Just Gonna Sit for a Spell

[RSL]

. . .there are 150,000 homeless veterans in the U.S.

Figures don't lie but liars figure, Slobodan. Source of that figure please. Then we'll take a look at its probable reliability.

I don't deny that there are homeless veterans, but there are a hell of a lot more "homeless" who aren't vets, who claim to be vets, and who are homeless not because they made "wrong choices," but because they simply want to drift and that's their choice. I run into them all the time in Colorado. Now that we're gonna have "recreational" MaryJane I'm gonna see a lot more of 'em.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Figures don't lie but liars figure, Slobodan. Source of that figure please....

VA (U.S. Administration of Veteran Affairs):

Each year, VA provides health care to almost 150,000 homeless Veterans and other services to over 112,000 Veterans through its specialized homeless programs.

There is a web page devoted to that "rare" occurrence.

[Steve Weldon]

He had campaign badges on his fatigues shirt. His hoodie was open enough to see that. It may have made an equally evocative shot from the from, but I just didn't see the point. I've seen him around the marina area more than once and he's always dressed in army gear, usually wearing a hat that proclaims him to be a Vietnam vet.

1.  FYI -  Expert beggars are often claiming to be vets (these days especially) to increase their take.  After 20+ years in the military I can recognise and time reference most of these ribbons and about half of the people I see who display them as homeless or beggars are wearing a mix that couldn't possibly be correct.  To me a person in need doesn't "more qualify" by being a vet or get more from me, if I believe they're in need I help.  But the bar to convince me unfortunately has grown much higher these last few years.

2.  I'm not sure if this is the way you meant it, but I see it as a common misthink..   A person looking at a specific image isn't privy to everything the photographer usually knows about the subject.  We have to make conscience decisions during the composition phase on what parts of the story we tell..  Like in this image as I've already said, I think a homeless vet and his facial expression would have made a more compelling image.

[Steve Weldon]

w you an AGO card with h.

Curious, what's an AGO card?

[Steve Weldon]

Right, Russ.

And there are no poor people (other than those who made "wrong choices"), no unemployed (only the lazy ones), no homeless (just those who prefer fresh air)... that's all "bleeding heart" propaganda.

Actually, never come across anyone claiming "most vets are hoboes and most hoboes are vets." As for "rarity," that of course depends on your definition. However, there are 150,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. If you call that a rarity, than you are right.

I'm a hobo and a vet.  Please contact me via PM for a place to send money.   Thank you.   

[Chris Calohan]

There are three guys, him one of the three who hang down by the marina. Most days they are fishing or working on one of the boats washing decks, cleaning or whatnot. I've just overheard they are all VN vets who choose not to stay within the norms of society. I've never seen any of them beg a handout but I have seen them get a bit on the testy side with photographers. They like their space and I am content to allow it. I wasn't interested in his expression. I was interested in the easiness of the day.

[RSL]

VA (U.S. Administration of Veteran Affairs):

Read Stolen Valor. It's quite clear that in many cases the VA doesn't bother to check the DD 214's of people claiming to vets. Helps to improve their funding.

[Steve Weldon]

Read Stolen Valor. It's quite clear that in many cases the VA doesn't bother to check the DD 214's of people claiming to vets. Helps to improve their funding.

I worked for the VA for a short period (several years) as the Department Head of Prosthetics.  We provided limbs, eye glasses, false eyes, ears, noses, wheelchairs,  hearing aids, anything needed to help a vet live as complete a life as possible.

There was a lot to learn.   Often, the vets applying for services were already dead..  Someone let them through the door an dinto the system to see a doctor  for whatever reason.. but when they came to get a 12,000 custom wheelchair setup for the obese, or a $17,000 carbon fibre limb..  these aren't things you could look the other way on.  We had a set limit of funding and giving it to someone not qualified meant those who truly earned it might go without.

[RSL]

I'm all for 'ya, Steve. What you were doing must have been difficult and often disheartening, but who was checking military records to make sure these guys were vets? When Burkett did research into VA practices in preparation for his book, he found that in many cases if a guy walked in and claimed to be a vet the VA took him at his word without further checks --  checks that easily can be made.

