Well, at least in San Paulo it looks affordable.

Just stake out a spot, drag some sheet metal over and viola! you have an affordable house!

Just try THAT in NYC.

I'm sure her recommendation will be to stop the stifling rent controls, loosen regulations and move the UN building and creeps to the Congo and use the land and space freed up by their leaving to help...

What, it's possible...

Rick, yes, strictly speaking, that housing in Rio does appear to be affordable...

interesting video of raquel....visually she's what i would call a stereotypical or archetypal moonbat....prototypal nearly

yes, it's true.....i have the ability to judge a person's merit or worth by their appearance...

i say, does the U.N. go to central casting for these nits ?

i say, does the U.N. go to central casting for these nits ?
~john begley

It's all in the diet.

The great UN, where Col. Sanders can show up at any time to cook these fools some finger lickin good chicken also. What a waste of resources this UN is, shut it down and sell the buildings to house the homeless, that would be doing the world some good.

I disagree with housing the homeless, unless they are homeless from some sort of natural disaster.
Giving away free things devalues those things, unless the give away is done as a promotion to sell more of that thing.

Didn't we learn anything from the sub-prime mortgage housing bubble fiasco?

free housing always seems to deteriorate much faster then the bought kind

welfare is the most dehumanizing socialist tool there is, a leg UP is far more constructive than a hand out

It's been done in Canada already....

Here's Babs Hall introducing special rapper from the UN Miloon Katari's (from India) talk on Canadian housing problem.

Here's good old Miloon's speech..

Where I hail from the left is constantly flapping thier lips about affordable housing, at the same time they are constantly fighting basement suites,cabins,bathrooms in outbuildings,etc. If they would just shut up and back off the problem would be solved, thats too simple for a lefty thought.

The UN again proves that they are just irrelevant and desperately trying to increase their scope and role on the World Stage before they are lost to the shifting sands of time.

In the past the UN focused on the developing world, trying to assist them in advancing their societies to close the gap between developed and developing. The Millennium Project for example.

They failed miserably. So now they are attempting the reverse and are looking at the developed world and figuring out ways to close the gap by slowing the growth and progress of the wealthiest nations and shifting more wealth to the developed world outside of the normal aid channels.

This highlighting of poverty in rich nations is an attempt to show that a more socialist hand is needed to close the gap between the poor and the rest of the population at home. By emphasizing this in country they can then expand it to the Global Society at large. The point is to tap the wider public moral outrage at perceived greed and inequality showing poverty in the same city as Wall Street.

Throw in some mandatory Global Governance and wealth re-distribution in the form of climate agreements and reparations and you have the new relevant UN.

On the subject of homeless, I work in Vancouver and there are quite a few here, plus I am well aware of the housing that is available and 2 things keep these people on the street.

1) Our society seems to think that common rooms and shared washroom facilities are "infringements on human rights" for the homeless, we want them all to have privacy and their own rooms that makes the current housing level inadequate (same in jails).

2) These people choose to be on the street, they choose this life it is not forced on them because there are 1,000 paths out of the poverty provided free of charge but they require some sort of commitment and application of willpower to see through.

Do not get me started on the enabling of poverty through welfare rant...

So now housing is a basic human right...what next?

..bob..

The left considers affordable housing as government run/owned, with large buildings or comlexes employing, administrators, tradesmen and the usual grunts all at subsidized union wages.

Allowing privately owned basement suites helps solve the affordable housing problem, but goes against the beliefs of the left.
Owners of basement suites rarely hire administrators or join unions.
As such they will never be a cash cow for unions, which is why the left abhors them.

Dan's hitting close the real ploy here.

If housing becomes a basic human right, and the government has the duty to provide that right, the day will come when the government declares my home, that I bought and paid for, to be too large for my needs, and the government will either confiscate my home or force me to take in tenants of the government's choosing.

Reasonable people have tolerated the perception of the UN as some kind of sand box where the "kids" can play and as long as they stay in the box they would remain harmless. The reality is that the sand box walls have disintegrated long ago and they are now the next tier of creeping governance. UN = Uber-leviathan.

Oz

Remember Dr. Zhivago?

I foresee the day when expropriation and demolition of single family homes is carried out to erect apartments under the "Smart" Growth planning philosophy.

As a child I lived in Rio for a couple years. The most surprising thing to me at the time was the huge contrast. Beside my school were the fancy walled villas, on the other side jumbled masses of tiny red brick single room homes on the steep mountain slope. Mercedes parked on the street, with women washing cloths in the drainage ditch.

After returning to Canada I came to the conclusion that there's not really any poor or many rich people in Canada.

The Left distrusts private housing and favours collective, cooperative apartment living. Think of Jack Layton and O. Chow living in subsidized housing in Toronto until outed by newspaper reports. The preferred mode is the Soviet or E German model, thousands of drab apartment buidings to hold the citizens where the government can keep an eye on them. Private houses are for the ruling elite.

The Dippers already support the government confiscating private homes so the government can divi the housing out compassionately. This is the long term agenda of the socialists.

Btw, the Democrats seem to be in full stride in their attempt to tax the existing wealth of citizens. I believe they call it a "value added tax". This means that the government will require all Americans to divulge the value of their assets( an “inventory” as Pelosi called it) so it can be decided how much of your stuff you really need.

The objectives of the socialist amongst us has never been clearer. One can only hope that private citizens wake-up to this betrayal of western values and the constitution in the US before it's too late.

