Homeless Vets

As I spun the radio dial this morning I caught Don Imus (remember when he used to have a radio presence?) railing about the dire circumstances of veterans in America.  Per Don and Deirdre, one vet in four coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan is homeless - 200,000 altogether.  Deirdre's information was apparently inspired by some recent event involving Judy Woodruff (if I heard that correctly, and who knows?)

Since the 200,000 figure is for all vets stretching back to the Spanish-American War, I am quite sure the Imus's stats are muddled.

Fortunately, no one is listening.

Comments

[RichatUF]

It looks like Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan is getting geared up.

They need the right turf:

crazed, criminal vets √

homeless vets √

suicidal vets √

They are a bit behind the curve on a few other things [Haditha didn't quite pan out as the MSM had hoped and I'm not sure the Afghan "tiger cages" story will get too far in the next couple weeks] , but I'm sure the Taliban and AQI will oblige.

[rogera]

I cant believe this canard is circulating--as Rich notes above, though, the MSM is trotting out all the veteran's canards. What a bunch of slimeballs (the MSM, not the vets)

[rogera]

Sorry for successive posts, but speaking about canards, whatever happened to the much hyped Taliban spring offensive last year? oh, right....NPR was talking about this year's spring offensive the other day. If a canard doesnt quack one year, no need to toss it; just repeat it this year. anyone for peking duck?

[RichatUF]

rogera-

I cant believe this canard is circulating...

I can. Astroturfing combined with a viral marketing, online campaign those who can respond will get blindsided with the story.

[clarice]

We're all homeless now--vets, pets, the foreclosed--and we'll be so until a Dem is elected president when the skies will part, houses will drop down from the sky along with caviar, sportscars and free medical care (including transgendered operations, IVF procedures for gay couples, plastic surgery for the pulchritude challenged, stomach stapling for the corpulent, and mental health care for anyone who believes this tripe).

[clarice]

We're all homeless now--vets, pets, the foreclosed--and we'll be so until a Dem is elected president when the skies will part, houses will drop down from the sky along with caviar, sportscars and free medical care (including transgendered operations, IVF procedures for gay couples, plastic surgery for the pulchritude challenged, stomach stapling for the corpulent, and mental health care for anyone who believes this tripe).

[Sue]

sportscars

Make mine red.

[Steve Skubinna]

A quarter of us (I mean, them) are homeless? Wow, no wonder we (I mean, they) are going on killing rampages.

[MayBee]

Nappy headed ho'meless.

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Inumeracy coupled with a pathetic understanding of elementary statistics, logic and demographics provide the very fertile soil so assiduously tilled by Pew, Fenton and the other 'problem' creators.

The Gramscians have an even better understanding of their market than that displayed by PT Barnum.

I wonder how many people know that there are 23,532,000 vets? I'm reasonably sure that Imus would never mention that the "homeless vet problem" actually affected less than 1% of the veteran population, or about the same as the high estimates of the percentage of homeless in the general population.

[clarice]

So let me see, Rick--it's not one in four it's one in_____________

[Armando B. Murrietta]

The homeless Vet is homeless because he wants to be, help is out their. I am a retired disable military veteran Being homeless was not cool until after Vietnam it gives us responsible Veterans a bad name,image that we do not deserve. Lets talk about veterans who succeed in life, work hard, were responsible individuals. The fact is that helf of the homeless population are not veterans.

[Armando B. Murrietta]

The homeless Vet is homeless because he wants to be, help is out their. I am a retired disable military veteran Being homeless was not cool until after Vietnam it gives us responsible Veterans a bad name,image that we do not deserve. Lets talk about veterans who succeed in life, work hard, were responsible individuals. The fact is that helf of the homeless population are not veterans.

[Rich Berger]

My wife is still pining away for Curtis & Kuby. Curtis' hyperactivity still has an hour-long showcase before the somnolent Imus, his toadies and that insufferable quack-quack.

Why did WABC ditch a successful show in favor of this snoozeathon?

[rogera]

I dont know if anyone has reached agreement on precisely how many homeless people there really are--I think I can safely say it is nowhere near the 3 million or so, "homeless advocates" have asserted--the last survey I saw had about 750K. Considering that some of these poor souls should be institutionalized the number of people homeless by circumstance is probably much lower. So maybe 500K out of 300 million. Sorry folks, that isnt much of a problem--but I am a heartless SOB.

[vnjagvet]

If the purpose of these news stories was to raise money for homeless vets, to provide shelter to them in a more user friendly setting than the VA's institutional facilities, or to do something like start an "adopt a vet" program, I could be very supportive.

But I am pretty confident that those purposes are the farthest thing from the the writers' alleged minds.

This is nothing more than the ongoing gameplan of creating more victims to be saved by the RW or BHO.

[vnjagvet]

Oh, and how many of the "homeless" are still hoboes, how many are still bums, and how many are still drifters?

[RichatUF]

Rick-

Remembered this article from a study done a few years back....

Thirty UC researchers and students surveyed homeless people in San Francisco during four periods -- 1990-1994, 1996-1997, 1999-2000 and 2003 -- and found the median age of the homeless rose from 37 years old at the start to 46 by the end. Today, they estimate, the median age of the city's homeless population is about 50 ...

I was looking for the study itself, because I vagely remember they put the number of homeless in the US at about 500k or so. I think most of the study and other articles that it is based on talks about the SF homeless population [though they looked at other major cities as well].

[Fred Gregory]

Imus,his weird brother, his wife and his obnoxious kid have jumped the shark.

[RichatUF]

Here is another article which seems to have gone under the radar. Seems that Pres. Bush took up the issue and new policies have met with some success.

It must be part of Rove's devious straegy.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

About 1 in 117, Clarice.

[Rick Ballard]

"So let me see, Rick--it's not one in four it's one in_____________"

122 using VA numbers, 119 using the Imus inflation factor.

Vnjagvet,

"adopt a vet" would only work for about 30% of the homeless. Paranoid schizophrenics, alkies and druggies don't respond to "adoption" well at all. As a society we have abjured the use of coercion to place them in facilities where they might be helped, deciding in our infinite kindness and mercy to condemn them to slavery to that which they are unable to control.

Tolerance sure is great!!

[Rick Ballard]

120 and 117 - using the all VA data. I was using another source for total vet count.

Stupid inumerate.

[clarice]

Dr. Szasz' version of Free to be You and Me.

[kim]

Homelessness, it's a choice, not a chide.
========================

[MarkD]

I never understood the appeal of Imus's show. I might have tuned past it once or twice, but I'd rather read yesterday's newspaper.

I thought a lot of these "homeless vets" were not vets at all. It's like the self described Navy Seal epidemic.

[Fidg]

The author of Stolen Valor writes extensively about the myth of homeless, crazy, suicidal, etc vets as part of the political agenda against the Vietnam war and for funding projects. Vets are less likely to be homeless than other segments of the population. All the veterans I know are decent people.

[sophy]

I do not know how to use the Cheap metin2 yang ; my friend tells me how to use.