Life In The Brokedown Lane

Here's a human interest story that is an everyday occurrence on Skid Row:

In late April I was approached by Tommy Little to help get his property back. He had been cited two weeks earlier for committing the crime of “sleeping on the sidewalk.” His arrest in late April, at his tent on the sidewalk, was for the crime of failing to respond to the earlier citation two weeks earlier. Tommy was released four hours after this arrest but his tent and all his belongings had been confiscated by the city’s Sanitation Department. He was told he could reclaim his property at a designated site by showing a claim slip.

Armed robbery by one of L.A.'s many "City Services Divisions" with assistance from the LAPD, of course.

Finally the clerk brought out a large bag from one of the containers and at the very bottom of the bag were two of Tommy’s possessions: a plastic tarp, still in its original packaging, and a clay figurine of Jesus.

Tommy could hardly believe what he saw. He wept. Before the Sanitation Department’s confiscation, all of his property in his tent was new. He had carefully folded his belongings in his tent at the time of his arrest. Now only these two items remained.

This is a stealth war against the homeless, powered by real estate billionaires and messaged by Democrats who weep about the homeless and then evict them—or evict them and then weep to their constituents.

http://peoplestribune.org/pt-news/2016/07/l-skid-row-blueprint-outrage/

Tommy is the guy in the photo with ample love handles chillin' in the shade. He's a friend of mine who serves meals for the Senior Meal Program at The Ellis Hotel on Skid Row. Tommy does not do drugs or have a problem with alcohol. He's simply surviving the best he can with the tools the Good Lord gave him.

Fuck the LAPD, Chief Beck and Mayor Garcetti.

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Meteor Man's picture

Another story about a homeless American protest against cold hearted fuckin Dems:

On July 25 at 3 pm on the south side of City Hall in Philadelphia, the poor and homeless will march in the March for Our Lives 2016 on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention. This isn’t just your normal march. It’s turning into a march that is declaring our freedom and declaring our Independence!
The march is happening in the largest, poorest city, where $43 million is being spent on security when we have not housed anyone in this city for months, and where huge sections of permanently unemployed men are going weeks with absolutely no money. Together we are trying to figure out how to survive. The foot of the Democratic Party is on our neck and we intend to Free ourselves.

Check it out:

http://peoplestribune.org/pt-news/2016/07/voice-poor-will-heard-outside-...

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

Lookout's picture

the poorest among us. Best of luck to your buddy Tommy (and you).

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Lily O Lady's picture

least of these, you do unto me." ~Jesus Christ

Proof positive, IMHO, that this is NOT a Christian nation, so religious zealots should shut up.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Deja's picture

I'm at a loss for words.

I feel like such a selfish f*ck.

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Everything I can think of involves a lot of swearing... psychopaths must be cleaned out of the public service, NOT voted in or with cheating left to lie as a 'done deal'.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Meteor Man's picture

The war against homeless Americans is nationwide. No media coverage, no problem.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

PriceRip's picture

          I made it on my own . . . If you work hard smart enough you will succeed . . . Nobody gave me anything for free, so get a job . . . You're homeless because you don't try hard enough . . .
          I know this genius in Portland, Oregon who happens to be homeless. If I had been in his (particular) situation I would have died long ago. He has heard it all, seen it all, lived it all yet somehow he just keeps surviving. One aspect of the problem is that there are some grifters about who complicate the situation. I can usually, but not always, distinguish a grifter from the real deal. It's that "but not always" part that really messes with my head.
          As Meteor Man points out, this "is an everyday occurrence". There are a lot of stories to be told, each more compelling than the last. I only know one truth, the genius I know in Portland wants these stories to end . . .

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Meteor Man's picture

I think you'll like Tribuno Pueblo Price Rip:

Nico’s case is not an isolated case as the way he was identified is a new wave of social media policing that is going on that as an awake community we need to be aware of and start adapting to. The Chicago Police seem to have gathered a data base of pictures of young men from the neighborhood from Facebook and other social media and are using these pics instead of police line ups to show victims for identifying suspects.
Think about it — this young man has no criminal history — yet his picture was used as being a possible criminal?! And it just happens that he was falsely identified!! The picture used was two years old. This is a mother’s worst nightmare — her only baby taken away by police and held for a 3/4 Million Dollar ransom for a crime he obviously didn’t commit.

http://www.tribunodelpueblo.org/2016/07/case-of-nico-gaete-how-social-me...

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

PriceRip's picture

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Meteor Man's picture

Link to English speaking version:
http://www.tribunodelpueblo.org/tribuno-del-pueblo-in-english

The truth is that Google employs less than 50,000 people. Facebook less than 5,000, Twitter less than 4,000, and eHarmony has more questions about compatibility than people in the building. There is no new economy. That is a damned lie.

Increasingly people are taking entry-level jobs at places not unlike Carl’s Jr. The average fast-food worker is not a teenager, but rather, a 28-year-old with a child. Things are worse today for workers than they were 10 years ago. They were worse 10 years ago than they were 10 years earlier. This is not going to stop, and it is irreversible.

Under these conditions — where machines are making machines and taking the jobs — the old axiom of property, “they who shall not work shall not eat,” means death to the job seeker.

We need to abolish the system of private property. We need a new society built around a different kind of economy. We need a system of distribution that matches this new system of production. It’s just that simple.

Get with the program.

http://www.tribunodelpueblo.org/2016/07/disappearance-of-jobs-demands-ne...

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

janis b's picture

It's not a perfect place, no place is. It won't help the homeless or others subject to the brutal, heartless treatment by the American government. But if you've reached the limit of what you can do or tolerate, take a look. It's still a place you can make a difference, and live more sanely. It's difficult to emigrate to, but maybe worth the effort to try.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/tools...

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/forms-and-guides/inz1101.pdf

http://www.workpermit.com/new_zealand/point_system/points_system.htm

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blazinAZ's picture

Here in Tucson they keep passing laws about where people can sleep, where they can sit, and how much square footage their possessions can take up. And our city is run by so-called Democrats. The gentrifying downtown area has hired private security guards to keep homeless people moving because god forbid the white middle class spending money be confronted by some of the folks their craft breweries and boutiques have evicted.

This is another example of why cops make things worse, and why voting Democrat doesn't solve real problems.

Shameful

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There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka