From:  DOLLARS & SENSE - The Magazine For Economic Justice.

 http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/…

Dear Dr. Dollar:
Isn’t the “bailout” of Wall Street like having a rotten tooth extracted? The extraction is very unpleasant, but it beats the alternative. Even if the dentist charges an unreasonably high fee, I am still going to pay and have the job done. Later I will worry about taking better care of my teeth. So shouldn’t people quit complaining about the bailout, suck it up, and get the job done?
—Peter Wagner, Weston, Mass.

FINANCIAL CRISIS -

I do like thinking about the mess in the financial markets as a “rotten tooth,” for something is certainly “rotten” in the current situation. And there is a way in which the analogy is useful: just as we are heavily dependent on the dentist to deal with our teeth, we are heavily dependent on the banks and other financial institutions for the operation of our economy. But if we are going to use the dentist-finance analogy, we need to take it a bit further.

In particular, if the dentist who tells me I need my tooth yanked out in an emergency extraction is the same dentist who for years has been telling me that my teeth are fine, then I get suspicious. This dentist has been making money from me all along, and now, when the crisis of a rotten tooth emerges, the dentist stands to make more money while I incur the pain. The situation is similar to the bailout of the financial system: the banks keep their profits in good times, but the losses are imposed on the rest of us in bad times. At the very least, when the people responsible for a problem—dentists or bankers—tell me to solve the problem in a way that benefits them, I want to get a second opinion, figure out the options, and proceed with caution.

***

As we have been learning in recent weeks, there is more than one option for dealing with the “rotten tooth.“ In part because of public pressure (i.e., complaining), the Treasury shifted away from its initial plan to buy up the bad assets in the financial system and is now taking partial ownership of the banks by providing them with capital.

Not only is the second plan more likely to work (in the sense of preventing a breakdown of the financial system), but it is also more likely to cost the rest of us less over the long run (because as the banks recover and start to earn profits, the government will share in those profits).

There are other options that the U.S. government might follow as well. For example, the main reason we care about what happens to the banks is that their failures could spread to the rest of us, causing a severe depression.

But instead of working simply from the top down, the U.S. government would do well to work from the bottom up—by focusing on the problems of people losing their homes due to foreclosures and by providing a large economic stimulus program through spending on schools, infrastructure, health care, and other real economic needs.

***

And, just as with my tooth, if the problem really did arise because of the bad practices of those who were supposed to take care of the situation (wasn’t this the dentist who had been telling me all was well?), then we should give some immediate attention to proper regulation.

The current financial crisis could have been avoided but for the deregulation craze of recent decades. Fixing the deregulation disaster should not be put off to the distant future.

***

Regulation is not a panacea. There can certainly be bad regulations, sometimes brought about by the firms themselves in an effort to use regulation to secure their power and profits.

Establishing good regulations is a constant battle, as the large firms devote huge amounts of their resources to get deregulation or to shape regulation in their favor.

Yet without regulation, markets—especially financial markets—are prone to instability, and at times that instability can have severe impacts on the rest of us.

While the dentist analogy may be incomplete, it does bring out a very important point.

Because we are excessively dependent on the operations of a relatively small number of very large firms, when they get in trouble, we can be forced to bail them out. Not a good situation.

Indeed, the situation is made worse as the current crisis is leading to more consolidation of the banking industry; with the encouragement of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, big banks are being taken over by even bigger banks.

At the very least, if we are going to allow some firms to become “too big to fail,” then we would do well to watch them pretty carefully—that is, to regulate them and thus do all we can to prevent them from operating in ways that put us all at risk.

[Full disclosure: Last month I had a tooth extracted and it wasn’t all that bad—certainly not as painful as the current Wall Street bailout! —A.M.]

Arthur MacEwan is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Dollars & Sense Associate.

