Homelessness Increasing
They're predicting the first wretched snowstorm of the season. Around here we are often on the edge of the freeze line, so we often end up with a snow/ice mix that makes it much more difficult to even walk around than if it were all snow. My Local Paper is running the annual stories about flu and homelessness. Today we have a particularly horrid tale of a mentally disabled man who lost his job two years ago being put out on the street.

We aren't surprised that the number of homeless is up, are we? Compassionate conservatism has produced this: "Last year, 52,973 homeless people were provided with shelter in Maryland, up almost 17 percent from 2001, according to the state Department of Human Resources." Oh, and even more compassionately, "Disabled people are at particular risk of becoming homeless, experts say. From 20 to 30 percent of the nation's homeless are disabled, most of them mentally disabled, said Jim Yates of the Technical Assistance Collaborative, a Boston-based organization that produces an annual report on homelessness among the disabled. There are more than 3.5 million homeless people in the country, according to the Urban Institute."

I can't stand it.