Leaving Seattle
It’s hard to leave. The last few days have been filled with pre-departure must-dos – spending time doing some things with Mom, seeing old friends I won’t see again for a while, packing (aargh) and preparing for the next leg of the journey.
I have an early flight, early enough that I zip right through Seattle, and there is no one to check my car in at the drop off place and I have to trundle over to their rental location to turn in my mileage, etc. Aargh again.
From there on, however, everything is smooth. It is a beautiful day, and leaving Seattle is a gorgeous departure:
I arrive just in time to capture the sunset over the Bayou in Pensacola 🙂
Cleanliness and the American House
This article caught my eye because I used to watch my maid clean my bathroom in Kuwait – she used the personal hygiene spray and sprayed everything down. I don’t think she did much scrubbing! You can find this article at http://www.aolhealth.com/healthy-living/good-hygiene: AOL Health
By Sara Abadi
We asked more than 20 questions regarding the cleanliness of your home and your body — and more than 20,000 of you delivered the dirty details. Armed with your responses, we went to the germ experts, including Philip Tierno Jr., M.D., Director of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at New York University Langone Medical Center and author of “The Secret Life of Germs.” Read on as the experts review our daily habits to see if we’re falling within healthy guidelines.
Keeping House
Washing Your Sheets Sixty percent of you aren’t changing them weekly, which is how often Dr. Tierno recommends — and that’s as long as you have a protective cover to guard against dust mites and debris that build up in your mattress. “You could do it more, but that can be excessive and a waste of water,” he says. To the 16 percent who wash their sheets monthly and 10 percent even less than once a month — you might want to consider changing your bedding more frequently.
Doing the Dishes “You can wait a day, but not more than a couple of days,” says Dr. Tierno. Almost half of you don’t even bother waiting a day — 49 percent you’re your dishes immediately, and 37 percent wait just a day. Ten percent wait two to three days, which is Dr. Tierno’s maximum delay time. The four percent who wait at least a week might want to wash the dishes more frequently, or at the very least leave the dishes soaking in soapy water to avoid growth — even if it’s a huge pain.
Washing Fresh Produce Only seven percent of you always wash your produce. Fifty-seven percent never do and 36 percent remember to wash sometimes. At a minimum, you should soak your fruits and veggies in water and a small amount of citric acid to loosen up the grime, advises Dr. Tierno. “E. coli 0157 and salmonella have been found on fruits as well as veggies. So it is more than just washing pesticide residue off.”
Cleaning Out Your Refrigerator Food and drink spills should be cleaned up right away to limit exposure to E. coli or Salmonella. But assuming there are no major spills, Dr. Tierno says you can get away with cleaning your fridge every couple of weeks. This is good news for the 22 percent who do just that and the 15 percent who clean their fridges weekly. The once-a-monthers (21 percent) can probably get away with their current cleaning schedule. But, those who go every three months (19 percent) or once a year (21 percent) may want to clean more frequently. And the two percent who never tackle the fridge may want to start!
Scrubbing the Tub/Shower Even though water and soap are key parts of bathing, your tub or shower should be given its own bath once a week. The reason, Dr. Tierno explains, is that biofilm, a substance that builds up on the inside of the tub, gets left behind. “Biofilms only go away with mechanical action like scrubbing with a sponge and soap.” And if you think you’re getting away with spray-on cleaners like Tilex or Scrubbing Bubbles, Dr. Tierno says it’s not enough — a little elbow grease is needed. For those who shower, take note: Mold tends to grow on shower curtains — even the mold-resistant ones. The good news is that 45 percent of respondents scrub the tub on a weekly basis, and some go above and beyond, cleaning daily (six percent) while others get to the job once a month (28 percent) or every few months (12 percent). For some of you, this chore can be daunting and you only get around to cleaning the tub every few months (12 percent) or don’t get to it at all (two percent).
