Emotions like anger, fear, and grief serve a function. Shame, too, serves a function. When we do something that violates our own values, we feel shame. Shame is a particularly excruciating emotion, and it lets us know that whatever it is that we did that we’re ashamed of is something that we never, ever want to do again. But once the event that causes us to feel a particular emotion has passed, and we have changed our behavior to cope with the situation effectively, it’s important to let that feeling dissipate. Shame is no different. To actively, purposefully swim around in negative feelings is more than an indulgence, or a bad habit; it can actually be dangerous. With shame, this has been shown to lead to a greater likelihood of repeating the shameful behavior itself.

Do you think you receive fair value for the money you spend on taxes? The fact is you don't, because there is excessive corruption in both the way your tax money is collected and in the way it is spent. Many countries are notorious for the tax collectors being "on the take." At the federal level, it is rare for an Internal Revenue Service agent to put his hand out, but that does not rule out considerable corruption. The corruption starts with Congress. Members of Congress "buy votes" by handing out "free stuff." It includes expenditures on programs that few, if any, congressmen would spend their own money on, plus programs that are filled with waste and fraud that go on year after year (e.g., studies have shown that Medicare and Medicaid misspend up to a third of their budgets). Members of Congress also buy campaign contributions by proposing and voting for expenditures that reward certain companies, industries, and unions Solyndra and the General Motors bailout come to mind. This kind of buying of votes and campaign contributions goes on in most democracies. The United States may be the world's leader in vote and contribution buying through special provisions in the tax code. It is not hard to figure out why the members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, the two tax-writing committees, tend to receive much larger campaign contributions than others who sit on less influential committees.

North Korean threats to start a nuclear war are becoming more shrill. I explained in a column yesterday why I'm not losing sleep over them. * * * * Washington Post lib blogger Greg Sargent notes with alarm that "the percentage of Americans who don't believe the sequester cuts are hurting the economy has actually jumped 13 points over the last month, while the percentage who think they are damaging the economy is going down." * * * * Congratulations to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex.  He's only been in the Senate since January, but already he is the most hated man there. * * * * In his push for gun control, President Obama is "tilting at windmills, and he's going to lose," says Charles Krauthammer.  The monumental stupidity of Rep. Diana DiGette, D-Colo, is one reason why. * * * * Obamacare either will hurt them personally, or have no effect on their lives, say two thirds of Democrats * * * * Global warmists suffered major blows this week when The Economist magazine noticed that hey, the planet isn't getting hotter, and the latest warmist fraud was exposed. * * * * The Associated Press no longer will call illegal immigrants "illegal immigrants" because it doesn't want to hurt their feelings. So what should we call people from other countries who are here in violation of our laws?  "Undocumented Democrats," suggested Jay Leno.

They've been authorized to plan "merciless" nuclear strikes against the United States, the general staff of the North Korean Peoples Army announced Wednesday.  Last week North Korea published photos of dictator Kim Jong-Un conducting a meeting in a command bunker.  A map on the wall behind him showed missile strike trajectories against Honolulu, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Austin, Texas. North Korea has moved a missile "of considerable range" to its east coast, South Korea's defense minister said Thursday.

Emotions have a very liquid quality; they move, they flow, they take on the form of their container. Like water in a stream, when they are in active motion they have a clear purpose and direction; when they get stuck they can become stagnant and even putrid. Ignoring negative feelings doesn't make them go away, it just makes us unaware of them; but dwelling on negative feelings after they have already served their purpose can keep us stuck in them, stagnant in emotions that should have long since run downstream. Every emotion has a function. Anger is a response to trespass; when somebody crosses a line or a boundary, we get angry in response, and that anger provides us with the energy and motivation to get them to stop. Fear is a signal that there is danger, and it narrows our focus on that danger, and can give us the incentive and energy to escape that danger. Grief is a response to loss and it can allow us to feel and mourn the loss, and to appreciate what we had. Our emotions are not always accurate, though...