The Homeless Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:32:00 +0000

More On Asperger Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:21:00 +0000

The Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, Inc.
Dear all:

There is breaking news regarding the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), which is due out in early 2013.

Spectrum individuals who are better able to mirror greater society will most likely not qualify for a diagnosis under the most recent revisions. Please contact the DSM-V committee through the American Psychiatric Association (see below) and protest their newest proposed changes.

Though our membership was split on the subject, GRASP supported the changes in terminology that were first reported almost two years ago. Eliminating the diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) (as well as Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified), and putting everything under the umbrella of “autism” was jarring, as many of us have gotten used to the term “AS” to explain certain aspects of our identity. But seeing as no discernible line in the sand could be drawn that truly separated AS from autism (though the clinical world tried), the merger made theoretical sense. Furthermore, any spectrum diagnosis, in essence, served us well enough as it placed our behavioral differences within the context of wiring, and not through the judgmental lens of interpreted character deficits—as had existed before AS was legitimized in the DSM-IV in 1994.

But sadly, we may be heading back to the days of character deficits. Now it appears that the terminology is not all that will change with the DSM-V. Now, it appears that only the more severe cases will qualify for diagnosis or services.

In a report being published in tomorrow’s New York Times, the DSM-V committee appears to be acting in consort with clinicians who believe there is a presence of “over-diagnosis” of spectrum conditions in the U.S. While the clinical world was merely adhering to the requirements proposed in 1994’s DSM-IV, the DSM-V committee inexplicably seems to want to reverse the clock back to 1993, simply because the social services, educational, and advocacy worlds are not yet able to accommodate the numbers of people who are on the spectrum. Oddly enough, we believe that the majority of the clinical world does not believe in problems of “over-diagnosis,” and that the DSM committee surprisingly represents a minority opinion (most, if not all members of the committee have worked exclusively with only the more challenged end of the spectrum). Lastly, the ideas of “over-diagnosis” are almost always heard through bitter, emotionally-unhealthy tones; revealed as theories that are usually the product of people too afraid to admit how dumb we all were prior to 1994.

Suspiciously, the DSM-V committee has released these changes one month after taking away the opportunity for us to make comments (through their website) to proposed revisions. In lieu of the means to write them, please instead call the DSM authors, the American Psychiatric Association, at 703.907.7300 and tell them that you object to these changes. Not only will tens of thousands of spectrumites—if not more—be at risk for going back to the days when we were thought of as rude, nervous, or incompetent; but equal numbers of spectrumites will happily be denied the services they need by financially-strapped agencies. Fiscal concerns cannot be invalidated, but this is not the answer.

It is very hard for many to understand how diverse, and how complicated the autism spectrum really is. But to have what should be the leaders of our clinical world (a) subtley waging a competition of suffering between opposite ends of the spectrum, by invalidating the negative experiences of one side, and (b) succumbing to such a dumbing-down of the autism spectrum, if not knowledge itself, is unconscionable. Please make that call.

Sincerely,

Michael John Carley
Executive Director
GRASP
The Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership, Inc.
666 Broadway, Suite 825
New York, NY 10012

Living The Lie

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:04:00 +0000

Humans are an imaginative bunch. We can think all sorts of things beyond what actually exists. For that, we have been able to make certain improvements in our lives. We had to imagine automobiles and air planes before we had them. Our creativity has paid off in many respects. But, sometimes we lose our sense of realty when we think creatively. There are certain characteristics of humans that despite our desire to change them for the better, they cannot. I have had dreams in which I could fly just by willing myself to do so. But I never actually will be able to do so. The reality of physics prevents it. The reality of being human also prevents us from achieving Utopian ideals for society as well. There are some realities associated with being human (our frailty, and our obvious imperfections, to begin with) such as that prevent politicians, and really, any group of people from achieving true civility, compassion, and community, will always be with us. In the bible, such lack of perfection is referred to as "sin" - something we are born with, and something we will never be able to rid ourselves of.

