FIRE-EARTH Report: United Kingdom

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Girls ‘too poor’ to buy sanitary protection in the world’s 5th richest country

Background: The United Kingdom (UK) is world’s 5th richest country by GDP ($2.858 trillion), yet girls are missing school because they cannot afford sanitary protection, according to Freedom4Girls –a charity group that provides sanitary products to women in Kenya (and now doing the same in West Yorkshire).

It’s unclear how many girls were in this situation across the UK, a public health worker who assists Freedom4Girls told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

She was contacted by a teacher at a south Leeds school, who became concerned about teenage girls’ attendance.

“It’s happening in other schools. Teachers have told me they are buying towels to have just in case.

“If you’ve got no food, you’ve got no money for sanitary protection. If you have a mum with two teenage girls, that’s a lot of money each month when you’re on zero-hours contracts, benefits or low income.

“I wasn’t shocked at all… We had an idea that there was something happening in schools. It’s linked to poverty – 25,000 visits to food banks just in Leeds last year.”

More…

Related Links

• A third of UK lives on insufficient income: JRF
• UK Food Poverty Causing Massive Rise in Malnutrition Cases
• One More Million Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant (QE Aircraft Carrier)
• Young people in the UK “feel they have nothing to live for”
• US, UK Munitions ‘Cause Birth Defects’ in Iraq

[Prepared by an affiliated team of political scientists.]

• Report is available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

UK Living in 18th Century

Submitted by a reader

A third of UK lives on insufficient income: JRF

About a third of the UK population is living on an “inadequate” income, according to research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

• The number of individuals below MIS rose by four million (27%), from 15 million to 19 million (from 25 to 30% of the population), between 2008/9 and 2014/5.
• At least 11 million people are living far short of MIS, up from 9.1 million, who have incomes below 75% of the standard and are at high risk of being in poverty.

[The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) is a benchmark of adequate income based on what the public think people need for a minimum acceptable living standard in the UK. This analysis monitors changes in the number of people in households with incomes below MIS, and the number below 75% of MIS, an indicator of poverty.]

• Six million children, that is 45% of all children in Britain, are among the 19 million below the MIS.
• Some 1.8 million pensioners, representing 14.6% of the age group, live below MIS.

A working couple with two young children, living in social housing, each need to earn £18,900 a year.

Weekly rental values for a private two- bedroom apartment: £345  (£1,495 per month, or US$1,860) – but that’s just on paper.

UK Govt ‘covered up botched Trident missile test’ weeks before crucial vote

Sent by B.E.

Secrecy over failed Trident test launch ‘bizarre and stupid’ –Former Navy Chief

“A serious malfunction in Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons deterrent was covered up by Downing Street just weeks before the crucial House of Commons vote on the future of the missile system,” according to a report.

The Sunday Times has revealed that a Trident II D5 missile, capable of killing millions when armed with nuclear warheads — failed after being launched from HMS Vengeance, a British submarine, off the coast of Florida in June last year, and probably veered off towards the United States.

The intended target for HMS Vengeance’s missile was a sea target about 9,000km off the west coast of Africa.

“It was the only firing test of a British nuclear missile in four years and raises serious questions about the reliability and safety of the weapons system. The failure prompted a news blackout by Downing Street that has remained in place until this weekend.”

“There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure,” a source told the paper.

“Ultimately Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent. The upcoming Trident vote made it all the more sensitive.”

The incident occurred shortly before Theresa May became the UK Prime Minister; however, she failed to mention the failed test, and instead persuaded Parliament to spend £40bn ($50bn) on new Trident submarines in July.

The motion for the Trident renewal was carried out by 472 votes to 117, by almost the entire Conservative Party and more than half of Labour MPs(!)

A joint statement issued by both Downing Street and Ministry of Defence (MoD) called the capability and effectiveness of Trident “unquestionable.”

“In June the Royal Navy conducted a routine, unarmed Trident missile test launch from HMS Vengeance, as part of an operation which is designed to certify the submarine and its crew.

“Vengeance and her crew were successfully tested and certified, allowing Vengeance to return into service. We have absolute confidence in our independent nuclear deterrent.”

Theresa May has refused four times to admit that she knew of botched test, UK media reported.

The former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West, has slammed Downing street over its ‘bizarre and stupid’ decision to ‘cover up’ a major malfunction in the UK’s Trident nuclear missile deterrent, saying that it made Britain look like the former Soviets, North Korea or China.

Trident system was acquired by the Thatcher government in the early 1980s as a replacement for the Polaris missile system, which the UK had possessed since the 1960s.

Related Links:

• ‘Post truther’ Theresa May ‘faith’ in Trident despite test ‘malfunction’

• ‘Nuclear Disaster Waiting to Happen’

• Or, how we learned to play blind nuclear chicken with the taxpayers unwanted submarines in the middle of the ocean!

• One More Million Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant

Top 8 Racketeers Wealthier than World’s Bottom Half

Gap between rich and poor far greater than previously feared –Oxfam

8 kingpin racketeers control more wealth than world’s poorest half (3.68 billion people), according to an Oxfam’s report: An economy for the 99 percent.

[The extortioners, Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega (Spain), Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim (Mexico), Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Michael Bloomberg top Forbes 2016 billionaires list with a combined wealth of about $426 billion (real time estimate: $492 billion). Koch Brothers, Charles and David, each with $43.5 billion, replace Bloomberg on the eights spot, according to Forbes real time ranking.]

“It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when 1 in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day,” said Oxfam’s International Executive Director.

Since 2015, the richest 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet, the report says.

“The incomes of the poorest 10% of people increased by less than $3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the incomes of the richest 1% increased 182 times as much.”

Destitution in the UK: 668,000 Household in Shocking Poverty

‘Destitution occurs in a context of severe poverty over a considerable period of time’

An estimated 668,000 UK households were destitute in 2015. That’s 1,252,000 people — of whom 312,000 were children, according to a report.

Of people experiencing destitution, some

• 76% go without food
• 71% lack adequate clothing and footwear
• 63% have no access to toiletries
• 56% unable to heat homes
• 30% unable to light homes

Other key findings of the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation are listed below:

• While some migrant groups face disproportionate risks of destitution, the great majority (79 per cent) of those destitute were born in the UK.

