Hillary Clinton supporters in California mindlessly agree with anything and everything Hillary supposedly says. In an experiment, media analyst Mark Dice tells Hillary fans that one of her primary campaign promises is to implement Sharia Law in America. Mark Dice's shocking Man on the Street Monday series continues. Subscribe for more!
Sharia law is practiced in many Muslim countries, but it's extremist groups like ISIS and the Taliban that enforce it the harshest. What is Sharia Law? Are there different forms of it in Islam?
Learn More:
Islam: Governing Under Sharia
http://www.cfr.org/religion/islam-gov...
“Sharia, or Islamic law, influences the legal code in most Muslim countries. A movement to allow sharia to govern personal status law, a set of regulations that pertain to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and custody, is even expanding into the West.”
5 Myths the Media Needs to Stop Spreading About Sharia Law
http://mic.com/articles/91083/5-myths...
“One of the defining characteristics of the post-9/11 world has been a ubiquitous fear, in Euro-American countries, of the creepy imperial prowess of Islamic law — a prowess that never seems to exist outside the imaginations of overzealous protesters.”
Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present
http://dare.uva.nl/document/221087
Watch More:
Dr. John Ankerberg with guests, Dr. Emir Caner, Kamal Saleem, and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. "Jerry" Boykin explain what Sharia law is, and why it is a threat to free societies. http://bit.ly/19F3wcF
..........
Sharia Law In The USA 101: A Guide To What It Is And Why States Want To Ban It
Religion News Service | By Omar Sacirbey
Posted: Updated:
(RNS)
North Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday (July 24) approved a bill to
prohibit judges from considering “foreign laws” in their decisions, but
nearly everyone agrees that “foreign laws” really means Shariah, or
Islamic law.
North Carolina now joins six other states — Oklahoma,
Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Tennessee — to pass a
“foreign laws” bill. A similar bill passed in Missouri, but Gov. Jay
Nixon vetoed it, citing threats to international adoptions.
The
bills all cite “foreign laws” because two federal courts have ruled that
singling out Shariah — as Oklahoma voters originally did in 2010 — is
unconstitutional.
So what’s the big deal with Shariah?
Many
Americans think of Shariah as an Islamic legal system characterized by
misogyny, intolerance, and harsh punishments. Some anti-Islamic
activists warn that Muslims are trying to sneak Shariah into the
American legal system in ways that do not reflect U.S. legal principles
or beliefs.
Many Muslim Americans counter that Shariah is
essential to belief, and that any harsh punishments or unconstitutional
aspects associated with Islamic law have either been exaggerated,
abrogated or are superseded by American law.
Muslims around the
world have varying views about what Shariah entails, and its role in
personal and public life. So what exactly is Shariah? Here are five
facts that might help make sense of this complex and often misunderstood
term.
<NationalReport>In a surprise weekend vote, the city council of Dearborn, Michigan
voted 4-3 to became the first US city to officially implement all
aspects of Sharia Law. The tough new law, slated to go into effect
January 1st, addresses secular law including crime, politics and
economics as well as personal matters such as sexual intercourse,
fasting, prayer, diet and hygiene.
The new law could see citizens
stoned for adultery or having a limb amputated for theft. Lesser
offenses, such as drinking alcohol or abortion, could result in flogging
and/or caning. In addition, the law imposes harsh laws with regards to
women and allows for child marriage.
Some in town seem to welcome
the new legislation while others have denounced the move as “abhorrent”,
a threat to freedom and incompatible with the Constitution. When asked
by National Report about the need for such a law, local resident Jeremy
Ahmed stated:
A mysterious bright light in the sky has sent Californians into panic - only for it to be explained soon afterwards.
The light was spotted travelling quickly over Orange County and neighbouring areas late on Saturday, leading to fevered speculation online over its origin.
The Orange County sheriff said the light was from a naval test fire made off the California coastline.
Aviation officials had warned of possible US military activity.
Videos posted online show a bright flare rising high, before a wide, bright blue flash emerges in a cone shape. Many videos continue to track the light for several minutes.
On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said night-time flights to and from Los Angeles International (LAX) would avoid flying over the Pacific Ocean to the west of the airport, the second busiest in the US.
The FAA did not disclose the reason for the change, but indicated that military activity in the area would take place between Friday and Thursday.
Media in California confirmed that the light came from an unarmed Trident missile fired from the USS Kentucky navy submarine.
The platinum-selling singer Josh Groban was one of those who tweeted his shock at the light:
A Trident missile the Navy tested off Los Angeles Saturday night is shown from the Fourth Street bridge over 110 Freeway in Los Angeles. Photographer Preston Newman was on a photo shoot at the time. — Preston Newman Photography, on Instagram at @Newman_Photos
A mysterious light that streaked across San Diego’s night sky Saturday, visible as far away as Nevada and Arizona, was a Trident missile test-fired by the Navy.
