Elaine Marie Hinchey, of Tampa, joined her mother, Mary A. Hinchey and beloved Daniel A. Maier on January 23, 2008. Elaine was born in Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of Parkdale Senior High School in College Park, MD and was an advocate for the disabled for over twenty-five years. Her life was dedicated to providing a voice for the oppressed whether it be in the pursuit of a united Ireland or advocating for the rights of the disabled and homebound. Elaine is survived by her father, Charles E. Hinchey, her sisters, Elise A. Wilson, Margo T. Valenti, Jennifer L. Hinchey and their families. Elaine’s well-loved extended family included many but her life was made complete with the love and support of Sandy and Martin Maier and her very dear friend, Avery Ceo.
A Memorial Mass will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, Land O’ Lakes on Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 10 a.m.
Some of you may want to leave memorial messages. Since Xians may eventually remove this blog, a permanent guestbook has been set up at http://www.loylessfuneralhome.com/services.asp?page=odetail&id=1176&locid=1.
Well, every time I get frightened that I won't be able to write for much longer someone does something to convince me I still have a bit of the fight left in me no matter how bad I feel physically. This time the honors go to Facebook. By and large I like the place until something happened to me- WITH OUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT- and I'm back in the saddle again!
I think we all know how I feel about slavery. Mother knows I've written enough about it for almost 5 years. Also, can anyone forget the picture I posted of the 8 year old Sudanese House Slave who was expected to clean her Master's house and watch his children for a bowl of rice a day! Or the sex slaves lured to so-called "Civilized Countries" on the promise of good jobs as Nannies only to be sold into prostitution. Those who resist are beaten, tortured and chained to a bed where they are expected to service 20 to 40 clients a day.
If you want a real picture of how bad the situation is I suggest you go to the Anti-Slavery Homepage at:
Anti-Slavery Homepage
http://www.antislavery.org/
But the reality is slavery continues TODAY.
Millions of men, women and children around the world are forced to lead lives as slaves. Although this exploitation is often not called slavery, the conditions are the same. People are sold like objects, forced to work for little or no pay and are at the mercy of their 'employers'.
Slavery exists today despite the fact that it is banned in most of the countries where it is practiced. It is also prohibited by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. Women from eastern Europe are bonded into prostitution, children are trafficked between West African countries and men are forced to work as slaves on Brazilian agricultural estates. Contemporary slavery takes various forms and affects people of all ages, sex and race...
Why am I so irate? Here's a clue I came across at Facebook last night:
***** spanked you.
7:44pm
***** bought you for $571, earning you $30 in profit.
7:43pm
That's right folks- I WAS SOLD, MADE A PROFIT FROM, LISTED AS ONE OF THIS BODACH'S SEX PETS AND TOLD TO REPORT FOR MY SPANKING again ALL WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT!!!!!!!!!!!
I like a good joke as much as the next woman. But if you've read me a couple of times you would agree that I am, arguably, the WORST person they could have picked to do this to. At least that was the general consensus of several organizations I contacted about it. In fact one Anti-Slavery Advocate actually said, "Sweet Jesus! I'm going to go hide under my bed until the explosions are over! Are they crazy or they just don't know who you are?" (A bit of both I think- even though my profile makes it quite clear what I do and this is my Web Address.)
General attitude- IT'S JUST GOOD, CLEAN FUN!!! I couldn't care less what consenting Adults do in the privacy of their own rooms. We all know that if this jerk had written me asking to buy me, etc. the answer would have been an emphatic, "No!" (Followed by language that would have Miss Pat and Miss Wil making me lick a bar of lye soap like a lollipop!!!)
Since Facebook is Multi-Racial and you can be enslaved without your knowledge the NAACP was even less amused than I was!
So do me a favor and take a stand against slavery in any form. If you are a member of Facebook go to the Protest Section at the following link and let them know that this is not good, clean fun. It is humiliating, degrading and since most of the slaves are women, sexist.
I hope that everyone who had a Thanksgiving to celebrate had a wonderful day. I know that I did. The only downside to family gatherings is that I miss my Mama and my Daniel terribly. Mama was very big on Holidays and while it saddens me to think that my sisters and I can't carry on some of her traditions: The Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Roller Derby (I gave up on that one when I was 5'2" and my sisters were 6'0", 5'10" and 5'5" and it got so competitive it was like a Roller Derby without the skates or dainty manners); The Turkey Dance & Dive Bomber Exhibition; Christmas Hide-Out (while Mama talked to Santa/Dad) complete with Reindeer Landing On The Roof with Jingling Harness Bells (the last time we did that one I was 27) and Midnight Mass & Movie Night. That doesn't mean that I can't share my familial quirks with my Xianz family so here is the story of Orville...
