Why People Don't Like Government Agencies

Today's mail brought a surprise. A letter from the County Expressway Authority. It contained a toll-by - plate invoice for $3.75 for the license plate I surrendered in November 2010.

I don't own a car. I had a bike, but it rusted. I still like bikes.

I turned the license plate in to the tag office where I signed over the car to the current owner. That was in the fall of 2010--before November 2--because November 2, 2010 was the date my car insurances policy would expire.

I asked the woman behind the desk at the tag office for a receipt, and she said the surrender license plate notice would be mailed to me. It was. I have it.

The expressway is taking photos of my old license plate (if that's even my old license plate number; I'm still investigating that)-- on some unknown car driven by an unknown person. I want to know who that person is and why they're driving around with my old license plate, and why I got their bill from the county government that oversees such things.

And btw- even when I did own a car, I never ever drove on the Selmon Expressway.

So I went to the website listed on the invoice because of course, government offices close at 6 p.m. (or earlier).

On their website this is what I found:

21.   What if I get an invoice for a license plate I no longer have?

If you no longer own the vehicle, you will need to contact the appropriate vehicle registry to correct their registration information. You will also need to provide an affidavit verifying that you are no longer the vehicle owner. This affidavit form is available by clicking this link: Affidavit Form. ( don't click on it--it's corrupted)

Mail the Affidavit Form to:

THEA Correspondence

PO Box 22806

Hialeah, FL 33002-2806

Unfortunately, when I clicked the link, the Affadavit Form could not be printed, copied, saved or emailed, because..."This operation is not permitted."

So tomorrow I'll try the phone number. Stay tuned. More fun to come.

Another government screw up. Although I contend that behind every government screw up is an individual with access to a government computer--an individual either incompetent, lazy or malicious.

An individual that fuels the anti government fire.

Those individuals should be doxed.

So it turns out that one letter of the license plate was "mis-typed." Funny that, because "U" and "Q" are far apart on the keyboard.

Also, according to the courteous person known as "Laz" at the Expressway Authority in Miami, the photographed car was a Toyota Avalon. I've never owned a Toyota Avalon.
To digress for a minute...
I tend to regard suspiciously those career politicians that stomp 'n' holler 'n' campaign vigorously  for elected office because they want to represent "The People." These are the same elected officials who won't answer their phones when "The People" come calling. This is you too, democrats.

In the end it is exactly as an embattled southern factory worker said back in 2000.

When he was handed a campaign leaflet showing Al Gore and George W. Bush with the caption "Who will fight for working people?" this wise citizen said, "Nobody. We fight for ourselves."

Oh hey, government, ever wonder why tea partiers and other citizens are so fed up with you?

Inhumane

Nine month old Scruffy, beloved cat of  Daniel Dockery didn't have to die.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20111228/NEWS11/111228016/Animal-lovers-angered-over-euthanized-cat

A few years ago, a woman I worked with stated she thought the Humane Society would rather put cats down than allow them to be adopted. because her friend's application for pet adoption had been turned down with no reason given. That wasn't the first time I'd heard about this happening.

In 2008 I expressed concern to the Stevens-Swann Humane Society about a pit bull pup that was kept chained to a tree in the back yard of an unoccupied rental house in Utica, New York. The dog was left alone all day and all night for days at a time, through summer heat and pouring rain. It cried constantly. My landlady called the city codes department. I called them. The police were called. The landlord was notified. Nobody gave a damn. There's big money to be made in dog fighting. Epic #FAIL

All those donations from caring people; what do they pay for--TV commercials? Or hiring P.R. spin doctors like the one hired by the humane society after Scruffy was killed. And isn't it interesting that Daniel, a "recovering heroin addict," takes responsibility for "failing" Scruffy upon himself.

It was NOT Daniel Dockery who failed Scruffy.

It was a huge organization that has too often shown itself to be heartless.

