Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Human Cost Of Trump’s Rollback On Regulations | The … – Huffington Post

Posted: April 17, 2017 at 12:18 pm

WASHINGTON If Tom Ward had to die from his work, hed rather fall off a scaffold than endure the slow death his father did from the debilitating lung disease silicosis.

I would choose to go much quicker, he said, rather than to have my family watch me suffer.

Ward fears that other workers will face the same suffocating illness as his father, thanks to the regulatory rollback underway by the Trump administration.

Wards father spent several years working as a sandblaster in Michigan. It was most likely on that job that he breathed a lethal amount of crystalline silica, a carcinogenic dust that comes from sand and granite. Excessive silica has been ruining workers lungs for as long as rock and concrete have been cut. Frances Perkins, U.S. labor secretary under Franklin D. Roosevelt, spoke publicly of the dangers of silica back in the late 1930s.

After numerous efforts under other presidents failed, the Obama administration finally tightened the regulations covering silica last year, further restricting the amount of dust that employers can legally expose workers to. The tougher standards were 45 years in the making, the subject of in-depth scientific research and intense lobbying by business groups and safety experts. When the rules were finalized in March 2016, occupational health experts hailed themas a life-saving milestone.

But now the enforcement of the rules has been delayed and the rules themselves could be in jeopardy.

Last week, the Trump administration announced that it was pushing back the implementation of the new silica regulations. For now, the delay is just three months from late June to late September, since additional guidance is necessary due to the unique nature of the requirements, as the Labor Department put it. A spokeswoman said the agency wouldnt comment beyond that.

But to occupational health experts whove waited years for the tighter rules, the new delay casts a cloud of uncertainty over their future. The leading home-building trade group and other business lobbying groups have sued to halt the regulations, saying they are too costly for employers. Defending the silica rule would now be the responsibility of the Trump administration, which has eagerly dismantled one Obama-era regulation after another at the urging of corporations. (The rule could also be subject to an appropriations rider by the GOP-controlled Congress.)

While the administration has not signaled that it intends to reverse the silica rule, it has issued an executive order directing all agencies to review the regulations currently on their books, presumably for potential watering down or scrapping. Trumps own labor nominee, Alexander Acosta, cited that order during his confirmation hearing as one reason he would not yet commit to enforcing the silica rule if he becomes labor secretary.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) noted the huge public health implications at stake. You cant tell me whether or not, high on your list of priorities, would be to protect a rule that keeps people from being poisoned, she told Acosta.

The delay of the new silica regulations was not a surprise to Ward, given the Trump administrations promises to deregulate businesses in order to boost hiring. But it was nevertheless painful to see. Ward now leads training at the Michigan Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union, a personal mission given that his father died at age 39 after an awful few years of suffering from silicosis.

Knowing it was 100 percent preventable is the part that really hurts, he said.

Silica has been called the silent killer. Its not visible to the naked eye particles can be one hundred times smaller than a grain of sand and the effects on the lungs are cumulative. But there are clear ways to curb exposureto silica, like wetting down rock thats being cut, installing ventilation or dust-collecting equipment on the worksite, and wearing respiratory equipment designed to filter out the dust.

When the proper precautions arent taken, the results can be debilitating. Railroad worker Leonard Serafin shared the story of his own battle with silicosis in a letter his family provided to The Huffington Post in 2012.

At the time, the Obama White House was sitting on the silica rule, and advocates worried that the reforms might not be finished before Obama left office. Serafin had worked as a trackman on a railroad for 32 years, laying out the crushed rock and gravel in which the tracks were laid. He said the work led to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a litany of other lung maladies.

I never dreamed I would have to spend my retirement years in this debilitating manner, Serafin wrote. I find it difficult to attend social events such as concerts and plays with my family because of my chronic cough. Even coughing while standing at a cash register line at a retail store causes people to distance themselves from me. ... When I exert myself, my daily coughing becomes a spastic type of cough, which leaves me exhausted, breathless with chest pain.

Although U.S. regulators had been aware of silicas dangers for decades, it wasnt until 1971 that the federal government imposed legal limits on workers exposure to it: 100 micrograms per cubic meter for laborers in most industries, and 250 micrograms for those working in construction and shipyards. Many experts believed those limits were too meager, however. The caps werent lowered to the 50 micrograms recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until Obamas presidency.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has estimated that the new rules would cut down silica exposure for roughly 2.3 million workers, preventing an estimated 600 deaths annually. Extrapolating on that data, the AFL-CIO labor federation says even the three-month delay in enforcement will lead to an additional 160 worker deaths.

David Michaels, the head of OSHA under Obama, called the reform the most important health standard OSHA has issued in decades.

But in the eyes of the construction industry, its one of the most expensive. OSHA says that instituting the new controls would cost businesses an estimated $511 million annually. Meanwhile, industry lobbies say the real cost to them would be in the billions each year most of it due to additional equipment and labor.

