aljazeera--2019-02-01--Death toll in Brazil dam disaster rises to 110

The death toll from a tailings dam collapse in the Brazilian city of Brumadinho has jumped to 110, according to an official and rescue workers at the site.  Lieutenant Flavio Godinho, an official at the Minas Gerais state civil defence agency, told the AP news agency that 238 people were still listed as missing on Thursday.  No one has been found alive since Saturday, but the Minas Gerais Fire Department said it does not want to stop the search for victims.  The dam that held back iron-ore waste, owned and operated by mining giant Vale, collapsed on last Friday, unleashing 12 million cubic metres of mud and debris that buried buildings adjoining the dam and several parts of the small southeastern city of Burmadinho.  The high numbers of dead and missing may make the tailings dam failure Brazil's deadliest-ever mine disaster.  Rescue workers told Reuters news agency 71 bodies recovered from the mud have been identified so far.  On Thursday, state labour courts froze more than 800 million reais ($219m) of Vale's assets as compensation for victims.  That followed court orders over the weekend freezing 11.8 billion reais ($3.1bn) in assets to cover rescue efforts and damages.  The company had around 24 billion reais ($6.5bn) in cash and equivalents at the end of the third quarter.  On Monday, Vale promised to pay 100,000 reais ($25,000) to the family of each victim.  A day later, it said it was closing 19 dams in the area and temporarily suspending all operations in Minas Gerais.  The dam collapse in Brumadinho occurred three years after a similar disaster at another of its sites in the same region.  The 2015 rupture of the Bento Rodrigues dam had killed 19 people and caused what was considered the worst environmental catastrophe Brazil had seen.  Several Vale executives were charged with murder but they were never arrested, and the company was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages.  But according to local media reports less than four percent was paid out.


aljazeera--2019-02-20--Japan Fukushima operator told to pay over 2011 nuclear disaster

Japan, Fukushima operator told  to pay over 2011 nuclear disaster

A court in Japan has awarded nearly $4m in new damages to 152 residents forced to flee their houses after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown eight years ago, the world's most serious nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.     The Yokohama district court on Wednesday ordered the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to pay 419.6m yen ($3.8m) to the residents, a court spokeswoman told AFP news agency.  Triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake, a tsunami crashed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in March 2011, overwhelming reactor cooling systems, causing multiple meltdowns and sending radiation over a large area that forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.  Nearly 19,000 people were killed or went missing and 160,000 lost their homes and livelihoods in the massive earthquake and tsunami.  Presiding judge Ken Nakadaira said the government and TEPCO "could have avoided the accident if they had taken measures" against the tsunami, according to public broadcaster NHK.  The verdict was the fifth time the government has been ruled liable for the disaster in eastern Japan.  In March last year, a court in Kyoto, western Japan, ruled that both the government and TEPCO were responsible and ordered them to pay 110m yen ($992,300) to 110 residents.  However, in a separate case in September 2017 in Chiba near Tokyo, the court ruled that only the operator was liable.  Around 12,000 people who fled after the disaster due to radiation fears have filed various lawsuits against the government and TEPCO.  Cases have revolved around whether the government and TEPCO, both of whom are responsible for disaster prevention measures, could have foreseen the scale of the tsunami and subsequent meltdown.  Dozens of class-action lawsuits have been filed seeking compensation from the government.

disaster, accident and emergency incident


aljazeera--2019-03-13--Social disaster South Korea steps up fight against pollution

'Social disaster': South Korea steps up fight against pollution

South Korea on Wednesday ramped up its firepower in its battle against pollution, passing a set of bills that designate the problem a "social disaster" and which could unlock emergency funds to tackle the issue.  Pollution in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been exacerbated by factors including coal-fired power generation and high vehicle emissions, sparking widespread concern among the public and weighing on President Moon Jae-in's approval ratings.  Designating the issue a disaster allows the government to use parts of its reserve funds to help respond to any damage or emergency caused by polluted air. The country's reserve funds stand at up to 3 trillion won ($2.65bn) this year.  Other bills that were passed included mandating that every school classroom should have an air purifier and removing a limit on sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles, which typically produce less emissions than gasoline and diesel.  The latest bills follow previous steps to battle pollution such as capping operations at coal-fired power plants.  South Korea's air quality was the worst among its peers in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as of 2017, according to data from the group. Its average annual exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) of less than 2.5 micrometres was 25.1 micrograms per cubic metre, slightly more than double the OECD average of 12.5.  The World Health Organization recommends that air quality standard should be no more than 10 micrograms in terms of PM 2.5 levels.  For six consecutive days in early March, high levels of concentrated pollutants enveloped most parts of South Korea.  According to a weekly poll by Gallup Korea released on March 8, President Moon's approval rating was down by 3 percentage points from a week earlier at 46 percent.  Unless any objections are raised, it should take around 15 days for the bills to become law.  The nation's regional neighbour China has also been fighting pollution as it tries to reverse damage from over three decades of untrammelled economic growth.


aljazeera--2019-03-14--Timeline Major air disasters

Timeline: Major air disasters

# Timeline: Major air disasters  A recap of the worst air crashes in civilian aviation since the turn of the century.


aljazeera--2019-03-22--Families demand justice as toll in Mosul boat disaster hits 103

Grief-stricken residents in Iraq's northern city of Mosul are demanding justice after the sinking of a ferry packed with families killed more 100 people, including children.  The vessel, which was carrying people celebrating both the Nowruz holiday and Mother's Day, capsized on Thursday in Tigris River.  "The number of casualties has risen to 103, while an estimated 50 more remain missing," Ghazwan al-Daoudi, a member of Nineveh's provincial council, told Anadolu Agency on Friday.  "We believe the ferryboat was carrying about 200 passengers when it sank," he added.  In the early hours of Friday, local authorities said 55 survivors had been pulled from the river near Mosul, the regional capital of Nineveh province.  According to al-Daoudi, the council will convene an emergency session later in the day in which "all those involved in the incident" would be present.  Earlier on Friday, relatives of the victims went to local hospitals to collect bodies of their loved ones in advance of funerals. Some chanted: "No to corruption!" and "They are all thieves."  "How can a ferry sail with no means of rescue available," asked Dalia Mahmoud, a woman who was standing outside the coroner's office.  At the scene of the accident, where prayers were held for the dead, many said the disaster could have been avoided.  "We want those responsible to be brought to justice," said Mohammed Adel, 27, whose father was among those who died. He accused officials of failing to enforce safety standards.  Although no official statements have been issued regarding the cause of the accident, local residents have attributed it to overcrowding, saying the ferry only had a 50-passenger capacity.  After visiting the scene of the accident alongside President Barham Saleh, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi declared three days of national mourning. He said the justice system "must do its job and the investigation must produce results on the reasons for this shipwreck".  According to a statement released late Thursday by Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, nine people have been detained so far in connection with the incident.  Meanwhile, witnesses told Anadolu Agency that angry local residents, including several relatives of the victims, chanted slogans and hurled shoes at Nineveh Governor Nofal al-Akoub following his arrival to the site of the ferryboat accident.  As al-Akoub's convoy attempted to flee the scene, two people - both relatives of the victims - were run over in the confusion, according to witnesses. The extent of their injuries remains unknown.  The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia majority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for accountability for those responsible for the sinking and urged officials whose ministries were linked to the tragedy to resign.  Al-Sistani's message was delivered by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the Shia holy city of Karbala.  Meanwhile, Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolences to Iraqi authorities, expressing his "prayerful solidarity" with all those who lost loved ones.  The sinking of the ferry was a tragic blow to Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city that is still struggling to overcome the devastation wreaked by ISIL.  The armed group, also known as ISIS, captured Mosul it in the summer of 2014, making the city its main stronghold in Iraq. After US-backed Iraqi forces retook it three years later, in July 2017, much of Mosul was left in ruins.  "We lost a lot because of Daesh and we will not accept to lose more," said Mahmoud, using an Arabic name to refer to ISIL.


aljazeera--2019-03-23--Death toll from Iraqs ferry disaster rises to 120

Death toll from Iraq's ferry disaster rises to 120

The full extent of the ferry disaster in the Iraqi city of Mosul is becoming clearer.  Civil Defence says the number of dead is now at least 120, while 100 people are still missing.  Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is formally requesting a local governor be sacked over the incident.


