Communication is an important aspect of any relationship; we are always communicating. My professor often says "we can never not communicate, but sometimes, we communicate the message that we do not wish to communicate."
The validity of such a statement is realized in the fact that most of our face-to-face communication is in fact non-verbal. Scientists estimate that 60% of communication is through the media of body language or facial expression. 30% of communication is delivered through tone, which leaves 10% of the message for the actual words.
When communication in any form occurs, the party which sends the message first encodes the message and sends it to the second party through a medium. This can be through words, through posture, or even through texting or like media. The receiving party must then decode the message. Herein lies the complication. Words are difficult to decode when they are delivered with the mixed signals of other media. After an argument, for example, an apology delivered by words may be difficult to believe if it is also delivered with a stance of crossed arms and a tapping foot. Forms of communication through texting and electronic media are even more difficult to understand because the primary forms of communication (non-verbal and tone) are excluded.
In order to more effectively communicate to heal and uplift marriages, what should be done about our forms of communication?
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
This week, I want to discuss marital intimacy a little. As this is an extremely personal topic, I want to avoid any specific details and discuss the differences in perception that men and women have regarding intimacy.
For men, sexual intimacy is primarily a physical response. Because of their physiological structure, men are more likely to view sexual intimacy as the pinnacle of emotional bonding. In saying this, I do not wish to imply that women do not view sexual intimacy as an emotional bond - quite the opposite, in fact. Women, as opposed to men, are more likely to desire physical intimacy if they feel loved, needed, and secure. Unlike men, they are not physically capable of wanting to engage in sexual intercourse at a moment's notice. They require an emotional build-up to that point.
Likewise, the actual physical actions differ between men and women. As I mentioned, the topic we are discussing is sensitive and personal. If you want to look into the matter further, I would recommend the book "And They Were Not Ashamed: Strengthening Marriage Through Sexual Fulfillment" by Laura M. Brotherson. The book takes an in-depth and respectful view at the male and female sexual response.
For men, sexual intimacy is primarily a physical response. Because of their physiological structure, men are more likely to view sexual intimacy as the pinnacle of emotional bonding. In saying this, I do not wish to imply that women do not view sexual intimacy as an emotional bond - quite the opposite, in fact. Women, as opposed to men, are more likely to desire physical intimacy if they feel loved, needed, and secure. Unlike men, they are not physically capable of wanting to engage in sexual intercourse at a moment's notice. They require an emotional build-up to that point.
Likewise, the actual physical actions differ between men and women. As I mentioned, the topic we are discussing is sensitive and personal. If you want to look into the matter further, I would recommend the book "And They Were Not Ashamed: Strengthening Marriage Through Sexual Fulfillment" by Laura M. Brotherson. The book takes an in-depth and respectful view at the male and female sexual response.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Today, I'm writing about transitions in early marriage life. Now, I am not married, but I have noticed a trend among newly married couples. Married life tends to go well for the first year or two, and then marital satisfaction begins to decline. I'd like to examine the cause of that decline today.
There is one large cause I wish to discuss here, though as always, you are welcome to comment any trends that you yourself may have noticed. The trend is the basis for all causes of has to do with family systems. A family system is the relationship between people in a family, and the most important system is the husband/wife system. What causes a decline in marital satisfaction is often a failure to establish the stability and supreme importance of that system, especially in dating (see last week's post). Family members, especially parents, can intrude upon the boundaries established by the husband and wife. Friends of the couple often also claim time that otherwise should be spent on strengthening the relationship. Likewise, both the husband and the wife are caught up in the romance and allure of marriage and often fail to realize that marriage requires hard work and effort; consequently, when the honeymoon phase has ended, the couple is left without a solid foundation of trust, communication, and dating or marital rituals. Finally, when children come along, another stress is placed on the marriage. Research indicates that marital satisfaction begins it most serious decline after the birth of the first child. This happens for a number of reasons: the mother has an increased work load, while the father's generally remains the same; the husband suddenly feels under-appreciated by his wife, as the mother and child often establish a stronger family system than the father and child; lack of sleep causes stress; other factors contribute to the decline.
So, the question for reflection today is this: how can couples overcome these trends? They all fall back to family systems. How can couples strengthen the husband/wife family system? WHat do you think? Please feel free to comment!
