HerbEly

Smarter Children - Worldwide

We just got back from the Kiwanis International convention in st. Louis where we heard, once again, the story about Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD). Iodine deficiency is a leading cause of mental retardation, blindness, goiter and other childhood illnesses. Lack of iodization can reduce the IQ of a population by as much as fifteen points. The cure is simple: iodized salt. Delivering the solutions isn’t. In 1990, less than 20 percent of the world population at risk of iodine deficiency had access to iodized salt.

Kiwanis, an organization of men and women joined in service clubs dedicated to “Serving the Children of the World” joined together to raise over $75 million to fund UNICEF programs for helping indigenous peoples to iodize their own salt and educate them to use it. The result is that, every year, 90 million children are protected from this disease.

I am proud to be a member of the Kiwanis Club of Charlottesville. Together we are changing the world.

Husband, Father, Bishop, & Saint

Has anyone noticed that St. Paulinis of Nola(354-451) was married while he was bishop?

Dueling Memoirs: Bill Clinton vs. U.S. Grant

Dan Rather compared Bill Clinton’s “My Life” with the “Personal Memoir’s of U.S. Grant”.

I’m reminded of the time at the US Army War College when a Lieutenant Colonel stood up and said that it was not possible to write responsible position papers within the strict (usually 500 to 1,000 word) limits assigned to us. My immediate thought was: “she will be sorry she said that”. She got an answer along these lines: “U.S. Grant could write clear and concise operations orders while in combat and without the aid of a word processor. Why don’t you read a copy of his memoirs and see how its done.” Good advice. I try following it. Even with a word processor and my wife as an editor for my major pieces, it’s difficult.

Teacher as Truth-teller

I have often admired the columns of Patrick Walsh, a veteran teacher at TC Williams High School in Alexandria. His occasional columns echo my experience as the husband of a teacher and father of four Charlottesville High School graduates. In today’s Washington Post, he candidly discusses some truths that will prove to be unpopular. Here are two paragraphs:

“Taking in the scenes, I couldn't help thinking of Bill Cosby and the controversy he stirred with his recent comments at Constitution Hall during a 50th anniversary celebration of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. I remembered how he'd said that he believed some "lower economic" African American parents had the wrong values -- that they'd rather buy their kids expensive sneakers than introduce them to Hooked on Phonics, and that they looked for someone else to blame when their kids got into trouble with the law. Cosby was criticized for being too hard on the less fortunate, but let me tell you -- the black students in my AP English classes are even harder. To them, the fighting and posturing that morning was nothing but out-and-out "ghetto."

Walsh then discusses the challenges of teaching English to “at risk” students:

“In many ways, these kids drive the academic agenda of schools. Take the Virginia Standards of Learning exams. They were initiated as a desperate quick-fix effort to close the gap between low-income minority kids and middle-class kids. The thinking was that if schools like T.C., with a large number of minority students, were labeled as failing, teachers and administrators would suddenly feel pressured to transform these kids into scholars. In fact, the performance of minority students on the SOLs has been so poor that the tests have been made easier to avoid a political uproar over disproportionate numbers of minority students not getting diplomas."

My June 16 Observer column identifies the effort to make the system effective as a vital aspect of workplace spirituality. Mr. Walsh is attempting to do just this in his Washington Post article When the Street and the Classroom Collide

How Carter helped Reagan End the Cold War

Ronald Reagan’s help in ending the cold war came from Gorbachev, the Pope, Jimmy Carter, a Polish Colonel and a Soviet KGB Colonel. The roles of the Pope and Gorbachev are widely appreciated. Few, however, recognize that Reagan’s success was also due to the fact that he implemented and added credibility to nuclear missile programs begun under Jimmy Carter. Reagan’s rhetoric and credibility led Soviet intelligence to a threat assessment that the US could be preparing to start a nuclear war.

This assessment caused the Soviets to misinterpret US actions, leading to the “war scare” of 1983. Reagan and Gorbachev, once they were both aware of this danger, began to negotiate reductions in nuclear arms. Here is the story, in brief form.

Teresa to Hillary:

Bill may have been a "Hard dog to Keep on the porch" but I'll take care of John.

Can Liberals and Conservatives Argue - or Just Shout?

Here are two more news items concerning the almost intractable problem of increasingly bitter culture wars. First, John Leo, deplores the demise of genuine political argument. At one time argument meant an attempt to convince others of one’s point of view, along with a willingness to listen to the other. Argument, formerly a mutual search for the truth, now consists of two televised talking heads rudely shouting at each other. Second, David Brooks offers an explanation as to why this is so. He suggests political discourse is dominated by two aristocracies: the managerial and the academic. Here is an extract:

“Knowledge-class types are more likely to value leaders who possess what may be called university skills: the ability to read and digest large amounts of information and discuss their way through to a nuanced solution. Democratic administrations tend to value self-expression over self-discipline. Democratic candidates — from Clinton to Kerry — often run late.

