A Smile -- The Greatest Gift

 

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

– Mother Teresa

I agree with Mother Teresa. A smile, especially from a loved one, is perhaps the greatest gift. Do you remember those beautiful smiles you harvested at special times in your life? Also consider how you smiled when you shared your love in a treasured moment with others. Receiving or giving a smile is priceless, and the beautiful gift doesn't cost a dime.

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.”

– Lord Byron

So, what exactly is a smile?

Eric Jaffe – behavioral scientist and writer for the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, Slate, and Science News – reports about the mechanics of a smile …

“A smile begins in our sensory corridors. The ear collects a whispered word. The eyes spot an old friend on the station platform. The hand feels the pressure of another hand. This emotional data funnels to the brain, exciting the left anterior temporal region in particular, then smolders to the surface of the face, where two muscles, standing at attention, are roused into action: The zygomatic major, which resides in the cheek, tugs the lips upward, and the orbicularis oculi, which encircles the eye socket, squeezes the outside corners into the shape of a crow’s foot.

“The entire event is short – typically lasting from two-thirds of a second to four seconds – and those who witness it often respond by mirroring the action, and smiling back.”

(Eric Jaffe. “The Psychological Study of Smiling.” Association For Psychological Science. February 11, 2011.)

Scientists tell us there are 19 different types of smile; however, only six occur when we’re having a good time. The rest happen when we’re in pain, embarrassed, uncomfortable, horrified or even miserable. A smile may mean contempt, anger or incredulity, that we’re lying or that we’ve lost.

But, that incredible smile that Mother Teresa describes has a name. Have you ever heard of a “Duchenne smile”?

The peculiar tango of the zygomatic major and the orbicularis oculi produces a genuine expression of positive emotion that psychologists call the “Duchenne smile,” and most consider it the sole indicator of true enjoyment.

Jaffe tells us of the Duchenne variety …

“The name is a nod to French anatomist Guillaume Duchenne, who studied emotional expression by stimulating various facial muscles with electrical currents. (The technique hurt so much, it’s been said, that Duchenne performed some of his tests on the severed heads of executed criminals.)

“In his 1862 book Mecanisme de la Physionomie Humaine, Duchenne wrote that the zygomatic major can be willed into action, but that only the 'sweet emotions of the soul' force the orbicularis oculi to contract. 'Its inertia, in smiling,' Duchenne wrote, 'unmasks a false friend.'”

(Eric Jaffe. “The Psychological Study of Smiling.” Association For Psychological Science. February 11, 2011.)

When you see someone displaying a Duchenne smile, you naturally feel positive emotions for the person smiling. The smile is distinctive, with the mouth turning up (the zygomatic major muscle), the cheeks lifting, and the eye sockets crinkling to create crow's feet (the orbicularis oculi).

What makes a Duchenne smile so special? First, a non-Duchenne smile doesn't reach the eyes but resides only on the lips and possibly the cheeks. Second, the Duchenne smile is considered a natural smile of enjoyment. In the past, the consensus among researchers was that a true Duchenne smile couldn't be faked. More recent research calls that into question. Now, researchers spend more time trying to find out how we benefit from and how we can produce the Duchenne smile.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

– Leo Buscaglia

How powerful is this particular smile? Suffice it to say that this smile is a facial expression on steroids. It is the universal language of kindness. It's powers can vanquish kingdoms. A smile opens lasting relationships.

The intensity of a Duchenne smile can predict marital happiness, personal well-being, and even longevity. We know that variables (age, gender, culture, and social setting, among them) influence the frequency and character of a smile and what purpose these expressions play in the broader scheme of existence. In short, scientists have learned that one of humanity’s simplest expressions is beautifully complex.

“They might not need me; but they might. I'll let my head be just in sight; a smile as small as mine might be precisely their necessity.”

– Emily Dickinson

And, giving or receiving a smile is good for you … literally. Smiling stimulates your brain’s reward mechanisms in a way that even chocolate, a well-regarded pleasure-inducer, cannot match.

In a study conducted in the UK (using an electromagnetic brain scan machine and heart-rate monitor to create "mood-boosting values" for various stimuli), British researchers found that one smile can provide the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 chocolate bars; they also found that smiling can be as stimulating as receiving up to 16,000 Pounds Sterling in cash. That’s 25 grand a smile!

(Ron Gutman. “The Untapped Power Of Smiling.” Forbes. March 22, 2011.)

Have you ever thought about this? The most loving soul to ever walk the planet interestingly is not even remotely associated with smiling. Surely Jesus Christ smiled. However, depictions of Jesus sharing such an emotion are absent from the Good Book and seldom seen in religious art.

“Prince of Paradox” G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) – famed English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic – noticed it, and wrote about it briefly in his hallmark book, Orthodoxy, more than 100 years ago.

“He restrained something,” Chesterton wrote of Christ. “There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.”

The brilliance of God’s smile is obscured to us. So, even the creator's smile can be something that’s veiled in this life. Jesus's own interior mirth – His sheer delight – is not in the gospels. Is is too wondrous a thing for the naked human eye to see? I don't know and I don't understand the omission, but I do know that the true smile is the most valuable expression of human-to-human love.

The Shadow of Your Smile

One day we walked along the sand
One day in early spring
You held a piper in your hand
To mend its broken wing
Now I'll remember many a day
And many a lonely mile
The echo of a piper's song
The shadow of a smile

The shadow of your smile
When you are gone
Will color all my dreams
And light the dawn
Look into my eyes
My love and see
All the lovely things
You are to me

Our wistful little star
Was far too high
A teardrop kissed your lips
And so did I
Now when I remember spring
All the joy that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile

– Written by Johnny Mandel and lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster

Afghanistan -- End the Two-Decade "Forever" War

 

Letters

1

Before he left for combat,

he took care of everything:

someone to plow the driveway,

cut the grass.

And the letter he wrote me,

just in case, sealed,

somewhere, in a drawer;

can't be opened,

must be opened

if he doesn't return.

