I owe credit or blame, whichever applies, for this piece to a fellow business owner friend of mine (that might change, when he sees it). Just to cement his well-deserved embarrassment, his name is (Boom Boom) Don. He came to me a while back ranting about what he sees in his business a growing lack of Common Sense. Being a long time business owner and from the long of tooth generation, where exacting details, responsibility and trust were and still are everything, he told me he’s daily floored with the lack of Common Sense from both his customers, their employees and even his at times. So here ya go Don. In addition to your neighboring fellow business owners, the rest of the world will now know how grumpy you’ve become in your twilight years.
When I was a youngin hanging around the old farmstead, all us kids were expected to have a modicum of that elusive but very real quality called Common Sense. Back then, there was no need for silly laws telling us to come in outa the rain, don’t look down the barrel of a loaded gun, don’t throw gasoline in a burn barrel, don’t run down a hill too steep, don’t tell your parents no nor any number of other things. You just knew these things as part of the logic of life.For our parents, it was obvious they shouldn’t spend more than they made. In fact, if they didn’t have the money for something, they didn’t get to have it. Simple arithmetic they’d learned in the work fields of their own childhoods.They learned simple, reliable parenting skills like the adults are in charge, not the kids. Us kids learned that quickly in the time honored tradition of having to go collect our own switch from the field outback.In those simpler times, it was also OK to come in second, having learned there were winners and losers with clear distinctions between the two. If you lost. Oh well. Maybe next time.
For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense.
Then along came the dreaded “If it only helps one person, it’s worth it” Virus. Then it’s natural strength slipped further into the abyss of the idiotic with the ravages of overbearing federal regulations, starting to be overpowered by self-seeking lawyers and activists of every nutso bearing. These nutcases crawled out of the woodwork making the decision they knew what the people needed more than themselves.
The health of Common Sense then rapidly deteriorated more when schools endlessly implemented stupid intolerance policies. Insane policies like banning teachers from consoling or especially hugging students hurt out on the playground, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, a six year old charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate or a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.How about requiring parental consent to administer aspirin to students but not allowed to inform parents when a female student was pregnant?
How about criminals receiving better treatment than their victims, along with federal judges sticking their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports? Then there’s the new and improved Common Sense like questionable regulations for asbestos, low flow toilets, smart guns, motorcycle helmets and mandatory airbags.
So in those long ago but sorely missed days, all young people were taught the Common Sense logic of gun safety, like never point it at a person, always keep the safety on and make sure your field of fire is clear. Above all else we were taught guns were innocent pieces of metal until handled by an irresponsible or crazed human, that it was the human’s fault if anything went wrong not the piece of metal.
The apparent demise of Common Sense was clearly preceded by several other long gone attributes sorely missed by clear thinking people, like truth, trust, discretion, responsibility and reason. These great things seem to have been replaced by rights, tolerance and most especially, the right to whine.
I think the bottom line is the powers that be or think they are, keep deciding every time something untoward happens, they need to make a new law, instead of trusting the innate ability of human beings to use the Common Sense we were all either given at birth or taught by our parents.
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Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks....
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Savant syndrome
Something I’ve heard about for years that always intrigued me was a condition known in the psychiatric field as the Savant Syndrome.
It’s a condition where some people have a prodigious memory of a special type, a memory that’s been described as "very deep, but exceedingly narrow". It is wide in the sense that they can recall certain things but have a hard time putting them to use.
Certain savants have been shown to display advanced skill in one or more of five major areas: Art, musical abilities, calendar calculating, mathematics and spatial skills. Socially, most savants’ often times display great deficiencies, generally consistent with Autism disorders although symptoms have been known to recede over time. Scientists have theorized that savants lack Theory of Mind.The syndrome is poorly understood. No widely accepted cognitive theory explains the combination of talent and deficit found in savants.
So these are people who often can’t talk, won’t look at anyone, seeming to reside in their own worlds, that is until directed toward their particular genius.People having mental abilities that could only be characterized as superhuman, like having photographic memory, playing music perfectly after hearing it just once, or doing complex mathematical calculations in their head but otherwise severely disabled in every day cognitive functions and social interaction.
Does the human brain have latent savant-like abilities? Does our higher cognitive functions somehow block these abilities, and why? Could all of us have savant-like abilities without the accompanying developmental disabilities and just haven’t discovered how to access them yet?Most savants are born with their abilities and unfortunately, their developmental disorders, but not all. Severe brain injuries can, in very rare instances, cause savant-like abilities to surface.
Finding all this incredibly intriguing, I scoured the Internet for living examples of people possessing these fantastical abilities, finding plenty of documented cases. So I thought I would list a few of the more interesting ones.
Kim Peek, the Real Rain Man
Even though you've never heard of Kim Peek, chances are you've heard about the movie Rain Man. Kim was the inspiration for the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie.
He was born with severe brain damage. His childhood doctor told his father to put him in an institution and forget about the boy. Kim's severe developmental disabilities, according to the doctor, would not let him walk, let alone learn. Kim's father disregarded the doctor's advice.
Till this day, Kim struggles with ordinary motor skills and has difficulty walking. He is severely disabled, cannot button his shirt and tests well below average on a general IQ test.
But what Kim can do is astounding. He has read some 12,000 books and remembers everything word. "Kimputer," as many lovingly know him, reads two pages at once - his left eye reads the left page, and his right eye reads the right page. It takes him about 3 seconds to read through two pages - and he remember everything on 'em. He can recall facts and trivia from 15 subject areas from history to geography to sports. Tell him a date, and Kim can tell you what day of the week it is. He also remembers all music he’s ever heard.
Leslie Lemke
Leslie Lemke didn't have a great start in life. He was born with severe birth defects that required doctors to remove his eyes. His own mother gave him up for adoption, and a nurse named May Lemke, who at the time was 52 and was raising 5 children of her own, adopted him when he was six months old.As a young child, Leslie had to be force-fed to teach him how to swallow. He couldn’t stand until he was 12. At 15, Leslie finally learned how to walk. May had to strap his body to hers to teach him.
At 16 years of age, Leslie Lemke bloomed. In the middle of one night, May woke to find Leslie playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Leslie, who had no classical music training, was playing the piece flawlessly after hearing it just once earlier on the television.From then on, Leslie began playing all styles of music from ragtime to classical. Like the Tchaikovsky piece, he only has to hear the music once in order to play it again perfectly. He became famous after being portrayed in national television shows. Before his health started to deteriorate, Leslie gave many concerts around the world.
