I've never been one to interfere with another persons freedom. I've always tried to maintain a "live and let live" attitude.

Those who chose to live on the streets have decided to make a living off the rest of us. But those of us who are simply trying to live our lives; work; go to the store; walk the streets and enjoy the day...we have certain rights too. When a homeless person asks for some change, or a cigarette, they are affecting the world we live in, interfering in our freedom and our rights, and that is where they cross the line.

Homeless people do not seem to understand or care that their lifestyle affects our lives, and not in a good way. Having to respond to a request for a quarter may not seem like a big deal, but it is. Who wants to go through this every day: Are you going to be a good Samaritan and hand over some money? Or, are you going to be made to feel like a miser and say no? Are you helping or hurting by giving?

Should you have to go through moral and ethical decisions every day because someone doesn't want to be bothered making a living? Should you have to go through the fear that often accompanies face to face contact with the homeless? Let's face it: some are not mentally stable and others are outright hostile. You never know how these encounters are going to turn out. Are we helping them by teaching panhandling can be a successful way of life? Is the world a better place when bumming smokes and loose change is an acceptable lifestyle?

Today, San Diego is being overrun by homeless. It's rare to walk two blocks without seeing homeless. And if you don't see them, you hear them screaming or yelling, oftentimes unknowingly while drunk.

We've stopped smoking where others are negatively affected; we've eliminated drinking in public places so others no longer have to put up with intoxicated people; we require people to pick up after their dogs. It's now time to do something about another element that fouls the environment: those who intimidate; those who chose to live like parasites off the labor of others. It's time to let the homeless know they are not appreciated or wanted. They need to go to the agencies that are designed to help them get their lives in order. You don't like working? That's your problem. Don't let your problem become my problem. Don't like working for money? Fine. But don't keep asking me for mine.

It's time for the homeless to pull their own weight and stop living off the fear and generosity of others. It's time for the homeless to go home; find a home; make a home, and let those of us who live productive lives, enjoy ourselves without having to worry about who is going to spoil our day and remind us that our town has parasites, and we have to constantly be prepared to deal with them. It's tiresome, boring, and irritating. It's time for the people of this city to do something about it; it's time to stop feeding the bums...in every possible way.

Anarchy...yep...it's here

with bells on

all u say javajoe is true...and dave rice shows the irritability brought on by dealing with the homeless

Homelessness is a destroyer of urban areas. If your city's sidewalks are filled with sleeping men, drug abusers, the mumbling mentally ill and aggressive panhandlers, it's in big trouble. Tourists won't come, conventions will steer clear, downtown businesses will decamp, and residents won't put up with the smells, sights and hassles; they'll move to the suburbs. Cities know this and have tried two general approaches: coddling and criminalizing. Neither works. So, is there anything that does work, that actually moves homeless people into safe, clean environments and eventually to productive society? Yes, and the pioneer for this middle way is Philadelphia. As much as any big city, national experts say, Philly has solved its chronic homelessness problems. In the mid-1990s, it had 4,500 people living on its streets. Today, there are about 130. How did Philadelphia perform this minor miracle? By doing three hard things: It built enough supportive housing units to take care of its homeless population (supportive housing has services on demand for drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and other problems), created a central intake authority to assess and place homeless people into appropriate programs (and, importantly, track their progress), and launched an innovative outreach program to persuade — but not compel — the homeless to leave the streets. The outreach program may be Philadelphia's greatest innovation. The city has 20 workers on the street around the clock, looking for homeless people. Some are welfare workers, others are police officers with special training. If a regular officer sees a homeless person sprawled on the sidewalk, he can call the outreach unit and within 20 minutes, a worker will be there to question the person and talk about life on the inside. What does this cost? Philadelphia spends $60 million a year on homeless services. While that's not cheap, others spend more and get much less. San Francisco, for instance, spends $104 million a year on direct services and has one of the worst homeless problems in the country. Footnote: There are two additional keys to Philadelphia's success, says Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who has studied efforts to deal with homelessness around the country: Philly targeted the hardest cases, not just the easy successes, and stayed committed. That's important because it took about four years to see dramatic improvements. "People have to realize a problem like this doesn't go away in 12 months," Culhane said, "and it won't go away at all unless you have a real commitment by the city and the public. You have to keep your eye on the prize."