While praising the Trump administrations decision, a consortium of construction industry trade groups urged Trump to extend the delay well beyond the original three months, saying it remains concerned about the overall feasibility of the standard in construction and has requested that the agency delay enforcement for a year.

Supporters of the rule note that those upfront costs dont take into account the long-term financial benefits to workers and society. Preventing disability and death saves money, after all.

OSHA estimated that the reforms would have a net benefit of $7.7 billion each year, largely due to savings on health care and lost productivity. The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, calls the silica rule a case study in how seemingly expensive safety regulations can have economic benefits over the long term.

Ward thought the debate over the rules financial costs had finally been put to rest. For years, he heard dollars and cents being weighed against lives lost or saved. Now that hes hearing it again, hes worried about the bricklayers who will come up after him.

The rule really was to prevent future illnesses, said Ward. It may be too late for me and my generation. This is about the future generation of craft workers.

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For the first time on record, human-caused climate change has rerouted an entire river – Washington Post

Posted: at 12:18 pm

A team of scientists on Mondaydocumentedwhat theyre describing as the first case of large-scale river reorganizationas a result of human-caused climate change.

They found that in mid-2016, the retreat of a very large glacier in Canadas Yukon territory led to the rerouting of its vast stream of meltwater from one river system to another cutting down flow to the Yukons largest lake, and channeling freshwater to the Pacific Ocean south of Alaska, rather than to the Bering Sea.

The researchers dubbed the reorganization an act of rapid river piracy, saying that such events had often occurred in the Earths geologic past, but never before, to their knowledge, as a sudden present-day event. They also calledit geologically instantaneous.

The river wasnt what we had seen a few years ago. It was a faded version of its former self, lead study author Daniel Shugar of the University of Washington at Tacoma said of the Slims River, which lost much of its flow because of the glacial change. It was barely flowing at all. Literally, every day, we could see the water level dropping, we could see sandbars popping out in the river.

The study was published in Nature Geoscience. Shugar conducted the study with researchers from six Canadian and U.S. universities.

The study found that the choking of the Slims River in turn deprived Kluane Lake, the largest body of water in the Yukon Territory. The lake level was at a record low in August, and two small communities that live on the lake may now have to adjust to the lower water levels.

The Kluane lake level dropped last year and is likely to continue dropping, Shugar said. If it drops enough that the lake level is below its other outlet, at the north end, it becomes what is called a closed basin. That will have changes to the chemistry, the structure of the lake, the biology.

The precipitating event for all of this happened in summer 2016, when meltwater fromthe retreating Kaskawulsh glacier burst through a channel of ice, suddenly draining a glacial lake that had fed Slims river and directing waters into a different river that ultimately heads south toward the Gulf of Alaska. Previously, these waters had ultimately fed into the vast Yukon river, which empties on Alaskas west coast.

The researchers found only a minuscule probability that the retreat of Kaskawulsh glacier which retracted by nearly half a milefrom 1956 to 2007 could have occurred in what they called a constant climate. They therefore inferred that the events in question could be attributed to human-caused climate change.

The beneficiary of the change, in hydrologic terms, is the Alsek River, known for its whitewater rafting. It saw far higher flows than normal as a consequence and empties eventually into the Gulf of Alaska, which should now be seeing a new infusion of freshwater.

Its important to underscore the scale of the changes this represents: The Kaskawulsh glacier is about three miles wide at its front, or toe. The river it used to fuel, the Slims River, had a floodplain a mile wide and a flow that ranged from .2 to .4 miles in width. The lake that it fed Kluane Lake is 45 miles long and more than 250 feetdeep in places. Now, all of this is changing.

These events have occurredin a relatively sparsely populated wilderness area, and so will not have ramifications for large human populations but they give a sense of just how dramatic and sudden climate-linked changes can be. Similarly, recently mountain glacier changes in the Bolivian Andes havecreated the riskof dangerous outburst floods that could imperil communities below them.

The current study represents a great example of a threshold response to warming over the last century-and-a-half, said Ken Tape, an Arctic ecologist at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, who was not involved in the research. The glacier has been retreating gradually, but at a threshold encountered in summer 2016, the drainage abruptly changed in a matter of weeks and completely reorganized downstream ecosystems.

Tape cautioned that most glaciers, when they retreat, do not have downstream consequences as dramatic as in the case presented here. Flows increase or decrease commensurate with glacier mass balance, but rivers are not usually lost or gained in the process, and change is more gradual.

TheKaskawulsh glacier, at only 60 degrees north latitude, is in a relatively temperate region well below the Arctic circle, helping to make it particularly susceptible to climate change. The researchers provided measurements suggesting that just before the river reorganization, the glacier was experiencing quite warm temperatures for the springtime, which seems to have triggered a large burst of meltwater.

