So, I let all my facebook friends/enemies/frenemies know what my living situation is. No one has defriended me over it. Hell, I even posted it here. So why am I still outing myself? Because I can. I am the 99%. I work, I am disabled, though exceedingly high functioning, and I currently done earn enough to afford anything, anywhere in the USA. I know, that with the assistance I am being given by both City, State and Federal, that I will rise, like a phoenix out of this mire and be self-sufficient.
Being hospitalized for “suicidal ideation” has led to a certain amount of self-censoring. Just erased a paragraph, because you, the reader, may take it in ways than it’s intent. It sucks. Just let me say, that I am over this particular “adventure” and I want my own place.
that if you google “human stress” shelter, it asks if you meant “humane shelter” stress? It seems treating shelter animals for stress is more important that treating humans in shelters for the stress of residing there.
BUT!!! type in “homeless shelter” stress, you get one article dealing with the stress of living in a shelter, and it’s in Journal of Leisure Research… oh, yes, in fact, homeless women need MORE downtime to deal with the stress of having no or so little income, that they live stacked like cordwood in places you wouldn’t put a dog. In point of fact, shelter dogs are treated better – they get complete medical care, a balanced diet and a fast track to re-homing.
For example, After three months, at this new shelter, I completed a second housing packet since I became homeless. Apparently, the first one wasn’t any good, because it came via the ASSESSMENT SHELTER, where I had a place inside of two months, wasn’t sent over, and therefore, redundancy was in order, now where it will be three months before I even talk to DHS (Dept. of Homeless Services) about housing. Happy Fucking New Year. It’s all about the money.
And, they wonder why I am so stressed out. Got an idea for you: Check your asses into a shelter for three months, the time it takes to get all the paperwork done, since the shelter works under the premise you have nothing better to do with your time than sit around tending hemorrhoids, as you’ll only see your caseworker once a week. lots of luck seeing a nurse, by the time you get to the sign-up sheet, you’re either waiting all day or shit out of luck. Weekends, you’re shit out of luck anyway, since there is no medical person available.
Or, we are viewed as “object lessons” for spoiled brats like the Kardashians:
…The teens were shown refusing their food because ‘It’s not my fave,’ texting at the dinner table and leaving the family dinner to go out with their friends.
When the girls steal Bruce’s credit card to go shopping, the former Olympian can’t take it any more and decides to take them to a homeless shelter to give them some perspective.
‘Kendall, 15, and Kylie, 13, have been very blessed, we’ve given them everything they want,’ he says. ‘My responsibility as a parent is to show them what reality is.’
Speaking to the girls, Bruce says: ‘You don’t understand the value of a dollar, so we’re going to see something that will put you life in perspective and maybe you’ll appreciate your life a bit more.’
See? We are homeless because we “don’t understand the value of a dollar” Fuck you, Bruce Jenner.
Kim reveals that when she was their age, her late father Robert Kardashian took her to Skid Row in Los Angeles to show her how privileged her life was.
At the shelter, Kendall and Kylie are shocked to meet a girl who lives with her entire family in a room the size of their bedrooms.
‘It’s kind of eye opening,’; Kylie says. ‘Their whole home is the size of my bedroom. Their whole life is in that room, that is so sad to me, that people live their lives in this tiny space.
Kendall adds: ‘The girls at the shelter showed us what life could be, and made me really appreciate everything we have.'[1]
Translation:
I am the Few, the Proud, the Motivated to get my ass out of there.
“Are we in like Manner to be given up to the Disposal of the East India Company, who have now the Assurance, to step forth in Aid of the Minister, to execute his Plan, of enslaving America? Their Conduct in Asia for some Years past, has given simple Proof, how little they regard the Laws of Nations, the Rights, Liberties or Lives of Men. They have levied War, excited Rebellions, dethroned lawful Princes, and sacrificed Millions for the Sake of Gain. The Revenue of Mighty Kingdoms have centered in their Coffers. And these not being sufficient to glut their Avarice, they have, by the most unparalleled Barbarities, Extortions, and Monopolies, stripped the miserable Inhabitants of their Property, and reduce whole Provinces to Indigence and Ruin. Fifteen hundred Thousands, it is said, perished by Famine in one Year, not because the Earth denied its Fruits; but [because] this Company and their Servants engulfed all the Necessaries of Life, and set them so high at a Rate that the poor could not purchase them. Thus having drained the Sources of the immense Wealth…they now, it seems, cast their Eyes on America, as a new Theatre, whereon to exercise their Talents.” — Rusticus, in “The Alarm”, a colonial American “Broadside”, 1773.
Sound familiar? Even in 1773, Americans were concerned about the behavior of Corporations and Their Intentions. They were not for the Common Good. They were as they are now, in it for themselves. Note too in this excerpt, that Rusticus’ concerns have echoed down to the present day.