Cleaning the Toilet Add this to your weekly cleaning list. About half of you (51 percent) opt for an every-seven-days cleaning, and 15 percent go at it a few times a week. Twenty-two percent clean every couple of weeks and eight percent get to the task once a month. Very few of you wait every few months (four percent) or don’t clean at all (one percent). Dr. Tierno warns that moisture allows bacteria to grow, so rooms like the bathroom should be disinfected regularly.
Dusting “Surface disinfection is really important,” says Dr. Tierno. He recommends making it a weekly habit, or more often if you have allergies, as letting dust accumulate can aggravate allergies. But keep in mind, there’s more to dust than just your bookshelves and TV stand. The living room is not the most unsanitary room in the house, that honor is reserved for the kitchen. Twenty-nine percent of you are in good shape with your weekly dusting, although the highest percentage of you (33 percent) opt to do it every couple of weeks. Some dust monthly (14 percent), while others get around to it every few months (15 percent). Five percent diligently dust a few times a week, and four percent never do.
Tossing Out Old Pillows “In five years, 10 percent of the weight of the pillow is dust mite and dust mite debris,” says Dr. Tierno. To fight the mites, he recommends a protective cover for your pillow in addition to using a pillowcase. The National Library of Medicine recommends purchasing allergen-impermeable pillow covers, or replacing your old pillows with synthetic, washable pillows and wash them in hot water weekly. So let’s hope the 15 percent of survey respondents who said they never throw away their pillows are making every effort to keep the mites away.
Cleaning Your Towels “The best thing to do with a towel is to let it air dry,” Dr. Tierno says, “because folding keeps in moisture.” As long as you air dry your towels, Dr. Tierno says they can be used two to three times, four max. So instead of dumping your towels in the washing machine based on the amount of time that’s passed, Dr. Tierno suggests tracking the number of uses. However, the two percent who admitted to changing their towels monthly or even less than once a month (one percent) should probably throw in an extra load.
Time to Toss it?
Cleaning the Trash Can Only 10 percent of us fall in line with the weekly trash-can cleaning Dr. Tierno recommends. The remaining 90 percent of us vary in our diligence in keeping a clean bin — seven percent clean their trash cans every other week, 34 percent do it once every few months, 18 percent do it monthly, 16 percent clean once a year and 15 percent never do. “If trash cans are soiled, they should be cleaned immediately. If not, once a week will work fine.” His can-cleaning prescription? Rinse with soap and water or a sanitizing agent, like bleach. Not doing so on a weekly basis raises the risk of “dealing with dead animals and even plants that can carry harmful diseases, like E. coli, andsalmonella,” says Dr. Tierno.
Taking out the Trash When it comes to garbage, there is no set timeline for how often you should ditch it, because of varying trash can sizes and contents. The goal here is to beat the stink. “Where there is smell and odors, there is bacterial build up,” says Dr. Tierno, so as soon as you smell something, “Get rid of it!” he advises. Another word of warning: If a trash bag rips, you risk contaminating the whole area of the kitchen. As for how our readers compare? No one admitted to leaving their trash lying around for more than one week. Thirty-four percent toss their garbage every other day. Second place is a tie with 26 percent taking it out daily and another 26 percent taking out twice a week and 14 percent take it out once a week.
Lunch at Las Maracas in Ocean Shores
“I’ve never been to Ocean Shores!” my Mom says brightly. (I know what is coming.) “Have you ever been to Ocean Shores?”
Yes. oh yes. When I was at university, we would all rent a big chalet during Spring Vacation.
“Yeh . . . I don’t remember it being that great,” I reply.
She didn’t mention it again, but I knew she wanted to go, so yesterday we decided to take an excursion to go to Ocean Shores.
I remember back when there seemed to be a lot of (generated) excitement about Ocean Shores. It’s like someone had bought this big hunk of land and wanted to develop it and started making it sound like if you don’t buy a vacation lot at Ocean Shores, you are going to be really really sorry because ALL YOUR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE THERE!
