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In 1907, the first president of the American Psychological Association called only children "sickly, selfish, strange and stupid." He concluded that "being an only child is a disease in itself."
In her book One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One, journalist Lauren Sandler takes on these stereotypes and sifts through a huge body of research that debunks many of the worst myths about only children.
Sandler, an only child and mother of one, says she didn't realize the extent of the stereotypes until she had an only child of her own.
"I hear from people all the time: 'Oh, you wouldn't do that to your child,' " Sandler tells NPR's Lynn Neary. "And I was stunned by the judgment. It's like the last living stereotype that political correctness couldn't abolish."
She talks about her research on the topic and the joys of raising just one.
Interview Highlights
On making the decision with her husband
"I think that because I'm an only child myself, it's normal to me, and it didn't feel like such a huge jump to make that choice. So we started with one, and then we saw where we were at, and where we were at was a very, very happy place. And that's where we continue to be. ...
"I really do believe that for the three of us, this is a really great way of living. That said, you know, I'm 38. My body hasn't decided for me yet. Maybe when it begins to, that will start feeling different. I really don't know."
On her research on only children
"I was stunned by how much material has existed on this topic for decades and decades ... So I combed through that material. I also traveled the world interviewing only children and parents of only children and demographers and environmental scientists and various people who could help illuminate the complexities of this conversation. ... The data tells us one thing, which is that only children are really no different than anyone else. ...
"But we also have a different experience, and that experience is something which you really need to connect with people to understand, because it's totally different for a kid who lives in a rural place where there aren't a lot of other children around or, you know, someone who has happily married parents.
"It's a different dynamic for everyone. The thing is that if you're an only child, that tends to be a bit of a totalizing narrative. It tends to be the story that either other people use or you use yourself to explain various things about you: If you feel lonely, it's because you're an only child, even though everyone is lonely in the world."
On only children and loneliness
"I think that there's the concern that only children are lonely children. And I think that when parents consider having a second child as a gift to their first, that is probably the thing that they are most often concerned about, which I understand. I think that we have a very visceral response to seeing a child alone in a sandbox.
"But it was interesting, speaking to psychologists about the experience of loneliness for only children, a lot of them believe that we have the strongest primary relationship with ourselves, which is incredible armor against loneliness; that for a lot of only children, being alone is the experience of solitude, which is a very rich thing, instead of loneliness, which is a very painful thing.
"And so that's something that I think we tend to get wrong. ... For me, I spent a lot of time reading. And that may seem kind of nerdy and sad, but honestly I loved it. I loved having time to read and then also having time with friends."
On only children and spoiling
"My feeling about that is only children don't spoil themselves. Parents spoil kids. And you can spoil two kids or three kids as much as you can spoil one. And part of the issue of having the totality of what it means to parent an only child, our conversation is just that you shouldn't do it and not let's have a mindful discussion about how to do it."
This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Lynn Neary, in Washington. Neal Conan is away. In 1907, the first president of the American Psychological Association called only children sickly, selfish, strange and stupid. He concluded that, quote, "being an only child is a disease in itself." Now, let's face it: That's a pretty stunning indictment of an entire group of people who, through no fault of their own, were raised without siblings.
Journalist Lauren Sandler takes on such pernicious stereotypes in her new book "One and Only." Sandler has sifted through a huge body of research that debunks many of the worst myths about only children. Even so, she says persistent cultural assumptions about sad and lonely onlys prevent other conversations about the costs and tradeoffs inherent in choosing to have larger families.
Sandler herself is an only child, and she is raising one. She'll join us in a moment. But we want to hear from you, too. If you're an only child, and you're a parent or thinking of becoming one, would you consider having an only? Why or why not? Our number is 800-989-8255. Our email address is firstname.lastname@example.com. And you can also join the conversation at our website. Go to npr.org, and click on TALK OF THE NATION.
Later in the program: how independent musicians get their music heard online. But first, being and having only children. Lauren Sandler's new book, "One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One," is out today from Simon and Schuster. Lauren joins us from our bureau in New York. Good to have you on the show, Lauren.
LAUREN SANDLER: Hi, Lynn.
NEARY: And I have to say that Lauren and I have a history. Lauren used to work here at NPR, and she and I worked together on a number of very interesting stories. So it's great fun to be able to talk to you about this new book, Lauren.
SANDLER: It's also such a reckoning for me, because reflecting on the way here, I was thinking, wow, the year that we worked together is when I was my most stereotypically only-childlike.
SANDLER: But now after all this research, I realize it wasn't because I was an only child. I just had an entitlement complex when I was 23.
NEARY: I can't help but say that thought crossed my mind in there as I was reading your book.
NEARY: And, you know, you begin your book by saying: This is not a memoir, but to conform to what's expected of an only child, let me start with myself.
SANDLER: There you go.
NEARY: So let's start with you. I have to say, I couldn't help but feel that as I was reading this book, that maybe it grew out of a feeling that you had that you were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, that you had just had enough of insulting assumptions about what it meant to be an only child. Is that true?
SANDLER: Well, it's funny. As an only child myself, I didn't feel that so much. When I started to feel it was once I had an only child of my own. You know, I think that people tend to keep their stereotypical feelings about others to themselves often. But when you're a parent of an only child, you hear it from a lot of people.
I mean, I - not just family and friends - and honestly I don't get a lot of flak from people I'm close to - but in the supermarket, on the subway, I hear from people all the time: Oh, you wouldn't do that to your child. And I was stunned by the judgment, and also stunned that when I started looking into the basis for that judgment, the sensibility behind it, you know, just based on erroneous information. It's like the last living stereotype that political correctness couldn't abolish.
NEARY: Well, you tell a story about a woman you ran into in a supermarket who gave you a hard time. Tell us the details of that story a little bit.
SANDLER: Honestly, I could tell dozens of stories like this. But, you know, this was a moment when my kid was probably - I'd say Dahlia was about two or three, and she was dancing in the supermarket. And as people do when they see a cute kid dancing, would smile and chat me up and say: So, do you have another one? No. Well, are you planning to? No. I'm not planning to right now. Oh, you wouldn't do that to your child.
And it's amazing to see those smiles just harden and the notion of my daughter of I as incredibly happy and, you know, me as a very nurturing, joyful mother just changes on a dime when people hear that I actually might not have another child.
NEARY: Yeah. And you also start the book by talking about your own mother's decision. Tell us a little bit about what she has told you about why she decided to have an only child.
SANDLER: Well, my mother was very committed to her work and very committed to a certain degree of personal freedom. She and my father really wanted to live in the apartment that they moved into in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which I know you've seen, Lynn.
NEARY: I have.
SANDLER: And as you know, it's not a very big apartment. And they thought, you know, we have this great life where we can walk out onto the street and buy a really good cookie and see street theater. And she could devote herself to work that meant a lot to her, and they could travel. And it felt like a tradeoff that wasn't quite worth it to them.
And, you know, it was an era in the '70s when feminism was potent and part of the culture, and environmentalism was potent and part of the culture. And those twin movements really pushed a conversation about how many children we would have, what motherhood should look like, what the planet was reconciling.
And because of that, I think that it was actually a little easier to make this choice in the '70s than it even is today, all these years later.
NEARY: Well, what was interesting about that little section is one got the sense, just a little glimpse of the fact that perhaps your father wasn't entirely sure about the decision, or it was a little harder for him.
SANDLER: That's true, and I actually didn't know that until I spoke to him in a conversation that begins my book. But I think that the issue is that, you know, the issue in the having-it-all conversation, so to speak, is not an issue of never compromising. It's an issue of which compromises we will make. And so for my father, the compromise was to say, OK, I will support this, and I'll be really happy with my family. And he was, just as I think a lot of parents right now are saying: We are stretched so thin between working more than ever and parenting more than ever and the economy, you know, in the tank here. And so what are we going to compromise? Because you can't both have one child who you devote all your resources to, and more children who can offer sibling competition and companionship and time left over for oneself.
So those, you know, they tend to be three different lives there. And we have to do the best we can by making choices, I think, that make us happy people, to make us happy parents, and therefore good parents.
NEARY: So when it came time for you to begin having a family, did you know right from the start, I really only want one? Or did that - is that something that came on you and your husband gradually? I mean, how did you arrive at that decision?
SANDLER: Well, I think of children as, you know, something that happens one at a time. I, you know, I think that because I'm an only child myself, it's normal to me, and it didn't feel like such a huge jump to make that choice. So we started with one, and then we saw where we were at, and where we were at was a very, very happy place. And that's where we continue to be.
NEARY: Yeah. And is that something that could change? Or, I mean, I don't mean to say, are you going to have another one? Because that's the question you hate, right, or think shouldn't really be asked.
SANDLER: No, no - I mean, hey, I wrote a book about this. I am opening up that question.
SANDLER: I feel like, you know, my womb is now fair game. It's not the supermarket anymore. At the moment, it's not a plan that I have. And I really do believe that for the three of us, this is a really great way of living. That said, you know, I'm 38. My body hasn't decided for me yet. Maybe when it begins to, that will start feeling different. I really don't know.
NEARY: When did you turn 38?
SANDLER: I know.
NEARY: OK. Anyway, move on from that. But so we should say it's not a memoir. It is not all about you. You did a huge amount of research for this book, as well.
