Pretty Bad
More Derbyshire on A2: “Berkeley was pretty bad, but I had sort of expected that, having spent time in Ann Arbor last year.”
More Derbyshire on A2: “Berkeley was pretty bad, but I had sort of expected that, having spent time in Ann Arbor last year.”
Just a tired childish rant from another coddled conservative who can’t face the realities of life in a big city. I wonder if he supports policies that gut social programs for the mentally ill and favors tax breaks to the wealthiest one percent.
How silly of me… Of course he does.
I guess he didn’t meet Shakin’ Jake Woods while he was here.
posted by local guy on February 16th, 2004 at 10:01 amDrunk boys use dormitory stairwells and garbage cans as urinals. Big wigs in suits emtpy ash trays out their car window at a State Street stop light. Every day women experience leering/jeering men who have jobs, houses and status. At the workplace, we sometimes work alongside raving lunatics. Bums and druggies do not corner the market on stinky, gross, and disgusting, people do.
“But that, of course, would never do. The “homeless” have “rights” that must be respected — the right to crap in public fountains, for instance, the right to shoot themselves up with deadly drugs in public squares, the right to shriek gibberish at passers-by, and the right to expose themselves to female office workers heading for the subway station…”
posted by petunia on February 16th, 2004 at 11:44 amfirst, let me ask local boy, did you know Shakey Jake? Did you ever see his home? The man wasn’t homeless, so don’t use him as an example when talking of homeless people.
While I agree with you (local) that he sounds like a “coddled conservative” none of your comments dealt with any of the issues he brought up, and he did bring up some good ones.
The idea of the public fountain, it sounds like it was getting abused and instead of cleaning it they fenced it off, and then the ‘homeless activists’ complained, well hey I wouldn’t want them using a public fountain as a bath/toilet/garbage.
Also, the idea of cutting the check they get from the county and turning that into shelter and food assistants instead sounds like a great idea. If i’m downtown and a homeless person says, can I have a few bucks for food, don’t give them the cash, take them someplace and buy them something to eat, you’ld be suprised at how many will turn you down (cause they want the money for booze).
petunia, uh most of the time i’m downtown Ann Arbor, it seems that the bumbs do have a corner on the market for being smelly, loud, lewd, etc. Though your certainly right that other people do such behavior. Here in Ann Arbor, there has been a real crack down in policy on homeless over the last few years, I don’t know if its made any difference.
just some thoughts
posted by Just a Voice on February 16th, 2004 at 3:19 pmHere in Ann Arbor, there has been a real “crack down” on everybody (i.e., not just the “bumbs”). That is why there is so much empty commercial space.
posted by Fat Midwesterner on February 16th, 2004 at 4:41 pmJAV, don’t you mean to say “do” I know Shaking Jake Woods? (It’s not Shakey Jake btw), Yes, I know Mr Woods. Maybe my point was that just because someone is “on the streets” doesn’t necessarily mean that person is homeless. And then to dis’ the homeless when indeed someone might not be is just selfish a knee jerk reaction based on a sad sterotype.
Mr Dar-b-shire is a jerk. I can’t be any more clear than that… Well, he’s a Republican jerk. There.
If a public fountain was YOUR only place for cleaning yourself, I don’t suppose you would avail yourself of the opportunity. I’ve seen the fountain in SF and yes there are homeless people around it, but Dar-b-shire makes it seem as if it’s a bath-house for druggies, the mentally ill and “bumbs” seeking “assistants”.
I don’t suppose it’s occurred to anyone reading this blog that most of us are only a couple of paychecks away from being homeless? And if you’re mentally ill and unable to find health care or a place to live… where the fuck would you go? There are plenty of people out there that none of us would suspect as having a mental illness and yet we dis’ them relentlessly because they smell, have bad manners or can’t control themselves. After $$ is cut for mental health care there’s no place for them to get care for their problems. A lot of it is because of people like JAV make sad stereotypes and aren’t willing to look beyond their wallets or warm places to live.
Oate’s “crackdown” on the homeless is just window dressing for the Mayor to spout for his re-election
posted by local guy on February 16th, 2004 at 4:41 pmShakey Jake, past tense? Did he die?
posted by Anna on February 16th, 2004 at 4:48 pmGenerally, arguing that the mentally ill homeless find homelessness and public assistance preferable to working etc. is an illogical red herring. Just because one is eligible for public assistance doesn’t mean they get it - schizophrenics and the drug-addicted are not known for their willingness to take time filling out the required paperwork, and the problems many homeless experience with police make them shy away from formal public services. Most of the assistance these folks get is charity-based, which undercuts the conservative argument that tax dollars subsidize irresponsible lifestyles.
posted by Nick on February 16th, 2004 at 5:36 pmBit of trivia, re: Jake. While I don’t know whether he is dead, the easiest way to track him down is to call Peacible Kingdom. They cut him checks for bumper sticker sales, and sometimes hold his meds for him during the day (I do know that he’s had about three strokes in the last year, so he’s not shakin’ the same way anymore). Anyway, that’s how Current finds him when they have to give him his annual Best of a2 plaque or his t-shirts.
posted by js on February 16th, 2004 at 6:03 pmjs
Where has Derbyshire been? Since when in America do neighbors “join with neighbors to solve common problems in a humane and sensible way”? I love that he thinks that a state (or a municipality) with a $30 billion budget deficit is going to build “well-supervised but Spartan facilities” to house 20,000 homeless people “until they [show] some inclination to cease being a nuisance, an embarrassment and a danger to their fellow citizens.” Dream on.
posted by frank on February 17th, 2004 at 11:52 amDar-b-sher has been on the moon on his way to Mars courtesy of Bush. I heard that the Prez has plans to make Mars a gated community
posted by local guy on February 17th, 2004 at 1:08 pmShakey is alive. And kickin. Just hugged him July 3 or 4 of ‘04.
posted by ILikeLightning on July 6th, 2004 at 10:25 pm