Keeping the Town Ticking Along Nicely

Keeping the Town Ticking Along Nicely

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Have you ever wondered what keeps your local community ticking along the way it does?

Think about it, everything just, well, happens. Everyday life just goes on… every single day. Everything just carries on and generally instances in which things spiral into chaos never take place. But what is stopping this chaos from becoming a general and recurring occurrence? Well, there are many things that contribute towards this, and a few of them can be found below.

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First of all, there are what are known as urban engineers out there doing their bit. These engineers help the governing bodies of a community, i.e. the local council or other municipalities, by offering services to help them provide everything the inhabitants of the community need. They are expert engineers, surveyors, and inspectors that assist the governing bodies as and when needed. They assist them in a number of ways too. They help with ensuring everything is as it should be with drinking water and waste water. They contribute towards the upkeep of parks and other recreational areas. They offer support when it comes to getting federal and development funding for the community. And they offer aid in ensuring public transportation is always up and running, as well as a whole lot more. So, as you can see, they do a lot of things that help keep life ticking over and help you to retain the standard of life you deserve. Imagine if you had no tap water? Imagine if your busses decided not to run? These kinds of instances are expected daily, yet if they ever took even one day off there would be an uproar. That’s why these urban engineers are key to the upkeep of everyday life. They could be compared to comic book superheroes like Batman who help their community out in times of need. But they are much more important than that. They provide something sturdy on which the council and municipalities can lean on. They provide a backbone for the community, and if that backbone was to be taken away the community would fall.

But there are other areas of everyday life in your community that need tending to in order to remain upwardly mobile every single day. Another such area is the prevention of criminality. And it is, of course, the law that keeps the prevention of criminality as upwardly mobile as possible. Simply, the law keeps criminality at bay, whether you are skeptical of this of not. If you’re ever thinking about what the law is actually good for, just remember that it is because of the law that your road is not at this moment inundated with burglars. Yes, criminality may happen from time to time. And yes, it may seem that criminality is on the rise. But it is because of the law, and the authorities that uphold it, that your community is not crawling with burglars. It is because of the law that you are protected daily. Without this protection, you would be in serious danger. You would be in danger because you would be in the cross hairs of a burglar at all times. Without a law holding them back, criminals would be free to subject their criminally on whoever they see fit, whenever they see fit. So the next time you think the law isn’t doing the job expected of it, think again. It is keeping you safe at all times, even when you don’t necessarily think it is.

It’s not just things that you can’t see that are keeping your community ticking along nicely, however. In just by being there, you and your neighbors are too. You contribute to your community in more ways than you realize. And you contribute to your community by initially doing things for yourself. For instance, by tending to your own garden you show yourself to be proud of your home and that you have a wanting for it be aesthetically pleasing. And when your neighbors see this, they may feel more inclined to give their own garden a makeover too. Thus, this results in a road’s worth of beautiful and tended to gardens. Also, by keeping it local in regards to where you shop and what you buy for yourself you are also impacting your community for the better. By forgoing online marketplaces and instead taking your custom to a shop on your local high street or in your local marketplace you do your bit in boosting the local economy. When a local business thrives, the prices of the houses in its area thrive too. And when the house prices in an area skyrocket it is only good for the local community. It means their house might fetch more if they ever sold it. It also whittles down the possibility of a home being bought on the cheap by somebody not in a position to keep on top of it. And when just one home isn’t kept on top of in a community, this virus can soon spread. If you want to actively feel the buzz of helping your community, then make sure to check out some ways in which to do so here.

It is not a case of things just magically happening in your community to keep it upwardly mobile. Day-to-day activities don’t run like clockwork without somebody or something behind closed doors ensuring that they work in this way. Life doesn’t continue harmoniously without intervention. Life works and continues in the way we know it does, and the way we expect it to, because of people. Because of people ensuring that the standard of life that is expected is met. Because of people in law and the rules they set in order to keep everybody in line for the better, without restricting those that do not deserve to be restricted. And because of you. Because of the impact you make on your community every day by just being there. So continue to do what you are doing. Continue to contribute to your community just by being you and being there.




The Daily Disaster

The Daily Disaster

 

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An under-appreciated problem with the Trump presidency is how he and his staff continuously normalize disaster. Because we witness new scandals, gaffes, coverups, hypocrisy, misdirection, incompetence, atrocity, cronyism, ignorance, racism, xenophobia, treason, embarrassment, lies, dysfunction, power grabs, war escalations, environmental assaults, misogyny and more on a DAILY basis, the magnitude of each is diminished in our consciousness by the simple virtue that we have become saturated. Because of this, we at zenruption will be publishing a daily curation of the events that have been reported, from various sources, including leaks within the White House, so that we can fully experience the level of disaster our executive branch has become and the implications it has on all of us.


