Countries w/ biggest gap between rich & poor. US #3, Israel #4-
imagine my surprise. But UsRael has loads to spend on WAR.

Countries with the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor
BusinessWeek 10/16/09

No. 3 U.S.

Gini score: 40.8
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 13,751.4
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 1.9
Richest 10%: 29.9
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%:
15.9

The share of income for the top percentile of Americans was
23.5% in 2007, the highest since 1928, according to Emmanuel
Saez, a Berkeley economist who won the prestigious John Bates
Clark Medal in April. Income for the top 0.01% hit a record-high
6.04%. And the recession may be exacerbating income
inequality.

No. 4 Israel

Gini score: 39.2
GDP 2007 (US$ billions): 164.0
Share of income or expenditure (%)
Poorest 10%: 2.1
Richest 10%: 28.8
Ratio of income or expenditure, share of top 10% to lowest 10%:
13.4

Gone are the days when Israel was one of the world's most
egalitarian societies. Early Labor Zionist pioneers built
kibbutzim for Jewish immigrants, but those collectives have
fallen on hard times. The growing number of haredim, or ultra-
Orthodox Jews, with large families and men who study the
Torah rather than work has worsened the inequality problem.

continues
http://tinyurl.com/ykwkv5b

for those with tinyurl phobia (it is a Mossad front)

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-
budgeting/article/107980/countries-with-the-biggest-gaps-
between-rich-and-poor

once again the issue is about power, in this case - money=power idea... it seems the usa would like to revert to the land of kings and queens where if you weren't one of them, you were basically a peon... interesting how tinpot capitalism works towards this... lots of money for war.. it helps to have something to back up all the threats.... no money for social justice, including that of the iraqis or anyone else in a terrorist labeled country or zone... we'll make an exception for pakistan as they figure out what to do with the money...

I got no further in the schedule than the segment beginning at 9:10: How Serious is the Job Crisis? Anyone who has to discuss this doesn't have a clue about the precarious state of the American worker. Meaning the people who keep your household running. This, Steve, is why the Beltway engenders such derision on Main street America. Americans don't build very much any more. They don't repair a damned thing because they can't. They throw things away that would be treasures in most of the rest of the world. People who think they are making policy who don't get this ARE the problem. "Crisis" is a word that doesn't need clarifying.

The real measure of how bad the crisis is is how many good friends you have lost, who are no longer an effective p[art of your community, due to the upper echelon, all-American, flag-waving greedheads. How many friends have you lost to the economic rape of America by the high roller sodomites? My list is getting longer each month.

No business in America has any idea what its tax load will be by this time next year. But "higher" or "much higher" are real safe guesses. Do you think that just maybe this is affecting the lack of current hiring?

Nah, couldn't be.

James, you want America to build thing? I'm shocked. Manufacturer are such polluters. All that greenhouse gas! Don't you know the purpose of cap and trade is to make all that evil energy use move offshore?

I knew I could rely on a compassionate, empathetic, broad minded response from you Nadine.

On second thought, I apologize Nadine. I was being sarcastic. I should have said that I knew I could rely on you to provide an aggressive, un-compassionate, un-empathetic, narrow minded response.

An occupation in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, an attack on Iran, debt to China - and tax cuts...

Paul, there is a one-step alternative to your list of dark choices.

Not my list; Nadine`s list.

Pardon, Paul. I actually work for a living, which makes it difficult to keep up here. Nadine, by comparison seems to have nothing else to do, or perhaps is he/she garners a stipend for occupyimg space here. Which I guess makes her/him a squatter. Pardon, settler.

Uncompassionate? Moi? Here I just thought I was putting in a good word for employers, who the last time I checked had something to do with job creation. They are not hiring and the tax surge they can see coming out of DC is a big reason why. It makes no sense to love jobs and hate employers.

Emergency contingency plans for flu epidemics and winter storms could help the economic recovery in the window of time coming, a carryover item to extend recovery until tax return time.

This could be anticipated to occur during a time Congress is not in session so thew GOP could not block it either.

This would a take a brief recovery and stretch it out until next spring, when seasonal job upswings and emerging green economy jobs can pick up.

Our economic well being can have each of these challenges result in opportunity to spend effectively. Thgese are also national security items in real terms.

The ability to overlap each of these possible solutions in real time would strengthen the fabric of exchange. Thus a series of solutions or measures could overlap and deepen the recovery while helping expand its actual length of time.

The positive carryover would gain emphasis into the next election cycle. The Democrats stand to gain ground after all, if these opportunities are met with the kind of energy and vigor Obama's team can harness into policy.

Ice storm recovery for middle America, flu response across the board, coupled with emerging green sector infrastructure upgrades.

All of the above items working parallel to tax return time. The future can and will be better, by making the most of present challenges. Be creative and effective in creating jobs by helping secure our present obligations.

Now, once we have adjusted normative economic function, on the assumption that weather or flu spells can be addressed with creative response, we can do other things well. At a time Congress probably isn't even in session, it can pattern another job creation/recovery item met through upholding obligations of better governance once the legislative session resumes.

The response stimulus items bridge the recovery over the holiday season and last until tax time. this deepends and lengthens the recovery.

Then, as the outdoor and seasonal work upswing takes place we can add a green energy jobs creation package to the mix. Think of the TVA, for everyone to save on power rates. See who votes against that with the election cycle in swing and with Obama coming through on his recovery momentum.

Suddenly we've bridged the recovery to normal indice upswings. We've placed layers of creative policy onto the economic picture, with an election cycle in aim.

Once the election is done we can draw down the wars entirely and institute a new GI Bill. With small business loans and grants, educational grants and loans, and better healthcare programs, each to serve as model framework for the same kind of transformative policy in a respective field.

Don't just bring them home, arm them with jobs and better quality lifestyles. This helps us be a leader at peacetime. This will enable a new level of market activity.

We've been outshoring and offshoring for a couple of decades.

Now, at a time of vulnerability, there are no private sector sources of job growth.

If we don't address what got us here, we can't fix the problem. Govt programs will only tide us over until private sector job growth starts again - but it won't. The job growth will happen in China and other low wage, low regulation locations, by design, not accident.

Obama declares swine flu a national emergency
-AP

"WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.

The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country..."

Thank you for taking action. An uninsured friend had to visit a trauma center Thursday and Friday. Patients with such symptoms are so dangerous to workers the patient even must wear masks to prevent contaminating others.

Use elements of this to strengthen economic sectors as well. Include lost productivity assessments and small business loan relief, where possible. Make the benefits of action overlap to other sectors in need of boost during the recovery.

"Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development."
This was much needed, this widens the parameters for effective response.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091025/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_swine_flu