I think mostly it was cold and rainy when we were there during Spring Break. What I remember the best was my friends taught me how to make a casserole out of taco chips and ground beef and taco sauce, with grated cheddar cheese. It tastes really good (all that salt) and it probably has zero redeeming nutritional value.
Holding that memory dear, after Mom and I toured the big nothing that is most of Ocean Shores (the entire “north beach” coast is pretty undeveloped, very old timey, honestly, I love it) and visited a schlock-shop, oops, tourist shop, so Mom could spend a little money, we found Las Maracas, which actually served very decent Mexican chow.
No, I didn’t drink beer – I’m driving, remember? And Mom would just fall asleep if she had a beer at noon.
I put my camera on the table so I would remember to take food photos, but not before I had taken a couple ‘location’ shots:
Someone had a ball with the upholstery:
And then the nacho chips came:
The servers yell “Salsa, por favor!” into the kitchen, and determinedly call us “Senyora” or “Senyoras,” out on this remote Washington State coastal resort area.
And then I totally forgot the camera on the table because my seafood tostada came, and it was so unbelievably delicious – shrimp, crab, fish – that I ate it all and then said “oh no! I forgot to take photos!”
Mom was still picking through her Camarones al mojo de ajo, so I got a shot of that:
This restaurant was worth the drive to Ocean Shores.
Lunch at Ivar’s in Mukilteo
Mom and I are heading out to the coast tomorrow for some time at the beach. On the Washington/Oregon beaches, you never know what the weather is going to be. It doesn’t matter how old you get, you know how Mamma’s are? Like she keeps asking me if I have a sweatshirt? Do I have a raincoat? Have I packed my toothbrush? (no, I made that last one up! 😉 )
So today we were running errands, like go to the bank so we have enough cash, like pick up a few groceries, because the places we stay have a kitchen (more important, they have a view of the OCEAN!), pick up a junky beach-book or two, and some Sudoku, and then, let’s go have lunch!
Mom LOVES Alaska fried clams, and Ivar’s does them the BEST, so we drive north to Mukilteo, but it takes forever because they are doing some road repairs on the back roads we usually take, and our “short-cuts” take a lot of time.
“Promise to remind me to take photos this time.” I ask her, but she won’t promise.
A few bites in, I remember. I’m getting better. 🙂
Here are Mom’s Alaska Fried Clams:
Even thought lunch portions are smaller, it was still a lot of clam, and very very rich, breaded and then sauteed in butter. Mom says her green beans were also really good.
Here is my grilled Alaska salmon, on a bed of spinach and orzo salad vinaigrette:
I’m like Popeye, I love SPINACH! This whole meal was delicious, and, once again, we were happy to see the restaurant had a good clientele eating lunch. Even Seattle is begining to feel the economic crunch.
Family Jokes
To wile away those last few minutes before breaking the fast, and divert your attention, here are a few jokes I got in my mail today, family kind of jokes that made me smile:
While I sat in the reception area of my doctor’s office, a woman rolled an elderly man
in a wheelchair into the room. As she went to the receptionist’s desk, the man sat there,
alone and silent. J ust as I was thinking I should make small talk with him, a little boy slipped
off his mother’s lap and walked over to the wheelchair. Placing his hand on the man’s,
he said, ‘I know how you feel. My mom makes me ride in the stroller too.’.
As I was nursing my baby, my cousin’s six-year-old daughter, Krissy,
came into the room. Never having seen anyone breast feed before, she was
intrigued and full of all kinds of questions about what I was doing. After
mulling over my answers, she remarked, ‘My mom has some of those, but I don’t
think she knows how to use them.’
*****
Out bicycling one day with my eight-year-old granddaughter, Carolyn,
I got a little wistful. ‘In ten years,’ I said, ‘you’ll want to be with your
friends and you won’t go walking, biking, and swimming with me like you do now.
