Washington National Cathedral Greets Pinnacle of Christian Year-Easter 2011

Happy Easter! 

To all of you around the world, wherever you may be and whether or not you even celebrate Easter.

At Eastertime, I play the part of the Easter Bunny, offering chocolates to my family who are already far too advanced and well-fed for such luxury.

Thus, I had to resort to listening online from my home computer perch many miles away to the incredible services at the Washington National Cathedral, though it would have been better to be there in person.

Actually, I had a "Cathedral Marathon" and saw far more on the internet than I would  likely have done in person, and might have attended maybe one or two of the Easter services...not the four I watched online! In addition, watching services on the internet now resembles a sports game on television because it is well-televised, and close-ups bring the principle players up close, in this case the Ministers, Organist and Choirs.  Watching at home one does not have to take a back seat. The performances are so polished, it makes sense to record them and send them out to a wider audience, as expensive as it must be. I still wish I could have been there in person for the excitement of the live service of worship.

The Services at the Cathedral are always so perfect, and the processions are powerful to behold. The music, hymns, anthems, and especially Widor's Toccata were played perfectly by Cathedral Organist Scott Dettra. He infuses his music with personality and emphasis to perfection. He is the best organist, although being televised from Washington National Cathedral helps. Organists around the world help make Easter celebrations more spiritual.

The Cathedral had an incredibly busy schedule with Easter services at the pinnacle of the Christian year all week, and on Good Friday afternoon (for three hours), Saturday evening (probably two hours or maybe three with baptisms) and then two services of  one and one-half hours Sunday. In his perennially welcoming words, Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III said he wants to open our hearts and tease out the possibilities.

It's possible to watch the webcasts, too, after the services and experience some of the soothing psychological benefits of spirituality for yourself at your convenience. This is especially important to those too busy to take part in the services as they happened.

The flowers by themselves must have employed hundreds! They filled a huge paragraph in the Service leaflet (p. 15). There were beautiful bouquets...I counted seventy-eight honorees of flowers in the leaflet at least. 

As usual, the Cathedral conscientiously publishes Permissions (p. 15) to sing hymns, and in that way is a fine example to other churches. 

Whatever your religious persuasion, watching the webcasts on the website is a pressure-free way to see the religious services if you would like to understand more of the benefits they would bring to you. The Cathedral Archives conveniently online are a great help to clergy and anyone with an interest in, or curious about, previous worship services.

Please give generously to the National Cathedral. Hope you had a Happy Easter!!!

Why Is President Obama Misunderstood?

 "Mr. Obama agreed that "we have piled on a lot of standardized tests" under federal education law, meaning the annual proficiency tests in reading and math given to Grades 3 through 8 as well as once in high school.

"Now there's nothing wrong with a standardized test being given occasionally just to give a base line of where kids are at," he continued. "Malia and Sasha, my two daughters, they just recently took a standardized test. But it wasn't a high-stakes test. It wasn't a test where they had to panic."

New York Times, April 6, 2011

Critics, speaking within the article, miss the point if they think he is saying private school tests are less-pressurized, or blame the government for more testing in schools.

I believe, in this instance, he is talking about the formal nationwide  tests middle-schoolers take, not the SAT and ACT tests that Juniors and Seniors take. The latter do cause panic, unlike the yearly ones which are a part of the regular school years in both public and private schools. He meant, I believe, "it wasn't a high-stakes  test" such as an ACT or SAT test.

I believe the private high school entry exam, called the SSAT, is also panic-inducing because it is looked at by private high schools.  Despite my first daughter getting perfect scores on her SSAT, she did not get accepted at two out of four private high schools to which she had applied, and refused to study ahead of time for her SATs at the end of high school as a consequence.  Despite that, she graduated from Princeton University with As. It amazes me how her elementary teachers predicted dire consequences which didn't fortunately happen. I shouldn't have listened to them and worried myself sick without reason...(Today, my second daughter took her ACT; the panic continues, and she's an entirely different person)...

But what do I know? I could be wrong.  It was just a simple statement. I do know that if a simple statement can be misunderstood, as I believe the one above was, then how much more can be mangled by the press and bloggers and all? (admittedly including myself). And how many of those misunderstandings are motivated by fear and prejudice?

He made a good public display of crowd-pleasing today, and is working hard, I think. It was extremely brave to go out into crowds at any time, as he did today, the day after the historic Budget showdown that almost shut down the American government. I don't know why, but the spectacle of him unexpectedly shaking hands with tourists was so sweet, it brought tears to my eyes! It's a pity he can be so misunderstood at times, since I believe he is a kind-hearted leader and Americans are blessed to have him as President.

Time to Question the Risks of Sports

A recent University of North Carolina study painted a grim picture of head trauma and its long-term affects.

“Repeatedly concussed National Football League players,” said the UNC report, “had five times the rate of mild cognitive impairment (pre-Alzheimer’s) than the average population,” while “retired NFL players suffer from Alzheimer’s disease at a 37-per-cent higher rate than average.” Then came the kicker. Two doctors determined “that the average life expectancy for all profootball players, including all positions and backgrounds, is 55. Several insurance carriers say it is 51 years.”

Toronto's Globe and Mail,  Tues April 5, 2011
 

DATA360

The average American male's life-span, in contrast, has risen from 65 in 1950 to almost 80 in 2011 [table above].  Yet hockey and football players clearly have potential sports-related injuries. These injuries may haunt them for years. None of us would consciously want to play hard only to pay for years with chronic pain.

