Don’t Steal our Postal Services Rally
Saturday, December 21st,
1 – 4 PM
In front of the Staples store, 2352 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, corner of Durant

The Berkeley Post Office and post offices all over the US are under threat of being fraudulently sold! In a new attack, US postal services have been snuck into 84 Staples stores all over the country - including Berkeley. Postal services are being provided by low-wage Staples employees, not living-wage Postal professionals. 

Please join us to: 

• Oppose privatization of the US Postal Services and all public resources. Privatization brings higher prices and worse quality.
• Oppose union busting - replacing union jobs with low paying jobs that offer poor or no benefits. (USPS compensation: $20-$30/hr + benefits. Staples: $8 - $12/hr, few if any benefits.) Non-union pay lowers everyone’s standard of living.

A diverse coalition of Berkeley residents including neighborhood leaders, progressives and students will kick off a month-long signature drive this Saturday to stop the City Council’s controversial redistricting ordinance from going forward. 

On Tuesday, December 17th, a divided Berkeley City Council on a 6-3 vote adopted a redistricting plan that will shape the composition of the Council for the next ten years. 

Just like we have seen in Texas and throughout the country in which redistricting has been used for partisan political purposes, Berkeley’s City Council has adopted a controversial plan that not only divides neighborhoods but also gerrymanders out students and progressive voters who live north of the UC Berkeley campus. The Council rejected an alternative plan that (the United Student District Amendment) united students and kept neighborhoods together. 

The Council could have chosen the plan that was more fair and inclusive, but instead adopted a partisan plan explicitly designed to minimize progressive voices on the Council. The Council also ignored other redistricting plans that were more balanced including the plan submitted by the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council. 

Redistricting has been before the Council for the last three years. In early 2012 the Council voted to delay redistricting for one year, which disenfranchised over 4,000 people, keeping them from voting for the City Councilmember who would ultimately represent them. In November 2012 Berkeley voters approved changes to the Charter around redistricting which gave Council total flexibility to draw new boundaries. Prior to Measure R, the Council could only make minor adjustments to pre-existing boundaries that were adopted by voters in 1986. Unfortunately the Council has abused this new power, creating an unfair map. 

Proponents of the redistricting referendum have 30 days to gather 5,275 signatures to stop the ordinance from going into effect. If we are successful the Council will have to reconsider the ordinance or put it on the ballot. The Berkeley Referendum Coalition is working over this holiday season to gather signatures so that the City Council can reconsider its decision and do the right thing - come up with a fair and inclusive plan that unites neighborhoods, students and the entire community. 

WHO: Councilmembers Jesse Arreguin and Kriss Worthington, and neighborhood leaders, progressive activists and students 

WHEN: Saturday, December 21, 2013, 11:00 AM 

WHERE: Outside Mudrakers Cafe, 2801 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley

A male and female victim were held up in an armed robbery in Berkeley, south of the University of California at Berkeley campus early Saturday morning, UC police said.

Around 12:30 a.m. the pair was walking near Derby Street and Hillegass Avenue when two men approached them from behind, police said. 

One of the suspects pushed the female victim and grabbed her purse. When she turned around she noticed that one of the men had a gun, police said. 

Both suspects then pushed the male victim and tried to take his belongings. One of the suspects struck him with the gun and was able to take his property, police said. 

The victims suffered minor injuries during the robbery, police said. 

The suspects fled in a car that was either brown or red and police have not found them. 

The suspects are both described as Hispanic men in their 20s standing about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 175 pounds. One was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The second was wearing a light-colored shirt, jeans, a gray beanie and was carrying a gun, police said. 

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (510) 981-5900.

Shoppers coming to the Berkeley Bowl on weekday afternoons are treated to a unique shopping experience. It's the Art Cart, a gayly decorated chest on wheels carrying a variety of unusual items for sale. There are tote bags, mugs, candles, t-shirts and more, each with a unique decoration. It is a project of Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) centered in their new studio at 1740 Alcatraz. Founder Sally Hindman explains, “it an art jobs training program that empowers and transforms the lives of homeless and low income, extremely resilient, strong, creative, powerful youth that need a forum for making their voices heard creatively. We work with youth that are couch surfing, former foster youth, youth that are in shelters, transitional housing.” Aged from 16 to 25, the youth may be referred by various agencies or come on their own, having heard about it from a friends.

Founded in 2007 YSA grew out of Hindman's experience with Chaplaincy for the Homeless and her interest in art for social change.. “What we found was that there was a whole lot of money that had been put into services for the quote runaway youth that were hanging out on the street because they were visible but the youth of color who were couch surfing and struggling, aging out of foster care and so forth, those youth were getting nothing. … They're falling through the cracks.” She explains they “need attention and community that supports and loves them. This is serving those kids. Mostly youth of color, but of any color too.” 

Starting out with a few youth in a small studio space with only a limited art program they have been steadily expanding. This month they celebrated the grand opening of a new, spacious studio. They are enrolling 125 youth each year and offering training in five different areas; non profit management, social services, communication and social media, sales and entrepreneurship, and art. 

Over the years YSA has also engaged in community art projects. They have produced some impressive murals in the Loren neighborhood. During their summer session they decorated the bollards along Ashby with mosaic tiles. (Bollards are those barrel shaped chunks of concrete blocking cross traffic from merging into Ashby.) 

Some of the young people are referred to the program from various social agencies, others have heard about the program from friends or casual acquaintances. The Ala Costa Center for children and young adults with developmental disabilities has been referring young people which is proving to be a mutually beneficial connection. Hindman notes that “we found that our core population of homeless and low income youth are struggling with their own issues but we found our youth were extremely compassionate and kind to the youth with developmental challenges because they feel like, I'm having a really hard time, I'm couch surfing at my grandma's house but I don't have this intellectual challenge that this person has and I can talk better – so they ended up being really kind and nurturing toward these youth .... (They're finding) they can use their strength even in the midst of crisis to help other people.” 

Hindman explains that “the young people can participate as drop-ins and then if they want to when they're ready they can sign up as part of our paid stipend-ed training program and start to climb our progression ladder. And when they do that they participate in our quarterly art job training sessions and they get paid stipends for their participation and they also get paid 50% of the proceeds of everything they sell. Wonderful way for them to make money while they work on setting and meeting personal goals. If they're in a training program they generally come 3 days a week, Mon,Wed Fri or Tues, Thurs, Fri. On Fridays we have training and a meal together. All the youth from our program come on Friday, as a community.” 

A visitor to the studio on any afternoon can find young people ready to talk about their interests and ambitions. Jordan Roberts is majoring in graphic design at Laney College. He just finished creating an intriguing design on a tote bag. He heard of YSA from a lady sitting next to him on a bus one day watching him draw. “I came here and got hooked”, he tells me. “I feel like I can get what I want to say out in my art here.” 

High school student Katrina Krommenhock was referred here by another program. “I enjoy art and I wanted somewhere where I could use my artistic abilities”. She is particularly interested in animation, She says it's “such a beautiful endeavor, so much goes into it, so much beauty and you can make a stunning work of art by using animation.” 

Brandon Harris is 24 has the status of junior artist. He takes classes at the Ed Roberts Campus and has been coming to YSA for some years. He points with pride to a painting that he did that has just been purchased. It is a large intricate work done in exuberant colors. 

Omar Bagent, 18, is sales leader. He is also an artist and has done some painting but now his focus is on selling his fellow artists work and promoting YSA. He talks about the Art Cart and explains that his job is “to figure out who's going to sell, where they're going to sell and how long. They're mostly out for 3 hours or longer.” He tells of learning how to sell. “You have to learn how to talk, you can't be shy. Be energetic the whole time, people feel your vibe. … Learn communication skills, how to interact with people.” 

