AUSTIN ADVOCATE

Solicitation Ordinance Less Onerous Than Proposed
By Kirk Becker

On Dec. 15th, the City Council amended solicitation and sitting ordinances, and referred another proposed provision banning solicitation between car-inhabitants and people to an unspecified task force.

Solicitation Ordinance
The then-current solicitation ordinance prohibited solicitation in an aggressive manner, on or in proximity to public transportation facilities, in proximity to ATM-type machines, banks or check cashing businesses, or at a cross walk.

The Dec. 15 revisions prohibit solicitation within a block of a school or child care facility and in the downtown or U.T. areas.

Sitting Ordinance
The then-current sitting ordinance originally applied near the old downtown work corners. The Dec. 15 Ordinance prohibited sitting in the downtown or U.T. areas and defined the Downtown - U.T. areas.

Residential Solicitation
The Ordinance prohibiting door-to-door sales of residences was left unchanged. However, the Ordinance is entitled “Solicitation Between Certain Hours Prohibited”, and it should probably be retitled something like “Residential Solicitation at Night Prohibited”. The hours are 9:00 – 9:00.

Cars & Peds
The proposal to ban solicitation between pedestrians and occupants of a motor vehicle had provisions for tickets to both pedestrians and drivers of the motor vehicles (thereby infringing upon everybody's rights). This was the provision that was referred to a task force.

The Meeting
The Council didn't allow any public comments before discussion and vote, though Richard Troxell, in response to a question from one of the councilmembers, was able to remind the City Cops to return people's ID's after checking them and also to have them make sure that a person is eligible to stay at a homeless shelter before dumping them off there.

There was some concern that changing the hours for residential solicitation would affect political groups, and the Council was assured by staff that signatures were not considered solicitation (can you sign a check?).

There wasn't any memorable discussion about solicitation between motor vehicle occupants and pedestrians, they just referred it to the task force. There wasn't any discussion of how to form the task force, so that will probably be handled by either the Mayor's Office or the City Staff. The Advocate will try to participate in the task force, or at least report on the task force meetings.

The Motion was made by Councilmember Leffingwell and seconded by Councilmember Dunkerly (Betty?????). It passed 6-1 (Councilmember Thomas voted “nay”). after a speech by Councilmember McCracken on mutual respect and the crime rate in New York City (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/2005/council_12152005.htm – Ctrl-F the page for “win deks”).

IANAL
I am not a lawyer, but ... if we have to follow the laws, we ought to at least be able to understand them.

* Timeliness – Normally, an ordinance takes effect 10 days after it's passed, but I tried to get a copy of it and the City Clerk told me that it hadn't been signed by the Mayor yet. I read somewhere that a governing body can act only through it's minutes, and they won't read the minutes until Jan. 13, so if you get a ticket before then, you might raise the point with the judge and maybe they'll dismiss the ticket.

* Corporations – I've also read somewhere that corporations are considered to be like people under the law. It seems that if they allow newspaper racks in the designated area, whether the newspaper racks ask for money or whether the newspapers have ads for businesses offering goods or services for sale, then we ought to be able to sell our paper in the same areas. (Perhaps we can sit on the newspaper racks too???) Additionally, many businesses in the area have signs announcing not only their presence, but also offering sales on special items. Perhaps we can hold up signs, so long as we don't say anything.

I hope that we haven't gotten to a point in this economy and in this city and in this country where corporations have more rights than people!!!

Hopefully these issues can be discussed in the task force.

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Voter gag provision targets low-income housing providers
(Street Roots, USA)
Joanne Zuhl

The creation of an Affordable Housing Fund working its way through Congress might seem like a move that low-income housing providers could rally behind.

And they did, at first. However, now organizations across the United States are up in arms over the proposed Federal Housing Reform Act because of an anti-voter provision added to the bill. The legislation would prohibit nonprofit housing providers that engage in non-partisan voter registration activities from receiving any of the new funds. The same requirement is not made of for-profit housing providers. HB 1461 was passed by the House of Representatives and now awaits a vote in the Senate.

