"Ald. James Cappleman (46th) issued a
statement Sunday in essence saying I had it all wrong and blaming the
Salvation Army for creating a misunderstanding about his intentions
toward its feeding program for the homeless.
This would be the same alderman who wants us to
believe he had no idea the Indiana farmer he enlisted to trap pigeons
was going to take them back to shoot them.
This would also be the same alderman who insists
his only interest in shutting down the city’s last men-only cubicle
hotels is out of concern for the welfare of those who live there.
And this is the same alderman who waited more
than 36 hours after I informed him Friday exactly what I was writing
before saying it wasn’t true — an assertion he never made in two
previous emails to me — until after the story blew up in his face."
You can read the full article here.
Our Alderman has been distracted by this long enough.
ReplyDeleteI would be fine if he stopped responding to Mr. Brown altogether, and focused on our Ward at this point.
Other groups have intersts here in 46 other than our homeless. Things like crime, economic development, general quality of life, etc.
The Alderman has and will continue to make decisions I don't agree with...
I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me what is wrong with taking rats with wings out to the country and using them for target practice. The Illinois DNR lists them as a nuisance, they are fair game.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of things to not like about the alderman, but one of those things isn't his support of individuals exercising their legal rights to obtain rats with wings and dispose of them.
Salvation Army, are you distributing food on the streets in front of your headquarters? On Michigan Avenue? We all no there are homeless downtown. In Oak Park in front of Mark Brown's home? Simple yes or no will be fine..thanks.
ReplyDeleteI wish people would stop being so shortsighted by saying there are bigger issues like crime. The chronic homeless problem is linked to crime. Many homeless are addicts who buy drugs from the gangs, vandalize and burglarize. Of course this isn’t all of them, but I doubt the alderman is worried about those harmless individuals.
ReplyDeleteThe alderman is trying a bottom up approach to solving the ward's problems as a whole.
Oh, I forgot to mention the homeless scare away businesses. I know a couple small business owners that are afraid to invest or expand here because of the CRAZY amount of loitering. They go to other neighborhoods near Uptown instead. I mean with all our empty storefronts, it’s clear as day more needs to be done and fast.
ReplyDeleteOnly in Uptown is the American Dream of owning a home and living in a safe, vibrant community a bad, evil thing. This place is Whack! Where the hell did I move?!
Why are the homeless allowed to stay under the viaducts? Why does the Salvation Army insist on perpetuating this behavior by delivering the food to them? Is it too much to ask that they actually go to a shelter? At least then maybe they could get some help that would get them into a home and on their feet, instead of blocking the sidewalk. What are they going to do when that viaduct is finally repaired?
ReplyDeleteIt is in Mark Brown's interest to grow this into an enormous controversy. I wholeheartedly approve of Cappleman's decisions regarding the Salvation Army, the pigeons, and shutting down those sh*tholes Mark Brown politely refers to as "cubicle hotels."
ReplyDeleteIt would be hilarious if it wasn't so hypocritical, opportunistic, and yellow.
Why doesn't Mark Brown invite all the homeless to come live in Oak Park since its been named one of the ten best place to live.
ReplyDeleteAnd he should write about the negative outlook the Salvation Army has on the gay community, being Uptown has a great number of gay residents.
If he allowed all the pigeons to be taken and shot in the street that would make me happy. They are disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Mark Brown believes strongly in his cause, but he needs to spend a week in Uptown and actually experience the problems here - but he's got his head in the clouds and a home in Oak Park. At this point, he's on a witch hunt and its probably best for Cap to ignore him.
ReplyDeleteNext thing you know, Lakeview Laura will chime in with her hypocritical slant on this without looking at all the facts.
Sigh...
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteA week? You think it only takes a week to understand Uptown's problems? You think it only takes a week to get to know the people that live here, to hear people's stories, to understand where they come from and why they do what they do?