I feel for my keys,

hear his voice:

Less is better. Late

for work, still,

I linger

at the window of the Century

Florist, a bowl of peonies,

my face among the tulips.

2

Last Mother's Day, when

he was incommunicado,

nothing came.

Three days later, a message

in my box; a package,

the mail room closed.

I went out into the lobby,

banged my fist against

the desk. When they

gave it to me, I clutched it

to my chest, sobbing

like an animal.

I spoke to no one,

did not apologize.

I didn't care about the gift.

It was the note I wanted,

the salt from his hand,

the words.

– Frances Richey, author of The Warrior: A Mother’s Story of a Son at War (2008)

President Joe Biden gave historic remarks on April 14 announcing his plan to fully withdraw American troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this year.

"We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create ideal conditions for withdrawal and expecting a different result," Biden said.

Biden acknowledged that U.S. objectives in Afghanistan had become “increasingly unclear” over the past decade. Biden said …

“It was never meant to be a multi-generational undertaking. We were attacked. We went to war with clear goals. We achieved those objectives … It’s time to end the forever war.”

Biden noted that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces in 2011 and said that organization has been “degraded” in Afghanistan.

A senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday that the withdrawal would not be conditions-based, as Biden had deemed such an approach "a recipe for staying in Afghanistan forever."

Biden also said the U.S. will continue diplomatic and humanitarian work in the country, including assistance to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. But he said it was also now time for other countries to play a bigger role in Afghanistan – Pakistan in particular, but also Russia, India, China and Turkey. Each of those countries has its own overlapping interest in the country – interests that don't necessarily intersect with U.S. goals in Afghanistan.

It is understood that by pulling out without a clear victory over the Taliban and other radicals in Afghanistan, the United States opens itself to criticism that a withdrawal represents a de facto admission of failure for American military strategy.

That is an unfortunate acknowledgement that has to be faced. I believe it is time to do so.

It's Time To End the War

The war has cost the lives of 2,312 American service members as of April 13, 2021. 20,066 American service members have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since 2001. And the war has consumed an estimated $2 trillion.

U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan peaked at more than 100,000 in 2011. Officially the Pentagon says now there are about 2,500 American troops serving in Afghanistan as part of an advise-and-assist mission to help Afghan security forces. However, U.S. officials have acknowledged the number is slightly higher as U.S. counter-terrorism forces are not counted in the official training mission number.

United Against Inhumanity reported (2019) that “the war, and the way it is conducted, is a key factor in the rising toll of civilian casualties in Afghanistan.”

Pro-government forces including NATO allies caused more civilian deaths than anti-government armed groups in the first half of 2019 accounting for 52% and 39% respectively; 9% of deaths were attributed to both sets of warring parties in cross-fire incidents. The war remained lethal for children who comprised 84% of all civilian casualties “from explosive remnants of war” between January and June 2019.”

A United Nations report in February 2020 says Afghanistan passed a grim milestone with more than 100,000 civilians killed or hurt in the last 10 years since the international body began documenting casualties in the war.

(Kathy Gannon and Rahim Faiez. “UN: 100,000 civilians casualties in Afghanistan in 10 years.” Associated Press. February 21, 2020.)

In addition, Afghans constitute one of the world’s largest and most protracted refugee populations which, coupled with rising numbers of compatriots who are internally displaced, “adds up to some 5 million people who have fled their homes in search of safety elsewhere.”

(Norah Niland. “Afghanistan: human costs of war, impunity and indifference.” United Against Inhumanity. January 2020.)

Note (2007):

“The ACLU reports that since U.S. troops first set foot in Afghanistan in 2001, the Defense Department has gone to unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the human costs of war.

The ACLU pointed out that during both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Defense Department has instituted numerous policies designed to control information about the human costs of war. These policies include:

• Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed overseas;

• Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive accounts of the U.S. war effort;

• Inviting U.S. journalists to "embed" with military units but requiring them to submit their stories for pre-publication review;

• Erasing journalists' footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan; and

• Refusing to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.

(“ACLU RELEASES U.S. ARMY DOCUMENTS THAT DEPICT AMERICAN TROOPS’ INVOLVEMENT IN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.” ACLU. September 4, 2007.)

And, even though some officials like CIA Director William Burns say that the departure of American troops from Afghanistan will leave a "significant risk" of terrorism resurgence in the region and withdrawal will diminish the U.S. government's ability to collect and act on threats, others point out there is virtually no possibility of a military victory over the Taliban and little chance of leaving behind a self-sustaining democracy in Afghanistan.

(Lucien Bruggeman. “US troop withdrawal invites 'significant risk' of terrorism resurgence in Afghanistan, CIA director warns.” ABC News. April 14, 2021.)

For many years the American people have supported withdrawal from Afghanistan. Robert D. Kaplan, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a senior adviser at Eurasia Group, explains …

“No other country in the world symbolizes the decline of the American empire as much as Afghanistan …

“While many American troops stay behind steel-reinforced concrete walls to protect themselves from the very population they are supposed to help, it is striking how little discussion Afghanistan has generated in government and media circles in Washington. When it comes to Afghanistan, Washington has been a city hiding behind its own walls of shame and frustration …

“The United States appears to have little commercial future in the country, even though it spends about $45 billion there annually. The total cost of the war could reach as high as $2 trillion when long-term costs are factored in, according to Brown University's Cost of War Project. All that to prop up an unstable government that would most likely disintegrate if aid were to end.”

(Robert D. Kaplan. “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan.” The New York Times. January 01, 2019.)

According to a March 2020 Economist/YouGov poll, 44 percent of Americans surveyed believe sending U.S. troops into Afghanistan was a mistake. An April 2020 poll commissioned by the Concerned Veterans of America found 73 percent of veterans and 69 percent of military households support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan – a 13-percentage point increase compared to the year prior.