Here's another viewpoint from inside the shelter industry.
http://consumerist.com/2011/10/animal-shelter-manager-reveals-horrors-of-his-job.html

And here's my experience. In 2001 I was unjustly fired from my job because of a health issue. Although I was eligible for unemployment benefits it wasn't enough to pay my rent so I moved out. When I became homeless, so did my dog. During a two week period, in November we spent days in my car and at night slept wherever we could. During those two weeks I called (among others) the Humane Society and asked them to find a temporary foster home for my dog until I could find a job and a new apartment. I let them know I could pay for his dog food, shots and whatever vet bills he might have. 

On November 10th I called the Humane Society at 9 A.M. I told them I would pay for my dog's food and any vet visits he needed, but I needed a temporary home for him. The person who answered at the Humane Society said to call back at 10 A.M. and ask for "Pam." I did-- twice . Nobody picked up so I left a message. My calls were never returned.

Two days later, the animal police came banging on the door of the apartment where I was using somebody's computer to send my resume. I got a ticket for ANIMAL CRUELTY because somebody had reported seeing my dog in the car in the early morning. He was, with all four windows down all the way, the car parked under a large tree, and his bowl of water on the seat. If the nosy neighbors were so concerned about my dog, why the FFFFKKKK didn't they open the car door and let him out?  He was leashed. He wore a rabies tag. The windows were wide open, with manual locks on the doors.

BTW, he was in the apartment with me when the animal police came knocking.

When I went to "animal court" to answer the ticket, I started to read off the names and phone numbers of all the people and organizations I had contacted asking for help to temporarily shelter my dog. But when I got to humane society, the judge abruptly cut me off. Apparently she didn't want this information entered into the court transcript by the court reporter. Whatever. It's entered now, right here. She then reduced my ticket.

Where were the animal police when I and my co-workers reported the dogs locked in a van with the window cracked an inch in the extremely hot, airport parking garage? The engine was not running; the ac was not on.

My dog was a happy, healthy ten year old when we became homeless due to job loss. By the time I found work nine months later, and an apartment six months after that, he had developed significant health issues and his fur was flecked with gray.

Rest in peace, Butch & Scruffy.

More Copyright Idiocy

It's been said, as long as they are remembered, a loved one never dies. Photos are a way to remember.

In the 90's my father sent me a photocopy he made of a faded newspaper clipping, with four people pictured: himself and three of his brothers. It was a story about the brothers' contribution during WWII. My father and two uncles were shown in their service uniforms and the fourth uncle wore a suit. These were professional sitting portraits. I remember the same photos of two of my uncles in my grandma's house. Maybe that's where the newspaper got its pictures from. There was a paragraph about each brother describing what branch he served in, his rank and where he was stationed. I estimate the news story's date to be mid to late 1944.

These uncles were my angels, and this faded clip is all I have left of them. It's all I have to show my granddaughters and son who these angels of my life were. They are all connected.

I asked my local CVS photo department if they could restore these old photos. That is a service CVS advertises, but no-- not for my pics. News photos are protected by copyright law, explained the CVS clerk, they can't reproduce these old newspaper photos. It doesn't matter if the newspaper got these photos of my father and uncles from their mother and/or sisters in the first place, which is likely.

The truth about copyright? Your work is automatically copyrighted as soon as you publish it with your name attached to it. That's why I say all writing on this blog is copyrighted. Copyright common law. And if somebody reads it and cares to share it, no problem. Just let them know who wrote this. More about copyright: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain#When_does_copyright_expire.3F

Another truth about copyright. They'll try one day, but right now they can't copyright my dead relatives. They're my blood and I'll copy their photos and share them to honor their memories. They were good people. Unknown--not rich, not famous--but good people.

There are all kinds of laws to protect the rights of companies and corporations to share (or not share) information, records, music, books and other creative works. For profit. But when Citizen Nobody wants access to his or her records, information, or wants to download a song or a video for the pure enjoyment of it, that's a whole 'nother thing.

They want us to pay them for our information. And if we listen to free music and watch movies or TV for free, we are criminals?

