Food Crisis

Pressure piled on the UN now as G8 leaders fail to rise to the challenge of a world in crisis

The 2008 G8 Summit in Japan failed to tackle the grievous problems facing the world that are hitting poor people first and hardest, said international agency Oxfam today at the summit’s end.

Oxfam says that leadership must now be shown at key UN meetings on poverty in September and on climate in December.

Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs said, “Never was more urgent action needed by the G8 than this week in Japan. Accelerated climate change, runaway food prices and growing poverty are depriving millions of people of their livelihoods and, in many cases, their very lives.

“Several governments championed steps to tackle the crucial issues sitting on the G8 agenda, but in the end this summit did not deliver the breakthroughs that are so urgently needed. The consensus reached was shallow at best, especially on climate.

“The search for deeper agreement among world powers does not end here. It will shape the agenda during Italy’s presidency. However millions of people living in poverty can ill afford another year without bold and united leadership.”

On climate change, the G8 endorsed among other things a commitment to halve global carbon emissions by 2050 – but with no agreed baseline year or mid-term targets – and a $6bn pledge to the World Bank for climate investment funds that will come out of existing aid budgets.
Antonio Hill, Oxfam’s climate change policy spokesperson, said: “At this rate, by 2050 the world will be cooked and the G8 leaders will be long forgotten. The G8’s endorsement of a tepid ‘50 by 50’ climate goal leaves us with a 50/50 chance of a climate meltdown. We need 80% cuts of 1990 levels by 2050 and emissions to peak and start falling by 2015.

“The G8’s announcement on 2050 is just another stalling tactic that does nothing to lower the risk faced by millions of poor people right now. Taking climate change funds out of aid budgets – with overall aid going down – is patently unfair. Every aid dollar diverted to climate adaptation is one dollar less for medicines and schoolbooks.”

On the food crisis, the G8 promised to reverse the decline in aid to agriculture – but without any numbers – and to support the UN’s plans to tackle the crisis. It also pledged to ensure that biofuels would be produced in a way that would be compatible with food security and to accelerate the development of second-generation biofuels.
Oxfam Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs said, “The G8 leaders do not seem to get it. The facts are clear. Rich country biofuels are a major cause of the global food crisis at this moment, yet the leaders barely mentioned them and blithely continue to burn food in their cars. It’s like discussing the Titanic but failing to talk about the iceberg.”

On Africa and development aid, the G8 reaffirmed previous promised to provide $50bn in new assistance, half to Africa, by 2010 – although it offered no details on who would do what to reverse the decline in aid since 2006. It also repeated the promise it made 12 months ago to spend $60bn for health – however, the timing was not specified and the clarity of purpose remained vague.
Oxfam International chief policy adviser at the G8, Max Lawson, said: “The G8 leaders’ clumsy attempt to backtrack on their aid promises has backfired. With two years to go to the 2010 deadline, G8 leaders now have to deliver the $50 billion in new assistance they pledged at Gleneagles. The world takes these promises seriously even if the G8 leaders do not.”

Charles Abani, Southern Africa Regional Director for Oxfam International, said: “The poor of Africa will find little solace in the G8’s evasion tactics. Only when they come through with the $25 billion for Africa will we have cause to celebrate. The money is a pittance for the G8, but for poor Africans it could mean a future with lifesaving medicines and the chance to learn to read and write.”

On current trends, Oxfam said the G8 will fall $30 billion short of the 2010 promise, which could cost as many as five million lives, most of them among the 30,000 children who die each day from causes related to extreme poverty.

“The G8 failed to rise to the challenge of a world in crisis, a world that is demanding serious action. We must see renewed leadership in September at the UN Emergency Summit on Poverty and in December in Poland at the vital UN climate talks,” Hobbs said.

Global hunger on the rise...

Food costs have increased hunger around the globe.

World Bank tackles food emergency

The World Bank has announced emergency measures to tackle rising food prices around the world.

World Bank head Robert Zoellick warned that 100 million people in poor countries could be pushed deeper into poverty by spiralling prices.

The crisis has sparked recent food riots in several countries including Haiti, the Philippines and Egypt.

To do something about global hunger/poverty check out some resources online:

The Hunger Project
Oxfam International

We haven't been busy around here...

And I do apologize. We've been busy working on a political campaign and working in retail during the holidays. Both of which can be very draining! But just wanted to drop in and say our plans for this year are as follows. Instead of the small house party to house party method we used in our first year. We will be building around two major events. One around July or so... where we will do a fund raiser for Care which is a global anti-poverty group, and some kind of public forum after the November election. We haven't quite filled in the vision on that one. I'm thinking of some kind of forum where we bring in a few experts, Representatives from political parties, and time for questions from citizens to talk about many of the issues such as health care, education, local infrastructure.

If you are interested in helping with either one please get in touch with me at 404 791 6652 or email at Jim.Nichols@gmail.com.

