“City Erects Prison Camp Around Homeless”: Controlling Desperate People As Harsh Economic Times Hit

by | Feb 16, 2017 | Aftermath, Conspiracy Fact and Theory, Emergency Preparedness | 119 comments

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    This article was written by Matt Agorist and originally published by The Free Thought Project.

    Editor’s Comment: There are two major problems that come to mind – one, the level of homelessness, poverty and idle populations in California and across the country, and the divided world between the 1% and the struggling 99% is coming to a head. Economically, things are very close to the brink, and there are far too many people who’ve given up at the individual level. This crisis has given the impetus for cities like Santa Ana to take drastic action.

    The other side of the coin, is that if they can do this to homeless vagrants, and out of work families, they can do it to anyone. If civil unrest comes, perhaps in combination with mass unemployment, a crashed stock market and monetary system and great misery, those keeping society in check will feel compelled to come down with a heavy hand. People will be rounded up, some of them unfairly. Entire communities can be disrupted, or forced under an emergency to evacuate and take shelter in FEMA centers while the cities become off limits. There are a lot of things that can happen – including to hard working, employment, head-above-water American families.

    When this thing starts to unravel, making do in the current atmosphere won’t cut it; in the aftermath of what is coming, many people will be desperate. Tent cities and migrating Americans looking for temporary work will return; millions more will flock to government welfare programs, and be dragged into the dregs of collectivist measure to ride out bad times. They are moving to sweep up the disarray of a society that is crumbling, and a financial landscape that is no longer survivable for a wide sector of the general population.

    City Erects Prison Camp To Deal With Homeless – Cutting Off Food And Water

    by Matt Agorist

    The City of Santa Ana has come up with an innovative and despotic way of keeping their homeless population in check — imprison them. The city is now party to a federal lawsuit over unreasonable seizure, false imprisonment, and due process violations.

    Heading up the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Diehl, who has lived at the encampment for three years, is the ACLU of Southern California. The lawsuit demands the immediate removal of the 6-foot-tall chain-link fences penning in 75-100 people and their belongings.

    “Defendants’ actions have not only illegally restricted the liberty of the homeless people living in the encampment, but it has also cut them off from access to food, water, and medical care thus threatening their health and well-being,” the lawsuit states.

    According to Courthouse News:

    Diehl was shot in the head at a Tustin convenience store in 2009. He lost his right eye and doctors were unable to remove the bullet from his head. He takes medication every day to control seizures that have become more frequent with the increased presence of authorities at the encampment, he says in the complaint.

    When a woman suffered a seizure at the encampment after the fence was erected, Diehl says, paramedics had difficulty reaching her because the barriers have blocked parts of the sidewalks at Chapman Avenue and Orangewood Avenue where people used to come and go.

    If people living at the encampment cut holes in the fences with bolt cutters, Orange County Public Works employees repair it. For the elderly and disabled it is neither safe nor realistic to scale the fence or navigate the river to get to a steep, rocky embankment on the river’s west side, Diehl says.

    “Children, people with severe disabilities, the elderly and others are deprived of food, water and access to restrooms,” said ACLU homelessness policy analyst Eve Garrow. “The county should take action to rectify this egregious violation of basic human rights.”

    Naturally, the county is claiming that they are not doing anything wrong and that the fence, put in place after the homeless community began growing there, is for ‘flood control.’

    “The county is aware that there are homeless encampments in the project area. Flood control channels are not a safe place to live. Sign postings and in-person notifications about the project have been provided to those encamped along the county maintenance road,” the county said in a statement.

    However, according to Diehl and the others who are imprisoned in the camp, police told them that they should move there to avoid citations for sleeping in public in the other parts of town.

    What this case in Santa Ana illustrates is the state’s continued war on the right of people to exist. Every time a group homeless community finds a safe spot, located out of the way, they are targeted for removal, or, in this barbaric case — imprisonment.

    Earlier this month, the Free Thought Project reported on another war being waged against the homeless population in California. Known as ‘The Promised Land,’ a group of homeless people in Oakland sought to improve their situation by creating a camp that would foster sobriety and help people to get jobs. It was located out of the way, under a series of overpasses. They had running water, were growing their own food, and did not allow drug or alcohol use within the camp.

    As cops and officials allowed the other heroin riddled encampments to continue, they targeted The Promised Land for destruction. 

    Diehl now seeks an injunction ordering the county to provide him with “reasonable means of leaving the riverbed and being able to retrieve his property.”

    Matt Agorist is the co-founder of TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. He is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world and now on Steemit.

    This article was written by Matt Agorist and originally published by The Free Thought Project.

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      119 Comments

      1. and this is NOT a POLICE state?? LOL, WAR is coming to the USA, in form or another, internal or external or maybe BOTH, things have to change in this country or we are screwed!!

        • I just bought another years worth of long term food and hid it. It’s money well spent.

        • This is simply amazing, why are conservative news sites not all over this? The Libturds in Commifornia want to take care of all the illegal aliens, but will not take care of their own citizens?
          Clinging to my God and my guns!

          • As you know, Pastor, all part of the vile, evil, disgusting, filthy, evil – oh, and did I say vile yet? – plan by Herr Soreozz.

          • You calling yourself a “Pastor” is an affront to the God you say you cling to.

            • Give your bigotry a rest.

        • I am not saying this story is false, but with all the fake news running amock, where are pictures to back this up?

      2. This in the tolerant, progressive, liberal and enlightened State of California? I’m shocked. Not really.

        Its The Grapes Of Wrath.