Eighteen year old Toryanna Finley is passionately committed to YSA . She is completing her high school work by independent study and is applying for college. Most of her time is spent at the studio, she says, and expects to be employed as YSA youth vocation coordinator. This means she will “basically help all the youth in the program achieve their goals – like graduating high school, obtaining health care, housing and things like that. Basically bettering themselves.” She came to YSA 2 years ago. “I started out like everybody else, not knowing how to draw. All I knew how to do is stick people. Met Victor and started learning how to create art.” She worked her way up the position of junior artist. “I worked under Victor and helped teach the youth to do different techniques and styles – how to get colors they wanted, which materials, research different artists and art styles. … I learned a lot of different things here. I can actually teach others how to do art now.” 

Art Director Victor Mavedzenge is 39 years old, originally from Africa and recently moved to California. “When I moved here as an artist I wanted to be involved with an organization that had art at the schools. I had experience, I enjoy teaching art as well as creating art. When I met Sally (Hindman) and she told me about this I just thought it was the right thing for me. - creating and teaching art.” He talks about his teaching philosophy; “The approaches need to be varied to meet different student's needs. Some come in who have no confidence whatsoever which is ridiculous because we're all creative but the school system teaches us that we're not. That's one of my teaching strengths … (we) get youth at different levels and I try to engage with them at the level they are. Introducing arts, developing skills or just simple appreciation of art – understanding, criticizing.” His enthusiasm is contagious. “I bring out the strength in your visual expression and also the poetry. The youth get to realize that they've got a particular way of doing things which can be beautiful in its own way and can be developed to become what they call art. A box opens up and sparkles of brilliance in everyone, a little bit of polishing you get the most beautiful sparkles - I get so much from interacting with them.” 

Those sparkles of brilliance are in him too! Just listening to him is inspiring. And it shows in the amazing work his young students create, young people who might otherwise be outcast from society. And with all the negativity surrounding us Berkeley can allow itself some bragging rights for the talent and dedication flourishing here.

We're taking a long break here, both for holiday cheer and to take care of family business. I hope to post, eventually, whatever comes in from our faithful columnists, and I'll be checking Bay City News for breaking Berkeley stories. but otherwise we'll be Out of Service, as they say at AC Transit, for the duration of the holidays. Happy Holidays! Whichever ones you celebrate, enjoy them.

Highrise Hotel Proposed in Heart of Berkeley

Dan O'Neill

"He knows when you are sleeping; he know when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good ... "

Really, who is this "Santa Claus?" Here's a hint: take the middle letter in Santa's name and put it at the beginning.

The NSA's program for collecting all telecommunication information about all Americans was originally named Total Awareness, before it was rebranded with a different name. NSATA.

And who does NSATA actually represent? Here's a hint: take the first letter and put it at the end.

Sweet Dreams, Little Darlins!

For the second time in just a few years, I am opposing a transit "improvement" project proposed by AC Transit. As was the case with the previous Bus Rapid Transit project, this Line 51 project doesn't appear to provide any significant benefits. Instead it appears to be the result of misguided AC Transit bureaucracy, useless changes just for the sake of changing things and getting government grant money. The Line 51 project is full of destructive changes for Berkeley. I put together a photo interpretation showing each of the 139 trees and more than 161 parking spaces it would seem to permanently remove. The PDF file is online at www.properaction.org/line51berkeley.pdf 

I am not opposed to public transit or to protecting the environment. So if I am going to oppose a bad project, I'd like to propose some good projects that are better than what AC Transit is trying to do. I have three of them to suggest: BEST, TransitCar and Cargo Tunnel. BEST, or Buses at Evenly Spaced Times, is a form of headway-based scheduling for buses that prevents the kind of bus bunching that chronically disrupts AC Transit service. Transit researchers have proven that headway-based scheduling eliminates bus bunching and provides very high levels of service. And it doesn't require the removal of even a single tree or parking space.  

TransitCar is a proposal by some friends and me to place large numbers of inexpensive electric cars in BART station parking lots, to transport commuters to and from the stations. These cars only go 25 mph and only have a range of around 20 miles, but they only cost about $8000 and they charge from a regular electrical outlet. They can drive directly to locations that aren't served well by buses, and their low cost would allow them to be rented for prices not much higher than a round-trip bus ticket. Cargo Tunnel is a longer-term proposal to automate package delivery. Not by using drones as has been in the news lately, but by installing another pipe under the street containing a small electic delivery cart. Some fraction of automobile trips can be replaced by realtime delivery of things like groceries and mail. In addition to saving energy, Cargo Tunnel can reduce noise, traffic congestion and auto accidents. 

I discussed BEST with one of the planners at AC Transit. The response was basically "that sounds like a good idea, but we don't want to do it." I discussed TransitCar with the City of Berkeley. The response was basically "that sounds like a good idea but the City is not in a position to do anything about it." I discussed Cargo Tunnel with the City of Berkeley. The response was basically "that sounds like an interesting idea, but someone else has to do it before Berkeley will get involved." These are hardly the kind of responses I would expect from organizations which claim to want progress. Trying to do feel-good projects that won't help the environment, like the Line 51 project and Bus Rapid Transit before it, is a waste of time and resources. But BEST and TransitCar can easily and quickly cut greenhouse gases and improve public transit. In the longer term, Cargo Tunnel has the potential to get people out of their cars and improve the quality of life. 

We don't have too much control over what AC Transit tries to do, but we have the right to block them from damaging our city. And if we care about the environment and want Berkeley to be at the forefront of protecting the environment, we should focus on solutions that will really make a difference. If the City of Berkeley chooses to, it can implement TransitCar. All it has to do is buy some cars and park them at the BART stations. And in the longer term, Berkeley could experiment with Cargo Tunnel as well. We could build a small test system down a major street like University, Shattuck or Telegraph, and see if people use it. Deciding whether a project is worth doing isn't rocket science. The only questions that must be answered are:  

—Does the project really save energy or make life better? 

—Is any improvement worth the expense and disruptions involved? 

In the case of the Line 51 project the answers appear to be NO and NO. But for BEST, TransitCar and Cargo Tunnel the answers appear to be YES, YES, YES, YES, YES and MAYBE. 

So why is Berkeley cooperating with AC Transit rather than doing something productive? It appears that Berkeley may have lost any vision it ever had about truly making the world a better place.

More and more Israeli politicians are criticizing the linkage of releasing Palestinian prisoners and the establishment of new settlements. Critics warned that such a policy was aimed at keeping the embers of the sham peace process alive and attempting to pacify the extreme right-wing members of Netanyahu’s fractured coalition. Eitan Haber, a veteran Israeli commentator, reflected on the policy by invoking a Hebrew idiom about a bridegroom cannot dance at two weddings, stating that Netanyahu “is attempting to please all sides”.  

Shimon Shiffer, a columnist for the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, called the planned settlement announcement “a cheap and gratuitous gimmick” that would backfire by angering the Obama administration and European leaders. “Netanyahu is like a cow that gives a bucket-full of milk, only to kick the bucket over.” Shiffer is right - Netanyahu has infuriated both Washington and members of his own party. These include Isaac Herzog, head of the opposition Labor Party; Yaakov Peri, a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet; and Orit Struk, a member of the Jewish Home party who is herself a settler. Palestinian leaders have been incensed at the theft of more and more of their land and are now threatening to seek justice through the International Court. European diplomats have warned Israel that its current policies would further isolate the country.

Roosevelt's words on what working people deserve captures our serious concern about the need to achieve a living wage for all workers. Roosevelt declared "No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country" Instead, the business community continues to pay as little as it can get away with, which is why the federal government and most states have enacted minimum wage laws. However, the tragedy is that minimum wage jobs pay only a poverty wage. As the New York Times reported, in the late 1960s a full time job at the federal minimum wage could almost lift a family of four above the official poverty level. Currently, the same family of four that depends on a minimum wage workers would be about 40 percent below the poverty line.  

