Put Me In A Padded Cell, Quick!
Friends, two recent news items have made me consider whether or not being in a padded cell might not be my best option.
The first concerns an event here in Australia where a Senator took her toddler into the chamber while it was in session. The child’s crying caused the Speaker of the House to ask that the child be removed and it was. The result is that the Australian media is in a frenzy, womens’ groups are up in arms, and people are talking about how workplaces should be more family-friendly.
Now I don’t know about you but I reckon the Senate chamber should be a place where prospective laws are discussed and debated. To me, this is serious business that our elected representative engage in. To imagine the place being where children congregate and engage in family-friendly activities seems rather far-fetched.
I mean, if we’re going to make it family-friendly, why not put in a sandpit and a few swings? Senators could bring their kids, the family dog, even a budgie! Perhaps a barbecue might be appropriate should the little ones get peckish! Fair dinkum, people are crazy!
The other news that makes me yearn for a nice, quiet padded cell is the furore over North Korea’s potential missile launch. I heard Gates talking about how the good marines of Hawaii might shoot the missile down should it come near them, the inference being that the American mainland was potentially under attack!
Footage was shown of Pearl Harbor as if there was some parallel between the North Koreans firing a missile which ended up in the Pacific Ocean somewhere and the ferocious attack by Japan on the American naval base which killed thousands, the one that finally motivated them to, after almost two years of procrastination, enter WW2.
I mean, where else can the missile land but in the ocean? And how many missiles have the Americans landed in the Pacific Ocean without it being seen by say Indonesia as an attack? If I inflated a balloon with helium this afternoon and tied a large fish hook to its string and, complete with an Australian flag, sent it aloft and it eventually came down in the U.S. would I be accused of launching an air attack against American using a dangerous weapon? Would Australia be nuked?
Other mind-blowing issues that could be mentioned are the beat-up by the media on the Iran election, a relatively minor revolt that, if the truth is known, was probably funded by the CIA, M15, and Mossad.
And what about swine flu? We have a pandemic which has only killed a handful of people, around 140. Normal flu kills hundred of thousands of people across the world every year!
Constantly, we humans are subjected to continuous disinformation, to propaganda, to brainwashing which comes out of the minds of deranged, manipulative, evil people.
Is a padded cell the only answer?
Or is there no escape?
To me, this is serious business that our elected representative engage in. To imagine the place being where children congregate ….
As distinct from the “House of Reps” playground?
Reply
and to think i thought i was the only one who believed they were in a surreal world
thanks for proving to me that i am not crazy- the rest of the world is- i’ll do the same for you.
Reply
Yeah, Davo, I agree. The House of Reps is an infantile playground much of the time!
Betmo, thanks for the image of the surreal world. It makes me feel better.
Take care you both!
Reply
Reminds me of a satirical drama by the Swiss writer Dürrenmatt, called “The Physicists”. The scene is a mental asylum with 3 patients. One thinks he is Einstein, one believes he is Newton and the third is a real physicist who has discovered “The world formula”. He escaped to the asylum because he realized that his knowledge would eventually destroy the world. To proof that he is mentally ill he pretends to be visited by king Salomo. Einstein and Newton in reality are spies who try to get at the formula. And the only real mad person in the play is the director of the clinic…..
So David, be careful about going into a padded cell….it could turn out to be another messy place….;-)
Dürrenmatt’s play was inspired by the stories of the guys who had worked in the Manhatten project and developped the atomic bomb. It was written in 1961 and is politically brilliant and still totally up-to-date. And it’s very amusing too. Really fantastic. If you get a chance to watch the play don’t miss it! But even reading it is great.
I saw the world premiere of the play in 1962 in Zurich and it was one of the important eye-openers for me.
Cheers and good luck to everybody!
Reply
As long as we are alive there is no escape. The best we can do is make our little corner of the world as good as we can and try to survive the rest though that is getting harder everyday.
The threat of an attack by North Korea is the latest fear mongering going on here in the US whose only real purpose is too keep our minds off the increasing mess we are in economically. No matter how they spin it people are aware that things are not good.
Maybe a padded cell would be a good idea. You wouldn’t have to worry about paying your bills.
Reply
Here they are talking about drug-testing all the Supervisors who can’t pass budgets for months, sit at meetings all glassy-eyed, and spend lots of taxpayers money doing so!
I think if a mother needs to nurse her infant and participate in meetings that is one consideration that I find acceptable. Beyond that, I agree it is not appropriate for children in that particular arena. Adults making big grown-up decisions need to feel free to speak and not code their words for little ears that might be listening.
Reply
waat in se hell – havn’t I got your daily articles in the last days, David ?
