Screenshot 12/31/2014 @ 7AM MST (click on image to enlarge)
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Monthly Archives: December 2014
Bad pun of the day
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 39,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Laugh for the day, frigid weather, and more
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
Comment by “haydukelives1” — the cyberstalker who uses multiple screen names to follow me around on the Daily Camera website, and also tout his own blog which is devoted to me in an obsessed way — following a recent DC column by Steve Pomerance:
Max, do your “friends” know you are using their computer and ISP/IP address to post on the DC’s comment board with a fake account?
Have you told them about the details of your morbid criminal history yet or are you deceiving them about that too?
The day that this Froot Loop contacts any third party to harass them, is the same day I’ll be going to law enforcement to file a criminal complaint per CRS 18-3-602. I’ve recorded the IP addresses of comments sent to this blog (which were never published), presumably by the same Foot Loop, and the harassing comments themselves are also preserved as evidence. In addition, the Daily Camera can be compelled to disclose relevant info pertaining to this individual’s comments posted on their website. Having said all that, let me quickly add that this character is more COMICAL than threatening — so long as he confines his delusional focus to me, exclusively.
The current National Weather Service forecast is for more of the same. I knew we would all be paying for that Indian Summer we enjoyed earlier.
Not a word about keeping Boulder Shelter for the Homeless open during the day while this dangerous cold snap lasts — but, by golly, they do want your money. Makes me want to puke! I remember the time, a few years ago, when BSH hosted a string quartet at the shelter facility in a daytime fundraiser; homeless people were NOT welcome to attend.
Our fine dining critic, Mr. Anton Jackson, has this review of the local homeless people’s day center at 1120 1/2 Pine:
They serve great spaghetti at lunch, I hear. BYOB.
Interesting story here: 2014 may be first year ever with no below-zero temps in Anchorage from the Alaska Dispatch News. However, the article also states this:
The frigid year of 1957 had a record 75 below-zero days.
Happy New Year in 2015 to everyone!
Life-threatening weather conditions are here
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
Why do I have a slogan like the one above? It’s because I’ve seen the donations that you make to local nonprofits go for other uses than you generous folks intended. Blankets and comforters at the intake desk at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless are hoarded for the benefit of homeless people lucky enough to get in at night after playing the lottery for a bunk, and for those in the Transition Program. If you’re turned away after drawing a high number during evening intake, you may or may not get a blanket or comforter as you leave to seek shelter elsewhere. If you ask for one in the morning to take with you into the single-digit temps outside during the day, you’re almost certain to be refused and are instead told to come back at night between 5 and 7PM.
The same idiotic policy applies to “homeless disaster blankets” provided to BSH by the Red Cross. It’s NOT a Red Cross policy; it’s the bozos running the shelter doing this.
Really, people, the best thing you could do is to drive around during the daylight hours and offer your donation DIRECTLY to the homeless on the streets. I’m not sure Boulder Public Library would object if you showed up at the Main Branch to do a bit of charity, but you should ask them first. I’d recommend that you avoid any big crowd of homeless people, who tend to mob anyone giving away Free Stuff. Look instead for those who are alone, or in very small groups.
See the National Weather Service forecast.
Also see Resources for the homeless in Boulder, CO. I’ve attempted to post this link on the Daily Camera website, but it’s currently being reviewed by the moderator(s). Who knows the reason why? Maybe dead homeless people are more “newsworthy” than the living we could save from becoming human popsicles, or maybe the DC is just being petty because of my past criticisms of their clueless reportage in re homelessness.
As for me, I’ve found shelter at my usual hideout in Longmont, CO. Right now, I think I’ll mosey upstairs and make another pot of decaf coffee, and laugh some more at my cyberstalker, who has inadvertently revealed his workplace in his rant on the Daily Camera website.
Apparently, “Kevin” the DC cyberstalker thinks that my hosts are being victimized by Anton Jackson. I wish I had one percent of Damon Wayans’ comedic talent . . .
