"Three billion dollars per year, and homelessness continues to soar?"

Except homelessness doesn't "continue to soar".

The quote is from an article on PovertyInsights.org, "Is the US Government Wasting Money on Homelessness".

Their conclusion by the by is "Yes, but we should do more anyway".

.. and I agree with them, we should do more. Not SPEND more... actually DO more. In fact, we should probably spend less... we should just do it more effectively and efficiently.

Homelessness isn't "continuing to soar"

... which, by the by, the linked article actually does admit, though not in direct language. The tag line is meant as an attention grabber.

There IS a problem, and it should be addressed, in the most effective way we can.

That's where things get complicated.

By most measures long term homelessness is stable or declining, and short term homelessness is declining again, as it has been since the early 90s (excepting several year to year spikes and dips from 2006 through 2012).

The first thing, is that homelessness has actually never been near what the "homeless advocates" said, because they were inflating the numbers in a desperate attempt to get people to pay attention, and to get at least somewhere near enough funding for the real problem they actually had.

They multiplied way beyond worst case numbers, by other way beyond worst case numbers, added a fudge factor for "things we can't measure and people we're missing"; then multiplied that number based on the cities with the worst problems, by every city in America, as if they all had similar demographics.

Were they deliberately lying? No... at least they never thought of it as that. They simply assumed that the problem was worse than they could prove, and that they'd better inflate the actual provable numbers just to make sure. It's a common issue with do-gooder-ism.

Basically, it's all the worst problems of unrepresentative sampling, combined in one issue.

If the problem ever had been near that bad, it would have meant a dozen homeless men on every corner in every city in America.

But that's what they needed to do, just to see the few dollars at the pointy end that they eventually got; because that's how political funding works in this country.

This is not to say there are no homeless in America, or that both short and long term homelessness are not issues we should address.

There are without doubt massive shortfalls in funding to prevent, and aid in the recovery and return to normalcy of the short term homeless. They have spiked over the last few years since 2006, because of the housing and financial collapses and their aftermath, and the stagnant economy. That has been normalizing since 2010, or at least 2012 even by the worst numbers (though some urban areas are exceptions, and are getting worse for various reasons. Tucson, Las Vegas, some cities in Florida, San Francisco). We still don't have enough money at the pointy end to help those who need help.

The long term homeless population is down from where it was in the 80s and 90s (long term homelessness in the united states is believed to have peaked around 1987 to 1989 - some say as late as 1992 - and began trending significantly downward between 1992 and 1995), though it's still a problem.

Unfortunately, this isn't really because our efforts to improve the situation have been effective. It's more because the large populations of mentally ill that we turned out on the streets from 1978 to 1988 as we "reformed" and defunded our state mental health systems, have largely died; and because the spike of serious drug addiction in this country from 1974 to 1994, peaking from 1986 to 1991 with the "crack epidemic" has largely subsided to its pre 1970 levels (those addicts have also largely died).

The real problem with long term homelessness in this country is a problem with our mental health system, and how we treat substance abuse and addiction. The vast majority of the long term homeless are seriously mentally ill, long term substance abusers, or both.

The other major problem, is that no matter how much funding we allocate at the state or federal level, it gets swallowed up in the bureaucracies, and the inefficiency of the system. Most of the benefit never reaches the street.

That isn't to say the people at the pointy end aren't trying to do their best, they are... it's just that the system prevents it.

The piece linked states that the federal government spends approximately $3 billion to "help the homeless" every year. The states and municipalities combined spend something like 4 times times that (based on the commonly bandied number that about 20% of the dollars for the homeless come from the feds). That's about 15 billion.

There's about 1 million homeless in the country according to the article (best numbers I've seen say 800,000, but that's close enough to 1 million that I'll give it to them).

15 billion, divided by 1 million is $15,000.

If we were EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY spending $15,000 per homeless person in this country, there wouldn't BE any measurable homeless population.

