The Sad Clown…

Funnymen’s personalities are similar to those with mental health conditions.

Madcap antics may be part of a comedian’s on-stage persona.

But the madness may not be just an act, say researchers.

The ability to make people laugh comes from a personality of the kind displayed by those with bipolar disorder & schizophrenia.

Historically, the creativity of painters and playwrights has been linked to madness, but now British experts have found a link with comedians.

High levels of psychotic personality traits are behind the ‘sad clown’ facade of comedians like Robin Williams & Spike Milligan, who suffered manic-depressive episodes all his life.

Researchers from Oxford University and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust say manic thinking helps join together ridiculous ideas that spark humor.

The stand-ups of a modern era are likely to have greater levels of extroversion – a form of impulsiveness – yet be more depressive & unsociable at the same time.

In fact, say the researchers, making people laugh may be a form of self-medication to alleviate a low mood.

Analysts say Robin Williams suffered from bipolar disorder though they cannot support it with enough evidence.

They argue that, manic depression was behind the performances in many of his movies. Williams would throw away the script & act out his heart. He was almost always the comedian in the movies, making fun of serious life issues.

One writer suggested that Robin suffered depression when he broke up with one of his former girlfriends & that it affected his stage performances. Another suggested Williams was depressed when he was dropped from Julliard.

A number of American comedians are able to harness whatever their mental state maybe be in order to create comedy gold.

Doug Stanhope is open about his alcoholism & often performs shows drunk. Whether or not this can bring out the best work in someone is delectable, but fans see it as part of their persona.

Daniel Tosh has an offbeat sense of humor & has openly stated that he suffers from social anxiety.

Professor Gordon Claridge, of the University of Oxford, who led the study, said: ‘Although schizophrenic psychosis itself can be detrimental to humour, in its lesser form it can increase people’s ability to associate odd or unusual things or to think ‘outside the box’.

‘Equally, manic thinking, which is common in people with bipolar disorder, may help people combine ideas to form new, original & humorous connections.’

Professor Claridge, with colleagues Victoria Ando & Ken Clark, persuaded 523 comedians – 404 men & 119 women – to take part in their study.

They were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to measure certain traits, such as: belief in telepathy & paranormal events; how easily distracted they are; their ability to feel social & physical pleasure, & their tendency towards impulsive behavior.

The questionnaire was also completed by 364 actors – another profession used to performing – & to a general group of 831 people who had non-creative occupations.

Comedians scored significantly higher on all four types of psychotic personality traits compared with the general group.

Most striking was their high scores for both extroverted, manic-like responses & socially introverted moodiness, says a report in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2540275/Comedians-personalities-similar-mental-health-conditions.html#ixzz3A8Yegh1W

 

Laugh & the world laughs with you, weep & you weep alone. – English proverb

The Negro Project

Michael Brown is all over social media & the news… Yet another unarmed African-American teen shot down dead by the police, an organization whose supposed intent is to protect the public. This is nothing new, it’s no longer shocking, yet it is still hurtful.

A serious lack of empathy, respect & value for human life has always loomed in America, especially for those of African descent…

The Ku Klux Klan at it’s peak was 4 million members deep, some of them governors, mayors & senators. Today they only claim to have only a few thousand members, yet that does not mean their ideals do not still reside in the mindsets of far more. It was recently discovered that a couple of Florida police were members. Most police officers, mayors, governors & senators probably aren’t members either, but that doesn’t mean they don’t share their sentiments!

The police departments in America were originally formed to protect Caucasian people & their neighborhoods, not African people & theirs. Jim Crow laws were formed & implemented & still being exercised today. Planned Parenthood was originally called The Negro Project, formed to attempt to rid society of their undesireables. When an entire race of people is deemed to not be fully human, of course their lives will matter less & be dismissed as expendable.

When cases like Mike Browns come about, a great sadness befalls the African American community & many of it’s parents become fearful for their own sons & daughters lives. Some even become afraid to reproduce. Some have been convinced that the tiny persons developing in their wombs are not human either, just like many of their oppressors believe about them. Only a few years ago, abortion ended the lives of more African American people than their top seven leading causes combined. So in some ways, The Negro Project has been a success.

Side Note: I am not trying to spark a debate about abortion rights, or if it’s murder. Technically, it’s not because murder is the illegal ending of a human life & abortion is the legal ending of a human life. I do not argue the aspect of morality regarding abortion either; that is based on personal beliefs & my perspective is not based on that. Mine are based on facts, and the Universe proves to us when human life begins, which is at conception. The laws of nature are not debatable.

Black on black violence is a major issue in America, and is often brought up when incidents like Mike Brown’s generate outrage. They wonder where the outrage is when we kill each other. Trust me, it’s there, but it doesn’t garner the same level of backlash from the community, because it’s not based in the same ideals; It’s not racially motivated. Logically, there is no reason to even compare the two. Most violent crime happens within racial lines, not across them.

