| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2005 November 30 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 9 Number 16 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Chinese Peasants Revolt |
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Spontaneous mass protests across China have increased as factory workers and peasants face various abuses at the hands of factory owners and corrupt local officials (sometimes one and the same people). The Chinese government says that the core cause for the rise in protests is growing economic inequality. It downplays the idea that protesting citizens could be angry about the political structure of one-party rule.
In Fujian province, thousands of peasants have been protesting the seizure of their land, which is often converted to industrial use. Those interviewed by Washington Post China correspondent Edward Cody have received hardly any compensation; they suspect that the local officials who should be distributing compensation payments have instead used the money to invest in factories, where few of the peasants have been able to get jobs as they were promised when their land was seized. In next-door Guangdong province, shoe-factory workers have staged spontaneous strikes, including one in which hundreds of workers ransacked company facilities. Shoe factories have seen numerous walkouts in the past two years. Workers cite low wages, limited time off, and lack of communication with managers. In the town of Huaxi, villagers fed up with years of polluted air and water and stonewalling by government officials pitched a protest camp outside the gates of an industrial park. Despite a police raid to shut the camp down, the group grew. When a large force of police and civilian assistants returned on April 10, some 20,000 villagers responded. A fierce street battle ensued; the police and city officials had to retreat. The camp remained for another month and a half, until government officials agreed to shut the park down. However, those suspected of leading the protest movement remained on police wanted lists. These otherwise isolated incidents form part of a growing pattern of resistance by China’s poor -- whether from peasant farms or sweatshop factories -- to the Communist Party’s cozy alliance with capitalist business. The spread of cell phones and the Internet allow unofficial news of resistance to reach a larger Chinese audience despite the efforts of government censors in the official media. Source: Center for Popular Economics |
| CT Overtakes NJ in Wage Rankings |
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While there are many pockets of wealth in the South and West, the states with the highest wage earners line the East Coast, according to census data released yesterday. Connecticut, with a median household income of $56,409, supplanted New Jersey as the country's highest-wage state in 2003 (the most recent year available). New Jersey slid to second, $56,356, followed by Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Mississippi had the lowest median income, $32,397. West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Montana rounded out the bottom five. The median household income for the nation was $43,318. Southern and western states' populations have been growing much faster than those in the Northeast and Midwest. Despite these shifts, the list of wealthiest and poorest states in 2003 looks a lot like the list from a decade before. "You're going to see those areas -- Mississippi, Appalachia -- those are just characteristically, throughout history, poorer areas," said David Waddington, chief of the Census Bureau's small area estimates branch. The wage gap among counties was even more pronounced. Los Alamos County NM, home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, had the nation's highest median income, $93,089. It was followed by Douglas County CO and Loudoun County VA. Buffalo County SD, home of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, had the lowest, $17,003. It was followed by Owsley County KY and Ziebach County SD. Most of the wealthiest counties were suburban; nearly all the poorest ones were rural. "This is a reflection of a poverty problem in non-metro areas," said Dean Jolliffe, an economist at the Department of Agriculture. "These are areas where there really isn't any economic development going on." Jolliffe tracks "persistent poverty" counties, ones in which at least 20% of the population have lived below the poverty level for at least 30 years. There were 386 persistent poverty counties in 2000; 340 were outside metropolitan areas. None in the Northeast. Most in the South. Source: Associated Press |
| Haiti's Justice System in Collapse |
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Haiti’s judicial system "is in shambles," says William
Quigley, law professor at Loyola University of New Orleans,
"... worse than six months ago when it was terrible. No
trials are being held and none anticipated. People who are
arrested can only expect jail unless they are willing to
try to bribe their way out. All justice is being put on
hold until after the elections,” slated for mid-December at
the earliest.
Brian Concannon Jr., director of the Oregon-based Institute
for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, agrees the justice
system has collapsed. "Everyone is ignoring the
constitution, from the prime minister to the minister of
justice, the judges and prosecutors," he said. He
estimates the government is holding over 100 political
prisoners.
A human rights monitor based in Haiti, who spoke on
condition of anonymity, said the number is higher. The
typical prisoner is male, 17 to 30, and sitting in prison
simply because he comes from a poor neighborhood where the
Lavalas Party enjoys strong support and therefore is seen
as a party supporter, the source said. "Their detention
can be seen as part of a larger campaign of repression
against the poor, but international human rights groups would not likely categorize them as prisoners of conscience."
