From my CD "Bottomfeeders."
You might like to add this to your collection of songs. You can do this ever so easily at iTunes, Rhapsody, CDUniverse, or CDBaby, among other fine digital music establishments.
A Request From an American Public School Teacher
Hello Family, I am wondering if all of my lovely local (or not ) family would be willing to cut and save their box tops for me?
I recently discovered that my school lets me buy things for my classroom with that money.You know what this email is? It's even more evidence that super wealthy Americans need another tax cut.
P.S. This.
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PM Julia Gillard Issues Apology For Forced Adoptions
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told victims of forced adoption practices: "We apologise". Ms Gillard made the long awaited national apology at a special ceremony in Canberra attended by hundreds of people, including mothers betrayed by a system that decided their children were better off elsewhere.I'll post video and trascript when they become available. *You can watch it here. This is worth putting other stuff away and watching.
"We acknowledge your loss and grief," the prime minister said.
From the 1950s to the 1970s an estimated 150,000 unwed Australian mothers had their babies forcibly adopted under a practice sanctioned by governments, churches, hospitals, charities and bureaucrats.
Wikipedia on Australia's forced adoptions.
"Stories from the mothers who had their babies taken away":
What happened when they found out they were pregnant?
Colleen Ewen:Update: Full apology. Rip your guts out moving:[My father] took me to Windang police station and told them what was going on, I think he was hoping I would tell them who the father was. In those days carnal knowledge was a crime. My father got angrier and angrier he punched me in the face in front of the police who did nothing, about an hour later a lady came to the police station and took me home and told me to pack a bag.
Today, this Parliament, on behalf of the Australian people, takes responsibility and apologises for the policies and practices that forced the separation of mothers from their babies, which created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering.According to the SMH, those words "will be moved in the Senate and the House of Representatives."
2. We acknowledge the profound effects of these policies and practices on fathers.
3. And we recognise the hurt these actions caused to brothers and sisters, grandparents, partners and extended family members.
4. We deplore the shameful practices that denied you, the mothers, your fundamental rights and responsibilities to love and care for your children. You were not legally or socially acknowledged as their mothers. And you were yourselves deprived of care and support.
5. To you, the mothers who were betrayed by a system that gave you no choice and subjected you to manipulation, mistreatment and malpractice, we apologise.
6. We say sorry to you, the mothers who were denied knowledge of your rights, which meant you could not provide informed consent. You were given false assurances. You were forced to endure the coercion and brutality of practices that were unethical, dishonest and in many cases illegal.
7. We know you have suffered enduring effects from these practices forced upon you by others. For the loss, the grief, the disempowerment, the stigmatisation and the guilt, we say sorry.
8. To each of you who were adopted or removed, who were led to believe your mother had rejected you and who were denied the opportunity to grow up with your family and community of origin and to connect with your culture, we say sorry.
9. We apologise to the sons and daughters who grew up not knowing how much you were wanted and loved.
10. We acknowledge that many of you still experience a constant struggle with identity, uncertainty and loss, and feel a persistent tension between loyalty to one family and yearning for another.
11. To you, the fathers, who were excluded from the lives of your children and deprived of the dignity of recognition on your children's birth records, we say sorry. We acknowledge your loss and grief.
12. We recognise that the consequences of forced adoption practices continue to resonate through many, many lives. To you, the siblings, grandparents, partners and other family members who have shared in the pain and suffering of your loved ones or who were unable to share their lives, we say sorry.
13. Many are still grieving. Some families will be lost to one another forever. To those of you who face the difficulties of reconnecting with family and establishing on-going relationships, we say sorry.
14. We offer this apology in the hope that it will assist your healing and in order to shine a light on a dark period of our nation's history.
15. To those who have fought for the truth to be heard, we hear you now. We acknowledge that many of you have suffered in silence for far too long.
16. We are saddened that many others are no longer here to share this moment. In particular, we remember those affected by these practices who took their own lives. Our profound sympathies go to their families.