21stcenturywire--2019-01-13--Post-2020 India to Outpace US as Worlds Second Most Powerful Economy

Post-2020: India to Outpace US as World’s Second Most Powerful Economy

By 2030, seven of the world’s top 10 economies will be current emerging markets, according to the latest report by London-based multinational banking and financial service company Standard Chartered.  The long-term projection shows that India is likely to become larger than the US, while neighboring China will reportedly steal the crown of world’s most powerful economy (currently held by the US) as soon as 2020. At the same time, Indonesia may break into the top five economies.  “India will likely be the main mover, with its trend growth accelerating to 7.8 percent by the 2020s partly due to ongoing reforms, including the introduction of a national goods and services tax (GST) and the Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC),” says the report, as quoted by Quartz. The GST, one of the largest tax reforms to be implemented by Delhi, was rolled out in 2017. The measure is aimed at simplifying the country’s cumbersome tax regime.  The IBC, launched in 2016, consolidates the bankruptcy and insolvency laws in India. The UK firm noted that the aging population is set to have a significant impact on global growth, but India, which is currently ranked as the world’s sixth biggest economy, will remain unfazed, as the country has the world’s largest group of young people. Nearly half of the Indian population is under the age of 25.  “The rising aspirations of a young population will continue to support consumerism in India’s economy,” according to the report.  Standard Chartered also said that the country would need to create 100 million new jobs in the manufacturing and service sectors by 2030 to cope with demand for massive employment.  “India needs to train circa 10 million people annually, but currently has the capacity to train just 4.5 million,” the report reads.  Source: Market Screener via 2019 Qatar Tribune. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)., source Middle East & North African Newspapers  READ MORE FINANCIAL NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Financial Files


21stcenturywire--2019-08-24--Trumps Tweets and China-Baiting Distracts from Fundamentally Poor US Economy

Trump’s Tweets and China-Baiting Distracts from Fundamentally Poor US Economy

Stocks fell rapidly on Wall Street at closing on Friday after Trump responded to China’s tariff threat against American imports – pushing the market to its fourth-straight week of losses.  The reaction from the US Federal Reserve Bank will be telling. Will the Fed try and halt the bleeding on Wall Street with more aggressive interest rate cuts?  Trump tweeted, criticizing Fed chief Jerome Powell for the Fed’s lack of action, and then brazenly asks “who is a bigger enemy,” the Fed chairman or the president of China?  However, amid all the drama and fascination with Trump’s tweets and incessant China-baiting, few in the mainstream media seem keen on tackling asking the really important question: ten years on from the economic collapse of 2008, just how healthy is the US economy?  Upon closer inspection, the fundamentals are not looking good at all.  Dagny Taggart from the Organic Prepper offered this analysis…  Despite what some “experts” would like you to believe, the US is on shaky financial ground. Several indicators suggest things are far worse than many think.  Let’s take a look at them now.  More than half of families in the US live in “asset poverty.”  A recent study found that more than 63 percent of American children and 55 percent of Americans live in “asset poverty”. This means they have few or no assets to rely on in the event of a financial emergency such as a job loss, a medical crisis, recessions, or natural disasters.  In a press release, study co-author David Rothwell, an assistant professor in OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences, explained that when families lack assets such as vehicles, homes, savings accounts or investments, surviving a financial crisis is very difficult. “This is a dimension of financial security that we don’t think about that much, and it’s pretty high. The findings highlight the extent of financial insecurity among American families. These shocks ripple through the family and down to the children,” Rothwell said.  The study was published in the journal Children and Youth Services Review earlier this year. Co-authors are Timothy Ottusch of the University of Arizona and Jennifer Finders of Purdue University.  Living in poverty can have devastating impacts on children, as the press release explains:  Rent is becoming unaffordable for many Americans.  According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renting is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many Americans. In its latest “Out of Reach” report, the organization explains that the struggle to find affordable housing is not limited to those earning minimum wage or the unemployed.  The report’s central statistic is the Housing Wage, which is an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to rent a home without spending more than 30 percent of income on housing costs. For 2019, the Housing Wage is $22.96 and $18.65 for a modest two and one-bedroom apartment respectively based on the “fair market rent”.  The average renter’s hourly wage is $1.08 less than the Housing Wage for a one-bedroom rental and $5.39 less than a two-bedroom rental. That means that an average renter in the U.S. has to work a 52 hour week. To put this in perspective, a median-wage worker in eight of the country’s largest ten occupations does not earn enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment.  An employee earning the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) would have to work 127 hours every week (equivalent to more than two full-time jobs) to afford a two-bedroom apartment.  This is not just a regional issue. There isn’t a single state, metro area, or county in the U.S. where a full-time employee earning the minimum wage can afford to rent a two-bedroom property. To explore data for your area, enter your zip code in the box below the map on this page: Out of Reach 2019.  According to the report, the ten jobs that are expected to see the biggest growth over the coming decade are those that pay less than the wage needed to afford housing – and that is likely to result in an even greater disparity between wages and housing costs by 2026, as this infographic from Statista illustrates:  Food is about to become more expensive.  Massive, damaging floods in the Midwest have been occurring since this past March. To make a bad situation worse, the potential for more floods in key agricultural states looms in front of us as more rain is predicted for the rest of this spring. So far, heavy flooding has impacted important agricultural states, including Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The economic impacts of the flooding are likely to be devastating, as Cat Ellis explained in Midwest Flooding Will Cause Shortages of THESE FOODS:  “Whatever your situation is, start thinking about what you eat and how to store those items,” Ellis wrote. Here’s how to get started building that stockpile.  Purchasing power is the value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. In other words, it is how much your money buys you. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you are able to purchase. Inflation reduces the value of a currency’s purchasing power.  In the article America’s Concealed Crisis: Fifty Years of Economic Decline, 1969 to 2019, Charles Hugh Smith explains how the loss of purchasing power has pushed the middle class into the working class:  Although our income is higher than it was 40 years ago, we can’t buy much with it, Smith says:  Evidence that the economy has already entered a downturn is mounting.  A few days ago, Michael Snyder summed up some of the signs the US economy is starting to deteriorate rapidly in the article The Pain Of This New Economic Downturn Is Starting To Show Up All Over The Country:  On Tuesday we got some more new numbers, and they were just as bad as we thought they might be. \ But even before today’s numbers all of the data were telling us the exact same thing. The New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index just suffered the worst one month decline in U.S. history, Morgan Stanley’s Business Conditions Index just suffered the largest one month decline that we have ever seen, global trade numbers are the worst they have been since the last recession, and just last week I detailed the complete and utter “bloodbath” that we are witnessing in the U.S. trucking industry right now. So considering what we already knew, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that new home sales in the U.S. were down a whopping 7.8 percent during the month of May. (source)  In addition, an economic indicator that has preceded every recession over the past five decades occurred a few days ago, reports NPR:  It is known among economists and Wall Street traders as a “yield curve inversion,” and it refers to when long-term interest rates are paying out less than short-term rates. That curve has been flattening out and sloping down for more than a year, raising worries among some analysts that investors’ long-term view of the market is not positive and that an economic downturn is looming. But on Sunday, an inauspicious milestone was achieved: The yield curve remained inverted for three months, or an entire quarter, which has for half a century been a clear signal that the economy is heading for recession in the next nine to 18 months, according to Campbell Harvey, a Duke University finance professor who spoke to NPR on Sunday. His research in the mid-1980s first linked yield curve inversions to recessions. “That has been associated with predicting a recession for the last seven recessions,” Harvey said. “From the 1960s, this indicator has been reliable in terms of foretelling a recession, and also importantly, it has not given any false signals yet.” (source)  The economy has not recovered much since the 2008 recession.  Many refer to stock market valuation and the “official” unemployment rate as indicators of an improving economy, but the truth is that they “paint a deceiving picture of the true state of the American economy,” as economist Antony P. Mueller outlines in Phony Economic Growth Stats Conceal Deep Problems on Main Street:  In the conclusion of that piece, Dr. Mueller states:  Here’s what you can do to prepare for a financial crisis.  If you are skeptical about the warning signs of the impending economic disaster that I have outlined in this brief article, here’s a great resource to refer to as you monitor current events: 10 Recession Warning Signs You Need To Know. “As much as one would like to believe that the American economy has bucked the cycle of boom and bust that has defined every market economy since the dawn of time, that’s probably not the case. In spite of a booming stock market and rock-bottom unemployment, history would dictate that the good times will be coming to an end — probably sooner rather than later,” writer Joel Anderson warns. In the article, he describes economic behaviors that point to the possibility of a looming recession…  Continue this story at the Organic Prepper  READ MORE ECONOMIC NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Financial Files


