The magic of holiday time comes alive again in the Christmas town of Natchitoches

Natchitoches, Louisiana Christmas

Carol Forsloff--Do you believe in the wholesome magic that comes with the awe of lights that rival heaven's stars and people at their best?  Then Natchitoches, Louisiana is the place where all that centers, to usher in the holidays for everyone all over the world.

Natchitoches has long been known for its festival at Christmas.  Nothing can compare with the first Saturday in December, when people come from everywhere to join together in the formal opening of the Christmas holidays.  The lights and fireworks of Natchitoches are like nowhere else in this season.  Big cities with major crowds cannot rival this small town's presentation.  People have been known to weep in wonder, to cry with the splendor of the lights, the Christmas carols and the wonderful life that seems to be reflected in everything around.

The evening comes; the fireworks end.  The music is heard echoing off the riverbank as the lights sparkle in the distance, as some folks wearily, but happily, cross from the bridge from the center of town, back into their cars and homes with the memories of holiday best.

Natchitoches is the town of the Steel Magnolias, the location of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the centerpiece of the nation's expansion, as it is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase that led to the expansion of the United States from a collection of colonies to a nation of states.  It also brings many thousands of people from around the globe to enjoy the magnificent fireworks displays that begin in November and continue through the first week of January every year.

The town has that homey, small-town feel and appearance, as it gets all decked out every year for the holiday season.  This is the time when people of all political persuasions and social dictates gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  People of Natchitoches may have their differences, but in towns like this folks tend to keep those differences manageable, as they live and work together and plan their celebrations in a fashion that keeps the community unified in a single purpose: offering the Christmas magic to one another and to visitors that come from everywhere.

Reflecting on the magic of Christmas in Natchitoches from Hawaii,  the State most distant from it, offers a journalist good memories of a different life experience, of what it is like to live in a small Southern town and enjoy its hospitality.  And for all those who believe in the best in all of us, that type of hospitality is a fitting manner with which to enter the New Year in the coming weeks.

Small towns offer potential for ethical and spiritual resolutions to government inertia

Crowd at annual food festival in Natchtioches, Louisiana

While people nationwide in the United States are annoyed with the inertia of the federal government, often it is at the grassroots where problems can be resolved and true mediation occur.  Two towns, one in the South and one in the West, are examples where that might be able to take place, as other areas of the country can examine their connections that could serve to ignite a new direction for government to function more responsively to the needs of ordinary people.

census rally in La Grande, Oregon - CF

Local communities have close common interests because there are fewer degrees of separation socially.  People have long-standing relationships and marriage among families that fosters permanent bonds.  Social connections and spiritual bonds are formed at church.  This means there is a strong platform for discussing community problems.

Political problems do occur in small towns, but that dissension ordinarily only goes just so far, because an angry tongue unleashed against a neighbor is felt not just in one's immediate neighborhood but reverberates across town.  The higher up the food chain of government, however, the less personal and direct the relationships are, making it easier for people to become hostile in prominent and more long-lasting ways than occur in small towns.

In local communities like Natchitoches, Louisiana and La Grande, Oregon there are not just long relationships but some "bad blood" between individuals and factions, the town politicians know that helping to effect resolution of problems will help the overall community interest.  It is difficult to side with one faction over the other because overlapping relationships too. 

The process of having good things begins with grassroots coalitions that support the growth upwards of benefits that exist for everyone.

Sometimes that mediation and reconciliation takes place in simple ways, when two people from diverse groups agree on a problem that affects the greater good.  It is easier to talk things out in small towns over a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop or on a park bench where two people can overlook the town and speak of the good things while sorting out the problems.

Can reconciliation and mediation truly take place in ways that work?  It did during integration in Natchitoches when quiet negotiations took place among black and white business and community leaders who had never been schooled together but knew each other by reputation or in passing at large gatherings, usually involving immediate physical needs.  These negoitations allowed integration to occur between the Steel Magnolia ancestors and those of Uncle Tom's cabin with little violence or recrimination.  Ben Johnson, a prominent African American businessman and Arthur Watson, the town's most high-profile attorney were two of those taking leadership in days where other places had serious violence during integration.  These men helped keep the town intact, the voices of hate and dissension down, that allowed black and white children to begin attending school together in relatively peaceful ways.

La Grande, Oregon developed from the settlement of various factions of predominantly European groups into Indian territory under harsh conditions.  Out of this settlement came negotiations that remain part of the town's underpinnings, the type that can serve the nation at a time it needs this type of effort the most.

In La Grande, the mediation with Native American groups made a difference in the life of the town, so that Indian blood in one's veins became valued, not denied as a way to succeed.  Sacajawea, who was the famous Native American woman accompanying the Lewis and Clark expedition on the Oregon trail that bonded Louisiana and Oregon in the Louisiana Purchase, is widely revered in La Grande where an apartment building, and once an old hotel, were named after her.

It is that type of movement that works towards mediation among individuals, small groups and small towns that is now required to move the larger community forward, when people of good faith, regardless of political view or religious affiliation, sit down together and examine the issues that are common to most folks in their daily lives.  These resolutions support the potential of a movement up the chain where major government entities now sit so far removed from ordinary folk they seldom understand the local community plight.

That's the root of anti-government feeling at a time when the nation needs better bonding as a shield against outside attack and the breakdown of the culture from within from drugs, crime and acts of hate.

With grassroots bonding and the work of coalitions that cross racial and political groups,  small towns like Natchitoches and La Grande will be able to take great steps in maintaining their economic base and likely can improve it by accenting their values in getting things done.  These are solutions of the spirit that many people understand because they live and work closely together.

Grassroots mediation and working together on common issues can improve local communities, but this process can also form the basis of improving government at the national level where it doesn't seem to work.  As Hillary Clinton wrote in a book with reference to the raising of children, "It takes a village."  In this case that village might mean small towns making a difference in getting people to communicate amicably so they are able to take the message to the state and national levels and restore civility to government.

One town shows example of why US has failed disadvantaged learners

Natchitoches, Louisiana, oldest town in the Louisiana Purchase

Carol Forsloff - The idea was welcomed by a large swath of the townspeople.  Meetings were held; committees were formed.  People were enthusiastic about a new idea to help disadvantaged learners.  What happened that reveals why the United States has failed disadvantaged learners?

In Natchitoches, Louisiana in 2007 a revolution in education was embraced to help disadvantaged students, but soon it was a forgotten mission  just like the rest of the country.

Natchitoches,Louisiana is just one town in thousands across the United States with failing schools, according to statisticians and educators.  Education Nation, the special by CNN,  and Waiting for Superman, the documentary,highlighted education's problems; but one wonders if they went far enough in examining the equation of why schools are actually failing.

No one speaks of these films and programs anymore.  In fact education remains a backburner item, especially when it comes to disadvantaged students.

