Thursday, June 12, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Mormon Women's Group Founder Kate Kelly Faces Excommunication
—The Associated Press
First published June 11th 2014

Two months after Mormon Kate Kelly led hundreds in a demonstration to shed light on gender inequality in the religion — defying church orders to stay off Temple Square — the founder of a prominent Mormon women's group is facing excommunication.

Kelly said she was shocked, dismayed and devastated to receive a letter Sunday from the bishop of her congregation in Virginia informing her that a disciplinary hearing had been set for June 22 to discuss the possibility of her ouster.

The leader of Ordain Women is accused of apostasy, defined as repeated and public advocacy of positions that oppose church teachings. John P. Dehlin, the creator of a website that provides a forum for church members questioning their faith, is facing the same fate. He received his letter from a local church leader in Logan, Utah, on Monday, giving him until June 18 to resign from the faith or face an excommunication hearing.

The letter says church leaders are deeply concerned about Dehlin's recent comments about no longer believing fundamental teachings of the faith.

The cases against the two lifelong members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mark the most high-profile examples of excommunication proceedings since 1993, said Armand Mauss, a retired professor of sociology and religious studies at Washington State University.

That year, the church disciplined six Mormon writers who questioned church doctrine, ousting five and kicking out a sixth only temporarily. Church leaders seem to be drawing a line between private or informal expressions of discontent with church teachings and public protests aimed at pressuring the church, Mauss said.

"The LDS Church is not a democratic institution, and has never claimed to be," Mauss said in an email, "So such actions are interpreted by church leaders as attempts to displace or undermine their legitimate authority over church policies and teachings."

Singling out two critics of church policy who have made themselves very visible seems like "boundary maintenance" by the church, said Jan Shipps, a retired religion professor from Indiana who is a non-Mormon expert on the church.

"They are saying to folks: 'If you go this far, you are risking your membership,' " Shipps said. Church officials said in a statement Wednesday that there is room for questions and sincere conversations about the faith, but that some members' actions "contradict church doctrine and lead others astray."

In certain cases, local leaders step in to clarify false teachings and ensure other members aren't misled, the church's statement said. Disciplinary hearings only come after members are counseled and encouraged to change behavior.

"Some members in effect choose to take themselves out of the church by actively teaching and publicly attempting to change doctrine to comply with their personal beliefs," the statement reads. "This saddens leaders and fellow members."

Even if Kelly and Dehlin are kicked out of the church, the door will remain open for them to repent and return someday. Excommunication is not a lifelong ban. Nobody has solid numbers on how many church members are excommunicated each year, but the number is probably between 10,000 to 20,000, a fraction of the 15 million worldwide members, said Matt Martinich, a member of the LDS church who analyzes membership numbers with the nonprofit Cumorah Foundation.

Kelly and Dehlin both hope to be allowed to continue to be members of a church that they love and that has been a part of their lives since birth. Both served Mormon missions and were married in temples.

Kelly, an international human rights lawyer, said she stands behind everything she has done since forming Ordain Women in 2013. She said she has not spoken out against church leaders or church doctrine, only saying publicly that men and women are not equal in the faith. The bishop's letter doesn't include precise examples of why they accuse her of apostasy. Her group drew the ire of church leaders in April when they marched on to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City and asked to be allowed in a meeting reserved for members of the priesthood, which includes most males in the church who are 12 and older. They had been told previously they wouldn't be let in and warned by church leaders to stay off church property to preserve the sanctity of general conference weekend.

Mormon church officials say the women's group views represent only a small fraction of church members. Kelly doesn't plan to attend the June 22 disciplinary hearing in Virginia, calling it "both cowardly and un-Christ like" to hold the meeting after she had moved to Utah. She does plan to send in a package of letters from friends, families and other members of Ordain Women about how they've been inspired and their faith strengthened by joining the group.

Kelly said the feminist Mormon movement won't die even if she's kicked out of the religion.

"Disciplining arbitrarily and unfairly one person is not going to stop this movement," Kelly said.

Dehlin, a doctoral candidate in psychology who previously worked in the high tech industry, said he believes he's being targeted not only for the website, Mormonstories.org, which he started nine years ago, but also for his outspoken support of the LGBT community.

He said he has no plans to take down the website or back down from being an ally for gays and lesbians. But Dehlin said he worries about the effects the upcoming proceedings may have on his four children and wife, and Mormons everywhere who have misgivings.

