By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY
By Sandy Huffaker, Getty Images
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed a rule forbidding cruise ships from dumping sewage off the California coast.
The new “no discharge zone,” as the agency is calling the area, would extend three miles from the shoreline along the entire length of the state and apply to all passenger ships larger than 300 tons and to all other oceangoing vessels larger than 300 tons that have sufficient sewage holding tank capacity.
In a statement, the EPA said the ban would stop 20 million gallons of sewage from entering California coastal waters, though it didn’t say which type of ships were behind the releases.
A spokesperson for the Cruise Lines International Association, which represent the world’s major cruise lines including Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, tells USA TODAY its members as a policy never release sewage within three miles of coastal waters. Moreover, says the association’s Lanie Fagan, a California state law already bans the practice.
The 2010 MIAMI CARNIVAL will be held on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium (Dolphin Stadium) in the City of Miami Gardens. Miami Carnival is a celebration of creativity: an eruption of revelry, colorful and spectacular costumes and pulsating music. It is a time when the diversity of the caribbean community can be seen as people of all ages and races come together to shed their inhibitions and enjoy a release from everyday stress. Dolphin Stadium is home to numerous NFL Super Bowls and major entertainment productions, including Jazz in the Gardens.
The Miami Broward One Carnival Host Committee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOUâ€) with Sun Life Stadium and its affiliates and the Miami Dolphins organization to secure the Stadium as a venue for the Miami Carnival on Columbus Day Weekend each year. This spirited agreement represents a major opportunity for the Miami Carnival to build the future and sustainability of the Carnival brand at a world renowned venue.
Miami Broward One Carnival Host Committee, Miami Carnival Inc. (MCI) and Broward Caribbean Carnival Inc. (BCCI) united last year, and hosted one of the most successful Carnivals in the world that attracted over 50,000 people on Carnival day. This Caribbean cultural experience and spectacular riotous blend of colors, pageantry and fantasy, is depicted through a kaleidoscope of incredible costumes, steel bands, calypso, soca and konpa music. The annual event attracts over 100,000 people from throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to the South Florida area. The unified Miami Carnival has a significant impact on annual tourism and the overall economy in South Florida.
“The richness and diversity of the Caribbean culture is an important part of the fabric that makes South Florida unique. We are excited about the possibilities that are ahead of us with a viable venue, renewed energy and the continued support of our bandleaders, masqueraders, steel bands and promoters. The time spent over the last few months provided us with a foundation to elevate Miami Carnival to a new levelâ€, adds Mario Zamora, Chairman of Miami Broward One Carnival Host Committee and BCCI representative.
“We are excited to finally have the opportunity to announce the venue for Carnival 2010. We thank all our stakeholders, including our bandleaders, masqueraders, steel bands, promoters and the tens of thousands of attendees who travel from all over to attend Carnival for their patience and support for this important community celebration. Miami Carnival would not be possible without their continued support. We are committed to finalizing all plans for one of the most successful productions of Carnival that South Florida has ever seen.â€, states Ruthven Williams, director of Miami Broward One Carnival Host Committee and MCI representative.
Miami Carnival will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010 at Sun Life Stadium.
By Bob Roehr
The HIV pandemic has historically been thought of as either concentrated in specific populations—such as gay men, injection drug–users, sex workers—or generalized across the entire population in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. But as more and better epidemiological data has become available, the evidence is clear: men who have sex with men (MSM), regardless of whether or not they identify as gay, also are at the core of those generalized epidemics.
MSM in developing countries are 19 times more likely to be infected with HIV than the general population, according to a 2007 literature review.
Even in Africa, at the heart of the pandemic, in Malawi, 21 percent of MSM are infected with the virus compared with 11 percent of the general population, whereas Zambia’s rates are 33 percent versus 15 percent, respectively, says Chris Beyrer, director of the Johns Hopkins Center of Public Health and Human Rights.
“The argument that gay and bisexual men are a trivial sideshow in the global fight against AIDS is wrong,” he told the Global Forum on MSM and HIV, an advocacy network that met this summer prior to the International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.
That epidemiologic evidence has largely have been ignored by most nations’ plans for HIV prevention and care. Cultural values—machismo, homophobia and religion have overridden the data and dominated policy decisions in many places; most recently in the news are Uganda and Malawi.