• Destitution is not usually a one-off, transient episode, but occurs in a context of severe poverty and hardship over a considerable period of time.
• The key triggers pushing people in poverty into destitution include debt repayments (usually to public authorities); benefit delays and sanctions; high living costs; and, for some migrants, extremely low levels of benefits and lack of access to the UK labor market.

• People affected by destitution feel ‘demeaned’, ‘degraded’ and ‘humiliated’ by having to seek help with basic material needs like food, clothes and toiletries from charitable organizations, friends or family.

Definition of destitution
People are destitute if:

a) They, or their children, have lacked two or more of these six essentials over the past month, because they cannot afford them:

Shelter (have slept rough for one or more nights)

Food (have had fewer than two meals a day for two or more days)

Heating their home (have been unable to do this for five or more days)

Lighting their home (have been unable to do this for five or more days)

Clothing and footwear (appropriate for weather)

Basic toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush).

To check that people were going without these items because they could not afford them we: asked respondents if this was the reason; checked that their income was below the standard relative poverty line (i.e. 60 per cent of median income after housing costs for the relevant household size); and checked that they had no or negligible savings.

OR

b) Their income is so extremely low that they are unable to purchase these essentials for themselves or their children.

We set the relevant weekly ‘destitution’ income thresholds by averaging: the actual spend on these essentials of the poorest 10 per cent of the population; 80 per cent of the JRF Minimum Income Standard costs for equivalent items; and the amount that the public thought was needed for a relevant sized household to avoid destitution. The resulting (after housing costs) weekly amounts were £70 [$102] for a single adult living alone, £90 for a lone parent with one child, £100 for a couple, and £140 for a couple with two children. We also checked that households had insufficient savings to make up for the income shortfall.

 Read more…

Child Slavery: Rich Brits Buying Kids Who Survived Nepal Quake

Child slaves sold for $7,500 on streets: Report

Child survivors of the Nepal earthquake are being sold to wealthy British families as household slaves, according to a report.

A UK tabloid investigator, “posed as a wealthy Sikh living in Britain with a sick wife and elderly mother looking for a housemaid or houseboy,” was offered boys and girls as young as ten for as little as $7,500 (£5,250) by a gang selling children of Nepalese refugees and poor Indian families from the state of Bihar “like cattle.”

“Take a Nepalese to England. They are good people. They are good at doing housework and they’re very good cooks. No one is going to come after you,” slave trader Makkhan Singhtold the the undercover reporter. “We have supplied lads who have gone on to the UK.”

When asked how difficult it was to buy children, Singh, who referred to the kids as stock, replied: “India is flooded with boys. Nepal has been destroyed and all the Nepalese are here.

“We go to the poor parents, we talk to them, we do a deal,” he added.

“Minimum three years you’ve got to keep them here. Train them, make them work for you here. Get them into a routine. Then you can start getting documents for them. If you want my advice, take a 12 or 13-year-old.”

Read more…

 

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – Feb. 17, 2016

One million children require treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa: UNICEF

Two years of erratic rain and drought have left about one million children in need of treatment for severe acute malnutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa, UNICEF said today.

Across the region, millions of children are at risk from hunger, water shortages and disease. It is a situation aggravated by rising food prices, forcing families to implement drastic coping mechanisms such as skipping meals and selling off assets.

States of disaster have been declared in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and most provinces in South Africa due to the growing resource shortages.

“In Ethiopia, the number of people in need of food assistance is expected to increase from over 10 million to 18 million.”

UNICEF says:

• In Ethiopia, two seasons of failed rains mean that near on six million children currently require food assistance, with school absenteeism increasing as children are forced to walk greater distances in search of water;
• In Somalia, more than two thirds of those in urgent need of assistance are displaced populations;
• In Kenya, El Niño related heavy rains and floods are aggravating cholera outbreaks;
• In Lesotho, one quarter of the population are affected. This aggravates grave circumstances for a country in which 34% of children are orphans, 57% of people live below the poverty line, and almost one in four adults live with HIV/Aids;
• In Zimbabwe, an estimated 2.8 million people are facing food and nutrition insecurity. The drought situation has resulted in reduced water yields from the few functioning boreholes exacerbating the risk to water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea and cholera;
• Malawi is facing the worst food crisis in nine years, with 2.8 million people (more than 15 per cent of the population) at risk of hunger; cases of severe acute malnutrition have just jumped by 100% in just two months, from December 2015 to January 2016;
• In Angola, an estimated 1.4 million people are affected by extreme weather conditions and 800,000 people are facing food insecurity, mainly in the semi-arid southern provinces.

Meanwhile, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said up to 49 million people in southern Africa.

“It is estimated that 40 million rural people and 9 million poor urban people who live in drought-affected areas could be exposed,” the WFP said on Monday.

Genocide in Syria: 11.5% of the Population Killed or Injured, 45% Displaced

More than one in 9 Syrians killed or injured, nearly one in two displaced: Report

“The fragmentation in Syria has become a black hole that turns local and international human and material resources to sabotage and chaos engines,” says a new report published by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR).

“Fragmentation, as the process of drastic shattering in the social, economic, political, and cultural structures within the society, is being ingrained by various internal and external subjugating powers disintegrating of country sovereignty and pushing the majority of people to act against their own good and against their future,” according to the report, titled “Confronting Fragmentation!”

“The loss of lives due to the conflict remains the most catastrophic visible and direct impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria, that 11.5 per cent of the population inside Syria were killed or injured due to the armed-conflict.”

The conflict has forced 3.11 million people to flee the country as war refugees, while 1.17 million others have left Syria as economic migrants.

“The country faces human catastrophe reflected in the dramatic drop in life expectancy at birth from 70.5 years in 2010 to an estimated 55.4 years in 2015.”

The overall poverty rate was forecast to reach 85.2 per cent by the end of 2015. “Moreover, 69.3 per cent are living in extreme poverty. About 35 per cent of the population fell into abject poverty being unable to meet the basic food needs of their households.”

The unemployment rate climbed to 52.9 per cent by the end of 2015, with the most dramatic rises occurring in conflict zones and besieged areas, said the report. “An estimated 2.91 million unemployed persons; among which 2.7 million lost their jobs during the conflict, with the loss of income further impacting the welfare of 13.8 million dependents.”

The accumulated economic loss trough end of 2015 is estimated at USD 254.7 billion, or 468% of the GDP in 2010.

