81st Infantry ferried over from Angaur. Some highlights: Far East Air Force bombers and an intense naval bombardment from point blank range soften the Japanese defenses, followed by an amphibious assault in Amtracs, supported by Amtanks; toe-to-toe jungle fighting is shown in detail as the Marines moved off the beach and took the airfield, allowing close air support attacks by ferried in VMF-114 F4U Corsairs. But the most intense action was yet to come; most of the defenders were entrenched inland. The bloodiest action involved securing “The Point” and the Umurbrogol Pocket, aka “Bloody Nose Ridge,” which overlooked the airfield, a fortress of ridges, caves, pill boxes & hidden artillery. By the end of the fighting the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties, over one third of their strength. The 81st Infantry Division suffered nearly 3,300 casualties. Out of 11,000 Japanese 14th Division defenders, 300 were taken prisoner.

Why did veterans vote for Trump?

President-Elect Trump knows more than a little bit about persuasion, apparently. The Washington Post neglects to mention that Trump promised to clean up and overhaul the VA healthcare system. Voting for Hillary was a vote for the VA status quo, which isn't great. Also, "going after" John McCain was smart not because McCain is a great hero of the Vietnam War (he is) but because he is the schmuck who lost to Obama back in 2008. And going after the Gold Star family who used their personal loss in order to boost Hillary's political chances? You'd have to be a Washington Post reporter to think that that would hurt Trump with his potential voters. As for the generals who have been mismanaging the wars in the Middle East over the past 15 years? Maybe Trump does know better. He can't do worse than they have.

WaPo

"Exit polls suggest veterans voted for Trump by about a 2 to 1 margin, reflecting the typical Republican bent of this group of voters. But the numbers also mean that a number of Trump’s controversial remarks on veterans and foreign policy did not significantly damage his support among military families. Trump said during his campaign that Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) is not a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War, that he knew more about defeating the Islamic State militant group than U.S. generals, and also verbally attacked the parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, a U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq, after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention against Trump."

Elegy in a Country Courtyard -- G. K. Chesterton (1922)

Headstones of British graves, Bayeux War Cemetery

   

 

The men that worked for England

They have their graves at home:

And birds and bees of England

About the cross can roam.

 

But they that fought for England,

Following a falling star,

Alas, alas for England

They have their graves afar.

 

And they that rule in England,


In stately conclave met,


Alas, alas for England


They have no graves as yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Estuans interius -- Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)

Estuans interius (Burning Inside)

Estuans interius	Burning inside
ira vehementi	with violent anger,
in amaritudine	bitterly
loquor mee menti:	I speak to my heart:
factus de materia,	created from matter,
cinis elementi	of the ashes of the elements,
similis sum folio,	I am like a leaf
de quo ludunt venti.	played with by the winds.
Cum sit enim proprium	If it is the way
viro sapienti	of the wise man
supra petram ponere	to build
sedem fundamenti,	foundations on stone,
stultus ego comparor	the I am a fool, like
fluvio labenti,	a flowing stream,
sub eodem tramite	which in its course
nunquam permanenti.	never changes.
Feror ego veluti	I am carried along
sine nauta navis,	like a ship without a steersman,
ut per vias aeris	and in the paths of the air
vaga fertur avis;	like a light, hovering bird;
non me tenent vincula,	chains cannot hold me,
non me tenet clavis,	keys cannot imprison me,
quero mihi similes	I look for people like me
et adiungor pravis.	and join the wretches.
Mihi cordis gravitas	The heaviness of my heart
res videtur gravis;	seems like a burden to me;
iocis est amabilis	it is pleasant to joke
dulciorque favis;	and sweeter than honeycomb;
quicquid Venus imperat,	whatever Venus commands
labor est suavis,	is a sweet duty,
que nunquam in cordibus	she never dwells
habitat ignavis.	in a lazy heart.
Via lata gradior	I travel the broad path
more iuventutis	as is the way of youth,
inplicor et vitiis	I give myself to vice,
immemor virtutis,	unmindful of virtue,
voluptatis avidus	I am eager for the pleasures of the flesh
magis quam salutis,	more than for salvation,
mortuus in anima	my soul is dead,
curam gero cutis.	so I shall look after the flesh.

Veteran killed in 2014 gets name added to Vietnam Wall

If they added the names of all the Vietnam veterans who died by suicide after the war, I wonder how much bigger the Wall would have to be?

NPR

"As a 19-year-old infantry soldier in 1971, Army Specialist McGough was with members of his unit near the Laotian border when came under fire. A grenade exploded nearby, tearing apart his feet and lower legs. McGough was taken by medevac to Okinawa, where he underwent surgery, including a transfusion to replace the blood he had lost. Unable to wear army boots after the injury, he was shipped back to the United States, where he married his high school sweetheart, Sheryl Isaacson. They settled down near their hometown of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Twenty years passed before McGough, who worked in magazine advertising sales, learned that he had hepatitis C, a bloodborne viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause scarring, called cirrhosis, as well as liver cancer. The virus only was discovered in 1989, and routine testing of the blood supply began shortly afterward. It was about that time that McGough, a regular blood donor, learned he had been infected. He'd never used intravenous drug or gotten tattoos — common routes of infection — so the McGoughs figured Jim must have contracted the virus when he had the blood transfusion in Japan.

