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We Have Clearly Failed The Mentally Ill: Maybe Forced Commitment Isn't Such A Bad Thing

homeless.jpg

A 'Bright Light,' Dimmed in the Shadows of Homelessness

In Sunday’s NYT there is a long article about a homeless woman who lived on a grate near Grand Central Terminal. She was seemingly intelligent, a Williams grad, and had a promising future snuffed out by mental illness.

What struck me was that some of those who had contact with her spoke of her death’s emotional effect on themselves, rather than an analysis of the issues and a suggestion of their own culpability.

That might be the crowning achievement of the progressive march through our institutions; that every event is viewed through an internal prism that bends the events back towards us. What they have taught for two generations is solipsism (thank you Jay Guevara for the perfect word) rather than the ability to observe the world around us.

Barack Obama was perhaps their greatest achievement; his obsessive fixation on "self" was evident in every speech, every public appearance.

I am not suggesting that anyone involved in this sad tale is directly responsible for this poor woman's death. But an honest appraisal of the issues instead of emoting about how awful one feels about her difficulties and her death is probably a more constructive way to deal with it.

What is ironic is that the majority (probably all) of the people involved and interviewed probably support the deinstitutionalization craze that has gripped America since the 1970s. I wonder whether a firm public policy of forced commitment would have helped this woman. My suspicion is that it would have. That is not to say that our institutions were wonderful, but an all-or-nothing approach makes no sense. We have moved the mentally ill out of sometimes awful psychiatric facilities into the revolving door of the street, prison and an early death.



Posted by: CBD at 05:55 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I didn't even try for first. I knew I wouldn't get it.

Posted by: Obama waving from Martha's Vineyard at March 09, 2018 05:51 PM (C84Ja)

2 How embarrassing.

Posted by: Obama waving from Martha's Vineyard at March 09, 2018 05:52 PM (C84Ja)

3 Good post, CBD.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at March 09, 2018 05:52 PM (gC2IV)

4 You can lay the blame for this straight at the feet of the ACLU who sued to get the mental institutions to dump all these people.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at March 09, 2018 05:52 PM (mpXpK)

5 Aqualung is only pretending to sleep.

Posted by: Obama waving from Martha's Vineyard at March 09, 2018 05:54 PM (C84Ja)

6 Was America really some fascist state before the 1970's ACLU successfully "freed" all of the crazy people?

This concept that making it easier to put people in institutions is going to create new American gulags is pretty silly.

There's large parts of this country that are becoming incredibly dangerous from the homeless population, and it has nothing to do with economic opportunity.

Posted by: Maritime at March 09, 2018 05:55 PM (lKmt3)

7 that every event is viewed through an internal prism that bends the events back towards us"

Well of course. We're important. Here, look at my selfie...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 05:55 PM (7LY+6)

8 Was America really some fascist state before the 1970's ACLU successfully "freed" all of the crazy people? "

Indeed it twas - like the 50's was a heyday of race hatred and such...

Oh, wait.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 05:56 PM (7LY+6)

9
Was America really some fascist state before the 1970's ACLU successfully "freed" all of the crazy people? "

Before AND after.

Posted by: ACLU at March 09, 2018 05:57 PM (IqV8l)

Posted by: Sunny After Midnight at March 09, 2018 05:58 PM (roQNm)

11 I really think liberals LOVE seeing large swaths of the homeless because they think it's a form of propaganda against capitalism.

That's why these organizations freak out when cities pass pretty basic laws like not being allowed to panhandle.

It's also a form of extortion, give more social aid or we'll have these people shitting on your door step.

Posted by: Maritime at March 09, 2018 05:59 PM (lKmt3)

12 Not one of those people who were "emotionally effected by her death" gave her a dime of their own money, gave her some of their own food when they barely had money to buy food for themselves, handed over their extra clothes, gave the lady a blanket or offered to help her get to the hospital to get squared away. I guarantee it.

Those are things that Trump voters like the people who inhabit this blog do regularly, though. But we voted for Trump so wenare Nazis.

Posted by: Sharkman at March 09, 2018 05:59 PM (K2hsm)

13 it is damn near impossible to have someone committed, even if they desperately need it. They'll do it, but only if you tell them he's an immediate danger to himself or others. Even then it's only for as long as insurance will pay. Good luck after that.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at March 09, 2018 06:00 PM (gC2IV)

14 Rolling through the streets of Philadelphia early you can see the homeless and while many are down and out monetary I know many are mentality ill and live that way on purpose or can't find ways out .

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:01 PM (aC6Sd)

15 The mentally ill have constituted the vast majority of the homeless over the past 30-40 years.

During this time, the media has always "rediscovered" the plight of the homeless once a Republican is the president. Homelessness never seems to be a problem when a Democrat is the president.

I used to chalk this up to media bias, but I'm now reconsidering this.

Could it be that all those mentally ill people were indeed off the streets and simply serving in the Democrat administrations?


Posted by: Furious George at March 09, 2018 06:02 PM (9vQJW)

16 William Glasser wrote "Schools Without Failure", which was big in schools of education for a while years back. Before that, he wrote "Reality Therapy", which included experiences with the severely mentally ill, including schizophrenics before the advent of effective antipsychotic drugs.

He found that many such patients would seem to be making progress while in psychotherapy, but would fall apart when given access to more freedom in their environment. They often acted out in order to be placed back into a more predictable institutional environment.

I think similar things still happen. The Parkland mass murderer seemed to do better in alternative school, which was very controlled, than in regular high school, for example.

Hate to see schizophrenics digging through dumpsters and eating coffee grounds.

Posted by: KT at March 09, 2018 06:02 PM (BVQ+1)

17 In PA we closed the big state hospitals and went on a prison building spree. Those prisons have housing units (aka "cell blocks") dedicated to housing mentally ill inmates. So they still are institutionalized and liberals' guilt has been assuaged. Win win?

Posted by: Neil DeGrasshole Tyson's Chicken at March 09, 2018 06:02 PM (rpnTL)

18 Let's face it, the old MI sucked. They were inhuman warehouses. That isn't an excuse for doing what we've done to the mentally ill since the 70's.

It's amusing (in a very dark way) that those who yammer on endlessly about how much they care have put their social status above the welfare of those who truly need help.

Burn in hell, you assholes.

Posted by: pep at March 09, 2018 06:03 PM (LAe3v)

19 Fuck it. Legalize weed. Gives them something to do during the day. /

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at March 09, 2018 06:03 PM (DPv+O)

20 They were inhuman warehouses"

Nope. Not even close. But that's what we're all supposed to believe.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:04 PM (7LY+6)

21 70s

Posted by: pep at March 09, 2018 06:05 PM (LAe3v)

22
Fuck it. Legalize weed. Gives them something to do during the day. /

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at March 09, 2018 06:03 PM (DPv+O)


Weed ain't cheap

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at March 09, 2018 06:05 PM (lKyWE)

23 Ugh. In CO, legal weed made it worse because it was an excellent incentive for homeless to relocate to the state. Every time we went downtown we would have a run-in with a mentally ill homeless person. Ended up with stuff like this:
https://tinyurl.com/hnx429s

Posted by: Lizzy at March 09, 2018 06:05 PM (W+vEI)

24 >>>Could it be that all those mentally ill people were indeed off the streets and simply serving in the Democrat administrations?

Spare a copper, gov'ner?

Posted by: Valerie Jarrett at March 09, 2018 06:05 PM (ppaKI)

25 Sort of on topic, but the infamous OC (Cali) "homeless village" was sort of cleaned up - to the tune of around 2.5 tons (yeah, TONS) of "human waste".

Mull that over.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:08 PM (7LY+6)

26 This makes me so angry and also makes me sick. We see these poor people who could be helped with placing them in some kind of facility, but no one wants that. They would rather see them out, getting worse, getting raped and killed. I know they didn't think about what would happen to these people, but did they think they would just assimilate with everyone else?
When I mentioned this to my SJW children they immediately thought of the asylums in the Victorian era and squeaked loudly. But after seeing these young people, eating Tide pods and thinking there are 57 different genders, we really do need to bring back asylums.

Posted by: abby at March 09, 2018 06:08 PM (clj57)

27 Meanwhile, in LA, there are 58,000 homeless living in the shadows of the mansions of people who call me a heartless nazi.

Posted by: Citizen Cake at March 09, 2018 06:08 PM (ppaKI)

28 I really think liberals LOVE seeing large swaths of the homeless because
they think it's a form of propaganda against capitalism.

Until you want to move a shelter into their neighborhood.

Posted by: tu3031 at March 09, 2018 06:09 PM (O5Q3r)

29 Test

Posted by: Surfperch at March 09, 2018 06:09 PM (B5R2a)

30 The crowning achievements of liberals;
- Destroying the mentally ill
- Destroying the nuclear family
- Making the killing of babies a right
- Killing genders
- Promulgating the destruction of social mores

Posted by: Marcus T at March 09, 2018 06:09 PM (IWv+s)

31 They are safer off the streets.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at March 09, 2018 06:09 PM (fceHP)

32 When I mentioned this to my SJW children they immediately thought of the asylums in the Victorian era and squeaked loudly. "

And that's what we're supposed to think. Bedlam, and all that...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:10 PM (7LY+6)

33 My workplace is right across the street from a Gospel Mission.
Most of these people are zombies. We cannot be afraid of "taking their rights away". They are completely unaware of life in general.
I have always thought that involuntary "housing and treatment" would get them clean, and/or sober, and/or force them to take their meds they so badly need to bring them back to reality.