The one big problem with striving to become a more civilized people is that at some point we reach our full potential of civility and yet still fall short of what we imagine we could be, we are less than completely civil. To compensate between what we are and what we hoped to be we begin telling ourselves little lies about how civil we are. We become two faced, saying one thing, and doing, being something else. Eventually we start believing those lies about our selves and how civil we "think" we are. And that leads us to such things as voting for someone like George W Bush, who declared himself "pro life" so to win votes necessary to achieve the most power position in the land, and yet he has more spilled blood on his hands than most any other human in recent memory. Even before becoming president he was Government over a state the the most executions in the country. The truth about him not actually being "pro life" was there for everyone to see, but the lies they've been telling themselves blinded them from the ugly truth.

The Christian Politician

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

There's a lot to talk about here regarding supposed Christian politicians. We could start with the separation of church and state. The founding fathers had seen the problems that come with a government heavily influenced by religion in England, and so they devised a government that purposely kept the two entities "church" and "state" separate. I also recall Jesus commanding his followers to make no oath to anything or anyone but Him. Seems to me that a true Christian would see a conflict of interest in following Jesus and being a politician.

And it wasn't just in England where this was a problem. The American colonies had some serious growing pains as well. The first colonies in America were governed by church folks, mostly divided between Catholics and Protestants. If you happened to be a Catholic in a Protestant colony, or vice versa, you'd either be forced to convert, or if you refused that, they'd burn you at the stake for being a heretic. Things just get ugly when religion begins influencing politics. And if you think such things could not happen today, just consider the Taliban, and what they are up to these days, beheadings and all.

NDAA National Defense Authorization Act

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Any government that refuses to be held accountable to its people is a government that cannot be trusted. The whole point of having rules for detaining people for crimes outlined in the Constitution was to prevent this very thing from happening - holding people in jail indefinitely and without charge. This, my friends, is the end of The United States.

I Don't Buy It

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Only 15 years ago, the price of regular gas was 99 cents a gallon. Now it's 3 dollars. Actually in the past 15 or so years, the price of living has gone up 50% across the board. And in the past couple years, corporations have been financially raping our pensions and 401k's, our government coffers, and the cost of doing business is forcing our government to debt levels never before seen. So, NOW a bank declares a silly surcharge on banking fees, a phone service announces a 2 dollar convenience fee, both of which the companies back down from. Please! It's all an act to get the citizenry to think that they have actually achieved something and have regained control of the economic system and that corporations are now at the people's mercy. Give me a break. Corporations are hoping that with the people having these few fake victories they'll not pursue corporations on the real thefts they committed against humanity. Don't let the the corporations get away with it.

Fair Is Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Liberals, what do they want? Fair monetary compensation for work and sacrifice. The conservatives negatively label this as "distribution of wealth." What's at the heart of this? Businesses, and corporations know that a great deal of their wealth comes from not being fair in their dealings with employees, and others. When forced to be fair, businesses and corporations know that what results is a redistribution of wealth. They want to keep all the wealth for themselves.

I think what is more important is that people who work should be adequately compensated, not only for their efforts on behalf of their bosses, but also for the sacrifices they make for their jobs. 40 hours a week, week after week, year after year, is a good chuck of one's life to dedicate to a job - time away from family, friends and personal pursuits. For their work and sacrifice, people should be paid at least enough to afford a decent home, decent food, and the ability to see a doctor when they become sick, so that they be healthy enough to keep working.

If your job has been shipped overseas, if you cannot afford even your most basic needs, if you cannot afford your electric bill, if you cannot afford good healthy food for your family, if you cannot afford to take your sick child to doctor, then thank your conservative Republican politicians for that. Republicans work to keep the wealthy people rolling in dough, while you go without.

A Job

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:17:00 +0000

An email I just received...."Great news! I have a message from someone at (.......) wanting you to start training tomorrow! Looks Like I just got a job. It is only temporary, through February, but it is something anyway. Going home now to iron my good shirt.

Christmas Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Although I've been off the streets for 3 years now, I'm still struggling to meet my day to day needs. Keeping food in the cupboard is the hardest. I have an Amazon.com wish list of things I could use. Thanks. My wish list.

OWS The Reason For This Season Of Protest

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:21:00 +0000

The following comes from The Guardian, a British newspaper.