Navy Strategic Systems Programs conducted the scheduled Trident II (D5) missile test flight at sea from the Kentucky, an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, in the Pacific Test Range off the coast of Southern California, a Navy spokesman said.
Mystery light over San Diego
Shot by Jim Boydston.
The test was part of a scheduled, on-going system evaluation test, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry with the Navy’s Third Fleet.
Perry said launches are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system. “Each test activity provides valuable information about our systems, thus contributing to assurance in our capabilities,” he said in a statement.
The missile was not armed and Strategic Systems Programs does not routinely announce missile testing. Information regarding the test launch of such missiles is classified prior to the launch, Perry said.
The test range is a massive area northwest of Los Angeles. The Navy periodically uses the range to test fire Tomahawk and Standard cruise from surface ships and submarines.
Read More Here
......................................................................................................
Thermonuclear missile launch near Los Angeles is final sign of World War III on the precipice... US, China and Russia all escalating covert attacks in run up to global war
Sunday, November 08, 2015
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
(NaturalNews) "A mysterious bright light in the sky has sent Californians into panic," reports the BBC. "Videos posted online show a bright flare rising high, before a wide, bright blue flash emerges in a cone shape. Many videos continue to track the light for several minutes."
Last night, Californians immediately leapt to social media to propose their theories of the phenomenon, ranging from a nuclear missile attack to meteors. "Law agencies and news media in San Diego were flooded with calls about 6 p.m. from people reporting everything from a flare to a comet to a nuclear bomb in the western sky," reports the San Diego Union Tribune.
Just a day earlier, the FAA had issued flight restrictions for the Los Angeles International Airport, denying aircraft access to one of the most frequent approach paths for international and domestic travel.
The official explanation is a lie
The "official" explanation of this event -- and remember that "official" explanations are almost always cover stories -- is that the U.S. Navy launched a test missile just because they "routinely" test missiles.
"Media in California confirmed that the light came from an unarmed Trident missile fired from the USS Kentucky navy submarine," reports the BBC. While they call the missile "unarmed," they fail to mention that the Trident missile normally carries a thermonuclear warhead. There's also no way for the media to know whether this missile was really unarmed or not, as the sole source on that question is the U.S. Navy itself.
Apparently the media thinks the public is so incredibly stupid that they'll believe the U.S. Navy has nowhere else to launch a test missile other than right next to Los Angeles. Somehow we're supposed to believe the entire Pacific Ocean won't work for such a test launch, so they have to launch it adjacent to the airport and thereby inconvenience commercial aviation traffic for an entire week.
Obviously, the official cover story is pure bunk. So what's the real story behind this? It all has to do with China and the covert war that's already underway between China, the US and Russia.
China's military submarines are a huge threat to U.S. national security
To get up to speed on what's really happening, read this report from the Congressional Research Service (PDF) found at http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf
Authored by Ronald O'Rourke, Specialist in Naval Affairs, and just released on Sep. 21, 2015, the report is entitled, "China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities."
The report states:
China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. Observers of Chinese and U.S. military forces view China’s improving naval capabilities as posing a potential challenge in the Western Pacific to the U.S. Navy’s ability to achieve and maintain control of blue-water ocean areas in wartime -- the first such challenge the U.S. Navy has faced since the end of the Cold War.
China’s naval modernization effort encompasses a broad array of platform and weapon acquisition programs, including anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs), anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), submarines, surface ships, aircraft, and supporting C4ISR (command and control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) systems.
The most important section of this report, in my assessment, is this description of China's ship-killing ballistic missiles:
China is fielding an ASBM, referred to as the DF-21D, that is a theater-range ballistic missile equipped with a maneuverable reentry vehicle (MaRV) designed to hit moving ships at sea. DOD states that China continues to field an ASBM based on a variant of the CSS-5 (DF-21) MRBM that it began deploying in 2010. This missile provides the PLA the capability to attack aircraft carriers in the western Pacific. The CSS-5 Mod 5 has a range exceeding 1,500 km [about 810 nm] and is armed with a maneuverable warhead.
China, in other words, has weapons capable of destroying U.S. aircraft carriers, destroyers and other ships. The 1,500 km range is key because it allows a very wide operational range.
Just recently in August, the Chinese and Russians held their largest naval joint exercise in history as a way to "counter U.S. influence in Asia." As reported by Collapse.news:
The Russian and Chinese navies are set to hold their largest joint exercises ever, featuring scores of warships, hundreds of troops and an amphibious landing, in what appears to be a deepening of ties meant to counter a rising U.S. military presence in Asia.
In September, Chinese warships were spotted operating near the coast of Alaska. This was reported across the mainstream media, including in the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, "Five Chinese Navy Ships Are Operating in Bering Sea off Alaska."
Fox News also covered the same story: "5 Chinese warships spotted off Alaska coast during President Obama's visit."
