Thousands of DC residents chanting “fuck Jeff Bezos” outside of the P Street Whole Foods
BUCKNACKT'S SORDID TAWDRY BLOG We should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive & well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate, bier or wein in hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WHOO-HOO, WHAT A RIDE!!!!!!"
Showing posts with label selfishness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selfishness. Show all posts
30 August 2025
PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE & ( VIDEO )Thousands of DC residents chanting “fuck Jeff Bezos” outside of the P Street Whole Foods 28AUG25
Thousands of DC residents chanting “fuck Jeff Bezos” outside of the P Street Whole Foods
01 June 2025
'Chainsaw to a silk rug': Blindsided Trump voter furious after firing 19FEB25
NO sympathy for this self-centered, selfish, greedy magat cultist, he is reaping what he sowed. I know this story is a few months old but I just saw it and had to share this "sad, sad" story. From Raw Story.....
February 19, 2025 7:21PM ET
A disabled military veteran and information technology technician with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said he was blindsided this week when the Trump administration — whom he voted for — informed him of his termination.
The man, who is from northern Virginia, was fired Monday as part of cuts from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative, WTOP reported. The man, who was not named in the report fearing retaliation, said he was fired on performance grounds despite his military service, disability status and exceptional performance reviews.
“The Agency finds, based on your performance, that you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the Agency would be in the public interest. For this reason, the Agency informs you that the Agency is removing you from your position,” the man was told in an email. “Until the probationary period has been completed,” a probationer has “the burden to demonstrate why it is in the public interest for the Government to finalize an appointment to the civil service for this particular individual.”
The man told WTOP his performance reviews were "all in the range of fours," meaning he was "exceeding expectations." Additionally, he was described by a supervisor as a "leader" who "demonstrated professionalism" in his core skills.
The man's family has contacted their Congressional lawmakers and their union.
"I voted for Donald Trump. But this is not what I was expecting,” he told the outlet. “We didn’t think they were going to take a chainsaw to a silk rug.”
While the man's wife said she recognizes the need for "a lot of cuts, she felt "this is not the one that you think will happen to your family."
DOGE has boasted of saving $55 billion since its inception — a number that has faced questions from analysts scrutinizing the group's receipts — through "fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings."
DOGE lists cuts at the independent U.S. Agency for International Development as No. 1 in "total contract savings," followed by the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management.
Daniel Hampton
Dan is a senior editor at Raw Story based in Colorado, producing and editing breaking political news.
23 May 2025
A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts 21MAI25
These farmers are getting exactly what they voted for. I have no sympathy for them at all, they only whined about how difficult things are for them now but didn't express any concern about how NOT MY pres drumpf's / trump's, NOT MY pres musk's, NOT MY vp vance's, their administration's and the gop / greed over people-republican's policies and legislation is disrupting and damaging the lives of tens of millions of people across this country. From the Washington Post.....
A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts
LEAVENWORTH, Kan.
In the dawn light at his first farmers market of the year, Jacob Thomas set out lush Bibb lettuce he’d cut just hours before, plump stalks of green and purple asparagus and coolers with 60 dozen blue and brown-speckled eggs.
Soon the downtown market would fill with customers he hadn’t seen since fall, when he and his wife, Jennifer, were making ambitious plans for the future. So much now depended on these customers. The young couple had taken a 10 percent hit when the Trump administration abruptly cut $1 billion from two programs that supplied local produce and meat to schools and food banks across the country. Robust sales here would help offset that $8,000 loss.
There have been other blows, too, which collectively have put the Thomases’ small farm operation — always just barely making it — on even shakier financial footing.
Plans for a new warehouse and an expansion of their farm store are up in the air because of the administration pausing, then unpausing a $750,000 federal agriculture grant. They plowed up a spot for a new greenhouse only to learn that another grant for $8,000 would never come. They worry that 2,000 chrysanthemum cuttings ordered from Canada will be ensnared in the countries’ tariff dispute.
A third-generation farmer, Jacob and his family are mainstays in this community near the Fort Leavenworth Army installation where they grow vegetables on 15 acres, as well as other crops — mostly hay to feed their cattle and sheep — on more than 500 acres. On their wedding day 11 years ago, he and Jennifer rode the biggest tractor they could borrow through the main street from the chapel to the reception, the bride sitting shotgun in her flowing dress.
