Jan 9---GW Bush in the Middle East

We talked traffic.

We talked about how money and stuff like success can make us lazy or as some people suggested success and the trappings of success simply offer us different ways to spend our time.

Worry?

I worry that we do not spend enough time doing the real things in life!

Clean, cook, fix, renovate...

Wash the car!

We can and do find a million excuses for not doing the real things in life!

The best reason last night for not washing your own car was the idea that it is against the municipality by-laws... speeding is against the law and people still do it.

I think we are simply lazy!

And then it was about GW Bush.

Do we care? Will GW make a difference?

JAMESCAST for a taste of what people thought.

Jan 8----teens and work

Now in the UAE youth 16-18 can legally get part-time jobs!

The question was, is this a good thing?

Is there an infrastructure?

Minimum wage?

Youth to benefit from 'labour market exposure'

By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter Published: January 04, 2008, 00:42

Dubai: The recent decision to allow young people above the age of 16 to have a part time job will give an opportunity for teenagers to get labour market exposure and grow professionally, said an official at the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Teenagers sponsored by their parents or universities can undertake part-time work, Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, earlier told Gulf News. He issued a decision that allows people from the age of 16 to undertake part-time work in the country. A part-time labour card also gives an opportunity for university students to get work experience before graduating, he added. Young people can now acquire a job if they meet the legal requirements, but they cannot work full-time until they reach 18, said Al Ka'abi. Maurizio Bussi, Deputy Regional Director at the ILO's Regional Office for Arab States, speaking to Gulf News over the phone from Beirut said that the UAE's recent decision to allow youth employment is in accordance with labour market standards and can be beneficial for young people. "Youth employment gives an opportunity to young people to access the labour market, familiarise themselves with work, upgrade their skills and become more productive," said Bussi adding that this type of work is an international practice adopted by many countries across the world. Labour shortage Youth employment can also give an additional boost to the economy if there is a labour shortage in the respective country which young people can partially fill, Bussi pointed out. However, ILO's regulations stipulate that a clear set of rules has to be in place to ensure that youth work will not endanger the young person at work. "Protection is the main element in the legalisation of youth employment. The rules must ensure that youth employment will not jeopardise the health, safety and morale of the working teenagers," said Bussi. The International conventions dealing with youth labour and ratified by the UAE stipulate that governments should prohibit work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. "Young people should take part of light work are totally prohibited in taking up work that will endanger them physically or psychologically," said Bussi adding that each country should establish or designate appropriate mechanisms to serve this purpose. ILO's general principles The minimum age 'shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years'. The country may, after consultation with organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist, authorise employment or work from the age of 16 years on condition that the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned are fully protected and that the young persons have received adequate instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity.

Week that Was with James and Pamela---Democracy

Pakistan is the catalyst for a talk on democracy.

Thursday James Piecowye and Pamela Ritchie bring you the week that was... Look for it!

Read this CBC piece.

The Democracy Project

Selling democracy

The view from Europe

Last Updated December 19, 2006

CBC News

About Vidar Helgesen

Vidar Helgesen is secretary general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in Stockholm, an organization with a mandate to promote sustainable democracy around the world. A lawyer, Helgesen was Norway's deputy minister of foreign affairs between 2001 and 2005. Before that, he was special adviser to the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (Photo courtesy Anders Gunnartz)

As part of CBC Radio's examination of the rise and fall of democracy around the world, Dispatches host Rick MacInnes-Rae spoke with Vidar Helgesen, secretary general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm. This is a full transcript of the interview that was broadcast in part on Dec. 21, 2006.

What is your sense of the general health of democracy in the world today?

I would describe it as a mixed picture. Democracy is vibrant in many countries. But globally, the sense of 10 or 15 years ago that this would be a relatively smooth and straightforward development, that belief has been disturbed by some new challenges.

It was a more hopeful time a decade or so ago?

There was a lot of optimism following the fall of the Berlin Wall, following the third wave of democratization in Latin America in particular. There was a sense that democracy was on the offensive.

