Society's Child

Historic high: 11.4 million Americans spend half their income on rent

RT
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 01:52 UTC

Comment: While bankers and elites count their millions...

The cost-burden for renters is at a historic high, a Harvard University housing report found. Over six years, the number of Americans paying half their salary on rent has grown from 2.1 million to 11.4 million. Median rent is now $1,381 per month.

The report provides a current assessment of the state of housing markets for rental and homeownership, the economic trends driving demand and the financial health of American households.

Among its findings were that, as the housing crash fades, the national housing market could be an engine of growth again for the US economy ‒ except it is being hampered by the increase in income inequality.

"[Income] inequality increased over the past decade, with households earning under $25,000 accounting for nearly 45 percent of the net growth in US households in 2005-2015," stated the report The State of the Nation's Housing 2016 released on Wednesday. The report found that "the national homeownership rate has been on an unprecedented 10-year downtrend, sliding to just 63.7 percent in 2015."

While homeownership has been sliding, last year saw the biggest surge in new renters in the US, bringing the number of people living in rental units to around 110 million people, or about 36 percent of households.

Comment: Listen to the SOTT editors discuss growing poverty and homelessness in the U.S.

The Truth Perspective: Poverty and Homelessness in America

Black Friday: Brexit vote caused 9th largest stock market crash in US history

Michael Snyder
Economic Collapse
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 11:40 UTC

Has the next Lehman Brothers moment arrived? Late Thursday night we learned that the British people had voted to leave the European Union, and this could be the "trigger event" that unleashes great financial panic all over the planet. Of course stocks have already been crashing all over the globe over the past year, but up until now we had not seen the kind of stark fear that the crash of 2008 created following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The British people are certainly to be congratulated for choosing to leave the tyrannical EU, and if I could have voted I would have voted to "leave" as well. But just as I warned 10 days ago, choosing to leave will "throw the entire continent into a state of economic and financial chaos". And "Black Friday" was just the beginning - the pain from this event is going to continue to be felt for months to come.

The shocking outcome of the Brexit vote caught financial markets completely off guard, and the carnage that we witnessed on Friday was absolutely staggering...

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 610 points, and this represented the 9th largest one day stock market crash in the history of the Dow.

-The Nasdaq was hit even harder than the Dow. It declined 4.12 percent which was the biggest one day decline since 2011.

-Overall, Black Friday erased approximately 800 billion dollars of stock market wealth in the United States.

-Thursday was the worst day ever for the British pound, and investors were stunned to see it collapse to a 31 year low.

-Friday was the worst day ever for European banking stocks.

-Friday was the worst day for Italian stocks since 1997.

-Friday was the worst day for Spanish stocks since 1987.

¡Basta ya, Brussels! British voters give EU corporate slavestate the shaft

Mike Whitney
Counterpunch
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

— Thomas Paine

British voters delivered a savage deathblow to the EU corporate superstate on Thursday sending global markets tumbling and forcing Prime Minister David Cameron to announce his resignation. The narrow victory, which caught the prognosticators by surprise, is the strongest sign yet that working people across the continent are awakening to economic and political disaster that has been created in the name of European integration. Not only has the EU failed to live up to its promise of lifting all boats and widening prosperity, it has also transformed the region into a low-growth, high unemployment charnel house where bankers and their corporate allies siphon off the wealth of the weaker states to enrich high-flying speculators and voracious bondholders. And while the referendum's outcome will surely be challenged in the months to come, it represents a critical turning point in the public's attitude towards a thoroughly reactionary and odious institution that is solely responsible for the abysmal state of the economy, the progressive erosion of living standards, and steady rise of right wing extremism. Here's a short clip from Raul Ilargi Meijer explaining what Brexit really means:

Smart move! Germany passes law to ban fracking

Phys.org
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:00 UTC

$germnay bans fracking$

German lawmakers Friday approved a law that essentially bans fracking, ending years of dispute over the controversial technology to release oil and gas locked deep underground.

