Start Of School Very Different For Parents Of Boys, Parents Of Girls - Glenn Sacks: "Simply put, modern schools are not boy-friendly. This can be seen from the time boys enter school, when many of them are immediately branded as behavior problems. The line of elementary school kids who used to gather every day after school in my son's class for their behavior reports--all boys. The names of kids on the side of the chalkboard who misbehaved and would lose recess--all boys. The nine million children, many as young as five or six, who are given Ritalin so they will sit still and 'behave'--almost all boys.
Girls get better grades than boys, and boys are far more likely than girls to drop out of school or to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. Boys are four times as likely to receive a diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as girls, and the vast majority of learning-disabled students are boys. By high school the typical boy is a year and a half behind the typical girl in reading and writing.
Modern K-12 education is not suited to boys' needs and learning styles. Success in school is tightly correlated with the ability to sit still, be quiet and complete work. The fact that many young boys are bodily kinesthetic learners who crave physical, hands-on and energetic lessons is inconvenient, and is thus largely ignored.
The trend against competition and the promotion of cooperative learning strategies run counter to boys' natural competitiveness and individual initiative. Group projects and lessons in which there are no right or wrong answers, and from which solid conclusions cannot be drawn, tend to frustrate boys, who often view them as pointless.
Efforts to make schools gentler and to promote women's writing, while understandable, have pushed aside the action and adventure literature which boys have treasured for generations. In their place are subtle, reflective works which often hold little interest for boys."
What can I say - this guy is right! We need a revival of the "action and adventure literature" for our little boys. There is nothing wrong with giving boys and girls different assignments!
As the mother of 2 boys and one girl, I can tell you that boys need an entirely different approach to schooling and learning than girls do - not just because of their learning "styles" but because of their entire testosterone-soaked little brains.
However politically incorrect this may be, boys are different from girls! Vive l'difference!
In the name of "helping" girls, we have totally disregarded our boys. How about we go back to gender-based academies at least through middle school, and preferably through high school? Both girls and boys would get the educational emphases they need without the distractions of the other gender.
And just don't even get me started on our abandonment of the gifted children! That's another rant!
Friday, September 24, 2004
Why Conservatives Love Rathergate - Monte Kuligowski
"Everyone loves a story where a little David takes down a haughty Goliath."
This is a very cogent article about Blathergate.
This is a very cogent article about Blathergate.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Thursday, September 23 / September 10 (Church Calendar)
Commemorated Today
Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora at Nicomedia. Martyr Barypsabas in Dalmatia. Saints Peter and Paul, Bishops of Nicaea. St. Pulcherius the Empress. Synaxis of the Holy Apostles Apelles, Lucius and Clement of the Seventy. St. Ioasaph, monk of Kubensk (Vologda). St. Paul the Obedient of the Kiev Caves. St. Cassian, abbot of Spaso-Kamenny and Cyril of White Lake Monasteries. St. Salvius, Bishop of Albi (Gaul).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
-- There are five occupations which help to gain God's benevolence. The first is pure prayer; the second, psalmody; the third, reading the Holy Scriptures; the fourth, contrite remembrance of one's sins, of death and the terrible judgment; the fifth, work with one's hands.
-- If while still in your body you wish to serve God like the incorporeal beings, strive to have in your heart a secret unceasing prayer. For in this way your soul will come near to resembling the angels even before death.
From: Abba Evagrius on Prayer
Afterfeast of the Nativity of the Theotokos
Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora at Nicomedia. Martyr Barypsabas in Dalmatia. Saints Peter and Paul, Bishops of Nicaea. St. Pulcherius the Empress. Synaxis of the Holy Apostles Apelles, Lucius and Clement of the Seventy. St. Ioasaph, monk of Kubensk (Vologda). St. Paul the Obedient of the Kiev Caves. St. Cassian, abbot of Spaso-Kamenny and Cyril of White Lake Monasteries. St. Salvius, Bishop of Albi (Gaul).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
-- There are five occupations which help to gain God's benevolence. The first is pure prayer; the second, psalmody; the third, reading the Holy Scriptures; the fourth, contrite remembrance of one's sins, of death and the terrible judgment; the fifth, work with one's hands.
-- If while still in your body you wish to serve God like the incorporeal beings, strive to have in your heart a secret unceasing prayer. For in this way your soul will come near to resembling the angels even before death.
From: Abba Evagrius on Prayer
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Reflections on how to vote: Orthodox Christians and the Presidential Election
Very interesting article! We are, indeed, either "Reluctant Democrats" or "Reluctant Republicans."
George Bush, Alvin Toffler and the Third Wave
Ran across this interesting place:
Alan Toffler and the Third Wave
Michael Finley is a futurist. In this executive summary of his article about Toffler's Third Wave theory, he discusses the Third Wave and it's effects.
I've been thinking about our society quite a bit lately. Don't know if it's because of my age, the silly season or what. Seems to me that we are in the midst of a major paradigm shift away from a corporate-based society and toward an entrepreneureal society. This is certainly in keeping with our historical roots, and was predicted in the 70's, 80's and early 90's by the futurist, Alvin Toffler and his wife Heidi. I read their books back then - wish I had kept them!
In this silly season, of the two candidates, Bush supports the inevitable shift, and Kerry attempts to stop "The Third Wave" predicted by the Tofflers. Can't say that Kerry is being particularly realistic about it. He wants to move toward the upshot of Toffler's Third Wave, individuation, diversity, and entrepreneurship.
It isn't comfortable to live through a major paradigm shift, and we can't rely on the practices of the past. Michael Finley points
out:
"In a not-always-pleasant way, the third wave began decentralizing the machine heart. Today is a time of transition, in which we witness the curious spectacle of massive second-wave-type enterprises adapting to the third-wave appetite for differentiation.
Take the coffee example. In the 1920s each town had its distinct coffee flavor. In the 1970s it was Maxwell House and McDonald's scalding coffee, from sea to shining sea. By the 1990s, an explosion of mom-and-pop coffeehouses took place across the country. Today you stop, as I did recently, at a coffee shop in Talladega, Alabama, and order a double latte of decaffeinated Kenyan with a finger of amaretto hazelnut syrup in .
Or you can have the best of all worlds, second wave McDonalds' standardization combined with third wave product choice, by walking into any of the 2,000 Starbucks coffee shops nationwide.
In retail, we have witnessed the second-wave juggernaut Wal-Mart break upon cities small and large, with the third-wave possibility of a single store selling 100,000 different items."
