Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History

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Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Govt $$ hard @ work..

Genzyme, BioEnvision, ImPath, Sanofi – New Strains of Fish in the Ocean of Commerce

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Yes, it’s disheartening reporting (from the front lines as well) what makes people broke and drives them homeless or close to it (particularly, federal policy and welfare reform with its diversions into Designer Family Curricula).

However, in looking at this policy one continues to run into some of the larger industries (corporations) running and directing the policy of our non-representative governments (US, state, county, regional, etc.).

See the list @ What Brings All These Companies Together in One Electronic Place and for One Cause?” (July 7 LGH post)… That question is still on the table; most of my comments these days are “spam.” However, there are other networks (like phone, email, etc.); the word is out.

This post is a bit of a wild ride, which is better than the straight path to poverty and drudgery, and narrating who paved the road… I think it shows there IS an alternate way to live, and one of the better ways to get there is to ignore the advice, and perhaps follow the career paths of people who are arrogant enough to believe they should be planning for the planet, and coaching people what kind of jobs to work, inbetween inventing and merchandising new technologies, raising capital for startups and then selling them and with the profit, starting up some more things, most of this related very, very (very very) closely to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, who are most likely to sponsor professorships, fellowships, centers of excellence at the university level, and all kinds of projects which might improve THEIR profits.*

(Don’t miss the part where a leading geneticist George Church (see Human Genome Project) is interviewed by a German magazine about the theoretical and technical possibility bring the Neanderthals back to life through DNA (and of a surrogate human mother). And where he figures, well, there’d need to be a cohort of them… This mindset probably wouldn’t be welcome in any welfare-to-work programs as a legitimate work-activity — creative thinking and inventing “disruptive technologies” which some of these below are called. In fact, in my experience, the extended gauntlet of the family courts is about THE best way to squelch any creative thinking — if one parent exhibits it, the other can simply get them labeled as an oddball or eccentric thinker, and next moment it’s — where are my kids? Thus while it’s not quite LEGAL to actually OUTLAW creative thinking or resourcefulness in single parents (or their exes), a lot of it can be screened out in the family law arena, preserving the status quo of “divorce” as a crime, and non-collaborative (with the ex) behaviors as a thought-crime close to it. ]]

[*And sorry about all those long opening sentences. I can’t reconstruct DNA, so apparently like stringing those ideas together in a sentence; and yes, that is a form of play…)

Particularly if one wasn’t born into the privilege and/or hasn’t hit the ground running from an early age…to end up at Harvard, Yale, etc. it might be good to look at the flip side of the social science research and demonstration fields one is constantly exposed to while going through the courts, custody, etc. matters….

How each of these corporations got started and what they are doing is downright inspiring and enlightening. It’s a history lesson — on the actual mutual-benefit factor, as opposed to the alleged public benefit factor, which sometimes turns out to be just myth. It takes money to keep the myths spinning, too — so like I continue to say, “follow the money” and “educate yourself.”

This Top section is just to brush some biotech language in front of our faces, maybe as an industry alert that, finding minimum-wage jobs for those on welfare may not be the best idea for them, at least if “income self-sufficiency” is the long-term goal… in THIS global corporate climate?


From “FierceBioTech.com (“The BioTech Industry’s Daily Monitor”) we see a Harvard Biological Chemist dive into the thrill-seeking team science environment of searching for things to help the Pharmaceutical companies come up with new drugs. Look at the startup funding, and the companions (not to mention the company names):

Prolific Harvard chemist Greg Verdine takes helm at Warp Drive
July 2, 2013 | By Ryan McBride

Professor Gregory Verdine has founded plenty of biotech companies, but Warp Drive Bio has become the first one he has ever helmed as CEO. After co-founding Warp Drive, which launched last year to discover natural product drugs, Verdine has taken over the chief executive role from Third Rock Ventures partner Alexis Borisy.

Based on Verdine’s original scientific idea, Warp Drive took off last year with a $125 million financing deal to mine bacterial genomes for drug compounds. Sanofi signed on as a funder and collaborator from the start, helping Third Rock and Greylock Partners to finance the drug-discovery effort. Borisy, who Verdine credits for the business plan behind Warp Drive, has become the startup’s executive chairman.

That whole article is fascinating; towards the end it mentions GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, and Novartis as companies willing to come “back to earth” in searching for great bacteria to test new drugs on. That’s where Warp Drive and a Harvard chemistry professor seem to come in.


Related, earlier this year (like, January), we learn about the Financial Power of Syndication:


UPDATED: Fueled by Sanofi, Warp Drive Bio takes off with $125M deal
January 12, 2013 by Ryan McBride


Biotech startup Warp Drive Bio has scored $125 million in financing from a syndicate that features the French drug giant Sanofi ($SNY) along with founding backer Third Rock Ventures and the VC firm Greylock Partners. More than just an investor in Warp Drive, Sanofi has an option to acquire the startup if the new company can hit certain goals in developing drugs found in microbial genomes.


With a brand new approach for discovering drugs from nature, Warp Drive aims to search the genomes of microbes for molecules that have the potential to target disease pathways that the have eluded all other attempts to do so. It’s the brainchild of Greg Verdine, a chemical biologist at Harvard and venture partner at Third Rock. His fellow founders include Harvard genomics pro George Church** and James Wells, who studies protein-to-protein interactions at the University of California, San Francisco. (“UCSF”)


“This is the type of early-stage, blue sky, innovative, transformative company that a lot of people are saying just isn’t getting created anymore,” Alexis Borisy, a Third Rock partner and interim CEO of the startup, told FierceBiotech. “But here we are. We have created it.”

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Written by Let's Get Honest|She Looks It Up

July 17, 2013 at 7:25 pm

“Comment Submitted To:” (Supervised Visitation, Interlocking Nonprofits, in Minnesota)

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I submitted today to:
Carver County (MN) Corruption // AFCC chart page

COMMENTARY ON THE COMMENT:

Conceptual Thinking (understanding systems) is Essential to Freedom.
Networking for mutual self-support groups is wonderful, but failure by support groups to scout why one needed them to start with, is suicidal, in the long run. Support groups simply go form their silos of information and shun information which doesn’t fit with the status quo.

This is a great way to overspecialize and become an extinct species. We HAVE to be able to speak a language that incorporates understanding of the systems that structure our lives. We aren’t. There are crackups, domestic violence, gang violence, and various kinds of “roadkill,” to which people have conveniently (for those who DO understand systems, and own them) self-separated into their groups by label: Protective Mothers, Battered Mothers, Fathers’ Rights, Family Values vs. Pro Choice, etc.

Have you ever seen skilled sheepdogs in action? Consider what they do — they face off with the sheep; one dog can control a sizeable clump. Now — who does the sheepdog answer to and who feeds and trains him?

Now, who pays the man (or woman, I suppose) who trains, feeds, and runs the sheepdogs?

The real question is, who owns the ranch. And that’s what family court reform groups (male or female) simply forget to specialize in, and train each other to respond to signals from, that is, to respond as the owner of the ranch might — not as the sheep might.

I don’t know if you can get a visual on this — but picture sheepdog trials, and a batch is let out at time, and the canine “middle mangement” of this operation called a ranch, who do a lot of the running around, but appear to be innately designed for this — they LOVE running the sheep — are running one clumped together focused on the sheepdog (not the farm owners) and facing it, either face-off and freeze, or running. Eventually they ARE going to be run into the pen, where after a long (Or short) and domesticated life, during which they will be sheared and produce more lambs — eventually they will be possibly eaten. Such a life!

Divide, shepherd, shear, and eventually eat. Control reproduction. Sort for desired qualities.
That’s for sheep, but it’s been applied on people. And the sheepdogs bark and posture. The sheep don’t even have a language to talk back with that means anything other than what sounds they are making on the way back into the fold (pen).

As human beings, if we want freedom, we need to speak more than one language, and understand which language one is hearing at a given point of time. We also had better get a lid on understanding systems, AND becoming a better judge of character.

I read tax returns and look up corporations not because it’s profitable, or inherently more interesting than other things I could do with an immediate (though very transient, in my situation) profit. I read tax returns and look up corporations (and ask others to) because it tells me about who is doing what in the commercial landscape. I think the basics are clear, and a lot of the continued lookups I may (and am) still doing, are part for personal insight — but moreso for demonstrating to others.

