Upcoming Humanity Beat Shows

Humanity Beat is hard at work on some new shows to bring you some of the best fun, entertainment, and inspiration anywhere. "Magic Matters" will bring us up close in the skilled fun brought into the world by "The British Magician", Jeremy Payne. "All the world is indeed a stage, and wherever you desire to place your stage you can be confident that Jeremy will fill it with life and laughter, magic and merriment!" - Jeremy Payne Bio Page

"Sunny and The Blues" is a rather special show that will bring some real emotion and meaning to the Humanity Beat audience as we will be graced with the presence of Grammy Award winning artist, Shawn Colvin. In her bio, we learn this:   "The frankness in Colvin’s work has always been tempered by humor and sensuality and a gift for finding strong, simple melodies. She’s not one to directly take on social or political issues in her lyrics, but she’s bracingly honest about her own travails (and triumphs) and that resonates with her listeners. As she explains, “This is how I write".

We'll talk about her new album, "All Fall Down".  Colvin will talk about her NEW book, "Diamond In The Rough". Sunny Came Home, and Round of Blues will be only two of her hit songs that we touch on as Humanity Beat talks with Shawn about what means the most to an active, working artist. 

"Teaching In The Trenches": Humanity Beat will take you deep inside the Chicago Teacher's Strike to tell the stories of inner-city teachers, and what they deal with everyday in their teaching careers that brought the need for a strike. Humanity Beat has an inside track that the main stream media refuses to talk about!

Humanity Beat, documenting the life that matters!

Front Row With Olivia Newton - John

Olivia Newton - John came to America with only her hope in hand, and her hopes turned into reality by way of hard work. Sure, she had a little bit of luck on her side, but, not without merit on her part. Fourty years has taken Olivia from small time actress, to world renowned cancer treatment advocate who just happens to have had some of the biggest hits in the music and film industries.

On August 12th, 2012, Humanity Beat caught up with Olivia as she took a crowd of an estimated 80,000 people through an emotional musical journey of decades from her career. Chicago's north Halsted street was the appointed place and time for this once in a lifetime magical concert.

A Fisherman's Tale

Taking a break from more serious subjects to do something fun is always a good thing. Humanity Beat went to Elgin, Illinois to gather new material and ran across a fun opportunity to speak with a local fisherman named, Shaw.


Shaw is a fun, intelligent, fellow, who actually initiated contact with a simple, neighborly, wave and a smile while waiting for a bite on his line on the shores of the Fox River. Humanity Beat spoke with Shaw before moving forward in the process of gathering new material.

At the end of the time in Elgin, Shaw was still at his spot when the opportunity for this interview happened. Here's the video:



Thank you Shaw! It was wonderful meeting you and maybe next time, you'll get that big catch! Some people might wonder what this has to do with the mission of Humanity Beat. The answer to that can be had by reading the Humanity Beat introduction. This interview is a prime example that it IS still possible to get out into the world and find the good in people, and therefore, find the good that is left in the world.


This interview with Shaw is part of documenting the life that matters in the context of the happiness and joys of life around us. If anyone remembers the classic 80s film, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", you'll remember his famous line "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it!" Of course, life isn't a movie and can never be compared to such a thing, but that line has a truth to it. We have to take the time to actually get out and enjoy the bigger world around us and be part of it.


This video captures something that is so important, and is too often taken for granted. Did you see it? Shaw displayed happiness and laughter. His big catch may have gotten away in the past, but he gained a moment of laughter from it. He displayed something else, did you notice that? It was a spirit of kindness, and a natural inclination to invite people around him to be part of his enjoyment of nature. He mentions this in the video when he talks about  enjoying his time by the water and the weather being a bit cooler than it was. Shaw gets the entire point of what it means to enjoy nature while also enjoying the company of people around him who help make up the experience of enjoying the better part of human nature.

The Value of Peace and Quiet In A Connected Age

In this earlier post, Humanity Beat talked about the inspirational and powerful musical work of Corrinne May. Today, Corrinne posted something on Facebook that really spoke to this writer. Written by Pico Iyer, The Joy of Quiet talks about how just a few years ago, all of us were enamored with digital connectivity and highlights the current day need to "disconnect" and actually have quiet time for ourselves.

This quote from the article says it all: "The urgency of slowing down — to find the time and space to think — is nothing new, of course, and wiser souls have always reminded us that the more attention we pay to the moment, the less time and energy we have to place it in some larger context. “Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries,” the French philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century, “and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.” He also famously remarked that all of man’s problems come from his inability to sit quietly in a room alone."

