Women’s Independent Press

 

Karen Litzinger, from Litzinger Career Consulting, has another endeavor called Heal from Pet Loss.  She is the author of an award-winning CD Heal Your Heart: Coping with the Loss of a Pet.  Heal from Pet Loss also offers pet loss bereavement counseling, and sponsors event fundraisers for Western Pennsylvania Animal Shelters.  You are invited to join Heal from Pet Loss at these upcoming events:

Pet Parents Day Painting Party April 17, 2011. Noon-6:00 PM

 Heal from Pet Loss and Color Me Mine are joining together to raise money for The Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania.  Paint dog/cat bowls, treat jars, picture frames, and more for your pets.  For more information or find out how to register visit www.HealFromPetLoss.com

 

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Expert Advice for Owners of Aging or Ailing Pets: The Final Paw of the Journey

As our pets get old, we may wonder what we need to do to take care of them.  The panel presentation will feature a veterinary expert, a pet loss counselor, and a funeral services professional.  Attendees are invited to bring pet food, pet supplies, or monetary contributions for the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.  For more information visit www.HealFromPetLoss.com.  Three times, locations and dates, please call to register.  

 

Bethel Park Public Library:         Monroeville Public Library:        Moon Township Public Library      

Tuesday, May 3, 2011                     Wednesday, May 4, 2011                Saturday, May 7, 2011

7:30 - 8:30 PM Council Chambers 7:30 - 8:30, PM Gallery Space        2:00-3:00 PM, Sky Room

5100 West Library Avenue             4000 Gateway Campus Blvd          1700 Beaver Grade Road Suite 100

Call (412) 835-2207 to register        Call (412) 372-0500 to register    Call (412) 269-0334 to register

 

 

 

Fundraiser for the Animal Rescue League

National Pet Parents Day Painting Party and CD Signing

Sunday, April 17, 2011, Noon to 6:00 PM

Color Me Mine, 5887 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill), 15217

Come paint a special food bowl, treats jar, picture frame or other fun item in honor of your special animal companion.  $15 will cover appetizers, desserts, drinks, a two hour block of painting time and a contribution to the Animal Rescue League.  Ceramic pieces to paint will be offered in a wide range of prices to accommodate everyone’s budget. Spaces are limited!  Individuals, couples and families are welcome!

I will also be doing a CD signing at the event for people who want Heal Your Heart as a caring gift for a pet-lover friend with a portion of proceeds to benefit the Animal Rescue League.

 
Recently, I was organizing a client’s kitchen. He felt overwelmed with what needed done and didn’t know where to begin. We got to work and started at one end and worked our way to the other end. By the time we were done, it looked so much better. The clutter was gone on the counters, you could actually see what was on the shelves and everything that he really wanted to keep, we kept. The rest we set aside for a garage sale this Spring and the leftovers were going to Goodwill.
 
Beware of using your kitchen as a work station for homework, office tasks, overcrowding with clutter and piles of paperwork and mail. It’s just too easy to do. Especially if you have a large kitchen. Even a small one that has a table is an easy place to let things pile up. Part of the problem is that the room serves too many purposes. The kitchen is a place to cook and eat and visit with the family at mealtime. Are you overbuying in bulk or buying too many sale items you don’t really need or won’t use very often? Take a few minutes to evaluate what is bothering you most and start there. One pile at a time. One cabinet at a time and before you know it, things will begin to look and feel better. Mealtime is a special time of day whether or not you live alone or have a houseful. Your kitchen (or dining room table) should be a peaceful place to have a meal and a conversation. Take the time to make it so, you’ll enjoy your mealtime so much more.
 
Need a Professional Organizer/Personal Assistant? Please contact me via e-mail or telephone. I’ll be glad to help get you from point A to Z.
Carole Brecht
cebrecht@hotmail.com

 

412.418.4978

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?closeTheater=1#!/pages/Organize-Your-Life-Now/167825409901347

BUSINESS PROGRAM CALENDAR

 

APRIL 2011

 

 

Programs are held each Thursday at 12:15 pm at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Downtown & Business, 612 Smithfield St., Downtown.  They are free and open to the public.

 

 

Thursday, April 7           Charitable Giving:  Crafting a Gift of Significance

                                    Nicole Johnston, MBA

                                    AXA Advisors, LLC

 

This session will focus on various methods of tax-favored giving to charities, including the gifting of cash, appreciated securities, real estate and life insurance.  Ms. Johnson will discuss strategies and vehicles used for these gifts, including charitable trusts.

