Amara's Arrival

As I write this, Amara’s sucking her thumb and rolling over, or watching the screen.  She’s so big at 4 months now!  She has to be my favorite baby right now. 

This is what I wrote on our personal web page that Geocities won’t be hosting any longer, so I’m moving it here.  Enjoy!

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AMARA ROSE BORN

Weight: 8 lbs 13 oz (4000 grams)
Height: 22.4″ (57 cm)
Head: 14.4″ (36.5 cm)
Name explanation: We became convinced it was a girl early on so we only really considered girls names. I had prayed that God wouldn’t let me get pregnant until at least after August, so when we discovered that I must have conceived around September 1st, it was kind of funny but humbling to realize God’s exact answer to prayer. I wanted a name that meant something like “God’s time is perfect” and looked that up on a baby name search website (behindthename.com, my favorite). It came up with “OGECHUKWUKAMA” which means “God’s time is the best” in Igbo. Well, that was exactly what I was looking for, but ….welll….there was no way we were using that, we can’t even pronounce it! However, I thought it interesting that there was a name with that meaning so I looked up “Igbo”. It’s a people group from southeastern Nigeria. The majority are Christian today, but there is some evidence of a Jewish diaspora affecting Igbo history. I looked up all the Igbo names on the baby website and most use God in their meanings. One name that caught my eye in particular was Amara, which means “grace” in Igbo. I liked the sound of it and mentioned it to Nathan. That’s about all that happened on the name front for the next four months. By the end of the pregnancy, we hadn’t found anything else we liked and came back to Amara, which over time had really grown on us. So we went with that as our tentative first name and started thinking of middle names. One night Nathan came up with Rose and we liked the sound of that, although we bounced several other possibilities around with it. By the time she arrived, Amara Rose was our first choice and that’s what we ended up going with. We like it, and we hope she does too!
One note: other baby names websites link the meaning of “Amara” with eternal or everlasting, attributing it either to Latin or Sanskrit. We think that’s nice too but it’s not why we chose it.

Amara’s birth
Amara’s birth was perfect…and humbling. “Praise God” is the general theme, I think. With our previous births, whether due to complications or other factors, there had been a lot of “interventions” – induction, IV antibiotics, and epidurals. I had always wanted to “make it” to the end without drugs but ended up having them each time. So with birth number four coming up, I chose to stay at the local hospital instead, where epidurals and C-sections aren’t even options. I read up on natural childbirth (again) but didn’t really think about it much, because by this time (number four) I was mostly looking forward to meeting the little one who had been kicking my insides for so long.
Each birth I’ve had has started with my waters breaking, and this time was no different. The only surprising thing was that they broke on the morning of my ultrasound due date, a first for us with our overdue baby history! (LMP due date was three days earlier so she could theoretically have been past due date). We slept as much as possible and called a few people in the morning to warn them (and ask for prayer). Because we’d gone to the hospital too early with previous labors, I wanted to stay home as long as possible this time – I apparently have deep aversions to hospitals and invariably stall my labor just thinking about going to them. So we let the kids know the baby was coming today, then went about our usual routines. Nathan and his dad went and picked up a swingset a friend had offered to give us, so the big news for the day for the kids was the swingset. I went outside and weeded to try to get labor going, since it hadn’t really started yet. By lunchtime I was double-checking “active labor” signs and was pretty sure things had started for real. Nathan dropped off the kids at his parents ~1:30pm and then came home to be with me and time contractions. We left for the hospital ~2:30 when the contractions were getting pretty intense and were about 3.5 min apart. I was actually secretly hoping things would slow down in the car by this point! I’d been “vocalizing” through the contractions and by the time we got to the hospital (20 min) I was getting pretty loud, although the contractions were further apart. By the time Nathan came with the wheelchair to take me in I was yelling! We got into the labor room and the nurse judged me to be about 6-7 cm dilated. She started reminding me to breathe through the contractions instead of yelling. I was asking about drugs and telling Nathan I didn’t think I could do it at this point, and when the nurses said I wasn’t in the “transition” phase I got really discouraged. Turns out I was, because a few minutes later I was getting the urge to push! They went to get the doctor to check me, but by the time he made it to the room there wasn’t even enough time between contractions for him to check me, and then Nathan pointed out that they could see the head. They quickly wheeled me into the next room (delivery) and started rushing to prep for the imminent arrival. It took a few more minutes because Amara decided to stick her hand up by her head, but after the doc rearranged her she popped out. All in all, it was 23 min. from arrival to birth.

