Alameda county probation office

Hi so in April 2022, I was arrested for my first DUI - it was enhanced because my BAC was .22. In October 2022, I sought treatment for substance abuse disorder and co-occurring disorders and have been in treatment ever since.. on my own free will. So now I’m about to go back to court and I just want to know, what’s the probability that the judge will let my treatment be equal to probation time? I’ve already taken classes for drunk driving and sent letters of residency from my treatment center. My first offer was 18 months probation but that was in July. Any clue? Located in Tarrant County.

JI Kang (嵇康, 223–262), a famous figure in literature and music during the era of Three Kingdoms, was born in Qiao County (谯县), present-day Su-zhou of An-hui Province (安徽宿州). He refused all official appointments after SI-MA family replaced CAO family in Wei Kingdom to express his political persistence. Celebrated as one of the “Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest” (竹林七贤), he and his wise friends often haunted a bamboo forest in Shan-yang County (山阳), present Hui County of Henan Province (河南辉县), and together impugned Confucianism and criticized the SI-MA government. Because of his unorthodox free lifestyle and fiery attacks on Confucianism and the new authority, he was eventually beheaded by SI-MA Zhao (司马昭, 211–265), the founder of the West Jin Dynasty (西晋, 265–317).
While WANG Bi advocated “Confucianism Derives from Nature” (名教本于自然), eager to prove the natural origin of Confucianism, JI Kang called for the abandonment of Confucianism, believing that it violated rather than followed the natural law. JI claimed that “It is human nature to enjoy peace over risk, and enjoy leisure over labor” (夫民之性, 好安而恶危, 好逸而恶劳), and that this innate instinct existed in people naturally, just as the mouth may distinguish sweet from bitter and the body may distinguish itch from pinch. At that time, a Confucian scholar named ZHANG Shu-liao (张叔辽) wrote an essay titled Natural Learning Tendency《自然好学论》, and elucidated the importance of Confucianism by stressing the human natural tendency toward learning. JI Kang contradicted him by saying,
[In primordial time, the great Dao was complete. Monarchs ruled not by ordinances, and people fought not for benefits. All things worked their own ways according to their natural attributes; all people led their own lives according to their pleasure principles, sleeping when sleepy, eating when hungry. Having no idea about perfect virtues, they certainly did not need to preach benevolence and righteousness or promote propriety and legality. (洪荒之世, 大朴未亏。君无文于上, 民无竞于下。物全理顺, 莫不自得。饱则安寝, 饥则求食。怡然鼓腹, 不知为至德之世也。若此, 则安知仁义之端, 礼律之文)]
Furthermore, from the perspective of natural humanity and Daoism, JI Kang criticized Confucianism, believing that “True humanity is justified in its Inaction” (人之真性, 无为正当), just as “Birds do not flock to be trained, beasts do not pack to be penned” (鸟不聚以求驯, 兽不群而求畜). He claimed that while humanity refused exterior restraints, Confucianism was created just to restrain true humanity:
When sages were dead, and Great Dao was twisted, people then resorted to language to express themselves. Dividing all things by categorizing them, they disturbed plebeian hearts by preaching benevolence and righteousness, inspected their behaviors by establishing titles and hierarchies, and hallowed educational inculcation by promoting literacy and cultures. Consequently, Six Classics were contrived, Diverse Ideological Schools flourished; honors and offices were established, and people bustled and hustled for them unconsciously. Accordingly, as birds sneaked into hoarded grains, men of aspirations resigned themselves to secular pursuits; people of alcohol rather than people of letters were entitled to make sentences regarding life and death; people who learned the Six Classics were exempt from tilling and reaping. (及至人不存, 大道陵迟, 乃始作文墨, 以传其意; 区别群物, 使有类族; 造立仁义, 以婴其心; 制为名分, 以检其外; 劝学讲文, 以神其教。故六经纷错, 百家繁炽, 开荣利之途, 故奔骛而不觉。是以贪生之禽, 食园池之梁菽; 求安之士, 乃诡志以从俗。操笔执觚, 足容苏息; 积学明经, 以代稼穑。)
However, this superficial tendency of civilization was, in JI’s idea, unnatural, because the Six Classics intended suppression and manipulation and distorted human will for rite and law, and benevolence and righteousness served to promote hierarchical hypocrisy rather than preserve human integrity. Based on this idea, JI Kang advised his contemporaries to “Transcend Confucianism for Nature” (越名教而任自然), that is, to return to natural humanity by getting rid of the suppression and manipulation of Six Classics, the limitation of benevolence and righteousness, and the restraint of rite and law. In response to ZHANG’s statement that “As Six Classics are like the Sun, people ignorant of them remain in the dark” (六经为太阳, 不学为长夜), JI Kang contradicted him,
[If we are wise enough to take Six Classics as wild weeds, regard benevolence and righteousness as smelly socks, we may then sneer at ancient books, sneeze at hypocritical courtesy, twitch in ceremonial panoply, and retch at talking Rite. Naturally, if we abandon them altogether and just follow natural order, there would always be a gap in our knowledge spectrum; however, Six Classics are not necessarily the Sun, people ignorant of them are not necessarily in the dark. As a saying goes, beggars smear not the repute of horse doctors. In the primordial age when written languages were nowhere to be found, people were easy without knowledge, happy without diligence, and then need not the lecture of Six Classics, and desire not benevolence and righteousness? (今若以六经为芜秽, 以仁义为臭腐, 睹文籍则目瞧, 修揖让则变伛, 袭章服则转筋, 谭礼典则齿龋。于是兼而弃之, 与万物为更始, 则吾子虽好学不倦, 犹将阙焉。则向之不学, 未必为长夜, 六经未必为太阳也。俗语曰: 乞儿不辱马医。若遇上古无文之治, 可不学而获安, 不勤而得志, 则何求于六经, 何欲于仁义哉)]
