'A Different Kind of Attention Develops Sound Judgment' | 'Suppose I'm Right Here?' (See March 23 & 5, 2014). More Than 745 posts and 45 pages of Public-Interest Investigative Blogging On These Matters Since 2009.
The Ten Most Recent “Let’s Get Honest” Posts|
This Absolutely Uncommon Analysis shouldn't be!
What I do here: I expose the Systems Design, and the Designers, so Y.O.U. can Show Others, and to notify those playing certain games, "you've been flagged." Heard of "disruptive technologies?" Disruptive innovations? Well, this is a disruptive blog. I give people who've already been strung out and stripped down BY the system another place to stand and look at it, and a clear, fairly diagnostic language (vs. pretty logos and moving pictures) to describe it to others. AND, which many don't do, I tell how I found the information; links databases and all. Despite the blog's appearance, I know what I'm doing! You're looking at long-term leverage, in the hands of the "non-experts," in the public interest, not public funded propaganda to drive business to private pockets. Hence, I'm not afraid to ask:
The formula for this public/private business model isn't really that complex, but the concept itself was just so devious, insidious, parasitic, grandiose, and by now, so baked into the economic, institutional infrastructure, people either don't notice, or, in a common, cowardly, but all too human response they see, and just start denying, or looking for nicer explanations of an ugly truth -- where it's heading. For lack of nicer, but still honest terms, it's heading towards yet more slavery (and tolerating it) and genocide (and tolerating it). [[2019 comments: and the ability to drive the U.S., in particular, into even more, bigger, and more costly/dangerous wars, discrediting us (further) internationally. But I wrote this sidebar many years ago..]] As a woman, mother, a family court and domestic violence survivor [yes, he was a hitter, and more], who has already 'faced the music' in more ways than I can count, to the best of my ability, I do not do "denial." I also ask the public, what's left of it, to just not go down that Denial Road, and with it lose more of their innate humanity, perception, and ethics. There is another way out, one with a conscience: Really want system change? Make up your mind to understand government financing -- change yourself first. Find and read your local "CAFR" (government's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports), a wonderful source of information, with flow chart, descriptions of component or blended government units it's reporting on, and reporting the balances in each fund -- ever heard of a "Balance Sheet"? Looking for this also reveals just how many governmental business entities ARE there? Find them. Read. Think about what you see. What does it mean? Governments tend to pool their investments, for example, "CALPERS" (essentially created ca. 1931) is the largest "public pension" investing platform around, or at least in the country. Getting started earlier sure helped, then adding players (subscribers) over time ALSO did. In 1985, add "CII" Council on Institutional Investors (members: in 31states and D.C.) (LA Times 1985 article on Calif. Politician (state treasurer, assembly speaker) Unruh whose idea it was for the Council so institutional funds could "flex their muscle"; and push for corporate governance reform. CII members now control $3 trillion of assets)-- my point being, government holdings are invested and when pooled like this, are major clout, but the average person never reads even a single government entity's annual financial reports to take a look. (I wasn't aware of them til 2012!)
Governments not only invest their funds in business, they also by legislation, patenting, and protections, set them up to win, or lose. So, "know thy government" is a great place to start. (See blog/see links in the blog). [This Dialogue continued below under the sidebar widget "Really Want Systems Change?".] 2019 updates: This widget's (text box) full contents, along with others', now can be viewed (better -- full-page-width) at: Many of My Sidebar Widgets Now Live Here...[Published July 9, 2019]Published short (url short-link ends "-abt") (and may eventually replace current sidebar contents, or most of them). I also published a second, similar post with other sidebar widget contents(url short-link ends '-ahh') on July 19, 2019. Thanks for your patience (and any NOT-tax-exempt donations) meanwhile.//LGH |
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This Absolutely Uncommon Analysis shouldn't be! . . .
