No More Excuses for Not Helping People

A complete waste of time? Not entirely, but we need to reassess how we address those who need help. Helping them adjust their behavior patterns or destructive thinking isn't nearly enough anymore.

We already have the tools and the resources needed, but they are being used inefficiently. Implementing a co-responder program with local police and sheriff's departments is only part of a solution. Giving those who have just exited jail or prison, rehab, detox or some other mental health facility easier access and encouragement to use other resources, such as group housing, the safehouse, workforce services, family services, etc. would help them integrate back into and become a productive member of society, and may even prevent them from slipping backward through the cracks.

Isn't this a common goal, despite our differences? What's stopping us then? Cost? Politics? Religion? Ethics? Morality? In fact, nothing is preventing us from offering extended help or other services outside of what was initially given. We just don't want to.

We make up rules and regulations, trying to convince ourselves that it's unethical, illegal or even immoral to do so. How does it violate privacy? It doesn't.

Assuming one is ready to integrate back into society based on "finished" or "completed" standard treatment plans is unethical. Assuming a one-size-fits-all treatment plans work is immoral. Treatment plans need to be adjusted accordingly and as new information is known.

Assuming politics or religion don't play a role in denying help to those who need or want it is grossly incorrect and only hurts all of society. Any excuse political parties and religions have for not helping the broken only enforces distrust of them and their beliefs.

Cost shouldn't even be a considered factor. Placing a monetary value on "help" of any kind goes against any belief system a society has in place. Expecting some kind of reward or gratitude for helping someone is counter-productive, and only enforces resentment and encourages abuse of the system and those needing help.

Excuses are like assholes – we all have one.

No More

 Verse 1:

You say you love me but you hurt me with your words

You say you're sorry but you always make it worse

You make me feel like I'm nothing but a burden

You make me feel like I don't deserve your love

Chorus:

But I'm done with your lies and your games

I'm done with your insults and your blame

I'm done with your violence and your rage

I'm done with being your punching bag

I'm not gonna take it anymore

No more, no more, no more

No more, no more, no more

Verse 2:

You say you need me but you treat me like a slave

You say you're lonely but you push me far away

You make me feel like I'm the cause of all your troubles

You make me feel like I can't do anything right

Chorus:

But I'm done with your lies and your games

I'm done with your insults and your blame

I'm done with your violence and your rage

I'm done with being your punching bag

I'm not gonna take it anymore

No more, no more, no more

No more, no more, no more

Bridge:

I know you have your demons and your addictions

I know you have your pain and your regrets

But that's no excuse for how you treat me

That's no reason for how you act

Chorus:

So I'm done with your lies and your games

I'm done with your insults and your blame

I'm done with your violence and your rage

I'm done with being your punching bag

I'm not gonna take it anymore

No more, no more, no more

No more, no more, no more

Outro:

