One city, 15,000 homeless veterans

New Directions says there are more than 15,000 homeless vets in Los Angeles, the largest such population in the United States. Most of the vets are from the Vietnam War era. A small but growing number of veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq are starting to hit the streets.

New Directions reports it took in 12 Iraq and Afghanistan vets in 2007, 24 in 2008 and 20 so far this year. Lack of jobs and affordable housing in Los Angeles is a major problem. Keaveney is hoping to get trade unions, such as those representing electrical workers, to hire some homeless vets. He also believes there is plenty of opportunity in the emerging world of "green jobs" such as recycling centers.

www.cnn.com...

All those homeless army vest in the streets. They served their country and got nothing in return.

National fail.


[edit on 19-8-2009 by warrenb]

Whatever happened to supporting the troops??
They go through hell and this is how their government treats them?
I don't want to make anybody start flaming me but this is why I sometimes think soldiers are brainwashed....they are fighting for a government that wouldn't pee on them if they were on fire.
The amount of abuses they have had done to them is absolutely appalling...from finding loopholes in the law and taking away pensions and denying monies to allowing a vet to come back and be homeless.
If they were good enough to stand on the front lines in battle for their government then they are good enough to be on the front lines of society after getting home.
That angers me to say the least.

Well Duh!

Yes, the government "really cares" about veterans.

They've shown their concern so many times haven't they? I mean, they've only had to be forced to supply the most basic assistance through immense public pressure.

One question...

How many sons and daughters of your members of congress are in the military fighting for your country?

There's your answer. The people are nothing but cannon fodder for your wealthy leaders. To think anything else is naive beyond belief.

It's the People who care for the vets, and right now they can barely afford to care for themselves.

Well lets think about this for a second. The Average age of entry into the Armed Forces is between 17 and 18 years old. Barely out of high school, know nothing about life other than what the Armed Forces are going to teach them. And from that point forward, during war time, combat is the only thing they really know how to do.

I've had this discussion quite a few times with several friends who have served in the military..Especially the boots on the ground. I'm 25, I'm about to run off to the Army, I can be considered an old man among those I'll be getting off the bus with. I've had time to think about my decision, I know precisely why I'm going in and I'm going to be there for quite some time. The 17 and 18 year old kids next to me have not had that kind of time and chances are joined because they couldn't think of anything else to do with their lives. I'm not saying their decision was good or bad, I applaud it, but there should always be a "What next?" proposal set up in their heads to deal with life after the Armed Forces. Most kids just don't think that far ahead, and here we are.

There is a lot wrong with our society... when we pay millions to sports figures to play a game... and minimum wage to our troops that are putting their life on the line to protect our freedom.

Who's wrong? The people that play the sports or actors in these movies... or is it society for paying unbelievable prices to go see a baseball, football or anything of the sort just to be entertained?

Then once these guys come back from war... our political system just forgets about them... discards them. This is a disgrace that needs to stop!

[edit on 8/19/2009 by x2Strongx]

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
Whatever happened to supporting the troops??

It was never about supporting the troops, if you listen to the right wing commentators over the last number of years, anyone who criticized the Bush doctrine of the use of military force was accused of "not supporting the troops."

Couple that with the outsourcing the war to contractors like Haliburton ("we protect our war profits by shoddy construction -- so what if a few Marines get electrocuted in the barracks showers?") and the troops become just another expense item.

It is the American people, left and right, liberal and conservative, who supported and continue to support the troops irrespective of government policies. To them, the troops are not logistical costs or force strength units but are fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters.

hah, i thought this post was gonna be about portland oregon. when i lived there, there was nothing but homeless runaway teens and meth addict homeless people strewed all over the place.

sad thing. even sadder is the fact that most of the homeless teens actually had trust funds and were just rebelling against their parents. they city did a study about it.

anyways, yeah i lived in LA too, and its real depressing. insanely expensive... hard to get around... i can see why people end up homeless there, as I definitely almost did on many occasions, i guess i was just lucky

reply to post by metamagic


You lost me with the left and right stuff....I don't follow that line of thinking.
I meant if you are going to send them off to war then yes,whatever happened to support our troops.
My last thread I made was about left and right being bs.
I have no use for politics so you lost me right there.

It is an absolute national disgrace to see fellow veterans unable to secure and maintain employment due to service connected disabilities.

My belief is that the Veterans Health Administration minimizes the veterans mental and physical health issues and applies the lowest possible disability ratings in order to stay within budget (officially there is no target budget for disability compensation). Afterall, we veterans have served our purpose. We are usurpers of the tax payers and treated like worthless vermon at the V.A. and by the American public in general (my opinion only).

Lets spend trillions more fighting useless wars and killing our young men and women and leave those disabled from war or peace time disablities to suffer in the streets!

