What's most shocking about this story?

[FistyTheBadger]

I think what's most shocking is that humans could find a dead body, leave it there, and continue playing hockey.

That would be my #1, out of so many wrongs................

that is not being desensitized. far beyond it.

The who, story shows parts of Detroit and Michigan and especially those hockey players being bereft of the most basic human values.

I used to be a cold hearted fuk, but once I openly cried like a baby when I saw/found a man frozen to death near the fens gate near BU when I worked there. I cried openly because I was unable to help that poor, crazy, homeless bastard. I thought 'what is wrong with us' that we allow this type of thing in the name of personal freedoms? people who are supposedly no danger to themselves do not sleep out in the freezing cold in an inner city. inner city residents can get desensitized sure, but what does it take to push people into action or into supporting services for those less fortunate than us...a few tragedies like this? civilized society shouldn't allow these types of things in the name of freedom or anything else.

I don't have the answers for all...I only have answers for myself. I ended up volunteering my time at a few places.

sigh

So you think that these hockey players weren't sensitized enough?

 

[michiganFats]

I don't believe those guys were playing hockey. They were probably "independent salvage" guys who had a stash in that building, and I'm also willing to bet that they knew the dead man. That's why they called a reporter instead of the cops, they needed time to move their "salvage".

 

[tigerbob]

DevNell, I agree. For whatever reason, Detroit will not claim eminent domain. There are buildings in that neighborhood that have been vacant eyesores my entire life. At this point I don't even care if the area is redeveloped. I'd be fine with merely razing them.

The city doesn't have the money to do anything with the property. Nobody wants to invest in redevelopment because the entire area is such a pit. There is no tax base left in Detroit. In 1950, Detroit's population was over 1.8 million. Today it is around 900,000. Over the last 55 plus years, Detroit has lost half of its population.

Who left Detroit over the last 55 years? White people left. For many different reasons, whites left, and Blacks gradually became the majority. Today, whites only account for around 12% of Detroit's population. When Whites left, so did the money. To make matters worse, Blacks in Detroit were happy about this. Instead of trying to keep White money in Detroit, the Blacks encouraged the White flight to the suburbs. Now what is left is a huge ghetto from what was once a thriving city.

If Detroit is ever to be a thriving city again, Black leaders must promote White growth within Detroit. To do so will require razing entire areas of the city. They actually have begun to make some strides in this direction with a great deal of redevelopment in the Downtown area. From there, they must work it outward, developing or rebuilding old neighborhoods close to downtown.

Couldn't agree more. Mayor Coleman Young's policy of "Get your ass north of 8 Mile Road, whitey" has left the city in tatters. However, the "white is bad' mindset however seems to be alive and well 30 years later.

In the mid 90's a progressive mayor called Dennis Archer was elected. I disagreed with him about many (many) things, but at least he was prepared to work with anybody (including whites) to try and attract investment to the city.

He had a degree of success as well, convincing the Ilitch and Ford families to move the Detroit Tigers and Lions into new downtown stadiums, and GM to move into the Renaissance Center - it was the start of what is today a thriving commercial pocket downtown. That said, when he was first elected in 1993 he did not receive a majority of the black vote, and when he stepped down in 2001 many people used the term Uncle Tom to describe his dealings with the mainly white suburbs - a ruinously stupid attitude from a city that needs all the intelligent leadership it can get.

The election of Kwame Kilpatrick in 2001 was a huge step backwards for Detroit, and 2008 was arguably a step in the right direction when he was charged with 2 felonies (among other things), forced to resign and jailed for obstruction of justice.

The sooner Detroiters start voting out people who have proved to be screwing things up the better. Until that happens, regeneration is, at best, stalled.

 

[tigerbob]

Yawnnnn.... They go around Bombay, Calcutta, and other Indian cities and bag up all the dead people on the sidewalks every day before the rush hour..... Usually numbers a dozen or so a day....

exactly. SO you are doing the relativist dance of comparing America to fucking Bombay India?

get the fuk away fro me.

why do you hate America you swine?

Why not? We've had our bums, hobo's, whatever you call them, since George Washington's day, and we will have them 200 years from now. Why anyone is "shocked" but some homeless stiff in shaft in Detroit is beyond me. Repeat that story hundreds of time over in the US and millions of times over in world.

No one can do a damned thing about it or they would have 100 years ago, so again, who cares? I damned sure don't....

The more people tell themselves nothing can be done, the more they are likely to be right.

But if all of society took your view (It's always been like that, it always will, so who cares?) can you imagine how little progress we would have made as a species?

 

[KittenKoder]

The more people tell themselves nothing can be done, the more they are likely to be right.

But if all of society took your view (It's always been like that, it always will, so who cares?) can you imagine how little progress we would have made as a species?