Many have the impression that teenagers hold a substantial proportion of minimum wage jobs. However, the abysmal state of the economy is compelling more and more adults to accept low wage jobs. As a result, only 12 percent of minimum wage jobs are held by teenagers. Also significant, but often neglected, the low paying minimum wage jobs are serving as a lid on wages for the millions of workers who earn just above the minimum wage level. 

Not only do federal and state minimum wage laws continue to perpetuate poverty. To make matters worse, due to inflation the spending capacity of low paid workers grows smaller and smaller every year. The same can be said for millions of workers who earn just above the minimum wage level and whose wages are in tandem with minimum wage workers. For minimum wage workers, their real income in the last 45 years has declined by over $3.50 an hour. It should be no surprise, then, that the trillions of dollars lost in spending power has contributed considerably to precipitating our economic crisis. 

What must be done, then, is not only enacting laws that provide a much higher floor than current laws do. Minimum wage laws MUST include annual cost of living adjustments. Although any increase in the minimum wage will improve wages in the short run, without a cost of living adjustment (COLA), the purchasing power of the minimum wage in the long run will continually decline. That is why Social Security is adjusted annually, although it certainly underestimates the extent of inflation. 

But almost all state legislatures that are willing to increase the minimum wage are opposed to providing a cost of living increase. Unfortunately, California is among those states. Eleven states do include a COLA, but in ten of these states it was passed by public ballot. Only in Vermont was a COLA enacted by the State Legislature. Clearly, the voting public is much more progressive than those it elects! 

Is there any other route to raise wages? Best of all would be high union density, which would give organized labor a lot more muscle. In Sweden, for example, there is no minimum wage law. But 70 percent of Swedish workers are members of unions that ensure a high standard of living. In the United States, less than 7 percent of private sector workers in the United Sates who are unionized. 

I think we know what to do. Unless there is a dramatic change in the culture of legislative bodies, the track record so far suggests that referendum is our best option. The ballot measure in the city of SeaTac, Washington raised the minimum wage from $.9.19 to $15 an hour for hospitality and transportation workers in and near the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. For full time workers, their wages will be 133% percent higher than the official poverty line for a family of four. We should be encouraged that despite enormous business opposition a minimum wage that provides a living wage can be achieved. 

The Berkeley City Council will shortly be considering an increase in the minimum wage. Please contact your council representative to urge that he or she support a living wage that includes a cost of living adjustment. 

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Economic sanctions have been largely unsuccessful and have generally resulted in heaping misery onto the voiceless and impoverished members of society. Most notable examples are Cuba (no regime change in over 5o years) and Iraq where 500,000 men, women and children died as a result of crippling economic sanctions. One notable exception is the successful economic sanctions directed at apartheid South Africa which resulted in the eventual release of Nelson Mandela and the end of the apartheid regime. According to numerous historians, the US, Britain, Israel and other Western nations propped this abhorrent regime for many decades. 

It is tragic that the CIA under President Kennedy tipped off the South African government on Mandela’s whereabouts which led to his capture and 27 year incarceration. The CIA also collaborated with the South African government in an effort to undermine the people of Angola’s long struggle to repel the yoke of Portuguese colonial rule. Finally, the US and Israel collaborated closely and assisted South Africa’s nuclear bomb development program. As journalist and professor Linn observed in his recent article, "Obama Failed to Deliver Long-Overdue Apology to Mandela.’ It would have given Mandela some measure of comfort had we offered our remorse for our very serious transgressions to this Gandhi-Christ-like figure before his death.

With the exception of Senator Elizabeth Warren, American politicians had a terrible year. President Obama’s approval ratings plummeted along with those of Congress. Indeed, the most popular “politician” in the United States was a non-American, the new head of the Catholic Church, 77-year-old Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis. 

Beginning with his March 13th election to the papacy, Francis has been singular. He’s the first Pope from the Americas – the first non-European Pope since 731 – and the first Jesuit. Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose the papal name Francis – another first – in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. It wasn’t a cavalier choice of name. Like many Jesuits, Francis cares deeply about social justice. 

In his illuminating NEW YORKER article, journalist James Carroll noted that in his first week as Pope, Francis said, “How I would like a church which is poor and for the poor.” Francis’ commitment to social justice can hardly have come as a surprise to the College of Cardinals who elected him in March. Carroll notes:

By the time Bergoglio was named a cardinal, in 2001, his simplicity of style had already set him apart from other prelates. He preferred a small apartment to a palatial residence and travelled by public transportation instead of chauffeured car. As Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he encouraged his best priests to live in the slums, joining them for Mass and often walking through the shantytowns… he also was strident in his denunciations of neoliberal economic policies that condemned many to abject poverty.

For many progressives, Pope Francis first came onto our radar on November 24th when he issued his Evangelii Gaudium, explaining his liberation-theology-influenced morality. Chapter 2 regards his assessment of inequality in the modern world: “We have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries are barely living from day to day, with dire consequences… The joy of living frequently fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident.” 

After condemning the “idolatry of money,” the Pope said, “Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality.” He observed, “[In contemporary society] Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded.” 

Pope Francis attacked the prevailing conservative economic ideology:

Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system... To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed.

Francis identified the core ethical problem:

The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! … Behind this attitude lurks a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God… With this in mind, I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity: ‘Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs.’

Pope Francis concluded with a strong appeal for social justice:

A financial reform open to such ethical considerations would require a vigorous change of approach on the part of political leaders… Money must serve, not rule! The Pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor. I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings.

In 2013 there was a resurgence of populism in the US, with the enormous popularity of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and the victory of Bill De Blasio in the New York mayor’s race. And populists gained a powerful ally in Pope Francis. 

Populists believe the true backbone of America is the middle class; not the elite one percent. We believe in a level playing field and government as a force for good. Populists believe the government must provide a social safety net to protect Americans’ human rights. 

Populist values emphasize empathy, compassion, and fairness. Those are the very same values that Pope Francis has highlighted the past nine months. That’s why he was the 2013 “politician” of the year. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bburnett@sonic.net

Depression seems to be very common to older and middle aged men and is a cause of grouchy behavior. Apparently, many men who have become depressed when older refuse to seek or accept help for their condition. Also, many persons who are not seniors and who have some type of disorder, but who are nominally functional in life, do not always know whether or not to seek treatment for their problems.  

In my case and in that of many other severely mentally ill people, getting treatment is absolutely necessary, and it prevents a situation of extreme mishaps. When someone is severely psychotic, treatment is necessary and not optional. If someone is depressed to the point of suicidality or to the point where gravely disabled, (e.g.; they can't take care of their basic needs) that person needs treatment, needs help, and should seek it.  

However, if you have some amount of depression, or some amount of emotional pain in life, but it seems bearable, it might be better to seek alternatives, such as meditation, psychotherapy, or a self-help group.  

Don't get me wrong; mental illnesses are diseases that require treatment. If someone is sick, they are likely to need medicine. This week's column is not an invitation for persons with mental illness to go off medication. But, to address people who are not severely mentally ill who could realistically get by without medication--more power to them. Medication isn't a "good thing" rather it is sometimes a necessary and unpleasant thing.  

Psychotherapy is usually a part of the package deal that comes with inpatient and outpatient institutionalization. Psychotherapy can get a person more in touch with their emotions. This is fine if you have a lot of stored pain and you need to get some of it released.  

However, being more in touch with emotions might be counterproductive if you are a "corporate" person, e.g., someone who lives on stress, and for whom too many emotions would hamper job performance. Getting more in touch with feelings can raise the volume level of emotions and can make a patient feel worse in the short term. In the long-term, presumably if the therapist is good and is a match, it can be an essential piece to the jigsaw puzzle of getting better.  

If more people sought psychotherapy to deal with problems instead of alcohol, our society would be better off. …but I'm getting off track.  

If one has been diagnosed with severe mental illness of some kind, and if one is already fully involved with the mental health treatment system--if you have reached that point, then the more assistance you can get from the system, the better off you may be.  

