18 April 2008
News and Comments - 04/18/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
A DAY WITHOUT SUNSHINE IS LIKE,… NIGHT.
14 Comments so far...
Jesse Says:
18 April 2008 at 12:26 am.
Hunger in Haiti increasing rapidly
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Hunger bashed in the front gate of Haiti’s presidential palace. Hunger poured onto the streets, burning tires and taking on soldiers and police. Hunger sent the country’s prime minister packing.
Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples such as beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.
Saint Louis Meriska’s children ate two spoonfuls of rice apiece as their only meal two days ago and then went without any food the following day. His eyes downcast, his own stomach empty, the unemployed father said forlornly, “They look at me and say, ‘Papa, I’m hungry,’ and I have to look away. It’s humiliating and it makes you angry.”
That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis not only is being felt among the poor, but also is eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments.
In Cairo, the military is being put to work baking bread as rising food prices threaten to become the spark that ignites wider anger at a repressive government. In Burkina Faso and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food riots are breaking out like never before. And in reasonably prosperous Malaysia, the ruling coalition was nearly ousted by disgruntled voters who cited food and fuel hikes as their primary concerns.
“It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years,” said Jeffrey Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki Moon. “It’s a big deal, and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes and I think there’s more political fallout to come.”
Indeed, as it roils developing nations, the spike in commodity prices - the biggest since the administration of Richard Nixon - has pitted the globe’s poorer south against the relatively wealthy north, adding to demands for reform of rich nations’ farm and environmental policies.
“This is a perfect storm,” President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Cancún, Mexico. “How long can we withstand the situation? We have to feed our people and commodities are becoming scarce. This scandalous storm might become a hurricane that could upset not only our economies, but also the stability of our countries.”
In Asia, if Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia steps down, which is looking increasingly likely amid post-election turmoil within his party, he may be that region’s first high-profile political victim of fuel and food price inflation.
In Indonesia, fearing protests, the government recently revised its 2008 budget, increasing the amount it will spend on food subsidies by 2.7 trillion rupiah, or about $280 million.
“The biggest concern is food riots,” said H.S. Dillon, a former adviser to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture. Referring to small but widespread protests sparked by a rise in soybean prices in January, he said, “It has happened in the past and can happen again.”
Cameron Says:
18 April 2008 at 6:25 am.
Ongoing nomination fight hurting Clinton more than Obama
By CHARLES BABINGTON and TREVOR TOMPSON, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a dramatic reversal, an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll found that a clear majority of Democratic voters now say Sen. Barack Obama has a better chance of defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in November than Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
While Obama and Clinton are both sustaining dents and dings from their lengthy presidential fight, the former first lady is clearly suffering more. Democratic voters no longer see her as the party’s strongest contender for the White House.
Voters of all types have gotten a better sense of Obama, who was an obscure Illinois legislator just four years ago. As more people moved from the “I don’t know him” category in the AP-Yahoo! News poll, more rated Obama as inexperienced, unethical and dishonest. And 15 percent erroneously think he’s a Muslim, thanks in part to disinformation widely spread on the Internet.
But Obama’s positive ratings have climbed as well, while Clinton — widely known since the early 1990s — has been less able to change people’s views of her. And when those views have shifted, it has hurt her more than helped.
The New York senator’s ratings for being honest, likable, ethical and refreshing have fallen since January, and Obama scores higher than she does in all those categories.
Gains and Losses. Who has the best chance to win?
In late January, before Obama scored 11 straight primary and caucus victories, 56 percent of Democrats saw Clinton as the stronger nominee, compared to 33 percent for Obama. Now, Obama leads on that question, 56 to 43 percent.
Still, the poll, conducted by Knowledge Networks, contains some worrisome signs for the first-term senator. Those rating him as “not at all honest,” for example, jumped from 18 percent last fall to 27 percent in April. It came as he was put on the defensive over incendiary comments by his former pastor. But many holding such views are Republicans or conservative independents, who would be unlikely to vote in a Democratic primary or support a Democrat in the fall, anyway.
The most encouraging sign for Obama is that many Democrats who previously saw Clinton as their party’s best hope now give him that role. About one-third of them still prefer Clinton, but they have lost confidence in her electability.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-gains
Mac Says:
18 April 2008 at 9:56 am.
I really thought Hillary had a chance to come back and win because the Clintons just do that. Now it is starting to look like that would hardly be possible. Weird, I thought the Clinton Machine was so mafia like that they could twist all the arms they needed and get the job done.
Angela Rogin Says:
18 April 2008 at 10:04 am.
I was hoping the world hunger situation was getting better since we haven’t heard anything about it but according to that article it is getting worse. Why isn’t it on the news? This is huge. No, don’t answer that, I know. Wall Street jitters. We have to live in a world of make believe so everything runs smoothly.
Mac, those were my thoughts too. At least Hillary will wear an American flag lapel pin. Barack did two days ago because a disabled vet asked him to but he took it off the next day. What a schmuck.
Sid Says:
18 April 2008 at 10:18 am.
Angela, your make believing so things run smoothly is how I use to parent my kids when they were young until I realized I was just deluding myself. Sometimes reality shoved into my face with bloody noses, broken lamps and complaining teachers so I took a parenting class and learned to raise them instead of hiding away while they grew up. The consequences of non-action are always worse than facing what is really honestly and dealing with it.