What happened in one town in the United States, Natchitoches, Louisiana,might shine a light on why schools fail and why it is the adults who must change.

Pat Cooper, a school superintendent in Mississippi, arrived in Natchitoches to a crowd of support, both liberal and conservative, at a major meeting where the public was invited.  Even the Chamber of Commerce became highly involved in the message of Pat Cooper.  His message before that assemblage was education should be treated like Hillary Clinton's thesis in "It Takes a Village."  He maintained at the time that a community must value education and that it should be reinforced at every
level of the community.

What happened in Natchitoches, however, is what often happens in communities with good intentions.  The ideas fell apart because of vested interests, racial differences, political bickering and power bases that could not give up any turf so children could learn.

The school board, divided racially, divided particularly on the selection of a Superintendent of Schools, on discipline issues and even on the nature of the problems themselves.  For each side, black and white, the problem was the other side.  All of this shows up again in the elections, as sides are often pitted against each other in increasingly high-pitched claims for the school board who are elected officials in Natchitoches and therefore have political power.

The racial divides, however, are not always core issues, despite the claims that are made.  The problem, according to members of both the black and white communities, is that people retain old beliefs regardless of more and more new findings about what works and what doesn't.  Those
well-meaning, dedicated people who wanted to help and to move education forward were left with just too many fights.

"Vested interests in the status quo," was a problem," John Winston said those years ago. Winston is an African American man with a background in school leadership.  He saw both the racial divide as well as management inertia at the heart of the problems in Natchitoches.

Unions, school administrator relationships with national textbook companies,cultural differences and how children should be treated in human relationships in classrooms are at the core of the nation's problems in education, along with the specifics in quality teachers and methodologies in how to teach children.  Without a focused desire to change that overrides adult needs and egos, the children are left with no answers--and no education, as has happened in Natchitoches,Louisiana.

The schools in Natchitoches continue to struggle, folks say. And what will happen in the town of Steel Magnolias and the descendants of Uncle Tom's cabin and places like it when adult concerns and biases override those of their children?

It will mean a desperate future for many children.  The notion it takes a village, that sounds all well and good, does not happen as theoretically explained; and children drift helplessly on.

Legal definition and social one uniquely different with respect to religion

Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah

Carol Forsloff -Several years ago a young woman described herself as a Mormon at a library in Natchitoches,Louisiana, and when she left the desk, the clerk said, "That's not a religion; it's a cult."  But what does the law say is the definition of religion?  And how is that definition different than the social one?

I told the clerk I was writing about religions. “That’s not one,” she said, “It’s a cult. They don’t believe like us."

Well, defining "us" might be difficult since there are diverse beliefs in any town, including one in the Bible Belt. 

“What makes you think so?” was the question asked of the clerk with the pretty, young face and the adamant opinion.

“I just know, don’t you.”

“Actually,” I said, “I don’t.  But it might be interesting to find out what the experts say about faith and how it is defined”

So what defines the difference between a cult and a religion?

Christianity was considered different enough to cause consternation to Romans and Jews alike when it first began. The divisions of Christianity have
called one another cults ever since, but what makes a religion legal?
The Church of Scientology is recognized over most of the world as a religion,
although some may define it as cult. Believers use this fact to recruit.
Others consider it a cult with a nefarious character. That’s true of
other groups as well. For example, the Branch Davidians were
controversial both before and after David Koresh.

The Internal Revenue Service gives this as definition :

a distinct legal existence, a recognized creed and form of worship, a definite and distinct ecclesiastical government, a formal code of doctrine and discipline a distinct religious history, a membership not associated with any other church or denomination, an organization of ordained ministers, ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed studies, a literature of its own, established places of worship, regular congregations, regular religious services, Sunday schools for religious instruction of the young, school for the preparation of its ministers.

But some wonder if this set of criteria of the IRS is accurate and if
it might just be biased and flawed.

One writer observes that it distinctly favors high or formal churches with
large congregations. Unitarians and Quakers often meet informally in
homes or small places. Some groups use a selection from different
religious literature. Some have history that is aligned with other
groups, but have such different characters that they couldn’t be
associated with the same group, such as the Quakers and Baptists who
left the Church of England at the same time and have a shared history in
some respects and unshared in others.

Lots of groups don’t have Sunday school for the young. So if it isn’t the IRS standard that is reasonable, what should be used?

It turns out the debate over the definition of religion is as old as history itself and the debate has gone on for ages. Even lawyers and nations have
had trouble sorting it out.

The problems involve the imposition of societal standards and judgments that can make a difference. So when it comes to protecting religion the application of the law requires a definition, but that definition brings debate.

Then there is identity religion where folks subscribe to a community but not
necessarily to a specific set of religious beliefs. That would include
many Jews, for example. In most places the laws that regulate religion
are usually oriented towards majority practices and the promotion of
specific groups to the community to be recognized.

The actual practice of faith means that in countries with large Christian
populations Christmas is a holiday and in Islamic countries laws that
permit the ritual slaughter of animals. So what is a religion?

The answer is really who applies to be one and over time is accepted after
enough fuss is made and enough adherents join in making a fuss that is
heard by those in control and power, according to those who
have reviewed this question.

With the debates raging in the world about religion in general, what about those religions outside of Christianity?  It appears, given the definitions that the traditional faith groups of Islam, Judaism and Buddhist, as well as others, are legally religions and not cults, despite how society might judge them.

Mormon is likely a religion, according to most of these rules.  The group is well-known and has  a little over 12 million members worldwide.  It also has specific creeds that set it apart from other faith groups.   That’s certainly enough to make it a religion according to the law.

Erosion of civility in politics; grassroots folks have answers

The beautiful town of Natchitoches, Louisiana where people strive to get along with one another

President Obama was quoted as saying at a prayer breakfast in 2010, there's been "an erosion of civility" in politics, giving as examples questions concerning his faith and his birth.  Four years later, political divisions seem only to have increased.  But is this true everywhere and how can politics improve?

To find some of the answers to the problems concerning the lack of civility in political discourse and whether or not folks think it's a problem, I interviewed Jack McCain, a member of the city council of Natchitoches, Louisiana, a few years ago.  That interview is particularly appropriate in 2014, as the country's political divisions have seemed only to increase over time.

McCain has been active as a political and community leader in the town since 1988. He also owns his own business in auto supplies and has the perspective of small business as well as that of a conservative from the South. But he had a history of taking pride in himself on looking at issues and working towards areas of agreement.

McCain was asked, "Do you think there are problems with civility in political discussions today?" He said, "Yes I do." When asked why that is, he responded, "I don't really know for sure all the answers. But this is what I think. We are more polarized now that I have ever noticed before. I think a lot of it is due to public unrest, like the parties, the tea parties, the health care debate and all that." He declared he thinks Obama is setting a trend that's divisive.

