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How come you treat me like a worn out shoe?
~~ Hank Williams
Watching the State Of The Union Address last night, I thought, Well at least my modest hope that it would not be Word Salad was fulfilled.
The words and sentences did not "go round in circles," or "fly high like a bird up in the sky" (which is all very well for funk musician Billy Preston...).
President Trump spoke in a linear structure, with no wild, off-the-cuff, (WHAT?!) sort of remarks. He was mentally organized, spoke clearly and credibly, and made an effort to "be presidential," as some critics have urged.
He used the word "love" kind of often. Recognizing, or highlighting certain American people and other individuals from around the globe, and saying, "We love you" ... starting to think it's 1969 again with Love and Peace....
Trump called for "unity" -- in the Los Angles Times, the headline on an article by Cathleen Decker reads, "In State of the Union speech, a milder-sounding Trump leans on the same divisive issues."
---------------- [excerpts from the article] ----------- He made a lengthy effort to cast immigrants as criminals, emphasizing the deaths of two girls at the hands of MS-13 suspects, their sad parents standing with evident emotion in the balcony.
That was misleading: Immigrants are far less apt than native-born Americans to commit crimes, statistics show.
...Trump's strength has always been his ability to divide, not to unify. To his ardent backers, he represents something other than the typical politician -- a tough, says-what-he-thinks swashbuckler who, even if he can't make things better for them, will make them worse for those they detest. ---------------------- [end, excerpts]
Is that what we hope for, from a president? That he will "make things worse" for someone we don't like, or desire to look down on? (Pass the Tylenol....)
I had looked forward to seeing (and hearing) Joe Kennedy III's response to the State of the Union -- that, I can report, did not go so hot.... That kid needs work. Bad lighting produced odd visual effects (shades of Nixon, 1960),
and the congressman had a "cry" in his voice as he spoke -- whether it is deliberate, for effect, or a natural style, it did not come across.
Irritating and ineffective.
I wanted to shout at the screen: "Who do you think you are, Hank Williams? You are not a country singer! Don't have a cry in your voice -- just give it to us! Respond to the speech, talk about alternatives and improvements, and give us a call to action!"
Which is what Bernie Sanders did, so I didn't have to shout at him....
On You Tube, if you type in these two titles, you can see two informative videos:
~ "Bernie Responds to the State of the Union"
~ "Sanders says GOP should be worried about 2018"
Senator Sanders "brings it."
He does not talk down to people, and he says things clearly and plainly -- very easy to listen to.
I don't mean to be too hard on the congressman from Massachusetts. He is not responsible for my expectations. I realized when I thought about it later, the Kennedys I actually miss are Pres. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, Senator from New York.
The blindsiding dumb shock of the assassinations during the 1960s of leaders who represented the people -- the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King -- leaves a mute, horrified trauma in people's brains that is never gone.
(Forget Joe III -- what I really wanted, on an emotional level, was MLK, Jack, and Bobby to -- come back to life, and -- straighten this shit out...! Come on! My subconscious doesn't ask for much!!)
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1. Joe Kennedy III, great-nephew of John F. Kennedy (U.S. President, 1960 - 1963), is going to "call out bullies" in his speech tonight after the president's State Of The Union address. "Call out" the bullies. It's about time -- This is what I've been saying!
(oh baby, that's-a what I like!)
2. I don't understand the Nunes Memo Controversy. We can all put out memos.... I could put one out right now!
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
_______________________
It sounds like the Nunes Memo is supposed to get us, the public, mad at the FBI and the Department of Justice. I think I want to be resistant to being manipulated in that fashion. Don't tell me when to get mad. And don't tell me who to get mad at. Maybe I am not mad; maybe -- I'm optimistic. I'm positive. I'm polite. Now go jump in the lake.
One commenter, General Michael Hayden, said of the House Republicans' plan to release the Nunes Memo, "This crosses a threshold." And he did not say it in a good way. (I don't know -- let the generals worry about it, maybe....)
