The Contributor: July 17, 2024

IN THE ISSUE

History Corner

Few Questions

Writing 13

Vendor

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Moving Pictures

HOW TO PAY A VENDOR WITH VENMO

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Disabled women’s sexual and reproductive rights

Disabled women in many countries are still exposed to multiple discrimination and face various forms of gender-based violence, as well as numerous obstacles in exercising their rights in the field of reproductive and sexual health. Liceulice spoke to disability rights activists Milesa Milinković and Veronika Mitro.

Reproductive rights are defined by the United Nations Convention as the “fundamental rights of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health”.

But often, disabled women, for various reasons, do not have access to health services that aim to protect their reproductive health. According to the ombudsman’s report, the main reasons for inaccessibility in Serbia are institutional and architectural barriers (unadapted entrances to healthcare institutions, inaccessible toilets, lifts, lack of hydraulic gynaecological tables), but also socio-economic and other factors, among which are social exclusion and discrimination.

Some disabled women encounter problems because they lack access to information on the possibility of gynaecological examinations or because this information is not provided in accessible formats (Braille, SMS, audio information, other adapted informational materials).

Gynaecological services are also less available and accessible to disabled women due to the lack of proper capacities and/or adaptation of healthcare institutions and insufficient training of doctors and medical staff in dealing with disabled people, which is why it often takes patients time to find an adequate institution.

Education and sensitisation of health workers with regard to disabilities and working with disabled women greatly determines their experience in using healthcare services. The report emphasizes that disabled women cite various negative experiences, mainly caused by prejudice and a lack of understanding, such as inappropriate treatment by the medical support staff, lack of mobility support, and doctors’ refusal to speak with the disabled person directly, choosing to communicate with a partner, carer or assistant instead.

Many disabled women described visiting a gynaecologist as a humiliating and frustrating experience. Such unpleasant experiences discourage them and dissuade them from having regular examinations. When they become pregnant, disabled women often also encounter negative reactions from within their social environment, but also from medical staff, and are faced with the stance that they are incompetent to make decisions about their own pregnancy.

The Organization Providing Support to Women With Disabilities, Iz Kruga – Vojvodina, has been working on addressing the aforementioned problems for many years now.

Veronika Mitro, the organisation’s project manager and editor of the Portal o invalidnosti (Portal about disabilities) website, lists three main steps needed for the healthcare system to provide dignity to disabled patients.

“First, it is necessary that all employees in the healthcare system develop sensibility for working with women with different types of disabilities become aware of their prejudice and

BY ANA STANKOVIĆ

work on overcoming them,” she says.

“The second prerequisite is that all healthcare institutions should be made architecturally accessible and that accessible transport to those institutions should be provided from every – even the smallest – locality of our country. And the third prerequisite is that all existing healthcare services should be accessible with respect to architecture, communication and information.”

Sexual health is defined by the World Health Organisation as a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. But many disabled women are faced with the misguided belief that they have no need or desire for love, sexual pleasure or children due to their disabilities.

“The root of this problem lies in patriarchy that imposes women with different roles such as being a housewife, a servant, a mother, a sempiternal child-bearer, and the one who, mostly by herself, takes care of children, her and her partner’s parents, the whole family,” says Milesa Milinković, a feminist disability studies theorist, activist and president of the Creative Affirmative Organisation Parnassus.

“Whereas the disabled body is perceived

as powerless – a disabled woman is thought to be unable to fulfil all these patriarchy-imposed gender roles. However, I have to admit, it looks to me that the impact of patriarchy is becoming a bit weaker. The fact that I notice more disabled women in those partner and family roles also reflects that.”

Another common stereotype that disabled women encounter is that they are asexual. Many studies show that disabled women are equally sexually active as women without disabilities and that they express a full spectrum of sexual desires, identities and practices. Due to the assumption that they are asexual, disabled women are often considered sterile or not competent for reproduction.

On the other hand, there is a common counter-stereotype, where disabled women, and especially those with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, are believed to be hypersexual and having an uncontrollable libido.

Such misconceptions often lead to people withholding education or information on sexuality and reproduction with the aim of dissuading or controlling sexual behaviour deemed inappropriate in disabled women. Disabled women in residential institutions are often deprived of their rights in multiple ways, including being deprived of making their own decisions and having their own choices.

When disabled women have relationships with people who are not disabled, they often experience their partner being told that they are sacrificing their life by staying in the relationship, which can lead to negative self-image and, in some cases, the suppression of sexual and romantic desires.

“Also, prejudices about disabled women’s abilities lead to constant inquiries from their environment [as to whether] that person is good enough as a partner,” Milinković says, “which further leads to certain pressures that the partner of the disabled person is brought under. The conclusion is that, unfortunately, we all have to carry out many more actions in order to enable every person to recognize their right to sex, love, partnership and family.”

Mitro believes that the sexual and reproductive rights of disabled women, and their increased vulnerability to gender-based violence, are not spoken about enough in the media today, “and unfortunately, even that minimum of media attention paid to this topic oftentimes relays stereotypes and prejudice about sexuality, partnership and parenthood of disabled women, as well as a distorted image of gender-based violence they experience during their entire life.”

Milinković adds that insufficient social support and a lack of cultural representation can affect the formation of disabled girls’ identity and confidence to a great extent. “As people, we have a tendency to adopt opinions of those in our environment and have the same opinion about ourselves as they do. Disabled girls find it very difficult to cope with the societal demands,” she says.

“On the one hand, there are ideals of physical beauty that some disabled girls cannot reach, and of course, pressure builds up (which is also the case with girls without disabilities) and affects their confidence considerably. Also, we have to bear in mind that disabled girls may not have equal opportunities for socialisation, contact with their peers, and so on due to architectural and communicative barriers, ostracism, prejudice, poverty...”

She highlights that many disabled women take longer to explore their sexuality precisely due to such social treatment.

Although there are now more instances of positive representation, negative representations and discriminatory language are still omnipresent in the media. Representation is not a cure-all for discrimination unless it is followed by systemic and social changes, but the media still have great power to influence public views, and that power needs to be used responsibly.

If disabled women are represented only when the topic of the conversation is disability, and are left aside during discussions of motherhood, sexuality and love, that sends an indirect message that such roles do not belong to them.

Translated from Croatian via Translators without Borders. Courtesy of Liceulice / INSP.ngo

PHOTO: GLEB GARANICH, REUTERS

Image by Aubrey Watson Photography

Image by Aubrey Watson Photography

The transition from livery stables to garages in downtown Nashville

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

In 1917, Dr. Boots Brown had a livery station down the hill from the public square in downtown Nashville on First Avenue North.

Each work day, Horton Early would ride to work in his carriage and horse from his home, Ponotoc, in East Nashville. He customarily crossed the river on the Woodland Street Bridge and proceeded to Dr. Brown’s livery station on First Ave. North near Broadway, where he left his horse, The Emperor, and buggy before walking up the hill to his harness and horse goods store Early-Cain at 715 Second Avenue North. He continued doing this well into the 1920s when modern paving hurt The Emperor's hooves and forced Early to use an automobile.

In 1917, a three story parking garage was built on 5th Avenue North across the street from the Central Church of Christ. It featured parking inside and on its roof. About the same time, George Cole built a parking garage at 1619 Broadway for horseless carriages. Soon the eight story 7th Avenue Parking Garage was built on the west side of 7th Avenue north between Church and Commerce Streets. It advertised itself as

“The largest parking garage in the South.” Later, Lem Stevens owned it.

The Cole and 7th Avenue parking garages were torn down years ago but the 5th Avenue Garage still is operational. I drove up to its roof on June 28, 2024. I noticed parking was advertised at a cheap $10. Two blocks away, there was a huge crowd on Lower Broad. At 3 p.m. on the 28th, there were no cars on the top four levels, and there were 58 cars on the lower four levels. A homeless woman was sleeping on a thin mattress on one of the empty levels.

Several of the narrow inclines to the next level were two-way so to be safe drivers needed to honk before proceeding.

On June 25 at 10 a.m. there were about the same number of cars in the garage. There was no attendant and to pay you needed to have a cell phone, which I don’t have.

