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This seemingly somnambulistic behavioral pattern as exhibited by many Lebanese when it comes to civil rights may in large be due to what psychologists refer to as dissociation.
Dissociation is “an adaptive defense in response to high stress or trauma characterized by short or long term memory loss and a sense of disconnection from oneself or one’s surroundings.” (After all how many times have we questioned our attention span and our collective memory?) According to Marlene Steinberg and Maxine Schnall, the authors of “The Stranger in the Mirror: Dissociation – The Hidden Epidemic,” dissociation is a defense mechanism employed to detach oneself from the emotional stimuli that victims have been or are continuously being exposed to. In other terms, it helps us cope with stressful situations, which may otherwise feel overwhelming.
Dissociation can happen in varying degrees, from mild to aggressive. In fact it is so wide-ranging that many of us remain oblivious to our very own dissociation -a vital part of our ingrained survival system. Ever driven a car to a destination only to realize upon arriving that you cannot remember a large part of your trip? That’s mild dissociation; a disconnection from part of oneself to the environment.
In Lebanon, anecdotal evidence suggests that this pattern seems to have been adopted as the general mode de vie, whereby even the most abhorrent of circumstances can just make their way into becoming another addition to the myriad problems already at hand. As a result, a feeling of powerlessness ensues. It’s a vicious cycle that feeds itself.
Dissociation and PTSD; past and present:
Dissociation is a sub-type of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event and most commonly diagnosed in war veterans. Several studies indicate that a significant part of the Lebanese population who lived through the 1975-1990 Civil War carry the trauma of the bloody years that saw the killing of over 250,000 civilians and thousands of forced disappearances.
According to studies, rates of PTSD and depression reach a staggering 30% in some areas, affecting many children and adolescents as well as adults. PTSD may delay developmental processes by causing regression, dependence on substance abuse and dissociation, putting the brain in a perpetual state of self-defense.
When the brain is in defense mode it exhibits symptoms that include amnesia (loss of memory for short or long periods of time), depersonalization (feeling detached from one’s body or one’s emotions), derealization (feeling detached from one’s surroundings or people), identity confusion (uncertainty, conflict about who you are), and identity alteration (alterations in personality and behavior).
Sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?
Dissociation reduces motivation:
As mentioned above, dissociation occurs when confrontation with overwhelming experience from which actual escape is not possible alters consciousness in a way that allows those affected to continue functioning under fierce conditions. In other words, and under a state of dissociation, when inconvenient situations are ignored, sufferers are afforded the illusion of their disappearance if only momentarily. Another addition to dissociation is depersonalization, which means that if calamity does not involve one’s group directly, it can be easily swept to the side.
Dr. Susan Rosenthal, author of Power and Powerlessness, says “dissociation mentally disconnects us from intolerable experiences. When thinking brings pain, dissociation helps people to move through life without thinking; we shut out the world or imagine it to be much safer than it really is. By numbing fear, anger and pain, dissociation creates a false sense of safety, reducing our motivation to remove the dangers that threaten us.”
“Severe dissociation numbs compassion and empathy, making it possible for people to do cruel and monstrous things that they would never do in a non-dissociated state.”
Perhaps this can explain why the Lebanese party scene thrived as Israeli bombs ravaged parts of Beirut and South Lebanon during the 2006 war, or why people now feel paralyzed in the face of countless problems. It also explains everyday behavioral patterns that allow many of us to continue functioning when cataclysms, such as terrorist attacks or remote conflicts, occur.
Dissociation, the media and politics:
According to Dr. Rosenthal, the media encourage mass dissociation when calamities such as war are covered in a sanitized manner and include commentary that “drips with lies.” “Doublespeak”, she says, promotes dissociation to make the unacceptable acceptable. “Invasion is defense; civilian deaths are collateral damage; a freedom fighter is a terrorist working for us; and a terrorist is a freedom fighter working for them. Politicians revel in doublespeak.”
“Dissociation separates contradictory experiences to avoid internal conflict, making it possible to love our own children and support wars that kill other people’s children; to want freedom and support wars that deny others their freedom. To feel outrage at being robbed and support wars that rob the people of other lands.”
Dissociation in the face of terrible injustice is mistakenly perceived as a lack of caring instead of what it really is: a psychological defense against feeling powerless, Rosenthal concludes.
