I am not certain who was more rude. Was it the woman standing in the doorway blocking a wheelchair from leaving or the disabled woman who said "Move" in a loud voice?
Was it rude for a Greenpeace beggar to stand in front of handicap parking even after being asked to move? Or was it rude for the handicapped person to get angry when the beggar did not move?
Was it rude for the waitress to disobey her boss by turning up the sound of the TV? Or was it rude for the disabled person to yell rather than walk over to the waitress who was ignoring her?
When every step is painful, it is often impossible to control irritation at what is a small problem for the able bodied and a LARGE problem for the disabled.
For the disabled, there is also the difficulty of controlling the anger portion of the grieving for the loss of mobility. I used to have difficulty controlling my tears when I saw an older man and woman holding hands while walking down the street. Such a simple act of love which was no longer possible for me.
I prefer to concentrate on what I CAN DO, not on what I CAN NOT DO. But I am not a perfect person. Sometimes even I have a bad day.
I actually have more problems in the week that I am going to court. Attorneys get used to being treated with respect. Attorneys are expected to be effective advocates in a court room. But the normal attorney attitude just upsets people who expect the disabled person to be grateful that society allows them to live.
I have the humble person bit down pat. If you are a humble disabled person, people are GLAD to help.
But if you are a powerful advocate in a wheelchair, everyone thinks you are rude.
LIFE IS SO NOT FAIR!
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
ADVERBIAL SEXISM
Until we have irascible old women, and spunky old men, we will never have equality between the sexes. When we have pretty men and handsome women, and it just means they are attractive, then we know we are equal.
When heterosexual men are plucky and petulant, then we may have equality.
As per usual, the Magna Carta, in its original reiterations, was only intended to apply to rich, white, aristocrats. (Barons were the equivalent of today's Dukes.) The main issue was that Robin Hood's Prince John became Bad King John. Bad King John started declaring Barons to be outlaws, and stealing* their land, because they were outlaws.
The original Magna Carta was denied, re-signed by John's son, and rewritten over the years. But it was the first time in recorded history that a document said that even the king needed to obey the law.
However, there is NOTHING in the US Constitution which declares that women are equal to men. That is why we wanted the Equal Rights Amendment. We were told that it was unnecessary, as the current law would protect us.
As we watch our equal right to control our own bodies be eroded again and again, we know that, once again, the Republicans LIED TO ALL OF US.
HAPPY 800 YEAR BIRTHDAY TO THE MAGNA CARTA!
* Bad King John called it "seizing" land. Now it is called "asset forfeiture".
When heterosexual men are plucky and petulant, then we may have equality.
As per usual, the Magna Carta, in its original reiterations, was only intended to apply to rich, white, aristocrats. (Barons were the equivalent of today's Dukes.) The main issue was that Robin Hood's Prince John became Bad King John. Bad King John started declaring Barons to be outlaws, and stealing* their land, because they were outlaws.
The original Magna Carta was denied, re-signed by John's son, and rewritten over the years. But it was the first time in recorded history that a document said that even the king needed to obey the law.
However, there is NOTHING in the US Constitution which declares that women are equal to men. That is why we wanted the Equal Rights Amendment. We were told that it was unnecessary, as the current law would protect us.
As we watch our equal right to control our own bodies be eroded again and again, we know that, once again, the Republicans LIED TO ALL OF US.
HAPPY 800 YEAR BIRTHDAY TO THE MAGNA CARTA!
* Bad King John called it "seizing" land. Now it is called "asset forfeiture".
Friday, June 12, 2015
THE US REVOLUTION
Sam Adams started the US revolution when he was not granted the rights of a free Englishman. Since the thirteenth century, the Magna Carta prevented the king from seizing property without due process of law.
The English stole Sam's beer, and drank it. No judge, no hearing on "it is the product of a crime." Sam was joined by the wealthy when the English governor started moving his people into already built mansions. The people already living in these mansions resented losing their homes.
SUPER IDIOT, Bush, decided to go back to the old ways. I was SHOCKED when the US Supreme Court found that it was OK to seize property without even a probable cause hearing. Of course, very few rich people lost their property. But what fun it became to steal from the poor.
The theft defined as property seizure is the entire source of funds for some police officers. DA offices are using it as an excuse to get around the rule against using public funds to run political campaigns. For all I know, the idiot, vindictive US Attorney for San Francisco is using this tainted money to keep harassing Oakland medical marijuana clinics.
The solution is simple. The reasons that the constitution is fairly silent about the powers of the President, is because EVERYONE knew about the powers of a king. (A mistake, as the Constitution needed to be amended with the Bill of Rights.)
Our President can issue kingly decrees called executive orders. They must be obeyed unless changed by Congress or found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
But with our incredibly stupid war on drugs, attorneys have been quietly working for over thirty years to tie all defined drug crimes into the federal drug schedules. The US Attorney General has the legal, Congress approved, right to move ANY DRUG from ANY SCHEDULE.
The US Attorney General is the servant of the President. That is what the words, "I serve at the pleasure of the President" means. If a servant can do something, then the master can also do that something. (You are welcome to read these British or old US common law rulings.)
