Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Bureaucracy: The lethargic death of the modern world.

Imploding Detroit: Theatre Bizarre

Recently, I finally got the chance to attend Theatre Bizarre, the Carnival-like themed Halloween Party to end all Carnival-like themed Halloween Parties.
It has been going on for years now, 10 to 11, I believe with an ever increasing number of shows and artists participating.
So far it has provided a history of fun and creativity; a gathering place for artists and performers to do what they do best and let the rest of us mere mortals appreciate their fantastic productions, their unbelievable displays of dexterity, contortion and talent in a setting that takes our minds away from the mundane world into the twisted and unbelievable Halloween experience.
But this year, the City of Detroit took notice of it for the first time, and rather than support its very own, it not only closed it down and made everyone relocate, it also decided to step in and destroy years of work and love. Although it has gathered sympathy as well as increased coverage, the fact remains that the sudden taking action is dubious at best. Not to mention, what kind of self-centered moron reported that Theatre Bizarre didn't have an alcohol license in the first place?
So, what is it that drives Detroit to destroy everything in its path? Is it the questionable ethics of the Detroit City Council? Are racism and inverse-racism so much part of the soul of the City that it corrodes every good thing? Is it the corruption that pumps through its veins that makes everyone that heard the news realize that "they just didn't pay the right people"?
Even a quick glance at the History of Detroit reveals how many things "slipped" under the watchful eye of regulations. Let's not forget either, the convenient Zoning Laws that up until now were as mutable as your average Pokemon (2). The City of Detroit deserves its very own TV Tropes Page. It is also mentioned as a destination in the "Places worse than Death".
Of course Mayor Dave Bing is (incredibly) more lawful-oriented than his predecessor and that tends to shift things a bit... however it is still sad that they would concentrate their collective efforts on messing up a creative and harmless party while things like Devil's Night still go on with nothing but well-wishes to counter it.
Meanwhile, in the Hall of Injustice (California Branch)...

All this talk about dubious reasoning and clerical incompetence brings out another problem that popped out recently. Turns out that the State of California wants to deny Ciaran his MediCAL on the basis of missing documents and we would need to present ourselves to challenge this decision.

Despite the fact that:

  1. The documents in question were presented IN PERSON.
  2. We got a RECEIPT.
  3. We left a voice-mail asking the social worker to let us know that the DOCUMENTS HAD BEEN RECEIVED.
  4. Also, when we went there we changed our address, which, got lost with the rest of the photocopies and documents given, so not only did the letter have no real basis in reality, it ALSO ARRIVED LATE!
One has to wonder what the hell the Governator was thinking when he froze State hiring in California which ended up assigning 400 cases per Social Worker, amongst other problems, such as making life more difficult for everyone looking for jobs or about to get them. Now, over-worked, overwhelmed Social Workers are somehow trying to manage all those cases. I guess in that sense clerical incompetence could be forgiven, but the fact remains, that Ciaran will lose his health coverage on Sunday thanks to moronic governmental decisions and lost paperwork.
Best thing? They don't even have emails. Let's see how the infrastructure of California can function up to date when they're still comparatively medieval with the rest of the world.

Update: Thankfully Ciaran has kept his Health Benefits, and the letter sent was an automatic process initiated when the Social Worker did not enter the information onto their system in time. However, the point remains that the only reason that happened was because of the Hiring Freeze imposed in California. At least it is one thing less to worry about.