February 8, 2005
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
How Wall Street Learns to Look the Other Way
By ROBERT J. SHILLER
ew Haven
THE New York Stock Exchange's report on the pay package given to its former chairman, Dick Grasso, made clear the excessiveness of the compensation and the ineffectiveness of the safety controls that failed to stop it. What the report didn't provide, however, was an answer to an obvious question: Why did nobody on the exchange's board look at that astronomical sum and feel some personal responsibility to find out what was happening?
I can't read minds, but I think it's fair to say that to some extent the players in this drama - as well as those in the ones now being played out in courtrooms and starring former executives of Tyco, WorldCom and HealthSouth - have been shaped by the broader business culture they have worked in for so long. And, as with any situation in which we are puzzled by how a group of people can think in a seemingly odd way, it helps to look back to how they were educated. Education molds not just individuals but also common assumptions and conventional wisdom. And when it comes to the business world, our universities - and especially their graduate business schools - are powerful shapers of the culture.
That said, the view of the world that one gets in a modern business curriculum can lead to an ethical disconnect. The courses often encourage a view of human nature that does not inspire high-mindedness.
Consider financial theory, the cornerstone of modern business education. The mathematical theory that has developed over the decades has proved extremely valuable in general. But when it comes to individuals, the theory runs into some problems. In effect, it portrays people as nothing more than "maximizers" of their own "expected utility." This means that people are expected to be totally selfish, constantly calculating their own advantage, with no thought of others. If the premise is that everyone would steal the silverware if he knew he could get away with it, and if we spend the entire semester developing the implications of this assumption, then it is hard to know where to begin to talk about ethics.
At the notorious Aug. 7, 2003, board meeting in which Mr. Grasso was given the right to pocket $139.5 million, questions of whether the compensation was too high were aired but got nowhere. Maybe it is not too surprising that they were ignored: executive compensation has been soaring in recent years, and to people today, it may well seem that these increases must be entirely the result of respectable "market forces."
Modern business education often encourages excessive respect for anything that can be considered a result of the free market. For example, the leading corporate finance textbook, "Principles of Corporate Finance" by Richard A. Brealey and Stewart C. Myers, lists the efficient markets theory ("security prices accurately reflect available information and respond rapidly to new information as soon as it becomes available") as one of the seven most important ideas in finance. The other six are even less personal, models of perfect markets that only mathematicians can fully appreciate. It should not be surprising that those who were trained by books like these would not consider the possibility that there could be a bubble in executive compensation.
The book does not have anything kind to say about regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulatory agency that strives to make sure that we can trust the securities we buy. The commission is rarely mentioned, and then only as a source of a few bothersome rules that must be followed, without giving any clue as to the reasons for the rules. (It is worth noting that it was the commission that asked the stock exchange's board to disclose Mr. Grasso's pay package; otherwise, the controversy might never have come to light.)
Yes, some business school curriculums have been improving over the years. Many schools now offer a course in business ethics, and some even try to integrate business ethics into their other courses. But nowhere is ethics seen as a centerpiece or even integral part of the curriculum. And even when business students do take an ethics course, the theoretical framework of the core courses tends to be so devoid of moral content that the discussions of ethics must seem like a side order of some overcooked vegetable.
I like to assign my finance students "Take On the Street," an account by Arthur Levitt of his efforts, as chairman of the S.E.C. in the 1990's, to clean up the sleazy side of Wall Street. I wish more professors assigned it. But most of my colleagues tell me they do not have time for it; too many formulas to cover.
Ultimately, the problem at the university level is a tendency toward overspecialization. Each professor gains expertise in a certain kind of research skill; that is how subject matter is defined. The specialty of financial theory has largely come to be defined by skills manipulating a narrow class of mathematical models of purely selfish behavior. Business ethics is just another academic specialty, and can seem as remote as microbiology to those studying financial theory.
Whatever happens with Mr. Grasso - and with Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco and the other avatars of corporate misconduct in the headlines these days - we should be reminded that ethical behavior for many business people must involve overcoming their learned biases. Perhaps these scandals would be a little less likely, and the rationalizations for them a little less tenable, if more of us professors integrated business education into a broader historical and psychological context. Would our students really fail to understand the economic models if we treated the subject matter not as an arcane specialty, but as part of a larger liberal arts education?
Robert J. Shiller, the author of "Irrational Exuberance," has taught Economics 252, Financial Markets, at Yale College since 1985
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
For the "Best" of us, the Diagnosis may be "Sacredness" -NYT
So we get into World com, Enron, god’s Healthsouth …all the corporate corruption that undermined our economic life line… people with advanced education at our best universities…homes of the highest prices… bank statements whose income could feed their progeny over many generations…most coming out of outstanding families… access to the politically powerful …so how do we explain this evil? So why don’t we declare the elite lifestyle a breeding ground of evil -why is it always about poor and broken homes. I just don’t buy these categories anymore.
It is interesting… could those who are generally good…altruistic…in the eyes of god… Mahatma Gandhi…Jesus… MLK… all our recent heroes…Mother Teresa…a living saint like Nelson Mandela … those that endured the unspeakable…those that sit way outside the human experience…a president… –have they got a brain defect?
You start thinking about all the horrible defects that lead to evil, the disconnection from horror, the absolute disconnections from the expectations of our culture… the focusing on a single prize with all rational thinking that you got a 1 and 300 million chance of being a president...give them your other cheek…didn’t Jesus say he would create more bloodshed than love…of changing the directions of a country and our planet…. the mindless focus over years on single feeling or ideal against the interest of self, of paying the irrational price of being in jail for a life time –what’s the difference between evil and sacredness, in the basic functioning of the brain. ...Wow…
February 8, 2005
For the Worst of Us, the Diagnosis May Be 'Evil'
By BENEDICT CAREY
redatory killers often do far more than commit murder. Some have lured their victims into homemade chambers for prolonged torture. Others have exotic tastes - for vivisection, sexual humiliation, burning. Many perform their grisly rituals as much for pleasure as for any other reason.
Among themselves, a few forensic scientists have taken to thinking of these people as not merely disturbed but evil. Evil in that their deliberate, habitual savagery defies any psychological explanation or attempt at treatment.
Most psychiatrists assiduously avoid the word evil, contending that its use would precipitate a dangerous slide from clinical to moral judgment that could put people on death row unnecessarily and obscure the understanding of violent criminals.
Still, many career forensic examiners say their work forces them to reflect on the concept of evil, and some acknowledge they can find no other term for certain individuals they have evaluated.
In an effort to standardize what makes a crime particularly heinous, a group at New York University has been developing what it calls a depravity scale, which rates the horror of an act by the sum of its grim details.
And a prominent personality expert at Columbia University has published a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, derived from detailed biographies of more than 500 violent criminals.
He is now working on a book urging the profession not to shrink from thinking in terms of evil when appraising certain offenders, even if the E-word cannot be used as part of an official examination or diagnosis.
"We are talking about people who commit breathtaking acts, who do so repeatedly, who know what they're doing, and are doing it in peacetime" under no threat to themselves, said Dr. Michael Stone, the Columbia psychiatrist, who has examined several hundred killers at Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, N.Y., and others at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, where he consults and teaches. "We know from experience who these people are, and how they behave," and it is time, he said, to give their behavior "the proper appellation."
Western religious leaders, evolutionary theorists and psychological researchers agree that almost all human beings have the capacity to commit brutal acts, even when they are not directly threatened. In Dr. Stanley Milgram's famous electroshock experiments in the 1960's, participants delivered what they thought were punishing electric jolts to a fellow citizen, merely because they were encouraged to do so by an authority figure as part of a learning experiment.
In the real world, the grim images coming out of Iraq -the beheadings by Iraqi insurgents and the Abu Ghraib tortures, complete with preening guards - suggest how much further people can go when they feel justified.
In Nazi prisoner camps, as during purges in Kosovo and Cambodia, historians found that clerks, teachers, bureaucrats and other normally peaceable citizens committed some of the gruesome violence, apparently swept along in the kind of collective thoughtlessness that the philosopher Hannah Arendt described as the banality of evil.
"Evil is endemic, it's constant, it is a potential in all of us. Just about everyone has committed evil acts," said Dr. Robert I. Simon, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School and the author of "Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream."
Dr. Simon considers the notion of evil to be of no use to forensic psychiatry, in part because evil is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, shaped by political and cultural as well as religious values. The terrorists on Sept. 11 thought that they were serving God, he argues; those who kill people at abortion clinics also claim to be doing so. If the issue is history's most transcendent savages, on the other hand, most people agree that Hitler and Pol Pot would qualify.
"When you start talking about evil, psychiatrists don't know anything more about it than anyone else," Dr. Simon said. "Our opinions might carry more weight, under the patina or authority of the profession, but the point is, you can call someone evil and so can I. So what? What does it add?"
Dr. Stone argues that one possible benefit of including a consideration of evil may be a more clear-eyed appreciation of who should be removed from society and not allowed back. He is not an advocate of the death penalty, he said. And his interest in evil began long before President Bush began using the word to describe terrorists or hostile regimes.
Dr. Stone's hierarchy of evil is topped by the names of many infamous criminals who were executed or locked up for good: Theodore R. Bundy, the former law school student convicted of killing two young women in Florida and linked to dozens of other killings in the 1970's; John Wayne Gacy of Illinois, the convicted killer who strangled more than 30 boys and buried them under his house; and Ian Brady who, with his girlfriend, Myra Hindley, tortured and killed children in England in a rampage in the 1960's known as the moors murders.
But another killer on the hierarchy is Albert Fentress, a former schoolteacher in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., examined by Dr. Stone, who killed and cannibalized a teenager, in 1979. Mr. Fentress petitioned to be released from a state mental hospital, and in 1999 a jury agreed that he was ready; he later withdrew the petition, when prosecutors announced that a new witness would testify against him.
At a hearing in 2001, Dr. Stone argued against Mr. Fentress's release, and the idea that the killer might be considered ready to make his way back into society still makes the psychiatrist's eyes widen.
Researchers have found that some people who commit violent crimes are much more likely than others to kill or maim again, and one way they measure this potential is with a structured examination called the psychopathy checklist.
As part of an extensive, in-depth interview, a trained examiner rates the offender on a 20-item personality test. The items include glibness and superficial charm, grandiose self-worth, pathological lying, proneness to boredom and emotional vacuity. The subjects earn zero points if the description is not applicable, two points if it is highly applicable, and one if it is somewhat or sometimes true.
The psychologist who devised the checklist, Dr. Robert Hare, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said that average total scores varied from below five in the general population to the low 20's in prison populations, to a range of 30 to 40 - highly psychopathic - in predatory killers. In a series of studies, criminologists have found that people who score in the high range are two to four times as likely as other prisoners to commit another crime when released. More than 90 percent of the men and a few women at the top of Dr. Stone's hierarchy qualify as psychopaths.
In recent years, neuroscientists have found evidence that psychopathy scores reflect physical differences in brain function. Last April, Canadian and American researchers reported in a brain-imaging study that psychopaths processed certain abstract words - grace, future, power, for example - differently from nonpsychopaths.
In addition, preliminary findings from new imaging research have revealed apparent oddities in the way psychopaths mentally process certain photographs, like graphic depictions of accident scenes, said Dr. Kent Kiehl, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale, a lead author on both studies.
No one knows how significant these differences are, or whether they are a result of genetic or social factors. Broken homes and childhood trauma are common among brutal killers; so is malignant narcissism, a personality type characterized not only by grandiosity but by fantasies of unlimited power and success, a deep sense of entitlement, and a need for excessive admiration.
"There is a group we call lethal predators, who are psychopathic, sadistic, and sane, and people have said this is approaching a measure of evil, and with good reason," Dr. Hare said. "What I would say is that there are some people for whom evil acts - what we would consider evil acts - are no big deal. And I agree with Michael Stone that the circumstances and context are less important than who they are."
Checklists, scales, and other psychological exams are not blood tests, however, and their use in support of a concept as loaded as evil could backfire, many psychiatrists say. Not all violent predators are psychopaths, for one thing, nor are most psychopaths violent criminals. And to suggest that psychopathy or some other profile is a reliable measure of evil, they say, would be irresponsible and ultimately jeopardize the credibility of the profession.
In the 1980's and 1990's, a psychiatrist in Dallas earned the name Dr. Death by testifying in court, in a wide variety of cases, that he was certain that defendants would commit more crimes in the future - though often, he had not examined them. Many were sentenced to death.
"I agree that some people cannot be rehabilitated, but the risk in using the word evil is that it may mean one thing to one psychiatrist, and something else to another, and then we're in trouble, " said Dr. Saul Faerstein, a forensic psychiatrist in Beverly Hills. "I don't know that we want psychiatrists as gatekeepers, making life-and-death judgments in some cases, based on a concept that is not medical."
Even if it is used judiciously, other experts say, the concept of evil is powerful enough that it could obscure the mental troubles and intellectual quirks that motivate brutal killers, and sometimes allow them to avoid detection. Mr. Bundy, the serial killer, was reportedly very romantic, attentive and affectionate with his own girlfriends, while he referred to his victims as "cargo" and "damaged goods," Dr. Simon noted.
Mr. Gacy, a gracious and successful businessman, reportedly created a clown figure to lift the spirits of ailing children. "He was a very normal, very functional guy in many respects," said Dr. Richard Rappaport, a forensic psychiatrist based in La Costa, Calif., who examined Mr. Gacy before his trial. Dr. Rappaport said he received holiday cards from Mr. Gacy every year before he was executed.
"I think the main reason it's better to avoid the term evil, at least in the courtroom, is that for many it evokes a personalized Satan, the idea that there is supernatural causation for misconduct," said Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist in Newport Beach, Calif., who examined the convicted serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills.
"This could only conceal a subtle important truth about many of these people, such as the high rate of personality disorders," Dr. Dietz said. He added: "The fact is that there aren't many in whom I couldn't find some redeeming attributes and some humanity. As far as we can tell, the causes of their behavior are biological, psychological and social, and do not so far demonstrably include the work of Lucifer."
The doctors who argue that evil has a place in forensics are well aware of these risks, but say that in some cases they are worth taking. They say it is possible - necessary, in fact, to understand many predatory killers - to hold inside one's head many disparate dimensions: that the person in question may be narcissistic, perhaps abused by a parent, or even charming, affectionate and intelligent, but also in some sense evil. While the term may not be appropriate for use in a courtroom or a clinical diagnosis, they say, it is an element of human nature that should not be ignored.
Dr. Angela Hegarty, director of psychiatry at Creedmoor who works with Dr. Stone, said she was skeptical of using the concept of evil but realized that in her work she found herself thinking and talking about it all the time. In 11 years as a forensic examiner, in this country and in Europe, she said, she counts four violent criminals who were so vicious, sadistic and selfish that no other word could describe them.
One was a man who gruesomely murdered his own wife and young children and who showed more annoyance than remorse, more self-pity than concern for anyone else affected by the murders. On one occasion when Dr. Hegarty saw him, he was extremely upset - beside himself - because a staff attendant at the facility where he lived was late in arriving with a video, delaying the start of the movie. The man became abusive, she said: he insisted on punctuality.
It is interesting… could those who are generally good…altruistic…in the eyes of god… Mahatma Gandhi…Jesus… MLK… all our recent heroes…Mother Teresa…a living saint like Nelson Mandela … those that endured the unspeakable…those that sit way outside the human experience…a president… –have they got a brain defect?
You start thinking about all the horrible defects that lead to evil, the disconnection from horror, the absolute disconnections from the expectations of our culture… the focusing on a single prize with all rational thinking that you got a 1 and 300 million chance of being a president...give them your other cheek…didn’t Jesus say he would create more bloodshed than love…of changing the directions of a country and our planet…. the mindless focus over years on single feeling or ideal against the interest of self, of paying the irrational price of being in jail for a life time –what’s the difference between evil and sacredness, in the basic functioning of the brain. ...Wow…
February 8, 2005
For the Worst of Us, the Diagnosis May Be 'Evil'
By BENEDICT CAREY
redatory killers often do far more than commit murder. Some have lured their victims into homemade chambers for prolonged torture. Others have exotic tastes - for vivisection, sexual humiliation, burning. Many perform their grisly rituals as much for pleasure as for any other reason.
Among themselves, a few forensic scientists have taken to thinking of these people as not merely disturbed but evil. Evil in that their deliberate, habitual savagery defies any psychological explanation or attempt at treatment.
Most psychiatrists assiduously avoid the word evil, contending that its use would precipitate a dangerous slide from clinical to moral judgment that could put people on death row unnecessarily and obscure the understanding of violent criminals.
Still, many career forensic examiners say their work forces them to reflect on the concept of evil, and some acknowledge they can find no other term for certain individuals they have evaluated.
In an effort to standardize what makes a crime particularly heinous, a group at New York University has been developing what it calls a depravity scale, which rates the horror of an act by the sum of its grim details.
And a prominent personality expert at Columbia University has published a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, derived from detailed biographies of more than 500 violent criminals.
He is now working on a book urging the profession not to shrink from thinking in terms of evil when appraising certain offenders, even if the E-word cannot be used as part of an official examination or diagnosis.
"We are talking about people who commit breathtaking acts, who do so repeatedly, who know what they're doing, and are doing it in peacetime" under no threat to themselves, said Dr. Michael Stone, the Columbia psychiatrist, who has examined several hundred killers at Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, N.Y., and others at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, where he consults and teaches. "We know from experience who these people are, and how they behave," and it is time, he said, to give their behavior "the proper appellation."