Yesterday, Sunday Sept 25, I was down occupying Wall Street. I saw a wide range of Americans – young, old, middle-aged, Veterans, New Yorkers, out-of-towners, and we all were there for one reason: To bring attention to the rising inequity that is occurring while the Foxers try to mock with outdated insults like “hippie” and “get a job”. Yeah, I am homeless, and I work. Just not earning enough to pay the rent.
When a group of NYFD walked through the plaza, a cheer and applause rang out.
Until the night fell, the NYPD were cool. Yes, there was an attempt to intimidate, but it didn’t quite work they way the Commanding officers hoped.
I met people who were respectful, well-spoken, and quite concerned for all Americans. Why should we be mocked for exercisng our First Amendment right to gather, express and petition? I mean, isn’t that why we’re “fighting ‘them’ over there”?
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The “Grand Old Party” a/k/a GOP a/k/a The Republican Party a/k/a The Party of Lincoln was finally laid to rest after succumbing to neurodegeneration. It was 146 years old. The Grand Old Party had a long and distinguished life beginning with its fight against extending (but not ending) slavery into the Territories. It’s earliest members were former Whigs, Know-Nothings, and Free Soil Democrats. In 1856, it’s slogan was “Free Labor, Free Soil, Free Men”. However, it wasn’t until the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, that they suddenly became abolitionist rather than simply “containists”. After Lincoln’s assassination, and the election of US Grant, GOP saw rot set in in the form of corruption. Under the stewardship of GOP, America saw the disenfranchisement of Americans in the South, the driving of former slaves off plantations, away from the only work they knew, and, the re-classification of Creoles as “Negro”
Tell me, does American Composer Louis Mareu Gottschalk, a Creole, look “black” to you?
Well, GOP thought so, simply because his mother was Haitian. and, so legislated him to the ranks of historical error, and thus gave birth to the “tragic mulatto” meme. GOP lost interest in the fate of freedmen, and came to fear the freedmen (blacks) as “potentially dangerous to the economy” by perhaps demanding a fair wage?
GOP used churches from its birth to gather support:
Historians have explored the ethnocultural foundations of the party, along the line that ethnic and religious groups set the moral standards for their members, who then carried those standards into politics. The churches also provided social networks that politicians used to sign up voters. The pietistic churches emphasized the duty of the Christian to purge sin from society. Sin took many forms—alcoholism, polygamy and slavery became special targets for the Republicans. The Yankees, who dominated New England, much of upstate New York, and much of the upper Midwest were the strongest supporters of the new party. This was especially true for the pietistic Congregationalists and Presbyterians among them and (during the war), the Methodists, along with Scandinavian Lutherans. The Quakers were a small tight-knit group that was heavily Republican.
I’ve reprinted this almost every year since the Towers fell: Written September 18, 2001, the first day I could board the Staten Island Ferry, and get into Manhattan. It was first posted my my old xanga.com blog, it’s been since posted to usenet and other blogs. Ironically, it was Rosh ha Shanna. The comment at the end still rings true. 9 years later, it still rings true. 9 years later…
Aftermath In the World of the Discordian, I would hazard that as of 9/11/01, we have left the Age of Bureaucacy, and entered the Age of Aftermath…
Sept 18, 2001 (Rosh HaShanah) I wrote:
A week ago, while trying to capture the remnants of Dreams, the phone rang. “Kelly, it’s Carl. the World Trade Center collapsed.” and with those words, everything changed. I turned on the radio and listened. Carl and I talked about what happened, about the safety of his family when he said: “The other Tower just collapsed. I gotta go.” He had watched it all from his office.
Over the next few days, I climbed out onto the fire escape to view the skyline. We had entered the Underworld, and New York Harbor had become the River Styx with Charon at the helm of the Ferries that ran between South Ferry and Staten Island, I emailed friends and family to let them know I was ok, helped a friend whose Mother was Missing Never to be Recovered, volunteered at the Red Cross Emergency Center at the just opened Staten Island Yankees Ballpark….
(written on the Ferry going towards Lower Manhattan) I am now beginning my own Journey to the Underworld. I am no Orpheus, but, perhaps I am. The city is shrouded. The forlorn tolling of a buoy bell. Is that fog? or, is it smoke from the still smoldering ruins? It’s a cynic’s question. Journalist on deck. from Japan. from somewhere in the U.S.
I can feel the Pain. Smell the Dead. The Ferry is arriving and I step in the Domain of Hades and Hekate.
