Jesus shall reign, by Getty music

https://www.gettymusic.com/ghs18

On Feb. 25, 2018, over a million Christians got together to sing a Watts’ hymn, Jesus shall reign.  Really beautiful.  77 countries.

Mindfulness is a religion, and it’s not Christian

Is your school, community or church pushing "mindfulness" as a non-religious activity to reduce stress and anxiety and do they also offer other religious practices? "“Mindfulness” is rooted in Buddhism and seeks to bring about a state of active, open attention on the present by which one observes his or her thoughts and feelings as if from a distance, without judging them to be good or bad. Although it is promoted as a non-spiritual practice used as a means of vanquishing stress and anxiety, it is practiced through one of several forms of Buddhist meditation, such as “Breathing Space Meditation,” “Body Scan Meditation” and “Expanding Awareness Meditation.” " Susan Brinkmann

Here's some at Ohio State University where I worked, which by the way doesn't offer tax supported Christian prayer and meditation.

•  https://mind-bodyhealth.osu.edu/
• https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/integra…/mindfulness-practices
•  http://freud.psy.ohio-state.edu/lab/CNL/Mindfulness.html
• https://osuhealthplan.com/…/ohio-state-emplo…/eap-recordings https://lucas.osu.edu/mindfulness

Another self-reflective book on the 2016 election

“With the Trump-Russia collusion theory seemingly running out of gas—and few reporters interested in pursuing the actual evidence of FBI abuses—along comes a new 2016 election memoir offering more conspiracy fun.

A story today from the website Daily Beast reports on a new book from New York Times writer Amy Chozick, who reported on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. It seems that Mrs. Clinton and her husband thought the Times was too tough on her, especially in its coverage of her mishandling of classified information and related untruths.”  Wall St. Journal, April 20, 2018

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hillary-clinton-they-were-never-going-to-let-me-be-president?

“In the unending debate over what happened in 2016, and whether journalists contributed to Donald Trump’s victory, Chozick offers plenty of self-recrimination, but she still blames Clinton for not grasping how the game was played. “Trump understood our gluttonous short attention span better than anyone,” she writes, “but especially better than Hillary, whose media strategy amounted to her ignoring us.” . . .

The next day [after the defeat by Trump], Times reporters consider what they’d missed — and why. “God, I didn’t go to a single Hillary or Trump rally,” a colleague of Chozick’s admits, “and yet, I wrote with such authority.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2018/04/20/amy-chozick-covered-hillary-clinton-for-a-decade-heres-what-she-learned-and-what-she-endured/?

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation

You probably learned about the Reformation and its myths in school or church. Dr. David Anders, a former Calvin scholar now a Catholic, says what you learned was false and many of the best Protestant scholars agree. There were many causes--many political. When you watch this video, you’ll also see why the sponsor should not put a large bouquet behind the speaker and a plastic water bottle on the podium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwpWmXClzv8

Support free pregnancy clinics and the First Amendment

Last night we attended the 2018 volunteer appreciation dinner at the Linworth Road Church (non-affiliated Christian). It’s always inspiring to see and hear about Christians working together to saves lives. We each received tickets for door prizes, but we didn’t win—however, Debbie Price who received a special award for her 19 years of service, gave me the table flowers (mums).  Maybe it will survive my care!

The most concerning issue brought before the group for prayer is the new law in California which requires pregnancy clinics, which exist only to save lives of the unborn and support those women who have chosen to carry to term, to advertise the services of abortion clinics, like Planned Parenthood—giving out phone numbers, locations, services. This is a violation of both our religious protections and free speech protection. Other non-profits are not required to advertise for agencies or events that are contrary to their mission.

Imagine! 

• If you support a “no-kill” animal rescue, do those facilities have to advertise for animal shelters that kill after a few day"?
• If you are using a physical therapy clinic for pain, are they required to inform you and advertise about pain clinics that use OxyContin and other addictive drugs? 
• If you support a sanctuary for wild animals,are you required to advertise for a zoo that keeps them in cages?
• If a store that sells only organic and vegetarian products required to advertise for fresh meat at the butcher shop?

