News for today's 2018

Posted On The Passing Of Dave Brubeck

7:13 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">JAZZ DREAM<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I want to dream <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            in jazz<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            – not short fiction<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        with banal story lines..<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I want to dream instead<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            in riffs of sound<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            – notes, hot, cool, sweet, and blue.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No more dramas          <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            like last night’s tired script<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            with characters better forgot<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            and plots devoid of charm.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No, henceforth,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            I shall dream<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            in jazz alone<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wes Montgomery’s reflective chords,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            the musing melodies of Thelonius Monk,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            and Cal Tjeder’s <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        nuanced vibes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When the story has been told <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            or grown too stale for telling,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">it’s time to close <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            even the inward eye<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and drift on Coltrane’s<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            “Russian Lullaby”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            time to dream<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            exclusively<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">            in jazz.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wrote this for a reading at a jazz bar in Macon, GA. It was still on their wall when I left. it doesn't </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">mention Dave Brubeck, but I like to think he would have enjoyed it or at least the sentiment.</span></div>

Posted On The Passing Of Dave Brubeck

JAZZ DREAM I want to dream in jazz – not short fiction with banal story lines.....

Influenster

6:11 PM Tukiyooo 0

Influenster

I absolutely love this site called Influenster. Anyone who isn't a member should join right away! You unlock badges and get to test out ...

BBC News - Cancer: Not only a rich-world disease

5:43 AM Tukiyooo 0

Dr Jackson Orem is on the front line of the change. He directs the Uganda Cancer Institute - the only dedicated cancer treatment facility in a country of 33 million people.<br /><br><br /><br>He's a busy man, but he makes time to see patients like Musa Settimba.<br /><br><br /><br>Settimba is in for a check-up. He has something called Gist, a type of gastrointestinal cancer that is often fatal, even in the West.<br /><br><br /><br>Orem has arranged for Settimba to get a very effective and costly new cancer drug free of charge, courtesy of the manufacturer. There's paperwork involved, and drugs for only a few cancers are available this way. It's a godsend for Settimba, who has been doing very well.<br /><br><br /><br>"You are getting one of the best treatments for this disease," a smiling Orem tells his patient.<br /><br><br /><br>Unfortunately, Settimba is the rare exception.<br /><br><br /><br>The survival rate for patients who make it to the Uganda Cancer Institute is astonishingly low. It treats about 22,000 patients a year, and of those, 20,000 die within a year.<br /><br><br /><br>Orem says most Ugandans don't have a real concept of cancer as a set of diseases that can be diagnosed and treated. In some tribal languages, there is no word for it. "They don't have early diagnosis. They don't actually even know that they have cancer," he says.<br /><br><br /><br>And most don't see the value of seeking care. "Once you are diagnosed with cancer, they think that it's already a death sentence."<br /><br><br /><br>They're partly right. Most people don't see a doctor until the very last stages of cancer. At that point, no hospital anywhere could do much for them.<br /><br><br /><br>Orem studied oncology in the US and returned to Uganda to head the government-owned cancer institute in 2004. For several years, he was the only oncologist in the country.<br /><br><br /><br>Orem doesn't complain about the hard work, but some things make him cringe. One of them is a comment he's heard expressed by people from developed countries - that cancer doesn't hit poor people.<br /><br><br /><br>"People think that malaria kills [and] other diseases are killing people from a low socio-economic status. But cancer is the same," he says. "The truth of the matter is that cancer is a disease of the African person just like any other person elsewhere in the world."<br /><br><br /><br>The misconception affects funding. "When you ask for funding for cancer, nobody is going to give [it to] you," Orem says. "But if you ask for funding for these other diseases, they say, 'All right, your priority is correct, we are going to give you some funds.'"<br /><br><br /><br>There is also a perception that cancer is too expensive to treat, and treatment is too hi-tech to be done in poor countries. Orem says that's not necessarily true - surgery and chemotherapy, for example, don't require million-dollar machines.<br /><br><br /><br>The result is that the amount of money available for cancer care in the developing world is only a fraction of the sums spent on HIV, TB and malaria.<br /><br><br /><br>More ...<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20524606">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20524606</a>

BBC News - Cancer: Not only a rich-world disease

Dr Jackson Orem is on the front line of the change. He directs the Uganda Cancer Institute - the only dedicated cancer treatment facility in...

