New Orleans Jazz Festival!

It's time once again for the New Orleans Jazz Festival!

"A festival, says Mayfield, is one of the best ways to celebrate and present to the world the city’s unique music, food, art and culture.

“A lot of our music, primarily jazz music, comes from that outside way of being, the Mardi Gras Indians, the outside culture of what we do during Carnival time,” Mayfield said. “We definitely have a unique position of knowing how to do outside stuff and knowing how to do it really well.”

French Quarter Festival included more than 100 Louisiana Cajun, zydeco, jazz and blues acts on 22 stages strung throughout the historic French Quarter in such places as Jackson Square, the open-air French Market and the grassy park space along the Mississippi River. Visitors came from all over."

I have been to this festival many times over the years and have always had a great time. The cultural diversity of this city is highlighted by the wide variety of music, food and fun activities.

Everybody is welcome!

Except for this year... if you happen to be white.

With the Trayvon Martin case fresh in everyone's mind, it's a decidedly less friendly environment than in years past for lighter-skinned visitors. My girlfriend's sister & husband visited there last weekend with some friends, and came back with stories of rude, pushy & even threatening behavior they endured at the hands of resident blacks. If it were an isolated case I would be inclined to dismiss such stories as simple bad luck in running across the odd bigot or two. But multiple shopkeepers, blacks on the street, and even trolley conductors made it perfectly clear that they were not welcome in their city... frowns, hostile stares, refusals of service multiple times & even pushing & shoving left them feeling not only unwelcome, but actually in potential physical danger several times. One visitor commented she would not go back unarmed... if then.

A friend offered me tickets to this coming weekend's festival, which I politely declined. I'm not prejudiced myself, but didn't want to expose myself or my girlfriend to a hostile environment we didn't create and cannot control.

So if you plan to attend the festival this weekend my advice to you is... Don't be white.

Congratulations New Orleans... some of you seem to be uneducated, pathetic losers. I foresee Best Buy losing some flat-screen TVs in the near future.

Enjoy your awful, racist festival... you deserve it.

Judicial Misconduct

This not only exposes an illegal use of State judge plates by an elected official, but by association implies that Judge Hicks participated in this unlawful use of Judicial plates. This comes as no surprise to me, since I just finished a custody dispute which ended up being mediated by Judge Hicks. One of the results of this mediation has Judge Hicks ignoring the Texas Family Code provision which allows a non-custodial parent to exercise what is known as expanded visitation where Thursday visits extend into weekend visitation, providing parent & child some additional time together. Completely ignoring the state law concerning this expansion for visits, Judge Hicks ruled that no expanded visitation would be ordered. No extenuating circumstances… no finding of special conditions which would make expanded visits inappropriate… Judge Hicks blatantly violated state law without comment. For those who argue that this license-plate infraction is a minor matter, please take a moment to consider that there may be more to this story than a single bad judgement. After dealing with Judge Hicks personally, I am inclined to believe that this is a serial condition for the Hicks family. Who loses? My 3 year old daughter loses that’s who. All that is necessary for evil to prevail is that good people stand mute. Link

The Impact of Fathers on Psychological Well-Being and Social Behavior

Quoted from : http://www.childwelfare.gov

Even from birth, children who have an involved father are more likely to be emotionally secure, be confident to explore their surroundings, and, as they grow older, have better social connections with peers. These children also are less likely to get in trouble at home, school, or in the neighborhood.13 Infants who receive high levels of affection from their fathers (e.g., babies whose fathers respond quickly to their cries and who play together) are more securely attached; that is, they can explore their environment comfortably when a parent is nearby and can readily accept comfort from their parent after a brief separation. A number of studies suggest they also are more sociable and popular with other children throughout early childhood.18

The way fathers play with their children also has an important impact on a child's emotional and social development. Fathers spend a much higher percentage of their one-on-one interaction with infants and preschoolers in stimulating, playful activity than do mothers. From these interactions, children learn how to regulate their feelings and behavior. Rough-housing with dad, for example, can teach children how to deal with aggressive impulses and physical contact without losing control of their emotions.19 Generally speaking, fathers also tend to promote independence and an orientation to the outside world. Fathers often push achievement while mothers stress nurturing, both of which are important to healthy development. As a result, children who grow up with involved fathers are more comfortable exploring the world around them and more likely to exhibit self-control and pro-social behavior.20

