Thursday, December 29, 2016

#Benghazi = #PizzaGate: Links

Since people are asking me for information I do not have time to write about, I am listing the following links for everyone to peruse. I will discuss these links and their significance when I am able to do so:







And, of course, the links I already have posted to the other three articles on PizzaGate.

I may regret doing this, because I suspect I am going to get even MORE questions, but I really have no time to sit and write a dissertation right now. 

Happy reading, everyone.

Monday, December 26, 2016

#Benghazi = #PizzaGate: #Syria

The plot thickens. Just before James Alefantis visited the White House the Clinton Global Initiative held a three-day Annual Meeting at which Barack Obama spoke, talking about his administration's efforts to eradicate human trafficking:


Certainly this is not enough to get a conviction in a court-of-law, but the timing is very suspicious. First the attack in Benghazi. Then a speech about human trafficking. Then Alefantis gets the irresistible urge to visit Michelle Lee at the White House...two days in a row. (I believe this is Michelle J. Lee, the press assistant. There is also a Michelle K. Lee, but she is Undersecretary of Commerce.) The person who posted the above link is wrong about one thing: Alefantis did not stay for over twenty-four hours. The log is clear that he came back on the 27th and signed in again. (FYI: It appears the computer automatically logs people out at 12:59:59 every night, so we do not know exactly what time he left the night of the 26th.)



There is much more, and this is where I become extremely angry because I defended General David Petraeus when he had his Paula Broadwell scandal. In fact, when the news broke I said, "I wonder how long someone has had that photo in his back pocket just waiting for the right time?" Unfortunately, it appears our "war hero" with the unblemished reputation up until that incident is not so unblemished after all. People kept showing me photographs of Petraeus in Doha, Qatar, but I thought, "CIA. Covert ops. Maybe he is spying on them." Optimism in this business is not warranted.

It seems Petraeus was arranging for the transport of sarin gas (obtained from Gaddafi's stash) from Qatar to Amman, Jordan (via C-130's), from where it was trucked into Syria. In other words, he committed a war crime that resulted in the deaths of 1,500 Syrians:



So what was the purpose of creating these false flag attacks in Syria? The same as the goal in Libya; to destabilize the country. Although the plan failed, the results have been a Clinton Foundation dream. There are currently over thirty-five terrorist organizations in Syria, fighting each other, switching allegiances every five minutes, and the result? Refugees. And refugees provide the people necessary for human trafficking. According to German police, there are currently 9,000 children missing from the "refugees", and they fear the children have fallen prey to--you guessed it--trafficking gangs. And this figure is only from Germany! Europol puts the figure at over 10,000 missing in Europe, which many say is a "conservative figure":




Did Ambassador Stevens stumble upon this plan? We may never know, but it is interesting that the last person with whom he met before the terrorist attack (Ali Sait Akin) is not only well-known as an arms trafficker but is rumored to be involved in human trafficking as well. And Stevens' death is not the only one I question. On May 30, 2013, Steven Sotloff tweeted that sarin gas was falling into the hands of Jabhat al-Nusra (which if everyone recalls, swore allegiance to ISIS). For some reason, my screen capture button is not working, but his Twitter account is still available for everyone to see for themselves. 

The Clinton Foundation seems to have its hand in just about every dirty deed on the planet from which money can be made. Oil, weapons, people; they all appear to be the same to the Hillary Clinton crowd. And let me just add one more note here, as I realize there are still many skeptics out there and this may be my last article before I leave for Washington. George Webb has done incredible work on Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation, and is currently doing a series on Eric Braverman in which he is going back over information that has been accumulated over past years. Even he has reached the point where he can no longer ignore PizzaGate, and he was an even bigger skeptic than I was (see my original post on the subject "Insanity"):



All of this begs the question: Why did Barry back down from his "red line"? If readers recall that fiasco, it left everyone shaking their heads at the time. First, Ghouta. Then John Kerry pounds podiums red-faced swearing justice will be done. Barry is oddly silent. Meanwhile, four ships move into the Mediterranean and pundits take to cable news announcing their payloads, probable targets, the length of the first wave, when we would pause for an assessment, what we would do during a second wave...they released everything but the social security numbers of the crews! I was astonished. Israel responded by moving their Iron Dome battery for the inevitable retaliatory strike after we hit Syria, and then John Kerry had his "slip-of-the-tongue" and allowed Vladimir Putin to ride to the rescue. Why? The Iran Deal. Barry was not about to jeopardize it, not even for Hillary Clinton. Nevertheless, the results were the same. A humanitarian crisis that has not only unleashed terrorists on Europe (and here in the U.S.; make no mistake, it is coming) but has provided human traffickers with plenty of victims.

This must be stopped. No wonder FBIAnon says the IC is fed up. Let us hope I am able to fulfill my agenda when I reach Washington.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

#Benghazi = #PizzaGate

I am now on new social forums, so let me start by telling people what I do. I am an intelligence analyst whose normal specialty is terrorism. When the Podesta Emails first came out and #PizzaGate was born, I did not believe a word of it. I shut down anyone who tried to tell me about it. Classic cognitive dissonance combined with a splash of ignorance about the underworld.

But as more and more information came to light it became undeniable that something was very wrong. So I dove into PizzaGate and, as I described in my last post, have been made physically ill by what I have learned.

It is that foundation that led me to what I am going to lay out in the rest of this article. Recently I was reminded of a link that had slipped through the cracks of the avalanche of evidence I have been reviewing, and I am grateful to whomever re-posted it.

A man known as "FBIAnon" began posting to 4Chan, claiming to be an FBI agent who was fed up with this administration and the inability to get action on the information the FBI has obtained. So he wanted to give the public clues as to what is going on and how to bring the truth to light. I am glad I did not get to it in the beginning because it was my immersion in PizzaGate and SpiritCooking that caused something he said to hit me like a ton of bricks:

"The real point of interest is the Clinton Foundation, not the email server. We received the server from Benghazi, then from the server we found data on the Clinton Foundation. Then we realized the situation is much worse than previously thought."

So, Benghazi led the FBI to the server which led to the Clinton Foundation, and what they found was worse than they thought. Something clicked for me, and I went to my search engine (not Google), typed in three words, hit "enter", and got an eyeful.

The three words were "Benghazi human trafficking".

I had no idea Libya was a hub of human trafficking (the main hub being Benghazi), but then again I doubt anyone who does not focus on this subject would have guessed. But the problem was so bad that former Prime Minister Berlusconi joined forces with Muammar Gaddafi to end the problem, which they did successfully. Then Hillary Clinton got a wild hair (or so it appeared) and decided to get rid of Gaddafi, a move we know from Senator Menendez was fought tooth-and-nail by both Congress and the Pentagon, going so far as to use back channels in an effort to prevent her from toppling the Gaddafi regime. They were unsuccessful and, after his ouster, human trafficking resumed at breakneck speed, reaching a new height in May of 2012. The same month Chris Stevens became Ambassador to Libya.