The good news is that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case (Nifla v. Becerra). The proponents claim they want to make sure women are “informed.” Nonsense.  They want crisis pregnancy centers to close their doors. Research shows that over 60% of women who have abortions have been pressured into it, and that minorities have abortions far beyond their percent in the population.

Pray!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-questions-california-law-requiring-antiabortion-centers-to-disclose-that-the-state-provides-abortion-services/2018/03/20/69bcd7ec-2c54-11e8-8688-e053ba58f1e4_story.html?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-to-review-california-law-on-disclosure-of-abortion-other-services-1510588410

The Chick-fil-A squawk--again

“The New Yorker's current issue online "features the bigoted lament of writer Daniel Piepenbring, who decries the fast-food chain’s “creepy infiltration” of the Big Apple and warns against the company’s “pervasive Christian traditionalism.” Chick-fil-A opened its fourth location in the city last month. The largest franchise in the country, it seats 140, employs 150, and along with the other NYC locations, donates an estimated 17,000 pounds of food to a local pantry for the homeless and hungry. The company is reportedly on track to become the third-largest fast-food chain in the world." Michelle Malkin

I wonder how much food the New Yorker donates to the homeless? It is owned by Conde Nast and looking at its "social responsibility" page I saw something about fashion shows and violence against women, but nothing for the poor or homeless. New Yorker writes that Trump has given millions to charity, but not "millions and millions."

According to Pew Research, 77 percent The New Yorker's audience hold left-of-center political values, while 52 percent of those readers hold "consistently liberal" political values. So that's often anti-Christian--playing to his audience. Do as I say, not as I do is a common philosophy--just let the government do it. God forbid Christians should try to make a difference with a successful business model that employs over a thousand with excellent benefits. And a job is still the best antidote for poverty.

The go-to gal for on-line relationships

Ohio State has an interesting site devoted to statistics about faculty, rank, staff, ethnicities with a link to the twenty most popular professors for expert advice, appearing as talking heads on TV news shows, in topical information websites and popular magazines.  In the area of video games and social media people turn to an assistant professor in the arts and sciences, Jesse Fox who describes her research as—“how our online selves and social interactions influence our offline identities, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, including relationship initiation, development, maintenance, and dissolution.” So I looked at her research the public might come across—like a dating website Dating Advice dot com.  Apparently we’re all narcissists on social media. Hmm, what about professors who appear before thousands on TV?  All that appears on the FAR (Faculty Annual Review) which goes before the Promotion and Tenure committee.

“In the publication titled “The Dark Triad and Trait Self-Objectification as Predictors of Men’s Use and Self-Presentation Behaviors on Social Networking Sites,” Fox used data from an online survey that consisted of 1,000 American men aged 18 to 40.

Her main goal was to look at their representations on social networking sites, as well as the role of “the dark triad of personalities,” which includes narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.

She had three major findings:

• Trait self-objectification and narcissism predicted time spent on social networking sites.
• Narcissism and psychopathy predicted the number of selfies posted on social networking sites.
• Narcissism and trait self-objectification predicted editing photos posted on social networking sites.

“All of that stuff is highly relevant to online dating,” she said.”

Where is she now? Uncle Sam's step daughter.

I wonder what happened to Robert C. Waterbury's granddaughter who must now be about 24?

Waterbury wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal in August 1996 about his son--an industrious, hard-working young man who served more than 8 years in the Marines, but in civilian life he was working 2 full time jobs and had no health or life insurance, no pension or profit sharing plan, and survived week to week. His son had a daughter with his girl friend who had three other children.  However, she couldn't marry the younger Waterbury, because she was already married to Uncle Sam who provided money, food stamps, medical and dental treatment.  Legal marriage he wrote terminates welfare assistance, but absentee fathers and others may visit for purposes including sex.  If his son's girlfriend got a job the welfare system would penalize her by reducing her benefits.