JI Kang’s advice to “Transcend Confucianism for Nature” (越名教而任自然) actually originated from his famous essay Free Thyself《释私论》, where he claimed,
[For the virtuous, their hearts are not confined to traditional rights and wrongs, and their actions are not contrary to the Great Dao. Why do I say so? Those who are calm in vigor and empty in spirit are not arrogant or narcissistic; those who are simple in heart and open in mind are not tied to their desires. With no arrogance or narcissism in the heart, they are able to transcend Confucianism for nature; with their mind untied to their desires, they are able to distinguish good and bad reasonably. Exercising reason, they abide by the Great Dao; concurring with nature, they are unconfined to traditional values. Thus, the virtuous are mostly untraditional yet reasonable, and the unvirtuous are untruthful and against Dao. Why? Being untruthful and arrogant and stingy, is most evil of the unvirtuous; being simple and modest and untraditional, is most honest of the virtuous. Hence a Daoist would say, “If I care not my body, what is there to worry me?” Those that despise death will outdo those that dread death. In this light, the hearts of the sage are not confined by rules. Therefore, YI Yin staked his talents to assist Shang Dynasty, thus serving the people and earning personal fame; ZHOU Gong handled state affairs in Emperor’s behalf regardless of suspicion of usurpation, thus promoting civility by regent order; GUAN Zhong hid no truth from HUAN Gong of Qi and gained his respect by helping Qi lead the alliance. Are they doing these for selfish interests? GUAN Zhong said: “The virtuous act out Dao and forget themselves.” That’s the answer. The virtuous take benevolent actions without observing olden customs, make honest judgments without following traditional merits, and express reasonable opinions without conforming to orthodox ideas. Therefore, they care not virtues in pride, yet their virtues coincide with olden customs; they restrain not their hearts, yet their hearts meet traditional merits; they cared not rigid rules, yet their deeds achieve right ends. (夫称君子者, 心无措乎是非, 而行不违乎道者也。何以言之?夫气静神虚者, 心不存于矜尚; 体亮心达者, 情不系于所欲。矜尚不存乎心, 故能越名教而任自然; 情不系于所欲, 故能审贵贱而通物情。物情顺通, 故大无违; 越名任心, 故是非无措也。是故, 言君子则以无措为主, 以通物为美; 言小人则以匿情为非, 以违道为阙。何者?匿情矜吝, 小人之至恶; 虚心无措, 君子之笃行也。是以大道言: “及吾无身, 吾又何患?”无以生为贵者, 是贤于贵生也。由斯而言, 夫至人之用心, 固不存有措矣。是故伊尹不惜贤于殷汤, 故世济而名显; 周旦不顾嫌而隐行, 故假摄而化隆; 夷吾不匿情于齐桓, 故国霸而主尊。其用心岂为身而系乎私哉!故《管子》曰: “君子行道, 忘其为身。”斯言是矣!君子之行贤也, 不察于有度而后行也; 任心无邪, 不议于善而后正也; 显情无措, 不论于是而后为也。是故傲然忘贤, 而贤与度会; 忽然任心, 而心与善遇; 傥然无措, 而事与是俱也)]
In 261, SHAN Tao (山涛, 205–283), another of the “Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest”, recommended JI Kang to serve as personnel minister for SI-MA power; however, disgusted with SHAN’s political compromise and opportunism, JI Kang refused this office and even wrote a famous letter to discontinue his friendship with SHAN Tao, in which he listed seven “intolerable things” (不堪者) and two “improper things” (不可者) as his excuses:
[People have to abide by ethical requirements, and states have to run by legal stipulations; however, if I were to accept this appointment, there would be seven things intolerable and two things improper. Regarding things intolerable: firstly, I always wake up late, but would then be repetitively urged to wake up early; secondly, I enjoy playing the zither, singing a melody, fishing and hunting in the wild, but would then lose this freedom in the company of officials and runners; thirdly, I enjoy lying down in ease and dressing up at will, but would then have to be rigidly seated in the court until my legs get numb, and formally attired in front of superiors without daring to scratch an itch; fourthly, I hate to write socializing letters, but would then be swamped in many mundane affairs and official documents, not answering which would make me appear unritely and unrighteous, yet trying to answer which would only disgust me; fifthly, my dislike of offering condolence has incurred complaints from some people and slanders from others, and would then not likely keep me immune from blames in the future even though I might carefully compromise my will to popular customs; sixthly, I dislike dull people, but would then have to receive them at work and home, who would annoy me daily with loud noises, foul smells and nasty tricks; seventhly, I am impatient of routine business, but would then be burdened with official affairs and encumbered with mundane matters. Regarding things improper: firstly, my habitual criticism of King TANG of Shang and King WU of Zhou, and contempt of ZHOU Gong and Confucius, would then seem improper and incur public censure; secondly, my obstinacy in loathing evils and speaking frankly, would then seem improper, and my irascible temper might burst right away at the sight of injustice. (人伦有礼, 朝廷有法, 有必不堪者七, 甚不可者二: 卧喜晚起, 而当关呼之不置, 一不堪也。抱琴行吟, 弋钓草野, 而吏卒守之, 不得妄动, 二不堪也。危坐一时, 痹不得摇, 性复多虱, 把搔无已, 而当裹以章服, 揖拜上官, 三不堪也。素不便书, 又不喜作书, 而人间多事, 堆案盈机, 不相酬答, 则犯教伤义, 欲自勉强, 则不能久, 四不堪也。不喜吊丧, 而人道以此为重, 已为未见恕者所怨, 至欲见中伤者; 虽瞿然自责, 然性不可化, 欲降心顺俗, 则诡故不情, 亦终不能获无咎无誉如此, 五不堪也。不喜俗人, 而当与之共事, 或宾客盈坐, 鸣声聒耳, 嚣尘臭处, 千变百伎, 在人目前, 六不堪也。心不耐烦, 而官事鞅掌, 机务缠其心, 世故烦其虑, 七不堪也。又每非汤、武而薄周、孔, 在人间不止, 此事会显, 世教所不容, 此甚不可一也。刚肠疾恶, 轻肆直言, 遇事便发, 此甚不可二也)]
JI Kang thus expressed his dream for a peaceful life: “Now I only wish to live in a plain alley to teach my children, talk with friends, chat about trifles, drink some alcohol, and play some music” (今但愿守陋巷, 教养子孙, 时与亲旧叙离阔, 陈说平生, 浊酒一杯, 弹琴一曲, 志愿毕矣). However, even this simple wish could not be realized, as he was beheaded by the SI-MA government soon after.
From: Chapter 4 Ethical Thought in the Wei & Jin Period
Book: A Panoramic History of Traditional Chinese Ethics by Yi-ting ZHU (朱贻庭)

