10 for 2012

10 Things I learned (or relearned) in 2012

1. Caffeine withdrawal - If I was given the choice to quit coffee/caffeine cold turkey again or take a fork to the eyeball it would not be an easy decision… 10 days of intense six-hour long headaches and nausea battles is enough to drive someone to drinking… Come to think of it, it kind of mimics what a 10-day hangover must be like. Life is surprisingly much better without. FDA is jumping in and last I read one of the popular energy drinks were credited with a couple dozen deaths and a spontaneous abortion… I can personally attest that much of what Wikipedia lists below is true …

Caffeine overdose can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called caffeine intoxication (DSM-IV 305.90),[42] or colloquially the "caffeine jitters". The symptoms of caffeine intoxication are comparable to the symptoms of overdoses of other stimulants: they may include restlessness, fidgeting, anxiety, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation.[63] In cases of much larger overdoses, mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, disinhibition, delusions, hallucinations, or psychosis may occur, and rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue) can be provoked.[64][65]

            Gotta find a new vice now.

2. Vice – Sick of fluff and pop culture trash so I have been watching some eye-opening videos on www.vice.com. The Vice Guide To Travel section is standout and about as real, gritty and as close to the action as you probably ever want to get - but could also be one of the best media sources to gain a worthwhile perspective… Anything else worth wile - news-wise - I get from the Colbert Report.

3. Personal bankruptcy in Oregon – The court allows you to keep $1000 worth of guns.

4. The first city building in Portland Oregon was a jail…

5. Refugees from Somalia that I have come to know this year are some of the coolest, toughest and most American people I have met in the US. Somalia was colonized by three different countries and was at war with itself for over two decades and has many tribal groups… “We are a crazy mixed up people, man…” It also ranks dead last (or takes top honors depending upon how you look at it) with N Korea and Afghanistan on the Corruption Index of 2012. Top rankings, meaning least corruption… Denmark, Finland, New Zealand. The refugee’s stories of survival is proof that the human spirit survives and can still thrive after facing the most inhumane atrocities. Their lives stand as testament to a courage that is beyond imagining.  
6. Crack climbing is paramount for a healthy and fulfilling existence. On granite multi-pitch in the warming sunshine and tied in with my girlfriend it becomes sublime.

Maureen styling in Tuolumne

7. Just as climbing and a good relationship feed the soul, so too does awesome music… especially dancing to Sassparilla performing live at the Luarelthirst. And thanks to Vince who has again greatly enhanced/expanded my musical horizons with Other Lives.

8. My Canada Goose pink parka makes me happy.

©Maureen Eversgerd

9. Differences and distances mean little with family… Weathering life’s challenges, family and partner help bridge and complete - owning the good, the hard, the ugly, the transitions - the history that is us, the history that is me.

10.  I have wanderer’s spirit… Even when not in motion, I am in motion, spinning, exploring, discovering… And it's so much better with a partner...

HO, HO, HO....

The Rain Shadow...

Alone in a dark City of Roses...
Finding time to wander in the rain and find my reflection in the endless puddles.

 The dead coffee houses, the crowded burrito joints, city streets heavy with homeless.

Black skeletons, cold knuckles, cascading of hungry thoughts...

Opulence, cold shadows. Searching, waiting... The slipped starlight, vacant sunshine.  The rain shadow, the tilted verticality, again supine, and the warmth of your touch... Soon.
Images/words ©Bennett Barthelemy

Thoughts on Impermanence...

Some moments shrivel, some calm and expand. 

Friday the 14th was one of those days. Mucus from sinuses was stagnant, there were intermittent stabbing pains traveling from temple across the back of my head. My ears were not kindly clogged enough to keep me from hearing the amplified NPR chatter of remorse, shock, horror, expert opinion,disbelief, official statements, eye witness accountings through the wake of semi-automatic realities that had ignited this last week -one a few miles from me and one across the country. 

I parked and dropped my girlfriend off at her appointment downtown, then walked across the street to the three-storied Portland public library. Past the names of great luminaries chiseled into the ancient sandstone walls - Plato, Dickens, Euclid, Galileo, Austen, da Vinci... I slowly walked past the ornately carved edifices of the stone railings, from a time when these flourishes meant a little more, now tinged with wet green moss and falling away grain by grain...

