As people starve to death... America fights over its twinkie budget

As people starve to death..... America fights over its Twinkie budget.

United Nations FAO says the average American consumes 3770 calories.

42.5 gram cake contains 150 calories

Technically, a famine is more than 30 per cent of children suffering from acute malnutrition, two adults or four children dying of hunger each day for every group of 10,000 people and the population having below 1,500 calories of food per day (2,100 calories are the daily recommended amount).  

A and W prime Rib burger 260 grams and 800 calories

Obesity percentage rates

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more.

2010 State Obesity Rates
State	%	State	%	State	%	State	%
Alabama	32.2	Illinois	28.2	Montana	23.0	Rhode Island	25.5
Alaska	24.5	Indiana	29.6	Nebraska	26.9	South Carolina	31.5
Arizona	24.3	Iowa	28.4	Nevada	22.4	South Dakota	27.3
Arkansas	30.1	Kansas	29.4	New Hampshire	25.0	Tennessee	30.8
California	24.0	Kentucky	31.3	New Jersey	23.8	Texas	31.0
Colorado	21.0	Louisiana	31.0	New Mexico	25.1	Utah	22.5
Connecticut	22.5	Maine	26.8	New York	23.9	Vermont	23.2
Delaware	28.0	Maryland	27.1	North Carolina	27.8	Virginia	26.0
District of Columbia	22.2	Massachusetts	23.0	North Dakota	27.2	Washington	25.5
Florida	26.6	Michigan	30.9	Ohio	29.2	West Virginia	32.5
Georgia	29.6	Minnesota	24.8	Oklahoma	30.4	Wisconsin	26.3
Hawaii	22.7	Mississippi	34.0	Oregon	26.8	Wyoming	25.1
Idaho	26.5	Missouri	30.5	Pennsylvania	28.6

The BBC's Will Ross reports from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on the consignment of aid to Mogadishu... BBC 

Continue reading the main story

The UN refugee agency has flown aid to famine victims in Somalia's capital - its first airlift to war-torn Mogadishu for five years.

Some 100,000 people have arrived in the city in the last two months in search of food.

Insecurity makes it difficult for aid agencies to distribute materials.

The Islamist al-Shabab group was reported to have pulled out of the city on Saturday but its fighters can still be seen patrolling some areas.

While the government has been celebrating what it called its "victory" over al-Shabab, BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says few people expect Mogadishu to be peaceful.

For the aid agencies, the city remains an environment full of challenges, he says.

Continue reading the main story

BACK1 of 9NEXT

Last week, one of the large camps for displaced people was attacked by pro-government militiamen who stole all the food.

Many people are still too scared to return to that camp and remain scattered across Mogadishu.

The 31-tonne UNHCR consignment - including plastic sheeting for shelters, blankets and sleeping mats - landed at Mogadishu airport on Monday afternoon.

The UNHCR said it usually ships its relief items to Mogadishu by sea and by land but because to the unprecedented rise in the number of people arriving in Mogadishu, it had decided to airlift supplies in order to save time.

There are now a total of five famine zones in Somalia - where the UN says 3.2 million people - almost half the population - are in need of immediate life-saving assistance.

More than 11 million people across the Horn of Africa have been affected by drought - the region's worst for 60 years.

The US has announced it is giving another $105m (£64m) in to help to the drought-hit areas.

The announcement coincided with a visit by the wife of US Vice President Joe Biden to Kenya's Daadab refugee camp where tens of thousands of Somalis have come for assistance.

Jill Biden said the aim of her visit was to raise awareness and convince donors to give more, AP news agency reports.

"There is hope if people start to pay attention to this," she said.

In south-eastern Ethiopia, the UN refugee agency has said it is concerned about the plight of refugees in the Dollo Ado camps following an outbreak of suspected measles.

The mix of measles and high levels of malnutrition can be fatal, the UNHCR says.

Moses Okello, UNHCR's representative in Ethiopia, said it was a priority to organise a mass vaccination campaign.

How the US can be debt free.

By using a simple 16 year plan it can happen. 

 16 years of hardship but in the end America and the world would be better off and if the US retained its AAA at the end of this the US dollar would stay the world currency forever.

In my plan you could get rid of the deficit in 16 years. The idea is that you increase revenue by $1 trillion which would be a huge piece but could be done. and then you would have to reduce the spending by $1 trillion... this would roughly allow for $1 trillion dollar payments to the debt.

Zero debt

Now the wow factor is that when the GDP increases the tax base increases and the government earns more.
The cuts stay the same..... but the revenue becomes easier and easier each year.

