LIFE-NET NEWS

by Ret Z.

Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices

April 4, 2007	No Profit; No Proceeds
Volume 10 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."

WWF Study Exposes Freshwater Crisis

Some of the world's largest and best-known rivers are at risk of drying up as a result of climate change, pollution and bad planning, a report warned on the day spring began. The study by the environment group, WWF, looks at the ten rivers most in danger of drying up or dying. It warns that, without action, the world faces "a freshwater emergency".       Five of the 10 rivers listed are in Asia, including the Yangtze, the Ganges and the Salween, highlighting the profound problems facing the region. The others include Europe's Danube, the African Nile and South America's Rio Grande.       Among the problems highlighted in the report -- which was published ahead of World Water Day -- are those caused by dams and dykes, such as those along the Danube. WWF said these have already destroyed 80% of the river basin's wetlands and floodplains.       The extraction of water for agriculture is also taking its toll on rivers around the world, WWF said, with India's Indus a notable example. Over-extraction can lead to water scarcity and severely threaten freshwater fish populations, which serve as an important food source for tens of millions of people worldwide.       The report, which draws on eight international assessment reports, offers solutions for the problems caused to rivers by over-extraction, pollution, over-fishing, climate change, dams and invasive species. "The world is facing a massive freshwater crisis, which has the potential to be every bit as devastating as climate change," said Dr David Tickner, head of WWF UK's Freshwater program. "Conservation of rivers and wetlands and security of water flows must be seen as part and parcel of national security, health and economic success."       Source: Guardian Unlimited

Over 40 Million US Jobs -- 1 in 3 -- Pay Low Wages

Over 40 million jobs in the United States -- about 1 in 3 -- pay low wages ($11.11 per hour or less) and often do not offer employment benefits like health insurance, retirement savings accounts, paid sick days, or family leave, according to a new report from The Mobility Agenda. Moreover, these jobs tend to have inflexible or unpredictable scheduling requirements and provide little opportunity for career advancement.       The Mobility Agenda is a special initiative of Inclusion, a virtual think tank affiliated with the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Said its director Margy Waller, also one of the report's co-authors, "All too often these low-wage jobs are replacing jobs that have supported a broad middle class. The economy and our democratic society are strongest when no one is falling too far behind the rest. Unfortunately, we find that, in 2006, 44 million workers were employed in low-wage jobs paying much less than the rest of us get paid."       The report uses a social inclusion approach that provides a definition of low-wage work that allows for comparison among US jobs. The authors define a low-wage job as one paying substantially less than the job held by a typical male worker.       The trend since 2001 has been a sharp decline in wages for these jobs. Worse, reviewing the evidence on economic mobility, the authors conclude, "In the US labor market, it is not possible for everyone to be middle class, no matter how hard they work. Moreover, it has been getting harder to do over time."       Source: Center for Economic Policy and Research

GM Mosquito Resists Malaria, Out-Breeds Carriers

Mosquitoes genetically engineered to resist infection with malaria have outbred their normal cousins and may be used to help control malaria, US researchers have said. They said a study suggests that releasing such genetically altered insects may help to battle malaria, which kills up to three million people a year, most of them young children. Jason Rasgon, of the department of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University in the US, said the research so far was only a proof of principle and any field tests remain far away.       Working with the mouse form of malaria -- not the human type -- Rasgon's team was able to genetically engineer mosquitoes that were resistant to malaria. Starting with the same number of resistant and nonresistant mosquitoes, researchers found that after nine generations the resistant type made up 70% of the population -- raising the possibility of replacing regular mosquitoes with resistant ones that do not spread disease.       However, Rasgon said that in the laboratory work the insects were infected with a higher amount of the parasite than occurs in nature, and a larger proportion of the mosquitoes were infected. "This was proof of principle," Rasgon said. "The next step would be to work in a system more epidemiologically relevant ... We're not anywhere near a field release."       William Black, a professor of entomology at Colorado State University, noted that the work was done with plasmodium berghei, which infects mice, rather than plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria in humans. Plasmodium berghei is often used in laboratory work because it is easy to manipulate, he said, but a lot of its properties are specific to that parasite and it is not always a good model for the human form. "On the other hand, finding a gene that confers resistance and is stable for a long period of time is significant. If they can repeat the work using the human parasite then there is a chance of taking it into the field."       Source: Agencies

