"After a news conference in Missouri on May 2, he was quoted as saying of India’s burgeoning middle class, 'When you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up.' " (Indians Find U.S. at Fault in Food Cost, nytimes.com)

If this were actually the case, that would mean that all developing nations were to blame for the start of the food crisis-how dare anyone improve their standard of living!  The article goes on to say how the two sides, the US and India, are trying to reach a truce. One expert volunteered that neither were directly to blame and told the writer:

"Food prices have not been rising continually as developing nations grew, said Ramgopal Agarwala, a former World Bank economist and senior adviser at RIS, a research institute in New Delhi. 'They were static until 2006, then in 2007 and 2008 there was a sudden spark,' he said. But India has been growing for the last decade. This is “not last year’s phenomena,' he said." (Indians Find U.S. at Fault in Food Cost, nytimes.com)

Perhaps the idea that India or the US are to blame for the food crisis seems far-fetched, because if that were true-then, how dare anyone try to improve their standard of living!? really? However, after reading Patel's book, I believe that Bush was on to something more than he knew.

Patel successfully describes how it was free-trade and NAFTA that got us here...not too far from developing countries! It was not per se the development of these countries that led to the food crisis, but the way they went about raising their standard of living, and who's standard of living was actually raised.

Patel illustrates in his book:

"Their aim was to keep their strategic reserves of food, while forcing countries in the Global South to cede sovereignty over their agricultural supplies...November 1992, the US and EU drew up an agreement which the rest of the world would sign. ...the EU and US were able through their bilateral 'Blair House' agreement to develop a system of agricultural supports that, in essence, let them continue to subsidize their farmers, while countries in the Global South signed away precisely this right. In the US and EU, the government and private sector were to work in tandem to keep domestic agriculture on an even keel. In the rest of the world, these same private sector companies would be allowed to operate without impediment by other governments." (Patel, p. 97)

Patel goes on to bring to light that the WTO, the World Trade Organization, the so-thought referee of such agreements, went along with the US:

"The then-director-general of the World Trade Organization, Renato Ruggiero, put it well in 1996 when he said, 'We are no longer writing the rules of interaction among separate national economies. We are writing the constitution of a single global economy.' The new constitution... wasn't designed to deliver wholesale improvements in the quality of life of the poorest. It sits, rather, as the latest episode in the long history of the generation of supplies of cheap food to prevent insurrection. Lower trade barriers in the countries of the Global South were introduced not as a means to help the poor out of poverty, nor as a means to agricultural development, but as an emergency measure to forestall bankruptcy." (Patel, 98).

Risk management anyone? Did they not take the course, or did they choose to ignore the so obvious consequences/risks that were easily anticipated from these policies? "We'll worry about it then," sort of attitude? Hopefully we've learned our lesson.... Now what? As much as you may not believe me, I'm not so much into placing the blame as I am into finding a solution. I don't have one right now. Raj has provided a start-up list of what to do: What Next? I'll be updating this as more, better plans for the future arise.

Det ble brudd, hovedsakelig fordi avstanden mellom krav og tilbud på lønn er for stort. Samtidig gjenstår det også noen tekstmessige utfordringer, spesielt i forhold til lønnssystem og tjenestepensjon.

Forhandlingsutvalget opplever at ledelsen i altfor liten grad tar innover seg den store andelen lavtlønte blant våre medlemmer, det at vi ligger langt bak sammenlignbare gruppers lønnsnivå. Vi mener den situasjonen tilsier at våre medlemmer må ha mer enn andre, ellers blir vi værende lavtlønte.

Vi beklager sterkt at ledelsen, i stedet for å imøtekomme oss på dette, velger å sende oppgjøret til mekling, i håp om at faren for konflikt skal medføre at vi nok en gang skal ta til takke med lave lønnstillegg. Vi mener at avstanden ikke er større enn at en imøtekommelse vil ha en langt lavere kostnad enn kostnaden en eventuell konflikt vil tilsvare.

