Spinning
Episcopalian Shield, Small

Welcome to the internet's busiest one-person medical site. I'm Ed, "the pathology guy", an MD with board certification in anatomic and clinical pathology.

As the internet has grown, my course site has grown into a large, free public service.

I'm here to help anyone seeking to understand the "why"'s of health and disease, and to find what's known about uncommon diseases. Obviously I cannot diagnose or treat online, and I cannot comment on care you may have received. A visit to my site cannot substitute for your doctor's care.

If you're looking for something specific, and can't find it here, please drop me an E-mail. If you just want to browse, then it's good to have you as a guest.

When we were both beginning our unusual medical careers, the real Patch Adams M.D., physician and humorist, wrote me encouragement. My pages deal with the most serious, and often the saddest, things in life. But I hope that others can find, throughout this site, a spirit of kindness and humility, and sometimes even a philosophical chuckle.

Friendship has always been the most important thing to me. The 'web has enabled me to be a friend to thousands of people around the world. For this I'm overwhelmingly grateful.

Welcome!

Ed in Scrubs

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

"The Pathology Guy"
Ed Friedlander MD

1750 Independence Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64106
816-654-7633 (Gwen Dodd)
Fax 816-283-2251

This is my personal site,
unconnected to any employer!

E-Mail to: scalpel_blade@yahoo.com No texting or chat messages, please. Ordinary e-mails are welcome.

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College: Brown U., ΦBK '72, Magna in English Lit 1973
Medicine: Northwestern Medical School
Residency: Northwestern, Wake Forest
Board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology
Chairman, Dept. of Pathology, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, KC MO. Verify here.

Focus: Helping people understand disease.

Experienced lecturer, autopsy pathologist, medico-legal work (civil and criminal; plaintiffs, prosecutors, defendants; whoever I believe is RIGHT)

[Ed]
Hobbies

Skydiving

Working Out

Distance Swimming

2002 was a good summer for this. Rules differ from lake to lake, but I'm trying to swim across as many of the big local lakes as I can. If you would like to join me, please let me know. Here are some of the different places I've enjoyed swimming.

[Ed]

Pet Rats
Stinky the RatStinky

Adventure Gaming
(visit Li Po's Hermitage) (AD&D character generators, lots more)

Alternity


Rock Stars Keyboard & Guitar
"In the Hall of the Mountain King"
"Dead Rock Stars"

Lambda Chi Alpha

Letter to New Associates
The Greek Alphabet
Sigma Rho Zeta

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Primary Site

Ed in greens

Ed's Pathology Notes

Perspectives on Disease | Cell Injury and Death | Accumulations and Deposits | Inflammation | Fluids | Genes | What is cancer? | Cancer: Causes and Effects | Immune Injury | Autoimmunity | Vasculitis, Amyloid, Immunodeficiency (except HIV) | HIV infections | Infancy and Childhood | Aging | Infections | Nutrition | Environmental Lung Disease | Violence, Accidents, Poisoning | Heart | Vessels | Respiratory | Red Cells | White Cells | Coagulation | Oral Cavity | GI Tract | Liver | Pancreas (including Diabetes) | Kidney | Bladder | Men | Women | Breast | Pituitary | Thyroid | Adrenal, Parathyroid, and Thymus | Bones | Joints | Muscles | Skin | Nervous System | Eye | Ear | Arthritis Labs | Glucose Testing | Liver Testing | Porphyria | Urinalysis | Lab Problem | Quackery | Preventing "F"'s | Histology: Male | Histology: Female | Histology: Urinary | Histology: Throat | Histology: Thymus and Heart | Histology: Thyroid and Parathyroid | Good Lectures | Small Group Discussion | Classroom Control | The Effective Pathology Tutor | Socratic Teaching| Physiology Challenge|

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"The Pathology Blues"
"The Pathology Blues" -- animated

The Kansas City Field Guide to Pathology.
Recognizing lesions.

Basic Medical Histology -- Under Construction

General Pathology Board-Review

Systemic Pathology Board-Review

Autopsy

Bryan Lee: Pathology Instructor Bryan

Dino LaPorte: Pathology Instructor
Dino's "PathoWeb" Museum

Dead Bone

Ed Lulo MD -- Pathology Instructor

Ed Garcia MD: Medical Pictures

Tom Demark MD: Medical Pictures

Physiology Cases

Classroom Control

Belief in God -- "For" and "Against"

Jesus of Nazareth
Mary of Nazareth

Ed's Notes on the Prayer Book Propers

The Episcopalian Lectionary
Ed's Notes Franciscan Timeline

Science Education for the Clergy

Paul SkylesLambda Chi Alpha
Paul Skyles, one of four little brothers at the fraternity

William Blake's "Milton"
"The Tyger"

Ahab
Antony and Cleopatra
The Book of Thel
Hamlet
King Lear
The Knight's Tale
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
The Lady of Shalott
Macbeth
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Moby Dick
Oedipus the King
Prometheus Bound
The Seven Against Thebes
Timbuctoo
Twelfth Night
Hamlet

Weird Chess

Li Po's Hermitage (Adventure Gaming)

Preventing F's: A Guide for Tough Teachers

Flat Top Haircuts

Why I am not a Postmodernist

Why I Support Amateur Boxing

The Ancient Musical Modes: What Were They?