Ellen Boudreaux
Like Leslie Lemke, Ellen Boudreaux is a blind autistic savant with exceptional musical abilities. She can play music perfectly after hearing it just once, and has such a huge repertoire of songs in her head that a newspaper reporter once tried to "stump Ellen" by requesting that she played some obscure songs - and failed. Ellen knew them all.
She has two other savant skills that are unusual. First, despite her blindness, she is able to walk around without ever running into things. As she walks, she makes little chirping sounds that seem to act like a human sonar Second, Ellen has an extremely precise digital clock ticking in her mind. Ellen knows the exact hour and minute, any time of the day without ever having seen a clock nor never having the concept of the passing of time explained to her.
Now with this phenomenon, some cases are unique in that the person was absolutely normal until some type of brain injury. A man named Orlando Serrell didn’t possess any special skills until he was struck in the head by a baseball when he was 10 with his extraordinary gifts seeming to be the only side effect. Could this mean once a key hemisphere in our brains are stimulated, we can all attain the level of genius Orlando posses and beyond? Only time and research will tell.
We’ve all heard at various times that we only use something like 10% of the true capacity of our complex minds, which I was hoping to elaborate on in this piece but it turns out scientists have discounted that theory as wishful thinking.
How do we then reconcile that with Orlando Serrell’s expericance and others like him, I don’t know. Like most folks who think too much, I guess I was hoping for some magic pill, operation, possibility or at least the potential to draw upon humanities full powers, for some reason hidden from us, either now or into our future in this grand experiment we call life.
If nothing else, knowing humans are out there with this Savant Syndrome, with abilities bordering on magic, allows us all to dream and that ain’t a bad thing, is it?
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
It’s a condition where some people have a prodigious memory of a special type, a memory that’s been described as "very deep, but exceedingly narrow". It is wide in the sense that they can recall certain things but have a hard time putting them to use.
Certain savants have been shown to display advanced skill in one or more of five major areas: Art, musical abilities, calendar calculating, mathematics and spatial skills. Socially, most savants’ often times display great deficiencies, generally consistent with Autism disorders although symptoms have been known to recede over time. Scientists have theorized that savants lack Theory of Mind.The syndrome is poorly understood. No widely accepted cognitive theory explains the combination of talent and deficit found in savants.
So these are people who often can’t talk, won’t look at anyone, seeming to reside in their own worlds, that is until directed toward their particular genius.People having mental abilities that could only be characterized as superhuman, like having photographic memory, playing music perfectly after hearing it just once, or doing complex mathematical calculations in their head but otherwise severely disabled in every day cognitive functions and social interaction.
Does the human brain have latent savant-like abilities? Does our higher cognitive functions somehow block these abilities, and why? Could all of us have savant-like abilities without the accompanying developmental disabilities and just haven’t discovered how to access them yet?Most savants are born with their abilities and unfortunately, their developmental disorders, but not all. Severe brain injuries can, in very rare instances, cause savant-like abilities to surface.
Finding all this incredibly intriguing, I scoured the Internet for living examples of people possessing these fantastical abilities, finding plenty of documented cases. So I thought I would list a few of the more interesting ones.
Kim Peek, the Real Rain Man
Even though you've never heard of Kim Peek, chances are you've heard about the movie Rain Man. Kim was the inspiration for the character played by Dustin Hoffman in the movie.
He was born with severe brain damage. His childhood doctor told his father to put him in an institution and forget about the boy. Kim's severe developmental disabilities, according to the doctor, would not let him walk, let alone learn. Kim's father disregarded the doctor's advice.
Till this day, Kim struggles with ordinary motor skills and has difficulty walking. He is severely disabled, cannot button his shirt and tests well below average on a general IQ test.
But what Kim can do is astounding. He has read some 12,000 books and remembers everything word. "Kimputer," as many lovingly know him, reads two pages at once - his left eye reads the left page, and his right eye reads the right page. It takes him about 3 seconds to read through two pages - and he remember everything on 'em. He can recall facts and trivia from 15 subject areas from history to geography to sports. Tell him a date, and Kim can tell you what day of the week it is. He also remembers all music he’s ever heard.
Leslie Lemke
Leslie Lemke didn't have a great start in life. He was born with severe birth defects that required doctors to remove his eyes. His own mother gave him up for adoption, and a nurse named May Lemke, who at the time was 52 and was raising 5 children of her own, adopted him when he was six months old.As a young child, Leslie had to be force-fed to teach him how to swallow. He couldn’t stand until he was 12. At 15, Leslie finally learned how to walk. May had to strap his body to hers to teach him.
At 16 years of age, Leslie Lemke bloomed. In the middle of one night, May woke to find Leslie playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Leslie, who had no classical music training, was playing the piece flawlessly after hearing it just once earlier on the television.From then on, Leslie began playing all styles of music from ragtime to classical. Like the Tchaikovsky piece, he only has to hear the music once in order to play it again perfectly. He became famous after being portrayed in national television shows. Before his health started to deteriorate, Leslie gave many concerts around the world.
Ellen Boudreaux
Like Leslie Lemke, Ellen Boudreaux is a blind autistic savant with exceptional musical abilities. She can play music perfectly after hearing it just once, and has such a huge repertoire of songs in her head that a newspaper reporter once tried to "stump Ellen" by requesting that she played some obscure songs - and failed. Ellen knew them all.
She has two other savant skills that are unusual. First, despite her blindness, she is able to walk around without ever running into things. As she walks, she makes little chirping sounds that seem to act like a human sonar Second, Ellen has an extremely precise digital clock ticking in her mind. Ellen knows the exact hour and minute, any time of the day without ever having seen a clock nor never having the concept of the passing of time explained to her.
Now with this phenomenon, some cases are unique in that the person was absolutely normal until some type of brain injury. A man named Orlando Serrell didn’t possess any special skills until he was struck in the head by a baseball when he was 10 with his extraordinary gifts seeming to be the only side effect. Could this mean once a key hemisphere in our brains are stimulated, we can all attain the level of genius Orlando posses and beyond? Only time and research will tell.
We’ve all heard at various times that we only use something like 10% of the true capacity of our complex minds, which I was hoping to elaborate on in this piece but it turns out scientists have discounted that theory as wishful thinking.
How do we then reconcile that with Orlando Serrell’s expericance and others like him, I don’t know. Like most folks who think too much, I guess I was hoping for some magic pill, operation, possibility or at least the potential to draw upon humanities full powers, for some reason hidden from us, either now or into our future in this grand experiment we call life.
If nothing else, knowing humans are out there with this Savant Syndrome, with abilities bordering on magic, allows us all to dream and that ain’t a bad thing, is it?