The trouble is, these sports, at least the way they are now played, are relatively new when looked at from the perspective of time. We don't know the long-term consequences. Certainly the single-minded pursuit of sports excellence is now unmatched by anything in the past. It is motivated by money, and fed by supposedly demanding masses. It's true, we seldom think about  the negative repercussions of sports as a daily reality if we don't live with it.

 Sports rise and wane in popularity. It is time to revisit the injuries suffered by players. Remember the gladiators of Rome and how popular they were? Bull-fighting and dueling were far more popular in the past than they are now, due to the possibility of severe injury leading to death. Even boxing in America used to be more popular than it is now. Fatal danger is a common thread in sports that disappear over time.

Future ball players will have these statistics to ponder, and it is my hope they will pursue less dangerous pursuits in the future, in careers where risks are less costly. After all, exercise in moderation is excellent.

Pro athletes are overpaid  because their working life is short and for that reason, they enjoy compensation with astronomical salaries, support staffs, news coverage...I have long  marveled at how on earth sports salaries ever got so crazily high.

The Garden State Surrounds Princeton

 

Now, I know I have written about the town of Princeton, New Jersey in the past. I guess I could expand and write about our entire area for your enjoyment. Many beautiful towns  and lands surround our world-famous centers of learning here, such as Princeton University, amid the pricey real estate in Mercer County.

Towns immediately surrounding Princeton are to the west and southwest, Lawrenceville, a town within Lawrence Township. Both Princeton, surrounded by Princeton Township and Lawrence Township have their own school systems.  Further southwest is the state capital of Trenton, originally a centre of industrial porcelain manufacturing, china and pottery.

West and northwest of Princeton, to the north of Lawrence Township are the towns of Pennington surrounded by Hopewell Township. Hopewell Township also extends to the north of the Princetons, Princeton town and Township, and includes the town of Hopewell to the north. They have pharmaceutical research companies, and offices of technology companies.

lawrenceyerkes.com

To the east of Hopewell is the dividing line between Mercer County (the 609 area telephone code) and Somerset County, which is more to the north. The suburban towns of Skillman and Montgomery are contiguous to the east with the Borough of Rocky Hill, an old small town. All the housing here is either existing, with old farms, large and small, being divided into lots for already existing housing developments.

lawrenceyerkes.com

Highway 206 is an important north/south route that extends up to North Jersey, and divides Skillman from Rocky Hill, in general. These are all within Mercer County which has 13 municipalities, and has a  2009 population of 366,222 (est.) amid New Jersey's 8.7 million people.

To the east of Rocky Hill and south is the town of Kingston which extends all the way south past Highway 27, which becomes Nassau Street, the main street in Princeton, and then stops and joins Route 206, which it is named and extends west to Lawrence Township. 

South of Route 27 is Route 1, the classic old route with traffic lights between New York City and Philadelphia, where new housing developments in Plainsboro have expanded rapidly in the last ten years. South of Princeton are the towns of West Windsor, and Princeton Junction, the location of the major train station with trains to New York and Philadelphia, airports and beyond. A small train connects Princeton town with Princeton Junction Train Station and is a useful alternative form of transportation.

Further south of West Windsor are the towns of Cranbury, Hightstown (pron. HEIGHTS-TOWN), Robbinsville, Hamilton and many more. The area is dotted with parks, shopping centers, and golf courses.

Princeton is about half an hour to the Jersey Shore, 45 minutes minimum to Wilmington, Delaware , south of Philadelphia -  a speed record I heard about.

lawrenceyerkes.com

Whichever way you arrive,  when you get to Princeton, New Jersey, it's a great place to  visit.  The surrounding area also has many farms to visit, and to choose from in case you are in the market to buy a new property. There are many sizes of farms for equestrians which are very popular. And farm estates are available for those without a big interest in horses, many of which will allow you to raise sheep, chickens, cows and alpacas.

A Crime Women Usually Cover Up

Following a woman's arrest after she broke news of her rape to foreign journalists in Libya, I feel moved to comment. To naysayers, I seriously doubt she is making this up. I believe her  story, and any story of rape automatically, and here's why....

Imagine for one moment if your loved one - your wife, your mother, or your sister - went through the same unspeakable atrocities this woman claimed to have suffered. Would they lie about it? Of course, not. Why would they? There is no gain in admitting to rape, and so much more to covering it up.

This Libyan woman is probably no different. She went to the foreign press since they  have acted more responsibly than the Libyan police. She had nothing more to lose. Even the social humiliation of talking about rape did not stop her.

False accusation of rape is inconceivable to me. Victims often will not talk about rape out of fear. In some societies, rape has bad consequences for the  unfortunate, innocent victim, as has happened here. Anyone who thinks a woman talks about rape without cause, unnecessarily, seriously mistakes the gravity of the crime and its consequences.

No one claims rape, in my limited experience, without having been a victim. It is an unspeakably uncivilized crime that cuts to the core of human life. The traumatic event is personally embarrassing and humiliating. It is impossible for me, and likely all women, to imagine gaining any political, social or material advantage in some warped scenario in Libya or anywhere, really, by claiming rape (and more abuse) as this lady has. One can only imagine the punishment her assertion has caused her to endure since rape is, by definition, an unwanted physical intrusion.

