tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21082723647472440162024-03-13T03:26:28.873-07:00Sacramento Homeless blogThe fearless blog about homelessness that serves the city and county of Sacramento, CA. Written by Tom ArmstrongAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comBlogger714125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-21295075317844952722017-12-16T10:20:00.000-08:002017-12-16T10:23:02.985-08:00Homeless Sacramentans lose case that would have given them the right to set up outdoor camping8/11/13
I certainly give attorneys Mark Merin and Cat Williams credit for pursuing a case against the city of Sacramento to give homeless Sacramentans the right to set up tents and a campsite. I wanted them to win their case, but they didn't. They lost it.<br />
<br />
BUT, it is also necessary to look at the particulars of the case that Merin and Williams brought and see that the situation underlying the court case was not very compelling.<br />
<br />
During the period eight years ago when 22 homeless campers set up their tents and brought in supplies to Mark Merin's vacant lot at C Street, near 12th, there was loud noise and plenty of other mayhem. Drug dealers were on the street encouraging buys from the campers. The Hernandez couple that lived in a house nearby were constantly being taunted by the campers, disrupting their lives.<br />
<br />
Per always with Safe Ground camps, calm was deserted for the sake of boisterousness.<br />
<br />
Leader John Kraintz and the other Safe Grounders would claim to have signed strict and near-sacred contracts committing them to act fully properly. But drinking and careless behavior and chain-smoking was ever present. At Safe Ground's very first effort at non-sanctioned camping, near Highway 160 on the north side of the American River, there was bodacious drinking and constant smoking at night. It was August 2009 and the ground was covered with bone-dry twigs. The Safe Grounders were, then, like they would be subsequently, dunderheaded and clumsily irresponsible.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-90957573214650352472017-12-16T10:13:00.001-08:002017-12-16T10:15:51.845-08:00After a Three-Month Hiatus, a Fall from a Ladder & a Broken Wrist, Evangelist Jimmy Roughton Returns to Union Gospel Mission to PreachAfter being away from Union Gospel Mission for a quarter of a year, Jimmy Roughton returned to preach at UGM on the cold night of December 13 -- despite suffering [a little? a lot? dunno.] from a fall from a ladder that likely immediately preceded a significant injury (a wrist that was broken).<br />
<br /><br />
It was good to see his group from Capital Free Will Baptist Church up on the pulpit, with Roughton rough-and-ready to seduce and inspire the happily-captivate crowd at UGM.<br />
<br /><br />
Roughton told us in his opening words that he was now in his 27th year coming to the mission.<br />
<br />
I recall the first preaching I had heard from Roughton on June 13, 2009. At that time and up to the current time, Roughton is the only preacher I had ever heard evoke Pascal's Wager -- which is something he would do, occasionally thereafter at the mission. He would evoke Pascal's wager, yet again, last night [12/13/17].<br />
<br /><br />
<div align="center">
<strong>Pascal's wager</strong></div>
<br /><br />
Last night, Jimmy evoked <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager">Pascal's Wager</a>. He did so near the end of his talk, citing Pascal
explicitly. Pascal's Wager is this: "Even though the existence of God
cannot be determined through reason, a person should wager as though God
exists, because so living one has everything to gain, and nothing to
lose."<br />
<br />
Jimmy's variant of the "wager," told to us in prior visits to The Mish, involves wagering that God exists (and that Christianity
is The Way) because it is the reasoned bet. He tells the mission
congregants that they lose nothing by becoming Christians, and very
potentially have everything to gain by being in heaven for all eternity. <em>Faith</em>, Jimmy tells us, is what you choose to believe.<br />
<br />
The best <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager#Assumes_that_one_can_choose_belief">argument against making the wager</a> is one that I make, borrowing from Daniel Dawkins: "I'm not at liberty <em>to choose</em> what I believe. My beliefs choose me. I endeavor to be open to whatever seems true." Daniel Dawkins expands on this argument <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=yq1xDpicghkC&pg=PA104&lpg=PA104&dq=%22Pascal">writing that</a>
"Pascal's Wager could only ever be an argument for feigning belief in
God." In addition, according to Dawkins, an omniscient God would
presumably see through the deception.<br />
<br />
Jimmy had told us in prior visits that we must choose to believe something
with respect to God. Even choosing nothing is a choice. Fence-sitting
agnosticism, he told us, is the only impossible position. With respect
to God, we are compelled to reach a determination, if we think on the
matter; it is an issue of infinite importance.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<strong>Christianity and science</strong></div>
<br />
But beyond saying there was more than a twinkle of a chance that God
exists, Jimmy in the past, Jimmy has disparaged science-based and other non-believer arguments
against God's existence, and told of conclusive evidence of
God's/Jesus's existence which should convince even the most hard-hearted
science lover.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Jimmy's topic last night: Belief and having Convictions</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> </b></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-20026416229718870722017-12-13T12:19:00.001-08:002017-12-16T10:11:47.185-08:00The Mission Five Years Ago, And Today<div class="m_4091619103208769914gmail-MsoNormal">
I have spent the night the past two weeks plus at the Union Gospel Mission and am having an excellent time of it -- not only regards to sleeping in the dorm that the mission has, but also listening to the sermons that are delivered in the early evening. The Christmas music that is performed is also splendid. [And the food -- the FOOD -- has been fantastic during my stay so far! A happier Tom there couldn't be.]
<div class="m_4091619103208769914gmail-MsoNormal"></div>
I chatted with a pal last night about <b>The Mish </b>– about how things were about five years ago when we both used the mission’s services frequently, and how thing are, today.<br />
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<div class="m_4091619103208769914gmail-MsoNormal">
Five years ago, there were a lot scuffles between the guys when the front gate was opened in the early afternoon and in the area near the contact window there were some brawls as guys fought over where guys were in line to get a bed in the dorm.<br />
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Nowadays, however, the mission is very much a peaceful place both on the grounds of the facility and and out on the street.<br />
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I do not know what transformative events occurred to create the much happier space that is in place, today, at Union Gospel Mission. And I don’t know if the mission administration is as struck as I am about the better atmosphere that now exists.<br />
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Of course, since I only have two-weeks’ worth of evidence about how things are at the mission for my current stay, I am, perhaps, making too big a deal about too little information. But I greatly doubt that, simply because thing are nicer in a plethora of ways.<br />
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It used to be that there was evidence of racism by some small, but significant, number of the white guys staying at the mission. I haven’t discerned any evidence of racism during my current use of mission services. All the homeless guys appear to get along with each other remarkably well. The only times I witness skirmishes – which are pretty mild – are in the shower area. In these cold days and with particularly chilly nights, the guys are eager to get past their shower and move upstairs into the dorm to talk with their pals and ready themselves for a satisfying night’s sleep.<br />
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I will "drill down" and discuss other Union Gospel Mission topics in an upcoming post to this blog. It will include my appreciation of sermons given by Danny Vanek, UGM Administrator; Dick Hedger, Senior Pastor of Downtown Baptist Church; a sermon by a man whose name I have forgotten, who came with a group the name of which my mind has waylaid, who preached about the First Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." And, there was wonderful music and preaching by the in-house group Last Day's Harvest where Pastor Mooney -- with his music -- and Juan with his serious, intense preaching wowed me.<br />
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Also, there was a splendid, fantastic few minutes relating to a woman who played the harp last night that I am especially eager to tell y'all about.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-30125489654963656662017-12-10T13:35:00.001-08:002017-12-10T13:35:29.452-08:00New Triage Shelter [on Railway Rd.] moves toward completionI received a generous response from Leo McFarland of VOA on the status of the 200-bed Triage Shelter that is progressing toward completion on Railway Rd.<br />
<br />
McFarland writes,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Tom, all the contacts and referrals to the Triage Shelter are coming
from the outreach team called the <b>Impact Team</b>. No walk ups are allowed
per our contract with the City. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Last night's opening was scheduled to be
limited to 50 individuals for several reasons. First the Impact team
transports each referral over to the Shelter which limits the number
that could be handled by this group on opening day.<br />
<br />
Secondly, and more
to the site permit challenge, we have not completed the full interior
build out as yet. We are going to erect physical walls in the Shelter
to provide for guests' privacy in the sleeping areas.<br />
<br />
Everything is
complete for this build except we cannot begin to set it up until the
city issues us the building permit. It is under review by the city and
we expect to get the green light very shortly. Secondly, the beds are
required to be bolted to the concrete floor before we can use the upper
bunks. This is a requirement of the building dept. We cannot affix the
beds until we finish building the walls I mentioned earlier.<br />
<br />
The
schedule had us opening on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_900620907" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">Dec 15,</span></span>
but everyone wanted to push that day up due to weather conditions so we
got ahead of all the final permitting processes which limits us in how
many we can welcome into the Shelter until everything is complete. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hope this helps a bit to clarify what is going on.</div>
</blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-57390176182748217772017-12-09T10:50:00.001-08:002017-12-13T10:46:12.116-08:00Railway Road Shelter opens near Globe Light Rail StationThe 200-bed shelter at Railway Road and Del Paso Blvd opened last night -- Friday, the 8th -- with fifty homeless people spending the first night there. The shelter -- as yet unnamed -- was scheduled to open on December 8, but is not as yet ready to be populated by the maximum number of people and their pets that, when the shelter is completed and ready, are expected to be staying there. The shelter, for winter, will be open through March 31.<br />
<br />
An article written by Cynthia Hubert in the Sunday, Dec. 10 edition of the Bee, is the source of this news.<br />
<br />
One peculiarity that is perhaps trivial, but maybe not, is Hubert's unfortunate use of the word "trudge" in describing the, um, walking style of those who first made use of the shelter. "Trudge" is a derogatory word associated with Libby Hernandez, the three-wheel nun. It has been noticed by homeless people, themselves, that they "walk," as opposed to "trudge" when they move forward.<br />
<br />
In addition to accepting the pets of sheltered homeless people as guests, the shelter, when in full operation, will allow couples to bunk next to one-another. Also, in the near future, the shelter will offer "wrap-around" services that, according to Mayor Darrell Steinberg, are "designed to put homeless people on a path to permanent housing."<br />
<br />
The last part of Hubert's article discusses continuing controversies related to the shelter. Regular citizens who live proximate to the new shelter are upset due to "a lack of details about certain issues, including additional security and promised funds to pay for impacts of the shelter on businesses."<br />
<br />
