1. April 3 - The Iowa Supreme Court struck down a 1998 state law limiting marriage to a man and a woman, saying that homosexual individuals have a constitutional state right to marry, even if that right is “unappealing” (page 30 of the decision). Aside from striking down the statute approved by the state legislature, the court also found that sexual orientation was a protected class, although this has never been established by Iowa’s state legislature. Also, the court based its decision on an “intermediate” scrutiny analysis, although it had always required “strict” scrutiny on previous cases of this kind. The ruling makes Iowa the first heartland state to legalize same-sex marriage, and potentially increases Mike Huckabee’s 2012 appeal to disgruntled swing-state Iowan conservatives.
http://publicservice.evendon.net/VarnumEtAl_v_BrienPolkCoIAM.htm
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/Iowa_court_backs_samesex_marriage.html
2. April 2 – After meeting with the Group of Twenty, where world leaders pledged $1.1 trillion to the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions, President Obama noted that American prestige had diminished under Bush, but America’s participation in the summit would help the U.S. He did not specify how it would benefit the American economy.
http://cbs5.com/national/obama.G20.summit.2.973909.html
3. April 3 - The senior commander of U.S. troops in South Korea, four-star General Walter L. Sharp, has ordered an April 25 “stand down” for all U.S. forces in South Korea due to the increase of sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, and other disorderly conduct by military personnel. Last August a relaxed curfew was put into effect, and Sharp believes it has led to indiscipline; he called the four-hour muster to refocus troops on military standards.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_korea_crimes_040309w/
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
THE G-20 SUMMIT: GLOBAL PROBLEMS, GLOBAL FIXES
by J. Cate Pilgrim
After meeting with the Group of Twenty (G-20), where world leaders promised to crack down on hedge funds and tax havens, as well as pledging $1.1 trillion (get your mind around this number) to the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions, President Obama noted that American prestige had diminished under Bush. He said America’s participation in the summit would help the U.S. “forge partnerships as opposed to dictating solutions,” especially with the G-20’s Troika colleagues, Brazil and South Korea. He called the G-20 prescriptions the boldest international economic crisis response in history, saying proposed measures would have “a concrete effect” in each nation’s economy, but he could not point to any summit accomplishment that would help Americans beyond general points such as fighting protectionism and making the global economy work together. He did turn down French President Sarkozy’s proposal for a global regulator that would oversee every nation’s companies, as did the rest of G-20 representatives.
An examination of the G-20’s promised trillion dollar global bailout shows it to be much smaller than the U.S.’s $787 billion stimulus package. Although the summit trebled resources available to the International Monetary Fund, upping the amount to $750 billion, as well as creating a new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation of $250 billion, Obama expressed dissatisfaction with the numbers. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) were ensured at least $100 billion of additional lending, and summit leaders promised $250 billion of support for trade finance. Additional resources from IMF gold sales were designated to help the poorest countries, and another $50 billion was offered to support social protection, boost trade and safeguard development in low income countries
Members of the twenty largest economies in the world said they were helping to save $5 trillion dollars worth of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed. Obama promised America’s strategic and political support to the outcomes of the London summit, promising that America, “will not turn inward. We will not focus on ourselves.”
After meeting with the Group of Twenty (G-20), where world leaders promised to crack down on hedge funds and tax havens, as well as pledging $1.1 trillion (get your mind around this number) to the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions, President Obama noted that American prestige had diminished under Bush. He said America’s participation in the summit would help the U.S. “forge partnerships as opposed to dictating solutions,” especially with the G-20’s Troika colleagues, Brazil and South Korea. He called the G-20 prescriptions the boldest international economic crisis response in history, saying proposed measures would have “a concrete effect” in each nation’s economy, but he could not point to any summit accomplishment that would help Americans beyond general points such as fighting protectionism and making the global economy work together. He did turn down French President Sarkozy’s proposal for a global regulator that would oversee every nation’s companies, as did the rest of G-20 representatives.