I always automatically believe a woman has been raped if she says so with no exceptions. Rape is a crime,  after all, of power over the powerless. I feel so sorry she is back now in harm's way. The people who took her away, whatever their motives, are not behaving as rational, civilized human beings. The tragedy is human; her rape was not. It was unnecessary and tragic, and my heart goes out to her.

UPDATE 1: An article quotes a top Libyan official who insulted her and diminished her worth as a human being amid reports she has now been freed. A woman's social status has nothing to do with her allegations of brutality as claimed, and is a classic example of "blaming the victim." Whatever her profession or wealth, I continue to truly believe whatever she said, not  some  "official" with many reasons to cover up the crime and deny the truth.

UPDATE 2: More coverage in the media makes this story continue to be hot, and yet it seems to me that some say I am wrong, that women do accuse men of rape when it is not true, for many reasons. Unfortunately, I can't agree, and do not waiver...I think it probably never happens without justification of some sort. Usually, the accusation fades away. It's can't be denied that the number of unsolved rape cases remains astronomically high in America, according to endthebacklog.org. It's just that I think accusations tend to be justified.

How To Have More Meaning and Happiness in Life

What really gives people meaning and happiness is a combination of four things:

1. Control over what they're doing.
2. Progress in what they're pursuing.
3. Connectedness: being connected with others, and 
4. Belonging: Being part of something they enjoy that's bigger than themselves.

 from "When Rich People Do Stupid Things" Motley Fool

Why Not Let Women Drive? Saudis Question Old Restrictions

A senior Saudi,  Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, nephew of King Abdullah has reportedly asked for answers:

"The Saudi society wants fewer foreign labourers ... so why the hesitation, why this hesitation (with women driving cars)? I want answers," he said.

Why indeed?

The benefit to men is, they will know how to be better to other men if they learn how to be better to women, too. One way to learn  more about  "gender equality"  - Saudis could watch old American movies. They could have business meetings and include women for "gender equality" and then true equality will happen down the road.

This subjugation of women is a useless old habit that is currently in the process of being dropped following the wave of social awareness sweeping through the Middle East. Let's support common sense. Let's hope men will lose old ways that are of no use now and they will  learn to work better with women.

Saudi women do not have the most basic freedoms of Western women. They cannot travel, work, get health care or meet many other basic human needs  without express  male permission. This is unacceptable in Western countries and anti-capitalistic for the large segment of the population that is female.

To create prosperity, women -- half of the population of a country -- need freedom of activity. To help a country prosper, they need money, time, freedom and gender equality.

Why do young men in Saudi Arabia have authority over younger and older women? 

Why are sisters denied opportunities equal to their brothers? 

Why not hire women if they know more and do a better job than the male competition?

Here's a fact :  subjugated Arabian women generally get hassled and abused more in their daily lives - why?

The American Human Rights Watch Group has a report entitled: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia. It documents civil rights abuses and discriminatory policies directed wholesale against women in that country. For example, Saudi Arabia is the only country that bans women from driving. 

Saudi men should let women drive, get health care, equal education, equal work environment, and get everything else a free and open country can offer. I want answers, too, please!

A List of My All-Time Favorite Hymns

Today's service at Washington D.C.'s National Cathedral online was excellent. Lent will begin very soon, and this week was all about how to stop worrying. Stress relief is always a popular "quality of life" topic.

The sermon by The
Rev. Jan Naylor Cope, who has incidentally earlier been a Deputy
Director in the White House, and President of an executive search firm,
had the excellent idea that "you can't be generous and grateful and
greedy all at the same time." What a wonderful "theme of the week."

One suggestion by Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III is to take ten minutes to read the text from Matthew  6: 24-34 (below) every day and think about it, and it will help our worries disappear completely, even sleep problems. Great idea! Read it and believe it.

Here's the text:

Matthew 6:24–34

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.

Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.You cannot serve God and wealth.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

As promised almost a year ago, I've finally listed my favorite hymns of all time. They strengthen us Christians and give us hope when we hear them. To me they are an essential part of a satisfying religious service...love organ music. As with all hymns, the version, the occasion, and how well they are sung are all-important.

1. Hyfrydol - Love Divine, All Loves Excelling


2. Cwm Rhondda - Guide Me, O Thou Redeemer


3.  Praise Ye The Lord, the Almighty


4. Lauda Anima - Praise My Soul the King of Heaven


5. What a Friend We Have in Jesus


6. Be Thou My Vision


7. Abide With Me


8. All My Hope on God is Founded


9. Come Ye Thankful People


10. Holy, Holy, Holy


11. Greensleeves - What Child is This?


12. Christ the Lord is Risen Today


13. Amazing Grace


14. God is Our Refuge and Our Strength


15. Lasst Uns Erfreuen - All Creatures of Our God and King


16. Thine Be the Glory


17. This is my Father's World


18. Repton - Dear Lord and Father of Mankind 


19. Silent Night 


20. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 


21. Joy to the World 


22. O Come All Ye Faithful 


23. O Come, O Come, Emanuel


24. Wareham  - O Wondrous Sight


25.  All Glory, Laud and Honor


26. For the Beauty of the Earth 


27. Holy Father, Great Creator 


28. Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise


29. Rockingham Old - When I survey the Wondrous Cross


30. We Gather Together


31. My Song is Love Unknown (updated 4.22.11) 


32. Jesus Christ is Risen Today (updated 4.23.11)


33.  The Strife is O'er, The Battle Done (updated 4.23.11)


34. O Praise Ye the Lord, Laudate Dominum (updated 5.1.11)


35. St. Magnus: The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns (updated 6.5.11)


36. Richmond: Awake, Arise, Lift Up Your Voice (updated 6.5.11)


37. Jesus Shall Reign Where'er The Sun (updated 8.14.11)
38. They are so beautiful. I have many, many more, but that is a list of my top favorites. My preference is definitely for very old hymns. These are not in any particular order. (Next, the CD?!...just kidding.) A quick way to get the tunes is to link, for example, to the website, cyberhymnal.org, and openhymnal.org (I recommend the mp3 version). I'm sure to have missed more. Which of your favorite hymns have I missed?