(just trying to sound like an angry frenchman. (should be funny – sorry if it didn’t work )
(a) padded cell – or not
concerning my self (sorry if it seems I’m too self-absorbing) but I, for my part, I’ve mild form for claustrophobia. – so – this (move into something) isn’t an option to/for me.
This worlds shouldn’t be taken too serious, but I got the thought that if ‘life’ had an ON/OFF button” you could just push the OFF button if things seems to be too hard to bare..
How many people would /would not push this button.? One could think about older, poor, sick, needy etc. people to whom life is a living hell. I think the world population will rapidly go down in numbers if so. – but – it isn’t so, and we’ll all have to get the best out of the present awailable circumstances .
about N. Korea
Why shouldn’t they be ‘allowed’ to possess nuclear teknologi. ? Wouldn’t it anyway be crazy (by N.Korea) to use it against the US anyway. ? no no -. IT IS America who has the paranoia.
What concerns me more, this times, is the out range of hype by the hole western media in trying to convince the public that the Iranian election is a fraud.. It really shows a mean / villainous degree of ANTI propaganda against the ‘enemy of the west and who the (westen/ Israel/USA) doesn’t like.
There were (saturday?) from the Iranian interior minister,issued a faked vote result. I believe this letter is the direct culprit for the later death of seven (or more?) people in the blazed up demonstration in/of anger and mistrust.
Reply
This words (NOT world) sorry
Reply
You may go to a mental hospital ONLY IF you promise to take your computer along…would miss your insights, so continue with your website!
Being in a mental hospital compares to being very rich. You have people who handle your finances:-)
Maybe the Australian mom tries to get a day care facility? Of course, children should not be exposed to all these politicians. It’s child abuse! Even though all that babbling might put toddlers to sleep…
North Koreans want a peace treaty.Cannot imagine that they are suicidal trying to attack the US.
Most elections are more or less manipulations. Remember that bush “won”….the spoilt children of Iranian ex patriots are probably behind that turmoil. They want the shah back (or his son). I somewhat doubt that the Mossad, etc. is behind this one as Ahmadinejad is their best enemy. They so desperately need their “bad guy”.
The US politics strengthened Iran (on purpose?) as a counter part to the religious nuts in Israel even though the Iranians seem to be more accepting whereas the Israelis see the Christians and Muslims as “non-humans”. Try to marry a non-Jew there…
Reply
Ursala, your report has undone me! There is nowhere to escape to it seems.
Jeannie, not you too! Stop the world, I want to get off!
Grace, perhaps drugs are the answer for me! But they have nasty side effects, don’t they? It seems I’m caught!
John, I’m a little claustrophobic myself so perhaps a padded room is not a good solution for me either.
Margit, that some people think of me as non-human is the last straw!
There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Perhaps I’ll become a garden gnome.
P.S. Do they have 1.8 metre garden gnomes?
P.P.S. Does anyone have a nice garden?
P.P.P.S. I promise not to eat too much!
Reply
In art school I painted an oil from a Life Magazine photo- a Beirut mental institution that had been bombed. The patients stood inside looking out through the blasted holes. It begged the question of who is crazier here.
I used to often wish it were the ‘good old days’ and my husband or anyone could drop me off at the sanitorium for a restorative visit.
I finally had to create the peace myself; resting laying in the sunshine music art.
Health is Wealth.
Pharmaceutical drugs, when not physically essential, can be an effective bridge through a rough spot, but eventually it is just that, just a bridge.
Reply
Yeah, there is constant disinformation, manipulation, and brainwashing going on. Stay strong! I agree with all the particular conclusions you drew, in this report, David G.
Reply
Grace, medications should only be a bridge but, all too often, they become the foundation stones of people’s lives.
Therese, if people realized the amount of disinformation, manipulation and brainwashing they are constantly receiving they would be staggered. And angry!
Reply
Complaining about government officials not doing their jobs would for me be like complaining about the quality of the food in a restaurant while also saying the portions were too small.
When government does anything beneficial, it appears to be an accidental side effect of some new power grab, and soon corrected.
Reply
Padded cells can be very comfy sometimes, like a room made out of mattresses, no noise, catered food. After a period of time it puts life in perspective, you should try it!!!!!!!!!
Reply
David, would you believe that have experienced the “official” padded cell, a couple of times. Frightened the shit out of me. On the other hand, have figured out how to escape it .. heh.
Reply
Davo, just be glad they don’t still administer shock-treatment. I knew several people who were never the same again after a visit or two. Makes me want to find a space in my house. Perhaps appropriately, the attic, to build a padded room.
I have always wondered how well I would survive solitary confinement. So many prisoners are housed this way now. I think meditation would be essential. The only way I could probably even find happiness. Of course, a meditator is less likely to find themselves in that situation unless it it is for political objection. They supposedly still don’t imprison people for generally objecting.
Reply