Free Republic

One of the most important jobs of the media is to be the so-called “fourth estate” — an unofficial fourth branch of government that holds the three official branches accountable. Ideally, this would take place when reporters provide a look at reality when politicians lie, despite pressure from the same politicians to not report the truth. However, there is another way to hold a politician accountable: Stop taking the politician seriously by not reporting what he or she said. I propose that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has long passed the point of “unseriousness” to “harmful to society,” and...

Fort Hood shooter was taking "prescription drugs for depression and anxiety". SSRIs? "Lopez was undergoing a variety of treatments for conditions including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances, McHugh said. He was prescribed drugs that included Ambien, a sleep aid. Lopez was fully examined last month by a psychiatrist. There was no record of any sign he was likely to commit violence against himself or others, according to McHugh. "So the plan (going) forward was just to continue to monitor and treat him as deemed appropriate," he said." They say that he was "prescribed drugs" but only named one, Ambien, which...

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Iraq War veteran being treated for mental illness was the gunman who opened fire at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding 16 others before committing suicide, in an attack on the same Texas military base where more than a dozen people were slain in 2009, authorities said. Within hours of the Wednesday attack, investigators started looking into whether the man’s combat experience had caused lingering psychological trauma. Fort Hood’s senior officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said the gunman had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems.

Students of one California high school teacher will have to adjust to a lot more than just their school schedule after the upcoming spring break concludes. Veteran teacher Gary Sconce is reportedly completing his gender reassignment surgery during the hiatus and will return as Karen Adell Scot. According to local media, the science teacher, 56, began his transformation almost a year ago after reportedly feeling like he was supposed to be female since he was a child. He is apparently so anxious to complete his journey that he cannot wait until the end of the school year.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that President Obama is the least partisan president she has worked with during her extensive time in Washington, and said the problem lies with the GOP. “This is as non-partisan a president as I’ve ever served with,” the California Democrat said at her weekly press briefing. She was asked whether she believes Mr. Obama would be able to work with Republicans if they were able to take control of the Senate and hold the House this November. She said when Democrats held both chambers under President George W. Bush in 2007-2008 she and...

A transgender woman claims her violent male side is responsible for her murdering three prostitutes in Washington in 1990. Donna Perry, who used to be Douglas Perry, told police she intentionally underwent gender reassignment surgery in Thailand in 2000 "as a permanent way to control violence," ABC News reported. Perry, 62, explained to police in 2012 that "there's a great downturn in violence" whenever a person goes from being a man to a woman.

A murder mystery revolving around a severed head discovered by a dog near the Hollywood sign in Hollywood's Griffith Park in January 2012 may have finally been solved. Police arrested Gabriel Campos-Martinez, 38, in San Antonio and charged him with killing his former boyfriend, 66-year-old Hervey Medellin...

A whopping 41% of people who are transgender or gender-nonconforming have attempted suicide sometime in their lives, nearly nine times the national average, according to a sweeping survey released three years ago. In a new study released Tuesday, researchers dug deeper into that number, analyzing the results of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey to examine what puts transgender people at such "exceptionally high" risk. Researchers from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law found that the risk of attempting suicide was especially severe for transgender or gender nonconforming people who had suffered...

These are the new images I've got, to go with the second of my youtubes, which is posted at http://youtu.be/usFBn99pJMc In the first youtube we looked at what could be seen above the water in the video. In this new video I show footage of some more that is above water but also some that is underwater. The images on my blog are clearer than what shows on youtube, so even if you see the youtube (which I recommend, because it explains what you're seeing and gives other links as well) you might want to look at the stills to...

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. soldiers had a common mental illness, such as depression, panic disorder or ADHD, before enlisting in the Army, according to a new study that raises questions about the military's assessment and screening of recruits. More than 8% of soldiers had thought about killing themselves and 1.1% had a past suicide attempt, researchers found from confidential surveys and interviews with 5,428 soldiers at Army installations across the country. The findings, published online Monday in two papers in JAMA Psychiatry, point to a weakness in the recruiting process, experts said. Applicants are asked about their psychiatric histories,...

