wow what is this country coming to?

This morning when I woke up I wanted to smoke, have no clue why but I did. So this little store sells single smokes so that is where I went. Well across the street is woods nice trees, ok well walking out of this store I seen about 7 people all older grey hair and I knew the second I seen them they were living there, yes right there is the woods! I thought wow and this morning on the news I seen where OUR country just gave 1 billion dollars to aid another country.

it does not surprise me ,as sad as it is. Our people are more worried about whats going on elsewhere than whats going on in our own back yards. I probably scream about this daily. And this sis not an isolated case, here where I live we have the homeless all over. Almost any nieghborhood you go into there will be a section where many homeless hang out. Whats even more discusting is not long ago during the winter , the sherriff here ordered all there tents destroyed! I need to see if I can find that article.

WOW that is terrible to see that. This world as we know it is slowwly turnin 2 sh!! its sad 2 say

The city takes less than 10 minutes to seize more than 20 tents.

City officials raided two homeless camps Friday afternoon, seizing more than 20 tents and further rattling a community still shaken from the slayings of two of its own.

Those who refused to get out of their tents or remove their belongings watched as two dozen police and fire officials sliced the tops of the tents away from their bases, tossed them into a truck and drove off. Some said they didn't have enough time to get out before the officials began to cut with scissors, box cutters and other blades.

"I was in the tent when they started cutting," said Ken Argo, 54, who said he was asleep when police arrived. "It was very reckless of them."

The whole operation took less than 10 minutes.

The raid was the city's latest attempt to deal with the highly visible tent camps that have sprung up in recent weeks and a homeless population that is becoming increasingly organized and close-knit. Last week the city shut down a tent city on Fourth Avenue N after it said it helped about 100 of its residents get social services, including rent vouchers and bus tickets to cities where relatives or friends could help.

Those who didn't get or refused services soon set up their tents at one of two locations, Fifth Avenue N at 15th Street or Fifth Avenue N at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

Feinberg said the homeless also failed to get the required permits for their tents, which were set up on the public right of way.

"They were all in violation of codes," Feinberg said. "No one submitted plans for preparations for these two tent cities."

It's not clear if all the fire codes the city cited indeed apply. The code requiring a permit specifies tents greater than 120 square feet, which is larger than the tents used by most of the homeless. And a state fire statute initially cited by the city doesn't deal with tents, said a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal.

Still, city officials said their job is to protect and that there were significant safety concerns at the two locations, including danger from heavy traffic. City officials also said the homeless were given the chance to remove their belongings from the tents and were offered mats at a nearby shelter.

Rather than arrest or get in physical altercations with those who refused, the officers cut the tents, said Deputy Mayor Dave Metz.

"The tents were retained for evidence," Metz said.

The city's action outraged the homeless community, which said that instead of taking away tents, the police officers should have been searching for the people who killed two homeless men early Wednesday.

"And now they're putting all these people in jeopardy again," said Rev. Bruce Wright of Refuge Ministries. The reason the homeless cluster in tents is for safety, Wright said.

Metz acknowledged the criticism but said the city did what it had to do. "I think you always have those implications, but our primary concern was safety."

Wright said that advocates for the homeless, who met Friday with the city to discuss things like getting fire extinguishers, plan to sue the city over the destruction of the tents and will seek an injunction to prevent another raid.

"We're getting more tents," Wright said.

"We're bringing down the big guns now. We're gonna sue 'em

that happened in January of last year

That is terrible

It is sad and terrible how our wonderful county will help other counties and ignore what is right here that needs help. There are so many homeless in our own county that need help, could use a hand up but it is like the people are blind to it, don't see it, don't want to know about it - if they ignore it maybe it will all go away. But I won't. Years ago most people did not know there were homless people living in their city or town but the numbers have grown and they are seen, but only by some. You saw them Donna, because you are a decent person who cares about others, but the next person to walk past might not have seen them, might have just looked right through them. It's a disgrace.

Here where I live it is so sad. You see homeless everywhere. They live in our parks, wooded areas and even right on the streets downtown. I have seen people laying in the grassy areas of some of our surrounding stores with blankets over them and the police have to come along and make them move off of the property. If you go downtown early in the morning, you tons and tons of people gathering their items and getting moving along for the daylight hours. When they do leave their "resting" spot though, they leave all their trash from the night behind right where they laid.

this is becomming an issue i think all over the United States. Unfortunatley , I dont see government officials taking a stand to find a way to resolve this growing issue. Many people believe that it is the person fault this happened. In some cases yes, but in Some absolutley not. what happens when one gets laid off work and lives paycheck to paycheck because the former job didnt pay them enough to save. Then they look for a job and cant get one right away? I am sure the landlord dont give a darn. I see the problem getting worse too. The unemployment rate is getting higher , job layoffs and companies cutting jobs are getting higher. In the months from june-july the united states had 185,000 jobs cut. Thats in only one month. Terrible.

The people that own these nice home in real nice neighborhoods and our government don't care to see these things nor do they have to. They have great police force and security in those neighborhoods , that force the homeless to leave because it reduces the values of there homes and properties.


"There are a lot of misconceptions about homeless people. The vast majority of them are not panhandlers. Many of them survive without any money at all, sometimes not eating for a week at a time. Most of them are actually quite young, often below the working age. Some are quite articulate; others hold jobs. Some are there by choice; others are not. Many are mentally ill; many are not. It seems that we try to pigeonhole a diverse group of people. We either defend the homeless by making them victims of society, or we berate the homeless for being lazy bums who need to do more. However, neither view is true. They are not simply a group; they are human individuals just like us with thoughts, feelings, worries, attitudes, and dreams of their own. We shouldn’t decide whether such people are worthy of help or not. We should simply cut the condescending crap and treat them as individuals." by Jim Macdonald 4/10/03