You know what? I’m going to come right out and say it: You guys have kind of pissed me off.

It has been a whirl-wind few weeks of community activism in London, as outright war has broken out over the proposed cuts in the 2012 London City Council Budget, specifically the $1mil cut from the Affordable Housing fund. There have been heated conversations on twitter and countless blog posts written about the cuts and about some political drama that seems more West Wing then Forest City.

But that conversation is for another day.

This conversation is about an equally important cut that’s on the table: a cut of $500,000 to the AODA retrofit fund. I have spent the past 9 years in London advocating for more funding for accessibility and the answer is almost always the same; “We just don’t have the money right now.” Not only is there no “extra” money to help people get around, but now they want to actually reduce the amount of money being spent on retrofitting this woefully inaccessible city? This is nothing less then a tragedy.

In no uncertain terms, this cut sentences the disabled of London to a life of imprisonment, locked away in our houses with no where to go. This cut is making a bold statement that the disabled do not belong in our community, that we just can’t be bothered to accommodate their right to access and association. I have waited 28 years now to become a full member of this community — how many more years am I going to have to wait? So sorry about your luck, Tiny Tim. Maybe next Christmas.

You may think this hyperbolic, and in some ways perhaps it is, but it doesn’t change the fact that the lives of people with physical disabilities are stinted in London because of limited access. And we’re not talking one or two buildings — the bulk of buildings provide little to no access. You may say we were dealt a rotten hand in life, but the problem isn’t the diagnosis, it’s our lack of response as a community.

And that is what this is really about–response. Perhaps more disheartening then the cut is the fact that so few are talking about this cut. I hate to be that guy, the elephant in the room, but honestly I’m both frustrated and concerned that in our collective obsession to halt the Affordable Housing cuts, talking about it on twitter and on our blogs, we’ve let this significant AODA cut fall into the background. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve even seen it mentioned once in the London Free Press (although a tip of the hat to Pat Maloney for tweeting about it as it happened).

Unfortunately, I feel this whole event is indicative of what it means to be a disability rights advocate–our “issues” aren’t front page news, we don’t rally the masses, and we aren’t significant enough to pack a gallery of pissed off people. Although most of the people talking about the cuts to affordable housing are not homeless themselves, the concept of “homelessness” (or, more specifically, living in poverty) is comprehensible to people–they know or have known the fear of becoming homeless themselves or, at the very least, can imagine what that must be like.

But not accessibility.

For the bulk of you, you don’t imagine what it would be like to not be able to get into a building. You don’t consider how isolating it feels. You don’t think about how many in our community are trapped. And I use the word “don’t” very specifically — it’s not that you cannot do these things, it’s that the thoughts just don’t occur to you.

And, in many ways, that’s my fault. If I’m being honest right now, I’m not even angry with you guys, I’m angry with myself for not doing a better job. If I was doing my job, you would be just as riled up about the AODA cut as you are the homelessness. You don’t get it because I haven’t explained it.

And for that I’m sorry.

Now some of you might be saying “Get off your soap box, gimpy — affordable housing is more important!” And, unfortunately, that’s what they want you to think. In fact, in a recent phone conversation with one Councillor, I was told in no uncertain terms that there are things more important to fund in London than accessibility. As though our suffering just doesn’t compare (or register).

But this isn’t a competition of suffering — the cuts are going to suck equally for everyone. Further, stop making this a “Well if we fund accessibility, then we can’t help the homeless — is that what you want?” Can’t we have both? We can if we give up the fools dream of 0%.

All I ask is that all of you activists who plan to cram the galleries on Tuesday, remember those of us with disabilities. And more than that, know that a vote “yes” on cutting the AODA Retrofit Fund is just as tragic, just as damaging, and just as offensive as cutting $1-million in Affordable Housing.

And should any of these cuts happen, we should all be ashamed.

Update:

This letter was just released by the USC condemning the cuts to accessibility.

Seems legit. I see them at the market all the time.

It is either the stupidest mistake ever made or the most elaborate troll in the history of London. I am, of course, referencing the recent discovery that some photo peon inserted a poorly photoshopped image of Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag skating into the 2011 London Annual Report (as seen on LFPress).