Software

To understand medicine, you need to start with the language. Click here to download a computer quiz program to help you master medical terminology. The file (voc.exe) you will receive is a self-extracting archived file. Just move the file to the directory of your choice, then run it. After it decompresses, to start the program, just run VOCAB.EXE

If your browser is Java-capable, try my Medical Vocabulary Applet!

You can also visit my Medical Terminology Page

The Pathology Blues! Students learn best when they're laughing. Click here to download a DOS routine that plays a song made up of verses written by medical students taking their final exam. Sing along with me in my ASCII-art incarnation.


Episcopalians on the "Web": Help yourselves to my spinning logos.
Spinning Episcopalian Shield, Large episco.gif

Spinning Episcopalian Shield, Smallepiscos.gif

Episcopalian Date Applet

Since I became an Episcopalian in 1978, the denomination (1) has never told me anything that I knew was not true; (2) has never told me I was better than anybody else; (3) has never told me to hate anybody; (4) has never told me to do anything I knew was wrong; (5) has surprised me with the lack of hypocrisy among clergy and laity; (6) has never pestered me for money.

The denomination doesn't proof-text, embraces natural science, supports a person who chooses a clean-living single lifestyle, treats your private life and your politics as your own business, uses the golden rule as guide to behavior, regards all people of good-will as friends, focuses on life in this world, and insists that the Gospel faith and the Christian commitment are not merely personal or cultural prejudices. I say I made a good choice.

Meet the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anglican Communion -- official site
What Is Christianity? -- lecture by Rowan Williams
St. James's Cathedral, Chicago -- my first parish
Anglican Franciscans -- daily office prayers
Textweek
Lectionary Studies
Virtue Online -- Global Orthodox (ultraconservative) Anglicanism. Link provided to show our diversity and as a balance to our very vocal (and generally despised) left-wing crazies; in particular, I cannot really support their anti-evolution talk or their outrage over women's ordination.
Survey of Theology -- St. John in the Wilderness
Ken Collins -- Disciples of Christ pastor who uses Anglican sources. I found much to like here.
The Golden Key -- said to be an effective technique for prayer that changes you rather than tries to manipulate the Lord; squares well with the Sermon on the Mount

August 2003: The denomination has been in the news. The whole business has gotten a lot more attention from outside the Episcopal church than from within. Since the early 1900's, it's been understood that what goes on between consenting, safety-conscious adults in private is their own business. However, the norm is still (1) saving "the best" for a stable, lifelong marriage between a man and a woman; (2) focusing on stable, quality friendship rather than "romance" with your own gender; (3) following the Golden Rule in every aspect of your walk through life. All this seems best to me. If your experience as a grown-up has been different, you'll need to conclude that I'm wrong.

March 2006: In the news again. The truth is that I feel real solidarity with, and admiration for, parents in Nigeria who are risking their lives to profess the Christian faith in the face of militant pseudo-Islam, and to raise families on a foundation of common sense and common decency. Right or wrong, the decisions by the US bishops have played into the hands of the world's worst anti-Christian hate-mongers. Whatever happens, I'm loyal to the larger Anglican communion -- especially when it serves the real needs of the world's genuinely neediest people. Of course, you're welcome to disagree.


Mind Stuff

"I chose to become..."

scholar clinician pathologists

... 'Tis known, I ever
Have studied physic, through which secret art,
By turning o'er authorities, I have,
Together with my practice, made familiar
To me and to my aid the blest infusions
That dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones;
And I can speak of the disturbances
That nature works, and of her cures, which doth
A more content in course of true delight
Than to be thirsty after tottering honor
Or tie my treasure up in silken bags,
To please the fool and death.

        Shakespeare, "Pericles"

Despite my being an aggressive man, my interests have always been primarily academic.

For me, relaxing is learning a new computer language and using it to program. Entertainment is reading the classics or "Scientific American". A good vacation is one spent at the local public library.

I have an extremely high regard for truth, and very little tolerance for lies, especially the ones that interfere with human health and reasonable human freedom.

If 47 years on this planet has taught me anything, it's that making good decisions (for yourself and others) begins with looking at the world as it really is, taking elaborate precautions against kidding ourselves. This is called science. I recommend it. Science cannot tell us what's right or wrong, or answer our questions about ultimate concerns. But it's self-correcting, tremendously satisfying, and (contrary to what the crackpots on every side have told you) clearly makes its practitioners more, not less, humane.

The primacy I give to science as a way of knowing should not surprise any persons of faith (Christian, other) who actually know their stuff.

