The leaves bloweth away-eth

Fall has arrived to erase the exploding colors away, revealing my neighbors to me. Hi everyone from the backyard vantage points!

child abuse.....

I just read a Denver news article about a woman who, in what they call a "road rage" incident, was charged with "child abuse" because she threw a cup of water at the other vehicle and some of the water hit a toddler in the back seat. Child abuse. I no longer understand the term "child abuse."

I began my non-understanding of the term in 2004 with a low-level criminal case against a mom who required her teenager to sleep out on the deck at their home during the Colorado summer on the front range (with sleeping bag and a lot of camping equipment) because he continually kept stealing from family members when they all slept and had been caught yet again after making all kinds of contracts and promises not to do it. She was charged with child abuse.

Shortly thereafter, I learned that if a driver is cited with a DUI (Drinking Under the Influence), and the driver has a child or children in the car, then the driver will also receive a charge of "child abuse" for each of the children in the car. I think of my dad all those years ago, requiring us to get in that huge brown Chevy sedan to go get ice cream while he was so drunk that he passed out at the wheel while driving. The house was on a hill above a park, with no walls to stop a drop down the hill. Sometimes my drunk stepmother was there to correct things....and sometimes we had to do it from the back seat. I am fairly certain this was the beginning of my ulcers forming. As we kids got older, we developed all sorts of coping skills, including learning to drive at absurdly young ages, to endure the ice cream adventures from the hill house driveway and still love dad. Was he a "child abuser" in my mind? No. Was he stupid? Probably. Was I stupid for getting in the car? Yep. But him a "child abuser"? I'm not there yet.

The jury eventually came back with a not guilty verdict in the case of the mom, but not before a LOT of confusing testimony that painted this mother as a religious nut and terrorist parent. This 15 year old boy had a long history of increasingly serious missteps with authority and the law, but of course most of that information is not generally allowed into evidence in a trial for various important reasons. Certainly the prosecution did not want that information to be let in because then the jury would also get to hear all of the measures this mom (and her subsequent new husband) had gone to help the son.

Nonetheless, this mom agonized through this trial, suffering all kinds of what I would call systemic bullying..... and all because she was desperate to find a solution to her son's bad behaviors. Various expensive therapists had not helped. Threats of jail to the son had not helped. Various programs in the community had not helped. The mom had been cited for allowing her son to be truant from school. Family and intervention therapies had not helped. She had gone the next step when no community resources could help....she acted in what I was taught in the 80's was called "tough love." You act badly, you get the consequences of those bad actions. In this case, he kept stealing inside the house. He was not allowed in the house. Pay no mind that there was nowhere left for him to go. No community programs wanted him. He was incorrigible. Look that $10 word up.

And so somewhere along the line, our civil, proscriptive society decided she was a child abuser and she had to go on trial for it.

Yeah, so that is why I am confused about that term. Apparently bad parenting or failed parenting or desperate parenting is child abuse. Apparently parenting and guiding a strong-willed child who ends up making bad decisions in his teen development necessarily means YOU the parent are an abuser of children. Watch out for how you raise your children.

Balance people; we need a little balance.

Toss up......installment #2 in WTF Files - blondes or Muslims.

Some days, the human experience as reflected through the eyes of our media, just astounds me, Pinky. Today, two examples of what rots my brain if I read too much "news" and accept any of it as "fact."

First, an article on a Maldives resort planned by a Lithuanian firm, which will only hire blondes (women of course) and will have "an education [center] called 'Pretty Women' -- [to]'teach female guests to always be perfect and look great,' said the company's Giedre Pukiene." Even as I type, I see that CNN has demoted the article from its "don't miss" section to the "Editor's Choice" section below that. I'm fairly certain there has been more outrage expressed in the wee hours of the morning than just on my Facebook post. It is all rather distasteful, but easily pegged as distasteful and called out for what it is. The link for your enjoyment: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/10/11/blond.resort.maldives/index.html?hpt=Mid

Second, and closer to my personal experience, is a story not as easily pegged as distasteful and revolting. I see a video posted from Anderson Cooper's 360 (I find I appreciate his work as a balance more and more) which addresses an apparent "issue" raised by Sharron Angle, Republican senatorial nominee from NEVADA (Yes, Libby, your state again) that Sharia law is "being forced on Americans" in Frankford, Texas and Dearborn, Michigan. Anderson Cooper then researches the claims, as he agrees forcing Sharia (Islamic Law) on Americans would be serious. "Turns out, she does not have her facts straight." He plays the audio recording of what Sharon Angle says. He reports that Frankford, Texas does not even exist, has nothing more than an old church and a graveyard, and was annexed by the city of Dallas in 1975. He then reports that Dearborn, Michigan is one of America's oldest and largest Arab communities, but its mayor is not Arab or Muslim, and is "pretty angry at Sharon Angle and has written her a letter, saying in part and I quote, 'Muslims have been practicing their faith in our community for almost 90 years without incident or conflict.' "

Says Anderson Cooper, "Now, we invited Sharon Angle on to defend herself, and she chose not to."