This kind of data (even as poorly sourced as the free databases are, and as unwieldy as they are to produce any kind of report from) — givesi us a headsup on which way the economy has been going, is going and on WHY certain groups and talk like they do. It is one way of standing a little aprt from the clump of sheep to consider the patterns of frantic running around.

As a domestic violence survivor, I have also believed that the middle of pack of sheep frozen in certain language patterns and dashing around the internet to bond with their own kind, producing more of the same kind of (outdated though still valid in parts) information is producing inbreeding –and doesn’t increase the defensive or safety position one iota.

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ORPHANS: Where The Great Commission meets the Military-Industrial Complex [First Published May 18, 2013]

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Title with shortlink: ORPHANS: Where The Great Commission meets the Military-Industrial Complex [First Published May 18, 2013] Shortlink ends “-1w0” (the 1st and 3rd digits are numbers, not letters). Just under 10,000 words.

– – –

NOTE: Intro. section in this background color added [free of charge] Jan. 2016, some years after original publication May 2013. “Nightlight Christian Adoptions” was mentioned in the original post, I’ve just been looking more closely at tax return contents, in the interim. The original post may have been more “inspired,” however…. //LGH….It deals with this topic:

NOTE: this 3,000 word (you’re welcome!) post is out of sequence — belongs back with the “On the Road to Emmaeus” and “”Christian Social Services: Replenishing the Ranks of the Faithful (Bethany Christian Services posts, ca. Eastertime, 2013.

  • 6723 Whittier, McLean, VA (Always Look Up Street Addresses!!!)**

…at one time or another these organizations (at a minimum) shared a street address:

  • SHAOHANNAH’S HOPE (later “SHOWHOPE”)
  • CONGRESSIONAL COALITION ON ADOPTION INSTITUTE (“CCAI”)
  • CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE FOR ORPHANS (“CAFO”)
  • ASSOCIATION OF FORMER INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS (“AFIO”)

File under, if you notice the details, What’s wrong with this picture?

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AFCC — A Users’ Manual (Intro).. and (for now), some of “Arizona” [Publ. Apr. 11, 2013].

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AFCC — A Users’ Manual (Intro).. and (for now), some of “Arizona” [Publ. Apr. 11, 2013].(Short-link ends “1xt”  Post is about 9,000 words).

Speaking of Engaging in Lookups:

Just a reminder — I’m not an attorney, and if you need one, go get one. However, at this point in time I don’t personally advise going to get any family law attorney before ascertaining membership or non-membership in this organization, and finding out whether the local Presiding Judge is also a member. Also, are you in a family court (are there actually some left?) or one that has been declared “Conciliation” and comes under a different section of the state code, by jurisdiction. Like they did in California….

That membership information would also be good to get on opposing attorneys, judges, GALs, and others not just currently in any case (heck, people can drop in and out of a case on a dime these days) — but also in the courthouses. In other words, most courts operate as fiefdoms, so who’s (singular, but more likely plural, a group of people) lord of the current one?

Above and beyond that, given how frequent radical jurisdiction switches (between states, I’m talking) can be, I believe it’s wise to get a systemic view of these family courts. As the AFCC is personally taking credit for their primary substance, one great way to do so is to take a good look at two things.

~ ~ How AFCC characterizes itself in its own publications, the public face.

~ ~ The “back office” viewpoint– which is the incorporation records (including withdrawals, suspensions, name changes, state changes, etc., the tax returns, and when-and-where public officials are (as from the beginning) running private associations out of the local courthouse.

~ ~ [added 12/2013. I forgot to mention, who’s paying the piper, apart from the obvious: Us, the public, through salaries and other means. See corporation newsletters and the mother ship’s site, for some clues; not all of them. ]

When ensconced in a position of power and control, which is where the organization’s leadership gravitates strategically to, and FYI it’s not just the courthouse (it’s also the law school and other places close to HHS funding) — and, when there, what they do. I mean, this is not rocket science, it just takes a little sustained attention to pick up on the basic patterns — including language patterns.

Power is multiplied when it’s unified, and when it’s system-wide. So, what’s the system?

Please notice below at which “URL” the May, 2013 “50th Anniversary Conference” has been advertised: It’s at a website that ends “*.gov,” at the “national responsible fatherhood clearinghouse.” It is funded through the repeated extensions of what was originally “TANF” (1996) welfare, but is variously the Deficit Reduction Act (2005), or the Claims Resolution Act (2010), and this is through the OFA (Office of Family Assistance).

Active link. Notice the domain name ends *.gov:
http://www.fatherhood.gov/about-us/events/afcc-50th-anniversary-conference

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ 50th Anniversary Conference, “Riding the Wave of the Future: Global Voices, Expanding Choices” will be held in Los Angeles, CA. Since 1963, AFCC members have spearheaded major reforms in the family law community, including no-fault divorce, joint custody, mediation, collaborative law, unified family courts, parenting coordination, differentiated case management, parent education and myriad hybrid dispute resolution processes. Even with these advances, professionals face growing changes and challenges. What does the future hold? How will the AFCC community influence the constantly
evolving family law system? Join us in Los Angeles, the birthplace of AFCC, as we begin to chart the course for the next 50 years.

Moreover, among its own, AFCC also celebrated and narrated its accomplishments 50th anniversary (1963-2013) and was planning the next 50 years. This was designed for professional consumption, not really the public. It was published in California Conciliation Quarterly and on-line access to the same, starting January 2013. In other words, building momentum for the cause. “Modestly” (and inaccurately) described as:

REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP: FIFTY YEARS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FAMILY AND CONCILIATION COURTS

(This title is also a link to the publication, see its first page by Peter Salem).

Here, they take credit for developing fields of practice. In that part, it’s honest. I’ve been talking about this as well (i.e., parenting coordination) and highlighting it’s time to stop letting this group create professional niches for themselves at our (the public’s) expense and on the taxpayer dollar.

Also, the organization networks with other nonprofit organizations (big ones — ABA, APA — and other well-connected nationwide ones (National Center on State Courts, etc.) which underneath themselves also have other nonprofits of public officials. While obviously there needs to be planning and coordination when MAJOR technological innovations (such as the development of the internet!) are in place, it still remains a nationwide nonprofit suggested in 1978 by a US Supreme Court Judge. As of 1983 AFCC newsletter, marketing all kinds of trainings, the statement was made that AFCC (whoever that was in that year) had decided to have this NCSC be their “secretariat.” Typewritten blurb mentions:

AFCC Publications: All publications are payable in US Currency payable to AFCC c/o National Center for the State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg, VA 23185– unless another address & payee is shown

(???)

Truly that is an informative publication; for example how individuals from Los Angeles and Connecticut helped get a NJ Governor to sign legislation to form a unified family court for juvenile and other matters. The conference schedule (for 1984) is also very informative — but only if one notices names, plades, and subject matter. For example, the heading of the newspaper has a different version of the group’s name than the logo on the banner. (Look carefully, you’ll see it’s a single-word difference). For example that at this point in time, what they’re primarily pushing is mediation as a profession (one thing at a time!); however the “unified family court” theme is lurking in the background, c/o Toronto’s “Unified Family Court.”

In case you’re thinking this is starting to resemble an Amway MLM marketing scheme, only with civil servants, I’d have to say, you’re probably right. (cf. the DeVos family). From a “Boycott Amway (for other reasons)” site:

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How to get No-Holds-Barred HHS Grants Info from TAGGS, and a Few Things to Do With It…

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Notes from 2014 Year-end on this October 5, 2012 post:


1. This post has charts and tables in it, run before I had the technical know-how to limit the right-hand-margin.


2. I acknowledge the post is unconscionably long — 17,000 words, including this intro.


3. That said, The TAGGS database does not copy well to wordpress, and is not public-user-friendly. It does not lend to us running flexible reports or sorts, as database ought to, although it’s funded apparently with public dollars. Much later, I learned (this is “as I recall” in a 600++ post blog) the software provider was later taken over by an international (Canada?) based firm, but previous to this had been sued by states or state agencies for failures regarding their performance problems. I have worked with databases before, and know that this level of dysfunction in critical issues would not fly, in small, medium, or very large corporations. It’s so bad, I even started a blog in October 2013 intending to simply print out ALL recipients (unsorted). HHS Giveaways, Government Shutdowns.