I am honestly completely and totally baffled by this decision. I have no words to explain this, but I think John Flemming, quoted city planner, is on to something here. He said the image was to be “a visionary image of what could be the possibilities.” That is a brilliant strategy to attract people to London. What is possible? Everything is possible with a little Speidi!

So in that vein I’ve decided to do some free photoshopping for London City Council. Feel free to use any of these, free of charge, in the 2012 Annual Report, guys. Please leave your own contributions below and I’ll insert them into the post.

Joe Fontana with Speidi (click to see bigger)

Jim Bobs with Speidi (click to see bigger)

UWO with Speidi (click to see bigger)

Knights with Speidi (click to see bigger)

Holy Roller with Speidi (click to see bigger)

Grand Theatre with Speidi (click to see bigger)

City Hall with Speidi

"Ernest Scared Stupid" was WAY ahead of its time

Some people have been asking for closure on my troll run-in so I thought I’d spend Christmas Eve writing a quick update followed by a few quick observation. Indeed, my little troll friend wrote back, first saying “So I got the job?” followed about 30 minutes later with “Want to get a drink?” We are now in process of finding a time to meet for a pint (and lengthily chat). Of course, there’s a good chance this is merely an extended troll and the kid will never show up, but a small part of me is hoping he’s crapping bricks and just wants to make good on his mistake. Christmas miracle? I’ll let everyone know when and where we’re meeting for a drink so you can join us.

But more importantly, here are some things I’ve learned/observed over the past week:

Never listen to your gut reaction when dealing with trolls. The problem is that in the moment of a good trolling, your raw emotions will lead you to do something rash that you’ll usually regret later. The best piece of advice I’ve ever heard, something that all ISPs should be forced to tell people when they sign up for an internet connection, is “Don’t feed the trolls.” The best way to defuse a trolling is to simply ignore it. This seems obvious, in retrospect, but in the heat of the moment, usually all you can think about is revenge.

The high road may be harder but it’s usually more fruitful. Decided to simply write an email and extend an olive branch to Mr Troll was agonizing, but ultimately it was the right choice. The cycle has to stop somewhere and the only person’s actions whom you can control is your own, so be the bigger person and stop the cycle.

Maybe we’re thinking about cyberbullying all wrong. We spend a lot of time talking about bad kids, threats of legal action and “it gets better” campaigns to encourage victims, which I think there is value in, maybe to tackle cyberbullying we need to start listening to the bullies. This is kind of like the high road thing talked about earlier–it will be extremely hard but likely the most fruitful. Rather than the stick, maybe it’s time to use the carrot to give agency back to these people who lash out because they, themselves, feel powerless. How we’d do this, I do not know–what do you think? Leave your ideas in the comments.

Lastly, it would appear the disabled population is pissed. When I put the call out on twitter and facebook to find out what I should do about the troll there was an obvious pattern that quickly emerged — people with disabilities who responded to me unanimously called for revenge and those without disabilities responded almost unanimously calling for amnesty. I think people with disabilities, by and large, are growing tired of being pushed around and this seemingly innocuous troll, something that was essentially a joke in bad taste, tapped into a much deeper feeling about the abilism we face in our daily lives, finally, was an opportunity to hit back.

I think this might be the most significant thing I hope people take from this whole situation — while the nondisabled saw this as being a petty joke, it was actually symbolic of a deeper undercurrent of abilism and disrespect that people with disabilities face. Perhaps we aren’t being called “derps” on a daily basis, but it feels about the same when we encounter near-ubiquitous inaccessibility because, when you break it down, both are saying “you’re not welcome here.”

Food for thought. Happy holidays everyone!

Blacked out the address -- no need to spam the kid.

As some of you probably know, I had a bit of a run-in with an Internet troll earlier this week. In my attempt to hire a new aid, I put up a job posting on kijiji. Unfortunately, a little brat decided to respond saying “I’m interested in taking care of your retard. is he fully derp, or just kinda.” Curiously, this particular individual decided, instead of using a fake email address, to use the one connected to his Facebook page which included photos and information like his mailing address. Trolling 101, Joshua Cottrell, don’t use your real email address!

