Gordon Winrod (born December 30, 1926), son of Gerald B. Winrod, is a Lutheran minister 30 years prison term

The Final Empire
The Collapse of Civilization and the Seed of the Future

William H. Koetke

(from Koetke's book of the same title: pp. 9­14)

Our generation is on the verge of the most profound catastrophe the human species has ever faced. Death threats to the living earth are coming from all sides. Water, sunlight, air and soil are all threatened. When Eskimos of the far north begin to experience leukemia from atomic radiation and Eskimo mothers' milk contains crisis levels of PCBs, we must recognize that every organism on the planet is threatened.

Compounding this crisis is the fact that the prime force in this affair, the civilized humans, are unable to completely understand the problem. The problem is beneath the threshold of consciousness because humans within civilization (civilization comes from the Latin, civis, referring to those who live in cities, towns and villages) no longer have relationship with the living earth. Civilized people's lives are focused within the social system itself. They do not perceive the eroding soils and the vanishing forests. These matters do not have the immediate interest of paychecks. The impulse of civilization in crisis is to do what it has been doing, but do it more energetically in order to extricate itself. If soaring population and starvation threaten, often the impulse is to put more pressure on the agricultural soils and cut the forests faster.

We face planetary disaster. The destruction of the planetary life system has been ongoing for thousands of years and is now approaching the final apocalypse which some of us will see in our own lifetimes. Far from being a difficult and complex situation it is actually very simple, if one can understand and accept a few simple and fundamental propositions.

The planetary disaster is traced to one simple fact. Civilization is out of balance with the flow of planetary energy. The consensus assumption of civilization is that an exponentially expanding human population with exponentially expanding consumption of material resources can continue, based on dwindling resources and a dying ecosystem. This is simply absurd. Nonetheless, civilization continues on with no memory of its history and no vision of its future.

Possibly the most important source of life on this planet is the thin film of topsoil. The life of the planet is essentially a closed, balanced system with the elements of sun, water, soil and air as the basic elements. These elements work in concert to produce life and they function according to patterns that are based in the laws of physics, which we refer to as Natural Law.

The soil depth and its richness is a basic standard of health of the living planet. As a general statement we may say that when soil is lost, imbalance and injury to the planet's life occurs. In the geologic time-span of the planet's life, this is a swift progression toward death. Even if only one per cent of the soil is lost per thousand years, eventually the planet dies. If one per cent is gained, then the living wealth, the richness, of the planet increases. The central fact must be held in mind of how slowly soil builds up. Soil scientists estimate that three hundred to one thousand years are required for the buildup of each inch of topsoil.

The nourishment of the soil depends upon the photosynthetic production of the vegetative cover that it carries. There are wide differences in the Net Photosynthetic Production of many possible vegetative covers. As a rule it is the climax ecosystem of any particular region of the earth that is the most productive in translating the energy of the sun into the growth of plants and in turn into organic debris which revitalizes the soil.

A climax ecosystem is the equilibrium state of the "flesh" of the earth. After a severe forest fire, or to recover from the injury of clearcut logging, the forest organism slowly heals the wound by inhabiting the area with a succession of plant communities. Each succeeding community prepares the area for the next community. In general terms, an evergreen forest wound will be covered by tough small plants, popularly called "weeds" and the grasses which hold down the topsoil and prepare the way for other grasses and woody shrubs to grow up on the wound. ("Weeds" are the "first aid crew" on open ground.) As a general rule, the "first aid crew" - the first community of plants to get in and cover the bare soil and hold it down - is the more simple plant community with the smallest number of species of plants, animals, insects, micro-organisms and so forth. As the succession proceeds, the diversity, the number of species, increases as does the NPP, until the climax system is reached again, and equilibrium is established. The system drives toward complexity of form, maximum ability to translate incoming energy (NPP) and diversity of energy pathways (food chains and other services that plants and animals perform for one another). The plants will hold the soil so that it may be built back up. They will shade the soil to prevent its oxidation (the heating and drying of soil promotes chemical changes that cause sterility) and conserve moisture. Each plant takes up different combinations of nutrients from the soil so that specific succession communities prepare specific soil nutrients for specific plant communities that will succeed them. Following the preparation of the site by these plants, larger plants, alders and other broadleaf trees will come in and their lives and deaths will further prepare the micro-climate and soil for the evergreens. These trees function as "nurse" trees for the final climax community, which will be conifers. Seedling Douglas Fir, for example, cannot grow in sunlight and must have shade provided by these forerunner communities.

The ecosystems of this earth receive injury from tornado, fire, or other events and then cycle back to the balanced state, the climax system. This is similar to the wound on a human arm that first bleeds, scabs over and then begins to build new replacement skin to reach its equilibrium state. The climax system then is a basic standard of health of the living earth, its dynamic equilibrium state. The climax system is the system that produces the greatest photosynthetic production. Anything that detracts from this detracts from the health of the ecosystem.
Climax ecosystems are the most productive because they are the most diverse. Each organism feeds back some portion of energy to producers of energy that supports it (as well as providing energy to other pathways) and as these support systems grow, the mass and variety of green plants and animals increases, taking advantage of every possible niche. What might be looked at as a whole, unitary organ of the planet's living body, a forest or grassland, experiences increased health because of its diversity within.

On a large scale, the bioregions and continental soils, substantially support sea life by the wash-off (natural and unnatural) of organic fertility into aquatic and ocean environments. This is a further service that these whole ecosystems perform for other whole ecosystems.

A few basic principles of the earth's life in the cosmos have now been established. Balance is cosmic law. The earth revolves around the sun in a finely tuned balance. The heat budget of the planet is a finely tuned balance. If the incoming heat declined, we would freeze or if the planet did not dissipate heat properly we would burn up. The climax ecosystem maintains a balance and stability century after century as the diverse flows of energies constantly move and cycle within it. In the same manner the human body maintains balance (homeostasis) while motion of blood, digestion and cell creation, flow within it.

The life of the earth is fundamentally predicated upon the soil. If there is no soil, there is no life as we know it. (Some micro-organisms and some other forms might still exist). The soil is maintained by its vegetative cover and in optimal, balanced health, this cover is the natural climax ecosystem.

If one can accept these few simple principles then we have established a basis of communication upon which we may proceed. Anyone who cannot accept these principles must demonstrate that the world works in some other way. This must be done quickly because the life of the planet earth hangs in the balance.

We speak to our basic condition of life on earth. We have heard of many roads to salvation. We have heard that economic development will save us, solar heating will save us, technology, the return of Jesus Christ who will restore the heaven and the earth, the promulgation of land reform, the recycling of materials, the establishment of capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, Muslimism, vegetarianism, trilateralism, and even the birth of new Aquarian Age, we have been told, will save us. But the principle of soil says that if the humans cannot maintain the soil of the planet, they cannot live here. In 1988, the annual soil loss due to erosion was twenty-five billion tons and rising rapidly. Erosion means that soil moves off the land. An equally serious injury is that the soil's fertility is exhausted in place. Soil exhaustion is happening in almost all places where civilization has spread. This is a literal killing of the planet by exhausting its fund of organic fertility that supports other biological life. Fact: since civilization invaded the Great Plains of North America one-half of the topsoil of that area has disappeared.
The Record of Empire

The eight thousand year record of crimes against nature committed by civilization include assaults on the topsoils of all continents.

Forests, the greatest generators of topsoil, covered roughly one-third of the earth prior to civilization. By 1975 the forest cover was one-fourth and by 1980 the forest had shrunk to one-fifth and the rapidity of forest elimination continues to increase. If the present trends continue without interruption eighty percent of the vegetation of the planet will be gone by 2040.

The simple fact is that civilization cannot maintain the soil. Eight thousand years of its history demonstrate this. Civilization is murdering the earth. The topsoil is the energy bank that has been laboriously accumulated over millennia. Much of it is gone and the remainder is going rapidly.

When civilized "development" of land occurs the climax system is stripped, vegetation is greatly simplified or cleared completely, and the net photosynthetic production plummets. In the tropics, when pasture land is created by clearing forest, two-thirds of the original net photosynthetic production is eliminated. In the mid-latitudes one-half the net photosynthetic production is lost when cropland is created from previously forested land. The next step is that humans take much of even that impaired production off the land in the form of agricultural products so that not even the full amount of that impaired production returns to feed the soil.

This points out a simple principle: Human society must have as its central value, a responsibility to maintain the soil. If we can create culture that can maintain the soil then there is the possibility of human culture regaining balance with the life of the earth.

The central problem is that civilization is out of balance with the life of the earth.

The solution to that problem is for human society to regain balance with the earth.

We are now back to everyone's personal answer concerning how to respond to the planetary crisis. Most proposals for salvation have little to do with maintaining the soil. All of these seek to alleviate the situation without making any uncomfortable change in the core values or structure of existing society. They only try to "fix" the symptoms. If we had a society whose core values were to preserve and aid the earth, then all of the other values of society would flow consistently from that.

In many important ways civilization functions in an addictive fashion. The culture of civilization functions so that it is self-destructive, suicidal; as if it were a person addicted to alcohol, white sugar, drugs or tobacco. The addict denies that there is a problem. The addict engages in the denial of reality. Civilization is addicted in the same way.

The civilized people believe they have an obligation to bring primitive and underdeveloped people up to their level. Civilization, which is about to self-destruct, thinks of itself as the superior culture that has answers for all the world's people.

An addict, truly, is a person who is emotionally dependent on things: television, substances, personality routines, other people, mental ideologies, total immersion in some cause or work. If the object of dependency is removed, addicts will experience insecurity, discomfort, distress, the symptoms of withdrawal.

Civilization is a cultural/mental view that believes security is based in instruments of coercion. The size of this delusion is such that the combined military expenditures of all the world's governments in 1987 were so large that all of the social programs of the United Nations could be financed for three hundred years by this expenditure.

Looking back at the simple principle which says that humans cannot live on this planet unless they can maintain the topsoil, demonstrates the delusion. The civilized denial of the imperative of maintaining topsoil, demonstrates the delusion. The delusion of military power does not lead to security, it leads to death. The civilized denial of the imperative of maintaining topsoil, and the addictive grasping to the delusion that security can be provided by weapons of death, is akin to the hallucination of an alcoholic suffering delirium tremens!

The first step in the recovery of any addict is the recognition that what they have believed is a delusion. The alcoholic must come to see that "just one more drink" is not the answer, the workaholic must come to see that "just a little more effort" will not provide feelings of self-worth and a rounded life. The bulimic must come to see that "just one more plate of food" will not provide emotional wholeness. Civilization must come to see that its picture of reality is leading it to suicide.

Here we have the whole of it. The problem is imbalance and the solution is to regain balance. Here we have the simple principle: if human actions help to regain balance as judged by the condition of the soil, then we are on the path of healing the earth. If the theory, plan, project, or whatever, cannot be justified by this standard, then we are back in the delusional system.

All of us are addicts. We of civilization have lost our way. We are now functioning in a world of confusion and chaos. We must recognize that the delusional system of civilization, the mass institutions and our personal lives, function on a self-destructive basis. We live in a culture that is bleeding the earth to death, and we have been making long-range personal plans and developing careers within it. We strive toward something that is not to be.

We must try to wake up and regain a vision of reality. We must begin taking responsibility for our lives and for the soil. This is a tall order. This will require study and forethought. Humans have never dealt with anything like this before. This generation is presented with a challenge that in its dimensions is cosmic. A cosmic question: will tens of millions of years of the proliferation of life on earth die back to the microbes? This challenge presents us with the possibility of supreme tragedy or the supreme success.

Creating a utopian paradise, a new Garden of Eden is our only hope. Nothing less will extricate us. We must create the positive, cooperative culture dedicated to life restoration and then accomplish that in perpetuity, or we as a species cannot be on earth.
Gordon Winrod (born December 30, 1926), son of Gerald B. Winrod, is a Christian Identity minister who is serving 30 years prison term for abducting six of his grandchildren in 1994 and 1995.[1][2] Winrod was also ordered to pay up $26 million, after two of his grandchildren brought suit against him.[3]

Winrod attended Lutheran Christian Day School, grades 1 through 8, finished high school at Hesston College, Hesston, Kansas,[citation needed] and attended St. John's Lutheran College in Winfield, Kansas.