Shugar said that the researchers do not expect the glacier and the river system that depends on it to flip back rather, it has entered a new state.

We did some preliminary estimates of what it would take for the Slims River to be reestablished, he said, and it seems unlikely to occur in the current climate.

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South African truth and reconciliation in ‘A Human Being Died That Night’ – Washington Post

Posted: at 12:18 pm

You want to try acting a whole show with your feet chained to the floor? Chris Genebach accomplishes it with flair as South Africas notorious Eugene de Kock, the apartheid-era Death Squad officer widely known as Prime Evil. The white de Kock wisecracks about a Hannibal Lecter vibe as he sits on the other side of a prison cell interrogation table from a black woman, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, but the 80-minute A Human Being Died That Night is anything but a psycho-thriller. Its an unflinching face-to-face dialogue about how people and countries become utterly unglued.

Nicholas Wrights script is based on the 2003 book by Gobodo-Madikizela, a research professor who worked with South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the 1990s. The theatrical challenge is to make compelling drama of interviews stuck in one room, but Logan Vaughns composed production for the Districts Mosaic Theater Company makes no bones about its source of electricity. Its de Kock. How did he show up for work each day ready to murder?

In Genebachs riveting performance, information gushes forth in torrents. Erica Chamblees diplomatic but dogged Gobodo-Madikizela presses de Kock for details: Who was targeted by the squads? What were the methods of torture and execution? The facts are harsh, and as Genebachs de Kock zips through the complicated incidents you begin to see him as a single, efficient piece of a vast, warped cultural-political machine.

[Athol Fugards Blood Knot, also now at Mosaic]

Yet hes weirdly personable, and this is where Vaughns production rises to the artistic level of its repertory mate this month at Mosaic, Joy Zinomans exemplary staging of Athol Fugards 1961 Blood Knot (like A Human Being, it is acted with rich South African pronunciations). Blood Knot watches brothers ripped apart by the social convention of race; Gobodo-Madikizelas project, on the other hand, examines whether forgiveness is possible under such extreme conditions as those South Africa suffered, which is why she sought out no less a monster than de Kock for her interviews. There is a moment when her hand grazes de Kocks on the table, and its a fleeting shocker. Chamblee and Genebach measure such rare displays expertly: the tone of Vaughns production is never remotely sensationalistic or sentimental.

Its clinical, and grippingly inquisitive. The show opens with slides projected behind the bars of Debra Booths constricted set (the design team is the same as for the similarly focused Blood Knot), and though Michael Giannittis lights subtly bump up and down as the interviews unspool, the dynamics are almost entirely in the hands of the actors.

Chamblee deftly keeps reframing the discussion as the empathetic, rigorous Gobodo-Madikizela, but naturally the bulk of the interest falls on de Kock. Chained in place and garbed in an orange prison jump suit, Genebach still finds plenty to work with in de Kocks grim tales, which he tells vividly but without undue embellishment. As Genebach plays de Kock quick mind, impulsive responses that seems guileless the man seems direct, frank, on the level. You wonder: Is he for real? Can you trust him?

The dialogue is loaded with grotesque incident, murky motivation and, eventually, sincere emotion. This would be wrecked by overplaying, yet the performance never stumbles. Simply from an acting point of view, this South Africa: Then & Now rep establishes a new high bar for Mosaic. And deep into the troupes second season, you can feel the dividends accumulating as this social-justice-oriented company finds lens after lens, from local to international, magnifying humanitys sharp sociopolitical divisions . . . and maybe, as the persistent Gobodo-Madikizela hopes, somehow softening even unforgivable crimes and the failures that seem most profoundly irresolvable.

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The Posts report on de Kocks 1996 testimony

A Human Being Died That Night, by Nicholas Wright, based on the book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. Directed by Logan Vaughn. With Jason B. McIntosh. Costumes, Brandee Mathies; composer, Mongezi Ntaka; sound design, David Lamont Wilson; projections, Patrick Lord. About 80 minutes. Through April30 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets $40-$60. Call 202-399-7993 or visit mosaictheater.org.

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2017 Is Set to Be the Hottest Year in Recorded History – Futurism – Futurism

Posted: at 12:18 pm

In BriefAs climate change rages on, so do global average temperatures.With the clear destruction of climate change related disasters likeHurricane Matthew and the wildfires in Alberta, we need to moreseriously battle climate change. Its Getting Hot in Here

It was the hottest year on record in 2014and then again in 2015and thats right, you guessed it, again in 2016. For the third consecutive year, it was the hottest year in all of recorded history. Now, dont dwell on these past years for too long because, as you might be disappointingly anticipating, 2017 is promising to be even warmer.

The record temperatures of last year didnt just cause some of us to sweat a little bit more, they actually led to the severe wildfires that ran rampant in Alberta, Canada. These wildfires cost insurers $3.58 billion and came as a result of the combination of both record dryness and temperatures.