Here are a few of my favorite links.

American Scientific Affiliation -- the premiere organization for mainstream Christians interested in dealing honestly with the implications of scientific discovery. No one will agree with everything on these pages, but I especially appreciate the debunking of pseudo-Christian anti-science.
Arbatel of Magic -- Live to thyself, and the Muses; avoid the friendship of the Multitude: be thou covetous of time, beneficial to all men. Use thy Gifts, be vigilant in thy Calling; and let the Word of God never depart from thy mouth. Also Johannes Trithemius.
Archive X -- people share tales of "paranormal" experiences
Archives of Scientists' Transcendent Experiences
Bible Codes? My notes on the new pseudoscience fad.
Bible Study

Bill Long -- Christian thinker and friend from Brown. Thanks, Bill!

Buddhist thought

Caltech Astronomy Knowledgebase
Christian Solidarity Worldwide -- update on persecutions. Nonsectarian and seemingly reasonable.
Chess and variants

My name in Chinese

CIA World Factbook

Classical music in the movies:

Noted composer John Carbon and I played keyboard together in high school.

Chinese Dictionary
Eden Collinsworth, author and vice-presendent of Hearst, attended grammar school with me. I am enormously pleased, but not surprised, by her accomplishments.
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
Contemporary Critical Theory -- mostly people pretending to talk about literature while actually promoting various left-wing ideologies. Lots of this going on in college English departments these days
Deliverance Ministry -- from a group that distrusts personal intuition in this situation
Deliverance Ministry -- Virgil Michael OSB
Spiritual Warfare -- Roman Catholic
Spiritual Warfare -- Roman Catholic
Dickens -- "A Christmas Carol". ...Any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness.... No space of regret can make amends for one's life's opportunity misused! -- Marley's ghost
The Didache -- a very early guide to Christian doctrine and behavior
The Didache -- Ben H. Swett's notes
Dream of Scipio -- Cicero's vision of human life viewed from the unchanging heavens.
Ed's Basic Science Trivia Quiz
Exam Master -- largely the work of my former assistant Ed Lulo MD

"Forgiven" -- Thomas Blackshear's 1992 Christian painting
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
George Ritchie -- "How could [Christ] have told me, and I not heard?" "I told you by the life I lived. I told you by the death I died. And if you keep your eyes on me, you will see more...."
Georgia State Hyperphysics
Glossary of Literary Terms -- U. of Toronto, no weird left-wing stuff
Goethe's "Faust". Goethe's mixed thoughts on life and the beginnings of the modern age. Powerfully suggestive. "One kiss from Gretchen is worth a thousand allegories." Goethe's Faust, rather than the devil, is the monstrous egomaniac. In one very funny scene, Faust invents junk bonds. Click here for a very helpful commentary by A. Gilles.
Goethe's Faust (notes)

John Glashan -- my family's favorite cartoonist in the 1960's. Memorial site placed by his family.

Harry Potter: A Christian appreciation by Charles Colson. "The plots reinforce the theme that evil is real, and must be courageously opposed. As this theme unfolds, so do the characters of Harry and his friends. They develop courage, loyalty, and a willingness to sacrifice for one another -- even at the risk of their lives. Not bad lessons in a self-centered world."
Harry Potter Facts
Stephen Hawking's website
I Hate Histology -- motivational drama for entering medical students
Homonyms
Humor

The Indo-Europeans

Jeff Cox on Progressive Creationism. Link is now down.

John Savard -- another varied website by a man who shares several of my interests (physics, music theory, chess variants)
Kansas City, Kansas Community College
Lord Byron Popular romantic writer with whom I identify (at least partly). Man's man, distance swimmer, also "invisibly handicapped". I wish I had his wit or his scores of lady "admirers". At the end of his short life, Byron gave up a self-indulgent lifestyle to be a freedom fighter.
Marat-Sade: One of my favorites when I was a sixties teen interested in ideas. The play's theme -- the debate between Marat and deSade -- is stale today, but still easy to recognize. Marat is a sixties communist. DeSade is a sixties proponent of free love. In real life, neither man, and neither idea, proved to be much good.
Meet Joe Black -- Hollywood for once celebrates spiritual goodness.

National Organization for Rare Diseases
Nature Premiere British science journal
Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance
PathMax -- Shawn E. Cowper MD's pathology education links

Pascal's Memorial. Also here, in its biographical context.
Pascal -- French physicist, mathematician, and Christian thinker

Paul of Tarsus.

    In II Corinthians 12:3, Paul describes being taken into heaven, not knowing whether he was in or out of his body, and being told "inexpressable things", secrets that he was not allowed to share.

    I have concluded that Paul learned about the Big Bang, the true size and age of the universe, atoms and molecules, relativity, quantum theory, the genetic code, the common origins of living things, life on other planets, and how these fit with the Christian world-view though not with the "science and philosophy" of the Hellenistic age. I would like to have seen Paul's face when he saw the dinosaurs.

