Propaganda

THIS RETIRED PROF DOES NOT THINK SO……

RECENTLY I RECEIVED A QUESTIONNAIRE FROM THE QUEEN’S GAZETTE: “HOW ARE WE DOING?” IT INQUIRED. NOW, THOSE OF YOU WHO PAY ATTENTION TO SUCH MATTERS KNOW THAT THESE ARE PROFORMA ACTS OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE NEW (SMALL) CORPORATE EMPIRE THAT STILL POSES AS A UNIVERSITY. SO I CALLED CELIA RUSSELL ON IT, BET THAT SHE WOULD NOT RUN MY RESPONSE QUESTIONING THE BASIS OF THE ENTIRE UNDERTAKING, AND WAITED THROUGH TWO REVISIONS AND A FINAL “WE HAVE RUN OUT OF SPACE, ALAS AND YOU ARE ON THE CUTTING-ROOM FLOOR.” WELL, I HAVE BEEN ON CUTTING-ROOM FLOORS MANY TIMES, AND CAN LIVE WITH THE VENUE.

BUT HERE IS THE LETTER, SHORN OF SPLEEN. I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ON YOUR VIEWS WHETHER AT THIS JUNCTURE “HOW ARE WE DOING?” IS A QUESTION BETTER PUT ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY AS A WHOLE…..

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12 JUNE 2009

“HOW ARE WE DOING?” A MODEST REJOINDER TO THE QUEEN’S GAZETTE SURVEY……

GEOFF SMITH, EMERITUS

Recently I received a request from the Gazette to complete a questionnaire that asked, in essence, “How Are We Doing?” My response, tongue-in-cheek, is “not badly, given that Queen’s news organ now seems to have more writers than the Kingston Whig-Standard.” Indeed many Gazetteers are former Whigs. And, yes, collectively you do a fine job keeping the university community in the know about all the good things transpiring on campus. I could embrace sarcasm, oh, so easily, and underline the point that I LIVE for the Gazette, thrill to the same expert faces week after week, learn of new VP and other corporate appointments adding to Queen’s top-heaviness, and in all those puff pieces see how well Queen’s is doing in the Queen’s firmament. Oh yes, colour photography is a great thing.

But, of course, these kudos comprise only part of the story. The other part is a bit darker, and it is this darker side that needs illumination. Why not inquire into the growth of the administrative bureaucracy, in all areas of the university. How much money, for example, now goes to apparatchiks and other fund-raisers, rather than new professors? Might the Gazette mine the status of different faculties and departments and find out what is good, and what is not so good? Might there be room for the examination of big decisions that are being made amidst financial crisis, such as the “demoting” of faithful, non-unionized staff members, many of whom have been on site for many years? What is staff morale these days? What can be done to improve it?

So the question “How Are We Doing?” becomes a different sort of question, and that is, logically, “how is the university doing?” The latter is oh, so important as Queen’s moves forward into a difficult future. The Gazette has good people–let them loose, and let administration agree to let them loose. The health of a corporate unit–an apt description of Queen’s these days–is only as strong as its weakest links. Yes, there is much that is good taking place here. But if these things need airing, which they do, so too does critical commentary. In my view, Queen’s has lost sight of its prime mission, which is to educate undergraduates well and to equip them to be skeptics of our global society. A good place to begin would be moving faculties and departments to do some serious thinking about their curricula an d especially the way first-year courses are conducted. Interdisciplinary courses, with the BEST research/teaching profs in the university should be a feature of first-year courses. At present, we find very little creativity, passion, and conviction in these courses. And that is just a starting point.

I realize that like Pravda in its heyday, the Gazette must serve as a mouthpiece for power. I challenge you to become more than that. Perhaps this will mean the necessity of your finding new jobs. If so, we should know that too. Yes, we need to know more about the crevices, nooks, and crannies of power and its application. As a journal in an environment of higher learning, you need to revisit and revise your mandate, if that is possible.