Homelessness I know a bit about. The problem isn't a lack of action it's the type of action they are taking. Instead of giving the homeless a way to live or a way to get a different life, they like to just throw money at them, which does nothing to help. First, open some rural areas to camping for free ... those who have no interest in living like the rest of us will flock there and stay there. Then offer better education and training programs, those interested in changing their lives (like I was) will take advantage of these and soon become powerful assets. Those who don't try to do anything and don't want to 'camp out' living off the land can just be ignored, they just drain the system anyway.

As for the corpse having once been homeless ... living things have to do only one thing: die ... eventually. A peaceful and painless death is a gift if you are lucky enough to have one.

 

[PoliticalChic]

It is a truly sad story. The people who did not get involved were never taught empathy. Their parents didn't care enough to teach them that you need to care about your fellow man.

It is my opinion that most people would have been more responsible and would have done the right thing.

 

[DiamondDave]

I think that what is most shocking is they found out the guy voted 5 times while laying there

 

[tigerbob]

I think that what is most shocking is they found out the guy voted 5 times while laying there

There's not much to laugh about on this subject, but I have to admit that's pretty funny.

I'm waiting for them to announce it's Jimmy Hoffa.

 

[Anguille]

Yawnnnn.... They go around Bombay, Calcutta, and other Indian cities and bag up all the dead people on the sidewalks every day before the rush hour..... Usually numbers a dozen or so a day....

Oh. Well, I guess it's OK then.

No, it just .... IS. You can't do anything about it, I can't do anything about. No one you know, no one I know can do anything about it. It just IS. I won't lose any sleep over it....

You'll lose some sleep when the ranks of the homeless rise up and commandeer your bedroom.

 

[Anguille]

I think that what is most shocking is they found out the guy voted 5 times while laying there

LOL!! For McCain, no doubt.

 

[Anguille]

Razing them would at least be a start. Redevelopment has to be linked up. If it feeds slowly out from the 2 or 3 areas of downtown that are worth visiting it may have a chance. Isolated redeveloped pockets are impractical.

You (all) realize that if those buildings were 'razed' by the rich owner...those homeless people currently residing in their...would be truly HOMELESS again.........

If this were to happen, something tells me that the MSM and liberals would howl about that too...

They would be truly homeless if they didn't have a derelict building? You call that a home?

The people who run the soup kitchens, the Salvation Army, the churches that provide free overnight lodging, the homeless charities, the newspapers, the emergency services, ALL have been saying for years that these places should be pulled down.

And your observe that leaving them in place will at least provide homeless people with a roof above their freezing, flooded, rat-infested hell.

Are you being disingenuous or facile? I can't believe you're serious (or that stupid).

Those buildings should be torn town and the owner prosecuted.

But I do understand why some homeless people would choose to live in places like that rather than a crowded shelter.

The homeless should have homesteading rights to the abandoned properties and they should be assisted in rehabilitating the properties into safe and livable housing.

 

[michiganFats]

Here's a story about Detroit. About 10 years ago I made deliveries to a business in SW Detroit. Across the street from this business was a FocusHope outreach center. For those of you who are not familiar with Detroit, FocusHope is allegedly a charitable organization, which benefited quite a bit under the Clinton Administration due to the Empowerment Zone funds given to Detroit.

Once a month, FocusHope would give away items "for the homeless". Gift certificates, coupons, job search help, government cheese ( which is not a euphemism, the government actually does give away blocks of cheddar cheese).

On those days, every car in the FocusHope lot was relatively new. The line was made up of people wearing leather and fur, who drove their Buicks, Cadillacs, and SUV's down to the FocusHope center to get the freebies. I can't tell you how many times I watched some guy in a hideous fur coat walking across the lot carrying a load of free shit over to his Cadillac.

This happened every month at the corner of W. Vernor and Livernois. Right across the street were real homeless people begging for spare change. Here's the funny part. FocusHope actually employed security to keep the homeless people away from the free crap for the homeless giveaway. After all, you can't have "undesirables" interfering in a charitable operation.

That's what's wrong with Detroit. Many of you may think I'm kidding or exaggerating, but I'm not. This is true.

 

[tigerbob]

Here's a story about Detroit. About 10 years ago I made deliveries to a business in SW Detroit. Across the street from this business was a FocusHope outreach center. For those of you who are not familiar with Detroit, FocusHope is allegedly a charitable organization, which benefited quite a bit under the Clinton Administration due to the Empowerment Zone funds given to Detroit.

Once a month, FocusHope would give away items "for the homeless". Gift certificates, coupons, job search help, government cheese ( which is not a euphemism, the government actually does give away blocks of cheddar cheese).

