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September 13, 2007

Recent News: The 9th to the 16th

 

CORRUPTION UPDATES 114

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1) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited. After the abstract there's analysis and commentary, links to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.

Home sales plunge in August

Prices drop in most Southland ZIP Codes, and the number of sales is the lowest in 15 years for that month.

By Annette Haddad

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

 

Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2007

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homes13sep13,0,2859388.story?coll=la-home-business

 

Home prices fell in most Southern California neighborhoods and the number of sales tumbled to a 15-year low for August -- driven down by tougher lending standards, mounting foreclosures and skittish buyers.

Sales for the month plunged 36% from a year earlier. What's more, 71% of the Southland's ZIP Codes showed price declines, according to figures released Wednesday by DataQuick Information Systems. The survey excluded areas with 14 or fewer sales.

"Prices are falling everywhere," said Christopher Thornberg, a former UCLA business professor who is now a principal at Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics.

In recent years, the housing market had been propped up by the widespread use of home loans with low introductory teaser rates -- allowing prices to outpace income growth, he said. But with those easy-credit loans all but gone, values are coming back into balance.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

LA: The Era of Outrageous Housing Prices Crashing to a Halt

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Also See:

Corruption Updates 103, 1st article on the page, Fed cuts discount rate by 1/2 point: Feds Bailing Out Greedy Speculators

See page 103 for series of abstracts on meltdown

Corruption Updates 114, 1st article on the page, LA: The Era of Outrageous Housing Prices Crashing to a Halt

Corruption Updates 114, 2nd article on the page, SF: The Era of Outrageous Housing Prices Crashing to a Halt

Search the Corruption Database under

Economics

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2) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Bay Area home sales plunge 25%

 

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

Thursday, September 13, 2007

 

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/13/BUAUS5JBI.DTL

(09-13) 14:15 PDT -- Bay Area home sales in August plunged to their lowest level in 15 years, amid a credit crunch that is making it more difficult and expensive for borrowers to take out larger loans.

A total of 7,299 houses and condos changed hands in the nine-county region last month, down 25 percent from 9,713 sales in August of 2006, according to DataQuick, a La Jolla real estate information firm.

The median rose 4 percent to $655,000 in that same period - but represented a slip from the all-time peak of $665,000 in June and July. DataQuick researchers say a slowdown in sales at the entry-level end of the market is helping push the median higher.

In certain sections of the Bay Area, however, it appears higher rates of foreclosures are putting more pressure on prices. In Solano County, the median fell nearly 10 percent in the last year to $420,000.

THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

SF: The Era of Outrageous Housing Prices Crashing to a Halt

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

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Corruption Updates , th article on the page,

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3) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

British Central Bank Critical of Cash Infusions

By CARTER DOUGHERTY

NY Times, September 13, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/business/worldbusiness/13bank.html?

ref=business&pagewanted=print

 

In an unusual public display of discord, the British central bank criticized other central banks yesterday for injecting cash into the financial system to help stabilize credit markets, saying that such a policy amounted to a bailout of investors who made bad decisions.

Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, also hinted that the credit crisis could make further interest rate increases unnecessary — if the recent sharp increase in borrowing costs ended up hurting consumer demand. That, he said, would reduce the prospects of inflation, despite the run-up in the prices of a wide variety of commodities, including crude oil and wheat.

The main thrust of his written testimony to Parliament, however, was a sharp warning about “moral hazard” — a term used to describe the downside of policies that effectively rescue investors when their bets turn out wrong.

“The provision of such liquidity support undermines the efficient pricing of risk by providing ex-post insurance for risky behavior,” Mr. King wrote. “That encourages excessive risk-taking and sows the seeds of a future crisis.”

Over the last month, as investors refused to buy securities backed by potentially shaky American mortgages, the world’s central banks have stepped in to provide short-term lending capability to the financial system.