Leaving them to continue as they do is not compassion, regard for their rights, or anything else like this. It is criminal neglect.

When Reagan shut down all of the Federal Mental Institutions, he gave the money to the states in block grants. What did the States do? Why, they hired bodies and built a bureaucracy that wastes money and gets nothing done.

Like they do...

Posted by: Gunslinger at March 09, 2018 06:11 PM (R2gO3)

34 It's Reagan's fault!

He made the country a smoking nuclear wasteland decimated by AIDS and besieged by roving packs of homeless people.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Gamestress of Triskelion at March 09, 2018 06:11 PM (qJtVm)

35 We need starving peasants to have a Communist Revolution!

Posted by: The Left at March 09, 2018 06:11 PM (B5R2a)

36
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I.

Posted by: Barky McFuckstick at March 09, 2018 06:13 PM (eXA4G)

37

They think of the horrors of government run institutions while wanting the government to fix everything, so that they do not have to think about it or do anything about it.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at March 09, 2018 06:13 PM (fceHP)

38 NRA suing over the FL stupid rifle laws. Good.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:13 PM (fA1SL)

39

NRA just filed a lawsuit over FL new gun law.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at March 09, 2018 06:13 PM (fceHP)

40 They were inhuman warehouses"

Nope. Not even close. But that's what we're all supposed to believe.



Don't bullshit me. I saw "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (Mouru)

41 That's a sad picture.

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (HgMAr)

42 What does this have to do with Jennifer Lawrence's love (or lack of love) for dick?

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (LiyEm)

43 It's Reagan's fault! "

Yep. The 1975 court ruling that cast the death knoll for "State institutions"....

Oh, wait.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (7LY+6)

44 I think it was Thomas Szasz who started all this stuff. They guy went so far as to deny mental illness actually existed.

I always wanted to read more about him but never got around to it. I'm pretty certain he's the reason behind getting rid of involuntary commitment and all the other stuff that's led them to live on the streets.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (4ErVI)

45 LA has 58,000 homeless, how many do you think are sane?

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (6Ll1u)

46 We used to put people like her in large rooms where baskets were weaved. Sometimes restraints were needed.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (r9UYA)

47 Didn't Geraldo's piece on mistreatment at one facility cause an outrage?

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (LiyEm)

48 Meanwhile, in LA, there are 58,000 homeless living in the shadows of the mansions of people who call me a heartless nazi.
Posted by: Citizen Cake


And 58k is a good sized city.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (/tG8l)

49 Don't bullshit me. I saw "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest."

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (Mouru)

So did I. They had chicks and a liquor cabinet.

I don't have either right now.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (4ErVI)

50 What does this have to do with Jennifer Lawrence's love (or lack of love) for dick?
Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (LiyEm)




Some homeless people hate dick.

There. We have achieved topical confluence.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (Mouru)

51 g'early evenin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (KCxzN)

52 45. If they weren't insane and/or substance abusers on day one, I'd imagine almost all of them are after a few weeks.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (fA1SL)

53
45 LA has 58,000 homeless, how many do you think are sane?
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (6Ll1u)

Nobody in LA is sane to begin with.

Posted by: Surfperch at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (B5R2a)

54 Don't bullshit me. I saw "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest."

Ah yes. The same fine art that gave us "The China Syndrome".

Snort.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (7LY+6)

55 How many Hollywooders would be sleeping on grates if they hadn't let Harvey Weinstein take liberties?

Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:17 PM (nBr1j)

56 >>47 Didn't Geraldo's piece on mistreatment at one facility cause an outrage?


Willllowbroookkkkkkkk.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:17 PM (r9UYA)

57 What does this have to do with Jennifer Lawrence's love (or lack of love) for dick?
Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:14 PM (LiyEm)



Some homeless people hate dick.

There. We have achieved topical confluence.
Posted by: Cicero


And some homeless people have anal worms.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:17 PM (/tG8l)

58 Ah, I see, now that a Republican president is in office, it's time to start worrying about the homeless again.

But, since the "since the GOP took over the presidency, homelessness has climbed by XXX" playbook isn't working, it's now time for the up close and personal story.

No, I'm not decrying the tragedy of this story. It's the timing that I find suspect.

Posted by: Blake at March 09, 2018 06:18 PM (qC1Sy)

59 I always wondered how Bernie Sanders was able to keep himself out of the nuthouse. Vermont playing a big role, of course.

Posted by: Fritz at March 09, 2018 06:18 PM (bJ0w+)

60 Even if we still had institutions it would be impossible to keep up with demand.
No shortage of mentally ill people.

Posted by: navybrat at March 09, 2018 06:19 PM (w7KSn)

61 23 Ugh. In CO, legal weed made it worse because it was an excellent incentive for homeless to relocate to the state. Every time we went downtown we would have a run-in with a mentally ill homeless person. Ended up with stuff like this:
https://tinyurl.com/hnx429s
Posted by: Lizzy at March 09, 2018 06:05 PM (W+

See what I mean, dangerous pipe.

Posted by: Jennifer Lawrence at March 09, 2018 06:19 PM (hUqh+)

62 "We have moved the mentally ill out of sometimes awful psychiatric
facilities into the revolving door of the street, prison and an early
death."

To make the perfect-society Glorious Socialist Utopia omelette, you have to break a few million eggs. The imperfect must be eliminated so that perfection can be achieved.

Posted by: FaCubeItches at March 09, 2018 06:19 PM (rznWS)

63 LA has 58,000 homeless, how many do you think are sane?
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (6Ll1u)


I drive through East L.A. and skid row on the way to work. The homeless population was manageable during Bush and it exploded during Obama. I call the whole area Obamatown.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:20 PM (Mouru)

64 No, I'm not decrying the tragedy of this story. It's the timing that I find suspect.
Posted by: Blake



Always.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:20 PM (/tG8l)

65 59 I always wondered how Bernie Sanders was able to keep himself out of the nuthouse. Vermont playing a big role, of course.
Posted by: Fritz at March 09, 2018 06:18 PM (bJ0w+)

The VT State Asylum is in Brattleboro.

Posted by: Surfperch at March 09, 2018 06:20 PM (B5R2a)

66
I remember taking 'community psychology' in college and getting the 'A' while thinking this class is total bullshit. Some people don't belong wandering the streets unmedicated, listening to the voices in their heads.

At least that's what they've told me.

Posted by: Forgot My Nic at March 09, 2018 06:20 PM (LOgQ4)

67 I have nothing to back up this but if I had to guess maybe 10% or less of homeless are mentality ill, I would like to really know.

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:21 PM (aC6Sd)

68 55 How many Hollywooders would be sleeping on grates if they hadn't let Harvey Weinstein take liberties?
Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:17 PM (nBr1j)

----------------------

Not nearly enough.

Posted by: Blake at March 09, 2018 06:21 PM (qC1Sy)

69 During this time, the media has always "rediscovered" the plight of the
homeless once a Republican is the president. Homelessness never seems
to be a problem when a Democrat is the president.



I used to chalk this up to media bias, but I'm now reconsidering this.


Whadda ya think's in the burgers?!

Posted by: Barth at March 09, 2018 06:21 PM (OFww3)

70 So now we're back to institutionalizing the mentally ill? How did that work out last time. It is, however, entertaining to watch big L libertarians demand government institutions.

DATS AIGHT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcZBbQNN-Ww

Just cut and paste and then sink your teeth into the warm gooey, evil, goodness. It's like low carb caramel. 1:15 to get to the creamy center.

Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (50gG9)

71 How come there are no squatters villages in the U.S.? Is it against the law?

Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (nBr1j)

72 She made her own choices. I think she was sane enough to make them. She didn't feel homeless.

I think she's a poor example to make the case for forced institutionalization.

Gotta love the psych who thought she might be schizo.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (MjjCt)

73 Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego.
Hmm. Odd, there seems to be a pattern forming here.

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (HgMAr)

74 I have nothing to back up this but if I had to guess maybe 10% or less of homeless are mentality ill, I would like to really know.
Posted by: Skip


I would bet it's over 33%.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (/tG8l)

75 The Times says there are 3,900 unsheltered homeless people in New York City. That seems ridiculously low. I get that by "unsheltered" they are excluding folks crashing different friends for a day, or living in a car, or staying at a shelter. I haven't been to NYC for years. Any morons want to chime in please? Do you think that number is anywhere accurate? Are they perhaps only counting Manhattan? Still seems low what with 58,000 in LA even considering the climate difference.

Posted by: cfo mom at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (RfzVr)

76 "the majority (probably all) of the people involved and interviewed probably support the deinstitutionalization craze"

Maybe the Progs want less institutionalization because they're worried that they themselves will be put in one.

Posted by: Eric Hoffer's Thumb at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (IG9An)

77 67 I have nothing to back up this but if I had to guess maybe 10% or less of homeless are mentality ill, I would like to really know.
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:21 PM (aC6Sd)

I think you are way low on that estimate.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (hUqh+)

78 She made her own choices. I think she was sane enough to make them. She didn't feel homeless.


And crazy people don't feel crazy. Which is why they stop taking their meds.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (/tG8l)

79
One of the inconvenient truths is that a fair number of those mentally ill homeless got that way because of recreational drug use. Which the Legalize! crowd loves to ignore.

