Can You Hear the Children Crying?

Hey, I wanna talk about DHS in Oklahoma. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that they kill children here. Let’s examine this statement…from the beginning.

We have given the responsibility to a government agency to safeguard the random children in our society, the innocents with the misfortune to be born into violent, drug-addled, destitute, crazy, evil circumstances. They’re being beat, starved, tortured, molested, and as a society, we can’t have this. We pay our taxes to address this. (Mind you, this despite all evidence that government is inept and corrupt.) We do not consider any other option except “government.”

More often than not, the case worker dives in and realizes the whole situation is jacked up. All the relatives are weirdos. For example, exactly who is the father? Oh, he’s in jail. The mom’s a crackhead or methwhore. The biological grandparents don’t follow the rules (meaning they deliver the child to the unfit parent). Another possible caregiver is facing molestation charges. These people breed, and we’re stuck trying to take care of the offspring.

Foster homes? Yeah, I knew one person who practically ran a business (very profitable) of taking in children so she and her husband could pocket the support money. Neither had a real job. They left the kids at home unsupervised while they vacationed at Disney World.

Government-ran care facilities? We’ve heard those horror stories, too. Sexual molestation by the staff…Where to put these poor children?

The case workers and courts choose the best option they can. It doesn’t work. The child dies. We have so many here that die, it has become commonplace in our media.

The latest is a 5-year-old girl named Serenity. That's her picture at the beginning of this story. Her mom is up on charges for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy. The grandparents let the child stay the night with the mom and her boyfriend, who is a convicted sex offender, says DHS. She’s given to the dad who has never had anything to do with her. He tells them he doesn’t want her. He works the night shift at the front desk at a south-side hotel near me. Are there daycares open all night where he can drop her off? What is he supposed to do? He’s suddenly saddled with a child, against his will. He takes her to work, sneaks her into empty rooms, tells her to be still and quiet, so he’s not caught. Also, who is going to watch her while he sleeps during the day? There are two documented incidents of black eyes and bruises. He had her less than a month before he beat her to death. (The media says her body was found in his apartment, but I think she was killed at the hotel.) And DHS people thought this was the best option. An ex-girlfriend with kids by him said she would have been happy to tell them she doesn’t let her kids be near him because he’s violent. TWO documented incidents…

Caseworkers will tell you how they have 45 cases when they’re only supposed to have 15. They’ll tell you how they don’t make enough money to do their job properly, in a manner in which children don’t die. I fail to see how numbers on a paycheck justify a job poorly done. Overload is not the same thing as underpaid. Why would we want to pay them more? They suck. They seem to lack character. Oh, and here comes the proof.

Two DHS employees are to be fired over this latest deal, the caseworker and his supervisor.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-dhs-workers-say-they-will-fight-expected-firings/article/3603942?custom_click=lead_story_title

This story is the result of the media jumping like an obedient dog when the employees’ lawyer snaps his fingers. Yes, a press conference at the lawyer’s office so the employees can be given a forum to whine about how they are made a scapegoat, and they’re going to fight! (Oh, nice, you and I will be paying the lawyer bill to counter-attack and defend DHS firing them.)

The supervisor particularly disgusts me as she cries that she’ll never be able to find a new job (and obviously it’s because “they” fired her, not because of her gross incompetence). She laments that she will be reduced to waiting tables! Does she not realize she killed a little girl due to her stoopidity? She admits “somebody” should have called the ex-girlfriend. Perhaps…her? The case supervisor? Maybe she could have supervised and had someone make a quick call. Who is the “somebody” she’s referring to, for God’s sake? And did the newspaper cut the part where the two express sorrow and regret? Is it too much to hope for, that some judge dismisses these imbeciles’ case and saves us a little money?

They need to move up the chain and fire everyone along the way. Whatever bureaucratic, inefficient, ineffective system they’ve created, IT DOESN’T WORK. Sound the alarm. Ditch the old way, create a better way. Think creatively. Children are dying here – it’s worth the effort.

