| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2005 July 27 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 9 Number 7 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| 'Diseases of Affluence' On Rise in Developing World |
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Chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental health disorders, and injuries and violence are major problems, accounting for over 40% of the disease burden in high mortality developing countries, and over 75% in lower mortality developing countries. NCDs, such as
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and major cancers, are known as "diseases of affluence". However, the majority of their disease burden occurs in developing countries, and at rates, particularly in urban areas, that significantly exceed the corresponding rates in developed countries. As the populations of
developing countries age, and with rapid urbanization and globalization driving increases in the risk factors for chronic NCDs, their burden is increasing rapidly.
Of the estimated 400 million persons affected by mental disorders, most live in developing countries which command only a fraction of global mental health resources. Mental disorders account for 5% to 10% of the burden of disease in these countries. The poor and those affected by disasters are at greater risk. Mental disorders can be effectively and affordably treated at the local level. However, most of those in need go untreated. Injuries, including those caused by violence, are also a major public health concern, leading to over five million deaths worldwide each year. Injuries are largely predictable and, therefore, preventable. In total, NCDs, mental health disorders, and injuries and violence place a substantial economic burden on families and communities. They hinder social and economic development. But their prevention and control currently receive trivial funding from the global assistance community. Source: ELDIS |
| America's Costly Dropout Rates |
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"Nationally, only about two-thirds of all students -- and only half of all blacks, Latinos and Native Americans -- who enter ninth grade graduate with regular diplomas four years later," according to the book Dropouts in America: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis.
In much of the nation, especially in urban and rural areas, the picture is even more dismal. In New York City, just 18% of all students graduate with a Regents diploma, which is the diploma generally required for admission to a four-year college. Only 9.4% of African-American students get a Regents diploma. Overall, the US has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the industrialized world, which can't be comforting news in the ferociously competitive environment of an increasingly globalized economy. "It's terrifying to know that half of the kids of color in the United States drop out of high school, and that only one in five is prepared for college," said Tom Vander Ark of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is making a big effort to boost high school graduation rates and the number of graduates who are prepared for college. "We're seeing a scary level of income stratification that is the result of educational stratification." Citing statistics from a variety of sources, Gates Foundation officials have noted that:
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| 'Cleanup' Means Eviction and Demolition in Zimbabwe |
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The UN estimates that 200,000 people have been left homeless in a nearly three-month campaign to demolish shacks and other unauthorized dwellings in Zimbabwe. The opposition has denounced the blitz as a campaign of repression and say up to 1.5 million Zimbabweans have lost their homes.
The Zimbabwean government in mid-July ordered a temporary halt to its campaign to demolish backyard shacks and other illegal buildings. It gave landlords 10 days "to regularize" the structures with the relevant municipalities. It had launched its campaign around May 19, razing shacks, markets and nurseries in what it has described as an urban renewal campaign to get rid of grime and crime. The government has started moving some former slum dwellers back to what remains of their destroyed shacks, state TV reported. "What is happening is that those from Hatcliffe Extension who have ... lease agreements are being asked to return to their old stands," said police inspector Garikai Marange, referring to a once densely populated township. Marange, who is in charge of a transit camp on the outskirts of the capital Harare, added, "About 100 people have left the camp so far. We have between 200 and 300 people and they are very happy to go back to their stands." "It's not clear whether they are going to stay or if this is just another political gimmick," said Otto Saki of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. "The other question is what is the government going to do about shelter and property they destroyed and the families who have moved to their rural homes. Are they going to compensate everyone affected?" Source: Sapa-AFP |
| Gambling: A Losing Bet for People and Communities |
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State and local governments across the USA bend over backwards to accommodate Indian reservations and the professional gambling industry, giving them the green light to promote and expand their trade. Many of the other state governments are already indirectly involved in gambling by promoting and offering lotteries to the general public.
Poor people buy lottery tickets at the expense of their families. These same people will buy food with food stamps, and lotto tickets with what little cash they have. Consider:
Individuals who get hooked on gambling usually hurt other family members. They inflict economic deprivation, social neglect, severe emotional changes (caused by gambling debt pressures), social dysfunction. Some TV networks are adding to the chaos. ESPN, the Travel Channel, and several other outlets broadcast programs centered on gambling. To let yourself be lured into a habitual pursuit of the big win is to toss your hard-earned money into the abyss. Yes, you'll score some wins, but in the long run you're the loser. The gambling industry pays consultants huge fees to make sure the odds always favor the house. Source: AgapePress |
| Slow Aid Response Leaves Thousands of Kids in Peril |
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Thousands of children are starving to death in Niger, said UN officials and aid workers last week, because the international community has been too slow to respond to the country's food crisis. They warned that the numbers dying could rise to 150,000 without urgent aid.
More than a quarter of Niger's 12 million people are short of food. A fifth of its children are thought to be suffering moderate to severe malnutrition. Niger suffered a poor harvest of its staple grain, millet, as a result of poor rains and an infestation of locusts. Aid agencies warn that many thousands are so severely malnourished that even emergency food relief may be too late to save them. They are urgently setting up feeding centers across the country. The Niger government says its effort to feed about 1.3 million people has been hampered by the limited response to its appeal last month. "The United Nations made a flash appeal in May for $18 million," said Toby Porter of Save the Children UK. "That's small change in international aid terms, but there was little response. It is only in the past few days, once television cameras brought the images of starving children into people's homes, that proper funding has come in." Porter pointed out that Niger's crisis "began at precisely the time of the Live 8 concerts and the G8 meeting at Gleneagles, yet the world could not find the money needed to intervene. It is sad and unacceptable. There is no war in Niger, no rebel groups, no despots, no problems getting the aid in, it is just poverty. ... It is ... so many people living below the poverty line that a small shock creates a humanitarian disaster." Niger is one of the world's least developed countries. It is ranked 176th out of 177 on the UN's human development index. 63% of its population live below the poverty line. In the Maradi and Zinder regions about 350 children out of every 1,000 die before their fifth birthday. "We need more donations," said Seidou Bakari of the Niger government's food crisis unit. "At the moment we have used all our reserves, we have nothing." Source: Mail & Guardian |
| Juvenile Detention Problems Expose Vague Statute |
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Overcrowding at juvenile detention centers is a persistent problem in New Jersey. The root of that problem lies, in large part, with the fact that juveniles continue to be locked up inappropriately.