Problem is that we really don't know what the numbers are for mental illness caused by rec drugs, and I suspect that this is by design.

Lest anyone freak out over the heartless square dissing a little harmless weed, I'm actually in the Legalize camp. I just don't believe in sugar-coating the very real costs involved.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (eXA4G)

80 I would bet it's over 33%.
Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (/tG8l)

--------------

I'm willing to bet more than a few have mental illness due to overindulgence in booze, drugs or both.

Posted by: Blake at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (qC1Sy)

81 LA has 58,000 homeless, how many do you think are sane?
Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at March 09, 2018 06:15 PM (6Ll1u)

Nobody in LA is sane to begin with.
Posted by: Surfperch at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (B5R2a)

Beat me to it.

Way more than 58,000 knave insane in LA.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 09, 2018 06:24 PM (O7lVJ)

82 What is mental illness?

Tricky question.

Posted by: eleven at March 09, 2018 06:24 PM (+lOpA)

83 Nothing a few hundred street bleaching crews can't handle.

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:24 PM (HgMAr)

84 Some homeless people hate dick.


There. We have achieved topical confluence.

Posted by: Cicero


No. You failed to invoke Harvey Weinstein.

Posted by: pep at March 09, 2018 06:24 PM (LAe3v)

85 Homeless in Duluth: 100% chance of insanity.
Homeless in Waikiki: 10% chance of insanity.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:24 PM (hUqh+)

86 Damn phone.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (O7lVJ)

87 Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (/tG8l)

Absolutely. Most of them won't take their meds.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (MjjCt)

88 who knew you could even *access* a draft poast, let alone comment on them?

oh well...

as for mental health treatment and forcible commitment, unless you can also forcibly medicate the patient, you're wasting your time.

Resident 3vil and i both w*rked at a CA Youth Authority camp up at Paso Robles, back when our future felons* were sent to such places...

many of the brats had mental Dxs, and were prescribed meds, but, if they didn't want to take them, you couldn't compel them to, because they had the "right" to be mentally ill, thanks to some asshole lawyer and equally brain dead judge.

this, even though they were wards of the state.

(* yes, many of them were felons already, but i was referring to their life's ambition, which some were quite vocal about)

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (eWWz4)

89 Some of the bums around here ride their stolen BMX bikes around town. They're either dealing or looking for a score. We had one nutjob a few years ago ride his bike down the Centennial Trail knocking people out with a baseball bat. He got quite a few and was never identified.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (r9UYA)

90 One day last month I was waiting at a bus station and there was this really strange looking, homeless, thirty-ish guy holding the saddest looking guitar you've ever seen. This thing was literally held together with spit and duct tape. Strings looked like they hadn't been changed in years. He didn't even have a case for it. He was just sitting on a bench, head hanging down, kind of muttering to himself.

A college-age young lady finally said "Well, are you going to play something for us or not?" I mean, this Colorado mountain town isn't like NYC or some other big city where busking is a normal thing, so she probably wasn't sure if he was intending to make money or what.

But I kind of cringed, between that poor, beat-up guitar and the fact that this guy appeared to be mentally ill I figured this couldn't come to any good.

Well, the dude immediately brightened up at her request, strummed a few chords, and then broke out an absolutely stunning version of "Drift Away" that had the whole station rapt with attention, and then we all burst out in applause like you've never heard when he finished. Women had tears in their eyes, it was so good. Bunch of us dropped him a few bucks, and I spoke with him briefly-he was in my opinion not a druggie or a drunk, but obviously had some pretty serious mental problems. And he was homeless.

He was a serviceable guitarist but had a wonderful, professional-level voice and he knew how to sell the song like a pro, real deep emotion in his voice. It's a gift and he had that gift. I've been a professional musician in my misspent youth and I can tell you, this guy would not only be on stage if not for his mental issues, he'd probably be a star. It was so sad.

As my bus pulled away I looked back out the window and saw the college girl giving him a hug. I hope things get better for him.




Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (Dn4Uq)

91 Are any of the homeless technically hobos?

Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (nBr1j)

92 The mentally ill will always be with us.

I just don't want to see them wandering the streets.

Workhouses and the treadmill seem about right.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (EoRCO)

93 I'm willing to bet more than a few have mental illness due to overindulgence in booze, drugs or both.
Posted by: Blake at March 09, 2018 06:23 PM (qC1Sy)

Or vice versa.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (hUqh+)

94

Peeps need to nominate Trump, for shites and giggles. He's done more than Obama ever did.

According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, a nomination is considered valid if it is submitted by a person who falls within one of the following categories:

- Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of states
- Members of The International Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
- Members of Institut de Droit International
- University professors, professors emeriti and associate professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology, and religion; university rectors and university directors (or their equivalents); directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes
- Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Members of the main board of directors or its equivalent for organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (proposals by current members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after 1 February)
- Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee


https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/

Saturate them with Trump nominees.

Conservative professors and associate professors.

heh. Going to be tough going.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (fceHP)

95 Greetings:

One of my devastating anti-progressive mind-melts is to ask those who emote so much for the "homeless" or even "migrants" is why exactly they have locks on the windows and doors of their domiciles, residences, homes. apartments, or houses when so many need shelter from internal or external storms.


Posted by: 11B40 at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (evgyj)

96 Nobody in LA is sane to begin with.

Posted by: Surfperch at March 09, 2018 06:16 PM (B5R2a)
---
bullshit!

i'm the only normal person you know.

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (eWWz4)

97 I have been to LA on a trip but don't know is there steam grates in the streets like in NY or Philadelphia?

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (aC6Sd)

98 Hey everybody. CBD, good topic.

I always like to explain to people when this topic comes up, it's the result of policies on the left and right. ACLU fought for the rights of the mentally ill, the right wanted to streamline (and close) public hospitals, and both of these movements had sensible arguments behind them.

Also in the late 1960s and 1970s, there was a battery of legislation to restore and better assert the rights of the mentally ill, and some of that legislation was frankly sorely needed.

I learned of a lot of abuses when I was working at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. For example, at one time a parent could have a child locked up for years, if not forever, if they just knew the right things to say. You could be institutionalized for being gay or a crossdresser, or just being defiant enough, if a parent just knew the right psychological jargon of the time to use.

Homelessness, particularly among the mentally ill, bothers me a lot, but I wonder: what would we be saying about the condition of our society, if the opposite movement (i.e, pro-institutionalization forces) had come true around 40 years ago, and it was easier than ever to have some institutionalized? Don't most people here believe, as I do, the left would be using that tactic to silence their critics? I know I believe that. So unfortunately, IMHO at least, this is a problem where all the solutions just lead to problems of their own.

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:27 PM (eMKNe)

99 Haven't seen the usual local homeless/impaired over the winter. They must find something for them to overwinter. Most are crazy, but they are fed and usually pretty well dressed. One poor guy was hit while he was walking down the highway at night. The woman who hit him is still traumatized.

Posted by: mustbequantum at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (MIKMs)

100 The mentally ill will always be with us.

I just don't want to see them wandering the streets. "

See, that's rayciss.

I'm guessing you don't want to see tons of "human waste" streetside as well...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (7LY+6)

101 Time out for commenting on a draft, LMAO.

Posted by: Legion of Gloomer at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (O7lVJ)

102 Mental illness: hearing voices, neglect of self, self-harm, acting out on destructive impulses.
The list gets pretty long.
If you put too fine a filter on it, it catches a lot of fish.

Posted by: navybrat at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (w7KSn)

103 I would guess the largest part of homeless are addicts of one kind or another

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (aC6Sd)

104 89 Some of the bums around here ride their stolen BMX bikes around town.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (r9UYA)

A grown man on a small bike is a reliable indicator of bad life choices.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (hUqh+)

105 I'm willing to bet more than a few have mental illness due to overindulgence in booze, drugs or both.
Posted by: Blake

This is about me, isn't it.

HIc

...Shillary...

Posted by: Bruce at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (8ikIW)

106
Practically speaking I can see the forced commitment solution and also pratically speaking I can see it can't be done. Which means yes, they need professional care but I can not foresee a system that will do this. Only individual people making a concerted effort for another individual is it possible.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at March 09, 2018 06:29 PM (r+sAi)

107 Remember that homeless former DJ with the gorgeous announcer's voice? He was rediscovered by some guy in the biz who ran into him on the street, loved his voice, cleaned him up, took him around, got him auditions, he got jobs, and six months later...he was back on the street, homeless again. I don't believe it was mental illness, though. He was a drug addict. It was a shame, because he was talented at what he did, had been successful, lost everything, was given a second chance, but he just couldn't give up drugs.

Posted by: JuJuBee, just generally being shamey at March 09, 2018 06:29 PM (2NqXo)

108 So I guess the Hogg Kidz should take a bow getting that gun bill passed in Florida.

I can't believe A+ NRA rated Rick Scott signed that abomination. a 3 day waiting period will destroy gun sales there.

Posted by: Apache at March 09, 2018 06:29 PM (uc45P)

109 I'm convinced that people vote democrat because they feel guilty about not helping in other ways. They figure the dems will give the handouts, thus assuaging their own consciences.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (MX7xj)

110 One business in town got so fed up with homeless drug addicts shitting all over the place he put up a webcam to highlight the issue.

