Igni ferroque

Inaugration day

2009-01-20T14:05:38-08:00

At last! At last!
The Sleeper awakes!

Today, the national nightmare ends! We can now start to heal the damage that the Bush administration has done to the world.

Despite Mr. Bush's belief that history will vindicate him, he will go down as the more destructive reincarnation Herbert Hoover. For like Herbert Hoover, he has done massive damage to this country that will take many, many years to undo -- if ever. Consider, the problems: the economy, national prestiege, allied relations, poverty, the environment, verterans care, wars in Iraq and Ahfganistan, massisve debt, corporate give aways, unemployment and under-empolyment not seen since the Great Depression, government dissatisfaction at levels that would cause rebellion in any other country; and that is the short list. Unlike Hoover, Mr. Bush has engaged in a war of choice: Iraq. It is my opinion that Mr. Bush did this to outdo his father Bush Sr. (Bush Sr. did not take Baghdad because his Sec Def. Chaney knew that there would be an insurgancy that would be unwinnable). This fact alone makes him worse than Hoover.

Sic semper tyrannis.

President Obama has already (read actions taken as President Elect) taken actions to that continue the morale war on the failed ideals of Neoconservatism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism ) by dining with conservative journalists ( http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/obama-dines-with-conservative-columnists/ ), He is reaching out to the oppsition. In any conflict there are at most 33% of the populaiton allied with you 33% oposed and 33% indiferent. The objective of any "Grand Strategy" is to persuade the indifferent, fortify your support, and bring the opposition to either the different or the support catagories.

I marvel at how well President Obama understands and practices strategy. While the American analogs maybe Lincoln, and FDR, the name that comes to my mind is Titus Flavius Vespasianus ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian ). The Roman Empire was staggering under the rule of Nero ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero ). This crisis of leadership if continued, would have eventually destroyed the Empire. Because of the reforms implemented by Vespasian, he was considered to be the savior of the Empire.

President Obama will need all of his skills and talents to heal this country and guide it to on a prosperous path in the 21st century.

While some believe that President Obama does not connect to the military, because he has not served, I believe that he will win them over because he understands the universal contract between a society and her warriors: we who will die for you ask that you not spend our lives in vain. He has shown that he understands Grand Strategy, that he is a ruler that understands the "Way". Master Sun says that he one of the factors in calculating which faction will succeed in a conflict is to assess the ruler.

" Ask:

Which ruler has the Way,

which general has the ability,

which has gained Heaven and Ground,

which carried out Law and commands,

which army is strong,

which officers and soldiers are trained,

which reward and punish clearly,

by means of these, I know victory and defeat!"

(http://www.sonshi.com/sun1.html).

For the first time in many years I believe that my country will be in good hands. With President Obama this country will see better times. Here is a President that understands the "Way". A ruler that will make our enemies cower in fear, give our allies hope, and our people peace, prosperity, and pride. President Obama has united us for the long hard road ahead.

Semper fidelis.

The McCain Campaign and the Lesson of Collapse

2008-10-25T15:41:07-07:00

Currently, Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has devolved into internal squabbling, selfserving information leaking, finger pointing, and a general inability to adapt to the Obama campaign's activities. Much of the McCain campaign's flailing on issues, attacks, and negative campaigning are attempts to make an issue "stick" to Obama. Some pundits have called McCain's campaign all tactics and no strategy. Some pundits believe that it is the financial meltdown They are all wrong. What we are seeing is the Musashi 's classic definition of collapse as mentioned in the Go rin no sho's Book of Fire.

Sen Barak Obama will be president because not because of the money, Senator McCain's short commings, President Bush's failings, or the financial meltdown. Senator Barak Obama will be president because the country understands that he is the prospective sovereign that understands "The Way", and that this is what the country needs now.

Senator McCain's precieved flailing is a product of his fighter pilot training. Here is what McCain says about his own decision-making process in the 2002 book "Worth the Fighting For" which he co-wrote with Mark Salter:

"I make them (decisions) as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can," ...furthermore... "Often my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint."

Why does Senator McCain say this about his decision process and why is it due to his fighter pilot training?

The answer is due to John Boyd's OODA Loop. John Boyd was an airforce fighter pilot who saw combat in the Korean War; he is the U.S.'s Musashi. He is revered not by the USAF where he served and litterally wrote the book on fighter performace methodology ("Energy-Maneuverability_theory"), but in the USMC where his theories are the foundation of maneuver warfare.

"According to Boyd, decision-making occurs in a recurring cycle of observe-orient-decide-act. An entity (either an individual or an organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby "get inside" the opponent's decision cycle and gain a military or business advantage....

