TELL ME Research Articles

Using “TELL ME MORE” software in teaching-learning of French for students pedagogy at the Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Education, National University of Laos.

The study aimed to self-training in the teaching-learning of French as a foreign language using the “TELL ME MORE” software the students majoring in French Pedagogy Course of Faculty of Education, National University of Laos. In our research we want to get involved to respond to the request for training support on the "TELL ME MORE" software in collaboration between the National University of Laos, the AUF association and the Francophone center. This software is installed at the Francophone Center of the National University of Laos. For teachers and students of French at the National University of Laos. The target group was the students from 3rd year, majoring in French Pedagogy Course of Faculty of Education, National University of Laos with the total number of 34 (18 females and 16 males). The research tool was the questionnaire and class observation grid. The statistics used to analyze data to find percentages using computer programs. The research results can be summarized as follows: The majority of the population prefers to use the TELL ME MORE software to develop skills in French such as: speaking (41.2%), listening (23.5%), writing (17. 6%) and reading (17.6%) meaning most students use it for speaking and listening. The activities that students use a lot in the TELL ME MORE software are pronunciation (88 %), conversation and grammar (82%), written production (73%), photo and audio, video and word writing activities (70%).

“IF I AM OLD, YOU CAN NOT TELL ME THAT I HAVE JUST BREAST CANCER PATIENT”: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY

“IF I AM OLD, YOU CAN NOT TELL ME THAT I HAVE JUST BREAST CANCER PATIENT”: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY Abstract Objective: This study aimed to investigate the post-surgery experiences of elderly breast cancer survivors. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 elderly breast cancer patients (> 65) after surgery. To evoke the themes illuminating these women's experiences, we employed phenomenological analysis. Results: Three main themes emerged as a result of the research: "This is not ideal at this age but there is nothing I can do," "I am no longer self-sufficient," and "We are different, I am old." For elderly women, the phrase "removing the breast" is difficult to hear. Most elderly people could not even look at or touch the area. They asserted, however, that being healthy is more crucial than caring about one's physical appearance given one's age. They were unable to care for themselves, carry out independent daily tasks, or clean the house. It had a significant impact on the elderly to be dependent on others for these tasks. Those who were assisted felt grateful; those who were not supported felt helpless. The elderly were burdened more because of their age and various health issues. On the other hand, elderly patients who underwent cancer surgery experienced a fear of passing away. The elderly wanted information or assistance with their issues, but they were unsure of where to turn. Conclusion: Elderly breast cancer patients experience different issues due to the particular challenges of old age. Based on this knowledge, members of the healthcare team should follow a different roadmap than the particular strategy for performing breast cancer surgery on elderly patients. Cancer diagnosis, breast loss, the physical burden of comorbidity, the psychological burden of dependency, and the inability to care for oneself should all be considered when providing care and treatment for elderly individuals. Keywords: Breast cancer surgery; elderly patients; experience; geriatric oncology; phenomenology.

Testing a simple and frugal model of health protective behaviour in epidemic times

The COVID-19 epidemic highlighted the necessity to integrate dynamic human behaviour change into infectious disease transmission models. The adoption of health protective behaviour, such as handwashing or staying at home, depends on both epidemiological and personal variables. However, only a few models have been proposed in the recent literature to account for behavioural change in response to the health threat over time. This study aims to estimate the relevance of TELL ME, a simple and frugal agent-based model developed following the 2009 H1N1 outbreak to explain individual engagement in health protective behaviours in epidemic times and how communication can influence this. Basically, TELL ME includes a behavioural rule to simulate individual decisions to adopt health protective behaviours. To test this rule, we used behavioural data from a series of 12 cross-sectional surveys in France over a 6-month period (May to November 2020). Samples were representative of the French population (N = 24,003). We found the TELL ME behavioural rule to be associated with a moderate to high error rate in representing the adoption of behaviours, indicating that parameter values are not constant over time and that other key variables influence individual decisions. These results highlight the crucial need for longitudinal behavioural data to better calibrate epidemiological models accounting for public responses to infectious disease threats.