 
39.  

Love Others with Action, Gestures, Connections, Caring, Giving and Forgiving

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III gave another wonderful sermon today at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (It was live online at NationalCathedral.org).

"In our common humanity" he said, in his inspirational Christian speech... "We need to have love for those who are not like us." We all have to go out and "Love our enemies and praise those who persecute us." 

Dean Lloyd is finding incivility and so many people in disagreement today, and says we need to love others with "actions, gestures, connections, caring, giving and forgiving." As he says, in truth, "there is no future without forgiveness." We need to "take time to let go of the power of anger" and then "every step is a step to greater freedom." 

We extend our gratitude to Dean Lloyd for another great sermon. Please give generously to the Washington National Cathedral and visit the Cathedral website for archived video sermons, Sunday Forum conversations with celebrities, and complete video worship and special services.

Communications Run Democracies

An article in Huffington Post  recounts how an investigation found Jonathan Edwards, a leading Presidential candidate, lied and forced others to swear to his lies, too. It took the wise advice of a mental health expert, and fortunately it was sound, to get a confession.  A forced partial confession then led to a full confession. The confession exposed Edwards as a bully who manipulated his leading employee to save his job by claiming paternity.of Edwards illegitimate child.  As an individual, Edwards believed he could operate "above the law," as this story details, even as he pursued the Presidency. It's a fascinating, riveting story that could become an interesting book, even a movie.

It's incredible this editor-in-chief didn't leave a stone unturned.  A tabloid, the National Enquirer, did this heavy lifting for a story other major national news organizations had no interest in. Despite using questionable methods, the fact remains. A tabloid, which is not normally a major news source, obtained results that ultimately benefited the entire nation.

 Much-maligned American journalists, even tabloids, are evidently partly responsible for keeping democracy going. Their value in doing so shouldn't be ignored even if it can't be quantified.The point is that news, and communication in a larger sense, is essential in a democracy to expose leaks. Communication is extremely important in a democracy. Google has launched "speak-to-tweet", an audio tweet service, #Egypt,  to help Egypt get the word out, according to a tweet by Arianna Huffington's. Let's hope communication leads to peace in Egypt. Wouldn't that be great? Bill Gates should get the last word. To quote him, Gates says" "It's not that hard" to close down the internet...If the military does that," he says, "it shows the government is "afraid of the truth getting out." "

Revealing American Highway Statistics

A leading American newspaper, USA Today, reports that western and southern states have a higher proportion of fatalities than the northeast. Wyoming, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Arkansas have more fatalities, while DC is safest, followed by Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut and Illinois. Overall, Texas, California and Florida have the highest numbers of fatalities  as this chart shows:

 

States	Deaths	Rate
Ala.	848	18
Alaska	64	9.2
Ariz.	807	12.2
Ark.	585	20.3
Calif.	3,081	8.3
Colo.	465	9.3
Conn.	223	6.3
Del.	116	13.1
D.C.	29	4.8
Fla.	2,558	13.8
Ga.	1,284	13.1
Hawaii	109	8.4
Idaho	226	14.6
Ill.	911	7.1
Ind.	693	10.8
Iowa	372	12.4
Kan.	386	13.7
Ky.	791	18.3
La.	821	18.3
Maine	159	12.1
Md.	547	9.6
Mass.	334	5.1
Mich.	871	8.7
Minn.	421	8
Miss.	700	23.7
Mo.	878	14.7
Mont.	221	22.7
Neb.	223	12.4
Nev.	243	9.2
N.H.	110	8.3
N.J.	583	6.7
N.M.	361	18
N.Y.	1,156	5.9
N.C.	1,314	14
N.D.	140	21.6
Ohio	1,021	8.8
Okla.	738	20
Ore.	377	9.8
Pa.	1,256	10
R.I.	83	7.9
S.C.	894	19.6
S.D.	131	16.1
Tenn.	989	15.7
Texas	3,071	12.4
Utah	244	8.8
Vt.	74	11.9
Va.	757	9.6
Wash.	492	7.4
W.Va.	356	19.6
Wis.	561	9.9
Wyo.	134	24.6
USA	33,808	11

Your chances of having an accident vary dramatically because of where you are.

The study doesn't take into account the idea that fewer cars might make roads safer in the case of bad weather.

FOR Stricter Gun Controls

Revelations some families condone gun possession for recreational use, hunting, for self-defense against animal or human aggressors, and for presents, as gifts are described in this article in The Huffington Post.

As reasons to understand gun ownership in an open society, let's take apart the arguments.  These are words to use to say to your personal circles, if you are in favor of strict laws, or  just need reasons to lose the unwanted, inherited weapons, capable of mass destruction.