I received this morning a heart–rending request for prayers to Saint Dymphna on behalf of a woman who has been suffering from mental illness for many years. Although I cannot reveal the details of the request, I would ask my dear readers, of their charity, to say the following prayer to Saint Dymphna for this suffering handmaid of God.O glorious Saint Dymphna, virgin martyr and chaste bride of Christ, child of Ireland, bereft of thy mother, object of thy grief-stricken father’s unlawful desires, pure dove who, to preserve thy purity, didst fly to foreign shores, dauntless follower of the immolated...

In spite of their advances in education and the workforce anxiety disorders are replacing happiness for American women. Sexual liberation was supposed to bring equality for females that expected fulfillment with the freedom to pursue lust without expecting committed relationships.

Malcolm Ramsey (pictured) won $500 a week for life, after winning the lottery in St. Petersburg, Fla., but he opted for the taxed lump sum of $302,446 after taxes. Four weeks later, the money was reportedly all gone. Now the police have opened an investigation to discover who could be responsible for taking advantage of the mentally challenged man, according to Tampa Bay Times. Ramsey is a paranoid schizophrenic who has been hospitalized repeatedly for his mental illness and lives at an assisted living facility. A court once determined that Ramsey is unable to care for himself — much less...

He touts himself as an educator, psychologist, political scientist and “pan-Africanist.” Those credentials were apparently enough to get Umar Johnson invited to speak at two Portland schools. But now, the District is rescinding the invitation and is calling his words “unacceptable.” Johnson was supposed to speak Thursday about educational issues in the African-American community at the Self Enhancement Inc Academy that contracts with the district, and at Jefferson High School. One day earlier, the Oregonian, showed Portland Public Schools videos on the web where a man identified as Umar Johnson shares his views on gay people. “I see homosexuality as...

Having an unusual personality structure could be the secret to making other people laugh, scientists said on Thursday after research showed that comedians have high levels of psychotic personality traits. In a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed comedians from Australia, Britain and the United States and found they scored significantly higher on four types of psychotic characteristics compared to a control group of people who had non-creative jobs. The traits included a tendency towards impulsive or anti-social behavior, and a tendency to avoid intimacy. "The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those...

A North Carolina family is mourning the loss of their 18 year old son after he was shot and killed by a police officer. Mark Wilsey called 911 for police assistance with his son Keith, who was having a schizophrenic incident and threatened his mother with a small screwdriver. Wilsey said two police officers showed up and were able to subdue Keith, but the arrival of a third officer caused the teen to become agitated, and the officers used a Taser on him. Wilsey told WECT that officers had his son down on the ground after the teen was tased...

Among the thousands of documents Connecticut police released December 27 related to the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary, the contents and files of Adam Lanza's computer include files on mass shootings, mass murders, pedophiles' rights, and a man/boy love story. According to police reports contained within the documents, Lanza's laptop computer contained "hundreds of bookmarks," a number of which were for "mass murder killing spree" and "mass murders." His desktop had a "document written showing the prerequisites for mass murder spreadsheet." Lanza's desktop also had a "document written advocating pedophiles' rights" and a "screenplay or script describing a relationship...

The recently concluded investigation into Newtown killer Adam Lanza revealed that a psychiatrist who treated him as a teen has since surrendered his license. Dr. Paul Fox once held licenses to practice in Connecticut and New York but in 2012 he gave them both up in the face of charges he may have crossed a line in his relationship with a patient. Investigators reached Fox in New Zealand, where he now lives, in a telephone interview told detectives all he remembered about the cold-blooded killer.According to the Danbury News Times, Fox was cited for 'negligence on more than one occasion'...

Wilmington, Del., has a big problem: Large groups of black people are going crazy. And this collective “mental illness” is causing record levels of crime and gun violence in this mostly black town of 70,000. That is the official diagnosis of the city council, which, by unanimous agreement earlier this month, asked the Centers for Disease Control to investigate a wave of psychological mayhem that has turned this historic and once-charming city into an unrecognizable husk of its former self. Chief diagnostician of this crisis in public health is city council member Hanifa G.N. Shabazz: “There is a well known...