First you have to understand that my Mama was Irish Catholic. In fact there were days when she was SO Irish she was damn near debilitated by it! She, like many of the Irish, had her own names for certain things and damned if she couldn't get others to use them as well. Not that she MADE us say them it's just that you got used to them without noticing it. I'll never forget the time when I was working at Cigna I ordered a box of pens and when the Supply Guy came by he said, "We didn't have the brand you ordered but we do have Rolling Writer's. Can you use these instead?" That's right, I had written Roller Baller's by mistake- anyone want to guess what Mama's name for Rolling Writer's was? Yep, Roller Baller. We always had a salad or a 'wettuce ledge' with supper. One night my Dad calmly advised Mama that if he EVER ordered a 'wettuce ledge' in a restaurant mayhem would ensue when he got home.
She also wouldn't buy a stuffed toy or figurine unless the face and expression were 'right'. Our grocery store was selling teddy bears and she must have checked them out 5 or 6 shopping trips before she found the right one which she promptly named Barney for her oldest brother. The thing of it was the bear really did look like my Uncle Barney! (I guess I am carrying that tradition on because my mother-in-law and I were out shopping and I showed her a doll and she shook her head and said, "Not the right face." Then she turned beet red and mumbled, "I've been around you too long!" I, on the other hand, am leaning on the doll rack and laughing so hard I've got tears pouring down my face!!!)
One Saturday, years ago, Mama is working the Bazaar Sale at our Parish and she comes home with this ugly home made orange caterpillar that looks like someone's failure at Ceramics 101. I actually said, "Good Lord, Mama were you on acid when you bought this or what? That is one tacky knick-knack. Please tell me it's closet bound because according to the bottom its been in someone else's closet since 1973!"
That's when Mama went Audible on me...
"I was sitting by the Christmas Raffle Tree taking the money for the tickets when I noticed this little orange caterpillar on the other end of my table. I was fairly busy but my eyes kept being drawn to it. Finally, when I got a quiet moment, I got up and rescued him from being so alone and brought him to sit with me. It took me awhile to gain his trust. He had been, as you said, packed away in a dark closet and no one ever thought to bring him out even though he so dearly wanted a friend. Softly he said, "My name is Orville. Do think you could find a home for me?
You see the girl that made me went off to school and forgot to take me with her. Her mother thought I was tacky and she put me in that box in the closet. At first I had hope. I just knew that when my friend came home from school she would remember me and rescue me. Then she would take me to school with her and I would meet new friends and she would be proud to show me off and tell everyone that she loved me and she had made me with her own two hands. But I was wrong, she had outgrown things like me and I stayed in that closet. Weeks became months and months became years and all the while I was alone in the dark and worse, I had no people to love me. But no matter how long I was in that lonely box there was Someone who loved me and that Someone was Jesus. He had been so sad and lonely in the Garden of Gethsemane when his friends fell asleep and left him feeling abandoned too."
So there he sat, looking at me with his little paws clutched so tightly and hope shining in his bright eyes glimmering with unshed tears. Softer still he said, "Do you think I could come home with you? I don't take up much room but I would fill your home with love. I wouldn't even mind if you put me away when company comes because I am so ugly."
That's when I picked him up, went to another cashier and paid for him. As we were headed back to my table I could just feel the love and happiness pouring off of him. I gave him Pride of Place and I assured him, "Orville you will always be where you can see others and they can see you. I would never hide you away when company comes because friends don't do that to each other. I know my girls will love you as much as I do because they will see joy in your smile, trust in your eyes and friendship extended in your little hands."
Then my Mama turned her eyes on me and said, "I must have been wrong because you judged him on his appearance and like the others who couldn't see his value you wanted to shut him away again."
Folks, I am not ashamed to say that despite being an educated 28 year old woman I sat there clutching Orville and sobbing. NOT delicate tears but the kind of sobs where you wheeze and your eyes swell shut. It was in that state that I managed to tell her, "I was wrong Mama. I was so wrong to judge him just on how he looks. There's a good heart there only I was too busy and in too much of a hurry to notice. Please Mama, let him come home with me. I won't hide him away when company comes and I will love him and be his friend because he taught me a valuable lesson. One which you taught me when I was little and I was in danger of forgetting. Please Mama, let him come live with me!"
So that's the Story of Orville. Who, for the last 20 years has sat in my living rooms with Pride of Place atop my Bibles for everyone to see him. Only now he does double duty as he reminds me of my Mama who taught me never judge others on their appearance and that the greatest love sometimes comes in the plainest or most broken of packages.
