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AR

A GOOD NAME

Throughout history, when a name fails to attract a desired level of interest, loyalty, or support, common strategy suggests altering the name...

Arizona State University has the second largest student enrollment in the country.  My semi-risky hypothesis is that they attracted significantly less supporters when their name was “Tempe Normal School.”  Do note, no less, they are not alone.  Until 1963, Texas A&M was known as the “Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.”  Auburn University was once known as “Alabama Polytechnic Institute.” The title alterations seem to have been significantly beneficial.

The ploy extends further than higher education.  Look at the degree to which business has benefitted...  “Blue Ribbon Sports” is now known simply by its “swoosh,” that billion dollar Nike brand.  “Marafuku” became Nintendo, “AuctionWeb” became EBay, and “Backrub” morphed into Google.  Wonder what’s in a name?  My guess is the founders of Pepsi Cola are thrilled with the loyalists who jumped on board now that they are no longer known as “Brad’s Drink.”  

So successful, the strategy also extends into politics...

The anti-abortion movement of the 70’s became “pro-life,” and the abortion supporters are now identified as “pro-choice.”  Funny now that both sides neglect to include the root issue in their name.  (Perhaps they know “life” and “choice” are more pleasing to the ear than “abortion.”)

My current favorite evolver is “global warming.”  The bottom line on this issue is that scientists around the world disagree on its cause, consequences, and the necessitated response.  The dispute centers on whether the warming trends of the mid-20th century are unprecedented - and thus, whether they are man-made environmental deteriorations.  At the beginning of this decade, thanks much in part to the seemingly genuine passion of Al Gore, global warming interest swelled.  But watch what is now happening in the governments of Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Japan, New Zealand, and Poland.  In each of these countries, skeptics are increasing exponentially... not because global warming has proved fiction.  But because it has yet to be proven fact.

Hence, since the idea of “warming” seems inconsistent with the cool temperatures of the summer - or the massive snows of winter, the term, “global warming,” allows wiggle room for dispute.  Global warming has now evolved into “climate change.”  

The Intramuralist does not claim to know if this issue is fact or fiction.  I simply wish to acknowledge that there exists a debate.  Due to that debate, we need more research and respectful discussion - and less partisanship and subjective publicity.  We need scientific assistance in comprehension - and no more PR campaigns aimed more to convince or manipulate.  And thus, we need pause - pause prior to enacting any significant legislation during sensitive economic times that continue a massive spiral of spending.  Spending should be based on fact.

I wonder...  knowing some things remain a mystery to man...  knowing some things are yet to be figured out... I wonder if someday we will alter the term, “climate change,” once again.  I wonder if it will one day be called “the hand of God.”  You never know... could be fiction... could be fact.

AR

SOLID CARE

In light of the perceived promotion for immediate healthcare reform, let me humbly (but hopefully creatively) offer my very unscientific list of current concerns:  

(1)  The need for legislation passage suddenly seems more important than what is actually in the legislation. 

(2)  As noted in previous Intramuralist accounts, our representatives have long been lax in reading the legislation written; a bill of this magnitude should never be voted upon without the actual, individual reading of the bill.

(3)  Canada.  Their socialized system seems to highlight several of the shortcomings of a government designed program.

(4)  Any reform that is massive yet designed to be efficient and effective needs to be clearly communicated with the public it serves.  With the current campaign designed to support reform passage prior to the congressional August recess, clear communication with the public in regard to the contents of the legislation seems a secondary priority.  Give us time to agree or disagree.  Give us time to fully comprehend the suggested reform.

(5)  President Obama has long stated that healthcare reform must succeed in reducing the cost of medical care over the long run.  Last Thursday, the head of Obama’s Congressional Budget Office testified that the legislation he had seen so far did not fulfill that goal.  Hence, until the administration can agree on such, should we not invest the appropriate time it takes - even if that is after August?

 

(6)  Making healthcare available to all is necessary.  It also needs to be more portable and innovative in order to serve our country’s diversified needs well.  Current proposals seem ambiguous in how innovation within care would be affected.

(7)  Is the new way to pay for government spending to simply tax the wealthiest Americans?  And thus, am I alone in wondering if taxing the rich becomes the primary payment method, will the rich soon learn how to save, spend, or hide their money differently?  (psst... if any of them wish to pay my mortgage...)

 

(8)  One trillion plus dollars.  Need we say more?  How can we spend what we do not have?

(9)  Doing things right is more important than doing things fast.