HOWEVER, it was my work on grants using this database, and then checking out grantees, which developed my understanding of at least the marriage/fatherhood funding, and what a major problem we have in the country when the average citizens DO NOT understand government fiscal accounting, as we are not intended to. I believe that if we did, there would be a major rebellion over taxation in no way limited to political fringe or other labels, such as “Tea Party.” I encourage people to get involved and get a sense of just who IS getting HHS grants. Run some reports, scan the contents, notice oddities; notice who gets the big ones, or how many 1-time grantees, for example, may get a $50,000 “compassion capital” grant, then (checked at the state registration level) the group gets administratively dissolved, i.e., “take the money and run.” Continuing this practice rewards bad behavior, and allows grants fraud and theft of public money.
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HHS Grants Database (TAGGS.HHS.gov) isn’t “Close enough for Jazz.” [Publ. Sept. 30, 2012; Formatted Aug. 2, 2022]

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Post updated (for clarity and to add title link and a few borders, not much more) 8/2/2022…

[About 9,500 words.  Like most of my posts, that includes many quotations…  Because I’m also discussing a federal database, it also includes blocks of text (tables) which show definitions of various fields or pieces of data in it.

What I have to say, the “tell” in “Show and Tell,” isn’t the largest part of this post.  Look at what’s shown, much of it become self-evident, (I believe!)

I’m showing (and telling) how HHS, the US agency in place to help Humans be Healthy, isn’t Helping us Track its Grants well enough. [“TAGGS.HHS.gov” ]

Data elements that the users should be able to sort on aren’t even menu choices... and of the fields they CAN sort on, those aren’t always even entered filled in.

I pick on a few examples, including an abstinence/healthy marriage grantee, of course]


Post Title:

HHS Grants Database (TAGGS.HHS.gov) isn’t “Close enough for Jazz.” [Publ. Sept. 30, 2012; Formatted Aug. 2, 2022] (short-link ends “-19Y”)

 

HHS Data Quality in the TAGGS Database

Accessible Data for the Public

Business is Business — and some VERY sophisticated software is available to those doing business with the US Government and those whose functional engineering projects, or fundraising, depends on excellent and relevant, reliable software. At the bottom of the last post, I also clearly showed how fortunes are being made in the field of software platforms to government (and elsewhere), i.e., a prosperous Private Equity Firm in SF investing in several software companies (sometimes, at once) is doing VERY well; they also became the majority shareholder in BlackBaud, Inc. — which provides software Cloudfund raising to nonprofits, including our Minnesota Technical Assistance and Training provider to OVW Grantees (and if anyone else can afford to attend, like a battered woman), Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, Inc.(“DAIP”)

[2022 Correction.  I used to get what the “D” stood for in “DAIP” (website, “TheDuluthModel.org”) mixed up.
The correct word is “Domestic” as in “Domestic Abuse” — but it was and is in Duluth, Minnesota.
Blackbaud is an international company whose founder was from the United Kingdom and answered an ad from a New York City school for a software design.  Tony Bakker is majority owner of a Charleston South Carolina soccer team, a real estate investor and “restaurateur,” after buying and restoring a 1760 property in Charleston, sold it for $7.6 million, having found a $5 million property on the waterfront they just couldn’t turn down.
And think about it — HHS and DOJ (Department of Justice) funding to train people how to work with people that batter, people that are being battered, and how to provide supervised visitation services, and to an organization promoting that Community Collective Response (“Coordinated Community Response”) will help stop evil behavior in a community.
In studying further how to do this, one of its sub-projects, the Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) also chose to “collectively” associate with the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (“AFCC”), an organization of dubious origins in Southern Los Angeles (according to some), which has sought to UNdo the concept of criminal law and replace it with the language of behavioral science, and which promotes a psychological terminology as a legal technique to re-frame children saying “no” to abuse as parental alienation, and which believes that “CONFLICT,” if high, is bad.
They have no conflict, however, with centralized control if it includes them, or includes taking grants to expand their technical capacities or web presence.
MEANWHILE — if the public is expecting representative government still, at this late date — this is what they get:
A database of HHS grants which is incomplete, inaccurate, where entries are inconsistently entered below the level of what basic support staff [in most clerical positions or offices] would accept — and in which one CANNOT sort on the most relevant fields in Advanced Search format.
I have almost never run across someone even LOOKING at this database as a layperson because they were curious about the Department of Health and Human Services’ (US HHS’s) use of its funds (and I’ve talked and corresponded with hundreds of heads of households involved in the courts; funds to the courts are recorded in here! ) who even looks at TAGGS.HHS.GOV unless they got this habit from my blog, or people who associate with Liz Richards’ “national association for family court justice” (website NAFCJ.net) from which I got the idea to look it up (and just kept going….).

Some of these fields are below.  Fiscal Year is shown — but
Appropriation Fiscal Year Fiscal Year of the appropriation used to fund this action. Note: An appropriation is a statute made available by Congress that provides the authority to incur financial obligations and to make payments associated with DHHS grant programs.
Appropriation Number Treasury account code identifying the appropriation used to fund this action. Note: An appropriation is a statute made available by Congress that provides the authority to incur financial obligations and to make payments associated with DHHS grant programs.
Appropriation Title Full title of an appropriation. Note: An appropriation is a statute made available by Congress that provides the authority to incur financial obligations and to make payments associated with DHHS grant programs.
Authorization Legal authority cited in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) upon which an HHS program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the US Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).

The matters in blue remind us that spending isn’t supposed to happen without authorization and appropriation.  Yet look at the “Advanced Search” page and see if you can find those fields.

There’s one link to “Advanced Search” (explore on your own time), and several shortcuts to other menu items, and some pre-planned reports. Yet I found in a general search, there are plenty of grants missing codes — DUNS code, some missing a CFDA Code (plenty missing a principal investigator; do not yet know if these are specifically block grants only).  Of the principal investigators there really ought to be a first name, last name designation [as a separate field] and no title entered unless there’s a designated field “Title.”  that’s BASIC data design, omitted here..

Therefore Principal Investigator’s given names who happen to be M.D. or Ph.D. and could be called “Doctor” properly, would show up alphabetized under “D” not their names. In addition, that could be entered before or after a given name.
http://taggs.hhs.gov/AdvancedSearch.cfm
Any feedback on how someone may get to this data via the public access site?

I see many fields described which do not show up on “Advanced Search” options — please let me know.  For example, nothing should be paid out which Congress, Executive Order, or some other authority has no

awarded, right?  But we cannot search on it.  You can do only these types of searches & run some pre-formatted reports:”
[[I am re-reading this post and plan to re-publicize it, however, the content — those fields listed — date to 2012, not 2022]]

Technical Assistance and Training = Silencing Mothers’ Voices, Taking their Money…

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[post is about 11,000 words long.
I am showing many TA&T [Technical Assistance and Training] programs and their relationships, although my interest in Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP) stems from their recent collaborations with (instead of confrontation of) “AFCC” and drawing upon public funding (HHS grants) to do their analyses.  It’s pretty obvious that the organizations writing up the projects/situation/subject matter are not going to BE the subject matter — and if so, it will be self-description.
My takeaway is, the better way to describe “the situation” is corporate economic viewpoint.   I use corporate lookups, tax return lookups, sometimes grants lookups to describe (and compare to) any organization’s self-description on its colorful, hyperlinked, “Donate Here” websites.  
I also  try to remember which nonprofits have spun off earlier ones that made a name and got the grants.
In that regard, Technical Assistance =  Propaganda Promotion, even if the topic they are writing about is or was indeed legitimate; to dominate the field by the internet, conferences, training, federal funding, and nonprofit status — is to exclude the clientele’s voices as an equally relevant viewpoint.
It should be remembered that several of these organizations got their start in the 1980s, before (really) the Internet Revolution got underway.  However now that it is, business just got easier, and for individual victims of (for example) battering or abusive control — who are often fighting for sheer access to an internet (i.e., isolation is a factor in controlling others) — to expect to keep up with the rapid expansion of certain viewpoints (which are good for sales, if not necessarily good for actually stopping violence against women, or promoting responsible fatherhood EITHER) — is, well unreal.
The only way to even the playing field (being outnumbered and out financed, and less well organized) is to, I hope others also will, EXPOSE the circumstances, and then demand that certain programs be DEFUNDED (they are not reducing “roadkill” they are simply spawning more proselytes and building professional conferencer-careers) –and the organizations pay their own way through life.
When it comes to ECONOMIC control, the United States (obviously) has collective wealth beyond individuals — but I suggest addressing this issue sooner rather than later, anyhow.  TAKE A LOOK!  No matter where one digs in, similar behaviors will prevail; this is as good an entry point as any….]