The text does not outlaw conventional drilling for oil and gas, but leaves it up to state governments to decide on individual cases.

But fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, which is carried out by blasting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground to release shale oil and gas, will be banned.

Only a handful of projects for scientific or non-commercial purposes are likely to meet the conditions.

Fracking has been largely unregulated in Germany until now, and the current coalition government under Angela Merkel has been working for months to draw up the proposed rules.

The coalition had put forward a draft law on the issue in April 2015, but the text was mothballed due to strong divisions over the subject.

Hot feet: Dozens burned after fire-walking event at Tony Robbins seminar

Giles Hudson
CBS DFW
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 18:27 UTC

Dozens of people were burned Thursday night after walking over hot coals at a Tony Robbins motivational seminar in Dallas, and at least five of those hurt had to be hospitalized, officials said.

Ambulances were lined up outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center just after 11 p.m. Those who were more seriously injured were taken to the Parkland Hospital Burn Center.

Members of Dallas Fire-Rescue also asked that a Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) bus be used as a staging-area for between 30 and 40 people who were less seriously hurt.

"Apparently, as part of a motivational event being held at the location, several people attempted to walk across hot coals," said Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans. "As a result, a large number of these people sustained burn injuries to their feet and lower extremities."

FBI's "gay conspiracy" theory: Witnesses and friends are all lying when they say Mateen was gay, frequented Pulse, used dating app

RT
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 18:11 UTC

There is no evidence that Omar Mateen frequented Pulse Nightclub, had gay lovers or used gay dating apps, federal investigators said after looking through not just the Orlando attacker's electronic history, but also that of those making the assertions.

Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 at Pulse, an Orlando gay nightclub, on June 12. During the attack, he called the police and said he was acting on behalf of Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS/ISIL) and in protest of US bombing of Iraq and Syria.

Later, however, several Pulse regulars said they had seen Mateen at the club or been contacted by him on gay dating apps such as Grindr, Jack'd and Adam4Adam. On Tuesday, Univision aired an interview with a masked man identified as "Miguel," who claimed he had sex with Mateen, and that he and the Orlando attacker had engaged in an unprotected threesome with a Puerto Rican man claiming to be HIV positive.

Comment: Some possibilities:

All these men are lying, FBI is telling the truth.
Both are telling the truth, which might suggest that someone was impersonating Mateen for quite some time.
The FBI is lying through its teeth.

Man claims he was Omar Mateen's lover, killing probably a revenge attack, not terrorism

Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 17:14 UTC

Omar Mateen

A man claiming to be a former gay lover of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen has come forward to proclaim that the Pulse nightclub massacre was not a terrorist attack based on Islamic fundamentalism, but rather a form of "revenge."

This new information seems to directly refute the official narrative that Mateen was motivated by a desire to carry out an attack of Islamic terror in the name of ISIS, which is based solely on the 911 call made by Mateen during the massacre.

"I've cried like you have no idea," the heavily disguised man, identified only as "Miguel," told Spanish language channel Univision News. "But the thing that makes me want to tell the truth is that he didn't do it for terrorism. In my opinion he did it for revenge."

Comment: Another piece of data to keep in mind as the story develops. Strangely, this latest twist adds a further dynamic to the narrative: both sympathy and antipathy towards the LGBT community. There's an angle for everyone...

Also, keep this one in mind: Orlando shooter thought he was losing grip on reality, spent last days researching anti-psychotic meds.

Man arrested in NYC subway; police stand around and watch as he dies of asthma attack

Matt Agorist
The Free Thought Project
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:36 UTC

A 25-year-old resident of New York died in a subway station surrounded by those sworn to protect, a disturbing new video shows.

On September 17, 2013, Barrington Williams was selling illegal MetroCard swipes. For the crime of letting people into the subway with his unlimited pass for a smaller fee than the metro, Williams would die while police stood around and watched.

