Playing The Angles

Santa Barbara - Officials hope to realign sidewalk benches so that pedestrians can avoid encounters with the homeless. Some say the money would be better spent on aiding the needy.

To keep the homeless from accessing so many people in Santa Barbara, they are spending $50,000 on a project to angle the benches so that it is difficult to see everyone.  When you reduce the contact, it may not be profitable enough to go there.

Would this money be better spent helping the homeless?  Perhaps.  While at a glance this article seems a bit shallow, there may be benefits in encouraging the homeless population to take advantage of the services available.  It's not a matter of them ruining the shopping experience (at least in my book) as it is about driving them to shelter and nutrition instead of exposure and drug use.  You can only lead a horse to water, I know.

Speaking of that, Ted Williams, the "man with the golden voice" has left rehab against doctor's advisement.  This isn't the end for him, but the inevitable cycle an addict has to follow before they get help and it sticks.  I hope that Williams is back in rehab soon, because without it he won't fare well.  There's a hero in there, I can just see it.