The European Central Bank, which initiated the effort on Aug. 9, has added 250 billion euros ($348 billion) to the market, and yesterday it continued its effort by lending 75 billion euros ($104 billion) for three months. The Federal Reserve and the Japanese central bank have also added liquidity, and on Aug. 17 the Fed cut the rate at which it lends money directly to banks by a half-point.

But the Bank of England has taken only a modest part in this effort, injecting £4.4 billion ($8.9 billion) into the system since the crisis began a month ago. Instead, it has reminded banks that they can always borrow at a “penalty rate” of one percentage point above a benchmark rate that is now 5.25 percent — a pointed message that those who speculate and lose have to pay some price.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Also See:


Corruption Updates , th article on the page,

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4) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Northern Rock gets bank bail out

The Bank of England has agreed to give emergency financial support to the Northern Rock, one of the UK's largest mortgage lenders, the BBC has learned.

 

Story from BBC NEWS, September 13, 2007;

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/6994099.stm

 

The decision for the Bank of England to become the "lender of last resort" is extremely rare - and comes after consultation with the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority.

However the disclosure is expected to rock financial markets, Mr Peston said.

"Although the firm remains profitable, the fact that it has had to go cap in hand to the Bank is the most tangible sign that the crisis in financial markets is spilling over into businesses that touch most of our lives," he added.

            It is much more exposed than its rivals to this distaste for mortgage debt

 

Robert Peston

BBC Business Editor

 

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, said in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday that the Bank would be prepared to provide emergency loans to a bank that ran into difficulties, so long as those difficulties were the result of temporary market conditions.

"The fact that the Bank of England has been prepared to act as the lender of last resort is an indication that it thinks the problems at Northern Rock are temporary ones," Mr Peston added.

Treasury Select Committee chairman John McFall urged Northern Rock customers not to panic.

"I don't think they should be worried about their current accounts or mortgages," he said.

"The fact that the Bank is willing to act should be reassuring."

The loan would be provided at a penal interest rate, he said, as a recognition that management at the firm were not without blame.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Also See:

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Corruption Updates , th article on the page,

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5) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Compromise on Oil Law in Iraq Seems to Be Collapsing

By JAMES GLANZ

NY Times, September 13, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/world/middleeast/13baghdad.html?ref

=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

 

BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 — A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq’s rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed. The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward reconciliation and a functioning government here.

Senior Iraqi negotiators met in Baghdad on Wednesday in an attempt to salvage the original compromise, two participants said. But the meeting came against the backdrop of a public series of increasingly strident disagreements over the draft law that had broken out in recent days between Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, and officials of the provincial government in the Kurdish north, where some of the nation’s largest fields are located.

Mr. Shahristani, a senior member of the Arab Shiite coalition that controls the federal government, negotiated the compromise with leaders of the Kurdish and Arab Sunni parties. But since then, the Kurds have pressed forward with a regional version of the law that Mr. Shahristani says is illegal. Many of the Sunnis who supported the original deal have also pulled out in recent months.

The legislation has already been presented to the Iraqi Parliament, which has been unable to take virtually any action on it for months. Contributing to the dispute is the decision by the Kurds to begin signing contracts with international oil companies before the federal law is passed. The most recent instance, announced last week on a Kurdish government Web site, was an oil exploration contract with the Hunt Oil Company of Dallas.

The other crucial players are the Sunnis and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. Some members of one of the main Sunni parties, Tawafiq, which insists on federal control of contracts and exclusive state ownership of the fields, bolted when it became convinced that the Kurds had no intention of following those guidelines.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Oil War Fails:

All the Tanks and Violence in the world Cannot Make Bitches out of Free Arabs

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007


Bush Loses Guns, and Losing Chance to Steal Iraq's Oil

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., August 10, 2007

Earlier in the occupation, the Bush Administration "lost" hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq. (8.8 Billion is a figure bandied about.)

Now they have "lost" thousands of automatic weapons. This was not incompetence, although there is plenty of that. This was not merely venal corruption, stealing, although there was plenty of that too. Among the incompetence and corruption there lurks another beast.

