Category Archives: ethics and morals

The bombing

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Bear with me, I’m still trying to move stuff, so I’m trying to keep up with the news of the Boston bombing, and may have missed something…

What strikes me about the story is that everyone around these two brothers describe them as “normal”.  That is, they didn’t talk of guns and violence, and no indication of their wanting to harm the public by setting off bombs.  Of course, you would expect that from the parents, but others are saying it, as well.  And the uncle?  He was livid at what they had done and demanded they turn themselves in (before they were caught).

The one detail that is pretty much downplayed here is that Tamerlan had a police record for hitting his girlfriend.  Domestic violence will not be given the importance that it deserves, as far as character and indicator of disregard for boundaries.  This, I believe, is a bigger reason for what happened…somehow Tamerlan got the idea that hurting someone weaker than you is okay–perhaps he saw it in the home.  I would go out on a limb here and say that if the reporters would dig, they would find a link to domestic violence in situations such as this.  I think religion is just an excuse for justifying the behavior.  Islam also has the “do unto others as you would have done unto you…” in the q’uran, so this goes against their religion.

Something else that bothers me is the recent statement by George W. Bush, who announced that he wasn’t sorry for anything that he has done.  Has anyone explored that as incitement to the Boston bombing?

And does anyone else see the irony of the definition of sociopath being applicable to both boys and Bush?

 

Blood Medicine

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I’m watching Kathleen Sharp on BookTV (yay, Book TV) that has written a book called Blood Medicine about a cancer drug, Epo,  that did a great job of helping red blood cells to grow….

….unfortunately, it also helps cancer cells to grow.

Yes, yes, it is freaking amazing that this drug is on the market with serious issues such as suspected of killing people.

The operation was a success.  But the patient died.

Sharp describes a cancer patient was helped by the drug with his cancer fight, but died because he began bleeding out the nose and mouth.

Sharp is adamant against pharmaceutical companies being able to advertise on Tv.  I  believe she said that we and perhaps another country are the only developed countries that allow these commercials.

In Communications, they go to great lengths in order to sell the product.  Advertising agencies will do a study of the targeted audience to see how to construct the message for the best impact — i.e., to get the target audience  to request it from their doctors. or perhaps I should say demand it from their doctors.  They are convinced by slick advertising that *this* drug will help them get healthy again.   As someone who has been *there*, it really doesn’t take much in convincing if you’re so ill that you would do almost anything to regain your health.  Sharp didn’t even touch on the fact that these doctors who are prescribing these drugs, may be invested in these companies, and therefore, have a financial interest to prescribe these drugs.  I’ve seen how pharma works –they are not legally supposed to buy doctors lunches and other gifts….so they have “information sessions” and just happen to have it during the lunch hour….and have lunch brought in.  Ahem.

A sunshine law is part of the Obama health plan.  We’ll see if it does any good.  I’m pessimistic because the whole culture surrounding the FDA and the pharm industry and the billion dollar lobbying by Big Pharma…

More history here.

And here.  How can we forget Bush appointment, Dr. Hager,  and his ex-wife’s allegations of marital rape?

Sharp mentions the revolving door between the pharm industry and the FDA.

A man calling himself  John calls in and is identifying himself as a neonatalogist whom immediately states that Sharp has “poorly researched” her book. (red flag that this guy is perhaps an industry exec or someone tied to the billion dollar industry).   She states that there are some uses for the drug, but  the consumers are not aware of the dangers and that needs to change.

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While researching this, I found this link.  People were protesting Monsanto back in 1994….but Bill Clinton was busy in the Oval Office….something about an intern with a blue dress…

Michigan debates Common Core

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Diane Ravitch has this up on the debate on Common Core education standards in Michigan.  It’s odd that they are debating it after they had accepted it….jumped the gun, maybe?  That seems to be all to common in the education world–some *expert* claims to have the magic bullet for *fixing* education, but that never seems to pan out….

Let the Intimidation begin…

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Another good blog from Diane Ravitch on the bullying in schools…

….not by the kids, mind you, but a teacher under pressure to conform and teach to the test and the principal who, as a commenter put it, has “lost their way”.

As was said–pit the parents and teachers against one another, and *voila*, you have dysfunction….leading to failing schools that can be closed and handed over to the profiteers….

From the blog:

My daughter, who is in the 11th grade, was victimized by her principal and teacher today because she submitted an opt out letter. She was made to feel wrong and unsupportive of her school because she wasn’t going to take the test.

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This is what I was talking about in my previous blog–it can be intimidating even for a parent to speak out–let alone a student who is vulnerable to the teacher’s grades and attitude.

Uppity people who ask questions or protest something they perceive as detrimental are to be dealt with—can’t have that because before you know it, there will be others who will also start asking questions….

 

 

Ripping the Band Aid Off

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Diane Ravitch has a blog up on the new standard, Common Core for the public schools in NYC.

From The Economist comments section:

the new testing regime encourages a wider opening of the class gulf by giving teachers an incentive to compete for students with strong skills, excellent home support, and private resources to purchase any necessary tutoring to get Junior up to snuff. Who will stand up for the child of a poor single parent who can’t afford Khan Academy tutoring, doesn’t know enough algebra to help, and doesn’t have time to walk her/his child through the mountains of test preparation homework dispensed in the months leading up to this?

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Word.  The poor kids with no one at home who can help them and no money for tutoring and coming to school hungry because single Mom can’t afford breakfast…depressing….