Really want system change? Change yourself first -- make up your mind to understand government financing . Find and read your local "CAFR" (government's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports) (previous text widget describes further...) |
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| [2019 interjection: Now, I say, do the same for the nonprofit/private sector equally. Both influence public institutions through financial rewards and deterrents. But this widget was written it seems around the time I was discovering what a critical source of information the CAFRs were (and still are). By 2012 I'd already been looking closely at grants and grantees as (private-sector) nonprofits which produce their own forms of reporting (USA: Forms 990 and 990PF and, if you're lucky, audited financial statements.//LGH] | |
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I found state fund names, numbers, and legislative authorization for domestic violence funds in California, how they were split off in 1999 between the DA's office and the DV industry, and guess what? My Congressman and I are going to have a talk REAL soon about case-dumping of dangerous cases into the family law system, where the marriage/fatherhood/access visitation funding sector can have their way with the kids, and the nonabusive parents, and further expand (rather then reduce) welfare loads, for profits to the state. Your legislators vote on budget. Budgets appropriate (<~the verb, "ap-pro-pree-eight". Doesn't meant the budgets always end up "appropriate" (the adjective :) )..Get it? By the way, every Congressperson, US and state, and I'm told major media gets copies of the relative CAFRs. They just don't really to have that conversation about BUDGET vs. ASSETS which leads to, now WHY are we being taxed, still? It gets down to ownership of the income-producing assets. Connect the dots between funds and funders, grants, and grantees. (Blog links show how). Do this for a while, and the lights will start to go on; illuminating another serious problem: the fundamental truth is, a Very Big Lie is Standard Operating Procedure throughout government, especially social services sector. Now what? A real fork in the road... Now what? Is your Congressperson in on it?Now what?. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler long I stood and looked down one as far as I could.... </span[The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost, 1874-1963, from "The Poetry Foundation"] Once STOPPED at this point, you cannot travel down both paths and still be one traveler. It's either retain that humanity, sensitivity to truth, or lose it. Either look down that less-traveled road, Or, do nothing much, and just sign over the decision-making process to others. <[[Text deleted Aug. 2019]] For more info, read my blog! It's simpler than it sounds IF you look. Most, just won't. How about you? ["Stopping by Snowy Woods on a Snowy Evening." Observe from a distance, not in the thick of it, consider (I have). And there are miles to go before I sleep, too. If you have stopped and seen, remember to stop back on the way out, and feed the blogger. See "strung out and stripped down" phrase, above. Thanks!
2019 updates: This widget's (text box) full contents, along with others', now can be viewed (better -- full-page-width) at: Many of My Sidebar Widgets Now Live Here...[Published July 9, 2019]Published short (url short-link ends "-abt") (and may eventually replace current sidebar contents, or most of them). A second, similar post with other sidebar widget contents(url short-link ends "-ahh") was published 7/19/2019. Thanks for your patience meanwhile.//LGH |
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[This text widget added Feb. 2014]. For over twenty years I have been dealing personally, first with domestic assault and battery, a.k.a. violence in the home, then by witnessing how ALL facets of the system collectively keep "Abuse Awareness" in the public's face and on-line, while locally, telling live clients in imminent danger, asking for help for the most part, go away and shut up.