So President Obama can just say, "If it can be scientifically proven by peer reviewed science, that the substance is worse than alcohol, for the drug user, then it will be put back on the federal schedules. Otherwise everything is off the schedules until it can be proven that it is worse that alcohol."
WE WILL ALL BE VERY GRATEFUL. It would be our emancipation proclamation, freeing the disabled into BEING ABLE TO DO ALL THAT WE CAN DO.
The English stole Sam's beer, and drank it. No judge, no hearing on "it is the product of a crime." Sam was joined by the wealthy when the English governor started moving his people into already built mansions. The people already living in these mansions resented losing their homes.
SUPER IDIOT, Bush, decided to go back to the old ways. I was SHOCKED when the US Supreme Court found that it was OK to seize property without even a probable cause hearing. Of course, very few rich people lost their property. But what fun it became to steal from the poor.
The theft defined as property seizure is the entire source of funds for some police officers. DA offices are using it as an excuse to get around the rule against using public funds to run political campaigns. For all I know, the idiot, vindictive US Attorney for San Francisco is using this tainted money to keep harassing Oakland medical marijuana clinics.
The solution is simple. The reasons that the constitution is fairly silent about the powers of the President, is because EVERYONE knew about the powers of a king. (A mistake, as the Constitution needed to be amended with the Bill of Rights.)
Our President can issue kingly decrees called executive orders. They must be obeyed unless changed by Congress or found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
But with our incredibly stupid war on drugs, attorneys have been quietly working for over thirty years to tie all defined drug crimes into the federal drug schedules. The US Attorney General has the legal, Congress approved, right to move ANY DRUG from ANY SCHEDULE.
The US Attorney General is the servant of the President. That is what the words, "I serve at the pleasure of the President" means. If a servant can do something, then the master can also do that something. (You are welcome to read these British or old US common law rulings.)
So President Obama can just say, "If it can be scientifically proven by peer reviewed science, that the substance is worse than alcohol, for the drug user, then it will be put back on the federal schedules. Otherwise everything is off the schedules until it can be proven that it is worse that alcohol."
WE WILL ALL BE VERY GRATEFUL. It would be our emancipation proclamation, freeing the disabled into BEING ABLE TO DO ALL THAT WE CAN DO.
Friday, June 5, 2015
HARMING THE DISABLED
The most devastating way of harming the disabled is to suddenly remove help upon which the disabled person has come to depend.
The FDA did this by promulgating new rules which effectively prevent doctors from being able to prescribe the most effective pain medications. I wonder if they were bribed by Tylenol, which is the biggest cause of liver damage in the US.
San Jose did this by allowing friendly neighborhood medical marijuana clinics, then sending notices to close within 30 days. Chuck Reed seems willing to damage both the disabled and government workers in order to pretend to be a powerful politician. It is probably unfair to call Liccardo his errand boy.
By underfunding the handicap taxi services, governments make disabled people wait in vain for an on time ride to the doctors.
All of this is in the name of "those people are just complainers and addicts, they are not really ill."
Yes, it is true that some people enjoy the fantasy of being ill. But for the truly disabled, even getting out of bed can be a monumental task.
The FDA did this by promulgating new rules which effectively prevent doctors from being able to prescribe the most effective pain medications. I wonder if they were bribed by Tylenol, which is the biggest cause of liver damage in the US.
San Jose did this by allowing friendly neighborhood medical marijuana clinics, then sending notices to close within 30 days. Chuck Reed seems willing to damage both the disabled and government workers in order to pretend to be a powerful politician. It is probably unfair to call Liccardo his errand boy.
By underfunding the handicap taxi services, governments make disabled people wait in vain for an on time ride to the doctors.
All of this is in the name of "those people are just complainers and addicts, they are not really ill."
Yes, it is true that some people enjoy the fantasy of being ill. But for the truly disabled, even getting out of bed can be a monumental task.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
CALIFORNIA WATER WARS
I blame Downton Abbey. Pretending to be an estate in England takes A LOT OF WATER.
The rest of us are conserving the best we can. But the large estates, and the large estate wannabes*, are crazily committed to preserving their water sucking ways.
Honestly, we live in California, which is semi-arid. To pretend to live in rainy England is a waste of water.
However, if you have large trees and hedges, those are worth saving. You are rich, so you can always buy sod grass. Usually, everyone over-waters. They sell devices which tell you how much water is in the soil. For trees and hedges, you need DEEP WATER. By watering every day, you damage the trees and hedges by leaching minerals from the soil and encouraging the roots to be shallow.
I personally find a meadow of native plants to be WAY MORE COOL than boring green grass.
* Slang for "want to be", meaning those who pretend to be rich.
The rest of us are conserving the best we can. But the large estates, and the large estate wannabes*, are crazily committed to preserving their water sucking ways.
Honestly, we live in California, which is semi-arid. To pretend to live in rainy England is a waste of water.
However, if you have large trees and hedges, those are worth saving. You are rich, so you can always buy sod grass. Usually, everyone over-waters. They sell devices which tell you how much water is in the soil. For trees and hedges, you need DEEP WATER. By watering every day, you damage the trees and hedges by leaching minerals from the soil and encouraging the roots to be shallow.