        • Does this mean they won’t be hitting me up for money at the gas station all the time now?

          • Yes it does.
            Had a young person ask this the other day to everyone in a BK:
            “Buy me something to eat”.

            • Buying someone a meal and asking for money are 2 different things. A meal I would do, money no fookin way.

              • I would give food also, and have.

                But when the person is relatively young, not dirty and dressed decent (albeit, ass dragging pants style) – going around looking for a hand-out struck me as odd.

                Everyone said No.

            • Anyone actually asks me for food, they’ll get it.

              A professional bum doesn’t solicit actual food, he just pretends he does, and a simple down on his luck guy reduced to begging deserves help whenever it can be given.

          • In the city, I used to see this same guy in my area, who would be carrying a small empty gas can as a prop, then he would go to gas stations and hit up on the people pumping gas, saying he ran out of gas and he needed money to get a few gallons. Stupid people would dish out some cash in sympathy. Every time I saw him, I would yell out he is scamming you, don’t give him any money, he does this all the time. Blowing his scam, he would then take off.. I snapped a few Pics of him on the sidewalk, and would further blow his scam.

            Never give anybody money. I see these people at Wal-Mart by the exits begging for money with a cardboard sign. Some good looking ladies pull this BS. Some of these pretend homeless people are driving Cadillacs, and make $30K a year panhandling.

            Some people think they are doing some good deed giving money, but it just feeds the panhandlers, then more show up. They do this at stoplights, where you are trapped in traffic. Roll your windows up and ignore them. How do you know they may reach in your car and steal your purse or something else. Keep your weapons handy. They may be pretending to be a panhandler, but looking for an easy mark to Car Jack your vehicle. Get your mace and spray them. Some will reach right in your car if you let them.

            It is always a good rule to leave at least a full Car length of distance space between you and the car in front of you at stop lights, so if you need to get out of that lane of traffic in a hurry, you gave yourself plenty of room to do it if needed. Don’t get yourself trapped at a stoplight unable to escape the area if needed. And Carry Daily.

            • One time in the City, I saw this Guy dressed in a suit, holding a sign at a stop light that said, “Executive, will work for $80K.” lol No kidding true story.

              • The sign I want to see Democrats holding is ‘Will Govern for Food”.

            • I read about a scam a few years ago about good looking well dressed Co-eds hitting people up for money at airports. They would show some money and say “I only need $30 dollars more to go to my parents for the Holiday”. Actually showing they had some money and the fact that they didn’t smell and being pretty little white girls convinced many to contribute to their funding scam “to go home”. After seeing the same girl at the airport on multiple days the police finally caught one girl with over $2,000 in cash on her.

            • They work a shift at their begging station, I’ve seen them getting dropped off or picked up by the girlfriend, who’s driving the $40,000 truck for the day while the boyfriend begs for the money to pay for it.

              One of them got arrested, locally, seems he went to the animal shelter for a cute puppy to put on a leash, ramp up his sympathy factors. The gal at the shelter saw him two days later with the puppy and called the cops. No food, no water, and terrified beside the freeway. It had lost two pounds in two days. So he went to jail for animal cruelty.

      3. These people are being punished just because they’re poor. This illustrates what our government thinks of it’s citizens; yet let’s give everything we have to the “poor mistreated illegal immigrants”. This nation is going to know God’s wrath soon. I can only hope that some patriot shows them their wrath first.

        • @waiting, “This illustrates what our government thinks of it’s citizens.”

          Who controls that? Exactly WHO is “the government.” I think that would be Trump. And I do not think he’s being forced to do this or is unaware of it. He was deeply offended when Cali threatened to bail out, to seceded, if he was elected. It’s no secret among the awake that Trump is a spiteful person.

          Wake up…open your eyes people. Once again, we’ve been had.

          • This would be the municipal government. Government is government, all a bunch of greedy crooks, and Santa Ana is a sanctuary city………for illegal immigrants.

            • Dams are under the Federal Government, not state or local.

          • you are a bonifide idiot

            • Oregon, who the f#$% are you calling an idiot? STFU!

          • “Who controls that? Exactly WHO is “the government.”

            This has NOTHING to do with TRUMP, asshat with shit for brains. This is an action authorized by the City Council, and it is likely unConstitutional, or not, depending upon ingress and egress issues on site. Not enough info in the article to make a determination of all the facts.

            Have you NO knowledge of basic civics ??? 🙂

            • DK gets 2 points for the bitch slap. ?

              • I do what I can. 🙂

          • Wake up James, this stuff was all in place and operational l-o-n-g before Trump became president. If you want to lay it on a POTUS, blame Obama, or his favorite, G. Bush.

            Blessings,

            Son of Liberty

      4. I gotta tell ya….in a way, it’s kind of gratifying to sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch Kommiefornia deteriorate into another third-world country.

        If they secede, the descent will be even more rapid.

        What you are seeing here is what happens when the political left run things.

        Kommiefornia is becoming Mexico. It’s as simple as that.

        • Anonymous5, Cali has already been a ‘failed state’ for decades. If it secedes, it will still be the same way.

      5. Trump is angry that CA wanted to CalExit/Secede when he won the election. Being the vindictive person he is, he’s just getting even with CA, and CA officials/govt in general; imprisoning the homeless, Oroville, deporting migrant workers who toil in the fields daily and pick/pack the crops and tend to the grapes/vineyards, the jobs that they enjoy, the long hours sometimes in the heat and who accept minimum wage for. Jobs that Americans DO NOT want.