——————

Dollars & Sense , a Magazine.
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e-mail:  dollars at dollars.andSense.org

 From Green Chip Review     <gcr-eletter@angelnexus.com>

The “Rockefeller Shareholder Stipulation”
Old Money’s Going the Way of New Energy: Earlier this year, the Rockefeller family, which still holds tremendously large positions in Exxon stock, put forward an alarming shareholder resolution…

… One that would require an independent chairman oversee Exxon’s operations, so that the company could

“better maximize long-term shareholder value in a rapidly changing energy environment.”

The Rockefellers, no strangers to money, are demanding Exxon’s future include a stake in renewable energy.

***

So, Green Chip comes on strong: and declares in Green Letters - $20 Trillion Up For Grabs.

You read that right - $20 Trillion!

Here’s the situation…

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)…

The world’s primary energy needs are projected to grow by 55% between 2005 and 2030.
Chinese and Indian crude oil imports will almost quadruple by 2030, creating a supply crunch no later than 2015.

Coal demand will rise by 73% between 2005 and 2030.
Because of this unprecedented demand for energy, the IEA found that $20 trillion of investment in supply infrastructure is needed to meet projected global energy demand.

And where will a big chunk of this money go?
The same place it’s been going for the past few years - alternative energy.

In fact, from 2006 to 2007 alone, new investment in alternative energy soared a full 60%… to $148.4 billion.

And what about the investment growth rate for exploration and development in oil and gas? Nothing. Zilch.
Not even a 1% increase.

So, if the world is so desperate for more energy (especially oil… with Chinese and Indian imports expected to quadruple by 2030), why was so much poured into alternatives, and so little poured into oil and gas?

Simple.

Because the smart money always piles into a sure thing. And no matter how you slice it, the basic fundamentals of supply and demand favor the long-term success of alternative energy.

That’s why Big Oil, the big institutional investors, and all those hot shot venture capital firms are injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into the alternative energy sector.

And if you don’t believe it, take a look at these findings from a 2008 UN report on global trends in alternative energy investment.

In 2007…

Early-stage venture capital investment surged 112% to $2 billion.
Research and Development spending on clean energy and energy efficiency was $16.9 billion.
Alternative energy companies more than doubled the amount of money they raised on the world’s public markets  in 2007, raising $27 billion.
Financing of sustainable energy assets grew by 61% to $108 billion.
$30 billion was under management in core clean energy funds.
Even developing countries are shifting investment priorities.

New clean energy investment in China, India, and Brazil grew from $1.8 billion in 2004 to $26 billion in 2007. That’s a growth rate of more than 1,300% in only 3 years… at the same time spending remains flat for oil and gas exploration and development.

Of course, the total investment that’ll be plowed into alternative energy by 2030 won’t even come close to the $20 trillion the IEA expects we’ll need.

Truth is, most analysts believe alternative energy will only cover about 5% of that total investment.

But that still comes in at $1 trillion.

Bono: “Let’s Put Humanity Back on Earth”
By Bono, AlterNet.  October 25, 2008.

In a recent speech, the pop star makes an impassioned call for Americans to resist the urge to turn inward during our troubled times.

Bono addressed 14,000 women in Long Beach, Calif., this week at The Women’s Conference 2008. The following is an excerpt from his speech.

Rock stars have two urges. (No, really, just two.) They want to change the world, and they want to have fun. And I believe we can’t do one without the other. It’s like music — no one trusts music that lacks joy. It’s the life force in rock and roll that we love. Especially in serious times, in traumatic times. We need to dig deep to find joy.

So let me repeat, we are here tonight because we want to change the world in a tiny way in our ‘hoods or in a grand way in our global community and in so doing, find our joy. But we can’t change the world without first changing the way we look at the world. The way you behave in the world depends entirely on the way you view the world. Weltanschauung is what the Germans call it.

Californians call it your attitude … dude.

My worldview was shaped by rock and roll. Growing up in the depressed Dublin of the ’70s, music was like an alarm clock for me. It woke me up out of suburban slumber. It made me believe that my life could have some purpose outside of 10 Cedarwood Road.

