Medicalization, and "Disease of the Month" social/bureaucratic trends re: Autism
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Posted:Dec 11, 2013 12:27 am
Last Updated:Dec 13, 2013 9:56 am 6429 Views
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Finally found something that inspired me to comment. Thanks to Meri's blog post on autism. I then decided I wanted to post that comment here as my own blog entry.
Okay, I'm gonna be the spoiler here, but this is what I think.
I'm NOT saying autism doesn't exist. However, like so many maladies of the past, (Remember ADD for example?) they become "social concerns" (Remember "Disfunctional families"?) They become trendy. Like the "disease/malady of the month."
Then the media picks up on it and word spreads. In a trend LONG observed by sociologists. They call it "medicalization." It's really a variant on the way bureaucracies grow unnecessarily large.
At some point too many "professionals" start "seeing" it everywhere. Then millions start getting treatment and therapy.
The truth is, yes it's there. But it always has been. Because to a greater or lesser degree, there's some tendency for it in everyone. It's only in the very EXTREME cases that it is a problem causing true autism. Aspberger's syndrome is much more common, and it's just a variant by degree.
True autism is very rare. But today, any who seems a bit nerdy gets diagnosed as autistic.
IMHO, I'm not saying there aren't who could benefit from treatment. I'm saying I believe it is just over-diagnosed today.
This sort of thing happens a lot, as people seeking to either be compassionate in the best case, or make a profit in the worst case, by pushing the issues to the forefront.
GBU all,
Gavin
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In Memoriam of Soon.
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Posted:Nov 5, 2013 6:42 am
Last Updated:Nov 13, 2013 2:38 am 6688 Views
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You can never love a woman enough to satisfy her desire to be loved.
-Most of them will let you know occasionally.
But there are only a few women who are so precious that try as you might, you can never love them as much as they deserve.
-Oddly enough, they'll never tell you. But if you're both lucky and wise, you'll figure it out long before they are gone. If you're unlucky and foolish, you'll still figure it out, but it will come to you after they are gone.
I'm very happy to say I was both lucky and wise.
RIP Soon Mestern (1936 - 2013)
I love you Soon.
GBU,
Gavin
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What is the Tea Party?
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Posted:Oct 28, 2013 12:40 am
Last Updated:Nov 23, 2013 4:02 am 9450 Views
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Just thought I'd post this so that people actually know exactly what the Tea Party stands for. These 10 items and NOTHING more. If anyone says they are racists or loonies, etc, then keep in mind what they say here, which is from their own website in their own creeds, and disregard the bullsh*t that others may say about them. If you consider yourself "Liberal" or "Progressive", unless you disagree with at least 6 or more of the following 10 items, you are fooling yourself, and tho you may align yourself with a political party or group claiming to oppose the Tea Party, you are nonetheless a Tea Party member yourself.
(Also Note: The Tea Party traces its roots back to 2006, during the Bush Administration and even BEFORE the housing crash. And many were Obama supporters who became angry when Obama became even MUCH MORE fiscally irresponsible than Bush had been.)
Hope you enjoy, and now you know the truth.
Thanks for reading and GBU,
Gavin
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Tea Party Movement Platform
(Ten Core Beliefs of the Modern-Day Tea Party Movement)
“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”
--Abraham Lincoln
Preamble:
The Tea Party Movement is an all-inclusive American grassroots movement with the belief that everyone is created equal and deserves an equal opportunity to thrive in these United States where they may “pursue life, liberty and happiness” as stated in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
No one is excluded from participation in the Tea Party Movement. Everyone is welcomed to join in seeking to achieve the Tea Party Movement goals, which are as follows:
1. Eliminate Excessive Taxes - Excessively high taxes are a burden for those exercising their personal liberty to work hard and prosper as afforded by the Constitution. A fiscally responsible government protects the freedom of its citizens to enjoy the fruits of their own labor without interference from a government that has exceeded its necessary size, scope and reach into the lives of its citizens.
“Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
--Calvin Coolidge
“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned
-this is the sum of good government.”
