humanity

Humanity topics include pieces on the real lives of politicians, legislators, activists, women in politics and the everyday voter.

Terrorism Is a Failure to Tackle Mental Health Issues Globally
We are avoiding confronting the root cause of modern terrorism. We are to blame. Every attack that has happened in the past 50 years, whether it be the IRA or Islamic fundamentalism, has been a direct result of unresolved mental health issues. We try to pin the blame on ideology, on the religion, or the cultural divisions in society, but that’s the easy way to ignore the real issue. Terrorism is the direct result of a global inability to tackle mental health issues. It is very easy to just call people evil, but when you actually dissect what evil actually means we discover a distorted reflection of ourselves. Evil is sadness and grief left to fester in an unloved heart. Evil is somebody ending a life, or even their own. Evil are kids who have not been shown any better?
By Johnny Vedmore9 years ago in The Swamp
On Our Political and Social Incoherence
I have always opposed US intervention in the Middle East, finding it not only immoral but counterproductive. It obviously makes it probable that United States citizens, both at home and abroad, will be targeted in retaliatory attacks. Remember 9/11 but remember it with introspection and logic rather than emotional reaction. Why did it occur? How? Who were the perpetrators? Where did they come from? Who are their friends in the United States? All not only interesting questions but all too relevant.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in The Swamp
The Best Way to Beat a Bully
When I was a teacher, the administration brought in a person to train us about bullying. I remember the trainer saying that, contrary to popular belief, bullies didn't lack self-esteem. They didn't possess an inner self-hatred that inspired their negative behavior toward others. In fact, this trainer said, bullies often possessed a greater sense of self-esteem which led to an increased ability to demean and dominate others.
By Dillan DiGiovanni9 years ago in The Swamp
A Grim Fairy Tale, the Paris Environmental Accord and Its Repudiation
I am a very strong believer in protecting and preserving the environment but I am not a believer in deceptive use of smoke and mirrors to obfuscate that goal. The recently rejected Paris “Accord” was, in my opinion, not only inadequate, but fraudulent. It is non-binding for heavens sakes! How much more than that do real environmentalists (as opposed to political opportunists) need to know? It’s as though the nuclear non-proliferation treaty were non-binding and merely aspirational. Or criminal laws just suggestions. Aspirations are fine for what they’re worth, especially when, as in the Paris Accord, they include details and targets, a positive thing. But to fool progressives into thinking that they are more than wishful thinking and to deflect real efforts to create binding standards likely to be complied with is malevolent.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in The Swamp
Contempt; An Election of Fear and Treason
This is not a conspiracy theory, the following is provable beyond any reasonable doubt, it is a collection of facts, actions, counter actions and laws/legislations.
By James anderson9 years ago in The Swamp
Just as It’s Always Been
Trying to make sense of the polarization in the United States and in the world at large is daunting, especially in the context of perhaps the most thorough and consistent barrage of propaganda I’ve ever encountered, propaganda not from official state organs but from an angry oligarchy whose will has been thwarted but whose tentacles still manage to strangle our society on every level.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in The Swamp
The Grief Industry
On the evening of the Manchester bombing, there were several tweets of condolence from a variety of people. Some "celebrities" many of the public and some leading politicians.
By Michael Blair9 years ago in The Swamp
Reflections on Political Insults and Incoherence
Perhaps my writing and my sharing of information that I find relevant during this Orwellian period (hopefully not an epoch) in United States history is proving somewhat meaningful, at least as gauged by the reactions of those who oppose my perspectives. This morning an Obama - Clinton supporter called me a fascist for opposing Clinton’s efforts to intervene in Syria and yesterday several somewhat more intellectually inclined opponents of anything Trump tried to convince me that the intelligence community driven Russia-gate soft coup attempt was fully validated. The latter with cogent arguments, which I respect, the former with the traditional insult driven, factually deficient drivel that is all too common among internet trolls. Actually, I do not react as negatively to trolls as do many others. If they are reading what I publish then perhaps over the long term some of it will sink in, and they do give me insights into the tactics favored by those on behalf of whom they troll; valuable data.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in The Swamp
Black Republicans?!
Black Republicans are not a major topic in the mainstream media, and the reason for that is simple: to them, we don't exist. Black conservatives are largely kept out of sight and out of mind, and the few who do appear are vilified and lambasted by the mainstream media and their fellow African Americans. If black conservatism does come up in a discussion, it is mocked: caricatured as the humble slave doting on their powerful massa. We are a considered a group of people who willingly vote against our own interests and lay our necks under the heels of those who see us as lesser beings. But is this reality? Can black conservatives only exist if they forsake their values?
By Jasmine9 years ago in The Swamp
It’s Not as Painful as It’s Made Out to Be
Headlines concerning the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring of the proposed GOP replacement for Obamacare scream that 23 million Americans will be deprived of health care if it passes. As too often happens now, on a quotidian basis, the headlines are distortive, deceptive and hypocritical. They are designed to create emotional responses based on generating fear and insecurity and hate. They are designed to increase the divisiveness that so pervades us and in the end, to further lead us down the path to civil strife.
By Guillermo Calvo9 years ago in The Swamp
The Manchester Attack
They tell you as a kid that if a boy pulls your pigtails, it means he likes you. As you get older and boys grow meaner, it's because they're intimidated and need to assert their masculinity.
By Amy King9 years ago in The Swamp
How Close Are You to Being a Terrorist?
After 9/11, most people in the industrialized modern world asked ourselves an important question. How could anyone do such a thing? For most of us the question was merely rhetorical. But for social scientists the last twenty years have seen a great deal of research attempting to determine what factors, conditions, and mindsets contribute to the radicalized mind. What makes a person a terrorist? In an article for MONITER, the journal for the American Phycological Association, Tori DeAngelis wrote about the work of John Horgan, PhD who interviewed 60 former terrorists. He found that people vulnerable to racialized beliefs have several things in common. Let’s start with the most obvious:
By David Bulley9 years ago in The Swamp