17. To redress the shameful mistakes of the past, we are committed to ensuring that all those affected get the help they need, including access to specialist counselling services and support, the ability to find the truth in freely available records and assistance in reconnecting with lost family.
18. We resolve, as a nation, to do all in our power to make sure these practices are never repeated. In facing future challenges, we will remember the lessons of family separation. Our focus will be on protecting the fundamental rights of children and on the importance of the child's right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.
19. With profound sadness and remorse, we offer you all our unreserved apology.
Gillard went on. (It's quite long.)
This Apology is extended in good faith and deep humility.Image from here.
It will be a profound act of moral insight by a nation searching its conscience.
It will stand in the name of all Australians as a sign of our willingness to right an old wrong and face a hard truth.
As Australians, we are used to celebrating past glories and triumphs, and so we should.
We are a great nation.
But we must also be a good nation.
Therefore we must face the negative features of our past without hesitation or reserve.
That is why the period since 2008 has been so distinctive – because it has been a moment of healing and accountability in the life of our nation.
For a country, just as for a person, it takes a lot of courage to say we are sorry.
We don’t like to admit we were mistaken or misguided.
Yet this is part of the process of a nation growing up:
Holding the mirror to ourselves and our past, and not flinching from what we see.
What we see in that mirror is deeply shameful and distressing.
A story of suffering and unbearable loss.
But ultimately a story of strength, as those affected by forced adoptions found their voice.
Organised and shared their experiences.
And, by speaking truth to power, brought about the Apology we offer today.
This story had its beginnings in a wrongful belief that women could be separated from their babies and it would all be for the best.
Instead these churches and charities, families, medical staff and bureaucrats struck at the most primal and sacred bond there is: the bond between a mother and her baby.
Those affected by forced adoption came from all walks of life.
From the city or the country.
People who were born here or migrated here and people who are Indigenous Australians.
From different faiths and social classes.
For the most part, the women who lost their babies were young and vulnerable.
They were often pressurised and sometimes even drugged.
They faced so many voices telling them to surrender, even though their own lonely voice shouted from the depths of their being to hold on to the new life they had created.
Too often they did not see their baby’s face.
They couldn’t sooth his first cries.
Never felt her warmth or smelt her skin.
They could not give their own baby a name.
Those babies grew up with other names and in other homes.
Creating a sense of abandonment and loss that sometimes could never be made whole.
Today we will hear the motion moved in the Parliament and many other words spoken by those of us who lead.
But today we also listen to the words and stories of those who have waited so long to be heard.
Like the members of the Reference Group personally affected by forced adoption who I met earlier today.
Lizzy Brew, Katherine Rendell and Christine Cole told me how their children were wrenched away so soon after birth.
How they were denied basic support and advice.
How the removal of their children led to a lifetime of anguish and pain.
Their experiences echo the stories told in the Senate report.
Stories that speak to us with startling power and moral force.
Like Linda Bryant who testified of the devastating moment her baby was taken away: 'When I had my child she was removed. All I saw was the top of her head – I knew she had black hair.'
So often that brief glimpse was the final time those mothers would ever see their child.
In institutions around Australia, women were made to perform menial labour in kitchens and laundries until their baby arrived.
As Margaret Bishop said: 'It felt like a kind of penance.'
In recent years, I have occasionally passed what then was the Medindi Maternity Hospital and it generates a deep sadness in me and an odd feeling that it was a Dickensian tale about somebody else.
Margaret McGrath described being confined within the Holy Cross home where life was ‘harsh, punitive and impersonal’.
Yet this was sunny postwar Australia when we were going to the beach and driving our new Holdens and listening to Johnny O’Keefe.
As the time for birth came, their babies would be snatched away before they had even held them in their arms.
Sometimes consent was achieved by forgery or fraud.
Sometimes women signed adoption papers while under the influence of medication.
Most common of all was the bullying arrogance of a society that presumed to know what was best.
Margaret Nonas was told she was selfish.
Linda Ngata was told she was too young and would be a bad mother.
Some mothers returned home to be ostracised and judged.
And despite all the coercion, many mothers were haunted by guilt for having ‘given away’ their child.