So grandpa was wondering how he could help his granddaughter escape the welfare system.

A brief history of KEO Club, Group D, 1968-1976, Columbus, Ohio

In a 2012 blog I mentioned our KEO Club in noting the obituary of Judge Duncan who had been a guest speaker at one of our get togethers. At that time I didn’t have or hadn’t found any documentation, but now I have.  This is what I wrote in 2012.

“Back in the late 60s and early 70s, we belonged to an interracial couples group called Know Each Other (KEO).  It was modeled on the First Community Church Couples Circles plan, but instead of church membership it consisted of 5 white couples and 5 black couples. The membership was quite fluid with divorces, career changes and relocations and people moving on to other activities, but I think we stayed together about 5-7 years. We had some interesting programs and great parties. Interestingly, the black couples were higher up the professional and income ladder than the white couples. Somewhere I probably have a list of names in an old Christmas card book.
Each host planned our meetings and discussions, and one of our members was a judge (don’t remember the title), but he knew Robert Duncan, and invited him to our group to talk.  It must have been before he became the first black on Ohio’s Supreme Court, but maybe not, since that happened in early 1969. I know our group was meeting in 1968.”

Last night I came across a history of Group D I had written and had probably sent it with our Christmas letter of 1976 which I also found. I don't remember when the group disbanded. It probably had a 10 year life, which isn't bad for a social group, and I recall one "reunion" in the mid-80s of the ladies.  The list of our activities is exhausting--at least for the age I am now.

"In November 1968, eight couples from several areas of Columbus met at our home in Upper Arlington to organize a KEO Club (which means we were 29 and 30).  Original members were, in addition to the Bruces, Betty and Marion Willis, John and Virginia Baker, Sandy and Hayden Boyd, Ken and Molly Hood, Jim and Rosie Doughty, Julia and Jim Pearson, and Wilma and Alan Jones.  The intent was to racially balance a couples group to help build bridges of understanding and friendship, however, no information on race was included in the original calling list, so there was no way to know the "balance" until we met! [I believe this was the brain child of Paul VanNatta/Vancouver, a member of First Community Church who was active in a local human relations council.  It was modeled on a First Community Couples Circle one of which we were already members.]

In 1969, Ed and Carol Reese, Ed and Janet Sullivan and Earl and Sylvia Thompson joined us.  Our first fall get together was a spaghetti dinner at our home.  During our first year together we had programs on welfare, employment problems of the poor, jazz, a discussion of drugs and the vice squad, and social gatherings. In 1970 we gained Tommy and Clarence Wiggs and Bob and Judy James and lost the Bakers and Doughtys, and the Boyds moved to Rochester.  Ed and Evelyn Stafford joined us several months before their wedding.  By this time there were 9 other KEO groups with members totaling about 200.  Several functions were planned for the entire membership such as  a play, a square dance, social gatherings at the Cavaliers  Club [black social club on the East side], a retreat at Camp Akita [belongs to First Community church], a Halloween party and a picnic.

In 1971 the group suffered a blow to its continuity when three of the white couples, in separate and unrelated decisions, chose not to go on with the group.  Divorce and job change seemed the problem and not the fellowship or goals.  We were fortunate to find Gus and Jesse Anagnostis, Tom and Pat Mendelsohn, John and Sandy Shanfelt and Bob and Jean Crooks (with us only briefly) to fill out the group.

According to a 1972 Christmas Card list, our membership included Anagnostis, Mendelsohn, Pearson, Reese, Shanfelt, Stafford, Sullivan, Thompson, Wiggs, Willis and Bruce, five white couples and six black couples.  In 1972 the Boyds returned to the city and rejoined our group, and Bill and Nancy Tucker began meeting with us, but dropped out after two years.  During this time we had programs on the equal rights amendment, a meeting with a conservative school board member, a talk on white racism in American history, a program on sickle cell anemia, slides on Greece, a talk on criminal justice by an ex-convict, a program on values clarification, a presentation on Freedom Heritage Foundation, a talk by a native Liberian, old movies, a poetry reading, some picnics, two Christmas dance parties with a hired band, several plays, and get togethers with the dwindling membership of the other KEO club members.  Busy schedules took the Sullivans (a dentist) and Pearsons (a municipal judge), and the Boyds moved to Detroit (we said good-bye with class at the Christopher Inn in downtown Columbus).  Shanfelts moved out of town.