Florida Doctor is Above the Law

It started with itching. The itching went on for several months, got worse and turned into a rash. A rash on my neck. Unprecedented. Drove me nuts. I resisted the urge to scratch it, knowing that would only make it worse. I tried cortisone cream from Walgreen's, then chlortrimazole --something from WalMart, then Noxzema, zinc oxide, aloe vera gel...The rash--on my neck-- was spreading. I didn't know if it was contagious.

On the Medicare website I found a dermatologist that accepted medicare and made an appointment. March 17,  2011 the day of the appointment there was long wait in the doctor's waiting room. Then a door opened and I was whisked into a back room, where a nurse rapidly recited a list of don'ts: don't use washcloths, don't take long showers, don't take hot showers. I later heard the nurse recite the same litany to another patient-- like it was scripted. Before any diagnosis, two prescriptions were handed to me: one for an antibiotic cream, the other an anti fungal. "Put both of them on at the same time," instructed the nurse; mix them together. Also: the nurse said buy Hibaclens liquid soap over the counter and wash the rash with it first, as she scribbled a name on another piece of paper.

The doctor showed up, looked at my afflicted neck, swiped at it twice with cotton tipped swab, left the room. Total face time: less than 5 minutes.

Looking back, I would've been better off going to a Saint Patrick's Day parade and getting drunk. But you know what they say about hindsight...

On my way out, as always I halted at the nurses station. I know the drill. "How much do I owe?" I asked the nurse/staff member. "Nothing," was her answer.

A paper was pressed into my hand, and I was urged to come back for another appointment in a week to "find out the lab results."

Why, I wanted to know. "I can't afford to come back for multiple appointments," I told her. Just tell me when to pick up my lab results.

"Two weeks," she said.

Two weeks passed and I called the doctor's office and was told: lab results were not in yet. 'kay. Bye.

Three weeks. The staffer by the name of "Kat" said come in and get the lab results on Thursday. April 7.

On Thursday, I drove to the dermatologist's office with a signed HIPAA form in hand, (downloaded from a legal website) to pick up my lab results. Again, the office gatekeeper told me the labs weren't back yet. I handed her the HIPAA form and asked for what medical records they did have, waited while they were copied, and left saying mail the lab results to me.

The rash was a little better by this time--or at least not any worse, but not because of anything the doctor had prescribed. His prescription potions made the rash worse and I discontinued use.

When I got home I looked at the "medical records" the doctor's office staffer ( nurse? office manager, billing diva? ) had given me. The print was so light it was practically invisible. I couldn't even determine what lab tests the doctor had ordered. I didn't find out what lab tests were done on the skin swab from my neck until I got a copy of my Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) that listed the lab tests done and the amount charged and paid for them. I had to request this information several times before Medicare released it. The skin cultures were done 3/17/11 and I received the MSN in May, 2011

Still, I wanted to know what had caused this rash in the first place. More importantly, I wanted to know if it is/was contagious.

I had made a decision not to mix both prescription medicated creams together, because how would I know which one worked, if I used them both at the same time? Instead I tried first one, (mupirocin) then the other (triamcinolone). The first one made the rash look like raw hamburger and feel like freshly ground meat.  I washed it off, let the skin calm down, and tried the cream again. Same result.

I tried the second prescription cream, after thoroughly washing  my neck. It did not go well. Skin stayed irritated and got more irritated the longer the stuff (which contained steroids) stayed on my skin. I tried more of the same later. No improvement. Using this cream was like throwing grease on a campfire. It flared. I gave up after three tries.

It took at least a month of trial and error self treatment, using non prescription common remedies, doing my own research, protecting my neck from sun light, wearing scarves and hoodies in the summer time, switching to non-perfumed no dye laundry detergent, unscented Dove soap, taking Vitamin E, and gradually my skin returned to normal. What helped a lot: a $1 bottle of calamine lotion.

