A fascinating entry on the Stranger's excellent blog this afternoon by reporter Erica C.Barnett, about homeless sweeps being done in Seattle. Barnett writes:

The controversy over the sweeps, which the Times story breezes past in five short sentences consisting of an obligatory quote from a single homeless advocate, isn’t just about the fact that there aren’t enough shelter beds to meet demand, or the fact that wealthy neighbors don’t like their greenbelts being trashed by homeless people. The raids on encampments represent a violation of homeless people’s most fundamental human rights—the right to have a place to sleep, to not be subject to unjustified search and seizure of your property, to not be told to “move along” when you have no place else to go.
Perhaps someone should organize a protest at city hall—ah, they are! Since the homeless protest was met with a stonewall response here in Portland, I've changed my attitude to city politics. I realized the mayor's office doesn't care about human rights issues, and I realized I don't care any more about the mayor. I don't expect things to improve with the new one, either.

Depressing.