Why Concerned People Must Take Action
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Today On The World History Timeline
July 31, Day 212 of the year 2011
"Why Concerned People Must Take Action"
by Jerry Waxman
In Afghanistan, an American soldier asks if he will be paid - if his family will receive benefits - if the U.S. government defaults on its loans. He gets no positive answer from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs. What if the question were reversed? What if the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, as well as all congressmen and senators, and all cabinet personnel wondered about the fate of their paychecks? Would the lawmakers change their behavior and their rhetoric if they were directly affected?
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The answer is "maybe." A recent study shows that the median wealth of members of Congress is well above average. Their lives do not depend upon their paychecks, as do the lives of the vast majority of the people they represent. The wealth gap between ordinary people and their political leaders may account not only for the reckless behavior of the leaders. It may also account for their apparent lack of concern for the welfare of the people of this planet. People who are genuinely concerned need to act on their own.
The ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa has only just been noticed by the African Union. Its reaction is to announce plans for a "pledging summit." Some 11 million people have been directly affected by the drought. It has already been weeks since the U.N. declared the situation a famine - a crisis. And only now do the leaders in Africa decide that the situation warrants their attention to the degree that they will have a get together and "pledge" support for the dying masses. Once again the people of Africa may receive aid from the UN and NGO's, but they cannot rely upon their own governments.
A year after one of the most devastating floods in history, Pakistanis are rebuilding their homes and their lives. With so many left homeless, it is hard blame the Pakistani government for not being able to aid all of them. But the perception amongst those who are most affected is that the government helps the rich and ignores the poor. Regardless of whether this perception is or isn't well-earned, the bottom line is that the masses believe that the only help will come from themselves.
So what does it take? What does it take to get good things done? It takes very little to get destructive wars started, or destructive exploitation of resources. Political leaders and their joint venturers can start wars at the drop of a hat. But to get food and medicine to people in need, it will take concerned people who do not rely on government agencies. It will take masses of concerned people helping other people.
. . .Snapshot 31 July 2011 . . .
. . .Headlines . . .
Somalia famine: African Union calls 'pledging summit' . . .
US parties hopeful for deal on US debt limit . . .
Pakistani Flood Victims Rebuild Their Lives Without Government Assistance . . .
Credit Cards Are New Fad For Chinese . . .
. . .Today's Story . . .
Somalia famine: African Union calls 'pledging summit'
(BBC News) The African Union has announced it is to hold a summit meeting to pledge help for the victims of Somalia's drought.
The statement comes after considerable criticism in the African media of the failure of the continent's leaders to help famine victims across the Horn of Africa.
The AU said the pledging conference would bring together heads of state and international donors.
The United Nations says the famine is spreading across southern Somalia.
The African Union statement was made by its deputy chairman, Erasmus Mwencha, during a visit to the AU peacekeeping mission in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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US parties hopeful for deal on US debt limit (BBC News) Democrats and Republicans have expressed cautious optimism about the chances of raising the US debt limit by Tuesday and averting possible default.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said there was "a level of seriousness with the right people at the table" as talks continued.
Senior Senate Democrat Richard Durbin spoke of "a more positive feeling".
In a sign of the level of anxiety over the issue, troops in Afghanistan asked Adm Mike Mullen if they would be paid.
The admiral, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is on a visit to southern Afghanistan, said he did not know whether that would be the case if the US fails to raise the $14.3tn (£8.7tn) limit by 2 August.
Democrats and Republicans have so far rejected each others' proposals for cutting spending and raising the debt limit.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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Flood Victims Rebuild Their Lives Without Government Assistance (Reuters) - A year after deadly floods swept through the Pakistani town of Nowshera resident Imtiaz Ali is seething with anger as he struggles to rebuild his life with almost no help from the government.
Nowshera was one of the hardest hit towns in Pakistan's mountainous northwest, where flash floods wiped out entire villages leaving behind tangled branches, mud and many thousands of people needing help.
Ali and his family, who has been living in tents since the flood seriously damaged their home, say they have only just got a little assistance.
"We have just received 20,000 rupees ($230) and are building a room to live in," Ali said as his 14-year-old son slopped cement on a wall of the room.
"No politician visited us throughout the year to see how we were living ... They may have gone to influential and rich people and given money to them, but we just got the 20,000 rupees, nothing else."