"In order to win, we should operate at a faster tempo or rhythm than our adversaries--or, better yet, get inside [the] adversary's Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action time cycle or loop. ... Such activity will make us appear ambiguous (unpredictable) thereby generate confusion and disorder among our adversaries--since our adversaries will be unable to generate mental images or pictures that agree with the menacing as well as faster transient rhythm or patterns they are competing against."

wikipedia OODA Loop

Sadly, Senator McCain is misinterpreting John Boyd's OODA Loop. Senator McCain s understanding is based solely on speed in traversing the OODA Loop. This is a very common and very fatal reading of Boyd. What Senator McCain is doing is quickly observering, making decisions and acting but eliminating the orientation process. Further, the OODA Loop is not a simple loop, but "the entire 'loop' (not just the orientation) is an ongoing many-sided implicit cross-referencing process of projection, empathy, correlation and rejection.". Currently, the McCain campaign has become detached from the empathy and correlation part of orientation.

fig 1 ref

What the McCain campaign has failed to understand is that the actions taken in the OODA Loop must be based on reality. The whole idea of tempo warfare is to create a mismatch between the opposition's preception of reality and what is real and concurrently, preserving and enhancing your preception of reality. What happens when the mismatches to reality become accute? Infighting, finger pointing, and dissention. Musashi and Sun Tzu consider this a severe form of insanity. Students of Boyd have a term for this state: self-referencing. At one time this was a more severe epithet than many four letter words in the USMC. It means that you are wholely focused inward; you have lost all touch with reality and are as good as dead. This is why to Sun Tzu "Warfare is the Way of Deception".

So the lesson here is that while one may traverse the OODA Loop quickly, but one must take actions that are strategically relevent. A failure to take strategically relevent actions will create a rapidly deteriorating situation. You must attempt to perceive the situation and your opposition in ever increasing levels of clarity or risk taking actions that degrade your capability to Observe. You must not degrade your capablity to Orient (project, empathize, correlate, and reject information) by indulging in prejudices, accepting the opposition's deceptions, or fall prey to your own deceptions.

At this point it is appropriate to disscuss the concept of cheng and chi Cheng is the concept of the conventional attack, and chi is the unconventional attack. The cheng is the attack that is in plain sight. The purpose of cheng is to provide a real and credible threat to a strategically important target. The chi is the unconventional attack, often less visble and more harmless looking, on a strategically important target. In warfare, one fortifies one's strategic, but vulnerable points while attacking the opposition's vulnerable strategically important points. This is why Sun Tzu is often quoted as saying to "One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles."

The essence of Senator McCain's problem is that Senator Obama is operating at a faster tempo that is amplified by the fact that Obama is making more appropriate decisions (based on a better understanding of ground truth). Senator McCain has been driven to a state of selfreference because he has failed precieve that Senator Obama's cheng (conventional attack) is the tv commercials while his chi (unconvetinal attack) is his community orgainzation ground game, fortified by his understanding and implementation of policies that adhere to "The Way". The good news is that the millennial generations have embraced "The Way" and are now active in the electorate. Thank you Master Sun, Col. Boyd and all those who follow the lessons that they teach; and thank you to those who have paid for these truths with blood and iron.

Crime and Punishment

2007-09-06T18:25:56-07:00

Blogger Viviana A. Zelizer recently posted a piece on Huffingtonpost "Pricing a Child's Life". She asks the question of how to put a price on a child's life when determining compensation in civil actions. This is a very good post with a good historical information. I highly recomend it. Professor Zelizer rightly understands what motivates most Claimants: "Claimants ask for public recognition of their losses, fixation of responsibility for those losses, and enough damages to hurt the responsible parties. Payments for the love and a child's lost future seem just compensation". She also, understands that conservatives view this as "money grubbing". What she does not mention is that it is all about crime and punishment, and the justice that it brings.

The conservative View

The opposition to punitive damages is often led by conservatives. Conservatives value punishment when disscussing the law. Conservatives believe that punishment is a "deterrent". The exception being when said punishment may be metted out to one of their own (Scooter Libby ). When individuals, not of the rich elite, attempt to gain justice from a civil action against a large corporation, or member of the consevative elite, then conservatives claim that plantifs are "money grubbing".

Using conservative reasoning, it would seem that punishing (thru punitive damages) the enitiies for negligence with regards to 9/11 would serve as a deterent toward future negligence. Further, punitive damages applied to enitiies (typically corporations or government) would deter them from bad behavior. In general, for our government, this is not the case because the individuals responsible do not personally suffer. For corporations the individuals responsible (in practice), again, rarely suffer any penalties, or the penalties are insignificant with respect to the crime (Enron .,Robert Milken). In fact, for corporations, they routinely calculate any negative payouts when deciding if it is profitable to break the law. So what we have here is a lack of "personal responsiblity" .

Value of a Life? What is just?

What is a life worth? I believe that this is the wrong question to ask. The appropriate question is what is the monetary award that would dissgourge any gains made by the defendents, render defendents financially incapable of any recitivism, and compensate for any lost income and benefits of the plantifs. This is not a random or "money grubbing" concept. This is about the "public good". When corporations and government (and the individual decision makers therein) are not brought to justice then we have no civilization.

Clash of civilizations

The Bush administration often calls GWOT a clash of civilization against barbarisim. Aeschylus in the Orestia tells us that Athena brought civilization to the city of Athens by replacing private vengence with public justice. Punitive damages that help preserve the public good are part of public justice. What conservatives and the Bush administration advocate is a return to a feudal system where the noble does not answer to any but his peers and his betters. Justice for those of lower social standing is nonexistent. It is a world view of might makes right, where personal loyalties and conections are preeminent.