US citizens of all political persuasions are still reeling from images of unparallelled police brutality in a coordinated crackdown against peaceful OWS protesters in cities across the nation this past week. An elderly woman was pepper-sprayed in the face; the scene of unresisting, supine students at UC Davis being pepper-sprayed by phalanxes of riot police went viral online; images proliferated of young women – targeted seemingly for their gender – screaming, dragged by the hair by police in riot gear; and the pictures of a young man, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, emerged in the record of the middle-of-the-night clearing of Zuccotti Park.

But just when Americans thought we had the picture – was this crazy police and mayoral overkill, on a municipal level, in many different cities? – the picture darkened. The National Union of Journalists and the Committee to Protect Journalists issued a Freedom of Information Act request to investigate possible federal involvement with law enforcement practices that appeared to target journalists. The New York Times reported that "New York cops have arrested, punched, whacked, shoved to the ground and tossed a barrier at reporters and photographers" covering protests. Reporters were asked by NYPD to raise their hands to prove they had credentials: when many dutifully did so, they were taken, upon threat of arrest, away from the story they were covering, and penned far from the site in which the news was unfolding. Other reporters wearing press passes were arrested and roughed up by cops, after being – falsely – informed by police that "It is illegal to take pictures on the sidewalk."

In New York, a state supreme court justice and a New York City council member were beaten up; in Berkeley, California, one of our greatest national poets, Robert Hass, was beaten with batons. The picture darkened still further when Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on "how to suppress" Occupy protests.

To Europeans, the enormity of this breach may not be obvious at first. Our system of government prohibits the creation of a federalised police force, and forbids federal or militarised involvement in municipal peacekeeping.

I noticed that rightwing pundits and politicians on the TV shows on which I was appearing were all on-message against OWS. Journalist Chris Hayes reported on a leaked memo that revealed lobbyists vying for an $850,000 contract to smear Occupy. Message coordination of this kind is impossible without a full-court press at the top. This was clearly not simply a case of a freaked-out mayors', city-by-city municipal overreaction against mess in the parks and cranky campers. As the puzzle pieces fit together, they began to show coordination against OWS at the highest national levels.

Why this massive mobilisation against these not-yet-fully-articulated, unarmed, inchoate people? After all, protesters against the war in Iraq, Tea Party rallies and others have all proceeded without this coordinated crackdown. Is it really the camping? As I write, two hundred young people, with sleeping bags, suitcases and even folding chairs, are still camping out all night and day outside of NBC on public sidewalks – under the benevolent eye of an NYPD cop – awaiting Saturday Night Live tickets, so surely the camping is not the issue. I was still deeply puzzled as to why OWS, this hapless, hopeful band, would call out a violent federal response.

That is, until I found out what it was that OWS actually wanted.

The mainstream media was declaring continually "OWS has no message". Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online "What is it you want?" answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.

The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process. No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create kale derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.

No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

When I saw this list – and especially the last agenda item – the scales fell from my eyes. Of course, these unarmed people would be having the shit kicked out of them.

For the terrible insight to take away from news that the Department of Homeland Security coordinated a violent crackdown is that the DHS does not freelance. The DHS cannot say, on its own initiative, "we are going after these scruffy hippies". Rather, DHS is answerable up a chain of command: first, to New York Representative Peter King, head of the House homeland security subcommittee, who naturally is influenced by his fellow congressmen and women's wishes and interests. And the DHS answers directly, above King, to the president (who was conveniently in Australia at the time).

In other words, for the DHS to be on a call with mayors, the logic of its chain of command and accountability implies that congressional overseers, with the blessing of the White House, told the DHS to authorise mayors to order their police forces – pumped up with millions of dollars of hardware and training from the DHS – to make war on peaceful citizens.

But wait: why on earth would Congress advise violent militarised reactions against its own peaceful constituents? The answer is straightforward: in recent years, members of Congress have started entering the system as members of the middle class (or upper middle class) – but they are leaving DC privy to vast personal wealth, as we see from the "scandal" of presidential contender Newt Gingrich's having been paid $1.8m for a few hours' "consulting" to special interests. The inflated fees to lawmakers who turn lobbyists are common knowledge, but the notion that congressmen and women are legislating their own companies' profitsis less widely known – and if the books were to be opened, they would surely reveal corruption on a Wall Street spectrum. Indeed, we do already know that congresspeople are massively profiting from trading on non-public information they have on companies about which they are legislating – a form of insider trading that sent Martha Stewart to jail.