Students Try Eating Like Food Stamp Recipients

Members of Trinity's chapter of Connecticut Student Public Interest Research Group participated in a "Food Stamp Program" last month. The program invited them to try to eat on $4 a day for either a week or a month. Four Trinity students took up this challenge for a week: Dora Turjan, Ian Hendry '08, Augusta Friendsmith '07, and Scott Dale '07.       The four students kept journals, detailing their experiences with hunger and limited funds for food. "We all experienced this past week somewhat differently, but our individual experiences have a common feature: This is something that none of us had undergone before," said Turjan. "All of us found not being able to access campus dining facilities and thus missing out on the social dimensions of eating, having to live on less food than we usually consume, and on food which is not of the highest quality and nutritional value, very challenging."       In her journal entry, Augusta Friendsmith talked about the challenges she faced with hunger and the effects it had on her body: "Aside from one banana that I bought at the Cave, I have not eaten any fruit. Nor have I had sugar all week. I have noticed that I can be pretty irritable and I can get annoyed with people for no real reason. I also feel hungry all the time. I'll eat the rice and beans at one and be starving again at four.       "As an athlete, I am not getting enough calories; I feel weak during practices. I weighed myself this morning and, according to the scale, I have lost four to five pounds this week. I have not weighed this little since high school."       "The biggest setback that I experienced was being hungry a lot of the time," Hendry wrote in his journal. "I am really busy during the week between classes, my job, the gym, not to mention late night study sessions and paper writing.       "There was also something to be desired about the quality of food I was eating. The nutritional value of my daily diet was not that great, and I could see my body starting to change a little in response to the lack of vitamins and nutrients. The point that I really wanted to make was that there is no way for someone to function on a high level without plentiful and quality food."       Source: The Trinity Tripod

Where 'Staying With Relatives' Means Near-Slave Labor

Haiti was the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery, when it won its independence in 1804 after a struggle led by Toussaint Louverture. In 2007, thousands live a life of near-slave labor because of poverty and social breakdown.       Jeanette, for example, was told by her father that she was going to stay with (French rester avec) distant relatives in the Haitian capital. Ever since, she has become one of the estimated 250,000 children used as near-slave labor in Haiti.       "They are treated as less than cats and dogs," says Soeur Marthe, a Belgian nun was has been working with the restavecs for several years now. "Their families have nothing to offer them, so they almost give them away."       Most of the children are employed as domestic servants. Often one of their main tasks is to walk to get water for households in the city. Other tasks include looking after other children in the family, cleaning house, and doing laundry. Not on the list: going to school, playing with friends, finding proper employment in the future.       Some local human rights groups are fighting to improve their situation. Prospery Raymond works with the Maurice Sixto centers which have opened in Port-au-Prince to try to give the restavecs some schooling, proper food, and a sense that they too have rights: "The big problem for them is that they have no official existence. They often don't have a birth certificate, or any proof of who they are, and this makes them even more vulnerable to exploitation.       "We try to establish their identity, to get them into schools so that they can pass exams and get out of the dreadful situation they find themselves in."       This situation is often even worse when the restavecs reach the age of 15. This is when by law they must be paid to work; it is then that the families either throw them out on the street or force them to continue as unpaid domestics.       Until recently, the Haitian government did not acknowledge the scale of the restavec problem. Some officials still argue that this is the traditional way for poor rural families to help their children get on.       "We are deceiving ourselves if we say this is some kind of national tradition," says advocate Margarett Lubin, who works with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Port-au-Prince. "This is child slavery pure and simple."       Lubin says that, according to UNICEF, the numbers involved have doubled in recent years, as poverty and political instability in the countryside have become even worse. She also points to an increasing traffic in children across the border that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic in the east of the island.       Lubin thinks the only solution is to go to the root of the problem, out in the Haitian countryside: "We need to show the poorest families that they have a duty to look after their children -- and we need to build schools in the countryside, so that they have something to stay for."       Source: BBC