It takes years to become a part of a neighborhood, to become part of the people and culture. Problems run way way deeper than a week long visit can reveal.
Yes Eric - I don't think it would take an intelligent human being much longer than a week to know there is a real fundamental problem with the homeless situation in Uptown. We have people sleeping in the parks, under the LSD drive viaduct, aggressive panhandling, sleeping the store fronts along the 4600 block of Broadway, etc...
ReplyDeleteIts obvious the current handling of the plight of the homeless is not working. Cappleman is trying to use practices that will actually help the homeless get back on their feet and find more permanent shelter.
Would you rather we all go out and give them a cup of soup, a hug and sing kumbaya?
And by the way Eric, you ask:
ReplyDelete"...to get to know the people that live here, to hear people's stories, to understand where they come from and why they do what they do? It takes years to become a part of a neighborhood, to become part of the people and culture."
Cappleman and his staff have done this and more.
The approach of the previous Alderman was to make Uptown a cozy dumping ground. 20 years of social services with apparently no other goal than to get people from one day to the next. Alderman Cappleman ran to deal with our ward's issues. Let him work - then judge. I've lived in Uptown 14 years now and welcome any positive solutions!
ReplyDeleteI think the attitude most Uptowners (at least the ones that comment here) display is disgusting and privileged.
ReplyDeleteMany act or outright say they do not care about the indigent in our community, they care only that they must see them and walk around them as they return to their privileged lives.
It's disheartening and maddening to see so many "liberals" doing nothing to help the downtrodden. Pushing them out or into another hood won't fix anything, but it will allow you to live without seeing it, and thus, without feeling guilty about it.
Shame on you.
I don't think anyone suggests pushing the problem elsewhere. Just feeding people isn't enough. Alderman Cappleman is trying to help past just immediate needs. What's wrong with that? Keeping the status quo has been the problem!
ReplyDeleteLong live Cappleman! He's doing a fine job. Slowly but surely, he's making Uptown better. Uptown can be so much more. I see too many stores closing because of the crap that needs to be cleaned up in this area. Brown is a clown.
ReplyDeleteChiTownPhilly - Are you suggesting that keeping people homeless is the best solution to dealing with the homeless in our community? I assume that you disagree with the City of Chicago's goal of ending homelessness by providing housing, job training and social services to end the cycle of homelessness.
ReplyDeleteUptown currently has one of the largest concentrations of soup kitchens and homeless shelters in the city. Even if the Salvation Army was to discontinue or move their mobile food pantry, there would be several other options for both hot meals and shelter for the people being served.
Is it wrong to suggest an alternate approach to helping those end of the cycle of homelessness? Unless you consider being homeless a has positive effect on someone's life. It is apparent to those who live in the Uptown community that the current programs are not helping to end this cycle. I think it is noble that the Alderman would suggest trying new approaches to helping the homeless.
Jeff said:
ReplyDelete"Yes Eric - I don't think it would take an intelligent human being much longer than a week to know there is a real fundamental problem with the homeless situation in Uptown."
Yes, Mark already knows that, so that's not the issue. The issue is that it takes YEARS to reveal complex problems and get to know people on a personal level. You say Cappalman has done that. I'm not sure I believe it, but then it becomes a fruitless "he said/she said" so I'll just give him the benefit of the doubt on that. But that doesn't mean his ideas are good.
Jeff said:
"Its obvious the current handling of the plight of the homeless is not working. Cappleman is trying to use practices that will actually help the homeless get back on their feet and find more permanent shelter."
Such as?
Jeff said:
"Would you rather we all go out and give them a cup of soup, a hug and sing kumbaya?"
Yes, ALONG WITH keeping the Wilson's Men's hotel open until he puts some of his supposed "practices" in place and they actually can move from one house to another, instead of kicking them out as "motivation" to get a better house.
I'm for feeding them every day because feeding people is kind, and kindness is not wrong.
