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rolling nowhere

11-02-2009, 09:08 PM

How did you manage to miss California this time?

We didn't. We rode portland to bakersfield and got off to catch junk to colton. The bay was in the plan but the plan changed...

eatso

11-03-2009, 11:18 PM

the plans always change.

shai hulud

11-04-2009, 06:02 AM

We didn't. We rode portland to bakersfield and got off to catch junk to colton. The bay was in the plan but the plan changed...

Did you get all the way back east on the low line?

rolling nowhere

11-04-2009, 06:59 AM

Nah. Not this time. Our train headed towards ft worth at sierra blanca. We missed our san antonio train by seconds. It was a sad moment. Meatbeatso almost 86ed himself. Poor lil guy...

Did you get all the way back east on the low line?

!@#$%

11-04-2009, 05:15 PM

i want to watch Long Gone again SO bad.

2-C+C-2

11-04-2009, 10:09 PM

I want this smelly tramp out of my house

rolling nowhere

11-06-2009, 09:59 PM

I want this smelly tramp out of my house

haha.
i smell bad 67% of the time.
but people get sad when i leave.

san antonio might be getting a visit. im getting the itch.
i miss sparks flying off wheels into my face...

rolling nowhere

11-06-2009, 10:07 PM

i want to watch Long Gone again SO bad.

ive never seen that one.
i sort of like watching movies about riding trains but then im like..well.. ive been there i know how it is already. they mostly make me wanna go get on a train asap.
going to see who is bozo texino in houston when bill daniels came through was fun. standing outside drinking some whiskey waiting for the movie to start kind of laughing at a bunch of railfan nerds. i like trains. i LOVE trains. but i dont get a boner when i see UP 6748 pass by.

eatso

11-07-2009, 08:00 PM

KaBar2

11-08-2009, 08:55 PM

It is with a sad heart that I must inform the Hobo community that we have lost another member of our family. JJ (Joyce) passed away today November 7th. She had gone in and had her much needed knee replacement. Apparently the operation went like it was supposed to but she passed away in her sleep. Duane asked me to let everyone know that she went peacefully. People will remember her mostly for the wonderful meals she served in Britt. Funeral arrangements are still being made and will be posted when we know. Cards, condolences, memorials may be sent to:

Duane Tonsager, 42012 275th Ave. Browerville, MN 56438.

Be safe, Tammy

Joyce and Duane were very generous to the tramps up at Britt every year. Joyce was an excellent cook and people were always asking "When is that lady with the long braids going to cook again?" Although they are people of limited means, they would save up all year long to afford the food and supplies needed to prepare and serve a big meal for free to everybody. Their hobo friends always knew they could get a meal at Joyce and Duane's place. Joyce loved the hobo family, and especially looked forward to feeding the tramps at Britt every year. She loved children and loved taking care of kids. She always had a smile. She and Duane were good friends with the Boxcar Boys, and over the years the Boys enjoyed many a homecooked meal that she prepared for them.

Joyce is going to be missed by everyone, surely, but Duane is going to miss her most of all. He came in off the rails when he met her, and they have been together for years, partners through good times and bad. Since Duane came down with cancer, Joyce was his caretaker. Things will be difficult now. The past few years we have lost so many old timers. It really brings it home how short life really is.

Duane could sure use the support of the hobo family. Like Tammy said "Cards, condolences and memorials" would help lift his spirits a little during a time of grief. If you ever ate at Joyce's table, take a minute to send him a card or a note.

K-Bar

CREAKSTER301

11-09-2009, 03:18 AM

I could really go for a good freight hop right now. Every time I go out to a layup/yard, i want to leave with the trains. Perhaps next summer i will ride from DC to West Virginia or some other city in the region. Unfortunately my current obligations keep me from leaving for very long.

Good insights Kabar2, really enjoy reading your posts, even the irrelevant ones.

God bless CSX!

salesmanoftheyear

11-09-2009, 06:25 PM

God bless CSX!

NS*

KaBar2

11-09-2009, 07:00 PM

LOL. There are no "irrelevant" posts. Everything is connected to everything else, therefore pretty much anything of which one can conceive can be shown to be germane with only a minimal amount of effort.

For instance--

I just received a postcard from the current reigning Queen of Hobos, Stray Cat Julie, who is up in the Yukon taking care of Husky sled dogs and training them for sled racing.

Mon 2 Nov 2009 Yukon, Canada

Greetings from the Great White North! It really started snowing last week . . .a foot and a half piled up all around me, and a few more inches settle on top of that almost every day. That's good for dog mushers like me and those who came here to the last rugged frontier with visions of wilderness and open space. A lot of people come up here to escape the insanity of city living, and there is certainly much opportunity to do so.
Life is pretty busy. I spend a bit of every day shoveling dog poop, feeding the beasties and training them. These dogs LOVE TO RUN, and it's so good feeling to glide through wilderness enjoying the silence, mountain scenery and watching the long string of dogs disappear around turns and over hills--just like a short train! Once in a whle I wonder what's going on in places like NOLA (New Orleans) or wish I had time for one last ride on a line about to close (right now that's the Feather River Route.)

All for now---
Julie

Who would guess that Canadian dog sled mushing and trainhopping have even the slightest thing in common?

But apparently they do.

http://www.sleddogcentral.com/fun_photos/loveless_tater_small_hp.jpg (http://www.sleddogcentral.com/fun_photos/loveless_tater.jpg)

Dry land sled dogs---they pull a three-wheeled "sled"--no snow.

rolling nowhere

11-10-2009, 02:31 AM

Reliable sources say getting off/on in dc is usually a bad idea but just rolling through is no big deal...just thought id throw youa bone doggy...

I could really go for a good freight hop right now. Every time I go out to a layup/yard, i want to leave with the trains. Perhaps next summer i will ride from DC to West Virginia or some other city in the region. Unfortunately my current obligations keep me from leaving for very long.

Good insights Kabar2, really enjoy reading your posts, even the irrelevant ones.

God bless CSX!

eatso

11-10-2009, 02:42 AM

feather river route closing?
madness.

CREAKSTER301

11-11-2009, 03:04 AM

Reliable sources say getting off/on in dc is usually a bad idea but just rolling through is no big deal...just thought id throw youa bone doggy...

Naw, ive never had any problems, just avoid the areas near the capitol.

the radiologist

11-11-2009, 05:54 PM

eatso

11-12-2009, 01:10 AM

you're a fucking tool you know that?

rolling nowhere

11-12-2009, 08:20 AM

I can hear lil beatsos heart cracking...no more feather river. No feather river for you and no coast for me.
I keep hearing trains at night. Mhokc mhofw I hear you motherfuckers...

I just watched this video I think its pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmjEHmEwLi0&sns=em

rolling nowhere

11-12-2009, 08:22 AM

rolling nowhere

11-12-2009, 08:28 AM

[QUOTE=KaBar2;6866816]

Who would guess that Canadian dog sled mushing and trainhopping have even the slightest thing in common?

But apparently they do.
QUOTE]

I still don't see the connection. And I'd say posting a letter you recieved from an old friend constitutes as an irrelevant post. But, big ups on the few things you do say that are actually interesting.

The letter is from someone who rides trains to someone who rides trains and mentions some train shit...how is that irrelevant? Just because its not some fuunny little anecdote for you to chew on? Go suck a fuck...I ride freight trains motherfucker what do you do????

LadysmithBlackMambazo

11-13-2009, 06:48 AM

This thread is amazing. I was reading through the first few pages and was amazed at how thought out and interesting the posts were, then I noticed they were eight years old and was just getting ready to get my "end times" grump on and curse and my generation for not putting any care or time into things, like they used to, when I checked the last page and found, with some exceptions, things to be continuing pretty well - and Kabar still on here schoolin up the the youngins in railroad lore.
A+++++++
Thanks,
ladysmith

KaBar2

11-13-2009, 07:06 AM

Glad you are enjoying it.

Radiologist--

The dog musher chick is the current reigning Queen of Hobos, Stray Cat Julie, who now has about ten years on the rails. That woman is the most enthusiastic trainhopper I ever met. She rides coast to coast on a piece of toast! Raised in the wilds of the Canadian Maritimes, she is a former Canadian Navy sailor, speaks French, English, Spanish and some Korean, trainhopper, wilderness backpacker, English teacher in Korea, multi-talented musician (guitar, violin, dulcimer and concertina), university educated and all-around cool person. And good lookin', too.

There's your connection right there, LOL.

iRockuJock

11-15-2009, 06:56 AM

If someone is trying to help a stranded homeless northwest kid, please PM me ASAP.

Learner

11-20-2009, 05:24 PM

KaBar

Has Stray Cat Julie ever given the skinny on teaching English in Korea?

esar

11-23-2009, 05:05 AM

piiiicccssss@

somekat

11-23-2009, 05:44 AM

@ kabar... i read a few of your posts on the first page, pretty interesting stuff. i'm tired so i'm not even going to try browsing through 51 pages to see if some one suggested this, but... good material for a book haha

rolling nowhere

11-25-2009, 03:47 AM

Its definitely been suggested a time or 20...
@ kabar... i read a few of your posts on the first page, pretty interesting stuff. i'm tired so i'm not even going to try browsing through 51 pages to see if some one suggested this, but... good material for a book haha

KaBar2

11-26-2009, 12:25 AM

One of our most famous depression-era hobos, Frisco Jack Sopko caught the westbound. This is such sad news. He was just two months shy of his 100th birthday.

Frisco Jack was the 1985 National Hobo King. He was a legend among the hobos and among the townsfolk of Britt. He was responsible for the words of the Four Winds ritual with which the tramps open the National Hobo Convention and welcome folks each year. It's a special campfire lighting service that is now emceed by 2002 National Hobo King, Redbird Express. Frisco Jack was known as a "Bridger" first riding the rails on steam trains and then bridging over to diesel-electric.

He introduced several members of the hobo family to making the "monkey fist knot" and "Turk's Head knot" necklaces to sell and make some pocket money up at Britt.

From Hobo News and Review April, 1988, Edition 32 (Hoboes of America)

Letters to the Editor (Hoboes of America)

Queen and Empress of Rails and Jungles: (Garnette)

As the beachcomber said ,"Long time, no sea." I'm only making one or two trips a year now, having just cleared out of the repair shop. It looks like we can start laying down our shovels and go on the bum. "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!", as Haywire Mac used to sing.

I made the Eastern Swing last summer to Steamtown, Vermont. Say, did you know that the Big Hogs are no longer stationed there? They have moved them to Scranton. I sure get a nostalgic feeling going there to those yards. There are engines from most of the railroads of the U.S., namely the Big Boy, T.R. Burlington High Wheeler, Grand Western, the S.P. Mallet (or as we say, the "Mally".) Sure miss that faint odor of sulphur. Nothing will ever replace the Windjammer (air compressor) along with the steam whistle. Yeah, the Old Iron Horse was our Pegasus and we rode him into the sunset.

I am sending five skins for Hobo News. I wish you a fine trip to India and China. I was glad to see that you dedicated the last issue of the Hobo News to the El Paso Kid. He's sure one knowledgeable and experienced hobo. He and Cardboard are without a doubt the most travelled and resourceful hoboes in the country. They really can make a jungle function right.
Well, some people don't know when to quit so I better stop.

Adios, Frisco Jack from Trafford, Pennsylvania.

The Old Heads are dropping like flies, boys. If you find an old tramp, do your best to get him to pass on some knowledge. Pretty soon they'll all be gone, and we'll be left here to fend for ourselves.

KaBar2

11-26-2009, 01:15 AM

http://www.hobo.com/

rolling nowhere

11-26-2009, 03:05 AM

I already fend for myself!

RIP.

One of our most famous depression-era hobos, Frisco Jack Sopko caught the westbound. This is such sad news. He was just two months shy of his 100th birthday.

Frisco Jack was the 1985 National Hobo King. He was a legend among the hobos and among the townsfolk of Britt. He was responsible for the words of the Four Winds ritual with which the tramps open the National Hobo Convention and welcome folks each year. It's a special campfire lighting service that is now emceed by 2002 National Hobo King, Redbird Express. Frisco Jack was known as a "Bridger" first riding the rails on steam trains and then bridging over to diesel-electric.

He introduced several members of the hobo family to making the "monkey fist knot" and "Turk's Head knot" necklaces to sell and make some pocket money up at Britt.

From Hobo News and Review April, 1988, Edition 32 (Hoboes of America)

Letters to the Editor (Hoboes of America)

Queen and Empress of Rails and Jungles: (Garnette)

As the beachcomber said ,"Long time, no sea." I'm only making one or two trips a year now, having just cleared out of the repair shop. It looks like we can start laying down our shovels and go on the bum. "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!", as Haywire Mac used to sing.

I made the Eastern Swing last summer to Steamtown, Vermont. Say, did you know that the Big Hogs are no longer stationed there? They have moved them to Scranton. I sure get a nostalgic feeling going there to those yards. There are engines from most of the railroads of the U.S., namely the Big Boy, T.R. Burlington High Wheeler, Grand Western, the S.P. Mallet (or as we say, the "Mally".) Sure miss that faint odor of sulphur. Nothing will ever replace the Windjammer (air compressor) along with the steam whistle. Yeah, the Old Iron Horse was our Pegasus and we rode him into the sunset.

I am sending five skins for Hobo News. I wish you a fine trip to India and China. I was glad to see that you dedicated the last issue of the Hobo News to the El Paso Kid. He's sure one knowledgeable and experienced hobo. He and Cardboard are without a doubt the most travelled and resourceful hoboes in the country. They really can make a jungle function right.
Well, some people don't know when to quit so I better stop.

Adios, Frisco Jack from Trafford, Pennsylvania.

The Old Heads are dropping like flies, boys. If you find an old tramp, do your best to get him to pass on some knowledge. Pretty soon they'll all be gone, and we'll be left here to fend for ourselves.

eatso

11-26-2009, 06:50 PM

bummer.
time to make new legendary hobos.

rolling nowhere

12-03-2009, 05:12 AM

Were on the way son...
Sweetwater kid rides again!
Haha

bummer.
time to make new legendary hobos.

eatso

12-03-2009, 06:54 AM

can't keep us down no sir, man the pictures are hilarious I just need a scanner and I'll post some up, post facial modifications of course.

rolling nowhere

12-04-2009, 04:08 AM

Of course of course...
I don't even remember you taking many pictures so this should be entertaining.
Somewhere I have 10-12 rolls to develope. I can't find them

can't keep us down no sir, man the pictures are hilarious I just need a scanner and I'll post some up, post facial modifications of course.

eatso

12-04-2009, 08:45 PM

quite right Chauncey.

rolling nowhere

12-06-2009, 09:29 AM

Jolly good Tipton!
quite right Chauncey.

eatso

12-07-2009, 09:59 PM

very good then.

Jestr

12-19-2009, 10:58 PM

Anyone have experiences with catching out in PA?

Next summer I want to train hop from PA all the way to Parris Island, South carolina to see my brother graduate from the marines. What do you all think?

rolling nowhere

12-20-2009, 12:17 AM

get on a train going south.

KaBar2

12-20-2009, 07:22 AM

rolling nowhere

12-20-2009, 11:56 AM

Jester---

If you want to make his graduation on time, you'd be a lot better off taking a bus. You can catch out to wherever after the graduation. Trainhopping is a notoriously undependable form of transportation, especially if you are trying to get somewhere at a particular time. Most tramps don't set out planning out how to get from Point "A" to Point "B". They ride the train to wherever it goes, rather than trying to figure out what train to take to get to Shitkick, South Carolina.

For instance, if I set out from my local catch-out going north, I am going to wind up in Fort Worth, Texas. It would be very easy for me to ride back and forth, back and forth between Fort Worth and Houston, or Houston and San Antonio. But from my jungle, it is not as easy to get to Dallas. Therefore, I would go to Fort Worth and San Antonio and be happy, and not worry much about going to Dallas.