Or, when such people look for some agency with the words "domestic violence" or "prevent family abuse," or related sound-bytes on their websites, to show up (sometimes pay for) a class to develop relationship skills for handling one's: stalker, batterer, or the parent that threatened to, or just did, kidnap the kids. The same crowd (generic) also stay positioned for Technical Assistance and Training -- not real-time help. It's probably good they are often on the conference trail; if they stuck around home more, the word might get out locally exactly what "TnTA" means. My translation? "Need Help? Go Away! It's Not Our Job. We Just Train the Trainers. We Consult. Dial in for the webinar."" (etc) So, what can be done then, meaning, by "us," (we, the people, the public, the huddled masses, or working millions) other than suffering nobly and dying dramatically, dealing with ongoing trauma, or de-sensitizing ourselves to the level of violence and our own government institutions' collective decisions to make business models out of the human tendency to slap others around, bully, lie, steal, terrorize, kidnap and [do things that is normally for privileged civil servants -- for example, in the military, the courts, the social services, an law enforcement, etc. -- and the private security forces for certain multinational corporations]]. We cannot help ourselves by taking the duties of law enforcement into our hands, physically -- that's illegal an dangerous! However I believe there is a way the public CAN help, a way to put a stop to free-fall exploitation, without adding to the ongoing stream of bloodshed (that's no exaggeration) or multiplying marginalized populations (i.e., the poor, those on social services). Individually first, and to each other, "the public" may still have some leverage in examining these TnTA "Go-Away! groups that are more interested in protecting their interests than our children (OR, us). [[Widget Update @ July 9, 2019: Shortening this widget: it's now copied (in full) to new post: Many of My Sidebar Widgets, Some Mostly Text, Others Mostly Links, Now Live Here! [started June 27, 2019].. (Case-sensitive short-link ends "-abt")//LGH |
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| Want to appreciate or support my four years** of Consistent Writing; over 580 posts, and a website and posts [not to mention sidebar, and its "widgets"!!]] literally loaded with links? |
| {**[as of 2013; it's now, July 2019, spanned over ten yrs, 800 posts (here only), plus about 50 pages & have developed more than one blog for specific topics or geographies. See bottom of this widget]} |
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Whether parsed and outlined or in documented rant form, my reporting will be strategically different, scratch-your-head "Huh?!?" or deeply disturbing "What-the-????" and, in the long run, actionable (like, how can we stop funding the foolishness) information. The average 5-10,000+ words (including quotations), post results from ongoing, original connect-the-dots investigations and analysis, while referring readers to others who've done their own research under hard conditions, including court-created poverty, trauma, and even sometimes jail (see Richard Fine). |
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Basically, I saw a gap in informed coverage for not just women, but specifically mothers, and stepped in to fill and blog it and point to others' analysis who'd been inappropriately dropped by the roadside. The gap was the connection between federal policy, private nonprofit providers, and the local courthouse. I also felt that the gender wars (both sides) had been exploited by "carpet-bagging" interests as if these interests were neutral, when they were not. I also knew from experience that trauma AND confusion makes one easier to manipulate, while relevant information (and knowing how to get it) are antidotes. Another nonsectarian approach was definitely needed. |
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The blog should (complete with sarcasm) should help some laugh at the lunacy, then I hope "wake the hell up!" about what public money is being used for, and clearly identify the PUBLIC danger which the PRIVAT-ization of government [2001, see p. 16 on "Nonprofits") represents. In this, the family courts' consistently self-congratulating, "problem-solving" model is a significant, and well-heeled part. (see "The Mediation Miracle," as told by a judge; p. 16/2006). The same groups pushing for no-fault divorce (under "irreconcilable differences") also pushed for conciliation courts -- does that sound rational? Was there another motive? Or was it to cause confusion over what is, and is not, a crime, and in that confusion, expand and engage behavioral health services? |
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So, this blog provides an alternate framework for some of the toughest issues of our time; life and death issues, social issues, and economic issues that get to the heart of, what IS government, and where do I stand in relationship to it?
It is what I wish someone had provided for my children, their father, and me before I set a single foot in, or responded to a single pleading, in the family court venue. Had I known it, I would've fought harder to get the case dismissed upfront, just as anyone being kidnapped should fight (if they are caught unawares) hardest right at the start, for the best results. |
| Regarding donations -- any level of assistance will help [text deleted 2019] me to survive to blog again another day. It's not yet understood HOW the family court system effectively (and I believe intentionally) functions to keep at least one out of every two parents in marginalized "economic survival mode" year after year. |
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[[Years later ... while still actively networked, investigating and reporting on post and social media, I'm focusing now more on cleaning up its format and appearance: (sticky posts, tables of contents, now the sidebar widgets. I've copied this 2,000 word widget in full with some others to a new post Many of My Sidebar Widgets, Some Mostly Text, Others Mostly Links, Now Live Here! [Published July 9, 2019]. (Case-sensitive short-link ends "-abt"). That link also kept near top of the blog with few other similar ones. //LGH. Deleting most of content on this particular widget; click there, look for this widget's title to read it all as expressed about six years ago 2013-early 2014.