In response to that territorial provocation, the U.S. Navy sent the USS Lassen destroyer to within 12 nautical miles of China's newly-constructed military bases in the Spratly Islands.
China's communist government openly condemned the act as a provocation of war. From the Straits Times:
China claims most of the South China Sea and on Oct 9 its Foreign Ministry warned that Beijing would "never allow any country to violate China's territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight."
Secret space weapon attacks on China's industrial infrastructure
This is all on top of the Pentagon's secret space weapon attacks on China's industrial infrastructure.
As I wrote on August 17 of this year, Natural News was informed by mainland Chinese dissidents that they believe the string of mysterious industrial explosions such as the massive Tianjin explosion was caused by kinetic strikes from orbital platform weapons operated by the United States.
China then retaliated by covertly destroying a U.S. weapons depot in Tokyo, using old-school sabotage techniques. Two additional industrial explosions in China soon followed.
Taiwan surrenders to China with insane "One China" admission by President Ma
China's war of aggression is also in high gear on the geopolitical side, with China pressuring Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou to publicly state yesterday that Taiwan is now part of China!
A massive cultural backlash in Taiwan is now surging, as most of the country's citizens do not want to be part of communist China. Taiwan's DPP party is rapidly rising to prominence on the platform of Taiwan as a sovereign nation, but China remains in an aggressive military stance, always threatening Taiwan with an armed invasion if Taiwan attempts to "secede" from China. (Taiwan's GMT party, which is a "pro-China" party, has been plagued by an endless stream of scandals and corruption.)
From Channel News Asia: "Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou emphasised the island must continue to uphold the 1992 Consensus with China’s Communist Party in order to promote cross-strait relations and development, as he marked the 22nd anniversary of the historic talks between Taipei and Beijing in Singapore."
Taiwan is a critical strategic island for U.S. influence over the Pacific naval theater of operations. Taiwan's airports and military basis provide key strategic locations for staging U.S. aircraft and even bombers if conflict breaks out with China.
As you ponder all this, keep in mind that Taiwan's media giants have all been infiltrated and taken over by communist China. The Taiwan media is now China's state-run media. Only small, independent websites can be trusted to report the truth.
The Trident missile launch near Los Angeles was a warning shot against China in a last-ditch effort to prevent all-out war
The upshot of all this is that the U.S. and China have been engaged in a covert war for quite some time, and that covert war has escalated month by month, even as the official state-run news organizations of both nations have denied any war is happening at all.
Last night's test launch of the Trident missile over Orange County was staged near a high population area for a tactical reason: To have as many witnesses (and videos) as possible, sending a very visible warning message to China that says, "We can destroy you if you don't back off."
The Trident missile, built by Lockheed Martin, is a thermonuclear missile system (Fleet Ballistic Missile) with a range of at least 4,000 nautical miles. See the Trident missile page on the U.S. Navy website. Just one Trident missile launched from somewhere in the Pacific Ocean could devastate China with a nuclear strike on Beijing.
The U.S. Navy's "showcasing" of the Trident missile near Los Angeles is a $31 million billboard that tells China, "Don't f--k with us."
Nobody in the mainstream media is report this; probably because, with a few exceptions, they are mostly clueless, brain-dead propagandists who know nothing about international geopolitics and the real state of conflict in our world. Also, they are ordered what to write by the U.S. government regime in exactly the same way China's "journalists" are ordered what to write by the Chinese regime.
Right now, the United States and China are in an undeclared state of war. China stands ready to strike the USA with nuclear warheads or high altitude EMP weapons that would destroy the U.S. power grid and cause 90% casualties across the unprepared population. Legendary American journalist Ted Koppel has even written a book about this entitled Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath.
China and Russia preparing massive first strike against America
Many people believe that China and Russia are working together to prepare for a massive first strike against the United States that would cripple its defenses and economy. Following that first strike, a land invasion would commence using Russian troops.
Supporting this theory, Russian submarines have been spotted near undersea internet cables in an obvious effort to document their whereabouts so that the cables can be instantly severed, unleashing a devastating blow to the U.S. economy, Wall Street and even military communications. "Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of conflict," reports WND.com. " In times of tension or conflict, the ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West’s governments, economies and citizens have grown dependent."
At the same time a new Russian "drone sub" has been created that can strike U.S. coastal cities and harbors with nuclear weapons. Writing on NationalSecurity.news, Jon Dougherty states, "According to officials, the developmental unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, when it is deployed, will be outfitted with megaton-class nuclear warheads that can destroy key ports used by U.S. nuclear-armed and powered submarines like Kings Bay, Georgia, and Puget Sound in Washington state."
The ultimate pre-emptive strike on America: EMP attack, cyber attack, currency wars and bandwidth blackouts
If you put the pieces of the puzzle together, what's really shaping up here is a massive, multi-layered pre-emptive strike against America, an empire seen by the rest of the world as an insane bully that meddles with everything on the international stage. This first strike, combining the forces and expertise of both China and Russia, may consist of:
• High-altitude EMP detonation over North America, destroying regional power grids.