The Charles Koch Foundation has found that nearly three-quarters of Americans support bringing U.S. troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan. If the American people had their way, the U.S. military would have been out of Afghanistan years ago.

(Daniel DePetris. “It's time to leave Afghanistan.” The Hill. August 11, 2020.)

Other data suggest that “vocal, concerted grassroots campaigns currently conducted by veterans groups represent just one subset of veterans.” More specifically, veterans who served after the 9/11 attacks are more likely to feel strongly about ending our involvement in Afghanistan.

According to a NORC poll, 40% of veterans who served prior to 9/11 supported troop reductions and 32% opposed them. Yet 54% who served post-9/11 supported reductions, and 29% opposed them. It is perhaps not surprising that veterans of the post-9/11 wars are more weary of these wars.

(Madiha Afzal and Israa Saber. “Americans are not unanimously war-weary on Afghanistan.” Brookings. March 19, 2021.)

The American people are entirely justified in heaping skepticism on Washington's policy in Afghanistan. The U.S mission, after all, long ago transformed into a collection of expensive, tedious, impractical tasks totally beyond the U.S. military's capacity to achieve.

In the back of our minds? We are terrified of a repeat of 1975, when panicked South Vietnamese fled Saigon as Americans pulled out and North Vietnamese forces advanced on the city. That humiliation of desertion is alive today. An abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan could conceivably provide a new symbol of the decline in American military policy.

Kaplan says, “The point is, we remain in Afghanistan out of fear of even worse outcomes, rather than in the expectation of better ones. He explains …

“But let’s be honest with ourselves: Afghanistan is like the huge and hugely expensive aircraft carriers we continue to build, increasingly obsolete in an era of sophisticated missile technology and hypersonic warfare. It is a vestigial limb of empire, and it is time to let it go.”

(Robert D. Kaplan. “Time to Get Out of Afghanistan.” The New York Times. January 01, 2019.)

Let's get real. If Korea was “the forgotten war,” then Afghanistan is “the disregarded war.” Most of us take no notice of this war after two decades of conflict. That is horrifying in itself – armed forces are still there – fighting and dying – and few even notice. The two presidential debates ahead of last year's election took place without a single discussion of any of the U.S.'s ongoing wars. Imagine being a veteran.

Most of us go about our daily business with rarely a thought given to the fact that our military accomplished its goals with the crippling of al-Qaida and the death of Osama Bin Laden. Despite legitimate criticisms and concerns about withdrawal, the time has come to end our involvement in Afghanistan.

Why? It is painfully clear, we cannot "fix" Afghanistan with foreign military force … at least, at not an acceptable cost of lives and money. And, even if a Taliban victory might occur after an American military withdrawal, this does not necessarily present a serious security concern to the United States.

John Glaser, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, points out …

“Particularly, the threat of a terrorist safe haven is minimal and based mostly on the myth that territorial harbors provide great utility in conducting transnational terrorist attacks.

“Moreover, fears of regional disintegration and destabilization are misplaced, as are concerns about a loss of credibility: there is good reason to expect stability to emerge following a negotiated withdrawal, and the war itself seems to inflict greater damage to America’s image than defeat likely would.

“Narrower elements of the mission, including quelling the opium trade and securing a lasting human rights regime, have substantially proven to be futile over almost two decades of effort and are not objectives that the U.S. military, a tool for protecting the country from threats overseas, is well suited to addressing.”

(John Glaser and John Mueller. “Overcoming Inertia: Why It’s Time to End the War in Afghanistan.” Cato Institute. August 13, 2019.)

President Biden's Evidence-Based Programs To Treat Gun Violence As a Public Health Crisis

 

“Only with gun violence do we respond to repeated tragedies by saying that mourning is acceptable but discussing how to prevent more tragedies is not. But that’s unacceptable. As others have observed, talking about how to stop a mass shooting in the aftermath of a string of mass shootings isn’t ‘too soon.’ It’s much too late.”

– Ezra Klein, American journalist, political analyst

President Joe Biden is calling for $5 billion over eight years for “evidence-based” community violence-prevention programs – or programs that treat gun violence as a public health crisis, rooted in economic insecurity and chronic trauma, rather than as a problem best solved by law enforcement. The projects would target economically distressed neighborhoods where Black and Latino people are disproportionately affected by gun violence.

Researchers have identified several types of community-led programs they say help curb shootings sparked by arguments, drug rivalries and gang conflicts. All have one theme in common: the importance of identifying the people who are most at risk of shooting someone or becoming victims themselves and giving them intense help — from housing to employment to mental health services, including care for the psychological trauma that makes violence contagious.

“Every day in the United States, more than 200 people are murdered or assaulted with a firearm. Little research has considered the role of interpersonal ties in the pathways through which gun violence spreads.”

Social contagion accounted for 63.1% of the 11,123 gunshot violence episodes analyzed, leading to the shooting of 9,773 individuals, some more than once. According to the study, co-offenders – who typically share preexisting social ties with their "infector" (the person most responsible for exposing the subject to gun violence) – were shot, on average, 125 days later.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (2017) found that when one co-offender becomes a victim of gun violence, the likelihood of the other co-offender being shot increases.

JAMA concludes gunshot violence follows an epidemic-like process of social contagion that is transmitted through networks of people by social interactions. Violence prevention efforts that account for social contagion, in addition to demographics, have the potential to prevent more shootings than efforts that focus on only demographics.

(Ben Green, Thibaut Horel, and Andrew V. Papachristos. “Modeling Contagion Through Social Networks to Explain and Predict Gunshot Violence in Chicago, 2006 to 2014.” JAMA Intern Med. 2017.)

At last, a concentration on an evidence-based approach to curbing gun violence. Biden's final plan is in the works. Which violence prevention programs deserve the money? Here are four of the contenders.

(Jon Schuppe. “Biden wants to give anti-violence groups $5 billion. Here's how it could be spent.” NBC News. April 14, 2021)

Note: Read Schuppe's entire article here by clicking here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/biden-wants-give-anti-violence-groups-5-billion-here-s-n1263990#anchor-Violenceinterrupters.