I will be flying back to Tampa today and I would appreciate your prayers. I would also like to remind you that we will be beginning our Email Campaign for Timothy Caffrey later this week. We MUST have 5,000 emails to have an impact so please spread the word to your family and friends as well as to others here at EFx2.
God bless you all for your help. Let us show the Native American communities that justice in this country is not just for the White Man but is truly Justice for All!
Well, I survived the first half of the trip and it was just about as pleasant as one could imagine it to be. However, I have hoisted the EMERGENCY Flag because there is a man in South Dakota who is in dire need of our help. By that I mean a concentrated effort and not merely reading this and saying how horrible it is and moving on. I have placed this is its entirety so you can read it for yourselves. I have been in touch with Arnie Berkeland and Arnold Miller who is Governor Rounds Aide when it comes to Clemency & Pardons. I have obtained two experts willing to donate their time- one in Bi-racial Adoptions and the other is a Guardian Ad Litem Attorney who has worked on similar cases. Right now I am attempting to find a Psychiatrist or Psychologist who has the expertise in PTSD and Child Abuse we need to complete our efforts. The Oglala Sioux Nation passed a Resolution in Tim's favor on Friday, August 10th and when I spoke with Mr. Berkeland this past Monday, August 13th, he advised that a very respected retired Politician has also agreed to speak to the Governor on Tim's behalf.
Modblog refugees will remember the flaming I took when I reported an abused child to the Norman, OK Police Department after I read her postings at her Blog. I and some of my friends in Human Rights & Children's Rights work offered her our help and her answer was to take her pages down and pretend that she was just mad at her Mom. Folks, I appreciate a good vent as much as the next woman but I DO know the difference and so did the Norman Police because I took the precaution of printing out those pages BEFORE she could delete them. The result was that she and her mother received the help they needed. The saddest thing about Tim Caffrey is that a whole cadre of Adults KNEW about his abuse and NO ONE- NOT EVEN THEIR MINISTER AND HIS WIFE DID ANYTHING CONCRETE TO HELP HIM. When the Norman Detective asked why I had "bothered' to report the case my response was simply, 'IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO."
Tim Caffrey was originally charged with Murder One and it was changed to Manslaughter One when the Judge refused the charge. In every other state he would have received a maximum of 40 to 45 years. Done, on average, a third of that sentence or 14 years and been Paroled. He received Life WITHOUT Parole and has been incarcerated for twenty-seven years. Of course he didn't exactly get the most objective of trials. Everyday we read about some sexual predator who got twenty-five to Life and is out in five. Don't believe me? Check out your state's Sexual Offender List. The one that is supposed to let you know where they are so you can protect your kids. Since a large majority of them seem to want to move Florida I check the FDLE List once a month. There is a man who just moved in directly across from me who is not only listed as a Registered Sex Offender in big bold red letters it says:
THIS MAN IS ALSO REGISTERED AS A VIOLENT SEXUAL PREDATOR
NOW there is a comforting thought now isn't it? In his entire 'career' he has done less than a third of time that Tim Caffrey has done. We need to change that and we need your help to do it. I KNOW that I can count on you to do the right thing because we have made a difference on other issues. Jeb Bush may not be governor anymore but you can be he remembers the 11 days we shut his email down. 0;-) We can do it again- so please spread the word.
I am a voice from the faraway past of Timothy Sean Caffrey. I am Betty Adams Aitchison, whose husband pastored the little Faith Missionary Church in Martin, S.D., for 10 years. This was in the mid-1960s and 70s. The Bill and Olive Caffrey family attended our church. I knew them well.
Tim Caffrey is an Oglala Sioux, adopted by the Caffreys when he was less than a year old. I was a part of Tim's formative years. I taught him in Sunday School and vacation Bible school.
Bill Caffrey was a politically powerful man as South Dakota regional director of health and welfare. He also was an abusive alcoholic. I witnessed some of the abuse of Tim and tried to intervene but to no avail.
One particular incident has continued to haunt me through the years. It is a picture of a little 14-year-old Sioux Indian boy, sitting in the living room of Bill and Olive Caffrey's home, being disciplined for sharing marijuana with a friend.
I was living in Idaho at the time but visiting Martin. Olive asked me to basically act as a mediator when they addressed this issue.
Olive began the questioning. I still remember exactly how we were all seated. I was on the couch. Olive was across the room to my left, Tim, to my right, and Bill, pacing the floor. Olive asked Tim where he had gotten the marijuana, and Tim reluctantly told her. She asked, "Why didn't you just say 'no' and tell us what had happened?"
