The coming of the psychopath--juvenile divisionThe National Post published an article on the trashing of a house by (tens of? hundreds of?) grade 8 students. The daughter had invited them when her father was away. When the police were first called they found the girl suffering from alcohol poisoning. They cleared the house and took the girl to the hospital. The rough police assessment of the damage at that point was $6,000. Later some teens returned and caused an additional $64,000 worth of damage--computer monitor heaved through front window, a glass fireplace destroyed, the large screen TV kicked out. In short, a blitzkrieg of mindless destruction.
What were these vicious little thugs thinking? Ransacking an impersonal building like a store is one degree of anti-social activity, but to destroy the house of a friend is another. The fact, that even after police intervention, some would come back to totally wreck the place displays a fearlessness of consequences that should concern us all. Such behaviour in my teens would simply be unthinkable. Should such an aberration have occurred, reform school would be a given. These home demolitions are not an aberration today. Of course mass murder in schools by kids is not uncommon today. There have been reports of kids deliberately burning down party homes in the U.S.. When you follow many of these rampages, there is rarely any punishment above a fine and conditional release. The lax juvenile delinquint sentences must be toughened. Granted, in most cases you give a first offender a chance to straighten out; however, some teens are simply too psychopathic in their make-up to ever rehabiliatate. The quintessential trait of the psychopath is the lack of empathy for their victims. Lack of impulse control is another characteristic. Still, what possessed so many kids to go berserk? All were not psychopathic, but the ones who returned to really destroy the home showed a number of signs. They must be found and dealt with harshly. While the psychopath will never accept responsibility for his actions, jail time gives him time to think about the consequences of these actions.
I have met my share of psychopaths. This is not a mental illness that springs full blown in adulthood. Analysis of even some young children's action would show the signs. They may even have been there since birth. It is a brain that gets hard-wired early. They are the scariest people you ever want to met. While some never venture into outright criminality, all of them will manipulate you in some fashion. As a group they are consummate liars. Even when caught red-handed they invent elaborate rationales for their behaviour. In their book "High Risk--Children without a conscience", Dr. Ken Magid and Carole McKelvey give you the Hare list of psychopathic behaviours. Besides the traits I've mentioned Dr. R.D. Hare lists 16 others. Some such as promiscuous sexual behaviour, lack of realistic long term plans, shallow affect, parasitic livestyle and glibness are fairly easy to spot. Oh yes, and the torturing of animals. Watch that one. This is just practice until they get to humans.
Why are these juvenile outrages occurring with such frequency is the question? Is it like the skyrocketing rates of autism, a bafflement? Medical research shows that these psychopaths had low levels of seretonin, which might account for their daredevil actions. Dr. Hare also showed they have little fear of pain or other consequences of their actions. Or is it that we always had psychopathic children when we grew up, but society's tolerance for criminal behaviour was small, that the criminal psychopaths were more or less warehoused. They would have loved to be marauding amongst us, but the parole boards were a bit harsher then.
The experts in the field suggest that an early abusive childhood might hold part of the key. Then there are the huge societal changes that have marked the last half century. The advent of the working mother and the reliance on impersonal daycare centers might break the mother-child bond. Divorce rates have zoomed upwards, as have children born out of wedlock. Perhaps these factors help create this growing psychopathy. Whatever the reasons, the numbers of these affected kids is increasing. The authors of "High Risk" have sounded a clarion call to combat this rise. They state: "But everything has changed ... the ramifications of these changes can be positive or negative depending on how we respond to that change." If we don't acknowledge this profound shift--nearly half of all middle schoolers having sex--we will pay down the line. The "trust bandits" as Magid calls them, are coming and in ever larger numbers. We should be prepared.
A final thought I have on this increased wilding behaviour falls into the realm of general parental permissiveness. The stories I keep hearing from friends and acquaintances about their completely irresponsible children. Some educated but in their 20s (even 30s) still adrift in life and always relying on family handouts. I always give the wailing parents the same advice: practice some tough love. They rarely do, so these totally spoiled child-adults never have to take responsibility for their failures in life. What will their children be like?
For an excellent review of this mental problem consult Dr. R.D. Hare, the recognized Canadian expert on these psychopaths. If memory serves, his book was called "
Without Conscience". He also wrote an article called "
Unmasking the Psychopath". Believe me, you want to come fully armed when you confront these people.
© Bud TalkinghornThe upcoming Iraqi civil warIt no longer seems to be a question of if, but rather when. The only question is whether it will be a low level guerrilla affair or a pitched battle between Sunnis and Shi'ites. The latter is prercisely al-Qaeda's plan. The Sunnis' endless attacks on Shi'ites and an open admission that they should be eradicated have caused the Shi'ites to lose their patience. The bombing of the Golden-domed mosque--one of the most sacred--was the final straw. The ensuing slaughter would so destabilize Iraq that al-Qaeda could operate openly, That is the Sunni hope anyway. It may turn out to be their death wish instead. If Iran and Syria become engaged then we are looking at a regional catastrophe. There is nothing the Americans can do if it reaches this stage. Call it the "noble experiment that failed", and step aside. Maybe the Middle East has to wait another century for Western-style democracy. Bush's idea was good, but the execution was deeply flawed. In hindsight we can see a litany of mistakes--begining with disbanding the entire Iraqi army. A massively unemployed military, plus tons of secreted weapons, is a recipe for disaster.
On the plus side, if a civil war breaks out, there will be tens of thousands of radical Sunnis and Shi'ites--all calling out, "Allah akbar!" and wasting each other. Fewer fanatics that the West will have to worry about. As the Shi'ites, backed by their brethern in Iran will probably win, al-Zarkawi and his fanatics will be systematically eliminated. The victor will inherit a scorched earth. The remaining wasteland will be Afghanistan replicated. With an exhausted, demoralized populous, the U.S. can start over.
It is fallacious to compare the defeat of Germany and Japan with the situation in Iraq. Crazed by nationalism they might have been; nevertheless, these countries were culturally and religiously unified before defeat. Also, they were completely destroyed. This is not the case in Iraq, a country artificially constructed by imperialist considerations. While small areas were damaged, the majority of the country escaped direct destruction. Only a tyrant like Saddam could keep a semblance of cohesion between the various ethnic tribes and religious groupings. If, with his iron fist gone, the whole place goes to hell, then the Americans can only withdraw to watch the show. When they return, cries of "welcome" may rend the air with genuine fervour.
© Bud TalkinghornPakistan on the edgeBorn in the blood of partition, Pakistan stands on the banks of a river of blood. If the 1948 partition pitted Hindu and against Muslim, this battle is primarily an internecine one. The fanaticism of the Sunni branch has targeted the country's Shi'ites. As well, there has been endless strife between the sectarian branches of the country. There has been lingering hatred against those Muslims who flooded into Pakistan from all over India. Riots and urban massacres are fairly common. Then there are the separatist movements in the south-west provinces. The North-west areas have been effectively a "no-go" area for decades. This is Bin Laden land. These monumentally primitive people are staunchly fundamentalist in thought and action. Sharia law is the only functioning law.
All these portents of doom are increased because the government that is supposed to promote some sense of progress is heavily infiltrated by Islamists. President Mussharif is continuously surrounded by traitors and a number of assassination attempts have been made on his life, which were traced back to his own security forces. Al-Qaeda wants to destabilize Pakistan as it is doing in Iraq. The supposed fury over the Danish cartoons soon degenerated into anti-Americanism, egged on by radical mullahs. Therefore it is potentially another Talibanesque nightmare state--with nuclear weapons. The enemies of freedom and tolerance are growing rapidly. We must concern ourselves with containing this growing menace.
© Bud TalkinghornA final warning about Canadian securityMartin Collacott, a former Canadian diplomat, has issued a blueprint for stopping the growing threat to Canada from a failed IRB system and its misguided multicultural policy. When Trudeau, the eternal naif, envisioned a mosaic Canada, he had not counted on an immigrant cohort who actively, or silently, despised the very tolerant culture which had adopted them. However, almost 40 years after his ascendance, we now harbour people who want to destroy our way of life. Through fanaticism and intimidation, these Muslim immigrants have tried to insert their own primitive beliefs for the rest of us. It is multiculturalism run amok. That tolerance was supposed to allow peoples to maintain their cultural attitudes, while subscribing to the common norms of Canada. For the most part it has worked, however we are slowly discovering that certain groups are not signing up to those values. Rather, they find Canadian values decadent and worthy of destruction.
The National Post's editorial ( March, 3, A-10) lists Collocott's major concerns, as revealed by The Fraser Institute's report. This report is particularily concerned with the influx of the undocumented, queque-jumping refugees, who are nothing but economic "refugees", or worse, criminals and terrorist sleeper cells. Think Ressam and his Algerian gang of terrorists, who existed on welfare and credit card fraud. Even when Ressam and et al were exposed they still roamed freely. The report shows how the IRB is mainly staffed with left-wing "useful idiots" and immigrant activists. In the worst cases it is the fox guarding the hen house. Equally unacceptable is the Liberal government's past blind eye to the Tamil Tigers presence here. This terrorist organization has been shaking down, door-by-door, our Tamil citizens. Despite massive efforts by the Toronto police, there are still major leaders of this group allowed to remain here, despite racking up numerous convictions. How this is possible can only be explained by the Liberals' excessive need to placate the urban immigrant vote. Plus, of course, their NDP coalition partner, who never met a bad immigrant. I believe both parties have their fingers perpetually crossed that a massive terrorist act doesn't occur here. As well, a Canadian-based terrorist act against our southern neighbour would trigger enormous economic reprecussions. The Americans' belief that we are weak sisters on the terrorist front would be vindicated.