When asked if former President Bush might have been divisive as well, "He said I think he (Bush) was perceived that way, as a divider." He agreed that neither Bush nor Obama were politicians who have been able to moderate discussion and bring people together.
But the effect on future generations is McCain's greatest concern.

 He said this, "What are we doing to our children? It's really scary. We have to stop spending. We need to be more interested in the private sector, small business. Not a lot is being done to help small business." He expalined it's tough for many small businesses, although his is doing well.

I asked McCain if he thought political dialogue was better in Natchitoches than other places in the country. He said, "I think it's better. But there are those trying to drive a wedge between us from both the conservative and liberal sides." McCain referred to a march on city hall that had taken place a couple of months ago where a group of people demonstrated against bringing back what is commonly known as a "darky" statue of an African American man bowing at the waist while tipping his hat. 

McCain went on to explain how there had been major objections to the statue and talk of bringing it back as simply a historical piece. Marchers instead didn't want it in town, unless it was placed in the hands of African Americans, exclusively in a museum; and some even objected to that.

 It was found later on the statue was not coming back for some technical reasons set outside of Natchitoches, so it had really become a non-issue. Still council members were accused of wanting to bring the statue back in some negative way and were even accused of shutting down the local radio statue so the proceedings couldn't be heard on the air, although the owner declared later it was a problem simply with the radio station itself. McCain declared, "people didn't seem to want to listen, the effort was divisive and caused some hard feelings." He went on to say, however, "that most folks don't want this kind of stuff to go on, including most of the African Americans I know."

McCain, at the time of the interview, told me of his belief people can find areas of political agreements and should focus on them. He said, "There are ways people can get together and focus on issues not personalities." He agreed things like medical marijuana and legal rights for all groups regardless of sexual orientation are some of the areas where open agreements might be made. He went on to emphasize, "the militant factions should back off."

I asked McCain what kind of person he thought might be able to get the country together. He said, "That's a difficult question. That's really tough. For my part, I think someone with Christian values, someone who is centrist but progressive in some ways, but still thinks less government is better. The person should want the government to be safe." He observes that money and lobbyists get in the way of good communication and prevent some good people who might be the right kind of folks for political office. He mentioned people like former Governor Huckabee, but how he stumbled on pardoning a man from prison, who later killed several police officers. He likes some of Newt Gingrich's ideas but not his personal values because of his divorces.

"Could you accept a Democrat"? McCain who admitted to being a lifelong Republican said, "Yes, and there could be some unknowns out there. The person could be an independent or Democrat, not just a Republican person. Republicans do a lot of things I don't agree with, so the person could be an independent, for example. A lot of people are moving in that direction for that reason, I think."

McCain is often talked about in the town of Natchitoches as someone most folks respect. So I asked how he was able to communicate with most people in Natchitoches and are to moderate discussion." He said, "Well, first of all I don't think of myself as a politician, although technically I probably am. I pride myself on looking at every issue on its merits, the human side of the issue. I will do what is right for Natchitoches, not just to get elected. I avoid racism when it comes to relationships with the African American community and stick to the issues at hand." He also said this might be his last term on the city council, and he wants as a replacement, someone "who has the right kind of thoughts and is able to communicate them well and get along with others."

On a personal side, McCain talked about that human side of interaction as very important. He mentioned his own personal pain, like the deaths of two of his children, that had helped him relate to people who suffer from hurts. "Losses make people look at things differently, with their hearts. I try to do that as well."

Polarization in politics is said to take place in a country divided on strict political lines. But is it everywhere and where are the good examples? The interview with McCain provides evidence there are people at the grassroots level who care about others and want discourse to improve and try to set good examples for it so effective political discussions and civility can happen everywhere.

If people thought of a nearby state with all its people as simply part of a neighborhood or a small town with close relationships, respecting what folks often talk about, as the connectedness among us, perhaps the ability to get along politically would occur; and the gridlock in Washington would become a clear highway with the country reaching its destination towards prosperity and peace.

Religion offers social benefits and a way to advance in business insmall towns

Natchitoches, Louisiana is a town where belonging to a church is important for both social and business success[/caption]

While many Americans may not always attend church, the right answer for social and business success is to at least espouse a religion in most places in the United States.  In the South it can make a difference in whether or not an individual has a support system as well, as often the church is the very center of recreation and a place to meet those who can help ensure one has the right contacts to advance in business.

That center of social action, the church, takes precedence over almost any type of contact and interaction in small towns.  Whereas many of the people of Portland, Oregon profess no religious affiliation, in La Grande, Oregon, a small town in the Eastern part of the State, membership in the Mormon Church can help facilitate making friends and finding job opportunities.  In La Grande, many people are Mormon, with twice the percentage of membership at 21% of those who profess to be Christian compared with approximately 9% in the State.

Many people in La Grande, who are Mormon, are descendants of the early settlers to the area of Eastern Oregon.  For children growing up in the town, the church affiliation offers a social experience that often fuses many of the activities in other organizations.  Often the same child is a member of the local girl scouts as well as the Mormon Church, where the focus is on learning skills and values that add to the community experience.  The Mormon Church's precepts of hard work and the importance of the family fit well with the Western traditions of rugged independence.  That popular saying, recited by mothers and grandmothers about idle hands being part of the Devil's workshop reinforces the values of work as a way to stay out of mischief.

In Natchitoches, Louisiana the dominant church is Southern Baptist.  The African American community has a number of Baptist churches, and the white community does as well.  For the most part the races do not mix on Sunday, even as they are buried in separate graveyards.  The most famous cemetery, one of the oldest in the United States, has few African Americans who are, for the most part, formerly servants of some of the more prominent white families, many of whose descendants continue to live in the town.  The Mayor, Senator of the District and President of the University all are often members of the largest church in town, First Baptist Church, a place where social activity thrives and new residents almost always given a friendly greeting and a welcome to attend.

The uniqueness of small towns in the United States is the impact of religion on social behavior that is not the same as in the cities.  In the small communities a special church in a town has a unique status and often is recognized as the one to attend, or at least hold membership, because it can make a difference in having the right friends and business contacts.  In cities, however, it is not a particular church that is important but rather, at minimum, a declaration that one is Christian, with being Jewish a secondary choice in Eastern cities.

How one worships also offers insight into the education and status of an individual.  Although Americans consider themselves open to different religions, most people are cautious about admitting any belief other than Christian.  There are, however, crossover memberships in New Age organizations so that people embrace an eclectic belief system, while continuing to identify themselves with a particular denomination or religious group.  In the South, however, most people continue to advocate a more fundamental Christian belief without much of the enticement of other belief systems fused with it, as occurs in the towns of Oregon.  By a wide margin, according to the Pew Forum most people in the South are Evangelical Christians.