SOCIAL CHANGE TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:  

HOME OF THE DULUTH, MODEL

This website has changed, and no longer openly lists certain projects that are underneath it (an older version may be on my blog)…  Which I seem to recall included groups like PRAXIS International:  “integrating theory & practice,” which like DAIP, had close ties to Ellen Pence (who actually was Praxis “founding director.”  Their home page still holds a eulogy, as Ellen Pence died recently:

Praxis believes in social change through advocacy & training “since 1996”.

  •  “Since 1996, we have worked with advocacy organizations, intervention agencies, and inter-agency collaborations to create a clear and cooperative agenda for social change in their communities.

Like others, they endorsed the “SUPERVISED VISITATION & EXCHANGE” (USDOJ Safe-Havens grant series support):

 Since 1996, we have worked with advocacy organizations, intervention agencies, and inter-agency collaborations to create a clear and cooperative agenda for social change in their communities.

Interesting year — startup year coincided with welfare reform…  Like OH SO MANY helpful nonprofit groups getting significant HHS and/or DOJ grants (although I DNR what Praxis got) — they are really “into” technical assistance and training” and quite willing to help grantees — from a safe distance from ongoing, shall we say, volatile, situations at the street level.  Maybe the founders had this experience initially but after all, people age out, and it’s safer to teach than to confront in a group setting — or dispense studies on-line.

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Independence Entails Investigation (links-only version of last post)

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Well, ALMOST only . . . .

This should be a more useful format:

PEOPLE/BLOGGERS I QUOTED.  Some are notables, others are notable simply for what they noticed:

  • vidrebel.wordpress.com,blogger is “horse237”
    • “The bankers want America to lose World War III so the soon to be impoverished citizens cannot demand both the arrest of the bankers and the return of the tens of trillions they stole. They also want to fold a weakened America as a destroyed and failed state into the New World Order with all power securely in the hands of multi-billionaires.”
      (horse237’s signature block:) I have decided to share two of the visions I had as a child. When I was eight, I had a vision of a future war that killed 99.5% of the world’s population. When I was 16 and living in the projects, I had a vision of my future. I was to live in complete obscurity until it came time to stop WW III. When I was about ten, I had read a bio of Nikita Khrushchev which said he survived Stalin by playing the bumbling fool an old Russian peasant trick. I decided to do the same as I had already learned that we did not live in a democracy. The other vision I had when I was in third grade was of the Mind of God and how it interacted in the creation of the world we see. I believe you and I were born at this time precisely so we would have an opportunity to stop this war. As for my personal info, I grew up on military bases and in housing projects. My legs atrophied from starvation as a child. My second step-father died in prison. I used to have to rub my skin to simulate human contact. They did not feed me when I was a child. I do not fight in their wars as an adult.

 

Over the years, I have gradually come to understand that some of the wisest people, and real fighters for the truth, are those who endured significant child abuse, including not being fed enough.   Long-term child abuse will turn a person either into a coward, or a fighter.  I have two in my personal acquaintance (presently), and either of them alone is worth three on-line support groups and those who support during abuse — but will not or cannot do anything to stop it.

Writers that come to mind in this category (in my book), include Viktor Frankl, and Richard Rhodes.  You’d be surprised.

the comments on “vidrebel” are also interesting. Which led to some of this:

  • Michael Hudson, economist (Wikipedia) An author cited by a blogger
  • http://www.wanttoknow.info/(this site was from a comment on the vidrebel.**chart below.
  • Catherine Austin Fitts.  Now, her name is all over the internet, so google it. (and a comment to previous post has a video link of her).
  • Johnnypumphandle.com” re: the 1999 Child Support issue.  Link to face-sheet and summary of Silva v. Garcetti; excerpt:

. . .4. In fiscal year 1997-98 the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office collected approximately $257 million in child support payments. The cost to the public for such collections in fiscal year 1997-98 was approximately $104,809,000.00, or approximately $.40 for every dollar collected.

5. As of the present time, neither the United States government, the state of California, nor the County of Los Angeles have taken any action requiring the District Attorney to disburse the monies on “hold”. This failure is causing the taxpayers, the recipients of the child support, the welfare system, and the payors of child support to suffer hardship on a daily basis.

I also hadn’t known this about the John Silva Case, but apparently his child support order pre-dates welfare reform (of 1996) and the block grants to the states — which allowed for huge diversions from the actual children into programming based on social science (marriage/fatherhood/abstinence, etc.) theory:

6. Plaintiff JOHN R. SILVA is a citizen of California and a resident of the County of Los Angeles. Plaintiff has filed state tax returns and has paid taxes in the County of Los Angeles for the past five years. Plaintiff has paid child support payments to the Court Trustee pursuant to a court order dated November 29, 1989, commencing at such tine as his former wife received Aid for Dependent children (“AFDC”} payments for the six-month period of time from August 1989 through February 1990. Such child support payments by Plaintiff were $135.00 per month, plus a 2% service charge of $2.70, for a total monthly payment of $137.70.

7. plaintiff brings this suit as a party acting for the interests of himself and all taxpayer contributors to the County of Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Family Support, child Support Collections Fund, as paid to the Court Trustee or such other person ordered by the court.

Interesting, that this major Silva case comes from a father who let his wife go on AFDC briefly — and for such a minimal (even in 1989) monthly amount — $137?  She was working FT, or what?  So, around 1999, California was (belatedly) switching over to state-wide centralized agency from the DA’s offices, which hasn’t done much better, from what I can tell. they did, however, contract out with Iron Mountain (data storage) who claims it (or one of it’s partners) somehow lost in transit from Denver (what was it doing in Denver to start with?) 800,000 records’ privacy…

(On reading this account, I”m going to post it next; if one multiplies HOW MANY fathers (and mothers) are being treated this way by the same system, I believe it will add up to justify my proposal that OCSE be eliminated.  Clearly, when money OR services are transmitted from one party to another by way of government of various levels (county, state, federal) — “a lot gets lost” in the translation!

Read the rest of this entry »

HHS — Contracts Awarded 8/30/2012 = $156 million. Just for today, August 30, 2012, that is.

with 2 comments

Our relationship to “government” needs to be looked at.  Particularly, why so many people put up with it and haven’t figured out something better than putting lawyers and judges in charge of the place, as facilitated by a Congress which has plenty of people who used to be lawyers in it, no doubt.


 

A glance at this post should clarify that, by and large, we don’t know what the US Government (I mean, “federal”) is doing — although who’s helping fund it?  Wake the hell up and start looking up some CAFR‘s – -it’s the worlds largest contractor, and there are these other issues about Jurisdiction which keep cropping up also.  You cannot SUE this government, really (11th Amendment) unless it consents to.  while we had this Constitution, it appears to me that under Bankruptcy (which the US has never been out of, to date, to my awareness) it no longer applies.  If it did, and one engaged in commerce with the USA (which it’s almost impossible not to), you just became a contractor (u.S. Citizen = no unalienable rights) and shareholder in that thing in Washington, D.C.

WOMEN IN PARTICULAR should be cautious about citizenship.  A woman in our area called police for help “domestic dispute” which ended up in a vigorous chase, the other day, the guy fled.  They didn’t know an toddler was in the car.  He was killed in a hail of gunfire, after which it was reported that this was actually a woman’s BROTHER, not the perp, and he had been I think helping her get his niece (her child) away from the aggressor.  Now, he’s dead.  Did I mention, he’s also Hispanic? (Wikipedia informal list of people, mostly men, some during domestic disputes, killed by officers.  It’s a very very long list…)

Or you could go to a divorce, and have a judge over the domestic violence court (long-term presiding) and the judge tell your young self, a mother (about 23 yrs old, this one), to “go work it out” and no restraining order.  Finally they were in judge’s chambers, and the judge informed the father (a Marine) he would have to pay child support.  The young man (age 29) stepped outside the door, walked back in again, and cold-cocked the mother of his kids, knocking her unconscious immediately on the floor, some black eyes, a broken jaw.  He was finally tasered into submission, and THEN the judge believed that the guy was dangerous.  That apparently didn’t stop him from assigning shared parenting, though (along with jail and $1million bail).  THAT is our country (and it was in 2011 Florida:  (see comments for links to the story, another blog “AmericanAmnesia

MOVIN’ ON . . . .