Or you can make it 30 years.

Now if you reduce spending to a more realistic $500 billion each year and increase revenue by $500 billion then the plan is extended from 16 years to probably 30 years.

But it will make the deficit zero. Will allow for a AAA credit rating and as the GDP increases the revenue will be easier and easier to accomplish and as it becomes easier some of the cuts could be restored.

2010 Federal Budget

The President's budget request for 2010 totals $3.55 trillion, with revenues of $2.15 trillion with a deficit of $1.42 trillion.


Mandatory spending: $2.173 trillion (+14.9%)
$695 billion (+4.9%) – Social Security
$571 billion (+58.6%) – Other mandatory programs
$453 billion (+6.6%) – Medicare
$290 billion (+12.0%) – Medicaid
$164 billion (+18.0%) – Interest on National Debt

US receipt and expenditure estimates for fiscal year 2010.
Discretionary spending: $1.378 trillion (+13.8%)
$663.7 billion (+12.7%) – Department of Defense (including Overseas Contingency Operations)
$78.7 billion (−1.7%) – Department of Health and Human Services
$72.5 billion (+2.8%) – Department of Transportation
$52.5 billion (+10.3%) – Department of Veterans Affairs
$51.7 billion (+40.9%) – Department of State and Other International Programs
$47.5 billion (+18.5%) – Department of Housing and Urban Development
$46.7 billion (+12.8%) – Department of Education
$42.7 billion (+1.2%) – Department of Homeland Security
$26.3 billion (−0.4%) – Department of Energy
$26.0 billion (+8.8%) – Department of Agriculture
$23.9 billion (−6.3%) – Department of Justice
$18.7 billion (+5.1%) – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$13.8 billion (+48.4%) – Department of Commerce
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) – Department of Labor
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) – Department of the Treasury
$12.0 billion (+6.2%) – Department of the Interior
$10.5 billion (+34.6%) – Environmental Protection Agency
$9.7 billion (+10.2%) – Social Security Administration
$7.0 billion (+1.4%) – National Science Foundation
$5.1 billion (−3.8%) – Corps of Engineers
$5.0 billion (+100%-NA) – National Infrastructure Bank
$1.1 billion (+22.2%) – Corporation for National and Community Service
$0.7 billion (0.0%) – Small Business Administration
$0.6 billion (−14.3%) – General Services Administration
$0 billion (−100%-NA) – Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
$0 billion (−100%-NA) – Financial stabilization efforts
$11 billion (+275%-NA) – Potential disaster costs
$19.8 billion (+3.7%) – Other Agencies
$105 billion – Other

I see additional revenue:

$333 billion bush tax cuts
$20 billion farm
$36 billion oil and gas
Tax revenue from the companies listed
$15.345 billion

Total revenue increase:
$ 404 billion

I see cuts in mandatory spending:

Budget $2.173 trillion of say 15% ($325 billion)  
I see cuts in defence $663.7 billion of 20% ($132 billion)
Total cuts $457 billion

Military budget is:

$698.105 billion


America will save money by pulling out of Iraq
about $70 billion

America could withdraw from South Korea (as North Korea now has nukes it has fallen into a cold war with the west and simple deterrence will work)
about $15 billion a year

There are of course many many other areas that can be cut and not interfere with the war in afghan or even in the deterrence levels in the nuke arsenal

Should NPR funding be cut?

NPR funding is minuscule in the entire scope of it all.
"In 2010, NPR revenues totaled $180 million, with the bulk of revenues coming from programming fees, grants from foundations or business entities, contributions and sponsorships. According to the 2009 financial statement, about 50% of NPR revenues come from the fees it charges member stations for programming and distribution charges. Typically, NPR member stations receive funds through on-air pledge drives, corporate underwriting, state and local governments, educational institutions, and the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 2009, member stations derived 6% of their revenue from federal, state and local government funding, 10% of their revenue from CPB grants, and 14% of their revenue from universities. While NPR does not receive any direct federal funding, it does receive a small number of competitive grants from CPB and federal agencies like the Department of Education and the Department of Commerce. This funding amounts to approximately 2% of NPR’s overall revenues, which works out $3.6 million)

Should NASA be cut?

NASA budget from 1958 to 2008 amounts to $471.23 billion dollars.

NASA is exactly the type of organization that shouldn't be cut.
"A 1992 article in the British science journal Nature reported:
"The economic benefits of NASA's programs are greater than generally realized. The main beneficiaries (the American public) may not even realize the source of their good fortune. . ."