SCPR  independent, non-governmental non-profit think tank with a mission to engage in “open, respectful, and informed dialogue” on key public policy issues.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) describes itself as an as “an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit think tank … [aiming] to promote sustainable inclusive development.” It has published its latest report “Confronting Fragmentation!” in cooperation with Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy, at the American University of Beirut.

http://scpr-syria.org/publications/policy-reports/confronting-fragmentation/

email: info@scpr-syria.org

Download report: In English: http://scpr-syria.org/?p=1191

What If the ‘Martians’ Had Invaded The World?

Sent by a reader

How Human Civilization Got So Screwed Up?

Why Humans Let their World Be Ruled by Evil?

The richest 1% now own more wealth than the rest of the world combined.

62 Individuals have as much wealth as the bottom half: Oxfam

In its latest report, Oxfam outlines how the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population —more than 3.6 billion people—has fallen by a trillion dollars (41 percent) since 2010, while the wealth of the richest 62 people has inflated by more than half a trillion dollars to $1.76 trillion.

By what right, reason or rhyme?

The global inequality crisis is reaching new extremes. The richest 1% now have more wealth than the rest of the world combined. Power and privilege is being used to skew the economic system to increase the gap between the richest and the rest. A global network of tax havens further enables the richest individuals to hide $7.6 trillion. The fight against poverty will not be won until the inequality crisis is tackled.

The gap between rich and poor is reaching new extremes. Credit Suisse recently revealed that the richest 1% have now accumulated more wealth than the rest of the world put together. This occurred a year earlier than Oxfam’s much publicized prediction ahead of last year’s World Economic Forum. Meanwhile, the wealth owned by the bottom half of humanity has fallen by a trillion dollars in the past five years. This is just the latest evidence that today we live in a world with levels of inequality we may not have seen for over a century.

AN ECONOMY FOR THE 1%

The gap between rich and poor is reaching new extremes. Credit Suisse recently revealed that the richest 1% have now accumulated more wealth than the rest of the world put together.

Meanwhile, the wealth owned by the bottom half of humanity has fallen by a trillion dollars in the past five years.

This is just the latest evidence that today we live in a world with levels of inequality we may not have seen for over a century. ‘An Economy for the 1%’ looks at how this has happened, and why, as well as setting out shocking new evidence of an inequality crisis that is out of control.

Oxfam has calculated that:

• In 2015, just 62 individuals had the same wealth as 3.6 billion people—the bottom half of humanity. This figure is down from 388 individuals as recently as 2010.

• The wealth of the richest 62 people has risen by 44% in the five years since 2010 – that’s an increase of more than half a trillion dollars ($542 billion), to $1.76 trillion.

• Meanwhile, the wealth of the bottom half fell by just over a trillion dollars in the same period —a drop of 41% .

• Since the turn of the century, the poorest half of the world’s population has received just 1% of the total increase in global wealth, while half of that increase has gone to the top 1%.

• The average annual income of the poorest 10% of people in the world has risen by less than $3 each year in almost a quarter of a century. Their daily income has risen by less than a single cent every year.

The report is posted at http://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/bp210-economy-one-percent-tax-havens-180116-en_0.pdf

Yemen Faces Collapse!

Saudi state terrorism leaves 21.2 million Yemenis—82% of population—in need of humanitarian assistance 

Millions of Yemenis require assistance to ensure their basic survival, reported UN OHCHR.

Between mid-March, when fighting escalated, and  the second week of October, health facilities had reported 32,307 casualties (including 5,604 deaths), or an average of 153 injuries or deaths each and every day.

• 21.2 million, or 82% of the population are in need of humanitarian assistance.
• 14.4 million are food insecure (including 7.6 million severely food insecure).
• 3 million people now require treatment or preventive services for malnutrition.
• 2 million are currently acutely malnourished, including 1.3 million children – 320,000 of whom are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

“More than seven months of conflict have severely exacerbated Yemen’s prior large-scale humanitarian emergency. Partners currently estimate that 21.2 million people require assistance – an increase of one-third since the crisis began in mid-March 2015. Major increases in need have occurred since the June 2015 Humanitarian Needs Overview in key sectors, including food security, nutrition and shelter. Displacement and human rights violations have also risen considerably.”

• 19.3 million lack adequate access to clean water or sanitation
• 14.1 million people lack sufficient access to healthcare
• 1.8 million children have been out of school since mid-March.
• Solid waste removal has come to a halt in several areas.
• Three in four Yemenis are unable to meet their basic wash needs.

Public services are rapidly failing “due to direct impact of conflict and insufficient resources to pay salaries or maintain services,” said the report.

“As of mid-October, 69 health facilities had been reported partially or substantially damaged, 27 ambulances hijacked, eight health workers killed and 20 injured.”

“Since 26 March, health facilities have reported more than 32,200 casualties – many of them civilians. In the same period, has verified 8,875 reports of human rights violations – an average of 43 violations every day. Verified incidents of child death or injury from March to September are almost five times higher than 2014 totals.”

Displacement

About 2.3 million are currently displaced within Yemen and 121,000 others have fled the country.

“Displacement has contributed to rises in needs across sectors – particularly shelter and NFIs, for which about 2.8 million IDPs and host community members currently require support.”

‘Myanmar Government’s Big State Secret’ Leaves Hundreds Dead or Missing

Up to 200 dead or missing in massive landslide near jade mine in N. Myanmar

A landslide near a jade mine in northern Myanmar has killed about 100 people and left more than 100 others missing, according to reports.

The incident occurred in Kachin state, home to the most valuable jade mines in the world.

Most of the victims were poor villagers sifting through mountains of waste rubble, “dumped by mechanical diggers used by the mining firms in the area to extract Myanmar’s most valuable precious stone,” according to AFP.

“The area has been turned into a moonscape of environmental destruction as huge diggers gouge the earth looking for jade.”

Landslides occur regularly in the area and many have been killed so far this year as people living off the industry’s waste, in the hope of finding a piece of jade worth thousands of dollars, search through mountains of rubble at night, said the report.

Additionally, itinerant miners are attracted from all parts of the country “by the promise of riches and become easy prey for drug addiction in Hpakant, where heroin and methamphetamine are cheaply available on the streets,” reported AFP.

“Jade is Myanmar government’s big state secret”

The jade trade, “controlled by the military elites,” raked in about “US$31 billion in 2014 alone,” more than 10 times the official declaration. “That is equivalent to nearly half the GDP of the whole country, which badly needs it. But hardly any of the money is reaching ordinary people or state coffers, said a report.