It's a refrain heard all over Pakistan a year after the floods were triggered by several days of torrential rain over denuded, over-grazed mountains.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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American Farmers Oppose Bill on Immigration (NY Times) Farmers across the country are rallying to fight a Republican-sponsored bill that would force them and all other employers to verify the legal immigration status of their workers, a move some say could imperil not only future harvests but also the agricultural community’s traditional support for conservative candidates.
The bill was proposed by Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. It would require farmers — who have long relied on a labor force of immigrants, a majority here without legal documents — to check all new hires through E-Verify, a federal database run by the Department of Homeland Security devised to ferret out illegal immigrants.
Farm laborers, required like other workers to show that they are authorized to take jobs in the United States, often present Social Security numbers and some form of picture ID. Employers, many of them labor contractors providing crews to farms, have not been required to check the information and are discouraged by antidiscrimination laws from looking at it too closely. But it is an open secret that many farmworkers’ documents are false.
Supporters of E-Verify, an electronic system that is currently mandatory for most federal contractors but voluntary for other employers, argue that it would eliminate any doubt about workers’ legal status. But farmers say it could cripple a $390 billion industry that relies on hundreds of thousands of willing, low-wage immigrant workers to pick, sort and package everything from avocados to zucchini.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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Credit Cards Are New Fad For Chinese (Wash Post)BEIJING — Jin Jitao, an editor at a textbook publishing house, may be the prototype of China’s new urban consumer. Although he had never even heard of credit cards until 2004, he now has 79.
He has a card embossed with his nickname, one with a photo of his family, a pink Barbie card and two with Garfield the cat. He has a card especially for dads and several with Chinese cartoon characters.
“I like beautiful cards,” he said.
In a country that still largely runs on cash and where the idea of saving money seems embedded in the cultural DNA, the use of credit cards and debit cards is skyrocketing.
China issued 230 million new credit cards in 2010, an increase of 24 percent over the previous year, according to the China Banking Association, and the use of plastic for retail sales is up more than 40 percent this year.
It is a growing market that U.S. credit card companies such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover are watching enviously as Americans are tightening their belts.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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Syrian revolt still spontaneous and leaderless (Wash Post) That ordinary Syrians have braved bullets and tanks to take to the streets for 18 consecutive weeks seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad is an indicator of their movement’s resilience. Courage is one quality the protesters do not lack.
Just about every other ingredient that usually goes into building a revolution — organization, strategy or leadership — is still missing, however.
The nationwide uprising that erupted spontaneously on the streets of Syrian cities remains a largely ad hoc affair, inspired by the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, driven by anger and frustration with decades of dictatorship, but lacking a clear direction or structure beyond the unanimous demand that Assad should go.
“This is the purest people’s revolution there ever was,” said a Damascus-based activist who is affiliated with two of the groups engaged in encouraging protests. Leaders are nonexistent, he said, and they wouldn’t be welcomed. “Anyone who puts his head above sea level is taken down,” he said.
As the weeks turn to months with no sign that either side is prepared to give way, the question of how the protesters will translate their momentum into concrete steps to replace the regime — and who will do it — is gaining urgency. The United States and other world powers are increasingly distancing themselves from Assad, while a growing number of think tanks and experts are becoming convinced that his regime will not survive.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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Plain-Spoken Private Life To Plain-Spoken Fame (NY Times) BOGART, Ga. — It was hard not to notice that the stream of tobacco juice spit expertly by Bobby Kirk barely missed the sassy summer sandals on the feet of the New York television producer.
A crew from “The Colbert Report” had traveled from New York to a dirt road here in Georgia to sit on the front porch and talk to Mr. Kirk, the old man in camouflage overalls who has become an unlikely savant of country wisdom.
And it is all because of one simple observation: It’s too hot to fish.
Mr. Kirk, 76, had caught a 40-pound catfish days before, so he knows a little something about when it is and when it isn’t too hot to fish. Over a steamy 90-degree weekend, he shared his Forrest Gump-like observation with a local newspaper reporter looking for a story. “It was no good this morning,” Mr. Kirk grumbled. “I never got a bite. I reckon it was too hot.” v Then, as it does in this digital age, the swirl of fame began. The article got sent around on Twitter and picked up in other local newspapers. A CBS radio affiliate in Atlanta, about an hour west of here, called for an interview, as did the crew from Comedy Central. There was talk of T-shirts and ball caps. A large urban newspaper took interest.
. . . . . See the rest of this story| |
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