• A devastating currency war initiated by China announcing its own gold-backed currency while dumping U.S. Treasury debt on the open market.
• A Russian-led severing of undersea fiber optic cables.
• Russian-launched nuclear missiles targeting U.S. coastal cities.
• China-led assault on U.S. Navy warships using anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs).
• A cyber warfare attack on key U.S. infrastructure, including water delivery systems, nuclear power plants and the power grid.
As all this is going on, the Obama administration -- a treasonous regime of criminals who have seized control of the U.S. government in an effort to destroy America from within -- has been firing all the top military commanders who know how to survive such an assault. Instead of America's military focusing on how to win wars, troops are now subjected to sensitivity training and the politically correct push for female troops on the front lines.
This is not fiction. Even the U.S. White House is now openly preparing for a massive EMP attack launched by China.
Dave Hodges also reports in this article about World War III:
Congress has now heard testimony that the United States is not ready for World War III while Russia is chomping at the bit to “get it on”. Further Congress has learned that Obama has been once again been badly outmaneuvered by Putin, the master chess player... the Chinese and the Russians are going to kick America’s rear end in the upcoming war.
Very disturbingly, there is a growing awareness, among Congress, that the United States cannot win World War III. There was only discussion, in these congressional meetings, as to whether, or not, the U.S. could prevail in World War III, not win the conflict.
To stay up to speed on all these events and how you might survive them, I strongly urge you to pay attention to the following websites:
TalkNetwork.com - the new talk radio network where I will be discussing this Trident missile launch during tomorrow's show. It airs at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern.
NationalSecurity.newsBugout.newsAlternativeNews.comSpace.newsCyberwar.newsCollapse.newsTreason.newsFETCH.newsstevequayle.comallnewspipeline.comthecommonsenseshow.com
Listen to my 4-part broadcast series on this entire story:
The NaturalNews Network is a non-profit collection of public education websites covering topics that empower individuals to make positive changes in their health, environmental sensitivity, consumer choices and informed skepticism. The NaturalNews Network is owned and operated by Truth Publishing International, Ltd., a Taiwan corporation. It is not recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit in the United States, but it operates without a profit incentive, and its key writer, Mike Adams, receives absolutely no payment for his time, articles or books other than reimbursement for items purchased in order to conduct product reviews.
The vast majority of our content is freely given away at no charge. We offer thousands of articles and dozens of downloadable reports and guides (like the Honest Food Guide) that are designed to educate and empower individuals, families and communities so that they may experience improved health, awareness and life fulfillment.
All
passengers on the Russian flight from Egypt died when the plane crashed
in the Sinai peninsula Saturday, the Russian embassy said in a
statement
Egypt PM Sherif Ismail (R) at the site of the wreckage of a crashed Russian airliner in HassanaImage Credit: AFP
Emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft from a police helicopter.Image Credit: AP
Relatives react at Pulkovo international airport outside Saint Petersburg after a Russian plane with 224 peoplImage Credit: AFP
Relatives react after a Russian airliner crashed, as people gather at an information desk in Russia.Image Credit: AP
Paris:
Air France and Lufthansa said Saturday they will stop flying over
Egypt's Sinai peninsula after a Russian passenger plane went down in the
area with the loss of all 224 people on board.
The airlines said they were taking the measure as a precaution while the cause of the Russian crash was investigated.
The
Daesh affiliate in Egypt has said it downed the plane, without saying
how, but Russia's transport minister said the claim "cannot be
considered accurate" and an Egyptian security official said the plane
did not crash because of an attack.
An Air France spokesperson
told AFP they would not fly over Sinai until further notice, "as a
precaution" while "clarification" was sought over why the Russian
charter plane crashed.
Lufthansa told the German newspaper Die Welt it was taking the same measure for the same reason.
Military
experts have told AFP that Daesh terrorists in Sinai do not have
weapons capable of hitting an aircraft at 30,000 feet (9,000 metres),
the altitude of the airliner when it lost contact.
But they have
not ruled out a bomb on board or the possibility that the plane was hit
by a rocket as it descended because of technical problems.
A
senior Egyptian air traffic control official said the pilot of the
Airbus A321 told him in their last communication that he had radio
trouble.
Moscow, Cairo refute Daesh claim on downing Russian plane
Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:43PM
Egypt's
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail looks at the remains of a Russian airliner
after it crashed in central Sinai near El Arish city, north Egypt,
October 31, 2015. (Reuters Photo)
Moscow and
Cairo have denied claims by the Daesh Takfiri group's Egyptian
affiliate to have downed a Russian aircraft that crashed in North Sinai
with more than 200 passengers on board.
