Thursday, September 29, 2011

Small Fixes - Volunteers Forge Better Health Care in Rural Thailand - NYTimes.com

Small Fixes - Volunteers Forge Better Health Care in Rural Thailand - NYTimes.com: "Thailand’s Village Health Volunteers, as they are known, have been a source of reliable caretakers in a country perpetually beset by military coups and changing governments. Health care has marched forward in Thailand even as its politics have been mired in conflict.

The volunteer system has helped even out inequalities in a society where wealth — and medical resources — are heavily concentrated in the sprawling metropolis of Bangkok. Volunteers, who number more than one million in a country of 65 million people, spread awareness of disease and screen for chronic illnesses. They have also helped bring down the infant mortality rate to one of the lowest levels in Asia by assisting pregnant women."

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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

In Thailand, an Innovative Fight Against Cervical Cancer - NYTimes.com

In Thailand, an Innovative Fight Against Cervical Cancer - NYTimes.com: "Nurses using the new procedure, developed by experts at the Johns Hopkins medical school in the 1990s and endorsed last year by the World Health Organization, brush vinegar on a woman’s cervix. It makes precancerous spots turn white. They can then be immediately frozen off with a metal probe cooled by a tank of carbon dioxide, available from any Coca-Cola bottling plant.

The procedure is one of a wide array of inexpensive but effective medical advances being tested in developing countries. New cheap diagnostic and surgical techniques, insecticides, drug regimens and prostheses are already beginning to save lives."

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Almost 1 in 6 Americans living below poverty line - Americas, World - The Independent

Almost 1 in 6 Americans living below poverty line - Americas, World - The Independent: "Last year an additional 2.6 million Americans fell below the poverty threshold, set at $22,113 for a family of four. Moreover, median household incomes dipped to a level not seen since 1997. The US has not seen such an extended period without growth in household income since the Great Depression.

The Census Bureau statistics amount to a study in gloom and lost optimism. The percentage of Americans living below the poverty threshold was the highest it has been since 1993 – 15.1 per, up from 14.3 per cent the previous year and 11.7 per cent in 2001."

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Monday, September 26, 2011

Development studies: Key first-year reads | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Development studies: Key first-year reads | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "What binds much of development studies together is a set of key debates about the relationships between history, culture, politics, economics and wellbeing. What kinds of public policies drive economic growth? Who benefits from growth, and in which ways? How have global economic structures – including the international aid system – impacted on local politics and key development outcomes? How have the recent food, financial and fuel crises affected developing countries? What will it take to meet the millennium development goals?"

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

BBC News - Syria unrest: 'First woman dies in detention'

BBC News - Syria unrest: 'First woman dies in detention': "According to the London-based human rights group, the 18-year-old's body had been decapitated, the arms cut off and the skin removed.

"If it is confirmed that Zainab was in custody when she died, this would be one of the most disturbing cases of a death in detention we have seen so far," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa."

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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Josh Fattal And Shane Bauer, Americans Freed From Iran, In Seclusion With Families In Oman

Josh Fattal And Shane Bauer, Americans Freed From Iran, In Seclusion With Families In Oman: "MUSCAT, Oman — Two Americans released from an Iranian prison spent their first full day of freedom Thursday in seclusion, enjoying a joyous reunion with their families in the Gulf State of Oman after being held for more than two years accused as spies.

Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer arrived late Wednesday night in Oman under a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal and were embraced by relatives."

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Troy Davis: Supreme Court justices unanimously reject last minute appeal | Mail Online

Troy Davis: Supreme Court justices unanimously reject last minute appeal | Mail Online: "Georgia officials stopped the process just before the scheduled 7pm death.

A last minute appeal by Davis' lawyers challenged ballistics linking the death row inmate to the 1989 murder of off-duty policeman Mark MacPhail and eyewitness testimony identifying Davis as the killer.

After more than four hours the appeal was denied by the Supreme Court Justices. Five of nine Supreme Court judges were needed to stay the execution. "

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Who Is the Peace Corps For: American Volunteers or Communities Abroad? - Culture - GOOD

Who Is the Peace Corps For: American Volunteers or Communities Abroad? - Culture - GOOD: "For its volunteers, the Peace Corps experience also promises personal transformation and through it, the promise of a brighter, more connected America.