It was the time of punk rock. No more flowers in our hair … no more flowers, period. I was weaned on the Clash. The Clash’s music was like a public service announcement … with guitars.

Three teenage boys and me, made some music of our own. That was the plan.

But in the mid ’80s my life — not just my hairdo — changed in unexpected ways.

U2 became part of the phenomenon that was Live Aid, We Are the World, Feed the World … do you remember that?

My young wife Ali and I went to Ethiopia to see for ourselves what was going on. We lived there for a month, working at a feeding camp and orphanage. The children had a name for me. They called me ‘the Girl with the Beard.’

Don’t ask.

Ali and I found Africa a magical place — a place of big skies, big hearts, beautiful people, royal people. Ethiopia didn’t just blow our minds, it opened our minds.

And it challenged our worldview.

A man begged us to take his son back with us to Ireland, because in Ireland he would live, and in Ethiopia, at that time, there was every chance he would die.

Ali and I have our own children now. Four of them. We could have had five.

Our daughters and sons mean more to us than any other thing.

They are the beauty that can take any pain away.

In my travels I have met kids the mirror image of my own and looked into their faces as they let go of life.

And it makes me even angrier that their eyes are always free of accusation. It humbles me beyond belief that they don’t hold it against a world that couldn’t spare the 20-cent immunization that would have them back in the bosom of their family.

Even their mothers and fathers … their grief is pure. There’s no blame, just acquiescence. … I know my rage as a parent would have no end. In fact, it doesn’t. I do hold it against a world that can accept such things as inevitable.

They’re not inevitable. They’re not acceptable. In fact, they’re absurd.

History has a way of making ideas that are once acceptable, look ridiculous.

Let’s not forget … “no blacks, no Irish.”

Let’s not forget … the back of the bus.

Let’s not forget … apartheid and Jim Crow.

Let’s not forget … women couldn’t vote.

Ridiculous, all of it. Totally absurd. We know that now. Most people didn’t back then. My trip to Ethiopia, considered in that context, told me what I needed to do. Not exactly what to do — just something, anything, to end the absurdity of what I had seen. It changed my worldview.

That’s how I became the least attractive thing in the world: a rock star with a cause.

Except this isn’t a cause, is it?

Eight thousand Africans dying every day of AIDS, TB and malaria — preventable, treatable diseases — dying for lack of drugs we can buy at any drugstore. Twelve million AIDS orphans in Africa, 18 million by the end of the decade. A whole generation of active adults wiped out, children bringing up children.

That’s not a cause, that’s an emergency.

These are fires we know how to put out.

Yes. It’s an absurdity. An absurdity. You know it couldn’t happen here. If someone on our street was dying because they couldn’t get medicine that we had in our cabinet, we’d get them the medicine. If a family was starving at the end of your block, you’d get them some food. You know you’d just do it. Because it was right.

You’d do it also because you can.

We can’t fix every problem, but the ones we can we must.

And we can. We can. We have the know-how, the technologies, the pharmacologies, to transform public health in the developing world.

With small investments we can radically improve crop yields, dig wells and make the land fertile and productive.

Turning the desert into fertile land … sound familiar? This is California, this is who you are. I don’t have to convince you of the power of technology. California is the frontier of what’s possible. The outer boundary of imagination … innovation.

More people live off their imagination in this city than any other on Earth.

And surely, down the road from Silicon Valley, I don’t have to tell you how connected we are. Connected in ways we never could have imagined — our lives and our fates.

In a globalized world, Africa is our neighbor. It’s right down the lane. We see, we know, exactly what’s happening. A continent burns, and we smell the smoke. It stings our eyes; it sears our conscience.

But maybe not as much as it should. We live with it, don’t we? We’re used to it … on a certain level, we’ve come to accept it. Men especially. A lot of men have developed an ability to live with this absurdity. Most women haven’t.

Now, I see your expression. It says:

Oh, Bono, I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.

No, really, you’re the first.

Listen, I’m not saying this to flatter you. Not even I — not even this rather indiscreet rock star — would have the audacity to use gender stereotypes in the presence of the great Gloria Steinem.

