Month: March 2017

Mental Health Hustlers Defunded

Jeff Drinnan

Funding woes hurt homeless, reads the headline in The Courier Times. Actually, it is the mixing of mental health services with housing for the homeless that hurts the homeless. “And when county departments divide these funds among different local initiatives” said Donna Duffy-Bell, administrator of the Bucks County Department of Health…, “more money sometimes goes towards more visible priorities, like opioid addiction, rather than hidden ones like homelessness” the article continues.

So, people who just need a place to stay are slighted because funds are used mainly for drug abuse. In the article, officials juxtapose homelessness with mental “illness”. Officials say the homeless aren’t required to be tested for mental problems, but they usually do (usually bamboozled into) and they imply homelessness and mental illness are one in the same. Bull!

Allen Johnson, a recovery coach with HOST, a program which combines mental health with homeless outreach, which is experiencing funding cuts, once told me that he doesn’t believe in housing first. He explained that people have to get straight first before they can get housing. Really? This presupposes that homeless people are nuts who need the mental health services of HOST. The facts were changed to protect the mental health industry. It’s a way to get public funds for the shrinks and Big Pharm.

It’s Public Funding Time (parody of Fats Domino’s Finger Popping Time)

It’s public (doy-dee doy-dee) funding time

It is pub lic…funding ty-ime

I feel so good

I’m on the public dime

Hey now hey now hey now hey now

Here comes Allen here comes Keith

Allen’s visiting all the homeless sites on his beat

It’s public (doy-dee doy-dee) funding time

It is pub lic…funding ty-ime

I feel so good (dee-doy doy dee-doink)

I’m on the public dime

Hey now hey now hey now hey now…

It seems to be what’s happening to HOST is similar to President Trump cutting the fat and crap from the EPA. Accomplishing the goal of being good stewards of our natural resources can be done less expensively. Likewise, by cutting the programs for mental health removes lots of unwanted fat from a bloated bureaucracy. Penndel Mental Health, for instance, just pumps patients with legal dope and psychobabble: “language that is used by people who talk about mental and emotional problems and that is seen as silly or meaningless: psychological jargon.” – Merriam-Webster

I’ve observed people who go to the community meals for the homeless and needy who have gone to the clinic get worse. But when they get Biblical counsel, I’ve seen people get better.

The church, not secular psychiatry/psychology should fill this void in mental health programming by getting even more involved in helping people with problems.

A view of the church versus psychology: http://www.christianpsych.org/wp_scp/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/dp220-2.pdf

As to the defunding of HOST, another parody from the They’re Coming to Take Me Away Band:

Don’t Think Freely (parody of Buck Owen’s Act Naturally)

 

Well, they’re going to put me in the nuthouse

They want to make a monkey out of me

They’re going to put me in the nuthouse

And all they have to do

Is round up me

 

Well, they are going have to chase me real far

They’re going to hunt me and they can’t really tell

If I really need to be in the nuthouse

They expect me to play the part for them real well

 

I hope you’ll come and see me in the nuthouse

Maybe you can slip me a file in some cake

I hope you’ll come and see me in the nuthouse

Where I’m all doped up and can’t think freely

 

They want to put me in the nuthouse

That’s because they don’t think I am OK

Well the only reason I am in the nuthouse

Is that I’m homeless in Bucks County PA

 

Well, they are going have to chase me real far

They’re going to hunt me and they can’t really tell

If I really need to be in the nuthouse

They expect me to play the part for them real well

 

I’ll be a homeless collection in the nuthouse

From the state they want to collect their precious bounty

I’ll be a monkey caged there in the nuthouse

Where I’m all doped up and can’t think freely

 

They want to put me in the nuthouse

That’s because they don’t think I am OK

Well the only reason I am in the nuthouse

Is that I’m homeless in Bucks County PA

Is that I’m homeless in Bucks County PA

 

Dupe-dupe a looney Dupe-dup a looney Dupe-dupe a looney…

They’re coming to take me away ah-hah he-he ah-hah ah-hah he-he ah-hah he-he…

A Few Bad Apples

Jeff Drinnan

A few rotten apples who go to the community meals for the homeless and needy are starting to ruin the rest of the barrel. At the Peace Lutheran Church (you’ll see the irony), a rabid punk threatened me with violence because, “you disrespected my mother” because of what I said, which may have been embellished, on my blog, where I called out guests who bum-rushed food and ran off with an inordinate amount of goodies.

