BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (IPS) - Extreme poverty will continue to blight sub-Saharan Africa for another 200 years unless action to overcome it is intensified, a new report has suggested.Social Watch, a network of campaigning groups, has devised a measure known as the "basic capabilities index" to assess the level of hardship throughout the world. Its latest report finds that 80 countries -- home to half the world's population -- fare badly when three criteria are examined: the number of children who die before their fifth birthday, the proportion of children who complete primary education, and the proportion of births that are attended by trained midwives or other medical professionals. Only 16 of these countries have registered considerable improvement since 2000. Although the countries making progress include India, home to 1.6 billion, regression has been recorded in others with a combined population of 150 million. The latter category includes Chad, Niger, Malawi, Benin and Yemen, while Bangladesh, Uganda, Nigeria, Madagascar and Ghana have been listed as stagnant. While much of sub-Saharan Africa has recorded strong economic growth in recent years, this has not translated into a major drop in poverty levels. As things stand, the basic needs of millions of Africans will not be met until the 23rd century, with many governments struggling to fulfil pledges they have made. Zambia, for example, has undertaken to provide free basic health care for all citizens, yet continues to have one of the lowest rates of life expectancy on the planet.
Australia's military has warned that global warming could create failed states across the Pacific as sea levels rise and heighten the risk of conflict over resources, a report said Wednesday. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) analysis found the military could be called on to undertake more security, disaster relief and reconstruction missions as a result of climate change, the Sydney Morning Herald said. "Environmental stress, caused by both climate change and a range of other factors, will act as a threat multiplier in fragile states around the world, increasing the chances of state failure," the analysis said. "This is likely to increase demands for the ADF to be deployed on additional stabilisation, post-conflict reconstruction and disaster relief operations in the future." The analysis, a summary of which was obtained by the paper using freedom of information laws, also noted the possibility of a serious conflict over the undersea oil and gas deposits of the Arctic as shrinking icecaps make these more accessible.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) analysis found the military could be called on to undertake more security, disaster relief and reconstruction missions as a result of climate change, the Sydney Morning Herald said.
"Environmental stress, caused by both climate change and a range of other factors, will act as a threat multiplier in fragile states around the world, increasing the chances of state failure," the analysis said.
"This is likely to increase demands for the ADF to be deployed on additional stabilisation, post-conflict reconstruction and disaster relief operations in the future."
The analysis, a summary of which was obtained by the paper using freedom of information laws, also noted the possibility of a serious conflict over the undersea oil and gas deposits of the Arctic as shrinking icecaps make these more accessible.
NS,S.
Do tell, do tell!
(Gawd but where would we be without Military Intelligence pointing out the blindingly obvious?)
HONG KONG -- China has bought more than $1 trillion of American debt, but as the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home, a move that could have painful effects for American borrowers. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Back Story with Keith Bradsher The declining Chinese appetite for United States debt, apparent in a series of hints from Chinese policy makers over the last two weeks, with official statistics due for release in the next few days, comes at an inconvenient time. On Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama predicted the possibility of trillion-dollar deficits "for years to come," even after an $800 billion stimulus package. Normally, China would be the most avid taker of the debt required to pay for those deficits, mainly short-term Treasuries, which are government i.o.u.'s. In the last five years, China has spent as much as one-seventh of its entire economic output buying foreign debt, mostly American. In September, it surpassed Japan as the largest overseas holder of Treasuries.But now Beijing is seeking to pay for its own $600 billion stimulus -- just as tax revenue is falling sharply as the Chinese economy slows. Regulators have ordered banks to lend more money to small and medium-size enterprises, many of which are struggling with lower exports, and to local governments to build new roads and other projects.
HONG KONG -- China has bought more than $1 trillion of American debt, but as the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home, a move that could have painful effects for American borrowers. Skip to next paragraph
Multimedia Back Story with Keith Bradsher
The declining Chinese appetite for United States debt, apparent in a series of hints from Chinese policy makers over the last two weeks, with official statistics due for release in the next few days, comes at an inconvenient time.
On Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama predicted the possibility of trillion-dollar deficits "for years to come," even after an $800 billion stimulus package. Normally, China would be the most avid taker of the debt required to pay for those deficits, mainly short-term Treasuries, which are government i.o.u.'s.
In the last five years, China has spent as much as one-seventh of its entire economic output buying foreign debt, mostly American. In September, it surpassed Japan as the largest overseas holder of Treasuries.
But now Beijing is seeking to pay for its own $600 billion stimulus -- just as tax revenue is falling sharply as the Chinese economy slows. Regulators have ordered banks to lend more money to small and medium-size enterprises, many of which are struggling with lower exports, and to local governments to build new roads and other projects.
