NO ONE ELSE WILL SAY THIS....

Dr. Ben Carson may once have been the best neurosurgeon in the country. Not taking away from that. As a presidential candidate he has been the....once-best neurosurgeon in the country. From the first time he appeared in public as a candidate, he has had his supporters among devout religious people, because he seemed like a kindly man, and perhaps they trusted his past as a doctor. He could have run for Pastor in Chief, if such a job existed, but he has never, not once, demonstrated a single skill for being President. He has been clearly over his head on the debate stage, and taken up a slot there that rightly belonged to those far more qualified candidates who were wrongly relegated to the "undercard" stage. A travesty.

Here's what too many are afraid to say: Dr. Carson has repeatedly complained about "political correctness", and that is the ultimate in irony. Political correctness is the only reason he hasn't been attacked by anyone -- not even Donald Trump, for whom no one else is immune. Why? Because he is African American, and the GOP has so few on their side, they can't cut him loose. If that isn't the definition of political correctness I don't know what is. Carson should be insulted, not encouraged.  Let me be clear: I cannot support Dr. Carson -- but not because of his color. That would be racism. But it is also a kind of racism to support an unqualified candidate only because of his color, and too many are doing that.

Finally, today, after finishing last in the South Carolina primary, he was quoted thus: "On Saturday, Carson said that he would stay in the race to remind Americans that the "political class" and political pundits should not have the ability to dictate the direction of the presidential race." He really doesn't seem to get what is happening. His inexplicable progress in this race and that of a non-politician named Trump prove that the "political" elite he thinks are in charge have not been able to dictate anything in this strange election year.

PROGRESS IN LOOKING AT BRAIN ILLNESS

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/02/19/brain-hacking-the-minds-biology/?post_id=1297460443602530_1297460440269197#_=_


With mental illness, the nature vs. nurture debate goes on, but increasingly we see that mental illness is brain illness.  Formal medical research and anecdotal evidence as well are lessening the the stigma and making it more acceptable to look at those suffering from emotional dysfunction as being unable to "snap out of it."  The recent attention paid to the serious damage found in postmortem brain autopsies of former NFL players supports this direction in research.  Some of the extreme behaviors of athletes (such as O.J. Simpson) have now been attributed to this damage.

This is progress.  Technology such as the SPECT brain scans promoted by Dr. Daniel Amen and other avenues are demonstrating that there are avenues of treatment that address the physical and chemical causes of brain illness first, ahead of "talk" therapies.  There is hope.

February 18, 2016

FIXING THE GOVERNMENT WITH.... PITCHFORKS? 

Newsflash:  Government is big. BIG.

It is laughable that the Republicans blast “big government” as a goal of Democrats when the truth is they like big government just as much. The difference has always been the opposite views of what the big government should do, how it should be funded, and who should pay for it.  Both parties agree that the military, defense, and intelligence communities must be funded, but the amount is arguable.  When Democrats have their way, government must promote an equal opportunity economy.  When Republicans dominate, first and foremost this goal must be obstructed and taxes must be lowered enough to keep banks and corporations happy.

I am saying what is obvious, right? When are politicians going to get real about this; a tug of war that has been around for decades, while the deficit has grown, economic progress has ebbed and flowed, and taxes have been redistributed according to who has the most political power at the moment.   In any case, the emperor has no clothes:  government is not functioning well, and it is pissing everyone off.

This is why Donald Trump is dominating.  People don’t care if he is qualified.  They don’t care if he is rude and obnoxious.  They are tired of promises they like and actions they don’t. Trump’s message that “everything sucks” gets a big thumbs-up from those who feel marginalized and the most powerless – the middle and worker classes, who have suffered the most from the aforementioned pendulum of promises.  Some of them are Democrats.  Some are Republicans and some are Independents.  In Shakespearean terms they are all saying “a pox on both your houses!” or in modern phraseology:  “screw all of you!”