He calls it tweaker cam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGwNIbNtRi4

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (r9UYA)

111 I have been to LA on a trip but don't know is there steam grates in the streets like in NY or Philadelphia?
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (aC6Sd)



No, but there are stars' names in the sidewalk on Hollywood Blvd.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (Mouru)

112 I have nothing to back up this but if I had to guess maybe 10% or less of homeless are mentality ill, I would like to really know.
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:21 PM (aC6Sd)


I've read that about one-third of the homeless population is veterans. Really bothers me. The money we pour into illegal immigrants should be poured into helping our soldiers.

It really bothers me no GOP leadership has ever argued this.

I bet a lot of homeless are also illegals. And criminals.

Posted by: professor disarray, gumdrop gorilla channel at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (CcQHP)

113 Hopefully Thomas Szasz ended his days at a glory hole trying to earn money for his addictions but I imagine he died old and comfortably in a feather bed.

Posted by: Sharkman at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (K2hsm)

114 I can easily define mental illness: are you a Christian?

Posted by: Joy Behar at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (ppaKI)

115 Time was when hobos and transients and the like, stuck in inhospitable climes as winter approached, would present with symptoms of mental illness. They usually recovered by mid-Spring.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (fA1SL)

116 Boondoggle is spelled MOONBEAM

https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/290813/

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (LiyEm)

117 Was America really some fascist state before the 1970's ACLU successfully "freed" all of the crazy people?
Posted by: Maritime at March 09, 2018 05:55 PM

Yes. Just like all the old people died in the gutter before Medicare was introduced in 1965.

Posted by: JuJuBee, just generally being shamey at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (2NqXo)

118 For example, at one time a parent could have a child locked up for years, if not forever, if they just knew the right things to say. You could be institutionalized for being gay or a crossdresser, or just being defiant enough, if a parent just knew the right psychological jargon of the time to use. "

So that justified 2.5 tons of shiite on the roadside?

Seems to me that there could be a middle path there...but hey.

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (7LY+6)

119 Homelessness, particularly among the mentally ill, bothers me a lot, but
I wonder: what would we be saying about the condition of our society,
if the opposite movement (i.e, pro-institutionalization forces) had come
true around 40 years ago, and it was easier than ever to have some
institutionalized? Don't most people here believe, as I do, the left
would be using that tactic to silence their critics? I know I believe
that. So unfortunately, IMHO at least, this is a problem where all the
solutions just lead to problems of their own.


Absolutely agree. A government with enough power to put people in an institution is a very dangerous thing. Nonetheless, some things are so dire that we have to try and mitigate them while taking appropriate precautions to prohibit those who would abuse the power from actually doing so. Not easy.

Posted by: pep at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (LAe3v)

120 103 I would guess the largest part of homeless are addicts of one kind or another
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:28 PM (aC6Sd)

I would guess that the largest part of those addicts have mental illness of one kind or another.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (hUqh+)

121 How much help does Jenny Kimmel give to the homeless?

Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:31 PM (nBr1j)

122 My greatest dodge of the diagnosis of mental illness was to claim minority status. Top of the world, Ma!

Posted by: Liz "Suckcockaweea" Warren at March 09, 2018 06:31 PM (bJ0w+)

123 Conservative professors and associate professors.

heh. Going to be tough going.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at March 09, 2018 06:26 PM (fceHP)



Especially based on examples of "conservative" college professors we've had here. You know, that Mennonite Bro and the alchemist.

Posted by: buzzion at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (cAnNx)

124 118
For example, at one time a parent could have a child locked up for
years, if not forever, if they just knew the right things to say. You
could be institutionalized for being gay or a crossdresser, or just
being defiant enough, if a parent just knew the right psychological
jargon of the time to use. "


But enough about the Kennedys.

Posted by: pep at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (LAe3v)

125 I can't believe A+ NRA rated Rick Scott signed that abomination.
Posted by: Apache at March 09, 2018 06:29 PM (uc45P)

He'll make an excellent Senator.

Posted by: Yertle McTurtle at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (B5R2a)

126 the county and city of Lost Angels got bond issues passed to get the $$ needed to "address" the "homeless" problem...

the result? vagrants all over the country heard the news, and migrated here. the latest news stories are that now they don't have enough $$ to deal with the suddenly larger problem.

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (eWWz4)

127 Theres a good reason that many cities have ordnances against feeding the homeless on the streets. It encourages them.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (ELrki)

128 But enough about the Kennedys."

Is it wrong that that too was my first thought?

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (7LY+6)

129 Coming back from Baja I stopped in Dana Point. Homeless people everywhere. Next day I stopped in Ventura. Homeless people everywhere. Then I got home to Santa Cruz. Homeless people everywhere.
The only place that was not infested was Baja.

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (HgMAr)

130 So I guess the Hogg Kidz should take a bow getting that gun bill passed in Florida.



So a teenager was the main driving force in getting gun laws changed? A know nothing teenager? Man, that's pathetic if true.

Posted by: professor disarray, gumdrop gorilla channel at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (CcQHP)

131 Theres a good reason that many cities have ordnances against feeding the homeless on the streets. It encourages them.
Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at March 09, 2018 06:32 PM (ELrki)



You could make the same point about EBT cards.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (Mouru)

132 Anon, no argument here. But it's much easier said than done.

And, let's face it: who here would trust ANYONE in today's government to come up with a workable, affordable, practical solution?

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (eMKNe)

133 >>I'm willing to bet more than a few have mental illness due to overindulgence in booze, drugs or both.

>>Or vice versa.

Exactly. Which came first, the drug use or the mental illness? Think with some of the really potent street drugs out there, it make be causing mental illness for some (https://tinyurl.com/yd62uomm), but then some others are turning to street drugs and alcohol to self-medicating mental illness. What a mess.

Posted by: Lizzy at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (W+vEI)

134 pep, true, thanks.
The entire Kennedy family should probably be lobotomized, but who could tell? ;-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (eMKNe)

135 122 My greatest dodge of the diagnosis of mental illness was to claim minority status. Top of the world, Ma!
Posted by: Liz "Suckcockaweea" Warren at March 09, 2018 06:31 PM (bJ0w+)

Same here!

Posted by: Rachael Dolezal at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (B5R2a)

136 Oh. Just got home from babysitting the urchins and I thought I'd settle in with a snack and some AoSHQ.


Maybe not.

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (lwiT4)

137 A decent and humane society would not allow this to happen. It's our second-greatest national shame.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (fA1SL)

138 who here would trust ANYONE in today's government to come up with a workable, affordable, practical solution?"

Got me there...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (7LY+6)

139 I'm not saying that a large number of the homeless didn't get there because of drugs and drink (and bad life choices), but I also wonder how many were mentally ill to begin with and tried to self-medicate. In other words illness first, addiction second.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (Dn4Uq)

140 We can thank "Geraldo" and his insatiable thirst for fame for the deinstitutionalization disaster. "Willowbrook" was like crack cocaine to the virtue signalers of an older generation, saturation media coverage. The fact is there are a lot of people who need to be institutionalized, for their safety and for ours. For instance, the demented folk who have been shooting up our schools. Adam Lanza never should have been out where he could hurt people. Let's lay the blame for this where it belongs--at the feet of our beloved liberals and big-hearted do-gooders who do not understand the nature of reality.

Posted by: Caliban at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (QE8X6)

141 Upside of being crazy homeless is most have a head full of flowing hair.

Not many bald homeless roaming around.

We have one fellow in my AO who has to be in his 60's and he has hair like Rick Flair. When he rides by in his house/bike he looks magnificent.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (EoRCO)

142

Time out for commenting on a draft, LMAO.

Hell no, we won't go!!!

Posted by: Draft protester at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (IqV8l)

143 How much help does Jenny Kimmel give to the homeless?
Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:31 PM (nBr1j)

Ha. Haven't seen that before. Jenny Kimmel. Gotta remember to use it.

Posted by: professor disarray, gumdrop gorilla channel at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (CcQHP)

144 A decent and humane society would not allow this to happen"

*looks around at "society at large"*

You were saying?

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (7LY+6)

145 Jenny Kimmel works.
I also like Jimmy Kibbel.

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (eMKNe)

146 112
I have nothing to back up this but if I had to guess maybe 10% or less
of homeless are mentality ill, I would like to really know.

Maybe has to do with climate too. If you live in a cardboard box over a vent on Lower Wacker in Chicago, you have problems that you might need help with.

Posted by: dartist at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (nisXv)

147 144. Exactly so.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (fA1SL)

148 Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:27 PM (eMKNe)

Well said, love.

Who gets to decide who is crazy enough to lock up?

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (MjjCt)

149 I use Jimmy Kibble.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (Dn4Uq)

150 Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:25 PM (Dn4Uq)

Very nice, thoughtful post.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (8+Ozj)

151 Crazy,alcoholics or drug addicts make up the homeless.Very few people just "down on their luck".

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (LiyEm)

152 Caliban, Geraldo's Willowbrook expose was in the early 1970s. 1974, I believe.

From what I've read/heard, that place really did need to be shut down; they were abusing mentally ill CHILDREN there. Unfortunately the whole thing became sensationalized, however, and yes, society went too far in the opposite direction in a lot of ways.

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (eMKNe)

153 Who gets to decide who is crazy enough to lock up?"

We do such a bang up job with existing lock ups...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (7LY+6)

154 I use Jimmy Kibble.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (Dn4Uq)


for what?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (Mouru)

155 The Philippines has areas set aside for squatters. They're horrible, squalid places but it people places for shelter. And people can live there for almost nothing. Many have low paying jobs that offer the prospect of moving out.

Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (nBr1j)

156 Tammy, thank you!

I would not want California mental health authorities today to get to decide whether I, as an American and a conservative, get to keep my freedom or not.

Posted by: qdpsteve at March 09, 2018 06:38 PM (eMKNe)

157 I've read that about one-third of the homeless population is veterans. Really bothers me. The money we pour into illegal immigrants should be poured into helping our soldiers.

It really bothers me no GOP leadership has ever argued this.

I bet a lot of homeless are also illegals. And criminals.
Posted by: professor disarray, gumdrop gorilla channel at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM (CcQHP)

I've heard there are more veterans homeless as a percentage than in the general population but every single time and its probably true but every time I see a guy holding a homeless veteran sign begging for money he can't name his former units, MOS, or duty stations. Same with the fakers wearing pieces of military uniform that they got from goodwill. Most of those guys are shitheels like the guy you see in three different places in a day holding the "need money for gas" sign. Just running a scam to feed an addiction.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:39 PM (hUqh+)

158 Funny and cute dog video

https://youtu.be/L3M1Him7JMU

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:39 PM (LiyEm)

159 I am the GREATEST!!!

Posted by: Barack O. at March 09, 2018 06:40 PM (B5R2a)

160 Who gets to decide who is crazy enough to lock up?

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (MjjCt)
---
Me!

next question?

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:40 PM (eWWz4)

161
I'm convinced that people vote democrat because they feel guilty about not helping in other ways. They figure the dems will give the handouts, thus assuaging their own consciences.
Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 09, 2018 06:30 PM



Yep.

They outsource their compassion.

Posted by: Hands at March 09, 2018 06:40 PM (EzdLW)

162 Boondoggle is spelled MOONBEAM

and Moonbeam is spelled FLASHBACK

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:40 PM (HgMAr)

163 154 for what?

Dog food, of course!

150 Very nice, thoughtful post.

Thanks! I thought I recorded it on my phone but somehow managed to screw it up, as I discovered too late. I so wanted to show it to my friends.



Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:41 PM (Dn4Uq)

164
The Philippines has areas set aside for squatters. They're horrible, squalid places but it people places for shelter.
Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM



We could do the same here.

We'll call it "Portland".

Posted by: Hands at March 09, 2018 06:41 PM (EzdLW)

165 We have one fellow in my AO who has to be in his 60's and he has hair like Rick Flair. When he rides by in his house/bike he looks magnificent.
Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 09, 2018 06:35 PM (EoRCO)

I saw a homeless man drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's, his hair was perfect.

Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 06:41 PM (50gG9)

166 162 Boondoggle is spelled MOONBEAM

and Moonbeam is spelled FLASHBACK
Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:40 PM (HgMAr)


Now "RECYCLING?"

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:42 PM (taX7G)

167 The Philippines has areas set aside for squatters. They're horrible, squalid places but it people places for shelter.
Posted by: Northernlurker-Teem at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM


We could do the same here.

We'll call it "Portland".
Posted by: Hands at March 09, 2018 06:41 PM (EzdLW)

Heh

Posted by: Northernlurker but call me Teem. at March 09, 2018 06:42 PM (nBr1j)

168 >>Who gets to decide who is crazy enough to lock up?

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (MjjCt)


In the case of the Parkland murderer, everyone who knew him.

Posted by: Caliban at March 09, 2018 06:42 PM (QE8X6)

169 I could easily think veterans are 1/3, that bothers me greatly, so depending on mentality ill definition with veterans and drug addicts ( alcohol included) that probably does add up to 75% .

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:42 PM (aC6Sd)

170 You could make the same point about EBT cards.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at March 09, 2018 06:33 PM (Mouru)

===

Check out my hashtag

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 09, 2018 06:42 PM (EZebt)

171 Obama's line when he used to go on dates.

'Enough me talking about myself. You can talk about me. '

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 06:43 PM (2DOZq)

172 I would bet it's over 33%.

Posted by: rickb223 at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (/tG8l)

I would bet it's close to 50%, but I don't have any studies to back that up. Just a gut feeling.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at March 09, 2018 06:43 PM (MX7xj)

173 Great post CBD. I can tell you stories about the homeless being released from the state mental hospital (Moccasin Bend) right onto the streets of downtown Chattanooga that are some sad shit if you were aware of it or witnessed it happening. A good friend`s brother was a frequent 'guest' at MB and I learned first hand how it operated under the guidelines of no forced confinement. They couldn`t dump them out if it were below 32 so they would load up the van in the afternoon in winter when it got above freezing and force them out on a corner. The drivers were horrible..."Get the fuck out. You are home", was a usual remark as they opened the side doors. Out onto the street, no money, no food, and if lucky a thin donated jacket, and most of all no hope. This was the results of court orders demanding they be released to make the liberals feel good about themselves...

Posted by: Tentotwo at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (yhf6w)

174 There's a Youtube channel called "Everett Tweakers" that records the homeless population in Everett, WA. I discovered it late one insomnia-plagued night:

https://tinyurl.com/ydho4frb

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (Dn4Uq)

175 I've heard there are more veterans homeless as a percentage than in the general population but every single time and its probably true but every time I see a guy holding a homeless veteran sign begging for money he can't name his former units, MOS, or duty stations. Same with the fakers wearing pieces of military uniform that they got from goodwill. Most of those guys are shitheels like the guy you see in three different places in a day holding the "need money for gas" sign. Just running a scam to feed an addiction.
Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:39 PM (hUqh+)


My favorite used to be the "Vietnam veterans" who were in the 40s, and hence even money not to have been weaned by the end of our involvement in the Vietnam War.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (taX7G)

176 We've got a famous homeless guy, and old "pro" surfer living under the Boardwalk. Last year he was arrested for suspicion of murdering his homeless buddy he slept next to. They released him.

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (HgMAr)

177 I don't buy that 1/3 of all homeless people are veterans. Not for a moment. Very likely overrepresented in the homeless population but not even close to 1/3.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (hUqh+)

178 See, here's the thing. A person can choose to live an unconventional life without being mentally ill, or likely to harm himself or anyone at all. Such people, provided they cause no harm, should be free to live as they choose. Also, a person can be 'mentally ill' without being a threat to anyone or anything. Here, too, they should be free to choose.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (fA1SL)

179 Who gets to decide who is crazy enough to lock up?

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:36 PM (MjjCt)

It's like porn. You know it when you see it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (2DOZq)

180 Had another homeless fella named Roy who used to hang with us at a watering hole nearby. He didn't drink anything but Coca-Cola.

He lived in a Pontiac Le Mans in a friend's carport until they had a falling out. SS Disability only goes so far.

Last time I saw Roy he had a used Buick LeSabre he was living in behind a local Subway shop with two other urban outdoorsmen..

I congratulated Roy on his new house. He told me to go screw myself.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (EoRCO)

181 yeah, i call BS on the homeless "vets"... there are some, but a majority of the ones i've talked to over the years were obvious fakes.

i was coming home from an extended drill weekend of fun on Planet Irwin and there was a guy at the top of the ramp, with a sign asking for money for food.

i rolled down my window and offered him a couple of MREs.

his response? "i'm not eating that crap..."

my response? "fuck you asshole, you obviously aren't hungry."

here in Lost Angels, a large portion of the "homeless" are that way by choice: they don't have any bills, and can spend their days and nights getting high and/or having sex. it's a lifestyle choice.

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:45 PM (eWWz4)

182 I used to know people who found shelter from the cold in dumpsters.

Posted by: Northernlurker but call me Teem. at March 09, 2018 06:45 PM (nBr1j)

183 175 Reminds me of the Eddie Murphy scene in Trading Places

https://youtu.be/DKtjBqJ4NxA

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:45 PM (LiyEm)

184 http://bit.ly/2oXDiMa
----------
Chairman Nunes Expands Probe Into Hillary's Phony Dossier With Letter to Obama Advisor Linked to Fusion GPS

Posted by: DeploraBOT at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (y3aQB)

185 The 'Who gets to decide who is mentality ill'is the slippery slope, I trust no government agencies not to weaponize that question. You see there have been many who say if your on the 'no fly list' you shpuld be stopped from buying firearms.

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (aC6Sd)

186 Who sets the criteria for mental illness? Who decides if a person meets that criteria? Who decides what type of facility that person goes to? There are levels, you know? Who decides on when the person is well enough to leave? Who pays? What if an angry leftist neighbor lodges "mental health" issues about you to the police? What if your children want you declared mentally ill so they can take your stuff?


WHO DECIDES THIS? I want to know this.

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (lwiT4)

187 So a teenager was the main driving force in getting gun laws changed? A know nothing teenager? Man, that's pathetic if true.
Posted by: professor disarray, gumdrop gorilla channel

_______

The governor said the Parkland kids were why he signed the bill.

Fucking asshole, I doubt he wins that upcoming Senate race anyway if he runs, but he has no problem throwing people under the bus to try and get there.

Posted by: Apache at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (uc45P)

188 Funny how when mentally ill, PTSD, and abuse victims are brought up, the other side of the mental health and abuser coin is left out.

Fine we lock up these people, I want all abusers, high functioning to low functioning Cluster B personality types (Narcasissic, Borderline, Psychopath, and Sociopaths) locked away as well involuntary.