Rumors have swirled for four years that Ambassador Stevens was CIA. Of course, I do not have access to classified information so I cannot confirm whether or not he was, but with the countless sources where I have seen that claim I would tend to believe it is true. Regardless, it is clear he stumbled upon information that did not set well with someone. Whether that information was the Stingers falling into the hands of ISIS, human trafficking being run out of Benghazi, or something else we do not know. Regardless, we all know what happened on September 11, 2012.

A note about Ambassador Stevens: I still have not determined what was intended. Maybe Barry really is that inept and thought the attack would be over before we could respond. Maybe Barry was scared to death it would bring to light all of Hillary's activities and decided it was better to leave it be. Maybe Stevens was going to be kidnapped; maybe the terrorists thought he would be safe in the safe room. Who knows? I am not prepared to make the assertion that he was intentionally assassinated. I do not have the evidence to make such a claim.

I also have information about sarin gas being delivered to Syria via Amman, Jordan, and the false flags of 2013. But those are not the subject of this article.

I will leave everyone with this for now (to be continued, obviously). After the shock of the Benghazi attack, after Susan Rice made a fool of herself going on five Sunday shows talking about a video, after the public realized they were being duped and demanded answers, while the Obama administration was backpedaling furiously and everyone wanted Hillary Clinton's head on a platter, there was a very interesting visitor at the White House on September 26th and 27th:

JAMES ALEFANTIS

Links (Please copy/paste to your browser as I am having issues with Internet Explorer this morning):

FBIAnon:


Libya:





Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Insanity (#PizzaGate, #PedoFiles, #SpiritCooking)

I apologize to my readers for interrupting my series, but I got sucked into PizzaGate and the more I have learned the less I have been able to focus on what I was saying. I will continue the series at some point, because it is important for everyone to understand what has been happening. Yes, I know this is all tied together with George Soros, but I have just been overwhelmed by the barbarous depravity.

Who does these things? [CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT.] Who brags about putting a penis inside of a baby's mouth ("Heavy Breathing", Comet Ping Pong) and says laughingly "We all have our preferences..." [diabolical laugh]? Who makes videos showing S & M and calls it "art"? Who makes jokes about little children being "entertainment" (and we are not talking about those children saying silly things)? Who makes "music videos" showing men exchanging spit for sexual pleasure...and takes their "music" to a "family pizza parlor" for "all ages" to view?

WHO DOES THESE THINGS?!

No, we are not talking about an African tribe somewhere in the wilderness. We are talking about people who have been in leadership roles in America. People with "educations". People with "intellect". People who were born and raised in a civilized society.

People who think allowing a baby to mistake a man's penis for his mother's breast is a "preference".

I was able to compartmentalize this evil when I associated it with Islam. Muslims spend an average of twelve hours a day in madrassas learning this sick shit. But this is not Islam. This is one of our former presidents, his wife, his chief-of-staff, and their entourage.

How in God's name is this happening in America?

Please excuse me while I throw up.

Again.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Americans Have Been Had Part Two - Afghanistan

Meanwhile, in Great Britain, George Soros was busy crashing the Bank of England. He used that money, in part, to invest in pro-democracy groups in the Soviet Union, which for some inexplicable reason further irritated the Russians:

 
While Soros was breaking the Bank of England, he was also working on an oil pipeline from Iran to Pakistan known as the "Peace Pipeline" (an effort which is ongoing to this day). Both Iran and Pakistan were busy in Afghanistan supporting the mujahideen against the Marxist, Soviet-friendly government. Tensions reached a head in December of 1979 when the Russians invaded Afghanistan to support the Amin regime. 

In Part One I mentioned Osama bin Laden. As everyone knows, he was born and educated in Saudi Arabia. He found his way to Afghanistan in 1979 when the Soviets invaded and, as I mentioned, was one of George Soros' creations. For nine years Iran, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent, Pakistan, joined the mujahideen in its fight against the Soviet Union. 

Of course everyone knows the results of the Soviet-Afghanistan war; after nine years of bloodshed the Russians withdrew, humiliated. But they were not finished because they needed someone to counter bin Laden, who became a legend after the war. They found that someone in Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri in 1996:

Check to Soros.

But let me back up. Our involvement in Afghanistan was billed as our need to defeat Soviet aggression during the Cold War, but far more was at play. Afghanistan, like Syria today, was a proxy war between the Russians and George Soros. The Carter administration, like the Obama administration, was filled with Soros puppets:



When Reagan came along, he was understandably concerned about Soviet expansion and quickly threw himself into the battle. Unfortunately, in the process he was unwittingly doing George Soros' bidding; Soros was all-too-happy to throw himself behind the KGB-installed Ayatollah, undoubtedly taking perverse pleasure in the unexpected turn-of-events while protecting his monetary interests in the region. Following is a summary of his "philanthropic" efforts throughout the years (for some reason the NGO link is not working; simply copy/paste it to your browser):

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/soros.pdf


BTW, how many people think Saddam Hussein was simply an opportunist who decided to take advantage of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and attacked Iran? Think again:


The Iran-Iraq War was yet another proxy war. The Kremlin used an age-old tactic and opened a second front in hopes that between the two conflicts Iran would be defeated, which of course we all know did not succeed.

Which brings us close to that beautiful Tuesday morning forever marred by death and destruction. We are not there yet, but we are closing in. What happens when Hitler's man teams up with Stalin's man? Or did they ever really team up? I will address that in the next installment.

TEASER: Even I have no idea how this part of the chess game plays out yet.


Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Americans Have Been Had Part One - The Shah

[Author's Note: Since this is not War College, I am going to keep this as simple as possible, so please do not inundate me with lists of things I "forgot". Comments are always welcome; I just do not want a mile-long laundry list. :-)]

We are going to watch a chess match between Hitler and Stalin, beginning in 1979.

Raise your hand if you think you know who backed the Shah of Iran? Was it "America", or was it George Soros?

It went something like this: By the late '70's, George Soros was heavily invested financially in Iran, having already made a fortune when the price of oil quadrupled in 1973. Conversely, the former Soviet Union had a love-hate relationship with Iran. Since the Bolshevik Revolution, relations were very much on-again, off-again, and the Shah was no different. Of major concern was the northern region where many Russians had settled after 1917 (Azerbaijan). Pahlavi was without question a brute who, under the guise of a semi-democratic life for Iran's citizens, was at the same time terrorizing them through his SAVAK (secret police). 

