Saturday, October 29, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
One thing leads to another, walk don't talk
Recently, a friend posted a piece on precocity, Malcolm Gladwell at The New Yorker Festival in which two paragraphs really caught me
Malcolm Gladwell argued, quite persuasively, that the qualities that produce precocious children are not in synch with the qualities that distinguish productive adults. Children learn things to the extent that they mimic doing them, and precocious children are just faster mimics. Mimicry, however, is obviously not an important, or even desirable, trait in adults. Somewhere along the line, the outer-directed (or -focused) precocious child must grow into the inner-directed adult, and quite often this doesn't happen. One of Mr Gladwell's examples was the Hunter College Elementary School, an extremely selective institution that was designed to nurture future Nobelists and the like. It hasn't produced them. What it has produced is a crop of happy and successful people, but few superstars. Mr Gladwell's hunch is that these kids were so smart that they grasped the great sacrifices that aiming for the top requires - and decided to go for happiness instead. It seems clear that precociousness is not the fruit of ambition; it's simply an inborn characteristic. So it may well be that the gifted children at Hunter lack the deep competitiveness that drives some people toward the attainment of honorable fame.
The downside of privileging the precocious is that it demotes the importance of work. Of practicing an instrument. Of editing a text toward perfection. Of doing all the research that a project requires, unstintingly. Of leaving no stone unturned. Now, you can regard such work as drudgery, the necessary evil associated with achievement. Or you can look at it as the whole point. Achievement? There is no such thing as achievement, not for the achiever. Achievement notifies other people that something remarkable has been done, but it's the doing, not the having done, that matters. The only thing that we ever achieve is, as the French have it, death itself. We are achieved. At the risk of appearing to reinvent an "Eastern" philosophy, I am opening myself up to the idea that mindful work is the thing that counts most, perhaps even more than love. Perhaps the two go together.
And, then later I answered another friend who had written in conjuction with the care she is giving one of our other friends. She takes great comfort in the Christian Bible and was perplexed about someone dear to her who though an avowed athesist had lit candles in the church recently for their parents
Ch-------,
Oh, there is never enough on that subject, we just have other things to do and it is very complicated. Everyone has a religion even if that religion is no religion. We are as a group, a group of thinking primates, apparently compelled to pose and answer the questions, "What does it all mean?" and "How do I make sense of it all?" Why do people light candles and deny a belief in God? I don't really know, I can speculate, but it serves no purpose. I have found from decades of observation that the best thing to do is to keep your beliefs to yourself and do what you think is right, I emphasize you here, not your church, not your family, not your friends, not anyone but you. And, that is a process we spend a lifetime getting down. I can tell from what you've said here that you are actively engaged in the process, and when you say
try to live by God's word that that is what matters
you have got it exactly right as far as I'm concerned. As we say in East Texas where I'm from, up just to the Southwest of Texarkana in Red Hill, Texas
Bring me the baby! I don't want to hear about no labor pains, bring me the baby.
and even more to the point
If you be talkin' 'bout it you no have no time to be doin' it, and if you be doin' it, you no be havin' no time to be talkin' 'bout it, and if you gets to it and you can't do it, well, brother, there you is.