On the other hand, if you were a successful businessperson who had occasional panic attacks, you would probably want to get help in a fairly discreet way. Those with whom you do business might not want to deal with you if they knew you had problems.  

Medication might interfere with waking up at 5 am, and with performing demanding job duties. Psychotherapy may make a person too emotionally sensitive to continue having that meanness that helps some businesspersons succeed. You might not have time for regular meetings with a psychiatrist, trips to the pharmacy, and group therapy. The mental health treatment system would put you at a psychological wavelength in which you can not be a high level businessperson.  

"Successful" people with mental illness who are not disabled by their illness do not usually go the institutional route for their treatment. Exactly how they receive their treatment is beyond where I have knowledge. In my case, I have worked at part-time jobs and sometimes succeeded, but have only been able to work fairly minimally. I have gone the institutional route, and I am not sure if this has helped or interfered with my work attempts.  

While you might think it just doesn't happen for a person with mental illness to be a successful professional and to have all of the trappings of success--you would be wrong--it does happen. When someone is materially successful and at the same time mentally ill, 99 percent of the time, the illness is never heard about. For example, some ultra-famous movie stars. We have just learned that Richard Dreyfuss is bipolar, and a few years back we heard the same thing about Katherine Zeta Jones. These people came out of the closet only after establishing illustrious careers. The bipolar wasn't revealed until the actors reached a point where it couldn’t damage their careers.  

In my past, one employer as well as one prospective employer disclosed to me that they had a mental illness. Both were successful entrepreneurs whom I met in the course of my working at jobs. Neither of these people would have become an infantilized, systematized mental health consumer. Whatever treatment they received was such that they could continue functioning as heads of two different companies.  

On the other hand, since my wife and I are medicated and involved in the full deal of being treated for a mental illness, it has become quite challenging to live in society at large. The mental health treatment environment, the illness, the medication, and perhaps some amount of burnout have made work at a regular job a near impossibility. At this level, more help with day-to-day living would be welcome.  

My wife and I are on a level where our illnesses are chronic and disabling, we are middle-aged, we are dependent on services from the mental health treatment system, yet we are intellectually unimpaired and can live independently. This category of people is right in the middle, and we don't fit in very easily with most treatment classifications. 

However, there just isn't a lot of help out there for mental health consumers who are treatment compliant and doing well. The focus of the mental health treatment system is that of dealing with the problem people who are less functional and who require more maintenance. The ones who don't do as well are using up most of the money and resources of the mental health treatment system, and this leaves people who are doing better to be left pretty much on our own.

The U.S. should cut off aid to Uganda over its anti-gay crackdown. 

On December 20, 2013, Uganda passed anti-gay legislation that would impose a life imprisonment for gay sex involving an HIV-positive person, acts with minors and the disabled, and repeated sex offenses among consenting adults even though Uganda already punished gay intimacy with life in prison. The legislation also sets forth a seven-year jail term for a person who conducts a marriage ceremony for same-sex couples.  

Given the advancement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) in this country, we forget the battle for such rights is still being fought in other parts of the world. For example, on the eve of the Winter Olympic games, Russia passed legislation that bans the distribution of information about homosexuality to children. 

How did this draconian Ugandan law come about? In March 2009, American anti-gay activists traveled to Uganda for a conference that pledged to “wipe out” homosexuality. Seven months later, in October 2009, David Bahati, a Ugandan lawmaker and a member of the "Family," sponsored the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009.”  

The "Family" or the "Fellowship," by the way, is a secretive, privately-funded group and one of the most powerful, well-connected Christian fundamentalist movements in the U.S. This organization used its influence and funds through the Family’s African outreach programs to support the Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill. Previously, the Family had converted Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni to its anti-gay brand of Christianity. Doug Coe, the Family's leader, called Uganda's President Museveni the Family’s “key man” in Africa and the Family and other anti-gay groups have long viewed Uganda as a laboratory to experiment with Christian theocracy.  

The Family leadership is now on record opposing the Ugandan anti-gay legislation -- the very legislation they promoted -- although it is unclear how active members were in lobbying Ugandan legislators to drop the legislation. 

The Ugandan anti-gay legislation has sparked controversy in other Africa countries. The influence of the religious right is being felt across Sub-Sahara Africa. The Christian right has been involved in anti-gay legislative and constitutional activities in Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe as well. Uganda’s anti-gay legislation may be the model for other countries, including Nigeria and Liberia, where similar laws are being considered.  

While today, anti-gay legislation may be a reaction to Western ideas, discriminatory laws date back to Western colonization in Africa that banned sodomy as “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” and then went on to prohibit lesbian relationships, to outlaw same-sex marriages, to prevent the adoption of children by same-sex couples, and to outlaw LGBT organizations.  

The U.S. has a close alliance with the Ugandan military. The U.S. provides advisers, training, weapons, and supplies, and in return Ugandan soldiers do most of the fighting in Somalia, a stronghold for Islamic militants. Will the U.S. endanger its alliance to support "LGBT issues?"  

Supposedly, "LGBT issues are a caveat on U.S. support." Given this caveat, the U.S. should cut off military aid to Uganda until the anti-gay legislation is repealed. If the U.S. does not take a firm stand here, the rest of Sub-Sahara Africa will probably follow Uganda's lead.  

Will the U.S. jeopardize its alliance with Uganda over these LGBT issues? I am hopeful, but not optimistic. 

Every year Dispatches From The edge gives awards to news stories and newsmakers that fall under the category of “Are you serious?” Here are the awards for 2013: 

Creative Solutions Award to the Third Battalion of the 41^st U.S. Infantry Division for its innovative solution on how to halt sporadic attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Zhare District: it blew up a hill that the insurgents used as cover. 

This tactic could potentially be a major job creator because there are lots of hills in Afghanistan. And after the U.S. Army blows them all up, it can take on those really big things: mountains. 

Runner up in this category is Col. Thomas W. Collins, for his inventive solution on how to explain a sharp rise in Taliban attacks in 2013. The U.S. military published a detailed bar graphs indicating insurgent attacks had declined by 7 percent, but, when the figure was challenged by the media, the Army switched to the mushroom strategy*: “We’re just not giving out statistics anymore,” Col. Collins told the Associated Press.  

Independent sources indicate that attacks were up 40 percent over last year, with the battlegrounds shifting from the south of Afghanistan to the east and north. 

*Mushrooms are kept in the dark and fed manure. 

The White Man’s Burden Award goes to retired U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and an expert on counterinsurgency warfare. McChrystal told the Associated Press that the Afghans don’t really want the U.S. to withdraw, because they are “Like a teenager, you really don’t want your parents hanging around you, but…you like to know if things go bad, they’re going to help.” The General went on to say the U.S. needed to stay because “We have an emotional responsibility” to the Afghans. 

The “Don’t Bring Me No Bad News” Award was split between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

The Greek state television network ERT’s reporting of the widespread opposition to the current austerity policies of the center-right Samaras government apparently annoyed the Prime Minister. Samaras dismissed all of ERT’s 2,700 employees and closed down the station (the fired workers are occupying ERT’s headquarters and continue to broadcast programming). When the government restarted broadcasts a month later, it led with a 1960’s comedy, followed by documentary about a Greek surrealist poet. 

Turkish PM Erdogan pressured Turkey’s 24-hour television news stations not to cover the massive June demonstrations that paralyzed much of Istanbul and, instead, to broadcast a panel of medical experts talking about schizophrenia and a documentary about penguins. There are no penguins in Turkey, although the schizophrenia program may have been an appropriate subject matter for the Prime Minister. 

The Bad Hair Award to the Dublin city government for spending $6.8 million to promote a Redhead Convention in the village of Crosshaven on Ireland’s southeast coast. 