1. Focused Deterrence

Created in Boston in the 1990s, the focused deterrence model brings together police, prosecutors, outreach workers and service agencies, who identify the people most at risk of being affected by gun violence. The people are called into a meeting and are offered help – jobs, housing, health care – and warned that if they reject the help and are involved in violence, they’ll be targeted for law enforcement crackdowns.

These strategies seek to change offender behavior by understanding the underlying violence-producing dynamics and conditions that sustain recurring violent gun injury problems and by implementing a blended strategy of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions.

Researchers have found that the method can dramatically reduce shootings. It has succeeded in Oakland, California, where it was credited with helping to cut homicides in half from 2012 to 2018. (As in many big cities, homicides increased in Oakland last year.) But community activists in some cities have argued against the use of focused deterrence because of its reliance on police, which they say can damage public trust.

Cities including Philadelphia and Baltimore dropped their programs years ago after funding and elected officials’ interest waned, though they have recently decided to try again in response to rising homicide rates. The cost of the programs in Philadelphia has been estimated at $750,000 a year, and about $600,000 in Baltimore.

“When done well, it can be an effective strategy, but it should never be done absent services,” said David Muhammad, executive director of the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, which helped Oakland develop its program. “Enforcement should be a last resort.”

(Jon Schuppe. “Biden wants to give anti-violence groups $5 billion. Here's how it could be spent.” NBC News. April 14, 2021)

The available scientific evidence suggests that these new approaches to violence prevention and control generate gun violence reductions. The positive outcomes of the existing body of evaluations indicate that additional randomized experimental evaluations, however difficult and costly, are warranted.

(Anthony A. Braga1 and David L. Weisburd. “Focused Deterrence and the Prevention of Violent Gun Injuries: Practice, Theoretical Principles, and Scientific Evidence.” Annual Review of Public Health Vol. 36:55-68. March 2015.)

2. Violence Interrupters

This method centers on outreach workers – people with street credibility, often people who have spent time in prison or who have past involvement in gun violence. Trained in crisis intervention, they develop relationships with high-risk people and keep an eye out for simmering disputes, stepping in to help people resolve them before someone fires a gun. The workers also try to steer people into social services.

(Jon Schuppe. “Biden wants to give anti-violence groups $5 billion. Here's how it could be spent.” NBC News. April 14, 2021)

Interrupter programs, developed at the University of Chicago, have been credited with reduced violence in several big cities. From 2010 to 2019, data shows the Crisis Management System has contributed to an average 40% reduction in shootings across program areas compared to 31% decline in shootings in the 17 highest violence precincts in New York City.

But researchers say the model can falter if workers aren’t given enough training or technical assistance, or if officials don’t commit to it for the long term. In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed last year to spend $10 million to expand Cure Violence into four high-crime areas.

(Jeffrey A. Butts, Caterina Gouvis Roman, Lindsay Bostwick, and Jeremy R. Porter. “Cure Violence: A Public Health Model to Reduce Gun Violence.” Annual Review of Public Health Vol. 36:39-53. March 2015)

3. Hospital-Based Intervention

Hospital-based anti-violence programs focus their attention on emergency rooms. While the victim is still receiving treatment, intervention specialists try to dissuade them from seeking retaliation. They also steer victims toward long-term help, not only with their wounds, but also with mental health care, substance abuse treatment, job placement and housing.

(Jon Schuppe. “Biden wants to give anti-violence groups $5 billion. Here's how it could be spent.” NBC News. April 14, 2021)

Proponents say engaging patients in the hospital, during their recovery, is a golden opportunity to improve lives and reduce retaliation and recidivism. The support network continues once patients are released with a pathway for outpatient care and other services.

A study of one such program, at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, found participants less likely to commit crimes. The program also cut costs of incarceration and health care.

(Carnell Cooper, Dawn M Eslinger, Paul D Stolley. “Hospital-based violence intervention programs work.” J Trauma. September 2006.)

Researchers and health professionals engaged in designing patient-focused interventions need to consider barriers and facilitators across all three identified domains-- system, staff, and intervention – to increase the likelihood of implementation success. The interrelationships between domains are also crucial, as resources in one area can be leveraged to address barriers in others.

(L. Geerligs, N.M. Rankin, H.L. Shepherd, et al. “Hospital-based interventions: a systematic review of staff-reported barriers and facilitators to implementation processes.” Implementation Sci 13. 2018)

4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The cyclical nature of gun violence – beefs that boil over into shootings, which spark retaliatory attacks – is driven by chronic trauma that makes people constantly fear for their lives and use firearms to solve problems, experts say. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) refers to a class of interventions that share the basic premise that mental disorders and psychological distress are maintained by cognitive factors. The basic model posits that therapeutic strategies to change these maladaptive cognitions lead to changes in emotional distress and problematic behaviors.

Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches people to come to terms with their trauma and reject violence as a way of resolving disputes. Outreach workers act as life coaches and mentors, maintaining close contact over months or years.

One version, called Advance Peace, pays clients for reaching certain goals. A recent study found it helped drive down gun violence in several California cities, costing them from $375,000 to $450,000 a year. Another version, READI Chicago, has shown promising early results in keeping clients engaged and out of trouble.

Finally, one review identified 11 studies that compared response rates between CBT and other treatments or control conditions. In 7 of these reviews, CBT showed higher response rates than the comparison conditions, and in only one review (Leichsenring & Leibig, 2003), which was conducted by authors with a psychodynamic orientation, reported that CBT had lower response rates than comparison treatments.

In sum, our review of meta-analytic studies examining the efficacy of CBT demonstrated that this treatment has been used for a wide range of psychological problems. In general, the evidence-base of CBT is very strong, and especially for treating anxiety disorders. However, despite the enormous literature base, there is still a clear need for high-quality studies examining the efficacy of CBT.