Western religious leaders, evolutionary theorists and psychological researchers agree that almost all human beings have the capacity to commit brutal acts, even when they are not directly threatened. In Dr. Stanley Milgram's famous electroshock experiments in the 1960's, participants delivered what they thought were punishing electric jolts to a fellow citizen, merely because they were encouraged to do so by an authority figure as part of a learning experiment.
In the real world, the grim images coming out of Iraq -the beheadings by Iraqi insurgents and the Abu Ghraib tortures, complete with preening guards - suggest how much further people can go when they feel justified.
In Nazi prisoner camps, as during purges in Kosovo and Cambodia, historians found that clerks, teachers, bureaucrats and other normally peaceable citizens committed some of the gruesome violence, apparently swept along in the kind of collective thoughtlessness that the philosopher Hannah Arendt described as the banality of evil.
"Evil is endemic, it's constant, it is a potential in all of us. Just about everyone has committed evil acts," said Dr. Robert I. Simon, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School and the author of "Bad Men Do What Good Men Dream."
Dr. Simon considers the notion of evil to be of no use to forensic psychiatry, in part because evil is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, shaped by political and cultural as well as religious values. The terrorists on Sept. 11 thought that they were serving God, he argues; those who kill people at abortion clinics also claim to be doing so. If the issue is history's most transcendent savages, on the other hand, most people agree that Hitler and Pol Pot would qualify.
"When you start talking about evil, psychiatrists don't know anything more about it than anyone else," Dr. Simon said. "Our opinions might carry more weight, under the patina or authority of the profession, but the point is, you can call someone evil and so can I. So what? What does it add?"
Dr. Stone argues that one possible benefit of including a consideration of evil may be a more clear-eyed appreciation of who should be removed from society and not allowed back. He is not an advocate of the death penalty, he said. And his interest in evil began long before President Bush began using the word to describe terrorists or hostile regimes.
Dr. Stone's hierarchy of evil is topped by the names of many infamous criminals who were executed or locked up for good: Theodore R. Bundy, the former law school student convicted of killing two young women in Florida and linked to dozens of other killings in the 1970's; John Wayne Gacy of Illinois, the convicted killer who strangled more than 30 boys and buried them under his house; and Ian Brady who, with his girlfriend, Myra Hindley, tortured and killed children in England in a rampage in the 1960's known as the moors murders.
But another killer on the hierarchy is Albert Fentress, a former schoolteacher in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., examined by Dr. Stone, who killed and cannibalized a teenager, in 1979. Mr. Fentress petitioned to be released from a state mental hospital, and in 1999 a jury agreed that he was ready; he later withdrew the petition, when prosecutors announced that a new witness would testify against him.
At a hearing in 2001, Dr. Stone argued against Mr. Fentress's release, and the idea that the killer might be considered ready to make his way back into society still makes the psychiatrist's eyes widen.
Researchers have found that some people who commit violent crimes are much more likely than others to kill or maim again, and one way they measure this potential is with a structured examination called the psychopathy checklist.
As part of an extensive, in-depth interview, a trained examiner rates the offender on a 20-item personality test. The items include glibness and superficial charm, grandiose self-worth, pathological lying, proneness to boredom and emotional vacuity. The subjects earn zero points if the description is not applicable, two points if it is highly applicable, and one if it is somewhat or sometimes true.
The psychologist who devised the checklist, Dr. Robert Hare, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, said that average total scores varied from below five in the general population to the low 20's in prison populations, to a range of 30 to 40 - highly psychopathic - in predatory killers. In a series of studies, criminologists have found that people who score in the high range are two to four times as likely as other prisoners to commit another crime when released. More than 90 percent of the men and a few women at the top of Dr. Stone's hierarchy qualify as psychopaths.
In recent years, neuroscientists have found evidence that psychopathy scores reflect physical differences in brain function. Last April, Canadian and American researchers reported in a brain-imaging study that psychopaths processed certain abstract words - grace, future, power, for example - differently from nonpsychopaths.
In addition, preliminary findings from new imaging research have revealed apparent oddities in the way psychopaths mentally process certain photographs, like graphic depictions of accident scenes, said Dr. Kent Kiehl, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Yale, a lead author on both studies.
No one knows how significant these differences are, or whether they are a result of genetic or social factors. Broken homes and childhood trauma are common among brutal killers; so is malignant narcissism, a personality type characterized not only by grandiosity but by fantasies of unlimited power and success, a deep sense of entitlement, and a need for excessive admiration.
"There is a group we call lethal predators, who are psychopathic, sadistic, and sane, and people have said this is approaching a measure of evil, and with good reason," Dr. Hare said. "What I would say is that there are some people for whom evil acts - what we would consider evil acts - are no big deal. And I agree with Michael Stone that the circumstances and context are less important than who they are."
Checklists, scales, and other psychological exams are not blood tests, however, and their use in support of a concept as loaded as evil could backfire, many psychiatrists say. Not all violent predators are psychopaths, for one thing, nor are most psychopaths violent criminals. And to suggest that psychopathy or some other profile is a reliable measure of evil, they say, would be irresponsible and ultimately jeopardize the credibility of the profession.
In the 1980's and 1990's, a psychiatrist in Dallas earned the name Dr. Death by testifying in court, in a wide variety of cases, that he was certain that defendants would commit more crimes in the future - though often, he had not examined them. Many were sentenced to death.
"I agree that some people cannot be rehabilitated, but the risk in using the word evil is that it may mean one thing to one psychiatrist, and something else to another, and then we're in trouble, " said Dr. Saul Faerstein, a forensic psychiatrist in Beverly Hills. "I don't know that we want psychiatrists as gatekeepers, making life-and-death judgments in some cases, based on a concept that is not medical."
Even if it is used judiciously, other experts say, the concept of evil is powerful enough that it could obscure the mental troubles and intellectual quirks that motivate brutal killers, and sometimes allow them to avoid detection. Mr. Bundy, the serial killer, was reportedly very romantic, attentive and affectionate with his own girlfriends, while he referred to his victims as "cargo" and "damaged goods," Dr. Simon noted.
Mr. Gacy, a gracious and successful businessman, reportedly created a clown figure to lift the spirits of ailing children. "He was a very normal, very functional guy in many respects," said Dr. Richard Rappaport, a forensic psychiatrist based in La Costa, Calif., who examined Mr. Gacy before his trial. Dr. Rappaport said he received holiday cards from Mr. Gacy every year before he was executed.
"I think the main reason it's better to avoid the term evil, at least in the courtroom, is that for many it evokes a personalized Satan, the idea that there is supernatural causation for misconduct," said Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist in Newport Beach, Calif., who examined the convicted serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents in Beverly Hills.
"This could only conceal a subtle important truth about many of these people, such as the high rate of personality disorders," Dr. Dietz said. He added: "The fact is that there aren't many in whom I couldn't find some redeeming attributes and some humanity. As far as we can tell, the causes of their behavior are biological, psychological and social, and do not so far demonstrably include the work of Lucifer."
The doctors who argue that evil has a place in forensics are well aware of these risks, but say that in some cases they are worth taking. They say it is possible - necessary, in fact, to understand many predatory killers - to hold inside one's head many disparate dimensions: that the person in question may be narcissistic, perhaps abused by a parent, or even charming, affectionate and intelligent, but also in some sense evil. While the term may not be appropriate for use in a courtroom or a clinical diagnosis, they say, it is an element of human nature that should not be ignored.
Dr. Angela Hegarty, director of psychiatry at Creedmoor who works with Dr. Stone, said she was skeptical of using the concept of evil but realized that in her work she found herself thinking and talking about it all the time. In 11 years as a forensic examiner, in this country and in Europe, she said, she counts four violent criminals who were so vicious, sadistic and selfish that no other word could describe them.
One was a man who gruesomely murdered his own wife and young children and who showed more annoyance than remorse, more self-pity than concern for anyone else affected by the murders. On one occasion when Dr. Hegarty saw him, he was extremely upset - beside himself - because a staff attendant at the facility where he lived was late in arriving with a video, delaying the start of the movie. The man became abusive, she said: he insisted on punctuality.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Region assessing latest HUD cuts -Keene NH
New…new… new 2/8
I’ve updated the 2/6 entry –what I added is very important -you should read it again.
New 2/6
So here I sit in Maine. I was glad to leave my house today -I love driving- it is a distraction about the worries with my community.
I get in my tractor trailer truck -I think I haven't eaten yet today. I stop in the Boston Market right off the I 93 interstate in Concord NH. I didn't get far at all -maybe 1.5 hours down the road. It's about 3PM. I can see the capital buiding's from the highway.
I walk in the restaurant. I notice right off the bat that there are two people in a corner table -one in a wheel chair. I notice the person in the wheelchair is rather small, about 100 pounds, but she seems rather old with grey hair. She's about in her 50"s -her attendant is about 25 years old. I can tell right off the bat that she has cerebral palsy palsy(CP) by looking at her face and the positions of her hands. I walk past them as I got to go the bathroom.
I notice the woman in the wheelchair quickly turn towards me, she looks me right in the eyes with a big bright smile. I smile back at her. I've got a lot of experience with making a snap judgment on how bright a disabled person is. You know this is off the cuff judgment -isn't not always right. I think she is kind bright if you know what I mean. I leave the bathroom -and her head and her bright eyes are still following me.
I taken many of the disabled into Boston Chicken throughout the area. I have taken a few adults who were extremely low functioning into Boston Markets. Would I have funny stories to tell.
So I get my dinner -I sit a few tables on the side of them. I recognize them as a personal care attendant and a disabled. You see, I know how amazingly special it can be out in the public on a Sunday afternoon eating in a public establishment with the disabled.
I start picking up a one way conversation -"did you have enough to eat". Then I hear -"you didn't get enough to eat -I can't believe somebody as small as you could want more?' You always eat more that your size. There is no effort to get any more food or desert. I pick up a strange tone of talk with the attendant.
A few minute laters I hear a series of question from the attendant, who is this, what is that. I look up at their table, it has lots of papers and pictures on the table. I think isn't that nice talking about pictures -but the tone of her questions are bothering me. I am beginning to see that the attendant is frustrated about something. I hear no talk from the woman in the wheelchair -I don't think she is able to speak -may be signing of some sorts. I get the feeling the attendant is overbearing.
I see the CP woman beginning to move her hands down to the chair wheels. I see she is trying to unlock the brakes. She is having some difficulty getting to it -but she unlocks the wheels. I watch her push away from the table -she gets about a few feet away. I think the CP women is done -she wants to go out or home. I hear the attendant say quite condenscending, loundly, you can't just run around in a restraurant, you know that. She just grabs the wheelchair and pushes it back to the table.
I notice this young attendant woman has a short height -and she is huge weight wise. She is dress nice in slacks. I get the vibs she is pushy and extremely self centered. I think with her huge weight -she has distrupted relationships. She is most likely a single woman who doesn't have very many relationships -her whole world is about taking care of the disabled. I know for a fact she doesn't have much interpersonal skills -she is immature and dysfuctional herself -she is not at all empathetic and perceptive -she is just a cheap caretaker who probaly doesn't have much of a vision in herself. She is in a dead end job and that is the best that she is going to be able to do.
Can you imagine living with a disability with all these banal slights- all of these dysfuctional and inmature caregivers -who have a innate need to treat the disabled as a juvenile -to elevate a dysfuctional attendant's life into something it is not. I seen this all the time folks.
The employees don't get a lot of money -there is no benefits -they don't have any status in society -their employer treats them with disrespect and as slave. There is an extremely high percentage of the population of the caregivers who are dysfuctional -they are cheap to hire, easy to mold as emplyees -and the inmature employees have a innate need to control another person life -it makes them feel big. The turnover of employees should be a clear signal to us. You understand -the first line managers are a breed of dysfuction apart too.
Why don't I see a nuclear engineer or rocket scientist working as a care attendant and the resultant professionalism?
I haven’t fully developed this yet –but here is an early perception. I’ve always wondered about this –is it because of the poor economics we end up this high proportion of the dysfunctional population in the care of the disabled, or is something more intelligent going on.
I am reminded of the industrial meat slaughter houses when they hire the powerless illegal emigrants, where the UN says this sets up the working conditions of immoral secrecy and inhumanity, and where there is an enormous power mismatch between the employer and employee, because to the legal status of the emigrant.
In the absence of governmental oversight –are the human service contractors intentionally hiring the dysfunctional in our population such that the contractors and even the government itself ends up with a similar power mismatch – where the mangers of the care of the disabled knowingly do this to maintain a immoral employee and disabled culture. So for the contractor and governmental overseers, indeed the governmental managers of state facility; do they know that the dysfunctional are easily manipulated; does the intellectually dysfunctional have a hard time using the governmental instruments of employee and disabled protection.
I am telling you for a fact they have to hire a morally dysfunctional manager –one who knows that our government isn’t providing adequate money and training for the care of the disabled. These first contact managers knows that in many ways they are operating in an illegal manner –not meeting all the rules. They know the state overseers can come around to selectively, persecute a particular business and any employee in the care of the disabled in the singular defense of an official’s and politicians self interest. I am telling for the fact that for no other reasons than to protect an official's career’interest –when all the bureaucrats and politicians know the system is overstuffed with legal, policy and rules violation on a day to day basics.
You see what I am getting at, in defense of this stinking rotten putrid system, it is at the interest of the immoral system to hire dysfunctional employees – it is at the interest of the system when known rule violation becomes seen to the outsiders –you get the compliant dysfunctional employees who you can charge with a rule violation– he is making that violation because of a lack of education, status and resources -these scape goats protects the whole rotten system.
Few people have ever experience this –I try to explain it best I can. So you might be taking care of a low functioning Downs syndrome 15 year old child –I could make the case that the majority of low functioning behaviors is created by the system –don’t think these might be soft behaviors –but like hitting and frustrations with a lack of communication skills. So in this selfless mindset you are taking care of our most vulnerable population; our whole society might have abandoned them; and you might have in your background being employed in a highly dysfunctional and abusive children’s institution -even god and the state has abandoned them.
In my-your head, I’ve never experience such a enormously overpowering emotion; you might be changing the diaper of an adult; you might be helping a 15 year old child showering :you are doing one of the most selfless acts that a human being can do on the face of this planet and you know it. I‘ve never felt such emotional exuberance and inebriation in my life. It is not hopeless inebriation –you need the resources, skills and education to tame these raw emotions.
Can you see the embers of a human abuse violation of a magnitude that is unimaginable? Can you see ABU GHRAIB? Can’t you see how you could do it yourself! We are not all that far, each one of us, from those ovens…
So you become embedded into these dysfunctional bureaucracies with very little structures like rules and adequate resources. Chaos ensues, order must be maintained, the outsiders know this… So secrete special rules are created outside the system that are justified… rationalized … normalized… then there becomes special rules that you create for yourselves … You create order… stability…the outsiders recognize… they then back out of it… they distant themselves from it … they create plausible deniability…everyone knows all the way up that we don’t have enough resources, people, training… I got my family and career as my primary concern … mistakes are made… covered up…accepted as normal…the system is so dysfunctional I got to do this to survive…Everyone else is doing it –who am I to stop it… So we create a systems of mindless rules… violations leak out…more rules…more scape goats…more isolation of the managers …depression …indifference …hopelessness…a continuous stream of new employees…training and skills decline…not enough resources…not meeting the requirements…more cover-ups…more cover-ups…more cover-ups… All in the name of survival and in the interest of my family… A darkening cloud descends on you…you end up picking up isolated rules in defense of your immorality, in defense of your company…in defense of your oversight responsibilities… in defense of your political management responsibilities…all in the name of your family…your career … the public wants it… so does the nation and endeed the world...
….most of all in defense of that wonderful spiritual feeling of selflessly taking care for the disabled….
Then you have another type of employee…many times these are empty nested housewife’s… Those who have devoted their whole lives into selfless giving to their family ... who created magnificent children and communities… and who have served their husbands without question. These women have nothing to do –they have an empty house with nothing to do…never worked outside the house …I am now a useless person with nothing to do… So you get a job as keeper of the disabled…you are giving again… you are magnificently giving again… you are needed…everyone depends on you…….I am somebody again…. You see then nothing alse manners; you don’t care about how much money and benefits you make, your husbane has taken care of you, you don’t care to care about the structure of the system behind your company… the overseers… If see something that is wrong you fix it… you become indespencible… Your company uses you as a role moddle –endeed they show you off to the public and the governmetnal overseers.
Then it becomes why aren’t all the employees like you…why are the rest of our employees so money grubbing and selfish…so demanding of dignity… why aren’t they selflessly satisfied with giving to the helpless and vulerable…
….So then we got to make all our employees like you… and undermine everthing that is good about human dignity in the name of selfless alturism…
I’ve been picking on the female dysfuction a lot in the last few days, The majority of caregivers are female. The male game goes like I am a failure to even be working in this industry –so I don’t care about anything….
"Evil is never "radical," ...it is only extreme, and... it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension... It is "thought- defying"...because thought tries to reach some depth, to go to the roots, and the moment it concerns itself with evil, it is frustrated because there is nothing. That is its "banality."Hannah Arendt, 1964"
New 2/6---
Right, we are feeding into our culture of ego expansion -into our media training of turning our world towards -holding our world hostage singlely to our indivegual self interested needs. The end point is the CEO of Enron: where the moral philosophy of my enormous needs of self appreciation ends up being the driver of benefiting the world; effectively give me a billion dollars, this would make the world better.
New 2/6---
You understand what is at the root of this is? It is the horrendous primal fear in all of us with: what if it was me. That is why we don’t want to look at it –indeed we can’t look at it.
You can’t sell a consumer product with that! You see how our consumer culture fits into this?