There have also been major heat waves in the Arctic, contributing to rapidly rising sea levels and the destruction of Arctic wildlife. Climate change, which has led to these environmental and temperaturechanges, has also caused the continued bleaching of the coral reefs. In fact, as of recently, scientists have listed the reefs as terminal, with many portions well beyond repair.

In Haiti, people are experiencing first hand the deadly toll that climate change can take. Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc throughout the country, and its citizens are still picking up the pieces. These consistently warming temperatures are not going to wait fifty, twenty, or even five years to take effect. As the Earth warms and sea levels rise, we will quickly see more and more of the effects of climate change.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that last year, temperatures increased to 1.1C above what was recorded in the pre-industrial era. Global temperatures increased consistentlyand drastically. Now, many people see 1.1C and its difficult to see why this temperature variation would cause such mass mayhem.

To put things in perspective, during the last Ice Age, global average temperatures were only approximately 5C different from what they are today. So, when looking strictly at the numbers, it can seem like these increasing temperatures arent that big of a deal, or at least theyre a problem for the future. But, when we look at the past and see what can happen when global average temperatures are altered even slightly, we can see just how serious climate change is.

As Canada repairs the damages of the wildfires and Haiti mends the wounds of Hurricane Matthew, we need to take the threat of climate change more seriously. According to WMO spokesperson Claire Nullis in an interview with CBC, We need to bear in mind that the [UNs] Paris climate change agreement commits us to keeping temperatures well below two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era. We are already halfway there and this is indeed very worrying.

It is essential that renewable energy resources start to be used more instead of fossil fuels. And, through education and research, we can innovate and continue to create new and better ways to power our lives that dont put the planet in danger. It is our planet to enjoy, and our planet to protect.

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Astronomers Found an Enormous Object Orbiting at the Edge of Our Solar System – Futurism

Posted: at 12:18 pm

In BriefAstronomers have discovered a large planetary body at the edgeof our solar system. Named DeeDee (for Distant Dwarf), it may holdclues to the formation of planets in our solar system. Didnt See You There

Its no Planet Nine, but the planetary body astronomers have found at the far edge of our solar system is a notable discovery nonetheless. Theyve named it DeeDee, for Distant Dwarf, and although it was first noticed in late 2016, little information about its physical structure was known back then. Now, new data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered details about DeeDee, and its even larger than scientists predicted.

The new data reveals that DeeDee is around two-thirds the size of Ceres, the dwarf planet whose claim to fame is being our asteroid belts largest member. DeeDee also has enough mass to be spherical, so it qualifies as a dwarf planet, although astronomers have not bestowed that official label upon it just yet.

DeeDee rests approximately 92 astronomical units thats about 137 billion kilometers or 86 billion miles from the Sun toward the edge of our solar system. Light from the Sun takes around 13 hours to reach DeeDee, making it second only to the dwarf planet Eris in terms of most distant known trans-Neptunian object (TNO) orbits. DeeDee takes around 1,100 years to lap the Sun just once.

Finally noticing this distant neighbor to the mysterious Planet Nine hints at how much is still unknown right here in our own solar system. Far beyond Pluto is a region surprisingly rich with planetary bodies, lead researcher David Gerdessaid in a news release from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). Some are quite small but others have sizes to rival Pluto and could possibly be much larger.

Planetary objects like DeeDee are the best clues to understanding how the planets in our solar system formed. They are remnants from our solar systems past, but also a sign of our astronomical future a future that includes modern technology capable of detecting extremely distant and slow-moving objects on the edges of our solar system. That future is just on the horizon thanks to continued tech advancements like bigger telescopes such asthe James Webb.

DeeDee is a perfect example of the rapid pace of this advancement. It was first noticed by researchers at Chiles Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory as part of the Dark Energy Survey last year. At the time, astronomers werent sure if it was small and very reflective or large and very dark. Follow-up observations from ALMA were able to confirm its unusual size and darkness readily.

ALMA picked it up fairly easily, Gerdes confirmed in the NRAO release. We calculated that this object would be incredibly cold, only about 30 degrees Kelvin, just a little above absolute zero. They then confirmed that DeeDee reflected only around 13 percent of the sunlight that reached it, making it about as bright as a candle at the halfway mark between Earth and the Moon yet we still saw it.

The discovery of DeeDee heralds more revelations to come, both bright and dark, with all revealing new clues about our mysterious solar system and universe.

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Mercedes-Benz Will Launch Its Self-Driving Rideshare Service in 2020 – Futurism

Posted: at 12:17 pm

In Brief Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is teaming up with Bosch to begin a self-driving car service in as little as three years. Autonomous cars have the potential of making personal transportation safer and cleaner. Joining the Fray

The number of potential movers and shakers in the field of autonomous taxiing seems to be ever growing. But the stiff competition may benefit the consumer and force the competitors to create the best product possible. Not only will they be competing among themselves, but also with traditional taxis and personally owned vehicles. The latest company to join in on the fun is also one of the biggest and fanciest in the world.

