All the news that fits...True and Faux

Where do you get your news? I'm not surprised to learn that these days most people rely on Facebook and Twitter for their daily input. Some watch TV panel discussions on a variety of channels. Most don't bother with print media.

I do. I still am addicted to checking a wide selection of news sources daily. I've done so since my twenties when I was a high school journalism teacher. The only time I had difficulty was during the decade I lived in developing countries (1987-1997). Even then, I haunted libraries, read the international edition of Newsweek, perused old issues of Hello! and Time in used magazine shops, and kept in touch with US pop culture by getting bundles of People from my son. I always read the local newspapers, as well, in Spanish in the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, and in English and Creole in Belize and Seychelles.

In Belize I had a little TV so could get news from WGN Superchannel. In Guatemala, for a while I had access to network news via cable. In the D.R., where I lived four hours or so by chicken bus from Santa Domingo, it became a bit more difficult to tune in electronically. The Internet hadn't yet been invented, and a lot of times the electricity outages (apagones) in San Juan de la Maguana prevented me from finding any TV that worked. In Seychelles I had an hour of English news from France on Sunday afternoons...that's how I learned that Princess Diana had died.

When I returned to the States, I started reading a daily newspaper again. I got a different slant when I lived in Little Rock than I did later in Silver Spring, when the Washington Post got deposited by a newsie...I actually supervised him at the Arkansas Department of Health, where he was a health educator and I was the state Adolescent and School Health Coordinator.


And in NE WA I subscribed to the Spokane daily paper, and the weeklies from both Colville and Chewelah. I subscribed to both Time and Newsweek. I also tuned in to network news, PBS, and CNN.

Now I read the Los Angeles Times every evening. But additionally I get online headlines from the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and get the Christian Science Monitor on my Yahoo news feed. I additionally get daily digests from half a dozen other sources, including the Jewish World Review, a conservative collection of opinion pieces. I check Raw Story when I want to be outraged, and even Briebart when I want to see what the latest anti-Semitic and racist rant is.

The First Amendment remains precious to me. Here it is, word for word: First Amendment - Religion and Expression. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So I tend to fret when I hear threats to bar media representatives from press conferences or from access to updates on what is happening in the world. I also shiver when I hear insinuations that libel laws will be altered so fact checkers become fearful of publishing the truth. 

 

This is somewhat comforting:

Is truth a defense in libel lawsuits?

Truth is an absolute defense to libel claims because one of the elements that must be proven in a defamation suit is falsity of the statement. If a statement is true, it cannot be false, and thereof:ore there is no prima facie case of defamation. There are numerous jurisdictions (including Florida) that have adopted the substantial-truth doctrine, which offers protection to a defendant of a defamation claim as long as the “gist” of the story is true.

In the 1964 ruling New York Times v. Sullivan, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements regarding public officials unless the statement was made with actual malice — “with knowledge of its falsity or with reckless disregard of whether it was true or false.” The Court set a new standard by requiring that a public-official defamation plaintiff show evidence of actual malice by clear and convincing evidence. If the plaintiff is a private person, then only negligence needs to be proven, assuming the defamatory statement was false. However, if the private person wants to recover punitive damages, she must show that actual malice existed, as well.

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faq/frequently-asked-questions-press

So could the President-elect really change libel laws in today's America? Yes, but it would be complicated. Here's some reassurance from Sydney Ember in the New York Times:

 

The Supreme Court established the First Amendment principles that govern the country’s libel laws in 1964, with its unanimous decision in New York Times v. Sullivan. In that ruling, the court said that public officials had to prove that false statements were made with “actual malice,” meaning news organizations had to have knowingly published a falsehood or published it with “reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

The standard, later extended to include public figures, set a high bar for libel and meant that people like Mr. Trump — both a public figure and soon-to-be public official — would have a very, very difficult time winning a libel lawsuit.

If Mr. Trump were to seek to change the libel laws, he would have to get the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling in Times v. Sullivan and subsequent cases built on it, or at least chip away at either the definition of “actual malice” or the characterization of a public official or public figure, said Sandra S. Baron, a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project and former executive director of the Media Law Resource Center.

“A change in those laws would require the Supreme Court of the United States taking a new look at what it previously decided and making changes,” Ms. Baron said. “I think there’s very little, quite candidly, he could do short of getting the Supreme Court to overrule New York Times v. Sullivan.”