Mayor Steinberg is referenced in the Hubert article for making a statement that broadly supports the new shelter and his commitment to do much more to aid homeless people. Steinberg's support is rendered thus in the Hubert piece:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Steinberg has said that winter shelter, along with a more-permanent facility planned for next year, is part of a broad response to a crisis of homelessness in Sacramento. The mayor has made the issue a centerpiece of his administration.</blockquote>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-53727725644226430012017-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:002017-12-15T12:44:31.352-08:00The Panhandling Dilemma<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">For many homeless folk: “To panhandle or not to panhandle? That is the question."</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Stolid citizens of Sacramento ask themselves: “Is it best to abruptly deny panhandlers their requests?”</span></blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">SN&R News Editor Raheem F. Hosseini takes a helpful</span><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">dash into the question of homeless people panhandling in this week’s edition [for</span><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">11/22/17] of the alternative weekly, which I’ll </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">use to try to flesh out a further examination of the merits and demerits for solid citizens and needy desperate homeless citizens who <b><i>put money in a hand</i></b> or <b><i>put out a hand for money</i></b>.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Hosseini tells us that new laws took effect on Nov. 24 in the city that can damper down what success panhandlers can expect, since the money seekers are, for the most part, subject to punishment if their efforts to get some cash are perceived as aggressive, or, even, forthright – but in a circumstance that is no longer deemed lawful .</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Regarding the new laws, Hosseini writes,</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Under the new laws, anyone deemed to be causing a disturbance in a park can be cited with an infraction for failing to leave. If that person is cited three times in six months, he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">The more controversial law is the city’s new policy against “aggressive panhandling, “ which was drafted and approved without actual data about how often aggressive panhandling occurs. A city staff report says that the Police Department “has received complaints from residents, visitors, and businesses about aggressive or intrusive solicitations,” but provided no figures or statistics.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px 48px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">By the city’s definition, aggressive or intrusive solicitation can mean simply approaching a pedestrian, or asking for money when some citizen is a captive audience, which now pertains to when citizens are near banks or ATMs, bus- and light-rail stops, gas stations and outdoor dining areas. It’s now also illegal to solicit on roadway median strips, and near the driveways of shopping centers, retail and other business establishments.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">I have no doubt that most people who see themselves as homeless advocates are aghast by the new laws.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">As for me, my preference is that government and charities meet the most-basic needs for homeless people in Sacramento city and county. SNAP and EBT cards are readily provided to needy people to meet most of their need for food. More shelters and campgrounds need to be established to provide sleep space for all the people without a roof. </span><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Food is being provided for people at Loaves & Fishes and at many, if not most, of the shelters, and that is going to continue to be the case.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">I don’t want people to be panhandling. I don’t think that there is a “freedom of speech” right attached to panhandling. A person begging for money is seeking a one-way transaction: “I put out my hand; you put money into it.” That’s NOT an exchange. I don’t think that average citizens should be in situations where others are ogling their money. And I don’t think that poor people should count on panhandling as an income source.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">The fix is, simply, that government needs to have a fully adequate program that guarantees the health and care of all poor people in its jurisdiction.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Meantime, poor people should seek, as most do, to improve their lot in life by getting job training and by pursuing jobs and quasi-volunteer positions where they are paid for their contributions to the effort of the organization where they work. Or, they should seek to improve their job skills to be better prepared for opportunities that might come along.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">As for the new seemingly draconian laws that Hosseini describes, I think they could wither away if both average citizens and homeless people cease participating in money-for-nothing transactions.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">----</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">I write all this, but I do understand that situations occur where it appears some poor person has soiled clothes and is on the ground with nothing good going for him or her.</span><span style="font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">In one way or another, these people need to be rescued. Giving money to someone who is a mess, and is directly in front of you, is a good-hearted thing to do.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">I believe there are times when giving some poor messed-up person a fiver is salvific for the receiver, and it is a momentous thing that changes the direction of a life. Both the giver and the receiver of the money will never know that something wonderful happened. It will just have been very important without ever having been recognized, remembered or written down. I am not suggesting that God intervened. It is just a fortuitous happenstance. Or, dumb luck, if you want to call it that. One of those things that occur infrequently, in defiance of all the craziness, noise and tumult that dominates our walking-around and trying-to-get-things-done existence. </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">
<span class="m_-3131187638177169703HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;"></span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><span class="m_-3131187638177169703HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><span class="m_-3131187638177169703HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;">
</span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-33225723649852688062017-08-31T20:04:00.002-07:002017-10-01T17:30:50.396-07:00Homeless people are REAL people<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black;">or</span><span style="color: red;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Toilet Paper and the </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: red; font-size: small;">reducing of others to mere Its.</span></blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Getting the average citizens of Sacramento city and county
to have a more-positive sense of Homeless People is an important and laudable effort
that must be pursued. But how, and to what end, precisely?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">In recent days, Loaves & Fishes has had a campaign going
to get citizens to buy toilet paper and to bring what they purchase to the
Loaves & Fishes Welcoming Center/Warehouse.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">Below is text about the toilet-paper drive, written, I believe, by
Justin of L&F:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 125%; margin: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 125%; margin: 0px;">Toilet Paper Drive This Thursday</span></b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 10px 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">Access to clean fully
stocked restrooms is one of life's most basic necessities. Providing those
facilities is an essential part of Loaves & Fishes. We need your help to
keep everything stocked and rolling.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px;">Help us collect for
those in need by donating a package of TP.<br />
<br />
<b>When:</b> Thursday, August 31st, 7am-5pm<br />
<br />
<b>Where:</b> Loaves & Fishes, 1351 North C Street, Sacramento, CA 95811</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">=======</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">A toilet-paper drive is a common something that Loaves &
Fishes has done. There was, likely, a drive of this kind every year in the Libby era. While it has
certain benefits in creating interaction between the charity and its donors,
the detriment of collecting toilet paper in this manner is overwhelming,
particularly so at the current time.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">Homeless people have been in the news a lot in the past year or so, most frequently for pooping against the sides of buildings or
along the American River Parkway or in the proximity of where they’ve been “illegally”
camping.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">The reason for the feces problem is simple: Bathrooms have not
been available. The bathrooms in Chavez Park that had been available for men
and women were razed in order to build all new facilities for the new
restaurant in the park that offers its restrooms for the use of customers,
only. It is ironic that Cesar Chavez, after whom the park was named, was a proponent
for poor folk, not for fancy restaurants.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">Nonetheless, the <i>Bee</i> newspaper, in particular, has written badly-researched
articles and published ill-conceived Breton editorials that have brazenly attacked
homeless people for something they cannot avoid. All people need to piss and
poop on a schedule that their body commands. These things cannot be put off
indefinitely for want of a proper place to do one’s dirty bit of business.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">But the problem is not simply a matter of nasty need; it is a
matter of how homeless people are </span><span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">perceived and then
treated.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">If homeless people are put forward as “toilet-paper users” – if that
is how they are to be presented, as is the case with Loaves & Fishes’ pernicious toilet-paper drives – then homeless people are being dehumanized, presented as disgusting animals
and not as the unique, interesting, complex individual human beings that they are.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="color: #202020; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">When I say that homeless people are being dehumanized, I ain’t
foolin’ around. Drs. Lasana T. Harris and Susan T. Fiske have collaborated on a
series of perhaps ten papers that document the dehumanization that occurs when
homeless people or other marginalized groups, such as alcoholics, are pushed
out of the flow of being perceived as mainstream human and become mere objects
that are perceived as disgusting. See the Harris and Fiske paper in Sage
Journal, titled “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01793.x"><span style="color: blue;">Dehumanizing
the Lowest of the Low</span></a>,” and from there you can see References related to articles that further document the degradation of being homeless and dehumanized. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As to the matter of getting toilet paper properly, I think that what would be best is for Loaves & Fishes to simply pay for the common commodity out of whatever is the closest thing to a <i>Fund for Common Expenses</i> and abandon the malicious [or, if not "malicious," or "thoughtlessly conceived," then highly ill-advised] practice of having toilet-paper drives, altogether.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-7850304083580680592017-08-17T20:52:00.001-07:002017-08-19T12:06:24.397-07:00The usual in the Homeward Street Journal<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A friend of mine gave me a copy of the latest Homeward
Street Journal – for July & August, 2017 – and I am here to tell Sacramento
Homeless blog readers about it in a fairly succinct manner.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The lead article is about a woman named Tiffany whom, to her
great benefit, lives in Salt Lake City where “Housing First” is practiced in a
manner that gets homeless people into housing as quickly as possible. The
article comes from a publication called “The Big Issue Australia.” Sacramento
is never mentioned.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The article at the bottom of the first page is written by
Marin Law Firm attorney Cathleen Williams and</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">begins with these curious words: “On a recent hot Saturday – May 13,
2017, the day before Mother’s Day – mothers, fathers, grandparents and other
family members, from L.A. to the Bay Area, gathered on the steps of the
Stockton City Hall to commemorate their sons and loved ones, and to express
their grief and their anger …" The article is continues on the third page of HSJ.
