His room is a virtual wonderland of enjoyment and entertainment.  It is a kid’s world of both toys and secret stuff.  Hanging from the underside of his top bunk are helicopters, at least four of them, filled with miniature GI Joes or WWE figurines ready to rappel and hit the bottom bunk bed to engage in a toy war or a wrestling match unprecedented in scope and dimension anywhere in this galaxy.
The floor of the room is covered with cat’s eye marbles from his race game, a DSI, his Harry Potter books and the white cardboard from my recently laundered shirts.  On these cardboard canvases, are incredibly complicated and elaborate drawings of pirate ships surrounded by sharks, whales, a dingy  or two and either soldiers or pirates from other ships poised to sword fight their way to ownership of the booty hoarded within the bowels of these terrorist vessels.  There are cannons firing into the sails of the enemy and bearded men with patches, hooks and peg legs fighting across the decks.

On his desk, which is a worn antique procured from the estate of his great grandparents, sits a wooden box that his father bought for him during his time in Iraq.  In that box are many of his most prized kid treasures: decorative coins, an arrow head, the tiny jaw bone from some skeleton found in the woods near his house, and multiple folded dollar bills of various denominations that had come from either his birthday party or various other celebrations.

On the dresser is an aquarium with two chameleons, neither of which are usually discernable with the naked eye as they disappear on either the brown piece of drift wood or the decorative green plastic leaves that had been carefully placed in the glass container.  The exhaust fan and light/heater are on 24/7 as the chameleons are fed a stable diet of crickets and more crickets.

On the window sill above the desk are several kid trophies from his numerous athletic accomplishments such as wrestling, horseback riding, football, soccer and baseball.  They say things like, attended wrestling camp, or participated in the horse show; you know, trophies that sometimes are more indicative of one’s capacity to breathe than to actually win any given sport, but they are his treasures.

There is a baseball autographed by the entire Pittsburgh Pirates team that someday will probably be worth less than the $12 paid for the ball, and beside that is a small statue of his favorite retro football star, plus a bobble head of what could only be described as a Thor-like figurine that is most probably representative of some other wrestling dude.  Finally there are pictures of him and his sisters from various Easter Bunny, Santa Claus visits.

Under the bottom bunk of the bed is a virtual arsenal of Nerf guns,  fake plastic knives, a flintlock pirate gun,  a toy compound bow with no arrows, and numerous Dollar Store plastic hand guns and automatic AK-47’s.   He carefully explains to me that, should an intruder make it past his dog, Chipper, and up the stairs to his room, he will be comfortably positioned under his bed and armed to the teeth.  (I pity the fool.)

The cupboard is filled with both new and hand-me-down clothes, and on top of the end table is a clock that consistently flashes the wrong time, no matter what time of the day or night you visit.  Finally, in the top dresser drawer is a collection of his poppa’s old cologne and a beaker where he carefully mixes his own, sometimes overwhelming fragrances.

It’s a virtual womb of comfort, practicality, and fantasy where everything is in place to imagine and dream his way through childhood.  I’m sure someday soon, he will add his own microwave and refrigerator. Oh, yeah, that would be college.

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STATUS OF THE FUTURE

The ABIHM was incorporated in 1996 with a vision to establish and maintain the highest standards of medical care, ignite and sustain the joy and passion of physicians in their work, establish the role of unconditional love as the basis of healing and support, and to recognize the importance of the health of the planet as integral to human health. Since 2000, the ABIHM has provided the only peer reviewed, psychometrically validated certification process in comprehensive integrative holistic medicine to over 1600 Diplomates.

When the ABIHM was incorporated, educational opportunities in integrative holistic medicine were scarce. The past 15 years have brought tremendous growth to the field, and training programs in integrative medicine now abound. Many residency programs are offering integrative opportunities, and fellowship training programs in integrative medicine are becoming increasingly available.

The leader in the integrative medicine fellowship arena is the Universityof Arizona(U of A), whose directors have initiated a relationship with the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) to develop a new board of integrative medicine. For more information about the ABPS, please see www.abpsus.org. The ABIHM has been invited to participate in the development of the new board, as have a number of representatives from academic institutions. Many have historically inquired about the possibility that board certification in integrative medicine might be recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Both the ABIHM and the U of A have explored this prospect, and all indications are that the ABMS is not interested in recognizing such a specialty. The ABPS is currently officially recognized in 33 states, and it is our hope that more state medical boards will rapidly follow suit in recognizing the ABPS.

