Obama calls a “tax summit” to discuss reforms in public spending and sacrifice
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under Politics
Washington, Feb 21 – The U.S. president, Barack Obama, called a “tax summit” for next Monday with the idea of reducing the large deficit and stabilize the state Coffers through sacrifice and public spending reforms, but today we hear voices of Skepticism about its effectiveness.
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According to the White House, the one-day summit will bring together under one roof for approximately 130 guests, including Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress, academics and economic experts, businessmen and representatives of unions and civil society.
While Obama is not the first president to Convene such a meeting, the reunion will take place at a time of grave economic crisis in the United States is the prism through which the Administration discusses almost all public policies.
In fact, given the fiscal reality of the country with a deficit of over a trillion dollars, Obama has repeatedly recognized that some of its election promises will have to wait a while.
Both at the summit in his speech before a joint session of Congress next Tuesday, Obama “will focus on the decisions to be taken to reduce the deficit and to guide the country through a sustainable fiscal path,” said Luis Miranda Efe today, a spokesman for the White House.
To some observers, however, is a euphemism to speak of “sacrifice” the budget.
During the election campaign and after winning the presidency, Obama has talked about “tough decisions” that his government will take regarding the reforms of the Social Security and Medicare programs for the elderly and retire.
Both programs face severe pressures that require urgent responses arithmetic while the population of baby boomers, the generation of Americans born after the war, between 1946 and 1964, and close to retirement.
If present trends continue, Social Security will go Bankrupt by the year 2041 and 2019 for Medicare.
For Obama, economic recovery will require long-term, no doubt, assume another task: a better control of tax expenditures.
The challenge, according to analysts, is to determine how and where to start.
The deficit will dominate the summit, which opened with statements by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, will include presentations, small group discussions and a plenary session and will be closed by Obama.
The White House insists that the summit is only the “first step” to lay the foundations for the tax, but has been careful to raise expectations about the results that could shed.
It is a trend that has shown Obama during his first months in power to generate a broad public discussion on issues, while his team develops the details of the plans behind the scenes.
Conservative groups like the Brookings Institution to ensure compliance with the goal of fiscal responsibility has to be a change of position in the political process, which now “talking about bipartisanship and encourages obstructionism and delay.”
Any action would require a dose of “Sacrifice”, according to Brookings.
But progressive groups fear that these “Sacrifice” to include cuts in social programs for the most vulnerable and concessions to conservative on fiscal matters.
Campaign for the Future of the U.S., for example, today asked their activists in their website that does not allow the debate on Monday next will be “held Hostage” by people “seeking to exploit concerns over the deficit to Dismantle social safety net for the elderly, poor and sick. ”
In that sense, Toby Chaudhuri, spokesman for the center-left group, said that institutions like yours are worried that Obama falls into the trap of fiscal Conservatives.
The distrust has risen to the proposal of the group called “Blue Dog” conservative Democrats, to establish commissions to review forms and submit plans to reduce the deficit in the long term that would be subsequently submitted to a vote in Congress.
In any case, Obama faces the dilemma of reviving the economy without worsening the deficit, but doing so to give time to leave intensive care.
Pulque added to combat malnutrition – fight anemia in people with low incomes
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under World new
Mexico, 21 Feb (Notimex) .- Researchers at the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) are working on improving the pulque, adding minerals to increase their nutritional value and fight anemia in people with low incomes.
The project is to reduce its alcohol content and add iron, zinc, selenium and oats to make that an alternative beverage ancestral against malnutrition that affects 50 percent of the population, the researcher said Luis Tovar.
According to the Center of Scientific Research and Interdiciplinario on Environment and Development (CIIEMAD), pulque contains no enzymes in living organisms harmful to human metabolism, combined with minerals related cone return results give a high energy drink.
The project, entitled Development in Mexico: Population and Nutrition, Soil Restoration, focuses on the development of a food-reinforced natural minerals derived from plants, through a detailed statement of the IPN.
The project also seeks to recover the pulque industry, which he apparently has lost some years ago after launching a campaign against the drink, despite the benefits of nutrition.