May 13, the date mentioned in the piece was three months ago – which is not a
recent date. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A quick, but careful, edit
of content would catch many errors in the publication. Nowhere in the long
article is there any mention of Sacramento.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Inside, there is a long piece, credited as having been
written by the “Street Sense Staff” about the death and legacy of Michael Stoops who
helped create the Washington D.C.-based National Coalition of the Homeless in
1988. He died on May 1 of this year. There is no mention in the article of
Sacramento.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The fourth page of HSJ is about the activities of the Police
Department in Chico. Author Steve Breedlove writes about conditions and
interactions with police in Chico, with brio. Breedlove airs many complaints.
Likely, his grievances are quite legitimate. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The piece has nothing to do with Sacramento
and Sacramento is not mentioned.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On page 6, there is a short piece by Suzanne Hastings, an</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">HSJ writer whom I have complimented in the
past. Hastings’s piece in the current HSJ is certainly about Sacramento, but it
is content that is her usual screed, about the difficulties living on the
street. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And, unfortunately, it is
another of Hastings’ overwritten pieces where she wildly overstates and
misunderstands what some of the central problems of homelessness are.
Generally, Ms. Hastings writes the near-same article over and over and over
again. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">“The $100,000 Homeless Man,” a subject in an SNR article six
months ago, plays a part in Ms. Hastings’s ire in the current issue. Hastings
seems to believe that had the $100,000 Man lived, he would have had to truly
pay fines totaling over $100,000, the sum of tickets he’d received from the
police for a period of, perhaps, 15 years. THAT would never have happened, both
because the $100,000 Man didn’t have the money and because a lot of what occurs
in interactions between the police and homeless people is a kind of crazy</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">dance where much foolish stubbornness plays a
major part.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This is something that I think Hastings doesn't recognize. It comes from George Orwell's book "Down and Out in Paris and London." It's the last paragraph in chapter 3:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b>[There is a feeling] that is a great consolation in poverty. I believe everyone who has been hard up has experienced it. It is a feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, at knowing yourself at last genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the dogs—and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety. </b></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The rest of the HSJ issue is, on the back page, content from
The Chico Vibe; the usual Resources information on the next-to-last page; and a
sprinkling of poetry here and there.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is very difficult to write excellent poetry, and only
excellent poetry is worthwhile. I feel certain that the poetry in the Jul-Aug issue
of HSJ doesn’t rise to the plateau of true excellence, not that there aren’t
some good lines and interesting ideas expressed here and there in the poetry.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">======</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Homeward Street Journal is a very confounding project.
Homeless people are recruited to act as distributors of the publication and
they are expected to be satisfied standing around a lot and pocketing one dollar from citizens who buy an
issue.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As content in the publication becomes ever-increasingly less
and less about Sacramento, the public’s interest in the publication is sure to
diminish. But, hey, it’s a way to give a little money to the homeless distributors,
right?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But the way the situation is set up between the publication
and its distributors, it is the publication – in the name of Paula Lomazzi or
her organization, SHOC – that creates the terms of how and what homeless
distributors are paid.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have been told by a distributor that he can make about $5/hour
for a few hours until he gets tired. That is far less than minimum wage. If $5/hour
is a valid sense of what homeless distributors are making, then the situation is
insane. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Homeless people – like employees
anywhere and everywhere – should NOT be taken advantage of.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Paula/SHOC sets the rules, thus Paula/SHOC is
ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATED TO BE CERTAIN THAT HER DISTRIBUTORS ARE PAID BY THE HOUR
AT NO LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE. Either THAT, or I am very confused. Slave labor isn't allowed in California, right?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Paula/SHOC must meet the pay requirements set by law.
Paula/SHOC is not exempt from having to treat her employees properly.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">AND, it must be said, that the distributors of
Homeward Street Journal ARE ACTING AS EMPLOYEES. It is Paula/SHOC that sets “the
price” of an issue. It is stamped on every single issue: “Donation $1. All
proceeds go to Distributor.” The distributors aren't receiving any other pay -- say, money directly from SHOC, right?</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">I think this all might be a case where the distributors need to Unionize. Either that, or get a good lawyer -- and not one from the Marin Firm.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"></span> </div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">And, by the way, I am pretty serious, here. Homeless Sacramentans should not be taken advantage of. [And I should not end a sentence with a preposition. Oh, well.]</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-91703709971026569942017-08-03T18:25:00.001-07:002017-08-16T10:45:08.581-07:00What Charles Darwin was likeI heard well over a thousand sermons at the Union Gospel Mission during my period of years as a dirt-poor homeless Sacramentan.<br />
<br />
While there are many preachers at the mission who were spectacular; some were terrible. There were a couple that came to the mission to orate in opposition to Charles Darwin, calling him all manner of mean, cruel names and impugning his character.<br />
<br />
I would speak up to defend Darwin to the preacher of the night, only to suffer a lambasting directed at me and my possibly-foul character.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZ_9LmJyC_U/WYPDgaNABYI/AAAAAAAAFvg/Dv32uGZ49UIkzdKfAHs2X5-xo1xdgbi8QCLcBGAs/s1600/moralanimal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="149" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SZ_9LmJyC_U/WYPDgaNABYI/AAAAAAAAFvg/Dv32uGZ49UIkzdKfAHs2X5-xo1xdgbi8QCLcBGAs/s1600/moralanimal.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wright's 1994 book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A recent book by Robert Wright -- an author in whom I have taken great interest -- has, in an early section of his 1994 book "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Animal-Science-Evolutionary-Psychology/dp/0679763996" target="_blank">The Moral Animal: Why we are the way we are: the new science of evolutionary psychology</a>" a depiction of Darwin that is stirring and stunning and Right On! [I know of what I write. I've read more that a little about Charles over the years. Those who knew the man are near unanimous in their high regard for the fellow.]<br />
<br />
There is this, from pages 14 & 15 of Wright's book, that captures Darwin splendidly:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Darwin's life will serve as more than illustration. ... Advocates of evolutionary theory -- including him, including me -- have long claimed that it is so powerful as to explain the nature of all living things. If we're right, the life of any human being, selected at random, would assume new clarity if looked at from this viewpoint.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Darwin doesn't <i>seem</i> like other organic phenomena. The things that come to mind when we think of organic selection -- the ruthless pursuit of genetic self-interest, survival of the fiercest -- don't come to mind when we think of Darwin. By all accounts, he was enormously civil and humane (except, perhaps, when circumstance made it hard to be both; he could grow agitated while denouncing slavery, and he might lose his temper if he saw a coachman abusing a horse.) His gentleness of manner and his utter lack of pretense, well marked from his youth, were uncorrupted by fame. "[O]f all eminent men that I have ever seen he is beyond comparison the most attractive to me," observed the literary critic Leslie Stephen. "There is something almost pathetic in his simplicity and friendliness." Darwin was, to borrow a phrase ... a true gentleman."</blockquote>
Here is something from the book that Darwin wrote or said [Dunno which; wrote, probably.] in 1882, at the age of 70:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">“As man advances in civilization, and small tribes are
united into larger communities, the simplest reason would tell each individual
that he ought to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members
of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once
reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies
extending to the men of all nations and races.”</span></blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Now, I would extend yet further Darwin's noble sentiment ...</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is no bar that should prevent men and women from
recognizing the artificiality of <i>economic measurements</i> as right-to-life
barriers. Our brothers and sisters out on the streets, in the cold of winter
and in the heat of summer are as much “us” as we are “us” and should be taken
in to our hearts.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">An interesting factoid about Darwin: He and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day, February 12, 1809. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-52802454896022320912017-08-02T19:09:00.001-07:002017-08-02T19:09:50.022-07:00The Lost, the Unlucky, the DisenfranchisedSeveral things have come up.<br />
<br />
The thing of peculiar interest has to do with the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty.<br />
<br />
It reads thus:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Give me your tired, your poor,<br />your huddled masses<br />yearning to breathe freee,<br />the wretched refuse of<br />your teeming shore.<br />Send those the homeless tempest-tossed to me.<br />I lift my lamp beside the golden door.</blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OB0lneQ_NQY/WYKFoo72tdI/AAAAAAAAFvU/Avj1XW9Zmn83f4Lxpmu6YDlXRaaxZMIfQCLcBGAs/s1600/ladyliberty.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="205" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OB0lneQ_NQY/WYKFoo72tdI/AAAAAAAAFvU/Avj1XW9Zmn83f4Lxpmu6YDlXRaaxZMIfQCLcBGAs/s1600/ladyliberty.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lady Liberty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
President Trump is now wanting to evoke new limits on those wishing to come to America to live. Trump wants skilled immigrants who have already mastered English to be those who are allowed to come to America and have an opportunity to gain American citizenship. THIS, as opposed to [quoting the poem] the "wretched refuse," or "tempest tossed."<br />
<br />
It has all been a big issue of the day in Washington D.C.<br />
<br />
There is a big mistake that Trump and his cronies in the White House are making. We don't have any particular need for so-called skilled employees in this country. We have the people already who can fill all the job positions in America. And, in the not-far-distant future computers and robots will all be doing our work for us.<br />
