Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Poverty hits record number of Americans
Poverty hits record number of Americans-A RECORD 46 million Americans were living in poverty last year, pushing the US poverty rate to its highest level since 1993, according to a government report on unemployment.The US Census Bureau said the poverty rate rose for a third consecutive year to hit 15.1 percent.The number in poverty was the largest since the government first began publishing estimates in 1959.
The report comes as the economic straits of ordinary Americans are at the forefront of next year's election campaign.President Barack Obama is suffering low approval ratings on the economy, and evidence of rising poverty could give popular momentum to the US$450 billion job-creation program he unveiled last week.
The US now has the highest poverty rate among developed countries, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The poverty line for a US family of four, two adults and two children, is defined as an income US$22,113 a year.
In a sign of decline for middle-income Americans, the figures showed continued decline in the number of Americans with employer-provided health insurance, while the ranks of the un-insured hovered just below 50 million in a population of just over 300 million.Underlying the census data was a rate of economic growth too meager to compensate for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs during last year as the recession officially ended but the jobless rate rose from 9.3 percent to 9.6 percent.
Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said: "The deterioration in the labor market caused incomes to drop, poverty to rise and people to lose their health insurance."One of the immediately obvious issues this brings up is that there is no relief in sight."
The numbers would have been worse, analysts said, but for government assistance programs, including extended unemployment compensation, stimulus spending and health reforms, which reduced the number of uninsured young adults.In Obama's hometown of Chicago, Salvation Army Major David Harvey knows well the effects of grinding poverty on the city's south side, where he attended a food giveaway on Tuesday.
"There are more families falling into poverty," he said. "That is multi-plied on the south side of Chicago where there are pockets with 20 percent, or more, unemployment.
"There are people crying for jobs. They move out of state to get jobs because employers are leaving because of the tax increases here."Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 54 percent of those in poverty, whites 9.9 percent and Asians 12.1 percent.
The report comes as the economic straits of ordinary Americans are at the forefront of next year's election campaign.President Barack Obama is suffering low approval ratings on the economy, and evidence of rising poverty could give popular momentum to the US$450 billion job-creation program he unveiled last week.
The US now has the highest poverty rate among developed countries, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The poverty line for a US family of four, two adults and two children, is defined as an income US$22,113 a year.
In a sign of decline for middle-income Americans, the figures showed continued decline in the number of Americans with employer-provided health insurance, while the ranks of the un-insured hovered just below 50 million in a population of just over 300 million.Underlying the census data was a rate of economic growth too meager to compensate for the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs during last year as the recession officially ended but the jobless rate rose from 9.3 percent to 9.6 percent.
Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said: "The deterioration in the labor market caused incomes to drop, poverty to rise and people to lose their health insurance."One of the immediately obvious issues this brings up is that there is no relief in sight."
The numbers would have been worse, analysts said, but for government assistance programs, including extended unemployment compensation, stimulus spending and health reforms, which reduced the number of uninsured young adults.In Obama's hometown of Chicago, Salvation Army Major David Harvey knows well the effects of grinding poverty on the city's south side, where he attended a food giveaway on Tuesday.
"There are more families falling into poverty," he said. "That is multi-plied on the south side of Chicago where there are pockets with 20 percent, or more, unemployment.
"There are people crying for jobs. They move out of state to get jobs because employers are leaving because of the tax increases here."Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 54 percent of those in poverty, whites 9.9 percent and Asians 12.1 percent.
Kabul siege ends but militants give reminder of their strength
Kabul siege ends but militants give reminder of their strength-A MARATHON siege in Kabul's diplomatic enclave ended yesterday with the death of the last two of a group of gunmen who had held off Western and Afghan security forces for nearly 20 hours, showering rockets on Western embassies in a dramatic show of insurgent strength.It was the longest and most audacious militant attack on the Afghan capital in the decade since the Taliban were ousted from power and a stark reminder of insurgents' resources and reach as Western forces start to return home.At least 11 civilians were killed, three of them children, NATO-led foreign forces said. The Ministry of the Interior said four policemen died, and that toll was likely to rise.
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said around six or seven rockets had hit inside the embassy perimeter during the early hours of the attack, launched early on Tuesday afternoon, but said the range meant they had not posed a serious threat.
"They were firing from at least 800 meters away and with an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). That's harassment. That's not an attack," he said.
The insurgents had holed up in a multi-story building under construction and launched their attack by firing rockets toward the US and other embassies and the headquarters of NATO-led foreign forces.
Three suicide bombers also targeted police buildings in other parts of the city, but the embassy district assault was the most spectacular.Afghan security forces backed by NATO and Afghan attack helicopters fought floor-by-floor in the 13-story building, which the six insurgents appeared to have booby-trapped.
They had arrived disguised as women in burqas, in a car packed with explosives, and entered the high-rise after shooting a security guard."As our country is traditional and Islamic, there is a special respect for women and the enemies exploited this to get to the building," Kabul Police Chief Ayoub Salangi said.
The gunmen hid from helicopters and government and foreign troops in lift shafts and a maze of small rooms.
The group was armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and bomb vests, a Taliban spokesman said, but the time they held out prompted speculation they had hidden weapons in the building."There was almost certainly either a breakdown in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure," said Andrew Exum, fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Embassies and restaurants frequented by foreigners were on lock-down on Tuesday evening. The US and British embassies and the NATO-led coalition said staff were safe.Ambassador Crocker said he believed the Haqqani network was behind the attack.Violence is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001.
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker said around six or seven rockets had hit inside the embassy perimeter during the early hours of the attack, launched early on Tuesday afternoon, but said the range meant they had not posed a serious threat.
"They were firing from at least 800 meters away and with an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). That's harassment. That's not an attack," he said.
The insurgents had holed up in a multi-story building under construction and launched their attack by firing rockets toward the US and other embassies and the headquarters of NATO-led foreign forces.
Three suicide bombers also targeted police buildings in other parts of the city, but the embassy district assault was the most spectacular.Afghan security forces backed by NATO and Afghan attack helicopters fought floor-by-floor in the 13-story building, which the six insurgents appeared to have booby-trapped.
They had arrived disguised as women in burqas, in a car packed with explosives, and entered the high-rise after shooting a security guard."As our country is traditional and Islamic, there is a special respect for women and the enemies exploited this to get to the building," Kabul Police Chief Ayoub Salangi said.
The gunmen hid from helicopters and government and foreign troops in lift shafts and a maze of small rooms.
The group was armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and bomb vests, a Taliban spokesman said, but the time they held out prompted speculation they had hidden weapons in the building."There was almost certainly either a breakdown in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure," said Andrew Exum, fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Embassies and restaurants frequented by foreigners were on lock-down on Tuesday evening. The US and British embassies and the NATO-led coalition said staff were safe.Ambassador Crocker said he believed the Haqqani network was behind the attack.Violence is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001.
Nurse's killer used military technique, court told
Nurse's killer used military technique, court told-A FORMER US marine murdered the nurse manager Michelle Beets using a technique that he learnt during his military training to kill an enemy sentry, a NSW Supreme Court jury was told yesterday.
Walter Ciaran Marsh, 50, came up behind Ms Beets as she arrived at her Chatswood home, slit her throat and stabbed her eight times in the chest using a flick knife, the Crown Prosecutor, Mark Tedeschi, QC, said.Mr Marsh hated Ms Beets because she did not extend his contract as a nurse in the emergency department of Royal North Shore Hospital and he believed she was giving him ''bad references'' to prospective employers, Mr Tedeschi said.On the night of the murder, Mr Marsh allegedly told his Vietnamese wife, Samantha, that he killed Ms Beets and their lives would improve as the bad references would no longer prevent him from getting work.
He also told her ''important details that he couldn't possibly know unless he was the killer'', Mr Tedeschi said. He had cut electricity to the house to disable the sensor light and had broken a window to make the murder look like a robbery gone wrong.
Mr Tedeschi said approaching a victim from behind and grabbing their chin is ''a technique that every single marine is taught at boot camp''.
''[It's] how to be a marine 101 - how to kill an enemy sentry with minimal opportunity from them to call out and alert other people.''
Mrs Marsh is expected to tell the jury that her husband practised the technique on her and her brother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the weeks before Ms Beets's murder.
Outside the court, Ms Beets's partner, David Grant, said he continues to grieve her ''tragic and deeply distressing'' death.
''The trial presents the opportunity for justice. It will also be a testing time for all of us,'' he said.
Mr Marsh, a US citizen, was desperate to get work as a nurse because, without employment in that field, his 457 visa would become invalid.
The couple could not live in the US as Mrs Marsh had been denied entry to the country.
Walter Ciaran Marsh, 50, came up behind Ms Beets as she arrived at her Chatswood home, slit her throat and stabbed her eight times in the chest using a flick knife, the Crown Prosecutor, Mark Tedeschi, QC, said.Mr Marsh hated Ms Beets because she did not extend his contract as a nurse in the emergency department of Royal North Shore Hospital and he believed she was giving him ''bad references'' to prospective employers, Mr Tedeschi said.On the night of the murder, Mr Marsh allegedly told his Vietnamese wife, Samantha, that he killed Ms Beets and their lives would improve as the bad references would no longer prevent him from getting work.
He also told her ''important details that he couldn't possibly know unless he was the killer'', Mr Tedeschi said. He had cut electricity to the house to disable the sensor light and had broken a window to make the murder look like a robbery gone wrong.
Mr Tedeschi said approaching a victim from behind and grabbing their chin is ''a technique that every single marine is taught at boot camp''.
''[It's] how to be a marine 101 - how to kill an enemy sentry with minimal opportunity from them to call out and alert other people.''
Mrs Marsh is expected to tell the jury that her husband practised the technique on her and her brother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in the weeks before Ms Beets's murder.
Outside the court, Ms Beets's partner, David Grant, said he continues to grieve her ''tragic and deeply distressing'' death.
''The trial presents the opportunity for justice. It will also be a testing time for all of us,'' he said.
Mr Marsh, a US citizen, was desperate to get work as a nurse because, without employment in that field, his 457 visa would become invalid.
The couple could not live in the US as Mrs Marsh had been denied entry to the country.
Fantasy Art – Illustrations of Elena Dudina
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Smilecup of Coffee
Friday, 9 September 2011
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