For the last three elections now, 2010, 2012 and 2015, corporate media and corporate politicians have ceaselessly assured us that "the economy" whatever that is, is "back on track", wherever that is.

Despite what corporate media and politicians tell us, the positive indicators of soaring stock market valuations, rising real estate prices and the rigged unemployment figures that don't count the jailed, the recently released from jails and prisons, and those who've given up on finding work or those working part time who desperately want full time hours real life for most real people hasn't got any better since 2008 or 2009.

Last week an extraordinary and shameful study emerged from the National Center on Family Homelessness confirmed it by demonstrating that almost 2.5 million children in the US were homeless at some point during 2013. That's one child in every thirty, in what we're accustomed to thinking of as the richest nation on earth. In the most recent months for which statistics exist, the rate of homelessness among children is spiking, increased 8% nationally from 2012 to 2013, and by 10% or more in 13 states and the District of Columbia. In 2006 one in 50 children were homeless. In 2010 it was one in 45. Now, in the age of Obama, the 2013 number is 1 in 30.

The causes of homelessness among children are not your comforting stereotypes of drug use and mental illness. These are "comforting" because they encourage us to blame the drug-addicted, and pity the mentally ill, and our comfort keeps us from questioning the capitalist system which declares that we must have poverty in the midst of plenty, or wondering why we ourselves are no more than a month or two from homelessness.

Is that a student's lunch or a dog's vomit?

That's what parents might be wondering after they see student Hunter Whitney's recent "mystery mush" lunch.

Had a very #healthylunch today. The apple definitely made up for the "mystery mush" #ThanksMichelleObama pic.twitter.com/RWCnQRCxJK
- Hunter Whitney (@huntwhitney4) November 13, 2014

When asked, the student theorized it was rice or an "artificially flavored rice substitute."

Whitney confirms the lunch was served at Richland Center High School in Wisconsin.

Marissa Garrett tweeted:

So disappointed in this modified Thanksgiving lunch.. @MichelleObama#ThanksMichelleObama
- Marissa Garrett (@marissajgarrett) November 18, 2014

She then provided this photo:

@EAGnewspic.twitter.com/CL2EYNMte6
- Marissa Garrett (@marissajgarrett) November 19, 2014

Jess Sency tweeted this ball of who-knows-what:

Yum school lunches #thanksmichelleobama
pic.twitter.com/eS27j75Oae
- Jess Sency (@Jess_Sency) November 18, 2014

While 49 state treasuries were submerged in red ink after the 2008 financial crash, one state's bank outperformed all others and actually launched an economy-shifting new industry. So reports the Wall Street Journal this week, discussing the Bank of North Dakota (BND) and its striking success in the midst of a national financial collapse led by the major banks. Chester Dawson begins his November 16th article:

It is more profitable than Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has a better credit rating than J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and hasn't seen profit growth drop since 2003. Meet Bank of North Dakota, the U.S.'s lone state-owned bank, which has one branch, no automated teller machines and not a single investment banker.

He backs this up with comparative data on the BND's performance:

[I]ts total assets have more than doubled, to $6.9 billion last year from $2.8 billion in 2007. By contrast, assets of the much bigger Bank of America Corp. have grown much more slowly, to $2.1 trillion from $1.7 trillion in that period.

. . . Return on equity, a measure of profitability, is 18.56%, about 70% higher than those at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. . . .

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services last month reaffirmed its double-A-minus rating of the bank, whose deposits are guaranteed by the state of North Dakota. That is above the rating for both Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan and among U.S. financial institutions, second only to the Federal Home Loan Banks, rated double-A-plus.

If only George Orwell could see us today. When he wrote 1984 back in 1948, he probably never imagined that the "totalitarian, bureaucratic world" that he imagined would ever actually become a reality. But that is precisely what is happening. We live at a time when the government monitors billions of our phone calls and emails and hardly anyone gets upset about it. We live at a time when corporations systematically collect our voiceprints and our televisions watch us. We live at a time when reporters that try to dig into the misdeeds of the governmenthave their computers hacked, and when nearly one out of every three Americans has a file in the FBI's master criminal database. The control freaks that run our society are absolutely obsessed with watching, tracking, recording and monitoring virtually everything that we do. We truly are becoming a "1984" society, and if we continue on the path that we are currently on eventually our world will be transformed into something more hellish than anything that George Orwell ever imagined.

In August, Quebec Justice Valmont Beaulieu stated the obvious when he addressed the double standard in the treatment of teachers who have sex with students: "The sexual exploitation of a male adolescent by a female teacher must be punished just the same as a male posing the same actions toward a female adolescent," he said before sentencing Tania Pontbriand to 20- and 18-month jail terms to be served concurrently, plus two years probation. The former high school gym teacher from Rosemère, Que., had been found guilty of sexual exploitation and sexual assault of a male student with whom she had a two-year relationship.

The West keeps calling dictators those leaders who are raising cultural, healthcare and educational standards, Che Guevara's daughter Aleida told RT, adding that her father would certainly give a hand to those changing peoples' lives for the better.
RT: Miss Guevara, it's a pleasure to see you here in Moscow again.

Now, you once said once that your father's ideas will last as long as there is injustice in the world. If your father was alive, what do you think would upset him the most today?

