Ann Silvers

The eternally validated Camille Paglia Women cannot have it both ways, they can’t insist on coddling and being infantilized and not being held responsible for reckless choices, and then also demand equal rights and total sexual liberation/freedom

I’ve been shouting this because I worked in mental health and I understand how these assessments are actually done. People keep rewriting this story as though Lindsay was openly announcing, “I am going to kill my children,” while Patrick and an army of doctors stood around doing nothing. That is not what the timeline shows. When Lindsay reported unwanted thoughts about harming the children, she was roughly seven months postpartum. According to Patrick’s account, she was disturbed by those thoughts and denied having a plan. Clinicians explained that unwanted, ego-dystonic thoughts can be intrusive thoughts — frightening thoughts a person does not want and does not intend to carry out. And “no plan” is not some meaningless technicality. In mental-health risk assessment, there is an enormous difference between having a disturbing thought, having an intention to act, and having a specific plan for how you intend to do it. Clinicians look at the entire picture: intent, plan, means, access, psychosis, hallucinations, behavior, sleep, agitation, history, and whether the person is frightened by the thoughts or embracing them. That does NOT mean someone with no plan is automatically safe. It means clinicians actually have to assess risk, rather than hospitalizing every person who reports an unwanted intrusive thought. And Lindsay was not simply abandoned or denied care. She had providers. She was being treated. Patrick was involved. Her family was involved. She went to the ER. She was admitted to McLean Hospital for inpatient psychiatric treatment. She was discharged on January 5, 2023, and according to the prosecution, she denied continuing intrusive thoughts at that point. Two days later, she attended Cora’s fifth-birthday party. Then, 19 days after leaving McLean, Cora, Dawson and Callan were killed. We can absolutely examine whether a doctor missed something, whether a medication decision was appropriate, or whether a different treatment course might have changed anything. Those are legitimate questions. But hindsight does not magically turn Patrick into someone who knowingly left his children with a person announcing an intention to kill them. It does not mean her family “failed” her. And it does not mean every professional who treated her ignored an obvious homicidal threat. A lot of people were trying to help Lindsay. They could only respond to what she reported, what they observed, and the risk she appeared to present at that particular moment. They could only help her so much. It was up to her to want the help and take the action to get better - which she dropped the ball on…over and over. And this is where I draw the line: I am not going to transfer responsibility for what happened to Cora, Dawson and Callan onto Patrick, her parents, or every clinician who tried to help her. Whatever arguments are made about Lindsay’s mental state or legal responsibility, the actions that killed those three children were her actions. We can discuss treatment failures without turning everyone around her into the villains of this story.

Tackle actual misogyny but don’t (as we often do) assume all adversity experienced by women is misogyny. It isn’t If we only tackle harmful attitudes about women but neglect harmful attitudes about men, we create a gaping disparity promoting privilege for women & neglect for men

Five African grey parrots were removed from public view at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in the UK after repeatedly swearing at visitors and laughing together. The parrots—Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade, and Elsie—were donated by different owners but quickly bonded.

What a great guy. Goodwill is contagious. @NYCMayorsOffice

किसी ने सच कहा है “मंजिल उन्हीं को मिलती है, जिनके सपनों में जान होती है, पंखों से कुछ नहीं होता, हौसलों से उड़ान होती है।”

“Men have sacrificed and crippled themselves physically and emotionally to feed, house, and protect women and children. None of their pain or achievement is registered in feminist rhetoric, which portrays men as oppressive and callous exploiters.” – Camille Paglia

When addressing men’s mental health, too many people just say “men need to open up more.” Ridiculous. I want to address the actual problems, like how first-responder tow truck drivers, 96% male, don’t receive the same mental health benefits as other first responders. A weekend read from me over on S: lisabritton.substack.com/p/s…