Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for November 02, 2011

I hope he bought the right textbook.

I know what Ray means. I have ADD (attention deficit disorder), and have always had it. It made school hell. If Ray has it, in addition to everything else that’s plaguing him, maybe there’s some hope for him at the college level. (College less of a hell than grades 1-12, and graduate level education was also less of a hell.) With help, a student can cope with it. The rest of his “stuff”? The PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)? I can’t say.

Go to slate.com, where this strip also runs, and you can access all the archives.

Nitpicking: In panel 1, BD’s coat collar is up. Panel 2, up. P3, down. P4, back up.

Ray’s so self-centered, I imagine due to his nightmares in the “sand trap” (February 28), that he wakes BD up in the middle of the night to ask to see him at a bar. Amazing thing: BD agrees! And he agrees to see him in 15 minutes. Obviously, BD cares about his war bud. And obviously BD has recovered to an amazing extent. Then Ray, back in Afghanistan, was “blown up” for the 17th time (May 9). Apparently he’s not going back there any more. Trudeau makes a powerful point about the idiocy of this war. And one of his most remarkable points is that recovery is possible. BD is exhibit A.

sounds to me like he will fit right in at Walden!

Ckick 2001 and then arrow and another list of dates will come up until you reach begining.

“I have ADD (attention deficit disorder).”

It is not a disorder. It is wrong to think of it that way. It is day dreaming. It is also the highest form of thinking. Our education system is actually a de-education system. For more info on that go here: http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/

It seems that the arbiters of popular culture have decided that the enduring stereotypes of the Iraq/Afghan war vets will be stressed out PTSD sufferers unable to cope with the horrors they have experienced. Reminds me of all those Vietnam vets who came back as deranged maniacal killers.

 Dear RegHartt: If you needed heart surgery, then would you submit your body to a surgeon trained in a John Taylor Gatto system of education as opposed to one trained in, say, the Harvard Medical School?

OMG, I took the archive train all the way back to October, 1970. Wow what a blast from the past—rather primitive— but fun stuff.

This happens to me every day. Thanks for the understanding.

I wonder how many still feel Viet Nam was not a “necessary” war?

I wonder how many still feel Vietnam was a ‘necessary’ war? Necessary for what? Keeping Vietnam safe for colonialism?

aside from right/left opinions and the question of dealing w/ ptsd – see the us VA site for information on how prevalent ptsd is and what can be done.

Uh, as a ‘Nam vet, may I point out that had we done “the right thing”, in 1954, we’d probably have similar relations with Viet Nam as a trading partner around 1960. If we’d not maintained 20 years of rejecting relations, we’d have been on track by ’77. Yes, the war, and the deaths of my friends, and my disabilities, were totally unnecessary.

As to the “current round”, my son is back in college, his PTSD was a problem in some classroom situations, just as mine was. He did get permission from his English prof to use a computer for his essays, as due to a crushed hand, he can’t write more than a word or two with a pen or pencil (again, like me).

There ARE physical and mental adjustments the schools and professors can help with. I had a couple good ones back after ‘Nam in ’69-70 period. More people understood than we are led to believe. Just as while vets aren’t the “crazies” some would have projected, at the same time, NO PERSON is the “same” after combat. Today far fewer “civilians” are affected, and it DOES make it harder for vets who get the simplistic “thank yous”, but not much in the way of ongoing practical assistance, especially from the “business” community.

Change of plans B.D.Head for the VA and introduce Ray to your group, sounds like he still needs decompression time.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Wouldn’t a “change of plans” violate Ray’s free will? BD is doing him a favor by taking him to class. BD is not kidnapping him for some “greater good”. Isn’t it an involuntary “change of plans” a violation of another human being’s free will? Equivalent to enslavement? And since BD is white and Ray black, isn’t this a return to the old ways of thinking about slavery in the United States?

dtroutma said, about 2 hours ago

Uh, as a ‘Nam vet, may I point out that had we done “the right thing”, in 1954, we’d probably have similar relations with Viet Nam as a trading partner around 1960. If we’d not maintained 20 years of rejecting relations, we’d have been on track by ’77. Yes, the war, and the deaths of my friends, and my disabilities, were totally unnecessary.

As to the “current round”, my son is back in college, his PTSD was a problem in some classroom situations, just as mine was. He did get permission from his English prof to use a computer for his essays, as due to a crushed hand, he can’t write more than a word or two with a pen or pencil (again, like me).

There ARE physical and mental adjustments the schools and professors can help with. I had a couple good ones back after ‘Nam in ’69-70 period. More people understood than we are led to believe. Just as while vets aren’t the “crazies” some would have projected, at the same time, NO PERSON is the “same” after combat. Today far fewer “civilians” are affected, and it DOES make it harder for vets who get the simplistic “thank yous”, but not much in the way of ongoing practical assistance, especially from the “business” community.

Thanks for vy illuminating post, dtroutma./

Salutes to you both!

President Kennedy, a Democrat, has been blamed for getting the U.S. involved initially. However, it seems clear now, that President Eisenhower, a Republican, got us involved even earlier.

Good luck with the class, Ray. Make sure to take a window seat near the door!