No Whistleblower Protection - Part Five of Workplace Psychological Abuse

Note: Parts 1-4 are found on this blog also.

This continues my series on the experience of being the target of a psychologically abusive co-worker or workplace "bully" from Jan, 2004 until Aug, 2006, the last two and a half years I worked in the Respiratory Care Department at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise Idaho. Saint Alphonsus (often called St Als) is a part of the Trinity Health system, headquartered in Novi, Michigan.

The reaction of management at Saint Alphonsus to my reports of abusive treatment that originated initially from a co-worker, but also from management, was not unusual, when compared to other companies who have retaliated against employees reporting unethical or dangerous actions and/or behavior. In The Whistleblower's Survival Guide: Courage Without Martyrdom, author Tom Devine includes a chapter entitled, "What to Expect: Classic Responses to Whistleblowing." This chapter includes several management responses to employees who blow the whistle on behavior by management that endangers employees or customers. Management at Saint Alphonsus responded to me with several of the tactics described in Devine's book.

One response is to "Gag the Employee." Several times I was accused by managers of violating some non-existent confidentiality agreement. Since I had not signed a confidentiality agreement covering the traumatic experience of being the target of a bully for over two and a half years, there was none to violate. Attempts were made by management to censor reports of, or conversations about, the behavior that resulted in my injuries. Those attempts jeopardized staff and patient safety and therefore were inappropriate and potentially harmful to other employees. Attempts to censor me were also a violation of the Trinity Health Organizational Integrity Program, which on Page 19, second column, under the heading "Open Communication," state: "A multi-directional communication process serves everyone in Trinity Health. Information is available and accessible on a timely basis. Everyone takes responsibility to stay informed, provide feedback, and state opinions. People Communicate openly and directly. Active listening and candid speaking are skills used and valued by all. These practices promote norms of freely exchanging ideas in the interest of finding better ways to accomplish goals and sharing different points of views to arrive at constructive agreement" (Bold emphasis mine). The reality at Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health is that "open communication" is forbidden and those who practice it will probably be terminated, or, as in my experience, retaliated against by management for reporting the internal problems to the public, This is true even though those internal problems are jeopardizing patient, staff, and customer safety.

Another response mentioned in The Whistleblower's Survival Guide is "Institutionalize Conflict-of-Interest." This undoubtedly is a very serious problem at Saint Alphonsus. One manager, whose job description included trying to prevent law suits, assigned himself to investigate a conflict issue between two employees, one who had threatened a lawsuit and one who had not! Obviously he had a vested interest in finding information to placate the employee who threatened to sue, since his annual performance plan and the size of his next pay raise probably depended on preventing law suits.

I attempted to report the unethical behavior I experienced, some of which came from senior management, to the Bioethics Committee, only to find out that the person who co-chaired the Bioethics Committee was one of the same managers who had asked me to just let the bullying behavior from the abusive co-worker "pass over me," and who also ordered me to not talk about about the bullying and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to other employees. One of the most important treatments for PTSD is encouraging the patient to talk about the trauma that caused the injury, so the manager's orders were medically inappropriate. Asking the Bioethics Committee to investigate the way I had been treated by management was akin to asking them to investigate their own misconduct! I also send a report to the other co-chairperson of the Bioethics Committee, a surgeon whose patient I have been three times. He never responded.

Another way of retaliating against whistleblowers is to "Prevent the Development of a Written Record." This was another tactic used by management at Saint Alphonsus. A manager from Human Resources promised me three times that he would send a written agreement to me and the bully co-worker stating that we would not have to work together anymore, and if our paths crossed we would agree to treat each other with respect. Since the bully was consistently rude and disrespectful toward me, I welcomed that agreement. It never arrived. The same manager also promised me a written report of his investigation. I never received one, even after repeated requests. At one time, when I was accused of violating some kind of confidentiality agreement, I asked the Respiratory Care Department manager if we could just put this "agreement" in writing in order to have a document, stating exactly what was confidential. He acted very surprised by the request, and didn't object, but it never happened. There was never any written agreement or statement of expectations.

When my attorneys acquired a copy of my personnel record it was interesting to note that nowhere in the record is there any information about this two-and-a-half year ordeal of being the target of a workplace bully. There is no mention of the PTSD injury, and no mention of having to consistently work in a toxic environment and under extremely hostile conditions. There is no record of more than a dozen meetings with members of management to try to resolve the problem. There is no record of the multiple attempts I made to try to resolve the problem; of offering to participate in a professionally mediated conflict resolution process with the bully; of offering to use indirect communication via a mediator; of repeatedly going out of my way to make sure patient care was not being compromised by the abusive and impaired co-worker; of trying unsuccessfully to defuse the situation by voluntarily stepping out of my supervisory position and letting someone else supervise instead; of offering to change shifts and permanently quit supervising; of taking the initiative to seek assistance and counsel from an Employee Assistance Program counselor; and also of going to professionals outside of Saint Alphonsus at my own expense to try to resolve the problem. The absence of any information in my personnel record about these extraordinary efforts I made is an powerful example of how silence can be evil, and contribute to harm and injury. It's also interesting to note that when I left the employment of Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health after 30 years of exemplary service, (exemplary service that was confirmed on Sept.24, 2008, by a member of senior management who said that I had an "outstanding" record), I didn't receive one written or spoken word of thanks or appreciation for my years of service from my immediate supervisor, the Respiratory Care Department Manager.

The fourth of Mr. Devine's list of retaliations used against me by Saint Als is "Rewrite the Issues." To quote the author; "One of the most subtle bureaucratic gambits is to trivialize, grossly exaggerate, or otherwise distort the whistleblower's allegations - and then discredit the employee by rejecting the validity of the resulting "red herring." Both the department manager and the manager from human resources kept trying to distort the issue and claim that it was something other than what it really was. I was reporting deliberate behavior from a co-worker, directed at me because she did not approve of my political and religious beliefs, behavior that was compromising patient care, and causing serious and potentially disabling injury to me. Management kept trying to pretend that this conflict was a personal one, that I was trying to develop or renew a friendship with someone who did not want to be friends. Although I requested that our work schedules be changed so we didn't have to work together any more and our schedules would not overlap, and I had signed letters from an attorney and a counselor requesting that action, management refused to look at the letters and kept falsely accusing me of trying to increase my contact with the abusive co-worker.