SANDLER: Well, it was interesting. A lot of my research was just looking at other people's research. I was stunned by how much material has existed on this topic for decades and decades - I mean, hundreds of studies. So I combed through that material, but then I also traveled the world interviewing only children and parents of only children and demographers and environmental scientists and various people who could help illuminate the complexities of this conversation because, you know, the data tells us one thing, which is that only children are really no different than anyone else.
You know, we tend to have higher achievement, higher intelligence - I know that sounds like a very only child thing to say, but it does bear out in the numbers. But we also have a different experience, and that experience is something which you really need to connect with people to understand, because it's totally different for a kid who lives in a rural place where there aren't a lot of other children around or, you know, someone who has happily married parents.
I mean, it's a different dynamic for everyone. The thing is that if you're an only child, that tends to be a bit of a totalizing narrative. It tends to be the story that either other people use or you use yourself to explain various things about you. If you feel lonely, it's because you're an only child, even though everyone is lonely in the world.
NEARY: And if you're a big success, it's because you're an only child.
SANDLER: Exactly. And I think that it just becomes a story that we tell ourselves that isn't always based on as much as we think it is.
NEARY: Let's take a call. We're going to go to Amanda, and she is calling from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hi, Amanda.
AMANDA: Hi.
NEARY: Go ahead.
AMANDA: I was just calling because, actually, I have two only children.
AMANDA: I have a 17-year-old stepson that I married into when he was six, and we took over full custody when he was eight. And he's 17 now. And then when he was 16, we decided to have one more. So I think of them as two only children, because by the time my stepson moves out, my baby won't even remember ever living with him.
NEARY: And that's true. And I think, Lauren, you talk about the fact that there can be, in a sense, two only children in one family.
AMANDA: Oh, sure. I mean, defining what an only child is - today especially - is so difficult when there are so many blended families, and there could be so many different factors that go into people's fertility choices, and the timing of all of that. It's interesting, in the data, looking at personality traits, if you have lived alone in a house with your parents for seven years as a kid, then you're technically an only child.
But I do think that, often, for people who have step relationships or that sort of distance, they tend to get the best of both worlds in that they have all of that devotion and attention that only children get, and then they also have another family member, which can be a beautiful thing.
NEARY: And Amanda, I gather you come from a big family? Is that right?
AMANDA: Yes. I come from - I'm the oldest of six.
NEARY: So why did you decide you wanted to have an only child after coming from such a big family?
AMANDA: Because being the oldest girl, I did a lot of work, and my younger siblings, a lot of the - a lot of times, especially the youngest one, kind of look at me as a second parent. And I was always the person they called to babysit when they started having kids. And so I knew what sort of work it took. And so when I took on a stepson, I didn't want - I didn't want my focus to be split.
I didn't think of it as being selfish. I thought of it more as being able to focus on what he needs. And when he actually reached a point that he was more self-sufficient, around 16, suddenly my husband and I looked at each other and thought: Do we want to be done? And that's how we decided to have a baby.
NEARY: All right. And how old is your - how old is the second one now?
AMANDA: He is 10 months.
NEARY: Ten months, a little baby, OK. Well, good luck with that, Amanda, and thanks so much for calling us.
AMANDA: Thank you. Bye.
NEARY: OK. And, again, Lauren, Amanda a good example of how families are changing, how there are so many different ways that a person could describe themselves as an only child. We're talking with Lauren Sandler about her new book "One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One." If you're an only child, we want to hear from you. Give us a call at 800-989-8255. And we'll have more in just a minute. I'm Lynn Neary, and this is TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News.
NEARY: This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Lynn Neary. There are a lot of stereotypes about only children, and our guest Lauren Sandler, author of "One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One," points out in her new book that pop culture loves to reinforce those stereotypes.
Think about horror films - "The Shining," "The Exorcist" and "Friday the 13th." They all hinge on only children. So, too, do many superhero stories. The heroes are often only children: Superman, Spiderman, Batman and Iron Man. That sounds complimentary, but in fact, says Sandler, they fit the misfit, loner stereotype, quote, "incapable of truly connecting with citizens of the real world."
And the cultural assumptions in those fictional tales can make being and having an only child look unappealing. But as Lauren, an only with one child of her own, points out, much of what we assume about only children is wrong. So if you're an only child, we want to hear from you. If you're a parent or thinking of becoming one, will you consider having an only child? Give us a call at 800-989-8255. Or send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com. And you can also chime in on our website. That's npr.org, just click on TALK OF THE NATION.
Lauren, let's go through some of these stereotypes, maybe take maybe the one that you think is sort of the most pernicious that you've seen through research isn't true but that people just won't give up about only children.
SANDLER: Well, I think that there's the concern that only children are lonely children. And I think that when parents consider having a second child as a gift to their first, that is probably the thing that they are most often concerned about, which I understand. I think that we have a very visceral response to seeing a child alone in a sandbox.
But it was interesting, speaking to psychologists about the experience of loneliness for only children, a lot of them believe that we have the strongest primary relationship with ourselves, which is incredible armor against loneliness; that for a lot of only children, being alone is the experience of solitude, which is a very rich thing, instead of loneliness, which is a very painful thing.
And so that's something that I think we tend to get wrong. You know, when studies have been done about how many friends kids tend to have, only children have as many friends as anyone else. And I know that for a lot of us, you know, for me I spent a lot of time reading. And that may seem kind of nerdy and sad, but honestly I loved it. I loved having time to read and then also having time with friends.
So that's one of the issues. Another one is, of course, spoiling. But, you know, my feeling about that is only children don't spoil themselves. Parents spoil kids. And you can spoil two kids or three kids as much as you can spoil one. And part of the issue of having the totality of what it means to parent an only child, our conversation is just that you shouldn't do it and not let's have a mindful discussion about how to do it.
And yeah, you have to be careful about some of these things, but I think that we have to be careful about all aspects of parenting.
NEARY: See, you can tell you don't have a sibling because anybody with a brother or sister would say no, my brother or my sister or the two of them, they're the spoiled ones, I'm not, I didn't get spoiled, they did.
SANDLER: Right.
NEARY: But anyway, you do also point out that, you know, because onlys lack sibling relationships, they actually tend to sort of seek out really strong relationships and make a lot of close friends outside of the family and that in fact they're sort of choosing a different kind of family. And I've seen that with a lot of people I know who are only children. They seem to be people who - I mean, I have one very close friend who's an only child who was very attached to my family but has very strong relationships with so many people.
And I always attribute it to the fact that she is an only child and wanted to, you know, have those other kinds of relationships.
SANDLER: And it's interesting as an adult with those sorts of friendships. I mean, I think that that's part of what I don't really want to sacrifice in cocooning myself more domestically the way that I think a lot of parents tend to do when they have more and more children. You know, it takes a lot of time and energy to maintain adult friendships and adult relationships, and they're very important to me.
And I think they're also important to my daughter. It's wonderful for her to grow up in a community of people who have chosen each other, who love each other. And I'm really gratified by that aspect of our lives.
NEARY: All right, let's go to Molly(ph), and she's calling from Spokane, Washington. Hi Molly.
MOLLY: Hi there. My comment was that we need to look at what this kind of pressure is (unintelligible) adults. I'm an only child of an only child. I'm expecting in December with my husband and my first child. And we made the conscious decision to have more than one because of this pressure later in life, adult only children.
My parents decided to get - well, my father left my mother after 33 years, eight weeks before my wedding, and there was no one to help my mother. She didn't have any siblings. And so it was all of a sudden me trying to be my own person and create this new life and yet also be there, you know. And the whole time through it, I had these amazing friends that were supportive of both me and my mother and my new family, but I really wanted that sibling.
And I think that we need to look at the pressures because it's great when they're under 10, you know, you can take them anywhere. Resources, money, time, energy can be devoted to this child. Of course they're going to be smarter with that, you know. They get all the homework help. They don't just get half of it.
And so I think that after 10, then what happens, you know? In college what happens? There's nobody to kind of spread the pressure and the focus around to. And then as my parents age, I'm now looking at that. Well, who's going to help my dad in one place and my mom in another? Who's just going to listen to me vent? You know, and it falls to my husband.
So I would like this conversation to steer towards that adult population of only children, too, and maybe why they decide to have bigger families. So thank you.
NEARY: That it gets harder as you get older. OK, thanks so much.
MOLLY: It does. It does. Thank you very much.
NEARY: Thanks for the call, Molly.
SANDLER: I think that's right on. I think that we imagine only childhood in terms of childhood and not through a whole life experience. In terms of people who I've interviewed who have chosen to have more than one child, it's often because of anxiety around what those older years will be like, what it means to have one child taking care of two parents who are facing the end of their life.
And there's no doubt that that is a very, very difficult thing to reckon with. You know, my parents are incredible pragmatists. They have long-term health insurance to help with this. I too am a bit of a pragmatist. I can reassure myself to a certain point that it tends to be the closest residing sibling who does that elder care.
But there is also an emotional weight to it, and that is a really difficult thing to reconcile. Also the pressure, you know. The fact is that an only child family is intense, and it is an amplified experience. And there are beautiful things about that, and there are aspects of that that can be a little tough. But that's another thing that I think that we can tend to reconcile through mindful parenting.
