I still get a weekly email from WU's student news paper. This week's headline: SU Senate backs mental health education initiative for next year.
I don't disagree with the importance of "mental health" screening or education; however, I wonder how effective a tedious survey can really be compared to the listening ear of caring friend? And if the result of checking the wrong combination of boxes is a prescription, then supporting "mental health education" really isn't about caring for students and faculty. Nothing substitutes for people genuinely caring for people.
How much time do you dedicate to listening to your friends (family, co-workers, church members) and opening your ears for signs of depression or sadness?
What makes someone mentally unhealthy? Who defines that?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
No Pain, No Gain
The socialist health-care expansion in the so-called "stimulus" plan "will not be pain free," according to Daschle.
The provisions include:
-creating more bureaucracy called the "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research" to determine when to replace costly treatments with a "hopeless diagnoses" and produce federal guidelines to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions
-keeping your health care records electronically in a federal database and penalties for doctors and hospitals that do not share your records with the federal government
Read more in an article by Betsy McCaughey posted on Bloomberg.com.
The provisions include:
-creating more bureaucracy called the "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research" to determine when to replace costly treatments with a "hopeless diagnoses" and produce federal guidelines to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions
-keeping your health care records electronically in a federal database and penalties for doctors and hospitals that do not share your records with the federal government
Read more in an article by Betsy McCaughey posted on Bloomberg.com.
Do you want our Federal bureaucracy writing a "guide" to help your doctors make cost effective decisions concerning your health?
Bloomberg.com
"One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.” "
"One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and “guide” your doctor’s decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, “Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.” According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and “learn to operate less like solo practitioners.” "
Monday, February 09, 2009
Money is the Trojan horse that government uses to infiltrate and infect organizations.
Ron Paul's column this week explains why government funding of "faith based" organizations means less autonomy for the orgs that accept this money.
"Money is the Trojan horse that government uses to infiltrate and infect organizations. Funding that, on the outset, is designed to strengthen and support, will bureaucratize and regulate in the end."
Well, and then these organizations add on "lobbying" as central to their existence.
Ron Paul ends the column by suggests that we "Just Say No" (Nancy Reagan's drug slogan) to government money!
"Money is the Trojan horse that government uses to infiltrate and infect organizations. Funding that, on the outset, is designed to strengthen and support, will bureaucratize and regulate in the end."
Well, and then these organizations add on "lobbying" as central to their existence.
Ron Paul ends the column by suggests that we "Just Say No" (Nancy Reagan's drug slogan) to government money!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Why do we have a Department of Agriculture?
washingtonpost.com includes the following quote by the former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, who is Obama's nomination of for the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, in an article today.
Vilsack says he wants "We [US Government] want to make a better connection between what kids eat and knowing where it comes from. I've seen it in my own family. If you educate kids at an early age, you can have a tremendous impact."
FEE.org asks why do we even have a dept. of agriculture?
Hmm...to tell us corn is grown in Iowa?
Vilsack says he wants "We [US Government] want to make a better connection between what kids eat and knowing where it comes from. I've seen it in my own family. If you educate kids at an early age, you can have a tremendous impact."
FEE.org asks why do we even have a dept. of agriculture?
Hmm...to tell us corn is grown in Iowa?
Could it be that "bearing with one another" might start with changing me?
It's so easy to see the faults in others. When I see a "fault" in someone else, rather than just talk about it with other people, maybe I should consider whether I, to some degree, struggle with the same thing.
"If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of ourselves." Thomas a Kempis, Bearing with the Faults of Others in Imitation of Christ
"I (Paul)...urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling... bearing with one another in love..." Eph. 4:1-2
NAS - Transliterated Word - Anechomai
to sustain, to bear, to endure
"If you cannot make yourself what you would wish to be, how can you bend others to your will? We want them to be perfect, yet we do not correct our own faults. We wish them to be severely corrected, yet we will not correct ourselves. Their great liberty displeases us, yet we would not be denied what we ask. We would have them bound by laws, yet we will allow ourselves to be restrained in nothing. Hence, it is clear how seldom we think of others as we do of ourselves." Thomas a Kempis, Bearing with the Faults of Others in Imitation of Christ
"I (Paul)...urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling... bearing with one another in love..." Eph. 4:1-2
NAS - Transliterated Word - Anechomai
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
What about the widows?
Many people in the church (and in life) feel invisible. They think to themselves: "we just want someone from the church to know we're alive,"especially older widows.
Remembering a name, greeting with hug, and asking about a favorite pastime might feel awkward at first, but I believe caring for others requires us to careless about how we feel ourselves.
"Every one of us has so much to offer....As each of us discovers and nurtures your gifts and celebrates the gifts of others in the Church, we see glimpses of what it means to live a life of true worship."
"True caring is a choice. True caring sometimes means choosing to be with someone in hardship rather than without them in prosperity. It is loving over the long haul, loving through disappointments, and loving in the midst of losses that may not be redeemed until heaven."
From Real Love for Real Life by Ashworth
This is probably the first in a series of posts on the question: What does it mean to "care" for people?
Remembering a name, greeting with hug, and asking about a favorite pastime might feel awkward at first, but I believe caring for others requires us to careless about how we feel ourselves.
"Every one of us has so much to offer....As each of us discovers and nurtures your gifts and celebrates the gifts of others in the Church, we see glimpses of what it means to live a life of true worship."
"True caring is a choice. True caring sometimes means choosing to be with someone in hardship rather than without them in prosperity. It is loving over the long haul, loving through disappointments, and loving in the midst of losses that may not be redeemed until heaven."
From Real Love for Real Life by Ashworth
This is probably the first in a series of posts on the question: What does it mean to "care" for people?
Lost and Found
Just rediscovered my blog from a couple years ago...yeh, I've got somewhere to post my rants besides Facebook!
Yes, I've discovered a way to only import entries that I tag "fb" into Facebook. This way, I can consider my audience when posting. Interestingly, I posted something back in 2006 about trying to consider who would be reading what I would be posting.
I originally titled my blog "Just a thought"; however, if I were to chose a name today, I think I'd call it "One more Question..." or something like that. I'm finding it doesn't really matter what I think, but finding a way to get others thinking.
http://ruthcarlson.blogspot.com/
Yes, I've discovered a way to only import entries that I tag "fb" into Facebook. This way, I can consider my audience when posting. Interestingly, I posted something back in 2006 about trying to consider who would be reading what I would be posting.
I originally titled my blog "Just a thought"; however, if I were to chose a name today, I think I'd call it "One more Question..." or something like that. I'm finding it doesn't really matter what I think, but finding a way to get others thinking.
http://ruthcarlson.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)