With sensors, apps & data, my smartphone is (almost) my doctor — Tech News and Analysis

5:08 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">If you think the Jawbone Up and Nike FuelBand are changing our perception of personal health, then wait until you see what Scanadu, a Mountain View, Calif.-based company, has planned for you. The two-year-old old company is the brainchild of Walter de Brouwer, a Belgian-born serial entrepreneur (EUnet-Quest and Star Lab) and member of TED, who in the recent past worked with Nicholas Negroponte on the One Laptop Per Child project.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">His team of a dozen-odd people, including biologists, chemists, data scientists and semiconductor engineers, is planning to develop a series of personalized health products that want to capitalize on the rapidly falling prices of sensors and other technologies and combine them with data and easy to use smartphone apps.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The inspiration for the company, de Brouwer said, came from the time he spent taking care of his son in a hospital. That experience made him realize that people need access to more information about their own health in an easy-to-understand manner. "What I was looking to do was build a tricorder to scan and get all the relevant medical data," he joked during a conversation.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Of course, the smartphone boom happened. That marriage of cloud-based data analytics, simple to use apps and falling prices of sensors made the idea of a tricorder seem attainable. In fact, de Brouwer's tricoder dream matches <a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/09/23/qualcomm-wants-your-help-in-building-a-diagnostic-tricorder/" style="color: rgb(115, 167, 201); text-decoration: none; ">up with smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm</a>, which launched the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize earlier this year. It wants scientists and developers to figure out a handheld device that can diagnose 15 medical ailments based on sensors in the device.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">De Brouwer's idea was enough to raise a few million dollars from his deep pocketed friends and since then, his crew has come up Scanadu Scout, a square shaped device. that can be held next to the left temple when holding it with thumb and the index finger of the left thumb. The device communicates with your iPhone via bluetooth and a few seconds later you get a readout of your vitals such as heart rate, level of oxygen in your blood, pulse and body temperature.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It is one of the many devices the company plans to build, de Brouwer said. In addition to Scanadu Scout, the company is working on two more devices — one that you be used for a urine test and another  that can help you identify if you have flu. All of these devices have been built with off the shelf components, de Brouwer said. The secret sauce for the company is its algorithms, he added.</p><div class="wp-caption alignright" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 10px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 243px; "><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/11/29/with-sensors-apps-data-my-smartphone-is-almost-my-doctor/scanaduscout/" rel="attachment wp-att-589148" style="color: rgb(115, 167, 201); text-decoration: none; "><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq-7QW3cgAxt_RQGtIbrctOnj8z5gBO04NEOmntJj4Q_gsXJlpJK6Y9HgoI-EWJi0dOJ90OzN_BiXXE77TUCNMIxze81oFUFTnh0RGl0e3Y2HdVOgv8Zvl506c_SUG52tFrzouA_KoWk/s1600/scanaduscout-702063.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5818447612246101874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyq-7QW3cgAxt_RQGtIbrctOnj8z5gBO04NEOmntJj4Q_gsXJlpJK6Y9HgoI-EWJi0dOJ90OzN_BiXXE77TUCNMIxze81oFUFTnh0RGl0e3Y2HdVOgv8Zvl506c_SUG52tFrzouA_KoWk/s320/scanaduscout-702063.jpg" /></a></a><p class="wp-caption-text" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); margin-top: -5px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; ">Scanadu Scout designed by fuseProject.</p></div><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr. Alan Greene, who is the chief medical officer of Scanadu, points out that the when it comes to medicine and information, the center of gravity has shifted from hospitals to outpatient centers to homes. And with smartphone, it is going to move to individuals. The healthcare system isn't really changing with the times fast enough, he added. "What we want to do is give people access to better data about themselves so they can engage with their physicians better," Dr. Greene said.</p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">As someone who lives with a medical condition, I can say Scanadu Scout will be part of my life the minute the Food and Drug Administration approves it and the company starts selling this device at my Walgreens. Today, I travel with a blood pressure machine. I spent a lot of time trying to measure my pulse and figuring out my heart rate. The convenience of getting all that information with one scanner and have it analyzed over a period of time is worth the price – whatever it might be.</p></div><a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/11/29/with-sensors-apps-data-my-smartphone-is-almost-my-doctor/">http://gigaom.com/2012/11/29/with-sensors-apps-data-my-smartphone-is-almost-my-doctor/</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

With sensors, apps & data, my smartphone is (almost) my doctor — Tech News and Analysis

If you think the Jawbone Up and Nike FuelBand are changing our perception of personal health, then wait until you see what Scanadu, a Mounta...

