Cities All Over America Are Becoming Extremely Cruel To The Homeless

Have you ever given food to a homeless person?  Well, if you do it again in the future it might be a criminal act depending on where you live.  Right now, there are dozens of major U.S. cities that have already passed laws against feeding the homeless.  

As you will read about below, in some areas of the country you can actually be fined hundreds of dollars for just trying to give food to a hungry person.  I know that sounds absolutely insane, but this is what America is turning into.  Communities all over the country are attempting to "clean up the streets" by making it virtually illegal to either be homeless or to help those that are homeless.  

Instead of spending more money on programs to assist the homeless, local governments are bulldozing tent cities and giving homeless people one way bus tickets out of town.  We are treating some of the most vulnerable members of our society like human garbage, and it is a national disgrace.

What does it say about our country when we can't even give a warm sandwich to a desperately hungry person that is sleeping on the streets?  A retired couple down in Florida named Debbie and Chico Jimenez wanted to do something positive for their community during their retirement years, so they started feeding the homeless in Daytona Beach.  But recently the police decided to crack down on their feeding program and slapped everyone involved with a $373 fine...

For the past year, the Jimenezes have set up shop every Wednesday on Manatee Island in Daytona Beach, Fla., where they feed hot dogs, chicken, pasta salad and other BBQ staples to about 100 homeless people, WFTV reported. Handing out meals is just one aspect of the ministry the two founded, Spreading the Word Without Saying a Word, to help people living in poverty.

But on Wednesday, the Jimenezes said that without warning, they and four other volunteers were accosted by police, fined and told that they could be thrown in jail if they continue their program, according to NBC News.

Each of the six was fined $373 and were given 10 days to either pay up or go to court.

"We’re going to court," Debbie Jimenez, 52, a former auto parts store manager, told NBC News. "The police don’t like it. But how can we turn our backs on the hungry? We can’t."

Don't the police down in Daytona Beach have something better to do with their time?

Sadly, more than 50 major cities have passed laws against feeding the homeless at this point.  It appears that "cleaning up the streets" has become a big point of emphasis all over the nation.

And what the city of Camden, New Jersey just did is even worse than what happened in Daytona Beach.

Camden just bulldozed an entire tent city and dumped all of the belongings of the homeless people living there into the trash...

Hazmat teams showed up at the camps in the early morning to search for syringes. A drug-sniffing dog followed a police officer around the area. And bulldozers tossed trash and discarded belongings into dumpsters before razing the premises.

Over the past few weeks, flyers had warned people in the tent cities that this was going to happen. Yet it still seemed surreal to many of them that their communities were about to be demolished for good.

But for most of the people that were living in that tent city, there is no place else for them to go.  The homeless shelters in the area are at max capacity, and so many of them will end up sleeping in the streetswithout any shelter at all...

Aaron Howe, the "mayor" of a tent city that had 12 tents the night before eviction day, said he had called every shelter in town and not a single place had room for him and his girlfriend.

"There's no available spots, and the city is saying if we pitch a tent somewhere else they're gonna rip it down," he said. "It's not gonna look good when there's a bunch of homeless on the streets."

Camden has got to be one of the most mismanaged communities in the entire country.  Why is Camden spending time and money bulldozing homeless communities when it has so many other problems?  For much more on the nightmare that Camden has become, please see my previous article entitled "Camden, New Jersey: One Of Hundreds Of U.S. Cities That Are Turning Into Rotting, Decaying Hellholes".

Other big cities that are a little bit more "progressive" are attempting to get rid of their homeless populations by giving them one way tickets out of town.  Some of the major cities that are doing this include San Diego and San Francisco...

When her Greyhound bus pulled into town 6 months ago, Maria Castillo got off with two bags and dream.

"Start over, start a new life," said the 42-year-old.

Castillo had been homeless in San Diego when a social worker offered her a one-way bus ticket to Portland.

