VirusHead

Congress Funds Psychological Tests for Kids

One of the nation’s leading medical groups, the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons (AAPS), decried a move by the U.S. Senate to join with the House in funding a federal program AAPS says will lead to mandatory psychological testing of every child in America – without the consent of parents.
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“Soviet communists attempted to paint all opposition to the state as mental illness. It now seems our own federal government wants to create a therapeutic nanny state, beginning with schoolchildren. It’s not hard to imagine a time 20 or 30 years from now when government psychiatrists stigmatize children whose religious, social, or political values do not comport with those of the politically correct, secular state.

“American parents must do everything they can to remain responsible for their children’s well-being. If we allow government to become intimately involved with our children’s minds and bodies, we will have lost the final vestiges of parental authority. Strong families are the last line of defense against an overreaching bureaucratic state.”

Well I blogged a protest to this, but I guess it’s too late now. Some family values. So a girl knocked up by her father is left without counselling – after all, that needs parental consent – but now our kids will undergo “mental health screening” without parental consent. Seems like a sweet deal for the pharmaceutical companies. There is even some talk about not allowing kids in school who weren’t medicated.

Get ‘em while they’re young. Meanwhile, what about our veterans returning from Iraq?

It looks as though we just haven’t really hit bottom yet. If half of us still don’t get it, maybe it really will take another couple of years. So, so much will have been lost, including years of any possibility for future prosperity. But maybe that’s what it takes – for us all to be a lot less comfortable, for politics to become more of a neccessary knowledge.

So far, half of us didn’t care that from the time Bush took office until August (August only because that’s the date of the post where I grabbed the stats):

1.2 million people in America have lost their jobs, bringing the total to 8.2 million.

The number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by 4.3 million to 35.9 million – 12.9 million of them children.

The number of Americans with no health insurance increased by 5.8 million – with 1.4 million losing their insurance in 2003. The total now stands at 45 million.

Forty percent of the 3.5 million people who were homeless at some point last year were families with children, as were 40 percent of those seeking emergency food assistance.

Median household income has fallen more than US$1,500 in inflation-adjusted terms in the last three years, and the wages of most workers are now falling behind inflation.

Average tuition for college has risen by 34 percent, while 37 percent of fourth graders read at a level considered “below basic.”

One third of the president’s $1.7 trillion in tax cuts benefits only the top 1 percent of wealthiest Americans.

That’s only the beginning. All hell breaks loose now, friends. There have been several incidents having to do wiht abuses of the Patriot Act – watch for more. Watch businesses lose tax incentive for offering health insurance options to their workers at all. Watch blue states in particular get smacked on the new tax codes. Watch the dollar plummet. Watch government officials, with no trace of conscious irony, talk about fraud in other country’s elections. Watch the interest rate climb. Watch a whole lot more people get kicked out of those houses they recently bought – my neighbor was a Harvard-educated corporate lawyer, and it didn’t help him one bit when he had to declare bankruptcy. His parents started Meals on Wheels – if he’s lucky, maybe one day he’ll qualify to get them. Watch your kids have all their after-school programs get cut – and compare the cost of care to your tax “relief” check. Forget about art, music, team uniforms.

Remember all those awful things the Russians did – you know, when you were a kid and you were being told why it was so bad to be a “red” – and how awful it was there? Bush is supporting Putin’s regime slide back to the good ole days. And Bush likes it so much, we might be heading there too!

Maybe it just really takes a bigger wake-up call. America is like a man with a problem and a mid-life crisis. Too bad we just can’t get a new sports car. Get ready for the future….”and all the lousy little poets comin’ round, tryin’ to sound like Charlie Manson…and the white man dancing” (Leonard Cohen is 70).

Had a terrific Thanksgiving – but already today I’m bitter bitter bitter. Perhaps it’s time for a short news fast. I simply can’t understand how anyone could be blind to what is happening here – what it is is exactly clear.

it does not matter what lies or hatred they bestow upon jehovahs witnesses when jehovahs day of judgement comes. It will be him to bring you to justice

Renee

H: Thank you for that insight, Renee. I do not see where the lies and hatred are on my site, but I do know that you feel justifed by a sense of persecution. It is interesting to be a “they.” If Jehovah’s day of judgment comes, it will be a bad day for everybody, I suspect. The need for an apocalyptic scenario may bring us all to our knees in radiation sickness and disease. But I applaud your overarching point – why don’t you let God do the sorting out of “justice” and meanwhile follow Jesus’s compassion and the message of good news?

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. As you said “in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman.” I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate!

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

(Thanks Joseph!)

Isabel: How do I deal with my son’s frustration that is still harming him. After 5 years {he is 21 and an Asperger} when an elder told him he could not preach because he stutters. The story is long. Since I left the Jehovah’s after 30 years, I would like to write a book but I do not know where do I start. Shattered. Isabel

H: I have never heard of an elder who would say something like that – that is an extraordinarily cruel and untrue thing to say. You might remind your son of Moses, who described himself as “slow of speech and slow of tongue.” God does not prohibit anyone from speaking – only humans do that. No-one has the right to prohibit another in that way. In all fairness, I do not think that Elder was right to say that even within the bounds of the Witnesses. You do not say whether your son is still a JW, but in either case, please assure him that the God he loves supports and cherishes him. All gifts are necessary. It may be that he can use even his frustration to good purpose – he may understand the frustration of others. If he learns ways to navigate that frustration, he will be able to share that with others. Many people have difficulties speaking to others – he will have compassion and understanding in that area! Without minimizing the reality of his difficulty, encourage him to think about it creatively to deepen his own spirituality and relationship with his God.

Regarding your own question about writing a book, here is how you start. You start. That’s it, and that’s all. You sit down after dinner some night and write one paragraph. The next night you write another paragraph, or a page, or a few pages. Try to capture one whole thought each time you write, and write everyday. In a year, you will have a complete draft. At that point, rearrange things into chapters, put things that go together in order, write an introduction. Then send it out to readers for suggestions – friends, people you respect – ask for comments. Get an agent. Get it published.

Ask yourself, what is the main point of the book – what are you trying to say with the book? What would be a good working title for your main point? Then just start. Write every day. Even if it only one sentence. Write every day. And again, write every day.