"Excommunicating me sends the message to thousands of church members who are struggling with doubts and questions that they are not welcome in the church," Dehlin said.





“Two months after Mormon Kate Kelly led hundreds in a demonstration to shed light on gender inequality in the religion — defying church orders to stay off Temple Square — the founder of a prominent Mormon women's group is facing excommunication. Kelly said she was shocked, dismayed and devastated to receive a letter Sunday from the bishop of her congregation in Virginia informing her that a disciplinary hearing had been set for June 22 to discuss the possibility of her ouster.... John P. Dehlin, the creator of a website that provides a forum for church members questioning their faith, is facing the same fate.” Kelly, an international human rights lawyer said she hasn't spoken out against the faith, but simply advocated for women's rights. That is apparently apostasy. She asked for women to be included in “the priesthood,” which consists of all men over the age of 12, and no women. Dehlin's website has championed the LGBT community, though he is married with children, so he is not gay. Kelly said that excommunicating her will not stop the feminist group, and Dehlin has vowed to continue his website whether or not he is expelled from the church.

The Mormon Church has always been one of those churches that is, to me, a power structure rather than a spiritual group. Their history in Utah, from the sanctioning of multiple wives to the takeover of a massive territory, looks like the conquest by a cult and a power grab rather than a religion. The Zane Grey book Riders Of The Purple Sage is a novel about a young Mormon woman who defies the church elders in refusing to marry the man of their choosing as one of his wives, and the ruthless actions of the Elders toward her and her employee who champions her cause. I can't confirm that Mormons in those days actually behaved in that way without a lot of historic research their actions against these two members show similarly repressive tendencies. I'm against all groups in the US that don't allow basic democratic principles, and I'm glad to see these two individuals speaking their piece boldly.





Revenge of the nerds? 'Cool kids' may become unhappy adults – NBC
Lisa Tolin TODAY

What happens to "Mean Girls" once they're all grown up? A new study suggests they won't look so cool.

If you ever sat at the edge of the cafeteria longing to sit with the cool kids, take heart: You may wind up happier than they are.

A new study looked at “cool” behaviors adopted by middle-schoolers and found that although they made kids more popular in the short run, that effect wore off quickly and eventually backfired. By early adulthood, the cool kids were more likely to have criminal records, abuse alcohol and drugs and have troubled relationships.

In other words, the world may be one big “Revenge of the Nerds.” University of Virginia psychology professor Joseph P. Allen calls it “the high school reunion effect.”

“The kid who was the class president at the end of middle school may have fallen under the radar a bit by high school, and you get to your reunion and find that person is working a low-level job and they’re not that happy in their relationship,” Allen told TODAY. “And then there’s someone who was not so cool who is very successful.”

Allen and his colleague looked at a cluster of “pseudomature” behaviors — trying to act older than you are — among 184 seventh and eighth-graders. Those behaviors included more romance and “making out,” minor deviance like shoplifting or destroying property, and picking the best-looking classmates as friends.

In middle school, it paid off — kids who engaged in those behaviors were rated as more popular by their peers. But by age 15 or so, they weren’t anymore. And by 22 or 23, they had real problems.

“The concerns are that it’s kind of a fast-track to a dead end,” Allen said.

The kids who fit the “cool” definition as teens had a 45 percent greater rate in early adulthood of problems from alcohol and substance abuse — like drunk-driving, getting into fights or showing up late for work. They were also more likely to have criminal histories, and they were judged by their peers as worse friends.

They even tended to blame their break-ups on status, saying relationships had ended because of their own lack of social clout.

“They’re still preoccupied with status,” Allen said. “They’re either blaming young adult breakups on it falsely or they’re getting into relationships with people who are as concerned with status as they are.”

Rosalind Wiseman, author of “Queen Bees and Wannabes” — the basis for the movie “Mean Girls” — isn’t surprised.

“When you’re in a situation where you’re constantly having to feel like you have to keep up, then it’s harder to put brakes on your own behavior and it’s harder to speak out about things that are going on around you that you don’t like,” she told TODAY.

Kids preoccupied with status convince themselves that they have to do certain things, like buy expensive clothes. “You have to — that’s not being able to control your impulses,” she explained.

So how does the “Rebel Without a Cause” become the rebel without a clue?