Everyone who was homeless, would have a roof, a bed, enough food, and basic medical care.

The problem is that, if we're lucky, $0.20 of each of those dollars actually ends up having any direct benefit to the homeless. The rest gets eaten up in the layers and layers of bureaucracy, and "oversight", and planning, and all the other myriad ways that government spending ends up being consumed.

You know who does most of the feeding, clothing, and housing of the homeless in this country?

Two organizations: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), and the Catholic Church.

Oh and of course all the many local churches and charitable organizations (most of them religious in nature) that run homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, free clinics, and outreach programs.

How much do they spend on the problem?

No-one knows for sure and estimates vary widely. The St. Vincent DePaul society, the largest society of the Catholic church providing direct aid to the poor, spends about $700 million annually overall in The U.S. on direct aid. About 1/3 of that is explicitly in aid to the homeless, so something like $200 or $250 million. The LDS church spends something similar, and all other churches in the U.S. combined, also spend about that much (this just on the homeless, not in all aid to the poor. That number is four or five times as much).

Let's round up and call it about a billion total. That's actual money hitting the street directly by the by, not total donations for the homeless, or total funds allocated by the leadership.

So... that's what a billion, used efficiently and effectively, can do, for a million people.

Wonder what they could do with $15 billion more?

May No Soldier Go Unloved

Pvt. Murphy got a package today:


If you don't know soldiers angels, you should. Please take a look at them. For the last three years, they've received all my charitable giving that doesn't go directly to my parish or my kids school.

Second Annual Pistol Challenge for Charity

Last year, In order to add a little extra incentive to the Project Valour-IT fundraising challenge; and I had a reverse auction for a pistol.

Last year we auctioned an FEG PA-63, which is a perfectly decent little pistol; but not exactly a world beater.

We managed to raise about $5,000 through our little part of the challenge; and this year we need even more money, in less time, so I decided to up the ante a bit.

This year, we're auctioning off a SIG P6.

So, this is how it works. Anyone who donates to ANY of the teams during the fundraiser, send me a copy of your PayPal donation receipt for at least $150 (which I will verify with the folks at Soldiers Angels); and the person who donates the most, will win one of these, along with 2 magazines, a holster, and a set of custom wood grips:



I was going to refinish it, and put a set of night sights on it, but there was such vehement disagreement as to what finish to use, and what sights to put on it, that I decided to just leave it up to the winner.

The pistol the winner receives will be a former west german police issue pistol. It is in arsenal rebuilt condition, and was purchase from J&G sales, with a two magazines, a box, original paperwork, and a West German Motor Officers holster.

Obviously, due to the wonderful ATF, unless you are in Arizona, this pistol will need to be transferred from my FFL to yours; but I will cover the shipping. If you happen to live in Arizona I will handle this as a private transfer. Unfortunately for you crufflers out there, these pistols are not C&R eligible.

I hate to limit the pool of potential winners, but I'm not sure if this would be legal to transfer to someone in California and Massachusetts (because they have "approved" lists), or any of the states that require a special permit for every pistol you purchase (New Jersey and Hawaii for example); but it doesn't have any of the nasty "assault weapon" features that would get it banned in some states . If it is legal, hey great; ask your FFL to make sure.

Also note, this pistol would not be received from, transferred from, or won from Valour IT or soldiers angels; it would be coming from me, Chris Byrne.

This is my PERSONAL incentive to anyone who supports a charity I also support.

No-one at Valour IT or Soldiers Angels is in any way involved in this little giveaway. So, if some anti-gun lunatic wants to get all pissy, they can come talk to me about it, not Valour IT.

Personally, I know what my readers like, and that's guns; so I'm tailoring my challenge to the preferences of my readers. It's called "effective marketing".

I will accept receipts for donations occuring up until midnight November 30th/December first 2008; and announce the winner Monday December first at 5pm local time; so get me your reciepts before midnight.

