What is Digg?99 Comments
- Guye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10"Mr. Brown and his family are real people and very intelligent," she said. "They are the new face of homelessness."
As opposed to the old face of homelessness, who were not real people and really dumb... - PoptartKing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Below the the image to the right of the article there's "Click here to read Brown's blog." The link goes to:
http://view-sidewalk.blogspot.com/
Dugg. - ronmexico, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4All this guy needs is a $100 laptop, then he'll be fine.
- denyba, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I'm shocked and saddened by some of the comments I've read here today. The arrogance and immaturity of some of our fellow diggers is wholly disheartening. Life can turn on a dime. We are, each one of us, just one tragic mistake away from where our homeless brothers are. I see it every day in my work. Most are not looking for a hand-out. They are looking for a helping hand out of their predicament. Please. Never presume to know what is in the heart of another human being until you actually know that person.
- TurboStar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here's another blog by a homeless man who posts from the library... http://transamoebae.blogspot.com/
He's a pretty good artist too. Although he doesn't know who I am, and I prefer the incog, I'm the guy who connected him with the gallery he talks about. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ dr4gon
Yeah if you wanna define homeless by 'not owning a home', hell, everyone in an apartment is homeless including myself.
If you've got a roof over your head, you're not homeless, regardless of who owns the joint. People live with parents, friends, relatives, etc. but nobody calls them homeless.
Now, what most people consider 'homeless people' are in the bridge and tunnel cities that spring up out of vinyl tarps and cardboard boxes. I prefer to call this dude and others on his stratum 'temporarily displaced'. - sadsac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What a pain it must be to go to the library every time he needs to post to his blog.
If I'm ever homeless, I'm putting my cardboard box near a free wi-fi hotspot. - hammerattack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"I'm homeless. And instead of trying to get a job, I'm blogging. Please pity me."
I'm sorry, but this guy's no idiot. He's articulate and observant. He should have no problem finding a job in Greensboro which is capable of providing him with a comfortable life. - Javaman2020, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3From the article..."They could stay with family in Durham, but returning to where he grew up would be a defeat"
Defeat? He chose pride over stability for his growing family. What a dipsh-t! - tileeater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i want to see some of his graphic design work
- andyo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3In lots of cities you can find homeless people hawking newspapers written by the homeless. In Cambridge, Mass., for instance, the paper is called Spare Change. Many of the articles are well-written and some get into pretty complex political, spiritual, or psychological analyses. (It all gets kind of repetitious, though, I've found.
- CanYou, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5This guy's no idiot? He's articulate and observant? Plz.
From his latest entry, Katrina Lessons: "My point is that this can happen to any of us, at any time. My downfall was lack of money (and a modicum of poor planning) that led to eviction."
A Modicum of poor planning? What were his reserves in savings? If you can't afford to save while you live in your home, you can't afford to live in that home and you should find something more affordable. He was EVICTED, but now he compares himself to people who's homes were destroyed - not an equivalent analogy. You don't get evicted due to a "modicum" of poor planning - It takes months of non-payment, at least one court appointment, and some armed officials need to get involved - lots of time to do that "modicum" of planning.
This line is priceless:
But homelessness can come just as quickly under other circumstances.... Incompetent political leaders. A meteor.
Yes, those incompetent political leaders will swoop down from their capitol buildings and boot you from your home. Just as swiftly and deadly as meteors, those politicos. (I'm guessing he means meteorite, since it crashed inside his/someon'es home).
Now we'll probably have to come up with some program that allows all homeless people to blog wirelessly from the underpass, provide them a digital camera and pay for their flickr account.
Articulate and observant? Maybe to your average homeless person. - Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ironically, the one time theDigg submitter SHOULD HAVE linked directly to the blog...
- Settra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Awesome story. dugg.
- milkfilk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A blog from the perspective of a homeless person may be a first for Greensboro, a city known for its blogging.
1. A homeless guy has a blog. Wow. Welcome to 2006.
2. What city is ----ing known for its blogging? "Previously uprooted longtime champion, Gary, Indiana for it's famous diaries."
