Patricia Ange's Blog, page 5
September 13, 2018
When Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Hits Home | Teen Vogue
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A report from the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center found that 86%of American Indian and Alaskan Native women who’ve been sexually assualted or raped described the perpetrator as “non-Indian.”
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/when-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-epidemic-hits-home
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4 out of 5 of our Native women are affected by violence today.
The U.S Department of Justice found that American Indian women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average.
Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among 10-24 years of age and the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age. – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Homicide
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The legacy of violence against our Native women and children within New Mexico dates to the Spanish and Euro-American invasion of our Native lands and our sacred bodies. From the Navajo Long Walk to the slave trades in Albuquerque’s Old Town to the current struggles of cases being lost within our judicial system- this is a legacy of violence… This incursion of violence onto our most sacred… Must be spoken about. Many times Native people are targeted in bordertowns for the color of a person’s skin, anti-Indianism, and the influences of settler colonialism.
MISSING & MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN: RESOURCES & INFORMATION
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Across rural North Dakota, women living on reservations face unique challenges when dealing with violence. Access to telephones, transportation, emergency services, law enforcement officers and confidential victim services all act as barriers to getting the help they desperately need. According to a 2016 National Institute of Justice Report, 56% of Native women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, and 38% were unable to receive any type of victim services. The high rates of sexual violence are closely interconnected with the likelihood of Native women going missing or being murdered, and on some reservations, they are murdered at more than ten times the national average.
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Although the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 and the Tribal Law and Order Act have helped bring attention to the high rates of violence against Native women, there is still no reliable way of knowing how many Native women go missing each year. In 2016, North Dakota alone had 125 cases of missing Native women reported to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), compared to 5,712 total Native women cases reported in the United States. However, the actual number is likely much higher, as cases of missing Native women are often under-reported and the data has never been officially collected.
That’s why I introduced the Savanna’s Act in October 2017 – legislation that would help combat the crisis of murdered and missing Native women and girls
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“Despite what major media sources say, violence against Native women is not an epidemic. An epidemic is biological and blameless. Violence against Native women is historical and political, bounded by oppression and colonial violence. This book, like all of Sarah Deer’s work, is aimed at engaging the problem head-on–and ending it.The Beginning and End of Rape collects and expands the powerful writings in which Deer, who played a crucial role in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, has advocated for cultural and legal reforms to protect Native women from endemic sexual violence and abuse. Deer provides a clear historical overview of rape and sex trafficking in North America, paying particular attention to the gendered legacy of colonialism in tribal nations–a truth largely overlooked or minimized by Native and non-Native observers. She faces this legacy directly, articulating strategies for Native communities and tribal nations seeking redress. In a damning critique of federal law that has accommodated rape by destroying tribal legal systems, she describes how tribal self-determination efforts of the twenty-first century can be leveraged to eradicate violence against women. Her work bridges the gap between Indian law and feminist thinking by explaining how intersectional approaches are vital to addressing the rape of Native women.Grounded in historical, cultural, and legal realities, both Native and non-Native, these essays point to the possibility of actual and positive change in a world where Native women are systematically undervalued, left unprotected, and hurt. Deer draws on her extensive experiences in advocacy and activism to present specific, practical recommendations and plans of action for making the world safer for all. “–
September 12, 2018
Queensland schoolgirl threatened with suspension after refusing to stand for Australia’s national anthem
A NINE-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl is facing suspension after she refused to stand for Australia’s national anthem.
Kick her out’: Hanson lashes anthem girl
Harper told The Courier-Mailthe line in the national anthem, “for we are young and free”, disregarded Aboriginals who had lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years and only saw Australia as a country post-colonisation.
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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson also weighed in on the nine-year-old’s protest.
“Here we have a kid who is being brainwashed and I’d tell you what, I’d give her a kick up the backside,” Ms Hanson said on social media.
“I’ve been fighting for 22 years for equality for everyone, to be inclusive. What the hell is going on? I’m angry about this because I’m proud of this country.
“This is divisive, I don’t know what the other kids around her are thinking, where is this coming from?
From Wikipedia
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON or ONP, also One Nation or One Nation Party) is a nationalist , right-wing populist party in Australia . One Nation was founded in 1997, by member of parliament Pauline Hanson and her advisors David Ettridge and David Oldfield after Hanson was disendorsed as a federal candidate for the Liberal Party of Australia . The disendorsement came before the 1996 federal election because of comments she made about Indigenous Australians . Hanson sat as an independent for one year before forming Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.