Back in 1985, a popular music artist who is now in the Contemporary Christian Music Hall of Fame wrote "It's the fear of silence that gives us away, cause when we're alone we have to hear what our aching hearts try to say and we've been walking in dead men's shoes. Now there's only one saving grace and we're given the power to choose" - Randy Stonehill (Copyright 1985 Word Music, Word, Inc. / ASCAP / Stonehillian Music)



Over the more recent years, psychology, psychiatry, medical doctors, and social work professionals have been saying we have become a culture addicted to connected technology, and that it really isn't good news.They all said this internet and technology addiction was leading to obesity at alarming rates, and we have all repeatedly told these people to go find some real work to do and mind their own business. In our cynicism and arrogance, this writer is starting to believe that we may have figuratively shot ourselves in the foot.

Our society is at a crossroads today that begs the following question: "Has connected technology fed into our stubborn behavior pattern of being anti-social?" If we ask this question, we also have to ask this next question: "Exactly what has led us to this place in human social history that we have become so uncaring about social skills and real life social interaction?"

The two obvious answers we can start with have to do with the inborn human want for instant gratification, and a sort of burn out from being over socialized before the age of connected technology. Those older people in the world born before the Nintendo generation (The generation of which this author belongs) can remember our parents literally begging us to get out of the house instead of watching TV or vegging out while listening to the popular music of the day.

Because we didn't have Nintendo, Satellite TV, Cable, or connected technology; the only way to get information was to actually get out of the house and socialize. We learned how to make friends and build real life social networks in our communities, and we knew the value of books, libraries, and book stores. Part of the anti-social attitude indeed has to do with being forced to socialize with people we either had nothing in common with or we simply just didn't understand their mentality.

At the end of the day, we appreciated quiet time. We actually used it to reflect back on our day, our overall lives, and where we were heading in the world. Today, the contrast to that is so noticeable within our hurry-up and stay busy world that we have seemingly forgotten how important our inborn social skills are. One thing that has led to the connected life replacing real life outside the home is the whole desensitization movement that took place from the late 80s to the current day. This desensitization movement was created by mental health professionals eager to help people deal with a rapidly changing world in which personality conflicts, deteriorating community relationships, eroding privacy rights, and spikes in shocking violence rocked every single person in some tangible way.

Privacy rights and the "public right to know" about everyone around us was a direct result of the mentioned spike in shocking violent crimes worldwide that became graphic beyond human imagination. Now, more than ever, we need to be able to disconnect from technology which feeds public paranoia with too much information. In this connected age, the information and education we so crave is misleading, incorrect, and tainted by non-credentialed self-professed experts more often than not. (This doesn't go to say that credentialed "experts" are always any better than armchair experts at all times).

This is a good time to talk about how easy it is for people at large to use the internet to present theories that look good but have no basis to them. How easy it is to take good information with real research behind it and then manipulate it to the masses without offering any good logic and little or no offering of tangible evidence that stands on its own. This is another reason for us to routinely have quiet time and disconnect...we really need to re-orient ourselves to rules of reality that we have conveniently thrown away in favor of winning a convoluted war of words, and quick, easy,  entertainment.

Perhaps this whole infatuation with quick access to information, entertainment, on-line social networking, and on-line education is a symptom of filling a social and emotional empty place for many people. Here is Alexandra with a talk about disconnecting and using that disconnected time to connect with ourselves, our lives, and our families.



Now, go let yourself find a good space with peace and quiet. Let your mind quiet down, and only focus on what's important in the real world. Live the life that matters!

Building Cooperative Relationships With Law Enforcement

As mentioned in the welcome post here at Humanity Beat, one of the purposes is to document those moments in life that connect us all.  Among the many things we as a society have in common is the fact that we will all sooner or later have some sort of contact with law enforcement officers. Whether law enforcement contact is something that happens in passing as a person goes about their daily life or happens as a result of a street / traffic stop, or under any other circumstance, there is a right way and a wrong way to respond to law enforcement contact.

I want to talk about a specific kind of law enforcement contact in this piece. Before we go any further, let me detail the different types of police out here so as to give readers a good overview of the different levels of law enforcement.

1. City / Village / Township level law enforcement

2. County law enforcement

3. State law enforcement

4. Federal law enforcement

Each level of law enforcement has their specific duties and obligations under state and federal law, and what are also called "ordinances".  An ordinance is just underneath the state law level of legislation, and violation of an ordinance is usually nothing more severe than a petty offense punishable by a fine and maybe 30 days to one year in the local jail.