--Thomas Jefferson
“Any tax is a discouragement and therefore a regulation.”
--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
2. Eliminate the National Debt - By implementing fiscally conservative policies at all levels of government, progress can be made toward eliminating the U.S. National Debt. Massive increases in the National Debt have created and continue to create a huge burden for the next generation of Americans, thus imperiling the country’s short-term and long-term economic health and prosperity.
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my may have peace.”
--Thomas Paine, 1776
“As on the one hand, the necessity for borrowing in particular emergencies cannot be doubted, so on the other, it is equally evident that to be able to borrow upon good terms, it is essential that the credit of a nation should be well established.”
--Alexander Hamilton, 1790
3. Eliminate Deficit Spending - All deficit spending must be eliminated immediately. We insist that government representatives at all levels maintain a fiscally responsible budget and balance the books as would be expected of any American business.
“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.”
--George Washington
“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
--Benjamin Franklin
“Tomorrow, every Fault is to be amended; but that Tomorrow never comes.”
--Benjamin Franklin
4. Protect Free Markets - America’s free enterprise system allows businesses to thrive as they compete in the open marketplace and strive toward ever better services and products. Allowing free markets to prosper unfettered by government interference is what propelled this country to greatness with an enduring belief in the industriousness and innovations of the populace.
“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
--Ronald Reagan
5. Abide by the Constitution of the United States - The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and must be adhered to without exception at all levels of government. This includes the Bill of Rights and other Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their provisions designed to protect states’ rights and individual liberties.
“A general Dissolution of Principles & Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the Common Enemy.”
--Samuel Adams, 1779
“The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon.”
--George Washington
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
--Abraham Lincoln
6. Promote Civic Responsibility - Citizen involvement at the grassroots level allows the voice of the American people to be heard and directs the political behaviors of our representatives at both the local and national level so they, in turn, may be most effective in working to preserve the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of this country’s citizens.
“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
--Patrick Henry
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light”
--George Washington
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
--Thomas Jefferson
7. Reduce the Overall Size of Government - A bloated bureaucracy creates wasteful spending that plagues our government. Reducing the overall size, scope and reach of government at both local and national levels will help to eliminate inefficiencies that result in deficit spending which adds to our country’s debt.
“My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty...it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.”
--George Washington
“If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy.”
--Samuel Adams, 1802
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
--Benjamin Franklin
8. Believe in the People - The American people, given their guaranteed freedoms, will thrive in a democratic, capitalist environment which allows individuals to strive toward ever greater achievements, innovations and the efficient production of needed and valued goods and services.
“Industry need not wish.”
--Benjamin Franklin
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.”
--Abraham Lincoln
9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics - American politics is burdened by big money from lobbyists and special interests with an undue influence on the peoples’ representatives. The Tea Party movement is seen as a threat to the entrenched political parties and thus is the continual target of smear campaigns and misrepresentation of its ideals. We choose not to respond to these attacks except to strongly and explicitly disavow any and all hate speech, any and all violence as well as insinuations of violence, and any and all extreme and fringe elements that bring discredit to the Tea Party Movement. We are a peaceful movement and respect other's opinions and views even though they do not agree with our own. We stand by the Tea Party beliefs and goals and choose to focus our energies on ensuring that our government representatives do the same.
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
--Abraham Lincoln
“Honesty is the best policy.”
--Benjamin Franklin
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
--George Washington
10. Maintain Local Independence - The strength and resilience of a grassroots movement is the ability of citizens at the local level to determine their own platforms, agendas and priorities free of an overriding central leadership. Exercising the clearly stated message of the Tea Party movement by its nature involves discourse about which policies and candidates best hold to our stated principles, and these various opinions should flourish and evolve at the local level.
“Here sir, the people govern.”
--Alexander Hamilton in a speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, 1788
“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.”
--Samuel Adams, 1781
“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.”
--Abraham Lincoln
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My Compliments to the lady from Tenn.