Have a look at the maps here http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/index.asp

or walk downtown get on the tre and steal a ride to dallas from ft worthless.
haha.
i dont think there are any trains that would take you to dallas from htown. they should all be going to ft worth. is there even an actual houston-dallas train? seem slike theyd all go to centennial and get made into some little transfer kind of deal. i might be wrong about that though. im not an expert.
i hate ft worth!

personally i do not just get on a random trains and see what happens. i decide where i want to go and i get on the right train (sometimes haha) and get there! i take great pride in the amount of train info i have accumulated in the last 5 or 6 years of doing this shit. i pass on the info every chance i get when someone needs a hand ive given several kids on here solid info on how to get where they need to get down to like which bush is the best one to hide in. hahah.. solid legit train info is like gold! even folks ive met who have a lot more time on trains are kind of clueless about REAL train info. specific stuff. not just..oh if you get on a train over there itll take you north. NO SHIT the line goes north. haha.
south sw north nw west i got it son! i need to learn about the east coast. thats the plan after winter.
austin-chicago-lacrosse-minot-havre-whitefish-seattle-portland-bakersfield-colton-tucson-el paso-ft worth.
we missed the train that would have taken us to san antonio by seconds so we went to ft worth instead from el paso. its kind of hard to tell which train will go to englewood and which ones are going to memphis or marion. except the piggybacks. those dont go to houston on the sunset. but all those places were where we wanted to go and we got there no problem.
i like knowing what train is going to get me where i need to go. i dont really wander aimlessly when i ride trains. ill be out for months but going to places i plan on going and of course sometimes ending up in a place i wasnt expecting to end up because no one is right all the time. then ill know how to get there if i ever want to go. (little rock haha)
but i know how to get where i need to be with minimal train switching usually. i know whats up!

if you have a good amount of time to get where you need to be its usually pretty easy to do it. but you know if you need to get from jacksonville to fucking seattle in 4 days that just isnt going to happen. you gotta be realistic. in my experience trains seem to take roughly 2x as long to get to a place as it does to drive from point a to b. im not saying it will take you 2x as long to get from where you are to where youre going unless its 1 train. like houston to san antonio. takes about 3 hours to drive and the fastest ive got there is 6 1/2-7 hours by train. the longest was around 11 hours. takes about 2 1/2 days to get from texas to west colton on 1 train and like a day or whatever to drive it. but you know sometimes you get that wack super slow junk train that sides at every siding for no reason for 3 hours and it takes you 24 hours to go like 100 miles. ive been on those trains. THEY SUCK. 27 hours to go from houston to eagle lake. look it up!
or maybe your train breaks down for 12 hours. or it takes you 5 days of waiting to get on a train. you have to take things like that into consideration. i always tell people IF EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT it will take you about x number of days to get wherever. but everything does not go right. haha. NEVER. there are always complications. but thats what keeps you on your toes dooodz.
im gonna stop rambling and get back to drawing.
i like rambling about train shit. haha!

Jestr

12-23-2009, 02:31 AM

eatso

12-24-2009, 03:09 AM

or walk downtown get on the tre and steal a ride to dallas from ft worthless.
haha.
i dont think there are any trains that would take you to dallas from htown. they should all be going to ft worth. is there even an actual houston-dallas train? seem slike theyd all go to centennial and get made into some little transfer kind of deal. i might be wrong about that though. im not an expert.
i hate ft worth!

personally i do not just get on a random trains and see what happens. i decide where i want to go and i get on the right train (sometimes haha) and get there! i take great pride in the amount of train info i have accumulated in the last 5 or 6 years of doing this shit. i pass on the info every chance i get when someone needs a hand ive given several kids on here solid info on how to get where they need to get down to like which bush is the best one to hide in. hahah.. solid legit train info is like gold! even folks ive met who have a lot more time on trains are kind of clueless about REAL train info. specific stuff. not just..oh if you get on a train over there itll take you north. NO SHIT the line goes north. haha.
south sw north nw west i got it son! i need to learn about the east coast. thats the plan after winter.
austin-chicago-lacrosse-minot-havre-whitefish-seattle-portland-bakersfield-colton-tucson-el paso-ft worth.
we missed the train that would have taken us to san antonio by seconds so we went to ft worth instead from el paso. its kind of hard to tell which train will go to englewood and which ones are going to memphis or marion. except the piggybacks. those dont go to houston on the sunset. but all those places were where we wanted to go and we got there no problem.
i like knowing what train is going to get me where i need to go. i dont really wander aimlessly when i ride trains. ill be out for months but going to places i plan on going and of course sometimes ending up in a place i wasnt expecting to end up because no one is right all the time. then ill know how to get there if i ever want to go. (little rock haha)
but i know how to get where i need to be with minimal train switching usually. i know whats up!

if you have a good amount of time to get where you need to be its usually pretty easy to do it. but you know if you need to get from jacksonville to fucking seattle in 4 days that just isnt going to happen. you gotta be realistic. in my experience trains seem to take roughly 2x as long to get to a place as it does to drive from point a to b. im not saying it will take you 2x as long to get from where you are to where youre going unless its 1 train. like houston to san antonio. takes about 3 hours to drive and the fastest ive got there is 6 1/2-7 hours by train. the longest was around 11 hours. takes about 2 1/2 days to get from texas to west colton on 1 train and like a day or whatever to drive it. but you know sometimes you get that wack super slow junk train that sides at every siding for no reason for 3 hours and it takes you 24 hours to go like 100 miles. ive been on those trains. THEY SUCK. 27 hours to go from houston to eagle lake. look it up!
or maybe your train breaks down for 12 hours. or it takes you 5 days of waiting to get on a train. you have to take things like that into consideration. i always tell people IF EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT it will take you about x number of days to get wherever. but everything does not go right. haha. NEVER. there are always complications. but thats what keeps you on your toes dooodz.
im gonna stop rambling and get back to drawing.
i like rambling about train shit. haha!

WHAT HE SAIDX2

Cracked Ass

12-24-2009, 06:19 AM

I was planning on leaving atleast a week early. I've done a little bit of research and I'm pretty sure theres a rail line that goes right into the Parris Island area. Probably even right to the base. But I"m not sure if I should be fucking with military rail lines.

Heres the rail really close to the base, although it doesn't run right into the base like I thought.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d

You sound like you're out of your element a bit, but lemme see what I can tell you.
I don't know the deal with the activity at your spot. But looking at your map I see that your destination is at the end of a branch line off the main at Yemassee. This presents a couple problems:
1. Just because a line appears on a map doesn't mean it's not abandoned. Or, it gets a train once or twice a year (special shipment to the base, or a "blue moon" customer). Or maybe more often, but not often enough for you to make the connection in time. You need to research who gets rail shipments on that branch and how often, if it's active at all.
2. You need to know what's up at Yemassee, whether or not the branch line looks good for business. Is there a yard? Do trains stop there? Just looking at the map and relying on my knowledge of trains in general, I bet you ten bucks even if you get on the right train heading south toward Yemassee, it highballs straight through the town and your next stop is in Georgia. You can't count on being able to get off a train at every podunk town. It might not even slow down.
3. There aren't any "military rail lines" per se. You might have a mainline or short line that runs near a base and the base has its own siding or short branch line. No train will come from a hundred miles away and pull right into a military base and drop off a couple cars and then keep going. If the military is getting a shipment it will come to the nearest regular yard and a special switcher, possibly with DODX (Department of Defense) caboose (and/or armed escorts, depending on how sensitive the cargo is) will take it to the base. You definitely don't want to be riding a DOD shipment, if you could even sneak on in the first place.

In general I would not try this trip if it's your first ride ever and it's important for you to be on time for this event. If you leave a week early and are prepared to overshoot your target and wind up on a bus FROM Atlanta or Savannah back to Parris, you might be OK. But it sounds like you need more research.

rolling nowhere

12-24-2009, 11:52 AM

WHAT HE SAIDX2

big bad eatso beatso had traveled thousands YES THOUSANDS of miles with me. so yeah....
ive seen him naked at least 10 times. HAHA

a week is not enough. persoanlyl i could probably get to the area in a week. youve never hopped trains. it migth take you days just to get on one. and the what? i cant tel you its not going to paris isdland. i dont know where that is but its not a crew change so dont expect a train to go there and stop.

it might seem awesome and romantic to hop a train down there but realistically it just isnt going to happen man.
if you wanna ride a train some where do it some time. i encourage everyone to go for it and see what its all about.
but ion this case it isnt going to work.

NOW... if you do it and prove me wrong you get props forever and then some.
but i dont see it happening.

i kind of kno what im talking about.

and im kind of drunk.

EATS EATS EATS EATSOOOOOO.

dude new orleans is going to be insane this time!!!!

rolling nowhere

12-24-2009, 11:58 AM

You sound like you're out of your element a bit, but lemme see what I can tell you.
I don't know the deal with the activity at your spot. But looking at your map I see that your destination is at the end of a branch line off the main at Yemassee. This presents a couple problems:
1. Just because a line appears on a map doesn't mean it's not abandoned. Or, it gets a train once or twice a year (special shipment to the base, or a "blue moon" customer). Or maybe more often, but not often enough for you to make the connection in time. You need to research who gets rail shipments on that branch and how often, if it's active at all.
2. You need to know what's up at Yemassee, whether or not the branch line looks good for business. Is there a yard? Do trains stop there? Just looking at the map and relying on my knowledge of trains in general, I bet you ten bucks even if you get on the right train heading south toward Yemassee, it highballs straight through the town and your next stop is in Georgia. You can't count on being able to get off a train at every podunk town. It might not even slow down.
3. There aren't any "military rail lines" per se. You might have a mainline or short line that runs near a base and the base has its own siding or short branch line. No train will come from a hundred miles away and pull right into a military base and drop off a couple cars and then keep going. If the military is getting a shipment it will come to the nearest regular yard and a special switcher, possibly with DODX (Department of Defense) caboose (and/or armed escorts, depending on how sensitive the cargo is) will take it to the base. You definitely don't want to be riding a DOD shipment, if you could even sneak on in the first place.

In general I would not try this trip if it's your first ride ever and it's important for you to be on time for this event. If you leave a week early and are prepared to overshoot your target and wind up on a bus FROM Atlanta or Savannah back to Parris, you might be OK. But it sounds like you need more research.

pretty legit from a non train rider point of view.

i remember this one time seeing a line like 100 dodx emtpy flat cars heading north out of houston.
can tell you how many times ive seen train of trucks/jeeps/tanks coming into houston.
so many.
i was going to paint some trucks once but decided not to.

I KNOW MY TRAIN SPOTS!

and now i make tacos...

RIDE HARD MOTHER FUCKER.

rh. mf.

Balthazaar

12-27-2009, 07:03 PM

Anyone have an estimate on how long a cross country (east to west) trip might take on freight? I understand that it varies depending on origin, destination, planning, and experience levels, but regardless, any idea?

Where might you start from on the east coast for the best route(s) to the west coast?

Jestr

12-27-2009, 11:06 PM

This isn't my first time hopping trains, I've made a few 2 or 3 day long trips just around my area alittle but all I've really brought with me was a large PA Atlas and a compas and a few pictures so I could tell where I was at and I really never had a destination just as long as I was back home by a certain date becuase I have work and a worried wife. Most of the time I'd catch out on a local train that leaves from some factory, every night or every other night at 7:00-7:30 because it was very close and convenient. After that it would head west, following the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg into the Norfolk Southern Enola Rail Yard. This yard is huge. I'm sure most of the East coast lines for straight into at some point. From here I'd usually find a way out some how and walk a few blocks to the Walmart there. Grab some food and coffee, freshin up in the bathroom and sometimes even sleep there. From there I'd either hop a train heading for the bridge to go to the other side of the river or find a nice person leaving walmart to drive me over the river where there is a smaller yard. I'd camp just outside and wait for a train heading west, from there it'd usually take me to Wilkes-Barre area and I'd get off, cross back to the other side of the river again and ride it back up practically right where I started. This is pretty much what I do most of the time, with a few extra stops here and there. Thats pretty much as far as I have gone. Just yard to yard. My biggest fear is it going out west, getting stuck out there and not being able to figure it out in time. It would't be a disaster if I missed it anyway. If I can't hop a train there I probably won't go at all, so its worth a try.

Balthazaar

12-28-2009, 03:11 AM

Just talked to friend who hops pretty frequently and he said one could probably do chicago to portland in 3-4 weeks if you caught mostly hotshots. Then it just be a question of getting to chicago from any given place on the east coast. It's be a few days to get there from where I am.

Any input on that time estimate?

eatso

12-28-2009, 08:19 PM

yes, you could potentially make it from portland to chicago in 3-4 days.
assuming everything went right, which I can tell you right now, it will not.
either way
tacos fucking rock.
oh yeah,
tell bill and tina I said hi.
also tell mr havre bull I said
"GOTCHA BITCH!"

Balthazaar

12-28-2009, 08:52 PM

Word, thanks.

Any tips for cold weather riding? Going on my first hop tomorrow night.. 19 degrees and probably around 0 with the wind chill. Just lots of warm clothes, a sleeping bag, and water I guess. And cardboard depending if we're on a grainer or not.. Anything else y'all might recommend?

Grasp

12-29-2009, 01:42 AM

Anything else y'all might recommend?

not going.

fuck cold ass bullshit weather.

Balthazaar

12-29-2009, 03:41 AM

not going.

fuck cold ass bullshit weather.

Haha not an option! It's gonna be one to tell the grandkids about... that is if we don't freeze to death..

eatso

12-29-2009, 06:37 PM

insulated coveralls
whiskey
your water is going to freeze.
post pictures.

KaBar2

12-30-2009, 02:42 AM

Insulated coveralls, preferably Carhartt's brand.

A really warm coat with a hood that will close.

A ski mask or a balaclava.

Warm winter gloves on a cord (through your coat sleeves) so you cannot lose one.

Genuine no-bullshit insulated boots.

A serious cold-weather sleeping bag.

WATER. FOOD.

TOILET PAPER.

Considering the fact that one can die of hypothermia in 40 degree weather, I sure hope you know what the fuck you're doing.

Stretch and I slept outdoors in 25 degree weather in Minnesota. I used a 1965 USGI Intermediate Cold Weather sleeping bag. It wasn't too bad until I had to get up to go piss. I would have preferred a 10 degree bag, though.

eatso

12-30-2009, 03:29 AM

"Considering the fact that one can die of hypothermia in 40 degree weather, I sure hope you know what the fuck you're doing."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
that right the fuck there is it.

Cracked Ass

12-30-2009, 06:52 AM

Selkirk, NY to Chicago wouldn't take too long if you knew what trains to work with. But there is a different feel, I believe, to the rail network east of the Mississippi. Out west you have huge distances, less lines, less yards (but larger), less junctions. Back east there's more population density, more interchanges, junctions, and jobs where (despite a long history to the contrary) it makes more sense to talk about north and south than east and west. In short, although I am not a rider (never rode more than 35 miles in one hop), it seems like it would be easier to get lost or radically misdirected trying to work the eastern part of the country, unless you know your shit pretty well.

piggy back

12-30-2009, 08:07 AM

you guys are fucking dumb for telling this kid shit,
riding rails is not for all people, its really dangerous!

He prob won't do it, post flicks or if never happened!!!!

I doubt it will!

Balthazaar

12-30-2009, 05:22 PM

you guys are fucking dumb for telling this kid shit

Get off yer high-horse :rolleyes:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4228270601_6cdf62c32e_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4228266821_f915196337_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/4229031068_432cf8170c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4229029264_a841e4feb7_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4228260731_c71198c569_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/4229021560_4be003fb97_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4228253557_e21c7e7d42_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/4229017028_4ebcd3b862_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4229011946_7de7986231_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4229009988_66f523919f_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4229008130_0a4a161049_b.jpg

Testicular Catastrophe

12-30-2009, 07:23 PM

Yay flicks! Nice one, hope it was fun.

Balthazaar

12-30-2009, 07:53 PM

It was fun as shit! Got to be a bit cold towads the end, but we made it just fine.

eatso

12-30-2009, 08:33 PM

congrats!

Balthazaar

12-31-2009, 02:58 AM

thanks eatso. Here's a question that came up during that ride... How much does the average boxcar/grainer/whathaveyoufreightcar cost to build? I've been trying to find out info on the web but google hasn't really turned up anything yet. How much does their worth depreciate over time? Old cars cheaper than new?

Anyone know?

eatso

12-31-2009, 06:44 AM

shit, that's a new one.
I'd imagine you would google the car manufacturers
rather than a wide car search.
That's a part of train know-know I can say with much humility I know nothing about.
that's alot of steel and iron.
sheesh.
we're gonna have to make a new thread.
KaBar?
I'm going to google it either way?

eatso

12-31-2009, 06:50 AM

ok
so this is killing me
can we get some rail detectives?
sorry guys
I'm not that awesome.
YET.

Balthazaar

12-31-2009, 01:17 PM

Yeah seems that the problem with looking up manufacturers is that they dont list prices or anything on their websites - it's not like you can by the shits on ebay or anything... if you have to ask how much it costs, it's too much for you to afford I guess

rolling nowhere

12-31-2009, 08:46 PM

oh now eatso rides trains?

NO WAY...NO WAY!
NOT ONCE NOT NEVA...

haha.

Balthazaar

01-02-2010, 11:22 PM

nothin?

rolling nowhere

01-03-2010, 11:15 PM

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_n5_v191/ai_9079635/

that took less than 10 seconds.

come on lazy asses...

that shits old but its got numbers and what not.

if you REALLY want to know just push those little beepy buttons and call a company like trinity and ask them some questions.

you took the time to ask all the retards in here why not go straight to the source? tell them its for school or some bs.

Balthazaar

01-08-2010, 12:27 AM

^^ nice article... I dunno why but I couldnt find anything on that shit, and I (thought) I did some serious searching...

this thread seems to be slowing down a bit? Kabar still around?

Some flicks from today..

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4255271744_d69433e203_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/4255270038_98f7b9d2fd_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4255268450_6d339b0cdb_b.jpg

rolling nowhere

01-08-2010, 05:33 AM

yeah it is slow. there are like 3 people in here who actually ride trains and shit so who caaaaares.

eatso

01-10-2010, 07:48 PM

I don't have a scanner.
as soon as I find one though.

rolling nowhere

01-11-2010, 10:17 AM

picture disc dummy.
makes life so much easier.
and is the same price.

eatso

01-14-2010, 10:42 PM

shut your goddamn hooker mouth before I shutt it for you.
oh yeah, I'll be at matty mats in like 2 1/2 hours.
you'd better be there.