“It’s horrendous,” said Mark Schorr, spokesman for Cascadia Behavioral Health Care, a nonprofit low-income housing provider. “It’s part of an ongoing effort by folks in Washington to further disenfranchise people who are already disenfranchised. It reminds me of the poll tax and other things they did to make it more difficult for people to exercise their right to vote. The voting booth is one of the few places in the country where it doesn’t matter if you’re Dick Cheney or living under a bridge, you have an equal vote.”

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization, is leading the charge against the anti-registration provision, and nearly 700 organizations signed on to a letter demanding it be removed. Democratic Representatives failed to gather enough votes to remove the provision before final passage in the House.

The bill creates the Affordable Housing Fund by drawing a percentage of after-tax profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest mortgage companies. It is expected to distribute between $500 million and $600 million a year for affordable housing. However, nonprofit organizations that engage in any voter registration activities would be ineligible to receive funding, even if they use their own money to do so. The stipulation disqualifies any nonprofit that engaged in get-out-the-vote or registration efforts up to 12 months prior to seeking funding.

“The first problem with the Affordable Housing Trust Fund allocation is the amount of money is woefully inadequate for the needs of American families, seniors and people with disabilities,” said Michael Anderson with Affordable Housing Now! “But on top of the fact that this trust fund doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, the fact that there would be restrictions tied to this still crucial funding source that would limit people’s ability to do voter registration and promote democracy, is absolutely going backwards of what this country stands for.”

Affordable Housing Now! is a coalition of organizations and individuals seeking new, ongoing funding sources for affordable housing in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties.
The National Low-Income Housing Coalition suggests that the bill’s restrictions are unconstitutional because voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts and lobbying are constitutionally protected activities. The coalition also argues that the restrictions are unnecessary because there are sufficient requirements in the bill to prevent the funding from being used on anything other than housing.

Opponents also say the restrictions are in conflict with the so-called Motor Voter law of 1993 that was designed to facilitate voter registration. That law requires some non-profits to provide voter registration services to their clients.

“My question is what is the motivation of those who would choose to limit voter registration activities among low-income people?” Anderson said. “Is it that they are afraid that low-income people are not being represented by the current policies in sway in Washington D.C.?”

Anna Galland, director of the Building Blocks Building Votes program with Oregon Bus Project, said the intention is clear: suppressing free speech.

“It’s really an attempt to stifle groups that are seen as fighting with one party or another,” said Galland. “It’s ugly because in a sense it’s limiting free speech as well as being one more step toward the kind of poll tax and mean-spirited, 19th century tactics that are popping up around the country. It’s really voter suppression.”

Building Blocks Building Votes is a non-partisan program registering young and urban voters to participate in the democratic process. Galland has been working to incorporate voter registration options at facilities operated by Portland’s Central City Concern, one of the city’s largest low-income housing providers.

“It has been so important to reach out through nonprofit service providers to low-income members of our community because folks who are struggling to get by are not thinking first and foremost how to register to vote,” Galland said. “Often they have misconceptions about the rights of felons, the rights of homeless and even sometimes the rights of the disabled.”

Galland said that in many cases, the only people reaching homeless and low-income voters are members of the nonprofit organizations.
“It’s a matter of education,” Galland said. “A flourishing democracy needs healthy civic groups and service providers. That’s part of their mission is to make sure people have information about their rights. So what the gag ruling is doing is preventing these organizations from fulfilling their missions of fully engaging marginalized folks in civil society.”

Cascadia makes registration cards available to residents and employees at its facilities, which span four counties in the Portland area. At the Royal Palm, a transitional housing and shelter program with Cascadia, residents are encouraged to vote, but program supervisor Eric Sevos said no one advocates for any position or candidate in any way.

“We believe that folks having a voice in their community is important and anything we can do to accommodate that as an agency we work toward.” Sevos said. “People who are often in the throes of homelessness often feel they do not have a voice, and the steps they need to take to address that don’t become crystal clear, and voter registration is a part of that.”

Schorr said it’s part of their recovery model, which encourages people to become more independent. “Getting someone to vote is like a sign that, ‘Yes, I’m a citizen.’ And we certainly want to be able to help them as part of the recovery process in voting.”
Anderson said that if the bill becomes law, nonprofits and voting rights advocates are going to have work to even harder to engage people in the electoral process.

