Quote of the Day:

 
Sarah Palin teases that she might run for president. But she is unqualified - not just in the (let me count the) usual ways, but because she does not know the country. She could not be the president of black America nor of Hispanic America. She knows more about grizzlies than she does about African Americans - and she clearly has more interest in the former than the latter. Did she once just pick up the phone and ask Michelle Obama what she meant by her remark? Did she ask about her background? What it was like at Princeton? What it was like for her parents or her grandparents? I can offer a hint. If they were driving to Washington, they slowed down and stopped where the sign said "colored" - and the irritated Palins of the time angrily hit the horn and went on their way.


  - Richard Cohen, The Washington Post.

Elderly Americans Increasingly Declaring Bankruptcy in Retirement

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox
Nov 22nd 2010 at 10:00AM

Elderly Americans struggling under the weight of credit card debt and medical bills are increasingly resorting to bankruptcy in retirement.

A slew of recent data highlights the problem:

• A 2010 study from the University of Michigan Law School, called The Rise in Elder Bankruptcy Filings, found that those 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population seeking bankruptcy protection
• The Washington D.C.-based public policy group Demos reports that Americans 65 and above who carry a balance on their credit cards owe an average of $10,235 -- up 26% from 2005.
• Older debtors who filed for bankruptcy owed a median $22,562 to credit card companies, the Michigan study showed

"The findings are both striking and ominous," says John Pottow, author of the University of Michigan study. "While multiple factors, such as health problems and medical debts, contribute to elders' financial distress, the dominant force appears to be overwhelming burdens related to credit cards."

Pottow's study found that elder debtors carry 50% more credit card debt than younger debtors, and seniors cite credit card interest and fees as a reason for their bankruptcy filings 50% more frequently.

Unfortunately, the rise in bankruptcy filings among the elderly isn't merely a recent phenomenon, or a reflection of the Great Recession. Even before the recession hit, seniors were struggling.

From 1991 to 2007, the rate of personal bankruptcy filings among those ages 65 or older soared by 150%, according to AARP, which released research on the issue via the Consumer Bankruptcy Project. At the time, the biggest jump in bankruptcy filings occurred among people aged 75 to 84; their rate skyrocketed 433%.

Even more alarming: Some experts think that since Americans collectively owe roughly $2.4 trillion on their credit cards and consumer debts, the bankruptcy problem will only continue to grow.

"People usually live off credit cards for a year or so before they file bankruptcy," says bankruptcy attorney Theodore Connolly, the author of The Road Out of Debt: Bankruptcy and Other Solutions to Your Financial Problems.

Connolly notes that personal bankruptcies already hit a record 1.5 million filings in the first half of 2010.

In considering when to file for bankruptcy protection, as I recently reported here on WalletPop, there are times when bankruptcy makes sense and times when other alternatives and strategies are best.

The challenge for seniors, however, is that when they run into financial trouble their options may be somewhat limited. For example, unlike younger Americans who may be able to obtain work, put in more hours on the job, or perhaps get a second job to make ends meet, those choices don't always exist for everyone in their 60s and beyond.

Additionally, there are some issues confronting seniors that the rest of the population generally doesn't face. One big issue: Financial abuse by family members.

"It's an epidemic," says Jenefer Duane, Founder and CEO, Elder Financial Protection Network.

Duane says many elderly Americans are going broke, not just because of their own spending and high health care costs, but also because their assets are being depleted by relatives or close friends who feel entitled to get an expected inheritance now, rather than after the elder has passed away.

"An inheritance is supposed to be what's left after the elder has taken care of themselves. But unfortunately, many family members taking assets from elders are standing by the belief that 'It's going to be my money anyway,' or 'Mom or Dad can just go to a nursing home,'" says Duane. "The sense of entitlement is shocking."

Indeed, senior citizens lose an estimated $2.6 billion from financial exploitation every year, according to a 2009 MetLife Mature Market Institute study.

Henry A. Giroux | Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich
Henry A. Giroux, Truthout: "Since the 1980s, there have been too few intellectuals on the North American educational scene who have matched Freire's theoretical rigor, civic courage and sense of moral responsibility. And his example is more important now than ever before: with institutions of public and higher education increasingly under siege by a host of neoliberal and conservative forces, it is imperative for educators to acknowledge Freire's understanding of the empowering and democratic potential of education. Critical pedagogy currently offers the very best, perhaps the only, chance for young people to develop and assert a sense of their rights and responsibilities to participate in governing, and not simply being governed by prevailing ideological and material forces."
Read the Article

FIGHT FOR EVERY JOB, RESIST EVERY CUT.

Dirty Dancing?

What did you think Sarah Palin was doing all this time?

Do you really think Sarah Palin wants to be President?  Is she serious about running?  Of course not - well not yet. I find it strange that we can consider this woman becoming President. I have a hard time seeing her winning the Republican nomination. Palin is just dancing with the other possible contenders for the top job. How much information would she have to write on her hand in order to get through the Republican debates?  I can't see Palin defeating Pence. Unless like Bristol she can give everyone the middle finger. If that's the case we might all be F---

The Quote of the Day:

It would be like a big middle finger to all the people out there that hate my mom and hate me.

