Muad'Dib! What is best in life?

" For years, the standard definition for post-traumatic stress disorder had a key feature that didn't fit for the military. It said that the standard victim responds to the trauma he or she has experienced with "helplessness and fear."

" Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a former psychiatrist with the Army, says that may be true for civilians. But, she says, military people are trained to do just the opposite. "

" VA and the Defense Department published joint guidelines in 2010 to provide doctors with assessments of the known research on many psychiatric medications used for PTSD.

" But the guidance, which recommends strongly against the use of benzodiazapines like Valium and Xanax and several other medications, is not absolute. Physicians still assess their patients and treat their symptoms based on their own medical experience as well as patient history and treatment preferences. "

Contrast to the drugs that are actually indicated for PTSD.

" "Sixty-two percent of respondents who felt their service member had exhibited signs of PTSD, regardless of any official diagnosis, did not seek treatment, demonstrating there is a still much to be done to help service members and their families cope of the invisible wounds of war," said the group in a statement accompanying the survey, which polled about 4,000 military family members. "

" ... the issue was only the fifth-most important issue for military families in the survey. Concerns over changes to retirement benefits topped the list, with pay and benefits second. "

Also, TM yogic flying will eliminate the need for military aircraft.

" All of those nuggets are familiar to the thousands of contract employees in academe who can share horror stories of doing their work with dignity and efficacy and yet losing their employment. You get told by esteemed colleagues to take this as a "kick in the pants," pack up your publication-laden CV and your sterling evaluation "numbers," and move forward. "

" What really made the whole Anonymous thing real for a lot of people and what got them out on the streets wasn’t a like-minded horde of V for Vendetta mask wearing types all marching as one that they wanted to join, but the fact that due to international time zones, the first protest was held in Australia and there was a good turnout, and this protest almost immediately generated an iconic image that’s oddly now almost forgotten as the V for Vendetta mask has become a prominent symbol. It was a teenage girl, in a Hello Kitty T-Shirt and a gas mask. "

" Many people are drawn to academic life because they expect it will provide a refuge from the social demands of other careers: They believe one can be valued as a studious introvert, as many undergraduates are. But academe is a profession of opposites. Long periods of social isolation—research and writing—are punctuated by brief periods of intense social engagement: job interviews, teaching, conferences, and meetings. One reason that completion rates for graduate programs are so low—and unhappiness levels so high—is, I suspect, because students are not selected for the full range of aptitudes they will need to be successful in graduate school. And there are few if any supports in place for those students who struggle with the extremes of introversion and extroversion that academe demands. "

...

" There are countless social events and networking opportunities that introverts find exhausting. Many of those events are characterized by elaborate social rules governing behavior and the appropriate topics of conversation. Everywhere extroverts are working the room, making small talk, and laughing in clusters while the introverts are smiling weakly and struggling just to find one person with whom they can speak about their research. Usually, the introverts leave early, if they find the energy to come at all. Over time, introverted students face a huge relative disadvantage in the reach of their professional networks. "

...

" Then comes the struggle to secure an academic position. Publication is important, of course, but so is the ability to connect with strangers—sometimes in large numbers—under extreme stress (for example, the awareness during an interview that it may be the only one you ever get).

When there are so many job candidates with excellent written credentials, "fit" and personality take on a magnified importance. One could hardly devise a more brutal process for disadvantaging introverts than the two-day, on-campus interview—involving multiple high-stakes meetings with important strangers, a public lecture, and a teaching demonstration, all in an unfamiliar location with little or no time to recharge between events. "

" I’ve heard many stories of faculty colleagues who routinely spend 90+ hours a week doing work, and seeing spouses and family only for an hour or so a day at the dinner table before disappearing to grade or work in the lab until 2 AM. And these stories are not from people in R1 universities — quite often they’re working in small liberal arts colleges and regional universities. It seems not to depend on the size or type of the institution.