Most people these days who have contact with law enforcement want to grab their camera, or their cell phone right away and start recording or snapping pictures, they want to start asking the law enforcement officer for their ID and business card, and they want to assert their rights from a defensive, if even passive -  resistive angle. Sometimes you can do these things, but....what would you do if the contact with law enforcement was of an emergency nature and they showed up at your house / apartment and knocked on your door with a whole team of people who are heavily armed and they have a WARRANT for someone, but that someone doesn't even live with you and you have no clue who their person of interest is?

We are talking about a door knock, NOT a full blown raid and this is not just two agents who want to have a Q&A with you, this is an emergency involving an active situation with a warrant in hand.

What IF they have reason to believe that the person may possibly be on, in, or about your building? For the sake of this story, let's pretend this is a multi-unit dwelling and they didn't know where a certain access point of the building was and they ask YOU to help them?

In a circumstance like this where you have multiple, heavily armed, federal agents at your door with a warrant for a person you don't even know; here is how to deal with it:

BE CALM: listen to the agents and the things they are telling you. Listen carefully to their questions. REMAIN CALM! In a situation like this where you are NOT the suspect or interest of their business, you are in a position to help give back to your community and your country. They selected YOU to help them for a reason! They selected YOUR door to knock on for substantially good reason.

YOU MUST identify yourself if directed to do so. This is as much for YOUR OWN SAFETY as it is for that of the agents or officers. Cooperating with any law enforcement branch of government always entails some sort of risk to your safety and this will help them to get a criminal complaint made on your behalf, services from the court, or get you enrolled in protection programs if the situation comes to that. This also helps with other details or duties you may have to cooperate with in an emergency such as this. 

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS: Do it EXACTLY as they tell you to. You will have ample time and opportunity to ask questions later.

The only notifications of this sort of emergency you should ever make are to people with a legal need to know. This means the local city attorney, county attorney, state's attorney, or U.S. Attorney; this means the law enforcement supervisory chain, those in charge of the care / education of any children you may have, and those involved with your own health and welfare if you, your children, or other people in your house have medical problems. 

I'll talk more about these issues later in this piece.

Making any other talk or notifications to others without any need to know can and will put you and others in danger. This will likely also result in the legal process being ruined. 

Only answer questions that are asked and DO NOT volunteer any other statement on your part unless it is pertinent to the immediate safety and well being of the agents and others involved or affected by the active law enforcement emergency.

DO NOT make any sudden or uncalled for physical movements. The reason for this is obvious.

Treat the law enforcement folks with human dignity and respect. They are not their to hassle you in this specific instance. Thy are there to take a dangerous person off the streets who could end up harming you or someone else. The more good cooperation you give them, the more cooperative they will be in helping to protect you during and after the fact. Remember, the citizen role in helping to protect the community and the nation comes into play here. You want to build bridges, not burn them.

After the law enforcement agents have completed their duties, you may ask questions and take the time to get names and business cards. In the instance you are too shaken to do this, don't worry...you can use the internet and your local law enforcement agency to help you get in contact with the agency conducting their business at your residence.

When a law enforcement emergency like this occurs, the agents or officers involved will not have any time or privilege to give you all the details of who it is they are seeking, what the charges are, etc. They need to move quickly in this scenario. You DO have a right to know, but save that for after they have completed their duties. The faster you help them move things along, the faster you and/or your family will be out of harm's way.

A heavily armed, multiple agent / multiple officer response only happens when the person they are seeking is deemed at the time to be dangerous.  

The Protective Process:

IF after the agents or officers leave, you get "made" by the party they were there to talk to or serve the warrant on OR IF you are threatened by that party involved, even if the threat is vague and not really direct: LET YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT KNOW IMMEDIATELY! Do not guess what the offending or intimidating party means with their words. Let law enforcement figure that out. Make sure you also contact the agency that showed up to do business in the first place. If it is a federal agency, the U.S. Attorney is VERY helpful! Go to their office or call them! They will help you get into contact with the Special Agent In Charge of the federal law enforcement agency working the case. If you already know what federal agency it was, call them and ask to speak to the Special Agent In Charge.

The next step is for the agency to work with you in reaching a resolve to the matter of your safety. They may come out to talk to and investigate the offending party, they may do a threat and safety assessment to determine the actual risk to your safety as a result of whatever cooperation you gave them, and in the WORST cases, they can offer you and your family relocation or even a new life under the Witness Security Program.

If the agency that did business at your residence is a local, county, or state agency; you need to contact them. They have their own programs designed to offer protection to witnesses or to those who gave cooperation in their discharge of official duties. Again, this service is based on actual need and based on the actual level of safety threat involved.

