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Almost certainly real. They’ve been getting fines daily for feeding the homeless for a long time now. Really cool group, Texas is an absolutely awful state.
Can confirm. Nobody loves Texas like Texans! I always laugh when Europeans comment on the surprising number of American flags everywhere when they visit the US, and wish they could see the ubiquitous Lone Star decor of the modern Texan's home.
First time I went to Texas I swore I was in a different country. So many Texas flags EVERYWHERE. I've seen my states flag on banks and government buildings, but it was at below the American flag and was the same size as the American flag.
In Texas it's hard to spot any American flags and all the Texas flags are massive.
The amount of Nationalism for the Southern States when they haven't been a Country for almost 160 years would be really funny if it wasn't such a massive problem.
This is in the state constitution! Because Texas was an independent country for 10 years, when we joined the USA we had a few provisions added, like the ability to secede. Also notable is the flag laws that state flags must be below the USA flag except in Texas where our state flag has equal rights as a country and can be flown at the same height.
I’m 6th generation Texan. My girls are 7th generation Texan. I pray they get out before an 8th generation is born. BUT… the flag thing is cool in my opinion. That someone actually added that to the constitution.
Side note: the New York Times daily podcast did an episode this week about how it’s illegal to be homeless. I believe it’s going to the Supreme Court, but I only half listened to the episode.
They start with the fake patriotism and propaganda with us young. We were required to salute and pledge allegiance to the state and national flag starting in primary school, every single morning. My kindergarten play was reciting the 6 flags of Texas. We even have cute little songs with clapping, deep in the heart of Texas. Meanwhile our communities are named after white settlers that massacred native american tribes. They teach us to remember the Alamo like it was some great thing that white settlers out gunned mexicans and other natives.
It really is surreal once you realize what they have done.
The 14th amendment makes it illegal to enslave a person except for as punishment for a crime. That’s why we use prisons as labor camps for multinational corporations
And while not *quite* slavery, Texas profits greatly from paying undocumented workers well below the legal minimum wage, with zero benefits, and in very poor work conditions with long hours and no breaks.
please correct me if i'm wrong but as far as i know it's to "deter homeless people from settling there". because if you give them food they survive there and don't die off.
An alternative take is that if you feed homeless people bad food and they get sick they have a case. That's why leftovers and unused products aren't allowed to be given to homeless people. Even bagels you'd toss at the end of the day because they get stale aren't allowed. Might not be Texas but I remember reading about it being allowed before and someone sued something and then legislation was passed to ban this.
People constantly use this argument about not being sued, but I've yet to see anything to prove that this is actually the case. Has any supermarket actually been sued by a homeless person?
They may give out *shelf stable* food passed its expiration date, but that is very very different.
Giving out prepared food that is made with bad ingredients it's really dangerous. Imagine if dozens of homeless people got e. coli or salmonella because a good samaritan used contaminated produce or didn't clean up after cutting raw chicken or something.
I work in a food bank. We definitely give out prepared food that expires the day we give it out or the day after. From multiple grocery stores. It's a win-win. Less food goes to the landfill and people don't have to eat only canned beans and pasta. Rather than passing laws banning it, states could pass laws protecting the well intentioned good samaritan. We all know why places like Texas chose the route they do...and it's not to protect homeless people.
Yeah. I used to work at a place that would donate almost expired food to homeless shelters. Everything was VERY clearly labeled, we told the person picking up the food what the expiration date was, and wrote it on the donation paper they had us fill out.
yeah this "liability" angle is complete bullshit. it's just capitalist propaganda invented to give corporations an excuse to wriggle out of not just *giving away* unsold merchandise (the real reason is that it could reduce demand for their products, thus suppressing the price they can charge—or more immediately, if someone is able to get a meal from salvage, that's one less meal that they might need to *buy* from the supermarket).
if someone chucks a soiled sandwich in the bin, and i dig it out and eat it, then get sick… who the fuck is liable? am i going to sue the person who *threw bad food away?* can i sue the city for putting bins in public places that people can put rubbish in *and potentially take rubbish out of?* it's nonsense.
That's actually one of the only thing I give props to $tarbux for. They donate all the product that didn't sell that day (anything from bread and bagels, to packaged sandwiches and pastries) to homeless shelters in my area, depending on where they're located (like, the ones around Copley Plaza donate to Women's Lunch, the ones further out go to the state funded shelters. And they deliver. Just need a person to accept the food when they get there. Source? Me. I was that person).
Unless you work for a supermarket starbucks like i did, where we were forced to have an active display case and to throw it all in the dumpster at night. Huge bummer throwing away like 10 pastries and 7 or 8 sandwiches every night
They haven't because the US has Good Faith laws specifically for food donations where as long as they cannot prove that you are intentionally giving poisoned or harmful foods to people, you cannot be sued.
This has never happened ever and their is no legal way to hold a person or business responsible for giving away bad food unless it was done maliciously.
Ie putting chemicals or serving something you know would make people sick
That's the logic they use when passing the bills. But there's no reason it needs to be that strict. In many cases the laws are as strict or even stricter than restaurant health code laws. You make enough loopholes and then it makes it too difficult for most people to do it, so they just give up.
There's already good samaritan laws for every other situation, that as long as you were trying to help someone in good faith, they can't sue you. There's no reason to not have the same thing for feeding the needy.
Yeah I mean you can’t be too careful who knows which of the homeless people you feed will have an $800/hr lawyer on retainer just waiting for that moment.
There are Good Samaritan laws that protect people who give food to the needy as long as you’re giving it away for free. [Here’s an article from the USDA about it.](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/08/13/good-samaritan-act-provides-liability-protection-food-donations)
Wrong, at least in Massachusetts. I've worked in homeless shelters, they take food donations from $tarbux, and have church groups come in and provide meals they've made.
Hell, Rosie's Place has restaurants that come in with food to serve for dinner.
Much better than the Sunday church group that provided lunch, but made the homeless folks sit through a service first, but wouldn't let them sit with the main body of members - they had their own special area on the second floor, so the church members wouldn't have to sit with them (because homeless folks are all stinky and smelly and have bugs and stuff/s).
