Free Republic

The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report that blames the nation’s high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing and the impacts of pervasive domestic violence. Titled “America’s Youngest Outcasts,” the report being issued Monday by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013. The number is based on the Department of Education’s latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by...

At a time when Wall Street is absolutely swimming in wealth, New York City is experiencing an epidemic of homelessness. According to the New York Times, the last time there was this many homeless children in New York City was during the days of the Great Depression. And the number of homeless children in the United States overall recently set a new all-time record. As I mentioned yesterday, there are now 1.2 million public school kids in America that are homeless, and that number has gone up by about 72 percent since the start of the last recession. As Americans,...

North Korea has announced that an American tourist is to be tried on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that carries a possible death penalty. The case against Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who has been imprisoned in North Korea since early November, could further stoke tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. … Bae, 44, was arrested in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea’s far north-eastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been disclosed, but North Korea accuses Bae, described as a tour operator, of...

Abandoned as a baby, this executive wouldn't have survived without help from others. Now he's returning the favor James McElya was abandoned, at six weeks old, on the doorstep of the Salvation Army in West Chester, Pa. A succession of 11 families took him in until he was old enough to fend for himself. "These were poor people trying to raise their own families," McElya, now 61, recalls about the informal network of foster homes. "They were not getting paid to take me in. I was the last thing they needed. They kept me for as long as they could,...

The local Target store refused again to support a veterans organization. I chair a program called Operation Stuff the Bus, where we collect school supplies for homeless children. We place a school bus on key parking lots and invite local citizens to "stuff" it with things needy children must have to begin the new school term. All Walmart stores and the Belleview, FL Kmart store welcomed us. However, the Ocala, Florida, Target store flatly refused to let us on their parking lot. This is the second year that they have refused. By the way, we weren't asking for a donation....