<br />
Now, I am not saying that more people coming to the U.S.A. to live isn't a good thing. Let them come and find their place. What I AM SAYING is that a wild variety of people is what every country needs to maximize the excellence of the nation, as a whole. "Variety" is the "secret sauce" of evolution that creates ever-better people and ever-better employees and ever-better human beings.<br />
<br />
There is one particular word in the Lady Liberty poem that -- OF COURSE -- got my attention: "homeless."<br />
<br />
"Send those the homeless tempest-tossed to me."<br />
<br />
There are two homeless fellows who died sleeping outside City Hall. Mr. Steinberg, you have been a great disappointment. Pick up the pace or, please, step aside such that someone more formidable can carry the burdens and put many more tempest-tossed homeless folk into housing and into lives that are splendidly more ordinary.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-90926719204162839612017-07-18T11:21:00.001-07:002017-07-29T10:41:45.809-07:00SNR article meanders in the midst of treating homeless people badly<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qLvjWGYRns4/WW0kIOCCDEI/AAAAAAAAFu0/-atHcTcr6TkWiW2tu3MNpj6RDdQEHaCRwCLcBGAs/s1600/CoverSNR071317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="125" data-original-width="120" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qLvjWGYRns4/WW0kIOCCDEI/AAAAAAAAFu0/-atHcTcr6TkWiW2tu3MNpj6RDdQEHaCRwCLcBGAs/s200/CoverSNR071317.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of 7/13/17 SNR</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">An article about homeless folk in the July 15 Sacramento
News & Review is a big, bad mess of a thing that doesn’t even seem to have
any kind of point it wants to make. It is written by longtime SNR writer on
matters homeless, Raheem F. Hosseini, and appears on page 11 of the 7/13/17
issue of SNR under the title “</span><a href="https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/point-of-shame-sacramentos-unsheltered/content?oid=24640719" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">Point
of Shame</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/point-of-shame-sacramentos-unsheltered/content?oid=24640719" target="_blank">: <span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Sacramento’s unsheltered homeless population explodes by 110 percent</span></a>.”</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The thing that is dealt with as the problem is that there
are thousands more homeless people in the county than was anticipated from the
Homeless Counts that were conducted in January 2013 and January 2015. The
latest bi-annual count – in January 2017 – is, for no reason that is explained,
accepted as accurate – or, at least, roughly as accurate as something as
curious as a county Homeless Count can be when the “objects” of the count are
human beings that frequently move around a lot, thus making counting them as
easy and straightforward as determining how many stray cats there are in the
county.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In what I think to be a foolish error, Hosseini
treats the issue of the perceived-as-a-very-high number of homeless folk in the
county in an alarmist manner. He writes, “Most alarmingly, the number of
homeless people without access to any indoor shelter exploded 110 percent.” </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Consider. If a survey of Mexican immigrants in Sacramento
County determined that there had been a robust increase in people so defined,
would it be defensible to report that “the count of Mexican immigrants
‘exploded’?” Unless the Sacramento News & Review has joined the Alt-Right,
the incendiary use of the word “exploded“ was dunderheaded, as opposed to
hate-based. A copy editor or whatever Editor in Chief last came through the
revolving door should have caught and corrected the mistake – that is, assuming
he’s not Steve Bannon.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Sacramento News and Review goes through Editors at a
rate commensurate with the rate that the band </span><a href="https://youtu.be/tZrqC5LL_oo"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">Spinal Tap goes through drummers</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">. You’d
think, what with the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Bee</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> in a spiraling
decline, that SNR would try to “step up,” rather than fall on its face. Now is
the time for SNR to expand what topics it writes about, thus to steal readers
from the fast declining $1.50-an-issue-on-weekdays daily. Too, SNR could take some of the Bee's advertiser. I would like it if SNR suddenly had ads for new cars and pancake houses instead of just marijuana and masturbatory phone-call services. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I think that the poor performances of Ryan Loofbourrow (Sac
Steps Forward Director) and Sac Mayor Steinberg is the targeted shame-worthy
behavior that the article is intending to point toward. But while each leader
exhibits shame to a degree, neither has any intention of falling on his sword.
So, there will be no repercussions. Loofbourrow and Steinberg will each treat
matters as just another glitch that happens and gets forgotten until the next
ugly glitch pops into view before it gets religated to fade on the far side of
forgetfulness.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Squirrelly business</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another problem area of the article is weirdness in how some sentences were constructed.</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the piece's first paragraph, Hosseini writes "Several feet away, under an already warm sun, someone tried to get the applause going, banging thick palms together like rocks."</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
Huh? For starters, the sun is a star that is always hot. IT doesn't warm up during the day. As for the "banging thick palms" thing, I suspect that Hosseini is meaning to suggest that people were clapping but were not enthusiastic in their effort. Otherwise, I am stumped.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
A follow-up to Hosseini's piece may be indicated. Hosseini gets into the weeds a wee bit to account for the survey-count problems of the last five years, but someone like Cosmo Garvin could nail what the problems are such to put matters in position for the best possible future for the Homeless Count and for homeless folk.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
---- </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The last paragraph in the piece is treated as something solemn. L&F Advocacy Director Joan Burke tells people to "put themselves in the shoes of a homeless person. 'Some people will actually be in danger. Some will be cited for illegal camping. I believe none of them will have a [restful] night.'"</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Really!? NONE of them will have a restful night. I think that what is revealed, here, is that Joan has never been a homeless person. A lot of people may not be highly comfortable in the spot where they choose to sleep, but the matter of being tired and needing sleep results in people <i>getting</i> sleep and, usually, waking up and finding that they are satisfactorily rested and ready for the morning.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The New Era</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Noel Kammermann is the newly annointed Director of Loaves & Fishes. I am hopeful that, as an element of all things being new, a lot of the quite crazy cartoonish depictions of homelessness and homeless people will cease.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Do homeless people suffer. Sure. Yes. Homelessness is an unsatisfactory life, but is not the ultimate misery at all times -- which is how it can be depicted in <em><a href="https://local.yahoo.com/info-193689615-homeward-street-journal-sacramento" target="_blank">Homeward Street Journal</a></em> or by many homeless-charity administrators.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div align="left" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
</div>
<strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-30008972776847764582017-07-01T15:39:00.001-07:002017-07-06T11:49:26.348-07:00Three quotes, one from Einstein another from Dave -- or brother Glenn -- of Dave's Killer Bread, and the third comes from OrwellThree quotes came at me and I liked them so much I've determined I must share them.<br />
<br />
The first is the beginning of something written by Albert Einstein that comes to me from a short podcast episode from 60-second science.<br />
<br />
It goes thus,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Striving for social justice is the most valuable thing to do in life. -- Einstein</b></blockquote>
Einstein was primarily speaking about the treatment of black Americans, just after World War II ended. He knew that black students at Princeton, where Einstein was a resident scholar, were mistreated in ways that reminded him of the continuing troubles of Jews in Europe.<br />
<br />
I still hope to find the paper or book where the Einstein quote first appeared.<br />
<br />
I did find the book "<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=aAJoBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT106&dq=%E2%80%9CStriving+for+social+justice+is+the+most+valuable+thing+to+do+in+life.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjX54LIwevUAhWljVQKHavmDz0Q6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CStriving%20for%20social%20justice%20is%20the%20most%20valuable%20thing%20to%20do%20in%20life.%E2%80%9D&f=false" target="_blank">How to Think Like Einstein</a>" that includes the quote and provides some valuable information.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"How to Think..." dates the quote in 1934, which is, of course before WWII, rather than after it. There is bit more information about Einstein's liberal sympathies with humanity if you click the link, above.</blockquote>
Dave -- or, more likely, his brother Glenn -- has some important things to say on the packaging of the many varieties of Dave's Killer Bread nutritious and delicious bread products.<br />
<br />
Here's what the bread wrappers have to say...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>15 years in prison.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>That's a tough way to find yourself. Dave Dahl realized he was in the wrong game and knew he had more to offer. His brother, Glenn, say a change in him and gave Dave a second chance by welcoming him back to the family bakery. Dave set out to make a loaf like no other -- the most nutritious organic, whole-grain bread -- and the result is what he called killer bread.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Dave's Killer Bread is built on the belief that everyone is capable of greatness. What began as one man's journey has turned into so much more. Today, one-third of the employees at our Oregon bakery have a criminal background, and we have witnessed first-hand how stable employment sparks personal transformation.</b></blockquote>
<br />
While "Housing First" is the framework for improving the lives of homeless people, employment is a vital second step for many. Dave got his job, easily -- from his bro. There are many, many guys and gals who are now homeless in Sacramento who could use work to fully get their lives turned around. I hope employers will give some homeless people opportunities for employment.<br />
<br />
This last bit comes from George Orwell's book "Down and Out in Paris and London." It's the last paragraph in chapter 3:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>And there is another feeling that is a great consolation in poverty. I
believe everyone who has been hard up has experienced it. It is a
feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, at knowing yourself at last
genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the
dogs—and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can
stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety.