He goes on to point out:
"The clearest sign of changing politics is the decay of political parties. The day when a Franklin Roosevelt can put together astring of four elections by combining a handful of voter blocs(farmers, labor, intellectuals, the rural South, and the urban North) into a single lasting coalition is gone. Election todayrequires stringing together hundreds of splintered grassrootsgroups : the nonsmokers, AIDS activists, save-the-whales peopleand what-have-you.
Every group is passionate, and narrow in focus. It is in every way a more daunting process, and it is conducted, as making frankfurters should not be, in full view of the public. It is no wonder that no one, in the United States, in Japan, in Italy, or anywhere, believes in parties any more. Parties were a static second-wave, homogenized, massified function that do not seem relevant in the more volatile, diversified, heterogeneous third wave."
We are moving away from dependence on big government and big business and toward depending upon ourselves as small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises take over the economy. The resiliant, those who can, in the words of the Marines, "improvise, adapt and overcome," in a positive way will be the ones who come out on top.
While no politician and no political party are perfect, some are more forward-seeing than others at various points in time. At this time, the party most capable of forward-seeing is the Republican Party. An example of this is the recommendation that small companies be able to work together to form blocs to obtain the same low rates for insurance that large corporations receive. They seem to realize that his is not the time for "warm fuzzy" feelings and making people "feel good." It is a time to help people to move from the previous paradigm into the
new paradigm.
This is very American! Although immersed in what Toffler called "the First Wave," the agricultural life, people who were forward-thinking moved away from their static societies and came to what became the US in a spirit of individualism and entrepreneurialism. We began to move through the Industrial Revolution and to leave our small farms to work in cities or to work for giant corporate farms.
In a return to the entrepreneurial and individual spirit of our forefathers, we see small businesses springing up like mushrooms in spare bedrooms and the corners of living rooms and dining rooms. A person with a computer and an internet connection can set up a business in less than 2 hours, and be making money at it in a couple of days. What isn't immediately perceptible is that these people DO have jobs! They just have a different kind of commute - across or down the hall instead of across the city or down the freeway. These people are not so much using traditional resources, but rather are manipulating the resources of other businesses. They are often "off the books" or in the "grey economy" in that they don't pay many (if any!) taxes and do not use many (if any!) tax-supported resources.
Many people have gone into entrepreneurial businesses in order to avoid being tax-supported. They don't want to be on welfare or on SSI - they see themselves as competant and capable of taking care of themselves better then the government can.
Kerry wants people to be taken care of by "Big Brother," entrepreneurs want to take care of themselves and Bush supports that position.
Kerry has a love-hate relationship with big business, entrepreneurs use big business to further their own ends, and Bush supports that position.
These are only a few reasons that I suspect Bush will win. He is improvising, adapting and overcoming by surfing well and riding that Third Wave, not fighting it.
Alan Toffler and the Third Wave
Michael Finley is a futurist. In this executive summary of his article about Toffler's Third Wave theory, he discusses the Third Wave and it's effects.
I've been thinking about our society quite a bit lately. Don't know if it's because of my age, the silly season or what. Seems to me that we are in the midst of a major paradigm shift away from a corporate-based society and toward an entrepreneureal society. This is certainly in keeping with our historical roots, and was predicted in the 70's, 80's and early 90's by the futurist, Alvin Toffler and his wife Heidi. I read their books back then - wish I had kept them!
In this silly season, of the two candidates, Bush supports the inevitable shift, and Kerry attempts to stop "The Third Wave" predicted by the Tofflers. Can't say that Kerry is being particularly realistic about it. He wants to move toward the upshot of Toffler's Third Wave, individuation, diversity, and entrepreneurship.
It isn't comfortable to live through a major paradigm shift, and we can't rely on the practices of the past. Michael Finley
out:
"In a not-always-pleasant way, the third wave began decentralizing the machine heart. Today is a time of transition, in which we witness the curious spectacle of massive second-wave-type enterprises adapting to the third-wave appetite for differentiation.
Take the coffee example. In the 1920s each town had its distinct coffee flavor. In the 1970s it was Maxwell House and McDonald's scalding coffee, from sea to shining sea. By the 1990s, an explosion of mom-and-pop coffeehouses took place across the country. Today you stop, as I did recently, at a coffee shop in Talladega, Alabama, and order a double latte of decaffeinated Kenyan with a finger of amaretto hazelnut syrup in .
Or you can have the best of all worlds, second wave McDonalds' standardization combined with third wave product choice, by walking into any of the 2,000 Starbucks coffee shops nationwide.
In retail, we have witnessed the second-wave juggernaut Wal-Mart break upon cities small and large, with the third-wave possibility of a single store selling 100,000 different items."
He goes on to point out:
"The clearest sign of changing politics is the decay of political parties. The day when a Franklin Roosevelt can put together astring of four elections by combining a handful of voter blocs(farmers, labor, intellectuals, the rural South, and the urban North) into a single lasting coalition is gone. Election todayrequires stringing together hundreds of splintered grassrootsgroups : the nonsmokers, AIDS activists, save-the-whales peopleand what-have-you.
Every group is passionate, and narrow in focus. It is in every way a more daunting process, and it is conducted, as making frankfurters should not be, in full view of the public. It is no wonder that no one, in the United States, in Japan, in Italy, or anywhere, believes in parties any more. Parties were a static second-wave, homogenized, massified function that do not seem relevant in the more volatile, diversified, heterogeneous third wave."
We are moving away from dependence on big government and big business and toward depending upon ourselves as small businesses and entrepreneurial enterprises take over the economy. The resiliant, those who can, in the words of the Marines, "improvise, adapt and overcome," in a positive way will be the ones who come out on top.
While no politician and no political party are perfect, some are more forward-seeing than others at various points in time. At this time, the party most capable of forward-seeing is the Republican Party. An example of this is the recommendation that small companies be able to work together to form blocs to obtain the same low rates for insurance that large corporations receive. They seem to realize that his is not the time for "warm fuzzy" feelings and making people "feel good." It is a time to help people to move from the previous paradigm into the
new paradigm.
This is very American! Although immersed in what Toffler called "the First Wave," the agricultural life, people who were forward-thinking moved away from their static societies and came to what became the US in a spirit of individualism and entrepreneurialism. We began to move through the Industrial Revolution and to leave our small farms to work in cities or to work for giant corporate farms.
In a return to the entrepreneurial and individual spirit of our forefathers, we see small businesses springing up like mushrooms in spare bedrooms and the corners of living rooms and dining rooms. A person with a computer and an internet connection can set up a business in less than 2 hours, and be making money at it in a couple of days. What isn't immediately perceptible is that these people DO have jobs! They just have a different kind of commute - across or down the hall instead of across the city or down the freeway. These people are not so much using traditional resources, but rather are manipulating the resources of other businesses. They are often "off the books" or in the "grey economy" in that they don't pay many (if any!) taxes and do not use many (if any!) tax-supported resources.
