01 Poverty – Page 16 – Public Intelligence Blog

Important, this is.

India’s Efforts to Aid Poor Worry Drug Makers

By GARDINER HARRIS

New York Times, December 29, 2013

NEW DELHI — Alka Kudesia needs an expensive drug to treat her breast cancer, but refuses to tell her children for fear they will take out loans to buy the medicine and spend the rest of their lives in debt.

. . . . . . .

The skirmishing over Herceptin and other cancer medicines is part of a new and critical phase in a long-running struggle to make drugs affordable to the world’s poorest people, one that began in earnest more than a decade ago when advocates campaigned successfully to make AIDS medicines accessible to millions of Africans.

“Cancer is the next H.I.V./AIDS issue, and the fight has only begun,” said Shamnad Basheer, a professor of law at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata.

Read full article.

Continue reading “Yoda: India Slams Big Pharma for Affordable Drugs”

2013/12/242013/12/24

Eagle: NYC Discovers Half Its Workers Near Poverty

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 11 Society

300 Million Talons... — 300 Million Talons…

De Blasio Hires Goldman Sachs Exec To Make City More Affordable

For all his campaign bluster against the two cities New York has become, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio isn't exactly shying away from some of the people who helped make it that way. This morning, the mayor-elect announced that Alicia Glen will serve as Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, a newly created position that will aim to make housing more affordable, as well create living-wage jobs for New Yorkers.

Continue reading “Eagle: NYC Discovers Half Its Workers Near Poverty”

2013/12/242013/12/24

NIGHTWATCH: Sub-Sahara Subversion

01 Poverty, 03 Environmental Degradation, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, 10 Transnational Crime, IO Deeds of War

Special comment: For reasons that are not clear, many of the governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have been destabilized a year or so after the catastrophe of the Arab Spring uprisings. Countries in stress include Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Congo Brazzaville, Congo Kinshasa, South Sudan and Somalia. These readily come to mind, but there are others, no doubt.

Sub-Saharan African has not experienced this extent of violent internal unrest since 1960.

2013/12/172013/12/17

Tikkun Rabbi Michael Lerner: War on Poverty Round Two — Theater, But Worth Noting… + Poverty RECAP

01 Poverty, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude

Great news!

Congessman Keith Ellison, who represents Minneapolis/St Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a resolution in effect endorsing the NSP version of a Global Marshall Plan into the House of Representatives as H Res 439. It was referred to the Republican controlled Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Please read the resolution below and send thanks to his legislative aide Vic Edgerton (contact information at end of post).

Continue reading “Tikkun Rabbi Michael Lerner: War on Poverty Round Two — Theater, But Worth Noting… + Poverty RECAP”

2013/12/11

Jon Rappoport: What Happened to $2.5 Trillion Allegedly Spent Against Poverty? Is Government a Giant Money-Laundering Scheme?

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 06 Family, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Government

Is government aid a giant money laundering scheme?

Remember something called the War on Poverty? The Great Society?

President Lyndon Johnson declared it and announced it in 1965. Since then, the federal government and state governments have poured staggering amounts of dollars into the program.

How many dollars? Does anyone know?

In his 1992 book, Paved With Good Intentions, Jared Taylor puts the figure (1965-1992) at $2.5 trillion. So, for the sake of argument, let’s accept that.

Yet, by 1992 (and to an even greater degree since then), poverty had accelerated in America. Had gotten much, much worse.

So the logical question was and is: where did all that money go?

Continue reading “Jon Rappoport: What Happened to $2.5 Trillion Allegedly Spent Against Poverty? Is Government a Giant Money-Laundering Scheme?”

2013/12/10

Eagle: Charles Hugh Smith on Bubble Economy – Starting with the Assassination of JFK

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government

Why We're Stuck with a Bubble Economy (December 9, 2013)

Inflating serial asset bubbles is no substitute for rising real incomes.

Why are we stuck with an economy that only generates serial credit/asset bubbles that crash with catastrophic consequences? Ths answer is actually fairly straightforward.

Let's start with the ideal conditions for an economy that depends on consumer spending.

1. Rising real income, i.e. after adjusting for inflation/currency depreciation, wages/salaries have more purchasing power every year.

2. An expanding pool of new households, i.e. young people who move away from home or graduate from college, get a job and start their own household. New households buy homes, vehicles, furniture, appliances, kitchenware, tools, etc., driving consumption far more than established households.

Neither of these conditions apply to today's economy. Income for the bottom 90% has been stagnant for forty years, and has declined 7% in real terms since 2000.

Read full article with more graphics.

Continue reading “Eagle: Charles Hugh Smith on Bubble Economy – Starting with the Assassination of JFK”

2013/12/092013/12/09

Stephen Lendman: Mandela’s Disturbing Legacy

01 Poverty, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Economy, 03 Environmental Degradation, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government

On December 5, Mandela died peacefully at home in Johannesburg. Cause of death was respiratory failure. He was 95.

Supporters called him a dreamer of big dreams. His legacy fell woefully short. More on that below.

“The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society.”

In 1964, he was sentenced to life in prison. He was mostly incarcerated on Robben Island. It’s in Table Bay. It’s around 7km offshore from Cape Town.

In February 1990, he was released. In 1993, he received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with South African President FW de Klerk.

Nobel Committee members said it was “for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”

De Klerk enforced the worst of apartheid ruthlessness. In 1994, Mandela was elected president. He served from May 1994 – June 1999.

He exacerbated longstanding economic unfairness. He deserves condemnation, not praise.

John Pilger’s work exposed South African apartheid harshness. Doing so got him banned. Thirty years later he returned.

He wanted to see firsthand what changed. He interviewed Mandela in retirement. His “Apartheid Did Not Die” documentary followed.

Continue reading “Stephen Lendman: Mandela's Disturbing Legacy”