3. Two theories on why the House Republicans want to embarrass the Department of Justice:
A) The House Republicans want to "distract" the public's attention away from Mueller's investigation of Russian election-meddling
B) The Republicans want to weaken or dismantle the Department of Justice for the foreseeable future, to keep Mueller's investigation at bay
Isn't it a tad treasonous to subvert justice in that manner? It doesn't seem like a good "threshold." I would not put it on my List of Things to Do This Week.... little corrupt around the edges....
______________________________
Joe Kennedy III, 37 years old, can be heard in You Tube videos -- not singing "Mustang Sally," or anything like that, but giving speeches and making arguments ...
One of the videos was a televised mini-debate between Kennedy and his Republican opponent at the time (2012), Sean Bielat.
Kennedy used his talk-time to highlight issues important to the district's constituents, and the ideas he intended to bring to address those issues; the other candidate, given the mic, bitched about, and at, Kennedy for running at all. ... (ok...)
Congressman Kennedy's buddies nicknamed him "Milkman" because he rarely takes a drink.
He was born in Brighton, Massachusetts, and raised in that area and somehow does not have The Accent. He speaks Flat Midwestern, for some reason.... (Dude -- so generic! Cherish your regional accent!...)
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Tuesday, January 30th, President Trump will give the 2018 State of the Union Address.
9:00 p.m. Eastern Time (8 Central) it begins.
I just hope it isn't "word salad."
I read that CNN will begin coverage at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Three hours of prelim.? Apparently.
Democrats' response will be delivered by Representative Joe Kennedy III
(grandson of
Bobby Kennedy).
Mr. Kennedy, 37, will be speaking from a vocational school in Fall River, Massachusetts. ("Fuhll-Rivah" to the natives...)
Representative Kennedy said Diman Regional Vo-Tech is "an innovative and inspiring model...as Democrats seek to build an economy that works for all Americans...."
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CHAPTER IV
(volume ii)
Emma
Jane Austen
Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of.
A week had not passed since Miss Hawkins's name was first mentioned in Highbury, before she was, by some means or other, discovered to have every recommendation of person and mind; to be handsome, elegant, highly accomplished, and perfectly amiable: and when Mr. Elton himself arrived to triumph in his happy prospects, and circulate the fame of her merits, there was very little more for him to do, than to tell her Christian name, and say whose music she principally played.
Mr. Elton returned, a very happy man. He had gone away rejected and mortified -- disappointed in a very sanguine hope, after a series of what appeared to him strong encouragement; and not only losing the right lady, but finding himself debased to the level of a very wrong one.
He had gone away deeply offended -- he came back engaged to another -- and to another as superior, of course, to the first, as under such circumstances what is gained always is to what is lost.
He came back gay and self-satisfied, eager and busy, caring nothing for Miss Woodhouse, and defying Miss Smith.
The charming Augusta Hawkins, in addition to all the usual advantages of perfect beauty and merit, was in possession of an independent fortune, of so many thousands as would always be called ten; a point of some dignity, as well as some convenience:
the story told well; he had not thrown himself away -- he had gained a woman of 10,000 pounds or thereabouts; and he had gained her with such delightful rapidity -- the first hour of introduction had been so very soon followed by distinguishing notice;
the history which he had to give Mrs. Cole of the rise and progress of the affair was so glorious --
the steps so quick,
from the accidental rencontre, to the dinner at Mr. Green's, and the party at Mrs. Brown's -- smiles and blushes rising in importance -- with consciousness and agitation richly scattered -- the lady had been so easily impressed -- so sweetly disposed -- had in short, to use a most intelligible phrase, been so very ready to have him, that vanity and prudence were equally contented.
He had caught both substance and shadow -- both fortune and affection, and was just the happy man he ought to be; talking only of himself and his own concerns -- expecting to be congratulated -- ready to be laughed at -- and, with cordial, fearless smiles, now addressing all the young ladies of the place, to whom, a few weeks ago, he would have been more cautiously gallant.