Law! What Is It Good For?

Law! What Is It Good For?

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Have you ever thought how the law protects you? There are a lot of people across the country right now who feels as though the legal system is working against them, perhaps with good reason. Black Americans and ethnic minorities are statistically more likely to serve prison sentences compared to white Americans and an estimated ⅓ of people serving prison time are supposedly innocent. You would be forgiven for doubting the power of the law and whether or not it always works in your favor. But if you think about it, you’ll see that for the most part, the law is protecting you, your family and your rights. To examine this, we’ll look at some examples of the law in action.

Justice For Injuries

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For the average American, the legal system is typically going to be used to ensure they get fair compensation for an injury. Every year, business owners are inundated with claims from workers who have been injured on the job. For instance, a worker might have slipped on a ladder that didn’t provide enough support and damaged their back. Or perhaps they were injured after being urged by an employer to lift something that was too heavy.

In cases like this, it’s important to know that you can take the employer to court and sue for damages. This is particularly crucial when the injury has been severe because usually, it affects their ability to work or their quality of life. As such, damages are often paid out in a structured settlement, whereby compensation is given when the claimant needs it the most. As you can see then, this is one of the cases where the law is on your side.

Protection Of Property

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Did you know that you have the right to protect your property? Let’s say in the middle of the night someone breaks into your home. Immediately, this individual has broken the law even if the door was left open, they are breaking and entering. At this point, the individual is a threat to you, your family and your property. Legally, you can take action to protect these three things. That means you have the legal right to defend your home with force. There have been a number of cases in the media where people have protected their home with a weapon and injured the criminal. In other countries, homeowners have been forced to pay damages to the criminal. But here justice does win out.

Hate Crime

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You might have caught the recent comeback of Dave Chappelle on Netflix. In one of the specials, he tells a story about how three youths hit him with snowballs while driving and used a racial slur against him. He was right in stating that an action like this is a felony and he could have ensured the youths were arrested for their crime. The law is there is to make sure that hate crimes are not tolerated and if there are witnesses cases like this are even more clear.

So, you might think that the law is constantly against you and it is certainly not as balanced as it should be. But it still does a lot to protect your rights and ensure justice is served, even in today’s tense political climate.

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College Rights We Need To Keep Fighting For

College Rights We Need To Keep Fighting For

We’re in another great age of fighting for rights, it seems. Internet privacy, transgender rights, and religious freedom seem to be some of those coming under fire. You would hope a college student wouldn’t have to worry as much about that. What with living off ramen and fighting to get good grades, they have enough on their plate. But college campuses are some of the places where the discussions on rights are getting more and more heated.

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Free expression

It’s a controversial idea to some. When the line between free expression and hate speech seems blurred, which side is safest to land on? It’s a question that requires a look at the context to really judge. In the context of college, however, there’s a fear that we’re coddling the mind of the average student. Though it should be a place of safe education for all, it should be a place where ideas can be exchanged and explored. This includes those ideas that should be rightfully torn to pieces. What we shouldn’t do is pretend they don’t exist.

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Equal opportunity

There are no blurred lines about this right. While it seems like the people in power at the moment are all-too-happy to backpedal on rights for women and transgendered people, colleges are where that can be of most harm. We need to protect things like Title IX athletics and enrollment rights and ensure they’re enforced wherever they need to be. Otherwise, we’re leaving people vulnerable to harassment and groups like transgendered people cut off from the opportunities they should have every access to.

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Personal safety

A lot of campuses have been making moves in the right direction in terms of guaranteeing the safety of their students. Landmark cases like that of Angie Epifano saw Amherst College investigating and updating its own sexual assault policies. But even still, even in low-crime areas, students have a higher risk of coming in contact with violence and unsafe situations. Pressure needs to keep being applied on colleges to put aside their public relations for the sake of being able to guarantee student safety.

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Peace of mind

It’s a problem that’s growing in every kind of environment. At home, in the workplace, and in the lecture hall, stress is a growing concern. Fewer students feel like they’re able to cope with the stress they feel in the academic environment. One of the greatest concerns, still, is the state of the economy and dealing with a heavy student debt with no guaranteed career prospects. Student loans really can ruin a life financially if they’re left unchecked, which is why so many are still getting public momentum behind the idea of student loan forgiveness pushed by people like Bernie Sanders during the primaries.

Advocating to protect rights isn’t always an easy thing, especially when it seems like protecting one right might infringe on another. However, in today’s political landscape, it’s becoming clear that said campuses are now the breeding grounds for many a political movement, so it pays to get involved and make a difference early.