I'm for providing shelter for them until they can get on their feet. I'm for teaching classes on parenting, marriage, money management, computer skills, work ethic, etc to help them get a place to raise their families.
And don't forget, not everybody that comes to the Soup Bus is homeless. Many many low income people are able to keep their homes and eat and make it through the month because of help like this. So this doesn't just affect the homeless. It hits low income people as well.
Uptown Turboman said:
ReplyDelete"Why are the homeless allowed to stay under the viaducts? Why does the Salvation Army insist on perpetuating this behavior by delivering the food to them? Is it too much to ask that they actually go to a shelter?"
You are aware that the homeless shelters are overflowing, and many homeless are turned away EVERY NIGHT? That the places that Cappelman want's to close, such as the Wilson Mens Hotel, are full? That if he is successful in closing it, there will be that many more people on the street?
And it's important to point out that not all the people who go to soup kitchens and food trucks and pantries are homeless, there are many many low income people struggling to barely make it from paycheck to paycheck, and these meals help them alot. Between the food programs and thrift/free stores, they are able to just survive. Do you also want to hurt the hardworking low-income people by taking away the few things that help them keep their head above water?
Cub Reporter said: "I think it is noble that the Alderman would suggest trying new approaches to helping the homeless."
ReplyDeleteI think it would be fabulous if Ald. Cappleman did suggest new approaches for helping the poor, because I agree with him that the old ones are not working very well. However, I have not him articulate any such plan. To my knowledge, he only talks about curbing services to the poor. That does not, in and of itself, qualify as "a new approach to help the homeless." He is squelching the current efforts and not providing leadership in a new direction.
I'm not going to criticize him for not coming up with a better model for social services--that's a tall order, and I don't expect him to do that. I DO, however, criticize him for shutting down the old model, replacing it with nothing, and then speaking as if he's improving things for the poor.
I would be thrilled to be corrected on this. If you have heard Ald. Cappleman articulate a plan--one more credible than the idea that hunger and poverty can be alleviated by cutting back social services where the poor live and explaining that they can still go somewhere else for what they need--please let me know. That's the only one I've read about so far, though.
I fully support our Alderman Cappleman. He is doing a great job. It is time for change!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for helping the less advantaged but to the people who complain about who the poor and hungry (hungry? Really? Is that why they always refuse a sandwich and ask for cash? With so many soup kitchens there's no hungry)
ReplyDeleteTo the people who complain here about the less advantaged: who's going to protect me and my kids from bullets? I can live with aggressive panhandling and mentally unstable people insulting me but I draw the line when bullets are flying in my direction. And the bullets are flying because there a lot of cash that the poor have to feed their drug habit. The way you stand up with your kindness to the poor, will you stand up for me??
I do have to say this is whole controversy is providing me with a great deal of amusement.
ReplyDeleteOn Wednesday at 5pm the counter counter revolutionaries are leading a march out side Cappleman's office on Broadway. Did Shiller's sidekick George Adkins(?) leave his baseball bat? If not I can bring some over to defend Cappleman's staff from the leftist horde. Better yet just station a cop inside the office. I suspect the march will be peaceful. However, Mindy might get out of hand so it's best to be prepared.
I guess turnabout is fair play. Shiller had to put up with marches against her and now Cappleman has to put up with it. The best part is the young woman organizing the march is an actual "Marxist".
Personally I prefer Grouch Mark to Karl Mark. Even Zeppo was better than Karl, but that's just me.
More to come. I need to head to Dominicks for some wine.
Basically what Cappleman, a man who founded a Homeless shelter and weekly goes out at nite with social service agencies and cops to intervene with the homeless, is trying to do is force the chronic homeless to seek professional help.
ReplyDeleteThat's it. As for the SA truck it's likely largely feeding the non homeless poor who live nearby. Now some of those folks clearly need the help and others are likely just saving their limited money and spending it on ciggies, alcohol and drugs. As the Irish say "C'est la vie".
