Volunteerism Rose in 2008

More Americans became engaged in their communities last year as the economy weakened, a federal agency reported Tuesday. “There’s a compassion boom going on,” says Robert Grimm of the Corporation for National & Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and other service programs. The number of volunteers increased 2% from 60.8 million in 2007 to 61.8 million in 2008, according to the agency’s 2009 Volunteering In America report, based on annual Census Bureau surveys. Among young adults (16 to 24), the number of volunteers increased 5.7%. On average, 26% of Americans continued to donate their time. Two forms of volunteerism jumped sharply: the number of people who worked with neighbors to solve a local problem rose 31% from 2007 to 2008, and the number of people who attended community meetings rose 17% last year.

Americans Rate Federal Reserve Worst among 9 Government Agencies

The share of Americans who think the Federal Reserve is doing an excellent to good job has sunk even as chairman Ben Bernanke has taken unprecedented steps to try to prevent a financial catastrophe, according to a new poll released Monday. The Gallup poll, conducted in mid-July, found that only 30% rated the Fed as doing an “excellent/good” job. It was the lowest such score out of nine government agencies. And it was down sharply from the 53% who thought the Fed was doing an excellent to good job in a survey in 2003. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention topped the list with 61% of poll respondents rating that agency excellent to good. NASA and the FBI tied for second place at 58% each. The CIA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the Food and Drug Administration all earned scores higher than the Fed’s, the poll said.

• The Federal Reserve isn’t Federal and has no reserves. It is privately owned and strongly influenced by foreigners. Only the Chairman is a federal employee.

Obama’s Claim of 47 million Uninsured is False

President Barack Obama claims that there are 47 million Americans without health insurance. A simple check with the U.S. Census Bureau would have told him otherwise. That assertion conflicts with data in the Census Bureau report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007.” The report was issued in August 2008 and contains the most up-to-date official data on the number of uninsured in the U.S. The report discloses that there were 45.65 million people in the U.S. who did not have health insurance in 2007. However, it also reveals that there were 9.73 million foreigners — foreign-born non-citizens who were in the country in 2007 — included in that number. So the number of uninsured Americans was actually 35.92 million. And of those, “there were also 9.1 million people making more than $75,000 per year who did not choose to purchase health insurance,” CNSNews stated in a report based on the Census Bureau data. That brings the number of Americans who lack health insurance presumably for financial reasons down less than 27 million. The Census Bureau report also shows that the number of people without insurance actually went down in 2007 compared to the previous year — from 47 million to 45.65 million — while the number with insurance rose from 249.8 million to 253.4 million.

Legendary Christian Coach Canned after Student Converts to Christianity

A Christian high school wrestling coach in Dearborn, Mich., claims he was muscled out of his long-tenured coaching job by the school’s principal, a devout Muslim, because the administrator was furious over a student wrestler who had converted to Christianity from Islam. Gerald Marsazalek has coached wrestling for 35 years at Dearborn Public Schools, amassing more than 450 wins and, in addition to being added to the Michigan High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, was named “Sportsman of the Year” by the All-American Athletic Association. Despite Marsazalek’s success, however, Principal Imad Fadlallah of Dearborn’s Fordson High School ordered the administration not to renew the coach’s contract, allegedly in retaliation over the student’s conversion and to continue a campaign of flushing Christianity out of the school. “We are getting a glimpse of what happens when Muslims who refuse to accept American values and principles gain political power in an American community,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which is representing Marsazalek. “Failure to renew coach Marszalek’s contract had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with religion.”

Home Depot Sponsors Gay Events

Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle. The Nashville Gay Pride website notes that Home Depot contributed more than $5,000 to help finance the 2009 festival. The retailer also participated by conducting children’s craft workshops at a special booth set up for them. The company has sponsored similar children’s venues at pro-homosexual events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego. Other corporate sponsors of the Nashville event included Southwest Airlines and Bridgestone Tires.

Pregnant Women Hit Hard by Swine Flu

Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall. Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 percent of the U.S. population. Pregnant women’s risk from swine flu has been a raging topic in Europe, following the contentious suggestion this month by British and Swiss health officials that women should consider delaying pregnancy if they can. Most health officials call that advice unwarranted, but have agreed that the health risks are significant. In a recent report, World Health Organization experts found that pregnant women appear to be “at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.”

Tanning Beds Now Listed among Top Cancer Risks

International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as “probable carcinogens.” A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75% when people start using tanning beds before age 30. The new classification means tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others.

