Archive for June, 2015

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Ten More Nails in America’s Coffin: Same Sex Marriage

June 30, 2015

Ten More Nails in America’s Coffin: Same Sex Marriage

Any way you view it, the legalization of same sex marriage (SSA) in America is an ill advised, self-destructive massive cultural mistake. There is a good deal of research data to support my assertion, but you will not see it discussed in liberal propaganda-based venues.

There are cross-cultural assessments of cultural damage to support of my assertions as well as research on mother absence and father absence and child development.  There is also documented damage already occurring assessed using withing-culture observations (i.e., those U.S. States that have previously legalized SSA). There are also numerous tyrannically imposed damages to organized religion, education, traditional families, and businesses..and more.

When viewed within the context of other progressive/liberal cultural “redesigns” occurring during the Obama administration, there appears to be sequence of revolutionary political events specifically implemented through extra-Constitutional means to destroy traditional American culture.

As a practicing psychologist and behaviorist, I have learned that there are conditions under which it is best “not to listen to what they say, but rather, to intently watch and measure what they do”.

This is especially true when dealing with antisocials/sociopaths, substance dependent individuals, and with those trapped by various other addictions , i.e., sex, pornography, and gambling.

I will assert that this is also true when dealing with progressive/radical liberal politicians and political activists, who frequently display their own special forms of psychopathology though their lying, deceitful, tyrannical and immoral actions

 It is very well written and its assertions are largely data-based.  The referenced data for this article is somewhat dated, however it supports the article in my yesterday’s blog, which presented more current documented damaging effects of SSM upon cultures.

It is important that you be able to write and articulate why the legalization of Gay Marriage is destructive to America.

Please take the time to read the following article.

http://downloads.frc.org/EF/EF11B30.pdf

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

6/30/15

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Same Sex Marriage: What Happened To Canada

June 29, 2015

Same Sex Marriage: What Happened To Canada

The following article is one that is a must-read as you consider the likely effects of legalized gay marriage upon American culture.

Canada, after-all, is a culture that is as similar to our own as we are likely to find anywhere on earth.

Therefore, until cultural outcomes are proven different, we have every reason to assume that the effects of introducing identical cultural redesigns will produce very similar results in America.

Remember, it is incumbent upon science (in this case, Social Science) to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in the outcome during an experiment; even a quasi-experiment, as in this case, in order to declare a difference.

In other words if Canada implements legalized gay marriage policy and ten years later there are significant damages to the liberty of the majority of citizens in Canada, there are no grounds to expect a different result for America.

Until such a different outcome is demonstrated it must be assumed that there will be no different outcome in America is likely.

In fact, the article below will demonstrate that the rightfully anticipated effects curtailing the rights of  heterosexual and religious citizens in America are already underway.

America has made another profoundly bad redesign mistake. Important evidence from our near-cultural-clone, just across our northern border, strongly suggests that federally imposed legalized gay marriage will have profoundly deleterious effects upon liberty for the vast majority of American citizens.

This grave risk has been taken to appease the strident and propagandistic demands of very small minority (less than 5 percent) of America’s population.

I could weep for what I believe is about to happen to freedom in American culture.

Please take the time to evaluate this important information.

http://thefederalist.com/2015/06/26/same-sex-marriage-wont-bring-us-peace/

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

6/29/15

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Homosapiens are One F–ked-Up Species!

June 26, 2015

Homosapiens are One F–ked-Up Species!

It should be well-known that a common human tendency is to not assess our own strengths and weaknesses accurately. It is often an advantage to have other trusted individuals provide us with their perspectives about us when we attempt to do an objective self-assessment.

I think this is also true when most humans attempt to assess the strength’s and weaknesses of their own species, the Homosapien.

A friend of mine, another Ph.D. practicing Psychologist, with 40 plus years of experience and I were discussing the recent murder of nine black Christians in a bible class in South Carolina by another crazed (and racist) barbarian.

My colleague told me that, when his patients/clients ask him how people could do some of the awful things they do to others, he now states the title of this blog (which I borrowed from him) to them.

My colleague said he frequently softens this exclamation, but added that the profanity included carried “the emotional punch” he often wants to create with his statement. I agree with him on this matter.