One explanation may be an escalation of “cool” over time. The kid who impresses his friends by shoplifting or hitting the teacher’s house with toilet paper may find those friends demanding more serious crime over time. The one who smuggles a beer into a school dance may become the one doing keg stands at frat parties.

The researchers also say “cool” behavior can in effect crowd out more mature development. Kids who have early romantic entanglements may spend less time with friends, for example. And if having “hot” friends makes you popular, you may miss out on developing real interpersonal skills.

Wiseman said she often encounters grown-up “Mean Girls” who seemingly have everything, but confide that they are in miserable marriages and don’t know how to get out because they feel trapped by what they are supposed to have.

So can we look for “Mean Girl” Regina George in prison, or rehab?

Wiseman doesn’t think so. Real queen bees have great impulse control and social intelligence, she says. Instead, Regina George may well be at the head of the board meeting — the kind of person who comes to power through bullying.

“You sit in a meeting and watch a person who has a lot of power texting constantly and not paying attention to the people working for them — that to me is the tell,” she said. “Does this person think they are equal to other people? No, they think their time is more important, and they don’t even care what they look like or what their leadership looks like.”

Allen said only about 20 percent of the kids they studied were precociously “cool.” It’s normal to adopt some of these behaviors in later adolescence, but parents should be concerned if a 13- or 14-year-old is having romantic relationships or shoplifting, for example.

“That’s one of our messages, is not only is this behavior not so cool in the long run it’s also not as common as it seems,” Allen said.

Should the parents who once worried their kids didn’t have enough friends now worry if their kids have too many? Not quite.

“I would rather parents say, no matter where their child sits in the social hierarchy – coming into this culture as an adolescent is really tricky,” Wiseman said. “It’s really important to recognize that conflict is going to happen and that wanting to be part of a group no matter how big the group is, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s actually super important and should be valued. But that also comes with some pretty intense moments, and I think that’s how parents should approach it.”





“A new study looked at “cool” behaviors adopted by middle-schoolers and found that although they made kids more popular in the short run, that effect wore off quickly and eventually backfired. By early adulthood, the cool kids were more likely to have criminal records, abuse alcohol and drugs and have troubled relationships.” Joseph P. Allen, a UVA psychology professor calls their behaviors “pseudomature,” and includes “more romance and 'making out,' minor deviance like shoplifting or destroying property, and picking the best-looking classmates as friends.”

Grouped together in this way, and applying those characteristics to students whose parents aren't wealthy, we call it “juvenile delinquency.” Too often the wealthy kids get away with those things unpunished by school authorities because their wealthy parents are feared by the school board. Whatever we call those behaviors, they revolve around an extreme of a human norm, status seeking. Some level of status seeking is probably basic to individual achievement in the student world and among adults. To me, the less a person seeks the highest status rather than a healthy level of approval, the more likely they are to be cooperative, empathetic and responsible in their behavior with more of their peers, which are also the characteristics that are valued in adults. You could say they're more mature than the high status seekers. Some adults never outgrow this status seeking, and in some cases end up doing illegal or immoral things, either ending up in jail or as the center of a scandal.

One rule I think holds true is that to have friends, you have to be a friend. In the teenage years, if a student can have those more mature characteristics, they will be better friends and better individuals, rather than following the crowd or an aggressive leader wherever they go, as in the “mean girl” groups. Whether they realize it or not, getting a higher status by bullying never wins real friends. Those “cool” kids have made enemies among the less “cool,” more humble students, and will make enemies in the world of work and politics. Being a good citizen and a loyal friend never hurts.




President Obama: I'm a 'fun dad who teeters on the edge of being embarrassing' – NBC
By A. Pawlowski TODAY contributor

As Father's Day approaches, President Obama shared his thoughts about fatherhood and raising kids in the White House during an exclusive interview with TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager, who knows what it’s like to have a dad who is the commander-in-chief.

Obama said his two daughters, Malia, 15, and Sasha, who turned 13 this week, would describe him as a good, fun dad who “teeters on the edge of being embarrassing sometimes.”

“The one thing the girls know about me is I love 'em to death,” Obama said. “Younger parents… ask me why it is that Malia and Sasha turned out so well. I say, ‘Well, first of all, you know — marry somebody who's going to be a great mom,’ which I did. But second of all, unconditional love sure makes a difference.”