Earlier Earl Thompson had left Columbus and our group to go on the stage in New York, and we all went to see him in a play at the Springfield Dinner Theater in January, 1975.  The Mendelsohns moved to Michigan in the fall of 1975, but we gained Ken and Marian Adams, Dick and Gerry Morgan, Jim Banner, Mary Lou Young, and Ruby Brown.  In 1975 we had a talk on genealogy, learned first aid from the Upper Arlington Emergency Squad, heard Chuck Taylor, and partied at the Neil House.  We seemed celebrative in 1976 so we danced at Bill Howard's studio, played games at the Adams' and Young's and picnicked at the Morgans'.  At an informal gathering at Sylvia Thompson's new home in November, 1976, we planned yet another party for December at the home of the Willises with a gift exchange.

The Bruces, Mendelsohns, Staffords and Boyds over the years added five children to the group--one of our social events was a baby shower for the Staffords--the Willises, Wiggs and the Adams added grandchildren to their families.  A lot of kids have grown up and gone off to jobs and college, and we're all heavier, grayer, smarter, and better looking!!!"

Observations at a recital

Yesterday we attended a musical recital.  Everyone there was a parent spouse or sibling of one of the pupils, except us.  Afterwards, as we were on our way to our next event (an unusually busy Sunday), my husband asked if I enjoyed it.  “Enjoy” is not exactly a word I’d choose for beginners’ and learners’ music, but I certainly enjoyed meeting the people, watching the pride in the students’ accomplishments, and. . . wondering about the ethnicities.

Four of the five children were from families of mixed ethnicity; three were Asian and Caucasian, and one was African-American and Asian. I think this may reflect the interest Asian parents have in music and exposing their children to opportunities to excel or at least to perform. 

The Daily Examen–5 steps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=TYi-oR9a6b4

Fr. Michael Sparough, SJ, suggests the Examen as a tool to help us in daring to look inside ourselves.

Montana State University and University of Texas students and the rights of others, including their professors

Earlier I’d blogged about a Montana State University student newspaper that had depicted Jesus as a porn star.

This is not a matter of TOLERANCE.  Speaking as a Christian, I know that tolerance is not a Biblical value, nor is our current worship of the idols of diversity, which simply has come to mean protecting the minority at the expense of the majority, denying millions their First Amendment rights.   Also Christians are told in the Epistles to expect the type of ridicule and hate the college students in the paper promoted.

Tolerance is squishy and subjective, but is implied in secular law, and as such is being violated in many sectors of society.  We are promised in the Bill of Rights (also not in the Bible—roots are the Magna Carta, various colonial documents and the Northwest Ordinance) that Government will not abridge our freedom of religion. A state university is the “government.”  In this case and because it is also “in loco parentis” (allows institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit, although not allowing what would be considered violations of the students' civil liberties) should discipline some unruly, rude students who have used other guaranteed freedoms—freedom of speech and freedom of the press. 

The Christians, if there are any on that campus, then have another freedom in the first amendment, to petition the government to redress their grievances.  There may be national organizations, like Campus Reform, who might step in if asked, but I seriously doubt that will happen. College administrations are at least as liberal as the faculty (it’s rare for a conservative to make it through the gate keepers of promotion and tenure), since that’s where they come from, and they don’t want to have demonstrations outside their offices or risk losing their cushy jobs. Even very left of center administrators (Larry Summers, for example) have been booted for not having the correct slant on women or gays.