So, who sits on top of this pile of crap. His name is Howard Hendrick, a Republican state senator for 11 years, then appointed by Governor Keating, an R, then retained by Governor Henry, a D. He’s been in this job for decades. His degree was law. His experience was politics. And for some reason, this qualified him to run DHS. I did not notice any real-world experience. Sitting on committees doesn’t count, sorry. How can he not call for a massive overhaul of the system? Why do people choose to be the villain instead of the hero? Is he gutless? Or stoopid? Fire him.

The current governor, Mary Fallin, an R, appointed two new people to an oversight commission this month. (People sit on that commission for 9-year terms. Really.) She’s the governor, why can’t she just fire the guy and find a new visionary. Why dicker around with commissions and existing power structure (the commission hires and fires the director)? How many children have died on this guy’s watch? I’d like to see a bar graph on that, maybe a pie chart with all the children’s different injuries or perhaps how many incident reports were filed before ultimately death. What about Kelsey Smith-Briggs, Aja Johnson, Melissa Ellison…all the many others who suffer but don’t qualify as dead yet.


So, what does this commission exactly do? You’ll love this story. It’s more like what they do not do…they DO NOT read reports or congressional audits or lawsuit papers or expect the agency to comply with law. I love their excuses – “my eyes would glaze over!” and “I’m not superwoman!” How silly of us to expect that they read. And think. And oversee. The chairman of the commission thought the audit was “very, very favorable.” You see, he didn’t read it.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2011/Sep/11/okla__dhs_panel_pays_scant_attention_to_lawsuit.html

Well, Hendrick is so busy right now with all the lawsuits, the biggest being Children’s Rights suing DHS for incompetence. This has been dragging on for years now. Since 2008, DHS (meaning you and I) have paid $2.4 million in lawyer fees for outside counsel to defend DHS (to strangely enough, Mike Turpen’s Tulsa law firm). Yes, let me repeat. We’re paying OUTSIDE counsel an exorbitant amount of money to DEFEND DHS, because we think they do a bang-up job, right? The oversight commission never voted on this. Hendrick just went ahead and signed the contract. And to pay for it, Hendrick has “furloughed” the caseworkers. They work four days a week now, for less money with the expectation to do more in less time. Governor Fallin, please, please fire this guy. This isn’t amusing anymore. Children are dying.

Turpen?!! Are you kidding me? I liked Turpen 25 years ago when he ran for governor himself as a D. I giggled at his hyper, bombastic style. Now I’ve grown up and he’s become just a boring mouthpiece for the liberal cause. I can hear his defense now (wow, imagine the money he’s personally pocketing on this deal), “We don’t give them enough money to do the job! These dead children are all of our fault! Yours…mine! We all need to feel the weight of the guilt! Reach in your pocket now and make it right!” (But, you know, most of us don’t do drugs, don’t neglect our children, make good choices every day…but we need to pay more for those who do not? Okay, let’s remember this is not about the parents, it’s about the children.)

The trial is supposed to begin in 2011. Whoopee. Well, apparently, they have $2.4 million to spare, and my friends…the trial hasn’t even started yet. What will the final bill be?

Hey, Children’s Rights just wants DHS to change the way it does things. Just change. Do better. Hendrick says there is no choice but to defend.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100418_11_A1_TesaeD750643

Why? Seriously, why? How about we settle and launch change? This is also what the people want who are paying his legal bills (we the people, remember). Somewhere in the maze of bureaucracy, we lost our power and voice. Can we vote on this 2.4 million bucks? Can we vote to settle? No, we can vote in a governor who appoints oversight commissioners (when 9-year terms expire) who really don’t oversee squat. They’re lazy. Soooo, when I read that Keating “appointed” Hendrick, really commissioners who may have been appointed by previous governors “hired” Hendrick? And that Hendrick jackass does whatever he wants. My Stoopid American readers, the POWER lies in the bureaucracy, not within us. The government has taken us over. The faceless bureaucrat runs the show. They spend money like water and kill innocent children through ineptitude.

Change is hard, but Hendrick’s resistance is off the charts. We still have a societal problem not being solved. Can we give $2.4 million to a church to open a home for destitute children. We can let the D’s watchdog them…they seem to hate and mistrust church, they’d be great at keeping an eye on things. I’d rather trust the children with the church than the faceless, soulless government.