In the last year, according to this US government data http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt, the monthly holdings of Chinese money to the US went from 459 billion in Oct 2007 to 652 in Oct 2008. That is nearly a 200 billion dollar shift in one year. That's a 42% increase.
The UK increase is over 100%. Russia also more than doubled, Hong Kong increased by 30%, Switzerland also by a third. Nearly every country or category of countries increased, with few un-notable exceptions.
Yet, we are given fear, uncertainty and doubt in the alleged newspaper of note.
We are we given propaganda? Who is trying to manipulate us? For what purpose? Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
[A] a levy up to 1% of sales revenue shall be imposed on industries polluting the environment. On the basis of Article 2, the government shall, for protecting industrial exports, allocate sums for compensating some of the export costs related to capital and consumer goods, parts and accessories, and technical services. ... [T]he government is also obliged to adopt measures insuring that the difference between bank interest paid to the depositors and the facilities must not exceed 3%. ... [G]overnmental corporations and organizations are obliged to give priority in purchasing to domestic manufacturers and settle the invoices of the sellers and contractors within 30 days. For protection of domestic products, the tariff of the SKD and CKD of mobile phones, home electric appliances and other electric equipment (expect cars and high tech industries) shall be respectively below 80%, and 10% the tariff of the CBU.
[T]he government is also obliged to adopt measures insuring that the difference between bank interest paid to the depositors and the facilities must not exceed 3%. ...
[G]overnmental corporations and organizations are obliged to give priority in purchasing to domestic manufacturers and settle the invoices of the sellers and contractors within 30 days. For protection of domestic products, the tariff of the SKD and CKD of mobile phones, home electric appliances and other electric equipment (expect cars and high tech industries) shall be respectively below 80%, and 10% the tariff of the CBU.
Turgid Version Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Obama appears with new DNC chief - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama appeared Thursday at Democratic Party headquarters with his hand-picked incoming chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, but his predecessor, outgoing chief Howard Dean, was nowhere in sight. Dean, who has clashed with Obama's top aides and Democratic leaders in Congress during his four-year term, is stepping down Jan. 21. "My understanding is that he's traveling, so he couldn't attend," said Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman. Obama's transition officials, however, did not immediately respond when asked whether the former Vermont governor was invited to appear alongside the president-elect and Dean's successor at the news conference. But Democrats with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the Obama team, say Dean won't attend the event at the request of Obama advisers.
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama appeared Thursday at Democratic Party headquarters with his hand-picked incoming chairman, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, but his predecessor, outgoing chief Howard Dean, was nowhere in sight.
Dean, who has clashed with Obama's top aides and Democratic leaders in Congress during his four-year term, is stepping down Jan. 21.
"My understanding is that he's traveling, so he couldn't attend," said Tommy Vietor, an Obama spokesman.
Obama's transition officials, however, did not immediately respond when asked whether the former Vermont governor was invited to appear alongside the president-elect and Dean's successor at the news conference.
But Democrats with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the Obama team, say Dean won't attend the event at the request of Obama advisers.
Troll-rated?
budr, are you serious or is it a mistake?
[...]Recycling has become a global industry and China is the largest importer of the world's waste materials, taking in as much as a third of Britain's recyclables for example. Then came the slump, decimating the Chinese recycling industry and leaving Britain, the US and others grappling with growing volumes of recycled waste and nowhere to send it."It's a canary in the coalmine: it's the front and back end of industry," said Adam Minter, who runs the Shanghai Scrap blog and specialises in the metal trade. "Until about eight weeks ago, for example, the entire [US] west coast paper market was sent to China and most of it was sent south. It was processed and made into packaging for products that then shipped back to the US ... But when US consumer demand dropped off, that broke the cycle."Across the scrap trade, prices have halved or worse in a matter of months. Each link in the chain is disintegrating, from factories to scrapyards to collectors such as Wu, 56, a former farmer who now plans to return to Hubei province. Official media reported that four-fifths of China's recycling units had closed and that millions will eventually be left without employment.
[...]Recycling has become a global industry and China is the largest importer of the world's waste materials, taking in as much as a third of Britain's recyclables for example. Then came the slump, decimating the Chinese recycling industry and leaving Britain, the US and others grappling with growing volumes of recycled waste and nowhere to send it.
"It's a canary in the coalmine: it's the front and back end of industry," said Adam Minter, who runs the Shanghai Scrap blog and specialises in the metal trade. "Until about eight weeks ago, for example, the entire [US] west coast paper market was sent to China and most of it was sent south. It was processed and made into packaging for products that then shipped back to the US ... But when US consumer demand dropped off, that broke the cycle."