The issue of justice is also prime to the issue of why we are failing and will continue to fail in the middle-east. Aeschylus would have been familiar with the culture of the middle-east. It is tribal, it is about personal loyalties, personal honor, and private vengence. If we do not provide public justice to Iraq and Afghanistan, then we will never be able to bring any kind of civilization to those regions. Why was the Taliban successful? What is the appeal of Sharia law ? The answer is that they bring a form of public justice to a tribal society. We may dissaggree with the form of public justice, but we do not provide an alternative.

Because there is not central authority controling the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, we see it as chaotic. We look to external and internal causes like Al-Qieda, or Iran for the violence, but what we have failed to see is that Abu Gharib, Guantanomo Bay, and contractor malfeasence has shown the people of Iraq and Afghanistan that we will not provide public justice. Therefore, all these people have left is the tribe. All we leave them is private vengence.

What the current 9/11 civil action says to the world is that the conservative ideology does not provide equal protection under the law, nor does it provide public justice. Instead it is a return to public justice for the privileged.

Freemarket is not justice

What the conservatives have never understood and will never understand is that what we see in Iraq and Afghanistan is not unique. At the end of the last "Gilded Age", Marxism arose as an alternative to "freemarket" capitalism. Eventually, what people found was that neither extreme worked well. What did work well was a regulated market system. One that balanced workers rights with employer's bussiness needs. A system that protected public goods like air, water, energy, food, communications. and transport. This system worked because it provided public justice at all levels. It had mechanisms that allowed recourse against those in positions of power that stepped outside the law. It protected those who blew the whistle on those in power when protecting the public good. It was not perfect, but a work in progress. People believed that the system was attempting to protect all of us. Today, we have allowed this system to be gutted at all levels. At some point in time, there will be a backlash.

The genius of the American system is that the Constitution provides for a bloodless change of power in the form of elections. However, the integrity of our elections has come into question. If this system is completely discredited then we may find that people will seek private vengence to fill the vacuum left when there is no public justice.

Nature of Power

Sun Tzu likened power to water. One may hold water in your cupped hands, but even then the water slowly leaks between you fingers. So it is with power. One can never hold absolute power for long. The harder one tries the more power slips from your grasp. If a ruler is not just, then he will not be able to lead the people in a time of conflict.

Conclusion

While the 9/11 civil action will not decisively move us from civilization back to barbarism, the verdict rendered and upheld upon appeals will indicate which way we are traveling. Justice is not only about crime and punishment, but a requisite foundation of our civilization.

Surge Working?

2007-08-14T17:32:59-07:00

In Mr. Johnson;s post "What If The Surge Is Working?"
I aggree that we should not emmulate the republicans in any ways, but I do not see that the surge is working. While some progressives disscuss redeployment, or widthdrawl, not a single person left or right has stated what is required for any possible success to occur in the Iraq, or the region: a deep level of appreciation for the history, culture, and people of the region (aka T. E. Lawrence). Now, some will say that this is more liberal/lefty shite. I say that I am citing the only successful source of strategy: "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

Master Sun says that the best outcome in a conflict is to win without fighting. This can mean that we send proxies, or negotiate, or export our culture etc.. This is predicated on the concept of knowing your enemy and knowing yourself (to parapharase Sun Tzu). The only real solution at this time is to remove all visible military forces from Iraq. A good example of what this means is look at the Al-Quds and the Iraninan Revolutionary Gurad. They are in Iraq, but are invisible (they do not wear a uniform, they speak the language, they are intimate with the culture). The Iranians have at most a battalion of these troops in Iraq. And they are very effective.

Ideally, we should deploy two divisons (about 20-30k troops) of people with comprable skills. This allows roughly an A-Team (ie. a Green Beret unit) to be deployed with every major tribe. This is due to the fact that Iraq has devolved away from publilc justice into private revenge (ie. devolved from a nation state to a collection of tribes). It will take about two years to restablish the trust in public justice that would allow Iraq to become a nation state again. However, this state may not be the democratic beacon that is currently envisioned. Still it is the only way that the U.S. will have any influence on what kind of entity Iraq will become.

The surge is not working, and will never work. The ink blot strategy failed in Vietnam and will fail here. This is because we do not have the requisite force levels with the requisite skills (see above), or the time to accomplish the current objective of the stabilizing the region. Further, our opponents adapt faster than we as a nation state (with this current administration) are capable of. Any top down organization (this includes the conventional military, as well as any authoritarian types) will not be capable of Observing Orienting and Deciding quickly enough to compete. As proof, one should study the most recent Isreali war in Lebanon.

Basically, we can either face reality, which is that we started an overt conflict without knowing our oppostion and, therefore, we failed before we fired the first shot, or we can live in fantasy land and continue to spend blood and treasure (as well as deepen the problem by killing civilians and promoting injustice ie. accelerating the fall to barbarism). Marine General Mattis before his second deployment to Iraq understood that if the Marine's casualties exceed that of the civilian population then they were succeeding. This mirrors Britain's experience in Ireland. Since the surge started, we have not seen a slow down in the civilian casualties. The U.S. troop's casualties are miniscule compared to that of Iraqi civilians. By any measure the surge is failing. One may argue that there are communities where it is working, but this is an illusion. Any sane OpFor will understand that an occuping force can have local successes, but that said occupier cannot, by definition, be everywhere all the time.