</b></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-91726211250673459312017-06-28T12:42:00.002-07:002017-06-28T12:47:48.717-07:00Latest from the Bee: Downtown is on EdgeAn article in the June 28, 2017, Bee is quite disturbing. It's title is "'Rash of violent and aggressive behavior' has downtown on edge." The reporter who wrote the piece is the Bee's best, Ryan Lillis.<br />
<br />
Of course, the bad behavior is attributed to homeless people downtown.<br />
<br />
Those cited in the story as being upset about what all is going on are Steve Hansen, who represents the downtown area on the City Council; "key downtown and midtown business leaders"; Mayor Darrell Steinberg; Mike Testa, who will soon take over as President and CEO of the Visit Sacramento tourism board; Michael Ault, who leads the Downtown Sacramento Partnership business group; and Councilman Jay Schenirer, who called a press conference to protest a "wave of violence" that is occurring in Oak Park.<br />
<br />
Testa is quoted in the article, saying, "Perception is such an important thing in our business [i.e., encouraging people to visit Sacramento]; ... it hasn't been an issue [before] the way it is now."<br />
<br />
Ault told Lillis that the city and private sector had invested too much time and money into downtown Sacramento in recent years "for this trend to continue."<br />
<br />
He further said, "What's taken place over the last several months -- the uptick in aggressive behavior -- has been an absolute turn of events. Now is not the time for us to back off in managing the environment down here. We can't tolerate this behavior."<br />
<br />
Typically, this blog acts in defense of homeless folk, but from the disturbing many instances of aggression and violence -- including what was going on along the American River Parkway ten days or so ago, clearly some things need to be done immediately, and perhaps continually, until it is possible for things to settle down.<br />
<br />
What must not be forgotten is the need for homeless people to have places to go in the daytime and at night. Making the downtown and midtown safer must not turn into a big wave of activity by police to harrass homeless folk. I hope that Sacramento has learned that a brutal and bullying police force is counterproductive. There is a lot else that the police and City leaders can do that would truly make the city a safe and happy place that does not involve borderline saddhism.<br />
<br />
In this blog, I have suggested several times [ See "<a href="https://sacramentohomeless.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-thing-that-distinguishes-our.html" target="_blank">The thing that distinguishes our species from others is only this: We Contemplate the Future</a>" ] that we should get homeless people who have long been left on the street and in shelters to get jazzed about a good and happy future they can have once they are in housing.<br />
<br />
Recent scientific research informs us that unlike other animals, <i><b>we cogitate on what our future might be. <u>That</u> </b></i>is what our brains should be doing: Directing our thoughts toward less troublesome times that will open up in the future.<br />
<br />
If we want fewer homeless people drinking and drugging and behaving in an anti-social manner, how can we encourage that to happen? BY PROVIDING HAPPY ALTERNATIVE things for them to do that relate to a future that they will want to live to see.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-78036397885617103102017-05-29T12:53:00.002-07:002017-05-31T10:22:47.685-07:00Homeless guy sleeping on the sidewalk<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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The man was sound asleep on the sidewalk.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I took a quick picture of a man sleeping on the sidewalk when I walked past him on 9th Street, just up from Rite Aid, downtown. It was a very hot day, in the early afternoon, on the day just before Monday when Memorial Day.is celebrated.<br />
<br />
Was he a homeless veteran? I don't know. Someone that I once knew when I was homeless, fully dependent on homeless-charity services? I can have known him; but he was not someone I recognized.<br />
<br />
I didn't try to awaken him -- though, perhaps I should have. And perhaps I should have called someone to pick him up and -- maybe -- take him away to the drunk tank, where drunk or not they could clean him up.<br />
<br />
I am often not good at knowing what to do. And, like many, I am apt to default to a decision of doing nothing. "He'll be alright," I can tell myself. "He's sleeping and is possibly in great need of rest."<br />
<br />
His pants were soiled. Possibly, he'd gotten quite drunk the night before.<br />
<br />
At his back was what looked like a three-gallon jug of milk. I left a small $1 box of oat biscuits next to the milk jug. And walked off.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
It is, no doubt, common for people to pass by a homeless man and to try to suppose how he got to be the way he is. Was he once an attorney? a soldier? a dependable employee at a warehouse? Was he once married to a girl named Sue?<br />
<br />
Was he a child who had a very hard time understanding what they tried to teach him in elementary school. Were his parents brutal? negligent at helping him?<br />
<br />
We can suppose and suppose and suppose, but never get into his brain and know what his life has been like or how he can now be aided such to put him on a quick road to happiness.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
There should be a lottery, open to all the sad-seeming homeless people in Sacramento. The winner gets a trip to Paris to climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower. And a trip to Rome to eat amazing Italian food. Plus a whole year of being subjected to all sorts of fun and merriment. The lucky homeless winner of the lottery won't have a single minute that is wasted with a thought of having to think up something to do. And friends. We can give the homeless lottery winner friends, galore, with each new friend having been screened such to be especially appropriate for the needs and interests of the lottery winner.<br />
<br />
At the end of the year, we can hope that the homeless lottery winner will be joyful and fully recovered from ever again being depressed or lonely or eager to buy a big bottle of vodka at Rite Aid. Right?<br />
<br />
We can fix things, can't we? Isn't that what we hear screaming in our ear? This fine homeless man, here. Can't we help? Isn't the only thing that we can do to help is to have him win the lottery and climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower?</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-76514127365391768632017-05-22T19:52:00.000-07:002017-07-19T11:04:41.426-07:00The desperate Bee's bullshit story about homeless people at Central branchI think the
Bee has determined that the only way that it might survive terrible financial
decisions it has made in recent years is to go full-bore elitist, throwing its
weight – its light weight – in with Piglet, the Arena, and making the public
fund the Kings.
<br />
<br />
<i>The New York
Times</i> and the <i>Washington Post</i> are spectacularly far beyond the Bee’s reach as
bastions of Great Journalism, so the little buzzing Bee has determined that
attacking homeless people is a good tactic to aid it in staying marginally
relevant to people’s lives.
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0krKKKIrC-4/WSOgBxxSPbI/AAAAAAAAFsU/NM1DqFhhbmMMGv22q3IyqcBAhdkHaDuFgCEw/s1600/wnc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0krKKKIrC-4/WSOgBxxSPbI/AAAAAAAAFsU/NM1DqFhhbmMMGv22q3IyqcBAhdkHaDuFgCEw/s320/wnc.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
First World
News Channel has picked up the Bee’s recent story “Homeless are Central Library’s most
frequent patrons – but not for the books.” That title – the same one the Bee
used – is a double-whammy false-information headline. For starters, it’s not
based on any assembled evidence that homeless people are using the bathrooms
at the Sacramento Public Library’s Central branch to any notable huge degree.
It’s not Fake News, but it is Faked News by the irresponsible <i>Bee</i> reporter A. Chabria (and her headline writer and some dysfunctional editor, if there was one).<br />
<br />
I am
frequently at the Central branch; I, most often, write my blog from there. I
think I can fully accurately report that homeless people, just like
branch managers and Library Directors and Joyce Terhaar, go to the bathroom at
a number of instances that comports with the felt need to go to the bathroom –
no more, no less.
<br />
<br />
As for the
homeless opening books, I have written in the past about homeless people
recommending novels or genres of books to their friends. Science Fiction and
fantasy books have spent months being popular among homeless readers. I forget
many of the authors, but some of the guys were trading popular war novels back
and forth with their friends. Can’t say I know much about what female homeless
people read. Some of the guys have spent months reading Western novels. There
are times when I was heavily into short stories, reading everything I could
written by T.C. Boyle and a contemporary of Boyle’s whose name I forget.
<br />
<br />
The homeless,
likely more-so than any other group, are into reading magazines and newspapers
the library provides. There are guys that devour science magazines to learn
more about curious animals and our ever-expanding knowledge about outerspace.
<br />
<br />
And in the
current day, there are some of us who use the mags, papers and internet to stay
abreast of the latest Trump horror stories.
