The Banker and the Maid

 

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There is much debate over the benefits of IMF policies in Africa. For both sides see http://tinyurl.com/IMFhardship and http://tinyurl.com/IMFbenefits

International Monetary Fund Managing Director and, before he was charged, likely candidate for the French Presidency, Dominique Strauss-Kahn now sits in a cell on Rikers Island charged with assaulting the maid in his $3,000 a night hotel suite.  How long do you think the maid has to work to earn that?  One BBC report I heard last night said he likely would have been charged a discounted rate of  $800/night.  Still, I pose the same question.

I checked out hotel maid’s salaries in New York City on PayScale.com.  I ran reports with a few different sets of variable.  don’t know how long she has worked at that hotel, whether she has a supervisory role or how that hotel’s pay scale compares with others.  It seems like she might have made something in the neighborhood of $20/hour.  That’s $800 per week, i.e. the reduced rate Strauss-Kahn would have paid for one night!  The per capita Gross Domestic Product of Guinea, the woman’s home country, is $1,000 annually!  Mull that over in your brain for a minute.  If I heard those figures correctly, the room that the Managing Director of the IMF occupies in NYC costs 3 times the Gross Domestic Product of Guinea at full rate.  Fortunately the IMF is fiscally responsible and they insist on a discount rate.  They pay only 80% of Guinea’s GDP for EACH and EVERY night!

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American Muslims Still Victims of 9-11

Media Matter for America reports:

On what is rapidly becoming a regular feature, Fox & Friends this morning continued their incessant attack on Islam. Co-host Alisyn Camerota this morning hosted anti-Islam blogger and founder of the ironically named Americans Against Hate organization Joe Kaufman to attack Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great Adventure. Camerota called it “insensitive” that they would host the event on September 12, “just hours after the anniversary of the September 11th attacks,” and added “but what’s even more controversial are the allegations that the Muslim group organizing the event could have been involved in financing the September 11 terror attacks.” Kaufman went further, employing what is becoming a familiar phrase among anti-Muslim bloggers: “The fact that they’re having it on September 12th, I believe they are actually spitting in the face of Americans.”

This kind of criticism is disgusting!  The event is being held on September 12 because that is the first weekend after Ramadan ends.  The event celebrates the Eid el-Fitr or festival of the end of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar.  The Muslim group organizing the even is the Islamic Circle of North America, established in 1968,

as a response to the growing need for a supportive Muslim community in North America. The organization initially focused on educating its growing membership about Islam, the goal being to adhere to Islamic values amongst a religiously diverse community.

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Argentina Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage

People protest same-sex marriage bill outside Argentina's Congress in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. (Natacha Pisarenko/Associated Press) Read more: http://tinyurl.com/argentine-marriage

Argentina has just joined the club of nations that has legalized same-sex marriage. Yes, the nation that many stereotypically associate with overwrought machismo, and in which the Catholic Church still exerts considerable influence, has taken this radical move. It seems clear that the tide is turning, at least in the “West.” It’s turning here in the United States too, the setbacks like last year’s referendum in Maine and Prop 8 in California, or the large number of amendments to the constitutions of various states passed to protect the “sanctity of marriage” during the past 5-6 years.

I want to use this post to make a detached, rational argument why this is a good trend, based on fundamental American values about the nature of our government in relation to individual rights. It’s odd that someone with my political beliefs might make the argument on these terms, but ultimately it is a libertarian, perhaps even conservative argument. I’ll make no appeal to emotion, putting forth touching stories of nontraditional families or the devastation wrought by deeply held emotional ties are denied.

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Here we go again!

A new attack ad targeting three Democratic senators and one Republican criticizes “hidden taxes on … pensions and retirement accounts” in the financial regulation legislation being considered by Congress, and urges the senators to “vote against this phony financial reform.”

The ad gives a false impression. The Senate bill doesn’t contain the tax mentioned in the ad.

(It) is the work of a less-than-transparent group calling itself “Stop Too Big To Fail,” which says its $1.6 million ad buy is targeting senators in Nevada, Virginia and Missouri (Sens. Harry Reid, Mark Warner, Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond).

So begins a April 23, 2010 posting from Fact Check.org…
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What’s Wrong with Canada

When people express their fears about health care reform in this country, Canada is often spoken of as the example the kinds of system we want to avoid.  It’s nowhere near perfect.  For example, wait times to see a doctor are slightly longer in Canada than here, but they are shorter than they are in a lot of other countries with universal care.  More importantly, the overall picture is better.

Basic Statistics

U.S. Canada
Life Expectancy (Male) 74.8 77.4
Life Expectancy (Female) 80.1 82.4
Infant Mortality/1000 live births 6.8 5.3
Obesity Rate (Male) 31.1 17.0
Obesity Rate (Female) 32.2 19.0
HC spending as % of GDP (2005) 16.0% 10.4%

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We can readily see that the U.S. has worse life expectancy, infant mortality rates, and obesity rates that Canada, yet pays more for for these relatively poorer outcomes. Canada is clearly better…right?

–via Healthcare Economists

I don’t know, Canada doesn’t sound that bad to me.

Reporters without Borders on Press Freedom in Morocco

Stamp Commemorates Moroccan American Treaty of Friendship

Stamp Commemorates Moroccan American Treaty of Friendship

A few days ago I posted an entry about recent setbacks in freedom of the press in Morocco.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting Morocco November 2-3.  In advance of that visit Reporters Without Borders, an organization that fights for freedom of the press has sent an open letter to the Secretary of State  outlining violations of press freedom since July 2009 and concluding:

Reporters Without Borders urges you to use the opportunity offered by your visit to Morocco to talk about the difficulties that the independent media are facing and to raise this crucial issue with the Moroccan authorities. The aim of the Forum of the Future which the US government set up in 2004 is to promote democratisation in the Broader Middle East and North Africa region. Press freedom is an essential component of this democratisation.

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