It is important to explain that the new board plans to require a fellowship level of training as a prerequisite for board certification. The number of required hours has yet to be determined.  However, at least during the first few years that the new board exam is offered, the fellowship requirement will be waived for active Diplomates of the ABIHM.  Nonetheless, ABIHM Diplomates who wish to pursue certification through the ABPS will need to sit for the new exam.  For ABIHM Diplomates who do not wish to undergo ABPS certification, the ABIHM intends to continue to offer its maintenance of certification process into the foreseeable future.

The ABPS anticipates offering the new certification exam as soon as 2013. Therefore, the ABIHM plans to stop offering its certification exam after January, 2013 (though these dates are not fully established). The ABIHM will offer the certification exam several times over the next year, as a means to offer more robust opportunities for those who do not wish to pursue a fellowship to become certified by the ABIHM and/or to be forgiven the fellowship requirement by the ABPS, should they wish to sit for the new exam:

1. January 22^nd, 2012, at the conclusion of the Scripps Natural Supplements Conference inSan Diego (paper and pencil exam);
2. May 7^th-18^th, 2012; this is a computer based exam offered in 200 cities within theUSA andCanada;
3. November 2^nd, 2012, following the ABIHM/Scripps Annual Review Course, The Science and Clinical Application of Integrative Holistic Medicine inSan Diego (paper and pencil exam)
4. January 28^th-February 9^th, 2013; computer based exam

The ABIHM supports the development of the new board as a natural progression of the work we have done over the past 15 years to establish the standard for knowledge in integrative holistic medicine. We see the new board as part of the evolution toward a higher and more broadly recognized standard, and we are proud to be a part of the process.

Feel free to contact our office by phone at 218.525.5651 or email at admin@abihm.org if you have questions about these plans. Please recognize that while we have described the current nature of the situation accurately, the process is still under development and subject to change.

Yours sincerely,

The Board of Directors of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine

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As some of you may know, I’ve been on a journey for almost a decade and a half to find the connections between music, vibration and health or healing.  We have studied the works of indigenous man, listened to the quotes of comparative mythologist, Joseph Campbell on the power of music, read Nancy Shute’s article about a study, published by the Cochrane Collaboration which looked at 30 clinical trials of music therapy, both those led by trained music therapists and ones where patients listened to recorded music on their own. Both methods were found to reduce anxiety and pain, and to improve mood and quality of life for cancer patients.  Music may also improve heart rate, breathing and blood pressure in cancer patients, the review says.

While at the Windber Research Institute we engaged in a study commissioned by the Yamaha Foundation to determine the genetic nuances of music as a stress reliever and a few weeks ago we passed around a story from NPR where a musician  and teacher named Holland performed sound studies on various cancer cells and saw a 50% reduction of cancer cells in pancreatic cancer . . . but this is still a work in progress.

We have known that indigenous man has used music as a part of healing ceremonies for thousands of years, and we know the impact that music can have on us emotionally.  In fact, back in the early part of the 21st Century we spoke with scientists and leaders from the University of Hawaii and the University of Pittsburgh who were doing studies regarding the bending and folding of proteins within our bodies as they responded to music.

There are also numerous studies demonstrating that music provides some relief from Autism, and from an undocumented Autism blog we read the following:  Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder that affects children, and its effects can be seen as early as infancy. Symptoms may appear at the age of six months, and the disorder is established before the child reaches three years of age. Typical symptoms of autism include impaired communication and social interaction, repetitive behavior, and limited interest. Autism is considered a disorder because it prevents the affected person from being self-dependent and leading a normal life. Most autistic people are unable to take care of themselves, even after they reach adulthood, but there are a number of them who have succeeded in becoming independent after they received proper guidance during their childhood.
Music therapy helps in treating autistic children, but it has to be applied with kids in mind. It should not be too complicated for them to follow. Music that engages autistic children in dancing and singing works very well in helping them communicate and develop social skills. Autistic children respond to music by singing in the same note, and some of them may even start communicating through singing. They may take up an instrument to play, and this will help them gain interest in acquiring a certain skill. Music therapy can help different autistic patients in different ways, but generally, it is beneficial to them because it makes them more responsive to things around them.

