Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Weaning countries off aid | Jonathan Glennie | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Weaning countries off aid | Jonathan Glennie | Global development | guardian.co.uk:

"Reducing aid dependence is not the same thing as reducing aid. Aid dependence can be reduced without reducing aid (if other sources of money increase). And reducing aid doesn't mean reducing aid dependence – it might well mean the opposite. It is the dependence not the aid that is the problem.

Dependency on aid can only be reduced if the equivalent financial resources (and more) are found elsewhere. That requires action at the international level on issues such as trade policy, illegal capital flight and commodity pricing. And at the national level it requires a coherent set of policies to gradually increase resource mobilisation from untapped areas of the economy."

Father of Brazilian food programme to lead FAO - FT.com

Father of Brazilian food programme to lead FAO - FT.com:

"The new head of the FAO was in charge of Brazil’s Zero Hunger programme, created by former president Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva in 2003. The plan, which has been widely praised, reduced hunger in Brazil by half in six years."

Africa moves to ban female genital mutilation - The Times of India

Africa moves to ban female genital mutilation - The Times of India: "MALABO: Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is part of the agenda of the 19th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council which has opened here.

The item on FGM was proposed by Burkina Faso, to educate African States on the need to fully support the draft resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations to ban FGM in the world, because it is considered harmful to women's health."

Rebels disarm in Central African Republic - Africa - Mail & Guardian Online

Rebels disarm in Central African Republic - Africa - Mail & Guardian Online:

"President Francois Bozize of the Central African Republic has launched an operation to disarm hundreds of rebels at Bocaranga in the northwest, the president's office announced on Monday."

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Jun2611 Deepening Democracy

Jun2611 Deepening Democracy: "Mr Wade, who is 85 years old, is planning to contest next year's presidential election with his son, Karim Wade, as his running mate. To prepare his son's political career, he had made him the major contractor for all major projects in the country over the past five years. He was also the organiser of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting a couple of years ago and received all the foreign donations to prepare Dakar for the conference.

Immediately after the OIC conference, the younger Wade, with his fat war chest, contested to be the mayor of Dakar. He was disgraced at the polls and lost his deposit. His father then compensated him by merging five ministries together and appointing him super minister. The constitutional proposal aimed at making Karim Wade Vice President was therefore aimed at preparing the father-to-son political succession.

Part of the reason for Karim's unpopularity is that he does not even speak Wolof, the country's lingua franca, but speaks French with his mother's French accent."

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Breast Milk Cure - NYTimes.com

The Breast Milk Cure - NYTimes.com: "When we think of global poverty, we sometimes assume that the challenges are so vast that any solutions must be extraordinarily complex and expensive. Well, some are. But almost nothing would do as much to fight starvation around the world as the ultimate low-tech solution: exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months of life. That’s the strong recommendation of the World Health Organization."

The Center for Public Integrity: Badly Flawed Background Check System Fails To Contain Firearms Sales

The Center for Public Integrity: Badly Flawed Background Check System Fails To Contain Firearms Sales: "Like many states, Maine depends on the FBI to conduct background checks of people who want to acquire firearms from the state's federally licensed gun dealers.

And like many states, Maine is a slacker in supplying the records that the FBI depends on to run those checks.

That's how Raymond Geisel got his guns, including a Glock Model 17 pistol and a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle. Geisel had previously been committed to a psychiatric hospital in Bangor, which made him ineligible under federal law to buy or possess a gun. But because state officials had not supplied records of his commitment to the FBI, Geisel passed background checks without being flagged. "

The Center for Public Integrity: Badly Flawed Background Check System Fails To Contain Firearms Sales

The Center for Public Integrity: Badly Flawed Background Check System Fails To Contain Firearms Sales: "Like many states, Maine depends on the FBI to conduct background checks of people who want to acquire firearms from the state's federally licensed gun dealers.

And like many states, Maine is a slacker in supplying the records that the FBI depends on to run those checks.