Many people have gone into entrepreneurial businesses in order to avoid being tax-supported. They don't want to be on welfare or on SSI - they see themselves as competant and capable of taking care of themselves better then the government can.
Kerry wants people to be taken care of by "Big Brother," entrepreneurs want to take care of themselves and Bush supports that position.
Kerry has a love-hate relationship with big business, entrepreneurs use big business to further their own ends, and Bush supports that position.
These are only a few reasons that I suspect Bush will win. He is improvising, adapting and overcoming by surfing well and riding that Third Wave, not fighting it.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Where Kerry Stands on Iraq - A Kerry-English translation. By William Saletan
Where Kerry Stands on Iraq
A Kerry-English translation.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, Sept. 20, 2004, at 3:27 PM PT
.... Solicitousness, spending, job training, public employment, crime prevention through economic aid. It sounds a lot like domestic liberalism. I'm sure Kerry would object to that simplification of his position. I'm sure he thinks all of his views are more complicated than I've outlined here. But we're about to have an election. We need a clear picture of how Kerry's position on Iraq differs from Bush's. This is it.
Finally! Someone can translate Kerry's Stands!! er ... Shifts? er ... Dances? er ... Oh well. And the beat goes on .....
A Kerry-English translation.
By William Saletan
Posted Monday, Sept. 20, 2004, at 3:27 PM PT
.... Solicitousness, spending, job training, public employment, crime prevention through economic aid. It sounds a lot like domestic liberalism. I'm sure Kerry would object to that simplification of his position. I'm sure he thinks all of his views are more complicated than I've outlined here. But we're about to have an election. We need a clear picture of how Kerry's position on Iraq differs from Bush's. This is it.
Finally! Someone can translate Kerry's Stands!! er ... Shifts? er ... Dances? er ... Oh well. And the beat goes on .....
ARMAVIRUMQUE: THE NEW CRITERION'S WEBLOG
ARMAVIRUMQUE: THE NEW CRITERION'S WEBLOG
Now, the New Criterion does point out that Blathergate is based on lies!
Now, the New Criterion does point out that Blathergate is based on lies!
comment on annika's journal
annika's journal - a wonderful Blog!
What I don't understand is, why so few people recognize that Blathergate is simply another example of the dissolution of our values and mores! Burkett lied, and it took 6 days before someone stood up and said, "He lied, we fell for it," much less, saying, "It is wrong, wrong, wrong to lie."
What I don't understand is, why so few people recognize that Blathergate is simply another example of the dissolution of our values and mores! Burkett lied, and it took 6 days before someone stood up and said, "He lied, we fell for it," much less, saying, "It is wrong, wrong, wrong to lie."
Tuesday, September 21 / September 8 (Church Calendar)
Commemorated Today
THE NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY.
St. Serapion, monk of Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov). St. Lucian, abbot of Alexandrov. St. Arsenius, abbot of Konevits. New-Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonica. New-Martyr Alexander (Jacobson) (1930). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Rufus and Rufianus. Martyrs Severus and Artemidorus. St. Sophronius of Iberia, Bishop) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos: "Kursk-Root" Icon of the sign"; "Pochaev"; "Kholmsk"; and others. Repose of Elder Daniel of Katounakia, Mt. Athos (1929).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
The story of Mary's birth is not found in the New Testament, but in the writings which are not part of the [canonical] scriptures. The tradition of this feast teaches that Joachim and Anna were a pious Jewish couple who were among the small and faithful remnant - "the poor and needy" - awaiting the promised messiah. The couple was old and childless, and had prayed earnestly to the Lord for a child, since among the Jews, barrenness was a sign of God's disfavor. In answer to their prayer, and as a reward for their unwavering fidelity to God, the elderly couple was blessed with the child who was destined, because of her own personal goodness and holiness, to become the Mother of the Messiah - Christ.
The fact that there is no Biblical verification of Mary's birth is incidental to the meaning of the feast. Even if the background of the event as celebrated in the Church is questionable from a historical point of view, the divine meaning of it "for us men and for our salvation" is obvious. There had to be one born of human flesh and blood who would be spiritually capable of being the Theotokos, and she herself had to be born into the world of persons who were spiritually capable of being her parents.
The feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, therefore is a glorification of the miracle of Mary's birth, of Mary herself, and of her righteous parents. It is the celebration as well of the very first preparation of the salvation of the world.
Theologic Website; Quoted from Orthodox Family Life, 1996(c)
= = = = =
"It is regrettable that the immaculate conception, not to be confused with the virginal birth of the Saviour, is a concept of the Mother of God which the Roman Church assumed in 1854 and with which the Orthodox Church is in total disagreement. This concept holds that Mary was born without the stain of original sin brought upon all mankind by Adam and Eve. But the Orthodox position holds that since Jesus Christ is God, he is, therefore the only one who is without the original stain."
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
THE NATIVITY OF OUR MOST HOLY LADY THE THEOTOKOS AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY.
St. Serapion, monk of Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov). St. Lucian, abbot of Alexandrov. St. Arsenius, abbot of Konevits. New-Martyr Athanasius of Thessalonica. New-Martyr Alexander (Jacobson) (1930). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Rufus and Rufianus. Martyrs Severus and Artemidorus. St. Sophronius of Iberia, Bishop) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos: "Kursk-Root" Icon of the sign"; "Pochaev"; "Kholmsk"; and others. Repose of Elder Daniel of Katounakia, Mt. Athos (1929).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
The story of Mary's birth is not found in the New Testament, but in the writings which are not part of the [canonical] scriptures. The tradition of this feast teaches that Joachim and Anna were a pious Jewish couple who were among the small and faithful remnant - "the poor and needy" - awaiting the promised messiah. The couple was old and childless, and had prayed earnestly to the Lord for a child, since among the Jews, barrenness was a sign of God's disfavor. In answer to their prayer, and as a reward for their unwavering fidelity to God, the elderly couple was blessed with the child who was destined, because of her own personal goodness and holiness, to become the Mother of the Messiah - Christ.
The fact that there is no Biblical verification of Mary's birth is incidental to the meaning of the feast. Even if the background of the event as celebrated in the Church is questionable from a historical point of view, the divine meaning of it "for us men and for our salvation" is obvious. There had to be one born of human flesh and blood who would be spiritually capable of being the Theotokos, and she herself had to be born into the world of persons who were spiritually capable of being her parents.
The feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, therefore is a glorification of the miracle of Mary's birth, of Mary herself, and of her righteous parents. It is the celebration as well of the very first preparation of the salvation of the world.