Sincerely,

Geoff Smith

Faith in ignorance
GEOFF SMITH
March 18, 2009
Kingston — So Pope Benedict is in Africa, ministering to the sick, and observing that condoms will not help allay the HIV/AIDS crisis. This is the same thing as arguing that quinine does not help with malaria, that quitting smoking does not lessen chances for cancer or emphysema, and that not drinking will not help with a hangover. Welcome back to the 16th century. Yes, this from a Catholic, lapsed for obvious reasons.

Print Edition - Section Front

FRANCE AGREES WITH GEOFF SMITH

The French foreign ministry has voiced “sharp concern” following the Pope’s rejection of condom use to fight Aids.
Benedict XVI, who is on a tour of Africa, said handing out condoms only increased the problem of HIV/Aids.
The Roman Catholic Church says marital fidelity and sexual abstinence are the best way to prevent the spread of HIV.
But France, echoing the reaction of some aid agencies, said it “voices extremely sharp concern over the consequences of [the Pope’s comments]”.
“While it is not up to us to pass judgment on Church doctrine, we consider that such comments are a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life,” foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.
The Pope arrived in Cameroon on Tuesday at the start of his week-long African tour.
“A Christian can never remain silent,” he said, after being greeted by President Paul Biya.
HIV/Aids was, he argued, “a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem”.
The solution lay, he said, in a “spiritual and human awakening” and “friendship for those who suffer”.
But some activists were dismayed by the approach, saying condoms were one of the few methods proved to stop the spread of HIV.
Rebecca Hodes, of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said: “His opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans.”
Some 22 million people are infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UN figures for 2007.
This amounts to about two-thirds of the global total.

ANOTHER AUTHORITY AGREES…..

HAS THE POPE HEARD ABOUT COPERNICUS AND GALILEO?

Roland S. Martin: Black church should have helped support fight against HIV/AIDS
Martin says the Catholic Church also has not faced up to reality about the disease
Pope Benedict XVI wrong to condemn the use of condoms, Martin says

By Roland S. Martin
CNN Contributor

Editor’s note: A nationally syndicated columnist, Roland S. Martin is the author of “Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith” and “Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America.” Visit his Web site for more information.

Roland S. Martin says the Catholic Church’s opposition to condoms is increasing the toll of HIV/AIDS.

(CNN) — The African-American religious community deserves considerable praise for taking leadership of the civil rights movement during the first half of the 20th century.

But there is no doubt that toward the end of the 20th century, the black church, primarily because of its opposition to homosexuality, has abdicated its responsibility and totally disregarded the human toll that HIV/AIDS has had on the members it largely serves. It only has been recently that pastors have opted not to turn a blind eye to what is clearly a state of emergency.

Unfortunately, we are seeing the same kind of ignorance of reality from the Catholic Church and its leader, Pope Benedict XVI.

The church has long been opposed to the use of condoms and other forms of birth control because it strongly believes that sex is for procreation and enriching the union of a married couple. But for the church to continue to ignore the definitive research that condoms play a huge role in decreasing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases is mind-boggling.

Pope Benedict is in Africa this week on a six-day tour, his first since his ascension to the papacy, and he made some remarks that have sparked outrage in the motherland, where Catholicism is spreading like wildfire.

In response to written questions from reporters, the pope said this about HIV/AIDS: “You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

He is absolutely correct that condoms are not the solution to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. He is also 100 percent correct that the only surefire way of stopping HIV/AIDS, when it comes to sex, is to practice abstinence. That is clearly within the teachings of the Bible and the Catholic Church, and he will find no disagreement from me.

Now the reality.

People are having sex. Catholics are having sex. Heck, some Catholic priests have abandoned their oath and have had sex.

As a layman and the husband of a pastor, I know the difference between utopia and reality, and it is the responsibility of the faith community to deal with the real world.