Privacy settings. They're grrrrrreeeaatttt!

So I have spent the past few days contemplating what to do about this guy. Should I chew him out about mocking the disabled? Should I troll him back? I had a lot of good ideas and suggestions on what to do–like going carolling at his house or sending him a fake letter in the mail from Fanshawe stating he will be expelled if he does not send a written apology to the dean of his faculty.

After a lot of soul searching (and after receiving some personal information about this gentleman) I’ve decided to do two things: first, send him an email and second, write this little blog post and share the email with all of you.

Hopefully, Josh will learn something from this whole experience and, if not, at least there will be a nice google-able documentation of it.

Without further ado, this is the email I just sent him (from a fake email address).

Joshua Cottrell,

Recently you submitted a mocking job application to a post on Kijiji, claiming to be willing to “look after [my] retard” and inquiring as to whether or not the individual was “fully derp [sic].” I’m sure you thought it was pretty funny, especially the 4chan meme photo attached to the application, but frankly your snide remarks aren’t appreciated. Unfortunately, the comments were not made quite as anonymously as you may have expected. In fact, it took very little effort to track down your name, alternate email addresses, and mailing address. In fact, I even talked to some people who went to high school with you.

Over the past few days, I’ve been trying to decide what to do about this. Clearly you were just trolling, doing it for the lulz, but that doesn’t make it okay to pick on people with intellectual limitations. First I considered simply outing you online, ensuring that any future employer looking for you on Google would find some of the poor choices you’ve made online and reconsider hiring you. Then I thought about reporting you to your dean at Fanshawe College, as your behavior clearly contravenes the student code of conduct. Lastly, I considered simply reporting you to the police, as your actions would classify as cyber bullying of a vulnerable population, something that could land you in both civil and legal court.

But it was during my digging that I discovered something that should have been obvious from the very beginning—you were bullied. And that’s kind of what this is all about, isn’t it? For who knows how long, you’ve felt powerless as others picked on you. You spend your time attempting to escape these feelings of inadequacy by playing games like World of Warcraft and, more recently, the new Star Wars MMO as a character named Zaeus—in these worlds, you can be more than just the kid who was picked on in high school. You hang around 4chan, because then you feel like part of something bigger than yourself—a part of a community that exerts real power online through intimidation and satire. And for all these reasons, in a desperate attempt to exert some power in your life, you lashed out at the intellectually disabled, presumably anonymously, because it made you feel superior: it made you feel in control.

And, honestly, that’s one of the saddest things I’ve heard all year. In fact, it’s so sad I decided that I wouldn’t bully you back. I wouldn’t kick and scream or troll you in some elaborate scheme to get revenge. Because somewhere along the lines I realized that we’re not so different, you and I. I know what it’s like to be picked on because you’re perceived to be different and, by inference, weak. I know what it’s like to be the butt of jokes and to be ostracized and I don’t want to be yet another in a long list of people to put you down.

Rather, Josh, I want you to know that there are other ways to be powerful in this world and better ways to make your voice heard. You might be surprised by the respect you will earn from people if you step out of your comfort zone and do something to make London a better place. Try volunteering, get involved with a community group, maybe even help out with an organization like Community Living so you can get a better perspective on what it’s really like to live (and thrive) with an intellectual limitation. Mocking people online might seem like the only way to regain power in your life, but trust me, it’s not the best.

For what it’s worth, I think you can be so much more than a troll.

Sincerely,

Derp.

First and foremost, we want to sincerely apologize for our lack of updates over the past few weeks, but we have plenty of good reasons!

First off, school is a cruel mistress and we have both been buried under a steaming pile of academia. Between Clara finishing her degree and Jeff ramping up for comprehensive exams, there just hasn’t been time to give Cripz the attention it deserves.

Second, it’s hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes and the weekly pressure to put out content has resulted in the story becoming more about speed and less about quality, meaning it was time to take a breath and refocus.

What does this mean for all you lovely viewers out there? Unfortunately, we’re looking at a few more weeks without new comics or blog posts as the holidays and school are bound to bone things for us.

But it’s not all bad news, because Santa’s going to be bringing you a bit of a late Christmas present.

