Low-income residents of a North Austin apartment complex are putting pressure on a developer intent on demolishing their homes, and they’re having some success in getting concessions. The Old Homestead, located on Clayton Lane near the intersection with Cameron Road, is set to be rezoned for vertical mixed use – meaning developers JCI Residential, an affiliate of the Journeyman Group, will be allowed more height and building size in exchange for affordable units. While the new property will have more units than the current 16-unit complex, residents say they’ll struggle to find apartments as affordable – or with a community so closely knit – amid Austin’s surging rental prices.
Tag: Poverty
Update: St. Johns Camp Moved Into Temporary Housing
Posted in Austin, Austin Chronicle, and Journalism
On March 25, city personnel moved 31 people living in a controversial encampment at St. Johns and I-35 into transitional housing at the Northbridge and Southbridge shelters, as part of the city’s HEAL (Homeless Encampment Assistance Link) initiative, adopted in the wake of last year’s local and state reinstatement of a ban on public camping.
For months, the encampment in and around St. John Neighborhood Park had generated concern among neighbors. On March 6, police shot and killed 28-year-old Miguel Ruiz Rivera, who lived periodically at the camp, after he had apparently been spotted firing a gun near one of the tents. At the same time, an outpouring of generosity from locals seeking to help unhoused neighbors inspired multiple fundraising campaigns and sustained volunteer efforts to feed, assist and, ultimately, house the campers before the city stepped in.
Fascist Journalists Attack The Poor: Laura Loomer & The Project Veritas Cycle
Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism
It’s happened again. Fascist wannabe journalists attacked the most vulnerable, and as a result poor people will probably die.
Laura Loomer, a talking asshole fringed in blonde hair, is the latest to engage in a punch-down “sting operation” that’s targeted to hurt people with the most to lose.
In an investigative report that’s the talk of nazi rallies everywhere, Loomer went undercover in a refugee camp to expose the “shocking” fact that camp workers help refugees apply for aid in a way that minimizes.trauma and maximizes the likelihood that they’ll get help. Previously best known for spreading Islamophobic conspiracies about her Uber drivers, she’s now trying to graduate to the next level of far right pundit.
Trump’s Budget Suckerpunches The Poor & Disabled; Democrats Respond With A Whimper
Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Lee Camp
Pres. Donald Trump’s proposed budget would slash the social safety net to ribbons, while continuing the process of dismantling or privatizing virtually all parts of the U.S. government that don’t directly benefit the war machine.
In response, Bernie Sanders and the Democrats have come out SWINGING with a comprehensive and radical list of human-rights centered amendments. They’re even threatening to SHUT DOWN the government! …Just kidding. They promised to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024.
The REALLY Hateful 8: Global Inequality & The World’s 8 Richest Men (Fucked Fact)
Posted in Act Out!, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street
We are the 99 percent!
These words made famous by Occupy Wall Street helped bring new attention to the problem of systemic inequality. The chant isn’t just some hyperbole made up by hippies however: it’s backed by actual economic truth — you know, facts as opposed to alternative facts.
According to Credit Suisse in their 2015 Global Wealth Report, “the lower half of the global population collectively own less than 1% of global wealth, while the richest 10% of adults own 88% of all wealth and the top 1% account for half of all assets in the world.” HALF OF ALL ASSETS on planet earth. ——- And now, this latest report from Oxfam reveals that an already grim picture is actually even more dire. According to their research, the world’s 8 richest men collectively possess more wealth than the poorest 50 percent of the world. That’s right, 8 multi-billionaires have as much money as about 3 billion, 370 million of the world’s poor.
Welcome to this week’s Fucked Fact.
Israel Receives $3.1B In US Aid While The Middle East’s Poor Struggle To Survive
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
Every year, Israel receives billions of dollars in U.S. aid, despite the fact that its citizens enjoy a standard of living well above that of neighboring countries. And while the Middle East struggles through a historic refugee crisis, Israel is using U.S. taxpayer money to fuel its war crimes against Palestine and oppression of refugees.
The average income of Israel’s citizens is $34,990, based on 2014 data provided by the World Bank. For neighboring countries, that figure is far lower: Residents of Lebanon earn an average of $9,800 annually, followed by other Israeli neighbors including Jordan ($5,160), Egypt ($3,050), and Syria, where the average resident survived on just $1,860 in 2014, according to the World Bank’s data. For occupied Palestine, the World Bank offers a data sheet on the West Bank and Gaza, which estimates that the average resident makes $3,060 annually.
Against this backdrop of relative financial comfort for its residents, Israel received over $3.1 billion in foreign aid from the United States in 2015, the same amount received in 2014. The money goes directly to its military budget, where it fuels Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian population, as well as its defense of its illegal occupation of the Golan Heights.