UN human rights monitor Thierry Faggart noted that, in general, the justice system "barely functions" and that "the state of the judiciary is so bad that people have lost all hope in it." While critics blame the collapse of Haiti’s judicial system on the country’s interim government, they also say the US and Canada share responsibility. In the report, "Haiti: Human Rights Investigations," released earlier this year by the University of Miami Law School, then-Deputy Minister of Justice Philippe Vixamar told investigators that the US and Canada are playing key roles in the justice system, paying the salaries of high officials. He also said that the Canadian International Development Agency had assigned him his job and was paying his salary. In addition, Canadian police lead the UN police mission responsible for training and overseeing the Haitian National Police (HNP), which commits regular human rights abuses, including massacres, kidnappings, and extrajudicial killings, according to human rights groups. The US supplies arms to the HNP. Concannon said that since the US overthrew Aristide, "the human rights problems of a dictatorship have returned with a vengeance." Source: People's Weekly World |
| Food Bank Shuts Down Because Nobody Needs It |
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For more than a decade, they kept an abundantly stocked food pantry open to the needy around them. Today the Maple Shade Food Bank closed its doors.
The Food Bank Committee made the decision to terminate the service after it saw the townspeople's need for supplementary food decline in recent years. "Now the only people that are using the Food Bank are people from outside our community," said Bob Sauselein, MSFB director, "and that is not what the service was intended for." Unlike other areas in Burlington County (NJ), he said, Maple Shade's need for the bank is almost obsolete. "People from the motels use the bank, and from other towns like Mt. Holly, and as far away as Lindenwold, but our residents are not using it." He said that even though the recipients weren't residents, the bank didn't turn them away. The township gained responsibility for the bank several years ago when welfare services still resided at the municipal complex; prior to that, the need was met by area churches, Sauselein said. "Even if there were a few families that needed the bank we would keep it open, but that just isn't the case." Due to the closure, the bank will not be organizing any holiday baskets, according to township staff. Said Sauselein, "Last year we had such a hard time distributing the baskets, we were begging people to take them." The Food Bank of South Jersey, however, desperately needs donations to meet increased demand this season. Source: Maple Shade Progress To Donate: Food Bank of South Jersey |
| The Shame of Famine |
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Adapted from a Torah commentary by Rabbi David Rosenn:
"There was a famine in the land -- apart from the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham -- and Isaac went to Avimelekh, King of the Philistines, in Gerar." (Genesis 26:1) Famine was a constant threat in the ancient world, often causing widespread death and the uprooting of large populations in search of food. The resulting deaths were harrowing: "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korha said: There is no death harsher than death from hunger, as it says [Lamentations 4:9]: Those who died from the sword were more fortunate than those who died from famine." Dying of hunger was considered such a cruel death because, for one, of the humiliation suffered by those who cannot provide even basic support for themselves or their family. The prophet Ezekiel (36:30) calls this herpat ra'av, "the shame of famine". Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel understands "the shame of famine" in a different way. From a 1996 speech: "The hungry shouldn't be ashamed for dying of hunger. Others should be. It is the only disease for which there is a certain cure." Today, despite a multitude of advances in agriculture, famine kills over 800,000 people each year. Famine and malnutrition are not necessary; they are largely the consequences of political and economic arrangements. Source: SocialAction.com |
| Former Gaza Residents in Hotel Limbo |
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After more than three months in hotels, many expelled residents from Gush Katif and the Shomron -- contrary to popular perception -- still do not have housing solutions for the immediate future. The 58 families of the former Jewish Gaza community of Kfar Darom, for instance, have been told time and again that their move to a high-rise building in Ashkelon was just a matter of time, and that they could expect to move soon. After several delays and postponements, some families began moving into what they thought would be their home for the coming 2-3 years.
But then came the last straw. The homeless citizens were told that public-housing provider Amigur, the company that would be taking responsibility for the apartments, had a new series of demands, and that a new delay was forthcoming. The Kfar Darom residents have remained a cohesive group despite the travails and uncertainty of the expulsion. They convened for an emergency meeting last week and decided, "The Ashkelon building is out." The Disengagement Authority was apparently taken by surprise by the announcement and immediately responded on two fronts: via leaks to the media of "fury" at the residents for backtracking on the agreement, and by contacting Kfar Darom leaders and asking for a meeting. "I don't know what will be," said one Kfar Darom resident, "but I can just say that this whole process is very taxing on our nerves." Many families from N'vei Dekalim are also unsure about their future. The Disengagement Authority sent letters to all the N'vei Dekalim families who are "not eligible" for temporary housing in a pre-fab community under construction near Ashkelon. (They're "not eligible" because they didn't own property in Gush Katif, but rather rented homes there.) The letters warned them that they must leave their hotels within a week. The families, eligible and "not eligible" alike, reacted with resentment. "They expelled us from our homes and now they want to throw us out of the hotels," one N'vei Dekalim community council member was quoted as saying on Katif.net. "We will not cooperate with [this], and our friends who were uprooted from the Gush will leave the hotels only after an alternate housing site is found." Rabbi Yosef AlNekaveh of N'vei Dekalim said, "Staying in a hotel is like forced hospitalization; we don't like it, and we want real homes. But as of now, there are no solutions for all the families. The State of Israel should have prepared communities for all of us." Source: Israel National News |
| Camden The Most Dangerous [Suburbs] in America |
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Fueled by the illegal drug trade, Camden's crime problem is becoming Gloucester County's headache. For the second straight year, Camden has been dubbed the most dangerous city in America by city crime rankings from Morgan Quitno in Lawrence KS.