Some 85 countries still criminalize sexual activity between adults, and eight, including Nigeria and several Islamic countries, impose the death penalty for homosexual acts. Uganda has been embroiled much of the past year in a debate about whether or not to write such a death penalty into their statutes, with evangelical Christians, both local and in the U.S., fanning the flames.
A recent survey of 303 MSM in Kampala, Uganda, found that 37 percent had been physically abused at some point in their lives, 37 percent had been blackmailed and 26 percent had been forced to have sex, according to Joseph Baker, a researcher with the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC).
Even more troubling, members of this group were five times more likely to be infected with HIV. The overall HIV prevalence was 4.5 percent in adult males in Kampala, 13.7 percent among those participating in the survey and 22.4 percent among those who had experienced violence.
“We have a situation where laws and their arbitrary, inappropriate enforcement are increasing risk and vulnerability—thereby imposing barriers to effective HIV responses for those most vulnerable and the general population,” says Jeffrey O’Malley, director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) HIV Group.
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director Michel Sidibe says discrimination against MSM is a human rights issue and unacceptable. But his message seems to be compartmentalized, reserved for preaching to the choir of those working with MSM; his speech to the Global Forum is absent from the UNAIDS Web site.
The recent International AIDS Conference reinforced the trend: Just 2 percent of presentations focused on gay and bisexual men, according to George Ayala, executive officer of the Global Forum.
This trend toward scientific omission has reinforced local social stigma and violence directed against this minority. The results are an amplification of new infections that might otherwise have been reined in, and a continued expansion of the pandemic.
Haitian-born singer and presidential candidate Wyclef Jean, second left, walks surrounded by security after Haiti's Electoral Council rejected his candidacy in Port-au-Prince on Aug. 20. Ramon Espinosa/AP
Wyclef Jean’s disqualification signals Haiti diaspora not welcome in politics
Wyclef Jean and all the other presidential hopefuls from the diaspora were disqualified from running in the Haiti election. Many see it as a politically motivated decision.
*
Haitian-born singer and presidential candidate Wyclef Jean, second left, walks surrounded by security after Haiti’s Electoral Council rejected his candidacy in Port-au-Prince on Aug. 20.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
By Alice Speri, Correspondent / August 25, 2010
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
The disqualification of Wyclef Jean and all the other candidates from the Haitian diaspora who sought to run in the country’s presidential election has led to allegations that the domestic political elite is manipulating the country’s election commission to freeze out strong challengers.
In all, 15 presidential hopefuls were disqualified by Haiti’s election commission (CEP), which has not explained the reasons for any of the dismissals.
“It’s clear something wrong happened with the diaspora candidates,” says Jean-Junior Joseph, a Hatian political blogger. He says that many of the 19 approved presidential candidates had similar problems with their applications as those identified in the case of diaspora candidates.
The allegation of favoritism has implications beyond the diaspora. The upcoming elections are expected to cost some $29 million, with most of that to be paid by the United States and other donors, leaving foreign governments holding the bag for what critics say could be an unfair poll.
While allegations that the election commission may be politically biased are not unique to the current election cycle, there are hopes that the star power of Mr. Jean can bring attention to the issue and push the international community to demand change.
The Commission of Electoral Observation, a body of foreign observers from the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community appointed to monitor the Haitian electoral process, has already met with Minister of Haitians Living Abroad Edwin Paraison. “It’s the first time that international observers have expressed favor towards the participation of the diaspora in an electoral process,†he says.
Among the 19 approved candidates, the front runners are seen as former prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, former government construction agency director general Jude Celestin (endorsed by current President René Préval), former UN envoy Leslie Voltaire, former Delmas mayor Wilson Jeudy, and former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune. No polling has yet been done.
Each of them is considered part of the political establishment. A recent editorial in Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s main newspaper, referred to the approved candidates as “the status-quo.”
No reason for Wyclef Jean’s disqualification
The CEP declined to identify the motivations behind its exclusion of Jean, former ambassador Raymond Joseph, New York medical doctor Kesler Dalmacy, and Miami activist Lavarice Gaudin, among others. Lawyers for Jean and Joseph announced Tuesday they will appeal the decision.