    Paul must have been forbidden to talk about what he had learned, because the human race would not believe it until we discovered it on our own.

Poussin, Ecstasy of Saint Paul

Pelagian Christianity.

Peter Olver, math giant, shared a room with me in college. Also here.
Planning Commissioners Journal -- a tremendous internet site by my college friend Wayne Senville

Planescape.

Progressive Islam

Quartz Hill School of Theology. Southern Baptist site committed to quality, common sense, and clear thinking. "The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ." The site differs from typical Anglican positions only over Biblical inerrancy and the nature of the Lord's Supper.
Religious Database -- seminary-level

Riddles

Rupert Oysler and Larry Olson were among my closest friends at Brown.

Save the Chimps

Science Premiere US science journal.
Science World
Science Friday Public Radio news program
Scientology -- the death of Lisa McPherson. A few hours after this article was published, I received a phone call from St. Petersberg, by a man who stated that he was NOT officially representing the Church of Scientology, but was friendly to them. His exact words were, "You can name your price." I told him, as politely as I could, to go to hell. I heard no more, and wondered whether this was actually a church representative who wanted me to switch sides, somebody trying to trap me, a loose cannon, or an elaborate prank.
Shaw -- "Man and Superman." Don Juan strives for even-he-doesn't-know-what, while the devil simply tries to keep people ordinary. Something about the "Life Force." Reasonable people will disagree with one another about all this.
Society for Psychical Research site with a special focus on "the survival question".
Society for Scientific Exploration. Link is now down. Warren Ong and I gave a paper for these folks.

St Malachy's prophecies for the papacy. I noted that when John Paul I was coronated, he would be "pope of the half moon", and he lived for half a month afterwards. John Paul II is "of the labor of the sun", and was supposedly born on the day of a solar eclipse, buried on the day of another solar eclipse, and the first pope to go around the world.

Stars, listed by name by Jim Kaler
Straight Dope Cecil Adams
Stuart Little. The authors wrote, "Stuart's journey symbolizes the continuing journey that everybody takes -- in search of what is perfect and unattainable. This is perhaps too elusive an idea to put into a book for children, but I put it in anyway."
Theodore M. Drange -- famous secularist philosopher and moralist, and a personal friend. We are united by our commitment to reason, common sense, and common kindness.

Teresa of Avila -- "The Interior Castle"

Theoi Project -- Greek mythology
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Answers From the World's Thinkers
Talk-Origins Why the best-known creationists are wrong. Nice review of the (in my opinion overwhelming) evidence for common descent and an old earth.
Dr. Tammy Tucker
Volunteer Match -- high school buddy Crispin Perdue is their chief software engineer.
Who Am I In Christ -- scripture verses.
Who Named It -- great collection of medical eponyms. Highly recommended.
William James: "The Varieties of Religious Experience" After the Bible, my favorite book.

Monasticism

Little Portion Friary -- Episcopal Franciscans. I was friends with these folks during the 1980's.
Clear Creek Monks -- Benedicting
Bernard of Clairvaux
Adrian of Canterbury, celebrated on my birthday, is especially honored by students in trouble with their teachers.
Rosary applet
Ramakrishna Mission -- old friends of mine; supposedly the most active and effective private charity in India

Philip of Moscow

Man Stuff

"I might have been..."

peacekeeper combat medic
I'm a fighter -- not a lover.

I prefer the freedom and ease of the single life. A wonderfully satisfying job, a good range of hobbies, and a great buddy system take the place of most "romance", "relationships", and family-of-generation.

No two men are the same. Most distinctive for me are (1) my very strong preference for the single, uncommitted life, (2) a quality buddy system; (3) a spartan lifestyle, owning only about as much as the average US teenager, and "home" being wherever I've slept the night before, and (4) my flattop haircut, with its macho, disciplined lines and angles.

I'm told that every culture has a small percent of men who like being professional military, always out on campaign, and never settling down. Ever since I was a small kid, I've thought this is the kind of guy that I'm genetically programmed to be. Comparing notes with career soldiers has satisfied me that I'm correct.

My parents were wise enough to raise me to be a man of peace. My war is against disease and ignorance, and my comrades-in-arms are good men and women across the various spectra.

I've worked hard to overcome shyness. The most important thing for me is simply being one of the guys, being able to be a friend, to like and be liked by my peers. There's occasionally been romance in my life, but I've been unwilling to give up my privacy or freedom even for the enduring love of any of several fine woman.

With other guys, I've found that my limit of comfort is a bearhug, and that only with close friends. This was one of the first things I learned about myself in college, and it's how I've been ever since. And for me, friendship's about bringing a bunch of good guys together, rather than forming couples. I've discovered that lots of guys who share my hobby interests -- working out, programming, skydiving -- are the same as me.