How NOT to become a Boulder Ph.D.
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
(Andy Cross, Denver Post file photo)
The first step is to start smoking dope on the streets in Denver, CO with one or more of your fellow slackers. Dusty Taylor and friend illustrate this strategy in the photo above.
Remain committed to getting stoned each and every day, and soon you’ll find your way to the neighboring city of Boulder and this facility:
You’ll feel right at home here, and no doubt recognize many faces from Denver. You’ll also have to learn how to guzzle rotgut vodka to be sociable, because smoking dope and getting pickled are l’ordre du jour among Boulder’s transient population.
Fear not! For you have a champion:
Boulder, CO’s do-gooders enable misery and death of the homeless (redux)
(Originally published on 6/16/2014)
By Max R. Weller
Isabel McDevitt, executive director of Bridge House
Read about the latest homeless death here in Boulder in the Daily Camera; a subsequent DC report identifies the man as 27-year-old Daniel Kitlitz. Quoting from the original article:
A homeless man estimated to be between 25 and 35 years old was found dead early Saturday a short distance from the Pearl Street Mall.
This marks the fifth homeless person to be found dead in Boulder since the beginning of April.
This is where Ms. McDevitt jumps in with her two cents:
According to homeless advocate Isabel McDevitt, executive director of Boulder’s Bridge House, the death of yet another homeless person is a reminder that a solution is needed to the city’s current lack of year-round sheltering and affordable housing.
“I think it’s shocking that in a community as progressive and with so many resources, that we literally have people dying on our streets,” she said. “At a minimum, we need to have more options for people who are living on the street and vulnerable. The solution isn’t just more shelter, though. I think we need to have a comprehensive, long-term strategy.”
“I would propose a housing continuum,” she added, “with many options for people outside of emergency shelter — permanent affordable housing, mental health and substance abuse treatment. So we need to be thinking beyond shelters, but we certainly need that, too, because the reality is, building housing takes a while and is very difficult.”
A couple of online comments stand out, and are copied below:
1) wildflowerseed: I am very sorry to hear that a fellow human being has lost his life. However, I do not feel personally responsible for it.
As someone who generally falls into the very, very progressive category, I find it “shocking” that Ms. McDevitt feels so free to chastise the community at large over this situation. I am politically pro substanc-abuse treatment and metal-health programs, etc. But I am against being patronized or guilt-tripped into taking on moral culpability for other people’s personal decisions.
It seems clear that the majority of these deaths have been due to substance abuse, perhaps coupled with the difficulties of life on the streets. Sad? Yes. Preventable? Probably. My fault? Um, no.
Pointing fingers is a pretty easy way to have one pointed back in your face. What if this community decided that our homeless populations’ high death rate is because we have inadequate or unrealistic management at our highly funded shelter?
If Ms. McDevitt would like the community to support her vision of a “housing continuum,” she may want to start by initiating some dialog with a community that is already fed up to our ears with the slovenly debauchery that has become the norm in so many of our beloved public spaces.
No one will ever solve their drinking or substance or housing or mental health problems by avoiding reality and personal responsibility. Quite frankly, I am not staying awake at night worried about folks who don’t even bother to worry about themselves. I don’t care if they live their lives differently than I do, but please don’t ask me to finance it or to adjust my expectations of how a city park should be used. I would rather see funding focused on people who are actually in the midst of a personal crisis that they are attempting to solve, but need some community support to do so.
If anything, our community has a responsibility to cease enabling substance abuse–in particular, alcoholism–throughout our public spaces, because (as Ms. McDevitt pointed out) “we literally have people dying on our streets.”
I give a lot of money and time to various charities. My funding is limited. If I have the choice between spending my money on the Red Cross, or on a group of guys who have decided that drumming and drinking are their lives’ calling, I am going with the one that actually saves thousands of innocent lives every year.
So please keep that in mind next time you speak to the Daily Camera, Ms. McDevitt.
