Sunday Commentary: Parole Opposition Shows Once Again Reisig Just Not a Reformer – The Peoples Vanguard of Davis
Posted: September 30, 2019 at 6:52 pm
Since his narrow victory last year in the DAs race, Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig keeps trying to make the claim that he is a criminal justice reformer. Indeed, some have bought into the rhetoric but time and time again, we see why he is just not what he says.
When NYU Law Professor Rachel Barkow spoke at the Vanguards event at the law school, she argued that criminal justice reform is barely scratching the surface of what needs to happen. In her book, Prisoners of Politics, she noted that the Sentencing Project recently documented, at our current pace of reform and decarceration, it will take 75 years to cut the prison population in half.
What we have to do, she argued, is not simply go after non-violent drug offenses, which account for a relatively small percentage of those in prison, but actually change the way we charge and handle all cases.
Jeff Reisig, whether it has been on reversing cannabis convictions (as required by the state) or a recent op-ed on transparency, has tried to seize the mantle of reform.
But at the end of the day, he forgets to acknowledge that, for one thing, he opposed reform efforts like Prop. 64 (one of less than a handful of DAs to oppose that) and his own policies are anti-reform policies.
A good example parole.
The case of Tim Wilson is a prime example. The state Board of Parole granted Mr. Wilson, who was incarcerated in 1994 at the age of 23, to a 15 to life sentence. Yolo County opposed it.
According to the DAs press release, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven appeared at the hearing on behalf of the Yolo County Districts Attorneys Office.
Mr. Raven argued against Wilsons release, stating, If Mr. Wilsons trauma is his excuse for the murder, then clearly he should resolve this trauma before being allowed back out. He has made progress but has more work to do.
The parole board disagreed.
The Yolo County Public Defenders Office assisted Mr. Wilson. Contrary to the DAs claims, they found Tim Wilson is low risk to reoffend and does not pose a danger to society.
Mr. Wilson committed a horrible crime. But he was also 23 years old at the time of that crime, and he is now in his late 40s. Moreover, he has had a great record in prison.
Public Defender Tracie Olson and Paralegal Sara Johnson write in an op-ed on the Vanguard: It is no easy task to gain a recommendation of release from the Board of Parole Hearings. The purpose of a parole hearing is to determine if or when an inmate can be returned to society.
They add, By law and in practice, the Boards priority is to safeguard the public. If the Board believes an inmates release will jeopardize public safety, the Board does not recommend release.
But the case for Mr. Wilson was strong. They write that the Board of Parole Hearings heard evidence that an expert administered a psychological evaluation that focused on dangerousness and found Mr. Wilson to be in the lowest category of risk to the community.
They continue: The Board of Parole Hearings additionally heard evidence that Mr. Wilson had zero prison disciplinary write-ups for the last decade-and-a-half, obtained his GED, obtained vocational training in multiple subjects, committed to sobriety resulting in 21 years clean and sober, attended numerous self-improvement programs to include anger management, substance use, and recovery classes, attended a victim impact course in an effort to further process the pain he caused, committed to a continued Christian faith, and successfully held numerous jobs while in prison.
Further, the Board of Parole Hearings heard evidence of Mr. Wilsons positive mentoring of other inmates and his sister outside of prison. Mr. Wilsons work supervisors at CDCR praised him for his leadership qualities, competency, consistency, willingness to help others, sincere remorse, insight, integrity, and principle.
None of his accomplishments are in dispute.
Aside from the personal characteristics that suggest that Mr. Wilson is not the same person as he was in 1994, there is also research. At the age of 50, the research indicates that someone of Mr. Wilsons age is extremely unlikely to commit any further crime of violence.
Unfortunately, Mr. Reisig and the family remain opposed and are not giving up.
An NBC News article indicates that the family is now calling on Governor Newsom to reverse the parole.
When he murdered John, he had what I called dead eyes, said Carol OFriel, who now lives in San Bruno.
It was a horrible crime, but he was sentenced to 15 years to life and served 25 of them. His record in prison suggests he has earned a shot to make amends and a second opportunity.
Here is the thing that struck me I have never seen a case where a person up for parole, granted or opposed by the parole board, had the support of the DAs office in Yolo County.
When I inquired I was told that he has opposed all but one of the recent parole cases. That one was kind of a no-brainer and, even there, he did not support the parole, he simply did not contest it.
David M. Greenwald reporting
North Korea’s UN ambassador bemoans lack of progress with the US, South Korea – NK News
Posted: at 6:52 pm
North Koreas UN ambassador bemoans lack of progress with the U.S., South Korea
Washington continuing "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang, Kim Song tells UN General Assembly
North Koreas ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said his country regretted the slow progress made in talks with the U.S., in a speech in which he also slammed South Korea for the lack of improvement in relations.
Accusing Washington of continuing its anachronistic hostile policy against his country, DPRK ambassador to the UN Kim Song said North Korea and the U.S. were yet to end what he called the vicious cycle of increasedtension.