Men are more apt to express no religious affiliation and African Americans more likely to identify themselves as Christian.  Two-thirds of these African Americans consider themselves Baptists.  Hindus and Jews have the highest income levels.  The West has fewer people who express themselves as having a religious affiliation or who say they belong to a particular denomination.  The opinions and religious views differ by region, with Southerners more apt to be conservative, born-again Evangelicals, the Midwest more of a mix of both conservative and mainstream, and the West with more people who identify themselves with no particular group and more apt to have more liberal social attitudes and religious beliefs.  But in many of the groups in the West Coast, the absence of religion can have a certain status as well, especially among the younger age groups.

Despite the changing climate of faith in America, with the tendency to be eclectic about religion as the more dominant theme for most folks, the value of belonging to the right social group, which turns out to be the church in small towns, continues to be important if one wants to get ahead and meet the right people.  So if you are that new kid on the block in a small town like La Grande, Oregon or Natchitoches, Lousiana and you are opening a candy store on the corner where everyone might come, the best place to begin that marketing effort might be around the tea and coffee in the church courtyard, or snack in the Mormon social hall after Sunday services, if you want to be successful in a small town.

Internet fuels women's empowerment through crafts and cooperativeventures

Women of India look for ways to make money with crafts as do women from underdeveloped countries

Across the world indigenous people offer their crafts in the marketplaces, but with the advent of the Internet more and more of the creations made by these talented people are becoming available to everyone, while providing opportunities for empowerment as well.

In Natchitoches, Louisiana the local Methodist church has a bazaar annually where the crafts of women are displayed, providing another way to reach the public with the cause of helping women in underdeveloped countries be able to earn a living.  The program of helping women in this way attracts many visitors to the church, where at the door church women sell the crafts and explain how they are made.  This is a way of bringing the world to a small town in the South and in a way that helps empower women too.

On a small island in Bali, the only Muslim island in the country, the people are so poor a woman of 40 appears as a very old woman.  The women on the island fashion crafts with cloth, tapestries for the wall and also clothes made from hand-woven fabric.  They work all day cross-legged on mats, as the sun beats savagely on the ground  hardened by soil and rain, as the women avert their eyes, focusing instead on the tasks before them, making something beautiful to sell.

While fair trade practices are highlighted by organizations around the world, the conditions under which many women make their crafts continues to be primitive in many areas, where they often work from early morning until late evening.  It is that environment that the women cannot escape, even as their crafts are made available around the world.

Still in many places women are doing well enough to band together to make demands they be paid fairly, that they are involved in the business itself as they emphasize the need not just to make a living, but earning it in conditions that do not rob them of their youth long before their time.

India's SAHAJ is one of those organizations  that provides women opportunities to sell crafts on the Internet and through organizations as well.  Women have become organized in clusters, self-sustaining groups where they learn the elements of business and working together, even as they improve the work itself.  They use a Common Facility Center model where raw materials are made available in the right way and to the right individuals.  Production is higher in these facilities.

Churches are involved in helping artisans and so are universities.  Carnegie Mellon at its Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is helping facilitate the empowerment of women by providing visitors with exhibits where they can view the crafts and learn of the culture and how many of the beautiful products are produced.  It is one of the ways to make contact with the public so that the markets for traditional crafts can be opened to the world.

Many of the self-sufficient groups that receive training come from that same principle used by the Peace Corps, not giving people fish but instead teaching them to fish, but in this case the fish are the raw materials that people learn how to use in an expanded way with one another and learn the business of marketing as well.

The Baha'is are among those religious groups most active in the empowerment of women in India.  In 1985 a vocational training center was developed by the Baha'is of India.  Barli Development Institute for Rural Women was established for the empowerment of rural and tribal women.  Its very name underlines the belief based on Baha'i principles that women are the central pillars of society and are equal to men.  This name highlights the belief of the Institute that women are the central pillars of the society.

While international groups proclaim the problems of poor women in indigenous cultures, many people are unaware that building communities through crafts and increasing markets for them is making a difference.  In fact, in India many women are able to sustain their families and become independent by learning to work in a community of women who bond, then band together to learn and to become proud of what they do.

As the world worries over the lot of women, the human trafficking, lack of education and domestic violence, there are changes that are making a difference in many indigenous cultures.  Those who want to help the cause of empowering women have only to peruse the local paper, to see where craft shows are held and ask if any of them support these cooperative ventures.  It is a way that everyone can be involved in lifting women out of poverty and helping them become educated and fully participating citizens in their cities around the world.

Louisiana virtues represent cultural, spiritual ways as the prism ofunderstanding

Natchitoches, Louisiana

Carol Forsloff---Louisiana is often portrayed on television, by the movies and political and social media outlets as a place of ignorance, prejudice and unhealthy ways.  Yet like every place, or everyone, its virtues are often neglected.  An examination of those virtues offers the way to understand differences and revel in our commonalities, shared beliefs and end the chasm that often exists when mythology is embraced instead of reason.

The South offers a microcosm of much of what is good about America.  Those statements about Southern hospitality are true and manifested by many of those ways that identify a culture much misunderstood and often seen only in stereotypes.

If you want to visit a people who live by the motto, "Laugh and the world laughs with you," then go South and find them there.  That kind of motto might be lived in other places, but it is deepened into the very earth walked by people of the South and is part of the air they breathe.

"Laiseez le bon temp" is not an idle saying.  Instead that message of letting the good times roll is a way of reminding us that regardless of the difficulties and despairs of our world, we should focus on those good times, find ways to make them last and bring laughter and good times wherever we go.  The message also tells us it is up to all of us to be among those who laugh and share the good times, for in life there is recognition that the bad times can be overridden by memories that are good.

The welcome mat is virtually spelled out in front of many Southern doors, a mat that has at times not been shared as extensively as it should, but the gradual growth of inclusion is finding its way into a culture that might end up being the source of teaching us all just what it means to welcome someone else.  For the welcome mat of Louisiana is one that says that welcome means a friend inside the door, with a kettle of hot soup and a hug as well.  For feelings are shared abundantly by people who aren't afraid to reveal their love in big ways and in small.

Then there is the matter of faith, for people share a multitude of beliefs, although not quite as widely in number as other regions might have.  But the faith is deep, and that old notion of family first is found almost everywhere.  When you make a friend of a Southerner, you are apt to be in that family group.  It takes, however, time and the willingness to look beyond differences for any family to function; and for those adopted by a Southern family, the benefits are immense.

Culture is defined as the customs and lifestyles of a people, and in this case Louisiana literally dances with them, blending Native American, Western and Southern European, and African American styles with vigor in music, art and that Laissez les bons temp rouler that is intimately part of Louisiana culture

A philosopher-ethicist-prophet once said that if a man has one fault and one virtue, look at his virtue and forget his faults, as is an encouraging way to view life. Louisiana folks surely have more than one virtue, so sorting and finding those virtues is not a difficult task. When those virtues are discovered, they bring the truth of this message about faults and virtues and become the prism of true understanding.

