You can’t imagine how upset and annoyed I am about this.    More later; this time, going off to Edward Hospital in Naperville, since they did good with the last go-round.    My take is that they will probably do the usual, and send me home with a big whopping dose of penicillin and keep me stocked…I was running out of the stuff; this is NOT the way I would want my Rx updated.  Trust me.

The event is free to the public, but you have to register in advance to get in due to space limitations, etc.   If you’re going to be in the area, come by!

I’d like to see the James Fallows talk the night before; have to figure out how to balance out my schedule to see old friends and family in Dayton around that trip, so I’m trying to see what will fit in regard to a schedule.   If you want to have a chat while I’m down there, drop me a line or call.  Originally, I was thinking about coming down on Tuesday night, but it’s been pointed out that that Monday is a Federal Holiday, and I wouldn’t have to take off as much time from work if I used it for bopping around Dayton and seeing people then!  Wednesday looks pretty shot otherwise…

I also have to submit a bio to them; short and to the point.  I made a stab at it earlier, and have to turn it in with a picture on Friday to the organizers.   Here’s the draft I have:

Jim Rittenhouse (born 1957 in Dayton) is a writer and editor who is also a Webmaster for the U.S. EPA in Chicago. He has a BA in political science and history from the University of Dayton, and a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University’s  School of Law. His long interest in writing, history and cultures led him to found POINT OF DIVERGENCE, a bi-monthly small press magazine on historical alternatives, and he serves as a judge for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History Fiction. He also has a 10-year old daughter, Meredith, adopted from China as a baby, and been involved with serious study of Chinese language, history and culture since she came into the family.

It doesn’t grab me much, really.  It’s sometimes HARD for me to write about myself; I don’t want to come across too pompous.   Any suggestions on how to improve it (and quickly!) gratefully accepted.

And yes, I’m aware that APAs aren’t exactly small-press as such, but it’s the best approximation I can get that someone would understand.  Also, I’m trying to slant the CV of it towards my ‘able to talk about other cultures, history and China’ direction.

I’m looking forward to the trip; it’s an honor to talk on the subject in my hometown, and it will be really wonderful to see people back in the area.  And I don’t have the time or energy to do a lot of sidetrips, really.

Look for the Vietnamese subtitles…

When you get these sort of fracture lines, you can either end up with the Judean People’s Liberation Front/People’s Front for the Liberation of Judea (a bunch of various sizes of political groupings and parties, each with a oddly varying agenda) or Big Front Parties (Reds v Fascists) – but you end up with lines, hard lines of us v them, right v wrong, those worthless punks versus our soldiers of God.

In Northern Ireland, the Unionists (the people who were for maintaining a union with the UK) also tended to go right-wards and religion-wards – to harder-line know-nothing flat-earth stuff. And, of course, the leaders of such a movement have to be pure as the drivel – uh, driven snow, a shining example of rectitude for their followers.

Enter the political team of Peter and Iris Robinson, MPs (UK government) and Northern Irish Assembly members (legislature for NI); Peter is the ‘First Minister’ of the NI government.   Very hard right politically, very fundamentalist religiously and mixing the two together with a big pot-stirrer.

The problem with mixing hard religion into politics is that someone’s idea of what God means us to do becomes (1) enforceable by the state, and that (2) God’s will as decided by the state is unquestionable and expressed as ‘divine law’ challenged only by heretics and unbelievers (view the video at the end of the news article for the quote about ‘the word of God’).

This means that people are quite happy to make the rules and enforce them on you, according to their religious belief, and be as hidebound as they feel on the subject – they are the true children of God, and above you in the system of things, etc., etc.

Ask the Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses about their treatment under the Nazis.  Ask Catholics about the way that they were treated in Britain after the reign of Elizabeth I.   Ask the Huguenots about their treatment under the French Kings.

This is why I am totally for the separation of church and state.  My Rittenhouse ancestors came here as religious dissenters, settling in Pennsylvania in the 1680s because it was open to such folks.    Much of my own religious odyssey involves religious dissent and my extended family includes religious groups who have been persecuted in their own time.

However, as we discern here in the United States with the hard-right politicos, stating your public beliefs and acting ethically and morally behind the scenes are two very separate things.

In the case of the Robinsons, they were hip deep in the MP-finances scandals, pulling off improprieties for private gain and a mansion near Belfast, and finally having thunder-against-the-wicked Iris Robinson admit to an affair with a teenager and the boy’s father and funneling tens of thousands of pounds from land developers for a restaurant the boy wanted to open.

Benjamin: Oh no, Mrs. Robinson. I think, I think you’re the most attractive of all my parents’ friends. I mean that.

Of course, you’d say that Mrs. Robinson needed to have real balls to make statements about the unholiness of others while stealing from the state and the public and screwing around; and so she does – big chocolate ones.  Tasty, I understand.

