| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2004 September 8 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 8 Number 14 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Tribes Keep Big Oil Off Their Land |
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The Sarayacu community of 2,000 Quichua Indians has waged a groundbreaking and, so far, successful campaign to prevent oil exploitation on their ancestral lands in the southern Amazon region of Ecuador. Unlike most other indigenous groups, Sarayacu has been able to keep an Argentine oil firm called Compania General de Combustibles (CGC) from drilling on their land even though the company has had a government contract since 1996.
Offers of money haven't swayed them. "We are fighting not only for Sarayacu, but for all Amazon communities," said Mario Santi, coordinator of the village's anti-oil campaign. "Petroleum development has been a disaster in Ecuador, generating environmental, social and cultural crises, and ultimately causing the extinction of indigenous peoples. We want to maintain our way of living, free of contamination, in harmony with nature." Santi points to a well-publicized class-action lawsuit brought by 30,000 Ecuadoran peasants and Indians in the northern Amazon region over the widespread contamination where Texaco operated from 1964 to 1992. "We do want development. But we want to maintain our ecosystem and our traditions." Santi says CGC is legally required to complete an environmental impact report, which it has yet to do, and to consult with communities that would be affected by oil exploration. Nevertheless, Minister of Energy Eduardo Lopez announced in July a total opening of the southern Amazon to oil exploitation and described organizations that oppose the policy as undesirable. He also said he preferred to come to an agreement with Sarayacu "before employing force." According to Ecuador's constitution, an individual or community may hold legal title to land, but the minerals below the surface are the property of the state. Ecuador is one of South America's poorest nations. Half of its national budget is funded by oil revenue. Said Luis Yanza of the Amazon Defense Front, "Ecuador depends on oil and always imposes the economy over human rights." "A lot of other communities are watching Sarayacu," said Nathalie Weemaels, a German agricultural engineer who has worked with the villagers for the past decade. "If Sarayacu falls, the others will lose their hope and fall, too." Source: San Francisco Chronicle |
| Suburban Drug Buyers Fuel Urban Violence |
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Camden isolationism and suburban indifference have repercussions far beyond gentrification. Concentrating all anti-violence efforts on the city itself makes the job overwhelming and leaves a major root cause untreated: suburban drug users who, whether they arrive in cars or taxicabs, keep the illegal revenue stream surging.
Camden demographics skew very young and in the lowest percentile economically. Drug lords prey on a susceptible juvenile male population, hooking fresh recruits to replace dealers who've been arrested. County Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi has tried. But he has had only limited success in persuading suburban school boards to actualize Drug Free School Zones. Organizations like the NFL and Home Depot can enforce drug-free environments; evidently most schools cannot. Mr. Sarubbi perhaps should concentrate more on areas he has greater jurisdiction over. He might ask the state police to implement in the suburbs the extremely intense police activity successfully being carried out in the city, this time with an emphasis on disrupting the funding of drug violence. When an alleged drug distribution house is identified, suburban buyers found there ought to face prosecution, too. Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (a letter) |
| Chavez Wins, But the Struggle Isn't Over |
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In Latin America we were glued to computer monitors and TVs, watching for the outcome of the recent Venezuelan referendum that was organized by the right-wing opposition supported by the United States. We finally saw Hugo Chavez, president and reformist, survive again, endorsed by 58% of the voters who had lined up for hours at the polls all over their huge and diverse country.