Disabled People Still Get Dumped

Ronald Reagan closed mental institutions back in the 1980s with no transitional plan, putting a huge population of people out the street. Today some institutions, politicians, police and individuals are still dumping people with disabilities. Chinese Gangs Dumping Disabled Children in Hong Kong, Lawmaker Says Disabled Woman Dumped at Inaccessible Shelter Northwoods Police Dumped a Homeless Man on the Street Corner in St Louis Paraplegic Allegedly 'Dumped' on Skid Row       A paraplegic homeless man was recently dumped on the street by a Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center van. This is not the first time this hospital has dumped people who are homeless onto the streets. According to the LA Times this was done in 2005 by the same hospital.       Disabled San Francisco journalist Laure McElroy recently wrote an article for the San Francisco Bay View about how an African American woman was forced to leave the Potrero Health Clinic for no adequate reason while suffering severe health problems due to a high-risk pregnancy. What happened to the word "public" in public health?       Mayor after mayor in cities from New York to Los Angeles have taken office with 'get tough on the homeless' policies. This type of legislative thinking goes against solutions from local and national homeless advocates. For example, The National Coalition on Homelessness has many campaigns and legislative proposals like The Bringing America Home Act (HR 4347) and the Health Care Access Resolution.       Source: Poor Magazine

A Transatlantic Call for Slavery Reparations

A mayor in Jamaica has called on Wales to compensate his country for the legacy of poverty he says has been left by the slave trade. Clarendon mayor Milton Brown told a BBC Wales documentary that countries involved in the trade had a "moral responsibility" to help those affected. Clarendon was once dominated by a Welsh slave-owning family. A descendant of the family -- originally from Flintshire -- has now offered to make a contribution to the community.       The mayor argues that slavery has left a lasting legacy in the Caribbean, whereas Wales made long-term gains in the growth of industries like copper and iron, which were boosted by slavery. "All those countries that were involved in slavery have a moral responsibility to have some form of restoration [compensation]. Wales being one of those countries, I would expect them to take the necessary measures to have some form of restoration done."       He added that he thought education would be the "best avenue for restitution".       The Pennant family owned large slave-run sugar plantations in the Clarendon area of Jamaica. They used the money they made to buy the Penrhyn Estate in Gwynedd and develop the north Wales slate industry.       Douglas Pennant, a descendant of the family, said his admiration for his ancestor Richard Pennant, the father of the north Wales slate industry, was tainted by his involvement in slavery. "What he did by today's standards was appalling, but you have got to remember he was a man of his time.       "Slavery was one of the greatest crimes that ever happened in history. It was far worse than what happened in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s."       Mr Pennant said there was a moral duty to make reparations: "Morally there is a debt, but practically on economic lines, you can't do it because so many generations have gone by." But Mr Pennant has suggested funding a project in Clarendon though a charitable trust and has been put in touch with Mayor Brown by the program makers.       As well as boosting the wealth of a number of Welsh families, researchers believe the slave trade was important in the industrial development of Wales. Chris Evans of the University of Glamorgan said, "There are very clear links between the Swansea copper industry and slavery because it's a good that was in demand on the African coast among African slave traders.       "In north Wales, the development of the Parys mountain mine is closely connected to the whole issue of Atlantic shipping and the slave trade because so much of the copper that is being made there is destined for the sheathing of naval vessels.       "The iron industry has very clear roots in slave enterprise. If we think of Merthyr Tydfil, the great starting point of the modern iron industry in Wales, the key figure is Anthony Bacon who made his money in Atlantic commerce [by] shipping slaves among other things."       Source: BBC

