Yet, there are writers in FB groups saying you just need to know how to market yourself! I might be gone before my books become well read, but that’s ok because I’m writing what I believe to be very important.
Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents.https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDK Author, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too. https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4 Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that care forgot.”Sherrie Miranda’s new novel “Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans” puts the reader into a whirlwind of political protests, abusive police, sexist attitudes towards women, and “good old boys” racism in 1980’s New Orleans. Miranda’s second novel follows Shelly, the young northerner, as she quickly finds out that she “isn’t in Kansas anymore” while encountering a slew of picturesque, colorful characters. Reading her book makes you wonder if justice and respect for blacks, immigrants, and women can be reality in America.In Book 2, “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador,” Shelly goes to El Salvador to photograph Salvadorans in the midst of the civil war there. She becomes the keeper of many people’s secrets & lies.
Ross Gay’s essay reminded me of a moment I witnessed on a New Orleans bus in the 1980s. A Black boy and a white boy were sitting together, talking and laughing. By their speech, you couldn’t tell which one was white and which was Black. Suddenly an old white man stood up and yelled at the white kid to “Stop acting like a [N-word]!” Being from Upstate New York, I was in shock. I was used to a more subtle form of racism.
In my small town there were few Black families. Once, my sister’s boyfriend said that Roger, a person who we all loved, was a “coconut” because he was dark on the outside but white on the inside. It was supposed to be a compliment.
As a white woman who often has panic attacks, I can’t imagine having to endure the subtle and blatant racism that Black people experience in this country. For many years I thought the worst was behind us, but since 2016 I realize I was wrong. When will “liberty and justice for all” be a reality?
Sherrie MirandaChula Vista, California
Ross Gay’s essay “Some Thoughts on Mercy” [The Dog-Eared Page, June 2023] was an eye-opener for me. I’ve lived for a long time and still have much to learn about racism and the fear that lies behind it.
Sahajananda SaraswatiLenox, Massachusetts
Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents. https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDK
Author, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too. https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4 Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that care forgot.”Sherrie Miranda’s new novel “Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans” puts the reader into a whirlwind of political protests, abusive police, sexist attitudes towards women, and “good old boys” racism in 1980’s New Orleans. Miranda’s second novel follows Shelly, the young northerner, as she quickly finds out that she “isn’t in Kansas anymore” while encountering a slew of picturesque, colorful characters. Reading her book makes you wonder if justice and respect for blacks, immigrants, and women can be reality in America.
Maria Galleher is such an amazing teacher that I only subbed for her the last few years I subbed. She always dealt with any problems & the kids would apologize & be really respectful after that.
She teaches Food Justice & Peer Counseling & she does Conflict Resolution at the school.
I had these journals & pens because I was going to do Life Writing workshops with women in this home for women with mental health issues. But since I wasn’t able to do it because of covid, I brought them in to give to her students.
It was a really good presentation that just came together naturally.
I was re-reading a book on how writing ✍️ heals. Most of what was in the book was much too high level for a high school group, but at least it got me thinking about how important writing is to healing.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we let our emotions run wild & how they can ruin relationships.
The emotions are from unresolved trauma. I talked about how journaling had gotten me through many difficult times in my life. Then Maria asked for examples from them. I was pleased to see that several of them already knew about the healing power of writing.
“If we can write ✍️ about it, we may be able to come to an understanding that allows us to have a better life.”
There are lots of books on this but this author researched authors who say writing healed them. Isabel Allende was one of her examples & she is one of my favorite authors. Her daughter was in a hospital room dying & she started writing to her while in that room. The book is called Paula.
There are many authors who talk about how they healed from their pain by writing.
“When you get your masters, maybe you can explore this subject.”
When I first started teaching, I encountered an excerpt of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” along with an assignment to write an Autobiographical Incident. After that, I gave that assignment to every class I taught. I also showed the movie.
“They also did stories similar to those in House on Mango Street. My students would make a book & illustrate it.”
My students loved reading each other’s booklets. It was really powerful.
With Maria’s help, we had some great discussion. I wanted to share all the slides she made while I was doing the presentation, but I can only get them to come up at the top of the page.