Ireland is currently in a major depression triggered by a banker-instigated housing bubble. The International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission—the so-called “troika”—bailed out the banks and instituted a massive austerity program on Ireland. The cost of the bailout is approximately $13,750 for every Irish citizen. 

The salaries of government workers were cut 20 percent, and 35,000 public employees were laid off. Pensions, unemployment and welfare benefits were slashed and new taxes imposed. Unemployment is at almost 13 percent—28 percent for young people. A survey found that 67 percent of families with young children are unable to afford basic necessities, and are in arrears on their rent, utility bills, and mortgages. Some 20 percent of Ireland’s children live in houses where both parents are out of work—the highest in Europe—and in a population of 4.6 million people, more than 200,000 have emigrated, about 87,000 a year. 

Alan Hayes, the convention’s “king of the redheads,” told the Financial Times that the “Festival of ginger-loving madness” would draw Irish from all over the world. It is estimated that the Irish diaspora makes up about 100 million people. 

“Ireland has one of the highest populations of redheads in the world and we will celebrate by getting together as many as possible,” says Hayes. The competitions will include the best red hair, eyebrows, and the “most freckles per square inch.” 

The Jackal Award goes to the government of France for leveraging its opposition to a settlement between Iran and the U.S. over Teheran’s nuclear program as a way to break into the lucrative Middle East arms market. France’s spoiler role was praised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes the monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Morocco. 

“France could gain financially from the GCC’s frustrations over recent U.S. policy in the Middle East,” the global security analyst group Stratfor notes. “Significant defense contracts worth tens of billions of dollars are up for grabs in the Gulf region, ranging from aircraft to warships to missile systems. France is predominantly competing with Britain and the United States for the contracts and is seeking to position itself as a key ally of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates as it looks to strengthen its defense and industrial ties with the region.” 

The French arms company Thales is negotiating to upgrade Saudi Arabia’s short-range missile systems for $3.34 billion and working on a $2.72 billion deal to modernize the kingdom’s air defense system. Paris is also negotiating an $8 billion contract to supply the Emirates with 60 Rafale fighter-bombers and trying to sell 72 Rafales to Qatar. France is smarting over the recent collapse of a $4 billion deal to sell Rafale aircraft to Brazil, and a big sale in the Gulf would more than make up for the loss. 

Israel—which also praised the French stance vis-à-vis Iran and the U.S.—invited French President Francois Hollande to be the “guest of honor” at last month’s “France-Israel Innovation Day” in Tel Aviv. Israel’s aeronautics industry had more than $6 billion in sales from 2009 to 1010, and Israel is the fourth largest weapons exporter in the world. France would like to sell its commercial Airbus to Tel Aviv, as well as get in on Israel’s expanding drone industry. 

C’est la vie. 

The Confused Priorities Award to the Associated Press for its March 5 story titled “Little Reaction In Oil Market to Chavez Death” on the demise of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The authors noted that Venezuela has the second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, but that the leftist former paratrooper had squandered that wealth: 

“Chavez invested Venezuela’s oil wealth into social programs including state-run food markets, cash benefits for poor families, free health clinics and education programs. But those gains were meager compared with the spectacular construction projects that oil riches spurred in glittering Middle Eastern cities, including the world’s tallest building in Dubai and plans for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim Museums in Abu Dhabi.” 

When Chavez won the presidency in 2001, some 70 percent of the population was considered “poor,” in spite of $30 billion in yearly oil revenues. Two percent of the population owned 60 percent of the land, and the gap between rich and poor was one of the worst in Latin America. 

According to the Gini Coefficient that measures wealth, Venezuela now has the lowest rate of inequality in Latin America. Poverty has been reduced to 21 percent, and “extreme poverty” from 40 percent to 7.3 percent. Illiteracy has been virtually eliminated, and infant mortality has dropped from 25 per 1,000 to 13 per 1,000, the same as it is for Black Americans. Health clinics increased 169.6 percent, and five million Venezuelans receive free food. 

But on the other hand they could have had a copy of the Victory of Samothrace or the Mona Lisa. 

The Pinocchio Award to the five countries that violated international law by forcing Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane down and then lying about it. 

Morales had been meeting with Russian officials in Moscow when U.S. intelligence services became convinced the leftist president was going to spirit National Security Agency whistle blower Edward Snowden back to Bolivia. When Morales’ plane left Russia, the U.S. leaned on France, Italy, Spain and Portugal to close their airspace and deny the plane refueling rights. Morales was forced to turn back and land in Austria, where his aircraft sat for 13 hours. 

When Morales protested, the French said they didn’t know Morales was on the plane, the Portuguese claimed its international airport couldn’t fuel the aircraft, the Spanish said his flyover permit had expired, and the Italians denied they ever closed their airspace. The U.S. initially said it had nothing to do with the incident, but that excuse collapsed once Spain finally admitted it had received an American request to close its airspace to Morales’s plane. 

The Organization of American States, the Union of South American Nations, and UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon all protested the actions by the five nations as a violation of international law and international commercial airlines treaties. 

An angry Morales said, “The Europeans and the Americans think that we are living in an era of empires and colonies. They are wrong. We are a free people…they can no longer do this.” 

The Frank Norris Award to the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the intelligence agency in charge of spy satellites, for its new logo: a giant, frowning octopus, its arms encircling the world, sporting the slogan “Nothing is beyond our reach.” Norris wrote a famous turn of the 20^th century novel called “The Octopus” about the struggle between farmers in California and the railroads that dominated the state’s politics. 

The Broad Side of the Barn Award to the Obama administration for spending an extra $1 billion to expand the $34 billion U.S. anti-ballistic missile system (ABM) in spite of the fact that the thing can’t hit, well, the broad side of a barn. The last test of the ABM was in July, when, according to the Pentagon, “An intercept was not achieved.” No surprise there. The ABM hasn’t hit a target since 2008. 

The $1 billion will be used to add 14 interceptors to the 30 already deployed in Alaska and California. 

Runner up in this category was Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the maker of “Iron Dome,” the Israeli ABM system designed to intercept short-range rockets. According to Rafael officials, Iron Dome was 80 percent effective in intercepting Qassem and Grad rockets fired by Palestinians from Gaza during last November’s Operation Pillar of Defense. 

But an independent analysis of Iron Dome’s effectiveness discovered that the 80 percent figure was mostly hype. Tesla Laboratories, a U.S. defense company, found that the interception success rate was between 30 and 40 percent, and Ted Postal—the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who successfully debunked the accuracy claims for Patriot missiles fired during the 1991 Gulf War—says Iron Dome has a “kill rate” of between five and 10 percent. 

But a lack of success seems to be a sure fire way to open the cash spigots. 

The U.S., which contributed more than $200 million to build Iron Dome, will spend an additional $680 million through 2015. The U.S. will also throw $173 million into Israel’s high altitude Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors, part of which are made by Boeing. 

ABMs tend to be destabilizing, because the easiest way to defeat them is to overwhelm them with missiles, thus spurring an arms race. They also give their owners a false sense of security. And while they don’t work, they do cost a lot, which is bad news for taxpayers and good news for Boeing—also, the prime contractor for the U.S. ABM system—and Toys R Us. Yes, Toys R Us makes the guidance fins on the Iron Dome rocket. 

The Golden Lemon Award once again goes to Lockheed Martin (with a tip of the hat to sub-contractors Northrop Grumman, BAE, L-3 Communications, United Technologies Corp., and Honeywell) for “shoddy” work on the F-35 stealth fighter, the most expensive weapons system in U.S. History. The plane—already 10 years behind schedule and 100 percent over budget—has vacuumed up $395.7 billion, and will eventually cost $1.5 trillion. 

A Pentagon study, according to Agence France Presse, “cited 363 problems in the design and manufacture of the costly Joint Strike Fighter, the hi-tech warplane that is supposed to serve as the backbone of the future American fleet.” 