 

How piggishness destroyed your world

Growing Wealth Inequality a Major Driver of Global Collapse

[Less than] one percent of the world population owns [more than] half of global wealth, according to the latest edition of the Global Wealth Report published by Credit Suisse.

Their estimates suggest the richest 10% of adult population own 88% of all wealth, with the top 1% accounting for half of all global assets, while the lower half of the world population collectively own less than 1% of the wealth.

Household Wealth, 2015
World: 250,145 (USD bn)
North America: 92,806
Europe: 75,059
Asia-Pacific: 45,958
China: 22,817
Latin America: 7,461
India: 3,447
Africa: 2,596
Source: James Davies, Rodrigo Lluberas and Anthony Shorrocks, Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2015

Regional Wealth

North America and Europe together own 67% of the total wealth, but account for only 18% of the adult population.

Special Alliance

Some 20,247 of the world’s millionaires, or more than 60 percent of the total, are from the “Five Eyes,” the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.

Wealth and Super Wealthy 

Report estimates that worldwide there are

• 123,800 UHNW individuals (their ultra high net worth exceeds USD 50 million) including
  • 44,900 each worth at least USD 100 million, and
  • 4,500 with assets above USD 500 million.
• 33.6 million HNW (high net worth individuals with USD 1 mn to USD 50 m) of whom
  • 29.8 million fall within the USD 1–5 million
  • 2.5 million adults worth between USD 5 mn  and 10 mn, and
  • 1.3 million have assets in the USD 10–50 mn range

The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List

According to the Forbes Rich List 2015, there were 1,826 individuals each worth at least USD1 bn (up from 1,645 in March 2014), the highest number they’ve ever recorded, with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago.

80 richest people wealthier than the bottom half of world population

The 80 richest people in the world have doubled their wealth in nominal terms in the 6 year-period between 2009 and 2014, while the wealth of the bottom 50% has decreased over the same period.

These 80 individuals have more wealth (more than USD1.9 bn) than the combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the global population (more than 3.5 billion people).

Poverty

The United States has the second highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world, according to a 2013 UNICEF report.

• In 2013, about 50 million Americans were living in food insecure homes including 16.7 million children—an all time record.
• United Kingdom. More than one in four children in the UK are now living in poverty.
• Australia. One in Six of All Australian Children Live in Poverty
• New Zealand. One in four Kiwi children, or more than 265,000, are living in poverty.

The Greed

The greed to create more financial wealth is rapidly “asset-stripping” the planet. It’s directly proportional to the rate at which the global climate is being destabilized and the ecosystems destroyed.

Related Links

• Humans Defeated by No. 1 Mortal Enemy May 2, 2015
• 80 richest people wealthier than the bottom half of world population January 19, 2015
• Who made the wonderland so surreal? December 18, 2014
• Eat your heart out, Alice! December 17, 2014

Hunger: 16 Percent of Zimbabwe Population Projected to be Food Insecure

Maize production in Zimbabwe falls by a half

About 1.5 million Zimbabweans—16 percent of the population—are projected to be food insecure this year, according to World Food Program (WFP).

The forecast follows a dramatic 50% fall in maize production and represents a 164 percent increase in food insecurity compared to the previous season.

The following are selected highlights from WFP report:

• About a third (28 percent) of children under age five in Zimbabwe are stunted, or have heights too low for their age, due to chronic malnutrition

• More than half (56 percent) of all children between the ages of 6 and 59 months suffer from anemia.

• Zimbabwe has about 4.3 million hectares of arable land, but only 2.8 million hectares were cultivated during the 2014/15 cropping season due to drought, high fuel costs, climatic shocks and other factors.

• The prevalence of food insecurity and absolute poverty are closely correlated. Poverty is most prevalent in rural areas, with 76 percent of rural households living on less than $1.25 per day, compared to 38 percent in urban areas.

Rapacious Rich and Pitiful Poor Drifting Further Apart

10% Wealthiest households hold half the total wealth, the bottom 40% have only 3%

The gap between rich and poor has risen to its highest levels since the 1980s, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says.

In most countries, the gap between rich and poor is at its highest level since 30 years. Today, in OECD countries [34 nations,] the richest 10% of the population earn 9.6 times the income of the poorest 10%. In the 1980s, this ratio stood at 7:1 rising to 8:1 in the 1990s and 9:1 in the 2000s. In several emerging economies, particularly in Latin America, income inequality has narrowed, but income gaps remain generally higher than in OECD countries. During the crisis, income inequality continued to increase, mainly due to the fall in employment; redistribution through taxes and transfer partly offset inequality. However, at the lower end of the income distribution, real household incomes fell substantially in countries hit hardest by the crisis.
[OECD (2015), In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All, OECD Publishing, Paris.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264235120-en]

The average Gini coefficient across OECD was 0.32, according to the report. The US and UK had high rankings with coefficients of 0.40 and 0.35 respectively. Chile scored highest at 0.50, the most unequal wealth distribution, while Denmark scored the lowest at 0.25, meaning closer to equal income distribution across the 34-nation OECD club.

[The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution, for example, a measure of how well income is distributed across a nation. A coefficient of zero means perfect equality, where all values are the same, e.g., everyone has the same income, while one, or 100%, would mean maximal inequality among values, e.g., only one person has all the income, and all others have nothing.]

Higher wealth inequality limits opportunities

“Wealth is much more concentrated than income,” says OECD. About 10% of wealthiest households in rich countries hold half of total wealth, “the next 50% hold almost the other half, while the 40% least wealthy own little over 3%. At the same time, high levels of indebtedness and/or low asset holdings affect the ability of the lower middle class to undertake investments in human capital or others.”

The report suggests the widening gap in education leads to a less effective workforce in the most unequal countries.

However, Joe Stiglitz of Cloumbia Business School told BBC News that the problem goes beyond lack of training and education.

“What we’ve seen, particularly in the last 15 years, is that even those who are college graduates have seen their incomes stagnate. The real problem is the rules of the game are stacked for the monopolists, the CEOs of corporations.”

“CEOs today get pay that’s roughly 300 times that of ordinary workers – it used to be 20 or 30 times. No increase in productivity justifies this change in relative compensation.”

“Injustice: Why social inequality persists”

According to a report published by a geographer at UK’s Sheffield University, in 2010, “of all the 25 richest countries in the world (excluding very small states), the US and the UK rank as second and fourth most unequal respectively when the annual income of the best-off tenth of their population is compared with that of the poorest tenth.”