(Stefan G. Hofmann, Anu Asnaani, Imke J.J. Vonk, Alice T. Sawyer, and Angela Fang, “The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses.” Cognit Ther Res. February 28, 2013.)

“Historically, the federal government’s approach, particularly when faced with surges in gun homicides, is to fund strategies that over-police. The Biden administration demonstrated a commitment to addressing the root causes.”

– Paul Carillo, community violence initiative director for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Conclusion

For President Biden, a longtime proponent of tighter regulations on firearms and police crackdowns on gun crimes, the “evidence based” community violence-prevention programs are a response to Black leaders’ demands that the violence in their communities receive the same attention as mass shootings, and that residents of their communities have more say in how to make them safer.

Anthony Smith, executive director of Cities United, a Louisville, Kentucky-based nonprofit that helps mayors develop public safety initiatives, says …

"This is an opportunity to redefine what public safety means. This country has been used to working one way, which works for white people and not for Black people, for wealthy people and not for poor folks. So, we need to put resources behind strategies and solutions we know will work for everyone.”

(Jon Schuppe. “Biden wants to give anti-violence groups $5 billion. Here's how it could be spent.” NBC News. April 14, 2021)

Gun violence prevention advocates like Fatimah Loren Dreier of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention share that goal. Dreier says …

"It's incredibly important that these funds be directed to communities that are disproportionately impacted by violence, and that there is ease of access for community-based organizations that are doing the most effective work on the ground. We can't emphasize enough that we want to make this a frictionless transfer of resources to those who are doing the most powerful work."

John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, praised the Biden proposal as "extraordinary" but called on the administration to multitask.

"To meaningfully reduce gun violence, we have to both close the loopholes in our gun laws and invest in proven solutions," Feinblatt said. "Congress should move quickly on both tracks to deliver the results the public deserves."

(Juana Summers. “$5 Billion For Violence Prevention Is Tucked Into Biden Infrastructure Plan.” NPR. April 01, 2021.)

Daunte Wright -- A Victim of Police "Slip and Capture"?

 

“The methods used to train officers with their firearms “create the illusion of learning” but are inadequate for the demands of today’s policing, said Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Illinois-based Force Science Institute, which provides research and training to law enforcement agencies.

“Officers are most proficient with their guns immediately after finishing a police academy, experts say.

“After that, most are tested only once or twice a year in 'qualifications' that measure a minimum level of firearms proficiency. There are no federal guidelines for these tests so there are thousands of different standards across the county.

“No one tracks these shootings nationwide, so the AP collected media reports and surveyed agencies across the country through public records requests. The review was not comprehensive due to the sheer number of U.S. law enforcement agencies and a lack of reporting requirements for such shootings. But it provides a snapshot of the problem, documenting 1,422 unintentional discharges since 2012 at 258 agencies.”

(Martha Bellisle. “Accidental shootings by police expose training shortfalls.” Associated Press. October 12, 2020.)

20-year-old Daunte Wright was driving an SUV with expired license plates on April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and he also ran afoul of a Minnesota law that prohibits motorists from hanging air fresheners and other items from their rearview mirrors.

After officers pulled him over, they discovered Wright had an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant, so they attempted arrest. Wright slipped free of the officer attempting to handcuff him; then, Kim Potter, a 26-year police department veteran, shot Wright dead officials say.

Police officials described Wright's death as an "accident," saying Officer Potter mistakenly drew her handgun instead of her Taser. Body camera footage of the shooting shows Potter shouting "Taser!" before she fires.

Fatal shootings where officers mix up handguns with Tasers are rare, “but this has happened at least 16 times in the last 10 years,” said Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association and a retired 29-year veteran of the Naperville Police Department in Illinois.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that since 1999, when Taser introduced its first handgun-shaped model, there have been at least 11 such incidents. The earlier Tasers looked more like TV remote controls.

The best-known example is the New Years Day 2009 fatal shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland, California, by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer that was also videotaped and inspired the movie “Fruitvale Station.”

In that case, Officer Johannes Mehserle’s defense team said he mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his Taser when he shot the prone Grant in the back. A jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.

(Corky Siemaszko. “How a veteran officer could have mistaken a Glock for a Taser in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.” NBC News. April 13, 2021.)

Wesley Skogan, a professor emeritus of political science at Northwestern University who specializes in policing, said officers “have a lot of stuff on their duty belt.” This includes guns, Tasers, pepper spray, a baton, handcuffs, sometimes a sap [blackjack], gloves. Skogan said. “But when they receive training, the emphasis is on guns. Firearms are your best friend.”

As a result, when an officer is in a potentially dangerous situation, their instinct is to reach for their gun rather than the Taser, the experts said.

(Corky Siemaszko. “How a veteran officer could have mistaken a Glock for a Taser in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright.” NBC News. April 13, 2021.)

Potter's Glock pistol is black metal and almost a pound heavier than the neon-colored plastic Taser. The grips on the Glocks and Tasers are made from a similar type of polymer, and Glocks have a trigger safety while Tasers do not.

“They feel differently in your hands,” said Dennis Kenney, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor and a former Florida police officer.

Also, most police departments, including Brooklyn Center, require that officers carry their guns on their dominant side and Tasers on the opposite side to lower the risk of confusing the two weapons, the experts said. That’s also what Axon, the maker of the Taser, recommends.

“You can tell from the video that the Brooklyn Center officers were doing that,“ spokesperson Smith said.

Smith said, it's likely that Potter experienced something called “slip and capture.”

“It’s not like she looked at her gun and thought it was a Taser,” Smith said. “It’s a horrible, horrible motor glitch that could happen in high-stress situations.”

Accident?

Of course, accidents do happen; however, one terrible mistake, much less eleven, is far too many and suggests much better training should be done.

“Police training is in horrible shape in the United States,” said Maria Haberfeld, John Jay professor and co-author of Use of Force Training in Law Enforcement: A Reality Based Approach. “They don’t get refresher courses for years. And with the Taser, it’s just a few hours.”

