I like the street roots. I used to give money and pass on the paper, but I get the paper now, there is some good stuff in there.

They also had some kind of stickers to give business owners, but we didn't get one of those. It caught us all off guard. We didn't know how to respond.

I think maybe after the fact, the PPI security guard might have realized that they came to the wrong place.

I wonder how many other homeless agencies they went into and asked in the neighborhood?

wow,
I am disapointed that they did not stop by and ask me now. I would have been interested in hearing their pitch.
thanks
Patrick

Hate to pick nits, but I think he's playing pretty fast and loose with the term "torture".I dunno, in the age of waterboarding getting kicked off someone else's property hardly seems like torture.

Israel—care to respond?

Here's wikipedia:

Torture, according to international law, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."[1] In addition to state-sponsored torture, individuals or groups may inflict torture on others for similar reasons; however, the motive for torture can also be for the sadistic gratification of the torturer, as was the case in the Moors Murders.

" or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."

The offense is homelessness. It's torture.

For some individuals experiencing homelessness sleep deprivation is a very real thing.

For some, it's a matter of not being able to get a good nights sleep out in the cold ass rain.

But often times people are not able to get a good nights sleep because of bad policy that doesn't allow people to sleep in doorways, parks, public and private property.

If you are not able to gain access to a good night's sleep because of bad policy or because the lack of affordable housing - I think it's fair to call it torture.

Especially when you are forced to play cat and mouse at night, trying to find a place to rest and then in the day time, you aren't allowed to sit or lie on a sidewalk.

Beyond that you have to talk about the right to housing. Let's see hate crimes, drug dealers, etc., etc.. Not to mention a lot of people on the streets are fighting against coming down with pneumonia in place like Portland because it's wet and damp for long periods of time. One could argue that not housing people when resources are available is torture in itself.

Uuuuh, it's torture (says Matt, the international law expert). So sue me in the International Court .... See you and the homeless guy in the Hague. I'm staying at the Hilton, where are you two?? Meanwhile, move along....

I wish! But the Oregon Law Center does valuable legal work on behalf of homeless people whose rights have been violated. That's a start.

I suppose campaigning against the victimization of poor people is a bit like campaigning against capitalism, but then, this isn't 1950. So we're free to.

Patrick Nolen is a racist. Get bent Patrick.

I didn't say that. Sorry Patrick.

Wait, I did say that. It has my name on it, I must have said it.