We are looking to maybe have one or two house parties but our emphasis is going to be on planning these two major events. If people volunteer to hold house parties we will help with possible theme's, contacts, and other support behind the scenes support.

Special Election for Dan Lackly's seat in GA-72 House District

Secretary Handel Sets Dates for Qualifying for House District 72 Special Election

Secretary of State Karen Handel announced today receipt of Governor Sonny Perdue's Writ of Election setting Tuesday, December 18 as the date for the special election to fill State House District 72 seat left vacant with the passing of State Representative Dan Lakly.

Secretary Handel set the State House District 72 candidate qualifying dates for Monday, November 19 through Wednesday, November 21. Qualifying on Monday will run from 9 am until 5:30 pm; on Tuesday from 8 am until 5:30 pm and on Wednesday from 8 am until 12 noon. Qualifying will be held in the Elections Division of the Office of Secretary of State, 1104 West Tower, 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1505. The qualifying fee is $400.00.

Advance voting will be held Monday, December 10 through Friday, December 14. The election will be held in portions of Fayette County, including Fayetteville and Peachtree City. Polls will be open from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2007.

All citizens residing in State House District 72 who wish to vote in the special election can register to vote through Wednesday, November 21. Voter registration forms can be obtained at any county registrar's office or from the Secretary of State's website:

http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/voter_registration/voter_reg_app.htm.

Karen Handel was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2007. The Secretary of State's office offers important services to our business community, our government, and our citizens. These services include an efficient and secure election process, and the regulation of corporations, securities, and professional license holders. The Office also controls the state archives and the Capitol museum.

Vote!

Swing by and drop off a book.

This Thursday we are having our books to prisoners house party.

We need your help to make this successful.

3rd District Common Agenda
Books to Prisoners House Party

What? House party to collect donations for Books to Prisoners–a Seattle-based, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that sends (paperback only) books to prisoners in the United States.

When? Thursday November 8th.
At Jim and Deana’s house
217 Turnstone Rd.
Stockbridge, GA 30281

Swing by between 6:30 and 8:30pm to drop off books, donations, or to just say hello!
Prisoners request a variety of books. Most prisons accept paperback books only. The most popular requests are dictionaries, thesauruses, African American history and fiction, Native American studies, legal material, GED materials, and languages (particularly Spanish.) Other common requests include fiction, vocational-technical manuals, politics, anthropology, art and drawing, psychology, and health and fitness.

For more info on Books to Prisoners go to: http://www.bookstoprisoners.net/
For more info on the party or 3rd District Common Agenda call Jim at (404)791 6652 go to: http://3rddistrictcommonagenda.blogspot.com/

A Bogus Cancer Statistic

Giuliani falsely claims that only 44 percent of prostate cancer patients survive under "socialized medicine" in England.

In a new radio ad, Rudy Giuliani falsely claims that under England’s “socialized medicine” system only 44 percent of men with prostate cancer survive.

We tracked down the source of that number, which turns out to be the result of bad math by a Giuliani campaign adviser, who admits to us that his figure isn’t "technically" a survival rate at all. Furthermore, the co-author of the study on which Giuliani’s man based his calculations tells us his work is being misused, and that the 44 percent figure is both wrong and “misleading.” A spokesperson for the lead author also calls the figures "incorrect survival statistics."

It’s true that official survival rates for prostate cancer are higher in the U.S. than in England, but the difference is not nearly as high as Giuliani claims. And even so, the higher survival rates in the U.S. may simply reflect more aggressive diagnosing of non-lethal cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Actually, men with prostate cancer are more likely to die sooner if they don’t have health insurance, according to a recent study published in one of the American Medical Association’s journals. Giuliani doesn’t mention that.
Analysis
Rudy Giuliani's latest radio ad, which began airing in New Hampshire this week, draws a stark picture for anyone diagnosed with prostate cancer in England. "I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago," the Republican presidential candidate says in the ad. "My chance of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was cured of it, in the United States, 82 percent. My chances of surviving prostate cancer in England, only 44 percent under socialized medicine.”

Giuliani is wrong about that. Fortunately for the English, their chances of surviving prostate cancer are far better than Giuliani claims: The actual five-year survival rate is 74.4 percent, according to the United Kingdom's Office of National Statistics. Even those in the U.S. have a better chance than what Giuliani states: The five-year survival rate is 98.4 percent in this country, according to the National Cancer Institute. (Furthermore, Milton Eisner, a statistician with the SEER program of NCI, which compiles these numbers, warns that the two countries’ statistics are “probably not comparable because they’re not done on the same scale.”)

Giuliani got his figures from a campaign adviser whose methods would make scientists and statistics professors cringe. Indeed, one of the authors of the report cited by the adviser says the figures in the ad are "misleading" and the math employed is "absolutely not" a legitimate way to calculate survival rates.

Crowd Boos Ron Paul for Saying Americans Want Troops Home

Those boo's are not a good sign for the Republican party... from a bi-partisan "get things done... and get them done right..." perspective