African American relates Kwanzaa's violent past makes it 'no good thing'

Ron Karenga

Carol Forsloff---Kwanza is a special time for African Americans in many parts of the world, but   many might hesitate to embrace the holiday completely because of the violent history of its founder, Ron Karenga.

An African American publisher in Louisiana suggested this journalist write a story about Kwanzaa. He had once been a security guard, protecting key individuals in the African American community, specifically some women, from the abuses of Ron Karenga.

What he told me at the outset was this, “Kwanzaa ain't no good thing,” which became the title of an article I subsequently wrote for the local paper published by Randy Stelly, the publisher of The Real Views, a multicultural newspaper in Natchitoches, Louisiana. This is the story from that interview of 2006.

Natchitoches, Louisiana is a town of great beauty where the population is 50% African American.  So I assumed there would be Kwanzaa celebrations there.  To find out more about it I assumed good things since as a social liberal I have open views about the faith of others, so I wasn’t prepared for Randy's reply.   Besides we had become partners in managing his newspaper, where I wrote articles and interfaced with the townspeople of Natchitoches.

His eyes narrowed and brows furrowed, Randy looked earnestly at me and said,  “First of all, remember that black folks are no more homogenous than white folks so don’t assume we all celebrate Kwanzaa.  It isn’t part of my tradition.  And I think if people really knew what was behind it and how it began, it wouldn't be celebrated by anybody except those who just want to be stupid.  I can tell you a lot about it because it’s important.  That’s because I think folks shouldn’t side with something that was built on a history of intimidation and violence.”

I was curious since intimidation and violence are not words associated with Kwanzaa images.  I wondered, as many people might,  how could Kwanzaa could be anything but good.  So my eyes were opened as I listened to Randy talk about his California experience,  in the black power movement of the 1960’s.  Randy knew some of the Black Panther members, since he was always interested in politics and the news.  He was never a member of any black extremist group but had the journalist’s inquiring mind.  That led him to getting involved with a number of people back then who figured prominently in the development of the “black identity.”

Elridge Cleaver, Kathleen Cleaver, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, and Mohammad X were familiar names to me since I was a young adult at the time.    These folks were described by the media in the 60's as the more outwardly demonstrative, somewhat aggressive, always assertive, members of “the movement.”  There were other names, however, that I hadn't known,  names like Ron Karenga and Geronimo Pratt.  And that's where Randy's story started--leading me to find out about these characters, to learn more about Kwanzaa’s founder and whether  his life reflected the teachings of the holiday he initiated.

Mr. Karenga, the founder of Kwanzaa, has quite a past.  Randy told me that Karenga had been the head of the opposition party on the campus of UCLA, struggling against the Black Panthers for control of the black movement in the area.  He went on to tell me that a group called Cointelpro, connected with the FBI and the government, got involved with that opposition group which called itself US, a euphemism for United Slaves.    Research supports that Randy’s narrative to be right.

Karenga, born  July 14, 1941, has been also referred to by the title “Maulana” which means “master teacher” in Arabic and Swahili.    Kwanzaa was founded by Karenga with the first observed celebration in California from December 26 until January 1, 1967.  Four years later Karenga was convicted of felony assault for having kidnapped and tortured two of US female members.

Randy recalled that at the time Karenga was rumored to have a particular dislike of black women.  A Los Angles Time article  on his trial dated May 14, 1971, no longer available on the Internet but summarized here, summarized the testimony of one of the women:  “Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes.  She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Ms. Davis's mouth and placed against Ms. Davis's face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise.  Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said.”  They also were hit on the heads with toasters.

During Karenga's trial there were questions about his sanity.  He was described by a psychiatrist as someone who “represents a picture that can be considered both paranoid and schizophrenic with hallucinations and illusions, inappropriate affect, disorganization and impaired contact with the environment.”  Yet in spite of his criminal acts, for which he was prosecuted, found guilty and imprisoned until 1975, and his questionable sanity, Karenga has become the symbol of the importance of family, community and culture in the holiday known as Kwanzaa.

The idea that Ron Karenga is associated with a recognized holiday is ironic to Randy Stelly because he sees it as a made-up holiday by Karenga to establish black identity through ties to Africa.  In fact  Karenga, in his treatise The Quotable Karenga, has detailed the sevenfold path of blackness to think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black vote black and live black.”

After leaving prison Karenga went on to obtain two doctoral degrees, became head of the Black Studies Department at California State University, where he toned down his speech but continued to espouse black alternatives to mainstream experiences.  The Kwanzaa Information Center states, 'red, or the blood, stands as the top of all things.  We lost our land through blood; and we cannot gain it except through blood.  We must redeem our lives through the blood.  Without the shedding of blood there can be no redemption of this race.'  The Information Center also observes that the flag is a symbol of devotion for African American people to create an independent African nation on the North American continent.

Randy notes that we have all seen the result of separatism and extremism in the world and throughout our own United States history.  Such movements, bred in violence, continually breed violence, even within its own members, as occurred during the time of the rise of the Black Panthers and US, when people were condemned, tortured and killed.  "Such views have no place in the world of God and should be discarded," he said.

That’s one man’s opinion but one that clarified enough to be cautious about being politically correct about Kwanzaa.

Additional References

References:  Scholer, J. Lawrence, “The Story of Kwaanza,” The Dartmouth Review, Monday, January 15, 2001. Mulshine, Paul “Happy Kwanzaa,” , FrontPageMagazine.com, December 26, 2002.  Snow, Tony, “The Truth About Kwanzaa,”Jewish World Review, December 31, 1999.

What has really been the will of the people with respect to health carein the US?

[caption id="attachment_20457" align="alignleft" width="200"] Senator David Vitter of Louisiana is opposed to Obamacare[/caption]

Editor---Obamacare became law on December 24, 2009. Was it the people's choice and how has it happened so many people are now afraid of or against it?

In 2007 a survey was made of the American people who, given alternatives that included purely private insurance through total government-funded programs to which people would contribute, folks chose the latter, according to the results of the Pew Forum.   This is what was said at the time:  "A government guarantee of universal health insurance, even if it means raising taxes, continues to attract broad support. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) favor such a proposal, while 34% are opposed. Public support for government-backed health insurance was somewhat greater at a comparable stage in the 2004 campaign; in early September of that year, 66% supported this proposal, while 26% were opposed."

However, despite this majority, when it came to following the people's will, concessions and compromises had to be made, with the bill passing in 2009 and various compromises made in 2010 to reduce some of the costs and implementation schedules.

But as the bill proceeded, even during its early stages, there were those who strongly opposed it. Many of these people were individuals like Representative John Fleming of Louisiana and Senator David Vitter, also of Louisiana.

