For many years, as I mulled over what was wrong with our country, I have always tended to buy into the standard themes. These are the theories that characterize Americans as stupid, lazy, and apathetic. If those themes were true, how then does the rest of the world measure up? Do they have superior intelligence and robot like work ethics? Do they participate in their government to some degree beyond that which we are inclined to? No, clearly they don't. In fact, many European countries have jobs that offer months, not weeks, of vacation time. I can't imagine European people being any smarter or more educated than our people- although I have tried to find a credible and comparative resource to prove my suspicions. Very generally speaking, I don't think that other countries take a more active role in their government nor are they less apathetic about it than Americans. All in all, I think that the standard judgements that we use to describe Americans must be inaccurate or sim

I am having a profound kind of week. One of those weeks when problems- and then solutions- to vast mysteries appear with crystal clarity. I think I stumbled onto something worthy of passing along. But first, I want to use a quote someone left on my "American Enlightenment" blog. It seems quite fitting here. "When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always." Mohandas K. Gandhi Many years ago, as I was about to begin my law enforcement career, nobody told me the range or the depth of mental illness that I was about to run into. I think that happened for a number of reasons. I think mental illness was seen as something that was not really law enforcement related- it was just something we tried to contain. Bi-polar disorder or depression was rarely diagnosed accurately- and altho