My best all-male experience (by far) has been as a perpetual college fraternity man, part of a group where all the members are bonded. As a Christian-based, non-hazing college fraternity, there's a tremendous amount of warmth. I'm very fortunate.

This is just what has worked best for me. I think a lot about how great it would be to have a successful marriage with a very special lady. It'd be a total restructuring of my priorities, and I'm happy with my life now, but I'm still open to the possibility. I won't pair-bond with a guy, nor could I imagine a life of acceptable quality without a buddy system. Different people tell me widely different things about what all this "makes me" in terms of my "identity politics". Anything you want to call me is fine.

Maybe you'll find something you like on this selection of guy-stuff links.

By friendship, you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable.


Alexander the Great Not mentioned at this site is that (according to my reading) it was Alexander who made it fashionable for us men to go around clean-shaven.
Angels In art, they usually appear androgynous. In the experiences of some of the mystics and visionaries( they show the same gender dimorphism as we do, only more so. I hope it's that way....
Lambeth Resolution on Sexuality -- 1998. What all the fuss was about back then. Most of the Anglican bishops "believe that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage." (I might have replaced "right" with "best" or "the ideal", and defined my terms more clearly -- even the most conservative partisans in the Episcopal church simply ask that unmarried people not "go all the way".

Adolescence -- guide by a mainstream Christian. "If you live in a male body... you have to learn how to drive it!" This is the clearest single site I've seen.
Barry King, photographer
Beautiful Women -- Tommy Edwards photography. No pornography.
Beetle Bailey his creator, Mort Walker's site for support of the national cartoon museum.
Beetle Bailey
Beetle Bailey "a typical American boy from Kansas City, Missouri".

June 23, 2009

Letters
Kansas City Star
1729 Grand Blvd.
Kansas City MO 64108
Fax: 816-234-4940

Star readers know Beetle Bailey and his friends as characters in a comic strip that has run since 1950, and enriched my life for half a century. In this microcosm of humanity, there is sorrow without bitterness, conflict without hate, laughter without ridicule, and a sense of right and wrong without any political agenda. The characters are types, but the daily events and camaraderie are forever fresh. The gentle tribute that the strip pays to our military is a hope for a world at peace.

Readers may remember that both Beetle and his creator (Mort Walker, who still works on the strip) were born and raised in Kansas City. Please keep this gem of our city’s heritage in our newspaper.

Ed Friedlander MD
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
816-283-2208

Click here for Mort Walker's gracious reply.

Benedictines
American Association of Blood Banks. I usually donate at the Kansas City Community Blood Center. I donated my hundredth unit in August, 2007. It is a big turn-on for me.

My Hundredth Unit

Boxing. Here's a tough one for the medical ethicists. The health risks are real but unpredictable. In particular, I believe that the health risks of amateur boxing have been exaggerated by other physicians. Some people, especially male teenagers, are going to want to box regardless of what we say. The benefits are enjoyment and the power of self-defense. The best way to avoid being hurt and to be able to live peaceably is to be willing and able to hit back effectively. This is most literally true in the milieu that produces most boxers. Should physicians push for a ban on boxing? Should we refuse to screen and care for boxers? I say "No" to both, and support amateur boxing as a ringside doctor. Many other reasonable people will disagree.

Canada's Wrestlers .

    Jim C. Miller, who for years was Canada's olympic wrestling coach, was among my closest college friends. Kindness still exists on our planet. So does gratitude. Thanks, Jim!

    A long-time trainer of elite athletes, he owns Jim's Gym in Canada.

Carl Thorne-Thomsen Tribute -- well-deserved. Carl was the son of my high-school English teacher
Chad -- internet friend and lay minister in training
Dirty Harry Goes to Church
Five Dollar Fine For Whining -- Geezinslaw Brothers
Friendship in the Classical World
The History and Nature of Men's Friendships
The Lost Art of Buddyship

False allegations of child abuse When it has occurred, child abuse is a terrible thing. When it has not occurred, and you are an innocent adult whose life is being ruined by misguided do-gooders, I might be able to help you. I take some cases pro-bono, and never charge for an initial conversation.
Francis Marion -- considered the founder of the US's special forces. Also here. An early biography. The Mel Gibson movie "Patriot" is about Francis Marion, though he has been renamed and a few details of his life altered to please contemporary audiences.
Francis Marion -- another biography by a contemporary. This account from a contemporary who actually knew General Marion indicates that he was anything but a malicious bigot.
Link is down: Guy Fawkes Day Celebration Rituals Includes instructions on how to make a straw dummy of unsuccessful terrorist Guy Fawkes. English children, instead of saying "Trick or Treat" carry the dummy in a wagon and say "A penny for the Guy?" The term has (understandably) come to be applied to all adult men ("guys").

Lifetime friend Hank Heidt now has a family and works at Stensat. He designs and publishes on picosatellites.

Hugs.

Jim Sharp

Skydive action photos


Jim back in 2000.