One of the first things they like to do is see how they can provide for your safety without needing to resort to extreme measures if those measures are not called for. In the protection process, the most minimal thing thing they can do is help you get a court order against contact with the person(s) who are making unwanted and intimidating or threatening contact with you. If the offending party violates that order, they will be arrested and the court will decide how to deal with it upon hearing the evidence.

They can and usually will give you sound personal safety advice if going through a legal endeavor would be harmful to you or to your living situation / relationships in the community. 

Need To Know Basis:

ANYONE you talk to in this privileged need to know circle other than involved officials should be told that the matter is sensitive and confidential. They need to be told by you that they may NOT talk to others about any information you give them without prior official authorization from the legal agencies involved.

Persons in the need to know circle are enumerated above in the most specific sense. The fact is that if you talk to anyone who does not have a need to know, you will not only put yourself in more danger and ruin the legal process, you will also face legal consequences. Depending on the level of incident you were part of, the legal consequences can be severe. You can then lose all rights to claim protection or other law enforcement services related to your involvement.Your credibility will take a major downfall, and you don't want that.

As this piece comes to a close, let it be known that nothing here should be construed as legal advice. The author is not an attorney, and no implied or express guarantees are made from any legal standpoint by anyone anywhere. Check your local and state laws.

Following these rules for all contact with law enforcement will keep you and others safe, and will help you build valuable relationships in your community. Use your best judgement, treat everyone with courtesy, respect, dignity, and kindness. I guarantee you will receive the same treatment in return. When you are called upon to help assist law enforcement, you as a citizen are presented with a valuable opportunity to do something good for your community. Use this opportunity wisely.

Life Is Beautiful - Living Along Crooked Lines

If there is but one regular curse that visits us in life, it is the daily, sometimes, depressing grind of the mundane. Doing the same thing over and over again gets boring, we need a new way to see each passing day. If there is anything that all of us have in common it is this: we are all wired to desire a new, fresh, variety in life. We have this inborn need to do the same thing differently and especially as we come to realize that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results each time.

The revolving door is made of these repetitive practices of ours that call us like a magnet we are powerless to escape. Admit it, we become restless, anxious, and we forget to have an attitude of gratitude for what we DO have. We forget that each day we live could very well be our last. We get so caught up in our worries, so caught up in the items that demand our time and attention that we forget how beautiful life is.

Corrinne May has crafted her fifth album, called "Crooked Lines" which sees its launch tomorrow  at the Hard Rock Cafe', located at 50 Cuscaden Road, Singapore. This launch is sponsored by Class 95 FM.  According to her bio and the statement at Class 95 FM, Corrinne is Singapore's most successful musician. Pink Armchair Records has a complete listing of Corrinne's works. Corrine is being profiled here because her work comports with the very mission of Humanity Beat.

Songs like "Mr. Beasley", "Beautiful Life", "24 Hours", "Your Song", "Safe In A Crazy World", "Same Side of The Moon" and "The Birthday Song" convey the heart of someone who is more than just a musical artist. These songs and other works by Corrinne May convey real emotion at the soul and heart level, marking the journey of journeys. Her newest album, "Crooked Lines", is a continuance of personal growth in the life of someone who has matured and has chosen to graciously share vital moments of how we get to where we need to be, even if we do get there by way of crooked lines.
Corrinne's story is not everyone's story, and that is what makes life so beautiful. When we each choose to do the real work in our everyday lives, and the story of ourselves in all of our achievements, our foibles, and our hopes unfolds...we find that beautiful seeds grow into something to be proud of.

The work of Corrinne May speaks of a life well lived, and talks about the life that matters. Beyond the life that matters, her work talks about what's important in life. With any luck, as Humanity Beat grows and evolves, maybe Corrinne will talk to Humanity Beat about the meaningful songs she has worked so hard to bring to the world, the stories and creative process behind them, and living the life that matters in her own experiences.

Official Humanity Beat YouTube and Twitter Networking

 

 You may now follow Humanity Beat on YouTube and Twitter!

Simply point your browser to Humanity Beat's YouTube Channel and then follow on Twitter 

Maybe you're a Facebook kind of person and wish to follow Humanity Beat there? Just click this link, and you'll see the newest updates from this place that talks about what connects us all.

Thanks to those who read, listen to, and otherwise follow Humanity Beat! 

Airline Aggravation

Perhaps no public servant has more stress placed on them than those in the airline and aviation transport industry. There is no business more complex than the airline and aviation industry. In this line of work, there are more than just airline Ticket Agents, Gate Agents, Flight Attendants, and Skycaps.