Theologic Website; Quoted from Orthodox Family Life, 1996(c)
= = = = =
"It is regrettable that the immaculate conception, not to be confused with the virginal birth of the Saviour, is a concept of the Mother of God which the Roman Church assumed in 1854 and with which the Orthodox Church is in total disagreement. This concept holds that Mary was born without the stain of original sin brought upon all mankind by Adam and Eve. But the Orthodox position holds that since Jesus Christ is God, he is, therefore the only one who is without the original stain."
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Victor Davis Hanson on al Qaeda and terrorism on National Review Online
Victor Davis Hanson on al Qaeda and terrorism on National Review Online
This is an interesting comparison of Western society, the US in particular, with Athens of the mythical period of Theseus. The problem is, it's too true to be good! This writer makes some terribly telling points.
Elizabeth
This is an interesting comparison of Western society, the US in particular, with Athens of the mythical period of Theseus. The problem is, it's too true to be good! This writer makes some terribly telling points.
Elizabeth
St. Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner
St. Elizabeth, Mother of the Forerunner
Saturday, September 18 / September 5 (Church Calendar)
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner
Saints of the Day
Commemorated Today
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner.
Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 Companions at Nicomedia. Martyr Abdias (Abidas) of Persia. Martyr Sarbelus of Edessa. Martyrs Ththuil (Thithail) and his sister Bebaia. Virgin Martyr Rhais (Raisa) of Alexandria. Martyrs Juventius and Maximus at Antioch. Appearance of the Holy Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira near Constantinople. Martyrdom of HolyPassion-bearer Gleb, in holy baptism David. Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot of Brest, by the Latins.
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
(From the Prologue from Ochrid)
The Holy Prophet Zacharias, father of St. John the Forerunner, was the son of Barachias, of the tribe of Aaron, a high priest in descent from Abia, and held the eighth degree of service in the Temple in Jerusalem.
His wife, Elisabeth was sister to St. Anna, the mother of the holy Mother of God. In the reign of King Herod, the child-slayer, Zacharias was serving one day in his turn in the Temple in Jerusalem. An angel of God appeared to him in the altar, and Zacharias was afraid. But the angel said to him: "Fear not, Zacharias," and informed him that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son in answer to their prayers, for Zacharias and Elisabeth were both old. When Zacharias doubted the words of the heavenly messenger, the angel told him: "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God," And Zacharias was made dumb from that moment, and did not speak until his son was born and he had written on a tablet: "His name is John." Then his mouth was opened, and he glorified God.
Later, when the Lord Christ was born and Herod began killing the children in Bethlehem, he sent men to find Zacharias's son and kill him, for he had heard of all that had happened to Zacharias and how John was born. Seeing the soldiers, Elisabeth took John in her arms -- he was eighteen months old at that time -- and fled from the house with him to a rocky and desert region. When she saw where the soldiers had driven them, she cried out to the mountain "O mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!" and the rock opened and hid the mother and child inside itself. Herod, furious that John had not been killed, ordered that Zacharias be cut down before the altar. Zacharias's blood spilled over the marble and became as hard as stone, remaining thus as a witness to Herod's wickedness. At the place where Elisabeth hid with John, a cave opened and a spring flowed forth, and a fruit-bearing palm grew up by God's power. Forty days after Zacharias's death, blessed Elisabeth also entered into rest. The child John stayed in the wilderness, fed by an angel and guarded by God's providence, until that day when he appeared by the Jordan.
Troparion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 8)
The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears; and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundredfold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Mother Elizabeth, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 4)
Like the full moon, thou didst receive the light of righteousness from the Messiah, the noetic Sun, O Elizabeth beloved of God, and with Zacharias didst walk in all the commandments of the Lord. Wherefore, blessing thee with worthy hymns, we magnify the Lord, the most compassionate Light, Who illumineth all.
Righteous Elizabeth is my Patron Saint. On this day I am mindful of the example of obedience to God that she sets me.
Saturday, September 18 / September 5 (Church Calendar)
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner
Saints of the Day
Commemorated Today
Holy Prophet Zacharias and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Forerunner.
Martyrs Urban, Theodore, Medimnus, and 77 Companions at Nicomedia. Martyr Abdias (Abidas) of Persia. Martyr Sarbelus of Edessa. Martyrs Ththuil (Thithail) and his sister Bebaia. Virgin Martyr Rhais (Raisa) of Alexandria. Martyrs Juventius and Maximus at Antioch. Appearance of the Holy Apostle Peter to Emperor Justinian at Athira near Constantinople. Martyrdom of HolyPassion-bearer Gleb, in holy baptism David. Martyrdom of St. Athanasius, abbot of Brest, by the Latins.
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
(From the Prologue from Ochrid)
The Holy Prophet Zacharias, father of St. John the Forerunner, was the son of Barachias, of the tribe of Aaron, a high priest in descent from Abia, and held the eighth degree of service in the Temple in Jerusalem.
His wife, Elisabeth was sister to St. Anna, the mother of the holy Mother of God. In the reign of King Herod, the child-slayer, Zacharias was serving one day in his turn in the Temple in Jerusalem. An angel of God appeared to him in the altar, and Zacharias was afraid. But the angel said to him: "Fear not, Zacharias," and informed him that his wife Elisabeth would bear a son in answer to their prayers, for Zacharias and Elisabeth were both old. When Zacharias doubted the words of the heavenly messenger, the angel told him: "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God," And Zacharias was made dumb from that moment, and did not speak until his son was born and he had written on a tablet: "His name is John." Then his mouth was opened, and he glorified God.
Later, when the Lord Christ was born and Herod began killing the children in Bethlehem, he sent men to find Zacharias's son and kill him, for he had heard of all that had happened to Zacharias and how John was born. Seeing the soldiers, Elisabeth took John in her arms -- he was eighteen months old at that time -- and fled from the house with him to a rocky and desert region. When she saw where the soldiers had driven them, she cried out to the mountain "O mountain of God, receive a mother with her child!" and the rock opened and hid the mother and child inside itself. Herod, furious that John had not been killed, ordered that Zacharias be cut down before the altar. Zacharias's blood spilled over the marble and became as hard as stone, remaining thus as a witness to Herod's wickedness. At the place where Elisabeth hid with John, a cave opened and a spring flowed forth, and a fruit-bearing palm grew up by God's power. Forty days after Zacharias's death, blessed Elisabeth also entered into rest. The child John stayed in the wilderness, fed by an angel and guarded by God's providence, until that day when he appeared by the Jordan.
