Van Jones Considers Legal Action Against Fox News, Demands Glenn Beck Retraction

Jones, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who resigned from his job as White House “green jobs” czar following the conservative host's repeated claims that he was a subversive and a Communist, is considering legal action against Beck-employer Fox News.

Jones’ attorney sent a cease and desist letter Monday to Dianne Brandi, the network’s executive vice president for legal & business affairs, claiming that “a series of sensational and inflammatory charges” have been made against Jones on Fox News shows. The statements, his attorney Joseph Sandler argues, are “demonstrably, unequivocally and absolutely false.”

Lloyd I. Sederer, MD: Dying with Your Rights On: Mental Illness, Civil Rights and Saving Lives

Lloyd I. Sederer, MD: Dying with Your Rights On: Mental Illness, Civil Rights and Saving Lives: "Our laws stipulate that Bishop had to consent to provide information to her family, which she did not. Privacy violations would have been the consequence of the hospital contacting her family during the hospital stay or at the time of discharge. Bishop's 'right' to live where (and how) she wanted derives from legal rulings that stipulate a person's right to live in what is called 'the least restrictive setting.'

The letter of the law had been met. And the patient died."

TheDartmouth.com: Activist shares stories of homelessness, poverty

TheDartmouth.com: Activist shares stories of homelessness, poverty: "Honkala, who went on to found the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, said. “I then became a teenage mother, and I hit an all-time low. I had no financial resources and I began living in a white Camaro.”"

Volunteers of America - Once Homeless, Now an Activist

Volunteers of America - Once Homeless, Now an Activist: "she incorporated a private, nonprofit faith-based organization, 'Homeless To Independence,"

Neuroimaging May Be a Mind Reader

Neuroimaging May Be a Mind Reader: "'The ability to decode and distinguish specific cognitive states from brain imaging data constitutes a major goal of neuroscience,' the researchers, led by Michael Greicius, MD, write."

the 13th juror: Homeless can bring class-action suit for destruction of their property

the 13th juror: Homeless can bring class-action suit <br>for destruction of their property Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Homeless can bring class-action suit
for destruction of their property

Homeless people who had their personal property destroyed by Fresno officials can join a class-action lawsuit against the city, a federal judge has ruled.

"People who are homeless, without residence, whose property has been taken and immediately destroyed," may file a class-action civil rights suit against Fresno, Judge Oliver W. Wanger said.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights sued the city the behalf of six homeless plaintiffs, claiming police and sanitation workers violated their rights by defining their property as trash and bulldozing their makeshift encampments.

Legal-Aid

Legal-Aid
"an enforceable right to shelter for homeless children and their families is now permanent," Banks said, "no matter what administration is in office, no matter who is mayor."

Youtube message to Eric Sheptock

I'm out here in Humboldt county California, home of marijuana and redwoods. The 101, the mainline from Vancouver to Tijuana, is the main street. We have an incredible transient population. Been looking around to see what other cities are doing. Ran across you. I'm keeping my eye on you. I like your style. I do the http://HumboldtHomelessHandout.blogspot.com. I loved Mitch Synder. Take care.

Conservatives Go After Another Obama Pastor | Swampland

Conservatives Go After Another Obama Pastor | Swampland: "Eastern University in Pennsylvania–the school where evangelical pastor and speaker Tony Campolo is based"

Unpaid jobs: The new normal? - Fortune Management

Unpaid jobs: The new normal? - Fortune Management: "'People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative,'"

Dignity Village, Tent city - Home

Dignity Village, Tent city - Home: "We have had visitors from all over the world since we been here at the Sunderland yard from 2001 to 2008. We have been a model community for others who see the helping need that our village offers to the homeless people in the community. This has only happened because of all the wonderful support so many have given to us over the past 8 years. Many more community's across the country, have looked to us for answers to help the homeless population that is growing bigger each year. When People come out to visit us , they are amazed at what we have set up and how we help the 50 to 60 homeless people that live here at any given time, a stepping stone effect that gives each person living here a chance to help themselves regain a new start to gain main stream living again"

Safe Haven: rest for the weary : Culture : Smile Politely

Safe Haven: rest for the weary : Culture : Smile Politely: "From the very beginning, Safe Haven’s standard has been “no riff-raff.“ They expect no drinking, no drugs, no stealing, no violence — no riff-raff. They are attempting to establish a community characterized by safety, authority, and respect.
Safe Haven currently has 10 mutually agreed-upon guidelines that are enforced within the community (based, in part, on the rules established by Dignity Village in Portland, Ore.):"

Seattle councilmen tour Dignity Village | For those who can’t afford free speech

Seattle councilmen tour Dignity Village | For those who can’t afford free speech: "March 4. Licata was joined by fellow council members Sally Bagshaw and Tom Rasmussen. Seattle is considering recreating a similar agreement for tent cities residents in Seattle. For more than a decade, Dignity Village has worked with the city as a transitional housing option for people working to move out of homelessness."