Even the punitive psychiatric admission I was subjected to by management at St. Alphonsus for blowing the whistle on their abusive treatment of employees is not that rare a way of businesses retaliating against whistleblowers, as the following quotes confirm. "Even generating an involuntary psychiatric admission or requiring a psychiatric evaluation as a way of retaliating against a whistleblower or discrediting his report is not unusual. When in 1978, Peter James Atherton, nuclear engineer and inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reported that the electrical cables needed to shut down the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in case of emergency were all located in the same cable tray, therefore making them all vulnerable to destruction in case of fire, he was handcuffed and sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital for three days of involuntary psychiatric confinement and after being released was fired!" (From Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power, by C. Fred Alford, Pub. 2001 by Cornell Univ. Press, pages 22 and 23).

Here are accounts of two other whistleblowers who also experienced the "punitive psychiatric" retaliation. "Randy Taylor, Chief of Military Police at the Bermuda Naval Air Station, exposed the cover-up of post-Tailhook sexual attacks and misuse of the base as a taxpayer-financed resort (known as "Club Fed") for powerful politicians and military officials. The Navy responded by ordering him to undergo a psychiatric examination, which he passed" (Devine, Page 30). "Within days of protesting payments to reserve troops for not reporting to weekend training assignments, Air Force Sergeant Joseph Taliaferro found himself confined to a mental ward, wearing slippers with Happy Faces on them" (Devine, Page 31). If you are employed by either Saint Alphonsus or Trinity Health you will want to be aware of what happens to their employees when they report unethical behavior by management. You can find out by reading Part Four of my series on Workplace Psychological Abuse.

Another method used by management to retaliate against a whistleblower, and one I also experienced at Saint Alphonsus, is to direct the focus of attention on the person who reported the problem rather than on the problem itself. In his book, The Whistleblower's Survival Guide, Tom Devine writes; "The first commandment of retaliation is to make the whistleblower, instead of his or her message, the issue: obfuscate the dissent by attacking the sources' motives, credibility, professional competence, or virtually anything else that will work to cloud the issue. The point of this tactic is to direct the spotlight at the whistleblower, instead of the alleged misconduct" (Page 28).

This happened to me more than once. I was reporting to management behavior by a co-worker that was directed at me because she did not approve of my political and religious beliefs, behavior that was jeopardizing patient care and causing injury to myself. To this day, January 24, 2009, I've never received a response addressing those three serious issues. Instead I was targeted with a variety of false accusations from the co-worker, accusations repeated by the same members of management who refused to address the real problem. Those accusations bordered on the ridiculous. They included trying to communicate with her about work-related problems (even though our respective job descriptions mandated communication between us). I was even accused of waiting to walk her to her car after work! Note the accusation is not "walking her to her car" since that didn't happen, but only "waiting" or wanting to do that. Of course that accusation, like her other accusations, was false. At least once a week I went to the medical library after work to do some reading. I frequently took the bus to and from work, so when I left my department after work, it was usually alone to go to a destination that none of my co-workers were going to. I never saw any other members of the Respiratory Care Department including the abusive co-worker, at either the medical library, the bus stop, or on the bus.

Those who lived through the 1960s and the Cold War era remember that many people lived in fear of the Soviet Union. The USSR was referred to as the "evil empire," and we were told that Communism was the biggest threat to our country and the world. Citizens of the Soviet Union lived in a totalitarian country where they were under constant supervision, in perpetual fear of the government, and had no freedoms. It's almost unbelievable how much times have changed. The Soviet Union no longer exists and the numerous countries which used to make up the USSR all gained their freedom at the same time without firing a shot. Now we're the ones working under a form of constant totalitarian-like supervision, facing accusations from employers, like the thought police at Saint Alphonsus who think they have the right to accuse people, not of misbehaving, but of simply wanting to do something they shouldn't do, and have never done.

Mark Ames in his book "Going Postal" reports on how far this kind of abuse by management can go, when he tells the account of a post office employee in San Diego who was the target of excessive harassment by management. The harassment included, "telling him by written memo that he was to go to the bathroom on his own time and not on the post office's time and having a supervisor stand outside of his house during his lunch break, watching him through his kitchen window, clocking him when he ate lunch at home with his wife" (Page 75). I doubt that Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health have gone to such extremes, but in light of this Orwellian accusation against me which was an attempt to assess, condemn, and regulate my thoughts, it's definitely the direction they are headed. Ames also points out in his book that the average American workplace is "more Soviet than what the Soviets ever created," (Page 107) and "Even American slaves generally weren't fenced in and guarded by security" (Page 107).
Of course directing the spotlight at the whistleblower, rather than at the problem reported by the whistleblower, contributed to the "punitive psychiatric admission" I was subjected to which I wrote about in Part Four.

The context of the longer historical report I wrote and distributed after leaving St. Alphonsus was concern for the health and safety of people at Saint Alphonsus and in the community. I established that theme in the first paragraph of the report and re-emphasized, repeated, or reinforced it on the average of once a page for the duration of the report. Management claimed, in the report, that I had threatened to harm myself or others. To do that they had to rip what I wrote out of context and of course, the only reason for doing that is to intentionally misrepresent what I wrote. The concern that I reported was never addressed. The effect of directing the attention toward the whistleblower rather than the problem s/he reported, is not only to create stress and uncertainty for the whistleblower, but to also undermines his or her credibility.

One knowledgeable whistleblower writes: "They will sacrifice the individual" before admitting they made a mistake. "The image of the organization is so important that they'll destroy your life and career first" (Devine, Page 34).

In light of the Zogby Poll (See Part Three) it's probable that the bullying and whistleblower retaliation I experienced at the hands of Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health is also a problem at other health care facilities, as well as at other businesses and corporations. Workplace psychological abuse is, according to the polls, at epidemic levels in the United States. I'm telling the account of what happened to me, because it's necessary for people who have experienced it to talk, write, and communicate about their experiences and thereby raise awareness, before anything will be done to address this public health menace. My experience took place at a Trinity Health facility, St Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, in Boise, Idaho, so that's what I'm writing about. In spite of their record, Trinity Health and St Alphonsus, as "Christian" health care providers, are in a position where they could grab this problem by the horns and quickly get it under control. With a little work and minimal expense they could establish a policy that specifically prohibits bullying, and provides a means of addressing the problem. There are excellent examples available in the literature on the topic. They could mandate professionally mediated conflict resolution processes to resolve conflicts before anyone is injured. They could educate the staff, especially managers and supervisors, on bullying or workplace psychological abuse. They could demonstrate accountability toward those who have been injured, and do it simply by following and enforcing their own existing Standards of Conduct (Trinity Health) which say "Treat others with honesty, respect, and dignity," and "Communicate with others in a clear, open, and honest manner." The Standards of Conduct also say; "Most importantly, you're responsible for speaking up about behavior or actions that may be inconsistent with the Standards of Conduct." That's exactly what St. Alphonsus retaliated against me for doing! The St Alphonsus Customer Service Standards include "Treat each person and co-worker as you would want to be treated," "Treat each person as if he or she is the most important person in our facility," and "Listen thoughtfully and empathetically to others and respond appropriately and politely."