KaBar2

01-16-2010, 01:49 AM

Too bad I missed all of Balthazar's pics. Why not use Photobucket? That way the pics will stay up and not go to those hated little "x"'s.

It's gettin' pretty chilly to be catching out up north. Stretch was in Gila Bend for the Combat Railfans New Year's Eve Party, and has called me a couple of times from Phoenix and Tucson. He's headed back east to Houston on a somewhat leisurely schedule. We got some genuinely cold-ass weather here in Houston over the last week or so, too cold to be comfortable living outdoors. It was way below freezing, down into the teens.

DPMS556

01-16-2010, 02:25 AM

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/4255270038_98f7b9d2fd_b.jpg

Is this the James ?

I figure i would ask before I gave it try. Has anybody tried to use a hammock when riding. I thought it would be great idea for winter, to get up off the floor.

Balthazaar

01-17-2010, 12:40 AM

@DPM - yeah it is indeed

@KaBar - I dunno why that happened... here are the pics again

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4229008130_4c9bfed35e_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/4229017028_ffd2b5d96f_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4228253557_277401cb6a_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/4229021560_632c833502_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2648/4229023318_fd679df674_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2541/4229025044_4fd657935b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4229029264_c484251565_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/4229031068_55469ef02c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4228266821_db66e20b1b_b.jpg

rolling nowhere

01-18-2010, 01:53 AM

hahah
rad duder
I forgot to mention that steel toe boots make your feet cold.
did you get that?
-eatso

rolling nowhere

01-18-2010, 01:54 AM

and kabar
blargh
thanks for the heads up on the weather
me and rolling are headed out nola way.
time to go get some thicker socks!

-eatso

Balthazaar

01-18-2010, 03:06 PM

hahah
rad duder
I forgot to mention that steel toe boots make your feet cold.
did you get that?
-eatso

haha yeah I figured that out pretty damn quick...

:scrambled:

SMdoubleXL

01-18-2010, 03:11 PM

thx for postin those again.

KaBar2

01-20-2010, 02:04 AM

Nice pics, I like the one of the fire. I wear insulated winter (steel-toed) work boots and my feet usually stayed pretty toasty. That is definately some crusty road-dog gear you got there Balthazar. Salty, bro. Very salty.

Balthazaar

01-20-2010, 04:59 AM

Yeah I think if I stuffed some fabric or something up in the toes of the boots it would help with insulation against the steel.

haha thanks. glad y'all dig the pics.

rolling nowhere

01-20-2010, 07:44 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/222-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/333.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/rethegnengne.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/gytgjtteyj.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/fnfnfngtrhtrjtrj.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/bbffyyhhss.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/dvsbrgjyjey.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/fghnhjteyj.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/thssjjhyu.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/dfilbifdjbv.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/yjkrykj.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/sdfsdfbsfdb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/teyhwfgwrthm.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/9998.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/thetrainbum/9999.jpg

that guy to the right was a fucking weirdo.

some of those flicks are blurred because they are pictures of pictures because eatso is a dummy and didnt get picture discs like he was supposed to.
FAIL SON FAIL.

eatso

01-20-2010, 07:49 PM

fuck you fatboy
least I didn't brake/lose/camera fail.
and that guy had a crossbow, which was fucking nuts.

Can't Function

01-20-2010, 08:41 PM

anyone know any train routes to get to indiana from tennessee

Balthazaar

01-20-2010, 09:49 PM

dig that riding on top of the car photo

CREAKSTER301

01-21-2010, 01:18 AM

rolling nowhere

01-22-2010, 02:54 AM

dig that riding on top of the car photo

hell yeah. the single stack viking ship ride was awesome.
rode that fucker from whitefish into seattle.
the kids in that photo are 2 youngsters from new hampshire we met up with in havre and let them join the fun time party squad.
they were on their first traveling adventure.
and that girl is too fucking cute.
me and gentleman eatso both made her man angry.
haha!
YESSIR.

scaryletters

01-24-2010, 11:17 PM

wrong thread.

eatso

01-25-2010, 01:51 AM

YOU FUCKING JAGALOON.

scaryletters

01-25-2010, 02:16 AM

rabble rabble rabble

nnout

01-27-2010, 11:23 PM

getting ready to ride out of cincy any ideas? thinking of maybe hitting the west coast let know me is it faster to head south or just shot west?

Cracked Ass

01-28-2010, 06:41 AM

anyone know any train routes to get to indiana from tennessee

Where in Tennessee?
I know CSX grainers (empties) going north out of the Wauhatchie (CSX) yard in Chattanooga can wind up in Evansville IN.
Not much help, I know...not from the area, and never rode any distance, so anybody on this thread can probably trump my advice.

piggy back

01-28-2010, 06:55 AM

I say fuck the ones who don't know, there are already too
many dumb ass Kids riding the rails fucking shit up!

So let them find out the hard way!

rolling nowhere

01-28-2010, 11:59 AM

I say fuck the ones who don't know, there are already too
many dumb ass Kids riding the rails fucking shit up!

So let them find out the hard way!

people have been saying this since like 1990.
i bet you werent riding then either...

there arent that many people out there on trains...
by the way its 2010..shits already fucked up.
i deal with it and do my thing regardless.

scaryletters

01-29-2010, 12:48 AM

getting ready to ride out of cincy any ideas? thinking of maybe hitting the west coast let know me is it faster to head south or just shot west?

you're lucky because the csx and ns yards in cincy are pretty close to each other if i remember correctly. going south you'll end up in atlanta, louisville, or knoxville most of the time. from there you can get down to Fort Worth and jump on the sunset line that'll take you all the way to colton (near LA). Going straight west would be way quicker but you have to remember that the overland is going to be cold as fuck this time of year and unless you have some pretty kickass gear you don't want to be out there in january. id try to stay south to go west. watch for INS!

nnout

01-29-2010, 03:31 PM

thanks ill keep that in mind

rolling nowhere

01-30-2010, 10:22 AM

ins doesnt pay much attention to wesbounds.
eastbound is another thing completely.

scaryletters

01-30-2010, 12:04 PM

i was pulled off going westbound in niland less than a month ago. anywhere on the border you have to watch your ass, but thats just my experience.

rolling nowhere

01-30-2010, 10:51 PM

i was pulled off going westbound in niland less than a month ago. anywhere on the border you have to watch your ass, but thats just my experience.

yeah it can happen for sure i just got some info from a legit source and he said they are way more concerned with east bounds which make a lot of sense. and in my experience riding back and forth on the sunset ive only had problems going east. but shit does happen when you least expect it.
it sucks taking a nap and the sound that wakes you up is that cop walkie talkie beep sound...
BOO SWEETWATER.

showin_naked_ass

02-02-2010, 12:54 AM

Lewis and Clark

02-02-2010, 06:51 PM

seoren

02-02-2010, 09:34 PM

^true that. Id rather be warm then freezing todeath, plus i dont think ins is going to take your food, but i wouldnt know, since iv just gotten in to train hoppin and havent road long distances

rolling nowhere

02-03-2010, 10:44 AM

havent rode the sunset yet, but everyone that has rode it tells me its really hard to avoid a complicated ride. Border will pull you off and chances are you will be in the middle of nowhere. Hitchin rides in the desert must suck.

ive been back and forth more than a few times and its not really a problem. ive been spotted 3 times by them always going east. 1 time they ran ids and the train was rolling again in like 3 minutes with us on it. other time we chose to get off in el paso when a guy saw us. no one came around to fuck with us but i didnt want to chance it. other time one guy drove up to the unit to ask if it was ok if i stay on and the crew said no the border patrol didnt give a shit if was on the train. i took a nap right where they kicked me off and waited for another train to stop and got on that one. the dudes who caught me told me they wouldnt be around and to go ahead and do what i need to do...
i hear all these kicked off in the middle of nowhere stories and bad stories in general and i always wonder if the people getting the boot were being dicks to whoever caught them. because ive been caught by bulls and city cops and never been hassled really other than MAYBE a ticket and thats just part of the game so im not even mad about that shit. everyone whos ever caught me on a train has been pretty fucking nice actually.
going west on the sunset is one of the chillest rides ive had.
had much more trouble getting through havre last summer.
words words words.

rolling nowhere

02-03-2010, 10:46 AM

^true that. Id rather be warm then freezing todeath, plus i dont think ins is going to take your food, but i wouldnt know, since iv just gotten in to train hoppin and havent road long distances

it gets cold in the desert too.
my water froze solid between el paso and tucson and thats a short fuckin ride.

the coldest and hottest rides ive had have both been on that route as a matter of fact.
nothing like july heat between yuma and tucson.
JESUS.
never again.

KaBar2

02-04-2010, 10:06 PM

From Flatcar Frank:

NAME: Raymond Tylicki

Alias': Ray Tylicki AKA "Rapid Transit", "Rapid-T," "Transit Train," "Railroad Postoffice," and numerous others.

DISPOSITION:

He is seriously mentally ill and has a significant problem with authority figures. He is very rude and very confrontational in just everyday personal interactions and in situations when he is caught breaking the law. In the recent past, he has been involved in a number of incidents where he threatened police officers, railroad special agents and railroad employees.

Unfortunately, due to Tylicki's antisocial behavior, whoever is with him gets into trouble too. He is a pathological thief and shoplifts in almost every establishment into which he goes. He just doesn't care that anyone who is with him gets in trouble too. In 2000 he attended the National Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa. He had numerous conflicts with both tramps and townspeople. He was caught several times attempting to steal money out of a donation box, and finally told to leave camp and not return. (This is VERY rare at Britt.)

He was caught by shopping mall security in a Florida shopping mall, fishing money out of a charity fountain, because he thought he needed the money more than the charity. He attempted to evade the security guards by throwing the coins at them and running out of the mall. They chased him down. When they caught him, he attacked one of the security guards with the sharp pointed end of an umbrella. Reportedly he got 30 days for assault and battery that time.

He was arrested by the Burlington, VT police for trespassing and resisting arrest after refusing to move from a park bench.

He was videotaped by Norfolk Southern yard video cameras stealing copper welding cables from a maintenance truck at Norfolk Southern's Bison Yards at Buffalo N.Y. He also exposed himself to NS employees at the Bison Yard, and made crude sexual suggestions to them. He has a long history of psychological problems. He is a habitual thief, and thinks it is his right to steal anything from anyone and to shoplift from any business.

LOCATION:

He travels by freight train between the cities of Boston MA, Cleveland OH, and Chicago IL, He is a mission stiff, and stays in homeless shelters wherever he can. He has family in Solon, Ohio, but they kicked him out. He is persona non grata in every jungle, coast-to-coast. Associate with Tylicki at your own risk. For more information, check out this website: http://www.timgibbo ns.net/projects/ hobo/page_ 1.html (http://www.timgibbo ns.net/projects/ hobo/page_ 1.html)

KaBar2

02-05-2010, 10:54 PM

(More on Tylicki from Flatcar Frank:)

Tylicki, you are a very twisted person. The CCG has NEVER been in the public domain. It belongs to one individual (And that's Train Doc--ed. K-Bar), whom you met (face-to-face) and whom you told that you wouldn't publish it. Then you went ahead and did it anyway. (Tylicki's word is WORTHLESS. He has no honor, and gets NO RESPECT.--ed. K-Bar)

The Frisco Circle can is what your hand in was when Roadkill caught you by the arm and forced you out the door. You are not welcome anywhere in any jungle. We all know about you and how you steal other people's work and pass it off as your own. The same way you are trying to conive the "amesrail" yahoo group with the so-called "rail yards book" I've informed them about you as well.

We have had a problem with you from the time we met you and you insulted Tanner City Kid's girlfriend. You are very lucky he didn't hear you, because you would have been dead.

--- In hobohistoryinfo@ yahoogroups. com (http://us.mg201.mail.yahoo.com/dc/hobohistoryinfo%40yahoogroups.com), "railroadpostoffice " <railroadpostoffice @...> wrote:

seoren

02-07-2010, 01:57 AM

woooah

eatso

02-09-2010, 03:09 PM

stabbing somebody with an umbrella is pretty fucking cool though.
But yeah, boo on that guy.

rolling nowhere

02-09-2010, 09:28 PM

stabbing somebody with an umbrella is pretty fucking cool though.
But yeah, boo on that guy.

man boo on you bailjird.

brothernarms

02-10-2010, 01:48 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL30jk3GBPQ

rolling nowhere

02-10-2010, 04:19 PM

id like to proudly announce that..brothernarms are wack...

i imagine most people on 12oz being someone in this video.

Balthazaar

02-10-2010, 04:44 PM

Making plans for a ride in March.. psyched!
probably Richmond to Florence SC or Rocky Mt. NC. Or maybe Chicago.... probably not due to the cold and whatnot

eatso

02-10-2010, 06:07 PM

springs coming round soon.
sorry bout the epic nola fail volume 2.0.
but chicken bone and the sweetwater kid will ride again.
I hear denvers nice round spring time.
but we also have a pizza eating contest to win.
who knows.

rolling nowhere

02-11-2010, 03:15 AM

belly fulla pizza and a pocket full of cassssshhh...

man if denver is the deal im not telling anyone im coming because everytime i say yo im coming to denver i dont show up.
nola aint goin nowhere unless god gets pissed at the gays again.

salesmanoftheyear

02-11-2010, 07:10 AM

just got back to richmond from down south a couple weeks ago, heading out again in the morning to portland. taking the lowline of course.
balthazaar- youre a dumbass for wanting to go to florence or rocky mt... there is no money to be made at either of those places. north charleston is better... or maybe, just maybe, you can venture off of the mainline to somewhere and make a handfull... but i doubt it because most kids these days just ride the intermodal on the main. its a shame.

salesmanoftheyear

02-11-2010, 07:13 AM

there is a good soup kitchen there in rocky mt though.

KaBar2

02-14-2010, 03:16 PM

This is a very cool site for doing photo reconnaisance of an area near a rail site. The only problem is that sometimes there are no photos displayed of an area that is extremely remote or if there is no development nearby. Type in an address, it shows a map with a little "human figure". You move the little man around and it shows you what he would be seeing if he were standing there. There is also a terrain map, aerial sattelite photos, etc.

www.vpike.com (http://www.vpike.com)

Grasp

02-14-2010, 08:29 PM

maps.google.com

pretty much the exact same thing.
also, i like to use local.live.com and when looking at a certain area, click on "bird eye view" it's much more detailed than a satellite view, almost like you're in a helicopter.

seoren

02-25-2010, 02:01 AM

got back from my first hop today. it was short. From Binghamton ny to harrisburg pa. Definately going to be going on longer ones soon

eatso

02-25-2010, 09:58 PM

rolling nowhere

02-26-2010, 03:03 AM

people like you really piss me off.
riding trains isn't about where the panhandling is most profitable.
but what the fuck do I know.
I'm just an asshole.
JOHNNY HAMMUHSTIX

lets go ride trains homoerectus...

fucking jobs and houses. wtf. ftw. abcdefg.

im just givin you a hard time baby boy.
i ALMOST wish i had a real job right now.
i need to settle down somewhere for awhile and chill.

riding trains isnt about panhandling.
its about meeting up with the bobs of the world and living the good life for 2 days.

PERMANANT LASTING DAMAGE.

.hopeless.

02-26-2010, 03:21 AM

just got back to richmond from down south

virginia isnt the south.just saying...

fuck virginia btw.

anyways there are alot of homeless people where i live.their all bat shit crazy but i sometimes use them to buy me beer.also their crazy little stories are hilarious to me.

EDIT: i know i read your comment wrong salesman but i just wanted to point out to anyone who thought virginia was part of the south.sorry.its not.you niggas are like right next to maryland for christs sake and also you niggas cant drive for shit.so fuck your state.

.hopeless.

02-26-2010, 03:26 AM

i could never go train hopping.i dont like loud noises or getting helladirty.i imagine this is what it would be like if i ever did ride trains.but i have always been fascinated with it.alot of people stop off at our local yard and i see them walking the tracks and in the woods all the time...

MacTheRipper

02-26-2010, 04:15 AM

just found this thread, can't stop reading the first few pages! good shit.

rolling nowhere

02-26-2010, 05:17 AM

i could never go train hopping.i dont like loud noises or getting helladirty.i imagine this is what it would be like if i ever did ride trains..

the dirt loudness boredom long waits rain snow hellish heat jail cops people talking shit because you smell bad dogs trying to bite you homebums trying to rape you whatever... once you get on a train going somewhere all that shit doesnt even matter at all.
at least not to me.
its all worth it.

ps. sleeping on a loud ass train is way easier than everyone imagines. i sleep pretty good once i actually lay down and stop nerding out looking at the scenery rolling by. the first time i got pulled off a train that was the first thing cops asked..how do you guys sleep on these things? i lay down and close my eyes. zzzzzzzzzzzzz

rolling nowhere

02-26-2010, 05:22 AM

id rather be on a train than anywhere most of the time.

.hopeless.

02-26-2010, 07:06 AM

what are the charges for riding trains? is it felony territory or misdemeanors? i know that the rails are alot harsher with all this 9/11 business that happened.

rolling nowhere

02-26-2010, 05:32 PM

i know that the rails are alot harsher with all this 9/11 business that happened.

says who?

you could just get the boot or you could go sit in jail for a month or anything in between. ive been let go given tickets and recently spent 3 days in jail for the first time (for trains)... It depends who catches you and where and how theyre feelin that day and whether youre a dick to them. there is no way to know whats gonna happen if you get caught.

by the way those tickets have been interfering with rr property and trespassing on rr property. i have a few of those floating around out there unfortunately.