The party has a strongly nationalist and conservative platform. Hanson and other party members have denied claims that the party is racist. Hanson says that “criticism is not racism” about her statements on immigration and race. Hanson has also said that she enjoys the company of other ethnicities and welcomes people to Australia wherever their origin, but does not want other cultures to overly influence Australia.[
Politicians, ex-PM slam 9yo Australian child for refusal to stand during ‘racist’ national anthem
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Politicians are roasting an Australian nine-year-old after she refused to stand for the national anthem. They are now calling for grade 4 student Harper Nielsen, who says the anthem is racist, to be kicked out of school.
Harper, who goes to Kenmore South State School in Queensland, told Nine News that she chose to sit during the national anthem. She was given detention last week over her refusal to join her classmates in standing.
The anthem, Advance Australia Fair, contains a line that goes: “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free.” According to Harper, “when it says ‘we are young’ it completely ignores the Indigenous Australians who were here before the English.”Using her astonishingly verbose vocabulary for a nine-year-old, Harper told Channel Nine that “it’s basically institutionalised racism.”
The grade 4 student said the decision to take a stand by sitting down was made “mostly” by herself, but she did discuss the subject with her parents, who say they could “not be more proud” of their daughter’s actions.
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September 2, 2018
Are big employers holding down wages?
Unemployment is at a 17-year low and corporate profits have skyrocketed, but American workers just aren’t getting raises. Adjusted for inflation, average pay increases hover at just about zero. Economists have been arguing about the reasons for this “wage puzzle.” At the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference last week, a crucial annual event for the world’s top economic policymakers, Princeton economist Alan Krueger presented an answer that’s gaining traction: Worker bargaining power is low because of the growing clout of a small number of big firms in each industry. Economists call the outsize influence of a few employers “monopsony power,” and Krueger estimates it shaves 1 to 1.5 percent a year off wage growth. That might not sound like much, but over 20 years an extra 1.5 percent raise a year would increase your pay by a third. When workers have fewer potential employers to choose from, they have “less ability to demand higher pay.” Meanwhile, as the number of employers shrinks, it’s easier for them to “collude to restrict pay,” whether through explicit backroom deals or more subtle signaling.
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Are Superstar Firms and Amazon Effects Reshaping the Economy?
The biggest companies may be influencing things like inflation and wage growth, possibly at the expense of central bankers’ power to do so.
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Two of the most important economic facts of the last few decades are that more industries are being dominated by a handful of extraordinarily successful companies and that wages, inflation and growth have remained stubbornly low.
Many of the world’s most powerful economic policymakers are now taking seriously the possibility that the first of those facts is a cause of the second — and that the growing concentration of corporate power has confounded the efforts of central banks to keep economies healthy.
Mainstream economists are discussing questions like whether “monopsony” — the outsize power of a few consolidated employers — is part of the problem of low wage growth. They are looking at whether the “superstar firms” that dominate many leading industries are responsible for sluggish investment spending. And they’re exploring whether there is an “Amazon Effect” in which fast-changing pricing algorithms by the online retailer and its rivals mean bigger swings in inflation.
Does Amazon Have More Power Than the Federal Reserve?
The economy continues to grow, yet wages remain flat. Corporate concentration may be to blame.
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The Kansas City Federal Reserve, one of the dozen reserve banks in the U.S., gathered on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to discuss a signature puzzle of our times: How can the economy hum along, with unemployment falling for years, without wage growth? How have the gains from the economy been segregated from most Americans who do the work, instead flowing into the hands of a small group at the top? And what can the Fed, or anyone, do to reverse this?
The big question about today’s economy — are wages going to start growing?
We might just need a little time … or it might take more.
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Businesses have bounced back from the Great Recession, with the S&P 500 continually setting records while steady hiring has finally delivered a low unemployment rate. But when it comes to paychecks, wage growth has been so slow that over the past year it’s actually been less than inflation.
And while rising inequality is a huge part of the long-term story of the American economy, a convincing analysis from Jason Furman, the top economist in the Obama White House, indicates that the short-term driver is slow productivity growth. Growth has been driven by adding unemployed workers back into the labor force.