Since Occupy is heavily surveilled and infiltrated, it is likely that the DHS and police informers are aware, before Occupy itself is, what its emerging agenda is going to look like. If legislating away lobbyists' privileges to earn boundless fees once they are close to the legislative process, reforming the banks so they can't suck money out of fake derivatives products, and, most critically, opening the books on a system that allowed members of Congress to profit personally – and immensely – from their own legislation, are two beats away from the grasp of an electorally organised Occupy movement … well, you will call out the troops on stopping that advance.

So, when you connect the dots, properly understood, what happened this week is the first battle in a civil war; a civil war in which, for now, only one side is choosing violence. It is a battle in which members of Congress, with the collusion of the American president, sent violent, organised suppression against the people they are supposed to represent. Occupy has touched the third rail: personal congressional profits streams. Even though they are, as yet, unaware of what the implications of their movement are, those threatened by the stirrings of their dreams of reform are not.

Sadly, Americans this week have come one step closer to being true brothers and sisters of the protesters in Tahrir Square. Like them, our own national leaders, who likely see their own personal wealth under threat from transparency and reform, are now making war upon us.

Know Your Place In Line

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:28:00 +0000

Xmas Is For The Dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0000

Turkey Day Help

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Still need help with last minute Thanksgiving Day dinner preparations? Check out my friend Heather Solos' blog http://www.home-ec101.com/

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0000

I have received a lot from a lot of people, (everything from material goods to emotional and spiritual encouragement), and I am grateful beyond words for all of it, and for all of you. You have made an otherwise unbearable life worth living. Thank you.

The Police Still Harass Food Ministries

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:39:00 +0000

I just got word from the director of a non-profit organization here in Nashville that the police are still attempting to discourage people from feeding the homeless.

I live in a building with 16 other formerly homeless people, part of the Housing First program run by the City of Nashville. Being that some of the people in my building are newly off the streets, they have yet to assimilate to life off the streets, and so still need some assistance. One group that brought food to our building on occasion had stopped coming here, so I emailed them about it. The director told me that the people delivering the food to our building and other homeless people in downtown Nashville were being harassed by the police. This is how I responded to her email:

If money = speech, then food = speech as well. Cops, and really, the people they answer to, are not so interested in other people's rights. And so long as you cave to the pressure placed on you by the police, you, I and everyone else loses their constitutional rights to things like freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of religion. I would implore you to stand up against "snarky comments" from the police. More over, I would encourage you to press back against this police tactic by taking the police department and city to court so to defend your rights, and the rights of the homeless. Some homeless that you service aren't even in downtown proper. The formerly homeless people living in my building are few, but our needs are just as important as any other, mostly because we are taking ourselves out of the network of regular homeless services and are attempting to be more independent. Food is not as readily available to us, especially for the newcomers, who are fresh off the streets. We need your help more than ever, especially since the police are working against you, instead of with you. Please, don't give in to the pressures of the police and other's who could not care less about the homeless.

Job Lead

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:19:00 +0000

My case manager has informed me of a job lead for which I am well qualified. It's a temporary job, 3 months long, but it is full time and will get me back in the swing.

I am more than ready to get back into the work force. I'm sure everyone else is too.

Another Bullshit Night In Suck City

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:33:00 +0000

It is the best first person account of homelessness I've ever read. No, the author was not homeless himself, although he did come close to it. The story is about the author's relationship with his father who was homeless. One night, while the author was working at a homeless shelter (a public shelter, not a "mission"), his estranged father came into the shelter looking for a place to stay for the night.

Another Bullshit Night In Suck City

The author, Nick Flynn, is an accomplished writer. And his talents as a writer come through in this book. More than any other book I've read about homelessness, this one, with it's particular literary style, creates the "feel" of homelessness.

The book was eventually picked up for a movie, and I found out today that the movie has been completed and is scheduled to hit the theaters in 2012. Considering Robert De Niro plays the homeless father, I have high hopes for it. It's easy to misrepresent homelessness. I've got my fingers crossed for something good.

Yes, I too wondered what they would do about the title of the movie. I doubt that theaters would want the word "bullshit" on their marquees. They changed the title to, "Being Flynn".