abcnews--2019-12-12--Airport van service SuperShuttle going out of business

LOS ANGELES -- SuperShuttle, the shared van service that has carried passengers to and from airports across the U.S. and in Latin America, Canada, Europe and Asia, is going out of business, according to a newspaper report Thursday.  A letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times from the company to a Los Angeles-area franchisee says: “SuperShuttle plans to honor all reservations and walk-up requests for service” through Dec. 31.  Founded in 1983 to serve Los Angeles International Airport, SuperShuttle has lost ground to competitors such as Uber and Lyft. In recent weeks it has pulled out of airports serving many cities, including Phoenix, Baltimore and Minneapolis, the Times said.  Attempts by the newspaper to reach Mark Friedman, identified as general manager in the letter’s signature line, were unsuccessful Thursday. SuperShuttle executives could also not be reached for official comment. But two SuperShuttle reservations agents reached by telephone confirmed to the Times that the company was going out of business, as did a company executive who was not authorized to speak publicly.  SuperShuttle is one of the few services that can still pick up riders curbside at LAX after the airport’s recent changes to help ease congestion. In November, Lyft, Uber and taxis were relegated to a pickup lot next to Terminal 1. Travelers can either walk to the lot or wait for an airport shuttle to ferry them.  The letter to the franchisee cited “a variety of factors” for the company’s closure, “including increasing costs and changes in the competitive and regulatory landscape” that “have called into question the economic and operational viability of the company’s operations.”  The company stopped operations at Hollywood Burbank Airport at the end of November, terminating the contract with the airport’s authority, airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf wrote in an email Thursday.  SuperShuttle is owned by an affiliate of Blackstreet Capital Holdings, a private investment firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, court documents show. Blackstreet describes itself as specializing in acquiring small or mid-size firms “that are in out-of-favor industries or are undergoing some form of transition.”  Blackstreet acquired SuperShuttle in September from Transdev on Demand Inc., which is part of the Transdev Group of France, according to a lawsuit Transdev filed against Blackstreet this month in Delaware Chancery Court in a dispute over some terms of the transaction.  Officials at Blackstreet could not immediately be reached for comment on SuperShuttle’s suspended services or on how SuperShuttle’s services are divided between company-owned operators and franchisees.  SuperShuttle’s website shows that the firm provided service to more than 80 airports worldwide, including those in Southern California, before the firm began suspending services in many locations.


abcnews--2019-12-17--Employers post more jobs in October in sign of solid economy

WASHINGTON -- The number of available jobs jumped in October after hitting an 18-month low the previous month, a sign the job market remains strong.  The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of available positions rose 3.3% to nearly 7.3 million. That suggests that businesses remain confident enough in the economic outlook to create more jobs.  The figures provide the latest evidence that employers have largely shrugged off the uncertainties surrounding the U.S.-China trade war and slowing global growth. While the number of open jobs has declined from a record high of 7.6 million a year ago, they are still at a historically high level. For roughly a year and a half there have been more job postings than unemployed people.  The figures follow a healthy jobs report earlier this month that showed a surprisingly robust gain of 266,000 jobs while the unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low of 3.5%.  “The numbers should calm worries that employer demand for workers is drying up,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter. “Rather than falling substantially, job openings now appear to have remained fairly stable for over a year.”  The number of Americans who quit their jobs also rose, though that figure remains below the peak reached in July. Quits are a good sign for the economy because most workers quit jobs for new, usually higher-paying, positions. Data compiled by the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank show that workers who switch jobs are seeing larger wage gains than those who stay. More quits can also push companies to pay more to retain their staffs.  Job openings jumped 125,000 in the retail sector, likely reflecting strong demand for temporary workers for the holiday season. The government seeks to seasonally adjust the data for those fluctuations but isn't always able to do so perfectly. October's gain was the largest increase in retail job openings since April 2018.  Manufacturers also posted slightly more open jobs after several months of decline. Finance and insurance firms and health care also posted more available positions.


activistpost--2019-01-18--Imagine if the Media Had as Much Sympathy for Small Business Owners as it Does for Federal Employees

During this partial government shutdown, it’s become nearly impossible to avoid news articles, and segments on television and radio outlining the many ways that federal employees are apparently suffering financially as a result of the partial government shutdown.  The stories are very diverse in topic. Some take a “human interest story” angle, simply looking at how the daily lives of some of these employees have been affected. Others look at the apparent injustice of the fact that some workers are “being told to work without pay.” Still other suggest that the lack of federal paychecks will drive down economic growth figures. The number of ways to cover the story is quite large, and editors and journalists are apparently looking to see how many different options they can explore.  In truth, of course, virtually no one is working “without pay” since Congress has already approved a plan to provide nearly all affected workers with back pay. Nor is is mentioned that, on average, federal workers earn 17 percent more than private sector workers of similar education levels. Also not mentioned is the fact that the unemployment rate is at a historically low level — and thus changing careers is easier now than usual.  None of this, of course, is emphasized in the many media stories on the topic. Indeed, the usual slant of the articles is that federal workers somehow suffer more greatly than private sector workers.  Just imagine, though, if the media took a similar interest in small business owners and the self-employed in general. Would we then hear about the struggles of how the local Subway franchisee struggles to make payroll in the face of government regulations and taxes? Would we hear about how the local courier company with 23 employees had to cut wages — and thus lose some of his best employees — because tariffs (i.e., taxes) on autos has driven up his costs? Would we hear about how a new increase in the minimum wage forced the local mom-and-pop hardware store to increase prices, thus driving down revenues?  Here are some of the news leads we might see see if this were the case:  EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Small business owners have cut back hours and laid off workers as the result of new minimum wage requirements that went into effect last week. Lisa Cooper, a single mother of three who opened Bob’s Bar and Grille six years ago noted she’ll have to lay off some staff and raise prices on some menu items. “It will definitely take a cut out of our revenues,” Cooper said. “It looks like I’ll have to cancel music lessons for the kids this year.”  Do You Want to Learn How to Become Financially Independent, Make a Living Without a Traditional Job & Finally Live Free?      SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) — Mandatory paid family leave mandates have left some local business owners scrambling for ways to cover employee absences. New mandates passed by the state legislature went into effect last month. Rob Hunnicut, the broker-owner of Oak Realty is unsure how his employees will react. “This is a burden that will fall on all my employees,” Hunnicut said, after a staff meeting Thursday morning. “When some employees take paid family leave, that means everyone else in the office has to pitch in to do the same amount of work. Even worse, since we have to keep paying the employees on leave, we can’t afford to bring in temp workers.” Hunnicut noted he has often provided paid leave in the past when business was brisk. “But now things are different,” Hunnicut said. “With these rigid mandates, everyone who’s left in the office, including me, will just have to do with less, including those of us who already have small children at home.”  You get the idea.  Other possibilities for stories might include:  This isn’t to say that the media never covers these topics. But it is fairly safe to say that beyond publications intended specifically for business readers, ordinary media outlets have rarely showed much interest in examining the plight of small business owners in a way similar to how they’ve been covering the effect of the current shutdown on federal workers. Rarely does mainstream coverage emphasize the daily problems that small business owners face in providing payroll for workers (and themselves), meeting customer demands, and keeping the lights on.  Moreover, business owners face these sorts of problems daily — and every time a government hands down a new regulation tax or mandate — while federal employees rarely face the sorts of uncertainties over income that are common in the private sector.


activistpost--2019-11-17--Tech Can Help Overcome the Pitfalls of Starting a Small Business