"They said come here because all the opportunities in Portland, Oregon," she said.

But Castillo said life isn't much better in her new town. She's still homeless. A Unit 8 investigation found several cities from San Diego to San Francisco are providing one-way bus tickets to the homeless.

As shocking as everything that you just read is, what one lawmaker out in Hawaii is doing tops it all.  In a previous article, I described how a state representative named Tom Brower has actually been using a sledgehammer to destroy shopping carts used by homeless people.  Just check out the following short excerpt from an RT article that was published a few months ago...

In the past two weeks residents in Hawaii noticed what appeared to be a crazed individual carrying a sledgehammer through the streets of Honolulu, a state lawmaker looking to rid the city of homeless people by targeting their belongings.

State Representative Tom Brower (D) is currently dedicated to dealing out his own personal brand of “justice” by seeking out homeless people and destroying their possessions. Brower estimates that he has used the sledgehammer to smash at least 30 shopping carts, rendering them useless by bashing in the front wheels.

“I got tired of telling people I’m trying to pass laws. I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets,” he told Hawaii News Now. “I find abandoned junk, specifically shopping carts, and I remove them.”

Is this how our society is going to treat those that are down on their luck from now on?

Where is the love?

Where is the compassion?

Why can't we seem to be able to take care of these people?

The federal government sure seems to have plenty of money to waste on other things.  For example, it is being reported that workers at an Obamacare processing facility in Missouri are being paid to do nothingbut stare at their computers...

Employees at an ObamaCare processing center in Missouri with a contract worth $1.2 billion are reportedly getting paid to do nothing but sit at their computers.

"Their goals are set to process two applications per month and some people are not even able to do that," a whistleblower told KMOV-TV, referring to employees hired to process paper applications for ObamaCare enrollees.

The facility in Wentzville is operated by Serco, a company owned by a British firm that was awarded $1.2 billion in part to hire 1,500 workers to handle paper applications for coverage under the law, according to The Washington Post.

The whistleblower employee told the station that weeks can pass without data entry workers receiving even a single application to process. Employees reportedly spend their days staring at their computers, according to a KMOX-TV report.

So we have millions upon millions of dollars to waste on that, but we can't take care of our homeless population?

And without a doubt, the need to help the homeless is greater than it ever has been before.  Right now, there are 1.2 million public school students in America that are homeless.  That number is an all-time record, and it has grown by 72 percent since the start of the last recession.

In addition, there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.  Even in the midst of this so-called "economic recovery", poverty is absolutely exploding.

And it is going to get a whole lot worse.  This is only just the beginning.

What is going to be needed in the years ahead is a tremendous amount of love and compassion.

But instead, it appears that hearts are becoming colder in America with each passing day.

Credit to Economic Collapse

Ukraine blocks key Crimean water supply

EXPLOSIVE: Fed Deception Revealed Oligarchs Run Economy

The Beginning Of The End Of Precious Metals Manipulation: The London Silver Fix Is Officially Dead

Following a crackdown on precious metal manipulation by various European regulators (mostly Germany's BaFin, recall "Precious Metals Manipulation Worse Than Libor Scandal, German Regulator Says"), which led to the shocking outcome that Deutsche Bank would pull out of the London gold and silver fixing committees, the London Silver Market Fixing company ended up with a most curious outcome: it would have just two members: HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. And, as an even more shocking result, overnight the London Silver Fix announced that after August 14, 2014 it will no longer exist - the first of many victories for all those who have fought for fair and unmanipulated precious metal markets.

From the press release:

The London Silver Market Fixing Limited (the 'Company') announces that it will cease to administer the London Silver Fixing with effect from close of business on 14 August 2014. Until then, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank USA N.A. and The Bank of Nova Scotia will remain members of the Company and the Company will administer the London Silver Fixing and continue to liaise with the FCA and other stakeholders.

The period to 14 August 2014 will provide an opportunity for market-led adjustment with consultation between clients and market participants.

