Last week, I reported that the Mankind Project Houston has not kept the terms which were a part of settling a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the parents of Michael Scinto. Scinto killed himself after a New Warriors Training Adventure. In an online article Friday, the Houston Press confirmed with Mrs. Scinto that she was unaware of any effort to comply with the court settlement.
Prior to that post, I wrote the Mankind Project of Houston to ask if I missed something on their website or if they plan to comply in the future. Friday afternoon, an unnamed person from MKP-H wrote back to refer me to their legal counsel “regarding your inaccurate assumptions against MKP on your blog.”
However, the emailer offered no examples of anything inaccurate. In fact, I didn’t assume anything. I reported what the court order said (a copy of which was retrieved from the Harris County court website) and what their website says.
If MKP-H has evidence that either of those sources are incorrect, then it should be a simple matter to produce it.
Month: January 2009
Tower for Fools (Just in Time to Fall Down) – Ben Taylor
A completely unofficial tribute to a great song…
Read some of the lyrics here and enjoy great songwriting and singing.
Some great lines from Ben Taylor
The son of James Taylor and Carly Simon is a singer-songwriter who once penned these lines. I couldn’t find the mp3 anywhere on line, but he sounds just like his dad.
Just in Time to Fall Down (Tower for Fools)
-Ben Taylor (2002)
I made bricks of my lies,
Stones of my rules.
I used dreams as my plans,
and obsessions as my tools.
You know I built me a great big old tower for fools,
to look down upon the earth and sing the blues.
Just in time to fall down.
So many interpretations…
HuffPo: Release the Blagojevich records
Of course they should.
Menin makes a good case for release of all documents.
Mankind Project Houston has not implemented Scinto court settlement
Mankind Project came into public view via a Houston Press article on the suicide of Michael Scinto. Due to statements made after the New Warriors Training Adventure weekend by Mr. Scinto, his parents came to believe that the weekend conducted by MKP-Houston was responsible for the tragic death. The Scintos sued and settled with MKPH in June, 2008. The settlement called for MKPH to provide a new level of disclosure about the activities of the NWTA. MKPH agreed to several changes in disclosure on their website:
-MKP of Houston agreed to have its pre-New Warrior Training Adventure Adventure questionnaire reviewed by a licensed mental health professional for recommendations about how it can be improved. However, the MKPH board must approve changes before they can be implemented.
-Each application for the NWTA must be screened by a mental health professional who has personal knowledge of the weekend. The screener shall determine whether the applicant shall be accepted or not with the decision written on the application.
-The following changes will be made within 30 days of a required MKP of Houston Board review of the website:
1. Change the website to provide adequate information from which potential applicants can make an informed decision about whether to attend the NWTA.
2. The website shall disclose that a mental health professional will screen applications to determine suitability for participation.
3. The website will need to disclose that people who wish to leave the NWTA are free to do so.
4. Applicants will be told that the NWTA may involve optional nudity and certain elements of Native American traditions.
-MKPH agrees to develop a written protocol which will allow any participant to leave NWTA safely with MKPH assistance. Participants requesting to leave shall be allowed to do so immediately unless the action would result in further risk of harm. Once a request is made, the participant is not required to do any other activities unless the participant changes his mind.
These changes were to be made within 6 months of approval of the MKPH board. It is now January, 2009 and no changes have been made. In fact, the secrecy surrounding the weekend is still offered as a selling point on the group’s website:
Why aren’t the details of the Weekend divulged in advance?
There’s all the difference in the world between a concept and an experience. Our commitment is to give you a transformational experience along with information you can use.
Traditional initiations utilized fasting, isolation, sleep deprivation, mind altering substances and painful physical ordeals to break down the psyche’s natural resistance to change.
While we don’t use those extreme conditions, we do rely on the element of confidentiality to intensify and deepen the process. We ask you to trust us in this regard. All activities during the weekend are optional but you will get the most benefit if you participate fully. Remember, the training is mostly staffed by volunteers who have gone through the same experience and found it very worthwhile.
What is ironic about this description is that MKPH says NWTA does not use “fasting, isolation, sleep deprivation” techniques to “break down the psyche’s natural resistance to change.” However, as described by prior members, NWTA clearly involves at lease some level of food and sleep deprivation and isolation. Some people who view themselves as survivors of MKP would alter MKPH’s description of NWTA to say that the weekend simply breaks down the psyche.
I wrote the MKPH director for a comment or clarification of their position which I will post if I hear back. For more information regarding NWTA and MKP, see this page.