Politécnico specialist insisted that the consumption of this drink may be equivalent to raising its yogurt’s expiration time to keep their nutritional qualities.
Gálvez Tovar acknowledged that the production of maguey, a plant that gets the mead to produce pulque, has been weakened, so the CIIEMAD has a technological package for the reforestation of the country’s central plateau to that cactus.
Highlighted the support of some state governments to the rescue of the pulque of Tlaxcala, whose representation in the Federal District will soon open a temporary pulquería.
Banks discounts apply to credit cards and consumer
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under Business
Since yesterday, some banks began to transfer the cut to consumers, as did the BancoEstado, which advertises on its website a series of ofertones, deduction of 3 points in all credit card rates and consumption.
Banco de Chile also decided to benefit its customers with marketing campaigns targeted at SMEs and cuentacorrentistas.
The discount rate is also going to be reflected in the housing market. Some companies maintain their bids throughout February, as well as departments at cost with discounts or free 14 months.
There would be likely to add offers that banks and financial institutions take place in March.
Radiotherapy and hormone halved the death rate for prostate
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under World new
London, Dec 15 – A combination of radiotherapy and endocrine therapy for hormone-based-reduce by half the mortality of suffering from advanced prostate cancer.
Such are the conclusions of authors of an article published in the Internet edition of the British medical journal The Lancet and author who is a team led by Professor Anders Widmark, Department of Radiation Sciences, University of Umea (Sweden).
In a randomized trial phase III, a group of 439 men who had locally advanced prostate cancer were subjected to endocrine therapy alone – three months of androgen blockade followed by continuous endocrine therapy based on flutamide-436 men, while others continued the same endocrine therapy combined with radiotherapy.
During the following 7.6 years, 79 individuals of the first group and 37 of the second died of cancer, says study that the mortality after ten years in the first group – a 23.9 per cent – was double that of the group in which both therapies were combined: 11.9 percent.
The death rate from all causes was also higher in the group who underwent endocrine therapy only in the second.
The cumulative incidence of repeat prostate cancer at ten years was almost three times higher in the first group than the other.
After five years, urinary problems, sexual or rectum combined treatment group, however, were slightly more frequent in the combined treatment group than in the endocrine therapy exclusively.
The authors conclude from this, the “significantly higher” in the endocrine therapy combined with radiation therapy compared with single treatment of the first type in such patients.
This difference, which reached 12 percent after ten years, resulted in an improvement of 9.8 percent of overall survival, and the author of the study recommends that treatment for these widespread ill.
“Slumdog,” and Ledger Cross triumph at the Oscars
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under Entertaiment
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The prize for best actress went to Britain’s Kate Winslet for her role as an illiterate former Nazi guard who has an affair with a teenager in “The Reader,” and best actor for Sean Penn for his interpretation of gay leader murdered Harvey Milk Civil Rights in “Milk.”
It was the first victory for Kate Winslet after six nominations, and the second for Penn, who had already received the same recognition for his performance in “Mystic River” (2003).
“Slumdog Millionaire,” a raw and poignant story of a teenage orphan of the low districts of Mumbai emerging from poverty to succeed in a televised version of “Who wants to be millionaire?”, Competing in 10 sections.
“Just to say to Mumbai, all of you who helped us to make the film and all those who did not, thank you very much. You do look a little to this type,” Boyle said in reference to the statue.
The directors accepted the trophy for best film surrounded by the film’s protagonists, including some children who chose Boyle of the slums of Mumbai.
The multi box office hit, which was about to go directly to DVD, also won awards for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, original score, original song and editing.
Cruz, with her lunatic ex-wife role in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” was imposed as Best Supporting Actress the following year that his compatriot Javier Bardem achieved the same feat in the male under the same name.
“Have you ever lost someone here, because I think I will be the first, were the first words of Cruz, who looked obviously overwhelmed on receiving his award, announced the first of the night.