Fleming is now an outspoken opponent of Obamacare. At a meeting in Natchitoches, Louisiana in 2010 he maintained he thought it was pure socialism, while at the same time he declared that an option might be for Louisiana to secede from the union rather than accept Obamacare. An individual in the audience at the forum given in one of the city's flagship meeting rooms, had asked a question about the proposed health care bill and what people could do who opposed it. Fleming spoke of the banking system and reminded people that Louisiana had effectively withdrawn support.

What he failed to mention was that was one of the motivating factors for the American Civil War.

Prior to the passage of Obamacare in late 2009, David Vitter hosted a number of forums, one of which was held in Shreveport, Louisiana. There a large auditorium at a religious college was selected. Buses parked outside the building included adults from a facility for the mentally challenged, who were given signs that clearly articulated extreme negative response to Obamacare.

A reporter asked these individuals what they knew about the bill. The response was, “It's Communism.” And how do you know?was the next question. “Because that's what it is, and my teacher said so.”

Inside the auditorium, the hall was packed from front to back, and as the forum proceeded catcalls were loud and long with any mention of opposition to Senator Vitter's view, that it was a socialist plot and that most people neither needed nor wanted insurance. The forum was compromised of medical and business people, all of whom agreed that folks didn't want insurance in any form. All questions to the forum were vetted by Senator Vitter, who was monitoring the discussion. None were allowed who opposed the views of SenatorVitter and the members of his forum.





A reporter, who had read the bill when it was made available online, was prepared with questions, none of which were allowed by the moderator. After the presentation, the forum speakers when asked admitted they had not read the bill, just a few selections instead. Nor had Senator Vitter.

Does the opposition represent the will of the people? In view of the 2007 surveys, it does not. And because few people have read the bill, including government spokespersons who offer opinions in the media, then how can the will of the people be determined? Have most of the people read it, when it was announced to be online?

Given the lack of information, and the representative government that passed the bill into law, as is supposed to be the duty of that government, then how can anyone judge it is or is not the will of the people then or now? It was the will of the people in 2007 to have a government-funded program, the kind that exists in other developed countries, and it is likely that people have been frightened sufficiently to be more confused than against anything.

Racial diversity in the media a one-way street

Professor Henry Gates on the left

[caption id="attachment_17997" align="alignleft" width="800"] Professor Henry Gates, left, founder of The Root[/caption]

Carol Forsloff — The Root headlines that CNN's new hires are all white. But in the world of journalism, while African Americans seek opportunities within the mainstream media, asking for inclusion in such high-profile outlets as CNN, African American media appears to retain an all-black reporting staff, making diversity in the media a one-way street, as The Root itself hires predominantly, if not exclusively, African Americans.

Not long ago this reporter noted The Root had restated an article I had  written about whether integration had helped or hurt African American children. The article was based on an extensive interview with an African American woman in Natchitoches, Louisiana. The restated article had minor commentary on the content of the article, but the bulk of The Root's offering was predominantly a rewrite of the original. This is often done in the media, especially when the article in question is on a citizen journal site, like Digital Journal.

The original article, however, was written by this professional journalist, who at the time was supervising interns in journalism and who had previously been an instructor in the journalism department at the university in Natchitoches. Since The Root had favored the article sufficiently to include its thesis in another article by an African American reporter, it seemed reasonable that the quality of the writing and ideas from this reporter might be of interest to The Root. So I wrote to the management of The Root and asked about the possibility of writing articles for it, mentioning at the same time the original article I had written on integration and African American youth.

I received no answer, despite several inquiries. In reviewing both The Root and The Grio, both African American publications, in neither have I seen Caucasian writers included as ordinary staff writers.

So has integration brought more inclusion across racial lines? In many areas, the problem of separation remains, but whereas white groups that reject people of color are publicly chastised, it is common for African American groups not to include whites, whether that is in the media or the local beauty contest.

Racial diversity within an organization may be the goal for the African American journalist, as The Root maintains; however, that one-way street is evidence that the foundation of integration remains unstable. So while the conversation at the Supreme Court is on voting rights, and African Americans seek to maintain racial diversity, perhaps the "street divisions" when it comes to race, within the African American community,  need to be revisited as well.

Faith fails in negative social, political and religious discourse

[caption id="attachment_16172" align="alignleft" width="246"] Immaculate Conception, one of the churches in Natchitoches, Louisiana[/caption]

Carol Forsloff — There is a line in a movie called Steel Magnolias when Olivia Dukakis, who plays one of the characters in the play/film about life in a small southern town, says, "If you have something bad to say, please sit by me." It is that statement that underlines an attraction we have to the negative, why bullies attract large groups, why the negative fills the news and why there is so much division in politics throughout not just the United States but the world.

The "Steel Magnolias" film takes place in a town called Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is one of the most picturesque towns in America, its beautiful streets lined throughout with trees and flowers. Churches are predominant in the town, with one on almost every corner. People say hello from their front porches to friends and strangers alike as they sit socializing in the quiet of the evening. It is a place one would equate with paradise, with its lush landscape, music and beauty all around. It is, however, like every other town in the South, with one foot in the 21st century and another dragging behind with a history filled with racial hurts and regional pride. It is not, however, the bell-weather of the negative, only the reflection of the times, when people reach  not to their better selves, nor their faith, but their endogenous hurts, some unjustified as they are, and biases that arrive from a long history of distrust of anything foreign, different, that creates change. For change comes slowly to the small towns, even as the negative grows everywhere.

Scientists tell us that attraction to the negative is part of how we interact with one another and determines what we read and talk about.  Religious leaders and prophets reminded people of that when the laws were written for people, to prevent them from falling into the traps that kept love from its divine place in the world community. Throughout the history of faith, there have been frequent reminders that loving one another is the primary commandment. The negative, however, whether that is stealing, lying, or even murder, are those places people find even more attractive when institutions fail.

It is in politics that the divisions seem most apparent, whether left or right, in almost every discussion. If the negative isn't negative enough, then folks addicted to it often cast blame on those who provide the information about political news, which is the media, one of the institutions among many under fire during times of turmoil. Even those who are to provide a safe harbor with those valuable commandments that help prevent people from falling for the seduction of the negative, fall prey to that same seduction. So preachers become politicians or become spokespeople for political views, taking sides in arbitrary arguments that fit a political bias under the guise of a religious one. So the opponent becomes demonized as a result, even from the pulpit, so the safe harbor of religion often becomes unsafe from the consequences of negative behavior and conversation. It is often these religious disagreements and demonizing based upon social and political negatives, that brings violence.

How do we avoid the traps that bring down our discussions to the baser levels of discussion and behavior? One way, social psychologists tell us, is to focus on issues, to read widely, and to read ideas outside our biases and social-political comfort zones. But that is difficult, given the fact most people read only what they believe. It is, however, essential in a democracy for people to be educated specific to issues, and when they are associated with personal bias, the opportunity for serious debate is lost.

