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Turn Out The Lights U.S. Cities Are Becoming Cesspools Of Filth, Decay And Wret

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
December 31, 2022, 10:08:58 am NilsFor1611 says: blessings
August 08, 2018, 02:38:10 am suzytr says: Hello, any good churches in the Sacto, CA area, also looking in Reno NV, thanks in advance and God Bless you Smiley
January 29, 2018, 01:21:57 am Christian40 says: It will be interesting to see what happens this year Israel being 70 years as a modern nation may 14 2018
October 17, 2017, 01:25:20 am Christian40 says: It is good to type Mark is here again!  Smiley
October 16, 2017, 03:28:18 am Christian40 says: anyone else thinking that time is accelerating now? it seems im doing days in shorter time now is time being affected in some way?
September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-11-new-fda-approved-hepatitis-b-vaccine-found-to-increase-heart-attack-risk-by-700.html
September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
September 14, 2017, 08:06:04 am Psalm 51:17 says: bro Mark Hunter on YT has some good, edifying stuff too.
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Author Topic: Turn Out The Lights U.S. Cities Are Becoming Cesspools Of Filth, Decay And Wret  (Read 26195 times)
Psalm 51:17
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« Reply #120 on: August 29, 2013, 06:00:59 pm »

And somehow Detroit is able to afford a multi-million dollar hockey stadium and THIS... Roll Eyes

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/warner-bros-man-steel-sequel-scores-35m-michigan-180139250.html
Warner Bros’ ‘Man Of Steel’ Sequel Scores $35M Michigan Tax Credit For Detroit Shoot
8/29/13

Look out Eminem — Superman and Batman are heading to Detroit. The Michigan Film Office today announced that Warner Bros’ untitled Man Of Steel sequel has been awarded a state incentive of $35 million to film there in early 2014. The office says that the sequel — in which Ben Affleck debuts as Batman and Henry Cavill reprises his Superman role from this year’s blockbuster — is expected to have $131 million worth of in-state expenditures when it films in and around Motor City. The now-bankrupt Detroit will serve as both Metropolis and Gotham in the first feature team-up between the two top DC Comics heroes. “Detroit is a great example of a quintessential American city, and I know it will make the perfect backdrop for our movie,” said director Zack Snyder in a statement Thursday. “Detroit and the entire state of Michigan have been fantastic collaborators and we are looking forward to working together on this film.” The Man Of Steel sequel is set to be released July 17, 2015.

With the state estimating 426 full-time jobs, $5.1 million in hotels and 500 local vendors being use for the film, the Warner Bros production is another big get for the economically ravaged city and state. Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful was shot at Pontiac’s Michigan Motion Studios and Detroit is standing in for Tokyo in Transformers 4. Once one of the leading production locations in the country after California and New York, Michigan had slipped in recent years over amid the political uncertainty surrounding its film incentives and the lucrative offerings of other states like of Georgia and Louisiana. The first Man of Steel, which has made more than $290 million domestically since its June 14 release, was shot primarily in Vancouver, with additional production in Illinois and California. Part of the move to Michigan for the superhero sequel could be in part because Vancouver saw uncertainty of its own in recent months as the provincial government resisted calls from Hollywood to increase its incentive program. Man Of Steel 2 is expected to shoot in Toronto as well.

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« Reply #121 on: August 29, 2013, 06:21:57 pm »

Your cities are a financial ruin, and you agree to give some huge profitable movie company a tax break of $35 million?  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #122 on: August 31, 2013, 04:53:12 am »

Quote
“Detroit is a great example of a quintessential American city, and I know it will make the perfect backdrop for our movie,” said director Zack Snyder in a statement Thursday.

Grin
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« Reply #123 on: September 21, 2013, 04:28:49 pm »

Quinn: I’d Consider Using National Guard, State Police To Help Chicago

This is dangerous talk, but will become the norm. If they can pull this off they will be able to do this everywhere.

Gov. Pat Quinn says he would consider using state resources to help combat Chicago street violence.

Speaking about this week’s mass shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, Quinn says he’s open to talking with Mayor Emanuel or Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy about supplementing Chicago law enforcement with state police or the Illinois National Guard.

He said he’s had no specific conversations but noted state police are helping patrol in East St. Louis, another city that has its challenges with violent crime.

“I think anyone who saw what happened in Cornell Park the other night was horrified by the violence. I live on the West Side of Chicago. It is an area that has been inflicted with violence, and we’ve got to protect the people,” Quinn told reporters Saturday.

Talk about using state firepower in Chicago isn’t unprecedented. In 2008, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested using the state police and National Guard to help Chicago police with “out of control” violence.

The comment was widely interpreted as an insult to then-Mayor Richard Daley, with whom Blagojevich was feuding.

Quinn said potential solutions to crime include community efforts to minimize the impact of gangs and early education.

He says he also remains committed to doing something about assault rifles – one is suspected of being used in Thursday’s shooting – and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The governor spoke in the Little Village neighborhood Saturday morning at the reopening of a credit union.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/09/21/quinn-id-consider-using-national-guard-state-police-to-help-chicago/
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« Reply #124 on: September 22, 2013, 05:13:07 am »

Quote
Talk about using state firepower in Chicago isn’t unprecedented.

Uh, it sure isn't! It's talked about in the US Constitution. It's called the "militia".

The state governor is suppose to manage these things in-state. This kind of thing is in part exactly what the state militia is for.

Unfortunately, the federal government considers the "National Guard" as the militia! Which right on the surface is a contradiction in terms using the word "national"! There is no national militia. Federally, that is what you call the "standing army" or "organized militia".

Natural disasters, sure, the Guard can help out. Leave your weapons back at home. The only other way they can legally be involved in any kind of "police action" is by, you guessed it, martial law. I do not believe they can even be involved by "providing material support". Sorry, just don't see it in the Constitution.

The whole point of the "unorganized militia" under the command of each state's governors, is primarily to protect against federal government tyranny.

It's obvious the "founders" knew what they were talking about, seeing the actions of the federal government these days, in their rabid attempt to restrict gun ownership among citizens, and to take command of the National Guard under the standing army, and their out of control militarization of civilian police forces with "federal funds" and their little legal move they call a "joint task force" with "local authorities".
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« Reply #125 on: September 26, 2013, 05:16:57 pm »

Police: Body parts found in suburban Detroit sewer

Authorities say body parts have been found in a sewer in suburban Detroit for the third time in just over a year.

Sterling Heights police say the remains were found Wednesday by workers making repairs.

A statement from police says there's a strong possibility the parts are medical waste that was improperly put into the sewer.

The Detroit News reports three pieces each measure 2-by-2 inches. The Detroit Free Press reports the Macomb County medical examiner's office says DNA samples will be submitted for additional testing.

Officials have said partial remains found in August 2012 in a sewer in Sterling Heights came from a woman, but not the same woman whose body parts were discovered in December 2012 in a sewer line in the nearby community of Warren.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/police-body-parts-found-suburban-detroit-sewer
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« Reply #126 on: September 27, 2013, 08:20:29 am »

White House Details Obama’s $300M Plan To Help Detroit

Ahead of a Friday meeting in Detroit with several members of the Obama administration, the White House is detailing their plan to support the city in wake of its Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.
 
The administration said their focus is on collaborating with city leaders and local partners to align existing federal resources to effectively support local priorities.
 
While an exhaustive federal bailout isn’t on the table, the White House wants Detroit to take advantage of existing programs to rebuild and right itself financially. The Sept. 27 meeting is part of ongoing discussions between city leaders and Presidential cabinet members concerning the Detroit’s financial troubles.
 
The Administration is committing to the following, in partnership with the state, city, philanthropic and private sector:
 
Unlocking and Attracting Nearly $150 Million for the Effective, Coordinated Demolition of Blighted Properties, Neighborhood Revitalization and Redevelopment in Detroit.
 Unlocking $65 million in Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) funds for blight eradication, housing rehabilitation, and other community revitalization efforts through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in partnership with the city.
 Demonstrating a public private partnership by providing Detroit with $25.4 million for commercial building demolition from the city, state and HUD, as well as business and philanthropic partners. The investments include:
 – $5 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP-3) funding from HUD and the city;
 – $5.4 million of repurposed CDBG funding from HUD and the city;
 – $5 million in program income from NSP-2 from the State of Michigan;
 – $10 million through the fundraising efforts of philanthropic and business organizations.
 Ensuring efficient and green utilization of the recently announced $52 million Hardest Hit Fund allocation for blight elimination through assistance from the Department of the Treasury and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including the release of a “toolkit” for safe demolition.
 Providing Detroit with $10.18 million for affordable housing from HUD.
 Awarding $1.1 million for environmental assessments and cleanup of brownfield sites from EPA.
 Expanding access to a tax lien assistance program that has helped more than 1,600 families and counting avoid foreclosure through a partnership of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and Treasury Department.
 
In addition to the $10 million in private funds for commercial demolition, other contributions to neighborhood revitalization from the philanthropic and business communities include:


 Giving $1.5 million in operating support to the Detroit Land Bank Authority between 2014 and 2018 through an ongoing commitment by the Ford Foundation.
 Awarding $1 million to Invest Detroit for the acquisition and pre-development of residential properties including a new project on the East Riverfront, through the Ford Foundation, in addition to the ongoing support by the Kresge Foundation for the East Riverfront.
 Putting $500,000 toward blight removal in Detroit neighborhoods and a $100,000 investment in a “blight text” technology that allows residents to participate in identifying and addressing blight by the Skillman Foundation.
 