The reason behind such great response to music is that autistic children do not engage in normal social activities, and music sessions give them an opportunity to express themselves. Music therapy for an autistic child starts with learning how to play a musical instrument, as he or she may get intimidated by human contact. Slowly, the therapy moves on to include singing and even dancing, if the child shows interest for such activities. This gives the child an emotional outlet as well as a sense of fulfillment, which were lacking in the past because of limited social activity.

I’m still not exactly sure where this is all going, but today, I heard a segment on “The Splendid Table” on NPR in which an Austrian wine maker has successfully applied music to the craft of making wine.

Sonor Wines    December 10, 2011
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December 10, 2011

Episode Rundown

19:36 – 25:03 Sonor Wines of Austria

Markus Bachmann uses a unique fermenting process with his wines: He drops a speaker in the tank, plays music, and “the yeast starts doing total different things.”

The speakers have magnet and not membranes which makes the wine fluid  the membrane.  The vibrations mix the yeast . . . and the movement of the sound waves determines the type of mix.   Consequently, the yeast doesn’t have to move to get its food.   This effect is referred to as glycering and produces high end and enriched aromas plus it causes the yeast to use all the sugar.   The result is that it produces a very dry wine and sometimes sweet flavors.  Through this method the wines taste very rich and very mature, but it is actually a new wine, a new wine that tastes three years old.  It also tastes wooden but has never been in a barrel.  Mr. Bachmann describes it as a very oily wine that when tilted against the side of the glass creates sheets and not legs.   Finally, he says that the key in the music is that it depends on frequencies, volume, pulse.  It is like mixing the wine and keeps it more alive.  He has discovered that there is 30% more yeast that is alive at the end of fermentation than in regular fermentation processes.

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/111210/

Music for Grapegrowing
by Angela Ricci on June 28, 2011 – 12:47 amNo Comment

Sonor Wines is the brainchild of Viennese food and wine expert and horn player Markus Bachmann. This pioneering method exposes the wine to music during fermentation – a process that, according to its Austrian inventor, refines the finished product.

Bachmann explains that once in the steel fermentation tanks, a biochemical reaction is set into motion by tiny vibrations triggered by the sound. He also believes that varieties of wine that have been treated using this technique contain less sugar, have a fuller flavor and are more drinkable.

Different genres of music are also said to give the wines different characteristics. In principle, any type of music can be used, from symphonic works to hunters’ classics, waltz and polka melodies and even Viennese folk sounds such as Schrammelmusik. The process has been put to the test at the Wienbauschule Klosterneuburg on a Grüner Veltliner white wine. A number of leading growers have put the new approach into practice, including Vienna-based producers Peter Uhler and Franz-Michael Mayer, who have already bottled the first generation of Sonor Wines.

So, I’m going to keep on keeping on as I look for music/healing answers and would enjoy hearing from scientists and healers alike as this journey continues.  Seriously, folks, we know that the vast majority of our pharmaceuticals come from the rain forests or the oceans . . . why isn’t it possible that all of the cures that we need for everything are right here within our grasp?  Hmmmmm or oooooooooooooM?

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F. Nicholas (Nick) Jacobs, FACHE
HealingHospitals.com