And, sadly, a lot of police officers get killed doing what should be routine traffic stops. But, the stop of Daunte Wright seemed to pose no significant threat of bodily harm to the arresting officers.

What do we know? Violent encounters with police “represent significant causes of injury and death in the United States, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color,” according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, Yale University, and Drexel University, and that police shootings of unarmed Black people in the U.S. were three times higher than those of their white counterparts between 2015 and early 2020.

And, so, here we go again. Another Black man has been gunned down for no apparent reason. Be the killing an “accidental discharge” or a “slip and capture” or something more devious, Daunte Wright is gone. Whether the design of the Taser, the lack of adequate training with the weapon, or the fact that Blacks are presumptively suspect by police contributed most to his death will surely be analyzed and debated … yet, whatever the findings, will much-needed reform result?

Statistics alone show the need for reform now. It is clear that systemic racism in policing causes untold destruction.

Vox’s Senior Correspondent Zack Beauchamp writes, “psychological stressors combine with police ideology and widespread cultural stereotypes to push officers, even ones who don’t hold overtly racist beliefs, to treat Black people as more suspect and more dangerous. It’s not just the officers who are the problem; it’s the society they come from, and the things that society asks them to do.”

Beauchamp reveals an internal culture where even non-racist police officers are prone to enforcing policies that disproportionately harm or target Black individuals, as seen elsewhere, like with stop-and-frisk in New York City and revenue generation in Ferguson, Missouri.

(Phillip Meylan.”Are the Police Systemically Racist?” The Factual. September 09, 2020.)

The bottom line is we must address all police actions that threaten the life of innocent individuals. Perhaps, this means incorporating much more change than many traditional departments want to face.

"Of particular concern to some on the right is the term 'systemic racism,' often wrongly interpreted as an accusation that everyone in the system is racist. In fact, systemic racism means almost the opposite. It means that we have systems and institutions that produce racially disparate outcomes, regardless of the intentions of the people who work within them."

– Washington Post

Michigan Is a Hotbed For COVID In April 2021 ... Is Ohio Next?

 

“Is there something about Michigan this is prompting the spike in infections? No, it’s the same dynamics happening elsewhere. They just seem to be happening in Michigan first.

“Restaurants and bars are pushing their permitted 50 percent maximum capacity (capped at 300 patrons). Much of the clientele in those restaurants appears to young people – and young people are increasingly among the hospitalized in Michigan. From March 5 to March 27, more than half of all covid cases in Michigan were people under age 39.

“Anecdotally, I can report that people here have lately become much more casual about wearing masks.

“It feels as though we haven’t learned the lessons of 2020. Or that the sense of coronavirus vaccines coming to the rescue has made us forget those lessons.”

– Abdul El-Sayed, The Washington Post (April 01, 2021)

In some terrifying news, Michigan is currently losing the battle against COVID-10. It is a dangerous hotspot for the virus. And it's on track to potentially see a surge in cases "that's even greater than the one we saw in the fall," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive.

How bad is it right now? Covid-19 cases per million people are four times higher what they were in mid-February. The percent of positive tests are also four times higher than the numbers then.

Faced with the country’s highest rate of new coronavirus infections, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on April 9 urged a two-week suspension of in-person high school classes, all youth sports and indoor restaurant dining.

She stopped short of ordering restrictions, instead asking for voluntary compliance to slow the spread of Covid-19.

High schools should shift to virtual learning, both school and non-school youth sports should be paused, people should choose outdoor dining or takeout instead of indoor seating, and they should avoid gathering with friends indoors, she said.

(The Associated Press. “Michigan governor urges halt of high school classes, youth sports.” April 10, 2021.)

Michigan has the worst rate of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. over the previous two weeks. Related hospitalizations had more than quadrupled in a month and were 90 percent of the statewide peak from a year ago, leading some hospitals to postpone non-emergency surgeries. The seven-day average of new daily deaths has been rising for two weeks.

“Because we are seeing so many cases a day, our public health system is overwhelmed,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive. “We are not able to get information on many cases, nor are we able to identify their close contacts.”

The B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in the U.K., is driving up transmission numbers. The variant is very communicable but does appear to be preventable by the current vaccines.

The variant is found in the more densely populated areas of the state, with more than half the B.1.1.7 variants identified stemming from an outbreak within the Michigan Department of Corrections, according to the state health department.

COVID fatigue, along with some modest relaxation of the public health guidelines – such as relaxing distancing measures and other health restrictions – is a real concern in light of the continued evolution of the new strains of the virus.

Further, with more children back in school, and participating in sports programs, school-related COVID-19 cases are increasing in the state, according to state data. Children ages 10-19 now have the highest COVID-19 case rate in Michigan, a rate that "is increasing faster than that of other age groups."

A dire warning: Children aren't immune to COVID-19. They can get sick, just like adults do. They can be hospitalized, the same as adults. And rarely, they can even die.

That's the message doctors at several of Michigan's children's hospitals want people to hear as the state confronts yet another massive surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, which reached 3,953 on April 12, surpassing the state's November/December spike.

"The state is at a record high for hospitalizations for pediatrics during the entire pandemic and our hospital reflects that," said Dr. Rudolph Valentini, a pediatric nephrologist at Children's Hospital of Michigan and group chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center.

(Kristen Jordan Shamus and Christina Hall Michigan at 'record high' for COVID-19 hospitalizations of children.” Detroit Free Press. April 13, 2021.)

And, it appears that the big wave of infections among children has now spilled over into a surge of COVID cases among their parents and others around them. So even while children and teens are rarely hospitalized for coronavirus, Lee said the number of recent hospitalizations for people under 60 is of great concern.

Considering the encouraging trendlines among senior citizens, it appears vaccinations offer the best road out of the current surge, experts agree. But right now, it’s a race between the vaccine and the variant.

Emily Toth Martin, a University of Michigan epidemiologist. said the variant is all the more reason people should double-down on coronavirus mitigation strategies until they are vaccinated.