Oh man I got colors here!
New 2/6 ---
Wait a minute –I am putting the newspapers in a juvenile role – that they are just blindlessly banging around the issues without purpose. If I put them in a more significant mature role –it means they are highly attuned to the needs of their community and the advertisers. I mean they know what product the public and advertisers want -to maximize the circulation of the paper. So if I was an editor –I’d want to game the stories such that it would enhance the circulation and not disturb their long term relationships with my friends and community leaders –thus that enhances the economic value of my business.
Yep, it’s always more about the seemingly rational system relationships and economics. It’s never nothing personal. It’s what I found in all of the huge scandals I’ve been involved in.
It’s always about the good people –and very little about the crooks. One wonders what role the non profits and state agencies play in shaping the stories of the vulnerable in the newspapers. You see what I am getting at, it’s always ends up with enhancing the public imagine of the businesses, governmental agencies and non profits…the liberals –because image primarily drives careers and funding…..profits….it’s never about telling the truth and protecting the lives of those who are least able to take care of themselves.
Are we involved in creating a phony and falsified image for the whole state of Hew Hampshire in defense of our incomes and self interest?
You catch what I am getting at here –it’s a pervasive immoral system in which the good people are involved -in they are making invisible a segment of our society. The happy good people, the ones who shape and speak for the system, the one who speak for the vulnerable, the one who in the name of the vulnerable only speak for their own self interest and the interest of the self interested dysfunctional system that they are entrained in.
So the media and newspapers are dysfunctionally responding to the public wants of making invisible a segment of the population –it a pervasive immoral system that we are all involved in. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
I have no faith that this community will be able to drag themselves out of the hole they dug for themselves. The community is under enormous economic pressures, which are at the bottom of this. They think they can only feed three of their four children –better it be not one of their own children –but a nameless powerless huttled child in the corner.
It truly is “Crimes Against Humanity” here –and the whole community is involved in this immoral and unconscionable act…..
I hope the United Nations gets involved …indeed I pray for that…because we can’t handle it ourselves…
..........
This is the symptom of a pervasive regional disease. What the reporter tried asking -was how are the vulnerable doing with housing –what the bureaucrats interpreted it as - was how competent are we in doing our job and how competent is our organization at housing the specific population of the vulnerable -notice we aren’t talking about housing the "whole" vulnerable population. Of course they are going to say in their words; we are doing a great job and the all the vulnerable are humanly taken care of –we deserve to keep our jobs.
They are not talking truthful and fully. You’ll notice there is no talk about after their 5 years in public housing and all that help –how effective is that program. Come on folks they are mindless putting the vulnerable through a procedure or program – they think the program rules are the ethical and moral end point.
What you got in Keene with the human service agencies is an extremely inclusive and inbred culture –these employees are extremely fearful of cutbacks –and all the employees perceived the area as having very little other employment opportunities.
My understanding is the managers of the programs have extraordinary powers –fire at will in NH –they got the power to blackball the employees in all the human service jobs throughout the area –they intimidated the employees with that. We got a pervasive abuse of power issue coming form Concord and the politicians –going through the local bureaucrats.
So what you got is a highly dysfunctional, extraordinary abuse of power issue here –and all the employees refuse to tell you what is really going on –or worst yet, as an employment survival tactic, they had to isolate themselves from the realities –thus they can’t perceive accurately anymore. They are all playing they game of framing the story to meet some external needs.
I still can’t figure out what the needs of the newspaper is –my understanding they go though reporters quicker than diarrhea –maybe they just don’t have the skills and the relationship experience –but I have the fear that they don’t want to dig in and find the “not happy” stories, in there search for revenues from the advertisers.
Collectively they have made this population invisible…. And that is always a percurser to "Crimes Against Humanity" –that means the whole community and nobody is innicence…
Saturday, February 05, 2005Region assessing latest HUD cuts
KAREN SANBORNSentinel Staff
The latest round of punctures in the federal Section 8 housing program have left housing authorities all around the country plugging holes, but New Hampshire appears to have emerged relatively unscathed.
Section 8 is the name of the program that provides housing-choice vouchers to low-income families and elderly people, who then lease safe, decent and affordable rental housing.
The vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies, which receive money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to run the program.
Though the department’s budget for vouchers increased in 2005, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group, says the increase doesn’t keep up with the rising cost of rental housing.
Last week, David A. Vargas, director of HUD’s voucher program, sent a letter to housing authorities, saying Congress set aside $13.4 billion for the program when it needs $13.9 billion to run.
That’s a 4 percent chop that may not sound like much, said P. Curtis Hiebertn, director of the Keene Housing Authority, but it means tens of thousands of people won’t get vouchers this year.
The cuts didn’t surprise Keith F. Thibault, director of housing and economic development for Southwestern Community Services.
“We’re seeing it all over the place,” Thibault said. “They’re particularly exacerbated in the Northeast because housing costs are so high.”
While the 4 percent squeeze has sent housing authorities scrambling in New York City and Boston, it appears New Hampshire will do better.
“We came out pretty even,” said Jane Law, communications administrator for the N.H. Housing Finance Authority, which covers towns that have no housing authorities. “We’re still sort of analyzing what it means for us as we break it down, area by area. But we should be able to keep things as fairly status quo.”
That’s because the federal housing department applies an inflation formula that affects each state differently, Law said. On average, New Hampshire experiences a 5 percent inflation rate, which translates roughly into breaking even, Law said.
But she said if the finance authority does end up losing federal money, vouchers simply won’t be issued to new families this year.
Like New Hampshire, the Keene Housing Authority avoided the federal pinch because it’s conducting a special pilot program called Moving to Work.
Rather than providing 70 percent of rental payments year after year to low-income tenants, the way most housing authorities do, Keene’s operates on a graduated system.
Each year for about five years, the authority’s contribution to rental payments decreases until the voucher-holder is prepared to move on. All the while, Hiebert said, the authority helps families straighten out credit reports and develop work and school skills.
Hiebert said the program saves taxpayers money and also helps 40 more families than the authority could under the traditional Section 8 system.
The Keene Housing Authority now has 440 vouchers out.
Hiebert attended a conference in Miami last week to talk about how the pilot program works.
He said the hope is that the federal department will be able to start the graduated system everywhere, because it’s more flexible, less complicated and less expensive than the programs of the past.
I’ve updated the 2/6 entry –what I added is very important -you should read it again.
New 2/6
So here I sit in Maine. I was glad to leave my house today -I love driving- it is a distraction about the worries with my community.
I get in my tractor trailer truck -I think I haven't eaten yet today. I stop in the Boston Market right off the I 93 interstate in Concord NH. I didn't get far at all -maybe 1.5 hours down the road. It's about 3PM. I can see the capital buiding's from the highway.
I walk in the restaurant. I notice right off the bat that there are two people in a corner table -one in a wheel chair. I notice the person in the wheelchair is rather small, about 100 pounds, but she seems rather old with grey hair. She's about in her 50"s -her attendant is about 25 years old. I can tell right off the bat that she has cerebral palsy palsy(CP) by looking at her face and the positions of her hands. I walk past them as I got to go the bathroom.
I notice the woman in the wheelchair quickly turn towards me, she looks me right in the eyes with a big bright smile. I smile back at her. I've got a lot of experience with making a snap judgment on how bright a disabled person is. You know this is off the cuff judgment -isn't not always right. I think she is kind bright if you know what I mean. I leave the bathroom -and her head and her bright eyes are still following me.
I taken many of the disabled into Boston Chicken throughout the area. I have taken a few adults who were extremely low functioning into Boston Markets. Would I have funny stories to tell.
So I get my dinner -I sit a few tables on the side of them. I recognize them as a personal care attendant and a disabled. You see, I know how amazingly special it can be out in the public on a Sunday afternoon eating in a public establishment with the disabled.
I start picking up a one way conversation -"did you have enough to eat". Then I hear -"you didn't get enough to eat -I can't believe somebody as small as you could want more?' You always eat more that your size. There is no effort to get any more food or desert. I pick up a strange tone of talk with the attendant.
A few minute laters I hear a series of question from the attendant, who is this, what is that. I look up at their table, it has lots of papers and pictures on the table. I think isn't that nice talking about pictures -but the tone of her questions are bothering me. I am beginning to see that the attendant is frustrated about something. I hear no talk from the woman in the wheelchair -I don't think she is able to speak -may be signing of some sorts. I get the feeling the attendant is overbearing.
I see the CP woman beginning to move her hands down to the chair wheels. I see she is trying to unlock the brakes. She is having some difficulty getting to it -but she unlocks the wheels. I watch her push away from the table -she gets about a few feet away. I think the CP women is done -she wants to go out or home. I hear the attendant say quite condenscending, loundly, you can't just run around in a restraurant, you know that. She just grabs the wheelchair and pushes it back to the table.
I notice this young attendant woman has a short height -and she is huge weight wise. She is dress nice in slacks. I get the vibs she is pushy and extremely self centered. I think with her huge weight -she has distrupted relationships. She is most likely a single woman who doesn't have very many relationships -her whole world is about taking care of the disabled. I know for a fact she doesn't have much interpersonal skills -she is immature and dysfuctional herself -she is not at all empathetic and perceptive -she is just a cheap caretaker who probaly doesn't have much of a vision in herself. She is in a dead end job and that is the best that she is going to be able to do.
Can you imagine living with a disability with all these banal slights- all of these dysfuctional and inmature caregivers -who have a innate need to treat the disabled as a juvenile -to elevate a dysfuctional attendant's life into something it is not. I seen this all the time folks.
The employees don't get a lot of money -there is no benefits -they don't have any status in society -their employer treats them with disrespect and as slave. There is an extremely high percentage of the population of the caregivers who are dysfuctional -they are cheap to hire, easy to mold as emplyees -and the inmature employees have a innate need to control another person life -it makes them feel big. The turnover of employees should be a clear signal to us. You understand -the first line managers are a breed of dysfuction apart too.
Why don't I see a nuclear engineer or rocket scientist working as a care attendant and the resultant professionalism?
I haven’t fully developed this yet –but here is an early perception. I’ve always wondered about this –is it because of the poor economics we end up this high proportion of the dysfunctional population in the care of the disabled, or is something more intelligent going on.
I am reminded of the industrial meat slaughter houses when they hire the powerless illegal emigrants, where the UN says this sets up the working conditions of immoral secrecy and inhumanity, and where there is an enormous power mismatch between the employer and employee, because to the legal status of the emigrant.
In the absence of governmental oversight –are the human service contractors intentionally hiring the dysfunctional in our population such that the contractors and even the government itself ends up with a similar power mismatch – where the mangers of the care of the disabled knowingly do this to maintain a immoral employee and disabled culture. So for the contractor and governmental overseers, indeed the governmental managers of state facility; do they know that the dysfunctional are easily manipulated; does the intellectually dysfunctional have a hard time using the governmental instruments of employee and disabled protection.
I am telling you for a fact they have to hire a morally dysfunctional manager –one who knows that our government isn’t providing adequate money and training for the care of the disabled. These first contact managers knows that in many ways they are operating in an illegal manner –not meeting all the rules. They know the state overseers can come around to selectively, persecute a particular business and any employee in the care of the disabled in the singular defense of an official’s and politicians self interest. I am telling for the fact that for no other reasons than to protect an official's career’interest –when all the bureaucrats and politicians know the system is overstuffed with legal, policy and rules violation on a day to day basics.
I mean these people (employees) don’t need to see in right and wrong filtered through the bureaucratic processes of policy and rules violation… but they can’t see it even in that. They, and we, should see it in the atrocious behavior maladjustments… could see it in preventable illnesses, sickness, excess hospitalization, pain of the disabled and excess doctor’s fees …could see it in the preventable deaths of many thousands and in the wastage of tax payer’s monies on a grand scale.
You see what I am getting at, in defense of this stinking rotten putrid system, it is at the interest of the immoral system to hire dysfunctional employees – it is at the interest of the system when known rule violation becomes seen to the outsiders –you get the compliant dysfunctional employees who you can charge with a rule violation– he is making that violation because of a lack of education, status and resources -these scape goats protects the whole rotten system.
Few people have ever experience this –I try to explain it best I can. So you might be taking care of a low functioning Downs syndrome 15 year old child –I could make the case that the majority of low functioning behaviors is created by the system –don’t think these might be soft behaviors –but like hitting and frustrations with a lack of communication skills. So in this selfless mindset you are taking care of our most vulnerable population; our whole society might have abandoned them; and you might have in your background being employed in a highly dysfunctional and abusive children’s institution -even god and the state has abandoned them.
In my-your head, I’ve never experience such a enormously overpowering emotion; you might be changing the diaper of an adult; you might be helping a 15 year old child showering :you are doing one of the most selfless acts that a human being can do on the face of this planet and you know it. I‘ve never felt such emotional exuberance and inebriation in my life. It is not hopeless inebriation –you need the resources, skills and education to tame these raw emotions.
Can you see the embers of a human abuse violation of a magnitude that is unimaginable? Can you see ABU GHRAIB? Can’t you see how you could do it yourself! We are not all that far, each one of us, from those ovens…
So you become embedded into these dysfunctional bureaucracies with very little structures like rules and adequate resources. Chaos ensues, order must be maintained, the outsiders know this… So secrete special rules are created outside the system that are justified… rationalized … normalized… then there becomes special rules that you create for yourselves … You create order… stability…the outsiders recognize… they then back out of it… they distant themselves from it … they create plausible deniability…everyone knows all the way up that we don’t have enough resources, people, training… I got my family and career as my primary concern … mistakes are made… covered up…accepted as normal…the system is so dysfunctional I got to do this to survive…Everyone else is doing it –who am I to stop it… So we create a systems of mindless rules… violations leak out…more rules…more scape goats…more isolation of the managers …depression …indifference …hopelessness…a continuous stream of new employees…training and skills decline…not enough resources…not meeting the requirements…more cover-ups…more cover-ups…more cover-ups… All in the name of survival and in the interest of my family… A darkening cloud descends on you…you end up picking up isolated rules in defense of your immorality, in defense of your company…in defense of your oversight responsibilities… in defense of your political management responsibilities…all in the name of your family…your career … the public wants it… so does the nation and endeed the world...
….most of all in defense of that wonderful spiritual feeling of selflessly taking care for the disabled….
Then you have another type of employee…many times these are empty nested housewife’s… Those who have devoted their whole lives into selfless giving to their family ... who created magnificent children and communities… and who have served their husbands without question. These women have nothing to do –they have an empty house with nothing to do…never worked outside the house …I am now a useless person with nothing to do… So you get a job as keeper of the disabled…you are giving again… you are magnificently giving again… you are needed…everyone depends on you…….I am somebody again…. You see then nothing alse manners; you don’t care about how much money and benefits you make, your husbane has taken care of you, you don’t care to care about the structure of the system behind your company… the overseers… If see something that is wrong you fix it… you become indespencible… Your company uses you as a role moddle –endeed they show you off to the public and the governmetnal overseers.
Then it becomes why aren’t all the employees like you…why are the rest of our employees so money grubbing and selfish…so demanding of dignity… why aren’t they selflessly satisfied with giving to the helpless and vulerable…
….So then we got to make all our employees like you… and undermine everthing that is good about human dignity in the name of selfless alturism…
I’ve been picking on the female dysfuction a lot in the last few days, The majority of caregivers are female. The male game goes like I am a failure to even be working in this industry –so I don’t care about anything….
"Evil is never "radical," ...it is only extreme, and... it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension... It is "thought- defying"...because thought tries to reach some depth, to go to the roots, and the moment it concerns itself with evil, it is frustrated because there is nothing. That is its "banality."Hannah Arendt, 1964"
New 2/6---
Right, we are feeding into our culture of ego expansion -into our media training of turning our world towards -holding our world hostage singlely to our indivegual self interested needs. The end point is the CEO of Enron: where the moral philosophy of my enormous needs of self appreciation ends up being the driver of benefiting the world; effectively give me a billion dollars, this would make the world better.
New 2/6---
You understand what is at the root of this is? It is the horrendous primal fear in all of us with: what if it was me. That is why we don’t want to look at it –indeed we can’t look at it.
You can’t sell a consumer product with that! You see how our consumer culture fits into this?
Oh man I got colors here!
New 2/6 ---
Wait a minute –I am putting the newspapers in a juvenile role – that they are just blindlessly banging around the issues without purpose. If I put them in a more significant mature role –it means they are highly attuned to the needs of their community and the advertisers. I mean they know what product the public and advertisers want -to maximize the circulation of the paper. So if I was an editor –I’d want to game the stories such that it would enhance the circulation and not disturb their long term relationships with my friends and community leaders –thus that enhances the economic value of my business.
Yep, it’s always more about the seemingly rational system relationships and economics. It’s never nothing personal. It’s what I found in all of the huge scandals I’ve been involved in.
It’s always about the good people –and very little about the crooks. One wonders what role the non profits and state agencies play in shaping the stories of the vulnerable in the newspapers. You see what I am getting at, it’s always ends up with enhancing the public imagine of the businesses, governmental agencies and non profits…the liberals –because image primarily drives careers and funding…..profits….it’s never about telling the truth and protecting the lives of those who are least able to take care of themselves.
Are we involved in creating a phony and falsified image for the whole state of Hew Hampshire in defense of our incomes and self interest?
You catch what I am getting at here –it’s a pervasive immoral system in which the good people are involved -in they are making invisible a segment of our society. The happy good people, the ones who shape and speak for the system, the one who speak for the vulnerable, the one who in the name of the vulnerable only speak for their own self interest and the interest of the self interested dysfunctional system that they are entrained in.
