Comments on: IUC Christmas Party Live Chat Wed. Night Dec. 23, 8pm

By: TokyoRose

TokyoRose — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:04:00 +0000

^^^^
He’s recovering from surgery…

By: Jalyn

Jalyn — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:57:25 +0000

where is ian?

where are the new stories?

no new stories since the book? c’mon….gotta be something to say

By: Alif

Alif — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:25:28 +0000

@Togi:
And the ramifications!
A longtime friend sent me on his mission. To help his friend and my longtime acquaintance, who was talking about suicide. This reverend said that T told him that Alif was his only friend. (I hardly even saw T.)
T was star-crazy. He even e-mailed a one time big female star. The former star invited him to dinner, he said. T used to take buses up to Hwd just to have lunch there; then he’d return. It seemed so unreal to me until he mentioned the one time big star.
I set up a coffee date after a good talking to him about the value of living; and the responsibilities involved toward our fellow humans.
I arrived at our designated meeting place. He seemed to be late. It wasn’t a cheap place and I had to order more to while away the time. But he just didn’t show up.
He had my phone no. No calls to explain. So I called him. He didn’t even consider his part in our failure to meet.
So I told the reverend. The rev started his speech about me, Alif, being the only one who could reach T.
I told the rev that it takes two to tango. Said I did my part in reaching out, but he, T, had to do his. And if we’re supposed to have an agreed upon coffee date, it doesn’t make sense that I should be the only one present.

The reverend wasn’t listening. He just kept on laying the guilt trip on me. But I refused to accept it.
Result: The reverend stopped answering my e-mails as well as other forms of communication.
And I haven’t seen T in the areas he used to frequent. The reverend didn’t let me know what happened.
The old saying, “Sometimes you can’t win for losing” seems to apply here.

By: Togi

Togi — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:12:48 +0000

@Alif: Alife, I completely, wholeheartedly, 100% agree with your belief that suicide is a selfish act. When I was growing up, I had a friend who one day was simply not allowed to enter her home. Nor were her siblings allowed to enter. She was quite young and was so afraid; she cried and cried and just wanted to go home. But no one could tell those kids the reason they could not go home. Their father had blown his brains out in his bedroom, and their mother had found him there. Not only had she found him, but she had to clean up his mess and then raise their kids all by herself. I also knew a drop dead gorgeous young woman who, for whatever reason she had at the moment, shot herself in the head with her father's gun. Her poor father thought she was using the gun for protection. Imagine his guilt. It is horrific. These are just two instances of many in the long line of suicides I am familiar with. Every one of them has done nothing but angered me. Not one ounce of pity has gone towards the dead because it has been the living who have had to LIVE through the hell. I've known too many people who have fought with everything they have to live, only to lose the battle and die. My father was one of them. I have a hard time with people who can't see past their own nose. That includes people who are feeling suicidal. I have many strengths when it comes to dealing with people. Just not in this area.

By: Alif

Alif — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:57:19 +0000

@RealityCheck:
I still consider it a selfish act. There is so much for them to consider, however. At the time of suicide, the victim is focused entirely on himself. Yet, if the person considered the aftermath, they might not have done the deed.
Yes, suicide affects all those who know the person. Some have even followed the person’s example. Others have “survivor’s guilt”. The survivors may suffer for a lifetime. But the victim didn’t think about that.

That’s what I was trying to convey to the persons I hoped to save. But, I remember, it was like talking to a wall. Their eyes were not focused on me as I spoke to them.

I do miss my buddy. He was not in terrible pain; but it just seemed to him the thing to do. And his two friends committed suicide before he did. So, he was heavily influenced by them.

When I say that suicide is a selfish act, I am not alone. It’s a universal conclusion from experts in various fields.
That’s why there is so much opposition to euthanasia from some religions, who consider God the only being who has the right to take a life.
However, there are varying degrees of guilt, according the religious teaching; It’s always forbidden, however.