My conclusion is that, with no attendant, four empty floors, and a person sleeping on one of them, a single lane to the second floor and limited pay options, the 107-year-old garage should be closed and replaced with a modern building.

5th Avenue garage in 2015. PHOTOS BY LAURA BIRDSALL

Learn More about the Opioid Epidemic

Davidson County had second-highest rate of overdose deaths in 2022 in cities with a population above 500K

About two years ago, I heard for the first time that 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of fentanyl is sufficient to kill 500,000 people. For some reason, this statistic blew my mind, so much so, that I started to follow the issue of the opioid crisis more closely.

I had already been aware of the opioid epidemic at that time, which is why I had tuned into an expert panel presentation to the Metro Council Public Health and Safety Committee, which was chaired at that time by Councilmember Erin Evans.

Evans, who serves again as the chair of the Public Health and Safety Committee, invited the Metro Public Health Department (MHPD) this month to provide an update on Metro’s approach to tackling the opioid epidemic. The issue is also timely because the U.S. Supreme Court in late June overturned a settlement with Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin.

The overprescription of OxyContin, a legal opioid, and tactics by Purdue Pharma to promote the drug, has largely been credited as causing the first wave of deaths linked to legal prescription opioids in the 1990s. The Supreme Court decided that the latest nationwide settlement would have shielded Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma from civil lawsuits. A side effect of that recent decision is that a deal that would have funneled billions of dollars toward addressing the opioid crisis is now on hold.

For a more thorough history of the opioid crisis, I recommend you visit the Metro Public Health Department’s website, which created a link about the story of overdose. (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/463b25df77fd4578b80f790911cde00c)

Davidson County was listed as having the second-highest rate of overdose deaths in 2022 among cities with a population above 500,000, according to statistics compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle and published in The Tennessean).

So, what is happening here?

Let’s get back to the MPHD presentation, which Evans organized for her Metro Council committee. Evans, who is not happy that Metro Council was not presented with legislation that would have allowed further discussion about the process to use a recent opioid grant from the state, invited Dr. Anidolee Melville-Chester, the Division Director of Behavioral Health and Wellness with the MPHD, to the July 2 committee meeting. Melville-Chester reported that between 2018 and 2023, suspected fatalities due to drug overdose increased by 115 percent, from 346 deaths to 745. In 2023, Davidson County saw an average of about two deaths per day due to an overdose. As of now, that rate stands at about 1.5 deaths per day in 2024.

Melville-Chester also said that 78 percent of overdose deaths in 2022 were related to fentanyl, which was 53 percent more fentanyl-related deaths compared to 2018. The age group that is at highest risk of an overdose

BY JUDITH TACKETT

Recognizing a Suspected Opioid Overdose

Call 911 immediately if someone is experiencing any of the following symptoms, be sure to follow directions given by the 911 dispatcher and monitor the individual until first responders arrive:

• Their face or hands are extremely pale, cold, and/or feels clammy to the touch

Pupils extremely constricted/small

• Their body goes limp

• Their fingernails or lips have a purple or blue discoloration

They start vomiting or making gurgling noises/snoring sounds

• They are unresponsive, cannot be awakened or unable to speak

• Their breathing or heartbeat slows or stops

If available, treat the person with naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose

• If not responsive after 2-3 minutes, administer a second dosage of naloxone

• If naloxone is unavailable or unsuccessful, perform CPR until paramedics arrive

• Once responsive, lay the person in the recovery position until help arrive

• Put the person slightly on the left side so that their body is supported by a bent knee with their face turned to the side and bottom arm reaching out to stabilize the position

Adapted from: Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services and The United States Drug Enforcement Administration

death are those between 45 and 54 years of age based on data from 2018-2022, followed by those between the ages of 35 and 44.

Besides fentanyl, the Health Department is concerned about the emergence of other substances including Xylazine, also known as Tranq.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), fentanyl is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a potent synthetic opioid drug used to relieve pain and as an anesthetic. The DEA further notes that fentanyl is about “100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.”

Xylazine is an FDA-approved powerful sedative for veterinary use.

The DEA released a warning about Xylazine mixed in with fentanyl, posting on its website that it “is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced…” In 2022, the DEA found that about 23 percent of fentanyl powder and 7 percent of fentanyl pills they had seized contained Xylazine.

The reason Xylazine is of such high concern to health officials is because it is not an opioid. Thus, naloxone, also known as Narcan, does not reverse its effects.

You may also have heard about naloxone, which many providers are distributing to people at risk of opioid overdose. Naloxone is a medication – also approved by the FDA –that is designed to reverse an opioid overdose. It is administered when a patient is showing signs of opioid overdose, but “it is a temporary treatment and its effects do not last long,” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Yet it has been shown to be effective enough to prevent deaths. The FDA approved a naloxone nasal spray in March 2023 as an over-the-counter medicine. It is available in pharmacies and through other community-based distribution programs.

In Tennessee, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services dispatches about 20 Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists (ROPS) throughout the state. The ROPS distributed more than 678,000 units of naloxone between October 2017 and June 2024, and according to the department, at least 82,000 lives were saved through this approach. They think this is a vast undercount of lives saved.

ROPS provide community trainings. They work with first responders; individuals at high risk of overdose, their families, and friends; and organizations that provide treatment and recovery services.

This spring, the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council disbursed $81 million in community grants. Nashville’s MPHD received $2.1 million per year for a period of three years. That money will be used to establish an Opioid Care Process System. Effective July 1, Metro is contracting with the Mental Health Cooperative and Samaritan Recovery Community to connect people to that care system.

Melville-Chester explained that the Opioid Care Process System will be comprehensive, data-driven, and evidence-based to address prevention, intervention, treatment, and housing stabilization. A special focus will be given to the unhoused population,

African American, Spanish-speaking, Arabic Egyptian, and the youth serving and young adult community.

Samaritan Recovery Community was awarded $1.6 million over the total grant period. Their role is to provide intervention to people in crisis, link them to a navigator, offer respite care, transitional housing and from there work with people to help them move to permanent housing, if they are unhoused/homeless. Samaritan has 32 beds available for in-patient, medication assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is an approach that uses FDA-approved medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies.

The Mental Health Cooperative received $2.4 million from Metro to implement a Mobile Response process. “The idea is to increase access to treatment, medication, transportation, peer recovery specialists and resources for individuals that are suffering from a substance use or abuse disorder and focus on increasing access to community services to decrease the utilization of emergency departments,” Melville-Chester explained.

As avid readers of this column will know, I recently interviewed Melville-Chester for this paper, and I immediately was impressed with her thoughtfulness and passion. I walked away thinking that here is a person who truly cares and wants to build a solid system.

She stressed in her presentation to Metro councilmembers and in my conversation with her that current data shows that the unhoused population is at greatest risk from this Opioid epidemic. She pointed out the fact that when people are unhoused, they are in a crisis and coping with a crisis often leads to self-medication. Thus, housing stability is an urgent intervention. “Part of what we want to do is intervene and impact those life circumstances,” Melville-Chester said. That’s where the partnership with Samaritan Recovery comes in to offer in-patient treatment and temporary housing and help people find permanent housing.

“Yes, 32 beds is not enough,” she said, telling Metro Council that she will come back with an ask after this three-year project is over because there is a need for more respite beds, transitional housing, and permanent housing.

Isn’t it interesting how it all comes back to the fact that people are better able to address any crisis situation if they have a stable place to live in?

I believe in systems building and coordination. We need leaders like Melville-Chester, who fundamentally seem to understand the importance of establishing partnerships and using data to evaluate outcomes in an honest, transparent manner.

But in the end, if the Opioid Care Process will be able to demonstrate success, it will be up to Metro Council to help provide at least partial funding for this effort and expand it to ensure we do not continue to see daily opioid deaths in Davidson County.

That is a statistic that is unacceptable.

Erin Evans is a second-term council member representing District 12. She shared that coming into this new term with the transition between the John Cooper administration to the Freddie O’Connell administration has felt different.

“At the beginning of my first term, we were dealing with a tornado, then a global pandemic, and the financial issues, all coming back to back,” she said. “If we can work tougher and collaborate within Metro government and hopefully private entities, then we can have an impact.

