Salem-News.com Poverty articles Page 15

Shutdown: How Republicans Are Your Friends

Instead of gnashing your teeth, see the Republicans instead as tools of American progress and help them along.

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Looked at logically, from Canada or Europe, America looks increasingly like an insane asylum run by the inmates. It could even be argued that it’s an asylum for the criminally insane.

This sounds like a harsh judgment, but the evidence is irrefutable (about which more in a moment). Republicans are not the actual inmates, but it is the inmates themselves who elect Republicans to govern—supposedly in the inmate’s interests.

Democracy is a Verb

We still have a lot of work to do as we try to move closer to that "more perfect union" cited in our Constitution.

(PHOENIX, Az.) - Democracy is a verb, not a noun. It’s an active condition, not merely a state of existence. A journey, and not a destination.

Since February 11, I’ve kept these words clearly in my mind since I watched the protestors cheering in Cairo, from Tahrir Square, lately dubbed Independence Square, to the Nile River.

A Boehner for the Working Class American

GOP plan to rein the deficit will lower Wages? No thanks.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - “[A] little-noticed economic report distributed by the office House Speaker John Boehner last week…predicts that cutting the number of public employees would send highly skilled workers job hunting in the private sector, which in turn would lead to lower labor costs and increased unemployment.

But “lowering labor costs” is economist-speak for lowering wages — does the GOP want to be in the position of advocating for lower wages for voters who work in the private sector?”

Oregon Per Capita Personal Income Continues to Rise

The small decline in 2009, a recession year, was the first time since 1982 that Oregon's total personal income had declined year-over-year.

(SILVERTON, Ore.) - Oregon's per capita personal income in 2010 continued its upward trend, rising 2 percent in inflation-adjusted terms over the past decade despite two recessions, according to the Oregon Center for Public Policy's analysis of preliminary data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

For 2010, Oregon's per capita personal income was $37,095, the BEA said.

A `Revolution of Greens` Needed to Curb Food Price Crisis

Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet team highlights need for innovations in indigenous vegetable production to improve food security and raise incomes in the long term

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - Food prices have soared to record highs and are projected to increase further in the coming decade, pushing millions of people into hunger and fueling political unrest around the world.

The Worldwatch Institute's recently released report shows that diversifying food production can help communities boost their self-sufficiency and protect vulnerable populations from price shocks.

Africa: Faces in Words

New weekly update on the breaking stories in the African nations.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Unseen, unheard; no one should be the bearer of these two words. Unfortunately, Africa is often in the forefront of this association.

Our common humanity should change this; we should never look away because it is too distant. Our commitment to one another, to human rights, and the ability to learn should always keep us connected no matter the severity and complexity of problems.

10 Million Children Die Each Year

Most of these 10 million deaths have origin in roots that can be easily healed and prevented.

(MADRID) - This is how the infant mortality clock functions: 19 children of 5 years or less die each minute; 1,140 each hour; 27,360 each day; 10 million each year. It is estimated that 99 percent out these 10 million deaths take place in developing countries.

According to Save the Children Foundation, it is possible to reduce 60 percent of these deaths by carrying out simple and inexpensive measures. Such measures range from vaccines, oral rehydration, mosquito nets, to access to health care.

The Pirates of the Mediterranean

"We are shot at by Israeli warships almost daily" - Mustafa, a Gaza fisherman

(GAZA) - Government measures on the sea, even if they are illegal, are not an act of piracy, according to international law.

The actions of the Israeli military are not likely to have been considered in the implementation of this law. The cousins Mustafa, 42, Mahmoud, 30, and Hjazi ElLaham, 27, were on the morning of the 19th February 2011, like every morning, fishing with their boat off the coast of Gaza.

McClatchy, the Sacramento Bee, Darrell Steinberg and Islamaphobia

Denying Nazi-Zionist Collusion.

(SACRAMENTO) - In an inversion of journalistic ethics, the Sacramento Bee reported on opposition to an event before and after it took place, but didn’t cover the event itself. It featured an entire report on accusations against a flier, but didn’t include a response from the flier’s authors.

It printed claims by powerful local figures that the flier was “an outrageous lie,” but refused to print information showing that the flier’s statements were factual.

Time to Act Now for the Liberation of Gaza

The Revolution and Palestinian freedom.

(GAZA CITY) - Mubarak may have stepped down, but until the Mubarak era Egyptian blockade of Gaza is shattered, the Egyptian revolution is incomplete.

We must end this Zionist/American imperialist blockade once and for all.