No more tears, no more lies, no more fear, no more cries

No more bruises, no more scars, no more abuse, no more harm

No more, no more, no more

No more, no more, no more

```

Dedicated to someone I cared about, someone who tried escaping the abuse.

Another Domestic Abuse Victim Falls Through the Cracks

Kudos! I want to thank the state of Wyoming, our governor, our judicial system, the state Legislature, our Mayor Collins, current Cheyenne Police Chief Francisco, former police chief and current Laramie County Sheriff Kozak, as well as the officers of both the Cheyenne Police and Laramie County Sheriff's departments for a job well done.

Not having a full-time paid mental health professional on staff like other municipalities allowed another woman to fall through the cracks and succumb to her addictions. But she was also another victim of domestic abuse. Her husband just turned Wyoming's once powerful piece of legislation for domestic abuse victims on its side.

He was able to play the victim and get a restraining order against her, not allowing her to communicate with her kids. Knowing her kids meant the world to her, he understood that this would push her over the edge and further her addictions, while driving her deeper into depression.

What he had put on that restraining order while playing the victim was totally fabricated, completely untrue, petty and unequivocally false. When the restraining order was served, not only was she given 15 minutes to vacate her own home, but the officers that served it did not explain the restraining order to her in a way that she could understand what was happening to her, nor even tell her where to go to contest it, and they did not take her to a safe environment that could've helped her deal with her circumstances.

Basically, she was treated like human garbage by the officers of both the Cheyenne Police and Laramie County Sheriff's departments, as well as our judicial system, which did not want to deal with another person who was more a domestic abuse victim than an addict.

If both the CPD and LCSD had a full-time mental health professional on staff, this would've been more apparent. Seriously, what's another addict's life if it means breaking the cycle of domestic abuse? Nothing, apparently.

Mental Health Professionals Need Proper Training and Support

 One headline read “Suicide Prevention Employee Tells Woman To Jump Off Bridge.” Another read “Suicide Prevention Staff Member Tells Caller To Just Kill Himself Because She’s Tired.”

Wyoming's suicide rate ranks in the top three as the highest in the nation. Mental health issues are at an all-time high, and the system is starting to crack (no pun intended) under the pressure.

The Cheyenne Police Department and Laramie County Sheriff's Office are both unprepared and ill-equipped to handle those with mental health issues, instead treating addicts, alcoholics and others using a one-size-fits-all without compassion or empathy. Even some domestic abuse victims are being overlooked because they are viewed as just other addicts and alcoholics.

Without due diligence on the part of the responders who come across those in need of mental health support or protection from their abusers, too many fall through the cracks or are failed by the system. It's a no-brainer to understand that many addicts and alcoholics are victims of domestic abuse.

It's not just the responders' part in the system that is at the breaking point, but also within the mental health professionals community who are understaffed and overworked, and even sometimes not completely trained or properly educated to deal with certain situations or special circumstances.

Becoming a responder or a mental health professional, for many, is about wanting to help or do good. But it's more than that. It’s more than just having empathy or compassion. It’s the willingness to help an individual work through their demons, sometimes at a cost.

Too many go into the mental health professional field with good intentions, not understanding the complexities of the system or the laws in place. Mental health should not be a political or religious issue, but, for too many, it is. But why?

Only recently has mental health become a topic that more are willing to discuss openly. Mental health is just as important an issue as guns, abortion, or other hot topic issues because it's one issue that at one point touches all of us in our lifetimes.

Shut up and quit calling? So it seems.

#LinuxSucks

Yea. There. I said it. Yes. I did.

I meant it. Why? A few important things have happened in the years since 1991 when Linus Torvalds introduced the world to Linux. Yes, the world has changed and technology has evolved since but that's not what I'm talking about: The community has changed. Not for the better. Yea, we all know about Linus's rants on the mailing list as well as in public. They're no different than Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. Some say thats greatness in action but I doubt that. Others say that its the narcissism being reflected from the leadership. How about its something else?

Let's break this down even further:

First of all, systemd. EVERYTHING about systemd is wrong. Can anyone tell me what about systemd follows the #UnixPhilosophy? Anyone? The #UnixPhilosophy (in its most basic statement) is defined as:

This is the Unix philosophy: Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface.(that last part still holds true, even today)