Winrod served in the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Navy from January, 1945 until August, 1948. Winrod married Genevieve Ann Dicke in Topeka, Kansas in 1948. They have eleven children.

Winrod graduated from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1955; and he served as pastor of Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod congregations in San Antonio, Texas, and in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Winrod began publishing The Winrod Letter in April, 1960.

He moved to Gainesville, Missouri in 1965 and established Our Savior's Independent Christian congregation.

The Anti-Defamation League says that Winrod is an anti-Jewish propagandist. Winrod openly attacks Jews and Judaism in his writings. Winrod describes Jews as child-molesting perverts who hate God, practice the religion of Satan, run a "Secret Jewish World Government of anti-Christ", and says that the Jews have butchered, burned and bled Christians (drinking warm Christian blood) down through the centuries.[4]



My intention in reviewing this stunning book is to share how it has illumined my understanding that collapse and vision are not separate, but that in fact, they travel together and need each other. That is to say that collapse makes vision possible, and vision makes collapse the most desirable option of all as we confront the earth community's current dilemma.

Disaster is not approaching, It has arrived. It is happening now.

Blessings and Grace are not approaching
They have arrived.
They are here now

I say I believe in Grace
But I think, feel and move as though
Only Damnation is real.
Or if Grace does exist,
It is for someone else.

I close my heart to pain
But it doesn't help,
I cannot circumvent disaster.
But in closing my heart to disaster
perhaps I can circumvent Grace.

Can I bear the burden
Of knowing disaster and Grace,
Each in its own awful fullness?

James Hillman says our problem
Comes down to a failure of imagination.
I need an image, a picture...
Who would I be
If I were willing to risk believing
That Grace is real?
~By Paul Tierney~

It has repeatedly been my experience that when a book is supposed to enter my life, it does. Often it falls off the shelf into my lap, and at other times a friend suggests it, or the author him/herself sends me a copy for review. William Kotke has written articles for this website, and his Final Empire has been reviewed elsewhere, most notably by Dan Armstrong. However, the timing of my requesting a review copy of the book from him could not have been more momentous. As a result, I am not only reviewing the book, but using the review as an opportunity for sharing a recent shift in my perspective that may make this the most important article I've ever written in my life. It is written in two parts: The first contains Kotke's extraordinary analysis of why civilization is collapsing and must collapse, and the second offers his vision of what is possible when empire has been eliminated.

My intention in reviewing this stunning book is to share how it has illumined my understanding that collapse and vision are not separate, but that in fact, they travel together and need each other. That is to say that collapse makes vision possible, and vision makes collapse the most desirable option of all as we confront the earth community's current dilemma.

For at least the past two years I have been writing and speaking about the collapse of empire/ civilization, along with a chorus of other voices such as Matt Savinar, Mike Ruppert, Dmitry Orlov, Catherine Austin Fitts, Richard Heinberg, James Howard Kunstler, and Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson. I name only a few of us, mindful that ours are not the only voices speaking from the depths of exhaustive research and personal experience. And now in the first month of 2008, the world is beginning to witness a dramatic unraveling of civilization. The spectacle has begun with the convergence of what I have been naming for years as the "Terminal Triangle": Peak Oil, climate change, and global economic meltdown. A number of related issues such as population overshoot, species extinction, and global pandemics, abide in the mix, but the "Big Three" are now juxtaposed in what appears to be the beginning of the end of life as we have known it on planet earth.

William Kotke has brilliantly articulated what I would not only describe as an "encyclopedia of collapse" but has skillfully depicted a vision of possibility imbedded within the core of apocalypse. The introduction and first chapter of this masterpiece can be read online, but they do not include what I believe are the book's fundamental underpinnings consisting of Chapter 9, "The Cultural Dynamics Of Empire" and Chapter 10, "The Psychology Of Empire", nor do they contain Kotke's elaboration of the exquisite vision he holds for the earth community.

The author painstakingly describes the history of the disintegration and the collapse of the ecosystems in such a manner that the reader cannot escape the reality that all of this is inherent in the very nature of civilization itself. In fact, he thoroughly convinces us that no project in the history of the human race has been so unequivocally doomed from its inception as civilization, its ultimate destiny being its demise and the obliteration of everyone and everything in its wake. Had I had the slightest doubt that civilization must and will collapse in order to spare what it has not yet annihilated on this planet, my uncertainty would have been expunged by Kotke long before arriving at Chapters 9 and 10.

The Cultural Dynamics of Empire

Kotke takes on the linear concept of cultural evolution which assumes that natural cultures of ancient times were "in much worse condition than we are today" and that "we are at the forefront of social evolution." Contained within this notion is the delusion that humans invented agriculture as an escape from unsatisfactory conditions. (197) This myth presumes that "there has been a qualitative advancement with the change from forager/hunter culture to civilization." On the contrary, Kotke notes, compared with natural culture, civilization has brought forth a lowering of living standards and a world in which starvation is increasing--where "progress" is defined primarily by the technological objects that we have invented.

But the fundamental question that must be asked is: "What is it about the culture of empire that has produced the prospect of planetary suicide for the earth community?" Most of us know the standard answers to this question: Human culture changed from cooperation to competition; from social equality to hierarchy; from matrilocal consciousness to patriarchy and an emphasis on the warrior. (199)

Yet even more specifically, natural culture understood that each living thing is a spiritually conscious entity as well as understanding that "everything in material reality was spiritually vivified." The hallmark of that culture was a "continuing and direct spiritual contact with the cosmos" and one in which decisions were made with their repercussions on subsequent generations in mind. (200-201)

The culture of empire is characterized by a rejection of adaptation and insistence on control. It may be argued that as a result of natural culture's intimacy with the cosmos, its most remarkable asset was a willingness to adapt; whereas a culture immersed in materialism can only manage, manipulate, and dominate. Natural culture is one informed and guided by something greater than itself, but the culture of empire is a culture where the ego reigns supreme. Civilization inculcates the belief that bigger is better in every realm, and especially with respect to population. Increase in numbers of citizens offers the hope of physical safety, and economic growth delivers the false promise of immunity to scarcity. In summary, "a profound change takes place in the psyche of the culture when this change from forager/hunter to civilized, imperial energy systems occurs." (203)

Imperial culture, Kotke emphasizes, in contrast to natural culture, is shortsighted and accumulative. No longer is value found in preserving soil, water, forests, or other resources. Thus he argues that:

No one in the empire advocates long-term gain in soil fertility when the short-term gain of profit margins or production quotas are the whole point of the effort. This is the reason that nothing real will be done to avoid the final collapse of civilization. The structure of empire is to enrich the emperor/elite at the expense of the earth and society, not to manage affairs for the benefit of the whole life of the earth. (205)

Therefore, the culture of empire is one in which the earth is a "resource" to be used for the benefit and gratification of empire. Another word for this is quite simply, fascism.

Kotke's brilliant analysis of the cultural dynamics of empire confirms nothing if not the desirability, indeed the absolute necessity, of the collapse of civilization.

In "The Psychology of Empire" we are offered an intimate exploration of empire's impact on our hearts, souls, and bodies with a daring statement by Kotke that "We live in a culture that conditions us toward psychological disintegration" and the admonition that "the examination of these disintegrative factors will aid us in creating a new culture that is pointed toward healing and wholeness." (216) He then presents the analogy of malignancy, stating that "empire feeds on the earth like a tumor" because humans do not depend on the life of the earth for their sustenance but on what human society produces by way of using and exploiting the earth.

When one considers the cancer epidemic of recent decades in the light of the above assertion, one can only wonder to what extent our collective "feeding on the earth like a tumor" is influencing the incidence of this fatal disease. Kotke quotes cell biologist, L. L. Larison Cudmore, who states that "Cancer cells do not respect the territorial rights of other cells and refuse to obey the two rules obeyed by all other cells: they neither stop growing nor stop moving when they encounter another cell, and they do not stick to their own kind. Quite simply, they are cells that have decided on autonomy and independent growth, rather than cooperation....Cancer will not stop its hideous course of uncontrolled growth and invasion until it or its victim is dead." (218)

In other words, the cancer dynamic is without limits, inherently colonizing, omnipotent, and anti-dependent. Can we find a more apt description of empire consciousness?

Enculturation to empire begins in the birthing process itself which is not given the proper reverence it deserves, often complicated by or intruded upon by medication, technology, or both. Equally sacred is the bonding process, so frequently minimized, thwarted, or non-existent in the culture of empire. Yet another characteristic of civilization is its stilted relationship with erotic pleasure and the "anguish, shame, guilt, and automatic negative response to sexual love." (237) Thus the "civilized" child frequently enters adulthood carrying massive anxiety and little sense of connectedness with other humans or the earth. One of the most common outcomes is addiction, which empire feeds and perpetuates endlessly with a plethora of substances, things, activities, and people. Unlike growing up in natural culture, the child of empire "Not knowing the security of life and the earth and not knowing the security of a natural clan providing the learning of human sociability, the industrial human becomes a victim of all the forces of society that tend to make the person powerless and dependent, the perfect subject of addictive dependencies." (248)

Therefore, Kotke wisely concludes: "The logical extrapolation of civilization is the mental institution." (249) Neurosis, schizophrenia, and catatonic states, politically defined as insanity, are simply "logical extensions of the already existing social isolation of the individual in the culture of empire. It is also the logical end of the culture itself in the cosmos, lost in space and surrounded by life but talking only to itself." (250)

By the end of "The Psychology of Empire" it is difficult to even consider arguing for "reform" or the prevention of collapse. In fact, Kotke boldly and blatantly argues for collapse!:

We are not fighting to reform a maladaptive and dying social body. There is no conflict with civilization, it is passing away. There is no battle for civilization's power, the power to kill. There is only the open, positive and sharing sustenance of the new life. (252)

That is to say: Stop trying to fix a dying system. Rather, in Kotke's words, "As with a physical wound, the imperial tissue that has lost integration with the body, lost coherence with the complex flows of energy, falls away. One allows the diseased and injured portions to fall away, while resisting injury to that which is still healthy. One focuses on the new growth, the area of healing....In the case of civilization, it is now poised, tipping and beginning the slide into complete disintegration."

We must realize, says Kotke, that "the dear thing cannot be saved, even with major surgery."

The Ramifications Of Surrender

Some may object to the use of the word "surrender", with its spiritual undertones. However, I was greatly inspired last year by Sally Erickson's blog piece "Catastrophe As Spiritual Practice" in which she shared how surrender to collapse can be a powerful component of our personal, as well as planetary, evolution. These past two years have been for me a cellular-level experience of comprehending more deeply than ever what that actually means. The spiritual dimension for me is non-religious and non-theistic, yet informed by something greater than myself.

From the beginning of this millennium until I encountered the topic of collapse, I had been a prisoner of ego, intent on doing battle with the darkness of empire, hopeful that enough grassroots momentum could be marshaled to affect change and return the United States to the principles of a democratic republic verbalized in the Constitution, albeit not always practiced, through political and community action. What I have learned from my willingness to descend into the abyss of collapse is that there is no return to the "Common Sense" of Thomas Paine, nor is the prevention of collapse even desirable. On the contrary, the collapse of civilization is the only "hope" humanity has of restoring sanity to its own species.

Unfortunately, as I have written profusely about the desirability of collapse, some readers have argued that embracing collapse is synonymous with "giving up." For this reason, the second part of this review of Kotke's Final Empire will be devoted to exploring the other half of the book, "The Seed Of The Future," in which I will demonstrate that surrendering to collapse is anything but giving up.

What natural cultures understand that empire culture does not and cannot, is that before we can take action that makes a significant difference, we must surrender to the worst case scenario; that is, we must be willing to abandon, reject, and resist "hope" and open to abject despair. In other words, as Paul Tierney's poem reminds us, when we circumvent pain, we also circumvent grace.

