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Poverty And Wealth
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The stork flew over a town one day,
And back of each wing an infant lay;
One to a rich man’s home he brought,
And one he left at a labourer’s cot.
The rich man said, ‘My son shall be
A lordly ruler o’er land and sea.’
The labourer sighed, ‘’Tis the good God’s will
That I have another mouth to fill.’
The rich man’s son grew strong and fair,
And proud with the pride of a millionaire.
His motto in life was, ‘Live while you may, ’
And he crowded years in a single day.
He bought position and name and place,
And he bought him a wife with a handsome face.
He journeyed over the whole wide world,
But discontent his heart lay curled
Like a serpent hidden in leaves and moss,
And life seemed hollow and gold was dross.
He scoffed at woman, and doubted God,
And died like a beast and went back to the sod.
The son of the labourer tilled the soil,
And thanked God daily for health and toil.
He wedded for love in his youthful prime,
And two lives chorded in tune and time.
His wants were simple, and simple his creed,
To trust God fully: it served his need,
And lightened his labour, and helped him to die
With a smile on his lips and a hope in his eye.
When all is over and all is done,
Now which of these men was the richer one?
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News
It's time for the West to make a decisions. What steps are we willing to take to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons?
Major UN Iran nuke report expected
VIENNA — Diplomats to the UN atomic watchdog are bracing for a new report this week providing fresh detail on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons drive, amid growing speculation of an Israeli military strike.
Previous International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessments have centred on Iran's efforts to produce fissile material -- uranium and plutonium -- that can be for power generation and other peaceful uses, and also in a nuclear bomb.
But the new update, which diplomats say will be circulated among envoys on Tuesday or Wednesday, will focus on Iran's alleged efforts to put the radioactive material in a warhead and to develop missiles to carry them to a target.
Clearly what we need to do is extend the Bush tax cuts and pay for them by cutting of unemployment benefits. Trickle-down has never worked before, but as they say, if first you don't succeed, try, try again!
Most of U.S. Unemployed No Longer Receive Benefits
The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.
Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent -- a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.
Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states
I'm sure the free trade agreements the oligarchy recently approved will reverse this.
Poverty Rate Doubled in the Midwestern Rust Belt Over Past Decade
The Great Recession has changed the face of poverty in America.
More people – 46.2 million - live in poverty today than at any other time in American history. And compared to the 1990s they are more likely to be white, live in the Midwest, have a high school diploma and own a home, according to a Brookings Institute report released Thursday.
“This has been a really tough decade economically,” said Elizabeth Kneebone, an author of the Brookings Institute report. “After two economic downturns and falling incomes over the 2000s, we’ve seen that [poverty rate] push back up. It’s likely that we have not seen the last of the increases in America’s poor population.”
Oh, pity the poor the banker who has to actually PROVIDE EVIDENCE to foreclose on a house.
Legal questions continue to stall foreclosures
In a small Bergen County courtroom one recent Friday, a sheriff's officer auctioned off two foreclosed properties in a matter of minutes, as a handful of investors kept their eyes open for bargains.
It was a far cry from the typical sheriff's auction of mid-2010, when 15 or more properties were auctioned weekly and up to 100 investors crowded the courthouse's large jury room.
Sheriff's auctions are among the most visible symbols of the housing crisis, which left many homeowners saddled with mortgages they couldn't afford. But foreclosure auctions have slowed dramatically since questions arose more than a year ago about "robo-signing" — that is, sloppy paperwork by mortgage lenders and servicers.
For the LaEscapee and temptxan
No. 1 LSU stays unbeaten with an overtime defeat of Alabama
No. 1 LSU gained the inside track to the BCS title game, beating No. 2 Alabama 9-6 on Drew Alleman's 25-yard field goal in overtime after a fierce defensive struggle in which neither team reached the end zone Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide missed four field goals, including Cade Foster's 52-yard attempt after Alabama got the ball first in the extra period. LSU appeared to win the game on Michael Ford's run around left end after taking a pitch, but he stepped out of bounds at the 7.
After two plays gained nothing, LSU (9-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) sent on Alleman to attempt his third field goal of the game on third down. Alabama (8-1, 5-1) tried to freeze him by calling timeout, but he calmly knocked it through to set off a wild celebration by the visiting team.
Huge asteroid headed for close encounter with Earth
A huge asteroid will pass closer to Earth than the moon Tuesday, giving scientists a rare chance for study without having to go through the time and expense of launching a probe, officials said.
Earth's close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU 55 will occur at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) Tuesday, as the space rock sails about 201,000 miles from the planet.
"It is the first time since 1976 that an object of this size has passed this closely to the Earth. It gives us a great -- and rare -- chance to study a near-Earth object like this," astronomer Scott Fisher, a program director with the National Science Foundation, said Thursday during a Web chat with reporters.
Prostate Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Study
An experimental drug co-developed by Medivation Inc. and Astellas Pharma Inc. extended overall survival by nearly five months in men with advanced prostate cancer, compared with a placebo, the companies said Thursday.
The results came from an interim analysis of a late-stage trial of the drug, MDV3100, in men who had previously received chemotherapy. The benefit was strong enough to stop the 1,200-patient study early and switch men who had taken the placebo over to MDV3100.
The estimated median overall survival in men who had received MDV3100 was about 18.4 months, compared with 13.6 months for the placebo group, for a 37% reduction in risk of death, the companies said.