 

 

Thursday, April 14             How to Avoid the “Cruelest Trap of All” After the Tax Relief Act of 2010

                                        James Lange, CPA/Attorney, Author

                                        President, Lange Legal Group, LLC

 

Because of changes in the new estate tax laws, older traditional estate plans are not helpful, but harmful because of the severe restrictions they can place on your spouse’s independence and access to the family money.  Mr. Lange will discuss why traditional estate plans should be reviewed to ensure that the surviving spouse will have control over expenditure decisions as originally intended.  All attendees will receive a FREE copy of Jim’s bestselling book, Retire Secure!

 

 

Thursday, April 21         Moving Up and Moving Out in 2011:

The Insider Secrets of Real Estate and Mortgage Professionals                      

Diane Scabilloni, MPM, Mortgage Planner, Victorian Finance

                                    Tracy Janov, Real Estate Professional, Prudential Preferred Realty

 

How can you stage your home without spending a lot of money so it will sell it quickly and for the best price?  Discover options for making a smooth financial transition from one home to another, and ideas for managing the financing when you are selling and moving to a new property.  Our speakers will explain how you can entice buyers to make a quick offer and make realtors excited to show your home.

 

 

Thursday, April 28         The Panic is On: The Great American Depression as Seen By the Common                                         Man     (DVD – 60 minutes)

 

This unusual DVD combines newsreel film, popular music, eyewitness accounts and photographs that  portray the desperation of the time when millions were unemployed and unable to find any kind of work.  Scenes of bread lines, people running to banks to withdraw their money, Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless shelter and more make this era come to life. 

 

- April 1 – In honor of National Autism Awareness month, Panera Bread is hosting its first “Autism Speaks, Panera Listens” campaign.  On Friday, April 1st through Friday, April 8th, Panera Bread is inviting community members to purchase a Puzzle Piece Shortbread Cookie at their local Panera Bread bakery-café.  One hundred percent of proceeds from the Puzzle Piece Shortbread Cookies will be donated to the Pittsburgh, PA Autism Speaks chapter.

 

 

April 4 - FREE TELECONFERENCE CALL – Integrated Wellness Coaching Certification – 7 PM – 8 PM EDT - Learn the details about this Coaching Certification Opportunity - We will discuss the program details and what you can expect to do with your Certification. Great income opportunity for Natural Health Practitioners, Life Coaches, Personal Trainers and Moms, too! Call in #(218) 339-4300 Participant Code: 478911

 

 

April 4 – Pittsburgh Public Schools – Annual Business Opportunity - The Extravaganza has been moved to a new location on a different day!  (Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers’ building (PFT) - Please update your calendar to reflect the change if you have already registered.  If you have not registered yet you still have time!  Respond to this email or call (412) 488-4661.

 

 

 

April 4 -  from 6-8pm – Pittsburgh Professional Women Presents

Clever Connections Dinner Club Monroeville - Nardi’s 10th Floor Jonnett Building, 4099 William Penn Highway, Monroeville, PA 15146 - Dinner Clubs are for MEMBERS ONLY  Not a Member?  What are You Waiting for?  Cost:  Dinner on Your Own

 

April 6 - How to Create a Publicity Plan for Your Business –Beth Caldwell, Speaker - FREE Workshop - 10:15 AM- Squirrel Hill, 5801 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh - Register: Squirrel Hill Library - 412.422.9650 - squirrelhill@carnegielibrary.org

 

April 6 – Executive Women’s Council of Greater Pittsburgh presents An informative meeting with the Candidates for Allegheny County Chief Executive at Omni William Penn, Bob and Dolores Hope Room, Mezzaine Level, 530 William Penn Place Pittsburgh – to register email to ewcpgh@aol.com and please mail your check payable to Executive Women’s Council to:  Roberta Rollings
, 241 Patterson Road
 Bethel Park - 412-848-9011

 

 

 April 7 - Breakfast Briefing: Globalization and the Transformation of the Labor Market - 8:15 - 9:30 a.m. - Dr. Guy Standing, Professor of Economic Security, University of Bath, United Kingdom, and Author of Work After Globalization: Building Occupational Citizenship - Moderator: Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council; Member of the Board of Directors of Vibrant Pittsburgh; Member of the Board of Directors of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh - Location: Rivers Club, 301 Grant Street, 4th Floor, Pittsburgh

 

April 7 – April 9 - The Crucible - Presented by Robert Morris University’s Colonial Theatre - April 7, April 9 - 8 pm, April 10 - 2 pm - Five girls claim they have been visited by the devil.  Dark desires and hidden agendas surface as mass hysteria descends on a small New England town. One of the landmark plays of the twentieth century, Arthur Miller’s dramatization of the Salem witch trials chronicles the difficulty of defending principals and maintaining human dignity in a climate of fear, hysteria, and persecution.  The Crucible, famous for rousing the conscience of America, is still relevant today. Tickets $10 at the door. For more information please visit the Colonial Theatre’s web site or call 412-397-5454

 