.hopeless.

02-27-2010, 04:15 AM

rolling nowhere

02-27-2010, 09:22 PM

it was just something i heard.that they are alot less friendly when it comes to tresspassers.heard if from a family member who works at a local yard.most of the rail workers i have came across are usually pretty cool guys,i stay out of their way most of the time tho.now those rail cops...fuck those guys.

im not saying they dont exist because they do but ive never met a mean bull.
and ive met more than a couple.
theyre doing their job. that job is busting my ass for breaking the rules. im pretty ok with that.
it sucks but its all part of the game. yeeah

eatso

03-02-2010, 08:27 PM

also sometimes when you get caught
they give you pizza pizza and corndogs!

TRUE STORY!

oh, but you're in jail.
I forgot about that part.

rolling nowhere

03-02-2010, 10:16 PM

also sometimes when you get caught
they give you pizza pizza and corndogs!

TRUE STORY!

oh, but you're in jail.
I forgot about that part.

they let you watch joe dirt too.
but you gotta listen to tony montana of sweetwater talk about his 175000 bucks the cops took from his wife ALL DAY EVERY DAY.
i know that idiots life better than he does.

eatso

03-03-2010, 09:37 PM

five bucks sez he's still there.
I probably shouldn't talk though.

rolling nowhere

03-04-2010, 12:43 AM

fuck it

it was his cell.

he can keep that shit.

i wanna go ride trains.
i think.

salesmanoftheyear

03-04-2010, 04:19 PM

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salesmanoftheyear

03-04-2010, 04:22 PM

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Dialing for Dollars is trying to find me.

and yes, i agree, VA is not the souf.

MacTheRipper

03-04-2010, 06:41 PM

dope flicks

rolling nowhere

03-05-2010, 03:54 AM

man im starting to think people are faking the ghost attachments just for a reaction.

those flicks are dope.
that bones tag with the quote is great. if i see the juice im going to california...fuck yeah.

salesmanoftheyear

03-05-2010, 05:22 AM

that was a ridiculous amount of attachments on my post.
and yeah that juice man saved the day.

rolling nowhere

03-05-2010, 10:03 AM

and yeah that juice man saved the day.

it has a way of doing that...
sat around indio/coachella 3 days waiting and just as i roll out my bag to go to sleep before the sun came up that shit creeped up and stopped long enough for me to haul ass and pop in a miniwell. made it all the way to uvalde and got the boot.
oh wellssss...
OR me and mr. eatso waiting 3 days in el paso and sneaking into the yard to get on it and as we are walking up talking about barely missing trains that shit airs up and is moving too fast to get on. if we had been 10 seconds faster we would have been on it.
i actually have a bunch of little anecdotes that involve that train.
damn it i need to be on a train.
shitfuck.

SMdoubleXL

03-05-2010, 02:41 PM

the dirt loudness boredom long waits rain snow hellish heat jail cops people talking shit because you smell bad dogs trying to bite you homebums trying to rape you whatever... once you get on a train going somewhere all that shit doesnt even matter at all.

this is exactly how i would imagine it.

yarr

03-05-2010, 07:12 PM

it has a way of doing that...
sat around indio/coachella 3 days waiting and just as i roll out my bag to go to sleep before the sun came up that shit creeped up and stopped long enough for me to haul ass and pop in a miniwell. made it all the way to uvalde and got the boot.
oh wellssss...
OR me and mr. eatso waiting 3 days in el paso and sneaking into the yard to get on it and as we are walking up talking about barely missing trains that shit airs up and is moving too fast to get on. if we had been 10 seconds faster we would have been on it.
i actually have a bunch of little anecdotes that involve that train.
damn it i need to be on a train.
shitfuck.
u still around here blood?

Boxcarro

03-06-2010, 02:59 AM

Texas Mad Man has lived for years with Collinwood Kid , who is Jewish. Your beefs with people probably have more to do with your own personality and your own interactions with other people than with them being any sort of Yankee Nazis, etc. This is actually pretty funny, Tex is one of the most militant pro-liberals and anti-conservatives I've ever met.

Yep, K-Bar, my style irritates people. I Know this. I am a TEXAN. Grew up at 2224 RIDGE CREST CIRCLE, WACO, TEXAS. about a block from HEART O' TEXAS FAIR GROUNDS. I was PICKED on as a kid...LEARNED TO NEVER BACK DOWN, (Unless in the WRONG!) FAT-CAR may be a Fine Fellow...Hey shit for brains... Why not come out in the
open you little faggot.
hiding behind the internet is so easy. Kiss my
ass fuckwad I see you in
real life, Ill kick your scrawny little ass all
over the place.

.Hey shit for brains... Why not come out in the
open you little faggot.
hiding behind the internet is so easy. Kiss my
ass fuckwad I see you in
real life, Ill kick your scrawny little ass all
over the place.

But THIS is how FRANK talks to HIS ELDERS...
.I HAVE BEEN A HAM RADIO OPERATOR since 1958.

TEXAS MAD MAN probably don't know me...HE'S A FOLLOWER. Frank is the BIG SHOT up in BRITT. TOADYS always TOAD up to the BILL-TOAD...."One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest..."

I GAINED A NICK-NAME in 1963, (LAST NAME= BERNAYS...Nick-Name +(hand) GRENADE!! I was considered WIERD! WEIRD! I READ BOOKS! I PLAYED VIOLIN, I WENT TO BAYLOR UNIVERSITY while still in GRADE SCHOOL! (ROXIE HALL SCHOOL of MUSIC.) I LISTENED to OLD ARMY SURPLUS RADIOS & TALKED to PEOPLE I HEARD in THOSE BOXES! My BIG BLACK BOXES tore up the TELEVISION SETS in a 8 BLOCK radius! I WOULD DEFEND myself by saying "Well, read a BOOK!" I am STILL THE SAME SIZE I WAS WHEN I WAS 13. 24" Waist, 62" Tall, 116 LBS! I

I've SURVIVED to ANSWER AGAINST those who HOPE ME DEAD! DOG-MAN TONY knows me, & I WAS A FAMOUS STREET GUITARIST in AUSTIN during the 70's-80's-90's Up Until 2006. I was in YOUR Town...WORKED at 1815 West

I was in JAIL in ROME, GEORGIA for "RIDING A FREIGHT TRAIN with out a TICKET!" I've recorded at MUSCLE SHOULS, in MENPHUS, PINE BLUFF, HOLLYWOOD & Played with BUCK OWENS in BACKERSFIELD back in 1992...A SALVATION ARMY MAJOR in BAKERSFIELD bought me a GUITAR & Introduced me to Buck....I've been WELL RECEIVED and TREATED WELL by PEOPLE who are SUCURE IN THEIR OWN LIFE...but PRETENDERS, PHONEYS & FAKIRS loathe my life-style!
DOES FLAT-CAR FRANK RIDE THE RAILS?
DOES THE MAD-MAN RIDE THE RAILS?

I suspect Man Man might.....BUT MOST up at BRITT are PLAY-ACTORS, FEEDING off the EUPHORIA of the ULTIMATE ZEN of RAIL-HOPPING!

So I am OBNOXIOUS, OPINIONATED. OLD. SMELLY. TALK LIKE A HILLBELLY!

SO, I AM & HAVE BEEN a SUCCESSFUL, HAPPY FREIGHT TRAIN RIDER 30 odd years...IN FACT, FIRST RODE a ROCK ISLAND BOXCAR from BENTON, ARKANSAS up to MEMPHIS, TENN. in 1964.

PEOPLE ALWAYS HATE SOMEONE THAT DOES NOT FIT THEIR PRECONCEIVED IDEAS.

A HOBO carrying a Guitar, a HAM RADIO, a LAP-TOP COMPUTER, with SLEEVED TATTOOED ARMS & HEAD...that TALKS LIKE A ARKANSAS WHITE TRASH HILLBILLY????? KILL IT!

However, UNTIL THESE SCATOLOGICAL SNOIDS are ROUNDED UP by the NYO/NAZI/FEMA Enforcers, and marched off the EXTERMINATION CAMPS, they can just GO ON....

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the
tranquility of servitude better
than the animating contest of freedom, go home
from
us in peace. We ask
not your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and
lick
the hands of those
who feed you. May your chains set lightly upon
you.
May posterity forget
that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

Do not handcuff the
poor and homeless
A report by the US National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
and the US National Coalition for the Homeless

17 July 2009: The housing and homelessness crisis in the United States has worsened over the past two years, particularly due to the current economic and foreclosure crises. By some estimates, more than 311,000 tenants nationwide have been evicted from homes this year after lenders took over the properties. People being evicted from foreclosed properties and the economic crisis in general have contributed to the growing homeless population. As more people fall into homelessness, local service providers are seeing an increase in the demand for services. In Denver, nearly 30 per cent of the homeless population are newly homeless.

| Types of criminalization | Laws that criminalize | Mean cities | Alternatives to criminalization | Recommendations |

In response to the homelessness crisis the The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) released a report, Homes Not Handcuffs, tracking a growing trend in US cities - the criminalization of homelessness. Of the 25 cities surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors for its annual Hunger and Homelessness Report, 19 reported an increase in homelessness in 2008. 8 On average, cities reported a 12 percent increase. The lack of available shelter space leaves many homeless persons with no choice but to struggle to survive on the streets of our cities.

Even though most cities do not provide enough affordable housing, shelter space, and food to meet the need, many cities use the criminal justice system to punish people living on the street for doing things that they need to do to survive. Such measures often prohibit activities such as sleeping/camping, eating, sitting, and/or begging in public spaces and include criminal penalties for violation of these laws. Some cities have even enacted food sharing restrictions that punish groups and individuals for serving homeless people. Many of these measures appear to have the purpose of moving homeless people out of sight, or even out of a given city.

Types of criminalization measures
The criminalization of homelessness takes many forms, including:
• Enactment and enforcement of legislation that makes it illegal to sleep, sit, or store personal belongings in public spaces in cities where people are forced to live in public spaces.
• Selective enforcement of more neutral laws, such as loitering, jaywalking, or open container laws, against homeless persons.
• Sweeps of city areas in which homeless persons are living to drive them out of those areas, frequently resulting in the destruction of individuals’ personal property such as important personal documents and medication.
• Enactment and enforcement of laws that punish people for begging or panhandling in order to move poor or homeless persons out of a city or downtown area.
• Enactment and enforcement of laws that restrict groups sharing food with homeless persons in public spaces.
• Enforcement of a wide range of so-called “quality of life” ordinances related to public activities and hygiene (i.e. public urination) when no public facilities are available to people without housing.

Laws that criminalize homelessness and poverty
City ordinances frequently serve as a prominent tool for criminalizing homelessness. Of the 235 cities surveyed for our prohibited conduct chart:
• 33 per cent prohibit “camping” in particular public places in the city and 17 per cent have citywide prohibitions on “camping.”
• 30 per cent prohibit sitting/lying in certain public places.
• 47 per cent prohibit loitering in particular public areas and 19 per cent prohibit loitering citywide.
• 47 per cent prohibit begging in particular public places; 49 per cent prohibit aggressive panhandling and 23 per cent have citywide prohibitions on begging.
The trend of criminalizing homelessness continues to grow. Based on information gathered about the 224 cities that were included in our prohibited conduct charts in both our 2006 report and this report:
• There has been a 7 per cent increase in laws prohibiting “camping” in particular public places.
• There has been an 11 per cent increase in laws prohibiting loitering in particular public places.
• There has been a 6 per cent increase in laws prohibiting begging in particular public places and a 5 per cent increase in laws prohibiting aggressive panhandling.

Examples of ‘mean cities’

As for MISSIONS, the GOSPEL RESCUE JESUS-LOVERS in RENO, Called COPS on me PUT ME IN JAIL, for TRESSPASSING! I carry a ALICE PACK, it usually weighs about 50 LBs. I am 60 Years old, 116 LBS and 62 INCHES TALL...5' 2" size 24" Waist. THE GOONS the HOME-GUARD at the RENO MISSION were MAD THAT THEY HAD TO PICK UP MY HEAVY BACK PACK & CARRY IT 6 FEET TO ME, i Shamed them...I CARRIED IT OVER 17.000 MILES ON MY BACK, & I'm half your size! THEY PUT ME IN JASIL! I RIDE THE RAILS because I AM A TOTALL ANARCOISM. I BELIEVE I THINK like THE OLD FOLKS that RAISED ME, GREAT GRANDMOTHER, Jennie Noble Parker Russel was DAURGHTER of COLE YOUNGER! My MOTHER-FULL BLOOD CHEROKEE, was KIN TO MYRA MAYBELLE SHIRLEY, (AKA "Belle Starr") Belle was NOT A INDIAN. SAM STARR was CHEROKEE. I AM OLD and HAVE TO PUSH BACK! I CAN NOT let these NIHILISTIC HEDONISTIC YOUNGSTER dog me! GOD DAMN these MONEY GRUBBING, EASY SLIDER, THIEVING, LYING YOUNG PUNKS! I AM A RIDER, I RIDE ALONE! I WILL LIVE & DIE by MY OWN FAITH in MY GOD OF THE HOBOES! "Only A Tramp!" I carry a BIBLE with me, I FIND BIBLES THROWN IN TRASH, OR LAYING ON THE GROUND, I RESCUE THEM, as I Would a POOR PUPPY or STRAY CAT! I enjoy READING, & I READ THE BIBLE, if NOTHING ELSE, Its A Familar Friend! A TICKET, A CITATION! Not EVEN a MISDEMENOR, in NORTH LITTLE ROCK, NOT EVEN )N RR PROPERTY has LOST ME MY DRIVER'S LICENSE! I PHONED HOME cause I LOST my BILLFOLD, THEY TOLD ME I WAS SUSPENDED, Would have to RETURN TO LITTLE ROCK-PULASKI COUNTY, GO TO JAIL, PAY $100.00 For RENINSRTATEMENT, GOD DAMN YANKEE NAZIS! It WAS NOT EVEN A MISDEMENER! Just a CITATION! I FOUND A 1971 DODGE RV for $450.00 doen in FREMONT! I was going to go back SNOWBIRDING, LIVE in the MOHAVE DESERT! Now I CANNOT GET MY DRIVER LICENSE! GODDAMN these PIGS!

Since the beginning of 2007, among others documented in this report, measures taken in the following cities stand out as some of the worst examples of cities’ inhumane treatment of homeless and poor people:
• Los Angeles, CA. According to a study by UCLA released in September 2007, Los Angeles was spending $6 million a year to pay for fifty extra police officers as part of its Safe City Initiative to crack down on crime in the Skid Row area at a time when the city budgeted only $5.7 million for homeless services. Advocates found that during an 11-month period 24 people were arrested 201 times, with an estimated cost of $3.6 million for use of police, the jail system, prosecutors, public defenders and the courts. Advocates asserted that the money could have instead provided supportive housing for 225 people. Many of the citations issued to homeless persons in the Skid Row area were for jaywalking and loitering -- “crimes” that rarely produce written citations in other parts of Los Angeles.

• St. Petersburg, FL. Since early 2007, St. Petersburg has passed 6 new ordinances that target homeless people. These include ordinances that outlaw panhandling throughout most of downtown, prohibit the storage of personal belongings on public property, and make it unlawful to sleep outside at various locations. In January 2007, the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender announced that he would no longer represent indigent people arrested for violating municipal ordinances to protest what he called excessive arrests of homeless individuals by the City of St. Petersburg. According to numbers compiled by the public defender’s office, the vast majority of people booked into the Pinellas County Jail on municipal ordinances were homeless individuals from St. Petersburg.

• Orlando, FL. In 2006, the Orlando City Council passed a law that prohibited groups sharing food with 25 or more people in downtown parks covered under the ordinance from doing so more than twice a year. A member of one of the groups that shares food regularly with homeless and poor people in Orlando parks was actually arrested under the ordinance for sharing food. A federal district court found the law unconstitutional; however, the City of Orlando has appealed the decision.

The report Homes Not Handcuffs says these common practices that criminalize homelessness do nothing to address the underlying causes of homelessness. Instead, they drastically exacerbate the problem. They frequently move people away from services. When homeless persons are arrested and charged under these ordinances, they may develop a criminal record, making it more difficult to obtain the employment and/or housing that could help them become self sufficient.

Alternatives to criminalization
While many cities engage in practices that exacerbate the problem of homelessness by criminalizing it, some cities around the country have pursued more constructive approaches. The following examples illustrate more constructive approaches to homelessness:
• Daytona Beach, FL. In order to reduce the need for panhandling, a coalition of service providers, business groups, and the City of Daytona Beach began a program that provides homeless participants with jobs and housing. While in the Downtown Street Team program, participants are hired to clean up downtown Daytona Beach and are provided initially with shelter and subsequently with transitional housing. A number of participants have moved on from the program to other full-time jobs and housing.

• Cleveland, OH. Instead of passing a law to restrict groups that share food with homeless persons, the City of Cleveland has contracted with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless to coordinate outreach agencies and food sharing groups to prevent duplication of food provision, to create a more orderly food sharing system, and to provide an indoor food sharing site to groups who wish to use it.

