HANDLE WITH CARE LEGAL OVERVIEW
HWC's Position Paper: Restraint Use and Your Rights (click to download)
Introduction
Handle With Care® Handle With Care® has been receiving a lot of questions about the duty of care that staff, care providers, juvenile officers and educators owe to the consumers and students in their care during a crisis that is or can become potentially dangerous. Specifically the guidelines and standards on when physical intervention namely the use of physical intervention or restraint for behavior management and emergency situations is appropriate. Here is a brief overview.
Overview
The conversation about the use of restraint represent only one side of the issue of restraint and seclusion. What is astounding is the amount of pressure being exerted on this issue with absolutely no statistical, empirical, scientific or other factually based evidence. National statistics on institutional violence including school crime and violence do not exist, and the American public is being significantly misled as it is estimated that between one and four out of five school crimes (including crimes and assaults on the students) and assaults on hospital and treatment staff go unreported.
It is completely irresponsible to use 20 or so incidents a year to promote an agenda that affects the safety and lives of over 50 million children and over 6 million teachers and healthcare workers. No Federal agency currently has reliable statistics regarding assaults, violent incidents, restraint use and/or injuries. Before actions are considered that unlawfully limits person’s rights, we believe Congress has a responsibility to at least know and make known the scope of the issue supported by reputable statistics.
HWC has been submitting comments and providing input that explains the real life practicalities of maintaining a safe and therapeutic environment. Our comments here include an overview of the law governing the use of restraint for both treatment and security purposes. Please contact us for the full set of our comments. Our comments are fully supported by the law, best practices, scientific and government studies and the limited statistics that do currently exist.
The law
We advise that according to Federal law: the Constitution, Supreme Court and Circuit Court decisions, CMS regulations, HHS Departmental Appeals Board Decisions all mandate that the use of restraint as a treatment or safety intervention must be reasonable and effective to maintain safety, and if used for treatment must be based on or as part of an individualized treatment plan based upon the professional judgment of the professionals who are directly involved in the consumer’s care and who are in the best position to assess his real needs. The legal concept of exercising professional judgment (toward the development of a sound and effective individualized treatment plan) does not refer to the judgment of bureaucrats operating from a remote location concerning a client or student who they have never met and, thus, are in no position to assess his real needs or the needs of the staff or facility.
5th and 14th Amendments: Equal Protection Under the Law:
There is a principal that underlies the very foundation of this country which can be found in the 5th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution as well as the Declaration of Independence. This principal is that everyone is equal under the law and that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. The law does not require anyone to submit meekly to the unlawful infliction of violence regardless of what mental condition may be causing the threatening behavior or the age of the actor. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution protect and preserve a person’s non-waivable individual right to life and liberty and the right to protect that life and liberty using all reasonable means available. Human services providers, educators and the other students deserve the same rights as every other citizen as long as the manner of intervention is least restrictive, effective and reasonable.
Professional judgment
Youngberg v. Romeo is the Supreme Court case that provides the proper standard for analyzing whether a patient’s rights had been adequately protected. In Youngberg, the Court determined then when deciding whether a patient’s civil liberties were infringed, that it was necessary to balance "the liberty of the individual" and "the demands of an organized society." As an example, the Court explained, a patient’s right to freedom of movement would not be violated if the institution has to restrict that patient’s movement in order to protect the patient or others from violence. The Court then determined that the Constitutional standard for treatment and restraint is a professional judgment standard. Under the "professional judgment" standard, the decision whether to restrain or not to restrain, along with the degree of restrictiveness of the restraint necessary to ensure the safety of the patient, staff and others must be made by "a person competent, whether by education, training or experience, to make the particular decision at issue. . . ."
According to Youngberg, it is inappropriate for the federal courts or, by extension state agencies, to second guess the professionals and establish "one fits all" security and treatment plans. This ruling is further supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, its Departmental Appeals Board and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). All which agree that the responsibility for appropriately assessing what intervention and support is necessary for the consumer or child rests with and is the responsibility of the institution.
Administrative proceedings and Court rulings have also upheld the use of physical interventions, including restraint and prone restraint, to control behavior and maintain safety. The use of restraints and/or the non-use of appropriate restraint to control behavior and maintain safety without the full consideration of a qualified professional responsible for treating and ensuring for the welfare of the child and safety of the environment and others runs counter to law.
In addition to the professional judgment standard, human service workers [and educators] are responsible for maintaining a safe environment using the least restrictive methods effective to ensure the real safety needs of the provider, workers [educators] and consumers.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations state:
In 2007, after extensive review and chance for public comment, CMS adopted the final rule on the Patients’ Rights Condition of Participation (CoP). The applicable CMS restraint provisions are contained in 42 C.F.R. 482.13 Sections (e) and (f) which state in part that “(2) restraint or seclusion may only be used when less restrictive interventions have been determined to be ineffective to protect the patient a staff member or others from harm. (3) The type or technique of restraint or seclusion used must be the least restrictive intervention that will be effective to protect the patient, a staff member, or others from harm.”
In the public comment section, CMS offers guidance on dealing with a dangerous patient, stating: “When a patient is exhibiting violent or self-destructive behavior and the patient is in danger of harming themselves or others, and less restrictive interventions have been determined to be ineffective, we expect staff to implement appropriate interventions to ensure the safety of the patient and others. For example, a patient is attacking another patient. In this situation, immediate intervention, that is, restraint or seclusion in conjunction with ongoing verbal de-escalation and communication with the patient may be necessary to ensure the safety of all involved. The use of less restrictive interventions that are ineffective in this scenario may, in fact, further jeopardize the safety of those involved. Therefore, it is critical that staff employ the least restrictive interventions that will be effective in ensuring the safety of the patient, staff and others.”
HHS in a Departmental Appeals Board (“DAB”) decision
St. Catherine's Care Center of Findlay v. CMS agrees holding that the institution itself is responsible for protecting the safety of patients [students] and staff by providing sufficiently effective training to manage risk. HHS also holds that the quality of care regulation requires facilities to provide supervision designed to meet the resident’s real needs and protect residents and staff from violent and dangerous behavior. The fact that the facility had some crisis intervention and restraint program in place is not enough. The program, training and staff response must be sufficient and capable of maintaining a safe environment.
In this particular case, the facility had a crisis intervention and restraint training program in place that used only standing holds, which the court determined was insufficient to maintain a safe environment.
ADA/504 and IDEA
While these Acts and statutes do not specifically address the use of restraint, the Courts and the Office for Civil Rights ("OCR") have recognized and upheld the use of restraint when done in accordance with a behavioral plan ("BP"), individual education plan ("IEP") or was necessary to maintain a safe environment. Based on Court rulings and OCR findings along with the wording of the statutes and Acts, the standard of intervention for students is the professional judgment/ Youngberg standard and least restrictive intervention that is reasonable and effective for safety purposes.
Courts and administrative tribunals are disregarding policies and even written regulations that restrict a professional’s ability to act in the best interests of the child or maintain safety. One California school created a no-restraint policy. One day a child was acting out in a manner that was unsafe and the teacher restrained the child. The school tried to discipline the teacher. The teacher sued the school to reinstate her. The Court in this case held that the teacher’s use of restraint was appropriate and that regardless of any no-restraint school policy could use restraint when it was appropriate to do so.
In a similar situation a Georgia teacher was brought up on disciplinary charges for using an unauthorized form of restraint to maintain her personal safety. Georgia’s administrative board held that the teacher’s use of the intervention was justified and reinstated the teacher without penalty.
Schools have a quasi-special constitutional duty to maintain a safe environment and to protect children from harm while in school. This is a non-waivable obligation. Parents cannot sign away the rights of their child and schools cannot contract out of its constitutional duty. If a school enters into a contract with a parent or creates a policy (whether state mandated or not) that places students in danger, and a child gets injured as a result, the child can sue the school (or the state) for failure to protect. Restricting a teacher’s ability to protect herself or another or treat a child in accordance with an established IEP or BP, violates the teachers’ and student’s constitutional rights.