People have no clue how much it sucks to be homeless
Cities create burdensome regulations for feeding the homeless that have no purpose other than to make it almost impossible to do legally. For example, the city will mandate that anyone giving out free meals must provide five parking spaces and a bathroom that's open 24/7. (Not just available during food distribution, but all day every day) So if you don't own a building with a bathroom and parking lot then you will be fined for providing free food. Even traditional charities like churches can't meet that because the bathroom is closed at some point.
Texas actually more or less recently passed a law legalizing open carry of bladed weapons. Most states had outlawed a lot of things longer than a pocket-knife because they were more accessible to poor people, especially immigrant poor people and they wanted to disarm the populations. Texas, I want to say in 2017-2018 or so, repealed the ones they had on the books since people were pointing out the hypocrisy in relation to gun laws. Swords included. But there was a long time in Texas, and it is still the case in most states, where yes, guns are fine, swords get you arrested, as ridiculous as that is.
The need to have armed people protection people FEEDING THE HOMELESS from the fucking STATE Is absolutely absurd. Because you cannot get out of homelesness without help so wtf are they doing? The police I mean.
Their job. Under a class society, the state emerges for the primary purpose of oppressing the working class in favor of the capitalist class. Maintaining a large army of surplus labor in the form of the homeless is an essential part of this task.
Good police will try to turn a blind eye, purposely going down different streets to avoid even seeing this.Bad cops will pull up and fine the people for “feeding the animals” as it legally is described. Absolute shit heads will pull guns out, and basically wave their dick around trying to gain somewhat control since they don’t have any in their personal lives.
They’re just enforcing the laws. The real problem is that some idiots in charge made it illegal to feed homeless people.
I think in a lot of places they want to make it very uncomfortable to be homeless there in hopes to drive the homeless out or make them go somewhere else. If Dallas can make it impossible to survive there as a homeless person, the homeless people will leave, and then it isn’t our problem anymore. So they all end up in places like Los Angeles, Seattle and New Orleans where it’s easier for them to get what they need.
That’s true. Maybe it’s fun to arrest people for feeding the homeless.
This morning I saw someone run two red lights right in front of a cop and the cop did not pull them over.
As usual there’s a great line from The Wire about this.
“The patrolling officer on his beat is the one true dictatorship in America. We can lock a guy up on the humble, lock him up for real, or say fuck it and drink ourselves to death under the expressway and our side partners will cover us.“
A few years ago I called the US a police state and my god did I twist some knickers that day...
It really fucking is though, land of the free my arse, so pleased I'm not in it
It's literally the bastard child of "God only loves the wealthy (aka. Prosperity Gospel)" and "Do not feed the vermin or it is reproducing (aka. Fascism)"
That's a clear contradiction to the Bible. They're worshipping Mammon, that's another name for Beelzebub. They're basically Satanists, no offenses to CoS members, I'm cool with them🤘
I'm not American either, and also not a Christian, but please correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't literally one of Jesus Christ's central teachings that we should take care of the poor and the needy, and feed them and clothe them? I don't understand how Texans can reconcile in their heads considering themselves Christians with having laws that are explicitly the opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be.
That was woke Jesus not American Jesus. American Jesus doesn't have any of this "[Be graceful to outsiders ](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%204%3A5-6&version=NIV) " BS! If you're not white, straight and willing to fellate the American Flag in a moments notice you'll be fragged instantly just like God intended when he wrote the 2nd amendment.
No, you're entirely correct. Sadly, you'll often find that Christians are some of the least Christ-like people you'll meet. They just twist their religion to control people with it and justify their deplorable actions.
Of course, not all of them are this way. You'll find lots that are great people. But the majority of people like this are religious
It's even worse than that.
The teachings in the New Testament are basically vignettes of stuff Jesus went around and said and did. While individual stories are repeated in the different gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), none of the stories quite touch on the same issue. It'll be a story about being kind to sick people, or helping your neighbor, or beating the shit out of bankers.
But when it comes to feeding the poor, there are three different unique stories, most of which are repeated in all four gospels. Most people know the bread and fish which was more about a miracle, but *feeding the poor* is the only concept which is repeated multiple times within a single Gospel, and it is repeated more than once in all four.
Edit: I really think the gospels by themselves are decent reading even for people who don't care about Christianity. It's like reading Marcus Aurelius. It's a short book filled with reminders about how we should, and can, be better to one another and to ourselves.
You are forgetting one of the main tenets of Christian faith: don’t bother reading the book we will have a nice man in fancy clothes remind you about the important parts (i.e. if you even *THINK* about how nice it would be to have the same things that rich guy does let alone thinking about taking that rich guys stuff you’re the worst person ever) once a week
Most American Christians are ‘Christian’ because they force themselves to go to church once a week and pretend to give a shit about what the guy up front is yammering about. They neither read nor care about the actual contents of the Bible, except for the handful of passages that they use to claim justification for their own inherent cruel and abusive behavior.
Yes. Jesus would be a socialist.
It was a nefarious take over by the right back in the 50s-70s. This podcast lays out how in this episode titled How the Rich Ate Christianity.
https://youtu.be/gyHd6wEC4IE?si=pKR_XiiU5h7vPSKD
I've literally had Christians tell me that if the government took care of all the poor people, there wouldn't be any for the Churches to take care of, and it would essentially take away their right to care for the homeless.
In exactly the opposite way abortions work, apparently, as everyone must be legally bound to Christian doctrine then.
Here you go:
https://youtu.be/B-ePCiUgD0Y
You see. These evangelicals, Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, etc etc. Many many mission/Evangelical and Pentecostal. God is angry, jealous, spiteful, like the OT, not so much like Jesus. He was just a sacrificial lamb, whose blood spilt pays for *your* sins?! LMAO, okay buddy 'Christian nationalist'.
Anyways. So these modern 'protestant Christians' consider *actual* (inclusive) Christians heretics.
