Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/175391004?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Torrent of bad financial news flows out of Europe (AP)
DUBLIN ? Alarming financial news flowed out of Europe in a torrent Friday, just a week after the EU leaders struck a deal they thought would contain the continent's debt crisis.
The bombardment shredded hopes of a lasting solution to the turmoil that is endangering the euro ? the currency used by 17 European nations ? and threatening the entire global economy.
In quick succession:
? The Fitch Ratings agency announced it was considering further cuts to the credit scores of six eurozone nations ? heavyweights Italy and Spain, as well as Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia. It said all six could face downgrades of one or two notches.
? Ireland's economy shrunk again much deeper than had been expected, with its third-quarter gross domestic product falling 1.9 percent. Ireland is one of three eurozone nations kept solvent only by an international bailout.
? Bankers and hedge funds were balking in talks about forgiving 50 percent of Greece's massive debts, a key issue in the debate over Greece's second rescue bailout.
? The red ink in Spain's regional governments surged 22 percent in the last year, endangering the central government's efforts to cut overall Spanish debt.
? France, the second-largest eurozone economy after Germany, warned that it faced at least a temporary recession next year.
? The euro hovered Friday just above $1.30, a cent higher than its 11-month low.
On the positive side, Fitch said France should keep its top AAA credit rating even though the country's debt load is projected to rise through 2014. Italian lawmakers overwhelmingly passed Premier Mario Monti's new austerity package in a confidence vote, even though many still objected to its pension reforms.
French officials and investors had feared that France could get downgraded, which would have immediate repercussions for the entire eurozone. France and Germany's AAA credit ratings underpin the rating for the eurozone's bailout fund.
European Union leaders confirmed Friday they have distributed the text of their proposed new budget-stability treaty, a pact designed to deter runaway deficits and supposed to become EU law by March. But as growth prospects fade across the continent, governments are facing the likelihood that Europe's debt crisis will prove longer and tougher to overcome than even their most recently revised forecasts.
Until this week, EU leaders held up Ireland as the model for how a debt-struck nation should behave ? defying economic gravity by simultaneously growing its economy while sucking billions out of that same economy in Europe's longest austerity drive.
But on Friday, Ireland announced its third-quarter gross domestic product fell 1.9 percent, its national product 2.2 percent. Economists had expected only an 0.5 percent fall for GDP and none at all for GNP. The latter figure is considered a better measure of Ireland's economic vitality because it excludes the largely exported profits of about 600 American companies based in the country.
Ireland has been cutting spending and hiking taxes since late 2008 and has plans to keep doing so through 2015. Next year's target is euro2.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in cuts and euro1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) in extra charges, including a hike in national sales tax to 23 percent and introduction of a new euro100 ($131) tax on every property.
But the country's finances this year are seriously out of whack: It is spending euro57 billion ($74.5 billion), including euro10 billion ($13 billion) to keep its five nationalized banks afloat, but collecting just euro34 billion ($44 billion) in taxes.
Labor union leaders say the unexpected slump confirmed Friday is irrefutable evidence that Ireland's 4.5 million citizens already have been squeezed too much, too quickly.
"Current policies are making recovery almost impossible," said David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. "No economy can sustain the sort of ongoing damage that is being inflicted on us."
"We need growth and we need it quickly," he added.
Ireland's year-old international bailout requires the Irish to reduce their annual deficits from an EU record 32 percent of GDP in 2010 to the traditional eurozone limit of 3 percent by 2015. But analysts agree that Ireland cannot hope to meet the 2015 goal if its economy doesn't grow sufficiently.
Ireland's recovery plan now presumes 1.6 percent growth in 2012 and 2.8 percent growth in each of the next three years ? figures many consider way too optimistic.
Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers in Dublin, said Ireland would "do well" to reach 0.5 percent growth this year "given the deteriorating world economic backdrop and the fall-off in global demand." He said he doubted Ireland could top 1 percent growth next year.
In other developments:
ITALY:
The new premier's austerity package passed 495-88 Friday, but lawmakers on both the left and right criticized the pension reforms as too harsh. The plan raises euro30 billion ($39 billion) in extra taxes and pension reforms and plows about euro10 billion ($13 billion) of that back into growth measures.