April 8 - Women Business Leaders Breakfast Series - Speaker: Janet Lauer, Director, Three Rivers Clean Energy - Topic: “How Energy-Related Strategies and Investments can Bring Value to Your Bottom Line.” - Time: 7:30-9:00 AM - James Laughlin Music Center, Chatham University Shadyside Campus - Cost: $25.00 - Register online: www.chatham.edu/cwe

 

April 11- Women Etcetera, 10^th Annual Regional Conference – Pittsburgh Marriott North, 100 Cranberry Woods Dr, Cranberry Township – 8:45 AM – 4 PM – sessions on Wellness, Caregiving, and Finance - morning kick-off speaker will be Jennifer Antkowiak -

 

April 13-  Getting Ready for Capital - Penn Brewery, Eisenhalle, 800 Vinial Street Pittsburgh - Using real world case studies, our panel of experts will define a step-by-step process to: Decide if you need capital for growth, Unlock “hidden” internal capital, Research the best type and source for capital, Prepare for credit application process, Create a plan to improve readiness for capital  - If you are interested in registering for this event or would like more information, please visit http://dbrc.ecenterdirect.com/ConferenceDetail.action?ID=49 and log in using your username and password.

April 13 -  Volunteers of America - Brown Bag Lunch – FREE - 1650 Main Street Pittsburgh - 12:00 – 1:00pm - Speaker  Melinda Emerson, author, social media strategist and entrepreneur - Topic: Launching and Running a Profitable Small Business - Pittsburgh native Melinda Emerson “Smallbizlady” will share her expertise on what entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business. Her first book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works and her audio CD, 10 Things You Must Never Forget in Business will guide us through this web-seminar, a first in expanding our speaker series across the state - RSVP: 412.782.5344 or volunteersofamerica@voapa.org

April 14 - WORKSHOP:  Let’s Get Organized - 1:00pm to 3:00pm, The Greentree Radisson, 101 Radisson Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205

Featuring a Panel of Pittsburgh’s Foremost Professional Organizers

Vickie Dellaquila, Patty Kreamer and Susan Lieber and Special Guest Emcee Media Personality Eleanor Schano  - Register Early (by April 7th) and $AVE! 

Members just $35 and Non Members $40 when you register by April 7th Includes Your Lunch - Prices increase to $40/$45 on April 8^th http://www.pittsburghprofessionalwomen.net/id84.html to register

 

April 15 - Women’s Power Lunch  Come be a part of the longest running networking luncheon in the Pittsburgh area.  Bring 50 business cards or brochures to hand

out and be prepared to give a short presentation on your business to introduce yourself to other business women and professionals.  - 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.- Priory, Grand Hall, North Side, Pittsburgh - $30.00 cash at the door, receipts provide - RSVP: By April 13th

 To register, contact Suzanne McMahon-Froehlich at 724-452-5152 or suzannef@zoominternet.net - Business Exchange Networking Lunch  - Give a 1-2 minute commercial for your business. Bring business cards, brochures, and samples & Make new business contacts.

 

April 16 - Branding Your Image For Speaking Success Presented by Dawn Waldrop, Image Consultant - 8:00 - 8:30: networking & continental breakfast; 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon: introductions and featured program - LaRoche College, Zappala College Ctr, 9000 Babcock Blvd., Pittsburgh - National Speakers Association, Pittsburgh Chapter - NSA Members & Affiliates-$35, Nonmembers-$45, At the door-$55 (Informal Lunch- $5.25 additional - RSVP: Suggested by April 13^th

 

April 16 – May 21 - Self-Defense for Women - (six consecutive Saturdays) - 10 – 11:30 am - Wilkins School Community Center, Regent Square – Email info@lionessmartialarts.com or call 412.241.6519 for more information

 

-April 17 - The Young Women’s Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation (YWBCAF) is hosting their annual spring event to benefit breast cancer education.  This year Buddy Valastro, known to all as the “Cake Boss” as seen on TLC, will be the special guest at this event.  He will share stories about his series, talk about his own families experiences with cancer and do a demonstration.  The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Airport.  They are expecting 500 people to fill the ball room.  The time is from 4:30-9:30pm - There will be plenty of vendors to shop and you can cast your ballot during the cake contest – Visit www.mwrif.org. for information about other upcoming events

April 18 - 80th Anniversary Speaker Series: A New Diplomacy for the 21st Century? - 12:00-1:45 p.m. - Dr. Parag Khanna, Director of the Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation; Author of How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance  - Fairmont Hotel, Ballroom, 510 Market Street, Pittsburgh

