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The New York Daily News caught up with an alleged looter on Tuesday, who defended his actions, saying, "Look, they've been looting our wallets for too long,"as he took a TV from a Rent-A-Center in Coney Island. "It's about time we start taking this sh—back," he added. Witnesses of looting near Coney Island told The Wall Street Journal that it was occurring in plain sight, and that police officers did little to stop it. "When I came out at about 8:30 a.m. this morning, there were people coming out of all these stores, guys carrying Hefty bags," Roger McKinon, 40...

<p>Hurricane Sandy brought out the worst yesterday in some sleazy New Yorkers, who looted stores and homes across the city.</p> <p>Some posed as Con Ed workers to dupe their victims.</p> <p>Police arrested more than a dozen looters in the Rockaways and Coney Island, which had been evacuated, and stood guard outside ravaged stores at the South Street Seaport. “This morning when they told us the water receded, I walked back to the house to feed [my pets],” said Eric Martine, 33, a cabby who lives in Brooklyn’s Gerritsen Beach. “Guys were looting, pretending they were Con Ed and holding people up. It was sick.” Residents said police warned them to beware of crooks pretending to be utility workers...</p>

It's all anecdotal at this point, but if crime reports following hurricanes Katrina and Irene are any indication, the East Coast is in for a crime wave, post-Sandy. No reports of looting or Hurricane Sandy-related crimes have been reported yet but that doesn't mean we won't see some soon. Following Hurricane Katrina, the most devastating hurricane in modern memory, New Orleans was besieged with reports of looting, rape, and murder, causing delayed troop deployments, delayed medical evacuations, and police department mutiny, The New York Times reported in 2005....(excerpt)

[New Orleans].. They found guns, jewelry, various clothing items including caps, shorts, socks and pants, as well as tennis shoes. Sidney Brooks, 17, was arrested in connection with the incident. Police think there could be more suspects. . . at S. Robertson and Martin Luther King Jr. A couple were caught stealing alcohol and money from the bar, and both were booked. Also on Wednesday, five people were caught breaking into a corner store at Jackson and Magnolia. On Tuesday night, four men were caught by police breaking into a building at 7th and Danneel. On Thursday morning, NOPD Chief...

America is heading into a retirement crisis, an economist says. Most retirees haven't saved enough money to retire and Teresa Ghilarducci blames America's entire system for retiring. It’s been 30 years since the Individual Retirement Account model became the standard way for Americans to save for retirement. But many people who saved for three decades watched a lot of that money disappear during the financial crisis. And now, more than half of American workers have saved less than $25,000 for their golden years, and about 30 percent have saved less than a thousand dollars. Overall, the system is failing, says...

. . When store employees in the red shirts realize what’s happening, they block the doors to stop the young thieves from leaving. But the kids physically struggle to get out and even appear to hit the store manager who then swings back. After the brief altercation, many kids dash out the door. . . After reviewing the surveillance video, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office opted not to pursue criminal charges in the case saying not every conflict warrants them. . . A bill to toughen the punishments for this kind of crime failed to pass in Maryland’s last...

It’s Survival Diva again with some food for thought about societal collapse; what to expect and who to look out for. It’s an important part of the puzzle when you’re one of the few prepared to survive the coming onslaught. Some guesstimate preppers make up only 5% of the populace, but it’s my belief it’s closer to 3% at best, and more likely to be 1-2%. Many give lip service to prepping and claim to be prepared when the truth is they’re still in the “thinking” stage. They haven’t advanced to in-the-trenches preparedness that many need to do to get...

President Barack Obama kicked off his re-election campaign Saturday at rallies in Ohio and Richmond, where he cast the election as a choice between policies of the past or progress, and "a make-or-break moment" for the middle class. Before a boisterous crowd of about 8,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University, in the capital of a swing state that could be key to his securing a second term, Obama said that while the nation's economy still faces headwinds, it's making progress. He presented himself as a fighter for the middle class and cast presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney as a potential president...

North Miami Beach Walgreens incident caught on video North Miami Beach police said surveillance video shows dozens of high school students demonstrating in the Trayvon Martin case Friday ransacking and shoplifting from a Walgreens store.