When asked if Sharia Law had been discussed in Dearborn, the mayor responded, "This is an invention by some people who have ... as their goal...you know, they believe the Muslim faith is a false faith, it's dishonest, and they really belive at the heart of it by their own advocation that if Muslims won't convert, they should be removed from America."

I think that last paragraph pretty much sums up the frustration I see on a daily basis in my community anyway. Do not kid yourselves that in America there is religious "freedom." You may be "free" to practice certain prescribed versions of Christianity, some versions of Judaism perhaps (as long as you do not promote them too much in communities outside your own) but you may not be a Muslim and live out your faith in peace.

No wonder I am having constant dreams about the Salem witch trials lately. We vote people with this kind of belief system into political office all the time, and I think that is a very lazy and criminal use of our voting right.

Here's the link, if you want to check my recitation of events. I am unsure how to post links properly on my blog yet, so cut/paste it is! http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/10/12/ac.sharia.law.in.michigan.cnn?hpt=C2

Some days are Screamers....

Not in the Halloween sense, mind you, but in the general emotional, experiential sense, some days are just screamers.

We have a choice... scream, or don't scream. Keep trying to make things work, swimming up river, or scream.

Scream is better. I scream you scream we all scream for .... peace and tranquility. haha! Now, to figure out how to put the picture that goes with the post on to the blog page.

Suzanne Marie LaPointe

I just read that Suzanne Marie LaPointe died a couple days ago here. She died on the same day as my Aunt actually. I did not know her. I read that she had a wonderful husband, though they divorced, and fabulous children and grandchildren. She was a registered nurse and worked at our local hospital. Hospice and her family assisted her at the end.

Here's the thing though: She died of ovarian cancer, and I'm thinking....wow, that could have been me. Well, me without the fabulous husband whom I divorced or the grandkids. That could have been me just as well as any survivor of that stuff.

I think I need to be more productive to the world. I lived. For however long I continue to live, I think what I do on this earth ought to matter. Get off they duff, Cyn.

WTF File #1 - Hillary and Barak Apologize for the 1940's

Here's the long and short of the WTF Files:

Long ago, no telling how long ago, my BFF Libby (Libby-from-law-school-Libby) and I began exchanging morning emails as we upstarted our day's work. Invariably, we would find the most unusual and bizarre life situations repeated in the public forum we now know as online news. I have found such a news article today that causes me so much consternation on a Saturday morning, that I will email it to her directly, but have chosen to share the gist here.

I believe that this articule fully justifies any and all paranoia about our government....sadly dating back farther than I would have liked. Nonetheless, we aparently purposely used Guatamalan "sex workers" to test penicilin efficacy for sexually transmitted diseases. I am disgusted and sick in the pit o' me stomach. Found on CNN at http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/01/us.guatemala.apology/index.html?hpt=T2, it reads in part:

"The United States apologized Friday for a 1946-1948 research study in which people in Guatemala were intentionally infected with sexually transmitted diseases."

" 'Though it happened 64 years ago, it really is a profound violation of human rights,' said Colom [president], who said the report took him by surprise."

"The scientific investigation, called the U.S. Public Health Service Sexually Transmitted Disease Inoculation Study of 1946-1948, aimed at determining the effectiveness of penicillin in treating or preventing syphilis after subjects were exposed to the disease. Gonorrhea and chancres were also studied. Penicillin was a relatively new drug at the time.

"The tests were carried out on female commercial sex workers, prisoners in the national penitentiary, patients in the national mental hospital and soldiers. According to the study, more than 1,600 people were infected: 696 with syphilis, 772 with gonorrhea and 142 with chancres."

I cannot go on any further. I cannot imagine in this universe where a mere apology is meaningful in this situation. Perhaps when you spill a cup of milk, or forget to tell Grandma thanks for a birthday gift...but intentionally inflicting gonorrhea into the populace of a 3rd world country's primarily uneducated populace in order to find a cure for your puritanical and educated folks (who have the SAME DISEASES I might point out).... I can't do this...I gotta get a fresh cup of coffee....