Image Credit: Daimler

Mercedes-Benz is teaming up with vehicle component manufacturer Bosch to fast-track a self-driving taxi service. The company is expecting to launch the service as soon as 2020, a year earlier than other companies plans. Ford, BMW, General Motors, and Googles Waymoall plan to launch their services in or around 2021. Uber has already deployed self-driving cars in Pittsburgh to test their service. The vehicles are monitored by a live person and they have the ability to take over control if the need arises. The other offerings will likely roll out the same way initially.

Studies have shown that between 90 and 93 percent of all vehicular accidents are caused by human error. By removing the human from the equation, we could significantly reduce these incidents theoretically, at least. There is always a lot of press surrounding any collisions or other incidents involving self-driving tech, whether they involve Teslas offerings or Ubers taxis. So it is clear that self-driving vehicles will not end all accidents, but they could still potentially save thousands of lives.

Reducing driving-related deathswould be a fantastic attribute of self-driving vehicles, but thats not the only potential benefit. These vehicles are all run on electric power, so they are much cleaner than fossil fuel-burning, traditional vehicles. With one-third of all air pollution coming from operating gasoline-powered vehicles, mitigating theirrole in daily transportation will help keep us from further damaging the environment.

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The Futurist: Master of all trades – Marketing Interactive

Posted: at 12:17 pm

In the age of the Internet, consumer expectations and habits are constantly changing, and at a seemingly increasing pace. Marketing has evolved as a result and todays marketers find themselves incorporating public relations, advertising, social media and digital analytics into their skill set in the day-in-day-out effort to engage with the customer and build brand loyalty.

This integrated approach is fundamental to our marketing strategy as many of our guests are digitally connected and mobile savvy. I believe that 2017 will see a realisation that good marketing will require an ability to understand the many channels of communication we have, be able to read and analyse data proficiently, and turn this into a holistic marketing campaign through innovative and engaging content.

Mobile will continue to grow as a content broadcast source. This means that marketers will have to master both the technological challenges of communicating through this medium and the creative skills needed to design engaging mobile-driven campaigns.

This includes producing bite-sized videos with the right copy in order to hold the attention of mobile users. For example, the commuter who is killing time on the bus or the employee taking a break from work.

Big data is giving marketers ever more insights into their target markets, including their wants, needs, preferences and dislikes. It has also allowed us to segment our guests into more distinct and defined groups. This will present challenges, but also opportunities.

For instance, travellers are looking to explore a destination regardless of their reason for travel.

There is a growing demand for experiential travel as more people seek to immerse themselves in new places. In 2017, we will be rolling out a series of destination-centric programmes across all Hotel Jen properties to help curious travellers make the most of their stay, meet the locals and explore the cities where Hotel Jen is present.

Another example: Conscious living is becoming more of a lifestyle choice among many of our guests, and there is a rising minority who prefer hotels that are mindful of the environment. To address this demand, Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore has introduced Project Greenspot for 2017, a year-long initiative that incorporates green activities into different areas of the hotels operations.

With the growing channels of communication, more tools that provide data on guest preferences and increasing demand for high-quality content, marketers will need to learn how to create integrated campaigns that bring together all these elements.

Marketing campaigns will need to be tailored to the targeted groups. Public relations initiatives that support these strategies will need to be accompanied by video content tweaked for both online and mobile platforms including social media and brand website as well as targeted influencer and media outreach. Ultimately, all this needs to be tied together with great creative content.

The role of the marketer continues to expand, and now requires deep knowledge of public relations, data analysis, advertising, online and social media among other skills. The most proficient marketers will have to master these various trades and link them together to create campaigns that reach audiences on the different channels with the same underlying message.

This is no easy feat and requires innovative thinking and good coordination and organisational abilities, plus a good dose of message discipline. While the future of marketing will involve more elements that are intertwined, it will also be more rewarding, especially for those who are able to bring together a great, integrated marketing campaign.

The writer isMarisa Aranha, vice president sales & marketing,Hotel Jen.

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Govt panics as wheels come off – DailyNews Live – DailyNews

Posted: April 15, 2017 at 6:07 pm

Gift Phiri 15 April 2017 2:52PM 8 comments

HARARE - With Zimbabwes economy continuing to die as manifested by rising poverty levels, worsening job losses and severe cash shortages the government is showing signs of panic, amid fresh warnings by experts that the country is headed for an economic disaster akin to the meltdown of 2008.

This comes as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has set the maximum limit for cash back facilities by retailers and wholesalers at $20, as authorities desperately try to mitigate the countrys worsening cash crisis which is forcing long-suffering Zimbabweans to spend hours at banks queuing for their money.

Any cash-back facility made available by retailers and wholesalers shall not exceed an amount of $20.