Bush is using a big chunk of these "lost" funds and guns to run a secret foreign policy. These funds and guns are probably being used in Ethiopia and Kenya to buy the support of local governments to invade Somalia.

A chunk of the "lost" money and guns have been spread across the middle east, put into the hands of any radical group that hates Shites, and will not openly defy the Saudi King.

What has really been lost and found in Iraq is more important the the billions of dollars that Bush has fucked off. What we lost in Iraq was the delusion that our President, or the system that produced and sustains him, has anything at all to do with democracy, our Constitution, or basic good will and common sense.

But Bush is not alone. He is part of a larger group, Congress, and behind them sits the wealth and power of our corporate aristocracy.

And as the Iraqi poll demonstrated, and the current collapse of the "steal the oil deal," demonstrates, our criminal government has not only lost physical control of Iraq, "lost" billions of dollars in cold cash, "lost" a bunch of weapons, lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis, but now they have lost the oil. What little chance this hair-brained scheme may have had to steal Iraq's oil to give to our oil companies has officially failed.

The only benefit Big Oil will draw from Iraq will continue to be the windfall profits they derive from the instability in oil markets their invasion caused. Big Oil, I mean the United States, will never get control of Iraq or its oil, but Big Oil will profit in either case.

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Also See:

The Oil

Corruption Updates 89, 7th article on the page, CHENEY ENERGY TASK FORCE DOCUMENTS FEATURE MAP OF IRAQI OILFIELDS

Corruption Updates 94, 5th article on the page, Oil Law Stalls in Iraq

Corruption Updates 100, 3rd article on the page, Poll: All Iraqis Oppose Oil Bill

The Sunday Times, 9-16-07, Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil:

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”  - alan greenspan -

The Guns

Corruption Updates 100, 3rd article on the page, Guns Missing, Poll: All Iraqis Oppose Oil Bill

Corruption Updates 108, 1st article on the page, Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations

The Money

The Guardian, July 7, 2005; So, Mr Bremer, where did all the money go?

The Gaurdian, Feb. 8, 2007; Iraq's missing millions

Corruption Updates 25, 9th article on the page, PENTAGON WITHOUT FRAUD WATCHDOG FOR 2ND YEAR AS IRAQ WAR FRAUD SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL

Corruption Updates 94, 6th article on the page, Bribery Network to Bloat War Costs Is Alleged: Bush and Friends Robbing the US Blind

The Background

Corruption Updates 58, 6th article on the page, War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'

Corruption Updates 79, 1st article on the page, Iraq Ranks No. 2 of Failed States

Corruption Updates 91, 5th article on the page, Iraq: CIA Said Instability Seemed 'Irreversible: More Security under Saddam

Corruption Updates 97, 3rd article on the page, Oxfam Reports Growing Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq: Failed War-Failed State

Corruption Updates 100, 2nd article on the page, Iraq power system collapse: Powell was Wrong: After Breaking Iraq, We Broke it More

Search the Corruption Database under

Iraq War


American Flag with Corporate Logos for Stars

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6) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

Pakistan bomb kills elite troops

At least 15 soldiers have been killed in a suspected suicide bombing at an army base south of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

 

Most of the victims were officers from an elite counter-terrorism force, the Special Services Group, a military spokesman said.

 

Story from BBC NEWS, September 13, 2007;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6993910.stm

 

Violence has soared in Pakistan since troops ousted radical Islamists from Islamabad's Red Mosque in July.

Troops based at the barracks were part of the raid against the mosque.

Chief military spokesman Gen Waheed Arshad said 11 soldiers were wounded in the blast, six seriously.

Last week twin suicide bombings killed several intelligence officers in the main garrison town of Rawalpindi.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says this latest attack suggests that militants are no longer targeting simply the army but the army's elite officer corps.