Some people just don’t think they should be held accountable for their behavior.

Peace Lutheran, however, may do something about these rotten apples.

When I exited the church, more than a half dozen people were waiting outside for me. I believe this “hit man” came to the dinner just to intimidate me. Although I had just criticized two individuals, the suburban gangstas banded together to intimidate me.

One of the hosts at the meal suspected something was brewing when he heard the gang talking at the back of the room during dinner. As he told the other hosts, he discovered he was right. He saw several people leave the building together and hang out in the parking lot. He referred to this as “a Lynch mob.”

The host said that these people may not be allowed back at next month’s meal.

These suburban gangstas,  most of whom have homes, may not realize it, but they are hurting the homeless as well as other guests. The hosts may come to the point where they don’t want to deal with this drama and may cancel the meals. Meanwhile, Peace Lutheran plans to deal with the rotten apples.

The host heard me being threatened, Wes saying “the police station is right across the street”, and one of the ganstas yelling an obscenity in response and other nasty remarks.

The Emperor Needs A New Set Of Clothes

Just like Birdman, whom I also called out for his selfish, predatory, anti social behavior, the ganstas don’t see anything wrong with what their two “friends” were doing. They also don’t have a problem with me calling out Birdman, who basically has been doing the same thing. Like the subjects in the Hans Christian Andersen story, people are afraid to say how the miscreants who hog the food at community meals are really as they appear.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes

Instead of intimidating others and following the law of the jungle/survival of the fittest mentality, people in the homeless and needy community should help one another and build each other up and follow the golden rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Many of the people who go to the meals follow this principle.

One monkey will not stop the show.

The homeless have a hard enough time dealing with the Bucks County establishment, which hates the homeless. When people in the group act like savages, which is not noble, it only contributes to the stereotypes society has against them.

One Size Fits All?

Jeff Drinnan

The one size fits all mentality is what I’ve been fighting against, particularly when it applies to the homeless community. Judging by the content of one’s character, I look at the homeless as individuals who happen to have the common need for a home.

But it seems that in some cases, when you judge particular individuals in the homeless and needy community, people circle the wagons and act as if you are attacking all of them.  In one case, at a community meal in Bucks County, PA,  a drunken homeless guy loudly cursed out another guest and physically threatened him. It was an unprovoked attack; T-Rex was drunk and disorderly. Yet, the Advocates for The Homeless and Those in Need (AHTN) gave him a free pass and punished the guy he attacked, as did the host. Although I was told the decision came “from the top”, I believe it was a result of an AHTN member on the scene lying about and demonizing the victim.

T-Rex finally met his Waterloo. After he ambushed the same guy at a homeless meal, someone called the police, but, aided and abetted by “friends”, he eluded police for weeks until he was arrested at the free laundry. When someone called the police about the attack, a homeless guy told the caller not to call the police. After T-Rex was arrested and in jail, as I was waiting in line at a community luncheon, a homeless guy ranted that someone calling the police to apprehend the fugitive was “terrible, terrible!”

One thing I’m sure of. The one armed man did not do it!

On another occasion, two AHTN volunteers said nothing when guests walked away with an inordinate amount of take homes when they were sitting right next to them. Although they had homes, I think they became honorary homeless people and became members of a clique. Members of their small exclusive group defended their indefensible behavior.

Two members of the clique confronted me in the parking lot last night after the community meal about calling  out two individuals on my blog. One was very hostile and tried to intimidate me into not calling out particular individuals from the clique. Yet The Adams Family was held up to public scrutiny for doing the same thing. Consequently, they changed their evil ways, baby. And people in the wagon circle don’t have a problem with me calling out Birdman for his anti-social, predatory behavior.

We all need to be held to the same standards.

What people may not realize, is that by circling the wagons to protect someone in their clique reinforces the one size fits all mentality that the Bucks County establishment subscribes to. This mentality was evident at the public library in Levittown, at the Veterans’ memorial near the library, and at the Salvation Army Levittown Community Center. What’s terrible is that some individuals are not held accountable for their behavior and, consequently, everyone in the group is punished.