Most of them were likely rejected on residency grounds, as the Constitution requires all presidential candidates to have lived in Haiti for the five years leading up to an election. Grammy-winning hip-hop musician Jean has lived in the United States since age nine. His lawyers have argued that since Jean owns a home and business interests in Haiti, and in 2007 was appointed the country’s roving ambassador-at-large, he should qualify.
The Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad, in a statement Monday, argued that the electoral law fails to indicate the minimum number of days a candidate is required to remain in the country each year to meet the 5-year residency requirement. “There is a certain fluidity around the question of residency, which leads to different interpretations, often negative for the aspirations of diaspora candidates,†Minister Paraison said. “This is a situation that must be clarified through constitutional reform.â€
The ministry called on the CEP to operate with more transparency and explain its reasoning for excluding candidates.
‘Our voices will be heard’
The CEP did release a document evaluating each candidate on 17 requirements set by electoral law, but in many cases that didn’t explain their decision. For instance, Jean appears to have met all 17 requirements.
Source: CSM
We are now watching two named tropical systems way out at sea.
Tropical Storm Earl formed Wednesday afternoon, joining Hurricane Danielle in the Atlantic Ocean.
“Danielle is not going to threaten any land area. It may come close to Bermuda, but stay to the east,” WWL TV Meteorologist Carl Arredondo said. “Earl may get close to the northern islands of the Caribbean by Sunday, but right now is still expected to stay just to the north of the Caribbean Sea.”
He says we’ll have to watch Earl because it is too early to know for sure if it will miss the Caribbean and stay away from the Gulf. Models show Earl staying in the Atlantic.
Source: WWL
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, AUGUST 25TH 2010 (CUOPM) – The construction of a world class Private Air Terminal Facility, to be used by local Fixed Base Operators at St. Kitts’ Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport would significantly advance the quality of service provided.
Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said the facility has become an important need, as there has been sustained and substantial increase in the use of the airport by Executives and celebrities using private aircraft services.
“This situation provides an ideal opportunity for the Port Authority to develop this area of business as part of the long-term development strategy for the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. The launch of this facility, therefore, represents the recognition of an essential area of growth that must be pursued by the Port Authority,†said Dr. Douglas at the signing of an agreement between the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA) and Veling – a Mauritius-based company.
Dr. Douglas said Veling Limited brings a wealth of experience in the aviation service industry into the project.
“We welcome them in the knowledge that the agreement reflects mutual benefits to the partners, and I am sure that the facility would be a great influence in the continuing development of our economy,†said the Prime Minister.
He said it is important to mention that the Private Air Terminal Facility would be a complementary service to the Government’s approach in developing high-end tourism in St. Kitts and must ensure that various kinds of services buttress such a strategy.
“Tourism is a globally competitive industry, and we are in a process of creating a product that attracts both visitors and business opportunities into the country,†said Prime Minister Douglas.
He said that building St. Kitts and Nevis into a world class Caribbean destination, therefore, requires the institution of certain standards in key areas of infrastructure, and this is an ongoing process.
“In the case of our airport, we are talking about creating facilities that would translate into greater comfort and facilitation for the targeted passengers, enhanced efficiency in the servicing of aircraft, improved capacity and capability for Fixed Based Operators, and the creation of an overall level of service that is world class,†said Prime Minister Douglas.
Source: CUOPM
Standard & Poor’s cut Ireland’s sovereign debt rating by a notch to double-A-minus, citing the massive cost of patching up the hemorrhaging Irish banking system.
The news comes at a time when worries about Ireland’s finances have loomed larger in financial markets. The cost of insuring against a default on Irish government debt has risen 25% over the past month, approaching levels seen in early 2009, and Irish bonds are trading at a record premium to safer German bonds.
S&P said it now expects recapitalizing the financial system in Ireland to cost the government half again as much as it had earlier estimated. The tab could run to 45 billion to 50 billion euros ($57 billion-$63 billion), the ratings firm said.
The huge cost of bailing out the banks will push Irish government debt up well above the country’s annual gross domestic product, S&P said – well above the levels seen in other stressed sovereign debt issuers such as Belgium and Spain.
“The downgrade reflects our opinion that the rising budgetary cost of supporting the Irish financial sector will further weaken the government’s fiscal flexibility over the medium term,” S&P said.
It estimated that the total costs of support for the financial sector will hit 58% of annual GDP. Moody’s made some mind-bending cost estimates of its own last month in downgrading Ireland for the second time this year.
