LIFE-NET NEWS

by Ret Z.

Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices

August 16, 2006	No Profit; No Proceeds
Volume 10 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."

Urban 'Food Deserts' Cause Added Disease and Death

Chicagoans who live in areas where grocery stores are scarce and fast-food restaurants numerous are more likely to die prematurely and at greater rates from diabetes, cancer, or heart disease, a new study found. The study examined the health implications of living in so-called food deserts and is believed to be the first scientific inquiry on this subject. Residents of such areas were also found to be more likely to be obese or suffer from hypertension.       Researcher Mari Gallagher measured the distance to the nearest grocery and the nearest fast-food outlet for every city block to calculate a "food balance" score for each community. The more imbalanced a community's food choices, the more chronic health issues and diet-related deaths the place was found suffering.       "As grocery store access decreases, obesity increases." Gallagher said the addition of even a single grocery store in an area where there are few to none could lower obesity rates.       The most disadvantaged group is African Americans, who travel the farthest to any type of food store. The areas with the highest concentrations of single mothers and children almost always turn out to be food deserts.       The study is "building the case that this is a public policy and public health issue," said LaDonna Redmond, president of the Institute for Community Resource Development. "There has to be a comprehensive plan to restore access to underserved communities and it’s not just a matter of getting more supermarkets."       Source: Chicago Sun-Times

The End of the IMF Era

From a piece by Sameer Dossani, director of 50 Years Is Enough: US Network for Global Economic Justice:       The community of rich countries has been able to set the rules of international development through its control over the International Monetary Fund since 1980. Through its so-called "gate keeper" function, the IMF provides a green light for aid flows into countries in the global South. A substantial part of those aid flows often goes to pay off older debt. If the IMF refuses to give a green light, a country's economy is likely to grind to a halt. This amounts to an enormous amount of power and control over decisions that should be made by citizens and their elected representatives.       Three important changes have happened in the past few years: The IMF was implicated in causing and then exacerbating the traumatic financial crises in East Asia and Argentina, among other countries. China is now an economy on a par with the industrialized powers and can therefore afford to ignore IMF policy advice. The US and EU, who want the IMF to do a better job of "controlling" China, are not pleased. Countries including Venezuela, China, and possibly Saudi Arabia are increasingly playing the role of regional "IMFs", lending to war-torn or impoverished countries in their respective regions on much better terms than the IMF would.       Given these conditions, chances are very high that the IMF will be reinvented in the next few years.       Source: Interconnect

Cramer Hill Critics Agree to Modified Redev'mt Plan

After an hour of heated shouting and recrimination, a group of longtime opponents of the plan to redevelop Camden's Cramer Hill neighborhood agreed to support the plan's revision. The original proposal, to condemn the neighborhood through eminent domain, had been stuck in court as residents griped that the Camden Redevelopment Agency aimed to take homes to appease developers. Officials finally withdrew that plan and called for residents' input.       Opponents softened on Friday after city officials pledged that no eminent domain would be used in the first two phases of the four-phase affordable housing project, to be built by Michaels Development Corp.       "This is a 360-degree turnaround .... We're going to work with them," said Carmen Ubarry, one of the loudest and most persistent foes of eminent domain and a spokeswoman for the Cramer Hill Residents Association.       The group met with the city's economic czar, Melvin R "Randy" Primas Jr, after they showed up with signs and catcalls at a news conference he called on Wednesday in Cramer Hill to kick off the revision. Group members pledged cooperation after it was made clear to them that 43 homes they had believed to be on the chopping block were, in fact, not targeted.       "Michaels will go forth without taking anyone's home," Primas told Ubarry. Although Primas wouldn't guarantee that eminent domain would not be invoked at some point in the project, he agreed with Ubarry that it should be a last resort in any Camden redevelopment.       "The earlier plan had looked at taking 43 properties," Primas explained after the meeting. "The only thing currently coming up is phase one and phase two, and neither requires the taking of anyone's home for eminent domain."       A still-cautious Ubarry, also a candidate for City Council, said, "I am cautiously elated that these houses are not on the acquisition list. ... We're pledging support for the process of the developing of the redevelopment plan for Camden."       Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Earthquake Relief and the Transoceanic Bomb Plot