While he had little contact with his own father, Obama said he decided as a young adult that he would make sure to be there for his own kids. So even as his political ambitions grew and his schedule became more hectic, he tried not to miss parent/teacher conferences, ballet recitals or soccer games.  

Obama said he enjoys “a good, close relationship” with his daughters and keeps the lines of communication open, though he noted that Malia talks to him a little more than Sasha, perhaps because Sasha finds him a little more embarrassing, Obama admitted with the weary insight of a father of a teen.

"I think they would say that I am good, fun dad who teeters on the edge of being embarrassing sometimes," Obama said. "As Malia put it, I'm right on the edge but I usually stay on the right side of the edge of being funny rather than totally humiliating to them."

But he and Mrs. Obama have always sought to be the girls’ parents, not just their buddies, setting firm rules, the president said. The First Couple worried at one point the girls would “start getting an attitude” inside the privileged bubble of the White House, but Obama said he’s very pleased that hasn’t happened.

“They don't take this for granted. I think they understand that this is a moment in time… overall, I think they're really thriving,” Obama said.

“These days, we really don't have to do a lot of parenting. We're almost like coaches now. They've gotten to the point now where they've got their acts together and we really don't have to check on their homework or nag them too much about stuff. They handle their business, so we're really proud of them.”

Obama is also proud that despite the media glare and constant Secret Service presence, his daughters have been able to lead pretty normal lives and grow into strong, confident young ladies. The girls have great friends, Obama noted. They host sleepovers, go to the mall, see the movies, attend football and basketball games, and play sports.

Hager noted that for her and twin sister Barbara, it was often hard to handle public criticism of their father, George W. Bush. "It was hard to listen to people criticize our dear dad. Can they stay away from that, or do they take the criticism to heart?"

Obama said the girls don't really feel deeply burdened by “chatter in the news” because it's not part of their lives. "Up until recently they have shown absolutely no interest in what I did."

Now that Malia is getting older, he said, political discussions are becoming a bigger part of her life. "But I think she has a pretty good head on her shoulders, partly because during dinner time, we talk. And I explain to them, 'Here's why I made a decision that I made'... And so in some ways, they're getting a sense of how I think through problems."

Obama said he appreciated the note that Hager and her sister wrote to Sasha and Malia before his inauguration, and noted that Chelsea Clinton has also reached out. "You guys are a fairly exclusive club of people who had to put up with this nonsense and turned out to be just amazing young women. So it makes me a little more confident and optimistic about how things can turn out."

Jenna Bush Hager told President Obama that she taught Sasha and Malia to slide down the bannister at the White House.

Hager added that she taught the Obama girls how to slide down the bannister in the White House: "So you can thank me later."

And now that Obama’s daughters are entering dating years, the main advice he gives them about interacting with boys is that they should expect to be treated with respect. "They've got their heads on straight. They've seen their mother's example," he said. "They're strong, confident young ladies."

As Malia and Sasha blossom into young women, Obama is realizing they will be setting off on their own soon, so he tells new dads to be aware that the time goes by quickly.
“Don't just spend time with your kids because it's good for the kids; understand that there's nothing that's going to be more precious in your life and you are going to savor every memory,” the president said.

TODAY
“When you're on your death bed, that's the stuff you're going to remember: you holding hands with your daughter and taking them to the park and pushing them on a swing and hearing them laugh… You just want to make sure you don't miss out on that.”

Obama also discussed his initiative My Brother's Keeper , which provides support for young minority men. Many aren't doing well, partly because their dads aren’t around, and partly because they don't have networks of support, Obama said. The goal is to try to break that cycle through mentoring, internships and other ways to get them on the right path.

“We want to encourage fathers to get into their children's lives,” Obama said. “Parenting is the biggest, most important project you have.”





“The one thing the girls know about me is I love 'em to death,” Obama said. “Younger parents… ask me why it is that Malia and Sasha turned out so well. I say, ‘Well, first of all, you know — marry somebody who's going to be a great mom,’ which I did. But second of all, unconditional love sure makes a difference.” Obama stressed the importance of “being there” for kids. This is true in wealthy as well as poor homes. Some kids unfortunately “raise themselves,” because if the mother and father, due to emotional problems or simply from too much involvement with the outside world, fail to talk honestly and openly with their kids and establish a deep relationship. I think men in high positions are more prone than working class men to be “at the office, the club, the golf course” or otherwise engaged with other adults rather than their kids, and thus the kids don't realize that they are loved. The kids need to talk to mature men and women closely in order to learn how to behave and think.