So Russia intervened and installed the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Check to Soros.

Don't believe me? Regular readers will recall I have mentioned that Khomeini was trained by the KGB (that information coming from Ion Mihai Pacepa):
 




The Soviet Union immediately had problems, which they should have foreseen. "If you sleep with dogs, you will get fleas." The Russians have a long history of playing with terrorists (whom they despise but who are viewed as "Useful Idiots"). Things quickly got out-of-control:


And the first ones to pay the price were Americans. The Iranian Hostage Crisis was probably the most humiliating experience in our history, but since the Carter administration (like our current one) was filled with Soros' puppets we fumbled around until Reagan took control. Additionally, Carter was no doubt terrified of the Soviet Union (again, like our current administration) and Soros was enjoying the show.

Nor was Soros done. Far from it. You see, when I was researching KGB-trained terrorists, I kept looking for one name in particular. I looked high and low, to no avail. I really could not understand it because the list is quite long, but this person was nowhere to be found. Now we know why (hopefully everyone watched the video I posted in the introduction). This is where the chess board gets extremely complicated.

Osama bin Laden was George Soros' baby.

Check to the Soviet Union.

To Be Continued


Monday, November 14, 2016

Americans Have Been Had - Introduction

In this series, we are going to take a trip down memory lane. The reason we are doing that is because Americans have been sold a bill of goods.
 
We owe this trip to Glenn Beck. I stopped watching him a while back because he was saying and doing some outrageous things, but I should have reminded myself not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
 
Today someone recirculated the following interview on Twitter:
 
So I began a search of foreign media outlets. The results were astounding. I wrote the following article about George Soros last year, but it barely scratched the surface:

 
I have learned much since then, and all of the election shenanigans had me getting very close to what I have just discovered. I knew Putin was supporting Donald Trump's election and wanted to keep Hillary out, which seemingly was confirmed today by the following announcement out of Russia:
 
I also knew Putin has a bounty on George Soros' head.
 
What I did not know is that this turf war between the Russians and George Soros has been going on for decades.

Hang on for the ride, readers.
 
In Part One we will go back to the late '70's.

SPOILER ALERT: If you think you know Iran-Contra, think again. 


Friday, October 21, 2016

Disinformation Campaign

Everybody STOP! Just stop the presses. Something is very, very wrong. There is so much conflicting "information" coming in it defies credulity. Here are just a few of the high points.

For three days I have been seeing stories that Barack Obama has rounded up 9,000 ISIS fighters from Mosul, along with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself, and is transporting them to Syria to fight Russia. First, the last I heard "Caliph Ibrahim" was in Sirte. While it is possible he has recovered from his "poisoning" and decided to commit suicide (since we advertised the attack), I find the idea of Barry overtly doing something like this to be implausible.

Next, this morning I watched a live stream from Kirkuk, where a ground fight was occurring between those in Kirkuk (including Russians) and the Islamic State. I know the people I heard on the audio were Russian because they were speaking Russian. After the live stream ended, I saw three different reports that it was ISIS and that during the attack fifteen women were killed, along with an Islamic State imam. Three different reports. One from Russia, one from Israel, and the other I sought out as confirmation: The Daesh Daily. Now, I am unfamiliar with this journal, but it appears to be on the up-and-up. I do not know for sure.

Then I saw tweets from Iraqis saying it was indeed the Islamic State. THEN reports began coming out saying Russia had performed an air strike, and that THEY were responsible for the deaths. I watched that live stream for two hours and never saw an air strike. While it is possible they struck after the stream ended, bear in mind the reported deaths came in BEFORE the stories about an air strike.

Next, WikiLeaks and someone calling himself "0Hour1__" on Twitter are in a turf war over the DDoS attacks. 0Hour says it was the Clinton Camp. WikiLeaks posted a tweet thanking its "supporters" and asking them to stop because they have "proved [their] point". 

Finally, someone on Twitter posted a video this afternoon purporting to be Julian Assange emerging from the Ecuadorian embassy after having been surrounded by police this morning. The tweet was dated today. The YouTube video was dated today. I was very busy, so it took me over an hour to get through the first fifteen minutes. When I did, I discovered they were talking about Bradley Manning, Donald Rumsfeld, and the war in Iraq! This video is at least a decade old! Yet it purports to be from today.

I cannot say at this time what in hell is going on except for this: Disinformation. Pure and simple. Someone (or more than one someone) is trying to confuse the hell out of us, and he/they are doing a damned fine job of it. Here is my strong advice: Unless you have at least three independent sources, do not believe anything you see in the media until further notice.
 
UPDATE
 
Sergey Lavrov says that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, along with many Islamic State fighters, left Mosul "long ago":
 
 
As of this morning, Russia Today reports an American air strike hit a funeral procession thirty kilometers outside of Kirkuk, killing eighty people. As of this afternoon, Baghdad maintains it was an Islamic State ground assault.
 
Also this morning, "0Hour1__" tweeted out a meme implying that supporters of Donald Trump were responsible for the DDoS attacks.
 
Everything is as clear as mud.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Russia, Syria, and Hillary Clinton

Those who follow me on Twitter know that as of this morning I have decided to endorse Donald Trump, or at least his ticket. With all of the uproar, there is still the possibility that he will be replaced by Governor Pence. Nevertheless, I am voting GOP.

As my readers know, I have numerous suspicions and concerns about Trump. I have also watched as Russia has jumped into this election like nothing I have ever seen in my life. Ordinarily when the Russians interfere it is covert. This time all the stops are being pulled out, and it took me a long time to understand why. 

Between all of the WikiLeaks dumps, and the speeches I have heard Vladimir Putin make in recent months, and actions he has taken, I was getting extremely nervous. I felt like I was in the middle of a cattle drive. Why was Russia pushing our election so damned hard? Putin is not a stupid man, and he is certainly not suicidal. So why all of the sabre-rattling? Then I began hearing people in Congress calling for "no-fly" zones in Syria, and all I could think was "Cuban Missile Crisis" (see my previous posts). 

Last night, after a conversation with one of my "followers", I had some time to sit in total quiet and think. As I mulled over what he and I discussed, suddenly a line from last week's debate popped into my head. I remember thinking it was the funniest moment in the debate. In fact, I tweeted, "Joke of the Debate: Hillary Clinton 'took on' Vladimir Putin. I am sure he was shaking in his KGB boots."

And then it hit me. Putin used what is known as a "back channel" to tell America we would go to war if Hillary Clinton is elected. I thought, "Really? She is not that stupid." Oh, yes she is. Clinton is positively delusional, and her history of regime change is well-established. If she is elected she will go after Assad and, unlike Barry, Putin does not move his "red lines". 