The Reserve Bank shall collaborate with wholesalers, retailers and their associations to ensure the adequate provision of Point of Sale (POS) machines in order to enhance the use of plastic money for transactions, the under-pressure central bank said on Thursday.

But a government source who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said the countrys bigwigs were panicking over the ever-deteriorating state of the economy.

I wont lie to you, we are all panicking. While its clear that the Reserve Bank is doing its best, unfortunately our problems are deeper than the central banks mandate, which is why they appear to be treating the symptoms and not the causes of the problems, the senior official said.

An executive with a retail chain, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also criticised what he called panicky, knee-jerk policy pronouncements by the government that he felt would not mitigate the dire situation obtaining on the ground.

We have now reached a situation where we do not know whether to laugh or cry. I mean, what kind of policies are these where we are compelled to bank our money but cant get this cash back when we need it?

Our biggest fear is that this is more and more looking like the nightmare of 2008 . . . and while Im not one of (Peoples Democractic Party leader Tendai) Bitis admirers, I think he was correct when he described our economy as a Ponzi scheme (a fraudulent investment operation), he said.

On its part, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirais Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the RBZ should simply own up and declare that the prevailing cash crisis is beyond its control.

The wheels have totally come off, MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu told the Daily News yesterday.

The bond notes experiment has been a spectacular flop. The chickens are coming home to roost.

What Zimbabwe needs and needs very urgently, is a lasting solution to its long standing political and socio-economic crisis.

These stop-gap measures like limiting cash backs to be paid by retailers simply wont do. We need to cure the cause of the disease, not just rushing to suppress the symptoms, he said.

PDP spokesperson Jacob Mafume alleged that senior government officials were the biggest hoarders of cash in the country and not ordinary Zimbabweans who were targeted by the new monetary measures.

He also said the RBZ was criminalising what is ordinary economic activity in other countries.

Economist Kipson Gundani said the new cash back limits showed that Zimbabwe had entered an era of cash rationing adding that he did not expect the measures to end the countrys severe cash shortages.

Mfundo Mlilo, a governance and public policy expert, also said the cash back limits reflected the fact that the countrys cash crisis was worsening.

The money supply situation is worsening and this will negatively affect aggregate national demand . . . Its an ungodly act at Easter, Mlilo said.

Other economists warned that the cash crunch would pull down Zimbabwes gross domestic product (GDP) growth and spawn a recession, with companies and traders relying on cash set to be worst affected.

Economist Prosper Chitambara said the new regulations were a desperate measure to curb the countrys worst financial crisis in eight years, but would not succeed.

Definitely, this wont address the problem . . . this is a confidence issue, as there are uncertainties in the market. People have no confidence in using the formal system, he said.

In the meantime, Zimbabwes worsening cash crisis has forced banks to reduce further their daily withdrawal limits in addition to suspending dispensing money through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

This prompted analysts who spoke to the Daily News recently to say that this confirmed that the local economy was dying and hurtling towards total collapse.

It also comes as most banks are now disbursing a maximum of $30 dollars a day, down from their usual $100 while those that had capped the maximum withdrawal limit at $500 a week have pulled this back to $200.

The cash shortages are also continuing to worsen despite the recent opening of the tobacco marketing season.

Economic advisor to President Robert Mugabe, Ashok Chakravarti, told the Daily News last week that the escalating cash crisis was a result of long-term problems that came after the country opted to have one of the worlds strongest currencies, the US dollar, as its anchor currency.

We have close to $6,5 billion in deposits and at the end of January we had a little over $300 million in cash circulating.

Under such circumstances, it only makes sense that we have shortages. Do not blame the banks, it is not their fault, they are only looking for a coping mechanism, Chakravarti said.

He recommended that the government should adopt the South African rand and ditch the dollar.

I have said this before, we need a weaker currency. The weaker, the better for us. As South Africa has just been downgraded, this is an opportune time. What we just need is a weaker currency, he added.

Veteran economist John Robertson said the cash problems were going to persist until the government urgently fixed the countrys economic fundamentals.

This has been going on for the past year and in my view, the situation is not likely to improve in the near future because economic fundamentals remain the same.

Governments wage bill still makes up the majority of deposits and as soon as those deposits are recorded, civil servants want to withdraw the money. But there is essentially no money in the system . . . Not even tobacco earnings will save us this time Robertson said.

The cash shortages come as there are growing fears that the countrys economy may soon hit the disastrous lows of 2008 as bond notes continue to lose their value against the United States dollar, with the coveted greenback now almost completely unavailable on the open market.

At the same time, economists have also told the Daily News that poverty levels in the country are skyrocketing, with average incomes now at their lowest levels in more than 60 years and with more than 76 percent of the countrys families now having to make do with pitiful incomes that are well below the poverty datum line of more than $500.