        In case you haven’t noticed Trump hates California. And he is a very get even kind of vindictive who doesn’t stop until he feels he got even.

        And to think that I voted for him. Live and learn.

        • James, Lets reflect the facts not excuses.
          You say, “deporting migrant workers who toil in the fields daily and pick/pack the crops and tend to the grapes/vineyards, the jobs that they enjoy, the long hours sometimes in the heat and who accept minimum wage for. Jobs that Americans DO NOT want.”

          Total BS!!

          Let me school ya here James. American WOULD LOVE those jobs but the scab Illegals work nearly for free, and the grower owners love this situation of free illegal labor. Americans do not want low paying jobs. So once you get rid of the illegal scabs stealing Jobs the frggin owners will have to raise the pay wages to attract and pay regular Americas to do those job to get the work accomplished. Hiring Illegals are a race to the bottom for wages in the US. Hell, the owners would love slave labor if they could get away with it. So your statement is BS. Americans don’t want to be slaves.

          That is a Bogus BS excuse the growers use to keep illegals here, working for nearly nothing, which fills the owners pockets with more free cashola. As they refuse to pay a decent wage to accomplish the picking work. Start throwing the owners of these crop fields into prison for hiring illegals and watch the wages rise. I guarantee it!!

          • Think about this…. How many people are going to commute a shitload of miles to a farm to pick crops? You are dillusional if you think anyone BUT illegals will do this work. Even if they provide housing they could NEVER staff a decent farm with seasonal crop pickers that’s why they had the work visas for farm workers. Use some common sense…

            • Genius,
              what you said is correct, and has been a way of life for MANY years in certain parts of the country, it is actually something that works, now there are some owners who don’t treat them well and then there are some who do treat them well, BOTTOM line, ALL that has to happen is a (fast track work visa) and then things would be OK, there always is pros and cons, but ican also tell yuo the owner is NOT the one lining his pockets, the middle man is! IF we did not have these people working, the food prices would be even higher. this is smething that could be fixed fairly easily and should be!

            • We used to have migrant workers in this country, native Americans, black and white, who traveled from farm belt to farm belt for the work.

              We don’t need illegals to do this labor. There are plenty of low-income, homeless and drug-impaired people in this country who need to be put to task work.

          • Zeus,
            Good point. Who are these employers exploiting these illegals? Including live-in help, housekeepers and nannys.

          • ill take that job right now id take any job im a vet. to

          • I was in Montana last year. In the Kalispell area. I only saw about five mexicans in the 12 months i was there. I worked one day with some framers building a house. It was my first time to work as a framer. Guess what they paid me???? 25$/hr. And I only worked for 7 hours. Yep…he handed me $200 for that day.

            So it is true that illegals lower pay scales……a lot!

        • Again, you are some kind of “special”

          • Oregon, nothin’ special about you, so STFU and move along.

        • Wow! He’s only been in office 28 days and the homeless problem in California is his doing? Apparently Trump can control the weather too and caused the problems with the Oroville Dam all in those 28 days.

          • He sent a B2 bomber to Oroville and blew up the spillway during the Superbowl, didn’t you hear that one?

            You can’t make this stuff up.

        • Wow! He’s only been in office 28 days and the homeless problem in California is his doing? Apparently Trump can control the weather too and caused the problems with the Oroville Dam all in those 28 days.

        • Thou dost speak with the voice of a troll!

        • How in the feck did you come to reason that this camp is Trumps doing. Back to your Koolaide young’un. Drink deep.

          • I’m pretty sure that was sarcasm bro.

            • Ah.

        • @James…..

          And Obama hates the rest of us.

          Sick of hearing the “jobs that Americans don’t want” BS.

          Have a look at your average construction site and what do you see? Nothing but Mexicans. Were those jobs that nobody else wanted?

          As for the other jobs…..the reason Americans don’t want them is because the illegals are defacto serfs and will work for less. But those aren’t the only other jobs they take. Go to a Burger King, MacDonalds or any other fast food place and 90% of the workers are Mexican or Central American. Most of them can barely speak English…So don’t make the argument that they are citizens.

          As for them contributing to this country….that’s another line of BS. Take a trip to an emergency room and have a look at who is filling up the lobby. Do you think they have insurance? You think they’ll actually pay for the services they receive?

          This illegal alien invasion is costing us BILLIONS and is serving to “Balkanize” this country. I can take you to communities in southern California where you won’t find a store sign anywhere written in English. 99% of the population in those communities is comprised of immigrants from Mexico and Central America and a huge percentage of them are illegal. They will stuff 15 to 20 people in a small two-bedroom home.

          California is becoming a third-world nation.

          • I made a rare exception to my usual avoidance of fast food when I stopped at a McDonald’s on Long Island a few summers ago. As I was standing to one side waiting for my order to be ready, I observed that everyone working behind the counter appeared to be Latino, except for one young American-born black lady, in her teens or twenties. As I looked on, one of the Latino women said to the young black lady, So why don’t you know Spanish? The young lady looked kind of uncomfortable as she replied that she had not had enough room in her school schedule to fit in a Spanish class. I just thought, wow! One more sign these interlopers are getting way too comfortable in the US. In my mind I wished that young lady well, and now I think she just might have gone on to be a Trump voter 11/8/16.

            • My youngest son worked at the port, first as a general laborer; then moving up to an overhead crane operator. He was the only white person employed there, even office workers were all people of color. Before this he worked at a cardboard box manufacturing company, again with a large Mexican employee base. This is why my son can now speak their language fluently. He has been called on at other places he’s worked to translate. This is a good thing that he has increased his knowledge; but I think it should be the other way around, they should learn the language of the country you have chosen to live in. I know this is probably the reason so many white people in California speak Mexican (this is what the Mexicans call it) due to exposure. We live in Oklahoma.