Software Programs Help Doctors Diagnose, but Can’t Replace Them - NYTimes.com

5:02 AM Tukiyooo 0

The man on stage had his audience of 600 mesmerized. Over the course of 45 minutes, the tension grew. Finally, the moment of truth arrived, and the room was silent with anticipation.<br /><br><br /><br>At last he spoke. "Lymphoma with secondary hemophagocytic syndrome," he said. The crowd erupted in applause.<br /><br>Professionals in every field revere their superstars, and in medicine the best diagnosticians are held in particularly high esteem. Dr.Gurpreet Dhaliwal, 39, a self-effacing associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is considered one of the most skillful clinical diagnosticians in practice today.<br /><br><br /><br>The case Dr. Dhaliwal was presented, at a medical  conference last year, began with information that could have described hundreds of diseases: the patient had intermittent fevers, joint pain, and weight and appetite loss.<br /><br><br /><br>To observe him at work is like watching Steven Spielberg tackle a script or Rory McIlroy a golf course. He was given new information bit by bit — lab, imaging and biopsyresults. Over the course of the session, he drew on an encyclopedic familiarity with thousands of syndromes. He deftly dismissed red herrings while picking up on clues that others might ignore, gradually homing in on the accurate diagnosis.<br /><br><br /><br>Just how special is Dr. Dhaliwal's talent? More to the point, what can he do that a computer cannot? Will a computer ever successfully stand in for a skill that is based not simply on a vast fund of knowledge but also on more intangible factors like intuition?<br /><br><br /><br>The history of computer-assisted diagnostics is long and rich. In the 1970s, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh developed software to diagnose complex problems in general internal medicine; the project eventually resulted in a commercial program called Quick Medical Reference. Since the 1980s, Massachusetts General Hospital has been developing and refining DXplain, a program that provides a ranked list of clinical diagnoses from a set of symptoms and laboratory data.<br /><br><br /><br>And I.B.M., on the heels of its triumph last year with Watson, the Jeopardy-playing computer, is working on Watson for Healthcare.<br /><br><br /><br>In some ways, Dr. Dhaliwal's diagnostic method is similar to that of another I.B.M. project: the Deep Blue chess program, which in 1996 trounced Garry Kasparov, the world's best player at the time, to claim an unambiguous victory in the computer's relentless march into the human domain.<br /><br><br /><br>Although lacking consciousness and a human's intuition, Deep Blue had millions of moves memorized and could analyze as many each second. Dr. Dhaliwal does the diagnostic equivalent, though at human speed.<br /><br><br /><br>Since medical school, he has been an insatiable reader of case reports in medical journals, and case conferences from other hospitals. At work he occasionally uses a diagnostic checklist program called Isabel, just to make certain he hasn't forgotten something. But the program has yet to offer a diagnosis that Dr. Dhaliwal missed.<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. Dhaliwal regularly receives cases from physicians who are stumped by a set of symptoms. At medical conferences, he is presented with one vexingly difficult case and is given 45 minutes to solve it. It is a medical high-wire act; doctors in the audience squirm as the set of facts gets more obscure and all the diagnoses they were considering are ruled out. After absorbing and processing scores of details, Dr. Dhaliwal must commit to a diagnosis. More often than not, he is right.<br /><br><br /><br>When working on a difficult case in front of an audience, Dr. Dhaliwal puts his entire thought process on display, with the goal of "elevating the stature of thinking," he said. He believes this is becoming more important because physicians are being assessed on whether they gave the right medicine to a patient, or remembered to order a certain test.<br /><br><br /><br>Without such emphasis, physicians and training programs might forget the importance of having smart, thoughtful doctors. "Because in medicine," Dr. Dhaliwal said, "thinking is our most important procedure."<br /><br><br /><br>He added: "Getting better at diagnosis isn't about figuring out if someone has one rare disease versus another. Getting better at diagnosis is as important to patient quality and safety as reducing medication errors, or eliminating wrong site surgery."<br /><br><br /><br>Clinical Precision<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. Dhaliwal does half his clinical work on the wards of the San Francisco V. A. Medical Center, and the other half in its emergency department, where he often puzzles through multiple mysteries at a time.<br /><br><br /><br>One recent afternoon in the E.R., he was treating a 66-year-old man who was mentally unstable and uncooperative. He complained of hip pain, but routine lab work revealed that his kidneys weren't working and his potassium was rising to a dangerous level, putting him in danger of an arrhythmia that could kill him — perhaps within hours. Anultrasound showed that his bladder was blocked.<br /><br><br /><br>There was work to be done: drain the bladder, correct the potassium level. It would have been easy to dismiss the hip pain as a distraction; it didn't easily fit the picture. But Dr. Dhaliwal's instinct is to hew to the ancient rule that physicians should try to come to a unifying diagnosis. In the end, everything — including the hip pain — was traced to metastatic prostate cancer.<br /><br><br /><br>"Things can shift very quickly in the emergency room," Dr. Dhaliwal said. "One challenge of this, whether you use a computer or your brain, is deciding what's signal and what's noise." Much of the time, it is his intuition that helps figure out which is which.