Happy (Temporary) News for Hungry Homeless in Daytona Beach: Fines Dropped Against Couple Feeding Them

I blogged last week about Daytona Beach hitting the generous couple Debbie and Chico Jimenez and some of their associates with over two thousand bucks in fines for the crime of feeding the homeless in a public park.

Happier news out of Florida today, via NBC News: the fines have been dropped!

However, this is just the calm before a likely storm, as the couple, obdurate in their sin, still have the wickedness in their hearts compelling them to feed the homeless in a place easy to get to them, the public park.

And they swear they are going to continue to do it. Which could mean more trouble:

The couple was warned, they said, that if they re-launch their Wednesday food-sharing sessions at Manatee Island Park in Daytona Beach, they will again face criminal charges - and more.

"It's jail time if we get caught," said Chico Jimenez, 60, a retired construction manager who, with his wife, a retired auto parts store manager, operates a New Smyrna Beach-based ministry called "Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word." Since receiving the citations, the couple has been lugging boxes of food to impoverished families who have homes, and to people living in camps in wooded areas within the community, they said.

The Jimenezes told NBC that they will apply for a permit, which they expect will be denied, and that they then will sue the city for violating their civil rights.

Comments

[sarcasmic]

Homeless people are like park pigeons, except their turds are bigger.

[Andrew S.]

As opposed to the even bigger turds in this scenario, the politicians and police officers.

[Sevo]

Can't argue with that, but in our neighborhood 20+ years ago, a restaurant owner decided to be a good sam and offered free dinners on T-day and Xmas. I helped serve a couple of years, but by year five or so, it was out of hand.
For a week in advance, everyone had to step over the campouts (and their 'stuff') waiting to be first in line for the free food.
They quit servind, with no pushing by the gov't or anyone that I know of. I was relieved.

[Raven Nation]

Oh good, the refs have already fucked up the Rangers/Habs game. How the hell did they miss that late hit early on?

[Tonio]

However, this is just the calm before a likely storm, as the couple, obdurate in their sin, still have the wickedness in their hearts compelling them to feed the homeless in a place easy to get to them, the public park.

That was nice, Doherty. Keep up the good work.

[Pro Libertate]

Christ could come back now, because I think we're ready to crucify him again.

Let it be said once and for all that ethics and morality are something the government can only be occasionally forced into, and nothing more.

[Sevo]

..."feed the homeless in a place easy to get to them, the public park."

Their neighbors say: Thanks!

[Tonio]

Sure, nobody likes a homeless feeding operation nearby. The solution is, of course, privatazing the parks.

Also, nothing is stopping cathedrals, synagogues, mosques, churches of starry wisdom, etc, from feeding or hosting feedings.

Remembering JsubD. Dude is still missed.

[Pro Libertate]

I was a friend of J sub D [Takes his baliset.]

[Swiss Servator, CH yeah!]

Hey, no water for the dead here, mister!

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word."

I like the sound of that.

[Specail Sauce]

Yes. I might actually be able to attend a church that held to that motto.

[Hugh Akston]

Try a Quaker Meeting.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Not to be catty, but they talk a lot more than you'd think.

[Tonio]

Meow.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Sorry - in many cities there's an umbrella group where all the local congregations - Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Quakers, Cubs fans, whatever get together and pool their resources to maintain soup kitchens, shelters, job training, etc. Quakers are certainly involved in that stuff, and my snark was just kneejerk.

[jesse.in.mb]

Those of us who have walked the way of the Nixon are well aware of what Quaker meeting is like, EvH.

[Pro Libertate]

Nixon as a religious figure, martyred by resignation. Go on, your views intrigue me.

[jesse.in.mb]

That's a much more interesting idea than having gone to Nixon's school.

[Pro Libertate]

Whittier? Where He was tempted by Satan?

[jesse.in.mb]

And lo, he walked into the valley of the Quaker Campus and he did fear no evil, for his listening device and and his lackeys were with him.

[Pro Libertate]

The missing 18 minutes or Q, as they are known to Nixonian scholars.

[SweatingGin]

There's an anti-Slate article in that.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Seriously, plenty of good work among the Quakers - but there's a bit of diversity among them.