Dealing with Homeless People

Homelessness is an extremely complex social problem that impacts the quality of life in our community. There are no easy solutions. The SDPD and elected officials in the County and City recognize that there is a fine line between homelessness as a social issue and a criminal issue. Many homeless are on the street because of substance abuse, mental illness, or both. Often the disorder issues associated with homelessness are criminal in nature but difficult to enforce. To assist the City and County provide better service to this “at risk” population the SDPD has created the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT). The team consists of police officers, County Health and Human Services specialists, and psychiatric clinicians from the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT), a private non-profit organization. The HOT is available to assist the community with homeless related issues. Its phone number is (858) 490-3850.

to continue to read this article completely thru go to

http://www.sandiego.gov/police/prevention/homeless.shtml

i think "don't feed our bums" won't solve any of the homeless issues in OB

it may fill the coffers of Blacks however

how about some bumper stickers and hatS and T shirt that say;

"DON'T PUT UP WITH CORPORATE ENTITIES THAT RAPE ORDINARY AMERICANS

OUTSOURCE THEIR JOBS DUE TO THEIR GREED AND MAKE PEOPLE UNABLE TO FIND JOBS THUS MAKING THEM HOMELESS"

Okay, first off, good piece, I liked it.

But.

Not that I'm not also guilty of this - think about the word choices here. Edit your stuff well.

"The statement is seen by some as an insensitive attack on the neighborhood’s homeless population."

Now, I defy anyone to define what a "sensitive attack" is. It's practically an oxymoron. "Insensitive attack" would be a tautology. Watch your adjectives, Dave. I don't mean to be some prissy grammar cop here, but I read this stuff all over the media and cringe.

Just tonight, someone wrote elsewhere, "People we perceive as leaders are often independent anarchists who are selling their own brand of utopia."

Would someone please introduce me to a "dependent anarchist?"

Anyway, sorry, just pointing it out. Otherwise, you know, good job.

The piece and photo capture the moment in what is usually a very laid back community. Good job, Mr. Rice. I will leave the word edits to the professionals on the Reader staff.

Ocean Beach was for a time defined by its tolerance for those less fortunate. Over the last couple of years, there has been a change in the homeless population, that being a population of questionably homeless young men who have taken to harrassment of locals and visitors for money. They are very aggressive and there have been reports of physical violence as well. These are different from the homeless that have found O.B. a safer haven than other communities and who the locals and business owners tolerated with relatively good-natured live and let live attitudes. I am not sure, though, if The Black meant to target the agressive group. Not really sure what their intent is. Not sure what the intent of my post is either, other than the rambling of someone who lives here and sees both sides of the coin. JavaJoe had some very valid points about the emotional effects of being hit-up daily for money. It really wears you down.

Nan, nice work!! I think one of the problems with homelessness in San Diego is the fact that one can be homeless year round here. In Philly, the winters make it easier to bring the homeless indoors, where they can receive and respond to assistance on a more consistent basis. Obviously it is far more complicated than the weather, but you get my drift.

"Use your turn signals". I love OB!!

1 - Appreciate the expanded perspective from the 'anti' side, Javajoe.

2-6 - Thanks for the extra info on current homeless outreach efforts, nan! I think I like your shirt idea better too.

7 - I boffed, and I've got no problem being taken to task, refried. I guess a 'sensitive attack' might be along the lines of the protestors who acknowledged the people upset with homeless issues had a point while telling them they weren't expressing that anger in an appropriate way. Or not, more likely I'm trying to justify bad writing...

8 - Thanks Grasca! I like editors, they make me sound smarter than I is.

