| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2005 December 28 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 9 Number 18 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Food Crisis Feared as World's Fertile Land Runs Out |
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New maps show that the Earth is rapidly running out of fertile land and that food production will soon be unable to keep up with the world's burgeoning population. The maps reveal that more than one third of the world's land is being used to grow crops or graze cattle.
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) combined satellite land cover images with agricultural census data from every country in the world to create detailed maps of global land use. Each grid square was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) across and showed the most prevalent land use in that square, such as forest, grassland, or ice. "In the act of making these maps we are asking, where is the human footprint on the Earth?" said Amato Evan, a member of the UWM team, at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The current map shows global land use for the year 2000, but the scientists also have land use data going back to 1700, showing how things have changed. "The maps show, very strikingly, that a large part of our planet (roughly 40%) is being used for either growing crops or grazing cattle," said Dr Navin Ramankutty, a member of the UWM team. In 1700, agriculture took only 7% of the world's land. The Amazon basin has seen some of the greatest changes in recent times, with huge swaths of the rainforest being felled to grow soya beans. Ramankutty pointed out "the fast expansion of soybeans in Brazil and Argentina, grown for export to China and the EU." This expansion has come at the expense of tropical forests in both countries. Meanwhile, intensive farming practices mean that cropland areas have decreased slightly in the US and Europe, and that the land is being gobbled up by urbanization. The research indicates that there is now little room for further agricultural expansion. "Except for Latin America and Africa, all the places in the world where we could grow crops are already being cultivated," said Ramankutty. "The remaining places are either too cold or too dry to grow crops." By continuing to monitor changes in land use the scientists hope that they will be able to highlight problems and help find solutions. "The real question is," said Ramankutty, "How can we continue to produce food from the land while preventing negative environmental consequences?" Source: The Guardian |
| Candlelight Vigil Highlights Homeless Plight |
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Belinda Glenn sat on the steps of City Hall on December 21 with a new blanket and shoes on her lap and a warm meal in her stomach. As the longest night of the year approached,
however, she didn't know where she would be sleeping. "I can stand around a crackhouse or two and see if someone will let me in," said Glenn, 46. "It's hard."
Glenn was among two dozen homeless people who attended a vigil to remember the 32 homeless who died on Camden streets last year. The vigil was the fourth consecutive for Project HOPE, a homeless outreach program of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. The vigil is held annually on the first day of winter. A one-day count in January found 1,100 homeless living in the city, but the actual number likely is much higher, said HOPE director Patricia DeShields. Stereotypes about the homeless abound. Said DeShields, "It's viewed as a personal failure." Some of those in attendance at the vigil, including Glenn, said their lives were hit with setbacks they couldn't overcome. Glenn's son -- Jamil Smith, 21 -- was shot and killed in Camden in 1999. "I just lost my place mentally," she said, as a tear ran down her cheek. "I lost my job. I just never got over it. I think about him every day." There are about a dozen homeless shelters in Camden operated by churches and nonprofit groups. But most are filled nightly, and some people are turned away, said DeShields, because they have issues with medications or receive a monthly income. Bruce Crawford, 55, a former special education teacher, said he can't get into most shelters because he receives $800 a month from Social Security Disability. "I am saving right now so I can get in a room." Gerard Menoken, 52, said he has been on the street for three or four years after suffering a stroke and losing his job. He stays in shelters when he can but has spent a night or two on the street. Many homeless people use the PATCO Hi-Speedline and bus stations to stay warm on cold nights. "It's just a Catch-22 being in this situation," he said. "You just can't win." Source: Courier-Post |
| Hunger Kills '6 Million Children a Year' |
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No developing region is on track to meet the international
goal of reducing the number of hungry people by half, and
nearly six million children die from hunger or malnutrition
every year, the Food and Agriculture Organization says.
Many deaths result from treatable diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles. They would survive if they had proper nourishment, the agency says in a new report on world hunger.