On those days, every car in the FocusHope lot was relatively new. The line was made up of people wearing leather and fur, who drove their Buicks, Cadillacs, and SUV's down to the FocusHope center to get the freebies. I can't tell you how many times I watched some guy in a hideous fur coat walking across the lot carrying a load of free shit over to his Cadillac.

This happened every month at the corner of W. Vernor and Livernois. Right across the street were real homeless people begging for spare change. Here's the funny part. FocusHope actually employed security to keep the homeless people away from the free crap for the homeless giveaway. After all, you can't have "undesirables" interfering in a charitable operation.

That's what's wrong with Detroit. Many of you may think I'm kidding or exaggerating, but I'm not. This is true.

I'd never heard that story. That's fucked up.

 

[catzmeow]

That anyone would disregard human life so easily is the most shocking portion.

Why in the hell is this so shocking to you? How many people do you think are homeless RIGHT NOW, in your community, sleeping on a street, dual diagnosis (substance addiction and mental health issues), unable to find a job, unable to afford housing, no access to health care, starving, and with no place to go?

For that matter, how many kids in the average urban community are in failing schools, living in derelict homes, have no access to health care, and are hungry most of the time?

A FUCKING LOT, that's the answer. There are people living like this (and dying like this) every single day in America.

Jesus Christ. If these people have no value when they are alive, why in the hell would they somehow acquire value when they die?

They're treated like trash, garbage, refuse every day of their lives. Why are you so surprised that no one cares when they die?

Do you people understand that death is probably a RELIEF after the lives that some of these folks have lived?

Do you know what is the most shocking thing about this article? That some of you are surprised by it.

 

[Amanda]

what part of the story is most shocking?

Is it:
- The media for "sensationalizing" a story with a relatively graphic picture?
- The fact that this homeless guy had been dead for as much as a month?
- The fact that other homeless people living there had basically ignored it?
- The fact that people playing a hockey game there saw the body and did nothing (except they went on with their game)?
- The fact that when someone did call, they called a reporter not the police?
- The fact that the police failed to show up until several calls had ben made?
- The fact that 1 person in 50 in Detroit is homeless?
- The fact that the building, like thousands of others in old Detroit, has stood derelict for years, despite being owned by a billionaire who could have paid the relatively small amount it would cost to have the building razed.

I don't really find any of it shocking. I understand why all of those things are. It's sad but not shocking.

 

[tigerbob]

[
They're treated like trash, garbage, refuse every day of their lives. Why are you so surprised that no one cares when they die?

Because it is so terribly sad.

 

[tigerbob]

what part of the story is most shocking?

Is it:
- The media for "sensationalizing" a story with a relatively graphic picture?
- The fact that this homeless guy had been dead for as much as a month?
- The fact that other homeless people living there had basically ignored it?
- The fact that people playing a hockey game there saw the body and did nothing (except they went on with their game)?
- The fact that when someone did call, they called a reporter not the police?
- The fact that the police failed to show up until several calls had ben made?
- The fact that 1 person in 50 in Detroit is homeless?
- The fact that the building, like thousands of others in old Detroit, has stood derelict for years, despite being owned by a billionaire who could have paid the relatively small amount it would cost to have the building razed.

I don't really find any of it shocking. I understand why all of those things are. It's sad but not shocking.

Well, I find that sad, but not shocking.

 

[garyd]

Sorry it pissed you off there Bob but the fact of the matter is that what you have there is the direct result of too much govenment. The building is still standing likely because the owner can't figure out which of three thousand or so city state and county workers he has to bribe to get the proper permits. And what would be the point of tearing it down when you know damn well that they're not going to let you do anything that will turn at profit on that site any way.

On top of that you've got the squatter movement to deal with. Until somebody does something to make it worth while to do business in Michigan again - to say nothing of Detroit - you are going to get homeless people and people dying in peculiar circumstances and people who don't care enough to delay a hockey game because they found a dead body. The same problems permeated the former Soviet Union right before the roof fell in.

 

[Killuminati]

- The media for "sensationalizing" a story with a relatively graphic picture?
- The fact that this homeless guy had been dead for as much as a month?
- The fact that other homeless people living there had basically ignored it?
- The fact that people playing a hockey game there saw the body and did nothing (except they went on with their game)?
- The fact that when someone did call, they called a reporter not the police?
- The fact that the police failed to show up until several calls had ben made?
- The fact that 1 person in 50 in Detroit is homeless?
- The fact that the building, like thousands of others in old Detroit, has stood derelict for years, despite being owned by a billionaire who could have paid the relatively small amount it would cost to have the building razed.


All are sad, GOD bless the dead.

 

[garyd]

Every one is sadden by this death. Thus far the only thing anyone other than myself seems to be willing to do about this is sue the absentee land lord and tear down the buildings so that maybe the next time some poor bastard freezes to death in the dark they can find the body easier.