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Category Archives: National news
Orthodoxy
White Americans are nearly as blind to their racism as ever before
An orthodoxy is a system of ideas that adherents insist one must accept without question. In other words, a set of dogmas.
Every media outlet has one. It may be implied or explicit; flexible or rigid; narrow or broad; but it’s there. It defines what ideas that media outlet will allow to be expressed. In publishing media, it determines what will and won’t get published.
An obstacle facing me in my hopes of getting published, is that I seem somehow always to run afoul of a given media outlet’s orthodoxy.
Plain talk about sex
Mich. newborn found frozen at recycling plant was mother’s ‘dirty little secret,’ prosecutor says
I have no issues with abortion.
I do have issues with those who murder babies.
Housing the homeless ain’t that easy
For a long time, I have balked at seeking transitional housing, mainly for two reasons: (1) There must be a thousand buildings in Baltimore City serving that function, each with its own application process, eligibility criteria and rules — not to mention desirability. There’s no way to find “the right place” without going to each one in person. (2) I have heard too many credible horror stories of negligent house managers and conflicts with residents who abuse substances, abuse the property, and abuse each other.
Fortunately, the case manager at the clinic appears to have equipped me with the very short list of highest-rated outfits.
Last week’s City Paper cover story sets forth a microcosm of what is, in fact, the big picture:
A new program for the city’s homeless leaves them struggling amid a chaotic system of care
Carter Scott verdicts
“Canadian cannibal” follow-up
Why you should know about Freddie Gray’s life
Janell Ross’s 12/19/15 WaPo column includes a remarkable statement:
The abbreviated and not at all easy life of Freddie Gray was, to some extent, shaped by Gray’s choices. He was an American and an adult with at least some of the attendant free will that people assume comes with either status.
In the present political climate, I never expected to see such words in print.
Read the article:
Continue reading Why you should know about Freddie Gray’s life
Sandy Hook “truthers'” bizarre antics
Kimberly Leto verdict
This program turned me away.
Adapted from a 12/03/15 e-mail to my brothers and some others.
Given instability at the shelter where I’ve been for almost five years, I decided to apply to a certain program affiliated with a major national charity and major local soup kitchen. This program is residential, has a nice facility, and (as I understood it) was geared toward taking men with histories of addiction or homelessness and rendering them self-supporting.
Since it is a residential program, I would no longer have to carry my bags everywhere I go, vastly increasing the radius within which I can look for work; and, I supposed, I would be able to work any shift. After all, unlike the shelter where I’ve been, they’ve got a big shove towards self-sufficiency.
They rejected me.
I wrote:
Baptismal grace means: when you get knocked down, you get back up.
Blog post (from October ’14, about getting back up): Life in the outer darkness
In the immediate future, I will be checking out options in transitional housing, and case management services at the clinic where I’m currently in treatment for everything I’m in treatment for.
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What happened?
The Homeless Blogger 