Today in America, you will find people of all backgrounds struggling. However, even within that struggle, there are privileges to not being of African descent. Most Asians & whites do not have to live in fear of being harassed or killed by the police in their own neighborhoods just because of their appearance. Monsanto buried toxic sludge in predominantly African American neighborhoods that have caused serious health problems throughout those communities, including death; There are no predominantly white neighborhoods that this would ever happen in. When African Americans gather for peaceful protests & vigils for their fallen, they are greeted with a heavy police presence, dogs & tanks. You will not find such things at gatherings held for people of any other color.

Marching & protesting doesn’t help the situation or change anything. The justice system in America does not typically work in the favor of African people, so it’s pointless for us to trust & believe in it. Awareness alone does nothing; Action is the only solution. It seems like tragedy is the only thing that brings the African American community together. We need to continue this unity at all times. We’re so busy fighting & competing with each other, we’re not able to stand up against our common enemies to better our situations.

No matter what we do, we’re still living under their system & must live by their rules, even when those rules do not benefit us in any way. In America, we have no power. We own nothing & run nothing in comparison to all that our oppressors own & operate, such as land, shelter, utilities, media outlets, clothing companies, banks, court systems, law enforcement, etc. We rely on all these industries that they control. That’s why we need an infrastructure of our own, because we’re not faring well under theirs & it’s modeled in such a way to make sure that we never will. We could be thriving instead of just surviving, but we first must learn to value ourselves & each other!

My Sister’s Keeper

No other woman is my competition! My hope is that we ALL make it!!

In the Chakra chart below, the right side shows the physical consequences of when women do not have their spiritual (left side of chart) lives in balance. Yoga, meditation, healing stones & a pH balanced diet will all work to counter those consequences, but it’s still equally important to try keeping our emotional states in check. We are what we eat & that includes emotions & thoughts…

Many of these factors are outside of ourselves, out of our control & at the helm of others, so it’s also equally important that we take care of each other, so as not to throw our fellow Kings & Queens off their spiritual balance, nor our little Princes & Princesses.

As you see, when our partnerships &/or relationships are nonexistent, weak, broken, or abusive, our self esteem is damaged; if we hate our jobs, have overwhelming responsibilities or financial troubles; feel unwanted or under-appreciated, those issues can trigger us to make poor lifestyle choices, including our diets, which leads to high blood pressure, various cancers (an epidemic in this country), weight gain/loss, drug & alcohol addictions, lowered fertility, uterine fibroid tumors, depression, back pain, breakouts & a weakened immune system, amongst other health problems.

When men abuse (eliminating our sense of safety), disrespect or degrade (altering our perception & morality), cheat on (damaging our self esteem & sense of security), ignore or withhold affection (ruining our sense of belonging & feelings of appreciation), it can literally kill us ladies over time. It works the same in reverse or when we do it to ourselves, or to other women.

Side-chicks have no place in the healing & uplifting of our Queens. I’d like to believe that the above meme is not true. I believe that most women who choose to assume a #2 position are very damaged themselves & that through personal growth & healing, they can change their destructive ways. A woman of substance that truly loves herself would never accept such a position, and if a man truly loved a woman, he would never allow or expect her to.

Some women are sociopaths & lack the empathy necessary to care about the damage they are participating in causing when getting involved with a man already in a relationship. Some are too hurt themselves to consider the feelings of others &/or afraid to get a man of their own, so being a mere side-chick will prevent them from getting hurt again. They may believe they are in a safe & even superior position by being the side-chick, because they may get a satisfying enough amount time, attention, affection & money/gifts – all without the responsibilities & stress the girlfriend/wife has at home.

In some instances, it may not be a self-esteem issue, but actually one of an inflated ego. They may just enjoy the excitement of having the attention of another woman’s man. A woman without any real substance will take so much pride in her looks & sex appeal that it blinds her to see that’s all she is worth to that man, not [yet] realizing her true value. My hope is that ALL women of such levels of mediocrity will discover or develop their self worth, leaving men without the option to betray their wives & girlfriends.

Of course, it is ultimately the responsibility of the persons within the relationship to keep up their side of the deal & to protect each other from hurt. I am not in any way relieving the cheating partner of their obligations by placing more of the blame on the sidepiece; I believe they are equally wrong in their actions & therefore equally responsible for the pain that they cause. I find both their actions deplorable, especially when there are children involved.

Us Queens have to support each other, uplift each other, take care of ourselves & stop hating on each other, stop fucking each others men (or women), competing with each other & fighting each other because no real positive changes or true unity will ever happen if we don’t! It begins with US!

Disney is remaking The Jungle Book

In the 1967 rendition of Disney’s movie classic, The Jungle Book (based on a 1894 collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling), it has a scene featuring an ape by the name of “King Louie” (to be voiced by actor Christopher Walken in the remake), who was undeniably emulating the late, great Louis Armstrong…

Louis Armstrong & wife, Giza, Egypt, Africa 1961

Armstrong was an American jazz trumpeter & singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was well known for his distinct, gritty voice & scat-style of singing, of which both were mimicked by the King Louis of the Apes character, whose lyrics included wishes to be a real man.