Divemaster Jim
Scuba action photos

Jimmy Kimmel -- has a sense of humor, especially about the male experience
Joel Douthat, one of my house and exercise buddies in Tennessee, 1984-6. A thoroughly good guy.

Jon P. Jarow, MD. When we were in medical school, "Funky Jon" was a beer-and-chess buddy and one of the best-liked guys on campus. Now he's one of the nation's leading andrologists. Great work and thanks, Jon!

Mark T. Hash, DO shared my home for a while in Tennessee. His link is now down.

"Not from Adam's brain, to think like him, or from his foot, to be subject to him, but from the rib, to be closest to his heart." Pictures, humor, no pornography. By a Rutgers student.

Law Enforcement.

Li'l Abner Tiny and Abner
MenStuff
Men's Health Magazine
Men's Fitness Magazine One of my life ambitions is to get a doctor-article published on a fitness magazine. So far, only rejections....
Link is now down: Mike Monfardini -- high school buddy turned champion wheelchair athlete. I am very, very proud of you, Mike.
Moby Dick My favorite novel. The "Pequod" is a microcosm of humankind, with every conflicting perspective on life. Ishmael survives because (like me), he's able to see everybody's point of view. No romantic (yuck) sub-plots either.
Movies For Guys -- movie reviews from the male perspective
Natural Bodybuilding
All-Natural Bodybuilding
LostEye.com -- famous people who've survived the loss of an eye
Michael S. Usey -- mainstream Christian talks frankly about sexuality. Link is now down. "Let your physical intimacy reflect your commitment... save sexual intercourse for your marriage partner. Neglecting the sexual needs of your partner is asking for trouble."

Pirates!


Institute on Religion and Public Life , sponsors of the Ramsey Colloquium. There are legitimate and honorable forms of love other than marriage. Indeed, one of the goods at stake in today's debate is a long-honored tradition of friendship between men and men, women and women, women and men. In the current climate of sexualizing and politicizing all intense personal relationships, the place of sexually chaste friendships and of religiously motivated celibacy is gravely jeopardized. In our cultural movement of narrow-eyed prurience, the single life of chastity has come under the shadow of suspicion and is no longer credible to many people. Indeed, the non-satisfaction of sexual 'needs' is widely viewed as a form of deviance. Like everything else from the Episcopalian Right (and Left), this is one-sided and they don't define their terms clearly. And frankly, I don't see this as the business of the church. But the Ramsey essay has been very true to my own experience as an Episcopalian. If your experience of life has been different, then you'll need to conclude that I'm wrong. Clean-living combined with tolerance still gets the best results, at least for me.

Random Country-Western Song Generator
Robert E(dward) Lee freed his slaves long before the Civil War began, because he knew slavery was wrong. My father is named for the general.

Rodeo clown school
Scott McMillan, my cyberfriend and a lawyer from San Diego, Clifornia
Shakespeare's Sonnet 129; for me, this pretty much sums it up. Both the sonnet, and the fact that an adult male at the beginning of the 21st century does not believe in making love outside of marriage, may surprise you.
Soldier -- Kurt Russell with a flattop. I related especially well to Sgt. Todd sitting just outside, brooding and puzzled, while the ordinary people partied. Kurt

Sammy Gravano as described in Underboss. A tragic story of a wasted life, of unalterable choices and the web of lies, weakness and treachery that underlies the so-called Honored Society. -- New York Times. How I could have put Cosa Nostra ahead of loyalty to my wife and my kids is something I will always have to live with... All my life, growing up, I thought that people who went to school and put their noses to the grindstone were nerds, taking the easy way out. I know now that I was the one who took the easy way, that I didn't have the balls to stay in school and try. That was the tough road, which I didn't take. -- Sammy Gravano.



Taser Video
83.4 MB
7:26 min
Click here to see the author prove you can have fun skydiving without being world-class.

Click here to see the author's friend, Dr. Ken Savage, do it right.

Terminator 3.

"My database does not comprehend the dynamics of human pair bonding."

Travis Morgan -- gym buddy, skydiver, long-term friend -- has a new site to help ordinary folks catch computer misbehavior.



Decent Webcams

Yahoo Pro-Life List
Yusuf and Zuleika -- the happy ending to the story of Potiphar's wife, as told by the Muslim poet Jami.
ZDXi also here. Lots to remember, mostly good. "They'll be glad they knew me." -- Eric Berne. "The world changes, and we change with it." Their exemplar is now Wile E. Coyote.


Mainstream Christianity

Rockefeller Chapel

Rockefeller Chapel, on the University of Chicago campus. It was here that I first identified myself, at age 17, as a mainstream Christian.

Then as now, it seemed a reasonable decision. I based it on:

I have a very high regard for truth. If you can honestly say that your experience has been different from mine, then you should conclude that my decision was a bad one. But three decades later, I have found no reason think I was wrong.