There’s been a campaign at the library to constructively keep the homeless out of the library. It’s not because of their behavior, but just because they are homeless. The Bucks County officer stationed at the municipal  building, pressured by some of the government hacks in the WIC building, told homeless people who were just hanging out at the memorial, not breaking any rules, that some people are afraid to come to the memorial because they feel uncomfortable when the homeless people are there. Consequently, he tried to shoo them from the memorial. With my egging them on and my remarks to the officer, they did not comply and he eased off. The same rules need to apply to everyone.

The Countess of Carlisle, public relations gal at the Levittown Salvation Army, agreed with the campaign to keep the homeless out of the library, arguing that some people who visit the library don’t like them there.  The Salvation Army official is so named because, like her namesake, she claims to help the disadvantaged, but doesn’t really want to know or understand them: “In 1838, Lady Carlisle articulated a negative opinion of Charles Dickens, who was then emerging as a successful author. ‘I know there are such unfortunate beings as pickpockets and streetwalkers. I am very sorry for it and am very much shocked at their mode of life, but I own I do not much wish to hear what they say to one another’, she said.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgiana_Howard,_Countess_of_Carlisle

Freedom of Speech is a wonderful right Americans have. It doesn’t just protect popular speech, but speech some people don’t like. It should not be abridged. “Sit down and shut up,” was a phrase the last resident of the White House has been known to say about people with whom he disagrees. Well, I refuse to sit down and shut up even though some people don’t approve of my calling out people whom they believe have immunity or the way I do it.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” -John 8:32

 

If You Can’t Take The Heat

Jeff Drinnan

If the shoe fits, wear it! One of the culprits who has been snatching an excessive amount of food and clothing at community meals for the homeless and needy in Bucks County, PA went ballistic after having the light of truth being shined on her and her confederate. It’s like shining a bright light on a yellow jackets’ nest at night without using a red filter. Like the awakened yellow jackets, she is trying to sting the one who is speaking out about those who have been embezzling what is for other people.

Image result for you can't handle the truth quote

Interesting that in the homeless and needy community, some people have harassed and demonized a guest based on lies and, at best, gross exaggerations. Yet, when the light of truth was shined on the culprits who have been hogging food and clothing graciously given by the hosts at community meals, there is no massive outcry against this outrageous behavior, even by the homeless, some of whom say people who aren’t homeless have no business going to the meals because they are taking their food. Well, the people I’m calling out are doing exactly this!

Some homeless people have told the victim of false witness that he should not even be going to the meals. Yet some people are still lovey-dovey with the miscreants at the meals who have been seen grabbing all the desserts, etc., for whom greed is getting worse who, at the homeless meals take their booty.

One woman in need I know often comes a little late to the meals because she doesn’t get out of work in time to get there earlier. Because of the greed of miscreants, there may not be anything left for her.

You would think the culprits would at least wear a patch over one eye and bring a parrot with them and greet their friends with “yo ho hoe” when they go to the community meals!

Friendship can be a funny thing. Some people normally friendly to the victim of an unprovoked attack by a homeless man turned away from him, just as some friends have started distancing themselves from me because I stood by the victim of malicious gossip. True friendship should be based on character and loyalty.

The mouth of the miscreant duo is friends with a handicapped person whom I used to help but took advantage of me. Many people told me she takes advantage of “friends”. After our “deal” ended, one guy who used to drive her to the meals said that I should be happy to be rid of my burden – that once you do something for her, she thinks you are her slave. The mouth knows this, but says she loves (in a sisterly sense) her.

Nobody is perfect. I know I’m not. But I try not to habitually wrong others. When I do, I say I’m sorry and try not to wrong the person again. After the “deal” was broken and I got kicked out of the house by the homeowner after I put my foot down on the inordinate amount of taxi service I had to provide the monster drink fueled momma, she tried to shift the blame, even lying to a mutual friend about it. She was all smiles and acted if nothing needed to be reconciled and wanted nonetheless to remain friends with her and her husband. I kept telling her I was busy when she approached me but didn’t take the hint that I didn’t want to be bothered with them. It wasn’t until she asked me how my sick friend was and I answered “what to you care; all you care about is feeding your face at other people’s expense” that she left me alone.

Feeding one’s face at other people’s expense is exactly what The New Adams’ Family has been doing.

I trust that, like The Adams’ Family, they will stop their evil ways, baby!

