This article shows the separation between the poor in our communities and those with political power; those with money. It shows the disconnect we need to bridge in order to get a fair shake from our "'justice' system." I'm tired of Moral Ambiguity by some while others run roughshod over those without means or a voice. "And Justice For All" used to mean something in this nation... I guess it was only platitude.

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PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

"I'll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here. 'I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.' 'I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.' 'Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding out both puppets!'"

-Bill Hicks

It's the part about, "We the people of the United States," and, "in order to form a MORE PERFECT (Take that... grammar Nazis!) union," and, "establish justice," and, it's also that part about "insure domestic tranquility," and, "provide for the COMMON defense," and finally, "promote GENERAL WELFARE, and secure blessings of liberty to OURSELVES and the POSTERITY," and finally, "do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

"for" meaning CITIZENS, everyone... ALL CITIZENS... your TIRED, your POOR, your HUDDLED MASSES, the WRETCHED REFUSE... ALL.

Those (bold-and-italicized) things, specifically, are not being met.  Hey, I'm not the one doing it.  I am the one (as are others) who sees it and (regularly) says something about it.  I have this thing called the 1st amendment, and it affords me this latitude.  Just so long as I do not threaten anyone or any institution with violence, which I have never done, I am good.  And telling the Truth about all this stuff needs to be told.  It's not like it's a secret or anything.  This late in the game, you either see it, clearly, or you're in denial, clearly.  And it's warmer (and more cozy) with your head up your ass then it is extended it outward, because of that chopping block that awaits if you do. 

Because there are signs all over the place.  And those signs have bright red blinking lights and sparklers shooting out all four corners, like there's a half-off sale at a firework stand nearing the 4th of July... wait, bad analogy.  Sparks shooting near a firework stand?  Never mind.  Let's get on with this thing.

"JUDGE PRO TEMPORE"

1) Temporarily or for the time being. In law, judge pro tem normally refers to a judge who is sitting temporarily for another judge or to an attorney who has been appointed to serve as a judge as a substitute for a regular judge. When an appeals justice is not available or there is a vacancy, a lower-court judge is appointed Justice Pro Tem until a new Justice is appointed. Small-claims cases are often heard by an attorney serving as Judge Pro Tem. 2) n. short for a temporary judge as 'Sam Collins is Pro Tem today.'"

I can tell by the way the court system works (for the poor) that there is an obvious inequality.  The way judges (or attorneys) word their opinions bothers me a bit.  I can see the (obvious) bias in the wording of some of these opinions.  I can extrapolate the bias quite easily, in fact.  Doesn't take all that much to read between the lines and see when someone is manipulating circumstances to push one side's (establishment) argument over another, (socioeconomically impaired and the ['alleged'] victim of discrimination because of that socioeconomic status and how the political system feels about those people.  I venture to guess that if the circumstances of what my friends and I have gone through recently had happened to someone from the Berkeley Hills, the outcome may have turned out different, with a firing of an employee and an apology from the owner.  Money dictates.  Establishment dictates.  There is no 'democracy' anymore.  Unless you have enough money, that is... then you can buy your rights.  Otherwise, you're nothing more than a potential Pariah and Scapegoat of whatever the political landscape dictates.  It's a full-on hostile-corporate-takeover, and it's our nation that has been seized... but yeah, I'm nuts.  Sure.  Whatever.  Marginalize and Scapegoat the Truth Teller... it's been that way from Day One) and being that there IS precedence for discrimination in this town (Berkeley, California), where coffee shops are concerned, because I have taken down nine incidents of discrimination at two other coffee shops in this downtown area, that means that it is not too "improbable" that this would have happened to me and my friend and his two friends.

That's right.  At one place, I won't name them because they did offer an apology, which helps Our case anyway.  It proves consciousness of guilt of the coffee-shop attendant.  You do not apologize for something you did not do, especially when the charges are discrimination based on appearance or socioeconomic status.  Some street kids had been going into that establishment and buying coffee, every morning, for a week.  The guy running the place did not like the fact that these three kids were sleeping just off to the side of the establishment's property, so he decided to tell them he wasn't going to serve them anymore.  And when those three kids asked why they were being told to go, they guy running the place uttered, "We don't serve 'your kind' anymore."  That was a direct quote from the three who witnessed the discrimination.  And yes, all three were and still are (as far as I know) "homeless," not that it has anything to do with anything.  There is no relevance, other than they were discriminated against based on that fact.  Then it matters.  Big time.  It shows a pattern of behavior in this town (and elsewhere), where the poor are scapegoated by city officials, judges, cops, business owners, land developers and Chronic Masturbators, to serve a political purpose, which is usually finance-based.

New Boss... same as the Old Boss.