          • Anonymous5,
            the problem is and has been that, for years mexican illegal workers were allowed into this country to work the farm lands, and THAT is OK and would work IF they would issue a temp work visa and limit it to only a certain type of job, BUT what happened was they were allowed to break into other work such as building houses and such, that is where those contractors starting making TWICE the profit and then that bloomed into mexican contractors and so on and son, until they almost killed out everyone else. this should have been stopped and this would have drastcily reduced the inlfux of the illegals. It can be changes around but will take time and people who understand HOW to do it! this country could survive with the correct people in office,but i am NOT sure tht is going to happen soon enough!

          • There are three local roofing companies in this county, two of them hire illegals for crap wages, the third is still using Americans at prevailing wage. All three will put a roof on your house for a price within a few hundred dollars of each other.

            The two firms using illegals are raking in profits on the back of American labor.

            Same with construction, landscaping, tree services, forestry, what have you, it’s all corrupted.

      6. Lots of places in America have this problem. A possible solution is to locate all the services the homeless depend on well away from where we don’t want the homeless to be. Ever heard of a reservation? It is horrible what was done to the people that were here first, but on the mainland it worked. Services weren’t the best because the government provided it, but it solved a problem.

      7. When ICE marches the illegals back across the border – the entire Southern CA area will be empty for the choosing – plenty of $$$$ and jobs for the REAL Americans …

        America First

        • True except for farm laborers. Wanna see the food supply go to 0?

          • Genius -i agree. The cost of food, especially produce, will skyrocket if Americans take over the migrant farm laborers jobs. I honestly don’t think Americans want those jobs even if they are paid more $$ than the undocumented workers. You’re right. They aren’t going to drive great distances to get to these farms for work either.

            As far as McDonald’s and other fast food chains all applicants at those places of employment have to prove US citizenship or that they are here legally. While some of the workers at these establishments don’t speak decent English they are still here legally or they couldn’t receive compensation in the form of a paycheck and contribute to social security/taxes unless they are here legally. Every worker who receives compensation in the form of a paycheck has to go through I-9 (INS) requirements, it’s the law. At the time of hire a copy of the new hire’s social security card, driver’s license and birth certificate are photocopied and placed in their personnel file for routine audits which occur routinely and stiff fines and penalties are imposed for employers who violate the I-9 laws.

            “They are taking American jobs” is bullshit. I agree, get rid of the criminals who are here illegally. But not the migrant farm laborers with work visa’s. The cost of food will be out of reach for most and that domino effect disaster will have far-reaching tentacles.

          • Not going to happen. Only half of farm labor is illegal aliens, and mechanized harvest accounts for a lot of the work right now, and that is going to increase.

      8. Silver close up today over $18, to $18.07. Could I hear a HellYeah!?!?! Silver to Gold Price Ratio is $68.64. and usually about 9 months after the P/R hits 80 to 1 it drops to 47 to 1. So if Gold today is at $1238.60 today, the Silver still has an $8 upside to $26.35 within that trading raange.

        Keep in mind the 72% of Silver demand in the US is imported into the US from other foreign nations, and more than 50% of Silver is used in Industrial uses. So demand is high, and supply is low, so watch the price jump to catch up with normal market pressures.

      9. Only the morally depraved would starve homeless citizens but feed non-citizens. Easy to figure out who this morally depraved bunch is and what their end game is.

      10. I want to bring something to light on the subject of homelessness and the 2nd Amendment.
        Okay, I’ll try to articulate it as best as I can. Everyone knows we have the right to keep and bear arms. And so on.And so forth. OK, now, if you are homeless, without a physical
        residence, do you still have that right? What if you happen to live in a state where open
        carry is perfectly legal? Think about it. If you reside in a shelter, obviously, they have their
        rules. But lets say the police stop to question a person who may seem to be what is
        considered a vagrant, and that person is in possession of a firearm, well….. Seems to me
        like the 2nd Amendment would only apply to people that have an actual physical address.
        Now, lets backtrack to say, the year 1880. Hypothetical. You happen to be a cowboy in
        some western territory or state and you might work here for a month and somewhere
        else for a few days. Your long gun and your pistol went with you and your horse no matter
        where you went. And, it was no big deal. You follow me? What happened between now and
        then that would alter anything. In truth we do not have the same freedoms that our
        forefathers had. The lawyers had to muck everything up with all those gray areas.

        • The rights of any person in a state or city are the same, regardless of their address. Same with the constitutional rights.

      11. I don’t normally stand up for homeless people and I NEVER trust the ACLU on ANYTHING, but in this case I’ll make an exception. If this can happen to homeless, it can happen to any of us. We’re all vulnerable to being thrown into such a situation. This is POLICE STATE 2.0 in my book. It’s not a smart thing to threaten someone’s existence.

        • This is what I was thinking too. I think they are detaining the wrong people. They should be looking for and rounding up illegal aliens, and deporting them, not punishing people who have nowhere else to live. This situation is going to become more severe, especially in warm states. Florida, Texas, and others, get ready.