The plane has difficulty performing at night or in bad weather, and is plagued with a faulty oxygen supply system, fuselage cracks and unexplained “hot spots.” Its software is also a problem, in part because it is largely untested. “Without adequate product evaluation of mission system software,” the Pentagon found, “Lockheed Martin cannot ensure aircraft safety requirements are met.” 

In the meantime, extended unemployment benefits have been cut from the federal budget. The cost? About $25 billion, or 25 F-35Cs that don’t work. 

While the rest of the world debates America’s role in the Middle East or its use of drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress is debating just how drastically it should cut food assistance to the 47 million Americans - one out of seven people - who suffer from “food insecurity,” the popular euphemism for those who go hungry.

The U.S. Government began giving food stamps to the poor during the Great Depression. Even when I was a student in the 1960’s, I received food stamps while unemployed during the summers. That concern for the hungry, however, has evaporated. The Republicans - dominated by Tea Party policies - are transforming the United States into a far less compassionate and more mean-spirited society.

The need is great. Since the Great Recession of 2008, the food stamp programme - now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), has doubled from $38 billion in 2008 to $78 billion in the last year. During 2012, 65 million Americans used SNAP for at least one a month, which means that one out of every five Americans became part of the swelling rolls of “needy families,” most of whom are women and children. 

Democrats defend the new debit card program, which can only be used to purchase food, as feeding needy Americans at a time of high unemployment and great poverty. Republicans, for their part, argue that the programme is rife with fraud, that its recipients (who are mostly single mothers) are lazy and shiftless, and that we must make drastic cuts to reduce government spending. Their most Dickensian argument is that if you feed the poor, they won’t want to work. 

But as the New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman has repeatedlypointed out, welfare entitlements, including the food debit card, are not only good for families; they also good for the economy. People who receive such help spend the money immediately. Single mother hold down multiple jobs at minimum wages to keep their family together. The debit card allows them to go shopping and to buy needed groceries. Such entitlements boost spending and the economy, rather than depleting it. 

Despite these arguments, the cuts have already begun. On November 1, 2013,Congress cut nearly five billion dollars from SNAP and Republicans now want to cut another $40 billion dollars. The stalemate has resulted in the failure of Congress to pass the farm bill, which provides SNAP subsidies to farms, mostly of which are large agricultural corporations. 

Meanwhile, poverty grows, the stock market zooms to new heights, the wealth of the 1% increases, and corporate executives continue to get tax exemptionsfor business entertainment expenses, which allow corporations to deduct 50% of these costs from their annual taxes. 

In all this discussion, the real face of poverty - single mothers - has strangely disappeared. Welfare policy in America has always favored mothers and children. In a country that values self-sufficiency and glorifies individualism, Americans have viewed men - except war veterans - as capable of caring for themselves, or part of the undeserving poor. Women, by contrast, were always viewed as mothers with dependents, people to be cared for and protected precisely because they are vulnerable and raise the next generation. 

As I read dozens of think tank and government reports, and newspaper stories however, I am surprised to notice that even strong opponents of the cuts describe SNAP’s recipients as children, teenagers, seniors or the disabled. Why have single mothers disappeared from such accounts about the poor? There are plenty of “needy families,” “households,” and “poor Americans,” but the real face of poverty and the actual recipients of food assistance are single mothers, whose faces have been absorbed by the more abstract language of “poor Americans” and “needy households.” 

Even the strongest opponents of these cuts don’t focus on women or mothers. Instead they publicize pinched-faced children - a better poster image - staring hungrily at food they cannot eat. Or, they discuss the public health impact these cuts may have on children. According to most reports, even from the Agriculture Department, “children and teenagers” make up almost half of the recipients of food assistance. But they don’t mention the mothers who receive this assistance in order to feed those children and teenagers. From the stories about food stamps, you’d think that only children, teenagers, the elderly and the disabled have gone hungry. 

The words “women” or even “mothers” rarely appear. In a powerful column against the cuts, the liberal and compassionate New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, for example, argued that “two-thirds of recipients are children, elderly or disabled” and warned his readers about the long-range impact of malnourished children. He, too, never mentioned women, who are the main adult recipients of the SNAP program and who feed those children, elderly or disabled. Nor did he point out that those who apply for such assistance are the mothers and women who seek to nourish these children. It’s as though women are simply vehicles - not persons - in the reproduction process of the human race. 

Yet the reality tells a different story. In 2010, for example, 42 percent of single mothers relied on SNAP; and in rural areas, the rate often rose as high as one half of all single mothers. What’s missing from this picture - on both sides - is the real faces of hunger, which is not “needy” families, or “poor Americans", but single mothers with “food insecurity” for themselves and their families. According to the Center for Budget Priorities, women are twice as likely to use food stamps as anyone else in the population. They are the ones who apply for the SNAP debit card, go shopping, takes buses for hours to find discounted food supplies, and try to stretch their food to last throughout the month for their children, teenagers and, less often, husbands. They are the pregnant women with older children whose infants are born malnourished, and the “Americans” who, at the end of the month, make hasty runs to relatives, food banks and even join other dumpster divers. 

When journalists do focus on the women who are recipients of food assistance, they discover a nightmare hiding in plain sight. These women are either unemployed, under-employed or service workers who don’t earn enough to feed themselves and their families. By the end of the month, they and their children frequently often skip meals or eat one meal a day until the next month’s SNAP assistant arrives 

So why have women disappeared from a fierce national debate over who deserves food assistance? I’m not actually sure. Perhaps it is because so many adult women, like men, now work in the labour force and are viewed as individuals who should take care of themselves. Perhaps it is because Republicans find women’s appetite, as opposed to that of children, an embarrassment, hinting of sexual desire. Perhaps it is because this is part of the Republican war on women’s reproductive freedom: a single mother with children is somehow guilty of bringing on her own poverty. 

Whatever the reason, the rhetoric does not match the reality. Once in while, the media publishes or broadcasts a “human interest” story that gives poor women a face” “It is late October,” one reporter begins, “so Adrianne Flowers is out of money to buy food for her family. Feeding five kids is expensive, and the roughly $600 in food stamps she gets from the federal government never lasts the whole month. "I'm barely making it," said the 31-year-old Washington, D.C., resident and single mother.” End of story. On to weather and the sports. 

For the most part, however, poor women remain invisible, even as the mothers who feed the children, teenagers, elderly and disable who live with them. They do not elicit compassion. If anything, they are ignored or regarded with contempt. 

Whatever the reason, Americans are having a national debate about poor and needy Americans without addressing the very group whose poverty is the greatest. The result is that we are turning poor, single mothers, who are 85% of all single parents, into a newly invisible and undeserving group of recipients. 

Republicans may view single mothers as sinful parasites who don’t deserve food assistance. But behind every hungry child, teenager and elderly person is a hungry mother who is exhausted from trying to keep her family together. Women who receive food assistance are neither invisible nor undeserving. They are working-class heroes who work hard -often at several minimal wage jobs - to keep their families nourished and together. 

The media report elder abuse across the nation. California Bay Area newspapers headline “Pastor convicted of murdering elderly rancher;” “Dementia patients mistreated, suit says: Elder abuse, fraud alleged at rest home near Lake Merritt;” “Murder, elder abuse charges for 2 in death of their client;” “Oakland man to stand trial for beating elderly people;” “Early involvement critical to curbing elder scams;” “Elder Protection Court crucial to halting abuse;” “Elder abuse a hidden national epidemic;” “$500,000 bail remains for Foster City man accused of hitting father in head;” “Not guilty plea in attack on Holocaust survivor;” “Real estate broker pleads no contest to cheating seniors;” “Senior-abuse agencies short on funds;” “Elder facility accused of abuse.” And on and on.  

