| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2004 March 3 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 7 Number 22 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Pentagon Report Amplifies Climate Change Urgency |
|
Climate change could result in a global catastrophe costing
millions of lives in wars and natural disasters -- over the
next 20 years! A secret report, suppressed by US defence
chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major
European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain
is plunged into a "Siberian" climate by 2020. Nuclear
conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will
erupt across the world.
The document, commissioned by influential Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall -- the man behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the American military -- predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of utter political chaos as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. "Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life," concludes the Pentagon analysis. "Once again, warfare would define human life." Climate change "should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern", say the authors. An imminent scenario of catastrophic climate change is "plausible and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately", they conclude. As early as next year, widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval. Sources: Mail & Guardian Online (Johannesburg) |
| Newly Created Jobs Pay Less |
|
A report released last month by the US Conference of Mayors
and its Council for Investment in the New American City
reveals that Michigan residents lost over $13.2 billion in
wages due to unemployment in 2003 alone, and 282,000 jobs
vanished between 2000 and 2003. Sectors that lost the
most jobs included Durable Manufacturing, Administration
& Support Services, and Non-Durable Manufacturing. The
three sectors that are expected to lead hiring over the
next three years in Michigan are Professional, Scientific &
Technology, Health Care & Social Assistance, and
Administration & Support Services.
The report, prepared by economic forecasting firm Global Insight, calculates that jobs gained in Michigan over the next three years will have a 14.3% lower wage than jobs lost during the recession. This represents a wage loss of over $1.1 billion annually for Michigan residents by 2006. The report also finds that the state will not regain its peak level of jobs, achieved in 2000, until 2008. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, also Chair of the Council for Investment in the New American City, said, "With global competition and a new economy based less on manufacturing, we need a new vision for keeping America strong, and that means keeping our metro economies strong." Kilpatrick told his colleagues that a strong America depends on the future of the nation’s metro economies. "Contrary to popular belief, it is not the economy of the 50 states that drive the national economy. It is the 319 metro economies -- made up of cities -- that are the strength of this nation. Our metro economies represent over 85% of the nation’s jobs, labor income and economic output." Source: US Conference of Mayors |
| Consumerism Goes Global |
|
"By virtually any measure -- household expenditures, number
of consumers, extraction of raw materials -- consumption of
goods and services has risen steadily in industrial nations
for decades, and it is growing rapidly in many developing
countries," says a recent report by the Worldwatch
Institute.
By one calculation, there are now more than 1.7 billion members of "the consumer class" -- nearly half of them in the developing world. A lifestyle and culture that became common in Europe, North America, Japan, and a few other pockets of the world in the 20th century is going global in the 21st. Worldwide, private consumption expenditures -- the amount spent on goods and services at the household level -- topped $20 trillion in 2000, a four-fold increase over 1960 (in 1995 dollars). As incomes rise, people are gaining access to a multitude of consumer items associated with greater prosperity:
(Though the average Chinese or Indian member consumes much less than the average European.) Developing countries also show the greatest potential for consumer class growth. China and India’s large consumer set constitutes only 16% of the region’s population, whereas in Europe the figure is 89%. Indeed, in most developing countries the consumer class accounts for less than half of the population, suggesting plenty of room to grow. While the consumer class thrives, great disparities remain. The 12% of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe accounts for 60% of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2%. The consumer society has strong allure and carries with it many economic benefits, and it would be unfair to argue that the advantages gained by an earlier generation of consumers should not be shared by those who come later. Lack of attention to the needs of the poorest can result in greater insecurity for the prosperous and in increased spending on defensive measures. Calculations show that the planet has available 1.9 hectares of biologically productive land per person to supply resources and absorb wastes, yet the average person on Earth already uses 2.3 hectares worth. These "ecological footprints" range from the 9.7 hectares claimed by the average American to the 0.47 hectares used by the average Mozambican. "If the consumption aspirations of the wealthiest of nations cannot be satiated, the prospects for corralling consumption everywhere before it strips and degrades our planet beyond recognition would appear to be bleak." Source: Worldwatch Institute |
| Inside Gitmo |
|
Camp Delta prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, on the
southeastern tip of Cuba, is surrounded by fine white sand
and turquoise Caribbean waters. Inside what might
otherwise be a posh resort, up to 680 people are locked up,
without charge, without access to a lawyer, and not knowing
the evidence against them. Among those detained were nine
British nationals, captured in Afghanistan or Pakistan by
the US or its allies, who were wheeled in on trolleys,
blindfolded and manacled, wearing orange jumpsuits.
Razor wire surrounds Camp Delta, which is floodlit at night. Inside the compound are the huts, each comprising 48 cells. Electric blowers struggle to keep the heat -- up to 110 degrees F. and higher -- from broiling everyone. Metal mesh encloses each 8-foot-by-6-foot-8-inch cell so the detainees can be kept under constant watch. Lights flood the cells all night. On the floor, a painted white arrow points to Mecca. In a 25-by-35-foot area Camp Delta prisoners can exercise two at a time, for half an hour, between three and seven times a week, depending on how well they comply with orders. Some, however, prefer the small acts of rebellion available to them. One in ten inmates is deemed "non-compliant". Offences have included throwing water at the guards and stuffing cereal bar wrappers down the toilets. Some of the Britons due to be released have been held in Camp Four, where they are allowed outside for up to ten hours a day and wear white jumpsuits instead of the notorious Delta orange. A place in Camp Four is a reward for those the US considers cooperative. There have been at least 28 suicide attempts among the 680 detainees. The International Committee for the Red Cross, which has limited visitation, condemned the regime at Camp Delta, saying detainees suffered "extreme stress and anxiety." "The uncertainty these internees face as regards their legal status and their future does have a very adverse impact on their physical and mental well-being," said an ICRC spokeswoman, Antonella Notari. "A lot of them are pushed to despair." "It's just the duration of the time they have spent here, not knowing what's going to happen, when they are going home," said guard Private Jennifer Bartlett. "They will sit and read a letter from their family, and they are frustrated, sometimes they get down. Sometimes they cry after reading their letters" -- when they receive them. Source: Guardian (UK) |
| NJ Child Advocate Probes Insurance Gap for Poor |
|
The Office of the Child Advocate announced this week it
would investigate why tens of thousands of children from
poor working families go without health insurance when
there is a state program to cover them. Testifying before
the Senate Health and Human Services and Senior Citizens
Committee, Child Advocate Kevin Ryan said his office would
"investigate the barriers to enrollment" in FamilyCare.
