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Katrina 2005
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DISASTER News:
20080925
 US
-  Germany
-  Global
-  Financial
- Crisis
-  Politics
"Era
of U.S. financial dominance at an end: Germany."
... "Germany blamed the United States on Thursday for spawning the global
financial crisis with a blind drive for higher profits and said it must
now accept more market regulation and a loss of its financial superpower
status." ... "In some of the harshest criticism of the United States since
the crisis threw Wall Street banks into financial disarray this month,
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the turmoil would leave "deep
marks" on both sides of the Atlantic, but called it primarily an American
problem." ... ""The world will never be as it was before the crisis," Steinbrueck
told the Bundestag lower house of parliament." ... ""The United States
will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world
financial system will become more multi-polar," he said." ... "The crisis
has put the [Republican President] Bush White House, which has long advocated
a hands-off approach to markets, on the defensive and forced it to rethink
its financial policy." -By Noah Barkin and Kerstin
Gehmlich -Reuters
via -Yahoo
Financial
- Crisis
- Politics
-  Government
"Bailout
Could Deepen Crisis, CBO Chief Says: Asset Sales
May Lead to Write-Downs, Insolvencies, Orszag Tells Congress." ... "The
director of the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday that the proposed
Wall Street bailout could actually worsen the current financial crisis."
... "During testimony before the House Budget Committee, Peter R. Orszag
-- Congress's top bookkeeper --said the bailout could expose the way companies
are stowing toxic assets on their books, leading to greater problems."
... ""Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures
of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled
assets on their books at inflated values," Orszag said in his testimony.
"Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent.""
... "In an interview later yesterday, Orszag explained using the following
example: Suppose a company has Asset X, whose value is recorded on the
books as $100. Because of the current economic decline, Asset X's real
value has dropped to $50. If the company takes part in the government bailout
and sells Asset X for $50, the company has to report a $50 loss on its
books. On a scale of millions of dollars, such write-downs could ruin a
company." ... "Such companies "look solvent today only because it's kind
of hidden," Orszag said. "They actually are insolvent" already, he said."
(1, 2)
-By Frank Ahrens -WashingtonPost
 Jobs
-  History
-  Weather
- Disasters
-  Louisiana
-  Texas
"Jobless
claims soar near 7-year high: First economic report
since financial meltdown shows initial unemployment claims rose by 7%,
boosted by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike." ... "According to a study by the
Department of Labor, initial filings for state jobless benefits increased
by a seasonally adjusted 32,000 to 493,000 in the third week of September.
It was the highest number of weekly claims since Sept. 29, 2001, when unemployment
soared in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." ... "The Labor Department
said about 50,000 of the new claims were due to the effects of Hurricanes
Gustav and Ike. There were 18,400 more claims from the week before in Louisiana
alone, and Texas added 1,200." ... "Earlier this month, the government
reported that there were 84,000 jobs lost in August, bringing to 605,000
the number of jobs cut from payrolls by U.S. employers in the first eight
months of the year." ... "The unemployment rate surged to 6.1% last month,
a nearly five-year high and up from 5.7% in July. In the last recession,
unemployment reached a high of 6.3%." -By David Goldman
-CNN
20080924
 John
McCain - Financial
- Disaster
- Politics
- Government
-  Massachusetts
-  Arizona
- 2008
Election
"Democrats
claim Wall St. bailout breakthrough." ... "Democratic
[Massachusetts Representative] Rep. Barney Frank said on Wednesday Democrats
had reached an agreement to stem one of the worst U.S. financial disasters
in decades, and that there would be enough votes to pass the measure and
send it to [Republican] President George W. Bush to sign into law." ...
"Frank took a dig at [2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John
McCain, who interrupted his campaign to return to Washington on Thursday
to help work on a Wall Street bailout." ... ""All of sudden, now that we
are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain here drops himself in to
help us make a deal, Frank said." ... "He expressed fear that McCain, a
U.S. [United States] senator from Arizona who has spent much of the year
away from the Capitol campaigning, could end up slowing down work on the
bill." ... "The Massachusetts Democrat noted that a meeting on Capitol
Hill on Thursday will be interrupted for a "photo op" at the White House
with congressional Democrats and Republicans as well as Bush." ... ""We're
trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign," Frank said." ...