<br />
<br />
A couple days
after the Bee’s bullshit story broke, I talked to several librarians on Central
branch’s third floor. One was timid to say much of anything; I can’t attribute
this, exactly, but my sense of what the person was saying was that it was not
fully safe for librarians to say much about news stories. The Library’s leaders
were covetous of having that task. Another of the librarians, was mildly aware
of bathroom noise, at times, and said he/she very much enjoyed his/her work – very much
including his/her always positive interactions with homeless people.<br />
<br />
There was more in the story about human feces left in the parameter of the Central branch building. This happens because homeless people have no place to be -- and, yet they still have the need to vacate their bowels when there is no appropriate place for doing that in the dark of night, with every business being closed and unwelcoming.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-3286612118514913662017-05-22T11:44:00.000-07:002017-05-22T14:33:28.426-07:00Poverty isn't a Lack of CharacterTed Talk by Rutger Bregman, given in April in Vancouver. The video is a mere 15 minutes. And offers a lot of interesting information, including a solution to the poverty problem.<br />
<br />
<div style="max-width: 640;">
<div style="height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" scrolling="no" src="https://embed.ted.com/talks/rutger_bregman_poverty_isn_t_a_lack_of_character_it_s_a_lack_of_cash" style="height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;" width="640"></iframe></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-63830101553973459502017-05-21T17:55:00.002-07:002017-07-06T12:09:26.531-07:00The thing that distinguishes our species from others is only this: We Contemplate the FutureScientists have come to learn something important and fundamental about our species. Unlike other animals, <b><i>we cogitate on what our future might be.</i></b><br />
<br />
In an opinion piece in the current <i>New York Times</i> issue of its <i>Sunday Review</i> [for 5/21/17], we are told by Psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman, Director of the Positive Psychology Center, and John Tierney, a New York Times journalist, that "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/sunday/why-the-future-is-always-on-your-mind.html?_r=0" target="_blank">We aren't built to live in the moment</a>" and that "what best distinguishes our species from all others is that our singular foresight created civilization and sustains society. It usually lifts our spirits, but it’s also the source of most depression and anxiety, whether we’re evaluating our own lives or worrying about the nation."<br />
<br />
"[W]e thrive by considering our prospects," the <i>Times</i> piece tells us. "The power of prospection [anticipation, foresight] is what makes us wise. Looking into the future, consciously and unconsciously, is a central function of our large brain, as psychologists and
neuroscientists have discovered — <i>rather belatedly</i>, because for the past century most researchers have assumed that we’re prisoners of the past and the present."<br />
<br />
Further, we're told ...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="420" data-total-count="2006" id="story-continues-2">
Psychoanalysts
believed that treating patients was a matter of unearthing and
confronting the past. Even when cognitive psychology emerged, it focused
on the past and present — on memory and perception. But
it is increasingly clear that the mind is mainly drawn to the future,
not driven by the past. Behavior, memory and perception can’t be
understood without appreciating the central role of prospection: the generation and evaluation of mental representations of possible futures. We
learn not by storing static records but by continually retouching
memories and imagining future possibilities. Our brain sees the world
not by processing every pixel in a scene but by focusing on the
unexpected.</div>
Our emotions are less reactions to the present than guides to future
behavior. Therapists are exploring new ways to treat depression now that
they see it as primarily not because of past traumas and present
stresses but because of skewed visions of what lies ahead.</blockquote>
While the mayor of Sacramento and the <i>Bee</i>'s lead editorial writer, Marcos Breton, focus on human feces left next to buildings by homeless people, downtown, likely we and they should be focusing on the possible futures of many homeless people that are getting lost in the slumber of having nothing they want to do. We can see individuals wrapped up in blankets, sleeping their day away on sidewalks, downtown, and under freeway overpasses.<br />
<br />
I would say that these are people who need to be invigorated and have a parade of possibilities presented to them of what their future can be. It is the antidote to poverty. George Orwell said, "The essence of poverty is that it annihilates the future." Thus, it is our task to dust off the future, shine a light on it, and return it to them!<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
You don't save lives only by keeping people's bodies alive; we have to create hope and prospects for a merciful and endearing future whirling around in "lost" people's heads.<br />
<br />
The great majority of prominent philosophers in our time and throughout history have been men. But two extremely prominent philosophers of the current time are women, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_R._Wolf" target="_blank">Susan R. Wolf</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Tiberius" target="_blank">Vallerie Tiberius</a>. Wolf's concentration is on morality and the philosophy of action. Wolf's most-recent book is "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Matters-University-Center-Values/dp/0691154503/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495491235&sr=8-1&keywords=meaning+in+life+and+why+it+matters" target="_blank">Meaning in Life and Why it Matters</a>" -- a splendid book that encourages people to explore what they might most want in life.<br />
<br />
The focus of Tiberius's work has been "a practical, empirical approach to philosophical questions, trying to show how these disciplines can improve the world for the better." Tiberius's most recent book is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Tiberius#The_Reflective_Life:_Living_Wisely_with_our_Limits" target="_blank">The Reflective Life</a>."<br />
<br />
We have some terrific sociologists in Sacramento. One is Claudia Dias whom the great James Bradley talked about with me not long before he died, hailing her excellence. Perhaps she could talk to our slumberous homeless brethren about their lives and inspire them to seek valiant, engaged futures.<br />
<br />
We simply must do something.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-14150278267474905312017-05-17T16:27:00.000-07:002017-05-17T16:47:14.447-07:00A little respect for the perceived "enemy."I think that I am solidly in favor of homeless people in Sacramento having much, much better lives.<br />
<br />
But, there are some people who lay claim to being more, more, more on the side of homeless people than is even possible! These are the super-animated homeless advocates! The homeless allies with a booster rocket! The homeless-people lovers that will concede nothing to any rival advocates whom they see as weak-willed and mamby, pamby. The Super Duper Homeless Advocates are staunch! strong! powerful! uncompromising! They see every issue as having only one dimension, THEIR SIDE! THEIR VIEW OF THINGS!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>For the Dupers, only THEIR one-dimensional understanding of homeless people and the homeless circumstance is valid. Only their takes on what all should be done to save the homeless is doable and good enough. In the Dupers' eyes, homeless people are sainted, the very focus of all that Jesus wanted for man (and woman- ) kind.<br />
<br />
The Super Duper homeless advocates decry homeowners who say they see homeless people trash their neighborhood or defecate on their lawn or dig through their trash containers. The Super Dupers view the homeowners as "heartless haters," and mean-spirited dehumanizers that should be understood to be "the enemy."<br />
<br />
At issue here is NIMBY, an abbreviation for <strong>Not In My Back Yard. </strong>The term <u>Nimby</u> also applies to people who object -- often in a very animated manner -- to people and projects and buildings and whatnot that come into their neighborhood that might lower their property values or lessen tranquility in the neighborhood.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Nimby</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">/' nimbe/</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">noun</span></strong><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
a person who objects to the siting of something perceived as unpleasant or potentially dangerous in their own neighborhood, such as a landfill or hazardous wate facility, expecially while raising no such objections to similar developments elsewhere.</blockquote>
<u><span style="color: #0066cc;"></span></u><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>A potential irony here is that if homeless people really get their lives straightened around -- getting jobs and apartments and homes and happiness -- THEY would then rise to a point of being on the lookout for projects or people or circumstances that could disrupt their solid, peaceful lives. And when a new batch of homeless people come along with an approved project of creating a Tent City nearby, that could create discord, with the happy old-school no-longer-homeless people being disapproving of the new bunch of invading homeless people.<br />
<br />
People tend to be agile at defending what<strong> they</strong> have and ignorant of what other people <strong>don't have</strong>.<br />
<br />
[A source for this post is a Facebook discussion group, and also memories of Safe Ground during its negatively eventful days during the John & Tracie administration.]Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-53854492197213851852017-05-11T11:03:00.002-07:002017-05-22T14:54:40.031-07:00Tiny Houses, coming in a flurryWhoa!<br />
<br />
I had come to believe in just the last ten days or so that
Homeless World was fully stuck – unable to progress in any effort to expand the
number of beds needed to give comfort to
the many, many homeless people who are out on the street, idling away their
lives and not getting good-nights’ rests.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AcJpNa59e3g/WRSov89Q2OI/AAAAAAAAFrc/97-oeNOReI8ibJ06GZOtkUiiEY9EL6A3gCLcB/s1600/tinyhouses.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AcJpNa59e3g/WRSov89Q2OI/AAAAAAAAFrc/97-oeNOReI8ibJ06GZOtkUiiEY9EL6A3gCLcB/s400/tinyhouses.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Tiny-houses articles in the </span><i><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Bee</span></i><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> and in </span><i><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">East Sac News</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
BUT, an article on the third page of the current issue [for
May 4, 2017] of <i>East Sacramento News</i> tells us that a tiny-houses community is
being build, called <b>Compassion Village</b>, that will be a “scalable, grassroots,
privately funded tiny-home community focused on temporary, interim and
permanent<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>homes for the chronically
homeless." The expectation is that twenty tiny homes will be build.<br />
<br />
[UPDATE: Turns out that the effort, if all things go well, is for <a href="http://www.realestatewithpurpose.com/agents/tammy-vallejo/" target="_blank">Tammy Vallejo</a> and her organization, <a href="http://www.e49corp.org/" target="_blank">Real Estate with Purpose Group</a>, to produce all the tiny houses for church-related groups that are now authorized, by law. It is possible that 400 tiny houses will be constructed with twenty church groups each maintaining twenty houses on their property. This all relates to<a href="https://sacramentohomeless.blogspot.com/2017/04/blog-post_29.html" target="_blank"> the April 29 appearance of Mayor Steinberg and Joan Burke on KCRA where they called for tiny-houses communities at churches</a> to aid in helping the burgeoning population of homeless people on the streets in Sac County. Steinberg and Burke called for 15-to-20 faith-based groups to 'take in' 15-to-20 homeless people. The new "call," apparently, is for each of 20 church groups to allow 20 tiny houses on their property that might house more than a single person in each house.]<br />