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Friday, May 11, 2012
American girl 12, builds 27 homes in Haiti
If there really is something called "helper’s high" - that feel-good sensation that comes from extending a helping hand to others - Rachel Wheeler is soaring.The 12-year-old Florida resident has done more to aid others than many grown-ups do in a lifetime.
Three years ago, when she was only nine, Rachel tagged along with her mother to a very adult meeting about charity work in Haiti. She listened as Robin Mahfood, from the aid agency Food For The Poor, describe children so hungry that they eat cookies made of mud, so poor that they sleep in houses made of cardboard.At the time, Julie Wheeler wasn’t even sure her young daughter understood much of what was being discussed— "until Rachel stood on a chair in front of all those adults and pledged to help Food For The Poor," Wheeler said.
Then a fourth grader, Rachel promised to raise money to build a dozen homes in Haiti."Rachel didn’t just want to help," her mother remembers, "but she said she had to help."Rachel ran bake sales, passed the can at homecoming games and sold homemade potholders at her Zion Lutheran School in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She mailed fundraising appeals to the parents of her friends and the people she knew from church. In her hometown, the Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce cut two sizable checks.
Through her Facebook page and word-of-mouth, a cherry farm in Washington heard about Rachel and sent along the proceeds from one of its season's harvest. Another generous donation came from a family that regularly supports the overseas work of Food For The Poor.In three short years, this little girl raised more than $250,000.
Instead of just building 12 homes, Rachel more than doubled her promise. She spent $170,000 on brand-new earthquake-proof cement structures that shelter 27 families in a small fishing town outside of the capital Port-au-Prince. The families baptized the housing tract "Rachel’s Village."Many of the new homeowners had spent their entire lives residing in makeshift homes and tents. Food For The Poor had to give instructions on how to fit a key in a lock and turn a doorknob.
Rachel’s dream now is to rebuild the local school, which was severely damaged in the catastrophic 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti in early 2010, killing 316,000 people and leaving 3 million homeless.She has about half of the money she needs to fix the Reap de Morel school in Leogane, where 200 students learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic in classrooms that have no walls, a patched tin roof and dirt floors. Mahfood calls the fact that children even attend school "a small miracle," given that most are homeless, hungry and live in a country where more than half the population can't read or write their own name.
Classrooms are partitioned by bed sheets. The school "library" is a simple wooden table displaying no more than 30 tattered books. Each child owns just a single pencil and notebook. Textbooks are as scarce as food.In a makeshift cafeteria, women spend the morning cooking huge vats of rice and beans. By 10 a.m., students are too hungry to concentrate, so lunch is served. This hot lunch, supplied by Food For The Poor, is the only meal of the day for most of these children.
Food For The Poor has worked in Haiti for 25 years. The charity runs hundreds of food pantries that feed more than 400,000 people daily and it supports dozens of free health clinics with medicines to treat thousands of children a week. Many young Haitians suffer from deadly diseases such as cholera, which has killed more than 6,200 Haitians and sickened nearly 440,000 over the past year.
Rachel has been to Haiti twice and has seen the abject poverty firsthand. "I don’t believe I can snap my fingers and change Haiti overnight," she said. "I know I have to work at it."One might call her approach mature for a 12-year-old. But Rachel isn't your typical pre-teen. She has already invested a fourth of her life to her cause."If everyone helped Haiti like Rachel, the country could stand on its own," said Mahfood. "In five years, Haiti would be a completely different country."So again, when you hear someone’s lament about the lazy no good for nothing youth nowadays in America, remember Rachel’s example and feel good about your self, because you’re one who knows the truth.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Three years ago, when she was only nine, Rachel tagged along with her mother to a very adult meeting about charity work in Haiti. She listened as Robin Mahfood, from the aid agency Food For The Poor, describe children so hungry that they eat cookies made of mud, so poor that they sleep in houses made of cardboard.At the time, Julie Wheeler wasn’t even sure her young daughter understood much of what was being discussed— "until Rachel stood on a chair in front of all those adults and pledged to help Food For The Poor," Wheeler said.
Then a fourth grader, Rachel promised to raise money to build a dozen homes in Haiti."Rachel didn’t just want to help," her mother remembers, "but she said she had to help."Rachel ran bake sales, passed the can at homecoming games and sold homemade potholders at her Zion Lutheran School in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She mailed fundraising appeals to the parents of her friends and the people she knew from church. In her hometown, the Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce cut two sizable checks.
Through her Facebook page and word-of-mouth, a cherry farm in Washington heard about Rachel and sent along the proceeds from one of its season's harvest. Another generous donation came from a family that regularly supports the overseas work of Food For The Poor.In three short years, this little girl raised more than $250,000.
Instead of just building 12 homes, Rachel more than doubled her promise. She spent $170,000 on brand-new earthquake-proof cement structures that shelter 27 families in a small fishing town outside of the capital Port-au-Prince. The families baptized the housing tract "Rachel’s Village."Many of the new homeowners had spent their entire lives residing in makeshift homes and tents. Food For The Poor had to give instructions on how to fit a key in a lock and turn a doorknob.
Rachel’s dream now is to rebuild the local school, which was severely damaged in the catastrophic 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti in early 2010, killing 316,000 people and leaving 3 million homeless.She has about half of the money she needs to fix the Reap de Morel school in Leogane, where 200 students learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic in classrooms that have no walls, a patched tin roof and dirt floors. Mahfood calls the fact that children even attend school "a small miracle," given that most are homeless, hungry and live in a country where more than half the population can't read or write their own name.
Classrooms are partitioned by bed sheets. The school "library" is a simple wooden table displaying no more than 30 tattered books. Each child owns just a single pencil and notebook. Textbooks are as scarce as food.In a makeshift cafeteria, women spend the morning cooking huge vats of rice and beans. By 10 a.m., students are too hungry to concentrate, so lunch is served. This hot lunch, supplied by Food For The Poor, is the only meal of the day for most of these children.
Food For The Poor has worked in Haiti for 25 years. The charity runs hundreds of food pantries that feed more than 400,000 people daily and it supports dozens of free health clinics with medicines to treat thousands of children a week. Many young Haitians suffer from deadly diseases such as cholera, which has killed more than 6,200 Haitians and sickened nearly 440,000 over the past year.