I agreed with everything Mr. Obama said about parenting. He talks about the balance between “a firm hand” and closeness. He says his girls are becoming “strong, confidant young ladies,” though Bush Hager confessed that she personally taught them to slide down the White House bannister as she did as a girl. She said he can “thank her later.” Mr. Obama also mentioned “his initiative My Brother's Keeper , which provides support for young minority men, providing mentoring and internships.” He seems to be aware of the growing minds inside our young people and their need for adult involvement. “'We want to encourage fathers to get into their children's lives,' Obama said. 'Parenting is the biggest, most important project you have.'” He is an active, hands on parent, which while not necessary to the job of President, is a welcome addition and a role model for fathers in this country. A description of his initiative is below.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/02/27/my-brother-s-keeper-new-white-house-initiative-empower-boys-and-young-men-color

My Brother’s Keeper: A New White House Initiative to Empower Boys and Young Men of Color
Valerie Jarrett, Broderick Johnson
February 27, 2014

Today, from the East Room of the White House, President Obama will launch a new effort aimed at empowering boys and young men of color, a segment of our society which too often faces disproportionate challenges and obstacles to success. These obstacles are found in our schools, our communities, our criminal justice system, our families, and even in the minds of our young people themselves. The President is committed to build a broad coalition of backers to help break down barriers, clear pathways to opportunity, and reverse troubling trends which show too many of our boys and young men of color slipping through the cracks in our society. 

To launch the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, the President will be joined by local and national leaders in philanthropy, business, government, faith communities, and media.  The challenges facing boys and young men of color are broad and multidimensional, and so must be the team we bring to the table to begin fostering solutions.  

On hand today will be General Colin Powell, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Adam Silver, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Congressman Ruben Hinojosa, Magic Johnson, and many more leaders from key national and regional philanthropic foundations and major businesses, all of whom understand what is at stake with this effort.  When we let this many boys and young men fall behind – we are crippling our ability to reach our full potential as a nation.

Across the country, communities are developing and implementing promising and proven approaches to help put our young people on paths to opportunity and success. Using intensive tutoring, the Becoming A Man program and the University of Chicago are demonstrating that dramatic improvements in math performance can be cost effectively made with middle school boys in Chicago. 

Restorative Justice programs used in Los Angeles contributed to a 38 percent reduction in suspensions, cutting black student suspensions in half. 

In New York, the Young Men’s Initiative is validating the significant impacts the ASAP program is having on the college persistence rates of African American and Latino young men. These efforts are cause not only for hope, but for a renewed sense of urgency. As we learn more about what works, our resolve to act now must strengthen.  This initiative is about building on successes and promising ideas in the field by testing, implementing, and scaling-up strategies which have been shown to have the greatest impact at key moments in these boys’ lives.

President Obama will sign a Presidential Memorandum today, establishing the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, an interagency effort, chaired by the Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson, that will help us determine what public and private efforts are working and how to expand upon them. 

The Task Force will work across executive departments and agencies to:

Assess and suggest improvements to Federal policies, regulations, and programs that apply to boys and young men of color.
Create an Administration-wide “What Works” online portal to disseminate programs and practices that improve outcomes for boys and young men of color, while promoting incentives for private and public entities to develop and adopt strategies that have been proven to be effective.
Develop a comprehensive public website, to be maintained by the Department of Education, that will assess, on an ongoing basis, critical indicators of life outcomes for boys and young men of color in absolute and relative terms.
Recommend to the President means for ensuring this effort is sustained for years to come within government and across public and private sectors.






Health Care Can Be Key To A Better Life For Former Inmates – NPF
by APRIL DEMBOSKY
June 12, 2014

A San Francisco law now permits the sheriff's department to enroll inmates in health insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act — policies designed to cover medical care after a prisoner's release. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi believes that making sure people have health coverage when they leave jail will help keep them from committing another crime and coming back.

One inmate — Sophia — recently requested help signing up for a health plan. Sophia, who asked that her last name not be used, was caught driving a stolen car in January and sentenced to three months in San Francisco's county jail. She says she stopped getting treatment for her mental health problems and substance abuse after her health insurance expired.

"It stopped in December and I didn't get it reinstated," Sophia says. "So I didn't address any of my issues — and I guess that's why I found myself in a car, driving around."