More than one year has passed since the adoption of the historic June 12 joint statement, however, the relations between the DPRK and the U.S. have made little progress so far, he said in a speech to the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
This situation, he told UN delegates, isentirely attributable to the political and military provocations perpetrated by the U.S.
Citing leader Kim Jong Uns April policy speech, in which he said he would wait for the U.S. tomake a resolute decision about the future of diplomacy, ambassador Kim reiterated recent calls by Pyongyang for the two countries to hold working-level talks.
Those calls have, however, frequently urged the U.S. to produce a new proposal for their North Korean counterparts that moves beyond that presented at the failed summit between the two countries in Hanoi in February.
Assuming that the U.S. has had enough time to find out a calculation method that can beshared with us, we expressed our willingness to sit with the U.S. for comprehensive discussion ofthe issues we have deliberated so far, Kim said on Monday.
It depends on the U.S. whether the DPRK-U.S. negotiations will become a window ofopportunity or an occasion that will hasten the crisis.
Despite these challenges, Kim also hailed recent progress in North Koreas economy and military developments, he said, the country would not negotiate away.
We have solid foundations of self-supporting economy, reliable scientific and technicalforces and invaluable tradition of self-reliance; these are our precious strategic resources whichcannot be bartered for anything, he said.
Kims speech, while relatively moderate in criticism of the U.S., reserved some of its harshest comments for South Korea, blaming the Moon administration for the lack of progress in implementing last years agreements between the two.
The historic inter-Korean declarations are now in the standstill without even advancing into the main phase of implementation, he said.
Reiterating frequent recent North Korean complaints about the Souths decision earlier in the year to acquire and deploy new stealthfighterjets andto push ahead with a round of joint military drills with the U.S., Kim accused Seoul of double-dealing behavior.
These measures, Kim said,represented a flagrant violation and challenge to an inter-Korean military agreement signed in Pyongyang last year.
The improvement of inter-Korean relations can only be achieved when the South Koreanauthorities put an end to the big-power worship and the policy of dependence on foreign forces, he claimed.
Ambassador Kims appearance on the UNGA stage was noteworthy, with this week marking the first time in several years that the countrys foreign minister haschosen not to address the assembly.
NK News learned last month that North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho would not be attending the UNGA, partly dashing hopes that the U.S. and the DPRK might use the forum as a chance to kick-start long-stalled working-level talks.
Those talks are now expected to take place in October, though a concrete time and location is yet to be confirmed.
Edited by Jeongmin Kim
Featured image: UNTV
North Koreas ambassador to the United Nations on Monday said his country regretted the slow progress made in talks with the U.S., in a speech in which he also slammed South Korea for the lack of improvement in relations. Accusing Washington of continuing its anachronistic hostile policy against his country, DPRK ambassador to the UN
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North Korea's UN ambassador bemoans lack of progress with the US, South Korea - NK News
Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Areas that must improve immediately – Inside the Iggles
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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN SEPTEMBER 26: Nigel Bradham #53 and Zach Brown #52 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrate after Bradham made an interception in the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on September 26, 2019, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Against all odds, the Philadelphia Eagles walked into Lambeau Field and left victorious over the previously-undefeated Green Bay Packers on the most recent edition of Thursday Night Football. It was easily the most impressive win of their young season, but to say that the Birds are right back on the path to another Super Bowl appearance may be a little premature.
We saw some great things on both sides of the ball. Theres no denying that. From Jordan Howard and the running game finally taking flight to Carson Wentz showing out with his best performance of the year, fans have a lot to talk about during the current ten-day layoff.
Its hard to deny some of the glaring holes that have plagued this team throughout the season, and many of those almost cost them the win in Week 4.
Most of the self-inflicted issues that the Eagles have dealt with this season were corrected against the Packers, which is a good sign. Still =, Philly needs to focus on are some of the problems that may hurt the Birds throughout the remainder of the season. Here are three things the Eagles need to improve upon if they want to make another push at the Super Bowl.
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HOROSCOPES: How Sundays new moon will affect your week, according to your star sign. – Mamamia
Posted: at 6:52 pm
Do you see the same qualities in yourself that you dislike in others? I say with love; stop bitching and start focusing on yourself. Our relationships often provide us with a mirror to our own faults, traits and qualities. This week, the new moon urges you to take note of what is irritating you about someone else. Allow your insights to guide you towards self-improvement..
Youre at risk of falling victim to someones unfair judgement. A friend, coworker or relative is throwing shade in your direction. Dont take it laying down Pisces! Pluto will give you all the help you need to set the record straight, but you must speak up. Be assertive, and youll come out sparkling. I cant say the same for your critic, though.
A self-confessed astrology nerd, Natashas horoscopes, research and articles have been published in Todays Astrologer, in addition to international publications across the globe. A senior member of the Australian Academy of Astrology and Cosmobiology and a member of the American Federation of Astrologers, she has presented cosmic updates for Your Life Naturally and has appeared as a special guest on podcasts, including Sivana and Healthy-ish.