Carolyn shrugged. ‘In ten years you’ll be too old to do all those things
anyway.’
******
Working as a pediatric nurse, I had the difficult assignment of giving
immunization shots to children. One day I entered the examining room to give
four-year-old Lizzie her needle. ‘No, no, no!’ she screamed. ‘Lizzie,’ scolded
her mother, ‘that’s not polite behavior.’ With that, the girl yelled even
louder, ‘No, thank you! No, thank you!
******
On the way back from a Cub Scout meeting, my grandson asked my son the question.
‘Dad, I know that babies come from mommies’ tummies, but how do they get there
in the first place?’ he asked innocently. After my son hemmed and hawed awhile,
my grandson finally spoke up in disgust. ‘You don’t have to make something up,
Dad. It’s OK if you don’t know the answer.’
*****
Just before I was deployed to Iraq , I sat my eight-year-old son down
and broke the news to him. ‘I’m going to be away for a long time,’ I told him.
‘I’m going to Iraq .’ ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Don’t you know there’s a war going
on over there?’
*****
Paul Newman founded the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children stricken with
cancer, AIDS and blood diseases. One afternoon he and his wife, Joanne
Woodward, stopped by to have lunch with the kids. A counselor at a nearby table,
suspecting the young patients wouldn’t know that Newman was a famous movie star,
explained, ‘That’s the man who made this camp possible. Maybe you’ve seen his
picture on his salad dressing bottle?’ Blank stares. ‘Well, you’ve probably seen
his face on his lemonade carton.’ An eight-year-old girl perked up. ‘How long
was he missing?’
*****
God’s Problem Now.
His wife’s grave side service was just barely finished, when there was a massive
clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even
more thunder rumbling in the distance. The little old man looked at the pastor
and calmly said, ‘Well, she’s there.
Sunset on Sunset Avenue
I arrived in Seattle just in time. My dearest, oldest friend’s father died as I was en route, and the service was this week. On a cold and dreary day, fortunately I had a dark dress with me, and I quickly ran and bought stockings, which are so irrelevant in the heat and humidity of August in Doha, and so necessary for a relatively formal occasion in Seattle.
Last night, we got together and walked, something we have done through the years, and then grabbed a bite to eat. We walked along Sunset Avenue, in Edmonds, just as the sun was setting.
In one of the yards, we saw this wonderful tarted-up piece of driftwood:
The light was glorious:
Casper’s A Taste of the South
We had decided on one restaurant, an Italian restaurant we both like, and were on our way, when Mom thought of another restaurant we might like to try, but it was on the way, so we could look at it and decide whether we wanted to eat there or go on to the Italian one.
This is very normal for our family. Our son used to call it “bait and switch” because we would say “Hey! Do you want to go to Tortilla Gonzales?” and he would say “Yeah!” and we would all jump in the car and then on the causeway, AdventureMan would say “You know I really have a taste for Chinese . . . would anyone prefer Chinese?” and I would jump in and say “We’re really close to that sushi place we all love!” and then our son would have to rein us in “NO! You said we were going to Tortilla Gonzales!”
Once he went away to college, we switched all the time. Later, we learned that now he and his wife do the old switch-a-roo, too – family culture is a hard thing to shake.
So we are en route and Mom suddenly shouts “RIBS!” and I say “What??” and she said “We just passed a rib place!” We were at a stop light. “Mom,” I asked, “Do you want to go to that rib place?”
Silence.
Silence.
I pull into the U-turn lane and complain “You’ve got to start dealing with me directly; if you want to go to the rib place, you have to say so!” The complete irony being that I was already making the U-turn, which is what she wanted me to do. . . . Family culture being a hard thing to shake . . .
But as we pulled into the already crowded parking lot, the smell was absolutely divine. There was already a line. Good thing, too, it gave us time to read the menu and decide what we wanted.
