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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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Mirror Moves: englyn lleddfbroest

How we treat the very least,
whether human or rough beast,
criminal, servant or priest,
from next door, far west or east,

speaks volumes on what we are.
It seems strange and most bizarre
to place one above the bar
and one below. It’s not far

from calling something “other”
down a slippery slope, brother,
discovering another
way to screw us all over.

Take a look in the mirror;
objects that appear are nearer
than you think – and what you fear
is looking back, sharp and clear.

23 May 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Mr. and Mrs. John Q: double dactyl

Higgledy-piggledy
Public, John Q.
voted for this mess and
gave it no thought:

just what would happen
when truth lost its way
and no ticket back
could be bought.

Higgledy-piggledy,
Mrs. Q. Public
regurgitated her
poor husband’s pablum,

cut off her nose and
destroyed her good looks;
that’s what you get
when you don’t read books.

Higgledy-piggledy
Mr. and Mrs.
bought all the lies they were told,
and elected

a king and a savior,
to keep them from thinking
they needed integrity
to be respected.

14 MAY 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Ameri Can

America doesn’t need Democrats to save it. It doesn’t need Republicans. It doesn’t need liberals or conservatives, leftists or righties, centrists, Independents, old school or new wave, fundamentalist or radical, or any other kind of way to divide, disappoint, distract, dilute, dullen or deaden all of us. In separate boxes, on separate lists, in separate discussions, decisions, and definitely on separately and securely maintained documentation.

We need to stop writing this shit down so it can be spoken aloud.

That is not America. This is not America.

It may be an idiotic thing to say, but America is not that easy to destroy. If you believe in the ideal. If you actually live your life as if the ideals by which this country was founded are real, in the way that so many will swear that their own personal savior is alive and well and still talking to his people the way he talked to people 2000 some years ago.

The point is that all these folks who are in “power” don’t own America. They don’t even run it. They all work for us. They are our employees. The executive, legislative, and judicial branch, and every department, unit, field office, division, and individual representative. They report to us. And their employment contract is the Constitution of the United States.

Not standing up to a bully isn’t just cowardly or shameful. It’s breach of contract. It doesn’t matter what side of the fence, aisle, country, or any other dividing line you are. Or at what level.

I have one thing to say to all of them. Do your jobs. For me, your boss. Or you’re fired.

26 Apr 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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The Sellout: brag

It’s hard to explain, but here’s living proof:
he’s the piped piper pumping undisputed truth,
a loud clarion shout to disenfranchised youth,
wrapped up head to toe in a bright angel suit.

It doesn’t make much sense, but then again, what does?
You never see the bees, but you can hear the buzz:
there’s no real use for reason, just believe because
it’s the way to get along, and everybody does.

Either life or destruction, doesn’t matter much,
when you can turn into gold everything you touch;
morality is just an inconvenient crutch.
Set it on automatic, you don’t need no clutch.

We’re all really flying, thanks to magic wings;
and parachutes, we don’t need them stupid things!
Who knows what the future or tomorrow brings?
Who cares, it’s a miracle each time he sings.

He’s the master of disaster, the true overlord,
who promises the life we want and can afford.
You won’t get left behind or be the least bit bored;
and those who disagree, in prison or ignored.

It’s hard to explain, but this is what you get:
and it’s too late for apologies. Have no regret.
The best part ain’t even started happening yet;
just keep your eyes on his channel on your TV set.

23 APR 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Change Your Mind

“I have an idea. I want to find what the average man thinks of it. Then when we’ve found out what he thinks of it, we’ll change his thinking.”

A great quote from Vincent Price’s Champagne for Caesars. But is it about advertising or religion or politics? And does it matter? Aren’t the effects the same? So loaded with promise, so ripe with possibilities. If a better movie, in a better time, with a greater social media presence and more mentions per capita, it would probably be a text studied alongside Machiavelli’s The Prince, Sun Tzu’s Art of War and Donald Trump’s Art of the Deal. No kidding. I’m gonna go write a doctoral thesis on that now. Give me a minute.

I can’t think of a better way to tell you to stop drinking the water. Or Kool-Aid. Or Drano. Whatever it is they’re telling you is in the Dixie cup, or what you wish or you’re hoping it will be. It isn’t going to be what you think. Cause it’s never going to be forever. Nothing is.

As was said in another film, The Princess Bride, “Life is pain, princess. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.”

19 APR 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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Change My Mind

What do you think it really takes to convince someone about anything? I don’t mean to the level where they’re nodding their head, flashing a smile, or clinking their drink to yours in a display of temporary solidarity. I mean convince someone: change their mind, their point of view, their way of seeing the world. Touch their inner core, self, soul, atman.

It’s not like selling them a used car. It can’t be. The stakes are so much higher, and the consequences may be in that moment, and for many more thereafter, profound, lasting, and of monumental importance.

Especially when you’re dealing with a species you’ve been told are self-focused, narcissistic, hedonistic, opportunistic, and worst of all, just not all that interesting. This is a way-station after all, a proving ground, a temporary assignment, a pit stop or slight detour on the way to something better. Convincing anyone of anything at all, even given infinite time, space, and energy to achieve it, is no walk in the park.

That’s why charlatans are so effective: just like a great ballet dancer or singer or athlete makes it look so easy, so effortless, a con artist makes the lies and empty promises and misdirection seem so simple, guileless, and without visible support that they are the spoonfuls of sugar that make the medicine go down. But not all that glitters is gold; not every drug is a medicine. Some are deadly poison.

Most really good evangelists know to work the room, but more importantly, they know how to pick the room. Preaching to the choir is a lot easier than preaching in the wilderness. At a minimum, there’s better cell coverage. And where you can connect to the world, you have a message. Messages, however, are a lot like drugs. Only some have medicinal value.

Do you have what it takes to do the convincing? What would it take to convince you? Maybe you think those two are different ends of the same stick. Maybe you don’t. But whether you believe in that kind of cosmic balance or you don’t, when you pick it up, it’s the whole stick. Don’t ever expect anyone to ever be a bigger pushover than you, because it’s one thing to be stubborn about something, but it’s quite another to keep beating yourself on the head with it.

It’s a big job.

19 APR 2025

© 2025, John Litzenberg. All rights reserved.

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