ALL THAT PSYCHOLOGY AND THE PRESIDENT - tdigirolamo Sun, Mar 4, 2001 at 15:46:54

For decades we have been in the era of psychobable and all the misery and pain it brings to life.The Rogerian mystique ... You are not responsible for your actions ... your mother is, your grandmother, your father, and now Prime Minister Ehud Barak is the one being blamed for giving the pardon to the fugitive Marc Rich. That's psychology at its best, that's what it offers, and Clinton is the product of it.
Former President Clinton 8 years in office never made a mistake. All the scandals, his unpresidential like behavior, the money grabbing, all the way to the last day, to the last hour, of the last minute, he never had a moment like that great president who said, "the buck stops here." As a matter of fact, Janet Reno had that "Truman moment," when Waco went down in flames. Well, in true fashion psychology continues to drag to the lowest depths, yet another story of a man from Hope. He always used the words, "I feel your pain," only because he could never get over his own.

- tdigirolamo Tue, Feb 20, 2001 at 21:59:51

- tdigirolamo Mon, Feb 19, 2001 at 12:26:17

THE BREAD SCARE - tdigirolamo Sun, Feb 18, 2001 at 23:32:20

Research Proves Bread To Be Dangerous!

A recent scientific announcement revealed what many had long feared, common household bread is dangerous! I didn't believe it at first either, but consider the following research and then draw your own conclusions.

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.

2. Fully HALF of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.

3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.

4. More than 90 percent of violent crimes are committed within 24 hours of eating bread.

5. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and given only water to eat, begged for bread after as little as two days.

6. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cream cheese.

7. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey, bread-pudding person.

8. Newborn babies can choke on bread.

9. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than two minutes.

10. Most American bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.

As the last point clearly shows-you can take "scientific" research to an extreme and twist it to prove anything that you want. There are well-meaning individuals who listen to the liberal politicians "spin" on the news and believe it. You my friend should know better than that! Do more than listen in fear to the latest "threat" to our health or safety-research it yourself. The next time you hear about how many acres of rainforest were destroyed by the capitalist land-developers, ask how many acres of trees they planted through forestry programs. Ask about how the affordable housing, the jobs that were created, and the quality of life that was improved. The next time someone scares you by saying the "pink stuff" will kill you, ask them to prove it. You may recall that the fear-mongers retracted that twenty year public health scare with "oops, our research was flawed."

Before you give up eating your next bagel in an attempt to avoid the dangers of bread, do your homework. Liberals tend to draw impulsive conclusions to make anything a crisis. A conservative perspective will help you to avoid the panic. Stop letting the liberals scare you into a life of fear. Start doing your own thinking. As you do, you will find life is a lot more fun with bread. Try it!

Dwight Bain co-host Culture Shock

DO YOU PROMISE TO TELL THE TRUTH THE WHOLE TRUTH ... - tdigirolamo Fri, Feb 16, 2001 at 13:06:44

I find it deeply troubling that in a congressional hearing, the swearing in of witnesses before that honorable body is abbreviated. Congressman John Conyers did that before a committee he was chairing when his Democrat Party was in the leadership. Years ago he abbreviated the swearing in of witnesses.
I was stunned back then when that was done. But today I am deeply dissapointed, that before the committee, chaired by Congressman Tauzin, he also omitted ... so help me God, as he swore in the television executives. Roger Ailes of Fox News, a man I admire, had difficulty with the idea that he needed to be sworn in at all, I agree. On this particular matter anyway.
Have we come so far in America that we don't stand before God to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Perhaps, that is the reason so many, can't recall, don't remember, and just straight out lie.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word abbreviate, this way, to reduce to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole. Not this time. By abbreviating sworn testimony we assume to put our trust in man. How incredibly naive. On the walls,and usually above the heads of the judges across the country the words, In God We Trust. That still stands.

AND THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS? - tdigirolamo Wed, Feb 14, 2001 at 22:22:22

Have you noticed in recent years Hollywood finds it hard to end a story where the good guy wins in the end? Those stories are hard to find today. It's no wonder that we have the most shocking things happening in our culture. It's not a stretch to recognize, that since the film industry has taken us down this road, behavior has changed radically. Piggyback television, music, the internet, the beat goes on ... The cadence of which leads to a frenzy. Eminem, up for Grammy's at the same time in court for assault and a weapons charge. Puff and Jennifer Lopez, close enough to a major criminal act. The thirteen year old boy who stabs his 2 year old brother 17 times. The teenage girl who gave birth at the prom, trashed the baby, and continued the dance. Thirteen dead at Columbine ... And the moral of the story? Life imitating art.

- tdigirolamo Mon, Feb 12, 2001 at 12:23:30

- tdigirolamo Tue, Feb 6, 2001 at 15:05:11

AND NOW JESSE JACKSON BECOMES ANOTHER CULTURE SHOCK MOMENT - tdigirolamo Sun, Feb 4, 2001 at 19:51:33

Remember Jimmy Swaggert, Jim Bakker, and the preacher men.Jesse Jackson is a preacher, who like the others failed in their responsibility and position.Failed like the others because so many followed them and lifted them in the highest places of influence.
Rev.Jackson lost his way because the country has lost its way.How?! How?! Knowing that he too had fallen as former President Clinton had fallen, could he have placed himself in such a position to counsel the president, and do it in such a way, that it would not be self-serving.In hindsight, we now know a more complete story.
It was wrong for Jimmy Swaggert to return to his ministry so soon, The Assembly of God Church leaders, demanded one year of him in counseling, but he too declined to follow their lead. His Ministry has seriously faded from prominence. Swaggert also felt the need to return to a severely crippled ministry after only 90 days.He felt, that only he, could save it from total disaster.
Rev. Jackson is returning to his organization when it too is under fire, and criticism from several fronts.However, he also wants to pilot his Rainbow Coalition through the perfect storm.His manner of speaking in prosiac terms will fall in deep water. No rainbow after this storm.

