Social Security checks for nearly 49 million Americans are going up by 3.3 % next year, which will mean an extra $33 per month in the average check, the government announced Wednesday. The cost of living adjustment means that the monthly benefit for the typical retired worker in 2007 will go from $1,011 currently to $1,044 next year. The cost of living adjustment announced Wed by the SS Admin will go to more than 53 million people. Nearly 49 million receive SS benefits and the rest Supplemental Security Income payments aimed at the poor. We claim we are so intelligent, but we still use Percentage to give pay raises, and then we wonder why the high end keeps getting more bucks in a percentage raise than those at the bottom. Most do not understand basic Math, 3 % of $500 = $15 and 3 % of $1500 = $45. So who needs more, the guy getting $500 or the guy who is already getting $1500? Why not give all the same dollar increase? Or is that too complicated a math? ...
http://www.cbsnews.com
censor News |
Editor - 09:07:00 10-18-06
|
 Iraq war cost years of progress in Afghanistan - UK brigadier Commander echoes criticism of Blair's foreign policy by head of army |
The invasion of Iraq prevented British forces from helping to secure Afghanistan much sooner and has left a dangerous vacuum in the country for four years, the commander who has led the attack against the Taliban made clear yesterday.Brigadier Ed Butler, commander of 3 Para battlegroup just returned from southern Afghanistan, said the delay in deploying Nato troops after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2002 meant British soldiers faced a much tougher task now.Asked whether the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath had led to Britain and the US taking their eye off the ball, Brig Butler said the question was "probably best answered by politicians".But echoing criticisms last week by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the army, he added that Iraq had affected operations in Afghanistan. "We could have carried on in 2002 in the same way we have gone about business now....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1924794,00.html
full News |
Editor - 08:47:00 10-18-06
|
| NGOs face suspension in Russia |
Dozens of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Russia have been required to suspend operations after missing a deadline to register. Human Rights Watch is one of the bodies that have failed to clear the red tape in time - but it vowed to keep working. Moscow says the new law, allowing monitoring of foreign and domestic NGOs, will stop foreign governments using them for political purposes. Critics say the law is designed to silence independent thought in Russia. There are estimated to be between 200 and 500 NGOs operating in Russia. Registration officials said 80 had registered under the new law by Wednesday's deadline and 72 other applications were still being examined. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6061702.stm
full News |
Editor - 08:43:00 10-18-06
|
| U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Hits 69 in Oct. |
The U.S. military reported Wednesday that 10 American troops had been killed the day before, raising the death toll so far this month to 69 and putting October on track to be the deadliest month for coalition forces since January 2005. The nine U.S. soldiers and one Marine were killed by roadside bombs and enemy fire in and around the capital on Tuesday, the military reported. The sharp rise in deaths comes as the U.S. has increased the number of troops in the Baghdad area to try to stop the spiraling sectarian and insurgent violence engulfing the city of some 6 million people. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, consulted with Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf in a bid to enlist support for efforts to build political consensus and tackle the Sunni-Shiite killings...
http://The U.S. military reported Wednesday that 10 American troops had been killed the day before, raising the death toll so far this month to 69 and putting October on track to be the deadliest month for coalition forces since January 2005. The nine U.S. soldiers and one Marine were killed by roadside bombs and enemy fire in and around the capital on Tuesday, the military reported. The sharp rise in deaths comes as the U.S. has increased the number of troops in the Baghdad area to try to stop the spiraling sectarian and insurgent violence engulfing the city of some 6 million people. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, consulted with Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf in a bid to enlist support for efforts to build political consensus and tackle the Sunni-Shiite killings...
full News |
Editor - 08:31:00 10-18-06
|
| Witnesses in Saddam trial recall massacre of Kurdish detainees |
A Kurdish witness at Saddam Hussein's genocide trial testified Wednesday that he survived a massacre by running and falling into a ditch full of bodies as troops fired on his group of detainees. A second Kurd told of a separate massacre in which 35 detainees, knowing they were about to die, decided to attack their guards in the hope that if they struck first, at least one would live to tell the tale. Speaking from behind a curtain to conceal his identity for fear of reprisal, the first witness said he was in a group of detainees who thought they were being taken to another detention center during the military offensive that Saddam's government waged against the Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988. But their convoy of trucks stopped in the desert. "It was dark when they brought a group of people (prisoners) in front of the vehicle. The drivers got out of our vehicles and turned on the headlights."...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-10-18-saddam_x.htm?csp=34
full News |
Editor - 08:29:00 10-18-06
|
| Venezuela Won't 'Surrender' In U.N. Fight Chavez Accuses U.S. Of Waging Campaign To Keep Venezuela Off Security Council |
Venezuela refused to abandon its bid for Latin America's seat on the U.N. Security Council despite trailing Guatemala in 12 straight rounds of voting, creating a deadlock that led to new calls for the region to put forward a compromise candidate. In Tuesday's last vote — the 22nd over two days — Guatemala garnered 102 votes to Venezuela's 77. That result, similar to that of many of the previous rounds in the General Assembly, was short of the two-thirds majority of 120 needed to win, and diplomats said it appeared that neither would be able to bridge the gap. Despite trailing U.S.-backed Guatemala, President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that Venezuela will not abandon its bid for a U.N. Security Council seat . “Venezuela does not surrender,” Chavez said in a speech Tuesday night. “I say it here to the whole world, Venezuela will continue waging this battle.” ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/18/world/main2101146.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2101146
full News |
Editor - 08:25:00 10-18-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