Beach communities are places apart. When the owner of the Black was interviewed on TV, I believe that he made a distinction between the aggressive new panhandlers and the older established OB homeless. A wonderful photographer named Bill Jay (now dead) did portraits of the OB homeless regulars. One man's face looked as if it had been carved from wood. There is something to the philosophy of caring for "the least of our brethren" in my opinion.

More about Bill Jay who lived in OB for some of his illustrious career.

http://marketingphotos.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/bill-jay-1940-2009/

Bill Jay's photographs of the OB homeless men is in book form and still available. Stunning images.

Men Like Me [Hardcover] Bill Jay (Author)

I happened to see that interview, Grasca, and I agree, he did make a distinction between the two groups.

The other night, BTW, I was coming out of a laundromat in National City and I could hear this man asking people for money; he was actually following people from when they came out of the food places to their cars. Someone asked him a question, and he laughed and answered, "Hey, I just got here, if I had been here earlier, I would be loaded by now." Clearly, this was his job.

I know panhandlers get plenty of money. Most people are kind and generous. There are those who will take advantage.

"Those who chose to live on the streets have decided to make a living off the rest of us."

What a short-sighted and insensitive thing to say. The fact is, people are homeless for a wide variety of reasons, many, many times not of their own choosing or control.

According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, "About one-third of the adult homeless population are veterans." Ask a homeless veteran why he's homeless, and he's likely to draw you into a complex conversation about the government he risked his life to serve.

Then there are the able-bodied, intelligent, educated Targeted Individuals - chosen for a variety of reasons (or no reason at all) by the government for persecution - who are stalked and victimized and ostracized by society to the point of homelessness by their neighbors and communities en masse, or Community Organized Police, a phenomenon commonly known as Gang Stalking, or Organized Stalking.

Over a period of years or even decades, Targets are "workplace mobbed" and abused and harassed right out of their successful, lucrative careers, their finances are sabotaged and their assets seized. This is very real, and happening in every U.S. city. A growing millions of integrated, innocent, law-abiding Americans are Gang Stalked and Targeted every day. Ask a Targeted Individual why they are homeless, and they will most definitely draw you into a complex discussion about the government they've supported all their lives.

Think before you judge. Not every panhandler is a dirty bum. Some are forced to subject themselves to the humiliation of asking for help because they are desperate to survive, and are more grateful for the help than you can imagine, even if they don't show it.

Ooohhh, conspiracy theories! Now we are getting somewhere.....

If you are curious or skeptical, you can surf some of the many blogs and websites on the subject of Targeting. Just one is Rachel O., who, until very recently, became homeless here in San Diego.

http://homelessti.blogspot.com/

Rachel has a YouTube channel, and is a prolific blogger.

An excerpt from just one of her blogs:

"The shame of the life of a TI is that we must keep silent about our true predicament. And if you look at many of our lives we are anything but lazy. This may be the worst crime of all which is keeping many smart talented people down and silenced."

Another good source is Gang Stalking World.

http://gangstalkingworld.com/Media/

There are literally thousands of sites on the subject which numbers are unfortunately dwindling rapidly.

I would qualify this to point out that there is an aggressive government disinformation campaign to rapidly cleanse the internet of the more indisputable and genuine targeting claims and evidence, as well as the deployment of millions of paid Internet Infiltrators and bloggers, which populate forums of all kinds, not just Organized Stalking. You can usually spot those individuals by their extreme negativity, skepticism and overt hostility.

Many many blogs and video channels are simply paid Perpetrators masquerading as a victim of Targeting. Their videos and posts will tend to appear rambling, a little crazy, and very, very wordy, designed to dilute the reality of this evil phenomenon and cast endless doubt and confusion on the matter.

Ooooookaaaaay.

nan, I thought you might like to read this article, it sounds like something similar to the Philly efforts. PATH will be doing the work here in San Diego, and thank God. God bless Father Joe, but please give someone else a shot at working this problem without seeing it as a funding or power opportunity.