But a decade of farming has taken a toll, and last fall Jacob began treatment for depression and anxiety. Sometimes, when the stress feels overwhelming, he can barely eat.
“The financial insecurity makes my depression worse,” he said recently. He was trying to remain optimistic, reminding himself that it was still early in the year and “just because one program went away, there’s still plenty of time to pivot.”
Though the Thomases and many of their neighbors voted for Donald Trump last November, the consequences of his administration’s wide-ranging cuts and uncertainty over tariffs have already had a profound impact on this hilly corner of northeast Kansas — one of the hardest-hit states for agriculture during Trump’s last trade war. For many, the pride they felt when the president spoke of his love for farmers in his March 6 address to Congress has given way to a growing sense of helplessness, frustration and anger.
“For every farmer I’ve talked to, this has been earth-shattering and life-changing,” said Bryan Zesiger, a winemaker and former Republican state Senate candidate who runs a tasting room just steps from the farmers market. “I don’t know what they were supposed to achieve, but from our perspective, you just hurt a lot of people.”
As the sun rose, the first customers began trickling by the Thomases’ stand. One, an octogenarian who has known Jacob for over a decade, asked about the farm as she bought a dozen large eggs ($6) and a pound of hamburger ($7.99).
How are things going? she asked.
“Oh, it got caught up in all the grants being paused,” Jacob replied. “Now we’re trying to restart. … Fun times!”
The mayor pro tem of Leavenworth, Nancy Bauder, stopped and bought some spring onions.
“I’m glad to see you’re here,” she said. She had heard that another longtime local farmer was preparing to sell out. Jacob had heard the same, but he’s determined to keep going.
“C’mon, piggies!” Jacob called from the middle of a muddy pen. He and two farmhands were trying to load 23 Berkshire and Duroc pigs — some weighing over 300 pounds — into a trailer to take to the processing plant. Their bristle-haired subjects squealed, protested and slipped away from the open door.
“Dad, can you do anything about that pig or not?” Jacob asked his father, Dale, who was leaning up against the fence. Dale swatted the wayward one on its hindquarters with a stick. “C’mon, pigs, join your brethren and sistren,” Jacob urged, pushing the rest into the trailer.
It was one of the first brilliant and sunny days of spring at JET Produce and Meats, located on land that has been in the family for 70 years. The American flag on the farm store’s sign spiraled in the stiff breeze, and daughters Lisa and Sarah, ages 6 and 4, were playing nearby. Lambs dozed in their pens. Goliath, the calf Dale was bottle-feeding, cried for more milk. The rest of the cattle were scattered in an emerald field across the road.
Jacob planted his first vegetable garden while he was still in high school, but he didn’t begin raising vegetables in earnest until he was a student at Iowa State University and fell in love with horticulture. He wanted to feed people.
His wife, by contrast, was a military brat who thought she would become a chemical engineer. Jennifer mustered up the courage to ask Jacob out the day after they graduated from high school — figuring she had nothing to lose. (“I like you” was her opening line.)
The two took over principal management of the business in 2014, though Dale and his wife, Kris, remain active, with him working full-time and her managing one of the stands they have in weekend farmers markets in three nearby towns. The older couple live next door and cook dinner for the family every Friday and Sunday.
“It’s like a postcard of what it should be,” said Austin Reynolds, a fellow farmer, neighbor and friend.
The Thomases’ farm is beloved in the community, with more than 7,500 fans on its Facebook page. A recent hot debate was what to name the frog who had taken up residence in the potting shed. (Answer: Potter.)
The operation has never been very profitable, however.
“We’re barely making it,” said Jacob, 33. “Our idea of an extravagant vacation is going to Omaha to the zoo.”
He grows the food, and Jennifer, who’s 34, figures out how to market it — a puzzle she has normally been eager to solve. Yet lately the financial pressures have “gotten to the point where we don’t talk about it in front of our kids,” she said.
Before this year, Washington, D.C., felt remote, and the goings-on in the federal government during various administrations never really affected the family’s operation. Jacob considers himself a Republican but “very much dislikes Trump” and previously supported challengers like former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He reluctantly voted for Trump last fall, seeing him as “the lesser of two evils.”