Tracy James knew the drug she'd just swallowed was working when her old injuries from high school started twitching with new life. Pressure throbbed from a forgotten busted knee. Her ankle tingled. The fingers she'd sprained roller-skating decades back began to ache. Whatever the 37-year-old had just taken, it shot feeling back into the long-gone ailments. "When I did vomit, it was one of the most amazing moments of my life." For the past 45 minutes, the hut had been dark and silent, the air dripping with jungle moisture. James and nearly 20 others were sitting cross-legged on ornate rugs....

When George W. Bush was president of the United States, many of the left fell prey to what columnist Charles Krauthammer called “Bush Derangement Syndrome”: “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.” With Bush out of office, BDS has waned somewhat. Unfortunately, it has been replaced by a converse condition, just as grave and dangerous to the mental stability of its victims: “Obama Worship Syndrome.” Primarily affecting low-information voters and members of the mainstream media, Obama Worship Syndrome attributes impossible capabilities...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The man accused of faking sign interpretation while standing alongside world leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela's memorial service said Thursday he hallucinated that angels were entering the stadium, has schizophrenia and has been violent in the past. Thamsanqa Jantjie said in a 45-minute interview with The Associated Press that his hallucinations began while he was interpreting and that he tried not to panic because there were "armed policemen around me." He added that he was once hospitalized in a mental health facility for more than one and a half years.....

Florida Megachurch Pastor Commits Suicide By Heather Sells CBN News Reporter Wednesday, December 11, 2013 News reports indicate that Florida megachurch founder Isaac Hunter has taken his life. Altamonte Springs police discovered Hunter's body Tuesday morning in his home, The Orlando Sentinel reported. Hunter, 36, founded Orlando's Summit Church. The non-denominational church eventually grew to five locations. He resigned from his role as lead pastor last year, after admitting to an affair. Hunter is the son of Joel Hunter, another megachurch pastor in Florida and spiritual advisor to the president. His death marks the second time this year that a...

The co-CEO of Archie Comics is being sued for gender discrimination after she allegedly stalked her male colleagues and referred to them as "penis" rather than using their actual names. But Nancy Silberkleit's lawyer says the lawsuit is bogus because white men aren't members of a "protected class," reports the New York Daily News. The $3.25-million lawsuit by five Archie employees alleges Silberkleit used her "gender as a weapon" by yelling "Penis! Penis! Penis!" during a meeting. What's more, the plaintiffs allege she used the term for their names regularly, brought Hells Angels to the office to intimidate them, repeatedly...

The report released by Connecticut yesterday on Adam Lanza’s massacre of 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown makes clear how well we protected his civil rights. The report details his “mental health issues,” which in reality were strong evidence that he had developed a severe mental illness. He had been afflicted with an autism-like syndrome since childhood and had been formally diagnosed with Asperger’s disorder. This diagnosis by itself is not associated with an increased propensity for violent behavior. However, in recent years, Lanza had developed symptoms of a more severe mental illness, which occurs in approximately 5 percent...

An Ohio couple committed a crime when they recently gave child welfare officials a 9-year-old boy they raised from infancy, according to a prosecutor, after they said he was displaying aggressive behavior and threatened the family with a knife. Forty-nine-year-old Cleveland Cox and 52-year-old Lisa Cox pleaded not guilty Wednesday in a Butler County court to charges of nonsupport of dependents. **SNIP** Adolfo Olivas, an attorney appointed by the court to protect the boy's interests, has said the emotionally hurt and confused child is now receiving help that the parents should have gotten for him.

Police admitted that the fatal shooting of a mental patient armed with scissors could have been prevented if the road sergeant equipped with a Taser had been at the scene in time. Michael Eligon, 29, was walking toward police with the weapon and a ‘blank stare’ when he was shot three times by an officer in Toronto, an inquest heard. A chilling video of the dramatic shooting shown to the inquest captured Mr Eligon’s last moments as he walked toward police who had their guns drawn and yelled ‘drop it’ on February 3 last year. Under cross examination, Constable Scott...