At the World Food Summit in 1996, world leaders announced a plan to halve the number of hungry people by 2015. In the new report, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf wrote that this promise is likely to be broken. This year's report concentrates on the wider impact of people not having enough food. It says that poverty, illiteracy, and disease are all made worse by hunger. Malnourished children start school later and find it difficult to learn, and they are much more likely to die from disease. Introducing the report in Rome, Diouf said only South America and the Caribbean were on target to reduce the proportion of hungry people by half -- and the goal of reducing the actual number of hungry people by half seems out of reach. "None will reach the more ambitious World Food Summit goal of halving the number of hungry people." The report, based on data compiled last year, estimated that 852 million people were undernourished during 2000-2002. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of malnourished people has risen, according to the new report, to 203.5 million from 170.4 million 10 years previously. The percentage of hungry people in the region has fallen slightly, from 36% to 33%. Source: BBC |
| Lender Honored for Helping Smallest Businesses |
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For the fifth year in a row, a Camden nonprofit company has been presented with a Distinguished Lender Award from the US Small Business Administration for helping very small
businesses get started. The Cooperative Business Assistance Corp. (CBAC) received the bronze award from the SBA New Jersey District in recognition of having closed 60 loans totaling more than $1.29 million during fiscal 2005. CBAC is a micro-lender for loans of $35,000 or less.
"This organization has done great work for us in the micro-lending area in southern New Jersey," said James Kocsi, SBA New Jersey district director. "They reach out to the small business community to get the word out that there are some alternatives to the traditional SBA bank-guarantee loan programs for small businesses in need of $35,000 or less." Kocsi said CBAC helps businesses with limited resources, including women- and minority-owned businesses that may be operating from homes. "These are people who wouldn't have a loan opportunity if not for the micro-loan program. They are very tiny businesses that would fall through the cracks." CBAC also considers financing some businesses that have had credit difficulties, according to Kocsi. "They are willing to take a bigger leap with those kind of customers." A total of 161 micro-loans was approved by CBAC and other lenders throughout the state during fiscal 2005. Source: Courier-Post More: Cooperative Business Assistance Corp |
| Famine Kills Humans and Animals in Kenya |
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Fears of a major humanitarian disaster circulated in parts of Kenya as cases of famine-related death and food shortages were reported. A three-day tour of some parts of
North Eastern province by journalists and local leaders revealed tragic human and animal deaths as well as the numbing reality of human misery.
In several villages of Mandera District, journalists saw children, women, and old people ravaged by famine and reduced to walking frames by lack of food and water. So far, 10 people have officially been confirmed dead in Mandera District alone, but there were fears that the figure could be higher given the vastness of the province and the remoteness of some of its famine-ravaged villages. More than 70 children suffering from severe malnutrition were admitted to Mandera District Hospital and to El Wak Hospital. Leaders warned that a major humanitarian and economic disaster loomed in the area where 30% of the livestock, the only means of livelihood, have perished. The Kenya Wildlife Service said drought had forced over 5,000 dangerous wild animals out of the Mara Game Reserve; it warned residents to be on the lookout. 103 new cases of malnutrition were reported on December 21 at feeding centers managed by Action Against Hunger. An official of the charity, Glenn Hughson, confirmed the admissions. Apart from malnutrition, said Hughson, the children were also suffering from malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and other waterborne diseases. Water and pasture are long gone, due to the long dry spell. Fights were being reported at watering points, a sign that the situation could get worse. Early this year, more than 80 people were killed, 100 injured and over 30,000 families displaced after similar skirmishes erupted over the ownership of watering points and grazing fields. The World Food Program (WFP) is distributing relief food to only 84,000 people out of a hungry population of over 300,000. There are few feeding centers in the district, and residents have been forced to move tens of kilometers to get help. In its latest food emergency report the WFP said an estimated one million Kenyans will need food aid until February. The report said the threat persists despite an improvement in food security in some areas of the country. Source: East African Standard |
| Anti-Shoppers Stage Christmas Spectacle in Disneyland |
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After 4,500 miles of bus travel -- from Buy Nothing Day in New York City to Christmas in Disneyland -- the Church of Stop Shopping got ready to stage a surprise ending, donning
robes in the bathrooms of the Tiki Room in Adventure Land. With watches synchronized, the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir walked onto 'Main Street USA' at 1:50pm on Christmas Day as Disney fans lined the curbs.