April 21 – Volunteers of America - Disability Resource Breakfast - 1650 Main Street Pittsburgh – FREE - 8:30 – 9:30 AM - Speaker: Lindsay Fulton-Brown, Esq. from Osterhout, Fulton-Brown, LLC - Topic: Trouble Free Applications for Disability Benefits - Get practical advice on how to navigate Social Security application procedures once you have determined that you are eligible to apply for SSDI or SSI benefits. Fulton-Brown offers us her guidance in understanding the application, appeals, hearing, and representation process - RSVP: 412.782.5344 or volunteersofamerica@voapa.org

 April 27 - Business Exchange Networking Lunch  -  Give a 1-2 minute commercial for your business,  Bring business cards, brochures, and samples, Make new business contacts. -  11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Comfort Inn, 2801 Freeport Road, Harmarville - Cost: $15 - RSVP: By Monday, April 25 - To register, contact Carol Briney at 412-781-8773 or PlanBConsultant@comcast.net

April 28 - Small Business Works - Attend this free workshop designed to help small business owners find the resources they need to be successful.  The event will feature guest speakers and exhibitors, in addition to providing a forum for business owners to network and share best practices. The theme of this seminar is “Tools for Small Business - 2011 and Beyond,” and will focus specifically on cost-efficient resources. Attendees will learn more about services, such as the Allegheny County Department of Minority, Women & Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (MWDBE) - 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Kingsley Association, 6435 Frankstown Avenue, Pittsburgh - Allegheny County, City of Pittsburgh, U.S. Small Business Administration, Duquesne University Small Business Development Center, and Building Bridges for Business - Cost: No charge

 

 

- April 28 – May 14 – Krista Kaley retruns to the stage as Sister Robert Anne in the Nunsense series: Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class – South Park Theatre – Tickets: $15 – For reservations call 412-831-8552

 

 

 

 

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May 11, Erie PA from 9:00am - 11:00am

 

The Small Business Development Centers at Duquesne University and Gannon University would like to invite you to our SBIR / STTR workshops - Free, Basics workshops are offered for those who are new to this type of funding. For those who know the basics and now want to learn how to win these awards, register for our day-long workshop taught by nationally recognized speaker John Davis.

 

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Save the Date

 

May 20 - Cocktails and Cuisine for Women in Crisis - 6 to 10PM  The Woodlands, Bradford Woods, Pittsburgh  - A Unique Afterwork Grazing/Sipping event to benefit Crisis Center North. Over 20 top food purveyors compete for Best Taste Treat!

Wine and Vodka sampling adds to the fun! Live Auction with “one of a kind” trips and events -$60 per person (includes wine and beer) $75 VIP (also includes early admission and premier parking)  Www.CrisisCenterNorth.org or call 412-364-6728 Ext. 15

 

June 10 - Inspired Women in Business And Life  - An Empowering Full Day Conference! Celebrate,Elevate and Appreciate the Inspired Spirit Within us All! – 8:00 to 5 – Four Points Sheraton, Mars, PA. Two tracts throughout the day guarantee attendees great content on both business or life topics. Silent Auction benefiting Treasure House Fashion. Early Bird Tickets by May 10th start at $75! For agenda as well as sponsor/vendor opportunities go to Www.InspiredWomen.com or call 724-935-6100

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Sexual violence  is not motivated by sexual desire , it is a crime of  violence sexualized and includes: rape, incest, child sexual assault, ritual abuse, date and acquaintance rape, statutory rape, marital or partner rape, sexual exploitation, sexual contact, sexual harassment, exposure, human trafficking and voyeurism. Sexual Violence occurs whenever a person is forced, coerced, and/or manipulated into any unwanted sexual activity.

Rapists use sex as a weapon to dominate and hurt others, and it is a crime

 

 