BILL CLINTON ... THE GIFTS, THE PARDONS, AND THE OFFICE IN NEW YORK CITY - tdigirolamo Fri, Feb 2, 2001 at 13:36:26

Have you noticed? It's taken this long for us to figure out why William Jefferson Clinton has behaved as he has.All the talk shows CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, and the networks, seem to be blaming it on the past. Pundits on the left say, he is a flawed man ... If only he had a father who was there for him.
Our future as a nation will have a multitude of men and women who will be growing up without a father or a mother.Our culture is such, that to be self absorbing, self-esteeming, and if it feels good do it, just do it, seems to be the mantra of the day. The end of the story, Bill Clinton Did Good But He Got Away With ...The gifts, those outrageous pardons, indictment and the office in New York City. You know it's kind of like Hollywood and the stories they write and the films they produce.At the end of many motion pictures and television productions these days... Bad guy's get away with murder ... And the good guy's are ridculed and trashed. Sound familiar?
Some are just beginning to realize how irresponsible former President Clinton was in “his last days, and last hours, to the last minute.” Though many have known this for years, they are some of his most beloved supporters. I guess they feel free now that he is out of power, to be critical, rather than at a time when it would have been courageous, and true to do so.How do you feel now America?

CULTURE SHOCK HEADLINE - tdigirolamo Thu, Jan 18, 2001 at 23:34:15

ABC 20/20 "DEATH IN THE CLASSROOM" IN 1990 ... AT THE SCHOOL 9 YEARS BEFORE THE COLUMBINE SHOOTING

Too much Psychology... is Dangerous or Destructive or both? - DwightBain Tue, Jan 16, 2001 at 02:17:57

Opinion from: Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor

The answer is yes!

We are living in a day and age that offers a barrage of psychological options to children in the classroom. You can take classes to improve your wounded inner child, feel good about your broken past or sit around the circle singing 'kum-ba-ya'. The irony is that we have a generation of American children that have great self-esteem levels... but they can't read!

Jeff, do the math on this one! School was designed to prepare children with the tools that they need to function in the world. To teach them how to read, use mathematical skills, develop the ability to communicate, both verbally and with the keyboards of computers. School is designed to train and develop children into balanced citizens; it is not to replace the need for parents to be the best source of insight and direction in a child's life.
Parents were designed for that leadership role, not social workers. It is not the psychologist's job to answer questions that should be addressed by a mother, or a grandfather. While I realize that some broken families may not have extended family support, most students do have supports and resources; beginning with mom and dad, then extended family and family pets. Then, low, low on the list are psychologists and psychiatrists. It is not a therapists job to step in to a parent's shoes. Ever!

What about the Littleton school shootings that we discussed on CULTURE SHOCK.

Did the excessive psychology in those classrooms solve the problems? No, it did not. If anything, Eric and Dillian spent so much time with self-absorbed, psychological introspection that they apparently began to lose touch with the real world. (Not unlike certain talk show hosts... (you know who you are J. G.), While they were able to escape back and forth between the over-all experience of reality and fantasy, eventually the fantasy world of being a 'hero' in their minds by using violence seemed to take over their minds and led them to make terrible decisions.

Decisions that totally slipped through the cracks of all the counseling and school based psychology that was supposed to protect a dozen teenagers from danger. But that kind of protection can't exist in a fantasy world where feeling good is better than striving to be good; and where liberal educators tell children that all that matters is how you feel. Sounds like a line from a song... in a wrong tune. I love you Jeff, and you are my friend, even if you live in a dream world.

Sleep well my dear co-host, because the conservatives are wide awake to help make your world a better place. Oh, and while you had dreams of the world as you wanted it to be, we were working on the world that is, and giving it some needed serious attention. Good thing that not everyone around here believes in the Tooth Fairy!

20/20 HINDSIGHT: DEATH EDUCATION AT COLUMBINE HIGH - tdigirolamo Tue, Jan 16, 2001 at 02:14:11

It was discovered on Culture Shock that Columbine High School, where 13 lives were unfortunately taken, are teaching Death Education. Our guest, Dr William R. Coulson, told us that 9 years ago there was cause for alarm when a Columbine student, tried to commit suicide. ABC's 20/20 investigated that Tara Becker recalled how the classes gave her the courage to prepare herself for taking her life. Tara and her family now live in Tennessee. In 1990, 20/20 did the segment which they called Death in the Classroom. In 1990 the show reports ... "Over 1 out of every 10 of our public schools includes Death Education ... Its emotional impact on students is still unknown"... Now with hindsight being 20/20 ... Hugh Downs at the end of the segment said, "Somehow, this teaching is overly morbid," ... Culture Shock agrees and believes we should revisit this chilling horror.

Returning to Columbine after the school shootings in 1999 Coulson was alarmed to find that Death Education is still taught in the school. When the shootings occurred why were there no questions looking into this failed teaching. It seems, that since the public schools have been teaching kids to stop taking drugs, they're doing more drugs. Since teaching sex education, they're doing more sex, and now Death Education, this is an American tragedy. Coulson who was a participant on 20/20 nine years before the shooting said, "What makes us think that American education is going to do a good job teaching Death Education. We ought to be trembling about the fact that the schools which failed to teach academics are now presuming to teach on matters of Life And Death." Yes, hindsight is 20/20.

-- Culture Shock