The first big blow of 2025 came right after Trump’s inauguration, when the president issued an executive order pausing billions of dollars in federal grants, including that $750,000 award that was part of an effort to bolster resilient food systems. The new warehouse Jacob and Jennifer planned to build could have more than doubled their vegetable output and also served as a hub for smaller farmers nearby. They also hoped to expand the farm store on their property, where they sell their meats and produce, plus homemade pies, local cheese and honey from local businesses.
They later learned that the grant was reinstated, but the project remains in limbo due to rising construction costs, a disrupted building schedule and doubts over whether Jacob can secure his part of the financing.
The whole episode stung, particularly since they got little response when they asked for help from the Kansans in Congress. That included Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican who had visited their farm on a campaign stop and surprised everyone when he pulled an onion out of the ground, wiped it on his pants and took a big bite of it. The only politician who listened was Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat from the Kansas City area who isn’t even their representative.
The second blow came shortly after Trump addressed Congress, asking for Americans’ patience during the “adjustment period” of tariff negotiations while predicting that “our farmers are going to have a field day right now.”
Only days later, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would be axing the funding for the programs that purchased local produce, eggs and meat for the country’s schools and food pantries. In the state of Kansas alone, producers are out $2.6 million this year.
The funding last year comprised 65 percent of sales for the 30 or so farmers in the Kansas City Food Hub cooperative, who are now scrambling to find other markets. The Thomases hope to link with a new grocery store.
“Historically, if you got a government contract, we’re golden, because the government always pays,” Jacob said.
“It might take a long time, but they do pay,” Jennifer added.
“Today I don’t feel that way,” Jacob said. “For the first time in my life, I don’t trust the government is going to follow through on their word.”
The family also lost 640 acres that Jacob’s father had rented from a neighbor for 45 years when that other landowner ended the arrangement with little explanation. Jacob was so upset he couldn’t eat for two days.
“There’s a lot of truly stressful days. A lot of days. What else can happen?” Dale said as he drove with Jacob to the processing facility, the unlucky pigs jostling in the back. “When people ask how we’re doing, it’s like, ‘Do you want the truth or what we tell people?’”
Earlier in the day, father and son had gone into Leavenworth to put out the farmers market sign at the place on the downtown sidewalk where they set up on Saturdays every year.
“I can’t believe you’ve been doing this for 10 years,” Dale said.
“I thought it would be easier by now,” Jacob said.
The market’s opening day was a success, Jacob said as he totaled up the take from the register and cash box.
They’d sold about $1,800 — “very promising,” he said — with customers purchasing dozens of $5 herbs and perennials, as well as $20 everblooming strawberry plants and $25 hanging flower baskets.
If business keeps up like this, he calculated, they might be able to make up the $8,000 hole in their budget from the loss of the USDA funding that bought food for pantries and schools.
He and Jennifer also had gotten other good news in recent days: Separate funding aimed at bringing fresh produce to a low-income housing complex in Kansas City had not been terminated as feared. Plus they’d gotten a lead on land to rent from a different neighbor who was retiring.
Still, they had barely made a dent in the 60 dozen eggs, with only eight dozen sold. Oh well, Jacob thought as he reloaded the unsold eggs in the trailer to return home. Maybe their farm store would be busy later.
About this story
Editing by Susan Levine. Photo editing by Natalia Jimenez. Design and development by Madison Walls.
Annie GowenAnnie Gowen is a correspondent for The Post's National desk. She was the India bureau chief from 2013 to 2018. Ricky CariotiRicky Carioti is an award-winning photographer and has worked for The Washington Post since 2002.
11 March 2018
06 May 2017
PROFILES IN COURAGE
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
04 November 2016
Narcissistic Personality Disorder, A CLOSE LOOK AT DONALD DRUMPF/TRUMP (AND WHY HE SHOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT) 20OKT16
THIS is not a vicious attack on drumpf/trump just because I am supporting and voting for Hillary Clinton-Tim Kaine. A mental illness is not something to make fun of, but it is also irresponsible to allow someone who suffers from a mental health problem to deceive and manipulate voters and be elected president. Consider this from +The Daily Conversation and Halcyon.com....
Is Donald Trump mentally ill?
Published on Oct 20, 2016
I compare the official diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, with the well-documented disturbing behavior of the Republican Party's presidential nominee.
Subscribe to TDC: https://www.youtube.com/TheDailyConve...