The London Bullion Market Association has expressed its willingness to assist with discussions among market participants with a view to exploring whether the market wishes to develop an alternative to the London Silver Fixing.

Q&A

1. What will happen after 14 August 2014? Will the Silver Fixing cease to exist?

With effect from the close of business on 14 August 2014, the Company will cease to administer a Silver Fixing, and a daily Silver Fixing Price will no longer be published by the Company.

2. What will happen in the period up to that date??

The Company intends to continue to administer the daily Silver Fixing and publish Silver Fixing Prices throughout that period.

3. Why a three month notice period?

Although members of the Company may resign on seven clear days' notice, the members have confirmed that they stand ready to continue the Company's operations until (and including) 14 August 2014.

4. What happens after 14 August 2014 for market participants with contracts referencing the Silver Fix?

The Company is not in a position to comment on such matters, but market participants can speak to their contractual counterparties.

5. What does this mean for the gold, and platinum and palladium fixing companies?

This decision relates only to the London Silver Fixing administered by the Company. The Company is not in a position to comment on other fixings

* * *

This huge loss for precious metal manipulators fixers was amusingly "explained" by theFT's John Dizard as follows: "The field may be more level, but there are not enough players left for a game." Mocking those who prefer unmanipulated markets, he said:

... once that satisfying self-righteous feeling passes, the dwellers on BaFin Island might want to consider whether they have helped create a level playing field without enough players for the game. So far, it would appear the significant beneficiaries of BaFin’s persuasion have been the less-than-systemically important dealers in international silver markets. While there will still be four participants in the London gold fix, the similarly structured 12pm London silver fix will now have only two participants, which common sense tells us means no real market at all.

Actually, it will mean no manipulated market by a handful of participants. It will also mean that going forward a much more transparent pricing mechanism will have to be adopted: once which relies on, gasp, the entire market, not just legacy firms thatoperated for decades out of Rothschild's wood-panelled London basement.

Of course, for Gizard, there is no manipulation:

Deutsche Bank will have withdrawn from participating in the ritual of setting a standard price for physical gold. While no wrongdoing by any of the gold-fixing participants has been proven legally, or even, I believe, convincingly demonstrated in econometric modelling, Deutsche apparently came under intense social pressure from its home regulator to withdraw.

Correct, because banks withdraw from lucrative operations due to "social pressure", not because they know full well some legal arm is about to crush an existing arrangement with elements of criminality. While we are delighted that Mr. Gizard will disagree, we are confident that after August 14 the price discovery model, while certainly not free from manipulation, most certainly originating from the BIS' Basel Offices, will be a far better one.

One can only hope that in the future all vestiges of gold and silver manipulation will eventually disappear resulting in what may be the first real price discovery of precious metals, absent central and commercial bank manipulation. 

It is the same FT that we go to for some additional color on today's stunning outcome:

It was born in the late 19th century when a handful of London bullion dealers agreed to meet daily under a cloud of cigar smoke to set the price for the “devil’s metal”. But now, after 117 years of operation, the London silver fix – the global benchmark for the metal – is on its deathbed.

The three banks that run the auction announced on Wednesday that silver prices would be “fixed” for the final time at noon on August 14. The move follows increased scrutiny by European and US regulators into precious metals price-setting following the Libor scandal and probe into possible forex market abuse.

Deutsche Bank last month resigned its seats on the silver and gold fixes, after failing to find buyers. That left just two members on the silver fix, HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia.

Market participants said the benchmark process, which occurs via teleconference and allows miners, financial institutions and jewellers to trade silver and value their stocks and contracts, could not function properly with fewer than three members. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority asked Deutsche Bank to stay on for an extra three months to allow for the benchmark to be wound down smoothly.