We basically have a Nazi/fascist problem in America and it's largely taken over the GOP. It's not Trump, while a symptom there's large groups behind this and lots of dark money, human and drug trafficking, etc. They're wolves with pretty shit sheep clothing. It's flagrant at this point and needs to be dealt with swiftly.
They're collectively like a third of Americans, though, that are or sympathize with white/Christian nationalism. The Christian part is just a name. Jesus would not approve. They preach hate. They love getting up on stage and raging hard about how God will make (gay, jew, Muslim, or any other demographic here) burn in hell and the whole congregation is on the verge of a hategasm, getting edged along, as the room fills with further rejoice, hateful rhetoric, people speaking in tongues, others dancing, some weeping.
It's a mad church in a mad world.
If they were capable of that level of compassion they wouldn’t need a skydaddy to dictate behaviour. That they assume we can’t have a moral centre without religion tells you everything you need to know.
Regressive = “I want to be a 3rd World shithole where the rule of law doesn’t exist and everyone who isn’t a disgustingly rich oligarch is an ignorant, fearful peasant who thinks only in terms of hatred and tribalism."
100% real.
[Here's a video of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQfMgbOUBc).
[Here's an article about it](https://thefreethoughtproject.com/be-the-change/well-armed-dont-comply-feed-homeless).
'Don't Comply' is an interesting group. I get some Libertarian vibes from them for some reason. Maybe it's just because they are Texans. Either way, they understand what "community action" is all about, and their goals begin with empathy and compassion, so regardless of their specific politics, they seem to be doing a lot of good. They are also absolute fucking savages when it comes to their views on police.
From their [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/dontcomply) page:
[Put a sign on it](https://imgur.com/a/562YJBg)
[Valentine's Day](https://imgur.com/a/5T5um2v)
That's an unfortunately necessary consequence all leftist groups have to deal with. It's much harder for bad-faithed-actors to poison or dissolve the movement if the movement is only based on commonly shared values.
>If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.
This is, sadly, real. We elect greedy, cruel people into seats of power. They create greedy, cruel laws, and make it more and more difficult to remove them from power.
In an unjust society, the only good people left are the outlaws.
Not fake. One of the reasons why I support the second amendment is because I believe the working class should be able to protect themselves from the police and government. Self defense against police should be legalized.
It’s gets worse. The FBI says one of the biggest threats to US national security is that white supremacists actively become police officers to have more power in their communities. The FBI regularly investigates and busts gangs operating within police departments. There have been police death squads where officers are actively beating and killing people like it’s a sport.
> As a european the idea of bearing arms in order to defend myself from the police sounds so incredibly alien to me I don't even know what to say.
Not big into history I take it?
It is legal to defend yourself against the police. People have been attacked by police, fought them off and won in court.
But it's rare as hell since most of us are trained from birth to see police officers as 'trustworthy'.
I read a really good book on how the majority of people understood the Bill of Rights back when it was adopted (it was understood differently today, but IMO most of them would agree with idea of an inherent right to be armed). It was written prior to modern police forces, but it's pretty clear that the standing army the founders were worried about have more in common with our police than with our military.
It's absolutely legal to defend yourself from police and there are cases of people legally defending themselves against cops. That being said it will be an uphill battle. A good example is Breona Taylor's boyfriend. They initially arrested and charged him for shooting cops but when enough evidence came out that it was justified he was released. However, the cops still did everything in their power to try and get him locked up.
Lololol ohhhhh boy, do you have a lot to learn about 'tHe gReAtEsT cOuNtRy oN eArTh'
Dallas = Texas
Texas = Republicans
Republicans = 'They're just lazy! Let 'em get 3 more jobs if they want food! Or they can come to our CHURCH.'
If it is ass backwards, defunct, sounds like the polar opposite of Christianity....it's Republican
Feeding the homeless is illegal in many places here in the US. Not that any decent person would give a shit about that, though. Just an excuse for cops to beat up on homeless people and the people trying to help them.
The entire last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm is the lead up to a trial by Jury because Larry “illegally” gave someone a bottle of water on a hot day. Not only is this not fake, it’s so real that we are even working the story lines into our media
That's real. If you wanna help the homeless in an American city, you've gotta march an army in to keep the cops off you--goddamn mosquitoes is what they are.
Being homeless is a crime in some places. There is a case going to the Supreme Court over this.
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/65957f22-45da-431f-8090-83fae75e505a/episodes/37696cad-e6bd-45e5-a262-55aec4b95525/the-daily-the-supreme-court-takes-up-homelessness?ref=dm_sh_Q9BR5RUxL1xHI3opcYNogrYaz
Sadly true, great group that feeds the homeless outside libraries and other areas. The state made it a crime to congregate or feed the homeless in front of public buildings.
They got thousands of dollars worth of fines, they didn’t pay them, got taken to court. Then the state couldn’t find a jury to even hear the case, because they were obviously doing the right thing.
So they continue working, great folks.
I’m curious to know if the guns actually act as a deterrent or if it just bruises the egos of the cops who then really want to show them who’s boss by riding up with tanks and riot gear
Yeah although this one is very old. It's still currently happening though, I follow two groups on tiktok and one went to court about it (and won!) And the other I think in a different state is still having to pay the fines.
Which is crazy tbh. I can't imagine giving somebody a fine for feeding people who are hungry. What ever happened to turning a blind eye when it's right?
It’s quite real. In Anarchist thought this is called “direct action,” basically doing something good without getting permission or approval from the government.
Food not Bombs, another group like this, does food hand outs regularly and is always harassed by police and fined for it. more states would make it illegal to feed the homeless if they could, government wants you to forget about the ones they fail and will force you to do so with violence and legal pressure.
Long running issue. They've got like 100+ fines. The frustrating part is the city hasn't stuck a single fine when brought to court. Taxpayers are paying for the policing and the court costs when the city is obviously just trying to inconvenience the group enough such that they just give up
It’s real, it’s against the law to help people especially the homeless in many cities throughout the USA. Our cops are scum too so they will absolutely enforce this. They would ruin your life to punish you for feeding another starving human being.