By the way, the House Speaker is calling for a performance review of Hendrick (he hasn’t had one in 9 years). Governor Fallin says she gets 10 calls a day complaining about Child Protective Services…

Meanwhile….children die.

Love Yourself, My Dear

I saw the best movie I’ve seen in years last night. No, it wasn’t “Jane Eyre” or “The Tree of Life.” It was “Madea’s Family Reunion.”

Flipping through channels, I got drawn in by a humorous courtroom scene of a judge ordering the loudmouth, heavyset, elderly, Black woman Madea to foster a little wise-cracking female juvenile delinquent or go to jail for some transgression.

I expected one of those insipid Black comedies in which the male star appears as various stereotypical characters in his family. But, what I got was poetry from Maya Angelou, a monologue from Cicely Tyson that made my eyes drain, an entire two hours packed with life wisdom, delivered in a Trojan horse-package of campy silliness. I forgot to say something about the smart music choices – jazz, gospel, Motown, the icing for pivotal scenes.

I see crap-movies all the time and can’t remember them a week later. I will not forget Cicely Tyson’s powerful performance.

It comes toward the end, during the family reunion, as the elderly women of the family walk across the ground, taking in the young men gambling and fighting, the young women half-naked drinking and gyrating with the men. The 96-year-old matriarch says “This is what we sacrificed for?”

They gather at a slave ancestor’s shack, and Ms. Tyson is spellbinding on the porch. I was in tears when she finished. She represented every Black person who came before the current young generation, the pool of that combined suffering and sacrifice. She roared “Young Black women, you are more than your thighs and your hips. You are beautiful, strong, powerful. I want more from you!” She has plenty to say to the young Black men, as well, demanding they take their place.

But the words for the women were the ones that pierced my heart. Ten years ago, I taught personal development at a “business” college. My students were strippers, hookers, junkies, drug dealers, and welfare moms court-ordered to get some job skills. My students came fresh from the failure of the public school system to my classroom, and it was standing room only. I quit after two years with burn-out.

They always wanted me to meet them in a dance club, to hang out with me. I relented once, and was appalled at the grinding and gyrating of these young women, prostrating themselves in public for the pleasure of men they don’t even know. They were drunk on the power of their sexuality, like a 14-year-old girl with newly sprouted breasts. This is the only value they had, the only power they had to wield, the only tool in the box.

Lord knows I tried to talk to them about self-esteem, self-pride, in a funny role-reversal in which the White woman teacher played Mammy to their Black Scarlett O’Haras. I clucked my tongue at them and scrunched up my face, “It just ain’t fittin’!”

I just wanted to help them be free. Free of the psychological shackles that tell them that they’ll never be able to do anything amazing except grind and gyrate. They had genuine affection for me and sensed my concern, but I lacked the dark skin of Cicely Tyson and her unique position of authority. “I want more from you!” she thundered.

Everything about this movie was so smart, using humor to break down the attitudinal barriers so the message has a better chance of successful delivery. One scene saw Madea beating hell out of a bully on the school bus. Another found her on the porch telling other old women how these “chid-ren” just need love and patience, then immediately snatching one flying by her and snarling in her face to hang up the phone attached to her ear.

The Big Message for the Black race is to treat themselves and each other better. And it is that simple. That’s an excellent message for the entire human race, period.

Criticism for the movie comes from all directions online – upper class Blacks offended by the corny stereotypes, lower class Blacks offended by the holier-than-thou preaching. I don’t care. I wish Tyler Perry would make a hundred more. I’ll go see them.

I applaud the scenes following one niece, with two children by two uninvolved men, who chooses to not have sex again until she’s married. Some criticize the scenes of her courtship with a new man as boring, “do-nothing” – are you kidding me? If someone isn’t getting it on, it’s boring?! Their first date was incredible – Poets and Painters night at a club. She recites an original poem at the mic while he paints a portrait of her.

We follow another niece being forced into a marriage with a well-to-do man who beats her. I rejoiced when she finally uses Madea’s tutorial on the technique of “hot grits followed up with a frying pan.”