BTW, I have devised the solution to all of our domestic problems. The reason our society has swayed so far from its roots is because of the conflict of interest voters have at the polls. Voters are constantly confronted with what best for them in the short term vs what’s best for the country; therefore, people vote for parties intent on causing damage to our lifestyles to advance their personal agenda. Not very progressive, but I digress. The solution, as farfetched as it may seem is : Public servants/people that work for the government should NOT be allowed to vote. Working for the government is not a right, it’s a choice; so, someone in that position should have to forfeit their vote while they have a conflict of interest. JMO

"Dan's hitting close the real ploy here.
Posted by: Mark Peters at October 28, 2009 11:38 AM"

Ploy? It's an absolute fact. Listen to Miloon's speech at my link above.

A good piece in FEE's October issue of The Freeman. Good stuff on public housing disasters but also National Parks and natural disasters like Katrina. Executive summary: maintenance is boring and is below the radar for vote-buying purposes; no ribbon cutting ceremonies for maintenance.

Why the Government Fails to Maintain Anything

Agreed MND.

Campaigning on nuts and bolts for a bridge isn't as sexy as say saving the world, social justice or tax breaks for that matter. This is compounded by the fact if you do maintain the bridge it won't fall creating the perception of wasted money. It's the exact opposite of the Goricle Effect(GE) which is "since the world isn't over Gore must have saved us". We're feeling the "GE" in Canada right now, I've notice a substantial change in temperature since BC instituted they're Carbon tax. It must be working!

Does that mean tax breaks if we enter an ice age?

Indiana Homez, I like to call it "the Elephant Sticks Effect".

Me: Walking around banging 2 sticks together.

Passer By: "Hey, why are you walking around banging those sticks together?"

Me: "To protect us and drive off the rampaging elephants."

Passer By: "Are you nuts?", "There aren't any elephants around here!"

Me: "See!" "It works just great doesn't it?"

I'm a hero. (:^D

free housing always seems to deteriorate much faster then the bought kind.'Got that right >Just look at any reserve.And before bleet and the rest of the clowns scream rasict....guess what...telling the truth does not make me racist....however,denying the facts does make you racist pimps!

Kathy Shaidle had it right.....

"If one of the 911 suicide planes had banked slightly to the right...some good may have come of it."

Oz: "If housing becomes a basic human right, and the government has the duty to provide that right"

...then they can only do it by obligating, ultimately at gunpoint, another to provide the means.

That's not a right; that's theft.

Some people talk about helping the poor but don't actually do it. That's what people like Mother Teresa were for and one could see the "high regard" with which the UN held her.

Kathryn, that's how taxation works.

Growing up they were termed bums. That's verbal incentive to get one's behind in gear.

There's evidence of a failed IQ test here. When an un- or underemployed individual lives in or moves to one of the most expensive cities in the world ending up on the street, that individual failed the IQ test.

As it is, I've been handing out twenties to the bums hitchhiking south on I-29. Had a guy Tuesday with his golden retriever on a very unpromising on-ramp. Winter came early to the Plains and I'm very willing to help them get the hell out of Dodge although it is heartbreaking to see strapping men.

Wonder how many jackasses in prii would be willing to do the same.

...trying to find rides on the interstate.

I spent a year living in Egypt. Now there is a contrast. Try walking around Cairo,where the homeless live in the cemetry - and yet the Arab world is awash in money, none of which goes to alleviating the homeless Arab in other countries.

Let the Arabs have the UN.

So long as the move it lock stock and barrel on their own dime.

IMO ... Canada should quit the UNited Network of socialist parasites.

I second OMMAG's motion!

In my opinion anybody who's on welfare or living in subsidized housing should not be allowed to vote.
Just being cranky.

The UN has a full bore attack on "Individual Property Rights". It's one of the stumbling blocks on the way to global Communism. (Obama father's economic opinion paper)

The bastards will infringe with every hair-ball initiative, AGW, Smoking, Etc

The Regina leader Post published a report
“Cost of Tobacco Diseases” Anne Kyle.

The following is my results of a goggle search, which I sent to the leader Post.

Genuine Progress Index Atlantic Report is a “Political Advocacy Group” produced by Dr Ronald Coleman (History & UN speech writer), Janet Rhymes (BEd, MA) Oxfam Public Engagement, Advocacy and Champaign Team. They are not Economists or Health Experts The report is Junk .

“Genuine Progress Index” is a part of “Redefining Progress” Oakland CA.. Founded by Ted Halstead. (Marxist Activist) Green Economy

The idea that anyone would commission (pay) this group to write/judge that group's own Anti-Tobacco agenda, with bogus economic analysis by unqualified authors, becomes hilarious until you realize that the Health Organization “Canadian Cancer Society” has used money donated for Health research to fund a Political Advocacy Group.

There is a good article over at the American Thinker - titled "UN Agenda 21 - Coming to a neighborhood near You. It's already with us.

If you consider most of those living in that ghetto were probably living in the rain forest just a few years ago, they've "come a long way baby".
sorta?

"As it is, I've been handing out twenties to the bums"
You are the reason these people are out there begging in the first place.
I've heard some of these "bums" vacation in Florida for the winter and drive Mercedes Benz when they aren't out on their street corner?

"In my opinion anybody who's on welfare or living in subsidized housing should not be allowed to vote"
Especially if they vote Liberal.

"The outbreak is most remembered for the mass immunization that it prompted in the United States. The strain itself killed one person and hospitalized 13. However, side-effects from the vaccine caused hundreds of deaths." wiki

"just get your shotS" lemmings

The outbreak was H1N1 -1976 but it never left the army base it started from.
not "mongrelised" enough I guess

oops, wrong post for that last comment.