Accuracy and efficacy of pre-dengue vaccination screening for previous dengue infection with five commercially available immunoassays: a retrospective analysis of phase 3 efficacy trials

The tetravalent dengue vaccine (CYD-TDV) has been shown to provide protection against dengue disease over 5-year follow-up in participants with previous dengue infection, but increased the risk of dengue hospitalisation and severe dengue during long-term follow-up in those without previous dengue infection. WHO recommended pre-vaccination screening to identify those with previous dengue infection (ie, dengue seropositive) who would benefit from vaccination. We re-evaluated CYD-TDV efficacy in those identified as dengue seropositive using five commercially available immunoassays, and assessed immunoassay performance. We included participants in the immunogenicity subsets of the phase 3 CYD14 (NCT01373281) and CYD15 (NCT01374516) CYD-TDV efficacy trials, which enrolled children aged 2-16 years in 2011-12 in five countries in the Asia-Pacific region (CYD14) and five Latin American countries (CYD15). Participants assessed had received at least one injection of study drug (CYD-TDV or placebo) and had baseline samples available. We tested baseline samples by IgG-based immunoassays to classify baseline dengue serostatus, using two ELISAs (EUROIMMUN and Panbio) and three rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs; TELL ME FAST, SD BIOLINE, and OnSite). Vaccine efficacy in preventing symptomatic, hospitalised, and severe virologically confirmed dengue was determined for participants who tested positive by each immunoassay. The specificity and sensitivity of each immunoassay was determined as percentage negative and positive agreement compared with the reference algorithm, which used dengue plaque reduction neutralisation test with 50% and 90% cutoffs and non-structural protein 1 IgG ELISA results to assign baseline serostatus. Samples were available for 3967 participants, 2735 (69·0%) of whom were classified as seropositive by the reference algorithm. Vaccine efficacy against symptomatic virologically confirmed dengue in immunoassay-positive participants was high across all five immunoassays (EUROIMMUN ELISA 88·2% [95% CI 77·3 to 93·9], Panbio ELISA 87·6% [76·7 to 93·4], TELL ME FAST RDT 88·8% [67·0 to 96·2], SD BIOLINE RDT 82·8% [66·9 to 91·1], and OnSite RDT 89·7% [64·6 to 97·0]), as was vaccine efficacy against hospitalised virologically confirmed dengue (EUROIMMUN-ELISA 72·8% [38·9 to 87·9], Panbio ELISA 77·5% [52·8 to 89·3], TELL ME FAST RDT 92·4% [37·8 to 99·1], SD BIOLINE RDT 87·2% [54·5 to 96·4], and OnSite RDT 73·7% [-5·1 to 93·4]) and severe virologically confirmed dengue (EUROIMMUN ELISA 86·9% [-16·8 to 98·5], Panbio ELISA 91·3% [27·6 to 99·0], TELL ME FAST RDT 100·0% [not estimable to 100·0%], SD BIOLINE RDT 89·4% [9·6 to 98·8], and OnSite RDT 73·4% [-193·7 to 97·6]). The immunoassays exhibited high specificity (≥98·8% for all immunoassays apart from SD BIOLINE RDT) but variable sensitivities, with higher sensitivities observed for the ELISAs (EUROIMMUN 89·2% [87·9 to 90·3] and Panbio 92·5 [91·4 to 93·5]) than the RDTs (TELL ME FAST 52·5% [50·6 to 54·4], SD BIOLINE 71·1% [69·3 to 72·8], and OnSite 47·6% [45·7 to 49·5]). Our findings suggest that these immunoassays could be used for pre-vaccination screening for CYD-TDV as tools to assist risk stratification until more sensitive and convenient tests become available. Sanofi Pasteur.

Optimising dengue pre-vaccination screening

Optimising dengue pre-vaccination screening

Communicating Neurocritical Illness: The Anatomy of Misunderstanding.

We talk, text, email all day. Do we perceive things correctly? Do we need to improve the way we communicate? It is a truism that providing insufficient information about a patient results in delays and errors in management. How can we best communicate urgent triage or urgent changes in the patient condition? There is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation but what would the receiving end want to know? One starting point for those practicing acute neurology and neurocritical care is a new mnemonic TELL ME (Time course, Essence, Laboratory, Life-sustaining interventions, Management, Expectation), which will assist physicians in standardizing their communication skills before they start a conversation or pick up a phone. These include knowing the time course (new and "out of the blue" or ongoing for some time); extracting the essentials (eliminating all irrelevancies); communicating what tests are known and pending (computerized tomography and laboratory); relaying how much critical support will be needed (secretion burden, intubation, vasopressors); knowing fully which emergency drugs have been administered (e.g., mannitol, antiepileptics, tranexamic acid), when transport is anticipated, and what can be expected in the following hours. Perfect orchestration in communication may be too much to ask, but we neurointensivists strive to convey information accurately and completely. Communication must be taught, learned, and practiced. This article provides guiding principles for a number of scenarios involving communication inside and outside the hospital.

