Steven Gaal Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 (edited) The 1% Wants to Ban Sleeping in Cars Because It Hurts Their 'Quality of Life' - Depriving homeless people of their last shelter in life is Silicon Valley at its worst.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Across the United States, many local governments are responding to skyrocketing levels of inequality and the now decades-long crisis of homelessness among the very poor ... by passing laws making it a crime to sleep in a parked car. This happened most recently in Palo Alto, in California's Silicon Valley, where new billionaires are seemingly minted every month – and where 92% of homeless people lack shelter of any kind. Dozens of cities have passed similar anti-homeless laws. The largest of them is Los Angeles, the longtime unofficial "homeless capital of America", where lawyers are currently defending a similar vehicle-sleeping law before a skeptical federal appellate court. Laws against sleeping on sidewalks or in cars are called "quality of life" laws. But they certainly don't protect the quality of life of the poor. To be sure, people living in cars cannot be the best neighbors. Some people are able to acquire old and ugly – but still functioning – recreational vehicles with bathrooms; others do the best they can. These same cities have resisted efforts to provide more public toilet facilities, often on the grounds that this will make their city a "magnet" for homeless people from other cities. As a result, anti-homeless ordinances often spread to adjacent cities, leaving entire regions without public facilities of any kind. Their hope, of course, is that homeless people will go elsewhere, despite the fact that the great majority of homeless people are trying to survive in the same communities in which they were last housed – and where they still maintain connections. Americans sleeping in their own cars literally have nowhere to go. Indeed, nearly all homelessness in the US begins with a loss of income and an eviction for nonpayment of rent – a rent set entirely by market forces. The waiting lists are years long for the tiny fraction of housing with government subsidies. And rents have risen dramatically in the past two years, in part because long-time tenants must now compete with the millions of former homeowners who lost their homes in the Great Recession. ======== Read more: http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/1-wants-ban-sleeping-cars-beca... Edited April 21, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 (edited) 20 Facts About The Great U.S. Retail Apocalypse That Will Blow Your Mind http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/tag/u-s-economy ============= If the U.S. economy is getting better, then why are major retail chains closing thousands of stores? If we truly are in an "economic recovery", then why do sales figures continue to go down for large retailers all over the country? Without a doubt, the rise of Internet retailing giants such as Amazon.com have had a huge impact. Today, there are millions of Americans that actually prefer to shop online. Personally, when I published my novel I made it solely available on Amazon. But Internet shopping alone does not account for the great retail apocalypse that we are witnessing. In fact, some retail experts estimate that the Internet has accounted for only about 20 percent of the decline that we are seeing. Most of the rest of it can be accounted for by the slow, steady death of the middle class U.S. consumer. Median household income has declined for five years in a row, but all of our bills just keep going up. That means that the amount of disposable income that average Americans have continues to shrink, and that is really bad news for retailers. (Read More....) ====== The Top 12 Signs That The U.S. Economy Is Heading Toward Another Recession Is the U.S. economy steamrolling toward another recession? Will 2014 turn out to be a major "turning point" when we look back on it? Before we get to the evidence, it is important to note that there are many economists that believe that the United States never actually got out of the last recession. For example, data compiled by John Williams of shadowstats.com show that the U.S. economy has continually been in recession since 2005. So if anyone out there would like to argue that America is experiencing a recession right now, I certainly would not have a problem with that. In fact, that would fit with the daily reality of tens of millions of Americans that are deeply suffering in this harsh economic environment. But no matter whether we are in a "recession" at the moment or not, there are an increasing number of indications that we are rapidly plunging into another major economic slowdown. The following are the top 12 signs that the U.S. economy is heading toward another recession... (Read More....) [...] 10 Stories From The Cold, Hard Streets Of America That Will Break Your Heart If the economy is really "getting better", then why have millions upon millions of formerly middle class Americans been pushed to the point of utter despair? The stories that you are about to read are absolutely heartbreaking. I don't know how anyone can read them without getting chills. In America today, if you lose a good job, there is a good chance that you will get back on your feet before too long. But there is also a good chance that you won't be able to find a decent job and will plunge into the abyss of depression and desperation that so many millions of other Americans have fallen into. As I wrote about earlier this month, the U.S. economy is definitely not getting any better. For example, if you assume that the percentage of Americans that want to work is about at the long term average, then the official unemployment rate in the United States would be above 11 percent. And compared to six years ago, 1,154,000 fewer Americans are working today even though our population has gotten significantly larger since then. Behind all of these numbers are real flesh and blood people, and you are about to hear from some of them. The following are 10 stories from the cold, hard streets of America that will break your heart... (Read More....) [...] Edited April 25, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted April 28, 2014 Author Share Posted April 28, 2014 http://investmentwatchblog.com/epidemic-of-hunger-new-report-says-49-million-americans-are-dealing-with-food-insecurity/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to the Lowest Since 1995 Source: BloombergBy Prashant Gopal Apr 29, 2014 11:00 AM ETThe homeownership rate in the U.S. declined to the lowest in almost 19 years as rising property prices and mortgage rates held back demand.The share of Americans who own their homes was 64.8 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.2 percent in the previous three months, the Census Bureau said in a report today. The rate is the lowest since the second quarter of 1995, when it was 64.7 percent.Recovering home prices and mortgage rates that have climbed from near-record lows last May have put real estate out of reach for some would-be buyers. The S&P/Case-Shiller (SPCS20) index of values in 20 cities increased 12.9 percent in February from a year earlier after rising 13.2 percent in the 12 months through January, the group said today.“The homeownership rate is held back by slow job growth, tight mortgage credit and declining affordability,” Jed Kolko, chief economist of San Francisco-based property-listing service Trulia Inc., said in an interview before the report was released. “We’ll see it stay around this level for some time.”Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-29/u-s-homeownership-rate-falls-to-the-lowest-since-1995.html Edited April 30, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 (edited) Real jobless rate hits 12.4% 800,000 workers dropped out of labor force last month =========================================== http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/real-jobless-rate-hits-12-4/ Edited May 2, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Hall Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Thanks for posting these articles, Steven. They contain a lot of truth, most notably that the Fed's grand experiement of creating trillions of dollars of free money can't end well. It is destroying our currency and the end result will be a failure of our monetary system. And then we will be assured by people smarter than us (Warren Buffett last time - and i didn't believe him then, for that matter) that only a bailout of the financial institutions will save our economy and our country. Other than that, QE is working great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 It’s An Illusion: Here Are the REAL Unemployment Numbers Mac SlavoMay 2nd, 2014 http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/its-an-illusion-here-are-the-real-unemployment-numbers_05022014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 (edited) Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Fed Laundering Treasury Bonds in Belgium, Real GDP was Negative & More May 14th, 2014 http://usawatchdog.com/fed-laundering… - =============================== http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1vndEG1Za4&feature=player_embedded On the steep drop in GDP growth of a paltry .1% in the first quarter, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says, “What I find most amusing about this is they had to claim some real growth in the first quarter; so, they eked out .1%. Now we know they got that by rigging the inflation number they used to deflate the gross domestic product (GDP). The real GDP in the first quarter, properly deflated, was negative and probably also in the fourth quarter. Most likely, this coming quarter, they are not going to be able to hide the fact that it is negative. . . . I am convinced the first quarter was negative, and I don’t see how it could possibly go positive in the second quarter.” On Fed Head Janet Yellen’s rosy outlook on the economy, Dr. Roberts, who holds a PhD in economics, debates, “I don’t see how she can see that the economy is going to start growing. What is going to make it grow? Why should investors invest money when consumers don’t have any money? There are not retail sales. I think it is just part of the rah, rah talk. Everywhere else in the world is going down the tube. So, what’s going to push the American economy up?–Nothing that I know of.” Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog.com as he goes One-on-One with former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts. Edited May 14, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) Poverty is a "Foreign Country" on the American Screen Can we admit that poverty is as American as apple pie? http://www.alternet.org/economy/poverty-presented-if-its-foreign-country-american-movies =========================================================== Edited May 21, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 (edited) AlterNet / By Alyssa Figueroa Couple Fined $750, Threatened With Jail for Feeding Homeless People Debbie and Chico Jimenez refuse to turn their backs on the hungry. May 21, 2014 A Florida couple who fed more than 100 homeless people each week have been accused of breaking the law for their good deed. Debbie and Chico Jimenez, along with four volunteers, were ticketed last week for $373 each and threatened with jail after Daytona Beach police showed up at their weekly Wednesday gatherings at Manatee Island Park. They were cited with violating the city’s ordinance banning feeding a crowd on public property and fined $273 each for trespassing and $100 for no park permit. According to the Daytona-Beach News Journal, a sign at the park reads: “Social services activities including, but not limited to, food banks and feeding programs are prohibited.” According to NBC News, one of the volunteers cited with these fines just recently escaped homelessness and wanted to help give back. Debbie Jimenez said they refuse to pay the fines and will stand up to the police. “We were given 10 days to either pay the fine or tell them we're going to court,” she told NBC. “We’re going to court. The police don’t like it. But how can we turn our backs on the hungry? We can’t.” The volunteers are up against a police department whose chief says they don't understand homelessness, which is exactly what Jimenez says about the police chief. "There is a segment of the homeless population that is homeless by