David P. Smith: Double Standards for Lying

A 2010 national survey study by Michigan State University asked one thousand American adults to report the number of lies told in a time period of twenty-four hours. According to the survey, “sixty percent of subjects report telling no lies at all, and almost half of all lies are told by only 5% of subjects; thus, prevalence varies widely and most reported lies are told by a few prolific liars.” 

David P. Smith: How Will You Handle The Coming Suffering?

 Every person has at some time questioned why we have suffering and disease.  We all struggle at some point with trying to understand in the inevitable attempt at making sense of what happens to ourselves and others.  It’s an old question that not just physicians ponder when faced with illness, accidents, and death.  One way of trying to gain some meaning in midst of suffering is to consider what our lives be like if we had no suffering at all.  We all long for that.  We all want that.  We work for it.

David P. Smith: What’s next? Men as Girl Scout leaders?

 This week the Boy Scouts are reportedly deciding whether or not to accept homosexuals as scout masters. I can’t help but wonder if the same people who want to see this happen would accept men as leaders of Girl Scout groups. What is the difference? If we are to continue to buy the notion that there is only relative morality, then how could any other choices be opposed? What argument would one have against having a man who thinks he’s a woman (they call that “transgendered”; however, you can remove or add body parts, but you cannot change the DNA) stay over for the next Girl Scout slumber party? Why not have women as Boy Scout leaders?  

David P. Smith: The Broken SNAP – Part 2

  While there is plenty of evidence of illegal trafficking of EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards (the new food stamps) along with other fraud, there is other waste occurring in this program that is supposed to be helping the poor who are truly deprived of the ability to buy food. I can remember when it was embarrassing to have to get something free from the government during the days of “commodities” that certainly were not what we think of today when that term is used. People were given staple foods that were truly needed and not allowed to choose such extravagant food items that the people who earned the money and paid the taxes can hardly afford themselves. If one needs a lesson on this, just visit your grocery store around the first week of the month and notice how many buggy loads of expensive meats are being purchased that many times are then sold for cash to others. 

David P. Smith: The Broken SNAP

 Much debate is occurring regarding governmental spending in the United States for a wide array of programs.  There are many solutions being proffered for reducing the overspending and everything must be examined in the process.  Every program in place has objectives that can be measured to see if the specific program is meeting those objectives while also assessing for other effects of the program that may not have been initially anticipated.  Each of us certainly does that in our own households. We look at what we are spending on a particular area and decide if the purpose of it is being fulfilled while also deciding how that expense is affecting otherwise the household.  Then we make changes depending upon what we find when we assess it.  It is certainly beyond the scope of this article to examine the entire topic, so we will have to focus a little more on one major area of expense.  A major expense in most households is that of buying food. 

David P. Smith: The Elephant and Gunkin Troll

 You would have to have your head in the sand lately to have not read about the horrible acts committed this last week in the Sandy Hook, Connecticut, elementary school.  Every time we have a tragedy, the public mourning and prayer of the politicians and public figures dies down quite rapidly to be replaced by the almost never ending blame game by those who want to have an opportunity to unveil, and hope to use, their own ax they have been grinding since the last incident.  The same folks who have been publicly crying the loudest over these innocent lives lost think it is fine to kill the little ones as long as the mother chooses this awful fate before birth happens.  This is a fallacious, hollow, and illogical position to have.  Valuing human life should not start just at birth. 

David P. Smith: Marijuana: Don’t Let This Happen To Your Family

 There have been several recent stories in the media regarding various suicides. Suicides are increasing in incidence and this is partly due to the fact that many people have neither the foundation nor the skills necessary for handling the stresses of life. There are many reasons for this and this article will shed some light only upon one contributor at this time, but is the initiator of many other problems that can lead in the direction of this awful choice of ending life. Inappropriate usage of drugs, whether legal or not, causes many problems and it is so disappointing to see the misguided laws that a few states are putting into place to legalize marijuana which was just recently proven to lead to brain damage with long term usage. 

David P. Smith: Thanks For The Memories

 “The only good thing about it is that you eventually don’t remember you have it.”  That’s what I’ve jokingly told several patients over the years as we have discussed Alzheimer’s dementia.  Many times we all attempt to make light of subjects that we find just too painful or uncomfortable to discuss without some humor mixed into it so it is not so disheartening.  When seeing someone with memory loss who is afraid and they know they are losing their memory, it does sometimes help to get a few laughs when asking if they remembered to take their medication that helps them remember. 

David P. Smith: Conservative Backlash or Bow Down

 The major media talking heads have been all jockeying to couch Romney’s loss in terms that are the most favorable to their own biases.  There is an array of attitudes from downright depressed and despondent to outright maddening rage.  It is the usual display of emotions that we all experience when there is a loss: (1) denial, followed by (2) anger, (3) bargaining, and then finally, (4) acceptance; there is wide variability in how long individuals remain in each of these stages and some stay in some of these stages quite a while.  Depending upon how long the stage of anger remains, there will certainly be conservative backlash, and then the latter stages’ prevalence will dictate how much bowing down occurs to what liberals think they deserve in return for the retaining of the presidency. 