I guess that’s why I can call the birth “perfect”. She was safe, it was quick and no interventions were done. But it was also very humbling because I can say that if there had been a needle in range I would’ve jabbed it in myself by the end. Before the birth I’d decided to try ‘natural’ because the only drugs available at the hospital all have side effects for the baby, and I didn’t want that…but by the end I didn’t really care anymore. I’m very grateful for Nathan’s support, he kept telling me I could do it and he told the nurses that I had explicitly said no drugs beforehand. Also, by the time we got there, drugs weren’t even an option because they would’ve compromised the baby’s breathing after birth…but I still wanted something. Very humbling, and I’m very grateful that God only gave me as much as I could endure and so it was a VERY quick transition and delivery. Nathan noticed right off that Amara was more alert and responsive than any of our other children have been after birth, and I think some of that is due to not having any drugs in her system. God is good! =D

Why substitution isn't really a problem

Beau’s lingering concerns with the ability of dynamic concentration to reduce Crime rather than reduce the incidence of a particular kind of crime are well taken, but I think ultimately misguided.  He assumes a dedication to criminality that I don’t think the evidence supports in most cases.  That, for instance, is why employment programs for reentering prisoners are really good ideas.  Still, even the people that one would assume are the most “dedicated” to a criminal lifestyle – hardcore drug addicts – respond very well to dynamic concentration.  In Hawai’i, where Project HOPE utilizes a form of dynamic concentration in the probation system, drug addicts are warned that they will be subject to weekly drug tests with 24 hours notice and that violation will result in an immediate but brief period of incarceration (starting at 2 days and increasing with every violation).

Even these hardcore drug users responded.  Roughly half stopped using after the warning alone.  Over the course of a few months, HOPE reduces the level of drug use by 90% while probationers not in HOPE actually use more drugs than before they started probation.  (When Brute Force Fails, p. 40).  Additionally, while HOPE’s primary focus is on drug testing (that is, it’s enforcement concentration is drug enforcement), HOPE participants are rearrested on other charges (including non-drug charges) half as often as non-participants and for less serious crimes.  (Ibid.)  That is to say, rather than causing criminals to substitute one form of criminal behavior for another one that is not being targeted, consistent enforcement of one rule results in a positive feedback loop that actually reduces lots of other kinds of crime.

Now, I can imagine someone positing that this phenomenon is limited to drug enforcement – arguing that the consequent crime reduction is the result of fewer drug addicts committing other crimes to support their habit.  I suppose that could be true, but a) wouldn’t focusing enforcement resources on drug crime be a good way to bring down overall crime rates?, and b) why not simply focus on a geographic area rather than on a particular kind of crime?  As I noted in my last post, most crime is local.  If you focus on geographic areas rather than types of crime, you are still going to get the benefit of concentrated resources, but the opportunity to substitute one type of crime for another is gone.  It doesn’t matter whether you rob a bank or deal drugs, the heat is going to be on. Most criminals won’t go very far to commit a crime because most of the time they can’t.  If you live in Watts and don’t have a car, it’s going to be pretty difficult to rob a bank in Westwood and then hop on a bus back home.

Additionally, targeting crime in terms of geography will have the added benefit of creating a positive feedback loop.  As crime levels drop, you will have fewer first-time felons which will mean fewer people with felony convictions trying to pass employer background checks (read, more economic opportunity).  You will also have safer streets which will make it a whole lot easier for small business to successfully operate since people will be less afraid to walk to a local restaurant for dinner.  Reducing crime can actually reduce the likelihood of a criminal resurgence (in economic terms, you can create a low-crime equilibrium). Focusing resources regionally, then, can address Beau’s substitution problem without any additional cost.

It also just so happens that if one prioritizes enforcement resources in terms of specific gangs, one will simultaneously be focusing resources geographically since gangs have “turfs” where they operate.  In fact, the phenomenon of gang “turf” makes geographic substitution less likely than in a normal case.  Even if a gang member from the Bloodstone Villians (a Bloods crew) had sufficient transportation to commit a crime in 53 Avalon Gangster Crip territory, it is really unlikely that he would because he’s probably afraid of getting killed (either during the course of the crime or later on as retribution).

The real substitution that I think is likely to happen with dynamic concentration is a transition from illicit to licit activity.  The best way to permanently break the grip of gang crime in the inner city is to create jobs.  The best way create jobs in the inner-city is to reduce crime.  And all the evidence I’ve seen suggests that the best way to reduce crime is dynamic concentration.  Still, I remain open to any evidence of a more effective solution.

Tales of the Apocalypse: The Sergeant

“A-at least I made a difference…” The effort sends blood flecking the boy’s lips. His lungs are slowly filling with blood spilling into Sarge’s lap with every cough. No, you fucking didn’t, Sarge screams, you’re just another useless fucking casualty. But the boy doesn’t hear. His eyes have gone out like the night’s last embers.