“Now in various
media there is assorted information that the Russian passenger
(plane)... was supposedly shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, fired
by terrorists. This information can’t be considered accurate,” Russian
Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said on Saturday.
“We are in
close contact with our Egyptian colleagues and aviation authorities in
the country. At present, they have no information that would confirm
such insinuations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Samir, Egypt’s
army spokesman, also refuted the claim by the Takfiri group, saying that
“the army sees no authenticity” to the terrorists claims or videos.
“They
can put out whatever statements they want but there is no proof at this
point that terrorists were responsible for this plane crash” he said.
“We
will know the true reasons when the civil aviation authority in
coordination with Russian authorities completes its investigation,” he
added.
An
Egyptian soldier and rescue crew transfer the body of a victim of a
plane crash, from a civil police helicopter to an ambulance at Kabrit
airport in Suez, east of Cairo, Egypt, October 31, 2015. (Photo by
Reuters)
Terrorists, non-state actors had no capacity to down Russian plane, security & aviation experts say
Published time: 1 Nov, 2015 01:34
84175
While
the investigation into the causes of the Russian passenger jet crash
over the Sinai Peninsula continues, civil aviation and security experts
agree that theories that the plane was downed by a militant group can be
ruled out, despite terrorists making such claims.
All
224 people on board the Kolavia airline’s flight from resort area Sharm
El-Sheikh to Russia’s St. Petersburg died after the aircraft crashed in
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Saturday. Experts are still decoding the
flight recorders, and the Russian Air Transport Agency has said that
there is no point in hypothesizing about the cause of the crash until
there is reliable data on the circumstances.
While
Islamic State jihadist group allegedly claimed responsibility for the
attack, saying it downed the Airbus A321 as retaliation for Russia’s
airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria, aviation and security
experts believe it to be highly unlikely.
“As far as it’s
known, Islamic State and its affiliate groups don’t have the capability
to bring down aircraft flying at the height that this aircraft
reportedly was, which is something around 10,000 meters,” security analyst and former UK counter-terrorism officer Charles Shoebridge told RT.
Click to Open Overlay Gallery PlatonAs winter approaches in Moscow, Snowden may have new hope of a safe haven in a warmer expatriate climate: The European Union.
On
Thursday the EU parliament voted by a narrow margin of 285-281 to
protect Snowden from extradition if he were to reside in Europe, a step
toward allowing the NSA leaker to leave Moscow and safely live or travel
on the continent. The motion, according to a statement from the parliament,
will “drop any criminal charges against Edward Snowden, grant him
protection and consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third
parties, in recognition of his status as whistle-blower and
international human rights defender.”
Snowden himself reacted with excitement to the news, calling it “extraordinary” and a “game-changer” on his Twitter feed—a strong sign that he may take the EU up on its offer.
While cases of malnutrition doubled in the four years to 2014, there
has been a rise in diseases that were rife in the Victorian era such as
scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough Corbis
Cases
of malnutrition and other “Victorian” diseases are soaring in England,
in what campaigners said was a result of cuts to social services and
rising food poverty.
NHS statistics show that 7,366 people were
admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of
malnutrition between August 2014 and July this year, compared with 4,883
cases in the same period from 2010 to 2011 – a rise of more than 50 per
cent in just four years.
Cases of other diseases rife in the
Victorian era including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping
cough have also increased since 2010, although cases of TB, measles,
typhoid and rickets have fallen.
Chris Mould, chairman of the
Trussell Trust, which runs a nationwide network of foodbanks, said they
saw “tens of thousands of people who have been going hungry, missing
meals and cutting back on the quality of the food they buy”.
The shocking impact of recession and austerity on England’s poorest
people has come to light again in figures showing the number of
malnutrition cases treated at NHS hospitals has nearly doubled since the
economic downturn Rex
The
shocking impact of recession and austerity on England’s poorest people
has come to light again in figures showing the number of malnutrition
cases treated at NHS hospitals has nearly doubled since the economic
downturn.
Primary and secondary diagnoses of malnutrition – caused
by lack of food or very poor diet – rose from 3,161 in 2008/09 to 5,499
last year, according to figures released by the health minister Norman
Lamb.
While the data does not include information on the
circumstances of each diagnosis, the rise coincides with a dramatic
increase in the cost of living, and a spike in demand for charity food
hand-outs.
The figures, broken down by region, reveal the heaviest
burden of hunger is being felt in rural areas. Hospitals in Somerset
saw the most cases, with 215 diagnoses, followed by Cornwall and Scilly
Isles.
We
just learned America’s rental affordability crisis is as bad as it’s
ever been. Unfortunately, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
The American Community Survey for 2014,
released a few weeks ago, found that the number of renters paying 30
percent or more of their income on housing – the standard benchmark for
what’s considered affordable – reached a new record high of 20.7 million
households, up nearly a half-million from the year before. Despite the
improving economy, the increase was nearly five times bigger than last
year’s gain.