So, it is with great reluctance but with the assurance that it is the right thing to do that I am voting the GOP ticket.

May God be with us.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Donald Trump Must Go

Today has been like nothing I have ever seen before. The propaganda has been overwhelming, but WikiLeaks said it so it must be true. Or so everyone seems to think. Rumor. Innuendo. Finger-pointing. Calls to subvert the "down ticket" as punishment for not backing Trump. One person went so far as to say, "Trump, or leave the country!"
 
Where are we? Sudan?
 
I have been voting for 37 years, and have never seen anything close to this. I was aghast and physically shaking as I read these rants. What are people thinking?
 
At least one person is "on it". Brian Fallon (yes, from the Clinton camp, but bear with me), who engaged in an overnight Twitter war with Julian Assange. He knows the Trump/Russia connection, but has not yet figured out that WikiLeaks is the Kremlin. Do my readers remember when I wrote about this?
 
 
I realize this is very confusing for my readers, and I urge everyone to review the link I provide at the end of this article. Russia plays both sides in everything. Yes, he is playing Hillary's side, but he is also playing Trump's, which is why Fallon knows all about it. Remember "misinformation"?
 
And then we have the Trump/Ryan feud. I am not a fan of Ryan's, but he is being set up. Of course, readers know about the tape and Trump's allegation that Ryan leaked it. "Coincidentally", WikiLeaks then posted a document "proving" Ryan knew about Hillary's uranium deal with Russia. The letter was to AG Loretta Lynch, and was dated 2015. 2015? How is that evidence of what Paul Ryan did or did not know during Hillary's tenure as Secretary of State (2009-2012)? I studied law, so let me answer the question: It isn't.
 
Finally "proof" came out that Ryan had indeed leaked the tape. The "proof" comes from Trump's former campaign president, Corey Stewart:
 
 
No lawyer is needed here. Just watch a Lifetime movie. This is a set-up. Like I said on Twitter, if voters want to replace Ryan because of his policies, fine. But not because of monstrous, Russian-propelled lies.
 
And the idea that we would gleefully sabotage the down ticket and hand everything throughout the country to the Marxists is more terrifying than the Islamic State. People, what are you talking about? We are sabotaging our own election. Must we review how the KGB works?
 
 
Where is the United States of America? I cannot find her anywhere.
 
As things stand, the Marxists will control the new U.S.S.A. as of January 20, 2017. If Hillary wins, that goes without saying. But, if Trump wins, he can feign being stymied by "evil Congress" while the Marxists run the show anyway. Yes, I said "feign". Remember this?
 
 
Our only "out" is to get Trump off the ticket. Fire him, or force him to resign. But get him out of here.
 
Or America will disappear forever.
 
Yuri Andropov: "We will take America without firing a shot!"

Sunday, October 9, 2016

The Homelessness Quagmire

As I was out panhandling this morning, a lady made a sarcastic comment as she drove by. "You gotta tell me how you got into that situation."

I felt like saying, "Because I love getting sunburned for $5 a day!" Or, "Too long for Twitter!" Instead, I pretended not to hear.

Once a person becomes homeless, there are few resources available unless the person has five or more years to wait. My regular readers will recall my situation began two-and-a-half years ago in Washington, D.C. when I was relocating so I could observe the Benghazi hearings. My motel room was broken into and everything was stolen. Since my bank card phone number was on my cell phone, and for some dumb reason their number is not listed in the 800 directory, by the time I was able to call them it had been cleaned out. That quickly, I was homeless.

After asking the Secret Service what the rules were concerning sleeping on the street, I selected a place right outside of a "soup kitchen". Many people said I should go to a park where it was more comfortable. The closest one was Rock Creek Park. Two words. Chandra Levy. I decided it was far better to be someplace where there was traffic in case something happened, uncomfortable or not.

The "soup kitchen" is only open Monday through Friday, so I went hungry on the weekends. Occasionally someone would see me there and donate something: cash, cigarettes, umbrella, blanket. The "soup kitchen" also provided social services. At least, that is what they advertise. I signed up and spoke with the counselor, who told me of D.C.'s "rapid rehousing program" and also contacted the VA who supposedly had their own "rapid rehousing program". She assured me I would have a place to live within 30 days.

I waited six months. Through thunderstorms, rape attempts (a man tried on three consecutive nights until I procured a knife; Metro did not show up the first two times but when I told them they were going to need the meat wagon they appeared the third night and he was arrested), an assault (a drugged-out woman blindsided me and gave me a black eye; she too was arrested), etc. Before anyone mentions shelters, unless the hypothermia alert has been issued there is only one. 2nd and D, which is filled with convicted felons, drug addicts, and the mentally ill (some of whom are unpredictably violent). That is why I chose to remain on the streets, although I found a better location after about three months right beside GWU.

Anyway, after all of that, I realized I needed to make a change. I needed a place where no matter what the weather was, some place was always open. Which is why I chose Las Vegas. Readers will ask how I got there. I have a disability check, but those who are familiar with Social Security know it is not enough to live on. Even if a person finds an apartment for that amount of money, the person will have no electricity, no phone, no furniture, no food; there will be no money left over.

Here is where I admit some of this is my fault. If I could discipline myself enough to just sleep out in the streets for about six months, I could save up more than enough money to get out of this quagmire. The problem is, after three weeks or so of sleeping on the sidewalk, dealing with the occasional nut job, getting eaten up by bugs, dealing with the heat/cold/rain, I get tired. I want a bed. I want peace-and-quiet. So I go to a motel room. And it is extremely difficult to leave after a day or two. Extremely. Contrast concrete with a mattress, and guess which one I prefer? And there goes my check.

My regular readers know I have checked into all of the resources here, with the same results I got in D.C. People think the government has all this stuff just out there waiting for stupid people to go and take advantage of it all. The truth is, the government is a bureaucracy and is never that simple. Especially for the homeless.

So, to the ignorant person who posed the question: I hope you never have to find out.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Chess a la Putin, Part Deux

[NOTE: I wrote the first article on this subject July 27th.]

I am exhausted, so it took me hours to piece this latest WikiLeaks thing together. Between being homeless, having been ill recently, and now being on medication for my illness, I was very slow in figuring out what Putin is doing this time. But as I watched the cars drive by tonight, it hit me. Hillary's voter base.

I tweeted "BULLSHIT!" on the Podesta file the minute I saw it on the wire. The idea of the Clinton Clan fighting the Iran Deal is absurd on-its-face to anyone who recalls this woman's history. But, since the very people who worship Hillary also worship Jullian Assange for things he has done in the past (as do ignorant Trump fans, but that is for another article), some just may believe it because they also think the Iran Deal deprived Iran of nukes and therefore brought world peace. 