I had coffee on my mind, as well as collecting some photos of nearby food carts, but the more urgent need was evacuating my bladder. I pushed through the throngs of languishing homeless amongst the library steps, shook my head at the guy asking me for money for heroin and hookers. Turned my back on the waving wheel-chaired seller of Street Roots, the homeless publication.

Inside the opulence of jet black stone flooring and black stone stairs carved in relief with filigreed scenes of lavish gardens was a striking contrast to the handful of homeless that wandered with backpacks, canes, blankets. The bathroom was a flurry with them so I ascended stairs to the second floor. This one too was at capacity with homeless and others waiting on the benches beside. Hurrying past to the third floor I caught an unwanted glimpse of a skirted, fifty-ish woman on the bench deliberately so that her partially crossed legs offered well-exposed views of her less than inviting flesh.

Drepung Loseling Phukhang Khangsten monks from India

Crossing the landing separating the second from third I noticed colorful Tibetan prayer flags strung across the cold granite railing. I turned my back to them and found the last restroom occupied as well and waited my turn. Upon exit the far room held a table with what I instantly knew was a partially completed sand mandala. I had never seen one up close. A few library patrons who were not homeless were admiring the intricate collaboration of tiny specs of color on a perfectly non-descript black table. Red velvet ropes kept the viewers a safe sneeze distance away. 

No monks were visible, just a table and an Asian man and woman selling the usual handmade paper journals, singing bowls, incense... iPhones were out and pictures being snapped. I pulled out my camera, the bulky SLR and changed lenses next to the blind woman sitting at a chair just outside the ropes. A homeless man stepped up to look. When I turned back to the table the Asian couple were gone and now four monks were seated.

Soon they got up and carefully went to a small table next to the mandala and carefully, never speaking, selected tools, sand colors... Observed the mandala for a few moments and found a place to rasp sand out grain by tiny grain. Once rubies or lapis lazuli and other precious and crushed stones would have been used. As I snapped image after image the monks never appeared to notice me, or the dozen school children that very reverently looked on with hands on ropes and wide eyes. A sweat bead trickled down a monks bald head as he leaned into the tables edge, the only sign of anything other than perfect calm. 

The Dalia Lama looked on smiling from a framed portrait on a table cluttered with edible offerings. A library volunteer shared sacred knowledge with the enrapt children asking if they had any questions, none did so she plodded along in monologue about moving from the center outward, that it would take a week to finish, that Sunday if they returned a ceremony would culminate with the sweeping away of all the sand by the monks. They would then offer a bit of sand to each person that had come and they would be blessed with this tiny gift. 

There rest of the sand was to be poured into the Willamette River...

Wealthy?

Sun... Steep stone... Exposure...

Sweet views... Fresh air...

Good people...

Where In The World...

Where In The World...

Sedentary strolls up distant peaks.
With tepid coffee-
Blown pupils from artificial light.
Sun-drenched arabesque arches.
The lost afternoons.

Faded grey in the drifting nimbus,
The crushing concrete.
My chosen Alcatraz,
A purgatory of slipping dreams...

Your hand through the cold shadows,

Smile burning through the the myopic

Northwest twilight.

Inertia, movement to harmony.

Chasing summer south.

Where in the world. 

©Bennett Barthelemy 12-4-12

Rock and Ice Feature...

Newest feature in the current issue of Rock and Ice Magazine, my interview w/ John Bachar from 2008... Bachar was a hero of mine and an inspiration. I was honored to get to meet him and spend a bit of time with him. An amazing individual for sure...

Qelemes III, Ojai Quarterly Magazine

Latest feature in Ojai Quarterly, Part III of a three part series on a solo backpack into the Sespe Wilderness this last spring... New design team, enjoying the new look of this regional mag... Nice to be able to contribute to a local publication in my hometown...

Past Embraces...Photographs define me...

How do we fit into our pasts? Pictures as puzzle pieces, creating distant connections from blurred edges tinged with slipped emotion. Suddenly thrust back into the present moment. Holidays, new pets, a visit from an old friend or relative, a vacation, a new car. Somehow I was always the dirty faced kid amazingly caught for a split second of non-motion. The skateboards, the Kiss albums, that freezing first trip to the snow...