Using guns for recreational use, as aggressors and hunters do, is not popular in areas of the country with developed houses, suburbia, and the cities. Sure, the military use them; police use them; even farmers use them. For food, health-inspected meat from a grocery store is more safe and appropriate to eat (even better for your health is a plant-based diet).  Guns are dangerous to children and to wives in the hands of abusive husbands.

The next argument: guns are for self-defense. Guns are used more for offense, not  self-defense, as many studies show. Both human and animal aggressors are infrequent in rural areas.  Human aggressors should be recognized as the criminals they are;  they face severe legal penalties when caught and punished. Animal aggressors, wild animals with rare exceptions, do not attack humans unless provoked or cornered.

Lastly, guns as gifts. Wonder if families talk about them as they sit around the dinner table and thank each other for those guns. A gift of money, on the other hand, the hard stuff, would be more useful now and to the next generation.

The author of that article, Mitchell Bard, says politicians in the northeastern U.S. are far more likely to condone gun control than politicians in the south and west, with the exception of California. This map, from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, proves gun controls are strongest in California  (scoring 79/100 points) and the northeastern states, and weakest in the midwest, especially Arizona (scoring only 02/100 points!). If every bullet cost an unreasonable amount of money, and if politicians cleaned up their words of vitriol, there wouldn't be any point selling guns; the demand simply wouldn't be there. I know, I'm dreaming.

History lesson: President George W. Bush endorsed the pro-gun lobby for the people of America, and in 2008, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling, allowing guns for self-defense. Notably unhelpful, since guns and ammunition can already be sold without background checks. There are only "gun shows"...There are no "victim  shows"...

America's powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) spends a fortune with emotional appeals on television to push "freedom" as a message, as if Americans will lose personal freedom if they give up their guns. The aggressive NRA commands Americans to buy them because guns scare away everyone and everything. Words from the other side, against the anonymously funded NRA's brawny slogans is the inspiration for my post, to write for the silent, unrepresented victims, and to urge for stricter gun controls.

True fact:

"Where there are more guns, there are more gun deaths, and higher household gun ownership correlates with higher rates of homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings."
Brady Campaign

Everyone knows we rarely buy anything with the purpose of not using whatever it is. Most people use what they have, especially if they've paid for it. Guns are no exception.

There it is in a nutshell: what we don't have, we aren't likely to use.

Let's not play a game with safety, or think about using a gun to hurt  anyone. Please don't buy a gun to start with, or accept one as a gift. Stop the cycle.

A Canadian reporter wonders why there are so many guns in America here':

I don’t recall anyone saying, “I’m worried this rhetoric might inspire a perfectly sane person, with a coherent political theory, toward violence.”

Yet the initial outrage over the event was lost in the ensuing outrage over the outrage. By midweek, the bullet through the head, the deaths and the injuries almost disappeared.

The extraordinary violence of the act nearly vanished as the media apologized for asking obvious, relevant questions.

... they seemed to swear off asking other relevant questions: Why are there so many bullet wounds to the heads and bodies of Americans? Why is this normal? Why are there so many guns?

 T. Southey. The Globe and Mail.

UPDATE: I would like to thank the writer of an article in The New York Times which investigates current gun control research entitled:  NRA Stymies Firearms Research, Scientists Say, which completely disposes of the counterarguments promoted by the National Rifle Association. The NRA uses brute force without punishment to stop funding of basic government research into gun violence and squelches any form of opposition with billions and billions of dollars in financing, physically intimidating and threatening the lives and livelihoods of scientists, according to the article. 

The power of money to destroy opponents can be just as powerful as that of guns. Unfairly, the NRA has choked off money for basic research that would undoubtedly help increase the safety and comfort of Americans. Would that those who are able could take up the fight against gun violence and help the Brady Campaign, which is a sole provider of gun-related research in America. It could help bring more civility and peace to this divided country. Why not have a closer look at all aspects of the National Rifle Association? If they are a non-profit, they are obligated to welcome the interest, because of the tax benefits they receive from the government. 

The Violent Lord's Resistance Army in Africa

Imagine a large group of children in America are abducted. All at once, reporters race to cover the incident. Swift reactions are predictably anxious and international news coverage is generous. Yet, according to

Human Rights Watch, far worse than that is still happening right now, every day, in northern Uganda, and the silence  in world news  is deafening.  Human rights organisations agree world leaders aren't reacting strongly enough to stop the escalating violence. Covered by few journalists, the violence is being carried out by a group called the Lord's Resistance Army. Calling itself a Christian army, led by a supposedly religious  spiritual leader, the video below, "Dear Obama" offers convincing proof it is not religious at all.

A rebel army has displaced thousands of people from their homes, abducted a whole generation of children and then forced them for years to become soldiers capable of killings and mutilations. Organizations such as

Human Rights Watch say America has a moral obligation to stop it, and now.

 According to the Sunday Forum at the Washington National Cathedral led by Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III in a fascinating introduction and conversation on the issue, the LRA is not a Christian group as its leader claims. It is an army concerned with violence against enemies, with no objective, political or religious, and needs to end. It is unlike the Darfur conflict which is racial.

Here's a quick summary of the situation in Northern Uganda:

Army 1: Ugandan Joseph Kony and three to ten associates are training and using kids as young as eight as an army to kill enemies.