I say it because it’s true.

This emergency hits women where they live, more than most men.

As hard as it is to ask fans at a rock show to think about the value of a child’s life far, far away … or to ask boardroom America … or political America … you do not have to explain to the women of America, the mothers of America, the value of a child’s life.

If you agree, well, why would that be? Why would women be more concerned? Biology? Does it have something to do with that second X chromosome? Do men, on the other hand, have some gene that makes them look the other way … that narrows their vision … that gives them a penis, but no conscience — no balls?

I’m no scientist, but there’s some anecdotal evidence here.

But of course it’s crap … biology is not destiny. But it does seem that women are more empathetic, more attuned to suffering, the reason may be obvious: I think women care more because women bear more of the burdens of life.

Where AIDS is rampant, women are the hardest hit. In South Africa last year, young women ages 15 to 24 accounted for 90 percent of new HIV infections. Over two-thirds of people with AIDS in Africa are women.

Where children are orphaned by AIDS, it’s women who care for them.

Where schools are few, where education is poor, girls are more likely to go without.

Where women are shut out of politics, they’re shut out of a lot more than that.

Where health systems collapse, it’s women and children who suffer the most. In Africa, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth is 1 in 20. One in 20!

Where opportunity is scarce, women lag far behind men in income, in access to credit, the chance to start a business, the right to own and inherit land.

In developing countries, landowners are mostly men, but up to 80 percent of farmers are women. Eighty percent! So women can’t own the land, but they work the land. They till the arid soil. They carry the water all those miles.

This, I know, is a strange time to come to America and talk about water wells in Africa. You might not mind my asking you to care — but asking you to do something about it? That’s another story.

The most reasonable response might be tell this Irish rock star to go back to his posh house in Ireland … to come back when the Dow is up … or when U2’s next record is out. Bye-bye, see you then.

It’s counterintuitive, at best, to ask this country to look outward at a time when it’s so tempting to turn inward. Tempting to double-lock the doors, stop answering the phone, focus on your own problems for a while. I get it.

Clearly these are momentous times in America, times of crisis, times of chaos. Capitalism is on trial. Americans are struggling: losing homes, losing jobs, losing savings. The U.S. … the world … is changing shape in unsettling ways. You can feel it … the tectonic plates are starting to shift. Can I say that in California? Maybe not.

But this is exactly the right time to think about the world. Even to change it.

All of a sudden, nothing is set in stone; everything’s up for grabs.

Historically, it’s times like these, times of challenge, strain, disruption, when America discovers its true greatness. Right when everyone’s full of fear. You heard Maria (Shriver) today talk about fear. This is when Americans rediscover who they are. What they believe. What their values are. What they’re really about.

These are the questions we ought to be asking.

Who we are, what we’re about. And, by the way, what we’re not about.

For example:

We’re not about having our scientists come up with miracle drugs and then failing to get them to the people who need them.

We’re not about mosquito bites or dirty water as a death sentence.

We’re not about politicians making promises and failing to keep them, which is what they are doing right now.

One more thing we’re not about:

We’re not about charity; we’re about justice. Justice and equality.

Aren’t we? Do we actually believe that a child’s life in Africa has the same value as a child’s life in America? That they are equal before the eyes of God as it says in your blessed Declaration of Independence. Doesn’t it say in the Holy Scriptures … “love thy neighbor,” and isn’t that a command, not a suggestion?

And when Dr. King said, “I have a dream,” was he just talking about an American dream? I thought it was an Irish dream, a Latin American dream, an African dream.

Dr. King’s dream was a dream big enough to include all of us. All humankind.

If we really believe that, if we’re really ready to say, yes, we are equal, yes, Africans are our brothers and sisters, then we’re going to have to make some changes.

We’re going to need some new ideas.

Or maybe just revisit some old ideas.

Like the two-centuries-old idea of America.

