| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| August 15, 2007 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 11 Number 8 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| Extreme Rain Raises Fear of Horrific Famine in NK |
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North Korea appealed for international aid yesterday after the worst floods in 40 years killed hundreds of people and washed away hundreds of thousands of homes. Aid workers warned of a potential repeat of the mid-1990s, when at least 1.5 million died after floods hit crops.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) received a preliminary plea for aid yesterday after the state media reported the results of five days of heavy rain, combined with high tides. The Korea Central News Agency said, "The torrential rain left hundreds of persons dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families or rendered them inundated. It also left tens of thousands of hectares of farmland inundated, buried under silt and washed away. The heavy rain destroyed at least 800 public buildings, over 540 bridges, 70 sections of railroads, and at least 1,100 vehicles, pumps, and electric motors." In parts of the country as much as 672 mm (26.5 inches) of rain fell in the five days. "This unceasing heavy rain," reported the agency, "destroyed the nation's major railways, roads and bridges, suspended power supply and cut off the communications network." North Korea, the last of the Cold War Stalinist dictatorships, is one of the most isolated states in the world and is exceptionally vulnerable to natural disaster. Flat arable land is scarce, and much of the country's food is grown on mountain slopes that have been deforested for firewood and are easily washed away in heavy rain. The country's economy has shrunk disastrously since the breakup of its tight alliances with Russia and China and the aid and ready markets that they provided. Agricultural techniques are primitive, with inadequate drainage and too few protective ditches. All this sets the scene for a repeat of the famine of the mid-1990s. Defectors have told consistent stories of the horrors of that time, when corpses lay on the streets, and people were forced to eat rats, dragonflies, and tree bark to survive. Source: London Times |
| Katrina Tax Breaks Fund Luxury Alabama Condos |
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With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium. About 10 condominium projects are going up in and around Tuscaloosa. Builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs, and 'Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art.
While many of the buyers are Crimson Tide alumni or ardent football fans not entitled to any special Katrina-related tax breaks, many others are real estate investors who are purchasing the condos with plans to rent them out. And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone. The GO Zone contains a variety of tax breaks designed to stimulate construction in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. It offers tax-free bonds to developers to finance commercial projects like shopping centers or hotels. It also allows real estate investors who buy condos or other properties in the GO Zone to take accelerated depreciation when they file their taxes. The GO Zone was drawn to include the Tuscaloosa area even though it is about 200 miles from the coast and got only heavy rain and scattered wind damage from Katrina. The condo deals are perfectly legal. The tax breaks do not make money away from Katrina victims closer to the coast because the depreciation is wide open, with no limits per state. But the tax breaks are galling to some, especially when red tape and disorganization have stymied rebuilding in harder-hit areas. "It was supposed to be about getting people ... to put housing in New Orleans, Louisiana, or Biloxi, Mississippi," said Tuscaloosa developer Stan Pate, who has nevertheless used GO Zone tax breaks. "It was not about condos in Tuscaloosa." Locals say Tuscaloosa was included in the GO Zone through the efforts of Sen Richard Shelby (R), who is from Tuscaloosa, graduated from Alabama, and sits on the powerful Appropriations Committee. But Shelby aides said Tuscaloosa made the cut because it was classified as a disaster area by the government. Source: Associated Press |
| Mosquito-Eating Fish Evaluated as Malaria Preventive |
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Nile tilapia, a fish more usually seen on Kenyan dinner tables, was introduced to several abandoned fishponds in the west of the country. By consuming mosquito larvae it managed to reduce numbers of two of the main malarial mosquitoes by more than 94%. The BMC Public Health study noted the fish could prove critical as mosquitoes are becoming resistant to pesticides.
Nile tilapia's taste for mosquitoes has been known since 1917, said the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology researchers, but this is the first time field data has been published detailing their use in mosquito control. The authors suggested that for Kenyans, the fish could prove a win-win investment, since they could also be used for food and income. Joanne Greenfield, malaria advisor for the World Health Organization in Kenya, described the findings as "positive" but was also circumspect: "This method may well work in a defined area of water, but mosquitoes spread in all sorts of places -- including small pools in the mud and puddles -- where you obviously can't introduce fish," she said. "It just wouldn't work for many areas." "We recommend a spectrum of methods to combat malaria," she added, "and this could certainly be a useful tool." Source: BBC |
| Ten Schools Picked to Pilot 'Vision' Reform |
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Vision 2015 has selected four Delaware school districts and two charter schools to take part in a program to pilot educational reforms that group leaders hope will ripple throughout the state. Each district picked two of its schools to participate, for 10 total schools involved in the program sponsored by Vision 2015, a coalition of education, community, and business leaders that aims to make Delaware's school system one of the best in the world by 2015.