And frankly, Pope Benedict clearly shows he doesn’t get it.

What we need today are our church leaders preaching, teaching and imploring their members not to go to bed with anyone and everyone. We also need church leaders who are willing to stand up and tell folks that if they do choose to sin — that’s what the church and other faith leaders consider sex outside of marriage — then you had better take the necessary precautions to protect yourself.

Folks, there is nothing in the Bible about wearing a seat belt. But it would be foolish of any pastor not to tell his or her members to use the safety device when driving. Churches all across the country trust and love their fellow members, but you can bet that an accountant is employed by many churches to ensure that no one is stealing the tithes and offerings.

Pope Benedict surely loves God and sees him as his protector and provider, but he goes nowhere without armed bodyguards. The pope has to know that murder is against God’s will. He has to believe that every person has the choice to be a moral and upstanding person. Yet not everyone abides by those religious views, and his security is there to prevent him from being harmed.

So how are condoms any different?

While Catholicism expands on the continent of Africa, we are seeing the expansion of HIV/AIDS as well. Sub-Saharan Africa has 22 million people infected with HIV.

The refusal of the Catholic Church and other religious denominations to accept the reality of the situation on the ground is doing nothing for the issue. If the church used its powerful voice — while continuing to speak out against sex outside of marriage — to also implore people to practice safe sex, it could have a major impact on slowing the spread of the disease.

This is one time where silence is not golden.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland S. Martin.

Stenson’s strip tease actStenson’s strip tease act
Tiger’s opening round

By Simon Evans

MIAMI, March 12 (Reuters) - Swede Henrik Stenson briefly took the limelight from Tiger Woods when he stripped down to his underwear to play a shot at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral on Thursday.

Stenson’s wayward drive on the third hole landed in muddy terrain near a water hazard and he decided to get down to basics rather than play the rest of his round in muddy clothes.

“I was only wearing two things when I hit the shot, my jocks and my golf glove,” he told reporters.

“Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off.”

“Obviously, playing in Florida I didn’t have any rain gear in the bag, so that option went out of the window and I felt that if I could hack it out, I could secure a five and that is what I did,” said Stenson.

“Because of the mud I couldn’t really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes so I had no option.

Stenson said he had no regrets about his unorthodox approach.

“I felt that I would definitely save a shot by actually playing the ball. If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers off,” he said.

But the 32-year-old said he was expecting some ribbing.

“I’m sure I’ll hear a few comments and once the pictures get out I’ll hear a few more no doubt.

“I’ll probably take that to the grave with me. I don’t think I scared too many spectators off the course…I hope,” he said.

“You never know, I might have a new endorsement with Playgirl or something like that”.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Police: Woman drugs boss’s coffee so he’ll ‘chill’
Friday, March 13, 2009

(03-13) 18:18 PDT Bryant, Ark. (AP) –

Police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly slipping some tranquilizers into her boss’s coffee because she felt “he needed to chill out.” Police said the 24-year-old woman admitted to detectives that she slipped the drugs into veteranarian John Duckett’s drink. Officers said Duckett knew something was wrong shortly after drinking some of the coffee Tuesday morning.
fficers said the woman cleaned the cages at the the Reynolds Road Animal Clinic.

A judge set bond at $25,000 Friday and a jailer said the woman was still being held Friday. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 21.

___

Information from: KLRT-TV, www.fox16.com

FROM THE GUARDIAN, AND THE GUARDIAN KNOWS…..

Transplant row over organs for drinkers

• Alcohol abusers receive 1 in 4 livers
• Doctors ‘can refuse to do operations’

Jamie Doward and Denis Campbell
The Observer, Sunday 15 February 2009

Heavy drinkers are receiving nearly one in four of the UK’s liver transplants, it was revealed last night, igniting a furious row about the ethics of allocating organs to people with alcohol problems.