Let the critics whine about spanking children versus beating spouses. There is wisdom in this, people. You have to stand up for yourself to make others treat you correctly. And Madea explains this to the niece, that only she can do this for herself, no one else can stand in as her.

One scene jarred me, however. The young women at the reunion tied their shirts up to show off their bodies, worn with very short, tight shorts. The old men were asking one girl to reach deep into the barrel to get them drinks while they gawked. These are family members! This was so gross. Then I realized it was yet another message Mr. Perry was sending to women – you will be treated based on how you dress and view yourself.

This movie is the most loving, love letter, written especially for Black women, but women of all races can feel the love and appreciate the sentiment.

A picture of Bert -- a wily old black man, a former slave who forged a future for his family in America.

The Story of Bert

I read the most touching story about the family of an ex-slave, Bert Luster, in the local alternative weekly. I actually cried. Not from joy, but sadness, as I read his words captured in a narrative collected by a black reporter in the WPA (New Deal program).

Scattered among the “dems” and “dats,” is a story of how mean those Yanks were and how good the white folks was to “us niggers.” White men were shot by the KKK for trying to teach blacks in the 1910s and 20s. That was the word that made me break. This was a freed slave! I wanted this fellow human being to lift his head proudly.

We think only of the change forced on white slave owners, to deal with their labor issues and collapsing economy on their own. We rarely think of the change forced on black slaves, to figure out how to support and care for themselves. This change was necessary but hard. Why weren’t we smart enough to recognize the need for a plan to transition the economy of the South to something else and transition these people to new jobs in new businesses.

And that is the CHANGE many are still struggling with. A government has filled the new role of master.

But, thank God, the story continues with his descendants. History constantly moves forward. We met a university professor (insert my big, happy smile) who, despite her joy to discover his freed slave narrative, was dismayed by the language in it. We learn that WPA writers were given instruction to use “dems” and “dats,” obviously someone’s stoopid political agenda. Or maybe one black reporter’s agenda, to spice up the flavor of the piece. The great-great granddaughter insisted he didn’t speak that way.

Grandson Frank Luster, raised by Bert, said he was savvy, spoke however he was expected in different situations, to his advantage. This “downtrodden” freed slave, at different times, was a real estate broker, farmer, produce importer, clerk for the State Board of Agriculture, and janitor at the state capitol. He originally moved from Texas to OK so his kids could receive an education.

“I came to Indian Territory in search of educating my kids,” he said. “I landed here 46 years ago on a farm not far from now Oklahoma City. I got to be a prosperous farmer. My bale of cotton amongst 5,000 bales won the blue ribbon at Guthrie, OK…dat bale of cotton and being a good democrat won for me a good job as a clerk on the Agriculture Board at the State Capitol. All de white folks liked me and still like me and called me ‘cotton king.’ “

When I think of the intelligence and perseverance of this man, I could scream at every confused, young black man today, engaged in crime, violence, drugs, gangs…doing everything but paying attention in school. My heart breaks at the disrespect shown to this ancestor’s hard work and sacrifices. I feel the same way about women who don’t vote. Really? People died for you to have certain rights, and you don’t care?

Other narrative excerpts found online:

“I am a member of the Church of God. My wife is a member of the Church of Christ. I’m a good democrat and she is a good Republican.” (I adore this couple!)

“I’m glad slavery is over, but I don’t think dem white folks was fighting to free us niggers.” Despite the contrived ebonics, you can tell how smart this man was.

The Story of Bert is this: In a few generations, the great-great grandson of a freed slave once custodian of the House of Representatives is elected as a member of the House of Representatives (Rep. Mike Shelton, D-OKC).

That WPA narrative? If the government’s name is on it, it’s usually a lie. The truth is found with the people, the ancestors and the lives they live today.

The Story of Bert should be told in every church this Sunday, taught in every classroom next Monday. It’s a story that teaches all of us to face an uncertain future with courage and hope for the best. And reminds us to shoulder the burden of expectations of our ancestors with resolve. It’s a salute to excellence.



A recent photo of some of Bert's descendants...yeah, the guy with the bow tie is the politician.

Trumping China

In every article playfully postulating and probing whether Donald Trump plans to run for POTUS, there’s a tidbit of him hammering China.