So the media and newspapers are dysfunctionally responding to the public wants of making invisible a segment of the population –it a pervasive immoral system that we are all involved in. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
I have no faith that this community will be able to drag themselves out of the hole they dug for themselves. The community is under enormous economic pressures, which are at the bottom of this. They think they can only feed three of their four children –better it be not one of their own children –but a nameless powerless huttled child in the corner.
It truly is “Crimes Against Humanity” here –and the whole community is involved in this immoral and unconscionable act…..
I hope the United Nations gets involved …indeed I pray for that…because we can’t handle it ourselves…
..........
This is the symptom of a pervasive regional disease. What the reporter tried asking -was how are the vulnerable doing with housing –what the bureaucrats interpreted it as - was how competent are we in doing our job and how competent is our organization at housing the specific population of the vulnerable -notice we aren’t talking about housing the "whole" vulnerable population. Of course they are going to say in their words; we are doing a great job and the all the vulnerable are humanly taken care of –we deserve to keep our jobs.
They are not talking truthful and fully. You’ll notice there is no talk about after their 5 years in public housing and all that help –how effective is that program. Come on folks they are mindless putting the vulnerable through a procedure or program – they think the program rules are the ethical and moral end point.
What you got in Keene with the human service agencies is an extremely inclusive and inbred culture –these employees are extremely fearful of cutbacks –and all the employees perceived the area as having very little other employment opportunities.
My understanding is the managers of the programs have extraordinary powers –fire at will in NH –they got the power to blackball the employees in all the human service jobs throughout the area –they intimidated the employees with that. We got a pervasive abuse of power issue coming form Concord and the politicians –going through the local bureaucrats.
So what you got is a highly dysfunctional, extraordinary abuse of power issue here –and all the employees refuse to tell you what is really going on –or worst yet, as an employment survival tactic, they had to isolate themselves from the realities –thus they can’t perceive accurately anymore. They are all playing they game of framing the story to meet some external needs.
I still can’t figure out what the needs of the newspaper is –my understanding they go though reporters quicker than diarrhea –maybe they just don’t have the skills and the relationship experience –but I have the fear that they don’t want to dig in and find the “not happy” stories, in there search for revenues from the advertisers.
Collectively they have made this population invisible…. And that is always a percurser to "Crimes Against Humanity" –that means the whole community and nobody is innicence…
Saturday, February 05, 2005Region assessing latest HUD cuts
KAREN SANBORNSentinel Staff
The latest round of punctures in the federal Section 8 housing program have left housing authorities all around the country plugging holes, but New Hampshire appears to have emerged relatively unscathed.
Section 8 is the name of the program that provides housing-choice vouchers to low-income families and elderly people, who then lease safe, decent and affordable rental housing.
The vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies, which receive money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to run the program.
Though the department’s budget for vouchers increased in 2005, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group, says the increase doesn’t keep up with the rising cost of rental housing.
Last week, David A. Vargas, director of HUD’s voucher program, sent a letter to housing authorities, saying Congress set aside $13.4 billion for the program when it needs $13.9 billion to run.
That’s a 4 percent chop that may not sound like much, said P. Curtis Hiebertn, director of the Keene Housing Authority, but it means tens of thousands of people won’t get vouchers this year.
The cuts didn’t surprise Keith F. Thibault, director of housing and economic development for Southwestern Community Services.
“We’re seeing it all over the place,” Thibault said. “They’re particularly exacerbated in the Northeast because housing costs are so high.”
While the 4 percent squeeze has sent housing authorities scrambling in New York City and Boston, it appears New Hampshire will do better.
“We came out pretty even,” said Jane Law, communications administrator for the N.H. Housing Finance Authority, which covers towns that have no housing authorities. “We’re still sort of analyzing what it means for us as we break it down, area by area. But we should be able to keep things as fairly status quo.”
That’s because the federal housing department applies an inflation formula that affects each state differently, Law said. On average, New Hampshire experiences a 5 percent inflation rate, which translates roughly into breaking even, Law said.
But she said if the finance authority does end up losing federal money, vouchers simply won’t be issued to new families this year.
Like New Hampshire, the Keene Housing Authority avoided the federal pinch because it’s conducting a special pilot program called Moving to Work.
Rather than providing 70 percent of rental payments year after year to low-income tenants, the way most housing authorities do, Keene’s operates on a graduated system.
Each year for about five years, the authority’s contribution to rental payments decreases until the voucher-holder is prepared to move on. All the while, Hiebert said, the authority helps families straighten out credit reports and develop work and school skills.
Hiebert said the program saves taxpayers money and also helps 40 more families than the authority could under the traditional Section 8 system.
The Keene Housing Authority now has 440 vouchers out.
Hiebert attended a conference in Miami last week to talk about how the pilot program works.
He said the hope is that the federal department will be able to start the graduated system everywhere, because it’s more flexible, less complicated and less expensive than the programs of the past.
Rooming houses flirt with disaster
Anybody who knows anything about the mentally disabled knows a large percentage of them smoke incessantly, usually has a eating disordered, the care of them in their formative years are so negligent –how does smoking interact with their approved drugs. Haved you checked out their average life span.
So what you got is these disabled housed in horrible deficient quarters, we got a huge failure to enforce our fire codes –they got a mental deficiency that creates dysfunctional behavior like smoking in bed and on the couch.
Like I said, this isn’t Bush’s fault –it built up in the democratic years of Clinton. I hold the democrats more responsible than the republicans
Lets play make believe. Let’s say our country is led by a dictator, and we live in tyranny without our beautiful constitution. Say the care of the disabled and tumoiled children in this mythical tyranny was equivalent to what we have here today in our great country. I wonder what we would think of this dictator in relationship to the care of the disabled –I wonder what we would think of that nation system which that fueled such inhumanity.
So does democracy defuse accountability –is that the major short coming in how we play democracy in this country. Does it come down to we got freedom –but we have no systematic accountability in our system…….
So like our disabled friends, we have the freedom to smoke as we please –but we don’t have the intellectually ability and upbringing/ training to control our behaviors –we can’t understand of the horrible death toll and personal risk of a painful death. So, we have the freedom to self regulate ourselves, and we have the freedom to treat any segment of our collective society as we see fit -exspecially if they take money out of our pockets.
I wonder did they consider any special circumstances on the tobaco law suites with the particular problems of the disabled and smoking –shall we talk about all they time they mindlessly sit in front of the TV.
Rooming houses flirt with disasterBy BILL TORPY, CRAIG SCHNEIDERThe Atlanta Journal-
ConstitutionPublished on: 02/05/05
A fire that raged through a rooming house this week sent two men to the morgue and two others to the hospital.
It also brought to harsh light a nagging problem for Atlanta: the proliferation of illegal, unsafe boardinghouses.
JOHN SPINK/AJC STAFF
(ENLARGE)
Atlanta police Detective J. Morales and boardinghouse operator Lucy Dessesseau walk off to talk in front of the burned home where two residents died in a blaze this week.
EMAIL THISPRINT THISMOST POPULAR
Residents and officials complain that such dwellings operate below the radar of the city government and endanger people by clustering drug addicts, alcoholics and unstable people under one roof.
They also acknowledge that a shortage of affordable housing in Atlanta makes operating such houses profitable.
The northwest Atlanta rooming house that burned, according to the woman who ran it, was a haven for eight men, most with mental and physical problems — a place that sheltered society's castoffs and kept them off the streets.
For $400 a month, the men got a room in a rundown cinder-block duplex. There was a padlock on the refrigerator — but no smoke detector.
Lucy Dessesseau, who started renting the duplex last April for about $600 a month, said a city zoning official told her she could sublet to six people on each side of the building.
"If I was doing anything illegal, the city would have told me," she said.
The men she rents to, she said, are "high functioning. They can take care of themselves."
She said she has known some of them for years. "I did good with them. They love me."
Citations issued
On Friday, Atlanta police cited Dessesseau for operating a boardinghouse without a permit and a business without a license.
Dessesseau acknowledged that the two-story dwelling on Akridge Street did not have a smoke detector when one of the boarders turned on the stove burners at 3 a.m. Wednesday and fell asleep. A pan of food caught fire, and the sleeping man and another resident died. Two more residents were injured, one critically.
After serving papers on Dessesseau, police went to the house next door, which also rents to a number of unrelated people. Terry Wilson was cited for operating an illegal rooming house.
City Councilman Ivory Young, whose district includes the two houses, contended the citations to Dessesseau were "a slap on the wrist."
"People died because of negligence," he said. "This is not over."
Neighborhoods in his district have a "huge number" of illegal dwellings that "are very difficult to monitor because from all appearances, they are single-family houses," the councilman said.
"We need a massive effort to address the condition and use of property, address by address in the city," Young said.
He said some property investors exploit the shortage of affordable housing in such areas and maximize their profit by subdividing the dwellings. "The investor sees an opportunity to rent out as many rooms as possible at the cost to the neighbors around it," the councilman said. "There's such a market for these types of houses that they are filled to the brim."
Accident waiting
Both of the Akridge Street homes cited Friday are owned by Gordon Irvine, who owns and manages about 100 properties. He said he knew Dessesseau was going to sublet the duplex, which he said he had not visited for a while.
Residents at the other home cited said there was a fire there last year after a resident left bagels in a toaster oven. No one was hurt. Debra Lurry, 53, who has lived there about six months, said the incident left her wary.
"I'm scared to go to sleep. I'm scared they'll burn it up in there," said Lurry, who pays $100 a week for a room there with her husband. She said the two-story home, which she said houses as many as nine people, has holes in the walls, burn marks near an electrical outlet and heating problems.
As for the fatal fire next door, she said, "I've been looking for this to happen."
Wilson complained he was being singled out by police. He said the practice he was cited for is occurring all over the neighborhood. "Why are you picking on this house?" he asked. Wilson pointed across the street and said, "There's one over there and there and there and there."
Makeda Johnson, who is chairwoman of a nearby neighborhood planning unit, said such dwellings "increase the transient population, they destabilize the community."
"How do they pay their rent? How do they get their money?" she asked. "The community becomes prey."
A city task force last year mapped the rooming and personal care homes that had permits. Data analyst James Henderson, an engineer with a Midtown tech company who worked as a volunteer with the task force, said he found 323 such homes, plus 114 homeless shelters, clustered throughout the northwest and south sides of Atlanta.
And those were "just the ones we know about," he said. The dwelling that burned and the one next door were not on the map, Henderson noted.
How many more are there?
"I don't know the answer to that question," he said. "That's the scary part. They come to light when they burn down."
'It's a pandemic'
Officials in the mayor's office, the building department and the code enforcement offices did not respond to repeated calls to answer questions about rooming houses.
Kline Driver, who renovated several such buildings in northwest Atlanta, said, "If the city cracked down they'd put thousands [of people] out on the streets. It's a pandemic down there."
Driver said the habits of residents in many of the dwellings, coupled with the crumbling facilities, make disasters inevitable. "It's a miracle we don't have 10 of these burning down a night," Driver said.
At the two houses cited Friday, at least 10 crimes have been reported to police in the last three years, including rape, aggravated assault and the selling of cocaine.
Johnson, the NPU chairwoman, said cracking down on such housing creates other problems.
"These must be shut down, but the problem is, where do these people go?" she asked. "It's a Catch-22. You can't just throw them out. They're going to end up on the street. They're going to end up under bridges."
Dessesseau took some of the survivors of the fire to a personal care home she runs nearby. That business, which is licensed by the state, was inspected a year ago by the Department of Human Resources and cited for having failed to conduct fire and disaster drills.
A last resort
On Friday, the burned home was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. A stuffed animal and a cloth heart had been placed in the corner of a broken window.
Police have allowed Wilson to continue operating the rooming house next door, for the time being.
The residents there — a mix of people with mental and physical aliments, and people just struggling to get by — spoke of the troubles of the place, and possibly finding another place to live.
"I don't like rooming houses," said Clynette Creamer, 46. She and her husband were removing their belongings to go elsewhere.
She said one resident often kept two children at the house, a girl about 12 and a boy slightly younger. "I wouldn't want my kids here," she said.
Joseph Hill, 42, sat on the porch of the rooming house, nervously scratching his beard.
"Where am I going to go?" he asked.
So what you got is these disabled housed in horrible deficient quarters, we got a huge failure to enforce our fire codes –they got a mental deficiency that creates dysfunctional behavior like smoking in bed and on the couch.
Like I said, this isn’t Bush’s fault –it built up in the democratic years of Clinton. I hold the democrats more responsible than the republicans
Lets play make believe. Let’s say our country is led by a dictator, and we live in tyranny without our beautiful constitution. Say the care of the disabled and tumoiled children in this mythical tyranny was equivalent to what we have here today in our great country. I wonder what we would think of this dictator in relationship to the care of the disabled –I wonder what we would think of that nation system which that fueled such inhumanity.
So does democracy defuse accountability –is that the major short coming in how we play democracy in this country. Does it come down to we got freedom –but we have no systematic accountability in our system…….
So like our disabled friends, we have the freedom to smoke as we please –but we don’t have the intellectually ability and upbringing/ training to control our behaviors –we can’t understand of the horrible death toll and personal risk of a painful death. So, we have the freedom to self regulate ourselves, and we have the freedom to treat any segment of our collective society as we see fit -exspecially if they take money out of our pockets.
I wonder did they consider any special circumstances on the tobaco law suites with the particular problems of the disabled and smoking –shall we talk about all they time they mindlessly sit in front of the TV.
Rooming houses flirt with disasterBy BILL TORPY, CRAIG SCHNEIDERThe Atlanta Journal-
ConstitutionPublished on: 02/05/05
A fire that raged through a rooming house this week sent two men to the morgue and two others to the hospital.
It also brought to harsh light a nagging problem for Atlanta: the proliferation of illegal, unsafe boardinghouses.
JOHN SPINK/AJC STAFF
(ENLARGE)
Atlanta police Detective J. Morales and boardinghouse operator Lucy Dessesseau walk off to talk in front of the burned home where two residents died in a blaze this week.
EMAIL THISPRINT THISMOST POPULAR
Residents and officials complain that such dwellings operate below the radar of the city government and endanger people by clustering drug addicts, alcoholics and unstable people under one roof.
They also acknowledge that a shortage of affordable housing in Atlanta makes operating such houses profitable.
The northwest Atlanta rooming house that burned, according to the woman who ran it, was a haven for eight men, most with mental and physical problems — a place that sheltered society's castoffs and kept them off the streets.
For $400 a month, the men got a room in a rundown cinder-block duplex. There was a padlock on the refrigerator — but no smoke detector.
Lucy Dessesseau, who started renting the duplex last April for about $600 a month, said a city zoning official told her she could sublet to six people on each side of the building.
"If I was doing anything illegal, the city would have told me," she said.
The men she rents to, she said, are "high functioning. They can take care of themselves."
She said she has known some of them for years. "I did good with them. They love me."
Citations issued
On Friday, Atlanta police cited Dessesseau for operating a boardinghouse without a permit and a business without a license.
Dessesseau acknowledged that the two-story dwelling on Akridge Street did not have a smoke detector when one of the boarders turned on the stove burners at 3 a.m. Wednesday and fell asleep. A pan of food caught fire, and the sleeping man and another resident died. Two more residents were injured, one critically.
After serving papers on Dessesseau, police went to the house next door, which also rents to a number of unrelated people. Terry Wilson was cited for operating an illegal rooming house.
City Councilman Ivory Young, whose district includes the two houses, contended the citations to Dessesseau were "a slap on the wrist."
"People died because of negligence," he said. "This is not over."
Neighborhoods in his district have a "huge number" of illegal dwellings that "are very difficult to monitor because from all appearances, they are single-family houses," the councilman said.
"We need a massive effort to address the condition and use of property, address by address in the city," Young said.
He said some property investors exploit the shortage of affordable housing in such areas and maximize their profit by subdividing the dwellings. "The investor sees an opportunity to rent out as many rooms as possible at the cost to the neighbors around it," the councilman said. "There's such a market for these types of houses that they are filled to the brim."
Accident waiting
Both of the Akridge Street homes cited Friday are owned by Gordon Irvine, who owns and manages about 100 properties. He said he knew Dessesseau was going to sublet the duplex, which he said he had not visited for a while.
Residents at the other home cited said there was a fire there last year after a resident left bagels in a toaster oven. No one was hurt. Debra Lurry, 53, who has lived there about six months, said the incident left her wary.
"I'm scared to go to sleep. I'm scared they'll burn it up in there," said Lurry, who pays $100 a week for a room there with her husband. She said the two-story home, which she said houses as many as nine people, has holes in the walls, burn marks near an electrical outlet and heating problems.
As for the fatal fire next door, she said, "I've been looking for this to happen."
Wilson complained he was being singled out by police. He said the practice he was cited for is occurring all over the neighborhood. "Why are you picking on this house?" he asked. Wilson pointed across the street and said, "There's one over there and there and there and there."
Makeda Johnson, who is chairwoman of a nearby neighborhood planning unit, said such dwellings "increase the transient population, they destabilize the community."
"How do they pay their rent? How do they get their money?" she asked. "The community becomes prey."
A city task force last year mapped the rooming and personal care homes that had permits. Data analyst James Henderson, an engineer with a Midtown tech company who worked as a volunteer with the task force, said he found 323 such homes, plus 114 homeless shelters, clustered throughout the northwest and south sides of Atlanta.
And those were "just the ones we know about," he said. The dwelling that burned and the one next door were not on the map, Henderson noted.
How many more are there?
"I don't know the answer to that question," he said. "That's the scary part. They come to light when they burn down."