African people have for a very long time been called & compared to monkeys, apes, gorillas & the likes [see Vogue’s take here on a previous post of mine]. I doubt that Mr. Walken will be able to do Armstrong’s voice the justice Louis Prima did anyways, but out of respect, i hope that they do not again use Armstrong’s styles of music for the character.

Now some may say, it’s just a kids movie, no harm was meant, but it must be taken into consideration, the impression that imagery & association has on young minds. There was intent here & it was not good. Also, take into account how long this movie has been around & how many generations have seen it, passing it down. This is just one amongst many ways that Africans have been portrayed as less than human over the years in the media.

One of the most recent ways, is in the major motion picture film, Lucy, in which the Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) is featured as representing humankind as our supposed inferior, old selves – sub-human Africans – along with humankind’s currently supposed most evolved & now superior selves, the blue-eyed blonde. Yes, Morgan Freeman plays the role of an uber-smart scientist, yet it is still the main character whose mental capacity (albeit due to drugs) far surpasses his own.

It’s not just entertainment!!! It’s a sick mindset that’s been embedded deep into society for hundreds of years & it’s things like this – slick, subliminal racism – which are keeping white supremacy alive & well all over the globe….

Disturbia…..

MASS HYSTERIA

— other names include collective hysteria, group hysteria, or collective obsessional behavior — in sociology & psychology refers to collective delusions of threats to society that spread rapidly through rumors & fear. In medicine the term is used to describe the spontaneous manifestation of the same or similar hysterical physical symptoms by more than one person.

A common manifestation of mass hysteria occurs when a group of people believe they are suffering from a similar disease or ailment. Sometimes referred to as mass psychogenic illness or epidemic hysteria.

Now, just a few days ago, the POTUS signed an executive order that allows for quarantining of persons who symptoms of certain communicable diseases. It lists them as follows, directly from the White House website:

Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled.  This subsection does not apply to influenza.

Everyone is aware of the Ebola crisis happening in West Africa, and the worries Americans have about the doctor who was recently brought back home to Atlanta for treatment, which was aired for all to see, with him dressed in a protective suit. I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of Ebola; I do believe that it’s real and happening, but I do not believe it’s as serious a threat to society as the media is making it out to be. It’s getting tons of coverage, there are images floating all over the internet of charts showing the symptoms over the days of progression without treatment. Being constantly bombarded with these images is causing a certain level of panic amongst Americans. As I mentioned above, it is very possible for people in a panic to convince themselves they are really sick, even if they aren’t & yet still display similar symptoms.

I’d really hate to see hundreds of thousands of people scaring themselves silly over this & end up being needlessly quarantined under this executive order. What could happen is, people who just think they are sick will be quarantined with people who actually are & then end getting it anyways. Eating healthy, staying clean, not worrying & getting plenty of sunshine (the Ebola virus is killed by UV ray exposure) should keep you in the clear. Take care of yourselves, and each other!

 

 

 

 

Black Friday

Did you know that there is no such thing as a black panther? Only melinated or melanistic leopards in Asia & Africa & jaguars in the Americas, their dark coats making them less conspicuous to predators & is a foraging advantage during night hunting.. (I wonder if the founders of the Black Panther Party knew this & that’s why they chose it?) Studies reported in New Scientist [2003] links melanism to beneficial mutations resulting in elevated disease resistance, finding it to be higher in melanistic cats than those with ‘normal’ color coats..

There are two types of melanin in the human body: Integumental Melanin & Neuromelanin. Integumental Melanin is skin melanin & Neuromelanin is internal melanin that exists in our brain, central nervous system & internal organs. Each cell in the human body has a brain & that brain is melanin. Melanin is measured by the amount of Neuromelanin we produce, the type that allows higher potentials, mentally, spiritually & physically. It is important for us to know that the color of our skin does not always determine the levels of melanin that exists internally. Some ‘races’ produce high levels of skin melanin but only very little Neuromelanin. It is also important to know that melanin, which is essentially black, does take on different shades of colors in nature. Nappy & curly hair people of African descent have the highest levels of Neuromelanin regardless of the shade of our skin. Note: there are many Alkebulan people who have become victims of pineal calcification mainly because of poor diet. Pineal calcification stagnates the production of melanin & the utilization of it.

Interesting how darkness & blackness has been found to be beneficial in so many different ways, yet it is always associated with evil… The black cat is bad luck if it crosses your path. Black magic is evil & white magic is good. Devils food cake is black & angel food cake is white. Restaurants are always boasting about using the white meat of the chicken, the driest & most flavorless part (sometimes even charging more for it), instead of the dark meat, which is juicier, more nutritious & flavorful. The black sheep is the disgrace of the family. If you notice, many of Disney’s villains have darker skin hues, colors or darker fur. Historical bubonic plagues have been called the black death. Being black balled is a negative vote for acceptance. Black market, blacklisted, etc, etc. Even improper English has been associated with black people: Ebonics. A disease that didn’t originate from Africa, nor African people: Ebola.

Racist propaganda exists in many forms & has been imbedded in the psyche of society for hundreds of years. Human beings are not naturally racist, they are conditioned to be so! Let’s undo this hurtful, harmful conditioning & treat each other with regard to our characters, not our colors!!!