This brings the last point I'd like to make. This administration believes in the Machiavellian concept that it is better to be feared that loved. Sun Tzu's answer is that when one is feared people will plot against you when you are not there, but when loved people will see to your best interest when you are not there. We have promulgated a policy of fear and intimidation (Aby Gharib). There is no military solution to this. Even with two division of Green Berets in country, there is now a climate of fear and hatred toward the U.S..

Again the only solution is to get the fuck out of Dodge now! Maybe, leave some SF troops and Field Officers behind, concentrate on meaningful humanitarian relief, talk to Irag's neighbors to find a solution that will benefit the Iraqis not the U.S. oil companies. This is a course of action that over a long time period may restore trust in the U.S. and allow for a positive future for the region.

Why we should not bomb Iran's Uranium Enrichment Facilities and Reactors

2007-02-26T04:56:02-08:00

The U.S.'s plans to use air strikes against Iranian uranium enrichment facilities and nuclear reactors, is a very bad neocon wet dream. This opinion is based on a cursory analysis of the "unintended" consequences of said air strikes.

Many sites are underground bunkers, which the administration is targeting with B61 mod 11 nuclear weapons. While the yield is around 10k tons (TNT equivalent), the issue is the radioactive fallout. I have worked in the nuclear arms industry, and all underground test are performed within a reinforced concrete structure that is then buried. Notice there is no entrance hole! Any hole would be a path of least resistance that would allow the resulting plasma to escape. The effect would be similar to a filled balloon's gas escaping through the input nipple. Hence a burrowing nuclear weapon like the B61 mod 11 would vent skyward (presuming that this was delivered by air), thus assuring that some radioactive material would reach the upper atmosphere and irradiate the entire planet. The heavier fallout would fall more locally on Iran, Iraq, Europe, China, Afghanistan and Israel the actual levels and pattern would depend heavily on weather patterns, time of day etc..

Jangle Uncle was a subsurface test of a 1.2kt yield device. The purpose was to model the effects of a 23kt ground penetrating weapon. The picture below shows the results. A B61 mod 11 weapon is about eight times the yield of the test. The yeild is about twice that of a GBU-28.

In the case of a successful hit with non nuclear weapon, like the GBU-28, on an underground uranium enrichment plant, depending on angle of entry, size of any secondary detonations, etc. radioactive material may exit through the penetrator entry path. While it is not a certainty that radioactive materials will reach the upper atmosphere, it is likely that radioactive material would be released.

From the very cursory analysis above, it is clear that the use of a B61 mod 11 weapon on Iranian targets holds great risk for those few allied countries we have in Europe and the Middle-East as well as any non-combatants (including Israeli citizen, Iranian citizens, and Russian citizens) to be of any use. However, without the B61 mod 11 the U.S. will not be capable of destroying the underground facilities that we do know of. There is the additional risk that we do not know the locations of all the enrichment facilities, and reactors.

What I find offensive about this subject is that when the Israelis bombed (see Operation Opera) the Osirak light-water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR), they did so before the fuel had been loaded into the reactor for fear of fallout, but no talking head, blogger, or leader has given even cursory thought to the consequences of attacking a functional uranium enrichment facility, or reactor loaded with fuel. Apparently, It is very easy to advocate air strikes to "safeguard" people, but not so easy to seriously assess the consequences of these air strikes. It is precisely the "unintended consequences" (read lack of appreciation for the effects of one's actions) that will cause harm to the very people we are attempting to "safeguard". While Chernobyl was an accident, using many B61 mod 11 weapons on Iran would be premeditated murder and fratricide.

The only real course of action is to honestly negotiate with Iran. This means negotiations without preconditions. This means sitting down at the table with Iran before they capitulate to the U.S.'s demands to cease and desist uranium enrichment.

ADD & ADHD Myths (How Superficial Knowledge Leads to a Failure to Appreciate)

2006-07-09T14:59:40-07:00

In Susan Kaiser Greenland J.D.’s “Are We Turning Our Kids Into Speed Freaks? “, and in Deborah Lynn’s, “On Ritalin and Real Treatment”

We have a good examples of misconceptions based on superficial knowledge. While for everyday conversation, superficial knowledge is adequate it is not when one is a healthcare professional as is Ms. Deborah Lynn. For Dr. Greenland, who teaches “focused attention through mindful awareness practices to children”, superficial knowledge of ADD and ADHD is criminally negligent. Both authors deprecate the use of medications that have proven effective in treating a complex and difficult dissorder. Both focus on an FDA advisory that reports on a number of deaths associated with stimulant drugs used to treat ADD and ADHD.

"Thus, if we pay enough attention to a certain experience, it eventually becomes part of the brain's hard wiring. In a very real way, the more we focus attention the better we get at it because the brain is rewiring itself toward focused attention. As a result, those areas where we focus grow stronger and those areas where we do not focus become weaker."

- Dr. Greenland Are We Turning Our Kids Into Speed Freaks?

