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What is Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation?

What is Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation?

That was in the text but not the title of some [there’s a whole lot of mandatory refresher and update style review, testing, demonstrating, and proving] of this year’s annual employee training.

[Be warned: you’re gonna have to pretend you know how to read code to follow the rest of this. If you don’t or simply don’t want to, you’ll need to rely on #ArtificalIntelligence #AI to help you out. Of course, chances are that AI was manifested, conceived, created, implemented, and made come to life, by someone like me. Someone who’s worked in IT for 45 years. LOL. ]

I work at a great [or really trying very hard to be] hospital, where like everyone in healthcare,

[single person, unit, organization, committee, subcommittee, focus group, lobbyist, corporation, initiating, defining, acquiring, executing, monitoring, and closing [see how cleverly I got the #PMI #PMBOK knowledge areas in there? Made you want to either look it up or salute, didn’t it? 🙂 plus all those other governing, regulating, overseeing, and simply interfering but not non-governing bodies [because the bottom line is, we work in #bodies. Vertical and horizontal. In so many shades on that spectrum it really is mind-blowing!]]]

I am exposed to and must make decisions and actions about

[in one way or another, to some end or another, for the purposes of covering my butt and being an exemplary employee, healthcare worker, caregiver, clinical team, administrator, organization or to be a good person, family member, religionist, neighbor, citizen, community, city, county [township, kirk, borough, parish, diocese, and any other damned subregional name you can think of. Go nuts here. You can entertain yourself (but probably not TOO many others – remember, it’s just who’s in your box and immediately adjacent at your share window that can see or hear you well enough to consider being entertained) for HOURS on this one.]

these three topics:

[you may not remember at this point because we’ve gone full stream of conscious by know and like anything else, each moment is only here when it’s here after all. The past and the future only exist in the now, which only lives in our minds long enough to die. It is our minds, after all. And everything else. ESPECIALLY the stuff you try to keep swept up under the rug. #ItWillAllComeToLightOrItAintLightEnoughYet]

Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation.

But here’s the thought.

[after what seems to be an interminably long and protracted but likely completely unnecessary to conveying the point introduction, some of which might have been greatly changed by avoiding all the #ActiveCase #IOweMyOnlineLifeToTheElementsOfStyle. 😉 🙂 :D]

How you define each of those terms describes the society you want to live in.

That’s one part of that society, world, planet, universe, cosmos.

The other?

How much of each of those together or separately you’ll accept, tolerate, or condone.

[#ThinkingFaceEmoji]

Of course, to REALLY be #LiberalFriendly, it must also be subcategorized. Aristotle style, of course. Where would we be as an advanced technological and philosophy power on this earth without at least SOME Aristitotalian real-world application?

So, how you stand on EACH one defines your political agenda, i.e., what particular kind of liberal you are.

[Conservatives, you don’t have to take this test. You’re all the same, really. Anti-Liberal. Sadly, that makes you the victim in all this, in everything. Because the real truth is, NOTHING is inevitable. Absolutely fucking nothing. There is no eternity, no “after”, no up in the sky pristine alpine white (of course, paradise WOULD be white, right OMG STFU). You get a “bye” this round. See you in the championships #HoopDreams #SoLongAsMyTeamWins #TeamSpirit #GoTeam #NoTimeForLosers #WinningIsntTheBestThingItsTheOnlyThing.]

No exceptions. If you don’t tick all the boxes, you won’t vote alike. Not even on the same Democrat. Or to save a Democrat. Or to register as a Democrat. Or even LIKE a Democrat. Or an Independent. Green, Socialist, Communist, #SomethingElse, #NothingElse, #AmIAloneOutHere, #WhatIsMyFlavorAnyway. Or something, that’s for sure.

[So here we go]

Abuse: Drug, domestic, spousal, child, and animal, to start.

[Remember, you must rate them least to most important. Can’t pigeonhole you without that information. Next, on to]

Neglect: Personal, spousal, child, malicious, unintentional.

[Remember, these are all about accepting, acknowledging, understanding, condoning, observing, participating, and/or facilitating. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Exploitation part later. Of course, how you accept that decision on my part ALSO helps define how and what kind of liberal you really are. Good so far? And finally…]

Exploitation

Personal, sexual [consensual and/or not], child [but also young adult, adult, elderly, etc.], race [or ethnicity], accident, intentional

[again, see how important your intentions are? If you think about it, it’s not really WHY you did something that matters. Because that’s the true benchmark, right? It don’t really matter what the law says. You gonna do something you think is right whether it actually IS right or not, ain’t ya? Damned right. Every time. And only YOU make that decision. Every single FREAKING time. Of course, MOST of the time you get lucky, because what the current [fleeting like everything else only temporary and probably not as stable as it looks] culture and “nation” you were pushed out into feels strongly enough about to adjudicate on, you’ve been carefully and ever so cautiously but firmly educated, indoctrinated, spoon fed, and weaned on. THAT’s your mother’s milk, ain’t it? And like everybody REALLY knows, there is no way to get that in a formula. For better or worse. #BreastFedIsBestFed 🙂 and also + , ]

malicious, profitable, pleasurable, etc.