I know for a fact our society would be better off without the latter roaming the streets and public free.

Posted by: dindu nuffin at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (ipFbG)

189 >>There's a Youtube channel called "Everett Tweakers"

Yep. I'm watching the chat now. Someone wants to corner Tweaker Trading cards. It seems 'twitchy foot' is in the running for a rookie card.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (r9UYA)

190 I believe the Soviet Union used to call Christians mentally ill as an excuse for jailing them.

Posted by: Northernlurker but call me Teem. at March 09, 2018 06:47 PM (nBr1j)

191 It's like porn. You know it when you see it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (2DOZq)
==============

Really?

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:47 PM (lwiT4)

192 If you find yourself actually sleeping in a dumpster, you've hit the rockiest of rock bottom. Jeez, can you imagine?

If I ever got that low I'd find SOME alternative, but never a dumpster. Good Lord.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:48 PM (Dn4Uq)

193 WHO DECIDES THIS? I want to know this"

Who decides who goes to jail? Who decides who's arrested?

It's a difficult question, and as such proved the truism of "hard cases making bad law"...

Posted by: Anon a mouse at March 09, 2018 06:48 PM (7LY+6)

194 >>> Fine we lock up these people, I want all abusers, high functioning to low functioning Cluster B personality types (Narcasissic, Borderline, Psychopath, and Sociopaths) locked away as well involuntary.

We can't allow this, for obvious reasons.

Posted by: Congress at March 09, 2018 06:48 PM (cHbmY)

195 My favorite used to be the "Vietnam veterans" who were in the 40s, and hence even money not to have been weaned by the end of our involvement in the Vietnam War.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:44 PM (taX7G)

Or the "Vietnam Vets" wearing BDUs or ACUs.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:48 PM (hUqh+)

196 Rick Scott folded faster than Kenny Rogers with a bad poker hand....

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (LiyEm)

197 If you find yourself actually sleeping in a dumpster, you've hit the rockiest of rock bottom. Jeez, can you imagine?

====================


Why yes. Yes I can. And look at me, all living a life and everything.

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (lwiT4)

198 Dindo: if we lock up all those types, Washington DC would be a ghost town!

Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (4ZfEW)

199 Now their talking about Tweaker Action figures.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (r9UYA)

200 186 Who sets the criteria for mental illness? Who decides if a person meets that criteria? Who decides what type of facility that person goes to? There are levels, you know? Who decides on when the person is well enough to leave? Who pays? What if an angry leftist neighbor lodges "mental health" issues about you to the police? What if your children want you declared mentally ill so they can take your stuff?


WHO DECIDES THIS? I want to know this.
Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (lwiT4)

Marxists do. They invented psychology and psychiatry.

Oh I agree with your point by the way.

This article clearly punishes victims while allowing the dangerous abusers and Cluster B personality types run free. Also men would be locked up because there are zero resources available to us..... Look at how well the VA treats men.

Posted by: dindu nuffin at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (ipFbG)

201 151 Crazy,alcoholics or drug addicts make up the homeless.Very few people just "down on their luck".
Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:37 PM (LiyEm)


This.

"Orange County Public Works released eye-popping figures Thursday, March 8, on the total amount of debris, needles and hazardous waste removed when crews cleaned up the area along the Santa Ana River Trail once populated by the encampments of homeless people.

"Here’s what was collected between Jan. 22 and March 3 from a more than two-mile stretch of bike trail roughly from I-5 in Orange to Ball Road in Anaheim, according to OC Public Works spokesman Shannon Widor:
404 tons of debris
13,950 needles
5,279 pounds of hazardous waste (human waste)

https://tinyurl.com/yburf46q

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:49 PM (taX7G)

202 Nood

Posted by: steevy at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (LiyEm)

203 " I believe the Soviet Union used to call Christians mentally ill as an excuse for jailing them."

They got one right?

Posted by: Charlie Barker at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (7dFeK)

204 139 I'm not saying that a large number of the homeless didn't get there because of drugs and drink (and bad life choices), but I also wonder how many were mentally ill to begin with and tried to self-medicate. In other words illness first, addiction second.
Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (Dn4Uq)

It's not uncommon.

Posted by: Insomniac - chopped liver at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (NWiLs)

205 Who decides who goes to jail? Who decides who's arrested?

==================


Government authorities. There's a cheery thought.

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (lwiT4)

206 190. In fairness, they treated the truly mentally ill even worse. Mental illness arises from the conditions of alienation and exploitation of the capitalist system. Ergo, mentally ill people were in fact counter-revolutionaries; i.e., they were faking it or had driven themselves insane with their vicious and perverted counter-revolutionary thoughts.

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, 501st Kremlin Jewbot Gvardii at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (fA1SL)

207 lots of people living in cars and RVs here in Lost Angels too...

there is talk of the City creating night time RV parks where they could pull in at night, drain waste tanks, etc, sleep, then leave in the morning.

i guy i know, who has a very nice house up in Laurel Canyon ($$$) asked me what prices for RV's were like... so i told him.

he then mused on the idea that he could sell his house, buy an RV, and no longer have to pay property taxes, etc...

perverse incentives garner perverse results.

Posted by: redc1c4 at March 09, 2018 06:50 PM (eWWz4)

208 Yep. I'm watching the chat now. Someone wants to corner Tweaker Trading cards. It seems 'twitchy foot' is in the running for a rookie card.
Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (r9UYA)

The chatters give them all nicknames, like Pinky and Slo-Mo and Anchor and Thor (he does look like Thor.)

Really weird thing is, some of them have actually sat down for interviews. Minor YT stars, but still homeless. They're all druggies and prostitutes and such though. Maybe a FEW are genuinely just mentally ill, but the vast majority are not.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:51 PM (Dn4Uq)

209 139 I'm not saying that a large number of the homeless didn't get there because of drugs and drink (and bad life choices), but I also wonder how many were mentally ill to begin with and tried to self-medicate. In other words illness first, addiction second.
Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at March 09, 2018 06:34 PM (Dn4Uq)

This.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 06:51 PM (hUqh+)

210 Well the depths of a dumpster is warmer than minus 30.

One of the guys I met who spent the odd night in a dumpster seemed to straighten his life out. He even got married and living in an apartment. Then he killed and ate his wife.

Posted by: Northernlurker but call me Teem. at March 09, 2018 06:51 PM (nBr1j)

211 I'm planning on retiring to a permanent road trip with my F350. Will I then be "homeless"?

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:52 PM (HgMAr)

212 I think she's a poor example to make the case for forced institutionalization.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:22 PM (MjjCt)

Yeah, that nutless wonder CBD didn't take much of a stand on that.

It's like he doesn't think there is a clear and unambiguous solution or something.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 06:53 PM (wYseH)

213 Wth: you will need an address of some sort.

Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:53 PM (4ZfEW)

214 This sounds like something Jesus Christ taught Christians to do with the homeless and mentally ill. / sarc

Posted by: dindu nuffin at March 09, 2018 06:54 PM (ipFbG)

215 185 The 'Who gets to decide who is mentality ill'is the slippery slope, I trust no government agencies not to weaponize that question. You see there have been many who say if your on the 'no fly list' you shpuld be stopped from buying firearms.
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (aC6Sd)


Yeah, but ...

... you really need to see the homeless /lunatic/ druggie problem at firsthand to appreciate the problem. It's epidemic here in California, with no harsh winters to discourage sleeping on the streets.

We really need to do something about this, the "something" being bringing back involuntary institutionalization (oh, and bugger zombie Ken Kesey, who has SO much to answer for).

First thing: we need the Supremes to revisit O'Connor v. Donaldson.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:54 PM (taX7G)

216 I had a crazy lady live a few house down from me in our circle. She had many episodes of throwing dishes and glass ware into the street from her second story. One night she came around the corner in her car and hit a house gas meter instead of making the turn, backed up and proceeded to her house and locked herself in. The entire circle had to be evacuated until hazard team could shut the gas off . The Police came but did not do a thing because she was mentally ill. I would have been in the back of the police car if I had done it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 06:54 PM (2DOZq)

217 Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:53 PM (4ZfEW)
.........

My daughter has agreed to let me use her as "home base".

Posted by: wth at March 09, 2018 06:54 PM (HgMAr)

218 >>213 Wth: you will need an address of some sort.

South Dakota is a very good state to claim a domicile. Many tax and insurance benefits. We'll be SD residents early next year. We'll have a PO Box and a mail forwarding service.

Posted by: Under Fire at March 09, 2018 06:55 PM (r9UYA)

219 Research mental health institutions before they passed that idiot law - Bing or Google should give equal results.

Those institutions were almost self supporting and the inmates did not ***hate*** being there.
They raised their own food and sold the balance.
They had lives that meant something, did not feel incarcerated but at the same time lived in a controlled environment.

IT'S THE LIBERALS WHO PUT THESE
POOR DISFUNCTIONAL PEOPLE ON THE STREETS.

Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 06:55 PM (I3+56)

220 This is a subject near, and incredibly dear, to my heart.

I have a friend named Juanita, very similar to Nakesha.

Only difference is, it was California, and she did have a car. So she had some shelter.

But she was extremely intelligent. Also molested as a child. Very paranoid and got secret messages in books (and songs and billboards and so forth) but otherwise you would never know she was not normal. Not a druggie or a drinker. Knew she was filthy, and would occasionally (very occasionally) allow one of us to let her use our shower.