Here's the link to the full piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/business/media/can-libel-laws-be-changed-under-trump.html

It's worth reading in its entirety, since it concludes that a successful change of libel laws might backfire. Changes might make the one who seeks the change more likely to be sued for libel than those he has in mind.

In short, exercise care when you try to tamper with the United States Constitution and the Supreme Court.

Amor Eterna...Eternal Love

Waverley Chapel, Fairhaven Memorial Park

RIP, Mari Lou Laso Elders

Relampago del Cielo (Lighting in the Sky)

Entrance of Waverley Chapel

 If you look to the right of the photo of the dancers, you can see the back of my head, as I sit in the front row of Fairhaven Memorial Park's Waverley Chapel. I once again was seated with Maria Laso, mother of Mari Lou, my son's late wife. Mari Lou died last September 28, and this was the first time I'd been in the Chapel since her funeral service last October. This was the second year that Maria and I attended the Dia de los Muertos Remembrance & Celebration. Last year Fairhaven began its ceremony outdoors but it had been interrupted by a sudden windstorm and downpour. This year we were favored by sunny skies and a tranquil twilight.

 Maria brought Mari Lou's framed graduation photo and also one of Mari Lou with her father, Manny, who died a couple of years earlier, to place on one of the altars in front of the chapel. She also brought a proof copy of Mari Lou's young adult novel, Otherwise Known as Possum, which will be published by Scholastic Press on February 28. When we left the service one of the presiding priests told us that he had blessed all the photos that celebrants had brought. (I took photos of the altars, but for some reason all my photos of the evening failed to upload to my computer. I thank the Fairhaven Facebook page for the ones I have posted here.)

When I lived in Guatemala in the early '90s I learned that All Saint's Day, Dia de Todos los Santos, is when families go to the cemeteries to honor loved ones with flowers and other mementos. In Mexico and here in California, All Soul's Day, October 2, is  Dia de los Muertos. To the indigenous people of both Guatemala and Mexico, death is considered the passage to a new life. So this festivity celebrates both death and the cycle of life. From skulls to marigolds to personal items, families bring what was meaningful to their beloved to decorate graves and make the remembrance for those of us who still live easier to bear. Maria and I poured Diet Cherry Coke on Mari Lou's grave. It had been the last thing she'd asked for to drink when she had been in the hospital.

Maria and I appreciated the traditional dishes provided by El Indio Tortilleria: chicken, pork, corn and strawberry tamales, pan dulce and hot chocolate. Maria also brought along some cookies in the shape of bones and skulls.

To cap the evening, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. When Maria, pregnant with Mari Lou, and Manny fled Cuba in 1962, they were relocated to Downers Grove, Illinois, about 20 miles from Chicago's Loop. Manny grew to love the Cubs. Mari Lou, close to her father, became a fan, as well. At the end of the service at Fairhaven, Maria confided that she believed Manny must have been exercising some heavenly pressure to help the Cubs come so far in the finals. We smiled at the thought of father and daughter clapping their hands for the Cubs from their heavenly seats. After the service I met a friend to watch the final two innings, and thought of the pair once again.

I had been unfamiliar with the songs played during the service, but the Hispanic attendees sang along to every one of them, including "100 Ovejas," and "Pescador de Hombres." I was reminded of how much my Spanish has faded since I left the Dominican Republic in late 1994. In those days I knew full well that "ovejas" meant sheep, and not bees ("abejas") as Maria explained to me when I initially mistranslated. The words still sound alike to my untrained and incapable of fine distinctions ear...and it reminded me that when I was a child I couldn't distinguish between "chair" and "share." I think I understood about 70% of what the priests were saying, but that figure might be bolstered because some of the service was in English.

Mariachi Los Potrillos play "Amor Eterno."

I did recognize the final tune, though, "Amor Eterna," because I've heard the late Juan Gabriel sing  it. Eternal love...and how do the living hold on to that, when they grieve? A friend posted the saying about grief on Facebook yesterday, so I'm sharing this thought. I do believe that the final line is correct...grief is love with no place to go. El Dia de los Muertos ceremonies give us a place to go. Thank you, Fairhaven. 

Altar offerings at Waverley

 One of the most touching parts of the service for me was the parade of costumed children who came forward one by one to place their offerings upon the alter: apples, marigolds, candles, corn, nuts, skeletons, and photos of departed loved ones.

Here is Juan Gabriel singing "Amor Eterna," in case you've not heard it before:
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&p=amor+eterna#id=1&vid=7fd3fda8ede9d16b551394f89eb96df3&action=click
(And RIP, Juan Gabriel, who died this past August.)  