Subscribe to TDC: https://www.youtube.com/TheDailyConve...
The DSM-IV-R1 provides the following set of diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
- Has grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
- Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
- Believes that he or she is �special� and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
- Requires excessive admiration
- Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
- Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
- Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
- Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
- Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
The person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder has
- vulnerable self- esteem
- reacts intensely to perceived humiliation
- experiences feelings of emptiness
- outwardly appears disdainful of criticism and defeat
In the workplace, this individual may experience difficulties due to their intolerance for criticism and competition.
Although they may appear self-confident, even haughty, this person may
- be inwardly experiencing feelings of deep shame
- subject themselves to severe self-criticism
- be prone to withdraw socially due to fear of competition and/or criticism
Ronningstam2 and Cooper3 both describe a number of commonly seen clinical presentations of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Click on these links to learn more about
The Arrogant/Overt Narcissist The Shy/Covert Narcissist
For a chart comparing the DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-IV-R diagnostic criteria for NPD, click here
Click on the note number to return to where you were above; click on the author's name to go to the bibliographic entry
While grandiosity is the diagnostic hallmark of pathological narcissism, there is research evidence that pathological narcissism occurs in two forms, (a) a grandiose state of mind in young adults that can be corrected by life experiences, and (b) the stable disorder described in DSM-IV, which is defined less by grandiosity than by severely disturbed interpersonal relations.
The preferred theory seems to be that narcissism is caused by very early affective deprivation, yet the clinical material tends to describe narcissists as unwilling rather than unable, thus treating narcissistic behaviors as volitional -- that is, narcissism is termed a personality disorder, but it tends to be discussed as a character disorder. This distinction is important to prognosis and treatment possibilities. If NPD is caused by infantile damage and consequent developmental short-circuits, it probably represents an irremediable condition. On the other hand, if narcissism is a behavior pattern that's learned, then there is some hope, however tenuous, that it's a behavior pattern that can be unlearned. The clinical literature on NPD is highly theoretical, abstract, and general, with sparse case material, suggesting that clinical writers have little experience with narcissism in the flesh. There are several reasons for this to be so:
-- The incidence of NPD is estimated at 1% in the general population, though I haven't been able to discover the basis of this estimate.
-- Narcissists rarely enter treatment and, once in treatment, progress very slowly. We're talking about two or more years of frequent sessions before the narcissist can acknowledge even that the therapist is sometimes helpful. It's difficult to keep narcissists in treatment long enough for improvement to be made -- and few people, narcissists or not, have the motivation or the money to pursue treatment that produces so little so late.
-- Because of the influence of third-party payers (insurance companies), there has been a strong trend towards short-term therapy that concentrates on ameliorating acute troubles, such as depression, rather than delving into underlying chronic problems. Narcissists are very reluctant to open up and trust, so it's possible that their NPD is not even recognized by therapists in short-term treatment. Purely anecdotal evidence from correspondents and from observations of people I know indicates that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, such as Prozac, aggravate narcissists' grandiosity and lack of social inhibition. It has also been suggested that self-help literature about bolstering self-esteem and getting what you want out of life or that encourages the feeling of victimization has aggravating effects on NPD thinking and behavior.
-- Most clinical writers seem unaware that narcissists' self-reports are unreliable. This is troubling, considering that lying is the most common complaint about narcissists and that, in many instances, defects of empathy lead narcissists to wildly inaccurate misinterpretations of other people's speech and actions, so that they may believe that they are liked and respected despite a history of callous and exploitative personal interactions.
The preferred theory seems to be that narcissism is caused by very early affective deprivation, yet the clinical material tends to describe narcissists as unwilling rather than unable, thus treating narcissistic behaviors as volitional -- that is, narcissism is termed a personality disorder, but it tends to be discussed as a character disorder. This distinction is important to prognosis and treatment possibilities. If NPD is caused by infantile damage and consequent developmental short-circuits, it probably represents an irremediable condition. On the other hand, if narcissism is a behavior pattern that's learned, then there is some hope, however tenuous, that it's a behavior pattern that can be unlearned. The clinical literature on NPD is highly theoretical, abstract, and general, with sparse case material, suggesting that clinical writers have little experience with narcissism in the flesh. There are several reasons for this to be so:
-- The incidence of NPD is estimated at 1% in the general population, though I haven't been able to discover the basis of this estimate.