• The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute 2011 National Conference
  The audience for these upcoming presentations and meetings will consist of risk and quality managers, patient safety officers, and hospital CEOs .
  Seattle, WA – May, 2011
• National Leadership Series: Improving Operations and Leadership Success
  The Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative
  Maine – March, 2011
• National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  Cancer COMM 2.0: Cancer Communication in the Digital Age
  Washington, DC – December , 2010|
• Waverly Health Center Strategic Excellence Conference
  Waverly, IA – October, 2010
• Planetree 2010 National Conference
  Denver, CO – October, 2010
• The Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute National 2010 Conference
  Lansing, MI – August, 2010
• Planetree 2009 National Conference
  Baltimore, MD – October, 2009
• Lake Erie Regional Nurses Event
  Redesigning Patient Experiences
  Toledo, OH – May 7, 2010
• Central Peninsula Hospital, Director’s Summit
  Soldotna, AK – November , 2010
• Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Pacific Regional Conference
  Riding the Wave to Success:  Best Practices in Philanthropy
  San Diego, CA – April, 2009
• Second Annual World Health Care Congress – Leadership Summit
  Redesigning the Patient Experience
  Orlando, FL – March, 2009
• Carolinas Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society
  Getting the Word Out: Blogs, Planetree, Web 2.0 and Employer of Choice
  Charleston, SC – November, 2008
• Patient-Centered Care CEO Summit
  Maximizing HCAHPS Scores
  Chicago, IL – October, 2008
• 2008 Planetree Annual Conference
  Becoming a Planetree Hospital
  Chicago, IL – October, 2008
• New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging Annual Conference
  Talking the Talk, Walking, the Walk: Becoming an Employer of Choice
  Syracuse, NY – September, 2008
• HFMA Appalachian Chapter of Central Pennsylvania Education Session
  Positive Economic Ramifications Generated from Creatively Changing the Hospital Environment
  Harrisburg, PA – October, 2008
• AHA / Health Forum 6^th Annual Conference on Integrative Medicine for Health Care Organizations
  The Healing Hillside
  Phoenix, AZ – May, 2008
• Pennsylvania Newspaper Association / IAMA
  Leadership, Unlimited Possibilities
  Seven Springs, PA – April, 2008
• Maine Primary Care Association
  The Future of Healthcare
  Portland, ME – November, 2007
• World Congress on Cardiology Conference
  The Impact of Behavior Modification on Heart Disease
  Belgrade, Serbia – October, 2007
• Iowa Hospital Association Annual Meeting
  Healing Environments in Hospitals:  Results of an Eight Hospital Creating Case Study
  DesMoines, IA – October, 2007
• Summit Health Board Meeting – Building a Healing Environment
  The Planetree Concept and Design
  Chambersburg, PA – September, 2007
• Consumer Health World Conference
  HOSPITALS & PROVIDERS: Trends, Strategies & Case Studies
  Chicago, IL – September, 2007
• Consumer Health World Conference
  + Open Health Care:  Learning to Live in the Brave New World – Openness, Controversy and Crises
  + Management in Blogs and Social Media
  Las Vegas, NV – April, 2007
• Integrative Medicine for Health Care Organizations
  Creating Healing Environments in Hospitals:  Results of an Eight Hospital Case Study
  San Diego, CA– April, 2007
• Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers 6^th Annual PRI Seminar
  Presenter/Keynote Speaker
  New York, NY – November, 2006
• Cigna Fortune 100 Conference
  Guest Speaker
  Fort Lauderdale, FL – February 2006
• Quality Insights of Pennsylvania-Public Reporting Collaborative
  Keynote Speaker
  King of Prussia, PA & Harrisburg, PA – February, 2005
• National Interdisciplinary Breast Center Conference
  Overview of the Windber/Walter Reed Army Medical Center Partnerships
  Las Vegas, NV – February, 2005
• Disease Management Congress and Exposition
  Integrative and Cardiovascular Health:  The Windber Experience
  San Diego, CA – September, 2003
• Teradata Partners Conference
  The Windber Research Institute:  Advancing Frontiers, Finding Cures
  Seattle, WA – September, 2003
• Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Conference
  Keynote Speaker
  Nemacolin, PA – September, 2002
• United Nations Conference – EATSET International Biomedical Seminar/Transfusion Workshop
  Keynote Speaker
  Abuja, Nigeria – August, 2002
  Voluntary Hospitals of America, Board of Directors Meeting & Symposium
  The Future of Healthcare
  State College, PA – June, 2001
• Pennsylvania Rural Health Conference
  Innovation & Transformation: Today’s Windber Medical Center
  State College, PA – June, 2001
• AmeriNet Central, Spring CEO Forum
  Bridging the Gap with Acute and Nonacute Care
  Warrendale, PA – May, 2001
• Johnstown Chamber of Commerce Leadership Conference
  Managing Change in the Workplace
  University of Pittsburgh (UPJ campus)– December, 2000
• Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania, Board of Directors
  Inventing the Future: The Reorganization of Windber Medical Center
  Cranberry, PA – November, 2000
• AARP Senior Community Service Employment Program & National Shriners Leadership
  Volunteerism & Leadership
  Johnstown, PA – October  and November, 2000
• American Association of University Women
  Dr. Dean Ornish Program on Heart Disease Reversal
  Johnstown, PA – September, 2000
• The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP)
  A Creative Approach to Holistic Care:  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
  Harrisburg, PA – August, 2000
• The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) – Council for Small Hospitals
  A Creative Approach to Holistic Care:  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
  State College, PA – June, 2000
• U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) – Administration on Aging (AoA)
  Improving Access for Health: The Center for Life
  Chicago, IL – May, 2000
• Pennsylvania Department of Aging
  Model Geriatric Health Center Demonstration: Overview and Presentations
  Grantville, PA – May, 2000
• Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania
  A Creative Approach to Holistic Care.  Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
  Warrendale, PA – April, 2000
• American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE)
  A Creative Approach to Holistic Care: Forming an Innovative Healing Environment
  Chicago, IL – March, 2000
• American Society on Aging
  PA’s Primary Care and Senior Center Demo: What We Planned and What Actually Happened
  San Diego, CA – March, 2000