Prosecutors in the southern region of Calabria, meanwhile, said they were investigating 10 envelopes with bullets inside found in a post office in the town of Lamezia Terme. The envelopes were addressed to the new leader Monti, his labor minister, former Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top political or media figures, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
Reports said the envelopes contained notes threatening those named if the austerity package wasn't changed.
GREECE:
European officials told The Associated Press that private holders of Greek bonds were resisting EU efforts to persuade them to take a voluntary 50 percent cut in the value of their holdings. The talks in Paris between EU and Greek leaders against representatives of global banks and hedge funds have been very difficult, they said.
The proposed euro100 billion ($130.6 billion) write-off of privately held Greek bonds is supposed to be agreed upon by early next year ? and it's central to Greece's second bailout deal. Without it, Greece's debt is forecast to escalate to nearly 200 percent of GDP.
SPAIN:
A new conservative government committed to increased austerity is coming into office next week, but it faces a rapidly deteriorating financial outlook.
The Bank of Spain announced a 22 percent surge over the past year in the debts of the country's 17 regional governments to euro135.2 billion ($176.6 billion). Spain's central government debt rose 15 percent to above euro706 billion ($922.3 billion).
PORTUGAL:
The main opposition party refused Friday to support the government's plan to amend the constitution to include a budget-deficit limit. All 17 members of the eurozone are supposed to make such commitments as part of the bloc's week-old plan to enshrine spending controls in a new treaty.
In a further worrying development, ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of six leading Portuguese banks to junk status.
Portugal received its own euro80 billion ($104.5 billion) international bailout deal in April.
___
Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed to this report.
___
Online:
Ireland's GDP and GNP, http://bit.ly/vTKjuI
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Verizon's Galaxy Nexus hitting Costco on December 15?
That elusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus is still heading to Verizon, believe it or not, and we may actually be nearing the end of our frustrating quest to get our hands on one. While we're still waiting for an official announcement from Big Red itself, the inaugural Ice Cream Sandwich device has shown up in Costco's internal pricing guides with a starting date of December 15th -- a mere two days away. It's priced at $290 with a two-year commitment, which is exactly the same as what we'd originally heard a month ago. Keep in mind that since Costco is an authorized retailer for Verizon, its release date may vary from the official website and corporate-owned stores; that said, we're sure hoping we can waltz into a store somewhere -- anywhere -- and pick one up this Thursday.
[Thanks, Anonymous]
[Thanks, Anonymous]
Verizon's Galaxy Nexus hitting Costco on December 15? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/sVcCIhNPwEo/
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Aust. Government provides incentive for vaccination
Something that has really gotten to me in the last few years is the rise and rise in volume of the anti-vaccination movement. Particularly in Australia this movement has started to enter the public consciousness and continue to spout their nonsense into the public arena. Worse than that the efforts of groups such as the Australian Vaccination network and Vaccine Information Serving Australia, two known and noted anti-vaccination groups, are increasingly being enabled by the media who approach them for comment on a range of topics resulting in the spread of unsubstantiated claims and miss-information. It is up to scientists and science communicators to then step-in and clean up the mess and the public are left with an argument that seemingly has two sides, yet only one is supported by fact.
In its pursuit of a budget surplus the current Australian government is tightening the belt in a number of areas one of these is in family tax breaks. The current vaccination incentive?scheme is being abolished and instead that $258 is being rolled into a different scheme covering a bunch of other incentives that will result in three payments of $726. To be eligible for those payments the child must be fully vaccinated and so this measure ties full and complete vaccination in with other requirements of good child health as a condition for?receiving?the payments. As it turns out conscientious objectors can be eligible for the payments despite no or incomplete vaccinations by receiving an objection form from a doctor.
Credit: Zaldylmg
This story was covered by a number of reporters in a number of papers and online (ABC, Herald Sun, Nine MSN, Crikey, The Punch,?Sydney Morning Herald, The Age) around the country and all presented the same message, the Government is changing up this measure to act as an incentive to drive up immunization rates. Some pointed out that this has worked before and been used by previous governments (Crikey) and is predicted to save the Government $209 million over four years.
