There's a great scene in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" that gave me pause recently. When the Ghost of Christmas Present is dragging Scrooge around to see what's going on beyond his miserly view, they stop by the home of his poor employee, Bob Cratchit. Bob offers a toast for his family: "To Mr. Scrooge, the founder of our feast."

Mrs. Cratchit plops herself down and refuses to drink the health of such a stingy old man as Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge. Finally, Bob convinces his wife to join him and the children in drinking to Scrooge. "I'll drink his health," she finally relents, "for your sake, Bob, and for the day's sake. But not for his."

It made me think: would I drink to Barack Obama's health? I'm completely convinced his policies are ruinously misguided, and that he's the worst president in my lifetime. In fact, I think he's probably the worst president, in terms of what a person in that office can and should do for our country, in the last hundred years (though Woodrow Wilson would give him a run for his money, at the bottom of my list). And, maybe even, the worst president in American history. There's no doubt he's trying hard to take the country in the opposite direction from that intended by its Founders, which, in my view, means taking the country "down."

But yes, I find I'm truly thankful for President Obama. And not just because, since he's so out-there on the far left, he's made himself thoroughly defeatable next year (and driven home a great reminder to the nation about what happens when you dabble too much in collective statism). That's just politics, and it's beneath the sanctity of this day of Thanksgiving - indeed, of the notion of sincere gratitude itself - to dwell on it.

I'm thankful that there's a guy out there in the Oval Office, working for us, dealing with the bazillion things presidents have to do on our behalf, and doing (I believe) his sincere best to try to "help." The fact that I think his view of what helps is completely wrong doesn't mean I don't appreciate his effort. I do.

I'm thankful for the work President Obama did to get himself elected, breaking barriers such as race that'd never been fully tested before. The fact that he had some advantages on the way up doesn't diminish the Herculean effort he had to put forth to get there, just as anyone who seeks the country's highest office must do. He didn't have to do it. He is trying to serve his country the best way he knows how, based on his upbringing, background, and frame-of-reference. I'm thankful to him for that, and to God for inspiring his effort.

I'm thankful for the good things the president has accomplished in office. The fact that most of his policies and acts have been, in my view, disastrous, does not change the fact that he's done some things well. Though I abhor violence as much as anyone, I applaud his removal from the planet of some of its worst bad guys, chief among them Osama Bin Laden (who would still be alive today if Mr. Obama hadn't consented to his elimination). I think his extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, though it probably galled him to do it, was the right move. And I do think he's learned a lot, and continues to learn what it takes to conduct the affairs of his office (and that not all the things he promised on the campaign trail would be practical). I am thankful for his efforts in these areas.

And, above all, I'm thankful that (as far as I know), he's safe-and-sound as I write this. He's put himself way out there, and I've greatly feared attempts on his life since before he was inaugurated. The only thing worse, in my view, than having a misguided man in the White House is having that man assassinated, and therefore posthumously lionized. And as much as I disagree with him, I certainly believe he fully deserves a chance to stand for re-election, and if defeated, hand over the reins to his successor in peace. I pray for the safety and health of President Obama, and I hope you will, too.

Happy Thanksgiving. And here's to the president. I wouldn't say he's the founder of our feast, but he's a decent fellow, our elected leader, and a person worthy of at least some gratitude from all of us.

One more question: If you're a real Obama fan, you might think my prayers for him insincere. They are not. I think it's a good exercise to remind myself that there's a good reason to drink to the health of any decent person.... it's good for me to be grateful for President Obama. So think of whichever president you feel has been the worst in your lifetime. Can you find some sincere reasons to be grateful for that man? Would you liberals, for instance, sincerely be able to drink to the health of George W. Bush on this fine, festive day?

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Today Putin is trying to create a new version of the USSR in the form of a Eurasian Union in order to rebuild what he believes is lost Russian prestige. The key question is whether such authoritarian leaders as Putin, Yanukovych, Lukashenko and Nazarbaev will be able to coexist within a single union, and to reach the inevitable compromises that may well see the erosion of some of their power and national interest to a common cause, albeit that this common cause has yet to be defined

Experiments with ‘ghostly' opposition

Both leaders seem to have a problem with effective oppositions and have gone out of their way to suppress almost all dissent.  Both countries have very weak opposition movements.  In Russia the issue is personified by the former owner of Yukos Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whilst in Ukraine it is the former owner of United Energy Systems Yulia Tymoshenko.

In this case Putin has demonstrated his political awareness as he made his point by choosing to make an example of an oligarch who dared to question him.  Yanukovych did the opposite and decided to make his example possibly the most famous female politician in Eastern Europe.  If the Ukrainian puppet system of justice keeps Tymoshenko in prison for the long-term then Yanukovych will most likely be totally isolated by the West and become the classic post-soviet authoritarian leader with a skeletons in his closet. Skeletons that may well make him vulnerable to manipulation even by senior members of his own party.

Tymoshenko is likely to turn into a political ghost as if she where to be released she would undoubtedly become Yanukovych's nemesis and would pursue him if only for revenge. However neither she nor Khodorkovsky have ever offered the public any real alternative in the form of new policies and ideas as their aspirations are more to do with the love of power than love of the people. 

Serving plutocracy

Putin and Yanukovych are similar in that they both came to power with the blessing of big business. The example of the current Prime-Minister of Russia has proved that oligarchs cannot always count on the obedience of their elected leaders. The same scenario is likely to play out in Ukraine. It is not surprising that Ukraine is largely being governed by five industrial and financial groups. Although Yanukovych has been trying to distance himself from these groups and has even made some steps similar to those made by Putin, those which forced many Russian oligarchs to sell-up their assets and leave the country. Perhaps this is why Ukrainian experts report that local oligarchs are concerned by the unpredictability of Yanukovych's actions.

Monopoly of governance

It is hard to deny that Putin's model of governance has been one of inspirations for President of Ukraine. A vertical power structure is based on one political party establishing a monopoly on power. 'United Russia' and Party of Regions closely correlate for this reason. Zero party competition in Ukraine has lead to a total degradation of the party system. The situation is compounded by a disunified opposition.

The opposition has proved utterly incapable of fulfilling its obligations to the public by developing an alternative plan for the governing of the state in the interests of the people. Both Putin and Yanukovych are facing some negative consequences as a result of their monopolisation of power as the people become increasingly annoyed and rise in protest. This might be the reason why both Putin and Yanukovych have started to distance themselves from their governing parties. Surprisingly, Putin recently announced at a party meeting that the current President Dmitry Medvedev would lead the 'United Russia' political party at the next parliamentary elections.  

Community spirit

One more common feature for both Putin and Yanukovych is their continually decreasing popularity amongst their respective peoples.

Putin's ratings in Russia have dropped almost twice compared to those at the time of his last presidential campaign. Today only 44.5% of the Russian people support his policies compared with the 70% which voted for him in 2004. According to social surveys, 30% of respondents do not approve Putin's current policy, compared to 24% and 20% during the first and second presidential terms, respectively. Moreover only 25.4% of Russians say that they sympathize with Putin as a person contrasted with 70% in March 2004(1).

According to a recent social survey only 10% of the population support Yanukovych, 14% Tymoshenko, 11% Yatsenyuk and little over 5% Klychko. 30% of Ukrainians approve of any of Yanukovych's actions whilst almost 55% of respondents do not support the President at all(2).

Conclusions

Apart from the numerous differences in experience, education, values, professional ability and personal character, Yanukovych and Putin have one big thing in common – their official duties. The Russian leader plans to return to Presidential office hoping for a legacy associated with the great successes of the Russian Federation. For this reason he has introduces an ambitious geopolitical project to rival, in Putin's mind alone, the European Union. He wants to be remembered by history and posterity as a true champion of Russian power and national prestige. 

The President of Ukraine has got some very important decisions to make. And time is drawing on. Will he preserve the integrity of Ukraine by opting to follow the way of slow and steady development through reforms, or will he waste this opportunity?

The major question is how Yanukovych and Putin will manage to combine their missions into new Ukrainian-Russian relationships or whether they are wise enough to rise above their personal ambitions? 

(1) km.ru/v-rossii/2011/11/02/vybory-2011-2012/bolivar-ne-vynes-dvoikh-putin-pytaetsya-vynesti-troikh

(2) day.kiev.ua/3027293.