Rachel has been to Haiti twice and has seen the abject poverty firsthand. "I don’t believe I can snap my fingers and change Haiti overnight," she said. "I know I have to work at it."One might call her approach mature for a 12-year-old. But Rachel isn't your typical pre-teen. She has already invested a fourth of her life to her cause."If everyone helped Haiti like Rachel, the country could stand on its own," said Mahfood. "In five years, Haiti would be a completely different country."So again, when you hear someone’s lament about the lazy no good for nothing youth nowadays in America, remember Rachel’s example and feel good about your self, because you’re one who knows the truth.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Crime. Could there be real answers?
For years, as I watch the news about all the crime happening across America, I as others wonder what’s going on. Crimes committed by people suffering from every kind of dysfunctionality imaginable. Everything from extreme poverty, through multiple mental illnesses humans are often prone to.
It’s always made me wonder several things. With all our supposedly learned professionals in the mental health, economic, educational and law enforcement fields, how come no one, including all those brainiacs, has ever been able to come up with real, workable answers?
Answers that would somehow alleviate or at least help all the hardships, suffering and craziness human’s heinous record of crimes against humanity have and continues to cause.
One of the thoughts I’ve come up with (Opps, here he goes again.) has to do with the whole idea of self worth. As I see it, right or wrong, we all seem to get most of our self worth through our jobs. Only a lucky few have jobs they love but at the least going to work each day provides us with several important factors, including a sense of belonging to something larger than our private worlds, hopefully a sense of accomplishing a task that needs doing and if we’re exceedingly fortunate, enough money to pay life’s oft times rip-off bills, which gives us self-reliance.
So there’s that “Self” thing again. Somehow gaining self-worth and self-reliance, could they quite possibly be the answer to all that ails most of us?
I’m sure since the cave man/women days, humans have always felt better about themselves when they had only themselves to rely on for their day-by-day needs and desires.
So I’ve often wondered if solving a great deal of humanities atrocities against each other is as simple as providing jobs. Not just make work but real jobs of worth. So instead of folks facing what they see as insurmountable, unsolvable and worthless lives, which quickly turns into self-loathing, hate and eventually violence, they would instead have purpose, comradely with others along with the capacity to feel real joy and happiness.
How would we provide jobs for our neediest population, especially in these “interesting times” we find ourselves in right now, you ask?
My thought is, if there were ever a time for the Government to step in to help, this would be it.
WHAT? You scream. More Government? Where do I think they could afford one more penny with all the waste?
OK, lets examine that. Lets start with just one thing we’ve been wasting money on forever. Lets first admit the truth that our entire legal system with its continually growing prison system is a complete failure.
Here are the all important questions folks. Has our legal system or has it not come anywhere close ever to solving crime? Other than for murders, rapist and child molesters, (which I think should be put out of our misery) does continually stacking humans like cordwood in our prisons ultimately make them better citizens or does it just continue their education into more and better crimes when they get out?
How about taking the millions upon millions it takes to incarcerate the very people we should be helping, to instead spend it on real re-education, mental health services, job training and job creation instead?
OK, that’s just one revenue source we could and should use, we’re pissing down the drain right now.
Now I’m sure the readers can think of a dozen other wasteful expenses we could revert to job creation, providing those all important self-worth and self-reliance’s but right now I’d love to introduce one persons unbelievably creative, brave and real step into doing just that.
Her name is Teresa Goines. Goines is no starry-eyed do-gooder. As a juvenile correction officer in Southern California, Goines heard the same story over and over.
"It was the revolving door of jail and prison, the hopelessness," she said. "They didn't expect to live past 18 and in some cases it was 13. They told me, 'We need jobs and some place that feels like family.' "So on the corner of Third Street and Palou in the the bay area of California, she started a Café/Restaurant called Old Skool Café. Old Skool Cafe is a faith-based violence prevention program, providing jobs and training to at-risk youth in the heart of San Francisco.
Their 1940's themed supper club confronts the epidemic of violence by providing at-risk and previously incarcerated youth with a variety of career opportunities that would normally not be afforded them.
Old Skool Cafe's vision is to enable at-risk youth to exit the vicious cycle of crime on the streets by giving them what they need most: meaningful and gainful employment. By hiring youth as paid apprentices, OSC has a proven track record of helping the young people direct their talents and energies into a legal, healthy, and productive path toward adulthood as contributing members of society.
She chose this exact location with a purpose. This neighborhood isn't just troubled. It's flat out dangerous.
"We had homicides on this corner in 2009, 2010, and a fatal stabbing a month ago," says Bayview Station Capt. Paul Chignell. "In the last 10 months we've had 17 firearm arrests on this corner. Things have improved, but there is still an unacceptable level of violence."
So obviously what's needed is a jazz/supper club. There's an offbeat logic to it. At a time when Third Street is transforming, Teresa Goines' idea of the Old Skool Café was grand.
Old Skool is an elegant jazz club with red leather booths and zoot-suited waiters. The kicker is the chefs, waiters and performers are all at-risk kids from the neighborhood.
"Having a felony actually qualifies them for me," Goines says.
True, except the restaurant has to work on its own. The potential is there. From a quick sample of the gumbo, to the award-winning shrimp and grits, to the killer desserts, the menu is a winner.
The entertainment will be a work in progress, but neighborhood advocates like James Moore of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center hopes the food, jazz and cool outfits will attract foodies and music aficionados from downtown.
"We want to make Third Street a destination," Moore said. "More businesses here with a commitment will help make Third safe and active."
Goines understands the neighborhood demographics. But she says this is a business, not a charity. Applicants are required to fill out a 16-page application and then make an appointment for an interview. The cafe got a $460,500 grant spread over three years from the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and makes up the rest with community donors that include Lennar, which is redeveloping Hunters Point.
Other businesses have already committed to hiring Old Skool-trained youths, said Maria Su, director of the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families.
The hope is that by the time the grant expires in June 2013, the business will be self-sufficient.
Old Skool has a difficult path ahead, but who’s going to be the one who says it won't work. Their motto is: Come hungry, leave inspired.
Most who’ve came, did.
Now these kids and the whole neighborhood for that matter have a real chance of changing the direction of their paths from abject poverty, leading to crime, instead to lives of self-worth and self-reliance, all this because of one women’s vision of caring instead of the normal ways of incarceration and abuse at the incapable and failed hands of our judicial system.
So, there’s another fine example of many folks with incredible drive and determination in these new times. Creative intelligent people not only thinking outside the box but sledge hammering the walls completely down, putting new exciting potentials in the clear, clean light of day for all with open eyes to see.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
It’s always made me wonder several things. With all our supposedly learned professionals in the mental health, economic, educational and law enforcement fields, how come no one, including all those brainiacs, has ever been able to come up with real, workable answers?