Understandable.  Most of us feel this way. But cooler heads (I like to include mine in that population) know that there is little that can be done to fix this.  The best we can hope for is leadership in both the White House and on Capitol Hill that is experienced, knowledgeable, measured and cooperative.  From my perspective, that means John Kasich or Jeb Bush on the GOP side, and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, and more centrist candidates for the Senate and House.  No candidates are perfect, but we have to try to get as close as we can to elect people who will get the government functioning again.  Big or small, that is what really counts.

It doesn’t seem too much to ask for, yet it is looking more and more like people are so angry they will vote against reasonable candidates, even it it is in their best interest.   As Patrick Buchanan seemed to think was happening several elections in the past (but didn’t pan out), we may now be seeing the real pitchfork brigade.  What will it accomplish?  More anger, more polarity, more dysfunction.  I hope I am wrong.

February 11, 2016

WHO ASKED ABOUT MY FIRST ROCK CONCERT?

1971.  The Beach Boys.

But wait…there’s MORE! 

This really happened to me:

My very first concert was just a few weeks into my freshman year at the University of Rhode Island.  I was 17, and way behind my peers in concert-going; most had been attending concerts since they were in junior high.   This particular night I happened to go with a gang of girls from my dorm, all homecoming queens.  One of them had actually been to a Beatles concert.  Gorgeous, sweet girls, way prettier and better dressed and cooler than I could ever be.  I was just glad they included me. 

On the packed floor at Keaney Gym we scored a great spot near the stage.  Standing room only – no one would have wanted to sit anyway.  It was a fantastic concert, but how could the Beach Boys not be?  I will never forget hearing them perform what they called a “new one”.  It was from the revolutionary album “Pet Sounds”, and it was called “Disney Girls;” a moving tune and so different from anything else they had done.

The boys with the Boys (the crew and the backups) took notice of gangs of cuties and during the intermission they wandered through the crowd, tagging about 20 girls to invite back to their hotel for a party after the concert.  Our group was among them.  How naïve we all were, not realizing they were predators; we thought they were being nice! 

After the concert we piled into a car and drove to the hotel, a Holiday Inn a few miles from campus and the only hotel for miles around (URI being out in a rural area).  In the parking lot were a thousand girls from campus begging to be let in to the after-party and being turned away.  Not us – we were invited!  Two guys from the backup band pulled our group from the crowd and took us to where the entourage had commandeered the entire upper floor of the hotel.  My girlfriends all disappeared into various rooms, while I sat in the first room that was open and sat down with Mike Love and Dennis Wilson and smoked a bit of grass and just rapped (that’s what we called “chatting” then) At some point Carl walked in and said hello.  I sat there and tried to act like this was a typical evening for me.

Later I learned that wrestling matches were taking place in all the other rooms.  To this day I don’t know if any of the rape attempts were successful, but I doubt any of the girls would have known it was rape, because at that time we thought that happened only when  a masked stranger jumped out of the bushes and held a gun to your head.  Sadly, in those days some girls might have considered being forced to have sex by a rock band member as an accomplishment. 

I was lucky and nobody hit on me.  To this day I remember that night it as one of the coolest things that I ever experienced, and the only time I was grateful not to be a homecoming queen.

THE SHELF-LIFE OF HOTNESS

Listening to the radio in my car today, I heard “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin, and huge 1980s hit from the hit movie Top Gun.  Over the last six months there has been exciting news that Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer will soon return with a sequel, so the song got me thinking.  Top Gun #2?   Great! 

But wait.  Part of what was great about the first one was an early career appearance by Meg Ryan as Anthony Edwards’ adorable wife, and a star-making performance by Kelly McGillis as the sexy base instructor who became Cruise’s main squeeze. So, in TG2 will we see Meg or Kelly?  I would bet not; they are both in their late fifties.  We know that Tom (age 53) will still be an overconfident and sexy Maverick 30 years later. What new young actress will he be courting in this movie?

Here is what is so unfair about life, and especially so in the movies.  Women’s shelf-life of hotness lasts only a few minutes, while their ex-husbands remain attractive for decades longer and can keep trading down to younger and younger women. George Clooney and Tom Cruise and others go on and on playing romantic male heroes. Yes, occasionally a flock of Brits will gather in a story about old folks romance, usually set in a retirement home.  I love Maggie Smith and Judy Dench, but the grim reaper seems to hover and it's all a bit depressing, isn't it?