"The environmental justice organization OPAL (Organizing People, Activating Leaders) began a campaign on Feb. 21 to get Trimet to extend the transfer times of bus tickets by one hour.
Currently, people using Trimet buy one ticket for $2.05. That ticket has (or is supposed to have) a transfer time of two hours.
OPAL’s executive director, the Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons, says it’s a matter of making sure that low-income people who depend upon public transportation to meet their daily, basic needs. “What we’re hearing is that people can’t do that,” Santos-Lyons says."

Happy (legal) campers— Eugene, Oregon | For those who can’t afford free speech

Happy (legal) campers— Eugene, Oregon | For those who can’t afford free speech: "More than a decade ago, the city of Eugene took a radical approach to common sense: faced with a homeless population it had neither the resources nor capacity to address, the city changed course and instituted a homeless camping program.
That was in 1998, and the program today has a backlog of people without homes that need a place to camp in safety and without penalty. The program is managed by St. Vincent DePaul, and the man at the helm of matchin"

Eugene City Council Reviewing Homeless Camping | KEZI

Eugene City Council Reviewing Homeless Camping | KEZI: "EUGENE, Ore. -- The number of homeless people in Eugene keeps rising and with it, so does the waiting list for an available camping spot.

That's why the community services manager will ask the city council for more camping spaces.

A mix of the economy and limited affordable housing has forced more residents to live in campers at places like Alton Baker Park. Homeless advocates say there's not enough camping permits to keep up with demand, a waiting list that has recently ballooned to 60.

After months of moving and parking his motor home on a daily basis, Richard Haskell can finally enjoy 90 days in one spot; the allocated time period for homeless camping. 'It's a great thing they got going. They should expand it if anything,' said Haskell.

Expansion is exactly what Community Service Manager Richie Weinman is hoping for when he goes before the city council Wednesday.

Right now, 20 camping spots are scattered throughout town, but only three campers are allowed in each lot. 'The best thing we can do is get more of those legal spaces because they take more pressure off of the street,' said Weinman. Weinman says taking pressure off the streets results in a safer community, especially for people like Haskell and John Peach who had to prove they were law-abiding citizens, before earning permits."

City Of Seattle Moves Forward On SODO Homeless Camp

City Of Seattle Moves Forward On SODO Homeless Camp: "Seattle city officials say they're moving forward with a plan to create a semi–permanent homeless camp in the SODO neighborhood. Soon the city aims to find funding for the project and an organization to manage the site. KUOW's Liz Jones reports.


TRANSCRIPT
The location for the city–sanctioned tent city is about 2.5 miles south of Safeco Field. The site is a former peanut butter factory known as Sunny Jim. It was destroyed by a fire earlier this year. The land is in the industrial part of SODO, right next to I–5. It's also close to a greenbelt known as the jungle, which has a long history of public safety concerns.
Smith: 'But look here's the deal, we want those folks there to feel just as safe as I or you would in our neighborhood, as related to the jungle. That's the bottom line.'
That's Deputy Mayor Daryl Smith. He says the city will work with the community to make sure the site is secure and safe. The city plans to raze the site and put up a structure with office space, bathrooms and an eating area. It'll also team up with an organization to manage the camp and help raise funds to support it."

FINAL DRAFT (October 18, 2010)
Citizen Review Panel Recommendations on
Encampments and Seattle’s Unsheltered Homeless Population
The Citizen Review Panel on Housing and Services for Seattle’s Unsheltered Homeless
Population recommends the City of Seattle sanction and offer available property to a
self-governed encampment to help meet the immediate survival and safety needs of
individuals in our community who have no access to safe shelter.
While the Citizen Panel endorses the establishment of an encampment, panel members
also strongly urge the City of Seattle to continue to aggressively develop permanent,
affordable housing options for individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness.
Encampments, along with other forms of substandard housing

Seattle Supports Homeless Camp Putting Down Roots | KOSU Radio

Seattle Supports Homeless Camp Putting Down Roots | KOSU Radio: "In Seattle, the city’s plans for a permanent homeless camp will get a public hearing Monday evening.
Similar encampments have sprung up in places like Sacramento and Fort Worth, where local officials shut them down.
Seattle wants to take a different approach with a city-run camp on city-owned property.
But the project is criticized for being at odds with the city’s own plan to end homelessness.
‘There Needs To Be A Place For Them’"

Green-Projects-for-Homeless - -> No more criminalization of homeless-ness!

Green-Projects-for-Homeless - -> No more criminalization of homeless-ness!: "Between Sit/ Lie and Anti-Camping laws, for many homeless people, it is 'illegal' for them to simply sleep or rest, or gather their things anywhere within reasonable walking distance of (their only reliable sources of) food or services. Most do not have the fare for mass transit on any given day. It's not always easy to remain out of sight, away from the City Center. Add to this, many are in poor health, so that walking anywhere very far away is quite difficult.
We understand that there are some trouble makers among those who congregate on sidewalks, but to force the old, the tired, and the unhealthy to 'move along' as well - this can be cruel.


If our leaders and our police can not find the compassion to simply allow people to rest in the City center, then maybe they will realize that, reasonably, it is definitely in the public interest to designate some other places (at no or low-cost) where they would have some humble right to just be -- to peacefully sleep or rest or gather their things, or collect their dignity enough to try to find work."