Sharon Jones

 


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Do You Know Your Workplace Rights?

Do You Know Your Workplace Rights?

As an employee, you have certain rights that have to be respected by the people that employ you. That’s true across the country, and you should be aware of what these rights are if you want to stay protected and make sure that you don’t get exploited by your bosses. If you don’t know your rights, you will never be able to properly stand up for yourself.

Minimum Wage

Everyone who is employed by a business is entitled to a minimum wage. This can vary depending on various things, such as the type of contract, your age and where you’re located. But the fact remains that everyone is entitled to a certain level of payment. You should find out what your minimum wage is, and make sure that you are being paid it. You can’t let yourself get ripped off by an employer who just wants to save a bit of money.

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Safety in the Workplace

When a company employs you, it’s up to them to offer you a working environment that is safe to work in. They can’t make you do a task that’s unsafe without providing you with the right gear and equipment to protect you. That’s against the law. And if you do get heard as a result of something like this, head to http://www.hasnerlaw.com/locations/savannah/. That way, you can get compensation for what happened to you, and that will help keep you afloat financially.

Social Security

Social security payments should be paid by both the employer and the employee. Each should pay 6.2% of your income towards this. That money will then help you to be more financially secure later in life when you reach retirement age. If your employer is not paying into this pot, then they are breaking the law, and you should look further into it. You have a right to these social security payments, and you shouldn’t accept any excuses from your employer if they’re not being paid.

Protection Against Discrimination

Discrimination is against the law, and if you feel like you have been subjected to it in the workplace, you are within your rights to take legal action. Talk to a lawyer and see what they tell you. There is no reason to roll over and accept this kind of thing anymore. It could be discrimination related to religion, race, sex, disability, sexual orientation or many other things. No form of discrimination is legal, and you are protected from it.

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Whistleblower Protection

Whistleblowers are people who report concerns about a business to the press. They could be uncovering misdeeds or criminality. If the release of this information is helpful and positive, you will not be sacked because you will be protected by employment laws. Whistleblowers are responsible for all kinds of positive work, and they’re very important in society, so it’s a good thing that they can be protected in this way. It means you can speak out without fear of punishment. You can find out more about whistleblowing at https://www.financierworldwide.com/whistleblowing-in-the-us.


The RIghts Meant To Protect You From Cops

The RIghts Meant To Protect You From Cops

The political climate is changing and people are beginning to notice that the police necessarily aren’t on their side all of the time. That’s not to say that they’re not necessarily good people. However, when they believe a crime has taken place, many have trouble not turning it into an ‘us vs. them’ thing. That’s why there are rights to protect yourself from the police and knowing them can be a lot of help.

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Probable cause

If you’re not committing any crimes and grabbing the attention of the police, it’s likely that you’re only going to get in an encounter with them if there is probable cause for them to suspect that you have committed a crime. Proving that probable cause is essential. If they can’t, then even if you’re later in trouble for having contraband, then a possession lawyer could help you avoid a charge entirely. Probable cause includes things like smelling contraband, speeding, traffic violations and other indications that you are committing a crime.

Your right to consent (or not)

In every case, unless you are provided with a warrant, you should not consent to a search. Consenting to a search throws probable cause out the window. Unless they have a warrant, you don’t have to consent to a search. Even if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t consent.  Saying ‘no’ can prevent a search altogether in a lot of cases. Searches can also damage your property and waste a lot of your time. The most important thing to consider, however, is that you never know what they will find if you consent to a search. Even if you think you’re fine, you can’t be 100% sure of it.

Your right to silence

You have a right to refuse to answer any question a police officer asks you in certain situations. If they have you pulled over the road and they ask for your license and registration, it’s a good idea to cooperate simply to keep things going smoothly. If you’re being detained or under arrest, make sure that the officer confirms it. When they do, you can inform them that you’re invoking your rights and that you want to talk to a lawyer. It’s not enough to simply be silent.

Your Miranda rights

This is one that people get confused. You can get out of a charge if you can prove a lack of probable cause. But you can’t do that, as some might imagine, if you weren’t read your Miranda rights when being questioned. You only get read your Miranda rights when you’re under arrest and being questioned for a crime. Both those prerequisites need to be true in order to have your rights read to you. Don’t wait for them to read those rights, either. Invoke and exercise your right to silence if you’re being detained or arrested first and foremost.

Understanding your rights, where they apply, when they don’t, and when to get help, is essential. If police are searching, inquiring, or arresting you, they’re not on your side and you need to protect yourself.

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