<br /><br><br /><br>An expert clinical diagnostician like Dr. Dhaliwal might make a decision without being able to explain exactly what is going on in the back of his mind, as his subconscious continuously sifts the wheat from the chaff.<br /><br><br /><br>While computers are good at crunching numbers, people are naturally good at matching patterns. To make a decision, physicians must combine logic and knowledge with their pattern-matching instincts.<br /><br><br /><br>Across the hall was a different case. A 65-year-old man had arrived confused and feverish, with blisters on his thigh. Dr. Dhaliwal suspected herpes encephalitis, but the blisters looked a bit too large, and in an unusual location for such a diagnosis.<br /><br><br /><br>The man's condition stabilized and no definitive diagnosis was made. Dr. Dhaliwal continued to follow the case. "Following up to know that nothing was missed was one of the most important aspects of that case," he said. "And not ever arriving at a final diagnosis is fine. Being O.K. with uncertainty is a big part of medicine."<br /><br><br /><br>Isabel, the diagnostic program that Dr. Dhaliwal sometimes uses, was created by Jason Maude, a former money manager in London, who named it for his daughter. At age 3, Isabel came down with chickenpox and doctors failed to spot a far more dangerous complication — necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating infection. By the time the disease was identified, Isabel had lost so much flesh that at age 17 she is still having plastic surgery.<br /><br><br /><br>Mr. Maude said that while someone like Dr. Dhaliwal would probably have thought of necrotizing fasciitis, his daughter's doctors were so stuck in what is called anchoring bias— in this case, Isabel's simple chickenpox — they couldn't see beyond it.<br /><br><br /><br>Had they entered her symptoms — high fever, vomiting, skin rash — into a diagnostic program, Mr. Maude said, the problem would probably have been identified.<br /><br><br /><br>Thousands of diseases are known, and many are rare. "Low-frequency events are hard to put on the brain's palette, and that's part of Isabel's strength," Mr. Maude said. "It's impossible for any one person to remember how each of those diseases presents, because each presents with a different pattern."<br /><br><br /><br>He added that Isabel was aimed not so much at the Dr. Dhaliwals of the world, but at more typical physicians.<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. David J. Brailer, chief executive of Health Evolution Partners, which invests in health care companies, agreed. "If everyone was a diagnostic genius, we wouldn't need these decision support tools," he said.<br /><br><br /><br>Diagnostic mistakes account for about 15 percent of errors that result in harm to patients, according to the Institute of Medicine. Yet diagnostic software has been slow to make its way into clinical settings, and Dr. Dhaliwal, who uses Isabel as a "second check," said he could understand why.<br /><br><br /><br>Not only is it hard to integrate software into an already busy daily work flow, he said, but "most of us don't think we need help at diagnosis, especially with routine cases, which account for the majority of our work."<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. Henry Lowe, an internist at Stanford University and director of its Center for Clinical Informatics, doubts that a computer could ever replace a diagnostic wizard like Dr. Dhaliwal, or even a competent clinician.<br /><br><br /><br>"Designing computer systems that work well with incomplete or imprecise information is challenging," Dr. Lowe said. "Particularly in medicine, where the consequences of defective decision-making may be catastrophic."<br /><br><br /><br>Mimicking Human Analysis<br /><br><br /><br>I.B.M.'s Watson for Healthcare has yet to focus directly on diagnosis. The company is working with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to teach Watson to interpret clinical information and, eventually, help determine treatment. I.B.M. also recently began a collaboration with Cleveland Clinic to broaden Watson's analytical capabilities into the area of medicine.<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. Martin Kohn, chief medical scientist for I.B.M. Research, is careful to point out that Watson for Healthcare is intended to be "neither omniscient nor omnipotent." Yet, Dr. Kohn noted, most physicians set aside five hours or less each month to read medical literature, while Watson can analyze the equivalent of thousands of textbooks every second. The program relies heavily on natural language processing. It can understand the nature of a question and review large amounts of information, such as a patient's electronic medical record, textbooks and journal articles, then offer a list of suggestions with a confidence level assigned to each.<br /><br><br /><br>For physicians, Dr. Kohn said, one problem is what he calls "the law of availability."<br /><br><br /><br>"You aren't going to put anything on a list that you don't think is relevant, or didn't know to think of," he said. "And that could limit your chances of getting a correct diagnosis."<br /><br><br /><br>Dr. Dhaliwal agreed, citing the recent outbreak of hantavirus at Yosemite. Ten people contracted the virus, and three died. "It's a febrile illness that looks like the flu," he said. "It's so rare, the last time you might have seen it was your medical school classroom."<br /><br><br /><br>Had Isabel or a similar program been used, the deaths might have been prevented, Dr. Dhaliwal said. "You might think you're in familiar territory, but the computer is here to remind you there are other things."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/health/quest-to-eliminate-diagnostic-lapses.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/health/quest-to-eliminate-diagnostic-lapses.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0</a>