Starting with the most unequal, the income ratios of the top five 10% richest to 10% poorest were:

• 17.7 Singapore
• 15.9 US
• 15 Portugal
• 13.8 UK
• 13.4 Israel

And the most equal were:

• 6.9 Germany
• 6.2 Sweden
• 6.1 Norway
• 5.6 Finland
• 4.5 Japan.

Related Links

• 80 richest people wealthier than the bottom half of world population January 19, 2015

Humans Defeated by No. 1 Mortal Enemy

The super rich continue doubling their wealth

• 80 richest people are wealthier than the bottom half of world population.

• The number of richest people in the world has more than doubled since the financial crisis, up from 793 in March 2009 to 1,645 in March 2014. Their  aggregate net worth is $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion just a year ago, according to Forbes.

• No of billionaires in Britain doubles in 5 years, their wealth up 2.2 folds since 2005.

• There is an “unprecedented increase” in rates of severe material deprivation, according to Unicef’s global report.

• More than one in four children in the UK are now living in poverty.

The United States

U.S. has the second highest relative child poverty rates in the developed world, according to a 2013 UNICEF report.

In 2013, about 50 million Americans were living in food insecure homes including 16.7 million children—an all time record.

Australia

One in Six of All Australian Children Live in Poverty

New Zealand

One in four Kiwi children, or more than 265,000, are living in poverty. But the corporate media say New Zealand is the 8th Happiest Country. “[Presumably among those with the highest rates of suicide.]”

Two out of five impoverished kiwi kids live in working families, yet for “each kiwi child in poverty, NZ Govt spends $10,000 (NZ$13,000)  on the military [to stop Ottoman Empire advancing on Otago!]”

The United Kingdom

The richest people in Britain more than doubled their wealth over the last decade, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2015*.

In contrast, 78 per cent of UK teachers surveyed (sample size: 2,452) said they “had seen pupils lacking energy and concentration as a result of eating poorly, 69 per cent had seen pupils coming to school hungry, and 80 per cent had seen pupils attending school in inappropriate winter clothing,” said a report.

The 1,000 wealthiest individuals and families in Britain now have a combined wealth of more than $838 billion (£547.126 billion), according to the list.

The figure has more than doubled since 2005 (£547 billion in 2015 compared with under £250billion in 2014), despite the global economic recession.

The 2015 list includes 117 billionaires, up from 104 last year, and more than twice the number of 53  just five years ago.

A minimum of about $153 million was required to make it into the UK’s top 1,000 richest people list this year [c.f, $23m in 1997,] said the report.

At least 80 of the UK’s wealthiest are based in London, making the capital home to more billionaires than any other city in the world.

In Eat your heart out, Alice!  Fire-Earth said:

The number of richest people in the world has more than doubled since the financial crisis, up from 793 in March 2009 to 1,645 in March 2014. Their  aggregate net worth is $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion just a year ago, according to Forbes.

In Richest one percent to own 50 percent of world’s wealth, Fire-Earth said:

80 richest people are wealthier than the bottom half of world population.

World’s richest 1% owned 48% of global wealth in 2014, with the remaining 52% shared between the other 99% of adults on the planet. “Almost all of that 52% is owned by those included in the richest 20%, leaving just 5.5% for the remaining 80% of people in the world,” says Oxfam, a British-based “anti-poverty”organization, in a new report.

The top 1% are projected to have more than 50% of total global wealth by 2016,according to data collated by Credit Suisse.

Wealth of the 80 richest people in the world has doubled in nominal terms in the 6 year-period between 2009 and 2014, while the wealth of the bottom 50% has decreased over the same period.

These 80 individuals have more wealth than the combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the global population (more than 3.5 billion people).

In 2010, the number of richest individuals who owned same amount of wealth as bottom half of the world’s population was 388.

“Global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite.  The richest 1% of adults in the world have been increasing their share of total global wealth.” says the Oxfam report.

“The very richest of the top 1%, the billionaires on the Forbes list, have seen their wealth accumulate even faster over this period. In 2010, the richest 80 people in the world had a net wealth of $1.3tn. By 2014, the 80 people who top the Forbes rich list had a collective wealth of $1.9tn; an increase of $600bn in just 4 years, or 50% in nominal terms. Meanwhile, between 2002 and 2010 the total wealth of the poorest half of the world in current US$ had been increasing more or less at the same rate as that of billionaires; however since 2010, it has been decreasing over this time.”

The number of richest people in the world has more than doubled since the financial crisis, up from 793 in March 2009 to 1,645 in March 2014. Their  aggregate net worth is $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion just a year ago, according to Forbes.

“This group of people is far from being globally representative. Almost 30% of them (492 people) are citizens of the USA,” said Oxfam.

What’s NOT immediately obvious in the Oxfam report is that about 0.00000001 percent of the population, or one in 100 million people, has a  monopoly over the global economic and therefore political power, i.e., absolute power.

[Note: The Sunday Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch.]

 Related Links

• Who made the wonderland so surreal? December 18, 2014
• Eat your heart out, Alice! December 17, 2014
• 10 Worst Corporations Posted on May 11, 2010
• UK Food Poverty Causing Massive Rise in Malnutrition Cases August 23, 2014
• 1 Mn More Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant July 3, 2014
• Poverty Spreads among the Exceptional Nation September 18, 2013

Richest one percent to own 50 percent of world’s wealth: Oxfam

Updated January 20, 2015

80 richest people wealthier than the bottom half of world population

World’s richest 1% owned 48% of global wealth in 2014, with the remaining 52% shared between the other 99% of adults on the planet. “Almost all of that 52% is owned by those included in the richest 20%, leaving just 5.5% for the remaining 80% of people in the world,” says Oxfam, a British-based “anti-poverty”organization, in a new report.

Share of global wealth of the top 1% and bottom 99% respectively; Credit Suisse data available 2000–2014. Source: Oxfam report/ WEALTH: HAVING IT ALL AND WANTING MORE

The top 1% are projected to have more than 50% of total global wealth by 2016,according to data collated by Credit Suisse.

Wealth of the 80 richest people in the world has doubled in nominal terms in the 6 year-period between 2009 and 2014, while the wealth of the bottom 50% has decreased over the same period.

