Monday, December 22, 2008

The global food crisis is worsening -- Please help.


AlterNet: The Mix is the Message

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Dear Reader,

The global food crisis worsens every day. Food costs are on the rise and women and children are bearing the brunt of this horrible reality, as millions go desperately hungry. It doesn't have to be like this. CARE is doing incredible work to help the most impoverished nations, but they need our help. Make a donation to CARE and let's do our part in turning around the global food crisis now.

Don Hazen
Don Hazen
Executive Editor, AlterNet.org

 

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Dear Reader,

We are in the midst of a historic global food crisis.

The cost of food is skyrocketing -- up more than 80 percent in some countries for staples like rice and wheat -- and millions of people all around the world are going hungry. The global food crisis poses an epic moral and humanitarian threat. It has pushed an additional 130 million people into poverty and deepened global hunger, with the gravest impact on pregnant women and children.

The global food crisis is a call to conscience. As Americans, we recognize our moral obligation to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of those who have so much less than we do. We want women and families to thrive -- but first we must help them meet the basic necessities of life. Your support will help us do just that by helping hungry families get the food, clean water, and other lifesaving aid they need to survive. Please join us today. Together, we can give hope and help to people all over the world striving for a future free of poverty and suffering.
Help us feed the hungry -- and tackle the underlying causes of poverty so people can become self-sufficient.  Donate Now.

CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, is already on the ground helping women, men and children in the world's poorest countries. We're providing aid to help families survive right now, and we're working with communities to create lasting solutions to hunger and poverty. We focus on working with poor women because, when equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty for good.

You can do your part by making a gift of $50, $100, $250, or even $1,000. Your tax-deductible contribution to CARE will help save lives and create a healthy future for millions of people striving to overcome chronic hunger and poverty.

Please join us in the fight against hunger and poverty by making a tax-deductible donation right now.

In this ailing economy, the situation is likely to worsen as food prices climb even higher. Your generous gift today can help save lives -- and build a better world for all.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE

CBS Evening News with Katie Couric E-Mail Alert



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Good afternoon, everyone. This is Harry Smith filling in for Katie.

 

Call it The Big Freeze. A band of severe cold weather stretched across the northern United States over the weekend – and today it's causing power outages and snarling traffic across the Midwest and Northeast. What does this mean for holiday travelers? Dave Price has the story.

 

Who can blame shoppers for staying home and out of the cold this past weekend? But that was bad news for store owners. Retail sales were down on the normally booming Super Saturday. And as Kelly Wallace reports, customers now have the upper hand – meaning huge bargains are available for anyone who doesn’t mind doing a bit of negotiating.

 

Next: Did a military contractor expose American soldiers in Iraq to a deadly carcinogen? Armen Keteyian has our exclusive investigation.

 

In health news, Bill Whitaker examines the health hazards of being a bit pudgy. A new study shows that if you're just a few pounds overweight, you could be upping your risk of heart disease.

 

Finally, earlier this year we met a family who used to donate to food banks – but in the middle of the economic downturn, they found themselves losing their business and having to rely on the government and food bank handouts themselves. Now, this holiday season, Seth Doane visits them again – and finds a lot more hope … and a lot more cheer.

 

I hope you join us tonight,

 



Harry Smith
CouricandCo@cbs.com

 

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Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics

Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics

Link to Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics

Big Picture View of Joe Biden

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 11:43 AM CST

Vice President-elect Joe Biden announced yesterday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that he would soon get a second dog—this time, a shelter dog to share space with him and Jill Biden at the vice president's residence, the Naval Observatory, which thankfully has a big fenced yard. The HSUS and other animal protection advocates welcomed this announcement from Biden, and said so in a story by Amy Worden published yesterday in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

184x265_joe_biden_puppy The shelter dog announcement came not long after Biden purchased a German shepherd puppy from a commercial kennel in Chester County, Pa., and created something of a dust-up within the humane movement. That announcement rankled animal advocates, partly because the state is known as the puppy mill capital of the East Coast, and there were some questions about whether this particular breeder was a responsible one or not.

The facility had 84 dogs on the property—much fewer than the hundreds of breeding dogs stacked in wire cages at the most abusive puppy mills. The owner has been cited for failing to provide records on sales and vaccinations, and given warnings for sanitation and maintenance problems involving a strong ammonia smell and broken wires and piping in the outdoor kennel areas.

On balance, it seems that it's not the best operation, and not the worst. There are plenty of breeders who produce a small number of litters each year, and the treatment can hardly be characterized as abusive in any way. If people opt not to go to a shelter or rescue group and instead to a breeder, we encourage them to make sure they can visit the breeder in person and see how the animals are treated—do they live inside the home or outside in cages? And we urge people never to buy dogs over the Internet or from pet stores where you can't see how they were raised.