The Irish banks collapsed in 2008 when a massive property bubble popped. Taxpayers have been consigned to spending huge sums to prop up the banks, including Anglo Irish, which ran aground after making bad loans. Former CEO Sean Fitzpatrick took $114 million in personal loans over eight years at the bank, but recently declared bankruptcy. The government has been investigating.
But with the economy still faltering, support for Anglo Irish has become a thorn in the side of Ireland’s finance minister Brian Lenihan. He recently said the government propped the bank up “to ensure that the resolution of debts does not damage Ireland’s international credit-worthiness and end up costing us even more than we must now pay.”
With investors showing a renewed aversion to risk, Ireland now faces the unhappy prospect that it will end up paying more anyway.
Source: POLITIC 365
GETTY IMAGES
Wyclef’s Jean’s seemingly quixotic quest for President of Haiti took a bad turn last week when Haiti’s Interim Electoral Commission (CEP) rejected his bid. Since the former Fugees’ band member and subsequent solo hip-hop celebrity launched his campaign (outlining reasons in an open August 5th Huffington Post letter), a mountain of controversy swirled about Haiti’s “roving ambassador.†He’s been fending off charges of financial malfeasance at his highly visible non-governmental relief organization Yele’ Haiti while managing speculation over his motives.
Now, political tensions in the earthquake-devastated Caribbean island are boiling over the Haitian electoral commission’s decision. According to the CEP, Jean could not prove that he lived in the country for five consecutive years, a requirement under Haitian law.
Still, Jean’s lawyers argue that he does meet the requirements, especially as Haiti’s “roving ambassador†since 2007 – even though he’s lived in the United States since the age of 9.
Wall Street Journal’s Nicolas Casey reports United Nation’s peacekeepers are mobilizing in anticipation of unrest over the decision:
Over the weekend, United Nations peacekeepers mobilized in Port-au-Prince in anticipation of unrest related to the announcement. “We are aware that the release of the list of prospective candidates could cause rallies or [a] mass movement,†said Jean-François Vezina, a spokesman for the United Nations police.
Despite the tension and initial acceptance of the decision on his blog, “Wyclef†– as he’s popularly known – is pushing his candidacy forward in defiance of the CEP. On his Twitter site, Jean writes:
Tomorrow our Lawyers are appealing the decision of the CEP. We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be Respected.
Jean elaborates further on his appeal in a recent interview with the Associated Press, claiming that the CEP decision was based on “politics†and not the rule of law.
“I think he probably felt that the Commission’s decision wasn’t legally sound,†Garry Pierre-Pierre, Editor of The Haitian Times, tells Politic365.com. “He looked at the other candidates and realized they were plagued by similar residency issues, yet they remain on the ballot.â€
Pierre-Pierre, host of CUNY-TV’s Independent Times, contends that if Jean’s appeal is successful and he is back on the ballot “he will become the next President of Haiti.â€
“Wyclef is very popular among Haitians – they don’t care about the residency issue. His common man approach appeals to them. However, there is a certain class of Haitians attempting to paint him as a messenger of foreign interests. The elite political class views him as an interloper getting in the way.â€
Author: Charles Ellison
The Office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Hon. Dean Barrow, has issued a rare public statement in response to the 2008-2009 Annual Audit Report by Auditor General Edmund Zuniga – a report which cited continued concerns over the lack of public accountability and documentation for major transactions in the Government service, and among other shocking tales, 165 police vehicles unaccounted for and $280 million of questionable transactions in the suspense accounts.
Other problems identified are: bank accounts across several government ministries and departments have not been reconciled; inventory management continues to be deficient; and once more Audit found continued poor control over the use of government vehicles.
Barrow commented on the Audit on Thursday last, while holding an impromptu press briefing at his office in Belmopan. Today, Monday, the Government Press Office sent out a lengthy press release documenting his stance.
The Audit report was laid on the table at the House of Representatives on Friday, August 6, but there was neither a public statement nor a discussion of the report at the time. The following week, Amandala ran an article titled, Silence surrounds 08-09 Audit – what does it say? detailing major concerns laid out by Zuniga’s office. Zuniga said that one of his pet peeves is, “You keep hearing that the records cannot be found.â€
“It would appear from the reading of the 08-09 Audit Report that your administration has been running basically the same kind of ship as the former administration in terms of accountability, documents being missing,†our newspaper told Prime Minister Barrow.