      12. o Buy food. Buy more food. Store water. Store more water. Dig a well. Have water cistern.
        o Ammo. No such thing as having enough. More. Yes more still. Reload supplies.
        o Soap. TP. Matches. Salt. Building materials.
        o Seeds. Garden seeds. Buy every year. Donate three year old seeds to charity. They are starting to lose viability at the three year mark. So get new seed.

        o Now Separate your supplies among MANY geographic locations. More the merrier.
        If you put all your eggs in one basket a government weasel will take your eggs.
        No eggs for You Fu Man Chew.
        o Learn old time skills. Learn some more. Practice. NOT just reading about it.

        o Get in good physical condition. Get off your ass. Work out. Loose that gut.
        o Get your ass out of the city. ASAP. Move.
        o Now find a way to get out of USA. ASAP. Before Trump leaves office.

        o Pray. Pray to the God of Jesus Christ. Pray daily.
        Only God can save you.
        We are ALL in a rolling boil pot. We are the main course.

        After All that is complete. That is all you can do. We are in for a sporty ride.
        —————————- Pray some more. God is our only hope.

      13. Not sure if post went through, computer froze up. Municipal government, James. One government is like any other, all a bunch of greedy crooks. And Santa Ana is a sanctuary city, full of illegal immigrants. Like I said legal American citizens get treated like criminals in a prison, while the real criminals are lauded over. You think white Americans do not work hard for low pay? I always worked two jobs, raised my children as a single mother, put myself through nursing school, and now I’m retired. I picked cotton for one dollar for each 100 pounds I picked. Oh, but poor illegal immigrants. I have a feeling, James, that you do not know what hard work is for low pay.

      14. They are squatters. They don’t own that land. They haven’t any right to be there. They can leave. They can excape the same way they came. If you lived in the adajecent neighbor hood you would like that fence. The fence isn’t a prison its a barrier to keep them out of places they don’t belong are not wanted & have no business at. We are jumping for joy at the wall Trump proposes to keep the beaners imprisoned in mexico. They are for the most part cull parasites. When SHTF they will perish.

        • not so much old guy,
          They ARE squatters.
          They don’t own the land, neither do the neighbors.
          They DO have a right to be there! this is America..
          that is public land and they are part of the public.
          If the fence can’t keep them in, then it won’t keep them out of the adjacent area either, so it MUST be a prison.
          AND if/when the shtf…it’ll be a normal day for them…it is the neighbors that will likely perish..they are, after all, a californian (likely non-preppers) neighborhood.

          • Yep they any the neighbors don’t own the land. Its obviously owned and controlled by the county government. And the government is placing obsticals to make it harder for those vagrants. They are trying to discourage them hoping they will vamoose. When they no longer can mooch and steal off those so called Non-preppers they will not survive. Heck they cant even house themselves. they live of others. A parasite must have a host. Their host is the self reliant people.

        • Anybody who is opposed to the border wall and has a lock on the door of their house is a hypocrite.

      15. Someday we might all be driven from our homes one way or another? Maybe start looking for a van? Mini van something you can bug out and live in? AWD Astrovan? I made a skid plate for an Astrovan . Used double layer roof steel from scrap yard . 16 inches wide . Had to move it 3 or 4 inches off center to hole saw 2 inch hole for oil drain on flat part of steel. Went from front bumper past second cross member 6 feet overall. Used two Astrovan jacks with 8 inch 2 by 4 wood blocks fit in between ridges. Used impact cordless screw gun with 13/16 socket to turn jack up. Used self tapping hexhead screws 5/16 s I think . Was surprised how easy they cut through crossmembers. Put silicon caulk on threads so they won’t vibrate loose. Screwed sheats together first 6 small self tappers. Tucked in front bumper. Jacked up to first crossmember 6 self tappers with glue. Moved jack with block on top to second crossmember 6 more screws. At first keep jack loose so you can position hole at oil drain plug . Maybe change trans. Filter and fluid first . I used high dollar royal purple trans fluid for extended drain time. Take a good measure from front bumper to drain hole drill first on ground then position sheet perfect for oil drain before screwing One worry is that sheet is against exhaust cross over . O and I silicon caulked in between sheets around edges so water can’t get in between sheets. Can still get to oil filter easy . And if I have to remove skid plate should be no problem 12 screws. 16 inch by 6 foot skid plate .5 dollars for sheets 3 dollars for screws. And was so easy I still can’t believe it. I did jack up van and put on blocks for room to work . Now my oil pan is totally protected . And this thing should slide over anything. Did notice vibration at idle and in reverse for about a week. Heavy duty guys can go 3, 4,5, layers of roof sheet? And I bet 16 inches wide from rib to rib should be good enought expecialy 6 feet of it . Cheap easy project . Self tapping screws and silicon glue gotta love em.

        • LW, you brought back some painful memories for me mentioning living in a van. In November, 1982 I was living in a one-bedroom ratty old trailer in a trailer park. I’d only recently moved into it when one night I was asleep and I awakened to smelling smoke. The damn electrical system caught fire and was spreading fast. I only had a few belongings in that trailer but had no time to retrieve them. I barely got out of there before the whole damn thing was on fire. I had a 1972 Dodge cargo van at that time for wheels. It immediately became my home but only for about 3 weeks before I got another place. Sleeping in that van was a BITCH with nothing more than a mattress, blanket, and pillow. I was lucky enough to be able to use other people’s showers at that time to keep from stinking. I finally got into another place just one week before Christmas. THAT was my Christmas present for that year. If I didn’t have that van I would’ve been screwed. That van saved my ass. I’ve got a 200 Honda Odyssey minvan now that could become emergency shelter if that need arose. Those passenger seats can be removed easily. But the full-size vans do work better for that purpose. More room inside. I speak from personal and painful experience.