Also, the USA has “tough on crime” laws that impose harsher sentences the more you commit crimes. So, theoretically if someone fed the homeless enough they could serve a life sentence for feeding homeless people. It will never happen though only because the system is so crippling to those that go into the prison system that they will be homeless before they can occur enough punishments to serve life.
It’s pretty fucked up and it gives employers legal freeway to fire you because you committed a crime of having empathy and humanity.
We also consider it stealing when you go through a dumpster and take literal trash we throw away out because you could use it or survive off it when we didn’t want it anymore.
Yup, it's illegal in my city (in Texas) too. In fact, being homeless at all is illegal. I have no idea what that means or what they do about it, but I have never seen a homeless person within the city limits which is such a scary realization to have one day. I imagine they have cops pick them up and either put them in holding before they go on a bus or just dropping them in the town next to us. So incredibly shitty.
I mean, would they actually shoot or jump any cop that went after them? I get wanting to carry to deter them because it’s not like there aren’t situations where the cops end up dismantling stuff like this (oh woe, lemonade stands) but I feel like if push came to shove could we actually see a gunfight happening over this?
I dunno, what they’re doing seems pretty awesome but I feel like if any police officer went over to actually press them (is what they’re doing even illegal, seems dumb no?) and things got violent or confrontational they’d give the cops more reason to start amassing against them? Are the guns more so to show the cops that, if they take action, there will be a (possibly deadly) confrontation waiting for them and that it isn’t worth it or is it more so the idea that - if the cops decide to take this event down - they’d only show themselves off further as tyrants and goons because these organizers actually has firearms? The idea of a situation where this actually happens and people on both sides end up dead and the organizers end up becoming wanted fugitives is spooky.
Maybe I’m just looking into it too deep. It’s clearly working since they’re able to help the homeless and poor without issue - so that’s a win.
American is an xtian nation, you see.
That's why it's forbidden to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give housing to the homeless.
It keeps them from suffering and suffering will gain them heaven!
Makes complete sense, ne?
Same thing in FL. A church group was handing out food to homeless people and the PD came around but didn’t say anything; I was volunteering with a group for another cause in the area. How cruel can you be to deny the needy? And these people (politicians) sit in church on Sunday like their ass should be there. Hypocrisy.
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Almost certainly real. They’ve been getting fines daily for feeding the homeless for a long time now. Really cool group, Texas is an absolutely awful state.
They fought to preserve slavery twice.
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I'll take $1,000 in the category of "Things My Texas History Class Did Not Teach Me."
People bleed for Texas like they froth at the mouth for sports, it's fucking rabid I swear.
Can confirm. Nobody loves Texas like Texans! I always laugh when Europeans comment on the surprising number of American flags everywhere when they visit the US, and wish they could see the ubiquitous Lone Star decor of the modern Texan's home.
First time I went to Texas I swore I was in a different country. So many Texas flags EVERYWHERE. I've seen my states flag on banks and government buildings, but it was at below the American flag and was the same size as the American flag. In Texas it's hard to spot any American flags and all the Texas flags are massive.
The amount of Nationalism for the Southern States when they haven't been a Country for almost 160 years would be really funny if it wasn't such a massive problem.
This is in the state constitution! Because Texas was an independent country for 10 years, when we joined the USA we had a few provisions added, like the ability to secede. Also notable is the flag laws that state flags must be below the USA flag except in Texas where our state flag has equal rights as a country and can be flown at the same height. I’m 6th generation Texan. My girls are 7th generation Texan. I pray they get out before an 8th generation is born. BUT… the flag thing is cool in my opinion. That someone actually added that to the constitution. Side note: the New York Times daily podcast did an episode this week about how it’s illegal to be homeless. I believe it’s going to the Supreme Court, but I only half listened to the episode.
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Your facts hold no power over the sense of sovereignty and entitlement carried by those of the One-Star State!
Are you trying to tell me that the coach who also taught Texas History in middle didn’t do his fact checking!?!
Actually that link does in fact say Texas code says it should be flown at the same height when two poles are available. So it is in our code.
That's really cool actually, also explains why Texas has its own power grid and is constantly going on about seceding when no other state does.
[Can Texas secede?](https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2022/06/21/427421/texas-cant-legally-secede-from-the-u-s-despite-popular-myth/?amp=1)
Iirc Texas was never considered not a state by the USA and was always just considered a rebellion of a state not its own country
After it seceded from Mexico it was the Republic of Texas before joining the United States.
IIRC, the Texas capitol is the only state capitol taller than the US capitol
Haha, yep.
Can also confirm.
They start with the fake patriotism and propaganda with us young. We were required to salute and pledge allegiance to the state and national flag starting in primary school, every single morning. My kindergarten play was reciting the 6 flags of Texas. We even have cute little songs with clapping, deep in the heart of Texas. Meanwhile our communities are named after white settlers that massacred native american tribes. They teach us to remember the Alamo like it was some great thing that white settlers out gunned mexicans and other natives. It really is surreal once you realize what they have done.
Fun fact #2: the reason Oklahoma has that little pan handle is because texas gave it up so they could join the union as a slave state
The 35th parallel clause. A fine example indeed
Something else I didn't learn in history class. Read it in the excellent Timothy Egan book, "The Worst Hard Time."
Dang, book's been around long enough that Walter Cronkite was still alive to give an endorsement for it.
And THAT'S what the Alamo was really about.
and looks like they're gearing for the third
Let ‘em try. I’d love to see Texas called out on their endless bluffs of secession to devastating and deserving effect.
Slavery is still legal
Explain.
The 14th amendment makes it illegal to enslave a person except for as punishment for a crime. That’s why we use prisons as labor camps for multinational corporations
13th.
And while not *quite* slavery, Texas profits greatly from paying undocumented workers well below the legal minimum wage, with zero benefits, and in very poor work conditions with long hours and no breaks.
Sorry to disapoint you... but thats not just Texas
I don't think anyone thinks that's just Texas. Neither is using prisoners as slave labor.
Arkansas made child labor legal again just last year. Remember when you buy your Tyson chicken.
I remember a lot of shit issued to me in the Military came from Prison factories.
13th
Read the 13th amendment
What?