We will be returning in the spring of 2012 with brand new episodes of Cripz, featuring a revitalized and renewed storyline with the goal being to bring you a more complete, comprehensive and entertaining experience. The hope is that with a bit of time and some better planning, we will be able to get back to our original vision for the strip of a story-focused text with satirical and informative curls. With the extra time to think and develop, we think Cripz is going to come back bigger and stronger than ever.

In that vein, we’ve got a question for you: what do YOU want to see in Cripz in 2012? Is there something you want more of? Something you want less of? What’s your favourite part of Cripz? What characters do you want to know more about? Leave your suggestions or criticism in the comments below–we’d really like to hear what you think.

Also in early 2012, Jeff will resume posting weekly humor blogs about all things disability (once he’s finished comps, of course). So if you like reading silly things written by someone with a questionable grasp of the written word, this could be real big news for you.

Finally, we wanted to thank everyone for everything they’ve done over the past year to help make Cripz what it is, from all the fans on facebook who share the new strips with their friends to our followers on reddit who help share the strip with complete strangers around the world. Thank you so much for your time, your interest, and your candor. Bear with us and hopefully we’ll see everyone back in 2012.

- Jeff & Clara

Jeff can’t even imagine what high school would have been like with the social networking technology available to teens now-a-days. Sexting definitely complicates the dating world a bit…although Jeff probably would have still spent most of his nights playing video games. Nerd.

TRANSCRIPT:

Cell 01
Flirty girl trying to ignore Tyler.

Tyler:
Yo, baby. Did you get my text earlier? The one with the picture of my abs and the message “Wanna do some laundry 2nite?”

Cell 02
Flirty girl still ignoring him, looking uncomfortable.

Tyler:
Well? Baby, I just wanna bust out the bounce sheets and tide you bounty.

Cell 03

Flirty Girl (embarrassed):
Can you just leave me alone?

Cell 04

Tyler:
Pfft. Bitch. Whatever you’re ugly anyway. I was just trying to do you a favour…

Cell 05

Kate:
Hey Tyler, is it hard being such a shining example of humanity? Your mother must be so proud…

Cell 06

Tyler:
Shut it Komichi, you’re not much better.

Cell 07

Kate:
Don’t worry, Tyler, I’m sure some day you’ll find true love.

Cell 08

Kate:
When you’re older, you’ll meet a lovely woman who steals your heart. Sure, she’ll think you’re a dirt bag but I’m sure you’ll devise some way to capture and lock her in your basement for a few years.

Cell 09

Kate:
Then she’ll escape, you’ll go to jail forever–no doubt stabbed to death during a dispute over cigarettes–and the world will be all the better with one less man whose is such a charming, but fragile, little snowflake.

I knew this guy seemed familiar…

On October 6th, don’t ignore the invisible gorilla.

And the Gorilla was like: "Huh. Did you know they sell bananas at the JLC now?" And Chris Moorhead was like: "My lawyer told me not to talk about it."

In fact, a study was done by two professors at the University of Illinois into our ability to process information, in an experiment now dubbed “The Invisible Gorilla,” to show how people can miss important information if they’re too focused on one specific task. Essentially, participants were asked to watch a video of people dressed in white shirts and black shirts and to count how many times people with white shirts passed a basketball. About halfway through the video, someone dressed in a gorilla suit walks through the screen, thumps their chest and growls, finally exiting stage left. When asked afterwards, participants could normally tell you how many passes were made, but over half the participants had no idea a gorilla had walked through the stage. More importantly, when the tape was shown to them again they couldn’t believe they’d missed something so obvious. I’m going to be honest with you, I totally missed the gorilla too when I watched the video the first time.

This might seem like just a kooky psych experiment, but I think it holds particular import right now as we close in on October 6th. Here in Ontario, there is a gorilla beating his chest in the middle of the screen and, somehow, a ton of us have missed it.