There is one large cause I wish to discuss here, though as always, you are welcome to comment any trends that you yourself may have noticed. The trend is the basis for all causes of has to do with family systems. A family system is the relationship between people in a family, and the most important system is the husband/wife system. What causes a decline in marital satisfaction is often a failure to establish the stability and supreme importance of that system, especially in dating (see last week's post). Family members, especially parents, can intrude upon the boundaries established by the husband and wife. Friends of the couple often also claim time that otherwise should be spent on strengthening the relationship. Likewise, both the husband and the wife are caught up in the romance and allure of marriage and often fail to realize that marriage requires hard work and effort; consequently, when the honeymoon phase has ended, the couple is left without a solid foundation of trust, communication, and dating or marital rituals. Finally, when children come along, another stress is placed on the marriage. Research indicates that marital satisfaction begins it most serious decline after the birth of the first child. This happens for a number of reasons: the mother has an increased work load, while the father's generally remains the same; the husband suddenly feels under-appreciated by his wife, as the mother and child often establish a stronger family system than the father and child; lack of sleep causes stress; other factors contribute to the decline.
So, the question for reflection today is this: how can couples overcome these trends? They all fall back to family systems. How can couples strengthen the husband/wife family system? WHat do you think? Please feel free to comment!
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Hey everyone! Today, I would like to address an issue that is very common among people my age: dating.
Dating is a custom that has almost fallen by the wayside since the advent of technology. Social media such as Facebook is invasive to relationships, and the rise of the smartphone and texting as a method of communication has changed the way we interact in the dating field.
Originally, the development of relationships followed a general pattern:
1) Dating (a variety of activities with a variety of people).
2) Courtship (literally a trial relationship of steady interaction with one person).
3) Engagement, beginning with a proposal of marriage and spent in preparation for a wedding.
4) Marriage.
Now, however, dating a variety of people is for the most part uncommon, with people preferring to skip straight to courtship, now erroneously labeled "dating." This has two effects. The first is that couples who skip the dating phase do not have time to develop their taste in personality and activities, which may result in strains on the relationship. Second, the custom of actually going on dates falls by the wayside, and, once married, couples find a lack of marital rituals that bind them. There is a popular belief among young people (and many couples of all ages) that going on dates is no longer necessary once a long-term relationship has been committed to.
Contrary to this belief, a lack of dating culture causes tension, distance, and stress in a marriage. A couple, for example, who first became attracted to each other through dancing, once visited Dr. Bill Doherty, citing a distance in their relationship. They had been married three years prior. When Dr. Doherty asked them when the last time they had gone dancing was, they answered "three years ago." This story can be found in greater detail in Doherty's book, Take Back Your Marriage.
In conclusion, I would like to pose a question to the readers. How can a strong dating culture be re-established in society today? What do you think? Please feel free to leave your comments below and share your ideas!
Dating is a custom that has almost fallen by the wayside since the advent of technology. Social media such as Facebook is invasive to relationships, and the rise of the smartphone and texting as a method of communication has changed the way we interact in the dating field.
Originally, the development of relationships followed a general pattern:
1) Dating (a variety of activities with a variety of people).
2) Courtship (literally a trial relationship of steady interaction with one person).
3) Engagement, beginning with a proposal of marriage and spent in preparation for a wedding.
4) Marriage.
Now, however, dating a variety of people is for the most part uncommon, with people preferring to skip straight to courtship, now erroneously labeled "dating." This has two effects. The first is that couples who skip the dating phase do not have time to develop their taste in personality and activities, which may result in strains on the relationship. Second, the custom of actually going on dates falls by the wayside, and, once married, couples find a lack of marital rituals that bind them. There is a popular belief among young people (and many couples of all ages) that going on dates is no longer necessary once a long-term relationship has been committed to.
Contrary to this belief, a lack of dating culture causes tension, distance, and stress in a marriage. A couple, for example, who first became attracted to each other through dancing, once visited Dr. Bill Doherty, citing a distance in their relationship. They had been married three years prior. When Dr. Doherty asked them when the last time they had gone dancing was, they answered "three years ago." This story can be found in greater detail in Doherty's book, Take Back Your Marriage.
In conclusion, I would like to pose a question to the readers. How can a strong dating culture be re-established in society today? What do you think? Please feel free to leave your comments below and share your ideas!
