Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.: "Compelling: Ohio recount: Stealing votes in Columbus-- INVESTIGATE DAMSCHRODER | by concernedamerican | Tue Nov 30th, 2004 at 04:19:35 PST
Click on links to review ballot spoilage against racial profile ... vote spoilage (and non-counting) is apparently an African-American problem ...
The real question is ... How can anyone leave a voting place not knowing their vote is valid and will be counted? Why can't a separate scanner simply verify it is valid before the voter leaves?
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Favoritism in the suburbs: more voting machines mean ... better turn out ? larger margin? Bush vistory?
The Free Press -- Independent News Media - Election 2004: "Favoritism in the suburbs | by Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D. | November 27, 2004
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The following study is intended as a companion to STEALING VOTES IN COLUMBUS, and should be read in that context. "
...
At the bottom of the list, in wards with more than 290 registered voters per voting machine, turnout was below 60% in 16 of 19 wards; of these, Bush won 11, and Kerry won 8, showing that fewer voting machines depresses the turnout no matter whom the candidate.
... This substantiates the original charge in the Free Press ? that voting machines were withheld from predominantly black Democratic wards in Columbus, and dispersed more generously to affluent Republican suburbs.
Damschroder has publicly stated that he was not at fault because the voting machine approval process and limited funds prevented him from getting enough machines to satisfy the need. He said that he allocated the machines based on imperfect estimates. His defenders will say that my analysis shows at worst incompetence and at best, an innocent mistake.
To cross-examine this defense, let us look one more time at the data. There are 146 wards in Franklin County. In 73 wards, exactly 50%, there were fewer than 300 voters per voting machine, and in 2 wards there were 300 exactly. This was the median, and should have been the target number for equitable distribution of voting machines.
DISTRIBUTION OF VOTING MACHINES
Number of Wards: Registered Voters Per Machine < 300 300 +
In Columbus 15 59
In Suburbs 58 14
Won by Bush 54 15
Won by Kerry 19 58
There are 72 wards in the suburbs, and 74 wards in the city. 69 wards were won by Bush, and 77 wards were won by Kerry. The numbers in the above table should have been almost equal. Instead, of the 73 wards with the fewest number of registered voters per machine, 58 (79.5%) were in the suburbs, and 54 (74.0%) were won by Bush. How fair is that?
All of this mattered a lot. The median ward with fewer than 300 registered voters per voting machine had a 62.33% voter turnout. The median ward with 300 or more registered voters per voting machine had a 51.99% turnout. The voting machines could and should have been distributed more equitably. Data on voter registration was available before the election.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The following study is intended as a companion to STEALING VOTES IN COLUMBUS, and should be read in that context. "
...
At the bottom of the list, in wards with more than 290 registered voters per voting machine, turnout was below 60% in 16 of 19 wards; of these, Bush won 11, and Kerry won 8, showing that fewer voting machines depresses the turnout no matter whom the candidate.
... This substantiates the original charge in the Free Press ? that voting machines were withheld from predominantly black Democratic wards in Columbus, and dispersed more generously to affluent Republican suburbs.
Damschroder has publicly stated that he was not at fault because the voting machine approval process and limited funds prevented him from getting enough machines to satisfy the need. He said that he allocated the machines based on imperfect estimates. His defenders will say that my analysis shows at worst incompetence and at best, an innocent mistake.
To cross-examine this defense, let us look one more time at the data. There are 146 wards in Franklin County. In 73 wards, exactly 50%, there were fewer than 300 voters per voting machine, and in 2 wards there were 300 exactly. This was the median, and should have been the target number for equitable distribution of voting machines.
DISTRIBUTION OF VOTING MACHINES
Number of Wards: Registered Voters Per Machine < 300 300 +
In Columbus 15 59
In Suburbs 58 14
Won by Bush 54 15
Won by Kerry 19 58
There are 72 wards in the suburbs, and 74 wards in the city. 69 wards were won by Bush, and 77 wards were won by Kerry. The numbers in the above table should have been almost equal. Instead, of the 73 wards with the fewest number of registered voters per machine, 58 (79.5%) were in the suburbs, and 54 (74.0%) were won by Bush. How fair is that?