An incident popped into my head when reading the comments on the link she provides to The Economist (strange that a story on education would end up there, eh?)  Anyway, being 34, the college I wanted to attend had required I take entrance exams a second time (the first time was the SAT’s in h.s.).  Algebra and Trigonometry were part of the exam.  I didn’t take the college prep courses in high school because I didn’t think I’d ever get to go to college (even though I wanted to)….so you could have knocked me over with a feather when the admissions counselor told me that I passed the Math test and could opt out of the pre-Math courses.  I think I actually laughed that I passed them without taking classes….which goes to show that exams shouldn’t have as much weight as they do.  I mean, I got decent grades in Math (B’s)…but did not know the material before taking the class—it would have been a disaster for me to opt-out.  Maybe, just maybe, I had a few Algebra and Trig problems while in h.s., because, if I recall correctly, textbooks at that time had problems for the next grade level at the back of the book, in order to prepare the students for the next year.  This might explain at least some of it.

Additionally, when I was in college, the ADD was bad and even though I studied my butt off for several hours and knew my subject matter, I still only got B’s and sometimes C’s because of poor test taking.  My mind would be all over the place.  This is another reason that testing shouldn’t be given the weight that it does–I knew the material, but you wouldn’t know it by the test.

Also, the university I began at had a much better support system with excellent tutors available to help unravel the Math mysteries.  The university I went to after the initial classes–the one I graduated from–deliberately made Math very difficult.  I think this was to “weed out” the students…after all, most of the professions that pay well involve Math.  If you have a lot of folks who can do Math, well then, you don’t have exclusivity, do you?  Harder to justify higher salaries when there are more folks who can do those jobs.

Lastly, testing aside, parents DO need to take an active role in supplementing their child’s teacher’s efforts.  AND even question their teachers when appropriate.  I had to do this twice –once when my middle child was having difficulty learning to read.  Her 1st Grade teacher was frustrated and going to label her as “stupid”…I could see the handwriting on the wall. I went to the precious gift of the library and checked out books on teaching kids to read, since I didn’t know how to help her—she was getting stuck on the words “a” , “and” and “the”….I luckily (or guided 🙂 found a book on Dyslexia.  I discovered that she was dyslexic.  And I discovered that I was, too.   Dyslexics have a hard time with a, and, the—because they learn to read by visualizing a picture in their head–b-a-l-l is a round thing they can bounce….they can’t picture a, and,the—because they don’t represent any *one* thing.  I checked out a Phonics book and began sitting down with her every night and eventually she *got it*.  She graduated from the same university many years later 😉

The second time I had to question my child’s teachers was when they were going to “Whole Language” — a stupid program that didn’t teach Phonics.  I wouldn’t have it and protested it.  I got a bunch of flack for it, but I went ahead and checked out the Phonics book a second time to help my third child  to read, too.  Incidentally, I also protested a change in class organization, when they were going to make the 2nd graders switch classes….like they were in middle school…to have two different teachers during the day.  I protested that because I believe the younger kids need to have one teacher for consistency…little ones need that security.  I was sent a condescending note that “they were sorry that I wouldn’t be joining them…”  As if everyone else didn’t have a problem with it, so why did I?

More on Thatcher

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After reading this, I wanted to come back and comment on the fact that she had dementia.  Reagan did, too.

Does anyone else wonder at this?  What about heavy metal poisoning for the cause?  Could the meanness of the world be caused by toxicity?  We know it’s a known fact of mercury poisoning that anger and rage come with it.  The Mayo Clinic’s site on dementia–note that heavy metal poisoning is way down on the list.  It mentions low thyroid, which is good, but depressingly doesn’t mention diet. 

More here from someone who recovered from dementia after adopting a gluten-free diet.

Finally, here’s a report on the connection between criminal behavior and high levels of heavy metals. So much grief caused by toxins…and yet, it’s ignored by the medical profession, the corrections system, the public, etc….

Thatcher

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Protests at her funeral here.

On the Mirror site, someone commented that they should put her in a black bag and put her out with the rest of the trash.  Okay, that’s a little harsh.  But spending  10 million is too, too much, especially for someone who promoted austerity.

Funny how people who advocate austerity measures never include themselves as recipients.

Bush isn’t sorry

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common dreams has this up on an unapologetic George W. Bush .  The cartoon says it in ways that words could never come close.

From Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary:

so·cio·path Listen to audio/ˈsoʊsijəˌpæθ/ noun

plural so·cio·paths

[count] : someone who behaves in a dangerous or violent way towards other people and does not feel guilty about such behavior
— so·cio·path·ic Listen to audio /ˌsoʊsijəˈpæθɪk/ adjective
▪ a sociopathic personality ▪ sociopathic behavior ▪ He is sociopathic.
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Oil company profits and/or new business from the Iraq War.  This was one of my arguments for my friend who was in the military–that the war was being fought for oil.  She was adamant that we would not be lied to about weapons of mass destruction.
From the article:
At the same time, representatives from ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Halliburton, among others, met with Cheney’s staff in January 2003 to discuss plans for Iraq’s postwar industry. For the next decade, former and current executives of western oil companies acted first as administrators of Iraq’s oil ministry and then as “advisers” to the Iraqi government.

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Note further down the word privatization.  Sound familiar??

I tried to search for Afghanistan profiteering, but coming up empty.  I’ll wager that it’s the same, since there is an oil pipeline there.

I found this on the companies that profit the most from war.

Feeding the dark side.