These 80 individuals have more wealth than the combined wealth of the bottom 50% of the global population (more than 3.5 billion people).

In 2010, the number of richest individuals who owned same amount of wealth as bottom half of the world’s population was 388.

“Global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite.  The richest 1% of adults in the world have been increasing their share of total global wealth.” says the report.

Number of billionaires it takes to have accumulated the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50% of the global population.  Source: Oxfam report/ WEALTH: HAVING IT ALL AND WANTING MORE

“The very richest of the top 1%, the billionaires on the Forbes list, have seen their wealth accumulate even faster over this period. In 2010, the richest 80 people in the world had a net wealth of $1.3tn. By 2014, the 80 people who top the Forbes rich list had a collective wealth of $1.9tn; an increase of $600bn in just 4 years, or 50% in nominal terms. Meanwhile, between 2002 and 2010 the total wealth of the poorest half of the world in current US$ had been increasing more or less at the same rate as that of billionaires; however since 2010, it has been decreasing over this time.”

The number of richest people in the world has more than doubled since the financial crisis, up from 793 in March 2009 to 1,645 in March 2014. Their  aggregate net worth is $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion just a year ago, according to Forbes.

“This group of people is far from being globally representative. Almost 30% of them (492 people) are citizens of the USA,” said Oxfam.

What’s NOT immediately obvious in the Oxfam report is that one percent of a tiny fraction of the world population (about 0.00000001, or one in 100million people) have a monopoly over economic and political power (absolute power).

 Related Links

• Who made the wonderland so surreal? December 18, 2014
• Eat your heart out, Alice! December 17, 2014
• 10 Worst Corporations Posted on May 11, 2010

‘NATO is a destabilizing global force’

Sent by a reader [Edited by JW]

PERPETUAL MILITARIZATION
NATO EXPANSION
HEGEMONY OVER WORLD’S RESOURCES
GLOBAL CONFLICTS
FORCED DISPLACEMENT
ABSOLUTE POVERTY
COLLAPSE
SCENARIOS 717, 444, 300, 255, 244, 220, 219, 069, 049, 031, 028, 04, 02
.

NATO risks provoking a new Cold War —CND General-Secretary

Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is placing a an order with General Dynamics worth £3.5 billion [$5.7billion] for 590 Scout Specialist Vehicles—the largest MoD order for armored vehicles since the Cold War (I). 

The vehicles will be “highly-agile, tracked, medium-weight armored fighting vehicle, providing British troops with state-of-the-art best-in-class protection,” said world’s 4th largest defense contractor.

Details of the deal were released to coincide with the NATO summit on Thursday, where President Obama is expected to call on European leaders to honor their military spending commitments and allocate at least 2 percent of their nations’ GDP to buying weapons.

“With the second-largest defense budget in NATO, meeting NATO’s 2 percent of GDP spending target and investing in new capabilities to deal with the emerging threats, we are ensuring Britain’s national security, staying at the forefront of the global race and providing leadership within NATO,” said Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron.

Meantime, Britain is spending about $80million on security operations during the summit, which has begun in Newport, Wales. Some 10,000 police officers, drafted from forces across the UK, will be protecting at least 61 heads of states and hundreds of VIPs from protesters.

The authorities have erected a 20-km ‘ring of steel’  to guard the summit.

NATO Expansion

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has almost doubled in size—from 16 member states in 1990 to 28 in 2009. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO’s “Partnership for Peace program.”  Also, 15 other countries are involved in various programs. The combined military spending of NATO members amounts to more than 70% of the global total. Members have agreed to allocate 2% of their national GDP on military spending. Image source: automaticearth

“NATO is a destabilizing global force”

“Far from promoting security, NATO is a destabilizing global force,” said CND General-Secretary Kate Hudson.

“Its war of aggression in Afghanistan has killed tens of thousands and left that country fragmented: the ripples of which are being felt across the region.”

“Through its insatiable expansion into Eastern Europe, capitalizing on the vacuum left following the collapse of the USSR, NATO has contributed to heightening tensions around Russia and Ukraine, and risks provoking a new Cold War.”

“NATO has shown itself for what it is: an interventionist, expansionist, military club which favours threats over diplomacy.”

“We don’t want US/NATO nukes on European soil. We don’t want its wars of aggression. And we’re here to challenge this aggressive alliance which makes all of us less safe. Tens of millions around the world want peace, justice and an end to NATO.”

Related Links

• NATO: Cold War to Needle War Posted by PRO on February 28, 2010
• Most Unethical Nations in 2011 [and Probably 2012] December 31, 2011
• The 48 percent December 31, 2011
• Govt to Borrow More Money, Buy More Bombs October 17, 2013
• Japan to Spend $232.4 Billion on Weapons December 17, 2013

• World’s Most Unethical Country Also “Greatest Threat to Global Peace” January 2, 2014
• 1 Mn More Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant July 3, 2014
• UK Food Poverty Causing Massive Rise in Malnutrition Cases August 23, 2014

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

• Protestors mobilise for week-long protest against NATO summit in Wales

UK Food Poverty Causing Massive Rise in Malnutrition Cases

ABSOLUTE POVERTY
FOOD POVERTY
MALNUTRITION
PUBLIC DISORDER
FAILING POLITICS
SOCIETAL COLLAPSE
SCENARIOS 717, 444, 300, 255, 244, 220, 219, 049, 031, 028, 04, 02
.

Two-thirds of Brits surveyed wanted to eat healthy food, but couldn’t afford it 

The number of Brits admitted to hospitals for malnutrition has increased by staggering 19% since last year, according to a new report released by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH).

FPH blames the disaster on a combination of a 12% rise UK food prices and a  7.6% decline in wages since 2007.

“It’s getting worse because people can’t afford good quality food. It’s getting worse where malnutrition, rickets and other manifestations of extreme poor diet are becoming apparent.” FPH told the BBC.

Health problems like rickets are becoming more apparent because people could not afford quality food in their diet, said FPH.

[NOTE: FPH is the standard-setting entity for specialists in public health in the United Kingdom. It includes more than 3,300 professionals working in public health. ]

Meantime, a survey of about 2,500 adults conducted by the British Heart Foundation in April found two thirds of UK adults wanted to eat healthy but could not afford healthy food.

About a million Brits rely on food banks, a massive rise of 163% since last year.

According to the Health and Social Information Center the number of patients admitted to hospitals under malnutrition in England and Wales has climbed from 5,469 to 6,520 since last year.