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Posted:Oct 17, 2013 3:15 pm
Last Updated:Nov 2, 2016 2:00 am 6380 Views
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Just wanted to share my view that her blog about cleaning house was very good and I agree completely.
GBU all,
Gavin
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Gonna pause before turning the page.
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Posted:Oct 8, 2013 1:33 pm
Last Updated:Oct 9, 2013 11:21 am 6656 Views
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Soon Mestern passed away October 4, 2013. I learned about it on Oct. 7. Today is Oct 8.
End of a chapter. Reflecting a while before reading on.
Yeah. I feel like shit.
No one I can really talk about it with. I tried. But they just can't really know, no matter how much I try to explain. Nobody's fault. They just didn't know her like I did. They just weren't there.
People knew: me (Gavin).
People knew: Soon.
But not many knew: Gavin and Soon. The couple.
Crazy stuff we do in life. Odd how things work out too.
Shucks.
GBU all
Gavin
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Personal Message from the Desk of Gavin Lee Sutherland
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Posted:Sep 4, 2013 5:28 pm
Last Updated:Sep 14, 2013 5:44 am 7031 Views
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To:
The Politically Correct Crowd; the Obama Administration; US House of Representatives; the US Senate; Nancy Pelosi; Harry Reid; Barack and Michelle Obama; Liberals; Progressives; the Anti-Gun Lobby; the Pushy Gay Rights Lobby; the Open Borders Lobby; Artists; Music and the Hip Hop industry; the NAACP; Mayor Bloomberg of New York; Hillary Clinton; John Kerry; Eric Holder; any US Military or and Federal, State, or Local Policing Agency that wants to take my guns or force me to comply with laws restricting my constitutionally recognized rights, or is foolish enough to try to take them from me; all other ignorant people; Moochers; Deadbeats; Perverts; Muslims; CAIR; Blacks or any other people from lower socio-economic status who haven't made an effort to educate themselves or their out of the ghettos; Blacks who still think Democrats or Black leaders and politicians are doing them any good, or Blacks who still blame white culture for their life circumstances; Hollywood elite; NAMBLA; Atheists who strive to shut down Christianity or any acknowledgement of a deity by those who believe in a God or Higher Power; Democrats and Republicans or any other party members who are not truly conservative in their values and beliefs; Anyone favoring big government; anyone limiting States Rights; the Washington DC elitists and other useless wastes of flesh; advocates for a higher minimum wage; Jesse Jackson; The Rainbow Coalition; Al Sharpton; MSNBC; CNN; ABC; CBC; PBS; NPR; Comcast Cablevision and any other cable or internet provider supporting leftist causes or Al Jazeera; any of the same that refuses to carry Blaze TV or allow gun stores to advertise on their systems; Chris Matthews and whatever he has dribbling up and down his legs; Detroit politicians; the NEA or any other teacher's unions; AFSCME; SEIU; any college or university that charges more than $60.00 per credit hour and/or who charges more than $50.00 for a textbook; any fool who thinks the fact that because they were dumb enough to spend WAY too much money for a college degree that it makes them worth more than they really are, or that they have a right to a job even if they are incompetent and can't produce or get results; Socialists; Communists; Fascists; Marxists; gang members and other drug pushers; Obama supporters; leftist carryovers from the 60s; people who think divorce is no big deal or that outsiders who knowingly have romantic affairs with married people not their spouse should not be held liable for damages both civil and criminal; People who want pets or but lack adequate responsibility and commitment; people who want to make radical changes to my way of life and insist I like and support it; people who demand I violate my religious beliefs for political correctness; modern men's clothing designers; leftist television producers; global warming fanatics and other similar bullshitters; people who have absolutely no knowledge or understanding of the US Constitution and related readings, yet demand to have a voice in political affairs, and even worse, people like Obama who lie and claim to be Constitutional Scholars and law professors but in reality don't know the Constitution they are deliberately trying to destroy; Presidents who lack the decency and courage to open up their educational records or their birth records when asked; Senate Majority Leaders who make up lies and twist truth for political purposes; House Speakers who are too stupid to know they need to read and understand a bill before they vote to pass it; white racists; black racists; politicians who put Party before Country; Anyone opposed to a free and secure Israel; Oprah Winfrey; skanks like Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Brittney Spears, or Madonna; Sean Penn; Danny Glover; Career politicians; Mi politicians John Conyers and Carl Levin; Whiners; Crybabies; Guilt-trippers; and finally, anyone else who may deserve to be on this list whom I've overlooked or who should check with me if you are in doubt.