Figures show that transplants for heavy drinkers have risen by more than 60% in the past decade, while waiting lists have lengthened. In December 1997, 180 people in the UK were awaiting a liver transplant, compared with 325 in the same month last year.

Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the British Medical Association’s medical ethics committee, said surgeons are within their rights to refuse transplants to anyone with alcohol-related liver disease if they do not demonstrate a genuine desire to stop drinking.

And the mother of a young woman whose organs helped to keep five people alive after she died said it was “offensive, terrible and unfair” that an increasing proportion of livers were going to people with serious alcohol problems.

Eunice Booker, whose 26-year-old daughter, Kirstie, died in a car crash in 2006, said: “I find it offensive that one in four of the livers donated go to alcoholics. If there are two people side by side wanting a liver, and both have the right tissue match, and one is an alcoholic and one isn’t, there’s no contest - you take the one who’s not an alcoholic, they are more entitled.”

Official figures that show in the year to 31 March 2008, 151 liver transplants, out of a total of 623 carried out across the UK, went to people with alcohol-related liver disease - 23% of the total. By contrast, in the year to March 2007, there were 94 liver transplants for people with alcohol-related liver disease, just 14% of the overall total.

Calland acknowledged that the trend was raising new questions for surgeons, who are within their rights to insist that anyone with alcohol-related liver disease demonstrates a genuine intention to address their problem before the operation is approved.

“Organs are precious resources and should be used where the clinical outcome - the patient’s health - justifies the use of something so scarce,” Calland said. “You have to have very definite evidence that the person is going to stop drinking. If someone won’t promise, you could refuse them the transplant on clinical rather than ethical grounds.”

Concerns about alcohol-related health problems in Britain are increasing. A report by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine two years ago suggested that deaths from cirrhosis of the liver were rising faster in Britain than anywhere else in Europe. The rise was especially sharp in men and women aged under 45, where death rates now exceed the European average.

Last month, Alison Rogers, chief executive of the British Liver Trust, warned that “the death toll from alcohol remains unacceptably high” and that twice as many people are dying from alcohol as 15 years ago.

Some have questioned whether livers are being allocated fairly. Professor Nigel Heaton, the surgeon who performed a liver transplant on alcoholic footballer George Best, said at the time that new measures were needed to identify patients likely to abuse alcohol after their operations so that medical staff could make an assessment as to whether there were more suitable candidates.

“If you knew someone was going to be recidivist, you wouldn’t take them on for a transplant,” he said.

A spokesman for NHS Blood and Transplant, the special health authority that oversees transplants, said the decision to allocate each organ was made on a case by case basis: “The patient’s surgeon assesses whether that person is fit physically and is able to cope with the rigours of living after a transplant.”

Liberal Democrat shadow culture, media and sport secretary Don Foster, who obtained the new transplant figures, said only by increasing the cost of alcohol could the nation’s health be saved from Britain’s binge-drinking culture.

“These figures are a stark warning about the impact alcohol is having on health services in this country,” he said. “Recent studies have proven that the cheaper alcohol is, the more we all drink. None of us wants to pay more for our alcohol, but with an alcohol crisis on our hands we have to look again at raising the price of the cheapest alcohol.”

APOCRYPHAL, SOMETHING THE ONION MIGHT DREAM UP, BUT WITH ITS WEIGHT IN INSIGHT……
(reprinted without permission — The Brushback knows……)
Public domain after 5 minutes

AMES, IA–Members of the Make-A-Wish Foundation struggled to come up with a response to a dying 9-year-old boy’s request that they punch slugger Barry Bonds in the nuts repeatedly. The boy, Danny Wickman of Ames, Iowa, reportedly hates Bonds and wants nothing more than to see him in debilitating pain. The director of the foundation said that it was the first such request that he had ever received.