One study of school-aged children found that children with good relationships with their fathers were less likely to experience depression, to exhibit disruptive behavior, or to lie and were more likely to exhibit pro-social behavior.21 This same study found that boys with involved fathers had fewer school behavior problems and that girls had stronger self-esteem.22 In addition, numerous studies have found that children who live with their fathers are more likely to have good physical and emotional health, to achieve academically, and to avoid drugs, violence, and delinquent behavior.23

In short, fathers have a powerful and positive impact upon the development and health of children. A caseworker who understands the important contributions fathers make to their children's development and how to effectively involve fathers in the case planning process will find additional and valuable allies in the mission to create a permanent and safe environment for children.

The effects absent fathers have on female development and college attendance

"It is ironic, and of some interest, that we have subjected joint custody to a level and intensity of scrutiny that was never directed toward the traditional post-divorce arrangement (sole legal and physical custody to the mother and two weekends each month of visiting to the father.) Developmental and relationship theory should have alerted the mental health field to the potential immediate and long range consequences for the child of only seeing a parent four days each month. And yet until recently, there was no particular challenge to this traditional post-divorce parenting arrangement, despite growing evidence that such post-divorce relationships were not sufficiently nurturing or stabilizing for many children and parents."

"There is some evidence that in our well-meaning efforts to save children in the immediate post-separation period from anxiety, confusion, and the normative divorce-engendered conflict, we have set the stage in the longer run for the more ominous symptoms of anger, depression, and a deep sense of loss by depriving the child of the opportunity to maintain a full relationship with each parent."

Examining Resistance to Joint Custody, Monograph by Joan Kelly, Ph.D. (associate of Judith Wallerstein, Ph.D) From the 1991 Book Joint Custody and Shared Parenting, second edition, Guilford Press, 1991.

Researchers agree the females who lack father figures are more prone to experience diminished cognitive development and poor school performance (Grimm-Wassil, 1994, p. 149).

Girls who have little contact with their fathers, especially during adolescence had great difficulties forming lasting relationships with men. Sadly these females either shy away from males altogether or become sexually aggressive. Girls with involved fathers learn how to interact with males by using the father-daughter relationship as a model. They not only have a concerned male to converse with but also a feeling of acceptance, knowing they are loved by at least one male. Females without father figures often become desperate for male attention (Grimm-Wassil, 1994).

Females who lose their fathers to divorce or abandonment seek much more attention from men and had more physical contact with boys their age than girls from intact homes. They also tend to be more critical of their fathers and the opposite sex. These females constantly seek refuge for their missing father and as a result there is a constant need to be accepted by men from whom they aggressively seek attention (Grimm-Wassil, 1994, p. 147).

Girls with absent fathers grow up without the day-by-day experience of attentive, caring and loving interaction with a man. Without this continuous sense of being valued and loved, a young girl does not thrive, but rather is stunted in her emotional development. The coping mechanisms that adolescent girls whose parents are divorced develop in response to the absence of their father include the following (Lohr, Legg, Mendell, and Reimer, 1989, p. 352):

* Intensified separation anxiety
* Denial and avoidance of feelings associated with the loss of a father
* Identification with the lost object
* Object hunger for males

Studies show that females with absent fathers often have diminished cognitive, development; poor school performance, lower achievement test scores and lower IQ scores (Grimm-Wassil, 1994). Cognitive development affects how children perceive and interpret the information they are presented, thus making it difficult for them to excel if cognitive development is impeded.

Santrock (1973) presented additional evidence indicating that early father-absence can have a significant debilitating effect on cognitive functioning. Among lower-class junior high and high school children, those who became father-absent before the age of two generally scored lower on measures of IQ (Otis Quick Test) and achievement (Standard Achievement Test) tests that had been administered when they were in the third and sixth grades than did those from intact homes.