Software Programs Help Doctors Diagnose, but Can’t Replace Them - NYTimes.com

The man on stage had his audience of 600 mesmerized. Over the course of 45 minutes, the tension grew. Finally, the moment of truth arrived, ...

What Neuroscience Really Teaches Us, and What It Doesn't : The New Yorker

5:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:">In the early nineteen-nineties, David Poeppel, then a graduate student at M.I.T. (and a classmate of mine)—discovered an astonishing thing. He was studying the neurophysiological basis of speech perception, and a new technique had just come into vogue, called positron emission tomography (PET). About half a dozen PET studies of speech perception had been published, all in top journals, and David tried to synthesize them, essentially by comparing which parts of the brain were said to be active during the processing of speech in each of the studies. What he found, shockingly, was that there was virtually no agreement. Every new study had published with great fanfare, but collectively they were so inconsistent they seemed to add up to nothing. It was like six different witnesses describing a crime in six different ways.<br><br>This was terrible news for neuroscience—if six studies led to six different answers, why should anybody believe anything that neuroscientists had to say? Much hand-wringing followed. Was it because PET, which involves injecting a radioactive tracer into the brain, was unreliable? Were the studies themselves somehow sloppy? Nobody seemed to know.<br><br>And then, surprisingly, the field prospered. Brain imaging became more, not less, popular. The technique of PET was replaced with the more flexible technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which allowed scientists to study people's brains without the use of the risky radioactive tracers, and to conduct longer studies that collected more data and yielded more reliable results. Experimental methods gradually become more careful. As fMRI machines become more widely available, and methods became more standardized and refined, researchers finally started to find a degree of consensus between labs.<br><br>Meanwhile, neuroscience started to go public, in a big way. Fancy color pictures of brains in action became a fixture in media accounts of the human mind and lulled people into a false sense of comprehension. (In a feature for the magazine titled "Duped," Margaret Talbot described research at Yale that showed that inserting neurotalk into a papers made them more convincing.) Brain imaging, which was scarcely on the public's radar in 1990, became the most prestigious way of understanding human mental life. The prefix "neuro" showed up everywhere: neurolaw, neuroeconomics, neuropolitics. Neuroethicists wondered about whether you could alter someone's prison sentence based on the size of their neocortex.<br><br>And then, boom! After two decades of almost complete dominance, a few bright souls started speaking up, asking: Are all these brain studies really telling us much as we think they are? A terrific but unheralded book published last year, "Neuromania," worried about our growing obsession with brain imaging. A second book, by Raymond Tallis, published this year, invoked the same term and made similar arguments. In the book "Out of our Heads," the philosopher Alva Noë wrote, "It is easy to overlook the fact that images… made by fMRI and PET are not actually pictures of the brain in action." Instead, brain images are elaborate reconstructions that depend on complex mathematical assumptions that can, as one study earlier this year showed, sometimes yield slightly different results when analyzed on different types of computers.<br><br>Last week, worries like these, and those of thoughtful blogs like Neuroskeptic and The Neurocritic, finally hit the mainstream, in the form of a blunt New York Times op-ed, in which the journalist Alissa Quart declared, "I applaud the backlash against what is sometimes called brain porn, which raises important questions about this reductionist, sloppy thinking and our willingness to accept seemingly neuroscientific explanations for, well, nearly everything."<br><br>Quart and the growing chorus of neuro-critics are half right: our early-twenty-first-century world truly is filled with brain porn, with sloppy reductionist thinking and an unseemly lust for neuroscientific explanations. But the right solution is not to abandon neuroscience altogether, it's to better understand what neuroscience can and cannot tell us, and why.<br><br>The first and foremost reason why we shouldn't simply disown neuroscience altogether is an obvious one: if we want to understand our minds, from which all of human nature springs, we must come to grips with the brain's biology. The second is that neuroscience has already told us lot, just not the sort of things we may think it has. What gets play in the daily newspaper is usually a study that shows some modest correlation between a sexy aspect of human behavior, with headlines like "FEMALE BRAIN MAPPED IN 3D DURING ORGASM" and "THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON POKER"<br><br>But a lot of those reports are based on a false premise: that neural tissue that lights up most in the brain is the only tissue involved in some cognitive function. The brain, though, rarely works that way. Most of the interesting things that the brain does involve many different pieces of tissue working together. Saying that emotion is in the amygdala, or that decision-making is the prefrontal cortex, is at best a shorthand, and a misleading one at that. Different emotions, for example, rely on different combinations of neural substrates. The act of comprehending a sentence likely involves Broca's area (the language-related spot on the left side of the brain that they may have told you about in college), but it also draws on the parts of the brain in the temporal lobe that analyze acoustic signals, and part of sensorimotor cortex and the basal ganglia become active as well. (In congenitally blind people, some of the visual cortex also plays a role.) It's not one spot, it's many, some of which may be less active but still vital, and what really matters is how vast networks of neural tissue work together.<br><br>The smallest element of a brain image that an fMRI can pick out is something called a voxel. But voxels are much larger than neurons, and, in the long run, the best way to understand the brain is probably not by asking which particular voxels are most active in a given process. It will instead come from asking how the many neurons work together within those voxels. And for that, fMRI may turn not out not to be the best technique, despite its current convenience. It may ultimately serve instead as the magnifying glass that leads us to the microscope we really need. If most of the action in the brain lies at the level of neurons rather than voxels or brain regions (which themselves often contain hundreds or thousands of voxels), we may need new methods, like optogenetics or automated, robotically guided tools for studying individual neurons; my own best guess is that we will need many more insights from animal brains before we can fully grasp what happens in human brains. Scientists are also still struggling to construct theories about how arrays of individual neurons relate complex behaviors, even in principle. Neuroscience has yet find its Newton, let alone its Einstein.<br><br>But that's no excuse for giving up. When Darwin wrote "The Origin of Species," nobody knew what DNA was for, and nobody imagined that we would eventually be sequencing it.<br><br>The real problem with neuroscience today isn't with the science—though plenty of methodological challenges still remain—it's with the expectations. The brain is an incredibly complex ensemble, with billions of neurons coming into—and out of—play at any given moment. There will eventually be neuroscientific explanations for much of what we do; but those explanations will turn out to be incredibly complicated. For now, our ability to understand how all those parts relate is quite limited, sort of like trying to understand the political dynamics of Ohio from an airplane window above Cleveland.<br><br>Which may be why the best neuroscientists today may be among those who get the fewest headlines, like researchers studying the complex dynamics that enter into understanding a single word. As Poeppel says, what we need now is "the meticulous dissection of some elementary brain functions, not ambitious but vague notions like brain-based aesthetics, when we still don't understand how the brain recognizes something as basic as a straight line."<br><br>The sort of short, simple explanations of complex brain functions that often make for good headlines rarely turn out to be true. But that doesn't mean that there aren't explanations to be had, it just means that evolution didn't evolve our brains to be easily understood.<br><br><i>Gary Marcus, a professor of psychology at N.Y.U. and the author of "Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical At Any Age", has written for <a href="http://newyorker.com">newyorker.com</a> about moral machines, Ray Kurzweil's new book, and deep learning.<br></i><br><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/what-neuroscience-really-teaches-us-and-what-it-doesnt.html">http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/what-neuroscience-really-teaches-us-and-what-it-doesnt.html</a><br><br>