Teachers should not have to be subject to termination or disciplinary hearings for stepping up to protect a child or themselves. Restricting their right and ability to do so is unlawful and does a disservice to everyone.
United States Government Accounting Office ("GAO")
The issue of the restraint use came to national attention through an investigative series published by the Hartford Courant in 1998. As follow up to the Report, Congress, in 1999 requested its first GAO investigation into the use of restraint in Mental Health facilities.
After its first report in 1999 the GAO suggested that HCFA (now CMS) maintain a database on rates of restraint and seclusion by facility. HCFA noted that it was planning to work with other Federal agencies to determine the best way to implement this record keeping. This database was never established. According to CMS, Director of Physicians Regulatory Issues Team CMS is “not aware of a CMS data collection initiative” and advised us to “ask SAMHSA.” This was confirmed by SAMHSA’s Information Specialist who also could not provide any statistics on restraint use or injuries related to its use or non-use.
What is astounding is the amount of pressure being exerted on this issue with absolutely no statistical, empirical, scientific or other factually based evidence. National statistics on institutional violence including school crime and violence does not exist, and the American public is being significantly misled as it is estimated that between one and four out of five school crimes (including crimes and assaults on the students) and assaults on hospital and treatment staff go unreported.
On April 8, 2009 Congress was asked to do what it should have done in 1999 which is impose a data collection initiative headed by CMS and the FDA. In the case of persons with disabilities, the use of restraint for treatment purposes is done in accordance with an individualized education or treatment plan. As the person being secluded or restrained (assuming the seclusion or restraint was an appropriate intervention) has rights as do the other staff, patients, students and educators to protect themselves and others from bodily harm. As all persons are created equal, these rights need to be balanced.
Before actions are considered that unlawfully limits person’s rights, we believe Congress has a responsibility to at least know and make known the scope of the issue supported by reputable statistics.
State Self Defense Law
Indeed, State self defense law is determinative whenever a person presents a threat of imminent harm to self or another within its jurisdiction. The State’s self defense law supersedes any administrative policy or code which interferes with an individual’s right to use reasonable force under a reasonable person standard. The use of restraint including prone restraint is not only permitted but is, in fact, mandated requiring staff to be able to reasonably, effectively and in the best interest of staff, child and client respond to a threat to oneself or another. There is no State law requiring anyone to submit meekly to the unlawful infliction of violence regardless of what mental condition may be causing the threatening behavior or the age of the actor. This right to self defense does not terminate when an employee arrives for work.
A sworn officer responding to an emergency at a school or human service facility would not be prevented from using a prone hold in the course of containing and protecting someone, provided a reasonable and appropriate level of force was used. Neither the general public nor any self-respecting law enforcement officer in the United States would tolerate this level of intrusion into one’s own personal safety or heartfelt sense of duty to protect the children and patients under his or her care and supervision. Human services providers and teachers deserve the same rights as every other citizen as long as the manner of intervention is least restrictive, effective and reasonable.
State created danger
State-created danger is a theory of recovery for civil rights violations. This theory of liability is used when a state actor creates a danger or dangerous situation that causes harm. The state created danger theory is also known as snake-pit liability, a term which was coined by the Seventh Circuit in Bowers v. DeVito stating: "if the state puts a man in a position of danger from private people and then fails to protect him, it will not be heard to say its role was merely passive; it is as much an active tortfeasor as if it had thrown him into a snake pit." State-created danger liability is found when a person's substantive due process protections -- rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws i.e. the right to defend and protect oneself or another from bodily harm --are violated. As the Supreme Court held in Ingram v. Wright, among the historic liberties so protected was a right to be free from, and to obtain judicial relief for unjustified intrusions on personal security.
Affirmative duty to train
Here again, the purpose of the statute is to afford a federal right to take action in federal court when your rights, privileges and immunities afforded by the Constitution are being deprived. The Supreme Court has held that there are many ways to show the existence of a policy or custom that can cause a deprivation of a constitutional right. In Canton v. Harris the U.S. Supreme Court held that one way to show the existence of such a policy or custom is to show that the government failed to properly train its employees. The duty to train arises when the facility (or school) knows or can reasonably foresee that its staff (or educators) will encounter certain situations, and fails to train them.
Workers' compensation
The theory behind workman compensation is that workers give up the right to sue their employers in court in exchange for the guaranty of workman compensation benefits. Workman compensation is essentially a balancing act between the rights and responsibilities of both the employer and the employee. The employer limits his exposure, and workers receive a predictable recovery.
Like everything, there are exceptions. In most states, a worker injured by the intentional action of his or her employer can sue the employer for the harm in addition to filing for workers' compensation. Deliberate indifference to a known danger, state-created dangers, failure to train and constitutional offenses may very well transcend the protections afforded by workman compensation laws.
Common law tort
In addition to the Consititutional considerations, there is always tort law to consider. Tort (commonly known as negligence law) is a state law claim, and can vary state to state. The overview we are providing is derived from the 3rd Restatement of Torts.
State tort remedies may be available where staff and educators had a duty to act, but failed to do so. Under the Restatement, a duty to provide aid or protection is imposed when one who is required by law to take or who voluntarily takes the custody of another under circumstances such as to deprive the person of his normal opportunities for protection has a duty to take reasonable action to protect them against foreseeable and unreasonable risk of physical harm. Failure to provide aid to or protect students or consumers may be the basis for state tort claims. The courts have found that facilities, schools and their employees have the duty to supervise, provide adequate and appropriate instruction prior to commencing an activity that may pose a risk of harm, and provide a safe environment. This duty extends to consumers who are cared for full time and students while they are in the custody or control of the school. Facilities and schools also have a duty to supervise consumers and students off school grounds when they have caused them to be there such as while on field trips, extracurricular events or while the consumer or student is being picked up, dropped off or transported (bussed) to and from the facility or school.
In carrying out duties, one is expected to act as an ordinary, prudent, and reasonable person considering all of the circumstances involved. The standard varies for professionals. Defendants who are professionals will be held to a standard based on the skills or training they should have acquired for that position.
Physical intervention
Each facility or school should have a protocol as to when physical intervention is appropriate i.e. protection of self, others, milieu and in many instances property. If physical intervention is warranted by your facility or school under the circumstances presented to you, the appropriate standard of intervention is generally the least restrictive intervention necessary under the circumstances that will be effective for ensuring safety.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this web site and page is for general guidance on matters of interest only. The application and impact of laws can vary widely or change based on the specific facts involved. Accordingly, the information on this site is provided with the understanding that the authors and publishers are not herein engaged in rendering legal advice and services. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional legal or other competent advisers. All information in this site is provided "as is", with no guarantee, and without warranty of any kind.
For additional information, call or email us at:
Tel: 845-255-4031 ; Email: Info@handlewithcare.com
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Something I treasure from Enrique
I will take this email now and put it on my blog.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I love you too Dedra, and I consider you one of my highest teachers!
Enrique
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:09:56 -0800
From: calgirlsddd85021@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Poet Declines White House Invitation
To: enriquejavierlara@hotmail.com
Thx beautiful friend. I will send this to all my groups and ask that they send it to all of theirs.
I had a wonderful creative writing teacher that asked me if I wanted him to correct my stuffs. I told him nope and he respected my 'English' grammar and punctuation stuffs and loved me all the more for standing firm.
I luv you Enrique and consider you one of my dearest friends. Here's something I wrote for my teacher.
The Child In Our Teacher
by Cal, 2003
Michael's body language exudes happiness when he takes center stage.
He invites his audience to join with him on a trip of teaching, of joy, and of learning.