If you can’t take the heat, don’t cook up a stink in the kitchen!

Loving Others

Jeff Drinnan

In a recent case on the People’s Court, a young woman was charged with damaging a man’s car when she recklessly flung her shopping cart and hit it, after loading groceries into her car.  Judge Milian explained to the defendant that in that situation she has “a social contract”, where certain behavior is expected.

What’s expected is that after you are done with your shopping cart, you return it to a corral or at least put it in a place that is out of the way, the judge said and added that this was a selfish act; the defendant had no concern about how she affects other people.

Not every rule is posted. There are certain ways we behave because it’s part of our internalized code of conduct. In a neighborhood, if you subscribe to the old school of thought, you respect your neighbor’s property and don’t trespass, even if there are no “no trespassing” signs. Today in Levittown, PA, which is infested with Democrats, many neighbors just let their kids use other people’s property as if it’s their own. No borders.

People have different codes of conduct. In many cases there are no codes and people just, like programming a computer, use codes to fit situations as they come along. No absolutes, no restraints of a civilized society. At the community meals for the homeless and needy in Bucks County, PA, after watching a character known as “Birdman” going from table to table to carry off food and drink as well as preying on beverage and food tables, I told another guest that he was “the quintessential Noble Savage.” I would use that term to describe a couple of other guests who attend the meals.

Read about the consequences of the Noble Savage and the Counter Culture: https://wigtunes.wordpress.com/tag/francis-schaeffer/

At some community meals, the hosts have specific rules about how many desserts and items of clothing the guests may take. Others don’t. Unfortunately, not everybody is able to exercise self restraint.

Because of a few miscreants, Queen Latifah, the host at the Salvation Army Levittown Community Center community meals treats the guests like criminals and children.

People need to have a moral compass, the right code of conduct, absolutes. You won’t get that by turning inward or by contemplating your navel, or by worshipping the sun.

Back in the 70’s, evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher and pastor Francis Schaeffer said that freedom is misused and, to keep order in society, two things will happen. We will either have a police state, where people will be controlled by outside forces, or there will be a revival and we’ll have a Reformed Christian consensus. The former society, ushered in during the late 60’s and was prevalent particularly during the past eight years and manifested in political correctness, is bondage. The 2nd choice brings true freedom. http://www.theopedia.com/francis-schaeffer

Image result for bible verses about love for fellow man

The New Adams Family

Jeff Drinnan

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=piggies+lyrics+video&view=detail&mid=46206D497931AEA3DB1146206D497931AEA3DB11&FORM=VIRE

Since I started going to the meals for the homeless and needy in Bucks County, PA, I kept hearing complaints about the Adams Family, who would plunder food and other items and cart off more than their fair share at the meals. Word is that, because of pressure put on them, they changed their evil ways, baby.

We now have new piggies on the block, Dee, Sharon, and Birdman. Four to six months ago, Dee, who thinks nobody has the right to call her and her confederate out for hogging take homes at the meals, complained about the Adams Family doing the same thing.

Typical Democrat/Shrillery Clinton supporter: Do as I say, not as I do. Lately, Sharon’s been doing most of the plundering with the pathetic duo, but she’s been quiet. Dee has loudly protested being called out for her bad, selfish behavior. Evidently, like Shrillery, she thinks she’s above the rules; they don’t apply to her.

These pigs are not homeless, but have a place. As I mentioned in a previous blog, there’s been a feud, mostly hidden, between the homeless and those with a place. Some homeless don’t think people not homeless should even be coming to the meals. The actions of these selfish pigs are adding fuel to the fire. As one guest who attends the meals said, they may start a war!

The facts: At Wednesday night’s meal, Sharon took home six full ham, potatoes, and cabbage dinners. Also two boxes of desserts, which she stuffed with cake, cookies and donuts. The mouth of the duo was not really egregious with taking things from the meals Wednesday night  as was the silent but deadly rogue grocery shopper.

Meanwhile, at Friday night’s meal, Birdman tried hard to bring himself up in the piggy rankings. The host at that meal does not allow his anti-social behavior, but Birdman was able to win round one by swooping from table to table, snatching up bread and butter. He was just about finished his plunder by the time the host caught on to him.  But Birdman was trapped when he tried to take off the coffee filter and tried to fill his pitchers from the coffee pot. Stopped dead in his tracks!

