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FYI, this is something that I’ve studied and read about. If you want to know more, read the book “Crazy”. It’s written by a guy who watched his bipolar, delusional son go through the Miami-Dade prison and mental health care system. It’s a good, if somewhat dramatic, read that shows how screwed up everything can get.

Probably locally grown or they gravitated to a big city before the disease completely took them down. Remember that schizophrenia tends to strike in adulthood. You may have a regular guy who, in his 20's, completely falls apart.

In NYC and other major cities, it may be that they're shipped in from surrounding areas into a jail or hospital for temporary treatment, then dumped onto the street. Also, think of it in terms of poverty and population density:

NYC is one of the most expensive cities in the world. However, if you go away from the middle, you are in the ghetto where there aren't as many services and a massive population. The combination makes it likely that you have homeless, locally-grown people who spread throughout the city by jumping turnstiles and riding the subways. It's warm down there, people are always throwing out food, and the police tend to turn a blind eye unless things get violent.

How, exactly, does a homeless person with a mental illness travel safely from Providence to, I don’t know, somewhere in the midwest where the cost of living is less? Boxcar riding is dangerous for the sane and healthy. Do they take a bus, assuming that they’re lucid enough to plan a route? Once they go there, how do they apply for disability or a job? Remember that you’re talking about someone who has short periods of sanity followed by longer periods of insanity.

Recognize that this is a problem that will never be 'solved'. There will always be those that cannot or will not help themselves. Our best bet is to keep the government out of it.

You then run into problems like the one in NYC, where an non-institutionalized person with schizophrenia pushed a woman onto the subway tracks. This was back in 1999 (see: Kendra's Law), but it has happened repeatedly. There is some suggestion that the guy who died yesterday was also pushed by someone who is mentally ill.

The problem is a lot bigger than I'm making it seem. Very bluntly: we as a society have no idea what to do with the mentally ill. Our jails are the last dumping ground for people so out of it that they can't function. We can't drug them without their consent (and for many, the drugs don't work, stop working, or are so dangerous they leave patients in ruins). We can't toss them into institutions, especially since many facilities are bursting to capacity and it's expensive. But we can't let them just roam around being a threat to themselves and others.

If the government stays out of it, who is in charge of keeping a legal adult who is out of his mind from obeying the voices and killing an innocent? It's not his fault he has schizophrenia. Same thing for people with dementia or severe PTSD.

An unfortunate truth is that a disproportionate number of homeless are mentally ill and not on drugs. Someone with untreated schizophrenia or a Vietnam vet with severe PTSD can't hold a job or generate meaningful income. Even with treatment, their ability to be part of normal society is incredibly limited.

What do we as society do for people who can't help themselves?

The color cameras aren't deployed yet. These are just the hazard avoidance cameras.

For all the whiners:

1) What's the point of art, music, cathedrals, or any act of beauty? Why bother spending money on anything but food and shelter? Why be educated? Why have discourse? Unless you take all your disposable income and dump it into the poor people of America, you're showing a vague hint of why this is so incredible.

2) Cost to you, the taxpayer: $8 a person. Less than what the average person spends on overpriced coffee drinks per year. Less than what you probably spent on silly things that only gave you pleasure for a few hours (a movie? a really low-priced...er...nevermind)

3) A submarine being built in RI right now has run up a budget of $3 billion and has a singular purpose: killing. There are far more of them than there are of the rover. Are you telling me that the whole of the US military might hinges on one submarine? Let's not mention all the money our government frittered away on military endeavors that have utterly failed.

4) The rover teams directly employed 419 people and hundreds of contractors, according to the news conferences. Let's also think of the hundreds of businesses, from mining refiners to coffee shops, who received direct or indirect capital from these teams.

5) Many of those 419 professionals are the sort of highly-skilled people who will promote American science: many of these people will go into private sector or military technology knowing how to work as a team with great precision.

6) I'm a Jew, but I have some Gospel knowledge. Remember what Jesus said in response to Judas when Judas criticized the Magdalene? Take that with you: the poor will always exist. We have enough b******* in the budget that could be cut to be put towards science, infrastructure, etc. Why cut this?

Agree. My father always thought that my sister and I were ridiculous for paying 1-2K a month for a 1 bedroom in a dumpy part of the city when we could live at home essentially rent free and save our cash. We wanted to be independent...but he wanted us to be fiscally intelligent!

I agree, but why no-bid? So if, say NSTAR and Keyspan both want it, why not let them engage in a billing war to include, among other things, who has the least useless damn website. Sigh.

Since unions are mostly public industry-based nowadays, it’s a bit redundant?

Okay, page 26 of the document. I've heard a lot of talk on this. Sure, balance the budget by privatizing public utilities (though, TBH, it hasn't worked that well out here on the NE). How is a no-bid process desirable? Very strange bit of legislature, essentially defeated back in 2005. Can someone explain why this is a good idea and what it's doing in this budget?