“I would tell China that you’re either going to shape up, or I’m going to tax you at 25% for all the products you send into this country. I’m all for free trade, but it’s got to be fair trade,” he said. “China has taken advantage of this country for a long time.” Trump said China stands to make $300 billion from trade with the U.S. this year.

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/04/06/n_trump_china_sob.cnnmoney/
What’s the deal with his focus on China? A friend commented that it’s never a good idea in foreign policy to antagonize someone to whom you owe a lot of money, and has a bigger army. I would tend to agree!

But I can’t get this out of my head. By golly, I think the Dude with the Toupe has hit it on the head. Everything.

We stood a better chance of funding LBJ’s Great Society if we had healthy American Business to pay for it. I’ve heard (repeatedly) that taxes are paid by the middle class and all those amazing small American-owned businesses. Yeah, the mom-and-pops. The ones who went out of business because they couldn’t price their goods to compete with the Chinese crap sold at Wal-Mart. Over half of them in bankruptcy court are there due to tax debt.

Nixon and Kissinger extended the olive branch and opened the gates and we got flooded with cheap Chinese crap. Substandard food, dangerous toys and furniture. It’s tough to find seafood in American grocery chains not “farmed” in Asia.

So Chinese imports ran ‘em out, resulting in no taxes collected from those American businesses. And no taxes on the Chinese company’s profit. And no jobs for the Americans at those belly-up companies, thus no personal taxes from them and the added burden of their welfare. The American economy just shrank from those less companies, less jobs, less GNP, less taxes. (I believe it was offset for a while off and on by other factors.)

This is the picture for the last 35 years. Protectionism…a dirty word for those wishing to hurry along that vision of a global economy. I used to like the idea of Germans making the beer and Japanese making the cars. After 35 years of kumbaya, I think we need to look at protecting our own interests. We’re the ones who got hurt in this deal, and to add insult to injury, China is now coming into America and buying up the struggling businesses and re-opening defunct businesses as “foreign investment.” Who gets the money in the end? And Americans are thrilled to get a bone thrown their way – they get to go back to their job at the factory, and we at least get their personal tax, tax on purchases, and them off welfare.

And our appetite for more and more Great Society benefits has grown out of control, forcing spineless politicians to spend money we/they don’t have. Who’s got money to lend so we can continue to operate – China.

The road doesn’t run both ways, you see. They won’t allow our exports in or foreign investment.

Lord, it’s a nasty place. My engineer husband dealt with Chinese factories a lot a few years back when his factory began buying all raw materials from China and assembling in Mexico. The U.S. locations were closed, except skeleton crews of engineers and salesmen.

What they’re doing to their people and environment is wild. Wanton. Hubby said it’s freezing and filthy in the factories, no heat, little light. We need to think of a new word for “sweat shop,” a cold Chinese version. They’re not going to pass labor laws and environmental protection laws unless they’re hurt in the pocketbook.

I glanced at a book at the library today that suggested “how China goes, the world goes,” meaning they are so huge and have such a large impact, we’re all screwed together. They’re beginning to amass wealth in a newly developing upper class, very into conspicuous consumption, and they’re hungry. I’ve referenced before their Industrial Age on Steroids. They are the largest contributor to global warming right now, and they want more cars.

Blaming China for our weak economy may seem simplistic. A case can just as well be made against labor unions who made it impossible to price products competitively. Maybe it was just a perfect storm, with the Democrats and their labor unions and the Republicans and their trade agreements. But, what if cheap Chinese crap had never been introduced into our market? And more recently, communication between Chinese and American businesses to escalate the purchase of their raw materials and components.

Every time someone buys something, an impact is felt somewhere.

And we’re continuing to do it. Oil. Gulf Coast. Brazil. My friends in Houston explain. Obama froze all new drilling permits after The Big Spill. He has since un-frozen the approval of new permits, visited Brazil, and the only permits he has approved are for Brazilian oil companies. He wants Brazil to get rich, not America. We need American companies to drill, if anybody’s going to drill, to make a FAT profit so we can tax it. I don’t know, maybe Brazil will loan us some money so we can continue to operate our welfare society. They seem nice…snivel, snivel.