Sarge gets to his feet, the sack of meat slumping face down into the dust. He walks to the Command tent, passing rows of moaning men with filthy needles hanging from their arms. Brushing aside the tent flap, he takes out his pistol and sends a bullet into the General’s skull. A captain and lieutenant have their guns instantly trained on him. The lieutenant moves his gun hand away and shoots the captain in the stomach, his electric blue eyes inexpressive. Sarge’s moss green gaze flickers to the lieutenant’s bruised cephalic vein. “I shoot up with a saline solution,” the lieutenant says, going outside to see if anyone has heard the shots. He returns shaking his head. “We better get out of here. They won’t be too happy once they find out.”

“There’s something I want to do first,” Sarge says. He sweeps the ringstained maps from a trunk and takes from it a chunk of plasticine. The lieutenant looks at him for a moment before nodding. They arrange to meet at the outskirts of camp in fifteen minutes, and Sarge leaves for the doctor’s to cancel his prescription.

It was a maze of barbed wire and trenches stretching to the east and to the west. It smelled like a latrine. Sentries were fast asleep at their posts, guns pointed at the ground. A dog has died days ago, its bone etched flank squirming with maggots. When Sarge arrives, he finds the lieutenant with some guns, two packs of rations, and what little fresh water he could find. They look at the world their grandfathers left for them. Sarge spat on the ground.

“Let’s go north. I hear elk hunting is good at this time of the year,” says Sarge, pressing the detonator. At the center of camp the dwindling supply of heroin goes up in a pillar of fire, and the traitorous pair can hear the keening moan of the vast junkie army left without a fix. “The fresh air’ll be good for us,” the lieutenant says, smiling for the first time in years.

What is a symptom?

Symptoms can be tricky things right?  After all, when you go to the doctor, you usually begin by telling him or her what it is that’s bothering you… you give them a run-down of the symptoms you’re feeling.  You may say that your throat is sore, or that you have a headache, or you have night sweats.

But what if the symptom is the solution??

Often times we hear parents talking about how their child has a fever.  They rush to the medicine cabinet and get the tylenol or ibuprophen so that can “get that fever under control”.

But think about it for a minute… why do they have that fever?

Fever is the body’s way of changing the internal environment.  That’s right, when the body encounters an infection inside of you, it will raise your temperature because it knows that germs and infections can’t stand the heat.  So your body increases its metabolism and raises your temperature so that it can literally cook the infection out of your system.  What happens if you give your child (or yourself for that matter) a drug to lower your temperature?

Instead of the body being able to kill the infection, the fever is artifically reduced and the infection is allowed to live and go on creating problems in the body for extended periods of time.

This time, instead of trying to reduce the fever, take a moment and think about the inate intelligence of the body – the human species has been perfecting the art of dealing with infection and disease naturally for thousands of years… all without drugs!!

Listen to your body.  If you or your child run a fever, take some time off and rest, stay hydrated, and let your body do exactly what it NEEDS to do.  You’ll find that you will get healthy and stay healthier faster when you just listen to your inate.

In Health,

Dr. Ross

Lindsay Lohan; Say What?

About 4 years ago everyone couldn’t get off of Lindsay Lohan but when they did, this happened. Lindsay Lohan looks like a 65 year old Sienna Miller but worse. Sienna Miller is hot btw, that wasn’t a jab at her. In fact we prefer Miller of this unwrapped mummy any day. What happened to Lindsay Lohan though? She let herself grow up way too fast, so remember kids up with hope! Down with dope… Unless you are using it as describing something. Then its good.

Check out these Halloween costumes today and then build your own Lindsay Lohan costume this year!

Never a good idea to sleep on the job

This just in from the AP…

BROWNSVILLE — Two men found asleep on top of bundles of marijuana face federal drug charges in the Southern District of Texas.

The men have detention hearings scheduled for Thursday afternoon. They are charged with conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute the marijuana.

According to the complaint, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent was following footprints left by six people early Saturday morning when he came upon the group sleeping atop bundles of marijuana. Four of the men fled, but two were detained.

The men told authorities they had entered the U.S. illegally and had taken turns carrying the bundles until they stopped to rest. Authorities seized more than 350 pounds of marijuana.

5 Million AIDS patients without meds!

“About 4 million people are now getting AIDS drugs worldwide — a 10-fold jump in five years — but 5 million others are still in dire need of the medicine, U.N. health officials estimated in a report issued Wednesday. The figures represented a major increase in rolling out drugs to patients across Africa, where the AIDS epidemic is focused, even though they were based on incomplete data and modeling.” – Maria Cheng, AP

That’s a HUGE number! I wish one day pharmaceutical companies start investing in various funds to help support their research, rather than jacking up the price of various meds and drugs that only people of a certain social strata can afford. I’ve seen first hand what HIV/AIDS does to people and their families in Tanzania! It’s time the world takes action!!