I don't think that anything is a perfect choice, and I don't think that there's a choice that fits all families. I just think that people need to be able to be led by their hearts just like that caller was to say for her family having more than one is going to be the right answer.
NEARY: All right, we have an email here from Samantha(ph) that takes this aspect of the conversation even a little further, and I'd like you to respond. Samantha says: No way. I was an only child, and my parents were alcoholics. There was never a day that I didn't feel alone and afraid and desperately wanted to have someone by my side to share my feelings with or feel strong with. Not only that, but when my parents fought, they would try to divide my sympathies, and that was emotionally draining.
Being an only child may be OK if your family situation is balanced and healthy, but if it not, yuck, too much of a risk. What's your take on that, Lauren? You do seem to have come from a family of - your parents seem to be very pragmatic, very strong, you're a very close family, not dysfunctional to the degree that I can understand it, certainly not this kind of situation. So what's your take when somebody says that?
SANDLER: I mean, my heart breaks for whoever wrote that letter, just as, you know, my heart breaks for anyone whose father leaves just before their wedding. These are terrible situations. I think that these tend to be terrible situations, no matter what family size it is. And possibly having a sibling would help in those situations. You really don't know. It depends on the sibling. It depends on the dynamic.
I always assumed that, before I started researching, that in cases of divorce it was so much easier to have a sibling. And I understand people being pulled by that impulse. It was interesting, in my research I found that it actually tends to be easier on only children because their parents don't play the same games with them as they tend to with two children. And also it tends to be so much easier on parents that they get through that cycle in an easier, more loving way.
And so I think that we can imagine how things would be, but we also tend to idealize how things would be when we imagine it. And that is just simply hard to know.
NEARY: All right, let's see. Let's take a call from Nicole(ph), she's calling from Boise, Idaho. Go ahead, Nicole.
NICOLE: Hi. I'm an only child, and enjoyed being an only child. I was not ostracized. I have tons of friends, well adjusted. But I - and I wanted to have one child, and I got a two-for-one. I have twin boys. So sometimes it is hard to relate, having not grown up with siblings. You know, is this normal sibling behavior? Is this how siblings interact? Is this OK?
My husband has a huge age gap with his siblings, so he's almost like an only child in that way, but I'll ask him. So I just wanted to point that out. But the last few comments, you know, would it be better to have a sibling? And I'd never even thought about, you know, my parents aging and I'm "all alone," quote, unquote.
But, you know, if you don't get along with your siblings or they're not helpful, as is the case in - with my husband's family, some of the siblings maybe are not even in the picture. Then does it really matter? So, you know, the grass is always greener, right?
NEARY: Right.
NICOLE: I never regret - I never regretted my parents' choice to have me as an only child. They did divorce. It probably was easy, because it was just me, but I don't see a problem with it. And I have had adult friends ask, you know, questions about being an only child that just kind of floored me, that, really? I hadn't even thought about some of the things that people with siblings ask you. So I think this is a great discussion.
NEARY: All right. Well, thanks so much for calling and adding that to the discussion, Nicole. I appreciate it. And, you know, Nicole brings up an interesting point, which I think you make in the book, which is - and you said earlier, too - that part of the problem is the only child becomes just a stereotype in itself, and so people make judgments through that prism about your life.
Whereas, you know, when siblings don't get along or, you know, one sibling turns bad and one wins the Nobel Prize, it's not attributed to the fact that they came from, you know, a family with more than one child. Yet that is always the reason for why a - an only child succeeds or doesn't, and I think that Nicole made that point yet again.
SANDLER: Sure. I mean, you would never hear someone say, well, you shouldn't have had that second kid. But we hear people say you should have one all the time.
NEARY: Yeah. Yeah.
SANDLER: They're both pretty absurd, right?
NEARY: Right, exactly. So let's take another call. We're going to go now to Wathi(ph), and Wathi is calling from Berkeley, California. Hi, Wathi.
WATHI: Hi. I've been looking forward to this show, because I've been an only child for 78 years. And I was - you know, almost died when I was infant. My father died when I was one-and-a-half, so I didn't have a father.
My mother was a teacher, and she just devoted so much time to me. She was a den mother to - I couldn't get into a Cub Scout group in one place, so she became a den mother and formed a new, little den for me. And she would take me on trips out to observe airplanes, because I was an airplane spotter during the war. And she would take me to parks and church. She tried to teach me how to box, and she considered me her little man.
And I actually am sometimes happy that maybe I didn't have a father from what I see friends of mine who have these abusive fathers. My mother was very clean, and so I didn't grow up with any problems with alcohol. And I read a book, "Alone," by Richard E. Byrd when I was about eight or 10, and it just was so much of a formulation of the way I lived my life. But I did get married, and I do have two sons, and they're wonderful guys. And so life has been great, and I was happy being an only child.
NEARY: All right. Well, thanks so much for calling, Wathi.
WATHI: OK. Thank you.
NEARY: I appreciate the call.
WATHI: Love the show. Thanks very much.
NEARY: Good.
WATHI: OK. Bye-bye.
NEARY: And I just want to remind listeners that you are listening to TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News.
One thing, Lauren - and it's sort of coming out a little bit, I think, in this show that you bring up in the book a lot - and that is that no matter how much research you might sometimes tell a person there is on only children and what the results of that research is, that the stereotypes persist.
There was one story where a friend of yours, who was an only child and said that she had been lonely as an only child, she finally said to you - and you said, but, really, you know, the research shows that's not the case. It's not because you're an only child. And she said, just own up. You're going to have to own up, Lauren, to what it is you're doing to your child. Tell us about that story and the effect it had on you and what it reveals about this whole question of only children.
SANDLER: Well, everyone has a different experience of this, and I think that for some people, like that friend of mine who had a painful experience as an only child, you know, that's something that they carry with them, and it's hard to overcome that. I mean, you can present as much data as possible, and yet as someone understands their own lives, they're going to understand their life in that way.
And I think that that's a real theme which has come out amongst all of these callers, that, you know, in very unhappy families, it feels like that was made so much more unhappy by not having something else, or in very happy families, it was made so much more happy by the circumstance that it was.
I mean, it is one of these stories that we tell to explain so many things about ourselves, but it doesn't necessarily add up. We can't really generalize about it, because we know, through all of these hundreds of studies, that there is no common story. There is no common trait, but there are ways that we tend to explain ourselves.
NEARY: All right. Let's take a call from Emily, and she's calling from Lawrence, Kansas. Hi, Emily.
EMILY: Hello. Thanks for taking my call.
NEARY: Go ahead.
EMILY: I cannot wait to read this book. I'm eating this all up with a spoon. I'm an only child as well, and I am the parent of two children and chose to do that. I loved being an only child. I had a great life. I was treated very well, you know, got to do things. But I was not spoiled, and, you know, you guys alluded to this a little bit. But, I mean, my whole life - and even still now as an adult - when people find out that I'm an only child, I've had people just look at me and point-blank say: Are you spoiled? And I'm like, who does that? Why do we need to, you know, do that? No, I really was not. I certainly had some opportunities. I had everything I needed and I had some opportunities, but I had an allowance. I had to work when I was a teenager to, you know, help pay for my car, all these things.
So the whole thing about spoiled - the most spoiled people I know are people who happen to have siblings. So - and my kids definitely are not spoiled. They're going to be treated very much the way I was. But it's been so fascinating for me. And a couple of your other callers have said the same thing, to, you know, to watch my children be - interact with each other and love each other so much and have such a great experience and play together, I mean, all the time. And I didn't, you know, I didn't have that. That's the one thing I didn't have. But I think other than that, I mean, being an only child was a great thing. And I know it's become such a thing, with the recession and things like that. A lot of people are choosing to have only children, and I think it's wonderful. And I'm so glad that your caller has - that your guest has written this book for all of us to be discussing today, as well.
NEARY: Well, thanks so much for calling, Emily. And I think we're going end on that note, Lauren. Obviously, this is a topic that people are very interested in, especially lots of only children, I think. Great talking with you, Lauren.
EMILY: Thank you.
NEARY: And good luck with the book. Lauren Sandler is author of the brand-new book "One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One." She joined us today from our bureau in New York. We'll have more after a short break. This is TALK OF THE NATION, from NPR News. I'm Lynn Neary. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Victoria (Royal British Columbia Museum photo)
Museums in British Columbia have collections for all passions and interests: Aboriginal art, maritime history, railways, cowboys, gold rush relics, dinosaurs, toasters and farming equipment.
Large museums, such as Vancouver's Museum of Anthropology and Victoria's Royal BC Museum, are home to impressive displays of Aboriginal art and culture. Smaller community museums are bursting with a wealth of local artifacts, photos and stories.
Learn about trains at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook, Arctic exploration at the Vancouver Maritime Museum or the building of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek.
Explore the past at the Dinosaur Discovery Gallery in Tumbler Ridge and discover Aboriginal culture at Haida Heritage Centre. The cowboy lifestyle is on display at the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin, a gold rush boomtown comes to life in Barkerville Historic Town, and the fur trade era is preserved at Fort Langley National Historic Site.
There are also some unique museums: mechanical musical instruments (in Revelstoke) and even toasters (in Stewart).
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Vancouver: The Museum of Anthropology has one of the world's best collections of Aboriginal art and artifacts.
Victoria: Home to the Royal BC Museum (British Columbia's largest museum) and the Maritime Museum of BC.
Whistler: The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre has stunning Aboriginal displays.
Vancouver Coast & Mountains: Site of Fort Langley National Historic Site, the Britannia Mine Museum and the Canadian Museum of Flight.
Vancouver Island: Forestry, fishing and aviation museums, and Aboriginal culture in Alert Bay and Duncan.
Kootenay Rockies: Many mining, forestry and railway museums.