Juan Gabriel, El Divo de Juarez

They Did the Mash...The Monster Mash

Frank, as an explorer, and me, the hippie chick

The last time I dressed up for a Halloween party might very well have been in the 1960's. Nonetheless, I did last night to celebrate the holiday at a dance at my apartment complex. I delighted in passing out brownies, with the assurance that I'd baked them myself from a recipe supplied by Alice. Those of a certain age may well remember the famous brownies of Alice B. Toklas. The peace symbol I wore was an authentic one from 1968, given to me by son Steve for Mother's Day that year.

Peace, Love and Happy Halloween

For months Frank and I have been waiting for a chance to try out our moves...and we did in the clubhouse last night. His heavy-tread explorer shoes might not have been ideal for pivoting, but we were able to Mash, foxtrot and Lindy under the strobes.

Frank was dressed as an explorer, so a number of people asked if he were Dr. Livingstone. I erroneously posted an identifying caption, but remembered later that Livingstone was the missionary and Stanley was the explorer who found him.
Here's my neighbors tricking and treating the night away.

 

We Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!

Even my kitchen counter glows with the Halloween spirit!

This year I've vowed to hoot and holler and act like a kid again for Halloween. Last year's holiday was somber, since we'd just lost my daughter-in-law Mari Lou Laso-Elders. Those close to her remember that autumn, and especially Halloween, always was her favorite time of the year. She used to squeal, my son claims, the first time she saw what she called "punkies." Last year I didn't even go to the costume dance at my apartment complex.

This year, though, I'm gonna go...and, yes, in costume! I won't reveal yet what it is, but it's a trek down Memory Lane for me, complete with a piece of memorable jewelry given to me by my son when he wasn't yet an adolescent! I'll be posting photos next week. My boyfriend promises to appear in costume as well.

Killin' it!

In the meantime, my aerobics class a week ago began our annual gyrations to the themes from "The Addams Family" and "Ghostbusters," as well as "Monster Mash" and "Purple People Eater." Today, in honor of the holiday spirit, I wore my special Halloweeny knee socks. Last night exercise and crafts instructor Sue Burchfiel introduced a new tune, one well-remembered by many of us...Creedence Clearwater Revival's "I Put a Spell on You." Here it is (if you're not remembering all that well) live from Woodstock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwCALR8ZAm8

Valerie Ellison chooses autumn leaves.

Sue Burchfiel and I show off our craftiness.

It certainly seems that Halloween (and maybe my boyfriend, too) has put an early spell on me. I'm entranced with autumn. Today in crafts class we fashioned "pumpkin pots," to hold plants, or....candy corn! I'm not known to be a craftsy woman, but even I can paint a pot. Some of my fellow residents here at H-W decided on a more general autumn theme. Me, I went for goofiness.  

Ooh, ooh, ooh...what a little paint and glue can do!

We enjoy a well-seasoned rec room!

My horoscope today reminded me that mystic Thomas Merton wrote, "Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony." So far today has been harmonious indeed. I might even treat myself to a bedtime cup of tea...with a little brandy, just for autumn flavor!

One of my favorite stories that I have written for Chicken Soup for the Soul:

http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/33090/tea-for-two

Tea for Two

 "Every problem has a gift for you in its hands." --Richard Bach

My sequined purple satin princess costume remained in its tissue paper wrappings on the top shelf of my bedroom closet that Halloween evening. Dressed instead in my pink rosebud flannel pajamas, I perched on the window seat and watched the neighborhood witches, ghosts, and cowboys scurrying by. I tried hard not to cry. After all, I was six, not a baby anymore.

Daddy had taken my unaffected older sister and little brother to Grandma’s house for a party earlier that evening, leaving Mama and me home alone. I’d finished reading all the stories in the newest edition of “Children’s Activities. I’d even tired of cutting out paper dolls from the old Sears catalog, and longed to be outside. Mama had promised me a special treat, but I couldn’t imagine what could replace the thrill of joining the troops of children wandering door to door in the autumn twilight with their rapidly filling pillow slips. No Hershey bars, candied apples or popcorn balls for me this year, I knew. I didn’t care, I told myself, because though the itching had ceased, I had yet to regain my appetite anyway.

Mama had turned on the Philco radio in the kitchen, and I heard the Andrews sisters warning “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me.” My sister was probably bobbing for apples right now at Grandma’s house, I thought.