OBDave: Everyone edits their own stuff differently, but if I'm writing something journalistic that is ostensibly going to be printed, I've learned a trick I use when I pick it over for syntax. Every time I come across an adjective, I flip it into its antonym. If that flip is ridiculous with the noun it modifies, then I either change the adjective or eliminate it. It has saved me countless times from submitting sentences I wasn't proud of, and most copy editors don't have time to flesh out such small details. But trust me, I continue to embarrass myself in other ways, especially structurally.

Whoops, forgot to add the link:

http://lastblogonearth.com/2010/06/25/something-for-something/#more-10857

Spoken like a true paid infiltrator. Your post came just three minutes after my post, which speaks VOLUMES.

Paid Internet Infiltrators are paid to sit at their computers all day, and post sarcastic, aggressive, profane and abusive disinformation to many sites per day, a lot like internet Guerilla Marketing tactics.

Gang Stalking through Community Organized Police, Infragard (FBI), Weed and Seed, Neighborhood Watch, among many others, and Fusion Centers all across the country is very real. It's a huge, complex subject which can't be adequately covered in a forum post. It's been in place, in one form or another, since the 1950s, and some say even since the beginning of the century.

Here are just two good links from the ACLU website about the hiring of covert agents:

http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/privacy/fusion_update_20080729.pdf http://www.aclu.org/node/20415/

It's is ludicrous for you, or any Internet Infiltrator, to claim it's a conspiracy theory when there are millions of people being victimized, and thousands of websites in testament to that.

From http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/June_2010/funding.htm

COPS Hiring Program—$298 million

This program will distribute nearly $300 million to address the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide and to increase their capacity to participate in community policing. In FY 2010, COPS will select hiring program grantees from the existing pool of approximately 6,000 2009 COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) applications. The COPS Office will not accept new applications for this program in FY 2010.

Community Policing Development—$12 million

This program funds a variety of innovative projects and knowledge resource products that support the integration of community policing strategies throughout the law enforcement community. These dollars help enable officers and community members to more effectively address emerging law enforcement and community issues. http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/June_2010/funding.htm

And then, of course, there is the Department of Justice website itself, on the development of Community Organized Policing:

http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2450

$300 million dollars - YOUR TAX DOLLARS - budgeted for the purpose of illegally harassing and surveilling innocent American citizens.

And you wonder why the nation is broke?

Dang, you're busted, MsG. By the way, Targeted, she has a sidekick, Dr. Peanut. Very dangerous, the two of them.

"Those who chose to live on the streets have decided to make a living off the rest of us."

What a short-sighted and insensitive thing to say. The fact is, people are homeless for a wide variety of reasons, many, many times not of their own choosing or control.

You nailed it brother-there are a variety of reasons people wind up homeless on the street.

While some are mooches, you cannot make a global statement that they all are-or even a majority.

I hate it when people (many who have not faced hard times) make such global comments.

I had a buddy I used to work with, came from one of the richest and most well known/prominent families in this county, and he used to do this all the time. This trust fund baby was one of the laziest employees we had, and if he had to try to make it on his own-without his family connections (the only reason he was never fired) in this county he would be homeless.

Dang, you're busted, MsG. By the way, Targeted, she has a sidekick, Dr. Peanut. Very dangerous, the two of them.

LOL..OK, who is "Dr Peanut"??

Sorry SurfPuppy, I won't give up one of our agents, even to another agent, without the secret handshake.

If it wasn't for an extended family of real people, and honest-to-God mentors that gave a damn, I would have died homeless decades ago.

Personally, I consider myself to be an Unpaid Internet Infiltrator who is currently undergoing on the job training. My favorite targets are artificial persons AKA corporations that are very good at hiding things in plain sight, where those corporations are putting documents online in places where very few people go, so that just about nobody reads them. I'm also turning my attentions to local legislative bodies and municipal councils. In my blogs, I post links to those documents that I've found, so that ordinary reasonable people can look at them for themselves before deciding that I've made it all up or not.

