How can a homeless person who has been injured (stabbed, for instance) expect to be treated at a U.S. city hospital with no money or health insurance? Surely they wouldn't let him bleed to death? And if they do turn him away, what are his options?
posted by Sully on Feb 1, 2009 - 21 answers

I'm looking for good books about other people's misery. [more inside]
posted by kmennie on Jan 23, 2007 - 37 answers

How do I interpret CPI (consumer price index) in the following table? [more inside]
posted by frankie_stubbs on Jun 8, 2006 - 7 answers

More American urban sociology: I live in a city with a diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures. How come the only people I ever see begging for spare change are either white or black? Why do I never see asians or hispanics begging? Is this a real cultural phenomenon, or am I just making false conclusions based on a too-small sample size? [more inside]
posted by kenoshakid on Apr 21, 2006 - 13 answers

I ride the Paris metro every day to get around the city, and I've only recently noticed a strange phenomenon. At two different metro stops I've seen homeless people repeating the word "seven" in English over and over again at random intervals. I can't think of any French words it could be that I might be mishearing, especially since the 'n' is very pronounced and the vowels sound English enough. Can anyone explain what's going on here?
posted by themadjuggler on Apr 15, 2005 - 38 answers