Perhaps other even more pretentious Irish would say that those ciggies, alcohol and drugs are the "sine qua non" for those folks to get up in the morning. To which some sober Irish guy might say "STFU, with that Latin shit. The French was bad and that's worse."
The real issue is organizations and people are generally resistant to change whether it be the World Champion Chicago Cubs, the US Military, the Chicago Public Schools, the Police Department, Holy Mother the Catholic Church, the GOP, JPUSA, or God forbid the Salvation Army.
It's even worse when the organization is religious based. The Salvation Army is a religion that runs social service programs and agencies. They're an offshoot of Methodism which put on a quasi-military structure to
organize themselves.
They do much good work, but unwike my gramir and speliin they aint' perfecto.
Trying to get a religion to change it's operating methods is like invading Afghanistan and expecting a good outcome. It's a flight of fancy and hope over sanity.
More to come.
Uptown Neighbor, I share your desire for a safer neighborhood. I have lived here since 1992. I was a single woman in my early 20’s then, and I’m a married family woman with three young children now. Believe me, I want a safer neighborhood for my kids and all my neighbors. That includes you and the poor both. I do NOT buy into the idea that working toward a healthier neighborhood is some kind of zero sum game, whereby “standing up” for the poor means I am somehow failing to “stand up” for you, or for myself and my family. I just don’t believe in pitting my well-being and the well-being of my kids against the well-being of other people and their kids. I will use my resources to help eradicate problems from this neighborhood, but I will not use my resources to eradicate people from this neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI can see God's Messenger and Prophet for Uptown, Jon Trott, is having fun with this over at the Sun Times and other spots.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy it Jon. Better yet start looking for a candidate to run against Cappleman in 2015. I'll have to station myself outside your candidate's "victory party" with my camera. That way I can film you and your dwindling band/ "intentional family" walk home dejected and shocked that once again Jesus abandoned your hopes for staying relevant in Uptown. That's assuming JPUSA hasn't imploded by then. Will the last intentional family member left at Friendly Tower please turn out the lights?
Now I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I don't believe Mark Brown is writing these stories as a "hit job" on Cappleman. Some folks believe that. I think it's simply an issue that motivates Brown. Now he's been a wee bit wacky in his writing on this and dare I say just a teeny bit obsessive, but I don't believe it's a "hit job".
That doesn't mean Cappleman's opponents haven't found an open conduit in Brown. They have. That's how the game is played. I'd do the same thing if I were them.
However, this ain't even round one in a 15 round fight. I expect Cappleman will win in a TKO around round 5 when his opponents can't find a wealthy and credible candidate to run against him. Even if such a candidate was found Cappleman would still be a prohibitive favorite.
Now there's no such thing as a sure thing in politics, but Romney was more likely to defeat my fellow White Sox fan Barack O'Bama than Cappleman is to lose in 2015.
More to come
Cappleman has a number of things going for him.
ReplyDelete1. Me. I'm a sneaky, conniving junk yard dog that can drive sane people crazy if I choose to. Considering many of Cappleman's opponents are barely sane it will be a short drive anyway.
2. Incumbency and basic decency. Cappleman has both.
3. The people most likely to vote are going to be thrilled with the closing of such upstanding community institutions as the Hotel Chateau and the Wilson Club. Go to north Lakeview and see how many people living nearby the Chateau will mourn it being renovated. Not many.
4. I have video of Rahm Emmanuel and certain Daley extended family members at the Farm at the Zoo a few St. Paddy's days ago. Let me just say all they were wearing were those cheesy plastic green hats and also that the sheep appeared agitated and scared. Well most of the sheep that is.
I know some wags have nicknamed Rahm "Tiny Dancer" because of his ballet dancing past, but from what I have on tape he still has some amazing baaaaaghlet moves.
5. No one will outwork Cappleman. Period.
6. Cappleman won in 2011 by ELEVEN percentage points with the entire Shillerista machine and a good portion of the worst parts of the old Democratic machine lined up against him. He was outspent significantly and he still won handily.