It’s about jobs. And Obama just gave ‘em to a bunch of Brazilians.

I like the idea of a businessman as POTUS, for a change. Hell, I liked it 20 years ago when I voted for Perot. I understand what Trump means when he says China has been taking advantage of us for a long time, and if they don’t shape up, he’ll tax all Chinese imports 25%.

It’s the only way to fight our greatest enemy, who has brought us to our economic knees, without spending a dime or firing a shot. Just the public threat of a POTUS might make them open their market to us, instigate a few laws, quit playing with the exchange. The 25% tax would bring in a lot of revenue and create jobs here.

I can’t determine yet if he knows anything else, but he knows how to fix our economy.



"Obama, you're fired!"

Imposition

This is the scariest thing I've ever seen. For a lot of different reasons.

Full Frontal Face…in France!

Ah, those Frenchies. Today their new law banning the “full-face” veil went into effect, and I can’t stop smiling at the article. The French law does not single out “full-face-veil-wearing-Muslim-women,” but obviously this is an outrageous assault on their religious freedom! Pah. It’s kinda hard for me to give a s***. They could leave France and go to Afghanistan or Iran. They love the veil statement there. You know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Personally, I don’t care what they do, wear, or subject themselves to willingly. BUT it is difficult to see in one of those things when driving a car or crossing a busy street, I would think. No, France is not medieval Persia, sands a swirling…and they have a right to make and enforce laws that uphold a safe society for all, even for the veiled ones.

I’m intrigued by the idea of disguising yourself as a Muslim chick to pull off a bank robbery, gun someone down, heck, any crime at all. How does crime compare in veiled countries with non-veiled countries. Nevermind. They get their hands chopped off for stealing (quite the crime deterrent); here they would get an all-expenses paid vacation to the pokey.

It really ticks me off when people come to a new country, refuse to assimilate or modify their behavior or customs in any way, even get militant and obnoxious in their insistence to act according to the culture of the place they left. Why did you come? Please go back. If you did not want change, why did you change countries? Why are you demanding we change? I don’t want to become Big Iran.

What is the veil thing about? Is it that the men like to hide their treasured possessions from the eyes of others, elevating their own importance as the only “man” to see her face, or does he just like to be a pain in the ass to his woman, perversely chuckling at her clumsy attempts to navigate stairs? Oops, there she went down again. Isn’t she cute? Like a pet, a clumsy dog that makes you laugh. Why would a woman want to be demeaned so? Some love it, feel it preserves their “mystery,” forces everyone to focus on other aspects of them besides physical beauty. Interesting…but only for about a second. We live in a world in which you need all of your senses to get around and stay safe. Publicly drunk, publicly veiled, not a big difference to me. Thanks for the car keys.

So, France is the first in Europe to focus on this problem…and the liberal world sees it as violating religious rights (I guess screw my rights to not be hit by her car as she squints through a slit to maneuver a killing machine through a 360-degree environment).

Well, you knew this part was coming, right. A Muslim leader is encouraging the women to engage in CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE (that almost sounded sexy), wear the full-face veil, and meet up at Notre Dame cathedral for a prayer to protest (he’ll pay their $216 fine). Will they pray a Catholic prayer at the cathedral, like a Hail Mary or something like “Please, Mary, OUR LADY (Notre Dame in French) and Mother of Jesus, don’t let them take my face veil and strip me of my religious identity and identification with the ways of Mohammed…” It kinda takes a little of the steam out of their sails…

The French Muslim chicks need a new director for their film. The location shots are all wrong, the dialogue not ringing true, not enough emotion from the main stars…

Oh, and Osama bin Laden has called for attacks on France. He’s a peach. I mean, France is just sitting there, being France, and bin Laden thinks they need to be attacked for not being Iran. Actually, I wonder if he is the anti-Christ.

One reporter managed to get two veil-wearers to speak to him. They explained that they will go out in public a lot less now, that the ban will create a hidden underclass. Create? Really? The French ban will create this?

Do you ever get the feeling that you are the only one in the world who is not a brainwashed moron?



You’re creepy! Stop it! You’re in France, for Pierre’s sake, go get a nice hat!