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Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
hello vonnie
dirt enthusiast
h
NASA
trying on a metaphor
Jules of Nature
cherry valley forever

Kaledo Art
will byers stan first human second
almost home
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸

pixel skylines

oozey mess
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
noise dept.
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
occasionally subtle
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Australia

seen from South Korea
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from Türkiye
seen from Iraq

seen from Brazil

seen from United States

seen from Canada

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
@blogofdon
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Good morning TUMBLR Don P.
I refuse to resign myself to a life of mediocrity.
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ubM5ricQn8) #Dons60thYear
Without a home: 39 Questions to consider...
As I am struggling through my fifty-ninth holiday season, I have had to deal with many stereotypes about people who have no permanence in life.
I ran across this that was posted originally in the Kindness Blog written by Mike O'Connor and republished by the Huffington Post. 39 questions for you to consider....
1. When you see a homeless person, do you look the other way and keep on walking?
2. Do you avoid making eye contact?
3. Is there a sudden selective deafness when you "hear", or don't, their requests for help?
4. If you do ignore a homeless person's request for help, just how quickly does the incident evaporate from your mind?
5. Seconds? Minutes? Hours?
6. What is your honest opinion of these people who are teetering on the very edges of our society?
7. Do they feel that, possibly, they deserve their predicament?
8. Could it be that they are lazy?
9. If so, should they simply get off their lazy rear-ends and look for a decent job?
10. Is it easy to get a job where you live?
11. Do you think it is any easier to get a job, where you live, if you're homeless?
12. Have you considered that there are homeless people who do have regular jobs?
13. Does your suspicion that some of these people might be pulling a con and actually making good money by pretending to be homeless and begging, stop you from helping any of them?
14. Do you feel a sense of disgust or detest the way they smell, look, sound or behave?
15. Do you have any personal experience of homelessness?
16. Could you handle being homeless day after day and keep things together?
17. Would you smell better, behave better or beg less, than a homeless person does, if you did not have a home to go to for the next four weeks?
18. Are the homeless asking for money because, in the main, they want to buy drugs and/or alcohol?
19. If so, is that why you won't help them?
20. Can you see that if you were homeless you might also want to take something to numb your feelings about the situation?
21. Do you think the homeless are completely beyond our ability to help?
22. Is it that they should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps?
23. Would you prefer them to be 'relocated' away from your line of sight so that they can also be put out of your mind?
24. What are your thoughts on the concept of homelessness being a crime?
25. Do you see homeless people and hear yourself muttering internal sound bites like, "there but for the grace of God go I"?
26. Are you worried that their craziness, anger or diseases are contagious?
27. Were the homeless born homeless, addicted or mentally ill?
28. How close are you right now to being homeless?
29. How many missed salary payments would it take?
30. How many family members or friends would let you stay at their house?
31. How long would they let you stay?
32. Are you sure about that?
33. What would a bad divorce, redundancy or severe mental illness do to you?
34. Do you have a clear idea of just how far any one of us can fall and how quickly it can happen?
35. Are you immune from losing everything that you care about?
36. What is your response to these people who have less than you or nothing at all?
37. What is your response to a man, or woman, begging for food?
38. Do you help them, smile, offer something, anything, buy them food, stay there for a moment and engage in a conversation?
39. Are you somehow better than the homeless or just better off?
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One last thing....as the sign says, anything helps. Thank you.
The response of Di Fi (or why NO politician actually gives a sh!t about you...no matter who you are...)
On November 10th, I sent the following letter to Mayor Garcetti, My Councilperson, and Senators Boxer and Feinstein.
This is the crux of the message. Read it carefully.
As you may already know, our nation faces a serious problem of the overcriminalization of individuals who are mentally ill, homeless and/or suffer from substance addictions.
As someone who is chronically homeless myself, I have become very concerned about the treatment of these individuals and the absence of effective programs in Los Angeles and in California in general.
More than 450,000 prisoners in the US are suffering from a mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “this includes 24% of state prison inmates, and 21% of local jail inmates.” In addition, an average of $9 Billion per year is spent on prisoners with mental illnesses. Incidents such as the North Carolina inmate who died of thirst while held in solitary confinement and the death of an Albuquerque, New Mexico man by a police officer demonstrate the need to implement programs for the better understanding and treatment of people like myself.
Research has shown that cities that provide programs that provide alternatives to incarceration for homelessness, mental health issues, and drug addiction are not only helpful for the community but are cost effective.
● Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) have been implemented in numerous police departments across the nation and have been successful at helping individuals with mental illness transition out of their temporary
crisis, reducing violence, repeated calls, and costs for jailing the mentally ill.
● In Seattle, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program has successfully provided housing for low-level drug offenders in turn giving them a second chance of recovery with a set foundation and saving the taxpayers thousands of dollars. Per month it costs $396 to house an individual compared to
$3,197 to imprison them.
● In Utah, the Housing First permanent housing program has been implemented, reducing homelessness in that state by 72% and costs by tens of millions of dollars.
I ask you to please support and implement these critical programs in our city. It is the responsibility of ALL OF US to help those in challenging life circumstances like myself and to do so in the most financially responsible way.
Thank you for listening.
Yours Truly,
Don Paschal
So now you know the gist of the message.
So I finally got a response by Senator Feinstein. Here it is. Uncut.