Northern British Columbia: Aboriginal culture at 'Ksan Historical Village, Haida Heritage Centre and the Museum of Northern BC.
Cariboo Chilcotin Coast: Charming small town museums, along with Historic Barkerville.
Thompson Okanagan: Museums that cover pioneers and agriculture, as well as the SS Sicamous.
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The Vatican announced July 9 that Greg Erlandson, president and publisher of the Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, has been appointed to an international committee working to propose reforms for the Vatican Media.
According to Vatican Radio, the committee will publish both a report and a plan for reform during the next year, with the goals being "to adapt the Holy See media to changing media consumption trends, enhance coordination, and achieve progressively and sensitively substantial financial savings." It also plans to continue to strengthen the Vatican's digital outreach.
Erlandson is one of six senior international experts appointed to the committee and the only American. Other committee members include Lord Christopher Patten, from the U.K., who will act as president; Daniela Frank of Germany; Dominican Father Eric Salobir of France; Leticia Soberon of Spain and Mexico; and George Yeo of Singapore.
The committee will work in conjunction with Vatican staff members Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications; Giacomo Ghisani of Vatican Radio; Msgr. Carlo Maria Polvani, of the Secretariat of State; Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, of Vatican Internet Service; and Giovanni Maria Vian of L'Osservatore Romano.
"I am both honored and humbled to have been appointed to new Vatican media committee," Erlandson said. "Communications is central to the work of the Church, and the Vatican has a significant and multi-faceted media presence thanks to the hard work of many people. I look forward to meeting with my distinguished colleagues on the committee in the months ahead and accomplishing the tasks that have been set before us."
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Monday, September 24, 2012
When is a Reading Worth Doing?
Jeannine Hall Gailey asks this question on her blog today and I think for poets and writers, it's a great question-- When is a Reading Worth Doing?
First, I'll give you the lowdown-- Jeannine and I live in the Seattle area and that means immediately, we're both up against traffic and parking. Unless you're in a real live bookstore in a strip mall, parking around here sucks, um, I mean, is difficult.
Second, I added a little extra challenge to the mix when I decided the city was getting to busy and moved to a location in Western Washington that required either a ferry ride or a very long bridge to get to. So, when I'm asked to read someone in Seattle, I immediate have to add $28 (a round trip ferry ticket) into the mix, plus gas, plus snacks (always add in snacks).
But this is us. These are the details of our lives.
How do you know a reading is worth doing? Below are a few questions to ask yourself before saying yes.
1) How did you feel immediately when asked and would you do the reading if it was in 4 days?
****The reason I ask this is as humans we tend to put off what we don't like.
If you're asked to do a reading and you find yourself scheduling it a year in advance, you may not want to do the reading. When that year approaches and you may find yourself feeling exactly like what you did when you were asked, "Thankful to have been asked, but really not wanting to do it." If this is how you're feeling, then you need to say no.
You do *not* want to be one of those poets who says yes, then cancels.
That is the worst case scenario. Canceling is bad on everyone, so if you're not liking the reading offer now, you won't like it in 10 months.
2) How much is it going to cost to get you there?
*******Okay, this is something I think about a lot more these days due to ferry fares and gas. Am I going to spend $90 to drive somewhere to read to three people? If the answer is yes, then I have to say no. Here's why--
a) I don't have enough money to do those kind of readings.
b) I don't have the emotional strength to do those kind of readings.
c) I don't have the time to take away from my other priorities to do those type of readings.
If you're a poetry host and you know your readings don't get a lot of people in July, don't ask a poet who has to travel far to be your July reading...it's disheartening and expensive.
If you're a poet, ask the person who asked you to read, "How many people normally show up for this reading?" before saying yes. Or ask for a 1) place to stay 2) stipend/honorarium 3) expenses covered or 4) all of the above.
3) Are you a newer poet/author and *need* readings?
Basically what I'm saying here is, do you need practice and/or want some experience reading? Or do you have a new book and need to get it out in the public? If the answer is yes, consider doing the reading if it's not too far away or too much out of pocket (see question 2).
You may not want to do the reading because you're new at it...this is *not* a reason to say no. In fact, this is a reason to say yes because it will help you get better.
When I was a younger poet, I did readings all over the place (thankfully, gas was 89 cents a gallon, so I could), but these small or large or crazy or drunkpeople or nonpoetryreaders or empty bookstore readings allowed me to gain confidence and become a much better reader.
It allowed me not to stress about a reading, but to create interesting readings because I did so many and learned from them.
Readings can be a lot of fun and the *only* thing that helps take away "fear of reading in public" is reading in public.
New poets and authors should take more readings just to get a feel and understanding of how to do a reading well.
4) Does it make your heart sing?
This is my Mary Oliver way of asking, "What does your inner voice say? Am I excited about this reading?"
We each have different places and occasions where we want to read--know them.
I love to read on important event days in my life-- Sept 15th (the anniversary of my father's death), National Poetry Month, special events (like my upcoming Oct 6th reading in the Alexis Hotel where I'll read in my pajamas with 3 other people).
I want to be part of the unexpected.
I want to read to people who want to hear me.
I want to have fun and help others have fun too.
I don't just want to read to hear myself again.
As an introvert, readings don't invigorate me, they tire me out--so when I say yes, I want to give my best and also want my best.
We each need to know our reasons for wanting to read and to know they are all valid.
If you get an emotional high that you can't explain from reading, take all you can because it's cheaper than therapy!
If you don't and reading make you tired, choose the best ones.
If you're afraid to read, then maybe read a little more, push yourself out of your comfort zone, see what happens.
But just know why you're saying yes, and when you say yes, keep your word.
And if by chance, you have to change a reading date or cancel, when you contact the host, have one or two friends as backup people s/he can have read in your place. No one wants to be left with a blank space on the schedule because you cancelled. Mind the gap, as they say in London. Fill up the space you left.
Final thoughts--
I will say, many times when we're asked to read we don't know what to say... that's okay.
Tell the person, let me think about it and get back to you.
Let me check my schedule and get back to you...
If you look at your schedule and think, "Wow, I have a lot going on that week," either ask for another date when you're not so busy, or say "no" if you think you're going to feel overwhelmed and want to cancel.
Be true to your own self and feelings. But be honest. Don't just say yes because you think you have to or you felt honored to be asked or you didn't want to hurt the person's feelings or you thought you might feel better about it later or because of ego.
Say, "Let me check on that and get back to you..." Sleep on it. Ask yourself the next day how you feel about it and if you can afford it, and then reply.
It's okay to say "maybe" and follow up.
And learn from your mistakes.
Added Note 9/25/12:
Martha Silano just commented about asking for a stipend, which is a great idea and made me think of this my own rules--
1) If I'm asked to read on this side of the water where I can drive an hour or less to get to my reading destination (and do not need a ferry), then I say yes.
2) If I'm asked to read at a place that requires ferry travel, then I try to get a stipend to cover expenses.
3) Because I hate driving/traveling, anything that takes over 2 hours to get to, needs to have some sort of stipend/honorarium/expense coverage.
2 comments:
Thanks for reminding me why it's sometimes okay to say NO to readings, and also why it's good to ask for a stipend.ReplyDelete
I just discovered your blog and enjoyed reading the content. I am a new author and had only done one reading in a library. I promote myself to various organizations and tried to find how I could add to their mission. I have not hit gold yet and I sure wish I had the opportunity to say no to a reading. I agree that one ought to ask for a stipend because one is sharing their art and that has value.erchborReplyDelete
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Coolit ECO A.L.C. Review
When you buy your parts to build a new computer, CPU cooling is't always high on the list of things to get if you are not an enthusiast. Mainly because the CPU comes with a heatsink already! If it ain't broke then don't fix it right? Wrong! But where do you go and what do you choose? There are plenty of coolers that can do the job but the size of the heatsinks and costs can vary from the mild to the wild. One thing you think of as on the wild side is liquid cooling. Liquid cooling can be decidedly on the wild side with pumps, blocks, radiators, and tubing in a myriad of possible combination's.Then you have the possible leaks and constant maintenance that have to be attended to. In the end some people yearn for an easier way. Coolit has had the answer with their pre-assembled and permanently sealed Advanced Liquid Cooling systems that come in a variety of configurations and costs. They have taken the the wild side out of the equation and have brought reliability and long term value with the introduction of the Coolit ECO A.L.C.. Coolit has listened to the market when it comes to their products such as the Pure and Domino A.L.C. that performed well but fitting them into a chassis without room was a challenge, not to mention the cost associated with a high end pre-assembled liquid cooling system. Coolit has put the ECO together as a low (relatively at $74) cost solution with higher chassis compatibility due to the the compact assembly of the unit. Cooling the CPU down can be a challenge any way you look at it, whether using air cooling or a high end custom water cooling setup. Lets see if the Coolit ECO A.L.C. can handle the needs of the enthusiast.
Closer Look:
The Coolit ECO A.L.C. packaging comes without any flash but is all business. Each panel of the package has information about the ECO A.L.C.. Depending on which panel you look at, you will get a bit more information so you finish up with a true picture of what the Coolit ECO is all about. Information you can read includes notes about the proprietary pump and its MTBF of 50,000 hours, The high performance radiator, universal retention mechanism, Coolit's A.T.C thermal compound and more.
When you open the box you have a foam insert that holds the ECO A.L.C. and all of its accessories. The outside of the insert holds the accessories that includes backplates for three different Intel sockets as well as mounting brackets to fit the latest socket configurations from AMD. Splitting open the foam insert, you reach the ECO.
The contents of the packaging include everything you need to get started. You get an instruction pamphlet, the ECO A.L.C., Mounting brackets for AMD systems and backplates to install on the last three commercially available Intel sockets (775,1156,1366). The ECO comes fully assembled so all that is left is to mount it into the chassis of your choice.
Water cooling never looked so simple has it?