choice,” said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood. “I don't want to impugn them all. But some are homeless because they are sex offenders, substance abusers and bank robbers. That's why we ask (Good Samaritans) to coordinate with our social service agencies, because they know who needs to be served." Chico Jimenez has explained to the press that most of the people he helped feed each week simply “lost their jobs, lost their families.” Debbie Jimenez said the police also said their feedings were enabling homelessness. “This time, the police said we are creating more homeless people by feeding them in the park, that we are enabling them by giving them one meal in a week,” she said. “Does that make sense to you? It’s so crazy.” Chief Chitwood has also been portraying the humble gathering as a circus event, stating that the city has spent millions on the park so residents can enjoy the space — which apparently they cannot do if it is used for weekly meals for the homeless. "This got so big, it was posted on YouTube,” Chitwood told a local news outlet. “It was really brought to our attention that, hey, things are really out of control on Manatee Island." To activists working with the homeless, what's out of control is the ongoing criminalization of homelessness in America. From banning sitting on the street to putting homeless people on buses with one-way tickets out of state, cities and states have come up with aggressive ways to rid their streets of homeless people. Many cities do not address real needs such as affordable housing or job creation. Instead, local governments exacerbate poverty and perpetuate homelessness. These trends makes services such as the Jimenez’s meals crucial for their region's homeless. The couple began handing out meals a year ago as part of the ministry they founded, Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word. Now, they can’t go back to the park unless they win the court battle they are prepared to fight. “The worst thing is, these are people we have grown to love, they've become like family to us, and now we’re not allowed to go down and do that anymore,” Debbie Jimenez said. “It's just heartbreaking. I have cried and cried and cried.” SEE BOTTOM OF LINK FOR VIDEO CONTENT http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/couple-fined-750-threatened-jail-feeding-homeless-people Edited May 23, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 (edited) 1 in 6 American Men Between Ages 25-54 Are Not Working ################# Startling charts from the Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee about male participation in the labor force, particularly men between the ages of 25-54: “There are currently 61.1 million American men in their prime working years, age 25–54. A staggering 1 in 8 such men are not in the labor force at all, meaning they are neither working nor looking for work. This is an all-time high dating back to when records were first kept in 1955. An additional 2.9 million men are in the labor force but not employed (i.e., they would work if they could find a job). A total of 10.2 million individuals in this cohort, therefore, are not holding jobs in the U.S. economy today. There are also nearly 3 million more men in this age group not working today than there were before the recession began,” the Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee claim. “Although defenders of the current economy attribute shrinking labor force participation to the increasing pace of retirement of the Baby Boomer generation, these new statistics above confirm a trend that Barron’s recently diagnosed: ‘The ratio of those over 55 in the workforce actually ticked up’—in other words, older Americans are being forced to return to work in a poor economy to make ends meet while many younger Americans simply aren’t working at all. In short, there is an unprecedented supply of working-age Americans who do not hold jobs.” Edited May 30, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) The Velocity Of Money In The U.S. Falls To An All-Time Record Low =########o##########= When an economy is healthy, there is lots of buying and selling and money tends to move around quite rapidly. Unfortunately, the U.S. economy is the exact opposite of that right now. In fact, as I will document below, the velocity of M2 has fallen to an all-time record low. This is a very powerful indicator that we have entered a deflationary era, and the Federal Reserve has been attempting to combat this by absolutely flooding the financial system with more money. This has created some absolutely massive financial bubbles, but it has not fixed what is fundamentally wrong with our economy. On a very basic level, the amount of economic activity that we are witnessing is not anywhere near where it should be and the flow of money through our economy is very stagnant. They can try to mask our problems with happy talk for as long as they want, but in the end it will be clearly evident that none of the long-term trends that are destroying our economy have been addressed. see http://investmentwatchblog.com/the-velocity-of-money-in-the-u-s-falls-to-an-all-time-record-low/ Edited June 2, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Retirees Forced Back to Work. Young People Remain Jobless June 9th, 2014 ================================================= http://investmentwatchblog.com/retirees-forced-back-to-work-young-people-remain-jobless/ Edited June 9, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gaal Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 (edited) REALIST NEWS – State of Economy – Look At McDonalds Sales June 11th, 2014 ----------------------x---------------------- http://investmentwatchblog.com/realist-news-state-of-economy-look-at-mcdonalds-sales/ ===========Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/realist-news-state-of-economy-look-at-mcdonalds-sales/#M36Heg9aDY36JxVO.99 Edited June 14, 2014 by Steven Gaal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Burton Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 LOL! Of the 29 posts made in this "important" thread, 28 of them were made by the opening poster. Self inflation of the ego is not a virtue, Steven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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