'It's a pandemic'
Officials in the mayor's office, the building department and the code enforcement offices did not respond to repeated calls to answer questions about rooming houses.
Kline Driver, who renovated several such buildings in northwest Atlanta, said, "If the city cracked down they'd put thousands [of people] out on the streets. It's a pandemic down there."
Driver said the habits of residents in many of the dwellings, coupled with the crumbling facilities, make disasters inevitable. "It's a miracle we don't have 10 of these burning down a night," Driver said.
At the two houses cited Friday, at least 10 crimes have been reported to police in the last three years, including rape, aggravated assault and the selling of cocaine.
Johnson, the NPU chairwoman, said cracking down on such housing creates other problems.
"These must be shut down, but the problem is, where do these people go?" she asked. "It's a Catch-22. You can't just throw them out. They're going to end up on the street. They're going to end up under bridges."
Dessesseau took some of the survivors of the fire to a personal care home she runs nearby. That business, which is licensed by the state, was inspected a year ago by the Department of Human Resources and cited for having failed to conduct fire and disaster drills.
A last resort
On Friday, the burned home was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. A stuffed animal and a cloth heart had been placed in the corner of a broken window.
Police have allowed Wilson to continue operating the rooming house next door, for the time being.
The residents there — a mix of people with mental and physical aliments, and people just struggling to get by — spoke of the troubles of the place, and possibly finding another place to live.
"I don't like rooming houses," said Clynette Creamer, 46. She and her husband were removing their belongings to go elsewhere.
She said one resident often kept two children at the house, a girl about 12 and a boy slightly younger. "I wouldn't want my kids here," she said.
Joseph Hill, 42, sat on the porch of the rooming house, nervously scratching his beard.
"Where am I going to go?" he asked.
Friday, February 04, 2005
People Power Gets to G7
"The task will not be easy, Mandela said. ''But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.''
DEVELOPMENT:People Power Gets to G7
Sanjay Suri Nelson Mandela, 86, needed no support when he walked up to address thousands at Trafalgar Square in London Thursday. He had the support of a cheering crowd, and of one of the most powerful movements ever to gather against world poverty.
LONDON, Feb 3 (IPS) - Nelson Mandela, 86, needed no support when he walked up to address thousands at Trafalgar Square in London Thursday. He had the support of a cheering crowd, and of one of the most powerful movements ever to gather against world poverty.
Mandela spoke at Trafalgar Square -- London's traditional venue for people to make a political statement -- on the eve of the meeting Friday and Saturday of finance ministers from the G7 countries (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan). He was carrying a message for that meeting, and succeeded before it began.
Steps to counter poverty are already set to dominate the G7 meeting. Traditionally G7 finance ministers are more given to talk of exchange rates and macro multinational issues.
What Mandela says counts, and behind Mandela spoke about 220 British civil society groups who invited him to the Trafalgar Square rally. The British groups came together late last year in a campaign 'Make Poverty History'.
''Many of us realised that 2005 is going to be an important year to campaign against poverty,'' Lysbeth Holdoway from Oxfam who has been working with the Make Poverty History campaign told IPS Thursday. This year Britain has presidency of G8 (which includes also Russia) and will have presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of the year.
''So we have come together this year in UK and around the world to put pressure on governments to act,'' she said. The British movement is tied internationally into the Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty.
Mandela was invited to Trafalgar Square ''because he is such an important leader, and we know that if he came people would have to take action,'' Holdoway said.
The immediate result was that civil society, backed by all major trade unions and the Church of England, has managed at least in substantial measure to set the agenda for a G7 finance ministers' meeting.
''As you know, I recently formally announced my retirement from public life and should really not be here,'' Mandela said. ''However, as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.''
Mandela linked the new civil society campaign with his own campaign against apartheid. ''The Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty can take its place as a public movement alongside the movement to abolish slavery and the international solidarity against apartheid,'' he said.
Mandela told the wildly cheering crowd: ''I can never thank the people of Britain enough for their support through those days of the struggle against apartheid. . . . Through your will and passion, you assisted in consigning that evil system forever to history. But in this new century, millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free.''
There was more than emotion to Mandela's appeal. ''The steps that are needed from the developed nations are clear,'' he said. ''The first is ensuring trade justice. The second is an end to the debt crisis for the poorest countries. The third is to deliver much more aid and make sure it is of the highest quality.''
Mandela said finally: ''I say to all those (G7) leaders: do not look the other way; do not hesitate. Recognise that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act with courage and vision.'' Mandela was due to take his message directly to the ministers at a meeting with them Friday.
The task will not be easy, Mandela said. ''But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.''
The Mandela-civil society cocktail was made considerably stronger with support from Britain's chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown. Brown wants the ministers to extend a freeze on debt repayment by the tsunami-hit countries, and to take decisions to write off the debt of the poorest nations.
At the least Brown wants about 40 billion dollars owed by the poorest countries, most of them in Africa, to be completely written off. He is also looking for radical decisions on more fair trade rules and for a doubling of developmental aid.
Members of the Make Poverty History campaign point out that 2.8 billion people around the world live in poverty, and that 30,000 die from poverty- related causes every day
Britain last hosted the G8 meeting in Birmingham in 1998. An estimated 70,000 people came together then to form a human chain around the city centre to demand cancellation of unpayable debt.
DEVELOPMENT:People Power Gets to G7
Sanjay Suri Nelson Mandela, 86, needed no support when he walked up to address thousands at Trafalgar Square in London Thursday. He had the support of a cheering crowd, and of one of the most powerful movements ever to gather against world poverty.
LONDON, Feb 3 (IPS) - Nelson Mandela, 86, needed no support when he walked up to address thousands at Trafalgar Square in London Thursday. He had the support of a cheering crowd, and of one of the most powerful movements ever to gather against world poverty.
Mandela spoke at Trafalgar Square -- London's traditional venue for people to make a political statement -- on the eve of the meeting Friday and Saturday of finance ministers from the G7 countries (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan). He was carrying a message for that meeting, and succeeded before it began.
Steps to counter poverty are already set to dominate the G7 meeting. Traditionally G7 finance ministers are more given to talk of exchange rates and macro multinational issues.
What Mandela says counts, and behind Mandela spoke about 220 British civil society groups who invited him to the Trafalgar Square rally. The British groups came together late last year in a campaign 'Make Poverty History'.
''Many of us realised that 2005 is going to be an important year to campaign against poverty,'' Lysbeth Holdoway from Oxfam who has been working with the Make Poverty History campaign told IPS Thursday. This year Britain has presidency of G8 (which includes also Russia) and will have presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of the year.
''So we have come together this year in UK and around the world to put pressure on governments to act,'' she said. The British movement is tied internationally into the Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty.
Mandela was invited to Trafalgar Square ''because he is such an important leader, and we know that if he came people would have to take action,'' Holdoway said.
The immediate result was that civil society, backed by all major trade unions and the Church of England, has managed at least in substantial measure to set the agenda for a G7 finance ministers' meeting.
''As you know, I recently formally announced my retirement from public life and should really not be here,'' Mandela said. ''However, as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.''
Mandela linked the new civil society campaign with his own campaign against apartheid. ''The Global Campaign for Action Against Poverty can take its place as a public movement alongside the movement to abolish slavery and the international solidarity against apartheid,'' he said.
Mandela told the wildly cheering crowd: ''I can never thank the people of Britain enough for their support through those days of the struggle against apartheid. . . . Through your will and passion, you assisted in consigning that evil system forever to history. But in this new century, millions of people in the world's poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free.''
There was more than emotion to Mandela's appeal. ''The steps that are needed from the developed nations are clear,'' he said. ''The first is ensuring trade justice. The second is an end to the debt crisis for the poorest countries. The third is to deliver much more aid and make sure it is of the highest quality.''
Mandela said finally: ''I say to all those (G7) leaders: do not look the other way; do not hesitate. Recognise that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act with courage and vision.'' Mandela was due to take his message directly to the ministers at a meeting with them Friday.
The task will not be easy, Mandela said. ''But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.''
The Mandela-civil society cocktail was made considerably stronger with support from Britain's chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown. Brown wants the ministers to extend a freeze on debt repayment by the tsunami-hit countries, and to take decisions to write off the debt of the poorest nations.
At the least Brown wants about 40 billion dollars owed by the poorest countries, most of them in Africa, to be completely written off. He is also looking for radical decisions on more fair trade rules and for a doubling of developmental aid.
Members of the Make Poverty History campaign point out that 2.8 billion people around the world live in poverty, and that 30,000 die from poverty- related causes every day
Britain last hosted the G8 meeting in Birmingham in 1998. An estimated 70,000 people came together then to form a human chain around the city centre to demand cancellation of unpayable debt.
Pollutants go down drain
New --Sorry meant regional head of EPA New England not the top dog!.......
So up to 80% or more flow of a stream or river can come from from all of the sewage plant sources. I got a paper and pulp corporation in a lot of trouble back in the summer of 1999 -I ended up bankrupting the corporation. New England was in a historic drought at the time –the Ashuelot river had record breaking low flow conditions –and this plant was turning the river waters milky white. The CEO was defrauding the banks and the stockholders to the tune of 400 million dollars –such that they didn’t have enough money to invest in pollution control. I posed the question to the state of New Hampshire –what percentage of the water coming from Ashuelot River is coming from non natural sources. They started an investigation on the river pollution loads in low flow conditions. They said the pollution load is based on a 10 year average low flow conditions -thus the limits are based on the low flows during that period. The state pollution expert said the current river flow is way below the analyzed worst case low flow. I began asking him about how this facility is characterized in state and federal regulation –I had not a clue how the state and EPA controlled the pollution from any of these facilities. He told me these facilities are controlled from a federal permit process that is periodically renewed. I had to pump him for information–he didn’t volunteer anything!!! So I asked him, when was the last time the Winchester NH American Tissue permit was renewed? He said the permit was many years out of date –they don’t have enough resources for the state to renew the permitted. So I asked him, that these companies could be using all sorts of chemical that wasn’t contained in the out of date permits. So I’d asked him how widespread is this problem in New England –he said you don’t want to know –it’s huge. You understand what was happening here, the government was intentionally withholding resources for the permitting processes –such that the permit holders could pump more pollutants into our river and streams. Shortly after the EPA admitted there was a wide spread permitting problems –there was a tremendous back log of out of date pollution permits throughout NE – and the head of the EPA stepped down.
We had a democrat for a president at the time: President Clinton......
Wonder what the percentage of the water in a river system gets recycled through a water user -say a factory -we had historic high water temps too.
"Bill Zawiski, an aquatic biologist for the Ohio EPA, said PPCP pollution appears to be most severe in streams such as Tinkers Creek that are dominated by sewage plants. As much as 80 percent of the flow of 33-mile Tinkers Creek goes through one of the eight sewage plants in that watershed, Zawiski said."
Posted on Fri, Feb. 04, 2005
Pollutants go down drain
Medicines, household chemicals flow into creeks; Ohio studies effect on fish
By Bob DowningBeacon Journal staff writer
Tinkers Creek is a pretty, tree-lined stream that meanders through southern Cuyahoga and northern Summit and Portage counties. Its water quality is considered good, and it should be a good habitat for wildlife.
So where are all the fish?
Despite improved water quality, the fish population in this Cuyahoga River tributary has not improved in the last 20 years.
Now the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is looking at whether the culprit is a newwater-pollution threat: tiny amounts of thousands of chemicals widely used in medications, beauty aids, cleaners and foods. These substances include caffeine, cotinine (from tobacco products), antibiotics, contraceptives, painkillers, antidepressants, hormones, steroids, chemotherapy drugs, insect repellents, veterinary medicines, soaps, perfumes, plasticizers and fire retardants.
``It's an emerging concern,'' said Steve Tuckerman, a water expert with the EPA. ``We don't know yet if it's a `Hey!' kind of problem or a `Holy s---!' kind of problem. There's a lot of work still to be done. But it's a problem that we're going to be dealing with for a long, long time.''
Trace amounts of chemicals -- known as pharmaceutical and personal care pollutants (PPCPs) -- enter wastewater from toilets, showers and sinks.
Americans spend an estimated $190 billion a year on prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Experts say that 50 percent to 90 percent of ingested drugs are excreted from the body in still-potent form.
The antidepressant Prozac, for example, frequently turns up in streams draining high-income suburban communities.
These PPCPs survive in wastewater even after it is treated and disinfected. Sewage plants don't screen for such materials and can remove some but not all of them. State and federal regulations generally don't address their disposal.
`Pandora's box'
The chemicals -- measured in parts per trillion or parts per billion -- are bioactive, meaning they can enter the bioprocesses of living organisms, especially aquatic species.
``It's a real Pandora's box,'' said Michael McGlinchy, director of Akron's Public Utilities Bureau.
``It's a very serious issue, and one that we need to know more about.... It's definitely going to get more attention and study in the coming years. It's a problem we're just learning about.''
Although the chemicals have been in waterways for decades, they are just starting to get serious study from scientists. They are considered ``emerging contaminants'' and the next bigwater-pollution problem.
Scientists have more questions about the presence of the substances in the water supply than answers. They are unable to say how great a threat such chemicals pose at low levels and what threat might be created by combinations of chemicals.
Hormonal changes
But there is special concern about substances that trigger hormonal changes in fish, and about the release of antibiotics into the environment. Some studies have linked environmental exposure to hormones to deformed sex organs in wildlife, sex reversal in some fish species and declining fertility in humans, as well as to cancers and other diseases.
The American Water Works Association, a national trade group based in Denver, says the fact that a substance is found in drinking water does not mean that substance is harmful to humans. The best advice for consumers, said association spokesman Greg Kail, is to avoid flushing leftover drugs down the toilet or dumping them down the drain.
Jeff Trewhitt, spokesman for the national Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, based in Washington, D.C., said pollution from personal care products is not seen as a major issue, although it is causing concern.
Leftover drugs, in their original containers, can safely go into landfills, Trewhitt said.
Ohio sites tested
In 1999-2000, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the first national look at PPCPs. The agency tested for 95 chemicals in 139 waterways in 30 states. The sites were chosen to include potential hot spots or problem areas. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was tested, along with seven other Ohio waterways.
The report, released in June 2002, offered no conclusions on risk.
Of the sites tested, 80 percent had at least trace amounts of one chemical. Half had five or more chemicals. Thirty-four streams had 10 or more contaminants. Eighty-two of the chemicals were found in at least one sample.
Most common were caffeine, steroids and nonprescription drugs. Those findings mirrored results from similar studies in Canada and Europe.
At least 31 antibiotic and antibacterial compounds were found in the samples. At least 11 compounds were linked to birth control and hormone supplements.
Of the 95 chemicals tested for, 81 are unregulated.
Tinkers Creek
Bill Zawiski, an aquatic biologist for the Ohio EPA, said PPCP pollution appears to be most severe in streams such as Tinkers Creek that are dominated by sewage plants. As much as 80 percent of the flow of 33-mile Tinkers Creek goes through one of the eight sewage plants in that watershed, Zawiski said.
PPCP problems are not found in Yellow Creek and Furnace Run, other Cuyahoga River tributaries in Summit County that are not dominated by sewage plants, he said.
And the EPA is not seeing similar problems in Euclid Creek, an urbanized stream in eastern Cuyahoga County.
Tinkers Creek isn't meeting Ohio's standards for the number of fish in the water and the variety of species. It gets a grade of fair to poor.
Ideally, the stream would get a rating of at least 38 out of 60 possible points for its fish, Zawiski said. In 2000, the stream got a high of 32 points and a low of 21 points in EPA sampling at seven sites.
``Right now, we don't know what's causing the fish problems on Tinkers Creek,'' he said, ``but it's possible that it is (PPCP) chemicals. That's what we're starting to look at.''
There is no evidence of fish changing sex because of hormonal drugs in Tinkers Creek, he said, but some tests probably will be conducted this summer. Such tests are expensive -- $1,000 to $1,500 each -- and the EPA hopes the sewage plants will help pay for them.
Zawiski said the state hopes to complete its investigation of Tinkers Creek in 2006.
``The biggest problem,'' he said, ``is that most people don't realize what goes into the waterways and what kind of impact that's having.''
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com
© 2005 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.ohio.com
So up to 80% or more flow of a stream or river can come from from all of the sewage plant sources. I got a paper and pulp corporation in a lot of trouble back in the summer of 1999 -I ended up bankrupting the corporation. New England was in a historic drought at the time –the Ashuelot river had record breaking low flow conditions –and this plant was turning the river waters milky white. The CEO was defrauding the banks and the stockholders to the tune of 400 million dollars –such that they didn’t have enough money to invest in pollution control. I posed the question to the state of New Hampshire –what percentage of the water coming from Ashuelot River is coming from non natural sources. They started an investigation on the river pollution loads in low flow conditions. They said the pollution load is based on a 10 year average low flow conditions -thus the limits are based on the low flows during that period. The state pollution expert said the current river flow is way below the analyzed worst case low flow. I began asking him about how this facility is characterized in state and federal regulation –I had not a clue how the state and EPA controlled the pollution from any of these facilities. He told me these facilities are controlled from a federal permit process that is periodically renewed. I had to pump him for information–he didn’t volunteer anything!!! So I asked him, when was the last time the Winchester NH American Tissue permit was renewed? He said the permit was many years out of date –they don’t have enough resources for the state to renew the permitted. So I asked him, that these companies could be using all sorts of chemical that wasn’t contained in the out of date permits. So I’d asked him how widespread is this problem in New England –he said you don’t want to know –it’s huge. You understand what was happening here, the government was intentionally withholding resources for the permitting processes –such that the permit holders could pump more pollutants into our river and streams. Shortly after the EPA admitted there was a wide spread permitting problems –there was a tremendous back log of out of date pollution permits throughout NE – and the head of the EPA stepped down.
