homeless

A trendy new game: ‘bum fighting’

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:52:55 +0200

Some young Americans have launched an utterly sinister trend: organising fights between homeless people ("bum fights"), then posting the video of the clash on YouTube.

It all began with a "bum fighting" DVD, which came out in 2001 and sold 6.8 million copies. The producers of this DVD were sentenced, in 2003, to community service and their site was closed, but the trend had begun. According to a report published by the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), there are more and more videos on the internet of "bum fighting" or which show homeless people being made to do dangerous activities (go down a staircase in a trolley or on a skateboard for example), in exchange for a pack of beers or a few dollars. The NGO found almost 86,000 videos on YouTube containing "bum" (a highly pejorative term for homeless people) in their title, adding that almost 15,000 of them were posted last year. Most of these videos to which the NGO refers do not show pictures of the fighting, as these are deleted by YouTube, but pictures of "bum fighting" are easily accessible on specialised sites.

According to the NCH, 106 homeless people in the US were beaten up for no reason in 2008, of which 27 were beaten to death. In most cases, the homeless people are attacked by groups of young people, who then circulate the videos on the Web.

Washington, D.C. has already extended its law on hate crimes to include attacks on homeless people, and the US Congress is currently studying a federal law on the subject.

Buskers find fame online

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:53:11 +0100

Dub FX in Bristol. Image posted on Flickr by "Swishrelic".

From the Bristol "beatboxer" to the Indian percussionist family, here's our selection of the best buskers from around the world, now available off the streets and online...

The explosion of video-sharing websites and blogs has propelled some street musicians to stardom on the internet. Thanks to short videos filmed on mobiles and cameras by passers-by, some buskers have even been invited to perform at concerts and to make records. Street artists explain, however, that while fame is now a possibility, street performing remains an underground discipline that provides a unique interaction with people.

Homeless in Beni Mellal left for dead – literally

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:56:48 +0100

A freakish cold spell in the Moroccan town of Beni Mellal has already killed at least ten people this year. Our Observer there condemns the inaction of the public authorities.

Nike evicting tramps from Tokyo park

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:55:54 +0200

Images by "IRA_K" in Tokyo.

Nike Japan has bought a run down park in central Tokyo and renamed it the Nike Park. The multinational supplier plans to build a skate park and cafe, introduce an entrance fee, and kick out a group of homeless dwellers who live there in shacks.

Tucked away in the Shibuya Ward business district, Miyashita Park is a bare and shabby park, largely neglected except for minor alterations in 2006. For the 34 homeless people who live there in tarpaulin shacks, Nike Japan's plans to make it into a spotless space for paying customers, doesn't come as good news. Nike has already pledged 150m yen (€1m) in buying the naming rights of the public space (something not unusual in Japan) and will plough another 450m yen (€3m) into renovating the park. But not everyone is pleased with the fancy plans. A group of activists has set up a campaign called "Keep it Miyashita", which argues that, amongst other things, the new development will deprive "people forced to live on the streets" of this "life-saving place".

"Third world conditions" an hour's drive from Hollywood

Julien — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:43:28 +0100

An area that was designated for 18 homeless people from California last July became a "city" of tents harbouring around 400 homeless residents from all over the US. A former resident of the refuge explains why hundreds of people are forced to live in "third world conditions", and another tells us that linking the issue to the subprime crisis is just media hype.

As publicity for "Tent City" in Ontario grew, so did its popularity. But with over 400 people sharing two hose pipes and six toilets, the sprawling encampment was at bursting point. Last Thursday the city's mayor Paul Leyon announced that the California-based refuge would be telling 230 of its residents to go back to where they came from. The "clean-up" would introduce fencing and security and a no-pets policy. And on Monday this week, police arrived to check that any non-permit-holders had been transported back to their cities.