The cost of these efforts would be probably far less than the annual cost of replacing employees who are bullied and injured on the job, many who, after leaving, either take legal action against their employer, or at the very least spread the message that Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health are not safe and healthy places of employment. Steps taken by St Als and Trinity Health to address this problem would display leadership and advanced healing in a currently neglected area of human health. It would also be an example of progressive caring management, not just to the medical field, but to all business. Unfortunately this has not yet happened.

I certainly agree and identify with the following comment from another whistleblower. "Suffering through whistleblower retaliation teaches you a lot about your own strengths and weaknesses, about what really matters in life, about who your friends are, and about what human beings are capable of doing to each other in even the most civilized settings. It is a life-altering experience" (Devine. Page 44). One of the facts confirmed by my experience is that currently there is NO whistleblower protection available at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, or from Trinity Health. We know there are safety and health hazards caused by the bullying and psychological abuse, but this lack of whistleblower protection represents an additional safety hazard to patients, visitors, and staff at those facilities, as well as to the communities served by those institutions.

Leonard Nolt

Coming next -
Part Six - Workplace Psychological Abuse, or Bullying: A Definition.
to be followed by
Part Seven - Is Psychological Abuse or Bullying Really that Harmful?

A Knock at the Door: (Part Four of Workplace Psychological Abuse)

Note: If you haven't read the first three parts of this series, I recommend that you read them before reading part four. They are found at: Part One -
http://leonardnolt.blogspot.com/2008/04/looking-at-work-abuse.html

Part Two - http://leonardnolt.blogspot.com/2008/08/gap-part-2-of-workplace-psychological.html

Part Three - http://leonardnolt.blogspot.com/2008/11/tell-everyone-part-3-of-workplace.html

Also note that the names used for people in part 4 are pseudonyms.

I left Saint Alphonosus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho at the end of August, 2006 after working there for 30 years in the Respiratory Care Department. Saint Alphonsus is part of the Trinity Health care system, headquartered in Novi, Michigan. I was forced to retire early as a result of being injured on the job by a psychologically abusive co-worker. The bullying aimed at me from the abusive co-worker started abruptly in January of 2004. By the time I left St Alphonsus (often referred to as St Als), 20 months had passed since I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of the co-worker's bullying. The PTSD diagnosis was made by Saint Als, as occurring on the job at St Als.

I reported the PTSD injury to management more than two dozen times and never received a response addressing the injury. Neither did I receive any protection from additional injury, nor any offer of treatment for the PTSD. Those reports went to department, human resource, and senior management, as well as to the CEO, the chairperson of the bioethics committee, and even to the vice-president in charge of organizational integrity at the mother company, Trinity Health.

After leaving Saint Alphonsus I did what any responsible citizen and health care professional would do. I reported what happened to me to many of my former co-workers. Since what I experienced represented a public health and safety hazard I was obligated to report it. I had already reported it numerous times to management without having the problem addressed, so now it was time to publicize it as much as possible. The Code of Ethics of the American Association for Respiratory Care, of which I'm a member, states that members are required to: "Refuse to participate in illegal or unethical acts, and refuse to conceal illegal, unethical, or incompetent acts of others." Several times management tried to get me to conceal the unethical and patient-endangering behavior I was facing. They did that by ordering me to lie about the PTSD injury if asked, and by threatening to terminate me if I talked about the psychological abuse with my co-workers in the Respiratory Care Dept.

The reports I sent out were in two forms. About four hundred people received, by e-mail, a 3-4 page condensed version of what I had experienced. Approximately 60 people, including most of the members of the Respiratory Care Dept., received a longer, more detailed report, a copy of the historical document that I started writing in Dec. of 2005. They also received copies of a couple articles on the topic of workplace psychological abuse, and a copy of Noa Davenport's book "Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace."

Management at Saint Alphonsus responded to my reports in a fury. I was preparing for work on Oct. 14 ,2006 when there was a vicious knocking on my front door, immediately followed by a rattling of the door knob. When I hesitantly opened the door I was facing several police officers. They told me they had a report that I had threatened to harm either myself or others. They handcuffed me. I was stunned for several minutes but eventually realized that this was management at Saint Alphonsus retaliating against me for reporting the abusive way I had been treated to the public. Of course the report was false. At no time had I ever threatened to harm anyone.

I was taken into "protective custody" and hustled straight to (would you believe it?) Saint Alphonsus Psychiatric Center! (At that time it was called the "Behavioral Health Center.") The psychiatrist who initiated this process I will call Dr Grizzle. At that time Dr. Grizzle was arguably in one of the most prestigious positions at the psychiatric hospital. He was an employee of senior management, the same people who, in my reports, I accused of behaving in a manner that was abusive and injury-causing toward employees. I stand by those accusations today. There is no evidence that anything has changed in management at Saint Alphonsus to correct this health-endangering problem. I found out later that Dr. Grizzle had been instrumental in keeping the psychiatric hospital open when management had considered closing it. If there were a change in senior management as a result of my reports, it could result in him losing his position and losing a significant portion of his income. Dr. Grizzle's action in having me admitted to the psychiatric hospital was a "punitive psychiatric admission" following the tradition of the former Soviet Union. It was done to depict me as someone with serious psychiatric problems, thereby attempting to discredit my reports of abusive behavior by management at Saint Alphonsus. Dr. Grizzle clearly had a significant financial interest in discrediting my reports.