Evangelical Friends church:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THkitLDrgFs

Liberal Quakers dancing and singing (warning: white people)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XlMkK4_kTg

[Notorious G.K.C.]

(specifically white hipsters)

[Heroic Mulatto]

The Shakers actually knew how to dance well.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Not enough ass-shaking?

[Heroic Mulatto]

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Ahh, I had to sing that at summer camp. Thanks for the memories.

[jesse.in.mb]

Yeah, I went to a liberal Quaker meeting when I was in middle school and I was unimpressed by their very nearly Universalist position. The Quakers in Whittier were Evangelical/Pastoral; they had a very solid theology and kept their hierarchy minimal. I'm quite fond of them.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Heh, some people would freak to know that there are evangelical Protestant Quakers.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

True story: I went to an Easter service once at a Quaker meeting and the preacher was all Jesus this and Jesus that, and I was like: What kind of Quakers *are* these people? Shouldn't they tone down the God stuff and talk more about the Inner Light?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

And what were they doing with a preacher?

[jesse.in.mb]

That was essentially my reaction too. I was very pleasantly surprised.

[SweatingGin]

True story: I went to an Easter service once at a Quaker meeting

I lived across the street from a Quaker hall/house/whatever for a couple of years (while dodging college Bureaucrats trying to stop me from fencing!).

The lady who lived/worked/whatever there was very nice and polite. I never saw crowds.

Kind of felt a little bad for breaking a bottle in the middle of the street (accidentally) late one night. And all the other shit she had to put up with drunken louts fencing in their back yard.

[Sevo]

"Those of us who have walked the way of the Nixon are well aware of what Quaker meeting is like, EvH."

Have you been SAVED?!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And if they tried to do the same on private property, how many codes and laws would they be breaking? I'm guessing lots.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

What's the geography like over there? I would presume there are *some* areas where they could direct the good Samaritans as a legitimate place to do their work. Unless the point is to ban *all* feeding of the homeless within municipal limits, which is excessive.

Harmful community effects result from government welfare, but you never see welfare officials harassed and fined. Indeed, I would say that the spillover effects of open-ended free shit from the government are worse than the spillover effects of voluntary charity. And to the extent that open-ended free govt shit displaces private charity, the spillover effects will become greater.

At least soup kitchens don't turn whole neighborhoods into communities of poverty and fatherless children.

[Tonio]

Unless the point is to ban *all* feeding of the homeless within municipal limits.

"We have a winner..."

At least soup kitchens don't turn whole neighborhoods into communities of poverty and fatherless children.

Hold on, there, Eddie.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I don't mean all govt assistance - I actually support aid to the truly desperate, if the soup kitchens aren't enough.

I mean like neighborhoods which have reached such a tipping point that dependency is the norm, thanks to open-ended programs that reward able-bodied idlers. Where getting govt assistance is not considered shameful, so there isn't the incentive to get off it as soon as possible.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Oh, and single motherhood, enabled by such programs - a key cause of poverty and producer of misbehaving young men - and then advocates look to the very poverty their worldview produced and talk about what a horrible Poverty Problem we have!

[Carl ?s his privilege]

OT, cuz no TI thread: want to read a retarded comment on a non-retarded article? You do? GREAT!

So the taxpayer will take another hit for them as Microsoft gets to "write down" yet another expensive Bridge to Nowhere. Isn't corporate welfare just grand? I'm sure the Koch Brothers have a hand in this somewhere as part of their "starve the beast" agenda to destroy America, with Microsoft just one more willing agent.

[poloniusium]

It probably made sense in his head.

[Apatheist ?_??]

wtf

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

NEOWIN.... I haven't been there in over a decade. Really brings back memories.

[Sevo]

At least someone called him on it.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

SETI astronomers appeal to Congress, insist that extraterrestrial life almost certainly exist

Two top astronomers told Congress today that it would be "bizarre if we are alone" and asked for continued funding to detect extraterrestrial life.

Dan Werthimer, director of the SETI Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley (SETI is short of "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence") also told the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology that he thinks the possibility of microbial life on other planets is close to 100 percent.

Werthimer and his colleague Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute were on Capitol Hill to discuss the need for continued funding for the search for life in the universe.
And they were bullish about the prospects that there is life in outer space.

"It would be bizarre if we are alone," Werthimer told the committee.