In Lebanon, press institutions are structured around a fundamental schism. On the one hand, there is media that act as a profit making enterprise, gravitating towards neutrality rather that objectivity in order to safeguard access to the powerful, and thus investing heavily in sensationalism in order to increase viewership. On the other, there is media that act as a politically affiliated initiative and is devoted to contextualizing the truth in a way which is beneficial to their party. This media model relies heavily on donations from politicians or well-connected individuals, even though such a thing is against the law.
The result? A weak democracy and an even weaker electorate, fueling a never ending cycle of dissociation and powerlessness.
Dissociation feeds oligarchy, systemic powerlessness:
American presidential nominee Donald Trump can easily be likened to any of our homegrown Lebanese politicians with his tax-evading shenanigans, sexist statements and racist gabble. Like local lawmakers and executives, Trump relies on fear and the power dynamic. In other words he makes the dissociated powerless feel more powerful and in that context nothing else matters. In Lebanon dissociation and powerlessness are the prevailing tropes, and ordinary citizens rely on a structure that supports a multitude of mini Donald Trumps, or what its commonly referred to as the “za’im” (meaning: leader).
While this system predates Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Civil War that reintroduced dissociation en masse as a method of survival, it thrived throughout the bloody years and continues, alongside the ingrained powerlessness of the people, to be the modus operandi of the national political landscape. Without dissociation and an overbearing feeling of powerlessness many Lebanese would not have taken part in the bloodshed that lasted so many years, nor would they have sworn allegiance to leaders on the premise of momentary power in an otherwise helpless situation.
Years after the end of the Civil War dissociation and powerlessness remain the dominant force at play. The powerful leaders of that war are currently the country’s Ministers and MPs thanks to an amnesty law that allows them to remain in power, widening the gap between the wealthy elite and the people. This structure has largely remained unchallenged even in the face of rampant corruption, culminated in the worst era of governmental performance yet.
Poverty, pacification policies seal the deal:
Material wealth equals power and as Lebanon’s economy continues to nosedive, so do its people become more powerless. This isn’t the case for the ruling oligarchs and their circle of elites who keep their riches out of state coffers through a ‘Wealth Defense Industry’: a cadre of professionals hired to lobby government and advise ways of hiding wealth, often through keeping it in tax havens.
The Wealth Defense Industry’s main objective is to maintain and increase the power and wealth of the elite. In turn, and as part of maintenance works, those in power implement pacification policies, and band aid to bullet wound fixes. They keep things barely running but not bad enough to ignite a revolution. The only way out of poverty comes in the form of making connections with the major game-players. To do that one has to swear allegiance and undying loyalty in exchange for a price or a job. This artificial system (which the Israeli government is widely known for using) ensures that a segment of the population is comfortable enough to suppress any potential uprising. To protect the status quo this segment would find it difficult to abandon privilege for the sake of larger national goals such as restorative justice. As a result, helplessness again prevails and feeds the dissociation mechanism.
How to break free:
The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. Lebanon cannot move forward without adequately dealing with its past. Anything short of that is leading us to the same results. Although there is a general attitude that seeks to bury the wounds of war, it is counter constructive to continue to pretend that these scars do not exist. The ghost of the events that occurred in the past are still haunting us today; they are on our televisions, in our media, inside parliament and inside our minds. They are being passed down from one generation to the next, feeding the cycle and the broken system; feeding dissociation, separateness and powerlessness. To overcome this we first must agree to openly discuss trauma, mental health illnesses, and inherited and learned behavioral patterns without restraint, without shame.
The overall mental health state of a society is a determining factor in its functionality. Mental health issues and self-serving behavioral patterns in Lebanon have long been dismissed as farce at worst and survivalist at best; our general attitude sees them as both contradictory and coexisting weaknesses and strength rather than obstacles, and for that we are paying a high price. Our mental health system is broken and badly funded. (According to a WHO assessment, the budget for Mental Health in Lebanon constitutes only 5% of the general health budget.) Our capacity for sound judgement is clouded with confusion and misinformation. As a result, these alignments continue to reinforce a system that is disintegrative and exploitative.