Mr. Collacott wants immigrants to take an oath of fealty to Canadian values. If they renege and support any violent ideas to overthrow these values, they should have their citizenships revoked and should be deported. And I don't feel that he is talking about the absurd deportation orders that allow 36,000 deportees to vanish into our ghettos. Europe has awakened from its liberal fantasy of universal understanding of values. They have seen the dark side of their tolerance toward the intolerant--train bombings, murder of critics of Islamist fanaticism, and acceptance of open seditious speeches. While Canada has avoided the worst of these afflictions, we still have the extremist imams. Their detrimental effects are a timebomb in our midst. They should be immediately deported to their home countries, where their extremism would be dealt with promptly. But that would be against our Charter of rights and freedoms wouldn't it? So we must keep them close to our bosom.
Ironically, it would be to the advantage of most immigrant groups to support these recommendations. They are the ones who bear the growing backlash against immigration and the acceptance of legitimate refugees. The Fraser report is singling out only those who are self-admitted renegades. By their words and actions, ye shall know them. Now cloaked in their scrupulous reading of the Charter, they feel safe to be treasonous. This must change, or we have committed cultural suicide. The report is long overdue and we now have (hopefully) a government that will act accordingly.
© Bud TalkinghornWindbag Bud's short questionsWhere is the RCMP investigation into the sponsorship scandal? Why has it taken over two years to bring that rogue IRB judge to trial over his selling refugee status to dodgey claimants?
[ Note: I posted this link yesterday. NJC
The IRB & the Judge
Waiter sought refugees' bribes -- refugee claimants, Liu Wai Keung, Woon Lam (Bill) Wong former president of Montreal's Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) appeals division judge Yves Bourbonnais ]
Is any Muslim leader reminding their populations that their semi-failed states are propped up by Western (primarily American) aid packages?
Have Canadians yet made the connection between the cities' adherence to "Liberal values" and the Liberals' ultra-generous immigration and refugee policies?
As we remember the four fallen Mounties, does anyone still think that the gun registry could have prevented this tragedy? Or that enforcing draconian laws against marijuana would have stopped this man's motiveless malignancy?
Don't you feel relieved that the UN reformed its rules for admitance to The Human Rights Commission, so that Sudan, Cuba, and Syria--those shining exemplars of tolerance--can control the agenda?
What do you suppose would be Fidel Castro's audience for his eight hour harangues if he allowed open emigration to the West? 1,000 or 1,000,000?
Did you know that the NDP has set up a database to catch fat cats trying to avoid our marvellous health care system? The passports of those trying to access a two-tier American operation will be confiscated. OK, I'm making that one up.
© Bud Talkinghorn My question is for Minister Emerson:Do you now have some idea of how the Liberals operate? Why Canada may be unfixable? Among many gifts that will keep on giving, the Liberals have left Ethics Commissioner, Mr. Shapiro to act
in loco parentis -- Mr. Shapiro, who seems to have found no serious ethical problems with his Liberal government but is in a position to investigate a Conservative floor croser and the PM over ethics ... ethics which are, of course completely different from the ethics of those who brought Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison to ministerial positions after crossing the floor ... but then they became Liberals so that was fine. Remember the hatchet job done on PM Brian Mulroney? Then there is the matter of how CSL could ... was it mis-type the amount Canadian taxpayers granted to Paul Martin's company ($161-MILLION became something like $37,000), finding no-oone ethically responsible in government for the sponsorship scandal and various other shenanigans ... ah, the list could go on. Mr. Emerson, do you understand now? Your mistake was in moving from the Liberals to the Conservatives, not in crossing the floor. There is a monumental difference in Canada. What is good for the Liberal goose is not good for the Conservative gander.
By the way, I suspect Mr. Emerson's problem has more to do with the business related to the 2010 Olympics or to rail, pipelines, oil and LNG, than to any real ethical consideration. I have suggested people look into this before; IMHO, it might prove fruitful.
NJCBook with a great titleAuthor Dave Dunseath:
Self-harm Book: Aim low, quit often, expect the worst, and other good advicePublisher: Rutledge Hill
He's a session drummer for Dolly Parton and others.
For the title alone, this is worth checking. NJC