Pretty soon, all the jail's inmates will be registered for insurance — whether they request it or not. Most new arrivals will be enrolled in post-jail health plans at booking.

"You have a captive audience," Mirkarimi explains. He says he wants to make sure the 30,000 prisoners who come through the jail system every year are covered on the day they're released.

The sheriff was behind the new city law that authorizes his staff to enroll inmates in health plans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Other counties and states are undertaking or exploring similar efforts for people exiting jail or prison.

Mirkarimi acknowledges that signing up for coverage is only a first step. Just because someone has a newly minted card for Medi-Cal (California's version of Medicaid) doesn't mean he or she will know how to use it.

"They're going to have to demonstrate the wherewithal and resourcefulness to use that Medi-Cal card," the sheriff says. "We help them get ready. But ultimately, it's on them."

If this plan is really going to work, people leaving jail or prison will also need help on the outside.

"And it's hard," says former inmate Wanda Fain, "so utterly hard."

Fain was recently released from state prison after 21 years. Everything is new to her. Getting on and off escalators is weird. Mobile phones are a new concept. She says she needs the help of friends just to ride the bus.

"They tell me what bus we're on," Fain says. "They tell me what stops to get off, what specific things to look for so I won't miss a stop."

Navigating the health care system has been even more confusing. Fain has multiple health problems: seizures, lymphoma, and bipolar disorder. In prison, the guards regulated all her care for her. She wasn't allowed to eat a meal until she took her meds. But on the outside, it's up to parolees to find the right doctor, the right pharmacy — and to figure out which buses they need to take to get there.

"It's little things like that, that people think are so easy," Fain says, shaking her head. "They are so overwhelming."

Fain says she's lucky that she lives near The Transitions Clinic in San Francisco. Designed specifically for former prisoners, and staffed by former prisoners, the one-stop shop helps patients find a job, a place to live and food — and enables them to see a doctor, social worker and psychiatrist all under one roof. Juanita Alvarado is one of the community health workers.

"I was incarcerated," Alvarado says, "and I was homeless. And I had mental health [problems]. I was alone and scared and afraid. That's what I say to them and it usually opens a door."
Wanda Fain says clinic staffers are helping her get her life on track.

"They're very helpful because they've been there, done that," she says. "If I didn't have Juanita Alvarado, I don't know where I'd be — probably on my way back."

Most people do wind up back in jail. Sixty-one percent of people who leave a California prison return within three years, statistics show. But the federal government recently gave the Transitions Clinic a $6.8 million innovation grant (created under the Affordable Care Act) to expand its concept beyond San Francisco. The team is using the money to help 11 clinics in six states and Puerto Rico hire and train former prisoners to staff similar programs. Federal health officials believe the investment will ultimately save $8 million.

The even broader hope — for Mirkarimi's plan and for the Transitions Clinic – is that health care will help keep people from returning to jail or to prison.





“A San Francisco law now permits the sheriff's department to enroll inmates in health insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act — policies designed to cover medical care after a prisoner's release.” Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi hopes that this policy will help cut down on recidivism. “Sophia” one inmate asked for the insurance, saying that the loss of her insurance policy caused her to relapse into substance abuse. All prisoners are going to be enrolled, according to Mirkarimi's plan, and given the number of people in jails who have drug abuse or other mental health problems, it's likely to be helpful. At any rate, other counties and states are beginning to follow suit.

Wanda Fain who has recently been released after 21 years in prison speaks of the difficulties adjusting. She said she had never seen a mobile phone, had trouble getting on and off escalators, and didn't know what buses to take to get around. Now she has to “navigate the health care system,” find a doctor and pharmacy and take her meds by herself. She has bipolar disorder, seizures and lymphoma. Fain, luckily, has found an organization called The Transitions Clinic that focuses on all the needs of ex-prisoners and is staffed by them as well. She has a better than average chance of staying on her own without ending up back in prison.

“Sixty-one percent of people who leave a California prison return within three years, statistics show. But the federal government recently gave the Transitions Clinic a $6.8 million innovation grant (created under the Affordable Care Act) to expand its concept beyond San Francisco.” It seems to me that the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) has some very good provisions beyond just insurance. Some legislators, in writing the plan up, had some inventive and practical good ideas, and a sense of which people particularly need help. “Obamacare” may have had a rough few months, but it is going to be a very helpful plan. Eleven other clinics of the same kind are being staffed at this time, covering six states and Puerto Rico. Federal health officials believe the investment will ultimately save $8 million. One of yesterday's news articles reported that a spike in hospitalization of teenagers with mental health problems is because Obamacare has given them insurance which will cover their care. That may literally save lives in the rash of school shootings that has occurred over the last two years. Maybe if those young people get treatment their illness can be brought under control and they will lead productive lives.