People First Comment: At the moment there is one further thing that both Putin and Yanukovych have in common and that is their total lack of understanding of the concept, principles and practice of democracy.  In this regard both have the same delusional belief that they know better that the populations they seek to rule. Whilst Putin has very adroitly engineered his position and power within flexible interpretations of Russian law Yanukovych has simple trampled the Ukrainian constitution, law and parliamentary procedure in order to get his way.

Putin's position has only been accepted by the Russian people because their wealth has been rising.  They have in fact been bought off by energy money but this cannot continue for ever.  Russian GDP is now over $10,000 per person but this may be hard to sustain in the long term without systemic economic change which will give power back to the middle classes and change the whole Russian political dynamic.  In Ukraine the real GDP figure is somewhere around $2,500 once you strip out the wealth of the top 100 and this may prove to be Yanukovych's Achilles heel as there is only so far that you can push a repressed people before the bite back and hard.

Another difference between the two leaders is that Putin still enjoys the loyalty and support of his military, police and security services despite the problems in the Caucasus. The same cannot be said for Yanukovych as whilst Putin really is the strong man of the East, Yanukovych's position looks weaker by the month. The Orange revolution for all its faults did prove one major difference between Russia and Ukraine in that both the Ukrainian military and the security services sided with the people against the authorities whilst their counterparts in Russia have always been staunchly loyal to the leadership.

Furthermore Putin's pressure on the Russian oligarchs was designed to bring them into line and to secure certain assets under State control.  Yanukovych does not have that power or loyalty and support within his own administration let alone the ruling elite. He is now faced with some of his leading supporters selling off their Ukrainian assets and moving offshore, one can only assume to get away from his grasp.  Furthermore there is considerable rumour of disquiet in his camp over who is getting the lion's share of the spoils of government, something that is not an issue in Russia.

Finally we have to take into consideration the fact that it is common knowledge that Putin is no fan of Yanukovych and will do all in his power to destabilize both his position and his country simply because he has the power to do so and a relatively free hand internationally.  Yanukovych can only dream of such power. 

However as the world moves every closer to universal democracy both leaders are relics of the past. Yanukovych is probably the last of the Soviet Era leaders in Ukraine simply because Mother Nature has a way of terminating even the most oppressive of leaderships and it is unlikely that Putin's last ride will be at all comfortable as the Russian people begin to demand progress and liberty over stagnation and control.

Quote of the week:

Democracy doesn't recognize east or west; democracy is simply people's will. Therefore, I do not acknowledge that there are various models of democracy; there is just democracy itself.

Shirin Ebadi - Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist. Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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Well, folks, the proverbial snowball is going to always maintain rolling along the mountain. When using the debt ceiling agreement deadline looming, it seems such as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid as well as Barack Obama have recently caved, and still have agreed, combined with the Senate Republicans to raise united states debt ceiling $3 trillion dollars. This deal, if approved, is anticipated to improve through 2012-a presidential election year. In case you are counting, and I also can't blame you when you aren't-I have never had to utilize trillion of all sorts as I balance my checkbook, that is going to increase our national debt from $14.3 trillion to $17.3 trillion. Whew! Boy am I relieved!

The good news is we're able to offer rest on the talk of not giving social security checks together with paying U.S. troops. Medicare for senior citizens will likely not be affected. Now, rates of interest will not likely range in price up and also the dollar won't be devalued any further. I wonder how much further it may be devalued? Stock exchange trading will not plunge. Heck, there may even be money easily obtainable in are grants and loans for Americans whenever they desire to head to school to get educated.

However, there won't be any guarantees that social security checks will be sent out punctually. Alternatively, it guarantees that some other adverse reactions that have to be felt by your debt crisis will never happen. No friends and neighbors, guarantees are pre-election material. This may not be plenty of time for hope and change. Well, maybe spare change.

Everyone can news could be the US national debt would now be at the stout $17.3 trillion. The Senate vote was 50-49 simply the elevated debt ceiling. That means most of our elected officials in Washington, D.C. actually is not familiar with the number of zerozero' have been in a trillion. High are 17.3 to are the cause of. A government default is avoided....for the present time. For several years our elected politicians have proven they've got no clue the best way to balance an inexpensive. Obviously, for people with someone's else's money to budget with, it genuinely makes no difference when it balances, or you cannot. What will change continuing to move forward inside hearts, minds, and souls your government officials that will allow the beginning of credit card debt reduction?

This proposed deal, required to be finalized on Monday, can also include a two step method that would eliminate approximately $2.4 to $3 trillion struggling with debt. Bed not the culprit this probably going to be done? Step 1 may be to eliminate $1 trillion through spending cuts. Additional deficit reduction would involve cuts to Social Security and Medicare. An extraordinary committee of Democrats and Republicans works together about this debt reduction that will include tax reform. Long story short-the thrifty spenders on Capitol Hill would choose to put a band-aid on a bullet wound. Let's hope otherwise and pray a paycheck and proper medical attention may be afforded because of not only our invaluable troops but all Americans.

Democrats and Republicans participating to unravel perhaps our nation's biggest problem. Wow! I'm guessing you'll reside in the Sunbelt considering that the snowball is to get bigger and moving faster, and you still are able today melting a little before it reaches you. Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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The role of an intelligence agency should be different from that of a terrorist organization. The CIA, the Mussad, the ISI and the Raw must not be mixed up with LTTE, the Black Water Force and particularly the detracted groups of Taliban & Al- Qaida which are defaming not only Islam but also the Muslims all over the world. If an intelligence agency is trying to forget its prescribed aims and objects by surpassing its limits, it should not be ranked as an intelligence agency but a terrorist organization.

A few days back the Federation of American Scientists FAS issued a report which confirmed that the Research and Analysis Wing RAW, was directly involved in the secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh, and is currently engaged in similar activities in Balochistan. The FAS is a group which is engaged in analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy concerning global security, especially about the countries having nuclear capability. It is a privately funded non-profit policy organization whose Board of Sponsors includes 55 American Nobel laureates. The report says ‘"The assistance provided to RAW by the Russian KGB enabled RAW to arrange terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities throughout the Afghan War.

The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan did not end the role of RAW in Pakistan, as it established training camps in East Punjab, Indian Held Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan where agents are trained for terrorist activities." Pointing towards the role of Raw in the formerly East Pakistan the report says, ‘The involvement of Raw in East Pakistan started in 1960s when it began with promoting dissatisfaction against Pakistan. Later on Raw funded at a large scale Mujeebur Rehman's general election of 1970. This organization not only funded Mukti Bahini but also trained and armed the workers of Mukti Bahini.'

There is another shocking revelation in the report that Raw staged the drama of hijacking a plane of Indian Airlines proceeding to Lahore in 1971. The hidden aim behind this hijacking was to put all blame on the Kashmiri Freedom Fighters and to introduce them throughout the world as terrorists. In the light of the above disclosure it won't be wise to rank Raw as an intelligence agency. Hijacking of airplanes, massacre of innocent citizens and patronizing training camps of terrorist are certainly never the job of an intelligence agency. These are the actions of a terrorist organization.

It is not only Pakistan which has been suffering from the childish misdeeds of Raw since long; the list of the afflicting countries is endless. A few months back, in one of its editorials the leading newspaper of Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror criticized RAW by saying that this agency is playing a heinous role in the regional countries to destabilize them. Commenting on the RAW's role in Sri Lanka, the editorial said: "The RAW in Sri Lanka has a pretty colorful record. Having raised, nursed and fortified the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, it later went through phases where it adopted ‘rock the baby, pinch the baby' approach towards the LTTE." The paper is of the opinion that Raw never works on serious grounds because this organization is nothing more than a vase weeded with bitter thorny and discolored wild flowers. Its workers and employers are morally bankrupt and spiritually barren.

The newspaper wrote: "In 2007, ripples were created in the spy agency when one of its Colombo-based officers, Ravi Nair of 1975 batch, was found allegedly carrying on an affair with a woman working for another country's spy agency. The ‘crime' was considered only second to what was committed by the RAW Joint Secretary, Rabinder Singh, in 2004 when he escaped with copies of several highly-confidential documents and is believed to have passed them on to the CIA. This was after Singh's superiors confronted him with evidence that he had spent time with a Delhi-based female US embassy officer at a resort down the New Delhi-Jaipur highway."

