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Grace - Movement for a Free Earth invites young people who want to dedicate their lives for peace
About this event: 15th Tamera Summeruniversity - Global Grace Village - Creating Models for a Future without War


"If we want to put an end to war, we need to end it at the point of where it is created each day anew: in our daily living conditions, in the constant stress of mindless and monotonous work, in the methods of profit maximizing and distribution, in offices and factories, in schools and families, in the tragedies of love, in our ideas about being either man or woman, in sexuality and love and in the cages of our professional, social and sensual life which are all far too small.

Do we wish that the youth of the world no longer go to war?
If so, we need a higher aim for life, a life worth living and better opportunities to put the power of the youth into meaningful action."
Dieter Duhm

We invite young peace workers from all over the world, people who want to dedicate their lives to a future worth living, to Tamera. This year there will be three major events:

Youth Future Village - July 18 - August 30, 2009

Young people between the ages 15 and 30 from different cultures and continents will study a realistic utopia during a six week community time. Through art, forum, spiritual work, study, political action and building trust among people, we will work on questions such as:

How will it go on after the breakdown of the imperial systems?
How is changing oneself and changing the world interconnected?
Why are all of our personal issues – revolving around love, partnership, and sexuality – of political significance?
More information at: http://summeruniversity.tamera.org/su09/index.php?id=70

Summer University "Global Grace Village - Creating Models for a Future without War" - July 29 - August 7, 2009

What do future societies which are not based on fear, domination, and violence, but instead built on trust look like? Which kind of technological, ecological, architectural, and social structures will societies, resonating with the cosmic order of life, embody? How will future societies, where children can fully trust their parents again and where lovers never have to leave each other ever again come into being?

A ten day think-tank for a future without war. With Dieter Duhm and Sabine Lichtenfels from Tamera, Portugal; Starhawk, USA; Sami Awad, Palestine; Padre Javier Giraldo, Colombia and many other peace workers.
more information at http://summeruniversity.tamera.org

Watch a short trailer for the Summer University here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0DFy9Omq_8

In the name of GRACE: Pilgrimage Through Portugal - September 27 - October 15, 2009

Led by Sabine Lichtenfels, an international group of pilgrims will take part in an existential community adventure to reconnect with the original dream of the Earth and of humankind. The pilgrimage will begin at the stone circle near Évora, a monument from an ancient peace culture. Pilgrims will walk towards Tamera, a modern peace model in development. This is an invitation to all who seek a connection between political, spiritual and community work.

In the name of all life. For a global thinking, global loving, and global acting.

Welcome!

Contact and registration: office@tamera.org
More information: http://www.tamera.org

May 28, 2009 | 4:39 PM Comments  1 comments

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Tamera   Tamera Peter Koll's TIGblog
Peter Koll's profile

Think tank in July 09 in Tamera, Portugal
About this event: 15th Tamera Summeruniversity - Global Grace Village - Creating Models for a Future without War


Tamera Peace Resesarch Center´s work is based on more than 30 years of experience in building community, and in inner and outer peacework.
After 3 years of intensive peace studies, we are inviting visionaries from all over the world for a ten-day think tank to create a future without war.

Solarpowervillage, community, future ecology, peaceeducation, genderpeace, Planet Earth, water.

Global Grace Villlage
July 29th - Aug 7th 2009 in Tamera, Portugal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0DFy9Omq_8

Warm welcome !
Peter Koll
Tamera Team
http://tigurl.org/3xix8g
contact : office@tamera.org
http://tigurl.org/qfr078

May 27, 2009 | 3:31 AM Comments  0 comments

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smithswork   smithswork smith's TIGblog
smith's profile

Oh our leaders, Why?
About this category: Education


I am sad because our leaders continually hear about our plight and never act on behalf.

Days became weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. For over 5 years we are still struggling to get our real voice hear. Can you tell me which part of life did you change for t he youth?

N.B we ask for change every where in the world, some gave in and others did not. What i learned is ..

If you ask for change, you have to do it yourself and not from others. This is because the same SUN that hardens the clay melt the butter.

Think twice!!
Take care

The Giants are Awake!!!

May 25, 2009 | 10:48 AM Comments  0 comments

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Tamera   Tamera Peter Koll's TIGblog
Peter Koll's profile

Solarpowervillage and Solarvillage

News in the SolarVillage
Test village to be built in Tamera, Portugal

This year, 2009, we want to take the next big step of setting up a "test-field" for the planned TTT-Platform and the SolarVillage, which will be established on a special place within Tamera.

http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=604&L=0

During the first four months of this year, the SolarVillage project group focused on the development of a solid and humane foundation, where trust among the coworkers can continuously go deeper, and increasingly reliable and professional working structures of communication and cohabitation can emerge.