From:
Gavin Lee Sutherland
Dear Persons,
NO.
I'm sick of listening to you. And I'm ready to die for what I believe. Leave me and my family alone.
God bless you, and God Bless America or what's left of it.
Gavin Lee Sutherland
PS: BTW folks, I'd be honored if you spread this around the internet, even if you just want to disagree and ridicule it. I think I'm not alone in my sentiments here, and I just want it said. Then people are free to hate me and/or anything I stand for. But this way, at least they'll KNOW what I stand for.
-Oh, and one other thing I should mention. If anyone has a polite question, I'll answer it for clarification. But the above statement is not posted for discussion. I'm through discussing. These are my core beliefs and there's no changing them. I'm ready to live or die by them. Consequently, I don't expect to comment much more here, even if people waste their time challenging or attacking me. My mind is made up.
GLS
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Riding a Dead
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Posted:Aug 10, 2013 12:24 pm
Last Updated:Aug 24, 2013 9:15 pm 6991 Views
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I guess there are logical reasons as to why our politicians are still in office. The tribal wisdom of the Plains Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that "When you discover that you are riding a dead , the best strategy is to dismount."
However, in our dysfunctional govt more advanced strategies are often employed...
1) Buying a stronger whip
2) Changing riders
3) Appointing a committee to study the
4) Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses
5) Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included
6) Reclassifying the dead as living-impaired
7) Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead
Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed
9) Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders will improve the dead 's performance
10) Declaring that as the dead does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses
11) Rewriting the expected performance reqts for all horses...and, of course...
12) Promoting the dead to a supervisory position
GBU all,
Gavin
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About Photo Monday Sunsets
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Posted:Aug 5, 2013 10:02 pm
Last Updated:Aug 8, 2013 12:34 am 6733 Views
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Hi folks, and especially to all of you who posted SO MANY great pics of sunrises and sunsets yesterday!
I love sunrises and sunsets!
And yesterday there were so many really beautiful pics, that ALL deserved my complements and thanks!
GBU all,
Gavin
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Was gonna post this as a comment on Yaya's blog, but decided to give it a voice of its own.
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Posted:Aug 4, 2013 1:07 pm
Last Updated:Sep 2, 2013 1:38 am 10483 Views
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The South was gravely and immorally wrong about slavery, and I'm glad it was banished on the North American continent. If Canada or Mexico wanted to instill it in their laws, I'd suggest we wage war on them too.
However!
Slavery was not the reason that the US was once at war with the Confederacy. That war was waged over the issue of secession. And as such, it was an act of oppression which forced individuals and States to comply with their Northern neighbors demands to remain part of a group they no longer wished to enjoin.
The South was 100% justified to make a stand for States Rights! The ONLY reason the North was justified in defeating them at the time, was because the US could not, and should not, tolerate slavery on the North American continent. Any government or society on the North American continent must NEVER be allowed to mandate by law the unjust suppression or oppression of individual citizens. Nor should any government be allowed to mandate extra and exclusive favors or advantages to one person(s) over other(s).
More and more I'm leaning towards favoring a dissolution of the Union, and instead I'd propose a system of 50 separate governments which individually may or may not choose to form treaty associations for their mutual protections, much like NATO.
The Civil War was about secession. Back in the 1860s, perhaps the Union was a noble institution worth maintaining. But now it's become an over-bearing albatross run by and for the benefit of a few arrogant elite classes who believe they can and should impose their will on the rest of us.
JMHO.
GBU,
Gavin
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