What do you do when the greed fueled madness of the few becomes the stark deadly reality for many, and the blatant lies of the killers become the truth that is ejected day after day from the plastic reality box , where shiny bright vultures of the ruling class, with perfect teeth and perfect hair, proclaim and affirm that what you see isn't what you get, that your eyes and ears are lying, that war is peace and hate is love and all is righteous and good in God fearing America.  What do you do when our soldiers, bound by oath to fulfill their duty, are lied to, abused, sent to fight ill equipped, under manned, without competent leadership, stop lossed, numbed with medication, re deployed, over and over,  then are dumped into our cities and streets, forgotten and left to fend for themselves. What do you do.

Here is the first paragraph from the official  Overview of Homelessness  page from the United States Department of Veteran Affairs.

About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 154,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Estimates from other sources vary but the general consensus is between 150,000 and  250,000.
I have noticed that in the last year under the Bush administration they have  steadily lowered the official number. Go figure.

There is no glory in the violence we choose to inflict upon other human beings.
There is no justice for the victims of our collective hate. There is only the suffering of the many made possible by the decisions of a few. Do not come to me with open arms or begging bowl when the alliance you seek is one of kinship or dispensation for your brutality. I am not your brother or your keeper.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

My nineteen year old son and I just finished listening to Obama's speech from today. To say I was moved would be an understatement. I can't recall being brought to tears by a political speech before today, though I'm not so sure you could really call this speech political at its core. What I heard from Barack today was a plea to humanity to pause for a moment, to reflect on the reality of the divided culture we have created, and to see through our anger, resentment and suspicions, that the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would seek to tear us apart. If there were any lingering doubt about this mans authenticity, his incredible will or his warrior spirit, they were certainly laid to rest today.

Please join me below for my personal thoughts and my own families journey with racism.

First of all let's talk about diaries.  "Diaries" are now being posted at the rate of about one every 40 seconds.
The bulk of these lately are composed of a single bit of copied text and maybe one or two sentences of original content. That's not a diary, it's a comment that belongs in an open thread or comment thread of an actual diary related to your topic. Please consider that when you post a diary you are taking up space on the front page and sending another diary down the memory hole.
From the FAQ:  Writing Diaries

Diaries should be substantive. A good guideline is that if you don't have at least three solid paragraphs to write about your subject, you should probably post a comment in an open thread, or in a recent diary or front-page post that covers a topic relevant to what you wish to write about.

more below

I would like to pull your attention away from the volcanic Hillary candidate fiasco, if just for a moment, and bring to you the plight of a little girl who needs a home. She didn't have much luck at her first home and is now looking for some new parents that will give her the love and care that she needs.
Her name is Ellie, and I hope that by meeting her one of you kind Kossacks would find it in your heart to make her dream a reality.

I live in a bright red district in a overall blue state. Racism is alive and well in this city. There is a clear line dividing the west side made up of mostly African Americans, the east side made up of whites, and the old down town middle district, which is mostly Latino. You don't even have to live here to know the divide, just drive across town east to west and see who's about, it's that clear. It's still possible here to go for years without contact with person of color, and many do just that.
I work with a guy who for all the 20 years I've know him has been the prototypical Limbaugh, O'Reilly loving wingnut.
I have a short story about this man and how he will vote in this election, and WHY.

I can't believe I didn't see till now the obvious rational for Hillary Clintons outlandish despicable behavior these past few weeks. She knows there isn't a chance in hell she can win the democratic nomination. Even with wins in both Ohio and Texas, she can't win. She can't even come close, yet she has decided to launch a scorched earth policy of lies and smears against Obama.
Why would she do this so late in primaries when even if the hateful mud she's slinging were to stick and sway voters, it is essentially meaningless?

November 5, 2008
Headline

Despite an American public disgusted by eight years of failed republican policies administered by perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States, voters chose John "Let's torture em'" McCain by an overwhelming margin over Hillary "I crushed your dreams" Clinton.

The carefully crafted message from your much vaunted campaign machine, and you for that matter, is that you really don't give a shit about the two thirds us Americans who have opted to cast our lot with a different candidate. In twenty three out of thirty four states Americans have overwhelmingly spoken up to renounce the old ways of doing politics in favor of something new that is inclusive, ambitious, and yearned for by millions.
Instead of acknowledging that fact, and honoring those millions of dreams by reaching out to them, your response thus far has been to belittle and denigrate them. Nice job Senator.