-- Narcissists rarely enter treatment and, once in treatment, progress very slowly. We're talking about two or more years of frequent sessions before the narcissist can acknowledge even that the therapist is sometimes helpful. It's difficult to keep narcissists in treatment long enough for improvement to be made -- and few people, narcissists or not, have the motivation or the money to pursue treatment that produces so little so late.
-- Because of the influence of third-party payers (insurance companies), there has been a strong trend towards short-term therapy that concentrates on ameliorating acute troubles, such as depression, rather than delving into underlying chronic problems. Narcissists are very reluctant to open up and trust, so it's possible that their NPD is not even recognized by therapists in short-term treatment. Purely anecdotal evidence from correspondents and from observations of people I know indicates that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, such as Prozac, aggravate narcissists' grandiosity and lack of social inhibition. It has also been suggested that self-help literature about bolstering self-esteem and getting what you want out of life or that encourages the feeling of victimization has aggravating effects on NPD thinking and behavior.
-- Most clinical writers seem unaware that narcissists' self-reports are unreliable. This is troubling, considering that lying is the most common complaint about narcissists and that, in many instances, defects of empathy lead narcissists to wildly inaccurate misinterpretations of other people's speech and actions, so that they may believe that they are liked and respected despite a history of callous and exploitative personal interactions.
| [from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, 1994, commonly referred to as DSM-IV, of the American Psychiatric Association. European countries use the diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization.]A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.[jma: NPD first appeared in DSM-III in 1980; before that time there had been no formal diagnostic description. Additionally, there is considerable overlap between personality disorders and clinicians tend to diagnose mixes of two or more. Grandiosity is a special case, but lack of empathy and exploitative interpersonal relations are not unique to NPD, nor is the need to be seen as special or unique. The differential diagnosis of NPD is made on the absence of specific gross behaviors. Borderline Personality Disorder has several conspicuous similarities to NPD, but BPD is characterized by self-injury and threatened or attempted suicide, whereas narcissists are rarely self-harming in this way. BPD may include psychotic breaks, and these are uncharacteristic of NPD but not unknown. The need for constant attention is also found in Histrionic Personality Disorder, but HPD and BPD are both strongly oriented towards relationships, whereas NPD is characterized by aloofness and avoidance of intimacy. Grandiosity is unique to NPD among personality disorders, but it is found in other psychiatric illnesses. Psychopaths display pathological narcissism, including grandiosity, but psychopathy is differentiated from NPD by psychopaths' willingness to use physical violence to get what they want, whereas narcissists rarely commit crimes; the narcissists I've known personally are, in fact, averse to physical contact with others, though they will occasionally strike out in an impulse of rage. It has been found that court-ordered psychotherapy for psychopaths actually increases their recidivism rate; apparently treatment teaches psychopaths new ways to exploit other people. Bipolar illness also contains strong elements of grandiosity. See more on grandiosity and empathy and its lack below.]The disorder begins by early adulthood and is indicated by at least five of the following: |
Translation: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior that shows up in thinking and behavior in a lot of different situations and activities. People with NPD won't (or can't) change their behavior even when it causes problems at work or when other people complain about the way they act, or when their behavior causes a lot of emotional distress to others (or themselves? none of my narcissists ever admit to being distressed by their own behavior -- they always blame other people for any problems). This pattern of self-centered or egotistical behavior is not caused by current drug or alcohol use, head injury, acute psychotic episodes, or any other illness, but has been going on steadily at least since adolescence or early adulthood.
NPD interferes with people's functioning in their occupations and in their relationships:
Mild impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in occasional minor problems, but the person is generally doing pretty well.
Moderate impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) missing days from work, household duties, or school, (b) significant performance problems as a wage-earner, homemaker, or student, (c) frequently avoiding or alienating friends, (d) significant risk of harming self or others (frequent suicidal preoccupation; often neglecting family, or frequently abusing others or committing criminal acts).
Severe impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) staying in bed all day, (b) totally alienating all friends and family, (c) severe risk of harming self or others (failing to maintain personal hygiene; persistent danger of suicide, abuse, or crime).
NPD interferes with people's functioning in their occupations and in their relationships:
Mild impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in occasional minor problems, but the person is generally doing pretty well.