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HOROSCOPES: How Sundays new moon will affect your week, according to your star sign. - Mamamia
How Cargill is improving digital commerce – DigitalCommerce360
Posted: at 6:52 pm
Working on a flexible ecommerce platform, Cargill Inc. is improving how it serves customers and works with channel partners, Taye Mohler, founder of Cargills Digital Experience Office, said at a B2B Next 2019 workshop.
Cargill is building out its ecommerce connections on a Salesforce Commerce Cloud platform, which integrates with the Salesforce customer relationship management system, Mohler said at the workshop, Winning with Digital Commerce in the Age of the Connected B2B Customer. The workshop was sponsored by Salesforce.
Among its improvement projects, Cargill is working with its sales reps to improve how customers can place reorders through reps or via self-service, and how reps can help customers and channel partners with information ranging from innovative food recipes to how to deal with tariffs resulting from trade wars.
In addition, Cargills vision is to build out a flexible ecommerce platform that can support direct sales to customers, B2B2C sales to major retailers who then sell to consumers, and sales to major distributors who sell to other businesses.
Were still learning and testing, Mohler said. She added that Cargill has initially focused on the more simple transactions before taking on more complex orders.
Sign up for acomplimentary subscription to B2BecNews, published four times per week, covering technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. B2BecNews is a publication of DigitalCommerce360.com, whose titles also include Internet Retailer and Internet Health Management. Contact B2BecNews editor Paul Demery at[emailprotected]and follow him on Twitter @pdemery.
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How Cargill is improving digital commerce - DigitalCommerce360
Prisoners ‘buried alive’ living in 24/7 silence and darkness in solitary confinement – Mirror Online
Posted: at 6:52 pm
For the first month he spent in a cell by himself, Marcus Bullock was mostly concerned with how his mum would punish him when he got out.
The then 15-year-old had found himself in the bowels of Virginia's Fairfax prison, locked away by himself so he couldnt collaborate with his co-conspirator in the institutions one youth wing.
As he waited to stand trial for stealing a car, a low-watt bulb kept on 24 hours a day ensured guards could periodically look in at the increasingly sleep deprived teenager.
When he was eventually sentenced to eight years in prison, Marcus was left in a state of disbelief and shock.
In those first few months I would dream about what I would do when they released me, he explained.
I thought I was going home and that I would be with my mum and girlfriend.
I assumed I was going to my homecoming so I thought about what I would get for my girlfriend for Valentines day.
I was also nervous my mum would put me on punishment. That was going through my brain.
It wasnt until two years after he was first locked up that the reality of his life inside sunk in for Marcus, when fellow inmate Danny Brown told him hed spent 30 years behind bars.
The realisation that he was totally confined hit like a tonne of bricks, making him feel as if his life was over.
Before, the 6x9ft dimensions of his solitary cell were too little to contain a teenager full of energy.
He would do push-ups, jumping jacks and flips off the wall before erecting an imaginary basketball hoop and practicing invisible jump shots.
After his chat with Danny, Marcuss high spirits mutated into fury.
It was a very dark time, he said. I got very angry and frustrated and began using my very high levels of energy for violence.
The more he fought and rioted, the longer he was locked up alone in the hole with no entertainment beyond a toilet/sink combi and a blanket half the size of his body.
Marcus's predicament and descent into anger fueled depression is not unique to him, but shared by many of the 80,000 inmates a Yale Law School study estimated are kept in solitary by the US authorities.
One such person is Abdul Latif Nasir, a Moroccan national who has been kept in a solitary cell in Guantanamo Bay since his capture in 2001.
While the US Department of Defence alleges he was a Taliban fighter, no charges have ever been levelled against Abdul, who human rights charity Reprieve believe was sold by the Northern Alliance to America for a bounty.
Fourteen years after he was locked up in a cell with nothing but a chequers board to entertain him and no one to play it with, Abdul was cleared for release.
In a bid to break the monotony Abdul wrote a 2,000 word Arabic to English dictionary.
The fact he remains inside three years later has left him in a state of purgatory Reprieve's founder and Abdul's lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith described as "devastating".
"The problem with all prison but in particular with Guantanmo's really rigorous isolation is that the whole experience is designed to destroy your sense of ego," the Gandhi International Peace Award recipient explained.
"Our ego is built on the notion that you make choices, you choose when to do this and that. What prison is designed to do is to reduce you to an automotom."
Realising that he was slowly being stripped of his sense of self, Abdul decided to follow in the footsteps of Hurricane Carter.
The celebrated boxer was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 20 years in prison before being immortalised by Bob Dylan.
Like Carter, Abdul fought against the ego crushing unfairness and loneliness of his predicament by breaking the rules.
"He decided to do exactly the opposite of what the guards told him to do," Stafford-Smith explained.
"If they told him to go to bed he would get up. He stayed up all night writing a book about his treatement."
Another Guantanamo inmate held without charge was British citizen Shaker Aamar, who spent 13 years in isolation before his 2015 release.
"He got the idea that to maintain his sanity he had to make his own choices," explained Stafford-Smith.
