Will the web and the growth of China, Brazil and India change aid forever? Or will climate change, conflict and corruption bring development fatigue and more celebrity campaigners? Does aid go on forever? Does global inequality carry on deepening? Crystal ball-gazing is never easy, but recently various development experts have been having a go . Next Tuesday, the Overseas Development Institute is hosting a debate on the future of development. I’ve come up with a couple of scenarios. What makes sense? What have I missed out? Post your version of the future of development below. What follows is a hypothetical vision of aid in 20 years time. It’s 2031 and my daughter checks in on her family twinning over breakfast with her children. She has linked up with a family in a village outside Dakka, Bangladesh and another family in Burundi. Her kids chat to their counterparts on a virtual site; they are going to help each other with homework tonight and her son wants to play a game of football with his Burundi friend. She checks the payment for the family’s microloan has gone through smoothly, and then signs a petition demanding reform of the local water-user fees system. These are her adopted communities. Bilateral aid from western countries has been abolished but in its place there are generous tax incentives for families to sign up to schemes whereby they can donate and then follow what happens to their donation over the web. They can get involved in local communities and get to know the people benefiting from their donations. Aid has shifted from a state business to global people power. Millions of people are connected across the globe, exchanging ideas and spending time together on the web, playing and chatting, and the money follows through huge flows of remittance payments and donations. Alongside this, many companies now have engagement schemes in which they transfer expertise and mentor start-up partners; business plays a much bigger role in development and these corporate partnerships are carefully tracked on dedicated websites. Most countries don’t need big inflows of aid such as the west used to provide. Countries such as Ghana, Rwanda and Ethiopia now have their own aid programmes in which they help spread good ideas and best practice in their regions; the emphasis has shifted from the north/south model to one of regional networks. The three really big players in development are now China, Brazil and India. Europe and the US were overtaken a decade ago, their models of development too tangled up in conditionality and heavy-handed control and interference. What the Big Three concentrate on is knowledge transfer and intellectual property; they demonstrate what worked for them. The biggest challenge across the “developed south” (as it is known) is inequality. Huge efforts have been made to engage the growing middle classes across the developing world in ways to tackle poverty. Many people donate “web time”, offering expertise and support to local campaigns on all the accountability issues now tracked online, from school achievement to maternal mortality. There are still some countries that are very poor, and there are ongoing major humanitarian assistance operations in places of conflict, such as the Congo and southern Sudan, still suffering after decades of war; they are usually run by coalitions led by one of the Big Three. European nations, focused on their own economic problems, are now very marginal in Africa. Looking back, the big breakthrough for Africa was the mobile internet, which proved a spectacular boost to business. It also opened a new era of accountability so that the days when governments could squirrel away billions became a thing of the past. How plausible is that rosy scenario? How about another more pessimistic version of what development could look like in 2030? African countries are crippled by the challenge of adapting to climate change; huge resources are channelled through the Green Fund from industrialised nations, but the money has repeatedly gone astray, and on several occasions, corruption has ended up bringing down governments. The politics of many African countries continues to be the single biggest factor determining development. The youth bulge has been responsible for unprecedented instability because of highrates of unemployment for young people. Urbanisation has seen a rapid and unmanaged expansion leading to mega-slums across Africa and Asia; the lack of access to basic resources such as water and healthcare in these slums has built up immense frustration. Several countries have been rocked by coups and subsequent civil war. Most European nations have largely shut down their aid operations, their electorates became cynical that aid achieved little, and they argued that many poor countries were receiving billions in climate finance already, money that came out of their taxpayers’ pockets. What remains is a celebrity-driven “good causes” model, whereby millions can be raised for particular projects through web donations once it gets the backing of stars such as Justin Bieber, who has now inherited the position once held by veteran campaigners such as Bono back in the noughties. Tell us what you think. Aid Development Madeleine Bunting guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Will the web and the growth of China, Brazil and India change aid forever? Or