Student Perceptions on the Effectiveness of Using Tell Me More for Pronunciation Learning

This article addresses students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of using TMM as a pronunciation learning software. A mixed method design was employed to find out how the students perceived TELL ME MORE (TMM), a language learning software that claims to develop language skills that are needed to communicate. However, in this study, the emphasis is given to the oral exercises in TMM specifically word, sentence, and phonetics pronunciation. A mixed method study consisting of 28 students were conducted to explore the pronunciation issues surrounding a technical university in Malaysia. The data from TMM was collected using stimulated recall and all responses from 28 students were interviewed, to pursue in-depth information on the perceptions of effectiveness. The findings indicated that most of the students had mixed perceptions of the effectiveness of using TMM as a pronunciation learning software.

Message from the Executive Director: Interview with Pat Soranno, Editor‐in‐Chief, L&O Letters

Message from the Executive Director: Interview with Pat Soranno, Editor‐in‐Chief, <i>L&amp;O Letters</i>

The role of primary care professionals in preventive activitites during epidemics. Focus group assessment of the management of flu pandemic in 2009/2010

The experiences gained during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009/2010 could serve for a better planning and management of later outbreaks. The EU-sponsored TELL ME project aimed to provide evidence and develop models for improved risk communication during infectious disease crisis. Among its objectives was to develop original communication strategies regarding appropriate messages related to preventative behavior and advice based on uncertainties also addressing vaccine-resistant groups. Focus groups involving family physicians (FPs) were called upon for assessing the main issues during the H1N1 pandemic, the possibilities for improving the preventative process and outcomes. The study demonstrated the key-role of family doctors during outbreaks; patients put their trust in their elected FP, he or she representing a personal example of health behavior. The evidence based information about effectiveness and safety of vaccines are needed in communication towards health professionals. Involvement of health care professionals in the communication provides validity, the communication routine of opinion leaders meant to be used for such purpose. The main media message should be: "For prevention go to see your family doctor". Orv. Hetil., 2017, 158(14), 523-532.

Calibrating with Multiple Criteria: A Demonstration of Dominance

Pattern oriented modelling (POM) is an approach to calibration or validation that assesses a model using multiple weak patterns. We extend the concept of POM, using dominance to objectively identify the best parameter candidates. The TELL ME agent-based model is used to demonstrate the approach. This model simulates personal decisions to adopt protective behaviour during an influenza epidemic. The model fit is assessed by the size and timing of maximum behaviour adoption, as well as the more usual criterion of minimising mean squared error between actual and estimated behaviour. The rigorous approach to calibration supported explicit trading off between these criteria, and ultimately demonstrated that there were significant flaws in the model structure.

Role of health care professionals in preventative activities and vaccination programs during outbreaks.

The general purpose of TELL ME study was to give an insight into the experiences of European family physicians with management of H1N1 pandemic flu. Qualitative research methods (focus group discussions, one-to-one interviews, and online data collection) were used to explore family doctors' opinion and suggestions. Overall 158 family physicians took part in the study from six European countries. Family doctors' most important experience was that the official campaign was not able to compensate negative effects of the mass media. Due to the poor evidence-based information about new vaccines, it was difficult to convince the public and some health care professionals too. Lack of unified directives - under unclear circumstances - made the routine patient care more difficult and hampered the collaboration between different health care providers. Family physicians felt a pressure from health authorities to achieve high immunization rate, but got only a little support from them. Despite the difficulties, vaccination program was a success, mainly among high-risk population. For better handling of a future pandemic, Hungarian family physician made many general and practical suggestions.

Uses of Agent-Based Modeling for Health Communication: the TELL ME Case Study

ABSTRACTGovernment communication is an important management tool during a public health crisis, but understanding its impact is difficult. Strategies may be adjusted in reaction to developments on the ground and it is challenging to evaluate the impact of communication separately from other crisis management activities. Agent-based modeling is a well-established research tool in social science to respond to similar challenges. However, there have been few such models in public health. We use the example of the TELL ME agent-based model to consider ways in which a non-predictive policy model can assist policy makers. This model concerns individuals’ protective behaviors in response to an epidemic, and the communication that influences such behavior. Drawing on findings from stakeholder workshops and the results of the model itself, we suggest such a model can be useful: (i) as a teaching tool, (ii) to test theory, and (iii) to inform data collection. We also plot a path for development of similar models that could assist with communication planning for epidemics.