His boyish good looks appear to be enhanced tremendously when he shares his openness and his childlike sense of adventure.
His sparkling wonderful blue eyes speak volumes as he presents his excitement to the class.
If I could write a scene to display Michael's presence in class, it would be of a little boy in a candy shop.
........
The little boy walks into the candy store having never tasted candy before.
He sees all of the bright vivid colors and all of the different shapes. He smiles openly, as if embarking on a trip of a life time.
He intuitively knows that every candy he will taste today will be exquisite.
The lemon, the cherry, the raspberry and the chocolate will be savored if only for one moment in eternity. (Not to worry, Michael knows that one instance often times is that treasured memory, later cherished. He seems to hesitate before indulging. He knows full well that he is going to taste a bit of heaven today.)
He glances around and even though the candy is already paid for, he sneaks a lick of the lemon drop. Ummmm, the lick is so simply lemon ....but delicious. He closes his eyes and licks it again. Yes, it is scrumptious.
He opens his empty plastic bag. He slowly peaks around and slips the licked lemon drop back into the bag.
Next, he decides on the cherry licorice. He looks at it and he squeezes it to see what the texture is like. He wants to remember this day forever. After all, there aren't many little boys who have to wait till they are five to have a taste of CANDY.
Once again, Michael looks around as if it's forbidden to bite off a bit of the bright red cherry licorice. He bites down and closes his eyes as he chews. He then hurriedly munches the whole piece. His mood has changed from that first moment he tasted the lemon drop.
His fingers are sticky now but that doesn't stop him. He slowly opens the chocolate bar. The chocolate melts a bit on his hand as he pulls it completely out of the wrapper. He sneaks a peek around the store. Nobody is watching, he licks the dark spot on his finger. Ummmmmm, THAT is ummm, so good. He takes a bite of the bar and he is suddenly ecstatic and cannot wait to gobble down the rest of this new found taste. He will still have another chocolate bar after this one is eaten so, he bites off another tasty bite and then he closes his eyes and slowly and deliberately eats the remainder.
........
This is what Michael shares with his students. He shares a sense of adventure in his journey and he welcomes his students to join him in his quest for knowledge.
If you are lucky enough to be a participant in Michael's trip, you will receive acceptance, love, and a sense of safety. Even the smallest candy; the pop rock, is treasured for it's snappy uniqueness.
September 19, 2003
Sharon Olds Poet Declines White House Invitation
Here is an open letter from the poet
Sharon Olds to Laura Bush declining the invitation to read and speak at
the National Book Critics Circle Award in Washington, DC. Sharon Olds
is one of most widely read and critically acclaimed poets living in
America today. Read to the end of the letter to experience her
restrained, chilling eloquence.
Dear Mrs. Bush,
I am writing to let you know why I am
not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the
National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the
Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.
In one way, it's a very appealing
invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people
is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a
poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its
constituents- -all of us who need the pleasure, and the inner and outer
news, it delivers. And the concept of a community of readers and writers
has long been dear to my heart.
As a professor of creative writing in
the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a
part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our
students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a
variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high
schools, an oncology ward for children. Our initial program, at a
900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been
running now for twenty years, creating along the way lasting friendships
between young MFA candidates and their students--long- term residents at
the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our
teachers.
When you have witnessed someone
non-speaking and almost non-moving spell out, with a toe, on a big
plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have
experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing.
When you have held up a small cardboard
alphabet card for a writer who is completely non-speaking and non-moving
(except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C,
then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first
line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she
lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say yes, you feel with a
fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self-expression, accuracy,
honesty and wit--and the importance of writing, which celebrates the
value of each person's unique story and song.
So the prospect of a festival of books
seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how
to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some
books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington, DC.
I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with
respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded
Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture
and another country--with the resultant loss of life and limb for our
brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain--did not
come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top"
and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped
to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny
and religious chauvinism-- the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and
diversity our nation aspires to.
I tried to see my way clear to attend
the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her
country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and
devastating war.
But I could not face the idea of
breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it
would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild,
highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.
What kept coming to the fore of my mind
was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who
represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its
continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary
rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured
for us.
So many Americans who had felt pride in
our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood,
wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the
shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach
it.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I love you too Dedra, and I consider you one of my highest teachers!
Enrique
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:09:56 -0800
From: calgirlsddd85021@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Poet Declines White House Invitation
To: enriquejavierlara@hotmail.com
Thx beautiful friend. I will send this to all my groups and ask that they send it to all of theirs.
I had a wonderful creative writing teacher that asked me if I wanted him to correct my stuffs. I told him nope and he respected my 'English' grammar and punctuation stuffs and loved me all the more for standing firm.
I luv you Enrique and consider you one of my dearest friends. Here's something I wrote for my teacher.
The Child In Our Teacher
by Cal, 2003
Michael's body language exudes happiness when he takes center stage.
He invites his audience to join with him on a trip of teaching, of joy, and of learning.
His boyish good looks appear to be enhanced tremendously when he shares his openness and his childlike sense of adventure.
His sparkling wonderful blue eyes speak volumes as he presents his excitement to the class.
If I could write a scene to display Michael's presence in class, it would be of a little boy in a candy shop.
........
The little boy walks into the candy store having never tasted candy before.
He sees all of the bright vivid colors and all of the different shapes. He smiles openly, as if embarking on a trip of a life time.
He intuitively knows that every candy he will taste today will be exquisite.
The lemon, the cherry, the raspberry and the chocolate will be savored if only for one moment in eternity. (Not to worry, Michael knows that one instance often times is that treasured memory, later cherished. He seems to hesitate before indulging. He knows full well that he is going to taste a bit of heaven today.)
He glances around and even though the candy is already paid for, he sneaks a lick of the lemon drop. Ummmm, the lick is so simply lemon ....but delicious. He closes his eyes and licks it again. Yes, it is scrumptious.
He opens his empty plastic bag. He slowly peaks around and slips the licked lemon drop back into the bag.
Next, he decides on the cherry licorice. He looks at it and he squeezes it to see what the texture is like. He wants to remember this day forever. After all, there aren't many little boys who have to wait till they are five to have a taste of CANDY.
Once again, Michael looks around as if it's forbidden to bite off a bit of the bright red cherry licorice. He bites down and closes his eyes as he chews. He then hurriedly munches the whole piece. His mood has changed from that first moment he tasted the lemon drop.
His fingers are sticky now but that doesn't stop him. He slowly opens the chocolate bar. The chocolate melts a bit on his hand as he pulls it completely out of the wrapper. He sneaks a peek around the store. Nobody is watching, he licks the dark spot on his finger. Ummmmmm, THAT is ummm, so good. He takes a bite of the bar and he is suddenly ecstatic and cannot wait to gobble down the rest of this new found taste. He will still have another chocolate bar after this one is eaten so, he bites off another tasty bite and then he closes his eyes and slowly and deliberately eats the remainder.
........
This is what Michael shares with his students. He shares a sense of adventure in his journey and he welcomes his students to join him in his quest for knowledge.
If you are lucky enough to be a participant in Michael's trip, you will receive acceptance, love, and a sense of safety. Even the smallest candy; the pop rock, is treasured for it's snappy uniqueness.
September 19, 2003
Sharon Olds Poet Declines White House Invitation
Here is an open letter from the poet
Sharon Olds to Laura Bush declining the invitation to read and speak at
the National Book Critics Circle Award in Washington, DC. Sharon Olds
is one of most widely read and critically acclaimed poets living in
America today. Read to the end of the letter to experience her
restrained, chilling eloquence.
Dear Mrs. Bush,
I am writing to let you know why I am
not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the
National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the
Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.
In one way, it's a very appealing
invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people
is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a
poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its
constituents- -all of us who need the pleasure, and the inner and outer
news, it delivers. And the concept of a community of readers and writers
has long been dear to my heart.