We both ordered ribs. We are both forbidden to eat ribs. I eat ribs maybe one time each year, like once, at a buffet, I ate one small rib. It is so rare that I allow myself to eat a rib that I can remember even that one tiny rib. But this time, I ordered ribs, because my Mom did. She ordered Sweet Potato Fries and Cole Slaw and I ordered Hush Puppies and Cole Slaw.
You are going to be so so proud of me. I took pictures before we ate the food this time, well, except for one tiny bite I took out of the hushpuppies, but that was to show you what they look like on the inside. (My Mom has NEVER had a hushpuppy in her life before having one of mine.)
We sat down in the large outside sitting place – I can’t help but wonder what they do in the winter time, because it can get really really cold and damp in Seattle, but I am guessing that they do a huge take-out business.
They have a map that they want people to put push-pins in to say where they are from:
I made a little addition:
And, as I promised, here is the food. Actually, they gave Mom this HUGE portion, about double my portion, but since I got four ribs and only ate two, Mom took home a huge box of leftover ribs to package up and freeze and have a little at a time.
Did you know sweet potatoes are really really healthy for you?
(I think sweet potatoes are healthier for you when they have a lower surface/interior ratio and have absorbed less fat, but these are totally, incredibly delicious. That’s sugar on the sweet potato fries, not salt.) Mom took leftover sweet potato fries home, too.
I can’t even pretend that there is anything healthy about deep fried cornbread. I ate them all, except the one Mom ate. They . . . they were really really good. Yes, I am so ashamed, but I would do it again.
And no, I didn’t take a photo of the sweet potato pie, generously seasoned with fresh nutmeg, it was divine, or the key lime pie we couldn’t eat and Mom took that home, too.
Oh, this food was good. As we left, the line stretched way out to door and into the parking lot.
Casper’s Taste of the South
15030 Bothell Way
Lake Forest Park, WA
(206)268-0202
Their slogan is:
Put a Little South in Your Mouth. LLLOOOLLLL!
Guerilla Art at the Gas Works
Yesterday Mom pulled out a clipping from the Seattle Times about an unknown sculptor who had left a collection of fascinating sculptures – papier mache’ with golden highlights – of people emerging from their shells. They were delivered by stealth to the park by by the artist and friends, and left displayed to the wonderment of runners, joggers, walkers and picnicking families who discovered them at the Gasworks Park.
“Guerrilla-art in Seattle
In what was advertised as a gift to the citizens of Seattle, a gold-colored sculpture by an unknown artist turned up in Gas Works Park on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. “Anew is gifted to the citizens of Seattle in the spirit of awakening,” the artist wrote in a plaque attached to the sculpture.”
(This is not my photo; this photo is from the Seattle Times Photo Gallery and you can purchase a copy of it from them)
How cool is that? The park officials were all set to pick the art works up and dispose of them, but people started calling in, by the hundreds, “no! leave it there! It is wonderful!” And, amazement of amazements, the city listened, and left the sculptures there.
In today’s Seattle Times is a follow up:
Guerrilla artist goes public; golden man already taken
By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter (you can read the entire article by clicking on the blue type)
The artist who left a sculpture in Seattle’s Gas Works Park earlier this week says she was “amazed and overwhelmed” by the response to the art.
“I spent some time both in the afternoon and evening standing with the crowd, watching their reactions, and I am overflowing with joy,” said Cyra Hobson, 31, in an e-mail sent Wednesday night.
The Seattle Parks Department said Wednesday it will leave the multipiece sculpture in place until Labor Day rather than removing it today, as had been planned.
So Mom and I decided we wanted to take a look, which is a lot braver than you can imagine. Mom has always been active, but she is no longer able to walk as long as she wants to walk – at 86, she hates to accept any limitations, so off we go.
We get to the Gas Works Park and it is another gorgeous day, warm, without being hot, and we walk. And we walk. And we don’t see one single piece of sculpture. People have taken her at her word – they are all gone!