<br />
I’m not sure what specific meanings are intended for some of
the terms used in the<i> East Sac News </i>article about the houses -- scalable, grassroots, temporary, interim, permanent -- to describe the village [or, villages] in its/their ultimate manifestation(s), but I think we get the general idea. A village -- or, up to twenty villages -- will come into being that will provide shelter and comfortable sleep space for many of our brethren.<br />
<br />
A story in today's [5/11/17] <i>Sacramento Bee</i> [page 3A] is about tiny houses being built by students as part of a two-day competition by the Sacramento Regional Builders Exchange Education Foundation at Consumnes River College. Fifteen high-school teams were involved. Four of the teams focused on creating tiny houses to be used by Veterans. The other groups focused on creating sheds.<br />
<br />
I don't know the location for either Compassion Village or where the houses for Veterans will be placed, ultimately. Of course, more specifics will become known as progress in the creation of the houses continues.<br />
<br />
I know that I have a wee bit of a reputation for complaining, but the name "Compassion Village" is terrible, in my humble opinion. For a house -- even a tiny house -- to be a <i>home, </i>the inhabitants of the structure need to feel that it is<i> theirs</i> -- where they have the freedom to do things in their lives with their "home" acting as the foundation for them to pursue work, create and enjoy their lives. I think it is highly unhelpful for the idea behind tiny-house building to be one of making people feel continually that they are impoverished charity recipients, in never-ending need of sympathy and pity from others.<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Of course, the idea of using charity-giving terminology as the name of an enterprise that is in the "give people stuff" business is mighty common and is understandable. Still, it is both tiresome and painful how homeless people cannot escape, for a moment, labels that undermine their personhood or freedoms or are otherwise demeaning. </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Another thing that is odd is that tiny houses are being build for veterans at Consumnes River College. Veterans -- at least, those who were honorably discharged -- are put at the top of the list in getting apartments. Plus, they get a lot of attention, from veterans organizations, such that their other needs are mostly met.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">I hope to pursue the tiny-houses issue frequently in the next few weeks.</span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Hurrah!, I say, for the work being done to make homeless people's lives better. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-4807164829397213982017-05-10T13:44:00.001-07:002017-05-18T13:45:46.404-07:00Three Ideas<br />
There are several eager efforts afoot to try to add shelter in the
county for what many see as a burgeoning population of homeless people
that are living on the streets.<br />
<br />
Here are three ideas of things that could be done to aid in the
transitioning of homeless people from the street to either a shelter bed
for something more optimal (like housing!)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=d74fac9a33&view=fimg&th=15bee77ffcc3252c&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ9DVmXaBDtHq3l0mvk50IDNNMkCZeRs7NxtO25cmI8fC78radmFnC32AWhEQPAwXN_qFoksugDAnVq0WM_nM-jY5dpZ5eRjctFNtWvM08sqCVBIjYCigPla0Cg&ats=1494354793924&rm=15bee77ffcc3252c&zw&sz=w1266-h648" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Displaying Photo.jpg" border="0" class="aLF-aPX-J1-J3 aLF-aPX-aLK-ayr-auR" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=d74fac9a33&view=fimg&th=15bee77ffcc3252c&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ9DVmXaBDtHq3l0mvk50IDNNMkCZeRs7NxtO25cmI8fC78radmFnC32AWhEQPAwXN_qFoksugDAnVq0WM_nM-jY5dpZ5eRjctFNtWvM08sqCVBIjYCigPla0Cg&ats=1494354793924&rm=15bee77ffcc3252c&zw&sz=w1266-h648" /></a></div>
<b>IDEA # 1</b>: A good many homeless men and women in Sac County and City are overweight. Something they might be able to do for themselves as a prelude to a great and glorious life that is more-wholesome, normal and ordinary and untroubled could be to Resist Diabetes.<br />
<br />
The short article, at left, comes from the May, 2017, issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter.<br />
<br />
It suggests that it can be of great benefit if prediabetes people get into a program of strength training to avoid diabetes.<br />
<br />
We should encourage people to GET EXCITED about the idea of getting housing and a new, rebooted life. Being stronger (and perhaps thinner and healthier) could add greatly to people's optimism.<br />
<br />
I am thinking that some sort of Fund-Me drive might make a program for prediabetes homeless people possible.<br />
<br />
<b>IDEA #2:</b> In the last minutes of the podcast<b> Up First</b>, <a href="http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510318/up-first">episode for Tuesday, May 9, 2017</a>
-- fast forward to 7:35 into the podcast, thus to hear the last 4:15 --
there is a discussion of fraud, theft and failure with $8 Billion that
is called <b>The Low Income Tax Credit Program</b> that is supposed to be used
to build housing for the poor. In its beginning it was a great and
mostly successful plan that aided developers in creating low-rent
apartments. NOW, 30 years after the program was started, it has been found that the investors and developers are
winning with this program, to the detriment of low-income people
Nowadays, the program is described as a "Subterranean ATM" that only the thieving developers have access to.<br />
<br />
Can this program that has been
undermined by graft get the attention of the City or State pols such that it
can be forced to do what The Low Income Tax Credit Program was set up to
do?? More apartments for low-income people would, of course, be a Godsend for families AND for Sacramento with its burgeoning population of poor folks having to live on the streets.<br />
<br />
<b>IDEA #3:</b> In Brooklyn, New York, a group of homeless people banded together, somehow, led by <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/pages/about-us" target="_blank">an amazing, enterprising fellow named Ray</a>, a <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/pages/testimony" target="_blank">passionate Christian</a>. The many people in the group found a house that they could rent in Brooklyn -- that would be called <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/pages/3sixty-house" target="_blank">3Sixty House</a>. And since many of them were very artistic -- indeed it was their artistry that bonded them -- they began to design and silk-screen T-shirts.<br />
<br />
Oops, I forgot something else that bonded the group together: They were<i> all</i> passionate Christians.<br />
<br />
The business that was created was named <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/pages/about-grateful-apparel" target="_blank">Grateful Apparel</a>. It is an AMAZING business that makes spectacular, wonderful, delightful creations, dedicated to God. And today, nine years after its founding in 2008, it makes a very fine collection of <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/collections/mens" target="_blank">t-shirts</a>, hoodies, jackets, <a href="https://www.gratefulapparel.com/collections/hats" target="_blank">headgear</a>, accessories, skateboards and more!<br />
<br />
I was rendered homeless in 2008 and, somehow, almost immediately, I became aware of Grateful Apparel because, at that time, my thinking about what homeless people in Sacramento needed was JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.<br />
<br />
Now, I cannot say that I think Sacramento could be so very amazing that it could expect to duplicate Grateful Apparel's genius and high level of artistry. But there are people in Sac who have amazing skills that they are not utilizing, all because they are stuck in "the Goldfish Bowl."<br />
<br />
"The Goldfish Bowl" is how some homeless people I've known have described the homeless life -- in that it is day after day after day swimming in circles. You go from your shelter; to lunch; to the library; to the park and then back to your shelter -- with nothing changing.<br />
<br />
One idea in how to help homeless people could be to assess their skills and then, from that, help them find a means to make money from what is their passion.<br />
<br />
It is little known, but there are many incredibly brilliant men and women living the homeless life in Sacramento. Let us help them bloom to become yet better manifestations of the amazing people they are already!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-12739177133048523112017-05-10T10:49:00.000-07:002017-06-03T10:13:30.311-07:00Kammermann takes the reins on May 22An official announcement was released from the Board of Directors of Loaves & Fishes in regard to the hiring of Noel Kammermann. It reads thus:<br />
<br />
<center>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: 75%;">
New Executive Director Announced<br />
</span>
</h1>
<h1 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 50%;">
The Board of Directors would like to officially announce that Noel
Kammermann has been hired as the new Executive Director of Loaves &
Fishes. Please welcome him on the week of May 22nd.
Noel has extensive experience working with programs serving those who
are experiencing homelessness in the Northeast area. He and his family
are in the process of relocating to Sacramento. </span></h1>
<h1 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 50%;">UPDATE: Kammermann will take the reins as Loaf & Fish Director on July 10, 2017.</span>
</h1>
</center>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-27319877611390084252017-05-09T14:20:00.004-07:002017-05-14T12:37:28.942-07:00The next Loaves & Fishes Director has been hired<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_200_200/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeAAAAAJGJlODg0OTVhLTFhMTAtNDgwNi05NmY5LTYyNWFiZWI5YzE0ZA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_200_200/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAeAAAAAJGJlODg0OTVhLTFhMTAtNDgwNi05NmY5LTYyNWFiZWI5YzE0ZA.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9;">Noel Kammermann </span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have been informed that the next Director of Loaves & Fishes has been hired. His name is Noel Kammermann.<br />
<br />
At right is what I believe to be a fairly recent picture of Mr. Kammerman. Below the picture from linkedIn, is another picture that may be a much less-recent picture of Noel, taken from the Facebook page of a Noel Kammerman.<br />
<br />
[Y'all know how Facebook works, don't cha? It exists to embarrass us all -- though Noel does look pretty good as a teenager or early twentysomething, ya think? Anyway, according to data at Kammermann's LinkedIn page, his background is pretty impressive.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/c40.41.495.495/s160x160/528767_109945625817854_1693973068_n.jpg?oh=26cc0b1336ed823a72d4b64cf588b3d3&oe=59B5678A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/c40.41.495.495/s160x160/528767_109945625817854_1693973068_n.jpg?oh=26cc0b1336ed823a72d4b64cf588b3d3&oe=59B5678A" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;">Noel Kammermann? Think so</span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
[ Not long after I found the two pictures, I found that a lot of what had been information about Mr. Kammermann got scrubbed from the Internet. Fortunately, I instantly made a print-out of Kammermann's Linked-In profile as soon as I got on the computer. ]<br />
<br />
Kammerman's most-recent experience is a two-year, five-month position as Chief Officer of Performance Measurement at<a href="https://www.inspiricact.org/" target="_blank"> Inspirica, Inc.</a> (Formerly, St. Luke's LifeWorks) Prior to that position at Inspirica, Kammermann was the Chief Program Officer for four years and nine months. Kammerman is 38 years old and was an athlete in his college days. He played soccer for four years and was at one point the team captain.<br />
<br />
<br />