Do I believe in conspiracies? Sure, when there's actual evidence.... but...

I tend to think a federal program that burns through only $300 million a year is damn underfunded. The San Diego Community College District burns through more than twice that much here locally in the same amount of time: "The District’s 2009-2010 Adopted Budget of $779.6 million is distributed among several funds..." (see page 4)

http://bussrv.sdccd.edu/docs/2009-2010%20Adopted%20Budget.pdf

When I was a student body president for City College in the 80s, I know we had more than a few people who signed up for PE classes just to get access to lockers and showers... and the CITY TIMES newspaper did run with the rumor as an unfriendly editorial comment that I spent my nights sleeping in the shrubbery on campus (I didn't object during that edition's layout since I had many previous opportunities to be in print and by golly, the joker had her/his/its First Amendment right too)... come to think of it, on what SDCCD paid instructional aide/tutors, that was pretty much in line even then with what I could afford, putting in the max of 30 hours a week.

Dr. Peanut = ?!?

A shrewd observationist of the human condition.

Come, come, MsG, admit that Dr. Peanut is a Paid Internet Infiltrator! Ve haf veys of making you talk ...

She would have to resort to one of those dreadful witness protection programs and her high profile requires discretion of the upmost highest order.

Dr. Peanut knows Dr. Melfi who knows Tony Soprano who is a made man. Beware infiltrators and ersatz copy editors. We know where you live. We know your real name.

And vice versa. Beside, they are all dead. How, Dr. Peanut has no knowledge.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!

The Dr. has spoken and must be respected. All snobbery aside. The litter box conscience is clean and without guilt. Is anyone else in this enviable position ?

u know Grantie..if Dr Peanut becomes involved in this homelessness issue he'll never have time for his advice column

and all the alley cats in ur neighborhood will be sitting on ur porch panhandling for a tuna handout

23

i 2 feel the way u do Puppy....it's a very tuff issue to get ur mind and heart around

I think it's worth noting here that the past comments I made on the subject of Targeting and Organized Stalking, on the Michael Shields Oceanside Police and Justice System corruption incidents, were not only NOT printed in the hard copy Reader the following week, the article itself and any other comments were virtually omitted from Reader Comments altogether. What does that tell you?

It's obvious that my comments, and even the entire article itself, which account of Police and Court corruption should be getting copious attention, was deliberately omitted for a very good reason. Because every word is true.

You can bet none of the comments here will make it into next week's hard copy, either.

I scan the Reader comments every week and see the same names over and over and over (yawn), almost as though the Reader forum were your assigned posts.

The infantile insults, the bickering, the nastiness, the sarcasm and disinformation. Banding together in a small "tight-knit community" to dominate the forum, ready to "mob" a sincere poster when necessary. Good cop, bad cop. All hallmarks of people being paid to debunk, dilute and cause chaos and conflict. Every forum out there has at least two. This one has closer to five.

I shudder to think that thousands of people read your ridiculous tripe every week and might be influenced into thinking this is adult, normal or stable behavior. Congratulations for turning a credible County-wide read news source into your personal kindergarten sandbox.

and Grantie..i think Dr Peanut should write a blog about this internet infiltration gig he doin'

&@!_)%$ = in code

i'm sorry targeted in SD...i am a prankster and kidder and practically everything i write is slanted that way...i would say more...and be more involved in these important political discourses but

i'm incredibly stupid...shallow...and er...um...i like sandboxes better

get real...none of us here can solved these problems..most of us only have something to say if we r personally affected by the subject...our hearts have been touched or we r champions of the underdog...

and didn't u hear

print media is dying....and none of our comments r in the hard copy...we's just silly keyboard mice

have a nice weekend

surfpuppy, what irks me is watching the various human garbage, big-time drug dealers and other criminals engaged as Gang Stalkers all around me here in Cardiff, sitting at home on their a**es, literally all day every day, in order to "watch" me intently, because I am such a dangerous terrorist.

