The story was all over the news. On May 11, 2009, a 72 year-old woman, Kathryn Winkfein, was pulled over by a Travis County deputy constable for driving 60 mph in a 45 mph construction zone. The woman refused to sign the citation. She became belligerent with the officer, and she was warned 5 times that she would be arrested. Then, she was tasered.

Sounds a bit horrific at first, doesn’t it? Hold on a second - you are going to taser a 72 year-old, 4-foot-11 great-grandmother? Did I hear that correctly?

Winkfein was deemed to be in the wrong, under the laws that protect us all, and an officer did what he felt was necessary within his responsibility. An internal investigation found no policy violations. The deputy constable in question was cleared of any wrongdoing. Should be over, right?

Well, it’s not quite so simple. Take a look here:

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Evidence-based clinical practice consists of the use of assessment strategies and treatment interventions that have scientific evidence to support their use. The harsh reality is that although there are a myriad of hypothetical constructs underlying many assessment strategies and treatment interventions, many (if not most) of these are not yet supported by both the physiology literature (on the cellular level) and the clinical literature (on the applied level).

On a daily basis, clinicians are faced with a significant clinical and ethical decision: to utilize evidence-based clinical approaches, or not. Is non-evidence-based practice not only a clinical issue, but a broader ethical issue as well?

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Touchdown! Field Goal! We Want The College Bowl!

At least that’s what we always used to say during football season. That was back in a bygone era in which the Canadian university football championship was, indeed, called the College Bowl.

Yes, in Canada they understand the value of a football playoff system, which has been in effect for as long as I can remember. The BCS and some annoying college presidents would do well to take a visit to the north to witness how great it actually works. A fine perspective by writer Andrew Bucholtz can be found here.

But I digress. Back to today’s excitement!

The Vanier Cup, the trophy given to the Canadian university football national champion, is now on it’s way to Kingston. The Queen’s University Golden Gaels, my alma mater, beat the Calgary Dinos 33 – 31 this afternoon. They were down 25 – 7 at halftime, and stormed back to lead 33 – 25 late in the fourth quarter. Final: 33 – 31. It was a 17 year wait, but it was well worth it.

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Rock and roll started as a branch of the blues tree. It was built with the same three chord structure and the same raw emotion as the blues from the Delta. The roots can be found in Robert Johnson, and the tree limb spread out up the Mississippi to Chicago, and points far beyond.

I don’t think that anybody ever really envisioned rock and roll being complex – three chords and lyrics that mention the basic desires driven by testosterone, sweat, and fun. It began in the juke joints, and ended up appearing in the censored gyrations of Elvis’ hips. But the beauty of the genre is its elegance in its own sheer simplicity. And there are still some practitioners of what I would call the “art” of rock and roll – those that remind us of how raw and simple and powerful and fun good, straight-up rock and roll really is.

AC/DC at the Frank Erwin Center – 36 years after they started – was a not-so-subtle reminder of the beauty and power that is primal rock and roll. Angus Young and friends reminded me of this after all these years. Rock doesn’t have to be intellectual, nor does it have to be epic – it can be simple, guttural, visceral – and AC/DC sure know how to get it done.

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