Fatherless daughters compared to those with present father figures are in higher risk of teenage pregnancy, college drop out and low self-esteem. In addition fatherless daughters are in higher risk of suicide, homelessness and disorders. According to Getting Men Involved: The Newsletter of the Bay Area Male Involvement Network, (Spring 1997):

* 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
* 90% of all homeless runaway children are from fatherless homes
* 85% of all children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes.
* 80% of rapists motivated by displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
* 71% of all high school dropouts are from fatherless homes.
* 75% of all adolescents' patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
* 70% of juveniles in state-oriented institutions come from fatherless homes.
* 85% of all youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.
* Fatherless children are 20% less likely to attend college.

Inconstant father-daughter relations can have a devastating effect on a female's life by making her more vulnerable to outside influences. Daughters of single parents in comparison to those from intact homes are:

* 53% more likely to marry as teenagers
* 111% more likely to have children as teenagers
* 164% more likely to be a single parent
* 92% more likely to divorce if they marry

Daughters need the example of what a man really is, how one is supposed to act, what a man needs and how he thinks (Griffin, 1998, p. 29). Fathers are the key to teaching their daughters about men. Research has suggested that most women who see their mothers being abused will themselves become abused in adulthood (Griffin, 1998). Positive secure father-daughter relationships allow females the confidence needed to be successful in their effort as well as achieve their goals.

Fatherlessness is a social problem brought on by the breakdown of traditional family. The victims are innocent children who have little voice in changing public attitude and policy. Blankenhorn (1995) studied the epidemic of fatherless America and concluded it is our most urgent social problem. He claims it weakens the family, harms children, causes or aggravates our worst social problem, and makes individual adult happiness harder to achieve'(Soberman, 2000, p. 3).

The continued involvement of the non- custodial parent in the child's life appears crucial in preventing an intense sense of loss in the child.... The importance of the relationship with the non-custodial parent may also have implications for the legal issues of custodial arrangements and visitation. The results of this study indicate that arrangements where both parents are equally involved with the child are optimal. When this type of arrangement is not possible, the child's continued relationship with the non-custodial parent remains essential."


Reference

Adams, P., Milner, J., and Schrepf, N. (1984). Fatherless children. Canada: John Wilney & Sons Inc.
Bae, Y., Computer Consultants, Inc., & Smith, T. (1997). Women in mathematics and science [On-line]. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/ce/c97005.html
Biller, H., (1993). Fathers a00 families: paternal factors in child development. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
Blankenhorn, D. (1995). Fatherless America. New York, NY.
Coma, C. (2000, Aug. 5). Personal Communication. New York, N.Y.
Elium, J., & Elium, D. (1994). Raising a daughter. Berkeley, CA.
Getting Men involved: The Newsletter of the Bay Area Male Involvement Network. (1997). Statistics on fatherless homes. Available:http://www.statsonfatherlessness.html
Griffin, D. (1998). Fatherless women. Los Angeles, California: Milligan Books.
Grimm-Wassil, C., (1994). Where's daddy: how divorced, single and widowed mothers can provide what's missing when dad's missing. Overlook Press; ISBN 0879515414.
Hetherington, E.M. (1978). Effects of father absence on personality development in adolescent daughters. Development of psychology, pp. 313-326
Kopf, D.E. (1970). Family variables and schools adjustment of eighth-grade father-absent boys. Family Coordinator, 19(2) pp. 145-150.
Lamb, M. (1997). The role of the father in child development. Canada: John Wilney & Sons, Inc.
Landy, F., Rosenberg, B.G., & Sutton-Smith, B. (1969). The effect of limited father absence on cognitive development. Child development, 40, pp. 941-944
Lifshitz, M. (1976) Long-range effects of father loss: The cognitive complexity of bereaved children and their school adjustment. British journal of medical psychology, pp. 189-197.
Lohr, R., Legg, C., Mendell, A., & Reimer, B. (1989). Clinical observations on interferences of early father absence in achievement of femininity. Clinical Social work journal. 17(3), pp.351-365.
Mattox, W. (1999). The role of fathers in the lives of their daughters. [On-line] pp. 1-7. Available: http://www.frontiernet.net/~jfwagner/cf03100.htm
Maxwell, A.E. (1961) Discrepancies between the pattern of abilities for normal and neurotic children. British Journal of Psychiatry, 107, pp. 300-307.
Pollack, O., & Friedman, A.S. (1969). Family dynamics and female sexual delinquency. Palo Alto: Science and behavior books, Inc.
Popenoe, D. (1996). Life without father. New York: Martin Kessler Books.
Santrock, J.W. (1973) Relations of type and onset of father absence to cognitive development. Child development and behavior.
Soberman, S. (2000). Fatherless America and its impact of "daddy's little girl" [On line] pp. 1-4. Available: http://phoenix.marymount.edu/
Sutherland, H. E. G. (1930) The relationship between I. Q. and size of family in the case of fatherless children. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 38, pp. 161-170.
United Fathers of America. (1992). Statistics on fatherless homes. Available:http://www.unitedfat...america-statsonfatherlessness.html
Wakerman, E., (1984). Father loss: daughters discuss the man that got away. New York: Doubleday & Co.

