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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 24th, 2008 Natives Hope Obama Will Be Their President, Too. By Haider Rizvi from IPS NEW YORK, Nov 24 (IPS) - During his election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said that he cared about the issues facing Native American communities and insisted that they could trust him — pledges that Native leaders are now watching closely as the president-elect appoints a new cabinet and fills other key federal posts. So far, Obama has named six native political figures to his transition team — half of them assigned to assist in Interior Department policy, budget and personnel changes. The Natives, also known as “American Indians”, have their own sovereign governments, which the United States recognises in accordance with its constitution and under treaty obligations. However, as the Native leaders observe, their communities have always suffered from inattention during the transition and early years of past U.S. administrations. In her view, “any significant reform efforts must be planned during the transition and start at the beginning of an administration if they are to succeed.” As he continued to reach out to new voting blocs past summer, Obama made a campaign stop at an Indian reservation in Montana, where he told the audience that, as an African-American, he identified with their struggles. “I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored and I know what it’s like to struggle and that’s how I think many of you understand what’s happened here on the reservation,” Obama said. In his speech, Obama added: “A lot of times you have been forgotten, just like African-Americans have been forgotten or other groups in this country have been forgotten.” Statistics show that the indigenous communities, which constitute about one percent of the U.S. population, are among the most marginalised sections of society with regard to health care, education and employment. In March 2006 and again in March 2008, a panel of U.N. experts analysed the U.S. government’s treatment of indigenous Americans and ruled that it was guilty of racial discrimination.
Indigenous rights activists say they hope that the Obama administration would endorse the declaration, which recognised the rights of the indigenous peoples around the world to control their lands and resources and be able to freely practice their belief systems and traditional values without interference from outside forces. During the Nov. 4 presidential election, a vast majority of Native people voted for Obama, according to Frank LaMere of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, who led the American Indian delegation to the Democratic Convention. “Obama has stood with us and it is now time that we stand with him,” he said in a statement, describing the Natives’ interest in the political process as unprecedented. “Indian country has responded to the Democratic message of change and the need for urgency.” On the campaign trail in Montana, Obama was adopted as an honourary member of the Crow tribe, a ceremony that native activists say is reserved for special dignitaries. On that occasion, he was given a new name, “Barack Black Eagle”. Peltier was arrested after a shootout between American Indian militants and federal agents in Pine Ridge in 1975. Some 60 natives were killed along with two FBI agents. Peltier has consistently refused to claim his innocence and considers his imprisonment an act of racism. Over the years, a number of world-renowned figures, including the South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have called for Peltier’s release, but in vain. According to Amnesty International, Peltier is a “prisoner of conscience”. Just three months before the election, Peltier sent a letter to the president-elect from his jail cell, expressing his interest in Obama’s candidacy. “Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States,” he wrote. However, at the same time, he did not hesitate to warn Obama against opportunism. “Symbolism alone will not bring about change,” wrote Peltier. “Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling.” “I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law,” said Peltier. On April 26, when asked to explain his views on the case, Obama said: “Well, look, obviously there was a tragedy in New York. I said at the time, without benefit of all the facts before me that it looked like a possible case of excessive force. The judge has made his ruling, and we’re a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down.” That is not how the hero of the indigenous peoples of the land looks at how the U.S. political and legal system works. “Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimise an inhuman institution,” Peltier wrote in the letter. *** “We will never be able to undo the wrongs that were committed against Native Americans, but what we can do is make sure that we have a president who’s committed to doing what’s right with Native Americans, being full partners, respecting, honouring, working with you,” Obama told the Native crowd back in May. “That’s the commitment that I’m making to you, and since now I’m a member of the family, you know that I won’t break my commitment.” he said. The question many Natives are now asking is: Will he? ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 1st, 2008
The final stretch of the Presidential race has become an ideological proxy war between Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt. So it has all come down to this.
No, John McCain and Barack Obama have made the race’s final weeks an ideological proxy war between two presidential icons who still loom larger than them: Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt.