That means about half of all renters live in housing
considered unaffordable. And the latest increase comes on top of
substantial growth since 2000 that has seen this number climb by roughly
six million households over the period, an increase of about 41
percent.
About
a year ago, I was having lunch with a friend when I made a throwaway
comment: “Have you seen the rent in San Francisco? If I get a job in the
Bay Area, I’ll totally live in a van.”
As I
sit in darkness writing this, I’m trying to keep my typing quiet, lest a
real inhabitant of the neighborhood I’m parked in should walk by and
wonder about the sounds coming from the rusty bus loitering on their
block. Yes, you understood that correctly: Today, I work in a
multi-million dollar office complex, and I live in a van.
This
summer, after receiving a job offer in Silicon Valley, I went on
Craigslist and began sifting through housing listings: “verrrrrryyy
cheap bedroom ;),” “great deal on rent!” A single room with a shared
bathroom? Two thousand per month on the low-end. A small studio
apartment, you ask? If your startup wasn’t recently bought for seven
figures, forget about it.
I perked up after
finding a listing for $1,000 per month. Now this could work. Clicking
through to the details section however revealed the offer was for a
single bunk in a room with eight people, a set-up referred to as a
“hacker house” by an (evil) marketing genius.
Even
if I was to spend the huge majority of my salary on rent, I knew I
would likely still be in a grim living situation, resenting every penny I
handed over that could have gone towards paying back my student loans.
And as a software engineer, I’m one of the lucky ones! Imagine those who
aren’t lucky enough to be on the tech payroll.
Anyway,
three weeks ago I took the equivalent of three months’ rent and bought
an old red bus. It’s a 1969 VW camper van with a hole in the floor and a
family of spiders that has more of a right to be here than I do
(sleeping in your car on public land in California is illegal).
(Katharine Patterson/blog.thinkkappi.com)
But with the help of Ikea and an army of cleaning supplies I was able to get the bus into livable condition.
A store damaged from riots after the death of Freddie Gray is seen in Baltimore, Maryland, May 13, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Silent But Expensive: An Anti-Poverty Program’s Mysterious Achievements
Ethan Barton
An
obscure Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program
grants millions of dollars every year to only three eligible
organizations, but a government official won’t say how the money
actually combats poverty.
More than $429 million has been granted
through Section 4 of the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 to help local
organizations – called community development corporations – combat
poverty through “capacity building” – a vague phrase that essentially
means building their size and expertise, according to a HUD document.
“Capacity
building develops core skills that strengthen the ability of local
community based organizations to implement HUD programs, raise capital
for community development and affordable housing, coordinate on
cross-programmatic place-based approaches and facilitate knowledge
sharing,” the agency’s 2015 request for funding says.
The
funds pass through one of three eligible groups, known as
intermediaries, which then either redistribute Section 4 funds to local
groups or provides them with direct assistance through trained staff.
Those three groups defined by law are Enterprise Community Partners,
Habitat for Humanity International and Local Initiatives Support
Corporation.
According to HUD’s 2015 funding request, $20 million
will “result in: approximately 5,000 housing units newly constructed
renovated, or preserved; 600 training opportunities; and an estimate of
more than $200 million in total development costs channeled to
low-income communities in more than 250 communities nationwide.”
But
HUD officials won’t say how indirectly backing local groups after funds
pass through an intermediary will achieve those claims, and the
intermediaries can still receive grant dollars without providing
evidence of successful urban renewal.
Suspects in the deadly attacks in Ankara
that killed 99 people on October 10 have begun to appear in court, with
prosecutors alleging that some of those in detention ...
Turkey sacks top police brass after Ankara attacks
By Fulya Ozerkan and Stuart Williams in Istanbul October 14, 2015 7:13 PM
.
Ankara
(AFP) - Turkey on Wednesday sacked Ankara's top police chief and two
other officials as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted security
shortcomings over a double suicide bombing in the capital that killed
99.
There has been growing
anger against Erdogan and the government for alleged security lapses
over the worst attack in modern Turkey's history in which two suicide
bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of peace activists on Saturday.
Announcing
the first dismissals in the wake of the disaster, the interior ministry
said Ankara police chief Kadri Kartal as well the head of the city's
police intelligence and security departments had been removed from their
posts.
It said they had been sacked on the suggestion of investigators "to allow for a healthy investigation" into the atrocity.
In
his first public remarks on the bombings late Tuesday, Erdogan admitted
there were security shortcomings and ordered the State Supervisory
Council (DDK), an inspection body attached to the presidency, to
undertake a special investigation.
On
Wednesday, Erdogan made his first visit to the site of the bombings
outside Ankara's main railway station, laying flowers for the victims
alongside visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
View gallery
This video grab image shows the moment one of two blasts ripped through a peace rally in Ankara on O …
Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu meanwhile announced that the toll from the
bombings had risen from 97 to 99 dead, and that one Palestinian man was
among those killed.
