The Goat Pen

AlabamAlum wrote:If a crazy person thinks he will get reported to authorities for what he says to his therapist, odds are he doesn't see a therapist - or if he does, he withholds his true feelings.

True. That's what I was referring to when I said,

The problem with therapists reporting even homicidal thoughts is people who need help controlling their emotions will stop going to professionals to get help.

Although a lot of crazy people are so crazy they think fantasizing about mass murder is normal, since it is normal in their heads. It won't occur to them that talking about it to a therapist will be have consequences.

I think red flag laws are probably the most common sense approach

Not only would I not want what a therapist/psychologist to report what was told in confidence, while I trust their judgement, I don't trust their politics or the politicians making laws they are subjected to.

The red flag laws allow family members - and I would suspect it needs to be more than one, to report a family member as an imminent threat and then the imminent threat is investigated within a reasonable period of time. As a result of that investigation, the burden of proof must be on the family member and investigator, not the accused, but if determined to be an imminent threat, any weapons they own are temporarily removed and their ability to purchase a weapon is suspended until a hearing - again in a reasonable period of time. We would need to make sure for example, that a husband accused of domestic violence by an vengeful ex wife, or an avid hunter , or a kid who is obsessed with video games, doesn't fall under this system being abused.

This has to be someone showing abnormal behavior with a tendency toward the potential for violence - but not limited to guns.

Health care.

Damn, that was Don Sutton-esque...

Or Ernest Hemingway.

I've been somewhat critical of Trump in the past here, but I found that I couldn't keep up the frantic pace of events/scandals so I took a break.

But it was so obvious how the WH wouldn't back Britain denouncing Putin over the poisoning incident. Then Rex steps up and points his finger directly at Vlad...and 10 hrs later he gets the boot.

Timing may not be everything, but it IS something. That's just bad optics there. Who's minding Trump these days...anybody?

Too bad you cant keep up with the pace or they could give you the job...

"I've been somewhat critical of Trump in the past here"

That's a model of understatement...

bluetick wrote:I've been somewhat critical of Trump in the past here, but I found that I couldn't keep up the frantic pace of events/scandals so I took a break.

But it was so obvious how the WH wouldn't back Britain denouncing Putin over the poisoning incident. Then Rex steps up and points his finger directly at Vlad...and 10 hrs later he gets the boot.

Timing may not be everything, but it IS something. That's just bad optics there. Who's minding Trump these days...anybody?

Yet, somehow Betsy DeVos, most likely the most incompetent member of this admin, keeps her job.

Trump values incompetence above all things. The more incompetent the underling, the less bad it makes Trump look in comparison...

That's a very good point. The two unforgivable sins are competence and disagreement with Russia.

I think she knows no more about education than Ben Carson knows about HUD.

I was listening to a podcast this morning with of all people Adam Corolla and they touched on education a bit. I thought he had an interesting take about schools.

A school is just a building and too often we get caught in this trap of thinking giving a kid a computer is going to fix him/her as a student, but a computer doesn't solve the issue of chaos at home.

The person he had on was Kentucky representative Massie, a product of the eastern Kentucky education system who got 2 engineering degrees from MIT. His wife, also a product of Appalachian education, received her degree from MIT as well.

The reason he was on the show had nothing to do with education but they touched on it because Massie was saying many Kentuckians were calling him up and demanding he do something to make sure DeVoss was never confirmed. He said at first he politely told them he was in the House and he had nothing to do with confrimation hearings, but after awhile he said he'd do what he could so he introduced a bill to dissolve the Department of Education. Later on at an Xmas party, DeVoss tracked him down and was like WTF? with him.

Back to the school concept though. I've been saying this for quite some time but never in so quite stark terms as Corrolla did.

A bad school is basically a collection of bad kids - who are a product of bad parenting. A kid will get into school what he puts into it, unfortunately that becomes much much harder when the school is full of kids putting nothing into it.

I will take that a step further - There is no kid in America today, who is deprived of a public education to the extent that if he/she applies themselves they are not qualified to attend college. It may a community college where they have to take 3 buses to get to it, but even in the worst underperforming school I firmly believe a kid who is intent on getting an education will get one that is solid enough, especially in this age with all the peripheral content available, on earning entrance into a college.

Now I understand there is much more that can be done, but at the end of the day what responsibility do we as taxpayers have to every child in school? What responsibility does the federal/state government have to a child in school? and I think most importantly, what responsibility does the community have to a child in school? Its not the federal government, or even the state government that is letting these kids down the most, its the community - and that can't be fixed by throwing a computer at the kid.

hedge wrote:Trump values incompetence above all things. The more incompetent the underling, the less bad it makes Trump look in comparison...

Given he just appointed a CIA director, I'm betting Trump values loyalty more than anything else.

When your SOS refers to you as a moron, then its safe to say his days are numbered.

"I think she knows no more about education than Ben Carson knows about HUD."

Seemed like there were several Ben Carson references on SNL last Saturday but for some reason, I found the sheer randomness of the closing skit hilarious...

[youtube]5rXjO8cqvNo[/youtube]

At least Carson has the sense not to go on national TV and put his incompetence on full display. That gives him a leg up on DeVos. But, I would agree that he, too, is cartoonishly unequipped for his job.

I wonder why the president isn't outraged at the ongoing terror attacks in Austin? Seems like pipe bombs being sent to Americans would be a cause for concern.

What, at this point, does it matter? Trump will be impeached and removed from office any day now for collusion with Russia.

Right Tick and Cletus?

This pouty thing of yours is not your best side, prof. Nobody is making you weigh in on Rex Tillerson's firing.

One other thing: the motherfucker fired Tillerson in a tweet. Not in person, not even on the phone - in a tweet.

Cletus wrote:I wonder why the president isn't outraged at the ongoing terror attacks in Austin? Seems like pipe bombs being sent to Americans would be a cause for concern.

I heard about that yesterday. Someone left a pipe bomb on a 70 year old woman's porch?

Austin is a pretty cool town but its full of whacko's

THIS IS IT!!!....

Russian model in Thai jail promises to spill Trump-Russia secrets

(CNN)A self-described Russian "seductress" is asking for US help to escape a Thai detention center in exchange for information on alleged links between US President Donald Trump and Russia, according to her Instagram account.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/28/asia/rus ... index.html

As soon as Mueller has finished indicting and working out a plea deal with Stormy Daniels, who will spill her vast knowledge of Trump colluding with Russia, Mueller will indict and plea bargain with this 21 year old Russian sex coach imprisoned in Thailand. She clearly has a story to tell, and she is going to tell it. CNN says so, therefore it must be true. All it takes for one, or in this case two, to flip and the whole Russian collusion conspiracy will collapse like a house of cards.