Troparion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 8)
The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears; and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundredfold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Mother Elizabeth, intercede with Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion of Righteous Elizabeth
(Tone 4)
Like the full moon, thou didst receive the light of righteousness from the Messiah, the noetic Sun, O Elizabeth beloved of God, and with Zacharias didst walk in all the commandments of the Lord. Wherefore, blessing thee with worthy hymns, we magnify the Lord, the most compassionate Light, Who illumineth all.
Righteous Elizabeth is my Patron Saint. On this day I am mindful of the example of obedience to God that she sets me.
Friday, September 17, 2004
ROCM Music Scores (English)
ROCM Music Scores (English): "http://www.rocm.org/e_scores.htm"
This is a wonderful site with much Russian Orthodox Music. Do visit it!
This is a wonderful site with much Russian Orthodox Music. Do visit it!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Thursday, September 16 / September 3 (Church Calendar)
Commemorated Today
Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, and those with him: Martyrs Theophilus deacon, Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius, Peter, Indes, Gorgonius, Zeno, Virgin Domna, and Euthymius St. Theoctistus, fellow-faster with St. Euthymius the Great. (services combined) Martyr Aristion, Bishop of Alexandria. Martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia. St. Pheobe, deaconess at Cenchreae near Corinth. Blessed John "the Hairy", fool-for-Christ at Rostov. St. Ioannicius, Archbishop of Serbia. New-Martyr Polydorus of Cyprus. Martyr Edward of England . (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Chariton and Archontinus. Emperor Constantine the New.) Repose of Priest Peter, fool-for-Christ of Uglich (1866).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
(My thanks to the Protection of the Mother of God Parish for their list of Saints of the Day!)
+ + + + +
"Which is better: to pray with the lips or with the mind?" The answer is that we must use both forms: pray sometimes in words, sometimes with the mind. But it is necessary to explain here that mental prayer also involves the use of words which in this case are not heard, but are only pronounced within the heart.
St. Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer.
+ + + + +
How is it possible to follow the political process and remain focussed on God? It is only possible through constant prayer - prayer even as we read impassioned words, prayer even as those words fall upon our ears. We must pray always - that we understand the truth and not permit the passions and misspeaking of politicians sway us. We must pray and avoid following that path of least resistance and allow ourselves to be swayed by the passions.
It is our responsibility to take part in the political process by becoming as informed as possible and to vote on the appointed days. Our vote should be consistent with the Mind of the Church which is the Mind of God. We must read and hear the words of all sides and apply the intellect God has given us in an attempt to understand all the issues and facts. We must fast and pray, asking God to illumine us and to show us the way He would have us follow.
May God, the True God, Who loves mankind, enlighten us and keep our feet walking in His Way.
Hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia, and those with him: Martyrs Theophilus deacon, Dorotheus, Mardonius, Migdonius, Peter, Indes, Gorgonius, Zeno, Virgin Domna, and Euthymius St. Theoctistus, fellow-faster with St. Euthymius the Great. (services combined) Martyr Aristion, Bishop of Alexandria. Martyr Basilissa of Nicomedia. St. Pheobe, deaconess at Cenchreae near Corinth. Blessed John "the Hairy", fool-for-Christ at Rostov. St. Ioannicius, Archbishop of Serbia. New-Martyr Polydorus of Cyprus. Martyr Edward of England . (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Chariton and Archontinus. Emperor Constantine the New.) Repose of Priest Peter, fool-for-Christ of Uglich (1866).
O Holy God-Pleasers, Pray to God for Us!
(My thanks to the Protection of the Mother of God Parish for their list of Saints of the Day!)
+ + + + +
"Which is better: to pray with the lips or with the mind?" The answer is that we must use both forms: pray sometimes in words, sometimes with the mind. But it is necessary to explain here that mental prayer also involves the use of words which in this case are not heard, but are only pronounced within the heart.
St. Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer.
+ + + + +
How is it possible to follow the political process and remain focussed on God? It is only possible through constant prayer - prayer even as we read impassioned words, prayer even as those words fall upon our ears. We must pray always - that we understand the truth and not permit the passions and misspeaking of politicians sway us. We must pray and avoid following that path of least resistance and allow ourselves to be swayed by the passions.
It is our responsibility to take part in the political process by becoming as informed as possible and to vote on the appointed days. Our vote should be consistent with the Mind of the Church which is the Mind of God. We must read and hear the words of all sides and apply the intellect God has given us in an attempt to understand all the issues and facts. We must fast and pray, asking God to illumine us and to show us the way He would have us follow.
May God, the True God, Who loves mankind, enlighten us and keep our feet walking in His Way.
Friday, August 20, 2004
7 / 20 August 2004
The one who is perfect in love and has reached the summit of detachment knows no distinction between one's own and another's, between faithful and unfaithful, between slave and freeman, or indeed between male and female. But having risen above the tyranny of the passions and looking to the one nature of men he regards all equally and is equally disposed toward all. For in him there is neither Greek no Jew, neither male nor female, neither slave nor freeman, but Christ is everything and in everything. .............
St Maximus the Confessor
St Maximus the Confessor
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
5 / 18 August 2004
Marbles in My Pocket
I was asked by an acquaintance what Adult ADD was like. This was my response.
I've been ADD all my life. But I didn't "know" it until I was in my 50's! I thought it was some kind of character defect, and I struggled against it for decades.
But I'm now kind of resigned to it - or, more likely, accustomed to it. I admit function best in a *slightly* cluttered environment. If something isn't "in my face" I forget it's around or needs to be done. That's why I have to keep a calendar on the computer and have it pop-up the minute I turn on my computer every morning. that way I know exactly what I need to do. If I put away my current projects, I may not get back to them until they are past due because I won't think of them. So my desk will always be messy.
I'm the original "pack rat" - I see "something shiny" in the living room, pick it up and trek toward the kitchen to put it away. On the way, I notice "something shiny" in the dining area, put down the first object and pick up the second object and trek toward the bedroom to put it away. I stop by my office to check e-mail, and put the object down. After checking e-mail and playing a couple of computer games, I get up and go out to the kitchen to make lunch. There I see "something shiny," pick it up and take it with me toward the workshop. On the way, I walk through the family room, and notice one of the GKs left a game out. I put down the current object, start putting away the game, notice the rug needs to be vacuumed, get out the vacuum, notice the floor in the hall needs sweeping, put down the vacuum and go to get the broom. On the way to the broom I notice the game in the family room and get it picked up - but it doesn't fit on the shelf, so I "jam" it in one way or another, and head to the laundry room - I don't know why, I just go there. I turn around a few times wondering why I went there, and start back through the family room. Notice the vacuum is out, and hook it up, turn it on and start vacuuming. Notice that there are a few marbles and a chess piece on the floor, and turn off the vacuum to pick them up. Can't find the box and board for the chess set, so I drop the chess piece in "a" drawer (I'll probably never find it again when it's needed - only when I happen to open the drawer and notice it). Put the marbles in my pocket. It is now noon, we usually eat lunch at 11:15 or 11:30, and the poor ol' curmudgeon plaintively asks me about it. I fix lunch and we eat about 12:30 - not bad, only an hour late - and look around. The living room is not straightened, the family room is a mess, the kitchen is a mess, my office has something in it that belongs in the bedroom, and I've accomplished nada beyond vacuuming a 20 square inch area of the family room and preparing lunch. I have marbles in my pocket and I don't know why! This is my ADD. Someone else may have a different experience.