Combating oligarchy and dissociation is no easy business, especially when external threats that first reinforced those patterns -war and conflict- loom. According to Jeffrey Winters, author of “Oligarchy,” the mechanisms needed when fighting such a system on a technical front include reducing the power of money in shaping politics, ensuring equal opportunities for escaping poverty, and the redrafting of a tax system that invests in creating widespread prosperity and growth. In other words, wealth needs to be redistributed as a first step towards democratizing a nation and strengthening its institutions. Unfortunately our very own institutions have come to be weakened and polarized between the one for the poor and one for the privileged. This polarization reinforces oligarchy and inequality. Without strong institutions, the people come to rely more on their za’ims, and are coerced into favoring privatization (which serves the zai’ms and their inner circle) over restorative public policies. This is turn feeds the cycle of powerlessness and separateness.
On another front, our education system must include civic engagement, and the development of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference through political and non-political processes. We must learn to overcome our differences in a civil manner, to empower the electorate, to inform the young and old and to contribute positively to an issue even if the issue does not affect us personally. This will restore a sense of community and nationhood.
The current system at play is unsustainable at best and self-destructive at worst. Policies of pacification, separateness, poverty and dependence wreak havoc on both land and people. The less engaged, less aware the nation is, the heavier it is on its environment and well-being. This unmistakably affects the quality of life for current and future generations, ensuring a bad ending especially with the threat of climate change, population growth and climate migration. The time to look at that stranger in the mirror has come; deflection is no longer a luxury we can afford.
Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Chengdu in southern China last Saturday (5.7.2014) with two dozen top managers in tow, including five heads of DAX-listed companies. Since Tuesday, the final day of Merkel's China visit, it's been evident that the large German business contingent made less of an impression on the Chinese than some of the members of the delegation had hoped.
In the end, the Chinese were not quite as open to everything the German business leaders had on their wish list as the Germans would have liked. Accords amounting to 3 billion euros ($4 billion) were signed, which is not bad at all. However, it's a relatively small package if you take into account the fact that China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang spread around more than 21 billion euros on his last trip to Britain three weeks ago.
Only Volkswagen and Airbus had reason to be pleased - and Airbus is half-French. VW and its Chinese partner FAW agreed on two additional plants in China, with investment of a billion euros each. Airbus secured a contract on the shipment of 100 helicopters worth about 300 million euros.
However, there were plenty of disappointments: Siemens failed to close deals with four major Chinese cities that would have brought the group orders into the three-digit million euro range. Germany's stock exchange failed to garner the bid to form a joint enterprise with the Shanghai stock exchange.
Complaints about conditions
Frank Sieren: China makes the rules
Even more important than concrete deals: on the flight to China, Chancellor Merkel had enough time to listen to German business leaders' complaints.
Many feel the framework for business deals in China is unfair. Why, they wonder, can the Chinese buy practically every medium-sized German company they have an appetite for, while German corporations that want to do business in China are forced into joint ventures that flush a good deal of money into Chinese coffers.
VW chief Martin Winterkorn can tell you a thing or two about that. For years, he's been fighting for permission to found a wholly-owned subsidiary in China.
China dictates the pace
Understandably, the Chinese approach has been angering German managers. But it's not likely to change any time soon. Who can force China? Not even Europe's mightiest politician, Angela Merkel, has that power.
Beijing will open its economy at the pace it deems to be correct, and won't let the West dictate the rules. And it's worth noting that in the past, it has sometimes been to Western companies' advantage that Beijing has its own views on the topic.
Just take a look at China's financial sector. Don't bother thinking that the 2008 financial crisis would have ended if Chinese capital flows had been as liberal and linked to the rest of the world as Western bankers had long desired. The Chinese economy, too, would have been entangled in a deep crisis, and would have dropped away as a motor for the global economy - including for German enterprises. But since those companies still managed to reliably sell their goods to China even after the Lehman crash, they got off fairly lightly.
German firms make good money inChina
It's fine to clearly state one's point of view toward China, but it would be inappropriate to complain too much about the conditions there. After all, German firms make good money on the Chinese market. And that is bound to continue. Beijing no longer wants to be the world's workbench, it wants China to be more innovative - and the Germans are expected to help.