Hope Vs. Vision/Mindset

As Truth To Power readers know, I have a strong reaction to the word "hope", and I take great pains to distinguish it from vision or mindset. For those who don't know, I want to explain why-again. My 2007 "The End Of The World As We Know It: Hope Vs. Mindset" addressed the issue by illuminating the word "hope" as an unfortunate casualty of the language of empire. Although not quite as cynical about it as James Howard Kunstler, I agree with him when he argues that any hope we have must come from within ourselves. Empire has inculcated in us the belief that our hope lies in something external-politicians, policies, programs, or other people, and as a result, the tendency is to embrace those as our "hope" rather than journeying into the recesses of our own psyches in order to create a vision that we can manifest in relationship with our fellow humans and the entire earth community. More often than not, our "hope" is a defense against feeling despair, but until we have visited the abyss, we are ill-equipped to affect meaningful change and are more likely to engage in activities that appear to be innovative but actually perpetuate denial-our own and that of our allies.

When I abandon the ego-driven project of preventing collapse, when I surrender to utter hopelessness, a fertile space is created in my psyche and my life for giving birth to and nurturing my vision. No longer is my vision jaded by fantasy or a compulsion to circumvent upheaval. I can stand in the tracks of the non-humans struggling to avoid extinction engendered by "superior" humans and open to the possibility of sacrificing myself and my own species so that they may live. My surrender allows me to find my proper place and purpose in the earth community-one species among countless others, willing to allow those others the last word because, of course, they will have it anyway.

Part II of this review will explore "The Seed Of The Future", creating and tending one's vision.

Wm. H. Kötke is widely traveled and published. His most recent book, prior to Planet Garden, was the underground classic, The Final Empire: The Collapse of Civilization and the Seed of the Future. He has been a journalist, a radio script writer, a pamphleteer, a novelist, an essayist, and has had many articles published in periodicals. He lives in Geyserville, California and may be contacted at wmkotke@earthlink.net This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Posted by Rowan at February 7, 2008 8:46 PM Category: Authors --- Guest

