Message for Tiger Woods/NY Times post

As a registered mental health counselor it is distressing to see how quickly many people judge and reject others when their behavior only reflects inner conflict and need for resolution. We like to think that we have full control over our actions but we do not. The challenge for each of us is to recognize, understand and manage internal and pre-programmed demands and criteria which are controlling our goals, judgement, behavior and interaction with others. Professional therapists can help. Tiger, please find one. If you do, it is recommended not to make any life changes until you have made some progress in therapy. Don't divorce. Wait. You can and most likely will make progress in therapy and be able to change your behavior. Give up a little ego now and you will get your wife, your family and your self-respect and the respect of others back. We are not divine or infallible, even with a billion dollars.

Second abortion email to Senator Nelson

Seperation Of Church and State

Abortion is a religious, not a humane, issue. Some Christians would rather sacrifice the life of the mother to save the child so it can be baptized, saving its soul, they believe. This concern is driving the anti-abortion legislation sought by them in new healthcare legislation. The First Ammendment prohibits such governmental action in support of a religious principle, If they do not sanction abortion, they have every right to say so publicly and to not sanction or engage in it. But they do not have the right to deny access to others based on their religious beliefs. DO NOT SUPPORT ANTI-ABORTION LEGISLATION. WE ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER COAT HANGER AND BACK ALLEY ABORTION ATTEMPTS AND DEATHS. NEVER AGAIN.

Room for Debate: Living Off Mom and Dad -NYTimes

The 40-Something Dependent Child

My comment as posted in the

NYTimes, Oct 29, 2009

35 is the new 18. And this was true long before the current economic downturn.Many moderately well off upper middle income families never pressured or required their kids to feel that they had to choose a career or to follow up on the
expensive college education they completed. At 35 and 40 they still do not know what they want to be when they grow up. As a mental health professional, I can tell you that many of these people are clinicallydisfunctional and stuck in irrational behavioral and thought processes which prevent meaningful orientation
to work and achievment. They are supported by their parents now; who knows what will become of them when their parents pass on and the money runs out. It is true national epidemic. And underlies the need for mental health counseling in any national health insurance program.

In Test of Water on Moon, Craft Hits Bull’s-Eye - NYTimes Oct 12, 2009- Letter To The Editor

By what right does NASA disturb and deface any part of the universe? All other planetary bodies should be classified as pristine wilderness areas protected by international agreement. As with parks which we have set aside for preservation, we should be able to visit them, but be required to leave them as we found them. We have no right to exploit or use the natural resources and elements of planets, moons, comets or any other natural body in this or any other galaxy. Just because you can do something does not mean it should be done. Blasting a part of the moon in this way is unforgivable. What if every nation that can do something like this did? Passive and minimal sampling techniques should be the rule; not desecration and destruction. Have we lost all sense of value and responsibility for the consequences of our actions?

Sen. Nelson Vote Against Hatch Ammendment

SENATOR NELSON, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VOTE AGAINST THE HATCH AMMENDMENTMENT. I AM OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER WHEN GIRLS WERE DYING IN ALLEY WAYS FROM BOTCHED ABORTION ATTEMPTS. THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT HAS NO RIGHT TO PURSUE ITS PERSONAL, PRIVATE RELIGIOUS AGENDA WHICH WILL RISK THE MOTHERS LIFE SO THEY CAN BAPTIZE THE CHILD. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE STATE THAT REASON, THE MAIN ONE REALLY, IN PUBLIC SO ALL CARDS ARE ON THE TABLE. THIS REALLY IS A FIRST AMMENDMENT ISSUE; KEEP RELGION OUT OF POLITICS.

Serena Williams's behavior at U.S.Open 2009

Destroying a tennis racquet. Yelling at and threatening

an official. Are these the acts of a seasoned professional?
As one reaches the apex and denouement of a career
you would hope that it would be done with grace and
dignity. Hard commodities to come by, apparently.

Health Care: I am my brothers keeper

Has this nation become so lost and degenerate that we have abandoned our often touted Judeo-Christian commitment to the common welfare of all of mankind? Does economics trump the right to basic health care, especially in a wealthy, even if economically stressed, nation? If we are the noble, free and resourceful people we usually claim to be, can’t we simply make a commitment to provide healthcare to all of our citizens and visitors (o.k. with some restrictions for those who came in through the back door)? Then we would have an easier time working out the details of how to go about achieving that goal.

Some of our fine citizens are so worried that the healthcare industry might suffer financially or that someone might get an aspirin to which they were not entitled that they would rather have no universal health care system at all.

We are our brothers keepers. It is morally, and actually financially, in our best interest to state it and to be guided by this fundamental principle of a civilized people. And the world is watching as we turn our backs on and seek to avoid providing for those who cannot care for themselves.

For shame.