America, don’t you know, is not just a country, it’s an idea. Think about that for a second. Your country is not just a geographical location, it’s an idea.

The idea that all men, and women, are created equal.

That the poorest matter as much as the richest.

That in a world of plenty, no one should die for lack of food in their belly.

That where you live should not determine whether you live or you die.

The idea that our dreams are one and our fates are one.

The idea that anything — anything — is possible.

That’s the America the world needs.

That’s the America I’ve always loved.

I’ve loved America since I was a kid … watching you all on television … on black-and-white television in my house on Cedarwood Road … put a man on the moon.

You know I’m 9 years old … and I’m thinking Americans are crazy … “Hey honey, is that the moon up there? Let’s take a walk on it. Let’s bring back a piece.” I love that America.

You know, the funny thing about the astronauts in the Apollo program … When they came back home, the thing they talked about the most was not the moon. It was the Earth.

They marveled at the Earthrise. We’ve all seen that first picture. Taken Christmas Eve, 1968 — America at war, cities in flames, but the Earth, from above, so serene … so beautiful … so very fragile.

The astronaut who took that photo, Bill Anders, said when he returned: “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”

A trip to the moon changed their worldview. It changed America’s worldview. It changed everyone’s worldview. America, by its vision, its determination, its sheer ingenuity, changed the way we all saw ourselves. We saw that our planet is small. That it’s adrift — alone — a light in the darkness. That it needs our protection. That we upon it are one, whether we want to be or not.

America enabled the world to step outside itself and look back.

To see ourselves as we truly are.

When America looks outside of itself, its view of itself is never clearer.

Its faith in itself is never firmer.

Its purpose is never stronger.

Today, at a time when America, again, is tempted to turn inward, turn away from the world and its troubles, it is more essential than ever that you look outward.

America: We are not asking you to put another man, or woman, on the moon.

America: We are asking you to help put humanity back on this Earth.

————————
Bono is the lead singer of U2 and co-founder of The ONE Campaign and (RED). To watch the video of Bono’s speech, or to sign the “Keep Our Commitments” petition, visit The ONE. For more about The Women’s Conference, click here.

UN DAILY NEWS from the UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
22 October, 2008 =========================================================================

TOP ECONOMISTS TO MEET BAN KI-MOON TO DISCUSS IMPACT OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will meet with a group of eminent economists tomorrow as part of his evaluation of the impact of the global financial crisis on United Nations efforts to achieve the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Five economists will participate in the meeting in New York, which will also consider the effects of the financial crisis on climate change, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters today.

The economists are Joseph Stieglitz of Columbia University; Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University; Dani Rodrik of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; Nancy Birdsall, President of the Centre for Global Development, a think tank; and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia.

***

Earlier this week General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto announced he has appointed Professor Stiglitz, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001, to chair a high-level task force to review the global financial system.

The composition and terms of reference of the task force, which will examine such major bodies as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are expected to be unveiled next month.

***

In recent weeks Mr. Ban has repeatedly stressed the need for global leadership to help ensure that the battle to achieve the MDGs, which aim to halve extreme poverty and other ills, by their target date of 2015 is not forgotten by countries as they seek to shore up their economic and financial systems.

“Now more than ever we must be bold. In these times of crisis, when we are tempted to look inward, it is precisely the time when we must move pursuit of the common good to the top of the agenda,” Mr. Ban said in a speech delivered yesterday at Harvard.

He later added: “While recently we have heard much in this country about how problems on Wall Street are affecting innocent people on Main Street, we need to think more about those people around the world with no streets. Wall Street, Main Street, no street – the solutions devised must be for all.”

In addition, the world cannot afford to delay action on the issue of climate change, which Mr. Ban called “the ultimate global and existential threat.” He urged countries to conclude a new comprehensive climate deal that can be ratified and in place before the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.

***

A spokesperson for Mr. Ban also announced today that the Secretary-General has been invited by United States President George W. Bush to attend a financial meeting of the leaders of G-8 industrialized nations, scheduled for 15 November in Washington.