• Portland, OR. As part of its 10-year plan, Portland began “A Key Not a Card,” where outreach workers from five different service providers are able to immediately offer people living on the street permanent housing rather than just a business card. From the program’s inception in 2005 through spring 2009, 936 individuals in 451 households have been housed through the program, including 216 households placed directly from the street.

T

The ‘meanest’
US cities in 2009:
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. St. Petersburg. FL
3. Orlando, FL
4. Atlanta, GA (4)
5. Gainesville, FL
6. Kalamazoo, MI
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Bradenton, FL
10. Berkeley, CA

The ‘meanest'
US cities in 2006
Previous positions in brackets
1 (11) Sarasota, Florida
2 (-) Lawrence, Kansas
3 (1) Little Rock, Arkanas
4 (2) Atlanta, Georgia
5 (4) Las Vegas, Nevada
6 (15) Dallas, Texas
7 (-) Houston, Texas
8 (-) San Juan, Puerto Rico
9 (-) Santa Monica, California
10 (-) Flagstaff, Arozona
11 (8) San Francisco, California
12 (-) Chicago, Illinois
13 (17) San Antonio, Texas
14 (6) New York City, New York
15 (10) Austin, Texas
16 (-) Anchorage, Alaska
17 (-) Phoenix, Arizona
18 (7) Los Angeles, California
19 (-) St Louis, Missouri
20 (-) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

While most cities throughout the country have either laws or practices that criminalize homeless persons, some city practices or laws have stood out as more egregious than others in their attempt to criminalize homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty have chosen the above top 20 meanest cities in 2005 based on one or more of the following criteria: the number of anti-homeless laws in the city, the enforcement of those laws and severities of penalties, the general political climate toward homeless people in the city, local advocate support for the meanest designation, the city’s history of criminalization measures, and the existence of pending or recently enacted criminalization legislation in the city. Although some of the report’s top 20 meanest cities have made some efforts to address homelessness in their communities, the punitive practices highlighted in the report impede true progress in solving the problem.

Boxcarro

03-06-2010, 03:03 AM

A homeless activist visits ''tent city'', a terminus for the homeless in Ontario, a suburb outside Los Angeles, California December 19, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two major advocacy groups for the homeless on Tuesday ranked Los Angeles as the "meanest" city in the United States, citing a Skid Row police crackdown they say has criminalized poverty and homelessness there.

U.S. | Lifestyle

L.A.'s so-called Safer City Initiative was singled out in the groups' report as the most egregious example of policies and practices nationwide that essentially punish people for failing to have a roof over their heads.

Others include making it illegal to sleep, sit or store personal belongings on sidewalks and other public spaces; prohibitions against panhandling or begging; and selective enforcement of petty offenses like jaywalking and loitering.

Such measures are widespread in the face of a deep economic recession and foreclosure crisis that have increased homelessness over the past two years, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Their report examined laws and practices in 273 cities across the country, with Los Angeles topping the list of the 10 "meanest cities" for what the study called inhumane treatment of homeless. A previous report, issued in early 2006 before the crackdown began, ranked L.A. as the 18th meanest.

Under the Safer City effort, thousands of L.A.'s most destitute residents have been targeted for harsh police enforcement, routinely receiving tickets for minor infractions such as the failure to obey crossing signals.

As a result, the study says, many are jailed and end up with a criminal record that makes it more difficult for them to find a job or gain access to housing.

A spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued a statement dismissing the report as "short-sighted and misleading."

Los Angeles officials have touted their Safer City effort for sharply curbing serious crime in Skid Row, a 50-block downtown area inhabited by the biggest concentration of homeless people in the country. "The city's first priority is to protect our most vulnerable residents from violent crime," the mayor's statement said.

But homeless advocates say a promised strategy to ease homelessness there, including new housing and services to go with the Skid Row cleanup, have largely failed to materialize.

An estimated 40,000 people live on the streets, in abandoned buildings or in temporary shelters throughout Los Angeles, more than 5,000 of them in Skid Row. Another 8,000 make their home in that area's short-term residential hotels, or flop houses as they were once called.

Becky Dennison, co-director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, said the homeless population in Los Angeles has ballooned due to a lack of affordable housing, a high poverty rate and "long-standing lack of local resources."

Tuesday's report cited a 2007 University of California study that found L.A. was spending $6 million a year to pay for the 50 extra police officers who patrol Skid Row while budgeting just $5.7 million for homeless services.

By comparison, Dennison said, New York City has a "right to shelter" policy and invests about $200 million a year in housing and other services for the needy, resulting in a homeless population half that of Los Angeles.

Boxcarro

03-06-2010, 03:04 AM

Patterns of exclusion: sanitizing space, criminalizing homelessness.
Publication: Social Justice
Publication Date: 22-MAR-03 Format: Online - approximately 12714 words
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Article Excerpt
IN RECENT YEARS, A PATTERN HAS EMERGED, A SEEMINGLY SELF-EVIDENT TREND toward restricting, regulating, and removing from public view persons commonly referred to categorically as "the homeless." I first encountered these processes in a variety of scholarly and journalistic sources and, most acutely, in my then place of residence, Tempe, Arizona, a southwestern "college town" of just under 200,000 that is often seen as the social and recreational center of the Phoenix metropolitan area. While exploring these questions theoretically and pragmatically, I discovered that rather than an "emerging" trend, patterns of spatial exclusion and marginalization of the impoverished that have existed throughout modern history have reemerged.

As such, this study attempts to locate contemporary manifestations of these patterns in their historical contexts, comprising a theoretical overview of anti-homeless legislation and regimes of spatial control. Moreover, these inquiries are grounded in events and activities observed in practice, drawing upon various media publications, government and corporate documents, participant observations of homeless communities, and open-ended interviews with street people in Tempe (approximately 75, conducted over a three-year period from 1998 to 2001). In the end, both my theoretical exposition and grounded case study conclude that homeless street people have been frequent subjects of demonization and criminalization, and that contemporary trends reflect even further "advancements" in patterns of regulatory fervor and casual brutality. Accordingly, this study aims to illuminate these trends, to raise awareness about and encourage activism around the implications for the homeless and the public spaces they often occupy, and to make "legible" the violence that pervades such social policies.

What is it about the homeless that inspires such overt antipathy from mainstream society? What is so special about their particular variety of deviance that elicits such a vehement and violent response to their presence? After all, "the homeless" as a class lack almost all indicia of societal power, posing no viable political, economic, or military threat to the dominant culture. Of course, as studies of deviance have continually borne out, a society's response to "deviant" elements is rarely linked in a direct way to any actual or credible threat. The threat is more one of perception than reality, more of a societal preemptive strike against an as-yet-unborn threat that often originates within the dominant culture itself, but finds concrete expression in some abject, powerless element of society. As such, depictions of "deviant subcultures" in the mainstream media are likely to feed into stereotypes of danger, disorder, disease, and criminality, helping to construct "the other" as inferior, inhuman, unsympathetic, deserving of their fate, and perhaps even requiring punitive measures. That all of this arises more from perception than fact testifies to the power of human emotions and collective consciousness, as well as to their horror. It is, after all, a short journey from diversity to deviance, from deification to demonization, and from sanctification to criminalization.

Demonization and Disease

As Henry Miller (1991) has observed, there have been times in history in which the image of the homeless beggar was one of sacrificial piety and mendicant holiness. Nevertheless, such characterizations have been the exception, and, at least since the enclosure of the common lands in 16th-century England, almost nonexistent. Once domains of private property began to dominate the cultural and physical landscape, "vagrancy began to be seen as a threat to the order of things"; later, as urban centers began to develop and market economies took hold, "vagrancy was to be perceived as a threat to capitalism" (Ibid.: 9). This was particularly true in the developing United States, where a version of the Protestant Work Ethic is intimately connected to the national mythos of equal opportunity and free-market meritocracy (cf. Weber, 1958). Fast forwarding to the present, the dominant culture heavily stigmatizes poverty as an "individual pathology," rather than a structural phenomenon, (1) and the homeless--because of their inescapably public presence and frequent juxtaposition to centers of leisure--invariably inspire the most virulent derogation and overt animus. Poor people with homes are at least "out of sight" for the dominant culture, if not "out of mind"; lacking private spaces, however, the homeless are often in plain view, and therefore are subject to the most direct forms of official exclusion and public persecution.

In mainstream publications, both academic and journalistic, even depictions intended to be sympathetic to the homeless often contribute to a mindset of demonization. One of the most enduring signs of this is the association of homelessness with images of dirt, filth, decay, and disease (see Gowan, 2000: 98). Henry Miller (1991: 22) notes that historically the vagrant was seen as a person of "many vices and debilities; was sickly and suffered from the ravages of tuberculosis, typhus, cholera, scrofula, rickets, and other disorders too numerous to mention; was apt to be a member of the despised races; [and whose] life was characterized by all the usual depravities: sexual license, bastardy, prostitution, theft." Miller's analysis suggests two related strands that contribute to homeless stigmatization. The first arises from invocations of disorder, illegality, and immorality and leads to processes of regulation, criminalization, and enforcement. The second is the disease and decay image, which leads to processes of sanitization, sterilization, and quarantine. In a sense, these two spheres are inseparable, leading to the same ends of exclusion, eradication, and erasure. Both strands converge in another sense vis-a-vis the homeless who occupy spaces that, like themselves, are often viewed as dirty and disorderly and thus require regulation and sterilization; as Mike Davis (1990: 260) opines, "public spaces," like the homeless, are imbued with "democratic intoxications, risks, and unscented odors."

The analysis in this essay considers the "disease" metaphor to be conceptually distinct from the "disorder" image. This arises out of the "Disneyfication" of urban space that geographers have often noted (e.g., Sorkin, 1992), since the Disney metaphor (and reality) is one of antiseptic sterility and disinfected experience, of shiny surfaces and squeaky-clean images. It is the apotheosis of what Herman Hesse described in Steppenwolf (1972: 16) as "bourgeois cleanliness," representing "the very essence of neatness and meticulousness, of duty and devotion ... a paradise of cleanliness and spotless mediocrity, of ordered ways." Disney is above all the sterilized environment, a place stripped of any outward signs of filth, decay, spoliation, or despair. Underneath that facade, however, is an interior dystopian world of darkness, brutal efficiency, neurosis, rigid control, and emptiness. As Hesse (1972: 23-24) describes the plight of his protagonist, trapped in a place not unlike the Disney-dystopia, the disease he suffers from "is not the eccentricity of a single individual, but the sickness of the times themselves, the neurosis of that generation ... a sickness, it seems, that by no means attacks the weak and worthless only but, rather, precisely those who are strongest in spirit and richest in gifts." Disneyland, then, comes to be seen not as a place for the "clean" to gather and play, but as an antiseptic retreat for the diseased of spirit to be temporarily distracted from the depredations of their existence. In a sense, it might be said that "the palpable fears of the bourgeoisie" (Mitchell, 1997a: 328) have, throughout modernity, reflected doubts about the health and vitality of the elite classes--doubts that are often subsequently projected on and attributed to some marginalized or colonized "other" (cf. Fanon, 1991).

In light of the hegemonic nature of the Disney aesthetic, it is worth considering how this notion of "disease" seems to originate primarily within the dominant culture, and then is projected onto marginalized populations such as the homeless. In this regard, it is instructive to consider how constructions of street people and the homeless serve to perpetuate stereotypes and maintain stigmatization, since these processes serve to reinforce such projections and reify bourgeois fears. As Talmadge Wright (1997: 69) infers, "the homeless body in the public imagination represents the body of decay, the degenerate body, a body that is constantly rejected by the public as 'sick,' 'scary,' 'dirty,' and 'smelly,' and a host of other pejoratives used to create social distance between housed and unhoused persons." This sense of social distancing reflects "the desire of those who feel threatened to distance themselves from defiled people and defiled places ... places associated with ethnic and racial minorities, like the inner city, [that] are still tainted and perceived as polluting in racist discourses, and place-related phobias [that] are similarly evident in response to other minorities, like gays and the homeless" (Sibley, 1995: 49, 59).

In analyzing "new urban spaces," Wright (2000: 27) thus observes: "In effect, street people, camping in parks, who exhibit appearances at odds with middleclass comportment, evoke fears of 'contamination' and disgust, a reminder of the power of abjection. Homeless persons embody the social fear of privileged consumers, fear for their families, for their children, fear that 'those' people will harm them and therefore must be placed as far away as possible from safe neighborhoods." Likewise, Samira Kawash (1998: 329) notes: "The public view of the homeless as 'filth' marks the danger of this body as body to the homogeneity and wholeness of the public.... The solution to this impasse appears as the ultimate aim of the 'homeless wars': to exert such pressures against this body that will reduce it to nothing, to squeeze it until it is so small that it disappears, such that the circle of the social will again appear closed." Bringing this cycle of demonization and repression to its logical conclusion, Wright (2000: 27) concludes: "The subsequent social death which homeless persons endure is all too often accompanied by real death and injury as social exclusion moves from criminalization of poverty to social isolation and incarceration in institutional systems of control--shelters and prisons."

Disturbingly, many proponents of regulating and criminalizing the homeless readily embrace such disease metaphors and their ethnocidal implications. Robert Ellickson (1996), Yale Law School Professor of Property and Urban Law, for example, implicitly affirms the image through his "revulsion at body odors and the stink of urine and feces" (Waldron, 2000). "Others, including many city officials, celebrate gentrification for reversing urban decay and boosting the tax base. They often refer to it as 'revitalization,' drawing on the metaphors of disease, deterioration, death, and rebirth" (Williams, 1996: 147). As Jeff Fen-ell (2001: 175) observes, "drawing on evocative images of filth, disease, and decay, economic and political authorities engage in an ideological alchemy through which unwanted individuals become [a] sort of 'street trash' [and which] demonizes economic outsiders, stigmatizes cultural trespassers, and thereby justifies the symbolic cleansing of the cultural spaces they occupy." Countless newspaper editorials, including cartoons (cf. Wright, 1997: 209), contribute to these trends by depicting the homeless as vile, malodorous, and dangerous--which is starkly evident in an Arizona Republic editorial image of Tempe's major downtown thoroughfare, Mill Avenue (February 12, 2000).

In political terms, the pervasiveness of the disease image in connection with the homeless serves simultaneously to empower officials and merchants to assume the mantle of speaking for "the community" in devising and implementing schemes to remove the perceived threat, and to disempower the homeless from having effective domains of self-presentation and resistance. As Wright (1997: 39) concludes, "living with 'spoiled identities,' the very poor are categorized, inspected, dissected, and rendered mute in the public discourse about their future by those who have the power to enforce [such] categorical distinctions." Tempe's "Piper" (interview, 2000), a 20-year-old self-described "gutter punk," waxes philosophically about the whole state of affairs: "They think their lives would be so much better if they didn't have to see the 'slime' and the 'scum' that lives on the street, but you know what? This is fucking real life, this is here, a diverse amount of things--in this world you never know what you're gonna see, so why try to hide it? Their kids are gonna find out about it anyway." Lyn Lofland (1998: 190) also notes this eventual permeation of homeless identity, despite attempts at regulation: "If regulation alone could achieve the purification of the public realm, we would all currently live in a world from which ... the homeless ... had completely disappeared." Nonetheless, despite their lack of full realization in the present, it is apparent, as Ferrell (2001: 175) explains, that such efforts "promote a type of spatial cleansing whereby unwanted populations are removed, by the force of law and money, from particular locations and situations. But this spatial cleansing is at the same time a cultural cleansing; as economic, political, and legal authorities work to recapture and redesign the public spaces of the city, they work to control public identity and public perception as well, to remove from new spaces of consumption and development images of alternative identity."

Disorderly Conduct: The Absurdity of Anti-Homeless Legislation

It is not much of a stretch to move from this sense of "spatial cleansing" and "cultural sanitization" (Ibid.: 169) to patterns of criminalization and enforcement. As Smith (1994) notes, "increasingly, communities are using the criminal law to cleanse their streets of homeless survivors." Whereas the "disease" metaphor is predicated on a view of the homeless as physical pestilence, the "disorder" image upon which criminalization often is based arises from a view of the homeless as a "moral pestilence" (Simon, 1992; cf. McConkey, 1996) and a "threat to the social order" (Simon, 1992). Whereas the depiction of disease leads to the imposition of regimes of sterility and sanitization, images of moral decay and social disorder set the table for legislative efforts aimed at regulating street people and criminalizing homelessness. Whereas the former results in a type of "cultural cleansing" (cf. Noonan, 1996), the latter begins to approach ethnocidal proportions in its use of overt force, imprisonment, and concentration--constituting what Don Mitchell (1997a) has likened to a "pogrom." Whereas Disneyfication denotes the friendly face of fascism, criminalization often represents its blatant brutality.