will climate change, conflict and corruption bring development fatigue and more celebrity campaigners? Does aid go on forever? Does global inequality carry on deepening? Crystal ball-gazing is never easy, but recently various development experts have been having a go . Next Tuesday, the Overseas Development Institute is hosting a debate on the future of development. I’ve come up with a couple of scenarios. What makes sense? What have I missed out? Post your version of the future of development below. What follows is a hypothetical vision of aid in 20 years time. It’s 2031 and my daughter checks in on her family twinning over breakfast with her children. She has linked up with a family in a village outside Dakka, Bangladesh and another family in Burundi. Her kids chat to their counterparts on a virtual site; they are going to help each other with homework tonight and her son wants to play a game of football with his Burundi friend. She checks the payment for the family’s microloan has gone through smoothly, and then signs a petition demanding reform of the local water-user fees system. These are her adopted communities. Bilateral aid from western countries has been abolished but in its place there are generous tax incentives for families to sign up to schemes whereby they can donate and then follow what happens to their donation over the web. They can get involved in local communities and get to know the people benefiting from their donations. Aid has shifted from a state business to global people power. Millions of people are connected across the globe, exchanging ideas and spending time together on the web, playing and chatting, and the money follows through huge flows of remittance payments and donations. Alongside this, many companies now have engagement schemes in which they transfer expertise and mentor start-up partners; business plays a much bigger role in development and these corporate partnerships are carefully tracked on dedicated websites. Most countries don’t need big inflows of aid such as the west used to provide. Countries such as Ghana, Rwanda and Ethiopia now have their own aid programmes in which they help spread good ideas and best practice in their regions; the emphasis has shifted from the north/south model to one of regional networks. The three really big players in development are now China, Brazil and India. Europe and the US were overtaken a decade ago, their models of development too tangled up in conditionality and heavy-handed control and interference. What the Big Three concentrate on is knowledge transfer and intellectual property; they demonstrate what worked for them. The biggest challenge across the “developed south” (as it is known) is inequality. Huge efforts have been made to engage the growing middle classes across the developing world in ways to tackle poverty. Many people donate “web time”, offering expertise and support to local campaigns on all the accountability issues now tracked online, from school achievement to maternal mortality. There are still some countries that are very poor, and there are ongoing major humanitarian assistance operations in places of conflict, such as the Congo and southern Sudan, still suffering after decades of war; they are usually run by coalitions led by one of the Big Three. European nations, focused on their own economic problems, are now very marginal in Africa. Looking back, the big breakthrough for Africa was the mobile internet, which proved a spectacular boost to business. It also opened a new era of accountability so that the days when governments could squirrel away billions became a thing of the past. How plausible is that rosy scenario? How about another more pessimistic version of what development could look like in 2030? African countries are crippled by the challenge of adapting to climate change; huge resources are channelled through the Green Fund from industrialised nations, but the money has repeatedly gone astray, and on several occasions, corruption has ended up bringing down governments. The politics of many African countries continues to be the single biggest factor determining development. The youth bulge has been responsible for unprecedented instability because of highrates of unemployment for young people. Urbanisation has seen a rapid and unmanaged expansion leading to mega-slums across Africa and Asia; the lack of access to basic resources such as water and healthcare in these slums has built up immense frustration. Several countries have been rocked by coups and subsequent civil war. Most European nations have largely shut down their aid operations, their electorates became cynical that aid achieved little, and they argued that many poor countries were receiving billions in climate finance already, money that came out of their taxpayers’ pockets. What remains is a celebrity-driven “good causes” model, whereby millions can be raised for particular projects through web donations once it gets the backing of stars such as Justin Bieber, who has now inherited the position once held by veteran campaigners such as Bono back in the noughties. Tell us what you think. Aid Development Madeleine Bunting guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Fuel duty cut by 1p and fuel duty escalator scrapped • Corporation tax cut by 2p – not 1p as expected • Annual growth forecast revised down from 2.1% to 