" Small liberal arts colleges can actually be some of the worst offenders in this. In some places, faculty quality gets implicitly tied to the degree to which one sacrifices freedom and time — faculty who volunteer to teach 16+ credits a semester and stay on campus doing review sessions until 11pm are seen as “more caring” than those faculty who don’t. And as I discovered last year during my job search, there’s a shocking mission creep among SLAC’s toward a more research-intensive focus among new faculty, with some positions advertising for people with strong research backgrounds in specialized technical areas with the expectation of conducting large-scale undergraduate research on top of a 4/4 teaching load. A colleague recently said to me that small liberal arts colleges can eat productive people alive, and I’m beginning to believe it. "

" It is extremely hard to get into journalism. Even before the recession and the jerky transition to online publishing made new staff reporter jobs harder to get than an NYPD press pass, J-schools were consistently churning out several times as many talented, energetic, hopelessly indebted young people than there were salaried positions at even the smallest papers. So many people want to make a living writing that we are encouraged to accept tiny salaries and terrible working conditions, and breaking into the industry often involves years of underpaid or unpaid interning – closing off the most prestigious jobs to all but a wealthy few. We are expected to be grateful for any opportunities we are thrown, and encouraged to see ourselves as future members of a social elite rather than workers with a living to make and a job to do. "

This is the practicality of the thought coming out of high transhumanism? Let's dismantle a planet in 25 to 50 years?

" Many times, “visiting non-military organizations wanted to see a ‘poster child’ of a wounded Marine and they would offer donations for the selected personnel and not the unit as a whole,” the battalion chaplain told the inspector general.

" Some organizations would call in “looking for ‘visibly wounded’ Marines (burn victims, amputees) to participate in their events.” Some Marines complained to the inspector general about “the ‘petting zoo’ environment created when certain non-profit agencies came to visit.” "

" The backlash was slower to appear in popular fiction, but was more emphatic. From 1919 to 1954, roughly 75% of all superhumans in popular fiction outside of comic books either lost their powers, had them fade away without explanation, or got married and abandoned using their superhuman abilities. Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Avenger were the most popular superhumans in the pulps. Each began with superhuman abilities: Doc Savage, his strength; The Shadow, his ability to cloud men's minds so they could not see him; and The Avenger, his ability to rearrange the muscles in his face so he can take on any other person's features. By the Avenger's last appearance in 1944, an operation has cured the facial paralysis which gave him his superhuman ability. By Doc Savage's last appearance, in 1949, he is simply a talented, strong human being, his superhuman strength having disappeared years before without explanation. By the Shadow's last appearance in 1954, his powers have disappeared and he is merely a standard private detective. "

" This time, Republicans on the subcommittee are upset with what they call U-M's "thumbing of their nose" at requests for information about embryonic stem cells. Several lawmakers said that if they don't get the information -- required under language passed in last year's budget -- they'll look at docking U-M's state aid. "

" Two of the three departing regents, Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons and Jim McClurg of Lincoln, opposed a proposal considered by the Board of Regents in November 2009 that would have limited embryonic stem cell research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center to only cell lines approved under former President George W. Bush. Expansion had become a possibility since President Barack Obama relaxed the Bush guidelines. "

" The initiative, “Unalienable Right to Life of Prenatal Persons is Protected” was withdrawn by the Nevada Prolife Coalition.

" Organizers said they will work with members of Personhood Nevada to collect signatures for its proposal called “The Right to Life for Young and Old Alike.”

" “Working in tandem on only one prolife personhood initiative, rather than two, will make the best use of the limited time remaining before the June 19 deadline,” said Chet Gallagher, director of Nevada Prolife Coalition. “It’s still a big job, but pooling our resources may provide the edge we need to succeed in this important task.” "

" But here is what they were whispering to me: "I am unhappy," "This is not what I want to do," "This is not where I want to live," "I wake up depressed," "I hate teaching," "My spouse lives 1,500 miles away," or "I have no health insurance." They often asked, "Am I trapped?" "

" The voice that evangelicals reported hearing, Luhrmann says, was altogether different: "There's a pattern of reporting those experiences that was different from what people with schizophrenia reported, and I'm persuaded that it's the result of this practice that they do." "

" Fred Sauer, who heads Missouri Roundtable for Life, filed Monday with the secretary of state's office to run in the August Republican primary.

