Farewell Boot for Bush in Iraq

It gives fresh meaning to the phrase shooed away. President George W Bush ducked a pair of shoes hurled at his head -- one shoe after the other -- in the middle of a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Both shoes narrowly missed their target.
The assailant -- later identified as television correspondent Muntadar al-Zeidi - leapt from his chair and hurled his footwear at the president, who was about 20 feet away and yelled in Arabic.
"This is a farewell kiss, you dog,"
Bush later bravely said -
"So what if the guy threw a shoe at me?" "If you want the facts, it was a size 10,"

Americans too apathetic to ethical standards

NEW YORK – In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards.
Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than previous generations, but several agreed that intensified pressures are prompting many students to cut corners.
"The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater."
The Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, both public and private. All students in the selected schools were given the survey in class; their anonymity was assured.
Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, said he was most dismayed by the findings about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls — 30 percent overall — acknowledged stealing from a store within the past year. One-fifth said they stole something from a friend; 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative.
"What is the social cost of that — not to mention the implication for the next generation of mortgage brokers?" Josephson remarked in an interview. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'"
Other findings from the survey:
_Cheating in school is rampant and getting worse. Sixty-four percent of students cheated on a test in the past year and 38 percent did so two or more times, up from 60 percent and 35 percent in a 2006 survey.
_Thirty-six percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up from 33 percent in 2004.
_Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money — 49 percent of the boys and 36 percent of the girls.
Despite such responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."
Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, said the findings were not at all reflective of the inner-city students she works with as an advocate for better curriculum and school funding.
"A lot of people like to blame society's problems on young people, without recognizing that young people aren't making the decisions about what's happening in society," said Dzurinko, 32. "They're very easy to scapegoat."
Peter Anderson, principal of Andover High School in Andover, Mass., said he and his colleagues had detected very little cheating on tests or Internet-based plagiarism. He has, however, noticed an uptick in students sharing homework in unauthorized ways.
"This generation is leading incredibly busy lives — involved in athletics, clubs, so many with part-time jobs, and — for seniors — an incredibly demanding and anxiety-producing college search," he offered as an explanation.
Riddle, who for four decades was a high school teacher and principal in northern Virginia, agreed that more pressure could lead to more cheating, yet spoke in defense of today's students.
"I would take these students over other generations," he said. "I found them to be more responsive, more rewarding to work with, more appreciative of support that adults give them.
"We have to create situations where it's easy for kids to do the right things," he added. "We need to create classrooms where learning takes on more importance than having the right answer."
On Long Island, an alliance of school superintendents and college presidents recently embarked on a campaign to draw attention to academic integrity problems and to crack down on plagiarism and cheating.
Roberta Gerold, superintendent of the Middle Country School District and a leader of the campaign, said parents and school officials need to be more diligent — for example, emphasizing to students the distinctions between original and borrowed work.
"You can reinforce the character trait of integrity," she said. "We overload kids these days, and they look for ways to survive. ... It's a flaw in our system that whatever we are doing as educators allows this to continue."
Josephson contended that most Americans are too blase about ethical shortcomings among young people and in society at large.
"Adults are not taking this very seriously," he said. "The schools are not doing even the most moderate thing. ... They don't want to know. There's a pervasive apathy."
Josephson also addressed the argument that today's youth are no less honest than their predecessors.
"In the end, the question is not whether things are worse, but whether they are bad enough to mobilize concern and concerted action," he said.
"What we need to learn from these survey results is that our moral infrastructure is unsound and in serious need of repair. This is not a time to lament and whine but to take thoughtful, positive actions."