"We came up with this idea that if he was out on the rec yard, which was a little square, he would ask the guards a question.
"If they got the answer right he would agree to go back to his cell, if they answered wrong he would stay.
"The thing is if you disobey the guards in Guantanamo they beat the shit out of you.
"One time he tried asking 'what's the name of the vice president of the United States?' They didn't know their own vice president so he refused to go inside."
While this form of self-harm probably isn't for everybody, one might imagine a man locked in a blank room with no entertainment might resort to another form of self-flagellation to break the monotony.
Stafford-Smith claimed this is not the case, suggesting the combination of depression and stifling isolation is a near total turn off.
Instead, to keep the mind busy, solitary inmates often invent strict schedules.
Kris Maharaj, a Brit convicted of gunning down father and son Derrick and Duane Moo Young in Miami in 1986, sat on Florida death row in a solitary cell for 21 years.
Because educational materials are not given to those destined for execution - primarily on the logic that it's pointless to educate someone you are going to kill - Kris built his own imaginary institution within the four walls of his cell.
"He used to have a total regime," Stafford-Smith continued.
"Get up, say his prayers, have the breakfast they thrust through the doors, walk up and down the cells for miles.
"Push-ups and sit-ups. Take an hour to write letters. It was a total regime."
There are others who turn away from the self improvement path and take a more disruptive route.
"A lot of people do dirty protests," explained Dr Sharon Shalev, who has written extensively on solitary confinement in the US, UK and New Zealand.
"People throw excrement. They eat it and smear it, mostly on the walls and doors.
"It is often anger at the system and frustration that motivates them. It's an attempt to get the system to move on, to find a resolution."
One man Shalev wrote about suffered from serious mental health issues, but not enough to have him admitted into hospital care.
"He would occasionally smear himself because of his mental health," she continued.
"They would take him out and clean him. It stinks. It is horrible for everyone, but it is a form of control."
Although dirty protests are not unheard of in British prisons - where 50 to 60 people are locked in solitary at any given time - the relatively short stays and availability of books make it a somewhat tolerable experience.
That is, unlike in the USA, where thousands of people are kept in near total isolation in the vaults of Supermax prisons.
With no stimulus, sentences that can run into the hundreds of years and stints in solitary stretching, in the most extreme cases, to 40 years without respite, the mental health effects can be devestating.
"There are people that have a lot of rage and direct it at themselves," Shalev said.
"I have come across some real extremes in self harm.
"One person in the Supermax took their eye ball out and then ate it.
"One prisoner told me he self-harms because seeing blood feels like a form of control."
Although she is quick to argue that solitary standards in UK prisons do not constitute torture, Shalev said the practice earns the label elsewhere in "extreme conditions".
While the length and totalness of isolation in the US might earn it the badge following the Oxford academic's suggestion that "mental torture is worse than physical torture because your mind doesnt shut off", one unlikely country certainly makes the grade.
New Zealand, a country which recently prioritized gross national well-being over economic growth, is responsible of possibly the worst form of solitary - certainly of a western country.
"In New Zealand people were getting tied up by all four limbs," Shalev said.
"They would have a helmet on their head. I saw this when I was invited by the government to do a review back in 2017.
"A lot of high security prisoners have tie down beds. They would be left on there for days at a time."
In the United Nations funded report Shalev found one prisoner was tied-down on a bed in a solitary cell for more than a month to stop him self-harming.
While interviews with these prisoners have so far proved impossible, it is fair to assume the mental toil of physical restraint and complete isolation is fairly gruelling.
As much as Marcus's regular trips to the hole were less extreme than for those who suffered at the hands of a practice now banned in New Zealand, they took their toll.
The dad lives in Washington DC with his wife and two kids and has found a purpose in campaigning against the use of solitary confinement - a practice he considers an "ineffective and inhumane means of social management".
Yet he is not free of his eight years inside.
"Im still affected," he said.
"When I first came home it was bad. I would get in cold dark spaces and say 'dont be around me'.
"Now its more macro. Im able to easily detach from humans and be okay being by myself.
"I know how to talk to myself. I dont feel the need for human interaction, which is not the best way to manage yourself as a family man."
As much as a less isolating, more emotionally holistic prison experience might have served to rehabilitate Marcus rather than leave him with deep rooted mental health issues, he could have been left worse off.
"When I was very dark my mum would visit, write me and talk to me on the phone and she began to see I was not okay," he said.
"One day she promised to write me a letter every day from that day forward. She did that.
"That decision saved my life.
"She would send a picture of everything from the wallpaper her office had installed or what she had eaten for lunch.
"She would attach anoteto the photo and say 'it's a little more cosy now' or 'I need to get some groceries.'
"It was three page letters about nothing but it made me a part of her day, every day. No one else in prison had that.
"It gave me a window to the world no one had.
"Instead of living in a constant state of depression I had my church and I could see my niece and nephew growing. I knew that someone cared about me.
"I knew there was a big bottle of love that was waiting for me when I came home.