On the other hand, it might be said that we both have a slanted perspective on this matter. After all, people do not come to see us unless they personally have a problem or someone is treating them badly. I believe this perspective is incorrect, my colleague and I both live in a broader social environment and have done so for a great many more hours than we send working as therapists. I will simply leave it to world history to counter this skeptical remark.

My friend and I are not the first to confess such thoughts. Albert Ellis argued that humans are basically irrational. Ellis developed an early form of cognitive therapy designed to correct his patient’s deeply held and automatic irrational beliefs that caused them to feel anxious, depressed, frustrated and angry. Ellis identified numerous common irrational beliefs that underlay so much of humanities self-defeating/self-abusive behaviors. See the following:  http://changingminds.org/explanations/belief/irrational_beliefs.htm

Considering the various bad behaviors that human’s often demonstrate from a different perspective, Homosapiens are very intelligent creatures who developed a language that they often use it to cleverly deny their own very obvious basic animal nature. In other words, we have propagandized ourselves into thinking that we are something special and apart from the conditioning and learning laws and principles that shape the behavior patterns of all of the animals on earth. At times we are also prone to deny the genetic influences on our behavior, now well-documented by science.

We call ourselves humans and, though we are often quick admit that we are not perfect…and we may point to the worse examples of human imperfections (Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Jack the Ripper, etc., etc.,), we are far more likely to say positive things about our own human nature. We speak glowingly about we homosapiens: our great intelligence and wisdom, arts, literature, sciences, technologies, various humanitarian efforts and accomplishments, and so much more.

Beyond all of this, many of us believe that we are the children of God and that we are very special among all other creatures in the universe. We claim to be made in God’s image, given stewardship of the earth and dominion over all other animals.

It is important to note that scientific evidence is accruing that humans who hold such beliefs and follow the teachings  their benevolent God, are more likely to be mentally and physically healthier, happier. and well-behaved than those who do not.

But, my colleague and I, both of us Christians, are mindful that humans remain animals imbued with strong tendencies toward mistaken inferences,  self-delusions, and the denial of reality. Also certain that certain pathogenic histories of learning (abuse, neglect, abandonment and psychological trauma) commonly cause us to become hopelessly dependent upon others who neglect and abuse us; compulsively involved with substances and activities that harm or kill us; or cause us to neglect, abuse, neglect, abandon, traumatize, or even kill our offspring and others around us.

In addition to the many good things that homosapiens have done, we have also invented a massive technology that we have used to poison, abuse and destroy life on planet earth. Also, just like other micro-organisms living in their smaller ecosystems, we mindlessly consume the finite energy resources available to us and spread our pollution world-wide with little regard for the quality of life for all life forms beyond our own life-spans.

Another counter-intuitive observation about homosapien “wisdom” has been made by historians of human behavior patterns at sociocultural levels. They have recorded that there is a political tendency for humans to seek freedom from tyranny. But, when this is achieved, in the form of a democracy, within roughly 200 years the tendency is to seek more tyrannical forms of governance.

See the following for this idea pertaining to the dwindling life-span of our own American Democratic Republic. Other more contemporary intellectuals have made similar arguments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Fraser_Tytler

How does this perspective relate to what is happening to America now?

I hope you will think about all of this.

I will return with a continuation of these basic concerns about the nature of us Homosapien animals.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

6/26/15

 

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Study: Liberals Lack Self-Control

June 25, 2015

Study: Liberals Lack Self-Control

A recent study suggests that politically liberal individuals may be less skilled at self-control than conservatives.

Please understand that this does not mean that all liberals are comparatively weak in their ability to exercise self-control over their impulses and appetites. You should know that these findings are comprised of statistically derived, averaged findings. Also, there could be methodological problems with this study (sampling errors, for example) and the results may not be applicable to the whole population of Liberals.

Additionally, we can be certain that there are conservatives who are poor at self-control.

That being said, the findings certainly do confirm my personal experience and research into the practices of political liberals, especially the more extreme liberals who call themselves progressives. These individuals are often rank-socialists and communists who are attempting to hide the true nature of their political agendas; agendas that are perfectly antithetical to traditional American precepts, values and Constitutionally derived cultural practices.