For the better part of the last 20 years I’ve chosen small business endeavors over a 9-5 corporate routine. My short time spent in the corporate world wasn’t terrible, but I felt that my more creative impulses and need for variety would be stifled if I stayed in that atmosphere for any length of time.  Since then, I believe that I have seen enough through my participation in more than 10 small businesses of varying styles and degrees of success and failure to offer a few observations. I won’t cover each business, but instead will offer what I hope are some helpful generalizations to prepare yourself for the high-risk high-reward world of entrepreneurship in small business.  A key component of any business, especially over the 10-15 years, has been the many ways that technology has transformed the tools we use to communicate with our customers, manage our day-to-day activities, and enhance what we are able to offer. I began my small business journey in the retail sector with an entirely inventory-based business with a single partner who fortunately had some experience with what we were selling. However, this was nearly two decades ago ago and his experience dated back even further, which put him firmly in a manual mindset for business management. Whether it was accounting, bill payments, payroll or marketing, things moved at a tedious snail’s pace. New tools had been developed such as invoice templates and computer accounting packages like Quicken. Coupled with this were the burgeoning online offerings that could expand the range of brick-and-mortar businesses through websites and e-mail that could enable newsletter delivery, special offers and event scheduling. I remember how the integration of all of these technologies gave us a feeling that we were a much bigger presence than our 2,000-square feet of anchored space.  After 10 years in retail with 10-12 hour days, virtually no real vacation and certainly no holidays, I became increasingly interested in the many new technologies that empowered people to work from home. We sold our brick-and-mortar shop, went our different ways and I embarked upon the path that led me to where I am today — writing from home where I can deliver information and earn income from an array of diverse online small businesses that I am involved with.  To be sure, the online businesses of today are still fraught with the many perils faced by brick-and-mortar businesses depending on the scope of the offering, which leads small businesses to have extremely high failure rates regardless of their positioning. However, the technology of today greatly minimizes risk if a few key areas are addressed.  From my experience, the number one pitfall (among many smaller ones) is over-investing — and this can happen at any stage of a small business’s trajectory.  In the brick-and-mortar world, this is incredibly easy to do even with the most frugal of mindsets. All of the start-up considerations such as property purchases or rent, decoration, signage, business cards, business equipment and more can put a business into an insurmountable hole of debt right out of the gate. Moreover, inventory-based businesses such as the one I had were a constant balancing act to keep from overextending month to month. The main challenge here is that it often takes years to understand traffic and sales numbers so that ordering products can be done with precision and top profitability. If these products are perishable, it adds a further layer of complexity and punishment for miscalculation.  These aspects of product management and accurate profit calculation are so much easier in the online world where virtual stores can be created to offer a massive array of products without ever needing to physically build anything, or ever even hold products. Built-in profit tracking and customer analytics make this a breeze compared to the trial-and-error cycle normally required. Stores can be built fully online, and items today can be ordered and dropshipped with services like Amazon and Shopify. Sites like eBay and Craigslist have further enabled anyone to dip their toes into product sales and business management with very little risk.  The digital media side of modern small business – such as this website I’m currently writing for – can offer the utmost in flexibility, portability and adaptability. It’s a feeling of freedom that in my experience is unsurpassed — the knowledge that I can open a laptop from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection and earn a living. Writing articles, creating videos, building social media, offering ebooks and newsletters, and sharing information with millions of people is almost taken for granted in this day and age but is incredibly liberating once the basic (and often free) tools are understood.  Yes, my current days working from home can often be equally as long as my former retail days; and, yes, all businesses can succumb to unpredictable external forces no matter their size and scope. But the technology of today can keep a business right where it needs to be in order to create the best conditions for success: lean and mean, and quick and nimble. There has also never been a better time in history to utilize the many tools of technology to minimize the inherent risks of small business, maximize profits and ensure long-standing success while remaining as free as possible while doing it.  Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit. 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activistpost--2019-12-17--Consumers Are Likely Running Out Of Cash And Available Credit To Power The Economy

The rampant consumerism in our society is what many say is driving the economy right now. But according to data points, many consumers are running out of available cash and credit to continue to prop it up for much longer.  While consumers have been dubbed the backbone of the American economy, their spending is waning compared to last year. After big increases in spending in the spring and summer, households appear to be cutting back. Sales at U.S. retailers, for example, rose a disappointing 0.2% in November, reported Market Watch. This is a sign that consumers are either running out of cash, available credit, or both. It could also mean that since prices have continued to increase, many have had to curb their unnecessary spending in order to buy necessities.  The growth in retail sales over the past 12 months has slowed incredibly to a modest 3.4% pace from a seven-year high of 6.5% just a year and a half ago. But others say that consumption is still high enough to provide a boost to the overall economy and could pick up more steam in the coming week as we approach Christmas.  Consumer spending, which is vital for the U.S. economy has been especially important this year considering the escalation in tensions over trade policy with China. The trade was discouraged business spending and slowed the economic growth globally. U.S. exports fell, investment tanked, and manufacturing activity contracted for the first time since 2016. And U.S. households paid for the tariff increases.  “Unless there is a surge in December, it doesn’t look as if fourth-quarter consumer spending will grow anywhere near the 2.9% posted in the third quarter,” said economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors. The Trump administration has taken steps to ease the trade tensions with China, and will hopefully let up on the tariffs to provide at least some relief to the wallets of Americans.  A strong labor market is propelling much of the spending and some other economists don’t expect that to change any time soon. “It is unlikely that the consumer sector will sour anytime soon,” said senior economist Ben Ayers at Nationwide.  This article was sourced from SHTFPlan.com  Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit.  Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


aljazeera--2019-01-13--Lebanons protesters angry over worsening economy

Lebanon's protesters angry over worsening economy

Protesters are calling for reforms, but the country hasn't had a working government for eight months.  The high cost of living makes it hard to make ends meet for many.  Civilians and some politicians believe little will change as the same political elite remains in charge.


aljazeera--2019-02-28--How EU-reliant small British businesses are preparing for Brexit

London, United Kingdom - In an industrial park in north London, artisans from Poland, Italy, England, Mauritius, and elsewhere painstakingly stitch mattresses for Savoir Beds, a British luxury brand.  Like the craftsmen and women, most of the materials are from the European Union or from around the world via Europe: plywood from Latvia, wool from Spain, horsetail from South America via Switzerland.  Savoir Beds only makes about 900 mattresses a year, with customers willing to pay an average of £14,000 ($18,300) - and up to £150,000 ($197,000) - for their custom-made products.  To avoid disrupting the supply chain of materials because of border delays, should there be a no-deal Brexit, the manufacturer has stockpiled £250,000 ($328,400) worth of the materials it needs to ensure production doesn't grind to a halt.  It is feared that should the UK quit the EU without a deal, or without an agreement that is useful for small businesses, there would be additional red tape and transport restrictions.  "None of this would normally be here," said Alistair Hughes, the company's owner and managing director, pointing to large white sacks of curled horsetail lined up in the warehouse.  Over in the next aisle, the shelves are stacked with plywood boards and cashmere rolls worth thousands of pounds.  "Back in October, we had to begin thinking: What are we going to do?" Hughes continued. "It's money that we normally use elsewhere in the business. We're lucky because we have that money. But of course, everything we do is a choice."  Savoir Beds was established 114 years ago and was able to invest in its Brexit contingency plans. Other SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in the UK are not as fortunate.  He has serious concerns about how Brexit will impact the company. While Vieve is manufactured in the UK, most of its ingredients are sourced from countries in the EU.  "We do not have the funds to afford to stockpile goods and rely on ingredients to arrive just in time for our production runs," Rozenson told Al Jazeera.  Hardly a day goes by without a business announcing relocation to the EU, or warning of how dangerous Brexit would be for the UK economy.  These have included aerospace firm Airbus, which employs more than 14,000 people in the UK. Electronics multinationals Sony and Panasonic have both moved their European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands, while financial services company JP Morgan announced 4,000 of its staff could be moved from London in the event the UK crashes out of the EU.  While multinational firms have sufficient capital and resources to plan and pivot, just over a month before the UK is due to leave the EU, most smaller businesses can only wait and hope.  "In order to continue operating in the EU, we need to set up an EU base and have an EU address on our packaging," Rozenson explained, "this means incurring additional costs of running two offices."  Brexit uncertainty surrounding tariffs has already taken a toll on the business, which relies heavily on exports to the EU as well as the Middle East, which together account for 70 percent of its sales, says Rozenson.  "We've had three major distributors in the Netherlands, Sweden and Iceland who have postponed or cancelled our launch due to Brexit," Rozenson told Al Jazeera, "if tariffs are applied to our products we will become uncompetitive."  If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, it will default to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.  According to Rozenson, the pullouts have cost Vieve nearly a third of their projected income for 2019, which he said could be "devastating for a small business like ours".  According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), only one in seven of their members had begun preparations for a no-deal Brexit by the end of 2018, and that figure is unlikely to have changed much.  "We think there is another 40 percent who would be affected by a no deal who haven't, and they told us they don't have the reserves. They can't afford to," Craig Beaumont, head of external affairs at the FSB, told Al Jazeera.  "For a small business, it costs money to prepare," Beaumont added.  The British parliament had rejected a withdrawal agreement - negotiated over 18 months by Prime Minister Theresa May - on January 15.  Under pressure from backbench conservative MPs, May has returned to Brussels to renegotiate the agreement. She is seeking legally binding changes to the backstop, the insurance policy to avoid a hard border in the island of Ireland, which hard Brexiters see as a way of tying the UK to the EU's trade rules indefinitely.  But the EU is unwilling to grant May the changes she needs to appease the hard wing of her party, while in recent days the British prime minister faced defections from moderate MPs.  The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its member states, and the UK currently relies on 36 free trade agreements covering more than 60 countries worldwide, amounting to 11 percent of total UK trade.  Ministers have been scrambling to ensure the continuity of those deals, and have so far secured just over a quarter of them, according to a government update.  Amid a global economic slowdown, industrial production shrank by 0.9 percent in the Eurozone in December. The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy witnessed its weakest annual growth rate in six years in 2018.  Research by the University of St Andrews found innovative, high-tech and export-oriented small companies to be the most concerned about Brexit.  While innovation may be stifled by a lack of investment, small companies also find it harder to target alternative markets.  "Big companies can move production, people around," Ross Brown, who led the research, told Al Jazeera.  "They have the capability to target different markets. When small companies export, they focus on neighbouring markets, there's a higher level of psychic distance."


