Donald Winslow's blog

In just a few days, barring a last-minute deal, we in the States will be plunged into the horrors of sequestration. Er..uh..what exactly is sequestration? Is it worse than a blizzard? Well, I don’t know, but I reckon it’s something along the lines of what they call “austerity” on the other side of the Atlantic. “Austerity”, roughly translated into the language of US politics, means “spending cuts”. There may be some tightening of interest rates and whatnot thrown in, but basically austerity means spending cuts.

Hollande, France’s new “leftist” leader, complains that austerity measures inhibit economic growth and calls on the European Union to loosen its grip on Greece’s economy.

Standard & Poor’s just downgraded the UK’s credit rating because the British economy isn’t growing (actually, it’s contracting) and austerity measures are still being implemented. The Labour Party blames the austerity measures for stifling economic growth.

On this side of the pond, the US economy also contracted in the last quarter. The Republicans complain that rampant spending is stifling growth. How can that be? Well, it’s actually tax increases that they’re worried about. But a larger budget increases the pressure to raise taxes, so the Republicans want spending cuts.

Once again we’re working under the assumption that perpetual growth is possible, desirable, and necessary. Instead, we should be planning for ecological sustainability and economic stability. We need to live within our means–reduce our footprint and balance the budget.

There’s an app for Android called “Kids Paint Free”. At first glance this seems handy for a toddler’s parent. The kid can draw pretty pictures on a black screen with fingers; might occupy your bundle of joy for a good 30 seconds while you go to the bathroom. The catch is that there are ads at the bottom of the screen, so with a few taps your budding artist might install a for-pay app or order a suite of furniture!

This morning I opened yesterday’s paper and was surprised to see sample ballots! Surprised because I didn’t know there was election tomorrow and also surprised because I have never seen sample ballots in the Shawnee News-Star before.

Saves me the trouble of scanning them and putting them online.

I was not able to locate the sample ballots on the News-Star’s website, so if you don’t have a print subscription you’ll need to walk downtown to your public library to see them. While you’re downtown, stop in the County Building and ask why the Pottawatomie County Election Board doesn’t have a website.

Probably because the voters won’t give them money for it.

One of the questions on tomorrow’s ballot does ask voters to fund information technology upgrades–the County wants to raise tariffs for improvements in the 911 emergency response system. Also, there are school board elections and several school districts have bond issues on the ballot.

If you’re not sure what school district you’re in, the city has a map here.

So don’t forgot to vote tomorrow, and, more importantly, figure out what or who it is that you’re voting for or against before you get to the polls!

I use Gmail for my main email account, but I usually use Firefox browser with the Mozilla Adblock Plus plugin to avoid seeing ads. Today I thought I’d try out Google’s Chrome browser to see how well it integrates with the Gnome Desktop’s “Online Accounts” feature. That feature hasn’t really worked well for me, because I’ve never figured out how to unlock the desktop keyring. I know the password, but it doesn’t prompt me for the keyring password when I need to open it.

Anyway, while going through my email I opened this action alert from the Union of Concerned Scientists and was amused to see the targeted ad Google put above the message. It seems to reinforce the point UCS is making!

Shawnee’s homeless population has suffered a couple of setbacks in the last few months. First, the Shawnee Public Library has started making loiterers leave the library property. Second, the Shawnee City Commission voted not to rezone the Shawnee Rescue Mission’s property on Louisa to permit an overnight shelter. Third, the City Commission voted not to approve a rezoning request to allow a soup kitchen on Main Street. Fourth, the city personnel have been trying to discourage the homeless from visiting city parks.

The change in practice at the Shawnee Public Library came about because other members of the public at the library complained about homeless members of the public at the library. Some patrons report feeling intimidated by the presence of homeless individuals. Since homeless people are members of the public, they are allowed to use library resources (such as books and computers). However, anyone sitting on the bench outside the library is now asked to leave.

So what is the purpose of the bench? Libraries in Oklahoma City have in fact removed benches, and the library in Shawnee has removed some of the more comfortable furniture inside. These changes only cause us to become more destitute as a society. A public library is more than a collection of books; it is a public space. I say the bench is a library resource.

The Shawnee Rescue Mission will have a day shelter, but not this winter. They had asked for the rezoning so they could also establish an overnight shelter. Many members of the community have voiced support for the shelter, but some with businesses nearby have opposed it. Notably, Commissioner Harrod’s daughter said that an overnight shelter would hurt their business. Others complained that a homeless shelter might house criminals. It was Commissioner Harrod who introduced the motion to deny the rezoning.

But denying the rezoning for a homeless shelter will not make the homeless go away. Indeed, they are by definition homeless, so they have no place to go. We can try to move them from one place to another, but avoiding the problem doesn’t solve it.

Some community members expressed concern over allowing a soup kitchen on Main Street, complaining that it would hamper efforts to revitalize downtown. Someone wants to serve food in the center of your village and you’re worried that’s going to lower your standard of living?

The City of Shawnee is no longer allowing churches to reserve park shelters to feed the hungry. Rumor has it the churches don’t bother reserving the shelters, so this policy change has not hampered their efforts.

Where’s Occupy Shawnee? Where’s Food not Bombs? Where’s the ACLU? Where’s Habitat for Humanity?