Over the previous month, the 'Shopocalypse Tour' had visited small towns and urban Main Streets devastated by big box stores. Appearing on MSNBC and CNN, the church's Rev Billy discussed the cruelty of the holidays for long-time shopkeepers. Coverage by papers in Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Dallas, and Las Vegas excited hopes that a broader discussion of American consumption had begun. A recurrent topic was the extensive selling of outsourced goods in the big boxes and chains, which leaves companies like Wal-Mart free to undercut family stores with predatory pricing. Watchdog groups estimate that 15,000 sweatshop factories supply the Disney company with the retail products it sells. "This Main Street kills our hometowns!" was an inevitable message in the anti-consumerist Christmas Day Parade. Virtually nothing for sale at Disney is manufactured in this country or made in union shops. Savitri D, choir master Solomon Benn, and other tour organizers expressed surprise that the entire choir entered the theme park undetected, hiding their robes at the bottom of backpacks and purses. The church photographer also bypassed security. Marching up the street in the rocking motion of gospel, the singers were able to complete three full songs, with the Rev preaching throughout. The heightened strangeness of the place may have contributed to the hesitation of police to resist the church. The performers marched back and forth on the theme park's Main Street, a distance of about a half mile, spending about 25 minutes in contact with several thousand onlookers. After Rev Billy was surrounded and hand-cuffed, the choir was detained in the filthy back lot of the park. The choir was soon set free, promising to leave. The Rev was held in the Disneyland holding tank and then the Anaheim jail. He is charged with trespass and resisting arrest. Source: Stop Shopping Monitor |
| IMF Clears Debt Relief for 19 Countries |
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on December 21 agreed to cancel $3.3 billion owed by 19 of the world's poorest countries. Reports that it had been back-tracking on the
debt-relief plan had sparked an outcry. The IMF, which had previously said it wanted one last "spot check" of the nations' economic policies, said its board has now approved
them for relief under a global debt-cancellation plan unveiled by the Group of Eight (G8) powers. "We are on track to deliver 100% debt relief within the coming weeks to 19 of the 20 countries," IMF spokesperson Thomas Dawson told reporters after a two-hour board meeting chaired by MD Rodrigo Rato.
The G8 powers in July announced their plan to cancel the debts of 18 of the world's poorest countries owed to the World Bank, the IMF, and the African Development Bank. The IMF added two countries to the G8 list -- Cambodia and Tajikistan -- but dropped one, Mauritania. Dawson said the IMF hopes to qualify Mauritania in the coming months after reviewing its public spending plans. He said the $3.3 billion in debts owed by the 19 nations will finally be cancelled once the IMF has the approval of all 43 rich countries that have contributed to an anti-poverty trust set up by the fund. "So far, we have 37 consents," said Dawson. "We're quite hopeful we'll get the remaining six in the next few weeks." Along with Cambodia and Tajikistan, the 19 countries set to benefit are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Debt-relief campaigners had caused consternation among some of the intended recipients by warning that the IMF was set to drop six countries from the list because their macroeconomic policies did not conform to fund dictates. Their warnings prompted a letter to Rato from six US lawmakers in mid-December expressing deep concern that the IMF was "back-tracking" on the commitment announced to great fanfare by the G8 nations. Dawson said the IMF board had given in-depth study to each of the 19 recipients, but he dismissed the speculation. When asked to explain what had gotten campaigners so alarmed, he said, "Life is too short for me to try to be figuring out where inaccurate news stories are coming from." Activist organization Oxfam welcomed the board verdict and said, "The IMF must now deliver the funding quickly and without any further delay." Source: Safa-AFP |
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| Life-Net News Extras |
| An Uphill Year for Delaware Environmental Advocates |
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Adapted from a piece by Alan Muller:
