Sukkot and last week's Catholic Gospel, Mark 10: 17-30

Last Sunday, we had for me the harshest Gospel. It was about the man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus mentions Mosaic Commandments and was pleased by the man's response that he followed them but then was crestfallen when Christ told him to give away what he had to the poor and follow him. The man left. The Jewish holiday of Sukkot happened the week before. In that festival, people sit around outside in a temporary shelter and symbolically are represented by four fruits, one represents Torah learning, another good deeds; one of them however represents being a nothing. All of the individuals or fruits atone for each other and are part of the community, part of the group in the Sukkot. Perhaps the difference in the Gospel and in the Sukkot in regard to the person with nothing is in the active or passive voice in the way they got there. In the Gospel, you have achieved and given away. In the Sukkot, you may not have achieved, couldn't, or what you had might have been taken from you; and yet you still have value and it is said that everyone to some extent at different times is represented by one of the four fruits of the Sukkot. Thus being a nothing perhaps subtly represented by being 'poor' in the Gospel leaves you still having value.

John McCain vs. Trump

The Senator is a war hero because as a Navy pilot of his rank he was exempted from flying above a certain parallel in attacking North Vietnam. Obviously defenses near Haiphong were better and flying further North was more dangerous. He declined the privilege of flying in more relatively safe areas only and was shot down. Yes, his behavior in captivity plays some role in his being considered a hero, but it starts with his willingness to take risks in the attack. Trump on the other hand plays on feelings of anger and humiliation while seeming to lead people into more dangerous areas.

About that Flag or Why We Put the E in Robert Lee's Name

The Declaration of Independence has something in it about justifying war with England. An ideal had not been recognized. Thus wars happen. General Lee's men fought, killed and died for their view of an appropriate cultural order. After he surrendered though there was peace. He was a gracious loser in the conflict. So the battle flag of the Confederacy can express an attitude of being willing to stand up for what you believe in. The legacy of Robert E. Lee doesn't authorize however a private war against black people. The flag symbolizes being able to lose a conflict, possibly even graciously.

Explaining Hilary

Megan McCardle goes a long way in explaining Hilary for me. One of the things I object to is academic high mindedness about the relationship of pharmaceutical companies to doctors. In part this is, for me, about profitable interchange of ideas that may occur at dinners to promote a product. For instance I learned more about the physiology of pain at a talk on Neurontin. Or it may just be about things that make life a little easier or more fun. For instance I weigh patient's on an Equetro branded scale. I didn't know about the type of scale it is an example of. These things are now not apparently permissible. Many politicians know this but there are obviously strains of 'reform' that oppose their existence, similarly in campaign finance and across the spectrum of social interaction. These reforms are to keep the big players from influencing what happens to the 'little people.' Now Hilary is in the camp that is for the little people and so she speaks as a lawyer for that point of view. She however knows otherwise and doesn't apply it to herself, think cattle futures, think Bill's sexual affairs, think debt forgiveness in Whitewater, emails. De nada as a new constituency would say but it doesn't mean not being a lawyer for 'reform,' 'transparency,' FOIA requests requests, all things important to a part of her base.

Greg Mankiw, Chairman of Harvard's Economics Department, Favors the Abolition of the Estate Tax

Here. My own view of it is that it is a burden on high middle earners and their offspring. Given that you have enough funds, you can engage in estate planing and work to avoid the tax like people used to avoid income taxes, not so inclined or having the time, the estate gets taxed. That would tend to fall on people who are not primarily significant financiers.

Baltimore

I think the facts of The Freddie Gray case, the false arrest, the brutal ride in the paddy wagon are a surprise to most white Americans. The fact that police authority in this case has been subject to a flanking attack by a Pennsylvania state attorney will open up more hope to black people and together these events are the most positive for interracial comity in many years. We love you, poor Freddie.

The Oklahoma University Conteoversy

Having graduated from Jesuit High School and seen my children graduate from Highland Park High School, even my limited experience assures me that there is no more a right wing group wanting to lynch black people than there is a left wing conspiracy to outlaw the NFL in favor of a national scrabble tournament. What we have is youths saying ‘bad words’ in response to the chanting of evidently ‘bad facts’ by others. The limited experience of the white youths did not let them see that the chanting of ‘bad facts’ was related to experiences which may have been true enough(1). But the privileged graduates also were not talking about a true behavior, lynching, that they wanted to engage in, only celebrating having equal time in saying ‘bad words.’