Blown a leg off.........well here is your 10% percent compensation pay from the V.A.! Half your head missing.....maybe 20% disability pay.

I am a disabled veteran and am in the fight of my life to stay sheltered, clothed and fed. Currently I receive 70% disability from the V.A., yet I can not work. My earnings are poverty level. It is very difficult to maintain any lifestyle, a home or a life. I'm miserable, but keep fighting the system. Yet I am supposed to feel grateful. I will fight to the end to get my full disability from the V.A. and my social security.

The homeless veterans.......they give up to easily. The paperwork to get the proper compensation is overwhelming. For someone suffering from TBI or PTSD the whole process is nearly impossible without help from a veterans service organisation or strong personal advocate. But they have got to want help.

Unfortunately, many vets that are homeless do have addiction issues. Its easier to give up than to fight when you feel no one cares about you.

The V.A. does in fact have many homeless initiatives available. If you can follow the rules you will be housed and fed. Go to va.gov for more information.

Well....hope I don't lose my benefits because of my post to this thread. I'm just tired of all the injustice.

BTW....We veterans do have our own minds. We give them up (partially)while serving to fight and win wars! Its the only way. You take your commands seriously and dutifully to fulfill any missions required.

Originally posted by DrumsRfun
reply to post by metamagic

 

You lost me with the left and right stuff....I don't follow that line of thinking.
I meant if you are going to send them off to war then yes,whatever happened to support our troops.
My last thread I made was about left and right being bs.
I have no use for politics so you lost me right there.

it's not that difficult to understand.

When President Bush invaded Iraq, a lot of people did not think it was a good idea. A lot of neo-conservatives who were in power would then say anyone who disgreed with the war was not "supporting the troops" when they really meant they were not supporting US policy. Okay, got that? if you are still having problems with this idea, then think of a child who asks for a candy and when they don't get it, accuses their parents of not loving them.

Now the second idea you have to get is that troops are people. The very same people who keep saying to those who questioned government's policy "you don't support the troops" then went and abandoned those those same troops in terms of taking care of them when they returned from combat or when the needed medical attention. There were problems with facilities begin constructed in Iraw that were so poor that soldiers and marines died by being electrocuted in their own showers.

It took media attention on the matter to bring about investigations in the conditions of barracks, Walter Reed Hospital and other failures to support the people who are troops. Quite frankly it has been an on-going issue and if you can use google you should be able to find lots of news reports about it.

So follwo this... troops are people. Support the troops is taken by most people to mean provide support for the people who are troops -- medical, psychiatric, housing or whatever. But the government used the phrase to mean "support our policies" while at the same time not doing anything to support the people who actually are the troops.

Ok you lost me at neo-conservatives.
I don't follow or listen to liars...to me politicians are just that so any spin from their side is just for show and rubbish to me.
I can't argue anything with politics....I refuse to acknowledge those types.

I said it in simple terms of tptb using loopholes and trickery around every corner.
I think we are on the same page but reading out of a different book.

If this is their treatment of their loyal soldiers, just imagine how much they care about the regular, average, every day citizen.

I have never been so ashamed of my government.

reply to post by x2Strongx

America is the new Rome.

During normal times 100,000,000 homeless are on the streets
around the world, 3,000,000 here in just the US.

en.wikipedia.org...

Bread and Circuses are the priority.

1,000+ satellite TV channels of diversion.

We have high dollar restaurants, and billion dollar stadiums.

We have 10's of thousands of churches while ppl live under bridges.

We have children living on the streets and we spend billions on
the space program.

We spend trillions on sports, throwing or kicking ball is more important
than feeding, clothing, and housing humanity or healing them.

We spend trillions on the military with the Democrats or the Republicans.

We have over 700 bases in over 130 countries.

We have 20 million houses that have been foreclosed on.

They are starting to bulldoze them to get house values back up
to get tax revenues back up and they care not for the homeless.

Millions of dollars in bonuses for the crooked and corrupt.

Then 100's of Millions in bonuses for round two.

Then over 30 Billion in bonuses most recently to appease the pirates.

It reminds me of Rome buying off the Barbarians.

The republic has fallen from within just as the founding fathers warned.

Good Luck to you all !

[edit on 20-8-2009 by Ex_MislTech]

reply to post by Ex_MislTech


Great Post!!! STAR & FLAG!

You post gives us a good perspective on everything that is going on here... Everyone has gotten complacent and don't want certain comforts in life to change... that's why we are never going to have the people stand together unless something drastic happens. The government knows this, and this is the reason for the "False Flag" attacks. There are so many wrongs happening on a daily basis in this world... it seems overwhelming but we can change it by correcting a wrong... one at a time!