PhotoLuminations

A strong contingent of seniors representing Mass Senior Action Council were among advocates protesting cuts in earned benefits programs. Speakers included Representative Michael E Capuano (8th Mass District) and Representative John Tierney. Photos of the event

The Stop Bullying Committee has submitted A petition to stop bullying of elders and people living with disabilities in subsidized apartments to the Massachusetts legislature. We seek your interest and support to enable passage of effective legislation.

Guest post: Mary shares her ideas with Jerry

Hi, Jerry,

I just came across this really awesome idea for senior housing, that is more community-creating, healing and health-supporting, homey and comfortable,

An act stopping the bullying of residents of multi-family residences, with attention to elders and persons living with disabilities residing in subsidized housing.

We are working on legislation to stop bullying of elders and people living with handicaps in subsidized apartments in Massachusetts. We are reaching out to residents, social service professionals (including social workers and community workers), advocacy groups, and landlords to seek input, help, and support. We solicit your comments and feedback on this draft proposal.

More resources on the environment, saving energy, educational resources on earth and space science.

The STOP BULLYING committee is advocating for legislation to help stop bullying in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our legislators tell us that they need people from all over the Commonwealth to witness and demonstrate that bullying of elders is widespread and needs to be corrected. And we need your ideas!

Introduction

Mary lives in a city close to the Pacific Ocean. She has been forced by abuse and bullying to move several times in a vain attempt to find a peaceful home in subsidized housing. Despite her pain and frustration, she bravely continues to seek solutions.

Guest post by Bonny. See Introduction to Bonny's story

Management of Wuthering Heights was part of the problem.

First in a series of case studies and personal experiences by seniors living in HUD-subsidized apartments where bullying by other residents or management takes place

In the story for children, A Tree for Max, the King of the Trees talks with all the trees of the forest. But how can that be possible? Can trees really communicate?

Combining slapstick humor at the expense of lazy cops; international intrigue and espionage at the highest levels of government; and a dose of serious political commentary, the moral of Leif Persson's novel is simple. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

As a storyteller who uses photography and text, I seek to discover masterful creators with similar visions. Shaun Tan is an Australian artist whose work combines excellent draftmanship, keen observation, and emotion.

Farming, music, and a dream: what a great combination for life. Albert Appel is a musician and farmer. His life, an example of nurturing growth, is celebrated with a glowing portrait and a lucid, sensitive biography by Lorelei Sontag. http://i.imgur.com/rsVln.jpg

As I read the last page, I was overtaken by a sense of loss and of homesickness for the people and the place.

My grown children amaze and delight me. I learn from them all the time. I am proud, though their achievements and wisdom are their own. I share with you an essay by my daughter, Elana; somehow each of her blog posts touches me. Perhaps you will also find inspiration from her.

Elana's thoughts on 9/11: "On a day like this" http://elanahalberstadt.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/on-a-day-like-today-rem...

This is a collection of references that deal with bullying of and by senior citizens: what it is, how it emerges, how to control and extinguish it, and how to create a better environment.

To create a virtual peer-to-peer support network to combat bullying of seniors

• To provide meaningful peer support for seniors living with bullying in subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled. Including practical ways to empower seniors to protect themselves and to advocate for themselves: we will seek to provide support, information and education, and to share tested ideas.

A petition for legislation, administrative rules, and oversight to correct the abuse

Introduction

Elders living in subsidized residences frequently are subject to abuse, harassment, and bullying by other residents and/or by staff. Residents in these out-of-control buildings are constantly under siege from bullying, causing them to suffer from stress and related conditions such as depression, high-blood pressure, stroke, and possibly suicide, and have nowhere to turn for relief. This is a petition seeking legislative and administrative remedies. Please join and help make a difference.

Mytown, a typical small city north of Boston, MA, faces an energy challenge. We now depend largely on carbon-based sources of energy, and these pose major challenges: they are expensive and costs are uncertain, supplies are vulnerable, and the use of fossil fuels threatens society as well as all forms of life through greehnouse gases and global warming. The opportunity is to transition to renewable sources of energy that can save money while reducing harm to the environment.

Guns that belong in a war zone, movies that glorify violence, and a deranged mind. Result: heartbreak http://tinyurl.com/c4kp99z (image of heartbreak)

“I have always wanted to fly.” Thus Keren, a nine-year-old female Canaan dog who loves to tell stories (some are true), opens Dogged Flight. Keren tells the secret of how she realised her puppyhood dream of flying with the birds.

Call it climate change, call it global warming, or call it a solution, namely creating a sustainable energy future. I am struggling to tell a story of impending environmental disaster that both informs and motivates. The story is that of disasters that are likely to change the conditions of life for all humans and indeed, everything living on earth, and within the lifetime of my young grandson.

There are many stories and many partial solutions. Proven solutions can apply to any municipality. I have sketched out a range of options and proven pathways to success. Planning for a sustainable energy future for Mytown

"Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it's necessary
to talk about trees."— What Kind of Times Are These
By Adrienne Rich. 1929-2012
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181516#about

In the State of the Union, the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States, was unable to deal with the issue threatening the future of humanity: "The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change." I seek to understand how our political system is unable to act on our behalf. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

To: The King of the Trees

“It would be immoral to leave these young people [grandchildren] with a climate system spiraling out of control.”—Dr. James Hansen

I read The Third Industrial Revolution by Jeremy Rifkin as part of my search for realistic methods to assure a better world for my grandson, a world facing major environmental degradation that imperils the future of society. Solutions are available, the problem is that we deny the reality and we cannot even have a national debate on the issues because of deep divisions and the political control exerted by the very economic forces that are driving the destruction.

We humans seem to become part of a landscape wherever we are planted, to wear it like a garment or a skin, to possess, and be possessed by the rocks and the trees of our places, and it is incredible to think that we cannot forever inhabit our land or our place.

It seems natural for a parent or grandparent to give things to a child. But what gifts will have a lasting impact? The most valuable gift may not be a thing, but a relationship, a value, a skill, or an outlook. I try to create books that can help build those valuable gifts.