" Sauer, of St. Louis, is the fourth Republican in the field of potential challengers to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon. Other GOP candidates include St. Louis businessman Dave Spence and Kansas City attorney Bill Randles.

Missouri Roundtable for Life was among the groups that successfully challenged a newly created state fund designed to offer incentives to science and technology companies. "

" The Oklahoma House's Public Health Committee voted 7-4 for the Senate-passed measure Tuesday and sent it to the full House. "

" I was then told something that made my jaw drop, and still confounds me to this day: “It was decided that we are a movement of autonomous individuals, and as such, no one has the right to require that anyone do anything.”

" “Well, if that’s the case, then the “zero tolerance” policy concerning illegal drugs and alcohol is meaningless,” I said.

" Much to my astonishment, my statement was greeted with nods and smiles. I was told that Occupy Maine considered itself to be an absolutely open and free community, in which people were to be trusted to do the right thing.

" Other occupations in cities all across the country had instituted loose rules and codes of conduct. These other occupations had rightly come to the conclusion that without some regulation through consensus things would soon fall apart. The camp was already experiencing incidents that proved that trusting everyone to do the right thing was just foolish. "

" This time, Republicans on the subcommittee are upset with what they call U-M's "thumbing of their nose" at requests for information about embryonic stem cells. Several lawmakers said that if they don't get the information -- required under language passed in last year's budget -- they'll look at docking U-M's state aid.

" U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said the university doesn't have an exact number of stem cells. She said it's important, instead, to place the work in the context of medical advances stem cells are leading. "

Market hipster charity yay

" Gordon has his own compass, and while he represents the GOP, he doesn’t always get along with them. For the record, he’s a Libertarian, and by all accounts he is the black sheep of local politics, with few friends.

" In 2011, his comments about fellow Republicans led to him being kicked out of the Republican caucus. He’s also faced calls for him to step down from his post, but he ignored them, and announced instead that he would seek re-election this year. "

"Who would want to put their trust ina piece of unknown software written by unknown people?"

" Dozens of Occupy members moved into the building after its owner, an Occupier who changed his name to Sr. Paz (Mr. Peace), donated some of the vacant apartments to Occupiers rent-free. But recent postings suggest a rift between those living at the apartment building and other Occupy Miami members, and the last Twitter update from a main Occupy Miami account says it has been "hijacked by a small, non-consensus group of radical members." "

" If you're going to let anyone wave the Anonymous flag, if you have no structure that allows an "official" view to be communicated, then you have to accept that you have no more right than the BPAS hacker to decide what can and cannot be done in the name of your movement.

" In short, Anonymous doesn't know who it is. And can't know who it is. Because it's made of countless different individuals, all of whom have their own opinions and beliefs about what Anonymous is and what it should be.

" Sure, there are Twitter accounts and some websites that attempt to present themselves as semi-official channels for communication by the Anonymous collective, but ultimately they are controlled by a handful of individuals - and are unlikely to represent accurately the wide spectrum of viewpoints belonging to Anonymous participants. "

" Court documents unsealed this week show that in exchange for his cooperation, federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute hacker Hector Xavier Monsegur for a litany of other crimes he admitted committing over the years, including his attempted sale of a pound of marijuana in 2010 and another 4 pounds in 2003.

" They also agreed not to pursue charges for other crimes, including gun possession, purchasing stolen jewelry and electronics, running up $15,000 on a former employer's credit card and referring people seeking prescription pain pills to illegal drug suppliers. The court papers said Monsegur would also avoid prosecution for hacking into the Web site of an online casino. "

" A member of the hacking collective Anonymous broke into the website of Britain's biggest abortion provider and planned to publicly release the details of women who used the service.