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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – House Speaker Paul Thissen says the Minnesota House will not vote on any gun control bills this year.
Thissen says Wednesday he decided to yank any gun bills from consideration this year because he doesn't believe there's the votes to pass them in the House. The Minneapolis Democrat says he's encouraging gun control supporters to keep working on proposals with an eye on next year's session.
Some Democrats came to the Capitol in January pushing expanded background checks and other gun regulations. But they faced intense opposition from gun rights groups and had trouble winning support from Democrats who represent rural districts.


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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
In the early 19th century women wore bonnets such as this one to shade their faces from the sun. The one pictured here is a "leghorn" bonnet and it would have had ribbons on it to tie under the wearer's chin. This bonnet is probably made of rye straw. Women in New England could work at home braiding rye straw for hats as part of the "putting out system". This was at a time when it was not proper for a married woman to have a job outside of the home.
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SOURCE: Sunshine Heart
August 10, 2012 08:30 ET
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN and SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - Aug 10, 2012) - Sunshine Heart, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSH) (ASX: SHC) announced today the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 2,875,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $7.00 per share. The offering size has been increased from 2,500,000 shares to 2,875,000 shares. In addition, Sunshine Heart has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 431,250 shares solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on or about August 15, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.
Canaccord Genuity is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. Lazard Capital Markets LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC, Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, and Northland Capital Markets are acting as co-managers.
The offering of these securities is being made pursuant to a U.S. registration statement (File No. 333-182727) previously filed and declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A prospectus describing the terms of the offering will be filed with the SEC. When available, copies of the prospectus may be obtained by contacting Canaccord Genuity Inc., Attention: Syndicate Department, 99 High Street, 12th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, or by telephone at (617) 371-3900. Electronic copies of the prospectus are also available free of charge on the website of the SEC at www.sec.gov.
The prospectus has not been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and is not a prospectus under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act). The offering of securities will be made in Australia only to persons to whom it is lawful to offer shares without disclosure under one or more of the exemptions set out in section 708 of the Corporations Act.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
About the C-Pulse® Heart Assist System
The C-Pulse Heart Assist System, or C-Pulse System, an investigational device in the United States, Canada and countries that do not recognize the CE mark approval, utilizes the scientific principles of intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation applied in an extra-aortic approach to assist the left ventricle by reducing the workload required to pump blood throughout the body, while increasing blood flow to the coronary arteries. Operating outside the patient's bloodstream, the extra-aortic approach of the C-Pulse technology offers greater flexibility, allowing patients to safely disconnect to have intervals of freedom to perform certain activities such as showering. The C-Pulse System may help maintain the patient's current condition and, in some cases, reverse the heart failure process, thereby potentially preventing the need for later stage heart failure therapies, such as left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), artificial hearts or transplants.
Caution: Investigational device, limited by Federal (or United States) Law to Investigational use.
About Sunshine® Heart
Sunshine Heart, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSH) (ASX: SHC) is an early-stage global medical device companycommitted to the commercialization of the C-Pulse Heart Assist System, an implantable, non-blood contacting, heart assist therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure. The C-Pulse System can be implanted using a minimally invasive procedure and is designed to relieve the symptoms of heart failure through the use of counter-pulsation technology, which enables an increase in cardiac output, an increase in coronary blood flow and a reduction in the heart's pumping load. We have completed an approved U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feasibility clinical trial of the C-Pulse System and presented the results in November 2011. In March, 2012, the FDA notified us that we can move forward with an investigational device exemption (IDE) application. We expect to submit an IDE application to the FDA in the second half of 2012 for approval to initiate our pivotal trial. In July 2012 we received CE Mark for our C-Pulse System in Europe. Sunshine Heart is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Minneapolis with a subsidiary presence in Australia. The Company has been listed on the ASX since September 2004 and on the NASDAQ since February 2012. For more information, please visit www.sunshineheart.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this report are forward-looking statements that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations and information currently available to management. All statements that address future operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future are forward-looking statements, including without limitation, our expectations with respect to the closing of the public offering of our common stock described above, product development and commercialization efforts, future use of our second generation driver, future clinical trial activities and results, regulatory acceptance of our filings, research and development activities, ultimate clinical outcomes and benefits of our products to patients, market and physician acceptance of the products, intellectual property protection, and potentially competitive product offerings. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the possibility that our clinical trials do not meet their end-points or otherwise fail, that regulatory authorities do not accept our application or approve the marketing of the C-Pulse Heart System, the possibility we may be unable to raise the funds necessary for the development and commercialization of our products, that we may not be able to commercialize our products successfully in the EU and the other risk factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our filings with the SEC and ASX. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they speak only as of the date when made and may turn out to be inaccurate. Sunshine Heart does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Sunshine Heart may not actually achieve the plans, projections or expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements, and actual results, developments or events could differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking statements.
Northland Capital Markets is the trade name for certain capital markets and investment banking services of Northland Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.
For further information, please contact:
Dan Budwick
Pure Communications, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Jeff Mathiesen
Chief Financial Officer
Sunshine Heart, Inc
For further information, please contact:
Dan Budwick
Pure Communications, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Jeff Mathiesen
Chief Financial Officer
Sunshine Heart, Inc
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Value Line is regarded as the best independent research available. More than just recommendations, Value Line provides the rationale behind its picks for greater understanding.
Encana Corporation (ECA) is an energy producer possessing a portfolio of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) assets. At the end of 2012, this Canadian entity had 13.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 282.5 million barrels of oil and NGLs in reserves, respectively. The company focuses solely on North America, with operations comprised of Canadian and USA segments. Besides having a presence in a number of flush gas plays, its liquids profile continues to get more attention. This expansion is being pursued through joint ventures and/or co-development agreements, which are enabling production growth while maintaining financial flexibility.
The Canadian division holds an industry-leading 8.5 million acres of land in Alberta, of which, 4.4 million acres are undeveloped. Most prolific is Cutback Ridge, where horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracture techniques are generating attractive gas yields. In 2012, Encana entered into a $2.9 billion (Canadian) agreement with Mitsubishi to jointly develop certain parts of this resource. Under a $2.2 billion 50/50 partnership with PetroChina, work will commence to establish a production hub in the liquids rich Duvernay play. Another resource that is receiving substantial amounts of capital is Big Horn.
Encana's USA division holds roughly 2.4 million acres (1.9 million acres being undeveloped). The Piceance Basin in Colorado remains the unit's most significant source, and one which has secured several development agreements. Most significant is a joint venture in which steel maker Nucor (NUE) will cover half of all developments costs at certain sites for the next 20 years. The other play that is getting plenty of attention is the Jonah field in Wyoming, which is becoming a domestic energy hub. The company has finalized a transaction with Exaro, which has agreed to invest $380 million over the next five years for a 32.5% interest.
In 2013, management is looking for oil and NGL production to range between 50,000 and 60,000 barrels per day, and average annualized natural gas output of 2.8 billion to 3.0 billion cubic feet equivalent. With oil markets cooling and NGL prices searching for a bottom, investors appear to be disregarding the ongoing recovery in natural gas, Encana's biggest source of sales.
United States gas prices increased 39% in 2012, and momentum has carried over into 2013. After averaging $3.48 per million british thermal units (mmbtu) during the 2013 March interim, the key source of energy is currently above $4.00 mmbtu. With domestic natural gas inventories below the five year average (1.7 trillion cubic feet) at the start of the 2013 refill season, gas producers are positioned to have a relatively good year.
Momentum may well continue. A growing number of domestic producers are seeking permission to sell natural gas overseas, in the form of liquid natural gas (LNG). The liquefaction of natural gas enables the transportation of massive amounts of fuel from areas where natural gas is abundant and relatively inexpensive to areas where production is insufficient or infrastructure (pipelines) is unable to meet demand.
While this key source of energy sells for approximately $4 per mmbtu in North America, its price tag is four to five times that in certain overseas markets. In particular, it fetches as much as $16 per mmbtu in Europe and $20 per mmbtu in Asia. Consumption of LNG is on pace to grow sharply in the years ahead in these markets, driven by a build-out of natural gas fired electric power generation capability in Asia; reduction in nuclear power generation in LNG importing regions, such as Japan and Europe; and conversion of coal- and oil-fired power generation to natural gas. In fact, North American exports will be pivotal to the global economy, as total LNG demand is expected to grow 30%-40% over the next several years, eclipsing projected supply deliveries. We expect increased competition for LNG to be a boon to domestic gas suppliers.
Oil is likely facing a challenging short term. Total domestic crude inventories are at 388.9 million barrels, which is 6.5% above year-earlier levels and 10.5% greater than the five year average. The market for black gold is being hampered by slack demand from Europe and a slower-than-anticipated recovery from China. Our 3- to 5-year outlook for oil is bullish, though, as development in emerging markets ought to drive up prices for one of the most indispensable products in the world.
Lastly, the immediate outlook for NGLs (ethane, propane, butane, isobutene, and natural gasoline) appears tepid. A side effect of heavy shale gas investments is a boom in NGL supplies, with average domestic production reaching a record 2.4 million barrels a day in 2012. We expect the glut of NGLs to persist in the short term, but exports and consumption (with several chemical companies in place to build plants stateside) should eventually lead to tighter fundamentals.
Meantime, this diversified explorer & producer has taken measures to shore up its balance sheet. Encana's financial position weakened in 2012, following natural gas's precipitous decline. In fact, cash flows were insufficient to fund dividends and capital spending requirements, which led management to raise capital. Non-core asset sales and joint ventures more than covered the shortfall, generating nearly $4.0 billion in proceeds. While this trend is apt to continue this year, the tide ought to gradually turn. For now, we expect Encana to have sufficient financial wherewithal to maintain its dividend, which currently yields approximately 3.0%.
Encana's capital investment strategy is focused on transitioning into a diversified explorer and producer. In 2010, the company spun off its oil and NGL businesses into another publicly traded company, Cenovus. At that time, management was intent on focusing development efforts on the most promising shale-gas regions in North America, including Haynesville in the United States and Horn River in British Columbia, Canada. It was confident that hedging practices could mitigate the adverse effects of cooling natural gas prices had on profitability. This assumption proved to be presumptuous. Since then, Encana has been working to once again become a well-balanced energy supplier. In particular, expenditures are being allocated toward oil and liquids rich gas plays, minimizing spending in dry gas.
Investors have yet to embrace Encana's transition back into a diversified energy player. With the company's liquids profile growing nicely, and natural gas markets firming, Encana offers substantial recovery potential from the current quotation.
At the time of this article's writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.


