December 28, 2006
Ice Breaks, Homeless Wait, Cons Escape
Some residents of the Beach have threatened a legal injunction to stop a local church from housing 12 homeless people one night a week. Merry Christmas to you too, folks…
Investigators say that the fire which destroyed Sassafraz restaurant in Yorkville was a caused by a cooking accident. Local sushi restaurant owners are nodding smugly.
The Globe and Mail reports that some 850 wanted criminals are at large in Canada, having either escaped from prison or just failed to report to their parole officer. That guy in the next apartment, who always seems so friendly? He could be a murderer. Seriously. I’d call the cops if I were you.
The gigantic Ayles ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has broken off, causing consternation among climate scientists and disinterested yawns in the larger population. Apparently it happened in August 2005, but researchers only figured it out yesterday.
Photo from whispered annunciation from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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To the tune of that Rent song:
"The owner of the church next door has the right to do with it as he plea-ses"
*rolls eyes* "Happy birthday Jesus"
Re: The homeless shelter. I've said this about America (which is, unfortunately, where I'm from).
We (and when I say we, I mean the working, the middle and lower class, the homeless, the displaced) need to wake up. If only 2% of a population owns or runs 80% of everything, they have the money, but...WE OUTNUMBER THEM. The 2% have known this for ages. We are the ones who need to unite. Trust me, they know it and they fear a united and literate populace. They can't live or hide in their gated communities forever. There have been revolutions over less. But, also, how cool is it that the Reverends last name is Kirkegaard (the "father" of Existentialism). And yes, a very Merry Christmas to the rich, pompous asses who live in that neighborhood. We are all one paycheck away from being homeless ourselves. I have a job now, but I am well aware that it would not take much for me to be one of those homeless people.
Steve> Do you write for Now Magazine?
No way, Steve's piece there is way too right wing for NOW :)
Touche : - ) (and I would love to right for Now Magazine). I don't know how the income or wealth gap is in Canada, but I know you guys are waving goodbye to your' jobs on the Good Ship Outsource. The wealthy here are destroying America... and for some reason, this ocuntry worships people like Trump and Paris Hilton when we should be leading the tumbrils down Main St.to the guillotine. Where's Madame Defarge when we need her:- ) If she were around, there would be no injunction on that church helping the homeless.
mean horrible heartless beach canadians
The Ayles ice shelf collapsed? That is fucking scary. Good thing the Tories are doing something about climate change... in 2050.
Perhaps you could convince those Beach people to be more thoughtful by sharing stories of when you took homeless people in.
In the mean time, Nestle is working out a way to harvest the water from the rogue ice shelf, bottle it in plastic and sell it to us folks who are spewing sewage into the Great Lakes. Gotta love it.
DRH, individuals not letting homeless people into their homes is one thing; individuals who want to bar others from letting homeless people into a church is another. The former is understandable, the latter is pretty reprehensible.
DRH,
I have given to the homeless. I can't say I've taken one into my home, but then, no one is asking the snobs to take in the homeless, or to even try to solve the problem (which they wouldn't anyway. But threatening legal action, against someone who is trying to help another person.That's just plain evil. The original article is right, this is just a case of "Not in my back yard."
Nice sarcasm, BTW. Perhaps, one day, You and i will be fighting over the same bowl of soup or cardboard box and we can discuss it then. But really, please explain to me how a churh helping 12 homeless people disrupts these peoples lives? Maybe some of these people don't want to be reminded that they themselves may be the ones who are helping create homeless people. "Why, look honey, there's that guy with the mortgage and two kids I laid off last week, when we built that plant in Singapore, look at him, disgusting, why can't they just get jobs, oh wait, there aren't any." These are the same type of people here in America who complain about illegal immigrants, except the ones they hire for slave wages, of course.
Remember, just one paycheck or pink slip away. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's some guy in a robe walking around the neighborhood preaching "Do Unto Others"....I need to find a cop and have that pinko-commie arrested.
