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419 Comments
- publiclurker, on 03/08/2009, -6/+367Around here, there are groups that provide cell phones for the homeless to help them get jobs. It's rather difficult to get that interview when you don't have a phone number you can be reached at. I don't know what sorts of plans they use, but my cell is about ten bucks a month, which is a whole lot less than my land line.
- cxret, on 03/07/2009, -29/+323Pretty sad when the focus is on the homeless guy with camera instead of the good deed by Michelle Obama.
- Sasha56, on 03/08/2009, -5/+255Ok, I have to say something about cell phones and how homeless people get them. I finally upgraded mine. I only use it for calling believe it or not. T-Mobile told me to mail back my cell phone as they give them to not only the homeless, but battered women who need to have a lifeline. What an awesome thing. And they are not charged a single penny.
- codefreakxff, on 03/08/2009, -4/+208I just bought my mom a prepaid cell phone. There is no address requirement. It cost $19 to buy, and $10 to activate. It can take pictures. I don't know why people are making up a controversy over this.
And as others have said, he could have owned the phone before he became homeless. It doesn't have to have service to take pictures. And it could be a worker there. Or any other number of other reasonable explanations. - novenator, on 03/08/2009, -10/+149If anyone recalls, Michelle Obama organized the whole Day of Volunteering one day prior to her husband being sworn into office. Over a million people heeded the call and helped out with many thousands of project around the nation.
- DavidTurnbull, on 03/08/2009, -3/+136Being homeless means you don't have a home...it doesn't mean you don't own anything.
- inajeep, on 03/08/2009, -17/+129I guess this is the flip side to those who choose to ignore Bush's faults for 8 years and instead try to take the good that she is doing into some sensationalistic slurry.
- DivisibleByZero, on 03/08/2009, -3/+103People do realize they have pre-paid phones right? If you ever hope of getting out of homelessness, you'll probably need a phone for job interview scheduling, etc.
- Qbryzan, on 03/08/2009, -4/+91The majority of homeless people are only homeless for an average of roughly 6 months before they are able to get back on their feet. Since that would seem to be the goal, I can't fathom why people are complaining about someone possibly having a tool that will help them re-enter the work force, as publiclurker noted above.
- kontraire, on 03/08/2009, -3/+87Apparently none of these "expert pundits" has ever heard of a pre-paid phone. Cheap as hell, no home address required.
Jesus...the stench of the stupidity and pettiness is overpowering. - blackopsfreak06, on 03/08/2009, -2/+68This is an awesome thing. If you have an old cell, please donate it to your local women's shelter. All cell phones are required by law to be able to call 911 at all times. It won't cost you a thing.
- TheBadWolf, on 03/08/2009, -4/+54Ridiculous.
A phone is one of the most basic communication tools. It gives him a number to put on job applications, assures he can be reached in an emergency, allows him access to e-mail (through free WiFi), and yes, allows him to take pictures. Who are you to say, "Sorry, you're homeless, you're not allowed to have a cell phone." Yes, it could be a sign that he's irresponsible. But it could also be a sign that he's one of the few homeless people actually trying to get back on his feet. - Khast, on 03/08/2009, -1/+49Okay, who gets the cell phone bill? Who says he pays for a plan, you are aware there is programs which collect old cell phones and give them to homeless people? Oh, if this is the case, what good is a deactivated cell phone? They can still call 911...which is what the program is intended to do, give the homeless a way to reach an emergency number.
- blackopsfreak06, on 03/08/2009, -4/+51Dude. She's not the president. No one elected the first lady to be President.
- DiggzDE, on 03/08/2009, -7/+48These people likely once lived normally with responsibilities and bills to pay, a home to live in, etc (like most homeless, they aren't BORN that way). But now they are homeless, and while they are homeless it doesn't mean they can't still hold onto things that make them feel human and connected to the world. In a world so entranced and interlaced in technology, having a cell phone does not mean you live a life of rich bliss. Some poor African countries have entire black market currencies for pre-paid phone cards because people for some reason find having minutes for their cell phones to be as much a necessity as having food.
How is it impossible to consider that this man once lived a normal life and when he became homeless he kept his phone and its plug. I've seen a homeless man with a laptop. It is not unexpected in this day and age. It only takes 15 minutes to an hour stop a day into a Starbucks or a local library to be able to charge the thing a little bit for use. Hell, if they even wanted to, most lamp posts have open access to electricity plugs on the street. And since when was it still required to have an address to have a cell phone? Nowadays anyone can own a pay-as-you-go or pre-paid cell phone. And that doesn't require an address to have a bill shipped to them. Hell, I dont even have my bills sent through mail anymore, they are all electronic. So why do I even need an address to receive them?