It appears to me that most of the progressive/liberal political leaders, currently dedicated to “transforming America”,  believe in their own power to change the world though lies, deceptions, and various dishonest “revolutionary tactics”. Such behaviors have been observed throughout history. Therefore, progressive/liberals evidence behavior patterns that bear a strong resemblance to those individuals who are diagnosed as Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Please review the following list of psychological personality disorders and see what you think:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/basics/symptoms/con-20030111

It appears to me that the general strategy of personality disordered progressive liberals is to prey upon liberal-minded constituents (voters}, who are often showing behavior patterns similar to those diagnosed with  psychological problems such as Dependent Personality Disorder, levels of depression, learned helplessness and substance abuse disorders, to name only a few such possibilities.

You may be interested in the following research-based example.

Depression and Learned helplessness

Main article: Learned helplessness

Learned helplessness was first found in animals when psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier discovered that the classically conditioned dogs that got electrical shocks made no attempt to escape the situation. The dogs were placed in a box divided into two sections by a low barrier. Since one side of the box was electrified and the other was not, the dogs could easily avoid electrical shocks by hopping to the other side. However, the dogs just stayed in the electrified side, helpless to change the situation. [21] This learned helplessness also applies to human beings. People feel helpless when they feel powerless to change their situation. This happens when people attribute negative results to their internal, stable and global factors leading them to think they have no control over their situation. Making no attempt to avoid or better the situation will often exacerbate the situations that people are faced with, and may lead to clinical depression and related mental illnesses.[22]  

This quote was taken from the Wikipedia article which is referenced at the bottom of this blog.

Now, please consider the following research findings on Liberals and Self-Control:

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-study-conservatives-liberals-self-control-20150619-story.html

It is important to note that this study must be replicated to gain scientific credence (reliability and validity).

However, you should know that if this article is validated by future research, it will also be augmented by a very strong research literature on the topics of External and Internal Attributions. These ways of thinking are related to  an increased (or decreased) susceptibility to a variety of motivational problems, as well as mental disorders.

For a more extensive understanding of attribution theory and research you may study the following:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_%28psychology%29

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

6/24/15

 

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America Is Nuts!

June 23, 2015

America Is Nuts!

I received the following from a dear friend.

This particular item has circulated the internet for some time. It is purported to have originated in Canada, however, its origin and author are unknown.

Wherever this list is from and whoever the author was does not matter to me…because the list is true.

Though I cannot vouch for each of the exact percentages quoted, or the exact dollar figures, there should be no doubt about the general truth and essential stupidity of these true and shameful allegations.

Perhaps there was a time in our history when America could count on the “wisdom of an informed voting public to sustain us”…that assumption should now be in grave and fearful doubt.

America has become a cornucopia of crazy and self-defeating cultural practices that defy logic and diminish ability our ability to survive as a leading Nation.

The following is a document that will confront you with this reality….see for yourself!

Reality may set you free, but first it will make you miserable.

____________________________________________________________________

This is Canada ‘s Top Ten List of America ‘s Stupidity.

Of course we look like idiots – we are!

# 10 Only in America … could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 per plate Obama campaign fund-raising event.

# 09 Only in America… could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General and roughly 20% of the federal workforce is black while only 14% of the population is black, 40+% of all federal entitlements goes to black Americans – 3X the rate that go to whites, 5X the rate that go to Hispanic

# 08 Only in America… could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner (the head of the Treasury Department) and Charles Rangel (who once ran the Ways and Means Committee), BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.

# 07 Only in America… can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

# 06 Only in America… would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege, while they discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just ‘magically’ become American citizens. (probably should be number one)

# 05 Only in America … could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country’s Constitution be called EXTREMISTS

# 04 Only in America … could you need to present a driver’s license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

# 03 Only in America … could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. Oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).

# 02 Only in America… could you collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year – for total spending of $7 Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn’t have nearly enough money.

# 01 Only in America…. could the rich people – who pay 86% of all income taxes – be accused of not paying their “fair share” by people who don’t pay any income taxes at all.

Bonus: ” Only in America do you have to pass a drug test to get a pay check, yet any crack head can get their welfare check no questions asked.”

PLEASE DON’T KEEP THIS – SEND IT OUT TO YOUR ENTIRE LIST.

____________________________________________________________________

Please do send this to all of your friends.

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 6/23/15

Thanks to Vic Palenske for sending this list to me.

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DOD and Military Celebrating LGBT Pride Month!

June 22, 2015

DOD and Military Celebrating LGBT Pride Month!

I was proud to join the U.S. Military, as did my father and others in my family for generations. However, I have talked to numerous veterans and many, just like me, would never willingly join today’s U.S. Military.