We had a democrat for a president at the time: President Clinton......
Wonder what the percentage of the water in a river system gets recycled through a water user -say a factory -we had historic high water temps too.
"Bill Zawiski, an aquatic biologist for the Ohio EPA, said PPCP pollution appears to be most severe in streams such as Tinkers Creek that are dominated by sewage plants. As much as 80 percent of the flow of 33-mile Tinkers Creek goes through one of the eight sewage plants in that watershed, Zawiski said."
Posted on Fri, Feb. 04, 2005
Pollutants go down drain
Medicines, household chemicals flow into creeks; Ohio studies effect on fish
By Bob DowningBeacon Journal staff writer
Tinkers Creek is a pretty, tree-lined stream that meanders through southern Cuyahoga and northern Summit and Portage counties. Its water quality is considered good, and it should be a good habitat for wildlife.
So where are all the fish?
Despite improved water quality, the fish population in this Cuyahoga River tributary has not improved in the last 20 years.
Now the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is looking at whether the culprit is a newwater-pollution threat: tiny amounts of thousands of chemicals widely used in medications, beauty aids, cleaners and foods. These substances include caffeine, cotinine (from tobacco products), antibiotics, contraceptives, painkillers, antidepressants, hormones, steroids, chemotherapy drugs, insect repellents, veterinary medicines, soaps, perfumes, plasticizers and fire retardants.
``It's an emerging concern,'' said Steve Tuckerman, a water expert with the EPA. ``We don't know yet if it's a `Hey!' kind of problem or a `Holy s---!' kind of problem. There's a lot of work still to be done. But it's a problem that we're going to be dealing with for a long, long time.''
Trace amounts of chemicals -- known as pharmaceutical and personal care pollutants (PPCPs) -- enter wastewater from toilets, showers and sinks.
Americans spend an estimated $190 billion a year on prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Experts say that 50 percent to 90 percent of ingested drugs are excreted from the body in still-potent form.
The antidepressant Prozac, for example, frequently turns up in streams draining high-income suburban communities.
These PPCPs survive in wastewater even after it is treated and disinfected. Sewage plants don't screen for such materials and can remove some but not all of them. State and federal regulations generally don't address their disposal.
`Pandora's box'
The chemicals -- measured in parts per trillion or parts per billion -- are bioactive, meaning they can enter the bioprocesses of living organisms, especially aquatic species.
``It's a real Pandora's box,'' said Michael McGlinchy, director of Akron's Public Utilities Bureau.
``It's a very serious issue, and one that we need to know more about.... It's definitely going to get more attention and study in the coming years. It's a problem we're just learning about.''
Although the chemicals have been in waterways for decades, they are just starting to get serious study from scientists. They are considered ``emerging contaminants'' and the next bigwater-pollution problem.
Scientists have more questions about the presence of the substances in the water supply than answers. They are unable to say how great a threat such chemicals pose at low levels and what threat might be created by combinations of chemicals.
Hormonal changes
But there is special concern about substances that trigger hormonal changes in fish, and about the release of antibiotics into the environment. Some studies have linked environmental exposure to hormones to deformed sex organs in wildlife, sex reversal in some fish species and declining fertility in humans, as well as to cancers and other diseases.
The American Water Works Association, a national trade group based in Denver, says the fact that a substance is found in drinking water does not mean that substance is harmful to humans. The best advice for consumers, said association spokesman Greg Kail, is to avoid flushing leftover drugs down the toilet or dumping them down the drain.
Jeff Trewhitt, spokesman for the national Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, based in Washington, D.C., said pollution from personal care products is not seen as a major issue, although it is causing concern.
Leftover drugs, in their original containers, can safely go into landfills, Trewhitt said.
Ohio sites tested
In 1999-2000, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the first national look at PPCPs. The agency tested for 95 chemicals in 139 waterways in 30 states. The sites were chosen to include potential hot spots or problem areas. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was tested, along with seven other Ohio waterways.
The report, released in June 2002, offered no conclusions on risk.
Of the sites tested, 80 percent had at least trace amounts of one chemical. Half had five or more chemicals. Thirty-four streams had 10 or more contaminants. Eighty-two of the chemicals were found in at least one sample.
Most common were caffeine, steroids and nonprescription drugs. Those findings mirrored results from similar studies in Canada and Europe.
At least 31 antibiotic and antibacterial compounds were found in the samples. At least 11 compounds were linked to birth control and hormone supplements.
Of the 95 chemicals tested for, 81 are unregulated.
Tinkers Creek
Bill Zawiski, an aquatic biologist for the Ohio EPA, said PPCP pollution appears to be most severe in streams such as Tinkers Creek that are dominated by sewage plants. As much as 80 percent of the flow of 33-mile Tinkers Creek goes through one of the eight sewage plants in that watershed, Zawiski said.
PPCP problems are not found in Yellow Creek and Furnace Run, other Cuyahoga River tributaries in Summit County that are not dominated by sewage plants, he said.
And the EPA is not seeing similar problems in Euclid Creek, an urbanized stream in eastern Cuyahoga County.
Tinkers Creek isn't meeting Ohio's standards for the number of fish in the water and the variety of species. It gets a grade of fair to poor.
Ideally, the stream would get a rating of at least 38 out of 60 possible points for its fish, Zawiski said. In 2000, the stream got a high of 32 points and a low of 21 points in EPA sampling at seven sites.
``Right now, we don't know what's causing the fish problems on Tinkers Creek,'' he said, ``but it's possible that it is (PPCP) chemicals. That's what we're starting to look at.''
There is no evidence of fish changing sex because of hormonal drugs in Tinkers Creek, he said, but some tests probably will be conducted this summer. Such tests are expensive -- $1,000 to $1,500 each -- and the EPA hopes the sewage plants will help pay for them.
Zawiski said the state hopes to complete its investigation of Tinkers Creek in 2006.
``The biggest problem,'' he said, ``is that most people don't realize what goes into the waterways and what kind of impact that's having.''
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com
© 2005 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.ohio.com
Thursday, February 03, 2005
The death of my mother: Marion Mulligan
(It’s amazing how time prepares us for the future –or better yet trains us for what is ahead of us. We are well versed in the worth of a disabled life –and the controversy surrounding death of a loved one).
I remember clearly being in my mothers Hospital emergency room in around 1990. She was hooked up to a ventilator and all those of tubes. It seemed straightly quite and peaceful –I was waiting for my brother and sister to come to the hospital. I remember the doctors talking about the curled arch of my mother’s foot –they said this was the result of my mother’s increasing brain damage. Iit definitely was curled. She had a severe stroke. She smoked and drank to the bitter end.
I also remember when I was a child of about 8 or 9 years old. My father died of a heart attack at the young age of 44 –I was seven when he died. My mother would go out drinking with a married man friend a few years later after my dads death –she’d come home to the low income inner city project drunk all the time. Many times she’d end up in a fight with this man –there would be huge drunken fight in his car sitting outside the house. The neighbors got quite used to these enormous screaming fights. Humorously, they found out at times there would be ripped up bills (Money) and broken jewelry on the ground where the car was the night before –and my mother would send out her kids to pick up the pieces. All the adults in our part of the project had boyfriends and girlfriends –many who came in and out of their houses all the time. I mean, there was family fights all the time –it was always funny watching your neighbor in a funny fight with a spouse or friend….
More time than I care to think about, she’d get into the house still in an enormous rage. She’d wake us up going into each of our rooms telling us we were no good son of a bitches and lazy –we’d never amount to anything –and we would hear all the time that “we’d be sorry when she was dead and gone”. She’d go on a tirade for about an hour until her rage was spent. She’d hit us at time, slap our faces and heads, but we quickly leant to dodge her drunken blows.
Where does it come from when her children can look at this child abuse in a humorous manner? The next morning we would talk to each other about her visits –and our management of her outburst, screaming in our rooms –and we’d think it was extremely funny when one of us got stuck in a corner of the room. What we’d learnt later was the trick to say something funny to my mother, make fun of the situation –and if you got her laughing, her rage would be over for everyone. That humor ended up burying a lot in all of us kids–and it was very destructive to each of us.
My mother was still living in that project in 1985. The boyfriend had turned into a long term partner –but he died a few years earlier. My wife and I visited her often. We recognized she was floundering in that project –but I told my wife I was not going to rescue her. We’d adopted my daughter in 1986–talk about what a miracle can do to you. I worried about what my mother would think about a Korean adoption being she was so proud of being Irish –but she’d came from an international project community. I started to see something different in my mother eyes as I brought my daughter to my mothers project apartment –or was it a change in me. I’d asked her to come live up north with us, we’d find you an apartment –amazingly she agreed.
I’d thought I’d never leave my daughter alone with my mother. But I’d notice after a few months she was drinking less –and was more responsible when she was drinking. She made a few friends in the apartment –and she was having a good time. My daughter and my mother absolutely lit each other up when they were together. We began leaving my daughter alone with my mother for a short period –then longer periods –she always wanted to take care of Kristie. I began watching my daughter’s relationship with my mother –and I knew that Kristie was delighted with staying with my mother. A wonderful special relationship developed between them –and that’s how I began of forgive my mother for her past problems. In the end, my feeling about my mother was transformed –I could only forgive her through the love I’d seen in my daughter’s eyes for my mother. How truly fortunate I was in those last two years!
So one morning I am talking care of my daughter when I got a phone call from one of my mother’s friends. She’d told me my mother had a head ache, it had gotten worst –now she was becoming unresponsive and she was making noises while breathing. I’d told them to call the ambulance –I'll be right down with my daughter. When I got down there I’d notice the police car –I’d went up to her apartment. She was sitting on the couch –she was making terrible noise while breathing –the officer said the ambulance is right around the corner. I became so frighten to be near her –but I’d grabbed her hand and she squeezed it. She couldn’t talk, but I knew she kept trying to regain hold of my hand. They took her to the local hospital –then up to Dartmouth hospital.
Her primary doctor told us she had a huge stroke in her head. It was right over her motor control; he said we’d had a horrible decision ahead of us. He’d told us in a meeting with my brother and sister that he’d thought she wouldn’t survive the next few days –and he’d would be a vegetable if she did survive. He said she would never be able to feed herself again. He’d told us we could withhold medical care from her –and she would quickly die. We’d quickly agreed that my mother repetively talked about wanting to die if she became not able to take care of herself. We agreed to pull the plug on my mother.
We were by ourselves, my brother and sister; I said you know we got to get another’s doctors opinion on this. I just wanted another doctor’s validation of the prognosis. Before long we were we in a meeting with both these doctors. The new doctor didn’t have such a stark opinion as the first one, but he said the damage was severe. It seemed the first doctor was a little perturbed with second one’s opinion, which unnerved me. We still agreed to pull the plug.
The doctor said they would remove the meds intended to reduce her brain swelling. He said the brain would swell, would begin protruding out of the area by her spine – then he would give her increasingly amounts of morphine –and the swelling would stop her breathing and heart beat.
It took about two days before her brain was swelled enough before they would risk talking her off the ventilator. I remember being in her room by myself –I commanded my mother to move her right toe. It made a movement to my horror. I never asked her to do that again. I rationalized it was a coincidence –an involuntary movement done at the right time.
The doctor said he was ready to give my mother a respiratory test. My guess the doctor was engineering my mothers death for us –making sure when we got in the room for the final time –he’d remove my mother from the respirator in front of us –she’d stop breathing immediately and her heart beat would stop in a few minutes for us.
The doctor came back saying my mother was ready for us. We got in there –they quickly remove my mother from the respirator –all the other line had been removed.
My younger brother began having second thoughts –he said he thought she was suffocating, he couldn’t take it. The doctor calmly told him your mother can’t feel anything at all. My brother regained control of himself –and we all waited for our mother's heart to stop.
We were all crying!
It was so ugly her death –it was so horrible those last few days. I clearly remember the uncertainties that kept popping up.
We all have no regrets for what we did.
Thanks,
mike mulligan
Hinsdale, Nh
I remember clearly being in my mothers Hospital emergency room in around 1990. She was hooked up to a ventilator and all those of tubes. It seemed straightly quite and peaceful –I was waiting for my brother and sister to come to the hospital. I remember the doctors talking about the curled arch of my mother’s foot –they said this was the result of my mother’s increasing brain damage. Iit definitely was curled. She had a severe stroke. She smoked and drank to the bitter end.
I also remember when I was a child of about 8 or 9 years old. My father died of a heart attack at the young age of 44 –I was seven when he died. My mother would go out drinking with a married man friend a few years later after my dads death –she’d come home to the low income inner city project drunk all the time. Many times she’d end up in a fight with this man –there would be huge drunken fight in his car sitting outside the house. The neighbors got quite used to these enormous screaming fights. Humorously, they found out at times there would be ripped up bills (Money) and broken jewelry on the ground where the car was the night before –and my mother would send out her kids to pick up the pieces. All the adults in our part of the project had boyfriends and girlfriends –many who came in and out of their houses all the time. I mean, there was family fights all the time –it was always funny watching your neighbor in a funny fight with a spouse or friend….
More time than I care to think about, she’d get into the house still in an enormous rage. She’d wake us up going into each of our rooms telling us we were no good son of a bitches and lazy –we’d never amount to anything –and we would hear all the time that “we’d be sorry when she was dead and gone”. She’d go on a tirade for about an hour until her rage was spent. She’d hit us at time, slap our faces and heads, but we quickly leant to dodge her drunken blows.
Where does it come from when her children can look at this child abuse in a humorous manner? The next morning we would talk to each other about her visits –and our management of her outburst, screaming in our rooms –and we’d think it was extremely funny when one of us got stuck in a corner of the room. What we’d learnt later was the trick to say something funny to my mother, make fun of the situation –and if you got her laughing, her rage would be over for everyone. That humor ended up burying a lot in all of us kids–and it was very destructive to each of us.
My mother was still living in that project in 1985. The boyfriend had turned into a long term partner –but he died a few years earlier. My wife and I visited her often. We recognized she was floundering in that project –but I told my wife I was not going to rescue her. We’d adopted my daughter in 1986–talk about what a miracle can do to you. I worried about what my mother would think about a Korean adoption being she was so proud of being Irish –but she’d came from an international project community. I started to see something different in my mother eyes as I brought my daughter to my mothers project apartment –or was it a change in me. I’d asked her to come live up north with us, we’d find you an apartment –amazingly she agreed.
I’d thought I’d never leave my daughter alone with my mother. But I’d notice after a few months she was drinking less –and was more responsible when she was drinking. She made a few friends in the apartment –and she was having a good time. My daughter and my mother absolutely lit each other up when they were together. We began leaving my daughter alone with my mother for a short period –then longer periods –she always wanted to take care of Kristie. I began watching my daughter’s relationship with my mother –and I knew that Kristie was delighted with staying with my mother. A wonderful special relationship developed between them –and that’s how I began of forgive my mother for her past problems. In the end, my feeling about my mother was transformed –I could only forgive her through the love I’d seen in my daughter’s eyes for my mother. How truly fortunate I was in those last two years!
So one morning I am talking care of my daughter when I got a phone call from one of my mother’s friends. She’d told me my mother had a head ache, it had gotten worst –now she was becoming unresponsive and she was making noises while breathing. I’d told them to call the ambulance –I'll be right down with my daughter. When I got down there I’d notice the police car –I’d went up to her apartment. She was sitting on the couch –she was making terrible noise while breathing –the officer said the ambulance is right around the corner. I became so frighten to be near her –but I’d grabbed her hand and she squeezed it. She couldn’t talk, but I knew she kept trying to regain hold of my hand. They took her to the local hospital –then up to Dartmouth hospital.
Her primary doctor told us she had a huge stroke in her head. It was right over her motor control; he said we’d had a horrible decision ahead of us. He’d told us in a meeting with my brother and sister that he’d thought she wouldn’t survive the next few days –and he’d would be a vegetable if she did survive. He said she would never be able to feed herself again. He’d told us we could withhold medical care from her –and she would quickly die. We’d quickly agreed that my mother repetively talked about wanting to die if she became not able to take care of herself. We agreed to pull the plug on my mother.
We were by ourselves, my brother and sister; I said you know we got to get another’s doctors opinion on this. I just wanted another doctor’s validation of the prognosis. Before long we were we in a meeting with both these doctors. The new doctor didn’t have such a stark opinion as the first one, but he said the damage was severe. It seemed the first doctor was a little perturbed with second one’s opinion, which unnerved me. We still agreed to pull the plug.
The doctor said they would remove the meds intended to reduce her brain swelling. He said the brain would swell, would begin protruding out of the area by her spine – then he would give her increasingly amounts of morphine –and the swelling would stop her breathing and heart beat.
It took about two days before her brain was swelled enough before they would risk talking her off the ventilator. I remember being in her room by myself –I commanded my mother to move her right toe. It made a movement to my horror. I never asked her to do that again. I rationalized it was a coincidence –an involuntary movement done at the right time.
The doctor said he was ready to give my mother a respiratory test. My guess the doctor was engineering my mothers death for us –making sure when we got in the room for the final time –he’d remove my mother from the respirator in front of us –she’d stop breathing immediately and her heart beat would stop in a few minutes for us.
The doctor came back saying my mother was ready for us. We got in there –they quickly remove my mother from the respirator –all the other line had been removed.
My younger brother began having second thoughts –he said he thought she was suffocating, he couldn’t take it. The doctor calmly told him your mother can’t feel anything at all. My brother regained control of himself –and we all waited for our mother's heart to stop.
