Tidbits - June 11, 2015 - Kalief Browder, Criminality of Prisons; Fight for $15; Edward Snowden: Hero; Ronnie Gilbert; Walmart; Suicide in Young Women; Left Strategy Needed; and more...
Portside
"Close to half of all county expenditures were spent on just five percent of the homeless population, who came into frequent contact with police, hospitals, and other service agencies, racking up an average of $100,000 in costs per person annually." That's a ton of money. And it's why the simplest solution to ending homelessness — giving them homes — makes so much sense.
On December 4th the City of San Jose began the eviction of some 300 men, women, and children residing in tents and shanties on the 68 acres of creek-side property called the Jungle. Where will the former residents go. The Jungle, considered the largest homeless encampment in the U.S., is in the heart of Silicon Valley, the high tech region that accounts for one-third of all of the venture capital investment in the United States.
Russell Brand (The Trews) reacts to the news that 90-year-old Arnold Abbott was arrested by police in Florida for handing out meals to homeless people in a park.
A study found that it would cost taxpayers just $10,051 per homeless person to give them a permanent place to live and services like job training and health care. That figure is 68 percent less than the public currently spends by allowing homeless people to remain on the streets. If central Florida took the permanent supportive housing approach, it could save $350 million over the next decade.
This song expresses the urgency we all face to unite together as a planet and offers us wisdom with the words, "War, children, it's just a shot away... Love, sister, it's just a kiss away". Dedicated to all the lost, homeless and forgotten people in this world. It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.
Spread the word