Army 2: Ugandan Government Army, funded by the US, is profiteering from American funding and looking the other way from the LRA. There isn't a French or other army in the area.

Problem: Ugandan  Army  2 isn't stopping Army 1.

Solution: According to Human Rights Watch, special foreign forces could use ground intelligence to capture Joseph Kony and his other cohorts and bring them to the Hague Tribunal to face punishment, because the Ugandan Army won't do it, before the violence spreads further and takes a stronger hold as the army of children mature.

Uganda and the surrounding jungle are where a despotic army chief called Joseph Kony, together with a group of fewer than ten other militiamen, have used children to kill their enemies for decades (

BBC: Kony  named his army the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) although he is not a religious or spiritual leader. The LRA abducts both boys and girls for the purpose of massacring his enemies without any political or religious objective.

It is not clear what Kony's objective is, apart from engaging in violence. According to members of the press, Kony and the other leaders have reneged on official peace agreements and do fear prosecution if it should come. All of this is happening while America is funding the main Ugandan army which has then taken money and  done nothing to stop the violence, yet has profiteered.

Typically, Mr. Kony ascends a mountain and then uses his cell phone. There, he orders around his army using his phone on the mountain. His child followers believe him when he comes down from the mountain and issues orders they are told are taken from heaven. His army does not allow radios, so these abducted children cannot know their families want them to return home. The abducted children are used as soldiers, and if girls, then taken as wives.  Kony supposedly has over 60 women forced to be sex slaves and called "wives."

Many wonder why the United Nations hasn't stopped the LRA already?...Briefly, we were informed that the LRA  crosses borders to escape detection. The area they fight in is too insecure to have any NGO base. At the same time, Human Rights Watch, formerly Helsinki Watch, says the US has a moral obligation to stop the violence, and that it would be relatively effective to do so now as a preventative measure against greater violence.

It's an important, under-reported issue because the current generation of Africans in Uganda and the Congo and Sudan is being lost. When schools close, the entire generation of people pressing for social change, doctors and educators and communities are also lost.

There are steps we can take. Urgently, we can support the current legislation on the LRA that has passed President Obama, currently before Congress to do more, meant to bring change to the region. We can also support humanitarian organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Just because the news is not often reported, doesn't mean the situation isn't newsworthy, or that it isn't happening, but just that news organizations can't afford to pay to cover it.

Uganda is a troubled country;  previous dictator, Idi Amin, was accused of committing atrocities, and the country is currently led by

President  Museveni and his corrupt army. Let's hope Congress has the sense to pass this legislation, and can bring about a cessation to the violence we know is going on.

Uganda

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africa.upenn.edu

Washington National Cathedral  

Human Rights Watch

is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.sponsors international journalism 

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

America Could Improve Itself

 "Just because you have a mental illness doesn't mean you're prohibited from buying a gun," said an official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, speaking on condition of anonymity. "You can be diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and buy a gun. A judge has to find you mentally ill before you are prohibited." Wall Street Journal, Jan 10, 2011.

Looking at the tragic shooting in Arizona over the weekend, I can just imagine how this  incident in Arizona is going to go over with people in other parts of the world.

It's easy to imagine how parents and families in other parts of the world will now look at America and try to understand why members of  a democracy would murder their own leaders. This is old ground; it's happened many times in the past. But the fact remains, many Presidents have been murdered, and Congress has been harassed with guns.

1. In comparison to other countries Americans feel no shame or pressure to change gun laws to protect innocents. It is not jumping to a conclusion to suggest this young man would not have shot people had he not had a gun at all.
2. It's not a weakness to judge a book by its cover, or a man by his actions.Criminals get extra specially respectful treatment with a lot of charitable attention, in the press, to give them the benefit of the doubt, even if there is no doubt of wrongdoing. Because of this criminal action, we are going to hear more about his family, his early life, etc. In contrast, we have not heard even the names of some of the victims, or much about their lives; the victims have not been accorded better, or even as much attention in the media.
3. The mentally ill, who would have been put away twenty years ago, are now on the streets of America, according to CNN.
4. Outcomes that Americans fear, e.g. kidnapping and acts of mental disturbance happen because of fear of retribution from officials, who threaten well-wishers with legal action for interference.

Why hasn't it figured into the national psyche to care whether the country is perceived as "kinder and gentler" than other countries. Isn't it about time? Or is justice a concept secondary to the success of a legal argument in general in this country? Is status as a superpower more important than safety at home? If being civilized requires:

•   mental and physical health care for all
•   respectful openness of communication without exaggeration
•   stronger gun control laws 
•   better admission procedures for immigrants

In what other concrete ways could America be more civilized? Please write a comment. I'm very sorry if this post offends some Americans, but it's my personal view.

It's Better To Look Forward

An article in The Wall Street Journal about Chinese parenting has whipped up a firestorm of attention in the Comment section.

The author, originally from Asia, speaks only of her daughters, is a professor at Yale Law School, and author of a book about "Free Market Democracy" and how it breeds global instability and ethnic hatred. Little wonder, she is aiming to take the same lesson home to Americans, except on the personal scale. She thinks child and teenage freedom possibly lead to a great national weakness of character and strength. For example, she favors competitive classical music for her child over drama, without tolerance for art, and perhaps psychology.