Disjointed moments stolen from the bowels of time, the insatiable monster long since swallowed... As we age trapped in bodies that still associate with the fleeting moments long past, the memories and feelings of the moment refreshed.

Stranger still are the connections to the present and the impossibly slow and hidden junctions fused to create personalities, expressions, moments, experiences, choices caught that hinted at today.

The books on the shelf behind my grandfather, the golfish Fang next to the globe in bumpy relief I would spin for hours as a five year old, slamming my finger down in new unknnown places I wished I could be.

Stories within stories. Our own isolations shared. We are made whole again. Somehow through a collective viewing, with someone new to the family, through the hours spent scanning the forgotten slides by my father... Through this collective sharing the glue is made strong again, ruffled edges, dirty faces, faded colors vivid.

The trip to Yosemite at age 8 that changed my life forever... The place that defined me, where I eventually realized who I was when I returned at 18 and then again and again and again...

The music, the trips, the skateboarding, my bike, the constant motion, the dirtbag... the one that lived for the moment...

No longer any sense of aversion to the slipped past in favor of the present... An embracing, an appreciation, an honoring in the sharing and the memories. A blessing that it can still be shared with those I love, while we live.

Thank you.

Trout Creek Climbing and Public Process

Jessie Bernier gearing up to cruise another classic Trout Creek 5.11

Not often do we get to witness the chapters that have been written through time that have created and allowed for the continued enjoyment of a cherished area for recreation. As a diehard traditional crack addict, a place like Trout Creek just 2.5 hours from home, is truly a gift. A metamorphic jewel aerated with laser cut splitters lording over a landscape of nubbin busting tendon popping Smith Rocks and sketchy snow slogs of Mt. Jefferson and Hood. For my gas money and time these locales are best viewed in the rear view mirror and from the aerie of Trout Creek. And the golden eagles think so too...

Currently, through the collective wisdom concerned user groups including the public land managing agency the BLM, The Friends of Trout Creek, The Crag Law Center, The Access Fund and concerned climbers a compromise is in place to allow for climbing outside of nesting from Feb 1 to Aug 1... It was nice to be part of the process and see the dedication and interest on many different fronts that allowed for the negotiation and the compromise... Stewardship, communication, compromise...

Not easy, not without its bumps, not perfect. I read letters between the Prineville BLM, Crag Law Center, Friends of Trout Creek, the Access Fund, local climbers, local newspaper articles etc... Following protocols or guidelines or local ethics, being heard, being understood, compromising, being good stewards with trail usage and private property issues, being accountable and above the radar and staying informed takes a lot of work as a climber that just wants to recreate on public land...

Signed letter stating that Alternative 2 has been adopted by the BLM and thanking me for my involvement in the process...

So saying thanks to all the involved and dedicated folks that have kept climbing alive here at Trout Creek. A lot of work, time, energy, money have gone into this... I am so psyched to still get to climb here even if it is just half the year... I hope the golden eagles appreciate it too...

Addition problem: Employers + Criminal Background Check... Does this = Zero Civil Liberties for Employees?

Alright, did some research... First off, I am no lawyer and these are but personal musings, but in case you are interested I also compiled a bit of internet info- on background checks and the companies that offer them here int the US...

Currently they are legal (in most case you sign the form granting your employer the authority). In many cases they can give you a date to sign or find yourself unemployed... An expiration date if you will... This document to be signed can be handed to you as a condition of employment or after some time working there.

I had no idea how thorough background checks were- or can be... What the hell ever happened to civil liberties, personal privacy? In the digital age it seems nearly everything can be tracked and dug up, or you can pay someone to do it for you to sidestep responsibility for potentially erroneous results... A phone call to BOLI (Bureau of Labor and Industries) confirmed that companies have a legal right to require this and that as far as the BOLI rep knew the companies doing the checking had no federal oversight.

They also use background to screen prospective hires as well and there are of course  horror stories of guys who couldn't get hired for years because of mis-information on a report - or imagine the hypothetical case above - Your odds of getting hired go way down if you are challenged financially...