Beach Pollution still Nationwide Problem

For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released Wednesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C. “Storm water and sewage runoff are the biggest sources for the contamination,” says Nancy Stoner, NRDC’s water program co-director. “The waters along the Great Lakes coastline appear to be the dirtiest, while the waters along the Southeast and DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) coasts are relatively cleaner,” the NRDC wrote in the report. The states with the worst beach water quality were Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The states with the cleanest beaches were Delaware, New Hampshire and Virginia.

State Officials Seek Sports Betting to Boost Revenue

Officials in Delaware and New Jersey, facing their own budget problems, say it’s time for a bold move: full-scale, legalized sports betting in states other than Nevada, currently the only place such activity is allowed. They are pushing hard to add legalized, in-casino sports betting to their states’ gambling offerings, which include horse racing, lotteries, slot machines and — in Atlantic City — table games. The plans are being resisted by the nation’s four major pro sports leagues — the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and Major League Baseball — as well as the NCAA, saying widespread legalized betting would threaten the integrity of their sports by creating incentives for cheating and game-fixing.

• Despite the odds of increased cheating in sports, government sponsored gambling would be another step in the unraveling of our nation’s moral fabric

Economic News

A widely watched index shows home prices posted their first monthly increase since the summer of 2006, indicating prices are finally stabilizing. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities released Tuesday rose 0.5% from April, but was still 17.1% below May a year ago.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell more sharply than expected in June, notching their biggest decline in five months as demand for communications and transportation equipment slumped. The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell 2.5%, largest drop since January.

Cash-strapped older Americans are racking up credit card debt faster than other consumers amid dwindling retirement portfolios and rising medical costs, a study shows. Low- and middle-income consumers 65 and older carried $10,235 in average card debt last year, up 26% from 2005. Card debt for all borrowers surveyed rose 3% during that time, to $9,827. Overall, revolving debt — mostly on credit cards — grew during much of 2008, the Federal Reserve says.

More retailers are accepting food stamps, as a record number of consumers are turning to government aid to pay for groceries. Nearly 39 million people received food stamps as of April. Retailers ranging from some Costco stores to 7-Eleven to Target are moving quickly to cater to cash-strapped customers.

Gasoline prices increased for the first time in five weeks, the Energy Department said on Monday, as higher crude oil costs were passed to consumers at the pump. The national price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 4 cents over the past week to $2.50 a gallon, but it was still down $1.45 from a year ago.

U.S., China Agree to Work Together to Rebuild Economy

The United States and China agreed Tuesday to jointly rebuild the global economy on a sounder footing once the recession finally ends. Concluding two days of talks, diplomats from the two sides agreed on a four-part road map to guide their economies. Officials sketched a vision of a globe better balanced between Asian producers and Western consumers and buttressed by a financial system less prone to volatile bubbles. Both U.S. and Chinese officials hailed the talks as unprecedented, though they built on a series of twice-yearly meetings begun during the Bush administration. The two nations — the current and perhaps future world superpowers — are locked in a mutually dependent financial relationship that has deepened dramatically in recent years. China is the largest foreign purchaser of U.S. Treasury securities, while American consumers have gobbled up enormous amounts of toys, clothes and food from Chinese companies. The U.S. vowed to raise its savings rate and lower its budget deficit to “sustainable levels” by 2013. China pledged to reorient its economy toward a greater reliance on domestic demand rather than exports.

Church in Somalia Growing Despite Turmoil

Mission News Network reports that Somalia’s Christians have a long road ahead of them. “Anything that goes into Somalia, whether it’s human aid or relief supplies or some attempt to provoke stability, just seems to get sucked up in chaos. And in today’s reality, Christians are bearing the brunt of that,” said Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA. At least eight Christians have been killed by al-Shabaab insurgents over the last month. “Most Christians in extreme persecution are not asking to be permanently removed from persecution, to become refugees in some other country; but they are actually asking for the strength and the capacity to stand strong in the midst of that persecution,” he continued. Despite the difficulties, though, the Christian community continues to grow.

Taliban Recruiting Children as Bombers

Security forces in Pakistan have rescued several children forcibly recruited by the Taliban, allegedly to be used as fighters or suicide bombers, and there could be hundreds more of them, officials said Tuesday. Pakistani troops are engaged in offensives against the Taliban in various areas along the lawless border with Afghanistan, fighting militants often drawn from among the local communities. Lt. Gen. Nadeem Ahmed, who heads a special support group tasked with handling the return of people displaced by three months of fighting in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas, said he had met with nine boys rescued from the Taliban. “They have been brainwashed and trained as suicide bombers, but the nine who I met seemed willing to get back to normal life,” he told Pakistani state-run television.