Occupy Nashville And Homeless People

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:52:00 +0000

Since the dawn of civilization, homeless people have been drawn to metropolitan centers. And history has proven that nothing will change that. Homeless people cannot be driven out of a city, they always find a way back in. Legislative actions are useless for the same reasons. Of course not all homeless people inhabit city centers, or disregard the rule of law. But some do. And those particular homeless people are most often those suffering from mental health issues, and drug addictions, which makes it near impossible to reason with them on any subject of importance.

Homeless people in Nashville, as in every city really, are used to having the run of the place, especially at night, after all the homed people have returned to the suburbs, or high rise lofts. So, for the homeless, Occupy camps are an intrusion into their daily existence. Some of the homeless have it together enough to find a way to peacefully coexist with the protesters, and will perhaps even support and join in with the protests, but some homeless people will not. And those homeless people would wish the Occupy people to go away.

Although most homeless people will not be a problem for the Occupy group, the few who are, will be very annoying and distracting to the cause.

Since the Occupy movement involves people who have never really spent much time downtown, I'm sure few or none of them anticipated having to deal with this issue. It is a tricky one, mostly for the fact that homeless people are citizens who also have rights, and as fellow human beings, deserve a level of respect and equal consideration.

Here are my suggestions for the Nashville Occupy group.

Contact the folks of Open Table and the Amos House Community. They have the experience dealing with, and a genuine concern for, homeless people. Hopefully they can provide information and resources for dealing with the homeless people you encounter.

And, if at all possible, raise funds to pay for a legitimate security company to provide security to the camp. You might even be able to hire an off duty police officer from Metro.

In the mean time, have a few people patrolling your camp, and equip them with flashlights and cell phones so that they can quickly call the metro or capital police when necessary.

A Wall Street Journal article on the subject.

Here is an article that I found on this subject at the Nashville Channel 5 website:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Without the fear of arrest, members of Occupy Nashville are once again settling into Legislative Plaza. Now, the group is looking for ways to ensure their safety during its occupation.

"We have females who want to occupy up here and they don't feel safe when they see a bunch of drunken people running around up here and creating fights, and what not," explained member Devin Pena.

Monday night, occupiers had an issue with an injured, intoxicated man who came to their camp after his involvement in a fight elsewhere.

"And that's not fair to us. We have our own issues to deal with right now, and having that on top of everything just brings everybody down," Pena said.

Pena sent an email to two unions who have voiced their support for Occupy Nashville. He asking the local United Steel Workers and United Auto Workers to help with security.

"To hopefully see if they have any barricades that we can put up around our perimeter, so we can feel a little safer inside our own area," said. Pena.

He also asked if union members would volunteer to patrol the plaza.

Occupy member Eva Watler did just that during the overnight hours of Tuesday, walking Legislative Plaza with a group the named the "vibes patrol."

"Keeping the vibes good, you know, keeping things up and happy and focused on what we're doing," Watler explained.

She said Occupy Nashville have set up to on the plaza for the long haul.

"Occupy means occupy your home, this is our home," Watler said.

Now the group is determined to makes sure their make-shift home is secure as the wait until their message is heard, and understood.

The temporary restraining order issued Monday in federal court allows Occupy Nashville to stay on Legislative Plaza until November 21, 2011, without the fear of arrest.

Aspergers Is A Life In Extreme Pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:23:00 +0000

The brain of a person of Asperger's Syndrome does not function like that of a typical person's brain. I understand this is difficult for some people to understand. But, when you consider the human body, it's obvious that, although we all have similarities, two eyes one nose, etc, they are actually different. Some function better than others, and the slight differences make a difference. Yes, you can sometimes find a short person who excels at Basketball, the truth is, taller people are better at the game than short people. Some people can eat anything and everything they want and never gain weight, yet others can eat much less and still become over-weight, etc. We are different.

Most people are born with bone structures that, although different in their own way, are correctly formed. Yet there are people whose bones grow crooked. There is a basic structure of the human body, within which there are infinite variables. But beyond that there are many many people whose bodies do not grow as designed. I have scoliosis. It is minor in comparison to some people's, but it still affects my life.

