Pheaturing Jon Bryant

 

Hey, kids, welcome come to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? A nightmare has unfolded in Lima, Pennsylvania, at the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, as serious allegations were made against the staff. The lawsuit, filed by two young people who were held at the facility, detailed accusations of rape, sexual abuse, and other horrifying abuses that allegedly has been happening for years in plain sight. The detention facility has been temporarily shut down due to the lawsuit’s explicit description of the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse allegations that were filed against county and state agencies on Wednesday. According to the lawsuit affidavit, one of the girls said that the facility guards took her to “private parties” where she was given alcohol and drugs and also sexually abused at 16-years-old. Another plaintiff in the lawsuit said that he was also raped by a staff member who threatened that if the victim told anyone, “he would kill him and his entire family.” The lawsuit also describes abuses that had been happening for years, with staff knowledge, and how they failed to intervene or actually helped cover up the crimes. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it also named the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, which was responsible for the center’s oversight, and the nonprofit Child Guidance Resource Center (CGRC), the contractor who reported $25 million in revenue from social services contracts in 2019. A spokesperson for the DHS explained how an investigation is ongoing, but no licensing action has been taken, saying, “This comprehensive investigation will include, but not be limited to, interviews with youth that formerly were placed at the facility, interviews with current and former staff of the facility, a review of past incidents, security tapes, and ChildLine complaints that are still available going back at least five years.” Current and former DGRC employees were among whistleblowers who reported, “failings including the use of prolonged seclusion, violent assaults that left kids bruised and battered, and a culture of pressuring staff to cover up the incidents,” and after the Delaware County Defender presented the allegations to County President Judge Kevin Kelly, the facility was ordered closed on March 12th. One out the many disturbing allegations that the lawsuit detailed, including mistreating some of the young people suffering from serious mental illnesses. One of these victims was locked in a room while covered in feces without access to water for days, and another was made to drink from a toilet when she got thirsty after attempting suicide by swallowing clothing. Although the victims’ names were not disclosed, another male victim said he was held in isolation for four days, choked until he nearly passed out, and was repeatedly beaten, eventually causing his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another female said that five guards had fed her and another female victim Xanax, alcohol, and marijuana at these “private parties,” before raping them. She also alleged that one of the guards obtained her cell phone number years after she had left the detention center, sending her unwanted sexual and harassing messages. And another staff member had proposed her teenage daughter to “link up” on Instagram. The center had housed 782 kids between 2019 and 2020, but the incidents were described to have been happening over a span of about 15 years, according to lawyer Dan McGarrigle, who filed the suit along with Laffey, Bucci & Kent. He said, “The facts that I’ve heard from my two current clients were shocking to me after almost 20 years handling serious criminal cases, and I thought there wasn’t much that would shock me anymore.” Apparently, this isn’t the first lawsuit filed towards the detention facility’s staff. Back in 2012, a boy who had told a social worker about the mistreatment was slammed into the ground by a staffer who had overheard the conversation. The staffer then tried to smash the boy’s head against a window and had punched him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. However, the jury didn’t find the employee guilty. 

Republican senator Mitt Romney is the recipient of this year’s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for his vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial as well as his “consistent and courageous defense of democracy.” Through a press release the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation stated “During a time of grave threat to U.S. democratic institutions, Mitt Romney has been a consistent but often solitary Republican voice in defense of democracy and the rule of law.” Former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy told NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander that Romney was “willing to risk his career and his popularity with his own party to do what’s right for our country and to follow his conscience and Constitution and his impeachment votes.” She will present the Profile in Courage Award to Romney through a virtual ceremony in May. Noting that he once ran against Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy’s late uncle, Romeny stated, "I’m very appreciative of the honor, but also humbled by it." She continued saying that she thinks his courage is an example for all Americans. Senator Romney of Utah is the first senator in U.S. history to vote to convict the president in his own party. Trump was acquitted of allegations that he had solicited for interference during the 2020 presidential election. He voted to convict Trump for abuse of power voting with Republicans to acquit Trump of the second article of impeachment, obstruction on Congress. At the end of Trump’s second impeachment trial, Romney was one of the seven GOP senators to vote to convict Trump for incitement of an insurrection that was related to his reckless actions during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The former president was acquitted by the Senate and was found not guilty of all charges. Sen. Mitt Romney’s vote created several enemies in his party but he said that he doesn’t regret his decision. He stated, “I sleep well because I know that I did what my conscience told me was the right thing to do. We swore a diff oath when the impeachment trial began,” Romney added. “We swore, under God, that we would apply impartial justice. I took that very, very seriously. I listened to the various testimonies that were provided, I looked into it with some depth... and I felt that that was a severe enough violation of his oath of office to require a guilty verdict. What I’ve found throughout life is doing those things that you know are right which respond to the promptings of your conscience allows you to have a greater degree of happiness and satisfaction than if you just do things to try and get ahead.” Caroline Kennedy’s son, 28-year-old Jack Schlossberg, states that Romney’s actions prove that faith and courage, and integrity are not outdated, and being a politician can still be a noble profession.