“And then, our Vice Mayor, Angie Henderson, has taken a very different approach in how she is navigating working with all 40 of us, and how she is thinking through committee work, advocating for some discipline that we didn’t have previously, and being an encourager and champion of our individual initiatives,” Evans added. “That has been a positive start to the new term.”

She added that there are still plenty of issues to sort out now, but that it no longer feels as overwhelming. She also pointed to the energy of the new council members that she finds exciting because they help advance conversations that were not addressed in the first term due to the constant state of emergency.

“I’ll use housing as an example,” Evans explained. “We’ve got some new folks who are very passionate about housing and zoning reform and that’s going to be one of those situations where we, as a body, have to either lead or get out of the way. I think that’s really cool and exciting and has brought a new energy.”

Evans said her goals as a district council member are to learn the new boundaries after the redistricting process, the history of the areas she is not as familiar with, as well as meeting with her new constituents.

Besides helping residents in her district maneuver Metro departments to get roads paved, construction piles removed, and potholes filled, Evans said one issue she focuses on is to help renters work with landlords who refuse to maintain their property.

“There is just a lot of need with helping residents advocate for themselves when it comes to things like home repair and apartment maintenance and how that dovetails with state law and the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act,” she said.

She currently chairs Metro’s Council Public Health and Safety Committee, which oversees some critical policies and funding.

What are the responsibilities of the Public Health and Safety Committee?

I was chair of this committee two years ago. Coming back into a chair role and having had that initial experience last term, I really wanted to think about how chairing this committee could be different, also taking into account our new vice mayor’s vision. She collapsed some of the committees to make them more comprehensive and focused. As a result of that, Public Health and Safety started to incorporate more departments than we had previously. And so I spent a fair amount at the beginning of this chairmanship to focus on how we can get educated and informed about these departments and the issues they’re facing. That way we’re not starting from scratch if there is something that comes up later on. I feel that has been a pretty good approach

Q&A with Erin Evans

BY JUDITH TACKETT

because of the number of new people that we have and also not knowing what this term was going to hold in store. I’ll give you an example.

The Metro Human Relations Commission is under Public Health and Safety. Davie Tucker, their executive director, was one of our first speakers and his department has become very pivotal in several initiatives — with the Arts Commission and with conversations about the Community Review Board — there has been a variety of things that his department has touched that we have learned, and we had that preview at the very beginning when we started.

We also heard from the Community Review Board Director, Jill Fitcheard, who came and spoke to us after the law last year changed the Community Oversight Board to the Community Review Board and explained what it means and what the structure of her department was like. And now, of course, we’re seeing what the conversations are like with the Community Review Board and MNPD.

How could the Public Health and Safety Committee, if at all, work alongside or help guide Metro Police and the Community Review Board in their current discussions?

With the tension, I would say right now, the Community Review Board (CRB) needs to bring their MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to fruition with MNPD (Metro Nashville Police Department).

And [with this] outside investigation happening, I think where our committee can help is with transparency and the process. I view our committee chair roles as really pressing and getting information and to be as transparent as possible related to some of these issues. That’s where my focus is, using my influence for the betterment of education. I think you see a tremendous lack of trust between the CRB, MNPD, Metro Legal. When you have that level of distrust, I think the role of the committee and individual councilmembers is to use our relationships and voices related to how we can help and — I hate to even say rebuild trust because I’m not sure it existed in the first place — look at how we can help with stronger conversations that will get to the root of some of the issues and amplify those.

The opioid crisis is a huge topic that you have already paid attention to in your last term.

The Metro Public Health Department has received a three-year grant providing about $2.1 million per year to establish an opioid care system. What is the Council’s role in overseeing that and what are some of the current strategies that you think are effective?

We will have Dr. Melville-Chester come to the committee to review the opioid settlement plan with that connection to care. This is a process that was established with BHWAC (Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council) and with an opioid settlement working group last year. And then they went to the RFP process with procurement and then now they have determined two service providers to connect people to that care system.

The question then becomes how is that going to work. And that’s where our influence is, in understanding what that linkage model really looks like for these providers, and also continuing to reinforce the necessity for transparent communication.

Metro has spent about $1.2 million to purchase more than 100 pallet housing pods during the COVID-19 pandemic to shelter people. They have never been used and you have taken the lead to look into the reasons and remedy any situation to get them out of storage. Could you explain the situation and where it stands?

With hindsight being 20/20 and everything, this is one of those things where you look at functional silos creating issues across cities and state governments primarily because we ended up acquiring structures as part of a grant through the Tennessee Department of Health. These structures are an allowable expense under the grant. The biggest thing that just did not come up until it was too late was whether they meet the Tennessee Fire Code. And the version we bought did not.

The manufacturing company that built these things, Pallet Shelter, they even offered to look at the second reiteration of these and see if we could do a swap [and see if] the second version would meet the state requirements. And while it’s

a little bit better, there are similar issues. We [still] have a couple of outstanding questions based on how the materials are tested and how things are built. [The problem is that the state is looking] at them as manufactured housing and these pallet shelters are not built to the same standard and that has created all of the challenges.

I got a good suggestion online (on a recent tweet exchange on X) about whether this is something that a state legislature could take up to make legislative changes. They made some positive changes this last term related to single stair cases, which is a big zoning reform issue. Initially, when I passed the resolution [urging the Metro to evaluate the housing pods and create an action plan for their use], I did not think it would end up being this onerous to get us to a point where we could use these. So that’s really disappointing overall because in the end we do have a situation with many organizations around town that could really use having a temporary place for somebody in an emergency situation to be able to be while they figure out a long-term solution.

It's really frustrating that we can’t get there. But I’m committed that if I can’t get to the bitter end, let’s say that changing the law is not a possibility for whatever reason, and we can’t figure it out locally, I believe that then the next step should be to look at some of the cities that can use them. I would so much prefer if we could pull them out of storage and some other city could pick them up and use them than I would for them to just sit in storage and rot until they just end up in a landfill.

You also sit on the Rules, Confirmations, and Public Elections Committee that appoints community volunteers to different boards that oversee specific departments. There have been some controversial appointments this year. How has Metro Council changed in appointing people to its boards?

Some of the rules have changed where we have some additional appointing powers. The Committee Chair, Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda, has been involved in this. So, I feel like the Council is getting really good at nominating people for some of the Council appointees.

And then, with the mayoral appointments, we’re doing a better job of asking questions. I think there has been this recognition – and with all the Arts Commission issues – I feel that has really illustrated how powerful these boards and commissions are, and that we also put a lot of responsibility on some of them who have hire and fire capabilities. That’s really critical and in some cases, they’re leading departments with big budgets that are having a lot of responsibility. So I think we’re being more sensitive to the fact that it shouldn’t just be an appointment that’s done because, “I like you, so I think you should serve on this board.” It should really be about the nominee's qualifications. It also should be about what skills they bring to this process that is going to make the conversation or make the oversight aspect better. So, I think that we’re being more thoughtful about it.

I will give a lot of credit to the Vice Mayor and also to Chair Sepulveda for focusing and harnessing attention on this because I think it’s making a difference and we’re going to end up with a better process by the time we’re finished.

LA NOTICIA

“The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.

“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.

En una acción significativa que afecta a miles de inmigrantes, el Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de los Estados Unidos (USCIS) anunció una extensión de los Documentos de Autorización de Empleo (EAD) para los beneficiarios de Estatus de Protección

Yuri Cunza

Editor-In-Chief @yuricunza

Temporal (TPS) de El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua y Sudán. Esta extensión, que se prolonga hasta el 9 de marzo de 2025, proporciona una estabilidad muy necesaria para aquellos que dependen de estos documentos para empleo legal en los Estados Unidos.

El anuncio fue un alivio para muchos titulares de TPS que han estado esperando ansiosamente actualizaciones sobre su estatus. USCIS confirmó que las personas afectadas recibirán un Formulario I-797, Notificación de Acción, informándoles sobre la extensión. Este paso asegura que los beneficiarios de TPS puedan continuar trabajando legalmente y apoyando a sus familias sin interrupción.