This, in turn, raises more questions: Why has productivity growth been so slow? Or, more to the point, can we expect it to turn around, so that wages will follow? Is it better to let good times continue, or do we need some kind of dramatic policy shake-up — or some old-fashioned good luck — to kick the economy into higher gear?
http://theweek.com/articles/793319/are-big-employers-holding-down-wages
High Price Of Insulin Leads Patients To Ration The Drug. That Can Be Lethal : Shots – Health News : NPR
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Diabetic ketoacidosis is a terrible way to die. It’s what happens when you don’t have enough insulin. Your blood sugar gets so high that your blood becomes highly acidic, your cells dehydrate, and your body stops functioning.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is how Nicole Smith-Holt lost her son. Three days before his payday. Because he couldn’t afford his insulin.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Smith-Holt says looking at her son’s death certificate on her dining room table in Richfield, Minn. “That cause of death of diabetic ketoacidosis should have never happened.”
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The price of insulin in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2012. That has put the life-saving hormone out of reach for some people with diabetes, like Smith-Holt’s son Alec Raeshawn Smith. It has left others scrambling for solutions to afford the one thing they need to live. I’m one of those scrambling.
September 1, 2018
Beloved Pastor Commits Suicide, Reveals Church’s Fatal Flaw — Charisma Magazine
Inland Hills Church grieves with heavy hearts as our Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein was welcomed into Heaven on Saturday night after battling depression and anxiety. It’s not the outcome we hoped and prayed for, and today we grieve as a church family.
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In his time leading Inland Hills, Andrew reached so many with his warm wit, passionate heart for God, and teaching that always, always pointed others to Jesus. The loving husband, father, son, and friend that he was will continue to inspire us in leading others into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
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And in this tragedy, we encourage anyone who is hurting emotionally to ask for help. If you or anyone else is struggling, the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-TALK (8255) is a potentially life-saving resource.
May we be a beacon of hope for the community, to rescue the hurting and honor the God that Andrew served so well.
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Reading these posts made me realize this: It could be any one of us in ministry. Everyone in ministry is like everyone else. For some reason pastors and church leaders are put on pedestals, elevated above our church members. But why? We are just like every person in the world. We are just like you. And we struggle with mental illness, too.
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It’s been said that 1 in every 4 pastors struggles with depression.
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Saddleback Church co-founder and best-selling author Kay Warren whose son, Matthew, died by suicide at age 27 in 2013, reminded her supporters in a post on Twitter Thursday that pastors are not immune to mental illness. “Pastors are human & susceptible to mental illness. Some, like dear Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, bravely share their struggle. Others keep it hidden. Just b/c a pastor talks about their own mental health doesn’t mean they aren’t still at risk. Pray 4 ur pastor,” she said.
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“My heart is heavy although I did not know Pastor Andrew personally, he is still my brother. Reading through what his wife, friends and congregation wrote about him, he was a man of great leadership and passion for Jesus,” Miles McPherson, lead pastor of Rock Church in San Diego, California, wrote in a statement Monday.
“Often times it can be discouraging when we hear someone of leadership committing suicide. We tend to believe they’re invincible, have it all together and don’t go through struggles that most face but time and time again we see that suicidal thoughts don’t discriminate. Whether you’re rich, poor, married, single, Christian, not Christian, young, old,” McPherson continued. “Rather than being discouraged by this loss, let’s commit to praying for those in leadership to us. Pray for your pastor today, pray for your boss, your leaders, your parents/guardians. To whom much is given, much is required and the burden can be very heavy.”
August 30, 2018
16-year-old facing multiple rape charges had long history of sexual misconduct | KSNV
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A 16-year-old has been charged with violently raping four of his classmates at Shadow Ridge High School.
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Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristina Rhoades said he was expelled from that school, but released under house arrest and the belief he was going to be homeschooled. He wasn’t. He attended a behavioral school where another allegation surfaced against him and then this fall he enrolled at Palo Verde High School.
Documents show his sexual misconduct goes all the way back to elementary school.
Clark County District Judge Jennifer Togliatti said in court, “In all my years, over 25 years in the criminal justice system, I have not seen a more prolific, um, sex offender, starting in elementary school, allegedly. In my whole career.”
