Humpday Happenings...
A slightly MORE humid and a slightly LESS hot day awaits us in the Heartland today.
We got some THUNDERSTORMS last night and early this AM...imagine THAT!
And they are much needed around here...a far cry from the early Springtime showers we had DAILY.
We went from near-floods to near-drought in several weeks in the Midwest.
It's certainly playing holy hell with the farmers' crops, that's for sure.
Gonna be some price rises at the grocery in OUR future...I can feel it. (must be the arthritis acting up again...lol)
Anyway, I said we'd be talking about HUD today, and I am a man of my word, so here we go, boys & girls.
*** I want to start out with a story about the (here we go again) revitalization of the Pontiac-Creighton area of the city (now a brown-field littered slum trying to find itself)...
Last week I had a post that contained a story about redevelopment on the SE side of Fort Wayne (Tales from the South Side - 28 July), and how one neighbor (Cheryl Williams) said this was a bad idea, and was concerned about "who" would be moving into these houses
And she's 100% correct in her assessment of the situation.
So, NOW, the city is spending some MORE money (which could be better used elsewhere) on more "projects"...like THIS:
For the sake of brevity, here's the link to the article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110803/LOCAL/308039965
The city has ALREADY sunk $4 MILLION into this "future ghetto", and if you remember the story from my post of 26 July, according to the recent Census, blacks are moving FARTHER SOUTH (of the areas being redeveloped)...like to OCEAN SECTOR (out along the city's southern most border).
They've already inundated OUR neighborhood and have turned it into more of a ghettohood, and a lot of once nice houses have been trashed along the way...damn shame.
Now, if it were decent, working-class blacks who were people of good character, I'd not anything to bitch about...but it's the WRONG type of blacks (and some whites, Hispanics and others) that are moving south...the ones YOU pay for every damn month.
The ONE thing that is ALWAYS missing from these stories every time I read one of them is the lack of mention about CRIME.
And CRIME is the reason these areas have suffered and will suffer in the future. But, NO ONE wants to address that...everyone dances the hell around it or avoids it like the plague.
This city spends money like a damn drunken sailor on liberty when it comes to kissing ethnic ass...period.
(anything to keep 'em quiet, eh guys?)
Well, that's the way HUD / Section 8 operates, and if we were truly concerned about cutting the (out-of-control) federal spending, we could always START by ABOLISHING HUD straight away.
Put housing BACK into the hands of the REALTORS...totally. Keep the feds OUT of it.
They've already PROVEN they can't run RAILROADS...or SCHOOLS...or even CAR COMPANIES, so what makes them believe they can run the real estate / housing sector (Barney Frank - Fanny Mae and Freddy mac - major failure), hmm?
*** So the other day, I get this SURVEY from HUD...(okay, let's take a look)
There are THIRTY questions about housing (?), and the first question is:
** Question 1- Is this house, apartment of mobile home:
-Rented
-Occupied without payment or rent (squatting???)
-Owned by you or someone in the household w/ a mortgage or loan
-Owned by you or someone in the household free and clear
-This is not a residential house, apartment, or mobile home.
Well, that seems easy enough so far...I check the 4th box (free & clear)...onto the NEXT question, right?
WRONG...because I answered OTHER than "rented", I am now FINISHED with the damn survey...!
(( "WTF???" ))
Something's wrong here...that was TOO damn "easy".
Let's look at some of the OTHER questions that I WOULD HAVE answered were I on the gov't dole and sponsored by the TAXPAYERS of this nation.
** Question 5: Was this house built in the LAST TWO YEARS (my emphasis)
** Question 6: Do you or any member of this household live OR stay at this address year round?
(If I don't, I guess I'm HOME-LESS, right?)
** Question 7: Is this house, apartment, or mobile home owned by a RELATIVE?
(why ...they wanna get on welfare, too?)
Now , you have to remember that THIS is a survey concerning RENTAL HOUSING COSTS...keep the word COSTS in mind.
** Question 8: Do you do any WORK for your landlord so you pay LESS rent?
(WHAT? THESE people WORK? Are you frigging ON CRACK or something???)