May 2013 was National Elder Law Month. Legal News (at Law.com) Elder Care articles included these by Heidi Turner: “Nursing Home Abuse Results in Charges for 21 Employees” (July 15, 2013;) “Care Center Abuse Uncovered through Hidden Cameras” (March 17, 2013;) “Disability Center Loses Funding Over Care Center Abuse” (February 12, 2013) and “Inspections Show Serious Incidences of Care Center Abuse” (January 17, 2013.) Gordon Gibb reported “California Chain Cited for Care Center Abuse Twice in Three Years” (April 19, 2013.) 

The Elder Justice Act, signed into law by President Obama in March 2010, defined elder justice activities as efforts to prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to protect elders with diminished capacity while maximizing their autonomy. Elder justice recognizes an older person’s rights and her or his ability to be free of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Each state has its own elder abuse laws, making definitions of abuse and prosecution for such acts vary across the country. State adult protective service programs, which handle elder abuse, are severely underfunded, and the problem is exacerbated by recession-era cuts in state budgets. 

Elder abuse is a crime. It is notoriously under-reported. No statistic comes close to conveying the whole nonfiction “story.” Florida is the state with the second-highest, age 65+ population. Florida’s Adult Protective Services reports increased elder abuse. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that more than 62 million Americans will be age 65+ in 2025. Recent nationwide analysis of elder abuse estimated reported cases increased 30% from 1997-2007. 

According to a 2009 UCLA Center for Health Policy Research study, half of all California residents age 65+ and living alone do not have enough money to cover their housing, food, health care and other basic expenses. Such a condition is conducive to elder abuse. The California Legislature voted to eliminate the Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center from the State's 2008/09 budget, and the Center was closed on October 15, 2008.  

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He spent his final decades alone, a tenant (“resident” seems to be the preferred term) in a low-income seniors’ and disabled persons’ rent-subsidized housing project. He was, in fact, all three -- low-income, elder, disabled. The small “studio” reeked. A paid “caregiver” jabbed, pushed and yelled at him. While inventorying his possessions during one of his hospital stays, she was heard to comment to a compeer, “We can sell this.” She had his pin number. When I asked why he didn’t request a different caregiver, he responded forthrightly “I’m afraid.” He wasn’t an eccentric recluse… he wanted to be out and about. On weekends, when it was unlikely that a staff member would be on the premises, he would emerge from his cell and navigate the corridor back and forth, leaning on his walker. 

There are many senior citizens like him… alone, without family, low-income, dependent on a so-called caregiver. English may not be their “first language.” They may fear losing their rent subsidy. Building management may be hostile, indifferent at best. In 2006 20% of reported elder abuse involved caregiver neglect. Attempts to learn the time and place of the funeral service of one’s neighbor are likely to be met with a turn-off.  

xxxxx 

I shared news of a community elder abuse workshop with a physician geriatrician whose reaction was “This is a much-needed presentation--should be every day on the street corner. Seldom a day goes by that I don't hear of some injustice… .”  

When I approached the Commission on Aging about the possibility of an elder abuse current-awareness program, the chair responded that elder abuse did not merit consideration. A senior center director was skeptical but willing to let me use the lounge. I provided the program, handouts, and publicity. It was well attended by people from several communities. Most described themselves as neighbors and relatives. They asked “Is such’n such ‘elder abuse’?,” and they wondered “What can I/we do when we see/hear him doing that?”  

Senior housing, senior centers, nursing homes, retirement and rehabilitation facilities, ombudsmen, certain college and university classes, caregivers, and related commissions and agencies have responsibility for communicating elder abuse-related facts of life-- what it is and where to go for help. They may be mandated to do so. Inexplicably, Alameda County Adult Protective Services “prefers” that persons and organizations interested in having onsite presentations, initiate their request. In other words, they don’t reach out, as in outreach! (Read "Ombudsmen protect rights of the elderly," by Barbara Peters Smith, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, November 12, 2013).  

The World Health Organization (WHO) has adopted this definition of elder abuse: "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person." The core element is the "expectation of trust" of older persons toward their abusers. Thus, elder abuse includes harm by people the older person knows or with she or he has a relationship, such as a spouse, partner or family member, a friend or neighbor, or people that the older person must rely on for services. 

For international information and such downloadable publications as Missing voices: views of older persons on elder abuse; A study from eight countries: Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, India, Kenya, Lebanon and Sweden, go to www.ncea.aoa.gov.  

Many forms of elder abuse are recognized as types of domestic violence. It does not include general criminal activity against older persons, such as home break-ins, muggings in the street or distraction burglary, where a stranger distracts an older person at the doorstep while another person enters the property to steal. 

The San Diego District Attorney’s office has defined elder abuse as the physical or psychological mistreatment of a senior. It can include taking financial advantage or neglecting the care of a senior. Elder abuse crimes fall into several categories: 

• Physical abuse, including assaults, batteries, sexual assaults, false imprisonment and endangerment;

• Physical neglect by a caregiver, including withholding medical services or hygiene that exposes the elderly person to the risk of serious harm;

• Psychological mental abuse, including making threats or the infliction of emotional harm;

• Financial abuse, including theft of personal items such as cash, investments, real property and jewelry and neglect. Scam alerts have become more frequent, especially at this season.

• Elder abuse is largely a hidden problem and tends to be committed in the privacy of the elderly person's home, mostly by his or her family members.
• Elder abuse victims are often unwilling to report their abuse for fear-- Fear of others' disbelief, fear of loss of independence, fear of being institutionalized, fear of losing their only social support (especially if the perpetrator is a relative), and fear of being subject to retaliation by the perpetrator(s),
• Elder abuse victims' cognitive decline and ill health may prevent them from reporting their abuse.
• Lack of proper training of such service providers as social workers, law enforcement, nurses, etc., which tends to keep the number of reported cases artificially low.

Work undertaken in Canada suggests that approximately 70% of elder abuse is perpetrated against women. This is supported by evidence from a UK helpline that identifies women as victims in 67% of calls. Domestic violence in later life may be a continuation of long term partner abuse. In some cases, abuse may begin with retirement or the onset of a health condition. It is certain that abuse increases with age. 

Newspapers worldwide report elder abuse. And because most “senior citizens” are women (the majority of low-income elders,) both ageism and sexism are frequently involved. As they age, women tend to be alone, without family members around them if indeed they once were part of a family. 

Women outnumber men, generally and especially as they age. Old women are victims of abuse much more frequently than are men, and in a sexist society, they tend to accept the way things are. The higher proportion of spousal homicides supports the suggestion that abuse of older women is often a continuation of long term spousal abuse against them. In contrast, the risk of homicide for older men is far greater outside the family than within. This is an important point because the domestic violence of older people is often not recognized and consequently strategies, which have proved effective within the domestic violence arena, have not been routinely transferred into circumstances involving the family abuse of older people. 

Although a helpline does not necessarily provide a true reflection of such situations, based upon the physical and mental ability of people to utilize such a resource, according to a UK helpline, abuse occurs primarily in the family home (64%), followed by residential care (23%), and then hospitals (5%). 

If you suspect elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline 1 800 799 -7233. To connect with services by state, reach the U S Administration on Aging’s Eldercare Locator at 1 800 677- 1116, or Adult Protective Services 24 Hour Elder Abuse Hotline 1-866-225-5277 1-866-CALL-APS. The Ombudsman advocates for residents in long-term care facilities: Working Hours Line 510-638-6878; After Hours Crisis Line 1-800-231-4024. If you suspect someone is being financially abused, contact the Adult Protective Services in your state or county. Visit http://www.napsa-now.org/get-help/help-in-your-area/ for the National Adult Protective Services Association and a list of agencies and phone numbers by state. The National Committee for Preventing Elder Abuse is at www.preventelderabuse.org 

Please let me know of any wrong or missing numbers. 

xxxxx 

CALIFORNIA NEWS 

The good news is that nearly 20,000 people who have already retired from Contra Costa, Alameda, Merced and Marin counties since more generous pension rules took effect in the late 1990s are unlikely to see their checks drop as a result of California's new anti-spiking pension law. "Current retirees from Contra Costa, Alameda (counties) unlikely to see impacts in pension litigation," by Lisa Vorderbrueggen (Contra Costa Times [Walnut Creek], Dec. 11, 2013). 