In effect, that means China wants to hold on to the German-Sino symbiosis, closely tested over two decades: exchanging Chinese market shares for Western technology. There's no way to prevent the Chinese from slowly turning into competitors for German manufacturers. But as long as the economy continues to grow, German companies will move forward. Over the next few years, Beijing envisions higher wages for the middle classes and plans to pull an additional 200 million people out of poverty in western China.
So, even if the Chinese continue to make the rules, consumption will continue to rise. For German companies, that means more competition - but also more opportunities for growth.
DW correspondent Frank Sieren is considered one of the leading German experts on China. He has lived in Beijing for the past 20 years.
From WikiFur, the furry encyclopedia.
Foxy Flavored Cookie
Author(s) Thomas Evans Website Update schedule Updates Mondays and Fridays Launch date June 6, 2010 End Date Ongoing Genre Comedy, Adventure, Romance Rating(s)
Foxy Flavored Cookie is a webcomic created by Thomas Evans (alternatively known as The Baker). The series centers around Pucho, a boy who was turned into an anthromorphic culpeo fox and lost his memory.
All strips are drawn using PaintTool SAI. Because of this, all strips that are drawn are of high quality, clear, and easy to read. The comic is hosted by Comic Fury.
Synopsis [ edit ]
Foxy Flavored Cookie centers around a boy who is bitten by a pure lycan, causing him to become two-thirds lycan, and lose his memory. He is then found by a land scout, by the name Hos (pervy) and an insect biologist named Pituka. However, Pervy forgets to ask his name, so they name him after a box of cigarettes found in his pocket- Pucho. They take Pucho to an underground city named Paws Den, where he has to adapt to his new life.
Cast [ edit ]
Main characters [ edit ]
Pucho: a rather clumsy, but good-natured and outgoing character. He once had a life as a gypsy traveling in a caravan. He is rather talented at playing the violin, and exceptionally good at cooking. These are two skills that transfered over after he lost his memory. Every once in a while, when the need arises, he can spontainously, and impulsively, summon supernatural strength and powers. This is demonstrated in many areas, but it is implied that he has no control over this abillity. Pucho Shows romantic interest in Pituka.
Pituka: Pituka is not far from a female Pucho counterpart. She is rather smart, as she is an insect biologist, however she is just as good-natured and outgoing as Pucho. Her home is filled with many kinds of insects, with her favorite being Huggie, a lycan sized spider. She shows romantic interest in Pucho.
Pervy: Pervy is a lycan that fits his name. He is very risque, but can be very comical at times. His biggest romantic interest is Nelly. Pervy often tries to perve (not intended) on Nelly, but this usually doesn't end well for him. Most of the time, he ends up getting hit with a wrench, thrown out windows, and everything in between.
Nelly: Nelly is a cheetah lycan who can be very harsh. She controls Paws Den's heating and cooling, and often overworks her employees. She cares very much for Pervy, mostly as a brother. Nelly is a very talented engineer. This is demonstrated when she builds a heater to heat up an entire lake.
Luna: Luna is a succubus. This means that she leeches off of peoples life energy. Pucho has too much life energy, which is why he sometimes has outbursts of energy. Luna can sense people's pleasure's, and she sometime takes advantage of this. She tries (and is rather successful) to get Pucho to show interest in Pituka. Luna can also transform herself, so while she is usually seen in her original form, when around her new friends she will take on the form of a pink cat.
Astrid: Astrid is a dream solider, meaning she has an oath at birth to serve the queen of paws den. After she was saved by Pituka, she changed her allegiance to Pituka. Astrid is extremely loyal to whoever she serves, and will follow any order given to her. Astrid very closely resembles an anubis.
Secondary characters [ edit ]
Tammy: Tammy is a crazy witch therapist who constantly tries to seduce Dr. Ulrick. She provides therapy to Pituka and Nelly.
Dr.Ulrick: Ulrick is a doctor that works in Paws Den at a clinic. Because of his shy and cute personality, many of the females find him very attractive.
Notes [ edit ]
"Fillers" are used whenever a comic isn't avaible
Updates are sometimes streamed
We have some bad news for ATI fans, AMD has announced that it will be killing the ATI brand in favor of its Fusion project which aims to build hybrid CPU and GPU chips. The Radeon and FirePro branding will be remaining intact, but ATI Eyefinity will now be known as AMD Eyefinity and the first set of graphic cards to be shipped with the new branding strategy will be released later this year.