Think about that. Ed "Council Wars" Burke and Shiller embraced in a grotesque embrace of mutual convenience and they still lost.
In 2015 the electorate will contain fewer Shillerista voters as even the head rat, Marc Kaplan, is reported to have left Uptown for Rogers Park. I believe that when Kaplan's moving truck departed Uptown an angel got its wings.
As I've been typing this and drinking, oh yeah baby--aL key hole--I've had Youtube playing in the background.
A thought came to me. Perhaps put there by a messenger from the Almighty. Perhaps a hallucination brought on by my growing decrepitude and dehydration...I just don't know.
That thought involved Robert Frost.
Which led me to think what might have happened if the forces of Uptown Past, JPUSA and their "ilk",* had worked with Cappleman to make a better ward.
Alas, we shall never know, because they chose a different path. A path which will ultimately and quickly lead to their DOOM.
*Someone used the word "ILK" against me in 2007. It's a wonderful word ain't it? I feel dirty just saying it. It's so viscerally nasty and conveys so much in three little letters.
Goodnight lady and gents I need to rehydrate myself and read some pretentious poetry.
Print media is not only dying, it's on its deathbed with somebody with a watch waiting to call the time of death.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of inflammatory, tabloid-style journalism is a last ditch effort to sell some papers.
I will not even read a free copy of the Suntimes, nor the Tribune, and often scoff at the "Redeye" and only rarely read (some of) the garbage contained within.
It would be poetic justice if the author ended up being one of those people who struggle with food stamps, etc.
Uptown Neighbor said:
ReplyDelete"To the people who complain here about the less advantaged: who's going to protect me and my kids from bullets?...And the bullets are flying because there a lot of cash that the poor have to feed their drug habit."
Please don't confuse the poor, homeless, less advantaged, whatever, with gang bangers. None of the folks at the viaduct are gang bangers, and the clients at the Salvation Army truck are most likely not gang bangers.
This is not to say that some gang members aren't poor, but don't lump them all together.
James Cappleman was outspent by who? There were so many candidates in that race and Shiller endorsed noone. So what Shiller machine? Funny you should mention there are fewer "shilleristas" around. Is that the goal of the alderman? To get rid of people thet are likely to vote against him? Hmmmm, interesting. "The people most likely to vote"...what does that mean?
ReplyDeleteSome perspective here....homelessness is kind of like a physical illness in that there are always going to be people experiencing some form of it. Once one person becomes healthy or cured of their illness/homelessness, there is going to be another person becoming ill/homeless. Humankind is not going to end homelessness any more than we are going to end all illnesses. We are not going to be able to close down homeless shelters/homeless service providers any more than we are going to be able to do away with hospitals or cinics or doctors. And just because people continue to get sick doesn't mean doctors and nurses and hospitals aren't doing tremendous work; same as just because there continues to be homeless people doesn't mean social service providers aren't doing tremendous work. There will always be people experiencing homelessness, the best society can do is improve how well we manage it. Driving away groups like the Salvation Army is not going to make the problem go away. And shutting down places like the Wilson Men's club is only going to increase the problem.
ReplyDeleteToni,
ReplyDeletePhelan outspent Cappleman by a significant amount of money. Look it up if you choose to...or not. I'm not going to do it for you.
Shiller clearly supported Phelan. Or did Marc Kaplan, JPUSA and the rest of her hardcore supporters just decide on their own to support Phelan?
It was clear at the forum Shiller moderated that she loathed Cappleman. I don't particularly think she liked Phelan. She just hated the Capplemaniac more.
"The people most likely to vote" are simply on average more likely to have lived in the ward longer and own property. Those folks are more likely to be Cappleman supporters.
Property owners and/or long time residents are more likely to vote. Take a look at voting patterns throughout the city if you want to.