Awarding and Expediting $30 Million to Improve Public Safety, Reduce Crime, and Decrease Emergency Response Time.
 Awarding $3 million in Justice Department funds for hiring new police officers, establishing a bike patrol, supporting prisoner re-entry programs, and supporting youth anti-violence programs.
 Convening police chiefs from across the nation to bring best practices and innovation to the Detroit Police Department.
 Expediting access to $25 million in FEMA funding that will enable the hiring of 150 firefighters and purchasing of equipment to prevent and detect arson.
 Working with the State of Michigan and local leaders, supporting 71 Detroit AmeriCorps members to empower youth, create economic development, and improve public safety.
 Supporting Detroit’s street lighting system through a technical partnership between the Department of Energy, Detroit’s Public Lighting Authority, and DTE Energy.
 
These public investments complement contributions from the philanthropic and business communities, including but not limited to:
 Providing $1.35 million in the next six months to improve safety in neighborhoods and to build a community policing model alongside Detroit Police Department and neighborhood groups by the Skillman Foundation.
 Improving the police department’s CompStat system and ensuring safe pathways to school for kids, as well as other public safety efforts, through a $300,000 investment from the Skillman Foundation and a $300,000 investment from the Kresge Foundation.
 
Deploying Nearly $140 Million in Federal Funds for Improving Transportation Systems for City and Regional Residents.
 Ensuring access to more than $100 million in transit grants from the Department of Transportation (DOT), including immediately releasing $24 million of funding to repair and rehabilitate buses and to install security cameras to protect passengers and drivers.
 Unlocking a $25 million TIGER grant and reaffirming the Department’s commitment to the M1 RAIL/Woodward Ave Streetcar project, a key priority for Detroit’s leaders, that will now help leverage more than $100 million in outside private and philanthropic investment.
 Providing $6.4 million in DOT funding to the newly created Regional Transit Authority (RTA) to help implement a much-needed regional bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
 Attracting potential investors through a New Market Tax Credit convening, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
 
These public investments complement contributions from the philanthropic and business communities, including but not limited to:
 Providing up to $300,000 toward designing a high-performing transportation system serving Detroit residents in line with the recommendations of the Detroit Future City strategic framework plan, from the Kresge Foundation.
 Awarding $3 million to support property acquisition and pre-development for Transit-Oriented Development on the Woodward Corridor to support the M1 RAIL through Ford Foundation, in conjunction with the $30.25 million revolving loan fund for mixed-use housing development announced by the Kresge Foundation and other partners last week.
 
Helping to Create a 21st Century Detroit.
 Deploying a ‘Tech Team’ of leading City Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) to bring innovation to Detroit’s city services through the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
 Connecting small businesses with millions of dollars of business from national customers through the Small Business Administration’s American Supplier Initiative Matchmaker Event.
 Ongoing engagement with and support for Detroit through additional Federal resources and future meetings with the Secretaries of the Departments of Education and Labor, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and other senior Obama Administration officials.
 
These public investments complement contributions from the philanthropic and business communities, including but not limited to:
 Providing $15 million to cultivate Detroit entrepreneurs and small businesses through continued funding for the New Economy Initiative from the Ford, Kresge, and Knight foundations.
 Providing $250,000 to foster the advancement of early stage retail and creative businesses in Detroit through support of the Detroit Development Fund from Knight Foundation.
 Providing $500,000 to help implement the Tech Team’s recommendations to improve Detroit city services by bringing in innovation fellows, making needed upgrades, and supporting local tech training and mentoring, through the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Rock Ventures.
 Delivering up to $1 million to upgrade the city’s grants management system from Ford Foundation.
 Awarding $250,000 to fund fifty $5,000 capacity grants subsidizing the enhanced training of public sector and nonprofit employees advancing Detroit’s future from Knight Foundation.
 Committing to fund future classes of “Revitalization Fellows,” 25-30 mid-career professionals sent to city government and nonprofit sector partners, for at least two more rounds, a combined $5 million commitment from the Ford Foundation and Kresge Foundation.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/09/27/white-house-details-obamas-plan-to-help-detroit/
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« Reply #127 on: September 27, 2013, 11:29:49 am »

Federal takeover...
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« Reply #128 on: September 27, 2013, 02:19:50 pm »

Maybe take over by proxy, or I should say, financial bribes through "federal funding" of state expenses.

Notice how much of that "funding" is direct at just operational expenses and "studies", which is what happens when you have a bunch of different "agencies" involved. They all want their cut of the federal pie. And as expected, part of their methods is through "partnerships" with private companies. Notice how a bunch of that money is going towards what is obviously redevelopment of business areas with shiny new shops and offices on the water front. In the end, these deals end up being one big land grab. It makes sense at times to just level a place and start over, sure, but that call is still that of the land owner.

Now if the private property is not being claimed and truly is legally abandoned, I think it should be put on the open market, and not taken by government. Let a private sale pay any back taxes, and charge the previous owners the other added costs to it being left unclaimed. Public funds should never be used to pay for the costs, especially when many of those structures are bank foreclosures that the lenders have abandoned themselves. The mortgage servicers who lay claim to ownership of a property they claim the right to foreclose on should be held financially accountable for all those foreclosures out there. They need to clean their mess up, out of their own pocket, or I suspect massive fines, at least, would be in order.
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« Reply #129 on: September 27, 2013, 02:35:12 pm »

Apparently, this is part of UN's Agenda 21.
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« Reply #130 on: October 21, 2013, 03:46:04 am »

12 Shocking Clues About What America Will Look Like When The Next Great Economic Crisis Strikes

The collapse of American society is accelerating.  For the moment, much of our social decay is being masked by the tremendous level of affluence that we are experiencing.  It has been reported that 4 out of every 5 adults in the United States "struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives", but in general Americans still enjoy a debt-fueled standard of living that is far beyond what most of the rest of the world enjoys.  When that debt-fueled standard of living permanently disappears, it is going to unleash chaos unlike anything that America has ever seen before.  Right now, economic conditions in this country are not anywhere close to where they were before 2008, but this is just the beginning.  We are in the midst of an ongoing economic collapse which is going to get much, much worse in the years ahead.  When the next major wave of the economic crisis strikes, millions of people are going to become extremely desperate.  And desperate people do desperate things.  We are already starting to see this play out all over the nation, but this is only a preview of coming attractions.  What we are going to witness in future years is going to be almost too horrible for words.

So how can I be so sure that this is going to happen?  After all, the United States didn't descend into complete and utter chaos during the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Wouldn't an economic depression unfold in a similar manner today?

Unfortunately, a lot has changed since then.  A lot more Americans were self-sufficient back in those days, and the truth is that the character of our nation has been rotting and decaying for decades.  In a previous article, I described it this way...

    "We are simply not the same country that we used to be.  Americans are proud, selfish, greedy, arrogant, ungrateful, treacherous and completely addicted to entertainment and pleasure.  Our country is literally falling apart all around us, but most Americans are so plugged into entertainment that they can't even be bothered to notice what is happening."

Just last weekend, there were "mini-riots" in several U.S. states when "technical issues" caused the food stamp system to go haywire for a few hours.

What would have happened if there had been an extended outage or if the political crisis in D.C. had caused food stamps to be completely cut off at some point in November?

Let's be thankful that we did not have to find out.

But even though major food stamps riots may have been averted (at least for now), there are a whole host of other signs that America is going to become a very unstable place during the next major economic downturn.  The following are 12 shocking clues about what America will look like when the next great economic crisis strikes...

#1 Would you continue to work as a bus driver if you were stabbed while driving or if a passenger poured urine all over you?  Just check out what has been going on in Detroit lately...

    After two drivers were recently stabbed and another had urine poured on her by an angry rider, union officials representing bus drivers for the city of Detroit are set to protest in front of city hall at 10 a.m. on Monday.

#2 We are starting to see a lot of "group crimes" happen all over America.  For example, just the other day in Brooklyn, New York a gang of 10 young thugs dragged a young couple out of their vehicle and brutally beat them...

    Ronald Russo was dragged to the ground. Then he was punched and kicked in the head. He felt more blows all over his body, investigators said. He suffered a fractured nose, a broken septum, a blood clot and abrasions to his shoulder. He was treated and released from Beth Israel Medical Center.

    In the midst of the attack, there was a steady chorus of epithets. “White motherf-----!” screamed the attackers, who ranged in age from 12 to 18.
    Alanna Russo, 30, was calling 911 when the 12-year-old girl pulled the woman’s hair and threw her to the ground. The victim’s head slammed into the concrete. She suffered a black eye, bleeding and difficulty breathing, prosecutors said, but she refused medical attention.

#3 A lot of people assume that they are perfectly safe inside their own vehicles but that is not the case at all.  A story in the New York Post about a gang of bikers that ruthlessly hunted down a young family that was driving an SUV made national headlines a few weeks ago...

    A gang of bikers terrorized a dad driving with his wife and baby daughter on the West Side Highway — chasing after their SUV and then dragging the man out and beating him to a pulp in front of his horrified family, authorities said.