Guilt because, in the words of Louise Greenup, they did not ‘buck the system or fight’.
The hurt did not simply last for a few days or weeks.
This was a wound that would not heal.
Kim Lawrence told the Senate Committee: 'The pain never goes away, that we all gave away our babies. We were told to forget what had happened, but we cannot. It will be with us all our lives.'
Carolyn Brown never forgot her son: 'I was always looking and wondering if he was alive or dead. … From then on every time I saw a baby, a little boy and even a grown up in the street, I would look to see if I could recognise him.'
For decades, young mothers grew old haunted by loss.
Silently grieving in our suburbs and towns.
And somewhere, perhaps even close by, their children grew up denied the bond that was their birth-right.
Instead they lived with self-doubt and an uncertain identity.
The feeling, as one child of forced adoption put it, ‘that part of me is missing’.
Some suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their adoptive parents or in state institutions.
Many more endured the cruelty that only children can inflict on their peers: 'Your mum’s not your real mum, your real mum didn’t want you. Your parents aren’t your real parents, they don’t love you.'
Taunts vividly remembered decades later.
For so many children of forced adoption, the scars remain in adult life.
Phil Evans described his life as a 'rollercoaster ride of emotional trauma; indescribable fear; uncertainty; anxiety and self-sabotage in so many ways.'
Many others identified the paralysing effect of self-doubt and a fear of abandonment: 'It has held me back, stopped me growing and ensured that I have lived a life frozen.'
I heard similar stories of disconnection and loss from Leigh Hubbard and Paul Howes today.
The challenges of reconnecting with family.
The struggles with self-identity and self-esteem.
The difficulties with accessing records.
Challenges that even the highest levels of professional success have not been able to assuage or heal.
Neither should we forget the fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents and other relatives who were also affected as the impact of forced adoption cascaded through each family.
Gary Coles, a father, told me today of the lack of acknowledgment that many fathers have experienced.
How often fathers were ignored at the time of the birth.
How their names were not included on birth certificates.
How the veil of shame and forgetting was cast over their lives too.
My fellow Australians,
No collection of words alone can undo all this damage.
Or make whole the lives and families fractured by forced adoption.
Or give back childhoods that were robbed of joy and laughter.
Or make amends for the Birthdays and Christmases and Mother’s or Father’s Days that only brought a fresh wave of grief and loss.
But by saying sorry we can correct the historical record.
We can declare that these mothers did nothing wrong.
That you loved your children and you always will.
And to the children of forced adoption, we can say that you deserved so much better.
You deserved the chance to know, and love, your mother and father.
We can promise you all that no generation of Australians will suffer the same pain and trauma that you did.
The cruel, immoral practice of forced adoption will have no place in this land any more.
We also pledge resources to match today’s words with actions.
We will provide $5 million to improve access to specialist support and records tracing for those affected by forced adoptions.
And we will work with the states and territories to improve these services.
The Government will also deliver $5 million so that mental health professionals can better assist in caring for those affected by forced adoption.
We will also provide $1.5 million for the National Archives to record the experiences of those affected by forced adoption through a special exhibition.
That way, this chapter in our nation’s history will never again be marginalised or forgotten again.
Today’s historic moment has only been made possible by the bravery of those who came forward to make submissions to the Senate Committee and also of those who couldn’t come forward but who nurtured hope silently in their hearts.
Because of your courage, Australia now knows the truth.
The report prepared so brilliantly by Senator Siewert and the Senate Committee records that truth for all to see.
This was further reinforced by the national consultations that Professor Nahum Mushin and his reference group undertook to draft the national apology.
Their guidance and advice to government on the drafting of the apology have been invaluable.
Any Australian who reads the Senate report or listens to your stories as I have today will be appalled by what was done to you.
They will be shocked by your suffering.
They will be saddened by your loss.
But most of all, they will marvel at your determination to fight for the respect of history.
They will draw strength from your example.
And they will be inspired by the generous spirit in which you receive this Apology.