"If you extrapolate on the planets they discovered, there are a trillion planets in the galaxy. That's a lot of places for life," Shostak argued. "We know that the majority of stars have planets," but what "fraction of stars has planets that are more like the earth? It might be one in five."

Shostak and Werthimer said there are going to be lots of different stages of life in the universe and there could be "a lot of advanced civilizations" as well.

[Pro Libertate]

I agree completely. It's staggeringly unlikely that we're even close to the only intelligent life in the galaxy.

That said, the very last people I want "owning" communications with extraterrestrial life is the government. Private funding should be able to do the trick, and there are amateurs willing to help, too.

I used to run the SETI@Home screensaver to crunch data during downtime.

[poloniusium]

I want to believe.

The Fermi Paradox doesn't seem like such a problem. Most ET's probably don't care to look for us, just like we, largely, don't care to look for them. Our current detection systems wouldn't find anything unless the signal source was quite close to us anyway.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes. We actually have looked and listened for very little. We still have technological limitations, and the galaxy is friggin' huge.

[poloniusium]

How do our transmission systems rate? Could we reply? It would be neat to find evidence of intelligent ET's, but it doesn't much matter if we can't talk to them.

I keep thinking of The Mote in God's Eye, where the signal that would have got people's attention was an entire civilizations economy dedicated to laser beam arrays.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

"I used to run the SETI@Home screensaver to crunch data during downtime."

Ditto, although only when utilities were included in the rent.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I have BONIC on my machine, so it alternates between SETI@Home and GPUGRID.net

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I got a zigbee eagle a year or so ago, and it made me stop doing that stuff. My electric bill was over $300/mo, and now it's down to around $100.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Oooo...that looks much cooler than my KillAWatt. Time to buy a new toy.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's sort of like having an Etrade account. At some point, you have to stop looking at at, or it will drive you to madness.

It did convince me to switch to LED bulbs. I am an idiot for not doing it sooner.

[Pro Libertate]

I switched to that. I suppose I could fire it up again.

[NSA Andy]

I'm glad most of you are running the NSA software.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

What did you do with Corey?

[NSA Andy]

Corey was promoted to Salon.com

[Gene]

Sounds more like a demotion.

[poloniusium]

More dangerous radicals to spy on at salon ;D

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I hope when these aliens make first contact, it's not with one of our governments. The aliens would be like "disintegrate them and ask questions later."

[Pro Libertate]

I challenged the official recommended response to an extraterrestrial communication several years ago on Urkobold.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Well, I suppose it's still better than going through the UN.

But really, if the aliens get to us before we get to them, they'll be the ones setting the protocols, since they'll be the ones with the better technology.

[Pro Libertate]

If they show up here, they're probably way past us. Still, I suppose even then, they may not be more advanced in everything.

Radio or other contact implies the ability to transmit a clear signal across huge distances. Wonder how well we could do that if we got a signal?

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Thanks to SciFi, I know that they're just as likely to be malevolent as to be hail-fellow-well-met.

What if we send out a message and they're like, "wow, the protein source we've been looking for!"

[widget]

We'd be responding to an episode of "I Love Lucy" that was broadcast while or before the earth was dust.

The speed of light is not as fast you wish.

[Raven Nation]

From the City of Daytona Beach Vision Plan:

Increase collaboration among non-profit community service organizations, the City of Daytona Beach, surrounding communities and the for-profit sector to take a holistic approach to dealing with the issue of chronic and situational homelessness.

And:

We respect the diversity of our citizens and seek full and equal participation in all matters that affect community life.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Saw the Prust hit. Shoulda been called. He'll likely get a call from head office. Rangers are dominating outright. Which means the Habs will steal one. The great fear in sports: The dominating team loses.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Carcillo could face a 3 game suspension.
Not that he matters.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

He's a putz.

[widget]

We respect the diversity of our citizens and seek full and equal participation in all matters that affect community life.

Who writes shit like that?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You know who.

[widget]

dealing with the issue of chronic and situational homelessness.

Chronic homelessness may well be the result of mental illness for which there is no cure. I am in favor of helping people like this, one or another. I don't know what situationally homelessness means. I hitch-hiked across the US a few time when I was young and chose to be situationally homeless.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I hitch-hiked across the US a few time when I was young and chose to be situationally homeless.