These instructions were generally prefaced by the phrase, "Lil Mark" and followed by the phrase, "Now get yo lil' white butt back out there in that garden and get them weeds pulled and hauled out before noon so's you can come in here and eat lunch like a proper person." Beulah Haskins was about ten years older than my grandfather, black and the caretaker of my grandfather, father and myself when all of us were around the age of ten. Beulah spoke these words to me often when I came in from the summer garden chores complaining about some difficulty, generally the heat or the bugs, in completing my assigned tasks. She has proven, as I get older to be one of the wisest people I have ever known. Beulah went to the Gum Springs Baptist Church north of Red Hill. One of the first 'uppities to not go to our church' as my relatives used to say about Beulah. My family had at one time several sections of land northwest of Red Hill and on the plot that remained, just slightly less than a section, where I went to visit in the summers, there was the family cemetery and the family owned church, St. Luis. Note that I said family owned, we never ceded the church nor the property that my great grandfather built in 1868 to the RC church. We had the Diocese of Dallas and later the Diocese of Texarkana send a visiting priest on Sundays to say mass and on request to say funeral masses, but the church and it's grounds always remained firmly in the hands of my family. Often times we buried our own and the funeral mass was later on when it was convenient for the priest to come out, I've been told. In Red Hill you had four choices for a last name, Henderson, Lambert, Blackwell, or Haskins. If your last name was Haskins, the other three of us used to own your relatives at one time in the past. One thing that Beulah always said and that has held true over the years in my experience is that you can talk all day about God and Jesus but unless you get out there with your mouth shut and show people God and Jesus through your life, you are wasting your time and very likely just might send people running the other way unless you are very careful. I've taken her message to heart and so it seems have you. One of my favorite verses is
1 John 3:18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:17-19 (in Context) 1 John 3 (Whole Chapter)
If everyone who is so quick to quote Jn 3:16 at the drop of a hat would take 1Jn3:18 to heart then perhaps we could all follow this verse more completely
Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.Hebrews 10:23-25 (in Context) Hebrews 10 (Whole Chapter)
I leave you with the best blessing I know
Romans 15:13 (New International Version)13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,
George
Later that same day I wrote a comment on the Gladwell piece noted above in which I said
Love is no more and no less than the mindful work of constantly holding another in what Abraham Maslow so wonderfully called unconditional positive regard. I do not believe that you have so much reinvented Eastern philosophy, especially a narrow branch of Zen, as you have come to live it, understanding it is beyond all of us.
And, now the same friend who wrote the Gladwell piece has written today Wunderkammer where he makes reference to an article on the web that characterizes blogs as Wunderkammer
A Web log really, then, is a Wunderkammer. That is to say, the genealogy of Web logs points not to the world of letters but to the early history of museums -- to the "cabinet of wonders," or Wunderkammer, that marked the scientific landscape of Renaissance modernity: a random collection of strange, compelling objects, typically compiled and owned by a learned, well-off gentleman. A set of ostrich feathers, a few rare shells, a South Pacific coral carving, a mummified mermaid -- the Wunderkammer mingled fact and legend promiscuously, reflecting European civilization’s dazed and wondering attempts to assimilate the glut of physical data that science and exploration were then unleashing.
Well I don't think I qualify as either well off or learned, though we hope gentelman applies, but this posting and this blog as a whole are if nothing else certainly a Wunderkammer.
As my friend, the author of DB, is so fond of saying, "It's all about connections."
As I say, "one thing leads to another." We hope if for no other reason than to honor the memory of Beulah Haskins but also we hope for larger reasons, as well, that we are "having no time to be talking about it", that in fact the talk has lead to the walk, at least more often than not. We fervently hope that this Wunderkammer would serve in some way to amplify the verse cited above
Hebrews 10:24Yes, let's consider how we might do that spurring. Talking it up is good, but walking it up is better. Given the choice walk quietly rather than talking while standing still.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.Hebrews 10:23-25 (in Context) Hebrews 10 (Whole Chapter)
Friday, October 14, 2005
Mere talk
22 Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good findlove and faithfulness. 23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. 24 The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.
And, in the news we find
Scandals Take Toll On Bush's 2nd Term
A series of scandals involving some of the most powerful Republicans in Washington have converged to disrupt President Bush's agenda, distract aides and allies, and exacerbate political problems for an already weakened administration, according to party strategists and White House advisers.
Jitters at the White House Over the Leak Inquiry
These days, the routines are the same for the White House. But everything, in the glare of a criminal investigation, is different.