The transfer of millions of dollars from the UK to a Pakistani charity working on earthquake relief last year helped investigators uncover the alleged plot to blow up airplanes bound for the US, according to two senior Pakistani intelligence officials.       The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said that a large portion of the money sent from Britain to the charity was siphoned off and ultimately used to prepare for the attacks. The officials said that about 5 million pounds ($10 million) was transferred to Pakistan, but that less than half was used for relief operations after the earthquake last October, which killed tens of thousands of people.       "British intelligence smelled a foul play the moment the transfer was made in December last year," said one of the senior intelligence officials, who is directly involved in the investigation.       Said the other, "The innocent Pakistani souls in Britain who contributed so generously for the victims of the earthquake didn't know that their money would actually be used for one of the biggest terrorist operations."       Source: Washington Post

Health Care on a Wing and a Prayer

Millions of employed Americans who are offered health insurance through their jobs are turning down the benefit because of high costs. This has been a tragic fact for many years, but the situation is only getting worse.       According to a recent Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report, the number of workers who declined to accept health insurance from their employer grew by three million between 1998 and 2003. All told, some 12 million workers eligible for work-based health insurance turned it down in 2003.       Over the years of the study, the average annual cost to the worker to accept employer-supplied insurance went up by over $1,000, a 42% jump. It hardly needs mentioning that average wages have not kept pace.       Rising costs are not necessarily the reason that all of those 12 million workers declined the offered coverage. Some workers turn down the health insurance from their own job because they are better off being covered as part of a family member’s work-based insurance.       Still, cost is the reason that most uninsured people lack coverage. Insurance costs have been rising for workers and employers alike. In both 1998 and 2003, employers who offered health insurance to their workers covered an average of 82% of the premiums. This means that employers also faced a 42% increase in their costs of providing health benefits. A predictable result is that more and more employers decide not to offer health insurance even as an option.       Altogether, 34% of full-time workers in private industry were not covered by employer-provided health insurance in 2004. Even those who have insurance as an option and enough income to fund what insurance leaves wanting have faced rising healthcare costs that take a toll. Rising deductibles, capped coverage, and other aspects of miserly insurance plans leave working people facing terrible financial risks. In 2001, half of Americans filing for personal bankruptcy cited medical expenses as helping to push them over the line. Of those, three quarters had health insurance when their illness or injury struck.       Source: Center for Popular Economics

President Clinton Says Global Fund Best for AIDS

This week, at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, former US President Bill Clinton praised the results of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and called for higher contributions to the Fund from governments. "There is no better mechanism to channel the funds needed to beat AIDS .... No bilateral program, no matter how impactful, can take the place of the Global Fund, and we have to make sure that it's properly funded."       Despite the recent $500-million pledge by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Fund still faces a $500 million gap in needed contributions and a $1.4 billion gap for next year.       "AIDS, TB and malaria continue to grow at an alarming rate, yet donor governments are not even meeting current minimum funding needs to sustain existing programs providing prevention and treatment," said Peter van Rooijen, who represents Developed Country NGOs on the GF's board. "The donor community must urgently recognize the scale of the destruction caused by waiting, talking and pontificating while millions die."       In Round 6, the Fund received funding applications from 97 countries. Due to inadequate donor support, these proposals are still in severe danger. The Fund's long-term needs will keep growing substantially over the next several years.       "Without major new pledges from the richest countries of the world, the Global Fund will not have the resources for urgently needed HIV treatment and prevention," said van Rooijen. "The Millennium Development Goals, especially those related to health, will remain out of reach unless the Global Fund gap is filled."       Many of the G8 countries are lagging far behind what they need to contribute. G8 donors are in danger of failing to meet their Gleneagles pledge of universal access if they do not fully fund the Fund.       Source: US Newswire