Former Virginia governor candidate Creigh Deeds is fighting for his life after he was brutally stabbed by his own 24-year-old son, who then committed suicide - just one day after he was committed to a psychiatric ward. Deeds, a state senator, is in critical condition at University of Virginia hospital after he was found in his home in rural Bath County. Deeds was stabbed multiple times in the head and torso and lost large amounts of blood. The veteran Democratic state legislator's son Gus was found shot dead, as well. Gus had been evaluated by psychiatrists at a mental hospital...

We’re all a teensy bit mad, but how many true psychopaths do we have among us? Apparently, more than you think. “Psychopathy is a personality disorder that has been variously described as characterized by shallow emotions (in particular reduced fear), stress tolerance, lacking empathy, coldheartedness, lacking guilt, egocentricity, superficial character, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, impulsivity, and antisocial behaviors such as parasitic lifestyle and criminality,” explains Eric Barker, in The Week. Now, think about all the people who might fit that description. Then, compare it to the list psychologist Kevin Dutton compiled in The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Police in Washington are reviewing the use of officers' deadly force in the killing of a woman who tried to ram her car through a White House barrier, a shooting her family says was unjustified.

Washington (CNN) -- Authorities investigating why a Connecticut woman rammed barricades and led police on a chase near the U.S. Capitol found medications in her apartment to treat schizophrenia and other mental disorders, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation said Friday

Tuesday morning, seven National Park Service employees were seen erecting and tending to a barricade around the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. One NPS employee was operating a forklift. There usually aren't any NPS employees working at the World War II memorial. A couple hours later, when an Honor Flight of World War II veterans arrived, accompanied by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, the fences blocking the memorial were easily moved away, allowing the veterans to enter. But the barriers are still at the memorial, and they've been reinforced. This morning, I walked by the memorial and...

FULL TITLE: 'She thought President Obama was stalking her': Dental hygienist shot dead after ramming her car into the White House 'suffered delusions due to postpartum depression' The Connecticut mother who was gunned down by police yesterday after ramming a White House barrier with her young daughter in the car thought President Obama was stalking her, law sources said today. Investigators have found indications that Miriam Carey suffered delusions due to a history of mental illness, NBC Connecticut reports. Last night her mother revealed the 34-year-old has suffered from postpartum depression since giving birth to her daughter Erica last year....

Day 4 of shutdown: Vets are going to need wire cutters to visit WWII memorial.The fences/barricades were not wired shut when I was here on Tuesday.

The woman who led authorities on a chase from the White House to the Capitol before she was killed by police may have thought that President Barack Obama was stalking her, law enforcement sources told NBC News. The sources said that the woman, Miriam Carey, had a history of mental health problems. The chase, on Thursday afternoon, stirred panic in the capital and briefly stopped the mechanisms of government. It happened two weeks after a man shot 12 people to death at the Washington Navy Yard. Members of the House and Senate, in a standoff over the government shutdown, were...

Miriam Carey (right), is the woman identified in news reports as the suspect in a shooting incident that left Capitol Hill on lockdown for a brief period Thursday afternoon, and has now reportedly been shot dead by police. This photo is from a newsletter announcing her having been hired as a hygenist at a Connecticut periodontics practice. Advanced Periodontics -ibtimes.com A woman with a one year old child unsuccessfully tried to ram her car through the security gates of the White House today. The police and Secret Service pursued the woman, and even though reports say she was not...

Video at site. 60 Minutes has an interesting segment entitled “Untreated Mental Illness and Imminent Danger?” Except for some stigmatizing language, this is an excellent segment that sums up the serious consequences of replacing psychiatric treatment with incarceration.

In a revelation that has long been rumored about, Hillary will soon announce that she is a bisexual. Story comes complete with two sources. According to Gennifer Flowers, who had an affair with Bill Clinton for many years, Bill told her that Hillary was bisexual. Flowers said that's why she was not surprised when she heard the rumor that Hillary and Huma Abedin were having an affair.

As more details emerge about Alexis, Lieberman said he was concerned that the shooting renews worries for people with mental illness and once again raises questions about how society treats disorders. “I think it immediately arouses fears and enhances stigma about people with mental illness, that they’re psychotic killers and wackos running amok,” Lieberman said. “It’s unfortunate.”