"Democrats blamed the crisis largely on the failure of Bush to adequately
regulate the financial industry." (1, 2,
3)
-By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro with contributions
by Doina Chiacu -Reuters
 Sarah
Palin - John
McCain - Financial
- Crisis
- Politics
- Government
-  Law
-  Alaska
- 2008
Election
"Palin:
US could face another Great Depression." ... "[2008
Election] Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday
that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if
Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis." ... "Asked whether there's
a risk of another Great Depression if Congress doesn't approve a $700 billion
bailout package, Palin said, "Unfortunately, that is the road that America
may find itself on."" ... "Couric pressed Palin on examples of how McCain,
a 26-year congressional veteran, had led the charge for more oversight."
... "The Alaska governor cited [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
John] McCain's warnings about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago
as well as image as a maverick. Questioned again for examples, and reminded
that McCain had been chairman of the Commerce Committee, Palin said, "I'll
try to find you some and I'll bring them to you."" ... "McCain has insisted
Palin is ready to take over as president, but he made no mention of including
her in the meetings he wants in Washington to deal with the financial crisis."
-By Sara Kugler -AP
via -Yahoo
20080923
 Henry
Paulson
- Financial
- Crisis
- Politics
- Legislation
"Bad
News For The Bailout: The [Republican President Bush
Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson Plan." ... "At a Senate Banking Committee
hearing Tuesday, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained of being
rushed to pass legislation or else risk financial meltdown." ... "In fact,
some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury
would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy." ... ""It's not based on any particular
data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted
to choose a really large number."" -By Brian Wingfield
and Josh Zumbrun with contributions by Liz Moyer
-Forbes
20080921
John
McCain - Corporate
- Government
- Disaster
- Politics
- US_Debt
-  Healthcare
-  Social
Security - Rights
-  Book
- 2008
Election
"Naomi
Klein: Financial crisis part of Bush 'shock doctrine'."
... "The bailout of Wall Street’s largest players by the federal government
is another example of the [Republican President] Bush administration pursuing
a corporate agenda at the expense of average Americans, a prominent author
argued on Friday." ... "In a Friday night interview on HBO's Real Time
with Bill Maher, Naomi Klein said President Bush’s $700
billion proposal to rescue the financial sector stems from a profiteering
streak that has dominated the last eight years." ... ""The disaster is
far from over," Klein said. "The disaster was on Wall Street and they have
moved the disaster to Main Street."" ... "Referring to the bailout, Klein
said the "bomb has yet to detonate" and that the real crisis will strike
when tax payers are overwhelmed when faced with the debt from the bailouts."
... "According to Klein, the bomb will detonate if
Sen. John McCain becomes president and "rationalizes" that it is necessary
to privatize government programs like social security and healthcare because
neither the government nor Americans can afford them." ... ""The real disaster
has yet to come; the real disaster is the debt that is going to explode
on American tax payers," Klein said." ... "Klein’s book, "The Shock Doctrine:
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," outlines how crises, real or perceived,
have been used by governments, especially the United States under George
W. Bush, to strong-arm
a disoriented citizenry into accepting changes to its rights, and its
government, that it wouldn't otherwise accept." -By
David Edwards and Andrew McLemore -RawStory.com
 WATCH:
Naomi Klein on Republican Bush's "Shock Doctrine"
20080916
Noteworthy
- Emergency
- Money
- Politics
- Legal
- History
- AIG
"U.S.
to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit
Dries Up: Emergency Loan Effectively Gives Government
Control of Insurer; Historic Move Would Cap 10 Days That Reshaped U.S.
[Unijted States] Finance." ... "[Under Republican President Bush] The U.S.
government seized control of American International Group Inc. -- one of
the world's biggest insurers -- in an $85 billion deal that signaled the
intensity of its concerns about the danger a collapse could pose to the
financial system." ... "The step marks a dramatic turnabout for the federal
government, which had been strongly resisting overtures from AIG for an
emergency loan or some intervention that would prevent the insurer from
falling into bankruptcy. Just last weekend, the government essentially
pulled the plug on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., allowing the big investment
bank to go under instead of giving it financial support. This time, the
government decided AIG truly was too big to fail." ... "Under terms hammered
out Tuesday night, the Fed will lend up to $85 billion to AIG, and the
U.S. government will effectively get a 79.9% equity stake in the insurer
in the form of warrants called equity participation notes. The two-year
loan will carry an interest rate of Libor plus 8.5 percentage points. (Libor,
the London interbank offered rate, is a common short-term lending benchmark.)"