The influence of Bias & Media on Peak Oil believability

With the growth of online media in the last fifteen years, newspapers are becoming obsolete, with their demise comes a larger problem; misinformation. This problem is not new, however most authors have been rather ambiguous in their conclusions. A closer look on how unconscious human behavior impacts this issue should be given, especially with the news regarding Peak Oil--Spectators caused the oil price spike of 2008 vs. demand of oil was higher then supply rings a bell. Unfortunately, no large government agency has confirmed or denied these claims in midst of smaller entities giving alternative stories. The reason for this unequilibrium is explained here.

Confirmation Bias is a human condition that causes a person to seek out only information that matches their preconceived notions. It also can be in the form of interpreting data to reaffirm a given truth a person holds. This was the subject of an experiment held by Charles Lord, Lee Ross, and Mark Lepper. They gave subjects two studies on the death penalty—one for each side of the argument, Regardless of being pro or anti death penalty, the subjects chose the study most reliable to be the one that shared their viewpoint, even though the latter was more detailed. This illustrates two key things; the human conscience does not like contradictions, humans are irrational.

Another bias is looped with Confirmation Bias called Blind-Spot Bias. This often rears its ugly head during debate on the very subject of being bias. Dr. Emily Prolin discovered that when asked to rate ones level of bias compared to their fellow peers, humans will certainly assume the position they are less susceptible to bias and stereotyping. Blind-Spot Bias would ultimately prevent a person from realizing their confirmation bias. The question then becomes, how do I really know what heck is going on?

Thanks to the trusty—insofar—Internet, a simple Google News search shows a real life example of contradictions in the reporting of Peak Oil. The first story in the results claims “Peak Oil Period” to Be Attained By 2014, Alarm Scientists.” The fifth exclaims “there never was such a thing as "Peak Oil" or "Peak Hydrocarbons".. Economic success is balanced on how...” One gives you a feeling of panic, the other of ease. The contradictions in media today are of course in all subjects. The size of the Internet also allows an endless number of fictitious realities created simultaneously. As our perceptions become more divided, the effect has yet to be determined—depending on the severity of division will ultimately conclude the answer.

Many may be asking themselves if print media has any reliability? My answer is undecided. Every writer is prone to bias because they must create a voice in which to report the news. Also newspapers are littered with stories promoting new products and businesses while advertisements’ scatter in between. (The words conflict of interest comes to mind) However historically journalists were affriended with the common folk. I would like to think the historical significance of journalism should weigh on a few authors’ consciences.

As gas prices scamper to three dollars a gallon, I expect peak oil to finally gain some traction. Although because of theNormalcy Bias—the refusal to plan for an event because it has not happened before—should do us in regardless, or perhaps the argument that technology will save us all will come to suffice.

- Kristen Mcgreagor; Chanhassen, MN