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More Americans are homeless than ever before, gov't data shows

tents
© Getty ImagesCities of Tents
The homeless population in the United States has reached its highest reported level, according to a report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday.

Homelessness rose 12% between 2022 and 2023 as housing and rent prices have significantly risen and aid from COVID-19 pandemic programs has plummeted, according to the report. Around 653,000 individuals were homeless on one night in January 2023, marking the highest number recorded since the U.S. began tracking it in 2007.

Homelessness rose by more than 70,000 people, according to the report. The rise in homelessness was largely attributable to people becoming homeless for the time, as that number rose by 25% between federal fiscal years 2021 and 2022, according to a press release on Friday.

Comment: Crossing the US southern border into the US people counter for 1 minute: 12 persons.


Russian Flag

Russia's Belgorod region under attack - governor

snowfighter
© Igor Ageenko/SputnikA cold day in hell...
A gunfight between Russian and Ukrainian forces is underway in a border village, Vyacheslav Gladkov has said...

The Russian village of Terebrino, in Belgorod Region, has been attacked by Ukrainian forces, local Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday. The village is located just some 2km from the Ukrainian border.

Terebrino, as well as several other locations along the border, came under artillery fire, with a gun battle between Russian and Ukrainian troops erupting on its outskirts, the governor said. The shelling caused damage to power lines, disrupting the electricity supply to several other villages.

Gladkov did not elaborate on the size of the attacking force, stating only that the situation remains "under control" of the relevant authorities.

Southwestern Belgorod, along with other Russian regions bordering Ukraine, has repeatedly been struck during Moscow's conflict with its neighbor, with border towns hit by drones, missiles and artillery.

The latest major incident came last Tuesday, when a Ukrainian Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile was shot down over the region. Russian officials have consistently charged that Ukraine is targeting civilian infrastructure along the border, which they have denounced as terrorism.

Stock Down

Own goal: NYT says Western firms lost $103 billion from exiting Russia

russia take over us businesses sanctions exit
© AFP / Alexander NemenovA worker removes McDonald's signage from a restaurant in Moscow, Russia, June 17, 2022
Moscow has ensured that local buyers get massive discounts when foreign companies sell their assets

Efforts by Ukraine and its Western backers to convince, shame, and sanction companies into leaving the Russian market have backfired, placing lucrative enterprises in Russian hands at discount prices and pumping more than a billion dollars' worth of exit taxes into Moscow's coffers, the New York Times has reported.

Within days of Russian troops entering Ukraine last February, a host of Western corporations began pulling out of the Russian market. Ukrainian activists and officials hounded those who refused to leave, while US and EU sanctions prohibited the export of goods from, and import of raw materials to, Russia.

Comment: Fair recompense for the West's wholesale looting of Russia in the '90s.


Dig

Footage shows Israel's military in 4km long Hamas tunnel, found hundreds of metres from Gaza strip crossing

tunnel hamas
© REUTERS/Amir Cohen Acquire Licensing RightsIsraeli soldiers operate near the opening to what Israel's military says is an iron-girded tunnel designed by Hamas to disgorge carloads of Palestinian fighters for a surprise storming of the border, amid the Israeli army's ongoing ground operation against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, close to Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, December 15, 2023.
The Israeli army said on Sunday it had uncovered the biggest Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip so far, just a few hundred metres from a key border crossing.

Such was its size that small vehicles would be able to travel within the tunnel, an AFP photographer granted access to it reported.

The underground passage formed part of a wider branching network that stretched for over four kilometres and came within 400 metres (1,300 feet) of the Erez border crossing, the army said in a statement.

Comment:






Cow

Make meat great again! Don't let the Globalists pull this off

steak
It's 2023, and most people are scurrying about their days making plans for the Holidays and figuring out whether to serve up a roast, a turkey or a ham. Meanwhile, over 70,000 clowns are toasting champagne at their 5 star hotels in Dubai while thinking they can tell people whether or not a roast, a turkey, or a ham is allowed. While flying around in their private jets, they giggle as they cook up their conspiracy theory on "climate change" to convince people to eat less meat. While they're dancing with politicians and coercing nations to set new policies and regulations to harm the productivity of farmers and ranchers - our food source - people should be supporting them and stand together in defiance of this nonsense.