Review of the International Scientific Conference “Thought Elaboration: Linguistics, Literature, Media Expression” (TELL ME 2013)

The journal provides a platform for different theoretical and thematic approaches to the following humanitarian research fields: linguistic researches, issues of literary narratives and contexts, influence of advertising discourse, theory and practice of translation, audiovisual research

What They Didn’t Tell Me (or what I didn’t hear) in Library School

The transition from library school to the professional library instruction environment is fraught with challenges and ripe with opportunities. Each new teaching librarian has to find his or her own style and establish a toolkit of teaching techniques. However, much can be learned from the experiences of others who have gone through the same process. The narratives that follow were written by former students in the School of Library & Information Science at the University of Kentucky. Each new librarian focuses on a different aspect of instruction planning and implementation. Their goal in sharing their stories is to assist other new librarians in their own professional transitions and to help existing library professionals develop a greater awareness of ways in which they can mentor the next generation.--Editor WHAT THEY DIDN'T TELL ME IN LIBRARY SCHOOL IS THAT STUDENTS DON'T CARE ABOUT LEARNING TO USE THE LIBRARY By Julie VanHoose While working as a graduate assistant in the reference department at the University of Kentucky's (UK) William T. Young Library, one of my responsibilities was library instruction. I was fortunate to be able to work with the instruction team there to learn through observation, participation, and training. During my time at UK, I also took a class dedicated to library instruction and a couple of cognate courses in the curriculum and instruction department. All of these educational opportunities gave me a solid grounding in the theory of education, but I have learned that there is nothing quite like getting out there and actually teaching. When I first began teaching, I quickly learned that just because I was enamored with libraries, it certainly did not mean that the average freshman was. Sure, many students view the library as an integral part of the campus experience, but for most of them it is more about the space itself than the abundant informational resources that it contains. And I knew going in that I had a limited amount of time to teach those students how to use our resources and, ultimately, how to be information literate. Those are lofty goals, and the personal pressure to reach them was occasionally a bit overwhelming. I knew the theory, but I didn't really know how to use it in application. And that is the first lesson that really sank in for me--that I could have a rich, deep knowledge of educational theory, but without actual time spent in the classroom, I could never really understand it. Understanding scaffolding, the zone of proximal development, constructivism, and the countless other theories and methods of instruction is certainly helpful. But it is not enough. You have to have direct experience before you can skillfully design classes that utilize those foundational principles. But don't worry--I am by no means saying the education is not necessary, because it definitely is. I am simply saying that new library instructors should be encouraged to just get out there and get to know the classroom. Assuring new instructors that they are not expected to be perfect right out of the gate is integral to giving them the confidence to experiment and find their own teaching style. And once they are comfortable in the classroom, they will get better and better at developing solid instruction. In our college instructional classes there is a lot of talk about engaging students in active learning, teaching to different learning styles, and crafting meaningful assessments. We spend significant time learning these, and rightly so. But there is a significant difference between practicing those skills on our classmates and actually practicing them in a library instruction session. Our fellow library students are just as enamored with libraries as we are, so of course they are engaged. But those non-library lovers are a different ballgame. We have to work to figure out what interests them, and in order to do that we just have to get to know them. …

Tell Me More: Issues and Challenges

Integration of technology into language education has become an everyday occurrence. Educational multimedia courseware as resource materials to enhance the teaching and learning of English language was produced extensively. Regardless of the cost, computers and courseware are becoming important tools for learning in institutions. Therefore, a considerable pressure is being put on the ESL teachers to make use of the courseware marvels in their lesson since the cost of the courseware is rather expensive. This paper aims to investigate the issues and challenges faced by the ESL lecturers on the use of a courseware named TELL ME MORE in a polytechnic in Melaka. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with four ESL lecturers at the polytechnic. Findings show that the courseware is a useful tool for language learning. However, there are certain challenges that the ESL lecturers had to face such as time and lack of facilities.

What Kind of Subject is the Market?