{Lots Of Wind in High Places - But The Good Side Is That This Meeting Hapens After November 5th and we expect it will touch upon the neeede changes at The World Bank and The International Monetary Fund so they work for the benefit of all countries. }

————————————–

RECORD-BREAKING 117 MILLION PEOPLE STAND WITH UN AGAINST POVERTY

Shattering previous records, nearly 117 million people in 131 countries stood up last weekend as part of a United Nations-led campaign to demand that world leaders keep their promises to halve extreme poverty and achieve the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015.

Over 8,000 events were held around the globe, from Afghanistan and Burundi to Thailand and Uganda, as part of the “Stand Up and Take Action against Poverty” campaign held from 17 to 19 October.

“We are very proud that there has been such a massive citizen response for the Millennium Development Goals and against poverty,” Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign, which initiated the project, told reporters in New York today.

Nearly 117 million people – close to 2 per cent of the world’s population – took part in Stand Up-related events, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest social mobilization ever on a single issue. Another 5 million people took part in events that were not submitted before the Guinness deadline.

This represents a huge increase over 2006, when some 23 million people stood up against poverty, and 2007, when that number grew to almost 44 million.

Mr. Shetty said the biggest mobilizations happened in Asia (over 73 million people), followed by Africa (more than 24 million) and the Arab States (nearly 18 million).

“It’s very appropriate that the parts of the world which are having to live with the daily reality of poverty are the ones who did the biggest mobilization,” he noted.

Highlights of the campaign include the more than 35 million people, or one-third of the population, in the Philippines who stood at various events throughout the country. In addition, Rwandan President Paul Kagame exhorted 10,000 of his fellow citizens to use their hard-won peace as a foundation to fight poverty, during an event at Rubavu Stadium in Western Province.

Meanwhile, 400,000 students in the West Bank and 200,000 in Gaza stood up as part of an annual programme to teach them about the MDGs.

Mr. Shetty added that with the countdown to 2015 well under way, many of the events held around the world were a “wake-up call and a reminder to governments that time is running out and we expect leaders to take action.”

In a message issued for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminded governments of their commitments to achieving the MDGs, saying that many had pledged new resources to bolster food security, eradicate disease, ensure access to water and sanitation, and manage the financial crisis.

“These commitments are not a matter of charity, but an obligation in the pursuit of human rights for all. If we fail to keep our promise on the MDGs, we create the conditions for greater human misery and global insecurity,” he warned.

——————

UN TO PUBLISH FIRST-EVER WORLD MAP OF UNDERGROUND FRESHWATER RESOURCES

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will publish the first-ever world map of underground aquifers, which account for some 96 per cent of global freshwater resources, the agency announced in a press release today.

Despite their strategic importance, no global inventory of aquifers – most of which straddle international boundaries – had been compiled before UNESCO started work on its online map, which will be launched to coincide with the submission to the General Assembly of a draft Convention on Transboundary Aquifers next week.

The UNESCO is presenting a detailed map identifying underground water resources that are shared by at least two countries, using data compiled since 2000 by UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme for a groundwater database.

The map will include information about the quality of water and rate of replenishment of the 273 transboundary aquifers – 68 in the American continent, 38 in Africa, 65 in Eastern Europe, 90 in Western Europe and 12 in Asia.

Underground aquifers account for 70 per cent of water used in the European Union, and are often the only source of supply in arid and semi-arid areas – 100 per cent in Saudi Arabia and Malta, 95 per cent in Tunisia and 75 per cent in Morocco. Irrigation systems also depend largely on groundwater resources in many countries – 90 per cent in Libya, 89 per cent in India, 84 per cent in South Africa and 80 per cent in Spain.

Aquifers, which contain 100 times the volume of freshwater than that on the Earth’s surface, in Africa are still largely under exploited. They are among the largest in the world and since they generally expand over several national boundaries, their exploitation presupposes an agreed management mechanism.

