Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Magda...
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Blondes Have More Fun
Once again the young people of The Packard Institute, Inc. rose before dawn to meet the challenge of The Akron Marathon yesterday. It was like herding chickens... but we got our ducks in a row and completed the 26.2.A special shout-out goes to Ian (above, right), who designed and screened our team race shirts. This was Serena's (above, left) first running event. Upon completing her relay 10K she promptly vomited, then text'd me "the acomplishment feels incredible."
The Marathon StartThe team rallied at P.I. following the race where we medaled everyone - and were treated to massages by Bekey, our gifted P.I. staff masseuse. Thanks again to the Marks family for making our kids participation possible.Footnote... in the interest of journalistic balance (and so I don't get too full of myself), the following myspace bulletin was posted by my good friend Jeff:From: Von ZelzenDate: Sep 27, 2008 11:52 AMIt has completely fucked up my day. The no.1 bus wasn't running, so I had to walk downtown with my guitar, my dads retirement present, and a gymbag for the Natatorioum. I thought I could catch the no.10 from downtown to Cuyahoga Falls to meet my son, but it turns out the busses aren't running at all! I am now stuck downtown. I had to cancel my swimming day with my son, who I havn't seen for over a week, and I now won't be able to attend my fathers retirement party. I feel sorry for anyone who needed to get to work, or worse yet, the hospital. It's just one more day when well to do white people can flaunt their Malibu wannabe lifestyles in front of the poverty stricken locals who walk these streets everyday, begging from other beggers. So you ran 24.8 miles...big deal, try sleeping in the snow, you self important morons!
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
please help me welcome...
..TR>
Magdalena Packard, b. 2:16am, 6.16.08, 6'13" and 20 inches long, at Canton Mercy hospital...Magdalena and her mother Elizabeth are both healthy, and the baby appears to have inherited her mother's astonishing Phillipina beauty...This was a complete surprise to me, and while not a couple, Elizabeth and I are committed to seeing this child thrive...TABLE>
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
and he shall be called...
"Obama"
The new Packard Institute, Inc. mascot.
The Tuesday teens of The Packard Institute, Inc. have spoken. A final tally of their votes:
2nd runner up "Jinx" with 2 votes
1st runner up "Zeppelin" with 3 votes
Final winner "Obama" with 4 votes
Thanks to everyone for their participation and submissions. Isadora and Obama continue to work things out. While they will playfully chase each other throughout P.I., Isadora continues to express her displeasure by crapping on our couch every night. :-P
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Sunday, April 20, 2008
P.I. loses a great friend...
Thanks again for all of your heartfelt prayers, as well as Dr. Carlson's heroic efforts. Any visitor or friend of P.I. could not help have been touched by Duncan's loving attention and focus - and he most likely treated your lap and belly to the "Duncan Mind Meld," (the kneading treatment).Duncan returned Friday evening. I had been out of the country, and it feels as if he was holding out until he could reunite with his sister and all of us. He immediately started to fade. Isadora was hurt and confused. We felt helpless.
Duncan ReturnsI brought him home with me... and tried to comfort him through the night - by morning his mewing had grown faint and raspy. I comforted him as best I could until he drifted off.
Final Moments
I buried him directly outside of the picture window in my office. Though this animal can't be replaced, his gentle, loving Spirit will continue to fill and guide us at The Packard Institute, Inc.
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
a MIRACLE...
Our friend Dr. Parker Carlson did not agree with Duncan’s fatal diagnosis of FIP. It just didn’t jive with her - so she took time out from her weekend, drove all the over from the Youngstown area to pick up Duncan. She took him back to her clinic where she performed surgery removing Duncan’s obstructed bowels. Eight inches worth (see pic). Our little friend Duncan was starving to death.Dr. Carlson’s selflessness, quick thinking, clinical acumen, and many hours of hard work have given the Packard Institute yet another miracle. Dr. Carlson has refused to accept any payment for her services.On behalf of the kids, friends, and families of the Packard Institute, Inc., PLEASE send Dr. Carlson a thank you note to parker1vet@sbcglobal.net
and finally, a little post-op love...
