XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World: 11/13/10

Saturday, 13 November 2010

U.S. Postal Service more than doubled its losses in fiscal year 2010 - loss totaled $8.5B compares to $3.8B last year -

The U.S. Postal Service more than doubled its losses in fiscal year 2010, despite cutting billions of dollars in expenses and trimming its staff.

The Postal Service said its net loss totaled $8.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That compares to a loss of $3.8 billion the prior year.The Postal Service blamed the deeper losses on the recession and on the continuing growth of e-mail. A change in the interest rates affecting the Postal Service's workers' compensation liability also played a role, the organization said.

Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett said the losses were worsening despite cuts that generated cost savings of $9 billion over the past two years. Those savings came primarily from the elimination of 105,000 full-time positions -- "more than any other organization, anywhere," Corbett said.

As more communications go electronic, mail volume keeps dropping. The Postal Service delivered 170.6 billion pieces in its 2010 fiscal year, compared to 176.7 billion pieces the prior year. That decline cost the service around $1 billion in lost revenue.

"We will continue our relentless efforts to innovate and improve efficiency," Corbett said. "However, the need for changes to legislation, regulations and labor contracts has never been more obvious."

KC police fire at backfiring van - Two Kansas City police officers thought they were being shot at returned fire -

Two Kansas City police officers who thought they were being shot at from inside a van returned fire Thursday night.

Only later did police realize that the van was actually backfiring and the man inside was not armed. He was not injured by the shots fired by police.

Windows of the police car were apparently shot out by the officers as they exited the patrol car.

The officers were dispatched on a report of shots being fired from a white van just before 6 p.m. Thursday on Gregory Boulevard near Interstate 435.

When the officers got to the area they saw a white van parked on Gregory and pulled up near it. As they were getting out of the patrol car they heard the backfiring and fired their weapons. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Saudi Arabia's has blocked Facebook because it doesn't conform with the kingdom's conservative values -

An official with Saudi Arabia's communications authority says it has blocked Facebook because the popular social networking website doesn't conform with the kingdom's conservative values.

The official says Saudi's Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked the site Saturday and an error message shows up when Internet users try to access it.

He says Facebook's content had "crossed a line" with the kingdom's conservative morals, but that blocking the site is a temporary measure.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam and religious leaders have strong influence over policy making and social mores.

Burma's military government freed its archrival, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi -

Burma's military government freed its archrival, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, on Saturday after her latest term of detention expired. Several thousand jubilant supporters streamed to her residence.

A smiling Suu Kyi, wearing a traditional jacket and a flower in her hair, appeared at the gate of her compound as the crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.

"If we work in unity, we will achieve our goal. We have a lot of things to do," she told the well-wishers, who quickly swelled to as many as 5,000. Speaking briefly in Burmese, she said they would see each other again Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.

The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, whose latest period of detention spanned 7 1/2 years, has come to symbolize the struggle for democracy in the Southeast Asian nation ruled by the military since 1962.

The release from house arrest of one of the world's most prominent political prisoners came a week after an election that was swept by the military's proxy political party and decried by Western nations as a sham designed to perpetuate authoritarian control.

Supporters had been waiting most of the day near her residence and the headquarters of her party. Suu Kyi has been jailed or under house arrest for more than 15 of the last 21 years.

As her release was under way, riot police stationed in the area left the scene and a barbed-wire barricade near her residence was removed, allowing the waiting supporters to surge forward.
Her release was immediately welcomed by world leaders and human rights organizations.

President Obama called Suu Kyi "a hero of mine" said the United States "welcomes her long overdue release."

"Whether Aung San Suu Kyi is living in the prison of her house, or the prison of her country, does not change the fact that she, and the political opposition she represents, has been systematically silenced, incarcerated, and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes," he said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also said the release was long overdue.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights," he said in a statement.

"It is now crucial that Aung San Suu Kyi has unrestricted freedom of movement and speech and can participate fully in her country's political process," European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Critics allege the Nov. 7 elections were manipulated to give the pro-military party a sweeping victory. Results have been released piecemeal and already have given the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party a majority in both houses of Parliament.

United Nations disgraces itself - again - No Joke: Saudi Arabia Wins Seat on on UN Women Board -

The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women -commonly called UN Women -was created this year as a super-agency to promote women's rights and interests. Four UN bureaucracies were brought together to form a single more powerful agency. It is a promising sign that UN Women will be headed by Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile and a forceful advocate for women's rights.
The new body's governing council will have 41 members, six from donor countries and 35 named from regional blocs. Iran was one of 10 countries seeking the 10 Asian seats, but at the last minute East Timor bid for a seat, at Australia's urging, and Iran's bid was defeated. Canada did well in joining the U.S. and the European Union in lobbying against Iran.
We regret that there was no such last-minute rebuke to Saudi Arabia, a country where sexism knows no bounds. Women don't have rights. Male relatives take all significant decisions in a Saudi woman's life. Women are not even allowed to drive a car.
The culprit in this madness is the UN's bloc voting system, which rewards regional influence or donations rather than actual respect for rights. The Saudis got a seat as one of the donor countries putting money into certain UN projects; in effect they bought their spot. (Canada did not seek a seat.)
We wish UN Women luck as it tries to "forge partnerships with civil society" -part of the agency's mandate -in Saudi Arabia, and in some of the other unconvincing champions of women's rights given seats alongside the Saudis: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Nigeria ...
At least Iran was kept off. Only sustained international protest this fall deferred -not cancelled -the death by stoning of a woman accused of adultery there. Protest within Iran is less rewarding: Iran not only has a "dismal record on women's rights" but is also "aggressively going after women's-rights advocates who dare to speak out against their discriminatory laws," Human Rights Watch told Associated Press this week. Post-election protests last year were brutally suppressed. The UN General Assembly has "expressed concern," in the inconsequential UN way, over Iran's use of executions, stoning, torture, and amputations, and its discrimination against minorities.
Even without Iran, this executive board is a mockery. There is now a grave danger that UN Women will find itself having to refight old battles, instead of moving ahead.
The world's women can't afford this nonsense. By allowing regimes like Saudi Arabia's anywhere near the new agency for women, the UN is frittering away still more of its dwindling stock of moral authority. This is a tragedy for the UN, and a disaster for women.

Bernanke’s worst nightmare: Ron Paul - I’m going to deal with monetary policy,” he said -

Ben Bernanke has had his hands full since his first day on the job as Federal Reserve chairman nearly five years ago. It's about to get even tougher.

His harshest critic on Capitol Hill, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, is about to become one of his overseers.

With the Republicans coming to power, Paul, who would like to abolish the Fed and the nation's current monetary system, will become the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy.

If you've never heard of the committee before, you're not alone. But Paul promises you'll be hearing a lot more from it.

"It's basically been a committee that's dealt with commemorative coins. I'm going to deal with monetary policy," he said.

Paul doesn't think he'll be able to move his proposal to eliminate the Fed, or to allow Americans to use gold instead of paper money as currency. But he said he does intend to use his new position as "a mini-bully pulpit" to criticize Fed policy and call more attention to what he sees as its negative consequences. And he's confident that American voters are ready to delve into those monetary policy questions.

"Five years ago they wouldn't have listened. Now they will," he said. "We've gained a lot of credibility in making the Federal Reserve an issue since the market collapse."