Need we say or compare more? And, just to put the jittery humanists at rest, we do not intend to imply any inerrancy or predictive power to the Bible nor any special weight that you might not want to take from the Bible verses, but rather that what is known as the Wisdom of Solomon seems in a few short words to capture the tone of the times, just like any piece of good writing. Mere talk? Perhaps, you decide, you think about it.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Just in case you didn't get the message yesterday
Just in case you didn't get the message yesterday
Sassoon's protest, "A Soldier's Declaration," written on June 15, 1917:
I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority, because I believe that the War is being deliberately prolonged by those how have the power to end it. I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers. I believe this War, upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation, has now become a war of aggression and conquest. I believe that the purposes for which I and my fellow-soldiers entered upon this War should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible for them to be changed without our knowledge, and that, has this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.
I have seen and endured the sufferings of the troops, and I can no longer be a party to prolonging those sufferings for ends which I believe to be eveil and unjust.
I am not protesting against the military conduct of the War, but against the political errors and insincerities for which the fighting men are being sacrificed.
On behalf of those who are suffering now, I make this protest against the deception which is being practiced on them. Also I believe that it may help to destroy the callous complacence with which the majority of those as home regard the continuance of agonies which they do not share, and which they have not sufficienct imagination to realise.
Read before the House of Commons, July 30, 1917, printed in The London Times, on July 31, 1917 (ironically -- perhaps appropriately -- the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele).
How little we have learned in nearly one hundred years.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Write, listen, speak the truth
Write, listen, speak the truth,
14 From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good thingsthese traits alone would seem from the text above, taken from the 12th chapter of Proverbs in the Christian Bible, to serve well enough that perhaps nothing else is required. Believer or not these verses should give even the most radical agnostic or atheist some food for thought for the balance of the day. For you old RC types today is Wilfred Owen's namesake saint's day, today is St. Wilfrid's day. Any of Owen's work should give even the stoutest Neo-Con sufficient pause today to reconsider the course of the war in Iraq. And, likely this piece will give any sane person sufficient pause to wonder what the hell is running through my head. In response all I can say is, "Likely better things in the course of the day with this start than you might see without it." Have a good and thoughtful day. For further reference along the lines of what you think is what you are try Paul's note to the Phillipians in the 4th chapter where he suggests that thinking positively is good
as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.15 The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice.16 A fool shows his annoyance at once,
but a prudent man overlooks an insult.17 A truthful witness gives honest testimony,
but a false witness tells lies.18 Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.19 Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.No matter what you might think of the apostle or Christianity it is difficult to argue against the exhortation to think on whatever is good rather than the converse. Certainly, nearly a century of secular psychological thought and research would agree with Paul. As far as Wilfred Owen giving pause to anyone, it does to me particularly when I think that the thirty something mother of one of my son's playmates is in Iraq. It puts a different twist on Owen's work when mothers, just a few years short of retiring from the military, are the endangered ones. Mothers who have grade school and middle school children at home. Especially, when home is on the otherside of the world from where the mother is, eh?
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Second Languages, you should have one
Second Languages, you should have one. If you've not heard the NPR Talk of the Nation Program today, you should.
NationAmericans and Learning a Second Language
Talk of the Nation, October 11, 2005 · Learning a second language is not necessarily required or expected of students in America -- but virtually everywhere else in the world, it is. What factors determine what second languages Americans choose to learn?
Guests:
Rosemary Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association
Michael Long, professor of Second Language Acquisition, and Director of the University of Maryland's School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Richard Brecht, director of the National Foreign Language Center in Washington, D.C.
Professor Long's comments and area of specialization are especially worth noting and applying to your own life. In my experience nothing enriches your life more than some knowledge, no matter how limited, of another language than English. And, increasingly research is revealing that multilinguals are less prone to dementia not to mention far more interesting folks. You are never too old to learn a new language and the idea that adults have a harder time is largely unfounded. The attitude of the language student towards acquistion of a second language seems to be equally as significant as age.
Enjoy this and have a good day, my friends.
Goce de esto y tenga un buen día, mis amigos.
Appréciez ceci et ayez une bonne journée, mes amis.Насладитесь этим и имейтесь хороший день, мои друзей.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
There was a time
There was a time over forty years ago when what happened in the pa
ges of the NY Times about theatre and dance in particular was the most interesting thing I knew.
