Empty shelves at the Alameda County Community Food Bank
in Oakland signal a hard winter ahead for those in need.

Another sign for an economic model in deep trouble: US food banks are struggling to supply the poor. The New York Times reports that critical shortages have forced them to ration supplies, distribute staples usually reserved for disaster relief and in some instances close. The situation is the worst some organisations have seen for 26 years.

Experts attributed the shortages to an unusual combination of factors, including

• rising demand, partly driven by rising prices of oil, gas, rents and the results of foreclosures
• a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products because farmers are doing well, which leaves the federal Agriculture Department’s Bonus Commodity Program with too little surplus crops to buy (supplies from the surplus program dropped to $67 million worth last year, from $154.3 million in 2005 and $233 million in 2004)
• tighter inventory controls that are leaving supermarkets and other retailers with less food to donate
• retailers selling to discount stores items they can’t sell or that are part of seasonal inventory that is no longer needed because people are shopping in those places
• a farm bill currently stalled in the Senate that would raise emergency aid for food banks to $250 million a year, from $140 million, a figure has remained steady since 2002

The Vermont Food Bank said its supply of food was down 50 percent from last year, and for two weeks this month, the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed supplies reserved for emergency relief. Demand for food here is up 40 percent over last year and supply is down 30 percent, which is striking in the state with the lowest reliance on food banks. Household budget squeezes have led to a drop in donations and greater demand, leaving not only the homeless hungry but also working people. Household incomes are kind of stuck. There’s very little way to increase income, and most people have a very heavy debt load. Any event that increases your costs is really, really troublesome, because they already are stretched thin.

The problem though is not just a result of social injustice (e.g. some struggling food bank are in the heart of one of the most productive agriculture areas in the world) or corporate greed - it is a systemic one, and it is no surprise that American food banks are hit hard. The US is the champion of a totally unsustainable, ruthless capitalism that deifies the market, exalts those who successfully profit from it and worships consumerism over anything else in life. This has resulted in a nation living totally beyond its means through racking up staggering amounts of debt (that it can’t repay) for the acquisition of goods (it didn’t really need), resulting in an economy that slowly but surely is sliding into recession. And given the US being the biggest consumer society in the world, the global repercussions will be enormous, with the only unpredictable aspect right now being the scale of the negative effects. Foreclosures, food bank shortages, the falling US dollar, peak oil, falling consumer confidence and the various effects of global warming are all signs for an economic model at breaking point and maybe even at the beginning of collapse. The free market economy, certainly in its excessive neo-conservative manifestation is dieing, with the pain accompanying its demise just beginning for all of us.

The upcoming elections make it more and more clear: there is hardly any difference between Labor and the Liberals - both are equally conservative. That is no surprise of course, given that this pattern is almost universal, with most governments in the firm grip of the neo-con philosophy of economic rationalism. There are of course still dreamers amongst voters who believe social-democratic parties have at least partially still social justice agenda items, especially in areas of education, health and social service delivery. Rudd and his shadow education minister Stephen Smith certainly killed that delusion for school funding when promising Cardinal Pell to keep the government’s school funding system if elected to office. In return for the catholic vote, Labor again sold out.

The current grant system funding private schools is widely seen as being socially unfair, even by some of its beneficiaries. Labor’s old system, replaced by the current government in 2001, took into account the fee level schools charged, investment earnings from their endowments and the quality of school facilities. The new Socio-Economic-Status system, in contrast, provides bulk money to individual schools (in the case of catholic schools to the National Catholic Education Commission) based on the relative wealth of the electoral subdivision where the school children’s parents live.

Problem though is that the new SES system promised schools that, at the time of its introduction, none of them would be worse off even if the new formula said they could lose some of their funding. Result: six years on, 60 per cent of all private schools are in the “guaranteed” category, meaning that most of the 2710 non-government schools would lose part of their funding if the formula would be applied properly. And that funding is not small: during the current four year funding term the catholic school system alone will receive $12 billion - 750 million dollars every three months via electronic bank transfer; that amount will rise to probably $15 billion for the term 2009-2012.

But private schools not only receive money they shouldn’t get; they also did not keep their promise to lower their school fees (this commitment was used by the government to justify the new system). Instead school fees have risen in the past decade between 6-10 per cent annually, with some yearly fees in elite schools now reaching $20,000 per annum.

Broken promises and unfair distribution though are no obstacle for the government and now also the Labor opposition to question the current funding regime. And their bias often pays handsomely for private schools, with the elite ones logically being the biggest winners; they receive between $4 million and almost $15 million more per year than they would have under the old Labor system. In other words: the richer the parents, the better the education thanks to higher government subsidies. And while private schools have increased their funding share, public schools had to cope with funding decreases - a trend that now will remain, independent of who wins government in a few weeks.