“That’s a first. Obviously the kid really hates Barry Bonds, as a lot of people do, but I don’t know if we can comply with his request,” said Charles Hopkinton, managing director of Make-A-Wish. “We’ll have to call Barry and see if he’s OK with it. I mean, it is his dying wish, so we should do everything we can to make it happen. What really strikes me though, is the fact that he [Danny] isn’t even interested in doing it himself. He’s happy just to watch someone else do it. Now that’s hatred.”

Wickman has been diagnosed with tuberculosis and is expected to live another six months. Upon hearing about his condition through a mutual friend, Hopkinton immediately met little Danny to set him up with the foundation. After mulling over his wish, Danny decided it would be fun to watch his least favorite ball player get punched in the nuts.

“I kept asking him if he was sure,” said Hopkinton. “And he kept saying ‘yes.’ I offered him all kinds of other stuff, but he was adamant. He wants to see Bonds doubled over in pain before he dies.”

Hopkinton apparently offered Wickman a chance to meet Lebron James, have a one-on-one dinner with Brett Favre, and get an all access pass to the Minnesota Vikings training camp. As appealing as these offers sounded, nothing was more appealing than the ruthless beating of Bonds.

Mary Wickman, Danny’s mother, said her son has always had a deep, seething resentment towards Bonds.

“A lot of people hate that guy, so it should be understandable that he would request something like this,” she said. “[Danny] is not some stupid kid who blindly worships athletes. He only roots for guys who are good people. He’s heard enough Bonds interviews, as we all have, to know that the guy is an arrogant, selfish prick. I’m sure a lot of people in America would love to see the guy gets his nuts rammed with a sledgehammer. I know I would.”

Hopkinton has been trying to come up with a way to present the idea to Bonds. He does not expect the slugger to agree to have his testicles punched, but he may agree to make an appearance with young Danny, at which point they could ambush him.

“That’s the only solution I can come up with right now,” said Hopkinton. “As bad as it may sound, we might have to trick him into showing up, then just sneak in a few quick cock-punches so Danny can get his wish. After that, we might have to run like hell, but this is a kid’s dying wish. We can’t say no. And frankly, we don’t want to.”

The director’s biggest concern, he said, is Bonds willingness to show up at all, even for a brief handshake and autograph session. The famous slugger has a reputation for being ornery and extremely private, even when it comes to cute, dying children.

“I know this guy doesn’t do autographs and things like that,” said Hopkinton. “I know he has a track record of turning down charity causes. I know because one time I asked him to send a sick kid a signed 8 x 10 and he said no. Can you imagine that? He just had to sign it and send it out. He said he was ‘too busy.’ Then I told him that he could just have his secretary sign it and send it out, and the kid wouldn’t even know any better. He said ‘Nah, she’s too busy.’ Then I asked him to just turn his head slightly and look in the direction of the young boy, who was sitting behind the dugout. He just said ‘Nah. Got a sore neck.’ That’s why, if we can pull this off, I’ll be the first in line to smack him.”

While most sick children request time with athletes they admire, Wickman said he’ll be perfectly content to see an athlete he does not admire suffer greatly. When asked why he had such antipathy for the hall-of-fame slugger, young Danny answered with his usual candor.

“Why do I hate Barry Bonds? There’s no specific reason. I just think he’s a dick,” said Wickman. “He’s so conceited and he thinks he’s better than everyone else and he’s sits there in that stupid reclining chair in the clubhouse like he’s the king of the world or something. Having this disease really sucks, but I swear I’ll die happy if someone punches Barry in the nuts. It’s easy. All they have to do is get a press pass to go into the Giants locker room after a game, pretend they’re a reporter, and give him a couple quick punches. That’s all it takes to really hurt someone. Is that too much to ask, Mr. Hopkinton? Don’t you want to make a dying boy happy?”

Copyright 2003, The Brushback - Do not reprint without permission

Make-A-Wish Foundation Asked To Punch Barry Bonds In The Nuts
July 6th , 2004 - Volume 1 Issue 56

IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN SOMETHING AND ARE ASKED TO DIE FOR IT, THEN IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SUICIDE MIGHT BE A CREATIVE FORM OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, OR, FOR THAT MATTER, A WAY OF WORKING OUT GUILT FOR HAVING COMMITTED UNSPEAKABLE ACTS IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM….COMMENT?