As a professor of creative writing in
the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a
part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our
students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a
variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high
schools, an oncology ward for children. Our initial program, at a
900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been
running now for twenty years, creating along the way lasting friendships
between young MFA candidates and their students--long- term residents at
the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our
teachers.
When you have witnessed someone
non-speaking and almost non-moving spell out, with a toe, on a big
plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have
experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing.
When you have held up a small cardboard
alphabet card for a writer who is completely non-speaking and non-moving
(except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C,
then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first
line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she
lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say yes, you feel with a
fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self-expression, accuracy,
honesty and wit--and the importance of writing, which celebrates the
value of each person's unique story and song.
So the prospect of a festival of books
seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how
to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some
books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington, DC.
I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with
respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded
Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture
and another country--with the resultant loss of life and limb for our
brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain--did not
come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top"
and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped
to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny
and religious chauvinism-- the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and
diversity our nation aspires to.
I tried to see my way clear to attend
the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her
country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and
devastating war.
But I could not face the idea of
breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it
would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild,
highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.
What kept coming to the fore of my mind
was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who
represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its
continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary
rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured
for us.
So many Americans who had felt pride in
our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood,
wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the
shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach
it.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
....And This Time He Sent His Daughters and They Are Mothers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And this time He sent His Daughters and They are Mothers
A Musical
Picnic-Father opening back of SUV as the children jump out of vehicle.
Grandma drives-up as father is unloading the Karoke machine.
Parents continue unloading (food/picnic supplies)
Grandmother and children hook-up Karoke machine and 5 year old girl takes mic and starts singing Brick HOUSE..... HO HO.
here
Grandmother takes mic and breaks into "Stand By Me" as all the children chatter that it's their turn next.
here
As lyrics "stand by me" is belted out, grandma motions to each of her three children and then spouses and children.
Parents return to unloading and setting up picnic as g'ma keeps children occupied with her tactics.
"Good Morning Viet Nam" rings out as g'mother 'pumps up the volume'.
here
G'ma gives over mic to kids and checks on progress of the 'feast'. (Mothering all the while as she glances at the safety of the Karoke machine as the g'kids toss mic around.)
G'mother meanders back to the machine as she realizes her children have the feast under control and as the kids let her know, IT'S their turn to organize.
Child in charge of machine hands out 'Run Thru The Jungle' lyrics as Gram re-enters the fantasy world she's built. She dons her fatigue hat and jacket and marches and sings to the lyrics.
here
A solumn moment brought on by G'mother's tears brings on 'Abraham, Martin, and John' by an empathetic and loving G'daughter.
here
The kids are loving every minute of this as many other children from neighboring picnic sites have wandered over as the kids seem to be having so much fun.
*** Red and white table cloths are blowing in the wind as the feast is set up.
Tea, coffee, sodas, and cider is passed out to all visiting participants.
Chris Gaines sings out on the machine.. (Garth Brooks alternate)
"Right Now" is the song chosen by G'mother leading the crowd at this point. Son takes the mic and belts out the lyrics as he reads from hand out.
here
"Time to eat," parents call out in unison........ HO HO asif anything at a picnic is that organized.
"One more, one more, please... please, please," the kids holler out.
Gram, being the old hippie that she is fires up the lighter as in olden days for 'one more'.
Gram's oldest takes over the mic and asks that "Wake Up Little Suzie" play for the last song before chow.
here
The food is smelling yummy by now and Gram claps that it's time to eat and a triangle bar is sounded by sappy son-in-law to get all to sit down to lunch.
Neighboring crowd is growing and laughter is abounding around Grammie's table.
All is hunky dorie as food is eaten and children are hurrying everyone up as they want to return to the Karoke fun.
Grandson runs over the SUV and grabs his guitar as he is learning new songs. He is drowned out at first as the younger crew is taken with the NEW karoke machine.
He walks away from the youngsters with his older sister and some of the neighboring kids walk over and asks him to play. He is happy to play a tune. Older sibling takes this opportunity to walk back to the SUV and call her friends and complain about the juviniles in her family. (She has her CD on now and listening to her own brand of music..... which pretty much says the same thing only in HER hip hop version.)
Famous radio host parks close by and Gramma recognizes him/her from when Cindy Sheehan was in town. She walks over and introduces herself and invites him to join her family for a cider/coffee.
He is cordial but not sure about the others as NO one else seems to know who he is...... HE HE, Gotcha!!!
Gram excuses herself as he/she (Famous host/hostess) gets involved in family conversations re: cuts in school budget and redistricting.
Gram takes the mic from a reluctant ten year old and sings "IMAGINE" to the growing audience as audience joins in.
The kids are growing tired of the singing now and grab up soccor balls and skate boards and head out for new territories and other kids sites to see what's up with the neighboring families.
Cal's son takes the mic and starts to sing Dear Mama by 2Pac. (He'd sung it to her years earlier and remembered how much she liked it and decided now was as good a time as any to dedicate it to her in front of his two siblings and all his nieces and nephews.)
here
One of the young neighboring mothers who joined the crew deems it time to nurse her baby. She excuses herself and walks over to her picnic site and sits down to suckle her child.
Gramma excuses herself and asks the new mommie if she minds if she sits with her while she nourishes her babe. (New mom a little embarassed agrees to company.)
Gram shares her own experiences as the new mom, 'Tasha' modestly goes about her business. Gram's daughters and daughter-in-law walk over to the duo and asks if they can join as they all cherished the time in their lives when nursing was a part of their every day schedules. (Tasha is relaxed now as it seems that all involved in this bonding have nursed their children.)
It seems that someone new has joined the crowd of singers. A man in a Harley T-shirt is now holding the mic and belting out..."Power to the People" as the kids give the PEACE sign.
here
As he winds up the song his female friend walks up and takes the mic. "Working Class Hero" is her choice as she chimes in.
here
Another biker....... (duh, like the new additions are from a bikers group sitting at a near-by table) saunters over and tells of his new DVD that his wife has bought for the family car. He shares that her first movie she wanted was "Norma Rae". Hence, 'Working Class Hero'.
Another biker is now joining and asks his accompanying BUD........ (a Viet Nam vet) to suggest a song he might like someone to sing.
Cal notices that the bikers may be of the anarchy agenda and suggests: Why Can't We Be Friends by War........ she closes her eyes and remembers back in the day at the Madera Speedway that they sang this song. It makes her happy to think that here in the now, they all can come together and remember.......
here
Bud, (the biker friend)suggests 'Four Dead in Ohio' as he remembers times long ago.
here
Gram noticing the tone of the crowd is becoming morose, walks over and asks for the mic and breaks into an old 'WAR' tune....... "Why Can't We Be Friends".
The vets laugh at the coincidence of the group's name and begin to sing out with the group as bonding is now the theme of the day.
As the song ends, Gram goes right into "Another One Bites the Dust" relaying to all that the Bushes are now close to the Nixon times and ready to fall from grace with Americans.
here
As the sun sets and the babies tire, it is decided by all to start packing up the left overs......... but wait, dessert hasn't been served yet.
Plastic forks, paper plates, napkins, cakes, pies are spread out. Kiddies run screaming to the tables as the parents smile on.
"Give Peace a Chance" is sung quietly by Gram as she watches over the whole crew and smiles softly to herself. The day was indeed a huge success and her journey is indeed a pleasant if somewhat erratic and sorrowful place.
here
PEACE
Cal
And this time He sent His Daughters and They are Mothers
A Musical
Picnic-Father opening back of SUV as the children jump out of vehicle.
Grandma drives-up as father is unloading the Karoke machine.