“It’s like you’re running a race and the other runner starts running 50% faster,” she said. “You want to catch him while you still have a chance.”

(Julie Mack. “Michigan’s COVID-19 numbers increasing at ‘troubling’ pace. What’s going on?” Michigan Live. March 27, 2021.)

“Really what we need to do in those situations is shut things down, I think if we tried to vaccinate our way out of what’s happening in Michigan we would be disappointed that it would take so long for the vaccine to work,” said CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Neighboring Ohio

Meanwhile Ohio is being proactive. The Governor's office told 3News last week 5,000 additional doses went to Lucas and Cuyahoga Counties and will send extra this week too.

(Monica Robins and Laura Caso. “Vaccinating Ohio: Michigan becoming COVID-19 epicenter; Ohio is on alert.” WKYC. April 12, 2021.)

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said what is happening in Michigan should be a warning. DeWine said …

“We do not want to be in a situation where Michigan is today, and we have a few weeks – we're a few weeks behind them. So the way we stop this – the way we first slow it down – and then, the way we stop it is shots. That is the only way to do it.”

(Pete Grieve “Gov. DeWine warns of Michigan-like surge in Ohio, urges residents to get vaccinated.” Spectrum News 1. April 12, 2021.)

Vaccines are becoming readily available in Ohio, particularly in regions outside of the state's major metropolitan areas, according to appointment trackers.

DeWine continued …

“This week, for the first time, we're starting to see ... openings where people who have not been able to get it so far, clearly have the ability to get it. This is the time to get it. Now, you really have an opportunity to get it. If you've been discouraged before because you couldn't get it. It's available now. Go get it.”

Many providers, even in some rural counties, are still working through waitlists or seeing appointments fill within hours, according to officials.

Dewine had a message for the young:

“For our young people, I would say particularly those who are teenagers, those who are in high school, getting this vaccine may ensure that you can have a good baseball season without an interruption. For athletes or anybody who's in theater, or anything else connected with school, having the shot may make it so that they do not have that interrupted.”

(Pete Grieve “Gov. DeWine warns of Michigan-like surge in Ohio, urges residents to get vaccinated.” Spectrum News 1. April 12, 2021.)

Appalachian Problems -- Caused By Others Or Caused By Us?

 

(Buchtel, Ohio) “Three pipes driven into a hillside near the edge of town … People have been coming to the trough for at least a century, since horses were watered here and coal miners stopped by to wash off the grime. People still come - because they think the water is healthier, or makes better coffee, or because their utilities were turned off when they couldn’t pay the bills. Or maybe just because it’s what they’ve always done.

“For years, Tarah Nogrady has filled plastic jugs here and lugged them back to a town so small it rarely appears on maps. As she collects water for her four Pekinese dogs waiting in the car, she doesn’t wear a mask, like so many around here. Nogrady doubts that the coronavirus is a real threat - it’s 'maybe a flu-type deal,' she says.

“It’s a common view in the little towns that speckle the Appalachian foothills of southeast Ohio, where the pandemic has barely been felt. Coronavirus deaths and protests for racial justice – events that have defined 2020 nationwide – are mostly just images on TV from a distant America.”

(Tim Sullivan. “In Appalachia, people watch COVID-19, race issues from afar.” AP News. October 01, 2020.)

For lifelong residents of Appalachia like me, a passive acceptance of the struggles with the history, the economy, and the social conditions of the region is part of growing up. We are different; we know it; but we are not defined by stereotypes that reduce our image to wildly inaccurate caricatures of lazy, uneducated hilljacks.

We Appalachians must eventually come face-to-face with the “backwards” nature of the places in which we live. Independent and extremely resilient, we seek acceptance and approval with a suspicious eye to the past. Most of us harbor significant spite for a government that has intentionally thwarted the economic development of our home, essentially deserting a desperately poor region in utmost need.

Still, many Appalachian residents are resigned to living in an environment stereotyped as “poor and backwards.” They relish the underdog persona and – knowingly or unknowingly – they cling to a past that no longer exists – a place where their stubborn isolation is the ultimate means to their survival. Supporting lost causes only manifests doomed thoughts and actions.

Many who reach maturity leave their homes for more money, better jobs, and better futures – most simply want to escape an environment they consider void of opportunity. The rest of us – those fortunate enough to find sustainable lives – survive in a place where progressive ideas and change often die before being implemented. The stagnation is not for lack of education or foresight. It's rooted in a pervasive mindset of depression that seems to sustain itself and has done so for generations.

In Appalachia, residents have deeply personal reasons for their suspicion, anger, and even belief in conspiracy theories. Much of their distrust comes from a history of long neglect by a government they consider foreign. They deal with this isolation as a part of their everyday lives. Unfortunately, some choose to take out their anger on strangers and even on their own kind.

Seeking Scapegoats and Following Disinformation

Distrust and doubt are commonplace in Appalachia, where it’s easy for residents to dismiss COVID-19. Local politicians even hint that the death tolls might be inflated.

The Looking For America project, produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, found …

“Many of Nogrady’s neighbors think the pandemic is being used by Democrats to weaken President Donald Trump ahead of the election. Some share darker theories: Face mask rules are paving the way for population control, they say, and a vaccine could be used as a tool of government control.

“'I think they want to take our freedoms,' Nogrady says, a baseball hat turned backward on her head. 'I believe the government wants to get us all microchipped.'

“These fears reflect a desolate worldview: People who a generation ago believed in the president’s promises to change their region forever now have a deep distrust of Washington – and a defiant sense that they are on their own.”

(“Looking For America.” Pulitzer Center. October 01, 2020.)

Many of the residents featured in the Pulitzer Center report are deeply conservation Republicans who stock up on weapons and ammunition in anticipation of some kind of “trouble” while deriding Democrats as “the party as a rabble of left-wing extremists who won’t even stand up for police officers during riots.” It is clear Trump was the perfect candidate for a region that not only expects little from the government, but also mistrusts it deeply. Trump said he was as sick as they were of Washington and the political elite. They swallowed his rhetoric hook-line-and sinker.