How To Survive, And Thrive, After 5 Years As A Hostage – NPR
by GREG MYRE
June 11, 2014

Joe Cicippio was held hostage by the Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon for five years, often chained to a radiator in a room with blacked-out windows, cut off entirely from the outside world. Within weeks of his release in 1991, he asked if he could go back to his old job as the comptroller at the American University of Beirut.

He didn't get rehired. But the workaholic Cicippio is still a full-time businessman at age 83, running a technology company in suburban Washington. He's the drum major in a marching band. He travels with his elegant Lebanese wife, Elham, two or three times a year to Beirut, where they have a home, many good friends and a large boat docked on the city's seafront.

What was the secret to rebuilding his life?

"I don't get mad. I don't believe in holding grudges. I don't have any animosity toward anyone," said Cicippio.

The release of Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier held by Afghanistan's Taliban for five years, has unleashed a political firestorm that's still playing out. As Bergdahl continues receiving treatment at a U.S. military hospital in Germany 11 days after his release, one of the many unanswered questions is what his mental and emotional state is. He has reportedly not called his parents.

A generation ago, some two dozen American men were seized in Lebanon at various times in the 1980s and held for years. The outcomes were mixed. All suffered mental and emotional anguish during captivity. Several were killed by their captors. Some survivors emerged with deep psychic scars and never fully recovered.

Cicippio spent most of those five years with just one other hostage, a man who spent his days and nights talking incessantly, as if addressing a roomful of nonexistent people. Another former hostage was consumed with bitterness, saying for years afterward that the hostage ordeal had ruined his life.

A number of ex-hostages, including Cicippio, sued Iran, the backer of Hezbollah, and collectively received tens of millions of dollars in compensation. Yet Terry Anderson, an Associated Press journalist held for seven years, received a 2002 legal settlement estimated at $26 million — and filed for bankruptcy seven years later.

Reliving Positive Experiences

Cicippio said he drew on all the positive things in his life before he was seized, and this helped him endure the endless days and return to the world largely unscathed.

"When I got out, the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me. My wife said I was the same as before. And I just wanted to get back to my life. So I did," Cicippio said in an interview at his Washington home, just down the street from Vice President Biden's official residence.

But there were, he acknowledged, rough spots along the way.

A native of Norristown, Pa., Cicippio had spent several years in the Middle East when he accepted the job at American University of Beirut in 1984, at the height of Lebanon's ruinous civil war. He was told the war didn't impinge much on campus life.

"I got there and we were in the bomb shelter every night for the first week," he recalled. Somehow, that didn't discourage him.

Because of security concerns, he didn't leave the campus for his first nine months there, but he did meet and subsequently marry Elham, who was taking classes.

On Sept. 12, 1986, a group of men approached Cicippio on campus. He thought they were students upset with him because he had just raised fees. He was bracing for a verbal confrontation, but instead was hit on the head with a gun and dragged semiconscious off campus and placed in the trunk of a car.

When his blindfold was eventually taken off, he was in a kitchen, the first of 20 places he would be held over the next five years. He never knew exactly where he was, though he had hints.

Once he could hear the planes coming and going from Beirut's airport. Another time he was in the mountains, which he gleaned from his blindfolded journey in a car that traveled up steep hills. Other times he knew he was in the countryside based on the quiet broken only by farm animals.

Always In Chains

Regardless of the location, his conditions were little changed. He was almost always chained, often to a radiator. He had only one or two fellow hostages.

He was told to never look at his captors so he couldn't identify them, even though they almost always wore masks. Communication was minimal. Mostly, the guards simply shoved food onto the floor and periodically escorted Cicippio to the bathroom.

Once, his fellow hostage told the Hezbollah guards he thought they were Jewish. They then spent hours pummeling him, with Cicippio nearby, chained and helpless.

"It was always a relief to go to sleep at night because it meant you had made it through the day," he said. "You never knew how long this would last."