Personally, I think that’s more likely to confuse the heck out of people used to the old system and drop the vote percentages further as they give up on trying to figure out what to do.  The problem is gtting people to get positively involved, if that’s not too much trouble.  But read on…

In another story, the ‘”Obama Care, the Trojan Horse of Socialism” plywood horse was rolling through Sioux Falls, courtesy of a local “tea party” group that was trying to whip up support by suggesting a remote hazy connection between the health care bill and some secret Marxist cabal trying to take over the US and enforce communism on the citizenry.

Both, to me, are seriously icky examples of the notion that you don’t have to think hard about what political issues are all about, or to consider the important issues in elective politics – just scream a few brainless slogans.   Pass along wild stories that don’t even try to show fact but just pull up some invented ‘well, it could be’ connection between someone you politically disagree with and Some Great Purported Evil.

If nobody cares about the school system, except to push their kid through fast and as cheaply as possible, you end up with a mess.  But it was cheap!

If nobody cares to carefully think over political issues, the level of debate drops to abuse, and nothing useful gets done – and another boost is given to the people who are really profiting from the situation.   Which generally aren’t the people repeating the slogans.

It ends up with moronic statements like ‘get government’s hands out of my medicare’, because Medicare, of course, falls from the skies and has nothing to do with the government.  This YouTube gives the audio of Reagan, in 1961, railing about ’socialized medicine’ and the evils thereof – referring to Medicare.

(If you want a gross example, do a google search of “trojan horse of socialism” and see how many things have been considered forerunners of socialism, including stuff like fluoridated water – or miscegenation.   )

I’m waiting for the suppressed secret study that shows that eating and breathing has been linked to an increased death rate in 100% of all cases.  And socialism, too.

Sheesh.

• It also notes a 2009 picture of the twins as ‘their first meeting in 2003′, which it isn’t.
• “Jim Rittenhouse made contact with Meredith Ellen’s parents on-line in 2003 in the course of looking for an adoptive sister for his daughter Meredith Grace.”  BZZZT.  Wrong.  No such connection.
  
• “Both cry for days after parting.”  Not any more, they don’t.
  

Another posting of the story has a very nice set of comments from people…and a blog commentary on it is interesting.

The article (English translation via Babelfish translation) follows after the cut.  It seems to be a boil-down of the Newsweek article.

Separate 孖 female feels like old friends at the first meeting helps uncovers riddle of the mind reading to adopt respectively has a reunion at the US miracle

[Ming Daily special news]A Chinese pair 孖 female is born is abandoned soon by the mother, attains two American family adoption successively, to American different place life. Although great distance great distance, but they have the same name as if by prior agreement, the hobby is also close. What is more mysterious, they then often thought since childhood they have sisters. Two people of 6 years ago have a reunion then to feel like old friends at the first meeting for the first time, the walking tractor is not willing to let loose. Their story arouses the California researchers’ interest, hoped whether for 孖 lives the brothers and sisters real existence mind reading from their body to seek for the answer.

in December, 1999, Guangdong Province Jiangmen Welfare institution during a half month, has received two newborn female infants successively. Although two female infants have lived for 9 months in the identical orphanage, but nobody has realized they are 孖 live, nurses the personnel to act according to the experience, helps them to decide on December 1 and on December 16 separately for the date of birth.

Late enters the orphanage the female infant, afterward first was adopted by American Alabama’s Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, names plum Radice. Ellen (Meredith Ellen); One month later, has adopted another female infant from Chicago’s in Teng House Mr. and Mrs., names plum Radice for her. Grace (Meredith Grace).

The name likes close same

Although grows in the different place, but two female infants actually seem to be the mystical link, they like the geography similarly, once approached the parents in 4 years old to take a terrestrial globe to take the gift. They also as if often miss opposite party. When Ellen two years old to the foster parents said that ﹕ “I am quite lonely. I hoped that has sisters.”The parents therefore adopted another girl to act as companion to her, but she often was still depressed. Also often said far in Chicago’s grace to hers preschool teacher that she has sisters in China; when 3 years old, she creates sentences to call after ﹕ “I grow up, wants to work as sisters.”

The foster father on-line exchange uncovers the appearance to be similar

When in Teng House wants to adopt sisters for the grace, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have attracted his attention in on-line message. He remembered, when initially prepared the adoption grace, once with opposite party through the email, the shared experience, he also remembered that in the past both sides named plum Radice for the adopted daughter. Two family members afterward did not have contact again, but after 4 years looked again Mr. and Mrs. Harrington upload the picture, he actually discovered the latter adopted daughter’s appearance, is very unexpectedly similar with his adopted daughter.

In Teng House therefore contacts Harrington one, both sides discovered that two girls’ heights, the body weight, the disposition are very similar. When Ellen sees the grace the picture, also according to the person works as by mistake oneself. Two couples then make the gene for the adopted daughters 鑑 to decide, finally confirmed that they indeed are the twin sisters. in 2003, two families arranged the adopted daughters to meet for the first time in Alabama. The little sisters hug mutually stare long time, then the connecting rod walks while you are at it in the same place. Although travels between two places the airplane tickets and the hotel expenditure is not poor, but this for 6 years, two families can arrange the little sisters every year to meet at least two times. They each time meet display very much own thick, as soon as bids good-bye throws a fit and cries loudly.