 

Border fighting

Earlier there was heavy fighting between Pakistani troops and pro-Taleban militants near the Afghan border which left dozens dead, both sides say.

The army says it has killed up to 70 militants. The rebels say twice that number of troops are dead. Neither claim can be independently verified.

The latest fighting coincides with a visit to Pakistan by the American deputy secretary of state, John Negroponte.


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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Will US broker a Musharraf-Bhutto alignment between Army and Secular Corruption?

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., August 25, 2007

(originally written for CU104_2)

Musharraf's position as the Army's "candidate" for the upcoming presidential contest received the backing of the Army when they assaulted the Red Mosque. The Army demonstrated they would use military force to back Musharraf.

Musharraf's legitimacy is nakedly based on army bayonets and American dollars. Bush has responded to the collapse of even the appearance of legitimacy in Pakistan's military dictatorship by encouraging Musharraf to cut political deals with the opposition he had banished to maintain military control of the government.

Bush's plan is to replicate General Zia's "rump" style civilian government, created in 1988. Zia's rump was supposed to put a civilian face on the Army's control of real power in Pakistan. Bush's plan will prove to be as unworkable as Zia's.

The problem is going to be that Neither Bhutto's People's Party, nor Shariff's Pakistan Muslim League are going to allow the military to maintain political control when they resume political participation in Pakistan. Bush's plan is leading to chaos, if not civil war, in Pakistan.

Bush has funded and armed Musharraf's dictatorship, and is continuing to do so. Bush is pressuring Musharraf to allow the appearance of democracy, while supporting his military dictatorship. Rather than withdrawing support for Musharraf, and dealing with the ensuing administration, Bush's plan is to create a political frankenstein, stitching together tyranny and democracy into a political abomination which is doomed to destroy itself.

Here's how it will go down: Bhutto and Sharif will win the elections, forcing the Army to assert martial law, kill the protesters, and arrest the political opposition. The Army will reimpose a dictator, possibly forcing Musharraf out in the process.

The alternative scenario is just as grim. If Bush can force a deal between the Army and the parties, a Bhutto-Sharif government will be elected, and Musharraf will remain as president. Within six months the civilian government will be driven from office by the army. The army will assert martial law, kill the protesters, and arrest the political opposition.

Bush's support and accommodation of Pakistan's military dictatorship is a huge source of the political instability in Pakistan. Our only hope of having a stable long-term relationship with Pakistan is to demand the military step out of politics, and allow the people of Pakistan to run their own affairs. If we were a democracy, we would find and develop long term friendship with democratic players around the world. Instead, we align ourselves with dictators, kings, and petty tyrants.

Bush's plan bet all of our chips on Musharraf and the Pakistani Military, and that relationship has weakened both the US and Pakistan. Our participation in propping up Musharraf's dictatorship has destabilized Pakistan, and our continued support for Musharraf and military authority will only bring a bigger blowup when Pakistan finally rejects foreign supported military dictators.

Bush's new plan involves continuing the political ascendancy of the Pakistani military, which will only continue and deepen Pakistani political instability. It's kind of funny that Bush is only reaching for democracy in desperation, to save his military dictatorship in Pakistan.

If America actually stood for democracy and freedom, we would not be facing any of the dangers we now face in the Middle-East. American greed and aggression is conditioning the middle east to reject American "democracy" as nothing more than a cover for imposing dictators, suppressing the cultural and political voice of Muslims, and controlling the region's vast energy resources.

The whole world is coming to the clear conclusion that America does not stand for democracy or freedom. This will not change until Americans come to the same conclusion, and get off our asses and do something about our broken democracy.

Until then, our corporate fascist government will continue to rob us, and the world of its rights and resources.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on page, “Pakistan's old new year"

Corruption Updates 38, 10th article on the page, "American Dictator Removes Chief Justice in Pakistan"

Corruption Updates 44 , 3rd article on page, American backed Dictator Attempting to Crush Pakistan's Judiciary"

Corruption Updates 61, 5th article on the page, "Musharraf 'seeks Karachi peace'"

Corruption Updates 62, 7th article on the page, "Pakistan's ex-top judge has addressed thousands..."