We were all crying!
It was so ugly her death –it was so horrible those last few days. I clearly remember the uncertainties that kept popping up.
We all have no regrets for what we did.
Thanks,
mike mulligan
Hinsdale, Nh
Ugly Polluted yellow brown air in Bear Mountain and Peekskill NY
New@3/05 6PM
UNHEALTHY AIR WARNING ISSUED
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection says ground-level particle pollution is expected to reach unhealthy levels today.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Officials say the levels should be of particular concern for sensitive groups including people suffering respiratory problems such as asthma.
The prediction came after moderate ground-level particle pollution concentrations were monitored yesterday in southwestern and coastal sections of the state.
.......................................
You know I was going up and the down the Bear Mountain of NY and Peekskill, in a blue sparkling day yesterday –as I got up to the point where I could see long distances –there was a ugly yellow/brown/grey tint in the atmosphere in all directions. It seemed to be layered –so I was wondering what caused it. It looked like the pollution of old days. I wondered was that NYC that caused it, was it about a cold day and all of our house heating –was it industrial from somewhere. I telling you it was ugly looking.
It didn't come from Indian Point!
States See High Levels of Air Pollution
1 hour, 42 minutes ago
Science - AP
By ELIZABETH DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - Air pollution built to unhealthy levels around the upper Midwest, a wintertime rarity caused by the absence of strong wind, and problems were expected to continue Thursday for children and other sensitive groups.
Minnesota officials warned that air in the Twin Cities was unhealthy for anyone Wednesday, and Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, this week had their first-ever winter air alerts, warning of unhealthy conditions for people at risk.
Sunnier skies and increased wind were improving conditions in Minneapolis on Thursday, but air was expected to remain at levels unhealthy for children, the elderly and people with breathing problems from there to central Ohio. Those people were advised to avoid strenuous activities.
In Illinois, officials expected the air quality index in the Chicago area to be from 109 to 139, within the range considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Air is considered unhealthy for everyone at 150 and above.
The region's pollution built up when a stagnant air mass over the region trapped fine particles near the ground this week. The particles come from sources such as car exhaust, factories and fireplaces. The air mass was expected to remain over the region for much of the week.
"Things that emit pollution are going to go out into the air and not really go anywhere," said Rick Hiltbrand, a National Weather Service (news - web sites) forecaster in Chanhassen.
Martin Bernerd was back outside training for a half marathon along the Mississippi River in St. Paul on Wednesday after the area saw its worst air quality in 25 years.
"With the sun coming out, the air just looks better," Bernerd said.
___
UNHEALTHY AIR WARNING ISSUED
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection says ground-level particle pollution is expected to reach unhealthy levels today.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Officials say the levels should be of particular concern for sensitive groups including people suffering respiratory problems such as asthma.
The prediction came after moderate ground-level particle pollution concentrations were monitored yesterday in southwestern and coastal sections of the state.
.......................................
You know I was going up and the down the Bear Mountain of NY and Peekskill, in a blue sparkling day yesterday –as I got up to the point where I could see long distances –there was a ugly yellow/brown/grey tint in the atmosphere in all directions. It seemed to be layered –so I was wondering what caused it. It looked like the pollution of old days. I wondered was that NYC that caused it, was it about a cold day and all of our house heating –was it industrial from somewhere. I telling you it was ugly looking.
It didn't come from Indian Point!
States See High Levels of Air Pollution
1 hour, 42 minutes ago
Science - AP
By ELIZABETH DUNBAR, Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - Air pollution built to unhealthy levels around the upper Midwest, a wintertime rarity caused by the absence of strong wind, and problems were expected to continue Thursday for children and other sensitive groups.
Minnesota officials warned that air in the Twin Cities was unhealthy for anyone Wednesday, and Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, this week had their first-ever winter air alerts, warning of unhealthy conditions for people at risk.
Sunnier skies and increased wind were improving conditions in Minneapolis on Thursday, but air was expected to remain at levels unhealthy for children, the elderly and people with breathing problems from there to central Ohio. Those people were advised to avoid strenuous activities.
In Illinois, officials expected the air quality index in the Chicago area to be from 109 to 139, within the range considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Air is considered unhealthy for everyone at 150 and above.
The region's pollution built up when a stagnant air mass over the region trapped fine particles near the ground this week. The particles come from sources such as car exhaust, factories and fireplaces. The air mass was expected to remain over the region for much of the week.
"Things that emit pollution are going to go out into the air and not really go anywhere," said Rick Hiltbrand, a National Weather Service (news - web sites) forecaster in Chanhassen.
Martin Bernerd was back outside training for a half marathon along the Mississippi River in St. Paul on Wednesday after the area saw its worst air quality in 25 years.
"With the sun coming out, the air just looks better," Bernerd said.
___
Brattleboro and the Vermont Fire safety codes corrupted
Well, I hate to do this –but I’m going to be as provocative as I can here. As you should know I’ve had problems with the Vermont Yankee fire brigade, and the peculiar response to the Brattleboro fire department who responded to the recent VY transformer fire. The bottom line question I asked from this; was on a national scale, are we providing adequate resources and management to the fire departments thought the nation. Did you catch that Boston Globe series on that?
When the VT politician’s gives out metals of heroism in an event like this, and the coincidence of inadequate fire capabilities on a national scale in a major newspaper –you have to wonder what the real rationale is with the medal giving orgy. It is my experience that they are tying to cover-up the incompetence and failure to act with the VT politicians -and all the town officials and elites on their oversight and management of the fire services. Does anybody remember the Rode Island nightclub fire that killed over a hundred?
What you should know is that a fire like the Wilder building it should have never happened…the sin is it should never have happened….and we know for decades that old buildings can be serious threat of a large scale fire in the old parts of our town and cities. We invented the modern fire code and sprinklers for that in response to the horrid death toll from these disasters. What we know is that the real–estate and property owners have a lot of influence in setting the fire department interpretation of fire codes. We know for a fact that Brattleboro has been involved in political fire department favors in support of the property owners.
I know the buildings across the street from the Wilder building are sprinklered –why didn’t the wilder building have sprinklers? What are the codes for sprinklers? Don’t you have a perverse reward system for not following the rules when you think about giving state grants for the reconstruction of the destroyed building -so your reward the rule breaker and you punish the people who have to invest in a sprinklers system?
So from what I see in Brattleboro the fire safety codes are completely corrupted by corrupt official and the politicians –and I would wonder if it is a state wide corruption with fire safety codes with all the happy faces seen in the Vermont House of representatives.
I consider that is a direct threat to the health and safety of many Vermonters who walk and dwell in corrupted safety fire coded buildings.
Brattleboro Reformer
House honors firefighters By CAROLYN LORIé Reformer Staff
Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The Vermont House of Representatives honored the firefighters of the Brattleboro Fire Department on Monday for their quick action and professional handling of the Wilder Building fire.
State Reps. Daryl Pillsbury, I-Brattleboro, Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro, Virginia Milkey, D-Brattleboro, and Patricia O'Donnell, R-Vernon, as well as Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, presented Chief David Emery and Assistant Chief Michael Bucossi with a copy of a House resolution recognizing the "outstanding work of the Brattleboro Fire Department."
"We're proud to have you protecting us," said Pillsbury.
The brief ceremony was held at the fire station.
The fast-moving blaze that tested the mettle of the department broke out on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2004. Shortly before 6 a.m., the alarm in the historic Wilder Building sounded and minutes later the Brattleboro crew was on the scene.
It wasn't long before the top two floors of the building were engulfed. Two firefighters, Chris George and Greg Seymour, escaped serious injury when they recognized the signs of an impending flashover and knew just what to do.
Eventually, more than 15 departments and over 100 personnel fought the blaze. At the peak of the effort, 7,000 gallons of water per minute were being pumped into the fire. By the end of the day, 700,000 gallons of water were used.
The fire started when one of the tenants, Rose Billetdeaux, fell asleep with a lit cigarette. She suffered burns over 40 percent of her body. There were no other injuries, but 10 people living on the third and fourth floor lost their homes, all their possessions and at least two cats. Water damage also destroyed two businesses on the ground floor.
What wasn't destroyed was the historic Latchis Theater next door. The resolution refers specifically to this accomplishment, recognizing the amount of vigilance and expertise it took to keep the theater from catching fire.
Town Manager Jerry Remillard, a former firefighter, echoed that sentiment.
"There were break points in that fire that had to be handled correctly," he said. "We are very fortunate to have the department and personnel that we do."
In addition to state legislators, Selectboard members Pat DeAngelo, Joerg Mayer, Steven Steidle and Kevin Yager attended Monday's ceremony.
"We have an incredible fire department here in Brattleboro," said DeAngelo. "They deserve every bit of recognition they get -- at every fire they fight."
According to White, who works closely with fire departments around the state, Emery is a well-respected figure within the firefighting community.
Though the chief was out of town when the blaze began, the lawmakers praised him for ensuring that his department was well-run and well-prepared.
Firefighter Chris George, whose name appears in the resolution, said he was pleased with the House's honor.
"Knowing we have a good reputation in the state should make everyone feel proud," he said.
George was quick to point out that without the aid of the other departments, their task would have been much more arduous.
Despite the hours and hours the men spent putting out the fire and the hours spent dealing with the aftermath, most of the firefighters are hesitant to take any credit.
Moments after the ceremony ended, Bucossi, whose name appeared in the resolution for his role as commander-in-chief for much of the blaze, shrugged his shoulders and said: "It's quite an honor to be recognized like this -- especially just for doing your job."
When the VT politician’s gives out metals of heroism in an event like this, and the coincidence of inadequate fire capabilities on a national scale in a major newspaper –you have to wonder what the real rationale is with the medal giving orgy. It is my experience that they are tying to cover-up the incompetence and failure to act with the VT politicians -and all the town officials and elites on their oversight and management of the fire services. Does anybody remember the Rode Island nightclub fire that killed over a hundred?
What you should know is that a fire like the Wilder building it should have never happened…the sin is it should never have happened….and we know for decades that old buildings can be serious threat of a large scale fire in the old parts of our town and cities. We invented the modern fire code and sprinklers for that in response to the horrid death toll from these disasters. What we know is that the real–estate and property owners have a lot of influence in setting the fire department interpretation of fire codes. We know for a fact that Brattleboro has been involved in political fire department favors in support of the property owners.
I know the buildings across the street from the Wilder building are sprinklered –why didn’t the wilder building have sprinklers? What are the codes for sprinklers? Don’t you have a perverse reward system for not following the rules when you think about giving state grants for the reconstruction of the destroyed building -so your reward the rule breaker and you punish the people who have to invest in a sprinklers system?
So from what I see in Brattleboro the fire safety codes are completely corrupted by corrupt official and the politicians –and I would wonder if it is a state wide corruption with fire safety codes with all the happy faces seen in the Vermont House of representatives.
I consider that is a direct threat to the health and safety of many Vermonters who walk and dwell in corrupted safety fire coded buildings.
Brattleboro Reformer
House honors firefighters By CAROLYN LORIé Reformer Staff
Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The Vermont House of Representatives honored the firefighters of the Brattleboro Fire Department on Monday for their quick action and professional handling of the Wilder Building fire.
State Reps. Daryl Pillsbury, I-Brattleboro, Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro, Virginia Milkey, D-Brattleboro, and Patricia O'Donnell, R-Vernon, as well as Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, presented Chief David Emery and Assistant Chief Michael Bucossi with a copy of a House resolution recognizing the "outstanding work of the Brattleboro Fire Department."
"We're proud to have you protecting us," said Pillsbury.
The brief ceremony was held at the fire station.
The fast-moving blaze that tested the mettle of the department broke out on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2004. Shortly before 6 a.m., the alarm in the historic Wilder Building sounded and minutes later the Brattleboro crew was on the scene.
It wasn't long before the top two floors of the building were engulfed. Two firefighters, Chris George and Greg Seymour, escaped serious injury when they recognized the signs of an impending flashover and knew just what to do.
Eventually, more than 15 departments and over 100 personnel fought the blaze. At the peak of the effort, 7,000 gallons of water per minute were being pumped into the fire. By the end of the day, 700,000 gallons of water were used.
The fire started when one of the tenants, Rose Billetdeaux, fell asleep with a lit cigarette. She suffered burns over 40 percent of her body. There were no other injuries, but 10 people living on the third and fourth floor lost their homes, all their possessions and at least two cats. Water damage also destroyed two businesses on the ground floor.
What wasn't destroyed was the historic Latchis Theater next door. The resolution refers specifically to this accomplishment, recognizing the amount of vigilance and expertise it took to keep the theater from catching fire.
Town Manager Jerry Remillard, a former firefighter, echoed that sentiment.
"There were break points in that fire that had to be handled correctly," he said. "We are very fortunate to have the department and personnel that we do."
In addition to state legislators, Selectboard members Pat DeAngelo, Joerg Mayer, Steven Steidle and Kevin Yager attended Monday's ceremony.
"We have an incredible fire department here in Brattleboro," said DeAngelo. "They deserve every bit of recognition they get -- at every fire they fight."
According to White, who works closely with fire departments around the state, Emery is a well-respected figure within the firefighting community.
Though the chief was out of town when the blaze began, the lawmakers praised him for ensuring that his department was well-run and well-prepared.
Firefighter Chris George, whose name appears in the resolution, said he was pleased with the House's honor.
"Knowing we have a good reputation in the state should make everyone feel proud," he said.
George was quick to point out that without the aid of the other departments, their task would have been much more arduous.
Despite the hours and hours the men spent putting out the fire and the hours spent dealing with the aftermath, most of the firefighters are hesitant to take any credit.
Moments after the ceremony ended, Bucossi, whose name appeared in the resolution for his role as commander-in-chief for much of the blaze, shrugged his shoulders and said: "It's quite an honor to be recognized like this -- especially just for doing your job."
Crazy Radio gives patients voice
Crazy Radio gives patients voice
By Nicola Fell BBC correspondent, Argentina
Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires: tucked away behind the towering, prison-like Jose Borda psychiatric hospital, a large group of people is gathering.
Under the shade of a tree, a haphazard radio studio is being put together.
This is Radio La Colifata, which in Buenos Aires slang means Crazy Radio - the first radio show in the world to broadcast live from a mental hospital.
Julio Cesar is one of the show's presenters.
He admitted himself to the hospital 10 years ago, when he sank into deep depression after losing his eight-month-old daughter.
"I didn't want to live, work, eat, or leave the house," he says. "My family didn't understand me. My family was censoring me and being in the house was making me ill.
"So I preferred to be here, where I had total freedom to express myself."
Speech therapy
Alfredo Olivera, a psychologist who created Radio La Colifata, explains how it all began: "I simply used a small Dictaphone.
They aren't so crazy as people often think - they say things that are spot on Hector Eduardo Costa, Listener
"I invited some patients to sit around a table and speak about whatever they wanted. The only thing they had to do was, if they wanted to talk, they had to have the Dictaphone in their hand and when they were finished pass it to another.
"This, as a concept, already had a therapeutic element - the right to speak and giving the right to another."
Mr Cesar believes that for his own recovery, it was more powerful than drugs.
"The doctors are very technical," he says. "They give you a pill and tell you to sleep, and then you are cancelled out.
"The radio releases you and the wall around the hospital no longer exists. The antenna knocks it down."
Popular
More than a therapy, the show has proven popular with an estimated 12 million listeners.
Taxi driver Hector Eduardo Costa listens as he works through the night.
I thought they would say: 'Hey, look at the crazy guy,' but it's the opposite - they embrace me in the streets Hugo Norberto Lopez, Presenter
He says: "They aren't so crazy as people often think. They say things that are spot on. Sometimes they write poems, sing songs, and it is very interesting."
Away from the media limelight, the hospital says the show has had great therapeutic results.
Thirty percent of patients who participate are released, and not one of these patients who continues outpatient therapy at Radio La Colifata has been readmitted.
That compares with two-thirds of patients being readmitted if they do not continue outpatient therapy with the radio, its creator Mr Olivera says.
The Radio La Colifata team are now trying their hand at television, with their debut on Canal 7, as part of its health programme.
Patient Hugo Norberto Lopez is presenting as part of his outpatient treatment.
He believes Radio La Colifata plays an important educational role in society: "It de-mystifies mental illness.
"In my district, I thought they would say: 'Hey, look at the crazy guy,' but it's the opposite. They embrace me in the streets and congratulate me. It shows people are beginning to understand."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4120397.stmPublished: 2005/01/31 14:32:54 GMT© BBC MMV
By Nicola Fell BBC correspondent, Argentina
Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires: tucked away behind the towering, prison-like Jose Borda psychiatric hospital, a large group of people is gathering.
Under the shade of a tree, a haphazard radio studio is being put together.
This is Radio La Colifata, which in Buenos Aires slang means Crazy Radio - the first radio show in the world to broadcast live from a mental hospital.
Julio Cesar is one of the show's presenters.
He admitted himself to the hospital 10 years ago, when he sank into deep depression after losing his eight-month-old daughter.
"I didn't want to live, work, eat, or leave the house," he says. "My family didn't understand me. My family was censoring me and being in the house was making me ill.
"So I preferred to be here, where I had total freedom to express myself."
Speech therapy
Alfredo Olivera, a psychologist who created Radio La Colifata, explains how it all began: "I simply used a small Dictaphone.
They aren't so crazy as people often think - they say things that are spot on Hector Eduardo Costa, Listener
"I invited some patients to sit around a table and speak about whatever they wanted. The only thing they had to do was, if they wanted to talk, they had to have the Dictaphone in their hand and when they were finished pass it to another.