Darjeeling to Kathmandu.....

Dare I broach this door with him? Uggh, but he could help them. He could actually do some good on his fake birthday for them. Now that my sights are in a different direction, I get ripped back to this one AGAIN.

Why would a lucrative businessman buy an American girl a ticket from Darjeeling to Kathmandu? I need ideas based on knowledge and experience, regardless of where those ideas take us.

Funding and Shutting Down...

I now know what bothers me these days at my core with regard to politics. It is not the telephone calls in the evening, asking me how I am going to vote, so that the information can be reported to media outlets for dissemination into the American psyche in the hopes that they WILL vote just like the polls SAY everyone is voting. I can simply ignore my telephone and not answer, though I should not have to. Sorry true friends. Just leave a message.

It isn't the television advertisements destroying the mood of an otherwise fabulously and intellectually intriguing episode of Bones, for which I have had zero time lately to indulge. I could turn my television off, though I should not have to.

It isn't the droves of paper and wood product decorating my neighbors' yards, faking me out as I come around the corner, thinking another "for sale" sign has gone up.

It IS this: Made clear in a CNN news article this morning at 3:53 a.m. titled, "Congress OKs Stop Gap Spending, Ready to Go Home", I find the clearest answer, so understated as to be completely missed...almost. The summary text, as far as I've gotten yet, reads, "Before shutting down for campaigns, Congress on Thursday passed a measure to fund the government another 2 months." As a side note, wow...didn't know funding was such an easy thing, but I digress.

I now know with sudden clarity and complete certainty what has bothered me in increasing measure all these years of my adult political life - it is that Congress is more concerned with campaigning than with running the country. They care not one iota about DOING their job. They just wanna campaign for the job, not really DO the job. The culture of our government leaders has shifted from service to the people to some form of self-preservation, the likes of which are publicly touted in the news as simple "fact", ..... and no one even notices.

mens rea - a Latin lesson

Latin is obsolete but for vestiges in our English language. So, too of course, is the concept underlying the Latin term "mens rea" i.e. "guilty mind" in our criminal culture. Our police authorities are launching detailed, resource-laden investigations over wildfires in the mountains because they want to find the bad guys who torched the mountains. Maybe there aren't any bad guys. Hemingway once said, "Sometimes sharks are just sharks." So, in Hemingway-esque manner, sometimes accidents are just accidents. No one was irresponsible or carried any evil/criminal intent.

Now, in first year law school, most of us learn about "mens rea" in our Criminal Law classes, the "intent" of a crime. Suffice it to say for our purposes here that "mens rea" is simply Latin for "guilty mind."

There are levels of guilt, or intent, in the human mind according to the criminal code nationwide, and though various states and the federal government see shades of differences, generally all agree that there is a big difference between taking an apple from the produce section of a grocery store because you are starving (thanks Alladin for that), and bludgeoning to death the old grandpa in the car in front of you because he is driving too slowly for you to get past him. Between these examples lies a vast gulf of "guilty mind" levels. I don't like how that previous sentence reads, but it is as close as I can get this morning. There is your Criminal Law 101. Mens rea. Intent.

Notice that what is NOT included in criminal intent is the "accident" scenario - you are driving along a neighborhood street, completely sober, obeying every law in a car that meets all standards, and a child runs out from between two parked cars at the last second before you are on top of them. The absolute worst outcome and literally no intent to harm involved, not even stupidity.

What I have not addressed, and apparently what is the impetus for my writing today, is the "guilty mind" level that precedes the apple example, but before the car and little child. It is something we see in both traffic tickets and dog bites in the State of Colorado. We call it "strict liability" in the legal sysem, and it means if it happens on your watch, you have committed a crime, whether or not you had the specific intent to do so. You are out walking your 2 year old Golden Retriever on a leash at the bike path, passing by a family riding their family bicycles. Your retriever has NEVER showed any signs of aggression or bitten anyone. Today is different. The 4 year old, low to the ground on his new mini-bike with tetra flames and horn, reaches out to touch the dog without warning. The dog defends and bites the hand that does not feed him. He's a dog. He bites. (Public Service Announcement: Dogs bite. If owners tell you the dog is nice and doesn't bite, run. Dogs bite.)