The myth is that one is unable to focus because they lack the discipline. In Dr. Greeland's case she believes that with enough discpline, an ADD or ADHD person will be "cured". The truth is that ADD/ADHD people can and do hyperfocus on things that interest them. The operative words to take note of (non-ADD/ADHD people) is "that interest them." Things that you or society decide should be of interest to a person with ADD/ADHD may not be of interest to them. Sorry. No ammount of discipline will change that fact.

Typically, an ADD or ADHD person will try to focus on things that do not interest him or her. The result typically is an ADD or ADHD person that fallen asleep. Brain imaging scans and functional neuroimaging have shown that the more an ADD or ADHD person attempts to focus on an uninteresting subject, the less activity that is registered in the prefrontal cortex.

This presents parents, society, and the ADD/ADHD person with an inherent conflict of interest (no pun here). This is most evident in an educational setting. Specifically, education based on the Prussian model (rote memorization, emphasis on following directions, punishment oriented (physical , mental and emotional), with emphasis on verbal skills, and “a strict education in ethics, duty, discipline, and obedience”). As the Prussian system was designed to produce a population that could be used as soldiers for the Prussian military, it prepares the individual to be at home in an authoritarian society (obedient).

Oddly, the USMC has determined that the most effective form of education is a hands on approach that incorporates audio, visual, and corporal elements. Further, recent studies have shown that learning and memory are closely tied to emotions. Along those lines the USMC has long incorporated live fire training. These exercises are extremely effective and the lessons learned are retained over very long periods of time. The National Training Centers use similar methods, without live fire to achieve very good results as well. The point is that I have experienced some of these teaching methods and I will say that they held my attention even without the medications.

While the above paragraph may seem to be off topic, it is not. What we call ADD/ADHD may not be a disorder per se. Meaning that those of us with ADD/ADHD tend to be more adventureous/risk seeking etc.. What we do best is focus attention on the novel, making implicit connections with what we observe, how we are oriented (orientation is used as Col. John Boyd used it in "Patterns of Conflict" as a many sided amalgam of genetic, culture, education, and experiences that combine to form our view of the world) and finally acting. Our brain structure (lowered prefrontal cortex activity as seen of fMRI scans) decreases the time to traverse the Observe Orient Decide and Act (OODA) loop. As a hunter gatherer, or a soldier (yes a Marine qualifies here), or fighter pilot (John Boyd) this is a distinct advantage. And from archeology, we know that in a tribal society, hunters and warriors would typically comprise anywhere from 10% to 35% of a population. Natural selection would indicate that, for many thousands of years longer than we have had to deal with the above mentioned Prussian school's authoritarian orientation, we would have been selecting for people who would be better warriors and hunters. Therefore, current estimates of ADD/ADHD occurances of 5%-15% would seem to be conservative.

Strategy

A mental tapestry of changing intentions for harmonizing and focusing our efforts

as a basis for realizing some aim or purpose in an unfolding and often unforeseen world

of many bewildering events and many contending interests

— John R. Boyd

One thing to note is that Boyd is extremely precise in his wording. As always a picture is worth a thousand words ()

Dr. Greenland's opinion is not based on any form of science, or rational thought. It is based on a premise that Methylphenidate HCl is bad. She believes that we can train our childeren to socially acceptable without the drug:

"We tell our kids that practice makes perfect and the more they do something the better they will get at it. The same theory applies to the workings of the brain. Research shows that focused attention creates physical changes to the brain by systematically rewiring it. Thus, if we pay enough attention to a certain experience, it eventually becomes part of the brain's hard wiring. In a very real way, the more we focus attention the better we get at it because the brain is rewiring itself toward focused attention. As a result, those areas where we focus grow stronger and those areas where we do not focus become weaker."

The falacy of this is that it only works if the ADD/ADHD individual is interested in focusing on what is presented (interest will induce hyper-focus), and ignores the lower prefrontal cortex activity which is the primary problem of ADD/ADHD. Ms. Greenland shows a lack of appreciation for the real issues of ADD/ADHD: The inability to preempt actions which society deems unacceptable.

From personal experience, I can say that it is not the lack of desire to focus on topics, subjects, people, etc. that are personaly uninteresting but the resultant effect: The harder one tries to focus on an uninteresting object the more energy that one must expend which ultimately leads to unconciousness. Also from personal experience, the inability to preempt actions has both saved my life, and caused me endless grief. The grief is most often caused in social situations where a question is asked and I respond, without thought, with a truthful answer. In other words, I have answered the question before I have had a chance to decide to answer the question.

Ms. Greenland clearly has no first hand experience with ADD and ADHD. Her belief that "if we pay enough attention to a certain experience, it eventually becomes part of the brain's hard wiring" and "if we're looking for long-term solutions, training attention the old fashioned way (as practiced by contemplatives for over 2500 years) makes much more sense, at least for those willing to give it a try" does not take into account two factors: rewiring can only occur when that neural net is actually traverse (used), and the fact that the fMRI shows the more effort that is put into focus the less brain activity occurs.