Please feel free to share my ideas & add to them for any group you might want to help write. Journaling can take you anywhere. It’s the best therapy out there In My Humble Opinion.
Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents. https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDK Author, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too. https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4 Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that care forgot.”Sherrie Miranda’s new novel “Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans” puts the reader into a whirlwind of political protests, abusive police, sexist attitudes towards women, and “good old boys” racism in 1980’s New Orleans. Miranda’s second novel follows Shelly, the young northerner, as she quickly finds out that she “isn’t in Kansas anymore” while encountering a slew of picturesque, colorful characters. Reading her book makes you wonder if justice and respect for blacks, immigrants, and women can be reality in America.
The author of The Anxiety Toolkit explains how we get caught in negative, fear-based ideas—and how to break free.By Dr. Alice Boyes
Photo: Maiwolf Photography/Cultura/Getty Images Believe it or not, psychologists have a term to describe people who like to think a lot. The trait is called need for cognition. It refers to people who enjoy effortful thinking and feel motivated to attempt to understand and make sense of things. For the most part, this is associated with positive traits, like openness, higher self-esteem and lower social anxiety. On the flip side, some types of intensive thinking—notably rumination and worry—tend to be associated with being closed to new ideas and poor mental health. Anxiety and rumination form a feedback loop where one causes the other. Here, you’ll learn to recognize when you’re ruminating so you can disrupt the loop.
1. Identify When You’re Ruminating
To reduce your rumination, you’re first going to need to identify it. Rumination can be about minor issues (“Why did I pay $4.20 for gas at the first gas station off the highway when I could’ve driven a half-mile down the road and paid $3.60? I shouldn’t have been so stupid…etc.”). Rumination can also be more heavy-duty self-criticism (“What’s wrong with me? I have these dreams but I don’t make them happen. Am I just full of hot air? Maybe I don’t want them badly enough? Am I a just a big fraud?”) Ruminating can sometimes be a bit like daydreaming, in that people often get lost in rumination without realizing they’re doing it.
Experiment: Fill in the following blanks to create a list of topics you ruminate on: Replaying conversations with people in power positions in your life. For example, replaying conversations, including email conversations, with ______ [insert names of people] ______.
Replaying memories of experiences of failure from the past, for example ______.
Thinking about ways in which you’re not as perfect as you’d like to be. For example, thinking you’re not as good at ______ as you’d like.
Thinking about things you should be doing to be more successful, such as ______.
Photo: CommerceandCultureAgency/Getty Images Become Aware of Memory BiasWhen people are anxious they often have biased recall for events. For example, Brian talks himself into believing he screwed up an interview for a promotion because he thinks over and over about things he could’ve said. However, he doesn’t as easily recall the good answers he gave. He endlessly mentally rehashes ambiguous cues the interviewers gave off, such as appearing to rush through questions, but doesn’t as easily recall when the interviewers responded positively.
Experiment: Do you have any current rumination topics where memory bias might be playing a role? Answer the following questions:
1. What’s your ruminating mind telling you?
2. What are the objective data telling you about whether your ruminative thoughts are likely to be correct?
3. Are you recalling feedback as harsher than it was or recalling blips in your performance as worse than they were?
Photo: Peopleimages.com/Digital Vision/Getty Images Distinguish Between Worry/Rumination and Helpful Problem-SolvingPeople who are heavy worriers tend to believe that worrying helps them make good decisions. However, rather than helping you problem-solve, rumination and worry usually just make it difficult to see the forest for the trees. Do you think people who worry a lot about getting cancer are more likely to do self-exams, have their moles mapped or eat a healthy diet? According to research, the opposite is probably true. For example, one study showed that women who were prone to rumination took an average of 39 days longer to seek help after noticing a breast lump.
Experiment: To check for yourself whether ruminating and worrying lead to useful actions, try tracking the time you spend ruminating or worrying for a week. If a week is too much of a commitment, you could try two days—one weekday and one weekend day. When you notice yourself ruminating or worrying, write down the approximate number of minutes you spend doing it. The following day, note any times when ruminating/worrying led to useful solutions. Calculate your ratio: How many minutes did you spend overthinking for each useful solution it generated?