Some statistics on Sexual violence obtained from the Department of Justice include : An average 233,986 Americans age 12 and older are sexually assaulted each year. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime. 2 Among all victims, about nine out of ten are female. 1 out of every 33 American men has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in his lifetime. 2 About 10% of all victims are male. Age of sexual assault victims   15% are under age 12. 29% are age 12-17 44% are under age 18 80% are under age 30 Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years   Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault. Estimated persons raped in lifetime by gender and race   Women 17.7% of white women 18.8% of African-American women 6.8% of Asian / Pacific Islander women 34.1% of American Indian / Alaskan Native women 24.4% mixed race women 14.6% of Hispanic women Men 2.8% of white men 3.3% of African-American men 4.4% of mixed race men The sample size was too small to estimate for Asian/ Pacific Islander and American Indian / Alaskan Native men Effects of Rape Physical Injuries 100% of completed rapes, 39% of attempted rapes, and 17% sexual assaults against females result in injured victims. 33% of victims sustain minor (bruises and chipped teeth) physical injuries 5% of victims sustain major (broken bones and gunshot wounds) injuries 61% of victims sustain undetermined injuries Only around 36% of injured victims receive medical care. 82% of those cared for use hospital services 55% use physician services 17% use dental services 19% use ambulatory / paramedic services 17% use physical therapy services Mental Health Victims of sexual assault are: 3 times more likely to suffer from depression. 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol. 26 times more likely to abuse drugs. 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide. Economic About 1 in 11 sexual assault victims reported that they suffered some economic loss as a consequence of the crime. The average economic loss (in 1997) was about $200 Nearly 7% of victims reported losing time from work. Reporting to Police There were 90,427 forcible rapes reported to police in 2007.   Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes, with an average of 39% being reported to the police each year. When victims of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault did not report the crime to the police, the most often cited reasons were:   Rape: personal matter (23.3%) fear of reprisal (16.3%) police biased (5.8%) Attempted rape: personal matter (16.8%); fear of reprisal (11.3%); protect offender (9.9%) Completed and attempted sexual assault: personal matter (25.3%); reported to different official (12.4%); fear of reprisal (11.3%) The closer the relationship between the female victim and the offender, the greater the likelihood that the incident will not be reported.   When the offender was a current or former husband or boyfriend, about 75% of all victimizations were not reported to police. When the offender was a friend or acquaintance, an average 71% were not reported. When the offender was a stranger, an average 44% were not reported . Offenders Almost 2/3 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim.   23% of rapists are an intimate 3% are another relative 38% are a friend or acquaintance 31% are a stranger 6% are unknown Only about 6% of rapists ever serve a day in jail. The average age of an arrested rapist is 31 years old. 0.6% are 17 years old or younger 54.6% are 18 to 29 years old 28.6% are 30 to 39 years old 8.9% are 40 to 49 years old 7.3% are 50 years old or older Marital status of arrested rapists. 22.1% are married 1.2% are widowed 28.5% are divorced 6.2% are separated 42% are never married An average 8% of sexual assaults each year involve the use of a weapon. 2% use a firearm 4% use a knife 2% use another form of weapon 6% are unsure 87% of victims reported the use of physical force only Convicted rapists made up 1.2% of the 272,111 state prisoners released in 1994, and 46% of these released rapists were rearrested within three years for some type of felony or serious misdemeanor 2.5% were rearrested for another rape. In 1999, women accounted for 1 in 50 offenders committing a violent sex offense including rape and sexual assault Nearly 6 in 10 of these women serving time in state prisons have experienced physical or sexual abuse in the past. Offenders in sexual assault murders are about 6 years younger on average than other murderers’ Youth under 18 have accounted for about 10% of the sexual assault murders since 1976.

In a women’s study released in 2009, researchers at Columbia and Johns Hopkins Universities discovered the important role activity plays in the fight against frailty and shed new light on what causes the condition.

Researchers found that frailty is the result of a systems failure in older adults, rather than a specific problem, disease or even chronological age. Data from women ages 70-79 led researchers to discover that half of those fragile seniors had three or more systems at abnormal levels, compared with 25 percent of the pre-frail and 16 percent of the non-frail population. Physiological factors that were assessed included anemia, inflammation and fine motor skills.

Treatments, including medications and hormone replacement, are unlikely to prevent elder frailty unless they are designed to improve multiple systems, says Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, the study’s author and DeLamar Professor of Public Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “This may explain the importance of approaches such as remaining physically active as we get older, since activity improves many aspects of biology and overall health.”

What is Age-Related Frailty?

Family members as well as professionals are playing a role in helping researchers define frailty, according to Stephanie Studenski, M.D., M.P.H., who serves as director of clinical research for the University of Pittsburgh Institute on Aging.

One study conducted in 2004 asked health care providers and family caregivers what they see when they think of frailty. The goal was to develop a measure for geriatric clinical research to represent the geriatric clinician’s opinion about change in physical frailty. “I think the thing that was most striking to me was that many family members we talked with perceived that an older person is getting more or less frail based on social and psychological factors rather than physical factors,” Studenski said. “Doctors, meanwhile, focused on the physical evidence.”

“Part of it, for family members, was a sense of engagement that included spirit, mood and attitude. Those were factors that family members weighed more heavily than health care providers. What I determined from that study,” said Dr. Studenski, “is that we must be very careful defining frailty only in physical terms.”

For fifteen years, the Home Instead Senior Care^® franchise network has been devoted to providing seniors with the highest quality care in their own homes, and to arming families with the information they need to make the best decisions about caring for aging loved ones.

The “Get Mom Moving” campaign is part of that effort, designed to help seniors stay mentally and physically active, as well as emotionally engaged. For more information, please visit www.caregiverstress.com.  Until next time, if you, or any organization of which you are a part, is interested in learning more, please contact our office.  We would be happy to speak to your group free of charge about this subject, our services, and even employment opportunities. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Rebecca Champagne, Human Resource Coordinator

Home Instead Senior Care

1102 S Braddock Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15218

Phone: (412) 731-0733

Rebecca.Champagne@HomeInstead.com

 

OF JUSTICE IN NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT

The Women’s Law Project issued a press release commending the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for its investigation of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) where it found major deficiencies and constitutional violations.  Particularly significant was the landmark finding of widespread and pervasive gender bias in NOPD’s handling of crimes involving violence against women. 