The company also claimed that this is the perfect time AMD could possibly consolidate the ATI brand, because Radeon products are performing well in terms of sales, and there’s high market penetration of AMD’s graphics products. Finally, AMD revealed the new brand logos that are nearly identical to the present ATI logos, of course, minus the “ATI”.
Fingerprint riddle leads to new call for Dr David Kelly inquest
Found in woods: Dr David Kelly's possessions did not have any fingerprints on them
Fresh information casting doubt on how weapons inspector Dr David Kelly died has been sent to the Government by campaigners trying to secure an inquest into his death.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve was presented with legal papers on Monday arguing that because there were no fingerprints on five items found with Dr Kelly’s body – including the knife he supposedly used to kill himself – a coroner’s inquest must be held to determine how he died.
The information, covering dozens of legal and scientific points, was submitted by a group of doctors who believe Dr Kelly’s death has never been investigated properly.
Mr Grieve will now consider if there is sufficient fresh evidence for a full examination of what remains one of the most notorious episodes of Tony Blair’s premiership. His decision is expected shortly.
Dr Kelly, a world-renowned weapons inspector, is said to have killed himself after being named as the prime source of a BBC report accusing Blair’s government of lying to take Britain into the Iraq war.
His body was found in woods close to his home in Oxfordshire on July 18, 2003. Uniquely, for an unexpected death such as his, no coroner’s inquest has ever been held.
The public inquiry into his death chaired by Lord Hutton found that he killed himself after slashing his wrist with a blunt pruning knife and overdosing on painkillers.
But Mr Grieve has been told by the doctors that they have established a range of fresh evidence questioning the official finding and highlighting several irregularities.
They state that it has been established, using the Freedom of Information Act, that there were no fingerprints on five items found with Dr Kelly’s body: the knife, a watch, his mobile phone, an open water bottle and blister packs of pills he supposedly swallowed.
In their legal papers, the doctors state: ‘It is submitted that to properly investigate the circumstances of Dr Kelly’s death, any coroner would be obliged to make inquiries as to why there were no fingerprints found, including for example seeking evidence on whether any tests were carried out to establish if anything had been used to attempt to erase fingerprint evidence.
Fresh inquiry call: Body of the government scientist was found at Harrowdown Hill, Oxfordshire, on July 18, 2003
‘This is particularly relevant as it was noted no gloves were found on the body or in its vicinity.’
The doctors have also alleged that Dr Kelly’s GP, Dr Malcolm Warner, may have concealed crucial evidence about seeing the weapon inspector’s corpse when he appeared as a witness at the Hutton Inquiry in 2003.
The doctors claim they were ultimately made aware of this by Dr Kelly’s MP, Robert Jackson, who has since retired from Parliament.
They also say conflicting evidence about where Dr Kelly was found leads them to believe his body might have been moved after death.
According to the two volunteer searchers who found him, Dr Kelly’s body was sitting against a tree, but pathologist Nicholas Hunt described him as lying several feet in front of the tree.
The doctors have also raised questions about the fact that Thames Valley Police failed to collect vital evidence offered to them by Dr Kelly’s close friend Nigel Cox.
This evidence suggests that, immediately before his death, Dr Kelly had made social plans for July 23. Mr Cox is understood to still have an answerphone message proving his claim.
The doctors have stipulated that because none of the fingerprint evidence was even mentioned at the Hutton Inquiry, this point on its own ought to satisfy the minimum legal requirement for a coroner’s inquest to be held.
The legal document covers 36 points. It was co-authored by medical doctors Stephen Frost, Christopher Burns-Cox, David Halpin and Andrew Rouse.
Dr Michael Powers QC, who has been instructed to represent the doctors in their legal action, said: ‘The circumstances of this case are highly unusual.
‘They have troubled a wide section of public opinion. Given the inadequacy of Lord Hutton’s investigation, it’s essential there should now be a full coroner’s inquest.’
The Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City has decided to cut ties with the Girl Scouts.
Archbishop Joseph F Naumann announced on Monday that he’s asked churches in his archdiocese to transition away from hosting Girl Scout troops, in favor of partnering with the Christian scouting organization, American Heritage Girls.

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