If anything this shows the state that the average American person has been put to. A man who obviously once could afford the amenities that so many people take for granted, holding onto a last piece of personal property that puts him on a level communication level as that of a working man, and all you people can think about is the fact that he might or might not need an address to have his phone bill sent to him. - poopsybythebay, on 03/08/2009, -17/+55Well-you see they do not understand that because they are thugs and their party is only about mememememememememememememe--that is all they know. It makes them pissed because it draws attention to their worthless lives.
- Zarokima, on 03/08/2009, -2/+40Cameras are pretty damn common nowadays.
- ZeroCubed, on 03/08/2009, -6/+43People fail to realize, that not every homeless person is a starving crazy beggar with half their teeth missing and smellier than dog *****. Homeless means you don't have a traditional home - homeless people can and do live in cars, and do odd jobs for gas and food. There are homeless with ipods - and no, they didn't steal them. As for how do they charge their ipods and phones? Simple - public places like libraries, where they can sit and read, use public computers, and charge their phones and anything else.
Now that we're past the pointless fact that a homeless man has a phone, I think Michelle is being a wonderful first lady - not that her charity acts are unique, other first ladies do some volunteering and fundraisers for charity organizations. But at least she's doing them, and setting a good example for her young girls as well as others. - celotil, on 03/08/2009, -0/+36"All cell phones are required by law to be able to call 911 at all times."
Same here in Australia. All mobile phones, even when locked, have to be able to call 000 or 112. I'm not sure but I think that applies even if the phone has no SIM card installed, so any old cell phone can act as an emergency line. - BossKey, on 03/08/2009, -4/+39Oh, so he should be like a fisherman who sells his boat to buy fish for dinner.
- youannoyme, on 03/08/2009, -1/+35Even without that, all this hoopla is just silly. It's quite conceivable to scrounge enough money together from handouts or day labor or whatever to walk to a kiosk and get a pre-paid. No address needed, no reliable income needed. Hell, a friend of mine was reduced to dumpster diving for a month or so to get by his last month in town, and you'd not believe some of the functioning electronics he'd come home with almost nightly...
- blackopsfreak06, on 03/08/2009, -4/+37Oh get over it. You can afford a computer and internet access. Ever think that maybe those items aren't available for everyone? If you want people out of our broken welfare system, we have to give them the tools to do so.
- MaxxusFlamus, on 03/08/2009, -13/+45dude could've been anybody. He could've been a guy that walked in because he knew Michelle was there. Could've been someone who works at the soup kitchen.
But ooooo he's black, he must be homeless. And he has a cell phone! He's CLEARLY abusing the system!
rabble rabble rabble socialism rabble rabble MY MONEY! STAY AWAY! - tava0002, on 03/08/2009, -1/+33Dugg for the Secret Service guy in the back who's looking for trouble.
- publiclurker, on 03/08/2009, -6/+37Just out of curiosity, how many minutes were you there serving?
- Dumbledorito, on 03/08/2009, -6/+37Like... homelessness?
- majinboy, on 03/08/2009, -0/+28Actually, here in Australia we do require SIM cards now. They made it like that since a lot of the calls to 000 were from pranksters.
It is sad really when ***** would abuse emergency hotlines. - tschau, on 03/08/2009, -2/+29Seriously, was is he mandated to sell his phone to someone for $20 to put towards making rent someday?
- DavidTurnbull, on 03/08/2009, -4/+30LOL YEAH THIS IS SO FUNNEI :D :D :D :D :D PALIN 2012
/s - HOWLAN, on 03/08/2009, -9/+34Perfectly American, a good deed and promising role model is swept away by a circus of opinions. Shameful what people say when they really have nothing to say.
- atgmac, on 03/08/2009, -3/+28And loose his only hope of getting a job? What a great idea!
- tech42er, on 03/08/2009, -1/+25First off, he can get soup from the shelter. Secondly, what good would that do? He'd be sacrificing the opportunity to get a job for a meal for a few days. The whole point of capital is that you invest in the means of production; you reinvest your capital (money) into your business so that you can make more money later. Let's look at a homeless man as a business of sorts: he has some income (begging, collecting cans, maybe some one-shot jobs), expenses (food, etc.), and assets (clothes, maybe a cell phone). So he chose to invest some his money into a cell phone that will help him find work in the future. Without the cell phone, it's pretty much impossible to get a job; you NEED to have a way for potential employers to reach you. So what's the issue?
You're probably upset that he's investing money in assets when he still has expenses he's not paying for (since he has welfare, private charity, etc.) But businesses do this too, when they take out loans or issue bonds and stock in order to raise capital to reinvest in the business. So you only have ONE legitimate complaint: that the homeless man is a beneficiary of loans that don't have to be paid back (grants or non-dividend paying, non-voting stock) instead of loans that do (e.g. microloans). But really, that's not much of a complaint. If people want to fund shelters that will provide him with soup until he can find stable employment and a steady income (if he ever does) that's their right. But you object to the government paying for it. At which point, you have to look at the degree to which a state needs a safety net in order to help people who have lost income and assets and can't pay expenses, but who are looking for work.