The child was bitten. You had no specific intent on any level to harm that child with your dog. But, you have just earned yourself a "dangerous dog" citation. It does not matter that the dog has never bitten before. It does not matter that the child reached out to pet the dog. What matters is that you failed to restrain the dog, the dog did harm to another person, and YOU are held criminally responsible. No mens rea though, no "guilty mind". You are just held strictly liable for all damage.

To bring that all around to today's thought: We sure are holding a lot more people "strictly liable" for things that are making no sense to me. I think in Colorado at least, it is spawned by a restitution law (criminal law only) that passed some years ago, allowing insurance companies to be "victims" within the meaning of the law, and to get "restitution" from the criminals who caused the damage that the insurance companies had to pay for. So, in order to get a court order for restitution, ya gotta have #1 a crime, #2 a criminal, #3 a victim, and #4 some kind of monetarily-based loss. Then you can have #5 restitution, or payment for the damage of the crime. You break into my home and steal my prized Yugioh card collection. The cops find you. You have sold my prized Yugioh collection. After determining its value (THAT's a riot in itself), the Courts will generally enter a restitution order against you, saying you must pay me that amount of money to restore me.

But did you do anything wrong to cause your dog to bite that little 4 year old? No. The dog, for whatever reason in his instinct, felt threatened, but YOU must pay for it and YOU have violated the criminal code, here in Colorado anyway.

So, during wildfire season in Colorado, I see newsarticles all over about whom to hold responsible, whom to cite for the fires beginning......and I am struck once again that our society spends an inordinate amount of time calling all the wrong folks criminals. There is no mens rea. I think that concept is as dead as the Latin language. We have lost our minds.

Sweeping in honor of International Peace Day

I haven't looked at the news, locally or abroad, to find out if the world is participating in our global Hallmark holiday. Chances are I will do that after I write here. Interestingly, I'm just trying to keep peace in my home and in my various bosses' offices. That is about all I really can do....keep my own porch swept and in order, so to speak.

Maybe if we just kept our own porches swept, we would have a lot more sweeping than kabitzing going on. And if we had more sweeping than kabitzing, while we'd probably have a few more allergies initially (cuz some of our porches are pretty dusty), we'd probably work up an appetite. And if we worked up an appetite, perhaps we would invite folks over to have a meal. And if we had a meal, we'd probably play a bit of music. And in all this food and music, we'd be so busy eating and singing, there would be no time to dismiss the deep beliefs and experiences of people who are different than us....we wouldn't be publishing on the front page of every newspaper the pros and cons of having a mosque at ground zero, or the dichotomy between Lindsey Lohan's treatment in the court system and Paris Hilton's treatment...and maybe there would be a bit of peace amongst the sweeping. If nothing else, there would be some peace because everyone's mouth would be full.

Something to Say....

I have something to say this morning....just not quite sure what it is.

Guled's 11 Rules to Life

I read on my friend's Facebook page the 11 Rules to Life (or something close to that) attributed to Bill Gates, but really written by a journalist named Sykes I think. In any event, because those 11 Rules are so blasted good, I sent an email to my 11 year old son to read those blastedly good 11 rules. Below is the email I got back from him today, spelling warts and all. I responded that if he would fix the spelling glitches, I'd give him some school credit (we virtual school now). So far, he hasn't been a taker. I attempted to paste a copy of his email here, but the small pictures and emoticons will not paste, making the gist of his email fall pretty flat I guess. I've interlineated some comments where pictures were:

From: gulyus99@hotmail.com
To: champton@q.com
Subject:
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 10:42:31 -0500



GULEDS 11 RULES to life and the UUUUNIVERSE
1: neverrr ever ever ever ever ever evveerrrr let twisted people talk you down, or play with electrical sockets.

2: forget being "fine" cause you'r gonna need tharapy, so save up a looot of money!

3: deeeeeee [3-D apparently]

4: moneyyyy= X-box [gaming]

5GOLDEN: treat people how you would want to be treated and no crossies! [crossed fingers]

6: world [peace sign] means to have war and peaple will always die even if we find eternal youth because we will always have [evil villain pic] in our heart.

7: have fun don't waste your life for there is not just [evil villain pic] but this [pics of sunshine, rainbows, an island, Japanese soup, smiley face, pizza and x-box symbol] ahhhhhhhh!

8: never let your hate overwhelm you (don't stay mad) cause you never know who or when someone will! [uh oh smiley "o" ghost face]

9: do not be afraid of shadows because it is simply your own creations that the shadows use.