After Woody Allen to thank him “for entrusting this beautiful character, and the Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and Fernando Trueba, Bigas Luna, who have been instrumental in her career, she dedicated the Oscar to his parents, his brother and sister and before leaving the stage he addressed his compatriots in Spanish:
“All those from Spain are now sharing this moment with me and also feel that this is theirs, they are dedicated. And to all the players in my country.”
Later Winslet joked in accepting his award: “OK, (I) that the faint, Penelope.”
And more seriously, with the tip of nerves also acknowledged that “lying if I said that I had never prepared a version of this speech. I think that was probably 8 years when I started looking in the mirror in the bathroom and this would be a bottle of shampoo “he said in reference to his trophy. “But now this is not a bottle of shampoo.”
Penn used his acceptance speech to condemn an anti-gay protest which took place near the Kodak Theater and criticized the recent ban on gay marriage in California.
“I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban on gay marriage feel and reflect on his great shame and disgrace in the eyes of their grandchildren if they continue with this,” he said. “We need equal rights for all.”
Ledger, meanwhile, won the prize for best supporting actor for his dark version of the Joker in Batman film “The Dark Knight” and became the second player to win the statuette posthumously. The first was Peter Finch, who won the Oscar for best actor for “Network” (1976).
Ledger died 13 months ago by an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, the same day as the nominees were announced last year. The parents and sisters of the Australian actor accepted the honor on behalf of his daughter Matilda.
The epic of love “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which topped the list of nominees with 13 nominations, won three statuettes, a visual effects, art direction and makeup. For this latest award-competed the U.S. mexico Mike Elizalde, for his work on the film by Guillermo del Toro “Hellboy II”.
In a major change to the traditional format, five winners of the past had the acting categories in which once won, including Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Kevin Kline, Sophia Loren, Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLaine and Robert De Niro.
For years, the winners of the previous year gave the statuette to the new winner of the opposite sex, and have maintained the tradition Cruz would have touched to receive your prize from the hands of Bardem. The actor was filming in Barcelona “Biutiful,” the new film by Mexican Alejandro González Iñárritu.
After the Oscars had their ratings under the past year, producers made sure to fan the show with some surprises. Instead of hiring a comedian as host, as has been customary, decided by the Australian singer and actor Hugh Jackman, who has been master of ceremonies for the Tony Awards on Broadway.
Jackman, stole the show when it opened with a musical number in which artfully waved the nominees, which won a standing ovation. Later performed a medley mounted by the director of “Australia” with Baz Luhrmann and stars Beyonce Knowles of “High School Musical” Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.
Among other winners, “WALL-E” won as best animated feature film, “Milk” also won the prize for best original screenplay and “The Dark Knight” the sound editing. The honor for best foreign language film went to the Japanese “Departures.”
The ceremony for the Academy Awards, in its 81st edition, also included the participation of Queen Latifah, Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Aniston, among other stars.
Australia in national mourning for victims of deadly fire
February 23, 2009 by
Filed under World new
The tears fell on the face of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said that while the flames of hell called “Black Saturday” in the February 7 tested the character of the nation. He said the country responded with courage, compassion and resilience.
“In recent days we have witnessed the untold suffering,” said Rudd during the transmission of a national mourning ceremony. “We have lost mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. We have lost brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, the youngest of children.”
“These are precious lives. No word can give comfort to a very personal spite, but just know this: You, the suffering, they are not alone,” he added.
Rudd said that authorities at all levels have failed their communities by other tragedies past and that this should not be allowed back with the residents of villages devastated by fire.
He promised “a solemn contract with each of these communities to rebuild brick by brick, home by home, school by school, church, church, street by street.”
The official also announced that the tragedy would be remembered each February 7 by placing flags at half mast on government buildings and moments of silence.
Thousands of Australians attended the ceremony Sunday to large and small in memory of the victims of the deadliest fires in the country.
The Governor of the Australian state of Victoria John Brumby and Rudd presided over the ceremony at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
The survivors gathered in parks and city residents in public areas where the observed transmission of the ceremony on giant screen.
The number of confirmed dead stood at 209 on Sunday, but authorities have said they could still find bodies in the rubble, bringing the figure could rise.