Corruption Updates 62, 10th article on the page, Clinton:Pakistani businessman, donor to Dems, returns to U.S. to face charges

Corruption Updates 63, 9th article on the page, "Pakistan: 4 Arrested in Killing of Judge’s Aide"

Corruption Updates 67, 4th article on the page, "Musharraf Issues Decree Cracking Down on News Media"

Corruption Updates 68, 2nd article on the page, Pakistan Holds 2 in Pearl Killing: False, These Men Kidnapped 4 years Ago

Corruption Updates 69, 2nd article on the page, "Pakistan Arrests 300 Workers From Opposition"

Corruption Updates 70, 7th article on the page, Paki: Protests Rage Against Musharraf; Aides Criticize Justice He Ousted

Corruption Updates 72, 1st article on the page, Musharraf Rescinds Media Regulations After Public Outcry

Corruption Updates 74, 5th article on the page, Pakistan: Judge Gains Legal Ground

Corruption Updates 84, 2nd article on the page, Pakistan Is Building New Reactor

Corruption Updates 87, 3rd article on the page, Musharraf Suffers Setback in Effort to Remove Pakistan’s Chief Justice

Corruption Updates 88, 9th article on the page, Musharraf’s Plane Fired Upon as Mosque Standoff Continues

Corruption Updates 88, 10th article on the page, As Pakistan’s Chief Looks Ahead, Army Holds the Cards

Corruption Updates 92, 8th article on the page, U.S.: Pakistan Will Fight Militants: American Dictator Save Pakistan from itself

Corruption Updates 92, 9th article on the page, Islamabad Bombing Kills at Least 12: Pakistani Blood Bath Beginning with full US Support

Corruption Updates 95, 1st article on the page, Pakistani justice's reinstatement is blow to Musharraf

Corruption Updates 95, 2nd article on the page, Parties to Challenge Pakistan Election Plan

Corruption Updates 96, 4th article on the page, New Violence at Reopened Pakistan Mosque: American Dictator Provokes Widespread

Corruption Updates109, 1st article on the page, Musharraf strikes deal with Bhutto: Bhutto sells out to American Dictatorship

Corruption Updates 114, 6th article on the page, Pakistan bomb kills elite troops

Negraponte the criminal: Answers.com

Poindexter the criminal: Hereinreality.com

Past criminals in present administration: Fair.org

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7) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the source cited.

No Charges for Chiquita Executives

By NEIL A. LEWIS

NY Times, September 13, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/us/13brfs-NOCHARGESFOR_BRF.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print

 

The Justice Department has told a federal judge that it would not seek criminal charges against several top executives of Chiquita Brands International.

According to a filing in federal court in Washington, the department had given serious consideration to filing such charges after the company had pleaded guilty and paid a $25 million fine for making protection payments to a right-wing militia in Colombia, in violation of United States law. In the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, the United States has decided not to do so,” the memorandum filed this week said.

One of those at risk was Roderick M. Hills, the 76-year-old former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, above, who was on the Chiquita board. Mr. Hills informed Justice Department officials about the payments when he learned of them and tried to negotiate an understanding about gradually ceasing them.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Bush Department of Injustice Allows Chiquita to Fund Right Wing Death Squads-Drug Dealers

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Note that the Times did not mention a thing about the Board members of Chiquita who negotiated and executed the payments. Nor does the Times mention the nature of the triangular relationship between Chiquita, the Colombian government, and the Death Squads. Nor does the Times say a thing about the political considerations within the "Justice" department, and probably the White House, which allowed an American Corporation to fund terrorism and death squads without holding the guilty parties criminally responsible.