Mechanisms of this kind have begun to emerge, such as the agreement in the 1990s between Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan which established a joint authority to manage the Nubian aquifer system, but such arrangements are the exception, according to the UNESCO release.

The draft Convention presented to the General Assembly on 27 October is intended to facilitate the creation of such mechanisms for administering transboundary aquifer systems by calling on aquifer states not to harm existing aquifers, to cooperate, and to prevent and control their pollution.

* * * —————-

Young Artists Auction Off Masterpieces:  Proceeds to UNICEF Emergency Response.

Paint for the Planet highlights children’s call for leadership on climate change

Paintings chosen from among 200,000 entries by young artists from around the world will be auctioned off as part of Paint for the Planet, an event organized in New York by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). All proceeds will go to UNICEF to support emergency response for children affected by climate-related disasters.

In addition to the live auction at the Harvard Club of New York, the art will also be sold online to enable people around the world to participate. To see the paintings and to bid online, please visit: www.unep.org

Where & When:

23 October, 2008:
12: UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner will be present at the NOON briefing in room 226 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
12.30–2 pm: Exhibit opening and press conference in the Main Lobby of the UN Headquarters in New York.

25 October: 7-9 pm Auction at the Harvard Club of New York, 30 W. 44th Street

Who:

Six young artists from Burundi, Colombia, Malta, the United Kingdom and the United States { None from Asia ? } will be in New York for the event. UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will be present at the auction.

Why:
The auction in New York on 25 October will help raise emergency funds for children affected by climate-related disasters, with the proceeds being donated to UNICEF.

Paint for the Planet features a selection of stand-out entries from UNEP’s International Children’s Painting Competition. The paintings, which showcase children’s fears and hopes for the planet, are a powerful plea from children for leadership on climate change before it is too late. Paint for the Planet is a launch pad for the ‘UNite to Combat Climate Change’ campaign to support the call for a definitive agreement at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.

To attend the auction at the Harvard Club, journalists must RSVP.

For more information, visit www.unep.org or contact:

Jim Sniffen, UNEP New York office, at  james.sniffen at unep.org or tel: +1-212-963-8094/8210
Anne-France White, UNEP Associate Information Officer, at  anne-france.white at unep.org or mobile: +917 838 9985
Gaurav Garg, UNICEF Media,  ggarg at unicef.org or tel: +1 212 326 7665, mobile: 646 912 4294

 This From The UN Official Daily Press Release of October 21, 2008, and We See in this Generality A Sign Of Acknowledgement that the UN Faces Institutional Bankruptcy.

 
AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, BAN ISSUES CALL TO ACTION TO TACKLE TODAY’S CRISES.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today issued a call to action to address the challenges of climate change, global health, terrorism, financial instability and disarmament, all of which are key to securing the common good in a time of global crises.

“We come together today at a time of intense crisis – unrelenting waves buffeting the world’s people and institutions,” Mr. Ban told students and faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The Secretary-General noted that some people thought he had been overly dramatic a few months ago when he spoke of a ‘triple crisis’ of soaring food and fuel prices, accelerating climate change, and stalled development for over a billion of the world’s people.

“Today, with increased evidence of the effects of all three crises around the globe, compounded by the ongoing shock waves of the financial crisis, my call to arms now seems distant and all too modest,” he stated.


“Now more than ever we must be bold. In these times of crisis, when we are tempted to look inward, it is precisely the time when we must move pursuit of the common good to the top of the agenda,” said Mr. Ban, adding that this involves addressing five global challenges.

***

Turning first to the current financial turmoil, the Secretary-General noted that “the same threads of globalization that united us in the good times, are now biting deep in the bad times, especially for those who can least afford it.

“While recently we have heard much in this country about how problems on Wall Street are affecting innocent people on Main Street, we need to think more about those people around the world with no streets. Wall Street, Main Street, no street – the solutions devised must be for all,” he stressed.

***

In addition, the world cannot afford to delay action on the issue of climate change, which Mr. Ban called “the ultimate global and existential threat.” He urged countries to conclude a new comprehensive climate deal that can be ratified and in place before the current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.

