Saturday, June 16, 2012

Before there was mass killings in Rwanda, the UN Observers and Peacekeepers left the country.

They really had no choice, they were going to die if they stayed. Before Bush invaded Iraq, the UN inspectors left the country. They would have been killed as well. 


The violence is notching up in Syria in what might be a complete failure of government of the Assad regime.


According to RIA Novosti, it would appear Russia is serious about filling in the power vacuum in Syria. 

MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti)
The U.N. observers in Syria suspended on Saturday their mission (click here) “until further notice” because of the intensifying violence, Al Jazeera reported, citing the statement by General Robert Mood, the head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Syria.
"There has been an intensification of armed violence across Syria over the past 10 days," Mood said in the statement, adding that the current situation in the country was “posing significant risks to the observers.”
A group of almost 300 UN military observers and 112 civilian staff were sent to Syria in late April to monitor the implementation of the six-point peace plan brokered by the UN and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan.
"The lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition, and the push towards advancing military positions is increasing the losses on both sides: innocent civilians, men women and children are being killed every day,” Al Jazeera cited Mood’s statement....
It was Russia that stopped the killing in 2008 in South Ossetia. It was Russian peacekeepers standing on the border that first realized the attacks into the region by Georgia. It is Russia today standing with South Ossetia and Abkhazia to prevent further aggression against this area. 
The West often demonizes Russia as if it was losing its sovereignty with every movement of Russia authority in any region of the world, but, people are alive today in South Ossetia and Abkhazia when the West wasn't prepared to act at all. George W. Bush was still in office at that time and Condi Rice was Secretary of State. She is suppose to be an expert on Russia. Hm. The West failed those people with over a thousand people dead. Today, they are alive and attempting to support their own culture and hold their boundaries. I don't blame them. And it didn't take the USA occupation of a decade to achieve it.
VOA News

Title IV continued...

You have to know if the American Jobs Act was passed when it was first written there would not be an increase in home foreclosures now. More people would have transitioned differently and/or found work so they would still be owning their homes.

Subtitle C – Pathways Back to Work
Sec. 361. Short Title


This subtitle may be cited as the “Pathways Back to Work Act of 2011”.


Sec. 362. Establishment of Pathways Back To Work Fund



(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund which shall be known as the Pathways Back to Work Fund (hereafter in this Act referred to as “the Fund”.)
(b) DEPOSITS INTO THE FUND. —Out of any amounts in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated $5,000,000,000 for payment to the Fund to be used by the Secretary of Labor to carry out this Act.



Sec. 363. Availability of Funds
Sec. 364. Subsidized Employment for Unemployed, Low-Income Adults



(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) ALLOTMENTS.—From the funds available under section 363(a)(1), the Secretary of Labor shall make an allotment under subsection (b) to each State that has a State plan approved under subsection (c) and to each outlying area and Native American grantee under section 166 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 that meets the requirements of this section, for the purpose of providing subsidized employment opportunities to unemployed, low-income adults.


Sec. 365. Summer Employment and Year-Round Employment Opportunities For Low-Income Youth


(a) IN GENERAL.—From the funds available under section 363(a)(2), the Secretary of Labor shall make an allotment under subsection (c) to each State that has a State plan modification (or other form of request for funds specified in guidance under subsection (b)) approved under subsection (d) and to each outlying area and Native American grantee under section 166 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 that meets the requirements of this section, for the purpose of providing summer employment and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth.


Sec. 366. Work-Based Employment Strategies of Demonstrated Effectiveness



(1) on-the-job training, registered apprenticeship programs, or other programs that combine work with skills development;
(2) sector-based training programs that have been designed to meet the specific requirements of an employer or group of employers in that sector and where employers are committed to hiring individuals upon successful completion of the training;
(3) training that supports an industry sector or an employer-based or labor-management committee industry partnership which includes a significant work-experience component;
(4) acquisition of industry-recognized credentials in a field identified by the State or local workforce investment area as a growth sector or demand industry in which there are likely to be significant job opportunities in the short-term;
(5) connections to immediate work opportunities, including subsidized employment opportunities, or summer employment opportunities for youth, that includes concurrent skills training and other supports.
(6) career academies that provide students with the academic preparation and training, including paid internships and concurrent enrollment in community colleges or other postsecondary institutions, needed to pursue a career pathway that leads to postsecondary credentials and high-demand jobs; and
(7) adult basic education and integrated basic education and training models for low-skilled adults, hosted at community colleges or at other sites, to prepare individuals for jobs that are in demand in a local area.



Sec. 367. General Requirements


Sec. 368. Definitions



(A) AREA OF SUBSTANTIAL UNEMPLOYMENT.—The term “area of substantial unemployment” means any contiguous area with a population of at least 10,000 and that has an average rate of unemployment of at least 6.5 percent for the most recent 12 months, as determined by the Secretary.
(B) DISADVANTAGED ADULTS AND YOUTH.—The term “disadvantaged adults and youth” means an individual who is age 16 and older (subject to section 132(b)(1) (B)(v)(I) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998) who received an income, or is a member of a family that received a total family income, that, in relation to family size, does not exceed the higher of—
(i) the poverty line; or
(ii) 70 percent of the lower living standard income level.


Not much to describe in this section, it is fairly self explanatory. This section was written to fill in all the gaps left by the rest of the bill. It also included summer employment. So when the Right Wing complains about how foreclosures have gone up or how there aren't enough summer youth jobs; this is why! They never passed the bill. Republicans never took the long view and how it would hinder more economic deterioration, close down product demand and all the stuff necessary for a recovering economy. This was not an empty bill the way others want to describe it. Quite the contrary, it was paid for, didn't add a dime to the budget or national debt and would have secured economic growth. Unless, of course, your primary purpose was to defeat Obama in 2012 and make him a one term President. Then if that was the priority, the country and its well being simply was abandoned for political purposes. Why is it the President is supposedly playing politics all the time while the Republicans never seem to by the media? Hm? Odd, isn't it?


TITLE IV -- OFFSETS


Title IV is how the bill was to be paid for. Until tomorrow.



continued...