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Families and Social Status
I once heard that it takes three familial generations in order to raise a master musician. The first generation starts down the path of instrumental mastery, the second generation corrects any errors in technique and execution, and, by the third generation, all of the wisdom of the previous generations has combined to create someone who is truly genius - a true master of the musical arts.
I mention this because we live in a society where people are divided into classes, most often in association with their families. We speak in both politics and economics about the upper, middle, and lower classes, designated by income and standard of living. As has been discussed in previous entries of this blog, perceived differences in outward appearances also cause distinctions to occur on a social level as well. These labels cause us to associate (admittedly, these are extreme examples) people who live in the lower class as criminals, uneducated, and dirty; and people of the upper class as privileged, entitled, and spoiled.
Our purpose right now is to examine how these classes affect family life. A lower class family living in America may have to make use of food stamps, have poor housing conditions, faulty methods of transportation, and limited access to education. What kind of effect do these conditions have of children. The results of many scientific studies, documentaries, and research projects indicate that when a family falls into poverty (the word poverty is being used in a relative sense), it is difficult for the family to climb higher up the social ladder. Why? With limited education comes a limited comprehension of how to push oneself to reach the maximum potential. Poor living conditions create an atmosphere of survival as opposed to an atmosphere of growth and expansion. When I lived in Brazil, I became a personal witness of that ideology. Many of the people I knew and loved there lived in such abject poverty that they did not even think that there were better options for them, let alone that they could achieve those options.
On the other hand, it may be all too easy for a child of good fortune to fall into the trap of entitlement and fail to develop his or her potential. As a result, the child may squander his or her gifts, talents, and money, and thus fall swiftly down the rungs of the social ladder. The cycle is continuous.
Thus we come to the analogy of the master musician. The key in this analogy is the role that previous generations play. The parents taught the children the value of their gift with music. Generation after generation, the family climbed the rungs of the ladder of musical proficiency, until they together reached the mastery. It took three generations to create a master musician. It may take multiple generations to overcome the effect that social statuses have on families.
Same Sex Attraction
I would like to clarify something at the beginning of this post: it may be a long one.
Introduction
The amount of controversy surrounding same sex attraction is unprecedented. Pushing aside questions of legality, morality, and equality, I would like to focus on one question in this post. What is the origin of same sex attraction? Where does it come from? Many claim that same sex attraction is natural, that people who feel attracted to others of their own gender are born that way. Many others claim that same sex attraction is a choice.
What Dr. Daryl Bem (a psychologist who has studied same sex attraction) proposes is a little different. He calls his theory "the exotic becomes erotic" (EBE). I will summarize it in brief. In summarizing, we will track the development of homo sexual feelings through a young man, simply because it is simpler to perceive.
The EBE Model
One of the great things about people is that every person is different. Each is born with a unique set of traits, which can vary from one extreme of a spectrum to another. Our example follows a young man who is born as a compassionate, caring, kind, and nurturing individual. What studies have found (and personal experience among many parents, some of whom might even be reading this blog) is that boys with these characteristics or tendencies are less likely to play with cars, toy guns, and the like. They avoid violence and aggression. Instead, they are more likely to play with barbies, dolls, show interest in art and drawing, and favor gentler interactions over rough-housing. From the development of these characteristics, it becomes easy to track a pattern.
A) Birth- Age 5: The boy displays natural characteristics and tendencies towards compassion and gentle interactions.
B) Age 5-8: The boy beings to make friends and associate with other boys his age. His gentler tendencies are noticed by other boys and may elicit occasional mocking.
C) Age 8-11: The boy's gentler tendencies are met with outright scorn and rejection. This is why I chose to look that the EBE model from the perspective of a boy. When a girl displays boy-like qualities at this age, she is given the appellation "tom-boy." However, when a boy displays feminine characteristics at this age (such as aversion to aggression, sports, competition in general, etc), his friends give him labels which may be among the following: sissy, wuss, femmy, he-she, and others. I can vouch for the veracity of this claim: I remember these words being tossed around even in elementary school.
D) Age 10-12: The boy perceives himself as a different; and outcast. Feeling rejected, unwanted, and emasculated by his own gender, he turns to seek approval from the opposite gender: girls his own age. That is the tendency of children at this age - they want approval from their own gender. If such approval is denied to them, then they will turn to the opposite gender in order to feel welcome.