All of this mattered a lot. The median ward with fewer than 300 registered voters per voting machine had a 62.33% voter turnout. The median ward with 300 or more registered voters per voting machine had a 51.99% turnout. The voting machines could and should have been distributed more equitably. Data on voter registration was available before the election.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Terror suspects' torture claims have Mass. link: prisoner transfer jet files to Libya, Jordan, and Uzbekistan
Boston.com / News / World / Terror suspects' torture claims have Mass. link: "Secrecy shrouds transfer jet | By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | November 29, 2004
...
is also the address of a shadowy company that owns a Gulfstream jet that secretly ferried two Al Qaeda suspects from Sweden to Egypt.
That prisoner transfer, which occurred outside the normal extradition procedures and without notifying the men's lawyers, sparked an international uproar after the two men contended that they had been forcibly drugged by masked US agents and tortured with electric shocks in Egypt.
This spring, the Swedish government launched a series of investigations into the 2001 operation.
Since that time, the jet -- apparently on long-term lease to the US military -- has surfaced in other alleged cases of what the CIA calls "extraordinary" rendition -- the secret practice of handing prisoners in US custody to foreign governments that don't hesitate to use torture in interrogations.
The covert procedure, which must be authorized by a presidential directive, has gained little attention inside the United States.
Yet, "extraordinary rendition," one of the earliest tools employed in the war against terror, has outraged human rights activists and former CIA agents, who say it violates the international convention on torture and amounts to "outsourcing" torture.
"People are more or less openly admitting that there are certain practices that we would rather not do in the US, so why not let our allies do it?" said Ray McGovern, a former CIA operations officer who has frequently criticized the tactics used in the war on terror.
In recent weeks, the practice has become nearly synonymous with the white, 20-seat, private Gulfstream jet, numbered N379P and registered in Massachusetts.
The Sunday Times of Britain reported two weeks ago that it had obtained a classified flight log of the plane that showed 300 flights from Washington, D.C., to 49 nations, including Libya, Jordan, and Uzbekistan -- three countries where the State Department has reported the use of torture. The story focused on the jet and Premier Executive Transport Services, the Massachusetts-registered company that owns it.
Sightings of the plane -- at refueling stops in Ireland and in Karachi, where it reportedly picked up another suspect -- have been published in newspapers across the globe and on the Internet. Records at the US Army Aeronautical Services Agency show the civil aircraft has a permit to land at US military bases worldwide.
...
is also the address of a shadowy company that owns a Gulfstream jet that secretly ferried two Al Qaeda suspects from Sweden to Egypt.
That prisoner transfer, which occurred outside the normal extradition procedures and without notifying the men's lawyers, sparked an international uproar after the two men contended that they had been forcibly drugged by masked US agents and tortured with electric shocks in Egypt.
This spring, the Swedish government launched a series of investigations into the 2001 operation.
Since that time, the jet -- apparently on long-term lease to the US military -- has surfaced in other alleged cases of what the CIA calls "extraordinary" rendition -- the secret practice of handing prisoners in US custody to foreign governments that don't hesitate to use torture in interrogations.
The covert procedure, which must be authorized by a presidential directive, has gained little attention inside the United States.
Yet, "extraordinary rendition," one of the earliest tools employed in the war against terror, has outraged human rights activists and former CIA agents, who say it violates the international convention on torture and amounts to "outsourcing" torture.
"People are more or less openly admitting that there are certain practices that we would rather not do in the US, so why not let our allies do it?" said Ray McGovern, a former CIA operations officer who has frequently criticized the tactics used in the war on terror.
In recent weeks, the practice has become nearly synonymous with the white, 20-seat, private Gulfstream jet, numbered N379P and registered in Massachusetts.
The Sunday Times of Britain reported two weeks ago that it had obtained a classified flight log of the plane that showed 300 flights from Washington, D.C., to 49 nations, including Libya, Jordan, and Uzbekistan -- three countries where the State Department has reported the use of torture. The story focused on the jet and Premier Executive Transport Services, the Massachusetts-registered company that owns it.
Sightings of the plane -- at refueling stops in Ireland and in Karachi, where it reportedly picked up another suspect -- have been published in newspapers across the globe and on the Internet. Records at the US Army Aeronautical Services Agency show the civil aircraft has a permit to land at US military bases worldwide.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
US urges ban on antitank mines but happy with anti-personnel varieties
US urges ban on antitank mines but happy with anti-personnel varieties: "Saturday November 27, 3:35 PM |
The United States, stung by insurgent attacks in Iraq, has urged the international community to consider banning all sales of anti-tank and other heavy landmines, but ruled out its participation in an international conference on mines designed to maim or kill people.