And her support drops.

The timing is also interesting. Just twenty-four hours after the brouhaha with Trump began.

I still do not know why Putin has turned on Hillary. Maybe he is just tired of her. But it is clear he has a new BFF who openly admires him, which feeds his over-sized ego. And, it does not hurt that Donald Trump has given Russia a little bit of that green stuff and will likely continue to do so if elected.

Maybe I just answered my own question.

Friday, October 7, 2016

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 2016

I thought I was having a heart attack. Chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing. Which would be understandable given the news of the past few days. But, the doctor says I have pleurisy and should be improving after a couple of days of medication.

Pleurisy has a number of causes, and I will bet being scared out of my mind does not help (and chain-smoking my way through the past couple of weeks probably has nothing to do with it, either). Nukes in Cuba, Kerry making a laughingstock of America with Sergey Lavrov. Lindsey Graham sabre-rattling with idiotic statements about war with Russia over Syria. Putin swearing we will have war with Russia if we interfere, and openly mocking out "press secretary" on Twitter!

Jack Kennedy is rolling over in his grave.

While Barry plays golf.

In October of 1962, we had men who were as terrified as I am. Who were leaders. Who loved America. Who sweated night-and-day for two weeks. And who eventually stopped Khruschev before disaster struck. 
 
In October of 2016, Barry plays golf.

(Doctor, are you positive I am not having a heart attack?)

TO THE JOINT CHIEFS: I have wracked my brain over this, and I only see one possible "out". Do not say a word. Not one. No military analysts on CNN. No politicians pounding podiums making red-faced speeches. No sabre-rattling. No play-by-plays. Not. One. Word.

Just park nukes in Romania.

Monday, September 26, 2016

America Has Gone to Hell

Can't a girl spend a couple of days in the hospital without all hell breaking loose in the world? I guess not. Before I get to my personal update, let me first review the nonsense that has occurred in America in my absence.

A shooting in Charlotte (a black cop shooting a black person) has resulted in riots and at least one innocent person being killed. Congratulations, Black Lives Matter. Who cares who dies, so long as you get to loot, riot, and run America the way you see fit? But, nah, there is no resemblance between you and the Islamic State. Not much.

Another shooting, this time in Tulsa. A young white female police officer shoots a black man who not only disobeyed police orders but who reached into his vehicle for God-only-knows-what. I see pundits on Twitter, talking about how cops are taught to shoot first, ask questions later. The investigation is ongoing, and there will be a trial, but let me ask all of the arm chair police officers in this country: If you tell someone to be still, and instead he turns around, heads for his car, and reaches through the door for something, do you send out for donuts and coffee and wait to see if he is giving you an early birthday present?

Back to Charlotte. This seems to have been a case of mistaken identity, but why in God's name did he pull out a gun? Was that supposed to prove to officers they had the wrong man? Do people think anymore?

And then there is Washington. An “Hispanic” man kills five people. “Hispanic”. How do we know this man is not Muslim? Because the media does not want to believe it? Because we know his religious affiliation? I am quite certain the FBI still cannot find its way to Facebook, so we have zero facts on which to base anything.

So much for arm chair police work.

Maybe people should stop trying to judge from the sidelines and wait for something those in law enforcement call “evidence”.

As I am writing this, I just heard the latest news conference out of Charlotte, and with it one of the dumbest questions I have heard since a reporter asked Donald Rumsfeld “When will this war be over?” five minutes after we began bombing Tora Bora. The question was, “Why is it that police are taught to shoot-to-kill?” I have watched police procedures evolve over the years, and here is the brief of it. Most street cops are not trained snipers. I urge this reporter to shoot a target in the knee (not that this would not enrage others who would think that was “cruel”). We are taught to shoot at body mass. It is the largest and easiest target to hit. Would the reporter prefer officers fire off a barrage of bullets in an attempt to wound the suspect, possibly killing a woman and/or her baby behind him? How about a “warning shot”? Well, those were outlawed decades ago due to something called “gravity”. You know, what goes up must come down? This is about public safety, people. Pure and simple. If and when an officer has the need to pull his gun the goal is not to shoot an apple off the man's head. The goal is to put him down. Safely, and quickly.

Again, more arm chair law enforcement. Maybe more people should undergo police training and spend some time on a “beat” before they jump to these Rambo conclusions.

P.S. After I wrote this, the Charlotte video was released. Lost in all of the “Did he have a gun, or was he standing there minding his own business?” is the cop calling for a medical bag afterward. Regardless of whether this turns out to be a “bad shoot” or not, one thing is clear: This was not murder-by-cop, or the officer would have stood there and watched the suspect bleed out.

One other thing: Now, according to the family lawyer, the suspect had a TBI. So now we want our law enforcement offices to do psychological assessments on everyone they encounter? “Excuse me, Sir, but would you put the gun/book/cell phone/whatever-that-is down so we can call in the duty shrink?” Gimmie a break.

* * * * *

Two controversial issues. The first: Gennifer Flowers. She had an affair with Bill Clinton for ten years. Now she complains. Maybe I am a heartless bitch. But she did it, and she did it willingly. Now this is Hillary's fault? No, I have no use for Miss Thing (Hillary), but you play, you pay. Sorry you did not get what you wanted out of it, but obviously you got something out of it or you would not have done it. Sorry, but that was your moral decision.

Second. Juanita Broderick. I have never heard where Bill Clinton held her down at gunpoint, but even if he did, having been raped myself I am always put off by people who still cry over something that happened over thirty years ago. Maybe I am heartless, but having been there I learned when I was nineteen-years-old...when I woke up screaming in the middle of the night...that the only reason my perpetrator was still victimizing me from 3,000 miles away was because I was allowing him to do so. He has since died. Should I dig him up out of his grave and beat the shit out of him? Would that solve something? Unless you were held down at knife-point, and even then, there is a point where you are allowing your attacker to continue attacking you.

How many rapists tell their victims, “You will always remember me”? For God's sake, you let them control you? The best thing you can do is say, “Fine. You took my body for a minute. But it has always been mine, and you have zero control over it now.” THAT is winning, ladies. THAT is how you conquer this. NOT by crying over it decades later.

* * * * *

So, now to my current situation. As readers will recall, The Shade Tree told me my stay was over. The VA failed me (big surprise). Clark County Social Services failed me (another big surprise). So, I found myself sitting on a street corner for the day, not feeling well at all. Finally the pain got the better of me and I called an ambulance. I ended up spending a couple of days in the hospital from lactic acid, which occurs when the body does not receive enough fluids. After umpteen IV's (both saline and antibiotic) I was released.