Knew when she was in the midst of a particularly unstable spell, and would hide herself away a little more deeply.

I honestly never knew if she was mentally ill ( I mean, obviously she was to an extent, and the paranoia was real, but that was really the only odd thing about her, and she knew it was odd) or if she had been so wounded emotionally that she just could not bear to be in close physical proximity with anyone.

In which case it would have been beyond cruel to force her into any kind of facility.

She was not what I would consider to be overly unhappy living in her car. She was resigned to it, and I believe there was a certain freedom attached to it for her.

I lost track of her years ago, as did her family and other friends.

So I get the concern and I think plenty of people probably do need to be committed. But I also think society has always had these folks, there are probably a certain percentage per thousands. Just getting more for a variety of reasons, and they congregate in the cities, and especially the warmer ones.

*Struggles mightily to avoid typing "Not all who wander are lost" *


Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (MjjCt)

221 Posted by: dindu nuffin at March 09, 2018 06:54 PM (ipFbG)

DATS AIGHT!

Posted by: Wewuz Kangs at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (50gG9)

222 The Police came but did not do a thing because she was mentally ill.
======================


If you are an obvious danger to yourself or others, police have every right to intervene and take that person to a hospital. Three day hold.

Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (lwiT4)

223 Galveston, with its weather and being the last bus stop ( tho the busses are no more) has long had a big homeless population. Salvation Army does what it can.

Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (4ZfEW)

224 Just read the Headline cause...come on. But in a club in Rome waiting for a flight back and at the next table were a couple from Portland. I said something about Portland being a shit hole with all the homeless (some asking for money for weed, not well...food). They said "well we're tolerant about that sort of thing." Assholes. Turned out they had moved OUT of Portland. Huh. Probably to f**uck up wherever they moved to no doubt.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (70cRb)

225 A guy came up to me in a parking lot with a gas can and said he needed gas money to take his wife someplace. I offered to take him to the gas station and fill his can with gas. He walked away.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (IqV8l)

226 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 06:53 PM (wYseH)

Oh, CBD, I am sorry if that come off in a way I did not intend! Please accept my apologies.

See my post just above. I was in a hurry to post and didn't mean to sound rude.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:58 PM (MjjCt)

227 Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (lwiT4)

They could have. They didn't.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 06:58 PM (2DOZq)

228 185 The 'Who gets to decide who is mentality ill'is the slippery slope, I trust no government agencies not to weaponize that question. You see there have been many who say if your on the 'no fly list' you shpuld be stopped from buying firearms.
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 06:46 PM (aC6Sd)


I'm concerned about weaponization as well, but disagree about the "no fly" list. If someone's on it, I assume there's a good reason for it, and have no problem with denying him access to firearms. Society's right to be see tomorrow morning supercedes his right to go plinking, which is pretty much what we're talking about here.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 06:59 PM (taX7G)

229 Nope. Not even close. But that's what we're all supposed to believe.

Posted by: Anon a mouse
*****************

Liberals construct a narrative that fits their purpose not reality.

Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 06:59 PM (I3+56)

230 South Dakota, I will have to check that out.

Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:59 PM (4ZfEW)

231 225 A guy came up to me in a parking lot with a gas can and said he needed gas money to take his wife someplace. I offered to take him to the gas station and fill his can with gas. He walked away.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (IqV8l)

I've seen bums on their break talking on their cell phone. When they are asking for money it is 100% a scam.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 07:01 PM (hUqh+)

232 Posted by: grammie winger - at March 09, 2018 06:47 PM (lwiT4)

Yes some people can't see the forest cause of the trees. I know you have spoken of your own issues but you don't have to get defensive. No one is dismissing the complicated issues in handling mental illness.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 09, 2018 07:02 PM (2DOZq)

233 223 Galveston, with its weather and being the last bus stop ( tho the busses are no more) has long had a big homeless population. Salvation Army does what it can.
Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 06:56 PM (4ZfEW)


Coastal California is inundated with the homeless. Yeah, SF is the epicenter, but LA is not far behind, and SD not far behind LA. Even our little burg has a problem with them, which the cops keep under control by carting the homeless off to Oceanside, which has a serious homeless problem around the pier. To the point where it's getting scary for women to go there.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:03 PM (taX7G)

234 If someone's on it [no fly list], I assume there's a good reason for it, and have no problem with denying him access to firearms.
********************************


They put Steve Hays (Fox) because he bought a one way ticket to (Turkey?).

If we had rational people administering the TSA and other alphabets making those decisions I would agree with you.

Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (I3+56)

235 See my post just above. I was in a hurry to post and didn't mean to sound rude.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 06:58 PM (MjjCt)

Not at all! I was agreeing with you. I just wanted to point out that I wasn't really gung-ho about the whole forced-institutionalization thing.

[pro-tip: It is fair to assume that I am at least partly sarcastic in everything I say]

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (wYseH)

236 Yikes, Jay.

Posted by: Texican ette at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (4ZfEW)

237 IT'S THE LIBERALS WHO PUT THESE
POOR DISFUNCTIONAL PEOPLE ON THE STREETS.

Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 06:55 PM (I3+56)

Exactly. Geraldo Rivera for one by doing a sneaky f*cking one sided 'expose' about Willowbrook Institution in NY. Then all of them were closed and the mentally ill were sent out into a world they weren't able ot handle to be abused by predators. Just sayin'.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (70cRb)

238
Coastal California is inundated with the homeless. Yeah, SF is the epicenter, but LA is not far behind, and SD not far behind LA. Even our little burg has a problem with them, which the cops keep under control by carting the homeless off to Oceanside, which has a serious homeless problem around the pier. To the point where it's getting scary for women to go there.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:03 PM (taX7G)


The Peoples Republic of Santa Monica is particularly bad.

Posted by: Deplorable Male Logic at March 09, 2018 07:05 PM (lKyWE)

239 [pro-tip: It is fair to assume that I am at least partly sarcastic in everything I say]

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (wYseH)

I for one am surprised.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at March 09, 2018 07:06 PM (70cRb)

240 We're willowed but Deplorable Jay congressman have gotten on the no fly list just for traveling to certain countries

Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 07:07 PM (aC6Sd)

241 Coastal California is inundated with the homeless.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:03 PM (taX7G)

It was getting really bad when I left, and the last time I was in San Francisco (2016) it was much, much worse.

I don't think anyone who hasn't seen California's homeless problem up close and personal can understand just how bad it is.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 07:08 PM (wYseH)

242 If we had rational people administering the TSA and other alphabets making those decisions I would agree with you.
Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 07:04 PM (I3+56)


That's a personnel problem, not a policy problem. It's important to deal with a problem on the appropriate conceptual level.

With different personnel, and the same policy, everything would be fine. With any personnel, and a bad policy, we would have problems.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:08 PM (taX7G)

243 I've seen bums on their break talking on their cell phone. When they are asking for money it is 100% a scam.

Posted by: Mr. Feverhead at March 09, 2018 07:01 PM (hUqh+)

Yeah, like kids who get free lunch (and dental and everything) and have IPhones and flatties.

Posted by: Cannibal Bob at March 09, 2018 07:09 PM (70cRb)

244 To the point where it's getting scary for women to go there.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:03 PM (taX7G)


Well, A lot of women vote Democrat in Cali. Sometimes there is a price to be paid*.

*Republicans don't get that. Twenty years ago they were yapping about how this bad policy or legislation is so bad, and some day it will cause something really, really bad. However. they never acknowledge that bad has ever occurred, and now they even champion the policies they once claimed were so destructive.

Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 07:12 PM (50gG9)

245 Then there was my Daddy. (And yes I know the thread is over)

Homeless more than once because he couldn't control his drinking, and burner hundreds of bridges, including bridges built by the likes of Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, and George Jones.

Lemme tell you, son; when George fuckin' Jones has had enough of your drinking, you have a got a gawt-damned problem.

So I think homelessness can be mental health, is more often substance abuse, and also a gray area of people who are maybe a lil whacked, but not so whacked that they need to be committed.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:13 PM (MjjCt)

246 Oh and I meant to add that beggars are almost always faking it.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:14 PM (MjjCt)

247 Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:14 PM (MjjCt)

Just to make sure....

I wasn't offended in the least by your comment.

I agree with you for the most part.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 07:15 PM (wYseH)

248 Nood, but linkish and comment link fubar?

Posted by: flounderbot, rebel, vulgarian, deplorabot, winner at March 09, 2018 07:15 PM (Dp6qK)

249 240 We're willowed but Deplorable Jay congressman have gotten on the no fly list just for traveling to certain countries
Posted by: Skip at March 09, 2018 07:07 PM (aC6Sd)


OK, that's silly, but again: a personnel problem.

The alternative extreme is what we're putting with here, namely, scary malodorous people aggressively panhandling passersby when they're not having heated arguments with people no one else can see.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:16 PM (taX7G)

250 Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at March 09, 2018 07:15 PM (wYseH)


Ah, good! I was like... damn, I stay gone for a few weeks, come back and offend CDB straight off!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:18 PM (MjjCt)

251 So I think homelessness can be mental health, is more often substance abuse, and also a gray area of people who are maybe a lil whacked, but not so whacked that they need to be committed.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:13 PM (MjjCt)


Numerous studies have indicated that ca. 70% of the homeless are mentally ill. Seriously mentally ill. The other 30% are just garden variety druggies/ alkies.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:18 PM (taX7G)

252 Well, A lot of women vote Democrat in Cali. Sometimes there is a price to be paid*.

Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 07:12 PM (50gG9)


My wife is one of them. And she's no Democrat.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:19 PM (taX7G)

253 I saw a homeless man drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's, his hair was perfect.
bip

Posted by: Kactus at March 09, 2018 07:20 PM (Jtvlx)

254 Freedom is not free, and that includes the freedom to fail as a human. There is a societal cost. Involuntary commitments ARE a form of imprisonment. I think that locking an innocent person up is one of the worst things a society can do.