#  LNN  #  Small  #  Hauls  #

Churches in a handful of US cities are preparing to launch a "sanctuary" movement to help illegal immigrants avoid deportation and unite faith-based groups in a push for immigration reform. The movement will enable congregations to provide "hospitality and protection" to some immigrant families whose legal cases "clearly reveal the contradictions and moral injustice of our current immigration system," according to the New Sanctuary Movement's Web site. The site lists Los Angeles, Chicago and New York as central cities. The sanctuary movement of the 1980s, including more than 200 churches of various denominations around the country, harbored Central American refugees who were fleeing wars in their home countries. (Associated Press) Figures showing a 200,000 rise in UK children living in relative poverty last year have been described as a "moral disgrace" by Barnardo's. The children's charity said ministers were a long way from honoring a pledge to halve child poverty by 2010. In 2005-06, 3.8 million children were in poverty -- in homes living on less than 60% of average income including housing costs. The increases are the first recorded in six years; since 1998-99, 600,000 children have been lifted out of relative poverty. (BBC) The US Department of Agriculture has given a preliminary green light to the first commercial production of a food crop engineered to contain human genes -- a modified rice that contains bacteria-fighting proteins. But the supposed benefits of the product, which will be used in anti-diarrhea medications, may not even be realized, according to Worldwatch researchers. "There’s no guarantee that the public will use this in poorer nations," notes senior researcher Brian Halweil, "as patent issues have obstructed altruistic biotech applications before." (Worldwatch Institute) The UN is cutting in half its daily rations for nearly 1.5 million war-displaced people in Uganda because of a severe funding shortfall, officials said last month. The food ration would be cut, starting April 1, to half the minimum daily requirement for a person because of a $90 million shortfall, the UN's World Food Program said. Women, children and the elderly "are likely to suffer a deterioration in their nutritional condition which will make them vulnerable to disease," said Alix Loriston, the deputy head of WFP in Uganda. "We expect hospitals will have increased admissions from malnutrition which is already bad in the camps." (Associated Press) The amount of money sent home by Latin American migrant workers to their families has reached more than $62 billion. This figure now exceeds the combined total of all direct foreign investment and foreign aid to Latin America. The biggest share of money, $23 billion, was sent back to Mexico, mostly from workers living in the US remitting small sums each month. Foreign remittances now rank along with oil and tourism as Mexico's biggest foreign currency earner. (BBC) The National Association of Evangelicals has reiterated that it considers environmental protection a moral issue, dismissing a recent denouncement of the association by several leading conservative Christian leaders for calling for attention on global warming. The board of directors of the association has now reaffirmed its 2004 position paper that outlined seven areas of civic responsibility for evangelicals -- creation care (meaning environmental protection), religious freedom, nurturing the family, sanctity of life, compassion for the poor, human rights, and restraining violence. (Earth Times)

Life-Net News Extras

South Jersey Fundraiser Helps Educate in Dominican Republic

Laurie Miles spent part of her childhood growing up in Latin America and observing life in poverty-stricken areas, but she was too young to instigate change. She lived there because her father was in the Foreign Service. Two years ago, Laurie, a Mary S Shoemaker School teacher, got the chance she always wanted: She joined her church, Woodstown (NJ) Presbyterian Church, on its first mission trip to the Dominican Republic where they helped build a new public school for the village of Pantoja.       A large fundraiser auction was held last month, on a Sunday, to help get the group of about 30 people to the Dominican Republic again this summer. Money raised will also go toward a youth group trip to West Virginia.       "It hurt me to see the poverty," Miles said. "This is a way of giving back to the Latin community. Things have come full circle for me."       The group has worked on the school which now serves 500 students every year. This summer they will paint the building and volunteer at the village medical clinic.       "The best part is seeing how it progresses but also seeing the same people," Miles said. Though the people in Pantoja are poor and live in wooden and tin shacks, Miles said their spirits are always high, and a group of at least 30 village children help them every day.       "The kids would all help if they were allowed to," she said. "They just want to help build their school."       One of Miles' favorite memories involves an 8-year-old boy from the village who she noticed one day was just watching the other kids color, and he wasn't participating. "He had never used a crayon in his life," she said. "It was difficult to notice how an 8-year-old can get so far and not know how to color."       The 10-day trip will cost each participant $950 plus airfare, and it will be far from luxurious. Money raised during the fundraiser will go toward construction materials, in-country transportation, housing and supplies.       Half of the funds will also go toward the youth trip to Ronceverte WV, which will be for nine days at the end of July and will include a group of 15 high school students. "We really felt called to help people in our country, too," said Dawn Jeffers, director of Youth and Family Ministries at Woodstown Presbyterian Church. "We will be working on houses for mostly elderly people who just can't do the work."       Source: Today's Sunbeam

'To Support My Son and To Maintain My Status in School ...'

By Chanell Still of Camden:       Ideally, life should be lived to the fullest, but for a single mother in Camden who is a full-time student at Rutgers University, life is no longer so fulfilling for me. Instead, it is draining. The financial strain in my life has taken a great toll on my family and me.       Coming from an economically disadvantaged family, I received much assistance from financial aid, but with my many responsibilities in life what I receive is never enough. The birth of my son was a point of ultimate happiness for me, but it was not long before bills began to accumulate. The only source of income I could depend on was my stipend checks from school and my monthly diminutive wage from Social Services.       To maintain my living expenses and to refrain from being homeless, my only alternative was loans. To support my son and to maintain my status in school I dug myself deeper and deeper into debt.       When the US Senate decides to take control of the life sentence of financial debt due to high student loan interest rates and reauthorize the Higher Education Act, then I will be completely equipped for success along with my degree. The act will decrease the student loan interest rate from 6.8% to 3.8% over the course of five years.       The acknowledgment of the act will give me the opportunity to be a sufficient provider instead of another single mother statistic. The Senate has to acknowledge my cries.       Source: Courier-Post