... "The loan is secured by AIG's assets, including its profitable insurance
businesses, giving the Fed some protection even if markets continue to
sink. And if AIG rebounds, taxpayers could reap a big profit through the
government's equity stake." ... "It puts the government in control of a
private insurer -- a historic development, particularly considering that
AIG isn't directly regulated by the federal government. The Fed took the
highly unusual step using legal authority granted in the Federal Reserve
Act, which allows it to lend to nonbanks under "unusual and exigent" circumstances,
something it invoked when Bear Stearns Cos. was rescued in March." ...
"The U.S. on Sept. 6 took over mortgage-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac as they teetered near collapse." ... "In bailing out AIG, the Federal
Reserve appeared to be motivated in part by worries that Wall Street's
financial crisis could begin to spill over into seemingly safe investments
held by small investors, such as money-market funds that invest in AIG
debt." ... "Indeed, on Tuesday the $62 billion Primary Fund from the Reserve,
a New York money-market firm, said it "broke the buck" -- that is, its
net asset value fell below the $1-a-share level that funds like this must
maintain. Breaking the buck is an extremely rare occurrence. The fund was
pinched by investments in bonds issued by now collapsing Lehman Brothers."
... "Money-market funds are supposed to be among the safest investments
available. No fund in the $3.6 trillion money-market industry has lost
money since 1994, when Orange County, Calif., went bankrupt. A number of
money-market funds own securities issued by AIG. The firm is also a big
insurer of some money-market instruments." -By Matthew
Karnitschnig, Deborah Solomon, Liam Pleven and Jon E. Hilsenrath with contributions
by Diya Gullapalli, Serena Ng, Damian Paletta and Ashby Jones-WSJ.com
20080915
 Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - Disaster
- Politics
- Workers
-  Colorado
- Arizona
- Alaska
- 2008
Election
"Obama
blames Wall St. crisis on Republican policy." ...
"[Obama on McCain:] "In 19 months he [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate John McCain] has not named one thing he would do differently
from this [Republican President Bush] administration on the central issue
of this election," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack]
Obama said of McCain. "Not one thing. And we know that if we go down that
path, that the next four years will look exactly like the last eight.""
... ""Can you afford to take a chance on someone who's voted against the
minimum wage 19 times," Obama asked a crowd of thousands under a blazing
sun at a rally in western Colorado at the start of a swing through contested
Western states. "When it was $4, he was against it, when it was $5 he was
against it, when it was $6 he was against it."" ... "Charging that McCain
was out of touch, Obama said, "He doesn't get what's happening between
the mountains in Sedona [Arizona] where he lives and the corridors of power
where he works. Why else would he say that we've made great progress economically
under George Bush. Why else would he say that the economy isn't something
he understands as well as he should." ... ""Why else would he say, today
of all days, just a few hours ago — think about this, we just woke up to
news of financial disaster — and this morning he said that the fundamentals
of the economy are still strong. Sen. McCain, what economy are you talking
about?"" ... "He also took a little poke at McCain's running mate, [Alaska
Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin, raising the "Bridge to Nowhere"
in Alaska that she initially supported and later opposed. Saying that McCain
had put some lobbyists in key roles of his campaign, Obama said, "If you
think those lobbyists are working day and night for John McCain just to
put themselves out of business, well I've got a bridge to sell you up in
Alaska."" -By Terence Hunt
-AP via -Yahoo
20080831
John
McCain -  Joe
Biden - Barack
Obama -  Hillary
Clinton - Hurricane
Katrina - Weather
- Emergency
-  Investigation
- Legislation
- Politics
- History
- Federal
-  NY
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
-  Communications
- Funds
-  Children
-  Transportation
- 2008
Election
"McCain
To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own."
... "It doesn’t really come as a surprise to those of us who have watched
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain over the
years that he's about to make a campaign
stop in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Gustav hits this week.
After all, he's been exploiting the troops for years, what's a few hurricane
victims after that?" ... "What does seem odd is that McCain thinks Gulf
Coast residents will forget how he, [Republican President] George W. Bush
and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times
in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005." ... "Too bad he
spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every
Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated
investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster
response so thoroughly." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic Vice Presidential
nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in
the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt.
1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina.""