According to the sources RAW and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs are provided Rs. 250 million annually as "discretionary grants" for foreign influence operations. These funds are meant for supporting the organizations fighting Sikh and Kashmiri separatists in the UK, Canada and the US. An Extensive network of Indian operatives of Raw is controlled by the Indian Embassy in Washington DC whose covert activities include the infiltration of US long distance telephone carriers by Indian operatives, with access to all kinds of information, to blackmail relatives of US residents living in India. In 1996, an Indian diplomat was implicated in a scandal over illegal funding of political candidates in the US. Under US law foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to federal elections.

The US District Court in Baltimore sentenced Lalit H. Gadhia, a naturalized US citizen of Indian origin, to three months imprisonment. Gadhia had confessed that he worked as a conduit between the Indian Embassy and various Indian-American organizations for funneling campaign contributions to influence US lawmakers. Over US $46,000 from the Indian Embassy were distributed among 20 Congressional candidates. The source of the cash used by Gadhia was Devendra Singh, a RAW official assigned to the Indian Embassy in Washington. Now Raw is adopting the same philosophy and mode of action in Balochistan by patronizing the so called ‘separatist elements' which originally do not belong to the ‘soil'.

Involvement of external elements; including the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing in the current acts of terrorism in Baluchistan could not be ruled out. As long as Kashmir issue is not settled these elements will continue to create difficulties for Pakistan. According to different media reports, in Baluchistan there are various training camps in which terrorists are being harboured and paid huge sums to create trouble. RAW has been  running terrorist camps in Iran and Afghanistan since long and now it has  set up 30 to 40 such camps in Balochistan, each with training facility for 30 people who are paid Rs10,000 monthly. If we compare the East Pakistan episode and the present situation of Balochistan with reference to the report issued by the FAS, we can very easily analyze the scenario.

Raw is repeating the same story of ‘divide and disperse' in Balochistan which was once employed in the formerly East Pakistan. The situation calls for a very serious attitude on the part of Pakistani politicians. They must not waste their time and efforts in digging old graves .International forces are trying their best to divert the attention of the Pakistani politicians to some very trivial and valueless issues so that they may not be able to concentrate upon the worsening situation in Balochistan. Raw is craving for giving birth to another ‘East Pakistan' out of its old barren and out worn womb .The Pakistani politicians must keep in mind like sensible fathers that we can no more afford another pregnancy.

The writer is a Pakistan based bilingual analyst on strategic and defense affairs.

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 Did your child have a Halloween party this year? Of course, right? Well, don't be so sure there will be a feast, party, or even a discussion prior to Thanksgiving at the same school this year. What? That can't be possible? Have a talk with your child's teacher, as well as other parents at the school, and you may be in for a rude awakening. After a bit of research, I have come to the conclusion that the celebration of Thanksgiving in our schools is undergoing a fundamental transformation. As with President's Day, it is becoming a time that is more focused on vacations and sales rather than an opportunity to educate our young citizens about their common heritage and identity as Americans. 

When I was in elementary school, there were separate holidays to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Before each holiday, we spent time in class learning about what each of those great men contributed to our country. Whether it was coloring pictures in kindergarten, writing stories in fifth grade, or composing an essay in high school, I continued to learn more each year about why each man was exceptional, and how each of them contributed to our exceptional country. Slowly, over time, that pattern has changed. Most schools celebrate "Presidents' Day." Prior to the holiday there may be instruction about Washington and Lincoln, all of the presidents, the office itself, or nothing at all. The lesson that is connected to the holiday, if there is one, differs between teachers, schools, and school districts. The school district in which my children attend school incorporates the holiday into a vacation period the district refers to as "Presidents' Recess", but most parents refer to as "ski week." In my opinion, the holiday has little meaning, and there is a minimal amount of time spent educating students about the history that underlies it.

Could it be that the same type of transformation is happening to Thanksgiving? The question occurred to me several weeks ago when I was helping plan my third grader's Halloween party.  We were discussing the parties that are scheduled throughout the school year, and the room mother mentioned that there would be no Thanksgiving party. I thought that was odd because my two older children had feasts and parties all the way through 6th grade. When my son was in kindergarten eight years ago, the children dressed as Pilgrims and Native Americans, sat on the floor feasting until their bellies were full, and learned about William Bradford, Chief Massasoit, and Myles Standish.  I have served as the room parent for several of his classes, as well those of my daughter who is now in the seventh grade.

There was no question that there would be a celebration in those classes, and I was repeatedly astounded that someone was willing to cook a turkey or other time consuming dish just a day or two before cooking again in her (yes, most of the time it was a mom) home. Although my third grade daughter had a party in kindergarten and first grade, there was no Thanksgiving party in her class last year. I believe there was instructional time devoted to Thanksgiving, but I do not know what was taught. I learned that this year's fifth grade classes in her elementary school, which study the colonial and revolutionary periods, will have a joint party. My older children report that there will be little, if any, celebration of Thanksgiving in their schools this year.

I began to wonder how Thanksgiving is celebrated in other districts. Last week, I asked my Facebook friends, as well as various groups I belong to on Linkedin, about the Thanksgiving vacation schedule. I also asked if Thanksgiving would be celebrated, and what was scheduled to occur during the celebration. I was curious not only about what was happening, but whether anyone noticed a change in the instruction that students receive about the holiday.  I was surprised by several things that I learned. Yes, there are still schools which hold traditional Thanksgiving celebrations, but they are few and far between. Many schools are on vacation for the entire Thanksgiving week.

Some schools scheduled Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as inclement weather days, other schools will be on furlough, and still others have scheduled the time off in much the same manner as our local school district's President's Recess. The majority of responses had no additional comments and provided only the requested information. Aside from those residents of the State of Massachusetts (where it the holiday still seems to be celebrated whole heartedly), I was surprised at how many people responded that there would be no party, and perhaps no discussion of Thanksgiving at all. If there was to be some type of meal or feast, it would primarily occur in kindergarten or first grade classes. One respondent indicated that the feast had been transformed into a gathering of forest animals rather than meal shared by the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

However, there were also several threads of anger that ran through the responses. Several Native Descendants were angered by the Pilgrim's behavior toward the Native Americans (e.g., stealing wheat, etc.), and one individual referred to the celebratory meal as a "purported welfare dinner." Others were angered not only about changes in Thanksgiving celebrations, but also how Christmas and other the winter holidays are now dealt with by the public schools. One respondent stated that the local school district prohibits teachers from mentioning holidays other than President's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day because all other holidays may be connected to a religion or culture that is not shared by all the students. It seems that in a tacit effort to be politically correct, public schools may be increasingly reluctant to discuss Thanksgiving at all. 

Next, I began to consider some of the negative comments and publicity that has been attached to the Thanksgiving holiday. In 1970, the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) declared Thanksgiving to be a day of mourning. There are many examples of objections to elementary school children dressing in costume for Thanksgiving. One particularly poignant example was a 2008 conflict between kindergarten parents in Claremont, Ca. For more than 40 years, children from two different elementary schools had taken turns feasting at one another's school while dressing in costume. Eventually, the school district decided the tradition could continue, so long as the costumes were eliminated. There are endless websites devoted to disputing various aspects of the Thanksgiving narrative including whether the Pilgrims actually work black clothing, which year the meal took place, the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, and the culture of the Wampanoag people themselves.

What does this all mean? Before drawing any conclusions, it is important to recognize that I have no way of knowing if the responses I received are representative of the practices at public schools as a whole. However, it is enough information to suggest that each reader should take the time to inquire exactly what is, or is not, being taught to his or her own children. Will there be any discussion of the significance of Thanksgiving? Will the students be made aware of the historical events that the holiday commemorates? How will those events be described? How will the Pilgrims be characterized? How will the Thanksgiving meal be portrayed? Will historical events be ignored in favor of an ahistorical forest animal feast, or will the meal be ignored all together. Is it possible that Thanksgiving may be written off as just another myth associated with the founding of our country?

Why, you might ask, is it important for our school children to learn about Thanksgiving at all? After all, No Child Left Behind, as well as other state and federal programs, has heavily shifted instructional minutes onto the subjects of math and language arts. From my perspective, Thanksgiving is important because it is the holiday celebrated during the school year that is most directly tied to the subject of American History. That subject has received a decreasing amount of instructional time with each passing school year. Not only are our children not being taught important facts about the history of their country, but those facts are not being reinforced across the time of their elementary and secondary education. When will they come to understand the struggles of our Forefathers and Founders to establish this nation, if they do not learn about them in school?