1.7% • National insurance and income tax may be merged George Osborne has levied a £2bn windfall tax on Britain’s North Sea oil companies to pay for a cut in petrol duties for motorists struggling because of the soaring price of crude oil on global markets. The chancellor said he wanted his budget to “put fuel into the tank of the British economy”. He told the Commons he was scrapping the previous Labour government’s plans for automatic above-inflation increases in fuel duties and would instead be cutting 1p a litre from forecourt prices from tonight. In the sort of flourish that was Gordon Brown’s trademark at the end of his budgets, Osborne announced the fuel duty cut at the climax of a 56-minute speech built around the theme of boosting growth and rebalancing the economy. He said he was cutting corporation tax by 2p in the pound this year rather than the 1p reduction previously planned, and announced a shake-up of planning laws and a bonfire of regulations in an attempt to stimulate enterprise. However, the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said Osborne’s claim to have delivered a budget for growth was undermined by a cut in the growth forecast for 2011 from 2.1% to 1.7%. Osborne cast his second budget since becoming the chancellor in May as an “urgent call to action” in which the government would move from “rescue to reform and from reform to recovery”, building on the deficit reduction measures of 2010. He said it was a fiscal plan designed to create an economy built on private sector growth and the “march of the makers” rather than using government spending and debt to encourage a recovery. He added that his budget measures would be “fiscally neutral across the period, neither raising tax nor offering giveaways”. The chancellor presented a package of measures to boost business and make Britain more competitive, help consumer confidence and claw revenue back elsewhere. Osborne said Britain had “lost ground” in the world’s economy and needed to catch up. His budget set “four economic ambitions” for Britain: being the most competitive tax system in the G20; being the best place to “start, finance and grow a business”, with a more balanced economy and a more educated and “flexible” workforce. Measures included a further 1% cut in corporation tax to make clear that “Britain is open for business” and an annual £1bn clampdown on tax avoidance. “Today’s budget is about reforming the nation’s economy so that we can have enduring jobs and growth in the future, doing what we can to protect families from the high cost of living,” he said. Presented against a deteriorating economic backdrop of rising oil prices, public sector austerity and low consumer confidence, the budget sought to appeal to Britain’s “squeezed middle” by announcing help for first-time home-buyers, and a boost for 25 million income taxpayers by raising the threshold on the personal tax allowance to £8,075 by April 2012. With household bills and retail prices rising, the chancellor concentrated much of the money he has to play with on cutting fuel prices as the cost of petrol and diesel reached all-time national average highs (£1.33 and £1.40 respectively) to increase consumers’ spending power and help business. The rise in fuel duty planned for next week will be delayed until 2012, and the fuel duty escalator that adds 1p to fuel duty on top of inflation each year to be cancelled for the rest of this parliament. A fair fuel stabiliser to help keep costs down in future is to be funded by an increased levy on oil and gas production. Osborne told MPs that helping families with the cost of living and backing enterprise and introducing “far-reaching reforms” to help the economy grow were “one and the same thing”. He said: “It is the central understanding of this government – and core to our strategy – that these are not two separate tasks. They are one and the same thing. “We are only going to raise the living standards of families if we have an economy that can compete in the modern age. “So this is our plan for growth. We want the words ‘made in Britain’, ‘created in Britain’, ‘designed in Britain’, invented in Britain’ to drive our nation forward. “A Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers. That is how we will create jobs and support families. We have put fuel into the tank of the British economy.” But his package received short shrift from Miliband, who told him his economic strategy for Britain was “hurting, not working”. Miliband challenged Osborne’s claim to have delivered a budget for growth, saying the government’s cuts were damaging the economic recovery. “Every time he comes to this house, growth is downgraded,” he said. “One fact says it all, and he couldn’t bring himself to say it: growth down last year, this year and next year. It’s the same old Tories – it’s hurting, but it isn’t working.” Other measures to protect the money in people’s pockets in Osborne’s budget include: • Raising the income tax personal allowance by £630 next year, which comes on top of the £1,000 rise next month and lifting the threshold at which income tax is payable to just over £8,105 from April next year, a real terms increase of £48 a year (or £126 in cash terms) for those earning up to £115,000 a year. The 550,000 taxpayers who earn more than £115,000 will lose £45 a year because they no longer have a personal allowance. The