They'll spend this school year training, next year implementing. This year, administrators, teachers, school board members, and other district and school leaders will be introduced to some of the best educational practices Vision 2015 leaders have gleaned from school systems around the globe; they then will be able to borrow from those practices as they develop instructional plans to boost student achievement in their weakest areas. Next year, the districts will implement those plans. The participants represent a wide demographic variety. The largest is Sussex Central High, which had 1,259 students and 79 teachers last year; the smallest is Kuumba Academy, with just 254 students and 20 teachers. At Kuumba, 98% of students are black and 61% are from low-income families, state data show, while at MOT Charter, only 10% are black and 6% low-income. Two schools -- Kuumba and William Henry Middle -- are under Academic Review for failing to make adequate progress toward state and federal performance goals on standardized tests. Three others -- Brick Mill, Silver Lake and MOT -- earned Superior ratings. The first phase of training, starting in October and conducted by the University of Delaware's Academy of School Leadership, will introduce district-level leadership to Vision 2015 principles and global best practices. School management often devotes too much time to routine duties, such as managing bus schedules -- said Paul Herdman, president and chief executive of the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, a major Vision 2015 benefactor -- and the training will seek to help them work smarter and devote more time to education. The second phase of training, starting in January and conducted by consulting firm Focus on Results, will be for school-level leadership and will help each school develop an instructional plan to address its specific need, whether it be reading, math, or something else. "It's about the technical assistance available, the mentoring relationships," said Sondra Shippen, head of Kuumba Academy. "It's important to have those people you can bounce ideas off of and make sure you're on the right track." "What's happened in the past in education is the focus has been on the school, and the district is a supporting entity," said Robert Rescigno, a liaison between Vision 2015 and the Vision Network schools. "But unless a district has a chance to reflect on its practices, it's very hard to change." Source: Wilmington News-Journal |
| NGO Brings Sustainable Lighting to Poor Indians |
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A new nongovernmental organization is forming a critical link between poor communities, renewable energy providers, and local banks in southern India. Over the past three years, the Small-Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund, Inc (S3IDF) has implemented 35 low-investment renewable lighting projects for urban and rural communities, benefiting about 5,500 people.
The S3IDF Lighting Initiative acts as an interface between modern energy supply chains and unconnected poor communities, implementing financing options for residents and extending their access to infrastructural know-how. The ultimate goal, according to S3IDF founder and president Dr Russell deLucia, is to improve the quality of life of poor households and small rural enterprises that have unreliable connections to energy grids. "The poor represent a significant market for modern, clean-energy services because they spend a high proportion of their incomes on inefficient sources such as firewood, candles, batteries and kerosene," explains deLucia. The world's working poor are in critical need of infrastructure services, he says, and they're willing to pay for them if these are designed to meet their priorities. Using a variety of mechanisms to mainstream clean energy, S3IDF:
Source: Eye on Earth |
| Habitat's Largest Project in Northeast US |
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Not only will the 12 homes being built in Clayton NJ by Gloucester County Habitat for Humanity provide housing for low-income families, but the goal is to make several of them environment-friendly as well: The plan includes pre-insulated concrete walls, and energy-efficient appliances, fixtures, and windows.
The group says this is the largest single Habitat project in the Northeast. To date, the project is expected to cost $1.4 million. A $349,033 grant will be presented by county leaders later this month. "That $349,000 won't do the whole job, but it will do a heck of a lot," Connors said. "It should build the next four homes." Other funds are being raised locally by the Gloucester County group. To date, three of the homes are already occupied, according to Connors. Each of the homes sell for about $120,000. Average monthly payments are close to $600. Source: Gloucester County Times |
| Mauritania Passes Anti-Slavery Law |
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Mauritania has passed a law promising prison time for people who keep slaves. It's a monumental step in the northwest African nation's push to eliminate the long-standing practice. The law, adopted unanimously last Wednesday by the Mauritanian legislature, calls for prison sentences of up to 10 years for people found keeping slaves, and reparations for those who have been enslaved.