Para mantener sus beneficios de TPS, los beneficiarios actuales de estos países que aún no se han vuelto a registrar bajo la última extensión deben presentar el Formulario I-821, Solicitud de Estatus de Protección Temporal, dentro de los períodos actuales de re-registro. El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) previamente extendió estos períodos para proporcionar tiempo suficiente a los aplicantes para cumplir con los requisitos de re-registro.

Los períodos de re-registro son los siguientes:

*El Salvador: Hasta el 9 de marzo de 2025

*Honduras: Hasta el 5 de julio de 2025

*Nepal: Hasta el 24 de junio de 2025

*Nicaragua: Hasta el 5 de julio de 2025

*Sudán: Hasta el 19 de abril de 2025

Aunque los plazos para el re-registro varían según el país, los EAD para todos los beneficiarios de TPS afectados se

Conoce tus derechos:

¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?

1. Mantenerse callado

2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido

3. No mentir

4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos

5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país

7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

extienden uniformemente hasta el 9 de marzo de 2025. Esta uniformidad simplifica el proceso tanto para los empleadores como para los empleados, asegurando que la autorización de trabajo permanezca consistente en todos los casos.

La extensión de los EAD bajo TPS no es solo una medida burocrática; es un salvavidas para miles de individuos que han construido sus vidas en los Estados Unidos. Muchos de estos beneficiarios huyeron de sus países de origen debido a desastres naturales, conflictos armados u otras circunstancias extraordinarias que hicieron inseguro su retorno. TPS les proporciona refugio temporal y la capacidad de trabajar, permitiéndoles contribuir a la economía estadounidense y apoyar a sus familias tanto aquí como en el extranjero.

La extensión se alinea con los esfuerzos continuos de los grupos de defensa y los partidarios de la inmigración que han pedido soluciones más permanentes para los titulares de TPS. Mientras que la extensión proporciona alivio temporal, muchos están instando a los legisladores a considerar medidas más duraderas que ofrezcan vías de residencia permanente para aquellos que han vivido y trabajado en los EE. UU. durante muchos años. Mientras tanto, la extensión de los EAD por parte de USCIS hasta marzo de 2025 es un desarrollo bienvenido, ofreciendo un sentido de seguridad a los beneficiarios de TPS mientras continúan navegando las complejidades del sistema de inmigración estadounidense. A medida que se re-registran y renuevan sus documentos, estos individuos pueden estar seguros de que seguirán autorizados para trabajar, contribuyendo al diverso tejido de la fuerza laboral estadounidense.

Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

Para aquellos que necesitan re-registrarse para TPS y renovar sus EAD, las instrucciones detalladas están disponibles en el aviso más reciente del Registro Federal relativo a la designación o redesignación de TPS de su país. Este aviso detalla los pasos necesarios para completar el proceso de re-registro y asegurar los beneficios proporcionados bajo TPS.

615-582-3757

Por

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Expands Working Documents for TPS Beneficiaries Until March 2025

Fotos: John Partipilo para La Noticia Newspaper Nashville

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

The National Health Care for the Homeless Council looks at the Supreme Court decision to allow punishing for unsheltered people sleeping outside

On Monday, April 22, the Supreme Court heard the case of Johnson v. Grants Pass — a case that determines whether it is cruel and unusual punishment for communities to ticket or fine unsheltered people for sleeping outside.

Many organizations submitted amicus briefs (or “friends of the court” arguments) that outlined their perspectives on this issue. The Health Care for the Homeless Community participated in creating the public health amicus brief, which argued that sleep is a biological necessity, that unhoused people have no control over the factors that impact quality sleep, and that poor sleep inflicts profound negative consequences to the health of people experiencing homelessness.

While the Justices were inside hearing the case, hundreds of advocates rallied outside to protest the ongoing arrests, fines,

BY BARBARA DIPIETRO, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF POLICY

and other measures levied against people with nowhere else to go. An impressive array of national and local leaders from across the country — including Council CEO Bobby Watts — spoke passionately about the importance of providing housing and supportive services, not enacting more punishments.

At that time, it was difficult to know how the Court would rule after they deliberated for more than two hours. Some of the questions the Justices posed during the hearing did give clues to their thinking:

1. You don’t arrest babies who have blankets over them, and you don’t arrest people who are sleeping on the beach — it’s only homeless people who sleep outdoors will be arrested, correct?

(Sotomayor)

2. If a homeless person had $250 [amount of the fine], don’t you think they’d stay in a hotel? (Kagan)

3. Breathing is a human need and you can’t say it’s a crime to breathe, correct? (Kagan)

4. Suppose the City decided that it was going to execute homeless people — that would be both cruel and unusual, wouldn’t it? (Jackson and Gorsuch) [Hint: the answer is YES.]

5. Where do we put them [unsheltered people] if every city, every village, every town lacks compassion and passes a law identical to this? Where are they supposed to sleep? Are they supposed to kill themselves, not sleeping? (Sotomayor)

6. What’s so complicated about letting someone somewhere sleep with a

blanket outside if they have nowhere to sleep? (Sotomayor)

7. What about someone who has a mental health problem that prohibits them from sleeping in a shelter? Are they allowed to sleep outside or not? (Gorsuch)

8. Eating is a basic human function as well, that people have to do, just like sleeping. So if someone is hungry and no one is giving him food, can you prosecute him if he breaks into a store to get something to eat? (Roberts)

9. What if the person is in a homeless state because of prior life choices or their refusal to make future life choices? (Alito)

10. Would a backpacker who happens to be in the area for a few days be allowed to camp on public property? (Thomas)

Reverend Lindsey Krinks of Open Table Nashville and Howard Allen of Nashville Homeless Underground lead chants with hundreds gathered at a rally outside of the Supreme Court House. Also pictured are Jesse Rabinowitz, Senior Communications Director of the National Homelessness Law Center and Dana White, Advocacy Director of Miriam’s Kitchen. PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA CHARITAN FOR NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS LAW CENTERR

Much of the discussion focused on legal arguments, prior cases, and definitions of terms like “homeless.” Many of the justices posed hypothetical situations for attorneys to respond to, and wrestled with how — or whether — the federal courts should be deciding these issues.

On Friday, June 28, the Supreme Court issued its opinion: They said it is not cruel and unusual to ticket, fine, or otherwise punish unsheltered people for sleeping outside, even if there are no shelter beds available. Naturally, the entire national homelessness advocacy community strongly disagrees.

The 74-page ruling is fairly dense, but here are five positions SCOTUS took that are particularly troubling:

1. Fines and tickets are neither cruel, nor unusual: Justices point to punishments such as “disemboweling, quartering, public dissection, and burning alive” as examples of punishments that are cruel and unusual because they are designed to cause “terror, pain, or disgrace.”

The Court held that “none of the city’s sanctions qualifies as cruel” because they do not rise to that level, “nor are the city’s sanctions un -

usual, because similar punishments have been and remain among the usual modes for punishing offenses throughout the country.”

2. Fines and tickets are “tools in the toolbox”: The Court accepted California Governor Gavin Newsom’s argument that “policymakers need access to the full panoply of tools in the policy toolbox” to “tackle the complicated issues of housing and homelessness.” The Court also accepted San Francisco’s argument that the city “uses enforcement of its laws prohibiting camping” not to criminalize homelessness, but “as one important tool among others to encourage individuals experiencing homelessness to accept services and to help ensure safe and accessible sidewalks and public spaces.” (Note: many cities filed briefs making this same claim.)

3. Federal judges and local police can’t decide: The Court cited a prior case, saying “federal judges cannot begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom the American people possess in deciding ‘how best to handle’ a pressing social question like homelessness.” The Court also questioned

how cities and law enforcement officers could know whether shelter beds were available and/or whether someone was “involuntarily” homeless.

4. Fines and tickets only target conduct, not status: The Court drew heavily on a 1962 case (Robinson v. California) that found a city could not criminalize an individual’s status of having a substance use disorder — they could only criminalize a person’s behavior (for example: public intoxication can be illegal, but simply having an addiction cannot be made illegal). The Court applied this reasoning here — asserting that these laws apply to everyone, not just people who are homeless.