The usual process is to take the patient first to the emergency department to be evaluated by an emergency physician. Dr. Grizzle conveniently sidestepped that step, probably because I worked in the emergency department for the past thirty years and knew nearly everyone employed there. Dr. Grizzle could not risk having me evaluated by someone who actually knew me, a physician who did not have a financial interest in having me depicted as one with serious mental health problems. The Emergency Dept was part of my regular assignment as a respiratory therapy supervisor. Also the document given the police require them to take the patient to the nearest psychiatric facility. Saint Alphonsus was NOT the nearest facility, but Dr. Grizzle could not risk having me evaluated by an objective psychiatrist, so he altered the document, crossed out that portion, and indicated in writing that I was to be taken to St. Als instead. It's also important to note that Dr. Grizzle initiated this process of involuntary admission apparently without attempting to contact my physician, psychologist, pastor, nor any member of my family, nor anyone who knew me. Neither did he place my name into google and check my writings that can be found on the internet.

The staff at the psychiatric hospital were told by Dr. Grizzle that they were getting a violent psychotic patient. That explained the numerous perplexed stares I received from the staff when I arrived there. There was no evidence I was the person they expected. The handcuffs were too small and had already scrapped some of the skin off my wrist. They were removed as soon as I arrived there, and I sat patiently in a nearly barren room with cheap lightning. I quietly waited. I called my wife who was visiting our daughter and son-in-law. The adult psychiatric examiner from the state department of Health and Welfare, Mr. Green, arrived and evaluated me. A little later he told my wife, daughter, and three employees there that I was not holdable, that I would be released shortly because there was no reason for me to be there. It was Mr. Green's responsibility to prevent a unjustified admission. Later he was overheard telling Dr. Grizzle on the phone, "I have no reason to hold Mr. Nolt." "Hold him anyway!" was Dr . Grizzle's response. After hanging up, three people heard Mr. Green make the comment that he would now have to "get creative" to find a reason to keep Mr. Nolt. (On June 13, 2008 my wife and I met with Mr. Green's supervisors at the Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare to discuss his actions. They indicated that if the adult examiner comes to a conclusion different from that of the psychiatrist, and then the patient is released and commits some harmful act, the Department of Health and Welfare is liable. They gave us the misleading impression that the examiner usually agrees with the psychiatrist. However I've learned since from those who have worked at the psychiatric hospital that it's not unusual for the examiner to disagree with the psychiatrist, that, and this is an exact quote, "it happens all the time." It seems clear that Mr. Green was pressured by Dr. Grizzle to change his assessment).

The first time Dr. Grizzle and I met was the next day. He spent about 30-40 minutes alone in a room with me. I found out later that Dr. Grizzle was there to conduct an evaluation, but he never made any attempt to do so. Most of the time he spent talking about his own accomplishments, telling me how long he's worked in Boise and how many people he knew. He pointed out that he's evaluated everyone on death row in the state of Idaho. He frequently repeated himself. When he spoke I listened, and when he asked a question I answered it. However when I asked him a question, he refused to answer, and when I spoke, or tried to explain something he would interrupt me and refuse to listen. A couple times he yelled at me: "You're an incredibly naive person!" "You're an incredibly naive person!" He never explained what he meant. Several times he referred to management at St Als as "The Empire." He would abruptly switch from talking about his accomplishments to talking about basketball or some other sport, and then abruptly switch topics again. He bragged about having me locked up by asking me repeatedly who I thought it was that started the process of having me incarcerated. When I said I didn't know, he responded by eagerly saying, "I did! I did!" - as if he expected me to be impressed. He accused me of writing things that were "very threatening," but when I asked him what was threatening in my writings, he refused to answer. He simply said, "you know," and then changed the subject. Although we had never met before, Dr. Grizzle claimed that the PTSD diagnosis I received 22 months before, a diagnoses that had been confirmed by two psychologists, was incorrect. He claimed I was suffering from just "a little grief."

My wife accused Dr. Grizzle of unethical behavior. He denied it, but within two hours had another St Alphonsus affiliated psychiatrist there to conduct an evaluation, a Dr. Ball, who had to leave in the middle of his evaluation and never completed the assessment. Dr Grizzle did not attempt an evaluation of me and Dr. Ball did not complete one, but both wrote reports in my chart as if they had, although Dr. Ball acknowledged in his report that he did not complete an assessment. It took five months and multiple requests for my attorney to get a copy of my chart from St Alphonsus. We were shocked by what the chart contained. The dates of my admission were inaccurate, as was much of the history. In the chart, Dr. Grizzle claimed that I had multiple (9-10) serious psychiatric problems. That was entirely new information to me and my family. I never had any symptoms of most of those diagnoses. But Dr. Grizzle did not tell me nor any member of my family what those diagnoses were, and he never offered me any treatment for them. We first found out five months after the unjustified involuntary admission when we got a copy of the chart.

The reaction of the staff at Saint Alphonsus Psychiatric Hospital to my involuntary admission was revealing. Mr. Green told five people that there was no reason for be to be there, before changing his story under pressure from Dr. Grizzle. If there had been any doubt in his mind, he never would have told a patient's family that the patient would be released in a couple hours. Two nurses told me they didn't know why I was there because, as they put it, "You seem perfectly normal to me." I specifically asked one nurse if he thought I needed to be there and he responded emphatically, "No, you definitely do not need to be here!" One nurse refused to care for me because she did not want to get involved in litigation. Another nurse came and handed me the names of two psychiatrists, telling me that those psychiatrists were NOT affiliated with Saint Alphonsus and if I was required to see a psychiatrist in order to be released, I should see one of them, and NOT see a Saint Alphonsus psychiatrist. An employee at the hospital reported my involuntary admission as an unjustified admission to the Trinity Health Integrity Hot Line. The hot line is supposed to be non-punitive, but she was fired shortly afterwards. One nurse told me that she heard I was locked up because I had sent out over 400 e-mails! Reporting health and safety hazards that jeopardize a community is the responsibility of any conscientious citizen and in the 21st century using e-mail is the simplest, quickest, and cheapest way to fulfill that obligation.