sir_neatington works his way through the crowd and manages to run all the way towards the Slideslow Drive where he enters a pub, throws himself right in, and finds a twenty-year old soap box. Inspired to conduct soap-box politics, he manages to push the box, stands up and begins his speech, or as we call it, a good ramble.
Uh- hey hello Bromsgrove. Finally, I managed to grab a soap-box and have a steady grip on it. From the times of World War I, the so-called Golden Age of Soapbox Oratory, to the present day, politics has evolved a long way. We have opened up the world for migrants, recognised same-sex marriages, brought two stronger forces in the fray, us and the Loony Left, led by one of the candidates, localds something.
I am pretty sure that the only thing local about their campaigning approach is going to be making an April Fools Joke out of the general populace, and somehow make you believe that you deserve less, and much less than most. The fundamental truths by which politics is run, still hasn’t changed, but rather challenged. The element of public service, national security, and responsibility to the growth of the people, all of that is being challenged.
It is thrown into dismay by a bunch of people, who name themselves Solidarity, and push themselves at the boundary of common sense. From stealing your land, to forcing working class folks to pay more on unnecessary union fees, from forcing you to adopt practices that can harm your family in the future, to not having a concrete plan beyond nationalisations, all of that is being put up to stake.
The last time someone did a soap-box campaign was in 1992, by Sir John Major, another Conservative who passionately cared for the interests of the actual all, and not the union few. In the 90s, and today, a lot is similar, the threat of a government that will force you to poverty, make you beg and borrow for your next meals, tarnish our image abroad, do nothing beyond rambling and call that foreign policy.
I am reminded of a time, when candidates in the 1960s America, when advertising professionals began their inputs into the modern political process, were reputed to be "selling candidates like soap", which was a key phrase to discuss the promotional techniques that were used at the time. Today, that’s how the Left is selling their vision, clean and packaged in new boxes, adding new scents and flavours, only to fool you.
They have decided that by using the word UBI repeatedly, and feeding you with an utopian vision, that somehow their world is superior. Let me show the mirror, their world is clearly a hoax. A falsehood, a mirage which they want you to believe, because it helps them time and again to sit in office.
Beyond vanity nationalisations, and making the poor poorer, and the rich poorer, what has this Government done? It ceases to amaze me that these people, the so-called communists, amongst whom many would proudly stand up for Stalin today, have no vision beyond mesmerising you into a world of unreal making. Let us explore the second person in the room, Labour.
Wait, they’re the copy of the first, no difference except having a perfectly minted brand. They are mere copycats, forgive me if I use a harsher word, they’re lap dogs of the former. The only reason they are in Official Opposition this term was because their big bosses had a grudge about not being Prime Minister, so took the second big talk. In fact it took them nearly a year to go and say, they support Ukraine.
They’ll say that their Shadow Secretary of Defence did this and that, but let’s be honest, apart from being Official Opposition, they’ve done it all. Justifying that by saying that they’re somehow a force for unity, absolute baloney. They are disguising their incompetence by throwing a charade of policies, and call that a difference. If you move a step down, you would see the Solidarity’s big chap, the incumbent Home Secretary and Bees Minister. Bees Minister, really what has this person done for your farms? Hike the LVT, remove your agricultural reliefs, replace the subsidy regime? The whole post was created to merely accommodate a party weight, to prevent infighting.
Let us be honest, a good segment of the Government’s cabinet is merely filled to satisfy the Parliamentary Comrades, rather than determining the best interests of our children and the future. If we ever have to see the record of the current Home Secretary, there is virtually nothing, that is to their name, beyond presiding over a Government that has no plan for knife crime, no plan for safety, no intention to fund the police, no drive to get Britain safer, or even make an attempt to do any of it. The only thing they’ve done is stand behind their Prime Minister and nod through partisan bickering and shouting out how land must no longer belong to individuals, or defending a Budget that takes more, and gives less. The only policy your solidarity chap has been defending is incompetence, and it’s time to show them the door.
Now that we have finished showing you the other records, let’s show you mine. I’ve served as the Actual Opposition’s spokesperson for Treasury, yeah we don’t count the non-positions and sycophants, actively engaging for a better Economy, including by presenting an Act which would have limited the deficit raising abilities of the Government to ensure that your children do not have to bear the burdens of your borrowing, cutting down the vanity nationalisations, that nationalised pubs thing, which makes your pubs and pubes theirs, so that you bow down to the State every time.
Tomorrow, I’m sure they’ll criminalise religious worship, or say that alcohol must not be served in pubs. Wait a minute, that already happened. The Government’s KONSUM Plan actively works to undermine your emotional maturity and somehow forces you to believe that pubs will be safe in their hands. Absolute shitfest, innit. Back to my record, I also brought in a Shadow Budget, which if passed, would’ve increased your Personal Allowance, reduced your taxes, got a 0-interest loan programme to fund innovation, and a better plan for school catch-up. Further, I proposed legislation in this term, which if passed, would have enshrined research and development targets for all Government Departments.
So the red rosettes now hate science and finance too, let us explore the real alternatives to this mess festival, the Conservatives. In this edition of our manifesto, we will be focusing on five main priorities, or as I would like to call them, pillars of modern society. It is our belief that if these pillars are strengthened, it would build our nation better for the future. The first pillar, the one that will actually keep you safe on the roads, Law and Order. We want the gangs out, the muggers in prison, the addictums in their chambers, and most importantly, bobbies in. Our police have been wonderful in preventing crime, and we must do more to help them across.
That is why a Conservative Government, repeat after me, a TORY Government, would be training and introducing nearly 10,000 new police officers on our streets, fund better police management and criminology research at the College of Researching and increase the grant provided to officers for buying police vehicles. This will ensure that our Police are able to reach those who need help at the earliest. Our funding for the Policing College will ensure that we have the best practices in the world, and most importantly, the gangs out.
Another key element to the mugging community is their use of knives. There’s a reason why Knife Crime is, time and again, one of the most common forms of crimes in our society. This has to stop, with us, it will. We have proposed this time, the creation of a National Knife Crime TaskForce, which will work with police forces across our country, to track down and silence the Knife Criminals. We do not need more of them on the streets, we need them back at the Prisons.
We will also be increasing funding for a Knife Crime Awareness Programme, for students and communities across England, to ensure that they are well-educated and informed on dealing with Knife Crime. By creating such programmes, we will be massively preventing the casualties and harmful effects of Knife Crime. It will also ensure we have better reporting of these crimes. We will bring back Stop-and-Search, to ensure the Knives are thrown off the bag, well before they are even used.
It is common knowledge that these provisions helped in ensuring police officers can get the criminals in, but the anti-law and order gang firmly opposed this, yes the reds. The only red thing they have gotten on their hands, is irresponsibility and lack of desire to truly prevent crime. If you thought they really wanted the best for your children, think again. Labour Wales at the moment is opposing plans to help create a smoke-free generation. Is this the law and order you want to see, smoke everywhere, knives being used to kill rather than cut vegetables and meat?
If you want true change, stand with us, here with the Tories today. Continuing on order, we will also be increasing the existent penalties for crimes such as Modern Slavery, and Sexual Offences. People should not commit these offences, and be given a baby sentence. These people should not see the light of society, and must also be stripped off their right to vote. We should not be supporting criminals, and it is sad to see the Government do nothing.
That is why we need the Tories to take on the government, to bring real change, law and order on our streets, enough of gangs and boats. Speaking on those lines is our second and the most important of all our priorities, Building a “Stronger Public Service”. For too long, we have been fed knowledge which says that nationalisation is somehow always beneficial, but having a strong public service is much beyond wasteful expenditure. It is about being meaningful and getting delivery done. Our NHS, our schools, our job market, we need to get them buzzing up.
This is why, as a first step towards funding our services better, the Tories will be cutting down needless bureaucracy and red-tape, which will allow us to have nearly seven billion pounds, which can be invested directly into the NHS System. Enough talk about funding, get on with the substance. We will also be bringing nearly 25,000 new dentists into Britain, to fix our dental system and reduce waiting times for Dental Referrals. We will also be working to reduce waiting times between a visit to the GP and a specialist referral.
We pledge to create nearly 750,000 new jobs year-on-year, which will reduce unemployment and the need for Welfare. We need to make welfare reform a stepping stone for getting jobs, and not a lifestyle choice. This is why we will be merging the existing provisions into a single “Get-Back-to-Work” Benefit for all those who can actually work, yet do not engage in meaningful activity. This however does not include people who suffer from ailments and physical complications, unlike how the Solidarity wants you to think, because this Tory Government, will be, to quote David Cameron, a “compassionate Government, one that cares for all of its people”.
Continuing on the Public Services Principle, we will be working to reform Local Government. It is our local government that handles your daily activities, garbage collection, maintenance of public property, and gets your police forces working. We propose to abolish Town and Parish Councils, since they haven’t helped get Bromsgrove or any other part of England to any betterment, beyond existing and eating up public money. We will be introducing County Mayors across England instead, to ensure your voices can actually cause real change on the ground, along with a mandatory council tax freeze once in every council term.
That is certainly signs of a more compassionate and people-friendly government than those who read the Marxist Pledge of Allegiance and call it home to their pinkish hearts. Beyond employment, what is important is to ensure that those who have served our society, our older populace get the fair share of pensions they deserve. At this moment, pensions are severely lacking, and in some cases, do not even let our older folks have enough to carry out their monthly needs.
It is sad to see many of them opt for second jobs to help pay the bills. A Sephronar Government will ensure that it happens. How, by introducing a Triple Lock on Pensions. A Triple Lock in Pensions would mean that pensions would increase every year, based on national inflation, the average rise in wages, or 2.5%, whichever is higher, to ensure maximum can be provided to those who have put their youth, blood and toil maximum for our nation and its growth.
We will also work to eradicate homelessness by continuing our track record of introducing greater planning reform, which by the way, was not supported by the Government because it actually helped the people be better off. We will also be building up nearly 250,000 houses per year, as a start to ensure that this crisis can be averted. As the United Kingdom grows, it needs to grow in being able to provide affordable housing, and these are the first little steps.
We will also be introducing a new 5G Delivery Plan, to ensure that 5G reaches every corner of Bromsgrove, and other parts of our country. Upper Severn deserves an MP who can actually stand up and support the needs and aspirations of its constituents, not someone whose sole objective is to go back, and be a silent wimp to the party top-cops.
Also did you know, Labour recently said it wanted to rejoin the EU, yeah, four referendums, and the people said we want it out, and now they say we want you in. You see, there’s a pattern of incompetence from the Labourites. First, they campaign for something, then the people tell them to do something, they pretend to do it, and go back on it later. The fact that they are constantly ready to undermine the public, the public services, and the gangs on the streets speaks far more to their inability to accept the public facts and stop being ego wings.
Mr Real Pub Owner, do you want your pub back? Ms Teacher, do you want your children to have a better world? Mr Peter, do you want a more compassionate Government, that actually focuses on delivering the best interests of the people, accepts their mandate, moves forward and actually gets the new British energy going beyond wanting to rejoin the EU, undermining our armed forces, police officers and the British citizens? Then, join me and vote Tories for Bromsgrove!
sir_neatington gets off the soap-box, hands over copies of the Tory Manifesto, has a couple of pints of beer, and walks his way off, as he’s ready for another round of General Election campaigning.