aljazeera--2019-04-11--Turkey promises reforms to revive economy

The Turkish government has promised financial reforms to revive its ailing economy.  In the past year, Turkey has faced high inflation and recession, while the national currency, the lira, has plunged nearly 30 percent in value.  Many consumers are now finding it difficult to afford imported goods.


aljazeera--2019-04-15--Indonesia elections Candidates focus on economy

Indonesia elections: Candidates focus on economy

Indonesia's president's main challenger says the country needs to change its economic direction.  Prabowo Subianto is up against incumbent Joko Widodo, who has overseen solid economic growth in his first term.  But his rival in Wednesday's election says many Indonesians aren't seeing the benefits.


activistpost--2019-12-21--Day 10: Technocracy And Education

Day 10: Technocracy And Education

Technocrats have long since hijacked the American education system for their own agenda. What once was a system of actual education of students, has now become a system to produce nothing more than conditioned Technocrat workers. When this is understood, modern education programs like President George Bush’s education policy of “No Child Left Behind”, President Barack Obama’s program establishing Common Core Education Standards, and President Donald Trump’s Administration signing a UN agreement that states “We commit to facilitating the internationalization of education”, will become crystal clear.  When the Technocracy Study Course was written in 1934 by M. King Hubbert and Howard Scott, it was literally intended to be the “bible” of Technocracy. It contained all of the basic elements of societal construction along with rules and principles for living.  One of the pillar service sectors of Technocracy was education. On page 232, “The end products attained by a high-energy social mechanism on the North American Continent” are listed as: • an educational system to train the entire younger generation indiscriminately as regards all considerations other than inherent ability—a Continental system of human conditioning. (emphasis added)  William Akin elaborated on this in his book, Technocracy and the American Dream (1978, pg. 142)  A continental system of human conditioning will have to be installed to replace the existing insufficient educational methods and institutions. This continental system of general education will have to be organized as to provide the fullest possible conditioning and physical training… It must educate and train the student public so as to obtain the highest possible percentage of proficient functional capacity. Since the basic need of society was technical expertise, their education system would abolish the liberal arts, which addressed outmoded moralistic solutions to human problems. It would essentially replace the humanities with the machine shop. In the process, members of society would be conditioned to think in terms of engineering rationality and efficiency. Man, in short, would then be conditioned to assume the character of machines, to accept “a reality understood in terms of machine-like function.  Early Technocrats, thoroughly captivated by the vain religion of Scientism, believed that truth about man and the universe could only be discovered through science. As a result, the pioneer of behavioral psychology, B.F. Skinner, was a principal contributor to Technocrat understanding of human conditioning. It was a theory that they eagerly embraced and applied to their utopian model of Technocracy.  Skinner’s association with the Technocracy movement has been well documented in academic literature. Alexandra Rutherford, for instance, wrote B.F. Skinner and Technology’s Nation: Technocracy, Social Engineering, and the Good Life in 20th-Century America in the History of Psychology and stated,  The balance of Rutherford’s paper detailed the “several philosophical and structural similarities between the Technocrats’ and Skinner’s social visions.”  The Technocracy Study Course is thoroughly dependent on this line of thinking, and every chapter stresses the importance of and need for “conditioning” of all members of society in order for Utopia to materialize. Of course, this goes well beyond just education, but early conditioning of young students was of paramount importance:  Although the modern drift of education toward Technocratic conditioning started in the early 1980s, it is not the purpose of this paper to present details that others have presented over the years. Rather, I will skip forward to the latest program called the Common Core Education Standards Initiative (CCESI) that has swept the American education system over the last 10 years.  CCESI was sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), both of which are non-governmental organizations. CCSSO is a progressive advocacy organization that focuses on “education workforce; information systems and research; next generation learners; and standards, assessment, and accountability.” The NGA’s membership is exclusively the Governors of each state and territory, but it presents itself as a political organization.  It is important to note that both the NGA and CCSSO are completely independent of any government authority or accountability.  Did funding for CCESI come from the federal government? No! Instead, the primary financier was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is controlled by Microsoft pioneer Bill Gates – a Technocrat. In fact, over a 10-year period, Gates provided almost $500 million to various organizations to develop the curriculum according to his own personal vision of education.  Furthermore, according to its own website, the resulting copyright for CCESI is tightly held by these same organizations:  Parents today wonder why the nature and focus of education has changed so radically over the last 10 years. The simple reason is that it has been hijacked by private Technocrat-oriented organizations and funded by Technocrats like Bill Gates. To call this a monumental coup would be an understatement.  Of course, they had help and cooperation from the federal government to distribute it to the individual states, but that only demonstrates how deep the Technocrat influence runs within our political structures.  In sum, Akin’s observation of Technocracy’s “Continental system of human conditioning” has proven correct: “It would essentially replace the humanities with the machine shop.”  You can read more from Patrick Wood at his site Technocracy News & Trends, where this article first appeared.  Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit.  Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


