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Pakistani floods claim hundreds more

Posted by M.T. Al-Mansouri, Ph.D. on August 2, 2010 at 1:14am

Villagers carry what's left from their collapsed houses after heavy flooding in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, on Sunday. (Ishtiaq Mahsud/Associated Press)

August 1, 2010 : By CBC News: The number of people killed in flooding in northwest Pakistan has risen to more than 1,100, officials said Sunday.

Monsoon rains caused the worst floods on record in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province in the past week, washing away villages, roads and bridges.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj.-Gen. Attar Abbas said the full scale of the devastation is still not clear and the death toll is expected to increase.

"Aerial monitoring is being conducted and it has shown that whole villages have washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have washed away," said Latifur Rehman, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. "The destruction is massive."

The UN estimates about one million people are affected by the flooding, while 27,000 remain trapped by the water.

Almost 700 people have drowned in the Peshawar valley, which includes the districts of Nowshera and Charsada, and 115 others are still missing, a local official said.

The districts of Swat and Shangla have also been hit hard and have suffered more than 400 deaths, said Mujahid Khan, the head of rescue services for the Edhi Foundation, a private charity.

Residents of Swat were still trying to recover from a major battle between the army and the Taliban last spring that caused widespread destruction and drove some two million people from their homes. About one million of those were still displaced.

In Swat alone, the floods have destroyed more than 14,600 houses and 22 schools.

Crime statistics not accurate, Day suggests

Posted by OIPWHR-M.T. on August 4, 2010 at 12:49am

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day speaks during a news conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

August 3, 2010 ; CBC NEWS: Treasury Board President Stockwell Day says the government will go ahead with its plan to spend billions for new prisons, suggesting statistics that show crime is declining in Canada are not accurate.

During a news conference on Tuesday in Ottawa, Day said the government has received indications that more and more people are not reporting crimes committed against them.

"It shows we can't take a Liberal view to crime which is, some would suggest, that it is barely happening at all," Day said. "Still, there are too many situations of criminal activity that are alarming to our citizens, and we intend to deal with that."

When questioned by perplexed reporters, Day did not elaborate on what information source he was basing his claims, but said he would provide figures to them later.

P.O.V.:

Have you ever been the victim of a crime you didn't report to authorities? Take our poll. [http://www.cbc.ca/news/pointofview/2010/08/crime-have-you-ever-declined-to-report-one.html]

Speaking shortly after Day, Liberal MP Mark Holland said his comments show Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government "doesn't have any respect for facts."

"You don't make up statistics to try to scare people and use crime as a wedge issue," Holland told reporters in Ottawa.

In a statement to CBC News on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson's office cited Statistics Canada's report of its last general social survey conducted in 2004, which found an estimated 34 per cent of Canadians who are victims of crime still aren't reporting the crime to police.

The statement said Day was "correct in his assertion that many crimes go unreported in Canada" and "[t]he amount of unreported victimization can be substantial."

According to the Statistics Canada survey, conducted every five years, an estimated 88 per cent of sexual assaults go unreported, as well as an estimated 69 per cent of household thefts, the minister's office said.

The information gathered from the 2009 survey on unreported crimes has yet to be released.

Freezes, census changes staying

In the meantime, the federal government will not ease off on plans for fiscal restraint in other departments, despite indications Canada could eliminate its deficit a year earlier than predicted, Day said.

Last week, the Conference Board of Canada said the federal government should be able to eliminate the annual budget deficit by 2015. The business think-tank said in a report it depends on the government sticking to its promises to constrain spending.

Day said that while the global economic recovery is still "somewhat fragile," the government will continue with its freezes on spending, as well as departmental reviews to look for savings.

"We will be sticking to our fiscal plan," Day said.

In its February budget, the federal government projected a budgetary shortfall of $54 billion in 2010 but said annual deficits should be eliminated through spending cuts by 2016.

The Treasury Board president also was adamant that the Conservative government will stick with its controversial plan to scrap the mandatory long-form census.

The government has faced a month of turmoil ever since it announced in late June it would end the mandatory survey and replace it with a voluntary form. Opposition parties, statisticians' groups, provinces, municipalities and social agencies have condemned the move, saying it would lower the quality of data gathered by Statistics Canada and used by a wide array of policy makers.