What Neuroscience Really Teaches Us, and What It Doesn't : The New Yorker

In the early nineteen-nineties, David Poeppel, then a graduate student at M.I.T. (and a classmate of mine)—discovered an astonishing thing. ...

Walk Away The Pounds

4:09 AM Tukiyooo 0

Walk Away The Pounds

Are you tired of just walking around the block? With the Winter coming I've got you covered! These DVD's By Leslie Sansone are amaz...

The Difference between right and almost right

3:32 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/115916382183421477315/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCNPCp6bK0YDF6gE#5818422999526122562'><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijHD9R_LY2w5CevfaiZ6kYuQ7l5t2zKIbfg5P-Ej2RovoW9Gh8F3pJO5CBXhyphenhyphenNdSAEVsswG2zTKU4jjXTieEYTT1tvrENvnZI1eawkBXx8pCgnyCow8iGXQRla770Mzvyxc2frKmcV5rk8/s288/4.jpg" style="margin:5px" width="281"></a></center><br /><br />"Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right." Charles Spurgeon.<br /><br />As my old PE coach said, "almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."<br /><br />What is the difference between right and almost right? It is the difference between the tunnels meeting as the chunnel was drilled under the English Channel. It is often the difference between disciplining a child and abusing a child - many things children do are wrong and deserve correcting but some parents go over the top when trying to make their point.<br /><br />Other examples:<br />* The difference between being helpful and kind and being a pushover that never holds children accountable.<br />* The difference between listening to a parent's side and never backing up your teachers.<br />* The difference between listening to students and never holding them accountable for their actions.<br />* The difference between holding teachers accountable and unfairly punishing them for the intellectual capacities and wealth of their children (which are often higher indicators of test scores and student success.)<br />* The difference between fairness  and unfairness is most often in this fine shade between right and almost right.<br /><br />We should all look at our actions in the classroom and schools to determine if what we are doing is right -- or almost right. Almost right isn't good enough. I believe that good sense has been suspended and some people are just doing something to show they are doing something, when in fact, they are just shooting holes in ships that are already sinking.<br /><br />We need rational thought,wisdom, and discernment in times like these. The new thing isn't always the best thing and be very wary of those who have all the answers. <br /><br />I've found that the only teachers and educators with all the answers are those who have never taught before the week before they start teaching and those who have never taught before but make it their life's work to tell others how to teach. Most coaches have played the game they are coaching - it gives them a baseline for understanding and relating to the players.<br /><br />I just want to encourage you today to consider the difference between right and almost right in your life and classroom and to commit to doing the RIGHT thing.<br /><br />Have a great day! Remember your noble calling, teacher!<br /><br />- Written on my iPad using Blog Press by Vicki Davis, author, Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds<br />

The Difference between right and almost right

"Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right." ...

advent calendar blues

3:30 AM Anonymous 0

I'm feeling a bit behind already and it's only December 5th.<br /><br />I've got lists made, presents half way complete, decorations underway and meals/parties planned but I'm slacking in one area. The advent calendar.<br /><br />We have a lovely felt calendar we pull out each year, and each year I feel under pressure to find stuff to fill each day. So I usually end up buying a bunch of crappy little things to hand out that break an hour later or I give the girls candy and treats when they already get enough of that at this time of year.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pz6rfw7gGQB1SJScDqmkc-ycBnlKVUSOv-vyIlRaMjNlfqEBTxvIr4gdqWlKd9HlBzFSXsIi1lItaBt7UdObTtEom5SkBg6vH2GOU60offbYZsBtRAu39-qSgRiW7hTSnx2ofN2Aq1nj/s1600/img62o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pz6rfw7gGQB1SJScDqmkc-ycBnlKVUSOv-vyIlRaMjNlfqEBTxvIr4gdqWlKd9HlBzFSXsIi1lItaBt7UdObTtEom5SkBg6vH2GOU60offbYZsBtRAu39-qSgRiW7hTSnx2ofN2Aq1nj/s400/img62o.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/stocking-advent-calendar/?pkey=dchristmas-decor&cm_src=christmas-decor||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_-" target="_blank">Pottery Barn Kids</a></td></tr></tbody></table>I tried going to Pinterest for some inspiration, but have you ever done a search for 'advent calendar' in Pinterest? It's like googling 'mysterious cough'. You are going to get way more information than you'll even need.<br /><br />I love the idea of filling each day with an activity or something, but it's hard to find an activity that works well for both a 5 year old and a 20 month old.<br /><br />So I'm all ears. Do you do an advent calendar? How do you do it? What do you fill it with? Want to come take care of mine?