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Obama, Hillary, and The War (from The Nation)
It should mean a great deal to progressives that in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Senator Ted Kennedy favors Senator Barack Obama over two other colleagues he has worked with in the Senate. No one in the history of that institution has been a more consistent and effective fighter than Kennedy for an enlightened agenda, be it civil rights and liberty, gender equality, labor and immigrant justice, environmental protection, educational opportunity or opposing military adventures. Kennedy was a rare sane voice among the Democrats in strongly opposing the Iraq war, and it is no small tribute when he states: "We know the record of Barack Obama. There is the courage he showed when so many others were silent or simply went along. From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth." But that is precisely the truth that Senator Hillary Clinton has shamelessly sought to obscure. Her supporters have accepted Clinton's refusal to repudiate her vote to authorize the war, an ignominious moment she shares with other Democrats, including presidential candidate John Edwards, who at least has made a point of regretting it. It was a vote that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, 3,940 US service members--five more on Monday--and a debt in the trillions of dollars that will prevent the funding of needed domestic programs that Clinton claims to support. And it doesn't end with Iraq. Clinton has been equally hawkish toward Iran and, in a Margaret Thatcher-like moment, even attacked Obama for ruling out the use of nuclear weapons against Osama bin Laden. Clinton's apologists include Gloria Steinem and too many other feminists, who should know better than to betray the women's movement's commitment to peace in favor of simplistic gender politics. It is disturbing, not because they conclude that Clinton is the best candidate, but because they refuse to challenge their candidate to be better. Does it not matter that Clinton's key foreign policy advisers are drawn heavily from the ranks of the neoliberals, who cheered as loudly for President Bush's war as did the neoconservatives? Are they not concerned that Richard Holbrooke, who exploited his experience and access to secret information during the Clinton presidency to back Bush's Iraq invasion, is a likely contender for secretary of state should she win? Sandy Berger, a key Clinton adviser, played a major role in convincing Kennedy's congressman son, Patrick, to vote for the war authorization against what the younger Kennedy said was the advice of his father and his own better instincts. According to a Knight Ridder report at the time, "Patrick Kennedy said the most persuasive arguments for attacking Iraq came from members of the Clinton White House," including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is often described as the foreign policy expert closest to Hillary. Patrick J. Kennedy refuses to be burned twice and now supports Obama. Yes, if Hillary Clinton is the candidate, she probably will be better than the Republican alternative and, as Ted Kennedy made clear, deserving of our support. But isn't it troubling that she can't hold a candle to Sen. John McCain when it comes to fighting Pentagon waste or pushing for campaign-finance reform to curtail the power of lobbyists? Isn't it disturbing that Senator Clinton has received more money than any other candidate of either party from the big defense contractors, according to a report on the Huffington Post? Why have the war profiteers given her twice the campaign contributions that they sent to McCain, if not for the expectation that she is on their side of the taxpayer rip-off that has seen the military budget rise to an all-time high? It's for the same reason that the bankers, Wall Street traders and other swindlers who produced our economic meltdown fund Clinton. Hillary Clinton has made "experience" key to her claim to the presidency and tells us she will do the right thing from "day one." The reality is that her extra four years in the US Senate hardly provides better experience than Obama's eight years in the Illinois state Senate battling for progress with the nation's most hard-boiled politicians. And if she lays claim to her husband's presidency, then she must also take responsibility for caving in to big media with the Telecommunications Act, selling out to the banks with the Financial Services Modernization Act, and killing the federal welfare program--a political gambit that deeply wounded millions of women and children. Her political career began with the Senate and she hit the ground running, but, as her craven support for Bush after 9/11 shows, it was in the wrong direction.
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Year End Run Report
Dec. 25th, Seminole, FL
After dropping the kid at the ex's earlier, I was seized with a sense of loneliness. I decided to celebrate the birth of Christ with a "20" along the gulf beaches. I grabbed a water and was off.
Now Florida can seem like an unending expanse of minimall. Hair salons, chiropractors, real estate agents, and of course the ubiquitous fast food joints - all now eerily emptied of people and commerce. Where do they all go? Do they have the same hopes and dreams as all of us? The air was still and the temperatures climbed towards 80. I headed over the causeway to the white sands of the gulf beaches.
