Behind the government, and many nonprofits, are their FOUNDATIONS.  Behind the FOUNDATIONS, are real global-thinkers, which can be good, or not so good, when it comes to foundational principles of the Constitution of individual countries, specifically, the United States.

In understanding some of this, I’ve also applied some of the basic understanding of “capitalism” when it comes into conflict with “justice” as to controlling “cash flow” that, I think, only people who have been in severely controlling relationships, and watched the individual(s), and bystanders, and associated cultural/religious (or nonreligious) groups endorse, and linguistically sanitize, can understand firsthand.

To overcome long-term, systematic, and intense attempts to, in essence, brainwash a woman against her will as to her position and roles in life requires, besides ongoing resistance and risk assessment, a sensitivity to language tricks used to disguise the intent.  Years of listening to talk about “we” and “us” and “our” while knowing (in the marriage) there was no such beast — in practice — got me a little smarter in understanding how the wider circles work to keep us in these places. 

And, I don’t mean to compare myself to the most severe forms of abuse,  I am fed.  I am clothed,   For now, I’m housed.   BUT, treating a person like an “it” or a “dog” or “using” them (against free will, and destructively so) has a uniform quality — it diminishes both the user and the used. 

In the courts, and through the courts, we have these grants. People walking through the doors are not told about the grants.  They are told, Go here, Do that, and this is the revolving door to your life.  They are told, give us your children, and straighten up & fly right, or we’ll make sure you never see them again. 

I meet women almost daily in this situation.  You just don’t get OVER that, really…..Having left abuse, they are not done yet, with the abuse.  They are still minimized, and patronized, and studied, and behaviorally adjusted, labeled, and categorized, and their rights further eroded, in the courts.

Sometimes other women (the next woman in his life, often), participate.  That’s still sexism, or gangsterism, as far as I can tell.  I’m still experiencing forms of it.

I’ve talked about using us for Fatherhood Practitioner Practices, and funding Domestic Violence Advocates Conferencing (which I have long since concluded are cancelling each other out. 

These are the “glass ceilings” UP through which voices from the street level are, generally, NOT heard, and the plexiglass (but obviously not bullet-proof) ceilings through which the “rain” of federal funds to directly help victims is  — at best — severely diluted into conferencing about “what to do” with all these under educated judges, courtroom personnel, administrators, and — most especially — parents.   

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So, I find, there is an informational/”Digital” Divide also, between the policy-makers and the people affected by the policies.  And I do not think this is accidental.  Years go by before the average litigant figures out what happened — and those years absolutely DO represent the minority of their children, for the most part.

How can people who have difficulty keeping their own infrastructure together (i.e., transportation, phone, jobs, internet access, childcare and children’s schooling, typically — which is itself a job for any parent, that cannot be entirely delegated to the schools) — keep up with what is being said and done about them at the governmental level?

The only way I can think of is to somehow streamline one’s personal business, including doing LESS of it, and help each other at the LOCAL level, if possible.

The trouble with this is that the majority of the US are taxpayers, meaning, their own earned income doesn’t go as far as those of the policymakers OR of the nonprofits receiving either private or federal (or both) funding, to supply their own needs.  Many of the “employees” have already paid taxes to handle the basic businesses of life:  For example: schooling, law enforcement, judiciary, and things that Big Brother is supposed to do so that business as usual can continue. 

And, we must understand the “chain of command” and “chain of policy” — the OPERATING SYSTEM — because, like good, decent, family-loving folk (sic), as it actually operates, the consequence is, those chains go unmonitored, and we become more and more centralized.  Centralization = worse, not better, when combined with the human nature.  TRUST ME, it does.  There IS a point of no return (cost/benefit) and we are so far beyond that already.

And the other thing, very hard to emotionally accept and understand, is that the “nice guys” aren’t anything of the sort half the time. When we realize that the same criminal mentality exists at the top levels, often, as well as on the street levels, that’s a great awakening. 

One of the first things to go in this situation is simply “language.”  Every platform becomes a “we” but few of the speeches liberally sprinkled with “we” “us” “our children” “our education system” “our schools” “our jails” “our” etc.  — come anywhere close to the quality of  Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a Dream” speech.  (See this blog for comparisons). 

SO, NEW YORK COURT INNOVATIONS?  OR CALIFORNIA?  WHAT”S THE DIFF?

Halls of JUSTICE? 

Or Populace Demonstration Intake Centers?

What do courtrooms in NEW YORK have in Common with those in CALIFORNIA?   Well, this center has worked with the Judicial Council of California (and I will have to find the page, again, on this site, which talks about it).  It may be a continent away, but the Internet flattens it.   Flying professionals around the country flattens it.  Technology-sharing flattens it.

INNOVATIONS and CENTRALIZATIONs of PROBLEM-SOLVING.