aljazeera--2019-03-29--The European far right has its eye on education

Today, the Thirteenth World Congress of Families will kick off in Verona, under the patronage of the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Marco Bussetti, the Italian education minister, will be among a number of high-level officials to speak at the event.  That Bussetti will be rubbing shoulders with ultraconservative activists and politicians from Italy, Hungary, Moldova, Russia, Uganda and Malawi at an event that purports to "the natural family as a fundamental unit of society" should not come as a surprise.  Education has never been politically neutral and has always been shaped by a particular vision of society. With a right-wing ethnocentric world view becoming more appealing to western electorates and far-right parties, strengthening their representation in political and administrative institutions, they are naturally trying to imprint their views on culture and education.  This includes the right in Italy, which has its eye on the education sector under the current populist government. In fact, the current political environment in Italy which appears quite favourable to nurturing far-right activism has attracted even foreign far-right ideologues.  Earlier this month, the media zoomed in on an educational project former Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon set up in an old monastery in Italy. The so-called "modern gladiator school" will aim to give its students the necessary tools to defend "the Judeo-Christian West" and its values.  The news came as a shock to many who did not expect this controversial alt-right extremist and his supporters to be investing in education. However, despite the demagoguery and anti-intellectualism that define some of far right's contemporary reincarnations, its interest in founding elite education institutions to raise a highly skilled vanguard, as well as shaping mass education to influence large segments of the population, is nothing new.  Far-right intellectuals in Europe have been advocating for the establishment of right-leaning elite institutes with vehemence for decades.  They have long argued that "the leftist indoctrination" propagated in universities across the continent has rendered necessary the establishment of education hubs which would follow an alternative right-wing curriculum to train a new, and different, intellectual and political elite. Neo-conservative institutions in the US, such as the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the Young Americans for Freedom, have served as their main source of inspiration.  With his new project, Bannon wants to establish an elitist school that would work towards cultivating the future thought leaders of the far-right movement. This idea seems to be, at least partially, inspired by Julius Evola, the Italian fascist philosopher who promoted the formation of a hierarchical society run by a spiritually superior caste - a small elite of "warriors".  Evola viewed progress and equality as poisonous illusions and rejected the liberal democratic order. His anti-democratic ideology remained popular in far-right circles for decades after his death and today, it is embraced by a diverse bunch of right-wingers - from Bannon to the Greek Golden Dawn, from the US alt-right to the Russian far right as well as other extremists opposing markets-led globalisation, liberalism and multiculturalism.  While Bannon's Evola-inspired vision of providing high-quality, traditionalist right-wing education to select few elites is undoubtedly supported by many ultraconservatives, others have concentrated their focuses on shaping mass education along their views.  Education delivered through compulsory state-controlled schooling can indeed reach much more people than the small number of already sympathetic elites targeted by "gladiator academies" like Bannon's, and could potentially be more influential in the long-term.  Different far-right movements in Europe have approached this in different ways.  Bussetti, the Italian education minister, for example, recently decided to exclude history from the exit exam for high schoolers, thus decreasing its importance in the curriculum. This move is part of the plan of the far-right League party, which is part of Italy's governing coalition, to give more prominence to vocational subjects over humanities in high schools.  The party hopes a high school education focused on skills necessary to perform specific jobs and basic citizenship duties would reduce university attendance rates and probably expose fewer young people to leftist and liberal ideas in institutions of higher education.  The Italian far right has also pressed forward with its educational agenda at the regional level. In Udine, for example, the city council recently voted to ban all references to "other cultures" in the local kindergarten. Children are now supposed to only cuddle dolls, play instruments, and read books that are deemed culturally Italian.  In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is seeking to rewrite the history syllabus. Its Saxony-Anhalt chapter, for instance, has called for history lessons to be redesigned so they promote among students "a fundamentally positive relationship to their country and a consolidated national identity".  The AfD chapter also claims there is a need for an "education policy that orients itself again towards the pure ideal of the German history of thought". It supports the re-introduction of the "Heimatkunde" (knowledge about the homeland) - a subject that they believe would help German pupils connect with their roots and "gain orientation in a globalised world".  A few regional AfD organisations have also targeted teachers who, it asserts, use their lessons for "leftist indoctrination". They have set up websites in which pupils can denounce left-leaning teachers, promising to send these cases "to the highest institutional level". With AfD representatives strengthening their presence and power in parliaments and the Lander's education boards, teachers' associations have expressed their worries for retaliation.  Education has evidently become a battleground for the conservative and far-right forces. This is both because it is a topical issue that many people care about and that can be used to reach wider audiences, and because it can help shape society according to far-right social and political values.  In the past, educational systems have often demonstrated a strong resilience towards radical political shifts. However, history also shows that they can become a powerful tool to indoctrinate citizens at the hands of autocratic and fascist forces.  This is certainly the dream of the contemporary far right - which, when in power, tries to systematically undermine the progressive and cosmopolitan values of education. If Europe does not want to go back to the dark age of fascism, it should stand up to the far right and fight to preserve the values of liberalism, pluralism, and critical thinking in European education.  The views expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.


breitbart--2019-11-30--Pope Francis Tells Schoolchildren to Build a ‘Global Village’ of Education

ROME — Pope Francis told a group of schoolchildren Saturday that they are called to build a “global village” of education, which is “the best medicine against all forms of discrimination, violence, and bullying.”  In this great global village, “education becomes a bearer of fraternity and a creator of peace among all the peoples of the human family, and also of dialogue among their religions,” the pope told participants in the Children’s Global Summit, a three-day event taking place in Rome.  Some 4,000 schoolchildren between the ages of six and 16 from more than 60 different countries took part in the program, many accompanied by their parents.  “We are all called to build a ‘global village of education.’ What a beautiful expression! A global village of education, whose inhabitants generate a network of human relations, which are the best medicine against all forms of discrimination, violence and bullying,” Francis said.  “In this great village, education becomes the bearer of fraternity and creator of peace among all the peoples of the human family, and also of dialogue between their religions,” he said.  In his address to the group, the pope said that adults need to learn from children, particularly when it comes to the protection of nature, since they are at the “forefront” of the environmental movement. The pope has been vocal in his praise of young people like Greta Thunberg who agitate against global warming.  Last August, Francis said that he was worried about the future of the planet, calling climate change a “global emergency” that can lead to “the death of humanity.”  At the same time, the pope said he was greatly encouraged by the involvement of young people in the battle against climate change. There are signs of hope for the environment “especially in the movements of young ecologists, such as the one led by Greta Thunberg, ‘Fridays for Future.’” Francis said.  “I saw one of their signs that struck me: ‘We are the future!’” he said.  The pope had congratulated the young Swedish activist last April, when she met him briefly in the Vatican. At that time, the pope urged Thunberg to continue her crusade against climate change, during a meeting at the end of his general audience Wednesday.  On that occasion, the pope approached the 16-year-old activist, who was seated in the VIP section in St. Peter’s Square, and recognized her, exclaiming in Spanish “La famosa!” before congratulating her for her advocacy work.


cbsnews--2019-11-29--David Rubenstein says it's time to give Americans a proper history education

Millions are bracing for the impact of dangerous weather


cnsnews--2019-01-10--Walter Williams A Glimmer of Hope for Black Education

Walter Williams: A Glimmer of Hope for Black Education

In reference to efforts to teach black children, the president of the St. Petersburg, Florida, chapter of the NAACP, Maria Scruggs, said: "The (school) district has shown they just can't do it. ... Now it's time for the community to step in." That's a recognition that politicians and the education establishment, after decades of promises, cannot do much to narrow the huge educational achievement gap between Asians and whites on the one hand and blacks on the other.  The most crucial input for a child's education cannot be provided by schools or politicians. Continued calls for higher education budgets will produce disappointing results, as they have in the past. There are certain minimum requirements that must be met for any child, regardless of race, to do well in school. Someone must make the youngster do his homework — and possibly help him with it. Someone must ensure that he gets eight hours of sleep. Someone must feed him wholesome meals, including breakfast. Finally, someone must ensure that he gets to school on time, behaves in school and respects the teachers. If these minimum requirements are not met — and they can be met even if a family is poor — all else is for naught.  Scruggs says that it's time for the black community to accept part of the blame. Part of the problem is the lack of parents' involvement in their children's education — for example, their not attending parent-teacher nights. Having children's books around the house and reading to preschoolers is vitally important. According to Mariah Evans, who headed a 20-year worldwide study that found "the presence of books in the home" to be the top predictor of whether a child will attain a high level of education, "one of the things that is most striking ... about it is that the book's effect appears to be even larger and more important for children from very disadvantaged homes." By the way, one doesn't have to be rich to have books around the house. Plus, there are libraries.  One vital measure for community involvement in black education is that of preventing youngsters who are alien and hostile to the educational process from making education impossible for everybody else. That can be accomplished by ignoring politicians and the liberal vision that restricts schools from removing students who pose severe disciplinary problems. The problem goes beyond simple misbehavior. An article in Education Week last year, titled "When Students Assault Teachers, Effects Can Be Lasting," reported: "In the 2015-16 school year, 5.8 percent of the nation's 3.8 million teachers were physically attacked by a student. Almost 10 percent were threatened with injury, according to federal education data."  Given the huge educational achievement gap between blacks and whites, one might ask whether black people can afford to allow students who have little interest in being educated to make education impossible for others. Students who assault teachers ought to be summarily removed from the school. One might ask, "Williams, what are we going to do with those expelled students?" I do not know, but I do know one thing for sure: Black people cannot afford to allow them to remain in school and sabotage the educational chances of everyone else.  The educational achievement gap between blacks and whites is hidden from black students and their families. All too often, a black student with a high school diploma cannot read, write or compute at a sixth- or seventh-grade level. This tends to make high school diplomas held by blacks less valuable in the eyes of employers. As such, it sparks racial division where it otherwise would not exist. There have been complaints that police and fire departments and other civil service jobs don't have many black employees. The problem is that to get hired in the first place — and get promoted if hired — one needs to pass a civil service exam. If one's high school diploma is fraudulent — meaning he has not mastered the 12th-grade levels of all subjects — he is seriously handicapped.  I say hats off to the vision being promoted by the NAACP's Maria Scruggs. She and her supporters have their work cut out for them, but it's doable.  Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.