It is that loss that brings the national suffering,  teachers of ethics tell us. And most importantly, they remind us that those who maintain the safety of faith's harbor must ever be vigilant that all people have access to its peaceful shores.

Dreams of Our Mothers

[caption id="attachment_15257" align="alignleft" width="221" caption="Women working"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff --  Today's mothers are unique, as "the hand that rocks the cradle" may be difficult to identify anymore with the new families struggling to decide who and what mother is.

The classic image in "Leave It to Beaver" is not the American family of today.  Today's mother is apt to work outside the home and have little time to have all the neighborhood kids over for the day.  The new world of busy mothers means children are more and more requiring technology to be tethered to the family, as opposed to the dinner hour when everyone gathers around the table to chat about the day.

In La Grande, Oregon and other small towns like Natchitoches, Louisiana one can still find mothers doing the same things they used to but paying for it with their lives.  Mothers now die like fathers do on the open roads of life and have the tensions of the work world.  But a small town means families that have remained in the town remain close emotionally as well.  Yet that is changing as well.  Emotional or physical estrangement from many causes has created distances far greater than yesterday's mother found.  What's worse is the question:  Who is the mother?

These days mothers are stepmothers, big sisters, auntie or the neighbor next door or even the Facebook mom who nurtures everyone.

So what are the dreams of the mothers today, as in the past the responsibility was to care carefully, play with the child and provide guidance for major life directions.  Today's mothers dreams of having the time to do that and hoping that, despite a unique relationship that may not be tied to a birth of a child,  they will be identified with motherhood in the same way.

Today we will attend a funeral of a stepmother with a family wrenched apart by clashes with the deceased woman's new boyfriend and the step-family, as the children's father had been married twice.  So the children have had to make shifts in their lives to accommodate new relationships after a divorce or death.  The natural mother of the adult children is seldom mentioned in the mix, as the grown children continue to identify relationships.  And the answer to "who is the mother" becomes complicated.

For all those women who have children, have cared for the children of others, who watch over children in the work world or who take the time the time for a little mothering on a street corner of a child's life, congratulations, as new life has been poetically identified as not just the physical but spiritual renewal.  Congratulations to all those who offer that kind of relationship and to all mothers who have dreams of a better world for all of us.

Premonitions: An exploration of the 'sixth sense'

Premonition, a painting of Henry Wysenhoff, 1893

Carol Forsloff - Dr. Linda Okerke attended a special academic high school in Natchitoches, Louisiana, for gifted young people. I was her patient at an orthopedic clinic in Portland, Oregon, and saw her for the first time in 2012, a year after leaving Natchitoches, where my husband and I had lived six years. Dr. Okerke and I shared the remark: "What a coincidence," when we discovered we had both lived in Natchitoches, a statement often made in such circumstances. But are there such things as coincidences, or is there some predetermined or mystical planning that brings people together at opportune times?

People speculated after the death of Whitney Houston that she had a premonition of her own death as she spoke of wanting to be with Jesus. TMZ relates the conversations that Houston had with friends in the days before her death. She was said to have made this statement: "You know, he's so cool ... I really want to see that Jesus."

Others, however, maintain that there are no such things as premonitions, only coincidences. An article in the Daily Mail reasons that Whitney Houston took drugs on a regular basis and that the fact she mentioned her love for Jesus and wanting to be with Him was simply something that happened as it would at any other time in the singer's life, considering the regularity of her drug-taking.

Larry Dossey, MD tells us, "I used to believe that we must choose between science and reason on one hand and spirituality on the other, in how we lead our lives. Now I consider this a false choice. We can recover the sense of sacredness, not just in science, but in perhaps every area of life."

For me, I had been anxious about seeing a bone specialist, as the increased pain signaled that perhaps my osteoporosis condition was worsening, and I feared the type of medical treatment that might mean hospitalization or some special medication that would cause me to be unable to do the type of concentrated work in writing and music that I enjoy. I hoped, and literally prayed, for support or solace when I saw a specialist for the first time in Portland.

Having a doctor from the same town from which I had recently moved, and had so loved, immediately quieted my fears, as I recognized that in some fashion I had received that special solace that I seemed to know would come. It is this type of "knowing" that Dr. Dossey maintains is possible and that is a gift that helps us plan ahead and to manage problems that might otherwise have no answer.

Dossey writes, "Most researchers believe premonitions are trying to do us a favor. They are mainly about survival."  He goes on to say that whereas many premonitions are of possible danger, there are also positive ones as well. As he says, "They come in many flavors."

After interviewing many people about their premonitions, Dossey wrote a book entitled "The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Help Shape Our Lives." His scientific work and conclusions are based about anecdotal evidence, something others question.  On the other hand, the possibility of having that special something that comes to us, for whatever reason, in answer to a prayer or a feeling or a belief, folks say can certainly bring comfort and relief in times of crisis.

Solomon’s heart of the mother an example for modern politics

[caption id="attachment_13840" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Natchitoches, Louisiana"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff -- Politics can be risky business these days.  Elections often come at a price, and that price is usually the loss of dignity of the participants.  Yet what if leaders really put ethics first, not just their version of these set in some rigid, domineering manner, but instead the type that reflects enlightenment and justice, as found in the wisdom of Solomon.  One town in the South has that chance, as the rest of us do as well.

Natchitoches, Louisiana is that Southern town.  It is the charming, open-hearted, joyous place depicted by the film, Steel Magnolias.  It does, however, have a checkered past, as it is considered the location for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the chronicle of the treatment of the slaves in  Louisiana’s historical cauldron of that despair.  The town, however, is growing up and is on a path to make the rest of the country envious with its beauty, Southern charm, great food and music—the best of Louisiana—and now its opportunity to renew itself as an example for the rest of America.  It has candidates of both races, some actually a fusion of both in their genetic past,  running for Mayor in 2012.

Political issues have torn families apart, destroyed friendships and frozen the United States in ways that stop progress in many areas.  The need to have one’s way at any cost, and the focus on absolutes, has hurt many people.  That should make us and our leaders step back and look at the qualities of leadership that are both spiritually and rationally based and where sound judgment overrides rigidity and creates enlightenment and love instead.

In the famous story of the two mothers, both seeking custody of a child, Solomon looked at the problem from the perspective of love to see which mother reflected that love and therefore was the child’s real mother.  When he offered to divide the child, giving one half to each woman, that real mother stepped forward and asked the child be given to her rival instead of pursuing an act that would kill the child.   The other mother had agreed to Solomon’s original offer.  Solomon knew the child’s real mother had put her ego needs aside, seeking instead the welfare of the child and so gave the child to her.   This is the type of wisdom that can be used in governance.