I will accept multiple donations and count them together so long as they occurred during the fundraiser (including if they were dated before this post) . In the event of a tie (which I think is likely), the winner will be determined by whose donation (or whose latest donation to bring them up to total) is dated first (not necessarily who I receive them from first). Oh and I'm only counting down to the nearest $10 increment rounded down. I don't expect people to be parsing pennies for charity.

So, donate to a great cause. It's completely tax deductible, and maybe you'll get a gun out of the deal at the same time. Can't lose there folks. Please, donate if you can:

Active Minds means Saved Lives

"Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends" -- John 15:13

In June of 2005, then Captain (now Major) Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, led an armored patrol in force into an Iraqi town where intelligence had indicated an ambush of U.S. forces was planned.

On arriving in the town, Cpt. Ziegenfuss was approached by a local resident, and informed of a large IED that was placed near his house overnight. Because his tank could not cross a bridge over a small irrigation canal to enter the town, Cpt. Ziegenfuss dismounted, and was proceeding on foot to investigate; when a second IED that had been previously buried under the roadway was detonated.

Cpt. Ziegenfuss was blown several meters into the canal; suffering severe shrapnel wounds over almost the entirety of his body excepting where he was protected by armor. He also lost half of one hand, part of the other, and much of the skin and muscle on his arms and legs to the blast.

I'm proud to say I know Chuck, and I've shot with him (he's a damn fine shot even still). He's a funny guy, with a hell of a lot of guts. A lot of other folks would've said "Well, I've had enough now"... but that just isn't the kind of guy he is. He's back on active duty, instructing ROTC cadets in his home state of Pennsylvania, and he plans on staying on active duty until they kick him out.

When Chuck was in the hospital recovering from his wounds (I should note, it's been three years and he is still in recovery; though he has been back on active duty since 2006); he figured something out: What he really wanted most, to help him get through the pain, and the boredom, and the mind numbing misery that is an extended hospital stay... was a laptop.

Thing is though, Chuck had two half hands, both wrapped in bandages. How was he going to use a laptop?

Well, he's not a quitter (there's an understatement). He had an idea, and he asked Soldiers Angels to help him out. Could they get him a laptop, with voice command software installed on it, so he could run the thing without using his hands much?

The Soldiers Angels motto is "Let no soldier go unloved", and these people move mountains, at great personal cost in time, energy, and money; to make sure that every soldier gets what they need to help them get through their times of hardship.

Turns out, the Angels more than lived up to their reputation, and they could indeed get Chuck a laptop, and they did, and it worked. He was able to keep his mind active, and keep communicating with the world at large even while he was laid up.

In fact, it was such an improvement to his morale, that he was able to (in fact he damn near forced them to) reduce his pain medication. So long as he could keep his mind occupied with other things, his pain didn't seem to matter as much.

Now, at this point, you might have got the notion that Chuck isn't one to lay down, even when he's lost 30lbs of muscle and bone, and is on enough morphine to kill a horse.

See, he figured, that if a voice activated laptop did so much for him, why couldn't they do this for other wounded soldiers. So he pitched the idea to Soldiers Angels; and Project Valour IT was born.

Voice Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops - Valour IT.

Valour IT buys laptop computers, and accessibility accessories for wounded soldiers. Be they wounded in combat or training, if they need a laptop, and Valor IT has the money, they're getting a laptop and everything they need to make it work.

...If they have the money.

So far, Valour IT has raised enough to give over 1500 laptops to our wounded soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines; but there are more wounded men and women that could use our help.

So, just to keep this in the military spirit (and to use our rivalry to best effect), they have an annual interservice fundraising drive; with teams from and supporting each of the services competing to raise the most cash for the cause.

One should note, all the money ends up being used for ALL service members; the money raised by the Air Force team doesn't go only to Airmen. It's just a way of having a little fun while raising money for a good cause.

