Dr. David J. Hanson doesn't think much of JAMA. He has a good point.
"The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has a long history of publishing articles with old data, inadequate research methods, unsubstantiated conclusions or other failings. It does this when such studies support its political or other agendas.
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When it comes to JAMA articles on controversial issues, the best prescription is Reader Beware."
SAMSHA's National Mental Health Information Center has issued a very informative and succinct report entitled "Clinical Preventive Services in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Update: From Science To Services" which provides a good overview of the prevention field. It is a must read for anyone working in the behavioral health field.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does surveys and collects information on how Americans spend their time. If you are a data miner, check out the 2004 report. Here are a couple of things that caught my eye.
On the days that both worked, employed men worked about an hour more than employed women--8.0 versus 7.2 hours.
Married persons spent more time doing household activities than
unmarried persons--2.1 versus 1.4 hours per day--and women, regard-
less of marital status, spent more time doing these activities than men.--On an average day, persons age 65 and over spent the most time--7.3 hours--participating in leisure and sports activities of any age group; 35- to 44-year-olds spent the least time--4.2 hours.
In households with the youngest child under age 6, time spent providing primary childcare averaged 2.7 hours for women and 1.2 hours for men. Physical care, playing with children, and travel related to childcare accounted for most of the time spent in primary childcare activities. (See table 9.)
--For adults living with children under age 6, women provided an average
of 1.2 hours of physical care--such as bathing, dressing, or feeding a child--per day to household children, while men provided about one-third of this amount--0.4 hour (about 24 minutes). (See table 9.)
Cindy Sheehan gets arrested sitting in front of the White House and refusing to move when ordered to do so.
"The fine for "demonstrating without a permit" is $75.00. I am certain that I won't pay it. My court date is November 16th. Any lawyers out there want to help me challenge an unconstitutional law?"
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"Being arrested is not a big deal. Even though we were arrested for "demonstrating without a permit," we were protesting something that is much more serious than sitting on a sidewalk: the tragic and needless deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Americans (both in Iraq and here in America) who would be alive if it weren't for the criminals who reside in and work in the White House."
Link: My First Time.
Sociology professor, Dr. David J. Hanson, at State University College at Potsdam, NY has a great web site about alcohol with a lot of good information. Dr. Hanson doesn't buy into the hype, but he doesn't scoff at the problem either. For a balanced and informative view of alcohol and its effects on individuals and society,visit his web site by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article.
"Providing alcohol to a minor can seem harmless, especially when the quantity is small. However the negative consequences to the person who supplies the alcohol can be both serious and permanent."
Link: Giving, Providing or Supplying Alcoholic Beverages to a Minor.
"It's up to us, the people, to break immoral laws and resist. As soon as the leaders of a country lie to you, they have no authority over you."
Cindy Sheehan
"They would start in on each other and the yelling would get to be too much for me so I'd go to my bedroom and hide in my closet. I'd sit there until I couldn't hear any more hollering or crying or swearing, and then I'd sit there just a little longer to make sure. And sometimes I would stay there for hours and my mother would find me curled up, asleep on a bed of dirty clothes. And she'd say, "Honey, what are you doin' in here?" gentle and sincerely confused, like she didn't have a clue. She would smile at me and hold me and put me to bed and read me a story, just like normal. And I'd think I was the crazy one."
Randall, character in Darkness Is As Light by David B. Seaburn
Stories about Hurricane Katrina will circulate for decades. This American Life has a very informative show about how the local residents feel about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is worth listening to and you can do it on line. It is show 297 broadcast on 09/16/05. To get there, click the link a the bottom of the article.
"It's the largest mass resettlement that America has seen since the Civil War, as over four hundred thousand people – victims of Hurricane Katrina – try to find a new place to live. From the Houston Astrodome, to an abandoned New Orleans street, stories of people looking for home, and finding something else."
"Want to get a good laugh out of an Alanon: Just say, 'Trust me.'"
John Paul Coakley
The Congressional Research Service released a report for congress entitled "Social Security: The Trust Fund" on August 11, 2005 which every intelligent American should read. It is a 17 page PDF document which explains the design and workings of the Social Security Trust Fund which everyone with a high school education should be able to understand.
"The Social Security program is financed primarily through taxes, which are deposited in the U.S. Treasury and credited to the Social Security trust fund. Any revenues credited to the trust fund in excess of the costs (benefit payments and administrative costs) are invested in special U.S. obligations (debt instruments of the U.S. government). The Social Security trust fund represents funds dedicated to pay current and future Social Security benefits. However, it is useful to view the trust fund in two ways: (1) as the balance of an internal federal accounting concept, and (2) as the accumulated holdings of the Social Security program."
Link: Social Security: The Trust Fund" href="http://www.nyu.edu/socialwork/ip/grey_lit/archives/2005/09/social_security_18.html">information for practice grey literature: Social Security: The Trust Fund.