NRU mish mash

Sorry to hear that our knee jerk reactions continue to foil students as they try to stretch themselves into adulthood.  I would certainly love to see this movie and any others produced by this group.

This was a lovely little bit on what to say to your child about death. As I continue to field questions from my nephew -- usually not so directed towards the loss of his mother -- I often wonder how truthful I need to be to get the point across.  So far, I have always come down on the side of truthful and direct ... but there are some questions I do not know how to or how I will answer.

This story about a study of children who die prematurely after losing a parent made my heart drop.  My concern for my parents after losing my brother and sister is only greater for my nieces and nephews.  This piece is high on statistics and light on story -- that is it is a story about a study about numbers.  Even though this is true, it is still scary.

Turns out being a vegetarian, vegan or just switching to anything but beef is good for the environment.  In general, I think it is best to do much less of everything we do.  We might plant more ... but everything else we do seems to get us deeper in the environmental hole. 

In my opinion, full contact football should be banned from middle schools and high schools, so these new rules do not go nearly far enough for me.  One bad practice can end a young player's life -- we have seen this one too many times.  However, the long-term damage done by continued trauma to the head should certainly not start while children are under 18 years old. 

I share the frustration and anguish that this op-ed expresses -- the only saving grace to this dark cloud is that by the time any of this can actually be put in motion is after millions of Americans who have never had the opportunity can experience a primary care physician and preventative care rather than emergency room band-aids.  I want to see those Americans who have derided Obamacare to stand up and demand their right to health care ... I believe it will happen.  I have to believe.