ShesTooOld
01-09-2007, 10:32 PM
Wow, how factually inaccurate can one person be about one story that can be googled in 30 seconds?
Bold typing is what I added before I emailed this back to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
And I apologize for taking so long to getting around to this & hope i put it in the right forum.
Opie and Anthony: Exploiters of the Homeless
Jessica Schuler America‚s homeless were yet again the subject of ridicule and mockery this past weekend. Saturday, the Boston-based (New York City based, syndicated on about 25 terrestrial radio stations & XM Satellite Radio in the US & Canada as well as around the world via XM’s online feed) “Opie and Anthony Radio Show” aired their annual Homeless Shopping Spree, broadcasting locally on Boston’s WCBN and nationally via XM Satellite Radio. The show cruelly mocks its homeless participants as they partake in a “shopping spree”.
Participants were brought in from New York City to Short Hills, New Jersey where the event was filmed (actually film was shot but just as an add on to the radio show so people across the country could see the event). Then, as a crowd of about two-thousand people gathered, the “contestants” were inundated with alcohol (alcohol may have been provided for those who asked but was not forced upon anyone) and cash while being encouraged to shop at high end retail stores. (What a horrible horrible thing, to give these underprivileged people some money to buy themselves things they need like shoes & coats) The show’s disc jockeys, Gregg Hughes and Anthony Curnia, (Cumia) provided a running commentary of the day’s events, often creating inhumane and degrading nicknames such as “Tippy Tom” and “Buttered Roll” for the participants. (Actually the names the show hosts use are the names that the participants call themselves and/or are known by on the streets in 90% of the cases, including “Tippy Tom”)
“This so-called shopping spree is a sick and twisted exercise that degrades the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston. (While Menino applauds his city of Boston for counting the homeless, the Opie and Anthony show and it’s listeners spent THOUSANDS of dollars helping a handful of homeless.) “The fact that WBCN has chosen the homeless and the holidays to present this humiliating and shameful attempt at humor is inhumane and shameful.” (I’m sure that Menino’s counting is much more helpful.) In a country suffering from an epidemic of violence against our homeless population, the cruel practices in Opie and Anthony’s show take advantage of vulnerable people in vulnerable situations. What kind of society do we live in that there’s humor in feeding someone’s alcoholism? Ridiculing homeless individuals has become an almost socially acceptable form of entertainment. There would be an outrage if any other minority group was singled out with such derision. (So only white males are fair game?)
This casual acceptance of homeless directed ridicule treads dangerous water. Words of hate (words of hate and words of humor are two completely different things) against homeless persons can quickly escalate into actions of hate. Actions that have resulted in violence targeted at over 500 homeless men, women and children and 183 deaths over the past 8 years (please provide proof that making jokes about someone leads to acts of violence). Shockingly, an overwhelming majority of these crimes have been committed by teenagers.
