Trump the antisemantic,and the boundaries of populism

ABSTRACT

In this article I consider Donald Trump as an “antisemantic” president, and link antisemanticism to broader forms of populism. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s analysis of Thatcherism, I explore the political and discursive domains as intrinsically linked in the Trumpian moment. Second, I turn to a theory of the antisemantic, showing its difference from the Orwellian universe. Where the Orwellian model depends on the inversion of meanings, the Trumpian paradigm (“Truth isn’t truth”) attacks the foundations of meaning itself. In the Trumpian age the internet also acts as a dark multiplier, thinning out meaning through its distortions and profusion. As counterpart to these patterns, I show how the antisemantic rests on certain symbolic fixities, especially around boundaries and the “uber” symbol of the wall. I end with some notes on how to reconstruct a sense of accountability in meaning, and to think of boundaries that are transitive and generative rather than singular and walled.     

Child murder committed by severely mentally III mothers: an examination of mothers found not guilty by reason of insanity. 2005 Honorable Mention/Richard Rosner Award for the best paper by a fellow in forensic psychiatry or forensic psychology

Forensic hospital records of 39 severely mentally ill mothers adjudicated Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity for filicide (child murder by parents) were analyzed to describe characteristics preceding this tragedy and to suggest prevention strategies. Almost three-quarters of the mothers (72%) had previous mental health treatment. Over two thirds (69%) of the mothers were experiencing auditory hallucinations, most frequently command hallucinations, and half (49%) were depressed at the time of the offense. Over one third (38%) of the filicides occurred during pregnancy or the postpartum period, and many had a history of postpartum psychosis. Almost three-quarters (72%) of the mothers had experienced considerable developmental stressors, such as death of their own mother or incest. Maternal motives for filicide were predominantly "altruistic" (meaning murder out of love) or "acutely psychotic" (occurring in the throes of psychosis, without rational motive). Psychiatrists should perform careful risk assessments for filicide in mothers with mental illnesses.     

Fatality following right atrial perforation by a screw-in pacemaker electrode

This paper describes the first reported fatality from right atrial perforation complicating the insertion of a screw-in right atrial pacemaker electrode. The patient was an 84-year-old woman with the sick sinus syndrome who also had hepatic cirrhosis.     

Fatalities by ingestion of propylene glycol

Propylene glycol (PG), a widely used solvent and lubricant, is thought to have low toxicity when ingested. Three cases were identified where PG, either alone or in combination with other chemical agents, contributed to death. The decedent in whom PG was the sole agent was a 32-year-old schizophrenic man with cardiomegaly and renal impairment. The blood PG concentration was 4410 mg/L at least 9.5 h following ingestion.     

The who, what, and why of risk adjustment: a technology on the cusp of adoption

Risk adjustment (RA) consists of a series of techniques that account for the health status of patients when predicting or explaining costs of health care for defined populations or for evaluating retrospectively the performance of providers who care for them. Although the federal government seems to have settled on an approach to RA for Medicare Advantage programs, adoption and implementation of RA techniques elsewhere have proceeded much more slowly than was anticipated. This article examines factors affecting the adoption and use of RA outside the Medicare program using case studies in six U.S. health care markets (Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Cleveland, Phoenix, and Atlanta) as of 2001. We found that for purchasing decisions, RA was used exclusively by public agencies. In the private sector, use of risk adjustment was uncommon and scattered and assumed informal and unexpected forms. The most common private sector use of RA was by health plans, which occasionally employed RA in negotiations with purchasers or to allocate resources internally among providers. The article uses classic technology diffusion theory to explain the adoption and use of RA in these six markets and derives lessons for health policy generally and for the future of RA in particular. For health policy generally, the differing experiences of public and private actors with RA serve as markers of the divergent paths that public and private health care sectors are pursuing with respect to managed care and risk sharing. For the future of RA in particular, its history suggests the need for health service researchers to consider barriers to use adoption and new analytic technologies as they develop them.     

Noncoercive sexual contact with similarly aged individuals: what is the impact?

A community sample of 610 adults were grouped into those who reported no sexual abuse experience, others who reported noncoercive sexual contact with an individual that was at most 4 years older, and those who reported more severe sexual abuse. The first two groups did not differ from each other on current social support, trauma-specific symptomatology, and somatic complaints whereas the more severe sexual abuse group reported more problems on these dimensions. Further analyses suggested that of the two variables, coercion was more closely associated with problematic outcome than was the existence of an age difference.     

Prevalence of trauma, PTSD, and dissociation in court-referred adolescents

This study examines the prevalence of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and dissociative symptoms in adolescents. The sample consisted of 76 females and 76 males, between the ages of 12 and 18, referred to the Child Guidance Clinic of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for a psychological evaluation. Two sets of analyses were conducted. One set included the entire sample; the second set excluded those individuals whose listed referral problem included only being a victim of abuse. Results of the study suggest a high prevalence of trauma in both genders; however, females had significantly higher rates than those reported in males. Similarly, female adolescents demonstrated significantly higher prevalence rates of PTSD symptoms compared with their male counterparts in the entire sample and showed a trend toward significance in the analysis of the subsample. There was a low prevalence of dissociative symptoms across both genders.     

Use of MDA (the "love drug") and methamphetamine in Toronto by unsuspecting users of ecstasy (MDMA)

It has recently been reported that purity of illicit tablets of ecstasy (MDMA) is now high. Our objective was to confirm whether hair of drug users, who request only ecstasy from their supplier, contains MDMA in the absence of other drugs. GC-MS analysis of scalp hair segments disclosed the presence of MDMA in 19 of 21 subjects and amphetamine/methamphetamine in eight subjects. Surprisingly, seven subjects had hair levels of the MDMA metabolite, MDA, equal to or greater than those of MDMA, suggesting use of MDA in addition to that of MDMA. These amphetamine derivatives might be included by clandestine laboratories to enhance effects of the drug cocktail or because of a perception that MDA synthesis might be simpler than that of MDMA. Drug users and investigators examining possible brain neurotoxic effects of MDMA need to consider that "ecstasy" tablets can contain MDA and methamphetamine despite no demand for the drugs.