Soon after I dropped off the HIPAA request ( 4/7/11) for my medical records, the doctor's office sent me a bill for $59. It said: if payment is not made within 20 days, a ten dollar late fee will be added to this amount.  I shot off the following letter:


ADDRESS REDACTED

June 5, 2011


John Cottam, MD
ADDRESS REDACTED
Tampa, FL
June 5, 2011
Re: Billing Statement


Dear Sir/Madam:
First, on my appointment date, March 17, 2011, I asked your office staff if I owed a co pay or any other payment at that time. She answered no. Therefore, I won’t pay a “late fee,” as referenced on your statement which I received June 4, 2011. If you expected to be paid at the time of service, you/your support staff should have asked for payment at that time. I did not ask you to extend credit to me.
Second, you took a skin culture. Medicare’s records indicate that the following tests were paid by Medicare on my behalf:
1. 87070 Culture, bacterial aerobic with isolation A.
2. 87102 Culture, fungi (mold or yeast) Isolation with presumptive identification of isolates; other.
3. 87026 Smear, primary source with interpretation: fluorescent and/or acid fast stain for bacteria.
On 4/07/2011 I hand delivered a HIPPA authorization form to your office staff for release of my lab results/records to me. I’m still waiting.
When I receive the lab results for the skin cultures listed above, I’ll send payment for your bill.
Mail the lab results to me at the address above.


Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.
Sincerely,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no cooperation from the doctor or his staff. The doctor and/or his staff preferred verbal communication--as in no paper trail. One of his staff left a message on my machine saying I could get my lab records when I came in and paid the money she said I didn't owe on 3/17/11 when I asked how much I owed. 

After driving to this doctor's office when his staff  told me I could pick up my lab report and being told they didn't have them, I was not about to waste any more of my time (or gas money--almost $4 a gallon).

I sent off this letter.

July 1, 2011


John Cottam, M.D.
ADDRESS REDACTED
Tampa, FL


Dear Dr. Cottam:
This is my third request for my skin culture lab results.
Medicare’s records indicate the following tests were paid by Medicare on my behalf
Date of service was 3/17/2011. Payment was made to Quest.
1.87070 Culture, bacterial aerobic with isolation A.
2. 87102 Culture, fungi (mold or yeast) Isolation with presumptive identification of isolates; other.
3. 87026 Smear, primary source with interpretation: fluorescent and/or acid fast stain for bacteria.
I hand delivered a HIPPA authorization form for release of my lab results (to me) to your office staff on 4/07/11. I sent you a letter on June 5, 2011.
I need the lab results to be mailed to me at my home address. No phone calls. Please send legible clear copies.


ADDRESS REDACTED
Thank you for your cooperation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doctor didn't cooperate by sending my lab report, but he did send another bill--with a $10 late fee added on.

I looked up HIPAA law and found this:

FL statutes Title XXXII Chapter 456,

 "Any health care practitioner licensed by the department or a board within the department who makes a physical or mental examination of, or administers treatment or dispenses legend drugs to, any person shall, upon request of such person or the person’s legal representative, furnish, in a timely manner, without delays for legal review, copies of all reports and records relating to such examination or treatment, including X rays and insurance information. (However, when a patient’s psychiatric, chapter 490 psychological, or chapter 491 psychotherapeutic records are requested by the patient or the patient’s legal representative, the health care practitioner may provide a report of examination and treatment in lieu of copies of records. Upon a patient’s written request, complete copies of the patient’s psychiatric records shall be provided directly to a subsequent treating psychiatrist.) The furnishing of such report or copies shall not be conditioned upon payment of a fee for services rendered."

On July 5th, 2011 I sent the doctor another HIPAA compliant Authorization For Release of Information. I enclosed a copy of my driver's license and a self addressed stamped envelope.


On 7/12/11 I downloaded a Health Information Privacy Complaint form here: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/  I filled it out and mailed it.

August 25, 2011 I got this letter in reply:

In September 2011, I got the exact same letter. It was undated, so I kept the envelope.

Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights did not provide an email address so I could communicate with them. I don't have long distance on my phone. The toll free number at OCS refers you to download and print out a complaint form, which I already had done.