Abstract Up to and during the latest series of financial crises, we have seen the market represented as a kind of subject, one with desires and will, a subject that is capable of responding in extreme fashion if this will is contravened. Given this subjectivisation of the market and the concomitant attribution of powers, we ask: if the market is a subject, what kind of subject is iti As psychoanalysis stresses that the subject is not master of its own home, the market is likewise a strangely homeless subject - on the one hand it manifests in the form of an imagined singular, subjective agent and on the other as a mysterious and ungraspable, unknowable yet powerful force. Suspecting the magic that attributes such powers to the market, this absolute master that is the market is here called to account. Keywords Capital, finance, ideology critique, Lacan, political economy, psychoanalysis, subjectivity TELL ME WHO TO KILL In his short story 'Tell me who to kill', VS. Naipaul articulates the injury of suffering at the hands of an unlocatable agent of oppression. The challenge presented by Naipaul's story is that the narrator's experience of injustice is detached from anything or anyone who could be identified as the enemy and held to account. Thus at the end of the story, as the narrator watches the guests at his brother's wedding, we sense the tremble in a voice that strains to say: I love them. They take my money, they spoil my life, they separate us. But you can't kill them. O God, show me the enemy. Once you find out who the enemy is, you can kill him. But these people here they confuse me. Who hurt me? Who spoil my life? Tell me who to beat back. I work four years to save my money. I work like a donkey night and day. My brother was to be die educated one, the nice one. And this is how it is ending, in this room, eating with these people. Tell me who to kill.1 The narrator's anguish captures something of what we experience when faced with the insult of loss at the hands of a mysterious yet seemingly irresistible power. We find here oppression without an identifiable oppressor, mastery without a master, despotism without a despotic subject. As Jacques Lacan points out, fear of a known object is quite different from anxiety in the face of an unknown yet commanding other.2 It is perhaps no surprise that the rise of 'the market' is associated with a particular experience of injury that knows no author. This experience, which is the experience of so many when faced with the violence of financial markets and which rests at the heart of the concerns presented in this essay, was anticipated by Daniel Defoe in a 1 70 1 pamphlet called The Villainy of Stock-jobbers Detected, and the Cause of the Late Run Upon the Bank and Bankers Discovered and Considered. This text, which is among other things an interesting early example of antagonism to stockbroking, is of particular importance here for its portrayal of the processes by which the malign influence of 'stock-jobbers' is propagated and dispersed. Despair at the pain caused by stockbrokers is coupled with a sense of how difficult it is to locate the cause ofthat injury. Thus Defoe, an outspoken opponent of the financial speculation on the rise in his time, writes: What safety can we have at home, while our Peace is at die mercy of such Men, and 'tis in dieir Power to Jobb the Nation into Feuds among our selves, and to declare a new sort of Civil War among us when they please? Nay, the War they manage is carried on with worse weapons than Swords and Musquets . . . these People can ruin Men silently, undermine and impoverish by a sort of impenetrable Artifice, like Poison that works at a distance, can wheedle Men to ruin themselves, and Fiddle them out of their Money, by the strange and unheard of Engines of Interests, Discounts, Transfers, Tallies, Debentures, Shares, Projects, and the Devil and all of Figures and Hard names . . . and the poor Passive Trades men, like the Peasant in Flanders, are Plundered by botii sides, and hardly knows who hurts them. …

The utilization of ICT in the teaching and learning of English: ‘Tell Me More’

In order to maximize the utilization of the computers and courseware in teaching and learning, the perceptions of the users towards the technology should be taken into consideration. This study was designed to investigate students’ and English language lecturers’ perception of a courseware known as ‘TELL ME MORE’ regarding the implementation, as well as, the evaluation as a teaching and learning tool to support the students’ learning of English language. A total of 85 semester one students of a polytechnic in Malaysia responded to a set of questionnaire consisting of 3 8 items using 1 -4 Likert scale instrument. Semi-structured interviews with 4 English language lecturers from the same polytechnic were also conducted. Analysis showed that, students and English language lecturers indicated positive perceptions on the ease of use, usefulness and suitability of the courseware and that the courseware is an effective tool to support language learning.