If I my reporting EVER flowed with the current trends, this BLOG would not have been necessary. By following the public/private networking and financing (including where it's been made impossible to follow), which current reporting trends discourage over following the leading networked organization's "anecdotal - social science -- pilot studies, demonstration court improvement policies (etc.). With adequate drill-downs, I still say ANYone capable of observation + reason can deduce in what direction it's been flowing, both the public systems and the groups claiming intent to reform or clean them up. SOMETIMES the best news is that it's OK to face the bad news, and deal with it...//LGH 7-11-2019.]] |
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Any amount received with thanks -- a tiny % I believe is taken (from amount submitted) with the donate process. NOT tax-deductible (I'm not an IRS-designated 501©3 or other nonprofit!...). Thank you in advance! ("Donate" button only added Jul. 2013. In 2019, still works!) |
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Re:why "We can't HEAR you" in situations involving domestic violence (at the prosecution level) further enables "We're Training the Trainers to Raise Awareness about DV" at the nonprofit and DV industry level. Let's talk about who already knew that the VAWA grants faucet (1994ff) was matched, more than equally by a "Marriage/ Fatherhood" promotion faucet (both, federal and private combined), and have collaborated to split that pie, while keeping the public in the dark, which is how the public prefers to be kept about such matters... ...[Widget text removed 7/20/2019, for complete contents, see below near bottom of this text box]. Either way, someone is going into a program, although it sounds very wobbly, no matter how it happens. What most do -- when children are involved -- is attempt to get it promptly into the local conciliation court where it becomes a relationship problem ,and services can be ordered, keeping the local DA's hands clear for such things as, stumping for more funds (grants) for more One-Stop-Justice-shops [[=my 6/2010 blog on this]] (family justice centers [scroll down to see]. Actually the first was started by a City Attorney, son of an evangelistic father [search "Gwinn" here], and who grew up on a Christian conference camp center [page 2, here/or hover cursor]). Whether it's Southern or Northern California, it seems to me the religious sector is keeping the justice programs AND DA's offices "all in the family," in this case a Catholic one, leaving people fleeing religiously rationalized, enabled, and covered-up spousal abuse, in truth, nowhere to run. At every turn, we (parents, including survivors of abuse, or parents trying to protecting children who have been abused after children begin reporting this) are told to go away and just work it out. So, when "things happen" these officials then explain to distraught parents [been there more than once] why crimes involving CHILDREN, and a mother and a father, just aren't crimes [translation:-why should we prosecute when there's a family court staffed by people who on the faith-based, family and marriage/fatherhood funding streams nearby? What's in it for us? Go away -- we're busy strengthening the domestic violence field, and Connecting the Dots]. Hunting for, Gathering, and Reporting the Truth...
...which I am still doing (2019) is a public interest cause. If it rings true, and you want this NOT to get buried (again), pls. click and help. Suggested minimum $20. The stakes are always high when truth [in these matters especially] is at risk. || Truth also needs to be understood; that takes knowing the context, which also takes TIME. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY CONTRIBUTIONS (esp as they are not tax-exempt, that is, I am not functioning as a 501©3 or other non-profit, and never have. Sole administrator and just one blogger here. [[Widget Update @ July 9, 2019: Shortening thisword widget, it's now copied (in full) to new post: Many of My Sidebar Widgets, Some Mostly Text, Others Mostly Links, Now Live Here! [Published July 9, 2019].. (Case-sensitive short-link ends "-abt")//LGH |
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