The United States, stung by insurgent attacks in Iraq, has urged the international community to consider banning all sales of anti-tank and other heavy landmines, but ruled out its participation in an international conference on mines designed to maim or kill people.
refusing amendment to erase segregation-era wording requiring separate schools for "white and colored children"
Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds (washingtonpost.com): "School Segregation Remains a State Law as Amendment Is Defeated | By Manuel Roig-Franzia | Washington Post Staff Writer | Sunday, November 28, 2004; Page A01
...
... Alabama voters made sure of that Nov. 2, refusing to approve a constitutional amendment to erase segregation-era wording requiring separate schools for "white and colored children" and to eliminate references to the poll taxes once imposed to disenfranchise blacks.
The vote was so close -- a margin of 1,850 votes out of 1.38 million -- that an automatic recount will take place Monday. But, with few expecting the results to change, the amendment's saga has dragged Alabama into a confrontation with its segregationist past that illuminates the sometimes uneasy race relations of its present.
...
... Leading opponents, such as Alabama Christian Coalition President John Giles, said they did not object to removing the passage about separate schools for "white and colored children." But, employing an argument that was ridiculed by most of the state's newspapers and by legions of legal experts, Giles and others said guaranteeing a right to a public education would have opened a door for "rogue" federal judges to order the state to raise taxes to pay for improvements in its public school system.
...
Giles was aided by a virtually unparalleled Alabama celebrity in his battle against the amendment, distributing testimonials from former chief justice Roy Moore, whose fame was sealed in 2003 when he defied a federal court order to remove a two-ton granite Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court. They were joined by former Moore aide Tom Parker, who handed out miniature Confederate flags this fall during his successful campaign for a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court.
...
... Alabama voters made sure of that Nov. 2, refusing to approve a constitutional amendment to erase segregation-era wording requiring separate schools for "white and colored children" and to eliminate references to the poll taxes once imposed to disenfranchise blacks.
The vote was so close -- a margin of 1,850 votes out of 1.38 million -- that an automatic recount will take place Monday. But, with few expecting the results to change, the amendment's saga has dragged Alabama into a confrontation with its segregationist past that illuminates the sometimes uneasy race relations of its present.
...
... Leading opponents, such as Alabama Christian Coalition President John Giles, said they did not object to removing the passage about separate schools for "white and colored children." But, employing an argument that was ridiculed by most of the state's newspapers and by legions of legal experts, Giles and others said guaranteeing a right to a public education would have opened a door for "rogue" federal judges to order the state to raise taxes to pay for improvements in its public school system.
...
Giles was aided by a virtually unparalleled Alabama celebrity in his battle against the amendment, distributing testimonials from former chief justice Roy Moore, whose fame was sealed in 2003 when he defied a federal court order to remove a two-ton granite Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court. They were joined by former Moore aide Tom Parker, who handed out miniature Confederate flags this fall during his successful campaign for a seat on the Alabama Supreme Court.
Monday, November 22, 2004
The New York Times > Washington > Pentagon Called Major Factor in Defeat of Intelligence Bill
The New York Times > Washington > Pentagon Called Major Factor in Defeat of Intelligence Bill: "WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 -
Lawmakers of both parties said today that the Pentagon played a clear role in the defeat of compromise legislation aimed at remaking United States intelligence agencies.
Some legislators said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had made clear his opposition to the proposed overhaul, which would have stripped the Pentagon of some budgetary control over its vast intelligence operations. A Defense Department spokesman denied any such Pentagon involvement.
The Senate intelligence committee chairman, Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, was asked why the Republican-controlled House had been unable to pass a measure sought by President Bush and endorsed by the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission and many relatives of victims of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Some of it is turf, quite frankly," Mr. Roberts said on CNN, "some of it is from the Pentagon."
Lawmakers of both parties said today that the Pentagon played a clear role in the defeat of compromise legislation aimed at remaking United States intelligence agencies.
Some legislators said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had made clear his opposition to the proposed overhaul, which would have stripped the Pentagon of some budgetary control over its vast intelligence operations. A Defense Department spokesman denied any such Pentagon involvement.
The Senate intelligence committee chairman, Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, was asked why the Republican-controlled House had been unable to pass a measure sought by President Bush and endorsed by the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission and many relatives of victims of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Some of it is turf, quite frankly," Mr. Roberts said on CNN, "some of it is from the Pentagon."