Radio host Rob Lederman of the radio show “The Morning Bull Show” has been immediately terminated by broadcasting company Cumulus Media and shunned by probably the rest of society for racist comments he made during one of the show’s episodes. The comments came about during a discussion with also suspended on-air co-hosts Chris Klein and Rich “Bull” Gaenzler, comparing toaster settings and burnt toast to skin tone shades of famous black women. Lederman had compared his toaster settings to tennis star Serena Williams, actress Halle Berry, and CBS anchor Gayle King. He had said, “We have ours [our toaster settings] … at the attractiveness of women that I find to be attractive, so I will never go to a Serena Williams level,” adding as his co-hosts laughed, “But I am very comfortable at a Halle Berry level. I need a little bit of mulatto still coming through. Gayle King is not even on my toaster level.” ESPN reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques shared the audio clip on social media, and it went trending on Twitter. This resulted in several organizations pulling their advertising from Buffalo’s 97 Rock radio station, including Buffalo’s Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation, and the Ride for Roswell, according to the Hill. Lederman was also fired from his role as arena host for the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bandits. Lederman immediately apologized on Twitter, saying he was “horrified” at his own comments. He said, “I want to sincerely apologize for hurting people with my foolish and ignorant comments yesterday. I 100% understand why people are justifiably angry. I made a mistake and it’s hard to look myself in the mirror, but I want to acknowledge it. I apologize from the deepest depths of who I am.” He also explained that reaching out to “the NAACP, my friends in the clergy from the African-American community, as well as the Mayor’s office, to seek their guidance and teaching,” and added, “I ask for your forgiveness and I pledge to learn, to do better and increase my sensitivity and understanding. I want this to be the start of a learning process so we as a community can become better.” Buffalo’s Mayor Byron Brown was one of the first elected officials to publicly criticize the on-air exchange, saying in a tweet, “The racist commentary made on ‘The Morning Bull’ show on 97 Rock is outrageous and intolerable.” 

Although COVID-19 vaccines have been rolling out all over the world, it’s still going to take time for the coronavirus pandemic to be completely gone. With that being said, researchers in Mexico have designed a new face mask that is designed for people to wear while they eat. Introducing the nose-only COVID-19 mask. And it looks as funny as it sounds. 

The nose masks, however, are actually worn underneath a full mask, held up with the same straps that wrap around the ears. The video demonstration, according to Reuters, shows a man and woman sit down for lunch, take off their full face masks to reveal their nose masks and continue to eat and drink with their nose masks on. I’m not going to lie, these eating masks look pretty comical. And according to Fox News, the responses on social media not only support my observations but also support the idea. While many liked the idea, saying it would “reduce transmission,” others definitely made jokes about its look. One Twitter user said, “Hardly a new invention, clowns have been wearing them for years.” The human cells responsible for people’s sense of smell are actually a key entry point for COVID-19, which is why covering the nose with your mask is important, otherwise its render’s useless, as told by both Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. And the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), showed that more mask material is actually more beneficial than less. In fact, double-masking can significantly decrease the spread of the coronavirus. Let’s hope that people get their COVID-19 vaccinations really soon, or else the world’s going to have to get used to everyone starting to look like clowns for the greater good. 

We still know very little about Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' third Spider-Man film but if you've been keeping up with the latest news surrounding the project, you would know that the film is already stacked with a who's who of actors all confirmed to return. Not to mention the rumors circulating the last couple of months regarding Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's involvement in the sequel. As it stands, production is still ongoing for Spider-Man: No Way Home which Tom Holland is already building up as the most ambitious superhero film to date. So far, we've already seen several on-set photos featuring the main cast but surprisingly enough, the studios have been able to keep everything under wraps so far which is amazing considering we're talking about a high-budgeted project from Marvel. Now, a new rumor is swirling online suggesting that an interesting character could be making an appearance on the film. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress Elizabeth Henstridge who played Jemma Simmons in the hit ABC Marvel spinoff show was reportedly spotted leaving Atlanta over the weekend, the same location where No Way Home is currently filming. Of course, we're still not quite sure if she was actually there to film Spider-Man 3 or something else so don't get your hopes up just yet. But if she ends up being involved in the project, it'll be totally interesting since "Agents of SHIELD" has already been confirmed to not be canon to the MCU. Then again, we're dealing with the multiverse here so anything is possible at this rate.