‘Absolute Poverty’

At least a million more working Britons have plunged into poverty as housing costs continue soaring, while wages remain stagnant, according to a UK government report released earlier this year.

The number of working age adults living in “absolute poverty” soared by at least one million, from 7.7 million in 2010-11 to 8.7 million in 2012-13, says a report published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Meanwhile, the number of children living below the breadline rose from 3.6 million to 4.1 million during the two-year period, said the Child Poverty Action group, citing the Department of Work and Pensions’ report.

Shoplifting ‘Rising Exponentially’

Some people are resorting to shoplifting “simply to live.” Durham Police and Crime Commissioner told BBC.

“The evidence shows that shoplifting and theft in general is rising exponentially and there must be a reason for that,” he said, adding that it was important to address the causes of such crimes.

Related Links

• 1 Mn More Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant Posted on July 3, 2014
• Most Unethical Nations in 2011 [and Probably 2012] Posted on December 31, 2011

1 Mn More Brits Bite Poverty, as Govt Spends $12 Billion on Obsolete White Elephant

Sent by a reader [edited by TM]

PERPETUAL MILITARIZATION
POVERTY
PUBLIC DISORDER
SOCIETAL COLLAPSE
SCENARIOS 717, 300, 220, 219, 04
.

Britain splashes $12 billion on HMS Queen Elizabeth, as one more million working Britons fall below breadline

At least a million more working Britons plunge into poverty  as housing costs continue soaring, while wages remain stagnant, according to a UK government report.

The number of working age adults living in “absolute poverty” soared by at least one million, from 7.7 million in 2010-11 to 8.7 million in 2012-13, says a report published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Meanwhile, the number of children living below the breadline rose from 3.6 million to 4.1 million during the two-year period, said the Child Poverty Action group, citing the Department of Work and Pensions’ report.

“Today’s figures clearly show why living standards are falling. While wages have stagnated, and benefits and tax credits have been cut, prices have been rising—especially the cost of housing,” said Britain’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) secretary General.

“Since the last election a million more adults and half a million more children fell into absolute poverty when housing costs are taken into account. Without a major affordable home building program and action to secure fair wages, this type of poverty will continue to grow.”

QE Aircraft Carrier Class

HMS Queen Elizabeth is said to be a major milestone for the Royal Navy, and the defense of Britain, coming at a mere inflated price tag of £7bn ($12 billion).

The ship is scheduled to be commissioned in 2017 and will be followed by sister ship Prince of Wales, which by then would probably cost over $24 billion.

The new aircraft carrier comes more than 100 years after the concept was invented, and at a time when many experts argue that they are strategically obsolete for the UK.

But a few still idolize the white elephants.

“If we’re not secure at sea we risk starvation. Out of a population of more than 60 million we can probably feed 25 million ourselves,”  says a “war-is-peace” military historian.

However, the fact remains that you can’t have your aircraft carriers and enough money to feed everyone, too.  And there are about 9 million Britons mired in abject poverty as the “living” proof!

Related Links

• Most Unethical Nations in 2011 [and Probably 2012] Posted on December 31, 2011

 

No Money, No Water!

FAILING ECONOMIC, POLITICAL & SOCIAL  SYSTEMS
MUNICIPAL BANKRUPTCY
UNEMPLOYMENT
POVERTY
CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE
COLLAPSE
SCENARIOS 244, 109, 049, 047, 031, 028, 02
.

Detroit Denying Water and Sewerage to ½ Million Citizens

Officials at the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) have cut off service to 7,556 customers in April and May and are now speeding up the service denial to as many as 3,000 delinquent accounts per week.

“That the water department’s shutoff policy is uncompromising, making no exceptions for households with infant children, elderly or disabled residents, said a report.

Detroit!

About 40% of Detroiters live in poverty. Some 83% of population are black, and the reported unemployment rate is edging close to 15%.

“Assisting low-income residents with paying their water bills would help avert a public health crisis,” U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit), said in a letter to Obama Thursday, while asking Health and Human Services Secretary to declare a public health emergency, calling the shutoff campaign “draconian.” Said the report.

“Regardless of the rationale for these cutoffs, the human consequences are unacceptable and unsustainable,” said Conyers on Friday.

“Last week, the Detroit City Council approved an 8.7% increase in the water rate, contributing to a total increase of 119% over the last decade,” Conyers said.

“As roughly half the city is now eligible for shutoffs, we believe that immediate action is necessary to stem the consequences of this counterproductive and coldhearted policy,” he said.

“It is utterly unacceptable to put the most vulnerable members of our population through severe hardship, utilizing a method that clearly violates their basic human rights, as a collection practice.”

United Nations

Detroit: Disconnecting water from people who cannot pay – an affront to human rights, say UN experts

“Disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other international human rights.”

Related Links

• Purpose of Business to Enrich Lives? August 3, 2013
• Detroit’s long-term liabilities exceed $14 billion February 21, 2013
• Lawmakers consider dissolving Detroit as bankruptcy looms December 1, 2012

• Dissolving Detroit! December 1, 2012
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

 

Insane India?

India launches a rocket to Mars

Critics of India’s Mars mission, which cost the country 4.5 billion-rupee ($73 million), say India can ill-afford to spend any money on space programs when about 70 percent of the nation’s 1.2 billion people live on less than $2 a day.

India’s Prime Minister Singh says he’s counting on the space program to yield technological advances that boost his country’s development prospects.

“Questions are sometimes asked about whether a poor country like India can afford a space program and whether the funds spent on space exploration, albeit modest, could be better utilized elsewhere,” said Singh last year. “This misses the point that a nation’s state of development is finally a product of its technological prowess.”

“India is home to poor people but it’s also an emerging economy, it’s a middle-income country, it’s a member of the G20. What is hard for people to get their head around is that we are home to poverty but also a global power,” chief executive of Oxfam in India told Bbc.

“We are not really one country but two in one. And we need to do both things: contribute to global knowledge as well as take care of poor people at home.”

It would be interesting to find out the cost of upkeep of Oxfam in India as a percentage of total funds donated!

Space Program Annual Expenditures

• India:  $1.5 billion
• Japan: $3.3 billion
• Untied States: $17.9 billion

Mars Mission Stats

• Japan’s mission to send a satellite to orbit the Red Planet failed in 1998.
• China’s probe to Mars was destroyed in 2011.
• About 50 percent of all attempts to reach Mars have failed.
• India and China became competitors in the space race in the late 1990s.
• The 780-million km journey to Mars would take about 300 days.