Heading north, I was largely alone save the occasional colony of gulls, which I'd scatter into the breeze. My water soon depleted, I'd refill at spigots labled "for HVII" use only. If you know what this means, please do not tell me.
Turning back, some spring was robbed from my step as I braced myself against blisters, but I was happy and I exalted in the moment... and the promise of days to come. I may have underestimated the power of Florida's sun, as upon return I quickly chugged nine (9) Diet Cokes. Old behavior there. I wish everyone the brightest blessings for the New Year...
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Sunday, December 23, 2007
Meet the Parent...
The clouds parted.. and I touched down in Tampa yesterday. While connecting in Atlanta I was treated to an amazing cross-section of humanity: hundreds of thousands of holiday travelers in the busiest airport in the world on the busiest day of the year. Hindus jostled hippies jostled cowboys jostled yuppies jostled monks.
Upon reaching Tampa I picked up my daughter Sonja (15), and then went to meet her boyfriend Jeremiah and his folks. Trained as a classical violinist, the lad has reinvented himself as this dark Christian emo rocker. Jeremiah cuts that perfect rock figure: Rail thin at 6'2", Asian features... and a shock of naturally flame-red hair that will guarantee him front and center in his newly-formed band. I suppose we were both initially apprehensive at meeting, but dinner soon dissolved into peals of laughter as we all cracked about everything from Spinal Tap... to Camille Saint Saens. Jeremiah seemed greatly impressed that I was one of the Dogtown (Venice) skaters of the 70s. I tried to assure him that it was strictly an accident of timing and geography... but I guess timing counts in life.
The evening's definate highlight was when he sat us down to solo for us on his Les Paul, which his mother had assured us that I would never be able to get him to do. "Did you ever hear of Led Zeppelin?" he asked, and launched into a credible version of "Going to California." I joined in on vocals, and for a small moment in time... Peace reigned on earth.
Merry Christmas everyone...
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Friday, October 12, 2007
Ann Doll: Epilogue?
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The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition's annual Success Breakfast will honor Ann Rebecca Balter and 22 other formerly homeless people who have rebuilt their lives. photo by Charles HaskellTerence Lyons, Mirror Staff Writer
One of the 23 previously homeless people to be honored by the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition (WSHC) at its 12th annual Success Breakfast on Friday, October 12, is Ann Rebecca Balter, who now works as a professional painter, lives in CLARE Sober Living, and volunteers in CLARE's Assessment and Referral program. "My wish is to continue my loving relationship with [my daughter and grandchildren], as well as to keep making art and exhibiting work."
In her journey from homelessness, Balter received assistance from the CLARE Foundation, one of the more than 30 nonprofits, public agencies, and church groups that make up the WSHC. She also acknowledges support from Coalition members Chrysalis, Edelman Westside Mental Health Center, and Venice Family Clinic.
The Success Breakfast is "a wonderful opportunity to display the hard work and dedication of so many people," said Lisa Fisher, WSHC director. "Each of the honorees proves that there is a way to end homelessness when we all work together to provide the support and resources needed to rebuild lives."
Ann Rebecca Balter's story may strike some as unusual. But then, everyone who is, or has been, homeless has their own very personal story. "My amazing father was a brilliant writer and executive producer who died when I was 22," she says. "My mother was a beautiful and intelligent woman who developed depression, leading to addiction and eventually suicide."
Balter studied art abroad and had a career as an artist and as a stylist in film and print. "I grew up in a family that recognized and nurtured my artistic talents; but I was also surrounded by the movie industry and its drug culture." Then, in 1987, she was assaulted by a man and fell 47 feet from a building, breaking many bones. In the course of a year's hospitalization, she became addicted to opiate painkillers.
Years of homelessness followed, including two in a wheelchair. She moved to Las Vegas, where she was homeless off and on until 2006, when "some old friends tracked me down after an eight-year search and held an intervention with me." That led to Tarzana Treatment Center and to CLARE in Santa Monica and the other Coalition members who provided Balter with the assistance that enabled her to rebuild her life.
Ann Rebecca Balter's is one of the many whose accomplishments will be honored at the breakfast, which this year is themed: "Celebrating Success: Changing Lives and Revitalizing Our Communities."