In my medical record Dr. Grizzle made numerous false claims. He claimed that he spoke with me at some length about the significance of my writings. Not true. He simply accused me of writing something that was threatening, but adamantly refused to tell me what it was. Of course he couldn't admit that he had a financial interest in attempting to silence or discredit me. One piece of powerful evidence proving that this admission was an act of retaliation against me by St. Alphonsus, is found in the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score handed me by Drs. Grizzle and Ball. The GAF is a scale that evaluates the current functioning level for a psychiatric patient. Since neither physician evaluated me, the GAF score I was given had to be based on what I wrote. I was given a score of 35-40 by Drs. Grizzle and Ball. Keep in mind that my personal psychologist said that at the lowest, my GAF score was in the 70-75 range, and that would have been app. a year earlier, before I received therapy and medication and when I was still assigned to work with the abusive co-worker in a toxic work environment. A score under 50 is considered disabled. I checked with several professionals, including a PESI Health Care lecturer who was in town to conduct a seminar on PTSD, and was told a person with a GAF of 35-40 is not able to hold a job, get up in the morning, function or interact normally with anyone, and is inevitably institutionalized. The historical document used by the psychiatrists to determine the score given me was written from Dec, 2005 until Aug. 2006, a period of nine months. For Five months of that time (April - August ,2006) I was working full time at one medical center and part-time at another. I was assigned the task of caring for patients on life support in the emergency dept. at one facility and in the intensive care unit at the other, (and was doing the latter less than 12 hours before the police came to my door on Oct. 14). I responded to cardiac and respiratory arrests at both facilities, and to any major trauma patients arriving at one facility. I was the only rrespiratory therapist on duty at one facility between the hours of 11:00 pm and 6: 00 am. (I worked the night shift at both facilities). At both locations I was constantly working in the presence of, and being observed by many other medical professionals including physicians. No questions were ever raised about the quality of care I provided, or about my ability to do my job. During that entire time period I would, three or four times a week, either play full-court basketball with other guys, most of them significantly younger than I, or go on long (45-90 min) runs alone, or with a running group. I interacted normally with family and friends. I often make my own homemade note cards using my photographs and in one month (April, 2006) I constructed 600 of them. I was not disabled by any definition of the word. The GAF scores assigned me by Drs Grizzle and Ball were deliberately falsified by those two Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health psychiatrists in order to discredit my reports of abusive behavior originating from management at Saint Als. In so doing they were following the wishes and instructions of management at St Als.

I was released after six days and nights. With the exceptions of those two psychiatrists, the rest of the staff were fine. They knew I didn't belong there, but couldn't challenge the physicians without jeopardizing their own employment. I was disappointed at the facility, however. The food was mediocre, but we've come to expect that from medical facilities. A lot of patients responded to the conditions by simply pacing like animals in a cage. There was no music, which I found troublesome since I listen to music nearly every day. There were no exercise facilities available. When I asked what I could do for exercise, someone suggested walking the halls, but immediately I was warned to be careful, because if the staff sees you pacing, they "might think something's wrong with you." I didn't do much walking. Lack of exercise opportunities, especially for those who exercise regularly, undermines a patient's physical and psychological health. Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health should know better. There was virtually no reading material available. I read nine books while I was there, including a large collection of poetry by Garcia-Lorca who was executed for what he wrote, but those books were all brought in by friends or family.

Visiting times were limited to a couple hours an evening, and a few additional hours on weekends. I got an incredible amount of support from family and friends with more visitors in a couple hours than all the other inmates combined. However that was only available for two hours. The other twenty-two hours of the day had to be spent not listening to music, not reading, not getting any exercise, not communicating and interacting with visitors, since there was very little one could do, but much that one could NOT do because of Saint Alphonsus' pathetic commitment to mental health in Boise. If one was admitted there without psychiatric problems they could certainly develop them by being there.

Shortly after my release I heard, indirectly, that Dr Grizzle lost his position as a result of the way he treated me. The report was that I was the last, or one of the last patients he ever admitted to Saint Alphonsus. If that is true, responsible management should have also taken steps to undo the harm he did, beginning with having the phony medical record he generated declared invalid. Unforutnately that hasn't happened.

People have asked me about the state of my relationship with my former employer, and with those responsible for the bullying and the aftermath. I've made attempts to communicate about this traumatic experience with those who were responsible, and have been partially successful. Some people assume that I have taken legal action against Saint Alphonsus and Trinity Health. For several reasons I have not filed a lawsuit and have no plans too. One of the reasons is my Christian faith and my commitment to peacemaking. The Mennonite Church has traditionally frowned on lawsuits, seeing them as being too vindictive for a Christian to pursue. The Mennonite Confession of Faith under Article 22 entitled Peace, Justice, and Nonresistance" includes the following: "As disciples of Christ we do not prepare for war, or participate in war or military service. The same Spirit that empowered Jesus also empowers us to love enemies, to forgive rather than seek revenge, to practice right relationships, to rely on the community of faith to settle disputes, and to resist evil without violence" (Page 82). I agree with that position, although I believe there are circumstances in which legal action is justified for a Christian, and I also believe that, although frequently misused, litigation, the legal process, and attorneys can be and often are, powerful tools for justice in the world.

Other reasons I have refrained from legal action include advice from books on the topic of psychological abuse in the workplace reporting that taking legal action, and even winning a law suit is not necessarily very satisfactory. Just as important is the reports I've received from individuals who have won lawsuits against Saint Alphonsus and received compensation, but now cannot talk about it because of a gag rule. It's my impression that those who have been silenced by a gag rule envy the freedom I have to speak out. Such gag rules should be illegal since they protect companies from having to deal with the natural consequences of their misbehavior. Gag rules enable a business or corporation in their wrong-doing. That represents a safety hazard to the community. In my situation a gag rule would violate the Code of Ethics of the AARC, and in following it I would be neglecting my obligation to report health and safety hazards that exist in this community. It's my belief that behavior in the workplace at a medical center that injures employees also jeopardizes visitors and patients, especially when, as in my experience at Saint Alphonsus, such behavior is not just permitted, but also participated in by management.

Professionals who I received counseling and advice from the past four years, (other than those employed by St Als), have been appalled and stunned at the malicious behavior directed at me by St. Als management. I've received a considerable amount of encouragement to continue pressing this issue which is another reason why I continue to pursue a course encouraging communication about this serious problem with those at Saint Alphonsus responsible for the bullying. I'm willing to discuss any aspect of this problem with anyone. I have nothing to hide.