Christmas advent calendar blues

I'm feeling a bit behind already and it's only December 5th. I've got lists made, presents half way complete, decorations underw...

Happy Birthday, NYC Guide

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

Happy Birthday, NYC Guide

It was one year ago today that my Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture hit bookstores. A year later, it still makes a great Xma...

Where is Jan Brewer?

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />Hola y’all! Arizona governor Jan Brewer has <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/270909-arizona-senators-dont-know-gov-jan-brewers-whereabouts" target="_blank">up and left the state of Arizona</a> and while her staff appears to know where she is, they’re refusing to tell anyway. Needless to say this has a lot of people very worried. Is she sick? Is she off finding herself? Did she just wander off and get lost? Well, I’ve put together a list of places and things she could be doing that should put everyone’s at ease…<br /><br />- She’s off getting an abortion because the laws in her state have made it nearly impossible for a woman to get one.<br /><br />- She’s gone to Kenya in one last attempt to prove Obama isn’t a citizen before the electoral college votes.<br /><br />- She’s getting a face lift. Might need an extra week.<br /><br />- She’s here in Redneckville helping me put this TV stand together.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PLBRAGsAvp33A5WIHq_44-gt5xArfSDAYukWYEhmO_DmMAfgkElUUBJKaeptCzE3Rc3KUogOv9WBmbO26FeetzY6RG_njwwmkJZ5TdA3jNdbtS3Xao_ignhEoNo8sRoG_a5AOzrKbPs/s1600/IMG_2995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PLBRAGsAvp33A5WIHq_44-gt5xArfSDAYukWYEhmO_DmMAfgkElUUBJKaeptCzE3Rc3KUogOv9WBmbO26FeetzY6RG_njwwmkJZ5TdA3jNdbtS3Xao_ignhEoNo8sRoG_a5AOzrKbPs/s400/IMG_2995.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />- Hiking the Appalachian Trail.<br /><br />- She’s at a secret resort in Mexico with her lover, Guillermo.<br /><br />- The Betty Ford Clinic. OH COME ONE! YOU WERE THINKING IT TOO!<br /><br />- Klan meetings.<br /><br />- Shacked up in a Washington hotel with fellow drunk John Boehner helping him with his own personal physical cliff. (Okay that one was pretty weak and I don’t know what it means either.)<br /><br />- Filling in for Elena Roger for a week in Evita on Broadway.<br /><br />- Getting her apocalypse bunker ready for before the December, 21 deadline.<br /><br />- She’s spending the week in quiet reflection at the Dhammakaya Internation Meditation Center of Taipei.<br /><br />- She bought the “undisclosed location” that Dick Cheney used while VP and is refurnishing it.<br /><br />- Following the Lady GaGa tour through Russia.<br /><br />- She’s “interviewing” to be Matt-Man’s <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-need-ten-day-surrogate.html" target="_blank">intern</a> while Schmoop is in the hospital.<br /><br />- She’s taking care of Kate Middleton for a week or so while she gets over her severe morning sickness.<br /><br />- She’s spending the week on the Greenpeace ship “Rainbow Warrior” heading to New Zealand.<br /><br />- She’s helping Occupy Wall Street prepare for their winter assault.<br /><br />- She’s gone to Disneyland!<br /><br />As you can see Gov. Brewer has lots of options and is probably off doing something fun and educational or she’s out there doing good things for the world. There’s obviously nothing to worry about.<br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS </a><br /><br /></div>

Where is Jan Brewer?

Hola y’all! Arizona governor Jan Brewer has up and left the state of Arizona and while her staff appears to know where she is, they’re refu...