Slavery has existed for hundreds of years in Mauritania, a poor nation of Muslim nomads and traders between the Sahara and the Atlantic. Yet it has been hard to know how persistent the practice is because owners and slaves often have lived together for decades and call one another family. The government officially abolished slavery in 1981, but no one was ever prosecuted for it: No law created a punishment. "It's a historic moment for Mauritania," said Boubacar Ould Messaoud, president of the anti-slavery activist group SOS Slavery. Messaoud had also spoken about the slavery situation on Life-Net Radio some years back. "We are very happy, the democrats won this battle." He credited Mauritania's newly elected president -- the first to take power since a military junta seized power in a 2005 coup -- with backing the law and prioritizing slavery's abolishment. A new openness about slavery has been growing in Mauritania since the coup. Junta head Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall publicly declared slavery a problem in May 2006, a sharp break from years of denials by deposed President Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya. The new law also makes any "cultural or artistic work defending slavery" punishable with two years in prison. And it makes it an offense for governmental authorities not to pursue slaveholders. Source: Associated Press |
| Prisoners Substitute for Missing Migrant Farmworkers |
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To Steve Smith, agri-business manager for Colorado
Correctional Industries, the pilot project using women prison inmates to replace missing migrant workers has been a success. The program has mustered two crews of 10 women each and has served five farms in Pueblo County. If it expands with harvest demand, Smith said he may have to pull male inmates in from other assignments.
The Department of Corrections is receiving requests for the program elsewhere in the state, according to executive director Ari Zavaras, and although the final go-ahead hasn't been given, he hopes to take it statewide starting next summer. "We've filled a void; we haven't displaced any law-abiding citizens; the inmates are developing a work ethic. It has all the benefits from the standpoint of teaching the inmates. "We will do a full evaluation at the end of this season. But at this point, our preliminary evaluation is there hasn't been any downside." The program was started at the suggestion of state Rep Dorothy Butcher (D-Pueblo) after local farmers complained to her that they had to leave crops in the field last year because of strict new state immigration laws. But Butcher, farmers who have contracted with DOC for inmate crews, and Smith himself all agreed in interviews that the program is a temporary solution to an enduring problem. "I think most of [the farmers] would prefer to have their migrants back," said Smith. "Joe Pisciotta has used the gals the most. He's happy with the work they've done, but he has a loyalty to his migrants. Some of them had been working for his family for generations." Zavaras, however, said he's looking more at the big picture. Not only has the program helped to fill a farming need, but it also fits in nicely with the push he and Gov Bill Ritter want to see to reduce recidivism. To them, the program helps teach inmates a work ethic and gives them new skills that they could use post-release. Even though all the prisoners in the program volunteered for the field work, there has been turnover when some inmates found out how hard and hot the work could be. The ones who stayed on, he said, liked it because they could make a lot more money -- $4 instead of 60 cents a day to start, with 50-cent increments for each month they continue -- and they liked the fresh air and exercise. The farmers pay DOC $9.60 an hour per inmate to cover the prisoners' wages, their supervisors' pay, food, and transportation. Smith said the negotiated rate made the program pay for itself. Source: Pueblo Chieftain |
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| Native Languages Rise Up Against English |
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As far away as Africa and Europe, and as close to home as Native American reservations in the United States, native tongues are lashing out against the English language's global domination of education and culture.
