Society's ChildS


House

What economic recovery? Americans are taking to living in vans down by the river

Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 18:03 UTC
van down by the river
© livinginmycar.com
Do you remember the old Saturday Night Live sketches in which comedian Chris Farley portrayed a motivational speaker that lived in a van down by the river? Unfortunately, this is becoming a reality for way too many Americans. As the middle class has shrunk and the cost of living has increased, a lot of people have decided to quite literally "live on the road". Whether it is a car, a truck, a van, a bus or an RV, an increasing number of Americans are using their vehicles as their homes. Just recently, someone that I know took a trip down the west coast of the United States and stayed at a number of campgrounds along the way. What she discovered was that a lot of people were actually living at these campgrounds. Of course there are some that actually prefer that lifestyle, but many others are doing it out of necessity.

Earlier this week, Circa.com posted a story about "the van life". One of the individuals that they featured was a recent graduate of the University of Southern California named Stephen Hutchins. Without much of an income at the moment, he decided that the best way to cut expenses was to live in his van...
"The main expenses are insurance for the van, which is like $60 a month," said Hutchins. "Then, I have a storage unit for like $60."

That puts his monthly rent at $120. The van cost him just $125 at an auction.

Comment: See also:

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Heart

Charity on the cheap: Woman can feed up to 150 people with only $20

Daisy Luther
daisyluther.com
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 17:23 UTC
full grocery cart
You know what I find absolutely beautiful?

When a person takes over something that is usually left to be done by the government, does it a thousand times more efficiently, and does it with a true sense of compassion.

One of the major arguments that people have against less taxation and smaller government is that there will be no one to help the poor. If you don't want to see a huge percentage of your money extorted from your paycheck and funneled into expensive government programs, then you're accused of "hating poor people" or being a racist.

But think about it: it's human nature to resent being forced to do something like "give" your hard-earned money to the government so that they can dole it out to others. However, when force is not involved, then true compassion and generosity can shine through, and I believe it would do so far more often.
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Snakes in Suits

Mayor of French town wants anyone on 'Fiche S' list kicked out of town


RT
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:44 UTC
police
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
A mayor of the French town of Évreux has come up with a radical suggestion to evict all the potentially dangerous individuals tracked by police out of town. The proposal comes after the official's request to reveal the names on the watchlist had been rejected.

Guy Lefranc, the head of the town, located in Normandy, says he initially demanded information on all the people on the "Fiche S" list living in Évreux. The "Fiche S" is an indicator used by French police to mark people considered to be a threat to national security.

Lefranc contacted the local prefect, saying that the safety of the town's residents was at stake and having such information at his disposal would help to tighten security. The mayor's request, however, was turned down.

Shooting down the mayor's "perfectly legitimate request" led him to making his radical suggestion on the eviction of all dangerous individuals.

"I am furious," the mayor told AFP on Thursday. "Given that the state does not give us the means to protect the people of Evreux, I demand the state expels all those who are "Fiche S". I feel compelled to ask for this expulsion because I am not entitled to a perfectly legitimate request to know all those who "Fiche S" are," mayor Lefranc said.


Comment: If local authorities are not even aware of who is on the list, that makes the list pretty useless. Individuals who do know who's on the list can then exploit that fact by either allowing acts of violence to go forward, or encouraging them, using the standard NATO strategy of tension.

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Heart - Black

Cop charged with manslaughter in murder of Terence Crutcher released on bond


RT
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:34 UTC
Betty Shelby
© City of Tulsa Police Dept / ReutersOfficer Betty Shelby of the City of Tulsa Police Department in Tulsa, Oklahoma is shown in this undated photo provided September 21, 2016.
Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, who was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher, has been released on a $50,000 bond.

Officer Shelby was booked at the Tulsa County Jail on Friday morning and was released about 20 minutes later, ABC news reported.

On September 16, she shot dead Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man. The shooting was caught on video. Shelby acted "unreasonably by escalating the situation from a confrontation" with Crutcher, according to an affidavit by an investigator with the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office.

Crutcher was wearing baggy clothes but Shelby "was not able to see any weapons or bulges indicating a weapon was present," according to the affidavit.

Comment: See also:

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USA

Eyewitnesses confirm cop called 13yo boy a "stupid n****r" after killing him

Claire Bernish
Free Thought Project
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:05 UTC
Tyre King
Sometimes, if not frequently, the truth in fatal shootings by law enforcement comes not from police, but from witnesses to the incident — and in how authorities behave after the fact.

