http://www.jmblog.com JMBlog - the web journal of Jere Matlock. Fresh viewpoints on a wide range of subjects. Opinions, essays, observations. Thu, 08 May 2008 16:45:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I admit it, I'm a fan of Tom Cruise. Ever since Top Gun, anyway. I didn't care much for Risky Business. And now Tom is back on Oprah's couch. He's not jumping for joy this time, but he is celebrating 25 years of being a leading actor in ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/05/06/tom-cruise-celebrates-25th-anniversary-of-risky-business-release/ When I see the news with its talk of ruin, injustice, inequities (and iniquities) and failures in the world, it all seems very "gloom and doom". Terrorism, the rise of militant Islam in the world, the impossibly high cost of health care, the high taxes, the unemployment, the failing ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/24/these-are-not-dark-days/ The group Downsize DC has put up a good quote from Thomas Jefferson about taxes, which I'm adopting and putting on my quotes page:"We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/24/tax-freedom-day-thomas-jefferson-quote/ Global warming is happening - there's little controversy over that (although with snow here in Oregon in mid April, it's sometimes hard to believe that other areas are warming up enough to average it out). There's a lot of controversy over how much, and to what degree it is ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/22/global-warming-test/ This trailer for a new movie, called "Generation Rx" is generating some buzz. The movie itself has already garnered some great reviews. Paul Haggis called the film "A powerful and often chilling eye opener. The stories continue to haunt me." The film will be released within ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/19/generation-rx/ I rarely post humor. Something about Gaping Void (cartoons from Hugh MacLeod, a cartoonist currently living in Alpine, Texas) got me laughing. There's not enough of some kinds of laughter in the world, and too much of the laughter out there is mean-spirited. This cartoonist seems to ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/18/humor/ Just a couple of weeks ago our grandkids were building little snowmen after what was probably the last snowfall of the season: It seems like Spring only arrived yesterday, in that we haven't had to have a fire going in the woodstove the last couple of days. That's a lovely ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/12/spring-is-here-at-last/ A new hard-hitting anti-psych video from CCHR, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, of which I've been a member since 1972, highlights the firm link between school shootings and the drugs that the shooters were on. Drugs like Ritalin and Prozac ARE the reason these school shootings are taking ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/06/prescription-for-violence-psych-drugs-causing-school-shootings/ This article from London's Daily Telegraph reports that a psychiatrist often picked by the BBC as a talking head Tonmoy Sharma is being struck off the medical register for fraud and misconduct, including pretending to be a PhD when he wasn't. After a ten-month hearing process, he was found ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/04/03/bbc-psychiatrist-tonmoy-sharma-is-found-guilty-of-serious-professional-misconduct/ Received a funny email today about Caffeine-related disorders.In the clinician's handbook for diagnosing mental disorders (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM-IV-TR), caffeine-related disorders are classified under the category of substance-related disorders. DSM-IV-TR specifies four caffeine-related disorders: caffeine intoxication caffeine-induced anxiety disorder caffeine-induced sleep disorder caffeine related disorder not ... http://www.jmblog.com/2008/03/28/caffeine-related-disorder/