5. One Justice wants to criminalize further: Justice Clarence Thomas said the ruling in the Robinson case (mentioned above) was wrong and could be overturned in the future, saying “we should dispose of it once and for all” and that “the Court should certainly correct this error.” Applied here, this could mean the very existence of people experiencing homelessness could be criminalized in the future.

However, the majority opinion got one thing right: “Nothing in today’s decision prevents States, cities, and counties from going a step further and declining to criminalize public camping altogether.”

Indeed, Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion laid bare the reality: “The City of Grants Pass jails and fines people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time … For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional. Punishing people for their status is ‘cruel and unusual’ under the Eighth Amendment.”

Make no mistake, this decision will make things much worse for unhoused people — especially Black and Brown unhoused folks, who are already arrested at higher rates than their white peers. Going forward, many local and state policymakers will increase punishments and arrests, while affordable housing remains elusive.

It’s completely unacceptable that policymakers continue to refuse to fund housing but are absolutely OK funding law enforcement, jails, and prisons for the most vulnerable in our society (and who made them vulnerable, I wonder.)

This double standard is cruel and unusual punishment.

Demonstrators lay on Supreme Court House steps wrapped in silver blankets while SCOTUS head verbal arguments on Grants Pass v Johnson to determine if communities can fine, cite, or arrest people for using sleeping materials on public property. PHOTO BY INDIA PUNGARCHER

I Just Wish Things Could Get Better

I’m sitting here wishing things could be better. My luck here lately has not been good with selling papers. I think my injury might have a lot to do with it. I’m not able to get out there like I used to. I’m so, so sad because I have bills to pay and if I have to have surgery again I don’t know what we’re gonna do. I’m already stressed out and worried and everything. To all of my customers, I’m

In my attempt to try new and different things to explore the world around me, I attended the inaugural “Sounds of Nature” event held in the Spring of this year at the Warner Park Nature Center. They hope to host this type of event quarterly — one per season. The next event is scheduled for July 27 from 7:309 p.m., It is free to the public, and all you have to do is register to attend online.

Rachael Carter who referred to herself as a “naturalist” meaning she “celebrates species of all sorts,” began the session by asking, “How often do we take the time to listen to nature?” Speaking for myself, if I’m honest, I’d have to say almost NEVER!

She continued with some relaxation/meditation techniques including a breathing exercise.

Next, she encouraged participants to focus our senses especially on the things we hear and see around us. Then it was on to our breathing and our pulse until we achieved a restful calm state. It was all very Zen!

As various nature sounds serenaded participants in the background, she talked about how every species has a unique

BY JAMIE W., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

so sorry I can’t get out there all of the time. May God bless all of my customers and may God bless everyone at The Contributor. I just hope and pray for a lot more customers to buy the paper. I’m really struggling. I’m so depressed. Sometimes I wish God would take me home when I’m really struggling. If I have surgery I will let my customers know. I just wish everything would get

better. If I have surgery it will take two months until I’m better. It’s like we really need all the help we can get. I just wish we could have a good day. I hope to have better days. Before my injury, I was selling papers seven days a week. Monday through Friday I would be out there at 6:15 a.m. and on the weekend 6:50 a.m. All that changed on August 19. I used to be able to do everything

Sounds of Nature Adventure

BY NORMA B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

Upcoming Events at Warner Park Nature Center 7311 Hwy 100 Nashville, Tenn.

A Summer Sound Party

July 27 from 7:30-9p.m. email wpnc@nashville.gov to register

Renew Yoga

July 27 from 9-10a.m. email wpnc@nashville.gov to register (For children 12+)

sound that is their way of communicating.

We were given pen and paper and encouraged to listen and draw things based on the sights and sounds we heard. She wanted us to translate the sounds we heard into a visual representation of how they made us feel.

I DID NOT do very well on this part of the exercise. I can’t even draw a straight line with a ruler — even my stick people/animals are seriously flawed!

In spite of this fact, I learned A LOT during my outing! Here are just a few

examples:

• Did you know that there are 3 different types of cicadas? I didn’t! There are actually annual cicadas known as Dog Day Cicadas that appear every year, then there are periodical cicadas that come out some every 13 years, others every 17 years! The temperature of the ground lets each type of cicada know when to come out. Some make sounds like screams, others make pulsing sounds, while others

I needed. I could go to the doctor or go to the store, but since my leg has been broken, everything is harder. I just wish things could be better. I feel like my injury is my fault. I’m so sad and I don’t understand why this is like this. I’m worried about money, my health and all of the above. I just keep praying for the best.

sound like crashing waves.

• Did you know there are different levels of sound, i.e. surface level sounds we can hear and others we can’t hear. Many occur under water, and 90 percent of insects make sounds we CAN’T hear as a way to communicate.

• Crows are REALLY smart! They can replicate a complex eight step process without instruction, and they can even recognize faces! (This fact made me smile! When I was young, I once told my mom she reminded me of my FAVORITE bird —a crow! She DID NOT take it well. Perhaps if she had this information she might’ve taken it better!)

• Humpback Whale songs helped keep them from going extinct, and only the males sing.

• The Sperm Whale has the largest brain of ANY animal on Earth weighing up to 20 pounds!

If, like me, you love to learn obscure facts about the world around you, this might just be worth a look!

In John, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Now that’s what many churches should preach because many have a serious problem understanding how they should love their neighbor. Many times I think churches should stop for some months and every Sunday they should preach love. How important love is as a Christian.

The Power of Love

BY JOHN H., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

In Proverbs 10:12 it says hatred stirs up conflict but love covers all offenses, and verse 15 says, “The wealth of the rich is his fortified city, the poverty of the poor is their destruction.” Many times when I’m on my corner that’s how I feel. Simply because that’s the way people act toward the poor. I say this because I think people should read their Bibles more often.

I was recently in the hospital and had a near death experience. The Lord said to me first, “William, I am not ready for you yet, but I have some family members who want to say some things to you.”

First was my oldest brother who passed when he was 15. He said, “The Lord isn’t ready for you yet, he’s got plans of you, but I’ll see you back up here when he’s ready for you.”

Next was my father. He was 57 when he passed away. He was a taxicab driver for the last 28 years of his life. They put the wreath from his cab on his casket when he died. He said, “Son, you’ve got to go back, but your mother and some of your siblings want to say hi first.”

Next was my baby sister. That was a real sad one. She was caught on fire in the 70s. They were going to transfer her to a big burn center in Memphis, but she died before they could. She would have been 6 years old if she had lived two more weeks. She would never admit it, but I was her favorite brother. She knew I wouldn’t let nobody bother her.

The next one was my mother. She passed away from COPD. She got pneumonia overnight.

The next was another of my brothers. He was a little older than me. He died from alcohol poisoning and a massive heart attack in his sleep.

I never been rich, but I think it has a great effect on wealthy people’s attitude. “The way they treat the poor.” Ya see, if you have the power of love in your heart, it don’t matter who you see or who you meet, love covers the way you treat others, no matter whether they’re rich or poor, especially the poor. I think many should consider this. You should love everyone, All your neighbors. God

said that to love God and your neighbors was the two most important commandments. And to be frank about it, it’s gonna be very hard to enter the gate of heaven if you don’t live this way on Earth. God said in the Lord’s Prayer, “On Earth as it is in heaven.” So that means the way we live here on Earth will be the same way we live in heaven, with love to everyone, not just to some.

Both Sides of the Fence

BY CHUCK C., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

I have been gratefully housed for over 17 years now and I had been thinking of leaving my hospitality job to work with the community from where I was once a part of. I really wasn’t sure which area I wanted to serve in and I came to the conclusion that my heart belonged at Room In The Inn. I had a direct connection with RITI since 1997 and had been a part of various programs as well as volunteer and donor. I felt like I knew my territory. I had been gone from the unhoused community for all those years and I needed to become centered in my work and be re-oriented to the new challenges I would face as a paid employee. The

My Near Death Experience

BY WILLIAM B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

They all said some things to me too, but some of it I want to keep private.