Managers are more likely to value leaders whom they see as simple, straight-talking men and women of faith. They prize leaders who are good at managing people, not just ideas. They are more likely to distrust those who seem overly intellectual or narcissistically self-reflective.”

There was always a gulf between these two aristocracies. It became almost unbridgeable when the Supreme Court took the abortion discussion away from the voting public in Roe v. Wade. There ideas for bridging the gap – but no politician dare can adopt them.

Can Congress Make the Flag Sacred?

I sent this letter to the editor in response to aWashington Post editorial.

Your June 14 editorial opposes a Senate Judiciary committee bill outlawing “physical desecration” of the flag. Your opposition is based on first amendment grounds of freedom of speech. You would be better advised to base your argument on religious freedom.

Webster’s defines “desecrate” as “to divest of sacred or hallowed character or office”. If congress passes a law banning “desecration” it will be declaring that the flag is now sacred. Some lawyer will then challenge the law. The argument will be: “Congress has violated the first amendment by passing a law establishing the flag as sacred. My client is willing to honor the flag as a symbol. Establishing the flag as sacred requires my client to worship, rather than honor, the flag. By worshipping the flag my client would violate the first commandment. My client is being denied protection under the free exercise of religion clause of the first amendment.”

By insisting on the word “desecration” the Senate will create an opportunity for lawyers to earn large fees. If the Senators want to engage in patriotic rhetoric over this bill, they should change the word “desecrate” to “dishonor”. They can still make their speeches - but no one will charge them with making the flag into a religious idol.

/s/ Herbert Ely

I'm proud to honor the flag. However, it looks to me as if the Senate is engaged in political posturing withouth regard to the damage to the constitution and religous freedom.

NASA Attempts to Change Organizational Culture

Gregory Pierce has written about the importance of “making the system work” as one of the disciplines of Workplace Sprituality. Beth Dickey reports on NASA's attempts to make the system work by changing an organizational culture that, by NASAs own admission, contributed to the Columbia shuttle disaster. Institutions, like persons, tend to persist in denial of unpleasant realities until confronted with a disaster. NASA, knowing that this change will be difficult, has let managers know that they must get with the program or get out. It proposes to do “interventions” with managers who are experiencing difficulty in communicating safety related information. Coaching will be available to those who must learn new interpersonal skills.

From my perspective, NASA is doing the right thing. Pierce lists on-going personal change as one of the ten disciplines of workplace sprituality. I wonder, however, if NASA knows how tough the job will be. Sometimes personal change is so difficult that a spiritual awakening is required. When this happens, the individual may lose control over the direction of the change. I wonder if this is what NASA has in mind.

The Army & Abu Ghraib: the Bishops & Pedophilia

When we send young men and women into combat we put their lives – physical, emotional and moral lives – at risk. Their dedication and willingness to sacrifice for our freedom puts us in their debt.

We pay that debt by being cautious in our decision to go to war. The church recognizes this in the just war doctrine. The Department of Defense formally recognized it in the Weinberger doctrine. James Madison recognized it by requiring that congress make the decision to go to war. This is, or was, a powerful restraint. Congressmen were restrained because they had to stand for election and answer to the parents of the young men (now men and women) sent into combat.

We owe our soldiers something else: adequate training and supervision. If we are going to put them under stress, we should recognize that “the line between good and evil runs through every human heart” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). Our reluctance to go to war recognizes that some soldiers in combat will fall into evil. Good training and supervision minimizes this risk.

Katherine McIntire Peters, in the June issue of Government Executive has a candid discussion of the US Army’s investigation of its own failures to supervise and train. She includes graphical displays of the chain of command and quotes from responsible General officers. Unclear lines of responsibility, unprofessional and self-defeating interrogation methods, and inadequate control are all in evidence. Some of the officers have begun to indulge in scapegoating. The final comment, from retired US Army War College commandant Major General Robert Scales says it best: “If the ship runs aground, the captain takes responsibility. That’s the way our culture works.”

I wish the American Catholic Bishops shared a similar culture. When we ask young men to take a vow of celibacy and dedicate their lives to service, we put them under stress. The Bishops failed to provide them with adequate oversight. Now they are, for the most part, stonewalling. The Army, at least, is directly addressing its shortcomings. It must – James Madison provided that the Army is responsible to the elected representatives of the people it serves.