“To our knowledge, this is the first time that a police department has been investigated for gender bias,” said Carol E. Tracy, Executive Director of the Women’s Law Project.  Ms. Tracy testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs last September about what she characterized as “the chronic and systemic failure” of police departments in many cities, including New Orleans, to properly investigate sex crimes, the victims of which are disproportionately female. 

The Department of Justice Report mirrored Ms. Tracy’s testimony:
We find that NOPD has systematically misclassified large numbers of possible sexual assaults, resulting in a sweeping failure to properly investigate many potential cases of rape, attempted rape, and other sex crimes. We find that in situations where the Department pursues sexual assault complaints, the investigations are seriously deficient, marked by poor victim interviewing skills, missing or inadequate documentation, and minimal efforts to contact witnesses or interrogate suspects.  The documentation we reviewed was replete with stereotypical assumptions and judgments about sex crimes and victims of sex crimes, including misguided commentary about the victims’ perceived credibility, sexual history, or delay in contacting the police.

–Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department
US Department of Justice.  March 16, 2011.  Page xi.
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/nopd.php

The Report also found systemic deficiencies in NOPD’s policies and practices in responding to domestic violence cases, while acknowledging recent improvements due in large part to the creation of the New Orleans Family Justice Center.

“This is a long overdue acknowledgement of gender bias in police practice and we hope police departments throughout the United States will begin self-audits of their practices,” Carol Tracy added.

The Women’s Law Project led a successful reform effort in Philadelphia a decade ago when The Philadelphia Inquirer uncovered similar practices in sexual assault and domestic violence cases in the Philadelphia Police Department.

BY Author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin

The Women’s Media Center
151 West 25th Street, Suite 12F
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 563-0680
Fax: (212) 563-0688

The 1984 Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro ticket

The bishop of New York showed up at the wake on Tuesday and kneeled before Geraldine Ferraro’s coffin.  Gerry would have been pleased.  The church owed her one for all the years when its establishment excoriated her for supporting abortion rights. Whether as a candidate, congresswoman, Walter Mondale’s running mate in 1984, or in the decades since, whenever she spoke in public, Gerry never knew if she might have to face off against some priest threatening her with eternal damnation, hostile Catholics demanding her excommunication, or jeering catcalls of  “Baby Killer!”

Such vicious personal attacks would unnerve anyone.  For Gerry, a devout Catholic until the day she died, the vilification cut close to the bone. She was a church-going, family-loving, Italian-American wife and mother whose conscience would not allow her to choose abortion for herself, but whose sense of decency led her to defend other women’s right to do so in the privacy of their conscience.  Gerry’s empathy was rooted in her personal relationship with Jesus Christ and his relationship to human suffering.  Only after perceiving the depth of her devotion to the church did I fully appreciate how brave was her pro-choice advocacy. While other politicians and public feminists could blithely speechify on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, each time Gerry spoke out it was an act of courage, a spiritual risk-taking, a hard-won triumph of her secular sense of fairness over her deeply rooted religious faith.

Courage is a hackneyed term but no other word adequately describes the attitude with which she lived her life.  From the early 1970s on, I had occasion to witness it close-up after our families got to know each other in the tiny summer community of Saltaire, Fire Island, a narrow barrier beach wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great South Bay about 50 miles from Manhattan.  Cars are banned in season on Fire Island; you arrive by passenger ferry and once there, travel on foot or by bike, and transport your luggage, children, and groceries by wagon. Saltaire boasts one food market, one playground, one doctor-on-duty, one club, but two churches.  The Zaccaros—Gerry, her husband John, and their three children—were regulars at Our Lady Star of the Sea, a white clapboard structure with Gothic windows, imposing by Fire Island standards, that rises out of the sand like a mirage and has stood firm against several hurricanes.

The church was a kind of metaphor for Gerry who was solid and strong, a lady in the way Marymount Manhattan girls like her were taught to be, and soon to become the star of our seaside community. But she started as a public school teacher, while attending Fordham Law School at night, where she was one of only two women in her 1960 graduating class.  She raised her three children while doing some legal work for her husband’s real estate firm.  Her career as we know it didn’t really take off until 1974 when she was appointed an assistant district attorney in Queens, a big deal back when few women were prosecutors.

