BUDDY, CAN YOU SPARE A BED

"Once in khaki dress, gee we looked swell. Full of Yankee doodle dum" goes the old song and it still applies today judging by the treatment handed out to veterans in New York. "The only homeless shelter in New York just for veterans will close in August for renovations, which city officials say will improve conditions there. But the plans are upsetting some of its residents. The shelter, the Borden Avenue Veterans’ Residence, in Long Island City, Queens, is to reopen in November with a little more than half its current number of beds, according to officials, who also say the refurbished facility may charge rent, which it does not do now." (New York Times, 26 July) It is all very well being cheered by the admiring public during a war but the realities of capitalism after it has used you are far from cheering. RD