The problem was I had already spent what little money I had on a motel room, so I spent the day panhandling. It was a good day, but not enough to get another motel room. So I decided to stop for a hot dog and go back out (sometimes late at night someone will drop by if they see you sitting by yourself on a street corner). While I was there, someone hit a jackpot. He had no ID (I know; he should not have been in there in the first place). I did not know the guy at all, but he promised me a cut if I would cash it in for him. I have no idea what, if any, gaming laws I may have broken, but being in need of money I agreed and he paid me. So I went to find a motel room. Well, there is some stupid music festival in Las Vegas this weekend (as if concerts are only available here), and the only room I could find after much walking was a place called the Chalet Motel, which advertised Wifi and low rates. Well, I got a decent rate, but no Wifi. When I complained that they needed to reset the access point, the clerk shrugged and said he knew nothing about it. When I complained the following morning, the new clerk shrugged and said she knew nothing about it. Meanwhile, their marquee advertises Wifi.

Did I mention that this room, for which I paid $64, not only had no Wifi but had no ash tray...and apparently was bring-your-own-trash-can? That's right. No trash can. And I do not even know how to describe the “drapes”. They look like a huge tarp into which hooks were inserted and nailed into the wall. The air conditioner? Thankfully, it works, but there is no adjusting the temperature. In fact, there are no knobs. Yet, the marquee says the rooms have been “newly remodeled”. By whom? A drunk ninety-five-year-old former interior designer?

Yes, at least it does have a bed, and a television. But $64? Maybe $34. Maybe. Especially since the bathtub looks like it was brought here from a tornado zone and there is a glaring gap in the tile that brings sunshine into the room.

Don't get me wrong. It is better than sleeping in an alley. But, then again, an alley does not cost me $64 a night.

I wonder what the BBB will think about all of this when I report it? Not to mention the Chamber of Commerce? Booking.com? All the other websites that book for this motel? We shall find out.
Thankfully, my disability comes through in a few days, but unless I get lucky some more I will be sleeping in an alley somewhere until then. (No, I am not delusional enough to think there will be a repeat of what happened the other night. It does make for a great story, though.)

As a footnote, false advertising means nothing to the Chalet Motel. Their marquee advertises $249 per week. Nope. Try $300. This morning I renewed my room for one last night because I am not feeling well again. Despite it being Sunday (which is an off-night in Vegas), I was charged another $65. Again, the marquee says $35. So, who cares what you advertise? Apparently in Las Vegas ads are mere suggestions. In my next life I want to own a motel here. I could make a fortune stealing people blind.


Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Homeless, Veterans, and The Shade Tree

Things have gone from bad to worse at The Shade Tree since I last posted on this subject. After having meetings with four different people in the wake of my articles, I was assured that changes would be made. I am not sure exactly what changes they meant, but we have certainly seen the situation deteriorate.
Did I mention the man who was admitted to the second floor late last week? Yes, you read that right. I saw him at dinner, asked some people on the second floor about it, and then went straight to Erika (readers remember her from last week). The man was standing just outside the advocate's office in the dining room, and I pointed at him saying, “Is that supposed to be a woman?” Erika looked me straight in the eye and replied, “Yes.” I said, “You mean the one with the goatee and the biceps?” She looked me straight in the eye and replied again, “Yes.” Just how stupid does she think we are?! How hard would it be for an abuser to walk in here, posing (not very well) as a woman, and blow his wife away (along with a few residents who are in the wrong place at the wrong time)? It is one thing if advocates think their job is a joke, but they are compromising security at The Shade Tree.
On the third floor (where I am), the family bathroom has been broken for over two weeks now. Rumor has it maintenance is waiting for tiles to come in, while other rumors say there is some main pipe that is broken. Regardless, 102 women and children are now sharing six toilets, six sinks (when two of them are not clogged), and three showers. Those without children are now limited to showering between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and midnight, but almost nightly the families are in the bathroom well after nine o'clock. Tensions are even higher than what I described last week. With women having to trip over strollers just to use the basic bathroom facility, mothers who insist on turning the bathroom into a beauty salon, children who scream like they are being killed when their mothers try to take them to the toilet and/or the shower, and advocates (remember these are the “floor monitors”) who allow the children to stay up past their eight o'clock bedtimes watching television, readers can imagine how easily tempers are flaring.
Additionally, attempts to find housing are a complete waste of time. The Army veteran I wrote about and I both have exit dates next week. Our time at The Shade Tree is up. Yet, we have no place to go. The Veteran's Administration no longer works with The Shade Tree because of all of its problems, and the VA has problems of its own. They claim to be out of money and the only housing available through them is a place called WestCare, which is a drug rehabilitation facility (transitional housing is full, and contrary to what our case manager told us VASH/HUD does not take people who do not have income, which the Army veteran does not). The Army veteran was told the VA would try to find her a bed at WestCare, but for obvious reasons she is not interested. As for me, I found a place last week at Veteran's Village. The catch is I need to put down a deposit, first month's rent, and then wait for a room to come available. I do not have enough money to put everything down and then wait indefinitely for availability, and they will not allow me to put down a partial payment to hold the next opening. So, I went to Clark County Social Services to see about getting a $400 voucher through their program so that I could combine it with what I have to get a room reserved. I waited for four hours just to be told they are not taking appointments until next month; they are backlogged. So, I am looking at buying a $20 sleeping bag and finding a new street corner on which to sleep.
Let me tell readers a little more about my Army friend. If you recall, she is sixty-years-old, her ID is expired, she has obtained a job but is unable to start until she gets current identification. She went to a place called “Hero School”, which is led by a former homeless man who now tries to help the homeless get on their feet. They paid to get her most recent marriage license, but when she went to the DMV they wanted all three of her marriage licenses. In addition, Hero School misplaced her original birth certificate, so now she needs that as well. When she went back, the secretary (or whatever her title is) informed her that “at some point you have to help yourself”. With what money?! These things are not free, and frankly I have never been in another state that has so many hoops through which a woman must jump in order to obtain a state ID. Never. And I have been all over the country. Nevada DMV wants to be able to trace your last name from birth to the current day, regardless of whether or not your social security card is in your current name. It is much easier just to obtain a passport (but not less expensive)!
But the two of us are not the only ones experiencing problems. I do not know what The Shade Tree is doing with their donations, but one thing they are not providing is food. Yes, they make a stab at it; cookies and/or muffins for breakfast, a child-sized sloppy joe for dinner. One day we had a half a scoop of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup and a salad too small even for a child as our lunch. Yet, if readers look up The Shade Tree on a charity rating site online, they will find that 93% of their funds go to the residents. I do not know where the referenced residents live, but it certainly is not The Shade Tree. Some very creative accounting is going on.
I fail to see how a shelter receiving federal funds to feed children can send those children to school lacking in sleep and hyped up on sugar-filled breakfasts. Meanwhile, there was one brief bright spot in all of this. Her name is Angela, and she is the head of case management. She is extremely down-to-earth, and last week she assured me I would not be paying $90, I would not be moving to the second floor, and that she had no problem extending my stay for several days if need be. However, I found out yesterday she has resigned and is leaving at the end of this month. Meanwhile, one of the residents filed a complaint yesterday because one of the women threatened to beat up another woman. The latter woman had confronted the first, who was watching movies on her laptop after lights-out (the light was keeping people awake). When the resident turned in the complaint to Erika, she immediately called a meeting of all the advocates and at least one of the case managers, where they spent two hours in a huddle laughing and carrying on. Meanwhile, one of the residents had a medical emergency and was forced to call 911 because there was no advocate on the floor (she is now in the hospital); I found a child screaming in the bathroom like his mother was trying to kill him (imagine walking in to find a woman and a boy in a stall with him shrieking "Mommy, NOOOOOO! STOOOOOOOOOOP! MOMMY, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!"); several children were in the day room throwing full water bottles around like they were footballs; one boy rammed the laundry cart into me (he just started pushing it around and could not see that I was there); in other words, we had total mayhem.
And then, this morning the advocate failed to wake everyone at 5:45 (there are women who work, and with school now in session some have to get their children ready for the bus). When they woke up late a couple of the moms went looking for the advocate, whom they found...asleep.
Frankly, if I were a federal investigator, I would pose as an abused woman, get myself admitted to this place, and record all of this before shutting The Shade Tree down permanently.
The bottom line is, there is no help for people in this shelter. The Shade Tree does just enough to scrape by; other than that, we are all on our own. And veterans cannot even get help from the very agency that exists in order to help them. So, next week I will be blogging from a yet-to-be-determined street corner (well, the nearest fast-food place with WiFi, anyway), and who knows what is going to happen to the Army veteran.
ATTENTION ALL HOMELESS WOMEN IN LAS VEGAS: If you are pinning your hopes on The Shade Tree, you have no hope.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Mahmoud Abbas, KGB (Revisited)