That said, I do think that ICs could help a significant number of people. It's a real quandary, and there may never be a good solution.

Bottom line is I just don't trust gubmint enough to let them decide my, or someone else's, capacity to function. That kind of power always gets corrupted and abused, sooner or later.

Posted by: GnuBreed at March 09, 2018 07:20 PM (0ogQG)

255 Numerous studies have indicated that ca. 70% of the homeless are mentally ill. Seriously mentally ill. The other 30% are just garden variety druggies/ alkies.
Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:18 PM (taX7G)

Saw a video once, and it was a volunteer trying to give food to the homeless. She had to leave it on the bench and hide in the bushes to watch. The homeless guy eventually wandered over to the bench and picked up the sandwich, and ate it. It was like an episode of wild kingdom. The whole production took like 15 minutes.

Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 07:20 PM (50gG9)

256 I've seen bums on their break talking on their cell phone."

---

There's a notorious McDonald's in my city where our very finest congregate to see and be seen.

One day, while I was having a coffee, I listened to a group of homeless men talking. One (who was clearly the king of this group), was lecturing the others on the various merits and availability of different smart "Obamaphones." His word, not mine.

Bet you liked it better when you thought they were just scammin' ya 'cause they had smartphones. Turns out it wasn't them...

It was your Democrat-voting neighbors. You know... the ones with housing (that we also buy, a lot of the time).

At least you can say "No" when the homeless want money.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at March 09, 2018 07:24 PM (UiRxW)

257 Saw a video once, and it was a volunteer trying to give food to the homeless. She had to leave it on the bench and hide in the bushes to watch. The homeless guy eventually wandered over to the bench and picked up the sandwich, and ate it. It was like an episode of wild kingdom. The whole production took like 15 minutes.
Posted by: DFCtomm at March 09, 2018 07:20 PM (50gG9)


Re the Orange County encampment I linked above: they took the homeless from the Santa Ana River enbankment - we ourselves have seen the camp from the coastal train - and put them up in hotels. (I'm not making this up.)

Now they're interviewing these worthies to find out what services the city could provide.

Out of 350 interviewed so far, half told the interviewers to pound sand. The other half didn't turn up for the interview.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:26 PM (taX7G)

258 Bottom line is I just don't trust gubmint enough to let them decide my, or someone else's, capacity to function. That kind of power always gets corrupted and abused, sooner or later.
Posted by: GnuBreed at March 09, 2018 07:20 PM (0ogQG)


Then celebrate the mass shootings as a cost of doing business.

We recently had a nutjob try to shoot up - and blow up - a nearby elementary school. His neighbors had called the cops on him ca. 40 times, but legally the cops' hands were tied. Thanks, Supremes!

Finally, when he tried to murder elementary school children, THEN they had the legal basis to bust him. But not before. Because then he'd proven unequivocally that he posed a threat to others.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:30 PM (taX7G)

259 De-institutionalism created the homeless problem. 1979 - the supreme court ruled we couldn't involuntarily institutionalize anyone.

The resulting homeless problem was then blamed on Reagan.

Posted by: Dean Wormer at March 09, 2018 07:31 PM (fftfA)

260 Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:18 PM (taX7G)

I think you can be serioulsy mentally ill and still be fine living on the streets.

The issue is (beyond their won safety) at what point them living on the street becomes detrimental to society. And that definitely includes the optics, in my opinion. Even Ms. Nakesha above, i the picture with her things; who the hell wants to see all that, let alone smell it?

A few is not the end of the world and in fact I think people are happy to help and lets face it, she was not anywhere near starving if she was 255 pounds at 5 feet tall. So we can absorb some, a lot, even. I stuffed Christmas stockings every year for a homeless man and woman when I lived in CA, and I noticed they had plenty of other Christmasy things, so I know other people reached out, too.

But entire blocks of them is getting to be a huge issue. And they are not all of them harmless.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:33 PM (MjjCt)

261 A few is not the end of the world and in fact I think people are happy to help and lets face it, she was not anywhere near starving if she was 255 pounds at 5 feet tall. So we can absorb some, a lot, even. I stuffed Christmas stockings every year for a homeless man and woman when I lived in CA, and I noticed they had plenty of other Christmasy things, so I know other people reached out, too.

But entire blocks of them is getting to be a huge issue. And they are not all of them harmless.
Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:33 PM (MjjCt)


I call it the "Vesuvius problem." Or it might be called the "San Andreas fault problem." Namely, that most of the time, there is no problem. But suddenly, unexpectedly, without the slightest warning, what wasn't a problem at all becomes a VERY BIG problem.

It's hard to tell who is going to generate that problem, much less when. But I think society has a right to protect itself. It's the same reason we don't let people keep dangerous animals on their property.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:38 PM (taX7G)

262 But entire blocks of them is getting to be a huge issue. And they are not all of them harmless.
Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:33 PM (MjjCt)


This is the problem with coastal California. The encampment I linked to above extended for two miles.

What triggered the cleanup? A murder of a cyclist (IIRC) that took place there by some nutjob.

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 07:40 PM (taX7G)

263 Pleading guilty is the right thing to do. Pauly needed his ribs butterflied.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/politics/rene-boucher-rand-paul-guilty-plea/

Posted by: Charlie Barker at March 09, 2018 07:40 PM (7dFeK)

264 Agree, Jay. On all counts! And I certainly have no real answer.

I AM starting to wonder if drug hotels may not be the way to go. Set 'em up like prisons, out in the deserts somewhere and give 'em all the drugs they want. I keep hearing how cheap heroin and meth is. Junkies don't eat much. Let 'em OD. They'll eventually take those genes out of the gene pool, too.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at March 09, 2018 07:45 PM (MjjCt)

265 The left has the solution for mental illness and the homeless. Its the same solution they have for us. Camps and showers. When we're all gone they won't have the homeless problem any longer - which will be their proof that we - the deplorable - were the ones causing it.

Posted by: An Observation at March 09, 2018 07:48 PM (E01pn)

266
Pleading guilty is the right thing to do. Pauly needed his ribs butterflied.


From the CNN fake news: The Defendant claimed it was over landscaping and not politics. They just can't resist bullshitting in every single story.


Posted by: An Observation at March 09, 2018 07:53 PM (E01pn)

267 Pleading guilty is the right thing to do. Pauly needed his ribs butterflied.

Posted by: Charlie Barker
***********************

That's disgusting.

Posted by: gNewt at March 09, 2018 07:58 PM (I3+56)

268 From the CNN fake news: The Defendant claimed it was over landscaping and not politics. They just can't resist bullshitting in every single story.

Posted by: An Observation at March 09, 2018 07:53 PM (E01pn)


"No, goddamnit! The rhododendron belongs here, not there. WTF is wrong with you?"

Posted by: Deplorable Jay Guevara at March 09, 2018 08:01 PM (taX7G)

269 People still see Geraldo Rivera's investigation into the psychiatric hospital, Willowbrook-I believe the late 70's early 80's-as the litmus test for all such hospitals. There needs to be a revamping of the hiring requirements. Stringent background checks on everyone that works there. There must be follow up observations monthly. Problem with this is that people don't want taxes raised to accommodate the mental ill population. Interesting how they don't mind paying for the millions and millions of dollars most states are paying to deal with the illegal immigrant take over of our country. I truly despise Democrats and self employed that hire illegals. there are massive amounts of those companies.

Posted by: ripley at March 10, 2018 10:10 AM (E9t0I)

270 Determining that a crazy person is fine so long as he takes his meds, and then turning him loose and expecting him to keep taking those meds (and therefore remain "Fine")is an idea so stupid that only an intellectual could have come up with it.

Posted by: Captain Mongo at March 10, 2018 02:35 PM (VJIV4)

271 As a resident of California, I am not so forgiving. I remember the pressures applied by civil liberties groups that led
to the dumping of the mentally ill on the streets of this state. For a couple of years, I worked as an orderly in a private
sanitarium. The dirty little secret with the mentally ill is that most, if not all also have substance abuse issues.

Having flooded the streets with homeless, the Democrats then used the issue to attack Governor Reagan, who
signed it to prevent a veto override. This entire crisis
has been brought to you by the Democrat party.
The next time you are shuffling human feces and drug needles out of your way in L.A., San Francisco, or
Orange County, remember these facts!

Posted by: Leonard Jones at March 10, 2018 03:02 PM (mxgwX)

272 Hate to see schizophrenics digging through dumpsters and eating coffee grounds.
Posted by: KT at March 09, 2018 06:02 PM (BVQ+1)
*********
Recently we had a paste eating Vice President.

Posted by: torabora at March 10, 2018 06:08 PM (K0z2U)

273 If PDJT signs a peace deal with NORK, the Nobel Prize will go to BHO.

Posted by: torabora at March 10, 2018 06:11 PM (K0z2U)

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