latter measure will see a further 250,000 people taken out of income tax altogether, in a move that brings the coalition a step closer to its promise of delivering a £10,000 tax threshold by the 2015 general election. • A £250m shared equity scheme for new homes, funded from the bank levy, to help 10,000 families. Those with a household income of less than £60,000 a year who can put down a 5% deposit on a new home will be eligible for an equity loan worth up to 20% of the value of the property jointly funded by the government and housebuilders. The loan will be interest-free for five years and only be repayable when the house is sold. In a budget designed to shift away from spending cuts to reduce the national debt to growth-enhancing measures, Osborne also published his growth strategy for business. His bid to boost the private sector includes: • The removal of £350m worth of regulation on businesses. • A three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation for all businesses employing fewer than 10 people. • New planning rules to require planners to prioritise growth and jobs with a new presumption in favour of sustainable development, while retaining existing controls on green belt land. • Small business relief extended to October 2012, at a cost of £370m. • Funding for 21 new enterprise zones. • Funding for 40,000 new apprenticeships for unemployed young people. The chancellor presented gloomy figures based on data from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) which confirmed that the recovery would move at a slower pace than previously forecast. He said GDP growth estimates for 2011 had been cut from 2.1% to 1.7%, while 2012 was revised down to 2.5% from 2.6%. He stressed that the long-term outlook was more upbeat as estimates for 2013 were held and forecasts for 2014 and 2015 were revised upwards to 2.9% from 2.8% and 2.8% from 2.7% respectively. Osborne also revealed that the rate of inflation, currently at 4.4%, is not expected to drop back to the government’s 2% target until 2013, contrary to the Bank of England’s belief it will fall back by 2012. But the chancellor said the government was on track to deliver a balanced structural budget and falling national debt by the end of parliament. “Our fiscal mandate is to achieve a cyclically-adjusted current balance by the end of the rolling five-year forecast period – which is currently 2015-16,” he said. “We have supplemented that with a fixed target for debt: so that debt should be falling as a proportion of GDP by the year 2015-16 as well. “I can report to the house that the OBR confirm that on their central forecast we will meet both these objectives – a balanced structural current budget and falling national debt by the end of the parliament. Indeed, the forecast remains that we will meet both these objectives one year earlier.” On tax, Osborne announced plans to make Britain’s tax system more competitive and simpler: • Corporation tax will be reduced by 2% from April 2011 – rather than 1% as previously announced – and to fall by 1% in each of the next three years to reach 23%. In a bid to offset the effect of the reduction on banks, the bank levy rate will adjusted next year. • “No less than 43 complex tax reliefs” would be abolished as part of a simplification of the tax system, Osborne said. As part of the move, he confirmed widely trailed speculation that he would consult on scrapping the divide between income tax and national insurance as part of a drive to simplify taxation for business. He said this would be a way for people to see more clearly how much they are being taxed, rather than to raise them, and make the system “fit for the modern age”. Osborne balanced giveaways with fresh tax-raising measures, which included: • The charge on non-domiciled taxpayers to increase from £30,000 for those here for seven years to £50,000 for those in the country for 12 years, raising more than £200m. • A clampdown on the “injustice” of tax avoidance. Osborne said three forms of stamp duty land tax avoidance would be closed, capital gains rules for companies would be tightened and the practice of disguised remuneration, which sees highly paid employees offered tax-free, lifetime loans that are never repaid, would come to an end. “In total, on the numbers audited by the independent OBR, the tax avoidance measures in this budget raise around £1bn a year – that’s £4bn over the parliament,” he added. “We are doing more today to clamp down on tax avoidance than in any budget in recent years. And that gives us more resources, in a fiscally neutral budget, to help those families who do pay their taxes, but who are struggling with the daily cost of living.” Budget 2011 Budget George Osborne Economic policy Economic growth (GDP) Economics Green shoots Tax and spending Petrol prices Motoring Property Public finance Hélène Mulholland Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Fuel duty cut by 1p and fuel duty escalator scrapped • Corporation tax cut by 2p – not 1p as expected • Annual growth forecast revised down from 2.1% to 1.7% • National insurance and income tax may be merged George Osborne has levied a £2bn windfall tax on Britain’s North Sea oil companies to pay for a cut in petrol duties for motorists struggling because of the soaring price of crude oil on global markets. The chancellor said he wanted his budget to “put fuel into the tank of the British economy”. He told the Commons he was scrapping the previous Labour government’s plans for automatic above-inflation increases in fuel duties and would instead be cutting 1p a litre from forecourt prices from tonight. In the sort of flourish that was Gordon Brown’s trademark at the end of his budgets, Osborne announced the fuel duty cut at the climax of a 56-minute speech built around the theme of boosting growth and rebalancing the economy. He said he was cutting corporation tax by 2p in the pound this year rather than the 1p reduction previously planned, and announced a shake-up of planning laws and a bonfire of regulations in an attempt to stimulate enterprise. However, the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said Osborne’s claim to have delivered a budget for growth was undermined by a cut in the growth forecast for 2011 from 2.1% to 1.7%. Osborne cast his second budget since becoming the chancellor in May as an “urgent call to action” in which the government would move from “rescue to reform and from reform to recovery”, building on the deficit reduction measures of 2010. He said it was a fiscal plan designed to create an economy built on private sector growth and the “march of the makers” rather than using government spending and debt to encourage a recovery. He added that his budget measures would be “fiscally neutral across the period, neither raising tax nor offering giveaways”. The chancellor presented a package of measures to boost business and make Britain more competitive, help consumer confidence and claw revenue back elsewhere. Osborne said Britain had “lost ground” in the world’s economy and needed to catch up. His budget set “four economic ambitions” for Britain: being the most competitive tax system in the G20; being the best place to “start, finance and grow a business”, with a more balanced economy and a more educated and “flexible” workforce. Measures included a further 1% cut in corporation tax to make clear that “Britain is open for business” and an annual £1bn clampdown on tax avoidance. “Today’s budget is about reforming the nation’s economy so that we can have enduring jobs and growth in the future, doing what we can to protect families from the high cost of living,” he said. Presented against a deteriorating economic backdrop of rising oil prices, public sector austerity and low consumer confidence, the budget sought to appeal to Britain’s “squeezed middle” by announcing help for first-time home-buyers, and a boost for 25 million income taxpayers by raising the threshold on the personal tax allowance to £8,075 by April 2012. With household bills and retail prices rising, the chancellor concentrated much of the money he has to play with on cutting fuel prices as the cost of petrol and diesel reached all-time national average highs (£1.33 and £1.40 respectively) to increase consumers’ spending power and help business. The rise in fuel duty planned for next week will be delayed until 2012, and the fuel duty escalator that adds 1p to fuel duty on top of inflation each year to be cancelled for the rest of this parliament. A fair fuel stabiliser to help keep costs down in future is to be funded by an increased levy on oil and gas production. Osborne told MPs that helping families with the cost of living and backing enterprise and introducing “far-reaching reforms” to help the economy grow were “one and the same thing”. He said: “It is the central understanding of this government – and core to our strategy – that these are not two separate tasks. They are one and the same thing. “We are only going to raise the living standards of families if we have an economy that can compete in the modern age. “So this is our plan for growth. We want the words ‘made in Britain’, ‘created in Britain’, ‘designed in Britain’, invented in Britain’ to drive our nation forward. “A Britain carried aloft by the march of the makers. That is how we will create jobs and support families. We have put fuel into the tank of the British economy.” But his package received short shrift from Miliband, who told him his economic strategy for Britain was “hurting, not working”. Miliband challenged Osborne’s claim to have delivered a budget for growth, saying the government’s cuts were damaging the economic recovery. “Every time he comes to this house, growth is downgraded,” he said. “One fact says it all, and he couldn’t bring himself to say it: growth down last year, this year and next year. It’s the same old Tories – it’s hurting, but it isn’t working.” Other measures to protect the money in people’s pockets in Osborne’s budget include: • Raising the income tax personal allowance by £630 next year, which comes on top of the £1,000 rise next month and lifting the threshold at which income tax is payable to just over £8,105 from April next year, a real terms increase of £48 a year (or £126 in cash terms) for those earning up to £115,000 a year. The 550,000 taxpayers who earn more than £115,000 will lose £45 a year because they no longer have a personal allowance. The latter measure will see a further 250,000 people taken out of income tax altogether, in a move that brings the coalition a step closer to its promise of delivering a £10,000 tax threshold by the 2015 general election. • A £250m shared equity scheme for new homes, funded from the bank levy, to help 