(Otherwise known as the "Phony War on Terror.")

This is their entire job. They work in disciplined shifts and are in constant rotation. Recruitment of new "agents" is a huge priority.

....Sitting in these multi-million dollar homes with their huge monthly mortgages, driving new cars much more expensive than even they could afford on a drug-dealing budget. All comfortably and gainfully provided for without ever leaving the house. Amazing!

It is widely reported that the U.S. Department of Defense spending has doubled since the year 2000 and you can bet Organized Stalking is a huge part of that.

Regardless of the local organization, be it the Community Oriented Police or Infragard or Neighborhood Watch, these losers are paid very handsomely with U.S. tax dollars, and it is abundantly evident that money is no object whatsoever. Many of them drive cars with illegally-tinted windows, with no license plates, no insurance and no registration, as they are government-issued cars.

As they SO love to intone, ad nauseum, they are "above the law." I sincerely doubt they pay taxes.

In the mean time, there are probably hundreds of thousands of non-government employees all over the U.S. - who actually PAY their taxes - who are willing, able-bodied and experienced job seekers (such as the guy desperately competing for a bartender job) who remain unemployed.

Thanks nan, you have a nice weekend also.

As to your comment, "get real...none of us here can solved these problems..."

Well, learning to spell and type would be a good place to start.

I wouldn't hire you either, Targeted, as you sound like a real pain. Don't take that wrong. :)

By the way, how much are Internet Infiltrators paid? I could use the extra money, and since I'm here anyway ... :)

Pain? Why, thank you!

BTW - who said I was unemployed?

Heh.

41

i type and spell that way on purpose dear;-)

He's employed!!! Lord have mercy on his colleagues!!!

Wait, you guys are getting paid?!??! Since when?

Wow, nan, I just saw your photo (I assume that is you?)

By your posts, I thought you were at least 45 years younger than you appear.

The "tee-hee" self-congratulatory, smirking arrogance.

Yawn. Moving on now.

The homeless are treated brutally by society and law enforcement alike. Targets are treated brutally by society and law enforcement alike.

Trivializing issues like homelessness and Targeted Individuals is far beyond scurrilous.

Charming.

Targeted, it's really too bad they didn't finish the job fuh reals. Instead they just left you brain dead.

I tend to think that a lot of the new homeless are those who have not successfully made the transition into the underground economy. It is amazing how many of us are running businesses as going concerns out of the back of a pickup truck or on a spot at the swap meet... I wish I were as prosperous.

Of course, there is a stratification of homeless into classes, and the upper-most class of homeless are simply short of a rental deposit, perhaps living out of a car or moving from couch to couch.

On the other hand, I imagine that there are more cases of the not-wanting-to-be-discovered, as in the case of the upstanding citizen who abducts children in bus terminals.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-child-kidnapped-bus,0,2491824.story

I like that uplifing observation of some in the Third World: "In America, even the poor people are fat."

re: #6:

Late to the convo, but just wanted to say that I would definitely purchase nan's bumper stickers in #6. Some could be shortened, but hey. I'd still buy 'em ;)

Oh, and re: #50: a2z, you've got a great bumper sticker there, yourself.

SDaniels thx smartness...

~~clapping ..clapping..clapping~~

TISD thinks i'm da bomb!!!

as i flip my natural curly grey hair and smile discretely

yawn

i am 45 years younger~~in my mind~~

and i still want to know what Dr Peanut thinks about all this

50

ditto on SDaniels view of ur bumper sticker a2z

Just as long as nobody mentions my mudflaps...

what mudflaps?????

"you can surf some of the many blogs" ... Just don't count everything on them as anything more than one person's opinion, no more factual than the sources they blog against.

Don't give me that. This is not opinion, and these are not my words - this is an indisputable fact.

Why would anyone make this up? Who would WANT to?? No one asks for this and we all have things we'd rather be doing than dealing with this nightmare.