This is a standard, tax deductible charitable donation, and I can't imagine a better cause. All my charitable giving for the last two years, and for the foreseeable future (excepting that going to my parish), is going to Valour IT; and I ask you to please help in any way you can.

Valour-IT Project Gun - Chapter 1

Well, the first step in my restoration and upgrade of a West German Police (in service date of 1979) SIG-Sauer P6 (A.K.A. p225 for the American Commercial market) has been accomplished.

I managed to snag a set of these grips off eBay for the relatively reasonable amount of $78 plus $5 shipping:

Yes, that is relatively reasonable for grips for this gun; and besides they are really nice looking walnut.

The next step will be to acquire a short trigger (trust me, it GREATLY improves the feel, and the reach, even for big handed guys like me), and a lighter hammer spring. The factory spring is 21 lbs, and is completely unnecessary. You can go down to 17lbs without any issue in reliability; and again, greatly improve the trigger feel.

Now I want input from my readers, and importantly my potential bidders, on what kind of sights to install.

My thoughts are as follows:

XS Express Sight

XS BigDot

TruGlo BrightSight (these are cool, because they use both tritium and fiber optic)

Heine Straight 8

Standard Trijicons

or Meprolights

Note: all are night sights, keeping with my general philosophy on defensive pistols. Really, they're all good choices, just a matter of preference.

Next decision, what to refinish it with, and what colors. Wheee, it's like Barbie for gunnies.

Happy Involuntary Servitude Day

Also known as national Buy A Gun (BAG) day.

This year things are a bit tight between taxes and legal expenses so far this year, but I still wanted to buy a gun for BAG day.

So, this weekend we grabbed one of these:


A SIG P6 (aka P225) from J&G sales, for $270 with a spare magazine and holster.

I haven't had a chance to shoot it off yet, but I've shot a p225 before, and it's an excellent pistol. On this particular example, the single action trigger is amazingly good for a SIG. It's about 5lbs, very crisp, with no creep, no grit, and minimal overtravel. Of course being a former German police gun, the DA pull is ridiculous. My trigger pull scale only goes to 12lbs, I'd estimate this breaks at 14lbs; but other than the weight, it's also sooth and consistent.

The pistol is in absolutely excellent mechanical condition; looks like it was shot very little, but has a lot of holster wear.

So, over the course of this year, I'm going to do something interesting.

I'm going to refinish this gun with durakote or gunkote (or possibly some other spray on baked epoxy finish); and change the sights out for whatever my readers think would be the best choice. I'm also going to try and find a set of the nice wood grips, or at least the pachmayer rubber grips, that you can sometimes find for these guns; and see what I can do about that DA trigger pull (I suspect not much actually).

Then I'm going to do something interesting with it.

Last year, I held a charity auction by proxy; awarding a Hungarian PA-63 to the reader who gave the largest donation to Soldiers Angels - Project Valour-IT during their annual fundraising drive.

This year, the gun I'm auctioning of will be the to-be-restored P6.

So, what sights should I grab?

Valour-IT Challenge Wrap up

Well folks, the totals are in; and unfortunately we fell well short of our goal.

The good news is, through the Anarchangel pistol challenge, we helped raise over $4000 of that total; 2/3 of which was from three individual donors; who although they do not wish to be identified I want to thank personally for their donations. In fact I want to thank all of you who donated, no matter how much it was. I think maybe I'll do this next year too, 'cept bigger, and with a nicer gun.

Now, the winner...

The winning donor, a reader from Pennsylvania, kicked in $1200; which I'm ashamed to admit is a fair bit more than I've donated myself this year. He has asked that his name not be released, and I'll respect that.

SIr, thank you very mucch for your donation, and your consideration; and your pistol will be on its way to you as soon as I can arrange it with my FFL.

So let me ask y'all; do you think a raffle format would work and/or be better for next year?

