"The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.”" ~~~~Samuel P. Huntington

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Perhaps Not... "Veterans Affairs Claims Progress In Ending Homelessness Among Vets"

(Image at the left, 11/7/2007) «o» Historically, a number of fighters in U.S. wars have become homeless. In the post-Civil War era, homeless veterans sang old Army songs to dramatize their need for work and became known as “tramps,” which had meant to march into war, said Todd DePastino, a historian at Penn State University’s Beaver campus who wrote a book on the history of homelessness.

After World War I, thousands of veterans — many of them homeless — camped in the nation’s capital seeking bonus money. Their camps were destroyed by the government, creating a public relations disaster for President Herbert Hoover.

The end of the Vietnam War coincided with a time of economic restructuring, and many of the same people who fought in Vietnam were also those most affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs, DePastino said.

Their entrance to the streets was traumatic and, as they aged, their problems became more chronic... [More @ MSNBC]
And many of the new generation will end up out on the streets again (I KNOW THIS for a fact having witnessed it personally with Veteran acquaintances over the years...).

From today's Washington Post:
"Making aggressive use of a voucher program, Veterans Affairs has housed more than 33,000 veterans in the past 21 / 2 years. It did so by changing its longtime policy of requiring homeless veterans to be successfully treated for substance abuse and mental ailments before being given apartments." [Washington Post Federal Insider]
The vouchers for the housing, at least the regulatory details, seem to be cribbed from Section 8 FHA/HUD programs (Google) and all the federal requirements of the tenants are the same. "Act out", or have any drug related altercations, and yer out.

I just wonder if the VA IS usurping federal housing money (via some back door transfer of funds perhaps) that was to be used for other people like those 38 percent increase in homeless children (and their mothers) over the last four years reported the other day?

(Just in... A local VFW officer and friend in-the-know has informed me that indeed, the money has been diverted from civilian housing preograms)

I also suspect that many high school and college students will find less service jobs available next summer as SOME Vets return, and are immediately plugged into "Do you want fries with that..." jobs.

In my estimation, the US government IS SCARED of it's veterans, and their pandering to them with jobs/housing is a fear based reaction. Not due to any patriotic 'love' for them. If you have any doubts just look up the phrase "Bonus Army" on your favorite search engine or at Wikipedia

I wonder how many returning Veterans will be satisfied for long with those 'funny hat' jobs and housing that resembles in sociological detail and regulations, 'project housing'?

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Merry Xmas Santa Cruz... From An Anonymous Hacker - Signs Of The (digital) Times

The Ritt«o»
 This '7-days-left-to-shop-before-Xmas' morning the Rittenhouse Building in the rotting and corrupt heart of Santa Cruz California's Downtown Business District/Special Economic Area, had a VERY SPECIAL display on the networked digital advertising screens that inhabit every window of the completely vacant office/storefront building...
Digital Sign[Someone kant(sic) spell either...]

TeutonicXmas
[He's Gonna Find Out Who's Naughty Or Nice... That's A Threat]


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