 MILLIONS of BILLIONS of HUNGRY CANNIBAL HOMELESS (HERE! by CHRISTMAS)  21st Century Cities Two Billion Slum Dwellers [Elisabeth Eaves] 06.11.07, 6:00 PM ET Forget about Utopia or even the dystopian Los Angeles depicted in Blade Runner. The future of the city is a vast Third World slum. This year, the world will pass a milestone so profoundly significant that 2007 will become a touchstone for future historians. For the first time, more people will be living in cities than in the country. The individual who tips the scales might be a baby born to a city dweller or an adult migrating from the countryside, but in either case, it's likely that his or her new surroundings will include flimsy walls, disease and an enveloping stench of sewage and trash. The newcomer will have arrived in a Third World slum. By 2030, an estimated 5 billion of the world's 8.1 billion people will live in cities. About 2 billion of them will live in slums, primarily in Africa and Asia, lacking access to clean drinking water and working toilets, surrounded by desperation and crime. Already these slums are huge. According to Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums, nearly 80% of Nigeria's urban population, or some 41.6 million people, live in slums. The comparable numbers in India are 56% and 158.4 million. Many of these slum dwellers are also squatters, lacking leases or legal title to their homes. Not all slums are equal. By the United Nation's definition, their residents are missing at least some of the following: durable walls, a secure lease or title, adequate living space, and access to safe drinking water and toilets. A fifth of slum households are missing at least three of these basic needs. To the outsider, many developing-world slums look unbearably awful, but to their residents they do function, complete with social hierarchies, commerce and a degree of home-grown government. Still, when one sees a family living in a flyblown concrete cell in Karachi, inside a mud hut in Nairobi or in a cardboard shack in Lagos, one might be inclined to ask, Are they really better off than in the villages they fled? Dismal though the slums may be, the answer is often yes. After all, nearly all of the residents are there by choice (many, in fact, pay some sort of rent), so they themselves think they are better off. The vast majority moved to the city seeking better economic prospects, and many find them. A 2005 study on migration and poverty in Asia by the International Organization for Migration notes that "even if migrant jobs are in the risky informal sector, the gains to be made can be several times higher than wages in rain-fed agriculture." Many slum dwellers are in fact entrepreneurs, albeit writ very small. They recycle trash, sell vegetables, do laundry. Some even run tiny restaurants and bars for their neighbors. Even though they are technically squatters, lacking legal title to their land, many also improve their dwellings--often just one brick at a time. After decades of home improvement, some of the best dwellings in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro sport balconies and ocean views. Indeed, for many decades the slums offered a degree of upward mobility. Migrants squatted on city outskirts, drawn by free or nearly free land and proximity to urban jobs. Over the decades many of the residents built permanent housing and succeeded--often after a long wait--in getting services like water, sanitation and electricity routed to their neighborhoods. Onetime poor colonias in Mexico City have gentrified since the early 1980s. The favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the oldest of which date back to 1897, are famously vibrant, replete with lively bars and low crime rates--even if they happen to be "governed" by local drug gangs. Davis, the author of Planet of Slums, comes to a darker conclusion. "That frontier of free land is essentially over," he says. "Squatting has now been privatized." Since the 1980s, he says, new migrants to the slums have had to pay for the privilege of living there. In some cases, as in Pakistan and Kenya, the land is ostensibly public, but local police forces or corrupt politicians demand "rent." In others, as in many Latin American slums, the newest, poorest arrivals rent space from more-established squatters. A byproduct of this diminishing supply of free land is that new arrivals move onto more marginal land: steep gullies in Tijuana, vertical hillsides in Caracas, flood-prone flats in Dhaka. Davis also argues that in cities like Mumbai, urban job growth has failed to keep pace with city growth since the 1990s. "These areas are now supersaturated with Darwinian competition," he says. And even when there is more economic opportunity in the city, life in the slums is extremely perilous. According to the United Nations, slum children in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to die from water-borne and respiratory illnesses than rural children, while women living in slums are more likely to contract HIV than their country cousins. In countries including Egypt, Bangladesh and Guatemala, slum children are less likely to be enrolled in primary school than their urban counterparts. Still, the dream of a better life in the city persists. Overall, the world's urban population is expected to grow at an annual rate of 1.78% until 2030, while rural communities shrink. Ways to mitigate poverty amid this massive shift are not easy to find. Just last month, the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra announced an ambitious plan to transform one of Asia's largest slums. The neighborhood, Dharavi, is home to about 600,000 people crammed into one square mile at the heart of Mumbai. But no sooner had the government proposed the $2.3 billion scheme, which would rehouse the slum dwellers for free, than local activists denounced it for favoring the rich and driving out Dharavi's myriad of small businesses. Turkey offers some lessons to governments serious about grappling with urban poverty. As Robert Neuwirth documents in his book Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, a New Urban World, Turkey has two laws giving squatters legal and political rights, which encourages them to invest in their homes and neighborhoods. Neuwirth, who lived in the squatter communities of Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Mumbai and Istanbul, writes that a legal system like Turkey's could benefit squatters all over the world. Of course, that kind of legal reform presupposes a measure of democracy and good government, something much of the developing world doesn't have. For decades, governments around the world simply abdicated responsibility for this massive urban influx. One result is that most of the world's slum dwellers--a billion people--remain cut off from the legal economy, working outside the tax system and with only tenuous rights to the land on which they live. Into this vacuum of power have stepped all sorts of organic movements. Some are potentially positive: Pentecostalism is on the rise in slums, according to Davis, and Indian slums have spawned influential groups that fight for squatters' rights. But for every benign community organization that rises to power in a slum, so does a criminal gang or a militant movement like Hamas. Western security experts rightly fear failed states; in the future, they will have to worry about failed cities. Mega-cities, of 10 million or more, are on the rise across Asia, while cities like Dhaka, Jakarta, Lagos and Delhi will cross the 20 million threshold by 2020. Planning and building is not keeping pace. The world ignores the slums at its own peril. Wed Jul 4, 2007 6:56 am Show Message Option View Source Use Fixed Width Font Unwrap Lines "Joanna dArc" boxcarro Offline Offline Send Email Send Email Forward Message #241 of 245 < Prev | Next > Expand Messages Author Sort by Date Two Billion Slum Dwellers The World Soon a VAST JUNGLE of POOR 21st Century Cities Two Billion Slum Dwellers Elisabeth Eaves 06.11.07, 6:00 PM ET Forget about Utopia or even the dystopian Los Angeles depicted in Blade... Joanna dArc boxcarro Offline Send Email Jul 4, 2007 6:57 am < Prev Topic | Next Topic > * Location: HERE! by CHRISTMAS san diego craigslist > city of san diego > community > politics homeless = human cockroaches (the very definition of a wackjob.) Date: 2009-06-21, 9:48AM PDT Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here homeless = human cockroaches *** homeless = human cockroaches *** "elijahradioprophet@yahoo.com" has forwarded you this craigslist.org posting. Please see below for more information. *** homeless = human cockroaches *** Reply to: pers-308213652@craigslist.org Date: 2007-04-08, 10:44AM I used to have compassion for these people, but frankly I'm just sick and tired of having to deal with these parasites. I used to give them money, but now I realize I'm jsut contributing to the problem and enabling a lifestyle that is harmful to everybody. Quit frankly pretty much every single one of them is able to pick up a broom, rake or shovel and contribute to society. If you are so crazy or mentally disabled to not be able to do that brainless manual labor, then you probably wouldn't survive a week on the street either. They steal, vandelize, and generally destroy business and tourism. I'm tired of buying a nice lunch and having one of these stinky disgusting parasites sit next to me and ruin my day. I'm tire of smelling their shit and piss. I'm tired of having them beg me for change and then make rude comments when I don't give them anything. Quit frankly they don't deserve my compassion. Most are there by choice, rejecting help at every opportunity. So homeless should be given an option, live in-city in a shelter and WORK daily picking up trash, sweeping sidewalks, cleaning parks etc, or we haul them off to a campment in the middle of nowhere in east county. They would be free to leave anytime, but it would be quit a hike to go beg for money. I bet it would cost the county WAY less in the long run and maigh actually motivate these people to accept the help and programs offered to them. Original URL: http://sandiego.craigslist.org/rnr/308213652.html ------------------------------------------------- this craigslist posting was forwarded to you by someone using our email-a-friend feature - if you want to prevent these, please go to: http://www.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/te/49mYyF2YA9mcoFWeu82bt92YL all OF THE NAMES OF THOSE THAT ENGAGE IN ORAL SEX WHETHER THEY ARE GIVING IT OR RECEIVING IT ARE all HEREBY ERASED OUT OF THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE AND ARE FOREVER CONDEMNED TO HADES! FOR CHOOSING TO CONTINUE ON IN THEIR SINS BY COMMITTING THE CRIME OF SODOMY (UNNATURAL SEX AND A VERY PIGGISH ACT AS WELL); WHICH IS NO LongER FORGIVABLE FOR DOING! all OF THESE IN THIS CITY THAT I HAVE trULY WON FOR GOD WILL all BE SOUGHT OUT AND WILL BE EXECUTED BY THE SWORD THAT COMES OUT OF MY MOUTH! 77X7! AMEN! SINCERELY -THE WORD OF GOD- GOD HATES AMERICA: SUN SHINING OR NOT 100 BILLION HOMELESS by CHRISTMAS (In LOS ANGELES alone!) Date: 2009-06-18, 8:08AM PDT Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here MAKING HIS WAY FROM PUBLIC SQUARE, through a blossoming park next to the County Courthouse, the tall homeless man in the red "Rise Up" Cavs T-shirt bounds down some steps and onto a ramp that looks like a miniature football field from above. Overhead, the constant hum of the Shoreway. Ahead, cars whipping by, the half-billion-dollar Browns Stadium hulking impressively beyond. Below, two busy train tracks and a tiny fenced-in city parking lot. Mark's home. The 40-year-old hops a short railing. A sign there reads: "Homeless Being Evicted by the City of Cleveland over a Sporting Event. We Need Help from Anyone." Directly under the ramp, a shirtless man and a frail woman are tweaking out. "Don't you take no fucking pictures over here," the man says, pacing the perimeter of his tent like a pit bull. "You paying us to talk? You got five bucks for us to talk? Anything. We're hungry." Mark rolls his eyes, ambles over to the tidier section of the camp, the side he jokingly refers to as "the suburbs," where charcoal in a small grill is just going gray next to a neat row of five red tents. His is on the end. "We was staying over in an alley behind the 55 building [on Public Square] until 'bout Christmas," says Mark, who's been on the streets for five years, battling addiction and a job market largely closed to ex-cons. "These kids from Wooster, a church group or something, they come around and give us these tents. So I put mine up right then and the police, they was like, "Uh-uh, no way.' So we just come on down here." A tent city was born. There are about a dozen spread through the lot, sometimes more. A milk crate mounted to a railing serves as a makeshift basketball net. Everyone's got a lawn chair. They pee down a sewer grate, hop the tall chain-link fence and trot off into the underbrush near the tracks for serious business. Some say it's as comfy as they've been in years. "We like it better down here," says 55-year-old Tim, a Vietnam vet who's turning chicken on the grill brought down by his cousin who donates food a few times a week. "It's peaceful. At the shelters, it's like checking into the jail. Out here, you can clear your head, breath some fresh air." He takes a big whiff of the city. "All we do is drink beer down here, kick back a little. Botherin' nobody. Over there," pointing to the hovels under the ramp, "they get into all other sorts of things, but keep it away from me, you know? We get less hassles from the police because we're not in the public eye. That was the big problem with being out on Public Square." And then it became a problem under the highway, too. IN 1994, FOUR HOMELESS MEN successfully sued then-Mayor Mike White and the city for ushering Public Square panhandlers into squad cars and relocating them to the outskirts of the city or the Metroparks. "So the city ends up agreeing to say, "Not that we did this, but we won't do it again,'" says Gary Daniels, litigation coordinator at the ACLU of Ohio and a board member of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH). That narrowed the line city leaders have to walk, between rebranding Cleveland as "a city of choice," and providing for those who serve as reminders of Cleveland's failures. Tim and Mark, along with the five others in their little family, say police and bike patrols from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance continue to make downtown, where social services and free meals are most prevalent, inhospitable. They're used to the drill. In recent years, the city has told homeless not to sleep in a lot of places: the airport, outside City Hall, at the convention center, at the rapid stations. Now, it's this lot, leased by the city to the Browns, who claim ignorance of the city's decision to give the squatters the boot last weekend. "They gonna keep moving us on, moving us on," Mark says. "They doing it again Sunday [June 10] 'cause they got some soccer game they gonna charge people to park here for. They gonna make $500 at $20 bucks a space. We ain't worth $500 to them. They wanted us off Public Square, we came here. Now they want us out of here." But money's not the concern, Mayor Frank Jackson's staffers claim, nor is the fear of bad publicity from media covering the national women's soccer team game on June 16 at the stadium, as homeless advocates have also alleged. "It's important for the city to take a position on quality of life," says Natoya Walker, a Jackson spokeswoman. "Quality of life is important for every Clevelander, including homeless persons, and it's potentially unsafe, as far as cleanliness or personal hygiene or whatever, for a person to be out there in a tent. So our goal is to refer them to the homeless network." Besides, she says, "That tent city is a city-owned parking lot. It's inappropriate for housing, or for someone to live there temporarily in a tent." And what would the tailgaters think of those homeless people with the prime spots? "It's easy for someone to walk by a person sleeping in a doorway," says David Coffman, a civil rights organizer for the National Coalition for the Homeless. "But when you see a tent city by Browns Stadium, that's not so easy to ignore. That becomes a problem." Where the little red city blossoms next is anyone's guess. "You got a parking lot over there at the Free Times?" jokes Tim. "We'll see ya Sunday." COUNCILMAN JOE CIMPERMAN has been the leader of downtown's Ward 13 for a decade. Before that, at John Carroll University, while serving as student council president, he founded Project GOLD, a group that served homeless families. His early career was spent coordinating volunteers or as an outreach worker at Cleveland's West Side Catholic Center. But serving the poor makes up a small piece of his puzzle today. Though he went public in 2002 to lobby against the federal government continuing its cuts to affordable housing programs, Cimperman, like many of his colleagues, is beholden to a broader range of influences, especially now that he's chairman of Council's Planning Committee and vice-chairman of Community and Economic Development. In March, during Council's budget hearings, Cimperman asked the city's parks superintendent to get a ruling on whether Public Square could be designated a city park. If so, then police could legally tell homeless to move along at 9 p.m. like they do in other parks. He didn't want to talk about the request then, and numerous attempts to reach him in recent weeks were unsuccessful. "Money and the pressure to get reelected seem to turn nearly everyone away from the constituency that got them elected in the first place," is how Brian Davis sees it. But he's executive director of NEOCH. Davis says the city's law department ruled that Public Square couldn't be designated a city park since some of the property there is privately owned. The plan fizzled. At least that one. "There's no concerted effort on our part to address street people in Public Square or near Browns Stadium," says Cleveland Police Lt. Tom Stacho. "That's not to say individual officers didn't have interactions with an individual or a group and maybe that was taken as some sort of official policy or attitude to the homeless." Davis has a theory: "The yellow-and- blue shirt crew seems to have gone about solving this problem on their own," referring to the Block by Block group subcontracted by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, hired last year by downtown building owners to clean up the sidewalks, trash and all. The need was clearly there. In late 2005, the Project for Public Spaces ranked Cleveland's Public Square seventh on its international list of "The 16 Squares Most Dramatically in Need of Improvement." A Plain Dealer story that exposed the designation used the occasion to explore the options for when the Euclid Corridor and streetscaping are finally wrapped up. A few city planners envisioned a more commercial-friendly future. Ann Zoller, leader of the nonprofit ParkWorks Inc., said, "You get people into public spaces, and the [homeless] problem takes care of itself." In the story, Cimperman called Public Square "a sleeping giant" in terms of development possibilities. Ted Hissam, operations manager at Block by Block, doesn't deny that his workers try to interact with homeless and push them toward available social services. But no one is moved forcibly unless they violate the law, he says. Hissam and his cyclists field call after call and do what they can to leave a clean spot behind. "A week ago, some college folks brought down some mattresses to hand out," he recalls. "And many of them were left on corners where homeless people had to store them. So we worked with them in picking this stuff up." Two separate homeless men in the tent city say Block by Block cyclists have come up and parked on either side of them while they squatted on a sidewalk downtown. "And they'll tell you," says one of the men, Wayne Hoyne, 45, "there's nothing illegal about us coming up and just hanging out by you." Hissam insists his group isn't the enemy. He talked about cracking down on aggressive panhandling and how the group has a paid police officer to handle criminal complaints. The group even has a social worker who guides homeless toward services. Just last week, a new worker started who was recruited off the streets. "Their sleeping arrangements are very problematic," Hissam says, "and everyone sympathizes with their plights." Helena Miller, DCA's social worker, claims many of the people her group encounters are perfectly happy living as they do. "A lot of them, they're quite content being where they are and doing what they're doing because living on the street is pretty inexpensive. People take care of you, feed you, supply you with your needs. So it's a pretty economical arrangement." She speaks of prodding along the homeless with an aim to better their lives: "In terms of people actually living on the streets, it's not appropriate, especially with the weather we have here." The problem in Miller's eyes is how America's safety net has dropped precariously close to the ground. And until more is done to properly house all people, she doesn't see the problem with homeless using tents and creating some form of a tent city, maybe at a place like Edgewater Park, conveniently located outside the group's boundary of operation. The alternative, she says, is to continue letting people slip further under the radar and into harm's way. "Every person has an individual story," she says, "and most are more than any one person could bear. There's little wonder they're homeless." THE CITY CLAIMS to be doing what it can with what it has. After the FAA announced that November 1, 2007 would be the end of the city's overflow shelter at Aviation High, Jackson and other leaders worked to find a solution. The city is currently in the process of acquiring the 88-bed North Point Inn on Euclid as a replacement, as well as selecting a service provider. Beyond that, Walker, Jackson's spokeswoman, doesn't know what else the city could afford to do. "Homelessness is a national problem, not a city problem," she says. It's an easily illustrated one, too. A 2004 CSU study found that about 20,000 people are homeless throughout the year in Cleveland, as many as 4,000 a night - far more than the 2,000 or so shelter beds available. A 2005 federal report provides a good snapshot of those people: More than 60 percent suffered from chronic substance abuse; about half were chronically homeless; about a quarter were severely mentally ill; one-fifth were veterans; about 10 percent were victims of domestic violence. And the numbers have risen steadily for two decades, Davis says, as services and affordable housing options dwindle. According to the county's Office of Homeless Services, the county needs at least 3,384 more shelter beds, as well as 170 more beds for homeless families - a daunting expense. The alternative is having more people exposed to the violent streets. Coffman, with the National Coalition for the Homeless, says hate crimes against the homeless increased about 65 percent between 2005 and 2006, and 68 percent of that spike can be attributed to teenage boys. In Cleveland, advocates have documented at least six hate crimes since February. In May alone, two homeless men were murdered; no suspects have been named. But Cleveland Police's Lt. Stacho says that only one of those alleged hate crimes - a series of assaults by a large group on a homeless couple in the Flats - is on file with police. That one involved the sale of their dog to customers upset about the terms, Stacho says - and that's not a hate crime. He doesn't know about the other cases; they weren't reported. "If there is some targeting of street people, we definitely would address it," he insists. Advocates have a different set of reports. Donna Kelly, a nurse with CARE Alliance who treats homeless patients where they wander, says she treated most of those other victims and insists their blood ran red like the rest of us. "Some of them were beaten to the head, had black eyes, some had cuts to their legs from broken bottles," she recalls. "In the last month alone I've had five. It's more than six since February." Some of the victims told advocates that they were beaten by bands of roving youngsters resembling skinheads, with pipes and other makeshift weapons. They likely didn't want to report the crimes to police, Davis says, because of fear of having a warrant or a general disdain for the uniform. Still, he worries police may be downplaying or not grasping the seriousness. Stacho should know about at least one other attack, Davis adds, because 2nd District Commander Charles Boddy himself responded to it in April outside Franklin Circle Church, a case in which a homeless man was attacked, again, by a large group of skinhead-looking ruffians. "They took him in an alley and beat him up," Davis says. "But he didn't want to be interviewed." And these types of crimes aren't contained to the fringes of the city. Four summers ago, teens were sneaking up on the homeless right on Public Square with stun guns and video cameras, filming their assaults. Two years later, two more assaults on Public Square. But nothing like the current wave. Last year, Davis says, there were just two hate crimes reported to advocates in the entire state. The National Coalition's Coffman believes that as cities across the nation criminalize the homeless, they become easier targets. He points to a strong correlation between cities with the strictest panhandling laws and their levels of homeless attacks. That's one of many reasons homeless advocates want to see a 24-hour shelter opened downtown to coordinate charitable services away from Public Square. Still, Cimperman and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance have expressed distaste for the plan. "They've been resistant to having that anywhere near existence," Davis says. "It would be a white elephant in the middle of nowhere." And so everyone waits for the federal government to return to the table. "We ended national housing policy back during the Reagan administration, and so we need so much housing now that's affordable that it's beyond any city's ability to do that," says Davis, noting how Jackson has been the first mayor in his memory who truly seems concerned with the issue and even campaigned in the shelters. "It has to be a national priority." BACK DOWN IN THE TENT CITY, a place referred to by the residents as "Browns Town" or "The Freeway Hilton," 38-year-old Richard Benson sits along the chain-link fence, scanning the highway. He says he's got a seriously prohibitive rap sheet, including a seven-year stint for felonious assault. He wonders, How's a man like me gonna pay for life? Mark pipes in that McDonald's just turned his application down. "So we got this temp work thing and it gets us through 'til tomorrow," Benson says. "Or we go scrappin'. They gon' move us out again and you know what? It don't even matter. They just waiting for us to burn ourselves down to nothing." dharkins@... * Location: In LOS ANGELES alone! BILLIONS of HOMELESS-USA-by DEC. '09 Date: 2009-06-18, 8:03AM PDT Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here newsdesk.org ( http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004300.html) The Slums: A Boom in Urban Poor Defies Solutions Posted June 13, 2007 Experts predict that by 2030 two billion people will live in urban squatter and slum communities with no services, sanitation or running water. The growth of slums and economic disparaties are spurring poitical debate and legal crackdowns, even as new social movements emerge within the communities themselves. Forbes.com reports that today 80 percent of Nigerians -- that's more than 40 million people -- live in slums, as do 158 million Indians, or 56 percent of the population. The Economic Times in India puts that sum closer to 70 million, accounting for 45 percent of Delhi's population, and more than 50 percent of Mumbai's. In an editorial, the newspaper says that the huge influx of rural poor to cities has changed voting patterns, which are now divided along economic rather than caste lines. It also said that legitimizing illegal land claims will only worsen the problem by encouraging more squatting, and that the government should instead offer affordable housing and increase economic opportunity in rural areas. Forbes writer Elisabeth Eaves notes that reformist and religious movements, drug gangs and fundamentalist militants such as Hamas have all emerged from slums, even as social and environmental problems deepen. In Brazil, favelas outside of Sao Paulo cluster around a stream that feeds one of the city's primary reservoirs, polluting water supplies with raw sewage. A move to turn the stream into a covered, underground channel will likely result in the mass eviction of those living around the watershed, many of whom moved there from within Sao Paulo proper after being displaced by gentrification. In Cleveland, Ohio, as many as 4,000 people are homeless on a given night -- more than twice the number of shelter beds available -- and a tent city there balances between a court precedent supporting squatters' rights and a push to ban panhandling and spur construction and development. Critics say assault and other crimes against the homeless are on the rise, even as college students hand out tents and mattresses, the Cleveland Free Times reports. Other advocacy groups there seek to remove the homeless from local public spaces, including a secluded highway underpass the city wants to use as a fee-for-service parking lot. Sources: "Two billion slum dwellers" Forbes.com, June 11, 2007 "Why slum rehabilitation is good money chasing bad" The Economic Times (India), june 12, 2007 "BRAZIL: Water sources threatened by lack of low-cost housing, sanitation" Inter Press Service, June 8, 2007 "We can still see you" The Cleveland Free Times (Ohio), June 13, 2007