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One warm Sunday afternoon, in the early 1990s, Uncle Bert indicated to me that, after his death, he was going to leave the my brother and me the money that he had made from selling the little house that he had built for our grandmother. My brother decided to take his share to physically trace our roots back to the small Italian city where our grandfather and grandmother had been born and raised. That is where this story begins.

In order to get to Alvito, in the Province of Frosinone, in the region of Lazio near Rome, my brother and his wife took a train part way and then hired a driver for the last leg of the journey. The driver asked them where they would like to go, and my brother in recently learned Italian, directed Leonardo to take them to the cemetery where he would try to find and take pictures of the grave markers of our great uncle and his wife.

When the driver heard the names, he immediately said, “That’sa my name.  Do you wanta meeta you cousins?”  They got into the car and were driven a short distance to a house where Leonardo knocked on the door and introduced them to our cousin Rita and her husband Giuseppe. They later met her brother, Nino. We had discovered a part of our family that we had no idea even existed!

After their return home, an email quickly clarified that an older sister of the two in Italy, Valeria, her husband, their two sons and their families, as well as Nino’s two sons, all live in Columbus, Ohio! We were invited to share in their hospitality, friendship and love, this past week-end. As we pulled into their driveway, it was abundantly reconfirmed that in the Italian culture, blood is thicker than water. With that, the party began! Our host, Valeria’s husband Mariano, immediately took us to his wine cellar to show us the prosciutto and homemade wine that would be brought out for our visit and the lamb and rabbit that would be offered for the Easter Dinner.

Afterwards, Valeria invited us to try the four types of pizza that she had prepared as the opening salvo of a series of appetizers.  Then came orange slices marinated in olive oil and a little sea salt; tomatoes stuffed with feta cheese, basil and olive oil; stuffed zucchini with meat, bread, olive oil and parsley. The food was amazing and all homemade by cousin Valeria!
Your average American would have thanked them and headed off to bed, but the meal hadn’t started yet. The first course was an absolutely superb Italian wedding soup, then stuffed manicotti, homemade bread, the most delicious grilled filet mignon wrapped in prosciutto, more stuffed zucchini, fresh green beans in butter and garlic, rapini, and and a wonderful salad.  All of this was accented with potent, high quality homemade-wine.  If you weren’t Italian before you started this feast and drank the vino, you were by the time it was over!

At that point the desserts appeared: homemade cookies, an amazing tiramisu, watermelon, pineapple, grapes, and cantaloupe all topped off with homemade limoncello, sambuca  and espresso.
The next night saw the same course formula, but a completely different menu that included pesto/broccoli shells, handmade noodles with red sauce, meatballs. . .  . You get the idea.  Having been to Italy and eaten in restaurants, I would never have believed that it was possible to consume more than 55,000 calories in a two- day period, but I can attest that, when you are at my cousin’s house, it is most definitely possible.

