Poor in Northeast set to freeze to death

[OutHouse]

Guess they should have saved more when they we working.

what a asshole flippant comment.

 

[EagleKeeper]

You have a wood stove and a child or grand child chop wood for you. If you arent allowed to have a wood stove then you move someplace where you can have one, it will be cheaper anyway. If you have no children or grandchildren then you buy the wood and have it delivered. Small town churches do that kind of stuff all day long. Witha little luck you can get free wood all winter long.

Harder to do in the city, but the same concept applies.

 

[dank69]

Harder to do in the city, but the same concept applies.

So it's not easy for some of these poor to build campfires in their 1 bedroom apartments like some posters would like to believe?

 

[EagleKeeper]

So it's not easy for some of these poor to build campfires in their 1 bedroom apartments like some posters would like to believe?

It is easy to

• Seal the walls/doors from drafts - caulking
• Add storm windows/doors (plastic sheeting)
• Use throw rugs against outside doors
• Insulate Windows - Heavy drapes
• Insulate the walls - Drapes if one can not blow insulation in between the walls.
• Insulate the floors - heavy rugs, or blankets
• Heavy rugs will insulate the floor.

It can easily add 10 degrees warmth to a room with such tricks.

 

[dank69]

It is easy to

• Seal the walls/doors from drafts - caulking
• Add storm windows/doors (plastic sheeting)
• Use throw rugs against outside doors
• Insulate Windows - Heavy drapes
• Insulate the walls - Drapes if one can not blow insulation in between the walls.
• Insulate the floors - heavy rugs, or blankets
• Heavy rugs will insulate the floor.

It can easily add 10 degrees warmth to a room with such tricks.

At 92 I don't think she can do those things herself, and with an income of ~$11k/yr I doubt she has a single cent to spare on home maintenance/repairs.

 

[EagleKeeper]

At 92 I don't think she can do those things herself, and with an income of ~$11k/yr I doubt she has a single cent to spare on home maintenance/repairs.

That is what the liberal social services groups are for.

Instead of spending the time whining about how hard it is for those people; get out and have two people spend an afternoon and $50 to help solve those problems.

 

[Jhhnn]

It is easy to

• Seal the walls/doors from drafts - caulking
• Add storm windows/doors (plastic sheeting)
• Use throw rugs against outside doors
• Insulate Windows - Heavy drapes
• Insulate the walls - Drapes if one can not blow insulation in between the walls.
• Insulate the floors - heavy rugs, or blankets
• Heavy rugs will insulate the floor.

It can easily add 10 degrees warmth to a room with such tricks.

What leads you to believe most of that isn't already being done?

At 92 I don't think she can do those things herself, and with an income of ~$11k/yr I doubt she has a single cent to spare on home maintenance/repairs.

She rents, and owners of slum-like dwellings won't put a dime into maintenance that they don't have to do. A small trailer in the midst of greater Boston is obviously a slum-like dwelling.

Give her a break? Please. Only if they're the beneficiaries of her life insurance, in which case they'd hire gangstas to break her neck.

 

[cybrsage]

That is what the liberal social services groups are for.

Instead of spending the time whining about how hard it is for those people; get out and have two people spend an afternoon and $50 to help solve those problems.

You have me confused. You used the term liberal and then proceded to talk about them not demanding other people do these things and instead said they should do it.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by cybrsage
What did poor people do for the last 32,000 years (the length of time people inhabited the East Coast of upper North America)?

They died. Well before they were 92 anyway.

I bet the Rich Republicans on here love this and chomping at the bit for a repeat performance of 2003 freezing deaths:

2-5-2003

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/feb2003/cold-f05.shtml

Homeless, poor freeze in US cold wave

The recent cold spell in the central and eastern US has claimed dozens of lives and led to widespread hardship among the poor, the elderly and the homeless. After several exceptionally mild winters, the weather has returned to more normal patterns. The impact of the season’s cold wave highlights the desperate conditions facing millions of people in the United States confronted with rising unemployment and the relentless slashing of social services at the federal, state and local level.

The very limited assistance provided to the poor and the homeless is inadequate in many cases to even maintain the bare essentials of life. In cities across the US the winter of 2003 has brought scenes reminiscent of the nineteenth century: people huddled in unheated homes or sleeping on the floor in overcrowded homeless shelters; thousands seeking refuge on door stoops, in alleyways or under bridges.

* In Chicago a reported 19 people have died due to the cold

* In Philadelphia, three elderly people were found dead from hypothermia

 

[cybrsage]

Why do homeless purposefully live in the states where it gets below freezing at night?

If I was homeless, I would walk to a southern state to live.

 

[xj0hnx]

Why do homeless purposefully live in the states where it gets below freezing at night?

If I was homeless, I would walk to a southern state to live.