An examination of the G-20’s promised trillion dollar global bailout shows it to be much smaller than the U.S.’s $787 billion stimulus package. Although the summit trebled resources available to the International Monetary Fund, upping the amount to $750 billion, as well as creating a new Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation of $250 billion, Obama expressed dissatisfaction with the numbers. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) were ensured at least $100 billion of additional lending, and summit leaders promised $250 billion of support for trade finance. Additional resources from IMF gold sales were designated to help the poorest countries, and another $50 billion was offered to support social protection, boost trade and safeguard development in low income countries
Members of the twenty largest economies in the world said they were helping to save $5 trillion dollars worth of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed. Obama promised America’s strategic and political support to the outcomes of the London summit, promising that America, “will not turn inward. We will not focus on ourselves.”
Alzheimer’s Treatments: $1 Trillion. Saving America’s Memory: Priceless
March 25, 2009:
Forget the AIG scandal. Move over, TARP. Demographers estimate the cost of dementia to both Medicare and Medicaid combined will top $20 trillion over the next two score years. Take a look at the report the Alzheimer's Study Group conducted on American’s with Alzheimer’s—their numbers suggest that Alzheimer’s related costs to Medicare and Medicaid alone will top $1 trillion annually by 2050. The report says that in 2008, Alzheimer’s replaced diabetes as the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S., with 100,000 more cases diagnosed than in 2007. Currently, there are 9.9 million unpaid caregivers providing adult day care to Alzheimer’s victims, with twice that many involved in treating them.
In 2004, the Medicare cost per dementia patient over 65 was $33,007, and the cost is rising. In 2005 alone, Medicare expenditures for Alzheimer's exceeded $90 billion. Every 70 seconds an American develops Alzheimer's disease, and there are an estimated 5.1 million Americans over 65 battling the disease. By 2031, as the Baby Boomer generation ages, an estimated 3.5 million people will have Alzheimer's.
This week, Maria Shriver, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Senator Bob Kerry and Newt Gingrich all testified on Capitol Hill on the effects of Alzheimer’s, urging the U.S. to step up research into the currently-incurable malady. Citing the success federally underwritten AIDS research has had (for $10 billion research dollars, over $1.4 trillion in AIDS treatment costs were averted, according to the National Institutes of Health), Newt Gingrich strongly advocated a new fiscal model for government support of Alzheimer's inquiry, one that would measure public investment against public savings.
Forget the AIG scandal. Move over, TARP. Demographers estimate the cost of dementia to both Medicare and Medicaid combined will top $20 trillion over the next two score years. Take a look at the report the Alzheimer's Study Group conducted on American’s with Alzheimer’s—their numbers suggest that Alzheimer’s related costs to Medicare and Medicaid alone will top $1 trillion annually by 2050. The report says that in 2008, Alzheimer’s replaced diabetes as the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S., with 100,000 more cases diagnosed than in 2007. Currently, there are 9.9 million unpaid caregivers providing adult day care to Alzheimer’s victims, with twice that many involved in treating them.
In 2004, the Medicare cost per dementia patient over 65 was $33,007, and the cost is rising. In 2005 alone, Medicare expenditures for Alzheimer's exceeded $90 billion. Every 70 seconds an American develops Alzheimer's disease, and there are an estimated 5.1 million Americans over 65 battling the disease. By 2031, as the Baby Boomer generation ages, an estimated 3.5 million people will have Alzheimer's.
This week, Maria Shriver, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Senator Bob Kerry and Newt Gingrich all testified on Capitol Hill on the effects of Alzheimer’s, urging the U.S. to step up research into the currently-incurable malady. Citing the success federally underwritten AIDS research has had (for $10 billion research dollars, over $1.4 trillion in AIDS treatment costs were averted, according to the National Institutes of Health), Newt Gingrich strongly advocated a new fiscal model for government support of Alzheimer's inquiry, one that would measure public investment against public savings.
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