Which black wards have the highest level of voting participation? The largely middle class wards on the south side dominated by long term residents. Same goes for various white wards.
Now the 19th ward which has a large white and significant black population shows high voting turnout from both groups. Why? Relatively few renters and many long time residents/property owners.
As for Cappleman cleaning up the SRO's relatively few votes came out of them and whether they are here or not in 2015 he's still likely to win. He won last time even with Kaplan acting as a plinth for the dwindling number of Shillerista voters. He and his supporters were working the SRO's and various subsidized buildings like a teenage male working his date at 2am on prom night.
Why is Cappleman cleaning up the problem buildings? I heard it's because he prejudiced against cockroaches, chicken wire, bedbugs, crime and fire traps. He just hates them.
Perhaps that's a gay thing. I even heard he hates gays too and is working to make the 46th Ward entirely straight. Except for a few gay guys to do the decorating and lesbians to handle the plumbing and landscaping issues. Oh he may want to keep a few lesbians around to run his next campaign. They proved they could run a campaign better than straight males last time didn't they.
Really, would I lie?
Maybe he even wants to run the pasty Irish out of the ward, but then what would happen to the liquor business?
I mean if it's on the internet or someone says it then it must be true.
I even heard Cappleman is leaving Richard because Fox News is about to report that he knocked up the Octomom and 3 of her children are actually little Capplemaniacs.
He was also caught on tape naked with Lindsay Lohan giving her a foot massage post coitus.
Also that whole Catholic monk thing. Big lie. He's actually one of a handful of Zorastrians in America and as most of us know worship for Zorastrians revolves around sacrificing pigeons to their main deity Ahura Mazda.
True! Cross my heart and hope to see JPUSA implode.
Thppppt!
Target took a huge decline in sales after they did away with the Salvation Army Christmas bell ringer.
ReplyDeleteWell said IRishPirate!
ReplyDeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteEXCELLENT POINTS!! Thank you. :-)
I'm still waiting on Mark Brown to invite the homeless to Oak Park since its one of the most desirable neighborhoods. I guess it wouldn't make it the most desirable if they had them there along with relocating the Chateau and Men's Hotel there.
ReplyDeletePlus all these complaining liberals, open your doors already and let them stay with you if you're so concerned for them living in the streets. Wait a minute they've been on the streets for years and none of you have taken anyone into your household but now you want to complain about the alderman trying to find better ways to help them stay off the streets. Get real and take another sip of your hot coffee inside your warm cozy home while they are still out there under the viaduct shooting up crack as you complain.
@Americanlt
ReplyDeleteHow is that even relevant to this conversation. Are they selling something under that viaduct that is going to take a huge hit if the truck no longer serves food there??? The only commerce I can even image going on there is the non-taxable kind...
It's relevant because a good percentage of these homeless folks are using drugs, which means they keep the drug dealers in business, that results in the continuing gang violence over drug turf. And don't tell me that the aren't on drugs because I can 100% prove it.
ReplyDeleteSo why not let the alderman do his job and try to get them off the streets and have them place somewhere else to rid this neighborhood of the violence that comes from catering to them on the streets and those deplorable SRO.
The law is the law and these folks have no right to claim residence anywhere they wish to set up camp. Plus being homeless doesn't exclude you from being arrested for buying drugs.
You want to help so bad, take action and get them off the street. Like I said open your own doors and stop bitching already. The alderman is doing a great job in trying new approaches to help them get off the streets and in helping reduce the crime that comes from drug selling.
I didn't even like the alderman in the beginning. I now see he has good intentions for everyone in helping Uptown become a better neighborhood. Perhaps one day Uptown will be like Oak Park , then Cappleman and Brown can sip coffee together discussing their vibrant neighborhoods.
@Uptown appalled
ReplyDeleteWord. Preach!!
It's actually becoming funny reading their post. It's all a fake, narcissistic circle jerk.