I'm all for human interest stories ... but I humbly, with flame-reducing insulation, am saying "whatEVER". - trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2First blog that I would actually consider reading. Digg++
- Norante, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Doesn't it says somewhere he does part-time work?
I think it's great that something about the homeless issue is gathering attention, most of us turn away from it with "it's not my problem"attitude. Having lived in Brazil for 25 years, I saw the problem in much bigger scale - it's soul crunching at times.
On a side note, doesn't help much reading that now that I'm looking for a job in Graphic Design. :-/ - residentweevil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm just curious about the "beast" he mentions living in his head. What's the deal with that?
- hoodedrobin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1He seems like a pretty damn good writer... ***** the graphic design go to your local newspaper and ask if you can do some freelance. (The Nation sounds like a good place for him to start writing)
I dunno though, hopefully I wont make the same bad decisions. - DisposableRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Something doesn't add up here. But I don't think this guy will be homeless long.
- crackheadjon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Touching story. He needs a paypal "donate now" button on his blogger actount.
- sfields, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Then where is the money going? My money's on beer."
How about food? And stuff that his kid/s need for school? Transportation? Let's not stereotype, shall we? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Seems like he's just borderline homeless. But then again the more hardcore homeless folks wouldn't have a blog nor be as (relatively) optimistic as he is.
Still cool, digg. - copper7op, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"If you think about it, a lot of people are a few paychecks away from being homeless"
So true. How many of us live from Paycheck to Paycheck? And if you work in IT like I do, theres always a chance of getting outsourced, or downsized. - directedition, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You want a blog by a homeless person? Check out Gods and Ghosts: http://furyouhin.blogspot.com/ This is the most talented writer I've ever known. She was class president, student council, married a successfull guy, and knows her way around UNIX. But life repeatedly ***** her and now she lives on the street. A very interesting read.
- N0EL, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I feel bad for his wife and kids. This guy made some bad choices and they've been dragged into a lousy situation. It would appear that he was living beyond his means since their was nothing saved up for this and his credit is bad. He could have sucked it up and lived with family members while getting things back together. Instead he sits at a computer and blogs about Reagan and Bush while his family is homeless. If he wants to get political about it, there's plenty of blame to go around for all politicians. All of them, Republican and Democrat alike, are too busy putting more regulations in place that restrict business and prevent job growth in the U.S. They'd rather support the fascist tactics of the MPAA and RIAA, which if they continue will cause even more people to become homeless when they lose everything to pay for defense lawyers and unfair settlements. If we want to help homeless people in the U.S., stop being a blanket pro-Democrat, pro-Republican, anti-Democrat, or anti-Republican on every issue and think about what will help job growth and wealth creation for a broad base of Americans.
- adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"It's pretty sad when it's become fashionable to bitch on-line about your poor choices and bad luck."
You've never been to Myspace have you? - dmclone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I wantthe guy to give his whole situation that led up to this.
Did he own a home at one point?
Why is his credit score so bad. Did he run up CC debt?
Did he buy a bunch of crap that he couldn't afford?
Does his wife have a job?
Greensboro isn't exactly Beverly Hills. If they both get low wage jobs + governemnt assistance could they not find an apparmtent that doesn't do credit checks? - Darrellh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I want you all to know that if you would read his blog from start to the most recent article posted about 15 minutes ago, you would be understand him a little better. He doesn't have a laptop; he posts from the library. He has a job. It makes me mad to see supposedly educated Diggers stereotyping this educated, honest man. Blogging is his free psychotherapy. Everyone needs a way to vent, and he's doing it constructively rather than hitting the bottle.
"Touching story. He needs a paypal "donate now" button on his blogger account. " posted by crackheadjon (0)
I agree and have setup a paypal donate button on my website at http://DarrellH.org to take donations for them. I don't know how to make you trust me, but I swear on my Grandmother's grave that I will get any donations that anyone gives to me over to Mr Brown and his family. I've emailed the News-Record reporter and will be emailing Mr Brown shortly. Come on Diggers, lets come together and help this guy out! - hadem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1""I'm homeless. And instead of trying to get a job, I'm blogging. Please pity me."