Klubben vil de neste 2 ukene prioritere å reise rundt på medlemsmøter i hele Norge. Foreløpig møteplan ser slik ut:

Skien               8.mai

Stavanger         14.mai

Haugesund       15.mai

Bergen             15.mai

Oslo                20.mai

Sarpsborg        22.mai

Vi ber lokale tillitsvalgte ta kontakt hvis de ønsker besøk til et medlemsmøte.

STYRET

So, I tried to compare another cdma provider with my starone, wich is Fren Mobile8. The ultimate advantage from this provider is that whenever it is used from a different city the cdma connection network still works. This means that if I would use Fren Mobile8, whenever I travel out of town, I won't have the trouble of buying a new local number so that I can keep enjoying the low rate calls between the same providers.

Here is my comparison results:

So, the verdict? I guess starone remains to be my choice of cheap communication and connection. Cheers!

The bid to lower rice tariffs to bring in more importation is a problematic proposal since the country’s growing dependence on rice imports is precisely the reason behind the worsening rice crisis.

In reaction to the proposal made at the government’s Food Summit to reduce tariffs to as low as 12%, independent think-tank IBON Foundation says that rice importation has not resulted in lowered rice prices, but worsened the bankruptcy of farmers and even placed the country to greater food insecurity.

The group added that rice tariff cuts will allow higher profit margins for private traders and will only give them further control of rice prices and ultimate monopoly in the distribution of rice.

Instead of cutting tariffs and allowing more importation, government should do the opposite: re-impose regulatory mechanisms on food supply that were removed by liberalization and provide enough subsidies and other support services for rice farmers.

IBON stresses the need to resist impositions made by international creditors like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to bring down rice tariffs and increase food importation..

Government should also immediately increase NFA’s  palay procurement from its dismal 5-year average of 0.05% of the total palay production to effectively influence the market. This will directly benefit local farmers, and will help NFA address the issue of hoarding by rice cartels.

Klubbstyret og avdelingstillitsvalgte er innkalt til telefonmøte på fredag kl.11.00.

Telefonnummer og kode er samme som sist. Innkalling sendes ut.

Hovedtariffoppgjøret! Oppgjøret startet på privat område mellom bl.a. LO og NHO, det ble mekling, og nå er uravstemmingsresultatet fra LO klart: 70,78% av stemmene sier JA - 27,54% av stemmene hadde NEI som avkryssningsvalg. LO kaller dette for et solid JA, selv om interne krefter i LO har stått på for en nedstemming av meklingsforslaget.

Så til kjernen i dette innlegget: Er nå den nye AFP-ordningen som LO har forhandlet frem i privat sektor så bra som de vil ha den til? Jeg tenderer til å si nei, all den tid både Regjering og LO presenterer regneeksempler på en "idealpensjonist" som omtrent ikke eksisterer. Nå er det ikke meningen å komme med mye fagforeningspropaganda i denne bloggen, men AFP er viktig for alle arbeidstakere med mulighet for slik avtale.

På denne bakgrunn vil jeg reklamere for en glimrende og opplysende nettside fra Utdanningsforbundet Møre og Romsdal. Her har Gunnar Rutle lagt ut masse godt stoff, slik at man selv kan lese seg opp til og forstå hva som skjer i alle disse pensjonsreformene som nå foregår.

Les om AFP på denne siden!

Bistandsforhandlingene starter mandag 28. april. Forhandlingsutvalget i klubben innkaller styret og alle tillitsvalgte i avdelingene til nytt telefonmøte torsdag 24.april kl. 11.00

Ledelsen vil svare opp kravet i morgen kl. 10.00.

Frist for bistand er 24. april kl. 16.00

Resultatet A-del ble:

• et generelt tillegg på 3 900 kroner
•  et tillegg på 5 850 kroner per år til arbeidstakere med en årslønn som er lavere enn 301 320 kroner
• AFP etter LO/NHO-modellen for alle arbeidstakere som ikke er omfattet av offentlige ordninger.