Today we have another example of intolerance on the campus—a University of Texas professor—a leftist—is being eaten by his own for not reporting a male student who confided in him with honest questions about what was taught in his “masculinity” class. https://spectator.org/the-electric-cars-that-might-have-been/  Assistant professor Robert L. Reece wrote a column running afoul of feminist dogma.

Nightmare bacteria

More than 23,000 Americans die each year from infections caused by germs resistant to antibiotics, twice the number of homicides by guns. New nationwide testing in 2017 uncovered 221 instances of unusual resistance genes in “nightmare bacteria.”

Check out the CDC’s containment strategy. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/containing-unusual-resistance/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/health/nightmare-bacteria-cdc-vital-signs/index.html

College in Montana show Jesus as porn star

Students showed Jesus in Easter week as sexy porn star.  https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10716   Students have to pay fees to support this paper. No choice.

It’s odd that students will rise up and defend the less than 1%, but rail against and insult the 70%.  Unfortunately, college age Christians are usually poorly catechized having spent their high school years playing games and singing rock and praise songs at church and trying to cut their apron strings to home, so they go along with the insults to look cool and “liberal.” They allow their first amendment rights to be violated because they are ignorant of what a blessing that is.

On the issue of fees, those quietly go up and up, and then the college/university decides who gets which portion.  Often conservative or Christian groups don’t make the cut. Fees are used for everything from bus service to foreign student clubs to transcripts to taking on-line courses. Here’s a list for OSU. https://registrar.osu.edu/policies/feesexplanation.asp

Facial cues to illness

Most of us can tell from facial cues and personality changes when someone we know is ill. Women particularly are skilled at this--but they use additional cues like voice, hair, clothing, tremors, gait, etc. But can you identify when a stranger in before and after photos is ill? Apparently, there is evidence that we can, and that ability may have saved our ancestors (and us) from being exposed to illness.

https://www.statnews.com/2018/01/02/illness-sick-faces-detection/

Engineer who became a teacher comments on education

Thaddeus Eugene Hughes commented at Daily Signal: "I retired early from business and industry. After I got bored, I decided to do something I had longed to do. I became a teacher. Well, first I had to get certified. I signed up at the University of Washington (then rated top 10 in the country for teacher education). Although I started with a M.S. M.E., it took me two years to complete their program and get certified. I took a lot of teacher ed courses and I wrote a lot of papers. Only four of the courses had any impact on the quality of my subsequent teaching. Of course, they had to see that we learned a lot of rules & regulations. I was the first kid in my class to get a job. I was 55.

I went to a little town in Montana to teach physics and mathematics. The kids were lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed them and we had some spectacular achievements. Of a graduating class of 65, I had ten kids who took my second year course in integrated physics-mathematics. All ten subsequently got university degrees in science or technological courses. The sharpest one got her degree in mechanical engineering and then industrial management. The next one on the totem poll got his PhD in chemistry. After the second year, I got fired because I had raised hell about safety standards and non compliance with OSHA regulations. So, I went on to another school.

One of the things that I learned in my 15 years of teaching is that we have a plethora of bright and capable youngsters in our schools. All they need is a good teacher."

Mr. Zuckerberg goes to Washington

Unfortunately, Zuckerberg was not well informed on what his company does to conservatives and Christians and Trump supporters.  Or so he said. There are many complaints on FB about conservatives being silenced, while liberals are allowed to write or propose or speculate on anything.  By “a platform for all ideas” he doesn’t mean Trump supporters—those get classed with terrorists. Since most of my liberals friends and relatives have blocked me I don’t see what appears on their wall, but it’s enough to read Huff Po, WaPo, LATimes, Daily Beast, and read the comments section. They all have Facebook pages.