What do you dream about? Many of us here dream about a day when the neocons are but a distant memory, and war isn't an option.  When health care is a right for every human being, not a privilege, and those uncounted millions who are working three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads, are able to make a living wage, and still have time to raise their children. A day when racism and ignorance is no longer tolerated, and those who support and inflame those ideas are banished to the outskirts of society in shame, not elected to national offices. Some folks have other dreams, very simple ones that don't require massive cultural change or revolutionary ideas to achieve. Some people dream only of having a friend, one that will look after them and help keep them safe.  In the last three weeks I have written several stories, both here and at another blog, about a brave young man who needed a little help making his dream come true. His name is James, and all he needed was a little help from folks like you, in making his miracle happen. Today thanks to some special people like yourselves, he is very close to making that dream a reality.
More below.

Here at the FireCrow compound we don't mess around. We think tough, we talk tough, and when the going gets tough, we fuck something up. Like my neighbor. I raised my kids to be tough too. Fed'em beef jerky, and this stuff.

They never complained, asked for more in fact. That's my boy on the label. He loved that shit, made him tough.
Anyway, about the train, the Clue Train. It shows up once in awhile here at the Big Orange.

If you don't have a damn thing to do, or you feel like wasting 3 minutes of your life, or if you just can't not know what I'm talking about, make the jump, I'll tell you about it.

I posted a version of this diary on Sat. afternoon, when diaries were popping up at the rate of about one every two minutes, and controversial subjects with emotional overtones were the fare of the day. It probably wasn't the best time to post a diary such as this. Although the story got a little traffic and some comments, it didn't do what it was intended to do, raise a small amount of money for a young boy, who needs some help making his dream of becoming a little more independent, a reality.  I also wanted to introduce my fellow Kossacks to a wonderful organization that trains service animals for children with special needs.
Here is a picture of the young man who needs our help,  James

While I love the political jabber jabber here as much as the next  tree hugging hippie,  it is the personal stories that find their way to the pages of Big Orange that for me, give this place a soul, and provides the heartbeat of community.
A diary posted here on Thursday  by franziskaner , was a wonderful example of just such a story.  The diary
A Story about James, shares a brief story about this special young man with some severe disabilities, and his experience in joining the high school football team. The diary also links to a page set up to help this wonderful young man raise enough money to aquire a service dog.
Here is the link: Mobility, Autism, Search & Recovery Assistance Dog for James If you have come this far and read his story, please follow me behind the curtain to learn more about these life saving animals, and just how incredibly easy it is to help a special child lead a safer, more fulfilling and independent life.

Despite the recent disclosure of secret backroom trade deals and dems sucking up to a lamer than lame, lame duck twenty something percent president, we do have a few things looking up for us. Below are a few reasons not to despair.

I am looking for help in a project I wish to see implemented among the grassroots of the progressive movement. It is no secret that we on this side of the political divide have been effectively shut out and silenced by the corporate mainstream media hacks. American airwaves and print publications are saturated with the opinions of right-wing hate mongers, bushco apologists, end times fanatics and corporate funded "fake research" reports that have nothing to do with science or truth, and everything to do with brainwashing the public.
One of the few remaining public venues available to us as a way to reach the people of our cities and towns is the Letter to the Editors section of our local newspapers. The purpose of this diary is to gather an array of concisely written arguments that can be easily referenced by those wishing to contribute accurate, definitive LTE's to their local paper.
More idea's below the fold.

I was reading rserven's diary Teachers Lounge this morning and in it she mentioned a "special friend" she had in school. I was instantly transported back to high school and memories of a little guy I kind of adopted. His name was Howie and he was one of the special ed. kids. I don't know what exactly his problems were that required him to be in that classification but I do remember him vividly. Howie had this crazy hair that shot up out of his head at various skewed angles of differing lenths, it almost looked like somebody tried to cut it with a dull scythe, but that's just how it grew. I often wonder  what happened to him. Below are a few memories of my experiences with high school, and Howie.

I have read in the last six years, thousands of comments here bemoaning the apparent loss of focus of the bushies in the fact that they indeed work for us. Over and over I see people piss and moan about the idiot in chief and his bungling band of nitwits, or how they just don't seem to "get it". They can't remember that their primary purpose is to represent the will of the people and to provide a set of national policies and actions that reflect that will.
Nonsense. I have no links below the fold, just a short rant set off by yet another surprised Kossack at the latest, greatest outrage by the neocons. It doesn't matter which one, there are just too many.