Green Delaware's path has always been one of pretty resolute independence: We try to "tell it like it is" and give people tools for action. We don't act as if our goal is state grants, social acceptability, jobs, and so on. This is not the path of least resistance in inbred, plantation-like little Delaware. Sometimes we do better than other times -- we've been involved in some important mainstream successes such as anti-incinerator legislation and the Delaware City Refinery scrubbers. In a time when the forces of darkness are riding high and environmental laws are being rolled back, unusual hostility is to be expected. The political pendulum has swung hard against what Green Delaware represents. There's been some recent semi-amusing publicity about the campaign from Governor Minner's office to isolate Green Delaware. Al Mascitti wrote, "For months officials both in and connected to the Minner administration have been dropping not-so-subtle hints that they’d like to see Muller marginalized." In a sense this is this is the highest compliment one can receive. But reactions vary. People may think, "better avoid Green Delaware ... the Governor and the polluters don't like them." Or they may think, "These must be the people we should be listening to." We've learned that no one can make choices for others. One can only offer information and options, as we do in our Alerts. Ultimately what, if anything, people do with information is up to them. Making progress on environmental issues is hard. There is a matrix to grasp onto and master, of science, engineering and technology, politics, media, .... The opponents -- the DuPont Company, the "Dirty" Solid Waste Authority, the City of Wilmington, etc. -- can and do buy top professional talent in each area. How can a few low-paid and volunteer "activists" or "campaigners" beat this? Well, they can and they sometimes do this reason above all: They are right. It is very hard to be wrong arguing for better protection of the environment, more openness in government, and so on. People don't want to live with unnecessary pollution and disease. They don't want to see the landscape paved over. They don't want their children impoverished by resource depletion and climate change. They support environmental causes if they get solid information, and they can win if there is a political process they can use. Source: Delaware Watch |
| The Heart and Soul of Her Community |
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On December 20, 2005, at 5:16 AM, Ms. Shirley Allen passed. She was in the presence of her loving family.
Miss Shirley, as most of us knew her, was a grassroots activist who consistently risked her personal security and comfort by putting herself on the front lines of every major effort to improve her North Philadelphia community near 29th & Girard. She was a block captain for three decades. She was a co-founder of the African-American Business & Residents Association (AABRA), which currently leads the fight against gentrification and for development that benefits long-time residents. She stressed spirituality and the creation of consensus. She wanted reconciliation among the different camps operating in the community. She never held personal grudges and called well-known politicians, public officials and community members alike friends. She was instrumental in AABRA's decision to reach out to the white community south of Poplar Street when we learned that McDonald's Corporation won zoning approval to build a restaurant at 27th & Girard. We all remembered the days of intense racial hostility, but we had faith that times had changed and that the good neighbors south of Poplar would join in the campaign. Miss Shirley's grandchildren and other neighborhood kids distributed the initial flyers that so innocently sought to awaken two communities. The effort that grew from that optimism became known as the Girard Avenue Alliance (GAA). Never had blacks and whites worked so closely here -- and so successfully. There is now universal support for building a supermarket at 27th & Girard. Perhaps the new complex will be called something like the "Shirley Allen Center." Her restaurant at 2821 W. Girard Avenue was a great place to get the city's best soul food -- and always at an affordable price. She employed half her family there, and many people from the neighborhood. She worked there full-time in the evenings, even though she worked for the School District full-time during the day. And, during that most recent period when she spent so many hours earning a living, she also helped to raise her grandchildren, offering continuous lessons on responsibility, discipline, the importance of generosity, compassion and kindness. Every neighborhood should be so blessed to have a Shirley Allen among them. Brewerytown was and will always be a better place to live because she called this place home. She lives on in her children, grandchildren, and the community as a whole. We wish you peace and blessings, Miss Shirley. You will always be remembered. And, we pledge to do for your family what you did for everyone else. Source: African-American Business & Residents Association |
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