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No offense taken. I just wanted to clarify it. You mean that all the South had to do was change the terminology from "slave owner" to "African American guardian" and the country could have avoided that horrible war?  My impression is that West Hollywood was created out of the areas that nobody else wanted. I can see why.

 

 

 

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West Hollywood is actually prime real estate. Its in a great area. Gays have money. A lot of money. Not many broke gays..haha..really, if you think about it. Fairly high achievers. Also, you are talking about Hollywood with a lot of very, very rich gay people in that industry and "voila" West Hollywood. 

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On 9/22/2018 at 2:40 AM, Mekong said:

Some people would prefer to give it a chance on the streets in a vibrant city than than to basically be condemned to a modern day death camp.

 

Correct, and it goes far deeper than that

Years ago a "homeless" bloke lived in the carpark you had too drive down a narrow lane to get too/  behind the building I was working in. Sober or Drunk, he'd help give directions, sober he was far more helpful than drunk. 

He was quite a nice bloke, so I'd often have a chat. We'd always give him some $'s for helping direct our cars into walls and scrape against walls, and basically be a watchman.

One very cold wint, I asked him why didn't he go to one of the many hostels to sleep? It would be far more comfortable, better food etc.

NO WAY! THIS IS MY HOME MATE.

He then explained that in a hostel, he had nothing, the bed he slept in beside others was never the same bed, nor his own. Even though he didn't own the laneway, it gave him some dignity and feeling of home. 

And over the years talking to many people, as you know it's parallel to work I do, this is a common theme, the feeling of wanting to be regularly in a place you feel comfortable in, 

Which goes to say, I agree with what you write, and the way to solve is perhaps deeper than is addressed

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Strange or not in LA they are relatively rich. They look out for each other as well. If they are in HR they will hire each other, promote each other and they have women looking our for them as well. 

As far as the homeless situation in California, its a nice climate. And even during its better days you had homeless but admittedly nothing close to what we see here. The homeless issue in America took off in the '80s. There was a combination of the closing of state mental hospitals and a large percentage Vietnam vets who were suffering from all manner of psychological and to some extent physical issues. When my oldest brother came off that plane at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, we literally lost track of him for a few years. He was homeless for some of those years. "self medicating" himself to try and forget some things he experienced. The VA wasn't equipped for it. Interesting thing is all the wars had this. I recall reading an article of the terms they used for PTSD for WW1 and WW2 vets. I had an uncle in LA (originally from Tulsa) , who lied his age at 16 and joined the Korean War, (he was born at home like many people so no hospital birth certificate which was common, he had a birth cert printed up) who was seriously fucked up. My aunt said years later he would still wake up screaming. We think he was bipolar before entering the military which made things worse. He had fits of rage as a kid and when you are a black teenager in 1940s Oklahoma with fits of rage, it seemed a good idea to get out. 

He had guns all over the house in the year I stayed with him when I first went to LA. He hated Asians and Whites virulently. He passed 2 years ago and it was a shock to us in hindsight that he never did a mass shooting. Lifelong Republican by the way..lol. His family were not going to be FDR Democrats. He was homeless for a short time as well as the Korean War when he came to LA. 

In Philly when I was growing up crack was huge and that contributed heavily to the homeless issue. I had a few friends from HS who were homeless. Mental issues that were undiagnosed or families unable to cope such schizophrenia, alzheimer's and other mental health ailments. 

What's the solution? Preventative care, okay but what about those out there now?  For the vets I think its a national shame the VA is not given the resources to pay for this. Upwards of 1 trillion for defense and we can't do this? We are quick to send people to war. We have had a war/conflict literally every decade since WW2 but have not done anywhere close to enough for those we sent over there. I think the military budget, overall, is too high and the budget for vets way too low. There should not be much of a wait time at the VA hospitals. I really don't give a shit how much it costs truth be said. It's not because of family members that have fought but just friggin' common human decency. 

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When I came back from VN, I slept with a shotgun next to my bed and my clothes ready for me to jump into them. It was years before I could bring myself to drive over a patched spot of pavement. Survival habits stay with you. Even now I have a low PTSD disability rating. It just hits some folks harder than others.

p.s. V. A. is not our friend.

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My eldest brother spends July 4th with very good headphones and a glass of wine or weed listening to reggae music. My cousins who were in Iraq got panic attacks driving and would check under the car before they got in. 

The interesting thing almost to a man they are pacifists for the most part. 

one of the most surreal things I ever saw was my uncle and other Korean War vets meeting with their Korean counterpart in Koreatown area of LA. I drove him because he was going to be drunk. The funny thing is most of the older Koreans spoke little or no English passed around photos to Americans, sang songs, hugs all around, crying. The only time my uncle felt "comfortable" around Asians. He was alive when the Japanese were hated, the North Koreans and Chinese he fought against. His hatred of whites stemmed from growing up Jim Crow Oklahoma and having family members killed in the famous Tulsa race riot in the early 1920s and the odd lynchings in rural Oklahoma they heard about. 

One of my cousins who was in Iraq called it the 'video game war'. He was in the Navy and was part of a group I heard (he wouldn't say but other family members said) who would find targets by drone, isolate and bomb them. He felt detached from the war because they were safely away on a ship in the gulf and it was like a video game. Convoy trucks, jeeps, etc, bombed without ever knowing what hit them. 

I was the first of my brothers not to join the military. Although I could have gone to one of the academies I wanted a "normal" college life where I could chase girls, join a frat and have fun. My track scholarship was how I got noticed, someone in our school went to school with a Congressman and said he could get me into Annapolis. I was like no. My older brother who was in the Navy was emphatic about not going because he didn't want his younger brother outranking him and in theory had to salute. lol. 

i wasn't cut out for that. I was a nerd. I was a coward. I knew my place...hehehe school, girls and track. That was how I was going to spend my early adult life. And I did it with aplomb. :)

Anyway, getting back to the VA, and how we treat vets in general is a HUGE disgrace. 

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My friends tend to be veterans, doesn't matter what race or ethnicity. Brotherhood transcends race. I remember when then Congresswoman (now Senator) Tammy Duckworth talked to the vets at JUSMAG a few years ago. (She was a helicopter pilot and lost both her legs when her gunship was hit by an RPG.)  One of the first things we noticed was how relaxed she was with us, after being dragged all over Bangkok meeting officials and embassy people. She said it was because "I don't have to explain war to you. You've been there too." Maybe that's it.

 

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