Today, the picture is more complex. We see a renewed self-confidence among autocrats in some regions and there are constraints in some new democracies that are apparent. But, still, we should keep in mind that more people live under democracy than ever before.

Why do you think autocrats have become emboldened?

In some ways, that is because the political and economic hegemony of traditional western democracies is in decline globally. There are alternative political powers within alternative political systems that have arisen and their economic power is increasing.

Today we have some less-than-democratic regimes with huge resources, not least oil, which have gained ground from the increasing energy dependency [of the West] and the high prices for oil and gas.

Also, in the post-9/11 world, some policies have been met with reactions that have increased polarization. So it is easier for autocrats to claim that democratization is just another word for colonialism or interventionism by Western powers.

Is there a paradox here, that democratization is in decline yet there have never been so many people living under democracy's umbrella?

Spreading democracy is not easily done and primarily has to be done from within countries, by nurturing democratic forces and democratic tendencies within those countries, rather than having it seen as being imposed from abroad.

Also, a number of the measures taken as part of the global campaign against terrorism have created more polarization in countries, like in Europe, for example, between new immigrant communities and the traditional communities. This has repercussions throughout the world, not least the Islamic world.

What kind of repercussions are we talking about?

Well, clearly the Iraq war has created first an anxiety that countries could be subjected to democratization in the form of military intervention.

And then the Iraq war turned out to be not a success, to put it mildly, and so there is an increasing sense among autocrats that they don't risk much with their behaviour. That there is today no longer such a high risk of intervention because the Americans are no longer as willing to send in the Marines.

That's the political angle to it. Combine that with the economic reality that there are now more forces at play in the developing world than the Western ones.

You have the incredible role of China, not only in Asia but in Africa and Latin America. Its investments are high, its political engagement is increasing and, contrary to Western countries, China is not pushing a human rights and democracy agenda.

From a Western point of view, there is no reason to complain about China becoming an economic power. That is good for Western democracies. But the Chinese don't come with human rights and democracy policies as the Western powers normally do.

Is exporting democracy, U.S. style, a good idea?

I don't think it can be exported, for two reasons. One is that democracy is really about people holding their leaders accountable and that accountability measures cannot easily be imposed from abroad.

And secondly, the experience of the last years of that policy has created even more resistance to it, so alternative ways must be found.

Models of democracy can differ. The principle should always be applied but it must be applied in different contexts and allowed to grow from within. That's the challenge.

How do you see democratic models adapting to the times?

I think you have in a number of countries traditional models of governing that can be respected while at the same time putting in place the models of democracy as we know them in the West.

Let me take the example of Botswana, which alongside a parliament that basically has all the rules of the game of Western democracies, also has an upper house of elders that incorporates a traditional African governance mechanism.

It is basically an advisory mechanism but it is still something that carries forth the local and national traditions that people recognize.

How would you see democracy taking hold today in Latin America?

This year in Latin America has been a year of very vibrant democracy — many elections. But elections can be polarizing in their own right because they are about competitive politics.

I think what we see in Latin America is an increasing discontent in democratic institutions and in political parties and political leaders because people sense that even if the economies are growing, social development is not following along.

This discontent is, of course, fertile ground for populism and for the political forces that play to polarization. Populism can win elections but it is hard to run a country from the streets.

The result is that you see in some Latin American countries today a pretty disturbing tendency towards weakened institutions and weakened trust in these institutions.

How much of democracy's problems are of its own making?

To some extent this is a dilemma of democracy. Politics is competitive. But democracy is not only about competitive politics. And the responsibility of political leadership is not only to compete for power but also to collaborate across political and ideological divides where necessary in order to govern.

That last is not always as well undertaken by politicians as the campaigning part is.

Do you see democracy making any headway in the Middle East?

I think there are a number of interesting examples in Middle Eastern countries. It's hard to say whether that is the result of local pressures or international pressure. But you do see reform efforts in Morocco and to some extent in Algeria, Yemen, Qatar and Lebanon, though it is a very, very critical time there.

