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Maynard Fried-San
whiskered anonymous Joined: 21 Jan 2012 Location: Londinium Status: Offline Points: 17210 |
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It’s because Uber is used to getting away with murder.
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Helixing my inner beanie
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Double 0 Soul
whiskered anonymous Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Yonder Status: Offline Points: 42996 |
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Ive just had a walk through the city center, there's been a dramatic
rise in homelessness over the last few years, organised begging aside ,
genuine homeless people fit a certain profile in my city.. white males
age 35-50 pretty much without exception. They're not the volatile zombie
spice heads (which we also have a lot of) just broken people sleeping in doorways.
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HP Sauce
whiskered anonymous Joined: 15 Jan 2017 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Where I live, there is also a homelessness problem. The demand for affordable housing is outstripping availability. At the same time, I see that, even within this group, there is charity and community. Not sure if I've spoken about them before, so sorry if I am repeating myself but there are two fellows I know who share panhandling duties a block from my office. Marcus (who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia) takes the morning shift and Dave (who struggles with alcoholism) takes over in the afternoon. Dave (a Scot by birth) takes care of everybody else, including Marcus. When I make my weekly donation to him, I know that he is also making sure that his circle of Inuit friends are also covered. I give on Mondays or Tuesday because the rest of the world tends to donate towards the end of the week. I talk to Dave pretty much every day and have come to think of him as a friend. He has a great sense of humour and we both trust each other enough to share a grouse when we've had a crap day. Through our conversations, I learned that Dave's apartment (he's one of the lucky ones who has a place to kip at night) was inundated when a drug addict living upstairs started a fire. Thankfully, the landlord eventually got around to sorting out the mess, though only after a period of months. I know it was a hard slog for Dave because his home was no longer a refuge. His reservoir of resilience was getting dangerously low but he was adamant that moving into the local mission would jeopardize his recovery. All this to say that the challenge of this problem is finding a way to house people in reduced economic circumstances, while also ensuring appropriate separation between those that are trying to fight their addictions and those who are unable/unwilling to do so. Sometimes, living on the street is better for the health than sharing quarters with users. Everybody has a different idea about how they want to live their lives and how they earn money but the need for a safe place to lie down at night is universal.
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HP Sauce
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Bob Dale
whiskered GRAIL Joined: 16 Jan 2012 Location: Tulsa , America Status: Offline Points: 999 |
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Homelessness is part of a larger problem , at least with many I’ve met in my area.
I’d become acquainted with a gent who kept trying to step out of his old lifestyle and some little thing would be sat in his path. He found a job , a good job but his parole officer insisted on scheduling meetings at different and seemingly random times. He would work with his boss to get his work schedule changed or take off without pay so much he eventually lost his job. Part of his parole was he had to be employed. He fell behind on his court fees , and had a choice of going back to jail or being monitored. Being monitored meant buying , leasing rather, an ankle monitor. An ankle monitor he had no way to pay for , and no way to charge . His ankle monitor also meant he had to establish some type of residency and find a place to allow him to charge his ankle monitor.!. He was able to find a tree next to a hotel where he could camp. The owner gave him some grace and told him if you don’t bother my guests you can camp over there and I’ll let you use power to charge your ankle monitor. , he had to remain in that area between the hours of 9pm and 5am. There was no leniency on this policy . There was a tornado , And he went inside the lobby of the hotel to shelter in place. . He was outside of his area during the time in which he was to remain in his residency. This alerted police , who alerted his PO. And this added to his court fees. Some could say ‘those are the rules’ , et cetera I have lost touch with the guy , but it seemed like in the time we were better acquainted at every turn his parole officer would tell the guy ‘You’re not cut out for life in the regular world’ , ‘I’m watching you’, et cetera. He went to jail initially because of inability to pay child support, his obligation to pay child support didn’t end or change when he was incarcerated. He fell behind on those payments , and had to pay legal fees. Again people could say ‘he broke the rules’ — but I think he got caught up in a game that was rigged at every turn to bleed him dry of any money he had and keep him perpetually incarcerated. |
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HP Sauce
whiskered anonymous Joined: 15 Jan 2017 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Bob Dale, when I read your story this AM my blood boiled. Such cruelty. Vindictiveness is not a strategy for justice and certainly no way to go about rehabilitating someone who so clearly wants to get back on their feet. Even from a purely cold-eyed, money-fixated perspective, the way the state acted in this circumstance is irrational. While there are many who believe the point of incarceration is punishment alone, I believe the state should also provide the circumstances for individuals who have violated its laws to pay their debt to society. Success should be measured in reduced recidivism rates and increased tax contribution through job stability. That requires focus on long-term societal reintegration for all but the very worst offenders, those whose conditions resist treatment and so represent an ongoing public safety threat. I think Martha Nussbaum did a great job of explaining the insanity and ultimate impracticality of a justice system based on vindictiveness in her book, Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity and Justice. She provides an overview of her argument in this short essay for Aeon: https://aeon.co/essays/there-s-no-emotion-we-ought-to-think-harder-about-than-anger Thank you for sharing this story, Bob. Your posts are always thoughtful and thought-provoking.
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HP Sauce
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Double 0 Soul
whiskered anonymous Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Yonder Status: Offline Points: 42996 |
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Why the hell does peanut butter have a small recess around the bottom of the jar which is next to impossible to reach with a standard butter knife? Come on jar designers of the world its not flippin rocket science..
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Maynard Fried-San
whiskered anonymous Joined: 21 Jan 2012 Location: Londinium Status: Offline Points: 17210 |
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^ Are you talking about Meridian here Neal?
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Helixing my inner beanie
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Double 0 Soul
whiskered anonymous Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Yonder Status: Offline Points: 42996 |
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Maynard Fried-San
whiskered anonymous Joined: 21 Jan 2012 Location: Londinium Status: Offline Points: 17210 |
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Phew!
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Helixing my inner beanie
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HP Sauce
whiskered anonymous Joined: 15 Jan 2017 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4940 |
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Here in Canada, we don't waste our bumps on peanut butter jars. No, Sir. For us, it's all smooth riding; even for the crunchy crowd.... |
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HP Sauce
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