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Bill gives lawmakers access to tax returns ... all a mistake [?!] and would be swiftly repealed
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP - Washington, D.C.: Bill gives lawmakers access to tax returns: "Saturday, November 20, 2004 � Last updated 6:59 p.m. PT | Bill gives lawmakers access to tax returns | By MATT YANCEY | ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Congress passed legislation Saturday giving two committee chairman and their assistants access to income tax returns without regard to privacy protections, but not before red-faced Republicans said it was all a mistake and would be swiftly repealed."
WASHINGTON -- Congress passed legislation Saturday giving two committee chairman and their assistants access to income tax returns without regard to privacy protections, but not before red-faced Republicans said it was all a mistake and would be swiftly repealed."
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Posts on conservative website advocate violence ... [Media Matters for America]
Posts on conservative website advocate violence ... [Media Matters for America]: "Posts on conservative website advocate violence against journalist
The discussion board at FreeRepublic.com, a prominent right-wing online forum, contains numerous posts from members advocating violence against NBC News correspondent Kevin Sites, who recorded and reported the close-range shooting by a U.S. Marine of an unarmed and wounded Iraqi insurgent.
Comments about Sites on Free Republic include:
- "Turn Sites over to the terrorist."
- "Fragamundo."
- "No need for anything overt. Unfortunate things happen in combat zones, and if the reporter fails to hear someone yell 'Sniper!!', well, c'est la guerre" [French for "that is war"].
- [In response to a post suggesting Sites's "life is in danger being around the Marines"]: "I would certainly hope so."
- "I hope the Marines advance and leave Sites behind...alone in Fallujah with his terrorist buddies."
- "I don't want the punk killed, I'd just like to see his hair mussed. Jaws wired shut for a few months, food through a straw, that kind of thing."
- "It's Kevin Sites who deserves to be held in contempt and who deserves the losing end of a bar fight."
The discussion board at FreeRepublic.com, a prominent right-wing online forum, contains numerous posts from members advocating violence against NBC News correspondent Kevin Sites, who recorded and reported the close-range shooting by a U.S. Marine of an unarmed and wounded Iraqi insurgent.
Comments about Sites on Free Republic include:
- "Turn Sites over to the terrorist."
- "Fragamundo."
- "No need for anything overt. Unfortunate things happen in combat zones, and if the reporter fails to hear someone yell 'Sniper!!', well, c'est la guerre" [French for "that is war"].
- [In response to a post suggesting Sites's "life is in danger being around the Marines"]: "I would certainly hope so."
- "I hope the Marines advance and leave Sites behind...alone in Fallujah with his terrorist buddies."
- "I don't want the punk killed, I'd just like to see his hair mussed. Jaws wired shut for a few months, food through a straw, that kind of thing."
- "It's Kevin Sites who deserves to be held in contempt and who deserves the losing end of a bar fight."
Revolution In Reverse (washingtonpost.com)
Revolution In Reverse (washingtonpost.com): "In solidifying its power, the GOP is loosening its ethics. | By E. J. Dionne Jr. | Friday, November 19, 2004; Page A29
'And I want to say to you bluntly: You live today with the most corrupt congressional leadership we have seen in the United States in the 20th century. You have to go back to the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s to have anything comparable that we've lived through.'
...
But however appropriate that ringing indictment may seem to the moment, it did not issue from any Democrat this week. The words were spoken in February 1992 by a House Republican named Newt Gingrich. Gingrich was then building the momentum that led to the historic Republican takeover of Congress two years later. The GOP modestly called what it was up to a "revolution."
...
Some Republicans, at least, remember what they stood for 10 years ago. "We took a strong stand in 1994 to make clear the Republican conference would live by a higher standard than our Democratic colleagues," Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said in a statement. Shays also told reporters: "We won election in '94 because we were going to be different, and what I continue to see is a slow but very consistent erosion in what made us different."
Shays reminds us that when and he and Gingrich were in the opposition, they gave voice to many who worried about the dangers of an entrenched majority that came to assume it had a right to power and could do whatever was necessary to keep it. Gingrich's line about the Gilded Age just may have come 12 years too early. You don't have to be a crackpot to believe that the Gilded Age is now.
'And I want to say to you bluntly: You live today with the most corrupt congressional leadership we have seen in the United States in the 20th century. You have to go back to the Gilded Age of the 1870s and 1880s to have anything comparable that we've lived through.'
...