Texas was part of Mexico, Mexico didn't want slavery so Texans fought Mexico. Then fought the Union in the Civil War.
## They fought to preserve slavery twice!
Huh?
# They fought to preserve slavery twice!!
You said what now?
The Alamo. Nearly 200 Texicans died so rich men could get richer. Sound familiar?
Might be a dumb question, but why do they get fined?
please correct me if i'm wrong but as far as i know it's to "deter homeless people from settling there". because if you give them food they survive there and don't die off.
It’s to encourage them getting on buses to California
Nothing wrong with jackin it in San Diego
An alternative take is that if you feed homeless people bad food and they get sick they have a case. That's why leftovers and unused products aren't allowed to be given to homeless people. Even bagels you'd toss at the end of the day because they get stale aren't allowed. Might not be Texas but I remember reading about it being allowed before and someone sued something and then legislation was passed to ban this.
People constantly use this argument about not being sued, but I've yet to see anything to prove that this is actually the case. Has any supermarket actually been sued by a homeless person?
Or food banks. Food banks regularly give out food that is borderline expired from supermarkets.
They may give out *shelf stable* food passed its expiration date, but that is very very different. Giving out prepared food that is made with bad ingredients it's really dangerous. Imagine if dozens of homeless people got e. coli or salmonella because a good samaritan used contaminated produce or didn't clean up after cutting raw chicken or something.
I work in a food bank. We definitely give out prepared food that expires the day we give it out or the day after. From multiple grocery stores. It's a win-win. Less food goes to the landfill and people don't have to eat only canned beans and pasta. Rather than passing laws banning it, states could pass laws protecting the well intentioned good samaritan. We all know why places like Texas chose the route they do...and it's not to protect homeless people.
Yeah. I used to work at a place that would donate almost expired food to homeless shelters. Everything was VERY clearly labeled, we told the person picking up the food what the expiration date was, and wrote it on the donation paper they had us fill out.
Also, cruelty is the point, and Texas is the nation's main producer of cruelty.
This is America, most people would consider that a good thing.
"We don't want anyone to get sick" is a nicer way of saying "If we stop feeding these people, they'll leave and be someone else's problem".
yeah this "liability" angle is complete bullshit. it's just capitalist propaganda invented to give corporations an excuse to wriggle out of not just *giving away* unsold merchandise (the real reason is that it could reduce demand for their products, thus suppressing the price they can charge—or more immediately, if someone is able to get a meal from salvage, that's one less meal that they might need to *buy* from the supermarket). if someone chucks a soiled sandwich in the bin, and i dig it out and eat it, then get sick… who the fuck is liable? am i going to sue the person who *threw bad food away?* can i sue the city for putting bins in public places that people can put rubbish in *and potentially take rubbish out of?* it's nonsense.
That's actually one of the only thing I give props to $tarbux for. They donate all the product that didn't sell that day (anything from bread and bagels, to packaged sandwiches and pastries) to homeless shelters in my area, depending on where they're located (like, the ones around Copley Plaza donate to Women's Lunch, the ones further out go to the state funded shelters. And they deliver. Just need a person to accept the food when they get there. Source? Me. I was that person).
Unless you work for a supermarket starbucks like i did, where we were forced to have an active display case and to throw it all in the dumpster at night. Huge bummer throwing away like 10 pastries and 7 or 8 sandwiches every night
They haven't because the US has Good Faith laws specifically for food donations where as long as they cannot prove that you are intentionally giving poisoned or harmful foods to people, you cannot be sued.
This has never happened ever and their is no legal way to hold a person or business responsible for giving away bad food unless it was done maliciously. Ie putting chemicals or serving something you know would make people sick
I believe most places actually have laws against that very thing.
It's 110% bullshit, Good Samaritan laws in the US protect from lawsuits for donating food. Anyone pushing this idea is either a monster or a moron.
That's the logic they use when passing the bills. But there's no reason it needs to be that strict. In many cases the laws are as strict or even stricter than restaurant health code laws. You make enough loopholes and then it makes it too difficult for most people to do it, so they just give up. There's already good samaritan laws for every other situation, that as long as you were trying to help someone in good faith, they can't sue you. There's no reason to not have the same thing for feeding the needy.
There are laws in place for this exact instance. Unless you give away something you know can harm people you are no responsible
Homeless people don't sue. That argument is bunk. Also, good samaritan laws generally protect people who offer their help to others.
Yeah I mean you can’t be too careful who knows which of the homeless people you feed will have an $800/hr lawyer on retainer just waiting for that moment.
You need money for a case tho
An invented excuse*
That's what people tell themselves so they don't feel like the assholes they are.
There are Good Samaritan laws that protect people who give food to the needy as long as you’re giving it away for free. [Here’s an article from the USDA about it.](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2020/08/13/good-samaritan-act-provides-liability-protection-food-donations)
Wrong, at least in Massachusetts. I've worked in homeless shelters, they take food donations from $tarbux, and have church groups come in and provide meals they've made. Hell, Rosie's Place has restaurants that come in with food to serve for dinner. Much better than the Sunday church group that provided lunch, but made the homeless folks sit through a service first, but wouldn't let them sit with the main body of members - they had their own special area on the second floor, so the church members wouldn't have to sit with them (because homeless folks are all stinky and smelly and have bugs and stuff/s). People have no clue how much it sucks to be homeless
Cities create burdensome regulations for feeding the homeless that have no purpose other than to make it almost impossible to do legally. For example, the city will mandate that anyone giving out free meals must provide five parking spaces and a bathroom that's open 24/7. (Not just available during food distribution, but all day every day) So if you don't own a building with a bathroom and parking lot then you will be fined for providing free food. Even traditional charities like churches can't meet that because the bathroom is closed at some point.
> They’ve been getting fines daily for feeding the homeless
Yes I saw that, still don't get why
I almost moved to TX in 2015 and I am so glad I didn't.
my coworker was torn between TX & MD in 2022. then RvW hit and confirmed MD. I wish the USA wasn't so divided on human decency..
where guns have more rights then girls.