Then the Lord came to me and asked me to teach the angels to play spoons and to perform Swing Slow Sweet Chariot for him.

I went into the hospital because I had drainage coming from my eyes, nose and mouth. My blood pressure was over 200 and I had a heart palpitations going on.

I got a CT scan and they found I had a gallbladder problem. I had to have two different surgeries because of my heart.

The next time I went in was because the titanium screws in my neck hurt so bad I was in so much pain.

I was screaming so bad by the time I got to the hospital. They gave me alcohol to sniff for the pain. It helped me not to scream as much. They had to give me a whole box. They can’t take my screws out though or my neck would fall apart and I’d die. So, I was in the hospital for about a week for that so they could figure out to do with my pain. I can move it more now, but only so often because it snaps, crackles and pops. Just like my knees. When I’m on my feet too long they pop and it hurts so bad I go down. I can only be on my feet so long.

Some of the people on the bus don’t believe I’m disabled because I can walk. My doctor made me this sign so people would believe me. I even laminated it myself.

thing I observed that was most needed as the gift of listening. Being able to empathize with each individual I encountered and relate my personal experiences as “been there done that” angle has helped break down barriers between myself and the folks I encounter. This approach has led me to some very frank and personal conversations and I feel honored to be trusted enough to be allowed to let others vent and then explore possible solutions to the very sensitive and important issues each individual is facing. My thoughts and reflections are of gratitude and humility as we all strive to find our way through life.

THEME: SUMMER OLYMPICS

63. a.k.a. acid

64. State of vexation DOWN

1. Bird feeder morsel

2. a.k.a. Daminozide

3. Hard to find

4. Family addition, pl.

5. *Archer or shooter, e.g.

6. Homer's classic

7. Accepted behavior

stance 18. *Famous Olympics basketball team (2 words) 20. 90 degrees on compass

Like Al Yankovic

Popular deciduous tree

College treasurer

Balaclava (2 words)

Compass point between E and NE

Nullify

Diva's delivery

35. Smart ones?

Two halves 38. That is, in Latin

First queen of Carthage

What ivy does

___ chi 43. Hindered

Alternative form of a gene 47. Band aid

48. Diet inspired by prehistory

50. European erupter

52. *Michael Phelps predecessor

56. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" composer Edvard ____ 57. Black and white killer?

58. U.S. lake

59. From then on 60. Bank claim 61. Decomposes

62. Against, prefix

8. *a.k.a. Cassius, 1960 gold medal winner

9. Greek H's

10. Landlord's due 11. Heat unit

13. Certain style of humor

14. Obelus, pl.

19. "The end justifies the ____"

22. ____ out, as in a win

23. Mardi Gras souvenir

24. Dark

25. Full of cattails

26. Petals holder

27. Rocky ridge

28. Like certain rug

29. *Swimmer Ledecky

32. *Like 23 out of Michael Phelps' 28

33. "Wheel of Fortune" request (2 words)

36. *Nadia of perfect 10 fame

38. Archipelago

40. Large edible mushroom

41. *Like Bosnia and Herzegovina or Bulgaria

44. Mental portrait

46. Trotters

48. *2024 Olympics host city

49. Formed a curve

50. Sportscaster Andrews

51. Windshield option

52. Gangster's gal

53. *Xander Schauffele club option

54. South American monkey

55. Gusto

56. Geological Society of America

Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

WRITTEN BY CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMAN

God Bless us North, South, East and West. Charitable and Generous.

Let greed be put aside. Humility instead of Pride. God grant us Peace, Prosperity, And the strength to set the Captives Free. Committed to “Live Free or Die” beneath a, Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky. Where Eagles are free to fly.

One Nation under God. Faith, Hope and Love in our Heart. With Mercy and Justice for all.

Nothing is Impossible.

American as Fourth of July.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

Now, some gave much and some gave all. Their names are written on the wall, For every eye to see...

“The Price of Liberty.”

United by a common bond, We find a way to get along. For this Men and Women, Have died defending,

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky. Where Eagles are free to fly.

One Nation under God. Faith, Hope and Love in our Heart. With Mercy and Justice for all. Nothing is Impossible.

American as Fourth of July.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

Lord, help us all to understand, What it means to be American.

Give wisdom to our leaders, Called to serve their fellow man.

“In God We Trust” not just the words. “The Way, the Truth and the Life.” May we never forget what Freedom’s worth, When we see Old Glory fly, In a Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky. Where Eagles are free to fly. One Nation under God.

Faith, Hope and Love in our Heart. With Mercy and Justice for all. Nothing is Impossible.

American as Fourth of July.

A Red, White and Clear Blue Sky.

American Rejection WRITTEN BY CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMAN

Our forefathers fought for Freedom. Some paid the ultimate price. It’s written in The Constitution, And in The Bill of Rights. Lady Liberty stands, In that harbor shining, Like a beacon in the night. And how I choose to live my life, Should be up to me to decide.

American Rejection, No protection from the hand, Of politicians unwilling to stand, For The Rights of an American. And who do you got to thank?

Well, you can thank your Uncle Sam.

Be careful what you say, And be careful what you do. There’s no way to escape it, “Big Brother’s watching you.” When they say, “You look suspicious boy," And, "What are you up to?” Tell them, “Minding my own business,” And, “Taking in the view.” “What is it to you?”

American Rejection, No protection from the hand, Of politicians unwilling to stand, For The Rights of an American. And who do you got to thank? Well, you can thank your Uncle Sam.

Now, I can’t deny my American pride, I’m true Red, White and Blue. A lot of people wish they could be, Standing in my shoes. I count my blessings every day, Living in the U.S.A. It might not quite be perfect yet, But we’ve come a long-long way.

American Rejection, No protection from the hand, Of politicians unwilling to stand, For The Rights of an American. And who do you got to thank?

Well, you can thank your Uncle Sam. I said who do we have to thank?

Thank You, Uncle Sam.

HOBOSCOPES

CANCER

When the water balloons start flying, Cancer, I hope you’re on my team. You’re good at filling them to just the right level of tension. You’re good at tying them off without too much fidgeting or frustration. You’ve got great aim and you always seem to know when to duck. The only note I’ve got for you, before this great neon-rubber battle begins, is you don’t have to carry so many at a time. Share the load Cancer. Just because you’re the best doesn’t mean you’re on your own. Let me carry a T-shirt-full for you, just like I know you would for all of us.

LEO

Oh look, Leo, I’ve got a new follower on Hexagram! Her name is YurBiggistFan55j91 and her bio says she’s just here to “relax and meet friends.” I guess I’ll follow back, right? Oh wow, she already sent me a private message. Hmm… says she just needs a few dollars to get out of a jam. Well, we’ve all been there, right? I guess I could maybe…wait a second, Leo! Do you think this might be a scam? I’m always too trusting of strangers asking for help. And sometimes I’m wrong. You’re so often suspicious, but remember that sometimes you’re wrong too. Take it from me, YurBiggistFan.

VIRGO

Well this is nice, Virgo. I’ve finally got a quiet afternoon alone to do a little reading and a little journaling. “Me time,” I call it. Just my book, my journal, and the fish in the fish tank. I’m gonna read a few pages and then write a little bit and…is the fish tank always this noisy, Virgo? I guess the filter is kind of running extra loud? It’s fine, I’m just gonna get back to my book and…no that’s super loud, isn’t it? Maybe if I add some more water to the tank? Or do I need to clean the filter? Maybe I should get a new one? While I’m ordering that, Virgo, remember that you’ll get more “you time” if you can accept a few imperfections.

LIBRA

It’s so nice to be in cool water on a hot day. But this lake is so cloudy I can’t see past my elbows. Did you just feel something swim past your leg, Libra? I’m sure it’s nothing. I mean, what could even be out here? A few little fish? Maybe a turtle? When did we get so far from the shore? Is it getting foggy? There it is again! Right by my foot! It’s funny, isn’t it how scary the unknown is. And how just about everything is unknown. Try to enjoy the cool water on the hot day, Libra. But maybe stay close to the shore.