Because saying ‘Sorry’ is only ever complete when those who are wronged accept it.
Through your courage and grace, the time of neglect is over, and the work of healing can begin.
Michelle Shocked: Audio of Rant; Lying in Statement
I'm listening to the audio of Michelle Shocked's Yoshi's rant right now. There is no other way to say this: She lied in her statement. I'll have my own transcript soon.
Update: This is what MS said, after a leadup about Georgia O'Keefe:
Wow. Michelle Shocked's statement cannot be described as anything else but a lie. You could almost - almost - giver her the "That's what you'll say on Twitter" thing about the "Gods hate faggots" part - but only if there was some context that made that make sense. There just isn't. She clearly thought this through beforehand. (The "Chinese water torture" appears to be about how she is slowly building up to the ugly words she knows she's about to say. Just my impression.) And the part about Prop 8, which she says in her statement "was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage," is plainly not true, according to her own words at Yoshi's. (Insert: The fact that Prop 8 makes gay marriage illegal makes that statement all the more confusing. I think she just got it mixed up.) Which just makes the whole thing, and especially with the "God hates faggots" cherry on top, simply purposely provocative, and in a purely bigoted and very ugly way.
Michelle Shocked owns all of this.
And it gets very ugly - and weird - after the part I've transcribed. Gawker has more on that. Even more from John Becker.
• From Rhondda, who tipped me about the audio, a link to a very weird 2011 interview with MS.
• And for those interested:
Shocked did show up for an interview with a friend at SPIN. The explanation is Twitter Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Or something.
Update: This is what MS said, after a leadup about Georgia O'Keefe:
So it's not too late, you can jump into this Jesus game any time you want. But um...
I was in a prayer meeting yesterday, and you've gotta appreciate how scared, how scared folks on that side of the equation are. I mean, I mean, from their vantage point - and I really shouldn't say "their," cuz it's mine too, um, we are at nearly at the end of time. And, from our vantage point, uh, w're gonna be, uh, I think maybe Chinese water torture is gonna be the means, the method, once Prop 8 gets instated, and once, um, preachers are held at gunpoint, and forced to marry the homosexuals, I'm pretty sure that that will be the signal for Jesus to come on back.
['what?' from the crowd, and one 'hallelujah']
[giggles] You said you wanted reality. [audience laughs nervously, then louder, claps a bit]
If someone would be so gracious as to please tweet out, 'Michelle Shocked just said from stage "God hates faggots".' Would you do it now?That's what she said. To a quiet, respectful, adoring - until that point - audience. There was no provocation. There was no "This is what some people in my congregation believe."
Wow. Michelle Shocked's statement cannot be described as anything else but a lie. You could almost - almost - giver her the "That's what you'll say on Twitter" thing about the "Gods hate faggots" part - but only if there was some context that made that make sense. There just isn't. She clearly thought this through beforehand. (The "Chinese water torture" appears to be about how she is slowly building up to the ugly words she knows she's about to say. Just my impression.) And the part about Prop 8, which she says in her statement "was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage," is plainly not true, according to her own words at Yoshi's. (Insert: The fact that Prop 8 makes gay marriage illegal makes that statement all the more confusing. I think she just got it mixed up.) Which just makes the whole thing, and especially with the "God hates faggots" cherry on top, simply purposely provocative, and in a purely bigoted and very ugly way.
Michelle Shocked owns all of this.
And it gets very ugly - and weird - after the part I've transcribed. Gawker has more on that. Even more from John Becker.
• From Rhondda, who tipped me about the audio, a link to a very weird 2011 interview with MS.
• And for those interested:
@slowdumbshowman @mshocked is coming on my show tomorrow morning-11am ET/8am PT LIsten at radioornot.comUpdate, Friday, AU: Well, that was a disaster. The Nicole Sandler Interview. The WaPo even wrote about it.
— Nicole Sandler (@nicolesandler) March 20, 2013
Shocked did show up for an interview with a friend at SPIN. The explanation is Twitter Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Or something.
Statement From Michelle Shocked: "I'm Very Sorry"
Update: We have audio of the rant.