Economists have also warned of a fresh round of sharp rises in the prices of basic goods, including foodstuffs as the US dollar continues to vanish from the market, leading political analysts to worry about renewed civil unrest in the country.

Biti, who is the countrys former Former Finance minister has also said that Zimbabwe is heading for an economic calamity which would see the government formally reintroducing the Zimbabwe dollar which has been decommissioned.

They are already printing what we call Zollars, an amphibious creature which is half Zimdollar and half US dollar that is reflected in treasury bills and bond notes which have no cover.

This is reflected in unfinanced RTGS (real-time gross settlement) and debit card transactions. We have created hot air, and as a result broad money supply, M3, must be frightening. It must be close to 60 percent of GDP. We are heading straight to hyperinflation.

Zimbabweans must prepare for a long winter of despair. Its in Zanu PFs DNA to print money and just spend it as if there is no tomorrow. The flood gates are open and will drown us. Its just a question of time now, Biti said.

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Church happenings, Easter Week events – Allied News

Posted: at 6:07 pm

BRIEFLY

Community breakfast to open Trinity's Easter service

MERCER Trinity Presbyterian Church, 110 East Market St., will offer a light breakfast for the community in the social room at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, preceding the church's Easter service at 11 a.m.

Christian Women's retreat scheduled at McKeever

SANDY LAKE Christian Women's Outreach of Mercer County is sponsoring a retreat April 21-22 at McKeever Environmental Learning Center, state Route 358.

The retreat begins at 4:30 p.m. the first day and ends at the conclusion of the 2 p.m. session the second day. Overnight stays are optional.

Guest speakers are Brandy Palmiero of Clarks Mills and Pastor Janet Pratt of Stoneboro. The retreat offers women time away from busy lives, a time of communion with Jesus and of sharing with others.

Costs: Friday night only, $17, includes dinner; Saturday only, $30, includes all meals; Friday and Saturday no overnight, $40, includes all meals; and Friday and Saturday overnight, $45, includes all meals. Scholarships are available. Registration forms may be obtained by calling Patti at 724-475-3520 or Shirley at 814-425-7572.

Clergy group to hold Easter sunrise service

SHARPSVILLE AREA The Greater Sharpsville Area Clergy Association is sponsoring special events Easter Sunday.

On Easter Sunday, a community sunrise service will be held at 7 a.m. in Mahaney Park at the Shenango Lake. Speaker will be Rev. Dr. Carl Nicklas.

Member churches are Sharpsville Nazarene, First Presbyterian, First United Methodist, South Py Community, Clark Trinity United Methodist, St. Bartholomews and Eastgate Christian. Shenango Valley Faith Academy and Transform! Counseling Center also are part of the association.

Eagles Nest Church sets Easter services, eventGREENVILLE Eagles Nest Church, which worships at the American Legion Hall, 278 Main St., has scheduled special Easter Sunday services.

At 9:30 a.m. Easter Sunday, a Galilean breakfast will be held at the Pymatuning dam by the gatehouse, featuring fish and loaves and a retelling of the story in John chapter 21. A celebration service will be held at 10:30 at the legion hall.

Info: Pastor Vince Bellanca, 724-456-8900.

Wayside church slates Good Friday, Easter services

FINDLEY TOWNSHIP Wayside Community Church, 1911 Mercer-Grove City Road, will hold Easter Sunday service at 10:30 a.m.

New Life Baptist sets 3 Easter celebration services

NEW WILMINGTON Community Easter celebration services will be held at New Life Baptist Church, 3414 state Route 208, at 6 p.m. today and at 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday.

The services will include deaf interpretation and their will be classes for children of all ages.

Info: 724-946-2816 or http://www.mynlbc.com

WM area churches to hold outdoor sunrise service WEST MIDDLESEX AREA West Middlesex area churches will hold an outdoor Easter sunrise service at 7 a.m. Sunday in the east-facing parking lot of Unity Presbyterian Church at Greenfield, 1857 Mercer West Middlesex Road in Lackawannock Township.

Pastor Jim Moose of the host church will speak. Those attending are asked to bring lawn chairs.

Following the outdoor service, breakfast will be served in the Unity fellowship hall, which is handicapped accessible.

In case of rain the service will be held in the Unity sanctuary.

Info: 724-346-9501 and leave a message.

Rev. Oatis to speak at IHS 'Sonrise' service

HERMITAGE Rev. Don Oatis will be the speaker at the 7 a.m. Easter Sunday Sonrise service in IHS Gospel Ministries, 786 Karen Lane. Breakfast will be at 8 a.m., followed by Sunday school and the worship service.

Vision & Values conference looks at God that Failed

GROVE CITY The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College will take a deep look at a fallen socio-economic idol that may be making a comeback during the conservative think tank's 13th annual conference April 20 and 21 on campus.

The God That Failed: Communism and Socialism Then and Now features dozens of speakers and scholars exploring a variety of issues related to the communist-socialist phenomenon of past, present and future.