Dear Mr. Paschal :
Thank you for writing to express your support for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program. I appreciate hearing from you, and sincerely apologize for the delay in my response.
In 2004, Congress passed the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (P.L. 108-414), which created the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP). Administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this program seeks to better address the needs of mentally ill offenders by supporting projects designed to increase cooperation between law enforcement and mental health professionals. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 allocated $8.25 million for JMHCP for Fiscal Year 2014. This represented a $750,000 decrease from the program's Fiscal 2013 funding level.
You will be pleased to know that on April 11, 2014, I joined several of my Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL) of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies , requesting funding for programs authorized under the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act. For your convenience, I have enclosed a copy of the letter.
The President's Budget proposes $8.25 million for JMHCP for Fiscal Year 2015, the same amount that was approved for the program for Fiscal Year 2014. Please know that, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have noted your support for this program and will keep it in mind as the Committee makes funding decisions regarding programs that assist individuals in the criminal justice system.
Once again, thank you for your letter. I hope you will continue to keep me informed of your opinion on issues that matter to you. Should you have any additional comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.
Notice anything?
I did not write supporting the JMHCP, whatever the hell that is. I wrote SPECIFICALLY about adopting Housing First on a nationwide basis. I said NOTHING about mentally ill offenders!
Here is what I figure: not one Senator, Congressperson, City Councilperson, Mayor...NO POLITICIAN ever reads a letter from you. You are not a concern. I don't care if it's a letter from the Kochs themselves, THEY. NEVER. READ. THEM! What happens is that someone...Bob from Accountemps or a Kelly Girl/Boy/Trans/Whatever, scans through these things...or worse a computer does, scans for key words, and sends out responses based on those key words. See, they respond. No not really.
This is why writing to these bastards and bitches does not work. They don't listen. Neither do marches, protests....you can die on the Capitol steps. And they do not care. None of them.
In fact, the only reason to vote anymore.....and you MUST vote...is to keep the bad bastards and bitches from taking office, even if it means voting in bastards and bitches who are bad but not as bad and the guy or gal you are trying to keep from getting into office.
And I know what you are saying: "I'm tired of choosing the lesser of two evils." Too f**king bad. Because until we are infected with an epidemic of a virus that grows intelligence, or until we choose information sources based on getting information and not agreeing with our own stupidity (GOD, how correct is that Gruber guy...and not in the way you think), nothing will change.
And that means nothing WILL change.
God, save me from my own people.....
Maybe I am on the spectrum
This morning I heard that Jerry Seinfeld believes that he is on the spectrum of autism.
So I took the test.
This is what I got...
Based upon your responses to this autism screening measure, you have symptoms associated with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. People who've scored similarly to you on this screening measure will often meet the diagnostic criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome, a milder form of autism. People with an autism spectrum disorder often suffer from severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and the development of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The disturbance must cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. You should not take this as a diagnosis of any sort, or a recommendation for treatment. However, some people with similar scores seek out further information and potential diagnosis & treatment from a trained mental health professional.
You scored a total of 30
If you scored... Then symptoms of...
31 & up Autism found 14 - 30 Autism likely 0 - 13 No autism symptoms Source: http://psychcentral.com/cgi-bin/short-autism-quiz.cgi
So....is this the answer?
Diary 11.07.14
A bunch of random POS...
I am holding the nice people at DPSS to their word that I will get my benefits TOMORROW. If not, I am going to panic.
I am afraid of what is about to happen in Ferguson Tuesday...
Right now there are, on the various social media, 10 people that I am deeply in love with....
I want an honest job...one that I can do and do well, not just something to fill some requirement. Is that too much to ask?
I don't have too much time. I don't know if this will be my last Christmas coming. I just want to have some peace.
Don't blame me....I voted.
I take FRIENDSHIP and any variant of that very seriously. If I "friend" you, it is for a reason, even if you don't reciprocate. And it takes a lot for me to "unfriend" you. A hell of a lot. I "unfriended" someone this week. I wish that person well. And the thing is that he may not have known why?
Clouds are fluffy....my Larry King impression.
This world has lost its heart. It will be shoved back in its cavity whether it likes it or not.
It was like Tuesday, America looked me in the eye and said "Die N****r, Die!" Sorry to dissapoint you, I refuse to give you the pleasure....
Well, this is bizarre | Follow ThinkProgress
“. . . I dislike and despise groups of people but I love individuals. Every person you look at; you can see the universe in their eyes, if you're really looking.”
George Carlin
I hope everything works out for you soon. Don't lose faith in yourself or humanity. I know there have been a lot of downs lately but there is nothing but ups coming your way :)
Thank you.
Passing the hat again (stolen phone)
I told you on Facebook yesterday that I had my phone stolen right in front of me. I know, this happens very 6 months. And I know you are tired of me doing this. So am I.
So here's the plan. The phone I need is on sale for about $70 + tax. I also need a Micros SD, so I'm thinking $100 should do it. Now I am not in an emergency situation because I will get money 7.3.14. But this will free up needed cash since my cash flow will evaporate after that (unless I get a job, and I need the phone for job calls).
If you want to help, I am taking donations. http://paypal.com sent to [email protected]. If you can help, thanks. If you can't, I love you anyway.
If you live in the WEST SANFERNANDO VALLEY
I will need some help finding a new mailbox. I need something that would cost about $10 a month, in or near the 91303 area.
If you know of any, contact me here or at [email protected]. And yes, I checked the UPS Store. Too expensive.