... During his present short stay, Emma had barely seen him; but just enough to feel that the first meeting was over, and to give her the impression of his not being improved by the mixture of pique and pretension, now spread over his air.
She was, in fact, beginning very much to wonder that she had ever thought him pleasing at all; and his sight was so inseparably connected with some very disagreeable feelings, that, except in a moral light, as a penance, a lesson, a source of profitable humiliation to her own mind, she would have been thankful to be assured of never seeing him again.
She wished him very well; but he gave her pain, and his welfare twenty miles off would administer most satisfaction.
The pain of his continued residence in Highbury, however, must certainly be lessened by his marriage. Many vain solicitudes would be prevented -- many awkwardnesses smoothed by it. A Mrs. Elton would be an excuse for any change of intercourse; former intimacy might sink without remark. It would be almost beginning their life of civility again.
Of the lady, individually, Emma thought very little. She was good enough for Mr. Elton, no doubt....
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"Mexico will never ever pay for this wall. You can believe me on that."
~~ Vicente Fox
____________________________
Those charged-and-jailed people from Perris, California, who are alleged to have abused 12 of their 13 children: reports say they --
|| starved the children and bought pies and put them out on the kitchen counter where the children could see them but not taste them
|| bought toys and brought them home but left them in the package and never opened them and children were not allowed to play with them
|| a neighbor in Texas, from earlier years, said they bought bicycles -- five or six or seven of them -- and left them outside lined up in a row, and they sat there unused, for months, until they were sun-bleached.
This behavior, to me, is appalling. Why? There's a lot of violence and horrible stuff in the world, why is this particular report so shocking and so utterly dismaying? Maybe because of the -- how it's sort of calmly, coldly all planned out.
Planned out ahead of time.
One of the commenters on Internet called it "strategic" -- for the parents, it was a "long game" -- they were looking at the big picture, they wanted, and worked toward, specific and ongoing results -- children they could torment and control.
For 30 years.
The oldest one is 29 years old - ! Mr. and Mrs. Turpin were never going to let those people out of their control, they would have been prisoners forever. Unbelievable. Unfathomable. Bizarre. New words need to be invented. ...
The commenter called it "strategic neglect and deprivation coupled with low level chronic physical abuse" -- it was a deliberate, thought-out "project" to totally and cruelly subjugate human beings -- who happened to be their own children.
Difficult to mentally process that.
And furthermore,
if that monster-mom called herself a full-time homemaker, why was she buying pies? Don't they make them from scratch? Including the crusts?
Anyway, I just can't -- uuaaggh....
____________________
Washington Post
Reader Comments
> Abuse isn't the result of children being home-schooled, but it sure hides a lot of it. Better oversight is needed.
> How do these psycho people find each other?
> ...People...are too reluctant to confront evil, to acknowledge its existence....
_________________________
Topic: The Turpin children's journals
Several news reports have noted that while the children in that house were teased with food they weren't allowed to eat, tormented with toys they weren't allowed to play with, and not let outdoors to play -- the thing they were allowed to do was write in journals.
(Pause.)
(Experienced and expert criminal abusers might ask the Turpin parents, "Hey why did you let your kids write in notebooks? Now there will be all that evidence against you -- you enabled them to document your actions. You made them document your actions! That was dumb!")
The parents had strategies for hiding their treatment of their children from public awareness, for staying under the radar...
- home schooling
- keeping the kids up at night and sleeping during the day
- never having friends over
- keeping their distance from neighbors
- distancing themselves from family (they moved clear across the country)...
Then why have the children write journals which probably document the parents' horrible behavior? It's like -- OOPS -- Now you're on the radar...!
Why let them (or make them) write journals?
Possibilities
- The Turpin parents thought they'd never be caught -- believed no one's ever going to see those journals
- Maybe the parents controlled what the children wrote in the journals -- made them write, "our life is so happy and our parents are so fantastic" or whatever
Or
- maybe the parents -- Never. Bothered. To Read. The Journals.