Answers that would somehow alleviate or at least help all the hardships, suffering and craziness human’s heinous record of crimes against humanity have and continues to cause.
One of the thoughts I’ve come up with (Opps, here he goes again.) has to do with the whole idea of self worth. As I see it, right or wrong, we all seem to get most of our self worth through our jobs. Only a lucky few have jobs they love but at the least going to work each day provides us with several important factors, including a sense of belonging to something larger than our private worlds, hopefully a sense of accomplishing a task that needs doing and if we’re exceedingly fortunate, enough money to pay life’s oft times rip-off bills, which gives us self-reliance.
So there’s that “Self” thing again. Somehow gaining self-worth and self-reliance, could they quite possibly be the answer to all that ails most of us?
I’m sure since the cave man/women days, humans have always felt better about themselves when they had only themselves to rely on for their day-by-day needs and desires.
So I’ve often wondered if solving a great deal of humanities atrocities against each other is as simple as providing jobs. Not just make work but real jobs of worth. So instead of folks facing what they see as insurmountable, unsolvable and worthless lives, which quickly turns into self-loathing, hate and eventually violence, they would instead have purpose, comradely with others along with the capacity to feel real joy and happiness.
How would we provide jobs for our neediest population, especially in these “interesting times” we find ourselves in right now, you ask?
My thought is, if there were ever a time for the Government to step in to help, this would be it.
WHAT? You scream. More Government? Where do I think they could afford one more penny with all the waste?
OK, lets examine that. Lets start with just one thing we’ve been wasting money on forever. Lets first admit the truth that our entire legal system with its continually growing prison system is a complete failure.
Here are the all important questions folks. Has our legal system or has it not come anywhere close ever to solving crime? Other than for murders, rapist and child molesters, (which I think should be put out of our misery) does continually stacking humans like cordwood in our prisons ultimately make them better citizens or does it just continue their education into more and better crimes when they get out?
How about taking the millions upon millions it takes to incarcerate the very people we should be helping, to instead spend it on real re-education, mental health services, job training and job creation instead?
OK, that’s just one revenue source we could and should use, we’re pissing down the drain right now.
Now I’m sure the readers can think of a dozen other wasteful expenses we could revert to job creation, providing those all important self-worth and self-reliance’s but right now I’d love to introduce one persons unbelievably creative, brave and real step into doing just that.
Her name is Teresa Goines. Goines is no starry-eyed do-gooder. As a juvenile correction officer in Southern California, Goines heard the same story over and over.
"It was the revolving door of jail and prison, the hopelessness," she said. "They didn't expect to live past 18 and in some cases it was 13. They told me, 'We need jobs and some place that feels like family.' "So on the corner of Third Street and Palou in the the bay area of California, she started a Café/Restaurant called Old Skool Café. Old Skool Cafe is a faith-based violence prevention program, providing jobs and training to at-risk youth in the heart of San Francisco.
Their 1940's themed supper club confronts the epidemic of violence by providing at-risk and previously incarcerated youth with a variety of career opportunities that would normally not be afforded them.
Old Skool Cafe's vision is to enable at-risk youth to exit the vicious cycle of crime on the streets by giving them what they need most: meaningful and gainful employment. By hiring youth as paid apprentices, OSC has a proven track record of helping the young people direct their talents and energies into a legal, healthy, and productive path toward adulthood as contributing members of society.
She chose this exact location with a purpose. This neighborhood isn't just troubled. It's flat out dangerous.
"We had homicides on this corner in 2009, 2010, and a fatal stabbing a month ago," says Bayview Station Capt. Paul Chignell. "In the last 10 months we've had 17 firearm arrests on this corner. Things have improved, but there is still an unacceptable level of violence."
So obviously what's needed is a jazz/supper club. There's an offbeat logic to it. At a time when Third Street is transforming, Teresa Goines' idea of the Old Skool Café was grand.
Old Skool is an elegant jazz club with red leather booths and zoot-suited waiters. The kicker is the chefs, waiters and performers are all at-risk kids from the neighborhood.
"Having a felony actually qualifies them for me," Goines says.
True, except the restaurant has to work on its own. The potential is there. From a quick sample of the gumbo, to the award-winning shrimp and grits, to the killer desserts, the menu is a winner.
The entertainment will be a work in progress, but neighborhood advocates like James Moore of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center hopes the food, jazz and cool outfits will attract foodies and music aficionados from downtown.
"We want to make Third Street a destination," Moore said. "More businesses here with a commitment will help make Third safe and active."
Goines understands the neighborhood demographics. But she says this is a business, not a charity. Applicants are required to fill out a 16-page application and then make an appointment for an interview. The cafe got a $460,500 grant spread over three years from the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, and makes up the rest with community donors that include Lennar, which is redeveloping Hunters Point.
Other businesses have already committed to hiring Old Skool-trained youths, said Maria Su, director of the city's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families.
The hope is that by the time the grant expires in June 2013, the business will be self-sufficient.
Old Skool has a difficult path ahead, but who’s going to be the one who says it won't work. Their motto is: Come hungry, leave inspired.
Most who’ve came, did.
Now these kids and the whole neighborhood for that matter have a real chance of changing the direction of their paths from abject poverty, leading to crime, instead to lives of self-worth and self-reliance, all this because of one women’s vision of caring instead of the normal ways of incarceration and abuse at the incapable and failed hands of our judicial system.
So, there’s another fine example of many folks with incredible drive and determination in these new times. Creative intelligent people not only thinking outside the box but sledge hammering the walls completely down, putting new exciting potentials in the clear, clean light of day for all with open eyes to see.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy. Thanks.... Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so..... COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Holistic Life Foundation
Another wonderful story of folks out there doing amazing things.
This is about a group of guys who returned to the neighborhood where they grew up and they're helping the kids who live there find peace of mind in a way you might not expect.
They were asked to coach peewee football, but Andy Gonzalez, along with brothers Ali and Atman Smith, had another idea...
Yoga, offering an extraordinary experience to Baltimore kids who know nothing about inner peace.
Nine years ago they formed the Holistic Life Foundation, a nonprofit offering free yoga classes. They got the kids that had all the behavioral issues, anger management issues, emotional issues. They started with 15 students. Now they've taught more than 1,000.
Away from the yoga mat, these men are tutors and mentors. They've even gotten kids who once destroyed property to help build this neighborhood park. There haven't been a lot of studies on how yoga affects kids, especially inner- city kids like these in Baltimore, but early findings show this kind of exercise is helping kids manage their stress.