It was becoming clear that the Dept of Health and Human Services was going to provide NO services to this human. And the Office of Civil Rights didn't give a damn about mine.

I found this on wikipedia:
"According to the Wall Street Journal, the DHHS takes no action on complaints under HIPAA..." No surprise there.

So I took my request directly to Quest, the lab that processed my tests.
On 8/22/11 I sent Quest Diagnostics a HIPAA form with a copy of my driver's license and requested my lab reports from 3/17/11.
On 10/10/11 Quest Diagnostics sent me a reply. It said:

Thank you for your recent communication to Quest Diagnostics. We received your request for your laboratory test results. In order to maintain privacy,  the billing department does not have access to patients' laboratory test results.

So that results are properly interpreted and explained, we encourage patients to request this information from the ordering physician (so the doctor can charge for another office visit?)  However, if you wish to request a copy of your laboratory test results directly from Quest Diagnostics, please contact our client services department, located at the laboratory where your tests were performed, by calling 1-800-282-6613 EXT 4000. Our client services department will release this information directly to you if state law permits. ( Hmmm I thought HIPAA was a federal law)

Thank you for using Quest Diagnostics. We look forward to serving you in the future. #Fail

So I called their 800 number and was told that my state's law does not permit a patient's  lab records to be released to the patient--only to the doctor. In the matter of access to our own health records, it seems state law overrules federal law. This medical-legal-government gridlock was running over me.
Let me tell you, I was running OUT of patience.

Medicare hooked me up with this agency whose letterhead says: Quality Improvement Organizations, Sharing Knowledge, Improving Health Care. (aka Quality Assurance). It isn't clear whether this is a state agency or a federal agency. Maybe it's an experimental agency. After many calls, back and forth, I got this letter on or around October 21, 2011:

Despite what the letter says, the Doctor's office did not mail the the lab results to my home address. And no, I haven't moved.

I called Quality Assurance again, got an answering machine. Played phone tag for a couple months. My latest message to Janis Wolf , the letter sender, was returned a month later. She said she would call the doctor again, and then vanished. Ever notice that when people don't want to solve a problem, they prefer verbal communication to written?

(Or when somebody's rights get trashed, the violaters try to block cameras and video recording?)

I called Quality Assurance again, and this time I got someone named "Laura" who said "Janis" worked somewhere else now. 'kay

Laura didn't seem at all surprised that I had been trying to get my records mailed for 9 months. She asked for the doctor's phone number. I gave it to her. She called me back and said the "nurse" said I could have my records if I went there in person and signed "their" form. Been there. Not falling for that again.

Quality? It most assuredly is NOT.
Assurance? I'm assured that my rights are being stomped on...

I asked my Senator for help getting my lab report from doctor. Three months ago. They asked for--and received-- a consent to release information form signed by me. They #failed to do anything. My last two phone calls to my Senator's office were never returned, by Miss Peggy or by anyone else....

It didn't end there.

From my state's attorney general website  I emailed a consumer complaint. Their answer arrived within days. The attorney general doesn't have "jurisdiction" over docotors that violate HIPPA laws. The letter directed me to a website where I could look up information on how to file a complaint.
Public servants, really. I think not.

Finally I called a legal aid office on the advice of somebody else. The woman took all my information over the phone and gave me an appointment. The same day.

If it sounds too good to be true....

After speaking to the young paralegal, for an hour, who then brought my information to the flock of lawyers in the back room, he returned to say they couldn't help me. It wasn't that I didn't "qualify." I'm poor enough to meet their standards...

The intake paper states: "I need help concerning..."
On this line I wrote: "Getting my lab report from skin culture done 3/17/2011."

Before I left the legal clinic, I had to FIGHT for a copy of my intake form.