Moderate impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) missing days from work, household duties, or school, (b) significant performance problems as a wage-earner, homemaker, or student, (c) frequently avoiding or alienating friends, (d) significant risk of harming self or others (frequent suicidal preoccupation; often neglecting family, or frequently abusing others or committing criminal acts).
Severe impairment when self-centered or egotistical behavior results in: (a) staying in bed all day, (b) totally alienating all friends and family, (c) severe risk of harming self or others (failing to maintain personal hygiene; persistent danger of suicide, abuse, or crime).
| 1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements) |
Translation: Grandiosity is the hallmark of narcissism. So what is grandiose?
The simplest everyday way that narcissists show their exaggerated sense of self-importance is by talking about family, work, life in general as if there is nobody else in the picture. Whatever they may be doing, in their own view, they are the star, and they give the impression that they are bearing heroic responsibility for their family or department or company, that they have to take care of everything because their spouses or co-workers are undependable, uncooperative, or otherwise unfit. They ignore or denigrate the abilities and contributions of others and complain that they receive no help at all; they may inspire your sympathy or admiration for their stoicism in the face of hardship or unstinting self-sacrifice for the good of (undeserving) others. But this everyday grandiosity is an aspect of narcissism that you may never catch on to unless you visit the narcissist's home or workplace and see for yourself that others are involved and are pulling their share of the load and, more often than not, are also pulling the narcissist's share as well. An example is the older woman who told me with a sigh that she knew she hadn't been a perfect mother but she just never had any help at all -- and she said this despite knowing that I knew that she had worn out and discarded two devoted husbands and had lived in her parents' pocket (and pocketbook) as long as they lived, quickly blowing her substantial inheritance on flaky business schemes. Another example is claiming unusual benefits or spectacular results from ordinary effort and investment, giving the impression that somehow the narcissist's time and money are worth more than other people's. [Here is an article about recognizing and coping with narcissism in the workplace; it is rather heavy on management jargon and psychobabble, but worth reading. "The Impact of Narcissism on Leadership and Sustainability" by Bruce Gregory, Ph.D. "When the narcissistic defense is operating in an interpersonal or group setting, the grandiose part does not show its face in public. In public it presents a front of patience, congeniality, and confident reasonableness."]
In popular usage, the terms narcissism, narcissist, and narcissistic denote absurd vanity and are applied to people whose ambitions and aspirations are much grander than their evident talents. Sometimes these terms are applied to people who are simply full of themselves -- even when their real achievements are spectacular. Outstanding performers are not always modest, but they aren't grandiose if their self-assessments are realistic; e.g., Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, was notorious for boasting "I am the greatest!" and also pointing out that he was the prettiest, but he was the greatest and the prettiest for a number of years, so his self-assessments weren't grandiose. Some narcissists are flamboyantly boastful and self-aggrandizing, but many are inconspicuous in public, saving their conceit and autocratic opinions for their nearest and dearest. Common conspicuous grandiose behaviors include expecting special treatment or admiration on the basis of claiming (a) to know important, powerful or famous people or (b) to be extraordinarily intelligent or talented. As a real-life example, I used to have a neighbor who told his wife that he was the youngest person since Sir Isaac Newton to take a doctorate at Oxford. The neighbor gave no evidence of a world-class education, so I looked up Newton and found out that Newton had completed his baccalaureate at the age of twenty-two (like most people) and spent his entire academic career at Cambridge. The grandiose claims of narcissists are superficially plausible fabrications, readily punctured by a little critical consideration. The test is performance: do they deliver the goods? (There's also the special situation of a genius who's also strongly narcissistic, as perhaps Frank Lloyd Wright. Just remind yourself that the odds are that you'll meet at least 1000 narcissists for every genius you come across.) [More on grandiosity.]
| 2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love |
Translation: Narcissists cultivate solipsistic or "autistic" fantasies, which is to say that they live in their own little worlds (and react with affront when reality dares to intrude).
| 3. Believes he is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions) |
Translation: Narcissists think that everyone who is not special and superior is worthless. By definition, normal, ordinary, and average aren't special and superior, and so, to narcissists, they are worthless.
| 4. Requires excessive admiration |
Translation: Excessive in two ways: they want praise, compliments, deference, and expressions of envy all the time, and they want to be told that everything they do is better than what others can do. Sincerity is not an issue here; all that matter are frequency and volume.
| 5. Has a sense of entitlement |
Translation: They expect automatic compliance with their wishes or especially favorable treatment, such as thinking that they should always be able to go first and that other people should stop whatever they're doing to do what the narcissists want, and may react with hurt or rage when these expectations are frustrated.
| 6. Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends |
Translation: Narcissists use other people to get what they want without caring about the cost to the other people.
| 7. Lacks empathy |
Translation: They are unwilling to recognize or sympathize with other people's feelings and needs. They "tune out" when other people want to talk about their own problems.
