Society's ChildS


Bizarro Earth

Not just the Third World: Disaster capitalism is a permanent state of life for too many Americans

homeless america
© Spencer Platt/Getty Images According to the Department of Homeless Services, the number of homeless people in New York City has risen by more than 20,000 over the past five years.
Hundreds of full-time New York City workers are homeless and in San Francisco bus drivers sleep in their cars to save money: this is a never-ending crisis

In the United States, disaster has become our most common mode of life. Proof that our daily existence was something other than a simmering, smoldering disaster has been historically held somewhat at bay by the myth that hard work equals some kind of subsistence living. For the more deluded amongst us, this 'American dream' even got us to believe we could be something called 'middle class'. We were deceived.

For those not yet woke, I don't see how y'all can stay asleep when story after story proves how screwed we are.

The New York Post, no bastion of bleeding heart liberalism, reported on Monday that "Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless". These are people who clean our trash and make our city, the heart of American capitalism, safe and livable, including for those who plunder the globe from Wall Street. These are men and women, living in shelters and out of their cars, who have government jobs - the kind of workers conservatives love to paint as greedy, gluttonous pigs.

When a full time government worker can't "find four walls and a roof to call his own" in the city he serves, we are living in a perpetual state of disaster capitalism.

Comment: Disaster capitalism is a means of inducing transmarginal inhibition, breaking down the people's will to resist oppression.


Piggy Bank

Game of loans: Why are half of all 25-year-olds living with their parents? The Federal Reserve answers

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Back in 1999, a quarter of all 25-year-olds lived with their parents. By 2013 this number has doubled, and currently half of young adults live in their parents home.

While the troubling implications for the economy from this startling increase are self-evident, and have been extensively discussed both here and elsewhere (and are among the key factors pushing both the US and global economy into secular stagnation), a just as important question is why are increasingly more young adults still living at home.

While we admit there is something morbidly grotesque in none other than the Fed taking an active interest in this most devastating development (for the simple reason that it has been the Fed's own policies that have unleashed not only the $1.3 trillion wave of student debt but an army of Millennials in their parents' basement), it is the Fed itself that has been the latest to attempt an answer.

Comment: Yup, all is well in America, so we are told.

Goodbye middle class: Over half of all American workers make less than 30K a year


Stop

Criminalizing conscience: Student who filmed violent attack by cop at South Carolina school arrested for speaking out

Niya Kenny was arrested at Spring Valley High School following the altercation between her classmate and School Resource Officer Ben Fields
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© WLTXNiya Kenny
Niya Kenny, 18, is speaking out after she was taken into custody in her Spring Valley High School math class. She says she was standing up for her classmate who was being arrested by Student Resource Officer Ben Fields. "I was crying, screaming and crying like a baby," says Kenny. "I was in disbelief."

"I know this girl don't got nobody and I couldn't believe this was happening," Kenny explained. "I had never seen nothing like that in my life, a man use that much force on a little girl. A big man, like 300 pounds of full muscle. I was like 'no way, no way.' You can't do nothing like that to a little girl. I'm talking about she's like 5'6."

Kenny says her classmate was not participating and was asked to leave the room by her teacher. When she refused an administrator was called in and asked her to leave. She refused and Officer Fields was called in, asking her the same thing.

Kenny filmed a part of the altercation on her phone. The six second video shows Officer Fields arresting the student. "I was screaming 'What the f, what the f is this really happening?' I was praying out loud for the girl," says Kenny. "I just couldn't believe this was happening I was just crying and he said, 'since you have so much to say you are coming too'. I just put my hands behind my back."

Her mother Doris Kenny was shocked and upset when she saw the video. "My child, and I'm not mad at her, she was brave enough to speak out against what was going on and didn't back down and it resulted in her being arrested," says Doris Kenny. Her daughter was charged with disturbing schools." But, looking at the video, who was really disturbing schools? Was it my daughter or the officer who came in to the classroom and did that to the young girl?"



Comment: In our society, this young lady took a chance by taking a stand against what that cop was doing to that poor student. Hopefully, she'll find a savvy lawyer defend her and file suit of her own. Having a conscience is something that should be rewarded, not criminalized.

Unbelievable! School officer chokes and slams female student sitting at her desk


USA

'America First Not Israel': Detroit billboard wants US to block influence of Jewish Lobby

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© blog.deiryassin.org
A billboard in Detroit stating 'America First Not Israel' is causing controversy and accusations of anti-Semitism. The advertisement was paid for by the Deir Yassin Remembered group, which aims to make American's more aware of the plight of Palestinians.

The billboard can be seen 8 Mile Road in the city, and was placed there by Deir Yassin Remembered, which is based in New York. Detroit has one of the largest Arab populations in the United States, however it also has a sizable number of Jewish inhabitants.

"The strategy behind this billboard's statement, 'America First, Not Israel', is to drive a wedge between those who feel American interests are not served by fighting wars for Israel, and the Israel-firsters in this country who manipulate our leaders into the false premise that Israel is the ally of the United States," Henry Herskovitz wrote on the organization's website.

Comment: Read also:


Cult

Belgian branch of Scientology taken to court over fraud and extortion claims by former members

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© Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
The Belgian branch of the Church of Scientology is on trial, after 18 years of investigations following complaints from former members. If the accusations are proven, the international celebrity church could be banned in Belgium.

The initial investigation into the church's financial activities was opened by the Belgian authorities in 1997, after a number of complaints were submitted by former members. In 2008, it was followed by a second inquiry into the church allegedly offering fake jobs while recruiting new members.

Eleven members of the Belgian branch of the US-based organization have been charged with running a criminal organization and being involved in fraud, extortion and invading privacy.