Vitally Needed Playground Targeted for Demolition

The Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem has recently served demolition orders for a playground and six houses in the Old City. The playground is part of a larger recreation facility for women and children at Burj Al Luq Luq Social Centre in the Moslem Quarter of the Old City. Based on previous attempts to remove this facility, it seems this space has been coveted in order to build 30 homes, a synagogue and religious school for Jews only.       These latest orders must be seen in the context of the ongoing policy of the Judaization of Jerusalem and the systematic destruction of facilities that foster education and childhood among Palestinian children. The current demolitions, like all others, have been ordered in flagrant contravention of international law and of UN resolutions on the status of East Jerusalem.       Of course, this is not the first time Israel has demolished playgrounds or targeted children. In particular:       On February 22, 2006, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed a brand new public park -- including a playground and swimming pool -- that had been funded by the United States, on the pretext that it was built "illegally." Ironically, Israel's entire presence and protocols in the occupied territories have been universally condemned as illegal based on UN Resolution 242 and the Fourth Geneva Convention, among other tenets of international law. (Al-Jazeera story)       On January 10th of this year, the Haaretz reported the demolition of the only playground in an "unrecognized" Arab community where 200 children had only garbage dumps in which to play prior to assistance from the European Union to build a playground there. Again, the pretext in this case was that the playground was built "illegally". (Haaretz story)       These and many other instances of playground demolitions are just a few examples of the numerous ways Israel targets Palestinian children.       We, the Board of Directors of Playgrounds for Palestine, add our voice to that of the Board of Burj Al Luq Luq Social Centre to appeal to the International Community to intervene on behalf of Palestinian children by exerting pressure on Israel to respect international law and to halt its policy of destroying Palestinian society. We ask all NGOs working in the field of Child Rights to consider how the demolition of a children's playground violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We ask people of all religions around the world to stand beside the Muslim and Christian residents of Jerusalem in resisting this latest attack whose principal victims are local women and children.       Source: Playgrounds for Palestine

#  More  #  Small  #  Hauls  #

Backbenchers in the Zambian parliament late last month urged the government to seriously invest in the road infrastructure if meaningful development was to be fostered. The members of parliament (MPs) in their debate for the Ministry of Works and Supply vote said a sound road network played a vital role to enhancing development and for the well-being of a nation in the world. Pemba MP David Matongo (UPND) said the Government should use part of the savings made under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative to develop the road infrastructure in urban and rural areas. Luena MP Charles Milupi (Independent) said a good road network in any nation fostered national development and unlocked vast economic potential, even in rural areas. "We need to develop proper roads in rural areas if we are to overcome poverty and attain the Millennium Development Goals and what the Government has outlined in the Fifth National Development Plan." (Times of Zambia) Advocates say cash assistance for the poor in New York has remained the same since 1990. That means a family of three living in poverty receives $291 a month. They want that amount increased to $435 monthly. "The benefit level is less than 50% of the poverty level," said Maureen Lane of Hunter College's Welfare Rights Initiative. The number of New Yorkers receiving cash assistance dropped to 554,998 at the end of 2006 from the high of 1.7 million in April 1994, according to David Hansell, acting commissioner of the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance. Advocates for the poor, however, say there has not been a comparable decline in poverty, so the state's cash assistance programs now provide support to a much smaller percentage of poor families. (Associated Press) The soaring price of home heating oil is a huge burden on many limited-income families. In 2006, over 165,000 New Jersey households received assistance from LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) -- a 5.8% increase from 2005. This year's deadline to apply for winter heating bill assistance through LIHEAP has been extended to April 30. LIHEAP is open to residents who are responsible for home heating or cooling costs and have gross income below 175% of the federal poverty level. For more information call 800-510-3102. (New Jersey Citizen Action)

Most material here is adapted, not quoted. Views expressed do not

necessarily represent ours. Life-Net News biweekly newspage, Club

LIFENET online, the Web site www.lifenetradio.org, and

broadcast Life-Net Radio (where you can star!) together make

up Mr. Ret Z.'s private charitable enterprise. To get Life-Net e-mail

free, or to unsubscribe, just ask:   lifenetradio@broadcast.net

+ Iesous Khristos Theou Huios Soter +