On Statement of Facts, WHAT CLIENT WANTS, the paralegal wrote: Get lab reports from Dr. Cottam.  
A question occurs to me here and that is: What is so special about my lab results that compels this doctor of dermatology to withold them from me, to lie to Medicare, and to break the law.
By the time the lawyers in the back room were through with it, they produced a paper that concluded the following:

5. Due to the great number of people seeking our services and our limited resources, BAVLP does not have sufficient resources to accept you for representation. We suggest you contact the following: Consumer affairs over the medical bill. 

By the time the lawyers in the back room got through with the paralegal and my documentation, they had turned a blatant violation of my HIPAA mandated legal right to my own medical records into:

Legal problem code 9--"dispute over medical bill."

By now a $59 co-pay had increased to $91 and change...

Heartwarming. Lawyers 'n' doctors watching each other's financial backsides. It's what it's all about.
There are laws in the land. To protect the rich and well connected. But rights? Right.

So I bring it to the Internet. For free. For information. For all.

Here's to our health--- all 99% of us.

Oh hey, doc u superstitious?



Quality Assurance letter



It's not Why Occupy; It's What Took Us So Long?

You know something is seriously wrong when management at your job fights you about using the bathroom. First, the fact that they freely expect you to ask permission to pee is demeaning, degrading. Then when you do ask, supervisors delay you and stall you, saying they need you at your work station.

You are one of 20 cashiers working in the airport parking toll booths. If you close your window for five minutes to go inside and use the bathroom, traffic will not come to a screeching halt; the cars will simply move into other lanes. Anyway, the cars exiting the airport parking lot have no choice. There's one way out. They have to pay the parking ticket at one of the cashier booths. It doesn't matter which one.

Every shift you sit for eight cramped hours in a phone booth size cubicle, surrounded by car exhaust; breathing it into your lungs. The booth is air conditioned, but your window must remain open, so the air conditioning has its limits. During the day, the sun beats down. Your windows aren't tinted. Do this work long enough, skin cancer is a likely possibility.

If you make a mistake on a ticket, it is deducted from your pay. Customers scream at you, berate you and insult your dignity. Most often, these are the customers driving Mercedes and BMWs. Customers driving thirteen year old clunkers are usually patient and polite.

You've worked here for three years and although you've expressed an interest in training for a supervisory position, you are always passed over. You begin to notice that others, with less seniority than you, do get promoted. You also notice the ones who get promoted quickly are Caucasians, while you and African-American co workers do not.

Enough.

A co worker has been talking about joining a union. Some others are interested. Union literature gets passed around. There's going to be a meeting soon.

A supervisor takes you aside one night on your break. She tells you she "heard" you were thinking about joining a union. She says she would "advise against it," because "it could mean your job."

The work rules change suddenly. A new manager is brought in. He walks around and watches everyone constantly. He micromanages. The atmosphere at work has become more tense. Breaks are scheduled at different times, to make it harder for workers to meet with each other. Bathroom breaks are timed by a supervisor. When the union supporters go into the locker room or bathroom, they are shadowed by a supervisor. The most vocal union supporters are fired,--some say for bullshit infractions. The most senior workers--who make the highest pay--are fired. Workers with chronic health problems are fired.

A campaign to discredit the remaining union organizers gets underway. Lies are spread to discredit the union supporters. Their work loads increase. They are written up for minor "violations" that other workers get away with. This is how-- through fear, intimidation, bribery, sabotage and financial threats-- the 1% stops the 99% from organizing themselves together to fight for better working conditions, better pay, and respect.

The managers enlist some members of the 99% to spy on, inform on, lie to and lie about, the rest of the 99%. They intimidate and threaten the 99% with loss of their jobs, or with actual physical violence. Workplace health and safety hazards reported by workers are ignored. Managers speak to sources outside the job (the media, family members, police, other employers..) and spread lies about the 99% to discredit them. They attempt to divide the ranks of the 99% and set them against each other in a desperate bid to weaken them.

If they succeed, the workplace remains non union, the union supporters get fired, and are blacklisted from future employment, business as usual descends like a dark cloud upon the 99% and the 1% continues to exploit and enslave them. 

(All true, by the way, and taken from my book Diary of a Wage Slave, a book that will never be published, at least not while I'm alive.)

For the 1% big fish the scariest thing is the sight of all those little fishes swimming together as one...
because they know: together we're powerful. In the workplace, in the parks, in the streets, on the bridges, in the pond, across the pond, all over the world.

New Yorker cartoon by John O'Brien

Occupy November 17

Thursday, September 17th started out quietly, a day much like any other. But very quickly, it picked up the pace.

This photo courtesy of oceanshaman http://twitgoo.com/4vlfg3

Occupy Tampa Continues

Today is a beautiful day for an occupation. The sun is shining in a cloudless sky. Temperatures this afternoon reached the low 80's. The fine weather attracted Orion all the way from Omaha, Nebraska. Two days ago he arrived in Florida, where he now plays his guitar. Asked about Nebraska's occupy movement, he says: "They (protesters) are all around the capitol in Lincoln. He calls Lincoln, Nebraska a "bastion of democracy." The University of Lincoln even allows tents. Orion loves the weather here, but says he will probably soon return to Nebraska where he builds grain silos.

A pizza arrives. Orion stops playing to get lunch.

Next to the table Jeremy, a regular occupier here, and recent arrival Adrian engage in conversation that is not amicable. Jeremy who works for a software business, holds dual Canadian and US citizenship. Adrian, who ran an ice machine business for twenty years has zeroed in on Jeremy's smoking habit. He rails against Canadian health care and who pays for it. There is much leaping around from the war to health care costs to police to lawyers to oil and the war. The topic jumping is dizzying, mostly one sided--and one wonders, by design? Jeremy walks off in exasperation. The writer lingers a bit, mostly listening, then moves on to the table.

Here is a petition against corporate corruption in government. There are various leaflets about the Occupy Movement, for those who prefer their information offline; also a couple of tiny American flags in a cup.

An elder couple brings two brightly striped blankets. No one is at the table to meet and greet at this moment so they set the neatly folded blankets down on one of the cement stumps. Along the street side of Curtis Hixon Park are these concrete cylinders that are maybe waist high and spaced about six feet apart.They serve as tables, perfectly sized for a large pizza box. Also, the campers sleep between them at night, in a hopeful attempt to stay safe from a passing car that might lose control and swerve onto the sidewalk.

Now it's noon and the warm sun is high. More occupiers arrive. Here are Megan and Felix:

Garvin and Megan

Megan is from Ocala, Florida, a bucolic region also known as "horse country." For now, there is no Occupy Ocala, so Megan comes to Tampa. It feels to her "like an extension of the civil rights movement." Megan references Dr. Martin Luther King, and the work he had to leave unfinished, even though she was not born when Martin Luther King led the '60's movement, and says the Occupiers are continuing King's legacy.

Felix says he is here 24/7 and continues on his way.

Garvin, a Tampa native, who has just started a new job, and is obviously joyful about that fact, was this morning just "walking by," and decided to stay awhile.

To him, this movement represents "change...in the economy, in the country in general, a new system."
"I think it's something good," he says. "It should have been here ten years ago. I'm gonna come around more."

At the other end of the spectrum is Keith, a regular camper here, who has been charged with battery on a police officer. One of those arrested during a 3 A.M. raid at the park, Keith says the cop bumped into him from behind, and maintains he did not assault or hit anyone. The arrest has hit him especially hard, however, since Keith has been director of Performing Arts Summer Camp for the past two years. A felony conviction will end his career working with the kids. He has not been getting work since the arrests, even though he's not yet convicted of anything. He was considering returning to school for child development, but now--who knows?

On a somewhat optimistic note, Keith says (TPD) have stopped shining flashlights on us at 3 A.M. They've been more tactful in their tactics."

"The way they've been arresting people has been very strange."

Other Tampa occupiers have echoed this observation. Arrests have been selective, as if TPD is trying to target and remove certain people. Are they looking for "leaders" where there are none?

As the writer leaves, more pizzas arrive. Occupy lunch. Please serve yourselves.