Lots of the younger ones do, at least the groups I knew did. They hit NE after spending the winters either in FL, or the Bay Area. Truly indigent homeless though, that are mentally ill, or all fucked up don't really have what it takes to hop trains, or walk across country.

 

[Fern]

$3,000 for heating fuel?

That's insane. It's not 12 months of Winter there.

My thermostat is set at 60. We wear sweaters and use blankets etc.

Fern

 

[Doppel]

$3,000 for heating fuel?

That's insane. It's not 12 months of Winter there.

My thermostat is set at 60. We wear sweaters and use blankets etc.

Fern

Of course it's ridiculous. In New England, other than occasional extreme days, you'll be using heat to some extent from October-April, but only really cranking it out for around the three coldest months and only the most inefficient system ever or a large space (which you shouldn't have if you're on 12k/year) is going to need $3000/year in oil. Maybe she likes to keep the house at 92F in the winter.

 

[Munky]

Yawn... Anoter liberal tear jerker attempt to appeal to the whimsical emotions and justify wealth redistribution. I suppose we should just hand all our money to the government, so it can wisely allocate it where it's needed, just like what happened in communist Russia, China and North Korea.

 

[SilthDraeth]

Of course it's ridiculous. In New England, other than occasional extreme days, you'll be using heat to some extent from October-April, but only really cranking it out for around the three coldest months and only the most inefficient system ever or a large space (which you shouldn't have if you're on 12k/year) is going to need $3000/year in oil. Maybe she likes to keep the house at 92F in the winter.

1 degree per year of age is how I reckon it also.

But as I said earlier, 1k in spray on polyurethane foam insulation would fix her heating costs for the life of the house, and any one else who lives in it.

*shrug*

 

[mattpegher]

How about two options that dont involve heating a drafty mobile home.

1. Snow bird. - spend a little time down south
2. Find this little old lady a house with better insulation.

 

[woolfe9999]

Another liberal with misguided compassion (you're probably young, stupid, and still idealistic too aren't you?) You fail :thumbsdown:

This country is turning into a bunch of emotional non street-smart sissies.

Damn straight. We CLEARLY need to give way less of a shit about other people in this country. Our problem is that we aren't self-centered enough. Seriously, what is WRONG with you people?

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Damn straight. We CLEARLY need to give way less of a shit about other people in this country. Our problem is that we aren't self-centered enough. Seriously, what is WRONG with you people?

Explain to me why everyone else should subsidize this women to live in a cold part of the country? How does that make sense for anyone? This isn't a necessity like food stamps. How about we look this social problem rationally instead of blindly throwing money at it?

 

[mattpegher]

I dont mind subsidizing the poor to create a minimal level of standard of living. I do take offense when people imply that there should be no concessions made by the poor for this subsidy. Food stamps should be usable only for basics, not preprepared crap. In this case she gets social security, if she wishes she should be offered a place to live that isnt wasteful of energy resources otherwise she can chose to live in this drafty place knowing she wont be able to afford to heat it.

By the way, there are many places in this world where 92 year olds survive with sweaters and heavy clothing in buildings that only get up to 50 degrees. We americans are just used to having our homes at warmer temperatures.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Just for reference moving her to an apartment building in the same area would cut that heating bill by at least 2/3 (assuming it's a real number which is questionable). But if you subsidize fuel bills people have no incentive to make that move.

 

[Nemesis 1]

$3000 for 1 heating season . I don't spend a $1000 and I heat the garage 24/7.

 

[cybrsage]

I live in PA and turn my heat down to 60 at night. My place never drops below 65 in the winter, though. This is because I live in a townhome, and not an end unit (on purpose), so the two houses next to me keep mine warm (women live on both sides). Add to it that I have a new home with proper insulation and it is also an energy star rated house, and I win.

Oh...and I heat with gas, which further reduces my costs and increases my warmth...all while releasing almost no pollution.

Al Gore only WISHES his carbon footprint could approach mine (ok, he actually does not care that he pollutes far more than dozens of normal people combined, but I used it for effect anyway).

 

[Zebo]

She thinks that's bad. Wait until SS checks stop.

 

[Capt Caveman]

For a thousand dollars of assistance, they could probably spray her trailer with foam insulation, and then she wouldn't need to buy heating oil ever again, or even run the AC during the summer.

Only upkeep is paint it ever three to four years to protect the foam from rotting in the sun.

Do people that post in this forum this stupid? Yes, insulating the trailer will allow her to never buy heating oil again. I'm sure those stretches in the winter when the temp is in the single digits and teens will require no heat at all.

 

[Capt Caveman]

The lack of compassion for a 92 year old woman in this thread is nothing short of despicable. D:

Par for the course for most of the douchbags in this forum. Most here won't ever see their 92nd birthday and if they do, they'll be living off some form of government assistance. This place is very sad.