Another question is whether the Thanksgiving meal will be yet another American tradition that is dissected, demeaned, devalued, and discarded? Why does Thanksgiving seem to be under attack? It appears to me that the debunking and deconstruction of American historical events, figures, and traditions unravels the sense of identify and national unity once shared by most Americans. America is an exceptional nation. Its citizens enjoy individual liberties and freedoms not enjoyed elsewhere in the world. However, there is an element within us that insists on picking apart our leaders, our common history, and our traditions. For example, although not connected to Thanksgiving, I have read articles questioning whether Abraham Lincoln actually wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope. Many of the "myth busting" type websites imply that is not so, and I profess that I have not researched the subject.

However, the speech is memorable nonetheless. Short. Succinct. Brilliant. Given at just the right moment in our nation's history. Isn't that what we should focus on? Isn't that what is important? Is the speech any less significant because it might have been written somewhere other than on the back of an envelope? Could it be that the true underlying reason for such an attack is to demean the character of one of our greatest presidents? Picking apart the character of our leaders, or events such as the Thanksgiving meal, undermines the pride we feel for our country and diminishes our sense of a common heritage. Interestingly, what is under attack are the actions of Pilgrims and the Thanksgiving meal itself, but not the reason that two presidents proclaimed national days of thanksgiving. How would those who are unhappy with the commemoration of a feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people react if they were aware of what Washington and Lincoln wrote in their proclamations?

The United States officially celebrated its first Thanksgiving in 1789 after a proclamation by George Washington (lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/GW/gw004.html). Washington ordered a "day of public thanksgiving" to acknowledge God's favors upon the nation including the peaceful establishment of a government for the citizens' safety and happiness, as well as "for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed." In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation instituting an annual day of thanksgiving in this country. He also praised God for blessings bestowed upon the nation even amidst the Civil War. He asked that the American people "implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union" (memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=013/llsl013.db&recNum=764).

And in reality, isn't that what Thanksgiving is really all about? It is not about whether or not the Pilgrims wore black. It is not what year the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people shared a meal. It is the thanks that we should have that the Wampanoag gave aid to the Pilgrims. It is the thanks we share that our Founding Fathers sought to create a nation like none other. It is the thanks we share as Americans that our nation has survived a civil war, global conflicts, societal change and natural disasters for more than 200 years. It is coming together to give thanks for our past (imperfections and all), as well for what we share with our family, our community, and our fellow citizens.

As for my children, we'll be talking about Thanksgiving in the time remaining until our holiday dinner on Thursday. We'll discuss who the Pilgrims were, and what their lives were like in those first years after settling in a new land. We'll focus on facts and try to flesh out some of the people in historical context. We will talk about the Wampanoag people, why they were reluctant to interact with the Pilgrims, and how their existence changed after settlements began to spring up across their homeland. We will connect the generosity of those Native Americans with the American tradition of giving to those in need in times of trouble.

We will remember that America would be a different place if those settlers had not sought a new beginning in the "New World," and they might have perished if not for the assistance of the indigenous population. We will also discuss the presidential proclamations of Washington and Lincoln that are so often ignored, and why these men thought it befitting to thank God for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, at this late date, the discussions will be rather limited. Next year, I will take steps, and have materials ready, to deepen my children's understanding of and appreciation for this holiday.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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India is a vast state and Indian citizens speak different languages, follow different religions , eat different food, wear different clothes but still they are united as they are part of the same country. Every Indian citizen would like to know what is happening around them and it is quite common that each of us has a different place of interest. There are various news channels, news papers and news magazines which keep us updated about the local news, national news and international happenings.

Radio is another popular media to present the information to the people. There are many news channels on the radio which has again made it a popular media for getting information and entertainment. These channels telecast programs in local language for example the people from Jammu Kashmir could get the Jammu Kashmir news in Hindi and it could even reach the rural areas. Hindi is the speaking language for the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also so Hindi language is used to present the Bihar news and the Uttar Pradesh news to the people of these regions.

Every place has its own importance for the people of the entire nation and the national newspapers or channels basically try to cover the news from this point of view only. When the news is presented from the local channels or news papers then they cover all the aspects of the life in that region such as politics, sports, education, business etc. Jammu Kashmir has an important role in politics so if the Jammu Kashmir news in Hindi is telecasted people from other parts of India could also get the information easily. There are many news papers which publish the Bihar news and Uttar Pradesh news in Hindi so that more and more people could be covered.

The news channels and the national level news papers have understood the importance of Hindi language and they have opened up the web sites which are exclusively presenting the Bihar news or Uttar Pradesh news with just a click of the mouse. You can even watch the news live. There are portals which show the Jammu Kashmir news in Hindi so that more number of audiences could watch the news and get updated. Getting updated with the latest information is always very important as every decision we get today is influenced by what is happening around us especially in terms of business and investment.

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Desperate to be seen in a positive light in the wake of murders, rapes, riots, destruction of private property, rampant drug use and open support from the American NAZI Party and the Communist Party USA, "Occupy" protesters are in a bind.  They just cannot get the majority of the American people to take them at all seriously and join with them in their anti-American tirades.  Scream as they might that they are the "99%", they just cannot make it so.

Enter Nafari Vanaski from Gateway Newspapers here inPittsburgh.  Ms. Vanaski is apparently desperate to help out the "Occupy" movement.  She has penned an article[1] trying to once again equate these lawless left wingers, who think defecating in public is free speech and who are calling for mob violence, with the Tea Party Movement.  She even found a local yutz willing to tell the lie she is apparently desirous to propagate.

Vanaski has taken time off of her normal beat of complaining how when blacks gets front page coverage in the news 36% of the time it is for crime, moaning about crossing guards and controversies over chicken coops in local backyards to cover the "Occupy" Pittsburgh movement.  Before this though she wrote a puff piece about how kind, generous and thoughtful the local "Occupy" Pittsburgh protesters were.  Although she did chastise them for their loony method of repeating instructions like mind numbed robots.

And now she's back.  Apparently articles about the passion vehicle owners display for their rims just were not cutting the mustard.  So Vanaski has dug up someone by the name of Jan Kiefer fromWestmorelandCountywho she describes as, "a full-time activist".  Mr. Kiefer makes some bizarre claims that Ms. Vanaski is obviously not interested in investigating for truth but all too willing to promote.

She reports that this activist claims to be both an "Occupy" protester and a Tea Party member.  Gee, I do not know anyone in the local Pittsburgh Tea Party movement that considers themselves a "full-time activist".  And considering that every member of the Tea Party I have ever talked with laughs at the astrotuf movement that is the "Occupy" protesters, Mr. Kiefer would be a unique oddity indeed.

Ok, so let's go on ... Mr. Kiefer opines that the Tea Party has changed for the worse which is why he is now with the "Occupy" crew harassing local businesses and citizens.  "I was in the early Tea Party, before there were Republicans" Mr. Kiefer spouts.

Really?  Ok, I call bull crap on this one.  I call bull crap because I watched the very birth of the Tea Party movement.  Way back BEFORE there was a "Tea Party" I was inundated with emails from people talking about how they were getting together to take the country back from the liberals that were destroying it and wanted me to mention their organizations.  I watched as loosely knit and very small groups grew slowly into larger and larger groups all which were formed exclusively of conservatives and quite a large number of Republicans.  These groups became what was eventually dubbed, the
Tea Party."  Again, I was there.  I watched it happen.

So yeah, Mr. Kiefer is full of it.  How about a little bit of actual journalism on Ms. Vanaski's part? But no, he goes on and Ms. Vanaski is happy to report on his words.  "A lot of those people that were in the original Ron Paul Tea Party show up here," Kiefer said.

No.  I got to know a lot of people who were joining the burgeoning Tea Party Movement, started local Tea Party groups and conversed with them often.  They were certainly not a "lot" of Ron Paul supporters.  In fact, going through my emails there was actually a lot of people who were explicitly anti-Ron Paul because he would say stupid things aboutAmericabeing the source of terrorism around the world.  Most Tea Party patriots were much more intelligent than that and found those remarks disgusting.  As to Mr. Kiefer's claim that Ron Paul supporters are now showing up in the "Occupy" movement, Ron Paul and his supporters are a lot of things.  But communist agitators and people who run around destroying private property not some of those things.