Source:ChristianPost

Jobless claims in USA

WASHINGTON – The number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits has jumped to a level not seen since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Labor Department on Thursday reported that jobless claims last week increased by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 516,000. That nearly matched the 517,000 claims reported seven years ago, and is the second-highest total since 1992.
The total also was much higher than analysts expected. Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected claims to increase only slightly to 484,000. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised upward Thursday by 3,000 to 484,000.
The increase puts jobless claims at levels similar to the recession of the early 1990s. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out fluctuations, increased to 491,000, the highest in more than 17 years.
Thursday's figure is the first time claims have topped 500,000 during the current economic slowdown. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of recession. A year ago, claims stood at 338,000.
The number of individuals continuing to seek unemployment benefits rose to 3.9 million, above analysts' estimates of 3.85 million. That's the highest total since January 1983, though the labor market has grown by about half since then. The continuing claims tally is for the week ending Nov. 1, one week behind the initial claims report.
Recipients stop receiving benefits when they find another job or their benefits run out. The increase in continuing claims indicates that laid-off workers are taking longer to find a new job.
Thursday's report could affect the political debate in Congress over whether to enact another economic stimulus package and what it should include. Democrats want to add an extension of unemployment benefits, which last 26 weeks.
Initial claims have been driven higher in the past several months by a slowing economy hit by the financial crisis, and cutbacks in consumer and business spending. Claims also rose in late September due to the impact of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, but the department said last week that the impact of the hurricanes has passed.
The rise in claims has been mirrored by an increase in the unemployment rate. Unemployment reached a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October, the Labor Department said last week, as the ranks of the unemployed swelled to 10.1 million.
Several companies recently have announced mass layoffs, including Morgan Stanley, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Fidelity Investments.

source:AP

Unable to pay Tuition Fees?

Published: October 16, 2008 By JONATHAN D. GLATER
In difficult dinner-table conversations, college students and their parents are revisiting how to pay tuition as personal finances weaken and lenders get tough.
Diana and Ronnie Jacobs, of Salem, Ind., thought their family had a workable plan for college for her twin sons, using a combination of savings, income, scholarship aid and a relatively modest amount of borrowing. Then her husband lost his job at Colgate-Palmolive.
“It just seems like it’s really hard, because it is,” Ms. Jacobs, an information technology specialist, said of her financial situation. “I have two kids in college and I want to say ‘come home,’ but at the same time I want to provide them with a good education.”
The Jacobs family may be a harbinger of what is to come. Ms. Jacobs pressed the schools’ financial offices for several thousand dollars more for each son’s final year of college, and each son increased his borrowing to the maximum amount through the federal loan program. So they at least will be able to finish at their respective colleges.
With the unemployment rate rising and a recession mentality gripping the country, financial aid administrators say they expect many more calls like the one from Ms. Jacobs. More families are applying for federal aid, and a recent survey found that an increasing portion of families expected to need student loans. College administrators worry that as fresh cracks appear in family finances, they will not have enough aid money to go around, given that their own endowment returns are disappointing, states are making cutbacks and fund-raising will become more difficult.
“We are looking ahead and trying to be prepared for what might be coming,” said Jon Riester, associate dean of financial assistance at Hanover College, a private institution with about 1,000 undergraduates, including Justin Keeton, one of Ms. Jacobs’s sons. “We’re looking internally at our own budgets to see what we may be able to do in terms of providing additional assistance to students under various situations.”
The concern is widespread, even though college officials say it’s too soon to quantify how many students will face a shortfall. Even at wealthy institutions, financial aid administrators have begun weighing contingency plans. “Part of the conversation that’s going on now in many institutions is, do we want to put a dollar figure on how much we are willing to extend ourselves,” said L. Katharine Harrington, dean of admission and financial aid at the University of Southern California.
Ms. Harrington said she opposed setting a limit on aid, but added that the university’s pockets were not bottomless. “If we start seeing massive layoffs,” she added, “we may be in for a real bumpy ride.”
The credit crisis has made it harder for students and their parents to borrow, even as their needs grow and their savings accounts dwindle. In plenty of cases, students who had been borrowing on their own have had to ask parents — and in some cases, other relatives and friends — to help cover tuition or to cosign loans, both aid officials and lenders say.
Officials at most four-year colleges say that they have not seen rampant problems so far, because students have found alternatives. The financing for the fall semester was mostly in place many months ago, before the severity of the credit crisis and the economic downturn became apparent.
Others wonder privately whether there will a rebellion by parents about paying so much for education if the country’s economic distress is prolonged. A survey of nearly 3,000 parents by Fidelity Investments released earlier this month found that 62 percent of parents planned to use student loans to help finance expenses, up from 53 percent last year.
Ms. Jacobs said that with a family income of more than $100,000 a year, they had been counting on some loans to help pay for college for her 21-year-old sons, Justin and Jacob Keeton. Tuition, room and board add up to just over $32,000 at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind., which Justin attends, and nearly $29,500 at Franklin College, in Franklin, Ind., which Jacob attends.
Then, in December, Colgate-Palmolive closed its Jeffersonville plant, where her husband worked.
“I said, ‘This year the loans are going to have to be in your name, I’m not going to be able to pick up as much as I have before,’ ” Ms. Jacobs recalled. “They said they would be willing to put the student loans in their names and continue on. We all came to that consensus, but I hate it because I hate for them to come out of school with $20,000 in student loans,” Ms. Jacobs added. “To me that is so much money.”
She also called the two colleges, and each contributed about $3,000 more in aid, she said.
Financial aid administrators have been scrambling in a rapidly changing market, as many companies have decided that student loans are just not profitable enough. Many student loan providers, citing reduced profit margins and greater difficulty selling loans, have stopped making federally guaranteed loans, private loans or both.
Federal loans account for about three-quarters of student borrowing, and the government has assured that money will flow uninterrupted by agreeing to buy those loans, even if fewer companies are in the business. Federal loan volume is likely to grow this year; the number of applications for federal aid so far this year has risen to 13.5 million, up nearly 10 percent from 12.3 million a year earlier.