“I think it’s a wanderlust combined with the sort of glamour of having done it,” says my friend Mia Farber"

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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

BBC News - India: Half a dollar a day 'adequate', says panel

BBC News - India: Half a dollar a day 'adequate', says panel: "India's main planning body has said half a dollar a day is "adequate" for a villager to spend on food, education and health.

Critics say that the amount fixed by the Planning Commission is extremely low and aimed at "artificially" reducing the number of poor who are entitled to state benefits.

There are various estimates on the exact number of poor in India.

Officially, 37% of India's 1.21bn people live below the poverty line.

But one estimate suggests the true figure could be as high as 77%."

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

BBC News - 'Don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays in US military ends

BBC News - 'Don't ask, don't tell' ban on gays in US military ends: "A policy banning open homosexuality in the US military has been repealed after nearly two decades.

The dropping of "don't ask, don't tell" means service members can now reveal they are gay without fear of investigation or discharge.

"Repeal Day" parties have been organised across the country to mark the victory for gay rights."

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IRIN Africa | COTE D'IVOIRE: No quick fix for the economy | Cote d'Ivoire | Conflict | Economy | Food Security | Governance

IRIN Africa | COTE D'IVOIRE: No quick fix for the economy | Cote d'Ivoire | Conflict | Economy | Food Security | Governance: "ABIDJAN, 15 September 2011 (IRIN) - When banks and ports in Côte d’Ivoire reopened some five months ago it was a blast of oxygen for the economy, but many in the commercial capital Abidjan are seeing jobs vanish and food prices soar.

Higher food and transport costs coupled with the fallout of unprecedented post-election violence and economic stagnation mean it will be some time before relative political stability translates into better living conditions.

Pauline Brou and her family cannot afford to eat meat more than twice a month. “Milk and sugar prices have been rising all year,” the mother of four told IRIN. She said the price of a 50kg sack of rice has gone up twice since January, from the equivalent of US$29 to $35. Meanwhile her civil servant husband’s pay has stayed at $200 a month for the past four years."

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Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Associated Press: Iran: Court to commute sentences for 2 Americans

The Associated Press: Iran: Court to commute sentences for 2 Americans: "TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's foreign minister said Saturday that the courts are willing in "the near future" to commute the prison sentences for two Americans convicted of spying. The Americans' lawyer, meanwhile, was in court trying to arrange a $1 million bail-for-freedom deal.
The release rests in the hands of the hard-line judiciary, and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi gave no clear timetable. He also raised the issue of Iranians held in U.S. prisons, suggesting the Americans' release might be drawn out to bring attention to inmates Iran wants freed.
In a case that has added to the acrimony and deep distrust between Iran and the U.S., Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 29, were detained along the Iran-Iraq border in July 2009 with their friend Sarah Shourd. Shourd was released last September with mediation by the Gulf nation of Oman after $500,000 was paid."

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Thursday, September 15, 2011

China Carmakers Told to Seek Fuel Efficiency, Not Sales - NYTimes.com

China Carmakers Told to Seek Fuel Efficiency, Not Sales - NYTimes.com: "A succession of government officials at a weekend conference called for China’s automakers to shift their focus from making ever more cars and toward producing more fuel-efficient and more advanced models, including gasoline-electric hybrids and all-electric cars.

“The government must take the leading role in controlling unrealistic growth” of the auto industry, Jiang Kejun, the influential director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency, said Sunday during a speech at the conference."

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BBC News - The cosy relations between France and Africa

BBC News - The cosy relations between France and Africa: "Allegations that African presidents secretly paid money to leading French politicians have recently burst into the mainstream media. But they have caused little surprise to those who follow the often tortuous course of relationships between Paris and governments south of the Sahara.

Unconfirmed rumours of such dealings have circulated for years.

However, the highly specific claims about the value and destinations of secret cash payments - claims made by Robert Bourgi, informal adviser on African affairs to President Nicolas Sarkozy - are new."