Ms. Vanaski then continues to pimp Kiefer's views without contention.  "Kiefer considers himself," she writes, "an independent progressive, free of political ideologies."

What?  Is this chick for real?  Or is she auditioning for a job at The Onion?

She writes that this guy is a "progressive", progressivism being a left wing political ideology, and then has the gall to say that he is "free of political ideologies"?  Wow.  Nothing like journalistic integrity huh?

But wait, it gets better!  She reports that Kiefer thinks the Tea Party patriots and the "Occupy" insurgents have some common ground such as, "the idea that there is something wrong with government."  Well, ok, yeah.  But the "Occupy" crew wants bigger, badder government, that we have right now.  Hence the reason why the Communist Party USA and the American NAZI Party support them.  Meanwhile the Tea Party wants smaller, constitutional, liberty promoting government.  But don't expect this gal to get that in depth in her "reporting".  She might as well say that the "Occupy" movement and the Tea Party have common ground because they both understand that the sun will rise in the East every morning.  On second thought, I cannot confirm that your average "Occupy" protester understands this simple fact.  So never mind.

Concluding the need to further perpetuate the lie of the "Occupy" protests, Ms Vanaski paraphrases Kiefer's vision that "to change the system, it will take revolutionary measures used by the likes of Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr."  But she nowhere states the fact that "Occupy" protesters regularly rant about the need for violent revolution, assault and batter police officers and generally act completely counter to this claim.

It is just pathetic that not only do we have idiots out there, but that we have idiots in the media willing to help them promote themselves.  For shame. pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/columns/vanaski/s_767674.html.

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Most of us have long suspected that the American political class had devolved to a state where personal political careers and wealth have now taken precedence over the good of the country, relative to most of our politicians. Rather than truly addressing and resolving issues in the right way for the right reasons, seems many of our politicians would prefer to take the selfish approach and do nothing or do the wrong thing for the country rather than endanger their re-election and personal enrichment efforts.

Consider some recents examples of such behavior:

* In our September 1, 2011 post we reported on a analysis by two university professors of the historic stock market returns of Washington politicians' personal portfolios. Seems that both Democrats and Republicans serving in Congress, but especially Democrats, have historically outperformed the stock market's overall returns with their own stock portfolios. The study analyzed results over decades across hundreds of different politicians so the sample size is more than ample to draw conclusions from.

Given that these same politicians have not outperformed in any other facet of their jobs, it becomes suspicious that they would do so well in this area of personal enrichment vs. the rest of America's investors, i.e. you and me and professional investors. At that time, we raised the distinct possibility of insider trading of Congressional politicians because of their outstanding stock market performances. Coincidence or corruption?

* Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid has also had some shady, documented investment strategies over the past few years. According to John Ransom, writing for Townhall.com on September 30, 2011, in 2008, one month before oil prices took a historical plunge, the good Senator sold between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of energy stock holdings he held in the Dow Jones Energy index.

Shortly thereafter, he purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of health care holdings in the Dow Jones Health Care Index, at a time when he was considering rewriting the nation's health care laws. Coincidence or corruption?

* Consider tsome similar shenanigans of Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite. According to an article that was written by John Frank for the June 30, 2009 St. Petersburg Times. One day before the House of Representatives approved a massive bank bailout plan in October, 2008, the Congresswoman bought stock in Citigroup, one of the major banks that received a significant portion of the bank bailout funding.

About two weeks later, on the day Treasurer Henry Paulson announced he would invest $250 billion of taxpayer money in nine major banks, the Congresswoman bought stock in Bank of America, one of those nine banks. Coincidence or corruption?

* On November 11, 2011, Money News reported on accusations that at about dozen lawmakers and their senior aides bragged about how much money they had earned in the stock market based on insider trading-like information that they knew ahead of the general public because of their government positions.

The article included the following details:

The insider trading dollar amounts ranged from a few thousand dollars to six figures.Much of the insider trading involved companies that were likely to be brought before Congress for investigations, an act that usually resulted in a negative impact on a company's stock price. By shorting a stock ahead of that information being public, Congressional figures could and did make out sized profits.The huge profits were being made by people that had no serious background or past history of success in picking winners and losers in the stock market.

Coincidence or corruption? Most honest Americans would conclude that all of these incidents are examples of political class corruption, immorality, and greed.

Now, some in the political class would claim that this last piece of corruption information cannot be trusted because it was made by Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyists who was convicted of corruption himself and who has served time in jail.

This certainly could be true is but probalby not for two reasons. First, if anyone should know about corruption, it should be Abramoff since he was the king of corrupt special interests years ago. Second, a recent story that appeared on the CBS show "60 Minutes" not only verifies that this type of behavior exists but went so much further in explaining how and who was deeply involved in the corruption.

According to the "60 Minutes" report, almost everyone in the country is subject to insider trading laws and compliance. This includes ordinary Americans, anyone serving in the executive branch of the Federal government (e.g. the President, the Vice President, etc.), and Federal judges. The only people excluded from having to comply are...members of Congress, the same people who wrote and passed the laws on insider trading that exclude themselves from being prosecuted for such actions.

Just when you think you have heard every conceivable sin, shortcoming, and outright immorality from our politicians, you come across this travesty. They have cleared the decks for themselves to make grand sums of money in the stock market by using insider government trading information.

Examples from "60 Minutes" included the following:

John Boehner, currently the Speaker of the House, made a serious investment in health care insurance stocks shortly before he led the legislative effort to defeat a key component in Obama's original health care reform bill, a component that would have depressed health care stock prices if not defeated. With the component's defeat, health care insurance stocks rose and made money for Mr. Boehner. Coincidence or corruption?Several years ago, then Speaker of the House Dennis Hasert, made some land acquisitions in Ohio. He then worked to adjust Federal highway projects so that a new Federally-financed highway would run close to his newly purchased land, significantly increasing the land's value when he sold it.

Congressman Spencer Bachus also seemed to do pretty well with insider information. The "60 Minutes" story was apparently inspired by a recently published book, "Throw Them All Out," written by Hoover Institute fellow Peter Schweizer. According to Schweizer, Bachus and Nancy Pelosi got secret briefings from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who basically told the legislators that it was "a matter of days before there is a meltdown in the global financial system."  Bachus went out shortly thereafter and invested about $7,000 to short the stock market. When the stock market did start to collapse, he was able to cash in the investment for almost twice what he originally put out just a few days before. He also shorted General Electric four times after Paulsen told him GE bond sales were having problems. Coincidence or corruption?

Terrible, terrible, immoral behavior. However, the biggest conflict of interest episode in the "60 Minutes" story is reserved for Nancy Pelosi. According to the story, Ms. Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, and her husband had access to at least eight IPO offerings over the past few years. As most of you know, we ordinary Americans rarely get in on a ground floor, the most lucrative financial time, in any IPO offerings.

The most troubling and potentially corrupt IPO was for the Visa IPO back in 2008. Ms. Pelosi purchased 5,000 IPO shares on the first day of the Visa offering at $44 a share. She sold it within days when the price had reached $64 a share, a profit of about $100,000.

What makes this so very troubling is prior to the Visa IPO offering there was a legislative effort within the House of Representatives to impose credit card fee limits on companies such as Visa. Obviously, if such legislation passed, it would certainly put a damper on Visa's stock price, and would depress the earnings and gains of anyone who invested in the Visa IPO.

That legislation was mysteriously never able to see the light of day prior to the IPO date. The legislation eventually did become law but the driver and leader in the legislation was the Senate, not the House, and passage happened well after people like then- Speaker of the House Pelosi had made their substantial gains off of the IPO offering. Coincidence or corruption?

No more proof is necessary to finally declare that we have allowed a privileged, spoiled, selfish, and, because of the insider trading disaster, an immoral set of people to take control of the country for their own benefit and personal enrichment. Immoral, You cannot come up with any better word to describe this insider trading insult to the American taxpayer and citizen.

And the sad thing is that they do not see anything wrong with this immoral behavior. When the "60 Minutes" reporter, Steve Croft, asked Ms. Pelosi about her IPO behavior at one of her press conferences, her answer was both incoherent and bordering on indignant that someone could even imply she ever had a conflict of interest.