Tilgang til statistikk og lønnsdata
Partene skal i først omgang ha tilgang til relevant informasjon/lønnsdata som understøtter forhandlinger basert på de avtalte kriteriene, herunder lønnsdata fordelt på kjønn. Dette har vært et problem i tidligere forhandlinger fordi virksomhetene i Spekter har ikke vært flinke til å presentere lønnsdata som kan brukes som grunnlagsmateriale, skriver LO Stat på sin hjemmeside.

Tilbake til fase 3-forhandlinger
I protokollen slås det fast at partene skal legge vekt på lavlønn/likestilling/likelønn og hensynet til langtidsutdannede i den virksomhetsvise lønnsfastsettelsen. Også spørsmål knyttet til tjenestepensjon kan bli forhandlingstema i B-delsforhandlingene. Dersom de lokale parter ikke blir enige i disse spørsmålene, vil dette bli behandlet i fase3-forhandlingene i henhold til Spekters forhandlingsmodell.

Sentral bistand
Ved behov for bistand skal dette varsles så tidlig som mulig, og siste frist for å be om bistand i de lokale forhandlingene er torsdag 24. april kl. 1600.

Forbundets avtaler

Attempting to reverse the ever growing trade deficit, the Prime Minister asked that imported goods be classified into three categories: essential, controlled, and restricted. All goods categorized in the controlled and restricted groups will face extra difficulties now.

These technical barriers and tariffs that will be applied include: the raising of import tax rates; limiting the access of importers to foreign currency loans; using technical barriers, etc. Japanese used car exporters should expect a slow down on cars exported to Vietnam when these blockades start coming into effect.

Rp. 600 sampai puas !!

Begitu iklannya XL

Mari hitung-hitungan dan silahkan pilih yang termurah.

Perang tariff akan berakhir dengan ini ???

Kita Tunggu

http://www.xl.co.id/Bebas/Tarif_Termurah_XL_bebas/

TARIF TERMURAH XL bebas

Ke Semua Operator

XL terus menghadirkan layanan yang berkualitas dan tarif yang termurah, dengan mengeluarkan promo tarif baru XL bebas hanya Rp 600 sampe puas bagi pengguna XL bebas untuk menelpon ke semua operator se-Indonesia, baik ke sesama XL maupun ke operator lain dan PSTN se-Indonesia.

Untuk dapat menikmati tarif baru ini, pengguna XL bebas tidak perlu daftar atau membeli paket perdana khusus karena secara otomatis seluruh pengguna XL bebas se-Indonesia dapat menikmati tarif termurah dari XL ini.

PERIODE PROMO

Mulai 5 Maret 2008

Airtel Wireless Data Card Tariff
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Airtel Wireless USB Modem Tariff
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Airtel Broadband contact details
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Broadband Pacenet special Offer
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Broadband Pacenet contact details
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BSNL DataOne Broadband Tariff
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BSNL Internet Tariff
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BSNL contact details
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Hathway Cable Internet Tariff
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Hathway Cable Internet contact details
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IOL Netcom Internet Tariff
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IOL Netcom IPTV Tariff
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IOL Netcom VOIP Tariff
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MTNL Triband contact details
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MTNL Triband Tariff
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Net4 VOIP SOHO Tariff
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Net4 contact details
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Pacific Internet Products and Services
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Pacific Internet India contact details
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Reliance BroadNet Tariff
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Reliance NetConnect Tariff
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Reliance Video Conferencing Tariff
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Reliance BroadNet contact details
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webapp/Communications/rcom/Contactus/contactus.jsp

Sify Broadband Tariff for Pune
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Sify Broadband Tariff for Mumbai
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Sify Broadband contact details
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SpectraNet SpectraSmart Tariff
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SpectraNet SpectraSmart contact details
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Tata Indicom Broadband Prepaid Tariff
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Tata Indicom Broadband Postpaid Tariff
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Tata Indicom Broadband Offers
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Tata Indicom Plug2Surf Tariff
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Tata Indicom Dealer Locator
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Tata Indicom Broadband contact details
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Tata Indicom Total Internet Prepaid Tariff
https://services.vsnl.net/new/buy_online.jsp

Tata Indicom Total Internet Postpaid Signup
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Tata Indicom Total Internet contact details
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Tata Indicom WiFi Tariff
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Tata Indicom WiFi contact details
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YOU Broadband Home User Tariff
http://www.youtele.com/new_html1/html/homeuser/homeuser_plans.php

YOU Broadband contact details
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New Tariffs

*Subject to O2 Excessive usage policy. Inclusive data and Wi-Fi applies to use in the UK only. Wi-Fi is for use at any of The Cloud's Wi-Fi hotspots.