At the other coffee shop is where I received the bulk of the complaints.  I was told any time the complainant tried ordering a cup of large coffee, they were told it was "four dollars fifty-cents."  When those being ('allegedly') discriminated against corrected the person at the counter, the person would reiterate the same thing, "four dollars fifty-cents."  When coffee is only a couple bucks?  And these people made sure this person knew they did not want a latte or one of those other more expensive drinks.  This person did not budge, however, as the prices stayed the same.  Six cases came from that place.  So now it happens to a friend of mine and two of his friends, at a different establishment, mind you, in the same general downtown area; all of these incidents (again, 'allegedly,' because like in most cases with the poor or homeless, they just want it to go away, so they either let it go, or take a plea from a District Attorney with a Conflict of Interest) took place within a couple miles of one another in the downtown Berkeley area.  Near the University of California Berkeley Campus, too.  The very same 35,000 student campus this "judge" finds that, "It is highly unlikely, if not improbable, that defendant's employee would ever tell a patron at a coffee shop and café in close proximity to a campus of nearly 35,000 students that his reason for ejecting them was they were too young and that he didn't care for their generation.  The cafes and coffee shops which surround the campus are filled with young people the plaintiff's age.  To believe plaintiff's testimony would amount to believing defendant would deliberately seek to put himself out of business."

Yeah.  I don't think it's all that "improbable."  As I have stated, I have taken statements from street kids, one after another, claiming they were discriminated against at three coffee shops in the downtown Berkeley area.  One of which made an apology.  The other two have declined any wrongdoing, so yes, they are afforded the luxury of "innocent until proven guilty."  But like They do it, every time They're about to do it to you, that distinction never matters.  They live in the perception realm and use ambiguity as an art form to whack the poor.  We have to remember that those in charge of our freedoms have Masters who write the legal wording of this nation, and those Master's' agendas are something other than what yours and my best interests are.  These are attorneys who know how to word things in switchback perfection, so that the average person has no clue of how or what they are reading.  But these judges and attorneys who are in charge of all our safety and freedoms know how to use it... against us.

Oh, and I have personally witnessed discrimination through this type harassment by a store manager at a coffee shop in, that's right, downtown Berkeley.  My two friends and I were discussing something in a coffee shop that is not one of the three coffee shops mentioned in this piece, and when a friend of mine got a little loud, for only about three seconds (mainly because my friend has a hyperactivity disorder and gets easily excited, but he wasn't any louder than anyone else I have heard in that place at any given time), the store manager came out from the back and said, "I can hear you guys way back there, so can you 'keep it down'?"  I explained to her that she was wrong and that it was only three seconds. I told her to "go away, we're not bothering anyone," and she did.  I have not been bothered since.  Sometimes all you need to do is stand up to them and they will back off... sometimes they won't.

I know why she came over... it's because all three of us "were homeless and remain so."  Because the day after our exchange, there were two business-type women sitting in the same establishment and they were being as loud as they wanted... for about ten minutes, too!  Since that time, I have heard "other people" be loud in there... with the same manager working at the time, but never saying anything to those patrons who were being loud.  I wrote a column on it, in fact, entitled, "Loud While Being Homeless (L.W.B.H.)."  So there is precedence, all over the downtown Berkeley area.  And if one were to actually investigate the place they live they would know this as well.  Instead they will use their Moral Wand, based solely upon the person's appearance or socioeconomic status, or both?

I will post the entire five-page transcript of my buddy's (small-claims) case at a later time, so everyone can see how things are worded.  You can then "judge" it for yourself.

There has been a huge separation between the wealthy and poor in this nation, and that chasm is widening daily.  Again, the "Middle Class" is toast.  There is no middle class, people.  I don't care what they ('news' media and government) try and sell you, nobody is Middle Class.  You're either extremely wealthy, because you've screwed almost every single hard working American out of their birthright, and continue doing so at their expense, claiming Christmas bonuses that would put a poor student in college for a year, minimum, or you are under that Poverty Mendoza Line.  And those who think they are Middle Class are up to their eyeballs in debt and are on their own little Trail of Tears (and Denial). 

If I sound pissed off, it's because I am pissed off.  And that's because people seem to be okay with all of it.  It's bad enough it's happening, but to ignore it as though it's not happening, is wrong.  It's immoral.  And I am no moralist, trust me on this.  Only when I see people being unfairly attacked or scapegoated so other people can get over and make money, hand over fist, while spinning a yarn about how the poor are hurting these businesses, I tend to feel a little... disenfranchised. 

They have the "little people" fighting amongst themselves.  Again, it's divide and conquer, people.

Hey, I didn't write the book!

"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

Truth.

- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

Authors Bio:
I'm a homeless student, writer, and activist... currently panhandling my way through school (and life.).