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Marathon Challenge
To say that 16-year-old "Janie" struggles against adversity would be to severly understate the trauma of her situation. Janie, like several of her other Akron Marathon relay teammates had three strikes against her before she was born. Poor, minority, and raised in a single parent household shot through with generations of chemical abuse - Janie coped by staying high and blotting out the pain of her reality. For a while, it worked...
Eventually, Janie ran afoul of the law. An alert and concerned PO got her connected to the right counseling intervention. Janie eventually got clean from the chemicals - and she is starting to thrive. As the THC flushed out of her system, she discovered a new vigor and belief in herself. She deeply needed a place to channel this renewed spirit. Then came the challenge of the Akron Marathon relay.
It took her awhile to get her mind around the idea of participating in this event. About 45 minutes, actually. Janie had never been an athlete, struggles with her weight, and continues to smoke Black & Mild cigars daily. She has never owned anything resembling actual running shoes, and training in her neighborhood is a risky proposition. Even coming to her counseling sessions is a logistical challenge, and she is dependent on the bus passes we give her. As with all of her life's challenges, Janie refuses to give up - and along with her relay teammates on September 29th she has a date with the blue line.
The Packard Institute, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit counseling center for teens and their families. We work with families regardless of ability to pay. We are located on the marathon course at 733 W. Market St., in the "Highland Square" highrise. 330.762.4357. Donations can be made at our website www.thepackardinstitute.com . We would like to thank the Mark's family for waiving registration fees for our kids and yes, getting Janie into a pair of running shoes. She is fairly brimming with anticipation for the event.
Raynard D. Packard
CEO, The Packard Institute, Inc.
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
Hunger Strike: Day Nine
I fold my cards.
As a full-time therapist with Counseling Services downtown, as well as my responsibilities as CEO of The Packard Institute, Inc. (basically, all that AND cleaning up the Bengal vomit), I found myself unable physically to meet my client's needs.
What did I eat? Tomato soup and, you guessed it... CROUTONS. It was painful to get down.
Thanks again for the well-wishes, affirmation, props, and moral support. Your energy made this happen for me. I feel good, and energized to continue the struggle for peace and human rights.
Viva la Revolucion!
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Friday, August 24, 2007
Hunger Strike: Day Eight
..> ..>
Hunger Strike: Day Eight
I want to thank all those who have offered their affirmation for this action. Your support has meant more than you could know. I am holding on... one moment at a time. Perhaps it is all a scandalous waste of time. I do not know. I do know that doing nothing is almost ALWAYS a waste of time.Viva la Revolucion! ..>..>
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Hunger Strike: Day Seven
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Hunger Strike: Day Seven
I served in the XVIII Airborne Corps as an army paratrooper from 1985 to 1992. I believe that being a warrior is an honorable profession and at the time, I believed our foreign policy was guided by a sense of fair play and justice.
We shall reap as we sow. As the tens of thousands of exhausted veterans return to our society, the damage from the nightmarish, repeated tours will begin to take their toll.
This past week I had trained down in Columbus for "Treating the Returning the Iraq War Veterans." We will be picking these brave warriors off of our streets for decades to come. None of the Neocons chose to serve in their day. None of them. Cheney "had other priorities" and Bush was left valiantly guarding the skies of Texas from the Viet Cong... till he deserted. How do we console those from whom we've asked the greatest sacrifice?
It is their names, as well as the innocent Iraqi civilians, that I strike...>
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Hunger Strike: Day Six
I have promised myself I will forge ahead until such time as I feel the care for my kids, both at Counseling Services downtown - and at the Packard Institute, could be compromised. While my mental acuity seems intact (though flighty at times), that magical Spiritual cleansing has yet to happen. Physically, it has been a struggle.
Last night I lay awoke, curled in the fetal position. I had the good sense to ditch most of the food at my place. This was an opportunity to practice what I preach, "dry people, dry places." Yet it occured to me I had earlier spotted a bag of some old, stale croutons. Damn did those croutons sounded good. It was torturous. My stomach roared.
Again, using my best cognative-behavioral methods, I retracked my thinking. I made it through another long night. Once again folks, I DO NOT endorse this as a method of protest, particularly for my kids. The decision to Hunger Strike is intensely personal... and not without risk.
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