Parents continue unloading (food/picnic supplies)
Grandmother and children hook-up Karoke machine and 5 year old girl takes mic and starts singing Brick HOUSE..... HO HO.
here
Grandmother takes mic and breaks into "Stand By Me" as all the children chatter that it's their turn next.
here
As lyrics "stand by me" is belted out, grandma motions to each of her three children and then spouses and children.
Parents return to unloading and setting up picnic as g'ma keeps children occupied with her tactics.
"Good Morning Viet Nam" rings out as g'mother 'pumps up the volume'.
here
G'ma gives over mic to kids and checks on progress of the 'feast'. (Mothering all the while as she glances at the safety of the Karoke machine as the g'kids toss mic around.)
G'mother meanders back to the machine as she realizes her children have the feast under control and as the kids let her know, IT'S their turn to organize.
Child in charge of machine hands out 'Run Thru The Jungle' lyrics as Gram re-enters the fantasy world she's built. She dons her fatigue hat and jacket and marches and sings to the lyrics.
here
A solumn moment brought on by G'mother's tears brings on 'Abraham, Martin, and John' by an empathetic and loving G'daughter.
here
The kids are loving every minute of this as many other children from neighboring picnic sites have wandered over as the kids seem to be having so much fun.
*** Red and white table cloths are blowing in the wind as the feast is set up.
Tea, coffee, sodas, and cider is passed out to all visiting participants.
Chris Gaines sings out on the machine.. (Garth Brooks alternate)
"Right Now" is the song chosen by G'mother leading the crowd at this point. Son takes the mic and belts out the lyrics as he reads from hand out.
here
"Time to eat," parents call out in unison........ HO HO asif anything at a picnic is that organized.
"One more, one more, please... please, please," the kids holler out.
Gram, being the old hippie that she is fires up the lighter as in olden days for 'one more'.
Gram's oldest takes over the mic and asks that "Wake Up Little Suzie" play for the last song before chow.
here
The food is smelling yummy by now and Gram claps that it's time to eat and a triangle bar is sounded by sappy son-in-law to get all to sit down to lunch.
Neighboring crowd is growing and laughter is abounding around Grammie's table.
All is hunky dorie as food is eaten and children are hurrying everyone up as they want to return to the Karoke fun.
Grandson runs over the SUV and grabs his guitar as he is learning new songs. He is drowned out at first as the younger crew is taken with the NEW karoke machine.
He walks away from the youngsters with his older sister and some of the neighboring kids walk over and asks him to play. He is happy to play a tune. Older sibling takes this opportunity to walk back to the SUV and call her friends and complain about the juviniles in her family. (She has her CD on now and listening to her own brand of music..... which pretty much says the same thing only in HER hip hop version.)
Famous radio host parks close by and Gramma recognizes him/her from when Cindy Sheehan was in town. She walks over and introduces herself and invites him to join her family for a cider/coffee.
He is cordial but not sure about the others as NO one else seems to know who he is...... HE HE, Gotcha!!!
Gram excuses herself as he/she (Famous host/hostess) gets involved in family conversations re: cuts in school budget and redistricting.
Gram takes the mic from a reluctant ten year old and sings "IMAGINE" to the growing audience as audience joins in.
The kids are growing tired of the singing now and grab up soccor balls and skate boards and head out for new territories and other kids sites to see what's up with the neighboring families.
Cal's son takes the mic and starts to sing Dear Mama by 2Pac. (He'd sung it to her years earlier and remembered how much she liked it and decided now was as good a time as any to dedicate it to her in front of his two siblings and all his nieces and nephews.)
here
One of the young neighboring mothers who joined the crew deems it time to nurse her baby. She excuses herself and walks over to her picnic site and sits down to suckle her child.
Gramma excuses herself and asks the new mommie if she minds if she sits with her while she nourishes her babe. (New mom a little embarassed agrees to company.)
Gram shares her own experiences as the new mom, 'Tasha' modestly goes about her business. Gram's daughters and daughter-in-law walk over to the duo and asks if they can join as they all cherished the time in their lives when nursing was a part of their every day schedules. (Tasha is relaxed now as it seems that all involved in this bonding have nursed their children.)
It seems that someone new has joined the crowd of singers. A man in a Harley T-shirt is now holding the mic and belting out..."Power to the People" as the kids give the PEACE sign.
here
As he winds up the song his female friend walks up and takes the mic. "Working Class Hero" is her choice as she chimes in.
here
Another biker....... (duh, like the new additions are from a bikers group sitting at a near-by table) saunters over and tells of his new DVD that his wife has bought for the family car. He shares that her first movie she wanted was "Norma Rae". Hence, 'Working Class Hero'.
Another biker is now joining and asks his accompanying BUD........ (a Viet Nam vet) to suggest a song he might like someone to sing.
Cal notices that the bikers may be of the anarchy agenda and suggests: Why Can't We Be Friends by War........ she closes her eyes and remembers back in the day at the Madera Speedway that they sang this song. It makes her happy to think that here in the now, they all can come together and remember.......
here
Bud, (the biker friend)suggests 'Four Dead in Ohio' as he remembers times long ago.
here
Gram noticing the tone of the crowd is becoming morose, walks over and asks for the mic and breaks into an old 'WAR' tune....... "Why Can't We Be Friends".
The vets laugh at the coincidence of the group's name and begin to sing out with the group as bonding is now the theme of the day.
As the song ends, Gram goes right into "Another One Bites the Dust" relaying to all that the Bushes are now close to the Nixon times and ready to fall from grace with Americans.
here
As the sun sets and the babies tire, it is decided by all to start packing up the left overs......... but wait, dessert hasn't been served yet.
Plastic forks, paper plates, napkins, cakes, pies are spread out. Kiddies run screaming to the tables as the parents smile on.
"Give Peace a Chance" is sung quietly by Gram as she watches over the whole crew and smiles softly to herself. The day was indeed a huge success and her journey is indeed a pleasant if somewhat erratic and sorrowful place.
here
PEACE
Cal
You Are Not Just A Rung In My Ladder
here
here
here
You are not a single rung in my ladder, you are so much more.
here
Led Zeppelin » Stairway To Heaven Lyrics
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
here
NO MORE RHYME
Debbie Gibson
Electric Youth
Written by: Deborah Gibson
Verse 1:
When the fear sets in
Where the fire burns
Where I find a place
But thre's nowhere to turn
When the evening sings
An eerie song
Longing for the day
You say I'm wrong
Verse 2:
You can find your place
But never fit in
And only when you've left
Do you know where you've been
I can see the light
But only when it's gone
You can go on waiting
But only for so long
Chorus:
I know we are right
It's not always clear
Because I've never felt the fear
Can it stay so good
Forever in time?
I've always felt the rhythm
What happens when there's
NO MORE RHYME
Verse 3:
Can we face ourselves
Like we face eachother?
We've never felt anything
On our own
I can't wait much longer
To feel any danger
I hope we're not living for
A lifetime alone
Chorus
Bridge:
Hard to go on
It's like waiting for
The other shoe to drop
I'll never stop
Believing in you
It's just we never had to sstruggle
It all came too easy
I hope we felt what we felt from the start
We've never suffered a broken heart
We've been so blinded by all the best
We never put our love to the test
Chorus
here
here
You are not a single rung in my ladder, you are so much more.
here
Led Zeppelin » Stairway To Heaven Lyrics
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she's buying a stairway to heaven.
here
NO MORE RHYME
Debbie Gibson
Electric Youth
Written by: Deborah Gibson
Verse 1:
When the fear sets in
Where the fire burns
Where I find a place
But thre's nowhere to turn
When the evening sings
An eerie song
Longing for the day
You say I'm wrong
Verse 2:
You can find your place
But never fit in
And only when you've left
Do you know where you've been
I can see the light
But only when it's gone
You can go on waiting
But only for so long
Chorus:
I know we are right
It's not always clear
Because I've never felt the fear
Can it stay so good
Forever in time?