E) Age 12- 13: Puberty begins. Typical boys and girls will begin at this time to seek approval not from their own gender, but from the opposite. In the case of the boy we have been following, the opposite is true. He has not yet received approval from his fellow young men, but from young women. Consequently, as the young women around him turn to seek approval from young men, so will he. It has become natural for him to do as the girls do.
F) Age 13-18: When he first begins to make friendships with boys, there is no sexual drive behind his actions. Rather, the drive is emotional. The other people of his own gender are exotic to him, different, and he feels welcomed by their approval for the first time in his life. That warmth of approval leads the boy to day-dreaming, imagination, and romantic emotions. Those emotions give way to physical urges, and the boy feels a sexual attraction that has stemmed, not necessarily from a predisposition to homosexuality, but from the negative effect that labeling has on people. He now identifies himself as gay.
In conclusion, the theory states that in many cases, the cause of same sex attraction is not something that arises in birth, but rather the result of negative exaggerations of the natural characteristics that diversify humanity. That is something we will return to shortly.
Support for the EBE Theory
I have personally met people who can testify that they have passed through similar experiences. One of my professors, from whom I learned and with whom I have at length discussed this theory, shared two stories with me. In both of these stories, he (my professor) worked with men who were trying to overcome their attraction to other men. When my professor shared this theory with these two men (and these were separate occasions), they both burst into tears and said that my professor had just described their entire lives. The catalyst for everything that happened to them, culminating in their self-identification as homosexuals, was the labeling and rejection that they received in their early childhood years.
Therapists who have worked with people trying to overcome their attraction to others of their own gender try to undo the damage wrought in the early stages of adolescence. They help people first to develop platonic friendships with their own gender. Then they move on to romantic relationships with people of the opposite gender. My professor shared a third story where a man who had previously identified as homosexual walked into my professor's office, threw down his hat, and exclaimed that he felt confused and lost. When my professor pressed the issue, the man said that he felt much happier around women now. He said that he wanted them to stay longer and he wanted to be close to them, and hug them a little longer. Because this man had been able to resolve the issues in his past, he was able to overcome his attraction to other men.
Conclusion
Now, I am not claiming that labeling, rejection, and malicious ostracizing are the sources of all homo-sexual attraction. However, they are major contributions. We see the same in issues of racism, religious extremists, terrorism, and many of the world's great conflicts and wars.
One of my goals in this blog is to share the results of studies and theories. It was not my intention to share my own opinions or beliefs, but regarding this topic, I feel an inclination to do so. I feel an overwhelming need to do so. My opinion and remarks as follow are not about homosexual relationships, but rather, about how we treat each other as human beings.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe that kindness should be shown to all people, regardless of any perceived differences. Jesus Christ said "he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil who is the father of contention" (3 Nephi 11:29). I believe that each person is born with gifts from our Heavenly Father, "and there are different ways that these gifts are administered, but it is the same God who worketh all in all" (Moroni 10:8). These unique gifts are designed to help us reach the divine potential we have to be good people.
Let us examine the traits that the boy in our EBE model had. When he was born and growing as a small child, he showed compassion. He had a nurturing side to him, which he expressed through the care he showed to the dolls he played with. He could identify with the beauty around him, which was evidenced through his love of art, and later manifested itself in the way he dressed and took care of himself. What young woman or potential mother would not want such attributes in a husband, or in a father to her children? But that might never happen, because of the way we treat each other - especially those who seem different
But we are not perfect people. When we see the good in other people, sometimes our own jealousy and insecurities get the better of us, and we mock the righteous attributes others have. Then, those righteous attributes become a shame instead of a blessing, and the continued scorn we show to each other drives us further down into the mud of depression and self-loathing.
I am saying these things because those who feel attracted to others of their own sex struggle in a world where they are so often hated, and where they feel a victim of prejudice and scorn. While the last section of this entry had little to do with the specifics of studies regarding same sex attraction, I would like to point out that regardless of how each of us feels regarding homosexual relations, people, marriages, or families, it is our duty as human beings to show love and respect in all circumstances. Maybe then we can work out the issues together. Or even better, maybe then, there would not even be issues to work out.