It's strange times when the biggest organs of the free press report the participation of American Corporations in crimes against humanity in words that do not reveal the crimes, nor question the failure of prosecution. The New York Times is an enemy of the liberties of Americans, as well as the dignity of people around the world.

I hate the New York Times.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 36, 3rd article on the page, AMERICAN DEATH SQUADS STILL HAUNT GUATEMALA: AMERICA CAN'T CLOSE PANDORA'S BOX IN GUATEMALA, WHILE OPENING It in IRAQ

Corruption Updates 40, 9th article on page, “UNITED FRUIT NEVER STOPPED SUPPORTING DICTATORS WHO KEEP PEASANTS WORKING”

BBC NEWS, August 30, 2007; Amnesty pleads for Guatemala calm: American Death Squads still operating

BBC NEWS: September 10, 2007; Guatemala awaits election results: Nobody wins

NY Times, September 13, 2007; No Charges for Chiquita Executives: Fund Fascist Drug Gangs and Death Squads allied with Global Corporate Interests and Walk

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Media

 

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STUDY: Black workers earn low wages, lack advancement

 

The Michigan Citizen - 2669 Bagley - Detroit - MI - 48216 � Phone: 313-963-8282

9-9-07

 

http://www.michigancitizen.com/print_this_story.asp?smenu=1&sdetail=4943

BERKELEY, Calif. (NNPA) — Just as America observed Labor Day with cookouts and recreation, a new report by the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education finds that more than half of Black workers in the United States have jobs that don’t pay well, provide retirement and health benefits, or offer avenues for advancement.

The report, “Job Quality and Black Workers: An Examination of the San Francisco Bay Area,
Los Angeles, Chicago and New York,” analyzes low-wage jobs among Black workers, using data from the 2000 U.S. Census.

“It’s no surprise that there’s a jobs crisis in the Black community, but what this report shows is that we really can’t keep focusing exclusively on the issue of Black unemployment,” said Steven Pitts, a labor policy specialist at the center and author of the report. “This is a two-dimensional problem that includes both the crisis of unemployment in the Black community and the crisis of low-wage jobs.” The report was released Aug. 29, the day after the U. S. Census Bureau reported that the median household income for Black families remained at $32,000 in 2006 — $5,800 less than Hispanic families, and $20,400 less than white families.

While 22.5 percent of all Blacks in the United States lived below the poverty line in 2000, Pitts said that figure rose to 24.7 percent in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available.The Labor Center report’s main findings include: n 56.5 percent of Black workers in the country earn low wages – $12.87 per hour or less – with the proportions of low-wage Black workers ranging from 47.3 percent in Chicago to 53.8 percent in Los Angeles.n Some 56.5 percent of Blacks work in low-wage jobs, versus 43.9 percent of whites, 44.6 percent of Asians and 68.7 percent of Latinos.

Black workers are concentrated in industries that pay low wages. Three industry sectors — manufacturing; retail trade; and health care and social assistance — employ approximately 40 percent of all Black workers. Two of those industries – retail trade, and health care and social assistance –include larger proportions of Black low-wage workers than the national Black average of 56.5 percent

 

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Also See:

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Corruption Updates , th article on the page,

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Prices Surge in China; Trade Surplus Grows Wider

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NY Times, September 12, 2007

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/business/worldbusiness/12yuan.html?

ref=business&pagewanted=print

 

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (AP) — China’s monthly inflation surged to an 11-year high in August and the trade surplus grew, according to reports released here Tuesday, adding to pressure on the authorities to increase interest rates and slow the sizzling economy.

The National Bureau of Statistics said prices rose 6.5 percent, driven by a 49 percent jump in the cost of pork and other meat from the month a year earlier.

The trade surplus widened by 33 percent over August 2006, to $24.97 billion, the second-highest monthly level on record, the General Administration of Customs reported.

China ran a $15 billion trade surplus with the United States in August, according to the customs figures. Exports to the United States rose 16.7 percent, to $20.9 billion; imports of American goods increased 15.5 percent, to $5.9 billion.