At Wednesday night’s meal, the host checked the bags of a guest who was sitting near Sharon, to make sure she took no more than three items of clothing. She didn’t. But Sharon got away before the host could check her bag. I’m not a betting man, but I would wager that Sharon carried off more than three items.

The homeless and needy community is best off when people think about the needs of others. These piggies wouldn’t like it if someone ran off with a great gob of goodies at their expense!

Many of the people at the meals apply the golden rule. They show concern for others and try to lift up one another. Unfortunately, there are some people who, like the little piggys, don’t. To quote the Beatles’ song:

“In their styes with all their backing
They don’t care what goes on around
In their eyes there’s something lacking
What they need’s a damn good whacking.”

And a damn good written whacking is what I’m giving them. The pen is mightier than the sword. When I sincerely believe something, I speak out, and won’t back down from anyone. I write only what is true, which I can back up, and express my opinion about it. As Ben Carson said, people are afraid today to express their opinion and stated that this is wrong. I agree with Dr. Carson – he has the right remedy to fight for the truth.

The community meals have been free of rancorous verbal and physical threats and actual violence since someone called the police on someone who had been coming to the meals drunk, who on one occasion ambushed a guest and knocked him to the ground, causing the back of his head to bleed.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke

 

Justice For The Environment?

Jeff Drinnan
Quick Signature Needed: Don’t let Trump block Environmental Justice (No subject) 

 

 Jeff,

Low-income and communities of color are on the front lines of pollution and climate change. 

I just received another email from the League of Conservation Voters, sounding the alarm for environmental justice. This is like social justice, but when you seek justice for the environment, your constituents are rocks and trees. These libs can rest assure that they speak for their constituents – they know what they want and they will never disagree with them.

So black and poor people are at risk because President Trump plans to cut the fat and the crap from the EPA and foster good stewardship of the earth more efficiently? I don’t think so.

On the contrary, poor people, including blacks, and the homeless have been hurt by the bloated bureaucracy with its onerous regulations and overpriced alleged public servants, who actually serve the special interest pseudo environmentalists by underwriting their junk science. The EPA’s Green Gestapos punish landowners who fill in standing water because they say they are destroying wetlands. By filling in big mud puddles, they believe the landowners are closing migrant birds’ rest stops. They are also destroying mosquito habitat, which may help limit human population growth.

Recently, the Green Gestapos harassed some folks who lit a campfire out in the boonies of Alaska. It’s good they didn’t bring along their dogs, because they would make the yellow snow and attract trappers, which would endanger wildlife.

I guess rocks and trees lives matter.

Big government, social engineering has hurt the little guy, including blacks. Below is a commentary about how FDR’s New Raw Deal hurt the poor and blacks:

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/how-fdrs-new-deal-harmed-millions-poor-people

An example of government intrusion hurting the economy and therefore creating more homelessness is Pennsylvania Governor “Big Bad” Wolf banning drilling for oil and gas in state parks and forests. A local state representative, The Bimbo of Bucks County, aka State Representative Tina Davis admitted that the drilling creates jobs, and former PA Governor Tom Corbett added that the revenue from the leases would put more money in tax coffers, but the Wolf and the Bimbo said that protecting the environment trumps the economy. They never explained how banning drilling protects the environment. “Environmentalists” espouse the false choice between the economy and protecting the environment.

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/mc-pa-wolf-restores-ban-on-new-gas-drilling-0129-20150129-story.html

Here’s the skinny on cutting the fat and the crap from the EPA:

https://townhall.com/columnists/pauldriessen/2017/03/11/those-devastating-epa-reductions-n2297429

“The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to men.” Psalm 115:16

AHTN Rules No Rules

Jeff Drinnan

We need rules, especially rules of civility, including for the homeless. People may have lost homes, but they don’t have to lose their civility. But rules are only as good as when they are enforced. Below are rules I got off the Advocates for The Homeless and Those in Need (AHTN) site. I copied the text perchance the link becomes unavailable, no longer in effect, as are rules AHTN has for the homeless. I just included the rules that have been a problem and where enforcement was lacking.

http://www.ahtn.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TRANSPORTATION-GUEST-GUIDELINES.pdf

“TRANSPORTATION GUEST GUIDELINES

We hope that you will feel welcome while riding with us.  In order to ensure that everyone has a positive experience, we ask that you follow these rules.

