Grand larcenies up 80%, stores lock up toothpaste, shampoo – Food may be next

Store Looting New York

Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’

Important Takeaways:

  • NYC grocery stores consider locking up food due to rampant theft; workers are ‘traumatized’
  • With grand larcenies up 80%, grocery store owners have banded together to form the Collective Action to Protect our Stores in an attempt to fight back against thieves and government inaction.
  • Shampoo, toothpaste, and razor blades are all items that grocery stores have increasingly started locking behind counters. Soon, that list might include food.
  • “People have no fear of coming to your store and stealing,” said Nelson Eusebio of the National Supermarket Association.
  • Over 4,000 grocery stores calling for prosecutors to set bail for repeat thieves and to make assaults on retail workers a Class D felony.

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Feds scramble to get control of Rising Inflation and Interest Rates

Rev 6:6 NAS And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Important Takeaways:

  • U.S. inflation rate leaps to 8.5%, CPI shows, as higher gas prices slam consumers
  • The rate of U.S. inflation leaped to 40-year high of 8.5% in March and showed little sign of easing up, explaining the new-found urgency at the Federal Reserve to quickly undo its easy-money strategy.
  • Rising prices are outstripping the fastest wage gains in four decades and surveys show inflation is the public’s biggest worry. It’s hurting Democrats at the polls ahead of the pivotal congressional elections in the fall.
  • High inflation is showing up everywhere: At gas stations, grocery stores, big-box chains such as Best Buy and online sellers like Amazon rents and housing prices have also surged.
  • The average cost of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. rose to as high as $4.32 in March from $3.61 in the prior month and $2.87 a year earlier. In some parts of the country prices even topped $7 a gallon.
  • Grocery prices have escalated 10% in the past 12 months, the biggest jump since 1981.

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Some 156 people in 10 states infected with E. coli from ground beef: CDC

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Tami Chappell/File Photo

By Brendan O’Brien

(Reuters) – A total of 156 people in 10 states have been infected with E. coli after eating tainted ground beef at home and in restaurants since the beginning of March, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

No deaths have been reported but 20 people have been hospitalized after they were infected with the strain E. coli O103 since March 1, the CDC said on its website.

The agency said an investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the contaminated ground beef that was supplied to grocery stores and restaurants.

“At this time, no common supplier, distributor, or brand of ground beef has been identified,” the CDC said.

The investigation began on March 28, when officials in Kentucky and Georgia notified the CDC of the outbreak. Since then, some 65 cases have been reported in Kentucky, 41 in Tennessee and another 33 in Georgia.

E. coli cases have also been reported in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Virginia.

The CDC said that illnesses after March 26 may not have been reported yet because the lead time is two to three weeks.

People infected with the bacteria get sick two to eight days after swallowing the germ, and may sometimes develop a type of kidney failure.

Many of the infected people had bought large trays or chubs of ground beef from grocery stores and used the meat to make dishes like spaghetti sauce and Sloppy Joes, the agency said.

The regulator said it is not recommending that consumers avoid eating ground beef at this time, but said that consumers and restaurants should handle ground beef safely and cook it thoroughly to avoid foodborne illnesses.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Wis.; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Matthew Lewis)