___
Yeah. Well, first the statement. For what it's worth I'll add my own thoughts after it soon.
The statement comes from SPIN (it's apparently all over the place), and they rightly say it "finds her apologizing for the supposedly misunderstood speech":
It's hard to not get angry at that.
I'm guessing Michelle Shocked had herself an ugly realization of something I about wrote yesterday, which were, as I said, my better five-eighths' thoughts:
___
Yeah. Well, first the statement. For what it's worth I'll add my own thoughts after it soon.
The statement comes from SPIN (it's apparently all over the place), and they rightly say it "finds her apologizing for the supposedly misunderstood speech":
I do not, nor have I ever, said or believed that God hates homosexuals (or anyone else). I said that some of His followers believe that. I believe intolerance comes from fear, and these folks are genuinely scared. When I said "Twitter that Michelle Shocked says "God hates faggots," I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted. The show was all music, and the audience tweets said they enjoyed it. The commentary came about ten minutes later, in the encore.
And to those fans who are disappointed by what they've heard or think I said, I'm very sorry: I don't always express myself as clearly as I should. But don't believe everything you read on facebook or twitter. My view of homosexuality has changed not one iota. I judge not. And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage.
The show, and the rant, was spontaneous. As for those applauding my so-called stance that "God Hates Faggots," I say they should be met with mercy, not hate. And I hope that what remains of my audience will meet that intolerance with understanding, even of those who might hate them.
Folks wonder about my sexuality, but denying being gay is like saying I never beat my husband. My sexuality is not at issue. What is being questioned is my support for the LGBT community, and that has never wavered. Music and activism have always been part of my work and my journey, which I hope and intend to continue. I'd like to say this was a publicity stunt, but I'm really not that clever, and I'm definitely not that cynical.
But I am damn sorry. If I could repeat the evening, I would make a clearer distinction between a set of beliefs I abhor, and my human sympathy for the folks who hold them. I say this not because I want to look better. I have no wish to hide my faults, and - clearly - I couldn't if I tried.(Also from SPIN) Read a follow-up statement from Shocked:
I believe in a God who loves everyone, and my faith tells me to do my best to also love everyone. Everyone: gay or straight, stridently gay, self-righteously faithful; left or right, far left, far right; good, bad, or indifferent. That’s the law: everyone.
I may disagree with someone’s most fervently held belief, but I will not hate them. And in this controversy, that means speaking for Christians with opinions I in no way share about homosexuality. Will I endorse them? Never. Will I disavow them? Never.
I stand accused of forsaking the LGBT community for a Christianity which is – hear me now – anathema to my understanding of faith. I will no doubt take future flack for saying so. I’m accused of believing that “God hates fags” and that the repeal of Prop 8 will usher in the End Times. Well, if I caused such an absurdity, I am damn sorry. To be clear: I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of any so-called faith preaching intolerance of anyone. Again, anyone: straight or gay, believers or not: that’s the law.
That means upholding my punk rock values in the most evangelical enclaves and, in this case, speaking up for the most fearful of fundamentalists in, well, a San Francisco music hall full of Michelle Shocked fans.My first thoughts: What a load of bullshit.
'When I said "Twitter that Michelle Shocked says "God hates faggots," I was predicting the absurd way my description of, my apology for, the intolerant would no doubt be misinterpreted.' [...]
"And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage."Is anyone buying this? This was all a misunderstanding, because the words she used that night at Yoshi's didn't reflect her thinking - she was talking about how others think? And she totally doesn't even like how those others think anyway?
It's hard to not get angry at that.
I'm guessing Michelle Shocked had herself an ugly realization of something I about wrote yesterday, which were, as I said, my better five-eighths' thoughts:
MS has shot her tour for her manager, her roadies, her techs, her merchandise people, for the people who own and work at the venues. She has sadly screwed a bunch of people here - not just herself.Good luck trying to scrape a tour back together, Michelle. Sincerely. And good luck trying to explain all of this - to yourself.