THE CENTER FOR COURT INNOVATION:

Wikipedia talks about “The Center for COURT Innovation” as a think tank:

The Center for Court Innovation creates new programs that test innovative approaches to public safety problems. Underlying this work is the concept of “problem-solving justice”—the idea that, rather than simply processing cases, the justice system should seek to change the behavior of offenders and improve public safety.^[18]

Behavioral modification…Sounds like that AFCC of long ago, and using “new language” instead of the concept of crime as crime.

In another study, Center researchers explored whether problem-solving justice always requires a specialized court or if core principles and practices from these specialized courts are transferable to conventional courts.^[54] After interviewing judges, attorneys and representatives from probation departments and service providers, researchers concluded that a number of principles—such as judicial monitoring and linking offenders to services—could be transferable. The study, conducted in cooperation with the Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee of the Judicial Council of California,^[55] was the first of its kind in the country.

Other Center research projects include a national survey seeking to determine how and why courts use batterer programs to hold domestic violence offenders accountable;^[56] a comprehensive evaluation describing the Brooklyn Mental Health Court model;^[57] an in-depth study of the implementation and early results produced by the Brooklyn Youthful Offender Domestic Violence Court;^[58] a study of the Suffolk County Juvenile Drug Court’s effects on recidivism; a study examining the degree to which criminal defendants processed at the Red Hook Community Justice Center believe they were treated fairly;^[59] and a five-year national study with the Urban Institute and the Research Triangle Institute that is expected to shed light on which aspects of the drug court model are most important.

THE URBAN INSTITUTE through another viewpoint:

The Urban Institute (see recent posts) that are promoting Responsible Fatherhood Grants, themselves reactionary to laws allowing women to leave violent relationships and STAY out of them…  It is entirely a social science approach to justice, as opposed to the INALIENABLE RIGHTS, BILL OF RIGHTS, and in total opposition to the concept that certain truths are self-evident…..  It is the transformation of PEOPLE into SUBJECT MATTER, and of those who study them, the highly-educated scholars in certain fields of which people, en masse,  are the experimental substance as the priests, prophets, and prognosticators…

RE:

The Research Triangle Institute (first I heard of them):

Hmm:  This link is interesting,  “Submitted by WW4 Report on Tue, 03/09/2010 – 02:12. ”

Research Triangle Institute can be sued

for deaths of Iraqi civilians

A US federal judge has ruled that the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), a USAID-funded organization providing local governance services in Iraq, can be sued in the United States for the deaths of two Iraqi women killed by their security guards in Baghdad in October of 2007. The judge will also allow the victims’ attorneys discovery on whether the security company, Unity Resources Group, has sufficient business contacts in the United States to be sued in a US court. Whether Unity Resources Group can be sued should be decided within the next few months.

The RTI incident occurred only weeks after the infamous Blackwater massacre in Nisur Square, in which 17 innocent bystanders were killed. The first of two civil lawsuits on behalf of Nisur Square victims ended in a disputed settlement, which, along with a botched criminal prosecution, outraged many in the US and Iraq, and recently led to the ouster from Iraq of all former Blackwater employees. A second civil case, brought by a different group of Nisur Square victims, is still pending in federal court in North Carolina.

BUT, more to the topic of what is RTI doing in the US Court System (“This neutrality of this Wikipedia Article is in dispute….”)

The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is a non-profit research organization based in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) of North Carolina. RTI is the oldest tenant of this major research park, and the sister organization to the Research Triangle Foundation.

BEHIND THE NONPROFITS ARE THE FOUNDATIONS.  BEHIND THE FOUNDATIONS, INCLUDING MANY OF THOSE WORKING THROUGH THE US GOVERNMENT TO DO DEMONSTRATIONS, ARE TYPICALLY WEALTHY — VERY WEALTHY — FAMILIES.

RTI has over 2,600 employees engaged in many distinct research areas. RTI describes its offerings as innovative research and development and … services in health and pharmaceuticals, advanced technology, survey and statistics, education and training, economic and social development, and the environment.

RTI has regularly received many USA government contracts in reconstructing countries in governmental transition, generally helping to implement the privatising of public institutions, especially in Eastern Europe during the 1990s. In 2003 it was contracted by USAID to help in reconstructing Iraq, after the 2003 invasion. Specifically, USAID contracted RTI to privatise water systems and provide education system reform in Iraq. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has two contracts with RTI for, among other purposes, the manufacture and distribution of standardized cannabis cigarettes. [1]

USAID has partnered with RTI to conduct indoor residual spraying of DDT in African countries to control malaria.

SO, WHO ARE THEY?  For one thing, international.  For another, closely associated with governments  (that’s plural) and pharmaceutical corporations.  For another, like any good religion, improving the lot of humanity.  Globally… 

RTI International RTI International is one of the world’s leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Our staff of more than 2,800 provides research and technical expertise to governments and businesses in more than 40 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and laboratory and chemistry services.The Center for Technology Applications at RTI provides services to help clients extract the maximum value from intellectual property. Our technology assessments and market intelligence form the basis for successful strategies in licensing, corporate partnering, and new business ventures.