"Ninety-four
corpses have been returned to the families and four corpses are to be
given to families who have been informed," Davutoglu told Show TV in an
interview.
- 'Bombers identified' -
..........
Explosions kill at least 95 at Turkish peace rally
The Associated Press
Posted: 10/11/2015 12:01:00 AM MDT
1/5
In
this image made from video, participants in a peace rally react as an
explosion happens behind them, in Ankara, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. Two
explosions on Saturday targeted a peace rally by opposition supporters
and Kurdish activists in Ankara, killing 86 people and wounding 186. The
moment of ...
ANKARA, Turkey —Nearly
simultaneous explosions targeted a Turkish peace rally Saturday in
Ankara, killing at least 95 people and wounding hundreds in Turkey's
deadliest attack in years — one that threatens to inflame the nation's
ethnic tensions.
There was no immediate claim of
responsibility, but Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were
"strong signs" that the two explosions — which struck 50 yards apart
just after 10 a.m. — were suicide bombings. He suggested that Kurdish
rebels or Islamic State group terrorists were to blame.
The two
explosions occurred seconds apart outside the capital's main train
station as hundreds of opposition supporters and Kurdish activists
gathered for the peace rally organized by Turkey's public workers union
and other groups. The protesters planned to call for increased democracy
in Turkey and an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and
Turkish security forces.
Saturday's attacks came at a tense time
for Turkey, a NATO member that borders war-torn Syria, hosts more
refugees than any other nation in the world and has seen renewed
fighting with Kurdish rebels that has left hundreds dead in the last few
months.
Many people at the rally had been anticipating that the
rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, would declare a
temporary cease-fire — which it did hours after the bombing — to ensure
that Turkey's Nov. 1 election would be held in a safe environment.
Television
footage from Turkey's Dogan news agency showed a line of protesters
Saturday near Ankara's train station, chanting and performing a
traditional dance with their hands locked when a large explosion went
off behind them. An Associated Press photographer saw several bodies
covered with bloodied flags and banners that demonstrators had brought
for the rally.
Thirtly
people have reportedly been killed and more than 100 wounded after a
suspected terrorist bomb attack in the centre of Turkish capital Ankara.
Two explosions shook a road junction in the centre of the city on
Saturday as people were gathered for a "peace" march to protest against
the conflict between the state and Kurdish militants in southeast
Turkey. The Turkish government put the death toll at 30 and said 126
people were injuried. Images of the chaos showed dreadful scenes
inculding bodies lying in the road, many draped in flags and banners,
and marchers desperately trying to help the wounded. Witnesses said the
ground was covered in bloodstains. Authorities were investigating claims
the attacks were carried out by a suicide bomber. Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu was due to hold an emergency meeting with the heads of the
police and intelligence agencies and other senior officials. Witnesses
said the two explosions happened seconds apart shortly after 10am local
time (7am GMT) as hundreds gathered for the planned rally. Violence
between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants has
flared since July, when Turkey launched air strikes on militant camps in
response to what it said were rising attacks on the security forces.
Hundreds have since died. The attacks come three weeks ahead of a
parliamentary election in Turkey and at a time of multiple security
threats, not only in the restive southeast but also from Islamic State
militants in neighbouring Syria and home-grown militants.
Turkey bombings: 86 killed and hundreds injured after terrorist attack on 'peace' march in capital Ankara
Dozens wounded: People carry an injured man after the explosion Reuters/Tumay Berkin
At
least 86 people have been killed and nearly 200 wounded after the
suspected double sucide bombing of a "peace" march in the Turkish
capital Ankara.
Two explosions went off within seconds in the
centre of the city on Saturday as hundreds of people were gathered for
the rally protesting against the conflict between the state and Kurdish
militants in southeast Turkey.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadliest attacks in Turkey in years.
Prime
minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong signs" that the
attacks - which struck 50 metres apart and left 186 people wounded -
were suicide bombings.
Tragedy: Bodies of victims are covered with flags and banners as police officers secure the area after an explosion in Ankara
Busloads
of activists had travelled to Ankara from other cities to attend the
peace rally. Health minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 62 of the blast
victims in Ankara died at the scene, while 24 others died after being
taken to the hospital.
Images of the chaos showed dreadful scenes
including bodies lying in the road, many draped in flags and banners,
and marchers desperately trying to help the wounded.