(10)  And perhaps the concern that intrigues me most... what will the name of a government-run healthcare system be?   Hillarycare?  Robin Hood Care? or McHealth?  (... maybe they, too, will utilize the dollar menu...  I heard it’s cheaper that way...)

AR

FOOLISH

In the words of a seemingly immortal 10 year old, “Shots stink!”

Truth is, the boy is right.  No one enjoys the physician’s proclamation that a new inoculation is necessary (...and men, please withhold your well-intended empathy until an epidural has been placed in the lower portion of your back).

But Thursday’s shot sent my son spiraling downward in anger due to the unexpected pain.  For several moments, more quiet than anything as the tears silently streamed down his face, I simply held him.  Then the tears continued but the self justification of his anger swelled.  “Shots stink!  I shouldn’t have to get them!  They don’t do any good!  They just hurt!”  As the anger persisted, I finally asked him if perhaps we should look at this from another perspective.  At which point words spewed from a mere 10 year old that most of us adults spew as well - just below our breath so their logic will remain uncontested:  “Shots stink!  That’s the way I feel!  And because I feel it, it MUST be right!!”

Scary.  “Because I feel it, it must be right!”

How many of us have justified behavior based upon how we feel?

The woman who left her husband with 3 small children...

The parent who chewed out the coach as his son never entered the game...

The 20 year old girl who shot Steve McNair...

“Because I feel it, it must be right!”

I looked at my son, who can handle a wee bit more transparent conversation, and said, “I’m sorry, but you’re acting like a fool.  When my feelings contradict what is virtuous and true, it is not what is virtuous and true that has now become wrong.”

“But I feel it!  How can I be wrong??”

We are each capable of wrong.  We are each vulnerable to varied temptations, some that entice us more strongly than others.  But we must “live beyond ourselves,” say the wise words of Catherine Marshall, former author and wife of Peter Marshall, the 2-time Senate chaplain.  We must learn to base our feelings upon what is authentic, ethical, and true - as opposed to alter what we believe to be true because of how we feel.  Our feelings, while legitimately held, are capable of being wrong.  They can produce faulty thinking and unethical behavior.

“I’m sorry, Mom.”  It took approximately 40 minutes for my son to comprehend today’s teaching.  My guess is we will speak of it again.  And again.  I shared with him that many of us adults still struggle with the question.  He realized that even those of us aware of said truth still take turns acting as the fool.

AR

MONKEYIN' AROUND

Hey, hey, it’s my birthday
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singing

To put anybody down...

Or something like that... what a wonderful day yesterday was. 

Birthday proceedings always amuse me.  We watch people sing, blow out candles, lie about their age, fear their new age, distribute silly gifts - some serious, too.  It can be tremendous fun.  The entire lying-about-your-age-thing has incredible potential for irony.  When we’re under 30 or over 65, our age is quite discernible.  Those who lie are then between the 2 ages.  Hence, it is only a matter of time before lying or refusing to tell simply surrenders to a logic the birthday boy girl has previously refused to acknowledge.  I thus suppose the liar’s motive is to hold fast to a lie for their own, internal, esteeming needs.

Yesterday, though, I attempted something new...

In the morning, instead of prioritizing the activities of the day, planning out my ventures, pondering who would remember and who would call... I released my family and friends from any expectations.  In the morning, I simply spent time in quiet gratitude...

Thank you for this friend...

Thank you for my family...

Thank you for the family I grew up with and admire still today...

No, no one is perfect this side of heaven, but that doesn’t negate the blessing...

I have been blessed by my family and friends... by those who prepared me for now... by those here with me now...  by those who have shaped me... through whom God influenced me...  I would not be who I am today save for the friends and family who intentionally invested their energies in me...

Here... there... close and far away...

Thank God for them... those genuine blessings in my life.

It was a wonderful day.  It is amazing how time focused in gratitude softens the heart and keeps the focus in life where it needs to be...

Off of self.   

My birthday.  A beautiful day.  p.s. Who do you need to say “thanks” for today?

AR

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

As Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor began Senate confirmation hearings Monday, the Intramuralist was somewhat disturbed by the plethora of opinion that seems presupposed for either rubber-stamping or opposing the nomination.  Justice Sotomayor deserves our respect, and we deserve transparent answers prior to a lifetime High Court appointment.  In lieu of partisan proclivity, I wish to ask the following:

10. Who are the 3 people who have influenced you most professionally?  Were they all like-minded?  Who have you most admired that has thought differently than you?