My spine twists in at least 4 different points, from my neck to my tail bone. My shoulders are offset because of it, my pelvis is offset as well. The padding between some of my vertebrae is missing and the vertebrae have thus fussed together. There's also a good bit of arthritis on my spine as well. For all of this I cannot walk or run or swim as far or as fast as most people under normal circumstances. Sitting or standing for more than an hour at a time will cause back pain. Throwing a ball accurately or with much speed is difficult. Before I was aware of my scoliosis, I became interested in weight lifting, but I soon noticed that my muscles were developing unevenly, throwing off my posture even more than it was before.

Scoliosis was something I was born with. It was certainly something I did not choose for myself. Asperger's Syndrome is also something I was born with, and did not choose for myself. Still, there are people who are dismissive about people's difficulties with life as a result of their brain differences. They admit the defects they can easily see, like physical deformities, but they seem to not comprehend anything beyond that, such as the differences in people's brains. Those dismissive people say things like "they choose to be that way, they could change if they really wanted to." Obviously they don't want to admit that some people's problems really are beyond their control. I think it has something to do with rejecting the necessity of sympathy. Having to respect other people's differences often means having to give other people's needs priority. In the highly competitive culture we live in, sympathy for others is considered a detriment. For this, many people deny the reality that others have to live with. This denial only makes life more difficult for everyone.

I have seen first hand that many homeless people have symptoms of Aspergers, and I credit Aspergers as the main cause of my homelessness. But other's have responded saying that I am only using Aspergers as an excuse for my homelessness. Among those was the director of the local rescue mission. To him, homelessness is a result of sin. Still, he can't see anything beyond the sin paradigm. Bad things happen to you because you sin, good things happen to you because you don't sin. Sure, this is inaccurate, illogical and shallow thinking. But because he has achieved a position of authority, he believes himself correct, his opinion carries weight with other people. He says that because he knows of people with Aspergers who have never been homeless, that Asperger's cannot be a cause of homelessness. In my next post I'll answer that posit.

Tony

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:01:00 +0000

Just got some sad news. Tony, a homeless man in Toronto, and the subject of the very popular blog, homelessmanspeaks.com, passed away last week. The blog was a clever bit of writing. Just a few words, a bit of conversation between the blog's writer, and Tony. Sometimes funny, sometimes wise, usually something profound. The blog started 5 years ago, and has maintained a steady following ever since. Homeless Man Speaks

Human Conditioning And Homelessness

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Most everyone knows abut Ivan Pavlov and his dogs, and the psychological study of conditioning and involuntary reflex actions. Each time that Pavlov fed his dogs, he would ring a bell. He did this so often that eventually he could ring the bell, but withhold the food, and yet his dogs would salivate anyway.

On yesterday's episode of "Anderson" (yes, it appears that Anderson Cooper has sold out to daytime television), he showed an experiment done on humans. Several people were shown a short video of someone being murdered. The death was a fake but the people in the study did not know that. They were even told that it was a real event. At the end of the the video there appeared a photograph of a rose. The people who watched this video were also hooked up to a machine that monitored their vitals, like blood pressure, heart rate, perspiration, etc. The machine proved that each time the video was shown, the people viewing it had a physical reaction. They were shown the video several times, each time with the picture of the rose at the end of it. Eventually, when the were shown only the photograph of a rose, they had the same physical reaction as if they had seen the murder video.

These experiments prove that conditioning happens, even to humans.

Take for instance a young person who was beaten regularly and excessively by his/her father during childhood. This child will then grow up as an adult believing, not only that such behavior is normal, but also expected. This may very well lead these people toward a life of violence. Or, may very well lead them to look for an abusive significant other to have a relationship with. We often call this type of behavior cyclical, but really, it's just the conditioning a person has been under for so long, that leads to it.

Because we are all constantly being conditioned to one thing or another, a person's behavior and reactions to life's many and varied experiences is not so easily self controlled.

I bring this up in answer to what is often an excuse in denying help to those in need. We hear a lot of talk about "Self Reliance" and "Personal Responsibility." Those are all great things that we should all aspire to, but achieving these goals is not like some light switch that can flipped on and off. They are things that we must, like everything else, be conditioned to. And we must admit that not everyone has had the luxury of being raised by people who know how to set a good example.