For a week — and, more broadly, over the course of years — the highly dubious deaths of three individuals at the hands of perpetually-frightened police ripped open scars leftover from America's violently racist past, bleeding the protests and riots symptomatic of a wound that might never heal.

Under questionable circumstances still flaring factious public division, police stole the lives of Terence Crutcher and Keith Lamont Scott, the latter sparking peaceful protests later turned so violent on the streets of Charlotte, one reporter from an albeit conservative outlet likened the scene to the military assault on the West Bank by Israel.
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Megaphone

Pope Francis warns that journalism based on gossip is akin to terrorism


RT
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:29 UTC
pope francis
© Remo Casilli / Reuters
Speaking with Italian reporters, Pope Francis warned they should be careful as one can kill a person with their tongue. This is even more so for journalists, so their work should be very professional and never based on "rumors."

On Thursday, Francis addressed a gathering of 400 people from the Italian National Council of the Order of Journalists, emphasizing the importance of professionalism in journalistic activity, as it is the cornerstone of an independent and pluralist society.

However, "you can kill a person with the tongue," Catholic news website Cruxnow cited the pontiff as saying.

"I have often spoken of rumors as 'terrorism,' of how you can kill a person with the tongue," Pope Francis said. "If this is valid for an individual person, in the family or at work, so much more it's valid for journalists, because their voice can reach everyone, and this is a very powerful weapon."

Denunciation of evil, he continued, must not come at the cost of disrespecting another, because "the unjustly defamed can be destroyed forever."
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Red Flag

Study finds religious conflict in French workplaces on the rise


RT
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:25 UTC
muslim employee
© Mohammed Salem / Reuters
The presence of religion in workplaces is rising in France, with 65 percent of employees saying they've noticed it, according to new research.

The study was published on Thursday by the Observatory for Religion in the Workplace (OFRE) and the Randstad Institute. A total of 1,405 people participated, and all religions were taken into account.

"The 2016 survey by Randstad Institute and OFRE shows a significant increase of religion in business," says Laurent Morestain, secretary general of the Randstad France group and president of the Randstad Institute for Equal Opportunities and Sustainable Development.

Last year, the same survey showed 50 percent, so the jump is significant.

Among those polled, 21 percent said they saw people wearing religious symbols, 18 percent said they'd heard people ask for time off work for religious reasons, and 8 percent saw people praying during breaks.

"The majority of the time, these instances do not hinder work," Lionel Honoré, director of the OFRE, told French newspaper Le Figaro.
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Question

Professor who has predicted 30 years of presidential outcomes correctly says Trump is headed for a win

Peter W. Stevenson
The Washington Post
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 14:45 UTC
Prof. Allan Lichtman
© Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post
Nobody knows for certain who will win on Nov. 8 — but one man is pretty sure: Professor Allan Lichtman, who has correctly predicted every presidential election since 1984.

When we sat down in May, he explained how he comes to a decision. Lichtman's prediction isn't based on horse-race polls, shifting demographics or his own political opinions. Rather, he uses a system of true/false statements he calls the "Keys to the White House" to determine his predicted winner.

And this year, he says, Donald Trump is the favorite to win.
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Mr. Potato

Trump calls on Killary to return donations from pervert Anthony Weiner

Daniel Halper
New York Post
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 14:43 UTC
Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton
© AP; Getty ImagesAnthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton
Donald Trump's campaign is calling on Hillary Clinton to return money it received from Anthony Weiner, the husband of the vice chair of the Clinton campaign.

"The announcement by the FBI and New York Police Department that they are investigating close Clinton ally Anthony Weiner's inappropriate relationship with an under-aged female is extremely disturbing," deputy communications director Jessica Ditto said in a statement released Thursday night.
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People 2

More than a million Brits trapped in miserable relationships with their partners


RT
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 14:54 UTC
happy couple
© Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
More than a million people in the UK are trapped in miserable relationships with their spouse or long-term partner, new research has found.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate the number of people in an "extremely unhappy" relationship has doubled since 2010, while the proportion of those who described their relationship as "perfect" took a sharp fall.

Experts at Relate, the relationship counseling charity, said the economic downturn caused by the 2008 financial crash has been followed by a "social recession" which is making people unhappier.

One in 20 of those polled (4.8 percent) in 2014 said they were "extremely unhappy" - double the proportion in 2010, according to the ONS' annual wellbeing survey.

Comment: This data begs the question, if one is extremely unhappy in a relationship, why do they continue to stay in that relationship?

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