When the bikers caught up with this family they showed the father of the baby daughter absolutely no mercy...

    One biker can be seen on the video ripping off his helmet and using it to bash in Lien’s driver’s-side window.

    The crew pummeled Lien on the pavement in front of his wife, Rosalyn Ng, and their 2-year-old daughter, police sources said.

    Lien, who also was slashed during the melee, was rushed to Columbia University Medical Center. He needed stitches to his face and chest and had two black eyes.

#4 We are living at a time when hearts are becoming very cold.  Some Americans are becoming so desperate for money that they will do almost anything to get it.  In fact, one couple in Tennessee has actually been charged with selling their four daughters for use in sex films...

    An East Tennessee couple is facing a list of charges, accused of selling their children to take part in sex films.

    Connie Sue McCall, 40, and her husband, Ronnie Lee McCall, 61, of Johnson City have been charged by a federal grand jury.

    Paperwork shows the couple was selling their four daughters.

    Prosecutors say the four girls were between the ages of 5 and 16 when this happened.

Could you imagine such a thing happening in your neighborhood?

Perhaps it is happening, but you just don't know that it is going on.

#5 And it is not only older people that are having their hearts grow cold.  It is happening to young people too.  Last week, a 17-year-old girl was caught carrying around a dead baby (which she probably gave birth to) in a shopping bag in a Victoria's Secret store right in the heart of Manhattan...

    The dead baby found in the teen’s shopping bag at a Victoria’s Secret store in Manhattan was born alive and then asphyxiated, police said Friday, as the macabre discovery turned toward a possible homicide case.

    Police believe 17-year-old Tiana Rodriguez gave birth to the baby at a friend’s house and that the infant was later asphyxiated. However, the city medical examiner’s office said an autopsy was inconclusive, and more tests were needed.

Who does something like that?

#6 Sadly, a lot of mothers appear to be losing the natural affection that they should have for their children.  Just check out another incident that happened in New York City recently...

    So much for no child left behind.

    A stroller-toting mom who used her 1-year-old son as cover during a massive candy shoplifting spree at a downtown Duane Reade used the tot's pram as a battering ram when workers confronted her — and then ran away without the baby, the NYPD said.

#7 One of the clearest signs that American society is decaying is the fact that groups of kids are banding together and agreeing to commit absolutely horrible crimes.  We have seen this with the "flash mob" robberies that are plaguing many cities, but what is even worse is when groups of kids band together to commit violent acts.  In Pennsylvania recently, a group of teens cheered on attackers as they beat up a 15-year-old girl...

    Speaking exclusively to CBS 3, a 15-year-old high school student, whose identity we are concealing, described a terrifying attack by a gang of at least nine teenage boys as she was leaving an Interboro High School football game Monday night.

    The teenage victim described first being taunted by the attackers, who followed her down a neighborhood street, cursing and spitting at her, before she was repeatedly kicked and punched, suffering at least one blow to her head.

The attackers even tried to throw her in front of a passing vehicle and nobody tried to stop them...

    The victim says as at least two of the teenagers pummeled her, the others cheered them on shouting, “Come on, let’s get her!” At one point, the victim says, the gang tried to throw her under the wheels of a passing car, which swerved, narrowly missing her.

What is happening to this country?

#8 We have also been hearing about a lot of "gang rapes" lately as well.  The following is an excerpt from a first-hand account from a 14-year-old girl in Missouri that experienced this type of horrible ordeal...

    About five shots tall, I drank it. I guess I didn't know how badly it would mess me up. But the boys who gave it to me did.

    Then it was like I fell into a dark abyss. No light anywhere. Just dark, dense silence -- and cold. That's all I could ever remember from that night. Apparently, I was there for not even an entire hour before they discarded me in the snow.

You can read the rest of her sobering story right here.

Are you starting to understand why I am so convinced that we have a major problem with our young men in America today?

Instead of raising young gentlemen, we are raising wild animals that seem to have very little self-control.

#9 And sometimes the public does not do anything to stop sexual assaults even when they happen on public streets.  In a recent incident in Athens, Ohio, not only did the public not stop a sexual assault, many actually took photos of the assault and posted them on social media websites...

    Horrific photos of an alleged **** in progress have been shared on social media after crowds at a college homecoming celebration chose to take pictures and videos of the sex act rather than stopping it.

Would such a thing have happened in our country 50 years ago?

Of course not.

We need to come to grips with how far we have fallen.

#10 In America today, young kids can beat a homeless man to death and it barely even makes a blip on the news.  I'll bet hardly any of you have heard about what happened recently to a homeless man in New Jersey...

    Three teenagers were in custody Saturday morning, on charges of beating a homeless man to his death in Hoboken, N.J.

    As CBS 2’s Janelle Burrell reported, Hudson County Acting Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory said two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old were charged in the Sept. 10 death of Ralph Eric Santiago, 46.

What would cause 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds to behave so savagely?

Could it be because we are raising them in a society where basic morality is not taught any longer?

#11 Our young people certainly do not have much respect for the very elderly anymore either.  Instead, the elderly are looked at as "weak" and "easy prey".  Just check out what recently happened to a 70-year-old man in upstate New York...

    A 70-year-old man was seriously injured early Saturday morning after being attacked outside of a 7-Eleven in Syracuse.

    Police say James Gifford had just left the store at the intersection of Valley Drive and South Street just after 6:00 a.m. and was attacked by a group of five or six black males, according to Syracuse Police.

    Police also said this appears to be an unprovoked incident with an innocent victim.

#12 In this day and age, it is very hard to tell who you can trust.  You might meet someone on the street and they might smile and seem very nice, but inside they may be full of all kinds of garbage.  For example, just check out what one man in the Boston area planned to do…

    A Boston-area man, who was planning to kidnap children, lock them in a basement dungeon, **** and eat them, should be imprisoned for at least 27 years, federal authorities said in court documents filed this week.

    Geoffrey Portway pleaded guilty in May to distribution and possession of child pornography and solicitation to commit a crime of violence, according to court documents. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17.

    “Portway has pled guilty to some of the most vile and heinous crimes known to our society,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing recommendation.

This is how twisted and perverted our society has become.

A lot of Americans believe that if we could just elect "the right politicians" or if we could just change our economic system or if we could just fix one particular issue that everything would be right in America again.

Unfortunately, what we are facing is not so simple.  Our problems are not just in Washington D.C. or on Wall Street.  The truth is that our biggest problem is what is going on inside of us.

America is rotting and decaying on the inside, and the next great economic crisis is going to reveal just how bad things have gotten.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/12-shocking-clues-about-what-america-will-look-like-when-the-next-great-economic-crisis-strikes
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« Reply #131 on: October 26, 2013, 07:08:11 am »

Crime Is Getting Worse: Violent Crime In America Increased By 15 Percent Last Year

If your neighborhood is not as safe as it used to be, then you have something in common with the rest of the country.  All over America, crime is on the rise.  According to a government survey that was just released, violent crime in the United States increased by 15 percent last year, and property crime was up by 12 percent.  If violent crime keeps increasing at this rate, it will approximately double in just six years.  But as I wrote about the other day, when the next major economic downturn strikes it will probably greatly accelerate the growth of the crime rate in this country.  Desperate people do desperate things, and as you will read about below, there are people out there that are already stealing entire truckloads of food.  In the future, when people are extremely hungry or crazy for their next drug hit, they won't think twice about invading your home or pulling you out of your vehicle.  The rise in crime that we are witnessing right now is just the beginning.  It is going to get a lot worse than this.
 
Whenever I do this type of an article, inevitably someone leaves a comment insisting that I am lying because crime rates are going down.
 
Well, that used to be true.  It is no longer accurate.
 
As an ABC News article that was just released explains, the crime victimization survey shows that violent crime in America has now increased for two years in a row...
 

The violent crime rate went up 15 percent last year, and the property crime rate rose 12 percent, the government said Thursday, signs that the nation may be seeing the last of the substantial declines in crime of the past two decades.
 
Last year marked the second year in a row for increases in the crime victimization survey, a report that is based on household interviews.
 
This is one of the primary reasons why so many people are moving out of the big cities right now.  In the city of Chicago, police are so overwhelmed with crime that they will no longer respond in person "to 911 calls reporting vehicle theft, garage burglary or simple assault".
 
Things have gotten so bad in Chicago that a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted as she was walking to a bus stop this week and it barely made a blip on the news.
 
But we have come to expect this kind of thing in crime-infested cities such as Chicago.  We don't expect it to happen in "quiet communities" such as Augusta, Georgia...
 

"When we first moved out here three and a half years ago, my wife and I, it was a quiet community, it was a deal that we felt we couldn't pass up on," Don McIntee says.
 
McIntee lives in the Butler Creek Mobile Home Community, but he's trying to change that. He recently put his home up for sale because he says the crime in his neighborhood is too much to deal with.
 
"I want to live in a place that I feel is secure and safe for my wife because I'm out of town a lot," he says.
 
And it seems like criminals are becoming more brutal than ever.  For example, one thug actually put his gun into the mouth of a 92-year-old World War II veteran in Fresno, California and threatened to kill him during one recent home invasion...
 

"I was sound asleep at about one or two o'clock in the morning, all the lights were on and a guy shook me with a gun in my face. (I said) Hey what's going on? (He said) Shut up and he slapped me," he explained.
 