9.  Tell us:  what do your supporters claim about you that is untrue?  And what do your detractors claim about you that is true?

8.  Do you feel as if the Supreme Court has become more influential in recent decades, expressing jurisdiction in regard to unprecedented arenas or topics?  If so, what do you feel are the positive and negative consequences of that activity?

7.  Many have commented on your ethnicity.  Some even disrespectfully.  What bearing, if any, does your Hispanic heritage actually have on your decision-making?  Has it ever been cause for personal, subjective error?

6.  President Obama has identified what he terms “empathy” as a requirement for his judicial appointees.  To whom and how do you extend judicial empathy?  What does that look like?  And is it possible to empathize with a person, but still acknowledge their wrongdoing?

5.  Which is more important:  your personal political opinion or a strict interpretation of the Constitution?  If Chief Justice John Roberts was asked the same question, how would you advise him to respond?  Hence, when your opinion differs from the law, how does that impact your professional thought process?

4.  “Lady Justice,” Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice, is depicted clutching a downward double-edged sword in her right hand and measuring scales in her left. The sword symbolizes reason and justice, while the scales weigh the strengths and opposition of a specific case. Perceived as “an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems,” why, in your opinion, is Lady Justice typically depicted donning a blindfold?  What is she intentionally attempting not to see?

3.  How does the role of God and the hand of human justice fit together?

2.  Of your 6 decisions that have previously been reviewed by the Supreme Court, 4 of them have been overturned.  What have you learned from those rulings?  Have you been emboldened?  Have you been humbled?  Have you thus ever changed your opinion?

And number 1...

Remembering that you represent all Americans and must serve as an impartial justice, how do you feel about the Yankees, Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, and LA Lakers?  In other words, do tell:  who is “America’s team”?  :)

AR

THE LEADER OF THE BAND

7 years ago we sat in Dave Thomas’s franchise, enjoying those old fashioned hamburgers, when my jaw dropped, and we must have suddenly looked aghast.  Previously uneventful, lunch  evolved somewhat excitingly when my 9 month old son threw his hands in the air, and his cast - which extended from his fist to mid-forearm - went flying through the air!  “Please don’t hit anyone!!” I agonized, as the small, purple plaster mold went airborne.  Thankfully, it quickly came to rest at the feet of another table, and gracefully, the table’s young family joined us in the succeeding laughter.

A few months later - after a second, post-Wendy’s casting - one that would not be spontaneously released due to perspiration, the doctors felt Joshua’s finger had sufficiently healed.  A 2”x 4” had fallen across the tops of Josh’s knuckles, slicing his middle proximal phalange in 2.  While only a fractured finger, the immobilization was necessary, as a 9 month old is not likely to avoid any interference with his hands.

After removing the cast, the orthopedist said if an additional incident occurred to feel free to return.  At that time, his resident in the room quietly muttered the following, loud enough for us to hear but quietly enough to be debated:  “Of course, if something else does happen, you don’t have to come see us.  It’s not like Josh will be playing in the orchestra one day.”

My son, Joshua, is an amazing child.  He goes where seemingly some will never go.  He touches people in ways the rest of us cannot, and he hits and throws a baseball as well or better than many adults.  In Josh, we were given an unexpected gift.  On day one, we realized the necessity of releasing him from all those parent-created expectations that each of us manufactures for our children.  And even though we believe those expectations to be justified, the truth is, we have to release all of our children from those expectations.  It is just that with Josh, we knew it right away.  Josh has Down syndrome.

Go with me, though, to the legitimate concern I have for Josh in today’s growing political debate...

Good men and women are debating the need to reform healthcare.  Healthcare needs to become more affordable and portable.  Unfortunately, though, many current reform suggestions would make American healthcare more expensive and less innovative.  My parental concern is that in any reform proposal, we need to ensure that people are guaranteed the medical attention they need.  No man or woman should be viewed as a “number” - someone subjectively judged as a potential “drain on the system”... someone who in government’s eyes is viewed as costing society more than they can give.  

Such seemed the mindset of the resident - believing Josh having a functional set of fingers was unnecessary - and truthfully, the doctor’s ignorance identifies perhaps Joshua’s most challenging hurdle:  surpassing the low expectations our world often has for the disabled.

When the resident coarsely commented about our son’s lack of potential for future musical performance, I offered a wise smile and said, “Who knows... Josh might even direct that orchestra one day.” 

Excuse me... I have a trumpet to purchase...

AR