It is all part of the plan to weaken America’s military. I have heard officers tell me that today’s military is having difficulty recruiting personnel. There is little reason to wonder why. And you should not be surprised that our military is hoping to place women in combat. They are running out of men.

America is insane!

Among other progressive/self-destructive moves in recent years, it is politically imposing the will of a very small percent (perhaps under 5%) of our LGBT’s life-styles on all of us, even on our military!

Most of America is loosing the culture wars against religion and our traditional rules of social order.

America is fading into history. In its place is social chaos and only a passing memory for those of us from earlier and better times.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/06/02/u-s-military-celebrating-gay-pride-month-honors-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-servicemembers/

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 6/22/15

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Socialism and Cognitive/Behavioral Pathology

June 18, 2015

Socialism and Cognitive/Behavioral Pathology

All of the following would be funny, if it were not true about socialism.

But it is true and, therefore,  I will therefore argue that socialism is a form of cognitive and behavioral pathology.

In psychology, there is a term for the irrational human capacity of individuals to retain beliefs that are logically inconsistent with each other and then behave in accordance with each…without recognizing the absurdity of their conflicted beliefs and actions.

The term for this self-defeating mentality is Logic-Tight Compartmentalism. This is a great name for a great human frailty.

Here are some examples of pathological socialistic logic-tight compartmentalization!

http://allenbwest.com/2015/05/six-conundrums-about-socialism-in-the-u-s-a/

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D.

6/18/2015

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Female Military Suicides: “Staggering”!

June 16, 2015

Female Military Suicides: “Staggering“!

I have repeatedly written in opposition to sending females into combat.

Please search “Women in Combat” to see the arguments that I have presented in the past.

It is wrong for America to do this to our female population. It is disproportionately damaging to them and it is disproportionately damaging to America.

Now comes more evidence that women are particularly unsuited to combat and other military assignments.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/06/08/suicide-rates-of-female-military-veterans-called-staggering.html?ESRC=dod.nl

V. Thomas Mawhinney, 6/16/15

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Open Borders = Cultural Chaos

June 13, 2015

Open Borders = Cultural Chaos

I attended a recent psychological workshop on helping children with “Executive Functioning” cognitive impairments.

Executive Functions of the brain are defined as follows:

“Executive functions (also known as cognitive control and supervisory attentional system) is an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes,[1] including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving[2] as well as planning and execution.[3]”

Though executive cognitive skills are not the main focus of this blog, you may be interested in learning more about this complex topic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_dysfunction

My workshop focused upon the truth that children with impaired executive cognitive abilities need additional assistance, called educational accommodations, for their special learning deficits.

Though still not the main focus of this blog, in case you are interested, the following are examples of some helpful teaching accommodations:

Specific skill teaching

  • Teaching through coaching:
    • Set goals.
    • Hold daily coaching sessions using Goal, Plan, Predict, Do, Review.
  • Check on student’s goals.
  • Check on student’s plan for accomplishing tasks.
  • Predict task outcome, account for obstacles.
  • Do the task.
  • Review to see how the plan worked for the student.

Quality checking

  • Check on completion of planned tasks.
  • Check on application of time and effort to the task.
  • Student responsibility for today’s plan.
  • Check on long-term projects.

– See more at: http://cbirt.org/tbi-education/executive-functions/classroom-interventions-executive-functions/#sthash.KaMjEm18.dpuf

Now to the main reason for today’s blog.
I was stunned when a female Hispanic professional in this class asked, with a barely understandable Spanish accent, what the classroom accommodations for Hispanic students who have been educated in Mexico should be.  She explained that in Mexico children are not made to sit quietly at desks, but are allowed to talk and move around the classroom more than in American classrooms. She explained that, in Mexico, children were more often involved in group projects and so American classrooms presented an adjustment problem from them.
 
There was very little discussion on this topic. Once again, political correctness gagged a sensible discussion on this topic. A topic which had no relationship to helping with the cognitive impairments in a minority of children that was the purpose of this workshop.
The preceding is just one tiny exemplar of the damaging chaos now flooding our various institutions, as a result of America’s self-destructive open border policies.
 