While the suspect held him at gunpoint, three others ransacked his house, taking about 200 dollars in cash and jewelry including his 1941 class ring from Woodlake High School in Tulare County.
 
"They were in there for almost a half hour," said Fresno County Sheriff Department spokesperson Chris Curtice. "So they had plenty of time to search the house, it was the middle of the night."
 
At one point, Joseph said one of the suspects put a gun in his mouth and threatened to kill him. While being ordered into the bedroom closet, he said he hit him in the head with a handgun, causing him to fall to the floor.
 
Was there any need for that?  That 92-year-old man was certainly no threat to the four home invaders.
 
But this is what is happening all over the nation now.  Criminals appear to be getting crazier and crazier.
 
In Houston recently, one team of home invaders decided to storm a house at 8 AM in the morning while people all along the street were leaving their homes to go to work and to school...
 

It was about 8am -- daylight, with people going to work and kids going to school, yet no one apparently saw this coming. The homeowner told me four men, armed with guns, broke in through her garage and forced their way inside her house.
 
The woman's daughter and son-in-law were in the home with her, along with two of their daughters, ages four and six. The homeowner says the gunmen pointed guns at all of them -- even the children -- and demanded money over and over. They ransacked the house and the cars- and eventually got away with some cash, at least one cell phone and the homeowner's wallet.
 
Who robs a house at 8 AM in the morning?
 
That is either incredibly bold or incredibly stupid.
 
In my article yesterday, I included another example of a crime which is either incredibly bold or incredibly stupid.  One very enterprising carjacker actually decided to try to carjack the police chief of Detroit while he was sitting in a clearly marked police vehicle...
 

Just four months on the job, Detroit’s new police chief got an early taste of the city’s hardscrabble streets.
 
While in his patrol car at an intersection on Jefferson two weeks ago, Police Chief James Craig was nearly carjacked, police spokeswoman Kelly Miner confirmed today.
 
Craig said he was in a marked police car with mounted lights when a man quickly tried to approach the side of his car. Craig, who became police chief in June, retold the story Monday during a program designed to crack down on carjackings.
 
So what is going on here?
 
Are criminals becoming bolder or are they just becoming stupider?
 
I don't have an answer for that question, but one thing seems certain - crime is definitely getting worse.
 
As I mentioned at the top of this article, some criminals are now actually stealing entire truckloads of food.  A recent CBS News article explained how they are doing this...
 

To steal huge shipments of valuable cargo, thieves are turning to a deceptively simple tactic: They pose as truckers, load the freight onto their own tractor-trailers and drive away with it.
 
It’s an increasingly common form of commercial identity theft that has allowed con men to make off each year with millions of dollars in merchandise, often food and beverages. And experts say the practice is growing so rapidly that it will soon become the most common way to steal freight.
 
And what we are talking about is not just a few isolated incidents.  This is literally happening from coast to coast and the dollar values of some of these thefts are staggering...
 

News reports from across the country recount just a few of the thefts: 80,000 pounds of walnuts worth $300,000 in California, $200,000 of Muenster cheese in Wisconsin, rib-eye steaks valued at $82,000 in Texas, $25,000 pounds of king crab worth $400,000 in California.
 
As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, I actually expect that we will start seeing armed guards on food trucks in a few years.
 
Desperate people do desperate things, and as food prices continue to rise I believe that food trucks will become highly prized targets.
 
America is rapidly changing, and not for the better.
 
So what are things like in your area of the country?
 
Are you noticing an increase in crime?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/crime-is-getting-worse-violent-crime-in-america-increased-by-15-percent-last-year
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« Reply #132 on: November 04, 2013, 07:28:35 am »

Tide Thefts, Cargo Hijacking And Cattle Rustling: Why Is An Epidemic Of Thievery Sweeping America?

Desperate people do desperate things, and it appears that Americans are rapidly becoming a lot more desperate.  An epidemic of thievery is sweeping across America, and authorities are not quite sure what to make of it.  Down in Texas, cattle thieves can get up to $1,500 per head of cattle, and cattle rustling was up nearly 40 percent last year.  As you will read about below, cargo hijacking is becoming much more sophisticated, and it is being estimated that losses from cargo thefts will total about $216 million this year alone.  And for some reason, Tide laundry detergent has become a very hot commodity among common criminals all across America.  In fact, it is being reported that some grocery stores are "losing $10,000 to $15,000 a month" as a result of Tide thefts.  So why is all of this happening?  Well, as I have written about previously, crime is on the rise in the United States, and poverty is absolutely exploding.  In fact, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.2 percent of all Americans are receiving benefits from at least one government program each month.  Over the past five years, we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people that cannot take care of themselves without help from the government.  Millions upon millions of Americans that have been forced into poverty are becoming increasingly angry, frustrated and desperate.  And what we are watching right now is only just the beginning - all of this is going to get a whole lot worse.
 
When people think of the "social decay" that is happening to America, most of the time Texas and Oklahoma would not be the first places that come to mind.  But according to NPR, there was nearly a 40 percent rise in the theft of cows and horses down in that area of the country last year...
 

Ranchers saw a sharp jump in cattle rustling last year in Texas and Oklahoma. Over 10,000 cows and horses were reported missing or stolen. That’s an almost 40 percent increase from the year before. It’s a trend that’s surprised some in law enforcement.
 
And this is happening even though the penalties for cattle rustling have gotten much stronger...
 

Penalties against rustlers were toughened by Texas lawmakers in 2009. Now, the crime could put you in prison for up to 10 years. But ironically more and more cattle have gone missing or stolen since that law was passed.
 
Another trend that is baffling law enforcement authorities is the huge wave of cargo hijackings that they have been seeing.  According to a recent CBS News article, cargo thefts are becoming a lot more elaborate these days...
 

To steal huge shipments of valuable cargo, thieves are turning to a deceptively simple tactic: They pose as truckers, load the freight onto their own tractor-trailers and drive away with it.
 
It’s an increasingly common form of commercial identity theft that has allowed con men to make off each year with millions of dollars in merchandise, often food and beverages. And experts say the practice is growing so rapidly that it will soon become the most common way to steal freight.
 
You may not think that stealing truckloads of walnuts or cheese is a big deal, but the truth is that the dollar values of some of these thefts are absolutely staggering...
 

News reports from across the country recount just a few of the thefts: 80,000 pounds of walnuts worth $300,000 in California, $200,000 of Muenster cheese in Wisconsin, rib-eye steaks valued at $82,000 in Texas, $25,000 pounds of king crab worth $400,000 in California.
 
And this is not just happening in a few isolated locations.  We are literally seeing an epidemic of cargo theft that stretches from coast to coast...
 

Although cargo thieves prey on companies across the nation, the hot spots are places with shipping ports or rail hubs. California leads the nation. Large numbers of thefts have also been reported in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
 
Perhaps most fascinating of all is the wave of Tide thefts that is sweeping the nation.  The following is an excerpt from a New York Magazine article from earlier this year...
 

The call that came in from a local Safeway one day in March 2011 was unlike any the Organized Retail Crime Unit of the Prince George’s County Police Department had fielded before. The grocery store, located in suburban Bowie, Maryland, had been robbed repeatedly. But in every incident the only products taken were bottles—many, many bottles—of the liquid laundry detergent Tide. “They were losing $10,000 to $15,000 a month, with people just taking it off the shelves,” recalls Sergeant Aubrey Thompson, who heads the team. When Thompson and his officers arrived to investigate, they stumbled onto another apparent Tide theft in progress and busted two men who’d piled 100 or so of the bright-orange jugs into their Honda. The next day, Thompson returned to the store’s parking lot to tape a television interview about the crimes. A different robber took advantage of the distraction to make off with twenty more bottles.
 
So why are criminals so interested in Tide detergent?
 
Well, apparently it is heavily used as currency in the drug trade...
 

Southern California authorities say it’s a dirty business and a bizarre trend – drug users trading Tide detergent for crack.
 
The Riverside Press-Enterprise says it’s a nationwide problem – people are stealing the popular but expensive detergent and trading it for marijuana and crack ****.
 
San Bernardino police Sgt. Travis Walker says detectives raiding dope houses in recent years were puzzled when they found lots of Tide. Turns out it wasn’t being used to make drugs but to buy them.
 
We live at a time when an increasing number of Americans will do just about anything for money.
 
Down in Florida, one mother was so desperate for money that she was actually prostituting her three teenage daughters.  Two of them were under the age of 18...
 

A St. Cloud mother was picked up Thursday on charges of serving as her three teenage daughters' madam in a West U.S. Highway 192 prostitution ring, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.
 
At 2:30 p.m., Paula Howard flagged down an undercover detective acting as a "John" in front of a bus stop and arranged for him to have sex with one of her girls, ages 16, 17, and 18, an arrest record states.
 
The daughter agreed to perform the act for $20 and hopped into the car, telling the detective, "Oh yea. That's my family, but don't even worry about it. They know what I do," the report states.
 
But haven't you heard?
 
Everything is just fine in America.  Barack Obama and the mainstream media keep telling us that over and over, so it must be true.
 
Right?
 
I think that we got a glimpse into the true condition of America last month when a "technical glitch" caused the system that processes food stamp card payments to malfunction for a couple of hours.  A Time Magazine article described what happened at one Wal-Mart in Louisiana...
 