The funny thing is, while these clowns conspire and celebrate their narrative to save the planet, in part by the absurdity of reducing meat consumption, many of these same clowns are supporters of Merck and were pushing for a vote at Codex to inject cattle, pigs, and poultry with Merck's toxic steroid-like drug zilpaterol hydrochloride to produce more muscle and less fat. This of course brings a fortune to Merck, while benefiting the bottom line for ranchers who are ok with poisoning their livestock and humans. How's that for an oxymoron? That's right, on November 28th, while the clowns sipped champagne on their private jets headed to the COP28 in Dubai to "save the world from climate change" and instruct nations to reduce meat consumption, their counterparts were at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, voting to approve this poison.

Yellow Vest

German farmers' protest over diesel tax break cuts, brings traffic to a standstill in Berlin

berlin germany farmer
FILE: Farmer protest, Berlin.
Even a member of the ruling coalition is protesting against the changes.

Farmers from all over Germany have driven their tractors into central Berlin to protest planned budget cuts that will affect them.

Around 3,000 farmers are expected to attend on hundreds of tractors, moving in a convot around the iconic Brandenburg Gate.

There have been similar protests in other European countries, such as the Netherlands, as governments seek to cut greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.


Comment: Ostensibly that's the reason, however it's pretty clear that this is a direct attack on farmers, and which intended to put the majority of them out of business: Irish farmers revolt over gov'ts 'green' plan to cull 195,000 cattle, 'retirement scheme' offered to willing farmers


Comment: See also:


Display

Israeli hacker group claims cyberattack on Iranian gas stations

Iran gas station
© Atta Kenare/AFPOver 1,500 gas stations were affected by the cyberattack, launched in response to Iran's alleged role in supporting attacks against Israel
A hacker group accused of having ties with Israel claimed responsibility on 18 December for a cyberattack on Iranian gas stations.

Gonjeshke Darande, also known as Predatory Sparrow, said it disabled "a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran."

"This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region. Khamenei, playing with fire has a price," it said.

Comment: It's particularly notable that, back in June there was a cyberattack on a major energy company in Canada that led to the downing of its gas pumps. Furthermore, this comes amidst a surge in cyberattacks on private and public infrastructure (mostly) across the West:


Attention

Blaze Media investigative journalist Steve Baker says Justice Department will be charging him for his Jan. 6 reporting

Baker
© screenshotSteve Baker, investigative journalist at Blaze Media
UPDATE, Dec. 16, 6:30 p.m. ET: Baker announced Saturday that his self-surrender — originally set for Tuesday, Dec. 19 — has been postponed until after Christmas:
Original story below

Clipboard

Israel social security data reveals true picture of Oct 7 deaths

pictures
© Menahem Kahana/AFPIsraeli soldiers pay their respects to those killed or taken hostage by Hamas
Supernova Music Festival
A more precise picture of Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has emerged from social security data, confirming the unprecedented scale of the violence but also challenging some initial testimonies.

The final death toll from the attack is now thought to be 695 Israeli civilians, including 36 children, as well as 373 security forces and 71 foreigners, giving a total of 1,139. This excludes five people, among them four Israelis, still listed as missing by the prime minister's office.

The violence began when armed men from the Palestinian Islamist movement broke through the militarised border with Gaza on Shabbat, the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Under the cover of thousands of rockets fired from Gaza, they killed indiscriminately in streets, houses, kibbutz communities and at a rave music festival.

Star of David

How American citizens are leading rise of 'settler violence' on Palestinian lands

Efrat
© Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Israeli settlement of Efrat situated on the southern outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem (background) was founded by Americans.
The Biden administration instituted a travel ban on extremist Jewish settlers who attack Palestinians but there is a glaring loophole for US citizens...

Washington's ban on travel to the US by extremist Jewish settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank has one gaping loophole. American citizens have been at the forefront of the rise of settler violence in the occupied territories, and the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land, but as US passport holders they cannot be barred from their own country. Many of the estimated 60,000 Americans living in the West Bank outside of occupied East Jerusalem moved to settlements for the lifestyle and have little to do with the Palestinians on whose land they live. But a core of ideologically driven US citizens were at the forefront of building religious settlements on land expropriated from Palestinians while others have led the rise of what has been described as "settler terrorism".

The US announced the travel restrictions as settler violence against unarmed Palestinians escalated in the wake of the Hamas cross-border attack in October, including shootings, the destruction of Arab homes and entire communities driven out at gunpoint. The UN estimates that about 500 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year including dozens of children. While Israel claims many of the dead were associated with armed Palestinian groups, the UN said the army frequently works with settlers attacking Arab civilians.