"My mum was Instagram before Instagram was Instagram. It gave me access to the world I so wanted."
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How Have Health Workers Won Improvements to Patient Care? Strikes. – In These Times
Posted: at 6:52 pm
Monday, Sep 30, 2019, 7:16 amBY Suzanne Gordon
(More than 2,200 nurses went on strike against University of Chicago Medical Center on September 20. (Photo: National Nurses United)
On September 20, 2,200 nurses represented by the National Nurses United (NNU) went on a one-day strike at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The Chicago nurses were protesting unsafe working conditions and forced overtimeand had been in contract negotiations with the hospital for months. The Medical Center has justspent $269million ona hospital expansion that it, insists, represents an investment to improve our community's health.
In response to the strike, the Medical Centers top officials went on a P.R. offensive, accusing striking nurses of engaging in shameless behavior, and insisting they are recklessly endangering their patients.
Nothing could be further from the truth, says Astria Johnson, an Emergency Room nurse who has worked for the hospital for 10 years. This strike is about providing safe patient care. I cant do that when I am assigned four patients, two of whom are intensive care (ICU) patients and two of whom are very sick. Someone may be on a ventilator to breathe for them. Someone may be septic and require intravenous antibiotics and require constant monitoring. Some people are getting their first diagnosis in the ER and I cant educate them about their disease or medication.
In response to the strike, management locked nurses out of the hospital for four days. The nurses went back to work Wednesday morning, and bargaining is expected to continue now that theyre back on the job.
Healthcare professionals like Johnson do not view striking as their first option. Most spend years going through the proper channels, speaking with management, and engaging in endless internal negotiating sessions to resolve patient care problems. When they do finally go public with their concerns, their actions often result in improvements to patient care.
In California for example, the California Nurses Association (CNA), the organization that was the founding member of NNU, spent 13 years fighting and winning the firstand thus far onlylegislated safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in the country: In 1998, California Government Pete Wilson vetoed a safe staffing bill that was passed by the legislature. In 1999, after more intense lobbying and activity by the CNA, legislation was passed and signed into law by Governor Gray Davis. Ratios were finally implemented in 2004. According to one study, in California, mandated ratios had a positive impact on patient deaths as well as nurse burnout.
Other healthcare workers have gone on strike to address vexing patient care issues. Since 2010, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which represents 4,000 psychologists, social workers, and other mental health clinicians at Kaiser Permanente in California, has mounted a campaign to publicize and remedy a critical shortage of mental health workers at the states largest HMO. In 2011, the NUHW filed complaints to the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) charging Kaiser was violating a regulation that requires that HMOs must see mental health patients within 10 business or 14 calendar days of their request for an appointment. The complaint was accompanied by a 34 page report entitled Care Delayed, Care Denied.
In 2012, the NUHW went on strike to expose Kaisers failure to hire sufficient mental staff and give patients access to timely care. These mental health workers pushed the DMHC to take action to fulfill its mandates to protect patients. In March of 2013, the DMHC released the results of its investigation. It found that up to 40 percent of patients at various Kaiser facilities experienced appointment delays that violated California law. In June of 2013, the state of California fined the system $4 million, issued a cease-and-desist order against Kaiser, and ordered the HMO to correct the problems. In 2015, a follow up survey by the DMHC, based on a sampling of hundreds of individual patient charts, revealed that, in Northern California alone, 22 percent of patients suffered excessive appointment delays. The DMHC called the violations serious.
In 2015, one of these serious violations resulted in the death of, 83-year-old Barbara Ragan, according to her husband Denny Ragan. Barbara had worked for Kaiser herself for more than two decades. Shed been seeking mental health care from Kaiser and, according to her husband, faced lengthy delays for treatment and ultimately died by suicide. Kaiser has said it is not responsible for Ragans death and insisted that she had received adequate care.
In 2017, the state ordered follow-up inspections to make sure Kaiser was in compliance with state laws and regulations. As a result, Kaiser has also hired hundreds more therapists.
Even though the unions actions have played a role in forcing Kaiser to improve patients access to an initial visit or assessment, workers say problems continue when it comes to providing follow-up care. Kaiser has not hired enough staff so that, after an initial telephone appointment, patients get needed follow-up care. Today patients have to wait up to two months for a follow up in person visit, says Kirstin Quinn Siegel a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at Kaiser Richmond. People who have been suffering in silence, perhaps for years, and finally call to get help should be seen immediately not in two months.
After experiencing delayed care, another Kaiser patient, 19-year-old Elizabeth Brown, died by suicide in 2018. Kaiser has declined to comment to the press about Browns care.
Peter Ly, a psychologist on the Child Team at San Jose Kaiser, says that A teenager struggling with depression, or who is self -harming or has suicidal thoughts needs to be seen right away and then consistently every week or two. We cant do it. We are asked to put people into groups when what they need is individual one-on-one therapy.
Thats why he and roughly 4,000 other workers went on a five-day strike in December 2018. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D, RI) the sponsor of the mental health parity and addiction Equity Act flew to California to join striking therapists on the picket line.