Customers cleared shelves and police were called in to control crowds taking advantage of suddenly unlimited spending allowed on their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, which are issued to recipients of government food stamps. Spending limits on the cards were reportedly disabled for about two hours.
 
When a store in Springhill, La., announced over the loudspeaker that the glitch was fixed, shoppers simply abandoned loaded carts, according to Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd.
 
And similar "mini-riots" happened in a bunch of other locations as well.
 
For example, customers at one Wal-Mart in Mississippi just started taking groceries out of the store that they hadn't paid for when their food stamp cards were not accepted...
 

Customers staged a disturbance then walked out of a Mississippi Walmart store with groceries that hadn’t been paid for Saturday night after a computer glitch left them unable to use their food stamp cards.
 
People in 17 states found themselves unable to buy groceries with their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a temporary system failure.
 
Shortly after the mini-riot, managers decided to temporarily close the store, citing customer safety.
 
Keep in mind that all of this was caused by a "technical glitch" that only lasted for a few hours.
 
What would happen if there was a problem that lasted for much longer?
 
That is a sobering thing to think about.
 
And as I wrote about recently, all 47 million Americans on food stamps just had their benefits reduced on November 1st.  This is causing food banks all across the country to brace for a huge influx of needy people...
 

Food banks across the country, stretched thin in the aftermath of the recession, are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of cuts to the federal food stamp program.
 
Food stamp benefits to 47 million Americans were cut starting Friday as a temporary boost to the federal program comes to an end without new funding from a deadlocked Congress.
 
Under the program, known formally as the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, a family of four that gets $668 per month in benefits will find that amount cut by $36.
 
In fact, the president of the Food Bank for New York City says that members of her organization "are panicking"...
 

As president of the Food Bank for New York City, Margaret Purvis expects those cuts will draw even more people to organizations that already provide 400,000 meals a day to hungry city folks.
 
"Our members are panicking," she said as time wound down before the benefit decreases go into effect. "We're telling everyone to make sure that you are prepared for longer lines."
 
Purvis also told Salon.com that "when people cannot afford to eat food" it has the potential to start "riots"...
 

“If you look across the world, riots always begin typically the same way: when people cannot afford to eat food,” Margarette Purvis, the president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, told Salon Monday. Purvis said that the looming cut would mean about 76 million meals “that will no longer be on the plates of the poorest families” in NYC alone – a figure that outstrips the total number of meals distributed each year by the Food Bank for New York City, the largest food bank in the country. “There will be an immediate impact,” she said.
 
So will we see riots as a result of these food stamp cuts?
 
No, I do not believe that we will see riots yet.
 
But the volcano of anger, frustration and desperation that is simmering just below the surface of this country continues to get hotter.
 
Someday it will explode.
 
What will you do when that happens?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/tide-thefts-cargo-hijacking-and-cattle-rustling-why-is-an-epidemic-of-thievery-sweeping-america
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« Reply #133 on: November 08, 2013, 12:05:09 am »

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/justice/detroit-barbershop-shooting/
11/7/13
Shooting at Detroit barbershop kills 3

(CNN) -- Three men were killed and nine wounded in Detroit on Wednesday when a man fired a high-powered rifle into the back room of a barbershop where 20 to 30 men were gambling, police said Thursday.

Authorities were questioning a "person of interest" taken into custody while wearing body armor. The man, a convicted felon, has not been charged in the slayings, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a news conference.

The shooting apparently stemmed from "an ongoing feud between a particular individual and members of the gambling party," Craig said.

Word of the killings first spread on Twitter.

**There goes social media again!

Craig said a man inside an automobile fired at another vehicle outside the business on the east side of Detroit. The shooter got out of his car and fired the rifle into the back room of the barbershop, where men had gathered to ****, he said.

At least one man in the room had a weapon and fired back. The men tried to flee to the front of the barbershop, but the door opened inward, slowing their escape, Craig said.

Detroit long has endured gun violence, but the barbershop shooting "certainly rises up as one of Detroit's more violent incidents," Craig said.

Nevertheless, overall violent crime is down about 6%, he said.
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« Reply #134 on: November 08, 2013, 09:17:50 pm »

Video: Flash Mobs Robbing Stores
11/8/13
http://news.yahoo.com/video/flash-mobs-robbing-stores-234938293.html

An epidemic of groups of thieves going into stores and running out with unpaid merchandise.
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« Reply #135 on: November 09, 2013, 02:43:48 am »

Quote
Detroit long has endured gun violence, but the barbershop shooting "certainly rises up as one of Detroit's more violent incidents," Craig said.

Not even close! Common stuff for Detroit, considering it's history of organized crime.

And "Flash Mobs", now that's a problem that I think shows just how the public's attitudes have gone south. Many simply don't care anymore, and only look out for themselves because they are mad the government is not taking care of them. And seeing the government is collapsing, the criminals are getting bolder, knowing there's a less and less chance cops will even show up to a crime scene.

It's one phase in the decent into anarchy.
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« Reply #136 on: November 09, 2013, 06:38:24 am »

#3 A lot of people assume that they are perfectly safe inside their own vehicles but that is not the case at all.  A story in the New York Post about a gang of bikers that ruthlessly hunted down a young family that was driving an SUV made national headlines a few weeks ago...

    A gang of bikers terrorized a dad driving with his wife and baby daughter on the West Side Highway — chasing after their SUV and then dragging the man out and beating him to a pulp in front of his horrified family, authorities said.

When the bikers caught up with this family they showed the father of the baby daughter absolutely no mercy...

    One biker can be seen on the video ripping off his helmet and using it to bash in Lien’s driver’s-side window.

    The crew pummeled Lien on the pavement in front of his wife, Rosalyn Ng, and their 2-year-old daughter, police sources said.

    Lien, who also was slashed during the melee, was rushed to Columbia University Medical Center. He needed stitches to his face and chest and had two black eyes.

Jury indicts 11 bikers in highway attack

•On Friday, a grand jury indicted 11 bikers, including an undercover NYPD officer
•Police say the incident happened after a group of bikers surrounded a SUV


Nearly two months after a biker-SUV clash went viral online,  11 bikers--including a NYPD detective—have been indicted in connection to the attack.

The group of bikers surrounded Alexian Lien's Range Rover on September 29. Lien initially bumped a biker who slowed down in front of him. When he stopped, the bikers attacked Lien. Police say he was dragged out of the SUV and beaten.

Off-duty police detective Wojceich Braszczok, was formally charged with gang assault, criminal mischief, and other charges in Friday's 14-count indictment. He reportedly saw most of the confrontation that ended with five people hurt. Prosecutors say Braszczok can be seen in the video kicking and using his fist to bash in Lien's rear window. A source says he didn't immediately tell his superiors about what happened.

Lien was reportedly on his way back from celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife and their young daughter. He has not been charged.

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/11/09/jury-indicts-11-bikers-highway-attack
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« Reply #137 on: November 11, 2013, 08:57:45 am »

82-Year-Old Man Stops to Help Broken-Down Motorists, but When He Made a Tiny Mistake They ‘Beat the F*** Out of Him’ for 10 Min. With a Screwdriver

A Chicago woman is being held on $2 million bail after she allegedly brutally beat and stabbed an 82-year-old man after he pulled over to help her but then bumped her with his car in the process.

Sophia Body is charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery for her actions against 82-year-old Isaac Tucker Thursday in the neighborhood of Grand Crossing, according to the Chicago Tribune.
 
Tucker told authorities, who responded to a call about the incident as it was occurring, two woman had “flagged” him down and he parked behind them to help. As he pulled over, he allegedly bumped one of them with his vehicle, which started the altercation.
 
The Chicago Sun-Times has more details of what allegedly happened next:
 

“Next thing I know I got a punch,” Tucker said.
 
(Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth) Dibler said the women pulled Tucker out of his car and began to kick and punch him. She said the beating lasted about 10 minutes.
 
“I was stabbed several times in the back and stomped and everything else,” Tucker said.
 
He said he fell unconscious and woke up in the ambulance. He’d been stabbed in the head multiple times, Dibler said, and when police found him he was bleeding from the right side of his head and had lacerations on his upper and lower back.
 
Police recovered a yellow screwdriver they believe Tucker was stabbed with, according to the Sun-Times. The senior citizen was later listed in stable condition at a local hospital.
 

“Yeah, I pulled his a** out of the car and beat the f*** out of him,” 38-year-old body said of the incident, according to the police report (redacted).
 
“I got out of my car to help, not to offend no one,” Tucker told the Sun-Times. “But when I got out of my car, I was attacked, and I was stabbed several times in the back.”
 
A surveillance camera from a local minimart is being reviewed by police for evidence, both newspapers reported.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/11/82-year-old-man-stops-to-help-broken-down-motorists-but-when-he-made-a-tiny-mistake-they-beat-the-f-out-of-him-for-10-min-with-a-screwdriver/
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« Reply #138 on: November 11, 2013, 09:05:07 am »

Tensions are really boiling over in this country.
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« Reply #139 on: November 11, 2013, 12:00:35 pm »

I'm curious if they have verified that the women actually had car trouble. Sounds more like an ambush for robbery.
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« Reply #140 on: November 15, 2013, 07:54:06 am »

16 American cities foreign governments warn their citizens about

Planning a trip abroad? It’s probably best to check out the State Department’s list of travel warnings for countries with unsafe political situations. At the moment, the State Department has issued travel warnings for 34 countries, from the Central African Republic and El Salvador to Iraq and North Korea.