“We’re going to have to figure out better ways to get organized and get people registered,” Anderson said. “If this nefarious strategy to tie housing money to voter registration activities happens, there needs to be an even greater effort to surface the voice of low-income people in the voting process. Because these anti-democratic measures are not good for America.”

Reprinted from Street Roots

© Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

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Blackland CDC Transitional Housing
By Stacey Yates

About a year ago, Carlos and Cindy Gonzalez were both working full-time and caring for their two children. Carlos had a job with a national health care group as a technician and Cindy worked in the childcare industry. Both of their jobs paid less than $10 per hour, but they managed to pay $500 a month to keep all members of their family covered by health insurance, and were paying around $400 a month in childcare expenses. They did not have a car because they thought that health insurance was a bigger priority. While their budget was tight, they were able to pay rent and bills, living paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, Cindy became ill and was in the hospital for two weeks. Carlos took a week off work to care for the children while their mom was in the hospital. Due to this loss of three week’s income, the family fell behind on their rent and utility bills. Both Carlos and Cindy began working again as soon as possible, but Cindy had to take time off to care for one of her children who has on-going health issues. For the next several months, the Gonzalezes struggled to catch up but found that they were unable to pay their bills and were evicted. With a large debt to Austin Energy and a recent eviction on their credit record, the family did not have the financial means to move into market-rate housing.

The Gonzalez family applied to Blackland CDC Transitional housing as a last resort. While Cindy’s parents were letting them live at their house, the situation was overcrowded and uncomfortable. The Gonzalezes were accepted into Blackland Transitional and are now living in a two-bedroom house with their children, and working to pay off their debts. Cindy and Carlos are now hopeful about the future of their family.

Most people are unaware that families like the Gonzalezes make up the fastest growing population of homeless people in the United States -- and that many working families like them are just one crisis away from being homeless. Austin is currently experiencing an affordable housing crisis that makes transition housing programs like the Blackland Neighborhood’s all the more valuable.

The Blackland Community Development Corporation (BCDC) is a non-profit that provides affordable housing for families in the East Austin neighborhood bordered by MLK on the south; Manor Road on the north, Chestnut Street on the east and I-35 on the west. The Blackland CDC owns and rents 35 houses and duplexes to households that make less than 60 percent of the average for Austin. BCDC also operates the Robert Shaw village, low-income housing for seniors; as well as nine, two-bedroom homes for the transitional families, and two houses for persons recovering from mental and/or physical disabilities. This is the only neighborhood-developed-and-operated transitional housing program in the state of Texas -- and the only transitional housing program in Austin that serves two-parent families who have not received services through the Salvation Army.

BCDC Transitional Housing offers homeless or near-homeless families a year of low rent and client-centered case management services in order to provide families with the opportunity to strengthen their situation and move into permanent, affordable housing. The two-bedroom homes are rented at $350 per month for the first six months of the program. The rent includes a $125.00 credit towards utilities, and $25.00 goes towards a refundable deposit. The goals of the transitional housing program are as follows; families will increase their income, improve their level of financial literacy and credit reports, improve the strength of family relationships, obtain or maintain health care coverage for all members of the family, and move into permanent housing with better developed resources and a stronger support network.
The Gonzalez family established their priorities when they first entered the transitional housing program, and have worked closely with the case manager to reach their goals of increased financial stability and improved credit. Every month the family completes a budget and tracks their progress on paying off the debts that have been an obstacle to housing. Their case manager has helped to link them with resources to help pay for childcare, food, and lower cost medical insurance for their children. By lowering their costs in these areas and in rent, the Gonzalez family should be able to pay their debts by the end of the program. Their case manager has also given them a number of waiting lists for affordable housing to sign up on, so by then end of the program they will have more. Housing is considered “affordable” when housing costs make up 30 percent or less of a family’s total income, and “permanent” when a family has an option of renewing the lease (unlike transitional, when a program lasts for only a certain amount of time).

The Blackland CDC has three, part-time employees; Isabelle Headrick, Director of Programs, Stacey Yates, Transitional Housing Case Manager, and a property manager (presently vacant). The board of directors is composed of nine neighborhood residents who volunteer much of their free time in order to maintain funding, strategize about future acquisitions, and supervise the work of the employees. In order to qualify for the affordable housing programs, families need to show proof of a year’s rental and work history and to fit income requirements. To qualify for the transitional program, families need to fit income requirements, be in a homeless or near homeless situation, and be willing to work with case management. Blackland CDC is unique in that applicants are not automatically disqualified if they have a felony on their criminal background, but those with an assault charge or predatory sexual offenses will be disqualified.