We do not go into this work to make money, says Susan Whitney, a marriage and family therapist at Kaiser in Bakersfield. There is no cap on our caseload. In order to help patients we keep accepting more and more of them. We cant take lunch or even bathroom breaks. We dont act until we and our patients are at the breaking point. And our number one concern is how will this affect patient care?
In a response to union allegations, Kaiser has issued a public statement insisting that, KaiserPermanente is committed to finding solutions and creating a model for mental health care that meets the growing demand for mental health care and responds to the shortage of qualified professionals.
But according to Whitney, Weve been going through official Kaiser channels for years and the only way weve seen any enforcement or improvement is when we go public and enlist the support of patients, community leaders and political representatives.
In July of 2019, Kaiser announced that it had added 300 more mental health staff statewide and was continuing to recruit staff. NUHW members have proposed that they participate in decisions about where new staff are assigned both geographically and to which clinical teams.
In 2004, two researchers investigated management claims that healthcare workers represented by unions jeopardize patient care. Michael Ash and Jean Ann Seago found instead that patients on cardiac units in hospitals where RNs were represented by labor unions had a reduced cardiac mortality rate. They concluded that, The protections offered by unionization may encourage nurses to speak up in ways that improve patient outcomes but might be considered insubordinate and, hence, career-jeopardizing without union protections.
What was true 15 years ago is even more so today as healthcare corporations consolidate through hospital mergers and acquisitions, gain more power, and act to protect the bottom-line rather than patient care.
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How Have Health Workers Won Improvements to Patient Care? Strikes. - In These Times
Karan Johar interviews Ma Anand Sheela: She is controversial without revealing a thing – India Today
Posted: at 6:50 pm
Karan Johar took to his Instagram today to post a picture with Ma Anand Sheela and to announce that he interviewed her. The Bollywood director was all praises for the controversial figure in his post.
Karan posted a selfie with Sheela, who featured in the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country on Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh aka Osho.
Karan posted the picture with the caption, "Interviewing #maanandsheela was an experience! She is fun forthright and fabulous! Dodging every answer in her inimitable fashion! She is controversial without revealing a thing! Now thats an art! She is witty and never at a wits end! Thanks for the help."
For the selfie, the star was dressed in a quirky, nerdy look. He donned a navy blue blazer over a black shirt, nerdy glasses and a quirky chain. As for Sheela, she wore a lemon yellow ensemble.
After Karan posted the picture on his gram, celebs like Shibani Dandekar, Ananya Panday and even Vishal Dadlani took his timeline to show there excitement.
Shibani wrote, "Damn cant wait to see this," and Vishal wrote, "'Seela is a beach!' said the most venerable Osho. She must've done something right!" As for Ananya, she was super excited and so are we.
For the uninitiated, Sheela is an Indian-born American-Swiss, former spokeswoman of the Rajneesh movement aka the Osho movement and was also convicted for multiple attempted murders.
As the personal secretary of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Sheela managed the Rajneeshpuram ashram in Wasco County, Oregon, United States.
In 1985 she pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault for her role in the 1984 Rajneeshee bio-terror attack. She was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and paroled after 39 months.
In fact, Priyanka Chopra is also working on a biopic which is based on Ma Anand Sheelas life. Priyanka had announced the news on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she also revealed that the film will be directed by Barry Levinson.
ALSO SEE | Karan Johar shares old video of Yash Chopra on his birth anniversary: Honoured to be fathered by him
ALSO WATCH | Karan Johar on Bollywood, love and Section 377 at Conclave Mumbai 2019
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I have come out as a winner: Ma Sheela Anand – Livemint
Posted: at 6:50 pm
Its difficult not be in awe of Sheela Biernstiel, or Ma Anand Sheela.
Her soft words and warm smile make you forget that she was once the foul-mouthed, no-nonsense administrative head of Rajneeshpuram, a commune established in the 1980s Oregon by the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (or Osho), a Rolls-Royce-loving godman who advocated free sex and unique meditation methods. The fine lines on her forehead, which get accentuated when she talks about the 39 months she spent in a California prison in the late 1980s after pleading guilty to attempted murder, arson, wire-tapping, and assault for poisoning hundreds of peopleoften referred to as the largest bioterror attack in American historyremind you of all the things she did to live the life the way she wanted to. Her defiance and competence make you root for her, even if you are not supposed to.
The world had almost forgotten about Sheela till Wild Wild Country, a 2018 Netflix documentary that follows the rise and fall of Rajneeshpuram, brought the Vadodara-born anti-hero back into the limelight. Today, Sheela, now 70, is running Matrusaden (mothers home) and Bapusaden (fathers home), homes for the mentally ill, disabled and the elderly. She has established similar homes in Vietnam and Mauritius. What about India? If someone shows interest (in funding), Im happy to do it," she says.