Immigration Disregarded as Job Killer

Big increases in immigration since 1990 have not hurt employment prospects for American workers, says a study released Thursday. The Pew Hispanic Center found no evidence that increases in immigration led to higher unemployment among Americans, said study author Rakesh Kochhar. Other factors, said Kochhar, played a larger role than immigration in setting the job market for Americans. The study did not look at effects on wages.       Among the findings: The US had 28 million legal and illegal immigrants age 16 and older in 2000, up 61% since 1990. By 2004, there were 32 million, up 14% since 2000. States with immigration levels above the national average (2000-2004) numbered 24. Among them, 13 had US-born employment rates (2004) above the national average, versus 11 below. States with below-average (2000-2004) immigration levels numbered 26 plus DC. Among them, 12 had US-born employment rates above average, versus 15 below.       Immigrants tend to be younger and have less education than American workers. The study found "no apparent relationship between the growth of foreign workers with less education and the employment outcome of native workers with the same low level of education."       The foreign-born workforce grew slower than the nation's in New Jersey and Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2004, according to the report. The US-born unemployment rate in both states was below the national average.       In 2004, the foreign-born accounted for 5.6% of the labor force in Pennsylvania. In New Jersey, 22.8%.       The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization. It does not advocate policy positions.       Source: Associated Press and Philadelphia Inquirer

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The number of "free" and "partly free" countries jumped from 93 in 1975 to 147 in 2005, according to Freedom House. Adult literacy rates, as estimated by UNESCO, doubled in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world, and South and West Asia between 1970 and 2000. The average share of people in developing countries living on less than a dollar a day, say World Bank estimates, fell from 28% to 22% between 1990 and 2002. At the beginning of the 20th century, 50% of the world's people were Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, or Hindu. At the beginning of the 21st, the four groups had 64%. Far from stamping out religion, modernization has spawned a new generation of savvy and technologically adept religious movements, including evangelical Protestantism in America, "Hindutva" in India, Salafist and Wahhabi Islam in the Middle East, Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America, and Opus Dei and the charismatic movement in Catholicism. (Foreign Policy) NJ-appointed Camden city COO Randy Primas had trouble last month with one of 10 points in a proposal by city council president Angel Fuentes to reform the way the city acquires homes for redevelopment. The point: abolish the "may be acquired" list. Fuentes called it a key part of his plan. Residents on that list, Fuentes said, can spend years wondering if the city "may" buy their home or not. "It's not fair to put people on this mysterious list," Fuentes said. "It's the uncertainty that confuses people." Additional points: credit counseling for residents, local business grants to improve the facades of buildings, and distributing copies of plans to residents whose homes would be affected. Fuentes said, "I think we have learned from our mistakes." (Courier-Post) Music with sexually degrading lyrics encourages teens to start having sex at earlier ages, regardless of race or economic status, says a report published in the August 2006 issue of Pediatrics. According to the Rand Corporation study, "Lyrics classified as degrading depicted sexually insatiable men pursuing women valued only as sex objects." Such lyrics, found most prominently in rap music, "distorted notions about gender roles in both male and female teenagers". (AgapePress) Regular doctor visits by children on Medicaid or with no insurance could prevent serious illnesses and hospitalizations -- saving Colorado taxpayers $46 million, says a study by pediatricians Stephen Berman and James Todd of Children's Hospital, Denver. The study found the death rate for those children was almost double that of children with private insurance. "What this shows is, if you don't give children a medical home, they end up in the emergency department or the hospital," Todd said. "That costs more, in dollars and also in morbidity and mortality." (Denver Post) Last year, Texas chose Bermuda-based high-tech consulting firm Accenture to run the entire eligibility process for Medicaid, food stamps, TANF, long-term care, and CHIP. In January, the state launched a pilot privatization program in Travis and Hayes counties near Austin. The plan was to expand the program county-by-county until the completion of its rollout by December. But computer glitches and procedural problems cropped up immediately. Some 27,000 children in the pilot program were mistakenly marked expired from CHIP. Poor, elderly and handicapped applicants were put on hold for more than 20 minutes routinely, with more than half of all callers hanging up. Thousands waited longer than federal rules allow to find out whether they qualified for urgently needed state assistance, according to state officials. And in a highly publicized gaffe, more than a hundred long-term care applications containing Social Security numbers and sensitive medical information were inadvertantly faxed to a Seattle warehouse. Texas officials are optimistic they can correct the problems and eventually expand the project. But for now, expansion is off indefinitely. (Stateline) According to a USDA report, the number of farmers markets leapt 79% to 3,100 between 1994 and 2002. Community-supported agriculture programs (CSAs) -- wherein consumers take part of the risks and rewards of harvest by buying in to a farm's output before the season starts -- have followed a similar trajectory. According to one source, North America boasts 1,200 CSAs. The concept didn't even exist in these parts 25 years ago. Despite the rises, the overall market for local produce remains tiny. The USDA reckons that farmers markets account for less than 2% of the more than $70 billion Americans spend on produce. The overall income picture for small commercial farms is dismal: Farms with annual revenues between $10,000 and $99,000 -- which describes the vast majority of farmers- market vendors -- have an average operating profit margin of negative 24.5%. Most small farms' losses are underwritten by the off-farm incomes of the families that run them. (Grist)