Well, just as State warns Americans about dangerous places to travel, so too do foreign ministries in other countries — and some countries warn their citizens to avoid heading to certain cities in the U.S. France, in particular, warns travelers to be careful in a large number of specific cities.

Here’s what other countries, mostly France, say about American cities:

Boston: Avoid walking at night in Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury, and be wary of “petty crime” in Chinatown, the North End and Fenway.

New York: Be wary in Times Square and at the Statue of Liberty, and don’t go to Harlem, the Bronx or Central Park at night.

Washington: Northeast and Southeast should be avoided, and Union Station is dangerous at night. “Le quartier Anacostia n’est pas recommandable de jour comme de nuit.” Translation: Don’t go to Anacostia, day or night.

Baltimore: “Considered a dangerous city except downtown.”

Richmond: “Do not visit the city on foot.”

Pittsburgh: The French urge their citizens to avoid Mount Oliver, Hill District, Homewood-Brushton and Hazelwood.

Cleveland: Avoid Cleveland Heights, Lakewood and Euclid. That warning got Cleveland Heights Mayor Edward Kelly upset. “The French government is foolish and doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Detroit: “The center is not recommended after the close of business.”

Chicago: Stay away from the West Side and anywhere south of 59th Street.

Houston: Be vigilant if traveling through Downtown, south and east Houston at night.

St. Louis: “Eviter le quartier nord entre l’aéroport et le centre-ville, mais la navette reliant l’aéroport est sűre.” Translation: Avoid northern area between the airport and the city center, but the airport shuttle is safe (Hat tip to our friend Chris Good, of ABC News, for spotting that nugget).

Atlanta: The French are nervous about the southern part of the city, and downtown after dark.

New Orleans: Northwest of Dauphine Street, northeast of Ursulines Avenue, north of St. Charles Avenue and south of Magazine Street are areas of concern.

Miami: “Canadians have been the victims of crime such as break-ins, assaults and pickpocketing in the Miami area, sometimes during daylight hours,” Canada’s foreign ministry warns. France says attacks on tourists in Florida are rare now, but were frequent a few years ago.

Los Angeles: France warns tourists to take care in Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Long Beach, and to avoid Watts, Inglewood and Florence.

El Paso: The British Foreign Office warns tourists about violence along the border with Mexico, and the border crossing at Ciudad Juarez specifically.

Germany doesn’t warn its citizens about any specific cities, but it does caution against letting it all hang out: “Although the laws in individual states categorizing nudity as ‘indecent exposure’, are rarely asserted and punished, those laws should absolutely be followed.  **** bathing and changing clothes at the beach stirs up public agitation and can lead to unpleasantnesses.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/14/16-american-cities-foreign-governments-warn-their-citizens-about//?print=1
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« Reply #141 on: November 20, 2013, 07:38:29 pm »

Rep. Meng robbed near Capitol Hill

Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) was hit over the head and robbed Tuesday night near the Capitol. 

An attacker knocked Meng to the ground with a hit to the head while she was walking back to her apartment after eating dinner. The attacker took her bag and ran away near 6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave — a little less than a mile from the Capitol building.

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“While this was a frightening ordeal, I fortunately was not seriously injured,” Meng said. “Obviously, things could have been much worse. I thank the U.S. Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Police for responding quickly and professionally.”

Meng sustained minor injuries, including a bruise to her chin. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital where she underwent a CAT scan. Meng missed the first two votes on Wednesday but was present for subsequent votes.

The New York Democrat is a freshman elected in 2012.

U.S. Capitol Police, which is leading the “open” and “active” investigation, said no arrests have yet been made. Metro police directed questions to Capitol police.

The lawmaker told reporters Wednesday evening that police are scrubbing for fingerprints on an old cell phone of hers that was found at the scene. The phone was in Meng's bag but was apparently discarded by her attacker.

She said she was fortunate to be carrying her wallet and credit cards in her coat pocket at the time and not in the bag that was stolen.

"I'm lucky," she said.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/190972-rep-meng-robbed-near-capitol-hill
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« Reply #142 on: November 21, 2013, 02:49:12 am »

And I would think that the robber couldn't get more than a block away before they were on at least a half a dozen security cameras, considering the area. Unless of course they don't put up cameras in that area in case they catch somebody important on tape doing something they shouldn't.
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« Reply #143 on: November 24, 2013, 08:35:30 am »

America's cities on the edge

When a city is badly broken, it can be very tough to fix.

Just ask Darren Green, president of a coalition of community groups in Trenton, N.J., where deep budget cuts in 2011 forced the city to lay off a third of its police force.

"We're at a place now where it's very dangerous to walk the streets," he said, his thoughts periodically interrupted by the distant sound of passing sirens. "The school system is dysfunctional and not working. You have young people who are robbing elders. Young people who are destroying communities. With no leadership and the community in disarray, there's a lot of bad here."

The disarray and mayhem in Trenton is extreme. In August the city set a record for the most homicides in its 221-year history - at least 32 people killed this year — in this city of 85,000. Trenton's mayor, Tony Mack, has asked the state for emergency funding. But his appeal has been undermined by allegations of corruption after a federal grand jury indicted him in December 2012 on bribery charges. Several key members of his administration also have been charged with other, unrelated crimes.

The plight of the Garden's State's capital city is by no means typical of American cities in 2013. For the most part these regional economic hubs held up relatively well after the Great Recession tore one of the biggest holes in local revenues since the Great Depression.

Some, like San Francisco and Boston, blessed with vibrant high-tech industries churning out high-skill, high-wage jobs, all but escaped the downturn. These high-growth local economies have recouped the ground lost to the recession and continue to help push the national recovery forward. Others, like Orlando and Phoenix, which were hard-hit by the housing bust, have pulled themselves up by the bootstraps. They are turning their economies around by building centers of excellence in growth industries like biotech and alternative energy.

Forward-thinking mayors, such as Chattanooga, Tenn.'s, Andy Berke, have made their cities magnets for foreign investment by investing in leading-edge technology like high-speed gig networks. That has helped recast the southern city, formerly known for Moon Pies, as a model hub for the smart grid. Now it is one of the fastest-growing cities in America.

That's good news. The strength of the U.S. economy is based on our cities that house 80 percent of the nation's population and drive more than 90 percent of GDP, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and HIS Global. The clout of these metros is a whopping $13 trillion, or nearly one-quarter of the economic output of the 200 largest countries combined.

That's because America has a broader base of large cities than any other developed country in the world. These mega metros are also an integral part of the global marketplace driving export activity and innovation. McKinsey Global Institute, in its "Urban America: U.S. Cities in the Global Economy" report, estimates that more than 10 percent of global GDP growth will come from these local economies over the next 12 years.

Mounting fiscal challenges
 

Today U.S. cities face different prospects for short-term recovery and long-term growth, and each needs to tailor a strategy based on its inherent strengths and weaknesses.

Federal funding cutbacks, combined with the economic damage from the Great Recession, continue to challenge Main Street. Eight cities have filed for bankruptcy since 2010, including Detroit; Scranton, Pa.; and Stockton, Calif. That's not surprising, considering that all but four of the 384 local economies tracked by Moody's Analytics' Business Cycle Index had fallen into recession by 2009. Of those, 255 moved into recovery in 2010.

That gradual improvement continues today. But there are laggards. For example, Decatur, Ill.; Michigan City, Ind.; and Utica, N.Y. have economies that are still retracting.

REST: HAS CHARTS AND MAPS AND STUFF: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101196425/page/1
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« Reply #144 on: December 02, 2013, 05:56:04 am »

Black Friday: A Shameful **** Of Materialism For A Morally Bankrupt Nation

It has been called "America's most disturbing holiday".  Black Friday is the day when millions of average Americans wait outside retail stores in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to spend more money that they do not have for more cheap Chinese-made products that they do not need.  It is a day when the rest of the world makes fun of Americans for behaving like "rabid animals" and "zombies" as we indulge in a tsunami of greed.  It truly is a shameful **** of materialism for a morally bankrupt nation.  It is being projected that approximately 140 million Americans will participate in this disgusting national ritual this year.  Sadly, most of them have absolutely no idea that they are actively participating in the destruction of the economic infrastructure of the United States.  If you don't understand why this is true, please be sure to read this entire article all the way to the end.
 
The amount of merchandise that is purchased on Black Friday is absolutely staggering.  For example, just consider how much stuff is sold at Wal-Mart alone...

rest: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/black-friday-a-shameful-****-of-materialism-for-a-morally-bankrupt-nation
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« Reply #145 on: December 16, 2013, 07:33:47 am »

Camden, New Jersey: One Of Hundreds Of U.S. Cities That Are Turning Into Rotting, Decaying Hellholes

All over America, formerly prosperous communities are being transformed into crime-infested wastelands of poverty and despair.  Of course the most famous example of this is Detroit.  At one time, Detroit was the greatest manufacturing city that the world had ever seen and it had the highest per capita income in the entire country.  But now it has become a rotting, decaying hellhole that the rest of the planet laughs at.  And of course Detroit is far from alone.  There are hundreds of other U.S. cities that are suffering a similar fate.  In this article, the focus is going to be on Camden, New Jersey, but the truth is that there are lots of other "Detroits" and "Camdens" all over the nation.  Jobs and businesses are leaving our cities at a staggering rate, and what is being left behind is poverty, crime and extreme desperation.