WASHINGTON (AP/WJLA) - The deadly attack at the Washington Navy Yard was carried out by one of the military's own: a defense contract employee and former Navy reservist who used a valid pass to get onto the installation and started firing inside a building, killing 12 people before he was slain in a gun battle with police. Sources also told the Associated Press that Alexis had received treatment for serious mental illness, including "hearing voices." The motive for the mass shooting - the deadliest on a military installation in the U.S. since the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009...

The former Navy reservist who killed 12 people in a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday had exhibited signs of mental illness dating back more than a decade, including a recent episode in which he complained about hearing voices and of people sending “vibrations to his body” to prevent him from sleeping, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Only a month ago, the gunman, Aaron Alexis, 34, was suffering from hallucinations so severe that he called the Newport Police Department in Rhode Island where he told officers he was on business. When officers came to his hotel room...

FULL TITLE: Inside the mind of the Navy Yard killer: 'Paranoid' gunman was being treated for mental illness and was left 'devastated after Thai girlfriend dumped him when she refused to move to the U.S.' Washington Naval Yard gunman Aaron Alexis began treatment for serious mental illness in August as friends of the shooter today revealed he was devastated last year when a Thai girlfriend left him broken-hearted. According to anonymous law enforcement officials, Alexis, 34, sought treatment from the Veterans Administration for paranoia, insomnia and possible schizophrenia just one month before his shooting rampage which claimed the lives of...

onathan and Sarah Adleta's children were doomed to a life of perverse cruelty before they were even born. Jonathan Adleta, a former Marine officer, dreamed of the day he could have "daddy-daughter sex." After Sarah Adleta became pregnant with a daughter, he said he would marry her only if she agreed to let him carry out that desire. When the couple had a son, Sarah Adleta was expected to have sexual encounters with him. In an Orlando federal courtroom this week, prosecutors and witnesses described, in disturbing and graphic detail, the heinous exploitation and abuse the couple's toddlers endured at...

The wish to live life as a woman pushed Lucas to the edge. “I sat my mom down and said ‘Tonight is the night. I’ll kill myself tonight if you don't help me,’” she said. Last year, Katie underwent sex change surgery. Then a pair of unlikely cupids, their moms, set them up on a blind date. Katie said, "I like my mom played match maker, just like every mom she wants to know who their kids are dating."

Consider a polarizing political and cultural figure who is seen by many people as a hero and by others as a traitor – and who has a powerful symbolic importance to members of a persecuted minority. This person adopts a new name and a new identity, which transforms his or her relationship to mainstream culture and confuses both the media and many members of the public. Many people refuse to accept the new name and identity, or treat it as a nickname or a passing fad. At age 25, this person is prosecuted for an act of conscience-driven defiance against...

Bradley Manning, the Army private sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for leaking government files to WikiLeaks, announced Thursday in a statement to NBC's "Today" that he is, as of now, a she: "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to...

Early this morning, Chelsea Manning – who was recently sentenced to 35 years for leaking classified documents – announced to the world that she would be transitioning: "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use...

Convicted Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is scheduled to receive $8,700 per month in government disability pay, as well as a partial federal pension of $45,000. That generous $8,700 in disability comes thanks to Jackson’s sudden development of a “mood disorder” as the federal government began looking to indict him. Jackson, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison, had no history of mental illness during his prior 17 years in Congress. Rev. Jesse Jackson has defended his son’s claims of mental illness, stating to the court, “This time a year ago I thought we may have lost him.”

Watch as this stereotypical California liberal psychopath rattles on about how those who disagree with Obama should be tried for treason. We HAVE to fight or these people will plunge us into a socialist dictatorship we won’t easily free ourselves from. (3 minutes)

Full Title: Revealed: California killer who abducted teenage girl is shot dead in Idaho wilderness 18 years TO THE DAY after his own father committed suicide while holding another 16-year-old hostage James DiMaggio's kidnapping of 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, whom was said to have a 'crush on,' could be a horrific case of history repeating itself, it has been revealed. DiMaggio's father, also named James DiMaggio, shockingly killed himself 18 years ago to the day that DiMaggio was shot dead by an FBI agent in the Idaho wilderness. Hannah was found safe and is expected to be reunited with her father...