My dear ol' curmudgeon is very good about reminding me to do things. He gave up ever expecting a "neat-nik" kind of house. The kids think I'm a "space biscuit" (light and flakey). Long ago they told me, "Mom, we'll never know if you develop Alzheimers - you've been spacey all your life!" This is true! I have very little short-term memory and have *never,* not even as a child, been able to remember names (nouns) or descriptors (adjectives, adverbs). Found out, after several botched "memory courses" that this is probably genetic and has to do with whenter you have access to a particular area of your brain - apparently mine has been in hiding all my life!
I am an "organizational hobbiest." As my dear ol' curmudgeon will say, "It's another vain attempt at organization by the Space Biscuit!" The DKs just giggle and nod. They all know. And it *is* amusing. Thank goodness both the ol' curmudgeon, the DKs and the DGKs all have a sense of humor about it! They don't get mad (usually). Just a little exasperated and impatient from time to time, but they quickly get over it, and whatever set them off becomes the latest in a string of "my flake, the Mom" (or "my flake, the Wife") stories to use to regale friends and relatives.
So we ADD'rs have to make decisions and try to stick to them! We stumble and get side-tracked, but over time, we try to get to where we can handle things better and better. I don't ever expect to be perfect! It doesn't happen to anyone! But I can be a success at nearly anything I put my mind and determination to. I've managed to (in order):
get a BSN (nursing)
marry
have 2 kids
get a masters
have a third kid
move three times
go through a divorce
go through bankruptcy
marry again
*Convert to Eastern Orthodoxy* - best decision I **ever** made!
move several more times
teach in a university
marry off 2 kids
get a PhD
assistant direct choir
marry off the third kid
manage a complex computer-based Operating Room support system
start and run my own business
Enjoy the 10 grandchildren
enjoy my husband
I still struggle, at well past 60, to deal with my ADD, but I can look back and see that I compensated for it, and I know I will be able to continue compensating for it. It will always be with me, like someone with diabetes will always have that with them, but just as diabetes can be managed, so ADD can be managed. I just have to work a little harder at it than some other people do. But I'm really blessed by God. I have a husband who adores me - and I adore him right back - I have 3 wonderful children and 10 marvelous grandkids (my reward for not strangling the 3 kids when they were teens!). I'm respected in my career.
Well, That's what Adult ADD is for me. I have marbles in my pocket and I don't know why!
I was asked by an acquaintance what Adult ADD was like. This was my response.
I've been ADD all my life. But I didn't "know" it until I was in my 50's! I thought it was some kind of character defect, and I struggled against it for decades.
But I'm now kind of resigned to it - or, more likely, accustomed to it. I admit function best in a *slightly* cluttered environment. If something isn't "in my face" I forget it's around or needs to be done. That's why I have to keep a calendar on the computer and have it pop-up the minute I turn on my computer every morning. that way I know exactly what I need to do. If I put away my current projects, I may not get back to them until they are past due because I won't think of them. So my desk will always be messy.
I'm the original "pack rat" - I see "something shiny" in the living room, pick it up and trek toward the kitchen to put it away. On the way, I notice "something shiny" in the dining area, put down the first object and pick up the second object and trek toward the bedroom to put it away. I stop by my office to check e-mail, and put the object down. After checking e-mail and playing a couple of computer games, I get up and go out to the kitchen to make lunch. There I see "something shiny," pick it up and take it with me toward the workshop. On the way, I walk through the family room, and notice one of the GKs left a game out. I put down the current object, start putting away the game, notice the rug needs to be vacuumed, get out the vacuum, notice the floor in the hall needs sweeping, put down the vacuum and go to get the broom. On the way to the broom I notice the game in the family room and get it picked up - but it doesn't fit on the shelf, so I "jam" it in one way or another, and head to the laundry room - I don't know why, I just go there. I turn around a few times wondering why I went there, and start back through the family room. Notice the vacuum is out, and hook it up, turn it on and start vacuuming. Notice that there are a few marbles and a chess piece on the floor, and turn off the vacuum to pick them up. Can't find the box and board for the chess set, so I drop the chess piece in "a" drawer (I'll probably never find it again when it's needed - only when I happen to open the drawer and notice it). Put the marbles in my pocket. It is now noon, we usually eat lunch at 11:15 or 11:30, and the poor ol' curmudgeon plaintively asks me about it. I fix lunch and we eat about 12:30 - not bad, only an hour late - and look around. The living room is not straightened, the family room is a mess, the kitchen is a mess, my office has something in it that belongs in the bedroom, and I've accomplished nada beyond vacuuming a 20 square inch area of the family room and preparing lunch. I have marbles in my pocket and I don't know why! This is my ADD. Someone else may have a different experience.
My dear ol' curmudgeon is very good about reminding me to do things. He gave up ever expecting a "neat-nik" kind of house. The kids think I'm a "space biscuit" (light and flakey). Long ago they told me, "Mom, we'll never know if you develop Alzheimers - you've been spacey all your life!" This is true! I have very little short-term memory and have *never,* not even as a child, been able to remember names (nouns) or descriptors (adjectives, adverbs). Found out, after several botched "memory courses" that this is probably genetic and has to do with whenter you have access to a particular area of your brain - apparently mine has been in hiding all my life!
I am an "organizational hobbiest." As my dear ol' curmudgeon will say, "It's another vain attempt at organization by the Space Biscuit!" The DKs just giggle and nod. They all know. And it *is* amusing. Thank goodness both the ol' curmudgeon, the DKs and the DGKs all have a sense of humor about it! They don't get mad (usually). Just a little exasperated and impatient from time to time, but they quickly get over it, and whatever set them off becomes the latest in a string of "my flake, the Mom" (or "my flake, the Wife") stories to use to regale friends and relatives.