Global health is another “great challenge of our time,” said the Secretary-General, noting that diseases and pandemics are spreading across borders today faster than ever before, and can have devastating impacts, if not controlled effectively.

But it is also a challenge with “an immense scope for solutions,” he added, pointing out that the world has the tools and resources to treat and control many of these diseases, as well as the know-how to build health systems that serve all.

***

Terrorism, combined with the threat of weapons of mass destruction, said Mr. Ban, “is perhaps the most serious threat to international peace and security.” He urged countries to further their cooperation to counter terrorism, including by being more innovative in developing their tools, strengthening partnerships with regional and civil society groups, and better leveraging their collective strengths.

Likewise, action was needed to address the “acute challenges” in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation, the Secretary-General stressed, noting that while there is widespread support for the view that nuclear weapons must never be used again, the threats still persist.

He noted that there are still gaps in the law, some key treaties remain to be negotiated, and new efforts are needed to create additional nuclear-weapon-free zones, especially in the Middle East, and to bring existing zones fully into force.

“At a time when the world is focused on other more immediate crises, let us never forget that we must press our efforts to address the potential existential crisis which confronts humanity,” Mr. Ban stated. “It would not be responsible to do otherwise.”

***

The Secretary-General added that while all of these challenges may seem quite different at first glance, they share important traits that set them apart from other issues facing the world today.

“They endanger all countries – whether rich or poor, big or small – and all their people; they cross borders freely and are highly contagious; and they cannot be resolved without action by us all.”

* * *
BAN LAUDS EUROPE’S EFFORTS TO PROMOTE INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE AND UNDERSTANDING

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has lauded Europe’s commitment to the values of cross-cultural tolerance, dialogue, respect and understanding, all of which “must be pillars of the better world we are trying to build.”

In a message to the European Parliament session on the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008), taking place in Strasbourg, Mr. Ban noted that throughout its history, the continent has witnessed terrible outbreaks of armed conflict often rooted in prejudice and hatred.

At the same time, it has also been “fertile soil” for some of the world’s most remarkable innovations, artistic creations and scientific progress, the Secretary-General said in the address, which was delivered by his High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, Jorge Sampaio.

“Europe’s tremendous diversity and its strategic geographic position, at the centre of old and new migration routes, have made it a significant venue for cross-cultural interaction and interfaith dialogue,” he stated. “In particular, its close relationship with its neighbours across the Mediterranean makes Europe an important bridge between civilizations.”

However, Europe – like many other regions of the world – faces several challenges in promoting intercultural dialogue. “Migration, economic uncertainty and political tensions are putting strains on relations between different cultural, ethnic and religious groups.

“But it is precisely in your region, where constructive contacts over the centuries have allowed humanity to take major leaps forward, that opportunities for reconciliation and cooperation exist,” he said.

Mr. Ban encouraged the gathering to pursue joint economic projects, educational exchanges, and other initiatives that will improve people’s lives and create “a bulwark against intolerance, religious fundamentalism and extremism.”

He also pledged the assistance of the UN in these efforts, noting in particular the work carried out by the Alliance – the campaign launched by the UN in 2005 to help overcome prejudices between nations, cultures and religions.

“For the sake of countless people living between the extremes and yearning for dignity and peace, let us work together so that intercultural dialogue can bear fruit.”

* * *

OK, WE ARE BULLISH BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT BY NOVEMBER 5, 2008, WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK ON THE SEVERAL CRISES THAT MR. G.W.
BUSH IS PASSING ON TO HIS SUCCESSOR. THE MAIN TALK OF THE DAY WILL BE THAT HEALING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, THE APPROACH WILL BE TO TURN THIS INTO AN
ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITY THAT WILL ALLOW THE TACKLING OF THE GLOBAL WARMING/ENERGY CRISES WITH TOOLS THAT WILL IN TANDEM HELP SOLVE THE PESKY FINANCIAL CRISIS.