Brothers Ali and Atman Smith met Andres Gonzalez at the University of Maryland College Park, spending a lot of time reading books on spirituality, philosophy, religions and other related topics. They all saw some things wrong with the world but it wasn’t until Andres asked. “So, what are we going to do about it?” that they all knew they had to do something.
What that something was, they had no idea. During this time they also began their journey on the path of yoga practice. As young children, Ali and Atman actually grew up with yoga in their home, with their father having them meditate every morning before school. You see, their parents were big hippies. They were also into yoga, vegetarianism, and all the stuff of their parent’s generation.
One summer afternoon, after graduation, the three were watching TV when they saw a commercial about a book telling how to get grant money to help you do almost any type of work. The commercial said something like: “Doing what you want to do in life is like being on vacation every single day!”
They knew they wanted to help people and the planet, and now had some ideas on funding.
At the end of that summer, they moved back into the house that Ali Atman grew up in and immediately noticed the sense of family that was present in the neighborhood when they grew up there was gone.
The Smith brothers remembered when they were living there as children, the neighborhood was like one big family with the older guys there serving as mentors and big brothers to all the younger kids. They say that as important factors in their growth and development. They knew then that they had to try and do something to help bring that feeling back to their neighborhood.
During this time, they began the planning and development for the formation of the non-profit organization. They also began to delve deeper into their practice and study of yoga. After months of hard work, on December 19th 2001, the Holistic Life Foundation was officially incorporated.
The services they now provide include:
Training:
Providing trainings for teachers, administrators, and youth workers. Trainings help participants incorporate yoga mindfulness, breathing, centering and related techniques into their work to improve the deliver of the services they provide.
Workshops:
The Foundation facilitates workshops in many formats, including one-time workshops and workshop series. Workshops include yoga, holistic health, Tai Chi, games, discussions, role-play, interactive activities, lectures as well as holistic solutions for all problems.
They also provide Mentoring, Environmental Advocacy programs, Stress reduction and mindfulness curriculums, Healthy Seniors Programs and much, much more.
So obviously, these two brothers and their friend found unbelievably creative ways to put their collage degrees to work for the benefit of humanity with funding readily available in the form of grants and donations, forming a non-profit organization, which allowed all deserving participants free admission.
All it took was their intelligence, drive, hard work, determination and hearts of gold.
Once again proving beyond a doubt there are people out in the world who do care. Not only care but also make things happen. Every day, every moment, these things are out there happening.
Isn’t it about time we demand our news media’s start focusing on these angels instead of just the negative? At the very least do their duty to show us the truth with balance instead of just one sided?
Want to learn more?
http://www.hlfinc.org/home.htm
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
This is about a group of guys who returned to the neighborhood where they grew up and they're helping the kids who live there find peace of mind in a way you might not expect.
They were asked to coach peewee football, but Andy Gonzalez, along with brothers Ali and Atman Smith, had another idea...
Yoga, offering an extraordinary experience to Baltimore kids who know nothing about inner peace.
Nine years ago they formed the Holistic Life Foundation, a nonprofit offering free yoga classes. They got the kids that had all the behavioral issues, anger management issues, emotional issues. They started with 15 students. Now they've taught more than 1,000.
Away from the yoga mat, these men are tutors and mentors. They've even gotten kids who once destroyed property to help build this neighborhood park. There haven't been a lot of studies on how yoga affects kids, especially inner- city kids like these in Baltimore, but early findings show this kind of exercise is helping kids manage their stress.
Brothers Ali and Atman Smith met Andres Gonzalez at the University of Maryland College Park, spending a lot of time reading books on spirituality, philosophy, religions and other related topics. They all saw some things wrong with the world but it wasn’t until Andres asked. “So, what are we going to do about it?” that they all knew they had to do something.
What that something was, they had no idea. During this time they also began their journey on the path of yoga practice. As young children, Ali and Atman actually grew up with yoga in their home, with their father having them meditate every morning before school. You see, their parents were big hippies. They were also into yoga, vegetarianism, and all the stuff of their parent’s generation.
One summer afternoon, after graduation, the three were watching TV when they saw a commercial about a book telling how to get grant money to help you do almost any type of work. The commercial said something like: “Doing what you want to do in life is like being on vacation every single day!”
They knew they wanted to help people and the planet, and now had some ideas on funding.
At the end of that summer, they moved back into the house that Ali Atman grew up in and immediately noticed the sense of family that was present in the neighborhood when they grew up there was gone.
The Smith brothers remembered when they were living there as children, the neighborhood was like one big family with the older guys there serving as mentors and big brothers to all the younger kids. They say that as important factors in their growth and development. They knew then that they had to try and do something to help bring that feeling back to their neighborhood.
During this time, they began the planning and development for the formation of the non-profit organization. They also began to delve deeper into their practice and study of yoga. After months of hard work, on December 19th 2001, the Holistic Life Foundation was officially incorporated.
The services they now provide include:
Training:
Providing trainings for teachers, administrators, and youth workers. Trainings help participants incorporate yoga mindfulness, breathing, centering and related techniques into their work to improve the deliver of the services they provide.
Workshops:
The Foundation facilitates workshops in many formats, including one-time workshops and workshop series. Workshops include yoga, holistic health, Tai Chi, games, discussions, role-play, interactive activities, lectures as well as holistic solutions for all problems.
They also provide Mentoring, Environmental Advocacy programs, Stress reduction and mindfulness curriculums, Healthy Seniors Programs and much, much more.
So obviously, these two brothers and their friend found unbelievably creative ways to put their collage degrees to work for the benefit of humanity with funding readily available in the form of grants and donations, forming a non-profit organization, which allowed all deserving participants free admission.
All it took was their intelligence, drive, hard work, determination and hearts of gold.
Once again proving beyond a doubt there are people out in the world who do care. Not only care but also make things happen. Every day, every moment, these things are out there happening.
Isn’t it about time we demand our news media’s start focusing on these angels instead of just the negative? At the very least do their duty to show us the truth with balance instead of just one sided?
Want to learn more?
http://www.hlfinc.org/home.htm
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Saving Private Smoke
This is number five in what I hope will be on ongoing crusade to help us get back on track with knowing and appreciating our full potentials as the giving, honorable, loving human beings most are in reality.
Something most media's and political extremists would apparently love us to forget.
Donny Eslinger, a Private First Class, was wounded critically on 26 September 2011 when Insurgents attacked his Forward Operating Base with indirect fire weapons. Donny was standing only 4 feet from the impact of a 75mm Recoilless Rifle round. His injuries were immediately life threatening. His femur bone was shattered lacerating his leg, shrapnel to the shoulder, head and chest. There was a hole in his chest the size of a softball.