In an exclusive interview with Mint, Switzerland-based Sheela, who was recently in India to be part of Sipping Thoughts, a platform for women established in association with the NGO Humans for Humanity, shares her life experiences, her relationship with parents and Bhagwan Rajneesh, and why she did what she did. Edited excerpts:
You are returning home after 34 years. What took you so long?
I had people they said they would like me to come (to India) but I wasnt ready yet to come so I didnt encourage anyone. I was sure that when the right time comes, I will be there, and now is the right time.
What makes now the right time?
Feeling. Feeling inside. Often our intuition relates to our feeling, and it felt right. So when I got this invitation, there was a yes" in me. There wasnt ummm..no..I have to thinkno. I feel it is my responsibility to share my reality and my feeling to people.
Has your perspective towards life changed since the time you first left India?
Im the same individual I was when I was young. It is the same person, who became young, and then a bit older. It is the same person who met Bhagwan and fell in love with him.
Most people talk about you only in reference to Bhagwan Rajneesh. Did that ever bother you?
They talk in reference to him because that (being with him) was the biggest event of my life. And it is normal, the love I felt for Bhagwan. It was out of this world and it should be talked about. Such love, such commitment you dont see it every day. It was rare and even today I feel the commitment to him.
What I have come to learn from this man is remarkable. It should not be ignored, because this learning is itself an achievement. This is the real achievement: To live with somebody and learn from this genius, that is remarkable. In love and trust, you learn the most.
Have you used this learning in building Matrusudan?
Matrusudan is my expression of love for my parents. Ma and Pa have given me the basic correct values of life. In their honour, I do the work that I do now. When I was with Bhagwan, I was in love with him and I did what I could offer him in terms of my learning and in my being there. And now, Im being there for my handicapped people.
What are you doing for yourself?
People make me happy. People around me make me happy. The way I have lived till now makes me happy. The thought of my parents makes me happy. Thought of Bhagwan makes me happy. I work seven days a week. And I dont take vacation; Im not stressed in my work. I enjoy it.
How did Matrusaden and Bapusaden start?
I had come out of prison (December 1988), and I wanted to be on my feet. There was still much emotional chaos in me. At that time, I couldnt speak German. I started working as a housekeeper with an old couple in Basel. I was almost coming to the end of the journey with them (the old couple). I missed my parents very much. I could go back to them but I was not ready to take the risk of the US government. I was safe in Switzerland but I still missed them. Then I started seeing my parents in the people I saw on the streets. I felt my parents were here with every person, and then one day I came across an advertisement about a new law that people can take handicap person into their house and take care of them and the government will pay them to take care of them. So thats what I exactly did. With my little savings, I rented a house and I took in my first three patients and then three more. They were happy, I was happy. And just then the immigration law in Switzerland changed and I was able to call my parents. I was in heaven. And in 1996, my parents came. Existence took care of me. It realized that she doesnt have to suffer anymore heartaches".
How was prison life?
I only learnt. In such hard situations, you can only learn. If you dont learn, then you shouldnt be called human. What makes us different as humans, as individuals, is our ability to learn. And I took it as, Did I have any choice?" No. Since childhood, our parents taught us, Be ready for every situation and learn from it. Dont play to complain." Thats all I did.
So, what did you learn?
One of the most important things I learnt was time. Nobody has time. People are in traffic jam in the street or in the traffic jam of the life they create. Everybody is stressed because they dont have time, either for their loved ones or for themselves. In prison, everything you talk is in terms of time. How many years are you doing? How many years you have been here? How much more time do you have? Thats the vocabulary there. Then you have to sit back and understand what is this phenomenon. I learnt the value of time and what it meant to me.
The other important lesson was patience. Because to complete 39 months in prison requires a lot of patience. Women in nine months of pregnancy are finished, they want the child out. Thirty-nine months of pregnancy is bigger than an elephant.
Today, I do justice to my two learnings with my work. Im there for people, and I take the time for them. People need one another. Why has the problem of psychologically ill people, or handicap people, or the old people, become such a big problem? Because they are isolated. I have 10 more years to my life; I want to be there for people.
Bhagwan Rajneesh accused you of several crimes. How did you deal with them?
It is very simple today when I speak about it. Much water has gone by. I was brutally hurt in my heart but that was my problem, and I was very clear about that what Bhagwan says was his problem. I had to suffer for my heart, for myself. I fully accepted it. If I landed in prison, I had to learn something from there. Everyone can meditate, everyone can read books when life is good. But can you, in hard circumstances, look within? I dont talk about spirituality; I have nothing to do with it. But can you look within in all honesty?
Bhagwan and I had a wonderful love affair. We understand that when an average couple separates there is a lot of bloodshed. Now this was an international love affair, with thousands of people involved. He has to hold on to his people. Nobody had ever imagined that Bhagwan and Sheela will be separate. So he has to say something that is believable for people. But I can tell you, recently a sanyasin wrote to me, Do you know every day Bhagwan asked, How was Sheela, till the day he died." For me, it was clear, Bhagwan cannot think of anything other than my love for him. He did what was right for him. He did take a lot of drugs, and it is normal for people who take drugs to talk nonsense at times. He had to do that; I assumed he had a more intelligent way to do that, there too I agree he wasnt creative under drugs.