This is good news. This along with heartening little nuggets like 92% and 93% of 12-15 month olds and 24-27 month olds were fully immunised in Australia as of September this year but that doesn?t mean things can?t be turning around, and it?s turning around on my front doorstep.
South Australia repeatedly falls to the bottom of national statistics in vaccination rates and it?s no wonder when the only news article I could find quoting anti-vaccination messages came from my own home state.
?But groups against vaccination have labeled the Federal Government?s latest plan to encourage immunisation a form of bribery.?
Leads the story on AdelaideNow on November 26th.?Nobody else brings the anti-vaccination message in but there it is front and centre.
But that?s not the end of it. In an article about a change in science policy specifically about vaccination there were five quote sources; the Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon who announced the changes, a doctor named Dr. Brendan Shaw who was attributed a generic statement about the virtues and success of vaccines since the 1920?s and three different but widely known anti-vaccination proponents Meryl Dorey, Kathy Scarbourough and Wayne Liebelt.
Before I mention there statements I want to point out that Nicola Roxon was quoted in all articles, as you would expect but she was the only quoted source with the exception of the Byron Shire News which quoted some local doctors for a more local feel. This means that AdelaideNow sought these quotes from the anti-vaccination movement making them all the more culpable.
Kathy Scarburough was paraphrased as saying,
?there had not been enough research into the effects of vaccines which had been shown to contain substances that could harm or kill children.?
Statements like this have been repeatedly made and repeatedly rebuffed. In fact harmless little me wrote a post on this previously trotting out some of the rubbish that gets brought up. Kathy makes no effort to define the substances but does suggest they can kill children and also that,
?After a vaccination you can watch a thriving baby turn into one refusing to suckle and that is devastating.?
These scare tactics would alert even the most casual reader and would be truly terrifying if they were at all based in fact.
That puddle is spilled vaccines. Be afraid, be very afraid. Credit: Sookie
I searched but could find no reliable source for this information. In fact the only thing I did find was an article that suggests the fever spike commonly associated with some vaccines can be prevented or lowered by breastfeeding. That?s as close as I could find to Kathy?s statement.
Next was the infamous Meryl Dorey, president of the AVN which has the dubious honour of a Health Care Complaints Commission order stating that, despite their non-compliance, they must place a disclaimer on their website identifying themselves as primarily anti-vaccination ? irrespective of there reasons for being so and that nothing on their website should be construed as medical advice.
Ms. Dorey was quoted as saying,
?It?s one more attempt by the Government to bribe parents to do something that they may not think is in their best interests?
This is a mild comment for her to say the least for Ms. Dorey who appears to have no faith in science and thinks her experiences trump that of an established medical fact that has existed for 200 years. This measure is not about tricking parents into doing things they do not want to do, its about maintaining a high level of vaccination to protect the community through ?herd immunity? against diseases like whooping cough which kill and have killed recently and will continue to do so as long as people act on her ridiculous anti-science arguments.
Finally naturopath and anti-vaccination advocate Wayne Liebelt adds,
?I chose not to vaccinate and I chose to use nature to treat my children?s and my own illnesses because I strongly believe in the healing power of nature.?
Such a profoundly bland and senseless statement that indicates an ignorance of medical science, infectious disease, vaccination, immunology and nature itself.
Naturopath a.k.a. the sound a duck makes. Credit: Paul Friel
VISA and the AVN will continue to push their own agendas forward, selling books, magazines and woo, and scientists and doctors will continue to do life saving research in infectious disease prevention. All I can hope is that ?news?papers like the Adelaide Advertiser step up and do their jobs, report the facts not fiction, tell the story not the sensation and be truth-tellers and not platforms for unsubstantiated, poisonous and dangerous peddlers of misinformation, especially when peoples, children?s, lives are at stake.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1845d5fc97258f5a3626ba01f8a41976
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Friday, December 2, 2011
Jennifer Grayson: Eco Etiquette: How To Have A Zero Waste Holiday Season
Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.
Any tips for how to reduce waste over the holidays? Despite my best eco efforts, I can't seem to put a stop to all the useless gifts, disposable decorations, piles of wrapping paper, etc.