Tim replied, "I made a mistake, and I'm sorry."
At this point, Bill stomped toward Tim. "You made a mistake. We are the ones who made the mistake. The biggest mistake we ever made was when we adopted you, you stupid Indian," Bill said, cuffing Tim on the head.
Tim burst into convulsive sobs, and Bill walked away.
I got up from my seat and went to Tim. I said, "Timmie, you are a good boy who did a bad thing. You are not a stupid Indian. You are a brilliant boy with a right and powerful heritage."
Bill Caffrey was an overbearing, abusive alcoholic who often inflicted physical and emotional abuse on Tim. Olive worked at the Gordon hospital, 50 miles away, and left home at 2 p.m., not returning until after midnight, leaving Tim at the mercy of Bill's drunken outbursts and hostilities.
I have never, nor do I now, condone Tim's handling of this situation. However, almost 27 years have passed since I sat through the trial of a 17-year-old Indian boy, tried as an adult, by a white judge, 12 white jurors and a white attorney, and I heard the sentence of life without parole.
There is no question that the boy acted wrongfully when he shot and killed his adoptive father. However, many years of agonizing remorse have made Tim the man he is today. He is a well-rounded, gentle man who has worked hard to prepare himself for life outside the prison walls. He has mastered the art of welding and continues his education as much as is available to him.
Tim has a very strong support group. It is headed by Arnie Berkeland, a Sioux Falls businessman, who has visited Tim more than 1,200 times in the past 27 years. Tim will be provided with good employment and housing as well as spiritual and emotional support.
I urge you to please write Gov. Mike Rounds, asking him to sign the unanimous recommendation of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute Tim's sentence from life to time served. This is the third time the board has voted to reduce Tim's sentence.
Tim was never a 'murderer.' He was an abused child, pressed beyond measure and made a terrible mistake in dealing with his abuser. For this, I feel he has paid sufficiently.
White men charged with the same crime are walking free today. Please work for 'equal justice' in this case. -30-
Timothy S. Caffrey # 20483
S.D.S.P. Box 5911
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5911 USA
Date of birth: May 28-1963
Nation/tribal affiliation: Oglala Sioux
Release date: none
I would like a pen pal that would increase my intelligence based upon what
I've written. No gossip, no complaining, just learning and expanding.
Thank you!
Listening To: WALELA - TELL THEM THAT THEY LIE
Tags: abuse, bigotry, child, injustice, native, american and petitiion
...the best and the safest way to travel through life.
August 31, 2007
I Believe (with JESUS IS THE ANSWER) (Jeffrey Pence, Eliot Sloan, Matt Senatore)
Walk blindly to the light and reach out for His hand Don’t ask any questions and don’t try to understand Open up your mind and then open up your heart You will see that you and me we aren't very far apart
‘Cause I believe that love is the answer I believe love will find a way
Violence has spread worldwide and there’s families on the streets We sell drugs to children now, well why can’t we just see That all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today Money is our incentive now so that makes it ok
Walk blindly to the light and reach out for His hand Don’t ask any questions and don’t try to understand
"Jesus Is The Answer"
(Andrae' Crouch, Sandra Crouch)
Jesus Is The Answer For The World Today
Above Him There's No Other Jesus Is The Way
Jesus Is The Answer For The World Today
Above Him There's No Other Jesus Is The Way
Jesus Is The Answer For The World Today
Above Him There's No Other Jesus Is The Way
Jesus Is The Answer For The World Today
Above Him There's No Other Jesus Is The Way
1 John 4:16
16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
August 30, 2007 Undone:
I'm trying to remember
when your presence fell like rain
These hollow things have replaced you
Lord I need you back again
Take me to where I should be
'Cause I don't belong here I know
Without you there is no hope for me
I'm undone
Make me whole
There are still burning embers
of a life that you restored
Jesus you embraced me
when the world had closed the door
I'm trying to remember
when your presence felt like rain
Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. ~ Ephesians 5:19
And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Jesus: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." ~ Revelation 2:17
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:8
God's Message yet again: "Go stand at the crossroads and look around. Ask for directions to the old road, the tried and true road. Then take it. Discover the right route for your souls."
But friends, your dead will live, your corpses will get to their feet. All you dead and buried, wake up! Sing! Your dew is morning dew catching the first rays of sun, the earth bursting with life, giving birth to the dead. Isaiah 26:19
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Cor. 4:7
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust estroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matt. 6:19-21