The ADD and ADHD brain has no inhibitor switch that fucntions on the unconsious level. Normal people have this. Normal people have no frame of reference to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of having this inhibitor. Because of this, most normal people believe that with more effort ADD/ADHD people can be normal. And that when they fail to be "normal" it is caused by a lack of morale fortitude. What normal people do not appreciate is that while inhibition can be accomplished, there is a great cost in energy and sanity. That cost can be so high that in some individuals it will preclude all other interactions. I challange Ms. Greenland to constantly, and conciously monitor all her thoughts and actions. I guarentee that unless she is the Dali Lama or one of the Zen maters I have known that she will be insane inside a month.

I have practiced martial arts and zen since age four. While this has been helpful, it has not mitigated the lack of inhibition. However, it has made me aware that other cultures value ADD/ADHD's lack of inhibition. In Zen it is nutured, and developed. Zen seeks to achieve the state where thought and action are one. Oddly, this sounds like classic ADD/ADHD. Ms. Greenland has clearly shown that she is not a serious student of the "contemplative arts". Zen’s real goal (at least in Japan) was to offer a society’s most aggressive individuals a path to be a useful part of that culture. To be socially acceptable. The road, or way (Do) imparts an appreciation for all things, an ability to cut down illusions, and to be able accept (hopefully, sometimes to reduce) the suffering that is life. The methods to achieve this are many and varied. Many involve martial pursuits as the most aggressive will gravitate toward the arts of war. By embracing these arts, the Zen practitioner can not only be invincible in war, but more appropriate and useful to society that he protects. He/She can be transformed from an engine of social destruction to a implement of peace. Not having an inhibition switch helps in this endevor. So it is often what a culture values that determines the acceptability of ADD/ADHD type behavior. The Prussian school system’s emphasis on “ethics, duty, discipline, and obedience” does not tolerate ADD/ADHD behavior well. On the other hand, live fire drills tend to hold an ADDer’s attention. Go figure.

One should note that the Prussian school model considered Albert Einstien “a slow learner, possibly due to dyslexia, simple shyness, or the significantly rare and unusual structure of his brain (examined after his death)”, and expelled Thomas Alva Edison (“His mind often wandered and his teacher Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled"”). Both men had a talent for making connections between disparate disciplines and integrating them into new devices and paradigms. They both likely had ADD/ADHD and both succeeded despite all the prejudices and difficulties that society placed in front of them.

If we embrace the methods of Ms. Greenland what human assets are we losing?

While I do believe that help in the form of training is valuable to people with ADD/ADHD, I do not believe that we should deprecate, or give up a useful treatment path. One size does not fit all. A better course of action than attempting to limit treatment options for ADD/ADHD patients would be to to promote a change in attitudes regarding ADD/ADHD. We have much to offer society, but from the very begining modern society tells us that we are not valueable. We do not conform. It is our fault. We lack morale fortitude. Unfortunately, the reality is that it is not our fault. We do have value. What we do threaten is orthodoxy, and authoritarianism because we often make connections that are not obvious to normal people (Einstien, Edison).

I would advise Ms. Greenland that the next time she posts an article which is as uninformed as this, that she not make the title so prejudicial. I would also advise that she do her homework about the subject she writes about, and that if she advocates a value that she should lead by example (the contemplative arts are intended to develop appreciation, banish illusions, and reduce suffering) as opposed to the authoritarian leadership style of "do as I say not as I do".

While I have so far disscussed Dr. Greenland’s short commings, Dr. Lynn’s are also along the same vein.

Dr. Lynn

Issue 1. Dr. Lynn's view is that ADD/ADHD is "rare" and that medication provides only a "quick fix".

Dr. Lynn wrote:

'And I hope it prompts them to not be so eager to look to a pill to solve the complex problems they may be facing in themselves and their children. On the other side of the issue, there will always be a place for prudent use of medication. It's just more and more clear that there will never be a place for "the quick fix." to the complex problems they may be facing in themselves and their childern.'

The above statement implies that Dr. Lynn hopes that the fear engendered by the revelations that 25 people have died over four years while taking an ADD/ADHD perscription will give people pause when seeking medication. This is on its face an inappropriate, uncompassionate, and maybe unethical.

It is true that the NIH recomends that a combination of behavior and chemo therapies be used as this is "superior" to either modality alone (see Issue 4 below). However, wishing that these 25 deaths will discourage people from seeking medication because it is not a "quick fix” to complex problems fails to recognize that a partial solution, in this case medication, is better than no solution. I believe that a coralary to do no harm would be some help is beter than none.

The longer one waits to help the ADD/ADHD patient the more the damage done to that person's mental health in the form of secondary mental illnesses (depression, etc.) and the longer the neural nets have to hardnen into an inappropriate configuration. The medications will allow the patient to notice more than without medication. Most will attempt to adapt to this new information. This will be a long and painful process which eventually may lead to less resistance to behavior treatments to supplement the the medication. It seems to me that it is Dr. Lynn that is seeking a "quick fix."

As to the "rare[ness]" of ADD/ADHD the NIH itself indicates that 5% of the population has ADD/ADHD. The most likely rate is 5-15% so the NIH is being conservative. If the occurrence ADD/ADHD is 5-15% of the population then the term "rare" is inappropriate as this would be a minimum of 1 out 20 people. At the minimum rate of 1 in 20 the we should expect to see about 1.5 cases per class assuming a classsize of 30 (which is a low number of students per class). Is it any wonder that every american family with school age childern has had contact with an ADD/ADHD child?