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Fendrich on Tennis: 20 years on, Williams-Williams in a Slam
It is not exact, how #legends are made. Sometimes an individual becomes a legend from an impromptu act of heroism; sometimes it’s from a lifetime of heroism; other times it might be from an involuntary at of sacrifice or a lifetime spent in sacrifice. Still other times it comes from being the first to achieve an accomplishment; or after a lifetime of overcoming others accomplishments. Serena and Venus Williams became legends the very first time they went on to win a tennis tournament individually or together. But the most spectacular events was when they competed against each other for the championship title.
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Back when Serena Williams, then 16, and Venus Williams, then 17, played each other on tour for the very first time, at the Australian Open in January 1998, no one possibly could have known it would start a series that would last for two decades.
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August 29, 2018
Betsy DeVos Says She Wants to Keep Schools Safe and Equitable. Her Policies Tell a Different Story | Teen Vogue
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While most educational policy is set at the state level, districts take their broader cues from the federal government. This is where Betsy DeVos comes in, the Donald Trump–appointed hyper-conservative Secretary of Education. Of her many awe-inspiring acts, recently, DeVos is reportedly considering whether schools can use federal money to fund firearms on campus, according to sources with knowledge of the plan, who spoke with The New York Times. It would be a move the Times called “unprecedented,” as it would be “reversing a longstanding position taken by the federal government that it should not pay to outfit schools with weapons.” Additionally, most law enforcement experts don’t believe teachers should carry guns—and in June, DeVos told Congress that the federal school safety commission wouldn’t investigate the role of guns in school violence.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/betsy-devos-education-secretary-title-ix-school-shootings-stance
August 27, 2018
States reconsider confidential deals in workplace harassment
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Confidentiality agreements have come under fire during the #MeToo movement as one way abusive men have been able to hold on to their jobs, and keep harassing more women.
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State lawmakers are listening. They introduced bills in at least 16 states this year to restrict the use by private employers of non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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They became law in six states: Arizona, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.
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Lawmakers in California also took action this past week, sending two bills to the governor. One, championed by actress Jane Fonda and former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, would prohibit employers from requiring nondisclosure agreements related to sexual misconduct as a condition of getting or keeping a job.
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The other would ban settlements in sexual harassment or discrimination cases that seek to keep the circumstances secret. It would apply to the private sector, government agencies and the Legislature.
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Girl who dated 25-year-old posing as teen at Hillcrest High wants him in jail ‘for a long time’ | Dallas | Dallas News
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She’d dated Gilstrap-Portley for a few months, but the 15-year-old wants nothing more to do with him.
“I think he should go to jail for a long time,” she said.
She was 14 when she was dating the man she thought was a freshman basketball star. But after a coach from Gilstrap-Portley’s former high school recognized him, his teammates had to forfeit every game he’d played.
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The girl was called out of class before he was publicly exposed in May so two Dallas school district police detectives and district administrators could break the news to her and her mother that she’d been dating an impostor.
Since then, district officials have been silent, her mother said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News .
Because Gilstrap-Portley faces criminal charges that include allegations of sexual contact, the names of the girl and her mother names are not being published to protect their privacy.
{ …the student confessed that she and Gilstrap-Portley had kissed and fondled each other. Her mother arranged for her to receive a full physical evaluation.
“We took her to the physician just to make sure she was OK. We tested her for STDs to see if there was anything sexual, but you really can’t tell if they had sex or not,” the mother revealed. “We’re still filing sexual assault, based on the detectives it is still a felony because they did touch private parts… he touched her, she touched him, but there was no actual physical sex.”
The mother further explained that the described behavior might be normal for most teenagers. But it becomes a different situation when one of the teens is actually an adult.
“She had no idea he was 25. He deceived her,” she continued. “Deception is major in this because it can be impactful for her later in life, as she grows and begins to date and that is more of the biggest piece that we struggle with mentally, how she begins to understand this and how she grows with this.” }
The mother, who works for Dallas ISD, plans to sue the district. She said that although school officials didn’t intend to put her daughter in harm’s way, better procedures need to be in place to protect children.
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Using the assumed name Rashun Richardson, 25-year-old Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley posed as a Hillcrest High School student and basketball player (14).
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He began the school year at Skyline High School, where he enrolled claiming to be a Hurricane Harvey refugee. Months later, he moved to Hillcrest High School and joined the basketball team, Dallas ISD officials said.
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