Always a strong proponent of women’s legal, economic, and political equality, Gerry was uncomfortable with movement rhetoric of the day, words like “women’s lib,” “male supremacy,” or “patriarchy.”   She wasn’t into feminist theory or analysis; she was interested in facts and law.  I remember how shocked she was when she discovered that she was being paid less than her male colleagues, a discrepancy her superior defended on the grounds that she had a husband to support her.

In 1975, she was assigned to the Special Victims Bureau where she prosecuted cases of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse (she was made head of the unit two years later), and soon became a passionate advocate for women, children, and poor people. Exposure to these victims seemed to add to her gut-level understanding of gender inequities a more global perspective on women’s suffering.   Gerry was looking at life through the prism of the powerless.

During her first campaign for the United States Congress, she often talked about her humble beginnings in the South Bronx and how her values were shaped by her widowed mother, a hard-working seamstress.  But Gerry’s courage was all her own as she led on issues of child abuse and domestic violence, and withstood the personal ordeals yet to come.

In 1984, while she was running for vice president and her husband’s business dealings and the couple’s tax returns became a campaign issue, Gerry submitted to a grueling media interrogation with authority, assurance, and dignity. A few years later, their son’s youthful drug arrest again opened their private life to harsh public scrutiny.  Where other beleaguered families might have lashed out at one another behind the scenes, Gerry and John presented a united front and remained fiercely loyal, they never played the blame game.

For the past 13 years, an even deeper level of courage rose to the fore as she battled multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow, as if she were fighting it one cell at a time.  While undergoing countless drug treatments, steroid shots, a stem cell transplant, thalidomide therapy, repeated hospitalizations and surgical procedures, she continued, as best as she could, to work at her law firm, appear at fundraising events to help women candidates get elected, and make herself presentable for her stints on Fox News.  (“I don’t mind being their token liberal,” she’d say. “Someone’s got to do it.”)

Until a few months ago, nothing made her more animated than talking politics with her friends. She was pissed when Hillary lost the 2008 nomination.  She was  adamant about the urgent need for affordable health care and reasonably priced drugs for every American, not just people like herself who could pay for the best.  Sexism in the media made her furious.  Glen Beck drove her nuts.

In the last couple of years, she yo-yoed through good days and bad days, the bad days marked by excruciating back pain, cracked ribs, pinched nerves, and a swollen face. It was a shock to see her height shrink to under five feet and her weight plummet, to hear her quick, vigorous Queens accent turn sluggish with medication, to notice the black and blue marks on her arms and legs, or watch her make her way across the room on a walker, then in a wheel chair. Through it all, she actively pursued the latest cutting-edge treatment, the next experimental drug, anything that might keep her alive a few more months, maybe even years.   She never gave up.  Three days after she died, her husband told me that the doctors said 85 percent of her body was made up of cancer cells.

Her sheer physical fortitude, good humor, worldly engagement, and unbending will to survive were awe-inspiring to me and the other three friends who, with Gerry, had started a women’s group a few years ago to discuss our work, families, the state of the world, and the strange terrain of life over 60.  Our little cabal, which, in a burst of delayed adolescence, dubbed ourselves The Fab Five, met twice a year for weekend retreats, always with a full agenda, and between meetings, kept the conversation going by email. When Gerry became too sick to travel, she attended the retreats by speaker-phone.

As honest and self-disclosing as all of us were in those meetings, we never directly confronted the elephant in the room, the fact that one of us was dying.  But this January, Gerry and I finally had that conversation. She told me she had prepared her family for life without her, that she could finally relax because she’d taught John to make his own meals and told her kids which of her belongings she wanted each of them to have, and what sort of funeral and gravestone they should arrange for.

“Are you afraid of death?” I asked

She laughed.  “Letty, you’re Jewish. You don’t understand that I really believe I’m going to heaven. I’m going to be with my mom and Jesus. What have I got to be afraid of?

 

“Forbidden Strawberries” by Cipora Hurwitz

 

ISBN 13: 978-1885881380

 

 

The writing style of “Forbidden Strawberries,” the memoir of Cipora Hurwitz, a Polish Jew forced to grow up during the Holocaust, is stark, matter-of-fact, and not necessarily elegant, but because of this simplicity and especially because of Hurwitz’s vivid recollections, it is powerfully emotive.  The recorded impressions of a small, perceptive child (she was six in 1939) are somehow more clearly horrific than if one was reading the memoirs of an adult in similar circumstances and not just because, yes it was horrible that these monstrous things happened to children.  It’s because a happy child such as Hurwitz didn’t have the slightest conception of evil.  To read how the concept crashed into her consciousness with the murderous and hateful activities of the Nazis is nearly overpowering.  For instance, during one ghetto “aktion” she witnessed three Germans cruelly plucking out the beard and sidelocks of a Jewish man:

 

“Shema Israel, the man shouted, clearly in pain.  The spectacle frightened me to no end, and I fled to the inner parts of the house, where I was still able to hear the pleas and the shouts of Shema Israel.  In my innocence, I asked myself a number of times why He, up there, did not hear the cries.”