It would work like this:

Each individual donation of say $25, (or maybe $50, I haven't decided) would entitle you to one "ticket" in the drawing. Donate $100 get 4 tickets donate $1200, get 48 etc... As an incentive for larger donations, for every 5 tickets worth of donations, you'd get a free ticket. The raffle would go from the first day of the challenge to the last, and obviously the odds would be dependent on the number of donors. Also I think I'd have to add in a caveat about there being a certain number reached; say the retail value of the gun; but I don't think that'd be an issue.

I'm trying to balance the incentive for the small donors, but I also want to encourage larger donations.

What do you think?

Oh and what kind o gun would y'all like to see auctioned off? Something nicer than the PA-63 here; but something I could in theory afford to buy and donate?

Valour-IT Challenge - I need your reciepts

Ok folks, the Valour-IT challenge completed at midnight last night.

If you haven't sent me your receipt yet to qualify for the gun, please do so before 5pm Arizona time (Mountain Daylight) tonight.

A Pistol Challenge for Charity

This post will stay on top through Veterans Day - scroll down for new content

A couple weeks back I mentioned the Valour IT fundraising challenge. Well, it ends on veterans day, and we're well short of the $240,000 goal.

In fact, we're only up to about $60,000 between all four teams; a far cry from last year where the Navy alone met the COMBINED goal for all four teams.

Here's the stats as of about 9am this morning:

ARMY $22,385
MARINES $12,948
AIR FORCE $10,649
NAVY $9,031

Given how short we are of the goal, I take little solace in the fact that we are beating Navy.

So, I'm going to up the ante a bit.

Anyone who donates to ANY of the teams during the fundraiser, send me a copy of your PayPal donation receipt for at least $150 (which I will verify with the folks at Soldiers Angels); and the person who donates the most, will win one of these, along with 5 magazines:

That is an FEG PA-63, in 9x18 Makarov. It's a decent little pistol, sort of a cross between a Makarov and a PPKs. It was designed as a police service pistol for eastern europe, so it's easy to carry, but the trigger is kinda heavy.

The pistol the winner receives has only been test fired, with all the magazines. It was purchased in either new, or arsenal rebuilt condition from J&G sales (I honestly don't recall. I think it is unissued).

Obviously, due to the wonderful ATF, unless you are in Arizona, this pistol will need to be transferred from my FFL to yours; but I will cover the shipping. If you happen to live in Arizona I will handle this as a private transfer. Unfortunately for you crufflers out there, these pistols are not C&R eligible.

I hate to limit the pool of potential winners, but I'm not sure if this would be legal to transfer to someone in California and Massachusetts (because they have "approved" lists), or any of the states that require a special permit for every pistol you purchase (New Jersey and Hawaii for example); but it doesn't have any of the nasty "assault weapon" features that would get it banned in some states . If it is legal, hey great; ask your FFL to make sure.

Also note, this pistol would not be recieved from, transferred from, or won from Valour IT or soldiers angels; it would be coming from me, Chris Byrne. This is my PERSONAL incentive to anyone who supports a charity I also support. No-one at Valour IT or Soldiers Angels is in any way involved in this little giveaway. So, if some anti-gun lunatic wants to get all pissy, they can come talk to me about it, not Valour IT. Personally, I know what my readers like, and that's guns; so I'm tailoring my challenge to the preferences of my readers. It's called "effective marketing".

I will accept receipts for donations occuring up until end of day Monday the 12th; and announce the winner Tuesday the 13th at 5pm local (Arizona - mountain daylight) so get me your reciepts before 5pm . I will accept multiple donations and count them together so long as they occurred during the fundraiser (including if they were dated before this post) . In the event of a tie (which I think is likely), the winner will be determined by whose donation (or whose latest donation to bring them up to total) is dated first (not necessarily who I receive them from first). Oh and I'm only counting down to the nearest $10 increment rounded down. I don't expect people to be parsing pennies for charity.

So, donate to a great cause. It's completely tax deductible, and maybe you'll get a gun out of the deal at the same time. Can't lose there folks. Please, donate if you can: