.
7/2/15, "Employment Situation Summary," bls.gov
subhead, Establishment Survey Data:
"Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in June
(+30,000) and has increased by 355,000 over the year
....
Employment in retail trade increased by 33,000 in June and has risen by 300,000 over
the year."...
.......
Thursday, July 2, 2015
April and May 2015 job gains revised down by 60,000 per BLS report, 7/2/15
.
7/2/15, "Employment Situation Summary," bls.gov
Last paragraph:
"The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised from +221,000 to +187,000, and the change for May was revised from +280,000 to +254,000. With these revisions, employment gains in April and May combined were 60,000 lower than previously reported."...
.............
-34,000= 15% downward revision in April
-26,000=9% downward revision in May
...........
7/2/15, "Employment Situation Summary," bls.gov
Last paragraph:
"The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised from +221,000 to +187,000, and the change for May was revised from +280,000 to +254,000. With these revisions, employment gains in April and May combined were 60,000 lower than previously reported."...
.............
-34,000= 15% downward revision in April
-26,000=9% downward revision in May
...........
US government blocks Middle East allies from fighting ISIS by providing heavy weapons directly to Kurds. US Senate last month voted down a plan to help Kurds, Obama wants no part of helping Kurds. Weapons are ready to go to help Kurds but US won't allow them. US prevents other countries from even bombing ISIS targets-UK Telegraph
.
7/2/15, "US blocks attempts by Arab allies to fly heavy weapons directly to Kurds to fight Islamic State," UK Telegraph, Con Coughlin
"Middle East allies accuse Barack Obama and David Cameron of failing to show strategic leadership in fight against Isil, as MPs could be given vote on whether to bomb Syria"
"The United States has blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, The Telegraph has learnt.
“If the Americans and the West are not prepared to do anything serious
about defeating Isil, then we will have to find new ways of dealing with
the threat,” said a senior Arab government official. “With Isil making
ground all the time we simply cannot afford to wait for Washington to
wake up to the enormity of the threat we face.”
The Peshmerga have been successfully fighting Isil, driving them back from the gates of Erbil and, with the support of Kurds from neighbouring Syria, re-establishing control over parts of Iraq’s north-west.
But they are doing so with a makeshift armoury. Millions of pounds-worth of weapons have been bought by a number of European countries to arm the Kurds, but American commanders, who are overseeing all military operations against Isil, are blocking the arms transfers.
One of the core complaints of the Kurds is that the Iraqi army has abandoned so many weapons in the face of Isil attack, the Peshmerga are fighting modern American weaponry with out-of-date Soviet equipment.
At least one Arab state is understood to be considering arming the Peshmerga directly, despite US opposition.
The US has also infuriated its allies, particularly
Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Gulf states, by what they perceive to be a
lack of clear purpose and vacillation in how they conduct the bombing
campaign. Other members of the coalition say they have identified clear
Isil targets but then been blocked by US veto from firing at them.
“There is simply no strategic approach,” one senior Gulf official said. “There is a lack of coordination in selecting targets, and there is no overall plan for defeating Isil.”
Western leaders increasingly accept that the “war on Isil” has not gone well, from the moment last year Mr Obama called the group a “JV [junior varsity] team” of jihadists compared with al-Qaeda. At that point, Isil had seized Fallujah, which US forces took in a bloody battle in 2004. It went on to take much of western Iraq and large areas of Syria, and in May took Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.
Britain is moving closer to expanding its role in the war. The Government on Wednesday gave its strongest indication yet that MPs will be given a new vote on whether to bomb Isil in Syria. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said it was “illogical” that British planes were able to hit extremists in Iraq but not across the border.
Any decision to bomb in Syria would have to be approved by MPs. In 2013, the Prime Minister lost a vote for British military action in Syria. However, Mr Fallon said: “It is a new Parliament and I think new Members of Parliament will want to think very carefully about how we best deal with Isil, and the illogicality of Isil not respecting the borderlines.”
Mr Fallon suggested that a bombing campaign could be mounted in revenge for the terror attacks in Tunisia if a link could be proved between the killer and Isil in Libya. Britain would only take military action in Libya “where we think there is an imminent threat, a very direct to British lives or, for example, to British hostages”, he said.
Senior Whitehall sources did not distance themselves
from Mr Fallon’s comments but insisted there was no immediate prospect
of military action. The Telegraph understands that Mr Cameron is concerned that Labour might force the Government into another defeat over Syria." via Pamela Geller
.................................
7/2/15, "US blocks attempts by Arab allies to fly heavy weapons directly to Kurds to fight Islamic State," UK Telegraph, Con Coughlin
"Middle East allies accuse Barack Obama and David Cameron of failing to show strategic leadership in fight against Isil, as MPs could be given vote on whether to bomb Syria"
"The United States has blocked attempts by its Middle East allies to fly heavy weapons directly to the Kurds fighting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq, The Telegraph has learnt.
Some of America’s closest allies say President Barack Obama and other
Western leaders, including David Cameron, are failing to show strategic
leadership over the world’s gravest security crisis for decades. They now say they are willing to “go it alone” in supplying heavy
weapons to the Kurds, even if means defying the Iraqi authorities and
their American backers, who demand all weapons be channelled through
Baghdad.
................
High level officials from
Gulf and other states have told this newspaper that all attempts to
persuade Mr Obama of the need to arm the Kurds directly as part of more
vigorous plans to take on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) have failed. The Senate voted down one attempt by supporters of the Kurdish cause last month. The officials say they are looking at new ways to take the fight to Isil without seeking US approval.
The Peshmerga have been successfully fighting Isil, driving them back from the gates of Erbil and, with the support of Kurds from neighbouring Syria, re-establishing control over parts of Iraq’s north-west.
But they are doing so with a makeshift armoury. Millions of pounds-worth of weapons have been bought by a number of European countries to arm the Kurds, but American commanders, who are overseeing all military operations against Isil, are blocking the arms transfers.
One of the core complaints of the Kurds is that the Iraqi army has abandoned so many weapons in the face of Isil attack, the Peshmerga are fighting modern American weaponry with out-of-date Soviet equipment.
At least one Arab state is understood to be considering arming the Peshmerga directly, despite US opposition.
“There is simply no strategic approach,” one senior Gulf official said. “There is a lack of coordination in selecting targets, and there is no overall plan for defeating Isil.”
Western leaders increasingly accept that the “war on Isil” has not gone well, from the moment last year Mr Obama called the group a “JV [junior varsity] team” of jihadists compared with al-Qaeda. At that point, Isil had seized Fallujah, which US forces took in a bloody battle in 2004. It went on to take much of western Iraq and large areas of Syria, and in May took Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.
Britain is moving closer to expanding its role in the war. The Government on Wednesday gave its strongest indication yet that MPs will be given a new vote on whether to bomb Isil in Syria. Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said it was “illogical” that British planes were able to hit extremists in Iraq but not across the border.
Any decision to bomb in Syria would have to be approved by MPs. In 2013, the Prime Minister lost a vote for British military action in Syria. However, Mr Fallon said: “It is a new Parliament and I think new Members of Parliament will want to think very carefully about how we best deal with Isil, and the illogicality of Isil not respecting the borderlines.”
Mr Fallon suggested that a bombing campaign could be mounted in revenge for the terror attacks in Tunisia if a link could be proved between the killer and Isil in Libya. Britain would only take military action in Libya “where we think there is an imminent threat, a very direct to British lives or, for example, to British hostages”, he said.
.................................
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Ohio drops PARCC Common Core testing consortium
.
7/1/15, "Ohio drops PARCC testing," galioninquirer.com (Ohio)
"Ohio dropped the PARCC Common Core testing consortium Tuesday night after a series of complaints from educators and parents, including concerns from north central Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich signed a compromise two-year budget which concurred with Ohio Senate and House leaders that the Math and English exams would end in Ohio.
According to a report, Ohio spent $26 million in online and print testing last year.
“The people of the state of Ohio seem to have spoken loudly that they don’t want the PARCC,” State Sen. Peggy Lehner told reporters."
.......................
7/1/15, "Ohio drops PARCC testing," galioninquirer.com (Ohio)
"Ohio dropped the PARCC Common Core testing consortium Tuesday night after a series of complaints from educators and parents, including concerns from north central Ohio.
Gov. John Kasich signed a compromise two-year budget which concurred with Ohio Senate and House leaders that the Math and English exams would end in Ohio.
According to a report, Ohio spent $26 million in online and print testing last year.
“The people of the state of Ohio seem to have spoken loudly that they don’t want the PARCC,” State Sen. Peggy Lehner told reporters."
.......................
French soldiers suspended over child sexual abuse claims while working as UN "peacekeepers" in Burkina Faso. UN "peacekeepers" regularly barter goods for sex with people they're supposed to be helping-BBC
.
UN "peacekeepers regularly barter goods for sex with people."
7/1/15, "French soldiers suspended over Burkina child sex claims," BBC
One
of the alleged victims was a five-year-old girl whose father found a
camera containing images of his daughter being sexually abused, report
AFP news agency.
It comes after another abuse scandal involving French soldiers.
A leaked UN report claimed 16 French peacekeepers abused children in the Central African Republic....
French military police are travelling to the country to investigate, alongside the local police.
The French army has come under criticism for being slow to react to previous child abuse claims in Central African Republic.
There have been a number of sex scandals involving UN peacekeepers recently, with one UN report saying the peacekeepers regularly barter goods for sex with people.
About 3,000 French soldiers are stationed in five countries in the region - Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger as well as Burkina Faso - in an anti-terrorism operation and the UN currently has about 125,000 peacekeepers deployed in a number of countries around the world."
============================
....................................
"Rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys" by French "peacekeeping troops"who were supposed to be protecting them a common occurrence among UN "peacekeepers." UN was enraged that a veteran UN worker leaked news about very typical UN crimes against the world's poorest and most defenseless:
4/29/15, "UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French troops," UK Guardian, Sandra Laville
This month, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations warned senior UN officials “it would not be a good thing if the high commissioner for human rights forced” Kompass to resign. The ambassador threatened to go public if that happened and to engage in a potentially ugly and harmful debate.
The abuses detailed in the internal report took place before and after Minusca was set up last year. Interviews with the abused children were carried out between May and June last year by a member of staff from the office of the high commissioner for human rights and a Unicef specialist. The children identified represent just a snapshot of the numbers potentially being abused.
The boys, some of whom were orphans, disclosed sexual exploitation, including rape and sodomy, between December 2013 and June 2014 by French troops at a centre for internally displaced people at M’Poko airport in Bangui.
The children described how they were sexually exploited in return for food and money. One 11-year-old boy said he was abused when he went out looking for food. A nine-year-old described being sexually abused with his friend by two French soldiers at the IDP camp when they went to a checkpoint to look for something to eat.
The child described how the soldiers forced him and his friend to carry out a sex act. The report describes how distressed the child was when disclosing the abuse and how he fled the camp in terror after the assault. Some of the children were able to give good descriptions of the soldiers involved.
In summer 2014, the report was passed to officials within the office of the high commissioner for human rights in Geneva. When nothing happened, Kompass sent the report to the French authorities and they visited Bangui and began an investigation.
It is understood a more senior official was made aware of Kompass’s actions and raised no objections. But last month Kompass was called in and accused of breaching UN protocols by leaking details of a confidential report, according to sources.
Kompass’s emails have been seized as part of the investigation into the alleged leak. One senior UN official has said of Kompass that “it was his duty to know and comply” with UN protocols on confidential documents.
Bea Edwards, of the Government Accountability Project, an international charity that supports whistleblowers, condemned the UN for its witch-hunt against a whistleblower who had acted to stop the abuse of children.
“We have represented many whistleblowers in the UN system over the years and in general the more serious the disclosure they make the more ferocious the retaliation,” said Edwards. “Despite the official rhetoric, there is very little commitment at the top of the organisation to protect whistleblowers and a strong tendency to politicise every issue no matter how urgent.”
UN sources confirmed an investigation by the French was ongoing – in cooperation with the UN – into allegations of a very serious nature against peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
On Wednesday the French government confirmed that authorities in Paris were investigating the allegations. A statement from the defence ministry said the government “was made aware at the end of July 2014 by the UN’s high commission for human rights of accusations by children that they had been sexually abused by French soldiers.”
An investigation was opened shortly after by Paris prosecutors, it said.
“The defence ministry has taken and will take the necessary measures to allow the truth to be found,” the statement added. “If the facts are proven, the strongest penalties will be imposed on those responsible for what would be an intolerable attack on soldiers’ values.”
The ministry said the abuse was alleged by around 10 children and reportedly took place at a centre for internally displaced people near the airport of the capital Bangui between December 2013 and June 2014.
The ministry said that French investigators had gone to the CAR from 1 August last year to begin their inquiry. A spokesman for the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights confirmed an investigation was under way into the leaking of confidential information by a staff member."
......................................
UN "peacekeepers regularly barter goods for sex with people."
7/1/15, "French soldiers suspended over Burkina child sex claims," BBC
"France has suspended two of its soldiers over allegations they sexually abused children in Burkina Faso.
It comes after another abuse scandal involving French soldiers.
A leaked UN report claimed 16 French peacekeepers abused children in the Central African Republic....
French military police are travelling to the country to investigate, alongside the local police.
The French army has come under criticism for being slow to react to previous child abuse claims in Central African Republic.
There have been a number of sex scandals involving UN peacekeepers recently, with one UN report saying the peacekeepers regularly barter goods for sex with people.
About 3,000 French soldiers are stationed in five countries in the region - Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger as well as Burkina Faso - in an anti-terrorism operation and the UN currently has about 125,000 peacekeepers deployed in a number of countries around the world."
============================
....................................
"Rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys" by French "peacekeeping troops"who were supposed to be protecting them a common occurrence among UN "peacekeepers." UN was enraged that a veteran UN worker leaked news about very typical UN crimes against the world's poorest and most defenseless:
4/29/15, "UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French troops," UK Guardian, Sandra Laville
"Anders Kompass said to have passed confidential document to French
authorities because of UN’s failure to stop abuse of children in Central
African Republic."
"A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.
Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.
Kompass, who is based in Geneva, was suspended from his post as director of field operations last week and accused of leaking a confidential UN report and breaching protocols. He is under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS) amid warnings from a senior official that access to his case must be “severely restricted”. He faces dismissal.
The treatment of the aid worker, who has been involved in humanitarian work for more than 30 years, has taken place with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights, and Susana Malcorra, chef de cabinet in the UN, according to documents relating to the case....
The abuses took place in 2014 when the UN mission in the country, Minusca, was in the process of being set up. The Guardian has been passed the internal report on the sexual exploitation by Paula Donovan, co-director of the advocacy group Aids Free World, who is demanding an independent commission inquiry into the UN’s handling of sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
It was commissioned by the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights after reports on the ground that children, who are among the tens of thousands displaced by the fighting, were being sexually abused.
Entitled Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces and stamped “confidential” on every page, the report details the rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops who were supposed to be protecting them at a centre for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic.
Donovan said: “The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.”
The UN has faced several scandals in the past relating to its failure to act over paedophile rings operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo and Bosnia. It has also faced allegations of sexual misconduct by its troops in Haiti, Burundi and Liberia. The treatment of Kompass, a Swedish national, threatens to spark a major diplomatic row.
"A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.
Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.
Kompass, who is based in Geneva, was suspended from his post as director of field operations last week and accused of leaking a confidential UN report and breaching protocols. He is under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS) amid warnings from a senior official that access to his case must be “severely restricted”. He faces dismissal.
The treatment of the aid worker, who has been involved in humanitarian work for more than 30 years, has taken place with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights, and Susana Malcorra, chef de cabinet in the UN, according to documents relating to the case....
The abuses took place in 2014 when the UN mission in the country, Minusca, was in the process of being set up. The Guardian has been passed the internal report on the sexual exploitation by Paula Donovan, co-director of the advocacy group Aids Free World, who is demanding an independent commission inquiry into the UN’s handling of sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
It was commissioned by the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights after reports on the ground that children, who are among the tens of thousands displaced by the fighting, were being sexually abused.
Entitled Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces and stamped “confidential” on every page, the report details the rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops who were supposed to be protecting them at a centre for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic.
Donovan said: “The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.”
The UN has faced several scandals in the past relating to its failure to act over paedophile rings operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo and Bosnia. It has also faced allegations of sexual misconduct by its troops in Haiti, Burundi and Liberia. The treatment of Kompass, a Swedish national, threatens to spark a major diplomatic row.
This month, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations warned senior UN officials “it would not be a good thing if the high commissioner for human rights forced” Kompass to resign. The ambassador threatened to go public if that happened and to engage in a potentially ugly and harmful debate.
The abuses detailed in the internal report took place before and after Minusca was set up last year. Interviews with the abused children were carried out between May and June last year by a member of staff from the office of the high commissioner for human rights and a Unicef specialist. The children identified represent just a snapshot of the numbers potentially being abused.
The boys, some of whom were orphans, disclosed sexual exploitation, including rape and sodomy, between December 2013 and June 2014 by French troops at a centre for internally displaced people at M’Poko airport in Bangui.
The children described how they were sexually exploited in return for food and money. One 11-year-old boy said he was abused when he went out looking for food. A nine-year-old described being sexually abused with his friend by two French soldiers at the IDP camp when they went to a checkpoint to look for something to eat.
The child described how the soldiers forced him and his friend to carry out a sex act. The report describes how distressed the child was when disclosing the abuse and how he fled the camp in terror after the assault. Some of the children were able to give good descriptions of the soldiers involved.
In summer 2014, the report was passed to officials within the office of the high commissioner for human rights in Geneva. When nothing happened, Kompass sent the report to the French authorities and they visited Bangui and began an investigation.
It is understood a more senior official was made aware of Kompass’s actions and raised no objections. But last month Kompass was called in and accused of breaching UN protocols by leaking details of a confidential report, according to sources.
Kompass’s emails have been seized as part of the investigation into the alleged leak. One senior UN official has said of Kompass that “it was his duty to know and comply” with UN protocols on confidential documents.
Bea Edwards, of the Government Accountability Project, an international charity that supports whistleblowers, condemned the UN for its witch-hunt against a whistleblower who had acted to stop the abuse of children.
“We have represented many whistleblowers in the UN system over the years and in general the more serious the disclosure they make the more ferocious the retaliation,” said Edwards. “Despite the official rhetoric, there is very little commitment at the top of the organisation to protect whistleblowers and a strong tendency to politicise every issue no matter how urgent.”
UN sources confirmed an investigation by the French was ongoing – in cooperation with the UN – into allegations of a very serious nature against peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
On Wednesday the French government confirmed that authorities in Paris were investigating the allegations. A statement from the defence ministry said the government “was made aware at the end of July 2014 by the UN’s high commission for human rights of accusations by children that they had been sexually abused by French soldiers.”
An investigation was opened shortly after by Paris prosecutors, it said.
“The defence ministry has taken and will take the necessary measures to allow the truth to be found,” the statement added. “If the facts are proven, the strongest penalties will be imposed on those responsible for what would be an intolerable attack on soldiers’ values.”
The ministry said the abuse was alleged by around 10 children and reportedly took place at a centre for internally displaced people near the airport of the capital Bangui between December 2013 and June 2014.
The ministry said that French investigators had gone to the CAR from 1 August last year to begin their inquiry. A spokesman for the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights confirmed an investigation was under way into the leaking of confidential information by a staff member."
......................................
Same sex relationships punishable by up to 14 years in prison in Nigeria but attitudes are improving says new poll-BBC
.
6/30/15, "Nigeria poll suggests 87% oppose gay rights," BBC
That number is lower than five years ago, when 96% of Nigerians opposed relationships between same-sex couples.
Gay rights activists, who commissioned the poll, said this showed attitudes towards gay people were changing, albeit slowly.
Nigeria is a deeply conservative country and religion plays a major role in society.
The government tightened anti-gay laws last year, banning same-sex marriages, gay groups and shows of same-sex public affection.
About 1,000 people across Nigeria took part in the telephone poll which was commissioned by gay rights groups, including the Bisi Alimi Foundation.
Only about one in six people said they knew someone who was openly homosexual, reports the BBC's Will Ross from Nigeria's main city, Lagos.
However, the number almost doubled for people in their late teens and early twenties. About 30% of respondents said gay, lesbian and bisexual people should have access to public services such as education and healthcare.
Gay activists, including the Bisi Alimi Foundation, see this as progress, our correspondent says.
They believe the survey shows that the tide is slowly turning towards acceptance. Nevertheless, Nigeria remains a dangerous place for people to come out, our correspondent adds." map from BBC
.................................
6/30/15, "Nigeria poll suggests 87% oppose gay rights," BBC
"A new opinion poll suggests that 87% of people in Nigeria support the legal ban on same-sex relations.
Gay rights activists, who commissioned the poll, said this showed attitudes towards gay people were changing, albeit slowly.
Nigeria is a deeply conservative country and religion plays a major role in society.
The government tightened anti-gay laws last year, banning same-sex marriages, gay groups and shows of same-sex public affection.
Campaigners say the laws are among the most draconian anywhere - and impose a sentence of up to 14 years in prison for same-sex couples.
About 1,000 people across Nigeria took part in the telephone poll which was commissioned by gay rights groups, including the Bisi Alimi Foundation.
Only about one in six people said they knew someone who was openly homosexual, reports the BBC's Will Ross from Nigeria's main city, Lagos.
However, the number almost doubled for people in their late teens and early twenties. About 30% of respondents said gay, lesbian and bisexual people should have access to public services such as education and healthcare.
Gay activists, including the Bisi Alimi Foundation, see this as progress, our correspondent says.
They believe the survey shows that the tide is slowly turning towards acceptance. Nevertheless, Nigeria remains a dangerous place for people to come out, our correspondent adds." map from BBC
.................................
Nearly one billion who defecate outdoors pollute water sources, jeopardise health of millions, contribute to physical and mental impairment of 161 million children yearly. 640 million in India either don't have toilets or refuse to use them, UN report-AP
.
7/1/15, "One-third of world's people still have no proper toilets," AP
"Toilets are taken for granted in the industrialised West, but still are a luxury for a third of the world's people who have no access to them, according to a report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Those who make do without toilets continue to pollute water sources and jeopardise public health and safety for millions worldwide. That contributes to malnutrition and childhood stunting, impairing 161 million children both physically and mentally every year.
"Until everyone has access to adequate sanitation facilities, the quality of water supplies will be undermined and too many people will continue to die from waterborne and water-related diseases," WHO's public health department director, Dr. Maria Neira, said in a statement....
Past efforts to improve water and sanitation have seen some success, with 2.1 billion people gaining access to better sanitation facilities since 1990, according to the report. Yet, another 2.4 billion people have seen no improvement, including 946 million people still relieving themselves outdoors-the vast majority among the rural poor.
India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open, and not necessarily due to a lack of facilities. Many men who have installed toilets at home still prefer going outdoors as they survey their farmlands or seek a few minutes of quiet.
While successive Indian governments have pledged to install toilets in every home, little has been done to educate people about the dangers of unsanitary practices. Meanwhile, diarrheal diseases kill 700,000 children every year, most of which could have been prevented with better sanitation. India still needs to build some 100 million toilets to provide everyone access, but experts say the country also needs to invest more in campaigns to change behaviors. Instead, the government recently slashed its sanitation budget in half.
India is also a victim of its own population growth, with some 1.26 billion citizens now and counting. That "just wipes out any gains in sanitation, or on any development front," Jacob said....
663 million of the world's poorest - more than the populations of the European Union and Russia combined - have seen no improvement at all. Instead, they are left to scavenge for water around broken pipes and stagnant ponds, may walk miles (kilometers) to the nearest spigot for clean water, or may be financially exploited by "water mafias" charging almost a full day's wages for single cup of water."....
...................................
June 16, 2014, "Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?" BBC
"Apart from poverty and lack of lavatories, one of the reasons often cited to explain open defecation in India is the ingrained cultural norm making the practice socially accepted in some parts of the society.
"Just building toilets is not going to solve the problem, because open defecation is a practice acquired from the time you learn how to walk. When you grow up in an environment where everyone does it, even if later in life you have access to proper sanitation, you will revert back to it," says Sue Coates, chief of Wash (water, sanitation and hygiene) at Unicef.
India will be free of open defecation only when "every Indian household, every village, every part of Indian society will accept the need to use toilets and commit to do so", she says."...
............................................
“Building toilets does not mean that people will use them and there seems to be a host of cultural, social, and caste-based reasons for that....
8/4/14, "India’s Toilet Race Failing as Villages Don’t Use Them," Bloomberg,
In at least five of India’s poorest states, the majority of people in households with a government latrine don’t use it....Sunita’s family in the north Indian village of Mukimpur were given their first toilet in February, one of millions being installed by the government to combat disease. She can’t remember the last time anyone used it."...
============================
6/30/15, "Lack of toilets for 2.4 billion people undermining health efforts," UPI.com, Stephen Feller, Geneva, Switzerland
"Lack of access to toilets and unsanitary social norms threaten to undermine global efforts to improve drinking water and increase rates of child survival.
Great strides have been made to increase access to clean drinking water, and the number of children who die from diarrhea caused by poor sanitation and hygiene has been cut in half during the last fifteen years, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The largest issue at hand, said Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF's global water, sanitation and hygiene programs, is sanitation and toilet access. 2.4 billion have no access to toilets, 946 million people defecate in the open, making it difficult to keep water supplies clean.
"Until everyone has access to adequate sanitation facilities, the quality of water supplies will be undermined and too many people will continue to die from waterborne and water-related diseases," said Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, in a press release.
About 2.6 billion have gained access to cleaner drinking water, the two organizations report; 91 percent of the world's population has access to it. Additionally, fewer than 1,000 children die each day of diarrhea caused by water issues, as compared with about 2,000 per day 15 years ago.
An improved drinking source is one that is protected from contamination and can include water piped into homes, a public tap or standpipe, or some other protected access, as well as sources of water that are specifically not able to be contaminated.
Wijesekera said the global model on water, however, has not moved fast enough as many of the poorest people who need sanitation services have been left for last.
A more robust focus and investment will need to be made to improve hygiene and habits, as well as more innovative technologies and approaches to helping poor, often rural, areas get access to clean water, the organizations said."
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Image caption: "Although 2.6 billion people have gained access to clean water since 1990 who previously did not have it, hygiene and further sanitation issues threaten the progress that has been made. Photo: africa924/Shutterstock"
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7/1/15, "One-third of world's people still have no proper toilets," AP
"Toilets are taken for granted in the industrialised West, but still are a luxury for a third of the world's people who have no access to them, according to a report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Those who make do without toilets continue to pollute water sources and jeopardise public health and safety for millions worldwide. That contributes to malnutrition and childhood stunting, impairing 161 million children both physically and mentally every year.
"Until everyone has access to adequate sanitation facilities, the quality of water supplies will be undermined and too many people will continue to die from waterborne and water-related diseases," WHO's public health department director, Dr. Maria Neira, said in a statement....
Past efforts to improve water and sanitation have seen some success, with 2.1 billion people gaining access to better sanitation facilities since 1990, according to the report. Yet, another 2.4 billion people have seen no improvement, including 946 million people still relieving themselves outdoors-the vast majority among the rural poor.
India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open, and not necessarily due to a lack of facilities. Many men who have installed toilets at home still prefer going outdoors as they survey their farmlands or seek a few minutes of quiet.
While successive Indian governments have pledged to install toilets in every home, little has been done to educate people about the dangers of unsanitary practices. Meanwhile, diarrheal diseases kill 700,000 children every year, most of which could have been prevented with better sanitation. India still needs to build some 100 million toilets to provide everyone access, but experts say the country also needs to invest more in campaigns to change behaviors. Instead, the government recently slashed its sanitation budget in half.
India is also a victim of its own population growth, with some 1.26 billion citizens now and counting. That "just wipes out any gains in sanitation, or on any development front," Jacob said....
663 million of the world's poorest - more than the populations of the European Union and Russia combined - have seen no improvement at all. Instead, they are left to scavenge for water around broken pipes and stagnant ponds, may walk miles (kilometers) to the nearest spigot for clean water, or may be financially exploited by "water mafias" charging almost a full day's wages for single cup of water."....
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June 16, 2014, "Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?" BBC
"Apart from poverty and lack of lavatories, one of the reasons often cited to explain open defecation in India is the ingrained cultural norm making the practice socially accepted in some parts of the society.
"Just building toilets is not going to solve the problem, because open defecation is a practice acquired from the time you learn how to walk. When you grow up in an environment where everyone does it, even if later in life you have access to proper sanitation, you will revert back to it," says Sue Coates, chief of Wash (water, sanitation and hygiene) at Unicef.
India will be free of open defecation only when "every Indian household, every village, every part of Indian society will accept the need to use toilets and commit to do so", she says."...
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“Building toilets does not mean that people will use them and there seems to be a host of cultural, social, and caste-based reasons for that....
8/4/14, "India’s Toilet Race Failing as Villages Don’t Use Them," Bloomberg,
In at least five of India’s poorest states, the majority of people in households with a government latrine don’t use it....Sunita’s family in the north Indian village of Mukimpur were given their first toilet in February, one of millions being installed by the government to combat disease. She can’t remember the last time anyone used it."...
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6/30/15, "Lack of toilets for 2.4 billion people undermining health efforts," UPI.com, Stephen Feller, Geneva, Switzerland
"Lack of access to toilets and unsanitary social norms threaten to undermine global efforts to improve drinking water and increase rates of child survival.
Great strides have been made to increase access to clean drinking water, and the number of children who die from diarrhea caused by poor sanitation and hygiene has been cut in half during the last fifteen years, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The largest issue at hand, said Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF's global water, sanitation and hygiene programs, is sanitation and toilet access. 2.4 billion have no access to toilets, 946 million people defecate in the open, making it difficult to keep water supplies clean.
"Until everyone has access to adequate sanitation facilities, the quality of water supplies will be undermined and too many people will continue to die from waterborne and water-related diseases," said Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the WHO Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, in a press release.
About 2.6 billion have gained access to cleaner drinking water, the two organizations report; 91 percent of the world's population has access to it. Additionally, fewer than 1,000 children die each day of diarrhea caused by water issues, as compared with about 2,000 per day 15 years ago.
An improved drinking source is one that is protected from contamination and can include water piped into homes, a public tap or standpipe, or some other protected access, as well as sources of water that are specifically not able to be contaminated.
Wijesekera said the global model on water, however, has not moved fast enough as many of the poorest people who need sanitation services have been left for last.
A more robust focus and investment will need to be made to improve hygiene and habits, as well as more innovative technologies and approaches to helping poor, often rural, areas get access to clean water, the organizations said."
..................
Image caption: "Although 2.6 billion people have gained access to clean water since 1990 who previously did not have it, hygiene and further sanitation issues threaten the progress that has been made. Photo: africa924/Shutterstock"
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US gov. said to be waiting for illegal aliens to return permits illegally issued to them in defiance of court order-Washington Times
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6/29/15, "Obama Defies Federal Judge, Fails To Rescind Wrongly Issued Amnesties," Stephen Dinan. Washington Times
"The Obama Administration still hasn’t fully rescinded the 2,000 three-year amnesties it wrongly issued four months ago in violation of a court order, government lawyers recently admitted in court, spurring a stern response from the judge who said the matter must be cleaned up by the end of July-or else....
The agency bungled the rollout, issuing three-year amnesties even while assuring the judge it had stopped all action hours after a Feb. 16 injunction.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for overseeing the amnesty, said it’s trying to round up all of the permits, sending out two-year amnesties and pleading with the illegal immigrants to return the three-year cards.
But they are having trouble getting some of the lucky recipients to send them back.
“USCIS is carefully tracking the returns of the three-year EAD cards, and many have been returned within weeks,” the agency said in a statement to The Washington Times. “USCIS continues to take steps to collect the remaining three-year EAD cards.”
The agency didn’t answer specific questions about how many remain outstanding, nor about what methods will be used to claw back the ones that folks refuse to return.
The three-year deportation amnesty was part of Mr. Obama’s November 2014 announcement when he proposed granting a three-year tentative deportation amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. It was to be a massive expansion, in both eligibility and duration, of his 2012 amnesty, which granted two-year amnesty to so-called Dreamers.
Judge Andrew S. Hanen blocked the expansion in February, issuing an injunction that remains in place even as the administration appeals it to a higher court. The next hearing on that appeal is due July 10.
But Judge Hanen was shocked to learn that USCIS issued the 2,000 three-year amnesties even after he’d issued his injunction.
“I expect you to resolve the 2,000; I’m shocked that you haven’t,” Judge Hanen told the Justice Department at a hearing last week, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “If they’re not resolved by July 31, I’m going to have to figure out what action to take.”
Homeland Security says it’s changed the duration of the work permits from three years to two years in its computer systems, but getting the cards returned from the illegal immigrants themselves is tougher.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the lawsuit challenging the amnesty and who won the February injunction against the policy, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the outstanding permits.
Josh Blackman, an assistant professor at the South Texas College of Law, who has filed briefs in the case opposing the Obama administration’s claims, said he believes the administration is trying to comply in good faith with Judge Hanen’s order, but USCIS’s difficulties show how difficult managing the full amnesty would be.
“The entire nature of this case was that agents were given a free rein to approve as many applications as possible. DHS can’t keep track of its own agents and who’s being approved for deferrals and work authorization,” he said.
Mr. Obama...said those that qualify — as many as 5 million illegal immigrants — could earn a two-year stay of deportation and a work permit, which would usually qualify them for Social Security numbers, which they can use to access some other benefits, including tax credits.
Judge Hanen ruled on Feb. 16 that Mr. Obama didn’t follow the law in announcing his policy because it’s a major change, and under federal law those must be put out for public notice and comment. Judge Hanen said he didn’t have to address the major constitutional issues of whether Mr. Obama stole power that belongs to Congress, though he could still reach those questions should his injunction be overturned.
Between Nov. 20, when Mr. Obama announced his policy, and the Feb. 16 injunction, Homeland Security issued 108,000 three-year permits. Their legality is questionable and Texas and the Obama administration are arguing over how to handle them.
Even after the Feb. 16 injunction, and even as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was assuring Congress no permits were being issued, his department did issue 2,000 more three-year permits — something all sides agree was illegal."
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6/29/15, "Obama Defies Federal Judge, Fails To Rescind Wrongly Issued Amnesties," Stephen Dinan. Washington Times
"The Obama Administration still hasn’t fully rescinded the 2,000 three-year amnesties it wrongly issued four months ago in violation of a court order, government lawyers recently admitted in court, spurring a stern response from the judge who said the matter must be cleaned up by the end of July-or else....
The agency bungled the rollout, issuing three-year amnesties even while assuring the judge it had stopped all action hours after a Feb. 16 injunction.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for overseeing the amnesty, said it’s trying to round up all of the permits, sending out two-year amnesties and pleading with the illegal immigrants to return the three-year cards.
But they are having trouble getting some of the lucky recipients to send them back.
“USCIS is carefully tracking the returns of the three-year EAD cards, and many have been returned within weeks,” the agency said in a statement to The Washington Times. “USCIS continues to take steps to collect the remaining three-year EAD cards.”
The agency didn’t answer specific questions about how many remain outstanding, nor about what methods will be used to claw back the ones that folks refuse to return.
The three-year deportation amnesty was part of Mr. Obama’s November 2014 announcement when he proposed granting a three-year tentative deportation amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. It was to be a massive expansion, in both eligibility and duration, of his 2012 amnesty, which granted two-year amnesty to so-called Dreamers.
Judge Andrew S. Hanen blocked the expansion in February, issuing an injunction that remains in place even as the administration appeals it to a higher court. The next hearing on that appeal is due July 10.
But Judge Hanen was shocked to learn that USCIS issued the 2,000 three-year amnesties even after he’d issued his injunction.
“I expect you to resolve the 2,000; I’m shocked that you haven’t,” Judge Hanen told the Justice Department at a hearing last week, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “If they’re not resolved by July 31, I’m going to have to figure out what action to take.”
Homeland Security says it’s changed the duration of the work permits from three years to two years in its computer systems, but getting the cards returned from the illegal immigrants themselves is tougher.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading the lawsuit challenging the amnesty and who won the February injunction against the policy, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the outstanding permits.
Josh Blackman, an assistant professor at the South Texas College of Law, who has filed briefs in the case opposing the Obama administration’s claims, said he believes the administration is trying to comply in good faith with Judge Hanen’s order, but USCIS’s difficulties show how difficult managing the full amnesty would be.
“The entire nature of this case was that agents were given a free rein to approve as many applications as possible. DHS can’t keep track of its own agents and who’s being approved for deferrals and work authorization,” he said.
Mr. Obama...said those that qualify — as many as 5 million illegal immigrants — could earn a two-year stay of deportation and a work permit, which would usually qualify them for Social Security numbers, which they can use to access some other benefits, including tax credits.
Judge Hanen ruled on Feb. 16 that Mr. Obama didn’t follow the law in announcing his policy because it’s a major change, and under federal law those must be put out for public notice and comment. Judge Hanen said he didn’t have to address the major constitutional issues of whether Mr. Obama stole power that belongs to Congress, though he could still reach those questions should his injunction be overturned.
Between Nov. 20, when Mr. Obama announced his policy, and the Feb. 16 injunction, Homeland Security issued 108,000 three-year permits. Their legality is questionable and Texas and the Obama administration are arguing over how to handle them.
Even after the Feb. 16 injunction, and even as Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was assuring Congress no permits were being issued, his department did issue 2,000 more three-year permits — something all sides agree was illegal."
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