For at least six centuries, homelessness has been associated with "disorder" (e.g., Simon, 1996: 159) and "criminality" (e.g., Snow and Anderson, 1993:11; Wright, 1997: 212), patterns that contemporary "official efforts to harass, punish, or restrict transient people who use public space are repeating" (Stoner, 1995: 151). Mitchell (1997a: 312) even suggests, quite appropriately, that we ought to be talking about "recriminalizing homelessness." Constructing the other as disorderly and criminal requires the construction and maintenance of a dominant culture that embodies order and lawfulness. It is equally apparent that standards of civility and legality are generally determined by those in positions of power and advantage who manipulate such standards to suit their interests and protect their domains of property and authority. Thus, any construction of "otherness" as lawlessness necessarily becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy--as numerous sociological expositions of "labeling theory" have indicated (e.g., Lauderdale, 1980)--since one can only be guilty of violating a law after someone else passes it. In other words, it is the law itself that essentially creates the crime.

Such tautologies were prominently displayed in an article written soon after passage of a Seattle ordinance that criminalized sitting on sidewalks:

"This is not aimed at the homeless, it is aimed at the lawless," says Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran. By "the lawless" Sidran and other city officials mean people who, lacking anywhere else to go, sit down on the sidewalk. Jim Jackson, an Atlanta businessman, confidently declares that his city's new laws will "not punish anyone but the criminal." San Francisco's Mayor Frank Jordan assures us that "homelessness is not a crime. It is not a crime to be out there looking like an unmade bed. But if criminal behavior begins then we will step in and enforce the law" (Howland, 1994: 33).

The logical flaw in this "official" position is all too apparent: "But if criminal behavior begins...." "We punish only the criminal." "It is aimed at the lawless." All of these statements are made in reference to conduct such as sitting on the sidewalk that, before passage of this recent spate of laws, had been legal and generally seen as innocent acts. Now, by virtue of a law prohibiting sitting, an entire category of people is made "criminal" for acts committed before the law existed! The lesson? If you want to eliminate a particular social class or subculture or deviant group, locate some behavior that is largely peculiar to that group and make it illegal. Alternatively, one may pass laws under the guise of universal applicability that plainly affect only the target community: "The law in its majestic equality forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under the bridges" (Anatole France, in Waldron, 1991). (2) In the end, as Waldron (1991) points out, "everyone is perfectly aware of the point of passing these ordinances, and any attempt to defend them on the basis of their generality is quite disingenuous."

Returning to the first strategy suggested above, in which "the targeted 'behaviors' are those which characterize certain social classes" (IWW, 1994), the aim is simply to locate a behavior peculiar to the target group and criminalize it. With the homeless, it is very apparent: panhandling, sleeping in public, and sidewalk sitting. Despite frequent assertions that only "conduct" is being targeted and not "status" (e.g., Kelling and Coles, 1996: 40), it is clear that certain conduct attaches to specific groups, and that proscribing the conduct is equivalent to criminalizing the category. In some cases, as with teen curfews or "car cruising" laws, the prohibited conduct affects the target group's identities and liberties, but does not necessarily undermine their basic ability to survive. Neil Smith (1996: 225), however, observes that "the criminalization of more and more aspects of the everyday life of homeless people is increasingly pervasive." Likewise, Ferrell (2001: 164) notes that the daily lives of the homeless "are all but outlawed through a plethora of new statutes and enforcement strategies regarding sitting, sleeping, begging, loitering, and 'urban camping.'" (3) As Mitchell (1998a: 10) emphasizes, "if homeless people can only live in public, and if the things one must do to live are not allowed in public space, then homelessness is not just criminalized; life for homeless people is made impossible." The implications and intentions are all too clear:

By in effect annihilating the spaces in which the homeless must live, these laws seek simply to annihilate homeless people themselves.... The intent is clear: to control behavior and space such that homeless people simply cannot do what they must do in order to survive without breaking laws. Survival itself is criminalized.... In other words, we are creating a world in which a whole class of people simply cannot be, entirely because they have no place to be (Mitchell, 1997a: 305-311). (4)

According to Smith (1996: 230), "in the revanchist city, homeless people suffer a symbolic extermination and erasure."

An impressive and detailed body of work that illustrates and amplifies these points has been generated by Maria Foscarinis and various associates affiliated with her National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP). A series of scholarly articles (e.g., Foscarinis et al., 1999; Foscarinis, 1996; Foscarinis and Herz, 1995; Brown, 1999), demonstrates beyond doubt an ongoing and pervasive national trend toward "the criminalization of homelessness," evidenced by the mounting number of cities and towns with laws prohibiting behaviors including "aggressive panhandling," "urban camping," and "sidewalk sitting." (5) In assessing the purpose of these laws, Foscarinis (1996: 22) notes that "some cities state expressly that their intention is to drive their homeless residents out of the city.... In other cases, the stated purpose is to remove homeless people from particular places, such as parks, streets or downtown areas.... Some target the 'visible' homeless with the goal of making them 'invisible.'" Noting certain negative effects of such laws in terms of public policy--including poor use of fiscal resources, divisiveness, and a deepening of political and social tensions--Foscarinis (1996: 63) concludes that "criminalization responses to homelessness are inhumane, do not solve the problem, and are subject to constitutional challenge."

In 1999, the NLCHP published an influential report (Out of Sight--Out of Mind? Anti-Homeless Laws, Litigation, and Alternatives in 50 United States Cities) that expanded on some of these important points. The report found that, in the cross-section of cities surveyed, 86% had anti-begging ordinances, while 73% had anti-sleeping laws. The presence of such laws and accompanying enforcement strategies was also found to constitute "poor public policy" by acting as barriers to self-sufficiency, unduly burdening the criminal justice system, wasting scarce municipal resources, and subjecting cities to legal liabilities and expenses. The report concluded that "criminalization is ineffective, counterproductive, and inhumane," and suggested "alternatives to criminalization," including expanded services, places to perform necessary functions, transitional and public housing, more employment opportunities, and greater cooperation among city officials, business people, and the homeless themselves (NLCHP, 1999; Foscarinis et al., 1999; Brown, 1999). Additional positive alternatives are noted in a subsequent article that analyzes the NLCHP report. Fabyankovic (2000) includes alliances formed between police officers, homeless advocates, and outreach workers; programs that help the homeless move toward self-sufficiency; compassionate approaches rather than law enforcement approaches; the development of police sensitivity training programs; the creation of a day labor center; and the mediation of disputes between property owners and the homeless.

Despite overwhelming and persuasive evidence that criminalization is an untenable and inhumane approach, the trend is increasing, as documented in the scores of articles on the subject in recent years (e.g., Moss, 1999; Lydersen, 2000; Tanner, 2002). A Denver Post column (Kulp, 2000) observes that "many local governments have responded [to a growing number of homeless people] by empowering police to basically 'run them out of town' through sweeps of homeless campgrounds, liberalized stop-and-search procedures, and laws against behaviors characteristic of the homeless. Known as the criminalization of homelessness, this response is seen in a spate of new laws passed in U.S. cities." An earlier London Guardian piece (Pressley, 1996) also noted that "in more than 40 cities across the United States, the homeless are facing a determined push of new laws aimed at banishing them from the streets. What is notable now is the forcefulness with which these communities are attacking the problem--using the police as their main weapon. Even more striking is that many of the cities in the vanguard of the get-tough approach are among the country's most liberal," including Seattle, New Orleans, and San Francisco (O'Brien, 2001; Nieves, 2002). Other cities in this vanguard include Denver (Rocky Mountain News, 2000), Asheville and Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Barber, 1998; Blythe, 1998), Santa Cruz, California (Herman, 1997), Austin, Texas (Duff, 1999), and Tucson and Tempe, Arizona (Tobin, 2000; Riordan, 1999). (6) As Simon (1996: 148) confirms, "in city after city, municipal decisions to use criminal sanctions to protect public spaces have come into conflict with efforts by civil fights advocates to prevent the criminalization of homelessness. Ironically, cities traditionally identified as liberal or progressive have seen some of the most bitter struggles." (7)

Perhaps the most notable "liberal" city to apply criminalization is Berkeley, California, as indicated by a New York Times' article (Nieves, 1998) on homeless youth there:

Whether they are scared or just plain fed up, plenty of people in the nation's most famously liberal city want the youths, panhandlers, drug addicts, drinkers, and mentally ill homeless swept off Telegraph Avenue, the shopping district here mentioned in every tourist guide.... The police have been all over Telegraph Avenue, in squad cars, on bicycles, and in front of businesses.... The mayor said she is proposing a plan that involves both increased social services for the homeless youths and "tough love." That includes pushing them off the streets with an antiencampment ordinance.

Events in Cleveland, Ohio, depict like strategies that are plainly more "tough" than "love":

"In a move to attract holiday shoppers downtown, Mayor Michael R. White has ordered stepped-up police patrols. The mayor said the patrols are aimed at keeping the city's streets safer and will focus not only on shoplifters, muggers, and other criminals but also on panhandlers and homeless people sleeping on sidewalks" (O'Malley, 1999). "White said this 'crackdown' is designed to 'move poverty out of sight so they (shoppers) will have a peaceful shopping season'" (Faith, 1999). "'It's not an issue of being anti-homeless,' said the mayor. 'It's an issue of balancing everyone's rights'" (O'Malley, 1999).

Interestingly, many of the articles and columns detailing ongoing patterns of criminalization also present various alternatives to criminalization that accord with, but also go beyond, those suggested by Maria Foscarinis and the NLCHP. In an article from Chapel Hill (Blythe, 1998), a local civil rights lawyer asserts that "the town needs to ... have a comprehensive strategy for eliminating the poverty and racism that's at the root of a lot of these problems." In Berkeley, "homeless advocates said the city would be wiser to address the problems of homelessness, rather than criminalize the behavior of the people on the street" (Nieves, 1998). A Denver Post column (Kulp, 2000) aptly inquires: "When will governments realize they cannot solve the problem of homelessness through new laws, police action, and incarceration? The causes are more complex.... If governments are sincerely concerned about reducing the visibility of the homeless, then a more rational and cost-effective strategy involves affordable housing, medical care, public transportation, decent-paying jobs, and patching up the holes in public benefit systems like disability and workman's compensation." A recent telephone survey of 500 Ohio residents conducted by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (in Faith, 1999) reflects,

the public's strong belief that homelessness primarily is caused by external factors such as unemployment rather than internal factors such as mental illness or drug use.... Those surveyed overwhelmingly rejected proposals to "make life on the street more difficult and unpleasant until the homeless decide to leave town" as a possible remedy for homelessness. They strongly endorsed a fundamental shift in overall policy, and a move from large emergency shelters to smaller, geographically scattered permanent housing and programs that include job training and supportive services.... The poll seems to indicate that residents may understand better than our political leaders that the remedy for homelessness depends on jobs, affordable housing, and services--not criminalization.

Some of the more interesting alternatives have been suggested by the homeless themselves, as in Berkeley (Nieves, 1998): "Some of the young people have come up with their own plan, which they presented to the City Council last week. They promise that they will stop urinating and sleeping on Telegraph Avenue, panhandle in smaller groups, keep their dogs on leashes, and pick up their trash. In return, they have asked the city to provide more trash cans, create a dog run, clean the public bathrooms more often, and open Berkeley's first shelter for young people." Cleveland's Lynn Key, one of the "first homeless targets" of crackdowns there, was equally pragmatic (O'Malley, 1999): "[Key] was sleeping on a warm steam pipe cover outside the county welfare building. Police told Key he had to move, but the homeless man refused, saying that he had been banned from downtown emergency shelters for a month for being drunk and that he had no place to go. Police arrested him, charged him with disorderly conduct, and took him to jail, where he spent the night. 'If you can't sleep in front of the welfare building at night, there's nowhere else in the world,' Key said. "If the city doesn't want them on the streets, they should open City Hall and let them sleep in there.'"

Apology Rejected: The Incivility of "Civility"

With anti-homeless ordinances rapidly proliferating, their proponents and apologists have redoubled their efforts to construct justifications for laws restricting conduct in public places. Standard justifications have included public health and safety, economics, and aesthetics (see NLCHP, 1999; Foscarinis, 1996). Concerns of the"health and safety" variety essentially employ the"disease" image to depict the homeless as "unsanitary" and responsible for the "attraction of vermin" (Foscarinis, 1996: 57). "Economic" considerations include maintaining "commercial vitality" and preventing "urban decay" (NLCHP, 1999), merchants' fears of losing clients and consumers' fears of encountering homeless people, and promoting tourism and shopping (Foscarinis, 1996: 56). "Aesthetic" concerns are generally expressed in terms of preserving and protecting the "quality of life" of the community and often include overt desires to "remove 'unsightly people' from public view ... and to make downtown areas 'welcoming to all'" (Ibid.: 55). Evaluating such "aesthetic and pecuniary" justifications, Smith (1994) notes that even if effective, "it is deeply troubling to find a community valuing these interests more than the survival of street people." As the NLCHP report observes, when it comes to health and safety concerns, "in most cases the presence of people sleeping, sitting, or lying down in public places, or peacefully soliciting alms, cannot reasonably be deemed a direct threat to public health or safety." The report further notes that aesthetic concerns are often merely "a pretext for rationalizing biases against a certain group of people, or as an excuse for excluding certain people from public spaces based on stereotypes and stigmas." Finally, with regard to economic concerns that the homeless are bad for business, such notions are inverted, since business is bad for the homeless.

Another theme of such "quality of life" campaigns, one that has become something of a mantra for its proponents, is the notion of"civility." As Ellickson (1996: 1246) predicted, "cities, merchants, and pedestrians will increasingly reassert traditional norms of street civility." One of the staunchest proponents of the concept has been Rob Teir (1998: 256), who begins from a premise that public spaces are primarily spaces of commerce, shopping, and recreation. Teir (1996) laments that "homeless people have taken over parks, depriving everyone else of once-beautiful places," but believes that through "fair-minded law enforcement and 'tough love' ... urban communities can reclaim their public spaces." Another proponent similarly notes that a "perception grew that [the homeless], and not the community as a whole, 'owned' the areas they occupied," and concludes that efforts ought to be undertaken toward "reclaiming public spaces from 'the homeless'" (Conner, 1999). Likewise, Chuck Jackson (1998), the director of a downtown Houston "business improvement district" (BID), claims that the homeless have "colonized public areas." As Nell Smith (1996:211) points out, however, a more accurate label for such "civility" arguments is "revanchism," namely, the establishment of a vengeful policy bent on regaining original areas lost in war. "This revanchist urbanism represents a reaction against the supposed 'theft' of the city, a desperate defense of a challenged phalanx of privileges, cloaked in the populist language of civic morality, family values, and neighborhood security. It portends a vicious reaction against minorities, the working class, homeless people, the unemployed, women, gays and lesbians, immigrants."

Nonetheless, proponents such as Teir (1996) continue to argue that"measures aimed at maintaining street order help mostly the poor and the middle class [since] the well off can leave an area when it gets intolerable. It is the rest of us who depend on the safety and civility of public spaces." The problem is that it is precisely the "well-off" who have "stolen" and "colonized" the public places of the city, literally and legally converting supposedly prized havens of public space into exclusionary domains of private property. As Mitchell (1996:164) observes, the concept of "civility" has often been invoked historically "to assure that the free trade in ideas in no way threatened property rights." The essence of such "civility," then, is to protect and reinforce private property claims (many of which include previously public spaces now converted to private ownership) advanced by "urban stakeholders," including "central business district property owners, small business owners, real estate developers, and elected officials" (Conner, 1999). The Web site of the Downtown Tempe Community, Inc. (DTC), a probusiness lobbying entity, for example, emphasizes that "we seek ordinances that advance our strategy of order and civility in the public space. Working with our private property owners, we seek cooperation on interdependent security issues." (8) The DTC further claims that such efforts have "made the downtown a safer place." It must be noted that images of "public safety" and "community standards" specifically exclude the homeless and the poor from participation, since these groups are constructed as not part of the community, the public, or those with a stake in political decisions and city affairs.

Civility proponents, including DTC Executive Director Rod Keeling (Petrie, 1999), also emphasize that public behavior laws "apply to everyone equally" (Teir, 1998). They "ask all residents to observe minimum standards of public life" that will "put a stop to much of the anti-social conduct that is destroying property values and the quality of downtown life" (Teir, 1996), arguing that "civility ordinances demand that all citizens adhere to a reasonable level of behavior while operating in public space" (Jackson, 1998). (9) The homeless have no private spaces in which to perform "uncivil" functions such as eliminating and sleeping. As John Hannigan (1998: 9) opines, "it is easy to equate civility with a certain lifestyle."

Claims such as Teir's (1998: 290)--according to which the effect of ordinances prohibiting sleeping, begging, and sitting on sidewalks is "preserving welcoming, attractive, and safe public spaces for all of us to use and enjoy"--amount to little more than "cynical hucksterism" (cf. Hannigan, 1998: 9). Plainly, "all are welcome"--except the homeless and others who threaten to undermine bourgeois consumerist values. Civility proponents also seem to have little interest in "preserving public spaces," but in fact are often the chief advocates and direct beneficiaries of processes of privatization that are eroding the city's public spaces. Ironically, the homeless themselves function to preserve public spaces as democratic, spontaneous, and inclusive. They are not the colonizers of public space, but are rather--like the proverbial canary in the coalmine--the immediate victims of its colonization.

