Internet Addiction

A NEW LEARNING
This is a serious entry. I won't apologize for it. It might be beneficial.
I have become aware that since I retired, I have been exploring the internet for more hours per day than I realized it was possible to do. I am seeking information, supportive material for articles and blogs, reading news. That’s all quite legit. What I am asking myself is whether I am an addict. I don’t think I am. The internet is a resource for me like any library and it’s a mouse click away. I do wonder however, whether people can become addicted to the internet.

Now I have come across the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery and its director Dr. Kimberly Young. She has been finding that study respondents report marital problems because of internet use. Customarily the difficulty arises because of the amount of time users spend on the internet. The Stanford University School of Medicine asserts study results of one out of eight Americans suffering from Internet Addiction: 14% of respondents claimed they found it difficulty to abstain from Internet use for several days; 5.9% said their relationships were suffering because of excessive Internet use; 8.2% said that the Internet was an escape from real life. Get this, 71% of office workers abuse Internet use during work hours as they socialize at networking sites, shop online, do personal email, and browse porn, gaming and gambling sites.

Several categories of this impulsive control problem have been identified.
1. Cybersexual Addition: viewing, downloading and trading porn or using fantasy role play chat rooms;
2. Cyber-Relational Addition: addiction to chat rooms, IM, or social networking sites or engaging in virtual adultery;
3. Net Compulsions: addiction to online gaming, gambling, eBay;
4. Information Overload: compulsive behaviour regarding excessive Web surfing and database searching.

I am putting myself on alert. I will be more evaluative about my time on the internet so that my wife doesn’t at some point claim that I have deserted her. Perhaps it is a good thing for me that she has her own laptop and now spends some time communicating and exploring the places we will soon visit. So she understands the vehicle.

You can received more information about Internet Addiction Recovery at Dr. Kimberly Young’s web site http://netaddictionrecovery.blogspot.com/index.html

RU Disappointed?

A NEW LEARNING
I am RU and yes I am - disappointed. I am bugged. To understand this, you must know that I liked Harper’s values. I liked the man himself. Candidly, given the alternatives before Christmas between NDP and Liberal, and the possibility that Larry, Curly and Moe would form a coalition, is there any question why I would side with Harper? But now I am irritated. My feelings are exacerbated by my comparison of Harper with the American President which I expressed yesterday.

It’s the fact that Obama and Harper are doing this economic recovery thing so differently from one another. No, it’s more than that. Their governing styles are so different and I appreciate Obama’s approach much more. Here is what is lacking in Harper’s practice in my view. I am not discounting Harper’s work ethic. He is an active politician but at this time in the life of this nation shouldn’t he be speaking to its people about the economy and what we can expect him and his administration to do to fix it. Well he isn’t speaking to us. In fact he isn’t even speaking to the news media. His last press conference on Parliament Hill was held on November 8. Oh, he did talk pithily to news journalists at the conclusion of his January meetings with the premiers. But he is not exactly exuding hope and confidence and the ‘Yes we can’ realism we hear to the south. In the House of Commons as the formal budget debate occurs Harper has not participated except in predictable question period responses. When he ventures outside the House and home, he is doing photo ops, vaguely related to the budget’s provisions for infrastructure spending. He has attended the Quebec Carnival opening and Toronto Chinese New year dinner and New Brunswick hockey tournament. He is shaking hands but not calming shaken spirits of the jobless.

Now if you think I have assessed him unfairly consider this. Obama fired up Air Force One and keeps it on the launch pad for an unprecedented series of public relations campaign in various cities in which he carries on heart to heart and personal conversations with Americans. He does ‘sit down’ interviews with all the TV networks. His recent press conferences were nationally broadcast. He knows how to use the media and be available to the media. His rhetoric is hard-hitting and direct and you can’t miss that he is in this American crisis together with everyone and specially those most affected. His White House website is informative and encouraging. Now his stimulus package has been passed and he is not stepping back an inch from the public forum and therefore no wonder he has a 76% approval rating. You get the feeling with him that this is not merely freshman fervor but a deep commitment he will carry until he has expired his two terms.

Of course the differences between the two national leaders relates to personality and style. One appears approachable and the other appears distant. What I have come to believe is that with Obama it is about power to affect the sweeping changes in the way government works for its people. With Harper now, it may unconsciously be about power to affect his survival in the event of another vote of confidence. What we don’t know is hurting us. Okay I am dismounting this hobby horse and will stay off for a while.