Let me take you back to the 90s. Remember those times? The Leafs weren’t terrible yet, Saved by the Bell and Fresh Prince were still on TV. Life was pretty good. Except there was this man named Mike Harris in charge. A man who thought it was a dumb idea to provide funding for things like schools and hospitals, so he chopped and slashed and closed a bunch of them down. Remember that guy? Remember how we promised ourselves we would never, ever vote for the party that gutted our social services? If so, why are some 34% of Ontarians considering voting for the Progressive Conservatives next week?

The size of his cranium indicates he'd make a good leader. Either that or he's ready to mate.

Despite what you think of Dalton or Andrea, the most terrifying proposition here is Tim “I Love Mike Harris” Hudak. If you can believe it, before being elected the head of the PC Party in Ontario, Hudak’s platform was essentially that he was a proud Harrisite. Oh good gravy, Mike Harris is back and he’s wearing a Tim Hudak suit.

Through the constant “We Can’t Afford Dalton” commercials, to the conservative candidates not showing up to local debates, the Conservatives are clearly running a pretty simple campaign–don’t look at the man behind the curtain.

My only hope is that when Ontarians step into the voter box on the 6th they aren’t so busy counting how many passes are made to miss the man in the Hudak suit, thumping his chest directly in front of us.

I’m just thankful I have the proper permits…those mall cops take those stickers quite seriously. In other news, what exactly has Griff killed for?

TRANSCRIPT:

Cell 01

Rhett:
Are you going to sign up for ODSP?

Cell 02

Griff:
I’m stackin’ too much paper my part-time job so I don’t qualify.

Cell 03

Griff:
S’okay though, I kinda dig gettin’ my swag the ol’ fashion way. Got a real sweet position too. Lots of authority.

Cell 04
Image of Griff rolling up to a mother and two young kids at the wheelchair table in the food court.

Griff:
Ma’am, you got a proper permit to be sitting at the handicapped table?

Woman:
Um, no? We’re just eating lunch.

Cell 05
Griff pulls out a crowbar.

Griff:
Ya’ll best be steppin’ off then. And if you be resistin’, I’m not above brutalizing a woman in front of her progeny.

Cell 06
Woman and children running away, Griff looking philosophical.

Griff:
People be thinkin’ this sticker is just a joke or something. It ain’t. I’ve killed for less, lady.

In London, we let our tasers do the talkin'

I’ve always found it weird that the London Police Service’s motto was “Deeds Not Words,” which is printed on the side of their cruisers in various languages. I guess that teenager learned this motto the hard way, eh? Snide remarks aside, I think there is value in exploring what this statement really means. Of course, I’m sure the motto doesn’t mean that the London Police shoot first and ask questions later, but rather, that they aim to serve the community through action and not just paying lip service to things like justice and dignity.

What does London look like if you consider our deeds and not our words?

In our collective rush to wash our hands of these events and assure ourselves London is a great place, we’re overlooking and, in some ways condoning or at LEAST excusing, the brutal reality that London has a serious problem with bigotry and hate. In fact, did you know London has one of the largest active white supremacist communities in Ontario?

Seriously guys, it's just a buddhist peace symbol, I swear. Why would a neo-Nazi put a Nazi swastika on his lawn? (photo by Derek Rutten, QMI Agency)

Example: A Nazi pilot named Martin Weiche moved to London shortly after the war and became a wealthy developer. Although he has since died, he did have kids, whom he indoctrinated with his neo-Nazi ideology and who have since spread that hatred to their own families. Weiche is perhaps best known for holding KKK cross burning ceremonies on his lawn. Also, if you Google Maps his house, you can see the nice Swastika he carved into his back yard.

Another: Tomasz Winnicki, a known white supremacist, ran for mayor of London in the last election. He garnered 234 votes. That’s right–there are over 200 Londoners who wanted a white supremacist as their mayor. Perhaps they were family and friends of the Northern Alliance, London’s very own white supremacist group?

Finally, these delightful Neo Nazis are also active in protesting the London Pride Parade, stating that homosexuals are “enemies” of the “white race.”

The banana throwing is not an isolated incident of racism and the ejection of transgendered workers is not the only example of transphobia. In a world of deeds, not words, London might just be the most intolerant community in Canada.

It’s time Londoners opened their eyes to the real city that surrounds them. Maybe then we wouldn’t be so shocked when things like this occur.