Two years ago, elites brought the Venezuelan economy almost to its knees then blamed Chavez for everything from declining GDP to growing violence on the streets of Caracas. Press and mass media, mainly owned by the white right-wing businessmen, concentrated their efforts on defaming the president and his programs designed to help the (mainly black or indigenous) poor. Chavez let them rant and concentrated instead on how to pull his country out of crisis and educate, cure and feed the poor. As president of OPEC he also traveled the world to negotiate fair prices for oil and to try to convince poor nations to unite and defend their own interests. Why do the elites hate Chavez? He is not one of them. He is not white; he is not rich. He never belonged to the small and exclusive club, the unimaginably corrupt political and economic hierarchy that was bleeding the nation for decades. He forced the rich and their companies (including the international ones) to pay taxes. The US allied itself with those who dreamed about deposing Chavez. His attempts to help the Venezuelan poor were seen by the US as subversive and dangerous, threatening to spread all over Latin America and the rest of the developing world. So were his statements that Venezuela doesn't need huge foreign investment but instead needs solid and permanent (not speculative) investment that would help the country to develop and to fight poverty. Opposition in Venezuela is tremendously powerful, well-organized and united. It's ready to defend its privileges, its dominant position in the society, its luxury cars, villas, golf courses, and its right to squeeze every penny from the poor majority. It still will be able to count on the support of the North and of the majority of Latin American countries, especially those that treat their own indigenous and black citizens with contempt and arrogance. It still owns almost all large businesses, most of the land, and almost all important TV channels and daily and weekly newspapers. Venezuela will have to rely on much more than just the support of two or three forward-looking South American governments. Source: ZNet |
| Television Sex Linked to Teen Sex |
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Children who watched a lot of TV with sexual content were about twice as likely to start having intercourse during the subsequent year as those with little exposure to televised sex, researchers say. High exposure to TV sex among those ages 12 to 17 also was linked with a lower but still substantially increased risk of starting non-intercourse behavior, the researchers found. Even shows that only refer to sex had the effect, they found. The
study appears in the September issue of Pediatrics.
"Exposure to TV that included only talk about sex was associated with the same risks as exposure to TV that depicted sexual behavior," said Rand Corp. behavioral scientist Rebecca Collins and colleagues. From innuendoes to depictions of intercourse, sex is present in about two-thirds of all shows other than news and sports, and teens watch an average of three hours of TV daily, previous research has shown. TV thus "may create the illusion that sex is more central to daily life than it truly is and may promote sexual initiation as a result," the study said. "When they're watching it for three hours a day, it really does become their social world. Those characters are people they identify with and pay attention to," said Collins, the lead researcher. TV sex rarely deals with negative aspects most teens aren't ready to handle, including unwanted pregnancy, AIDS, and other STDs, she said. That "sends kids the message that everybody's having sex and nobody's thinking about responsibility and nothing bad ever happens," Collins said. "You don't see the fade to black, the couple has sex, and the next morning says, 'You gave me an STD.'" Phone surveys, with parental permissions, asked about whether teens were engaged in certain activities and about how often they watched 23 popular shows that feature abundant sexual content -- one survey in 2001 and another in 2002. The proportion of teens who reported having had intercourse climbed from 18% to 36%. Those who had had sexual experiences other than intercourse climbed from 62% to 75%, Collins said. Factors that increased the likelihood of having intercourse included being older, having older friends, and getting poor grades. But, said the researchers, TV remained a strong influence. Source: Associated Press |
| Malaysia the First Asian Nation to Ban Paraquat |
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Paraquat, an herbicide, has been banned by 13 governments to date, following a long history of connection to poisonings and deaths. It is acutely toxic, has no antidote and has been labelled one of the ‘dirty dozen’ chemicals by the Pesticide Action Network, Asia-Pacific (PAN-AP). But it is still widely used in 120 countries for the production of maize, fruit and vegetables, rice, sugarcane, bananas, cereals and other crops.
Tenaganita, a migrant workers’ lobby group in Malaysia, said most female paraquat sprayers are above 30 years of age and that they have no skills for other kind of work within a rural economy or plantation environment. "In the factory, they would stop work at 45 but in the estate they can work up to the age of 55," explained its director Irene Fernandez. "The estates provide housing, which is a major concern to them." "With a roof over their head, the children can be with them and they manage with a little extra money by working overtime. It is a familiar environment to them." Last year, the European Commission’s Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health approved paraquat for use in member states under its Pesticide Authorisations Directive. "But the decision was not unanimous," noted PAN-AP executive director Sarojeni V. Rengam. "The Swedish government is now suing the commission for misjudging the risks associated with the use of paraquat and disregarding its duty of protection." In Malaysia, the herbicide is mainly used on oil palm plantations. But it's commonly available from grocery stores as well, as a random check in the northern region recently showed. A long struggle to have it banned paid off in 2002 when the government announced that all new applications to register or re-register the herbicide would be rejected. Malaysia thus became the first Asian country to say ‘No’ to its use, on grounds that this poses unacceptable risks to the main users -- and that less risky alternatives are readily available in the market. The ban is set to take effect next year. Concerns have arisen as to whether the ban will indeed be implemented because Syngenta, the biggest producer of paraquat, and the local oil palm industry have continued to lobby very strongly for the decision to be overturned. Source: ZNet |
| Franklin's 'Early to Rise' Questionable |
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I wonder if that hard-working American rationalist and agent of industry Benjamin Franklin knew how much misery he would cause in the world when, back in 1757, high on puritanical zeal, he popularized and promoted the trite and patently untrue aphorism, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"?
