Hating the Homeless for Fun and Profit

     Maybe I simply have a unique vantage point on this issue, but I will simply never understand why the (seeming) majority of society cannot see homeless people as fellow human beings in need of help.
      My local library has insulting signs posted on every entrance stating that "for sanitary reasons" patrons are not allowed to bring luggage bags on wheels, items inside plastic shopping bags, or more than one bag into the library. There is no direct sanitary issue there except that the banned items are exactly the sort of thing a homeless person often carries with them. On my trips to the library, I often see a large (relatively clean) luggage container on wheels sitting outside the front entrance, unattended. Obviously, some homeless person who is probably carrying the majority of his personal belongings in that bag is being forced to leave it outside, where anyone could easily walk away with it, in order to use the public library. I have considered editing those signs to replace "for sanitary reasons" with "because we think homeless people are icky."

The Season Begins

     The weather in Hagerstown is finally warming up, the snow has nearly all melted and the ground is working on thawing. So, I spent yesterday afternoon planting peas. My hands ended up covered in sticky, cold, black dirt. My pants were soaked from kneeling in the boggy grass. It was liberating.

The Right to be Wrong

Apparently some people feel that, by protecting hate speech, the United States is somehow violating the rights of those who are targeted by said speech. Now, I don't agree with US policy on a lot of things, but this is one area where I completely agree with our current interpretation of the First Amendment. So long as you aren't making a threat or actually causing someone damage by what you say, you can say whatever you please without government sanction.