David, and our colleagues,

This is a great list for dialogue and study. I am especially interested in 
your appreciation of the wider view of literacy, and plan to address the 
questions you pose, if not right now, then as we go along.

Those of you who are familiar with my work and activities know that 
literacy, in my mind, is inseparable from the societal, behavioral, and 
political aspects of contemporary life. Accordingly, in sum I view 
behavioral issues, including mental and physical health; political issues, 
including economics and the disenfranchised; and societal issues including 
illiteracy, poverty, racism, as inescapably linked to implicit, as well as 
explicit, rules and regulations. For example, despite extensive legislation 
to the contrary, economic segregation does exist, clearly parting 
populations along ethnic, gender, age, religious, and philosophic lines. The 
overt agenda is a level playing field; the covert is quite different.

Thank you for providing this outline, and I look forward to hearing what 
others have to say as well as offering my own thoughts at a later time.

Judith Peyton Sinclair, PhD
j-p-sinclair at att.net