[It gets darker, sicker, and more twisted the further you slip down THAT rabbit hole.]

So: you take your ratings from all of those, and it gives you a rating from 1 to 100. Now, THAT is a useful number. There’s probably a way to tie that to all KINDS of metrics to figure out what kind of person you are.

[person, leader, boss, gender, personality, intelligence, guppy, partner, child, parent, adult, sibling, co-worker, friend, lover, henchperson, lackey, employee, zodiac sign, religious nut, liberal, my heavens THIS could go on forever. No wonder we can’t seem to get control of politics in this country!!!! OMG IRL WTF #TheUglyTruthAintIt]

Anyway, your number. That gives you coordinates on the game board. Think of it like that, and you’ll still manage to retain some hope of winning. Of course, that’s an illusion and seriously only fleetingly temporary at best, and if you’re lucky, you’ll remember some of the best parts. Most people don’t get as lucky as the lottery commission would like you to believe. Any gambler could tell you the odds are in the house’s favor. Or there wouldn’t be a house. #RememberYouAintTheHouseYoureJustLivingInIt #ItAintAGambleIfYouKnowYoureGonnaLose 😉

That NUMBER puts you in the right #LiberalBox. Remember, there’s really only ONE #ConservativeBox [just anti-liberal, remember], but you’ve got a lot of choices.

[Actually you don’t have a choice. your number dictates where you’re going to go. Of course, you CAN change that number, but then you have to take the above test ALL over again. And whose got that kind of time, right? How about…]

There are a lot of possible end points. And that number tells you exactly which one is yours. Then you find out who is IN the box with you [it’s usually pretty damned lonely], whose boxes are NEXT to yours, and whose are next to THEIRS? It’s turtles, all the way down, isn’t it?

ANYHOW. Your box determines who you can and are willing to talk to, agree with to a degree, cooperate with, compete with, tolerate, stand, deal with, antagonize, bully, belittle, jeopardize, marginalize, and #AllThoseIZEGuys.

So how’s the view? What’s on the idiot box? How’s your world looking [either in, around, out, or beyond]? What books are on your shelves? That’s kind of way to #VennDiagram us to figure out where we connect, if at all. These

Books

[and the medium by which they are transmitted, be that oral, chiseled, scratched, printed, scripted, typed, voice-generated, completely computer-generated (there’s that #AI again) are the way ideas pass between brains that insist on thinking of themselves as individuals. Clumsy, for sure, but #YouWorkWithWhatYouGot, right? So the books]

that you and I both draw from (either from direct experience or via somebody else telling you what’s in the book [like sadly MOST religions] and especially the #BooksWeOwn are critical to determining whether you and I are gonna share anything more than a brief, fleeting, single moment in time.

And so we imagine, define, join, celebrate, reinforce, perpetuate, indoctrinate, educate and promulgate, our own special #PoliticalParty. As if that organization bereft like every other single other thing in the universe, is horribly #impermanent, #outsidetime, #transitory, #mortal, and otherwise #NowAndOneTimeOnly.

That’s why the world is the way it is.

How you define abuse, neglect, and exploitation. And why. And what that does to either you or anyone else. Ever. Permanently. Insofar as #NothingIsReallyPermanentOrInEvitable. Right?

Now back to your regularly scheduled program #AlreadyInProgess. See, it took MUCH longer than #TwoAndTwo to get through this. But it was worth it, right?

[Next episode will probably be about Worth, Value and Saving :)]

Accept what you think is love and make sure to give it back. Don’t settle for anything else, less, more, other. #NoSubstitutions #MustBePresentToWin #WereInThisTogether #AbsolutelyCompletelyIrreversiblySoYouMightAsWellBeWillinglyInterdependent.

Peace (don’t get me started) out.

[April Fool’s LOL]

#SomeStuffIsReallyImportantToTalkAbout #Resist #NoKings #NoKingsCrownsOrNobility #ChangeTheBe #MakeTheRightChoiceForAChange

01 APR 2026

© 2026, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Our Secret: rondeau

What is the secret we all seek?
Despite the clever words we speak,
our desperation grows and thrives,
infecting every segment of our lives,
convincing us that we are weak.

And those who struggle, we call freaks,
and frightened, hide our flaws and leaks
away from others’ prying eyes.
That is the secret.

We passively exploit the meek,
and shame our smartest nerds and geeks.
into neat boxes to survive,
destroying their creative drive,
in service to the working week.
That is our secret.

24 Jun 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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On the Next Child Prodigy

I don’t begrudge a twelve year old
their wish to idolize
an artist of their own time-frame
with the same likes and sense of space
that come from being twelve a while.