I bet I’ve donated more money to charity and have contributed more time volunteering than most of them combined, even in my relatively short life.
I think that’s why I have the tough love approach too, like the Alderman. Once you really start learning about these people and experience what they experience, you don’t continue with the status quo of “you’re poor, you’ll always be, sorry”. You say time for a change. It’s human nature to remain complacent if you don’t know any better . It’s others that can help them see there’s a better way.
For all you status quo believers out there: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat forever.
@Brandon
ReplyDeleteMy fault. I thought your comment was for my post.
Let's be honest....no one wants any of this stuff in their backyards. No one. It simply needs to be cleaned up. If you want this to be a more vibrant community, you need to get rid of some things. Shoddy homes (i.e. Wilson's mens club) need to be removed. Cappleman knows what he's doing. The status quo wasn't/isn't working.
ReplyDeleteTwo Brown V Cappleman related links.
ReplyDeleteFirst, WGN talk radio host interviews Brown. It's more than an interview. Basically she eviscerates Brown and he hems and haws. I'd like to make one point to Mark Brown. Ok actually two points.
First, I'm smarter and better looking than you Mark. Like way. I also have more hair on my back than you do on your head and I groom it better.
Second, Brown downplays some of the problems homeless folks sometimes cause. Now I've met Mark Brown. He's well over 6 feet tall and probably 230 pounds or more. The talk show host, Turi Ryder, is female and I'm guessing not quite as large or bald as Brown.
Brown's experience as a large ugly man is going to be very different than a small woman's experience. I am a large ugly man and I know this. While I'm not as ugly as Brown I am larger both in terms of body size, IQ and possibly body odor.
Oh well on to the second Brown V Cappleman link.
Former Uptown resident and Chicago Now columnist, the Woodlawn Wonder, defends Cappleman. She admits that she considers Cappleman a friend, but she also does a better job defending Cappleman than many current Uptown residents, including me, have done.
She also speaks to the need to for the social safety net as she is currently unemployed. Here's her twitter page also. It seems my good buddy and Chicago's leading troll found the link to her story before I did. I just hope with his busy finance job on Lasalle Street he can keep up his volume of comments on the Sun Times site. Like my first sexual experience, well at least my first sexual experience where I wasn't alone and in the dark, what he lacks in refinement he makes up for in enthusiasm and aggression. Thank you, Maura Maloney* wherever you are.
*The name was changed to protect the not so innocent.
Uptown Appalled, I think your litmus test for compassion is flawed. I’ve invited several people too poor to afford a place to live to live in my home with me. In the last 20 years, six of them have accepted the invitation, and stayed with me for periods of time ranging from one month to one year. Does that give me boasting rights, or prove that I’m somehow more compassionate than my neighbors who support the poor through private or government services? Of course not! (Though I confess I’m looking forward to hearing from all those who’ve said, “Invite homeless people into your home and THEN I’ll listen to you!” I expect they will install me as their personal guru now, hanging on my every word and hailing me as being even more “noble” and “ballsy” than our alderman. That will be fun, and good for my ego.)
ReplyDeleteBut seriously: it’s very silly to argue that people who support government aid and social or religious services to the poor lack compassion because they may not have personally fed or housed the poor. It’s tantamount to my saying that if you were really so concerned about the drug wars in Uptown, you’d put your money where your mouth is and join the narcotics squad, or adopt some at-risk kids. Is that line of reasoning persuasive to you? It shouldn’t be. You’re allowed to say you’re concerned about drugs without people popping out of the woodwork to demand you prove it in some dramatic fashion, and others ought to be allowed to say they’re concerned about the poor in Uptown without you scoffing at them because they haven’t jumped through your hoops.
@IrishPirate: tl:dr
ReplyDelete@Uptown Neighbor: thanks for today's daily dose of ignorance.
Why is there poverty? Who benefits from removing the homeless? When are we going to talk about the actual problem?