Politics in contemporary America demands the child be cut in half, as the leadership of political parties clamor for their ideas, some of which would kill the body of the “child,” or in this case the heart of our country.  A town like Natchitoches is a small replica of US diversity and therefore a place of opportunity to model and make a difference for everyone.

May the candidates in 2012 throughout America turn to the examples of the great King Solomon and choose wisdom before their political and personal needs and find the heart of the mother in making the right decisions.

Penn State tragedy from a warrior culture supported by religion

[caption id="attachment_13332" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Nittany Lions Flag for Penn State University"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky of Penn State University has been the hero to many football fans as one of the college’s coaches, but the tragedy about his alleged sexual abuse of young boys comes not just from a single individual but a warrior culture of football supported by religion.

Trevor Roper, a famous scholar known for his writings on Germany, paralleled the German culture and that of the United States in a presentation at the University of Washington in the 1960’s.  In observing the similarities of these two cultures, he maintained that both have a love of the military and its trappings, the symbolism, the rhetoric and the uniforms, all of which are woven through the fabric of people’s behavior.

That love of the military, that fondness for symbols related to courage, honor, and aggression and to win at any cost can be seen in the advancement of football in the nation’s universities.

The value of the sport can be seen in the downsizing of staff and curriculum at some of the country’s colleges.  Dr. Randall Webb, President of Northwestern University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, said not long ago in response to the status of the athletics department vs academics in Louisiana’s budget, that the sports department virtually maintains the school and the programs associated with it at the University while engineering and technical departments were reduced.  He said, “The fans support the University.  We have to make sure we keep sports in place because that’s where much of our money comes.”

In every college town in America where there’s a football field, there’s a crowd of people waiting for a game.  It is, however, the way it is held up as the strength, the pinnacle, the foundation and the very hope of the educational institutions that worries many people following the recent stories of alleged sexual abuse in Penn State’s football culture authorities ignored.

After the revelation of alleged sexual molestation by one of Penn State’s popular coaches, at first the students, and many townspeople, went to the home of coach, Joe Paterno, proclaiming their allegiance to him as one of their sports heroes, one of those commanders on the football field that help promote the game.  Acknowledgment for the victims came in second to the protection of the royal figures who make the football king.

At the first game following the news of alleged sexual abuse by a key sports administrator at Penn State, a prayer was said for the victims, and then the game began.  It is the prayer players and fans turn to before many games with the hope the team might win.  The support of the game, like the gladiator performances in ancient Rome, is the honor of the gods in a ritual that emulates those hastening to death.  In this case the death is not the physical but the spiritual and ethical life of education, founded upon a warrior class that maintains the sports kingdom in its grandeur, glory and the heroes that prevail.  And while the game was lost that day, many loyal fans remained steadfast to their leadership in spite of all the news.  A quote from the New York Daily News reflected feelings from  folks that preceded the first game.  “Mixed emotions greeted all comers at the first Penn State game without Paterno, who was dismissed in light of the Sandusky revelations, leading the Nittany Lions in 46 years. His statue, outside the stadium's east entrance, was surrounded by state troopers and visited by fans wrapping their arms around the bronzed figure of the bespectacled coach who was fired as a result of the widening sexual abuse scandal.”

On December 7 the nation’s news reported Sandusky’s arrest after the revelation from two additional victims about sexual abuse involving the famous coach.  At the same time, USA Today reported how the new Penn State University President Rodney Erickson is hoping to change the university’s image from a “football school”  to a “world class research institution.”

May that be the clarion call for other schools to put learning above the warrior culture and real honor before shame.

‘Going postal’ rage from bureaucracy, 'no win' rules

[caption id="attachment_7004" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Post Office"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - "Going postal” is a term that originated from workplace violence of postal workers against their work conditions.  These days it is associated with rage against bureaucracy or conditions that create a perceived "no win" condition, and these wider implications have a serious impact on not just mail service but other matters too.

In Honolulu postal workers involved in delivering the mail can be seen in office buildings and shopping centers, a good distance from the mail cart, delivering letters and packages to individual consumers.  The cart is open and ready for theft under these conditions   A letter or call of complaint to the post office may or may not impact future behavior.

In Natchitoches, Louisiana businesses and individuals have regularly found mail delivered to the wrong address,  even to  vacant buildings, or even dropped on the grasses on a street corner in some rural location somewhere.  Complain to the local post office, and the situation may or may not improve as a result.

For those who use commercial mail boxes, a catch 22 can risk non delivery of personal mail or complications that creates long delays.  For example,  “the United States Postal Service is unable to forward personal mail from a business address," specifically a mail service or mail forwarding entity.  The explanation is this:  "We are prohibited from accepting a Family or Individual change of address from a business address."  This means that an individual who uses a private mailbox service in order to avoid the delays and wrong mailings from the US postal service or for personal needs isn't able to have mail later forward to a private residential address.  This locks in the mail to the commercial address, even if an individual moves out of the area or even out of state.

The solution presented can create that ‘going postal’ condition.  The consumer is advised to alert all correspondents to arrange forwarding of personal mail.  The problem is, however,  if you have had the personal mail originally forwarded to the commercial box and then wish to have it forwarded to a new residential address,  the US postal service won’t do it.  So the old service retains the responsibility of forwarding the mail, since new correspondence will continue to follow the original address, the commercial service, since the government postal authorities will simply direct the new correspondents to that old address.  Asking businesses and friends to send letters and business mail to a personal address will simply mean those new letters and business mail will be undeliverable as addressed or sent to the commercial address.

Multiply these problems during government budget crises and add to them the policy that makes it virtually impossible to change the post office behaviors or the conduct of employees because of their government worker status.  The power becomes absolute, thereby creating a condition that goes beyond ordinary frustration, especially when there is no solution to the problems created.

Frustrations within the post office itself create conditions for workplace violence, that continue to spread in different locations, so that employees themselves are impacted as well as the public, when the rules and conditions create an impasse that has no reasonable solution, as the documentary about the Royal Oak post office revealed.

Going postal, as one website tells us, is really no laughing matter.

While politicians labor over private versus government solutions to ordinary problems, and the budget crisis looms overhead, ‘going postal’ rage increases when there is no solution, and the advice will continue the problem.  Experts it becomes the “perfect storm” for violent response to occur.   There can be a "fight or flight" response.  The solution is likely to allow individual considerations and options where solutions can occur, something large bureaucracies have difficulty doing and corporate chieftains unwilling to bend rules.  That rigidity we find in daily lives increases stress in the culture, where ‘going postal’ may include an aggressive acting out.

Solutions to managing bureaucracy are critical to avoid aggressive response, either internal or external threats.   One website describes how manage these issues.   The advice is to seek help from advocacy groups and support from friends and family.  In other words, whether it's the post office or some other bureaucracy, don't go it alone and risk 'going postal' instead.