Bill Allin 's Comments

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Still Waiting For The Light To Change by Bill Allin

Nov 18, 2009 | comments: 2

Bill Allin Nov 18, 2009, 2:15pm EST

Thanks Leo. Some parts of the article apply to everyone, though we don't realize it.

What A Relationship Needs To Succeed by Bill Allin

Oct 21, 2009 | comments: 3

Bill Allin Oct 21, 2009, 9:30am EDT

Thanks Leslie and Doc. Leslie, the many human examples of pair-bonding prove that the two hardest subjects to master are human nature and love.

Your Life In A Day by Bill Allin

Oct 10, 2009 | rating: 8.5 | comments: 3

Bill Allin Oct 11, 2009, 3:23am EDT

As expected, religious fanatics will hate this, will rate it low, but will be terrified to comment because they have nothing but their fantastic beliefs on which to base their lives. What they want is real and tangible, what they believe is fiction every bit as absurd as the beliefs of those they call heretics. They should condemn themselves for their "faith" in things that could not possibly exist, as they condemn others for the same things, but they don't. Their beliefs, however fantastic, primitive and contradictory, are sacrosanct.

Your Life In A Day by Bill Allin

Oct 10, 2009 | rating: 8.5 | comments: 3

Bill Allin Oct 11, 2009, 3:16am EDT

Leo, you aren't the same. The point is that everything changes, but it doesn't disappear.

Our Own Shame by Bill Allin

Oct 4, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 2

in reply to a comment by libramoon C.

Bill Allin Oct 4, 2009, 6:42pm EDT

Yes, libramoon, that would be quite a change, wouldn't it? No doubt the world as we know it would totally collapse.

But who would miss it?

How Public Schools Fail Us Tragically by Bill Allin

Sep 22, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 2

Bill Allin Sep 23, 2009, 4:42am EDT

Anita, you seem to have missed the main point of the article. We can't blame schools because they provide the limited kind of education industries and corporations want. Nothing more. Schools do not produce the kind of graduate you and I want because not enough of us demand it. We don't speak up, we just accept what we get. As it turns out, that's not much, not as much as we need.

Interesting Stuff About Movies by Bill Allin

Sep 14, 2009 | comments: 3

Bill Allin Sep 14, 2009, 7:47pm EDT

Thanks Dianna and Loretta. I found it fun to learn this stuff too.

Living Beyond Your Life Today by Bill Allin

Aug 23, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 7

Bill Allin Aug 23, 2009, 1:11pm EDT

Thanks Robert and Jackie.

Robert, I like the concept of life being like walking a tightrope. Look down and the whole thing is simply too much to cope with. Coping means learning to walk with head upright, knowing that we will keep going across the rope, the rope won't end and we won't fall.

Living Beyond Your Life Today by Bill Allin

Aug 23, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 7

Bill Allin Aug 23, 2009, 9:39am EDT

Thanks Katharyne, Jim and Mary. What I wrote is true and truth is not in great demand lately.

Why You Are Here by Bill Allin

Aug 20, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 3

Bill Allin Aug 20, 2009, 5:45pm EDT

Thanks Jim and Richard.

Richard, maybe it's us who are intended to keep the butterflies company. I wonder sometimes.

Who Is An Atheist? by Bill Allin

Aug 15, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 8

Bill Allin Aug 19, 2009, 6:27pm EDT

Thanks for your thoughts Linda.

It's not atheists who want to remove God from everything, it's politically correct advocates, who are among the worst bigots around. Atheists don't care, are seldom political advocates of anything.

Stealing and killing are not sins in the usual sense of the word. They are simply un-natural. Generally speaking animals do not kill their own kind or steal from them. Of course there are exceptions, but the rule stands.

Atheists are not afraid of anything. It's religions that promote fear as a means of behaviour control. Odd as it seems, atheists are prepared to die at any time without a whimper, though not necessarily voluntarily.

Who Is An Atheist? by Bill Allin

Aug 15, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 8

Bill Allin Aug 17, 2009, 3:25am EDT

Thanks Leo. I think what you wrote is what Mary meant when she mentioned about human nature. To harm the environment is to spoil your own nest. That is unnatural. Humans are among the very few animals that do that.

Who Is An Atheist? by Bill Allin

Aug 15, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 8

Bill Allin Aug 16, 2009, 5:20am EDT

Thank you Mary and Dorothy.

Mary, as much as you want to believe otherwise (it's what you have been trained to believe all your life), the concept of some behaviour being sinful was created by religion, not by human nature. Sin as a concept is a way (a very effective way) that religion controls the behaviour of its followers. Is it a sin to drive your car faster than the speed limit? Speed limits are a means by which governments control our behaviour. There's nothing in human nature about that. It's a matter of having the power to control the behaviour of others.