I personally find a meadow of native plants to be WAY MORE COOL than boring green grass.
* Slang for "want to be", meaning those who pretend to be rich.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Freedom of religion also means freedom FROM religion. The US constitution forbids allowing governments to do or not do something because a religion demands it.
This means that, we as a people, believe that each citizen is responsible for his/her own moral choices. My religion told me to do it, is not an excuse acceptable in US courts.
This is so ingrained in our laws and philosophy that we forget much of the world still allows religion to make ALL moral choices.
Historically, all this started when Martin Luther nailed a statement, that the church had become immoral, on to the door of a church in Germany. This morphed into many Protestant religions who believed that THEY could read the word of God for themselves.
When these many churches came to North America, they each set up little towns who punished non-believers who were just traveling through. These punishments were so irritating, that just about everyone was in agreement that the other person's religion should not become the law of the land.
Of course in the beginning, this freedom of and from religion was only granted to white, rich Christians.
But the US is the first country founded on the principle that what is illegal is not governed by religion. Each citizen is free to believe what they wish. All of us vote to make the laws that we must obey. And the court system hopefully prevents the majority from taking unfair advantage of the minorities.
(This also means that all of you who spin fantasies of the US adopting Sharia law do not have the remotest idea about the true value of the US Constitution.)
This means that, we as a people, believe that each citizen is responsible for his/her own moral choices. My religion told me to do it, is not an excuse acceptable in US courts.
This is so ingrained in our laws and philosophy that we forget much of the world still allows religion to make ALL moral choices.
Historically, all this started when Martin Luther nailed a statement, that the church had become immoral, on to the door of a church in Germany. This morphed into many Protestant religions who believed that THEY could read the word of God for themselves.
When these many churches came to North America, they each set up little towns who punished non-believers who were just traveling through. These punishments were so irritating, that just about everyone was in agreement that the other person's religion should not become the law of the land.
Of course in the beginning, this freedom of and from religion was only granted to white, rich Christians.
But the US is the first country founded on the principle that what is illegal is not governed by religion. Each citizen is free to believe what they wish. All of us vote to make the laws that we must obey. And the court system hopefully prevents the majority from taking unfair advantage of the minorities.
(This also means that all of you who spin fantasies of the US adopting Sharia law do not have the remotest idea about the true value of the US Constitution.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
THE THIN BLUE LINE
There is NO EXCUSE for killing a police office. There is NO EXCUSE for keeping marijuana illegal.
We have required our police officers to enforce a law that lawyers and presidents disobey with glee.
We are keeping the stupid drug laws KNOWING that marijuana almost certainly cures cancer and relieves epilepsy symptoms.
And of course, people take out their frustrations on the police officers tasked with enforcing this increasingly stupid law.
If you think a police office is unprofessional, then you COMPLAIN EVERY TIME. Eventually, the number of complaints causes the officer to be investigated. If you are unhappy with the investigation, then it is trivially easy to take over a local government. All you actually have to do is VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION. There are usually plenty of local activists who will run for office if they think they have a chance.
OUR DRUG LAWS ARE PUTTING OFFICERS AT RISK. We ask them to enforce a law that most of us will not obey. Officers are not stupid. They know that arresting lawyers and presidential candidates will just end in grief for everyone involved. So IF they HAVE to show a statistical pattern of arresting for drugs, they will arrest the people who quietly go to prison. Such people are usually brown or black.
Of course, if a bent officer wants to control a judge or politician, then the easiest way is to arrest a child or grandchild for possession of an illegal substance.
ANY DRUG THAT IS LESS HARMFUL THAN ALCOHOL SHOULD BE LEGAL.
Did you know that the FDA can order researchers and doctors to BE SILENT about the merits of marijuana?
We have required our police officers to enforce a law that lawyers and presidents disobey with glee.
We are keeping the stupid drug laws KNOWING that marijuana almost certainly cures cancer and relieves epilepsy symptoms.
And of course, people take out their frustrations on the police officers tasked with enforcing this increasingly stupid law.
If you think a police office is unprofessional, then you COMPLAIN EVERY TIME. Eventually, the number of complaints causes the officer to be investigated. If you are unhappy with the investigation, then it is trivially easy to take over a local government. All you actually have to do is VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION. There are usually plenty of local activists who will run for office if they think they have a chance.
OUR DRUG LAWS ARE PUTTING OFFICERS AT RISK. We ask them to enforce a law that most of us will not obey. Officers are not stupid. They know that arresting lawyers and presidential candidates will just end in grief for everyone involved. So IF they HAVE to show a statistical pattern of arresting for drugs, they will arrest the people who quietly go to prison. Such people are usually brown or black.
Of course, if a bent officer wants to control a judge or politician, then the easiest way is to arrest a child or grandchild for possession of an illegal substance.
ANY DRUG THAT IS LESS HARMFUL THAN ALCOHOL SHOULD BE LEGAL.
Did you know that the FDA can order researchers and doctors to BE SILENT about the merits of marijuana?
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