National Review Senior Editor Jonah Goldburg, one the nations most-read and respected conservative writers, leads a pack of nationally-known guests who will descend on campus for the conference, which also features a number of Grove City College faculty who will present original research and scholarship and lead discussions throughout.

Others scheduled to speak during the two-day conference include: David Horowitz, founder and president of the Freedom Center and editor of FrontPage Magazine; Michael Medved, nationally syndicated radio talk show host, best-selling author, political commentator and veteran film critic; Ron Radosh, a writer, professor, historian and former communist; and Lee Edwards, distinguished fellow at The Heritage Foundation and author of Freedoms College: The History of Grove City College.

The conference takes its name from a 1949 book detailing the disillusionment of former Communists and also serves to mark the centenary of the launch of global communism with the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, communist and socialist societies persist in the 21st century and recent events indicate that the ideology may be attractive to todays millennial generation. The conference seeks to explore the ways in which current ideologies bare resemblance to communism and how people of faith should assess socialism and its more radical variants.

For a complete schedule of events or to register, visit: http://www.visionandvalues.org.

The Center for Vision & Values is conservative think tank strengthening the faith and freedom foundation of American citizenship at Grove City College. It is a leading forum for the study and application of freedom to economic, political, social, religious and scientific issues. The views and opinions expressed by Center staff or conference participants do not necessarily reflect the view of Grove City College.

Chestnut Ridge to host Carol Missik's 'Concert of Worship'

HUBBARD Rev. Carol Missik will present Concert of Worship at 5 p.m. April 23 in Chestnut Ridge Church of God. Performing guests will be Loree Schmidt; Higher Praise of Warren, Ohio; the mens praise team of the host church and soloists and instrumentalists with Missik at the keyboard.

An offering will be received to support Operation Capital City, an affiliate of South East Asia Prayer Center headquartered in Oakmont, Pa. Operation Capital Citys purpose is to strategically cover with intense prayer each capital city in each state or region in any nation the organization believes God is leading.

Ruth A.M.E. Zion schedules Women's Day services

SHARON Ruth A.M.E. Zion Church, 95 Connelly Blvd., will hold Women's Day services April 29 and 30.

A prayer brunch will be at 11 a.m. April 29, with guest speaker Rev. Geraldine D. Williams, former pastor. An offering will be received. At 3 p.m. that day, a praise extravaganza will feature area choirs, groups and individuals.

The 11 a.m. April 30 service will conclude the weekend activities. Speaker will be Rev. Deborah Hines, associate minister of Bethel A.M.E. Zion Church in Cleveland.

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Kazakhstan Could Become Qazaqstan as it Eyes New Alphabet – Newsweek

Posted: at 6:07 pm

Kazakhstans President Nursultan Nazarbayev has called on his government to begin preparing to shift the nations alphabet from the Cyrillicas used by neighbor Russiato the Latin.

Kazakhstan has been independent since the collapse of the Soviet Union but Russian is still widely spoken alongside Kazakh and both are official languages.

But despite the use of Russian in Kazakhstan and its neighbors, the regions native languages belong to the Turkic rather than Slavic family.

Other countries with Turkic languages, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and nearby Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan use the Latin alphabet. And now, according to Russian news agency Interfax, Nazarbayev has commissioned experts to begin work on a Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin one, by the end of the year.

"The Latin alphabet was used [in Kazakhstan] from 1929 to 1940, Nazarbayev said. In 1940a law was adopted transferring the Kazakh language from the Latin alphabet to one based on Russian script. Thus, changes in the Kazakh alphabet were political.

Nazarbayev plans the transition to the new Latinized Kazakh script to be complete by 2025. The stated purpose of the move is to make Kazakhstan a more recognizable brand internationally, but it will also appeal to patriotic Kazakhs.

According to Camilla Hagelund, Central Asia analyst at risk analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft, the initiative will likely be a success given Nazarbayevs immense unilateral influence in his country and the fact that the change reflects the public mood.

Kazakh businesses have, for example, increasingly adopted the use of Q instead of K in their company namesusing Qazaq instead of Kazakh, she says. Such changes are closer to non-Cyrillic regional conventions. The letter Q does not exist in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Nazarbayev even noted that the Kazakh diaspora in Turkey is already widely using Latin script to write in Kazakh and schoolchildren all learn the Latin alphabet as part of studying English at school. That is not to say the transition will be without pitfalls, however, as Hagelund warns companies will have to rebrand products and retrain personnel on using new equipment.

At the socio-economic level the implications are much greater, including the need to replace school books, adding pressure on strained public finances, Hagelund says. The change would [also] risk making large swathes of the public illiterate.

Hagelund does not expect Russia to be overly concerned about losing a common alphabet with one of its closest allies, however.

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Kazakhstan Could Become Qazaqstan as it Eyes New Alphabet - Newsweek

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