Introduction
The amount of controversy surrounding same sex attraction is unprecedented. Pushing aside questions of legality, morality, and equality, I would like to focus on one question in this post. What is the origin of same sex attraction? Where does it come from? Many claim that same sex attraction is natural, that people who feel attracted to others of their own gender are born that way. Many others claim that same sex attraction is a choice.
What Dr. Daryl Bem (a psychologist who has studied same sex attraction) proposes is a little different. He calls his theory "the exotic becomes erotic" (EBE). I will summarize it in brief. In summarizing, we will track the development of homo sexual feelings through a young man, simply because it is simpler to perceive.
The EBE Model
One of the great things about people is that every person is different. Each is born with a unique set of traits, which can vary from one extreme of a spectrum to another. Our example follows a young man who is born as a compassionate, caring, kind, and nurturing individual. What studies have found (and personal experience among many parents, some of whom might even be reading this blog) is that boys with these characteristics or tendencies are less likely to play with cars, toy guns, and the like. They avoid violence and aggression. Instead, they are more likely to play with barbies, dolls, show interest in art and drawing, and favor gentler interactions over rough-housing. From the development of these characteristics, it becomes easy to track a pattern.
A) Birth- Age 5: The boy displays natural characteristics and tendencies towards compassion and gentle interactions.
B) Age 5-8: The boy beings to make friends and associate with other boys his age. His gentler tendencies are noticed by other boys and may elicit occasional mocking.
C) Age 8-11: The boy's gentler tendencies are met with outright scorn and rejection. This is why I chose to look that the EBE model from the perspective of a boy. When a girl displays boy-like qualities at this age, she is given the appellation "tom-boy." However, when a boy displays feminine characteristics at this age (such as aversion to aggression, sports, competition in general, etc), his friends give him labels which may be among the following: sissy, wuss, femmy, he-she, and others. I can vouch for the veracity of this claim: I remember these words being tossed around even in elementary school.
D) Age 10-12: The boy perceives himself as a different; and outcast. Feeling rejected, unwanted, and emasculated by his own gender, he turns to seek approval from the opposite gender: girls his own age. That is the tendency of children at this age - they want approval from their own gender. If such approval is denied to them, then they will turn to the opposite gender in order to feel welcome.
E) Age 12- 13: Puberty begins. Typical boys and girls will begin at this time to seek approval not from their own gender, but from the opposite. In the case of the boy we have been following, the opposite is true. He has not yet received approval from his fellow young men, but from young women. Consequently, as the young women around him turn to seek approval from young men, so will he. It has become natural for him to do as the girls do.
F) Age 13-18: When he first begins to make friendships with boys, there is no sexual drive behind his actions. Rather, the drive is emotional. The other people of his own gender are exotic to him, different, and he feels welcomed by their approval for the first time in his life. That warmth of approval leads the boy to day-dreaming, imagination, and romantic emotions. Those emotions give way to physical urges, and the boy feels a sexual attraction that has stemmed, not necessarily from a predisposition to homosexuality, but from the negative effect that labeling has on people. He now identifies himself as gay.
In conclusion, the theory states that in many cases, the cause of same sex attraction is not something that arises in birth, but rather the result of negative exaggerations of the natural characteristics that diversify humanity. That is something we will return to shortly.
Support for the EBE Theory
I have personally met people who can testify that they have passed through similar experiences. One of my professors, from whom I learned and with whom I have at length discussed this theory, shared two stories with me. In both of these stories, he (my professor) worked with men who were trying to overcome their attraction to other men. When my professor shared this theory with these two men (and these were separate occasions), they both burst into tears and said that my professor had just described their entire lives. The catalyst for everything that happened to them, culminating in their self-identification as homosexuals, was the labeling and rejection that they received in their early childhood years.
Therapists who have worked with people trying to overcome their attraction to others of their own gender try to undo the damage wrought in the early stages of adolescence. They help people first to develop platonic friendships with their own gender. Then they move on to romantic relationships with people of the opposite gender. My professor shared a third story where a man who had previously identified as homosexual walked into my professor's office, threw down his hat, and exclaimed that he felt confused and lost. When my professor pressed the issue, the man said that he felt much happier around women now. He said that he wanted them to stay longer and he wanted to be close to them, and hug them a little longer. Because this man had been able to resolve the issues in his past, he was able to overcome his attraction to other men.