But for adults to seek the same —
to push aside their own age peers,
in some great quest for “the next big,”
neglect those like themselves

who’ve worked for years
to understand and know their craft
and bring to it a wealth of time —
who treasure the precocious youth

that somehow came forth from the womb
with an “old soul” or some like crap,
who’d rather find a young maybe
than risk an older yes,

who stoop to conquer, so to speak,
their greedy eyes upon the prize
of novelty to hawk their wares,
it seems like pedophilia.

03 AUG 2007

© 2007, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Dear Kleenex

As of late, there’s been a commercial advertising your products that runs a little something like this …

A man with a shaven head (not tonsured, but completely shaven), wearing maroon robes very similar in style to those worn by the Dalai Lama, is shown during his daily activities to be careful about not harming the natural world around him. He rights a beetle so it can go on its way. He checks his steps to make sure no creatures are harmed by his footfalls. And so on.

Then, he plucks a tissue from a Kleenex box and blows his nose. There is a voice-over reminding us all that Kleenex tissue kills millions of germs. Germs, of course, are living creatures too. This puts a very worried look on the man’s face. I say man, but quite obviously he is supposed to be some kind of monk, most likely a follower of an Eastern religion, particularly as he has been acting with a Jain-like level of non-violence, and even sports a set of japa beads, not a rosary.

But all is not lost, the voice over assures us, saying “Thank goodness for forgiveness. Thank goodness for Kleenex.”

However, there is a bit of a problem here. So far as I know, and I have been studying Eastern religions and the myriad of paths that preach non-violence and “do no harm”, none of the sects to which the monk might belong have what you might call a “Doctrine of Forgiveness”. That is, I believe, a Christian notion. Where paths preach non-violence and non-aggression, there is no forgiveness, regardless of how small or petty the infraction may seem. There is payment due. It is called Karma. It is also, in some strange circles, referred to as a law of physics: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. To coin a phrase, what comes around, goes around. If you truly believe in non-aggression and non-harm, you take personal responsibility for your every action, and do not seek (or expect) forgiveness. You expect a bill, and you are prepared to pay it. Even if it is mere, lowly germs who have given their lives to afford you better health, you are inclined to thank them for the sacrifice.

As one non-Christian practitioner who thinks that the beliefs of others should not be parodied out of ignorance, particularly to sell products, I think this oversight (and I’d like to think that’s all it is) is nothing to sneeze at. But it certainly has inclined me to purchase Puffs instead.

© 2006, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Death of a Circus Lion

His speech was almost poetry;
I say almost, because to claim
such subtle acts of sophistry
as conscious art is to enflame
the ire of critics, who exist
with their sole purpose to decry
encroachment on their world as lies,
and play the constant pessimist.

The world’s not ready, they proclaim,
for such a mix of show and tell;
for movements that defy a name.
The vanity of hope won’t sell
a single copy on the coasts.
Besides, a voice we cannot tell
“be silent” is quite mad; to boast
its worthiness despite our well
intentioned praise, or degradation,
seems to smack of heresy.
I ask you, in this situation,
would you dare let such things be?

In these and other ways, more sly,
the world prefers its genius mute;
no small surprise that you and I
give up such goals as our pursuit,
and gambol, as if without care,
through life without a moment’s thought
to who built our cage bars just there,
or for what purpose we were caught.

25 JUL 2005

© 2005, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Ah, New Orleans: a villanelle

The air is thick with history, with years of sweat and toil.
Old ghosts play hide and seek in sheets that show more recent use;
the wiser tourists avoid alleys and shun Bourbon’s roil.

Old men of different colors sit on their front steps and broil,
and stare across at one another, hearts filled with abuse;
the air is thick with history, with years of sweat and toil.

Some drunken fools careen along the street, in beads and foil
and pay five dollars to discover “where they got their shoes”.
The wiser tourists avoid alleys and shun Bourbon’s roil.

For two weeks in the spring, pre-Lent, the tense peace turns turmoil,
and you don’t want to see OPP for the weekend, that’s old news;
the air is thick with history, with years of sweat and toil.

If you look closely, underneath the surface, a slow boil
festers even in the minds of drunken revelers at Krewes.
The wiser tourists avoid alleys and shun Bourbon’s roil.

So come to spend your money here; we’ll throw our beads at you
and like as not you’ll end up poorer but show no scar or bruise.
The air is thick with history, with years of sweat and toil;
the wiser tourists avoid alleys and shun Bourbon’s roil.

29 JUN 2004

By request, here is a villanelle that theoretically also provides some impressions of New Orleans. Although I have to admit, feeling rather Tom Waitsy at the moment, the picture I’ve chosen to put in the Viewmaster for this one is a bit on the sadistic side. But then again, Nawlins does have that contingent. Ya know, vampires and all. With bondo fangs and everything. Giving tours. Pointing out witches … and strippers.

© 2004, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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