Walking on two legs!

 I had just finished a 6 or so mile bike ride in a foreign city. I parked the thing and joined my cousin for tea and sweets on his first floor apartment. We talked and enjoyed the view of poplar trees and the pleasure boats on the water in front."Well, it's time to go and get to my next "appointment". The question is:Where are my bicycle keys?"

I rushed down the steep stairs and aimed my eyesight on the bike. "Ah, I left them there!" With that realization, I backed away wanting to say a "See you later!" The backing away I didn't do so well. A slightly raised sidewalk stone square made me stumble. Yes, I broke my fall, but the femur top portion of  my leg was the victim. Observers nearby called 911 and the ambulance with cheerful personnel drove me to a nearby hospital.

"Walking on two legs" without assistance of at least one crutch will not be possible for many months to come. Now, looking from my handicapped position at the casually walking public: All those pedestrians take the miracle of "walking" totally for granted.  For the time being I can only long for that state.

A better way to participate: "Citizens Assembly" vs Social Media

 Ever heard of the phenomenon “Citizens Assembly”?

It may well be a COUNTER to what comes to us via the Social Media.

So, let me explain the basics of “Citizens Assembly” (CA) and it is 

best done with a real life example:

Ireland is predominantly Roman Catholic and several years ago

its government took it upon itself to address  the Abortion issue.

For that, government decided to “invite” public input.

So all representatives went to their respective county/district and

assembled a representative sample of the district’s population in

a conference hall and the subject was presented, discussed and

argued. The folks there were asked to present their opinion and 

“defend” such. At the conclusion of the assembly, the citizens vote 

was taken and with its conclusion the District Rep. went back to 

Halls of Government and the results were tallied and to everyone’s 

surprise the end result of all was that now there is allowance for 

abortion, which seemed very unlikely in this R.K-country.

WE too need to listen to the voice of the public, our Citizens! 

The real voices! Not the electronic ones!

Do we, in the U.S. have such system somewhere?

Surprise: Yes, we do!

Our judicial system has “Jury Duty”, where members of the public

listen, debate and judge cases. The judge is the arbiter and reads

the final judgement = a form of Citizens Assembly.

An expert on C.A. is a man by the name of David van Reybrouck,

who can be found debating this subject (in Ireland) on the internet.

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