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Woman hit by car in Spofford
March 09. 2013 11:57PM
SPOFFORD— A woman was injured Saturday when she was hit by a car while at the Spofford post office parking lot.
Police said Susan Lawton, 65, was getting out of her car shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday when she was hit by a car driven by Stephen Pfistner, 56, of Spofford. Pfistner thought he'd placed his car in park and, when he took his foot off the brake, his car rolled into Lawton, hitting her leg, police said.
Lawton was taken to Cheshire Medical Center in Keene for treatment, police said.


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Press Release - House Rules Committee Reports First Modified Open Rule of 112th Congress
WASHINGTON, DC – The House Rules Committee has reported a modified open rule providing for consideration of H.R. 359, a bill to reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential election campaigns and party conventions. The rule is the first modified open rule to be considered in the House in nearly two years and according to Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), another step in the effort to conduct the people's business in a more open and transparent way.


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The National Link Coalition is an association of professionals bringing greater attention to the linkages between violence against animals and humans (i.e., "the Link"). I introduced Family Spirals™ in the February 2012 edition of their LINK-letter (p. 7):
Family Spirals™ Addresses The Link and Sibling Abuse
The links among various forms of violence towards humans and other animals are perhaps most evident within the family. A new organization, Family Spirals™, is being developed to address multiple dimensions of family relationships and cohesion. Our Interspecies Families division explores our relationships with animals, particularly pets, within a family context. Family Spirals™ plans to advance Link work by exploring new ways in which to frame family problems, deepening our understanding of these connections, and contextualizing linkages within a broader multidisciplinary framework of family dynamics. Continue reading


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A story in the Decatur Daily details the false name used by Raiders middle linebacker Rolando McClain that led to his arrest Tuesday. The story also recounts how McClain feels as if he is a victim in the case.
Brace yourself. You can't make up this stuff. So, here's the link. Use your imagination when guessing what the expletive was used by McClain:


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by cuckolder
There are some additional directions I can see taking this story, but at present I have nothing on paper. I am working on a teacher-student tale, among my favorite themes, and then I'm not sure. The tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana has inspired an idea and in light of the strong r
marriage counselor carnal corpsRead More


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Shooting Case Remains Open
The Fulton County Coroner's Office reported late last week the case of a shooting in Ayr Township on Friday, September 6, remains open and active.
Deputy Coroner Robert Fleegle told the "News" the investigation into the death of 18-year-old Lucas Daniel Youngblood of 269 Meadow Mountain Drive, McConnellsburg, remains ongoing.
In last week's edition of the "News," Pennsylvania State Police in McConnellsburg reported Youngblood's death was classified as suicide linked to a gunshot wound that occurred at 12:55 a.m. at 809 Rock Hill Road. Fleegle pronounced Youngblood dead at the scene at 1:30 a.m.
Somerset Woman Injured
A Somerset, Pa., woman suffered minor injuries during a single-vehicle accident along the eastbound lanes of Lincoln Highway Monday morning.
According to state police, Erin E. Gibson, 35, lost control of her 2008 Ford Fusion at 8:19 a.m. near the intersection of Jerry Road. The car struck a guiderail on the opposite side of the Brush Creek Township roadway. Gibson was wearing a seat belt and will be cited for failure to drive on roadways laned for traffic.
Chalk Used In Mischief
A McConnellsburg woman told state police investigators chalk was used to write in her parking lot located at 646 East Maple Street between 6 p.m. on September 7 and 8 a.m. on September 9.
Car Rear-Ended
A Shade Gap woman escaped injury when her vehicle was rear-ended at the intersection of Waterfall and Forbes Trail roads on Monday, September 9.
According to state police reports, Geraldine M. Piper, 82, attempted to turn left onto Forbes Trail Road at 3:55 p.m. when her eastbound 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier was struck from behind by a 2002 Ford Escort operated by William D. Casher, 18, of McConnellsburg.
Police said following impact, Piper's car travelled off the berm and into a guiderail. The vehicle was towed from the Dublin Township accident scene.
Neither driver was injured nor were Casher's passengers, a 17-year-old female from Waterfall; and a 16- year-old male and a 17-yearold male, both of Mc- Connellsburg. Piper's passenger, David B. Hancock, 63, of Shirleysburg, was also not harmed. All individuals were wearing seat belts.
Police added Casher will be cited for following too closely.
Harassment Investigated
Pennsylvania State Police at McConellsburg investigated a domestic dispute that occurred at 255 Tanglewood Drive on Monday, September 2, in Licking Creek Township.
Police alleged Mark Justin Knight, 24, of Harrisonville, struck a 22-yearold woman, also from Harrisonville, during an argument that occurred between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Charges against Knight were filed through Magisterial District Judge Devin Horne.
Mailbox Damaged
A mailbox located along Great Cove Road in Ayr Township was damaged between 3 p.m. on September 13 and 9:30 a.m. on September 15. Victim is a 66-yearold McConnellsburg woman.
Trailer Stolen
A 4-x-6-foot trailer was stolen from 145 Opal Drive in Belfast Township between 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 10. Victim is a 61-year-old male from Mc- Connellsburg. Anyone with further information linked to this theft should immediately contact state police Trooper Piasecki at 717-485- 3131.
Pill Bottle Missing
A 71-year-old Big Cove Tannery man informed state police investigators a prescription bottle was stolen from his 5313 Big Cove Tannery Road residence. The theft is believed to have occurred between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 14. Anyone having additional information concerning this theft is urged to call state police Trooper Piasecki at 717-485-3131.
Juvenile Accused Of Harassment
A 13-year-old boy from Warfordsburg has been accused of harassment in connection with an alleged incident at Southern Fulton High School. State police said that on Wednesday, September 11, at 3:49 p.m. the juvenile allegedly tripped another 13-year- old boy, also from Warfordsburg. The victim reportedly suffered abrasions to his knee and elbow when he fell onto concrete. Charges have been filed through Magisterial District Judge Tamela Heming.
Man Dies In Central Pa. House Fire
DUNCANNON, Pa. (AP) – Authorities say an overnight house fire has claimed the life of a central Pennsylvania man.
The fire in Penn Township, Perry County, was reported around 4:30 a.m. Crews found a man's body on the second floor. Coroner Michael Shalonis says the man is believed to be the owner of the home.
A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Officials did not release the man's name, pending notification of his relatives.