2) such_a_good_day: Ms. McDevitt lives in a 4000 sq ft $1,300,000 house on top of Mt Sanitas…If she is so concerned for the homeless, she could house a few with her….what a hypocrite.
Here’s my take on the situation:
Any homeless adult who comes to Boulder, CO is fed for free several times a day; see the list of sites for yourself. In addition, almost all homeless people apply for and receive food stamps.
Emergency overnight shelter is available from October 15th through April 15th at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless or Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow (dates will vary according to weather conditions).
Free blankets and clothing are provided by Boulder County Cares, the street outreach of BSH from October 15th through April 15th.
In fact, just look through RESOURCES FOR THE HOMELESS IN BOULDER, CO — one of the Pages at the top of this website.
What does it all mean? It means that a homeless person in our fair city has all of his/her needs met, and then some, in terms of survival on the streets. Any disposable income that homeless individual may have, and everybody has something to spend, can be applied to cigarettes, booze, and dope. This leads to misery and death, as we’ve seen repeatedly.
It’s the law of unintended consequences in action: inappropriate compassion is killing the homeless in Boulder, CO.
When winter comes, why not hand out bus tickets to the transients who have no ties in this city to other cities in a warmer clime? Ain’t nobody freezing to death in Miami, along the Gulf Coast, or in Arizona.
All you have to do is ask any transient you see here, “Why did you come to Boulder, CO?” The answer is because this is the place for transients to gather, from all over America.
Isabel McDevitt looks at the homeless people who come through the doors of her so-called day center, and she sees two things:
1) An opportunity for more Big Money projects to benefit only a select few of the homeless; and
2) The chance to cover herself in more glory as the Daily Camera’s go-to source in re homelessness (granted, the DC had to find a new “homeless advocate” after Jim Budd was convicted of rape and sent away for 25+ years).
The woman makes me physically ill, and so do all of the other do-gooders like her.
What can be done to improve the lives of homeless people who live in Boulder County, CO year-round? Two things occur to me:
1) Require valid photo ID showing a Boulder County address from anyone seeking homeless sheltering/services; and
2) Immediately begin construction of “tiny homes” to accommodate Boulder County’s own homeless single adults. See just one report on this growing movement in truly progressive cities across the country, Homeless People Say These 99-Square-Foot Tiny Houses Are ‘Life Changing’ from Reuters via the Huffington Post.
In other words — let’s take care of our own ASAP. The fact is, with the millions and millions of $$$ being squandered by the local nonprofits (consider the 31-unit, $6 million Housing First project at 1175 Lee Hill), every single homeless adult in Boulder could already have been housed.
Max’s Journal 12/27/2014
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
Great letter-to-the-editor of the Daily Camera by LaDonna Shea, Boycott drugs. Copied below in its entirety:
In his letter to Open Forum (“Upheaval in Mexico, Dec. 19), Jack McNaughton advocates for a tourist boycott of Mexico. I certainly agree that we should support and encourage Mexico in its fight against the cartels, and wholeheartedly agree that the primary source of the cartels’ profit and power comes from Americans purchasing illegal drugs.
However, it will be counterproductive to boycott one of Mexico’s major lawful industries. We should encourage and support the Mexican industries that provide economic opportunities for the Mexican people that are not dependent upon drugs, and which also provide a benefit for us, such as tourism and agricultural production.
I visit Mexico at least once, often twice, every year, and find the price, quality of service, and overall experience outstanding. The boycott that will really be of benefit is a boycott of illegal drugs.
LaDonna Shea
Boulder
It’s easy to forget that there really are some intelligent Boulderites, unlike the others we’ll call Boulderrhoids. Unfortunately, this latter bunch predominates in the local power structure, from PLAN-Boulder County on down.
If you’re addicted to any substance, it’s the very best course to conduct a personal boycott of that which has you by the throat. And yes, you can walk into any homeless shelter and meet as many folks under the influence of marijuana as alcohol, most often in combination, but a few who are exclusively cannabis addicts.
