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UK government's brutal austerity measures have caused a 30% increase in homelessness


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:16 UTC
homeless woman england
Government austerity measures have increased homelessness in the UK by as much as 30 percent, according to a parliamentary committee.

A report by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee found that rough sleeping in England spiked to 3,569 between 2014 and autumn 2015. One quarter of those were sleeping on the streets of the capital.

Although the figures are damning, the committee said they do not include those who had not come forward for help and been registered as a result. The report termed these the "hidden homeless."

The investigation found that homelessness is on the rise due in part to the need for renters to pay landlords from their state benefits.

It was found that young people aged 18-21 are at particular risk of being made homeless.

Comment: Extreme poverty has been increasing for years in the UK, yet nothing changes because the ruling elites have no capacity to care about the most vulnerable:

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Dollar Gold

Bankrupt Detroit targeting banks, businesses for $12mln+ in unpaid property taxes


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:27 UTC
detroit
© Rebecca Cook / Reuters
Detroit is threatening banks and businesses with nearly 600 lawsuits over more than $12 million in unpaid property taxes. The measure, however, would not target individuals who have "fallen on tough times."

The city is seeking to recover roughly $20,000 from each bank or company and about $8,000 per parcel for 1,543 lots, both residential and commercial, as Detroit struggles to stabilize its post-bankruptcy state.

"For too long, there are those who chose not to pay what they owed in taxes, leaving everyone else to pay the price," said David Szymanski, Detroit's treasurer and deputy chief financial officer, in a statement Wednesday. "We are working to improve city services for our residents, and to do that - whether it's better police and fire protection, streetlights or better schools for our children - we need everyone who does business in this city to pay their fair share."

Comment: It's only when the going gets tough that measures like this are taken. How long before all the massive corporations and big banks are targeted and forced to face justice for illegal offshore dealings, money laundering, fraud, and crime in the billions of dollars? Don't hold your breath!

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Handcuffs

Teenage researcher finds most of Wisconsin's black neighborhoods are jails


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:53 UTC
Wisconsin jail
© Reuters
Using racial dot maps for Wisconsin, a teenage researcher discovered half the state's black neighborhoods are "actually jail or prisons." The remaining neighborhoods are subsidized housing, homeless shelters and apartment complexes.

Conclusions deducible from the data confirmed decades of neglect and frustration that contributed to a violent uprising over the weekend, following a police shooting of a black man, according to Milwaukee residents.

Teenager Lew Blank began his research checking out the racial dot map that places one dot per person on a map colored by race. He compared his data with Google maps and other online resources to identify "certain areas where the majority of residents were African-American."

"As I researched, I began to find those isolated black neighborhoods in the middle of nowhere on these maps in almost every state," Blank told Madison365. "I stated matching them to Google Maps imagery. I checked he address. I double-checked, triple-checked."
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Stop

Choudary conviction could lead to ban on 'hate preachers' from mosques, universities


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:45 UTC
Anjem Choudary
© Stephen Hird / ReutersAnjem Choudary, the leader of the dissolved militant group al-Muhajiroun
Blanket bans could be introduced by the British government to stop extremist preachers from entering mosques and universities. It follows the conviction of radical cleric Anjem Choudary for supporting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Along with bans on entering mosques, community groups and universities, ministers are also considering barring radicals from speaking to groups of a certain size in public, the Telegraph reports.

They are also looking at the possibility of giving authorities more powers to order Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to remove extremist materials. UK law would be limited in this respect, however, as such companies are based abroad.

Final proposals on tackling radicalization will enter government consultation and eventually form the basis of a new extremism bill, which was announced in this year's Queen's Speech. The bill is set to be tabled in May 2017.

Comment: Further reading on Choudary: As Kevin Barrett has written, 'Bottom line: Anjem Choudary and other "Finsbury Park Mosque" Muslims, presumably including the two Woolwich suspects, are agents of the British crown, whether they realize it or not.' It looks like Choudary has fulfilled his purpose. Now he's fulfilling a new one. Not only will he be able to recruit even more jihadis for service to the Crown from prison, his arrest will provide the precedent for more draconian laws, which in turn will anger and radicalize even more young Brits, who can then be shipped off to Syria to die for Great Britain.

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Info

Italy rejects 'burkini' ban, mulls tighter control of mosques instead


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:28 UTC
Woman in burkini
© Stringer / Reuters
The Italian interior minister has ruled out the possibility of Italy following in France's footsteps and banning Muslim female swimwear. The minister called any ban on 'burkinis' counterproductive, saying it could provoke violence instead of deterring it.

"The interior minister's responsibility is to ensure security and to choose the severity of responses which, however, must never become provocations that could potentially attract attacks," Angelino Alfano told the Corriere della Sera daily newspaper, in answer to a question on his view of the widespread bans on full-face veils and other Muslim clothing in Europe.