In clinical terms, empathy is the ability to recognize and interpret other people's emotions. Lack of empathy may take two different directions: (a) accurate interpretation of others' emotions with no concern for others' distress, which is characteristic of psychopaths; and (b) the inability to recognize and accurately interpret other people's emotions, which is the NPD style. This second form of defective empathy may (rarely) go so far as alexithymia, or no words for emotions, and is found with psychosomatic illnesses, i.e., medical conditions in which emotion is experienced somatically rather than psychically. People with personality disorders don't have the normal body-ego identification and regard their bodies only instrumentally, i.e., as tools to use to get what they want, or, in bad states, as torture chambers that inflict on them meaningless suffering. Self-described narcissists who've written to me say that they are aware that their feelings are different from other people's, mostly that they feel less, both in strength and variety (and which the narcissists interpret as evidence of their own superiority); some narcissists report "numbness" and the inability to perceive meaning in other people's emotions.
In clinical terms, empathy is the ability to recognize and interpret other people's emotions. Lack of empathy may take two different directions: (a) accurate interpretation of others' emotions with no concern for others' distress, which is characteristic of psychopaths; and (b) the inability to recognize and accurately interpret other people's emotions, which is the NPD style. This second form of defective empathy may (rarely) go so far as alexithymia, or no words for emotions, and is found with psychosomatic illnesses, i.e., medical conditions in which emotion is experienced somatically rather than psychically. People with personality disorders don't have the normal body-ego identification and regard their bodies only instrumentally, i.e., as tools to use to get what they want, or, in bad states, as torture chambers that inflict on them meaningless suffering. Self-described narcissists who've written to me say that they are aware that their feelings are different from other people's, mostly that they feel less, both in strength and variety (and which the narcissists interpret as evidence of their own superiority); some narcissists report "numbness" and the inability to perceive meaning in other people's emotions.
| 8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him |
Translation: No translation needed.
| 9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes |
Translation: They treat other people like dirt.
| [Some descriptions and explanations on this page are based on material from What is a personality disorder? by Paul J. Hannig, Ph.D., The Online Journal of Psychiatry, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and (defunct) Internet Mental Health questionnaire for diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. For a firsthand account of what it's like to have NPD, see "Malignant Self-Love - Narcissism Re-visited" by Shmuel (Sam) Vaknin, Ph.D.] |
16 August 2012
Ayn Rand on Johnny Carson: make this go viral 14AUG12 & Ayn Rand Was an Illegal Immigrant 14FEB12
HERE is an expose on rep paul ryan's hero ayn rand. Share his admiration for this selfish, greedy, callous, crude and crass illegal immigrant (she was, see below and consider all the conservative ballyhoo about Pres Obama's executive order for Dreamers) with everyone you can, because the romney-ryan cabal is intent on imposing her destructive and divisive philosophy on the entire nation....
I just stumbled upon an article in Salon published today by David Haglund:
Did You See This? Ayn Rand on Johnny Carson
In it is a two part video uploaded to YouTube by warpicachu of Johnny Carson interview Ayn Rand in depth on her philosophy. It's amazing, the absolute kiss of death to the Ryan/Romney ticket.
She explains the core concept of her teaching, the central value, which is selfishness.
Did You See This? Ayn Rand on Johnny Carson
In it is a two part video uploaded to YouTube by warpicachu of Johnny Carson interview Ayn Rand in depth on her philosophy. It's amazing, the absolute kiss of death to the Ryan/Romney ticket.
She explains the core concept of her teaching, the central value, which is selfishness.
Ayn Rand and Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1967
Ayn Rand is back in the news this week, thanks to Mitt Romney's
selection of Paul Ryan as the GOP's VP nominee. As David Weigel explains
elsewhere in Slate, Ryan's longtime (albeit partly disavowed) devotion to Rand could have consequences for American monetary policy if he and Romney are elected—while Rand's strident atheism may cause problems for Ryan on the campaign trail if reporters choose to bring it up.