Oh well. We missed an ephemeral moment in time, a great happening, but we still had a great adventure. The view from the Gas Works park (which is – no kidding – on the site of a defunct Gas Works factory, so they turned it into a park for families, joggers, dog walkers, etc.) is phenomenal – at one time, there was a jet, a helicopter and a pontoon plane in the air, a car/boat, several kayaks and a fishing boat in the water, and dogs and children everywhere.
Of course I took some photos to share with you:
This is a “Duck.” Right now it is a boat, but it can also put down wheels and function as an open tour bus on land:
A New Approach – The John School
From CNN World News
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) — The accused came from all walks of life: Retirees, dads and twentysomethings. An engineer, a business owner and an auto worker. A man in a wheelchair. Men in need of Spanish or Farsi translators.
Brett Beasley, with Nashville’s Health Department, educates men arrested for trying to buy sex about STDs.
About 40 men somberly entered a classroom on a recent Saturday morning. About half of them wore shiny wedding bands.
All had tried to buy a prostitute’s services and were caught by police. It was their first offense, and a county court referred them to a one-day program called the John School. It’s a program run by volunteers and city officials in conjunction with Magdalene House, a nonprofit that works to get prostitutes off the streets.
“Prostitution doesn’t discriminate,” said Kenny Baker, a cognitive behavioral therapist who is the program’s director. “Most of these men don’t have a prior criminal history, so our goal is to help these folks understand why they put themselves in a bad position, to prevent it from happening again.”
Set in a church in Nashville, Tennessee, the John School is led by former prostitutes, health experts, psychologists and law enforcement officers who talk to — and at times berate — the men about the risks of hiring a prostitute.
Prostitution is based on the law of supply and demand. The thinking is: Women won’t stop selling sex until men stop buying.
So Nashville and a growing number of cities are shifting their focus from locking up suppliers to educating buyers. Across the country, about 50 communities are using John Schools. Atlanta, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland, are among dozens more cities that plan to launch similar programs by the end of the year. See where the John Schools are »
“It will make them [offenders] see that this is not a victimless crime, and they are contributing to the exploitation of women,” said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women’s issues at the mayor’s office in Atlanta. “It’s hurting them, the man, and it’s hurting their families and its hurting the community.”
No comprehensive effort has been made to track the numbers, but experts estimate 1 million to 2 million prostitutes work in the United States. The FBI’s 2007 Uniform Crime Report lists about 78,000 arrests for prostitution and commercialized vice, but experts say those numbers are extremely conservative because many sex workers and johns aren’t caught.
Experts add that easy accessibility to prostitutes and pornography on the Internet are feeding the problem.
In most communities, prostitution has been a one-sided battle focused on the women who offer sex. Their customers, when they are arrested, are usually cited for a misdemeanor and fined.
By comparison, prostitutes are often charged with more severe sentences and jailed for months, depending on the offense.
But in Nashville, the johns’ faces are shown on a police Web site.
For decades, Nashville battled prostitution by arresting women on the streets and through stings. Still, the problem persisted, irritating business owners and residents.
In the early 1990s, Nashville’s mayor helped launch the John School with the help of the Magdalene House, public defenders, prosecutors and police officers. Nashville became one of the first major cities in the U.S. to focus on the customers, predominantly men.
Only first-time offenders who solicit an adult are eligible for John School. Johns who pick up minors are not eligible and face much tougher sentences.
“If you get caught again and you get me, I will guarantee to put you in jail,” warned Antoinette Welch, a local prosecutor, in speaking to the men in the class. “I’ve had men cry to me that they will lose their jobs or their wives, but you’re all grown up and you make your own decisions.”
The men listened carefully as Welch talked about their records; many had not yet told their wives or significant others about their arrest.
If the john pleads guilty, pays a $250 fee and completes the course without re-offending, the charge can be dismissed after a year. The money paid by the john goes to Magdalene House; the program doesn’t cost taxpayers any money. John School models in other communities may differ.