Eight of his fellow Soldiers immediately came to his aid, risking their own lives. With rounds continuing to land within 50 feet, Soldiers still worked on him without seeking cover for themselves. Two other Soldiers were wounded trying to and still aiding Donny. He was eventually moved to the Aid Station where the Doctor and Medics feverishly worked on him, which saved his life. Donny is now in Tampa, Florida where he is being treated for his Traumatic Brain Injury. He miraculously survived his injuries and has a long road to recovery.
On that mission Donny found a little puppy about 6 weeks old, him being the animal lover he is, he picked up the puppy and placed him in his assault pack, he quickly named Smoke. He traded three cigarettes to become the dog's owner. He named the dog Smoke Pup Barbarian because of the transaction.
When Eslinger was later flown to Germany and then the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for more treatment, Smoke was left behind.
Smoke was the only bit of moral that made these kids forget were they were and cope with the tragedy they’d just experienced. It is amazing how therapeutic a little creature can be. Donny took care of that dog up until he was injured. Many of the people in his Platoon would love nothing more than to see Smoke reunited with Donny.
Well a group called The Puppy Rescue Mission heard about Smoke Pup when Eslinger's squad leader sent a letter telling Eslinger's story. The dog was then transported to Bethesda on Tuesday, where he was reunited with Eslinger.
For a wounded soldier home from Afghanistan, it was a special reunion a long time in the making. The puppy he adopted on the front lines is now with him again in Bethesda, Md.
Through the efforts of The Puppy Rescue Mission, the dog arrived in Orlando, Fla., just recently.
The primary mission of The Puppy Rescue Mission is to fund-raise and assist in pet rescue, foster and re-homing when needed, in particular pets of soldiers, especially those deployed in war zones. They assist with requests, logistics, administration and fund-raising for the adopted stray dogs of war rescued by and bonded with soldiers. This may include vet care, supplies, transport and related issues. They work with or through other organizations that help our soldiers bring their companion animals home from war.
Another of many fine examples of human beings of compassion, even in the heat and hell on the front lines of war. People sent by us to protect our way of life, asking nothing in return other than hoping to come home in one piece to those they love, having accoumplished the mission given, with honor and pride.
So the next time you’re feeling like your problems are becoming insurmountable, think of what Donny Eslinger went through, probably still is today but in the middle of all that hell, he found a ray of light and hope with his little buddy Smoke.
I’m thinking in a funny way, Smoke was the lucky one to have found such a loving, caring friend to spend the rest of his life with.
Added note:
A dog or cat for that matter does not discriminate. They do not care who you are, what you look like or what you do. The only thing in life they ask for is a little food to keep in their belly, some cool refreshing water to drink, and a pat on the head or pet every now and then. I think we could learn a lesson or two from them. Someone with the most basic of needs that can give back the amount of love that they do - it's pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Something most media's and political extremists would apparently love us to forget.
Donny Eslinger, a Private First Class, was wounded critically on 26 September 2011 when Insurgents attacked his Forward Operating Base with indirect fire weapons. Donny was standing only 4 feet from the impact of a 75mm Recoilless Rifle round. His injuries were immediately life threatening. His femur bone was shattered lacerating his leg, shrapnel to the shoulder, head and chest. There was a hole in his chest the size of a softball.
Eight of his fellow Soldiers immediately came to his aid, risking their own lives. With rounds continuing to land within 50 feet, Soldiers still worked on him without seeking cover for themselves. Two other Soldiers were wounded trying to and still aiding Donny. He was eventually moved to the Aid Station where the Doctor and Medics feverishly worked on him, which saved his life. Donny is now in Tampa, Florida where he is being treated for his Traumatic Brain Injury. He miraculously survived his injuries and has a long road to recovery.
On that mission Donny found a little puppy about 6 weeks old, him being the animal lover he is, he picked up the puppy and placed him in his assault pack, he quickly named Smoke. He traded three cigarettes to become the dog's owner. He named the dog Smoke Pup Barbarian because of the transaction.
When Eslinger was later flown to Germany and then the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for more treatment, Smoke was left behind.
Smoke was the only bit of moral that made these kids forget were they were and cope with the tragedy they’d just experienced. It is amazing how therapeutic a little creature can be. Donny took care of that dog up until he was injured. Many of the people in his Platoon would love nothing more than to see Smoke reunited with Donny.
Well a group called The Puppy Rescue Mission heard about Smoke Pup when Eslinger's squad leader sent a letter telling Eslinger's story. The dog was then transported to Bethesda on Tuesday, where he was reunited with Eslinger.
For a wounded soldier home from Afghanistan, it was a special reunion a long time in the making. The puppy he adopted on the front lines is now with him again in Bethesda, Md.
Through the efforts of The Puppy Rescue Mission, the dog arrived in Orlando, Fla., just recently.
The primary mission of The Puppy Rescue Mission is to fund-raise and assist in pet rescue, foster and re-homing when needed, in particular pets of soldiers, especially those deployed in war zones. They assist with requests, logistics, administration and fund-raising for the adopted stray dogs of war rescued by and bonded with soldiers. This may include vet care, supplies, transport and related issues. They work with or through other organizations that help our soldiers bring their companion animals home from war.
Another of many fine examples of human beings of compassion, even in the heat and hell on the front lines of war. People sent by us to protect our way of life, asking nothing in return other than hoping to come home in one piece to those they love, having accoumplished the mission given, with honor and pride.
So the next time you’re feeling like your problems are becoming insurmountable, think of what Donny Eslinger went through, probably still is today but in the middle of all that hell, he found a ray of light and hope with his little buddy Smoke.
I’m thinking in a funny way, Smoke was the lucky one to have found such a loving, caring friend to spend the rest of his life with.
Added note:
A dog or cat for that matter does not discriminate. They do not care who you are, what you look like or what you do. The only thing in life they ask for is a little food to keep in their belly, some cool refreshing water to drink, and a pat on the head or pet every now and then. I think we could learn a lesson or two from them. Someone with the most basic of needs that can give back the amount of love that they do - it's pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Operation Walk
This is number four in what I hope will be on ongoing crusade to help us get back on track with knowing and appreciating our full potentials as the giving, honorable, loving human beings most are in reality.
Something most media's and political extremists would apparently love us to forget.
Another inspirational story about a doctor helping people get back on their feet again. They're in constant pain, but like many Americans they can't afford to pay for the care they need. That’s where one doctor and his doctor friends come in. They're making a difference in a lot of lives.