In press releases from her office later that day, she attacked the writer of the book, "Throw Them All Out," as being a discredited conservative.  In other words, she attacked the person and not his information or his process. The "60 Minutes" report showed how the writer and eight of his aides had meticulously gone through official financial records to ensure the book's accusations were accurate. She also accused CBS and "60 Minutes" of a "right wing smear," failing to mention in her press releases that the story also illustrated the same type of immoral behavior of several Republicans.

Ms. Pelosi did not refute that she had participated in the Visa IPO or had made a ton of money in the process. She did not refute that she had participated in many other IPOs while in a powerful position in government, Speaker of the House. She did not refute the fact that she had received highly sensitive and highly valuable advance information from Bernanke and Paulsen. She did not refute the fact that Congress had exempted her and her comrades from the very laws that every other American had to abide by. She tried to turn it into a political issue and attack the person, the messenger.

Obviously, three actions have to take place to fix this immorality:Short term, we need to force Congressional members to make themselves subject to the same insider trading laws as the rest of us.We need to tighten up information sources within government so that pending government actions are kept as secret as possible, as compared to the situation today (as referenced at the end of the "60 Minutes story) so that no one, either inside the Beltway or outside, gets sensitve and valuable insider information.And the most important action is to implement Step 39 from "Love My Country, Loathe My Government" which calls for the Constitutional establishment of term limits for all Federal politicians, "one and done." There is no other way to deal with this immorality, the current set of politicians in Washington do not deserve to serve any longer, given the rampant corruption we constantly see.

When Pelosi became Speaker of the House in 2007, she boldly declared that she and the Democrats were going to "drain the swamp" of corruption in Congress, Instead, it looks like she and her peers in Congress built a dam and the corruption is as deep as ever. "One and done," it cannot happen soon enough.

One additional note: According to a recent blurb in Roll Call, and published the November 18, 2011 issue of The Week Magazine, the 500 or so members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion, a whopping 25% increase over their collective wealth in 2008. The 50 richest lawmakers account for 80% of the wealth and the median net worth is about $513,000.

How many ordinary Americans do you know who made a 25% return in their personal portfolios in the past two years? Why wouldn't the 50 richest lawmakers serve their country for no salary and no benefits since they obviously can afford to serve, without suffering financial distress, if they did not collect salary or benefits. Wouldn't that be the moral, courageous thing to do. Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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In the past weeks, the flooding in Bangkok has been very severe. Now, everything has almost returned to its normal state. There is still some flooding in the border areas of Bangkok, but more than 90% of Bangkok is now "dry." ABAC, a leading international university in Thailand, has conducted a research to see how people feel about the many organizations that offered help and gave aid to the victims.

The ABAC poll entitled their research, "The Voice of Flood Victims: A Case Study in Bangkok and the Perimeter Area." This study focuses on 1,478 subjects in Bangkok and its perimeter area and their appreciation of the various organizations and individuals who offered aid during the flooding disaster. The results show that the Thai Royal Army ranked first, with a score of 9.56; volunteers ranked second, with a score of 9.10; the press ranked third, with a score of 9.08; police ranked fourth, with a score of 9.05; and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration ranked fifth, with a score of 8.34. As the scores indicate, the victims and Bangkok citizens understand the great efforts made by the Thai Royal Army to help during the disaster.

The flooding disaster in Thailand, and especially in Bangkok, this year is the most severe flooding disaster in the past 50 years. It has caused enormous damages in Thailand. The value of the damages is more than 200 billion baht (more than 6.6 billion USD), and more than 300 people have been killed. These damages have made this year's flooding the most severe natural disaster since the tsunami in 2004.

The flooding in Bangkok caused enormous damages, which created a disastrous scene in the Bangkok area - one that most people have only seen in the movies. Bangkok is the water route from the north to the open sea. Therefore, the problems created by the flooding have put tremendous pressure on management teams to cope with the flooding without avoiding the responsibilities of this water route.

We can see that the depth of the water in many rivers and canals in Bangkok has become much deeper and that the level of the water has risen. The inhabitants of Bangkok can only wait to see if their houses will be next to be in the water. Some inhabitants feel a lot of stress because of this; some already have their houses in the floodwaters. Most Thai inhabitants were very fearful to see the flooding reach the heart of the city, which is the main vein of its economy. Bangkok, as the capital city, should have more proper ways to cope with this disaster. Political differences have been set aside in Thailand for the sake of helping with the problems that are affecting so many of its citizens; all are very open to see the problem solved.

During the flooding disaster, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) had an important role in giving aid to flood victims. As we have seen in the media (e. g., television, newspaper, radio, etc.), the image of the RTA as it emerged to help the public has been one of sacrifice. They have dedicated themselves to help people. They worked very hard without thinking about themselves to save people in the flooding areas. The RTA has sent out more than 40,000 soldiers as well as trucks, boats, and other resources into the flooded areas.

Not only have they brought in food and other resources to help the victims, they have also helped to evacuate people from the more seriously areas to the safe zones. As we can see on the news, in some areas, the flooding was so severe that the depth of the water reached the first floor of the houses and buildings; people had to move up to the second floor. In many instances, the victims caused more problems because they did not want to evacuate. Many victims were worried about their belongings in their homes; they thought that they could still live in their homes even though the electricity was out and the water was completely covering their first floor. This caused difficulty for the soldiers who were trying to help because they had to distribute the resources to them instead of being able to put everything in one safety zone.

RTA set up many evacuation centers for the victims to received food and shelter, but because many victims didn't want to leave their houses until the last minute, the problems were made more difficult. There are some people who died from electric shock when they tried to reach the first floor where the water was. In addition, the water from the flooding is toxic and full of bacteria.

Another problem that RTA and other organizations have to face is a political one. Many people believe this situation is becoming a political stage on which all political parties want to garner more popularity for their next votes. They blame the problems of addressing the flooding on other political parties. This has caused a non-harmonious workflow in getting help to the victims. The burden is falling on the victims because they have to wait for a solution as the politicians fight among themselves.

Normally, the RTA tries not to get involved in any political arguments, but during a time of disaster, it has been hard to avoid being a part of the arguments; the RTA has a duty to protect and serve the people, no matter which political side they take. No matter which party ends up with the authority as the present or future government, they cannot take away the heart of the RTA to protect and serve people. Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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Newspapers serve news. With rates of literacy going up there is an increase in the margin of newspaper readership. Nobody wants to be left out of the purview of newspapers. Everybody wants to read one. People who are unable to read want others to read newspapers out to them. Even people in a country like India with low literacy rates have now taken to newspapers big time for their daily dose of Tamil Nadu news or UP News or West Bengal news. In fact, newspapers are extremely popular in India. They are published in variety of regional dialects apart from the three principal tongues of Hindi, Urdu and English. They are read with great interest, even listened to with an equal amount of interest and seem to exert tremendous influence on every individual.

The principal function of newspapers is to bring news belonging to far away corners. For example, one may be able to read Tamil Nadu news from Kashmir or up News sitting in Andhra Pradesh or know everything about the latest West Bengal news from Maharashtra. News is the chief USP of every newspaper. They are instrumental in informing us about the stuff that is happening not only in our country but in other nations of the world as well. It would be difficult to imagine a world without newspapers. Our universe would have become a restricted one without them.

India is a democracy and in a country like ours newspapers are one of the major factors behind the creation of public opinion. People would ideally comment on current affairs and end up appreciating the present Government strategy. Through news from Tamil Nadu people in North India get to know about the problems faced by citizens out there. Again, Bengal news tells so much about the conduct of political parties there. It is after a thorough assessment of all such news that people form an opinion about certain matters.

Apart from the above functions newspapers may also be regarded as an important means of communication between the Government and its people. Governments place their policies through newspapers. For example, local Governments in Tamil Nadu will choose Tamil Nadu newspapers to put forth their policies before the public. The same applies in case of up newspapers and the governments out there or for so many other states of India.Newspapers are also one of the principal means for advertisements. They help trade and commerce. If an industrialist is eyeing an expansion of profit margins, he may as well place ads in newspapers. Be it a Tamil Nadu newspaper or any other state news papers advertisements have come to occupy a special place everywhere.

India may have several states and their news papers may be different but the same feelings are floated through them obviously. One cannot ignore the fact that whether Tamil Nadu news, UP news or west Bengal news it is ultimately Indian news altogether.