More to the point, why are YOU so invested in nay-saying the fact that millions of people are daily subjected to this sadistic endeavor?

Show me indisputable evidence that Organized Stalking and government harassment DOESN'T exist.

Go ahead, prove a negative.

I lived in OB for about 5 years in the mid 90's. And the biggest blight on the community was not the dog poop, even though that came in a close 2nd. It was the bums. I won't call them homeless, as that has a tendency to evoke sympathy for these wretches. They are BUMS. Most of these nitwits are able bodied, and could work if they possessed an ounce of self-respect, which they don't. In OB, panhandling is actually a job and a way of life for many people. But that job description is PARASITE. They live off the generosity of hard working people, who have jobs and work hard to pay the steep rents, mortgages, and taxes in OB. But I'm supoposed to give up some of my hard earned money so some low life can chug a few beers and feel good for a few hours, and forget what a low life pos he is. I say good for The Black. I shopped there often when I lived there. And I shop there still, when I visit. But I do not give money to bums. Them I'll gladly boycott.

To those naysayers who constantly call for "evidence" of organized stalking, first person testimony IS evidence. It's accepted in every court in the country, and has convicted many people.

Anyone who would like to read a concise e-booklet explaining the full scope of the organized stalking crime is invited to visit this link:

http://www.multistalkervictims.org/osatv.pdf

Eleanor White

OK, let us agree that we have evidence.

RE "Those who chose to live on the streets have decided to make a living off the rest of us. But those of us who are simply trying to live our lives; work; go to the store; walk the streets and enjoy the day...we have certain rights too. When a homeless person asks for some change, or a cigarette, they are affecting the world we live in, interfering in our freedom and our rights, and that is where they cross the line. Homeless people do not seem to understand or care that their lifestyle affects our lives, and not in a good way. Having to respond to a request for a quarter may not seem like a big deal, but it is":

We can therefore accept this and any of the rest of the above record as first-person evidence as long as at least most of us agree it makes sense to accept it as evidence.

RE "It's time for the homeless to pull their own weight and stop living off the fear and generosity of others. It's time for the homeless to go home; find a home; make a home, and [let those of us who live productive lives, enjoy ourselves without having to worry about who is going to spoil our day and remind us that our town has parasites, and we have to constantly be prepared to deal with them. It's tiresome, boring, and irritating.] It's time for the people of this city to do something about it; it's time to stop feeding the bums...in every possible way":

I like this, but I'd replace the [bracketed part] with "have them join us in living productive lives in our home San Diego."

Homelessness is something we can do something about if we understand what it is, or at least what it most resembles. I'd call it a case of unsupervised lunch and recess, graduate version, 24/7. Get it supervised and organized, and it becomes a reliable source of urban activity for positive change, both individually and socially.

Homeless veterans have a calling here. Everyday Americans who are not homeless may be annoyingly judgmental for you, but we are also generous with second chances when we are convinced it is the right thing to do. To the extent that you can help improve community readiness for emergency incidents up to catastrophic disasters, you help to provide better government for all Americans who seem to be no too happy with the state of government as it is now.

Get FEMA certified at

http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is100b.asp

Print the resulting certificate and keep it in a plastic page cover. When all hell breaks loose, approach the Incident Commander with certificate in hand and say "I can help evacuate survivors" or "I can make coffee and pancakes" or "I can be a message runner to the emergency operations center" or anything else useful when there's not much left to live on, and federal help is still days or weeks away.

In case you haven't been keeping up with current events, city public safety services may be awfully short in the near future, and anything you are prepared to do to help out as volunteers would be greatly appreciated. What you are prepared to do in the near term as volunteers in bad times may cause you to be paid city employees later when times get better. There are opportunities here, mostly because people in power who should know better are not acting better, and there will most likely be cutback in critical city services. Show some discipline, have some faith, and prepare for better days ahead.

All this should also apply to any non-violent offender seeking a pardon for good service to the state. Be useful; get pardoned. Sounds fair to me.