Arab States have Stymied ‘Normalization’ with Israel

US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell admitted that the Obama administration needs more time to convince Arab countries to begin taking steps to normalize relations with Israel, a move that Jerusalem would like to see them take in exchange for a moratorium on new housing starts in the Jewish settlements. After talks with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Mitchell said US calls for Arab leaders to “take genuine steps toward normalization [with Israel]… will come further down the road.” Mitchell said he plans to meet many Arab leaders to encourage them to begin the normalization process. He also pleaded with the Palestinians and Arab states to “refrain” from “words or actions that might make meaningful and productive negotiations impossible.” Arab League chief Amr Moussa also met with Mitchell and later stated, “the Arabs will not take any step of normalization as a sacrifice for Israel. There will be no Arab steps before Israel stops its policy of settlement building.”

• When will this administration realize that there are no compromises with Islamic nations that will bring true peace to the Middle East?

Britain to Withdraw Remaining Troops from Iraq

Britain will withdraw its remaining forces from Iraq to Kuwait by the end of the month because the Iraqi parliament failed to pass a deal allowing them to stay to protect oil platforms and provide training, a spokesman said Tuesday. U.S. troops would be standing in for the British while they were out of the country, according to the ministry. The lingering presence has faced opposition, principally by followers of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who stalled the ratification of the deal until lawmakers adjourned Monday for their summer recess.

Islamists Rock Nigeria

Islamist militants seeking to impose a Taliban-style regime in northern Nigeria launched attacks Monday on police in three towns, expanding a two-day campaign of violence that has killed at least 55 people, police and witnesses said. Trouble began Sunday when militants attacked a police station in the northern city of Bauchi, leaving dozens dead in gunbattles with police. On Monday, militants launched a wave of attacks in three more states, targeting the towns of Maiduguri, Damaturu, and Wudil in the predominantly Muslim North, police and residents said. A journalist for the local Compass newspaper in Maiduguri, Olugbenga Akinbule, said he saw the bodies of about 100 Islamist militants shot in gunbattles with police in the town, where some of the worst violence occurred. Nigeria has been sporadically wracked by sectarian clashes since 12 of the country’s 36 states began adopting Islamic law, or Shariah, in the north in 1999.

Car Bomb in Spain

A powerful car bomb destroyed a police barracks housing officers and their families in northern Spain on Wednesday, injuring about 60 people and causing major damage in the surrounding area. The attack was blamed on the Basque separatist group ETA. ETA did not phone in a warning as it typically does before most attacks, so authorities had no time to evacuate the 14-story building in Burgos, police said. There were around 120 people in the barracks and surrounding buildings, a third of them children, when the explosion went off at 4 a.m. Most of the injuries were from flying glass. Officials expressed surprise no one was killed in the blast, which blew off much of the barracks’ facade. Nearby residential dwellings had their windows and some walls blown in by the force of the explosion.

Drought in South Texas Worries Farmers

Lingering drought in South Texas had growers worried about the fate of their crops this scorching summer. Early spring and July have been terrible for the region, with growers talking about lower grain and corn yields. Texas agriculture officials this month said the drought led to an estimated $3.6 billion in crop and livestock losses statewide.

Calif. Farmers say Feds make Drought Worse

Three years into a drought that evokes fears of a modern-day dust bowl, farmer Todd Allen and others here say the culprit now isn’t Mother Nature so much as the federal government. Court and regulatory rulings protecting endangered fish have choked the annual flow of water from California’s Sierra mountains down to its people and irrigated fields, compounding a natural dry spell. “This is a regulatory drought, is what it is,” Allen says. “It just doesn’t seem fair.” For those like Allen at the end of the water-rights line, the flow has slowed to a trickle: His water district is receiving just 10% of the normal allocation of water from federal Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs. He says he’s been forced to lay off all his workers and watch the crops die on his 300 acres while bills for an irrigation system he put in are due. Although some farmers with more senior water rights are able to keep going, local officials say 250,000 acres has gone fallow for lack of water in Fresno County, the nation’s most productive agriculture county. Statewide, the unplanted acreage is almost twice that.

• When the Feds get involved in local issues, look out, disaster is on the horizon

Wildfires

The Railbelt Complex of fires in Alaska has now consumed 337, 884 acres or over 527 square miles. Numerous structures remain threatened. A wildfire in Texas has grown to 6, 956 acres (10.8 sq. mi.) and is 0% contained after several days with 8 structures lost so far.