So there are levels of background checks... Some companies are very aggressive... They need your permission in writing to conduct these balls to the wall gonzo searches... One in this situation might find themselves asking... "Am I dealing with top secret government documents and didn't even know it?" When they could be doing something as benign as washing cars...

via http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/right+to+privacy right to privacy noun constitutional right to privacy, inalienable right to secretiveness, prerogative in favor of privacy, privilege in favor of privacy, right to privacy, right to solitude
Associated concepts: civil liberties, genetic privacy, internet privacy, medical privacy, political privacy, privacy from governmental interference

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse offers general info on checks and what they do/look for... Apparently they can interview your neighbors, check out Facebook accounts and read personal blogs, see if you pay your bills regularly - because you will pose a risk if bills aren't paid on time... This makes it rough for many people in this country... 

A quick hypothetical... You are divorced a few years and find you are drowning in inherited credit card debt from the failed marriage... More than half the $ of the Ccards are paid off but because of the economy, a gap in employment, your current wage, you feel that Chapter 7 is the best way. Filing takes $ ($350 minimum with a paralegal, over $1000 with a lawyer) and a minimum of three months for the process, not to mention all the time getting tax records, taking an online bankruptcy courses etc...

Most of the info from background checks is public record anyway - but the scores of companies that have cropped up to do this work need no licensing nor do they have federal oversight... These companies rake in millions yearly... These companies often make mistakes, use hearsay, unverified info...

As a teacher/tutor of kids I would get fingerprinted all the time- but that was through the state/federal agencies so it made sense to me... Also upon hiring I give employers my written consent to check references, criminal records and have even given the right to look at my credit history... Why do they need so much more reach? To protect themselves and their assets? 

The National Consumer Law Center filed an extensive report on this new industry of background check agencies offers checks and some of the inherent flaws. It reflects some the same wording/concern that I was feeling - that you are not innocent until proven guilty in this paradigm of checks and that it allows for a lack of accountability of the employer because they can say the outside agency is at fault for faulty info...  This report via NCLC states that the info gathered is often incorrect, mismatched, pulled from outdated data bases etc... "Criminal background checking is big business, and ensuring accurate and complete information reduces profits."

Anyway it is standard practice and no matter how shocking it may be to me - it is what it is... and it is legal... And dammit, I haven't voted for a few years and as the adage goes - if you don't vote you can't complain- I guess I have no one to blame but myself...

I am considering signing because I am told I will have access to the file once I do... Curious what they would have in it...

The process for refuting info contained in a person file appears to be a bit arduous... a whole different beast. My personal opinion is that the way the info is gathered and the level to which they can dig is questionable and the way it is applied could easily be contsrued as discriminatory and profiling... but this is just me ranting and rambling... Now I have to just figure out what state I am registered to vote in and get that back online...

https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs16-bck.htm

http://www.nclc.org/issues/broken-records.html

Since September 11, 2001, there's been an explosion in criminal background checks for job applicants by employers, yet many reports are riddled with errors. An industry-wide lack of accountability and incentives to cut corners mean that tens of millions of workers may pay for these third-party errors with their jobs while employers waste money and miss out on hiring qualified employees.

This report investigates common poor practices and mistakes with recommendations for solutions and the role of federal agencies and state government in holding background screening companies accountable for accurate work. It is essential that the Wild West of employment screening be reined in so consumers are not guilty until proven innocent.

A high percentage of adults living in the United States are affected.

 About 93% of employers conduct criminal background checks on some applicants, while 73% of employers conduct checks on all applicants, according to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

  Nearly 1 in 4 adults (an estimated 65 million people) in the U.S. have a criminal record.

  Many additional people without a criminal record are wrongly tagged as having a record

A high percentage of adults living in the United States are affected.

 About 93% of employers conduct criminal background checks on some applicants, while 73% of employers conduct checks on all applicants, according to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management.

  Nearly 1 in 4 adults (an estimated 65 million people) in the U.S. have a criminal record.

  Many additional people without a criminal record are wrongly tagged as having a record.

The problems are industry-wide.

There are no licensing requirements for criminal background agencies. Anyone with a computer and access to records can start a business; the total number of companies is unknown.

There is no central system for registration for background checking companies. A consumer can't regularly order his or her own report to review for errors as there is no central source to find and request a copy.

Many companies attempt to skirt the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by subcontracting work to other vendors or disclaiming responsibility.

Employers often fail to comply with the FCRA. This makes it difficult to know whether consumers were denied employment due to a background check report.

Executive Summary of report...