“O.K.,” Mama called, “Time to get dressed!”

Glancing down at my pajamas, I wondered what she could mean, but scooted off my seat and trudged to the kitchen. On the back of one of the chrome dinette chairs hung Mama’s fur chubby, a kind of short jacket that represented the essence of elegance to me those days. I used to love to watch Mama get dressed for special evenings, in her fluffy chiffon dresses, always topped by the chubby.

“Put it on,” she said, pointing to the jacket. “We are going to play tea party, and I am going to be the hostess, while you will be my guest.” She draped a string of pearls around my neck, as I shrugged into the jacket. I noticed that the table had been set with her best Blue Willow cups and saucers, and that an empty platter had been placed next to the toaster.

Though I could not venture all the way outdoors, Mama opened it a crack so I could at least knock on the outside, right below the big black-lettered Quarantine sign.

 “Oh, Miss Terri, it’s so good of you to call this evening. It’s tea time,” she announced. “And even though you are my guest, I’m going to ask you to make the meal, since you have such a special touch with cinnamon toast.”

I’d seen the bakery truck make its delivery earlier, and had wondered what had been left on our doorstep. Now Mama opened the bread box and pulled out a loaf of sliced raisin bread. She placed the sugar bowl, the butter dish and the red tin of cinnamon on the counter, and lifted the chubby from my shoulders. Then she opened her Searchlight Recipe Book to page 44, handed me the yellow plastic measuring spoon set, and said, “Let’s see how you do reading that recipe.”

I was the best reader in my class, so I stumbled only on “substitute” and “proportion” as I read aloud the instructions.

“Cinnamon Toast: Spread freshly toasted bread with butter or butter substitute. Spread generously with sugar and cinnamon which have been blended in the proportion of 1 teaspoon cinnamon to ½ cup sugar.—The Household Searchlight”

I paused, and looked up. “Generously?  Searchlight?”  Mama smiled. “Generous is giving more than you really need to, giving from the heart, not the purse. And searchlight is a big flashlight,” she explained. “It lights up everything to make it easier to see and understand.”  I nodded. So the recipes were like searchlights, making it easier for Mama and me to understand how to cook. And we needed to do it from the heart. So I could put in a little extra sugar, just like Mama did.

While I watched the raisin bread brown in our two-sided toaster, Mama put her tea kettle on to boil, and told me a story about the birds on the Blue Willow china. She said that an angry Chinese father had been trying to catch his daughter who was running away with a boyfriend. Before he could catch them, they had been transformed into birds and flew away together. I rubbed my finger across the birds on the saucer.

“When you grow up, your father won’t chase away your boyfriends,” she said with a little laugh. “And now that you’re learning to cook, it won’t be too much longer before you are grown up for every day, not just for Halloween.” I smiled. It was true. I was learning to cook.

Though I hadn’t been hungry all day long, the smell of the cinnamon sugar seemed to reawaken my appetite, and I ate my entire slice and half of Mama’s, and even managed a swallow or two of my milk tea. When my sister returned later that evening with the candied apples that Grandma had sent, I accepted one, but insisted I wasn’t really hungry, since I had cooked and eaten a meal earlier. When she looked doubtful, Mama just nodded in affirmation.

 “She made a lovely tea,” she said.

Mama’s prediction came true, too, as I became engaged just a dozen years later. And at my wedding shower in 1955 she presented me with a black leatherette bound Searchlight Recipe Book, just like hers.  I turn the yellowed pages today to Page 44, and again recall the delicious aroma of cinnamon toast as I remember the year that, through my mother’s unwavering generosity, trick or treat became tea for two.

HW's Got Talent!

"Boating Beauties" prepare for the show.

With Lynn Schell-Milot

 When I first moved to HW Senior Living in Westminster two years ago, I counted my blessings. I'd been trudging upstairs and down, taking care of a huge house, three and a half acres of pastures and lawns, five household pets, and for many years, an ailing husband. Plus I was surrounded by "stuff."

Amazing Grays Sue Burchfiel

When I'd been diagnosed with spinal stenosis and disintegrating disk disease, I worried about my continuing mobility. How long would I be able to negotiate stairs or weed the Asian lilies? I've written before about my desire to return to Southern California. I needed to trade five months of snow and ice for sunny beaches. I needed to hang out with old friends and reminisce. I hoped to have Mother's Day brunch with my son. Though I'd miss my old Colville book groups and AAUW companions, I knew it was time to move on.
So I came home to the Southland, resigned to a quiet old age. Maybe I'd join a new book group. Maybe I'd reconnect with the local Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group. Maybe there'd be a local branch of AAUW. I did all of that...and more.
I began to go to the Amazing Grays yoga and aerobics classes five days a week right here at HW Senior living, and my sciatica symptoms diminished. And I made new friends and began to have new adventures.