The problem isn’t just cultural, it is biological; scientists tell us it is an evolutionary process related to reproduction, survival of the species, blah, blah, blah…..

Caitlyn Jenner aside, mostly we can’t fight biology.  But I can try a different tact at least when it comes to Top Gun #2.  Here’s a message for Justin Marks, the screenwriter:  Give the hot love story to a new young flyboy.  Lots of hot young actors out there.  Pick two. Give Meg Ryan a mature role as her character might have become after being widowed at such a young age.  Kelly McGillis could still be an instructor, maybe one having PTSD from a tour in Afghanistan.  Surprise us with a mature subplot – let Maverick have a wife of 30 years that he is still in love with.  Now that would take our breath away.

 

We are Not a Theocracy (thank God)

One of the great and exceptional facts about the United States is that ours is a nation of many religions, spiritual practices and views.  Our nation was founded by people seeking freedom to practice their religion; and it is specified in our constitution.  For the Europeans who first came to this New World, separation of church and state was a new concept.  To this day religion is still far too enmeshed with governments in too many places on the planet.

It is a disturbing trend in the United States that over the last 40 years the presence of religion spilling over into our electoral process has been increasing.  Too many candidates wear their religion on their sleeve in an effort to gather votes.  More and more religious leaders endorse candidates, and priests from the pulpit tell their congregations how to vote.  Though they were men of faith, this is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind, and this is clear in the founding documents. 

Even knowing this, I found Marco Rubio’s in-your-face hangout of his religious beliefs at the Iowa GOP debate on January 28 surprising, though it is well known that there are many evangelicals among Iowa voters.  When he was referred to as a political savior, he quickly responded by mentioning his personal savior, Jesus Christ. His connection of his candidacy to run the country with his goal to spend eternity in heaven was, just TMI.

What he said was quite different from what another religious young presidential candidate,  John F. Kennedy, was forced to assert in order to be elected in 1960.

“ I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote,…

I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair, neither imposed by him upon the nation, or imposed by the nation upon him as a condition to holding that office.”

Times have changed, I will grant.  But not that much. 

During the election year of Kerry-Bush in 2004, I had a conversation with a high-level Italian cardinal in Rome about the campaign.  At that time, some American priests were denying Kerry communion at Mass because of his political views on abortion.  When asked how he viewed the American election, this cardinal, a leader in the church, was quick to say emphatically, “Here at the Vatican, we pray Kerry wins.”  I was a bit surprised and asked, “Really?” He nodded, adding, “Because of the war.”  For him, and many, issues trump religious dogma, and that is as it should be.

There are those who believe that Jesus was a socialist, but few Christians will be voting for Bernie Sanders.  Catholic Democrats include a good number who have socialist political leanings and vote accordingly.  For all religious Americans, once in the voting booth where choices must be made, issues should predominate, but whatever informs a voter in pulling that lever, it should remain a private contract between him and his God.

MENTAL ILLNESS AND UNDIAGNOSED BRAIN TRAUMA


There is promising news in the area of mental illness and treatment.

It is increasingly becoming obvious to brain specialists that a percentage of people suffering from an assortment of psychiatric disorders may have undiagnosed brain injury as the cause.  In recent months, autopsies of former NFL players (such as football legend Frank Gifford, and just this week, 27-year-old Tyler Sash, who died of an accidental overdose of pain medication) have indicated that brain injury is common among them.

Dr. Daniel Amen, who has specialized for over two decades in a specific type of brain scan that measures brain performance, has seen strong evidence that this is true, not only of football players, but of mentally ill criminals in the penitentiaries, as well as others.  He has treated children who have been screened and found to have injuries or other brain illness that have caused behavioral problems.  The best news is, he has also found that many of these injured or diseased brains can be treated and rehabilitated.

There will be more on this as time goes on.