Click Here for more info

No reasons given for the changes, so make your own mind up if it's to boost lower than expected iPhone UK sales or just sweeten the deal.

– Når det viser seg at noen har fått mye mer i lønnsøkning enn andre, vil det få innvirkning, fastslår, Øye. Les saken hos Fri Fagbevegelse

My bill told me how many "units" I had used. Units are the measurement of gas at your gas meter. These are converted into kilowatt hours by first finding out how many cubic metres of gas your units represent. More modern meters already show readings in cubic metres; if you have an older meter you will have to multiply the units by 2.83. Once the volume of gas used is established from the meter reading, the utility company establishes how many kilowatt hours of energy this constitutes.

They have to do this because the energy contained in natural gas varies and to find the actual energy you have to take into account temperature, pressure and calorific value. My gas supplier multiplied the cubic metres by 1.02264, then the resultant figure by 39 (the calorific value) and the divided by 3.6 which gave the kWh I used. I was then charged for the kilowatt hours that I have used, after value added tax at 5% is added to the bill.

The value added tax rate is exactly the same for gas and electricity as it is for buying a installation of soalr panels, or PV or a wind turbine. Reducung it to 5% is one of the great triumphs of Gordon Brown's chancellorhip - puting microgeneration on the same footing as fossil fuel energy.

There are many different gas tariffs but in my case I pay a higher rate for the first 1303 kWh used each quarter, and a lower rate thereafter. In my case the higher rate is 4.339p per kWh and the lower rate 2.39p per kWh. Some tariffs provide for a standing charge before you consume any gas at all. 

I think that tariffs that charge less per kWh as you use more gas penalise the people who pollute the least and that must be wrong. Consumption of any item is encouraged by offering a cheaper unit price for that item. If you go to your local supermarket you will see offers such as “two for the price of one”, “buy one get one free” but if you only want or need to buy one you rarely see it offered at half price.  

The idea behind this "bogof" marketing is to encourage more purchasing and in the case of a supermarket it does encourage us to buy more than we planned. Unfortunately a significant portion of the food special offers that we buy are thrown away, unconsumed, to add to the piles of land fill rubbish for supermarket’s increased profits and at the impoverishment of our environment. 

There are over 2 million pre payment gas meters in the United Kingdom. These service the poorest people.  Those who use the most gas can usually get the best deals. Those who can only afford to use a little gas get the worse deals. If you live in a mansion you can buy your gas at bargain basement rates, but if you are poor you pay the highest rates. 

We do not need to encourage the use or gas or electricity. We should not offer 2000 kWh for the price of 1000 kWh. Quite the reverse, we need to discourage the use of all fossil fuel energy. If we fail to do this we add to the climate change problems that we will invariably face at some time in the future, we add to the depletion of fossil fuels before we have found viable alternatives and we add to atmospheric pollution. 

So, it would make much more sense if all gas tariffs were at a very low rate for the first, say, 2000 kWh per quarter and a higher rate at the next 5,000 kWh and so on, charging more per unit of energy the more energy that you use. This will also encourage the take up of thermal solar systems (like those that my company Genersys sells), and if adopted for electricity tariffs as well as gas tariffs would encourage all forms of microgeneration. 

It will be difficult to change to these tariffs that penalise those who use the most energy in a competitive market, but Nicholas Stern has pointed out that climate change involves a fundamental failure of markets. It seems logical therefore that If markets fail we need to establish alternative structures that work, so it is probably about time to get rid of the utility companies as free market entities.