I mentioned FEDMINE.com to an acquaintance the other day, and have on the blog before.  Its access is more timely (and probably far more accurate) than what is given the average person who looks things up on some free site which isn’t even proofread, but is designed for public consumption, like, say, “http://TAGGS.hhs.gov

It think this figure is worth posting, without too much commentary.  Per FEDMINE.com, the top agency obtaining contracts today was — hardly surprising — HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.

WITHOUT HUMANS THERE WOULD BE NO MONEY TO FUND THESE STUDIES SO WHAT, PRECISELY, ABOUT HUMANS IS SO FASCINATING THAT THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY, ON A GIVEN DAY, WOULD BE DEDICATED TO A BUREAUCRACY STUDYING THEM?

ALSO, SEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR SOME ONES SIGNIFICANT (at least that I’m aware of) in this Family Law Field.

If you see I have linked the company name (other links probably not valid) there may be a brief description if you hover the cursor.

COMPANY NAME POSTED TODAY
08/30/2012
YTD FOR AGENCY
049508120  –  WESTAT INCORPORATED 230,376 9,710,743
019121586  –  DELOITTE CONSULTING L.L.P. 1,593,527 32,298,506
072654999  –  VANTAGE HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES INCORPORATED 511,792 511,792
091500090  –  JOHN SNOW, INCORPORATED (out of all of them, this one actually seems involved in HEALTH.  Founded 1978, internationally 106 offices, see “In Memoriam” link) 626,838 5,654,941
021873740  –  HUMAN TECHNOLOGY, INC 511,792 547,006
009399247  –  UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND 85,082 122,852
623214020  –  CONCEPT SYSTEMS INCORPORATED (3796) -4,941 -8,221
947300372  –  CLIFTON GUNDERSON LLP -102,382 -102,382
152149191  –  MC DONALD WALTER R AND ASSOCIATES INCORPORATED 0 2,789,442
825229318  –  MCKINSEY&COMPANY, INC. WASHINGTON D.C.

1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s
 (check out the firm history/mgmt consulting; 1959 London office, etc.  2nd leader (1st died early) was Harvard MBA…
631,181 9,499,045
154308522  –  MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH INC 364,999 14,398,928
088656512  –  IMPAQ INTERNATIONAL LLC(founded 2001 by a couple with govt background, Social Science Research, in MD. He’s economist,she’s History/Educ, he used to work for “Abt”) 415,623 5,197,316
146014373  –  ARSERVICES, LTD 650,102 650,102
183818145  –  CAPITAL CONSULTING CORP 64,557 961,723
197325277  –  LEWIN GROUP, INC., THE**(link is to someone from this group presenting at a 2007 AFCC conference.  Since 1970, they are Health and Human Services consultant; you can look it up). 630,811 4,396,810
127687093  –  CHILD TRENDS INC 1,011,927 1,686,523
072648579  –  ICF INCORPORATED, L.L.C. {{see below}} 500,000 13,942,449
622811847  –  STRATEGIC HEALTH SOLUTIONS, L.L.C. [woman-owned, Omaha, services Medicare & Medicaid] 3,198,739 8,861,059
127149784  –  HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, LLC 1,281,472 3,970,432
929125818  –  C2C SOLUTIONS INC 6,323,200 18,091,004
611835203  –  TEYA TECHNOLOGIES, LLC 178,013 894,928
781844808  –  SEAMON CORPORATION 197,200 885,831
143208069  –  FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS SAFETY FOUNDATION, LTD 81,697 245,090
803935261  –  PROFESSIONAL TESTING, INC. 363,302 361,395
136201493  –  CONSUMMATE COMPUTER CONSULTANTS SYSTEMS LLC -56,190 0
929219772  –  CONTRACT SUPPORT SOLUTIONS INC. -32,171 164,690
175291061  –  THE KEVRIC COMPANY INC 100,871 2,428,892

(I will kind of color-code by background color.  Obviously I am scanning here; the main point is — how little most of us realize, how large is the US Federal Government.  See recent posts on CAFR and USA, Inc. & Bankruptcies, etc.  If you are not a “scanner” this post will probably drive you crazy…)

Not starting with the largest one in “the Lewin Group,” but it does run close to the subject matter of this blog — the marriage/fatherhood movement through federal funding:

THE LEWIN GROUP

(FROM USASPENDING.GOV — THEY GOT (FROM ABOUT 2000 forward I think on this database):

Ranked by $$, the largest shows up as about $4+million (in 2005), “Marijuana Cultivation Study.”  They seem to have plenty in the $2 and $3 million ranges as well.  Fairfax, VA -close to the source, right).

Total Dollars:
$172,544,874
Transactions: 1 to 25 of 740 (most are contracts,only 1 is a grant.
That’s a lot of money…Also most (677) are HHS).
Their founder, Lawrence Lewin just died this past may (age 74); he was Princeton, Harvard MBA, and Marines..– this obit shows his influence and Medicaid connections; another Washington Post 2009 article ties the group as very influential in Affordable Care, and some possible”dirt” (Scandal) related to the United Healthcare (or someone) that bought it in 2007. As part of Ingenix owned by “UnitedHealth” it is a consulting firm owned by one of the largest insurers around that got in trouble with NY Attorney General and the AMA for shifting costs to consumers with skewed data.  not The Lewin Group, but the group it was part of since it got bought.  Apparently Republicans like it?:
Lewin Group, Insurer-Owned Consulting Firm, Often Cited in Health Reform Debate
By David S. HilzenrathWashington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 23, 2009

The political battle over health-care reform is waged largely with numbers, and few number-crunchers have shaped the debate as much as the Lewin Group, a consulting firm whose research has been widely cited by opponents of a public insurance option.To Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the House Republican whip, it is “the nonpartisan Lewin Group.” To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an “independent research firm.” To Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), the second-ranking Republican on the pivotal Finance Committee, it is “well known as one of the most nonpartisan groups in the country.”Generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation’s largest insurers.

An Evaluability Assessment of Responsible Fatherhood Programs

August 1997

DHHS, Office of the Assistant Secretaryf or Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)

Analysis of site visits to five newly formed responsible fatherhood programs find a series of steps can be taken to improve their viability and evaluability. Program managers can develop core definitions of what constitutes a responsible fatherhood program; conduct process evaluations to define program objectives, activities and best practices; building basic MIS capacity; and stabilizing and enhancing funding.

(This one combines what looks like an HHS? grant to the Lewin group (97FM0122) with an HHS Contract to . . . . combined with a Ford Foundation Grant headed up by Ronald Mincy, wich name is significant (look it up).  Lewin were simply the enablers and to make it look (or be) more scientific and respectable.  This being only 1997, it shows just how much intention and planning to completely continue expanding “FATHERHOOD” as a field (regardless of results) was made — and this of course depended on major foundations like FORD working with WELFARE money.  FYI, Ford Foundation are not the good guys here in the US …)

This gives me a very squirrely feeling (esp. knowing that by 1998 somehow Congress passed a “fatherhood resolution.”)

But on ca. page 110 of this report (link is the title) you see a list of “Experts Consulted” (Two are from Child Trends, the others are also significant).  Johns Hopkins involved also.  The whole thing makes me a little ill, given the impact of this trend on my life, personally, and my (DAUGHTERS’, not son’s) futures! ! !  I made it pink just for “spite,” given the subject matter is the opposite gender…

***II. Purpose of this Report

The increased interest in programs that promote responsible fatherhood and the limited information currently available on the services provided and effectiveness of these programs has generated interest in the systematic evaluation of responsible fatherhood programs. For this reason, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ford Foundation funded The Lewin Group and Johns Hopkins University to conduct an evaluability assessment of responsible fatherhood programs.