Systemd, as it stands, goes completely against that philosophy. I blame Linus because he knew systemd was shit but let it into the kernel anyway. As a result most major distros now use systemd. Systemd is still far from being the solid rock that sysinit still is. Sure, I could list other issues I see with Linux, such as audio (which I also blame on the hardware manufacturers but this particular issue lies with the same creator who created systemd) or the politics in Linux Kernel Development.

Addtional problems with the kernel lie with Digital-Rights-Management which I also blame on Linus. DRM is the bane of the FLOSS movement and community. Why even support Open Source if what is driving Open Source is being subverted with DRM? DRM is so embedded in the Linux kernel that removing it at this point would be a complete clusterfuck.

I could go on and on and on about the Linux kernel. 

Linus is to blame for a lot of this but I blame the community for most of this. Without any real leadership (except for the big money corporate donors pouring money into the Linux Foundation), the kernel is a reflection of the community: fragmented and discombobulated. FLOSS was supposed to represent both equality and freedom. Free as in free beer, free coffee. Libre as in liberated, liberal. FLOSS was supposed to level the playing field between the haves and the have nots. The movement, the philosophy have not lived up to their promises or expectations. By becoming a corporate whore, the Linux Foundation lost site of its vision a long time ago. These same corporations that donate to the Linux Foundation have abused Open Source developers. They have taken what is known as the Open Source Initiative and turned it into something it was not meant for: free labor, among other things. 

Many of the distros and many of the sites that I used to traverse I no longer do because these communties have become infected with far-right conspiracy theorists (a.k.a. Truth-Seekers or QAnon). It doesn't matter where you go on the web, these idiots are there. Again, I blame Linus. Why? He could've shown leadership. He could've said "Hey this does not reflect me, our community, or our values." But he did not. Granted, noobs used to be "challenged" by the community to "search and figure it out" or "RTFM" but those days of being henpecked by those who considered themselves to be "*nix gurus" have long since vanished. These "gurus" have been replaced by those with a covert political agenda. I've seen idiotic, bullshit comments such as "If you didn't vote for Trump you must be a Windows user." or "The government uses Windows to spy on you." Don't get me started on Bill Gates and anti-vaxers.

What about Richard Stallman, though? I'm glad he's gone. He was part of the problem.

All Lives DONT Matter

ALL lives won't matter until #BlackLivesMatter. When ALL lives matter this DOES include ALL non-whites and ALL non-christians and ALL non-straight as well as ALL non-cis persons. The persons fighting for #BlackLivesMatter really are fighting for everyone. Bigotry isn't tied to any one political affiliation, religious organization, age group, or gender.

I've made mistakes in the past. Those of which I will not go into detail here (or anywhere anytime for that matter). Mistakes which were made out of anger, frustration, and especially ignorance. Though I have not and never walked the path of the neo-nazi or white nationalist I still made subtle mistakes which, at the time, I did not now how repulsive and ignorant my comments and actions were. I have grown but I still make some unconscious mistakes. I am sorry.

Since George Floyd was murdered, I have seen this country grow with a reckoning never seen before. People are tired, angry, frustrated, and exhausted. One segment of the population was complaining about the riots and statues being torn down not understanding or even trying to comprehend the frustration and anger that was at play. This country is going through its own cultural revolution of sorts. A revolution that is long overdue. If we are to honor the values and the legacy our forefathers set forth in the documents we hold so dear then we must make sure that we mean it when we say ALL lives matter.  Until then, ALL lives won't matter until #BlackLivesMatter.

No Lives Matter: Iced T

Fahrenheit 451

I thought I'd get back into blogging. I guess I broke my own rule of blogging at least once a week in one of my blogs. (see links) It's been too long. Hopefully that'll change now.

I'm not even sure what topics I've yet to discuss but I'm sure I'll be discussing anything and almost everything. I'm tired of social media. I'm tired of all the vitriol. I'm tired of all the hate. If something or someone needs to be called out, I'll do it. That's me. I don't like @Anonymous, Alex Jones, Anti-Vaxxers, flat-earthers, Elon Musk, Trump, McConnell, or conspiracy's, etc. No, I don't consider myself a leftie, a liberal, a progressive, or even a socialist. I don't like titles. Titles lie. I prefer honesty. This blog will be an honest look at what I am feeling and who I am at any particular moment in time.


Right now I'm listening to the end of Fahrenheit 451 on Audible.

#NoCommentsAllowed

First post for a freshly made blog. My goal is to write a post once a day in one of my blogs:


Ambiguous Ramblings

Project Elysion

Vintage Gaming and Operating Systems

OTR & Classic Movies


To meet this goal I will not have the time to filter spam or troll comments so comments have been disabled. However, feel free to share the permalinks of posts to your own blogs or to social media. To further meet this goal and to focus more of my time on my projects I am diminishing my social media presence. Henceforth you'll only find me here, on IRC, or instant messenger.