Michelle Shocked, Page II: God Hates MS's Tour
Update: Michelle Shocked has issued a statment. (Thursday, Australia)
___
That first post is getting cluttered.
Here's where we stand:
•13 14 venues have now confirmed cancellations of Michelle Shocked shows.
• MS has ZERO shows scheduled through June. (Per her website.)
• She has ONE show scheduled in July, the Burg Herzberg Festival in Beitback am Herzberg, Germany, on July 19. They've emailed me and said they were trying to get in touch with MS - and that if they didn't hear the right things they'd cancel within 24 hours. (That was 12 hours or so ago.)
• Other than that MS has just TWO shows confirmed for the entire rest of the year. (She has many more dates listed, but all of them are listed as "tentative.")
• Pete Lawrence, who recorded "The Texas Campfire Tapes," which launched MS's career, has left a message on the first post. It is worth reading.
MS has posted several tweets in the last handful of hours. Some seeming to take back what she said, some cryptic, some frankly just making this worse.
This exchange is the most interesting:
That's the part that really gets me. If she says she's born again and now believes that gay marriage is wrong, well - whatever. See ya later. When she adds, "You can go on twitter and say Michelle Shocked said god hates fags" - she doesn't get to write that off to irony. Not at a San Francisco gig, where she's already purposely riled the crowd up with anti-gay marriage comments. It's just ugly, and cruel.
And then she tops it off:
Just awful. Depressingly awful.
And my better five-eighths' thoughts: Maybe the church she's involved with has egged her on with this. To use her celebrity to spread their intolerant beliefs. Hadn't thought of that. (She also noted that MS has shot her tour for her manager, her roadies, her techs, her merchandise people, for the people who own and work at the venues. She has sadly screwed a bunch of people here - not just herself.)
___
That first post is getting cluttered.
Here's where we stand:
•
• MS has ZERO shows scheduled through June. (Per her website.)
• She has ONE show scheduled in July, the Burg Herzberg Festival in Beitback am Herzberg, Germany, on July 19. They've emailed me and said they were trying to get in touch with MS - and that if they didn't hear the right things they'd cancel within 24 hours. (That was 12 hours or so ago.)
• Other than that MS has just TWO shows confirmed for the entire rest of the year. (She has many more dates listed, but all of them are listed as "tentative.")
• Pete Lawrence, who recorded "The Texas Campfire Tapes," which launched MS's career, has left a message on the first post. It is worth reading.
MS has posted several tweets in the last handful of hours. Some seeming to take back what she said, some cryptic, some frankly just making this worse.
@ahuntre Just my usual troublemaking, at the expense of dear friends who trust me, even when I appear to be gay-bashing #shortsharpshocked
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013
@ftunny Most don't even know what my 'views on Gays' are. What is reported to be my views on Gays isn't. #shortsharpshocked #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013
@kevinofmi @stevetrepanier If there weren't so many souls at stake we'd have a good laugh about this one. Tweak you later. #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013
This exchange is the most interesting:
@ultramundane Your quote is 99% accurate and instinct about irony 100% accurate. Will give @nicolesandler Truth on Thur #shortsharpshocked
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013
That's the part that really gets me. If she says she's born again and now believes that gay marriage is wrong, well - whatever. See ya later. When she adds, "You can go on twitter and say Michelle Shocked said god hates fags" - she doesn't get to write that off to irony. Not at a San Francisco gig, where she's already purposely riled the crowd up with anti-gay marriage comments. It's just ugly, and cruel.
And then she tops it off:
@ajmorelli @korbykorby Not Fags. Faggots. The quote said Faggots. Get your facts straight. #shortsharpshocked #truthvsreality
— Michelle Shocked (@MShocked) March 19, 2013
Just awful. Depressingly awful.
And my better five-eighths' thoughts: Maybe the church she's involved with has egged her on with this. To use her celebrity to spread their intolerant beliefs. Hadn't thought of that. (She also noted that MS has shot her tour for her manager, her roadies, her techs, her merchandise people, for the people who own and work at the venues. She has sadly screwed a bunch of people here - not just herself.)
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