 

After most of the ghetto inhabitants, including all children, were supposed to have been rounded up and killed, Hurwitz’s parents hid her in their apartment inside the niche of a fireplace where she sat alone all day long.  Because their apartment was very near an “execution” wall, Hurwitz could daily hear the cries of the doomed whose hiding places had been discovered:

 

“As I sat listening intently to what was going on outside, I always heard the pleas and screams of those about to be murdered, including mothers screaming: But he’s just a child!  Have mercy!  Why?!  And then, bang!  When my parents would come home in the evening, I would always tell them how many shots I had heard, or, more precisely, how many Jews had been murdered that day.  As time passed, I learned to distinguish between a bullet that hit a person and a bullet that was simply fired in the air.  I learned that a bullet that hit a person made a dull sound . . . “

 

She survived the ghetto and subsequent camps by the kindness and care of others, her own spunk, and often, something akin to chance.  Her struggle to piece together a new life, along with the rest of the surviving Jews, is very interesting and inspiring, and a phase of the Holocaust that is not often written about in such a detailed manner.

 

The Jewish organization Yad Vashem exists to keep in memory all those lost in the Holocaust (and also to honor Gentiles who rescued Jews during that time) and it seems that Hurwitz is trying to do something similar in her memoir.  Often, when she mentions the kindness of strangers, it breaks her heart that she can’t remember their names or that she wasn’t able to thank them properly.  And she clearly feels that her memoir is giving permanent remembrance to the Jews she knew personally who were killed, those who might not otherwise have been remembered by anyone.

 

Although the reader clearly understands from the outset that Hurwitz will survive, the writing and the storyline are such as to make this book a page turner, difficult to read but even harder to put down.

 

It’s said that life is all about relationships; with our spouses and work mates, our families, friends, and most importantly, the relationship with ourselves.

Feng Shui is all about energy; the direction of how it flows, becomes blocked and stagnant, and the intentional placement of objects to encourage the flow of positive energy, and the dissipation of the negative. An ancient Chinese practice, Feng Shui is focused on purposefully arranging our stuff around us to gain positive results in our life.

With Valentine’s Day this month, the focus on relationships comes even more to our attention, whether that means healing our existing connection with others, or wishing for our soul mate to appear. It’s heartening to know that there are tools that are easy to apply in our own environment to enhance our relationships. The wisdom of Feng Shui and the application of its principals can indeed bring welcome changes and upliftment in subtle and very direct ways. Feng Shui can be harnessed to kick-start our love life by finding an ideal partner or improve existing relationships, smooth the edges around difficult associations (e.g. the in-laws), enjoy greater harmony in the house with family members, and even improve camaraderie with business associates in the workplace.

The Relationship Corner

Every home and each room have areas that are related to certain energies, such as career, family and love. To find the relationship corner of your space; as you enter through the front door of the house or room, the relationship section is located at the farthest right hand corner at the back side of the home or room. According to Feng Shui practices, certain items in the relationship corner can spice things up, keep things stuck, or cause havoc in your relationships.

To perk up your love life, add these items to the relationship corner of your home and/or bedroom:

·         Red or pink items, such as lingerie, paper cut-outs of hearts etc.

·         Two candles side by side, ideally red or pink to produce light and warmth.

·         Crystals, such as pink quartz or amethyst, to cure for bad chi.

·         A blooming or healthy plant.

·         Any item that symbolizes love and romance for you, such as a picture of a happy couple or hearts. If already in a relationship, put a joyful picture of both of you together.

·         A wish list that is very specific to what qualities you want to attract in a mate, or improve in an existing one. Avoid using negative statements, such as I don’t what a mate who cheats. Rather write; I want a mate who is monogamous.

·         Put your heart-felt intention into livening up your relationship corners.

 

Items to avoid in your relationship corner include:

·         Negative and depressing pictures or art, or items that you associate sadness or longing with.

·         Photos of yourself alone as a single person.

·         Clutter and dust, or old and useless objects.

·         Distracting items such as a TV, games, and electronics.

·         Anything associated with work and business.

·         If the bathroom is in the relationship corner of your house, keep the toilet closed.

·         Remove items from under your bed.

 

Work the magic by making just a few intentional changes and watch what happens!

 

 

Yvonne Phillips is a National Feng Shui Practitioner, Author and Speaker with over 18 years of experience. Yvonne is certified with Feng Shui Institute International and has trained with world famous Feng Shui Master Lillian Too. As owner of Creative Color & Design, she incorporates Feng Shui principles into both residences and businesses, from small businesses to large corporations. Please visit http://www.fengshuiabc1.com  or email yvonnephillips1@aol.com for more information