Even a city known for its innovative practices to end homelessness has not evaded this perverse trend. Earlier this year, Scott Capella was attacked in March as he slept in Langone Park. Capella awoke after being kicked in the back and was then lit on fire by two men calling him a “homeless bum”. Capella luckily survived but sustained serious second degree burns from the attack. Events like those seen on Opie and Anthony’s show are becoming more common. The show closely follows the theme of the Bumfights film series and www.bumfights.com. The movies, created in 2001, similarly offer alcohol and cash incentives for homeless men and women to perform dangerous stunts. (BUZZZZZZZZ, wrong, but thanks for playing. Bumfights encouraged the homeless to fight each other, the Homeless Shopping Spree encouraged fans of the radio show to give money to the homeless and help them buy things in a snooty mall, bringing the homeless to a place where the people normally pretend that the homeless do not exist. The GAP even refused service to the homeless, funny how that does not offend you as much as giving money to the homeless does.) To date, the Bumfights series has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and spawned Bumfights 1 through 4 as well as other “bum” inspired videos like Bumhunting. The Opie and Anthony event will gain further recognition when it airs on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday, December 21st. (Um, wait, what? No, Opie and Anthony appeared on the Tonight Show to promote their radio show, nothing to do with the Homeless Shopping Spree was mentioned, no video or audio was aired, and was never planned to air on the Tonight Show. This was a simple appearance by two radio hosts as happens regularly on the late night shows.) Coincidentally, the segment’s airdate falls on the seventeenth annual National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day. This year to honor the day, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council is planning a Candlelight Vigil in Washington, D.C. to commemorate those who have died as a result of homelessness. (Instead of wasting money on candles so that you can sleep better at night thinking you “make a difference” how about you take 10 or 20 bucks find a homeless person and take them shopping to get something that they need, or maybe spend a little bit more and buy them a night at a hotel so that for at least one night they can shower & then sleep in a warm bed?) Similar services are being held in cities throughout the country. Opie and Anthony’s glorification of the degradation of homeless people contradicts the hard work done by those to memorialize those lost to homelessness. Shame on Opie and Anthony for their need to degrade the homeless for a laugh. Shame on the two thousand people who showed up to watch the event. (Shame on them for being generous and GIVING to people who need it and raising awareness of the people of that snooty mall to the plight of the homeless, no wait, those are GOOD things.) Shame on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for giving this even greater national exposure. (All I can say is someone needs to learn how to google search this is just a FLAT OUT LIE!) Shame on those who do nothing to end America’s continuous attempts to deny homeless people the treatment they deserve. (Shame on someone who thinks that a candle light vigil helps someone who is cold and sleeping on the street while BERATING people who are actually helping a handful of homeless. Trust me, I would let people make some jokes at me for a lot less than what those homeless got from the Opie and Anthony Show.) NCH would never wish homelessness on any individual but if Opie and Anthony should have the misfortune of becoming homeless, we hope they will see homelessness in a different light and be less quick to continue their sadistic treatment of homeless persons.
Jessica Schuler works as a civil rights policy analyst at the National Coalition for the Homeless. (but she apparently does not spend any time researching a topic before just flying off the handle.)
Bold typing is what I added before I emailed this back to the National Coalition for the Homeless.
And I apologize for taking so long to getting around to this & hope i put it in the right forum.
Opie and Anthony: Exploiters of the Homeless
Jessica Schuler America‚s homeless were yet again the subject of ridicule and mockery this past weekend. Saturday, the Boston-based (New York City based, syndicated on about 25 terrestrial radio stations & XM Satellite Radio in the US & Canada as well as around the world via XM’s online feed) “Opie and Anthony Radio Show” aired their annual Homeless Shopping Spree, broadcasting locally on Boston’s WCBN and nationally via XM Satellite Radio. The show cruelly mocks its homeless participants as they partake in a “shopping spree”.
Participants were brought in from New York City to Short Hills, New Jersey where the event was filmed (actually film was shot but just as an add on to the radio show so people across the country could see the event). Then, as a crowd of about two-thousand people gathered, the “contestants” were inundated with alcohol (alcohol may have been provided for those who asked but was not forced upon anyone) and cash while being encouraged to shop at high end retail stores. (What a horrible horrible thing, to give these underprivileged people some money to buy themselves things they need like shoes & coats) The show’s disc jockeys, Gregg Hughes and Anthony Curnia, (Cumia) provided a running commentary of the day’s events, often creating inhumane and degrading nicknames such as “Tippy Tom” and “Buttered Roll” for the participants. (Actually the names the show hosts use are the names that the participants call themselves and/or are known by on the streets in 90% of the cases, including “Tippy Tom”)
“This so-called shopping spree is a sick and twisted exercise that degrades the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston. (While Menino applauds his city of Boston for counting the homeless, the Opie and Anthony show and it’s listeners spent THOUSANDS of dollars helping a handful of homeless.) “The fact that WBCN has chosen the homeless and the holidays to present this humiliating and shameful attempt at humor is inhumane and shameful.” (I’m sure that Menino’s counting is much more helpful.) In a country suffering from an epidemic of violence against our homeless population, the cruel practices in Opie and Anthony’s show take advantage of vulnerable people in vulnerable situations. What kind of society do we live in that there’s humor in feeding someone’s alcoholism? Ridiculing homeless individuals has become an almost socially acceptable form of entertainment. There would be an outrage if any other minority group was singled out with such derision. (So only white males are fair game?)