Hunger and Poverty in the United States

As America is the wealthiest and most bountiful nation in the world, it is no surprise that many Americans think of hunger and poverty occurring only in developing countries. While most Americans have encountered someone suffering from hunger and poverty in the United States, few of us may have actually realized it. The face of hunger and poverty in the United States is quite different from the images we often see in developing nations. Rather than outright starvation or homelessness, the face of hunger is a child who is malnourished because her parents do not earn enough to buy healthy food and sometimes has to skip meals. The face of a poor person in the United States is a single parent who works full time, but still can’t afford to pay for food, rent, child care, medical bills, and the costs of car to travel to work.
It is ironic that as the world’s wealthiest nation, hunger and poverty in the United States still persist. Evidence shows that millions of families and children live in poverty and experience hunger:
In August 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau released 2007 data on poverty, incomes and health insurance coverage. According to the Census press release, the number of people living in poverty was up about 800,000 (36.5 million in 2006, 37.3 million in 2007), but the official 2007 poverty rate of 12.5 percent was not statistically different from 2006. However, for children under 18, the poverty rate increased from 17.4 percent in 2006 to 18.0 percent in 2007.
Census data shows that many people did not share in the “economic recovery” that started in 2001. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose from $10.1 trillion in 2001 to almost $14.1 trillion in 2007. Yet the poverty rate rose from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.5 percent in 2006 and 2007.
For state-by-state poverty data, see the Coalition on Human Needs page on using Census data. Scroll down to the Data and Resources section and the Useful Tools section.
In January 2008, Kids Count released state-level data for over 100 measures of child well being, including all the measures regularly used in their KIDS COUNT Data Book and their The Right Start for America’s Newborns.
The federal minimum wage was increased 70 cents in July 2008, the second of three steps to raise it from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by 2009.
The Economic Policy Institute has found that without government assistance, the United States ranks among the top four countries with the highest rates of child poverty.
Real median household income in the United States climbed 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2007, reaching $50,233, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
About 47 million people (16 percent) were without health insurance coverage in 2006. This included about 9 million children. The number without insurance declined to 45.7 million (15.3 percent) in 2007. The drop was attributable to higher enrollment in government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
A current indication of hunger is participation in the Food Stamp Program. In May 2008, food stamp participation of about 28,400,000 persons was up over the prior May by more than 2 million people. Yet, according to Food Research and Action Center, the program may be missing as many as four in ten eligible people.
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that the prevalence of food insecurity in 2006 was 10.9 percent of households compared to 11.0 percent in 2005. The prevalence of “very low food security” (formerly called “food insecurity with hunger”) in 2006 was 4.0 percent of households, little changed from 2005’s 3.9 percent. See USDA Briefing Rooms. Food insecurity remained higher than in 1999–2001.
Many factors contribute to the persistence of hunger and poverty in this nation, including low wages, lack of access to safety-net programs including child care and Food Stamps, inability to take advantage of most tax benefits aimed at middle- and upper-income households, and a lack of opportunity to accumulate savings and other assets.
Because of its persistence even in times of plenty, hunger and poverty can seem like an intractable problem. Yet hunger and poverty do not exist in the United States and around the world because there are not enough resources. The issue is one of priorities. As former Sen. Mark Hatfield once said, “We stand by as children starve by the millions because we lack the will to eliminate hunger. Yet we have found the will to develop missiles capable of flying over the polar cap and landing within a few hundred feet of their target. This is not innovation. It is a profound distortion of humanity’s purpose on earth.”
RESULTS has been working for more than 25 years to build the political will to end hunger and poverty in the United States. Its efforts have included strengthening the nation’s safety net programs, including the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Child Care Development Block Grant, Head Start, Food Stamps, and Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infant, and Children programs, as well as the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Child Tax Credit. Additionally, RESULTS advocates for innovative solutions to poverty, such as U.S. microenterprise and Individual Development Accounts. In December 2003, the National Anti-Hunger Organizations, including RESULTS, issued a Millennium Declaration to End Hunger in America, calling on “the president, Congress, and other elected leaders in states and cities to provide decisive leadership to end hunger in America.” This was followed by the Blueprint to End Hunger issued in June 2004; read our press release for more details