Fatherhood programs and emphasis on male parenting are relatively recent phenomena in the social service sector. Many of the programs currently in place are either very new or, if established, have been experimenting with new interventions or changing the program focus over time to meet the interests and objectives of funders. It is generally the case that fatherhood programs have not adequately documented their performance. This may be because of limited resources, a lack of experience with methods of measuring performance, or simply because the focus of program staff has been on serving fathers rather than proving that methods are effective. While program staff may believe that their activities are helping fathers and resulting in positive impacts on society, others, particularly funders, may be skeptical of evidence of program effectiveness that is limited to anecdotes.

Evaluations of responsible fatherhood programs can serve two important functions:

• provide information to outside agencies and organizations regarding the objectives and the effectiveness of their interventions, which may be used to attract and justify fundingfrom these outside sources; and• provide information to program staff that may be used to modify program design to more efficiently and effectively serve the fathers who use their services.

{{Interesting how “ATTRACT AND JUSTIFY FUNDING” COMES FIRST… AND IT DOESN’T EVEN SAY, HELP THE PROGRAMS REACH THEIR STATED SERVCE, BUT “PROVIDE INFORMATION TO PROGRAM STAFF.”}}

Systematic evaluation of fatherhood program outcomes is crucial to both program design and funding. Conducting rigorous evaluations using standard scientific methods . . .[[will provide continued income for the Lewin Group, the Fatherhood practitioners and organizations, and many other people, not including the children that these program are supposed to help by encouraging and enabling their Daddies to “man up” and support their offspring]]


Some of these groups hang together at times.

 the Lewin Group at a 2007 AFCC conference:42. Healthy Marriage Projects: The Influence of Marriage on Child Support Enforcement

The Administration for Children and Families’ top goal in the last few years has been to encourage marriage for unwed low income families through marriage education, community outreach and demonstrations. This panel will discuss the status of Community Healthy Marriage Projects being financed by the Office of Child Support Enforcement, “Building Strong Families” marriage demonstrations being financed by the Administration of Children and Families and the importance of former marriage status or unmarried status on subsequent child support enforcement out- comes.

  • Barbara Devaney, Ph.D., Mathematica, Washington, D.C.
  • Michael Fishman, Ph.D., Lewin Group, Falls Church, VA
  • Hillard Pouncy, Ph.D., Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
  • Moderator: David Arnaudo, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Washington, D.C.  (a.k.a. HHS/OCSE)

(this presentation for sale — only $15.00)

One reason they may be interested to conference at AFCC — AFCC has judges.  Some Family Law judges get to mandate parenting education, etc.  Dr. Fishman is now with MEF, and his bio shows a close connection to welfare matters, and HHS.  I’m sure the personal connections didn’t hurt either.  He has a masters in “organizational psychology”  which is probably the way to go if you want a government career these days, and an MPA from USC..  Hardly suprising, the new company is also into (among other things) and is in Alexandria, VA.

Marriage and relationship education

State Policies to Promote Marriage
This report inventories state policies directly focused on promoting or supporting marriage. Using secondary data sources, the authors compiled information across states documenting the presence of marriage-related activities in a variety of areas such as campaigns and commissions; divorce laws and procedures; marriage and relationship preparation and education; tax and transfer policies; marriage support and promotion programs.

  • State Policies to Promote Marriage, Karen N. Gardiner, Michael E. Fishman, Plamen Nikolov, Asaph Glosser, and Stephanie Laud. With the assistance of Theodora Ooms, September, 2002

I googled “The Lewin Group, AFCC, Fatherhood” but apparently I’m one of the few people catching on to it, per Google anyhow.  One association with the Abstinence Group, “WAIT” (Joneen Krauth — plenty on that on this blog too, I actually looked up their corporate records history in Colorado.  What a group — associated with NARME, etc.  What a racket, too!):  This showed up under “pipl.”  The site AAHMI is African American Healthy Marriage Initiative which is, by any other name, HHS…  Basically…  DNR if this was at Hampton Univ. or where.

The Lewin Group is pleased to share these materials developed for the Joneen Krauth RN, BSN — NEW. Executive Director of The Abstinence and [ Speakers List – www.aahmi.net ]

Title, logo, and menu

“Reference in this web site to any specific commercial product, process, service, manufacturer, organization, or company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). ACF is not responsible for the contents of any “off-site” web page referenced from this server or from private, third-party, pop-up, or browser-integrated software or applications.”

NOTE:  A long while ago, I remember this particular AAHMI and some closely associated nonprofits I was looking up, was one key to understanding just how much the HHS is reaching out with money to set up “mouthpiece” nonprofits or groups (including with key speakers) around the country.  I figure HHS at this point is about as criminally-run a US Dept. as HUD is alleged to be, by someone who knows well enough as she used to be near its top.(C.A. Fitts, late 1980/1990s).

[[2016 updated material from LewinGroup.com]]

Viewed at “lewin.com” 4/11/2016 during blog update

(Their “About Us” page, main content):

The Lewin Group is a premier national health care and human services consulting firm. We understand the industry and provide our clients with high-quality products and insightful support.

Why Choose The Lewin Group?

Proven History

We have nearly 50 years’ experience finding answers and solving problems for leading organizations in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

Objective Viewpoint

The Lewin Group is committed to independence and integrity in our work. We combine professional expertise with extensive knowledge and a rigorous approach to analyzing and solving problems to deliver value to each of our clients and to the larger community as well.

Real-World Experience

Our strategic and analytical services help clients:

  • Improve policy and expand knowledge of health care and human services systems
  • Enact, run, and evaluate programs to enhance delivery and financing of health care and human services
  • Deal with shifts in health care practice, technology, and regulation
  • Optimize performance, quality, coverage, and health outcomes
  • Create strategies for institutions, communities, governments, and people to make health care and human services systems more effective
Who We Are

The Lewin Group employs more than 140 consultants drawn from industry, government, academia, and the health professions. Many are national authorities whose strategies for health and human services system improvements come from their personal experience with imperatives for change. The Lewin Group is an Optum company, a wholly owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. We’re editorially independent, but through partnerships with Optum, we can tap into a vast body of data and resources. Optum is an analytics, technology, and consulting services firm that enables better decisions throughout the health system.

The Lewin Group provides its clients with the very best expert and impartial health care and human services policy research and consulting services.

 Learn about our independence
 Meet the leadership team

OTHER 2016 observations on The Lewin Group: Street address:  3130 Fairview Park Drive #500, Falls Church, VA — is right near “Acentia, a Maximus Company” which is same street address #800.  Maximus, we may remember, contractor to manage child support, Medicaid, other health-care related record-keeping, collections & distributions in a number of states (and at least one other country).

(3130 Fairview Dr #800, Falls Church, VA. Viewed 4/11/2016 during blog update)

Acentia, a MAXIMUS Company, is a premier employer who provides software, information technology, and management solutions that produce successful programs of national significance, while consistently demonstrating a partnership of trust and value to our federal customers and the American taxpayer.


[Holistic Data Analytics….]

Centers of Excellence” (options:  Analytics / Cloud / Mobility)

“Acentia offers a holistic approach to Big Data and Analytics. Traditional analytics can tell you what happened and why, but leading organizations are using predictive analytics to understand what could happen and prescriptive analytics to choose the next best action.”

…..


 ICF INTERNATIONAL, LLC

(SEE LINK in chart above; Wikipedia gives the history. Started in 1969 by a former Tuskeegee Airman as inner city venture capital, but it changed direction, bought and sold various companies and now is like, LARGE).

I blogged earlier (ca. 2011)

Recipient Name City State ZIP Code County DUNS Number Sum of Awards
I C F, INC  FAIRFAX VA 22031-6050 FAIRFAX 072648579 $ 2,477,256
Award Title Sum of Actions
2011 ACF I C F, INC NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE HEALTHY MARRIAGE $ 1,500,000

(NRCSPHM — what did you think it sood for?  🙂  )

(PJ Media — Dr. Phyllis Chesler writes or wrote on there — was kind enough to print my comments here; the 2nd comment mentions ICF).

I profiled this company before, particularly when TAGGS.hhs.gov decided to bastardize its name on the database.  It’s in Fairfax VA with background in Defense, Energy and in 1988 it acquired a division of Kaiser (engineering) and got REALLY large.  It’s currently #64 of Forbes top 100 companies, is traded on the NYSE, and etc.   HHS hired to to do even more (stuff) to promote marriage, whch is the acronym.  ON this blog somewhere, no doubt:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/press/2011/Grantawards2011.html

ICF Incorporated, LLC (NRCSPHM) Fairfax
VA
$1,500,000
Icf Incorporated, L.L.C. is a general contractor in Fairfax, VA. In the top 10% of 15,898 Northern Virginia contractors.