The surveillance footage from inside the Yankee Stadium subway station was released this week showing cops chasing and then tackling Williams for this petty crime.

In the video, we can see that Williams is handcuffed at 1:57 p.m. Not until the Fire department arrived over 10 minutes later, however, did anyone begin life-saving procedures on a man who was in clear medical distress.

Spellbound? Leading anti-war progressives have begun speaking favorably of Trump

John V. Walsh
Dissident Voice
Mon, 20 Jun 2016 16:04 UTC

Until recently the progressive mind has been resolutely closed and stubbornly frozen in place against all things Trump.

But cracks are appearing in the ice. With increasing frequency over the last few months some of the most thoughtful left and progressive figures have begun to speak favorably of aspects of Trump's foreign policy. Let us hear from these heretics, among them William Greider, Glen Ford, John Pilger,Jean Bricmont, Stephen F. Cohen and William Blum. Their words are not to be construed as "endorsements," but rather an acknowledgement of Trump's anti-interventionist views, the impact those views are having and the alternative he poses to Hillary Clinton in the current electoral contest.

First let's consider the estimable William Greider, a regular contributor to The Nation and author of Secrets of the Temple. He titled a recent article for the Nation, "Donald Trump Could be The Military Industrial Complex's Worst Nightmare: The Republican Front Runner is Against Nation Building. Imagine That."

Comment: The reality is that it doesn't matter who is [S]elected president by the Powers That Be. Once they are in office, they are expected to conform to the imperial ways that the wealthy elites demand. Many politicians have made empty promises to change the way things are done while campaigning. Obama is a clear example of a politician lying to get elected. While Trump may seem like a loose cannon to the neocons, he can easily be brought into line with a few threats, implicit or explicit, made to him

Sixth-graders in Israel accidentally received DVDs with porn instead of school film as graduation present

Sputnik
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 16:00 UTC

Yep! You heard us right. A school in Israel presented students upon graduation with DVDs which contained pornography instead of school film. Now, that is a memorable graduation!

The incident occurred in the city of Haifa, according to Life.ru. The sixth graders received an unusual surprise at their class graduation party. The discs which were supposed to have a film about their school instead had pornographic footage on them.

The parent of one of the students was shocked to discover the actual content of the DVD. Upon this unusual discovery they rushed to inform other parents.

Angry parents appealed to the board of the school for clarification. The board explained this incident saying that it could have happened because the company which was recording the school film on the DVDs was reusing the discs on which earlier adult films were being recorded.

The school promised to correct this error as soon as possible and offered their apologies.

Comment: Did no one think to check the DVDs before giving them away?

What(?), ..thought Charlie didn't surf [Link]

Jibrish

SBC says "Hang em... All the jab pushers." to which I add 'after fair trials.' You know all of the TV/film/fiction tropes about 'pushers' giving...

Rowan Cocoan

Good. Shut the bitch up. She was his girlfriend for Christ's sake! MeToo is a Team FUKUSraHell psyop. (I don't know why they threw Weinstein under...

Rowan Cocoan

Winternights3 There's probs a good connection! Just think about it.

sbc

Moving the goalposts. and people are too shit stupid to notice or care

sbc

Society's Child

Historic high: 11.4 million Americans spend half their income on rent

Black Friday: Brexit vote caused 9th largest stock market crash in US history

¡Basta ya, Brussels! British voters give EU corporate slavestate the shaft

Smart move! Germany passes law to ban fracking

Hot feet: Dozens burned after fire-walking event at Tony Robbins seminar

FBI's "gay conspiracy" theory: Witnesses and friends are all lying when they say Mateen was gay, frequented Pulse, used dating app

Man claims he was Omar Mateen's lover, killing probably a revenge attack, not terrorism

Man arrested in NYC subway; police stand around and watch as he dies of asthma attack

Spellbound? Leading anti-war progressives have begun speaking favorably of Trump

Sixth-graders in Israel accidentally received DVDs with porn instead of school film as graduation present

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