Sen. Ted Cruz: “Mr. Zuckerberg, I will say there are a great many Americans, who I think are deeply concerned that Facebook and other tech companies are engaged in a pervasive pattern of bias and political censorship. There have been numerous instances with Facebook. In May of 2016, Gizmodo reported that Facebook had purposefully and routinely suppressed conservative stories from trending news, including stories about CPAC, including stories about Mitt Romney, including stories about the Lois Lerner IRS scandal, including stories about Glenn Beck. In addition to that, Facebook has initially shut down the ‘Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day’ page, has blocked a post of a Fox News reporter, has blocked over two dozen Catholic pages, and most recently, blocked Trump supporters Diamond and Silk’s page with 1.2 million Facebook followers, after determining their content and brand were, ‘unsafe to the community.’ To a great many Americans, that appears to be a pervasive pattern of political bias. Do you agree with that assessment?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, let me say a few things about this. First, I understand where that concern is coming from because Facebook and the tech industry are located in Silicon Valley, which is an extremely Left leaning place. And this is actually a concern that I have and that I try to root out in the company is making sure that we don’t have any bias in the work that we do, and I think it is a fair concern that people would at least wonder about.”

Cruz: “So let me ask this question. Are you aware of any ad or page that has been taken down from Planned Parenthood?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I’m not. But let me just, can I finish?”

Cruz: “How about MoveOn.org?”

Zuckerberg: “Sorry?”

Cruz: “How about MoveOn.org?”

Zuckerberg: “I’m not specifically aware of those.”

Cruz: “How about any Democratic candidate for office?”

Zuckerberg: “I’m not specifically aware. I mean, I’m not sure.”

Cruz: “In your testimony, you say that you have 15,000 to 20,000 people working on security and content review. Do you know the political orientation of those 15,000 to 20,000 people engaged in content review?”

Zuckerberg: “No, Senator. We do not generally ask people about their political orientation when they’re joining the company.”

Cruz: “So as CEO, have you made hiring or firing decisions based on political positions or what candidates they supported?”

Zuckerberg: “No.”

Cruz: “Why was Palmer Luckey fired?”

Zuckerberg: “That is a specific personnel matter that seems like it would be inappropriate to speak to here.”

Cruz: “You made a specific representation that you didn’t make decisions based on political views. Is that accurate?”

Zuckerberg: “I can commit that it was not because of a political view.”

Cruz: “Do you know of the 15,000 to 20,000 people engaged in content review, how many, if any, have ever supported financially a Republican candidate for office?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I do not know that.”

Cruz: “Your testimony says, ‘It is not enough that we just connect people. We have to make sure those connections are positive.’ It says, ‘We have to make sure people aren’t using their voice to hurt people or spread misinformation. We have a responsibility not just to build tools, but to make sure those tools are used for good.’ Mr. Zuckerberg, do you feel it’s your responsibility to assess users whether they are good and positive connections or ones those 15,000 to 20,000 people deem unacceptable or deplorable?”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, you’re asking about me personally?”

Cruz: “Facebook.”

Zuckerberg: “Senator, I think that there are a number of things that we would all agree are clearly bad. Foreign interference in our elections, terrorism, self-harm. Those are things…”

Cruz: “I’m talking about censorship.”

Zuckerberg: “Oh, well, I think that you would probably agree we should remove terrorist propaganda from the service. So that I agree, I think is clearly bad activity that we want to get down and we are generally proud of how well we do with that. Now, what I can say, and I do want to get this in before the end here, is that I am very committed to making sure that Facebook is a platform for all ideas. That is a very important, founding principle of what we do. We’re proud of the discourse and different ideas that people can share on the service, and that is something that as long as I’m running the company, I’m going to be committed to making sure is the case.”

Cruz: “Thank you.”

Diamond and Silk on Fox today called FB a political playground for Democrats. 

https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/04/10/ted-cruz-grills-mark-zuckerberg-over-facebooks-political-bias-censorship/?

The Trump witch hunt

“The special counsel’s office is investigating a $150,000 donation a Ukrainian businessman made to President Donald Trump’s charity in 2015, according to a new report.

