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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Policy
Focus: G7: G-192 Discussion
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2009 08:11:36 -0800
From: "Stephen M. Apatow" <s.m.apatow@humanitarian.net>
To: Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program
CC: Human Rights Institute, International Bar Association,
Pascal Lamy, Secretary General, World Trade Organization,
UN: WHO/OIE/FAO Group
Dear Colleagues,
Last evening, leaders in 192 member states of the United Nations (in
a Y2K level dialogue) reviewed the presentation entitled "House of Cards"
hosted by David Faber at CNBC, that reported on the progression that facilitated
our current global economic crisis. Included in the global documentary
review were leaders, members of the academic community, front line service
programs, peace and interfaith organizations, newspaper, radio and television
network reporters. Understanding the causative factors associated with
our current national disaster/state of emergency, is crucial for for strategic
planning and development, stabilization in our communities and G-192 landscape.
This global discussion will be a focus point at the G7 meetings in
Rome this weekend.
We are in a Katrina level economic disaster (Wickpedia):
A disaster is the tragedy of a natural or human-made hazard
that negatively affects society or environment.
In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately
managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards
that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster,
as is the case in uninhabited regions. [1]
Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits –
more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing
countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as
a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.[2:
World Bank Disaster Management]
In the United States, emergency economic relief, funded
by the American taxpayer to address the damage caused by a lack of regulatory
controls and criminal activities in the shadow banking system, is nothing short of outrageous.....
Today, there remains no transparency regarding the shadow banking
system, where the majority of taxpayer funds have been directed, while the
household/buisness/corporate level across America spirals in crisis. The
American taxpayer is the victim of the crime and our children should not
be responsible for the bill, they should be compensated for damages.
The scenario is equivalent to a bank that has just been
robbed, the criminal released and innocent customers were being accused
of the crime, penalized a fine that in some cases resulted in the liquidation
of all their assets. For those who lost their retirement accounts,
a life sentence.
In the context of immediate stabilization and recovery in this national
economic disaster/state of emergency, the protections afforded in a
major disaster
declaration include:
- Individual
Assistance - aid to individuals and households;
- Public
Assistance - aid to public and tribal (and certain private non-profit) entities
for certain emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster
damaged public facilities; and
- Hazard
Mitigation Assistance - funding for measures designed to reduce future losses
to public and private property. Some declarations will provide only individual
assistance or only public assistance. Hazard mitigation opportunities are
assessed in most situations.
Immediate emergency funding and relief must be available
to stabilize the household level, businesses and corporate level facing
an emergency, with assistance proportional to the needs required for
the duration of this transition. On the global scale, America must
take the lead in humanitarian relief on the G-192 level.
Related: CountryUp.org:
News & Information:
Stephen M. Apatow
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Dialogue on Freedom: American Bar Association:
The terrorist attacks on September 11 underscore the necessity
for serious and constant discussions about American civic values
and their compatibility with other cultures.
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