I know, from my own experience just walking down the street in Colorado Springs that maybe one in twenty or thirty of the hoboes who claim to be vets actually are vets. Hollywood, and the left in general, portray every shabby drifter out there as a vet. It just ain't so. I know a lot of real vets, especially since I live in an area with the AF Academy, NORAD headquarters, and Fort Carson all within a couple miles of downtown. The place is full of vets. They're not shabby drifters.

[Steve Weldon]

I'm all for 'ya, Steve. What you were doing must have been difficult and often disheartening, but who was checking military records to make sure these guys were vets? When Burkett did research into VA practices in preparation for his book, he found that in many cases if a guy walked in and claimed to be a vet the VA took him at his word without further checks --  checks that easily can be made.

I know, from my own experience just walking down the street in Colorado Springs that maybe one in twenty or thirty of the hoboes who claim to be vets actually are vets. Hollywood, and the left in general, portray every shabby drifter out there as a vet. It just ain't so. I know a lot of real vets, especially since I live in an area with the AF Academy, NORAD headquarters, and Fort Carson all within a couple miles of downtown. The place is full of vets. They're not shabby drifters.

1.  It was.  To me when someone needs a leg they need a leg.  But when it's my job to carefully draw from a select budget (prosthetic funds are separate by congressional mandate from all other VA funds) to support VETS then that's what I'll do.  Of course this didn't stop me from going elsewhere for funds, there are many organisations and NGO's out there to help.  They might not get the super deluxe model, but I often helped them get a  good serviceable model.  For exceptional athletes who weren't qualified I had a few generous souls I could hit up, but it's a fine art to not do it too often..   As a 100% disabled vet myself I have mixed feelings about all this.. but we do our best.

2.  Yep.  It's a common ruse to draw on public sympathy.. most often these days they haven't a clue.

3.   In my experience its the vets who are squared away and whom you can count on for all types of things.  They live perhaps not rich, but nice well ordered lives far from the way Hollywood portrays them.  Sometimes when watching certain shows with my family I cringe at the way vets are portrayed.  And recently with the DHS and other like agencies pointing fingers at them instead of doing their jobs and going after the Islamic perps... you've got to wonder what they really think of us.  It's okay to give a pass on frisks and other secondary searches to the Muslim Brotherhood who are declared enemies, yet intrude in the life of the veterans who fought against them.    Probably not a subject I should get started on, someone will accuse me of being off-balance or off my meds or something.. 

[Manoli]

It's okay to give a pass on frisks and other secondary searches to the Muslim Brotherhood who are declared enemies, yet intrude in the life of the veterans who fought against them. 

I take it that that's euphemism for the 'Islamic perps' you refer to - and not the Egyptian political party of the same name.

[Steve Weldon]

I take it that that's euphemism for the 'Islamic perps' you refer to - and not the Egyptian political party of the same name.

I now recognise my error in bringing this subject matter into this forum  and I apologise for this.  I'll answer your question and then I won't post on the subject again.

1. Islamic perps was a ill worded phrase influenced by my days as a police officer.  In my mind "perps" encompasses anyone known to be breaking laws and doing bad things.  Not suspected, but known to be. There are white perps, black perps, Christian perps, all used within a very limited context.   I won't use this phrase again outside of a select group who will understand it as I do.

2.  The Muslim Brotherhood is indeed the Egyptian grown political organisation who have done many good things.  For Muslims.  They are also considered a terrorist organisation by the Russian and of course the Egyptian governments.. and should be by the US government if we weren't casting a limited eye while hoping to bring them closer.  Regardless, they don't warrant a suspension of secondary search protocols when our own citizens and servicemen are flagged for secondary searches.

[Manoli]

Steve,
Thanks. It was a genuine, not a facetious, question. I was unaware that the US government had suspended secondary search protocols against the Muslim Brotherhood and for that reason your post appeared unclear, at least to me.

[Steve Weldon]

Steve,
Thanks. It was a genuine, not a facetious, question. I was unaware that the US government had suspended secondary search protocols against the Muslim Brotherhood and for that reason your post appeared unclear, at least to me.

Understood.  Here.   And here.  Same thing here.   You can see the information had to be pried loose.