SCORPIO

Pizza by the slice. Banas by the bunch. Gummi worms by the pound. Refried beans by the duffle bag. There’s so many options and it’s so easy to end up with not enough or more than you need. Start by imagining what your life would be like without each one. How does it feel? How would it feel if you had the other instead? It’s hard work, Scorpio, but it’s not just about knowing what you want, you also have to know how much to take.

SAGITTARIUS

I never thought of myself as a conspiracy theorist, Sagittarius. I didn’t believe in lizard-people or ancient secret cabals. But I realized that until recently I’ve been assuming that somebody is actually in charge. That there are smart people in the background making the big decisions and planning every play. Lately I feel like that’s just another conspiracy theory that isn’t true. And that if no wise benefactor is pulling the strings, maybe we need to hold on tighter to each other. Be the shadowy force for good in your community that you wish was leading the world.

CAPRICORN

It’s so hot out there, Capricorn, that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. You could grill bacon on the hood of your car. You could bake biscuits in your mailbox. You could squeeze orange juice on the end of your shoe. I guess that last one doesn’t require much heat, Capricorn, but I feel like we’ve got a really good breakfast going here and I want to make sure it’s got all the fixins. Sometimes the thing that’s keeping you from getting started is exactly what you need to get the job done. Now hand me that pancake batter and help me clear off this sizzling trash-can lid.

AQUARIUS

My garden didn’t really come together this year. I think the deer and the bunnies ate all my bean plants. I forgot to harvest my radishes in time and they got too tough. My tomatoes fell over and got taken down by the weeds. But the flowers, Aquarius, that’s the one thing that worked out. They won’t make a good dinner, but they’re feeding me nonetheless. It reminds me that beauty can be as important as function, Aquarius. What beauty is feeding you?

PISCES

I was feeling great this morning, Pisces! I was dressed and fed and on time and ready to do whatever task the day presented. But then my car stalled at the stoplight and the guy behind me honked and zoomed around and once I got it started again my coffee spilled on my only good work shirt. I thought maybe I should just go home but then I wondered “what would Pisces do?” And I put on that song you like and screamed along all the way to work. So thanks for that. You’ve got great ideas. Just go with them.

ARIES

You were the kind of kid who would mix two puzzles together just to make it more of a challenge. You never wanted to do it the easy way if you knew you could do it the more impressive way. But this week, Aries, I’m going to recommend that you keep those puzzles in their own boxes. There’s no reason to complicate this. Take it one thing at a time. When you finish one, you can decide if you need to do the next one. It’s not as exciting, but that’s the point. This time, just do the thing you have to do.

TAURUS

Do you have any jumper cables, Taurus? I think my battery'’s dead. I can never remember how to hook these up. It’s positive to positive? And negative to grounding? And then you crank up yours and then…wow! Mine started right up! Thanks, Taurus! I wish it was this easy to spread positivity from friend to stranger. Stranger to friend. And maybe it is. It just takes the hopefulness to make a connection and a willingness to turn the key.

GEMINI

Have you been to that giant gas station outside of town, Gemini? The one with all those billboards and the mascot that’s maybe some kind of colorful, forever-smiling woodchuck? Well I went, Gemini, and it turns out they really do have everything. It’s a huge warehouse with aisles and aisles of anything you’ve ever wanted. They’ve got food, electronics, lawn furniture, clothes, bikes, grills, money, love, power, fame, sodas. And you can have it all, Gemini! But you have to choose. Pick something. We’ve got to get back on the road.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained florist, or a registered electrician. Listen to the Mr. Mysterio podcast at mrmysterio.com Or just give him a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

The New Christian Year

Selected by Charles Williams (1941)

Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. First published in 1941, this series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver

8th Wednesday after Trinity

TO love one another as oneself is only the halfway house to Heaven, though it seems as far as it was prudent to bid man go. The "greater love than this" of which our Lord speaks, though He does not command it, is to give oneself for one's friends. And when one does this, or is ready to do this, prayer even for "us" seems too selfish—and it is unnecessary, for we then possess all that God Himself can give us. The easy renunciation of self for the Beloved being the very breath of Heaven.

Patmore: Life

8th Thursday after Trinity

AN old man said, "One man is thought to be silent, and yet his heart judgeth and condemneth others, and the man who acteth thus speaketh continually; another man speaketh from morning till evening; and yet keepeth silence, that is to say, he speaketh nothing which is not helpful."

The Paradise of the Fathers.

WE love ourselves, because we are members of Jesus Christ. We love Jesus Christ, because He is the body of which we are members. All is one, one is in the other, like Three Persons.

Pascal: Pensées.

8th Friday after Trinity

TO the Christian love is the works of love. To say that love is a feeling or anything of the kind is really an unChristian conception of love. That is the aesthetic definition and therefore fits the erotic and everything of that nature. But to the Christian love is the works of love. Christ's love was not an inner feeling, a full heart and what not, it was the work of love which was his life. Kierkegaard: Journals.

8th Saturday after Trinity

WHAT time we call to Jesus in our need bodily or ghostly, though we find it not anon but rather hardness and contrariety we shall not leave therefore to call upon him by good hope. Till through his mercy and grace the unsavoury water and cold of adversity and penance be turned into wine and comfort and ghostly liking.

Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, (trs. by Nicholas Love).

SCARCELY any one is contented with that measure of the spirit which God gives; they are very disconsolate and querulous because they do not find the comfort they desire in spiritual things.

St John of the Cross: Dark Night of the Soul

GOD will be all in all; that is, since God is love, love will bring it to pass that what each has will be common to all. That which one loves in another is one's own, though one have it not. There will be no envy at superior grace, because of the unity of love.

St Augustine, quoted in Aquinas: Catena Aurea

Eighth Sunday after Trinity

STOP, therefore, all self-activity, listen not to the suggestions of thy own reason, run not on in thy own will, but be retired, silent, passive, and humbly attentive to this new risen light within thee. Open thy heart, thy eyes, and ears to all its impressions. Let it enlighten, teach, frighten, torment, judge, and condemn thee as it pleases, turn not away from it, hear all it says, seek for no relief out of it, consult not with flesh and blood, but with a heart full of faith and resignation to God pray only this

prayer, that God's Kingdom may come and His will be done in thy soul.

William Law: The Spirit of Prayer

9th Monday after Trinity

I CANNOT pray in the name of Jesus to have my own will; the name of Jesus is not a signature of no importance, but the decisive factor; the fact that the name of Jesus comes at the beginning is not prayer in the name of Jesus; but it means to pray in such a manner that I dare not name Jesus in it, that is to say think of him, think his holy will together with whatever I am praying for . . . So too with prayer in the name of Jesus, Jesus assumes the responsibility and all the consequences, he steps forward for us, steps into the place of the person praying.

Kierkegaard: Journals.

9th Tuesday after Trinity

IF thou desirest to have this intent lapped and folden in one word, so that thou mayest have better hold thereupon, take thee but a little word of one syllable, for so it is better than of two; for the shorter the word, the better it accordeth with the work of the spirit. And such a word is this word GOD or this word LOVE. Choose whichever thou wilt, or another: whatever word thou likest best of one syllable. And fasten this word to thine heart, so that it may never go thence for anything that befalleth.

The Cloud of Unknowing

9th Wednesday after Trinity

PRAYER in itself properly is nought else, but a devout intent directing unto God, for the getting of good and removing of evil. And therefore, since it so is that all evil is comprehended in sin (either by cause or by being), let us therefore, when we will intently pray for the removing of evil, either say, or think, or mean, nought else and no more words, but this little word SIN. And if we will intently pray for the getting of good, let us cry, either with word or with thought or with desire, nought else and no more words but this word GOD. For in God all is good, both by cause and by being.

The Cloud of Unknowing.

Feast of St James

Here we may see the great virtue of true belief in that the faith and the belief of one man helpeth and saveth another: as the faith of the bearers of this paralysed man saved him. And also in the next chapter before the faith of the centurion gave healing to his servant. And also hereafter the faith of the woman saved her daughter. And so it falleth now that children baptised, and after dead before the years of discretion, be saved in the faith of their godfathers through the merit of Christ.

Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, (trs. by Nicholas Love).