Some believe Rudd is just playing his cards strategically when agreeing with the current government on practically everything; once he has won the election, so the argument goes, the differences between the parties will be unveiled to the great delight and sighs of relief of Labor’s true believers. Dream on! After having committed himself to keeping the conservatives’ new labor laws for five years before making major changes (if any), he now has pledged to keep the unfair school funding system in place until 2012. No wonder one of the current government ministers recently invited the opposition leader and his shadow cabinet to join the Liberal Party. I’m imagining the excellent entertainment value of such a move, with all those old and new roosters going for the kill. It might also be a good (and free!) educational experience for school kids in private and public schools alike - in regards to the farcical and absurd nature of our system of democracy.

[above mentioned facts: Sydney Morning Herald, October 13/14, 2007]

Supported by more than 40 Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, including Oxfam Australia, the campaign calls on federal, state and territory governments to commit to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation.

A national scandal

It’s hard to believe but impossible to deny that Indigenous Australians live nearly 20 years less than other Australians. In 21st century Australia this is plainly unacceptable.

While most women in Australia can expect to live to an average age of 82 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women can expect to live to only 64.8 years. The situation is even worse for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men whose life expectancy is only 59.4 years.

We should not accept that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders end up in hospitals at twice the rate of other Australians. Nor is it fair that while most Australians can look forward to long healthy lives with access to some of the best healthcare facilities in the world, Indigenous Australians can expect to die at much higher rates of heart disease, cancer, and kidney failure, to name a few diseases.

It’s sad but true that Indigenous Australians have not shared in the health gains enjoyed by other Australians over the last twenty years. Yet it is inconceivable that a country as wealthy as Australia cannot solve a health crisis affecting less then three per cent of its population.

Closing the gap

The Close the Gap campaign is calling on Australian governments to take action to achieve health equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within 25 years through

• Increasing Indigenous Australians’ access to health services
• Addressing critical social issues such as poor housing, nutrition and education
• Building Indigenous control and participation in the delivery of health and other services

There is no quick fix but with a long-term commitment to work with Indigenous communities we can bring about change! You can help bring about change:

• Find out more about the issues
• Join National Close the Gap Day activities
• Sign the Close the Gap pledge
• Read Indigenous health success stories
• Buy a T-shirt or wristband

National Close the Gap Day

National Close the Gap Day - Tuesday 18 September 2007 - will give Australians across the nation the opportunity to come together and show their support for closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians. Why not organise your own small-scale event with our help? You can also get involved in other ways.

National Close the Gap Day events

• NSW
• QLD
• SA
• VIC
• WA

Eatnineghost.com has an interesting series of photos from historical events over the last fifty years, ranging from anti-segregation struggles in the US to Iraq war. Interestingly, 60% the photos below can be linked to direct US involvement, showing once again showing the truth behind the US’ claims of being the beacon for democracy, justice and human rights. Looking back over theose pictures it’s hard not to get the feeling that nothing much has changed in essence in the ways we humans live our lives.

I’m showing here just a selection of those photos on Eatnineghost …

1957. The first day of Dorothy Counts at the Harry Harding High
School in the United States . Counts was one of the first black
students admitted in the school, and she was no longer able to
stand the harassments after 4 days.

1963. Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist priest in Southern Vietnam,
burns himself to death protesting the government’s torture
policy against priests. Thich Quang Dug never madea sound
or moved while he was burning.

1966. U.S. troops in South Vietnam are dragging a dead Vietkong
soldier.

February 1, 1968. South Vietnam police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan
shots a young man, whom he suspects to be a Viet Kong soldier.

1973. A few seconds before Chile ’s elected president Salvador
Allende is dead during the coup.

1975. A woman and a girl falling down after the fire escape
collapses.

1980. A kid in Uganda about to die of hunger, and a missionary.

1989. A young man in China stands before the tanks during
protests for democratic reforms.

1994. A man who was tortured by the soldiers since he was
suspected to have spoken with the Tutsi rebels.

2003. An Iraqi prisoner of war tries to calm down his child.

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Now playing: Bob Dylan - All Along The Watchtower; Ladytron - I’m with the pilots; Ms. John Soda - Sometimes Stop, Sometimes Go; Built to Spill - Randy Described Eternity; Asian Dub Foundation - who runs the place; M.I.A. - 10 Dollar - via FoxyTunes

While Australian governments always like to follow what Big Brother America does, we are not there there - yet. The so-called Fair Trade Agreement for which the Australian prime minister Howard lined up to get ripped off by the Yanks might changed that over time. I also noticed that Germany’s paid annual leave has been reduced over the last 15-20 years from 30 to days. And with Sarkozy having been given the reigns by the majority of French voters, their top stop won’t last much longer either. Nevertheless, the United States certainly should hang her head in shame …

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Now playing: Tarek Antabi - On the Radio!
via FoxyTunes