I chose to ride a bus. An M15 Local. Not much choice. It’s the only running. Lower Manhattan was ghostly in its emptiness. as the bus turned off Water St, it started to become surreal – from the closed stores and the empty Sea Port. people walking to – where? As the bus moved uptown, Life returned in slow motion. the smoke. the smell receded to be replaced by traffic. The traffic grew heavier as and then came the pictures. Walls of pictures. no picture covering another, and one woman looking at each one in its turn that had been posted on a wall of a deli. the bus first passed by Beth Israel, then Bellvue and NYU. the next wall of pictures was taped to a construction barrier at, I believe, Bellvue. and the bus continued up 1st Ave. We passed a playground where the adults seemed to outnumber the children and none were at play. Getting off the bus at 50th St., in the shadow of the UN, I walked down to 48th St. and began to walk west towards Broadway. As I walked, I was struck by the Silence. No talking. no cell phones. no music. no car horns. Silence. I walked past a silent and empty Rockefeller Center, and I stopped to look at the FOX-TV News zipper and once more was stunned: bin Laden had achieved what no one could. A unilateral cease-fire betwixt Palestinians and Israelis. Maybe they finally realized that ‘tit for tat’ would bring ruin to both sides.
Later in the day, I walked over to Engine 54 in the Heart of the Theater District, just four blocks from the theater I used to manage. It was overwhelming. The Letters and flowers.Candles and Prayers. I cried. for the Missing Never to be Recovered, the Dead, the Living, but mostly for the children. I wished that they had missed this performance, along with the rest of the 5000+. It was one curtain that never should have gone up.
It’s weird. I’m sitting at Starbucks and the music is this “happy-Doo-Wop” version of “muzak” It was unreal looking out the window, traffic flowing down 9th Ave. as though nothing is amiss…I considered attending Rosh Hashanah services, but somehow, I felt empty by the consideration. so, I traveled back down to South Ferry, riding the 4 Express to Bowling Green. As the train approached Fulton Street Station, smoke was evident in the tunnel, you could smell flesh. My sinuses reacted immediately and I knew my voice would be affected as well.
What I didn’t plan on was becoming violently ill a few hours after I got home.
********************************
As I said, I wrote this one week after the event.
Pray for Newark seeks not to make our streets safer, but to make Newark a Christian Theocratic city as it was in its founding in 1666. As a non-Christian, this concerns me, Mr Mayor. You have endorsed the program, but Mr. Mayor, are you aware that the program is tied to the “Kill the Gays Movement in Uganda? from a current post about PfN:
Pray for Newark was founded by Newark suburb resident Lloyd Turner, who in October 2008 spoke at an Argentina conference of the International Transformation Network (ITN), whose CEO Ed Silvoso wrote, in his 2007 book, Transformation: Change the Marketplace and You Change the World, that homosexuality is caused by demon possession and that HIV and AIDS can be cured through faith healing and prayer. According to Silvoso, the entire national police force of the Philippines is being indoctrinated in this ideology.
You are a vocal supporter of GLBT Rights, yet, you have endorsed these medival minded people?
Demon possession? Really, Mr. Mayor? or uses military language to describe the work? That credits Jesus with the drop in crime? Does that imply that only non-Christians are dying here?
supports the “Seven Moutains” program which calls for born-again Christians to take control of businesses and governments?
here are 7 Mountains of Influence in Culture…
In 1975, Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, and Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission, had lunch together in Colorado. God simultaneously gave each of these change agents a message to give to the other. During that same time frame Francis Schaeffer was given a similar message. That message was that if we are to impact any nation for Jesus Christ, then we would have to affect the seven spheres, or mountains of society that are the pillars of any society. These seven mountains are business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, the family and religion.
Simply because almost everything and everyone “pray‐able” has an address somewhere. Your family. Your neighbors. Your workplace. Your school. Your church. Your investments. And so on.
When you ADOPT YOUR STREET, you are signing on to bless, fellowship with and minister to the felt needs of your community and those around you, and when the power and presence of the Lord touches them in some way, proclaim to them that it has a name. It’s called the kingdom of God, and it has come near to them. We call it “prayer evangelism” – talking to God about others before you talk to others about God. When you ADOPT YOUR STREET, you will be linking up with a vast army of people just like you in your own community and all around the world who are doing the very same thing. You will be able to find them on the site’s virtual map and you will be able to connect with them through comments and forums. You will never be alone.
Mr. Mayor, How can you claim to support Gay Rights, when Prayer For Newark and its ilk do not. IN fact, consider it to be “demon possession” what do they consider us non-Christians? They are very quiet about that. Mr. Mayor, if a Muslim organization came to you for support in their efforts to “take back the streets for Allah” and make them safer, would you endorse that?
“Pray for Newark” has MAPPED our city, Mr. Mayor. That means, they know where every church, mosque, synagogue, stores that sell merchandise they find “aberrant” are located. If they infiltrate the Police Department, how safe will the LGBT Community or anyone not on the 7 Mountain plan feel? They want to TAKE CONTROL OF NEWARK. CULTURALLY, SPIRITUALLY AND ECONOMICALLY.
Now, what was that about “none may buy or sell….”?
Well, GOP thought so, simply because his mother was Haitian. and, so legislated him to the ranks of historical error, and thus gave birth to the “tragic mulatto” meme. GOP lost interest in the fate of freedmen, and came to fear the freedmen (blacks) as “potentially dangerous to the economy” by perhaps demanding a fair wage?
The Jeering Section 