So we ADD'rs have to make decisions and try to stick to them! We stumble and get side-tracked, but over time, we try to get to where we can handle things better and better. I don't ever expect to be perfect! It doesn't happen to anyone! But I can be a success at nearly anything I put my mind and determination to. I've managed to (in order):
get a BSN (nursing)
marry
have 2 kids
get a masters
have a third kid
move three times
go through a divorce
go through bankruptcy
marry again
*Convert to Eastern Orthodoxy* - best decision I **ever** made!
move several more times
teach in a university
marry off 2 kids
get a PhD
assistant direct choir
marry off the third kid
manage a complex computer-based Operating Room support system
start and run my own business
Enjoy the 10 grandchildren
enjoy my husband
I still struggle, at well past 60, to deal with my ADD, but I can look back and see that I compensated for it, and I know I will be able to continue compensating for it. It will always be with me, like someone with diabetes will always have that with them, but just as diabetes can be managed, so ADD can be managed. I just have to work a little harder at it than some other people do. But I'm really blessed by God. I have a husband who adores me - and I adore him right back - I have 3 wonderful children and 10 marvelous grandkids (my reward for not strangling the 3 kids when they were teens!). I'm respected in my career.
Well, That's what Adult ADD is for me. I have marbles in my pocket and I don't know why!
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Saturday 2 / 14 August 2004
Procession of the Precious Wood of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. The Holy Seven Maccabees, their Mother Solomonia and Eleazar the Priest. The Nine Holy Martyrs: Leontius, Attus, Alexander, Cindeus, Mnesitheus, Cyriacus, Menaeus, Catunus and Eucieus.
Today is a "bleah" day. We have so many bills from the Ol' Curmudgeon's heart attack. Today was the day we sat down and worked on them. Bleah!
+ + + + +
The Orthodox Publishing Society has many resources for Palm OS's, including various prayers and services, Saint Commemorations and Fasting Typikon (in date book format), and the NT KJB in Ebok format (needs Palm Reader). They also have a Slavonic Tutor, Slavonic fonts, and some audio files. This is a marvelous website, and I highly recommend it!
Today is a "bleah" day. We have so many bills from the Ol' Curmudgeon's heart attack. Today was the day we sat down and worked on them. Bleah!
+ + + + +
The Orthodox Publishing Society has many resources for Palm OS's, including various prayers and services, Saint Commemorations and Fasting Typikon (in date book format), and the NT KJB in Ebok format (needs Palm Reader). They also have a Slavonic Tutor, Slavonic fonts, and some audio files. This is a marvelous website, and I highly recommend it!
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Thursday, August 12 / July 30 (Church Calendar)
Apostles Silas and Silvanus of the Seventy and those with them: Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus
Glory to God for All Things!
I was searching diligently on the web for the Akathist of St. George, when I ran across a reference to a Serbian Orthodox Church. I "went there" and have started a most rewarding e-corresondence with the priest. Fr. Rodney Torbic of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Carmichaels PA pointed me to a book I already had (duh!) (The Book of Akathists available from St. John of Kronstadt Press) is a wonderful resource, and I got it out immediately!
+ + + + +
OpinionJournal - Outside the Box
I'm finding, more and more, that Opinion Journal is a lovely place to find well-reasoned examination of issues - the logic that is generally missing during the "Silly Season" when politicoes are appealing to the emotions of the electorate. There are so many lies out there - by both sides - that it's nice to find a place that holds both sides accountable for what they say! Opinion Journal is free (as opposed to the web version of the WSJ, which is exhorbitant).
+ + + + +
Fr. Rodney Torbic suggested I should do some writing on healthcare ethics. Will have to think about it some, but it might be something I could do. Certainly, I see all of the seamy sides of healthcare being in the medical-legal end of things!
Apostles Silas and Silvanus of the Seventy and those with them: Crescens, Epenetus, and Andronicus
Glory to God for All Things!
I was searching diligently on the web for the Akathist of St. George, when I ran across a reference to a Serbian Orthodox Church. I "went there" and have started a most rewarding e-corresondence with the priest. Fr. Rodney Torbic of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Carmichaels PA pointed me to a book I already had (duh!) (The Book of Akathists available from St. John of Kronstadt Press) is a wonderful resource, and I got it out immediately!
+ + + + +
OpinionJournal - Outside the Box
I'm finding, more and more, that Opinion Journal is a lovely place to find well-reasoned examination of issues - the logic that is generally missing during the "Silly Season" when politicoes are appealing to the emotions of the electorate. There are so many lies out there - by both sides - that it's nice to find a place that holds both sides accountable for what they say! Opinion Journal is free (as opposed to the web version of the WSJ, which is exhorbitant).
+ + + + +
Fr. Rodney Torbic suggested I should do some writing on healthcare ethics. Will have to think about it some, but it might be something I could do. Certainly, I see all of the seamy sides of healthcare being in the medical-legal end of things!
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Wednesday 4 August 2004
Today I was surfing around and found this little jewel. Really like this concept.
Welcome to Blocklist.com
Since we're getting between 2 and 5 "trash" faxes daily, I'm going to sign up for it. Will let you know if it works.
Welcome to Blocklist.com
Since we're getting between 2 and 5 "trash" faxes daily, I'm going to sign up for it. Will let you know if it works.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Legal Nurse; This and That
Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils; St. Macrina, sister of St. Basil the Great; St. Dius, abbot of Antioch; Opening of thr Relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov; Blessed Romanus, prince of Ryazan; Blessed Stephen, king of Serbia and his mother St. Militsa; St. Paisius of the Kiev Caves; NewMartyr Victor, bishop of Glazov (1934).
[Greek Calendar: Abba Diocles of The Paradise]
Repose of Blessed Abbot Nilus (1870); Elder John of St. Nilus of Sora Monastery
(1903), and Hieroschemamonk Anthony of Valaam (1862).
Holy Saints pray to the Lord for us!
+ + + +
The ol' curmudgeon spent the entire day yesterday re-doing my laptop - I finally "gave in" and asked him to put XP on it. Now I have to spend most of today re-doing all my settings, downloading all the little utilities I love so much, etc. The ol' curmudgeon wants me to run all those utils past him - says I won't need most of them on XP. That's nice. XP is taking up so much of my hard drive space I'm gonna have to upgrade the dratted harddrive - which means redoing this again in a few weeks.
+ + + +
I'm tired of feeling tired and aching. Other than the fibromyalgia and the arthritis, I feel wonderful and I have many things I want to do and just cannot. So I end up spending time on the computer and reading. At least it gives me the opportunity to read the Church Fathers and various theological works, and I end up praying a lot more than I used to. Not being able to get to and through the Divine Liturgy is a real drag, but Father brings the Holy Gifts about once a month, and I can listen to the Liturgy on the various CDs I've found and ordered on the WEB. The Greek Church has a streaming video of the Liturgy each week, but I really, really wish there were on from one of the ROCA Churches. In English. That would be marvelous.