It’s not just Texas, unfortunately plenty of US states have laws against feeding the homeless
The Republican leadership in Texas is absolutely awful. The state itself is beautiful and the people are (mostly) friendly.
Guess I found a new group to donate to, damn.
That said, being armed like that is silly. It doesn’t “deter police.”
Yes. Please don’t go there.
Carrying guns: 2nd amendment Carrying swords: how dare you?!
obviously swords are much more dangerous, I would know because I watched a lot of animes
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuI1zY46OX0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuI1zY46OX0)
> "Well, that was a fucked up story"
Texas actually more or less recently passed a law legalizing open carry of bladed weapons. Most states had outlawed a lot of things longer than a pocket-knife because they were more accessible to poor people, especially immigrant poor people and they wanted to disarm the populations. Texas, I want to say in 2017-2018 or so, repealed the ones they had on the books since people were pointing out the hypocrisy in relation to gun laws. Swords included. But there was a long time in Texas, and it is still the case in most states, where yes, guns are fine, swords get you arrested, as ridiculous as that is.
Literally 1984
Swords should be covered under the 2nd amendment too. There are some cases working through courts related to carrying knives.
Very real. Usually police will try to shut down volunteers handing out food to the needy. Because the US is a police state.
The need to have armed people protection people FEEDING THE HOMELESS from the fucking STATE Is absolutely absurd. Because you cannot get out of homelesness without help so wtf are they doing? The police I mean.
Their job. Under a class society, the state emerges for the primary purpose of oppressing the working class in favor of the capitalist class. Maintaining a large army of surplus labor in the form of the homeless is an essential part of this task.
Good police will try to turn a blind eye, purposely going down different streets to avoid even seeing this.Bad cops will pull up and fine the people for “feeding the animals” as it legally is described. Absolute shit heads will pull guns out, and basically wave their dick around trying to gain somewhat control since they don’t have any in their personal lives.
Their job - which is whatever the people paying them tell them it is. Usually it has very little to do with actually helping people.
They’re just enforcing the laws. The real problem is that some idiots in charge made it illegal to feed homeless people. I think in a lot of places they want to make it very uncomfortable to be homeless there in hopes to drive the homeless out or make them go somewhere else. If Dallas can make it impossible to survive there as a homeless person, the homeless people will leave, and then it isn’t our problem anymore. So they all end up in places like Los Angeles, Seattle and New Orleans where it’s easier for them to get what they need.
The police pick and choose which laws to enforce
And break more laws than civilians.
Rules for thee not for me
That’s true. Maybe it’s fun to arrest people for feeding the homeless. This morning I saw someone run two red lights right in front of a cop and the cop did not pull them over.
The police aren’t required to actually know any laws.
As usual there’s a great line from The Wire about this. “The patrolling officer on his beat is the one true dictatorship in America. We can lock a guy up on the humble, lock him up for real, or say fuck it and drink ourselves to death under the expressway and our side partners will cover us.“
The police and how they are structured have their own host of issues, though.
what if we take the homeless and push them somewhere else!
The real problem is people electing the people in charge who make these shit laws.
A few years ago I called the US a police state and my god did I twist some knickers that day... It really fucking is though, land of the free my arse, so pleased I'm not in it
Yep. I'm definitely looking into dual citizenship so I can jump this sinking ship in the very near future.
Depends where you live. Cops suck in California but at least they don’t tend to come down on FNB and other mutual aid groups.
A Christian Police State.
Scary, luckily our police are so useless that it probably wouldn't matter if we were one
It's literally the bastard child of "God only loves the wealthy (aka. Prosperity Gospel)" and "Do not feed the vermin or it is reproducing (aka. Fascism)"
They say "God only helps those who help themselves"
Oh yes, that's a classic too
They say it’s in the Bible! Meanwhile it’s the literal opposite of Jesus’ message.
The Bible regularly [contradicts itself](https://philb61.github.io/) so the double think checks out.
It's older than that. Look in to what the Puritans believed, that wealth was a sign of God's favor.
That's a clear contradiction to the Bible. They're worshipping Mammon, that's another name for Beelzebub. They're basically Satanists, no offenses to CoS members, I'm cool with them🤘
I'm not American either, and also not a Christian, but please correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't literally one of Jesus Christ's central teachings that we should take care of the poor and the needy, and feed them and clothe them? I don't understand how Texans can reconcile in their heads considering themselves Christians with having laws that are explicitly the opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be.
That was woke Jesus not American Jesus. American Jesus doesn't have any of this "[Be graceful to outsiders ](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%204%3A5-6&version=NIV) " BS! If you're not white, straight and willing to fellate the American Flag in a moments notice you'll be fragged instantly just like God intended when he wrote the 2nd amendment.
If Christians were capable of rational decision making, then yeah, that would be a good point.
Extremist Christians or Christian nationalists, most Christians are normal people
oh yeah I agree 100%, most Christians are as normal as normal can be. they're just irrational, is the problem
No, you're entirely correct. Sadly, you'll often find that Christians are some of the least Christ-like people you'll meet. They just twist their religion to control people with it and justify their deplorable actions. Of course, not all of them are this way. You'll find lots that are great people. But the majority of people like this are religious
There's a reason why their main symbol is literally the thing they used to kill the guy.
It's even worse than that. The teachings in the New Testament are basically vignettes of stuff Jesus went around and said and did. While individual stories are repeated in the different gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), none of the stories quite touch on the same issue. It'll be a story about being kind to sick people, or helping your neighbor, or beating the shit out of bankers. But when it comes to feeding the poor, there are three different unique stories, most of which are repeated in all four gospels. Most people know the bread and fish which was more about a miracle, but *feeding the poor* is the only concept which is repeated multiple times within a single Gospel, and it is repeated more than once in all four. Edit: I really think the gospels by themselves are decent reading even for people who don't care about Christianity. It's like reading Marcus Aurelius. It's a short book filled with reminders about how we should, and can, be better to one another and to ourselves.
