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offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

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The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
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offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
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offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
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Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link How Feminist Ideology Captured Psychology Tue Jul 01, 2025 15:31 | Bettina Arndt
Legendary sex therapist Bettina Arndt writes for the Daily Sceptic to lament the feminist takeover of psychology, grieving for a generation of boys drowning in anti-male propaganda that neuters their masculine instincts.
The post How Feminist Ideology Captured Psychology appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Miliband to Cover Britain?s Lakes in Floating Solar Panels Tue Jul 01, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Lakes and reservoirs will be covered with solar panels under Ed Miliband?s plans to quadruple the use of the technology in Britain.
The post Miliband to Cover Britain’s Lakes in Floating Solar Panels appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Council Boss Defies Reform Leadership Over Pride Flag Tue Jul 01, 2025 11:28 | Will Jones
The Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council has defied the authority's newly elected Reform leadership by?refusing to take down a Pride flag, leading to warnings that "a coup d'etat is underway in Britain".
The post Council Boss Defies Reform Leadership Over Pride Flag appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Might the BBC?s Tim Davie Soon Find Himself Replacing Lucy Connolly in Jail? Tue Jul 01, 2025 09:00 | Nick Rendell
If Lucy Connolly was jailed for stirring up racial hatred, the same must go for BBC Director General Tim Davie, says Nick Rendell. Davie personally took the decision to broadcast Bob Vylan's antisemitic chant to millions.
The post Might the BBC’s Tim Davie Soon Find Himself Replacing Lucy Connolly in Jail? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link London?s Week of ?Climate Action? Was All Talk Tue Jul 01, 2025 07:00 | Ben Pile
Even if you're a Londoner, you probably didn?t notice that June 21st-29th was 'London Climate Action Week'. It was all talk, says Ben Pile ? exceptionally dull talk, bankrolled by the usual Green Blob billionaires.
The post London’s Week of ‘Climate Action’ Was All Talk appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

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offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

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offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

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Government Shutdown Solutions Could Leave Out Disaster Aid for Puerto Rico

category international | economics and finance | press release author Friday January 19, 2018 19:05author by Lydia C. Andrews - Jubilee USA Network Report this post to the editors

As the Senate and White House struggle to avert a government shutdown, US disaster victims from Puerto Rico to Texas worry a deal on relief and recovery aid will continue to be delayed.

As the Senate and White House struggle to avert a government shutdown, US disaster victims from Puerto Rico to Texas worry a deal on relief and recovery aid will continue to be delayed. Moody’s rating agency estimates that Puerto Rico alone needs an upwards of $90 billion in aid to rebuild.

“Congress has failed to deliver recovery and relief aid to millions of US citizens affected by natural disasters in the last year,” stated Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group, Jubilee USA. “We are really concerned for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The islands were already dealing with high child poverty rates, developing world conditions and financial crises well before the hurricanes struck.”

In the last days of 2017, the US House of Representatives voted for an $81 billion dollar aid package for Texas, Florida, California, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The House Bill fell short of the requests made by the Governors of the affected areas. As of Friday morning, Senators were still trying to negotiate some relief aid funding for Puerto Rico.

“It’s absolutely essential that Congress moves forward a recovery package as soon as possible. Aid must be enough to fully fund Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to rebuild to withstand the next storm,” said LeCompte who met with Republican and Democratic leadership on moving forward a recovery package. Since September, LeCompte’s organization generated thousands of petitions, phone calls and e-mails to Congress and the White House to provide relief for the US Territories through a series of action alerts.

As Congress wrestles with a recovery package for the beleaguered islands, Puerto Rico’s oversight board and Governor are preparing to release a new post hurricane economic plan. Before the hurricanes hit, Puerto Rico was entangled in a congressionally crafted bankruptcy process to deal with $72 billion in debt. The new fiscal plan will state how debt will be dealt with in a post hurricane Puerto Rico.

“The new plan for Puerto Rico must address the devastation caused by the hurricane and the problems that caused the prior deterioration of the economy,” a group of notable economists reflected in an open statement they released on Friday. Signers included: Antonio Weiss, former Counselor to the US Treasury Secretary; Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz; Simon Johnson, former International Monetary Fund chief economist; Mario Marazzi Santiago of the Puerto Rican Institute of Statistics; former top United Nations adviser, Jeffrey Sachs; Jason Furman, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; and Gene Sperling, former director of the National Economic Council.

The economist release entitled, “A Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico,” calls for debt relief and substantial aid for Puerto Rico. The statement comes as Congress, the White House and the Island’s Governor and oversight board make decisions around the fate of the 3.5 million US citizens who call Puerto Rico home.

“The new final fiscal plan cannot allow a penny to be paid for debt until Puerto Rico sees positive economic recovery and is fully funded to be able to rebuild to withstand the next storm,” LeCompte noted. “Beyond the significant debt relief needed, Puerto Rico needs to stop all debt payments for at least five years.”

For nearly two years before the hurricanes struck, religious groups in Puerto Rico and the United States were advocating various solutions to deal with the growing financial crisis and high poverty rates. Shortly before Christmas, religious groups gathered in a Congress building to call for relief and aid. Supporting and participating groups included the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United Church of Christ, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, Franciscan Action Network, the National Association of Evangelicals, Muslim Public Affairs Council and Islamic Relief.

During the prayer service, Puerto Rico's Archbishop Roberto González Nieves reflected, "Puerto Rico desperately needs a complete debt relief, funding for rebuilding, and equal access to Medicare, Medicaid and child tax benefit funding. [...] Today we pray with the persistence and tenacity of the widow of the gospel; we pray full of hope that the miracle of compassion, openness toward and solidarity with Puerto Rico may come true."

Related Link: http://www.jubileeusa.org/government_shutdown_fails_puerto_rico_economists_call_for_debt_relief
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