 The article has moved many readers. One comment that boys in China would not have been insulted by their mothers, stays with me and bothers me. It surprises me that a law professor gets away with calling her daughter names like "garbage" and withholds bathroom trips, and yet hasn't been threatened with child removal by the Department of Youth and Family Services, as they have done for far lesser offenses. Such free publicity in a "serious newspaper" should help the author sell her books this week.

When my sixteen year old read the article, she reflected the author-mother illegally committed child abuse with her daughters. She, of course, thought I was being excessively strict with her last week when I wouldn't drive her and her friend through a snowstorm to attend a rock concert!

Another disturbing article this week concerns a long suicide note left by a graduate student at Princeton University. In it, he addressed the lingering effects of child abuse and that he could not forget them. He wrote the darkness of the pain is what drove him over the edge.

It is obvious to me: parents use strategies to raise children that worked out best for them; it's not necessarily what will work for all children. Each child is different, and needs to have a unique set of circumstances combine to create great success in a career. It's true that luck favors the prepared, but life is short, too. Each person has a unique life to live.

Watch 'The King's Speech': About Leadership and Compassion

All I'll say about the last post is that I got several self-publisher emails in response. They might have seen the post or they might have sent them anyway since I contacted them after the first few drafts. (That latest draft is probably number twenty or so.) We'll see...

Anyway, 'The King's Speech' is a fast-paced, never boring, riveting movie indeed. Sure it's about a speech impediment. Concerned it might be dull, how could the subject-matter be interesting, I wondered? That idea couldn't have been farther from the truth. Everyone loves this movie, and little wonder! 

King George VI

It's so moving emotionally, I suspect no one saw it dry-eyed; it was that  touching. Not only was it compassionate about speech problems, it was sympathetic to Britain, the West and the British monarchy before the Second World War.

King George VI was a British King famous for his stirring speeches; his brother King Edward VIII who abdicated the throne and then married the American Wallis Warfield Simpson had a more lingering, colorful, partying reputation. 

History shows King George VI made many important speeches during the war and his wife, 

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (above) of current Queen Elizabeth II, lived to the age of 104, greatly beloved by the British. The monarchy has, since the time of Queen Victoria  at least, left a legacy of compassion that continues with the British Crown to the present day.  The movie is a tribute to the currently peaceful reign of one of the longest running monarchies in British history.

'The King's Speech' also interests the audience by illuminating the topic of true leadership. Never before King George VI had a British monarch reigned while a previous one still lived. The dangers inherent in a temporarily ambiguous monarchy in England as  King Edward VIII held the throne is a central story behind the movie. Germany in the late 1930s was an  immediate threat to safety in the daily lives of all the British. 

The story of a vulnerable and beleaguered nation facing peril they wished would go away lies behind the story of a King with a disability he wished would, too. The King needed to be a strong speaker to better serve his subjects, not one "afraid of his own shadow" but one who could speak up in  a strong voice to both soothe and defend a nation.

The movie was directed by the British award-winner Tom Hooper starring the enormously talented Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, already well-suited to this role.  The movie is advertised as "based on the incredible true story: when his nation needed a leader, when the people needed a voice, an ordinary man would help him find the courage." It was a  brilliant idea by the original playwright, David Seidler, to tell the story of the King's  relationship with his coach, Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush, a central character of the movie. The therapy that broke the King's stammer is a personal story, interestingly regal. Anger management was also an important issue the King had to work on with his therapist.

But  the real story is the King's long-term dependence on the therapist, and how hard all the people of Britain had to work for their survival as the storm clouds drew closer. Let's hope America can't draw a parallel somehow to the present day. It's a movie with an entertaining story from the past and many interesting lessons for the present.

On Leadership

King George VI had in abundance the traits of leaders elucidated during interviews on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS today. The Sunday morning  television host interviewed such leaders as a former British Prime Minister, the CEO of three companies including now IBM, the President of Yale University and an influential female former Governor of New Jersey. He asked them to enumerate leadership characteristics. According to these leaders, leadership is about:

1) Getting people to want to do what you want them to by persuading them it is in their best interest.

2) Leaders give an urgency to decision-making.

3) What one is expected to do in a leadership position is to make decisions, even if they are unpopular. As long as they are correct, hard decisions can become accepted in time. 

Masterpiece Music: American Coastlines, A Five Part Concerto

This post is an update of my earlier review of my musician favorites. "American Coastlines: Concerto for Piano, Orchestra and Choir" would make beautiful background music for a movie. 

It is rare indeed to find such beautiful music born and bred the United States by an American composer.  Reminiscent of the music of some of the greatest and most ambitious American movies, past and present, these songs on the piano are clearly discernible and memorable. The added overlay of the orchestra adds fullness and richness of texture. The entire performance is marvelously imaginative and innovative, truly an American masterpiece of which to be proud.

Haunting and mellifluous melodies interweave with background music of an orchestra and choir composed and conducted by Tim Keyes, with piano music by Darlene Popkey. This stunning performance was recorded live at the Richardson Auditorium in Princeton, New Jersey in five parts:

1. Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey: July

2. Long Boat Key, Florida: October

3. Galveston Island, Texas: January

4. Big Sur, California: April

5. Hymn

Darlene Popkey has enjoyed numerous international  musical awards and honors. She has played with the Tim Keyes Consort such masterpieces as Dvorak's Symphony no. 9 (From the New World) and Saint Saens Symphony no. 3 as well as other new symphonic compositions. Her schedule continues with live virtuoso solo and orchestral musical performances.