"results.org"

Little secret about US urban life

The picture isn’t one from a third world country. The picture is a tent city in Reno Nevada and it is just one of the many tent cities that are springing up around the US. The result of the current economy in the US has resulted in an increase of Americans who find themselves homeless. This particular one in Reno is home for 150 homeless citizens who have become the latest statistic in the rise of homelessness in the US. While we read about the current state of ecomonic tumoil in the US, it is a rarity to actually see the results of these hard times that all Americans are facing. Well, guess what folks? Tent cities are on the rise throughout the US and will probably continue to increase as the economy worsens. Tent cities are becoming a landscape of the America of 2008.From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.To be clear, many of the homeless of the US are not seeking life on the streets because of their own desires to live in a tent next to others. Tent cities are a direct result of the rising economic fall out that is sweeping this country. Homelessness knows no economic boundaries and with increasing job layoffs the faces of our homeless include families, the middle class and even CEOs. A recent letter from one of Wanderingvets readers illustrates the fact that being homeless in America can happen to anyone.I know this situation unfortunately. a 20+ year friend of mine who used to be a multi-millionaire is living in his SUV. i had lost touch with him for a couple of years and thought it was odd that i couldnt find him, considering his position… then when i reached him, he admitted he had been living in his SUV. we live about 2,000 miles away and i offered to let him stay at my house……… HOW can a multimillionaire be living in his car? LaurenStephensI agree with Lauren’s question and this leads to another question…How can we stand by and let these tent cities not prompt us to come up with the means to provide shelter & assistance for Americans in the current economic crisis? America has offered humanitarian aid for others throughout the world yet we are doing nothing to help our very own citizens? Many homeless services simply can’t keep up with growing numbers of the homeless in the US. We simply have never been committed to really addressing the issue of homelessness in most communties…and now we are faced with numbers that far exceed the current services.One thing is for certain. Homelessness in America isn’t going to be a headline that is shared with the public at large. There is little in the media about this rising problem and to date there have been no national efforts to ease the burden of those who find themselves homeless in the current economy. It seems to be some dirty little secret that we don’t want to address with a solution. (In fact, if you do a search for tent cities in the US there is more news about this problem coming from foreign press than from the American mainstream media!)As these tent cities continue to appear throughout America I urge you to recognize the need for help in your own communities. We have a long history for helping our fellow Americans out during crisis and this situation is no different,although less publicized. Please support your local homeless organizations , contact your local community government to assure that they are doing more than merely passing prohibitive laws for those in need,buy the homeless a meal,hire those who need a job….do something that supports the many homeless Americans who are in need of our support. Each and every thing can make a difference!For those who want to make a difference in your communties, Wanderingvets has the following articles that might give you a better insight into helping our homeless Americans:Not Looking AwayA View From The Other Side of The Fence: Includes a list of ways to help the homelessNeeded Donations for Homeless Veterans: Includes a list of supplies that are helpful for the homeless as listed by a homeless veteran,Wanderingvet.For those Americans who are experiencing homelessness there are some tips for survival from someone who has experienced homeless first hand. Please feel free to let Wanderingvets hear from you. You are not forgotten