... "Biden's legislation would have provided many things including money
to purchase interoperable communications equipment to help first-responders
dealing with the disaster, $10 million "to find, unite, and transport children
impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their parents, legal guardian, or next
of kin" and funding to assist victims of domestic violence in affected
areas." ... "But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot
down the funding on a 41-56
vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential
nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding." ... "When [New York Democratic]
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY[ Democratic-New York]) proposed the creation
of a Congressional Commission to "examine the Federal, State, and local
response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate
corrective measures to improve such responses in the future," John McCain
was once again exactly where [Republican President] George W. Bush wanted
him to be: On the "nay" side of a straight party-line vote (44-54)
that killed that legislation." ... "And lest you think it was McCain taking
a stand against what might become a Democratic witch hunt on the failures
of his bosses in the White House, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan
panel, stating
specifically of the 10-member group that "not more than 5 members of
the Commission shall be from the same political party."" ... "Unlike McCain,
Barack Obama was one of the cosponsors of that bill and both he and Biden
voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response." ... "But
that's not all." -By Bob
Geiger
20080806
Hillary
Rodham Clinton -  Dick
Cheney - Halliburton
KBR -  Blackwater
- Corporate
- Government
- Disaster
- Politics
-  Military
-  Peoples
- Health
- Investigators
- Hurricane
Katrina -  Housing
- US
-  Iraq
-  Cayman
Islands
"No
Crisis Is Immune From Exploitation Under Bush." ...
[By
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:] "Tucked away on the Cayman Islands sits Ugland
House, an unassuming, nondescript building of modest scale and size. However,
according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO),
this five-story office building is home to more than 18,000 corporate entities,
nearly half of which have U.S. [United States] ties." ... "In the past
few years, the number of corporations flocking to places like the Cayman
Islands to evade U.S. taxes has exploded. One of these companies, [Republican
Vice President Dick Cheney's] former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, has used
offshore tax havens to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in
federal taxes. To no one's surprise, instead of cracking down on KBR, the
[Republican President] Bush administration has rewarded the company in
April of this year with a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq." ...
"There appears to be no crisis, tragedy or disaster immune from exploitation
under the Bush administration. The examples of the waste, fraud and abuse
are legion -- from KBR performing shoddy electrical work in Iraq that has
resulted in the electrocution of our military personnel according to Pentagon
and Congressional investigators, to the firing of an Army official who
dared to refuse a $1 billion payout for questionable charges to the same
company. In another scam, the Pentagon awarded a $300 million contract
to AEY, Inc. [Incorporated], a company run by a 22-year-old who fulfilled
an ammunition deal in Afghanistan by supplying rotting Chinese-made munitions
to our allies." ... "But the fraud and waste are not limited to the war.
In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, for example, FEMA [Federal Emergency
Management Agency] awarded a contract worth more than $500 million for
trailers to serve as temporary housing. The contractor, Gulf Stream, collected
all of its money even though they knew at the time that its trailers were
contaminated with formaldehyde." ... "While touting fiscal responsibility,
[Republican] President Bush and his administration have lined the pockets
of political cronies like Halliburton and Blackwater. While calling for
earmark reform, the president has allowed no-bid and questionable contracting
throughout the federal government to dwarf earmark spending by a 10-to-1
ratio." -By Hillary Rodham Clinton
-WSJ.com
20080728
 Jim
Adkisson - People
- Emergency
- Church
-  Terrorism
- Politics
- Police
- Law
-  Tennessee
"Witnesses
recall Knoxville church shooting horror: ‘He had
gun leveled in our direction,’ says man who helped stop rampage." ... "Jamie
Parkey thought the blast that ripped through the sanctuary of the Tennessee
Valley Unitarian Universalist Church was part of the play his daughter
and other children were putting on. Then he saw blood on another parishioner
behind him and saw a man with a 12-gauge shotgun calmly firing away at
the congregation." ... "“He had the gun leveled in our direction,” Parkey
told TODAY’s Matt Lauer on Monday, one day after the gunman killed two
church members and wounded six others before being wrestled to the ground
by parishioners. “That’s when I pushed my mother and daughter to the floor
and got under the pew. When I saw the men rushing him was when I got up
to join them.”" ... "Parkey was one of the people who tackled 58-year-old
Jim D. Adkisson, kicking the shotgun away and holding the gunman on the
floor with an arm-bar hold. Parkey’s 16-year-old daughter was in the play,
and he had been sitting in the front of the church with his mother and
his 6-year-old daughter when the attack began." ... "“For the situation,
everyone responded phenomenally,” Parkey said. “June and Kevin Spooner
mobilized and got the kids out the back.” Vicki Masters, the director of
the play the children had been rehearsing for all summer, yelled for people
to get out of the building. Another woman ushered children to the Presbyterian
church next door after the gunman was subdued." ... "“Everybody did exactly
what they needed to do,” Broyles added. “There was very little panic, very
little screaming or hysteria. It’s a remarkable congregation of people.