1. TNC article in the Atlantic

Thoughts on Leaving Private Practice (Equipment and Business Methods)

The most surprising outrageous thing involved a Brother printer. We had trouble with a network connection; so someone called the helpline. They in turn were referred to someone else who did solve the problem but 'noticed some intrusions in our computer' and scared this HIPAA sensitive staff person who asked for authorizations of $600 and $300 to clear the matter up and 'have something placed on the computer to monitor.' A complete fraud from some outfit in India as it turned out. In printers I have appreciated the speed of the HP Officejet Pro 8600 which has some good HP support tools. The Samsung basic small rectangular box has been a reliable printer of patient notes. RxNT is an excellent eprescribing solution and has helped with qualifying for the associated 'meaningful use' parameters involving computers. The ability to link to LabCorps and Quest Laboratories for your patient results is very nice. Billing we did with Lytec and is a subject which is rewarded by reflection on possible deviations from expected. In retrospect one of the most amusing related to Medicaid. I relocated my office. Part of the process of that was informing the state office of the change of address. We continued to have Medicaid patients and to get EOBs telling us what we would get paid from Medicaid. About 2 years after we moved though the billing person noticed a footnote saying that a payment had not been sent, we had electronic funds transfer, for lack of an address. 'The left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing,' so to speak. Medicaid knew my address well enough to send us mail explaining what we would be paid but not well enough to electronically send us money for services which for proper arrival didn't depend on my office address anyway. A few polite letters and phone calls did resolve the matter. As far as I know the back pay was accounted for. One more device I found awesome is the Black & Decker shredder model BD AF7500. For my office it was heavy duty, very convenient to use. Checkmark Payroll has been a useful software for payroll, 940s, and 941s. I use QuickBooks, but, in this context it would be useful to have just a check writing software.

The Season of the Witch

During the VN era, there was a song with the line, 'Must be the Season of the Witch,' a haunting rock song. Now we have the Michael Brown shooting, and riots, the misfired UVA rape allegations, and the Garner death; and injustices in some parts real and in other parts projected out of the preexisting anger of the accuser are played out in the reactions of victim identification. During VN we had the 'specter' of communism, and now I see the 'Season of the Witch' and see this time similarly. I wish we had let the Vietnamese vote to decide their country's status in 1956 but my feelings about the war have further thoughts, and I will leave it at reflecting on this Season.

Exorcism and Nonepileptic or Pseudosiezures

The discussion of the painting (1) The Miracles of St Ignatius Loyola might seem to disparage religion. My consultation experience and that of others (2) with ‘pseudoseizures’ or nonepileptic seizures and conversion disorders , the syndromes of the discussion, suggests that the syndromes may be variants of panic disorder and successfully biologically treated as such. Hypothetically the syndromes might be induced by the anxiogenic methods of sodium lactate infusion (3) or high dose caffeine ingestion (4). In reference to the painting and its discussion, if religious experience restructures the psychodynamic and psychophysiology of the sufferer, then indeed religious experience might be helpful.

1. Harris JC. Exorcism: The Miracles of St Ignatius Loyola: Peter Paul Rubens. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014;71(8):866 2. Snyder SL, Rosenbaum DH, Rowan AJ, Strain JJ. SCID diagnosis of panic disorder in psychogenic seizure patients. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1994 Summer;6(3):261-266. 3. Liebowitz MR, Fyer AJ, Gorman JM, Dillon D, Appleby IL, Levy G, Anderson S, Levitt M, Palij M, Davies SO, et al. Lactate provocation of panic attacks. I. Clinical and behavioral findings. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(8):764-770. 4. Charney DS, Heninger GR, Jatlow PI. Increased anxiogenic effects of caffeine in panic disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 1985;42(3):233-243.

Ebola and Politics

Socialism or family life is like an MC Esher print. It has areas or blocks of equal properties which fit together and then there is an edge in which the properties of the spaces change. The unseen disharmony of the same spaces can be covered over in an unseen way by some of the spaces until an edge. The failure of the CDC or simply its lack of effectiveness represents Obama's inability to cover an unseen disharmony. The U.S. is at risk from West African travelers. To allow the CDC to acknowledge this risk suggests that steps which disproportionately affect black people might be appropriate. That contradicts the internal domestic policy that something that 'disproportionately affects black people' is per se racist so would open a can of worms.