"This, as a concept, already had a therapeutic element - the right to speak and giving the right to another."
Mr Cesar believes that for his own recovery, it was more powerful than drugs.
"The doctors are very technical," he says. "They give you a pill and tell you to sleep, and then you are cancelled out.
"The radio releases you and the wall around the hospital no longer exists. The antenna knocks it down."
Popular
More than a therapy, the show has proven popular with an estimated 12 million listeners.
Taxi driver Hector Eduardo Costa listens as he works through the night.
I thought they would say: 'Hey, look at the crazy guy,' but it's the opposite - they embrace me in the streets Hugo Norberto Lopez, Presenter
He says: "They aren't so crazy as people often think. They say things that are spot on. Sometimes they write poems, sing songs, and it is very interesting."
Away from the media limelight, the hospital says the show has had great therapeutic results.
Thirty percent of patients who participate are released, and not one of these patients who continues outpatient therapy at Radio La Colifata has been readmitted.
That compares with two-thirds of patients being readmitted if they do not continue outpatient therapy with the radio, its creator Mr Olivera says.
The Radio La Colifata team are now trying their hand at television, with their debut on Canal 7, as part of its health programme.
Patient Hugo Norberto Lopez is presenting as part of his outpatient treatment.
He believes Radio La Colifata plays an important educational role in society: "It de-mystifies mental illness.
"In my district, I thought they would say: 'Hey, look at the crazy guy,' but it's the opposite. They embrace me in the streets and congratulate me. It shows people are beginning to understand."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4120397.stmPublished: 2005/01/31 14:32:54 GMT© BBC MMV
Indian Point and Westchester Diner
Wow. I was eating at the Westchester Diner sitting right outside Indian Point yesterday. It quite amazing walking in the dinner with the choice of the daily specials sitting on the table in the entrance –where you get to see the real meal before you even sit down. I had the fried fish dinner.
I’d talked to many local people –with both positives and negative of the plant. The public certainly knows the plant is there.
My most memorable person I talked to was a black woman working at the local supermaket. I wonder how she was doing in this high income area. I asked her what does she think of the plant. She said she doesn’t know. She talked about all the other threats about the country, chemical plants and discharges –what is one more. She told me she is hanging on by her fingernails like all of the rest of us around here.
What I got from her she was facing a mountain of threats against her lifestyle -she was fatalistic with all the problems around her. Isn’t that amazing.
...By the way I visited Stony Point, Mount Ivy, Briarcliff Manner and Chappaqua. What I noticed was all the high voltage power lines and all the multi million dollar houses on the mountains–and those telephone poles loaded with thick heavy cables. Wonder how many car accidents there are between telephone poles? I like those huge cables that needs a wire web around the cable and attaches to the straining telephone poles. What I am getting at, is can you imagine the results of a major hurricane –it will be economic damage unlike we’ve ever had –we’ve become so venerable.
I’d talked to many local people –with both positives and negative of the plant. The public certainly knows the plant is there.
My most memorable person I talked to was a black woman working at the local supermaket. I wonder how she was doing in this high income area. I asked her what does she think of the plant. She said she doesn’t know. She talked about all the other threats about the country, chemical plants and discharges –what is one more. She told me she is hanging on by her fingernails like all of the rest of us around here.
What I got from her she was facing a mountain of threats against her lifestyle -she was fatalistic with all the problems around her. Isn’t that amazing.
...By the way I visited Stony Point, Mount Ivy, Briarcliff Manner and Chappaqua. What I noticed was all the high voltage power lines and all the multi million dollar houses on the mountains–and those telephone poles loaded with thick heavy cables. Wonder how many car accidents there are between telephone poles? I like those huge cables that needs a wire web around the cable and attaches to the straining telephone poles. What I am getting at, is can you imagine the results of a major hurricane –it will be economic damage unlike we’ve ever had –we’ve become so venerable.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Train wreck in the Vermont state mental hospital
Thu, 27 Jan 2005 10:24:57 -0800 (PST)Subject:Re: [Root_Cause_State_of_the_Practice] Train Wreck: What can rooticians learn from this one?
For decades, transit officials have been aware that the system was obsolete, but updating it - both logistically and financially - has been seen as impractical.”
222 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/nyregion/26subway.html?pagewanted=print&position=www
If you think this is a republican issue or President Bush with the disabled you are wrong. Most of the managers and the "hands on" people with the disabled are hard nosed liberals. What I find most amazing, is how the good people can turn any ideology into a destructive tool of self interest.
You should see the distorted liberal rationales they use as tools to hide what is going on in the name of human rights and dignity. Almost without any controls they can accuse any employee with a human right violation in an attempt to hide the greater abuse that is going on. It is a concentration of unconscionable power bar no other industry, because it is perceived and structured as they are doing it in the interest of the weak and powerless. They are abusing power in this manner for the sole interest of selfish self interest. It’s the old iceberg.
We see it in the Clinton(president) and Dean (VTgovernor) where they created policies of economic governmental efficiencies in the name of votes–cut backs to the least of us- and they slit the throats of many helpless people in the name of a smaller government philosophy –i.e. it’s clearly what the public wants and demands of the democratic politicians. You see that’s the dirty little shame and secrete of our whole nation –is the majority of us are systematically abusing the least of us. That’s why it’s so intractable. Didn’t the governmental cutbacks in the Clinton administration lead to the NASA Columbia tragedy? Didn’t that destroy the NASA safety culture really? So what do we really think about the Vermont state mental hospital meltdown?
You see it’s us…us…us… –who is committing crimesagainst ourselves-most especially our liberals.
We’ve seen many so called liberals democratic governors, who have with malice have cut costs of the human services in a bid to get reelected even as they intentionally reduced transparency to themselves of the wreckage of lives all around them -and to the public. What we get is these perpetual seasonal political reorganization of the human service agencies– they spends tons of money on experts, reorganization experts and credit card dinner and drinks, thus the elites gets a bonus out of the horrors, everyone gets destabilized by the repeated changes of the organization -but it creates the illusion that the political class is acting on the horrors of the system.
Folks it’s political class protection and nothing elsehere –and the democrats are up to their necks withthis knowingly disgrace…
We are watching very closely the recent subway fire in Manhattan subways –the A and C lines. It’s amazing the interactions with the “undesirables”( homeless and disabled) potentially setting the fires –and disrupting 600,000 people’s lives for months and years–antiquated and 1930’s engineering of the wiring ofthe subway –not being able to find the money for the system upgrades – and the status of our mega city infrastructures as seen in this. It’s a world wide problem.
We sit there looking at these sparkling cities from a distant -but we wonder what is really going on in the belly of the beast.
Isn't that the symbol of our times on the big picture?
Thanks,
mike
State hospital loses fundingFebruary 2, 2005
By Darren M. Allen Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER — Two months after restoring millions of dollars in funding for the Vermont State Hospital, the federal government yanked it all away again, Gov. James Douglas announced Tuesday.222
Prompted by the disappearance of two patients from the Waterbury hospital last week, the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services late Monday decided to decertify the trou2led 113-year-old inpatient psychiatric facility, citing safety concerns.2222
The decertification means the state will lose nearly $3.1 million in the current and following budget years, and, in all likelihood, will hasten the facility's closure.222
"This situation is entirely unacceptable," Douglas said. "The problems are so severe and so systemic, that nothing short of total reform will be acceptable."222
To that end, the governor said he wanted to accelerate the closure of the hospital, a move contemplated to occur no sooner than 2009 under current administration timetables. Both Douglas and Agency of Human Services Secretary Charles Smith declined to specify how quickly the closure can occur.22
"We are going to accelerate even faster plans to close the state hospital," Smith said. "We obviously will take a very hard look at those timetables."222
The decertification comes 60 days after the hospital regained certification after having lost it for 14 months. The federal government first took away the hospital's Medicare and Medicaid funding amid two patient suicides and findings of inadequate care. That move cost Vermont about $5 million.222
The decertification also comes at a time when the state budget can least afford another multi-million dollar hit, legislative and administration officials said. The current year's budget adjustment act — scheduled for debate on the House floor in a day or two — will be affected, as will next year's full budget.222
"It doesn't seem like there is any option but to find the money and work through this," said Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, D-Jericho. "The last thing we needed was another $1.5 million hit to the budget."222
Douglas was said to have been livid late Monday night when he received word of the pending decertification, particularly since he believed that the management and care changes made over the fall were "a step in the right direction," according to Administration Secretary Michael Smith.2222
Douglas said, "For many months, I thought we were making great progress and were moving in the right direction. The hospital has failed to create a culture of safety."2222
The two disappearances last week were reported to the federal government by the Vermont Division of Licensing and Protection. In one instance, a patient with permission to be outdoors left the hospital grounds Thursday, but was later returned.2222
A day earlier, Mary Ellen Gottlieb, 46, was taken by two attendants to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington for a medical appointment. One of the attendants left to check on the car, and, when Gottlieb asked the other to get her a drink of water, she fled, according to the Vermont State Police.222
She was still at large Tuesday night, and was "considered to be a danger to herself and others," the police said.222
Legislative leaders and mental health advocates said they were generally pleased that the governor wants to accelerate the hospital's closing, but they were concerned with the current roster of nearly 50 patients.
"At last we have the motivation to move expeditiously towards closing," said Sen. James Leddy, D-Burlington. He has long advocated closing the troubled hospital and finding better treatment options for its patients.2222
He suggested that the state should seriously consider sending some patients to empty psychiatric beds in New Hampshire hospitals.2222
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, also expressed concern for the safety of the patients. She said they were subject to the equivalent of a lock-down in the wake of the disappearances last week.222
"No one could leave, and while this was not a punishment, that is the net effect to the patients," the longtime mental health advocate said.2222
She noted that the administration has been talking about closing the hospital for at least two years. Until now, she questioned Douglas' resolve.222
"I'm very much hopeful this will turn that around and provide the emphasis and impetus that was lacking," she said.222
Douglas' resolve appeared more sturdy Tuesday.222
"I find this entire situation completely unacceptable," the governor said. "This lack of rigorous attention to detail — this failure to meet its most fundamental obligations — is, I believe, indicative of pervasive systemic flaws that must be and will be addressed as expeditiously as possible."222
His administration secretary reiterated that "all options are on the table."222
Ed Paquin, executive director of Vermont Protection and Advocacy, said the decertification "has made a political decision for the administration. Clearly they have a huge challenge, but one thing has been decided for them: they have to address this quickly."222
Symington said that while she commended the governor for taking quick action, the fate of the patients must not be ignored in crafting a solution.222
"You can't just wish away this population of 54 patients," she said. "We can't just come in today and close the door. These patients have nowhere to go tomorrow."222
Vermont Press Bureau reporter John Zicconi contributed to this report.2222Contact Darren Allen at darren.allen@rutlandherald.com.
For decades, transit officials have been aware that the system was obsolete, but updating it - both logistically and financially - has been seen as impractical.”
222 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/nyregion/26subway.html?pagewanted=print&position=www
If you think this is a republican issue or President Bush with the disabled you are wrong. Most of the managers and the "hands on" people with the disabled are hard nosed liberals. What I find most amazing, is how the good people can turn any ideology into a destructive tool of self interest.
You should see the distorted liberal rationales they use as tools to hide what is going on in the name of human rights and dignity. Almost without any controls they can accuse any employee with a human right violation in an attempt to hide the greater abuse that is going on. It is a concentration of unconscionable power bar no other industry, because it is perceived and structured as they are doing it in the interest of the weak and powerless. They are abusing power in this manner for the sole interest of selfish self interest. It’s the old iceberg.
We see it in the Clinton(president) and Dean (VTgovernor) where they created policies of economic governmental efficiencies in the name of votes–cut backs to the least of us- and they slit the throats of many helpless people in the name of a smaller government philosophy –i.e. it’s clearly what the public wants and demands of the democratic politicians. You see that’s the dirty little shame and secrete of our whole nation –is the majority of us are systematically abusing the least of us. That’s why it’s so intractable. Didn’t the governmental cutbacks in the Clinton administration lead to the NASA Columbia tragedy? Didn’t that destroy the NASA safety culture really? So what do we really think about the Vermont state mental hospital meltdown?
You see it’s us…us…us… –who is committing crimesagainst ourselves-most especially our liberals.
We’ve seen many so called liberals democratic governors, who have with malice have cut costs of the human services in a bid to get reelected even as they intentionally reduced transparency to themselves of the wreckage of lives all around them -and to the public. What we get is these perpetual seasonal political reorganization of the human service agencies– they spends tons of money on experts, reorganization experts and credit card dinner and drinks, thus the elites gets a bonus out of the horrors, everyone gets destabilized by the repeated changes of the organization -but it creates the illusion that the political class is acting on the horrors of the system.
Folks it’s political class protection and nothing elsehere –and the democrats are up to their necks withthis knowingly disgrace…
We are watching very closely the recent subway fire in Manhattan subways –the A and C lines. It’s amazing the interactions with the “undesirables”( homeless and disabled) potentially setting the fires –and disrupting 600,000 people’s lives for months and years–antiquated and 1930’s engineering of the wiring ofthe subway –not being able to find the money for the system upgrades – and the status of our mega city infrastructures as seen in this. It’s a world wide problem.
We sit there looking at these sparkling cities from a distant -but we wonder what is really going on in the belly of the beast.
Isn't that the symbol of our times on the big picture?
Thanks,
mike
State hospital loses fundingFebruary 2, 2005
By Darren M. Allen Vermont Press Bureau
MONTPELIER — Two months after restoring millions of dollars in funding for the Vermont State Hospital, the federal government yanked it all away again, Gov. James Douglas announced Tuesday.222
Prompted by the disappearance of two patients from the Waterbury hospital last week, the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services late Monday decided to decertify the trou2led 113-year-old inpatient psychiatric facility, citing safety concerns.2222
The decertification means the state will lose nearly $3.1 million in the current and following budget years, and, in all likelihood, will hasten the facility's closure.222
"This situation is entirely unacceptable," Douglas said. "The problems are so severe and so systemic, that nothing short of total reform will be acceptable."222
To that end, the governor said he wanted to accelerate the closure of the hospital, a move contemplated to occur no sooner than 2009 under current administration timetables. Both Douglas and Agency of Human Services Secretary Charles Smith declined to specify how quickly the closure can occur.22
"We are going to accelerate even faster plans to close the state hospital," Smith said. "We obviously will take a very hard look at those timetables."222
The decertification comes 60 days after the hospital regained certification after having lost it for 14 months. The federal government first took away the hospital's Medicare and Medicaid funding amid two patient suicides and findings of inadequate care. That move cost Vermont about $5 million.222
The decertification also comes at a time when the state budget can least afford another multi-million dollar hit, legislative and administration officials said. The current year's budget adjustment act — scheduled for debate on the House floor in a day or two — will be affected, as will next year's full budget.222
"It doesn't seem like there is any option but to find the money and work through this," said Speaker of the House Gaye Symington, D-Jericho. "The last thing we needed was another $1.5 million hit to the budget."222
Douglas was said to have been livid late Monday night when he received word of the pending decertification, particularly since he believed that the management and care changes made over the fall were "a step in the right direction," according to Administration Secretary Michael Smith.2222
Douglas said, "For many months, I thought we were making great progress and were moving in the right direction. The hospital has failed to create a culture of safety."2222
The two disappearances last week were reported to the federal government by the Vermont Division of Licensing and Protection. In one instance, a patient with permission to be outdoors left the hospital grounds Thursday, but was later returned.2222
A day earlier, Mary Ellen Gottlieb, 46, was taken by two attendants to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington for a medical appointment. One of the attendants left to check on the car, and, when Gottlieb asked the other to get her a drink of water, she fled, according to the Vermont State Police.222
She was still at large Tuesday night, and was "considered to be a danger to herself and others," the police said.222
Legislative leaders and mental health advocates said they were generally pleased that the governor wants to accelerate the hospital's closing, but they were concerned with the current roster of nearly 50 patients.
"At last we have the motivation to move expeditiously towards closing," said Sen. James Leddy, D-Burlington. He has long advocated closing the troubled hospital and finding better treatment options for its patients.2222
He suggested that the state should seriously consider sending some patients to empty psychiatric beds in New Hampshire hospitals.2222
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, also expressed concern for the safety of the patients. She said they were subject to the equivalent of a lock-down in the wake of the disappearances last week.222
"No one could leave, and while this was not a punishment, that is the net effect to the patients," the longtime mental health advocate said.2222
She noted that the administration has been talking about closing the hospital for at least two years. Until now, she questioned Douglas' resolve.222
"I'm very much hopeful this will turn that around and provide the emphasis and impetus that was lacking," she said.222
Douglas' resolve appeared more sturdy Tuesday.222
"I find this entire situation completely unacceptable," the governor said. "This lack of rigorous attention to detail — this failure to meet its most fundamental obligations — is, I believe, indicative of pervasive systemic flaws that must be and will be addressed as expeditiously as possible."222
His administration secretary reiterated that "all options are on the table."222
Ed Paquin, executive director of Vermont Protection and Advocacy, said the decertification "has made a political decision for the administration. Clearly they have a huge challenge, but one thing has been decided for them: they have to address this quickly."222
Symington said that while she commended the governor for taking quick action, the fate of the patients must not be ignored in crafting a solution.222
"You can't just wish away this population of 54 patients," she said. "We can't just come in today and close the door. These patients have nowhere to go tomorrow."222
Vermont Press Bureau reporter John Zicconi contributed to this report.2222Contact Darren Allen at darren.allen@rutlandherald.com.
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