I’ve never seen such a loving response to such an overwhelming tragedy.”"
... "Adkisson is being held in lieu of $1 million bail while local police,
with the assistance of FBI agents, gather evidence and search his home
in a neighboring town. Police say they found a letter in Adkisson’s car
which said that he planned the attack, that he couldn’t find a job, and
“stated his hatred for the liberal movement.”" -By
Mike Celizic -TODAYShow.com
-MSNBC
20080619
John
McCain - Barack
Obama -  Iowa
-  Flood
- Disaster
- Law
- Enforcement
- 2008
Election
"Culver
aides: McCain ignored request to cancel Iowa visit."
... "An aide to [Iowa Democratic Governor] Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday
that [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored
the governor's request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood
recovery effort in the state." ... "Patrick Dillon, Culver's chief of staff,
said the governor was concerned that McCain's trip would divert local law
enforcement from the flood recovery effort to provide security for McCain."
... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama canceled
a scheduled visit to eastern Iowa last week at the request of state officials."
-By Mike Glover -AP
via -Google
Disaster
-  Environment
- Human
-  Agriculture
-  Land
-  Science
- Iowa
- History
- Weather
"Iowa
Flooding Could Be An Act of Man, Experts Say." ...
"[Cedar Falls, Iowa college professor and City Council member Kamyar] Enshayan,
director of an environmental center at the University of Northern Iowa,
suspects that this natural disaster wasn't really all that natural. He
points out that the heavy rains fell on a landscape radically reengineered
by humans. Plowed fields have replaced tallgrass prairies. Fields have
been meticulously drained with underground pipes. Streams and creeks have
been straightened. Most of the wetlands are gone. Flood plains have been
filled and developed." ... ""We've done numerous things to the landscape
that took away these water-absorbing functions," he said. "Agriculture
must respect the limits of nature."" ... "Officials are still trying to
understand all the factors that contributed to Iowa's flooding, and not
everyone has the same suspicions as Enshayan. For them, the cause was obvious:
It rained buckets and buckets for days on end. They say the changes in
land use were lesser factors in what was really just a case of meteorological
bad luck." ... "But some Iowans who study the environment suspect that
changes in the land, both recently and over the past century or so, have
made Iowa's terrain not only highly profitable but also highly vulnerable
to flooding." ... "" (1, 2)
-By Joel Achenbach with contributions by Kari Lydersen
-WashingtonPost
20080614
Flood
- Iowa
- Des-Moines
-  Illinois
- History
-Health
"Thousands
Flee Rising Waters In Iowa, Ill.: Breaking Levees
Flood Des Moines [Iowa's capital], Western Ill. [Illinois]; Streets In
Cedar Rapids [Iowa] May Be Underwater For Two Weeks." ... "Days after it
rose out of its banks on its way to record flooding in Cedar Rapids, the
Cedar River has forced at least 24,000 people from their homes, emergency
officials said Saturday." ... "The bleak news came as swollen rivers breached
levees in the state capital, Des Moines, and in far western Illinois, leading
to the evacuation of hundreds more homes." ... "Officials guess it will
be four days before the Cedar River drops enough for workers to even begin
pumping out water that has submerged at least 438 blocks, threatened the
Cedar Rapids drinking water supply and forced the evacuation of a downtown
hospital." ... "The Cedar River crested Friday night at nearly 32 feet,
12 feet higher than the old record set in 1929." (1, 2)
-AP -CBSNews
20080518
-
WATCH
- John
McCain
- Iraq
- Military
- Disaster
- Hurricane
Katrina - New
Orleans - Louisiana
- US
- Economy
- Politics
- Author
-
-  Media
- 2008
Election - "McCain's
YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare." [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain]
[John
McCain]
[YouTube
Video]
"According
to Cliff Schecter, author of The
Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't:
"It is dangerous for a democracy when a presidential candidate can lie
with impunity, change positions on a whim, and physically and verbally
threaten others and virtually none of it is reported by a besotted media
eagerly awaiting the next moment when he might slap their backs in friendship."