A woman who called herself Alexis, a 35-year-old former prostitute with dark hair and bright blue eyes, spoke to the men as the class came to an end. Four years ago, she left the streets and now works at a factory.
By the age of 10, Alexis had learned to barter with sex with her stepfather. In her 20s, she found herself hooked on drugs and selling her body. She was arrested more than 80 times. She was hospitalized after someone shot her on the job.
As she told her story, the men were silent. A few blushed, while others stared at the floor.
“These gentlemen are no different than I was on the streets,” she said. “I think everyone has to look at the void they are trying to fill.”
One john, a father of two with salt-and-pepper hair, found himself near tears after Alexis spoke. In July, he tried to pick up a prostitute through Craigslist. He said he was depressed and having problems with his wife.
“I’m so embarrassed,” he said. “These girls are somebody’s daughters. I have a daughter.”
Some evidence suggests that John Schools are working. A 2008 government study looked at the John School program in San Francisco, California. It’s one of the largest programs in the country; more than 7,000 johns have attended since 1995.
According to the study, the re-arrest rate fell sharply after the school was launched, and stayed more than 30 percent lower for 10 years afterward.
But critics call John School a slap on the wrist. On Saturday, one john abandoned the classroom.
Carol Leigh, who founded the Sex Workers Outreach Project, a group that promotes legalizing prostitution in California, said she doesn’t believe the program is an effective deterrent. Last year, she helped advocate on behalf of a law known as Proposition K that would legalize prostitution in San Fransisco. The proposal was rejected by the city.
“John School doesn’t do that much,” said Leigh, who has worked as a prostitute. “The reality is they aren’t spending that much time on the johns and they will just go and re-offend at other venues. This also doesn’t target the violent offenders who are the real problem.”
Melissa Farley, head of the nonprofit group Prostitution Research and Education in San Fransisco, believes johns deserve stronger punishment like longer prison sentences.
A recent study she conducted among johns in Chicago, Illinois, found that 41 percent of them said John School would deter them from buying sex, compared with 92 percent who said being placed on a sex offender registry would scare them from re-offending.
Nashville officials said they haven’t tracked recidivism rates in their city, but the school’s program director said it’s probably deterring a third of the offenders in each class.
At least one college educated, 47-year-old john’s attitude appeared to change on a recent Saturday.
After class he wrote, “There is no good part. I would rather be with my wife. This was quick but it wasn’t worth it.”
Not Happy Ever After
Things are not happy for this brave little girl who took a taxi across town to sit in the judge’s chambers so that – at 10 years old – she could ask for a divorce.
I can imagine her family is NOT happy – she got her divorce, but her proverty-striken family had to compensate her aged husband $200 – a fortune for a poor family.
From CNN World News
Yemen (CNN) — It is midday and girls are flooding out of school, but Nujood Ali is not among them.
We find her at the family’s two-room house in an impoverished suburb of the city where Nujood is angry, combative and yelling. Tension surrounds the home like a noose.
After much arguing with family members, Nujood finally grabs her veil and agrees to sit down with CNN. Her presence is grudging, although CNN had got permission in advance to see how the girl who rocked a nation by demanding a divorce was shaping up.
Nujood is very different from the girl we first met nearly two years ago. Then, there was no doubt the 10-year-old was every inch a child. She was the very portrait of innocence: A shy smile, a playful nature and a whimsical giggle.
That picture was very much at odds with the brutal story of abuse she endured as a child bride who fought for a divorce and is now still fighting. Watch as Nujood remains defiant.
Nujood says she remains relieved and gratified that her act of defiance — which led to appearances at awards shows and on TV — had paid off.
The story was supposed to end with the divorce and an innocent but determined girl allowed to fully embrace the childhood she fought so hard to keep.
Instead, there has been no fairytale ending for Nujood.