BILLIONS of HOMELESS-USA-by DEC. '09 Date: 2009-06-18, 8:03AM PDT Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here newsdesk.org ( http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004300.html) The Slums: A Boom in Urban Poor Defies Solutions Posted June 13, 2007 Experts predict that by 2030 two billion people will live in urban squatter and slum communities with no services, sanitation or running water. The growth of slums and economic disparaties are spurring poitical debate and legal crackdowns, even as new social movements emerge within the communities themselves. Forbes.com reports that today 80 percent of Nigerians -- that's more than 40 million people -- live in slums, as do 158 million Indians, or 56 percent of the population. The Economic Times in India puts that sum closer to 70 million, accounting for 45 percent of Delhi's population, and more than 50 percent of Mumbai's. In an editorial, the newspaper says that the huge influx of rural poor to cities has changed voting patterns, which are now divided along economic rather than caste lines. It also said that legitimizing illegal land claims will only worsen the problem by encouraging more squatting, and that the government should instead offer affordable housing and increase economic opportunity in rural areas. Forbes writer Elisabeth Eaves notes that reformist and religious movements, drug gangs and fundamentalist militants such as Hamas have all emerged from slums, even as social and environmental problems deepen. In Brazil, favelas outside of Sao Paulo cluster around a stream that feeds one of the city's primary reservoirs, polluting water supplies with raw sewage. A move to turn the stream into a covered, underground channel will likely result in the mass eviction of those living around the watershed, many of whom moved there from within Sao Paulo proper after being displaced by gentrification. In Cleveland, Ohio, as many as 4,000 people are homeless on a given night -- more than twice the number of shelter beds available -- and a tent city there balances between a court precedent supporting squatters' rights and a push to ban panhandling and spur construction and development. Critics say assault and other crimes against the homeless are on the rise, even as college students hand out tents and mattresses, the Cleveland Free Times reports. Other advocacy groups there seek to remove the homeless from local public spaces, including a secluded highway underpass the city wants to use as a fee-for-service parking lot. Sources: "Two billion slum dwellers" Forbes.com, June 11, 2007 "Why slum rehabilitation is good money chasing bad" The Economic Times (India), june 12, 2007 "BRAZIL: Water sources threatened by lack of low-cost housing, sanitation" Inter Press Service, June 8, 2007 "We can still see you" The Cleveland Free Times (Ohio), June 13, 2007 100 BILLION HOMELESS by CHRISTMAS (In LOS ANGELES alone!) Date: 2009-06-18, 8:08AM PDT Reply to: your anonymous craigslist address will appear here MAKING HIS WAY FROM PUBLIC SQUARE, through a blossoming park next to the County Courthouse, the tall homeless man in the red "Rise Up" Cavs T-shirt bounds down some steps and onto a ramp that looks like a miniature football field from above. Overhead, the constant hum of the Shoreway. Ahead, cars whipping by, the half-billion-dollar Browns Stadium hulking impressively beyond. Below, two busy train tracks and a tiny fenced-in city parking lot. Mark's home. The 40-year-old hops a short railing. A sign there reads: "Homeless Being Evicted by the City of Cleveland over a Sporting Event. We Need Help from Anyone." Directly under the ramp, a shirtless man and a frail woman are tweaking out. "Don't you take no fucking pictures over here," the man says, pacing the perimeter of his tent like a pit bull. "You paying us to talk? You got five bucks for us to talk? Anything. We're hungry." Mark rolls his eyes, ambles over to the tidier section of the camp, the side he jokingly refers to as "the suburbs," where charcoal in a small grill is just going gray next to a neat row of five red tents. His is on the end. "We was staying over in an alley behind the 55 building [on Public Square] until 'bout Christmas," says Mark, who's been on the streets for five years, battling addiction and a job market largely closed to ex-cons. "These kids from Wooster, a church group or something, they come around and give us these tents. So I put mine up right then and the police, they was like, "Uh-uh, no way.' So we just come on down here." A tent city was born. There are about a dozen spread through the lot, sometimes more. A milk crate mounted to a railing serves as a makeshift basketball net. Everyone's got a lawn chair. They pee down a sewer grate, hop the tall chain-link fence and trot off into the underbrush near the tracks for serious business. Some say it's as comfy as they've been in years. "We like it better down here," says 55-year-old Tim, a Vietnam vet who's turning chicken on the grill brought down by his cousin who donates food a few times a week. "It's peaceful. At the shelters, it's like checking into the jail. Out here, you can clear your head, breath some fresh air." He takes a big whiff of the city. "All we do is drink beer down here, kick back a little. Botherin' nobody. Over there," pointing to the hovels under the ramp, "they get into all other sorts of things, but keep it away from me, you know? We get less hassles from the police because we're not in the public eye. That was the big problem with being out on Public Square." And then it became a problem under the highway, too. IN 1994, FOUR HOMELESS MEN successfully sued then-Mayor Mike White and the city for ushering Public Square panhandlers into squad cars and relocating them to the outskirts of the city or the Metroparks. "So the city ends up agreeing to say, "Not that we did this, but we won't do it again,'" says Gary Daniels, litigation coordinator at the ACLU of Ohio and a board member of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH). That narrowed the line city leaders have to walk, between rebranding Cleveland as "a city of choice," and providing for those who serve as reminders of Cleveland's failures. Tim and Mark, along with the five others in their little family, say police and bike patrols from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance continue to make downtown, where social services and free meals are most prevalent, inhospitable. They're used to the drill. In recent years, the city has told homeless not to sleep in a lot of places: the airport, outside City Hall, at the convention center, at the rapid stations. Now, it's this lot, leased by the city to the Browns, who claim ignorance of the city's decision to give the squatters the boot last weekend. "They gonna keep moving us on, moving us on," Mark says. "They doing it again Sunday [June 10] 'cause they got some soccer game they gonna charge people to park here for. They gonna make $500 at $20 bucks a space. We ain't worth $500 to them. They wanted us off Public Square, we came here. Now they want us out of here." But money's not the concern, Mayor Frank Jackson's staffers claim, nor is the fear of bad publicity from media covering the national women's soccer team game on June 16 at the stadium, as homeless advocates have also alleged. "It's important for the city to take a position on quality of life," says Natoya Walker, a Jackson spokeswoman. "Quality of life is important for every Clevelander, including homeless persons, and it's potentially unsafe, as far as cleanliness or personal hygiene or whatever, for a person to be out there in a tent. So our goal is to refer them to the homeless network." Besides, she says, "That tent city is a city-owned parking lot. It's inappropriate for housing, or for someone to live there temporarily in a tent." And what would the tailgaters think of those homeless people with the prime spots? "It's easy for someone to walk by a person sleeping in a doorway," says David Coffman, a civil rights organizer for the National Coalition for the Homeless. "But when you see a tent city by Browns Stadium, that's not so easy to ignore. That becomes a problem." Where the little red city blossoms next is anyone's guess. "You got a parking lot over there at the Free Times?" jokes Tim. "We'll see ya Sunday." COUNCILMAN JOE CIMPERMAN has been the leader of downtown's Ward 13 for a decade. Before that, at John Carroll University, while serving as student council president, he founded Project GOLD, a group that served homeless families. His early career was spent coordinating volunteers or as an outreach worker at Cleveland's West Side Catholic Center. But serving the poor makes up a small piece of his puzzle today. Though he went public in 2002 to lobby against the federal government continuing its cuts to affordable housing programs, Cimperman, like many of his colleagues, is beholden to a broader range of influences, especially now that he's chairman of Council's Planning Committee and vice-chairman of Community and Economic Development. In March, during Council's budget hearings, Cimperman asked the city's parks superintendent to get a ruling on whether Public Square could be designated a city park. If so, then police could legally tell homeless to move along at 9 p.m. like they do in other parks. He didn't want to talk about the request then, and numerous attempts to reach him in recent weeks were unsuccessful. "Money and the pressure to get reelected seem to turn nearly everyone away from the constituency that got them elected in the first place," is how Brian Davis sees it. But he's executive director of NEOCH. Davis says the city's law department ruled that Public Square couldn't be designated a city park since some of the property there is privately owned. The plan fizzled. At least that one. "There's no concerted effort on our part to address street people in Public Square or near Browns Stadium," says Cleveland Police Lt. Tom Stacho. "That's not to say individual officers didn't have interactions with an individual or a group and maybe that was taken as some sort of official policy or attitude to the homeless." Davis has a theory: "The yellow-and- blue shirt crew seems to have gone about solving this problem on their own," referring to the Block by Block group subcontracted by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, hired last year by downtown building owners to clean up the sidewalks, trash and all. The need was clearly there. In late 2005, the Project for Public Spaces ranked Cleveland's Public Square seventh on its international list of "The 16 Squares Most Dramatically in Need of Improvement." A Plain Dealer story that exposed the designation used the occasion to explore the options for when the Euclid Corridor and streetscaping are finally wrapped up. A few city planners envisioned a more commercial-friendly future. Ann Zoller, leader of the nonprofit ParkWorks Inc., said, "You get people into public spaces, and the [homeless] problem takes care of itself." In the story, Cimperman called Public Square "a sleeping giant" in terms of development possibilities. Ted Hissam, operations manager at Block by Block, doesn't deny that his workers try to interact with homeless and push them toward available social services. But no one is moved forcibly unless they violate the law, he says. Hissam and his cyclists field call after call and do what they can to leave a clean spot behind. "A week ago, some college folks brought down some mattresses to hand out," he recalls. "And many of them were left on corners where homeless people had to store them. So we worked with them in picking this stuff up." Two separate homeless men in the tent city say Block by Block cyclists have come up and parked on either side of them while they squatted on a sidewalk downtown. "And they'll tell you," says one of the men, Wayne Hoyne, 45, "there's nothing illegal about us coming up and just hanging out by you." Hissam insists his group isn't the enemy. He talked about cracking down on aggressive panhandling and how the group has a paid police officer to handle criminal complaints. The group even has a social worker who guides homeless toward services. Just last week, a new worker started who was recruited off the streets. "Their sleeping arrangements are very problematic," Hissam says, "and everyone sympathizes with their plights." Helena Miller, DCA's social worker, claims many of the people her group encounters are perfectly happy living as they do. "A lot of them, they're quite content being where they are and doing what they're doing because living on the street is pretty inexpensive. People take care of you, feed you, supply you with your needs. So it's a pretty economical arrangement." She speaks of prodding along the homeless with an aim to better their lives: "In terms of people actually living on the streets, it's not appropriate, especially with the weather we have here." The problem in Miller's eyes is how America's safety net has dropped precariously close to the ground. And until more is done to properly house all people, she doesn't see the problem with homeless using tents and creating some form of a tent city, maybe at a place like Edgewater Park, conveniently located outside the group's boundary of operation. The alternative, she says, is to continue letting people slip further under the radar and into harm's way. "Every person has an individual story," she says, "and most are more than any one person could bear. There's little wonder they're homeless." THE CITY CLAIMS to be doing what it can with what it has. After the FAA announced that November 1, 2007 would be the end of the city's overflow shelter at Aviation High, Jackson and other leaders worked to find a solution. The city is currently in the process of acquiring the 88-bed North Point Inn on Euclid as a replacement, as well as selecting a service provider. Beyond that, Walker, Jackson's spokeswoman, doesn't know what else the city could afford to do. "Homelessness is a national problem, not a city problem," she says. It's an easily illustrated one, too. A 2004 CSU study found that about 20,000 people are homeless throughout the year in Cleveland, as many as 4,000 a night - far more than the 2,000 or so shelter beds available. A 2005 federal report provides a good snapshot of those people: More than 60 percent suffered from chronic substance abuse; about half were chronically homeless; about a quarter were severely mentally ill; one-fifth were veterans; about 10 percent were victims of domestic violence. And the numbers have risen steadily for two decades, Davis says, as services and affordable housing options dwindle. According to the county's Office of Homeless Services, the county needs at least 3,384 more shelter beds, as well as 170 more beds for homeless families - a daunting expense. The alternative is having more people exposed to the violent streets. Coffman, with the National Coalition for the Homeless, says hate crimes against the homeless increased about 65 percent between 2005 and 2006, and 68 percent of that spike can be attributed to teenage