It is a sad fact that from early childhood we are tyrannized by the moral myth that it is right, proper and good to leap out of bed the moment we wake in order to set about some useful work as quickly and cheerfully as possible. Parents begin the brainwashing process, and then school works yet harder to indoctrinate its charges with the necessity of early rising. For all modern society's promises of leisure, liberty and doing what you want, most of us are still slaves to a schedule we did not choose. Why have things come to such a pass? Well, the forces of the anti-idle have been at work since the fall of man. The propaganda against "oversleeping" goes back more than 2,000 years. For example, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, ..." (Proverbs 6) which has been used as a bludgeon by moralists, capitalists and bureaucrats in order to impose upon the people the notion that God hates it when you get up late. I would argue not only that early rising is unnatural but also that lying in bed half awake -- sleep researchers call this state "hypnagogic" -- is beneficial to health and happiness. A good morning doze of half an hour or more can, for example, help you to prepare mentally for the problems and tasks ahead. As to how on earth going early to bed could automatically guarantee riches and happiness, I suppose nothing can be proved, but I'm with Dr. Johnson who confidently asserted: "Whoever thinks of going to bed before 12 o'clock is a scoundrel." Greatness and late rising are natural bedfellows. Late rising is for the independent of mind, the individual who refuses to become a slave to work, money, ambition. If you want religious justification for your refractory habits, then remember there are parts of the Bible -- unlike those so often quoted by pro-work propagandists -- that argue against toil. Work is a curse, caused not by God but by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The Creator Himself worked only six days before taking a vacation. ["Those who are occupied with much business also commit many sins. For they are distracted about their affairs and are not at all serving their Lord." --Shepherd of Hermas] Source: Tom Hodgkinson, book How To Be Idle |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extra |
| Free Dental Care Goes to Migrant-Worker Families |
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Like many migrant workers picking vegetables in Virginia’s steamy fields, Teresa and her husband Episanio came from Mexico. Originally, Teresa was going to stay with their three children while Episanio spent two years in the United States saving enough money for them to be able to live in their homeland. But shortly before he left, their one-month-old baby became ill and died. Heartbroken, Teresa did not have the emotional strength to stay behind. The couple left their two daughters in a relative’s care and set out to earn money quickly.
Once in the US, Teresa had a healthy boy named Junior. But the joy of having him turned into concern as they discovered the company day-care wasn’t in the baby’s best interest. Teresa quit working. This loss of income meant the family would have to wait almost a total of three years to return home. In the midst of trying to save enough money, the couple couldn’t afford basic dental care. They were relieved to find out Operation Blessing (OB) was coming to their migrant camp. A large tent equipped with huge fans, instruments and supplies was set up in the middle of an open field surrounded by long rows of non-air conditioned barracks the workers called home. With Junior on her hip, Teresa came up to the registration table. Once she was in the examination chair, the dentist told the young mother that two teeth needed to be filled. Without this free visit, the affected area would have begun to hurt and it would have been impossible for Teresa to pay over $100 for a dentist appointment. During OB's 2-day mission the team also treated patients from South America, Haiti and the Bahamas. This mission of volunteer dentists on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in mid July served 78 migrant workers and five of their children. OB partnered with the Eastern Shore Rural Health System in providing services including fillings, cleanings and extractions. OB is sponsoring monthly medical missions in the US and addressing the needs of international patients every day. Millions of children, their families and the elderly around the world are still waiting for basic as well as life-saving medical care. Source: Operation Blessing To Donate: OB Secure Giving Form |
| Study Examines 'Alternative Financial Services' |
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"Alternative financial service providers" -- check cashing outlets, payday lenders, pawnshops, rent-to-own stores and auto-title lenders -- in eight cities were recently put under a demographic magnifying glass by the Fannie Mae Foundation. The study examined poverty, race/ethnicity, the presence of banks within communities and whether regulations affect the number and location of these providers.
Selected findings:
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