coloradopeakpolitics--2019-06-14--SEE YOU NEXTWHAT Democrat and Enviro Head Drops C-Word on Secretary of Education

SEE YOU NEXT…WHAT? Democrat and Enviro Head Drops C-Word on Secretary of Education

Not a day goes by when we aren’t reminded of the hypocrisy rampant in the Democratic Party and far-left wing in Colorado – especially around women. The most recent example comes to us in the form of Leo McKinney, the former Mayor of Glenwood Springs and current president of the environmental organization, Glenwood Springs Citizens Alliance, which claims to educate the public about the benefits of securing permanent protection of the area within and surrounding the city of Glenwood Springs from mineral extraction and development. In other words, they want to keep it in the ground.  We won’t even add the tweet here but you can see for yourself  in a post from the Colorado Transparency Project, McKinney was recently busted for sinking as low as possible and dropping the See You Next Tuesday (are you really going to make us spell it out?) slander on Education Secretary Betsy Devos. Woah. That escalated quickly.  That’s right folks, McKinney doesn’t always call women the c-word , but when he does he likes to do it as publicly as possible on social media. Besides the admission that he likes to use this offensive word, it’s another yet reminder that Democrats aren’t the party of women.  We haven’t seen any apology from McKinney yet, or heard if the Glenwood Springs Citizens Alliance will ask him to resign, but both actions would seem to be appropriate in this situation. It’s not a good look to have a misogynist as the president of your organization.


eveningstandard--2019-04-03--Princess Anne celebrates 100 years of City Lit for adult education

Princess Anne presented awards to hardworking teachers and students last night to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of a London-based adult education college.  City Lit has supported more than a million Londoners learn a new skill since its foundation in 1919, and recently opened a new Digital and Design Lab.  The digital facility is designed to prepare adults for work in the industry and update their skills for career progression.  The Princess Royal said: “It is particularly encouraging to see how people of all ages and backgrounds come together at City Lit to challenge themselves and transform their lives.  “If education can be defined as ‘training for life’, then lifelong learning and its ability to unlock potential throughout people’s lives should be accepted as part of life. I am honoured to receive the City Lit Centenary Fellowship.”  The Digital and Design Lab includes web, editing, layout and 3D print studios to support courses in everything from web development to visual arts.  City Lit’s executive director for external engagement, Phil Chamberlain, said: "Our overall purpose at City Lit is to ensure that learners come together, so that our classes are alive with different insights and experiences – led and nurtured by expert tutors.  “This new development is part of our commitment to build high quality, well designed learning spaces that are attractive places for learners and businesses to utilise. We pride ourselves in our open campus and our welcoming community – a space for Londoners to meet, learn and share ideas.”


freedombunker--2019-05-30--Todays Schools Are Yesterdays Streetcars How Technology Will Transform Education

Today’s Schools Are Yesterday’s Streetcars: How Technology Will Transform Education

We can predict the future of education by glimpsing the past of transportation. Fueled by technological innovation, namely electricity, streetcars gradually replaced the horse-and-buggy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by mass-produced automobiles that ultimately toppled the streetcar.  Throughout the 20th century, cars became safer, faster, cleaner, and cheaper and allowed individuals unprecedented mobility and autonomy. Then, in the 21st century, car-sharing applications showed how technology could once again disrupt the transportation industry, expanding rider options and challenging entrenched systems of control.  Education transformation will take a similar path. Fueled by technological innovation, schools are now in the middle of their streetcar moment. Chalkboards are still ubiquitous, but computers are increasingly being used not only to supplement learning but also to administer it. Personalized learning, as this technology-enabled classroom education is called, is all the rage.  In public schools like those using Summit Learning, a personalized, online learning approach developed by Facebook engineers and funded by Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, the computer becomes the teacher, executing a largely self-paced curriculum and offering more flexibility and autonomy for students.True education transformation will come when learners realize that they don’t need an intermediary at all. The platform has sparked controversy, as some parents and educators resist change. Like the streetcar and transportation, personalized learning in schools is altering and modernizing the educational landscape. But it is just a launchpad.  True education transformation will come when learners realize that they don’t need an intermediary at all. Personalized learning in conventional schools will shift to self-directed education or unschooling, driven by the learner herself using the resource-rich networks of both real and digital communities. As Ivan Illich wrote in Deschooling Society:  Illich wrote those words in 1970 before the technological webs now at our fingertips were ever imagined. The funnel model of education, even when augmented by technology, is simply passé. Conflating learning with schooling, mired in coercion and a controlled curriculum, is an outdated idea. Schooling is something that others do to you; learning is something you do for yourself.  We already see how this works in our own adult lives. Just as the first automobiles began to disrupt old notions of transportation, recent technological innovations are recalibrating the way we learn. Whether it’s using YouTube to fix a toilet, Duolingo to learn a language, Audible to listen to books, or FaceTime to have lessons with your guitar instructor, technological platforms and applications are quickly helping us to shed our schooled vision of learning. Increasingly, we see that we can self-educate by following our own curiosities and pursuing our own personal and professional goals.  We can choose our own teachers and select the learning tools that work best for us. In his book, Illich wrote,  Technology frees us from this institutional paradigm of education and lets us teach ourselves.  It can do the same for our children. As our own relationship to learning shifts in response to new technologies that make information and knowledge more accessible, we may begin to question the worn-out ways our children learn. As we realize the value and reward of self-education in our own lives, we’ll want to give this gift to our children.  In his academic papers and award-winning 2013 TED Talk, Newcastle University professor Sugata Mitra explains how children teach themselves without institutional schooling. His “hole in the wall” studies have been widely cited, showing how children from the poorest slums of India to elsewhere around the world are able to learn to read, to teach themselves English, and to understand advanced scientific content (like DNA replication) simply by having access to an Internet-enabled public computer.  Mitra calls this approach “minimally invasive education” and concludes in his talk:  Thanks to technology, we adults now see this learning emerge all the time in our own lives. It can be the same for our children.  We will realize that we can be educated without being schooled.  In the 21st century, the transportation industry was jolted again by technological innovation. Uber, Lyft, and other car-sharing companies challenged longstanding local monopolies, granting riders more choice and flexibility with better service and lower costs. Next, autonomous vehicles may be the new wave of disruptive innovation in transportation. Meanwhile, in education, technology will continue to expand access to resources, information, knowledge, and skills that make self-education outside of schooling not only possible but preferable.  Like the streetcar and horse-and-buggy, institutional schooling will become a cultural relic, a quaint reminder of yesteryear. We will realize that non-coercive, technology-enabled, self-directed education in collaboration with others results in better, more meaningful, more enduring learning than its institutional predecessors can offer. We will realize that we can be educated without being schooled. Indeed, the future is here.