boys. In Cleveland, advocates have documented at least six hate crimes since February. In May alone, two homeless men were murdered; no suspects have been named. But Cleveland Police's Lt. Stacho says that only one of those alleged hate crimes - a series of assaults by a large group on a homeless couple in the Flats - is on file with police. That one involved the sale of their dog to customers upset about the terms, Stacho says - and that's not a hate crime. He doesn't know about the other cases; they weren't reported. "If there is some targeting of street people, we definitely would address it," he insists. Advocates have a different set of reports. Donna Kelly, a nurse with CARE Alliance who treats homeless patients where they wander, says she treated most of those other victims and insists their blood ran red like the rest of us. "Some of them were beaten to the head, had black eyes, some had cuts to their legs from broken bottles," she recalls. "In the last month alone I've had five. It's more than six since February." Some of the victims told advocates that they were beaten by bands of roving youngsters resembling skinheads, with pipes and other makeshift weapons. They likely didn't want to report the crimes to police, Davis says, because of fear of having a warrant or a general disdain for the uniform. Still, he worries police may be downplaying or not grasping the seriousness. Stacho should know about at least one other attack, Davis adds, because 2nd District Commander Charles Boddy himself responded to it in April outside Franklin Circle Church, a case in which a homeless man was attacked, again, by a large group of skinhead-looking ruffians. "They took him in an alley and beat him up," Davis says. "But he didn't want to be interviewed." And these types of crimes aren't contained to the fringes of the city. Four summers ago, teens were sneaking up on the homeless right on Public Square with stun guns and video cameras, filming their assaults. Two years later, two more assaults on Public Square. But nothing like the current wave. Last year, Davis says, there were just two hate crimes reported to advocates in the entire state. The National Coalition's Coffman believes that as cities across the nation criminalize the homeless, they become easier targets. He points to a strong correlation between cities with the strictest panhandling laws and their levels of homeless attacks. That's one of many reasons homeless advocates want to see a 24-hour shelter opened downtown to coordinate charitable services away from Public Square. Still, Cimperman and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance have expressed distaste for the plan. "They've been resistant to having that anywhere near existence," Davis says. "It would be a white elephant in the middle of nowhere." And so everyone waits for the federal government to return to the table. "We ended national housing policy back during the Reagan administration, and so we need so much housing now that's affordable that it's beyond any city's ability to do that," says Davis, noting how Jackson has been the first mayor in h raves) NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site.FOUR POSTS BY GIBSON, THE CL FLAGGER TROLL, ID THIEF, AND CHILDERS STALKER, and CLOSEST COWARD HOMO:It is just unbelievable that so many Christians are adopting the behaviors and political stances that Americans have condemned so many Muslims for. This poster, Randall Terry and Michael Heath (who actually advocates physical violence against any who he deems as morally or spiritually corrupt--by whose standard is anyone's guess, but he does include homosexuals). This advocacy for violence is so antithetical to what should be holy that I absolutely shy away today from referring to myself as a Christian, though I have been on my entire life. You will drive more folks away from their faith than ever bring in with your fear mongoring, hate spewed speech, or endorsement of violent acts. Fundamentalism is the opiate of the weak, the ignorant and the shallow--it is a lie!Camino Capistrano/ Laguna Niguel - Jewish community leaders try to interpret five graffiti images found outside doors of the Railroad Rabbi's Sholom Synagogue in William's Ranch; Homeless Hebrews Hobo Jungle. The Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Ana President, Sherry Dreyfuss, says she's never seen this type of vandalism on the building. She says it sends a message of ignorance and pure hate.A swastika, a Star of David with a circle around it, a cross, a racial slur directed toward Jews and one other unidentifiable symbol cover the double doors outside the synagogue. "No one has the right to do this to anyone, to deface property and to use symbols and words that are so offensive. This might be a small double door, but we can't get complacent, it's wrong," Dreyfuss said.The federation is sending pictures of the graffiti to the Anti-Defamation League in Santa Ana to find out what some of the images could possibly mean. "My concern is that it might not be just a couple of kids that were drawing the swastika, which is a very common symbol. Our concern is that these symbols might actually have a more extremist component to them," said Jenna Benn, Assistant Director at the Anti-Defamation League of Santa Ana . The Anti-Defamation League says anti-Semitic marks have shown up more since the Israel-Gaza conflict last December. Though the sight of the swastika and slurs stir emotion, Dreyfuss says it's important people see the vandalism. "The community needs to be notified that this is happening in their vicinity. It's important it's viewed and pictures are taken, particular organizations are contacted with information and then cleaned up so we don't have to see it again," Dreyfuss said. Police are investigating the graffiti as a possible hate crime. They haven't identified a suspect. He or she could face possible charges of criminal defacement or a hate crime. criminal defacation of scatologic hate speech is a hate crime; punishable by 50 years to LIFE; and SEIZURE of ALL YOUR ASSETS! or until we the citizens TAKE CONTROL of our world by other means, such described in "THE VENUS PROJECT". Do your research and open your eyes to the possibilities. We are all in this TOGETHER!! Millions of Bible believers are taught that an apocalypse and the rain of a Satanic ruler are inevitable because the Bible says so. It says Don't protest , Don't resist , Be Passive. These messages are repeated over and over again to Brain wash millions world wide. Do Resist, Do Protest and DO NOT be Passive.It WAS A SET UP!! and a FALSE FLAG ATTACK to take over the World with this WAR OF LIES "THE WAR ON TERROR".It will never end until they have their NEW WORLD ORDER or until we the citizens TAKE CONTROL of our world by other means, such described in "THE VENUS PROJECT". Do your research and open your eyes to the possibilities. We are all in this TOGETHER!! Millions of Bible believers are taught that an apocalypse and the rain of a Satanic ruler are inevitable because the Bible says so. It says Don't protest , Don't resist , Be Passive. These messages are repeated over and over again to Brain wash millions world wide. Do Resist, Do Protest and DO NOT be Passive.Remember, the Germans too were told that they were just defending themselves against Poland way back in 1939 when HITLER PULLED OFF A FALSE FLAG ATTACK & BURNT DOWN his Countries Government Building.DID YOU KNOW * HITLER * RECEIVED HIS INITIAL FUNDING FROM FORD MOTOR COMPANY Jew Basher, Hener Ford IN 1929 TO SUPPORT HIM FOR ELECTION? ITS TRUE= FORD MOTOR COMPANY Jew Basher, Hener Ford: "We will have a world government whether you like it or not. The only question is whether that government will be achieved by conquest or consent." (February 17, 1950, as he testified before the US Senate)."Remember, the Germans too were told that they were just defending themselves against Poland way back in 1939 when HITLER PULLED OFF A FALSE FLAG ATTACK & BURNT DOWN his Countries Government Building."If you are speaking of the burning of the Reichstag it has nothing to do with Poland. This occurred in 1933 and was used to consolidate Hitler’s power in Germany. The invasion of Poland did not occur until 1939 six years later.Himmler SS used concentration camp prisoners dressed as Polish Military & shot them at a Radio Station near the Border - claiming the Polish had attacked the German Radio Station - thus justifying Hitlers invasion of Poland.. and what is your definition of a False Flag Attack ?... you mention this again here: Poland was invaded because of the “Free City of Danzig” an open port on the Baltic also known as the Polish Corridor and how they had stolen it from Germany. This is the justification that Hitler gave to the people of Germany for the invasion. With this he needed not other justification because the German people had been in the Great Depression since 1929. The people want anything that would get them out of the Depression and Hitler did.It will never end until they have their NEW WORLD ORDER or until we the citizens TAKE CONTROL of our world by other means, such described in "THE VENUS PROJECT". Do your research and open your eyes to the possibilities. We are all in this TOGETHER!! Millions of Bible believers are taught that an apocalypse and the rain of a Satanic ruler are inevitable because the Bible says so. It says Don't protest , Don't resist , Be Passive. These messages are repeated over and over again to Brain wash millions world wide. Do Resist, Do Protest and DO NOT be Passive.The Venus Project, Inc is a corporation that promotes Jacque Fresco's visions of the future though a website and by selling videos and literature with the goal to improve society by moving towards a resource-based economy and the design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management and advanced automation, focusing on the benefits it will bring to society. The corporation was started by Jacque Fresco and Roxanne Meadows in 1995, while their website claims The Project started around 1975. The related non-profit organization is called Future by Design.BTW - H in the whole world.For over 90 years, the Hebrew Hobo, Tijuana~TRUTH_TELLER_TELLING_TRUTH_TRUELY THRU_TRUTHFUL_TRUTH has fought against bigotry and anti-Semitism by exposing and reporting on hate groups and other extremists who seek to harm perceived enemies and to undermine our democracy. Today, Ahe Hebrew Hobo continues our mission to expose and document the groups and individuals whose ideologies and activities perpetuate hatred and extremism. To this end, the Center on Extremism has created an online resource, Extremism in America, whichserves as a guide to prominent extreme movements, groups, and leaders in the United States. The entries in Extremism in America provide the context needed to understand the history of such extremists, what their beliefs are, how those beliefs motivate them to action, and what forms their actions take. This resource is divided into several categories--Individuals, Groups, Movements, and Media—and paints a comprehensive picture of the current state of extremism in the United States. The Anti-Semitic neo-Nazi skinheads, camouflage-wearing militia members, arson-prone environmental extremists—all these and more are described and explained, with the latest and up-to-date analysis and information.At the root of extremism are radical ideologies, radical religious beliefs and pent-up anger and frustration, all of which can lead to violent acts ranging from hate crimes to terrorism. In the United States, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 9-11 terrorist attacks six years later, have made it painfully clear that Americans cannot ignore the dangers of extremism. Some of those dangers originate beyond America’s shores. But within the United States’ own borders, multitudes of homegrown haters and extremists exist whose beliefs are equally radical and who can be equally dangerous. The population of the United States passed 300 million early in this century, which means that even the fringe of the fringe is still a large number. Moreover, because extremists are so willing to use violence to upset the status quo, they can cause harm in amounts far disproportionate to their number. Hate crimes can affect entire communities; acts of terrorism an affect an entire nation.Ever wonder why there’s only a dozen or so posts on CL-Los Angeles? And most of these are obviously by the same individual known as Gibson? For the last few years Gibson, the self-proclaimed “king of CL politics” has used a flagging override to delete any and all posts he doesn’t want up. That typically means all posts on illegal immigration and all posts that expose his frequently criminal conduct on CL.NIGGER Bible Fact!Landover Baptist Creation Scientist, Dr. Fred Neiman, announced findings related to his research into the female soul early this week. "The absence of either salvation or condemnation for women finds extensive support in the Word of God." He reported. "Jesus said that the sole reason God created women in the first place was to provide company and service to men (1 Corinthians 11:9), God determined that men would be lonely living alone, so he created women purely to keep men company and serve their needs (Genesis 2:18-22). Women are therefore completely subordinate to men (1 Corinthians 11:3). It stands to reason, though, that once men enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they will be one with God, and will no longer be lonely and in need of mortal companionship. Thus, the reason behind having women will no longer exist. Women, like the members of the animal kingdom, will fall by the wayside."Dr. Neiman went on to say that, "once men reunite with their maker, they will no longer be burdened with the care of women. After all, women were inferior creations from the start. Women are fond of self-indulgence (Isaiah 32:9-11). They are silly and easily led into error (2 Timothy 3:6). They are subtle and deceitful (Proverbs 7:10; Ecclesiastes 7:26). They are zealous in promoting superstition and idolatry (Jeremiah 7:18; Ezekiel 13:17, 23). And they are active in instigating to iniquity (Numbers 31:15-16; 1 Kings 21:25; Nehemiah 13:26). It was the inherent weakness of women that led them to be deceived by Satan (Genesis 3:1-6; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). Consequently, women were cursed from the start (Genesis 3:16). There is simply no room in heaven for such flawed and inadequate beings."Pastor Deacon Fred warned the congregation that there was no reason to be alarmed. "Dr. Neiman's conclusions still need to be formalized," he assured. "I am certain that our team of religious experts will find some way around these Scriptures." Some of the women present were visibly shaken by the report. A teary eyed Sister Taffy Crockett said through choked sobs, "I've heard of colored women not having souls... but me? NO! This is outrageous!"Pastor did have some comforting words for the ladies of Landover. "I personally want to assure all female members of this church that until we examine Dr. Neiman's research