      16. Beautiful day today. No rain.

        __

        • I get 70 – 100 inches of rain per year. I love it.

          • Sierra vista, Az. average annual rainfall= 14.19″

            • Arizona, home of the worst drivers in the nation lol.

              • Green light means go. Yellow light means go faster.

                • More like the left lane is for driving slow beside another car so you can block traffic.

      17. Obviously no one here has worked in Santa Ana,Ca. I have. I worked for the County bus service and went around the various stations around Orange County.Everyone of them,and I mean everyone of them was taken over by the homeless. Every day I went around and had to clean up after them,including feces,urine,liquor bottles,hypodermic needles,and on and on.I don’t know the answer to the problem,but California is a magnet for these people.With all the welfare benefits and money given out,why leave? They need to get to work and stop bleeding the system.

        • This article like all articles are stanted toward the bias the author wants to put forth. I guarantee we aint getting the entire story and the true facts. The reason those homeless gather there is Birds of a Feather Flock together. for some reasons that area is suit able habitat for those folks.

        • Why hasn’t city officials come up with a solution? Their job is to problem solve. They haven’t come close to solving the homeless issue but they sure collect a paycheck.

        • They could relocate to Alaska, but would have to live indoors most of the year.

        • I imagine the climate has a lot to do with the amount of homeless out there. Don’t have to lay on steam grates in freezing weather like in NY and other northern states. There’s a problem in just about every state in the union regarding homeless folks. There’s always been homeless and will continue to be so.

          • If the left wing snowflakes are so god damned charitable and loving why don’t they buy up a bunch of apartment buildings for them? Oh ya they are hypocrites and imbiciles…

            • Agreed.

              • YUP, you nailed that one!! libtards just ACT like they care so they get more votes!! bunch of scumbags!!

        • I used to live in Santa Ana, CA in a nice little condo complex. A large apartment complex was located next door and 90% of the occupants were illegal. We had to deal with their trash, thefts, trespassing and stinking loud mariachi music at all hours of the day and night. My garage door faced that complex and I had beer bottles thrown at me on several occasions. I finally had to start carrying my .45 with me when I went into the garage.

          Anybody that is going to tell me that these people are a positive asset to this country is a friggin’ idiot.

          • Mr. A5
            If you live where you feel compelled to carry a .45 or any other gun.
            Then you are in the wrong place. MOVE. Relocate.

            Do you want to live?
            Never NEVER go to a corner store or gas station past 8pm.
            Going to a conveinance store at night is one of the most dangerous things an average person can do in a big city.

            Friday and Saturday Night are when you get murdered, get in a fight, get robbed, or go to jail on a made up charge. Keep your ass at home.

            “Nothing good happens past 10pm.”, is what the old man used to say when I was growing up. He was right. I wish I would have listened.
            Took a few years of watching my sachool chums go to jail, get beat up, and more than a few died. All of it was over nothing. My friend is still locked up. My other friends are still very dead. All of it was on weekend. Late at night. After a few drinks. Women and jealousy.

            I also have homeless friends. War does funny things to some people. They are never quite right after war. And Americans don’t care.

            But my city passed a tax increase for a new Professional baseball stadium. And the high school spent many many MILLIONS for a football stadium for high school.

            No housing for Vets. “not enough money.” per the politicians.
            Messed up Vets and Homeless are not a priority for Americans.

        • I suppose one of the answers is if they can’t work, they won’t be allowed to eat. Fair enough. They could be put to work cleaning dirty sections of town and then be fed at the end of their shift. They would have to work under armed guard tho, and that’s fair too.

        • They’re thinking about creating ‘safe areas’ for the homeless in Seattle, too. It’s going to be controlled access and secured. No different than this Santa Ana thing.

      18. This author is so full of it that his eyes must have turned brown. I have seen the homeless in Santa Ana. This scum is an urban blight. Hell, they’re a blight wherever they are. Around the courthouse in Santa Ana, there must be 300 encamped. They strew their crap (literally) where ever they exist. Trash is everywhere. Tiptoeing through the hypodermic needles is a must. Women working late require escorts to get to the parking garage.

        You’ve got to give them some credit, however. While many have a room temperature IQ, st least they’re not retarded enough to winter on the streets of Chicago or Cleveland.

        I am sick of their endless filth, mounds of trash, rampant drugs, and charity-dependent lifestyle.

        The author, allegedly a former Marine and “intelligence operator,” a vague term at best, has me wondering. I just don’t remember many with his point of view when I was in the Corps.

        • Exactly: military people know full well how important it is to make human beings responsible for their actions. And they know human beings are capable of much, much more mentally and physically than they give themselves credit for. The worst thing you can do for these people is to indulge their self pity and laziness.

          The US is a land of plenty. If they can’t see that, then you have to show them that they are surrounded by resources that can turn their lives around. Most homeless actually dig the care-free lifestyle of doing drugs and easy sex. Actually having a job and caring for a family is a drag to them.

      19. There will always be homeless. Some want it that way.

        Reminds me of that old song by Roger Miller (IIRC)

        “I’m a man of means by no means…

        King of the Road.”

        • JRS, I was only a kid when that song was recorded. Damn, I’m getting OLD. Will be 60 next month.

      20. Why are so many willing to help illegal immigrants, but unwilling to help homeless Americans? Maybe they could have jobs if everyone was not so partial to these illegals. The article stated that every time they would move to an out of the way place, that the police would make them move. It also said they moved under three overpasses where they had running water, and fostered sobriety and helped people get jobs…..again the police removed them. There are sick, elderly, and children living there, who deserve food and medicine…..where is the help for them? I guess it was all given to the illegals, who seem to be more deserving than legal American citizens.