One of the most bizarre charges Dr. Grizzle hurled at me was the suggestion in my medical record that my pacifist's beliefs constitute some kind of threat. Perhaps Dr. Grizzle doesn't know the definition of the word "pacifist." If I had mentioned that I was a "militarist," then he might have a legitimate concern since a militarist is someone who might be willing to use violence against others to try to correct an actual or perceived wrong. But a pacifist will not. A pacifist is one who refuses to use violence. The label "pacifist" was not just chosen by me for use in my report of this abusive work sitution at Saint Alphonsus. It's been a part of my life. I've been a member of the Mennonite Church denomination since 1960. I'm a charter member of Hyde Park Mennonite Fellowship in Boise which was founded in 1977. I've had articles published which document my commitment to peace and pacifism since the early 1980s. Some of them are included on this blog. I've been involved in local, regional, and national peacemaking activities for many years. I've been a committed pacifist for many years. However the word "pacifist" is not synonymous with "passive." To be passive about this threat to the health and safety of the community would be irresponsible. I have been, and will continue to be a pacifist in my communication and interaction with others regarding this issue, but I will not be passive. I will not do as ordered by Saint Alphonsus, that is, be quiet about it and pretend it doesn't matter if employees are being mistreated and injured on the job at Saint Alphonsus.

I was released from the psych hospital after six days and nights. Not once was I offered any treatment for the fabricated diagnoses charged to me. I was assigned to a particular "group" but only found out during an informal conversation with a staff person the evening before I was released. I attended two group counseling sessions but they were not in any way relevant to my situation. The inaccurate documentation on my chart claimed that I refused to attend any session. Dr. Grizzle was sick three of the days I was in there and did not stop in to see me, but he still charged me for visits those days as did the psychiatrists who saw me in his place. Later I found out from a former employee that Dr. Grizzle has been doing that for years. One of the psychiatrists who took Dr. Grizzle's place I will call Dr. Rockefellar. Dr. Rockefellar visited me one day. He said he was filling in for Dr. Grizzle and asked me if I needed anything. I said "no." Than he said that the plan was to release me on Friday. That was the extent of our conversation. It lasted less than 20 seconds. Later I received a bill in the mail from Dr. Rockefellar claiming that he had spent fifteen minutes with me and charging me $80. Fifteen minutes is 45 times longer than the actual time spent with me and the $80. charge for 20 seconds work represents a billing rate of $14,400. an hour!

After being released from the hospital I received a letter from Saint Alphonsus promising me forms to complete to report the injury I suffered and to apply for compensation. The forms never arrived. Other people, including medical professionals, have told me that what I experienced at the hands of Saint Alphonsus management and Dr. Grizzle was not really an "involuntary admission," or "protective custody," but rather a "kidnapping," and a "punitive psychatric admission" done to depict me as having serious mental problems in order to discredit my reports, and also done to retaliate against me for reporting health and safety hazards that exist at Saint Alphonsus to the public. I agree.

Leonard Nolt

(Part 5 - coming soon.)

"For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." Luke 8:17

No Purple Hearts from Pentagon for PTSD

An article in the The January 10, 2009 Idaho Statesman announced that the Pentagon had ruled against awarding the Purple Heart medal to military veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a direct result of the wars in which they participated. The Purple Heart medal is perhaps the best know and most honored military award. It's reserved for those who have been wounded, or in some cases, even killed in warfare.

Although this decision is a tragic mistake, it is not surprising. The Pentagon has always been more proficient at causing harm than at accepting responsibility for the harm it causes. Some studies have discovered that as many as twenty percent of veterans who participated in conflict suffer from PTSD. Defense Dept. press secretary Geoff Morrell is quoted as saying, " I don't think anybody should assume that that decision is in any way reflective on how seriously we take the problem of PTSD." Actually in spite of Mr. Morrell pleas, that decision does indicate how seriously the Pentagon takes the problem of PTSD. There is no question that PTSD has been around as long as modern warfare and probably longer. In the last century PTSD was identified by other terms such as "shell shock." Medical and scientific proof of it's existence and the harm it can have on soldiers and other victims date from well into the 1900's.

Those who suffer only from PTSD, can still be as seriously injured as someone suffering from a physical injury. PTSD is a psychiatric injury, not an illness. It can be as disabling and life-threatening as any physical injury. The claim, as quoted in the article, that "there is absolutely no way to prove that someone truly is suffering from it or faking it," is a pathetic excuse. If it can be diagnosed, it can be proven.

However there is another reason the Pentagon announcement is not surprising. Although I've never been in the military, I was diagnosed with PTSD in December of 2004. The injury I suffered was the result of having to work with a psychologically abusive co-worker or "bully" for a year. We both worked in the Respiratory Care Department at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, part of the Trinity Health system headquartered in Novi, Michigan. The bullying I was targeted with went on for another twenty months, after I was diagnosed with PTSD, even though the diagnosis was made by Saint Alphonsus as occurring on the job at Saint Alphonsus! By then I was forced to leave Saint Alphonsus after 30 years employment there, because I was gradually becoming disabled by the chronic abuse.

I reported the PTSD injury to management more than two dozen times including department, human resource and senior management, the CEO, and even to Trinity Health vice-president in charge of organizational integrity. I never once received a response addressing the injury. I was never offered any protection from additional injury nor any treatment for the PTSD injury. So it's really not surprising that the Pentagon does not recognize the seriousness of PTSD. Medical centers still do not recognize PTSD or offer any treatment for PTSD to their employees. Unfortunately it's unlikely the Pentagon will take PTSD seriously as long as there are medical centers in the United States, such as those operated by Trinity Health, which do not take PTSD seriously.

Leonard Nolt

Words from five-year-old, and soon-to-be-six, Zachary

On Friday, while riding in the car, listening to "O Come Let Us Adore Him," on the CD , Zachary said, "I wonder how old God is, since it's already been Christmas."


Yesterday I received the latest issue of Esquire Magazine in the mail which has a picture of the president-elect on the cover. I held the magazine up and asked Zachary if he knew who was on the cover and he replied: "Obronco Obama."


Today we bought him a new pair of size one air Sketchers at Fred Meyer and he responded by saying Thank you, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, over and over again and then in the car on the way home while holding them in his lap, he said, "I'm a lucky man!"

A couple weeks ago while watching The Sound of Music, at the scene where Maria is arriving at her new job to care for the seven children, and first enters the Captain's mansion to see the large cavernous room, the hallways, and chandelier, Zachary said, "That kinda looks like an art museum and they forgot the art."

A Letter from Ten Years Ago (Victims of War)

This (slightly edited) letter was published in the Idaho Statesman ten years ago on Feb. 1999. It would be nice if it were no longer relevant.