That's how Raymond Geisel got his guns, including a Glock Model 17 pistol and a semi-automatic version of the AK-47 assault rifle. Geisel had previously been committed to a psychiatric hospital in Bangor, which made him ineligible under federal law to buy or possess a gun. But because state officials had not supplied records of his commitment to the FBI, Geisel passed background checks without being flagged. "

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Death penalty: Exhaustive study finds death penalty costs California $184 million a year - latimes.com

Death penalty: Exhaustive study finds death penalty costs California $184 million a year - latimes.com: "Taxpayers have spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment in California since it was reinstated in 1978, or about $308 million for each of the 13 executions carried out since then, according to a comprehensive analysis of the death penalty's costs."

BBC News - California stops lawmakers' wages until budget balances

BBC News - California stops lawmakers' wages until budget balances: "Elected representatives in California have been told their wages and expenses have been stopped and they will not be paid until the state budget balances.

State Controller John Chiang took the step after determining that the budget approved last week was not balanced.

It is the first time a law brought in last year, to stop California constantly missing its annual budget deadline, has been brought into effect."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

N.C. Man Allegedly Robs Bank for $1 to Get Health Care in Jail - ABC News

N.C. Man Allegedly Robs Bank for $1 to Get Health Care in Jail - ABC News:

"Police arrested Verone where he sat. He was unarmed.

Verone said he asked for $1 to show that his motives were medical, not monetary, according to news reports. With a growth in his chest, two ruptured disks and no job, Verone hoped a three-year stint in prison would afford him the health care he needed."

AFP: Africa's tree belt takes root in Senegal

AFP: Africa's tree belt takes root in Senegal:

"TESSEKERE, Senegal — An ambitious plan to build a vast forest belt straight across Africa to contain desertification has taken root in Senegal, greening huge tracts of land with drought-tolerant tree species.
From west to east, the 15-kilometer-wide Great Green Wall (GGW) will span the continent from Senegal to Djibouti, passing through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
In all, the coast-to-coast forest will run 7,600 kilometers (4,750 miles)."

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Giving aid to poor countries is hardly a great act of generosity | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Giving aid to poor countries is hardly a great act of generosity | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "But the main point is that giving aid is not actually a great act of generosity. Aid buys things donors want (such as political support and economic advantage, whether directly for donor businesses or indirectly through policy change). The other things rich countries need to do to really show solidarity with the poor will require if not more generosity (as we can turn them to our economic advantage) then certainly greater risk: accept fairer trade rules, adapt rapidly to climate change and resource scarcity by limiting our consumption, accept the employment consequences of a more just arms trade, clamp down on tax havens and force our international companies to abide by social, environmental and accounting norms (to name a few)."

Build a Bigger House - NYTimes.com

Build a Bigger House - NYTimes.com: "When the House met in 1789 it had 65 members, one for every 60,000 inhabitants (including slaves as three-fifths of a person). For well over a century, after each census Congress would pass a law increasing the size of the House.

But after the 1910 census, when the House grew from 391 members to 433 (two more were added later when Arizona and New Mexico became states), the growth stopped. That’s because the 1920 census indicated that the majority of Americans were concentrating in cities, and nativists, worried about of the power of “foreigners,” blocked efforts to give them more representatives."

Friday, June 10, 2011

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy: Islamophobia's Implications for the United States

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy: Islamophobia's Implications for the United States: "Whatever your scriptures of authority may be, if you have any at all, the U.S. Constitution calls for all American citizens to recognize the dignity and worth of all people and summons us to live as civil peacemakers in this world. No exemptions exist for Muslims. Patriotically applying the priorities of our Constitution to the present situation could enable us to see the remarkable opportunity that we have to increase the spread of democracy and to forge alliances that can make the world a better place in which to live."

Three Words of Omission When It Comes to Torture | Human Rights Now - Amnesty International USA Blog

Three Words of Omission When It Comes to Torture | Human Rights Now - Amnesty International USA Blog: "Since the killing of Osama bin Laden last month in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the torture supporters have been out in full force to credit the success to Bush Administration policies such as torture."
 
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