But crime in Camden is not only caused by those who live in that city. It's just as much the fault of Gloucester County residents and those from other suburban communities, according to Camden County Prosecutor spokesman Bill Shralow. Drug dealing is the core of Camden's crime problem, Shralow said; however, between 60% and 70% of those arrested for trying to buy drugs in Camden come from outside the city. "People in this area know that Camden has somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 open-air drug sets," Shralow said. "The narcotics trafficking wouldn't exist -- at least not to the extent that it does -- without demand from places like Gloucester County." Each day, law enforcement officials in Camden work to arrest dealers and buyers. Once they are out of jail, though, many go right back to what they were doing. "It's a big hill to climb," Shralow said. "We've put a considerable amount of focus on targeting buyers and trying to reduce the suburban demand." "We don't want to see Camden criminals being displaced and traveling into Gloucester County," said Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton. "We look at crime trends in the area. We're especially interested in transient areas such as apartment complexes where individuals may try to set up a drug trade." Crime in nearby Camden does create some local "fallout," Paulsboro police chief Ken Ridinger said. "People that come our way." Last year, a 28-year-old Camden man was gunned down inside a Paulsboro apartment. The reason for the crime, according to authorities: an ongoing turf war between rival drug dealers. Source: Gloucester County Times |
| # LNN # Small # Hauls # |
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| Life-Net News Extras |
| AIDS Considered 'Greatest Threat' |
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HIV and AIDS is considered "the greatest risk to world health today" by residents of Britain, France and Germany, according to a survey carried out on behalf of CNN and Time.
Some 56% of those questioned rated this as the biggest threat, compared to 35% who said heart disease and 7% who said bird flu.
When asked about "the single biggest hindrance to fighting AIDS globally," 50% said it was a lack of education and 25% said a lack of commitment from political world leaders. In France, there is much less of a discrepancy between the proportion of people who rate lack of education (39%) and commitment from world leaders (35%) as the problem. Insufficient availability of treatment is named by just 19% of those surveyed. Two thirds of those surveyed expect an HIV vaccine to be developed within the next 10 years. One in five think it will be within 50 years. Some 8% of people think an effective vaccine will never be developed. More than two thirds (68%) of those in France, Britain and Germany feel they personally have access to public information and education about AIDS. The research by TNS was undertaken between November 18 and 23 among representative samples of approximately 1,000 adults in each of Britain, France and Germany. The margin of error is +/- three percent. TNS is a leading global provider of market information. Source: CNN |
| Jesus Became Poor to Make You Rich |
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"You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was:
though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very
poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich." (2 Cor. 8:9 LB)
Most Christians consider being poor the will of God. Scripture actually gives a quite opposite picture. Although there are many warnings in Scripture against the love of money and its misuse, the fact remains that financial prosperity is considered a blessing from God in the Bible. "Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, 'Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.'" (Psalms 35:27 NKJV) Certainly there are dangers in being prosperous. With more money you can make more choices, and buy more trouble. However, money itself is not evil. The person using money determines whether it will be a force for good or a force for evil. You do not have to convince God to prosper you. No arm-twisting will be necessary, as He has already made the provision. Through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ, prosperity already belongs to you. I can almost hear the objections: "If I am rich, where is it? Why do I have all these debts and bills?" The answer is simple: The devil has stolen it away from us because of our ignorance. You can reclaim it by faith, but you will have to feed on the Word for your faith to continue strong and effective. So, to receive the blessings available to us through Christ, we have to draw near to God. Some maturity is required to receive God's provision and to keep the devil from stealing it. This insures that immature believers will not have more money than they can handle and thus have their lives ruined by it. Nevertheless, according to the Bible you are rich. You may not have ready access to it, but in Christ wealth is yours -- just as surely as a young heir is rich even though his money is held by trustees and he cannot have it until he matures. Source: ChurchForAll |
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