“Deutsche Bank has postponed its resignation from the London Silver Market Fixing from 29 April 2014 to 14 August 2014, at which point the benchmark will terminate,” the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

In other words, the FCA - undoubtedly in conjunction with the Bank of England - pushed hard to keep the existing manipulation structure in place for three months, effectively against the will of the German regulator, and of Deutsche Bank itself which wanted to get out as soon as possible.

As for what happens after August 14, when the London Silver fix is officially gone, we can't wait to find out.

In the meantime, we are confident the existing members of the mirror fix, that of gold, will be scurrying under rocks to avoid all public exposure. We plan to spoil their plans later today when we profile just who they all are.

Finally, a reminder of what the once proud tradition of gold price fixing looked like back in the day.

Credit to Zero Hedge

Pacific Fleet Warships Head to Shanghai for Russia-China Drills

A Russian Pacific Fleet squadron, led by the guided-missile cruiser Varyag, sailed from Vladivostok on Wednesday to participate in the Russia-China exercises Naval Interaction-2014, a military spokesman told RIA Novosti.

The squadron, which also includes the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev, the large amphibious ship Admiral Nevelskoy, the destroyer Bystry, the tanker Ilim and the sea-going tugboat Kalar, is heading to Shanghai, said Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov.

“Upon arrival, sailors will take part in the joint Russia-China exercises in the South China Sea,” he said.

Six Chinese ships and vessels will be involved in the drills, according to Martov.

The drills come as Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to arrive in Shanghai on an official visit May 20 to cement economic ties with China, including on energy, the Kremlin said.

This will be the two countries' third such joint training exercise this year, aimed at strengthening the cooperation of their fleets and the ability to withstand various threats in open water.

Last year, the drills of the kind took place in July in the Sea of Japan and involved about 20 ships and vessels from both sides.

Credit to RIA Novosti

Russia and the U.S. Are Simultaneously Preparing for Imminent Nuclear War

                             Any day?

Recently, I wrote an article in which I stated that world could be within a five week window of an all out war in Ukraine which would also involve surrounding Eastern European countries. The premise of the article was based upon the fact that NATO has scheduled massive war games late this spring and early this summer in Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria and Moldova. The coincidence of these war games represents a clear intention on the part of NATO to consolidate military forces inside Russia’s neighbors in anticipation of an all-out attack by Putin against Ukraine.  As I wrote about earlier this week, we are already witnessing the face-off between American paramilitary forces (i.e. Academi, formerly Blackwater) and Russian paramilitary forces (i.e.  Vnevedomstvenaya Okhrana) in Ukraine.
If Putin truly intends to fully occupy Ukraine and consolidate Russian control over much of  Russia’s gas shipments to the EU, which runs through Ukraine, Putin cannot allow NATO to consolidate its military forces. He must militarily act prior to NATO commencing these war games. The stakes are high as the prize represents the virtual control of much of Europe’s energy. NATO could become fragmented in such a scenario and Putin would be free to gobble up Eastern Europe and Western Europe would become a virtual economic colony of Russia.
Since I wrote the above referenced article on April 21, 2014, events have unfolded which indicate that both the United States are preparing for war against each other and that war will be nuclear. The world has not been this close to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

The Russians Prepare For Nuclear War With the West

According to a Russian navy blog, Russia simulated a nuclear attack involving submarines, bombers and land-based missiles and this massive drill was coordinated under the direct supervision of Putin at the Defense Ministry’s headquarters in Moscow. The nuclear drill simulated a massive retaliatory nuclear strike in response to an enemy attack. This was a live fire drill and involved a Sineva ballistic missile that hit a target on the Kula testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Subsequent warnings were issued to civilian aircraft to stay clear of the massive war games area.