It was back when the quality of the light was a daily occupation as well as a career goal. Back when I wanted to know and light people like Merrill Ashley and Suzanne Farrell.
Back when Maria Tallchief's name might have appeared in the a piece like a friend commented on recently.
But, long before anything like NNDB started tracking every name in the news in the entire world. How much more interesting would it have been with computers to assist us then?
Well, enough nostalgia. The quality of the light remains to this day the most interesting feature of the day throughout the day.
And, then comes the night.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Dog flu, not to worry
Media Briefing on Canine Influenza
Note: This is a verbatim transcript. There may be errors.Monday, September 26, 2005
2:00 p.m.-a portion of the transcript-
MR. SKINNER: Thanks, Dr. Donis. Now, I'll turn the call over to Dr. Cynda Crawford from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, who will spend three or four minutes sort of giving us the big picture in regards to canine influenza in the veterinary community.
DR. CRAWFORD: Thank you. And I would like to underscore what Dr. Donis has already pointed out and on a couple of occasions that this is a newly emerging pathogen in the dog population. And we have managed to accumulate quite a lot of information on this new canine influenza virus over a relatively short period of time, and this was largely due to the multi-institutional collaborative work that has involved numerous people from the CDC Influenza Branch. I would like to thank Dr. Donis and Dr. Jackie Katz, and Dr. Alexander Klimov. And it involves colleagues at the University of Wisconsin's College of Veterinary Medicine and at Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine, and, of course, Dr. Ed Dubovi at Cornell, who has been the biggest key I think in discovery of this new viral pathogen in the dog population.
And with regard to what veterinarians will be interested in knowing is that this virus can cause a respiratory disease that mimics a syndrome that we call kennel cough.
Now, kennel cough is just a syndrome, and it can be due to a myriad of infectious agents--bacteria as well as viruses. So the most common cause of kennel cough has been a bacterium called bordetella bronchiseptica and with information that we have to date, this still may be the most common cause of respiratory infection in dogs.
So the canine influenza virus is really the new kid on the block for veterinarians to consider in their differential diagnoses for kennel cough. They should consider canine influenza if a dog presents to them with a cough. They may have a nasal discharge and a fever also.
And because kennel cough really is an infectious disease, and it's a contagious disease regardless of the cause, whether it's bordetella bronchiseptica or canine influenza virus or other viruses, these dogs should be handled with some precautions, precautions that veterinarians normally use when they are treating a patient that has a potential infectious disease that is contagious to other dogs. So this type of precaution would involve the isolation of the respiratory disease or at least protection of other dogs in their clinics, while this particular dog with respiratory disease is undergoing diagnosis and treatment and potentially hospitalization.
I'll also stress that despite the rumors that are out on the Internet and other such sources, this disease is not as deadly as people want to make it. Although it's a new pathogen in dogs and nearly all dogs are susceptible to infection based on our knowledge about the virus to date, about 80 percent of them will have a mild form of disease, just characterized by cough and maybe some nasal discharge that will resolve over time with appropriate therapy.
Only a minority of dogs, a small number of dogs, experience complications such as pneumonia, just like the humans infected with influenza, certain populations of humans are more prone to development of pneumonia. And it's a small number of humans compared to everyone else.
So that is the same with canine influenza virus. It's a small population of dogs that will develop complications, most likely bacterial complications and these dogs do need to be--have their treatment supervised by a veterinarian.
In addition, since not all dogs will show a clinical syndrome, showing that they have a respiratory infection, there is a minority that are infected with the virus, but will not show clinical signs to announce to everybody that "I am sick." And it is very difficult to find these dogs in the dog population. And we're working on a more rapid means of identification.
And lastly, I want to emphasize most of all that this is not the deadly virus that certain sources have played it up to be.
We have a very low mortality rate. And this is a disease that I would characterize as one of high morbidity and low mortality. Thank you