Approximately 60 percent of the families who participate in the transitional housing program are successful in achieving their goals. Families are considered successful when they move into safe, permanent housing and have demonstrated an increase in income or education. The families who are unsuccessful often share the issue of recurring drug addiction or mental illness. While BCDC staff does all it can to help families, each family’s success or failure ultimately depends on the choices made by the parents.

National Affordable Housing Crisis

The Gonzalez family is but one example of the millions of households in the United States that experience housing instability or housing problems each year. Homelessness and housing problems are two aspects of a larger issue in the United States, which is created by the shortage of affordable housing available to households in the middle to lower income socio-economic categories.

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition provides a state and metropolitan area breakdown of renter households according to economic category. They reported on the percentage of renter households and percentages of households living below the poverty level, very low income, and extremely low income. Extremely low income is defined as one with income less than 30% of the area’s Median Income (AMI) and a very low-income households is one that earns less than 50% of the area’s AMI. An extremely low-income household in Austin is one that earns 30% of the Area Median Income, or up to $20,070.00 according to 2003 figures.

The city of Austin has the highest rental rates in Texas, and is ranked 16th in the nation for high rents. In the year 2003, Travis County renter households accounted for nearly half, or 49 percent of inhabitants, and half of these households unable to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at fair market rates. The fair market rate for a two bedroom apartment in 2003 was calculated at $914.00. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that a family would need to earn an annual income of $36,560 in order to afford a two bedroom apartment. In order to afford a one bedroom apartment, a person or household would need to have an annual income of $27,440.00. The 2003 Census shows that nearly one-out-of-five of Austin’s children live in poverty. Currently there are 4,000 children within the Austin Independent School District who lack homes or live in temporary situations. The Housing Authority of the City of Austin and Travis County maintain waiting lists for public housing (commonly referred to as “the projects”) and Section 8 vouchers (subsidized housing vouchers). At this time, there are 3,600 families on the public housing wait list, and 5,100 families on the Section 8 waiting lists, both of which are closed.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition defines housing problems as households experiencing over crowding, substandard conditions, or housing cost in excess of 30% of household income (2003). A 2001 survey showed that nearly one-third of households experienced housing problems, and when homeless people were added to that count the estimate rose to 35% of all people in the United States. To put this problem in perspective of other issues on the national radar, this percentage amounts to over twice as many people who don’t have health insurance, and three times the number of people with food insecurity. The issue of affordable housing is integral to other societal problems and social justice issues. Only one fourth of eligible families are able to access federal housing assistance due to long waiting lists (Kingsley, 1997).

The 2002 Millennial Housing Commission issued a report with two significant findings;

a) working a full-time job no longer guarantees access to decent housing, and
b) full-time employment at minimum wage will not enable a worker to pay for affordable housing in most cities in the U.S. (Meeting Our Nation’s Housing Challenges, 2002).

The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that 95 million people have one or more housing problems at any point of the year. 43.6 million Americans live in households with incomes below $25,000 per year (2003). The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard report, titled “The State of the Nation’s Housing,” states that housing challenges are most severe for people living at the lowest end of the income distribution (2004). The Harvard report provides an analysis of demographics of low-income household and states that single, female head-of-households, their children, and minorities are over-represented in the lowest-income category. 32 percent of very low-income people with housing problems are children. People who live in these households, who pay such a disproportionate amount of their income on rent, have very little left to spend on other expenses. Many individuals and families wait for years on lists before they can receive a voucher.

The housing crisis in the U.S. has three main factors:
1) the private market's failure to produce enough units of affordable housing to meet existing demand;
2) loss of units once affordable to lower-income families ;
3) incomes not keeping pace with increasing household costs.