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Poverty in Ukraine is clearly worsening…

The President of Ukraine says that the authorities have managed to reduce poverty in Ukraine. He has reported a continuous reduction of poverty rate, a 25% increase of minimum wage and 10% increase of actual salary level(1). Although according to Chernyuk, member of Ptukhi Institute for Demographic and Social Research this is caused only by drop in the average social standards of Ukrainians against which relative poverty is judged. This drop in overall standards of living explains why the poverty level officially fell below 25% in 2010 below for the first time in ten years.  After the economic crises of 2008-2009 significantly more people consider themselves financially unstable then ever before.

According to sociologists the level of poor people – those who do not have enough money for food - has increased from 12.5% in early 2008 to 13.8% as of October 2011. The number of people who can afford only food and essential items has increased from 34% to 41%. Experts suggest that poverty in Ukraine affects women more than men with 62% of the poorest Ukrainians being women. 50% of poverty-struck people and 29% of poor people are senior citizens(2). The conclusion is that the majority of Ukrainian society still lives below the poverty line no matter what the government says. Such an economic and social situation, which is only getting worse, hardly contributes to the establishment of democratic principles and values in Ukraine.

(1) news.dt.ua/SOCIETY/govoryachi_pro_peremogu_nad_bidnistyu,_yanukovich_ne_pomitiv_zrostannya_v_ukrayini_zlidniv-89787.html

(2) epravda.com.ua/news/2011/10/17/302169/

People First Comment: According to official data the minimum wage in Ukraine today for a state employeein is $120 per month.  To put this into perspective a litre of petrol costs around $1.40.  Officially inflation is currently running at 12% per annum but this does not take into account the substantial grey and black economies where the rate is reported as being appreciably higher.  Therefore the recent 25% increase in the minimum salary level is barely keeping pace with inflation let alone improving living standards.  In any other industrialised country wage rates of this level would be considered almost slave labour.  You only have to go into any supermarket in Kyiv to understand that food prices today are higher than prices in London where the minimum wage is equal to $1,740 per month.

The Ukrainian ability to withstand hardship is legendary however this government is cynically reliant on this national trait whilst they waste valuable national resources on frivolities.  Sharkira cost the nation over a million dollars for a 45 minute performance at the re-opening of the national stadium. The Presidential administration are currently engaged in cutting a 1.5 km long security tunnel through solid rock and big enough to take limousines from the new three-storey Presidential helicopter landing pad to beneath the president's office… and at the same time the thirst for luxury cars continues unabated particularly amongst parliamentary Deputies.

This blatant and cynical disregard for the welfare of population should be a cause for real concern particularly when added to repressive taxation, state sponsored corruption, restrictions of freedom of assembly and speech and lack of any form of job and social security.  If the government do not take steps to control these unnecessary expenditures and channel more money to where it is most needed then they and only they will be responsible for the consequences.

Ukrainian government is running out of money

Experts, journalists and some opposition politicians claim that the government of Ukraine has been having considerable financial difficulties towards the end of 2011. Negative factors and tendencies have been piling up, jeopardising the implementation of the state budget, increasing debts and putting the government into dependence on creditors. The overall state budget deficit as of December 2011 is expected to reach 15.2 billion UAH (1.9 billion USD). It threatens to empty the treasury account and violate financial obligations to the tune of 10.5 billion UAH (1.3 billion USD). According to the Ministry of Finance the country will have to pay 22.36 billion UAH (2.8 billion USD) towards its repayment of international debts.  Arseniy Yastenyuk, leader of the ‘Front Zmin' political party, has reported that there are only 2 billion UAH (250 million USD) in the government's treasury account and only 3 billion USD of foreign exchange in reserve(3).

The situation is further complicated by the fact that state banks can no longer credit 'Naftogas Ukrainy' so that it can pay 'Gazprom' for the gas. It has become obvious as 'Gazprombank' Russian bank has now credited the Ukrainian oil and gas monopolist. The government of Ukraine has also received Russian credits charged against future transit revenues. As of October 2011 'Naftogas Ukrainy' received 45.6 billion UAH (5.7 billion USD) in loans(4). Delays in the payment of pension benefits as well as the increasing "popularity" of unpaid holidays among employees of state enterprises are also indicative of the government's financial problems. Various benefits and social payments have been cut to the maximum extent. Nevertheless the draft of next year's budget indicates that the government is refusing to pass the main financial burden onto big business leaving it instead on the shoulders of the impoverished population.

(3) rbc.ua/ukr/top/show/minfin-defitsit-gosbyudzheta-v-dekabre-sostavit-15-2-mlrd-grn-09112011093800

(4) epravda.com.ua/publications/2011/11/9/304879/view_print

People First Comment: In some ways we ought to feel sorry for Prime Minister Azarov in that his current financial problems are not exactly of his making.  Sure, the plundering of the budget by members of his party has not helped but this is a disaster that has been waiting to happen for the past 10 years after successive governments believed that they could borrow their way out of debt. Government bond sales were a great way of raising cash quickly especially as it was highly likely that the government who organised the bond sale would be out of office by at least three or four governments before the bonds matured.

Unfortunately for Prime Minister Azarov it is about now that the first long term bonds have to be repaid.  What previous governments have done in such circumstances is issue new bonds to cover the old but unfortunately the financial markets have turned bearish and are no longer willing to support questionable regimes even at ridiculous yields.  Italy is currently being asked to pay 7% interest on long term bonds, up from 2.5% two months ago and this has cost their Prime Minister his job, the same is true for Greece and if opposition experts are to be believed then Ukraine is in a worse state than both.

Azarov is also trapped by his own economic background in that his policy seems to be inspired by Soviet thinking.  He, just like his predecessors in the Soviet Union is reliant on the export sales of raw materials, which may be fine in a growing world market but with the world on the verge of a second and deeper recession he has nothing to fall back on.  Western economies have diversified their risk between exports and the power of the internal market but Azarov in his thirst for tax revenues has totally decimated the domestic market and eradicated a sizable part of the SME sector that is so vital to survival.  Unfortunately for Ukraine his successors will have almost the same problems.

IMF turns its back on Ukraine

A mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came on a working visit to Ukraine on October 25th and stayed until November 3rd.  The mission left early citing a pause for technical investigation. The Ukrainian media however believe that the government of Ukraine showed zero inclination to negotiate with the Fund. The recent Washington visits by Ukrainian ministers of finance and social policy Tygipko and Yaroshenko failed to bring any results also. As a result Ukraine has not reached any agreement on continued crediting. In July 2010 Ukraine entered into cooperation with the IMF under a stand-by programme of 16 billion USD in value. Up to now Ukraine has received from IMF only two tranches, of 1.25 and 1 billion USD. Since then the allocation of the other 8 tranches has been repeatedly postponed.  According to experts the IMF stopped crediting Ukraine because it does not have enough money., Ukraine is already the second largest debtor to the IMF with the debt of 14 billion USD(5).

Max Alier, Resident Representative of the IMF in Ukraine, noted that the Fund is prepared to invest its resources only in those countries which prove to be determined to continue implementing reforms. The most long-awaited reforms are the pension reform already signed by President Yanukovych and a growth of gas charges for the population, which the government has refused to do, along with the reduction of state financial deficit. Recently Ukrainian Prime-Minister Azarov announced that the government will proceed with cooperation with the IMF after they finish gas negotiations with Russia. The government believes that two tranches can be united so that they receive 3 billion USD at once(6). The IMF, however, has made it clear that Ukraine will not receive any money if there are no real economic reforms.      

(5)http://24tv.ua/home/showSingleNews.do?mvf_ne_nadav_kredit_ukrayini_cherez_brak_koshtiv&objectId=156417

(6) http://www.epravda.com.ua/news/2011/11/11/305205

People First Comment: It is almost inconceivable to believe that the Prime Minister was too busy to meet with the nation's bankers of last resort on their recent visit to Ukraine.  One can only hypothesize as to the reason but with $14 billion outstanding this slip of diplomacy could prove very expensive indeed. It is never a good idea to cold shoulder your bank manager when you are negotiating a new loan.

Whilst the excuse given by his press office was that the Prime Minister was waiting for a conclusion of the negotiations with Russia over a new gas contract, we can only surmise that perhaps he was also too embarrassed to admit that none of the agreed reforms have been put in place.  Without the reforms the IMF will not release any further funds to Ukraine despite the desperate shortage of cash.  The IMF have demanded that both pensions and domestic gas prices be bought into financial reality both of which are being resisted by the government as they are considered to be political suicide in the current environment.  However this may not be true as Party of Regions ratings and those of the President are already at rock bottom therefore in real terms this is probably the best possible time to introduce such unpopular measures.