Helps the university to search 孖 the embryo mystery

This to 孖 the female present is UC Fullerton twin Research center Director Xigeer (Nancy Segal) the object of study, she believed that their case had demonstrated possibly has “the mind reading” with egg twin. Together with this to the little sisters, she altogether looked for 9 pairs to be born in China, but by different family adoption’s twin (with egg and different egg fertilization each 5 pairs), was growing together with other 30 pairs twin conducted the research, the discussion 孖 embryo’s mystery, but has not had the conclusion temporarily.

Newsweek

失散孖女一見如故 助揭心靈感應之謎 各自被收養 在美奇蹟重逢

(明報)2009年12月22日 星期二 05:10

【明報專訊】中國一對孖女出世不久就被母親遺棄，先後獲兩個美國家庭領養，到美國不同地方生活。雖然相隔千里，但她們不約而同擁有相同的名字，愛好 也接近。更神奇的是，她們自幼便常覺得自己有個姊妹。兩人6年前首度重逢便一見如故，手拖手不願放開。她們的故事引起加州研究人員的興趣，希望從她們身上 為孖生兄弟姊妹是否真的存在心靈感應尋找答案。

1999年12月，廣東省江門市社會福利院在半個月間，先後接收了兩名初生女嬰。兩名女嬰雖然在同一間孤兒院生活了9個月，但一直無人察覺她們是孖生的，看護人員根據經驗，分別幫她們敲定12月1日和12月16日為出生日期。

較遲進孤兒院的女嬰，後來先被美國亞拉巴馬州的哈林頓夫婦領養，取名梅雷迪斯．埃倫（Meredith Ellen）；一個月後，來自芝加哥的里滕豪斯夫婦收養了另一女嬰，為她取名梅雷迪斯．格雷斯（Meredith Grace）。

名字相同 喜好接近

儘管在不同地方成長，但兩名女嬰卻似有神秘紐帶，她們同樣喜歡地理，在4歲均曾向父母要一個地球儀作為禮物。她們還似乎時常思念對方。埃倫兩歲時就 對養父母說﹕「我好孤單。我希望有個姊妹。」父母於是收養了另一個女孩給她作伴，但她仍時常悶悶不樂。遠在芝加哥的格雷斯也常跟她的幼稚園老師說，她在中 國有一個姊妹；3歲時，她造句稱﹕「我長大後想當姊妹。」

養父網上交流 揭樣貌相似

當里滕豪斯想為格雷斯領養一個姊妹時，哈林頓夫婦在網上的留言吸引了他的注意。他記得，當初準備領養格雷斯時，曾與對方通過電郵，分享經驗，他還記 得當年雙方都為養女取名梅雷迪斯。兩家人後來沒再聯絡，但事隔4年再看哈林頓夫婦上載的照片，他卻發現後者養女的容貌，竟跟他的養女很相似。

里滕豪斯於是聯絡上哈林頓一家，雙方發現兩個女孩的身高、體重、性格均很相似。當埃倫看見格雷斯的照片時，也把照中人誤當自己。兩對夫婦遂為養女們 做基因鑑定，結果證實她們的確是孿生姊妹。2003年，兩個家庭安排養女們首次在亞拉巴馬相見。小姊妹互相擁抱又凝視良久，然後就手牽手走在一起。雖然往 返兩地的機票和酒店花費不菲，但這6年來，兩個家庭每年都會安排小姊妹見面至少兩次。她們每次相會都表現得很親厚，一分手就大發脾氣和嚎哭。

助大學探孖胎奧秘

這對孖女如今是加州大學富勒頓孿生研究中心主任西格爾（Nancy Segal）的研究對象，她相信她們的個案顯示了同卵孿生兒可能有「心靈感應」。連同這對小姊妹在內，她共找了9對在中國出生，但由不同家庭領養的孿生兒 （同卵和異卵受精各5對），與另外30對在一起成長的孿生兒進行研究，探討孖胎的奧秘，但暫時未有結論。

新聞周刊

The line that kept coming back to me on this was: “What were these people thinking?”

The two former aides squirmed in their seats and held their tongues—while John sat staring silently at them from across the table. Ginsberg and Rubey left the dinner astonished by Elizabeth’s herculean efforts at willingly suspending disbelief. But as disquieting for them as the scene was, even more disturbing was the possibility that they were wrong about how Edwards would fare in Iowa. What if he won? What would they do? What should they do?

The thought was occurring in the minds of many old Edwards hands, in Iowa and farther afield. The mainstream media, yet again, was determinedly ignoring the Enquirer. If that trend continued, there was still a chance that John could win the nomination—and thus deliver the White House to the GOP on a platter when the story eventually, inevitably, was proved true.