I'm sorry, but this guy's no idiot. He's articulate and observant. He should have no problem finding a job in Greensboro which is capable of providing him with a comfortable life."
Don't be such a jerk about it. You probably have a job and still have time to comment on digg.com, he has a job and has time to write in a blog. Put yourself in his shoes for a minute or two. - ronito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I think many people still have this silly view that homeless people are uneducated bums. 20% of homeless people are employed, many of those college educated.
- dr4gon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Dude depend how you define "homeless" personally im defining it as in not having your own home, so "they never spent a night on the street." Hes not got a home end of.
- AToMusK, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1YEA GO BROWN, when i grow up i wanna be just like u
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Digg doesn't ALLOW you to ling directly to most blog sites; the OP probably had to link to the story.
- andreo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@dmclone
To hell with trucking! Trucking sucks ass. And notice I said that the job sucks. Not the people that do the job. It's hard as hell, and a ton of crap that they have to put up with. And just because I'm not using the foulest language that I could think of doesn't mean that the job is not as bad as it is. Not to mention what the hell do you do with your 2 kids when your out trucking around for a week. - dmclone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did you not see the job opening to drive a truck? So I should give money to this guy because he lost his job, too lazy to be a trucker, and whines about one of the greatest presidents of all time? I think I'd rather put few dollars in my own rainy day fund or maybe just another Mountain Dew.....
- iworkforus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"It's pretty sad when it's become fashionable to bitch on-line about your poor choices and bad luck." -stever4376
lol when are blogs not about that? ... anywho, good for him, hope he can get back up on his feet - Darrellh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm not sure why, but my .org domain is only working some of the time that the link is clicked. A direct link is http://darrellhblog.blogspot.com for anyone who wants to donate to the family.
Thanks, Diggers! - dracula7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0to Brown's blog, i mean
- ekeup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Homeless man blogs about not being homeless!
quote from article:
"The Browns and their 17-year-old son stayed in hotels and with family in Durham. Their daughter also stayed for a week with a friend's grandmother. Brown said his family never spent a night on the street."
No digg... he was never more homeless than when you were kids living at home. - ProfessorRiffs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My first digg ever, and it's #666. That satisfies the metal master within!
Also, I have gone from homeless to successful in the city. Much love to this man, being homeless is tougher than any job. - essdub, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wait... there were homeless people _before_ Bush was in office?
- velvetshark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sounds to me like someone's begging for a handout. I can't believe that he's got 13 years worth of work experience and no one's willing to hire him first time. Did he have no savings? He's never heard of a social worker? I'm serious--I don't believe him. There's something going on here. He was either fired for some good hell of a reason, or he's completely unmotivated. Sounds to me like he wants to show up on Oprah, sell a book, and then buy a house.
- floorman56, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wait... there were homeless people _before_ Bush was in office
yes they were developed during the Reagan administration and continued during the Bush 41 administration but there were NO homeless during the 8 years of Clinton - citrusfizz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"How about food? And stuff that his kid/s need for school? Transportation? Let's not stereotype, shall we?" are you ***** serious? you don't live in a big town do you
- blasphemer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This "beast" that comes upon him... what is it... some kind of mental illness, depression, schizophrenia, anger?
- HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I wonder if he's putting in as much effort applying for jobs as he is posting to his blog. It seems like he's wasting his time bitching about his situation.
- jrexilius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0digg it.. largely out of empathy, I am near homeless myself, but mine is by choice of sorts, start your own company without external funding and thats what you get..
What got me was the library aspect. I am asahmed to admit that I have not used the library in years and (used to) just buy all the books I was interested in. I still feel a sense of obligation to support places that can offer help to people like Brown. - DrEbola, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My home town. That's a gas.
- thedonger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1When I first saw the headline, I was like: WTF? But I read the article... It is worth a read.
If you think about it, a lot of people are a few paychecks away from being "homeless"
Start saving
If only they would stop inventing gadgets to take all my money... -
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