to our complete satisfaction, consider yourselves saved."Then in San Diego-Rants we see two typical Gibson posts. Most posts on CL politics or rants forum with obscene images are Gibson’s.In Los Angeles Gibson used to posts as Paul Ireland until a criminal investigation commenced pertaining to his criminal theft of Ireland’s ID, and criminal threats of murdering people Gibson sends via email or posts on CL. Gibson also posts as LoSt AnGeleS. You’ve noticed that most of the posts in Los Angeles still up are these handles. If you want to read something hilarious read Gibson’s routine posts to himself, which he pathetically posts replies to, known as Gibson’s “cross-talking”.N In San Diego-politics Gibson floods the board daily as Mr Natural. There’s nothing “natural” about our Gibson. He’s a psychopath flagger, closest coward homo that calls everyone else a coward. Gibson has posted on CL politics pictures of his vast collection of porn, including men urinating in each other’s faces. This is the man that posts calling gays “faggots”…. Hey, he’s sick! In San Francisco our flagger floods the board with criminal threats of murder and defamation directed to Childers.N Gibson has even offered a …..! $1,000 !.... dollar reward for the prosecution of himself, if anyone discovers that he uses CL daily for his criminal activity and threats to Childers! He’s a sick man! Yes, you are “Ms Nurse 805”, just take a glance at Gibson’s post some time back on Los Angeles rants His email is i.flagged.your.post@gmail.com GIBSON’S LECTURE ABOUT POSTING ON CL: re: 805 a little light read (LA)________________________________________ Reply to:comm-hyyuv-1188984106@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] FOUR POSTS BY GIBSON, THE CL FLAGGER TROLL, ID THIEF, AND CHILDERS STALKER, and CLOSEST COWARD HOMO: Ever wonder why there’s only a dozen or so posts on CL-Los Angeles? And most of these are obviously by the same individual known as Gibson? For the last few years Gibson, the self-proclaimed “king of CL politics” has used a flagging override to delete any and all posts he doesn’t want up. That typically means all posts on illegal immigration and all posts that expose his frequently criminal conduct on CL. In Los Angeles Gibson posts as Ms Nurse 805. The first post below is one of Gibson’s sweet lil’ sissy flagger posts. This hypocrite loves to lecture posters on CL ediquette, while he violates the CL Terms of Use daily, all day! They cry because they lost Waaaaaaaaaaaaah Send in the Republiclowns Waaaaaaaah for a good laugh…………GIBSON’S POST ON CL SAN DIEGO – RANTS:RE:re: Capitalism is the Problem (no you are) (Waaaahhhh) (For the fag) ________________________________________Reply to:pers-n3rxg-1188958579@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Date: 2009-05-26, 12:12AM PDTA little faggot wrote "Hey asswipe, do you think I give a fuck about clueless fucktards like you not having a job ? All those cow fuckers out of work deserve to be out of work, Obama is not to blame they are.It doesn't matter if Employment is up, this is great news. There are jobs if they want them, sure you get paid $10 per hr but hey, supply and demand has always dictated what people get paid anyway. The employed are there by choice, fuck them lazy ass bitches. You want a job come suck my 12 inch shaft I'll pay you $10 an hour. America is no place for unskilled, stupid, pathetic losers who can't dig themselves out of their own ASS hole.You can pull Bush's cock from your mouth now, his party is a bunch of losers. NOW GO FUCK YOURSELF BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!"----Posted to politics on los angeles -- central LA craigslistTitle: (rants & raves) NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. FOUR POSTS BY GIBSON, THE CL FLAGGER TROLL, ID THIEF, AND CHILDERS STALKER, and CLOSEST COWARD HOMO: Ever wonder why there’s only a dozen or so posts on CL-Los Angeles? And most of these are obviously by the same individual known as Gibson?For the last few years Gibson, the self-proclaimed “king of CL politics” has used a flagging override to delete any and all posts he doesn’t want up. That typically means all posts on illegal immigration and all posts that expose his frequently criminal conduct on CL.NIGGER NIGGER NIGGERThe first post below is one of Gibson’s sweet lil’ sissy flagger posts. This hypocrite loves to lecture posters on CL ediquette, while he violates the CL Terms of Use daily, all day!NIGGER NIGGER NIGGERWomen Probably Don't Have Souls! Bible Fact!Landover Baptist Creation Scientist, Dr. Fred Neiman, announced findings related to his research into the female soul early this week. "The absence of either salvation or condemnation for women finds extensive support in the Word of God." He reported. "Jesus said that the sole reason God created women in the first place was to provide company and service to men (1 Corinthians 11:9), God determined that men would be lonely living alone, so he created women purely to keep men company and serve their needs (Genesis 2:18-22). Women are therefore completely subordinate to men (1 Corinthians 11:3). It stands to reason, though, that once men enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they will be one with God, and will no longer be lonely and in need of mortal companionship. Thus, the reason behind having women will no longer exist. Women, like the members of the animal kingdom, will fall by the wayside." Dr. Neiman went on to say that, "once men reunite with their maker, they will no longer be burdened with the care of women. After all, women were inferior creations from the start. Women are fond of self-indulgence (Isaiah 32:9-11). They are silly and easily led into error (2 Timothy 3:6). They are subtle and deceitful (Proverbs 7:10; Ecclesiastes 7:26). They are zealous in promoting superstition and idolatry (Jeremiah 7:18; Ezekiel 13:17, 23). And they are active in instigating to iniquity (Numbers 31:15-16; 1 Kings 21:25; Nehemiah 13:26). It was the inherent weakness of women that led them to be deceived by Satan (Genesis 3:1-6; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). Consequently, women were cursed from the start (Genesis 3:16). There is simply no room in heaven for such flawed and inadequate beings."Pastor Deacon Fred warned the congregation that there was no reason to be alarmed. "Dr. Neiman's conclusions still need to be formalized," he assured. "I am certain that our team of religious experts will find some way around these Scriptures." Some of the women present were visibly shaken by the report. A teary eyed Sister Taffy Crockett said through choked sobs, "I've heard of colored women not having souls... but me? NO! This is outrageous!"Pastor did have some comforting words for the ladies of Landover. "I personally want to assure all female members of this church that until we examine Dr. Neiman's research to our complete satisfaction, consider yourselves saved."hen in San Diego-Rants we see two typical Gibson posts. Most posts on CL politics or rants forum with obscene images are Gibson’s. In Los Angeles Gibson used to posts as Paul Ireland until a criminal investigation commenced pertaining to his criminal theft of Ireland’s ID, and criminal threats of murdering people Gibson sends via email or posts on CL.NIGGER NIGGER NIGGERGibson also posts as LoSt AnGeleS. You’ve noticed that most of the posts in Los Angeles still up are these handles. If you want to read something hilarious read Gibson’s routine posts to himself, which he pathetically posts replies to, known as Gibson’s “cross-talking”.NIGGER NIGGER NIGGERIn San Diego-politics Gibson floods the board daily as Mr Natural. There’s nothing “natural” about our Gibson. He’s a psychopath flagger, closest coward homo that calls everyone else a coward. bson has posted on CL politics pictures of his vast collection of porn, including men urinating in each other’s faces. This is the man that posts calling gays “faggots”…. Hey, he’s sick! In San Francisco our flagger floods the board with criminal threats of murder and defamation directed to Childers.Gibson has even offered a …..! $1,000 !.... dollar reward for the prosecution of himself, if anyone discovers that he uses CL daily for his criminal activity and threats to Childers! : 805 a little light read (LA)______ Now that's the kind of detailed and factual post that used to be the great thing about coming to this site!or FOUR POSTS BY GIBSON, THE CL FLAGGER TROLL, ID THIEF, AND CHILDERS STALKER, and CLOSEST COWARD HOMO: Ever wonder why there’s only a dozen or so posts on CL-Los Angeles? And most of these are obviously by the same individual known as Gibson? For the last few years Gibson, the self-proclaimed “king of CL politics” has used a flagging override to delete any and all posts he doesn’t want up. That typically means all posts on illegal immigration and all posts that expose his frequently criminal conduct on CL. In Los Angeles Gibson posts as Ms Nurse 805. The first post below is one of Gibson’s sweet lil’ sissy flagger posts. This hypocrite loves to lecture posters on CL ediquette, while he violates the CL Terms of Use daily, all day! Then in San Diego-Rants we see two typical Gibson posts. Most posts on CL politics or rants forum with obscene images are Gibson’s. In Los Angeles Gibson used to posts as Paul Ireland until a criminal investigation commenced pertaining to his criminal theft of Ireland’s ID, and criminal threats of murdering people Gibson sends via email or posts on CL. Gibson also posts as LoSt AnGeleS. You’ve noticed that most of the posts in Los Angeles still up are these handles. If you want to read something hilarious read Gibson’s routine posts to himself, which he pathetically posts replies to, known as Gibson’s “cross-talking”. In San Diego-politics Gibson floods the board daily as Mr Natural. There’s nothing “natural” about our Gibson. He’s a psychopath flagger, closest coward homo that calls everyone else a coward. Gibson has posted on CL politics pictures of his vast collection of porn, including men urinating in each other’s faces. This is the man that posts calling gays “faggots”…. Hey, he’s sick! In San Francisco our flagger floods the board with criminal threats of murder and defamation directed to Childers. Gibson has even offered a …..! $1,000 !.... dollar reward for the prosecution of himself, if anyone discovers that he uses CL daily for his criminal activity and threats to Childers! He’s a sick man! Yes, you are “Ms Nurse 805”, just take a glance at Gibson’s post some time back on Los Angeles rants. His email is i.flagged.your.post@gmail.com GIBSON’S LECTURE ABOUT POSTING ON CL: re: 805 a little light read (LA) ________________________________________ Reply to:comm-hyyuv-1188984106@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Date: 2009-05-26, 1:31AM PDT Now that's the kind of detailed and factual post that used to be the great thing about coming to this site! I would much rather spend 5 minutes reading a detailed and educated point of view with supporting facts, than the 10 seconds it takes to read the kind of hateful/soundbite drivel that so dominates CL Politics these days. I would love to see a post that answers yours point for point, without rancor. PlePostingID: 1188984106 THIS IS MORE LIKE OUR SILLY GIRL MS GIBSON 805: re: 805 a little light read (yeah.. VERY LITTLE)_ Reply to:see below Date: 2009-05-26, 6:43AM PDT God .. I really hate it when lefty assholes grab some SHIT from the internet and post it without even attributing the author in any way. This stupid fucking rant was posted form THIS SITE: http://www.activistnation.net/IRAQ.html The author is THIS WACKJOB: http://www.activistnation.net/Profile/abdul.html Who calls himself Abdul Hakim. The silly ass rant he has written leaves so much out that it can only be taken as an illiterate, goofy diatribe from an idiot. NO mention of the oil-for-food scandal, no mention of Iraq's daily assault on US & British planes no mention of Hamas support JUST PLAIN OLD LEFTY WACKJOB BILLSHIT. Go fuck yourself.. A little light read my ass.. A little light in the head.. yes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ http://www.activistnation.net/IRAQ.htmlThe author is THIS WACKJOB: http://www.activistnation.net/Profile/abdul.html Who calls himself Abdul Hakim. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The silly ass rant he has written leaves so much out that it can only be taken as an illiterate, goofy diatribe from an idiot. NO mention of the oil-for-food scandal, no mention of Iraq's daily assault on US & British planes no mention of Hamas support JUST PLAIN OLD LEFTY WACKJOB BILLSHIT. Go fuck yourself.. A little light read my ass.. A little light in the head.. yes. GIBSON’S POST ON CL SAN DIEGO – RANTS: re: To be a democrat (republiclowns do make us laugh)________________________________________ Reply to:pers-mprea-1189179059@craigslist.org [ate: 2009-05-26, 6:47AM PDT ============================== HOMO’S POST ON CL-LOS ANGELES-RANTS FUCK YOU ROBERT 'BOB' ELIEFF!!! (333 S. Beaudry Ave. 90017) Date: 2008-04-23, 5:52PM PDTNERSO I see that you died in 1997...good for you, fuckface. You were the worst boss I ever had in my life. You made my life in the Security Pacific Bank Beaudry Building Mail Room PURE HELL back in 1988-89. I had always heard that the faggot queers liked working in the mail rooms in downtown, and you were proof of that. You thought you were such a macho fuck, when everybody could see that you were a complete homo butt-fuck queer!!! I see you were 36 years old when you died...may I take a guess of what you died of??? LOL FUCK YOU BOB ELIEFF, I hope you're getting the big RIM JOB by Satan himself down in the netherworld. Guess you weren't so tough after all, because I'm still here, and you're 6 feet under...oh, but your body was probably so ravaged by AIDS that your family had no choice but to cremate your sick ass. Fuck you, you piece of shit. And fuck Dario Garcia too, your little latin gay boy-toy at Security Pacific; everyone knew you two were fucking each other after work and on weekends. FUCK YOU ROBERT ELIEFF, SECURITY PACIFIC BANK BEAUDRY MAILROOM, 333 S. Beaudry Ave., DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, CA 90017 ***1988-1989***.NIGGER NIGGER * Location: GIBSON, THE CLOSET * Location: IT TAKES ONE 2 KNOW oneis memory who truly seems concerned with the issue and even campaigned in the shelters. "It has to be a national priority." BACK DOWN IN THE TENT CITY, a place referred to by the residents as "Browns Town" or "The Freeway Hilton," 38-year-old Richard Benson sits along the chain-link fence, scanning the highway. He says he's got a seriously prohibitive rap sheet, including a seven-year stint for felonious assault. He wonders, How's a man like me gonna pay for life? Mark pipes in that McDonald's just turned his application down. "So we got this temp work thing and it gets us through 'til tomorrow," Benson says. "Or we go scrappin'. They gon' move us out again and you know what? It don't even matter. They just waiting for us to burn ourselves down to nothing." dharkins@... * Location: In LOS ANGELES alone!

