"Sir, the peasants are revolting."
"I'll say, they stink on ice." — Mel Brooks, responding as King Louis XVI in History of the World Part I

I was trying soooooo hard to avoid writing about Tim the taxi guy's racially insensitive outburst this week, but then rachel* had to go and take on the homeless and I am left with no choice.

We'll start in reverse. Earlier this week, a newly emerged Rachel Moran posted a rant about St. Petersburg's panhandling homeless dudes bugging her and her sis during a recent soiree out for cocktails. I'll let you absorb it for yourself here, but suffice it to say the attitude was 1) how grody 2) why can't the cops do something about them 3) it's not funny that people beat up homeless people (but not unfunny enough to prohibit writing at length about your friends who do so) and 4) I really hate it when the local bleeding-hearts give them a few bucks cuz it only encourages them.

Rachel has a point about the need for a more comprehensive solution for homelessness. But she — like Mayor Rick Baker — seems deeply callous and imperious (hence the Brooks quote above) when she cavalierly suggests we shouldn't ever directly help a fellow man. As my earlier post about Baker said, the Bible has something to say about this. I'll check and see if the Quran does likewise, but I'm guessing it does.

As my post yesterday certainly made clear, I am not a fan of the blogging phenom that is rachel*. Her stuff was borderline interesting when she stuck to writing about sex and partying. As a social commentator, she should write more about sex and partying.

CL's Alex Pickett has been writing a lot about homelessness, and the approach taken in Clearwater seems to provide a holistic setting of support for those who — for myriad reasons — do not have shelter.

Finally, there is Tampa Taxi Shots' post, "Racist Holiday Rammed Down Our Throats." I'm not even going to attempt to summarize his questioning the validity and/or value of MLK's birthday as a national holiday. I'll only suggest that he, likewise, write about what he knows: driving a hack. (Although, in a grand bit of irony, he is extremely compassionate toward the homeless in this post.)

This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2007.