I’ve been sitting on my couch eating carrots and drinking water now for four days, hoping that at least one pair of pants will fit me within the next week or two.  What a wonderful lifetime memory of friendship, love and FOOD.

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From Modern Healthcare:

The Thirteen Top States

7,345,000  California

6, 433,000  Texas

4,118,000  Florida

2,837,000  New York

1,985,000  Georgia

1,891,000  Illinois

1,685,000  North Carolina

1,643,000  Ohio

1,409,000  Pennsylvania

1,371,000  New Jersey

1,350,000  Michigan

1,273,000  Arizona

1,014,000  Virginia
__________________

27,744,000 Total

The Other 37 States:

16,036,000
__________________
43,780,000 Grand Total

This is, by far, the shortest blog post I’ve ever written.

As a self-proclaimed patient advocate, this blog is dedicated to those 43,780,000 people that the numbers above represent.

THEY ARE THE UNINSURED IN THIS, THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

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Dear Dr. Collins:

In 1974 my father was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, and our lives were changed forever.  He had stopped smoking back in 1960 when the Surgeon General had finally declared that cigarettes are “bad for your health,” but it was already too late.  My son had been born one year earlier and my daughter was born two months before my father’s death on July 5, 1975.  During his death watch he proclaimed that, “Had science been honest with us, he would never have smoked.” 

Dr. Collins, I was involved in running hospitals for over 22 years but did not realize the  depth of this science  problem until I helped to create a research institute in 2000.  Because my background was originally music performance , education, and then hospital administration, I did not have all of those preconceived notions about science that you and your peers have been strapped with over the centuries.  Upon interviewing our first three PhDs for positions at the research institute, it was very clear to me that the ”Calf Paths” (poem by: Samuel Walter Foss) of science completely controlled our journey to cures, or, as in my father’s case, to the lack of cures.

When I asked them why they had not won the Nobel Prize, their answers were open, honest, and priceless.  They were following the long established paths that had been put in place by the people who preceded them.  Then they explained to me that, not unlike the training that our Diva’s receive in music school, it was “All About THEIR INDIVIDUAL SKILLS and TALENTS.”  Heaven forbid that they share the ideas for their secret sauce because the person to their right or their left might take away their “NIH grant,” grants which have become suspiciously “Good Ole Boy” grants given primarily to members of “The Club.”   The rules of the system are:  “Don’t share information; don’t ever tell anyone the key to your secret research; don’t co-operate.”  The incentives are completely misaligned.

Until you approach science like a Ensemble with soloists rather than Soloists backed up by minions, the men, women, and children of this generation will continue to die needlessly as well.  Dr. Collins, it’s 2010, 35 years since my dad passed, and I miss him as much today as I did then.  The NIH and medicine knew well before the 60′s that cigarettes were killing people, yet we still manufacture them and push them into the hands of our children today. 

You know that “the system” that you oversee is “BROKEN,” but, unlike what is being attempted in healthcare reform, there is NO EFFORT to implement SCIENCE REFORM.  Not unlike the generals of wars past who must live the remainder of their lives remembering the blood that is on their hands from the decisions that they have made, unless you work to change this ridiculous system of science, you too will have to live the remainder of your days realizing that you allowed the Calf Paths to remain in place.  Step back; look at the insanity of a system that does not encourage people to truly share their data in meaningful ways; that embraces the status quo and tradition so completely that truly significant progress has not been made since Nixon declared war on cancer; that penalizes researchers financially for trying to change the Calf Path, and the mirror will still contain the images of the organizations that you direct.

This dog is no longer in that hunt, but I want progress to be made for my kids and my grand kids.  I want you and everyone around you to admit that the status quo is broken, to begin to reward people significantly for opening their hard drives and notebooks, for exploring the hundreds of ignored orphan diseases; and for playing as an ensemble instead of making demands like a Diva. 

My Father was a wonderful, intelligent, caring man.  My children were raised without his input, his insight, his knowledge, and his ever present love.  He smoked cigarettes with asbestos filters.  Smoking and asbestos . . . two strikes, and you’re out!   Continuing on the current Calf Paths of science; three strikes and we’re all OUT.

Happy Father’s Day!

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