I've always felt the rhythm
What happens when there's
NO MORE RHYME
Verse 3:
Can we face ourselves
Like we face eachother?
We've never felt anything
On our own
I can't wait much longer
To feel any danger
I hope we're not living for
A lifetime alone
Chorus
Bridge:
Hard to go on
It's like waiting for
The other shoe to drop
I'll never stop
Believing in you
It's just we never had to sstruggle
It all came too easy
I hope we felt what we felt from the start
We've never suffered a broken heart
We've been so blinded by all the best
We never put our love to the test
Chorus
It's a Revolution and it's almost Valentines Day
REVOLUTION
I've heard tell that purple stands for passion so for today I used purple in my love.
Valentines Day was probably set up for commercial reasons........... BUT HEY, let US take advantage of it and wish each other LOVE and PEACE and do what we can to make the world a better place. Send this message, like a wave around the world!
Catch A Wave
here
My friend once said to me that nobody's perfect. I laffed and shared with her that I was perfect. Boy oh boy, did she get pissed off......... and then I shared that I was precisely where I was supposed to be in God's plan for me flaws and all.
I'm not about God as a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim.............. as you see, I think maybe Jesus was a middle man and yep, I still worship and love Jesus but not as a Christian as I think Christianity is messed up today because someone somewhere messed with Jesus' teachings. Is that blasphmy (i can't even spell it) hmmmmmmmmm and I figured that I wouldn't get baptized either because if God is who I think He is, He surely has the power to baptize me on my way to His house, eh? (Oh and BTW, I was born in Los Banos.......... you'd think I was born again the first time beings that Banos is baths, no?
You know, if Jesus was indeed sent here to learn about being human why would God let him die before he became a father? OMG, how can anyone judge what it's like to be fully human if he/she hasn't had the experience of being a parent?
I asked a very close friend at IBM what it took to be a good secretary (admin assistant) and she told me it took a good mother to be a good
'admin assistant'. (hmmmmmmmmm and personally, I think she was correct.) Thanks Linda for your insight......... you rock girl!!!
I would like to send a special Valentine's Kisses and Hugs to Cindy Sheehan and Mary Tilman as they've endured much more than I in this mess of a world. (That goes to all the parents of the world as well that have lost children and loved ones in this Big Fat Mess we call Earth today....)
............ and a special xoxoxoxo to the folks in Haiti!!! (I also send my xoxoxoxo to the men that stepped up and listened in our time of need.... you know who you are!) I LOVE YOU!!! ...........and to the women that were just waiting to be heard to take your places....... BLESS YOU!!!
http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2009/06/women-why-arent-you-running-world-yet.html
Monday, June 1, 2009
Women, why aren't you running the world yet?
Women - why aren't you running the world yet? Frankly I'm disappointed in you. Men are still far too dominant for their own good, and consequently we've made a testosterone- sodden pig's ear of just about everything: politics, the economy, religion, the environment ... you name it, it's in a gigantic man-wrought mess. The world's been one big dick-swinging contest, and we've caught our collective glans in a nearby desk fan. By rights we should be squealing for your help, but we're not, because we're too damn stupid and too damn proud. We swagger convincingly, and that's about it. And swaggering's fine for scraping by in primitive times, but the world we've built is altogether more complex now. We've got stock exchanges and nuclear warheads. It's too easy to swagger your way into big trouble without even realising. Well, we've had our turn. It's time for the Rise of the Ladies.
We don't need a few women in conspicuous positions of power scattered here and there - we need a 10-year prohibition on all forms of male power. Seriously: a decade in which men don't get to control anything, from the remote control upwards. Imagine the consequences. For one thing, there would be an instant and massive reduction in armed conflict around the globe. Sure, nations would routinely bitch about each other in secret (and with a new, hair-curling viciousness) , but there'd be fewer intercontinental punch-ups and a far smaller bodycount.
The economy should clearly be run by women. City boys are dicks, plain and simple. Look at them. Listen to them. Consider the carnage of the past 10 years. What the hell were these idiots thinking? Even now they're still at it. In any sane world they'd all be herded into a shed and blasted with hoses until they promised to stop. Everything they say, think, do, watch, read and fill up their iPods with is awful. Even their girlfriends are awful. Straight women, reading this: if your partner is a city boy, leave him. Leave him now. Dump him with a text message, right this very second. It'll hurt for about six days, then your life will improve beyond measure. Sod that little number-swapping dick who dares call himself a man. Lob him in the shed with the other squeaking fakes and train the cold jets on the bastards. Shut the door and let them shiver.
Men love machines, because machines remind them of themselves. As a result, men quickly became very very good at building machines and then driving them round rather too quickly, shouting "Toot toot! Look at me in my brilliant car!" This was cute for a while, but the novelty's worn off now that the planet's teetering on the brink of becoming an inhospitable cinder. Please, women, for all our sakes: just lock us in a room with some Lego or something. I'm sorry, but we're just too bloody stupid to save the planet. Looks like you'll have to clean up our mess once again. Mankind's depending on you.
"This is all very well, but none too realistic," thinks the female reader. "Men aren't just going to hand over the reins that easily. I know what men are like. They're self-righteous and stubborn - just like women, but worse."
Oh, you. Pretty, silly you. We've got you brainwashed. See, that's what our incessant, ruinous swaggering was all about: pretending to be more complex and dangerous than we actually are. In truth your suspicions are correct: we're very, very simple. We're lazy and we like blowjobs. That's all there is to us. Literally: that's it. From Sir John Betjeman to Barack Obama, from Copernicus to Liam Gallagher. The core software we run on could fit in the memory of a digital watch circa 1985 without even scraping the sides.
And you know this, you women. You know this of course, but it's so dazzlingly obvious you actually doubt it's true. Most of my friends are women. I often find myself counselling them as they agonise for hours, trying to fathom what men are thinking, what men want. Yet no matter who they're talking about, or what the circumstance, from my perspective the answer always seems so glaringly basic it could be scratched on the back of a button. This one wants a shag. That one wants a biscuit. Every time: the butler did it.
The only mistake women make is crediting men with far more mystery than they're capable of. We're impulsive yet thuddingly predictable, and you'd better learn to love us for it because that's just about all we can muster. That's why we bollocksed the planet up. We didn't mean to. We're men, that's all.
And now, surely now, it's time for you to shunt us off the podium and take charge for a decade. If only as an experiment to see what happens. I for one welcome our titted overlords. Give us our toys and our daily bread and permit us to lie on the sofa for 10 whole years, like snoozy, spluttering pigs. We get to loll around contentedly, you get to save the world. Sound good? Do we have a deal? Well do we, you wonderful bitches?
Herstory is dedicated to the voices of women, silenced and unsung, or just coming into being . . .
“We all know our stories, but it is the act of shaping them that teaches us our journeys.” These are the words of Herstory’s founder and artistic director Erika Duncan, who pioneered an approach to memoir writing that over the past 13 years has touched over 2,000 lives.
Whether we are beginners or seasoned writers, we work with the belief that writing at its best can conquer oppression; indeed it can change hearts and lives. As each writer finds a way to recapture her memories so that others can walk in her shoes, she reaches the hearts of those who have helped her craft her story, and barriers that so often divide us begin to dissolve. Week by week and chapter by chapter, what was relegated to silence begins to be heard. Sometimes the result is deep bonding. Sometimes it is individual healing. But always the writing grows more powerful as blocks are overcome and larger structures are sighted.
The “Herstory technique" of daring each new writer to blaze a path towards reader empathy starts with the awareness that we don’t necessarily care about what is happening to the pale “paper stranger” we find on the page, unless the writer finds a way to let us in. Writing memoir with the hope of engaging the “Stranger/Reader” represents a giant leap away from the personal diary or intimate story that is told to a friend or a lover or therapist. Practiced in a guided group setting, it can bring about healing and understanding, even as it creates powerful art. Extending the “dare to care” into every stage of producing a written work, professors of literature are able to work on level ground with those whose main education derives from the lives they have lived, each guiding the other in the task of making memories come to life.