*** Mind you, neither personifies these predecessors. Obama’s moderate record is not FDR’s quasi-socialism, and McCain has renounced some of his Reagan-inspired dogma. Both also ignore inconsistencies. Obama criticizes the “failed philosophy” of Reagan conservatism while infusing some of his own prescriptions with such conservatism. McCain attacks Obama’s “socialism” after voting for the bank bailout bill — the most aggressive stroke of socialism in contemporary American history. That’s why conservatives are so worried. They see the cause and effect: As McCain doubles down on the right’s economic catechism, Obama is surging. Even in traditional Gipper territory like Colorado and Virginia, the Rooseveltian Socialist is running ahead of Reagan Reincarnate. Conservatives’ response is a preemptive “nah, nah, can’t hear you!” They contend that no matter how big progressives may win on Election Day, this is nonetheless a center-right nation. Indeed, a LexisNexis search shows this poll-tested term — “center-right nation” — is lately among the Punditburo’s most ubiquitous Orwellian buzzwords. From a Newsweek cover story by conservative dittohead Jon Meacham to a Wall Street Journal screed by former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan to a Politico.com diatribe by former Rudy Giuliani aide John Avlon, the “center-right nation” phrase is being parroted with the propagandistic discipline of Cuba’s Ministry of Information. The proof of this center-right nation? Republicans cite polls showing more Americans call themselves conservative than liberal. While that data point certainly measures brand name, those same surveys undermine the right’s larger argument because they show majorities support progressive positions on most economic issues. Nevertheless, if Obama wins, expect more frantic talk from the fringe about how electing a black man billed as an Islamic Karl Marx obviously means our country is more conservative than ever. We’ll also be treated to hysterical assertions like those from former Bush aide Peter Wehner, who this week told the Washington Post that “it is a mistake to assume that significant GOP losses, should they occur, are a referendum on conservatism.” But with the Bush era finely tuning America’s BS detector, repetition and revisionism can no longer cloak reality. That would be the very mandate for “direct, vigorous action” Roosevelt described in his 1933 inaugural address. Should a President Obama try to capitalize on it, he will have nothing to fear but fear itself. ——————— David Sirota is a best-selling author whose newest book, “The Uprising,” was just released this month. He is a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and a board member of the Progressive States Network — both nonpartisan organizations. His blog is at www.credoaction.com ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 30th, 2008 Evangelicals and Rural Americans Are Breaking Big for Obama: A mass defection from the Republican Party may be underway in counties that were once GOP strongholds. Call it the reverse Bradley Effect. By Robert S. Eshelman, Tomdispatch.com. Posted October 30, 2008. (b) According to a poll commissioned by the Center for Rural Strategies, in those areas which Bush won in 2004 by 53%-41%, Obama now holds a statistically insignificant one point lead. (c) To complete this little trifecta, Gallup has just released a poll showing that Jews are now likely to vote for Obama by a more than 3 to 1 majority (74% to 22%). ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 21st, 2008 Environment on AlterNet. From the editors: We’ve also got some great election and economy related content this week — the big topics of the day, including some words that Michael Pollan has for the next president. Thanks for reading, Tara Lohan, Managing Editor SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT MAY BE OUR BEST HOPE FOR THE ECONOMY — ELECTION GUIDE ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURE: A RUINED PLANET IS CLOSER TO REALITY HOW THE ECONOMIC CRISIS WILL AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS TO DRY UP THE SOUTHWEST’S FUTURE DEAR MR. NEXT PRESIDENT — FOOD, FOOD, FOOD THE MELTDOWN WE REALLY CAN’T AFFORD ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 14th, 2008 India’s humble rickshaw goes solar. Developed by the state-run Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), prototypes are receiving a baptism of fire by being road-tested in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area. “The most important achievement will be improving the lot of rickshaw drivers,” said Pradip Kumar Sarmah, head of the non-profit Centre for Rural Development. “It will dignify the job and reduce the labour of pedalling. From rickshaw pullers, they will become rickshaw drivers,” Sarmah said. India has an estimated eight million cycle-rickshaws. The makeover includes FM radios and powerpoints for charging mobile phones during rides. Gone are the flimsy metal and wooden frames that give the regular Delhi rickshaws a tacky, sometimes dubious look. The “soleckshaw,” which has a top speed of 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) per hour, has a sturdier frame and sprung, foam seats for up to three people. The fully-charged solar battery will power the rickshaw for 50 to 70 kilometres (30 to 42 miles). Used batteries can be deposited at a centralised solar-powered charging station and replaced for a nominal fee. If the tests go well, the “soleckshaw” will be a key transport link between sporting venues at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. “Rickshaws were always environment friendly. Now this gives a totally new image that would be more acceptable to the middle-classes,” said Anumita Roychoudhary of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. “Rickshaws have to be seen as a part of the solution for modern traffic woes and pollution. They have never been the problem. The problem is the proliferation of automobiles using fossil fuels,” she said. Initial public reaction to the “soleckshaw” has been generally favourable, and the rickshaw pullers have few doubts about its benefits. “Pedalling the rickshaw was very difficult for me,” said Bappa Chatterjee, 25, who migrated to the capital from West Bengal and is one of the 500,000 pullers in Delhi. “I used to suffer chest pains and shortage of breath going up inclines. This is so much easier. “Earlier, when people hailed us it was like, ‘Hey you rickshaw puller!’ Police used to harass us, slapping fines even abusing us for what they called wrong parking. Now people look at me with respect,” Chatterjee said. Mohammed Matin Ansari, another migrant from eastern Bihar state, said the new model offered parity with car, bus and scooter drivers. “Now we are as good as them,” he said. Indian authorities have big dreams for the “soleckshaw.” India’s Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal who hailed the invention for its “zero carbon foot print” said it should be used beyond the confines of Delhi. “Soleckshaws would be ideal for small families visiting the Taj Mahal,” he told AFP. At present battery-operated buses ferry people to the iconic monument in Agra — but their limited numbers cannot cope with the heavy tourist rush. CSIR director Sinha said he hoped an advanced version of the “soleckshaw” with a car-like body would become a viable alternative to the “small car” favoured by Indian middle class families. “Greenhouse gas emissions are showing an increasing trend year on year and 60 percent of this comes from the global transport sector. “In the age of global warming, the soleckshaw, with improvements, can be successfully developed as competition for all the petrol and diesel run small cars,” Sinha said. ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 13th, 2008 The Previous posting was September 30, 2008. Now, after the weekend that saw Washington “Get To Its Senses”thanks to an infusion of ideas from G7 Finance Ministers, Central Bank Officials, and other European leaders, who came to the WB/IMF yearly enclave in Washington, and actually told the Americans that things have to be run for the sake of the people, rather then for the sake of the stock-holders and managers. It is only when the people’s interests are cared for, that the health of the banks will return - finally the US was ready to move on the re-capitalization of the banks. Call it what you want - but this is a guarantee that the National interest is now at stake - not just the jobs of the managers - so, at these depressed prices, the Spaniards, who did not lose from the Americanization of the global useless paper market because their regulations did not allow such deals, and who already expanded two weeks earlier into the UK, are now buying into the US. Simple enough - they say that the US is seen as a higher growth market than Western Europe, despite the possibility of a US recession. Obviously, that is only so if you do not try short cuts, and earn rather your gains from work, not gimmicks. The US needs this money inflow and the Bush Adminstration is guaranteeing these investments. So, Santander Bank is now buying up Sovereign Bancorp Inc, and their competitors from BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, got already two Texas Banks and now get Compass Bancshares Inc, of Birmingham Alabama with 400 branches from Florida to Arizona.
The Big Question: Why are Spanish banks in such “rude” health when ours (that is the UK) are ailing? Why are we asking this now? Spain’s biggest banking group, Santander, yesterday galloped to the rescue of Bradford and Bingley, the latest British bank to hit the skids, saving it from bankruptcy and probably further economic meltdown. It’s part of Santander’s grand plan to become the world’s top bank. It is already the leading bank in the Eurozone, No1 in Latin America, and seventh in the world by market share. Once it’s consolidated its presence in the British market, it plans to conquer the US. Growth is its watchword. “The aim is to be second to none,” the bank says in its characteristically immodest way. Yes, it chummed up with the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1988 and got a seat on the board, which gave Santander a window on the world that was invaluable when it developed ambitions of international expansion. Four years ago it acquired Abbey National, and it is still digesting Alliance & Leicester which it bought for a song in July. You have to remember that the Banco Santander began as a local family-run operation in the northern Spanish city whose name it bears. There’s not much it doesn’t know about how small regional banks work. Santander is run by the charismatic Emilio Botin, 73, the latest patriarch of this great Spanish banking dynasty, an astute predator steeped in the business to his fingertips. At the pinnacle of the most powerful business operation in Spain, he is arguably the country’s most influential man. When Botin endorsed Spain’s incoming socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2004, a jittery stock market calmed down instantly. The bank has a record of homing in on distressed banks, even lumbering shareholders with apparently hopeless liabilities, as when it scooped up Spain’s Banesto bank in 1995, when it was a multimillion pound black hole ruined by a reckless fraudster. Botin put his daughter Ana Patricia – who will probably succeed when the old man eventually retires – in charge of the operation and she turned it round within five years. Santander then swallowed Banco Central Hispano in 1995, which enabled it enter the turbulent Latin American market, to the alarm of more cautious operators. Within 10 years Santander consolidated itself as the top bank in the region, and turned its attention to Europe.