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Janet Protasiewicz	WI Supreme Court	April 4th	u/Reptorian, u/Lotsagloom, u/Hurrdurraj65, u/table_fireplace, u/SGSTHB, u/Wes_Anderson_Cooper, u/ornery-fizz, u/molybdenum75
Sara Geenen	Wisconsin Court of Appeals District 1	April 4th
Jodi Habush Sinykin	Wisconsin State Senate District 8	April 4th	u/SaltResearcher4, u/Pipboy3500
Brandon Presley	MS Governor	November 7th	u/ProudPatriot07

We’re looking for graphic artists and folks that understand how to run social media!
While we all like to jest that the mod team is able to do anything and everything, we have limitations. We are currently looking for individuals with knowledge and skill in creating Graphic Art as a way to further the community's image. Our main priority would be aiding in creating graphics akin to the following design that we’ve used for AMA guests.
We are also looking for someone that is more knowledgeable in how to properly create a social media following/interact in the social media spaces to effectively operate them. The mod team is not particularly knowledgeable, nor do we have the time to properly utilize those tools.
If you are interested in volunteering forhelping with either position, please send us a modmail and we will continue the conversation from that point. Note: neither of these positions are paid and would be done on a purely volunteer role.
Let’s make sure that the GOP knows the true power of grassroots action!

Hi all, I have recently been arrested and my devices seized, interviewed and released while under investigation. It’s been the worst few days of my life so far and things are only going to get worse. I have spoken to a solicitor and I am hopeful that I should get a suspended sentence. I am extremely worried about my job’s prospects, I’m working at the moment but fully expect to be dismissed once my company HR get involved. I am thinking of retraining for a job as a lorry driver as it’s a loner job and figure that a probation officer would not have any issues with this role. Would anyone know if I could carry on this work as an RSO once I have been sentenced or is likely that this will cause problems ?

Hello,
Have a very specific situation here which I am trying to analyze in as many perspectives as possible.
I work in Tech, already for 6 years. Last year I joined a company that helped me getting knowledgeable in a subfield in Tech. The program consists on 1 year of training (1 day per week), and in exchange I had to work 4 days per week in a given client. The idea is that this client hires me by the end of the program (which is in a couple of days), though I am don't have any obligation to do this.
I really dislike this client. My team is very disfunctional, non energetic, non tech savvy people, a very ambitious crazy PO, and I have to commute at least twice a week to an office that I take almost 2 hours to arrive to. They want me to work on the weekend to monitor old systems I haven't worked with (I resisted until now, but that will have to change if I stay). And I don't really get along with the people there. Fridays are such a relief for me because I have 2 days without having to think about this place.
But my manager is nice though. He wants me to stay and is aware of the challenges. He is trying to make changes (and some things are indeed changing) but it's very slow. He made me a nice offer to stay, a permanent contract with a salary that matches my expectation, and said that, worst case scenario, if I don't like it, at least I have the time/comfort to look for something else while working there.
Recently I started looking for jobs, and I went through a process with a consultancy startup that looked great. The salary range was in the job description and there was a fit, the interviewing process was fine, and they offered me a position to do the kind of job I really want to do. However, in the final interview, they asked me about the salary expectations, and told me it would't be possible to provide the values I wanted for now (even with the salary ranges in the description) because they want to test me. They wrote in the contract that I will have a salary review after 6 months, but they did not tell me anything else. They also stated my contract will have a 6 month probation period, which is highly unusual in this country. The whole thing feels a bit confusing.
I am usually the kind of person to take the risk, but in this case I am a bit afraid of hopping into this smaller company and then realize this was just an illusion. The company is super tiny (around 20), it feels like they struggle a bit with the internal processes, and that is kind of reflected in the messy offer. I guess this is normal for a company this size, but I am afraid to be somehow affected by this lack of structure. However I am so so tired of working for the "client", it really stresses me out my daily life.
How do you see this?