Ninety percent of the victims of the 200 wars which have been fought on this planet since World War 2 have been civilians. When a person joins the military of any country today, he or she is joining to learn how to kill women, children, and other civilians. Killing civilians is primarily what soldiers at war do nowadays.
In the past Idaho land has been used to train soldiers to kill civilians.
Most of the 1.5 million victims (including 750,000 children) of the 1991 US attack on Iraq, which included soldiers trained on Idaho land, have been civilians.
Expanding the bombing range is a moral and spiritual tragedy for Idaho. Using good Idaho earth for the profane, sacreligious, and shameful purpose of training soldiers to kill children and other civilians in foreign countries not only desecrates our Earth and the environment, it also devastates our moral and spiritual existence.

Leonard Nolt

Recent Readings - Jan 1, 2009

Goldengrove by Francine Prose. Intriguing novel about a thirteen-year-old girl coping with the accidental death of her older sister. Smooth and upbeat.

Marley and Me by John Grogan. A cute sentimental story of one couple's experiences with a dog who owns and controls the family.

American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, edited by Bill McKibben. Excellent 1000 plus page collection of the best environmental writing, complied by one of the finest and most prolific current environmental writers. This volume includes well know writers like Abbey, Leopold, and Kingsolver, as well as lesser-known authors such as Robert Marshall, Jane Jacobs, and Rebecca Solnit. It includes the works of at least half a dozen poets, a couple ex-presidents, a former Supreme Court justice, a former governor, songwriters, photographers, and a cartoonist. I really appreciate McKibben's editorial skills and his own opinions. For example in the introduction to Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land," McKibben writes, "Were I in charge of such matters, it could alternate weeks with "America the Beautiful" as our national anthem. Great idea! It's past time that we replaced our current bloody and war-glorifying national anthem with a song that shows some respect for humans who may live in a nation, currently designated as "enemy." We also need a song for national anthem that fits the times we live in, that is an anthem that encourages us to protect the environement, which war and preparartion for war consistenty does not. We also need an anthem that encourages us to resolve our differences with other peoples in a humane, civilized, non-violent manner. Why not follow McKibben's suggestion and use two or three songs for national anthems, or have a national song-writing contest for a new and better anthem, or perhaps several new anthems? In any case, American Earth is an inspiring and timely collection of excellent writings. I need to own this book.

The Madonna Stories by Gary Paulson. A collection of bleak stories by this author who is better known as a three-time winner of the Newbery Honor awards.

I Don't Believe in Atheists by Chris Hedges. If there's one non-fiction writer in the US we should be reading, it's Hedges. Ever since War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Hedges has been turning out important books about the world today. In this title he squashes the arguments of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and others who say there is no God. When you're finished with this book, you will want to also read What Every Person Should Know About War, Losing Moses on the Freeway, American Fascists, and The Ten Commandments in America.

The Pleasures of the Damned by Charles Bukowski. Another sizable collection of poems by this raw, offbeat, and explicit poet who died in 1994. However his poems live on, as energetic, alive,and relevant as if the ink was still wet on the page.

David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall, This recorded reading of short humorous stories by Sedaris whose books/recording have to be placed on hold for months at the Boise Public Library, are not as funny as I expected. It's nice that people are interested in hearing these stories, but as literature they seem weak, and as humor, it's not hard to find funnier material. However these may be popular because they help the listener to see the humorous situations in his/her own life and not take himself too seriously.

The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We can do about it by M. Gigi Durham. An eye-opening look at the way our culture and the media uses girls, young women, and female sexuality to sell products and make money, and the harmful effect this has on women. Durham is a professor of journalism and mass communication at the Univ. of Iowa. She writes that there are five core myths that perpetuate the Lolita Effect. They are: "If you've got it, flaunt it," "The anatomy of a sex goddess," "Pretty babies," "Violence is sexy," and "What boys want." Durham devotes a chapter to each myth pointing out where it repeatedly manifests itself, and the harm that particular myth does, not just to females, but also to males. She also has some interesting things to say about censorship. An excellent choice for young people and adults who care about them.

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews. This is the fourth novel (fifth book) by Toews (rhymes with caves), a Canadian Mennonite novelist. Her novels are about people on the margins of society, nearly dysfunctional, caught up in disintegrating relationships, and too much a part of an unhealthy society. Yet each person is unique, eccentric, likable, and trying hard to survive. Often Taves characters are in some kind of major transition, traveling, moving, abandoning one relationship for another, or simply trying to connect as the Troutmans seem to be doing, although not in any kind of coherent, predictable, or likely to succeed manner. This novel is not as strong nor as funny as her previous one, A Complicated Kindness, which I highly recommend, but if you are a fan of Toews you will want to get acquainted with the Troutmans.

Christmas Report

It's December 25 and I just got off work at 6:30 am. The temperature is 34 degrees and the snow that was falling when I came to work at 9:30 pm turned to rain sometime during the night. There is still a lot of snow on the ground, and the roads and sidewalks are coated with a treacherous cocktail of snow, water, and ice. Without a pair of good boots it wouldn't be a great morning to walk the 5.5 miles home from work, as I have done a few times in the past year. I did it last December 25 when I tripped at the corner of Heron and 13th, and fell on the sidewalk breaking my nose, and giving myself a couple black eyes, thereby adding some unusual and unsightly cosmetic touches to our holiday celebration. I have no plans to make that an annual tradition. I drove to work last night.


It's a Thursday, usually a work day, that is, if it weren't the best known and most popular holiday of the year. So there is little or no traffic on the streets. Most businesses are closed. I think the only ones open are the "essentials;" medical centers as well as police and fire protection. A few trained specialists are on call, emergency repair persons such as doctors, plumbers, the power company, people who deal with the transport of substances needed to sustain life such as blood, water, oxygen, and electricity. It's a safe guess that none of them really want to be called today.


So on the way home from work I temporarily abandon my commitment to use less gasoline and take a longer route. I circle around downtown a few times and then drive the approximately five miles on State Street to the intersection at Glenwood. Usually on a Thursday morning these streets are thick with traffic. I obediently stop at about twenty red traffic signals along this route, but if I hadn't stopped or even slowed down, I wouldn't have hit anyone, or even come close to causing an accident. A few motorists might have been startled by my actions, but that's all that would have happened. There was virtually no traffic. When I stopped at traffic signals downtown, I looked both ways and usually there was no other vehicle in sight for as far as I could see, other than a few parked cars still covered with snow. Except for a few convenience stores, nearly all businesses are closed. Even that most villainous of retailers, which shall remain unnamed, at the corner of Glenwood and State is closed at 7:00 am.