Summarizing Faith-Based, Marriage-Promoting, Change-Agents and Slush Funds…

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CROOKS.

Your Money, Their Tax Exemption,

Your Kids Gone (or Abused) courtesy

Your Government.  Your President(s) Promoting it, Too,

Clinton, Bush, Obama, ….???

Name me one that didn’t promote faith, marriage and fatherhood.

Or have a background involving some real estate deals pre-Presidency.

I’ve been looking (too long, probably) at what these organizations do, how they behave, and what the pattern is.  Unilaterally, it’s sickening (i.e., it’s corrupt).  I believe that collectively this is the “air we breathe” and that it gets back to the money system — a dual class cartel being created and expanded, where those closest to the “Court” may save or prosper their own asses — but it will be at the expense of ethics, truth, and others.  This will lead to more bloodshed, as some are going to resist by non-economic means.

All of this may sound complex (particularly as I don’t present it visually in the best manner — I’d be better in a Q&A, or live; and don’t have graphics skills).  But as to concepts, it isn’t.  If you can think conceptually (and surviving depends on more of it these days) — you can understand these concepts.  The thing is, most people’s lives don’t require analyzing so much of their government from top to bottom, while not being IN it or ON it.  Those of us who got so marginalized and don’t like fake answers (hard truths are OK, “Placebo” truths are not) — have been doing so.

THINGS FLOW:  Electricity, water, air (lava, sometimes), sap, blood, lymph (with help), sewage, OK, MILK, semen, right?– and money.

AND – information / IDEAS — in the form of words, sounds, images, smells — almost anything that involves one of the five senses.  This is your:  face to face, and technology over the decades:  Paper (Gutenberg), Radio, Telegraph, and now, The Internet — Social Media — the web.  . .  . . Etc.

(Some — many — also assert that spirit exists, and as such, it’s been compared to:  wind, fire, and water. (“Earth, Wind and Fire?”)

THINGS FLOW — and they flow GEOGRAPHICALLy and CHRONOLOGICALLY.  MONEY FLOWS.   

In a sense, property ownership ALSO “flows” — from one owner to another.

THINGS FLOW — and when they do, there are conduits, surfaces, or carriers (irrigation systems, etc.) through which they flow.  Or seep.  Or, are transmitted.

Extended illustration that WHAT flows, matters.  Maybe some things shouldn’t be:

As they flow, and over time, they sometimes are themselves transformed (water) or transform (give life — or death) to — other things.  Right now in Pennsylvania, there’s the issue of SHALE (“fracking”) which forcibly injects a mixture of liquids (carrying pollutants) to get the desired oil out, I guess.   (see link) Here’s a description which proves that, if you flush something out that wasn’t meant to be flushed — there is a resulting flow of crap, which has to be hauled away.  I seems that presently the Governor of PA (Corbett) is appealing municipalities protests of an unconstitutional (and so ruled, by the Supreme Court of PA) restriction on local municipalities to protest zoning that would — enable this fracking, I think.  What did the GOV do?  Well, the apparatus was already set — there were states’ attorneys, and a (centralized development agency), the OECD, over which he appointed a crony (“walker”) (or, at least donor to his campaign, and with a financial interests in defeating this Ruled-Unconstitutional act.  Power at work…).

Now, what to do with it?  This is about FLOW and just an illustration.  A large one, of course:

Flowback and Brine Treatment in Pennsylvania

Someone may try to convince you that using 6-million gallons of water for fracing one gas well doesn’t amount to a massive amount of water. Even if they are successful in making that argument, the next topic becomes flowback or brineWhat do you do with the crap that comes back out of the ground?

Gas drilling wastewater receives no treatment to remove frac fluids or chlorides, only dilution with treated sewage from this McKeesport Municipal Authority.
The Municipal Authority of McKeesport accepts 80,000 gallons per day, which is then mixed with treated sewage and dumped into the Monongahela River upstream from Pittsburgh. Hawg Hauling is part of Chesapeake Energy.

Somewhere between 20% and 40% of the water used for hydro-fracing a gas well returns to the surface as flowback, and later as produced water. In addition to the frac fluids added by the gas drilling companies, this water picks up other contaminants from deep in the Earth (~ 7,000 feet deep) with one of the most notable ingredients being salt.

Let’s talk about what’s in it: (from same site — just browse…)

These fluids contain sodium and calcium salts, barium, oil, strontium, iron, numerous heavy metals, soap, radiation and other components. This fluid combination becomes brine wastewater, and tanker trucks hauling it are labeled with RESIDUAL WASTE placard. Treated brine is also sold for deicing and other applications that utilize calcium chloride, often being applied to roadways.

RESIDUAL WASTE placard

((FRom A DIFFERENT SOURCE, same forum though, posted Mon July 9, 2012 11:09pm Link provided there was broken..):

“These first four categories represent effects that would likely be expressed upon immediate exposure, such as eye and skin irritation, nausea and/or vomiting, asthma, coughing, sore throat, flu-like symptoms, tingling, dizziness, headaches,weakness, fainting, numbness in extremities, and convulsions…”…”Health categories that reflect chronic and long-term organ and system damage comprise the middle portion of Figure 2.

These include the nervous system (52%), immune system (40%), kidney (40%), and the cardiovascular system and blood (46%). More than 25% of the chemicals can cause cancer and mutations. Notably, 37% of the chemicals can affect the endocrine system that encompasses multiple organ systems including those critical for normal reproduction and development. The category of other is more common, and includes effects on weight, teeth, and bone and the ability of a chemical to cause death. More than 40% of the chemicals have been found to have ecological effects, indicating that they can harm aquatic

Brine wastewater is difficult and expensive to treat, one of the same reasons we aren’t using much ocean water for agriculture and residential applications. The saltiness of this wastewater creates high levels of TDS (total dissoved solids). Incomplete processing of this brine wastewater, especially when dumped into rivers used for drinking water, creates a high TDS situation that causes drinking water treatment plants problems, likeTrihalomethanes. High TDS water reacts with chlorine when it is processed creating these TTHM’s.

about which, per the EPA

Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed (along with other disinfection byproducts) when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodi/chloromethane, dibromo/chloromethane, and bromoform (I inserted the “/”s)

That’s sweet, disinfecting with chlorine and other agents creates Chloroform, something used to kill butterflies and sometimes aid in a kidnapping.   

BACK TO TOPIC ABOUT THE FLOW OF IDEAS —

AND WITH THEM, MONEY.  SUCH AS IT IS….

ANOTHER THING THAT SEEMS TO “FLOW” (WITH CERTAIN “CARRIER” ITEMS) IS — POWER.  AND THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO BE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT, BECAUSE THAT POWER INCLUDES THE POWER TO INCARCERATE, THE THUMBS-UP OR THUMBS-DOWN POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH OVER PEOPLE, OR GROUPS OF PEOPLE.

SOME PEOPLE are just REAL INTENT in consolidating power, and have developed many ways to do so.

In my quest to see why I couldn’t even break a lousy individual (batterer husband) — or my own family off me, I came to understand more and more of these matters affecting the courts, and to understand (I believe) the courts for what they are — gateways to the flow of power DOWNWARDS and not for the right reasons.  I’ve seen enough, and while knowledge is power, it is the delivery system which really counts (which those holding power certainly know) — as well as the MAINTENANCE OF MYTH:

When it comes to MAINTENANCE OF MYtH — there’s nothing like religion + internet.  When it comes to hiding assets, there’s nothing like nonprofits and the internet — and pre-existing institutions.  When it comes to DISTRACTION — there’s nothing like trapping people’s time in a SINGLE system (with captive, so to speak) audiences — rather than understanding how systems interact with each other.

As we speak, I have been accumulating layers (weaving, as it were) of understanding of various threads.  ALL of those threads lead to distribution of money and bring up the question of the IRS.  This brings up the question of whose bright idea it, and the Federal Reserve, and so many other coordinated things that they absolutely do comprise a FABRIC with a certain MODEL that is being (has been) stretched over the U.S. over time.