   - Bristol Palin

November 25, 2010
Tricycle Daily Dharma
 

Mindful Eating: Slow it Down

Here are some methods for helping yourself to slow down your eating by creating pauses:
1. Pause before beginning the meal. Look at each item of food, taking it in with the eyes. Notice colors, textures, shapes, arrangement on the plate or bowl.


2. Take a moment to say grace. Thank the animals, plants, and people who brought this food to you. Be aware of their gifts as you eat.

3. Begin the meal by pausing to inhale the fragrance of the food. Imagine that you are being nourished by just the smell.

4. Eat food like a wine connoisseur tastes wine. First sniff the food, enjoying the bouquet. Then take a small taste. Roll it around in the mouth, savoring it. What ingredients can you detect? Chew slowly and swallow. Take a sip of water to cleanse the palate. When the mouth is empty of food and flavor, repeat the process.

5. If you notice that you are eating without tasting, stop and pause to look at the food again.

- Jan Chozen Bays, "Mindful Eating"

 THESE GUYS SHOULD WRITE EDITORIALS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

Miami Heat - Heat-less in November?

JOB FOR YOU?

 

Dear Lifting Voices friends,

We're looking for a new teacher. Here is a link to the job posting. Don't hesitate to share this with your own network, too.

Thanks,

Lifting Voices

PENCE WATCH:  The New York Times (11/24/10) page A17, paragraph in an article written by Helene Cooper:


Mr. Obama's first big domestic trip since the midterm elections, which ushered his Democratic Party out of control of the House, brought him to a state that he improbably carried in 2008. Indiana is traditionally Republican territory, and home to two potential Republican candidates in the next presidential election, Gov. Mitch Daniels and Representative Mike Pence.

New Book of Poems:

Karl W. Carter, Jr.  - SOJOURNER AND OTHER POEMS

For copies contact Karl at: kcarter44@hotmail.com

Carter is a native of New Orleans who resides in Washington, D.C.

His work appears in Stephen Henderson's UNDERSTANDING THE NEW BLACK POETRY and SYNERGY edited by Ahmos Zu-Bolton and E. Ethelbert Miller.

THE KOJO NNAMDI SHOW

WAMU 88.5 

Winter Reading

Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 at 1:06 p.m.

Winter Reading:

It's the season for curling up under a blanket with a good book. In our annual Winter Reading show, we'll get tips for must-read new releases and classics that deserve your attention during the busy holiday period.

Guests:

Barbara Hoffert

Editor, Prepub Alert, Library Journal

Terry Hong

"Bookdragon" blogger for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program

E. Ethelbert Miller

Literary activist and board chair of the Institute for Policy Studies. His latest book is "The 5th Inning," a second memoir and the first book published by Busboys and Poets.

TOP NEWS

U.S. to Send Carrier for Joint Exercises Off Korea

By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK McDONALD

President Obama and South Korea's president agreed to hold joint military exercises as they struggled to keep a North Korean provocation from escalating into war.

• 
  

YES, THE EAR IS AN ORGAN MADE FOR LOVE:

TextTelevision is collaborating with the Academy of American Poets on a poem-of-the-day iPhone app entitled Poem Flow.

A unique feature of the app is that it includes a flow-movie of the poem when the phone is turned to Landscape View.
 

"The Ear is an Organ Made for Love" by E. Ethelbert Miller is today's (November 24th) poem:

http://www.poemflow.com/839

AUSTERITY ANYONE?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110503763.html



Next year everyone will want to be on the show.

Join Cave Canem November 30, 6:30 pm, as poets Kazim Ali and Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon read from their work and engage in a lively discussion of poetic craft. Moderated by Camille Rankine. Reception and book signing to follow. Free and open to the public. Poets on Craft: Kazim Ali & Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon Tuesday, November 30, 6:30 pm The New School Wollman Hall 65 West 11th Street, 5th Floor New York City CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION, INC. • www.cavecanempoets.org • 718.858.0000 20 Jay Street, Suite 310-A, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Support Cave Canem: Firstgiving • Paypal • Network for Good

“To Prayer I Think I Go”

               Robert Frost’s Spiritual Poetry

Experience faith through the lens of an unorthodox yet sincere seeker.

 Through Frost’s poetry, share his struggles, his doubts, his fears, his 

embarrassment and his frustrations with religion, and travel with him,

 however indirectly, to affirmations   (sometimes tentative, sometimes

      resounding) of God’s ultimate mercy and love for creation.

                Dramatized by poet/actress

 Chris Longenecker and her husband, Rick Shoup

                    Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010

                                    7pm

                       The Festival Center

                           Washington, DC

     Do you have a favorite Robert Frost poem?

                      Bring your requests.

        A free-will offering will be taken to benefit the Festival Center

                            The Festival Center

                1640 Columbia Road NW, Washington DC

                     202-328-0072 * www.slschool.org

Rose Marie Berger
Associate Editor, Poetry Editor

rberger@sojo.net  202.328.8842 x619

 2011 NEA Poetry Fellows:  CONGRATS!

The 2011 Poetry Fellows page can be viewed here: http://arts.gov/grants/recent/11grants/litFellows.php 

The 2011 Poetry Panelist names can be viewed here: http://arts.gov/grants/recent/disciplines/Lit/11panelists.html 

 Hey, I just saw Ethelbert's name on that Panelist list. I thought the guy was into baseball...

 

RSVP appreciated to help us prepare but not required.