Do my readers recall when I posted the following article in April, 2015, making the statement that Mahmoud Abbas was trained by the KGB?

I followed up that article with a series on the KGB, their tactics, and their past and current activities (see May, 2015, ff). Somewhere in there I posted multiple links where I obtained the information about Abu Mazen.

For a year-and-a-half I have been assaulted on social media relentlessly, being called a relic from the Cold War, a fear-monger, a conspiracy theorist and, my personal favorite, a “paid Zionist troll” because, didn't I know that Mossad is the world sponsor of terrorism? In fact, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is really a Mossad agent. Just ask YouTube.

So I was amused yesterday when I saw the “breaking news” on Twitter that Mahmoud Abbas had been trained by the KGB. Really? We had no idea, did we? This news was “broken” by reporter Oren Nahari of Channel 1 news in Israel, followed closely by Barak Ravid of Haaretz, as well as an astonished tweet by Knesset reporter Lahav Harkov. I just had to laugh.

But the real question is, why is this news “breaking” now? The answer is clear: The “Palestinians” are having an election to determine who will be the next president of the Palestinian Authority. After all, Abu Mazen is now twelve years into his two-year term. Does anyone else smell Eau de Mossad?

You see, while the Arabs have worked with the Russians for many decades, neither one likes nor trusts the other. And while allegations are undoubtedly being hurled that this is yet another “Zionist conspiracy”, the charge alone is enough to make the “Palestinians” squeamish. To what end? Well, personally I see a decided advantage here for Israel, because people are under the insane impression that Fatah is the “peaceful” arm of the PLO (which is a crock). If the “Palestinians” decide Mazen is no longer trustworthy, and choose to elect a Khaled Mashaal or an Ismael Haniyeh to office, no one can doubt that either one is Hamas (the “violent” wing of the PLO), which will then put countries like the United States into one heck of a bind.

It is one thing for us to send “aid” to the Palestinian Authority and then express “outrage” when the money reaches the hands of terrorists. But if a known terrorist is running the PA, then America (and other idiots who cannot see their hands in front of their eyes) can no longer feign ignorance. Not only that, but the United Nations and those members who play “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” will no longer be able to deny that organizations like UNRWA are not donating to the poor, pitiful “Palestinians” but are in fact aiding and abetting a known terrorist organization.

But there is another possible, more dire, consequence to this “news”; it could put a price on Abbas' head. Remember that Russia, while “fighting” the Islamic State, has also been bombing “rebel” positions in Syria. Some of those “rebels” are “Palestinians”and/or Hamas. What will be the reaction to the news that their leader has been consorting with their enemy?

The next few weeks are going to be extremely entertaining, and I will be posting more articles as new information comes to light.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Homeless in Las Vegas: The Shade Tree, Part Two

Since I posted my last article a few days ago, the situation at The Shade Tree has gotten even more ridiculous. Over the holiday weekend an email went out notifying the advocates that a list of people were to be moved to the second floor. I was one of the people on that list. The person who sent out that email is my case manager, and she has been out sick for days. No one said anything to me about paying the aforementioned $90; I was simply to move downstairs which, if readers recall, means I would be out in thirty days.

There is something I failed to mention in my last post. While the Army veteran I wrote about was never told anything about needing to pay, those who came in after her (I am one of them) were told we had ninety days before we would be required to pay the monthly fee. Last night, a Navy veteran was told she either had to move to the second floor or pay $180! Back "rent" for August and "rent" for the month of September. She has not even been here sixty days yet, and has never been given any kind of a written nor verbal notice saying she was in arrears. No court in the land would enforce her paying for the month of August, but The Shade Tree thinks it has everyone by the short hairs. 

Well, they do not have me by the short hairs, nor will they. Here is what is happening: One of The Shade Tree employees' paycheck bounced. Other employees report their paychecks have been shorted. One Shade Tree employee was seen at EZ Pawn with items donated to The Shade Tree. He told the clerk that they were items that were "just sitting in [his] garage, collecting dust". What he did not realize is a Shade Tree resident witnessed the transaction. I should also note that the question has circulated around the shelter since my arrival as to where the donated items were going since they never make their way to us (the residents). Now it appears we know.