Benjamin Says:
18 April 2008 at 10:45 am.
What is happening on Wall Street doesn’t seem to reflect the real situation. I worry about people who will be hurt because their investments are for their retirement or kids’ college fund. Everything I am reading suggests the data isn’t there to support the numbers.
Anon88 Says:
18 April 2008 at 11:25 am.
Do me a favor guys, go see Ben Stein in “Expelled”. I am so excited for this movie. My dept. chair asked me if I was going to see it and I acted disinterested and gave a noncommittal answer. We’re going tonight.
E.E. Says:
18 April 2008 at 11:33 am.
Let us know what you think, Professor.
I pulled a little info about the movie:
“Expelled” calls attention to the plight of highly credentialed scholars who have been forced out of prestigious academic positions because they proposed Intelligent Design as a possible alternative to Charles Darwin’s 150-year-old theories about the origins of life. Instead of entertaining a debate on the merits of competing theories, the scientific establishment has moved to suppress the ID movement in a “systematic and ruthless” way at odds with America’s principles, the film asserts.
“It’s (EXPELLED) going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant –– which means they’re going to draw in about 90% of the American market.”
-Atheist blogger and fabulist PZ Myers, on a film he has not yet seen.
Matt Says:
18 April 2008 at 11:42 am.
Public’s View of Economy Takes Fast Turn Downward
The public’s ratings of the national economy continue to sour, with assessments deteriorating faster than at any point in Washington Post-ABC News polling. Views on the Iraq war have also turned more negative, with six in 10 now rejecting the notion that the United States needs to win there to effectively battle terrorism.
The economy and the Iraq war are the top two issues on voters’ minds, according to the new Post-ABC poll, and worsening opinions of both may dampen GOP hopes for the November elections.
Nine in 10 Americans now give the economy a negative rating, with a majority saying it is in “poor” shape, the most to say so in more than 15 years. And the sense that things are bad has spread swiftly. The percentage who hold a negative view of the economy is up 33 points over the past year, and the percentage who rate the economy “poor” has increased 13 points in the past two months. That is the quickest 60-day decline since The Post and ABC started asking the question, in 1985.
Pickles Says:
18 April 2008 at 11:49 am.
See the movie trailer for Expelled: http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php
Christians should all support this movie. We have a voice, we need to use it with our money. It’s like a vote.
Hey cute intro on News and Comments.
T. Fan Says:
18 April 2008 at 1:37 pm.
If you go to the bottom of the blog you can see the last people who commented. If you click on their name it takes you to the thread where they wrote. I like to do that. I look for Stumpy usually but he is apparently taking a vacation lately. Anyway, I clicked on Sbounty and found him/her on the “Shame on Texas” blog. Although I agree with his/her general idea that these polygamous kids should not be forced into early marriages, I don’t like the hate that is being directed at the mothers. This emotional backlash is going to destroy those people.
Cavetrollhead Says:
18 April 2008 at 4:42 pm.
Police in Colorado Springs have arrested a woman for investigation of making a false report to authorities that may be connected to the Fundamentalist LDS Church’s raid on the YFZ Ranch in Texas.
The woman allegedly has a history of making calls while pretending to be a young girl.
Rozita Swinton, 33, was arrested on a warrant charging her with false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor, the Colorado Springs Police Department confirmed in a brief statement issued late Thursday. Swinton was arrested at her home on Wednesday in connection with an incident that occurred in Colorado Springs in February, police said.
“The Texas Rangers were in Colorado Springs (Wednesday) as part of their investigation involving the compound in Texas. They left and have not filed any charges on Rozita Swinton as of this time,” Colorado Springs police said.
Colorado Springs police refused to release any other details, saying that the affidavit for the arrest warrant is sealed.
The El Paso County Jail said Swinton posted $20,000 bail and was released.
It is unclear how Swinton is connected to the phone call that sparked the raid on the FLDS Church’s Yearning for Zion Ranch two weeks ago.
Jesse Says:
18 April 2008 at 5:07 pm.
Cave, I read what you posted and went and looked at different national news sources. This is such a huge story you would think we would be seeing this. All I found was more like what I just posted below. Instead of trying to be fair and impartial, the MSM is showing one side to the story and not only that, they are coloring it. In every article lately they call the group “renegade Mormons”. They are accusing them of indoctrinating and sure that has to be going on but how far will they take this? Will it become grounds to take away kids if the court can prove indoctrination? Will our non-Christian relatives and neighbors eventually be able to call child services and report us for indoctrinating our kids if we read the Bible together and go to church and bless the food? What people don’t understand who are so upset over this is that it will get out of hand. It won’t stay with the FLDS.
Texas polygamist sect is accused of indoctrinating girls
SAN ANGELO, Texas - Girls in the West Texas polygamist sect enter into underage marriages without resistance because they are ruthlessly indoctrinated from birth to believe disobedience will lead to their damnation, experts for the state testified Friday at a custody hearing for 416 youngsters.
The renegade Mormon sect’s belief system “is abusive. The culture is very authoritarian,” said Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist and an authority on children in cults.
But under questioning from defense lawyers who lined up in the courtroom aisles to have a turn at each witness, the state’s experts acknowledged that the sect mothers were loving parents and that there were no signs of abuse among younger girls and any of the boys.
Ghost Says:
18 April 2008 at 6:36 pm.
The state is going to try everything they can to support their actions in taking away these kids. We have seen this again and again. We know it happens and in this situation, with a strange religion and a Constitution already part way shredded, there is no doubt about it. They already said they want to put them in foster care even before the trial. Wrong!
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