The Russians Have Moved to Lock Down Key Personnel In Anticipation of War

LifeNews is reporting that Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters has issued travel restrictions to all employees like the country’s firefighters, ambulance drivers and rescue troopers. Additionally, a similar travel ban is imposed for parts of employees under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) including tens of thousands of police officers, prison guards, and other law enforcement agencies like the Federal Drug Control and the Federal Migration Service. Others listed in the travel ban are personnel with access to state secrets, like certain employees of the Foreign Ministry. According to estimates, the total number of travel-restricted personnel number around 250,000 people.
There are two official explanations given to explain the travel ban. First, the Russian government claims that they are enacting measures to prevent the leaking of state secrets to NATO and the United States in particular. Secondly, the travel ban was issued to prevent the possibility of key personnel, holding sensitive information, from being arrested by U.S. law enforcement agencies and subsequently forced to give up the information.
Interestingly, the duration of the travel ban is interminable. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, exceptions would be made in “exceptional circumstances” and for “good reason.”
Russia’s blacklist and banned countries includes a lengthy list of 150 countries that senstive Russian personnel can no longer can visit. Izvestia News is reporting that countries like North Korea and Cuba are not on the banned travel list. Wouldn’t North Korea and Cuba be allied with Russia in any upcoming war with the West?
The Western media is suspiciously silent about the Russians airlifting critical supplies which would be used to support a war effort in Eastern Ukraine. Yet, Russia’s Novosti news service is openly reporting  that “Ammunition for Special Forces is being airlifted for Slaviansk Operation.” This is highly significant because Ukraine Denetsk region is asking to join Russia. Other regions are likely to follow. Russia is further airlifting ammunition into the same region. Even Ray Charles could see that this constitutes preparations for war in Ukraine!
These reports strongly indicate that nuclear war between Russia and NATO could be imminent.

Americans Are Also Preparing For Nuclear War

According to  my friend and present broadcasting colleague, John Moore, a former Green Beret intelligence officer, has recently interviewed  Command Sergeant Major Dan Page in which he announced that 1,000 Russian Spetsnaz, each month are pouring into America via Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Sergeant Page warns that after arriving at Fort Leonard Wood, these Russian special forces are being sent out to other military bases across the country after receiving their initial training at their arrival location. Clearly, these Spetsnaz commandos would be carrying out fifth column attacks against key American military installations.
In addition to the Page report, the United States government is now preparing for a nuclear attack and its response should a nuclear attack be launched against the U.S. and its interests. The drill is being called Global Lightning.

Conclusion

The fact that Russia and the United States are both conducting nuclear war drills at a time of heightened tensions is a little more than coincidental. The world was in a similar place in 1962 and President Kennedy backed the Russians down with an air and naval blockade. Unfortunately, President Obama is no John Kennedy.

Credit to Common Sense

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Fed Laundering Treasury Bonds in Belgium, Real GDP was Negative

Raw video of UN-marked Mil Mi-24 helicopter 'used by Kiev against militia'

Russia Holds "De-Dollarization Meeting": China, Iran Willing To Drop USD From Bilateral Trade

That Russia has been pushing for trade arrangements that minimize the participation (and influence) of the US dollar ever since the onset of the Ukraine crisis (and before) is no secret: this has been covered extensively on these pages before (see Gazprom Prepares "Symbolic" Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan; Petrodollar Alert: Putin Prepares To Announce "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China; Russia And China About To Sign "Holy Grail" Gas Deal; 40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency;From the Petrodollar to the Gas-o-yuan and so on).

But until now much of this was in the realm of hearsay and general wishful thinking. After all, surely it is "ridiculous" that a country can seriously contemplate to exist outside the ideological and religious confines of the Petrodollar... because if one can do it, all can do it, and next thing you know the US has hyperinflation, social collapse, civil war and all those other features prominently featured in other socialist banana republics like Venezuela which alas do not have a global reserve currency to kick around.

Or so the Keynesian economists, aka tenured priests of said Petrodollar religion, would demand that the world believe.

However, as much as it may trouble the statists to read, Russia is actively pushing on with plans to put the US dollar in the rearview mirror and replace it with a dollar-free system. Or, as it is called in Russia, a "de-dollarized" world.