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Los Alamos Historical Society to hold Trinity tour
March 17, 2014
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — The Los Alamos Historical Society is sponsoring a tour of the site of the first man-made nuclear explosion.
The group is selling $150 tickets for a visit to the Trinity site in southern New Mexico scheduled for April 5.
As part of the tour, visitors will see a restored house where nuclear core was assembled and visit the spot where the bomb was detonated.
The Manhattan Project exploded an atomic bomb around 30 miles southeast of Socorro, N.M., on July 16, 1945. Research around the bomb took place under top secret at Los Alamos, then an unknown town in northern New Mexico.
The bomb's creation was part of the WWII effort and the U.S later dropped similar bombs over Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


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Main Site - :: Why Won't God Heal Amputees? ::
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Lukas Novy says he's a member of the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster," a satirical faith which teaches that a creature composed of pasta and meatballs "created the world much as it exists today," that pirates "were peaceful explorers and it was due to Christian misinformation that they have an image of outcast criminals today," and that beer is good. In observance of this faith, Novy, a resident of the Czech Republic, insisted that he be allowed to wear a pasta sieve on his head while being photographed for an official government ID. And he succeeded...
You believe evolution and there is no evidence for that. Where is the fossil record of a half man half ape. I've only ever heard about it in reading.


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Statewide temperatures were 2.2 degrees above normal last week, averaging 78.4 degrees.
Precipitation averaged 0.51 inches, 0.19 inches below normal. The far southern districts of the state received more than 1 inch of rain. Northern areas, however, were again below average in rainfall. Topsoil moisture was rated 9 percent very short, 29 percent short, 54 percent adequate and 8 percent surplus.
Hot and dry crops were beginning to show stress.
With the release of USDA's June Grain Stocks and Acreage reports comes a fundamental shift in the corn market, suggesting that corn prices will come under considerable pressure, according to University of Illinois agricultural economist Darrel Good.
USDA reinstates farm labor survey
In July, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will resume its Agricultural Labor Survey after the U.S. Department of Labor agreed to pay its costs. NASS suspended the survey in April due to budget constraints.
Most area corn plants – like this one in a field southwest of Vandalia – have moved into the silking stage.
Hot weather has produced significant growth in recent days, but some plants are beginning to show signs of stress as dry conditions persist.
Enumerators representing the Illinois Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service will soon begin collecting data that will be used to estimate the corn and soybean yields that Illinois farmers will harvest this year.
Illinois USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Callahan announced that applications are being accepted for grants to provide financial assistance to independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives, majority-controlled producer-based business ventures and agricultural producer groups through the Value-Added Producer Grant Program.
Many area corn fields resemble rolling waves as the plants' height varies from 18 inches to 6 feet – depending on where the crops are in the field.
Standing water in low-lying fields has stunted plants, or, in some cases, killed them. Conversely, corn in well-drained fields is entering the silking phase.
Barr named Farm Credit ag scholar
Amanda Barr of Altamont was selected as one of 25 members of the class of 2011 to be named "We Understand" Agriculture Scholars by Farm Credit Services of Illinois.
As an ag scholar, she will receive a $1,000 scholarship, to be applied toward her agriculture-related college education.
She will be studying agriculture business at Lake Land College this fall.
She is the daughter of Clyde and Barbara Barr.
Corn planted in Illinois in 2011 is estimated at 12.5 million acres, down 300,000 acres from the March Prospective Plantings Report, and down 100,000 acres from last year.
Acreage planted to biotechnology varieties is estimated at 86 percent of the total acreage, up from 82 percent last year. Bt varieties account for 14 percent, herbicide-resistant varieties account for 17 percent and stacked-gene varieties account for 55 percent.
Planting got off to a slow start in 2011. As of May 1, just 10 percent of the crop was planted, 36 points behind the five-year average.
McDowell qualifies for auction contest
Vandalia auctioneer Andrew McDowell will be competing on June 25 at the World Livestock Auctioneer Contest in Williamston, S.C.
McDowell is sponsored by Greenville Livestock Auction Inc. He is one of 33 auctioneers from the United States and Canada who qualified in the top eight in the four regional contests.
The contest is sponsored by the Livestock Marketing Association.
Positions open for FSA committee
Copyright © 2018
The Leader Union is your source for local news, sports, events and information in Vandalia, Il, and the surrounding area.


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June 7, 2004 - Posted at 10:06 AM CDT
SANTA MONICA, CA- Ronald Reagan was remembered with jelly beans, flowers and American flags on Sunday at memorials in his hometown and outside the mortuary where the former president's body lay.
Reagan will be memorialized at the first presidential state funeral in more than three decades, a ritual rich in traditions from the country's earliest days. His remains will be flown to Washington on Wednesday to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The funeral, undoubtedly attended by world leaders, will be at Washington National Cathedral on Friday. President Bush will speak at the funeral.
Tokens of remembrance were left in Santa Monica for the nation's 40th president, who was 93 when he died of pneumonia, as a complication of Alzheimer's, at his Bel Air home on Saturday. "Thank you for changing the world," said a handwritten note.
The family's spokeswoman said Nancy Reagan was thankful for thousands of expressions of sympathy over the death of her husband, and despite her sadness was relieved he was no longer suffering.
"I can tell you most certainly that while it is an extremely sad time for Mrs. Reagan, there is definitely a sense of relief that he is no longer suffering, and that he has gone to a better place," Joanne Drake told a press conference outside the mortuary where Reagan's body lay.
"It's been a really hard 10 years for her," Drake said of Nancy Reagan, as nearly a week of tribute to the former president was detailed.
In a piece written for Time magazine before Reagan's death, Nancy Reagan remembered her husband as "a man of strong principles and integrity" who felt his greatest accomplishment was finding a safe end to the Cold War.
"I think they broke the mold when they made Ronnie," she wrote in the article appearing Monday. "He had absolutely no ego, and he was very comfortable in his own skin; therefore, he didn't feel he ever had to prove anything to anyone."
Former President Jimmy Carter said Sunday that the death of Reagan, who defeated him in the 1980 presidential election, was "a sad day for our country."
"I probably know as well as anybody what a formidable communicator and campaigner that President Reagan was. It was because of him that I was retired from my last job," Carter said before teaching Sunday school in his hometown of Plains, Ga.
Carter added: "He presented some very concise, very clear messages that appealed to the American people. I think throughout his term in office he was very worthy of the moniker that was put on him as the 'Great Communicator.'"
On Monday, the Reagan family was to travel in a motorcade with the body to the presidential library in Simi Valley, northwest of Los Angeles. After a private ceremony, the body was to lie in repose for public visitation through Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the body will be flown to Washington, D.C. The family accepted an offer from President Bush to use one of his jets, normally used as Air Force One, for the trip. The body will then be driven to the U.S. Capitol for a state funeral. Reagan's body will then lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda through Thursday.
Friday morning, a motorcade will take the casket to the National Cathedral for a national funeral service. It will then be flown back to California for a motorcade to the library for a private interment service.
Reagan will be buried in a crypt beneath a memorial site at the library, a library spokeswoman said. A curved wall adorned with shrubbery and ivy lines the memorial and is inscribed with a three-line quote from Reagan.
"I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life," the inscription reads.
Bush, in France to commemorate D-Day, recalled that 20 years earlier Reagan had come to Normandy on the anniversary of the June 6, 1944, invasion.
"He was a courageous leader himself and a gallant leader in the cause of freedom, and today we honor the memory of Ronald Reagan," Bush said.
At Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon, Ill., mourners left flowers, flags and packets of Jelly Belly jelly beans — his favorite — at the feet of a life-sized statue of Reagan in the front yard.
Ken Dunwoody, 82, who grew up outside Dixon, said the Republican icon transcends partisan politics.
"I just think of him as being an American," Dunwoody said. "I wish we all could get back to that."
At Bel Air Presbyterian Church, which Reagan attended during and after his presidency, worshipper Rose McNally recalled how members of the congregation would react to his arrival.
"As soon as he'd start up the ramp, people would pick up a piece of paper, any piece of paper, to get him to sign," she said. "He was a great man."
The Rev. Mark Brewer opened Sunday's first service with a remembrance, saying, "As a nation, we grieve this week."
"He brought with him not only a love for the nation but also a sense of humor," Brewer told about 500 people. He lauded Reagan's leadership in the Cold War, calling it the "third great war" of the century.
Reagan's "Star Wars" program drew the Soviet Union into an unaffordable arms race, and his 1987 declaration to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Berlin Wall — "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" — was the ultimate challenge of the Cold War.
Gorbachev on Sunday looked back on those tensions with equanimity and forgiveness.
"I take the death of Ronald Reagan very hard," Gorbachev told reporters. "He was a man whom fate set by me in perhaps the most difficult years at the end of the 20th century."
"It was his goal and his dream to end his term and enter history as a peacemaker," he said.
Reagan died at 1 p.m. Saturday and his body was taken to a Santa Monica funeral home. A shrine that sprouted outside grew to include a cowboy hat, personal letters, flags, candles and jelly beans.
Hand-written cardboard signs read: "Because of you, we are proud Americans," "God bless you, Ron, and God bless America" and "Good night, Mr. President."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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As pending home sales fell in February, the US stock market is down slightly this morning, with the JUN13 E-mini S&P 500 just above our key pivot level of 1550. This market is trading down 5.5 points to 1552. We believe 1550 is a very important line in the sand for this market right now. If the bulls can keep this market above 1550, we believe there could be a short covering rally to 1570, and new longs potentially not wanting to miss a next leg up have potential to bring this market even higher.
However, if the market can't stay above 1550, we believe this will be a bearish technical signal for the short term and we would not be surprised to see the market head back toward 1538, and then perhaps to 1510. A sell off to 1510 might occur if there is some acute negative political news out of Europe. Otherwise this market seems very strong.
Precious metals are again fairly quiet, with APR13 gold trading up $7, while Silver is trading down $0.12. We believe the metals are kind of stuck in a range because of conflicting forces – other countries of the world enacting stimulative monetary policies, whereas the U.S. Fed members are discussing potentially winding down QE at end of this year. We think gold will not hit new highs this year and might head lower to the $1,500 mark.
Natural gas continues to be a major bull story, trading up again today, this time hitting the $4.05 level. We believe in this market going higher, possibly approaching $4.20 before starting to consolidate. Crude oil, after a solid rally over the past few days, is taking a breather, trading down just $.54 to $95.80. At this point, it looks like crude could make a run for $100.
We focus more on the euro currency futures this morning. With recent headlines on Cyprus, the Euro debt crisis is obviously far from "over" thus the euro currency has been in a steady downtrend since early February. Our key resistance level is at 1.30, and then 1.32 above that. We believe in a U.S. dollar rally as a safe haven currency, and we believe the euro could head much lower. Our first target to the downside is 1.26.
Click to enlarge.