Some juveniles are locked up for minor offenses because of a severe shortage of treatment alternatives for youth with mental health or family problems. These troubled kids are placed in crowded jails with violent offenders; then their problems often get worse. Many of the youth involved with the Juvenile Justice Commission have also been involved with the Division of Youth and Family Services. Neither agency has enough treatment programs for troubled youth, who have often suffered abuse and neglect. Some juveniles are detained pre-adjudication, meaning before a judge determines whether the youth is guilty or innocent. The law permits youth awaiting adjudication to be detained only if they are a danger to the public or themselves, or when there is a good chance they will fail to appear at the next court hearing. Several key reforms are underway to solve the overcrowding problem. Under a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the state has launched a pilot aimed at finding ways to better treat these young offenders while ensuring public safety. Called the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, the pilot is unfolding in Atlantic, Camden, Essex, Hudson, and Monmouth Counties. The state’s child welfare reform plan envisions a system that assesses the needs of youth in all systems -- juvenile justice, child welfare, and mental health. The Office of Behavioral Health (formerly the Partnership for Children) is working to find appropriate placements for locked-up youth who really need treatment, not punishment. A core goal is to reduce New Jersey’s reliance on institutional care. These efforts are promising but will take time to produce results. For reforms to be more immediate, systemic and lasting, changes to the rules for locking up minors must be incorporated into law. New Jersey’s juvenile code was written in 1984. The statute’s intent is to punish serious juvenile offenders, and treat, rather than punish, youth who need help and whose offenses are minor. The statute, however, is vague on certain issues, leaving it subject to interpretation and leading to the inappropriate detention of certain juveniles. Source: Association for Children of New Jersey |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extras |
| Are You an Eco-Chump? |
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Adapted from a piece by Bill Penrose:
Lots of us try to shop green. We buy unbleached paper towels and recycled products, some with more than 5% post-consumer content. Commend McDonald's for banning Styrofoam, and shun them for lying about beef fat in the fries. Save our paychecks because we suffer from Prius envy. Wouldn't be caught dead at Wal-Mart. But a green consumer is still a consumer, and the evil marketing geniuses who run the world know this. They prey on our longings: love your mother, do well by doing good, live simply that others may simply live. They put symbols of renewal on plastic packaging. They market products with terms the FDA has yet to define. They overcharge, because they know eco-chumps pay more, eagerly, if it helps us feel a reverent connection with all things. The armies of progressive shoppers mulling which species they should unendanger this week by overpaying for cereal ("What'll it be, kids: Gorilla Munch or Cheetah Chomps?") are motivated by a noble impulse, and it's not one I mean to discourage. All I'm promoting is a bit of viridis caveat emptor (with apologies to the Latin professor I never had): green buyer, beware. It's been said that you have to work within the system to effectively change it. Of course, it's also been said that doing so makes you a sellout, man. And this conflict gets to the heart of the issue. Take a long-standing addiction of mine: Nacho Cheese Doritos. Normally I avoid artificial flavors and colors (especially public carcinogenemy No. 1, Yellow #5) with an obsession verging on the pathological, but Doritos are a weak spot. Now the green-marketing wizards have saved me from myself: enter Natural White Nacho Cheese Doritos. In test markets, these organic white-corn spin-offs are flying off the shelves. People are snapping them up, and no wonder; read the back copy, targeted toward chumpish you and me: "You want to bring home the best for yourself and your family. That's why your favorite Frito-Lay brands are going natural." The term "natural" appears on the bag in some form, including inch-high capital letters, no fewer than eight times. That term remains undefined by the FDA ... naturally. I'd guess Frito-Lay, headquartered in Texas and an arm of the gigantic multinational conglomerate PepsiCo, is a big donor to, shall we say, unsympathetic causes. Yet the company wants to reach across the grocery aisle into blue-state food co-ops, riffling through hemp wallets in search of the almighty dollar. If I buy these chips, am I chumping at the bit, or changing the world? While companies like this pick our pockets, can we change their ways? Think about it: a billion-dollar Texas corporation is considering, however cynically, doing business differently. It's up to us to ensure capitalist exploitation goes both ways. If we create demand for consumer goods that champion our goals, we start the corporate world on the long journey toward sustainability. Encouraging them to take this path can make us -- dare I say it -- eco-champs. Source: Grist |
| A Laughing Wage |
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The Iowa Wage and Hour Department claimed a man owning a small farm was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent. "Well, there are my hired hands," replied the farmer. "One has been with me for four years; the other for three. I pay them each $600 a week, plus free room and board. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500 a month plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit that works here about 18 hours a day. He takes home $10 a week and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every week." "That's the guy I want to talk to; the half-wit," said the agent. The farmer said, "That would be me." Source: JokesWareHouse.com |
| Most material here is adapted, not quoted. Views expressed do not |
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