        • Just sent a post about Anonymous’ name being put on my post of Feb. 16 at 9:12 pm. This has happened twice now. I am confused how this could happen; is it something I’m doing when I send the post?

      21. Interesting comments. Our future is in God’s hands now. Bad folk have done much harm to this country.
        I recall talking to a fellow in West Virginia years back. He indicated IF God would flood the earth again he would likely survive.
        We are so intelligent these days a higher power isn’t needed. (Or so some think)
        The homeless is a small problem compared to the overall situation.

        • We are God’s ambassadors on earth. We are the ones He works through. He is bringing America back to her Destiny in spite of what we really deserve as a Nation.

          Although America is very much wrapped up in the whole global thing, God is unwrapping it. As deeply as the hijacked government of our country has gone into the quest for global world governance, God is undoing it.

          There is going to be trouble, it is coming. Nevertheless, God is not going to let happen what the elite / deep state want to have happen. They want to bring America to complete destruction. They want to keep pressing us until they win. They want to destroy America and never let America arise again because we are a Freedom-loving people, and too willful against them and their plan for world dominance.

          Our enemies want to destroy our hope, and their tactics are to instill fear and doubt. But no matter what they have done in stealth, God is undoing and causing the Truth to be revealed. He is causing the light to shine into the darkest, dingiest cesspools of corrupt government. We can never underestimate the power, the authority, and the wisdom of God.

          If we’re on God’s side and continue the spiritual warfare, no matter how numerous and powerful the foes against us, we still win. Not that we don’t have a battle to fight – there is still a very rocky road ahead. The enemy is not going away, but God is more powerful than all the demons in hell and their human slaves put together.

          • Nice post, Sarge. What these leftists are too arrogant and evil to know is that they are letter for letter replicating the dystopia that CS Lewis described in That Hideous Strength. They are truly playing with a Power and Person that not only will not be mocked, He *cannot* be mocked, any more than my nose can mock my face.

      22. for me I look at most situations in the manner of producing makers or taking parasites. Those homeless most certainly are not self reliant producing makers. For whatever reason its their problem. There are folks who had far less than them who are not homeless and a burden and irritant problem for others. No matter who you are or what your situation if you look around there is someone doing far more with a great deal less. Go watch some videos of things folks do in third world places. I seen a guy that repairs tires. he made his own tire tools. he even made a vulcanizing machine that used a tin can of burning gas to vulcanize the sidewalls of tires. Here in the USA we discard a tire with sidewall damage. His gas powered air compresser was made from two motorcycle engines. Those homeless for the most part are not doing the best they can with what God has given them to work with. They are lazy disrespectful leeches. They don’t have any respect for anyone or anything. They don’t even respect themselves.

        • A lot of these homeless people are mentally ill, drug or alcohol dependent, and that is the reason so many of them are homeless.

        • I totally agree: most of the homeless are actually just extremely selfish people. This is usually why they are homeless. The stories are always the same when you talk to them: “I had a wife and kids and a good job but I liked to do crack and then one day it all fell apart”, or, “I had a good job and liked to gamble and then one day the debts were out of control”, etc.

          You don’t get a selfish person to sort their life out by indulging their selfishness with free Christmas dinners and free food every day. Or free clothing, drugs etc. You make them responsible for their food; make them grow the food or clean up in the kitchen; do chores; clean up the parks and streets.

      23. by the way have you all seen the video of all the trash and refuse left by those So called Water Protectors who protested the Dakota Pipeline. They loved Mother Earth So much they left tons of garbage in their wake when they left.

      24. where are the OATH KEEPERS now

      25. If its legal to fence in homeless Americans, then why can this be done for illegal aliens, welfare careerist, life time EBT moochers…

      26. All my life vagrants and the homeless have been allowed to engage in the most disgusting behaviour (taking a crap on the pavement, urinating all over the place, begging, openly taking drugs, etc.). In turn, we have seen failed attempts at ‘charity’: feeding the homeless like they are pigeons being fed bread in the park. Is it any surprise the homeless just grow and grow in urban areas. Like the pigeons, they go to where the bread is the tastiest and most plentiful. There is no incentive for them to sort their lives out.

        The kindest thing to do for the homeless is to house them in barracks and to then put them in a disciplined regime of work and self-improvement. They should be made to grow the food they consume; they need to be made to get up in the morning, exercise and shower and then to engage in study and development of skills. The worst thing you can do for them is to just feed them for free, allowing them to slack off the rest of the day drinking and taking drugs.

        Hire former US marines to run the facilities and both break and re-make the homeless into new people. They could then be guaranteed work placement with companies registered in a supervised program of adjustment to normal life. With all the new technology, it is possible to tightly supervise them until they can be trusted. That is the only humane thing to be done.

        • But in the real world………

        • Thank you! And the ones who refuse should die. No allowances made. Work and improve yourself or die. Nature at its finest. ?

      27. Homeless camps are filthy and trashy. Yhey become a haven for thieves and they will never find jobs or work as long as we continue to take care of them for free. They exist because the ACL supports them. Give them a bath, haircut, and clean clothes and they will not work for work. They will continue to beg for more!