________ To me, that possibility is -- intriguing.
It's a far-fetched possibility, but that whole situation is beyond far-fetched.
Think about it:
those atrocious "parents" appear to be so unimaginably narcissistic, self-centered, using their children as targets for their cruel obsessions and focusing on their own entertainment --
repetitive Disneyland, repetitive wedding-vow-renewing in Las Vegas --
is it possible that their outlandishly extreme self-absorption made them "blind" to the "danger" of the children's journals becoming powerful evidence against themselves?
And think about this: for this father and mother ( ) to take one of those journals, sit down, & read it would be in a sense like "listening" to the child who wrote it. When you listen to a person, you are paying attention to what they say, and what they are feeling. You are giving attention to what is on their mind. You are respecting them.
These parents do not seem to have respected their children -- (putting it mildly....)
And monster-mom kind of seems like the type of person who might think reading and writing is 'punishment' -- something kids won't want to do.... "you can't ride the bikes we brought home, or play with the toys, but you have to write -- mwa-ha-ha-ha..."
It would be quite an irony (a sweet one for justice and a bitter one for the Turpin parents) if those journals convict them....
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Two children in the Perris, California "house of horror" climbed out a window and escaped Sunday, January 14th, but one of them stopped and went back, out of fear.
What a harrowing story. News reports say the 17-year-old who met police had photographs, to back up what she was telling them about conditions in the house.
It said she and some of the other children had planned this escape for two years.
(Would it take that long to plan this? Well, the level of fear and intimidation and horrendous abuse and neglect and starvation these people had been living under would make everything you try to do much more difficult, hard, and scary.
It's possible that what prompted the children to finally put the long-considered plan into action was the family's imminent move to Oklahoma....)
One aspect of the story that's so sickening and hard to wrap your head around, is how long it's been going on. Almost 30 years, and 13 children. With each child, they must have provided proper nutrition up to a certain age -- seven? Nine? -- and then started cutting back on food and stepping up the "punishments."
It looks like the M.O. was the same with each kid -- that isn't like a parent having a really bad day and losing temper in frustration and taking it out on sons and daughters -- this is like meticulous, routine, purposeful breaking of spirits -- assembly-line abuse....
That the six legal adults and five of the minors all look much younger than they are because of long-term starvation is -- just... It's like they were stealing the kids' childhoods -- and their future! Everything! I just don't know if I've ever heard of anything exactly that atrociously cruel, it's like the Nazi concentration camps....
Some Comments I saw, expressed kind of what I was feeling but didn't know how to articulate...
"Strategic neglect and deprivation coupled with low level chronic physical abuse is the worst form of child abuse."
"Those parents stole their childhood -- those kids never had a chance -- this makes me so mad."
"It's unclear whether they can ever have a normal life: this couple purposely and knowingly completely destroyed their kids."
"Is this mental illness or just sadism at its worst" -- Dan Banks
"it's nice to see police doing real work between harassing minorities and shooting people."
"Why did they have so many children, if they were going to abuse them?"
(And the vile possibility suggests itself -- that they had the children, all 13 of them, specifically in order to abuse them....)
An interview with one of Louise Turpin's sisters (on ABC, I think) -- she said in a slow, thoughtful way: "I knew my sister was different from us, but -- I would never, ever, have imagined anything like this."
She said she stayed at the home of David & Louise Turpin and their four oldest children in Fort Worth, for a while, in the mid-1990s -- the sister described a "weird dynamic between them."
The sister said Louise Turpin "made all the decisions -- and he just sat back and watched. It was weird.
...She always seemed to be in control, but she'd look back over at him, there were these looks between them and he was always sitting back, watching..."
The thought comes to my mind: wouldn't the parents, during these long years, get --tired? Tired of their own behavior? Tired of hitting and -- strangling -- ??
--------------------
The default reaction is to ask,
"Why?!?"
"What caused this?"
Answer:
_____________________________
I sometimes forget that there is evil in the world. Then -- I am reminded. "Oh, yeah..."