One woman at The Shade Tree has six children (save the political comeback; the facts are what they are). She found temporary work, but must come up with $630 ($90 x 7), or be out. It is clear to me that something very serious has happened to The Shade Tree financially. Maybe someone embezzled the funds. Maybe someone cannot count and simply misspent the funds. (Oh, did I mention that their accountant quit?) Regardless of the cause, the residents are now being harassed for money they either did not know they owed, or were told the money would be due later on after they had stayed for a set period of time.

I should also note that the Veteran's Administration refers homeless veterans to this facility thinking the veterans are being taken care of. The VA is blissfully unaware that veterans are being lied to and hosed financially. I think someone should tell them.

Oh.

Wait.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Homeless in Las Vegas: The Shade Tree

My regular readers know that I am a veteran and have been homeless for over two years now; the circumstances are not important. Two months ago, I was introduced to a shelter called The Shade Tree. I almost did not apply because I did not know if they even had room (they would not reveal that information over the phone), and I had some limited experience with shelters when I lived in D.C. I was not impressed. There is one main shelter in our nation's capitol (though more are opened during the winter months whenever the forecast calls for temperatures below freezing), and it is filled with drug junkies, alcoholics, felons, and the mentally ill. But The Shade Tree purported to be different, so I applied and was accepted.

I was very relieved. I was no longer sleeping on the sidewalk in an alley, waking up at all unknown noises, encountering the random insane person who had no clue who he was nor where he was but was certain he needed to beat me up (or worse). I now have a bunk in a room filled with approximately forty women. There are families in two other dorms on my floor, and more on the floor below me (I am on the third floor). The food is not five-star cuisine, but since I am not staying at the Ritz Carlton I have not complained. I have constantly reminded myself where I was just a few weeks ago and I have chosen to be grateful, ever mindful of God's anger when the Israelites complained about the lack of variety in their diet while they were wandering in the desert.

But the circumstances have changed, and now I must speak out. Not because of myself; I have decided that, unless something changes, I am moving into a motel at the end of September and will go back to panhandling in order to try to keep a roof over my head (my disability will barely cover rent; I am on waiting lists for affordable housing but who knows how long that will take). This is about injustices that are occurring at the Shade Tree which are affecting other women far more drastically than myself.

The first woman is an Army veteran who, when she was taken in, was told as a veteran she could stay here rent-free until she was able to save enough money to move out. When her unemployment insurance ran out she was moved to the second floor (which is considered a punishment; women on that floor must be out by 7:30 in the morning and are not allowed to return until 3:45 that afternoon). She had difficulty finding a job because her out-of-state identification had expired and Nevada has insane rules for obtaining ID from the DMV (many women are being forced to hunt down old marriage licenses and divorce certificates to prove the transition from birth names to current names—regardless of whether or not they have a Social Security card in their current name). She is sixty years old, so she has that against her, and her health is bad. She should be on disability but has not obtained it to date. However, she finally found a job, not that it mattered. The Shade Tree is still throwing her out the last week in September, even if she were to agree to pay the $90 they are now asking women to pay.
Another woman (I will call her “Susie”) has been working Monday through Friday since she got here, paying the $90 she was required to pay. But like myself, she has noticed things happening here in the past month that caused her to rethink giving money to the shelter. Let me preface this story by explaining The Shade Tree has lots of rules, some of which are silly but that I tolerated because I was grateful to be off the streets. Some of those rules include a curfew of 6:30, no soda or food above the first floor, no “tenting” (hanging towels, etc., around a bunk for a semblance of privacy), and the like. Yet, when a woman was caught smoking meth in the bathroom and was reported to the advocate (the “floor monitor”, for lack of a better explanation of the job title), the advocate replied that if they searched everyone for drugs half the beds in this facility would be empty. WELL?! So what! Make room for the people who are turned away because you have meth addicts taking up space!

Anyway, Susie decided not to pay on September 1st. Not just because of this incident but because, despite a contract requiring them to do so, The Shade Tree has not been providing sack lunches for those people who work. Additionally, we have been receiving concentration camp rations of food (I have gone out to buy myself a real meal on more than one occasion), and the food that is being served is of even lesser quality than when I first arrived. Meanwhile, The Shade Tree is now forcing everyone to pay rent, regardless of their circumstances, or they are being moved to the second floor (which is also a 30-day stay; anyone there is kicked out at the end of that time). Susie's question is, “On what is that $90 being spent?” They even run out of paper plates, forks, bread, milk, water...basic items for any shelter whether anyone pays rent there or not! Needless to say, Susie is being moved to the second floor as I type this article.

It gets even worse. A mother took her infant to the hospital because he kept tugging on his ear. The doctor poured hydrogen peroxide into his ear...and three bed bugs came out! I have been fortunate; I have not encountered them personally. But I have seen more than one woman with the characteristic tracks on some portion of her body indicating her bunk (indeed, the entire shelter) needs to be fumigated, but no action has been taken. There is also black mold in the walls; as a result many of us have chronic respiratory symptoms.

For myself, the icing on the cake was last Wednesday when the elevator broke for the second time in the past two months. I have had three knee surgeries (among other problems) and negotiating stairs causes great pain. That day, I was out when the elevator was placed out-of-order so I had to climb the stairs to get to my floor. When I arrived, I popped three non-prescription pain pills, which I followed later for a total of ten that day. At dinnertime, one of the women offered to bring my dinner back from downstairs. A half hour later she returned without any food, telling me that one of the advocates, Erika (her real name) had forbidden anyone taking food out of the dining area. Now, I am not the only person here with physical problems; some ladies have walkers, and some are in such bad shape they do not even participate in fire drills. Yet, Erika was so obsessed with a nonsensical rule that circumstances meant nothing to her. If we go hungry, so what? The rules have to be enforced, you know.

Just not for everyone. Two women staying on the third floor are not working, are not veterans, and are not in school; the only thing they do each week is meet with their case managers and attend the three required “Life Skills” classes (each one hour long). Other than that, it is a perpetual vacation for them. The rules are enforced selectively; while some women go out drinking and come back with no problem, others are kicked out if they blow so much as a .001 on the Breathalyzer (which is only given to women randomly, with no clear pattern as to who, when, or why).

Then there are the fights. Some of the women here are young, and have been toughened by jail, prison, and/or the streets, and have no qualms about threatening to kick someone's ass (or actually doing so), throwing chairs, punching doors...and all of this in a place where some of the women are here because they have been physically and/or sexually abused by their significant others. Add to this environment the growing discontent over the food situation, and readers can imagine the results.

If people knew the conditions here at The Shade Tree, not only would donors stop donating but if someone were to notify the federal government (yes, they receive federal funds), that money would be yanked out of here so fast the Director would not know what happened. And I just wonder what the media would make of all this.

Oh.

Wait.

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