It makes me VERY nervous when the words "government" and "no bid" and "privatize" show up together. Out here in the land of the Big Dig, I can tell you that private industry has screwed up the infrastructure as well as, or even more than, the government! Just as that poor woman crushed by a ceiling tile that was stuck on with cut-rate glue against the desire of engineers.

Schlussel is flat out crazy. I don’t care about what she does to some random talking head. This is a woman who threated to sue FR because they posted links to her site. She should have her internet privileges revoked, imho.

We call it “bipolar” because manic-depressive isn’t quite accurate. You can have hypomania and depression and be bipolar, but you technically can’t be manic-depressive.

You should also sit down and talk to someone who has been helped by Lithium. It is a crippling, crippling disorder that does not deserve to be taken lightly or made fun of. I sincerely doubt you’ve lived with someone who has bipolar disorder or have it yourself. From what I’ve heard, it’s godawful.

I found that there were lots of PBS programs that are quite good. Mystery, for example, has been wonderful for years. Remember NOVA? There are great things out there; I’d hate to see them discontinued or have 10 minutes of commercials (no exaggerations) between segments.

So what about Debbie Schlussel’s celebration of the rape of Lara Logan?

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/33031/how-muslims-celebrate-victory-egypts-peaceful-moderate-democratic-protesters/#comments

Because, as you know, the medical care for and understanding of mentally retarded people was 100% the same today as it was 70 years ago. People back then had lots of information and resources for dealing with people who had handicaps.

Oh. Wait. Things were different back then. Did you know the man who invented the lobotomy was hailed as a genius for finding a way to "cure" people, back when doctors regularly recommended taking people with mild handicaps and institutionalizing them for life? When even if you wanted to keep a child like that, it was taken away from you?

Do you really believe what you just wrote? If so, I have trouble believing someone who can use decent grammar can be so impressively uninformed.

Anyone who thinks that the boy who helped get Bristol pregnant is going to *voluntarily* marry that girl is perhaps blind to the ways of young men, and I say this as I watch a few hundred thousand of them move back in to the colleges surrounding my apartment.

The two of them weren't responsible enough to handle their relationship and activities in a way that avoided having a child. Now you think the kid is suddenly overwhelmed with responsibility? Please. He's overwhelmed with the following:

He just knocked up the daughter of a woman nicknamed Sarah Barracuda, whose family enjoys shooting things far more intelligent and dangerous than he. Shotgun wedding is a long and noble tradition.

He just knocked up the daughter of the Vice Presidential nominee. He wasn't smart enough to keep it in his pants (I've heard those things have minds of their own. In this case, smarter than the to-be father), but even a trained monkey can figure out that when you impregnate a girl who is suddenly one of the most visible 17 year olds in the country, you don't cut and run.

They'll be engaged/married as long as the lights are on them. When Bristol moves to DC or the election finds its favor elsewhere, this kid will high-tail it out of town with everyone's blessing.

I don't watch TV regularly anymore and yet I am generally considered well-informed about the world. How do I manage this? Online news sites, print newspapers, journal articles, and occasionally the radio.

The stuff on the evening news is so commercialized and geared towards the lowest common denominator that the news takes a back seat. It is rare I see a debate or interview that doesn't turn into a shouting match or a battle of talking heads. On average, the "news" is just sensationalized violence with a dabbling of entertainment industry and sports. Plus, think of how much time the average segment runs...1-3 minutes, tops. That's not enough time to examine a topic! And for the most part, the news isn't being constantly updated.

In other words, TV < other media (in my opinion) for fact gathering.

I, too, have PCOS and have been dealing with weight issues. Here are some tips:

1) Don’t eat too little. You think that starving yourself will cause you to lose weight, but if you eat too little and then “binge” up to normal, you’ll end up storing more fat.

2) Count calories on everything...at least at first. Don’t feel shy pulling out a tablespoon or a measuring cup. Write them down; a site like MyDailyPlate is a wonderful tool for tracking calories. Later on, you’ll be able to make quick calculations in your head about what your meal means.

3) Get support! I use Spark (sparkpeople.com), which is a very friendly, diverse (numerous Christian groups there to talk with) bunch of people.

4) Accept that you will fall back sometimes. It’s okay. Just keep going forward.

5) Set tangible rewards not based on weight. If you’re good for a week, treat yourself to a quick nap or a little drive. If you’re good for a month, a new pair of pants, etc.

Did and sent a response. :)

Hit puberty at 11-12 years of age. One baby every year. Breast feeding is not a fool-proof method of birth control, though the hormones make pregnancy harder.

Inner city kids won't do 4 by age 16. Their limit seems to be 1-2.