America cannot accommodate the languages and all of the demands, expectations and preferences of immigrants that specifically clash with our own indigenous cultural and institutional adaptations and traditions. Not, that is, without becoming a confused self-destructive polyglot-culture of chaotic and conflicted citizen behavior patterns.
This appears to be true for all sociocultures. Just look around the world to see the vexing problems faced by societies that have fallen prey to the progressive/liberal pipe-dream of open borders and multiculturalism.
 
When we allow this to happen, inevitably, the higher-order behavioral contagion effects of this bottom-up disregulating force will infuse its many forms of chaos into America’s already broken cultural institutions. This is already happening.
 
The result will be a further acceleration of Americas sociocultural decline, which is now well underway.
 
I am always amazed at the things I learn when I “return to school”.
 
Wake-Up, Dumb-as-a-Dodo-Bird America!
V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 6/13/15
P.S., The following is a note that I received from John Plume, who immigrated with his family from Latvia as a child.
John was a high school classmate. He is a friend and fellow author. I asked him about the way it was when his family immigrated to America.

The following was John’s answer:

The immigration act of 1948 was straight forward; there was no government aid, i.e., paying to get over here . The sponsors and churches paid for transportation and, in most cases, the immigrants were to pay them back if possible. 
The sponsor provided shelter and a job. One had to work for a year or two and then move on . 
There was no bi-lingual education . We had “immersion” education in the good sense. 
There were at least 50 pages of forms that the government checked and one had to be healthy. Usually TB was the major problem . Persons had to stay behind, wait and be “cured”.
Democrats want the votes and Republicans and businesses want cheap labor.  No wonder we have these continuing immigration problems.
The Latvians assimilated and became Americans.  Many have done quite well ..But many have kept their roots and traditions.
 
My parents became citizens after five years.
 

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Boys Need Their Fathers

June 12, 2015

Boys Need Their Fathers

I was recently at an all-day workshop. A number of work-shops related to psychological principles and therapeutic techniques are required (biennially) to maintain my private practice license.

In these workshops, I often learn as much about the values and philosophies of the lecturer and the attendees as I do about psychological principles and techniques.

The lecturer asked the attendees a question about a diagnosis which historically was given to girls more frequently than boys. She noted this statistical discrepancy and then asked us what we thought the statistics would look like today, in 2015.

A few of us got it right: The diagnosis is now given as often to boys as to girls.

The group speculated that sampling errors or definitional problems could have contributed to these changing statistics.

I knew that what was left-out of the causal discussion was not spoken because it was politically incorrect to do so. I therefore screwed-up my courage and stated the obvious.

I noted that American cultural changes could be responsible, citing the emergence of males who are called “Metrosexuals”. This term does necessarily describe one’s sexual pleasures, but rather refers to males who are more like traditional females in their interests and attention to style, fashion and grooming.

I also noted that increased births to unmarried women and increased divorce rates have led to an increased percent of our male population raised largely by females. I stated that this could be having a significant influence upon the development of  boy’s emotional and behavioral development.

The presenter politely said, “I can agree to your first statement”, and attempted to change the subject.

I then politely, interjected a question, “Your not going to agree that births to unmarried women and high divorce rates could be a factor?”

At that moment a “spring-loaded” angry female voice rang-out from the back of the room: “Boys raised by females can be just as healthy! Why don’t you read so and so’s book on this topic?!”

The workshop lecturer quickly asserted that “we should not get distracted by this debate” and the matter was dropped like a proverbial “hot-potato”.

This is just one of many such incidents of political correctness interfering with perceptions and discussions of sociocultural reality I have encountered in educational settings.

It is true that boys raised by single mothers can turn-out fine.  But, as I said in yesterdays blog (Girls Need Their Fathers), the odds are stacked against them and this is not a good thing for boys without fathers or for America.

All that I have learned during my 36 years as a professor teaching child development and child psychopathology (among other courses) as well as my potentially less valid observations as a practicing psychologist comport with the preponderance of research on this topic.

The following is an article written by Dr. James Dobson. Dr. Dobson is a Ph.D.  psychologist, trained in the methods of science and behavior. I can assure you that the fact he is a devout Christian has not blinded him to the strong research findings on this critically important topic. He is a noted expert on family life and parenting.

Please read the following short article and pass it on to others you know.

http://www.charismamag.com/life/men/16874-dr-james-dobson-boys-need-fathers

V. Thomas Mawhinney, Ph.D., 6/12/15

Professor Emeritus Of Psychology, Indiana University South Bend

Health Services Provider in Psychology

 

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