The trade surplus with the United States for the first eight months of the year totaled $103.3 billion, according to the Chinese government.

But the flood of export revenue is straining China’s ability to contain pressure on prices, amid a boom in which the economy grew at an annual pace of 11.9 percent in the most recent quarter.

Inflation in August was the highest monthly rate reported since December 1996. The spike in food prices, which were up 18.2 percent from August 2006, is especially worrisome because food costs particularly hurt China’s poor majority.

The government has raised interest rates four times this year to try to restrain the boom and has imposed investment curbs on the auto, textile and other industries. But experts say these measures are requiring longer than expected to take effect.

China’s August exports totaled $111.3 billion, while imports were $86.4 billion, according to the customs agency. European nations were the biggest trading partners, with exports to Europe rising 31.3 percent, to $23 billion, and imports from there up 21.8 percent, at $10.2 billion.

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

Also See:

Corruption Updates , th article on the page,

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American life expectancy longer than ever

Story Highlights

 

U.S. life expectancy rises to almost 78 years in 2005

Drop in deaths from heart disease, strokes led to rise

U.S. still lags behind at least 40 other countries

Andorra has longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years

CNN, AP, September 13, 2007;

 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/09/12/life.expectancy.ap/index.html

 

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The life expectancy for Americans is nearly 78 years, the longest in U.S. history, according to new government figures from 2005 released Wednesday.

That age, based on the latest data available, was still lower than the life span in more than three dozen other countries, however.

More bad news: The annual number of U.S. deaths rose from 2004 to 2005, a depressing uptick after the figure had dropped by 50,000 from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, the number of deaths increased by about that same amount.

U.S. life expectancy at birth inched up to 77.9 from the previous record, 77.8, recorded for 2004. The increase was more dramatic in contrast with 1995, when life expectancy was 75.8, and 1955, when it was 69.6.

The improvement was led by a drop in deaths from heart disease and stroke -- two of the nation's leading killers, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the new life expectancy report Wednesday.

 

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THE COMMITTEE SAYS:

CNN Trumpets US 3rd World Life Expectancy as a Triumph

Before you read on, read this article on US life expectancy: Corruption Updates 102, 6th article on the page, U.S. Life Span Shorter

Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., September , 2007

August 16, 2007

American life expectancy reflects the same grim reality that guides what we charitably call our health care 'system." It reflects the same grim reality that conditions the failure of our educational system. The hidden fact of American society, the 800 pound gorilla in the room that nobody talks about, is that we have traded our principals, our sense of a shared responsibility for our social and political institutions, for the profits of irresponsible growth.

The result is that our democracy has been shattered by special interest bribery, our political policies tailored to use up our lives to subsidize special interest profits, and our social and political institutions now resemble a pathetic 3rd world dictatorship more than American democracy.

There is only one solution to such widespread corruption: Revolution.

We must revert to a bottom up democracy, break the corporate control of our politicians and parties, and force our politicians back into economic dependence on their local voters to fund their elections.

Until we get our politicians back under the control of the voters, and re impose our Constitutional limits upon them, our peoples lives, potential, and health will continue to be sacrificed to serve the greed of our corporations and their wholly-owned politicians.

Also See:

Corruption Updates 102, 6th article on the page, U.S. Life Span Shorter

Corruption Updates 32 ,  2nd article on the page, "BUSH TRIES TO KILL CHEMICAL RULES, SCIENCE, AND INTEGRITY IN ONE FELL SWOOP"

Corruption Updates 41,  2nd article on the page, "Scientist accuses White House of 'Nazi' tactics"

Corruption Updates 49, 8th article on the page, "California proposal: Get health insurance or pay fine"

Corruption Updates 85, 4th article on the page, "Uninsured in U.S.: 43.6 Million, Bush Assures Health Executives Continued Massive Profits"

Corruption Updates 91, 6th article on the page, "Ex-Surgeon General Says White House Hushed Him"

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