" James Jeffery, 27, stole around 10,000 database records containing the personal details of women who had registered with the site before "boasting" of his crime on Twitter. "

" Jeffery later confessed to his crimes during interviews with detectives, telling police two friends had had abortions which he disagreed with, the court heard. "

RT @cstross: Kony redux: #cynicismRUs

" Judge Susan L. Hubbard told Camille Marino that she could return to her home in central Florida pending a trial on May 2. But as a condition of her bond, the judge told Marino to remove threatening statements and personal information about professor Donal O'Leary, and refrained from making more threatening statements in the blogosphere before a trial that will be held in May. "

RT @substitute: Once you see this guy, you'll understand why #Kony2012 has some problems. #christwhatanasshole

" National Review has published an editorial urging everyone to disassociate themselves with Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County sheriff who is questioning whether President Obama is a real American. "

" This man presided over a police force that violated the Constitution, intimidated political opponents by abusing his legal authority, misspent funds, saw an increase in crime, paid out millions in taxpayer dollars when his underlings brutally terrorized inmates... and through it all, he was, as Radley Balko once put it, a right-wing darling, "winning praise and defenses from conservative outlets such as Fox News, National Review Online, the Washington Times, and Newsbusters." It's good that his birtherism is being rejected, but it's important to remember that it doesn't even make the top ten list of his most egregious behavior. "

" In early November, David Koch met with Bob Levy, chairman of Cato’s board of directors, at Dulles International Airport. They were joined by Richard Fink, Koch’s chief adviser, and Kevin Gentry, a vice president of Charles Koch’s charitable foundation who’d been put on Cato’s board of directors. (Former Americans for Prosperity President Nancy Pfotenhauer had joined the board after the same meeting.)

" “They said that a principal goal was to defeat Barack Obama,” remembered Levy. “The way David [Koch] put it was, ‘We would like you to provide intellectual ammunition that we can then use at Americans for Prosperity and our allied organizations.’ AFP and others would apply Cato’s work to advance their electoral goals.” "

" Laguna Beach resident Susan Elliott said she's among those whose efforts to combat alleged abuses in the Church of Scientology have been met with spy tactics and harassment at her doorstep. "

" Elliott confirmed that she was spied on by Paulien Lombard, a former Scientologist featured in a recent OC Weekly cover story. In fact, she first confirmed the spying in a comment posted on in the online version of the story, where readers may recall how Lombard described sitting outside of Elliott's home for hours. "

" Marino's first blog post about O'Leary was Oct. 22. Titled, "Donal O'Leary: Federally-Funded Sadist Tortures Shelter Dogs to Death at Wayne State," it included his home address and phone number, along with his WSU e-mail address, phone number and address.

" The same day, she sent O'Leary an e-mail at his WSU address that included a link to her blog, court records show.

" "I hope you never have another peaceful night's sleep. ... I hope you wake up in a cold sweat every time you hear a creek in your blood-money mansion," the e-mail said. "Mostly, I hope you die a slow painful death comparable to those you forced your victims to endure. Please don't interpret this as a threat. It's merely my most fond wishes for you."

" The next day, court records show, Marino sent another e-mail to O'Leary and posted another blog entry.

" In the comment section of that post, someone using the name "Freddie Kruger and The Grim Reaper" posted a detailed, graphic description of torturing O'Leary, including burying him in an isolation chamber, feeding him feces, ripping his teeth out of his mouth and hammering them into his skull, and a number of other actions.

" Marino responded to the comment about two hours later, court files show.

" "Is there any chance I can persuade you to videotape your proposed activism so that we might upload it to (Negotiation is Over) for the entire community to enjoy. ... I would be elated to actually watch it!" "

RT @MikeElk: top 1% captured 93% of income gains in 2010.

This week in the fall of the Republic: Andrew Breitbart and the sorry state of US journalism

" Remember that in the past weeks I had anticipated the possibility that someone could use the name Anonymous in other operations, from cybercrime to intelligence operations made by hostile governments, that is why I defined Anonymous a cyber weapon.

" The reputation of the group may paradoxically create many problems to the group itself, the audience to which the collective targets is not in fact capable of distinguishing false messages, and infiltration attempts that are occurring and will occur with increasing frequency. "