The View From Kalamazoo

“Past? Meet the future…”

I find lost and mis-shelved books of greater importance than razors, anyway:

The Vatican Library in Rome, home of nearly two million books, manuscripts and other items, has adopted radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to identify and manage a big chunk of its large collection. Systems integrator Seret s.r.l. has tagged more than 50,000 of the Vatican Library’s 120,000 volumes in its public reading rooms.

From PaleoJudaica, news on the Coptic Gospel of Judas :
Rodolphe Kasser (University of Geneva) announced that he is going to publish a Coptic papyrus codex of 31 folios (62 pages). The manuscript is written in Sahidic and can be dated, on paleographical grounds, to the 4th/5th century. It is rather damaged and in poor and fragmentary conditions. It comes from Muhazafat Al Minya, in Middle Egypt, and is presently hold by a Swiss Foundation.

The codex contains three “treatises”: (1) the Epistle of Peter to Philip, (2) the First Apocalypse of James (both of them are also present among the NHC [Nag Hammadi codices] but, according to Kasser, in a “different version”), and (3) ca. 31 pages of the previously unknown Gospel of Judas!

A “Gospel of Judas” is mentioned by Irenaeus (Adv. Haer., i.31), Epiphanius (Haer., xxxviii.1), Theodoret, etc., as current in the Gnostic sect of the Cainites, to whom Judas was a hero. It must have been in existence in the 2nd century, but no quotation is given from it (see Baring-Gould, Lost and Hostile Gospels, III, chapter v).

Am I really a big enough geek to be excited by this?

Yup. Guilty as charged!

…but, unfortunately, still relevant. I have recently, again, had the joy of meeting some perfect strangers who were happy to ‘inform me’ about my kid…so I’m feeling a little cranky. [BTW: Barkley’s book is excellent – a standard in the field. I highly recommend it.]

International Consensus Statement on ADHD

Background

Media coverage of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is often uneven and laced with obsolete or inaccurate science. Fringe theories with thin or non-existent scientific basis are sometimes given equal footing with hard medical data rigourously collated by researchers. The very existence of ADHD as a condition is sometimes denigrated or denied.

In response to this unfortunate trend, Dr. Russell Barkley and 74 other prominent medical doctors and researchers in ADHD issued the following statement in early 2002.

“We cannot over emphasize the point that, as a matter of science, the notion that ADHD does not exist is simply wrong. All of the major medical associations and government health agencies recognize ADHD as a genuine disorder because the scientific evidence indicating it is so is overwhelming. ”
– Consortium of 75 International Scientists

Media coverage and the ‘informed suggestions’ I get from people who are certain that ADD doesn’t exist and all I need to do is cut wheat and refined sugar from Emma’s diet (and that’s one of the more thoughtful and reasonable suggestions) is enough to drive a parent insane.

I can’t believe I’m that unusual – when faced with diagnoses from pediatrician and counselor trained in early childhood I was willing to recognize there is something permanent, maybe hereditary or maybe congenital, and *treatable* about my kid’s chemistry that affects her behavior and ability to focus, function, and learn. I love her. She’s not “perfect” or “average” or “normal” strictly speaking – and that doesn’t say a thing about me as a parent, no more than some genetic condition would, nor does it mean she’s not bright, witty, and fully capable of doing amazing things in this world. This early part of her education is very difficult, requires a lot of managing on our part, and extra help to great cost. Fine. Later education may require more of the same – or she may get over the hurdles she’s faced with now and hit the ground running.

From the information I get from her teachers, counselor, pediatrician, however, it appears that a lot of parents take a diagnosis as a whole host of things that it isn’t – and too often the child is left to struggle in frustration, their self-esteem suffering, while the parents take precious time to get over it, or try a whole host of zany things that pass for science on the internet, or remain in complete denial that it exists and that the diagnosis ever happened. Responsible reporting by the media wouldn’t derail the misinformation-train, but it would surego a long way to giving parents the tools they need to look at reality head-on. If a kid has a kidney condition (or maybe something similar to what Emma had surgically corrected, say…: vesicouretral reflux) there is a symptom of a problem, diagnosis, and treatment without all of this emotional hoo-hah. Why is it that a physical condition is talked about in a matter-of-fact way while anything related to learning, or brain chemistry, or anything else that can’t be observed in the same way an x-ray clearly shows a broken bone gets whispers, jeers, denial, or crack-pot responses? When was the last time someone suggested that severe, hereditary allergies or dyslexia or left-handedness or epilepsy were caused by too much TV?