The donation, from steel magnate Victor Pinchuk, pales in comparison to contributions he gave to the charity Bill and Hillary Clinton set up. The billionaire has contributed $13 million to the Clinton Foundation since 2006 and had access to Hillary Clinton while she served as secretary of state.”

http://dailycaller.com/2018/04/09/mueller-trump-pinchuk/

Hate Speech Code 1993 at Ohio State

The Office of Legal Affairs had prepared a draft of a proposed addition to the Code of Student Conduct which appeared in the student newspaper, The Lantern (year 113, no.2).  The policy was drafted by Robert M. Duncan, Chief Legal Council and Vice President, and the article included comments by various professors who thought it was illegal. I added my 2 cents in a letter to Duncan, with a copy to President Gee on June 24, 1993, which I just found today while cleaning out files. I had a few suggestions for additions to the hate speech code:

“For instance: I’m awfully tired of constantly hearing “shit” and “fuck” used as verbs, adjectives, and nouns in place of something more descriptive and meaningful.  I’m particularly offended when they appear 2 or 3 times in an ordinary sentence, and frightened when they are even more frequent.  This creates a very hostile and intimidating environment for females, even though there are a few females who also use these terms (usually to try to sound tough).  So if you get this “hate” thing passed, please add these terms to the list, and make it retroactive so that any man who has used them, say in the past five years, will be appropriately sanctioned, or even fired.

Then as a Christian, my cultural religious group, I’m deeply offended by the constant use of “Jesus Christ” as an expletive.  If you are going to protect other groups from hate words, there is nothing I find more hateful than that, and I’d like not to have to hear it.  While we’re on the subject, I don’t want my religion ridiculed any longer in the classroom or in the arts or in graduation speeches.  This creates an intimidating and hostile environment for learning for at least 40-50% of your students.

Certain words in English slang have been reclaimed for everyday use—for instance, “bitch” has recently been reclaimed as a positive word for women according to one woman author; “nigger” is now part of the name of a rock group who is making big money; “queer” has become part of the official name of a homosexual rights group.  The “hate” terms in this code will need to be very flexible—maybe you should pencil them in?

Behavior that use to be considered hostile or harassing, like crotch grabbing, is now making millions for Madonna and Michael Jackson, so that can’t be too serious anymore.  Alcoholism, obesity, and other health problems have many pejorative terms associated with the, such as “fatty,” “lardo,” “boozer,” and “klutz,” so can you also write those in?  I will be 54 on my next birthday, so let’s cut out anything disparaging about gray hair, wrinkles, or forgetfulness.

Implementing shouldn’t be a problem.  By the time the code is enforced, there won’t be anyone left on campus to be insulted.”

So that was 25 years ago, and political correctness was in full swing then or I wouldn’t have written a tongue in cheek letter about the silliness of it.  And it’s much worse now.

A call to battle by a father who knows

Drug overdoses kill more Americans under the age of 50 than anything else. More Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016 than during the entirety of the Vietnam War - and numbers are surging.

For years, Admiral James Winnefeld helped run the most powerful military in the world, but that was nothing compared to his battle to help his son combat addiction. Last year, Admiral Winnefeld lost his 17-year-old to the opioid epidemic. Following his loss, he turned tragedy into action and is now dedicated to urging solutions to stem this growing national catastrophe.

Admiral Winnefeld wrote an article for Atlantic after his son died at the University of Denver.   https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/an-epidemic-from-which-no-one-is-safe/546773/  You won’t agree with everything said, but it’s important to listen to those who have suffered this loss.

“There are several gateways to opioid addiction. Some people suffer a physical injury, and slowly develop a dependency on prescribed painkillers. Others self-medicate for mental ailments using whatever substance is available. Because the brain is so adaptable while it’s still developing, it’s highly susceptible to dependencies, even from non-opioids such as today’s newly potent marijuana strains. We now understand that early marijuana use not only inhibits brain development; it prepares the brain to be receptive to opioids. Of course, like opioids, marijuana has important medical applications, and it seems to leave less of a mark on a fully matured brain. It’s worth examining whether it would make sense to raise the legal marijuana age to 25, when the brain has fully matured.”

Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic (SAFE)

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/podcasts/familys-fight-reverse-americas-opioid-crisis  Interesting interview with Winnfeld