Homeless and the Economy

(Photo Courtesy of Daily Pilot)

PAUL ANDERSON'S HOMELESS STORIES
Recently Daily Pilot City Editor Paul Anderson did a fascinating two-part piece in which he recounted his night among some of the homeless folks who live in Costa Mesa. You can read those articles HERE and HERE. It's hard not to squirm as your read his stories.

THE FACES OF COSTA MESA HOMELESSNESS
Yesterday a friend forwarded this link to me from the New York Times online. Take two minutes and nine seconds and view this video. It's part of an article published on 3/10/09 on the homeless in Costa Mesa. You can read the entire article HERE. This one puts faces on the current economic situation here locally.

RITZ CAMERA CLOSING
While reading the Orange County Register online last night an article about Ritz Camera planning to close 400 stores nationwide caught my eye. It's only one of many outfits lately that have decided to file for bankruptcy. You can read the article HERE if you wish.

LIST OF LINKS
I read the account of the planned closure of several stores and eventually made my way to the bottom of the article ,where I found a list of links that would take me to other similar stories. I've copied and pasted that list here:

• Retailer may close up to 100 more stores
• Retailer with 3 O.C. stores seeks bankruptcy protection
• Women’s retailer to close more stores
• O.C. Circuit City stores give closing date
• Retailer gives opening date for old O.C. Mervyn’s store
• New owners of defunct retailer may open stores
• Will movie-rental chain file for bankruptcy?
• Well-known shoe brand opens outlet store at The Block
• Sears to close O.C. store
• Retailer to close 115 stores
• Family may reopen Mervyn’s stores
• Fashion Island Neiman Marcus cuts jobs
• Downtown Disney store to close
• 1 closure, 5 openings at MainPlace mall
• Another big store at The Block closes
• Pier 1 to close O.C. store, 2 other local closures
• $35 movie ticket may be coming to O.C.
• 2 stores close at Fashion Island
• Retailer closes big store near O.C.
• Retailer with Fashion Island store files for bankruptcy
• Store closing, another opens at The Block
• Downtown Disney store owner files for bankruptcy
• Store at The Lab mall to close
• Kohl’s to move into 3 O.C. Mervyn’s stores
• BBQ retailer to close 2 O.C. stores
• Camarillo outlet mall names 23 new stores

COMPRESSED DISTRESS
If you wish to read about any of the stories linked above, simply just click on the title - these links are "hot". I suspect your reaction may have been similar to mine as I read down this list. Seeing those recent headlines compressed into such a small space was a punch in the gut. Yes, I know things are tough all over these days, but just reading that list of businesses in distress really drives home that point.

HOPING FOR WISDOM - SEEING NONE
I find myself hoping, with tightly crossed fingers, that our trainee president actually has a plan - that he's not in so far over his head that he's going to destroy the economic and social structure of this country within a few months. Reading the news accounts of what's happening in our country since he took office makes me very, very nervous. The upward blip from the Dow Jones Industrial Averages earlier this week didn't really do much to encourage me - or Wall Street, for that matter.

LOOKING FOR A PEP TALK
If you read of any good news on the economy please feel free to let me know. There's an email link on my profile, or you can post a comment with the information. I really need a pep talk! This is a really cute picture - one I've enjoyed for many years. However, today for me and many others it's like looking in a mirror. All we can do is "hang in there"... and hope...