Related Links

• India faces severe water, farming, food crisis

Poverty Spreads among the Exceptional Nation

46.5 Million Americans in poverty in 2012

The U.S. poverty figure climbed by 300,000 in 2012 up from 46.2 million in 2011; however, the national poverty rate remained unchanged at 15%.

Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate: 1959 to 2012. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

2012 was the 6th consecutive year that the national poverty rate failed to improve.

The 2012 poverty threshold was a total household income below $23,492 for a family of four.

Real Household Income at Selected Percentiles: 1967 to 2012. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Poverty Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2012. Source:
U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2013
Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates about 16.1 million children and 3.9 million adults aged 65 years and older were living in poverty in 2012.

The 2012 poverty figure is “discouraging,” said John Iceland, a former Census Bureau expert on poverty and a sociologist at Penn State University.

“This lack of progress in poverty indicates that these small improvements in the economy are not yet being equally shared by all,” he told the Associated Press.

DISASTER Diary – 22 May 2013

Extreme Rain Events affect hundreds of thousands, destroy thousands of homes in South China’s Guangdong Province

Flooding triggered by extreme rain events have destroyed thousands of homes, affecting about 500, 000 people, and forcing the authorities to evacuate tens of thousands.

Torrential rains, the second round to pound the province this month, are expected to continue through Friday. The events have left dozens of people dead or missing since early May.

-oOo-

Millions of Italians too poor to heat their homes

14 percent of the population, 8.6 million Italians,  are completely destitute, twice as many as two years ago, according to the national statistics institute ISTAT’s Annual Report 2013 – The state of the Nation.

• 16.6 percent of the population cannot afford protein-based meals, for example meat, every two days, up from 6.7 percent in 2010.
• More than 20 percent of the population cannot afford to heat their homes.
• A quarter of Italy’s 61 million population are living in families that meet three of more of ISTAT’s nine poverty indicators.
• Italy’s youth jobless rate has climbed to about 40 percent, the highest in Europe.
• Nearly 24 percent of young Italians are neither receiving education nor in the job market, also the highest level in Europe.  In southern Italy, a third of the youth aged 15-29 fell into this group.
• Italians’ purchasing power plunged by 4.8 percent in 2012.

-oOo-

DISASTER CALENDAR – May 22, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,025 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,025 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – 5 May 2013

Fifth of UK households borrowed money or used savings to cover food costs

One in five UK households, or the equivalent of five million households, borrowed money or used savings to cover food costs in April, according to a survey.

• The figures defy official statistics released last week that showed personal bankruptcies had dropped to a 5-year low.

• The households who used savings, or borrowed money to pay for food, were mostly low income families. Among this group:
• 82% worried about food prices
• 55% said they were likely to cut back on food spending in the next few months
• 57% said they found it difficult to cope on their current income
• 32% borrowed money from friends and family in April, said the report.

The executive director of “Which?”, the organization that carried out the survey,  said: “Our tracker shows that many households are stretched to their financial breaking point, with rising food prices one of the top worries for squeezed consumers.

“It’s simply shocking that so many people need to use savings or credit to pay for essentials like food.”

0O0

Image of the Week

Crates of pesticides and fertilizer at a strawberry farm are destroyed as a raging brush fire  pushes towards the coast, in Camarillo (Ventura County, SoCal) May 2, 2013.  The so-called Springs Fire was just under 60 percent contained, as of posting. Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins

0O0

Israel strikes Syria again

Israeli jets bombed Syria on Sunday, rocking Damascus for several hours and sending columns of flame into the night sky.

• Syrian state television reported that the bombing that occurred around a military research facility at Jamraya had caused ‘many civilian casualties and widespread damage’ and quoted a letter from the foreign minister to the United Nations saying: ‘The blatant Israeli aggression has the aim to provide direct military support to the terrorist groups after they failed to control territory.'”

0O0

Death toll from Bangladesh factory collapse reaches 610

The death toll from Dhaka factory collapse climbed to 610 on Sunday after the authorities pulled dozens of bodies from the wreckage of Rana Plaza, the eight-story building that housed five garment factories.

• The toll is expected to rise further, an official told reporters.
  

0O0

Chinese no longer trust the Red Cross! 

Many people in China no longer trust the Red Cross Society and refused to donate through the organization because the charity’s image has been seriously damaged by a series of scandals, said a report.

In contrast to making generous donations through the Red Cross after the earthquake in Wenchuan 5 years ago, many people choose to donate to other charities, or contributed nothing, after the recent Lushan quake.

[Search blog content for the role of Red Cross in disappearance of  donations after  911 and Haiti quake.]

0O0

.

DISASTER CALENDAR – May 5, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,042 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,042 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Food Insecurity Threatens Nepal

Droughts, deluges and poverty leave 4 million Nepalese facing food insecurity 

Acute food shortages in 63 percent of households in the Mid-West and Far-West regions of Nepal has created a severe problem in the country, UN said.

• Acute malnutrition is at a critical level affecting about 400,000 Nepalese children.
• More than 91,000 children under the age of 5  are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
  • “Severe acute malnutrition is defined by a very low weight for height (below -3z scores of the median WHO growth standards), by visible severe wasting, or by the presence of nutritional oedema. Decreasing child mortality and improving maternal health depend heavily on reducing malnutrition, which is responsible, directly or indirectly, for 35% of deaths among children under five.” WHO said.

Global Drought

• 2012 Drought and Deluge Index Page

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Mexico. Popocatépetl Volcano Update

The following is the latest bulletin issued by CENAPRED

Apr 19 20:00 ( Apr 20 at 01:00 GMT)

Since the last report at 13:00 h. (local time), the monitoring system registered 9 low intensity exhalations. Additionally a volcanotectonic event of low magnitude was recorded at 18:50 h. (local time). After, since 18:42 h. and until the moment of this report several segments of spasmodic tremor of medium amplitude were registered including exhalation signals inside. Possibly, the first exhalations of this tremor were accompanied by moderate amounts of ash.

The volcano cannot be observed this afternoon, due to the cloudy conditions at the area. The steam and gas plume could be partially seen traveling to northeast.

[The alert level remains in Phase 3 “Yellow.”]

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background 

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar: Collapse has already Begun