There was, though, a stunning transformation. Nujood went from being a victim and child bride to a portrait of courage and triumph. Her inspirational story was told and re-told around the world, but at home all was not well.
In the fall of 2008 Nujood was recognized as Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year, alongside some of the world’s most impressive women. She even attended the ceremony in New York and was applauded by women from Hillary Clinton to Nicole Kidman.
There is a tell-all book which is to be published in more than 20 languages, and the author says Nujood will receive a good portion of the royalties.
Nujood’s strength was celebrated by complete strangers. But what did all the fame do for the one person it was meant to transform?
“There is no change at all since going on television. I hoped there was someone to help us, but we didn’t find anyone to help us. It hasn’t changed a thing. They said they were going to help me and no one has helped me. I wish I had never spoken to the media,” Nujood says bitterly.
There was never going to be a fortune. Generous people have donated thousands so Nujood could go to a private school, but she refuses to attend, according to Shada Nasser, the human rights lawyer who took on the child’s divorce case.
“I know Nujood was absent from the school. I spoke with her father and her family. And I ask them to control her and ask her to go every day to school. But they said, ‘You know we don’t have the money for the transportation. Don’t have the money for the food,’ ” says Nasser.
She believes Nujood is being victimized by her own family because they believe Nujood’s fame should bring them fortune.
Nujood’s parents say they’ve received nothing, and in the meantime Nujood stews wondering out loud how everything turned out this way.
“I was happy I got divorced but I’m sad about the way it turned out after I went on television,” she said adding that she feels like an outcast even among her family and friends.
Nujood was pulled out of school in early 2008 and married off by her own parents to a man she says was old and ugly. And yet, as a wife, Nujood was spared nothing.
“I didn’t want to sleep with him but he forced me to, he hit me, insulted me” said Nujood. She said being married and living as a wife at such a young age was sheer torture.
Nujood described how she was beaten and raped and how, after just a few weeks of marriage, she turned to her family to try to escape the arrangement. But her parents told her they could not protect her, that she belonged to her husband now and had to accept her fate.
CNN tried to obtain comment from Nujood’s husband and his family but they declined.
Nujood’s parents, like many others in Yemen, struck a social bargain. More than half of all young Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18, many times to older men, some with more than one wife.
It means the girls are no longer a financial or moral burden to their parents. But Nujood’s parents say they did not expect Nujood’s new husband to demand sex from his child bride.
To escape, Nujood hailed a taxi — for the first time in her life — to get across town to the central courthouse where she sat on a bench and demanded to see a judge.
After several hours, a judge finally went to see her. “And he asked me, ‘what do you want’ and I said ‘I want a divorce’ and he said ‘you’re married?’ And I said ‘yes.'” says Nujood.
Nujood’s father and husband were arrested until the divorce hearing, and Nujood was put in the care of Nasser.
Indeed, it seems the judge had heard enough of the abuse to agree with Nujood that she should get her divorce.
But based on the principles of Shariah law, her husband was compensated, not prosecuted. Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $200 — a huge amount in a country where the United Nations Development Programme says 15.7 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day.
Khadije Al Salame is working to help Nujood get her life back. Now a Yemeni diplomat, 30 years ago she too was a child bride. But when she left her husband, she did not have to endure the publicity that now haunts Nujood.
She said: “It’s good to talk about Nujood and to have her story come out, but the problem is it’s too much pressure on her.
“She doesn’t understand what’s going on. She’s a little girl and we have to understand as a media people that we should leave her alone now. If we really love Nujood then we should just let her go to school and continue with her life, because education is the most important thing for her.”
To get her divorce, Nujood showed a character and strength not easily expressed by women in Yemen, let alone a 10-year-old child bride. But she will need to muster all that strength and more if she’s to finally reclaim her life.
Nujood told us she thought the divorce would be the end of her struggle and she’s still angry that it turned out to be just the beginning.
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