I’ve ranted. Oops. I guess that the long and short of it is that it’s not about ‘who she got it from’ or ‘I don’t believe that really exists’ or ‘maybe you’re just a bad parent’ or even ‘did you let her watch TV when she was a baby?’ – it’s about Emma. She simply IS. She has needs and frustrations and desires and passions and it’s my job to help, like it is with any kid and any parent. Maybe my job is a little more involved in a lot of areas than it is for a lot of parents – than it likely will be for me in regards to Colin… Maybe I need to worry about things that most parents don’t need to worry about – but hey, other parents with other kids have other things to struggle with that I don’t. It’s just that with all the time I have spent attending conferences, meetings, appointments, more meetings…it’s difficult to see it all minimized, harmful and often just plain nutty misinformation tossed around, and labels and insinuations attached to my child that she has not earned or deserved. End rant.

Well, thank God! Now I never again have to fear strappado when I return a book a week late!

(and I can’t even speak of returning a post-due book to inter-library loan…it’s just too..too…painful to think about)

[posted for Bri, who knows how I spent my Saturday. Think Jeff Foxworthy show with more dynfunction and many fewer jokes. Or “jokes”. Not even a laugh track, man…it was heinous.]

An Old-Bulgarian tomb has been revealed nearby the Black Sea cap of Kaliakra.

Medieval language finds revival among Israeli Jews

Will comment after my return, but for those interested in recent inquisition news here are some links:
from Zenit News
from BIGfib.com
from The Washington Times
from the Picayune Item

I have something to say, but no time to say it right now…so stay tooned.

Session organizer letters: printing. And printing, and printing, and printing.

Much packing, laundry, misc. cleaning at home – am leaving for a much-needed no-child jaunt. First down to St.L for a Pat’s pilgrimage and visit with a friend who will be leaving for research and a conference in Jolly Olde for the summer; then to the Grove for time to walk, talk, drink coffee with real cream, and not think very hard unless I want to, not hear endless whining, not experience daily aggravation and frustration that leads me to see job notices like this one and pause..a..little..too..long. Not think about Bri’s likely (and deserved) promotion which will mean him not wanting to move ever for chunk of time…which sure as hell f*cks my future plans. I’m submitting one paper and working on getting a translation spruced to submit for publication – do you wonder why? I do, currently.

And get that damn soundtrack out of my head. And Bri can watch it over, and over, and over while I’m gone – and then lose the DVD just before I come back.

Yes, I need this vacation. Oh yes, I certainly do.

I’m techinically missing my anniversary *mumblelevenmumble*, but I’ll be back in time for my birthday…which I get to spend with my *adjective removed for mixed audience* in-laws at a wedding, the story behind which would make either a soap opera plot of Jerry Springer show. *tossess confetti*

Ok, I have a sense of humor. Really.

Despite the witty repartee I must admit that I find so many of these designs…totally un-funny. Dramatically un-funny. Disturbingly un-funny.

Well, except for the president, one.

Designs include:

I CAN KICK YOUR BABY’S ASS (In Ecuador they actually hold “baby brawls”. It’s kind of like cock fighting, only a lot less cock and a lot more baby talk.)

DADDY DRINKS BECAUSE I CRY (My daddy drinks his life away. He drinks away his dreams. Mommy says just one more day, and fills our hearts with screams.)

PLAYGROUND PIMP (Your baby is the baddest ass in the sandbox…get him this baby t-shirt and he’ll be pulling all the baby bitches.)

THEY SHAKE ME! (Shut your baby mouth and stop complaining. At least your father/mother is not Michael Jackson.)

MY IQ IS HIGHER THAN THE PRESIDENT’S! (With this baby shirt you can take pride that your baby is smarter than the puppet who has access to the little red button.)

I ENJOY A GOOD SPANKING (Some babies like it rough. The leading baby shirt in the states of New York, California and 49 of the other 50 states.)

I SHIT MY PANTS AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT (As if shitting your pants wasn’t reward enough. A Baby Hell, baby t-shirt stinky favorite.)

DADDY’S LIL’ SQUIRT (Remember when your precious, bundle of joy was just a sticky, little puddle of goo who almost ended up on your chin?)

MY PEE-PEE IS BIGGER THAN YOURS! (Let the other boys (and some fully grown men) know who’s in charge with this baby shirt.)

F!#K THE MILK, WHERE’S THE WHISKEY TITS?! (For the future alcoholics of the world. Great baby clothes for casual drinking babies too!)

I HIDE MY CRACK IN MY DIAPER (Baby clothes for all the little thugs and all the little bitches up in this crib, yo.)

ARE YOU MY DADDY? (Rap Stars, Basketball Players, Rock Stars, The Baldwin Brothers: (the top 4 groups accounting for nearly 97% of all the world’s bastards as reported by TIME magazine).)

BROKEN CONDOM (You love your baby now, but remember how you felt when you first found out? Who knew joy felt so suffocating and suicidal?)

POTTY HEAD! (Baby clothes that show the world that your baby supports your almost socially acceptable smoking habits.)

Oh – and this one.

The rest of the site is…interesting, too. I must admit, I did laugh very, very hard at this shirt.

Maybe I’m just somebody’s mother…