If you have any questions or special needs, particularly of an emergency nature, please ask the Driver Attendant for assistance.
 
Drugs/Alcohol – Absolutely no non-prescribed drugs or alcohol are to be consumed or carried by any guest. If found, items will be confiscated and the police will be called. “

Within the past few years, some homeless people have been coming to the community meals drunk. They must have been drunk while on the bus. On one occasion, a guy who was evidently drunk, whose speech was slurred started on me by continually telling me to shut up as I was quietly talking to someone on the seat behind me  He was a few seats down on the other side. Nobody from AHTN said anything to him.

An example of the other rules that AHTN has not enforced is its rules on behavior and harassment, which overlaps with, and is often caused by alcohol consumption.

“Behavior – Behavior that threatens the safety of other guests or volunteers will be grounds for immediate removal from the vehicle and you will be asked to leave.  Inappropriate language and/or gestures and/or name-calling will not be tolerated.  Police will be called if necessary.

Harassment – No threats or acts of violence will be tolerated in any way.  Any attempt to impose your will on another will be considered an act of violence. Harassment in any form (whether it is verbal, physical, emotional, mental or sexual) will not be tolerated, nor will aggressive or intimidating behavior of any kind be tolerated.   Inappropriate behavior during an AHTN event will result in removal from the current activity and a limitation of attendance at future AHTN events.  Police will be called if necessary.”

Rules on behavior and harassment are interrelated. On the occasion when the drunken homeless guy kept telling me to shut up, he made a veiled threat when we got to the community meal, where he almost tripped on his own two feet. He said he’d have a surprise for me when I got off the bus. When I asked him for details, he snapped “You’re smart; you can figure it out, Gevorkian.”  I replied that I, Gevorkian, would be glad to euthanize him and added that I’d be doing a dual service: Assisted suicide and pest control.

At one point, the guy asked  “meet me outside.” I didn’t oblige him but when I started walking towards the bathroom, he stammered that he’ll get me on the way to the bathroom. He stomped up behind me, and when he got close, I spun around and went into a defensive position. Soon, one of the hosts got between us and broke it up. We separated. The host who got between us thanked me “for being calm.” The drunken troublemaker was banned from this meal permanently, not by AHTN, but by the host.

He wasn’t banned from the bus, as per AHTN’s rules.

On another occasion, about a year later, the same homeless guy who harassed me while under the influence did the same at The Redeemer Lutheran Church in Penndel, PA. He walked into the meal roaring drunk. He had taken the AHTN bus. Another guest was sitting the end of the table, talking about a court case about a homeless camp where the residents were threatened with eviction. The drunk started yelling at the man, that “what kind of life do you have” by sitting in on court cases. He started yelling obscenities and started charging after the man, even slightly clipping him in the face as he started swinging at him.

Some other homeless guests tried to calm him down. It took three of the male hosts to pull the man, raging like T-Rex, away. The maniac was ushered to the far side of the large hall. Christine and Dave from AHTN accompanied him.

The police showed up. They approached the victim of the unprovoked assault, who didn’t even make any remarks to his attacker, as I did, but the police told him the host asked that he leave immediately. Someone from AHTN told him he was banned from the bus, and that the decision “came from the top.”

When the victim came to Redeemer Lutheran the next meal it hosted, he was told he wasn’t allowed in. When he asked why, a church representative, after the victim pressed for a reason, told him it was because he was saying bad things about the homeless.

I would have like to be a fly on the wall in the clandestine corner where the hosts, Christine and Dave from AHTN and T-Rex had a private conference. It’s strange that the victim, who never had a problem with the host, was magically banned from the meals.

This gets curiouser and curiouser, Alice. At the district court, district justice Daniel J Finello Jr. dismissed the charges of slander, etc., against Christine Jandovitz, David Jones, Redeemer Lutheran Church and the rest of the defendants whom I believe were involved in the fiasco that entailed lying and penalizing the plaintiff based on lies, but entered a default judgment against the homeless man who verbally and physically assaulted the man. Had he been at the court, he may have been that fly on the wall who would testify about the slander. The judgment was made without even letting the plaintiff present his case; it was summarily dismissed!