Life-Net News Extras

Tsunami and Katrina Relief Efforts Continue

Indonesia:       "I've been really inspired to see so many people concerned with our work in Indonesia," says Maurice Bloem, CWS-Indonesia program director. "Thank you to all those who have contributed to relief efforts for families affected by emergencies in Indonesia," from the December 2004 tsunami to the May/July earthquakes and tsunami on southern Java Island. He reports that CWS staff continue to provide emergency food and water to recent quake survivors on Java.       In addition, housing and livelihood assistance continues in quake- and tsunami-affected areas of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, northern Sumatra Island, and on Nias Island. Most recently, CWS, working with local carpenters, completed 124 of the 450 houses planned for families in Banda Aceh who lost their homes to the tsunami.       US Gulf Coast:       Eighty-two low-income individuals and families will soon be returning to homes that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita because of a grant for housing repairs from Habitat for Humanity to CWS. The first-time partnership between the two international organizations is helping to repair homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, by providing grants to nine local CWS partner organizations.       Source: Church World Service

Pinelands Creative Workshop Opens Youth Summer Program

Over the next three weeks, 30 young persons from the Pine district in Barbados will be participating in an intensive program facilitated by the Pinelands Creative Workshop. The Empower Youth Summer Programme, which has been funded by Sagicor Life Inc, is expected to increase positive activities at the community level and engage the attention of youth who are predisposed to antisocial or deviant behaviour.       According to program coordinator Asantia Brathwaite, "What we are trying to do is ... get them away from the stigma associated with the Pine, so we have been working with these young people from the time the year opened, trying to get them into motivational workshops and doing things that will motivate their mind.       "Some of the young people have also recently finished secondary school and some probably might not have CXCs so what we are doing also is getting their mind into the working environment. The workshops will teach them how to prepare CVs, how to conduct themselves in an interview -- communication skills, because we want to get them on a positive note," Brathwaite explained.       One of the participants, 16-year-old Rashida Alleyne who has been involved in these workshops for nearly half of her life, believes that more of these workshops are needed throughout communities in Barbados because they would go a long way to prevent violent and angry behavior in youth. "Young people are angry because the adults won't take the time ... to say, 'I was young and I know what it is like.' So really, you have to confide in another teenager, and other teenagers don't have any guidance either," she said. "So there will always be some kind of anger because we don't understand one another. If we would take the time to understand each other, the world be a lot better than it is today."       During the next three weeks, participants, who are between the ages of 11 and 18, will be exposed to in-depth training and mentorship from a number of experts in various fields. Sessions will focus on career assessment, teamwork, drug awareness, and human sexuality. A number of field trips are also planned for the program.       This program is one in a series that started in February, which saw 26 young adults (13-19) involved in a program on violence and conflict resolution and drug awareness and its relation to violence. In April, another workshop on motivation and self-esteem, coupled with outdoor team-building exercises, was held and attracted 31 youths from the community.       Source: Barbados Advocate