Photo: Jamie Grill/Blend Images/Getty Images Reduce Self-CriticismReducing self-criticism is a critical part of reducing rumination. People who are in a pattern of trying to use self-criticism as motivation often fear that reducing it will make them lazy. It won’t. In fact, giving yourself a compassionate rather than critical message will often lead to working harder. For example, one study showed that people who did a hard test and got a compassionate message afterward were willing to study longer for future similar tests, compared to a group of people who took the same test but didn’t get a compassionate message.
Experiment: To practice using self-compassion as an alternative to self-criticism, try the following three-minute writing exercise. Identify a mistake or weakness that you want to focus on and then write for three minutes using the following instructions: “Imagine that you are talking to yourself about this weakness (or mistake) from a compassionate and understanding perspective. What would you say?”
Photo: Jamie Grill/Iconica/Getty Images Recognize When You’re Criticizing Yourself Just for Feeling AnxiousShould/shouldn’t thinking traps are a common problem for anxiety-prone people. These can come in several varieties, virtually all of which can prolong and intensify rumination—for example, “I shouldn’t ever let anyone down,” which is an example of excessive responsibility taking.
Try to notice when you get caught in should/shouldn’t thinking traps in which you criticize yourself just for feeling anxious. For example, “I should be able to handle life much better” or “I shouldn’t get anxious about such little issues.” If this happens, give yourself compassion for the fact that you feel anxious, regardless of whether the anxiety is logical or not. Think of it this way: If a kid was scared of monsters, you wouldn’t withhold compassion and empathy just because the monsters aren’t real. Treat yourself with the same caring. A common mistake people make is to think they need to give themselves excessive encouragement, praise or pep talks while they’re feeling anxious—you don’t. Taking a patient and compassionate attitude about the fact you’re experiencing anxiety is an overlooked strategy that helps anxious feelings pass quickly.
Experiment: Try this: Switch out any shoulds hidden in your self-talk and replace them with prefer. For example, instead of saying “I should have achieved more by now” try “I would prefer to have achieved more by now.”
This is a simple, specific, repeatable example of how you can talk to yourself in a kinder, more patient way. These tiny self-interventions may seem ridiculously simple, but they work. They may not seem like they shift your anxiety to a huge degree; however, they can help you disrupt your rumination just enough to give you a small window of clear mental space. This allows you to start doing something useful rather than keep ruminating.
Check out Book 1, then 2. Book 3 will be out in a year or so.
Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents. https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDK Author, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too. https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4 Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that care forgot.”Sherrie Miranda’s new novel “Crimes and Impunity in New Orleans” puts the reader into a whirlwind of political protests, abusive police, sexist attitudes towards women, and “good old boys” racism in 1980’s New Orleans. Miranda’s second novel follows Shelly, the young northerner, as she quickly finds out that she “isn’t in Kansas anymore” while encountering a slew of picturesque, colorful characters. Reading her book makes you wonder if justice and respect for blacks, immigrants, and women can be reality in America.
On this day 47 years ago at Kent State University in Ohio, four students were killed and nine others wounded when armed members of the National Guard opened fire on a crowd of protestors. The students had organized to protest President Richard Nixon’s announcement that the U.S. would invade Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War.
Decades have passed, but we are still protesting the deaths of unarmed innocents at the hands of armed policemen, like the deaths of Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, and Jordan Edwards. And law enforcement officers are still using unnecessary force on peacefully protesting crowds, as when police reportedly used tear gas and water cannons on Dakota Access Pipeline protestors standing in subzero temperatures. Oh, and Republican lawmakers have called for legislation that could criminalize peaceful protesting.
The Kent State shootings caused further protests nationwide, inspiring many young people to get involved in activism. The incident became a benchmark in American history that brought young people to action and launched a generation into activism. Here are a few things you should know about the incident.
Protests had been going on for a few days.