Army official: Suicides in January ‘terrifying’

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Two dozen soldiers believed to have killed themselves in January, official says
The number of likely suicides more than those killed in combat last month
Army psychologist says long, cold months of winter might have contributed to spike
Army takes rare step of releasing figures for month rather than waiting till end of year
Next Article in U.S. »

From Barbara Starr and Mike Mount
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — One week after the U.S. Army announced record suicide rates among its soldiers last year, the service is worried about a spike in possible suicides in the new year.

If reports of suicides are confirmed, more soldiers will have taken their lives in January than died in combat.

The Army said 24 soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in January alone — six times as many as killed themselves in January 2008, according to statistics released Thursday.

The Army said it already has confirmed seven suicides, with 17 additional cases pending that it believes investigators will confirm as suicides for January.

If those prove true, more soldiers will have killed themselves than died in combat last month. According to Pentagon statistics, there were 16 U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq in January.

“This is terrifying,” an Army official said. “We do not know what is going on.”

Col. Kathy Platoni, chief clinical psychologist for the Army Reserve and National Guard, said that the long, cold months of winter could be a major contributor to the January spike.

“There is more hopelessness and helplessness because everything is so dreary and cold,” she said.

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But Platoni said she sees the multiple deployments, stigma associated with seeking treatment and the excessive use of anti-depressants as ongoing concerns for mental-health professionals who work with soldiers.

Those who are seeking mental-health care often have their treatment disrupted by deployments. Deployed soldiers also have to deal with the stress of separations from families.

“When people are apart you have infidelity, financial problems, substance abuse and child behavioral problems,” Platoni said. “The more deployments, the more it is exacerbated.”

Platoni also said that while the military has made a lot of headway in training leaders on how to deal with soldiers who may be suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, “there is still a huge problem with leadership who shame them when they seek treatment.”

The anti-depressants prescribed to soldiers can have side effects that include suicidal thoughts. Those side effects reportedly are more common in people 18 to 24.

Concern about last month’s suicide rate was so high, Congress and the Army leadership were briefed. In addition, the Army took the rare step of releasing data for the month rather than waiting to issue it as part of annual statistics at the end of the year.

In January 2008, the Army recorded two confirmed cases of suicides and two other cases it was investigating.

Last week, in releasing the report that showed a record number of suicides in 2008, the Army said it soon will conduct servicewide training to help identify soldiers at risk of suicide.

The program, which will run February 15 through March 15, will include training to recognize behaviors that may lead to suicide and instruction on how to intervene. The Army will follow the training with another teaching program, from March 15 to June 15, focused on suicide prevention at all unit levels.

The 2008 numbers were the highest annual level of suicides among soldiers since the Pentagon began tracking the rate 28 years ago. The Army said 128 soldiers were confirmed to have committed suicide in 2008, and an additional 15 were suspected of having killed themselves. The statistics cover active-duty soldiers and activated National Guard and reserves.

The Army’s confirmed rate of suicides in 2008 was 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers. The nation’s suicide rate was 19.5 per 100,000 people in 2005, the most recent figure available, Army officials said last month.

Suicides for Marines were also up in 2008. There were 41 in 2008, up from 33 in 2007 and 25 in 2006, according to a Marines report.

In addition to the new training, the service has a program called Battlemind, intended to prepare soldiers and their families to cope with the stresses of war before, during and after deployment. It also is intended to help detect mental-health issues before and after deployments.

The Army and the National Institute of Mental Health signed an agreement in October to conduct research to identify factors affecting the mental and behavioral health of soldiers and to share strategies to lower the suicide rate. The five-year study will examine active-duty, National Guard and reserve soldiers and their families.