Dr. X's Free Associations

Vatican Rejects Williamson's Apology

But ignored warnings about Williamson's antisemitism:

The Vatican has rejected Bishop Richard Williamson's carefully worded apology for his remarks about the Holocaust. Good. Williamson has no serious intention of recanting; that much is clear. Rome wanted him to change his views and, since he hasn't, it isn't satisfied with his apology.

I'm getting really fed up with Catholic traditionalists who temper their criticism of this despicable man. Thank God, many priests who say the older form of Mass are appalled by him: I spoke to one distinguished traditionalist priest this week who had vainly tried to warn the Vatican of Williamson's anti-Semitism before the decree of excommunication was lifted. "I even sent them the video of him saying those awful things," he said helplessly.

Read the rest

Paralysis During Sleep

Did you ever try to run in a dream and feel that your body was paralyzed?

During the REM phase of sleep, paralysis of skeletal muscles (REM atonia) prevents us from acting out our dreams.  But failure of REM atonia does occur sometimes.  That can be a problem, as this brief video of a sleeping dog demonstrates.

Related: See sleep paralysis and parasomnias

New Feed: You Will Need To Resubscribe

Feedburner has been slowing down the loading of this site, depressing my stats for nearly a week.  After playing around with the feed and getting no improvement, I've given up.  I'm starting from scratch with a new feed.  Page loading is back to normal.  You can resubscribe here.

The First 300 Names in the Boston Telephone Book

Conservatives keep reminding us that William F. Buckley said he would rather be governed by the first 300 names in the Boston telephone book than by the faculty of Harvard.  I would just point out that, in all likelihood, the first 300 names in the Boston phone book voted overwhelmingly for Obama.  Perhaps it's time to move on to a different quote.

Vintage Photos: James Dean

Dean and George Stevens (Giant, 1956). Left-click photo to enlarge.

More James Dean images: 1; 2;

Living With Our Discomfort In The Face Of Another's Pain

Cheryl Fuller has another post that I highly recommend:

I think the most frequent problem young therapists have is feeling they have to *do* something, especially something to make the patient feel better. It is difficult to allow a person sitting across from you to be sad, crying, unhappy, discouraged. The urge is strongly present to say something or suggest something that will make him feel better, because we therapists like to feel useful and helpful. Lacking procedures to perform, we attempt interventions of other kinds, assigning homework and the like in an effort to take away the sting, the weight of those feelings with which we ourselves are uncomfortable. I suspect one of the attractions of cognitive behavioral approaches, for new therapists especially, is that it provides interventions and strategies for alleviating discomfort.

But isn't that what therapy is all about, you may ask?

And the answer is sometimes.

"The principle aim of psychotherapy is not to transport one to an impossible state of happiness, but to help (the client) acquire steadfastness and patience in the face of suffering." -C.G. Jung

Read the rest

Lowbrow Politics

Kathleen Parker has a troubling column about her visit to an impoverished South Carolina school district.  She writes about an incident during lunch at a local restaurant with the local school superintendent:

Michael Steele! You be da Man!

CNN Reports:

Capping off a day of conservative soul-searching, strategizing and navel-gazing at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele announced Thursday that the Grand Old Party is “alive and well.”

...As Steele concluded his remarks, Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann -- the event's moderator -- told Steele he was "da man."

"Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man," she said.

Shielded from Consequences

Colorado State Senator David Schultheis commenting on a bill to require AIDS testing for pregnant women (Rocky Mountain News):

"This (mother-child transmission of AIDS) stems from sexual promiscuity for the most part, and I just can't go there," he said.  "We do things continually to remove the consequences of poor behavior, unacceptable behavior, quite frankly. I'm not convinced that part of the role of government should be to protect individuals from the negative consequences of their actions."

Later, he added:

"What I'm hoping is that yes, that person may have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby and when they grow up, but the mother will begin to feel guilt as a result of that. The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity and it may make a number of people over the coming years ... begin to realize that there are negative consequences and maybe they should adjust their behavior. We can't keep people from being raped. We can't keep people from shooting each other. We can't keep people from jumping off bridges. People drink and drive, and they crash and kill people. Poor behavior has its consequences."

I don't believe that government should protect us from every negative consequence of our own behavior.  But, when the consequences include a heavy price paid by the innocent, I am more receptive to the idea of government protection.  Shultheis brings up drunk driving.  Is he suggesting that drunk driving laws send the wrong message by protecting drunks from the consequences of their actions?  Maybe if a drunk driver kills someone she will feel guilty and "the family will see the negative consequences."  It seems to me that this is the logical extension of the argument he is advancing.

And so, too, children with preventable AIDS will serve as punishment for their sexually immoral mothers.

Let that be a lesson to you sexually loose women.

Vintage Photos: Marlon Brando

Before he let himself go. Left-click photo to enlarge.