"wanderingvets.com"

Little secret about the US urban life

The picture isn’t one from a third world country. The picture is a tent city in Reno Nevada and it is just one of the many tent cities that are springing up around the US. The result of the current economy in the US has resulted in an increase of Americans who find themselves homeless. This particular one in Reno is home for 150 homeless citizens who have become the latest statistic in the rise of homelessness in the US. While we read about the current state of ecomonic tumoil in the US, it is a rarity to actually see the results of these hard times that all Americans are facing. Well, guess what folks? Tent cities are on the rise throughout the US and will probably continue to increase as the economy worsens. Tent cities are becoming a landscape of the America of 2008.From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.To be clear, many of the homeless of the US are not seeking life on the streets because of their own desires to live in a tent next to others. Tent cities are a direct result of the rising economic fall out that is sweeping this country. Homelessness knows no economic boundaries and with increasing job layoffs the faces of our homeless include families, the middle class and even CEOs. A recent letter from one of Wanderingvets readers illustrates the fact that being homeless in America can happen to anyone.I know this situation unfortunately. a 20+ year friend of mine who used to be a multi-millionaire is living in his SUV. i had lost touch with him for a couple of years and thought it was odd that i couldnt find him, considering his position… then when i reached him, he admitted he had been living in his SUV. we live about 2,000 miles away and i offered to let him stay at my house……… HOW can a multimillionaire be living in his car? LaurenStephensI agree with Lauren’s question and this leads to another question…How can we stand by and let these tent cities not prompt us to come up with the means to provide shelter & assistance for Americans in the current economic crisis? America has offered humanitarian aid for others throughout the world yet we are doing nothing to help our very own citizens? Many homeless services simply can’t keep up with growing numbers of the homeless in the US. We simply have never been committed to really addressing the issue of homelessness in most communties…and now we are faced with numbers that far exceed the current services.One thing is for certain. Homelessness in America isn’t going to be a headline that is shared with the public at large. There is little in the media about this rising problem and to date there have been no national efforts to ease the burden of those who find themselves homeless in the current economy. It seems to be some dirty little secret that we don’t want to address with a solution. (In fact, if you do a search for tent cities in the US there is more news about this problem coming from foreign press than from the American mainstream media!)As these tent cities continue to appear throughout America I urge you to recognize the need for help in your own communities. We have a long history for helping our fellow Americans out during crisis and this situation is no different,although less publicized. Please support your local homeless organizations , contact your local community government to assure that they are doing more than merely passing prohibitive laws for those in need,buy the homeless a meal,hire those who need a job….do something that supports the many homeless Americans who are in need of our support. Each and every thing can make a difference!For those who want to make a difference in your communties, Wanderingvets has the following articles that might give you a better insight into helping our homeless Americans:Not Looking AwayA View From The Other Side of The Fence: Includes a list of ways to help the homelessNeeded Donations for Homeless Veterans: Includes a list of supplies that are helpful for the homeless as listed by a homeless veteran,Wanderingvet.For those Americans who are experiencing homelessness there are some tips for survival from someone who has experienced homeless first hand. Please feel free to let Wanderingvets hear from you. You are not forgotten
"wanderingvets.com"