At any given time Herstory offers 11-17 weekly workshops, including three for women in prison, two in Spanish as well as numerous community options for women and girls. Through our public readings, special thematic workshops and our magazines, we reach out to an ever-increasing audience. Our manual Paper Stranger: Shaping Stories in Community was published in October 2008, and is the centerpiece for our training program and special seminars. Not only is it used in our own training workshops; it is being circulated to writers, educators, healers and social activists.
Newcomers are always welcome.
I've heard tell that purple stands for passion so for today I used purple in my love.
Valentines Day was probably set up for commercial reasons........... BUT HEY, let US take advantage of it and wish each other LOVE and PEACE and do what we can to make the world a better place. Send this message, like a wave around the world!
Catch A Wave
here
My friend once said to me that nobody's perfect. I laffed and shared with her that I was perfect. Boy oh boy, did she get pissed off......... and then I shared that I was precisely where I was supposed to be in God's plan for me flaws and all.
I'm not about God as a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim.............. as you see, I think maybe Jesus was a middle man and yep, I still worship and love Jesus but not as a Christian as I think Christianity is messed up today because someone somewhere messed with Jesus' teachings. Is that blasphmy (i can't even spell it) hmmmmmmmmm and I figured that I wouldn't get baptized either because if God is who I think He is, He surely has the power to baptize me on my way to His house, eh? (Oh and BTW, I was born in Los Banos.......... you'd think I was born again the first time beings that Banos is baths, no?
You know, if Jesus was indeed sent here to learn about being human why would God let him die before he became a father? OMG, how can anyone judge what it's like to be fully human if he/she hasn't had the experience of being a parent?
I asked a very close friend at IBM what it took to be a good secretary (admin assistant) and she told me it took a good mother to be a good
'admin assistant'. (hmmmmmmmmm and personally, I think she was correct.) Thanks Linda for your insight......... you rock girl!!!
I would like to send a special Valentine's Kisses and Hugs to Cindy Sheehan and Mary Tilman as they've endured much more than I in this mess of a world. (That goes to all the parents of the world as well that have lost children and loved ones in this Big Fat Mess we call Earth today....)
............ and a special xoxoxoxo to the folks in Haiti!!! (I also send my xoxoxoxo to the men that stepped up and listened in our time of need.... you know who you are!) I LOVE YOU!!! ...........and to the women that were just waiting to be heard to take your places....... BLESS YOU!!!
http://cal-mystuffs.blogspot.com/2009/06/women-why-arent-you-running-world-yet.html
Monday, June 1, 2009
Women, why aren't you running the world yet?
Women - why aren't you running the world yet? Frankly I'm disappointed in you. Men are still far too dominant for their own good, and consequently we've made a testosterone- sodden pig's ear of just about everything: politics, the economy, religion, the environment ... you name it, it's in a gigantic man-wrought mess. The world's been one big dick-swinging contest, and we've caught our collective glans in a nearby desk fan. By rights we should be squealing for your help, but we're not, because we're too damn stupid and too damn proud. We swagger convincingly, and that's about it. And swaggering's fine for scraping by in primitive times, but the world we've built is altogether more complex now. We've got stock exchanges and nuclear warheads. It's too easy to swagger your way into big trouble without even realising. Well, we've had our turn. It's time for the Rise of the Ladies.
We don't need a few women in conspicuous positions of power scattered here and there - we need a 10-year prohibition on all forms of male power. Seriously: a decade in which men don't get to control anything, from the remote control upwards. Imagine the consequences. For one thing, there would be an instant and massive reduction in armed conflict around the globe. Sure, nations would routinely bitch about each other in secret (and with a new, hair-curling viciousness) , but there'd be fewer intercontinental punch-ups and a far smaller bodycount.
The economy should clearly be run by women. City boys are dicks, plain and simple. Look at them. Listen to them. Consider the carnage of the past 10 years. What the hell were these idiots thinking? Even now they're still at it. In any sane world they'd all be herded into a shed and blasted with hoses until they promised to stop. Everything they say, think, do, watch, read and fill up their iPods with is awful. Even their girlfriends are awful. Straight women, reading this: if your partner is a city boy, leave him. Leave him now. Dump him with a text message, right this very second. It'll hurt for about six days, then your life will improve beyond measure. Sod that little number-swapping dick who dares call himself a man. Lob him in the shed with the other squeaking fakes and train the cold jets on the bastards. Shut the door and let them shiver.
Men love machines, because machines remind them of themselves. As a result, men quickly became very very good at building machines and then driving them round rather too quickly, shouting "Toot toot! Look at me in my brilliant car!" This was cute for a while, but the novelty's worn off now that the planet's teetering on the brink of becoming an inhospitable cinder. Please, women, for all our sakes: just lock us in a room with some Lego or something. I'm sorry, but we're just too bloody stupid to save the planet. Looks like you'll have to clean up our mess once again. Mankind's depending on you.
"This is all very well, but none too realistic," thinks the female reader. "Men aren't just going to hand over the reins that easily. I know what men are like. They're self-righteous and stubborn - just like women, but worse."
Oh, you. Pretty, silly you. We've got you brainwashed. See, that's what our incessant, ruinous swaggering was all about: pretending to be more complex and dangerous than we actually are. In truth your suspicions are correct: we're very, very simple. We're lazy and we like blowjobs. That's all there is to us. Literally: that's it. From Sir John Betjeman to Barack Obama, from Copernicus to Liam Gallagher. The core software we run on could fit in the memory of a digital watch circa 1985 without even scraping the sides.
And you know this, you women. You know this of course, but it's so dazzlingly obvious you actually doubt it's true. Most of my friends are women. I often find myself counselling them as they agonise for hours, trying to fathom what men are thinking, what men want. Yet no matter who they're talking about, or what the circumstance, from my perspective the answer always seems so glaringly basic it could be scratched on the back of a button. This one wants a shag. That one wants a biscuit. Every time: the butler did it.
The only mistake women make is crediting men with far more mystery than they're capable of. We're impulsive yet thuddingly predictable, and you'd better learn to love us for it because that's just about all we can muster. That's why we bollocksed the planet up. We didn't mean to. We're men, that's all.
And now, surely now, it's time for you to shunt us off the podium and take charge for a decade. If only as an experiment to see what happens. I for one welcome our titted overlords. Give us our toys and our daily bread and permit us to lie on the sofa for 10 whole years, like snoozy, spluttering pigs. We get to loll around contentedly, you get to save the world. Sound good? Do we have a deal? Well do we, you wonderful bitches?
Herstory is dedicated to the voices of women, silenced and unsung, or just coming into being . . .
“We all know our stories, but it is the act of shaping them that teaches us our journeys.” These are the words of Herstory’s founder and artistic director Erika Duncan, who pioneered an approach to memoir writing that over the past 13 years has touched over 2,000 lives.
Whether we are beginners or seasoned writers, we work with the belief that writing at its best can conquer oppression; indeed it can change hearts and lives. As each writer finds a way to recapture her memories so that others can walk in her shoes, she reaches the hearts of those who have helped her craft her story, and barriers that so often divide us begin to dissolve. Week by week and chapter by chapter, what was relegated to silence begins to be heard. Sometimes the result is deep bonding. Sometimes it is individual healing. But always the writing grows more powerful as blocks are overcome and larger structures are sighted.