A few months ago, I wrote about a homeless guy I called Dallas Transient (DT for short). This character was always into some sort of scam, ripping off other homeless people. Well, DT has been gone away from Boulder, CO for quite some time now, after claiming to be in Bridge House’s culinary arts program. (There’s already an Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Boulder, CO — which the bums apparently can’t get into — so executive director Isabel McDevitt conned donors into funding her own faux school to teach homeless clients how to use a can opener, slice fresh veggies, and engage in other kitchen work requiring minimal skill levels). Anyway, DT borrowed $100 from a fellow “student” at the McDevitt enterprise, then promptly got on a Greyhound bus headed back to Dallas, TX. This was no surprise to me, but seemed to come as a shock to many of DT’s homeless acquaintances here in Boulder, CO. Really now, would you eat food prepared by sterling “chefs” like Dallas Transient? Goodness knows what might be in it . . . Yet another example of a worthless PROGRAM run by a local nonprofit. McDevitt, you’ll recall, also brought us “Ready to Work” — which pays the bums $8 an hour, 20 hours per week, to pick up trash and do some minor landscaping around Boulder under the supervision of city workers.
“WTF? People donate to this cause? Only in Boulder!”
Yes, my dear ape, they do. Some go so far as to become obsessed with the Homeless Philosopher, in one sad case starting a website devoted (in a twisted way) to me. I urge my friends who believe in the efficacy of prayer to put in a word for these poor souls, since my agnostic view disqualifies me from doing so in a sincere manner.
Time for a nap, or a few games of chess online.
Want to know who is keeping Boulder, CO a destination city for the homeless?
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
Don’t buy a used car from this woman, and DON’T DONATE TO BRIDGE HOUSE.
The homeless get everything for free here, and nobody requires them to do anything in return. I’ve not seen anything like these pampered bums anywhere else in America!
The transients and Transition Program residents who stay overnight at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless aren’t even expected to sweep and mop the floors there — the paid “custodial staff” is supposed to do so. I discovered that fact this morning, when I questioned a BSH staff member about why the VERY SAME VOMIT was on the floor of a handicapped stall in the men’s restroom as was there yesterday morning.
They’re LAZY DOGS, indeed!
To her credit, Isabel McDevitt hasn’t sponsored a violent rapist like Jim Budd, as her predecessor did:
However, Ms. McDevitt is still relatively new to homelessness in Boulder — give her time, and I’m sure she’ll commit an outrage just as Joy Eckstine Redstone did.
I continue to see new homeless faces almost every morning as I’m waiting outside of Boulder Shelter for the Homeless prior to its opening at 6AM, and they all want to know how to get to Bridge House and every other Free Giveaway venue in our fair city. Most are either permanent dependents on the social services system already or in a big hurry to become such pathetic creatures.
Isabel McDevitt will be more than happy to assist them . . .
BTW, she earns $70,000 per year as executive director of the “nonprofit” Bridge House.
New post coming later tonight
DONATING TO A NONPROFIT IS NOT THE SAME AS HELPING THE HOMELESS!
By Max R. Weller
As I posted on Thursday 12/18/2014, CU’s Norlin Library is closed until Monday 1/5/2015. I haven’t made it to a branch of Boulder Public Library until this morning, because I’ve been on the corner of N. Broadway & U.S. 36 and hanging out in the neighborhood all day to keep the pickled idjits away. It’s paid off, too: I’ve made $726 from 12/1 through Christmas Day (missing only one day in that stretch), and I added $360 of it to my coffee jar savings. About 2 hours a day, which averages out to just over $15/hour.
I’ll be posting tonight from my secret hideout in Longmont, CO because the weather forecast was way off — predicting 3″ of snow instead of the 10″ Boulder received. Whether it was the cold and damp or the hike out from my campsite this morning, my bad hip is screaming in protest against any exertion.
Thanks for your Christmas wishes!
homelessphilosopher 