These factors include the loss of well-paying (such as manufacturing) jobs in the last few years that have been replaced with job growth in the service industries and temporary agencies, the rising costs of housing compared with the decrease in household incomes, and the national minimum wage which provides an insufficient income to pay for housing. Wages are lower due to the weakening of unionization, the drop in the value of the national minimum wage (the value of the minimum wage in 1997 was almost 20% less than in 1979), globalization of higher paying service jobs, and increased contract, temporary, or part-time employment. The National Homeless Coalition states that in the year 2000, the number of people in poverty had dropped, but the number of people living in extreme poverty had risen. The 2003 Census showed the number of people living in poverty had risen for the last three years. This phenomenon of a growing number of people living in poverty, combined with the loss of job opportunities for large segments of the workforce has contributed to a greatly increased need for affordable housing.

Sources

Housing Works Fact Sheet
Austinhousing.org

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (2004). The state of the nation’s housing. www.jchs.harvard/publications/markets/son2004.pdf.

Kingsley, G. T. (1997) Federal Housing Assistance and Welfare Reform: Uncharted Territory. Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/urlprint.cfm?ID=5964.

Millenial Housing Commission, May 2002. Meeting our nation’s housing challenges. www.mhc.gov/MHCReport.pdf.

Mishel, L., Bernstein, J., and Schmitt, J. The state of working America: 1998-99, 1999. Paper from the Economic Policy Institute, 1660 L Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036; 202/331-5510.

National Coalition for the Homeless (2002). Why are People Homeless? NCH Fact Sheet #1. http://www.nationalhomeless.org/causes.html.

National Low-Income Housing Coalition (2003). Out of Reach 2003: America’s Housing Wage Climbs. http://www.nlihc.org/oor2003/.

National Low-Income Housing Coalition (2004). America's neighbors: The affordable housing crisis and the people it affects. Retrieved October 16, 2004 from www.nlihc.org/research/lalihd/neighbors.pdf.

U.S. Census Bureau (2003). American Community Survey 2003 Data Profile, Austin City. www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/Profiles.

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The Victim Suit of Armor
From the book, Gift of Bipolar
By Trisha Yeager Menke

I have bipolar disease, type 2. Overnight I became a puppet on the end of an elastic cord swung by a drunken demon. One moment I was hurled to the top of a mountain, and the next I was slammed into the dirt below. I had no idea what was wrong and neither did anyone else. At this time, in the early 70s, not much of anything was known about the disease. So, to avoid being thought of as crazy, and to cling to my tenuous sanity, I became a victim.
It began as a soothing song of self-pity and gradually progressed to a shrill shriek of anger, defeat and denial. Acceptance of my disease was impossible. Something, someone had to bear the blame for my condition, and regardless of how poorly I handled each situation, I refused to be held accountable. So, to protect myself from the pain and humiliation, I put on the victim suit of armor, one piece at a time. At first I felt safe, protected from the arrows of unseen enemies. But, over time the suit became heavy and rigid. The longer I wore it, the more uncomfortable and unyielding it became, and the harder it was, I discovered, to get the damn thing off!

For some, it has become a rusted suit of armor, welded seamlessly over time and impossible to remove. Many are hopelessly addicted to drugs or alcohol, and have long ago traded their hopes and dreams for a series of one-night stands in a homeless shelter, cuddled up with a contraband bottle of pills or booze. Like me, perhaps, they don’t see the forest of hope through the haze that brings relief from pain.

One day I remembered what I had learned long ago—that when armored soldiers fell to the ground they could not get up by themselves, and required the help of many men and horses just to stand again. I removed the victim suit the morning that I awoke with a massive hangover and the certainty that unless something changed I would never stand up again.

Only with God’s help was I able to face a harsh world stark naked Getting free of the victim suit of armor was a big step for me. The suit, protective as it was, was also a huge encumbrance. It kept me focused on the battle instead of the victory. It kept me from being free. It kept me from assuming responsibility for my own wellness. It made me dependent upon things other than my Spiritual resources. In summary, it perpetuated my disability.

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Out of Reach 2005: National Low Income Housing Coalition
Annual Report
By Surume

Last month, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released Out of Reach 2005, its annual report calculating the hourly wage that someone must earn - working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year - to be able to afford rent and utilities in the private local housing market in every state, metropolitan area and county in the country.

This year’s national Housing Wage is $15.78 an hour, up from $15.37 an hour in 2004. This is more than three times the federal minimum wage, further highlighting the difference between what people earn and what people are expected to pay for housing in the United States.