And these dissatisfied minions loved Trump's acidic nature. “I think he’s one of the best presidents we’ve had,” said Nogrady, 38, who makes a living buying and selling goods online and takes care of her elderly mother. “He’s got a mouth on him. I mean, he tells it how it is.”

Then, there's the poverty and the opioid epidemic – both of which have long devastated the region. Appalachian Ohio has some of the state’s poorest counties, with child poverty rates higher than 30 percent. By 2017, the death rate for opioid overdoses in Appalachian counties was 72 percent higher than that of non-Appalachian counties. Ohio, meanwhile, had the country’s fifth-highest rate of drug overdoses in the country in 2018. Experts say that the stresses of COVID – unemployment, schooling issues and especially isolation – can be especially hard on drug users.

Race relations in Appalachia? The report concluded …

“Like COVID-19, the other great story of today’s America – racial tensions and protests – is notable here for its absence. Black life is something most people simply don’t see in southeastern Ohio, where the 2010 census showed a Black population of less than 1 percent in many counties.

“Around here, talk of protests against police brutality and Confederate statues immediately shifts to criticism of the violence at some protests. While there have been a handful of protests in the area, and most people will concede that America has racial problems, many also believe they are wildly exaggerated.”

(Tim Sullivan. “In Appalachia, people watch COVID-19, race issues from afar.” AP News. October 01, 2020.)

The invisibility of Blacks in Appalachia is certainly based on demographics as well hegemonic practices and ideas. The Black population is small, and therefore easily overlooked by White people and mainstream media, residents and experts say. Few Black residents or any people of color are represented in the highest ranks of local political leadership.

This lack of representation makes it easy for Appalachians to believe in cultural Black stereotypes portrayed and communicated through the media to fuel racist thoughts and fear of Blacks. In turn, where the population is predominantly white, it is more likely the population will speak openly with prejudice because these bigoted comments are unlikely to be punished by society – unlike those who live in more diverse areas.

Brandon M. Stump, professional staffer, says …

“How can a dialogue on race begin when the state is predominantly white? Because racism in America, particularly white supremacy and black inferiority, was created by the laws of the federal government and the states, I believe that my question of how racism in West Virginia can be eroded is best answered by focusing on the law. While no legal remedy can erode prejudice - a concept in one's heart and mind - I find that the answer to ending racism and minority-unfamiliarity in West Virginia is pedagogical in nature.”

(Brandon M. Stump. “From Reconstruction to Obama: Understanding Black Invisibility, Racism in Appalachia, and the Legal Community's Responsibility to Promote a Dialogue on Race at the WVU College of Law.” 112 W. Va. L. Rev. 2010.)

A shared distrust in American institutions has helped to unite Appalachian people behind the banner of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. They include far-right groups upset about lockdowns and mask mandates, anti-vaccine activists, and adherents of QAnon, who believed Trump was waging a secret war against a powerful cabal of satanic cannibals.

Platforms like Facebook, Twitter allowed misinformation to flourish. To some, the need to explain the pandemic caused them to accept wild explanations and flat-out lies. Even wearing a mask became a political issue in a climate of division.

About 1 in 4 Americans said they believe the pandemic was “definitely” or “probably” created intentionally, according to a Pew Research Center survey from June 2020. COVID-19 conspiracy theories persist by providing a false sense of empowerment. By offering hidden or secretive explanations, they give the believer a feeling of control in a situation that otherwise seems random or frightening.

Prone To Stagnation

As a population, Appalachians have long distrusted outsiders, have feared change, and have been highly susceptible to a passive acceptance of their “depressed” condition. Long-term neglect and lack of investment hamstring residents, crippling positivity and causing residents to blame “anyone and anything” for their problems.

But, it is important to note deliberate efforts by those in power – local elites or employers – also hold people back. Why would they do so? Because it has worked for them – keeping their labor force vulnerable and powerless. In a place where expectations aren't as high and the quality of education lags behind, a cycle of “good old boy” politics protects the wealthy from threatening intrusion and competition. Settling for less and being “damn lucky they have a job,” the underlings in this class system perpetuate the system.

The Ohio Poverty Report (June 2020, Office of Research) found 23.6% of my rural southern Appalachian county of Scioto at 17,132 individuals in poverty – 23.%. The percentage of Black or African Americans here is 2.7. These statistics alone help illustrate problems that haunt Appalachian culture.

Inequality and pain of poverty racks the White population as well as that of minorities. We who live in Appalachia know that all too well. But, we also know – although many here fail to acknowledge – that to avoid the conversation about racism and white privilege in 2021 is to evade a fundamental truth.

For example,professor of law and sociology at Brandeis University, Thomas Shapiro reveals in his groundbreaking work on the racial wealth divide that Whites in the bottom fifth of all White households (in terms of income) have, on average, seven times the net worth of similar blacks. Racial inequity continues to marginalize people of color and elevate whites as a general rule.

(Tom Shapiro. Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the Racial Divide, and Threatens Our Future. 2017)

Instead of believing conspiracy theories and willingly swallowing lies and half-truths to satisfy our distrust of government and science, we in Appalachia must push away those who continue to misuse and manipulate us for money and power and seek out voices of change to free ourselves from old concepts that only perpetuate our depression.

We can begin this change immediately by following health guidelines to stop the COVID-19 pandemic and by recognizing that Black Lives Matter and the need for diversity are fundamental, positive struggles in our communities. Doing so helps break bitter attitudes and practices which serve only to isolate our communities.

If we use our vast human resources of individualism and self-reliance in measured, intelligent ways instead of in anger and defiance, we will reap great benefits. First and foremost, we must initiate this makeover by cleaning up our own backyards. And, for God's sake, we all know the dire need to scrub away some old blemishes there. Don't we? Calling out to Buchtel, Ohio, and all points Appalachian.