EXECutiVE summAry

Since 2007, the United States has experienced the worst unemployment rates since the Great Depression. Adding to this job crisis, criminal background checking companies are making it even more difficult for workers to obtain employment. Approximately ninety-three percent of employers conduct criminal background checks for some poten- tial applicants, and seventy-three percent of employers conduct criminal background checks for all potential applicants. The widespread dissemination of criminal record his- tories limits employment opportunities for an estimated sixty-five million adults (nearly one in four adults) in the United States who have some sort of criminal record.

Moreover, criminal background checks often contain incorrect information or sealed information. Samuel M. Jackson was allegedly denied employment after a prospective employer ran an InfoTrack background check. InfoTrack reported a rape conviction from 1987—when Mr. Jackson was four years old. The rape conviction actually belonged to fifty-eight-year-old male named Samuel L. Jackson from Virginia, who was convicted of rape in November 18, 1987. That Samuel Jackson was incarcerated at the time the InfoTrack report was run.

Whether these checks should be used for employment screening is a matter of public debate. However, there is little debate that if these records are to be used, they must be accurate.

Despite its promotion as a public safety service, the sale of criminal background reports has become a big business generating billions of dollars in revenue. The Internet has facilitated the emergence of scores of online background screening companies, with many claiming instant access to millions of databases.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), background checking agencies are required to maintain procedures to ensure the accuracy of information they report about consumer. Unfortunately, the FCRA, as currently interpreted and enforced, fails to adequately protect consumers when it comes to employment screening. Even applicants who successfully remove errors from their background check are frequently denied employment.

Despite the importance of the accuracy of criminal background reports, evidence indi- cates that professional background screening companies routinely make mistakes with grave consequences for job seekers.

This report describes a number of ways in which background screening companies make mistakes that greatly affect a consumer’s ability to find employment. Although the mistakes discussed in this report are not inclusive of all errors found on background checks, attorneys and community organizations that work with consumers with faulty background reports state that they repeatedly see background reports that:

• Mismatch the subject of the report with another person; • Reveal sealed or expunged information;

©2012 national Consumer law Center www.nclc.org broken records 5 3• Omit information about how the case was disposed or resolved; • Contain misleading information; and • Mischaracterize the seriousness of the offense reported.

Many of these errors can be attributed to common practices by background screening companies, such as:

• Obtaining information through purchase of bulk records, but then failing to rou- tinely update the database;

• Failing to verify information obtained through subcontractors and other faulty sources;

• Utilizing unsophisticated matching criteria; • Failing to utilize all available information to prevent a false positive match; and • Lack of understanding about state specific criminal justice procedures.

Even the National Association of Professional Background Screeners agrees there are some simple procedures that background checking companies can take to enhance the quality of their information. Unfortunately, few companies actually are willing to commit to even the limited recommendations of their own trade association. Criminal background checking is big business, and ensuring accurate and complete information reduces profits.

Based upon the issues identified in this report, we recommend that the Consumer Finan- cial Protection Bureau (CFPB) use its rulemaking authority under the Fair Credit Report- ing Act to:

• Require mandatory measures to ensure greater accuracy.

• Define how long an employer has to wait in between sending an initial notice and taking an adverse action, i.e., rejecting an applicant or terminating an employee.

• Require registration of consumer reporting agencies. The Federal Trade Commission should use its FCRA enforcement authority to:

• Investigate major commercial background screening companies for common FCRA violations.

• Investigate major, nationwide employers for compliance with FCRA requirements imposed on users of consumer reports for employment purposes.

Finally, as the source of most of the data reported by background screening agencies, states have a huge role to play in ensuring the accuracy of criminal background checks. States should that ensure that state repositories, counties, and other public records sources:

• Require companies that have subscriptions to receive information by bulk dissem- ination from court databases to have some procedure for ensuring that sealed and expunged records are promptly deleted and ensure that dispositions are promptly reported.

4 5 broken records ©2012 national Consumer law Center www.nclc.org

• Audit companies that purchase bulk data to ensure that they are removing sealed and expunged data and, if a company fails such an audit, revoke its privilege to receive bulk data.

With the explosive growth of this industry, it is essential that the “Wild West” of employment screening be reined in so that consumers are not guilty until proven inno- cent. Currently, lack of accountability and incentives to cut corners to save money mean that consumers pay for inaccurate information with their jobs and, thus, their families’ livelihood.