Through the rest of a stormy life, this decision has made all the difference. I'm no saint, but I find I have less to be sorry for nowadays, and the help I've needed has sometimes come in the most surprising ways.

Heaven begins in this life -- with a shifting of your personal focus toward kindness, repentance, humility, forgiveness, and trying (you won't succeed fully) to love others as Christ loves us.

Hell also begins in this life, with the decision to focus on greed, sensuality, and/or hate.

Mainstream Christianity gives you very few rules to follow. Instead, it's about a relationship -- like a marriage (the foremost New Testament comparison, applied to the community as a whole.) The doctrines that a new Christian accepts (partly on faith) are only what's required to make that relationship possible and meaningful. And even the Biblical rules all seem to be for our own good.

Mainstream Christians are not afraid of supernatural beings, and we do not try to manipulate or appease them. We do not worry about performing ceremonies exactly right, or pretending to have special supernatural insights or to know the future. We do not dwell on the wrongs we've done, but we simply make amends where we can. Maybe all this sounds corny today, but two thousand years ago, this approach to religion was radical. And even today, Christianity's rejection of magic and superstition frees us up to focus on treating other people well, and doing what we can to build a better world.

You'll need to decide for yourself whether the Bible mandates particular positions on stem cell work, sexual matters, pacifism, or whatever are tomorrow's topics. If you spend time with our scriptures (both Hebrew and Christian), you'll discover the recurring themes. Tyranny must give way to just government. Mercy is better than strict justice, especially in private life. You must do what you can to improve the lot of those truly in need. Every individual is of great value and possesses an innate dignity. As corny as these ideas sound today, they were radical when the Bible was written, and I cannot find them clearly enunciated even in the great Greek or Roman philosophers.

Good people from Socrates to the framers of the Humanist Manifestos have taught that when human beings are shown the right things to do, they will do them. My experience of human nature, beginning with my own, is that we still fall far short of being the good people we want to be. I have given up trying to understand the Atonement using human language. It cannot be that the Good Lord forgives a debt only on the condition that it be paid, or discards erring children unless they ask an innocent person to accept punishment, or overlooks everything good about you if your theology isn't straight. Instead, I would ask you to understand these explanations as imperfect human language to describe a wonderful gift that nobody fully understands but that still changes lives for the better every day.

Christian behavior follows from the human bond with Christ. In the Christian scriptures, the most common thing He asks individuals is not "Let me rescue you", but "Follow me." And the sect's original name for itself was "The Road." Life's a jungle, and Christians have a Guide. The scriptural term that's applied to the individual's relationship (rather than the community's relationship) with our Lord is "Friend" (John 15:14) -- again, the few rules exist simply for your own good and the articles of trust / faith are simply there to make the bond possible.

As Christians, we find ourselves turning to others in love, just as He first turned to us. We find ourselves curious about, and grateful for, His creation. We may choose whatever scientific and political positions persuade us. Since genuine Christians actually care about other people, our choices are most likely to be reasonable, humane, common-sensical, and broad-minded. We have a duty to be accurately informed. And in an imperfect world, we must make the difficult decisions as best we can. (Mainstream Christianity does not offer the peace that comes from having someone else do all of your thinking.) The Golden Rule forces us to consider the consequences of our actions, and this in turn forces us to try to understand the world around us.

Do you think all this makes Christianity more difficult, or less difficult, than the legalistic faiths? In your experience, which type of religion makes real-life people treat one another more kindly? My experience with many different kinds of people has made it very easy for me to answer this question.

Mainstream Christianity is not passive. I welcome the modern trend in iconography to show the historical Jesus as He really must have been -- a carpenter / construction worker who was physically fit, who did not mince words, and who withstood torture without breaking. Focusing on the passive virtues ("Don't enjoy / think / associate with thus-and-such") is the Dead Sea Scrolls mentality. In today's world, full of individual and collective human need, you'll find mainstream Christians everywhere, working hard, smart, and quietly to make it better. Even forgiveness, repentance, and humility are the virtues of the strong. Think about it. You've heard expressions like "He was strong enough / tough enough / man enough / big enough to forgive..." or "She found the strength / courage / chutzpah to change for the better."

There have always been many good non-Christians. But forty-five years on this planet has taught me that the strongest force for good in our world is the Invisible Church. Organized Christianity is its outward and visible sign. The changes that are the mark of heaven seem to begin in each life following some contact with the Church. I've seen enough to make me confident that its tremendous power to change lives and civilizations for the better derives from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

I believe that some supernatural phenomena actually occur, and I believe the major doctrines of trinitarian Christianity. I don't waste my time worrying about the unprovable claims that divide today's major denominations from one another. (In terms of "today's issues", I am not aware of any reason to believe in "natural law", rather than common sense and the golden rule, as the way to tell right from wrong.) Many members of the Invisible Church, especially today, simply look to Jesus as the great ethical teacher and try to follow him. My own experience has satisfied me that these people, too, are channels of supernatural grace -- even if they do not (yet?) know it.