A pizza appears



A well wisher delivers lunch to the occupiers

Update: 11.15.2011
This writer usually sleeps like a rock. For some reason, I kept waking up through the early morning hours. At 4:30 A.M. I logged on to Twitter and found out why. NYPD had started its raid on the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zucotti Park, NYC, on the pretext of needing to "clean" the park.

The occupiers belongings were seized, thrown into a dumpster and/or destroyed. At least 70 occupiers were arrested. Journalists were banned from the scene and some reporters were roughed up by police. Gaza, anyone? A Manhattan judge decided late Tuesday the occupy protesters could return to Zucotti Park, but without their tents/sleeping bags.

Tents, tarps and sleeping bags are protection from the elements. Would Bloomberg also like to outlaw umbrellas, rain coats, boots, mittens?

The tent has been a symbol of the Occupy Wall Street movement since day one. (Yes We Camp.)
Tents are both symbolic of, and a statement of solidarity with the many (99%) living outdoors as homeless persons-- including those people evicted by fraudulent banking practices, evicted by gentrification of working class neighborhoods, evicted due to unemployment/loss of income--all of these social ills caused by the Great Financial Crash of 2008 perpetrated by the 1% against the 99%.

In the Occupy movement, how are tents not free speech?




This writer has been witnessing these atrocities for many years, and has been a victim of housing terrorism as well. I owe nothing to the corporate media, not even a paycheck, and so I'm free to voice my solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in NYC and everywhere in the world. Viva the 99%!

Opinions expressed here are mine, and not necessarily the viewpoint of OccupyTampa or the Occupy movement in general.

Please bring factual errors to my attention.

Cats Occupy

Those who know me well know me as a "cat lady." I fed the ferals until my savings ran out. Now I feed them when I can. Last year we trapped (humanely) five feral cats, brought them to a vet for recommended vaccines and returned them to their outdoor home. (After first checking with the property owner to make sure the cats would continue to be welcome there.)

Nobody knows how the cat colony got here. It doesn't matter. They are here, they have multiplied, and they have made this beautiful natural environment their home. The cats occupy. The humans feed them, bring them fresh water, and follow them-- if not on facebook, then in real time. See any similarities between the cats and the human occupiers?

My 2o12 resolution is to work with our local Trap/Neuter/return program to bring some more of the cats to a vet, get them vaccinated, spayed and/or neutered and quickly return them to their beautiful woodland home and fellow cat occupiers.




One of the "feeding stations" for the cats.

 

Cats celebrate Halloween



"Smokey'--the original occupier

Cat occupier sharpens claws on tree branch.

Cat chillin' in leaves

This cat was born here in early 2011.

At other end of city, the people occupy.

A message from our young occupiers.

Daiquiri is a student majoring in cultural anthropology and gender studies.



Occupy With Love.



We occupy with music.



Occupy Tampa reads.



Occupy Tampa protesters are confined to sidewalk.

Tampa occupiers are not "allowed" to camp on the grassy area of Curtis Hixon Park.

The thing that is most baffling to the mainstream media is that in the Occupy movement there are no cliches. Some are barefoot. Some wear suits. There are nurses and soldiers. There are college students. Homeless persons. Occupiers in love. Single and married occupiers. Gay occupiers. Grandparent occupiers. Occupiers with their dogs. Occupiers with drums and guitars. Working occupiers. One early morning occupier said that weekdays after five o'clock many working folks come to Curtis Hixon Park to join the occupation.

It would make life easier for the 1% if they could just slap occupiers with a single label.
They've tried: "hippies," "commies," "druggies," "unemployed bums" (see "Get a job!").

Unfortunately for the 1% the usual labels just don't apply here. Diversity makes us strong.

Occupy Sunday

Rumored to be the most widely photographed occupier in Tampa. Sometimes occupies while riding a skateboard.



Jordan occupies Tampa together with man's best friend. He is a US Army veteran.  



Everyone Should Watch This

http://youtu.be/2JlxbKtBkGM