Eye 1

Cop aims taser at man after pulling him over because of his neck tattoos

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© facebook.com/hvanny
A tourist couple accused Queensland Police of brutality after a cop drew her Taser on a heavily-tattooed man when he refused to hand over his cell phone. A video of the incident shot by the man has gone viral, generating over 2 million views on Facebook.

"We have legislation down here, if we identify a potential member of a criminal motorcycle gang we have the power to stop, detain and search you," the officer says in the footage.

When the man asks if his neck tattoos were the only reason for being pulled over, the woman admits: "Yep, absolutely."

According to Hayley Van Hostauyen's Facebook page, the pair had just arrived in Queensland for a holiday when they were pulled over by officers. Police thought for some reason that the man with tattoos could be involved in a motorcycle gang. The short video shows two officers approach the car and request the couple get out.

Heart - Black

Supreme Court Justice's emails reveal his sick thoughts on rape, molestation and race

Justice Michael Eakin
Justice Michael Eakin
Hundreds of emails obtained by the Daily Beast reveal the twisted mind of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice and his circle of colleagues who take delight in misogyny and racism.

Justice J. Michael Eakin communicated with state and federal officials using a private "John Smith" email account. Emails include suggesting that a battered wife treat her wounds by "keeping her mouth shut," a joke about a man using a Taser to rape a woman, jokes about kids being molested by pedophiles, and numerous racial slurs.
"An email Eakin received from defense attorney Terry McGowan links to a video titled "Craziest White Man," which shows a man picking up Latino day-laborers, who he then takes to immigration services. Afterward, the man in the video comments on the need to "cull the herd, make sure they don't overpopulate."

Much of the correspondence was received by prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's office in Harrisburg as well as by various county Common Pleas Court judges and district attorneys. It included a set of "motivational posters," which feature a woman mock-fellating a beer bottle above the slogan, "True Love: Sometimes you know it the instant you see it across the bar" and one of a topless woman which reads: "Dear Abby: I'm an 18 year old girl from Arkansas and I'm still a virgin. Do you think my brothers are gay?"

Comment: The scum rises to the top. As bad as his emails are, one shudders to think how the esteemed Justice conducts himself behind closed doors.


Attention

EPA data shows radiation spiked in Las Vegas soon after explosions at nearby nuclear waste facility

nevada radioactive waste fire
Underground Explosion Sparks Fire at Nevada Radioactive Waste Facility
You may recall that last week, the residents of St. Louis were understandably alarmed by an underground trash fire that was threatening to burn its way into a radioactive waste dump. While that was going on however, there was another similar incident that largely skated under the radar of the mainstream media. On October 18th, a radioactive waste dump outside of the small town of Beatty, Nevada caught fire, and nobody knows why. The 80 acre site contains 22 radioactive depositories that are buried underground. One of the site managers filmed the incident as it unfolded.

The fire coincided with several flash floods that altogether, led authorities to shut down a 140 mile stretch of US 95 for 24 hours, before the fire burned itself out. Until recently, the story was only being reported by local news outlets and AP. In the week since the fire was first reported, local residents have expressed their concerns over the fact that the authorities kept them completely in the dark until the fire had subsided.

Comment: Cellphone video captures explosion at radiological storage building in Nevada


Heart - Black

The disaster of capitalism: NYC homeless population nears 60,000 - over 40% are children

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© Carlo Allegri/Reuters
A tangle of skyrocketing rents, stagnant wages, evictions and a lack of affordable housing has led to a boom in homelessness in New York City. The latest figures show 57,448 people sleeping in shelters, and approximately 40 percent are children.

According to the latest Department of Homeless Services (DHS) figures, more than 23,000 of the 57,448 people sleeping in New York City shelters are children. There are nearly 12,000 families in the shelter system. Organizations that help aid homeless people are getting worried that as the cold weather sets in, the numbers will return to the record high of seen in December 2014, when the homeless population numbered 59,068.

Another point of concern is that homeless people are staying in shelters longer and returning to them within a given year. The DHS said adults are staying an average of 11 months, up 24 days on last years' data. Families with children are staying 14 months (up three days) and couples are staying an average of nearly 18 months (up 19 days).

Caught in the crosshairs is Mayor Bill de Blasio, who ran a campaign vowing to address income inequality in the city. His administration, however, inherited a homeless population of more than 53,000 people from the Michael Bloomberg administration. Mayor Bloomberg oversaw cuts to three shelters systems and the creation of the dysfunctional Advantage public program, which was intended to help struggling families before its funding was cut. That decision led to a ballooning homeless population - from 37,000 in 2011 to 53,000 within three years, according to the New York Times.

Comment: Why ending homelessness is political poison


Light Saber

343 British academics vow to boycott Israeli universities - find Israel's actions 'deeply disturbing'

boycott Israel BDS
© Sebastien Pirlet / Reuter
Over 300 scholars from UK institutions have signed a letter vowing to boycott Israeli universities, citing Tel Aviv's "illegal occupation" of Palestinian land and "human rights violations." The move has drawn criticism from Jewish organizations and diplomats. The letter, signed by 343 academics, appeared as a full-page ad in Tuesday's Guardian newspaper.

"As scholars associated with British universities, we are deeply disturbed by Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land, the intolerable human rights violations that it inflicts on all sections of the Palestinian people, and its apparent determination to resist any feasible settlement," it reads. The letter goes on to state: the scholars will not accept invitations to visit Israeli academic institutions; act as referees in any of their processes; participate in conferences funded, organized or sponsored by them, or otherwise cooperate with them.

"We will maintain this position until the State of Israel complies with international law, and respects universal principles of human rights."

The academics did, however, say that they will continue to work with Israeli scholars in their "individual capacities."

The letter called for others to join the boycott. "We urge our academic colleagues throughout the UK to join us in putting their names to this personal Commitment," it states.