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Teetering on the edge of a precipice
Posted March 7, 2012on:
- In: Hot Stuff
- 10 Comments
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don't know what made me buy this book and start reading it. The first few pages were torture. I knew the novel was unfinished. At least it would be short. But why even bother at all?
Then gradually there appeared light in the murk. Uncle and nephew, Jack and Eddy, got out their nuts and started to talk about Pussy.
No one does dialogue like Dickens. It is crisp, clear, entertaining and lifelike. Even the way the men crack their nuts adds to the drama.
Dickens is completely unafraid of sentiment. He allows the two men to be as affectionate with each other as two lovers.
When Pussy comes into the story it gets even better. Everyone is in love with her. It's sickening but it's also exciting. I love this kind of melodrama.
The way John Jasper stares at Pussy when she is playing the piano is fantastic. You remember it throughout all that follows and so does she. She especially remembers it many months later in Chapter 19 when John/Jack is staring at her again, dressed in mourning for the missing Eddy.
At times Dickens can be so verbose that it's hard to catch his meaning but when he is describing passion his sentences are models of clarity. This chapter is called Shadow in the Sundial and the image, like so much that Dickens writes, sticks forever in your mind:
This time he does not touch her. But his face looks so wicked and menacing, as he stands leaning against the sundial – setting, as it were, his black mark upon the very face of day – that her flight is arrested by horror as she looks at him.
What makes Dickens's writing so thrilling is that he captures the passion of the moment in the very rhythm of his sentences. He isn't afraid of dramatic gestures.
"There is my fidelity to my dear boy after death. Tread upon it!"
With an action of his hands, as though he cast down something precious.
"There is the inexpiable offence against my adoration of you. Spurn it!"
With a similar action.
"There are my labours in the cause of a just vengeance for six toiling months. Crush them!"
The scene builds and builds like a symphonic poem till Pussy rushes away to her room and faints half way up the stairs.
There is a masterful touch at the end:
A thunderstorm is coming on, the maids say, and the hot and stifling air has overset the pretty dear; no wonder; they have felt their own knees all of a tremble all day long.
My knees were also all of a tremble and my heart all of a flutter while I read, and read, and read.
Two semi-colons in a single sentence, by the way! There is a man who is not afraid to flout convention.
The ending is, of course, abrupt and dizzying. It leaves you tottering on the edge of a precipice. My imagination was teeming with possibilities. I read a few theories about how the story might have been meant to go on but I wasn't satisfied by any of them. I couldn't help feeling that Dickens's imagination was just too ingenious, too inventive and too mischievous to be second-guessed by even the most creative of scholars.
So for stimulating my imagination, this was the best book by far that I have read this year.
10 Responses to "Teetering on the edge of a precipice"
The novel was unfinished, but the ending was restored, and I learnt of the brilliant and most convincing restoration from one brilliant TV movie (1980). The final part of the movie was dedicated to the explanaition of the ending and sounded much like a lecture, which I loved. A clue was on the cover of the original parts of the story, first released in 1870, and personally I don't want anything mofre, after I listened to the lecture. Thank you, Vanessa, for mentioning the novel and the name of Charles Dickens and for the kind words to the book.


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Police suspend active search for missing UNH studentBy GRETYL MACALASTER
Union Leader Correspondent
September 20. 2013 8:08PM
DURHAM — Police are still looking for information about a University of New Hampshire student who has not been seen since Tuesday.
Jonathan Zygmont, 19, a sophomore from Windham who lives on the Durham campus, was last seen Tuesday around 8:30 p.m. near Prescott Park in Portsmouth.
On Friday, police said they will suspend an active search of the area near the park, but will continue to follow leads in the case.
Police have said they do not suspect foul play, but have reason to be concerned for Zygmont's well-being.
"We're eager to find Jonathan and make sure he's OK," UNH Police Chief Paul Dean said.
Dean said in the past Zygmont expressed a desire to go out west and live a more simple life. As a result, police have sent his photo and description to law enforcement agencies nationwide.
"We just want to know he's OK," Zygmont's mother, Lynne Zygmont Clay, said in a statement released by the university on Friday. "Jon is an avid and experienced outdoorsman and we're hopeful that he is hiking or camping and just not aware that we're looking for him."
"We love him," Clay continued, "and want him to know that we are not upset if he wishes to take some time off to travel and hike, but we would like to hear from him so that we aren't worried."
Previously, police said Zygmont was "despondent" when last seen and experiencing relationship issues, statements Zygmont's sister disputed in a public Facebook post that has been circulating locally.
Zygmont is described as a white male, 5 feet, 11 inches tall weighing about 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing black shoes, khaki pants and a brown sweatshirt with the word "Burton" on it in red lettering. He was carrying a black North Face backpack.
Police have asked anyone with information about Zygmont's whereabouts to contact them at 862-1427.
Local, state and federal law enforcement have been assisting in the search for him.


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LONDON (AP) — Britain's Girl Guides have dropped a reference to God in their pledge.
Gone is the reference to loving God, replaced by a call to "be true to myself and develop my beliefs." The new pledge unveiled Wednesday does retain a reference to serving the queen.
The long established British scouting organization — officially named Girlguiding — says some 44,000 people responded to a call for consultations on the new pledge.
Chief Guide Gill Slocombe says she hopes the change will encourage more girls to join.
"We knew that some people found our Promise confusing on this point and that it discouraged some girls and volunteers from joining us," she said. "We hope that the new wording will help us reach out to girls and women who might not have considered guiding before — so that even more girls can benefit from everything guiding can offer."
The pledge was last changed in 1994. The reference to God dates back to the founding of the Girl Guides in 1910. Earlier changes had been designed to make the pledge acceptable to people of many faiths, and now it has been changed in a way designed to keep non-religious girls (and their parents) from feeling excluded.
In another nod to changing times, the promise "to serve my queen and my country" has been altered to "serve the queen and my community."
The National Secular Society, which had lobbied for removing the reference to religion from the pledge, welcomed the news.
Campaigns manager Stephen Evans said it was a "hugely positive and welcome development" that would make the organization more inclusive and relevant.
Girlguiding is part of the global scouting movement established by Robert Baden-Powell. The World Organization of the Scout Movement now claims more than 30 million male and female members in 161 countries.
There have been controversies in other countries as well. In 2010, Canada's Girl Guides changed their promise from a pledge to be true "to myself, my God and Canada" — or the alternative "myself, my faith and Canada" — to "myself, my beliefs and Canada."
In America, the Girl Scouts have been entangled in the culture wars as far back as the 1970s, when some conservatives became irked by the prominence of feminists such as Betty Friedan in the organization's leadership.
In 1993, Christian conservatives were angered when the Girl Scouts formalized a policy allowing girls to substitute another word for "God" — such as Allah or Buddha — in the Girl Scout promise that reads: "On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country."
Jill Lawless contributed to this report.