Instead of doing this blog thing I should be listening to this album...

If you're looking for a graphic design job, you may want to contact whoever employed the people responsible for this following design fail. They are most likely hiring.

Dividing up childcare responsibilities in a way that works best for everyone involved can be difficult for co-parents, especially when one parent is doing half the work, and the nanny is doing the other half... Hiring a childcare professional to look after your children when you're working or too busy to fully concentrate on keeping a toddler from eating the couch pillows can be an incredibly beneficial decision for many families. However, babysitters and nannies are not parents, and if co-parents aren't communicating in the way they should, it's not fair to force an employee to be the mediator. While it's usually frowned upon to roast the father of your children in front of their entire family, sometimes we have to be a little snarky in order to be heard. So, when a frustrated mom decided to consult the moral compass of the Phile about a comment she made about her ex-husband's parenting skills in front of his mom, I decided to deem a verdict. 

"Am I wrong for saying I co-parent with the nanny in front of my ex-husband and his family? My ex-husband and I have been separated for a year and will more than likely be starting the divorce process any day now. Ever since we split up, my ex has hired a nanny to help him with childcare of our two kids during his time. The nanny usually does pickups and drop-offs. Originally, I would try to communicate things about the kids directly to him, but I could barely get in touch with him. He always made some excuse about how work was busy, but I feel like he should at least respond to my emails about the kids quickly and that it was his responsibility to make sure the nanny had the relevant information too. Eventually, I got fed up with having to hound him every single time he needed information about the kids and since the nanny does almost all of the childcare when they’re with their dad, I decided to just communicate with her directly. I do still update my ex too but now I only send him one email and it’s up to him to make the effort to read/respond to it. This has worked really well for the kids and they seem to be doing a lot better during their time with their dad now since the nanny makes the necessary adjustments for them. It was my ex mother-in-law's birthday and she asked me to bring the kids because my ex wasn’t sure if he would be able to go. I still have a good relationship with my ex-in-laws, and I didn’t want my kids to miss out on time with their family, so I agreed. My ex ended up showing up towards the end of the day. I haven’t had to see my ex face-to-face in a very long time and he has always known how to push my buttons. I was trying to be civil to him for the kids’ sake, but he kept baiting me when no one else was in earshot. My mother-in-law made a comment about how she was so proud of us for being able to co-parent so well after everything. My ex had whispered a sly comment to me not 2 minutes before my mother-in-law made her comment, so I was already quietly fuming. So, I responded with  “Yes, I really enjoy co-parenting with the nanny. She’s fantastic." My ex and his family weren’t amused, and I received a lot of backlash from all of them. My ex accused me of calling him a deadbeat and said he didn’t want me talking to his nanny anymore because I should be communicating directly with him. Am I wrong?" I’m sorry, but when he’s not making an effort to communicate with you to coordinate around the kids and makes every excuse in the book to make himself unavailable, then you have every right to say what you said. He’s offended because he didn’t think you’d call him out in front of his family and probably painted a picture that he’s doing a much better job than he is doing. Not a huge fan of dragging the drama out in front of the family, but this guy seems like a real piece of work. Definitely start pushing forward harder on that divorce. You are co-parenting with the nanny. What you said was literally true. So, there you have it! You weren't at all wrong to point out that her soon-to-be ex-husband isn't pulling his weight with childcare in front of his family, but a conversation about how to communicate going forward is probably in order. Good luck, everyone! If you have a problem you'd like my advice on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. 

If you spot the Mindphuck then met me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, New York shall we?

Looks like a nice day there. 

The 148th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Marie will be on the Phile a week from today... on Monday. 

Phact 1. Three stray dogs in Afghanistan saved 50 American soldiers by attacking a suicide bomber. A Facebook group raised $21,000 to bring the dogs back to the U.S. and reunite them with the soldiers. 

Phact 2. During the Berlin Airlift one of the pilots gave some candy to some children in Berlin. After seeing how much they enjoyed it he began dropping candy from his airplane before landing. Other pilots soon joined in and over 23 tons of candy was dropped over Berlin. 