10: our deepest fear is not that we are inadequete but that we are powerful beyond measure! [from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson read by Nelson Mandela and on our Chamber of Academic Secrets wall]

11: send this to the next person who you think needs encouragement.

That Dang Mouse

I need to type some stuff to see if my “fix” for this computer mouse conflict worked. You see, it has been moving on its own accord since I wiped and reinstalled my operating system. So far, with two lines of text, I am not having an issue. Wow! I’m so happy!! A complete reversal of events in the cosmos of late! Even with the Logitech mouse plugged in and my laptop NOT giving me the option to disable the onboard pointer like it used to (where’s THAT checkbox option?!), I am able to type fluidly again without this cursor jumping around. Now, the only typos appear completely user produced! Just in time for my first day in the office. Cyn is one happy typer.

Labor Day indeed

I have labored since early this morning, trying to clean up and organize a whole new game plan. I have begun some work in Colorado already, and will begin more this coming week. Some pretty fun assignments! But the biggest issue of all pays $0 per hour and involves a whole bunch of damaged workers in a place I used to live. The chemicals that make our lives manageable and "civilized" are killing the people who produce the stuff that makes us "civilized"....things like cars and plastics, cell phones, sheets for our beds, copper wire for our electricity, chemicals to purify our drinking water.... I was idealistic in 1987 as I dared to broach the doors of the law school, and I am idealistic today in 2010. I have this crazy notion that things should be fair. So sue me.

I Decline....

I sent an email yesterday, declining the two teaching jobs in Ethiopia. It is too late in the season to expect that I can pack up our world here and integrate there with a child. Plus, interestingly, that little boy who sings so beautifully in the shower can apparently sing equally beautifully in front of both mildly drunk business people and lake-faring crowds! Congrats to Guled and his band "Wicked Chicken", winners of the 2010 Keptone Battle of the Bands! I loved that they won. Guled is unusually charismatic with a crowd, and his band mates are really talented. Perhaps they will do it again next year!

But when an 11 year old winner of the 2010 Battle of the Bands asks to "stay one more year" so that he can enjoy the win..... well, self-reflection sort of requires me to decide why I am leaving in the first place and what amendments to "The Grand Plan" I can muster because his request is certainly reasonable.

So we will stay and I hit the "send" button on my declining email. Now, to figure out how to make a sufficient living here and whether or not to virtual school a second year. Last year, there were 4 virtual school options in the State of Colorado. This year, every single district around me has at least one option. Wildfire in the education world!

But really, I could pack up and leave on an adventure with probably 48 hours notice. That was never the problem.

The End Draws Nearer

We are discussing my ability to close up shop here and get there. I thought I had missed out on the beginning of the school year for this September....but perhaps not. Guled's dad is very concerned about our safety based on my skin color. I have thought this through for some years and I am convinced that it is probably time that Guled be given the presumption on skin color for a while. He needs to be the "local" while I am the foreigner. Let them accuse me of horrid things because I am white rather than those here accusing him of horrid things because his skin color is "Muslim terrorist." Stupid, uneducated viewpoint. Good book title though. Hum...she pondereth....

#1 son is interested in teaching at the school also. He has continued this interest from the time we taught the Somali immigrants here. I have asked my brother to help me find a good video camera so that we can post video of our year....just in case this happens now.

Ok, a Friday with all the guys from the school, seeing Despicable Me, before we enjoy some road trip time with our Thai friends....and perhaps pack up our lives for a while so that we can really experience and live.

The Cradle to the Grave song!

Pachelbel (Canon) meets U2 (With or Without You) -Jon Schmidt: piano, St...

In The Beginning ...

...there was malcontent, though the exterior looked perfectly perfect. Sometimes when we find ourselves doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons, we gotta grab a glass of pinot or cab, and sit back on the porch to ponder. Pondering complete, we have decided and reconciled to go back to the beginning...a very good place to begin. Guled is pushing for Japan. I do believe we need to make a stop in the cradle of all life first.

A journey of a lifetime begins with the first step...something along those proverbial and antiquated lines. Guled has asked for his own blog, so I will link to it once I learn the process. This post is just an initial attempt to give me something to work with in the design process. I had this great wine glass and Italian washed wall background but the fonts wouldn't show on both background colors. And yeah Lib, the wine glass was for you and our villa. You will find the "WTF" files somewhere soon.

So friends and family, this is our way of keeping connected, being the only thing we have to give ... well, besides all the "stuff" in our house that we will one day soon sell or pass along. Stay tuned is so cliche, but really.....you know me and my sojournying.... stay tuned.