This casual acceptance of homeless directed ridicule treads dangerous water. Words of hate (words of hate and words of humor are two completely different things) against homeless persons can quickly escalate into actions of hate. Actions that have resulted in violence targeted at over 500 homeless men, women and children and 183 deaths over the past 8 years (please provide proof that making jokes about someone leads to acts of violence). Shockingly, an overwhelming majority of these crimes have been committed by teenagers.
Even a city known for its innovative practices to end homelessness has not evaded this perverse trend. Earlier this year, Scott Capella was attacked in March as he slept in Langone Park. Capella awoke after being kicked in the back and was then lit on fire by two men calling him a “homeless bum”. Capella luckily survived but sustained serious second degree burns from the attack. Events like those seen on Opie and Anthony’s show are becoming more common. The show closely follows the theme of the Bumfights film series and www.bumfights.com. The movies, created in 2001, similarly offer alcohol and cash incentives for homeless men and women to perform dangerous stunts. (BUZZZZZZZZ, wrong, but thanks for playing. Bumfights encouraged the homeless to fight each other, the Homeless Shopping Spree encouraged fans of the radio show to give money to the homeless and help them buy things in a snooty mall, bringing the homeless to a place where the people normally pretend that the homeless do not exist. The GAP even refused service to the homeless, funny how that does not offend you as much as giving money to the homeless does.) To date, the Bumfights series has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and spawned Bumfights 1 through 4 as well as other “bum” inspired videos like Bumhunting. The Opie and Anthony event will gain further recognition when it airs on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday, December 21st. (Um, wait, what? No, Opie and Anthony appeared on the Tonight Show to promote their radio show, nothing to do with the Homeless Shopping Spree was mentioned, no video or audio was aired, and was never planned to air on the Tonight Show. This was a simple appearance by two radio hosts as happens regularly on the late night shows.) Coincidentally, the segment’s airdate falls on the seventeenth annual National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day. This year to honor the day, the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council is planning a Candlelight Vigil in Washington, D.C. to commemorate those who have died as a result of homelessness. (Instead of wasting money on candles so that you can sleep better at night thinking you “make a difference” how about you take 10 or 20 bucks find a homeless person and take them shopping to get something that they need, or maybe spend a little bit more and buy them a night at a hotel so that for at least one night they can shower & then sleep in a warm bed?) Similar services are being held in cities throughout the country. Opie and Anthony’s glorification of the degradation of homeless people contradicts the hard work done by those to memorialize those lost to homelessness. Shame on Opie and Anthony for their need to degrade the homeless for a laugh. Shame on the two thousand people who showed up to watch the event. (Shame on them for being generous and GIVING to people who need it and raising awareness of the people of that snooty mall to the plight of the homeless, no wait, those are GOOD things.) Shame on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for giving this even greater national exposure. (All I can say is someone needs to learn how to google search this is just a FLAT OUT LIE!) Shame on those who do nothing to end America’s continuous attempts to deny homeless people the treatment they deserve. (Shame on someone who thinks that a candle light vigil helps someone who is cold and sleeping on the street while BERATING people who are actually helping a handful of homeless. Trust me, I would let people make some jokes at me for a lot less than what those homeless got from the Opie and Anthony Show.) NCH would never wish homelessness on any individual but if Opie and Anthony should have the misfortune of becoming homeless, we hope they will see homelessness in a different light and be less quick to continue their sadistic treatment of homeless persons.
Jessica Schuler works as a civil rights policy analyst at the National Coalition for the Homeless. (but she apparently does not spend any time researching a topic before just flying off the handle.)