These orthopedic surgeons do more than fix bones for a living. For years, Operation Walk, the charity Lawrence D Door MD founded, has provided free surgeries for thousands of vulnerable people around the globe. Now with tough economic times in this country, Dr. Dorr is bringing his charity home. During a recent two-day span, he and 60 other orthopedic surgeons operated on uninsured patients, replacing their bad hips and knees. These were people who had lost all hope for their tomorrows until he came along.
Operation Walk was started in 1995 by Lawrence D. Dorr, M.D. in Los Angeles CA.
Dr. Dorr is one of the leading joint replacement surgeons in the United States. On a teaching trip to Russia, Dr. Dorr had the idea that one of the best ways to teach physicians was to actually demonstrate the surgery. Dr. Dorr put together a team of surgeons, internal medicine doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, and physical therapists and planned his first Operation Walk trip to Havana, Cuba. The connection was made through a former patient, Mr. Buddy Litten, and the program took its first step. The team spent eight months getting all of the implants, medications, surgical supplies, and postoperative supplies ready to be transported to Havana. The first trip was a success with 45 joints operated in a 3-day period. It was a very rewarding experience for the team, and of course, everyone was full of enthusiasm to plan the next trip. Over the next 10 years, 2 Operation Walk teams operated 6 times in Cuba, helping over 250 patients.
The entire medical team volunteers their time. Physicians, nurses, physical therapists, anesthesiologists, internists, and Orthopedic surgeons.
While on location the team educates the local medical community on advanced treatments and techniques.
Emphasis is placed on promoting the importance of preoperative planning, after care, and rehabilitation.
Medical supplies and equipment are provided through donations.
Operation Walk was founded in 1994 and has operated on over 2500 patients in ten countries In Mar. 2000, Dec. 2001, Nov. 2002, Mar. 2004, Jun. 2005, Nov. 2006 and Nov. 2007.
The Operation Walk team donated its services to the Los Angeles community, promoting the importance of preoperative planning, after care, and rehabilitation.
Operation Walk plans up to four international medical missions a year.
To-date, teams have provided surgeries and education in Russia, Nepal, China, Cuba, the
Philippines, Nicaragua, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama.
Hospital charges for one surgical replacement:
Hip would equal $117,500
Average cost for 30 replacements of either hip or knee (per mission trip):
Would be greater than 3 million dollars
Volunteer time donated (per mission trip):
One medical team’s time donated per mission trip would equal $115,320
Physician’s time donated per trip would equal $300,000
So the next time you think all Doctors are money hungry, greedy, selfish examples of humanity, remember Dr. Dorr and everyone involved with The Operation Walk team.
I’ve thought for years that before that new fangled thing called medical insurance changed the whole emphasis in medicine, people became Doctors from a need to help their fellow humans in time of need, not for money.
We’ve all heard stories from the distant past of farmers trading a chicken or two for a Doctors services. Maybe someday, we can return to some form of sanity with our health care system, where medical care is within reach of everyone, instead of just those with the means to afford it.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
Something most media's and political extremists would apparently love us to forget.
Another inspirational story about a doctor helping people get back on their feet again. They're in constant pain, but like many Americans they can't afford to pay for the care they need. That’s where one doctor and his doctor friends come in. They're making a difference in a lot of lives.
These orthopedic surgeons do more than fix bones for a living. For years, Operation Walk, the charity Lawrence D Door MD founded, has provided free surgeries for thousands of vulnerable people around the globe. Now with tough economic times in this country, Dr. Dorr is bringing his charity home. During a recent two-day span, he and 60 other orthopedic surgeons operated on uninsured patients, replacing their bad hips and knees. These were people who had lost all hope for their tomorrows until he came along.
Operation Walk was started in 1995 by Lawrence D. Dorr, M.D. in Los Angeles CA.
Dr. Dorr is one of the leading joint replacement surgeons in the United States. On a teaching trip to Russia, Dr. Dorr had the idea that one of the best ways to teach physicians was to actually demonstrate the surgery. Dr. Dorr put together a team of surgeons, internal medicine doctors, anesthesiologists, nurses, and physical therapists and planned his first Operation Walk trip to Havana, Cuba. The connection was made through a former patient, Mr. Buddy Litten, and the program took its first step. The team spent eight months getting all of the implants, medications, surgical supplies, and postoperative supplies ready to be transported to Havana. The first trip was a success with 45 joints operated in a 3-day period. It was a very rewarding experience for the team, and of course, everyone was full of enthusiasm to plan the next trip. Over the next 10 years, 2 Operation Walk teams operated 6 times in Cuba, helping over 250 patients.
The entire medical team volunteers their time. Physicians, nurses, physical therapists, anesthesiologists, internists, and Orthopedic surgeons.
While on location the team educates the local medical community on advanced treatments and techniques.
Emphasis is placed on promoting the importance of preoperative planning, after care, and rehabilitation.
Medical supplies and equipment are provided through donations.
Operation Walk was founded in 1994 and has operated on over 2500 patients in ten countries In Mar. 2000, Dec. 2001, Nov. 2002, Mar. 2004, Jun. 2005, Nov. 2006 and Nov. 2007.
The Operation Walk team donated its services to the Los Angeles community, promoting the importance of preoperative planning, after care, and rehabilitation.
Operation Walk plans up to four international medical missions a year.
To-date, teams have provided surgeries and education in Russia, Nepal, China, Cuba, the
Philippines, Nicaragua, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama.
Hospital charges for one surgical replacement:
Hip would equal $117,500
Average cost for 30 replacements of either hip or knee (per mission trip):
Would be greater than 3 million dollars
Volunteer time donated (per mission trip):
One medical team’s time donated per mission trip would equal $115,320
Physician’s time donated per trip would equal $300,000
So the next time you think all Doctors are money hungry, greedy, selfish examples of humanity, remember Dr. Dorr and everyone involved with The Operation Walk team.
I’ve thought for years that before that new fangled thing called medical insurance changed the whole emphasis in medicine, people became Doctors from a need to help their fellow humans in time of need, not for money.
We’ve all heard stories from the distant past of farmers trading a chicken or two for a Doctors services. Maybe someday, we can return to some form of sanity with our health care system, where medical care is within reach of everyone, instead of just those with the means to afford it.
Again. PLEASE DO NOT E-MAIL ME. Take the time and effort to read the directions below and add to the conversation for all to enjoy.
Thanks....
Now click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog and add your response or thoughts for others to see when they click on the "Comments" link (TRY IT RIGHT NOW!). It makes it far more interesting if we make it a conversation, instead of just my bullshit. Thank you to those who take the time and effort to do so.....
COME ON..........DO IT!!!
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