9th Thursday after Trinity

IT is no base and beggarly shift (arguing a narrow and necessitous heart), but a piece of holy and heavenly thrift, often to use the same prayer again. Christ's practice is my directory herein, who the third time said the same words . . . a good prayer, though often used, is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of heaven.

Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Worse Times

9th Friday after Trinity

GOD usually answers our prayers so much more according to the measure of his own magnificence than of our asking that we do not know his boons to be those for which we besought him.

Patmore: The Rod, the Root and the Flower

A MARTYRDOM is not the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. T. S. Eliot: Murder in The Cathedral.

9th Saturday after Trinity

IF it be the earnest desire and longing of your heart to be merciful as He is merciful; to be full of His unwearied patience, to dwell in His unalterable meekness; if you long to be like Him in universal impartial love; if you desire to communicate every good to every creature that you are able; if you love and practise everything that is good, righteous, and lovely for its own sake, because it is good, righteous, and lovely; and resist no evil but with goodness; then you have the utmost certainty that the Spirit of God lives, dwells, and governs in you.

William Law: The Spirit of Prayer

GOD is all centre as that he looks to all, and so all circumference as that he embraces all.

Donne: Sermons

Ninth Sunday after Trinity

LORD Jesus Christ! A whole life long didst thou suffer that I too might be saved; and yet thy suffering is not yet at an end; but this too wilt thou endure, saving and redeeming me, this patient suffering of having to do with me, I who so often go astray from the right path, or even when I remained on the straight path stumbled along it or crept so slowly along the right path. Infinite patience, suffering of infinite patience. How many times have I not been impatient, wished to give up and forsake everything; wished to take the terribly easy way out, despair: but thou didst not lose patience. Oh, I cannot say what thy chosen servant says: that he filled up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in his flesh; no, I can only say that I increased thy sufferings, added new ones to those which thou didst once suffer in order to save me. Kierkegaard: Journals.

10th Monday after Trinity

OTHERS again, perhaps truly awakened by the Spirit of God to devote themselves wholly to piety and the service of God, yet making too much haste to have the glory of saints, the elements of fallen nature—selfishness, envy, pride, and wrath—could secretly go along with them. For to seek for eminence and significancy in grace is but like seeking for eminence and significancy in nature. And the old man can relish glory and distinction in religion as well as in common life, and will be content to undergo as many labours, pains, and self-denials for the sake of religious, as for the sake of secular glory. There is nothing safe in religion, but in such a course of behaviour as leaves nothing for corrupt nature to feed or live upon; which can only then be done when every degree of perfection we aim at is a degree of death to the passions of the natural man.

William Law: Christian Regeneration

10th Tuesday after Trinity

THOUGH the devil be transformed into an angel of light and suggest thoughts of a good appearance, the heart will still feel an ambiguity, some agitation in the thoughts and disturbance of feelings.

St Seraphim of Sarov.

MEN never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience' sake.

Pascal: Pensées.

Value

WRITTEN BY LISA A.,

CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

When the deer has fed, and the squirrel has done his gardening,

Then when the wren has fixed her nest up into the barn And the spring rains are done We wander the streets, hawking the news. Have you heard? People are worth More than money.

Moon Blessings for The Contributor

WRITTEN BY SCOTT OWINGS, Associate Chaplain at St. Augustine’s Chapel

Metta Moon

May Moon bless you     and keep you safe and sound. May Moon smile upon you     and gladden your dear heart. May you trust Moon’s light     as she holds you through the long dark.

Consider Moon

Consider Moon in the dark how she shines.

She waxes then wanes, shape-shifting light. Still, not even Luna—in all her luminosity— can compare to the Dark One’s delight for you.

Magnificent Moon

Bless the Moon my soul. And bless Moon’s guiding light. Bless the Moon my soul. Who holds me through the night.

Moon Blessing

The loving-kindness of the Moon never ceases; her wisdom never ends; it is new every evening. Luminous is your light, O blessed Luna; therefore, we will trust in you.

To Paint A Wall

WRITTEN BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

To paint a wall you have to think what color you will use. It might be pink. There are many colors that you can choose from.

Mix the paint, and make it even. Use a brush or roller to spread it on the wall. You might paint it twice if you want it to look nice. You can teach a friend how to paint.

Glitters

WRITTEN BY DANIEL K., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

As the scene unfolds, new turns old like leaves turn gold. The church bell tolls marking time's passage and righting wrong

In the silent night where shadows belong and dusk turns dawn.

We see the canvas of lifes hues bright and strong. Yet everything schyne glitters.

Rich Tourists and The Locals

WRITTEN BY SEAN L, CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR

In the joyful heat of summertime, rich folk come into town, all dressed up fine; They look at us as if we aren't worth a dime, and think we are just a waste of precious time.

We may not have their riches, their diamonds, or their gold, but our hearts remain far richer, with stories —- still untold.

So, as some may walk past, with noses high in the air, Believe, there will surely be others, helping out, here and there.

In the moon lit parks and city streets, when the sunset starts a’glow, Someone will always be there; The locals they don't know.

Eddie Murphy returns as Axel Foley for his fourth trip to Beverly Hills

Comedy all-timer Eddie Murphy relied on a combination of fish-out-of-water stories and oddball comic pair-ups when he jumped from small screen stardom on Saturday Night Live to big screen blockbusters in the early 1980s. In 48 Hrs. (1982), he plays a wisecracking convict paired with a grizzled detective (Nick Nolte) in a film debut that became an instant classic during the buddy cop genre’s biggest era.

In Trading Places (1983) Murphy plays a conman and Dan Aykroyd plays a spoiled trust fund brat before the pair find themselves changing roles and social positions in this hilarious look at wealth, status and unlikely friendships. And in Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Murphy gave audiences the perfect balance of both: a Detroit detective in Beverly Hills paired with peers like detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton) who play the perfect straight men to Murphy’s smartass sleuth.

Detective Axel Foley — like Gumby and Buckwheat and Mister Robinson — feels like a character that Murphy was born to play. And the success of Beverly Hills Cop led to the establishment of a comic movie franchise over the following decade: Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) is directed by Tony Scott and features Axel returning to Beverly Hills to solve a string of robberies dubbed the Alphabet Crimes; Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) is directed by John Landis who’d previously paired-up with Murphy for Trading Places and Coming to America (1988). The third film in the franchise finds Foley heading back to the West Coast to bust-up a counterfeiting racket connected to an amusement park called Wonder World. Both of the follow-up movies look good on paper, but the second film was a pale copy of the original, and the third installment was greeted by a critical bloodletting and anemic receipts at the box office.

Whether Murphy and the Beverly-Hills-Cop-industrial-complex were in denial about the failure of the third film or just inspired to do better, there were plans in place for a Beverly Hills Cop IV movie way back in the 1990s. The film was delayed by years of chronic scripting woes while directors like Brett Ratner attached to and detached from the project, and a TV series about Axel Foley’s son failed to get beyond the pilot episode stage. It didn’t feel like we needed another Beverly Hills Cop film 40 years after the original, but now that we’ve got Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F we can see if an old fish-out-of-water can still learn new tricks.

“Axel F” is the title of electronic music composer Harold Faltermeyer’s signature theme from the original Beverly Hills Cop film, and it’s front and center in various iter-

BY JOE NOLAN, FILM CRITIC

ations in this new film. The theme song, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, and an opening shot of Axel in his blue Chevy Nova — much of Mark Molloy’s movie is designed to plug viewers back into the magic of the original film. Of course these are the elements that feel the most forced, cheesy and generally lazy. The introduction of Foley’s daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) as Axel’s new foil also feels forced at times as Jane is written as a two-dimensional

cutout that seems only meant to shoehorn a strong female character into the cast. Her and Murphy have their moments of fun repartee but efforts to make this a more serious movie about their strained relationship only fall flat. That said, Murphy is really strong here, reminding audiences of his bottomless charm and knack for off-kilter performances peppered with stinging punchlines. There’s still lots of chemistry between Foley and Taggart and

Rosewood, and even Foley and Jane make a compelling team when they stay focused on the case of a wrongly accused cop killer.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now streaming on Netflix

Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.