By: RealityCheck

RealityCheck — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:28:23 +0000

@pickwick: That's an even more chilling story. I'm so sorry. I know some people who have suffered prolonged abuse on the hands of those who were supposed to be their family. They couldn't move out and find better lives for financial reasons. The hopelessness is unimaginable. No outsider can really understand it. Anyone who says that those who are suicidal are selfish has no idea what he's talking about. Suicidal people usually take their lives in search for inner peace.

By: Keane Cyber Queen Supreme

Keane Cyber Queen Supreme — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:37:26 +0000

@pickwick: Hm, I thought you were going to say they should call it Ian - or maybe Iananina for a girl. Oh I forgot if it's a boy it has to end with an x so I guess it would be Ianx and if a girl then it has to be something pretentious to glorify her family and we are running out of options on that front so I guess it would have to be Ianina Voightilia Jolie-Pitt or some such. Either way, I think we can safely say, that it will definitely be another pillow baby!

By: pickwick

pickwick — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:50:18 +0000

@Alif:
god, what a chilling story.
I can easily understand suicide. Once you feel like you’ve lost all control and you begin to feel worthless, it starts to make sense. Not as a selfish act. More an unselfish one. To take the pressure off other people who have the burden of dealing with you.
The elderly man who lived upstairs walked outside to his car and shot himself in the head one day. His mother and wife yelled at him constantly—every day—I could hear them. His only real pleasure was sitting on the front porch and he had just gotten a diagnosis that would deny him even that comfort. He would be bed-ridden. He chose to take his life. I could see his point. I miss him, though.

By: pickwick

pickwick — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:43:50 +0000

@mooki:
I saw a blind that had Charlie Sheen written all over it. Implied that his wife was shopping around for lawyers and trying to understand his assets—that he was back to his usual.
Also, I’ve gained quite an appreciation for Paris Hilton after she made that dumb idiot she’s dating dress in a tutu as the tooth fairy for Seal and Heidi’s Halloween party. I didn’t like her before, but after that photo—-well, it was well done.
Anyone read the Mirror’s funny little gossip item on Brad and Angie having a baby? It was really funny. It said the info came from the sandwich crumbs in his beard.
And how about that little Russian minx who left Ronnie Wood? After weeks of hearing about all these women who were willing to do anything for Tiger Woods to get some money in their pocket, it was incredibly refreshing to see some kid with no money who would leave Ronnie Wood’s mansion because he chocked her in the street. Good for her. I feel for Ronnie, actually, because I think he really loved this girl, but bravo to her for having some self-respect and calling him on his alcoholicism.
Hope all is well with everyone. Hope Kate is recovering well. I’ve been very sick so I have lots of compassion for her situation—being sick at the holidays sucks.
Oh, and I have to ask—is the Brad and Angie having a baby story just a way to deflect from the book? Are these two going to go as far as to bring a child into this world just to prove to Ian Halperin that they are a couple? If so, then Ian has a lot of power in their lives. And they should name the kid Ian “We’re still together’ Pitt Jolie Rainbow

By: I'm on the bidet

I'm on the bidet — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:02:35 +0000

@Ms Agatha:
Those new links to stories about the AJ suicide just repeat the NE story, they aren’t adding anything new, and two of them take jabs at the credibility of the NE. I don’t think anyone is saying AJ isn’t capable of what is described, rather its just hard to believe that one or more emergency vehicles could be called to the Brangelina estate without it becoming a major press event (its probably the one thing that could have spared Tiger W. so much press coverage). Paparazzi and tabloid journalists monitor emergency frequencies, and its hard to believe they wouldn’t have heard the dispatch – remember how they all showed up when Britney Spears had an ambulance called to her house, to cart her off to the hospital (or was it ’sanitorium’)? So, the NE recounting of the story is just hard to believe. It could have gone down some other way, maybe, like a private doctor showing up instead of an ambulance, etc., I suppose.