If the government are successful in closing the door to IMF funding then they have two choices, firstly to not pay the salaries of all state employees just before New Year… or secondly to borrow yet more money from Russia.  This is Russian roulette with six bullets instead of one.

Putin's Eurasian Union is becoming all too real for Ukraine

The government of Ukraine appears to be drifting towards a union with Russia. Some of the government's actions seem to be moving the country towards the Eurasian Union announced by Russian Prime-Minister Putin. Konovalyuk, a deputy from the Party of Regions, has announced his intention to set up a group of deputies within the parliament in support of Ukraine becoming a member of the Eurasian economic union. The group will focus on Ukraine joining the Union(7). Verkhovna Rada has received an agreement on the Free Trade Area with the CIS, which it is supposed to ratify despite the agreement excluding the majority of products which Ukraine exports to the CIS countries. President Yanukovych recently met with Alexey Miller, CEO of 'Gazprom' which means that the authorities of Ukraine are making some progress in negotiations over the Russian Ukrainian gas agreements.

Russia still has an impact on Ukraine - mainly of a financial nature. With limited access to the world capital the government of Ukraine is falling into a position of dependence upon Russia – the new 550 million dollar loan 'Gazprom' has given to 'Naftogaz' brightly illustrates this(8). The fact that the government of Ukraine intends to extend the 2 billion dollar loan received from VTB Russian bank also illustrates Ukraine's financial dependence. The last and biggest proof would be an agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the gas payments to perform all payments in Russian roubles. If the gas prices continue to grow, this sum is likely to account for 20 billion USD in 2012. In summary the governing authorities of Ukraine have demonstrated in practice their drift towards Russia and its integration projects.

(7) economics.unian.net/ukr/detail/109394

(8) bbc.co.uk/ukrainian/news_in_brief/2011/11/111109_ek_naftogaz_credit.shtml

People First Comment: Last week Dmitry Firtash, one of Ukraine's richest business men announced to the Ukrainian media that he believed that the right direction for Ukraine is as part of the EU and not within a Moscow centric Eurasian Union.  Normally such a comment would not raise an eyebrow but for one factor, Mr Firtash is reported to have particularly strong ties to Moscow and he is one of the President's inner sanctum.

Any capable and adroit businessman can easily recognise which of the two Unions is in their business interests. If the President's inner clan are making such public statements on their preference it is difficult to ignore the possibility of a rift within the Presidential camp particularly as those most likely to benefit from closer ties with Europe are from Party of Regions.

In reality the only thing the European Union and the Eurasian Union have in common is that they share the same initials.  All of the initial dancing with Europe was designed to achieve one thing, to enable Ukraine (read Oligarchs) to capitalise on the low labour rates and abundant raw materials Ukraine could offer to what is one of the world's largest markets.  What the current elite seem to have failed to understand is that concessions would have to be made, the main ones being an adherence to the rule of law and to the principles of good democratic practice.  Sadly whilst the business minds within the elite may have seen this coming it would appear to have come as a complete shock to those of a more political persuasion.  In reality it would be virtual suicide for Ukrainian oligarchs to side with the Eurasian Union simply because Russian power and Russian business will prevail and that is clearly not in their interests.

Quote of the week:

I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.

Mohandas Gandhi

Pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India

Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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It may be good to describe the newspaper as an information guide with essential facts on any topic. The prime objective of all newspapers is to win the faith of the readers through a daily dose of hard core news. It is also the job of a newspaper to make sure that errors are properly checked and corrected. It is instrumental in highlighting the environment prevailing over an entire continent or country and the trends of public opinion.

For example, it is through India news that people residing at different corners of the globe get to know about things happening inside the country. Again newspapers connect people all over Asia through a common thread of Asia news that contains reports from the Far East, Middle East to South East Asia. In brief the essential functions of newspapers in terms of world news may be summarized as a major tool for creating public opinion.

Newspapers serving India news also keep a track on the corrupt practices of the government and thereby whether it is Asia news or World news the purpose ultimately remains to furnish the right information to the people.Newspapers across Asia apart from the simple function of catering Asia news may also be described as the University of Average Citizens. Platforms, books, counselors-all rolled into one. There is hardly any area- social, political, economic or religious – not covered by newspapers. A huge number of masses in India are illiterate. Among the literate population about two-thirds read newspapers on a regular basis. From Asia news to world news the newspapers cater to a wide variety of requirements.

Youth mostly read news from the entertainment industry or sports world. Business men are more interested in market reports and the older folk scan the newspaper for every single piece of India News they can lay hands on. It is really difficult to find a person with genuine interest in newspapers. But the intellectual section of the society comprising a wide mix of teachers, political leaders and academicians raise their voice against grievances of any kind and speak on behalf of the common man. Hence, no matter whether it is Asia news or World news if there is injustice people will stand up against it united.

However, it is sad that many newspapers, catering World news or specializing in India news irrespective are not always honest. Many newspaper houses are being run by some of the biggest industrial corporations. However, for the sake of argument let us ignore the flip sides for a while and accept newspapers as an essential part of our daily lives.

Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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- Annual amount of taxpayer money lost to fraud and criminal activity in the Social Security Program - $70 billion a year

- Annual amount of taxpayer money lost to fraud and criminal activity in the Medicare Program - $60 to $90 billion a year

- Annual amount of taxpayer money lost to fraud and criminal activity in the Medicaid Program - $30 to $40 billion a year

- Annual amount of taxpayer money lost to unnecessary and obsolete deployment of about 140,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, Japan, and Europe - $35 billion a year

- Annual amount of Congressional member earmarks that politicians wastefully dole out in exchange for re-election financial support - $16 billion a year

- Annual amount of savings by eliminating the dysfunctional, ill performing, and unneeded Federal government's Department of Education - $107 billion a year (Source: Cato Institute - Downsizing Government Project)

- Annual amount of savings by reducing the Federal government's civilian headcount by 200,000 people, back to the historical civilian employee level prior to Obama's inauguration - $20 billion a year

- President Obama's latest effort to trim excessive government expenses via reduction in government coffee cup purchases - Priceless

As always, you cannot make this stuff up. The above list of REAL expenses cuts via fraud and criminal activity reduction and unnecessary military and government bureaucracy spending comes out to at least $338 billion a year.

In the face of these pre-identified savings and our $15 TRILLION national debt level, the President signed an executive order on November 9, 2011 that instructed the government bureaucracy to take the following steps:

The President's objective is to eventually reduce government spending by $4 billion in these areas of government expense. $4 billion, pathetic. While a reduction in any unnecessary government spending is always a worthy goal, consider the $4 billion in light of the big picture:

As you can see, this executive order from the President can only be categorized as feeble. Again, we should applaud all government spending savings but these meager levels should be attained by middle level management government employees. One would certainly hope the most powerful man in the world would be involved in more global areas of government efficiency, well beyond cutting back on coffee cup purchases.

How meager are these potential expense savings? Consider the impact if we scaled the above math calculations to an average American household's budget (about $50,000 a year):

In other words, these proposed savings by the most powerful person in the world is equivalent, at most, to the cost of one Sunday newspaper per year.

Unbelievable insanity. And this passes for leadership in Washington. Two steps from come to mind that would help us start taking real steps to fix this problem,not the trivial actions from the Obama administration:

Step 1 would reduce Federal government spending by 10% a year for five years. This is the only way we can make any kind of substantial dent into Federal government spending and our national debt. This is the kind of bold leadership and initiative the President would be taking if he was a real leader. Worrying about coffee cups is neither leadership or effective.Step 2 would impose term limits on all Federal politicians.

It is becoming pretty obvious that the current set of Washington politicians do not know how or are unwilling to make the deep and necessary cuts to spending that are needed to save the country. The saddest part of this observation is that many of these expense reductions can be done without alienating voters, only the criminals that defraud government programs and expense contractors that would see their business decrease as we reduce unnecessary military spending.

As today's title says, these are small political class minds working on small objectives. Unfortunately, given the issues facing the country today, we need broad imaginative minds working on large, strategic, and imaginative solutions. This dichotomy is what causes the insanity. Nigerian newspapers, news online, facts about Nigeria, source.

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