The next two questions pertained to fluctuating rental fees during the year (like when you can't steal enough sh*t to fence, and cry to the landlord to let you slide until NEXT month)
** Question 11: Is your rent amount LOWER because you are in a government-housing program?
** Question 12: Is the housing authority your landlord? (No, actually, it's the poor working slobs that pay our way)
** Question 13: Does a local housing authority own this house, apartment, or mobile home?
Then, HUD wants to know the AMOUNT paid by "the family".
(cue the Godfather theme, I guess)
** Question 16: Does your household have a HOUSING VOUCHER that allows you to CHOOSE where you live and pays the rent?
(Hell, yeah, that's how we trash whitey's neighborhoods in the FIRST damn place, you moron)
The next several questions are about utilities...whether they are included in the rent agreement.
HUD wants to know if the house, apartment, mobile home has the following:
(this is where it gets really good)
--What FUEL is used most for heating?
--Is AIR-CONDITIONING included?
--What COOKING fuel is used? (charcoal - they ONLY know how to use a BBQ grill...lol)
--Is HOT WATER included in the rent?
--Which FUEL is used to heat the water?
--Is WATER included in the rent?
--Is the cost of LIGHTING included?
--Is there a separate charge for range and fridge?
--Is trash collection included (nah, we just toss it on whitey's lawn and he picks it up)
--Is sewage included in the rent?
Now anyone with HALF a freaking brain would KNOW these are ALL included somewhere, and maybe you DO have to pay for some amenities, but these folks don't...long as YOU'RE working.
These last few questions REALLY piss me off...
** Question 27: How many different residential landline phone numbers, and not extensions, ring into your household?
(You're NOT serious, right? What is this a damn switchboard for drug selling? Lemme hand you to our NEXT available assistant)
** Question 28: Do you or anyone in your family have a working cell phone?
(no, the one I stole off that old lady got turned off the next day...does that count?)
** Question 28a: (if you have a cell phone) How many cell phones do you or the people in your family have?
(ever hear of a PAY PHONE, idiot?)
** Question 28b: (if you have a cell phone) Of all the telephone CALLS that you receive or your family receives are...
-All or most all calls on cell phones
-Some calls received on cell phones
-Very few on none received on cell phones
The final two questions as the TOWN and ZIP code...
And there you are...YOUR tax dollars at work (so these other folks don't HAVE to - YOU paid for the creation OF the survey, the MAILING of it, the RETURN ENVELOPE, and the people for which the survey pertains...nice to know you;re being SO dutiful as a citizen, isn't it?).
I haven't decided on HOW to answer this...I might just write in BOLD RED LETTERS across the front:
S C A M !!!
Or, I was thinking of a nasty-gram to HUD itself...love to piss off these people...they need it.
But no one gives a rat's ass about those people who OWN a home, and are living IN IT.
It's all about redistribution of wealth...or how to raise the level of poverty high enough,s so the working class become the new LOWER class.
It simply AMAZES me HOW we managed to survive BEFORE such things as Section 8...or HUD...or (dare I say it?)...WELFARE.
Obviously, we DID.
Hell, I remember growing up that many times, we didn't HAVE a phone in our house...we couldn't afford it.
We were too busy making our OWN ends meet...by OURSELVES.
(Mom & Dad, that is...I was just a "spectator" at that point in time)
We didn't have a family car until I was in high school - my Dad's buddies would "lend" him THEIR car when THEY went on vacation.
We had a lot different people back then...they had this thing called TRUST...and INTEGRITY.
We, as a family, might not had much, but we never were in want of anything we needed.
There was food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our damn heads.
We had FANS and OPEN WINDOWS to keep us cool, and a phone could be had at damn near any other neighbor;'s house (if not at the corner store where the pay phone was).
We had public transportation to get our asses around...or bicycles when we didn't have an automobile.
We turned off the lights when we left a room, and NEVER used a STOVE as an "auxiliary hearting source" in winter.
We had COAL heat (in one house) with RADIATORS that had to be "burped" each season.
And somehow...we managed to survive...WITHOUT such government "intervention" by Section 8 or HUD (they weren't even in existence in those days).
We had FRIENDS and RELATIVES that helped..as well as the local CHURCHES. THEY were the truly charitable among us...and we survived.
Maybe, it's time to reawaken that mindset in us..the premise of helping ONE ANOTHER.
Some people never lost it...others have supplanted it with "big brother", and that helps NO ONE.
Just some things to think about, people.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.