A chronology of the week’s events from the Kent State University library details the confusion both on campus and in the city of Kent just before the incident. President Nixon made his announcement about the “Cambodian Incursion” on April 30. Students rallied on May 1 and planned another rally for May 4. The evening of May 1, vandals damaged buildings in town, breaking windows. According to the [library chronology], the mayor of Kent “heard rumors of a radical plot, declared a state of emergency, and telephoned the governor in Columbus for assistance.” Bars were closed, and those in the street were tear-gassed by riot police. On May 2, the mayor made the decision to call in the National Guard after hearing about threats to local businesses and rumors of radical protestors trying to destroy the city. That evening, there was a large demonstration happening on campus, and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) building was set on fire. Another demonstration on campus occurred on May 3, where tear gas was fired. And the protesting continued on May 4, resulting in deadly violence.
It’s not totally clear why the guardsmen opened fire in the first place.
The students protesting were unarmed, but 28 guardsmen opened fire on the crowd. They fired between 61 and 67 shots in just 13 seconds.
Two of the students killed were protesting, and two were bystanders who were walking from one class to the next.
The victims were all white. They were Jeffrey Miller and Sandra Scheuer, both 20, and Allison Krause and William Schroeder, both 19.
The shootings caused even more protests.
NPR reported that colleges and universities across the U.S. were forced to close when the shootings triggered a nationwide student strike. Historians estimate that about 4 million students went on strike, causing 800 institutions to close.
And tragically, students at another university were shot and killed just days later.
On May 15, 1970, police confronted a group of African-American students protesting at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University) in Jackson, Mississippi. Apparently, students had been throwing rocks at white motorists driving through campus, and tension heightened when a false rumor spread that a local politician and civil rights activist, Charles Evers, had been killed. Police fired more than 150 rounds into the crowd, killing 21-year-old Phillip Gibbs and 17-year-old James Earl Green. Twelve other students were injured.
People credit the Kent State shootings with waking them up, in the same way police violence sparks protests and rallies today.
“Up until that incident, I had been a pretty conventional young person,” one woman told NPR. “I was 20. But when I saw my government killing innocent students who were just walking to class, I was radicalized, totally radicalized. From that day forward, I began to immerse myself in national and international news and politics and have never since allowed myself to be so ignorant of what’s going on as I was before that day.”
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
Inspirational ideas that may change the way you think.
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Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
Joan LeMonteHey, you’re book sounds awesome. Did you hear about the illegal immigrant criminal who got picked up by ICE in San Francisco? He was from El Salvador. He sued the Sanctuary city and is being awarded $190,000. That’s what’s happening in America. Taxpayers are being forced to pay for these people and that is against the law.
Sherrie MirandaSome lawyer put him up to that! Don’t blame ALL the undocumented fleeing war & poverty & murder! We helped create those environments in their countries! Don’t believe me? Read my book!
Joan LeMonteI’m not blaming him or any other illegal immigrant. He saw his opportunity and he grabbed it. Now he and his lawyer have set a precedent for every illegal immigrant who commits crimes to get the same amount of money or more from Sanctuary cities. And who pays for this? Taxpayers. I know Americans who can’t even afford to eat or buy diapers, let alone pay their rent. I would like to read your book, though.
Sherrie MirandaBeing in this country without documents DOES NOT MAKE you a criminal! If it did, there would be thousands of Americans in MEXICAN JAILS! Blame Big Agriculture! They told the govt. 60-some years ago, they wanted to control their workers themselves! They did NOT want a visiting workers program like Canada has because they wanted to pay them low wages & blacklist anyone who talks about unionizing!
Sherrie MirandaBIG AG IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THESE IMMIGRANTS! IN FACT, THEY ARE ANGRY RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO GET THE FOOD OUT OF THE FIELDS!
Joan LeMonteNo, I’m talking about those who commit crimes here. And BTW crossing our borders illegally is a crime. But I’m talking about those who came and are committing crimes here, like murder, human trafficking, Dui’s, stealing cars, drug trafficking and injuring Americans with drunk driving, etc.