Phact 3. The song “It’s A Wonderful Life” was classified as Communist Propaganda by the FBI because it “deliberately maligned the upper class, attempting to show the people who had money were mean and despicable characters.” 

Phact 4. The parents in Ferris Buellers Day Off met onset and actually got married after filming. 

Phact 5. The bubble gum is pink because that was the only dye Walter E. Diemer (the inventor) had on hand at the time and it was his favorite color.

Today's guest is a Canadian singer-songwriter, who writes and sings acoustically melodic songs with a maritime influence. His latest album "Cult Classic" is available on Amazon, iTunes and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Jon Bryant.

Me: Hey, Jon, welcome to the Phile. How are you? 

Jon: I'm great, Jason. Thanks for having me on your blog. 

Me: So, you're from Canada, right? What part? 

Jon: I moved to Vancouver in 2016. 

Me: Okay, so, when I got the interview request from you I thought, okay, you're another musician from Canada who has a new record out... but then I read your bio and I was like holy shit. You joined a group called NXIVM, and that's not a band. Haha. Can you explain to the readers what NXIVM is? 

Jon: Ha ha. Well, the group presented itself as a humanitarian community that offered personal development training sessions... but there was a lot more going on under the surface. The FBI now considers NXIVM to be a cult and key members of the group have been accused of racketeering, including forced labour, fraud and sex trafficking. 

Me: Man alive. So, how did you get involved with them? 

Jon: In early 2016 it was my birthday week and I was turning 30 and it was a big year. I moved to Vancouver a few months previous, I was living in Seattle prior to that. I guess I was lonely in a way. I had some friends there and some family there but I came out of a divorce previous and I was with a new girl who is now my wife. We were getting established and a friend reached out and said, "We have this community of friends, we learn together, we grow together, it's this really cool group. There really into humanitarian aid and making the world a better place essentially." I was hooked by that and it sounded good. 

Me: I would've been, ummmm, no, I'm good. But I'm not an over social person. Haha. So, what hooked you in? 

Jon: I think the thing that got me was I grew up with a temper, for whatever reason I always had a temper I'd blow up when I was a kid and I was always like I don't want this to dominate my life because I hurt people with my temper. So they pitched it in a way to control my emotions, to have control over my body, to have full autonomy. Which is funny because a cult takes away the autonomy, to think and process our own ideas. 

Me: What did you like being in it at first? 

Jon: I liked that they were so invested in learning. Just exploring ideas and philosophies and a lot of the record those ideas come out. Later on when the news came out that it was abuse of power at the top end I started to see the parallels of a culture. In my own life in previous experience with my relationship with my ex-wife, with my political ideologies, my religious experiences. 

Me: What made you want to leave? 

Jon: The pressure to stay felt strange. Initially I went in and thought it was a one week thing, it was sort of this loose community where I can come and go. 

Me: So it wasn't like you were living in bunk beds in a shed or some shit? 

Jon: It wasn't that, no, well, in the top end it was. It was strange, it was long days, sometimes 16 hours they'd inundated me with information which I LOVED but it was a little bit unnerving because I felt like I was being brainwashed. I kind of had that sense. Some of the information was great, some of it I questioned, It wasn't until I finished when went home and talked to people about it. It was like I think that was great, but I think I'm good now. Then I got, "Are you going to join? Do you want to bring some friends into it?" I was like, oh, this is a business and you want me to commit my life. More of my time and more of my resources and so that's when I started to question it and fully got out about a year later. 

Me: Was there a moment where you went in and signed off and said you were out? 

Jon: Yeah, yeah, I said, "Listen." I remember I was sitting on Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver and I got on the phone and said, "Hey, listen, you can take me out of the database. I'm not going tp continue." 

Me: So, did you get out on time if you know what I mean? 

Jon: Actually that would have been at the end of 2016, then 2017 the friend that got me into it said, "Hey, there's going to be some news that's going to come out and this is going to be crazy." 

Me: So, were you shocked about all the allegations? 

Jon: It's funny, I wasn't shocked. The guy was creepy. The group's co-founder and leader, Keith Raniere, was so creepy. He was creepy. He just seemed strange. The way he spoke to people seemed strange. Just the videos I watched, I never met him. I never met any of the main people like Allison Mack or anybody. Yeah, it felt strange. But not surprised. 

Me: So, I don't know if I could be talked into a cult, no matter how lonely, depressed and sad I was. And trust me, I've been there. But it's pretty easy to be sucked in, right? 