David P. Smith: Anxious?

 I can remember when I was a boy, my mother would let me, my two brothers, and my friends get on our bicycles and we would ride around the area all day long it seemed.  Having a multi-speed bicycle meant you really had something of which to be proud, but we were glad to get anything because it was all better than walking.  We would ride for miles away from our homes in our little pack.  We never encountered anyone from whom we had to flee, or be afraid of anyone near us. 

David P. Smith: Let’s Preserve Freedom, Not Give It Up

  My wife and I had a quick trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this last weekend for a medical convention and while there had several hours of time on Saturday to do some sight-seeing.  We walked so many blocks from the hotel where we stayed that we were wore out by nightfall, but saw many good people and places.  Visiting Independence Hall and standing in the same room where the signers of Declaration of Independence committed their lives toward the pursuit of freedom that has now influenced the whole world is nothing short of inspirational.

David P. Smith: Making a Good Stew

 The future of healthcare is one of the main driving factors behind the decisions being made by the electorate in this year’s presidential election.   Over the last several years, it has become more and more unaffordable for people to have health insurance and for those who are the most ill to even qualify for it.  To not have health insurance is to take a chance with bankruptcy.

David P. Smith: Want to Live Longer?

 Many times I’ve asked octogenarians if they thought they would live to be that age.  I’ve noted that the great majority actually say that they did not think they would be that age.  Besides the humbleness that most have to be blessed with that many years of life, there are other commonalities, such as having a history of eating from a home garden that has been worked yearly while providing for routine exercise for many years, a strong Christian faith, and a history of a strong, stable marriage.  All of these characteristics are associated with living a longer life and many studies back up these statements. 

David P. Smith: Fracking Gag Orders

 The reported tremendous potential for producing oil through the fracking procedure could result in many changes in our country and certainly would improve our economy. While there is great potential for positive changes, we all would be well served by following a conservative approach of fully investigating and considering all possibilities because all change isn’t always good. There are at least thirty states which have active natural gas drilling occurring and about 90% of these are using fracking. 

David P. Smith: Going Back to the Roadside Park

 I wonder how many people in this area of southwest Mississippi visited the Roadside Park that used to be open on Highway 24.  When I was a young boy, my mother used to pack a lunch for us and my two brothers that we would eat together at the park about every other Sunday afternoon when we would travel from McComb after church services to go to Gloster.  I always looked forward to stopping at the park because it was a nice break for what any child viewed as such a long trip. 

David P. Smith: Focus on Hope and Freedom

 If any candidate for office wants to tap into the mood of the majority of the electorate, the focus should be on hope and freedom. 

David P. Smith: Fireworks In November?

 Most people enjoy seeing some beautiful fireworks on the Fourth of July.  This last Independence Day celebration was marked by beautiful displays all over our country.  While fireworks are also traditionally bought during New Year’s Day festivities also, most of the time we think of them for Independence Day.  While watching some fireworks a few weeks ago in the midst of security and peace, I couldn’t help thinking about the sacrifices made by those during the Revolutionary War to help this land become free and also the countless lives that have been lost over all of the years since then to keep this country free. 

David P. Smith: Chief Justice Roberts’ Decision

 The recent Supreme Court decision regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, or Obama Care, as it is better known, was certainly a surprise to many people.  Everyone who was interested in the outcome of this case was shocked to find out that Chief Justice Roberts voted with the liberal leaning members of the Supreme Court to uphold the most hotly debated legislative act in recent times. 

David P. Smith: Physician-Patient Prayer

  In this era of healthcare reform, there are many questions floating around on many different topics.  It was encouraging to recently see on the front page of American Medical News (a newspaper published by the American Medical Association) an article entitled, “When patient visit includes request for prayer” (June 18, 2012; volume 55, number 12).  The article discusses a survey of almost 500 adults from Florida, North Carolina, and Vermont in which “one in five patients likes the idea of praying with the doctor during a routine office visit, while nearly 30% want to do so during a hospital stay.”  

David P. Smith: Remembering Your Father — What will your children remember?

 There is big problem in America today with the lack of dads for so many children.  For various reasons, those who should be the leaders and should be responsible feel that they are good enough fathers if they can just pay child support, but aren’t involved in the lives of their children in a committed way.  Marriage is being diluted down these days to mean nothing by those who see it as legal right they can claim and not a moral responsibility to be married in the way that God’s Word lays out for us very clearly – one man and one woman committed for life.   