10,000 families. Those with a household income of less than £60,000 a year who can put down a 5% deposit on a new home will be eligible for an equity loan worth up to 20% of the value of the property jointly funded by the government and housebuilders. The loan will be interest-free for five years and only be repayable when the house is sold. In a budget designed to shift away from spending cuts to reduce the national debt to growth-enhancing measures, Osborne also published his growth strategy for business. His bid to boost the private sector includes: • The removal of £350m worth of regulation on businesses. • A three-year moratorium on new domestic regulation for all businesses employing fewer than 10 people. • New planning rules to require planners to prioritise growth and jobs with a new presumption in favour of sustainable development, while retaining existing controls on green belt land. • Small business relief extended to October 2012, at a cost of £370m. • Funding for 21 new enterprise zones. • Funding for 40,000 new apprenticeships for unemployed young people. The chancellor presented gloomy figures based on data from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) which confirmed that the recovery would move at a slower pace than previously forecast. He said GDP growth estimates for 2011 had been cut from 2.1% to 1.7%, while 2012 was revised down to 2.5% from 2.6%. He stressed that the long-term outlook was more upbeat as estimates for 2013 were held and forecasts for 2014 and 2015 were revised upwards to 2.9% from 2.8% and 2.8% from 2.7% respectively. Osborne also revealed that the rate of inflation, currently at 4.4%, is not expected to drop back to the government’s 2% target until 2013, contrary to the Bank of England’s belief it will fall back by 2012. But the chancellor said the government was on track to deliver a balanced structural budget and falling national debt by the end of parliament. “Our fiscal mandate is to achieve a cyclically-adjusted current balance by the end of the rolling five-year forecast period – which is currently 2015-16,” he said. “We have supplemented that with a fixed target for debt: so that debt should be falling as a proportion of GDP by the year 2015-16 as well. “I can report to the house that the OBR confirm that on their central forecast we will meet both these objectives – a balanced structural current budget and falling national debt by the end of the parliament. Indeed, the forecast remains that we will meet both these objectives one year earlier.” On tax, Osborne announced plans to make Britain’s tax system more competitive and simpler: • Corporation tax will be reduced by 2% from April 2011 – rather than 1% as previously announced – and to fall by 1% in each of the next three years to reach 23%. In a bid to offset the effect of the reduction on banks, the bank levy rate will adjusted next year. • “No less than 43 complex tax reliefs” would be abolished as part of a simplification of the tax system, Osborne said. As part of the move, he confirmed widely trailed speculation that he would consult on scrapping the divide between income tax and national insurance as part of a drive to simplify taxation for business. He said this would be a way for people to see more clearly how much they are being taxed, rather than to raise them, and make the system “fit for the modern age”. Osborne balanced giveaways with fresh tax-raising measures, which included: • The charge on non-domiciled taxpayers to increase from £30,000 for those here for seven years to £50,000 for those in the country for 12 years, raising more than £200m. • A clampdown on the “injustice” of tax avoidance. Osborne said three forms of stamp duty land tax avoidance would be closed, capital gains rules for companies would be tightened and the practice of disguised remuneration, which sees highly paid employees offered tax-free, lifetime loans that are never repaid, would come to an end. “In total, on the numbers audited by the independent OBR, the tax avoidance measures in this budget raise around £1bn a year – that’s £4bn over the parliament,” he added. “We are doing more today to clamp down on tax avoidance than in any budget in recent years. And that gives us more resources, in a fiscally neutral budget, to help those families who do pay their taxes, but who are struggling with the daily cost of living.” Budget 2011 Budget George Osborne Economic policy Economic growth (GDP) Economics Green shoots Tax and spending Petrol prices Motoring Property Public finance Hélène Mulholland Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Ed Schultz and Ben Jealous Hit Beck for Dismissing That King Died While Fighting for Labor Rights
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Ed Schultz and the NAACP’s Ben Jealous took Glenn Beck to task for his revisionist history, dismissing the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died while fighting for the rights of public sector union members. As they rightfully pointed out, if he were alive today, he’d be out there with these protesters marching against these Republican governors who are doing their best to destroy what’s left of collective bargaining rights for unions in America. Media Matters has more on Beck’s nonsense and you can read the full report here — Beck Dismisses The Fact That MLK Died While Fighting For Labor Rights .