In Germany, the clamor is coming from the Ivory Towers. German researchers often choose to publish or present their work in English because of its broader influence and perceived seriousness, argues biophysicist Stefan Klein in an essay for the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Yet the dominance of English in the sciences and education has not led to better or more informed work by non-native speakers. Klein points to findings in Sweden and Holland, where students are introduced to English when they first enter school. Despite the students' long-term exposure to the language, studies show that they score roughly 10% worse on exams when the classes are given in English than on exams in classes in their native languages. The pervasiveness of English, however, may be most damaging to the cultural and linguistic systems of the margins. For Native Americans like the Sauk in Oklahoma, a century or more of compulsory English education has left their language on the verge of extinction. And, according to the Indigenous Language Institute, 89% of North American languages face a similarly grim fate. In the Summer issue of Cultural Survival Quarterly, which focuses on dying native languages, Jacob Manatowa-Bailey, the director of the Sauk Language Department for the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, warns that if native languages don't make a resurgence, then "entire systems of thought, belief, and practice become permanently removed from the storehouse of human knowledge." In Africa, Cameroonian scholar Prince Kum'a Ndumbe III paints a more disturbing picture of language colonization. In a manifesto for the pan-African online weekly Pambazuka News, Ndumbe likens the foreign education systems implanted across the continent to organs of "intellectual genocide." Echoing Manatowa-Bailey, Ndumbe argues that for any change to take place, "Africans must re-appropriate their own languages and use them as basic vehicles for their thinking, production, education, dreams and outlook on the world." English is often touted as a means of uniting people across cultures and allowing them to effectively communicate. But, like other lingua francas before it, English has become a pariah, instead of a savior, for the way its use in education excludes and homogenizes. English-based education, Klein writes, is doing more than threatening language diversity, it's pushing the world toward a global divide. "On one side will be those who employ an elite language," he predicts, "and on the other, all those who miss out on the latest developments." Source: Utne.com |
| Camden City Kids' Day at the Lake |
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As he splashed around in the water and built a sprawling city of sand, C J Russ looked like a 3-year-old who knew how to spend a day at the lake. But for Russ and the other kids from Camden's Community Baptist Church, the experience was something unique.
"Many of these children have never been to the beach, to the mall or to a movie," said Mary Jane Juzwiak, one of the coordinators of Saturday's Day at the Lake. Juzwiak, along with four of her friends from the township, decided to reach out to the kids after watching a 20/20 episode depicting the poverty in the nearby city. "I grew up in Camden and it broke my heart to see what they were dealing with and what they were missing. So, we got in touch with Pastor King from the church and set up some activities." The five families conducted an Easter Egg Hunt, collected donations, took the kids to a Camden Riversharks game, and made boxes of food and toiletries for Feed the Children's matching program. When they were approached about bringing the kids to a lake, the volunteers sprang into action finding the perfect date and location and recruiting help from local businesses. "Acme provided all of the drinks," said Juzwiak, "Walmart gave us a gift card for paper products, Sam's Club in Williamstown filled a shopping cart with snacks, and Aversa's Italian Bakery gave us two trays of meatballs, 10 dozen rolls, pizzas, stromboli, and a huge cake." On a beautiful sunny day, the kids from the church played kickball, ran wheelbarrow relays, and pegged the adults with more than 500 water balloons. After pizza, cake, and hours of fun, everyone was smiling. "The best thing about this," said Glenda Lee, one of the other coordinators, "is that you can see how much the kids enjoy it." "With charities, you can't see exactly where your efforts go. But with this, everything goes right to the children. We love to see them so happy." Lee also had a special surprise for the kids at the end of the day. She had purchased a backpack for each child and filled them with school supplies, snacks, and toiletries everything they would need to go back to school. "They're so thankful for this opportunity, to see that they're not stuck in a box," said Juzwiak. "They're the most genuine, sweet kids you will ever meet and you just fall in love with them." Source: Gloucester County Times |
| No True 'Ordem e Progresso' without Educational Equality |
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Adapted from a piece by Cristovam Buarque PhD, the current president of the Brazilian Senate Education Commission:
The poor think that a quality school is the exclusive right of the children of the rich; the rich think that it is not necessary to give a good school to the children of the poor. Without quality schooling, the children of the poor are falling behind; without quality education for all, the country is falling behind in an eternal civilizational backwardness. The Brazilian republicans -- who overturned Emperor Pedro II in 1889 and designed the new flag of Brazil, writing on it "Ordem e Progresso" (Order and Progress) -- were part of an elite that did not respect the poor people, who had recently been freed from slavery. For them, the "progress" was for the few, and the "order" was to leave the masses excluded from the benefits. By excluding the poor from access to education, they found a way to guarantee progress with social exclusion without the use of violence. And this has been done for 120 years now, with no indication that the only road for the emancipation of the people and of the country is equal schooling for all the children. For those who desire to maintain their privileges, this is of no interest. The elite who wrote "Order and Progress" are not going to write, "Education is Progress," and thus create a national consciousness for education, overturning the indifference with which education is treated in our republic. If you want to help the struggle for equality in education, try to convince the poor that this is possible and the rich that this is necessary. Convince others that the consciousness and the mobilization of the people are the weapons to make a new revolution assuring education of the same quality for the children of the rich as for the children of the poor. Source: Brazzil Magazine |
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