House The Homeless, Inc. Austin, TX

Solutions For Homelessness In The New Millennium

(A Four Part Series)

Open letter to the Citizens of North America:

Series One

Economic Cleansing- A Basis For Creating A Protected Class

The collective approach that our country has taken toward our nation's poor over the past two decades has resulted in a national policy of Economic Cleansing. HOUSE THE HOMELESS, INC., is calling for the repeal of all homeless "no camping" ordinances not just in the city of Austin, Texas but in all cities across America. In recent years, out of frustration from the inability to solve the homeless problem, elected officials with the urging of the business communities have passed local no-camping laws around the country. Many cities passed laws making it illegal to sleep in public or even in your own car; even if you'd lost your home and all your worldly belongings. These restrictive laws have been passed always with a promise of being part of a bigger solution yet to come. But, like waiting for Godot, the bigger solutions have never materialized. Instead, the laws have been selectively enforced...not against travelers sleeping in airports or bus terminals but against the homeless individual falling asleep in an exhausted heap at a bus stop or in the doorway of an abandoned building. They've been enforced not against the entertainers traveling in their converted trailway buses but against the single mother sleeping with her two children clinging to their last worldly possession (their car). They've been enforced not against the students camping out for weeks seeking Star Wars tickets....but rather against weary foot soldiers of the new labor wars where unskilled men can only get fifty cents on the dollar for the hardest of back breaking jobs.

Presently, the plan around the country seems to be to enhance aspects (if not all) of the "quality of life" ordinances and laws. For example, repeat public intoxification offenders in Austin, Tx are now subject to enhanced penalties that have rocketed from $220.00 fines to $2,000.00 and from two days in jail to six months in jail. What a cruel, sick joke it is to characterize these laws designed to repress the homeless like the "no camping" laws as "quality of life" issues.

The question remains, who are these people that we call homeless who seem to exist now in huge numbers and yet did not seem to exist until the 1970's? Well, one-third are Vietnam Veterans who returned from the war and found themselves to be outcasts both by the general public and by the Veteran's Administration. One-fourth or more are folks with mental health problems from when our country collectively closed mental health institutions and offered them a more creative form of housing and health care....it is called outpatient health care while living on the streets of America.

Additionally, I can remember a time when only one parent had to work to keep a family together financially. Inflation and economic pressures have resulted in a record number of divorces of our poorest and hardest working families. And, angry latch-key kids have now become angry homeless youths.

But the greatest single contributor to homelessness was the retraction by 75% of our nation's housing dollars for our poorest citizens. We have withdrawn 80 billion dollars each year for the past fifteen years and replaced our highrise ghettos with low life "living" on the streets of America. Today, local housing waiting lists reach into the thousands. They span years of time and don't even reflect the tens of thousands of folks that have given up hope.

Now that we have the poorest-of-the-poor corralled on our streets, we are passing one punitive law after another to finish the task of Economic Cleansing. We are passing laws to make their very existence, that of even sleeping on our streets, illegal. And, with the new rush to enhance "quality of life" laws, we are about to house them full time and for the long term in our new, for-profit prisons; the largest prison system in the world.

By the hundreds of thousands, this nation's poor have become this nation's homeless; filling up our subways, our sidewalks and our parks. Businesses and private citizens alike feel affronted and confronted by these ghosts of the streets. In an effort to "sweep them away" they have been stripped of their individuality and left faceless. In an effort to dehumanize these, the poorest of our citizens, they have been labeled "the homeless," "SRI's" (service resistant individuals) and "transients". They have been labeled "transient" even though study after study has shown that up to 80% of these people are homeless to their location and have been there for up to seven years on average. They have been labeled "service resistant" although the services they require are painfully scarce and woefully inadequate.

These people have been stripped of their identity much the way Hitler stripped and labeled the Jews and supplanted their faces with the Star of David on their shirts and dresses. These citizens have been broad bushed as artful and cavalier beggars and described by our elected leaders as the dregs of society and touted as a danger to the very underpinnings of our social structure and safety. In this regard, these elected "representatives" have set the tone for not only psychological abuse but also physical abuse that has been meted upon this populace. Documented case after case of grotesque incidents have now been recorded. On the basis of being homeless, persons have been targeted by citizens and the police alike. No longer satisfied with just "sweeping" the homeless from urban areas and issuing tickets for sleeping in very public areas, the local police have gone well outside of heavily populated public urban areas and into the woods using dogs and charging in on horseback. They are searching out homeless camps and using bulldozers to destroy their belongings and make-shift homes. Women have been targeted and raped. One such woman was Linda Kay Bright, a homeless woman with a heart of gold who lived in Austin for eight years. Targeted as a homeless person, she was beaten senseless and then as she lay there writhing in pain, with blood gushing from her slashed throat, was repeatedly raped.

Many homeless persons have been set on fire and left for dead. One such person was David Davila who for the offense of asking someone for a cigarette was kicked and beaten senseless. The two assailants then left, went to a convenience store where they purchased a can of lighter fluid, returned to Mr. Davila and proceeded to set him on fire. He was consumed in flames, suffering 2nd and 3rd degree burns on over 80% of his body. David has survived but only after enduring two years of painful skin grafts. Homeless persons have been urinated upon and smeared with feces such as my friend John. They have been bludgeoned while sleeping and pummeled and stomped while unconscious as occurred when two university students jumped from a car and proceeded to flail on two sleeping homeless individuals with a 2 by 4. And, now laws have been uniquely designed targeting their condition. These laws are being selectively enforced against them including no camping, no sleeping, no loitering, no sitting... all because they have found themselves at the bottom of the economic barrel. Special courts are now being devised against them called Community Courts where homeless persons will be tried for their crimes of poverty.

A San Antonio police officer, Onofre Serna, was awarded $500,000 in federal court for being forced to "cleanse the downtown area of homeless persons in the interest of tourism." Eleven officers testified supporting his assertions. Three other officers are preparing their own similar lawsuits. The action was first brought in 1995 and continues today.

And make no mistake, they won't escape. Not the poor black man, the poor white, the poor hispanic or even the poor children. In the 1970's, a person could work forty hours at minimum wage and get a cheap apartment, but no more. It is now recognized that the federal minimum wage is insufficient to secure even an efficiency apartment and to get off the streets almost anywhere in America. But no matter how hard they work, they can no longer work themselves off the streets of America.

And even in Austin, Los Angles, Atlanta, these former family members are dying at a record rate of at least two persons per month...two individuals a month. In 1998, the tally in Austin, Texas alone reached forty persons!!! The cleansing has begun.

But when it's all over, there will be a day of reckoning...a tribunal. Be this tribunal public or, if we only face our own individual trials, we will find ourselves being held accountable for our actions. We will be judged for our actions... either our active participation, or for just standing by and allowing this to happen.

HTH now calls for the repeal of all no-camping ordinances. The promise made when the ordinances and laws were passed were that they would just be temporary and that the laws would be part of a much larger solution. However, the solution has not materialized or been funded. We say repeal the no-camping ordinances and allow some other solution to be forced into existence. For example, by paying a fair Universal Living Wage, a true free market will allow many of our nation's homeless to access housing in the private housing sector. We say stop the economic cleansing whether it is intentional or just the natural progressive result of all these separate actions.

The National Coalition for the Homeless is now working with the United States Attorney Generals' office to chronicle the atrocities committed against our homeless citizens. Furthermore, the National Coalition for the Homeless has passed a Protected Class Resolution outlining the civil rights abuses and hate crimes committed against these persons. NCH is calling for persons that are earning at 100% of Federal Poverty Guidelines or less, to be constituted as the Indigent Homeless Population and to come under the umbrella of a Protected Class.

It is time to: stop the Economic Cleansing, repeal all laws targeting our poorest citizens, pass a Universal Living Wage (indexed to the cost of housing) and pass the Protected Class Resolution for our nation's homeless citizens.

Signed, Richard Troxell President-

House The Homeless, Inc. Austin, TX

Board Member of the National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington D.C.