-Claudia
If your garbage can is already feeling fuller than usual, you're not alone: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, American household waste increases an astounding 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, or an extra 1 million tons each year. That's an awful lot of trash for the sake of good tidings.
And that number may be higher this holiday season. Despite the down economy, Americans are still buying, buying, buying: This past Cyber Monday was the heaviest online shopping day of all time, with $1.25 billion spent.
While Ms. Eco Etiquette personally tries her best not to cave in to all the consumerism, admittedly even she has a hard time keeping her trash can lean and clean this time of year. (Maybe she's too polite to tell well-meaning gift-givers no?)
So this year, I'm calling for outside help. Meet Bea Johnson, author of The Zero Waste Home blog. She, her husband and two sons live in a lovely home in Marin County, Calif., like any other stylish American family, save for one caveat: The amount of trash they produce in a year can fit in a quart-size jar. (Don't believe me? Watch this video.)
That doesn't mean they're short on holiday fun, though, as I learned when I spoke with Bea before the Thanksgiving break. She says it's possible to not only trim the holiday waste, but eliminate it altogether. Read, then get inspired to start some Zero Waste traditions of your own.
Jennifer Grayson: First off, I have to tell you I'm a fan of your blog. My family and I recently had to move to smaller temporary housing, and we put a lot of our belongings in storage and sold the rest. We're kind of loving it. It's very freeing to not have so much stuff around.
Bea Johnson: You know, that's how Zero Waste started for us, because we also moved from a large home to a small one; in between we lived in an apartment, had to put our stuff in storage and loved living with less. Once we did find a house that was small, we were like, OK, we need to get rid of all that stuff we had.
JG: So speaking of all that stuff: How does the Zero Waste Home avoid it over the holidays? What are your plans this year?
BJ: This year, we're going to Hawaii for Christmas. The kids don't know about it yet, but it's going to be all paid for by renting out our house.
JG: Spoiler alert. I hope your kids aren't reading this.
BJ: It's really easy for us to rent out our home, since we live so simply -- it's 15 minutes to clear the house of our personal belongings. We each have a carry-on; we open our carry-on, the whole closet fits in the carry-on, and then we're out of there. That's how we paid for our trip to France this past summer.
JG: Wow. Most people wouldn't be able to do that because it would take weeks to pack everything up. So fabulous as that sounds, do your kids get actual presents, too? Or do you just give experiences?
BJ: This year, it's going to be all experiences because in Hawaii, we'll probably also get them a snorkeling or mountain bike excursion. Last year, I gave the kids a subscription to a monthly surprise family activity [SFA] where we do something fun we've never done before. They really enjoyed it -- it's the Christmas present that keeps on giving.
JG: It sounds like they've really embraced the Zero Waste lifestyle, even during the holidays.
BJ: At first, it was an adjustment. The holiday season has become a competition with the other kids. You know your kids are going to go back to school and they'll be comparing presents, so you think you need to have a well stocked tree. But our kids are fine with it; last year, they each asked for only one present, and we didn't ask them to do that.
JG: For us, the biggest challenge is our very generous extended family. We have a 15-month-old daughter, and the presents just keep coming.
BJ: This is where you have to be super proactive. Send an email ahead of time to let your loved ones know you're happy with what you have, you don't need anything else, and you would rather the grandparents take the money they'd spend on toys and come visit you so you can spend time together. Time, to me, is more valuable than anything.
JG: Dear Family, please stop showering our daughter with toys... Yikes, I don't know if I can do that.
BJ: It helps to give really concrete ideas, otherwise people get kind of lost because they're so used to buying stuff. We always say movie tickets or a bowling pass, or a gift certificate to a local ice cream shop.
JG: So for our little one, maybe toddler music classes or a gift certificate to a local indoor play space?
BJ: Exactly.
JG: OK, Bea -- you've inspired me. I'm off to write that email...
Want more tips for a Zero Waste holiday season? Part II of my interview with Bea Johnson covers edible holiday decorations, slashing your budget by nearly half and how to re-gift like a pro. Check back here next week!
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Follow Jennifer Grayson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jennigrayson
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-grayson/eco-etiquette-how-to-have_b_1119932.html
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