You know how we often get a NEW leader that is in very many ways the exact opposite of his/her predecessor? You know, like how Obama was a world-of-wonders superior to his predecessor, Dubya Bush? I think that just knowing that Kammerman is very focussed on and experienced with "performance measurement" says a lot. He is -- hurrah! -- the opposite of Libby!!<br />
<br />
Libby had her head in the clouds so far as getting the most out of what money was donated. She wasted a ton of money on all that she spend on New Friendship Park. And it was absurd that she raised (or, tried to raise) 200 grand for her Death Wall.<br />
<br />
Also, Libby was known by staff and volunteers as someone living in an Ivory Tower. She didn't want staff members to tell her anything about what all was going on at Loaves. As many know, both Tim and Jim -- each a 15-yr employee -- were near-instantly fired for the effrontery of trying to inform Libby about something they each thought was important going on at the Loaf&Fish Compound.<br />
<br />
Yes, Libby is "information averse" Like Donald Trump.<br />
<br />
Congrats on your new job, Mr. Kammermann. Hope you're good at your new job and that you stick around for a long, long time.<br />
<br />
The thing that Libby was good at was bringing in donations. Unless I'm mistaken, the reason that Libby became Director of Loaf & Fish was in significant part because her predecessor was NOT good at bringing in the moolah. Indeed, there was a point in time when Lib's predecessor ran out of funds and contemplated (or, actually DID) close the facility for a week or more due to the matter of lack of funds. It was a bit before my time as a ragged man, but I think it is perhaps the case that even the kitchen may have been closed, putting homeless folk of the time in dire straits.<br />
<br />
While Libby's money-raising skills are thought to be impressive by many, my take on what she did was mischaracterize homeless people, most often presenting them as feeble fools. Her depictions were maudlin and mawkish -- when, indeed, homeless people run the gamut from being innocent people in deep depressive states, to psychopaths, to wholesome and clear-thinking robust citizens. Each Sacramento homeless person has a doppelgänger hidden away somewhere in Sacramento. Thus, homeless folk are, in aggregate, no different that any other crowd of Sacramentans.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-74899957348350098492017-05-06T12:29:00.000-07:002017-05-10T13:16:38.551-07:00Homeward Street Journal<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLpQ8M8OZY/WQ4HlK4GDWI/AAAAAAAAFqU/uBks3VCDogw_P94wy5FwNDs0AJDEuIjjgCLcB/s1600/Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLpQ8M8OZY/WQ4HlK4GDWI/AAAAAAAAFqU/uBks3VCDogw_P94wy5FwNDs0AJDEuIjjgCLcB/s320/Photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Page 1, above the fold, of the current May & June, 2017 HSJ</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Homeward Street Journal, a slim bimonthly publication that has been around for twenty years, has as its stated mission one of "[alleviating] miscommunication between communities by educating the public about housing and poverty issues, and by giving homeless people a voice in the public forum."<br />
<br />
Its REAL mission, at least in recent years, is clearly something different than the above, but is no less noble -- indeed, it is MORE noble. It wants homeless people in Greater Sacramento to have better lives and a pathway to get housing in the near future.<br />
<br />
There are problems with HSJ in that it can be skimpy and dumpy and badly edited [in the current issue for May and June 2017, the mayor's first name is misspelled. Whoops.] and it will often fill what little space there is in the publication with articles that have absolutely nothing to do with Sacramento.. In the current edition the headline has to do with something going on in the legislature in Oregon. States operate independently; what may be happening in Oregon is fully apart from the hopes and dreams of California homeless folk surviving on the streets in Sacramento county.<br />
<br />
A major positive thing about the publication is that a piece by Suzanne Hastings is often published in HSJ. Hastings writes in high-style. Her pieces are evocative, colorful, quirky, magical and delicious when she is in top form, as she nearly is in the current issue with her bottom-of-the-front-page piece, titled "Stake-Down 2017: 'Where am I supposed to Live'"<br />
<br />
Here, the first paragraph from "Stake-Down 2017":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An ancient now dark neon "Diet Pepsi" sign sits frozen in mid revolution. The kind of sign that was prevalent in the 50's and 60's. It is all that's left of the Torpedo diner that once stood here. The normally vacant lot at 12th and C Streets was for a few hours to be turned into a small community.</blockquote>
A few edits, and what Hastings writes would be consistently brilliant: In the opening paragraph, above, I'm not keen on use of the word "<b>ancient</b>," though I don't have an alternate word in mind; "<b>now dark</b>" should be hyphenated; <b>Diet Pepsi</b> needn't be in quotes; And as for the last sentence, the lot was turned into <i>a venue</i> for the community; it wasn't turned into the community, itself.<br />
<br />
Another problem the publication has is its cartoonish fonts.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGdGwIEr4Eo/WQ4UhtWGFcI/AAAAAAAAFqs/yBTDhqkOf3YMKVAZ2OpmZq1wiaVdJ0nhwCLcB/s1600/fonts.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="81" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGdGwIEr4Eo/WQ4UhtWGFcI/AAAAAAAAFqs/yBTDhqkOf3YMKVAZ2OpmZq1wiaVdJ0nhwCLcB/s320/fonts.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
At right is the headline used for Hastings' piece, which is a meaningful article-with-commentary about an event held for the purpose of aiding homeless people in knowing some or their rights, and for those who attended to bond such that they could forward the effort of getting housing. While we're told it was not a wholly serious function -- there was food! music! poetry! comedy! -- it certainly wasn't a cartoon.<br />
<br />
There are places on-line where fonts can be purchased or, sometimes, had for free. Homeward Street Journal should upgrade its appearance. I think that Paula Lomazzi, the unaccredited Editor in Chief, should try to improve the publication's appearance. "How it looks" is not unimportant. Readers of HSJ make determinations about how serious and accurate and professional the publication is by the aesthetics.<br />
<br />
Speaking of Paula, in the current issue of HSJ, she is the author of an important story about Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Joan Burke, L&F Director of Advocacy, joining forces in hope of enlarging the number of beds for homeless folk by changing current law such that perhaps 20 churches could each provide sleep space for perhaps 20 homeless people. Sleeping out on the street can be dangerous and it can be a bear. It is hard to work to create a better life for oneself if you haven't had a good-night's sleep after you open your eyes in the morning.<br />
<br />
I think the church sleep space article -- that included mention of other important efforts to create increased night-shelter space for homeless folk -- is excellent and should not have been buried on page five.<br />
<br />
In an important area, I have disagreements with Homeward Street Journal, generally. HSJ is the product of way, way, way, way far-leftist politics.<br />
<br />
We are told on the upper-righthand corner of the 7th page in the current issue of HSJ -- and, no doubt there in the past many dozens of issues -- that ...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Homeward Street Journal has been publishing since 1997 as a nonprofit project of the Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, which is a member of the Sacramento Housing Alliance. </blockquote>
SHOC, an organization that Paula Lomazzi heads is (or was) staunchly Stalinist Communist. SHOC came into being after the California Communist Party <span class="dbox-bold" data-syllable="dis·in·te·grat·ed, "><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">disintegrated in the 1980s and a Stalinist group from that party, headed by Nelson Peery, created a new group called, simply, the Organizing Committee. Subgroups of the Organizing Committee were identifiable by (1) The city where they were centered and (2) by the grouping of people they concentrated on. Thus SACRAMENTO HOMELESS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE is the name that Paula's group was given (years before Paula came along to be its head person).</span></span><br />
<br />
Now, to be a true Stalinist Communist you have to be readily in favor of murdering ten or a hundred million people, now and then. I do not believe Paula favors most -- and maybe none -- of the tenets of the Stalinist variant of Communism. She hasn't even murdered anybody that I know of. I have suggested to Paula that she should abandon SHOC or DESTROY IT IF SHE CAN, MERCIFULLY BLOW IT UP and create a new, wholesome charity that has no connection whatever to stinking Stalinist Communism, but she has not done that. Shame on you, Paula.<br />
<span class="record-index" id="ResultIndex_1"></span><a accesskey="1" class="title-link color-p4" href="http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.www.saclibrarycatalog.org/ehost/viewarticle/render?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie46bdIsamyT7ek63nn5Kx95uXxjL6rrU6tqK5JtZaxUrOvuEm3ls5lpOrweezp33vy3%2b2G59q7RbCstkqzq7NOtJzqeezdu33snOJ6u9fugKTq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bS7SbKtsky2r64%2b5OXwhd%2fqu37z4uqM4%2b7y&vid=1&sid=c98a158c-42ad-460d-988e-18f69b0d1553@sessionmgr4010&hid=4201" id="Result_1" name="Result_1" title="Globalization and Education Within Two Revolutionary Organizations in the United States of America: A Gramscian Analysis. "><br /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-19577536350568374702017-05-01T22:32:00.003-07:002017-05-12T13:12:26.794-07:00Impressed by the way you treat other human beings<div>
I think that people would be right to say that I do not treat other
people very well, oft-times. And, very often I stir up trouble -- quite
intentionally -- in this blog with a hope that any safe and timid field
of discussion is blown away by a hurricane.<br />
<br />
But I am very, very aware of a select category of things. And somewhat pride myself on this: I don't sit in judgment of people's pasts. <br />
<br />
I have learned over the years that many homeless people have had trouble
with the law. I leave it to the Courts to do what they will to --
hopefully, properly -- punish them for crimes. It is not my job to
punish anyone further -- or, even know much about -- what bad stuff has
occurred in people's pasts.<br />
<br />
As far as the content of this blog is concerned, however, many will
notice that I do give charity directors and politicians a hard time.
Many deserve much worse than just a hard time since there are more than a
few politicians and charity administrators who do far less than they
should to ameliorate the troubled lives of homeless people.<br />
<br />
Many charity people and politicians spend an enormous portion of their
time congratulating each other on what fine people they all are and all
the good they think they are doing treating homeless people like stupid
kindergarten students.<br />
<br />
Long-time readers of this blog -- and its forerunners, including the
blog Homeless Tom -- will know that I think that Libby Fernandez has
been a failure as Director at the important charity Loaves & Fishes.
But, I do -- as they say -- "wish her well in all her future
endeavors."<br />
<br />
I snagged the following quote from my friend Craig -- a truly
excellent fellow. Craig lives up to the sentiment, below. Compared to
him, I am a piker -- but I strive to do better.</div>
<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2108272364747244016.post-30054629352759797122017-05-01T20:22:00.001-07:002017-05-03T11:08:04.788-07:00Have you heard about the Homeless Problem?Below, a WONDERFUL video by Shahera Hyatt that presents Nicole, a young homeless Sacramentan, delivering a few words about what the homeless problem really is.<br />
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For those who may not know, or can have forgotten, Nicole's paraphrase of Freud is "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"; this as opposed to cigar being a phallic symbol. Sometimes trash is just trash -- as opposed to, perhaps, stuff that is cruelly left to offend civil society.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com2