+ + + +
Well I have 3 cases subcontracted from another company, and I need to get them done by Friday. Time to comment about medical malpractice. As a person who reviews several hundred potential medical malpractice cases each year, I am constantly astonished at the total lack of communication between medical personnel (not just doctors, but nurses, physical therapists, dentists, etc) and patients and their families.
One of the problems is that medicine is not an exact science - despite what is shown on the medically-related shows on TV! Bad things happen to nice people because of the inherent risks of certain procedures and diseases.
I recently reviewed a case involving a very aggressive type of cancer - it has one of the poorest prognoses of any of the cancers. The patient died about 6 months after diagnosis. The family wanted to sue because the patient had complained of one symptoms that might or might not have been related to the cancer 1 month prior to the diagnosis, and alleged that if the cancer had been diagnosed a month earlier the patient would not have died. Sorry! It doesn't work like that. For the vast majority of cancers (with a very, very few, rare exceptions) a month or even 2 or 3 months delay in diagnosis will not affect the ultimate outcome. It might affect longevity by about the same length of time as the delay. But the family in this case didn't understand. They were sad and angry, upset and wanted to blame someone - anyone - other than their loved one.
People, there are risks to all things in our lives. We must understand that. There are no guarantees! That is why we are admonished so much by the Church Fathers to be prepared for we know not when the day will come that we will die - and will we be prepared?
I'm not saying that there are not cases of gross negligence. There are, and I've reviewed many of them. I have no problem suggesting trial strategies for these cases. But to sue a doctor for something he had no control over? I think that is totally outside the bounds of civilized behavior.
+ + + +
Someone was talking about the McDonald's coffee case the other day. This was a personal injury case that occurred in 1994. Most people don't realize that the injured party was not driving the car, and that the car was at a standstill when the accident with the coffee occurred.
McFacts abut the McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit
This website has all the true facts about the McDonald's Coffee Lawsuit. Check it out and decide for yourself if McDonald's was culpable. There are a number of other websites that address the facts of this case.
I wish that people could see the two extremes that I see - the people trying to get something for nothing, and the people who only want recompense for things that happened because of gross negligence on the part of others who should have known better. There is such a difference between the two!
Elizabeth
[Greek Calendar: Abba Diocles of The Paradise]
Repose of Blessed Abbot Nilus (1870); Elder John of St. Nilus of Sora Monastery
(1903), and Hieroschemamonk Anthony of Valaam (1862).
Holy Saints pray to the Lord for us!
+ + + +
The ol' curmudgeon spent the entire day yesterday re-doing my laptop - I finally "gave in" and asked him to put XP on it. Now I have to spend most of today re-doing all my settings, downloading all the little utilities I love so much, etc. The ol' curmudgeon wants me to run all those utils past him - says I won't need most of them on XP. That's nice. XP is taking up so much of my hard drive space I'm gonna have to upgrade the dratted harddrive - which means redoing this again in a few weeks.
+ + + +
I'm tired of feeling tired and aching. Other than the fibromyalgia and the arthritis, I feel wonderful and I have many things I want to do and just cannot. So I end up spending time on the computer and reading. At least it gives me the opportunity to read the Church Fathers and various theological works, and I end up praying a lot more than I used to. Not being able to get to and through the Divine Liturgy is a real drag, but Father brings the Holy Gifts about once a month, and I can listen to the Liturgy on the various CDs I've found and ordered on the WEB. The Greek Church has a streaming video of the Liturgy each week, but I really, really wish there were on from one of the ROCA Churches. In English. That would be marvelous.
+ + + +
Well I have 3 cases subcontracted from another company, and I need to get them done by Friday. Time to comment about medical malpractice. As a person who reviews several hundred potential medical malpractice cases each year, I am constantly astonished at the total lack of communication between medical personnel (not just doctors, but nurses, physical therapists, dentists, etc) and patients and their families.
One of the problems is that medicine is not an exact science - despite what is shown on the medically-related shows on TV! Bad things happen to nice people because of the inherent risks of certain procedures and diseases.
I recently reviewed a case involving a very aggressive type of cancer - it has one of the poorest prognoses of any of the cancers. The patient died about 6 months after diagnosis. The family wanted to sue because the patient had complained of one symptoms that might or might not have been related to the cancer 1 month prior to the diagnosis, and alleged that if the cancer had been diagnosed a month earlier the patient would not have died. Sorry! It doesn't work like that. For the vast majority of cancers (with a very, very few, rare exceptions) a month or even 2 or 3 months delay in diagnosis will not affect the ultimate outcome. It might affect longevity by about the same length of time as the delay. But the family in this case didn't understand. They were sad and angry, upset and wanted to blame someone - anyone - other than their loved one.
People, there are risks to all things in our lives. We must understand that. There are no guarantees! That is why we are admonished so much by the Church Fathers to be prepared for we know not when the day will come that we will die - and will we be prepared?
I'm not saying that there are not cases of gross negligence. There are, and I've reviewed many of them. I have no problem suggesting trial strategies for these cases. But to sue a doctor for something he had no control over? I think that is totally outside the bounds of civilized behavior.
+ + + +
Someone was talking about the McDonald's coffee case the other day. This was a personal injury case that occurred in 1994. Most people don't realize that the injured party was not driving the car, and that the car was at a standstill when the accident with the coffee occurred.
McFacts abut the McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit
This website has all the true facts about the McDonald's Coffee Lawsuit. Check it out and decide for yourself if McDonald's was culpable. There are a number of other websites that address the facts of this case.
I wish that people could see the two extremes that I see - the people trying to get something for nothing, and the people who only want recompense for things that happened because of gross negligence on the part of others who should have known better. There is such a difference between the two!
Elizabeth
Sunday, August 01, 2004
A Pearl
When a passion arises, when it is young and feeble, cut it
off, lest it stiffen and cause you a great deal of trouble.
It is one thing to pluck out a small weed and quite another
thing to uproot a great tree.
-Abba Dorotheos of Gaza
One of the members of the Orthodox Women's List posted this. What a beautiful way to express this. In our daily struggle, we need to recognize the passions and truly cut them down at the earliest stages possible.
Elizabeth
off, lest it stiffen and cause you a great deal of trouble.
It is one thing to pluck out a small weed and quite another
thing to uproot a great tree.
-Abba Dorotheos of Gaza
One of the members of the Orthodox Women's List posted this. What a beautiful way to express this. In our daily struggle, we need to recognize the passions and truly cut them down at the earliest stages possible.
Elizabeth
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