A few quick comments on the Bush administration's IRS investigation of the left wing Episcopal church.
Are they out of their minds? Seriously. Some churches are so much in bed with right wing politicians it's not funny. They would be subject to the same kind of harassment for their political stands. So would the Roman Catholic Church (think of the abortion controversy).
For those who don't know much about the Episcopal Church, here a few facts that might give pause:
- The Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch of the world wide Anglican communion. That's a bit controversial these days.
- The Episcopal Church has a constitution that was drafted by many of the same people who wrote the U.S. Constitution. Yes, we are a representative democracy with a constitution. We also take free speech quite seriously.
- Former Presidents who were Episcopalians include such people as George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and, believe it or not, George H. W. Bush (W's father). At one point in history the Episcopal Church was described as the Republican Party at prayer.
- There is a building in Washington, DC known as Washington National Cathedral. It is, in fact, an Episcopal church we make available to the nation for all kinds of important national events, like President Reagan's funeral (Nancy Reagan is an Episcopalian) and the memorial to the victims of 9/11.
- We just elected a new Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schiori. Her daughter is a pilot and an Air Force officer.
I repeat myself. Has the Bush team lost their minds?
All,
I'm copying something from an e-mail I sent to a committee at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC that's organizing a showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" on October 3rd.
---------Beginning of excerpt----------
I made an interesting discovery by following a link from the Greater
Washington Interfaith Power and Light ( http://www.gwipl.org/ ) web
site. First, go to Who We Are (http://www.gwipl.org/who_we_are.asp ).
Chair of the Steering Committee is Reid Detchon of the Energy Future
Coalition ( http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/ ). That website
raises a few eyebrows. Especially The Future of Coal
( http://www.energyfuturecoalition.org/home.cfm?nCurHomeHighlight=14 ).
---------------End of excerpt-------------
OK, a simple question. Does anyone know if some people in industry are trying to hijack antiglobal warming groups by claiming things can be fixed in ways that don't mean a fundamental shift in the way we obtain energy? I'm a bit of a skeptic on "clean coal." Carbon sequestration might be feasible but not practical. I freely admit my knowledge of coal powered electrical generation is hardly expert.
Interesting points, all.
While I was out swimming, a few thoughts came to mind. Out swimming? Yes.
OK -- to help people understand some of my reactions it might help to know a bit more about me than is evident from the kinds of comments I've made here so far.
What are my health problems? Well, I'm allergic to some cats. There are a few foods that give me more than a bit of indigestion. When I lived in New Jersey, I suffered a bit from hay fever. My drugs are aspirin (occasionally), antihistimines (even more occasionally) and alcohol (wine at meals, sometimes scotch, beer when I'm in the mood). I'm extremely healthy by most standards. Oh -- I did finish the Marine Corps Marathon 10 years ago. I'm also a bit brighter and better educated than average.
You would think my life is problem free. Well, I don't have anyone trying to take needed drugs away from me. The bullies who are trying to deprive Teresa and the others who have come forward here still manage to go after me as well. Why? I have this wicked habit of thinking for myself and acting independently. I do work well with others, but I'm hardly a fawning sycophant. You would not believe -- or maybe you would -- the kind of trouble this approach to life has gotten me. When the bullies go after Teresa and the rest of you, they claim they're doing something good like "fighting drug abuse." It's much harder to get away with that kind of excuse with me.
I tend to take a different position on the demands that are made on people today. I do understand that people want to do lots of things. Unfortunately, we can't do all that we want to do. I might be a bit more sensitized to that since I am a high mileage, somewhat competitive runner. Some of my limits are higher than most people's. When people try to approach or exceed those limits, I generally advise caution. So do my athletic friends. Well, most of them. We understand better than most the very real limits people have. Ignoring them can lead to significant problems and make our lives worse, not better.
Teresa,
I think we are in almost complete agreement. Ritalin, et al., should be available for people who really need it. People -- even young people -- should also be allowed to live their lives in reasonable ways. That could solve -- or at least ameliorate -- quite a few current problems.
Stephanie,
The Minneapolis (and Edina, I believe) school systems are cited as places where the schedules were changed to positive effect. I don't know what the current situation is. Yes, there has been resistance on the part of some people. Sleep in Fairfax is an activist site with a good bit of current information.