Issue 2. Possible dangers of Ritalin.

I suggest that a full reading of the article in question be done before anyone speaks out on the dangers of Ritalin

"Twenty-five people died and 54 more suffered serious cardiovascular problems after taking drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder between 1999 and 2003, the government says."

Almost 80 people over four years were adversely affected by all prescribed ADD/ADHD perscriptions. Later in the article with regards to the linked deaths:

'The FDA review released Wednesday found fewer than one adverse event -- that is, a death or serious injury -- per 1 million ADHD drug prescriptions filled, with the sole exception of the 1.79 cases per million of nonfatal cardiovascular or cerebrovascular problems reported in adults treated with amphetamines. Also, in some of the cases, the children who died were later found to have had undiagnosed heart conditions. And in three of the five cases of death in adults receiving amphetamine treatment, the patients had pre-existing hypertension. That suggests hypertension "may be an important risk factor for sudden death in the adult population," the report said.'

Tragic. However, according to the American Heart Association for 2003, the U.S. suffered 943 deaths due to cardiovascular diseases per 100,000 population. Even with the worst case of 1.79 cases per 1,000,000 population nonfatal cardiovascular or cerebrovascular problems reported in adults treated with amphetamines the difference is almost three orders of magnitude! Or about 1000 times more cases of non-ADD/ADHD perscription related cardiovascular deaths to ADD/ADHD perscription related deaths (deaths in which a patient was perscribed an ADD/ADHD drug).

According to one article "Sudden Death from Cardiac Causes in Children and Young Adults", by

Richard R. Liberthson, M.D. in the New England Journal of Medicine, Volume 334:1039-1044, April 18, 1996,Number 16

"Despite numerous reports, there is a paucity of demographic data on sudden death from cardiac causes in the young.3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 Table 1 shows data on 469 sudden deaths from nine studies of large populations.6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 The rate of sudden death in these populations ranged from 1.3 to 8.5 per 100,000 patient-years, with males consistently outnumbering females."

For young athelets the above article states:

"The annual rate of sudden death is 1 per 75 million among Air Force recruits who have been prescreened by general physical examination11 and 1 per 250,000 among unscreened young runners."

This rate, for the general population, is one to two orders of magnitude higher than the worst case rate quoted by the FDA. Further, a number of the deaths were found (postmortum) to have undiagnosed cardiac or hypertension conditions. In essense, the risk of sudden cardiac failure when properly using an ADD/ADHD perscription medication is 10 to 100 times less than the risk to the general population and four times less than "unscreened young runners" (as above the sudden cardiac death rate is 1 per 250,000).

While these ADD/ADHD deaths are tragic, they are less than the rate for the general population, and less than the rate for unscreened young athletes.

Details of the Canadian decision to suspend the use of Aderall (an Amphetamine salt) can be found at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/medeff/adderall_xr_hpc-cps_e.pdf.

Issue 3. Parents of ADD/ADHD childeren need therapy.

ADD/ADHD is a genetically coded (See Issue 5). This indicates why Dr. Lynn (who should know this!) believes that the parents of alleged ADD/ADHD childern need therapy , and I believe many times medication (see "A family based study implicates solute carrier family 1-member 3 (SLC1A3) gene in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder", by Turic D, Langley K, Williams H, Norton N, Williams NM, Moskvina V, Van den Bree MB, Owen MJ, Thapar A, O'Donovan.

Issue 4. Ritalin is just a "quick fix" to ADD/ADHD.

Dr. Lynn wrote:

"Ours is a culture that has been seduced by the "quick fix". But no matter what they tell you on TV, we don't get in shape without exercising and emotional/cognitive/mind-brain problems aren't cured by a little yellow pill."

ADD/ADHD is a real brain disorder as seen by fMRI scans (see http://www.adhd.org.nz/neuro1.html ) (http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/psychiatry/msi/chdr2/ATP/fmri.htm) (and the NIH http://www.uth.tmc.edu/schools/med/psychiatry/msi/chdr2/ATP/fmri.htm). Methylphenidate as well as all other effective ADD/ADHD medications address the issues of under stimulation of the prefrontal cortex, caudate nucleus, and the globus pallidus by normalizing the dopamine pathways (http://www.adhd.org.nz/Ritalin.html). Without methylphenidate, the patient has little chance to focus on what you want him/her to.

The "quick fix" that Dr. Lynn denegrates is essential to allowing an ADD/ADHD patient the opportunity to rewire his/her neural network through therepy. That is why the NIH's current recommended treatment is the COMBINED chemotherepy AND behavior treatment. The combined treatment was considered superior to either behvioral or chemo treatment alone. From a systems stand point this makes absolute sense in that the drugs allow the patient to focus on the behavioral treatment. Therefore, ADD/ADHD drugs are essential to the treatment of the disorder. They are not a "quick fix".