I Need some advice on what to do here as I'm really not sure whether to move on or pursue this as this isn't the first time this has happened, Also i apologise about the length of the post as there's quite a bit of info ...
I'm 32 years old and have worked in retail all my life, I'm an easy-going, down-to-earth kind of guy that has always maintained my professionalism apart from a few moments where it has called for it.
I'm extremely skilled in people management and have done almost every job a manager has been required to do in a role multiple times and I have always conducted myself to the best of my ability.
In September I began a new job where the pay was good and there was a lot of room for progression.
When I first started I made quite the splash, several managers complimented me on my work ethic as well as my utilization of my skills in order to get the best out of staff and put the most in the till, I was deployed to a floor that suited my experience and for the first four months I was extremely happy in this role, I was making a massive difference and had turned my floor around in terms of takings and staff discipline with regards to how they behaved on a day to day basis, Previously they ran the floor with managers having to cater to their whims and go out of their way just to get them to do the jobs they where paid to do and there were always issues when general housekeeping had to be done such as maintaining the staff room, etc which was shuffled around weekly to different floors so everyone had to do it.
Cut to 2 months ago when I was asked by my line manager and my department head to attend a hearing where I was accused of being Anti-Islamic and had made inappropriate comments to young girls who were stationed on my floor, I won't go too much into it but I was accused of racism basically and then suggesting sexual acts to young females. (2 at this point).
I obviously denied the allegations but elaborated on the conversation that they referred to where a staff member had asked me what my religious orientation was and I explained that I was an atheist, this staff member asked again if I believed in god this time and I stated that I didn't and that "in my mind, if he did exist, he wasn't what we thought he was because of all the cruel stuff he let happen" Let me add at this point she demanded that I should read the Qu'ran and I stated I maybe would get around to it, at no point in this conversation though did she seem uncomfortable or did she signal that she was uncomfortable as she was asking me questions, I had other stuff to do so I left these 2 staff to their jobs and moved on. My line manager who was a Muslim saw nothing wrong with this and neither did my Department Head. I Was sent on my way and was told not to entertain any further conversations of this nature in the future which I took on board and carried on.
Over the coming month, I was spoken to several times more by my Line Manager with regards to conversations that I was having with staff that had sexual undertones and anti-Islamist undertones, despite the fact that I maintained that I had not had these conversations with these staff, the complaints kept coming in, thick and fast and always with the same accusation but from different staff, It got to one point where I actually began crying because of the stress that these accusations where having on my mental health... at this point, it was all around the workplace, a number of managers had even voiced support for me over these accusations as they were fragrantly untrue. My line manager at this point had asked several other managers whom I worked with if they had ever witnessed any of these conversations taking place or if they had heard me ever say anything with regards to the accusations that were leveled against me, every one of them stated that they had never heard me say anything that was inappropriate. At this point, there were around 8 allegations regarding my conduct that had been lodged against me and I was invited to a probationary review meeting, I Had conducted these myself in previous jobs and knew that if it was being done early that then you were being dismissed. Prior to this meeting, i was approached by a colleague of mine who was someone i worked with very closely and he himself was Muslim, He had said to me that he knew i hadn't had those conversations with these staff and that the previous night, which was his late he had overheard 3 of the girls who had put accusations in about me talking in the changing rooms when they thought he wasn't there, their exact words where as follows Girl 1: "I Can't believe *** Still works here, if people said stuff like that about me i'd just leave." Girl 2: "I Know, I've been asking people if he has ever said anything to them" Girl 1: "Have you!? What did they say?" Girl 2: "Most of them said nothing, with ****** accusation we had to ass stuff to it, We couldn't just say he showed us a picture of his cats" Girl 1" Yeah, I know... i said he was racist and that he was asking me dirty questions and offered to sleep with me" Girl 3: "And they believed it?" Girl 1: Not at first, No, i had to get some other girls to say stuff about him before they listened" Girl 2: Yeah, Same. What should we do next to get him into trouble?" *Whilst all laughing* Girl 1: "I'm gonna go around and ask other girls, it doesn't even need to be a bad thing, if he's been seen to be talking to her you can just make stuff up as we did" Girl 3: Yeah?, It's his own fault anyway, he's too strict so he has to go haha" Girl 1: "HAHA, either way as long as he's gone I don't care, Just keep saying that he's done stuff and eventually they'll either sack him or he'll just leave"
He fed this back to me and I asked him if he would be willing to stand up and say that if they asked and he said he would. On the day of the meeting, I was a little late as i was that nervous i had to go to the toilet beforehand and was on there for 20 mins just shitting my life away. I also looked like utter cow shit as the stress of it had began to take it's toll on my mental health .
During the meeting they had said that over the last 2 months they had received 8 complaints about my conduct and they went through them one at a time, Once girl had said that I was stalking her out of work and that she was "In fear for her life" because I had apparently been calling her at all times of the day and night (I Didn't have her number either) They went through each one, One after another and we were in there for 3 hours, Prior to the meeting I had spoken to the few managers who were still friendly with me and basically told them how much of an honour it was to work with them. After the meeting to my surprise, I was sent back to work and a few of the managers in my department were shocked to see me, I got back to work and found that I had been removed from the weekly planner and removed from the rota (Which I found really shady like their decision was made up before I attended that meeting and the only reason they didn't suspend me was because of the witness testaments) This upset me when I saw I was removed from the planner and I kept the copies in case something was brought up again. I was told that I would get an answer by the latest the following Monday which was seven days away.
I continued to work and a further 4 complaints were made about me that week from the same clique of female staff when I got to work on Monday I was pulled into an office and given a letter of suspension, due to "Ongoing harassment of racial minorities and inappropriate comments made with regards to race, sexual orientation and gender" I Had been surprised they hadn't suspended me prior to this as that is usual practice and I had taken that as a good sign, A week later I received a letter stating that I had failed to meet the expectations of my Probation and being terminated with immediate effect, I was to be paid my weeks notice and all accrued holiday as a goodwill gesture and given 7 days to appeal.
I took a few days to think and I also began applying for jobs after 5 days I submitted an appeal, which was to be held with the store manager, 2 days prior to the first meeting I was contacted by a job and offered an interview which clashed with the appeal date so I rescheduled and then the second appeal I had to reschedule again due to another job opportunity and I had explained when I appealed that I had applied for various jobs and that I would not reschedule an interview or turn one down for an appeal meeting, the third letter i received on a Monday with an invitation to an appeal meeting that was dated for the previous Friday and was told that if I did not attend then they would make the decision without me taking into account the reasons I had put in my appeal letter. I Had stated in that letter that I had been targeted because i was an atheist and i apparently was "Godless" in one girl's words. I was also targetted for being a straight white male and was called names like "Coloniser", and "Milkybar kid" as well as several Punjabi words used as slurs for white men, i was constantly asked to repeat Punjabi words that were Profanity words and when I refused i was told i was boring and that "I Must hate Asians" I was also told by several other managers who themselves where Muslim that they where targetting me because i was White and they don't like white people telling them what to do when i pointed out several racist behaviors and opinions that they had i was told "You can't be racist to White people", I pointed out that their behaviour was harassment as they were told not to talk to anyone with regards to their accusations only to be told by several staff that these girls had approached them and asked them to lie about my conduct and i was disappointed that nobody had seen this.
I was told in the letter regarding my appeal that they had found no evidence of any staff targetting me because of my gender, religion, orientation or race. They ignored the parts where i had asked them to speak to the managers that had overheard the conversations that they had witnessed and again found no evidence of wrongdoing. (They hadn't even spoken to him, i asked him if they had questioned him and he said no).
I had even sent them pictures where the girl who was "In fear for her life" because of me had commented on several of my cat's pictures and liked them as well, Not the behaviour of someone who's scared for their life... Her own sister even said that she knew she had made those accusations up because she had wanted to get attention and sympathy from other managers...
Mostly I'm just angry that this can happen and that people can say stuff that can be disproven and I've still lost my job and my source of income, I was wondering if it was worth pursuing any further does anyone think?

In 2017 I was put in a carotid hold, nearly killed, and seriously injured by a knee to my back in a technique that caused great bodily injury not just to me but to various other people as well, such as Danny Banks, who suffered internal bleeding from a knee to the back, 2 years prior to the incident with me, and David Ward, who died from the carotid hold, 2 and a half years after the incident with me, after I informed everyone, including Mark Essick who was Captain of Internal Affairs, IOLERO, Andrew Cash who was then a sergeant, Eddie Engram who was a captain in 2018, Lynda Hopkins, and various others, that the carotid hold is a LETHAL technique and was being used recklessly and dangerously by the Sheriff's Office. Those were literally my exact words in writing to IOLERO, and Ms. Hopkins, and in the recorded interview with Andrew Cash Internal Affairs, who laughed.
Since then the County has stolen six years of my life, misusing public funds to withhold even a minimum of compensation, lying about conducting an investigation, literally getting caught destroying camera records, per a well established practice and custom, which also occurred in the 2015 torture ring / yard counseling case, where Cecile Focha and others lied about the existence of videos and destroyed the video where they gave Danny Banks internal bleeding, and the 2019 Nino Busco case, where the Court instructed the jury to assume that the evidence had been destroyed with intent. The County has criminally withheld evidence, and openly violated various other laws, as well as rules of civil procedure, and implicated the Court in misconduct.
Nobody responds to my emails, or voicemails, or answers the phone.
Nobody responds to my requests for public records.
IOLERO doesn't seem to have ever done anything, in any of the cases of misconduct, except be a heatsink for the ongoing public dissatisfaction with continued murders and terrorism and does not enact any justice.
There were no records made of any of the misconduct that occurred. No changes are made by the Sheriff's Office until innocent people die on camera after they were warned that the techniques they use recklessly are well known to be lethal, and get repeatedly caught lying and destroying evidence.
The incident occurred under a camera and in front of witnesses, including the commanding officer. The carotid hold was illegal per POST BASIC state-wide police standards - for 2017 - unless the subject exhibits ASSAULTIVE BEHAVIOR.
Even according to the two officers who admit to assaulting me, my behavior did not rise to that level -- meaning the carotid hold was irrefutably illegal.
According to the commanding officer - Lieutenant Melissa Parmenter, I was not resisting.
According to the third party witnesses, including the bystander witness who saw the entire incident, and Officer Robert Sagan of Rohnert Park police, I was POLITE AND COOPERATIVE.
I have been diagnosed with organic brain injury from the carotid hold, and the injury to my kidney due to the knee to my back was also worse than any injury before or since.
I want my case resolved.
It's been 6 years. Nobody else involved in this is being nearly as patient or courteous as I have been.