What may get lost in this high-toned Rand discussion is just how much
a part of popular culture she was in her own lifetime. Lest we forget,
the YouTube user warpicachu has uploaded her long 1967 interview with
Johnny Carson in two parts. Besides hearing Rand distill her philosophy
into a few TV-friendly sentences, you'll also get another glimpse at late-night talk shows as they used to be. "We do like to sit down occasionally," Carson says, "and get some views of people who are important in the world today."
See the videos below the fold, and enjoy.
PART 1
PART 2
There's so much I could pull out from these videos and quote to you from what this evil woman says... but I just don't know where to begin... every comment she makes is a new ad for the Obama campaign.
Remember, Paul Ryan made Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged required reading for all his staff and interns! What will the "values voters" say if they know just exactly what his philosophy espouses.
LET'S MAKE THIS GO VIRAL!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/14/1120166/-Ayn-Rand-on-Johnny-Carson-make-this-go-viral
Earlier this month was the birthday of Ayn Rand, the
controversial philosopher and novelist, who emigrated from the
Soviet Union in 1926. Regardless of what one thinks of her ideas,
there is no denying that she was a great American. When the
American intelligentsia was playing footsie with Soviet communism,
Rand unabashedly defended liberty and individual rights, America’s
core values, famously declaring: “[The] United States of America is
the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principles,
the only moral country in the history of the world.”
But this proud naturalized American, who arguably did more than
any contemporary figure to restore the faith of Americans in
America, might have been hounded out of the country if one of our
current crop of Republican hopefuls had been president when she
arrived. Why? Because Rand lied and bent every rule to gain entry
into the United States.
As a vehement anti-Bolshevist, she knew that she would die waiting in line if she applied for permission to permanently relocate to America, although that’s exactly what she intended to do. Temporary tourist visas were easier to land, but only for those who could prove they didn’t plan to settle here. So what did Rand do? She committed perjury. She convinced an American visa officer that she had a fiancé waiting for her in Russia whom she intended to marry after a six-month visit with her relatives in Chicago.
But Rand instead married an American citizen in 1929, gaining a path to citizenship. According to Mimi Gladstein’s biography, Rand timed her wedding before her visa, which she had gotten extended, finally expired.
However, others doubt that Uncle Sam would have handed a three-year extension to a Russian passport holder, raising suspicions that Rand might have been—gasp!—an illegal immigrant when she got married.
http://reason.com/archives/2012/02/14/ayn-rand-was-an-illegal-immigrant
PART 2
There's so much I could pull out from these videos and quote to you from what this evil woman says... but I just don't know where to begin... every comment she makes is a new ad for the Obama campaign.
Remember, Paul Ryan made Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged required reading for all his staff and interns! What will the "values voters" say if they know just exactly what his philosophy espouses.
LET'S MAKE THIS GO VIRAL!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/14/1120166/-Ayn-Rand-on-Johnny-Carson-make-this-go-viral
Ayn Rand Was an Illegal Immigrant
According to today's anti-immigration Republicans, the Russian-born novelist should have returned to Soviet tyranny. 14FEB12
NOTE, the opinion expressed about ayn rand being a great American is that of the author of this piece, included here only to show this darling of the right wing gop / tea-baggers was in fact an illegal immigrant!As a vehement anti-Bolshevist, she knew that she would die waiting in line if she applied for permission to permanently relocate to America, although that’s exactly what she intended to do. Temporary tourist visas were easier to land, but only for those who could prove they didn’t plan to settle here. So what did Rand do? She committed perjury. She convinced an American visa officer that she had a fiancé waiting for her in Russia whom she intended to marry after a six-month visit with her relatives in Chicago.
But Rand instead married an American citizen in 1929, gaining a path to citizenship. According to Mimi Gladstein’s biography, Rand timed her wedding before her visa, which she had gotten extended, finally expired.
However, others doubt that Uncle Sam would have handed a three-year extension to a Russian passport holder, raising suspicions that Rand might have been—gasp!—an illegal immigrant when she got married.
http://reason.com/archives/2012/02/14/ayn-rand-was-an-illegal-immigrant
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