Bringing a new pet into your home is a meaningful experience in the life of any family. The Bidens have a rescued cat, Daisy, who was adopted from an animal shelter, and like many American families, they have a mixed household of purchased and adopted pets.

We obviously care very much about the symbolic importance of the nation's top elected officials setting the right example for the American public by acquiring their companion animals from shelters or rescue groups. Biden fell short of the highest standard of adopting all of his companion animals from shelters or rescue groups, but he's not the sort of person to be written off in any way. He's shown now he's sensitive to the concern with his public announcement of a shelter dog adoption.

Biden has also been a stalwart friend of animal welfare advocates in the Senate, and is one of only seven senators to receive the highest score of 100+ on the most recent Humane Scorecard. In his new role with the incoming Administration, he can influence the lives of millions of animals by advocating for animals on important policy matters related to puppy mills, animal fighting, humane slaughter, wildlife and marine mammal protection, and much more.

Not only a supporter of animal protection legislation during his career, Biden has also been a leader on important issues. He was the co-author with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in the 108th Congress on legislation to ban the netting of dolphins by commercial tuna fishermen. He was the lead author of a bill in the 107th Congress to prohibit trophy hunting of captive exotic mammals in fenced enclosures, and he successfully passed the bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the 110th Congress, he joined Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) in introducing a resolution calling on Canada to stop its annual massacre of baby harp seals for their fur pelts.

We've already reached out to the Obamas to give them encouragement to acquire a shelter dog for Malia and Sasha. But, again, as with Biden, it's the policies he's implementing and advocating for that hold the prospect of sparing vast suffering. It is the series of decisions he makes on pressing animal protection policies that we will be most attentive to in 2009 and beyond.

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60 Minutes recap alert



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Monday, Dec22, 2008
 
If you missed Sunday's 60 Minutes, here's a recap of our broadcast:

 

Schwarzenegger

The former Hollywood action star-turned California governor may be facing his most formidable foe in a $40 billion state budget gap caused by the economic decline. Scott Pelley reports. 

 

Watch it now.

 

 

Screening The TSA

Are the hassles passengers endure at airport security checkpoints really making them safer?  The Transportation Security Administration says they are, but a security adviser  who has advised them says those measures are "security theater." Lesley Stahl reports. 

 

Watch it now.

 

 

The Orphanage

Ivory is selling for nearly $1,000 a tusk, causing more elephants to be slaughtered and more orphaned babies in need of special care provided by an elephant orphanage in KenyaBob Simon reports. 

 

Watch it now.

 

 

Plus, Andy Rooney checks out the Christmas catalogs.

 

60 Minutes, every Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

 



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VOA Africa News Summary

VOANews.com - News from Voice of America

Here are today's top stories from VOA Africa.

To listen or watch one of our programs or to read more visit our website at www.voaafrica.com.

Children was past a "no weapon" sign in a camp of Internally Displaced People, near Kibati, in the Nord-Kivu region of Democratic Republic of Congo, 08 Dec 2008 Aid Group: Somalia, Congo, Burma Among Top 10 Crises
Doctors Without Borders says it hopes to focus much needed attention on millions of people who are trapped in conflict and war


Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe speaks at his ZANU-PF's 10th annual Congress in Bindura, 19 Dec 2008 Britain: Mugabe Must Quit as Zimbabwe President
British, US officials urge Africa to pressure Mugabe


President Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe's Mugabe Dismisses Washington's Pronouncement  Audio Clip Available
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has dismissed as nonsensical a pronouncement by the United States that a power sharing deal with the opposition wouldn't work while Mugabe remains the president.


Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, 08 Sep 2007 DRC Rebels Deny Planned Attack on UN-Monitored Buffer Zones  Audio Clip Available
Democratic Republic of Congo rebels loyal to renegade army general Laurent Nkunda have denied reports that they would advance into United Nations- monitored buffer zones in eastern Congo.


Ousted Mauritania President Freed
Security forces drive deposed president 250 kilometers from confinement in his native village to the capital, Nouakchott


A Nigerian soldier instructs young men to raise their arms in the air as they walk past in Jos, 01 Dec 2008 Nigerian Police Deny Summary Executions Report  Audio Clip Available
Agberiebi Akpoebi, assistant commissioner and first public relations officer for the Nigeria national police says the report is an imagination of Human Rights Watch


U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer US No Longer Supports Zimbabwe Power Sharing Plan
Top US envoy for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, made the statement Sunday in Pretoria, South Africa


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