People who are less fortunate are conditioned towards poverty and failure. It happens first by their own family and others responsible for their raising. Then it happens again in adult life by the more successful people who, instead of positively inspiring the less fortunate, turn on them, the poor and unsuccessful, with contempt, and insults, and creating additional obstacles that hinder success for those who have yet to achieve it.

Everyone who refuses to give a hand up to those in need is just as guilty of causing the conditions that lead to failure as anyone.

Hiring Graphic Designer

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:21:00 +0000

The Contributor, Nashville's homeless/street newspaper is hiring:

The Contributor is seeking a contract graphic designer for design and layout of 16-24 page once-to-twice-monthly tabloid newspaper publication.

Experience Needed:
Heavy print design experience necessary (prior newspaper design a plus)
Publication page layout
Quark XPress
Adobe CS Suite

How to Apply:
1) Please send letter of interest,
2) resume (detailing above experience),
3) salary requirements (hourly and/or per-project),
4) and link to online portfolio by email to tasha@thecontributor.org no later than November 11, 2011.

Then Don't Worry

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Truth Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Yes, truth can be known, although finding it is difficult. The nature of truth has been known for a very long time. Truth is very much like light - as the New Testament metaphor points out. Once you allow truth into your life, just like allowing light into a room, truth will spread out and illuminate everything it can reach. For most people, that is problematic. Usually, when people go looking for the truth, they are looking for the truth in just one aspect of life. But, once they knock a hole into the wall the separates them from the truth, the truth does not illuminate just the area where it is desired, but it spreads out, lighting up everything, exposing everything, making everything known. Thing is, most everyone has some aspects of their life that they wish to remain hidden. But with truth, as with light, you cannot pick and choose where you want truth to be present. That is, and not look like a raving lunatic, or hypocritical ass.

By a certain age, every person develops a philosophy of life that gives answers to, and justification for, the way they live. Religions are good at prepackaging these philosophies so to make life more convenient for people. And a lot of people are drawn to that convenience. But everyone, religious or not, has a philosophy of justification for the way they live. And as people age, the many and different aspects of their lives intertwine with each other, supporting each other, justifying each other, so that the philosophy becomes a complete thought unto itself.

Yet, when a person goes in search of truth, begins to strip away their preconceived notions, and prejudices, and justifications, so to find truth, and the truth becomes known, the whole philosophy that person has lived by begins to unravel. And in this unraveling, more and more of the hidden things in that person's life become exposed. For most everyone, that much exposure on their lives is unbearable. So, to stop the unraveling, they must retreat back to the justifications and self deception and denial that protected them.

As much as people know that the truth is a good thing, and should be the focus of their lives, they just can't handle it. So, to protect certain aspects of their lives from the truth it becomes necessary for all truth to be shut out.

This also affects our relationships with each other. As much as one person desires to keep certain aspects of their life hidden from exposure to the light, to the truth, everyone must agree to help keep those things secret, or risk having their own secrets exposed. (The threat of retaliation is very real.) So, we have this unwritten rule in society that, so to remain in good standing with others, we must all agree to preserve each other's secrets, and lies, acts of denial and self deception. This agreement, one to each other through out society, is a massive barrier to the truth of things. Those who are willing to seek out the truth and tell the truth are thus often shut out, expelled and force to the fringes of society, excommunicated, etc., they are blackballed, discredited, labeled crazy or untrustworthy.

If a person wishes to live, to eat, to have a home, to make a "living," they must adopt this way of living in denial of truth and agree to the lies that the rest of society lives by.

NASNA Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Barbieux) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:09:00 +0000

Sorry, I've been distracted this past week. I attended the North American Street Newspaper Association's (nasna.org) annual conference that was held this year in Nashville. In my own estimation, I'd say that the quality of the conference, albeit the quality of the attendees, was much improved over the last conference I attended about a decade ago. The people running homeless/street newspapers seem more focused and more talented and more caring about the work of street papers, than in years past. And it really shows. Although mainstream media, and newspapers in general, are experiencing declines in readership and sales, street newspapers are experiencing unprecedented growth. The thing is, street newsapers aren't just a product to create and sell, they are vehicles of personal and social change. So many homeless people's lives have taken drastic turns for the better, for being involved in streetpapers. And the content of these papers is telling the story of homelessness and poverty that isn't getting out to the public through typical media. In streetpapers, there is hope.

Now back to blogging.