Across the scrap trade, prices have halved or worse in a matter of months. Each link in the chain is disintegrating, from factories to scrapyards to collectors such as Wu, 56, a former farmer who now plans to return to Hubei province.
Official media reported that four-fifths of China's recycling units had closed and that millions will eventually be left without employment.
Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street, sources familiar with the discussions said. Geithner has been working night and day on the eighth floor of the transition team office in downtown Washington with Lawrence H. Summers and other senior economic advisers to hash out a new approach that would expand the program's aid to municipalities, small businesses, homeowners and other consumers. With lawmakers stewing over how Bush administration officials spent the first $350 billion, Geithner has little chance of winning congressional approval for the second half without retooling the program, the sources added. That challenge is underscored by a report from a congressional oversight panel scheduled to be released today that hammers the outgoing Treasury Department for its handling of the financial rescue, including "what appear to be significant gaps in Treasury's monitoring of the use of taxpayer money." The report, moreover, faults the Treasury for failing to properly measure the success of the program or establish an overall strategy and skewers the department for not using any of the funds on foreclosure relief as Congress had directed.
Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Geithner has been working night and day on the eighth floor of the transition team office in downtown Washington with Lawrence H. Summers and other senior economic advisers to hash out a new approach that would expand the program's aid to municipalities, small businesses, homeowners and other consumers. With lawmakers stewing over how Bush administration officials spent the first $350 billion, Geithner has little chance of winning congressional approval for the second half without retooling the program, the sources added.
That challenge is underscored by a report from a congressional oversight panel scheduled to be released today that hammers the outgoing Treasury Department for its handling of the financial rescue, including "what appear to be significant gaps in Treasury's monitoring of the use of taxpayer money." The report, moreover, faults the Treasury for failing to properly measure the success of the program or establish an overall strategy and skewers the department for not using any of the funds on foreclosure relief as Congress had directed.
If the second $350bn goes to these kinds of things, that brings the "stimulus package" up to $1.125tn. Still a couple hundred billion short of what we need, but that would at least put it in the ballpark. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
I'm especially pleased that Pelosi seems very passionate about repealing the Bush tax cuts, and that Kerry and Wyden are demanding a lot more emphasis on public works. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
PTSD Support: PTSD given mis-diagnosis by military - [helping to reduce the cost for VA treatment and care-(RN)] (Army Times ~ May 04, 2007)
After several solders came forward claiming they were discharged for personality disorders but diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries, officials at Fort Carson, Colo., say statistics show 56 of the 276 soldiers discharged with personally disorders in fact had PTSD. But officials say those PTSD cases were mild to moderate and the soldiers were discharged because of personality disorder issues. Fort Carson soldiers have accused Army officials of everything from deploying them to Iraq with brain injuries to punishing them for behavior related to their combat injuries.
But officials say those PTSD cases were mild to moderate and the soldiers were discharged because of personality disorder issues.
Fort Carson soldiers have accused Army officials of everything from deploying them to Iraq with brain injuries to punishing them for behavior related to their combat injuries.
This is what war does: you go and break another country and in the process twist and break your own people that you enlist to do the job, and then when you bring them back you just discard them and leave them to fend for themselves. Woo hoo.
Support your troops - don't have any! Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
As for the impact of distressed soldiers upon civil society, I think you'll find that polticians don't live there either. Although we dumb schmucks imagine that, in a democracy, we employ polticians; their attitude is very different. They are above us and we are merely pawns in their games to be gamed and misled, but otherwise keep quiet. keep to the Fen Causeway
In this, Irael is worth emulating, but i think most people would prefer their militaries weren't involved in the sort of politically expedient aggressions the West seems to increasingly favour these days. After all, it's a hard sell to say your son died "so's X could get elected" or "Y could get a milllion euro dividend bonus" keep to the Fen Causeway
Investors wondering what happened to the $50 billion that disappeared in Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme need look no further than the fees charged by the hedge funds that marketed his money-making prowess. Many investors left their savings in the Madoff-run funds, content in the belief that their nest eggs were doubling every seven years. Firms that sold the feeder funds, including Fairfield Greenwich Group, Tremont Group Holdings Inc. and Bank Medici AG, were paid fees every year.
Many investors left their savings in the Madoff-run funds, content in the belief that their nest eggs were doubling every seven years. Firms that sold the feeder funds, including Fairfield Greenwich Group, Tremont Group Holdings Inc. and Bank Medici AG, were paid fees every year.