Still, it is a time of opportunity and potential progress in the Arab countries.

Is democracy really the best system for everyone?

There is little doubt that democracy comes with the kind of accountability measures that limit the scope for abuse of power by politicians.

There is also little doubt that democratic systems tend to generate better economic and developmental results for people. There might be one or two exceptions but they shouldn't fool us into questioning the quality of democracy.

I also think that the popular demand for democracy is there, exactly because of these qualities, and that we should be nurturing and supporting it, not imposing it from abroad.

That imposition is not really necessary. Finding ways of supporting national demands for democracy is the way forward.

Jan 2--old age

Joan Salmaso (68), Ugo Salmaso(77) and Elinor Peck (72) all join me to talk about the getting old!

Are we ready to get old and is society ready for us?

Source URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07081605.html

LifeSiteNews.com

Thursday August 16, 2007

Aging Global Population is "Profound" and "Irreversible": UN Report

States that lowered fertility is the cause, but fails to mention birth control, again

By Elizabeth O'Brien

NEW YORK CITY, August 16, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The United Nations recently released its global population estimates, revealing an alarming population shift that will have serious worldwide consequences within the near future. While blaming the problem on lowered fertility and increased longevity, the report fails to make the connection with contraception, abortion and sterilization.

The report is a 2007 updated version of the 2002 "World Population Aging" report that was published during the Second World Assembly on Aging. Following the demographic trends from 1950 to 2005, the report notes that the population aging is "unprecedented, a process without parallel in the history of humanity." The report indicates that people above 60 years old are starting to outnumber children, those under age 15. By 2047 old people will outnumber children on a global scale, the report states, although developed countries already reached this mark in 1998.

The report projects that by 2050, those aged 60 and over will comprise one third of the population in developed regions. In the developing nations, however, they will account for only one fifth of the population, a ratio at which the wealthier countries have already arrived.

The population trend profoundly affects every area of human life economic, political and social and is "irreversible", the report claims. In addition, the issue has been intensifying for decades; older people comprised 8% of the population in 1950, and this number increased to 11% by 2007. The UN predicts that the number will rise to 22% by 2050.

By the year 2000 the number of old people had tripled in the world since 1950. Only six year later, they had increased by another 100 million. The rate of their increase is 2.6% per year versus the 1.1% increase of the rest of the population. In addition, even those over 60 years are aging, and the number of people aged 80+ is most rapidly increasing.

At present the median age worldwide is 28 years, a number that is expected to rise to 38 by 2050. The oldest country is Japan, with a median age of 43, while the youngest is Uganda, with a median age of 15.

These numbers will have a serious effect on the working population, which will be forced to bear an increasingly heavy burden of retirees. By 2050 the ratio of workers between 15 and 64 to older persons will have decreased from 12 to 1 in 1950 to a mere 4 to 1.

The report notes that the problem of population aging is a "pervasive," worldwide issue. This is due to the fact that people's fertility is reduced, as well as the fact that the aged are living longer. As the document states, "The resulting slowdown in the growth of the number of children coupled with the steady increase in the number of older persons" has deeply impacted the balance of society.

This "unprecedented change, which started in the developed world in the nineteenth century and is more recent in developing countries" is right now "transforming many societies." The report blames the skewed population ratios on the rapid switch from high to low fertility levels and increased life expectancy. Nevertheless, once again a major population report fails characteristically to mention any connection between these alarming population rates and the rapid spread of abortion, contraception and sterilization in the past century.

Read Summary of UN Population Report: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WPA2007/wpp200...

Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Aging of World Population, Not Population Growth, is Cause for Alarm: Population Researcher
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06072102.html

Aging Population, Low Birth Rate Will Place Massive Economic Burden on Younger Canadians: Report
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07061804.html

Canada's Population is Aging at an Alarming Rate: 2006 Census
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07072603.html