Voice of Russia reports citing Russian press sources that the country's Ministry of Finance is ready to greenlight a plan to radically increase the role of the Russian ruble in export operations while reducing the share of dollar-denominated transactions. Governmental sources believe that the Russian banking sector is"ready to handle the increased number of ruble-denominated transactions".

According to the Prime news agency, on April 24th the government organized a special meeting dedicated to finding a solution for getting rid of the US dollar in Russian export operations. Top level experts from the energy sector, banks and governmental agencies were summoned and a number of measures were proposed as a response for American sanctions against Russia.

Well, if the west wanted Russia's response to ever escalating sanctions against the country, it is about to get it.

The "de-dollarization meeting” was chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov, proving that Moscow is very serious in its intention to stop using the dollar. A subsequent meeting was chaired by Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev who later told the Rossia 24 channel that "the amount of ruble-denominated contracts will be increased”, adding that none of the polled experts and bank representatives found any problems with the government's plan to increase the share of ruble payments.

For the benefit of our Russian-speaking readers, the interview with Moiseev is below and the transcript can be found here:

Further, if you thought that only Obama can reign supreme by executive order alone, you were wrong - the Russians can do it just as effectively. Enter the "currency switch executive order":

It is interesting that in his interview, Moiseev mentioned a legal mechanism that can be described as "currency switch executive order”,telling that the government has the legal power to force Russian companies to trade a percentage of certain goods in rubles. Referring to the case when this level may be set to 100%, the Russian official said that "it's an extreme option and it is hard for me to tell right now how the government will use these powers".

Well, as long as the options exists.

But more importantly, none of what Russia is contemplating would have any practical chance of implementation if it weren't for other nations who would engage in USD-free bilateral trade relations. Such countries, however, do exist and it should come as a surprise to nobody that the two which have already stepped up are none other than China and Iran.

Of course, the success of Moscow's campaign to switch its trading to rubles or other regional currencies will depend on the willingness of its trading partners to get rid of the dollar. Sources cited by Politonline.ru mentioned two countries who would be willing to support Russia: Iran and China. Given that Vladimir Putin will visit Beijing on May 20, it can be speculated that the gas and oil contracts that are going to be signed between Russia and China will be denominated in rubles and yuan, not dollars.

In other words, in one week's time look for not only the announcement of the Russia-China "holy grail" gas agreement described previously here, but its financial terms, which now appears virtually certain will be settled exclusively in RUB and CNY. Not USD.

And as we have explained repeatedly in the past, the further the west antagonizes Russia, and the more economic sanctions it lobs at it, the more Russia will be forced away from a USD-denominated trading system and into one which faces China and India. Which is why next week's announcement, as groundbreaking as it most certainly will be, is just the beginning.

Credit to Zero Hedge

Feds released hundreds of immigrant murderers, drunk drivers, sex-crimes convicts

Immigration officials knowingly released dozens of murderers and thousands of drunken drivers back into the U.S. in 2013, according to Obama administration statistics that could undercut the president’s argument that he is trying to focus on the most serious criminals in his immigration enforcement.

Among the 36,000 immigrants whom U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released from custody last year there were 116 with convictions for homicide, 43 for negligent manslaughter, 14 for voluntary manslaughter and one with a conviction classified by ICE as “homicide-willful kill-public official-gun.”

The immigrants were in deportation proceedings, meaning ICE was trying to remove them from the country and could have held them in detention but released them anyway, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, which published the numbers Monday. The Washington Times also obtained the data.

“This would be considered the worst prison break in American history, except it was sanctioned by the president and perpetrated by our own immigration officials,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican. “The administration’s actions are outrageous. They willfully and knowingly put the interests of criminal immigrants before the safety and security of the American people.”



Credit to Washington Times

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/12/feds-released-hundreds-immigrant-murderers-drunken/#ixzz31hF4fUVC