During the time I rode the bus, up until about two years ago, there was little drama. Riders respected on another and rules were enforced much of the time. No more. Homeless people have told me that there has been a bit of name calling, occasional racial remarks (I’ve never witness any racial problems in my three years among the homeless) and harassment of women. I believe people with brought booze with them on the bus or were already drunk.

AHTN evidently believes that if they post rules, they are followed. As the modernists believe, reality is subjective. Two occasions in the public library in Levittown, PA, where the homeless are constructively banned, come to mind. One occasion was when I went to pick up what I printed from the library computer, the sticker for the computer number I needed was missing. When I told a clerk that, she insisted “all the computers have numbers.” She finally gave up and figured out how to send my printout to the printer.

On another occasion, Pat, the head Levittown librarian, frantically complained when I was briefly, quietly talking to a homeless friend “this conversation is getting heated, you better…” When I confronted her about the double standard, where a homeless person is confronted for talking barely above a whisper for a minute but some special privileged characters bring their incessantly loud, bratty kids to the library and nothing is said to them, she said that she does do something about the loud kids in the library.

As humans, we can plan to do right, but we can’t always carry it out. This is the first step in the 12 Steps Program for addictions and compulsive behaviors. “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”  -Romans 7:18

Speaking of the 12 Steps, the defendant who received a default in the civil suit also has a criminal trial coming up on that matter. And by the way, it was only because of the actions of some of the other guests that is holding the defendant accountable, not AHTN.

The plaintiff has already talked with a court officer to request that the defendant be given the opportunity for rehab for alcohol abuse, which brings out anti-social behavior, in lieu of further sentencing or a fine.

The principles in the 12 Steps program has historically been very successful. Here’s an example:

http://www.celebraterecovery.com/index.php/about-us/twelve-steps

The Grapes of Wrath

Jeff Drinnan

Have you seen the little piggies grabbing all the dessert?

And for all the little piggies

Greed is getting worse

At the homeless meals they take their booty –parody of The Beatles’ song Piggies

“As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.” -Ecclesiastes 10:1

They struck again. At Friday night’s community meal for the homeless and those in need in Bucks County, PA, a couple of piggies stuffed several bags, taking a ton of donuts and cupcakes – so many that many people did not get their desert.  One of the piggies also absconded with eight take home boxes stuffed with the meal, in addition to the deserts!

Two pigs, who are not homeless but welcomed nonetheless to the meals cart off food that short changes others. They are in the “in need” category, but judging by how fat Sharon and Dee are, neither of them need all that food. But others do. Especially the homeless.

These greedy people, who resemble Jabba Hutt of Star Wars fame, are giving a character who comes to the meals, known as Birdman, serious competition. Birdman shows up at the meals, sometimes near the end of the meal, with large bags and sometimes pitchers. He swoops down and hits the community drinks – pitchers, jugs – and trays full of things like butter, bread, and crackers.

Recently, when guests at a meal got up to get a drink or to use the restroom, Birdman flew, table to table, looking for grub. A few tables up from where my friends and I had eaten, he swallowed up someone’s desert. I was left as the lone watch at my table. Birdman walked behind our table, and coveted a friend’s desert. I gave him a dirty look and warned “Just keep walking, Birdman,” which he did.

There has been contention between the homeless who attend the community meals and those who have homes but are in need. Some homeless people don’t think people in homes should go to the meals. Well, the actions of these dead flies give the people in the homeless but in need category a bad smell. And they are adding fuel to hidden feud, which occasionally comes out in the open.

It’s sad that a few pigs are creating problems for others who go to the meal. These non homeless people are exhibiting homeless stereotypes – that they act like predators, vultures, becoming the quintessential Noble Savage, throwing off the restraints of civilized society.

Things work better for the poor and the homeless when they consider not just their own needs, but the needs of others in the community. They need to interact with one another like the characters in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath rather than the greedy characters in Frank Norris’ McTeague, which was adapted for film, titled Greed.

In Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about the plight of the Okies to California during the depression, homeless people worked together to survive. They bonded together and cared for and looked out for one another, the way Bubba and Forrest did in Forrest Gump.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath

The characters in McTeague were like some individuals in the homeless and those in need community, hustling and grabbing for all the gusto they could get, at others’ expense. The people in the McTeague society were alienated from each other and usually at one another’s throats, thinking only about personal gain, greed. The characters’ greed leads to murder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McTeague

Unlike the piggies, there are people with housing who help the homeless in Bucks County, and the homeless have helped each other. In one instance, a homeless guy was having trouble getting his ID renewed, which he needed to get a certain job. Someone in the community helped him with this task, and the man now has two decent jobs.

Awhile back, a homeless woman found herself in cold standing water. She caught pneumonia. Another homeless person got her to the hospital. Once out of the hospital, he helped her get food and shelter.

After this, she ended up in another area where the homeless go. An unofficial homeless leader set her up at Camp Bob, an unofficial homeless camp where she stayed when it was too warm for Code Blue.

At a Code Blue, she got a terrible headache, which she said felt like an axe in her head. Someone took her to ER, where the hospital found  a brain tumor. A doctor there said she got there in the nick of time. Following the ER visit, she got radiation treatment and, although not completely cured, she survived. Her doctor said that people with her condition normally only life a few months. This happened about two years ago. She then started treatment for lung cancer, which is going well. She also has decent shelter.

“Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.” -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12″

Homeless Pit Bulls

Jeff Drinnan

As I was walking my dog in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a hiker walking towards me frantically warned me that a pit bull was running loose in the woods. As we entered a landing by the “river”, there it was. The pit bull! We approached the much feared dog, who didn’t attack us, but was playful. I admit I was a little scared.

I threw a stick for the pit bull, to my dog’s vexation. The three of us found a spot to hang out. The pit bull, although a puppy, was twice the size of my dog, who got nervous when she got on top of her. I told the pit bull to sit away from us, take a time out. The dog obeyed as if she were my own dog, and waited for my permission to come back out and visit with my dog.

Like pit bulls, the homeless have gotten a bad rap.

My experience with the pit bull in the Pine Barrens wasn’t the only time I found that all the talk about pit bulls being vicious dogs was unfounded.

“Don’t talk about us – talk with us” – slogan coined by the homeless-run organization Picture The Homeless.

Just as pit bulls are judged by a few bad dogs (the result of the owner/trainer), the government hacks in the WIC office near the Veterans Memorial in Levittown, PA where the homeless hang out judged all the homeless by a few isolated incidents by individuals who happened to be homeless (or perhaps they were from one of the numerous recovery houses).  The Bucks County officer from the building where WIC is housed told some homeless people at the memorial that people are afraid to come to the memorial with them there.

As was the case with the pit bull, people should find out for themselves the truth of an assertion.

For the past nearly three years, I’ve been getting to know the local homeless. Like pit bulls, they don’t bite. When I visited the Levittown public library, I recognized some homeless people I had seen at a local community meal. I got to know them there and at the nearby vets memorial. At the time, after having lost my job and being low on funds, I struggled to find enough to eat. One of the homeless people told me about other meals for the homeless and the free bus that takes them there. It was a Godsend!

I learned some of the homeless’ stories and engaged in intelligent conversation with them. On a few occasions, we discussed Shakespeare. I found that many of them worked, sometimes intermittently and sometimes full time. Some homeless folks have found regular jobs and have found a place to live.

Unlike the druggies, people become homeless for different reasons. One of them is simply job loss, sometimes a layoff or sometimes because of sickness.  During the Great Depression/Progressive era of the late 1920s and 30s, many working men became hobos after they couldn’t find work, which was a result of the bad economy ushered in by progressives such as Presidents Herbert Hoover and FDR, with his New Raw Deal. Likewise, recent progressives have fostered homelessness.

http://waynedupree.com/democrats-uncovered-how-fdrs-new-deal-hurt-the-middle-class-and-the-poor/

In an attempt to alert the public about the homeless in Bucks County, PA, The Advocates for The Homeless and Those in Need (AHTN) made a video, where actors talked about them rather than talking with the homeless. They tried to keep the homeless away from the shoot that day, but the homeless came anyway. The homeless were ignored; treated like mannequins!

Unlike AHTN, The Citizens Serving the Homeless on the other side of the Delaware River talked with real homeless people when they made their video. http://citizensservingthehomeless.org/theirstories.html

The truth about the homeless: http://citizensservingthehomeless.org/myths.html

“Don’t jump to conclusions – there may be a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.” – Proverbs 25:8