Since 2010, the United States has been negotiating a secret trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership. If approved by Congress, this pact between the U.S. and 11 or 12 of America’s Pacific Rim trade-partners would govern 40 percent of US imports and exports. So far, the negotiations are being conducted under tight security; for good reason, as there are big problems with TPP. 

1. US trade negotiators want TPP to get special, “fast-track” treatment from Congress. While Congress has the legal duty to oversee trade agreements, in the past it has given up some of that responsibility to the President. Under a fast-track arrangement, trade agreements such as TPP, would simply get an up or down vote without Congress delving into the details. The previous fast-track authorization lapsed in 2007 and now the Obama Administration wants Congress to restore it so that TPP will be approved with a minimum of fuss. 

Interestingly, most Republicans are willing to give “fast-track” trade authority to President Obama even though they don’t trust him on other issues. That’s because powerful transnational corporations want the Trans-Pacific Partnership to be approved. The US Chamber of Commerce stated, “Completing the TPP would pay huge dividends for the United States. The agreement would significantly improve U.S. companies’ access to the Asia-Pacific region, which is projected to import nearly $10 trillion worth of goods in 2020.” 

2. TPP doesn’t include China. The TPP partners are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and potentially Korea. But the Economic Policy Institute reported that since 2001, “the U.S. has lost 2.7 million jobs… due to growing trade deficits with China.” The American Manufacturing website noted that approximately 40 percent of the US trade deficit is due to China, which “maintains numerous policies, including state-sponsored subsidies… [that] have a direct role in increasing the US-China trade imbalance.” 

Recently, United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard observed that a key problem with TPP is the definition of “domestic product:” “We’re supposed to compete with countries that are getting their parts from China… and exporting materials to here, when if they have 35% of material from their country they’re called ‘a domestic product’.” In other words, a country such as Vietnam could get the majority of their material from China, assemble it in Hanoi, and then ship it to the US as as a “domestic product” – even when most of the content came from China. 

3. Free-trade agreements, such as TPP, haven’t protected US jobs. Public Citizen reported that since 1994, “the [freed-trade agreement] deficit surge implies the loss of nearly one million American jobs.” Public Citizen said wherever there were free-trade agreements US trade deficits increased and in the countries not covered by free-trade agreements our deficits decreased. 

Recently, Campaign for America’s Future revisited the US trade agreement with Mexico – NAFTA: 

In 1993, the broadest assurance by those selling this model – including almost all Republicans and President Clinton – was that it would create U.S. jobs by expanding the trade surplus the U.S. then enjoyed with Mexico… Now the U.S. suffers chronic $60 billion-$70 billion annual trade deficits with Mexico and by this summer the accumulated U.S. current account losses with Mexico under NAFTA will pass $1 trillion.

4. If TPP were to be approved, most of the benefit would go to corporations and the rich. Public Citizen reported, “the TPP would mean wage losses for all but the richest 10% of U.S. workers.” 

5. There are a wide variety of serious issues that need to be discussed by Congress and the American public. 

For example, the Washington Post reported 

The United States is proposing a number of provisions designed to strengthen and extend brand-name pharmaceutical companies’ monopoly privileges. For example, several provisions would support the pharmaceutical firms’ practice of “ever-greening” in which a firm will hold a patent on drug ‘x’ in tablet form, then later obtain a patent on drug ‘x’ in a gel cap, and later still obtain another patent on the same drug in capsule form. This extends patent life on a known substance, despite no new medical efficacy; thus it delays generic competition.

[TPP] includes provisions similar to those of the failed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that the European Parliament ultimately rejected. The United States appears to be using the non-transparent Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as a deliberate end run around Congress on intellectual property, to achieve a presumably unpopular set of policy goals.

When someone has a psychotic or manic episode, which usually includes behavior that seems "abnormal," others sometimes attach a negative moral judgment. Behavior of persons with mental illness doesn't always fit the social or business norm, and it causes people to be condemned as "inappropriate." And being on the receiving end of this perception can hurt. Being labeled as "antisocial" or as a "nuisance person" has a lot of shame attached--and this shame, as well as the negative perception, ought not to be so. 

Someone with mental illness may not always have sufficient impulse control to properly follow social or business etiquette, and this includes when the person is stabilized. Although I am speaking largely for myself, I have seen a number of others with chronic mental illness with the same problem. 

People who are socializing and those in the business community don't always understand the differences and limitations of someone with mania or psychosis. And the medication doesn't always fix everything. 

When someone is condemned as immoral or as antisocial because of something that comes with, and is largely a symptom of, schizophrenia, it feels very unfair. When this condemnation is internalized, we become own worst tormentors. 

It is a complex issue when a disabled person wants to be treated as an equal, and yet at the same time is asking to be accommodated for problems. While I don't believe that we with mental illness should be condemned socially or otherwise for behavior that is largely caused by our illnesses, accountability has to enter in somewhere. 

When someone suffers from a very obvious disability such as blindness or paralysis, it is clear how that person needs help in doing certain things. However, with mental illness, you are looking at problems with behavior. This is in a culture that doesn't have a lot of tolerance for unusual or inexplicable behaviors. 

An example: It was a particular holiday--it may have been Gay Pride Day--and in its honor, a mentally ill man in his sixties or seventies (I won't say his name, but it was not I) was dancing with his shirt off in front of a store. (The store was in some ritzy area like Blackhawk.) The store owner called the police because they believed it was harming their business. Now there is a restraining order. 

I can sympathize with the store owner trying to make an honest living. However, this punishment might be excessively harsh for behavior that this man erroneously believed was okay. (The same behavior would have been perfectly acceptable had it taken place in a different location or context.) 

Martin Luther King said that people ought to be judged by the content of their character. Yet, when dealing with people who have a psychiatric disability, character isn't always obvious--it can get masked by erroneous behavior, speech and thoughts that are caused by mental illness. When dealing with a person with mental illness, you should filter out the problems introduced by the illness and try to find out what are their basic intentions. 

People are pretty much accountable for how they act. However, when mentally ill and experiencing symptoms, a person doesn't completely choose their actions--sometimes the illness does. So, although people are accountable, someone with mental illness isn't one hundred percent so. 

Perhaps "reasonable accommodation" under the ADA, for those with mental illness, could include, among other things, tolerating some amount of behavior that would ordinarily be a faux pas. 

Normally, mental health treatment venues don't teach survival skills, nor do they teach appropriate behavior in a social or business setting. The assumption is that we will always be dependent, and expectations follow from that. We are perceived as, and expected to behave as children in the bodies of adults--we are infantilized and "sheltered" accordingly. 

However, in mainstream society, people have limited tolerance for someone who isn't doing things according to implied rules. This is regardless of the fact that someone's differences may be harmless. I have experienced a lot of hard knocks in life when people were offended by my apparent rudeness or by me not following proper decorum. I am making an effort to fix this, yet I can only hope that people will meet me halfway. 

A CD pre-release party. His CD called Outages and Interludes will be released by Innova and is a compilation of all of his political pieces from the last ten years or so. He will read some of his political writings, play some tunes from the CD, and maybe play some piano.... and maybe talk with a friend about politics. 

John Halle is the Director of Studies in Music Theory and Practice at Bard Conservatory of Music He joined the faculty of Bard after serving for seven years in the music department at Yale University. Active as both a composer and theorist, recent compositions have been performed by the Meridian Arts Ensemble, the Cygnus Ensemble, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Locrian Ensemble, Fulcrum Point, flutists Ransom Wilson and Tara Helen O'Connor, and the Now Ensemble, among others. 

4pm to 6pm Berkeley Arts Festival 

2133 University