His salvation was music. Cicippio had joined the Reilly Raiders Drum and Bugle Corps as a young man in Pennsylvania in the 1940s and is the band's drum major today.

His Beirut captors would sometimes play classical music in another room, and Cicippio would stand and gesture as if conducting an imaginary orchestra playing Beethoven or Bach. When the music stopped, he would relive it, using his index fingers as drumsticks.

"That was a great relief for me," he said. "I would play that music over and over in my head."

After two years, guards began bringing him books. He read Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time on five occasions.

"I still don't understand it," Cicippio said. His library was limited, and he estimates he read the Quran more than 100 times, memorizing many parts.

He was allowed to write to Elham once. But later that day, he went to the bathroom and saw his note — it had been torn to pieces and dropped in the pit toilet he was using.

Freed At Last

Cicippio was freed on Dec. 2, 1991, two days before Anderson, who was the final American hostage released. After all those years of isolation, he was suddenly mobbed by the media that wanted his story.

He found that a slight, previous stammer had become more severe, a consequence, he believes, of speaking so infrequently for those five years. During his captivity, his weight plummeted from about 200 pounds to 130. He initially had trouble sleeping at night.

The toughest blow of all came on his plane flight out of the Middle East. Elham told him that his eldest son, from a previous marriage, had died of a heart attack at age 30 while Cicippio was in captivity. One of his sisters had died of cancer and another would die, also from cancer, just two months after he was freed.

It wasn't just his own world that had changed.

"The pace of everything seemed quicker. All of a sudden there were fax machines. There were so many women in the workplace. The stock market had gone crazy. I felt just like Rip Van Winkle," he said.

On a trip to a shopping mall, it started pouring rain. "I just stood there with my arms out and got soaking wet," he said. "It was such a great feeling after so many years of being locked up inside."

Cicippio and the other Lebanese hostages were treated as heroes, and he went on speaking engagements around the country for more than a year. He led parades and tossed the coin before the opening kickoff at the Rose Bowl.

Then he wanted to get back to work. He joined USAID in Washington as a senior financial officer. He is now the CEO of Technical Specialties, an information technology company.

"I always liked keeping busy," said Cicippio. "That's who I am, and that's what keeps me happy."

Asked what he thought of the Bowe Bergdahl case, Cicippio just wished him well and quoted the Bible: "Do not judge so that you will not be judged."





"I don't get mad. I don't believe in holding grudges. I don't have any animosity toward anyone," said Cicippio, when asked how he had recovered from his ordeal. Cicippio spent the five years doing what he was told and living day to day. One of his fellow hostages got at least one beating when he told the Hezbollah guards that he thought they were Jewish – unwise move. Sometimes his guards would play classical music, which he enjoyed thoroughly, miming the role of conductor. After two years they began bringing books in for him to read. Clearly they liked him. “...he estimates he read the Quran more than 100 times, memorizing many parts.” Once they allowed him to write to his wife, but he later found it torn up and thrown into the toilet.

When he was released in 1991 his wife accompanied him from the Middle East to the US. She told him of his son's and his sister's deaths. There were also many changes. He said he thought everything had sped up. “It wasn't just his own world that had changed. The pace of everything seemed quicker. All of a sudden there were fax machines. There were so many women in the workplace. The stock market had gone crazy. I felt just like Rip Van Winkle.” After about a year, he went to work with USAID in Washington and is now CEO of an IT company. "'I always liked keeping busy,' said Cicippio. 'That's who I am, and that's what keeps me happy.'"

Cicippio seems to me to be one of those emotionally stable, accepting, wise individuals who are fairly rare among the populace. His personality led him through five years of severe trials and out the other side to a new world of “fax machines” and women in the workplace. When asked what he thought of Bergdahl, he refused to criticize him and merely “wished him well.” I hope Bergdahl, who may be tried for going AWOL, can adjust to a new life. I hope he doesn't have to spend time in prison for the crime. Bergdahl is young and must regain a better mental balance than I think he has right now. His walking away from a post in the middle of a war zone was not a sign of stability, and I noticed from seeing him on the nightly news that he has some facial tics and averting of his eyes. I think he has suffered more mental damage than Cicippio did. I assume he will get help and some kind of rehabilitation. Many patriotic people will have a negative attitude toward him, and he will need to work at a job unless his family is wealthy. Maybe he can stay with his parents for awhile until he gets back on his feet. I wish him well, too.