Protests, drought, fatalism, recession, and the spread of infectious diseases. Just another week on our dying planet.
Last Week in Collapse: March 26-April 1, 2023
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter bringing together some of the most important, timely, helpful, depressing, ironic, stunning, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse.
This is the 66th newsletter. You can find the March 19-25 edition here if you missed it last week. These newsletters are also on Substack if you want them sent to your email inbox.
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The U.S. government is auctioning off a colossal section in the Gulf of Mexico for oil drilling. The parcel totals 73.3M acres—just under the size of Italy’s landmass, or the Philippines. Explore the full map here or here.
Southeastern Europe is facing a dry, dry summer. A year of constant record-breaking will not slow down soon. (Can you believe we are already 25%+ through 2023?) Drought is getting so bad in Spain that group prayers for rain have begun. Spain is also seeing wildfires.
North Africa is suffering from drought too, and it’s affecting their crops. El Niño is heating up the Pacific Ocean already, and forecast to become more severe as the year drags on. Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, is feeling the strain of drought.
Once a sustainable producer of grains, Pakistan (due to drought and debt and overpopulation, etc.) is now unable to produce enough grain to sustain its own people. Government distributions of flour have caused deadly stampedes and injuries to the desperate & hungry people.
2,000 elderly Swiss women are taking Switzerland to court, the European Court of Human Rights, to be precise. They are seeking a binding judgment that climate change is putting their health and lives at risk.
After 8,000 gallons of chemicals (190 barrels) spilt in a tributary of the Delaware River, Philadelphia officials say the water is safe to drink.
Berlin voters narrowly voted to obligate their city to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030—but the vote lacked the overall votes necessary to become law. So the climate effort failed. Germany’s economy is contracting and hundreds of thousands of workers went on a one-day strike on Monday.
Private jet use has hit record highs, far surpassing the pre-pandemic figures. Meanwhile, South Korean researchers may have found a method to transform CO2 from the air into a kind of polyester. The study claims that the electricity-intensive process can be easily scaled up.
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Amnesty International released a 412-page report on the state of human rights in the world today. Spoiler: it’s really bad. You can download it in 46 languages. The document is organized by countries, so you can skip to a particular nation and read about its indicators of Collapse.
68 Central/South American migrants, en route to the U.S., were locked in a holding facility in northern Mexico when several started a mattress fire after they learned that they would be deported. Empathy from the guards was lacking, and nothing was done to prevent the suffocation and fire; 38 of the men died.
78% of Americans believe the next generation will have it worse than they do, according to a WSJ poll. The other 22% are fools. U.S. bond markets are in a tough spot, too. The other questions in the poll reveal a damning picture of the American Dream. 27% believe community involvement is very important, while 43% believe money is very important.
Argentina’s currency—the Argentine Peso (the official rate is 1 USD = 208 ARP, but the black market rate is closer to 1 USD = 380 ARP)—has been downgraded from a C rating to CCC, in advance of an “imminent default” of government bonds. Faith in the government’s ability to stabilize its currency is gone—it’s not just the banks that have lost the people’s trust.
China is encountering concerning levels of debt that are forcing governments to find new sources of money. Yet despite China’s structural economic flaws (poor age demographics, corrupt real estate sector, political influences on markets), some economists think China is a safe investment in a turbulent global economy. Last week, China made its first ever purchase of LNG using Chinese Yuan. And China warned the US against hosting Taiwan’s President for a visit.
The IMF says that the stability in the world economy is shaking while growth slows, trust fallout from SVB lingers, and interest rates rise. Central banks are allegedly being called upon to do more—but the situation may be beyond institutional control. What is a bank if not a collection of other people’s debts?
The UK has hit record levels of household debt: £2 Trillion. Meanwhile the ECB (European Central Bank) is warning that shadow banking may lead to the ~~current~~ next economic crisis. “The nonbank {shadow} sector involves firms which are engaged in bank-like activities, but are neither registered nor regulated as banks. These include the likes of funds, insurance firms, venture capitalists and currency exchanges.”
Protests, which are sometimes becoming riots, are continuing in France. This weekly observation gives an interesting summary of the situation. You can watch some footage here, or here, or here. What begins as a protest for one issue can quickly become co-opted by other forces, or organically grow into something larger than itself. Thousands of police and 10 helicopters were deployed in western France to stop protestors trying to obstruct the construction of several reservoirs for agriculture.
Iranian special forces are training to handle new protests; whether their violence can overcome the political grievances remains to be seen. Teachers, many of whom have reportedly not been paid, are allegedly joining the protests. We seldom hear about the situation in Iran these days—is this because the protest movement is dwindling, or something else?
In another silenced conflict, Myanmar, last week the ruling party dissolved a number of opposing political parties, most notable the NLD, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who tried to move Myanmar away from military rule. She was eventually removed in a 2021 coup which precipitated Myanmar’s current phase of Civil War.
The runner-up in Kenya’s 2022 election—the 78-year old, Raila Odinga, ran unsuccessfully for President five times—is calling for twice-a-week protests that began two weeks ago. Two protestors have been shot dead in the escalating protests so far, which have given cover for looters and anti-government vandals.
Israel’s embattled PM is temporarily holding back his judicial reform bill after massive protests flexed their opposition. Israel said they totally weren’t intimidated by the US into holding back from the proposed law, which has become a symbol for the struggle of Israel’s identity.
In Senegal, the trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko is set to begin—and the people are protesting. The government allegedly wants to block Sonko from running in 2024, accusing Sonko of stirring up the masses to avoid prosecution.
Donald Trump has not (yet) been arrested—but he has been indicted on a number of charges relating to Stormy Daniels and campaign finance law, fraud, etc. Trump said, “this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” and he could be right; however, pro-Trump protests have not yet materialized. Trump is allegedly talking to his advisors about (if he is elected again) going to War in Mexico, something that happened not long before the first American Civil War.
Bakhmut continues to hold out against the Russians. Tanks are arriving in Ukraine and this phase of the War turned 400 days old a few days ago. Russia is believed to be planning another wave of mobilizations to recruit 400,000 men to be sacrificed for nothing. Russia is also becoming more popular in the developing world from a combination of self-interest, anti-western sentiment, and Russian disinformation. The War drags on, and victory, whatever that is, remains far away.
The War in Yemen turned 8 years old several days ago, and peace hinges on a fragile ceasefire. It is believed that the Houthi rebels (backed by Iran, in opposition to the Saudi-backed government) will restart an offensive if a deal cannot be secured. It is always easier to break something than to build it back up.
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Northern China is expected to see more sandstorms as desertification continues. Thailand is seeing blistering heat waves in some areas above 40 ° C (104 °F); Laos set a new record for March.
Several major cities in Tunisia are cutting off water at night as their drought grows more severe. The water rations are expected to continue through the summer—and perhaps beyond. Nigeria is also suffering from water scarcity.
The ICJ (International Court of Justice) is going to give an advisory opinion on climate change and states’ responsibilities surrounding its damage. Some people believe the opinion (if it is favorable to climate activists) will galvanize action—when it is released sometime within the next two years. Others, who have witnessed the quiet IPCC coverage, catastrophic flooding and wildfires, COP~~out~~ climate conferences pass without fanfare, and the not-so-gradual expansion of extraction companies into delicate ecosystems accelerate…are not so optimistic.
The “full volume” IPCC synthesis report has still not been released yet. But don’t hold your breath; corporate interests supposedly watered down the language and inserted pages of carbon-removal copium, scrubbing the text of many references to fossil fuels and industrial agriculture.
A study from Functional Ecology about plants in the Sonoran Desert indicated that climate-stressed plants are moving to higher elevations—but they are not thriving at the mountaintops.
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A bipartisan supermajority of U.S. Senators, 68-23 voted to end the COVID emergency early—and President Biden has indicated he will sign it, ending the state of emergency about 5 weeks ahead of schedule. With about 1,125,000 confirmed COVID deaths, the United States still leads the world in COVID-19 fatalities. (If you search “COVID India” or COVID {country name}” on Google, you will no longer see the Our World in Data charts appear.) India is currently facing the highest confirmed case numbers in 6 months. Brazil recorded its 700,000th COVID death last week, the country with the second-most COVID deaths.
A small town in Burundi has detected 3 strange deaths from a mystery illness with similar symptoms to Ebola and Marburg. However, both those diseases were ruled out. The disease, whatever it is, killed within 24 hours. Two weeks ago, Burundi saw polio reappear after 30+ years. Polio was also detected again in New York state, after several months of dormancy.
Marburg was detected in Equatorial Guinea’s largest city, while cholera spreads across southern Africa untraceably.
A woman in southern China tested positive for H3N8, a different version of bird flu. She is the third human case in recent history, after two other people in China tested positive last year. A variant of H3N8 killed a million people in the 1889-1890 pandemic.
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Things to watch next week include:
↠ The International Academy of Astronauts is holding its annual Planetary Defense Conference next week to discuss the potential of meteor impacts on earth, and how the human race should respond to unlikely threats from space (impacts, Carrington Events, etc). I, however, believe our Collapse ~~will come~~ is coming from within.
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-The United States may soon pass the most comprehensive ~~security~~ surveillance legislation since ~~the Patriot Act~~ …ever. This thread on the proposed law, ostensibly intended to regulate TikTok, cites large parts of the bill that are concerning, to say the least. This debacle also reveals how difficult it can be to combat modern hybrid War(s).
-A 2.7 °C temperature increase will devastate India, according to this thread exploring the future of the future-most-populated nation on earth. A few years ago, someone made CollapseIndia to explore Collapse in an explicitly Indian context; the subreddit has never broken 800 subscribers.
-Thawing permafrost is going to be a really big pollution problem, according to this post from BiosphereCollapse. You can read the full study here, from Nature Communications.
Got any feedback, questions, comments, articles, doomed petitions, seed-planting wisdom, hate mail, War advice, clandestine maps, etc.? Consider joining the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can get this newsletter sent to your email inbox every weekend. I always forget something... What did I miss this week?