When asked specifically about the burkini swimwear bans introduced by at least six French seaside towns following the terrorist attack in Nice, Interior Minister Alfano stated he does not think "that the French model has worked for the best."

Comment: First burqa ban, now burkini ban: Why Europe prohibits full-body swimsuits for Muslim women

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Bad Guys

Wife of convicted ISIS-linked extremist cleric Choudary now facing investigation


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:09 UTC
Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary
© Tal Cohen / ReutersIslamic preacher Anjem Choudary.
Scotland Yard has confirmed that the wife of extremist cleric Anjem Choudary is under investigation. It comes as the brother of a man who became radicalized after meeting Choudary expressed fears that the cleric's influence could grow in prison.

Broadcast in November 2015, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary showed undercover footage of Rubana Akhtar, referred to as Umm L., telling a group of women and teenagers about "plots" against Muslims and describing the "audacity and the arrogance of these Jews" over the Palestine conflict. She also referred to Jews as "filthy."

She went on to praise the establishment of a caliphate by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), saying: "The good days have already begun, nobody ever [would] have thought in our lifetime we would see the establishment of the Khilafah [Islamic State]."
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Heart - Black

Exposing the inhumanity: Obama admin has to remind Louisiana flood responders not to discriminate against victims


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 15:07 UTC
Louisiana flood
© Brendan Smialowski / AFPA man navigates a boat of rescued goats past a partially submerged car after flooding on August 16, 2016 in Gonzales, Louisiana.
With torrential rains and fatal flooding battering parts of the southern US, the Obama administration has urged affected states to abstain from discrimination and provide emergency aid, regardless of race, color and origin.

"Discrimination has no place in the disaster response and recovery process," Director Willisa Donald of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said.

A 16-page "guidance" memo released Tuesday recalled cases of African-Americans being discriminated against while looking for help in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

"In the days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, numerous media reports showed images of African Americans stranded on roofs in New Orleans. These images exposed significant inequalities in access to emergency response and recovery efforts," said the guidelines issued jointly by the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security and Transportation.

Comment: More coverage on the flooding in Louisiana:

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Snakes in Suits

Navajo Nation sues EPA over toxic gold mine spill which turned Animas River yellow


RT
Thu, 18 Aug 2016 14:57 UTC
Waste water from the Gold King Mine collects in a holding pool in San Juan County, Colorado
© EPA / ReutersWaste water from the Gold King Mine collects in a holding pool in San Juan County, Colorado, on August 7, 2015.
Leaders from the sovereign Navajo Nation have filed a lawsuit against their next-door neighbors, the Americans, and their Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for playing a part in the spilling of 3 million gallons of toxic waste into the Animas River in Colorado and New Mexico.

The "reckless" environmental disaster last year contaminated the major river with nasty acid and metals leading to long-term effects for wildlife and communities around the area.

The incident, which is also known as the "Gold King Mine Spill," occurred when contracted workers from the EPA attempted to drain some of the toxic water from the mine, but instead a huge blowout sent arsenic, lead and mercury into the river, turning it yellow and pouring over 888,000 pounds of toxic metals into the water.
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Snakes in Suits

Protecting pedophiles: College ignored complaints about sexually abusive teacher for 15 years


RT
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 15:35 UTC
Clifton College
Students at Clifton College
A peeping-tom teacher found by his pupils half-naked and tied to his chair kept his job despite years of complaints to three successive headmasters, according to a report by an independent investigator.

Jonathan Thomson-Glover, 53, was jailed for three-and-a-half years for filming pupils naked over a period of 17 years at the prestigious Clifton College in Bristol.

He taught German and was a house master responsible for the welfare of hundreds of teenagers at the leading public school, which charges its pupils £33,000 (US$43,000) a year.

At Thomson-Glover's trial at Bristol Crown Court last year, he was found to have placed concealed cameras in school showers and studies, and in a bedroom where children were encouraged to engage in sexual activity.

Comment: It' s no surprise that complaints were ignored for so long - pedophilia is practically institutionalized in the UK. Cover-ups and blocked investigations into predatory activities are routine.

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Bad Guys

Aleppo residents displaced by al-Qaeda 'rebels' are the real victims


Sputnik
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 22:41 UTC
aleppo
© REUTERS/ Abdalrhman Ismail
A Syrian residential quarter called "1070," located in Aleppo, was captured by al-Nusra Front at the end of July. The residents of the quarter are now barely making ends meet in areas of Aleppo.

The 1070 quarter is referred to this because there are 1,070 residential apartments built in the area. Residents of this quarter, which was previously a haven for many local refugees, have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence of the militants.

In areas of Aleppo, which are under the control of the Syrian Army, a small camp for fleeing civilians has been organized. Those who did not get a place in the shelter, sleep on mattresses under the scorching sun.

Talking about his ordeal and the horrors inflicted by the al-Nusra Front terrorists, one resident who fled 1070 named Samer told Sputnik how he ran for his life.
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