Breaking Down "Broken Windows"

Another significant justification for anti-homeless laws, one that has received much attention and critical treatment, is the "broken windows" theory. Originating in a landmark Atlantic Monthly article, the theory's chief proponents, James Wilson and George Kelling (1982), argue that "disorder and crime are usually inextricably linked, in a kind of developmental sequence. Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken." The authors go on to hypothesize that "serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked. The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window." They conclude that "the police--and the rest of us--ought to recognize the importance of maintaining, intact, communities without broken windows." In other words, the aim ought to be the maintenance of communities without "broken people," since they represent the source and origin of the crime problem, the first step on the slippery slope from "untended property" to "untended behavior" to "serious street crime."

Robert Ellickson (1996: 1171, 1182) attempts to link one step to the next in this suspect syllogism: "A regular beggar is like an unrepaired broken window--a sign of the absence of effective social-control mechanisms in that public space.... Passersby, sensing this diminished control, become prone to committing additional, perhaps more serious, criminal acts." Wilson and Kelling (1982) attempt to support the progression from "disorder" to "serious crime" by citing studies in which "untended property" (such as a parked car with its hood up) was found to lead eventually to the complete vandalization of that property, suggesting that "untended behavior [exemplified by the 'unchecked panhandler'] also leads to the breakdown of community controls," and that in short order, "such a neighborhood [becomes] vulnerable to criminal invasion."

The broken windows theory has become a cornerstone of"community policing" programs premised upon "aggressive order maintenance" and a proactive, "interventionist police strategy" (Kelling and Coles, 1996; Kelling, 1999). Given its widespread implementation and the obvious implications for the proper function of police in society, the theory has been roundly criticized from a number of fronts. The first wave of critical questions was raised by Wilson and Kelling (1982). Upon noting that "society wants an officer to have the legal tools to remove undesirable persons," they ask: "How do we ensure that the police do not become the agents of neighborhood bigotry?" Disturbingly, they respond to this crucial concern of equity by stating: "We can offer no wholly satisfactory answer to this important question ... except to hope that by their selection, training, and supervision, the police will be inculcated with a clear sense of the outer limit of their discretionary authority." Thus, in terms of deciding who is deemed "undesirable" and subject to intervention and removal, the sole check on police harassment or discrimination is to be the discretion of the police themselves30 A subsequent study called Fixing Broken Windows (Kelling and Coles, 1996: 256) even concludes: "Can citizens go too far? Will there be injustices? Yes, at times." In a more recent work, Kelling (1999) admits that "order maintenance has the potential for abuse, [since] police have used vagrancy, loitering, and panhandling laws to harass citizens and discriminate against groups in the past, [and] since policing teeters near the edge of militarism in so many locations." The response to these concerns is that "police discretion" will somehow avoid such eventualities, notwithstanding the remarkable fact that "police are almost uniformly unable to articulate what they do, why they do it, and how they do it ... virtually all of their order maintenance, peacekeeping, and conflict resolution activities are unofficial" (Kelling, 1999).

Beyond the critiques suggested (and weak responses offered) by the theory's primary architects and apologists, many scholars and commentators have denounced "broken windows" as discriminatory in intent and application, fundamentally unfair, logically flawed, and unsupported by studies of criminality and behavior. Jeremy Waldron (2000), for example, asks two related and pointed questions: (1) "Relative to what norms of order are bench squatters or panhandlers or smelly street people described as 'signs of disorder'?" and (2) "What is to count as fixing the window, when the 'broken window' is a human being?" In addressing the first, Waldron's answer is in the form of a question reminiscent of objections raised to the "civility" proponents: "Are these the norms of order for a...

Boxcarro

03-06-2010, 03:21 AM

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smeter.net

Postby GutturalTexage » Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:28 pm
Got a email from Art Bell a couple of weeks ago and he told me to check out http://www.smeter.net and I did. I think some of the ppl around here would/could make use of that site. So Im posting about it here now. Hopefuly some of you will shoot on over to that site and check it out. He said up to like 115 or so ppl could listen to shortwave radio via that site at once and it offers all kinds of other cool features on it as well. So, if you want to tune across the shortwave dial or something else of that nature using the online stuff they got over there. Spew on over there and getcha some. http://www.smeter.net Oh and then Art talked about it last night on Coast To Coast AM telling everyone to go on over there. They have loads of info Im sure most of you could enjoy. And in the forums they have over there they have even more info and Art Bell posts on the message board over there on a somewhat regular basis. So hit the site and the forums eigh!!!!
Rabishu YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/txz045 (now with 40% more WBCQ)

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Postby boxcar » Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:32 am
& poster reviews & downloaded MOVES, MUSIC &tc. I ain't had no INTERNET nor COMPUTER for about a while...??? I am FORMER HOMESS HOBO FREIGHTTRAIN TRAMP F.T.R.A. "Boxcarro" FOLK SINGER/STREET BUSKKER/ &tc. & I now gots A APARTMENT in MEXICO! I can not understannn WHY everybody dont not MOVE to MEXICO? It Is WONDERFUL down here! In TIJUANA the BUSSES runs abot evry 5 minits! (in San Diego every 30 min.) bus costs 55 vcents (in San Deigo $2.50) taxicabs in TJ are REGULATED in zones %.%) PESOS! (lester then a 5.00) I GET HISPPEED calel CABLEMAS internet (256 Kbs) 192 Bps FREE install FREE modem FREE first mponth service $3.50 American Dlls install deposiyt in on MOSDEM. I love I PAYING $150.00 AMERICAN dollers a MONTH for 3 room APARTMENT with ALL BILLS PAID! YES,
Wjhen I Lived in SAN FRANCISCO on MISSION & 6th.street, in 2000, I PAID 140.00 A WEEK!!!! for a SKID ROW PISS IN SINK HOTEL ROOM, horrable! GOD, Jesus Joseph & Mary! IF EVERYBODY would just LEAVE & COME HERE them damn NAZI BUSHES, them COMMIE FAG Democrats & STINKING CIA, FBI, DOPE DEALERS would have no SOURCE of REVENEW & them would have to RELEASE ALL POLICIYTAL PRISONERS cause they coldnt PAY fer PRISON UPKEEP!
EVERYBODY could COMMUTE across the BORDER to WORK, but LIVE IN THE LAND of SIESTA!
I used to operate a PIRATE RADIO STATION out of MISSION HOTAL, 16th. & So. Van Ness, I was a REGULAR STREET PREFORMER at 9yh. AVENUE & Trolly Car Street, across from "THE BEANERY!" I LOVE San Francisco, but fter they BILD the NEW GIANTS STADUMN the PIGGIE ANTI-SEMITE SWINE (effite rich scum) MURDERERS run all POOR PEOPLES outer THAT naighbourhoods! & down on 2nd. street ETC that SWINE MURDERER mayer (NEWSOME!!!!!!) & POLICE NAZI MURDERERS killed POOR PEOPLE for CRIME of BEING HOMELESS! I SEEN murderers! IN POLICE UNIFORM! MURDER poor peoples! IN SAN DIEGO TOO.

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PIRATE RADIO STATION out of MISSION HOTEL +qso w/ART BELL

Postby boxcar » Mon Oct 03, 2005 7:47 am
Boxcar Tat-2-R-tist: Previous Bernays was MORE IMPRESSIVE than GOD! why? Because he dressed like a fucking shabby boxcar hobo. I mean, he was a shabby boxcar hobo, and jewish, but you gotta leave that shit at the door. No man should ever step foot on that stage without at least a sequined top, a pair of boots, and some panythose. This is the big leagues, people. Let?s at least pretend like we?re trying.Posting to rants & raves on san diego craigslist
Many people find it fantastic that the government would perpetrate
such a hoax, while at the same time having no difficulty entertaining
the notion that sodomite nigger queers are regularly traveling light years
to this planet to kidnap people out of their beds and subject them to
anal probes.

PIRATE RADIO STATION out of MISSION HOTEL Room 256(Sam FramCisco Mexico) in 1998 When ART BELL "Sold-Out" to RUSH LIMBERG'S OWNERS!
HE petulantly CRIED when I shamed him on 3835 KCs that even (I was running a SWAN 500CX Valve Transciever through a NYE/VIKING Balanced Line Tuner into a +5,000 FEET Wire strung between TWO HOTELS, very IMPRESSIVE on FOGGY San Francisco Nights...CORONAL EFFECTS seen DANCING along the WIRES!) He SOLD HIS SOUL for CASH! I could have FORGIVEN had he SOLD for ROCK'n'ROLL! WA5AWG

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 2012-9-28, 4:07AM PDT

Boxcar Tat-2-R-tist: Devious Joanna Bernays was MORE IMPRESSIVE than GOD! why? Because he dressed like a fucking shabby boxcar hobo. I mean, he was a shabby boxcar hobo, and jewish, but you gotta leave that shit at the door. No man should ever step foot on that stage without at least a sequined top, a pair of boots, and some panythose. This is the big leagues, people. Let?s at least pretend like we?re trying.
Many people find it fantastic that the government would perpetrate
such a hoax, while at the same time having no difficulty entertaining
the notion that sodomite nigger queers are regularly traveling light years
to this planet to kidnap people out of their beds and subject them to
anal probes.

For the REASON-able REASON-ying/yang CENTRIST RightWing RePUBLICAN ( Remember, Brethernis & Sisternsis; the [re]Publicans & Pharasees MURDERED the SWEET SIMPERING JESUS (the RIGHTWING Party's God) so THE Words that the REAL Jesus spoked ABOUT THEM is Verily, Verily...(If You Profess To Be My Followers, Why Is It That You Do NOT what I Command Ye To Do? Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God:
So you can SEE that the [Re] PUBLICANS & PHARASEES WERE THE REAL "ChristKillers!" Not the JEWS!
So when you hear LIARS & BLASPHEMOURS like "Modal Majoritive" Leader Jerry FallWell, or PAT "Fat Pockets)" ROBBER-SON, or BILLY GRAM KKK Cracker, &tc. PRAYSERING Geo. W. BUSH & The [Re] PUBLICAN [patret] PARTY, Them Are ENEMIES of CHRIST! They Are SATANIC MURDERERS & NewAge NAZIs! "Jesus SAID: The Works Of Their FATHER Shall They DO: For HE WAS A LIAR from the BEGINNING!"
REPUBLICANS=MURDERERS of JESUS CHRIST= NAZIS= ADOLF HITLER= BABY RAPERS= FAGGOT SODOMITE PRIESTS= BOHEMIANIAN GROVE= RUITUAL MURDERERS of LITTLE CHILDRENS= EATERS OF HUMAN FLESH= [Re]PUBLICAN POLI-TICKs Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the rePUBLICIANS unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
JN 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

JESUS WAS MURDERED BY [Re]PUBLICANS! DO NOT WALK IN THE WAYS OF THE CHRIST KILLERS!
Re: SARAH GEORGE
Subject: SARAH GEORGE
Date: April 28, 2004
Sender: Boxcar Tat-2-R-tist: Previous Bernays was MORE IMPRESSIVE than GOD! why? Because he dressed like a fucking shabby boxcar hobo. I mean, he was a shabby boxcar hobo, and jewish, but you gotta leave that shit at the door. No man should ever step foot on that stage without at least a sequined top, a pair of boots, and some panythose. This is the big leagues, people. Let?s at least pretend like we?re trying.

As far as the specifics of your outfit, I?ll leave that entirely up to you. It?s a personal thing and it should reflect your personality. I can tell you, from my own experience, that tassles go over really well with the judges. You could try going with a whole country/western theme, with little toy pistols and a lasso. Or you could shoot for a patriotic getup, with stars and stipes all over the place. Judges are total saps for that shit nowadays. Just remember to always keep you legs shaved and your eyebrows plucked, and if you need that little extra push over the top, you simply can?t go wrong with eye glitter.

Step 8: Tips and Tricks.
First off, always keep your fingernails trimmed. This should pretty much go without saying, but you?d be surprised how many people forget and end up gouging their to death doing simple finger twirls. It?s messy and it could easily get you disqualified.

Next up is posture. This is a biggy. In fact, I probably should have mentioned it earlier before you spent the last 3 weeks practicing and ruined your back. If I weren?t such an evil, sadistic asshole, I might actually feel sorry for you. But hey, that?s the way the mop flops.

Did you ever think the F.T.R.A is getting tired of being the boogey men, That is supposed to be you guys, the special agents job and, maybe it's you bulls turn to start pulling your weight.

I will tell you a law of street justice, someone does something, and you ask the criminal justice system to do something about it, but they will not do it.

That means if you go and pay them back yourself, chances are that the criminal justice system still will not do anything about it.

So maybe you Special Agents should go back to the old school; you catch some of these hobo celebrities, who put their pictures in magazines and newspapers, who star in TV shows, and put up stupid web sites, and jet to your train yard, credit card in hand ready to bail them selves out of jail if they are caught, maybe you should think about beating the fuck out of them, and then shutting them up in a car and sending them to the next yard, 12 hours away. That would put the fear of god into them.

As you are beating the shit out of them, or as your shutting them up inside a boxcar, and they are telling you how they will sue, maybe laugh and tell them,"That is OK, we get sued every day, by people with a lot more money and power than you; it will drag through the courts for years, you will never get a dime!"

Look at if from a risk management perspective, if you kick some celebrity hobo ass, and shut them up in a car for awhile, yes they will sue, but if you don't kick their asses, some poor kid is going to see the media content they create, and wind up trying to jump on a moving train, not knowing what he is doing, get killed and his poor mother is going to sue you.

So you're screwed if you do kick their asses, and you're screwed if you don't. It just boils down to a question of who you want dragging you through the courts for years.

And being media, they will scream bloody murder about what cruel brutal mother fuckers you are. Stop thinking of this as a publicity liability and start thinking of it as an asset.

When you're kicking their asses, be sure to borrow their cameras,and shoot some video of it. I can see it now.

Thus, by the end of the 1940s, the basic research had been done and
the propaganda apparatus of the national security state had been set
up--just in time for the Dawn of Television ...

Experiments conducted by researcher Herbert Krugman reveal that, when
a person watches television, brain activity switches from the left to
the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere is the seat of logical
thought. Here, information is broken down into its component parts and
critically analyzed. The right brain, however, treats incoming data
uncritically, processing information in wholes, leading to emotional,
rather than logical, responses. The shift from left to right brain
activity also causes the release of endorphins, the body's own natural
opiates--thus, it is possible to become physically addicted to
watching television, a hypothesis borne out by numerous studies which
have shown that very few people are able to kick the television habit.
This numbing of the brain's cognitive function is compounded by
another shift which occurs in the brain when we watch television.
Activity in the higher brain regions (such as the neo-cortex) is
diminished, while activity in the lower brain regions (such as the
limbic system) increases. The latter, commonly referred to as the
reptile brain, is associated with more primitive mental functions,
such as the "fight or flight" response. The reptile brain is unable to
distinguish between reality and the simulated reality of television.
To the reptile brain, if it looks real, it is real. Thus, though we
know on a conscious level it is "only a film," on a conscious level we
do not--the heart beats faster, for instance, while we watch a
suspenseful scene. Similarly, we know the commercial is trying to
manipulate us, but on an unconscious level the commercial nonetheless
succeeds in, say, making us feel inadequate until we buy whatever
thing is being advertised--and the effect is all the more powerful
because it is unconscious, operating on the deepest level of human
response. The reptile brain makes it possible for us to survive as
biological beings, but it also leaves us vulnerable to the
manipulations of television programmers.
It is not just commercials that manipulate us. On television news as
well, image and sound are as carefully selected and edited to
influence human thought and behavior as in any commercial. The news
anchors and reporters themselves are chosen for their physical
attractiveness--a factor which, as numerous psychological studies have
shown, contributes to our perception of a person's trustworthiness.
Under these conditions, then, the viewer easily forgets--if, indeed,
the viewer ever knew in the first place--that the worldview presented
on the evening news is a contrivance of the network owners--owners
such as General Electric (NBC) and Westinghouse (CBS), both major
defense contractors. By molding our perception of the world, they mold
our opinions. This distortion of reality is determined as much by what
is left out of the evening news as what is included--as a glance at
Project Censored's yearly list of top 25 censored news stories will
reveal. If it's not on television, it never happened. Out of sight,
out of mind. but rather to be found in the central focus of Cantril's
War of the Worlds research--the manipulation of the public through
fear.
There is another way in which we are manipulated by television news.
Human beings are prone to model the behaviors they see around them,
and avoid those which might invite ridicule or censure, and in the
the mental wanderer is brought back into the fold.This process is also at work in programs ostensibly produced for
entertainment(an argument you will never hear voiced on any
television program). Monkey see, monkey do--or, in this case, monkey
not do.
Notice, too, the way in which television programs depict conspiracy
researchers or anti-New World Order activists. On situation comedies,
they are buffoons. On dramatic programs, they are dangerous fanatics.
This imprints on the mind of the viewer the attitude that questioning
the official line or holding "anti-government" opinions is crazy,
therefore not to be emulated.
laws and government "protection." Never mind that
laws may already exist to cover these crimes--the law against murder,
for instance. Once we have seen the well-publicized murder of the
young gay man Matthew Shepherd dramatized in not one, but two,
television movies in all its heartrending horror, nothing will do but
we pass a law making the very thought behind the crime illegal.
People will also model behaviors from popular entertainment which are
not only dangerous to their health and could land them in jail, but
also contribute to social chaos. While this may seem to be simply a
matter of the producers giving the audience what it wants, or the
artist holding a mirror up to society, it is in fact intended to
influence behavior.
One of these "target audiences" is SODOMITE FAGGOT QUEERS
She heroes of XXX Files are investigators in a fictitious slave training
department of the FBI whose adventures sometimes take them into
Bondage, Humilation, Transvestitism, submission and corpolallia (SHIT EATING!) territory. On the surface this sounds good. However,
whatever good X Files might accomplish by touching on such matters as
MK-ULTRA or the Nigger bis ass ass in nation is cancelled out by associating them
with bug-eyed aliens and ghosts. Also, on X Files, the truth is always
depicted as "out there" somewhere--in the stars, or some other
dimension, never in brainwashing centers such as the RAND Corporation
or its London counterpart, the Tavistock Institute. This has the
effect of obscuring the truth, making it seem impossibly out-of-reach,
and associating reasonable lines of human self desired slavery, bondage, service to the female dominitrix goddess and submission to death a reasonable male aspiration!
Not that there is no connection between the parapolitical and the
paranormal. There is undoubtedly a cover-up at work with regard to
UFOs, but if we accept uncritically the notion that UFOs are anything
other than terrestrial in origin, the hoax idea is itself a hoax
put out there to cover up the existence of extraterrestrials. This is
hardly helpful to a true understanding of UFOs and associated
phenomena, such as alien abductions and cattle mutilations.
ExtraSUMISSIVE trials have been a staple of popular entertainment since
The War of the Worlds (both the novel and its radio adaptation). They
have been depicted as invaders and benefactors, but rarely have they
been unequivocally depicted as a hoax. Vallee suggests that deception operations of this kind may have extended beyond World War II, and that much of the "evidence" for "NIGGER CRACK HEAD FAGGOT QUEERS"
is no more real than the inflatable tanks of World War II.
He writes: "The close association of many bizarre
love affairs ... between contactee groups, occult sects, and extremist
political factions, are utterly clear signals that we must exercise
extreme caution."
The military routinely puts out disinformation to obscure its
activities, and this has certainly been the case with Uncle Toms Cabin & Martin Luther KING; who was BORN A WHITE MAN
(by his own admission) was recruited to feed him DRUGS that TURNED him into a OUTWARDLY APPARENT NIGGER. The
effect was to confuse Be new it--even making him paranoid enough to be
hospitalized--are consciously aware of this agenda
does not matter. The notion that Sodomite Nigger Drag Queens Space Aliens might visit this
planet is so much a part of popular culture and modern mythology that
it hardly needs assistance from the military to propagate itself.