The government has maintained Canadians should not be coerced through threat of jail time or fines to fill out information they don't want to disclose.

When questioned by reporters over the opposition parties' suggestions to amend the Statistics Act to remove the threat of jail time for those who refuse to fill out long-form census, Day said the government is "open to discussion" on any move to stop "criminalizing Canadians" who don't want to answer "intrusive" questions.

Day maintained the mandatory long-form survey will be abandoned in the spring 2011 census, but said the short-form census will remain compulsory because the government requires "some basic data."

He also questioned the value of information gathered by the census, suggesting data older than a year is "untenable in today's information age."

Day also acknowledged he has only heard directly from three people on the census issue in his constituency.

The World's Most Affordable Retirement Haven

Posted by M.T. Al-Mansouri, Ph.D. on July 4, 2010 at 5:30am

by Kathleen Peddicord
Friday, July 2, 2010

Provided by:

One of the most motivating reasons to retire overseas is the cost of living. Living in another country can cost considerably less.

[See America's Best Affordable Places to Retire.]

Almost anywhere in the world your monthly expenses are largely what you make them. Individuals can decide, for example, whether to rent or own a home. If you don't buy a house you don't have the accompanying carrying costs to worry about, such as repairs, maintenance, and homeowner's insurance. You can also decide whether to purchase a car or not. Going without a vehicle means you don't have to pay to fix it when it breaks down, fuel it, or insure it.

Consumers make choices about whether to run air conditioning 24 hours a day or only in your bedroom at night. And you decide whether to shop for groceries at the American-style grocery store or the local farmer's market. Individuals choose whether to hire help around the house and where and how often you dine out.

Another fundamental choice retirees abroad must make is how local to go. If you're willing to purchase local goods your budget can be seriously controlled. Going native doesn't mean living uncomfortably. Your lifestyle, in fact, could be enhanced and improved in many ways. Retiring overseas is all about embracing the new and the different.

[See 5 Places to Retire On Social Security Alone.]

Just how affordable could your new local life overseas be? As little as $850 a month or less. Cuenca, Ecuador is one of the world's most affordable places to live well. Here's how your Cuenca retirement budget could look:

--Rent: $200

--Utilities and Internet: $120

--Groceries: $240

--Transportation: $40

--Health Insurance: $50

--Entertainment: $200

Think of this as a starter budget. For a total of $850 a month, including a comfortable entertainment allowance, you could live a comfortable and interesting life in a part of the world that boasts spring-like weather year-round.

Build your budget out from there. You can rent an apartment in Cuenca for as little as $200 a month. But if you want a bigger or more modern place to live you could spend two or three times as much. If you want full-time help around the house, it will probably cost about $200 a month. If you want to keep a car, add another $150 a month or so for the associated costs. Do you like to eat out three or four nights a week? Cuenca boasts many good and international-standard restaurants.

This beautiful colonial city with a thriving theater and arts community is not the cheapest place to live in Ecuador. You could live on less in other parts of the country. But Cuenca is the cheapest place to live well, not only in Ecuador, but anywhere in the world.

[See 7 Affordable Places to Retire Abroad.]

With just over 400,000 people, Cuenca is small enough so that you always see someone you know when walking around town. Yet it's not so remote that you can't find the services you need. The colonial architecture, Andean markets, and heritage of the city make you really feel like you're really experiencing another country with a rich culture that provides loads of different ways to spend your time. Public transportation is great, both within the city and between cities. Retirees won't need to invest in a car if they don't want to. The expatriate community is large enough so that you can find English-speaking company when you want it.

Cuenca is perhaps the top choice in the world right now for living well in retirement on a super-modest budget. Other affordable places to retire abroad include Leon, Nicaragua, Las Tablas, Panama, and Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas--Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.

Columbus, Ohio

MARK GIBSON–MIRA

Situated along the winding shores of the Scioto River, Columbus has made a name for itself as the state's capital, home of the Ohio State University Buckeyes, and the headquarters of major corporations like Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Bob Evans Farms.