At
least thirty people are dead and 126 wounded in a terror attack that
targeted a peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara. Two explosions
rocked the main train station in the city, were thousands had gathered
to protest against the long-running conflict between Turkey and the
Kurdish separatist group, the PKK. Government officials say the blasts
were a terrorist attack and are investigating reports that a suicide
bomber was behind at least one of the explosions. Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu is being briefed by the interior and health ministers, state
news agency Anadolu says. The wounded are being treated in various
hospitals after the explosions, which occurred at 10:05 am local time
(7:04 GMT). The country's interior ministry confirmed that at least 30
people were killed in the blasts. Those killed and injured had gathered
for a rally organised by unions and civil society groups, the ministry
said in a written statement. A Reuters reporter at the scene saw at
least 20 bodies covered by flags, with bloodstains and body parts
scattered on the road. "Bodies lay in two circles around 20 metres apart
where the explosions had taken place," they reported. Witnesses said
the blasts were seconds apart shortly after 10am and were so powerful
they rocked nearby high-rise buildings. No group has yet claimed
responsibility for the blasts, which come three weeks ahead of a
parliamentary election. A rally for the pro-Kurdish HDP party was bombed
in June, ahead of last year's general election. The country has been in
a heightened state of alert since starting a "synchronised war on
terror" in July, including airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in
Syria and PKK bases in northern Iraq. Designated a terrorist group by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK launched a
separatist insurgency in 1984 in the south-eastern part of the country.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date.
Two
bomb explosions targeting a peace rally by leftist and Kurdish
activists in Turkey's capital on Saturday killed at least 86 people and
wounded 186 others, Turkey's Interior Ministry says. The explosions
occurred minutes apart near Ankara's main train station as people were
gathering for the rally, organized by the country's public sector
workers' trade union and other civic society groups. The rally aimed to
call for an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and
Turkish security forces. It was not clear if the attacks, which came
weeks before Turkey's Nov. 1 elections, were suicide bombings. "There
was a massacre in the middle of Ankara," says the head of the
Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions. "Two bombs exploded in very
short intervals." Television footage from Turkey's Dogan news agency
showed a line of protesters fanned out on the street near the train
station, chanting and performing a traditional dance with their hands
locked, when a large explosion hit behind them. An Interior Ministry
statement condemned the attack, which it said "targets Turkey's
democracy and peace." Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called an emergency
security meeting to discuss the attack. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility. In July, a suicide bombing blamed on ISIS killed 33
people in a town near Turkey's border with Syria, and a leftist militant
group has also carried out suicide bombings in Turkey.
Nearly
simultaneous explosions targeted a Turkish peace rally Saturday in
Ankara, killing at least 95 people and wounding hundreds in Turkey's
deadliest attack in years - one that threatens to inflame the nation's
ethnic tensions. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were "strong signs" that the
two explosions - which struck 50 meters (yards) apart - were suicide
bombings. He suggested that Kurdish rebels or Islamic State group
militants could be behind the attacks. The two explosions occurred
seconds apart outside the capital's main train station as hundreds of
opposition supporters and Kurdish activists gathered for the peace rally
organized by Turkey's public workers' union and other civic society
groups. The groups planned to call for increased democracy in Turkey and
an end to the renewed violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish
security forces. The attacks Saturday came at a tense time for Turkey, a
NATO member that borders war-torn Syria, hosts more refugees than any
other nation in the world and has seen renewed fighting with Kurdish
rebels that has left hundreds dead in the last few months. Many people
at the rally had been anticipating that the rebels of the Kurdistan
Workers' Party, or PKK, would declare a temporary cease-fire - which the
group did hours after the bombing - to ensure that Turkey's Nov. 1
election would be held in a safe environment. Television footage from
Turkey's Dogan news agency showed a line of protesters Saturday near
Ankara's train station, chanting and performing a traditional dance with
their hands locked when a large explosion went off behind them. An
Associated Press photographer saw several bodies covered with bloodied
flags and banners that demonstrators had brought for the rally. "There
was a massacre in the middle of Ankara," said Lami Ozgen, head of the
Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, or KESK. Health Minister
Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 62 of the blast victims died at the scene, while
24 others died after being taken to the hospital. "This massacre
targeting a pro-Kurdish but mostly Turkish crowd could flame ethnic
tensions in Turkey," said Soner Cagaptay, an analyst at the Washington
Institute. Cagaptay said the attack could be the work of groups "hoping
to induce the PKK, or its more radical youth elements, to continue
fighting Turkey," adding that the Islamic State group would benefit most
from the full-blown Turkey-PKK conflict. "(That) development could make
ISIS a secondary concern in the eyes of many Turks to the PKK,"
Cagaptay said in emailed comments, using another acronym for IS
militants. The Turkish government imposed a temporary news blackout
covering images that showed the moment of the blasts, gruesome or bloody
pictures or "images that create a feeling of panic." A spokesman warned
media organizations they could face a "full blackout" if they did not
comply. Many people in Ankara reported being unable to access Twitter
and other social media websites after the blasts. It was not clear if
authorities had blocked access to the websites, but Turkey often does
impose blackouts following attacks. At a news conference, Davutoglu
declared a three-day official mourning period for the blast victims and
said Turkey had been warned about groups aiming to destabilize the
country.
Dozens wounded: People carry an injured man after the explosion 