When Should Children Be Taught Certain Facts and Skills? by Bill Allin

Aug 13, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 2

Bill Allin Aug 14, 2009, 1:28am EDT

Thanks libramoon. You are correct. In fact, most schools are set up to discourage these skills and attitudes, despite the fact they publicly they claim to encourage them in children.

With the kind of skills you advocate, teachers would never get their their curriculum each year. I say "Who cares so long as the child is growing well?" Curriculum (and testing) are set up to encourage recall of information taught previously--if THIS, then THAT. Problem solving means making lots of mistakes and taking too long to get through the necessary curriculum, two things that education systems frown upon.

The Value of Power by Bill Allin

Aug 11, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 4

Bill Allin Aug 11, 2009, 8:48pm EDT

Thanks Jim, Eva and Leo.

The kind of power in the article is indeed like a drug. But there is another kind of power that is not addressed. That's for other articles.

What Can We Do With Sinners And Losers? by Bill Allin

Jul 25, 2009 | comments: 2

Bill Allin Jul 26, 2009, 6:36am EDT

Thanks Mary.

ADHD: You or Someone You Love Could Have It and Not Know It by Bill Allin

Jul 14, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Bill Allin Jul 15, 2009, 6:16am EDT

Shirley, my "sample selection" is simply the examples in my personal life. As a sociologist and educator with a worldwide audience, I don't base all my thoughts on anecdotes. Gather readers do not, for the most part, want to read academic studies, they want to read personal stories. I used personal stories as examples of how the situation with respect to ADHD could be different.

My objectives are communication and dialogue. Yours appear to be "our way is best, leave it to us." As you may have gathered, I distrust "experts," especially in the fields of education and child development, because they have been proven wrong far more often than they have be shown to be right.

You want to fix an existing problem. I want to avoid it happening in the first place. Medical science loves to fix problems, hates to have someone snatch their problem from under their control. Your suggestion that I return with "one thousand successful case studies" supports my belief that you are an "inside the box" "stick with drugs as the only answer" thinker. You and I could never agree on that subject.

ADHD: You or Someone You Love Could Have It and Not Know It by Bill Allin

Jul 14, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Bill Allin Jul 15, 2009, 6:07am EDT

Shirley, your comparison of asking children with vision problems to not use glasses in school with trying to find a way to avoid having children develop ADHD by addressing their intellectual development needs rather than by using drugs to "calm them down" suggests that you have no idea what I am talking about.

Your reaction "Report back to us when you have one thousand successful case studies" proves this. Nowhere did I suggest that currently used therapies should not be used or new ones developed. What I recommended was that we look at ADHD differently, that perhaps the problem is with the deficiency of our approach to a problem rather than with a genetic or physiological glitch we can do nothing about.

I find the attitude that drugs are the only and bet answer to be morally repugnant. Never would I accept that dumbing down a child so that he will be more normal is the only or best route to take. Drugs serve the goals of the medical community and schools, but they serve to help a child only in a temporary sense--to avoid socially awkward situations.

Keep up your campaign to have drugs be the only "remedy" for ADHD. With that kind of attitude, eventually enough people will say that something is dreadfully wrong. Without opposition, nothing new will happen. I am serious. I know you are sincere and well intentioned. But you want to stay safely "within the box" of accepted medical therapies.

Surely you would not deny that having parents be more knowledgeable about the needs of the children they are raising would be beneficial.

I suspect that you and I likely agree, we just can't find the right combination of words to use so that we sound the same message.

ADHD: You or Someone You Love Could Have It and Not Know It by Bill Allin

Jul 14, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Bill Allin Jul 14, 2009, 9:43pm EDT

Shirley, I have no clue as to what you had in mind with your comment. Each part of it seems absurd.

I appreciate that you and others may disagree with my proposal, but at least you should understand it first. You obviously do not.

ADHD: You or Someone You Love Could Have It and Not Know It by Bill Allin

Jul 14, 2009 | rating: 10 | comments: 9

Bill Allin Jul 14, 2009, 3:11pm EDT

Thanks Marsha and Leo.

Leo, you won't be clobbered by me. Teachers try their best to cope with situations that are far beyond their knowledge, skills and time allotments. However, over the long term, drugs for ADHD may help make the square peg fit easier into the round hole. Until much better methods are available for meeting the intellectual needs of young children before they get too far off track, drugs may be the only available answer.

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Bill Allin
Miramichi, NB, Canada

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