But I was like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The whole world was against me. Think about that. People who called me friends no longer existed all gone with the wind. And then I had to depend on my own back. My old values that my parents had given me came to my rescue.
What were your parents like?
Im made of my parents. My mother was very intelligent and my father spent his time with Gandhi, Kakasaheb (Dattatreya Balkrushna Kalelkar).... He was well trusted and respected. And that is the value of loyalty he taught us. Im no Christian in that sense that I suffer from guilt but I have learnt to look at myself and move on. Life is vast.
What was your parents reaction when you told them about your decision to join Osho?
I tell you a small incident. When my father was young, he used to take my mother on his bicycle and go through Baroda. His friends always told him not to do so because it didnt look nice" but my father also said, My wife is beautiful, I want the whole world to see her". My father gave me an advice when I was 16 and going to America for study. He said: Im sending you to America to study, to learn. I want you to remember that you are at that age where you will be interested in men and men will be interested in you. Experiment. Dont meet the first man and marry him. Have sex. Marriage is a long-term event, and if you enter into it without knowing your desires it would be wrong. Date few men, then make your choice."
Did you have any apprehensions about the Netflix documentary, Wild Wild Country?
My four sisters were against it; they didnt want me to go through any more public scrutiny, but my brother convinced them. The two brothers (Maclain and Brocker Way, the directors of the documentary) said they have this 200-300 hours of raw footage from our time in Oregon. It was a goldmine. I was just putting out my heart. I had no idea what they were planning to do. They filmed me for five days. I was just there, with my reality, with life, with myself.
Do you ever wish to go back in time and change things?
I have no regrets. I have come out, out of the whole deal, in spite of 39 months in prison, as a winner. I feel like a winner; I am a winner. Thats what makes me, me. The training of my parents, the love of my brothers and sisters, the trust of Bhagwan in me, that I could do it, that makes for a good foundation.
If Bhagwan Rajneesh was here, what would you say to him?
(Blows a kiss).
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I have come out as a winner: Ma Sheela Anand - Livemint
LFW SS20: Ashish – beauty, magic and escapism – FashionUnited UK
Posted: at 6:50 pm
Ahead of London Fashion Week if you had to pick out one show that would bring the party it would have been Ashish, known for his high-tempo catwalk collections, however, when the invite arrived, a packet of wildflower seeds, it suggested that the British designer was about to take us all in a different direction.
Set in the large sports hall of the Seymour Leisure Centre, Ashish greeted his guests with a meditative beats from musicians, Candida Valentino and Michael Ormiston, who played with gongs, wind chimes, and a singing bowl, adding a calm to the storm of fashion week, as the sun set through the skylights.
For spring/summer 2020, Ashish was inspired by the Netflix documentary series, Wild, Wild Country, which tells the story of the Rajneeshpuram ashram cult in Oregon, the designer told FashionUnited backstage following his show: I became kind of obsessed with Ma Anand Sheelas character, I was thinking shes kind of amazing, she is such an anti-hero and you dont want to mess with her - she is such a strong character.
Then I was kind of inspired by the situation, about being in an ashram, away from everything, it is like a magical space where it is like free love and everybodys like really chill and just away from all the horribleness that is happening.
It is kind of like escapism, just beauty, magic and escapism.
This was a spiritual awakening of sorts, there were still sparkles, sequins, bright colours and clashing patterns, everything we expect from Ashish, yet it seemed a little more subdued, if not reflective and mesmerising.
Gone were the overtly obvious tongue-in-cheek slogans, well except for one black sweatshirt that featured 19 sexual expletives on the back, all of which began with fuck, this collection was more reflection, quite literally, as traditional shisha mirror embroidery covered full tracksuits, denim, shirting, slip dresses and full-skirted dresses.
As well as spring/summer ready-to-wear, the catwalk showcase also featured resort-style pieces from swim shorts and polos for men, and bikinis for women, which were mixed in alongside sportswear, which Ashish stated added contrast to the collection.
As with most London Fashion Week designers, sustainability was on Ashishs mind, following on from previous collections dedication to slow fashion, the designer added: A lot of the fabric was actually vintage that I literally found sack loads of, Ive then joined them all together to make my own fabric.
Also, all the denim is sustainable, as it is all old jeans that have been cut up and joined back together.
The looks were also all styled with handmade jewellery, featuring discarded wood blocks that Ashish said he had found about the place, which really added to the hippy-vibe of the colourful collection.
The show notes concluded with a quote from controversial Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho from the documentary Wild Wild Country, saying: A little foolishness, enough to enjoy life, and a little wisdom to avoid errors, that will do.
If this was Ashish starting his own cult, a cult filled with a kaleidoscope of sequins, sparkles and mirrors, where do we sign up.
Images: courtesy of Ashish
Original post:
LFW SS20: Ashish - beauty, magic and escapism - FashionUnited UK