That's actually the opposite of situational homelessness. What you're describing is called "episodic homelessness".

[widget]

I see. Not the opposite, but different.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

This place is boring without booze guys.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Sorry I'm late. I'm drinking chardonnay, which is very unusual for me. I'll be on my best behavior, unlike last night.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Yeah, I heard something about California being put under martial law, do you know anything about that?

[jesse.in.mb]

Alcohol was consumed, wagers were made.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Jesse allegedly let him out of the bet, but I haven't.

[jesse.in.mb]

We won't have an answer for two years anyway.

[Archduke von Pantsfan]

Five Stages of Inebriation

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Jesse stayed at a classy stage 1 last night, I maintained a steady 2, and Sudden made it to at least 3.5.

I might have briefly made it to 3 when I accused a random passerby of being Demi Lovato and started taking pictures of her. Oh, and I tried to steal Sudden's designer dog. Never heard of a puggle until last night.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Sorry I missed it. Couldn't get off work in time.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

I have you penciled in for Summer 2015.

[jesse.in.mb]

Haha. Throw up some bunting, today is the day "Jesse" and "classy" were used in close proximity.

More likely to see a blood moon.

[SweatingGin]

Now we're approaching the point of diminishing returns. You have begun to voice controversial opinions to a disinterested audience. You're slightly angry at someone for reasons you will later fail to recall. You feel the need for brutal honesty.

Well, that hit a little close to home. See you guys tomorrow night.

[jesse.in.mb]

That sounds as much like being a libertarian as a drunk.

[SweatingGin]

Sorry I'm late. I'm drinking chardonnay,

So, water, right?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

13.5%. Not very good though. I got it as a gift.

[jesse.in.mb]

Good call. I have gin, tonic and limes. I just need to figure out what I can make with those.

[poloniusium]

If you've got sugar, you could make a gin sour with fresh lime juice.

[poloniusium]

G&T's make themselves if you're not up for that though.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Well, one of my buddies is about to get married. And his engagement photographer is retarded.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I, uh...hmmm...

[NSA Andy]

That leg tattoo will be convenient to ID at the airport security.

[jesse.in.mb]

Speaking of classy...

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

When your engagement photos have a port-o-potty in them, you're doing it wrong. And that's not the only photo.

[Sevo]

Needs a neck tat.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

His lady showing off the high leg tattoo. Classy.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

Oh...no...no.......

[jesse.in.mb]

Take notes, Nicole. You have a new low to angle for.

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

You have no idea how bad I am. I'm totally about to get a tattoo right there.

But I don't fuck with port a potties.

[jesse.in.mb]

What about a barn with a sheep looking scandalized almost out of frame?

[Fr?ulein Nikki]

That sounds...right for us...

[William of Purple]

You know what's edgy? A spiderweb tattoo on the elbow.

[Corning]

lame

[Notorious G.K.C.]

This is a few months' late, but I just learned that Dave Barry still does Years in Review, and here's the on from 2013. I post it because it makes me laugh, which comics usually don't do for me.

http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....-2013.html

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Another teacher put on administrative leave after allegedly doing 17 year old student in the classroom

A female Waiakea High School teacher was put on administrative leave after allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Because the student is older than the state's age of consent, 16, it is unlikely criminal charges will be pursued by law enforcement, but the teacher, Nancy Ballo, is no longer teaching at the school while a state Department of Education investigation continues.

"We haven't fired anybody," said Principal Kelcy Koga, adding administrators are very limited in what they can discuss while the investigation is ongoing.

[snip]

DOE officials would not confirm Ballo was the teacher named in the allegations, but other anonymous sources have. Meanwhile, students at Waiakea High on Monday said details of the alleged relationship between Ballo and a student have been a major topic of discussion for months.

"I don't know how many times they did it, or how many other students she may have done it with before," said sophomore Daynia Au, who had a seventh-period class with Ballo until she left "about a month or two ago," she said.

Au said reactions at the school were mixed, with some students expressing a lot of concern about the allegations, while others seem to have taken the news in stride.

"Niiicceeeeee."

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Niiiicceeee

[William of Purple]

Why didn't I have teachers like this?