freedombunker--2019-12-04--Fraud in Higher Education

Fraud in Higher Education

This year’s education scandal saw parents shelling out megabucks to gain college admittance for their children. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 50 people with participating in a scheme to get their children into colleges by cheating on entrance exams or bribing athletic coaches. They paid William Singer, a college-prep professional, more than $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators and to change test scores on college admittance exams such as the SAT and ACT. As disgusting as this grossly dishonest behavior is, it is only the tiny tip of fraud in higher education.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016, only 37% of white high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 70% of them. Roughly 17% of black high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 58% of them. A 2018 Hechinger Report found, “More than four in 10 college students end up in developmental math and English classes at an annual cost of approximately $7 billion, and many of them have a worse chance of eventually graduating than if they went straight into college-level classes.”  According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “when considering all first-time undergraduates, studies have found anywhere from 28 percent to 40 percent of students enroll in at least one remedial course. When looking at only community college students, several studies have found remediation rates surpassing 50 percent.” Only 25% of students who took the ACT in 2012 met the test’s readiness benchmarks in all four subjects (English, reading, math and science).  It’s clear that high schools confer diplomas that attest that a student can read, write and do math at a 12th-grade level when, in fact, most cannot. That means most high diplomas represent fraudulent documents. But when high school graduates enter college, what happens? To get a hint, we can turn to an article by Craig E. Klafter, “Good Grieve! America’s Grade Inflation Culture,” published in the Fall 2019 edition of Academic Questions. In 1940, only 15% of all grades awarded were A’s. By 2018, the average grade point average at some of the nation’s leading colleges was A-minus. For example, the average GPA at Brown University (3.75), Stanford (3.68), Harvard College (3.63), Yale University (3.63), Columbia University (3.6), University of California, Berkeley (3.59).  The falling standards witnessed at our primary and secondary levels are becoming increasingly the case at tertiary levels. “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses” is a study conducted by Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. They found that 45% of 2,300 students at 24 colleges showed no significant improvement in “critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years.”  An article in News Forum for Lawyers titled “Study Finds College Students Remarkably Incompetent” cites a study done by the American Institutes for Research that revealed that over 75% of two-year college students and 50% of four-year college students were incapable of completing everyday tasks. About 20% of four-year college students demonstrated only basic mathematical ability, while a steeper 30% of two-year college students could not progress past elementary arithmetic. NBC News reported that Fortune 500 companies spend about $3 billion annually to train employees in “basic English.”  Here is a list of some other actual college courses that have been taught at U.S. colleges in recent years: “What If Harry Potter Is Real?” “Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame,” “Philosophy and Star Trek,” “Learning from YouTube,” “How To Watch Television,” and “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” The questions that immediately come to mind are these: What kind of professor would teach such courses, and what kind of student would spend his time taking such courses? Most importantly, what kind of college president and board of trustees would permit classes in such nonsense?  The fact that unscrupulous parents paid millions for special favors from college administrators to enroll their children pales in comparison to the poor educational outcomes, not to mention the gross indoctrination of young people by leftist professors.  The post Fraud in Higher Education appeared first on LewRockwell.


msnbc--2019-12-24--Chris Matthews calls Rachel Maddow’s ‘Blowout’ a college education

Trump: Dems treated me 'very unfairly' in House, now they want fairness in the Senate


nationalreview--2019-11-22--Every Pennsylvania Student Deserves a Shot at a Great Education

The state’s tax-credit-scholarship program has helped hundreds of thousands of students escape failing public schools. It should be protected and grown.  ‘Every male in my entire extended family has been incarcerated.”  That’s how Anthony Samuels of North Philadelphia describes his lineage: a cycle of crime and hopelessness. But thanks to his mother’s vision for his education, Anthony broke that cycle. Today he owns a day-care center and has begun a successful entertainment career, starring in commercials for Red Bull and Nike.  Things easily could’ve been different for Anthony. He grew up in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood in Philly, doomed to attend the high school with the lowest test scores in Pennsylvania. The steady stream of assaults, shootings, and robberies that dogged the school became so severe that it was the subject of a Diane Sawyer exposé on ABC News. People started asking questions, and there was an outcry that led to the principal’s replacement. Soon, investors such as the rapper Drake started pouring money into recording studios and a new football team for the school, prompting media puff pieces and optimistic administrators to declare “problem solved.” But, of course, it hasn’t been. The school scored a seven out of 100 on the Philadelphia School District’s ratings scale last year.  Thankfully, Anthony’s mother knew a bad school when she saw one. She and Anthony sought out one of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit scholarships, which enabled him to transfer to a nearby private school, Abington Friends, and eventually graduate from Temple University.  Tax-credit scholarships are funded by private donors who receive state tax credits for sending a child to a better school. In the 18 years since Pennsylvania inaugurated its tax-credit program, it has offered hundreds of thousands of students a real chance at success. But political schemes have endangered the program. Teachers’ unions, which would prefer that every student attend a public school, oppose tax-credit scholarships that help kids escape failing schools. That’s why roughly 50,000 scholarship applications are denied each year: The program’s opponents purposefully limit the caps on the program’s tax credits.  Opposition to similar school-choice programs is even stronger on the federal level. Democratic presidential candidates seem to dismiss stories such as Anthony’s. For them, money and power are more important than good policy, and inflammatory rhetoric drowns out the chorus of families whose lives have been changed by school choice.  Their attacks on school choice are transparently self-interested. Cory Booker, for example, has spent his entire career touring and debating on behalf of parental choice — even building a strong relationship with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and backing voucher legislation as recently as February. But when he talks about education policy nowadays, his rhetoric sounds more like that of Bernie Sanders, who has called for a moratorium on new charter schools. Elizabeth Warren formerly supported vouchers but now decries them as a “diversion of public dollars from traditional public schools.” (She also sent her son to private school for a time, according to research by school-choice advocate Corey DeAngelis.)  It’s the same story in Pennsylvania, where Democratic governor Tom Wolf has sought to distance himself from the tax-credit-scholarship program, despite the fact that his own company donated to the program in the past. Teachers’ unions, unsurprisingly, contributed $4 million to Wolf’s last campaign.  Obviously, whether you’re a presidential candidate or a governor, it’s easy to let special interests dictate your policy proposals. But we can’t afford to let students’ dreams continue to be denied. Pennsylvanians should speak out in support of school-choice options that help students escape schools where they are trapped in a cycle of failure or violence.  “My life would have been completely different if I didn’t go to Abington, and I wouldn’t have been able to continue on at Abington without the scholarship program,” says Anthony Samuels. “Public or private, what matters is that we focus on exposing kids to that hope, that chance, that opportunity — and giving them a choice. We need to focus on those stars that could be lighting up the sky, and guiding America to a better future.”  Dave Hardy is the executive director of Excellent Schools PA and the founder of Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School. Charles Mitchell is the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market think tank based in Harrisburg, Pa.


abcnews--2019-03-11--Trump administration proposes 71 billion funding decrease to Education Department

Trump administration proposes $7.1 billion funding decrease to Education Department

The Trump administration is looking to decrease the Education Department’s funding by $7.1 billion compared to what it was given last year, as part of next year’s proposed budget.  The budget proposal suggests eliminating 29 programs, including after-school and summer programs for students in high-poverty areas, among other things.  The budget proposal is unlikely to pass through Congress – especially with Democrats in control of the House, however, it is a glimpse into the Trump administration’s priorities going into the next fiscal year.  In a statement on Monday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said the proposed cuts show “commitment to spending taxpayer dollars wisely and efficiently by consolidating or eliminating duplicative and ineffective federal programs.”  She also said the “budget at its core is about education freedom,” an apparent nod to the issue of school choice – something DeVos has attempted to champion during her time as head of the department.  The proposed budget includes DeVos’ school choice platform by asking for an increase in $60 million for the Charters Schools Program.  The budget also requests $700 million for school safety measures from multiple agencies, including the Education Department, the Justice Department and Health and Human Services.  “After the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, the President established the Federal Commission on School Safety to assess and develop Federal, State, and local policy recommendations to help prevent violence in schools,” the 2020 budget proposal reads.  “The Budget provides approximately $700 million, an increase of $354 million compared to the 2019 Budget, in Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services grants to give States and school districts resources to implement the Commission’s recommendations, such as expanding access to mental healthcare, developing threat assessments, and improving school climate.”  American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued a statement responding to the proposed cuts, criticizing the DeVos’ leadership at the department.  “Rather than increase funding for kids with special needs or for those who live below the poverty line in both rural and urban America, or addressing the issues raised in their own safety report, DeVos once again seeks to divert funding for private purposes in the name of ‘choice,’” Weingarten said.  The statement continued: “However, if they listened to parents, they would hear that, overwhelmingly, parents want well-funded public schools as their choice.”  Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, also criticized the budget’s Education Department proposals, saying it showed “how wildly out of sync” DeVos is.  “Secretary DeVos is proposing gutting investments in students, teachers, public schools, and even school safety—all to make ro for her extreme privatization proposal that no one asked for. This is not a serious budget proposal, and I am going to once again work with Republicans in Congress to ensure every student has access to a quality public education in their neighborhood,” Murray’s statement said.