Hello, here to seek advice and also, perhaps, share a warning of something that happened in our community.
It was about 5:25pm on Tuesday 3/28 when I looked down at my phone. My beautiful and amazing wife was calling but my phone was on silent. She was at a hair appointment and I was surprised it was already over. I swiped to answer and simultaneously noticed she had tried to call me 5 previous times within the last minute. What I heard on the other end, I never want hear again... ever. She was crying hysterically, screaming "Come, Help ME! He cut my hair! He cut my hair! Call 911!" Immediately, I was grabbing my keys and running to my truck. "I'm coming honey, I'm on my way!," I exclaimed. I hung up and started dialing 911.
.............................
My wife's hair was 32inches from the top of her head to her butt. It would be what a hair stylist would call "Extra-Long". We have recently moved to Temecula, so she was visiting a new stylist; one she had scoped out. He had good reviews, good prices, and had many photos of hair colored the way she was looking for- dark brown base with blonde streaks. She has had it this way as long as I've known her. She doesn't do much for herself, so when she gets her hair colored every 4 months, it is a big deal.
She met with the stylist for a consultation, and he said he could and would provide the service she was looking for, and that she would be very happy with the outcome. So, on the day of the appointment she sat in his chair for 2 hours as he performed his hair services, chatting about things as most would during a hair appointment. They spoke of family, Faith, and the community. He mentioned that he had been in business for 40 years, and that he has had 5 previous shops. She was undoubtedly excited about how her hair was going to turn out.
When the color treatment was over, he began to wash her out in his sink. He told her that he had never had someone in his chair with hair as long as hers and asked her if she wanted a cut. She quickly said no, as she hardly ever cuts it. So, they moved back to the chair and he pulled out the mirror. She saw the color was absolutely not what she wanted. Her hair was very dark, with blue/gray streaks all throughout. She told him, "this isn't good, this isn't what I wanted." She asked if would re-do it. He was reluctant and responded with hostility. He started grabbing at her and taking a hot straight iron to her hair. "You'll see, you'll see," he expressed. She said "no, please re-do it." Angerly and still grabbing at her, he said "You want me to re-do it, pay me $500, Zelle, now!" Even though the initial visit was going to be $160, and $500 is way more than she would ever pay normally, at this point she would pay anything not to leave the salon in this fashion. She said "fine, do whatever you need to do." Before she could pay him, however, she became scared.
He was standing over her, aggressive and tense, and in her close proximity. "It will be fine, you'll see," he continued. She needed to escape, so she stood up and just like that, he grabbed his scissors, reached and cut at her hair. She looked down and saw a lot of her hair on the ground. "WHY did you do that!?!," she screamed. "I smelled trouble," he said. She gathered her things and ran for the door and fell to the sidewalk outside his shop, crying and screaming hysterically. The man followed her, untied and pulled his apron off of her. At some point, he told her "you don't like it, sue me!" and ran back in and locked his shop doors.
She called me at this moment, and I drove as fast as I could around the corner to the shopping center. I was speaking to 911 dispatchers and explaining that the stylist had just assaulted her and she was in dire need of help. I found her on the ground, absolutely distraught. This beautiful woman did not deserve this. I held her as she cried. I looked up and saw this man in his shop, taking pictures or recording video with his cell phone through the glass walls. My wife asked me where the police were, so I tried to call again. The dispatcher said they were on their way and be patient. I went to the window to yell at the man. We were 2 feet from each other, separated by glass. Since he had locked his doors, I couldn't go in. So, I was telling him "come out, the police are coming and are going to want to talk to you!" But he wouldn't come out. Lucky for him because I would have gladly opened up a can for messing with my wife. I said "why did you do this?" and he said, "because she wouldn't pay!" I pulled out my wallet and said "you want money? you would hurt a woman, for money? you are evil and have evil in your heart." He could obviously care less as I watched him sweep my wife's hair from under his chair, bag it up, and walk out the back door of his shop.
Riverside County Sheriff's Deputies arrived and assisted my wife. They took a statement from her and were kind and professional the whole time. They took photos of the damages. This man had cut over 12 inches of her hair off! They explained that even if he thought she was leaving without paying, he couldn't legally cut her hair like that. They left us with a card and a case number and explained that we could call the DA's office in about a week to see how the charges were going. And then they left.
...............................
And here we are. My beautiful, lovely and amazing wife is so distraught. It's been 4 days. She's waking up crying. She's sad and feels the pain from the trauma all day. She's emotionally devastated. We each missed work the following day as she saw another hair stylist to fix what could be fixed. But she doesn't feel okay. She's reached out for therapy. We've called lawyers for legal consultation and have learned that we can seek criminal action against him, which we've already started by pressing charges. We've learned that we can civilly sue him, but every personal injury lawyer we've talked to has said this is unique and not worth it for them to take on. They all say the same thing, that there is a lawyer out there that will, but that they don't have the bandwidth for something like this. They all tell us that we can, at last resort, take him and his business to small claims court. Which may likely be what we do.
I filed a complaint on the CA State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering explaining everything mentioned here. Hopefully, that at least helps to not renew his license.
But, retribution is necessary here. Someway, somehow. I want to see my wife feel whole again. This woman is an angel. She cares for disabled adults and hardly does anything nice for herself. She is her children's whole world and mine too. She deserves retribution for this pain inflicted by this monster.
Any advice on what we should do? Has anyone ever gone through something similar?