[MJGreen]

Shakaaaaaaa, braddah.

[jesse.in.mb]

When you ask your friend "Is Pacific Rim any good?" and his response is "It's a big budget Kaiju movie made by Guillermo del Toro!" you should not interpret that as a yes.

[MJGreen]

It's good for ridiculous monster fights and Ron Perlman chewing the scenery.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Hey Playa, tell your engaged friend he's doing it wrong

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Eh, seems a little self-centered. It's more about "Look at where I have travelled to" than their actually relationship.

Mommy and Daddy seem to be very willing to indulge their starving little college snowflake.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

*actual

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Gay ex-CNN employee that routinely wore Mariachi suits to work sues network for wrongful termination based on his sexuality

A former employee at CNN claims he was fired from the cable news station because he's gay and was too "flamboyant" because he wore bright colors and mariachi outfits in the workplace, according to a $60 million discrimination lawsuit.

William Kane, who started working at CNN in 2002, claims no one at the news agency had ever complained about the hot pink shirt he wore in his employee I.D. photo, or the bright red track jacket, neon green soccer jersey or yellow track suit with matching shoes and hat.

But after Kane's supervisor John Silva learned that he was gay, the workplace turned hostile, the suit states.

Silva allegedly approached Kane near Studio 51 and told him that he didn't want him to wear the black mariachi suit or the yellow mariachi suit that he knew Kane also owned "because it was too flamboyant for a male in our department," according to the suit.

Silva added that Kane might be better suited in the "entertainment or make-up department."

The "flamboyant" comment smacked of stereotyping to Kane who responded that he thought it was related to disclosing his same-sex engagement.

Well he can always go be Matt Welch's wardrobe consultant at Fox Business.

[poloniusium]

Well, I was going to defend his use of flamboyant. Then I read the bit about entertainment or make-up. Bitch, you just buried yourself.

[jesse.in.mb]

How does that even make it to firing at a place like CNN? It should've been a verbal or written warning and been noted in his file. If he continued dressing like a boob he could've been dropped later.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Gay? I don't see it.

[Rich]

CNN anchor Piers Morgan, above, said he loved William Kane's colorful clothing, the lawsuit claims.

*Now* do you see it?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

*Stares blankly*

[Notorious G.K.C.]

8th grade charter school students *really* get into Civil War re-enactment.

http://hometownstation.com/san.....ment-41987

[William of Purple]

An important scientific analysis of Jorts.

[William of Purple]

X-Men: meet the real mutants

Bam bam:

In the late Nineties, Dana and Neil Hoekstra from Michigan adopted a baby boy called Liam. They understood that he had been born five weeks prematurely, and that this might result in poor health as he grew up.
If anything, the opposite was true. As Liam grew older, he was able to eat constantly without gaining weight. By the time he was five months old, it was apparent that the boy was developing superhuman strength. Not only was he able to walk, but he could support his entire body weight on his arms.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

I was interested in the guy who knocked a pellet fired from a pellet gun out of the air with a samurai sword.

[William of Purple]

the first man arrested for running an automobile too fast

[jesse.in.mb]

Speaking of hummus:

Trader Joe's And Target Hummus Recalled After Listeria Outbreak

The Texas Department of Health found a listeria contamination during a routine test of Target Archer Farms Traditional Hummus, and now Lansal, Inc. is voluntarily yanking all of their products made at the same facility.

[William of Purple]

HUMMUS IS PEOPLE!!!

[Pro Libertate]

Uh, oh. I ate some TJ's horseradish hummus a couple of weeks ago.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You're good. Horseradish contains Allyl Isothiocyanate, which will kill Listeria.

[William of Purple]

I'm sure this will make all the difference

The UN Security Council approves sanctions against the Nigerian militant group Boko Haram, five weeks after it kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls

[Sevo]

..."subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze."...

Yep, prolly got several accounts in NYC banks, and now Obo's admin is gonna have to stop selling 'em guns!
Oh! It wasn't them? Fake scandal!

[Tman]

This guy writes like he either posts here or lurks.

Show yourself sir, this rant is FANTASTIC.

Why The Cult Of Dusty Is An Idiot

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Holy shit. Will Ferrel really does look like Chad Smith.
http://www.funnyordie.com/arti.....es-footage