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Perris, California child abuse case / 13 children
Reader Comment:
annpm1
Psychotic depravity covers it for me. The only way "homeschooling" enters into it is that if there were some accountability agency-wise, that would have brought inspection.
But even in the case of social services, many times these situations have fallen through the cracks.
It's the ability to escape detection -- also a pathological and cunning series of moves: the [extended] family stayed away, the community kept its distance.
The cunning and psychological power was enormous. It's too easy to say that "homeschooling" was the determining faultline.
----------------------
Some people blaming the Turpin-family-nightmare on home schooling -- it's like guns, I guess:
A gun is lying on a table. One person can come in and pick it up and go out duck hunting. A different person could enter the room, pick up the gun, and shoot a person with it.
Home schooling is an option. One set of parents might use home schooling option to educate their children at home. Another set of parents might use their home schooling option to conceal their abuse and torture of their children.
___________________
Reader Comment:
"I am sure they are too selfish and self-absorbed to plead guilty. I say no jail time. Just put them back in the house and chain them together and put apple pies on the counter."
__________________
In my mind, the idea of the seventeen-year-old daughter (so emaciated from starvation that she appeared to be more like 10 years old) "going out a window" carrying a deactivated cell phone that she found in the house, and -- RUNNING -- and then using the phone to call police (because apparently even a cell phone that doesn't work will work if you're calling 9-1-1, Wild!)
...and successfully engineering the rescue of her brothers and sisters -- running, running, on a Sunday morning under a yellowish predawn sky, in a still, perhaps somewhat eerie California suburb.
Running, with her plan firmly in mind....
(This next phrase is a variation on a centuries-old Anglo Saxon vulgarity, which we apologize for in advance, but in some instances you need this odd expression, for Emphasis) --
Fuckin' - A.
___________________________
Two things to contemplate in the Perris case.
1. Timeline and Location-line
2. The children's journals.
1. Timeline
1984 the Turpins married, David 23 years old, Louise 16
1989 after four years of marriage, their first child (?) a daughter, is born (now 29 years old, weighing 82 lbs)
The baby they have now is 2 years old, so, born 2015
One report said it had been ten years since the last baby, so the last previous baby must have been born in 2005.
So --
12 children were born, 1989 - 2005
12 children in 16 years
During the 10-year gap with no new births (?), 2005 - 2015, the Turpins renewed their wedding vows at least three times (Vegas; Elvis impersonator; -- [don't even ask...]) in 2011, 2013, and 2015
2015, baby born
---------------- News today: the Turpins had been planning to move their family to Oklahoma soon.
___________________
State homeschooling laws, by state, are classified by four levels of stringency:
High regulation
Moderate regulation
Low regulation
No notice required
Texas, where the Turpins lived from the 80s to 2010, is a "no notice required" state -- lowest level of home school regulation, (which sounds like none...)
California, where the Turpins have lived since 2010, is "low regulation" -- second lowest.
Oklahoma, where they were about to move, is, like Texas, "no notice required." ("The better to continue our false imprisonment policies, my dear" -- ?)
____________________
Location-time-line
1986 - 2003 they rented a post office box in Burleson, Texas (16 miles from Fort Worth)
Lived in Fort Worth, I couldn't see during which years, exactly.
Then they moved and lived in Rio Vista, Texas, which is 52 miles away from Forth Worth, until 2010.
2010 -- moved to Murrieta, California
2014 -- moved to Perris, California (19.2 miles from Murrieta)
2018 -- planned to move to Oklahoma.
-------------- So -- since 2010 (when the husband left engineer job at Northrop Grumman) -- parents moving their family once every four years. And going to Disneyland and Las Vegas.
Back in Texas -- lived, two different towns, staying in same area.
2010 -- the big long move, far away, from Texas to California
4 years later -- moved to Perris, close by
another 4 years later -- planning another big, long move, far away, to Oklahoma
(getting into a move-every-four-years groove there...)
________________________________
Have Horror Fatigue.
Will discuss the children's journals in the next post.
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