The “Herstory technique" of daring each new writer to blaze a path towards reader empathy starts with the awareness that we don’t necessarily care about what is happening to the pale “paper stranger” we find on the page, unless the writer finds a way to let us in. Writing memoir with the hope of engaging the “Stranger/Reader” represents a giant leap away from the personal diary or intimate story that is told to a friend or a lover or therapist. Practiced in a guided group setting, it can bring about healing and understanding, even as it creates powerful art. Extending the “dare to care” into every stage of producing a written work, professors of literature are able to work on level ground with those whose main education derives from the lives they have lived, each guiding the other in the task of making memories come to life.
At any given time Herstory offers 11-17 weekly workshops, including three for women in prison, two in Spanish as well as numerous community options for women and girls. Through our public readings, special thematic workshops and our magazines, we reach out to an ever-increasing audience. Our manual Paper Stranger: Shaping Stories in Community was published in October 2008, and is the centerpiece for our training program and special seminars. Not only is it used in our own training workshops; it is being circulated to writers, educators, healers and social activists.
Newcomers are always welcome.
Some of mystuff written in 2004
Message #1711 of 4077 < Prev | Next >
My stuff here was written in 2004........ I received the photos today.......... It doesn't matter if the children are Iraqi or Palestinian, they are still innocents.... and now dead. OMG!!!
by a woman known as cal
terror is only terror when it's spelled within lies....
Terror is the thought that the people we terrorize don't know us.
Terror is the boy just shot who could have been my son's best friend.
Terror is the fact that I love children and they love me and the one that died yesterday may well have been one that I could have helped tomorrow.
Terror is knowing that there are angels in heaven that should be walking the earth as humans today.
Terror is a world so corrupt that a child isn't allowed to be a child but instead a number within words like collaterral damage.
Terror is a child of tomorrow without a stomach trying to digest something so simple as a mother's milk.
Terror is a world caught up in something so ugly that it may not recover.
Terror itself is only a word. Terror in reality is worse than the word. I would rather die tomorrow than feel terror for a life time.
Terror is used to control us and I would rather look point blank at a weapon and have it over with than live with it the rest of my days as a FOOL.
Terror is for the ELITE to reign down on a world and call that world THEIRS.
Terror is the end of humanity because it exists in a world of beauty and hope, and yet it hides those things from the masses because it is corrupt and evil and MUST have it's way.
Terror isn't human nature, instead it is EVIL's way. As long as it reigns, it is allowed to shadow all that is beautiful and sweet.
Terror is the devil's way of having the last say.
Terrorists are children of the opposition and children of our own. A terrorist is a child that is frightened of the other person because of lack of education of the other's culture.
Terror is only a word and when we get past the Terrorism, if we do, we should educate our children that Terror is only terror when Terrorists are in charge.
When we are allowed to hold hands, once past the WAR, we will gaze into the child's eyes and call him friend. Terror will be lost when the masks are uncovered and the true terrorists slither once again into their hidden worlds of deceipt.
by a woman known as cal
The Color of Torture
The Colors of Iraqi memories that will haunt our troops and the Iraqi people all their lives
The color of the eyes didn't show but BROWN is the color they were before the ordeal.
BRONZE was the color of the skin, although some people simply say dark. As the GOLDEN sun shone down on it, the skin turned a darker shade still and appeared BLACK. The 130 degree weather affected all skin in one manner or another.
GREEN was the color of the leg. The doctor attributed the death to Gangreen and that is the color that set in after the wound. (The family will never know.)
PURPLE is the color that surrounds the areas of the wounds inflicted by the torturers. They are everywhere and even though his skin tone was BLACK the wounds show PURPLE in some places and slightly GREEN and BLUE in others.
BLACK and tones of red lines covered the lids of the eyes that closed and could not blink before death.
WHITE broken pieces of teeth could be seen beside the body.
The Private viewed the body and ran from the room. Twenty is quite young to have experienced so much in the last 24 hours. He will dream of the boy on the table who appeared younger than him in life. How did this happen? He could hardly recognize the person on the table except for the clothes in the corner.
He turned as the Sergeant walked through the door and asked him why he was here? The Sergeant hissed at him to use the clothes on the floor and dress the body. The doctor had completed the autopsy and the Private's duty was to see that the body was fully clothed.
The young man had tears in his eyes as he dressed....."the body" . He could see what he couldn't view as the body laid face up on the table covered only slightly with a sheet. He saw the blood on the underside of the body and he also saw the electrical dots that touched the youngster's genitals. He cried openly when the Sergeant walked out.
What happened to my life he wondered, as he relived the last year.
I want to tell the world
A story
My stuff here was written in 2004........ I received the photos today.......... It doesn't matter if the children are Iraqi or Palestinian, they are still innocents.... and now dead. OMG!!!
by a woman known as cal
terror is only terror when it's spelled within lies....
Terror is the thought that the people we terrorize don't know us.
Terror is the boy just shot who could have been my son's best friend.
Terror is the fact that I love children and they love me and the one that died yesterday may well have been one that I could have helped tomorrow.
Terror is knowing that there are angels in heaven that should be walking the earth as humans today.
Terror is a world so corrupt that a child isn't allowed to be a child but instead a number within words like collaterral damage.
Terror is a child of tomorrow without a stomach trying to digest something so simple as a mother's milk.
Terror is a world caught up in something so ugly that it may not recover.
Terror itself is only a word. Terror in reality is worse than the word. I would rather die tomorrow than feel terror for a life time.
Terror is used to control us and I would rather look point blank at a weapon and have it over with than live with it the rest of my days as a FOOL.
Terror is for the ELITE to reign down on a world and call that world THEIRS.
Terror is the end of humanity because it exists in a world of beauty and hope, and yet it hides those things from the masses because it is corrupt and evil and MUST have it's way.
Terror isn't human nature, instead it is EVIL's way. As long as it reigns, it is allowed to shadow all that is beautiful and sweet.
Terror is the devil's way of having the last say.
Terrorists are children of the opposition and children of our own. A terrorist is a child that is frightened of the other person because of lack of education of the other's culture.
Terror is only a word and when we get past the Terrorism, if we do, we should educate our children that Terror is only terror when Terrorists are in charge.
When we are allowed to hold hands, once past the WAR, we will gaze into the child's eyes and call him friend. Terror will be lost when the masks are uncovered and the true terrorists slither once again into their hidden worlds of deceipt.
by a woman known as cal
The Color of Torture
The Colors of Iraqi memories that will haunt our troops and the Iraqi people all their lives
The color of the eyes didn't show but BROWN is the color they were before the ordeal.
BRONZE was the color of the skin, although some people simply say dark. As the GOLDEN sun shone down on it, the skin turned a darker shade still and appeared BLACK. The 130 degree weather affected all skin in one manner or another.
GREEN was the color of the leg. The doctor attributed the death to Gangreen and that is the color that set in after the wound. (The family will never know.)
PURPLE is the color that surrounds the areas of the wounds inflicted by the torturers. They are everywhere and even though his skin tone was BLACK the wounds show PURPLE in some places and slightly GREEN and BLUE in others.
BLACK and tones of red lines covered the lids of the eyes that closed and could not blink before death.
WHITE broken pieces of teeth could be seen beside the body.
The Private viewed the body and ran from the room. Twenty is quite young to have experienced so much in the last 24 hours. He will dream of the boy on the table who appeared younger than him in life. How did this happen? He could hardly recognize the person on the table except for the clothes in the corner.
He turned as the Sergeant walked through the door and asked him why he was here? The Sergeant hissed at him to use the clothes on the floor and dress the body. The doctor had completed the autopsy and the Private's duty was to see that the body was fully clothed.
The young man had tears in his eyes as he dressed....."the body" . He could see what he couldn't view as the body laid face up on the table covered only slightly with a sheet. He saw the blood on the underside of the body and he also saw the electrical dots that touched the youngster's genitals. He cried openly when the Sergeant walked out.
What happened to my life he wondered, as he relived the last year.
I want to tell the world
A story
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