“There cannot be any notion of simply letting things continue to ride,†Barrow told the press Thursday. “What the Auditor General has pointed to, in my view, represents systemic failures that have been with us for a long time; while you’re not going to cure those failures overnight, similarly you simply can’t just sit on your hands and say, ‘Well, that’s a matter for bureaucracy.’â€
He told the press that he will be meeting with his Financial Secretary, Joseph Waight, as well as speaking with his Cabinet and Chief Executive Officers on the matters raised “…so that we can come up with some kind of determination to try and improve things, even if it is in an incremental manner.
Barrow also told the media that he is “pinning great hopes†on the revamped Finance & Audit Act and the revamped and expanded Finance and Stores Orders.
He told the press that Government has received recommendations from “experts, consultants,†obtained through the Caribbean Development Bank, in revising the Act and the Orders.
“It’s just now a matter of the draftsperson putting the recommendations of the consultants into legislative form,†he added.
“There is no magic bullet,†Barrow told the press, “but I do think it is absolutely critical that I get this legislation in place and that once this is done, I certainly feel it will mark a significant and substantial departure from the way business has been conducted in the past.â€
Those reforms he expects to be tabled by the next session of the House of Representatives.
“That would go a long way towards addressing some of the institutional long-standing concerns the Auditor General spoke about,†he commented.
He also noted that the revisions include penalties for both public officers and politicians for two categories of offenses: sins of omission and sins of commission.
“The idea is to have penalties for both categories of offenses so that slackness on the part of public officers, accounting officers will be looked at… as well as any deliberate acts that constitute defalcations or delinquencies on the part of the politicians and the public officers,†Prime Minister Barrow explained.
Among the items raised in the 5-point statement today, the Office of the Prime Minister stated that, “Even where accounting failures are concerned, the bulk of what has been detailed by the Auditor General took place before February 2008.â€
It also stated that, “In light of the Auditor General’s stated concerns about inadequate records-keeping, the Office of the Prime Minister expects the Opposition member who chairs the Public Accounts Committee of the House to make a special effort to convene a meeting of that committee at the earliest.
“Committee members from the government side stand ready to attend such a meeting to address the matters in question, starting with those dating back to the last administration.â€
As we reported last week, chairman of that committee, Hon. Mark Espat, Opposition People’s United Party member for Albert, had indicated that since 2008, he had repeatedly tried to call meetings, but to no avail. Ruling United Democratic Party members, he said, hold four of six seats.
The Auditor General told us that his office does not have any power to do anything when they are stonewalled during the course of an Audit. That, said Zuniga, is a matter for the Public Accounts Committee.
Source: AMANDALA
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Japanese yen surged to a fresh 15-year high against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, after the Japanese government failed to say it would take steps to curb the currency’s strength amid growing concerns about the pace of the recovery.
What prices are doing: The greenback fell more than 1% against the Japanese yen to ¥84.16 early Tuesday, before paring back some of those losses to trade around ¥84.30.
It was the dollar’s lowest level against the yen since 1995. The euro, meanwhile, fell to its lowest level against the yen since 2001.
The dollar managed gains against other currencies, including the euro and the British pound.
What’s moving the market: The yen gained against major currencies across the board, as jittery investors flocked to the Japanese currency, which is typically seen as a low-risk investment during times of economic uncertainty.
Japanese finance minister Yoshihiko Noda failed to signal whether authorities would intervene to limit the yen’s rise.
Noda told reporters at a press conference in Tokyo that “disorderly” moves in the yen could harm economic stability.
A stronger yen can hurt profits at Japan’s export businesses, sending the Nikkei stock index down 1.3%.
0:00 /2:52Strong yen a pain for ex-pats in Japan
What analysts are saying: “Gloom and doom have taken hold of the markets, so the usual suspects are benefiting,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, referring to the safe-haven yen and dollar. “While economic prospects in the major countries appear to be on the slide, the yen continues to benefit.”
Chandler said that the Japanese authorities’ lack of indications that they will intervene in the currency markets is also boosting the yen.
“More official jawboning was heard today by Japan officials, but given the boilerplate nature of those comments, they did little to dissuade markets from taking the yen higher,” he said. To top of page
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