-TheRealMcCain.com -BraveNewFilms.org
20080511
-
John
McCain - DCI
Group -
 Burma
(Myanmar) - Military
- Money
- Politics
- People
- Human
Rights - Weather
- Disaster
- Arizona
- US
- 2008
Election - "Two
McCain Aides With Ties to Burma Junta Resign." ...
"ABC News’ Jan Simmonds reports: Two of [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain' campaign aides resigned
this weekend after media reports brought to light their ties to a lobbying
group [DCI group] that once represented the military junta of Burma, which
the regime calls Myanmar." ... "The aides, Douglas Goodyear, who was tapped
as the GOP Convention Coordinator, and Doug Davenport, a regional manager
focusing on the mid-Atlantic states, both worked for DCI. The firm was
hired in 2002 to represent Burma’s military junta to try to begin a dialogue
of political reconciliation with the United States." ... "The Burmese government
has been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human rights
record and has in recent days aroused an international outcry for its handling
of the relief efforts in wake of a cyclone that according Oxfam [charity]
could eventually claim 1.5 million lives if food, clean water and medical
supplies are not rushed in to the devastated region. Relief agencies and
governments that have offered assistance, including the United States,
say the regime has frustrated their attempts to help the survivors of the
disaster, tying up visa applications for aide workers in bureaucratic red
tape and not allowing shipments of food and medical supplies into the country."
-ABCNEWS.com
20080502
-
 Stephen
Johnson - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Fetal
- Human
- Health
- Science
- Environmental
-  Safety
- Enforcement
- Emergency
-  Wildlife
- Soil
- Water
- Law
- Manufacturing
- History
-  Michigan
- Illinois
- "EPA's
top Midwest regulator forced out: Mary Gade, based
in Chicago [Illinois], says [Republican President] Bush administration
made her quit over Dow Chemical case." ... "The Bush administration forced
its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to quit Thursday after months
of internal bickering about dioxin contamination downstream from Dow Chemical's
world headquarters in Michigan." ... "In an interview with the [Chicago]
Tribune, Mary Gade said two top officials at the U.S. [United States] Environmental
Protection Agency headquarters in Washington stripped her of her powers
as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1."
... "Gade said she had told the agency she would resign her position, based
in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "For the past year, Gade has been locked in
a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated
soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich. [Michigan],
plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron." ... "Gade, a former corporate attorney
appointed by Bush in September 2006, invoked emergency powers last year
to force Dow to clean up four hot spots of dioxin, including the largest
amount of the cancer-causing chemical ever recorded in the United States."
... "In January, Dow urged officials at the EPA's [Environmental Protection
Agency's] headquarters to intervene after Gade broke off negotiations intended
to renew the terms for a more comprehensive cleanup. Neither side would
reveal details, citing confidentiality agreements, but Gade said Dow resisted
taking steps needed to protect human health and wildlife." ... "Though
regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental
laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she
sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw [Michigan] neighborhood where
Dow had found high dioxin levels." ... "She said top lieutenants to Stephen
Johnson, the national EPA administrator, repeatedly questioned her aggressive
action against Dow, which long ago acknowledged it is responsible for the
dioxin contamination but has resisted federal and state involvement in
cleanup plans." ... "Dow dumped dioxin-contaminated waste into the waterways
for most of the last century. The chemical, which is so toxic that it is
measured in trillionths of a gram, was a manufacturing byproduct of the
Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange and other chlorinated herbicides." ...
"Company documents show Dow knew by the mid-1960s that it could make people
sick or even kill them." ... "Citing years of independent studies, the
EPA says dioxin can cause cancer, disrupt the immune system and alter fetal
development." ... ""We have a responsibility to make sure people are living
in a healthy and safe environment," Gade said. "This problem has been out
there for more than 30 years, and it's unconscionable that action hasn't
been taken."" (1, 2)
-By Michael Hawthorne
-ChicagoTribune
20080414
-
Emergency
- Economy
- Politics
-
 Haiti
-  Bangladesh
-  Egypt
- United
States - World
- Poor
- People
- Historical
- 
- Children
- Health
- Mind
- "Riots,
instability spread as food prices skyrocket." ...
"Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic
foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the
forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global
development said Monday." ... ""This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey
Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute." ... ""The finance
ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's
"American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered
in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries
... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States.""