(Read More....) http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/camden-new-jersey-one-of-hundreds-of-u-s-cities-that-are-turning-into-rotting-decaying-hellholes
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« Reply #146 on: December 16, 2013, 12:59:27 pm »

Black Friday: A Shameful **** Of Materialism For A Morally Bankrupt Nation

It has been called "America's most disturbing holiday".  Black Friday is the day when millions of average Americans wait outside retail stores in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to spend more money that they do not have for more cheap Chinese-made products that they do not need.  It is a day when the rest of the world makes fun of Americans for behaving like "rabid animals" and "zombies" as we indulge in a tsunami of greed.  It truly is a shameful **** of materialism for a morally bankrupt nation.  It is being projected that approximately 140 million Americans will participate in this disgusting national ritual this year.  Sadly, most of them have absolutely no idea that they are actively participating in the destruction of the economic infrastructure of the United States.  If you don't understand why this is true, please be sure to read this entire article all the way to the end.
 
The amount of merchandise that is purchased on Black Friday is absolutely staggering.  For example, just consider how much stuff is sold at Wal-Mart alone...

rest: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/black-friday-a-shameful-****-of-materialism-for-a-morally-bankrupt-nation

And ultimately, I don't think anyone saves a dime when all is said and done, and not to mention too lose their peace and joy(having to pull an all-nighter in the cold outside waiting in line) - pretty much they're waiting in long lines all day, meaning it ends up eating a lot of time, meaning they end up eating out for lunch at one of the more expensive food courts in the malls, meaning they end up driving around more than normal eating up their gasoline, etc. And not to mention too they might end up running up their credit card bills as well for buying more stuff than anticipated.

When all is said and done, everything comes out a draw(at best).
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« Reply #147 on: January 08, 2014, 07:33:24 am »

12 Signs Of Extreme Social Decay In America That Are Almost Too Horrible To Talk About

Hearts in America are getting colder even faster than the weather is.  Sometimes it is hard to believe how twisted and deranged many Americans have become.  In order for a society to function efficiently, people need to be able to have a basic level of trust in one another.  Unfortunately, we are rapidly getting to the point in America where it is becoming very difficult to trust anyone that you do not know personally.  As you will see below, the United States is rapidly becoming a cesspool of liars, thieves, murderers, perverts and psychopaths.  Please do not allow any young children to read this article.  All of this material is from mainstream news reports, but a lot of it is too disturbing for young kids to be exposed to.  The reason why I write about this stuff is because there is never going to be any hope of a turnaround in this country until we take a good, long look in the mirror and admit how far we have fallen.  Yes, a lot of these things are almost too horrible to talk about, but as a nation we must understand how bad things have become.  There is evidence of extreme social decay all around us, and it is steadily eating away at the very foundations of our Republic.
 
The following are excerpts from 12 recent mainstream news reports.  Once again, let me warn you that some of these crimes are so twisted that it is very difficult to even read about them.  But this is how you get an addict that has reached “rock bottom” to change.  You show them how their behavior is literally destroying them and the people around them.  And without a doubt, America is being systematically destroyed by all of this evil.  The following are 12 signs of extreme social decay in America that are almost too horrible to talk about…
 
#1 ‘Many going to Super Bowl for child sex’ in New Jersey: The Super Bowl has been called the “largest human-trafficking venue on the planet” with many attending the event not to watch football but for sex with men, women and children.
 
#2 A 13-Year-Old Boy Who Murdered His Cousin Because Of An XBox: A 13-year-old boy who allegedly killed his sleeping 16-year-old cousin after an argument over a video game system was ordered held in custody today by a juvenile court judge, authorities said.
 
The teen shot his cousin, Raymond Galloway, in the head at around 5:50 a.m. Sunday while Galloway slept in the teen’s bedroom in the 500 block of East 38th Place, according to Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors.
 
#3 District man charged with fatally stabbing wife during argument over cable bill: A man charged with fatally stabbing his wife in a Northeast Washington apartment had been arguing with her over an unpaid cable bill, which led to a violent confrontation, according to court papers filed in D.C. Superior Court on Monday. A friend found the body of Claudia Hall, 51, on Friday lying on her bed in her residence in the 300 block of 18th Place NE. Police said she had been stabbed in the abdomen and choked, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
 
#4 Surveillance Video Shows Bystanders Walking Over Dead Body in Convenience Store Entrance: Disturbing surveillance video shows the body of 24-year-old Jheryl Wright lying in the doorway of a convenience store in Kalamazoo, Michigan while customers walked by unaffected.
 
Wright had been gunned down at the entrance of the convenience store just minutes before what’s shown in the video, and according to reports, the store clerks didn’t even check to see if he was alive or dead. People came in and out of the store, stepped over him, and acted as if there wasn’t a dead body in front of them.
 
#5 Pizza delivery man arrested after ‘being caught on hidden camera having sex with family dog’: A Papa John’s delivery man in Florida has been arrested and charged after he was allegedly caught on hidden camera having sex with the family dog.
 
Joshua Lee Werbicki, 22, was taken into custody on Friday at the Palm Bay restaurant where he works and charged with felony cruelty to animals and misdemeanor criminal sex act with an animal after a video was handed to the police.
 
Werbicki’s roommate set up the camera after she became suspicious when the dog, a German Shepherd mix, began limping and became startled around people.
 
#6 Stockton Couple Accused Of Dismembering Roommate, Burning Torso In Campfire: A couple is accused of a grisly crime, killing a man and then dismembering the body. Stockton police say the suspects left a trail of blood that led them to the remains.
 
#7 Man Accidentally Recorded Himself Installing Hidden Camera to Secretly Record Coworkers Using Restroom: According to the San Antonio Express-News, police said Ray De la Cruz, 44, was arrested Thursday after a coworker found a recording device “taped to the back of a shelf of a storage locker located directly in front of the toilet.”
 
#8 N.Y. Group Applies To Build Satan Statue At Oklahoma State Capitol: The Satanic Temple unveiled designs Monday for a 7-foot-tall statue of Satan it wants to put at the Oklahoma state Capitol, where a Ten Commandments monument was placed in 2012. The group formally submitted its application to a panel that oversees the Capitol grounds, including an artist’s rendering that depicts Satan as Baphomet, a goat-headed figure with horns, wings and a long beard that’s often used as a symbol of the occult. In the rendering, Satan is sitting in a pentagram-adorned throne with smiling children next to him.
 
#9 First Grade Teacher Tells Young Child That “Jesus Is Not Allowed In School”: On December 13, 2013, first grader Isaiah Martinez took Christmas gifts intended for his teacher and classmates at Merced Elementary in the West Covina Unified School District. Each gift consisted of a traditional candy cane with a message attached that recited the legend of the candy cane. The legend references a candy maker who created the candy cane to symbolize the life of Jesus Christ.
 
Isaiah’s older sister told him about the legend of the candy cane and Isaiah asked if he could share it with his teacher and his classmates. Isaiah and his sister then purchased candy canes, printed the candy cane message and tied a copy to each candy cane.
 
When Isaiah brought his Christmas gift to school, his teacher took possession of the candy canes. After conferring with the school principal, the teacher told Isaiah that “Jesus is not allowed in school” and, at the apparent direction of her principal, ripped the candy cane message from each candy cane, threw the messages in the trash, and handed the candy canes back to Isaiah for delivery to his classmates. Isaiah then nervously handed the candy canes to his classmates in fear that he was in trouble for trying to bring a little Christmas cheer and “good tidings” to class.
 
#10 A Man Who Planned The Sexual Abuse Of His Own Daughter Before She Was Even Born: Evidence at Adleta’s trial showed that he abused his son and daughter and the child of another woman, children who ranged in age from 1 to 4.
 
He also ordered his wife and girlfriend to abuse children and recorded the acts; then he istributed the images as child pornography.
 
Adleta said nothing at the hearing except to answer, “No, your honor,” when asked by the judge if he had anything to say.
 
#11 Coroner: California priest beaten to death with wooden stake, metal gutter pipe: A beloved priest who was killed in the Northern California city of Eureka was beaten to death with a wooden stake and a metal gutter pipe, his autopsy shows.
 
#12 Hundreds of teens trash mall in wild flash mob: A wild flash mob stormed and trashed a Brooklyn mall, causing so much chaos that the shopping center was forced to close during post-Christmas sales, sources said Friday.
 
—–
 
Whenever I do an article like this, a few people out there will try to dismiss it by claiming that these are just a few isolated “anecdotes” and that most Americans are “good people” and that we really don’t have a problem at all.
 
I don’t understand how anyone can possibly come to that conclusion, but for those thinking along those lines I would encourage you to check out the hundreds of other examples of advanced moral decay in America that I have discussed in previous articles.  The following are five of my previous articles to help get you started…
 
1. “Nation Of Sickos: Should We Be Concerned About The Moral Collapse Of America?”
 