Maybe the ideal solution would be a form of "smart" microloans, where the repayment would be based on a percentage of the homeless person's income once he finds work. If he never finds work, he doesn't owe anything (which makes sense, since he has no money to pay anyone back with). If he does find work, he pays a percentage of that back for all the money that has been spent feeding him basically over the years when he had nothing. Since it's a percentage, he'll always be able to afford it and while it probably won't fund the program entirely, it'll show he's giving something back.
But I digress. Your problem, murrdpirate, is that you don't think of homeless people as real people and a (small) part of the economy and labor market. You assume they're all deranged and/or lazy and uninterested in working. - AgeofMastery, on 03/08/2009, -0/+23Well judging by the photos in the slide show here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/05/michelle- ...
nobody was wearing one. I see staff wearing baseball caps in the fourth picture, but their hair comes out from under them and is obviously not stuck up under a hairnet. - msbunny, on 03/08/2009, -6/+29Just cause he has a cell phone doesnt mean he has to pay a bill or anything. Last time I checked it doesnt cost money to just simply have a cell phone turned on.
It's too bad that people cant overlook this person with his cell phone. Michelle Obama is doing a good deed, and thats what the story should be about. - Khast, on 03/08/2009, -1/+23You assume too much, take off your ***** tinfoil hat, I think it has affected your intelligence.
- publiclurker, on 03/08/2009, -1/+23Tracfone has no contract phones for about 20 bucks.
- Speed, on 03/08/2009, -4/+26You have heard of pre-paid, right? Also, if your would RTFA, it mentions that people get post boxes or use their local shelter as their addy.
- ceredron, on 03/08/2009, -2/+24oh really? so your general statement is that people who are "on the ball", aka:
1. Have cell phones
2. Try to get job interviews
are basically all able to find jobs and pay mortgages on homes.
Yeah, I'm sure you'll never find anyone who is jobless and homeless who fits those descriptions, lol. - skeptictank, on 03/08/2009, -0/+21Having been homeless myself for a number of years I've lived and worked in the homeless subculture and 6 months is pretty accurate. The majority of homeless people are in that position because of drug/alcohol/mental health issues but most get into half way houses and restart their lives. There is a percentage of homeless that never get off the street because they either choose that lifestyle or they are in a city that does not have the services available to assist the transition. And most every large city has programs that provide job services (including cell phones) to the people that need them. As a side note, I got sober 8 years ago, started a business and am doing relatively well.
- thedivinelyevil, on 03/08/2009, -12/+33it's sad the inability of some to read past the literal meaning of words, which have been stripped out of context of the speech and the emotion with which it was delivered.
- compgeek, on 03/08/2009, -6/+27This isn't about the guy in the front of the line having a damn cell phone. Who cares? you don't know the circumstances so why comment? This is about Michelle Obama doing some good and showing us that just because you're the first lady doesn't mean you can't put yourself out a little bit and help your fellow human beings.
- MisteryMeat, on 03/08/2009, -4/+24No, he provided incentives for those who would. This is what happens when all your news comes from Republican spin.
- Speed, on 03/08/2009, -4/+24So you have a crappier phone than a homeless guy? How is that his problem?
- zuiquan, on 03/08/2009, -0/+20Yes, we have them. You have to understand that many people here in America are terribly shortsighted and have a knee-jerk reaction to many things that they feel are out of place. They don't think things through and don't realize that a phone costs next to nothing compared to the cost of an apartment or a house. In other words, some Americans are as dumb as a box of ***** rocks.
- MrTeQ, on 03/08/2009, -1/+20You don't need a cell phone plan to take pictures with a cell phone.
- DavidTurnbull, on 03/08/2009, -3/+21You should work on fixing your puncutation problems.
- Speed, on 03/08/2009, -2/+19That is total *****, especially in this economy. Your work lays you off, you don't get a decent severance, EI doesn't cover rent and no one is hiring. That's the perfect recipe for homelessness.
- publiclurker, on 03/08/2009, -1/+17If it's a per per use phone, there is no bill. You just pick up a prepay card at a store and enter a code into the phone.
- BossKey, on 03/08/2009, -5/+21Here's the problem with the haters. Their attitude shows how out of touch they are. To hate the guy with the phone means you think that a) there is no cheap way to get a cell phone, and b) a cell phone camera is a rare, high-end feature! It's like the haters aren't even living in this century yet.
- Speed, on 03/08/2009, -2/+18RTFA you dumb ***** moron! Not only can people get pre-paid phones, a lot of homeless shelters will let homeless people use their address as their home addy.
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