I guess the reason articles like this get to me is because I am living under the Bush Regime and I have seen what his politics have done to this country. I also don't see it changing, for the better, anytime soon. in which case, I can honestly say, I am scared to death of growing older in America (I'm 42 now). I make OK money now, I can pay my bills (even a whopping $166 heating bill, for a one-bedroom apt.). But if I lost this job, I would have the same bills and be hard-pressed to find one making the same amount (I'm a computer tech, wannabe writer). And when you're unemployed, all it takes is a cold winter and a few $200 heating bills, the flu with no health insurance, heck, a dentist visit, and You are behind. Most of the jobs I am qualified for are now in India, I can't work for 29 cents a day, my dog has a level of expectation that when I get home, she can eat. So, maybe I'm paranoid or I think about this TOO much, but honestly, I don't think most people (especially the ones with a 20 grand balance on a credit card) think about this enough. I was unemployed for a long time and fortunately I had family members who helped. If I didn't have that, I would be one of "those people".
It wouldn't be a bad idea for most people to consider the homeless situation and what can be done to help...we all may be in that situation ourselves someday. it's not like people want to be homeless. Sleep outsde in winter, eat garbage, crime, disease...yeah, where do I sign up? And if you really want to think about it. If You lived in New Orleans a little over a year ago, where would You be living now?
So the church has decided to take in 12 homeless people, ONE night per week. What if 40 show up that night? What if they arrive on the wrong night? Then where do they go?
Of course it`s a case on NIMBY, but it sounds like a plan that`s not very well thought out. And Steve, many of us who are far from wealthy, are also not one paycheque away from homelessness. And I refuse to apologize for that.
True, 12 people is hardly putting a dent...but it is a dent, and it is, at the very least, one less night outside for 12 people in December. I'm not saying you need to apologize for anything, and I assume you're not standing between someone and a meal or a night inside. But, I would say it is a mistake for some...some...to believe that it could never happen to them. Not to generalize, but I'm sure if you ask most homeless if they ever thought it could happen to them, I doubt they would say they did. Now, I'm not factoring in those who are there because of substance abuse or anything like that, who need help at a whole other level. But, again, I am saying that at some point, society is going to have to seriously address this. Bottom line, does anyone need to kick people when they're already down? And at some point, doesn't everyone need a hand at least one point in their life? If you're an island, done it all on your' own and don't need anyone, great, you shouldn't need to apologize for that. But don't condemn someone for needing a little help. One of those 12 on one of those nights could be someone who pulls themsleves up. It's a start. Ripple effect. Chain Reaction. I don't want to get into an "everything is connected" argument, but sometimes, even small gestures can take on a life of their own. Even I believe that, and I'm a pessimist: - ) I do know that society is going to find it more and more difficult to sweep these folks under the proverbial rug...'Outta site, Outta mind' is already starting to bite us in the ass in this and other areas as well.
No hard feelings DRH. But I will guess, that in the off-chance that one of these rich fu*ks does help someone, they never let `em forget it. 2% of the population cannot displace and marginalize the other 98% percent forever. See the French Revolution.
DRH
Out of the cold has been doing this for a while - this isn't some half assed proposal we're talking about. Obviously capacity is always an issue but the more shelters there are the easier it is to spread the load, and better a number of small ones where people have more privacy than squeezing people into larger ones.
Other wards are doing more than their share of social service and it's time for ALL the tony neighbourhoods to step up.
http://cork2toronto.blogspot.com/2006/12/death-and-unfeeling-in-beach.html
Steve, I love the fact that you name-checked Mme. Defarge. A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favourite books.
When I first read the article in The Star, I was horrified. It reminded me quite a bit of a couple of months ago when people in my hometown started a petition to try and block a house for three mentally disabled people being built on their street. Ugh.
Here are your "homeless"
http://www239.pair.com/nanden00/chc/
I wanna stop...and thank ya, Carly.
I just wanna stop [stop]...and thank ya, Carly
: - )
Cool website, btw.
this poor man sh0uld try getting food or working together and try finding his family cause one time in life ur going to become homeless or be very poor and get kicked out of ur house when ur young
I was wondering about homeless elderly people. I can only assume there must be millions of them out there. I making just above minimum wage and I really am preparing my mind to be out there as a homeless person. Where do homeless people go to eat and find shelter?