Copyright© ©2009 Research Triangle Institute. All Rights Reserved. RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.

FOUNDATIONS IN OUR BUSINESSES, CHARITIES, AND GOVERNMENTS:

What do heads of foundations do in their spare time?  Well, sometimes fantastic things.  Sometimes not:

Philanthropist charged with molesting Russian dance student, 12 …

Mar 31, 2010 … An arts philanthropist traveled to Russia to have sex with a 12-year-old … Apogee Foundation, was arrested March 27 in Larnaca, Cyprus. …

Want to see how APOGEE FOUNDATION describes itself? As a top nonprofit, and the gentleman above was:

Kenneth Schneider, Apogee’s founder, was working as an international financial attorney in Moscow during the 1990’s, when he responded to the radical deterioration of the nation’s performing arts training resources by galvanizing public and private support for their revitalization.

Recognizing the potential global value of this work, Schneider and his colleagues incorporated The Apogee Foundation in New York in 2004. Since then, Apogee has vastly broadened the reach and impact of its vision through innovative programs designed to discover, develop and celebrate artistic excellence worldwide.

They even have a cool Logo…  And excellent Ideas.  Not including the one with the 12 year old male dancer, obviously…  Well, Mr. Schneider apparently through it was a great idea, til he got arrested for it…

Here’s another RTI project, sounds real good.  Same idea — studying human populace:

GIRLS STUDY GROUP

(Obviously my “TANF” assistance grant is expired — can’t even copy the logo right).  Again, it’s the ..

. . . . Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded the Girls Study Group project to RTI International to further the field’s understanding of female juvenile offending and also to identify effective strategies for preventing and reducing female juvenile involvement in delinquency and violence.

Meanwhile, the hurting continues to go on.  Recent article, NEW JERSEY:

Police: NJ Teen Sold Stepsister, 7, For Party Sex

It started with a party invitation to a 15-year-old girl from some men she knew.

Excuuuuuuse me??  To “some men she knew”???

She took her 7-year-old stepsister to an apartment down the street from their home near the Statehouse, where the girls had been hanging around outside on a Sunday afternoon.

For the younger girl, police say it quickly descended into a horrifying ordeal in which she was gang-raped by as many as seven men as her sister not only watched but got paid by those who did it.

Their parents, none the wiser, thought maybe they had run away.

“We’re talking about a kid who told her sister to go into an apartment and let people rape her,” said Trenton police Capt. Joseph Juniak. “It’s unfathomable.”

The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault, promoting prostitution and other crimes. Her name was not released because of her age, but the county prosecutor plans to ask the court to try her as an adult. In the meantime, she is being held at the Mercer County Youth Detention Center.

The 7-year-old had wanted to tag along because she was worried about the 15-year-old’s safety, Mayor Doug Palmer said.

MASSACHUSETTS:

And hazing and bullying, just perhaps even girl-on-girl, resulted in a visitor’s suicide, per NYT, as of Yesterday…..

9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide

Don Treeger/Springfield Republican, via Associated Press

South Hadley students at a vigil after their classmate’s death in January.

. . . . .READ THE ARTICLE.

The prosecutor brought charges Monday against nine teenagers, saying their taunting and physical threats were beyond the pale and led the freshman, Phoebe Prince, to hang herself from a stairwell in January.

The charges were an unusually sharp legal response to the problem of adolescent bullying, which is increasingly conducted in cyberspace as well as in the schoolyard and has drawn growing concern from parents, educators and lawmakers.

In the uproar around the suicides of Ms. Prince, 15, and an 11-year-old boy subjected to harassment in nearby Springfield last year, the Massachusetts legislature stepped up work on an anti-bullying law that is now near passage. The law would require school staff members to report suspected incidents and principals to investigate them. It would also demand that schools teach about the dangers of bullying. Forty-one other states have anti-bullying laws of varying strength.

In the Prince case, two boys and four girls, ages 16 to 18, face a different mix of felony charges that include statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, harassment, stalking and disturbing a school assembly. Three younger girls have been charged in juvenile court, Elizabeth D. Scheibel, the Northwestern district attorney, said at a news conference in Northampton, Mass.

 

Maybe some more “studies” will fix the school culture, but I doubt it.  I suspect that meaningful engagement in meaningful activities with adults (not just peers) who know that the children MEAN something, might. 

But how is there to be a new utopia if the values-setters, and foundation-owners and policy-makers are going to actually allow the parents to have relationships with their own kids?  Who would run the factories, clean our shoes, and shovel the garbage?  

(ah well, another sarcastic post here). 

Bible:  “Study to be quiet and do your own business….”

Is that still possible while the infrastructure of life is more and more centralized, federalized, and monopolized, and a middle class going, going gone?  We need to pay more attention what is happening at the tops and bottoms of society.  These are the canaries in the coal mines, and the indicators..

Apparently (like I used to be), in the middle, it’s the scramble to preserve the quality of life . . . . welll??????  ????