I like this kind of day, not just because it's Christmas, but because it's a holiday that most people and businesses actually treat with respect and honor as a holiday. It's a time for people to relax, sleep in, rest, and share their lives with families and friends. Of course, for mothers and others, usually women, who have to prepare for Christmas dinners and other yuletide celebrations, there is work to do. But I also like holidays that are actually treated as holidays for other reasons. I like them because they give people a glimpse of what their hometown, regardless of size, would be like if it became a ghost town. Many towns and cities in this country that were lively locations of human activity a hundred years ago, no longer exist. Some died because the mines that supported them ran out of minerals. Others died because the railroad passed them by, and still others were swallowed up by larger cities. In human history, entire civilizations have vanished, leaving only archaeological remnants proving they once existed. On a morning like this I wonder what Boise would be like if I was the last person in the city, or even in the entire Treasure Valley. What if everyone else had left, moved on for some reason or another? Considering how most Americans live, consuming vast amounts of non-renewable natural resources, it's probably inevitable that at some time in the future, the cities of this country will become non-existent. It's possible, and perhaps even likely, that global warming and the decreasing supply of water that accompanies it, will someday make Boise and other western cities uninhabitable?


What would a newly abandoned Boise look like? Like this morning the streets would be empty. The blowing wind would be playing with dry snowflakes, or if it were summer, dust and tumbleweeds. The traffic signals would be idiotically blinking from red to green, then to amber and back to red, regulating non-existent traffic like silent actors on stage performing to an empty auditorium. Houses and other buildings would be abandoned, a few vandalized with broken windows, and others with open doors swinging in the wind. Feral dogs would be roaming in and out of open buildings, searching for edible garbage. In western cities that normally get more snow than Boise, such as Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, and Billings, what would it be like to see snow that had fallen weeks or months before on streets, sidewalks, and around houses, melting naturally in the spring without ever being marked by a human foot print, or re-arranged by a shovel, blower, or snow plow? Of course the image of an abandoned Boise would be different if our city were destroyed by war, instead of drought or economic disaster. But even the Pentagon believes that future wars will be fought over water rather than oil.


However a holiday like Christmas raises another important question. Why are there so few of them? A holiday such as today when businesses are closed and traffic is significantly less is good for everybody. It's good for the environment. The air was definitely cleaner this morning that it would have been if traffic was at normal work day levels. Of course, to reduce our waste of natural resources, we may have to ease off on the excessive gift-giving, use living or recycled Christmas trees, and change a few other habits, but otherwise Christmas is a green holiday, as well as a strong pro-family event. It's also a day off work. Americans work an average of 350 hours a year more than western Europeans, and have nothing to show for it. Citizens of Western Europe have more benefits, better health care, greater longevity, and superior transportation options than we have. As we all know, our economy is not very healthy. Perhaps it desperately needs rest. Expecting the economy to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week is unrealistic. There should regularly be days when people stay at home, or visit family and friends, days when stores and businesses are closed, the roads are nearly empty, and business activities takes a break. Holidays are good for our physical and mental health, but only when they are actually treated, celebrated or memorailized as holidays. Even anticipating and remembering holidays can be healthy.


It's not that we don't have anything to celebrate. Even those who embrace the so-called literal interpretation of the Bible, believe that there have been between 5,000 and 10,000 years of human history. So as humans, there is much to remember and proclaim. Even though the United States has had over a quarter of a century of continuous, "pro-family," conservative Republican and Democratic administrations in control, the Reagan, Clinton, and two Bush Administrations, nothing has been done to support or enhance family life as much as creating more holidays would do. Instead family life has been undermined especially by the union-busting, pension-breaking, and health care depriving Republican administrations. Unfortunately the Democrats haven't been much better. Adding more holidays, like Christmas, that are actually treated as holidays would do much to enhance family life, and they would also help our economy and our cities survive.

Why is there no official holiday to celebrate the the writ of habeous corpus that guarantees individuals the right to seek relief from unlawful detention, a right that dates back to before the Magna Carta in 1215. Perhaps if we had a holiday to celebrate this basic aspect of democracy it wouldn't have been possible for Pres. Bush and Congress to undermine that right in the Military Commission Act of 2006. Part of that act was, two years later, by a narrow margin, declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. That right is certainly worth a significant annual celebration, comparable to Christmas. Why is there no holiday celebrating the life of Martin Luther, whose 95 thesis nailed to the Wittenburg Church door on Halloween in 1517 is seen as the start of the Protestant Reformation? Since that date is already occupied by Halloween we could celebrate Luther's birthdate which was in 1483, on Nov. 10. Another date to celebrate is May 27, the birth date of Rachel Carson in 1907. The publication of Carson's book Silent Spring, in 1962, two years before she died from breast cancer, may be the most important date in the struggle to protect the environment and preserve the earth as a planet, suitable for human habitation. There is no shortage of needed celebrations. Why is there no holiday designated especially for the family? We have a Father's Day and Mother's Day and even lesser known days for grandparents, but shouldn't there be a holiday of Christmas status just for the family? It would be easy to find justifiable reasons for at least a dozen more holidays, special days really treated as holidays by government, education, and business. Everyone would benefit and so would the environment, human health, and the economy. Our cities and our civilization would have a better chance of long-term survival. Let's work on it. Merry Christmas.

Leonard Nolt

My daughter, Marika, wrote this for Father's Day and perhaps even my 60th. birthday, both in June, but it's so nice, I 'm also using it for a Christmas present. http://marikanolt.blogspot.com/2008/06/to-my-dad-on-fathers-day.html

Thanks, Marika.

On the way home from our Christmas Eve service at our church, Hyde Park Mennonite Fellowship, here in Boise, motoring through a heavy (for Boise) snowfall, with the flakes flying toward, and then over or past our windshield, Zachary, our five-year old grandson, sitting in the back seat of the Prius said: "It's like driving through water, and all the snowflakes are fish."

"Please note that, unless otherwise indicated, all the writings, prose and poetry, and images on this blog are the property of Leonard Nolt and may not be used without permission, except for brief credited quotes. For permission contact me at LeonardNolt@AOL.com. Thanks."