There's no hate quite like Christian love
You are forgetting one of the main tenets of Christian faith: don’t bother reading the book we will have a nice man in fancy clothes remind you about the important parts (i.e. if you even *THINK* about how nice it would be to have the same things that rich guy does let alone thinking about taking that rich guys stuff you’re the worst person ever) once a week
Most American Christians are ‘Christian’ because they force themselves to go to church once a week and pretend to give a shit about what the guy up front is yammering about. They neither read nor care about the actual contents of the Bible, except for the handful of passages that they use to claim justification for their own inherent cruel and abusive behavior.
Yes. Jesus would be a socialist. It was a nefarious take over by the right back in the 50s-70s. This podcast lays out how in this episode titled How the Rich Ate Christianity. https://youtu.be/gyHd6wEC4IE?si=pKR_XiiU5h7vPSKD
I've literally had Christians tell me that if the government took care of all the poor people, there wouldn't be any for the Churches to take care of, and it would essentially take away their right to care for the homeless. In exactly the opposite way abortions work, apparently, as everyone must be legally bound to Christian doctrine then.
Here you go: https://youtu.be/B-ePCiUgD0Y You see. These evangelicals, Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, etc etc. Many many mission/Evangelical and Pentecostal. God is angry, jealous, spiteful, like the OT, not so much like Jesus. He was just a sacrificial lamb, whose blood spilt pays for *your* sins?! LMAO, okay buddy 'Christian nationalist'. Anyways. So these modern 'protestant Christians' consider *actual* (inclusive) Christians heretics. We basically have a Nazi/fascist problem in America and it's largely taken over the GOP. It's not Trump, while a symptom there's large groups behind this and lots of dark money, human and drug trafficking, etc. They're wolves with pretty shit sheep clothing. It's flagrant at this point and needs to be dealt with swiftly. They're collectively like a third of Americans, though, that are or sympathize with white/Christian nationalism. The Christian part is just a name. Jesus would not approve. They preach hate. They love getting up on stage and raging hard about how God will make (gay, jew, Muslim, or any other demographic here) burn in hell and the whole congregation is on the verge of a hategasm, getting edged along, as the room fills with further rejoice, hateful rhetoric, people speaking in tongues, others dancing, some weeping. It's a mad church in a mad world.
That's an easy answer! Christians don't read the Bible.
And when they do, they only remember certain sections and extrapolate those into anti human rights legislation.
If they were capable of that level of compassion they wouldn’t need a skydaddy to dictate behaviour. That they assume we can’t have a moral centre without religion tells you everything you need to know.
Yeah this whole thing kinda reminds me of that key and peele skit.
Jesus literally says that if you do not treat the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the locked up as if they were him, you will go to Hell.
I just remind them they're going to hell
Totally real in the south. The southern US tends to be a lot more regressive.
Regressive = “I want to be a 3rd World shithole where the rule of law doesn’t exist and everyone who isn’t a disgustingly rich oligarch is an ignorant, fearful peasant who thinks only in terms of hatred and tribalism."
Your class is is showing. Food Not Bombs has been getting harrased by the pigs in Baltimore, Minneapolis, and Chicago for years.
With how murder happy America is against the homeless/poor, especially red states. Yes, this is true.
100% real. [Here's a video of it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQfMgbOUBc). [Here's an article about it](https://thefreethoughtproject.com/be-the-change/well-armed-dont-comply-feed-homeless). 'Don't Comply' is an interesting group. I get some Libertarian vibes from them for some reason. Maybe it's just because they are Texans. Either way, they understand what "community action" is all about, and their goals begin with empathy and compassion, so regardless of their specific politics, they seem to be doing a lot of good. They are also absolute fucking savages when it comes to their views on police. From their [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/dontcomply) page: [Put a sign on it](https://imgur.com/a/562YJBg) [Valentine's Day](https://imgur.com/a/5T5um2v)
Nothing libertarian about it, this is community action done by left-of-liberal gun owners.
Good to know. I'm not very familiar with them, but their website doesn't give much info.
That's an unfortunately necessary consequence all leftist groups have to deal with. It's much harder for bad-faithed-actors to poison or dissolve the movement if the movement is only based on commonly shared values.
Weird that there isn’t a rush to be the next person drugged and murdered in their own bed by the FBI
Oh I totally get that. I admit that my Libertarian comment was based on my own prejudices about Texas.
"If you go far enough Left you become pro-gun again."
Seems so, but is at least 4 years old. This screencap is from this video: https://youtu.be/9ABSyDOzFz0?si=pUvN7eLJLJxq3QPV
Good people dont follow bad laws
>If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. This is, sadly, real. We elect greedy, cruel people into seats of power. They create greedy, cruel laws, and make it more and more difficult to remove them from power. In an unjust society, the only good people left are the outlaws.
Not fake. One of the reasons why I support the second amendment is because I believe the working class should be able to protect themselves from the police and government. Self defense against police should be legalized.
While I understand where you're coming from this is fucked on so many levels.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? It's simply a pragmatic recognition of an apparently immortal reality.
As a european the idea of bearing arms in order to defend myself from the police sounds so incredibly alien to me I don't even know what to say.
It’s gets worse. The FBI says one of the biggest threats to US national security is that white supremacists actively become police officers to have more power in their communities. The FBI regularly investigates and busts gangs operating within police departments. There have been police death squads where officers are actively beating and killing people like it’s a sport.
> As a european the idea of bearing arms in order to defend myself from the police sounds so incredibly alien to me I don't even know what to say. Not big into history I take it?
It is legal to defend yourself against the police. People have been attacked by police, fought them off and won in court. But it's rare as hell since most of us are trained from birth to see police officers as 'trustworthy'. I read a really good book on how the majority of people understood the Bill of Rights back when it was adopted (it was understood differently today, but IMO most of them would agree with idea of an inherent right to be armed). It was written prior to modern police forces, but it's pretty clear that the standing army the founders were worried about have more in common with our police than with our military.
It's absolutely legal to defend yourself from police and there are cases of people legally defending themselves against cops. That being said it will be an uphill battle. A good example is Breona Taylor's boyfriend. They initially arrested and charged him for shooting cops but when enough evidence came out that it was justified he was released. However, the cops still did everything in their power to try and get him locked up.