Joan LeMonteSanctuary cities cost taxpayers millions. So now if ICE picks up criminals, we pay for it just to award them $190,000! That’s just wrong. And it needs to stop. I just hope the Senate passes Kate’s law and the law against Sanctuary cities because Gov. Brown is about to make us a Sanctuary state. This is my home, my friends and families home. We can barely pay for ourselves. If you look up the statistics and facts, you will be in shock. We are forced to aid and abett illegal immigrants, which is against the law. I don’t care where they came from. It’s still against the law.
Sherrie MirandaHUMAN TRAFFICKING is being done by OUR billionaires! How do you think these guys get so rich?! Runnin a Mom & Pop store?! The undocumented ARE NOT THE PROBLEM! If you love Trump, just say it! Don’t blame the poor for our problems. That’s what Hitler did! Look where it got him!
Sherrie MirandaJoan LeMonte You aren’t reading what I said! BLAME BIG AGRICULTURE! THEY ARE THE ONES WHO PAY FOR COYOTES TO BRING THEM HERE!
Sherrie MirandaJoan LeMonte Those are FAKE STATISTICS, likely from Judicial Watch, a group getting $$ to spread lies! I know these people! They are good, hard working people! The criminals stay in Mexico where their govt. protects them!
Joan LeMonteSherrie Miranda I’m not blaming the poor. We are the poor. Trump has nothing to do with that. He just came on board. Human trafficking is done by alot of people, not just billionaires. I can blame BA but their not the ones coming across our borders by the droves. At least that has slowed down. Most likely because everyone is already here. I blame the criminals. Why should they not have to pay the price like Americans do? It’s disgusting.
Sherrie MirandaI feel sad that you are afraid of walking around your city. My city is 10 min. from the border & one of the safest in the country. We know each other & respect each other!
Sherrie MirandaYOU ARE TALKING IN CIRCLES! THESE ARE NOT THE CRIMINALS! THESE ARE VERY HARD WORKING PEOPLE TRYING TO SURVIVE! FIND A CHURCH WHERE THEY ARE PROTECTED & YOU WILL LEARN THE TRUTH! WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS NOT TRUE! I KNOW! I LIVE WITH THESE PEOPLE! THEY ARE SO GENEROUS WITH THEIR SMALL PAY, THEY GIVE TO THE HOMELESS & PANHANDLERS!
Joan LeMonteWell, that’s good! I’m not afraid. Why do people always go to fear? We are sick and tired of paying for it, that’s all.
Sherrie MirandaChurches only give Sanctuary to families that will be killed if they go back. They are union leaders, teachers, nurses, even drs. Though they don’t get to do those jobs here. They come here & work for a pittance!
Sherrie MirandaJoan LeMonte WE’RE NOT PAYING FOR ANYTHING! WE ARE BENEFITTING BY HAVING AFFORDABLE FOOD! AND BY THE WAY, YOU ARE NOT POOR. DON’T TRY TO TELL ME THAT. IF YOU WERTE YOU WOULD KNOW THESE PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY WOULD ACTUALLY HELP YOU. THEY LIVE THEIR CHRISTIANITY!
Joan LeMonteWe are talking about two different things. And to be honest with you, we will disagree when it comes to criminals and how much they should be awarded by taxpayers.
Joan LeMonteOMG! How do you know if I’m poor or not? Let’s face it, they also get welfare benefits and EBT cards. And they work for cash. I hope you do know that much. People in Ca. are tired of paying for it all. That’s not a sin. You’ve heard about little 6 yr. old Lennox? How about Jamal and Josh and the beautiful woman here who was killed by an illegal immigrant. He had already hit one car, then continued to hit her. Her 18yr. old son had to watch her die. She was engaged to be married. She and her fiance voted for Trump, thinking it would never happen to them. And then it did. These are the people I’m talking about. Not people who are living in churches.
Sherrie MirandaNo, it’s NOT two different things. You don’t want to admit that you just don’t like these people. You call them criminals because they’re undocumented. I say that’s not criminal. You call them murderers & commit other crimes & I say that’s not true. Criminals should not be awarded money & they obviously weren’t. That doesn’t happen in our criminal justice system.
