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Day: March 22, 2009

Therapy With Bob Newhart

March 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

As most readers probably know, I have had some interesting interactions with a number of ‘therapists’ over the last few months.

Good therapists quickly work themselves out of a job, because their job is to help their clients discover the resources they need to manage their lives, thoughts and feelings without professional help. In other words, to be healthy, responsible, capable people.

Even though it is a joke, this skit says something valuable, and that is that if you want your life to be meaningful and happy, you have to take responsibility for making it so.

It says something about the nature of much mental health practice that this is such a bizarre notion that it is both shocking and amusing. Enjoy!

Abbas: No Mideast Peace Without Jerusalem as Palestinian Capital

March 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

And that demonstrates clearly just what the problem is.

The Palestinians make demands. ‘Just give us this and there will be peace.’ And everyone says that would be lovely, if only the Jews would agree. And Israel gives in.

And then the terrorist attacks begin again. And there is another demand.

The reality is that Palestinian leadership will not be content until, as they themselves have said many times, Israel ceases to exist.

Poor Things

March 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Countess Marie Douglas-David wants her pre-nuptial agreement torn up and her divorce payout doubled to $100 million plus $130,000 a month. Her expenses are more than she thought.

Meanwhile, his expenses are higher than hers, but include $67,000 a week maintaining his wife’s residences. And $95,000 a week keeping his yacht up to scratch.

It’s a hard life.

Ron Silver Died a Week Ago

March 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

He was a great actor and a brave man.

From an article by Daniel Finkelstein:

The night after he spoke to the 2004 Republican convention .. Ron said that he expected many of his Hollywood liberal friends would cut him off. It was something he didn’t relish, but he was ready for it. He thought it a price worth paying to be able to say what he thought.

Why should doing what he did have been so rare and so brave? And why did it have such a high price?

For most of his career Ron was an emblematic Hollywood liberal Democrat. He was president of Actors’ Equity for a decade, established the Creative Coalition liberal lobby group with artists such as Susan Sarandon and Alec Baldwin, stumped the country for Bill Clinton and was a prominent campaigner for abortion rights. But after 9/11 Ron went one way, and his liberal friends another. He believed that the fight against Islamism was a fight for his liberal values and he thought that his erstwhile allies didn’t take it seriously enough.

In Hollywood, supporting Bush on any grounds was completely unacceptable.

Group think is a dangerous thing – and it takes courage to stand against it. Thanks Ron.

Darkness in Austrian Culture

March 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Stephanie Marsh suggests there is a darker side to Austrian culture. The Fritzl case is proof. Well of course there is. There is a darker side to every culture.

Australian generosity and mateship can descend into boorishiness and violence. But newspaper reports about Ivan Milat and the backpacker murders are not the place to learn about Australian culture. Every nation has its share of racism. Every nation has its share of monsters.

Austria is not alone in these things, and suggesting it is, as this Times article indicates Marsh’s book does, is a kind of racism itself.

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