> Oh yeah, and do you know that MN DOT is spending lots of money to put > some triangle thingies under bridges and stuff? It's their way of > solving the homeless problem. It's supposed to prevent the homeless > from staying under there and keeping warm. Now wouldn't it make more > sense if that money was spent on homeless shelters?
Depends, but for now I have a hunch it's being done to save money on insurance premiums and litigation in the long run. Bridges and overpasses are convenient, but far from safe. I agree - there is a problem here. Many of the mentally ill, for reasons traceable to their illness, will not go to homeless shelters. Keeping bridges open to them isn't really the answer - and certainly not MNDOT's responsibility (unless someone can show me where it is...) > Met a couple of guys this week that are totally disabled because of > schizophrenia, ADD, and other disorders. One has a full time job, the > other has a part time job. The one with a full time job voluntarily > gave up his disability pay from social security. He makes enough to get > by. The courage of these two guys to survive is amazing. Makes a > person want to cry. I'll stick with applauding. They - like a couple I know in my own neighborhood who are living and learning to function with serious mental illnesses - are certainly to be admired. More power to them. > Anyway, I just wanted to say, I don't want to hear anything about > personal responsibility anymore. Well, that should settle it! :-) > If anyone has any personal > responsibility it is us. True. > We need to take care of the most vulnerable in > society. We are doing a very poor job of it right now. And we keep > cutting back each year. Wait a minute. You invoked "personal responsibility", and I agree. But then you switched to State Budgets. That's not personal. I have no answers to the problem of finding the mentally ill, or getting them in touch with the services they need but cant' get (due to budget cutbacks or their own efforts - both of which are certainly factors). I'll leave that to people like Renee. SOMEONE needs to do a better job of teaching people - everyone - about mental illness; how to recognize it, and how to deal with it when you encounter it (in oneself or in someone else). "Society", the State of Minnesota, and (I have to say it) the advocates for the mentally ill themselves have all fallen down badly in that job. Mitch Berg Da Midway! Shot In The Dark http://www.mitchberg.com/shotindark/ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract _______________________________________________ Stpaul mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