The state has enrolled 99,200 children in FamilyCare since 1998, but another 69,100 meet the income requirements and go without coverage, according to estimates by the state Department of Human Services. Ryan said the investigation would focus particularly on bureaucratic problems that keep applications in limbo for months. It will also examine whether children enrolled in FamilyCare and in Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for the poor, "have real access to pediatric and specialized pediatric care as promised under law," Ryan said. "We have received a number of complaints from families enrolled about having a hard time getting a doctor to see their children," he said. "There are so many hassles that have come with enrolling and staying in (the program)," said Linda Garibaldi, supervising attorney for Legal Services of New Jersey, which represents the poor. "We're talking about families who are under a lot of pressure -- who just can't take an hour on the phone to call and get things straightened out." An audit by the US Inspector General released last summer found New Jersey foster children who automatically qualify for Medicaid coverage are missing out on their regular checkups. Gov. James E. McGreevey's decision in 2002 to curb costs by stopping the enrollment of parents in FamilyCare may also have had an effect on child enrollment. Source: Newark Star-Ledger |
| Churches Promote Special Ed in Pakistan |
|
Some forty mentally challenged children in Baldia, near
Karachi, Pakistan, are enjoying the assistance of a special
day school, thanks to Church World Service Pakistan.
Baldia was begun as a refugee resettlement area shortly
after independence in 1947 and has since become a huge
settlement of shacks and huts. Many people are unemployed
or have irregular earnings.
The day school, run by CWS-Pakistan partner, Dar-ul- Mussarat (meaning "House of Happiness") opened in 1985. It is the only such school in Baldia. Once a new building is completed, the school will have a capacity of fifty. Since the school began, more than a hundred children have been made more self-reliant and more helpful to their families and the Dar-ul-Mussarat community. Because of the stigma and misunderstanding faced by the mentally challenged, many families keep their children home, thus depriving them of opportunities for help and social acceptance. Dar-ul-Mussarat is working to change minds and raise awareness among families and the community about disabilities and their causes. Source: Church World Service |
| California Obstructs Catholic Charity |
|
A lawyer for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops says
Catholic Charities may ask the US Supreme Court to reverse
a ruling by California's highest court. The California
Supreme Court ruled that Catholic Charities must include
birth control coverage for workers even though the church
considers contraception a sin.
The US bishops' general counsel, Mark Chopko, says, "We ought to have the freedom to practice what we preach in our own institution." California's Supreme Court ruled that the charity is not a religious employer because it offers such secular services as counseling, low-income housing, and immigration services to the public without directly preaching about Catholic values. But Chopko says Catholic Charities should not be declared secular just because they feel obliged to live out their faith by including non-Catholics in their sphere of assistance. The American Life League says that Justice Janice Roger Brown, the lone dissenting judge in the ruling, clearly identified the real agenda behind the decision when she wrote, "The government is not accidentally or incidentally interfering with religious practice; it is doing so willfully by making a judgment about what is or is not a religion." Versions of the law upheld in California have been adopted in 20 states after lawmakers concluded that prescription plans without contraceptive benefits discriminate against women. Source: AgapePress |
| Aboriginal Heroine Dies |
|
The Aboriginal woman whose epic journey to return to her
ancestral land inspired the film Rabbit-Proof Fence has
died, age 87. The woman made the trek at the age of 14,
with her sister and cousin, after they were forcibly taken
to a government-run boarding school 1,000 miles from their
homes.
The dramatic story became known to the outside world after the woman’s daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara, wrote Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, which was later turned into a film. The family’s sufferings came to be seen as emblematic of the tragedy of the "Stolen Generation", in which tens of thousands of Aboriginal children were taken from their homes and families by the government and raised in mission stations and white households in an attempt to assimilate them into white society. The book and the film brought home to white Australians the devastating effects such policies of forced integration had on those at the receiving end. Last year, Pilkington filmed an ad for Survival International, the worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples. In the ad she described how Survival helped her father's people, the Martudjara of the Western Desert, return home to their traditional land in the 1980s and establish two new communities that are thriving today. Pilkington also used the ad to denounce the similar situations faced by other countries' indigenous peoples: "It may seem incredible to you, but the forced assimilation of indigenous peoples like that once suffered by the Aborigines is not over, and some governments still openly support and practice such policies. "Right now in Botswana the Bushmen people who have lived on their lands for thousands of years are being forcibly expelled and relocated far from their homes just like my mother was. In bleak resettlement camps, twenty thousand years of knowledge and wisdom is ending in squalor." Source: Survival International Source: Backgrounder at Survival International |
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