Fwd: I did see homelessness as a PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD back in 2014 ( PROJO letter titled " For safety's sake fight homelessness " )

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Ron Ruggieri <radicalron72647@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2021 at 09:57
Subject: I did see homelessness as a PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD back in 2014 ( PROJO letter titled " For safety's sake fight homelessness " )
To: <letter@globe.com>

I note that in today's news the mayor of Boston now sees the homeless population there as a PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD . Of course , being homeless is not recommended for anybody's good health.

['There is an urgency': Janey unveils Mass. and Cass plan as ...https://www.bostonglobe.com › 2021/10/19 › metro › jan...

1 day ago — Boston authorities declared addiction and homelessness in the city to be a public health crisis, while Acting Mayor Kim Janey unveiled steps ...]

My published October 6,2014 letter in the Providence Journal :

[It was obvious to me years ago that homeless people in America constitute a public health hazard. Picture a sickly looking homeless man with filthy hands and a tubercular cough visiting your favorite fast food joint, touching everything that you might touch in there. On Oct. 5, I read this NBC news report : "Authorities Search for Homeless Man Exposed to Dallas Ebola Patient."

Is it not a lot easier to keep track of people -- even suspected terrorists -- who are not homeless? Homelessness is really a cruel form of social ostracism. Even depressed, exhausted homeless people living in their cars are a threat to public safety.

We can't outlaw the Ebola virus, but we can make ourselves safer -- or more worthy of merciful divine judgment -- by ending homelessness in America.

Without criminalizing the homeless, homelessness should be declared illegal. The guilty here should be sentenced only to a half decent place to live.

Ron Ruggieri ]

75 Mathewson St., Cranston, Rhode Island ( 401-580-7432 )

PROVIDENCEJOURNAL.COM

The Providence Journal