My high school experiences are over 40 years ago. That's why I escaped the current nonsense.
I don't attribute the actions of educators to malice. My point is that we've seen a variety of actions undertaken without regard to reality -- and when reality bites back, denial sets in. Some of these actions have been promoted by educators. Consider, for example, James Bryant Conant, Harvard President from 1933 to 1953.
Adam,
One other point. Some schools actually do have a fairly high percentage of boys on Ritalin. There's also the tendency of authoritarian institutions to blame either the less powerful or outsiders for their problems. I don't know anything about your school or even what you do there. The APA article should raise some concerns. The APA might not be perfect, but the article is based upon real research, not the prejudices of one group or another.
Adam,
I'll refer you back to my first posting in this thread. There's a link to an article on the APA's web site.
Very briefly: When I and my parents went to high school, the day started at 8:30 AM or 9:00 AM. We lived so close to school that long bus rides (if we got a bus ride at all) didn't happen. Result? We were waking up naturally around 7 AM. Today we haul teenagers out of bed as early as 5:00 AM (some parents yank their kids up at 4:00 AM for the benefit of special programs). Schools start between 7:00 and 8:00 AM -- usually closer to 7:00. This kind of schedule has been causing problems for years. Students sleep through many classes. That didn't happen way back when. How bad is it today? One local high school actually put up on their outside sign "Sleep is for slackers." I think the adminstrators of that school should be fired.
That's just one example of what schools are getting away with. The sleep issue has been better documented than most. There are more. Some present day educational reformers are trying to reverse the reforms of thirty and forty years ago because they turned out so badly.
Tim,
Yes, there is such a thing as ADHD. From what you describe, I can believe your children do have it. The issue I and others (including some parents who have children diagnosed as ADHD or ADD) are raising is the extent of the problem. Some schools are, in effect, getting away with systematic child abuse. There have been schools that have adjusted their practices to reflect real research. The fact that behavioral problems have decreased in such schools tends to support the hypothesis that ADHD is overdiagnosed and is driven in part by the schools.
Yes, antidrug conservatives give me a pain, too. So do the Scientologists. I can say the same thing about educators who blame everyone else for their own screwups.
I saw the report in the Washington Post this morning. See Warning Urged for ADHD Drugs if you're interested.
I can understand -- and share to some extent -- your anger. It really is long past time to end the damned drug war, not to mention all the other assaults on human liberty that we're seeing anymore.
There is, though, one very interesting comment in the Post article. From the article:
"On the surface, it is hard to believe," said Curt Furberg, professor of public health sciences at North Carolina's Wake Forest University Medical School, who voted for the black-box warning. "What is also interesting is this condition is not really recognized in other countries -- you wonder what we are treating. I am sure there are patients who need these drugs, but it is not 10 percent of all 10-year-old boys."
An article in the APA's Monitor on Psychology from October 2001, "Sleep deprivation may be undermining teen health" gives me pause. Yes, our oh so wonderful educational system could be a significant factor driving ADHD.
So, while I don't support the screwballs who want to stop people from using Ritalin and instead try talk therapy, I'm not exactly fond of the people who want to prescribe Ritalin rather than reform the schools.
A while back I looked at a few of those genealogy web sites. My interest was effectively killed when I couldn't find my grandfather Charles Divine. Yes, we share a first and last name.
What surprises me about this is that his history is reasonably well known and more prominent than the average citizen. He was born in 1870. He graduated from Rutgers College in 1890. At Rutgers he was captain of the very first Rutgers lacrosse team. While he was no Ford or Rockefeller by any stretch, records on him should be easy to find. But these websites didn't list him -- even if I tried varying the dates by +- 5 years.
I'm not all that interested in genealogy, though. At most it might help me understand some of the influences that have shaped my life.
Linkmeister,
Did you see the word "joke"?
Some years ago -- for a joke -- I circulated the following petition:
- Whereas we are experiencing a brutally hot summer
- Whereas volcanic eruptions have been known to cool the earth
- Whereas some scientists have promulgated the theory that nuclear warfare will cause a nuclear winter
We the undersigned hereby petition the United States Government to nuke all the volcanos. We need nuclear winter and we need it now!
Friends, aware of my warped sense of humor, laughed. Some even signed the petition!
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