ReplyDelete@ChiTownPhilly: ts:dr
ReplyDeleteOMG Shiller did not support Molly if anybody got JPUSA to support Molly it was.... never mind.
ReplyDeleteAnyway... after all this it was clearly a political setup against the alderman. We need to get the crazy people to see things the alderman's way. He is right. I should have seen this coming.
@Susan
ReplyDeleteOh my dear Susn, just like you whose had the experience of being the homeless savior, I do have the experience of locking up many of the drug dealers and users of our lovely Uptown neighborhood, which include many the homeless you have so much compassion for.
It's easy to turn the other way and not acknowledge that many of the homeless are part of the continuing drug selling.
You guys sound ridiculous trying to defend people who wish to live under viaducts or in deplorable conditions such as the Wilson Men's Hotel, instead of letting the alderman figuring better ways to keep these folks off the streets or such bad living conditions. You guys just attack without truly knowing his intentions or plans. Go straight to the source and go ask him rather than making a quick judgement based on some well of news writer, who doesn't have all his facts together. Have we not learned that the media doesn't always give the full facts.
You can respond if you want. I'm done with this topic and will continue to do my part in cleaning up Uptown of anyone selling or using drugs, whether homeless or not.
All I can say is Cappleman you're doing a great job as our alderman. FIN!
If the homeless people were selling drugs, they'd have money to get a place to stay, wouldn't they?
ReplyDeleteWhen will you people learn that it's the gang bangers that are the main drug sellers, not the homeless?
Do some homeless people sell drugs? Probably.
So do rich white suburban kids.
But the shootings in Uptown are mostly gang related, and they often occur over turf wars, because one gang doesn't want an opposing gang encroaching on their territory and taking away from their business of selling drugs.
So, stop lumping them all together.
You people act as if you have a right to be insulated from the less fortunate, because they make you feel uncomfortable. Where did you get this idea from, anyway?
"You people"?
ReplyDeleteDidn't you learn anything from Ann Romney?
The minute you address someone as "you people", you lose
Condescending and rude, dontcha know
Eric Clayton FAIL
If you want to see low-income drug dealing stand outside Lawrence House or the Lorali some day
watch all the hand to hand drug exchanges go on involving residents
then come back and tell us how only street gangs sell drugs in Uptown
and how they're really wealthy after that
Uptown SuperHero! you have the internet so obviously you can use it! why dont you try to look up the head quarters for The Salvation Army, i'll give you a little help they are not on Michigan ave any more been a few years. They are in the city of Des Plaines.
ReplyDeleteBoohoo,
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, I shouldn't have said "You People" and I sincerely apologize.
I get angry that homelessness and drug use and dealing are always/often lumped together. But, I shouldn't let my anger govern my words and actions.
And just to clarify, I said "homeless" not "low income".
But again, I do apologize. I don't want to be rude, and I was. Rudeness will never help anything or anybody.
Mr. Myers, I suggest you may also want to use to internet to understand punctuation. A question mark works as an indication that it is the end of a sentence. A comma, semi-colon,and colon, marks that the sentence is continuing. Thus, I had three statement/questions. Not a singular one. In addition, if you go to www.dictionary.com you may want to look up the word rhetorical. You are welcome for your English lesson.
ReplyDeleteMark Brown is riding his one-trick pony again today in the suntimes:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.suntimes.com/19042742-761/brown-homeless-evicted-from-uptown-viaduct.html
He idiotically portrays the Wilson viaduct as a "relatively safe" environment for the homeless people who camp out there.
I passed through the Wilson viaduct on foot on Sunday March 10 at 4:30pm. It was pouring rain, and the viaduct and surrounding area were starting to flood. It was NOT safe for the homeless people who were wedged into the ledges under the viaduct.
I called 911 to report the dangerous conditions there. I'm only sorry to learn from Brown's latest nonsense that it took so long for the City to respond.
But Brown is not interested in hearing the truth. Note that he's disabled his comments section.