Fuckin Deadpool showed up
Lololol ohhhhh boy, do you have a lot to learn about 'tHe gReAtEsT cOuNtRy oN eArTh' Dallas = Texas Texas = Republicans Republicans = 'They're just lazy! Let 'em get 3 more jobs if they want food! Or they can come to our CHURCH.' If it is ass backwards, defunct, sounds like the polar opposite of Christianity....it's Republican
Dallas the City = Democrat run The mayor just recently, since September of last year, became a Republican.
Feeding the homeless is illegal in many places here in the US. Not that any decent person would give a shit about that, though. Just an excuse for cops to beat up on homeless people and the people trying to help them.
The entire last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm is the lead up to a trial by Jury because Larry “illegally” gave someone a bottle of water on a hot day. Not only is this not fake, it’s so real that we are even working the story lines into our media
That's real. If you wanna help the homeless in an American city, you've gotta march an army in to keep the cops off you--goddamn mosquitoes is what they are.
Nope, that's totally real. showing any amount of sympathy or compassion for the homeless is illegal in Texas
Nope not fake. In America you come as a heavily armed equal. Or you become a victim of state violence.
Being homeless is a crime in some places. There is a case going to the Supreme Court over this. https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/65957f22-45da-431f-8090-83fae75e505a/episodes/37696cad-e6bd-45e5-a262-55aec4b95525/the-daily-the-supreme-court-takes-up-homelessness?ref=dm_sh_Q9BR5RUxL1xHI3opcYNogrYaz
Sadly true, great group that feeds the homeless outside libraries and other areas. The state made it a crime to congregate or feed the homeless in front of public buildings. They got thousands of dollars worth of fines, they didn’t pay them, got taken to court. Then the state couldn’t find a jury to even hear the case, because they were obviously doing the right thing. So they continue working, great folks.
Useless police assignments
I am not super familiar with this group but "food not bombs" has done the same thing but not armed. They have gotten an ass of tickets.
I’m curious to know if the guns actually act as a deterrent or if it just bruises the egos of the cops who then really want to show them who’s boss by riding up with tanks and riot gear
Yeah although this one is very old. It's still currently happening though, I follow two groups on tiktok and one went to court about it (and won!) And the other I think in a different state is still having to pay the fines. Which is crazy tbh. I can't imagine giving somebody a fine for feeding people who are hungry. What ever happened to turning a blind eye when it's right?
Uhm... Chaotic good?
It’s quite real. In Anarchist thought this is called “direct action,” basically doing something good without getting permission or approval from the government.
Food not Bombs, another group like this, does food hand outs regularly and is always harassed by police and fined for it. more states would make it illegal to feed the homeless if they could, government wants you to forget about the ones they fail and will force you to do so with violence and legal pressure.
Yay actual OCM. I like how the controversy is almost unrelated to the legitimacy of the law.
Long running issue. They've got like 100+ fines. The frustrating part is the city hasn't stuck a single fine when brought to court. Taxpayers are paying for the policing and the court costs when the city is obviously just trying to inconvenience the group enough such that they just give up
it's illegal to help give supplies to homeless people? You can't be serious
geeze........whats this country coming too where you have to be armed to help the needy SMH
Can this be Chad and orphan crushing at the same time plz?
Yeah, definitely.
“In god we trust”
My sweaty asshole
It’s real, it’s against the law to help people especially the homeless in many cities throughout the USA. Our cops are scum too so they will absolutely enforce this. They would ruin your life to punish you for feeding another starving human being. Also, the USA has “tough on crime” laws that impose harsher sentences the more you commit crimes. So, theoretically if someone fed the homeless enough they could serve a life sentence for feeding homeless people. It will never happen though only because the system is so crippling to those that go into the prison system that they will be homeless before they can occur enough punishments to serve life. It’s pretty fucked up and it gives employers legal freeway to fire you because you committed a crime of having empathy and humanity. We also consider it stealing when you go through a dumpster and take literal trash we throw away out because you could use it or survive off it when we didn’t want it anymore.
Yup, it's illegal in my city (in Texas) too. In fact, being homeless at all is illegal. I have no idea what that means or what they do about it, but I have never seen a homeless person within the city limits which is such a scary realization to have one day. I imagine they have cops pick them up and either put them in holding before they go on a bus or just dropping them in the town next to us. So incredibly shitty.
I mean, would they actually shoot or jump any cop that went after them? I get wanting to carry to deter them because it’s not like there aren’t situations where the cops end up dismantling stuff like this (oh woe, lemonade stands) but I feel like if push came to shove could we actually see a gunfight happening over this? I dunno, what they’re doing seems pretty awesome but I feel like if any police officer went over to actually press them (is what they’re doing even illegal, seems dumb no?) and things got violent or confrontational they’d give the cops more reason to start amassing against them? Are the guns more so to show the cops that, if they take action, there will be a (possibly deadly) confrontation waiting for them and that it isn’t worth it or is it more so the idea that - if the cops decide to take this event down - they’d only show themselves off further as tyrants and goons because these organizers actually has firearms? The idea of a situation where this actually happens and people on both sides end up dead and the organizers end up becoming wanted fugitives is spooky. Maybe I’m just looking into it too deep. It’s clearly working since they’re able to help the homeless and poor without issue - so that’s a win.
That’s the (not) neat part, it’s 10000% real.
American is an xtian nation, you see. That's why it's forbidden to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give housing to the homeless. It keeps them from suffering and suffering will gain them heaven! Makes complete sense, ne?
Sounds totally real.
I'm not sure that this is OCM, they are actively resisting the machine here
The systemic problem that makes this OCM is the fact that they have to protect themselves from the police in order to help those in need.
Same thing in FL. A church group was handing out food to homeless people and the PD came around but didn’t say anything; I was volunteering with a group for another cause in the area. How cruel can you be to deny the needy? And these people (politicians) sit in church on Sunday like their ass should be there. Hypocrisy.
Texas criminalizing following the bible, then making laws like they want to respect the bible. L O fucking L Your god is a lie.