Greenacres man says he was arrested due to his disabilities

By Missy Diaz

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
11:51 PM EDT, April 30, 2008

Peter Ballance has long suffered neurological problems, including Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, and speech and memory disorders.

To help him recall conversations, work on his stuttering and put social interactions in perspective, the 63-year-old Greenacres resident does something unconventional. He tape-records his conversations so he can play them back later.

…

Ballance says city employees, both police and code enforcement inspectors, have refused to speak to him when he uses his audio recorder. He also says the city has refused him police protection because of it, citing a 2006 incident in which someone was driving around his neighborhood threatening children. Police who responded spoke to other neighbors but refused to speak to Ballance, the suit states.

…

In 2005, Greenacres police began issuing a parking ticket to Ballance for parking his Honda Accord in a grassy area across the street from his home, something he said he and his neighbors had done for years. He did so, he said, because he needed to get the car out of the driveway while he changed the oil on his Ford station wagon.

About a month before the incident no-parking signs were erected. One of the officers, who recognized Ballance from a previous interaction days earlier, instructed Ballance to turn off his recording device. He refused and an altercation ensued in which the officers tackled Ballance to the ground and handcuffed him, drawing blood on his wrists.

Ok so the guy was in the wrong parking on public property in the grass to change his oil. Still doesn’t give the cops the right to demand him to turn off his recording device. They are public servants on public property doing their job. While on duty, in public, interacting with citizens, they should be recorded.

I came across an interesting website today http://www.dontvote.org.

Its basically a little test to see how informed you are as a voter by showing you pictures of people and having you identify them. I scored a B at 83.43% There were a few I didn’t know. I had forgot there was a new guy in charge of the UN, missed a couple House of Representatives leaders and the guy currently running Israel.

It made me think about the thing Leno does from time to time, going out on the street with a picture of someone high up in government and asking people who that person was. I guess that makes good entertainment, the audience laugh but really it is sad. This also gets me thinking of the get out the vote, rock the vote or any other pro-voting movement. I wonder how many of the people these organizations reach are informed on the issues. How many are voting for the sex or race of the candidate, how many are voting just for ‘change’ without change really ever being explained.

There was a time in the US where you had to a white landowner to vote. I wonder though, back then without TV and the rest of the current media how informed were these white guys on the issues and the candidates. Did people pay attention and how? Newspapers I guess. There really wasn’t a way to watch cspan. Nowadays just about anyone can vote unless you are in prison or felon who served your time, depending on the state. I’m not sure I agree with that, especially with the continuously expanding ‘non very serious’ crimes that could get you a felony, but thats a whole another post.

So another day light savings time day comes. My blackberry which automatically updates DST woke me up this morning essentially an hour too early. Currently my computer says it is 11:18am when it is really 10:18am. I would not go as far as saying DST is evil since well, DST has not tried to exterminate a race of people.
I would say DST is at the very least annoying just like I wrote about it back when Congress decided to increase the length of DST.

Actually it isn’t DST itself, but the change. Tricking people to get up an hour early is fine, but if it thats important lets just stay on DST permanently. People wont lose sleep and us people that work in IT wont have to worry about software that gets screwy with DST.

Some research (PDF) is starting to show that DST does not save energy.
Any politicians out there want to get on the get rid of DST change bandwagon?
Even if I don’t agree with anything else they stand for, I just might just have to vote for them, to get rid of something that is so useless and annoying.