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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Greater Recession: The Real Reason Americans Feel So Squeezed - Yahoo! Finance

The Greater Recession: The Real Reason Americans Feel So Squeezed - Yahoo! Finance: "The core of our life -- gasoline, electricity, homes, health care and higher education -- is getting expensive faster than general inflation. Meanwhile, average wages are barely keeping up with the yellow line. When the middle class talks about feeling squeezed dry and sped-up, this is what they're talking about.

Committing the graph to memory is easy. Coming up with a theory is the hard part. Let me try. The reason why toasters are cheap and health insurance is not is that the productivity gains that made toasters -- not to mention computers, media*, durable goods, food, and clothes -- more affordable are not spilling over into health care. The next chart from McKinsey tells the story: More than half of total productivity growth comes from computers and information technology. Practically zero comes from health care and education. In fact, one reason why heath and education are adding the most jobs today is that employers can't meet new demand with technology or offshoring. They have to keep hiring people."

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The imperial delusions of the United States - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

The imperial delusions of the United States - Opinion - Al Jazeera English: "Empires rarely learn in time, because power tends to dull people's capacity for critical self-reflection. While ascending to power, empires believe themselves to be invincible. While declining in power, they cling desperately to old myths of remembered glory.

Today, the United States is morally bankrupt and spiritually broken. The problem is not that we have strayed from our founding principles, but that we are still operating on those principles - delusional notions about manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, the right to take more than our share of the world's resources by whatever means necessary. As the United States grew in wealth and power, bounty for the chosen came at the cost of misery for the many."

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Monday, September 12, 2011

BBC News - Kenya fire: Nairobi pipeline blaze 'kills 100'

BBC News - Kenya fire: Nairobi pipeline blaze 'kills 100': "More than 100 people have died after a petrol pipeline explosion and fire in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, police say.

The blast took place in the city's Lunga Lunga industrial area, and police and troops cordoned off the area as firefighters battled fierce flames in the surrounding shanty town.

The pipeline runs through the densely populated Sinai slum area between Nairobi's city centre and the airport."

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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

BBC News - Somalia famine: UN warns of 750,000 deaths

BBC News - Somalia famine: UN warns of 750,000 deaths: ""The grim reality of Somalia today is we are not able to get to south and central Somalia, which we consider to be the epicentre of the crisis," he told the BBC World Service.

"What is needed is a better representation of the challenges that aid agencies, including MSF, face in delivering assistance in Somalia today."

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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Yashar Ali: Men Will Never Truly Understand a Day in the Life of Women -- But Shouldn't We Try?

Yashar Ali: Men Will Never Truly Understand a Day in the Life of Women -- But Shouldn't We Try?: "Women not only deal with discriminatory behavior on a daily basis, but they are also loaded with the baggage of their social conditioning. We must recognize that, day in and day out, every hour, every minute, women face lives that we men will rarely see and never feel.

Women are constantly reminded that they are different from us. And while we will never fully understand or feel what it's like to deal with these issues, we also don't make any effort to ask, we don't inquire about their struggles. When we do hear about realities like street harassment, we dismiss the situations as just the way things are. Sometimes, as so often happens with street harassment, we diminish the impact it has on women, "Boys will be boys."

And therein lies the problem: if and when we think of sexism, it's about class-action lawsuits, wage fairness -- the big issues. We don't seem to pay attention to the minutiae of daily life and the discrimination that exists on an everyday level."

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Sunday, September 4, 2011

Charity president says aid groups are misleading the public on Somalia | Global development | The Observer

Charity president says aid groups are misleading the public on Somalia | Global development | The Observer: "According to Karunakara, agencies have been able to provide medical and nutritional care for tens of thousands in camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, which have been receiving huge numbers of refugees from Somalia. But trying to access those in the "epicentre" of the disaster has been slow and difficult. "We may have to live with the reality that we may never be able to reach the communities most in need of help," he said.

Karunakara said that the use of phrases such as "famine in the Horn of Africa" or "worst drought in 60 years" obscured the "man-made" factors that had created the crisis and wrongly implied that the solution was simply to find the money to ship enough food to the region."

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