I do aggree that many insurance companies will reimburse for the drugs and put severe limits on reimbursement for behavioral treatment. This is criminal as the NIH is clear on which treatment modality is "superior"!

As stated above in issue 1, it is better to have some treatment than no treatment. While I understand Dr. Lynn's frustration, the fact remains that a healthcare professional requires the patients, and the clinical detachment to assess the strategic situation inorder to best advocate for one's clients.

Issue 5. Evolutionary and genetic causes (or reasons for) ADD/ADHD.

There are numerouse studies on the genetic basis of ADD/ADHD ( see "A family based study implicates solute carrier family 1-member 3 (SLC1A3) gene in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder", by Turic D, Langley K, Williams H, Norton N, Williams NM, Moskvina V, Van den Bree MB, Owen MJ, Thapar A, O'Donovan MC. ADD/ADHD is passed to you from your parents (the corellation is about 80%)!

ADD/ADHD prevelance indicates that it is a selected trait. Most ADD/ADHD males are more inclined to be adventurous. Many engage in high risk behaviors. In a hunter-gatherer culture this would be the hunters and not the gathers. Hunter-gatherer cultures will typically have from 5-15% of its population as hunters. No it is not a coincidence that the numbers coincide to ADD/ADHD incidence. By the time a "normal" human has decided to throw that spear, an ADD/ADHD individual will have tossed the spear and have started charging toward the target. He/She is able to do this because there is no inhibition (see fMRI scans in Issue 4). This is the hard wired behavoir that we, as a society, wish to change.

As a Psychiatrist (MD), one should be more compassionate toward your patients, more clinical in your assements, and more current in your understanding of the disorders you treat. I would be very hesitant to be treated by someone with the level of knowledge and compassion that you have demonstrated.

Conclusion

What does this have to do with the igniferroque method? It is illustrative of the fact that most subjects worth studing are complex., and that to appreciate them requires more than a superficial knowledge of the subject. Only at these deeper levels of understanding can one know your self and know your opponent. For example, if you were to have an ADD/ADHD individual under your leadership how would you treat that person? Without the afforementioned appreciation, you may decide that this person has no value, or no morale conviction? You too may be seduced into believing that one can “train attention through individual effort” as Dr. Greenland believes or fail to do due diligence like Dr. Lynn has. You too may believe that this person is, therefore, not trying hard enough. Or you could accuire the knowledge about ADD/ADHD yourself and use the talents that have been delt you.

Information is ammunition.

The Da Vinci Code and the Coin of the Realm

2006-06-03T23:09:51-07:00

Recently, Elaine Pagels wrote in the San Jose Mercury:"The truth at the heart of `The Da Vinci Code'". In response to the barrage of media shows attempting to debunk the 'Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown as factually inaccurate. Professor Pagels believes that "[t]he real mystery is what Christianity and Western civilization would look like had the 'Gnostic' gospels never been banned. Because of the discovery by that Egyptian farmer in 1945, we now at least have the chance to hear what the ``heretics'' were saying, and imagine what might have been."

Indeed. Around 143 CE, Valeninius was a candidate for bishop of Rome (A.K.A. Pope). He was not elected. He was the great hope of Gnosticism. Shortly afterf his death in 175 CE,

"Irenaeus began his massive work Adversus Haeresis with a highly-colored and negative view of him [Valeninius] and his teachings that occupies most of his first book."

- From wikipedia entry on Valeninius.

While I concur that what might have been is the "appeal" of the 'Da Vinci Code', the real threat of the book and the "heretical" texts found at Nag Hamadi is one of trust.

In a previous post I made the claim that the "coin of the relam" was trust. The suppression of the Gnostic gospels by Archbishop Athanasius (c 367 CE ), and Bishop Irenaeus show a lack of trust in their laity; or shall we say that they trusted the laity to not accept the church's claim that salvation can only come thru the church if the Gnostic gospels were a competing dogma. It is clear that these men suppressed the Gnostics and the Nestorians in an evil and corrupt grab for political and religious power. They were attempting (like today's televenvangelits) to create a population sheep. They knew all to well that Gnostics (mystics) would more likely be independent thinkers. This would be very dangerous to the goals of men like these.

It may have taken hundreds of years to eradicate mystisim from lay Christianity, but it was never completely eradicated.

The thing that the church may have understood is that mystics make outstanding warriors. They, therefore, concentrated the mystics in the military orders. Okay, yes they also tended to take in the second etc. sons of nobles (Primogeniture), but these knights were still indoctrinated in a monsatic life that did encourage reflection and introspection (required for independent thought). These orders were kinda the Spartans of their time (Battle of Montgisard).

While these orders exist today, they do not practice the arts that made them what they were. Instead the are dedicated to charitable works (Knights of Malta).

Understanding what warriors might have been nurtured by a Gnostic church, it is not too hard to understand why Athanasius and Irenaeus persecuted the Gnostics Heresy. The consequence of that persecution is a population that, today, demands to know what other lies have been foisted upon them. If they had not suppressed Gnosticism, they may have had a harder time controlling the masses, but the church would not be attempting to improve its image because it has lost the trust of the public (see Roman_Catholic church sex abuse scandal, and List of scandals of the Roman Catholic Church for things that the church forgot to mention).