Airline passengers meet with only a few of the professionals who make the business what it is. There is something in human nature that makes most travelers oblivious to the environment around them in that they only see a person in a uniform who either makes or ruins their day. Passengers see airline personnel and airport security as people who either hamper their freedom to travel or help their travel plans along.

The Humanity Beat documentary, "Airline Aggravation" looks inside the airline and aviation transport industry and exposes the stress levels experienced by those professionals who are expected to leave their humanity behind for the sake of corporate profit. This program will enlighten travelers on the matters of airline mental health, and what happens when the airline corporate culture forces airline personnel to hide their state of health until these hard workers reach their breaking point.

Airline personnel struggle with the stigma of mental health diagnoses just the same as anyone else, and yet, it is airline personnel who are demonized when they suffer a meltdown. Corporate corruption and alienation of people plays a role in airline and aviation employee mental health problems.

In recent news stories, two American Airlines employees have come under scrutiny and even demonization. Both of these professionals are Flight Attendants in the emlpoy of American Airlines. One of them is unidentified and under in-patient care at a Texas hospital after what is suspected to be a bipolar episode on a flight from Dallas to Chicago, and the other is Gailen David who was recently fired for blowing the whistle on American by way of his parody videos depicting his views of what happens at American Airlines.

"Airline Aggravation" is in production. The download link will be posted here when it is released. Until then, please enjoy this video statement by Gailen David, and visit his website, DEAR SKY STEWARD

Mortal Remembrance - The Death That Happens and The Death That Matters

The photo above is the face of Thomas Lynch. Mr. Lynch is an award winning writer and poet; he is also an experienced Funeral Director who wrote a book called "The Undertaking: Stories From The Dismal Trade". Lynch worked with the documentary team at Frontline by their request to create what is possibly the most meaningful work on the topic of how we humans process death, dying, and dealing with our dead. Mortal Remembrance is inspired by this, and other works by Lynch. 

In the Frontline documentary, "The Undertaking", Mr. Lynch made a VERY powerful and profound statement; he said "Funerals are the way we close the gap between the death that happens and the death that matters". Mortal Remembrance talks about exactly that topic....the death that happens and the death that matters. Thomas Lynch was unavailable for comment or consultation on this documentary per his office personnel.

Mortal Remembrance picks up where "The Undertaking" left off, examining how we process death, how we deal with the death that happens, how we make that loved one's life matter, and learning how to live beyond the loss when we lose someone we love. In this way, we are able to live our own lives as whole people because we become empowered to improve our state of mental and spiritual health when we work through the death that happens and make that death matter. 

Humanity Beat interviewed two Licensed Clinical Social Workers from The Center For Grief Recovery and Therapeutic Services - Institute For Creativity and Development.

 

David Fireman, MSW, LCSW

Kathryn Conway - "KC", MSW, LCSW

Learn about David Fireman and KC by visiting their official website. David and KC had the following words about the Mortal Remembrance program: 

"I'm really glad you are working on something like this. It sounds like a very important piece that will help many people, and it's really needed." - David Fireman

KC had this to say: "I'm glad you came to do this project with us, it was great to talk about something that people have such a hard time dealing with today. That people matter is axiomatic. How do we help people feel as though they matter?  -We can love them. In W.H. Auden's poem "September 1, 1939", he says that "we must love one another or die".  We'll die anyway but loving one another matters. The death that matters, matters because of love"

Mortal Remembrance also includes a segment on environmentally friendly disposition of remains. This feature comes from a Radio Netherlands Worldwide production called "Earthbeat".

Mortal Remembrance can be heard or downloaded HERE. Special thanks to Marnie Chesterton at Earthbeat for her support of this project! Parents, PLEASE guide your children through this program.

Welcome To The Humanity Beat!

The Humanity Beat is proud to welcome you! Just what IS Humanity Beat? Humanity Beat is a place where life happens up close in all of its happiness, joy, sadness, silliness, sarcasm, anxiety, anger, outrage, and unexpected happenings.

More than just a blog....it's a podcast meant for all of humanity that is also intended to become a regular radio program focused on all of the things everyday people share in common. Humanity Beat will bring you long - form and short - form audio programs and written pieces that will serve to challenge, inspire, educate, inform, and honestly document the life that matters. Humanity Beat will cover the important issues of living life in an ever changing and evolving society that most other writers and producers cannot or will not publicly discuss beyond the commercial spin and flare for presentation that all of us in the world have grown weary of.

Humanity Beat is NEW media that dares to go deep, and speak candidly to the masses.

Enjoy Humanity Beat for whatever value it has to you. Humanity Beat believes that everyone lives a life that matters in some way, that we all have something to bring to the table since we all live the human experience.