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Poor urban residents pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year in extra costs for everyday necessities, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution. These costs, often called a "ghetto tax," are common at "rent to own" stores with high interest payments, in predatory check-cashing outlets and overpriced corner stores, which low-income people frequent since banks and supermarkets are absent in poor neighborhoods. (New York Times) Up to 70,000 public nursing home patients or their families can claim refunds of illegal charges following the launch of a 1-billion pound repayment scheme by the Irish government yesterday. It is estimated the average payout will be between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds. The scheme launched yesterday comes almost two years after it emerged that tens of thousands of patients had been illegally charged for public nursing home services when their medical card meant they were entitled to services for free. (Irish Examiner) The Indonesian government is planning to disburse soft loans amounting to Rp200 billion to small- and medium-sized enterprises that were hit by the earthquake and tsunami disasters on the southern coast of Java. Suryadharma Ali, the State Minister for Cooperatives, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, said that both small- and medium-sized enterprises may apply for the loans from banks without being required to provide any guarantee. According to Suryadharma, as of Thursday, the level of the interest rate was still being discussed. (Tempo Interactive) Adding to debates over casino openings is the subject of crime. A landmark study found that crime increases in counties where casinos locate. Economists David B Mustard of the University of Georgia and Earl L Grinols of Baylor University examined crime data from each county in the US between 1977 to 1996,surveying crime in seven categories: aggravated assault, rape, robbery, murder, larceny, burglary and auto theft. Said both economists, "Crime rates were stable prior to opening [a casino], were slightly lower in the year of casino introduction, returned to approximately average levels for the next two or three years, and increased thereafter." (AgapePress) The number of foster children in New Jersey has climbed to a record high despite a new state program that is supposed to find them permanent homes faster than before. More than 1,700 children -- 200 more than a year ago -- are waiting for the Division of Youth and Family Services to find them adoptive families. (Newark Star-Ledger) A 25-point plan released on Aug 10 by the Department of Community Affairs is the first of two expected out of Gov Corzine's push to provide 100,000 new houses for low- and middle-income residents over the next 10 years. Some of the points: Developing a program to build more permanently affordable units for low- and moderate-income households. Increasing access to affordable housing for those with very low incomes. Addressing homelessness. The state has an estimated 10,700 homeless people; the report recommends a mix of housing and social programs to help them. Directing new housing to areas designed for growth and promoting economically diverse communities. (Associated Press) As the latest round of violence in the Middle East flared between Israel and Hezbollah, two disparate religious groups -- Mormons and Muslims -- pooled their resources to aid the casualties of the conflict. Mormons, who have a long history of disaster preparedness, had the supplies. And Muslims, who consider charity one of the five pillars of Islam, had the contacts on the ground. Despite deep doctrinal differences, both groups believe helping others is a central tenet of their faiths. During the first week of August, an MD-11 airplane filled with 85 tons of supplies left Salt Lake City for a Lebanese port. "We kind of complement each other," said Mokhtar Shawky, acting CEO of Islamic Relief, based in Buena Park, Calif. "We try to help with the transportation costs. They put the material together. We have our people overseas that distribute it to the needy." Leaders on both sides say the Muslim-Mormon collaboration projects began three years ago. Garry Flake, the director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' humanitarian emergency response, said, "It's just simply driven by the idea that there's people in need and we reach out where an organization has a strength that we can match up to." (Religion News Service)

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