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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (451416)	1/27/2009 3:42:50 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574606

This is the kind of stuff I want the Israelis to do...help the Palestinians get on their feet. Its a small gesture but trust me its these small gestures that make the difference. 50 cows are given to 50 widows in Iraq By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times Cows roam in Ramadi. In an outreach program, the U.S. is giving free cows to Iraqi widows who agree not to slaughter or sell the animals and instead market the milk or use it for their families. AL-ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq — As U.S. forces work to revive Iraq's tattered farming economy, they seem to have found an effective new weapon. Cows. At the suggestion of an Iraqi women's group, the Marine Corps recently bought 50 cows for 50 Iraqi widows in the farm belt around Fallujah, once the insurgent capital of war-torn al-Anbar province. The cow purchase is seen as a small step toward re-establishing Iraq's once-thriving dairy industry, as well as a way to help women and children hurt by the frequent failure of the Iraqi government to provide the pensions that Iraqi law promises to widows. The early sign is that the program is working. Widows, many with no other income, have a marketable item to sell, as well as milk for their children. Although Iraqis, particularly women, are often reluctant to participate in an American effort, the cows were immediately popular. "It was an easy sell," said Maj. Meredith Brown, assigned to the Marines' outreach program for Iraqi women. The idea, proposed by members of the Women's Cultural Center in Fallujah, at first was met with resistance from U.S. military officers and civilian officials involved in aid programs for al-Anbar. Nothing in their training provided guidance in haggling for livestock. But those objections evaporated when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the top Marine in Iraq, signaled his support, Brown said. The Iraqis now refer to their animals as Kelly's Cows. Although Kelly's support might have been based on gut instinct, the need to beef up Iraq's dairy industry was argued in a Nov. 25 report by Land O'Lakes Inc. The Minnesota cheese-and-butter company was hired by the Marine Corps to examine the Iraqi dairy industry. Its 38-page report, based on field research in the fall by two Land O'Lakes dairy specialists, concluded that there was enormous growth potential for the industry in a milk-drinking, cheese-eating nation that can locally produce enough milk to satisfy only 5 percent of the demand. The study also pointed out that, even in Iraqi farm families with able-bodied men, much of the work is left to women: "Women milk the cows, bring feed and fodder to the animals and are supported by their children." Land O'Lakes has been involved in 150 development projects in 70 countries in recent decades. Among them was a dairy project in Afghanistan after the Taliban was toppled in the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. As a first phase, Marines and Land O'Lakes specialists are discussing a milk-collection facility run by the women to help them learn accounting, marketing and other skills. read more......... seattletimes.nwsource.com

To: michael97123 who wrote (451416)	1/27/2009 3:45:14 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574606

U.S. was the first to slide into recession, will it be the first out? Here's a reason to be optimistic in 2009: After becoming the first major economy to slide into recession — the official arbiter of such things says it began in December 2007 — the United States will likely be the first out, several strategists say. By The Associated Press Here's a reason to be optimistic in 2009: After becoming the first major economy to slide into recession — the official arbiter of such things says it began in December 2007 — the United States will likely be the first out, several strategists say. "The problems began here earlier, and the authorities have provided a much greater degree of support in the form of interest-rate cuts and tax rebates," says Jonathan Armitage, head of large-cap U.S. equities for Schroders. That puts the United States further along the recession cycle than other developed countries. The first-in, first-out model may even work on a more micro level as well. Barclays Capital's Ethan Harris says the U.S. sectors that went into recession first — such as home construction and automobiles — will likely be the first to hit bottom and rebound. He says low U.S. interest rates, plus more government programs to boost spending, will help the overall economy get back to growth by the second half of 2009. The relative optimism about the U.S. economy carries over to stocks. Professional fund managers are more bullish about U.S. stocks than other regions, according to a recent survey by Merrill Lynch. About 48 percent of the roughly 200 fund managers surveyed in December said they were at least "moderately overweight" on U.S. stocks, compared with 22 percent saying the same for developing-economy stocks, 19 percent for European stocks and 17 percent for Japanese stocks. Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company seattletimes.nwsource.com