David P. Smith: Obama Administration Ruining Primary Care Physicians

 The current leadership of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under President Obama continues the trend of other government agencies which have policies causing continual stress upon all physicians, but especially primary care physicians.  At the end of 2011, deadlines in place for a new format for submission of electronic claims caused tremendous stress all over the country and resulted in bankruptcy for some physician practices (http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/smallbusiness/doctors_broke/index.htm). 

David P. Smith: Soldier Suicides Reflect Spiritual Health of America

 Our soldiers are having great difficulty in handling the great stresses that they must endure in the present day.  It has been reported just recently that suicide in the American military was at an all-time high in 2010, and reduced a small amount in 2011 after intensive efforts by the military in taking actions to identify those at risk, but the rates are still higher than the general population.  For the first half of 2009, suicide claimed the lives of more American soldiers than did combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

David P. Smith: God Bless the Atheists

 It is quite sad to read of a group of atheists, Humanists of Florida, in Polk county, Florida who recently got together to “unbless” a highway that leads into the county and put “unholy water” on it with brooms, mops, and water hoses.  A year earlier, a group of Christians, Polk Under Prayer, had prayed for a blessing on the same road as a means of protecting their county from evil and destructive influences.  This group of atheists makes fun of Christian believers and are allowed to exercise their free will of choice of whether to reject or accept God, and to accept blessings or to curse.  Christians should respond to these insults in the way that the Bible demands: 

David P. Smith: It’s About Freedom, not Contraception

 In November 2011, Mississippi voters failed to pass an amendment to the state constitution that would have identified life as beginning at conception.  Polls that were done only weeks before the vote showed that the measure would pass in this state that is identified by surveys as being the most conservative in the nation.  However, those polls started changing quickly after robo-call machines and millions of dollars of advertising churned out propaganda meant to cast doubt in the public regarding contraception’s legality if this were to be passed.  Even though the arguments posed by many liberal pro-abortion groups were false and deceiving of the public, there was enough confusion created that the conservative state showed its reluctance to accept the initiative by the majority voting against it.  

David P. Smith: Pardon Me, Just Not Them!

 Mississippi made national news this last week in a way that many bemoaned as just another story that has besmirched the state to the rest of the country. Governor Haley Barbour decided upon leaving office to pardon over two hundred persons who had committed an array of crimes, but the ones who garnered the most national attention are those who were sentenced for murder. The pardons have enabled these people to now have their records wiped clean.  

David P. Smith: Lack of Knowledge Doomed Initiative 26

 The failure of Mississippi’s Initiative 26 to pass is a shock to many people, especially since polls only a couple of weeks ago showed the initiative likely to briskly sail into it’s place in the state constitution. That was before the national media and pro-abortion groups began their campaign to cause confusion in the minds of those who initially voiced support for the measure.

David P. Smith: Where Will This Stop?

 Hurricanes and tropical storms are named as either male or female with names that typically sound male or female. In this era of inclusiveness, it’s only a matter of time before the hurricane naming procedures need to undergo some changes. To accommodate everyone who now demands that we be tolerant, the naming procedures should name some of the “male” hurricanes and tropical storms with female names and vice versa. Also, some percentage of them should be named as male or female, but then the name could be considered to change gender at some point before it’s dissipated. Maybe we should just have all gender neutral names for the hurricanes and tropical storms. This may sound ridiculous, but it’s not anymore ridiculous than what we are seeing taking place all over this country right now. 

David P. Smith: Obama’s Betrayal of Israel

 It has been shocking to behold the rapid change that has been taking place around the world over the last few years. Only a few years ago, although still very challenging, Israel had enough allies that its future was more certain. Now, after the fall of one after another leader in the Middle East and North Africa, Israel finds itself surrounded by countries which oppose them and vocally want to see their demise. In May of this year, President Obama even publicly stated, ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to America, that he thought Israel should return to its pre-1967 borders which are well understood to be indefensible by Israel. 

David P. Smith: What's in a name?

    The decision of Campus Crusade for Christ International to change the name of its U.S. Operations to “Cru” in early 2012 has caused a lot of disagreements about the new name not having “Christ” included. According to a news article , the ministry feels that the main problem with their current name is that the word “Crusade” has a bad connotation for many people and they also don’t want to have people immediately tuning them out when they hear the name “Christ”. Their mission of reaching people with gospel of Christ has not changed, but their techniques for doing so are changing in ways that they feel will help them be more effective. Whether this is more effective remains to be seen. Many churches in America have done the same thing to try to appeal to more people and some of these churches have attracted more people, but the culture of America has continued to generally get more secular. 

David P. Smith: What Abbey Taught Me

  A little over a week ago, my wife and I lost Abbey to renal failure that had been worsening over the last year.  Abbey was a constant companion to us both and, even though she was a miniature schnauzer, she was like a child to us.  In my work as a physician, I learned to depend upon Abbey many times to cheer up patients who had come to clinic and felt down, but left with a smile after she would make her way to their exam rooms and visit for a moment without my prompting.