# Median net worth of member of Congress rose from $280,000 to $725,000 between 1984 and 2009 # Over same 25 years the wealth of the average U.S. family slipped from $20,500 from $20,600 The wealth gap between those governing the U.S. and the people they represent has dramatically widened, research shows. Against a backdrop of a vast budget deficit and fears of the fragility of the economy, analysis by the Washington Post shows that the median net worth of a member of Congress has nearly tripled over 25 years while the income of an average U.S. family has actually...

PHILADELPHIA - A North Philadelphia shop owner said he had no words to describe his emotions upon returning from India, where he had attended his mother’s funeral, to discover his store had been looted and vandalized. Bhupinder Cheema had operated a small convenience store near Germantown Avenue and West Cumberland Street, and had invested thousands of dollars into the business. Over the course of trip to Indian, which lasted several weeks, word spread through the neighborhood that the store had been left unattended.

For twenty years – long before 9/11 – the danger of terrorists armed with surface to air missiles shooting at passenger planes has been the secret fear of many top political leaders. In the late 90s, a terrorist network was nabbed trying to bring them into Newark Airport, but the airline industry and the government have done nothing to equip passenger airplanes with any defense against these always deadly missiles. Now Barack Obama has committed the ultimate sin: He has let 20,000 surface-to-air missiles escape from military depots in Libya. According to ABC News “U.S. officials had once thought there...

Residents of the Cosey Beach area of East Haven are dealing with the loss of their beautiful beachfront homes and their property. Now looters are adding to their hardship. Police are lining the streets because looters are trying to steal what they can from these residents who have pretty much lost everything. “People (are) constantly back and forth, back and forth, so we did have to get the police to tell them. I mean they’re going in houses. Yes, there’s a lot of looting,” Bernadette Davies, of East Haven, said.

While the media plays up the Los Angeles congresswoman's "the Tea Party can go straight to hell' comments from this weekend, they are ignoring what she said right after that. When the wild cheers of the audience calmed down, Rep. Waters then said: "And I intend to help them get there."

There’s no calm before the storm. As frenzied New Yorkers emptied grocery stores, grabbed at every last flashlight and evacuated their homes, the MTA shut down its entire transit system in anticipation of Irene walloping the city. The storm is on track to strike east of the five boroughs by 8 a.m. Transit workers began the arduous system halt — the first weather-related one in history — at noon. Bus and subway service might not get moving until well into Monday afternoon. The apocalyptic standstill leaves five million riders without a way around.

Watching the ferocious criminality displayed during the riots in British cities during the past weeks, one might be forgiven for thinking that this explosion of mob violence was taking place in some dilapidated god-forsaken Third World country. The horrific scenes of homes and businesses of ordinary Britons going up in flames will not be easily forgotten. Property was smashed up with brazen impunity, cars burned, and there was looting on a truly massive scale. Not only businesses, banks, post-offices, off-licenses, newsagents and luxury-goods shops but also restaurants, pubs and cafes were comprehensively trashed. » If you like this article, please...

WHEN the worst riots in British history descended across the streets of England, it was the family-run shops and small businesses that bore the brunt of the immense destruction. From grocery stores to optometrists, newsagents, sports stores, technology warehouses, hairdressers, pubs, fashion boutiques and even a funeral home - nothing was safe from the orgy of looting and damage. Windows were smashed, products looted, buildings torched and in one instance looters even stole the kettle from the staff room of a barbers in Tottenham, North London. The cost of the riots is still impossible to tally - The Association of...

Full Title: A primary school worker, postman, a young dad, a boy, 11, ... all among the first looters fast-tracked through the courts Courts sit through the night to handle high volume of offenders Millionaire's daughter charged with taking £5,000 worth of electronic goods Primary school worker admits burglary at Richer Sounds Duo who made off with trolley full of power tools admit theft New father caught in looted shop told police he 'needed nappies' Convicted rioters warned they could lose council houses London arrest figures up to 888 with 371 charged It was the day of reckoning for dozens...

So as rioting in London spreads like plaque on rotted teeth, there’s something more toxic than the violence going on. It’s some of the reaction to it – which stinks of justification. Says one anarchist, while punks steal chocolate: “This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth.” Yep – free sweets – that’s a revolution. I’m sure those folks in Syria are inspired.

H/T: Iowahawk Click to view. This has multiple pages.