If most of what you have heard about Christianity is from "multiculturalists" who blame us for all the world's past and present evils, please make a reality check. Before reliable birth control was widely available, episodic ethnic conflict was an unpleasant fact of life. Because Christianity promotes meritocracy, scientific inquiry, and freedom from superstition, we tended to win -- and to try to assimilate others. Read a few honest books on anthropology or paleopathology and find out whether the pre-Christian era was really more peaceable and humane than today. Read an some honest accounts of the movements to end slavery, the movements to give women and minorities their natural rights, the movements to provide evidence-based health care to all, and the movements to treat children and animals humanely, and you will discover they have been driven primarily by Christians.

If you know about Christianity mostly from hearing televangelists or fire-and-brimstone preachers, you might get the idea that Jesus Christ is our "savior" mostly from our being arbitrarily and atrociously punished after death just for acting like human beings. This never seemed reasonable to me, and if it were true, you'd expect to find it stated explicitly somewhere in the Bible. It's not there. I'm told that the Greek ψυχη means as much "life" as it does "soul". Among other things, following Christ as my Lord has saved me from wasting my life in vanity, greed, malice, meaninglessness, whining, sensuality, and despair. It's made all the difference.

I'm told that in the afterlife, the Good Lord will treat each of us as we've tried to treat the people who couldn't do us favors in return. And if it turns out that there is no afterlife, I think the Christian walk is still the best way to live.

If miracles actually happen, I would ask God for only one miracle: that I be made a good person.
        -- St. Anskar of Norway.

Warning! If you are considering becoming a Christian or renewing your faith commitment, the most difficult thing you'll be required to do is to love your enemies. You don't have to be a pacifist or a pushover, but you do have to try, insofar as it's possible, to return good for evil. Fortunately I do not have any enemies.

Warning! There are good people across the political spectrum. But almost all of the thoroughly rotten people I've met have identified strongly either with ultraconservative religion, or with shout-and-pout left-wing politics. You will find both kinds of people presenting themselves as "the only genuine Christians". You already know that they aren't.

Holy Bible Sketch Pad -- these are great
Red-Letter Christians -- non-Religious Right evangelicals. Focus is "sermon on the mount" rather than politics or doctrine.


Ed jumps Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
Because the door is open!

Some of the things I like best about the sport...

  • No emphasis on "winning"; everybody has a good time.
  • Go at your own speed.
  • Ultra-strong emphasis on safety. The innate risks, though real, are less than those that an ordinary motorist accepts. For me, it is well worth it.
  • Great people; nobody drunk, on drugs, or henpecked.

United States Parachute Association
Missouri River Valley Skydivers
Skydive Arizona
Arizona Skydiving
Skydive Elsinore
Perris Valley Skydiving
Christian Skydivers Association. Link is now down.


xyy "Karyotype stereotype", in this case, the XYY man. (As with all stereotypes, the reality of the XYY male is somewhat different.) Halloween 1993 or thereabouts.
My sister, Chris Leone, got most of the brains and all the good looks.

She also shares the strong family social conscience, and is very active with the American Association of University Women.

Chris's friend Kathleen Brenniman.
AAUW-IL

Dad continues to bicycle avidly at age 88.

Age in a virtuous person ... carries in it an authority which makes it preferable to all the pleasures of youth.

      -- Sir Richard Steele
[Harmonica 1] Harmonica man! [Harmonica 2]

Getting awarded a bottle of "Sheep Dip" whiskey by Class of '98 President Steve Parr. [Sheepdip]

[Sheepdip] Piano man.

Chopin's "Tristesse" Etude. Union Station, 2006.

Ed Friedlander discovered this sentence which contains four A's, five C's, seven D's, thirty-two E's, seven F's, three G's, nine H's, fifteen I's, two L's, twenty-one N's, nine O's, nine R's, twenty-eight S's, eighteen T's, three U's, six V's, seven W's, two X's, and four Y's.

Air Lambda Chi.

My friend and sometime skydiving buddy Tony Robbins is building his own site and in the meantime invites you to his favorite links here, here, and here.

Skydiving. I'm wearing the red-and-black jumpsuit.

dead rock stars
Remember the good times.
They left us a legacy
that has touched our hearts.

Over Central Missouri

In Second Life, I'm often at the Anglican church.
Lady of All Nations Many Episcopalians like to remember famous Christians from the past. We are all one big extended family.

Many people have depicted Mary of Nazareth in art. I wonder whether this Dutch vision might look much like the historical Mary.

My house buddies, Lewis Burton and Bryan Lee. The friendship of a lifetime, BryGuy!

Lamyl Hammoudi, former Algerian national kickboxing champion and my longtime friend, trying out the new Cirrus. Lamyl plans a career in aviation.

[Ed-at-work animation]

rigor mortisThanks for visiting.

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