Sherrie MirandaThey do NOT get WELFARE! They are undocumented! They stay away from the government for fear of being arrested. You don’t understand. I’ve known these people for more than 25 years. Their biggest crime is working hard INSTEAD of Working smart.
Sherrie MirandaYou are scapegoating just like Hitler & the Nazis did! Do you really think they are the problem?! The problem is OUR GOVERNMENT takes our money & gives it to the RICH!
Joan LeMonteOkay, I just posted it to your timeline. It’s true all the way from San Francisco. We are talking about 2 different things. I’m talking about people who commit crimes here, not hard working people. And yes, in Ca. they get welfare. $640 Million alone in Los Angeles.
Joan LeMonteHitler and the Nazis? Oh boy, that’s a low blow. However, I was born in Germany. My mom, dad and brother were in the army.
Joan LeMonteI’m gonna sign off for now. Maybe we can talk later. Gotta call my niece.
Sherrie MirandaBUT YOU ARE CONFUSING TEO TOTALLY DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PEOPLE! ONE undocumented guy commits vehicular homicide (probably not even that – he likely didn’t do it one purpose). So now you say ALL undocumented are criminals!
Joan LeMonteOMG! I didn’t say they were all criminals. You keep saying it.
Sherrie MirandaWow, you can’t see the forest for the trees, lady. Did Hitler killing Jews solve the problem? No, because the everyday working person is NOT the problem. But you go ahead & blame them & see if getting rid go them solves the problem!
I am not sure what country you are from, but I can tell you that activists in the U.S. have been watched for years, decades, in fact! Have you ever heard of COINTELPRO? Well, in the 80s, when we protested the wars in Central America, we weren’t just being watched, we were being infiltrated. At the time, I thought my boyfriend (who later became my husband, then my ex), I was sure that he was being totally paranoid, covering his face with a large bandana whenever the media showed up.
Later we were made aware that we had an infiltrator, probably not the first, but this one was so obvious, because he gave his name as the brother of a Salvadoran in the group. This caused the group, in their naiveté, to tell him stuff about the member who “happened” to have the same last name and a brother with the same first name.
There were probably other infiltrators, but they would say that they came for the women. It seems that the politically active woman had a reputation of being “looser” than other women.
There were also phone calls when we had speakers come from Central America. They named names and threatened members’ lives.
Two of our members were visited by the FBI. One was an American citizen though her two twin sisters were working for the Sandinista government. The other one was a Salvadoran whose visa had run out when he stopped taking classes at the university that brought him there.
There were also Cubans doing a small counter demonstration every time we had an anti-war demonstration. They were allowed to have their signs on poles that had been sharpened so they could use them as a weapon. We, on the other hand, were warned that we would be arrested if we carried anything that looked like a weapon.
Then, one day, one of our members got hold of his FBI file. Most of it was blacked out, but the few words and sentences we could read were total lies. They said he was an alcoholic, though he drank one to two beers a day. They also said he was a womanizer, sleeping with all kinds of women, when, in fact, despite not having a girlfriend, he never came on to any of the women and we never knew of any that went home with him for the night.
About fifteen years after this incident, I got a postcard from the Freedom of Information Act saying I could get a copy of my file for $25. I have no idea why I didn’t order it. If it WAS filled with blacked-out lines, it would still have been interesting to see what was there and how much was the truth.
Back then (in the 90s), it was said that one in four Americans have FBI files. I can’t help but wonder how high that ratio is today. My guess would be much higher. The protests are larger and more often. The issues are often local rather than about issues in other countries or even other parts of this country.
Anyway, my friend, my suspicion is that people actually do care more about that bloody dog than that bloodied person. From what I can see, we have become numb to human suffering. It is faked in so many TV shows and movies that people feel they’ve seen everything. With PETA around, making sure that the world knows when animals are mistreated, people think about their own pets and are outraged. We need a PETH (People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans) so that the world starts demanding the ethical treatment of humans and people start thinking about their family and friends whenever they see a bloodied and tortured human being.
Sincerely,
An American who has seen a lot
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador: http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch5chkAc 😉
SherrieMiranda1 