Continue reading …
JERUSALEM — A small device exploded outside Jerusalem’s central bus station on Wednesday, leaving at least 12 injured, according to Israeli emergency services. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the bomb was strapped to a telephone poll near the stop, located outside the International Convention Center and across from the central bus station. Local news media reported that there was no sign of a body at the scene to indicate a suicide attack. The explosion did not appear to be large enough to destroy nearby buses though it did blow out windows. Television images showed people carried away in stretchers. “I heard the explosion in the bus stop,” Meir Hagid, a bus…
Continue reading …From Norman Mailer To Salman Rushdie: Authors Who Have Or Had Hot Spouses (PHOTOS)
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Artists obviously appreciate aesthetics, and it appears writers do as well. All of the following authors, from Norman Mailer to Salman Rushdie, have (or had) attractive husbands, wives, or lovers. Did we miss any of your favorite hot love interests? Let us know in the comments!
Continue reading …From Norman Mailer To Salman Rushdie: Authors Who Have Or Had Hot Spouses (PHOTOS)
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Artists obviously appreciate aesthetics, and it appears writers do as well. All of the following authors, from Norman Mailer to Salman Rushdie, have (or had) attractive husbands, wives, or lovers. Did we miss any of your favorite hot love interests? Let us know in the comments!
Continue reading …
A day doesn’t go by that you don’t hear that nasty, contemptuous, nagging voice saying, “You can’t do anything right. You’re a loser. You’re not good enough.” Then you notice that voice is your voice. You are your own worst enemy. Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? I just keep making mistakes. Nothing I do works out. It’s all my fault. Other people are smarter, more interesting, more attractive. My life just seems like one failure after another. I’m an idiot, a loser, a fake. If any of this sounds like you talking to you, you’re not alone. Millions of us find ourselves battling a self-critic that we can never get away from. It makes you feel sad, hopeless and helpless. It makes you feel stuck in regret. You dwell on all of your past mistakes and think the future will be even worse. You can never get away from your own worst enemy: yourself. Well, the good news is that you can defeat your self-critic and take back your life. You can stand up and put down the voice that puts you down. Here are five steps for answering the voice within you that has made you feel so bad. Replace Self-Criticism With Self-Correction You may think that you are being realistic or that criticizing yourself will help you correct your mistakes and motivate you to do better. But it doesn’t make you better; it just makes you want to give up. Replace self-criticism with self-correction. If you think you could do better, don’t put yourself down. Look for a solution. Change your behavior. Rather than hit yourself over the head with the tennis racquet, correct your swing and hit the ball over the net. Look At The Positives, Too You probably don’t need any training to pay attention to the negatives. In fact, you might win a prize for being the most negative person who talks about you. But even if some of the negatives are true, why not consider the positives also? One woman criticized herself for choosing the wrong man and thought, “I must be stupid.” But when she looked at all the evidence, she realized that she was quite competent and had accomplished a lot. Besides, how could she know the relationship was wrong until she had all the facts? Be As Kind To Yourself As You Are To A Stranger We are often much more harsh with ourselves than we are with a friend, or a total stranger. Recognize this double standard, and when you start criticizing yourself, stop and direct the kindness and compassion that you feel for your best friend toward yourself. Just as you need your friends on your side, you need yourself in your corner. Ask yourself, “If my best friend had this problem, how would I support her?” And then treat yourself as you would treat your best friend. Let Yourself Be Human Sometimes we say, “I did something stupid,” or, “I was really nasty,” and then we are off and running with a litany of negatives, and we sit for hours criticizing ourselves. But we all make mistakes, and we all have flaws and defects. Think of all the people you know, and think about their imperfections, their weaknesses and their mistakes. And you still accept and love them! We are all part of the same flawed human race. We all have some unlovable, stupid and nasty qualities at times. We are all fallen angels. You can recognize your shortcomings without digging a hole and climbing into it. You can rise above your self-critic and say, “Yes, I am human. Deal with it!!” Focus On Your Goals, Not On Your Self-Critic No matter what you do, that voice will still be chattering away, telling you that you can’t do anything right. Wave to it, say, “Hello, I hear you,” and then politely say to your self-critic, “I know that criticizing me is your job, but I have to get on with my life.” Tell your self-critic that it is welcome to chatter away, but you are going to the gym to work out, getting your work done and making your relationships better. Just because there is noise in your head telling you what you can’t do doesn’t mean you can’t get on with things. In fact, once you focus on acting in spite of the critic, you will find that it is irrelevant what this voice says. You have made the most fundamental decision: to live your life fully, with all the ups and downs, with the noise faintly disappearing in the background. You have taken control. Answering your self-critic is the best way to fight for your self-esteem. You need to have yourself on your side. You must be willing to give yourself credit for what you do right and improve what you do wrong.
