11:40 AM -- When in search of true compassion and tender mercies, the City of Lost Wages is surely not the first place that pops into one's head. But still... BBC News reports on a new level of feculence from the squalid invertebrates that run that desert oasis:
Soup kitchens serving the homeless have been banned in the US city of Las Vegas with fines coming into force for anyone caught giving hand-outs in its parks.
Council officials decided to curb the charity practice, with possible fines of $1,000 and six months imprisonment, after complaints from residents.
Other US cities have rules or have looked at limiting free food giveaways.
Las Vegas is thought to be the first to explicitly make it an offence to feed the poor, says the New York Times.
Note to wagerers: Be sure to have that roundtrip bus ticket.
re: Loathing in Vegas Vegas is a truly warped place. It's hard to imagine making it a crime to feed the poor when my neighborhood has its own food bank.
On any given day in the Haight Asbury neighborhood in San Francisco, there are about 10 homeless people sitting on sidewalks and park benches. Aside from donating to the local food bank and volunteering at soup kitchens, you quickly realize how helpless you are to make any real difference. Many homeless people are severely mentally ill.
And then there are some who are addicted to drugs. Just yesterday I discovered that a man is camping out in a wooded park across the street from my home (where camping is prohibited). He warned me not to let my daughter go into his area because he's got needles, etc. there. I never let her out of my sight anyway, a sad reality of urban living.
If this were you would you let the guy live there since he's obviously down on his luck? Or would you call the police?
It is only illegal to feed the homeless within the confines of certain parks. The intent is to have the parks safe for citizens and visitors to enjoy.
Feeding the homeless on the Strip is legal.
As to transients setting up in your neighborhood, (and even if there are not transients in your neighborhood), its generally a good idea if there are children in the neighborhood to understand if there are registered child offenders in the neighborhood.
I would assume that the park you are talking about is intended to be a public place for the safe and common use by all residents and visitors including children that want to run around and play. If I were in a similar position, I would contact the parks department to get an understanding of the intent and laws associated with the park. I would have the parks department decide if the police should be called in.
Children's freedoms and priviledges are disporportionally adversely impacted when adults or gangs commandeer public places for unintended personal use. Every adult has to decide whether to silently condone illegal activity that impacts the neighborhood children or to speak up for the childrens rights to reasonable public childhood play areas free from serious biohazard.
Making your own sacrifices for the immediate "benefit" to strangers is one thing: Deciding that children must sacrifice intended public places should require a different a separate overt decision process. Such decisions should be explained to the children involved, and if they are old enough, they should assist in that decision process.
Explaining to children why some people who are down on their luck should be allowed to break laws may be hard to explain. Expect to get probing questions on the limits of the allowed law breaking and when it should be allowed for themselves and their friends.
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