Mortgages in Spain are mostly handled by savings banks, which aren’t quoted on the stock exchange. Some of these became over-generous in dishing out loans during the recent long property boom, and since the bubble burst many face liquidity problems.
As well as knowing the market inside out, Santander’s top brass, ie Mr Botin, the indusputed boss, has an astute sense of market timing. Last year the bank conducted the real estate operation of the century by selling off all its 1,200 properties at the peak of the property boom, including wedding cake palaces in the heart of Spain’s major cities. Pulled off just before the market crashed, the deal netted Santander 4bn euros – which neatly funded last year’s purchase, jointly with its affiliate the Royal Bank of Scotland, of the Dutch bank ABN Amro. It cannily held on to all its branches, however – the bits that make money – and even remains tenant of the properties it sold, with an option to buy back in the future. We can expect to see more of Santander’s scarlet flame logo as the old names Abbey, Alliance& Leicester and Bradford&Bingley gradually fade away. In acquiring B&B – as in all its acquisitions – the Spanish bank has been careful to peel away and sell off the liabilities it doesn’t want, to home in on the elements of its core business: branches, and bank deposits. So having lots of branches is the key to banking success? That’s the Santander way. It may seem like boring stuff to braver bankers, but Santander believes we need more branches – in Spain there’s a bank on every street corner – and that these are the source of steady money, what Mr Botin calls “high-quality, recurrent earnings”. However, Santander is ruthless in stripping out what he doesn’t need, so bank employees may fear for their jobs. Will Santander be satisfied, or will it want more of the British market? Yes *Santander has saved B&B from ruin, and account holders can feel their savings and deposits are safe. *Santander’s low risk policy suggests it will be a steadying influence on Britain’s future banking scene. *Without Santander’s action, the alternative could have been a wider meltdown too awful to contemplate. No *Santander’s move reinforces the concentration of Britain’s banks in the hands of a powerful few. *Santander has a mixed reputation for its service, and it is strong enough to brush off complaints. *Savings are better handled by local building societies than by banks answerable only to shareholders. =========== Some of our pointers - A Socialist Prime Minister in Spain; A retreat from Iraq; A US Presidential candidate - John McCain who seemingly thought Spain was an enemy of the US for not following Washington’s edicts like many other lemmings. Mr. Botin will not laugh, he will not even chuckle - he will just go about his solid business and will not eat chuff. His daughter will take over after him - a solid Spanish woman - He backed Zapatero rather then a Sarah Palin. Further, we know Bank Santander in New York - among its many philanthropies right here - it is also the host for many solid meetings of the New York based “Foreign Policy Association.” The Bank Manager in the US comes to listen and mingle with the crowd. ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 10th, 2008 We bring here the material e-mailed to the Thunderbird Alumni Network of which we are a ‘75 Class Member. Thunderbird’s full-time MBA was ranked in 2008 No. 1 in the world for international business by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and U.S. News & World Report, and its Working Executive MBA Program was Ranked No. 3 Worldwide in the Wall Street Journal 2008 Rankings.
Thunderbird Professor and Director of the Global Financial Services Center, F. John Mathis, recently shared his insight and thoughts on the current situation in the banking industry and its impact on the financial services sector. This informal session was presented on campus and was recorded for viewing by alumni. To view the presentation, please click the following link: Thunderbird in the News Want to know what others are saying about Thunderbird? Click here for Thunderbird in the News. ——————————
Many working professionals hungry for world-class international management education commute from neighboring states and even the East Coast to participate in Thunderbird’s Executive MBA program, which was ranked No. 3 in a new global survey released Sept. 30 by the Wall Street Journal. Thunderbird’s full-time MBA ranked No. 1 in the world for international business by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and U.S. News & World Report. The latest rankings focus on executive MBA programs, which cater to working professionals through formats such as concentrated weekend classes. The new Wall Street Journal report was based on surveys with thousands of students and hundreds of companies. For the full story, click here. To view the rankings, visit: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_EMBARank_20080929.html To read the Wall Street Journal report, visit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122244975223379303.html |






















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