Continue reading …A day doesn’t go by that you don’t hear that nasty, contemptuous, nagging voice saying, “You can’t do anything right. You’re a loser. You’re not good enough.” Then you notice that voice is your voice. You are your own worst enemy. Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? I just keep making mistakes. Nothing I do works out. It’s all my fault. Other people are smarter, more interesting, more attractive. My life just seems like one failure after another. I’m an idiot, a loser, a fake. If any of this sounds like you talking to you, you’re not alone. Millions of us find ourselves battling a self-critic that we can never get away from. It makes you feel sad, hopeless and helpless. It makes you feel stuck in regret. You dwell on all of your past mistakes and think the future will be even worse. You can never get away from your own worst enemy: yourself. Well, the good news is that you can defeat your self-critic and take back your life. You can stand up and put down the voice that puts you down. Here are five steps for answering the voice within you that has made you feel so bad. Replace Self-Criticism With Self-Correction You may think that you are being realistic or that criticizing yourself will help you correct your mistakes and motivate you to do better. But it doesn’t make you better; it just makes you want to give up. Replace self-criticism with self-correction. If you think you could do better, don’t put yourself down. Look for a solution. Change your behavior. Rather than hit yourself over the head with the tennis racquet, correct your swing and hit the ball over the net. Look At The Positives, Too You probably don’t need any training to pay attention to the negatives. In fact, you might win a prize for being the most negative person who talks about you. But even if some of the negatives are true, why not consider the positives also? One woman criticized herself for choosing the wrong man and thought, “I must be stupid.” But when she looked at all the evidence, she realized that she was quite competent and had accomplished a lot. Besides, how could she know the relationship was wrong until she had all the facts? Be As Kind To Yourself As You Are To A Stranger We are often much more harsh with ourselves than we are with a friend, or a total stranger. Recognize this double standard, and when you start criticizing yourself, stop and direct the kindness and compassion that you feel for your best friend toward yourself. Just as you need your friends on your side, you need yourself in your corner. Ask yourself, “If my best friend had this problem, how would I support her?” And then treat yourself as you would treat your best friend. Let Yourself Be Human Sometimes we say, “I did something stupid,” or, “I was really nasty,” and then we are off and running with a litany of negatives, and we sit for hours criticizing ourselves. But we all make mistakes, and we all have flaws and defects. Think of all the people you know, and think about their imperfections, their weaknesses and their mistakes. And you still accept and love them! We are all part of the same flawed human race. We all have some unlovable, stupid and nasty qualities at times. We are all fallen angels. You can recognize your shortcomings without digging a hole and climbing into it. You can rise above your self-critic and say, “Yes, I am human. Deal with it!!” Focus On Your Goals, Not On Your Self-Critic No matter what you do, that voice will still be chattering away, telling you that you can’t do anything right. Wave to it, say, “Hello, I hear you,” and then politely say to your self-critic, “I know that criticizing me is your job, but I have to get on with my life.” Tell your self-critic that it is welcome to chatter away, but you are going to the gym to work out, getting your work done and making your relationships better. Just because there is noise in your head telling you what you can’t do doesn’t mean you can’t get on with things. In fact, once you focus on acting in spite of the critic, you will find that it is irrelevant what this voice says. You have made the most fundamental decision: to live your life fully, with all the ups and downs, with the noise faintly disappearing in the background. You have taken control. Answering your self-critic is the best way to fight for your self-esteem. You need to have yourself on your side. You must be willing to give yourself credit for what you do right and improve what you do wrong.
Continue reading …