Books noted: Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer. Also Dying Unneeded: The Cultural Context of the Russian Mortality Crisis Also Max Hastings on the Marne and WWI more generally and Fromkin on 'Europe's Last Summer' (before WWI), the Prussian plan for war, and Fromkin on the war outcome 'The Peace to End All Peace.' DeLong also highlighted the classic book on the Marne recently, that by Sewll Tyng.

This Week: Russia and the Ukraine

Books noted: Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer Also: Dying Unneeded: The Cultural Context of the Russian Mortality Crisis, reviewed in NY Review of Books with an appropriate picture. And the London Review of Books gives a related emotional justification for the Ukrainian 'rebels' and, by extension, Putin. References originated from this source.

Nice economic and cultural discussion of Alexander Hamilton. It's in a Hamilton v. Jefferson mode.

Good for Indiana in trying to do something about the over zealous penalties for arrests. Maybe it will become a comparative advantage for the state. Elsewhere in the WSJ yesterday, the benefits of 'broken-windows policing' were emphasized by Bret Stephens. Part of the benefit of that is for the police to teach people how to behave. On the other hand to make people repeatedly humiliate themselves over past possible offenses may actually alienate people and contribute to disorder as seen in Ferguson.

Government, Pay to Play business, Corruption in Dallas

The problem and mechanisms complete with deniability and, yes, ambiguity of government corruption were on display in last Sunday's, July 27, Dallas Morning News. The problem: 'Entities backing the Dallas hub filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010. Allen, who had guaranteed loans for the project, filed for personal bankruptcy later that year.' 'Allen, who declined to hire Price's consultants, had refused the effort to shake him down.' Price's alleged scheme impeded economic development and was unjust to Mr. Allen and his investors. Eerily, we also had the story of Bill Moore and Recognition equipment which 25 years ago was trying to get a U.S. Post Office contract. A Postal Service board member suggested to Bill Moore, the REI executive that he hire a John Gnau, paying Gnau's 'consulting firm' $30,000 a month, a lot of money especially then, to help get the contract. Gnau and the board member were shortly to be convicted; there was a kickback to the board member. Bill Moore 'didn't know' but might have suspected I guess. He himself wasn't convicted when he himself was charged but didn't win his suit against the postal employees who got him charged also when Mr. Moore's case against the government employees finally went to trial and was reported in the paper July 27. Further commentary on the current event is here.

Romney may be making his contribution to America by highlighting a good hiking trail. I think Romney is showing off. The comments about him are positive. I think maybe Romney here gives me an insight into Mormonism as a super Protestantism. The Calvinists saw God as having an elect; and it was by faith that you might be a member. No works, i.e. charity, were required. So ostentatious displays of material success show that you are part of the elect. Inriguining that those following and commenting on Ann Althouse's blog, she being raised, I speculate, as a secular Jew, are of that persuasion.

A new government for Gaza

A government that deliberately puts children next to offensive rockets for the purpose of their being killed as propaganda pieces is committing a war crime. Hamas has shown itself thus criminal and an improper government, the UN an unreliable interlocutor. Ideally the Israelis should remove Hamas and give the territory to the Egyptians, who have done the only surprising thing in this conflict, blowing up Hamas tunnels or allow the people there to choose another protectorate such as the Arab League.

Great article on the Brazil vs. Columbia soccer game.

The progression of the Diagnostic Codes in Psychiatry and archaeological implications

All official diagnoses have a numeric code attached to them. It struck me a while back that there is a bit of history implied in those codes. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, combined type is 314.01, inattentive type alone is 314.00, but hyperactive type alone is 314.01 which I suppose suggests that the original perception of the diagnosis was of something associated with hyperactivity and only later was it seen as useful to consider the criteria and make a diagnosis in the absence of hyperactivity.

Perhaps there is a psychiatric resident's progress or the fields progress implied in the mood disorder codes. As a first year resident you confront the awe inspiring threatening pellucid black cloud of Major Depression, 296.2. Getting something of a grip, you find that the patient did too but lost it and progressed to 296.3, Major Depression, recurrent. But there is more to mood disorder. Sometimes the patient might have prominent irritability or high moods and be in Bipolar I disorder, manic, 296.4. And sometimes they have been there but are in a state perhaps now indistinguishable from Major Depression but, having been to 296.4, they are now at 296.5, Bipolar I disorder, depressed. And, finally, or not, they may be having alternating or mixed states together and, no longer a child in psychiatry, you see Bipolar I Disorder, mixed, 296.6.