The Real Reason People Who Have Left A Church "Can't Go Home Again"

4:28 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Story 1<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">John Smith walks from the parking lot toward the church door. He hasn’t been here in several months. I don’t know why. Something at church upset him. Something at home drew him away. A spiritual crisis. No one knows. No one asked. But today John Smith walks from the parking lot toward the church door.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">The ushers spot him. They watch him approach. When he’s close enough to hear, one usher places both hands against the inner wall and calls out loudly, “Everybody hold up the walls. They’re gonna fall in if John Smith comes to Church.” The other ushers laugh heartily. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">John Smith makes his way through sheepishly, participates quietly in the service, leaves quickly at the end, and never comes to church again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Story 2:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Joe and Mary Wilson have been away from church for about 6 months. I don’t know why. No one knows why. No one asked them. But they show up one Sunday, sing the hymns, say the responses with good energy. At the peace, the lay worship leader says, “Well where have you two been? I haven’t seen you here in nearly a year.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“We were here a couple of months ago.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“No you weren’t. I have been here every Sunday and I didn’t see you. If you were here I’d know it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">That was their last time to worship at that church.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Story 3:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Alice left the church some years ago to pursue other spiritual paths. But an old friend from the church has died, so she attends the funeral. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">At the reception, Nancy, a church regular approaches Alice, “Do you recognize me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Uh, I think so. Can you help me?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“I can’t believe you don’t remember me. I was at your wedding.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Another church regular joins in, “How about me. Do know who I am? What’s my name?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Alice failed the names and faces test, so she went back to a safer place. The Church was just too hard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">An unorthodox hypothesis:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">When I consult with churches whose membership has declined, they often express little desire to attract new members. Instead they say they want to win back the “lapsed.” I generally warn them that the so-called “lapsed” are the least likely demographic group to resume regular attendance at the church they left.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">There are various explanations for that statistic. It could be the ex-members have bad memories of the church. It could be the “been there, done that” attitude. But here’s another hypothesis:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Our gatekeepers know the people who used to worship with us, so they are better prepared with solid techniques to drive them away. A new person comes in the door. We don’t know him. It may take us awhile to find his vulnerabilities and drive him out. But the folks we know, we can kick out the door in a New York minute. Something else may be going on consciously. Maybe the church folks just don’t know good manners. Maybe there is some personal pathology at work – but it looks to me as if the church system that tries to keep everything the way it is, knows that to keep things stable you have to keep the outsiders outside – even the ones who used to be inside – maybe especially the ones who used to be inside. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">That systemic pathology can always be trumped by Grace and Gospel.  That’s the good news. So maybe some of us want to live the Gospel graciously. If we truly want to offer spiritual support and nurture to the people who used to worship with us, and if we want to receive the spiritual support and nurture they may be bringing for us, here are a few simple suggestions:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">First basic suggestion:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Instead of going out and trying to persuade all our ex-members to come back, we could just stop being jerks to the ones who come on their own. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Detailed suggestions on how not to be a jerk:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">                                                                                                      <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not judge, berate, and chastise someone who is in church for not having been there before. The time to do that was when they were absent. You missed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not make jokes about someone’s past absence or their return. You don’t know what you’re laughing at.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not ask people to justify, defend, or explain their absence. Not your business.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not ask people the whereabouts of someone (spouse, child, etc.) who you think they ought to have brought with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not say, “We have missed you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">In case anyone missed that, “Do NOT say “We have missed you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not engage the returning member in discussion of a fight or unpleasantness that was going on when they left. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not hit a returning member with guilt, shame, or blame.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do not put the returning member through an inquisition. Do you remember me? The South has its problems but they also have manners. Good manners dictate that if there is the slightest chance someone may not know who you are, you tell them your name and remind them of your connection. To say, “do you remember me?” in much of these United States is regarded as uncouth. In the Church, it is unkind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">So what might you say to a returning member? There are several good options.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Good morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“It’s good to see you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Hi. How are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Thank you for coming. I’m glad you’re here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">But here’s the best thing you can do. When you hear one of the gatekeepers guilting, shaming, or interrogating the returning member, cast manners aside – courtesy to whom courtesy is due – gatekeepers are enemies of the cross of Christ and deserve no courtesy – interrupt, draw the retuning member away and apologize, apologize profusely, for the unchristian behavior of the gatekeeper and beg forgiveness on behalf of the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wisdom adage: If you want someone to come through a door, unlock it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Second basic suggestion:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">Don’t let the people wander off unnoticed in the first place. I could not begin to count the number of unchurched people who have told me they skipped church for a while for one reason or another, but no one noticed they were gone, so they never returned. You don’t wait for them to return before you notice they are gone!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">There are two ways to deal with this. The best is to have a shepherd system so that every family in church is contacted (by phone, e mail, personal chat, however it happens) each quarter. The “shepherd” just asks, “How are you? Anything you need from the church? Any concerns about the church I could report to the priest?” That way if someone has been absent, you make caring contact without shaming him or her for being absent.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">The other way is to have someone monitor your parish directory and notice whether anyone is unusually absent and have the priest or a lay pastoral care giver call the person to ask how he or she is. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">If we pay proper attention to our people, fewer of them will wander off. If we simply treat them with ordinary courtesy when they return, they are far more likely to stick with us. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">All to often when relationship breaks down between the church and a member, a goodly share of the fault lies with the church. I suspect we know that, and I suspect that’s why we are so quick to blame the member.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

The Real Reason People Who Have Left A Church "Can't Go Home Again"

Story 1 John Smith walks from the parking lot toward the church door. He hasn’t been here in several months. I don’t know why. Somethi...