Countries like the US should have a vision for the future and fund things that work and have a track record.

To put it in even easier terms
"A 1997 poll reported that Americans had an average estimate of 20% for NASA's share of the federal budget, far higher than the actual 0.5% to under 1% that has been maintained throughout the late 90's and first decade of the 2000s."


The question many are asking especially on the right is why new taxes...... and to many the argument is that there are many companies that pay no tax.

The US corporate tax rate is 35%

Many huge corporations pay no tax or even get rebates
1) ExxonMobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings. [Note: Our post last April reported that ExxonMobil was owed $46 million by the IRS.]

2) Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3) Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4) Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5) Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6) Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7) Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8) Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9) ConocoPhillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10) Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

Is there wealth in the US that could be tapped?

There are 412 Number of billionaires in the US  which works out to 34.0% of the worlds billionaires

There are 2,886,200 millionaires in the US.

Indian aircraft carrier and Chinese Aircraft carrier and their planes.

It almost comes as no surprise that to be a world power one must need a world class navy.

INS Vikrant

India started building one of the aircraft carrier in 2005.  They are called the Vikrant class and have a total of 3 planned.  Its unsure what aircraft would be deployed on the carrier but India may look to ordering 40 aircraft to replace its aging Harrier fleet.

Potential naval version of the HAL Tejas

The other options for the aircraft carriers could be the F35 C (carrier version),  F35, Super Hornet, Typhoon, Sae Gripen and may look to start the SU 33 program back up by building these planes in India.

Home grown Indian Light combat aircraft HAL Tejas

India is using the old Soviet Kiev class to practise carrier tactics.

Size comparisons of various ships

China is also looking at an aircraft carrier and is using the old Soviet aircraft carrier the Varyag.  Its goal is a multimission capabale ship that can help protect and project Chinese interests.

Shi Lang (ex Varyag)

The aircraft for the Chinese aircraft carriers could be J15 flying shark.

J15 Flying Shark

Russians looking to build 1000 stealth fighters.. codenamed Firefox

T50 Sukhoi Firefox

(Reuters) - Russia will build more than 1,000 stealth fighter jets within four decades, including at least 200 for its traditional weapons buyer India, the head of plane maker Sukhoi said on Friday.

Details of the T50

Sukhoi test-flew its long-delayed fifth-generation fighter at the end of January, and Moscow said it would be able to compete with its U.S. F-22 Raptor rival built more than a decade ago.

Sukhoi said last week it hoped the fighter, codenamed T-50, would be ready for use in 2015.

Notice the single boom between engines and then the subsequent choice of twin booms outside the engine nozzles

"If you talk about warplanes of this type, there is definitely a market for it if we produce more than 1,000 jets," Sukhoi director Mikhail Pogosyan told reporters on the sidelines of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to India.

"We have all grounds to believe that there will not be tough competition on the world market," he said.

He said Russia would produce more than 1,000 of the planes within 35 to 40 years.

After the test flight, Putin said Russia had plenty of work to do on the plane.

Analysts say Russia's plans for a joint venture with India to produce the stealth fighters will likely be watched with unease by India's uneasy neighbour Pakistan and regional rival China.

Chinese J-20 Black Eagle US F-22 Sukhoi T-50 Fighters Jet

Pogosyan said an agreement on joint output of the jet with India was still in the works and did not say when a deal might be signed. 

Size comparisons to the very large Sukhoi SU 30/ 27

"I believe that more than 200 planes will be delivered (to India)," Pogosyan said.

"I think (Russia's) defence ministry will buy no less than this amount," he said. About 600 of the planes would be sold elsewhere, he said.

Analysts say several nations, including Libya and Vietnam, have already expressed interest in the fifth-generation fighter.

"Apart from America, the only other fifth-generation project is Russia's, while the Europeans have given up such plans," Pogosyan said.

T50 with canards and full wings tips

"Probably the Chinese will try and promote such a product, but I think they face an immense amount of work to make their product competitive," he said.

T50 without canards and "clipped " wing tips

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Paul Tait)

What are some options for Canadian drones?

Canada has had mixed success with drones and has already retired the Sperwer drone.

Sperwer

Canada has since purchased and deployed the Israeli made Heron on a 3 year lease contract till 2011

Heron

Here are some options for CF drones of the future.

RQ7 Shadow

The beast of Kandahar is a drone that was sent to Afghanistan to get information on the location of Osama bin Laden.

RQ-170 Sentinel

What will Canada choose as the vast array of un manned aircraft take to the sky?