From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Fri, 1/30/2026 9:44 PM, micky wrote:   
   > In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:15:16 +0100, "Carlos   
   > E.R."  wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2026-01-25 07:19, micky wrote:   
   >>> How to stop friend from being scammed.   
   >>>   
   >>> I hope you can help me.  My friend, the son of friends, is 38 and I've   
   >>> known him since he was 2.  He's been giving money to scammers who found   
   >>> him on Facebook.  He won't believe they are lying to him about the   
   >>> Pakistani orphans.   
   >>>   
   >>> Right now he's in a locked mental ward at a local hospital.  For the 3rd   
   >>> or more time over 10 years, and told me to get his laptop and use   
   >>> whatsapp for the PC to continue relations with his friends (that is, the   
   >>> lying scammers). When he gets out, he will try to send them hundreds of   
   >>> dollars from his Social Security Disability.   
   >>>   
   >>> However this goes, it may well end up ruining my 35 year friendship with   
   >>> him, even if I do no more than argue with him, but I want to do more and   
   >>> also minimize the risk to our relationship.  (I have his parents' avid   
   >>> encouragement.)   
   >>>   
   >>> I welcome suggestions and I'm asking if my plan is reasonable:   
   >>   
   >> How about telling the authorities at the ward?   
   >   
   > He was committed involutarily about 10 days earlier, but I guess since   
   > he's not violent, a threat to himself or others, after they decided   
   > that, they had to let him change to a voluntary committment, which he   
   > did** and then he had to say he wants out, and then they have to let him   
   > out after 72 hours.   
   >   
   > **His parents thought the ward was delaying giving him the form to   
   > change to voluntary.  Maybe wo.  I knew a girl 45 years ago in Brooklyn,   
   > NY, a nice girl who committed herself, I don't know why, and then wanted   
   > out.  I went to visit her once in the locked ward, and maybe we talked   
   > on the phone, and I told her "You're volutary.  Just say you want out"   
   > and she said, 'I've done that more than once, but each time they use the   
   > 72 hours to talk me out of it, and they succeed.'   But after a while   
   > she did get out.   
   >   
   > BTW, while she was in, her mother died, and because she was in the   
   > city's care, NYCity provided for free an attendant to go with her to the   
   > funeral and burial in New Jersey, which probably took 90 minutes each   
   > way plus an hour or two for the funeral etc.  Easily 5 hours.  NY also   
   > had then, 45 years ago, and I'm sure still has free paychiatric   
   > counselingtherapy for 2 or 3 sessions for everyone, in a hospital not   
   > too far from one's home.  That is there are quite a few locations spread   
   > out over the 5 boroughs.  Because the citizens and the government of NYC   
   > care about the welfare of its citizans.  I don't know what is avaiiable   
   > in other cities in the US, including my own.   
      
   There are quite a few opportunities for counseling here, but there   
   aren't enough staff to treat everyone who needs it.   
      
   A lot of the street people, that might be the root cause for   
   them being on the street. It isn't always just a drug problem,   
   and the drugs are a way of handling it, for the people out there.   
      
   Part of the reason for "caring", is to ensure the right people   
   are present for each kind of job. For example, if you don't   
   look at the mentally ill at all, and they're wandering the   
   streets, sooner or later there will be police interaction.   
   In one of the cases here, a policeman shows up and doesn't   
   know what the call is about, he hits the mentally-ill   
   man with one punch... and kills him.   
      
   They try to educate the police about mental illness. My   
   sister was taking "abnormal psychology" at her university,   
   and there were three policemen in the lecture hall   
   taking the course. That's so the policemen can tell   
   their flora from their fauna when patrolling the streets.   
      
   I think we may actually have progressed to a couple cars   
   with mental health professionals on board, and they can   
   be sent on 911 calls, instead of dispatching police for   
   every call. If weapons are involved, then the police will   
   roll up too. Where the guy got punched, there were   
   no weapons there, and the person was just being unruly.   
   If the mental health people had showed up, there   
   would have been an opportunity to tell the policeman   
   to chill a bit.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)