Geoff W. Sutton Blog

Convoy of Hope helps after Greensburg KS tornado 2007 King : Come here, you beloved, you people whom My Father has blessed. Claim your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of creation. You shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. I was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me. Even then the righteous will not have achieved perfect understanding and will not recall these things. Righteous : Master, when did we find You hungry and give You food? When did we find You thirsty and slake Your thirst? When did we find You a stranger and welcome You in, or find You naked and clothe You? When did we find You sick and nurse You to health? When did we visit You when You were in prison? King : I tell you this: whenever you saw a...

EFFECTIVE APOLOGIES What Works? Individuals and business leaders often find themselves apologizing or dealing with requests for an apology. Most are seeking forgiveness and many wish to make things right. But correcting mistakes is not always easy. Having an affair destroys most romantic relationships . Some partners do forgive and reconcile. Many do not. In an age of ubiquitous cameras, high speed internet communication, and hackers, odds increase that cheaters will be revealed to a wide audience. Of course, it’s not just the spouse or partner who suffers—children, relatives, and close friends hurt as well. Usually the small stuff can be handled with an “I’m sorry” as long as it appears genuine.  When the offense causes some difficulty, reputable businesses make amends. For example, after incorrect ticketing in China, I was moved to business class–too bad it was only an hour flight! Larger offenses cause more distress and law suits are costly. ...

Tweeden's report of her long felt anger in the face of a revealing photo of sexual harassment by Al Franken makes big news for several reasons. We know sexual harassment knows no political boundaries. It's not just a problem for conservatives who have been under fire. But now there is evidence of a Democrat's sexual assault-- plus a photo and an apology. Leeann Tweeden says she accepted Franken's apology, which adds to the complexity of how to handle sexual harassment in society. Sexual harassment is wrong. No one of a sound mind denies the obvious. Different groups concerned about people who are accused of sexual harassment handle reports differently. This difference raises the issue of what consequences should apply to Franken and others when there is evidence of harassment. Voters will judge when they have an opportunity regardless of what any official administrative group (ethics panels etc.) decides. So, politicians have consequences of a different sort t...

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife /Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Called Guercino, 1649 National Gallery of Art In an experimental study, people reading accounts of sexual assault performed worse than chance (45.3%) when judging whether a report was true or false. The more confident the judgment, the lower the rate of accuracy (Peace et al., 2012). Charges of sexual assault are clearly a serious matter. Many people are sexually assaulted each year. Most of the victims are women. Yet many innocent people have been imprisoned on false charges and lost years of their lives, which cannot be recovered. The story of Picking Cotton is a powerful reminder of a bright woman who appeared quite credible but was sadly mistaken. Jennifer Thompson was convinced it was Ronald Cotton who raped her. But it turned out she was wrong. Her story was presented in a 60-minutes special in 2011. The point is, when an accused person claims innocence, the person may be telling the truth. In ...

We are currently awash in #metoo notices on social media sites. A catharsis of massive proportions has followed in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.  As with any storm, news sources  examine the origins and publish a chronology . The current storm hit the U.S. 5 October when the NYT published salacious allegations. Now, two weeks later, the storm has abated. Other news stories are headlines. Meanwhile, clean-up after Hurricane Harvey continues. We don't know how many lives have been destroyed. Heavy rains have affected many beyond the eye of the storm. People are hurting. Some still await care. As with any storm, accusatory fingers point in many directions. There are reasonable calls for climate change-- we must end the rape climate that creates the conditions giving rise to such sexual hurricanes. They are right of course--women, that is. Men are responsible for most of the problems. We do need to change.  The helpfulness of metoo reports provides a Joh...

The greed that leads to market tops and crashes can account for the arguably more painful aftershocks too. And there's more psychology at work. MASSIVE LOSSES In 2007 the DJIA topped on 29 Sept at 14, 164.53. Then plunged 777.68 on 9 October. But the bottom did not hit until 6 March 2009 at 6,443.27 - more than a 54% loss! The US markets famously crashed 18 October 1929 (almost 90%) BUT the market did not hit bottom until 8 July 1932. The "bargain scoop-up rally" did not last. Some may recall 19 October, 1987, the market crashed again losing 23% in one day (DJIA). A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE Markets are not things. Investments may be analyzed, but markets are about human behavior--people trying to be smart when buying and selling. Some try to get ahead of the herd. Some get greedy when markets fall and try to jump on a bargain only to find out it's cheap for a reason-- no one wants what they bought. Stocks,...

wikimedia commons Not long ago, I was shocked when a friend told me of personal sexual abuse in a scout-like program in his church. I learned of his long-term suffering--years of depression. Those of us in clinical work are sadly used to learning of people who have been sexually abused as children and adults. But abuse happens to our friends as well. Recently, the Boy Scouts announced that girls will be welcomed into their program. It didn't take long for the Girl Scouts to respond with "Why admitting girls is a 'terrible idea.'" ( Garcia, 2017 ) It doesn't help that a Boy Scout Leader made news earlier this year for the sexual abuse of five boys ( USNews, 2017, March 4) . The problem of child sexual abuse is not new. And the sexual abuse is not limited to scouts (e.g., CNN ). The history of problems of child sexual abuse and the recent reports of sexual harassment by aspiring female actors, make it clear. Vulnerable people are at risk for sexua...

I changed the channel from the struggling Mizzou to CNN whilst waiting for my wife to join me in plans to watch something entertaining on Netflix. The talking heads were reviewing the latest Weinstein sex scandal allegations. Just seeing the pictures of famous women across the screen has an effect. One man with power can influence so many lives. We saw this before when Cosby was in the news. We've seen stories on college campuses and reports of clergy abuse. One attorney is tuned in to the psychological trauma. "I heard (attorney) Gloria Allred say the other day on CNN: 'Sexual harassment harms people,'" said Kendall. "And it's true. It does. Your body remembers the trauma. Your heart remembers the trauma. It changes you and makes you make decisions about life, like, I'm going to go in another direction. You don't know the harm it can do." ( US News ) Beyond the Film Industry The talk about what to do in the film industry is...

There's little doubt that children love sweets and show an interest in adults who provide them.  But many parents work hard to keep their children on healthy diets.  And some children require special diets. I was thinking of the care shown to donkeys at Carisbrooke Castle. The staff reminded guests not to feed them. Most of us have seen signs advising us not to feed animals because of their special diets. As I read various reports on research it is clear that many children and adults consume much that is unhealthy. I have joked about diet options such as the variety of chocolates one can choose (my photo of chockies at the outlet in Portsmouth above). But, health is no joking manner. Perhaps parents need to post signs saying: "Do Not Feed the Children," and explain that they are on a special diet. Cheers to parents who provide their children with healthy foods in sufficient quantities. And set limits on high calorie treats. Extra che...

On Palm Sunday 2017 I was in the chapel at Carisbrooke Castle built in  recognition of Charles I and veterans. I  was reminded of other features of the early Palm Sunday by palms in the nearby garden and a donkey easily coaxed into walking a treadmill that provided water from a well years ago. The gospels illustrate parallels between the everyday life and one full of spiritual significance. We can find many lessons about humanity that make the Palm Sunday story so relevant. For me, the palms and the donkey were mostly cues to remember the day. Of course, my Christian heritage provided a connection that others might not make. But the stories of Jesus and Charles I remind me of the religious component in the speeches and violent acts of people whose loyalties are often tested in extreme ways. People have the capacity to draw on faith to celebrate both peace and war. Disagreements among the religious still lead to death and destruction.  Fair trials are ...