Veterans are more than twice as likely to have hepatitis C as members of the general population, studies have found. The virus is significantly more common among Vietnam era veterans than those of any other service era.

McGough went to a liver specialist, who found no damage. The standard treatment at the time, a combination of the drugs interferon and ribavirin, had debilitating side effects. So Jim and Sheryl decided not to do anything about his infection.

"We were having a great time," says Sheryl, now 62. "We're going, 'No big deal.' When you're young, you're invincible."

But in his late 40s, Jim started to show signs of liver damage. About that time, he and Sheryl took a trip to the nation's capital, and visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He thought it was magnificent, Sheryl remembers, and told her, "If this thing kills me, I want to get my name added."

In January 2014, the virus did kill him. Jim had gone through the interferon treatment by then, but couldn't shake the disease. He finally succumbed to liver cancer."

Veterans voted for Trump by a 2 to 1 margin

WaPo

"Swing-state counties with especially high numbers of veterans helped propel Donald Trump to the White House, suggesting that his attacks this summer on a Gold Star family did not dampen support for him in military communities.

In a number of counties in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, Trump beat Hillary Clinton by wider margins than his Republican predecessors performed against Obama in the last two presidential races. All three swing states have rich military traditions and numerous counties in which thousands or tens of thousands of veterans live.

Exit polls suggest veterans voted for Trump by about a 2 to 1 margin, reflecting the typical Republican bent of this group of voters. But the numbers also mean that a number of Trump’s controversial remarks on veterans and foreign policy did not significantly damage his support among military families. Trump said during his campaign that Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) is not a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War, that he knew more about defeating the Islamic State militant group than U.S. generals, and also verbally attacked the parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, a U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq, after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention against Trump."

Well, that happened.

Deus ex machina? Probably not. But at least it won't be Obama's third term.

 



NY POST

 

"Donald Trump likely made history — winning the presidency only 17 months after entering politics, after being counted out time and again.

His win (assuming Clinton concedes today) is a decisive rejection of Hillary Clinton and a harsh repudiation of President Obama, who thought he could seize on the temporary lock on Congress (including a super-majority in the Senate) voters gave Democrats in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to move the nation permanently to the left.

Instead, he opened the door to the mother of all populist push backs.

Trump’s victory is a punch in the face of the cultural elite, the Washington insiders and Wall Street, too."

 

Veterans are voting for Trump

Count me among the Neithers; Gen Xer's don't "trust" anyone.

NYT

"There are 22 million living veterans in the United States, and many love or loathe Mr. Trump for the same reasons other Americans do. But polling, interviews with dozens of veterans and those who study their political views indicate a strong preference for Mr. Trump over Mrs. Clinton. He now leads Mrs. Clinton by 19 points among veterans registered to vote, while trailing her among all voters by three points, according to a Fox News poll released Oct. 18.

Veterans are more likely than other Americans to view Mr. Trump favorably, and less likely to rate Mrs. Clinton positively. In mid-October, 43 percent of veterans expressed a favorable view of him in a Gallup tracking poll, while just 30 percent saw Mrs. Clinton positively.

In interviews with more than three dozen veterans, many praised Mr. Trump for candidly criticizing the costs of war, an issue they see few politicians in either party taking on. And they are unconcerned with how or when he arrived at his positions.

“The Iraq war was a disaster,” said Dustin Stewart, a former Army captain and Iraq veteran. “He is at least not trying to tiptoe around it. And I think some of the other Republicans were afraid of it.”"

Reading List from Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, author of Maps of Meaning

Go ahead and take the next 12 months to read these books. A purgative for the soul.

JBP Blog

Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment
The Brothers Karamazov
Notes from Underground
The Devils
The Idiot

 

Tolstoy

Confessions
The Kingdom of God is Within You

 

Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita

 

Solzhenitsyn

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch
The Gulag Archipelago

The First Circle

Cancer Ward

 

Other books of critical importance:

 

Carl Jung

The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
Aion

Symbols of Transformation 

Answer to Job

 

Erich Neumann

The Origins and History of Consciousness
The Great Mother

 

George Orwell

1984
The Road to Wigan Pier
Animal Farm
Down and Out in Paris and London
Homage to Catalonia

 

Aldous Huxley

Brave New World
The Doors of Perception

 

Other Works

The Discovery of the Unconscious (Henri Ellenberger)
The Neuropsychology of Anxiety (Jeffrey Gray)
Affective Neuroscience (Jaak Panksepp)
The Emotional Brain (Joseph LeDoux)