... "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could
mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty." ... ""The
international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified
by the U.N.'s [United Nations] World Food Programme to meet emergency needs,"
he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and
come up with it now."" ... ""In just two months," Zoellick said in his
speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising
by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely
to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about
half of the daily income of a poor family."" ... "The price of wheat has
jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price
of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend
as much as 75 percent of their income on food." ... ""This is not just
about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about
lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted
intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said."
-CNN
20080331
-
Government
-
 Food
- People
- Families
- Poverty
- Disasters
-  Fuel
- Prices
- Politics
- History
- "As
Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record."
... "Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices,
the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28
million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began
in the 1960s." ... "The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty
incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member,
has fluctuated over the years along with economic conditions, eligibility
rules, enlistment drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina,
which led to a spike in the South." ... "But recent rises in many states
appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and
experts say, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more
families feeling pinched. Citing expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional
Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly
number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million,
up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007." ... "The percentage
of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a recession in the
1990s, but actual numbers are expected to be higher this year." -By
Erik
Eckholm -NYTimes
-
Food
- Crisis
- World
- People
- Farmers
- Land
- Fuel
- Money
- Politics
- History
- Weather
- Drought
-
 China
- UN
- "Tensions
rise as world faces short rations." ... "Food prices
are soaring, a wealthier Asia is demanding better food and farmers can't
keep up. In short, the world faces a food crisis and in some places it's
already boiling over." ... "Around the globe, people are protesting and
governments are responding with often counterproductive controls on prices
and exports -- a new politics of scarcity in which ensuring food supplies
is becoming a major challenge for the 21st century." ... "Plundered by
severe weather in producing countries and by a boom in demand from fast-developing
nations, the world's wheat stocks are at 30-year lows. Grain prices have
been on the rise for five years, ending decades of cheap food." ... "Drought,
a declining dollar, a shift of investment money into commodities and use
of farm land to grow fuel have all contributed to food woes. But population
growth and the growing wealth of China and other emerging countries are
likely to be more enduring factors." ... "World population is set to hit
9 billion by 2050, and most of the extra 2.5 billion people will live in
the developing world. It is in these countries that the population is demanding
dairy and meat, which require more land to produce." ... "In 2007 alone,
according to the U.N. [United Nations] Food and Agriculture Organization's
world food index, dairy prices rose nearly 80 percent and grain 42 percent."
[see also: Agflation]
(1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-By Russell Blinch and Brian Love with contributions
by Ayesha Rascoe, Missy Ryan, Alistair Thomson, Ho Binh Minh and Eddie
Evans -Reuters
20080219
-
Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Hurricane
Katrina - Flood
- Disaster
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
-
 University
- Homes
- "Supreme
Court rejects Katrina victims' flood insurance case."
... "The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to offer help to Hurricane Katrina
victims who want their insurance companies to pay for flood damage to their
homes and businesses." ... "The justices rejected appeals from Xavier University
[in New Orleans, Louisiana] and 68 other individuals and businesses seeking
to allow their lawsuits against the insurers to go forward."
-AssociatedPress
20080214
-
Peoples
- Housing
- Safety
- Emergency
- Politics
- Government
- Science
- Investigators
- Censorship
- Hurricane
Katrina - Hurricane
Rita - Weather
- "CDC
Confirms Health Risks to Occupants of Trailers."
... "Federal health officials have confirmed that high levels of formaldehyde
gas pose health risks to hurricane victims housed in 38,000 government
trailers on the Gulf Coast, and will recommend that occupants be moved
before temperatures rise this spring and summer, [Republican President]
Bush administration officials disclosed yesterday." ... "The findings cap
nearly two years of internal government deliberation over the housing of
hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors in the trailers, and come 23 months
after FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency ] first received reports
of health problems and test results showing formaldehyde levels at 75 times
the U.S.[United States]-recommended workplace safety threshold." ... "[Mississippi
Democratic Representative] Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of
the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized what he depicted as the
[Repblican President] Bush administration's tardy response." ... "FEMA
announced plans in July to test the occupied trailers after congressional
investigators accused it of suppressing internal warnings about the problem.
Testing finally began in late December." -By Spencer
S. Hsu -WashingtonPost
20080206
-
Emergency
- Tennessee
-
 Alabama
-  Kentucky
- |