Aleida Guevara: Actually, I don't really like having to deal with this sort of question about my father, who is not with us anymore. It's difficult for me to speak for him or say what he would be doing. But judging by the speeches he made, by his personal notes and letters, I can say that he always cared a lot for his people and for the poor in particular. And I am convinced that he would be deeply concerned over what is happening in the Arab world now. He would definitely be thinking of ways to help. He was always respectful of people. And though he criticized socialism quite heavily, he had a lot of respect for the Soviet people, too. That's why I believe he would have been deeply frustrated over what is going on between Russia and Ukraine - after all, these people have lived in harmony for so many years... That's why all of this aggression looks so unnatural to us. So yes, I think my father would take a keen interest.

RT: In one of your interviews with RT you said that if Ernesto Che Guevara were alive, he would be supporting Hugo Chavez in every possible way. Unfortunately, Chavez passed away some time ago. So who would Che Guevara be backing today, and in what ways?

AG: He would be backing all the revolutionary movements, I guess. He was a great revolutionary himself, and he would be helping all the men and women who are trying to change their lives. I have close connections to the landless workers' movement in Brazil, who are fighting for access to land in order to make a living. In spite of the difficulties that the movement has faced for more than 25 years, they've been able to make huge progress across the continent and in Brazil in particular. And frankly speaking, I do believe that this movement does encourage Latin America to move ahead. But decisions made by Evo Morales, Nicolas Maduro and Rafael Correa are also important. My father always appreciated staunch advocates of a certain ideology who know exactly what they want in life. No matter if he agreed or disagreed with them, he would certainly give a hand to those leaders who are willing to change their peoples' lives for the better.

A woman who was put on an Ebola watchlist after traveling back into the U.S. from Guinea, West-Africa, about 18-days ago, suddenly died in the African Queen Hair Braiding salon Wednesday morning, bleeding from her eyes and mouth, triggering an all new Ebola scare in NYC.

A HAZMAT crew from the N.Y.F.D. arrived on scene shortly after, whisking the woman's body away.

Although test results are pending, authorities apparently decided to leave the hair salon open to the general public, failing decontaminate it against all standard Ebola protocols.

"We were in the building and all of a sudden the other owner came from the store. And then he said someone dropped in the store. We ran in there, there was a person lying on the floor" with blood coming "from her face, nose and mouth, everything", reports one eyewitness, who said that he "didn't touch her".

It is not yet known if the woman died of Ebola, while authorities maintain that it was just a "heart attack".


Shepard Ambellas is the founder, editor-in-chief of Intellihub News and the maker of SHADE the Motion Picture.

• Yolanda Ostoloza faces 15 years in prison for sexually exploiting the girl
• She was arrested after undercover detectives set up date with her daughter
• Ostoloza, 39, told police she thought the girl was going to do 'fetish stuff'

A Florida mother who brought her 15-year-old daughter more than 1,300 miles to New York to pimp her out to Super Bowl fans has been found guilty of sexually exploiting the teenager.

Yolanda Ostoloza, 39, faces up to 15 years in prison after she was convicted of promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child in Manhattan Supreme Court.

She was arrested in January after undercover Bronx detectives set up a date with her daughter at the New York Hilton in Midtown and struck up a deal to pay $200 for an undisclosed sex act.

The girl told detectives that she was just 15 and her mother was waiting for her at another hotel, the New York Daily News reported.

'Think about what a barely 15-year-old girl is supposed to be doing. Planning for her Sweet 16, preparing to get her driver's permit,' Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ehrhardt said in summations at the trail.

'Doing her homework during her sophomore year of high school. Maybe even thinking about a high school sweetheart.'

'But for [Ostoloza's daughter], her mother had another plan for her... sexually exploit her child for money.'

Officers found Ostoloza waiting for her daughter at the Double Tree Metropolitan, where she was arrested and later charged. Her arrest was part of a NYPD crackdown on prostitution across the city during Superbowl week.

According to the Daily News, after she was arrested, the mother told police she thought her daughter was just going to do 'fetish stuff'.

Ashkelon math teacher sends photo of Muslim cemetery to students via WhatsApp, says it was meant for other group of contacts.

One day before the mayor of Ashkelon decided to ban Arab construction workers from kindergartens, a high school teacher in the city sent a group of students an image of a Muslim cemetery with the caption, "In times like these, it's important to remember there are also good Arabs! And they can be found here."

The teacher sent the image on Wednesday to a group of 11th and 12th graders via the social messaging service WhatsApp, Ynet reported.

The math teacher reportedly regretted sending the image to his students, saying he sent it to them accidentally and that it was intended for a different group on WhatsApp, according to Ynet.

After receiving the image, one student responded that it was inappropriate to send such an image to students.

The Education Ministry called the incident "extremely grave" and told Ynet that the image "goes against the values of the Education Ministry and the country."

It added that local authorities in Ashkelon would be summoning the teacher for disciplinary action.

The ministry said it would continue to follow the case to ensure the correct disciplinary measures are taken, but told Ynet that "it should be noted the teacher apologized to his students and expressed regret for his actions."

A 29-year-old correctional officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has been accused of raping a pregnant woman while she was in his custody, and then setting her free.

A federal lawsuit has been launched, and the officer Jaris Hayden, has been so far released on $10,000 bail.

In the legal documents obtained by the Huffington Post, it is said that the victim, known as JW, was arrested last October after police stopped her for an expired license plate, and she also gave the officers a false name.

The victim claims Hayden frequently sexually harassed her before the rape. For instance, when taking her to Ferguson jail, he said, "You smell good" and "This will teach you a lesson."

JW was visibly pregnant at that time.

When in the cell, JW was crying and begged to let her go home. Hayden allegedly said to her that she was "the kind of girl who would get me in trouble" and took the woman to the boiler room, unbuttoning his pants and told the victim that they were to have oral sex.