|
Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 13:00:00 PST
|
|
Some news and your afternoon OPEN THREAD.
 The Age reports Vital facts 'deleted' from UN report on climate change. "A major United Nations report on climate change has been watered down as a result of influence from government officials from countries opposed to taking radical action, conservation group WWF claims... The group fears that the report will play down the need for deep cuts in emissions. The report, which will be released on Saturday, will say that almost a third of the world's species will face extinction if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. A draft copy of the report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also warns that if temperatures rise by more than two degrees - now expected before 2050 - 20 per cent of the world's population will face a great risk of drought."
AFP has more details in UN panel in 'difficult' debate over global warming paper. "UN climate experts wrangled here Tuesday over a landmark document on global warming amid criticism that the draft report was bland and some of its findings out of date."
The source said there had been by sharp exchanges over what the document should include and whether it should reflect findings published after a cut-off date for new material...
The United States, meanwhile, questioned a reference that implied that powerful tropical storms would increase this century. It argued that observational data could be interpreted variously...
Some delegates, notably those from Britain and India... pointed out that the draft failed to take into account recent evidence of accelerated warming, including the shrinkage of the Arctic ice cap, glacier loss in Greenland, a surge in levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and an apparent slowing of Earth's ability to absorb greenhouse gases. The Washington Post reports the Bush veto sets stage for budget battle. "Bush vetoed a $606 billion spending bill Tuesday that would have funded education, health and labor programs for the current fiscal year, complaining that it was larded with pork and too expensive as he took aim at a top priority of the new Democratic Congress... At the same time, the president signed a $471 billion Defense Department spending bill that funds regular Pentagon operations other than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Bush called it a matter of setting priorities in a time of war. "Their majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far it is acting like a teenager with a new credit card," Bush planned to say in a speech here, according to excerpts provided by the White House.  Meanwhile, the Credit-Card-in-Chief runs his wars-of-choice by borrowing. The Associated Press reports Iraq, Afghan War Costs Are $1.6 Trillion. "The economic costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to total $1.6 trillion - roughly double the amount the White House has requested thus far, according to a new report by Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee. The report, released Tuesday, attempted to put a price tag on the two conflicts, including 'hidden' costs such as interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars, lost investment, the expense of long-term health care for injured veterans and the cost of oil market disruptions. The $1.6 trillion figure, for the period from 2002 to 2008, translates into a cost of $20,900 for a family of four, the report said. The Bush administration has requested $804 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined, the report stated." The Washington Post notes that the report found "the United States is dangerously increasing its reliance on foreign debt and that Americans will be paying the price for generations."
The Washington Post reports Middle-class dream eludes African American families.
Nearly half of African Americans born to middle-income parents in the late 1960s plunged into poverty or near-poverty as adults, according to a new study -- a perplexing finding that analysts say highlights the fragile nature of middle-class life for many African Americans.
Overall, family incomes have risen for both blacks and whites over the past three decades. But in a society where the privileges of class and income most often perpetuate themselves from generation to generation, black Americans have had more difficulty than whites in transmitting those benefits to their children.
Forty-five percent of black children whose parents were solidly middle class in 1968 -- a stratum with a median income of $55,600 in inflation-adjusted dollars -- grew up to be among the lowest fifth of the nation's earners, with a median family income of $23,100. Only 16 percent of whites experienced similar downward mobility. At the same time, 48 percent of black children whose parents were in an economic bracket with a median family income of $41,700 sank into the lowest income group.
So, what else is happening? |
| Magnifico :: Four at Four |
|
|
|
|