TLDR; I've had 3 neurosurgeons since 2019: The first was put on probation because of misconduct in the office, the second committed malpractice on me (which I still have physical damage from) and dropped me suddenly as a patient, and my current surgeon is not offering more avenues of treatment aside from an invasive test I've had 4 times already which left me with chronic back pain, is dismissive and has given me reasons to doubt his attention to my case. I'm having worsening and new neurological symptoms that are impacting me very negatively, my quality of life is tanking. ___
The first surgeon didn't sufficiently write up my medical notes, or his research findings relevant to my condition, which caused the second and third surgeon who was assigned to me to doubt the first's diagnosis and the reason I had 2 out of 4 brain surgeries. I went through a horrific ordeal with the second one who performed a botched surgery on me and then suddenly dropped me from his care, and a terrible time with his office trying to figure out why, and why no one told me. Apparently I was healed despite having the medical device he operated on (VP shunt) leak CSF into my chest wall for 10 months. I'm left with lasting physical damage and my symptoms are worse off overall. My current surgeon also doubts the diagnosis of my first surgeon, and as I'm no longer a patient at the first's office I every attempt to talk to someone from there about my case is rebuked. So that means I'm having trouble communicating the research of my first surgeon to my current one, which would back up my "claims" of my diagnoses (My tumor was rare and there isn't a lot of comprehensive medical info about it). My current surgeon seemed very caring and while he doubts my previous diagnoses, he did remove the broken VP shunt. However he refuses to do anything more than another lumbar puncture and referring me out to physical therapy. He doesn't want to do any more imaging. He doesn't want to explore other tests that are typically given to people with my conditions and symptoms, such as CSF studies. He and a NP have dismissed some of my concerns before, and I feel extremely rushed in his office- our visits have at the most been 10-15 minutes which is far too little for severe neurological issues to be fully communicated. I've had 4 lumbar punctures, 2 of which were agonizing and I have lasting chronic back pain caused by them.
I now have a "headache specialist" neurologist for headaches+migraines whose current avenue of treatment is meds, but usually listens to my concerns and genuinely seems to care. I saw a new neurologist with an ENT specialist last week to rule out ear involvement, at the behest of my current neurosurgeon, and I'm terrified of yet another dismissal of my concerns (which I've experienced a lot from neurologists and neurosurgeons both). I'm taking 5 hours of ENT/vestibular tests next month. I'm scared. She seemed frustrated with how complicated my medical history and overall case is.
The radiologist for my recent MRI found some very concerning things, and I spot some things that were not noted. I also have some unanswered questions about findings from a few years ago that only one radiologist has noted. Since 2019, radiologist findings have been very inconsistent which has impacted my care and ability to communicate with doctors. For example, I had visible brain damage after my first craniotomy in 2020 noted by a radiologist, yet despite it still being in all my images since, none of the other radiologists have noted it. I also have a congenital malformation that was only noted once. I'm afraid to bring both points up with my headache specialist, because he says the scans are "unremarkable".
For reference, I've had to train myself how to read my own imaging and it saved my life. I was the one who found my own brain tumor in 2019, because my neurologist at the time wasn't honest and open about what the radiologist found. I was the one who did extensive research, compared imaging, and realized my progression of symptoms matched completely with the condition I was then diagnosed with by my first neurosurgeon. I found a specialist neurosurgeon 5 hours away bc my neuro gaslit me, and began the complicated timeline of treatment I've undergone. Now I have to be the one bringing it up with a doctor if I want someone to figure out what the hell is going on with my brain and spine. I'm so overwhelmed and I thought I could trust my headache specialist, like I thought I could trust the other neuro docs, but I'm afraid that him not communicating about the radiologist notes may have broken my trust. I don't know how to talk about any of this with him. Also, I suspect I have a condition that only specialist neurosurgeons can rule out or diagnose, and have a lot of knowledge about it due to it running in my family. Recent MRI imaging with radiologist notes about it might show some involvement of that. I also was going to go into the medical field for radiology and medical research, so I know how to not 'look for what's not there'. ____
I know my post is very long, my situation is very complex and I can't summarize it very well. I even cut back about 10 paragraphs for this one and I'm getting nauseated bc of the screen. I'm really at my wits end, I'm overwhelmed and don't know what to do from here. I have severe medical trauma because of horrific neglect after my first craniotomy, bc of the botched surgery, and also being denied pain meds all 4 brain related surgeries. Combined with being autistic means I'm vulnerable and I truly struggle to communicate with doctors. I don't trust doctors anymore. and I'm terrified of medical procedures. But I can't keep going like this or I will break. I have medicare, if it's relevant, but no primary doctor rn. Edited to be more in line with the rules.

Long but if it helps it helps.
Ive read plenty of blogs and such advertising about sentence reduction services etc and just wanted to post here freely what I did that my lawyer said helped my case immensely. If youre looking for sentence reduction Im sure you've read about the RDAP program, getting good character letters, etc. Heres what I did pretrial that I never saw recommended.
When my lawyer went to challenge many items at sentencing, the prosecutor declined to really argue against them and told the judge she agreed with reducing the guidelines, the prosecutor and the judge specifically mentioned my pretrial actions and letters in this.

1) I immediately got a full time job as per probation. Within 7 days I was working full time. I always worked at bars prior, and thats what I did, but I started at the bottom taking out trash, cleaning bathrooms, etc. I was able to make more money by barbacking and working floodoor etc, I hustled my ass off there and sometimes worked 7 days. Having a job right away helped of course, but also having a "dirty" job helped bc is showed that I was not above that kind of work ie cleaning up vomit and being a janitor in the beginning. It also gave me amazing letters which Ill get to later.
2) dont be stupid on pretrial, should be obvious, dont miss check ins or test positive. Be clean and have a clean home when the officer checks up on you. My probation officer told me so many people she goes to have dirty households, hygiene, arent looking for work, and just come off as lazy bums. It should be obvious but just be clean and attentive. Dont give them a reason to think of you as a criminal. Youre a normal person who committed a crime. That's literally what my probation officer said.
3) go to school. I started a math and comp sci degree. Look up Sophia.org and Study.com. There you can take classes that will transfer into colleges for $99 and $199/month respectively. So join Sophia.org, take English 101, or US History 101. These are all self paced classes, ie you can take as long as you want on them if youre not a fast learner or short on time. There other places to take advanced classes (for more money) but you knock out 30 credits of gen eds towards a degree in a few months if you hustle. If youre on reddit check out WGU_CompSci as they use those courses a lot and are helpful.
Look at getting a certificate in a field to. Look up Comptia CompTIA (theres a reddit for it) or use Coursera.com to get certificates from Google, IBM, etc. These show the judge you are working towards a career path outside of crime.
I also reached out and applied for research programs in my field called the NSF REU. It shows Im actually involved in my schooling, which I really am.
4) Set up post release opportunities/plans. I was able to show the judge(and had letters to back it up) that I had a release plan. That I hoped to qualify for alternative sentencing but understood I am likely facing incarceration. In the face of that I showed my preparation, a place to live, money saved from my job, that my current job was ready for me full time upon release, and I had internship and job offers, and that the internships/jobs all knew about my felony conviction.
5) mentioned before but save money if you, I lived a spartan lifestyle, I didnt go out, I cancelled all my tv, entertainment etc. and spent the bare minimum. Showing the judge I would be financially sound upon release and not be tempted to resort to crime out of desperation. My lawyer pointed out and the prosecutor agreed that while others in my situation spend money on lavish things, in my PSI report I mentioned my scooter rental as an expense at $50/month. Things like that really humanize and normalize you, whereas being flashy and lavish makes you look like a money hungry douchebag. Be humble.
6) I fostered a dog. Maybe that didnt show much to the judge but really was a stress relief to be able to play with and hang out with my dog through this.
7) Letters. Due to working at a bar I had amazing letters. Also just be a good person, youll make connections. We are one of the busiest bars in the city, and I had made friends with many regulars genuinely. I openly spoke about my case and all were supportive, they all saw how hard I worked and wanted the best for me. Thats how I was offered jobs tbh, regulars found out I was in school for compsci, theyd say "hey Ill refer you etc when youre done" and I said "I have a felony". They'd reply "IDC you're a great worker".
We also had a few incidents where I spotted and stopped people from being date raped/carried out roofied, those people all wrote me letters. Just be a good decent person and do good deeds and you'll find good letters with actionable material in them imo.
The prosecutor and my lawyer both told me my letters were some of the best they'd ever seen and were helpful.
8) Allocution. This is your time to condense all the things youve done above to the judge. I thank ed them for the arrest (bc it got me back into school and a new career path that I really enjoy). I laid out my plan post release for a job, for payment of fines, went over my release plan, explained briefly why i did the crime and what I should have done to avoid my wrong decisions, and how I am setting myself up for the future. I also talked about my plans during prison, how I found a way to complete classes affordably and study towards my degree.
Well that s long enough but the shortened version is: get a job, go to school, be a good person/do good things, let the letters write themselves. Let the judge know what youve done and how you will continue.

FIRST DUI BAC .15+ - TEXAS - been in treatment for six months - probability of lesser probation??