With FEMA’s hotel/motel subsidy program for hurricane evacuees scheduled to end sometime within the next several weeks, the report highlights the difficulties displaced families, along with millions of other low income families, face in their search for safe housing that they can afford.

“The disparity between what people earn and what even modest rental housing costs grows larger each year,” said Sheila Crowley, President of NLIHC. “This is the housing market in which millions of low wage workers and elderly or disabled people must try to find safe and decent homes. Now tens of thousands of displaced people from the Gulf Coast have joined them in this competition for scarce housing that they can afford. And FEMA wonders why evacuees are still in hotels.”

With a housing-related fuel and utilities increase of more than 13% in the last year responsible for much of the increase in renter housing costs, the situation is grim. For the first time, NLIHC’s data shows that a full-time worker at minimum wage cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in country, further illustrating the dire situation that denies many a right to adequate housing.

Out of Reach 2005 calculates the number of full-time wage earners a household needs in order to afford the Fair Market Rent in any area of the country. Nationally, a family with two full-time workers earning federal minimum wage would make just $21,424, significantly less than the $32,822 annually they would need to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment.

Austin-Round Rock, TX

In Austin-Round Rock, TX, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $804. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities, without paying more than 30% of income on housing, a household must earn $2,680 monthly or $32,160 annually. Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into a Housing Wage of $15.46.

In Austin-Round Rock, TX, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $5.15. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum wage earner must work 120 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, a household must include 3.0 minimum wage earner(s) working 40 hours per week year-round in order to make the two bedroom FMR affordable.

In Austin-Round Rock, TX, the estimated mean (average) wage for a renter is $13.92 an hour. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment at this wage, a renter must work 44 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Or, working 40 hours per week year-round, a household must include 1.1 worker(s) earning the mean renter wage in order to make the two-bedroom FMR affordable.

Monthly Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for an individual are $579 in Austin-Round Rock, TX MSA *. If SSI represents an individual's sole source of income, $174 in monthly rent is affordable, while the FMR for a one-bedroom is $658.

National Low Income Housing Coalition
http://www.nlihc.org/index.html

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Old Stuff
Tumen Soliz

Violence will happen,
we institutionalize
military life.

Do not be suprised,
violence product of violence,
but don't blame homeless.

Preacher punched in church,
are there more B.T.K.'s there?
Who's mental is soothed?

Homeless on the edge.
What of workers with two jobs?
Do CEO's sweat?

The war in Iraq,
same as the war in our streets,
have nots versus haves.

'05 storms were tracked,
allowed to create havok,
oils end year profit.

Tax credits for us
to defray the cost of fuel,
helps only money.

Temporary work
provides lesser benefits,
maximize profit.

The real question is
at what point will someone break?
Who will pay the price?

'06 does not mean
we have to repeat mistakes.
No more pension purge.

Synchronize our age
with our best abilities,
but not work till death.

Everybody knows
corruption's the problem,
yet we need the cash.

Trafficked people die
looking for prosperity.
They too would be kings.

Our daily actions
determine their reactions.
Why do we horde wealth?

We have to survive
decadent money talk world,
devil takes his cut.

The selfish mindset
worked well during caveman times,
now culture of death.

Sharing resources
will feed all the worlds people.
What would Jesus do?

A new year should bring
a knowledge revolution,
not stuck in the past.

Wake Up Children
Tumen Soliz

Jurasic monsters
live and breath in history,
extinct, not a myth.

Monsters too must eat
anything smaller will do,
must honor food chain.

Lions, tigers, bears
used to eat humans at will,
now machine guns rule.

Monsters come out at night
to threaten our sleepy dreams,
steal innocent youth.

Monsters do not care
the human concept of soul,
just their existence.

Using half a brain,
like car surfing thrillseekers,
selfishly claim God.

Reality is
secret voices in our heads.
We must learn control.

The heaven monster
overrules the hell monster.
the world is not flat.

Like squirrels cause blackouts
warm oceans cause massive storms.
Hopelessness breeds war.

We claim to be wise
but we fear what we don't know,
let our monsters rule.

Life hack to the world,
did you not get the memo.
We the enemy.

Cosider for peace;
"Don't lie, steal or be lazy,'
Evo Morales.

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