Conclusion
Now, I am not claiming that labeling, rejection, and malicious ostracizing are the sources of all homo-sexual attraction. However, they are major contributions. We see the same in issues of racism, religious extremists, terrorism, and many of the world's great conflicts and wars.
One of my goals in this blog is to share the results of studies and theories. It was not my intention to share my own opinions or beliefs, but regarding this topic, I feel an inclination to do so. I feel an overwhelming need to do so. My opinion and remarks as follow are not about homosexual relationships, but rather, about how we treat each other as human beings.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe that kindness should be shown to all people, regardless of any perceived differences. Jesus Christ said "he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil who is the father of contention" (3 Nephi 11:29). I believe that each person is born with gifts from our Heavenly Father, "and there are different ways that these gifts are administered, but it is the same God who worketh all in all" (Moroni 10:8). These unique gifts are designed to help us reach the divine potential we have to be good people.
Let us examine the traits that the boy in our EBE model had. When he was born and growing as a small child, he showed compassion. He had a nurturing side to him, which he expressed through the care he showed to the dolls he played with. He could identify with the beauty around him, which was evidenced through his love of art, and later manifested itself in the way he dressed and took care of himself. What young woman or potential mother would not want such attributes in a husband, or in a father to her children? But that might never happen, because of the way we treat each other - especially those who seem different
But we are not perfect people. When we see the good in other people, sometimes our own jealousy and insecurities get the better of us, and we mock the righteous attributes others have. Then, those righteous attributes become a shame instead of a blessing, and the continued scorn we show to each other drives us further down into the mud of depression and self-loathing.
I am saying these things because those who feel attracted to others of their own sex struggle in a world where they are so often hated, and where they feel a victim of prejudice and scorn. While the last section of this entry had little to do with the specifics of studies regarding same sex attraction, I would like to point out that regardless of how each of us feels regarding homosexual relations, people, marriages, or families, it is our duty as human beings to show love and respect in all circumstances. Maybe then we can work out the issues together. Or even better, maybe then, there would not even be issues to work out.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Introduction to "Zach's Family Findings."
Intro to Zach's Family Findings
In this blog, I will be posting weekly updates about information regarding the purpose and value of the family. The information will be unbiased, which provides a welcome relief from much of the media which surrounds us today. The goal with this blog is to promote discussion regarding the family, and to determine appropriate actions that individuals should take regarding the information that is presented and discussed here.
My idea with this type of blog is to examine research, data, and professional feedback regarding the family. Much of the information we have, and many studies which have been conducted regarding family, have been either falsified or incorrectly conducted. As an example, I cite the Supreme Court case in 2015 which resulted in the legalization of same sex marriage. There were studies used in this case that determined that children raised by same-sex couples fared just as well as children raised by hetero-sexual parents. Upon reviewing these studies, I discovered that many were conducted on sample groups of inadequate sizes, and many more compared children raised by same sex couples against children raised, not by hetero-sexual couples, but by single mothers. The studies in this case were biased because they gave an inaccurate representation of what they claimed to be measuring.
Therefore, the purpose I have here is to be able to freely talk about these things and discuss the facts. I will rarely, if ever, include my opinion in the posts, and even in responding to comments I will attempt to remain unbiased.
Please feel free to comment, post links and articles, and make your opinion known. Please make sure to keep all discussion polite and productive!
My idea with this type of blog is to examine research, data, and professional feedback regarding the family. Much of the information we have, and many studies which have been conducted regarding family, have been either falsified or incorrectly conducted. As an example, I cite the Supreme Court case in 2015 which resulted in the legalization of same sex marriage. There were studies used in this case that determined that children raised by same-sex couples fared just as well as children raised by hetero-sexual parents. Upon reviewing these studies, I discovered that many were conducted on sample groups of inadequate sizes, and many more compared children raised by same sex couples against children raised, not by hetero-sexual couples, but by single mothers. The studies in this case were biased because they gave an inaccurate representation of what they claimed to be measuring.
Therefore, the purpose I have here is to be able to freely talk about these things and discuss the facts. I will rarely, if ever, include my opinion in the posts, and even in responding to comments I will attempt to remain unbiased.
Please feel free to comment, post links and articles, and make your opinion known. Please make sure to keep all discussion polite and productive!
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