Jon: Yeah, just the philosophical discussions I was hoping to get out of it. Like exploring words like "truth," we'll take for an hour about what "what does truth mean?" Distill it down to this one idea and we were can we agree on that? Cool, let's move on. What is "belief"? And how is that different from truth? There's some philosophical stuff and then there's basic stuff too. Then there's psychology, I don't know if it's controversial things I did but the exploration of what somethings means in my life like early on that transformed us, if it is something that's traumatic or something our parents passed on to us. Stuff like that. They had some practices that were interesting and alluring. 

Me: Did you think it'll help you be a better musician or songwriter? 

Jon: Yeah, Initially I thought this would be great for songwriting because I'll come up with all these new protectives on "truth" and "belief." It's funny, as I went through I thought oh, they're trying to get me to control emotion to the point where I don't have to exhibit any and it kind of takes the fun out of life. I was struggling with that and I thought oh, maybe this isn't good for songwriting. 

Me: Do you ever think people will hear your new songs on the radio and think these are nice little love songs but not know they were written about your time in a cult? Haha. 

Jon: I forget about it now because I know this NXIVM thing is like the cult-de-jour. I get that was a big part of the writing process of "Cult Classic." 

Me: So, you forget these songs are about that time? 

Jon: Yeah. Sometimes I think, "Oh, yeah, that song is stemming from this experience I had with this person in it." 

Me: So, when you're singing these songs live you don't relive those emotions that you felt? 

Jon: Again in my group of friends or people I was associated with they were very kind and lovely. They didn't know what was going on either. And that's why that group, the Vancouver group, was the first to leave. They had no idea what was happening and my friend Sarah was the one that blew the whistle on everything. 

Me: So, it must've been traumatic to you, right? 

Jon: It was crazy, yeah. I can't even fathom what those people went through. It was infuriating too, I was mad. 

Me: So, when sing the songs are you thinking you're reliving this maddening emotional experience? 

Jon: I don't relive it. Reliving it's hard, especially in a live setting because I tend to go outside of the song and out of body and watch myself and forget words and forget what I'm doing. 

Me: What the hell, Jon? Where do you go? 

Jon: In my mind? I just go and watch myself do this and kind of just takes everything in, enjoying the crowd and enjoying playing these songs with my band. I don't know, I have those moments in shows where I enjoy it too much. And I forget that I'm here to serve the crowd. 

Me: But you're not going to  say "this song is about the time I was in NXIVM  I feel that way again"? 

Jon: I try to avoid that. 

Me: Do you think artists are often attracted to these kind of communities? 

Jon: I think artists typically struggle in finding places in society because artists seem to be a little left of the mainstream so we just don't fit in as well going to sports bars and the Starbucks scene and all that. We go to these weird things, and I love that about myself that I'm very curious but it's easy to get sucked into things. I've been married before and made mistakes and I'm an emotionally susceptible guy I think and I'm a little spontaneous in that way. 

Me: So, how is your songwriting going now? Are you able to write about things you wanted to investigate about like "truth' and "belief"? 

Jon: Yeah, I think I'm able to hold them in two hands. Like what I took about that experience I think I learned somethings about myself. How to help with my temper or impatience maybe. Think little things in life that are hang ups. I hold those in one hand and the songwriting hand be very open and allow my emotions and my ideas kind of flourish and take them to places I may be uncomfortable. That's the main thing I wanted to walk away from this experience, to not get so skeptical of everything and closed minded and to comfortable. I don't think artists do well when they don't get comfortable. 

Me: Have you heard from people that were in NXIVM or things like NXIVM that heard this music? 

Jon: Yeah, I've had a few people reach out that love it. They're the ones that blew the whistle like Sarah or a few others who heard the songs and were like yes... expose them for what they did and who they are. 

Me: But you're also exposing how it made you feel, right? 

Jon: Yeah, it's a very personal album. 

Me: What does it mean for you to hear from them on that? 

 Jon: Well, I think anyone who's been involved in something like a cult, it could be a church. I know a lot of churches that became cults, or are exhibiting cult like behaviour. For anyone that's caught in something, it could be an abusive relationship there's a lot of that kind of behaviour in society that where power is abusive. I don't want it just to be about cults per say, I want people to hear it and say, "I could relate to that because something happened in my life that felt like that." 

Me: Okay. Thanks so much for being on the Phile, Jon. 

Jon: Thanks, man, it's been a pleasure. And remember, if it happened to me it could happen to anyone.

That about doers it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Jon Bryant for an interesting interview. The Phile will be back on Friday with Martin Fry from ABC. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain. 

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...