"
Tim Keyes is a New-Jersey-based composer, conductor and director of his eponymous orchestra of instrumentalists from Central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

It is really quite extraordinary and refreshingly reassuring to be able to hear soothing and majestic new American compositions.

It's wonderful to play as a DVD on the computer or in the car. This would also make wonderful music for ecclesiastical settings, school plays and a a terrific present to buy as a gift. Everyone would like it. It is available from Amazon.

Darlene Popkey has an audio CD called "Small Town" also available at Amazon. Piano and clarinet music combine to create lovely, classy music from these two award-winning musicians.

Humility Is Necessary To Civility

In a New York Times article about Diane von Furstenberg, the dress designer talks about her fashions in Beijing. Leaping from the article at me was not the content  -  about the expansion of her fashion company into China -- but how inclusive and friendly she appears to be. One can almost imagine knowing her already. Better, she could be one of your most likeable, best friends. This empathy must be a secret to her great success, apart from the actual product of clothing -- her DVF dress she is most known for.

The quality and viewpoint of any writing, as well as the content, to be sure, hook readers. The author of the DVF article could have turned against her with a different choice of words giving readers distinctly opposing impressions of the same person.

Journalistic stance saturates partisan politics; it goes with the territory. The truth gets slanted, warped and all but unrecognizable; aided and abetted with convenient deluges of statistics, many of which cannot be instantly verified in real time and then disputed, whether on television or in print. Politicians look weak if they do not have the numbers at their disposal. Even if numbers are wildly inaccurate, the fact they are said can make them believed. In the United States today, someone saying the most common place comments, whether they tell the truth or not, can bolster their comments with a few well-rehearsed statistics, and then turn into a brilliant celebrity.

It also happens with real estate. Agents can turn against other agents, houses, buyers. Attitudes are formed by knowledge, sometimes misinformation.

Sadly, people can misuse the natural tendency of others to believe and exploit that quality. We must be educated to be skeptical and question. We aren't always perfectly correct, but then neither is anyone else, as far as the truth is concerned. We all make mistakes when we try to master a new concept, a skill, a challenge. Often, we need to heed warnings. At the same time, just as we know we cannot be completely correct, neither is anyone else. The humility to understand that idea is a foundation stone of civility.

I see arrogance all over the place, and have to consciously calm myself often to remain civil. Have you had kind thoughts about someone until something makes you question that person's psychological stability, and maybe disappoint you? What methods do you use to remain civil, polite and well-liked when someone says something a bit, well, crazy?

Dinner and a Movie: Americans Try Dine-In Movie Theaters

AMC Dine-In Theaters

A Dine-In AMC Theater is an innovative way to see a movie and eat a relaxing meal at the same time.  Leather recliners at the Bridgewater Theater offer waiter/bar service at the press of a button along with very generous seat width and leg-room. Where else can one see a movie while being served, if so desired, a glass of wine and a salad, or a menu of heartier dishes and desserts?

 

Business people  and restaurant owners from around the world should visit these theaters for the new experience. It's surprisingly relaxing to have wait service and enjoy a movie at the same time. If it sounds too good to be true, please visit one -- this website  has further details. I really liked this new idea: a hotel/restaurant/shopping center combo with a dine-in theater. I don't know what, besides this competition, except litigation or tax incentives, could force traditional  movie theaters to offer better than the standard fare of over-priced soda/popcorn/nachos (which I have encouraged already). 

You probably know a few movie snobs. They won't go to movie theaters  because they can see everything at home with better privacy, cleanliness and food. But they have a new choice; not many home media rooms have the full package of services these theaters provide. They are exactly the audience now testing the Bridgewater Mall Dine-In Movie Theater, newly renovated and re-opened in December, 2010. With seven theaters, the entire cinema now has 684 seats. Aisles are wide enough to pass out food, and wait staff dressed in black are trained to speak quietly. Composite plateware with fork-friendly food together with movable tray tables and individual lighting make this experience resemble, even surpass, first class plane travel. The costs of seeing a movie quickly add up, and the varied menu and generous seating make this place actually a bargain. Seats can and no doubt will be reserved ahead.

It's great new way to see a movie with a few significant others, especially couples and lucky teenagers. We saw an excellent movie very conducive to watching while dining. Any movie would be great here, purely from the perspective of the best seats, where each one has a great view and lots of space, and the healthier food. "How Do You Know" is a sophisticated romantic comedy, dear to my heart, that announces heart-throb Paul Rudd, also in "The Cider House Rules" and "Knocked Up" in a major role, starring already huge Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson. 

A list of current Dine-In Theaters:

Atlanta

AMC Fork & Screen Buckhead 6

Dallas

AMC Grapevine Mills 30 *NOW OPEN*

Kansas City

AMC Studio 30AMC Mainstreet 6

New Jersey

AMC Essex Green 9 *NOW OPEN* AMC Bridgewater Commons 7 *NOW OPEN*  AMC Menlo Park 12 *COMING SOON* opening 12/15/2010 (full disclosure: no sponsorship by AMC) Personally, I can't watch 3D movies without feeling extremely nauseated; "Avatar" sent me to a doctor worried I had to sit out most of it. In gratitude, this was a completely different experience. It won't be long before we go back for another "dinner and a movie." Enjoy a Dine-In Theater near you if you can.