It has the effect not only of obscuring what is really going on at
research facilities such as Area 51, but of tainting UFO research in
general as "kooky"In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how
much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside,
universal threat to make us realize this common bond. I occasionally
think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an
alien threat from outside this world." (President Ronald Reagan,
speaking in 1987 to the United Nations.
"The nations of the world will have to unite, for the next war will be
an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a
common front against attack by people from other planets." General
Douglas MacArthur, 1955)
Some one remarked that the best way to unite all the nations on this
globe would be an attack from some other planet. In the face of such
an alien enemy, people would respond with a sense of their unity of
interest and purpose." (John Dewey, Professor of Philosophy at
Columbia University, speaking at a conference sponsored by the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1917)
And where was this "alien threat" motif given birth? Again, we find
the answer in NIGGER CRACK HEAD SODOMITE CHILD MOLESTATION PARANOIA, and again the earliest source is The War of the Worlds--both Wells' and Welles' versions.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that H. G. Wells was a founding member of
the Round Too It, the think tank that gave birth to the Royal Institute
for International Affairs (RIIA) and its American cousin, the CFR.
Perhaps Wells intentionally introduced the motif as a meme which might
prove useful later in establishing the "world social democracy" he
described in his 1939 book The New World Order. Perhaps, too, another
purpose of the Orson Welles broadcast was to test of the public's
willingness to believe in Negroes from Outer Space as Terrorists & Sodomitish Monsters,,, At any rate, it proved a popular motif
and paved the way for
countless movies and television programs to come, and has often proven
a handy device for promoting the New World Order, whether the
extraterrestrials are invaders or--in films like The Day the Earth
Stood Still--benefactors who have come to Earth to warn us to mend our
ways and unite as one, or be blown to bits. We, in the real world, centralization of power leads to
tyranny. The reptile brain, hypnotized by the flickering television
screen, has seen Captain Kangaroo and his culturally diverse crew
demonstrate time and again that the United Federation of Planets is a
good thing. Therefore, it must be so.

It remains to be seen whether the Masters of Deception will, like
those scientists in The Outer Limits, stage an invasion from space
with anti-gravity machines and holograms, but, if they do, it will
surely be broadcast on television, so that anyone out of range of that
light show in the sky, will be able to see it, and all with eyes to
see will believe. It will be War of the Worlds on a grand scale.
Jack Kerouac once noted, while walking down a residential street at
night, glancing into living rooms lit by the gray glare of television
sets, that we have become a world of people "thinking the same
thoughts at the same time."
A recent report co-sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation
and the Commerce Department calls for a broad-based research program
to find ways to use nanotechnology, biotechnology, information
technology, and cognitive sciences, to achieve telepathy,
machine-to-human communication, amplified sensory experience, enhanced intellectual capacity, and mass participation in a "hive mind."
Quoting the report: "With knowledge no longer encapsulated in
individuals, the distinction between individuals and the entirety of
humanity would blur. Think Vulcan mind-meld. We would perhaps become
more of a hive mind--an enormous, single, intelligent entity."
There is no doubt that we have been brought closer to the "hive mind"
by the mass media. For, what is the shared experience of television
but a type of "Vulcan mind-meld"? (Note the terminology borrowed from
Star Trek, no doubt to make the concept more familiar and palatable.
If Spock does it, it must be okay.)
This government report would have us believe that the hive mind will
be for our good--a wonderful leap in evolution. It is nothing of the
kind. For one thing, if the government is behind it, you may rest
assured it is not for our good. For another, common sense should tell
us that blurring the line "between individuals and the entirety of
humanity" means mass conformity, the death of human individuality.
Make no mistake about it--if humanity is to become a hive, there will
be at the center of that hive a Queen Bee, whom all the lesser
"insects" will serve. This is not evolution--this is devolution.
Worse, it is the ultimate slavery--the slavery of the mind.

And it is a horror first unleashed in 1938 when one million people
responded as one--as a hive--to Orson Welles' Halloween prank.
In a sense, those people who fled the NIGGER DRAGQUEENS from HELL that night were right to be afraid. They were indeed under attack. But they were wrong about who was attacking them. It was something far worse than Niggers. Had they only known the true nature of the danger
facing them, perhaps
they would have gone to
the nearest radio station with torches in hand
like the villagers in those old
rankenstein movies and burned it to
the ground, or at least commandeered the new technology and turned it
towards another use--the liberation of humanity, instead of its
enslavement.
& I ain't had no INTERNET nor COMPUTER for about a while...??? I am FORMER HOMESS HOBO FREIGHTTRAIN TRAMP F.T.R.A. "Boxcarro" FOLK SINGER/STREET BUSKKER/ &tc. & I now gots A APARTMENT in MEXICO! I can not understannn WHY everybody dont not MOVE to MEXICO? It Is WONDERFUL down here! In TIJUANA the BUSSES runs abot evry 5 minits! (in San Diego every 30 min.) bus costs 55 vcents (in San Deigo $2.50) taxicabs in TJ are REGULATED in zones %.%) PESOS! (lester then a 5.00) I GET HISPPEED calel CABLEMAS internet (256 Kbs) 192 Bps FREE install FREE modem FREE first mponth service $3.50 American Dlls install deposiyt in on MOSDEM. I love I PAYING $150.00 AMERICAN dollers a MONTH for 3 room APARTMENT with ALL BILLS PAID! YES,
Wjhen I Lived in SAN FRANCISCO on MISSION & 6th.street, in 2000, I PAID 140.00 A WEEK!!!! for a SKID ROW PISS IN SINK HOTEL ROOM, horrable! GOD, Jesus Joseph & Mary! IF EVERYBODY would just LEAVE & COME HERE them damn NAZI BUSHES, them COMMIE FAG Democrats & STINKING CIA, FBI, DOPE DEALERS would have no SOURCE of REVENEW & them would have to RELEASE ALL POLICIYTAL PRISONERS cause they coldnt PAY fer PRISON UPKEEP!
EVERYBODY could COMMUTE across the BORDER to WORK, but LIVE IN THE LAND of SIESTA!
I used to operate a PIRATE RADIO STATION out of MISSION HOTAL, 16th. & So. Van Ness, I was a REGULAR STREET PREFORMER at 9yh. AVENUE & Trolly Car Street, across from "THE BEANERY!" I LOVE San Francisco, but fter they BILD the NEW GIANTS STADUMN the PIGGIE ANTI-SEMITE SWINE (effite rich scum) MURDERERS run all POOR PEOPLES outer THAT naighbourhoods! & down on 2nd. street ETC that SWINE MURDERER mayer (NEWSOME!!!!!!) & POLICE NAZI MURDERERS killed POOR PEOPLE for CRIME of BEING HOMELESS! I SEEN murderers! IN POLICE UNIFORM! MURDER poor peoples! IN SAN DIEGO TOO.

REMEMBRE...[Re]PUBLICANS and PHARISEES MURDERED JESUS CHRIST!
DEMOCRATS were ROMANS who DID THE ACTUAL NAILING!
BILL CLINTON = CEASAR PUTOTUDIDIOUS
GEO. W. BUSH+= PONTISS PILATE
MAJATAMAMA GHANDHADADA=JUSIOUS ASS-CARROT
HARI KRISHNA=the POPE OF ROME-The SUCKER of the PENIS of CHRIST

TRUTH COMES through TOTAL BURN-OUT in KUNDALINI FIRE RISING TOO FAST out MUDALAHARARA CROWN ChARAKRA= Holy Man/WoMan???!!!! HOLY as A DOG IN HEAT!!!

:lol:

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boxcar
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Postby GutturalTexage » Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:47 pm
man, Im not sure what you guys are smokin... but please share....
Rabishu YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/txz045 (now with 40% more WBCQ)

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Postby Daniel » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:27 am
Its some of that Mexican trip weed....

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Daniel
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Postby litedave1 » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:59 pm
Real good shit. I hear it can lasts for days.

David
SHORTWAVE RULES!!

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Postby GutturalTexage » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:45 am
word :x
Rabishu YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/txz045 (now with 40% more WBCQ)

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rolling nowhere

03-06-2010, 08:08 AM

shitfuck,

rolling nowhere

03-06-2010, 08:11 AM

u still around here blood?

im about to head back there actually. should be there within a weeks time.
im ready to rage.
what else is new?

yarr

03-06-2010, 06:12 PM

in one week ill bee off for a minute, ready to rage as well. maybe a short trip is in order? you can see the healed cutty butterfly (:

rolling nowhere

03-07-2010, 07:33 PM

in one week ill bee off for a minute, ready to rage as well. maybe a short trip is in order? you can see the healed cutty butterfly (:

man everything i did in austin sucked dick.
you should see the heart i did yesterday.
so dope.

KaBar2

03-07-2010, 08:39 PM

For those of you who frequent the National Hobo Convention at Britt, I got a call from Ladybug this morning telling me that Charmin' Harmon has caught the westbound. Harmon was mentally challenged, and Minneapolis Jewell and Tuck cared for him for many years in their home. Harmon was 58 years old, I think. He never had much to say, but he loved going to Britt and he loved being with the tramps and sitting quietly listening to people tell road stories and campfire tales, although he never rode the rails himself. Harmon was well-known by all the Boxcar Boys and had many friends in the FTRA. They would come by Jewell's place to see him on their way through Minneapolis.

He will be buried in South Dakota, where he has family. In August, at the NHC Memorial Service, Harmon will be remembered and his life celebrated.

ITalkAboutThePhonyOnly

03-11-2010, 06:44 PM

Who is Bozo Texino?

really enjoyed the film

rolling nowhere

03-11-2010, 11:05 PM

Who is Bozo Texino?

really enjoyed the film

i just watched that this morning for the first time in years.
still great.

i like seeing familiar faces.

eatso

03-12-2010, 05:04 AM

Any friend of a rail rider
(provided said rail rider is not a fuckface scumbag as defined by subsection p159A-27)
is a friend of mine.
RIP CHARMIN HARMON
I hope I don't live long enough to write things like that about people I know.

Swindle

03-12-2010, 02:16 PM

so much rambling, some of that graffiti was very boring and unnappealing.

i think maybe at one stage i want to ride american freight trains and get sweaty and dirty and write on things. im not sure.

rolling nowhere seems like a fun guy to travel with. i think a few days in jail for riding a train is fair as fair can be.

Balthazaar

03-14-2010, 03:47 PM

another short ride coming up this week, hopefully. thank god the weather's starting to warm up.

KaBar2

03-14-2010, 05:44 PM

ROSENBERG (TEXAS) RAILROAD MUSEUM

HOBO DAYS
APRIL 23-25, 2010

http://www.rosenbergrrmuseum.org/ (http://www.rosenbergrrmuseum.org/)

Plenty of room for camping, about two city blocks for parking cars. Last year there were amateur musicians, a Depression-era Hooverville reenactment in 1930's period costume by a Living History civil war reenactment group on the west side of the property, barbeque trailers, they collected non-perishable food and canned goods for the homeless and we built a "jungle" with a campfire on the east side of the museum.

This year the chuck wagon cook from the George Ranch is coming down to cook a big mulligan stew. Jana Smith, the director of the museum, tells me that she can give vouchers for any tramps who show up to roll out for the weekend. The museum is private property, so alcohol consumption is permitted as long as you use some common sense. If you get shitfaced and make an ass out of yourself you might get bounced. There will be citizens and kids all over the place, so exercise some discretion. (Nothing illegal is permitted---absolutely no drugs, no fireworks, no firearms or weapons of any kind, and no flying a sign at the museum.) Please use the trash cans and keep a clean camp. Every can or piece of trash that gets dropped has to be picked up by somebody.

Last year was a lot of fun.

IF YOU ARE IN THE HOUSTON AREA, YOU SHOULD COME.

KaBar2

03-14-2010, 05:52 PM

AMORY, MISSISSIPPI

RAILROAD FESTIVAL
and Hobo Gathering

APRIL 15-18, 2010
Many tramps begin to arrive early, around Monday, April 12th or Tuesday, the 13th, but the festival officially begins on the 15th.

scaryletters

03-15-2010, 09:42 AM

I learned yesterday that my good friend Joey, aka Yme, was killed in a train related accident. In spite of his age, many of you may know him, he was a fixture on the circuit for many years and had been riding freight since he was in middle school. Joey loved the high line and loved Montana, even home bumming it in Grand Rapids for a while. I talked to him a month ago and he seemed happy, I hope he died that way.

He was only 20 years old, but rode harder and with more heart than anyone i've ever met. He was a coast to coast cat, and lived a hard knock life. pour a forty for a brother today. rip my friend, ride in peace.

I can't stress this enough, I've seen enough friends die because of being drunk and riding freight, watch your ass out there, please.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/4224751848_f1c279abf8_b.jpg

rolling nowhere

03-15-2010, 11:33 PM

i just had a dream i was on a train with this guy... who im pretty sure i never met.
a friend of mine told me about this yesterday though.
be careful on trains dudes.
they always win.
rip.

MacTheRipper

03-16-2010, 05:28 PM

I mostly lurk this thread, I live vicariously through you guys. REST IN PEACE YOUR FRIEND.

eatso

03-16-2010, 07:20 PM

FUCK.

rolling nowhere

03-16-2010, 08:16 PM

rolling nowhere seems like a fun guy to travel with. i think a few days in jail for riding a train is fair as fair can be.

both statements completely true.

KaBar2

03-18-2010, 05:49 AM

Never met the guy, but RIP Yme. I must agree with scaryletters---drinking, drugging and hopping do not mix. Save the bottle for the jungle, and ride with your wits about you.

R.I.P. JOEY.
Another good brother gone.

Ride safe, boys.

shai hulud

03-18-2010, 09:05 AM

Sorry about your friend. RIP.

rolling nowhere

03-19-2010, 04:56 AM

rolling nowhere

03-19-2010, 04:57 AM

ROSENBERG (TEXAS) RAILROAD MUSEUM

HOBO DAYS
APRIL 23-25, 2010

Last year was a lot of fun.

IF YOU ARE IN THE HOUSTON AREA, YOU SHOULD COME.

hmmmmm.... maaaaaaybe.

scaryletters

03-19-2010, 07:39 AM

Something I painted I thought you guys would dig on.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4444393121_4b4ba96996_o.jpg

rolling nowhere

03-19-2010, 08:59 AM

i have a very similar drawing somewhere.

shits pretty cool

rolling nowhere

03-19-2010, 09:04 AM

im used to helping people out on here... my turn
can someone gimme some info on nola-rva. ive never been east of nola on a train before. its time to fix that lil problemo.
i know one of you fellers can shoot me some info.
anything you got is appreciated.

i have a loose plan.
a general idea of how i could get there.
i kinda know what im doing most of the time.
im just looking for any little scraps of info.
blah blah blah
quit your job eatso shitstain.