2. “12 Signs That The Decay Of Society Is Accelerating”
 
3. “The Knockout Game Is Just A Preview Of The Chaos That Is Coming To The Streets Of America”
 
4. “There Are 747,000 Registered Sex Offenders In The United States”
 
5. “20 Shocking Examples Of How Sadistic And Cruel People Have Become”
 
Of course most people out there already know that this nation is heading in the wrong direction.
 
Most people out there already know on a very deep level that something has dramatically “shifted” in this nation.
 
The American people no longer have the same character that they once did.
 
So what has happened?
 
Why is there so much social decay all around us?

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/12-signs-of-extreme-social-decay-in-america-that-are-almost-too-horrible-to-talk-about
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« Reply #148 on: January 17, 2014, 06:37:35 am »

Vast Stretches Of Impoverished Appalachia Look Like They Have Been Through A War

If you want to get an idea of where the rest of America is heading, just take a trip through the western half of West Virginia and the eastern half of Kentucky some time.  Once you leave the main highways, you will rapidly encounter poverty on a level that is absolutely staggering.  Overall, about 15 percent of the entire nation is under the poverty line, but in some areas of eastern Kentucky, more than 40 percent of the population is living in poverty.  Most of the people would work if they could.  Over the past couple of decades, locals have witnessed businesses and industries leave the region at a steady pace.  When another factory or business shuts down, many of the unemployed do not even realize that their jobs have been shipped overseas.  Coal mining still produces jobs that pay a decent wage, but Barack Obama is doing his very best to kill off that entire industry.  After decades of decline, vast stretches of impoverished Appalachia look like they have been through a war.  Those living in the area know that things are not good, but they just try to do the best that they can with what they have.
 
In previous articles about areas of the country that are economically depressed, I have typically focused on large cities such as Detroit or Camden, New Jersey.  But the economic suffering that is taking place in rural communities in the heartland of America is just as tragic.  We just don't hear about it as much.
 
Most of those that live in the heart of Appalachia are really good "salt of the earth" people that just want to work hard and do what is right for their families.  But after decades of increasing poverty, the entire region has been transformed into an economic nightmare that never seems to end.  The following is a description of what life is like in Appalachia today that comes from a recent article by Kevin D. Williamson...
 
Thinking about the future here and its bleak prospects is not much fun at all, so instead of too much black-minded introspection you have the pills and the dope, the morning beers, the endless scratch-off lotto cards, healing meetings up on the hill, the federally funded ritual of trading cases of food-stamp Pepsi for packs of Kentucky’s Best cigarettes and good old hard currency, tall piles of gas-station nachos, the occasional blast of meth, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, petty crime, the draw, the recreational making and surgical unmaking of teenaged mothers, and death: Life expectancies are short — the typical man here dies well over a decade earlier than does a man in Fairfax County, Va. — and they are getting shorter, women’s life expectancy having declined by nearly 1.1 percent from 1987 to 2007.
 
In these kinds of conditions, people do whatever they have to do just to survive.  With so much poverty around, serving those on food stamps has become an important part of the local economy.  In fact, cases of soda purchased with food stamps have become a form of "alternative currency" in the region.  In his article, Williamson described how this works...
 
It works like this: Once a month, the debit-card accounts of those receiving what we still call food stamps are credited with a few hundred dollars — about $500 for a family of four, on average — which are immediately converted into a unit of exchange, in this case cases of soda. On the day when accounts are credited, local establishments accepting EBT cards — and all across the Big White Ghetto, “We Accept Food Stamps” is the new E pluribus unum – are swamped with locals using their public benefits to buy cases and cases — reports put the number at 30 to 40 cases for some buyers — of soda. Those cases of soda then either go on to another retailer, who buys them at 50 cents on the dollar, in effect laundering those $500 in monthly benefits into $250 in cash — a considerably worse rate than your typical organized-crime money launderer offers — or else they go into the local black-market economy, where they can be used as currency in such ventures as the dealing of unauthorized prescription painkillers — by “pillbillies,” as they are known at the sympathetic establishments in Florida that do so much business with Kentucky and West Virginia that the relevant interstate bus service is nicknamed the “OxyContin Express.” A woman who is intimately familiar with the local drug economy suggests that the exchange rate between sexual favors and cases of pop — some dealers will accept either — is about 1:1, meaning that the value of a woman in the local prescription-drug economy is about $12.99 at Walmart prices.
 
I would encourage everyone to read the rest of Williamson's excellent article.  You can find the entire article right here.
 
In Appalachia, the abuse of alcohol, meth and other legal and illegal drugs is significantly higher than in the U.S. population as a whole.  In a desperate attempt to deal with the pain of their lives, many people living in the region are looking for anything that will allow them to "escape" for a little while.  The following is an excerpt from an excellent article by Chris Hedges which describes what life is like in the little town of Gary, West Virginia at this point...
 
Joe and I are sitting in the Tug River Health Clinic in Gary with a registered nurse who does not want her name used. The clinic handles federal and state black lung applications. It runs a program for those addicted to prescription pills. It also handles what in the local vernacular is known as “the crazy check” -- payments obtained for mental illness from Medicaid or SSI -- a vital source of income for those whose five years of welfare payments have run out. Doctors willing to diagnose a patient as mentally ill are important to economic survival.
 
“They come in and want to be diagnosed as soon as they can for the crazy check,” the nurse says. “They will insist to us they are crazy. They will tell us, ‘I know I’m not right.’ People here are very resigned. They will avoid working by being diagnosed as crazy.”
 
The reliance on government checks, and a vast array of painkillers and opiates, has turned towns like Gary into modern opium dens. The painkillers OxyContin, fentanyl -- 80 times stronger than morphine -- Lortab, as well as a wide variety of anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, are widely abused. Many top off their daily cocktail of painkillers at night with sleeping pills and muscle relaxants. And for fun, addicts, especially the young, hold “pharm parties,” in which they combine their pills in a bowl, scoop out handfuls of medication, swallow them, and wait to feel the result.
 
Of course this kind of thing is not just happening in the heart of Appalachia.  All over the country there are rural communities that are economically depressed.  In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, economic activity in about half of the counties in the entire nation is still below pre-recession levels...
 
About half of the nation’s 3,069 county economies are still short of their prerecession economic output, reflecting the uneven economic recovery, according to a new report from the National Association of Counties.
 
So what are our "leaders" doing to fix this?
 
Well, they plan to ship millions more of our good jobs overseas.
 
Unfortunately, I am not kidding.
 
Republicans in the House of Representatives are introducing "fast track" trade promotion authority legislation that will pave the way for rapid approval of the secret trade treaty that Barack Obama has been negotiating.  The following is how I described this insidious treaty in a previous article...
 
Did you know that the Obama administration is negotiating a super secret "trade agreement" that is so sensitive that he isn't even allowing members of Congress to see it?  The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being called the "NAFTA of the Pacific" and "NAFTA on steroids", but the truth is that it is so much more than just a trade agreement.  This treaty has 29 chapters, but only 5 of them have to do with trade.  Most Americans don't realize this, but this treaty will fundamentally change our laws regarding Internet freedom, health care, the trading of derivatives, copyright issues, food safety, environmental standards, civil liberties and so much more.  It will also merge the United States far more deeply into the emerging one world economic system.
 
Once again, our politicians are betraying the American people and millions of jobs will be lost as a result.
 
Not that the economy needs another reason to go downhill.  The truth is that our economic foundations have already been rotting away for quite some time.
 
But now the ongoing economic collapse seems to be picking up steam again.  For example, the Baltic Dry Index (a very important indicator of global economic activity) is collapsing at a rate not seen since the great financial crash of 2008...
 
Despite 'blaming' the drop in the cost of dry bulk shipping on Colombian coal restrictions, it seems increasingly clear that the 40% collapse in the Baltic Dry Index since the start of the year is more than just that. While this is the worst start to a year in over 30 years, the scale of this meltdown is only matched by the total devastation that occurred in Q3 2008. Of course, the mainstream media will continue to ignore this dour index until it decides to rise once again, but for now, 9 days in a row of plunging prices is yet another canary in the global trade coalmine and suggests what inventory stacking that occurred in Q3/4 2013 is anything but sustained.
 
Soon economic conditions will get even worse for Appalachia and for the rest of the country.  The consequences of decades of very foolish decisions are rapidly catching up with us, and millions upon millions of Americans are going to experience immense economic pain during the years to come.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/vast-stretches-of-impoverished-appalachia-look-like-they-have-been-through-a-war
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« Reply #149 on: January 17, 2014, 01:23:22 pm »

Quote
The reliance on government checks, and a vast array of painkillers and opiates, has turned towns like Gary into modern opium dens.

Their first mistake is not following Jesus, then the real problems start. Relying on government is the total opposite of the traditional mentality of the people of Appalachia. People refused government handouts, wanted no part of it. They were content with minding their own business on their land, growing the food they needed. Now you have countless families packed onto small lots with no room for any gardening or live stock, so they are dependent on the system for food, but they need income to go buy that food. You don't need much money if your using that land. You got to have cash to buy stuff at a store, and you have to have the means to get to those stores. Working your land and caring for your family requires you to spend time at home primarily. Too many things to do.

Dependency on the carnal, worldly system is what the evil men of the world want, and it's working among the masses. All you have to do is look at the kinds of trash strewn around the poor sections of society. The only animal carcass you'll find is chicken bones from KFC.
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