Review: The Forever War, Tell Me How This Ends

THE FOREVER WAR Dexter Filkins New York: Knopf, 2008. 384pp, $28.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0307266392)TELL ME HOWTHIS ENDS General David Petraeus and Search for a Way Out of Iraq Linda Robinson New York: Public Affairs, 2008.432pp, $29.95 cloth (ISBN 978-1586485283)Signs of progress in Iraq today are abundant but fragile. Former insurgents have rejected al Qaeda and are in reconciliation talks with Shiitedominated government. The government itself recently negotiated a bilateral security pact with United States, setting 2011 as withdrawal date for American troops. Violence levels have been declining steadily since 2007.The country's turnaround has been remarkable. After 2003 invasion, poor planning for postwar occupation allowed a bloody insurgency against coalition troops, Iraqi government, and ordinary civilians to take hold. For four years that followed, news out of Iraq focused almost exclusively on suicide and car bombings, sectarian killings and atrocities, and ascendancy of al Qaeda terrorism. The American-led coalition seemed powerless to protect Iraqi civilians and infrastructure.New York Times correspondent Dexter Filkins worked in Baghdad during this period. Rather than sheltering in his office, he travelled across Iraq to witness events firsthand. shadowed American troops, met Iraqi officials, and spoke to ordinary citizens whose lives had been shattered by violence. His memoir of his experiences, The Forever War, is a collection of vignettes, with each chapter devoted to a particular event or theme from his time in Iraq. describes following US marines through 2004 battle to retake Fallujah, a narrow escape from kidnappers, regular death-defying runs in sweltering heat of Baghdad night, and close encounters with hostile Iraqis.Filkins lets events speak for themselves, describing them without passing judgment. His writing is immediate and intense. recounts a conversation with an American soldier whose unit had accidentally killed an Iraqi woman: He watched one of women standing near an Iraqi soldier drop to ground.... 'I'm sorry,' Sergeant Schrumpf said, shaking his head. 'But chick was in way' (91). Describing aftermath of a suicide bombing, he notes that the craziest thing... were heads - how head of bomber often remained intact after explosion. It was result of some weird law that only a physicist could explain: force of blast would detach bomber's head and throw it up and away, too fast for blast to destroy it. So there it would be, head, sitting on a pile of bricks or underneath a telephone pole (172).The book is refreshingly modest, a rare quality in literature on Iraq War. Filkins does not claim to be an expert, only a witness, and he refrains from preaching or editorializing. The drawback of this approach, however, is that it offers no overarching conclusions about war. Readers looking for a grand argument will finish book feeling frustrated. But those searching for a vivid account of war's moral ambiguity and reality of life on ground during worst years of insurgency should welcome Filkins's work.Linda Robinson, a former writer for US News and World Report, takes a different approach in Tell Me How This Ends, a sweeping account of 2007-08 surge of American forces under General David Petraeus's command. …

Patriotism by the Numbers

I receive a lot of e-mail. Just the other day, I received this message: Dear Ms. Sheehan, My cousin, brave soldier, 30, originally of Indiana, was one of the five U.S. soldiers killed on Saturday, October 15th--Iraq's day. He is survived by his wife, his two children, his parents, his sister, our grandma, his aunt, his two uncles, and his two cousins. We are currently awaiting confirmation per DNA identification. I thank you for taking notice. The loss of his life and that of his comrades does not make for a peaceful day--may their souls rest in peace. And this one came from a Gold Star mother: How? I have so many questions.... How I do I stop the vulgar pain in my chest? How do I do this? How I do I continue to breathe but cannot live? How do I do this? How do I keep my soul in my body? How do I do this? How do I close my eyes wondering if sleep should come but yet knowing if I sleep I will awaken to know this is not a nightmare but my life? How do I do this? How do I love someone with my very being but cannot ever hold him again? How do I do this? How do I go on without that sweet face that brought more joy to my life than I ever deserve--never to be seen by my eyes again? How do I do this? How do I stop the scream that no one hears but me? How do I do this? PLEASE TELL ME ... how do I live without my child, my son, my heart, my soul, my joy, my validation to my life.... Please tell me ... how do I do this? How does the world go on without Steven ... how do I do this? This letter came from a mom whose son was aggressively recruited until he finally agreed to enlist--then discovered he had a made a big mistake: I find that I can't get Jeffrey out of my mind. I can see him at 11 or 12 years old, jumping in the car when I'd pick him up at a friend's. It's so real ... it's almost like you can reach out and touch him. What a world of hell this administration has put us in. One we will live in all the rest of our days.... As you read these painful testaments, thousands of American families are going about their normal lives wondering if a terrible shoe is about to drop. Will it be their lives that are destroyed today? Or will it be another family randomly picked by the universe to suffer this violent assault on their homes? But while these families wait, there is not one member of this Administration, not one member of Congress, not one hate-spewing, right-wing radio talk-show host who will worry that their darling child may be the next one killed in a meaningless war. Not one of these supporters of the war has any idea of the horror of lying awake at night or walking around all day with an icy-cold stomach because of hearing that soldiers were killed in Iraq today. …

“TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF…”

“TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF…”