But however appropriate that ringing indictment may seem to the moment, it did not issue from any Democrat this week. The words were spoken in February 1992 by a House Republican named Newt Gingrich. Gingrich was then building the momentum that led to the historic Republican takeover of Congress two years later. The GOP modestly called what it was up to a "revolution."
...
Some Republicans, at least, remember what they stood for 10 years ago. "We took a strong stand in 1994 to make clear the Republican conference would live by a higher standard than our Democratic colleagues," Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said in a statement. Shays also told reporters: "We won election in '94 because we were going to be different, and what I continue to see is a slow but very consistent erosion in what made us different."
Shays reminds us that when and he and Gingrich were in the opposition, they gave voice to many who worried about the dangers of an entrenched majority that came to assume it had a right to power and could do whatever was necessary to keep it. Gingrich's line about the Gilded Age just may have come 12 years too early. You don't have to be a crackpot to believe that the Gilded Age is now.
One-Third of Bush Fund-Raisers Got Appointments: competition among Bush's top 2004 fund-raisers will be tougher than in 2000
One-Third of Bush Fund-Raisers Got Appointments - Independent Media TV: "November 18, 2004 | By: Sharon Theimer | Associated Press
WASHINGTON - One-third of President Bush (news - web sites)'s top 2000 fund-raisers or their spouses were appointed to positions in his first administration, from ambassadorships in Europe to seats on policy-setting boards, an Associated Press review found.
The perks for 246 'pioneers' who raised at least $100,000 also included overnight stays at the White House and Camp David, parties at the White House and Bush's Texas ranch, state dinners with world leaders and overseas travel with U.S. delegations to the Olympics and other events, the review found.
Top fund-raisers say the real charm of the rewards was getting the chance to rub elbows with the president.
...
Noble predicts competition among Bush's top 2004 fund-raisers for plum administration jobs will be tougher than in 2000, both because there are fewer positions open and because Bush now has twice as many $100,000-and-up fund-raisers as he did in his first campaign.
In the first Bush administration, pioneers' spouses also got into the action. About a half-dozen spouses were given spots on panels such as the board of advisers at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Museum Services Board.
WASHINGTON - One-third of President Bush (news - web sites)'s top 2000 fund-raisers or their spouses were appointed to positions in his first administration, from ambassadorships in Europe to seats on policy-setting boards, an Associated Press review found.
The perks for 246 'pioneers' who raised at least $100,000 also included overnight stays at the White House and Camp David, parties at the White House and Bush's Texas ranch, state dinners with world leaders and overseas travel with U.S. delegations to the Olympics and other events, the review found.
Top fund-raisers say the real charm of the rewards was getting the chance to rub elbows with the president.
...
Noble predicts competition among Bush's top 2004 fund-raisers for plum administration jobs will be tougher than in 2000, both because there are fewer positions open and because Bush now has twice as many $100,000-and-up fund-raisers as he did in his first campaign.
In the first Bush administration, pioneers' spouses also got into the action. About a half-dozen spouses were given spots on panels such as the board of advisers at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Museum Services Board.
Texas "science": ranks in top 5 for teenage pregnancies and STDs: changing high school sex ed books to push abstinence: one of LEAST effective methods
Sexual Intelligence by Marty Klein, Ph.D.: "2. Texas Vs. Education: Everyone's Problem
...
Texas educators are now debating the content of new high school sex education books. The Board of Education is choosing among four books, all of which passionately praise abstinence. Three omit contraception completely, while one barely mentions condoms.
Not surprisingly, federal data show Texas once again among the top five states in the country for teenage pregnancies and STDs. Not content to undermine the lives of its own citizens, it routinely drags down the educational systems of other states, who are limited to textbooks written for the huge Texas market.
As governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed an abstinence-based sex education curriculum. In this year's State of the Union address, he promised to double federal funding for abstinence programs, "so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases."
The President either doesn't read SI or reads it but doesn't remember much, so we'll repeat this for his benefit: abstinence is among the least reliable forms of contraception and disease protection. As previously reported (#42), almost 2/3 of a sample of Kentucky undergraduates vowing abstinence broke their pledge while still in school. The study has now been replicated around the country.
...
Texas educators are now debating the content of new high school sex education books. The Board of Education is choosing among four books, all of which passionately praise abstinence. Three omit contraception completely, while one barely mentions condoms.
Not surprisingly, federal data show Texas once again among the top five states in the country for teenage pregnancies and STDs. Not content to undermine the lives of its own citizens, it routinely drags down the educational systems of other states, who are limited to textbooks written for the huge Texas market.
As governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed an abstinence-based sex education curriculum. In this year's State of the Union address, he promised to double federal funding for abstinence programs, "so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases."
The President either doesn't read SI or reads it but doesn't remember much, so we'll repeat this for his benefit: abstinence is among the least reliable forms of contraception and disease protection. As previously reported (#42), almost 2/3 of a sample of Kentucky undergraduates vowing abstinence broke their pledge while still in school. The study has now been replicated around the country.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Afghanistan: a nation abandoned to drugs: [booming business] exported 87 per cent of the world's supplies
News: "Afghanistan: a nation abandoned to drugs | By Nick Meo in Jalalabad and Leonard Doyle | 19 November 2004
Country produces 87% of global opium. One in ten Afghans works in opium trade. UN: state is world's second worst to live in
Three years after the fall of the Taliban, the United Nations issued a dramatic plea for help yesterday, saying that Afghanistan's opium crop is flourishing as never before and the country is well on the way to becoming a corrupt narco-state.
...
British officials point out that the Afghan economy is booming, that three million refugees have returned home and that four million children are in schools. But yesterday's report reveals that the engine of economic growth is opium production. Last year Afghanistan exported 87 per cent of the world's supplies. Opium is now the "main engine of economic growth and the strongest bond among previously quarrelsome peoples", according to the UN. ...
...
The UN report for 2003 found that one in 10 Afghans - many of them unemployed returned refugees - is involved in the drugs trade which last year employed 2.3 million people, and made up 60 per cent of gross national product.
Country produces 87% of global opium. One in ten Afghans works in opium trade. UN: state is world's second worst to live in
Three years after the fall of the Taliban, the United Nations issued a dramatic plea for help yesterday, saying that Afghanistan's opium crop is flourishing as never before and the country is well on the way to becoming a corrupt narco-state.
...
British officials point out that the Afghan economy is booming, that three million refugees have returned home and that four million children are in schools. But yesterday's report reveals that the engine of economic growth is opium production. Last year Afghanistan exported 87 per cent of the world's supplies. Opium is now the "main engine of economic growth and the strongest bond among previously quarrelsome peoples", according to the UN. ...
...
The UN report for 2003 found that one in 10 Afghans - many of them unemployed returned refugees - is involved in the drugs trade which last year employed 2.3 million people, and made up 60 per cent of gross national product.
Caring for Those Left Behind (washingtonpost.com)
Caring for Those Left Behind (washingtonpost.com): "Soldiers' survivors need real benefits more than yellow ribbons. | By Frank Schaeffer | Friday, November 19, 2004; Page A29
...
When an American in a military uniform is killed his or her family receives a one-time death gratuity of $12,000. The surviving family may also qualify for the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), which is paid up to age 62 or until the spouse remarries. The SBP benefit amounts to 55 percent of the soldier's retirement pay, pay that is already so low it qualifies many military families for food stamps.
These "benefits" are contingent on fulfilling many petty regulations. Michele did not qualify for the SBP because Aaron was in the Marine Corps just under 10 years. Several further benefits, such as the income-based Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), may pay out about $800 per month and $200 per child, depending on the case. Michele did not qualify because of several arcane technicalities. Michele and Brianna's medical benefits will end three years from the date of Aaron's death.
...
A just-released study by the Rand Corp. found that the families of civilians killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, received on average $3.1 million in government and charitable compensation. The families of the firefighters and cops who died received even more; their average compensation was $4.2 million. ...
...
When an American in a military uniform is killed his or her family receives a one-time death gratuity of $12,000. The surviving family may also qualify for the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), which is paid up to age 62 or until the spouse remarries. The SBP benefit amounts to 55 percent of the soldier's retirement pay, pay that is already so low it qualifies many military families for food stamps.
These "benefits" are contingent on fulfilling many petty regulations. Michele did not qualify for the SBP because Aaron was in the Marine Corps just under 10 years. Several further benefits, such as the income-based Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), may pay out about $800 per month and $200 per child, depending on the case. Michele did not qualify because of several arcane technicalities. Michele and Brianna's medical benefits will end three years from the date of Aaron's death.
...
A just-released study by the Rand Corp. found that the families of civilians killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, received on average $3.1 million in government and charitable compensation. The families of the firefighters and cops who died received even more; their average compensation was $4.2 million. ...
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