"A judge blocks the foreclosure sale of Elvis' Graceland, after his heir alleges fraud"
A fascinating story, but what got me was the bit about Graceland being valued at $400 million. For 14 acres. That's about $28M per acre. That's approaching mid-town-Manhattan prices.
This how much Elvis was revered? Still an amazing draw? Can't think of any other person whose home has so much value.
Robertson, #Tennessee National Weather Service: #TORNADO WARNING in this area until 3:45 PM CDT. Take shelter now in a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Check media. Source: NWS Nashville TN*
@gratefuldread
This program is surely better than what we have in my home city of Austin, Texas where it is police officers who typically respond to mental health crisis calls. I imagine that police officers are involved in the Davidson County response team because persons at meetings to design the Davidson County program expressed worries about the danger to unarmed social workers responding by themselves. On the other hand, some of the same people who express such worries will parrot the popular anti-stigma line that persons in a mental health crisis are typically non-violent. So which one is it? If they present a serious risk of violence then we should acknowledge it and police should be involved. If they rarely pose such a risk, then why are police involved?
In reality, social workers go into all kinds of situations that involve some risk and they decide whether or not to ask for police support. They go into private homes to investigate child and elder abuse; they go to homeless encampments. The first-responders for the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon respond without police officers and they call for police officers only if they decide they are needed. But they only rarely ask for police to respond. And, a CAHOOTS representative told me during a phone call a few years ago that in the 30 years their program has existed none of their responders have been seriously injured.
Why not include police? Because it increases the risk of bad outcomes due to confrontation with an authority figure who will take over from a clinician if they perceive danger. Specific risks include arrest, incarceration, injury, or death including suicide by cop. In the words of Seth Stoughton, author of a book on police use of force, when police respond at least one gun is introduced to a situation where one may not have previously been present. He goes on to explain that when a gun is unholstered, one hand is occupied with it and unavailable for wrestling with a combative subject. He also explains that one of an officer's greatest fears is having a gun taken away. And he notes that putting a gun back in a holster is difficult in the midst of a crisis.
The news article notes a 25% arrest rate. That seems high to me. Perhaps it happens when a person in a mental health crisis punches or scratches a police officer. Maybe it is because they spit on an officer. Those are reasons why persons in a mental health crisis have been arrested and jailed in Austin, Texas. Perhaps the same is true in Davidson County. I think we can do better. Fathers like me and other family caregivers for persons with serious mental illnesses have been scratched, punched, or spit on during crises. But most of us do not want our children with mental illnesses to be arrested and jailed for actions related to the symptoms of illness. We want them to receive treatment, not become entangled in the criminal justice system.
So tell me, Shadow - what have you been doing to develop candidates in your community? How have you engaged in the primary season? What's your long term strategy to get candidates you would support with the combination of experience, name recognition and community respect?
That is what's needed to ensure a politician understands the community needs, and the community values and respects the person they have supported throughout the long campaign process.
That's one of the reasons I respect #AOC - she went out and earned the communities support in the primary season.
Withholding support in a situation where the absolutely worst option might win - well, have you heard "cutting of your nose to spite your face"? Only it's worse, because you are consciously making a choice that will make things worse for so many vulnerable people.