Corinne Zavolta emcees.

Last night at HW I participated in the annual talent show. I had the opportunity not only to read one of my published stories, but also for the first time since my high school days, to perform in a choreographed routine!
Our fitness instructor, Sue Burchfiel, lead our yoga group in the opening skit, "Row, Row, Row," to the old Eddie Cantor song. https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla&p=eddie+cantor+row+row+row#id=1&vid=eadbcd9e7d28bb060a6a39b03c39a3b8&action=click

Jerry and Darlene Steddum played lovebirds.

 Jerry and Darlene Steddum played the parts of Johnny and Flo, as our yoga group vigorously rowed, swayed and wiggled.
The evening's agenda included readings of original poetry and memoir, duets and solos, comedy and even a rousing percussion number. Kathy Hurley, our recreation director, provided refreshments following the show. Many of us lingered by the pool afterwards for an hour or so, beneath a Harvest Moon, basking in the beauty of a balmy Southern California autumn evening. New friends. New adventures. But stay tuned. In two weeks we'll be having a Halloween dance. I've already put together my costume!

L to R, Darlene Steddum, Valerie Ellison and  Corinne Zavolta

George Burchfiel, Musical Production

Mark Lumas, "Jingo"

Corinne closes with "Personality."

Why Chicken Soup Warms My Heart and Soul

 

 Several years ago I remarked to a writer friend, who had been hard at work on his first novel, that I'd had a story accepted by the popular series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. He grimaced.

"Why would you want to write schmaltz?"

"Write what?" I asked, not quite certain I'd heard him right.

I had, though. He'd wrinkled his nose and repeated, "Schmaltz. You know...sappy stuff."

I hadn't answered. I felt diminished and disrespected until I'd had a moment to reflect. 

Promoting The Spirit of America

Sappy stuff? Maybe. I write true stories about my life. Yes, I write about being adopted, about getting a divorce, about having double pneumonia as a child. Yes, I write about falling in love, baking apple pies, quitting smoking, and serving in the Peace Corps. All true. And all salient. All about my life, no matter how sappy, silly or sad, or even how sublime those events may seem to others. My friend is still revising the opening chapters of his yet-to-be groundbreaking coming-of-age epic.

Yes, in my teens I, too, dreamed of writing the great American novel. What teen writer doesn't? But then life intervened with my dreams, so instead now and then I'd written book reviews, travel articles, pop psychology, author interviews.

Then one day in 2007, on a whim, I wrote a story about my little brother and a memorable Easter pageant. And Chicken Soup for the Soul published it. I continue to write about my life.

Since then my work has appeared in 110 anthologies, with a few more on the way. My friend still is a struggling would-be novelist. I'm a happily published storyteller. I may not be a household name, but people read my stories. Some even write me fan letters. Some tell me how I inspired them. That certainly warms my heart. 

With Catalina Ortiz at workshop.

Last week in San Bernardino I conducted a brief seminar on how to mine your life's events for story ideas for such publications. A small but enthusiastic group of would-be anthology writers listened attentively, and appeared appreciative. Not a one of them uttered the word "schmaltz."
I've been invited back to do a more in-depth evening session this coming spring. I'm delighted. I'll be covering the basics, beginning, middle and ending. I'll especially concentrate on how to use the elements of fiction in creative nonfiction, including plot, character development, dialogue and the descriptive details that reveal emotions. They constitute the "show, not tell" that you've heard about.

Happy with Amy's new book.

In the meantime, whenever I'm asked what kind of stories Chicken Soup for the Soul is looking for, I recommend that the inquirer carefully read the new book by series publisher Amy Newmark, Simply Happy: A Crash Course in Chicken Soup for the Soul Advice and Wisdom. In it Amy tells us that she seeks stories on how people made changes in their lives that improved their outlook. One of my favorite boxed quotes in the book is, "If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." When I worked as a psychotherapist, we called this attitude adjustment "reframing." It still works. Sure, it's finding silver linings on dark days. If that's schmaltz...bring it on. It works for me. It could work for you, too.

Here's a link to Amy's book: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=chicken+soup+for+the+soul+simply+happy