      28. Awake, but homeless, we were warned. If we had the 9 trillion dollars the Pentagon says it cannot account for it would be a different story. Half the national debt is unaccounted for, spent by the deep state. 12 trillion in household debt means if your land Title isn’t free and clear, you, in reality, are temporarily lodged and virtually homeless too. Homeless by robbery through unconstitutional fiat debt. Immediate gratification has its cost. Your gold has filled their bowls. The new Chinese oil Note will have a golden component while Fort Knox echoes in our slumber. Maybe we should heed warnings before the fact. After the fact warnings turn into hindsight which is a universal possession of the homeless.

      29. Those held responsible for the downfall of the Wiemar Republic were, reportedly, just being detained for trial, deportation, or poorhouse work. They suffered starvation and disease, due to financial sabotage and war, fought on many fronts. Perhaps, we have neglected to say the words, concentration camp, for fear of triggering the Holocaust revisionists, into marathon explanations, who, when shown atrocities in their own neighborhoods, could not register it, mentally.

        I think we have indulged the self pity and laziness of crony capitalists, who expect you to labor, without the benefits of that labor. A hand-to-mouth existence is too good for all of the high-and-mighty people, who only participate in civil society by way of lifelong debt peonage.

        The people, who you cage and starve, may not have any formal debts or receive any public benefits, unlike so many champagne socialists, failing to realize that they have succeeded, only as a matter of decree. Your status can be taken from you, just as easily as given, through no fault of your own. You can jump over all the hurdles, and through the hoops, perform tricks like a trained poodle, and not come out a winner.

      30. Yeah California is so liberal and caring.

        Until it isn’t.

        Try to get welfare here when you’re white. I dare you. BAHAHA!

        That’s what I hate most about this place. It’s so very very very all about the (ridiculous) amounts of money. NEEDED to barely survive. And then they have the nerve to insult me with this liberal hippy bullshit they spew.

        I know damn well if I ended up even temporarily living in my car here I’d get my skull cracked in by our cops and never be seen again.

        Fuck your ultra-rich “make yourselves feel better” “I don’t actually give a fuck” so-called liberal caring.

        Be what you really are. At least people would be forewarned. I know what you really are. The fuckers from They Live. Not literally obviously but same attitude.

      31. Next step, of course, for the fascist globalists is to turn them into Solyent Green. After all, their existence IS causing faux global warming (tho not as much as the lifestyles of the Hollywierd Learjet leftists!). As GK Chesterton purportedly said, “When men cease to believe in God, they don’t believe in nothing, but *anything.* The existentialist bankster/globalist cabal has just taken on that “anything” as their official doctrine.

        I *might* be joking about the Solyent Green… but I’m not so sure myself!

      32. What the left doesn’t realize, or will end up realizing too late, is that THEY themselves, are just being used as cannon fodder. Witness the collective $1.1 trillion in student loans, that has now made them permanent serfs, with a life in mommy’s basement the upper limit. All while the socialist leaders live in luxury. Disagree? Google “George Clooney mansions,” then click on images. Google “Morris Dees (Head of Southern Poverty Law Center ) mansion” – his digs are so luxurious they were featured in House Beautiful. Google Al Gore’s latest mansion. Check out the digs of the Hollyweird Learjet leftists (e.g., Tom Hanks in 2010 purchased a 14,500-square-foot mega mansion in Pacific Palisades for $26 million – the largest transaction for a single-family home in Los Angeles County in 2010, Castro lover Carole King is selling her MASSIVE mansion now, see https://gma.yahoo.com/see-inside-carole-kings-luxury-idaho-ranch-142203896–abc-news-house-and-home.html (they were boasting about how great it is… too ignorant to understand they were showing her utter hypocrisy).

        I’m reminded of dear old departed Leonid Brezhnev. OK, yes, this is apocryphal, but still…

        The story goes Leonid Brezhnev had his ancient grandmother visit him at his office in Moscow when he was leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Brezhnev proudly showed her his many Zil limousines – all left running for whenever his whims demanded – the Italian marble floors in his private bathroom, the gold plated handles on his mahogany desk, all his dachas, his multiple fine silk suites in his closets, and much, much more.

        Finally, the end of the day came, and all the assistants, servants and aides went home. After everyone had left, the aged grandmother looked around very, very carefully, then sidled up as close as she possibly could to her grandson and whispered very, very quietly in his ear:

        “This is all very well, Leonid. But… what if the Communists come???”

      33. When I lived in SF they would ask for spare change. I told the Obama has it.

      34. About the mix up with Anonymous’ name being put on my post, twice now. I don’t mean to seem full of myself, but I can tell Anonymous is a lot more intelligent and informed than I am. It’s confusing how this might happen; I’m thinking it has to be something I’m doing when I send the post. Does anyone have any idea what I may be doing?

      35. waiting, Not sure if this is the problem, but I am new here and honestly didn’t know the screen name “Anonymous” was already in use. Didn’t notice anyone else here with that exact screen name. I’ll just use another screen name should I post here in the future. Maybe that will solve the problem.

        • I may be miss-understanding you, but I have never posted under any other name. It still does not explain how any name could get on a post that was not their post. I still think it must be something that takes place during the sending of the post. Please do not change your name on my account.

      36. I’m horrified at the treatment of yr veterans and the very poor.Yet immigrants with nothing to offer your society (often the very same people yr veterans fought against)are welcomed in,and most likely supported by the state for the rest of their lives,together with their offspring.What about your own disadvantaged? Your society is now no longer United, and leaves you very vulnerable to foreign aggression. A call to arms in the event of a war will not be heeded by many,in fact many will directly work against yr state from within. By the way,I don’t live in the West,am just a foreigner from outside looking in ..

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