The CORE of this model is — I’m sure of it now — ECONOMIC

It is the centralization of wealth (as opposed to “money”)

with frightening systems of control, destruction, incarceration, potential forced psychiatric drugging, or simply peddling of narcotics (in addition to the drugging of kids in foster care — or schools — to control them, as well as the elderly, as well as the mentally unstable, as well as the . . . (get it?)  )

we have become also accustomed (too many of us) to believe that DOLLARS are MONEY —

when Dollars are NOT real money– Dollars are Debt-Notes.  

They might as well be play-dough.

And too many legislators have a dual allegiance — one of which is in the Vatican.

The others which say they aren’t Catholic have forgotten that George W. Bush has been called a better Catholic the John F. Kennedy.  JFK actually had a fight with his conscience where faith fought his oath as President of the United States to uphold and defend the Constitution.

I don’t think the former Presidential contestant, Rick Santorum (nor, Michelle Bachmann)

would have had such troubling thoughts as a conscience of the law of the land might give.

They do seem to center geographically on Washington, D.C. (and historically so), with of course hot spots in various states where certain (nonprofit trade associations) have coalesced.  Like, Denver, or Chicago — or some in California (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco).  In the middle of the country, Minnesota (out of all places) has been a hotspot of “DV” activity.   Wisconsin seems to have been a test state almost, for welfare reform (Tommy Thompson, etc.) and is the home state of this “AFCC” I keep talking about. . . . . .  Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma are — well, what they are (very “fatherhood” friendly).  Don’t ask me why NY comes to mind in this area — but it doesn’t.

LET’s CHANGE GEARS:

This blog has been “FAMILY COURT” focused (for its duration).  However, as I kept pulling strands like this — ON MARRIAGE AND FAITH-BASED GRANTEES, SET UP BY HHS COMPASSION GRANTS, MARKETING MATERIALS FROM “SMARTMARRIAGE.COM” CONFERENCEES, DIVERTING FUNDS FROM WELFARE (NEEDY, OFTEN SINGLE-MOTHER HOUSEHOLDS) TO END UP IN PROGRAM HANDS, AS THE “LOW-INCOME” POPULATION STAY THAT WAY — BUT AT LEAST HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING PART OF A SOCIAL SCIENCE ENGINEERING TEST RUN, IN ASSOCIATION WITH COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION INSTITUTES ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY “CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE” LAND, INCLUDING IN GEORGIA, DENVER, AND ELSEWHERE: **

. . . . I kept running smack into the problem that, the problem is the dual class system set up by Nonprofit status, to start with.  Nonprofits form boards, have salaries paid, either do (which = prosperity) sell out to HHS policy (which is itself blended with corporate wealth, see GWBush, already) — or go the private foundation route (i.e., PRIVATE wealth) — and from that platform, go about attempting to restructure the entire PUBLIC institution infrastructure, for its own good (as defined by the privately-founded wealth) etc.   Roughly speaking, this might be called — and was exemplified by, the Robert Rectors (Heritage Foundation — i.e., just let us BE the United States Government, after all, we already know how to run things) versus the Peter Edelmans (Georgetown Law, and with the proven track record in Civil Rights, and in association with Children’s Defense Fund, see (his wife), Marian Wright Edelman, who are — let us FIX the United States Government — and by the way, we are taking private wealth.

What about people whose goal is NOT world change (“OUR version, for everyone — not THEIR version, for everyone), but, supporting ourselves and our families, staying active in our communities, and having time left to sleep — plus food to eat?   Suppose we are happy within normal spheres of endeavor — we may want to travel some around the globe, but are not invested in owning and running it?

If I had to go to dinner with one of the two, I’d pick the Edelmans any day, but I do not endorse either of their policies; both are “change agents” and believe that their collective personal vision should be inflicted on future generations, whereas, I’m a single mother (or was), and have daughters — and just don’t happen to agree.   Why?  Because there’s such a thing as too much “SYSTEM.”  Whoever runs a system for the nation, controls the nation — and a lot of its funding.  And the public school system is similar to the family law system.  They’re both here, feed on each other, and put IDEAS (not just people) in boxes, demand payment from someone else for doing this, but when it comes to FENCES (regulations on the administrators of the system), then the parents and nonparents supporting these systems — are FENCED out. See “metal detectors” and “lockdown.”  I cannot think of a more overt collective attack on this country than those two systems, combined, have done to its children — and with the children, the parents who actually DO care about them, but must fight the government for access to their own kids, or a relationship with them.

In short, I don’t believe in nationwide SYSTEMS, period, except where absolutely essential.  I say that having (sort of) survived an abusive “nuclear family” system and am still reeling from the extended family (plus friends) GANG simply because my children were wonderful (and irresistible), and, can you spell, “the love of money”?   I believe this is what middle-aged people (both genders) do when their own (professionally OK, or even successful) lives are simply boring, unrewarding, or meaningless.

(SO, that long link above link is to a topic on Scranton PT which has a recent dredging of the marriage- and faith-based shell corps (and resulting headlines about their various frauds) AND shows how a major community change initiative by Saul Alinsky (Industrial Areas Foundation — now based out of Grace Episcopal in Chicago) (a) worked and (b) morphed from “using” the access to people that churches represented, to strengthening churches AS institutions and centers for receiving (federal) grants to change communities.  It seems the HHS was fine with that — and somehow money is getting lost in the process.

CHURCHES COMMUNITY CHANGE AGENTS WITH CONTROL-CENTRAL:

A few of the posts (on that topic & forum) also uncovered in the process a COPYCAT of the Industrial Areas Foundation adapted to Christianity — or at least the veneer of churchianity — apparently some woman was overly impressed by some man who (it turned out) had himself been through PICO training.  What “PICO” is appears to be a recruiting process — an organization trawls locally for leadership material and then recruits them into separate membership which becomes a “change agent” and then that local leaders goes forth and conquers. . . . . . . .  I guess this is an alternative to normal judicial & legislative processes, perhaps….  (A SAMPLE COMMENT)

Here’s re: PICO, allegedly modeled after Saul Alinksy ideas and around neighborhood organizing.  Apparently neighborhoods now being more fractured, they headed for the churches (ca. 1980s). Interesting and relevant from wikipedia.  PICO (Pacific Institute for Community Organizing) started in Oakland, CA  1972, by a Jesuit priest, John Bauman

Spoiler
PICO National Network provides training and consultation and develops national strategy for its affiliated congregation-based community organizations. As of 2007 PICO had 53 local and regional affiliates, representing 150 cities in 17 states, with 1000 member institutions claiming to represent a million people.[1] It is also involved with organizing and training efforts in six countries of Central America and Rwanda in Africa

PICO conducts six-day national leadership development seminars four times a year, teaching the theory and practice of congregation-based organizing. Each year an additional seminar is presented in Spanish. Local affiliates also provide members and leaders with training on building and sustaining strong organizations, identifying potential leaders through one-on-one relational meetings, researching community issues, developing budgets, and working with public officials.[11]

PICO leader attracted to ideas of Saul Alinksy, i.e. incl.  Alinsky’s tactics were often unorthodox. In Rules for Radicals Alinsky wrote, “[t]he job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a ‘dangerous enemy.'” According to Alinsky, “the hysterical instant reaction of the establishment [will] not only validate [the organizer’s] credentials of competency but also ensure automatic popular invitation.”[8]

PICO is basically community organizing to solve the world’s (i.e., it mentions urban, suburban and rural) projects — with connections to Central America and Rwanda…

In PICO’s congregation-community model, congregations of all denominations and faiths serve as the institutional base for community organizations. Rather than bring people together simply based on common issues like housing or education, the faith-based or broad-based organizing model makes values and relationships the glue that holds organizations together.

PICO National Network - Unlocking the Power of People

PICO builds community organizations based on religious congregations, schools and community centers, which are often the only stable civic gathering places in many neighborhoods

REGARDING the North County Sponsoring Committee (aka Faith Works) — it’s basically a PICO affiliate.

FROM 2002 return, its nonprofit purpose is to provide leadership training:

To strengthen North San Diego County families and communities by assisting religious congregations and other community groups in the development of leadership that is educated and organized for effective participation in civic life

No officers paid yet, and no employees.  Largest expense under “other” includes PICO consulting fee:  $14,675, plus training fees and training mileage:

This is fascinating — but mostly in its context, which I realize you are not, just now.