Our next step is the construction of this “test-field” in the current “Valley Village” along the lines of the “African Village” designed by Jürgen Kleinwächter.

Our short-term goal is to set up the “Solar Power Village” technology. This technology creates synergy, is relatively simple to build, and thus represents a valuable and integral part of the overall solar system both ecologically and economically. Our plan is to try it out in practice and improve it in the daily life of the SolarVillage Project Group. This approach follows the basic idea of the SolarVillage concept, that a group of about fifty people will live an experimental life with the new technical components. The core element of the "Solar Power Village", the Energy Power
Greenhouse with the hot-oil kitchen, will be combined with a Scheffler
reflector, parabolic mirror cookers SK14, and solar ovens - all
components of the solar summer kitchen.

Apart from the production of heat for cooking, the hot oil produced in the greenhouse will also drive a Stirling engine that can produce electricity as well as mechanical energy. Later we also plan to integrate O2 combustion (according to the ideas of Horst Wagner) and a biogas system to complement these installations.

This “test-field” project is the next step on the way to developing the SolarVillage: The technology, and the communitarian way of living that we experienced during this recent four-month intensive group time, complement each other to create a single living entity. By autumn we will have tangible results and measured values resulting from this practical experiment, as well as a showcase to demonstrate the combination of these two elements that can be shown to visitors.

In autumn we will also organize a special kind of “Investors' Event” for a select group of people with broad views and financial power. We plan to give an insight into the actual daily life as it will work in and around a SolarVillage, and one goal of the event is to find investors for the continued development of the SolarVillage concept and the TTT-Platform.

Another part of this year's experiment is the integration of the nearby "Valley Garden" into the growing water landscape built in cooperation with the Tamera ecology team under the auspices of permaculture expert and “Rebel farmer” Sepp Holzer.

We kindly invite you to contribute to the manifestation of this experimental living model. The financing of the test field SolarVillage will cost about 73,000 Euro. Donations of any amount are warmly welcome.

We are also very interested in the help of experts who want to participate in the practical construction and development of this experiment. We ask those interested to contact us for further information.

Roland Luder
for the SolarVillage Project Group

http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=604&L=0

May 17, 2009 | 4:28 AM Comments  0 comments

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smithswork   smithswork smith's TIGblog
smith's profile

It could have been your Child
About this category: Culture


He yelled at him; get away! Fool you don’t go to school and come here to beg. He pushed him aside as he continued toward the street from the bank. Another person came out from the bank holding a book and a pen, on it was written western Union, he ignored him walked some steps and turned; he signaled him to come and gave him the pen, he jumped and thank him. Then I came out of the bank, he rushed to me and said its 11:00GMT am soo hungry just a little food can save me. I was shocked, I asked him to follow me, I bought him some food and he told me his story. You can imagine how terrible it was. This is why I am with keen interest on the youth, SRH and poverty.

May 1, 2009 | 6:36 AM Comments  1 comments

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smithswork   smithswork smith's TIGblog
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if you were the one

He yelled at him; get away! Fool you don’t go to school and come here to beg. He pushed him aside as he continued toward the street from the bank. Another person came out from the bank holding a book and a pen, on it was written western Union, he ignored him walked some steps and turned; he signaled him to come and gave him the pen, he jumped and thank him. Then I came out of the bank, he rushed to me and said its 11:00GMT am soo hungry just a little food can save me. I was shocked, I asked him to follow me, I bought him some food and he told me his story. You can imagine how terrible it was. This is why I am with keen interest on the youth, SRH and poverty.

May 1, 2009 | 6:17 AM Comments  0 comments

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smithswork   smithswork smith's TIGblog
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Your Health is a treasure
About this category: Health


LIFEBOOK 2009

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy
5. Make time for prayer
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2008
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day ---- and while you walk, smile

Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do ; keep your limits
14. Don't take yourself so seriously ; no one else does
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:

25. Call your family often
26. Each day give something good to others
27. Forgive everyone for everything
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day
30. What other people think of you is none of your business
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

32. Do the right things
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful
34. GOD heals everything
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
37. The best is yet to come
38. When you wake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least :

40. Do forward this to everyone you care about


May 1, 2009 | 5:42 AM Comments  0 comments

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Tamera   Tamera Peter Koll's TIGblog
Peter Koll's profile

Tamera Summer University - 29th July - 07th August 09
About this event: Monte Cerro Peace Education


15th Summeruniversity in Tamera, Portugal :

Global Grace Village - Creating Models for a Future without War
Tamera Summer University - 29th July - 07th August 09

Survival is no longer a private matter, it has become a global issue.
This is an invitation to take part in a think tank and to build a vision for a future without war.

Planet Earth was meant to be Paradise. However, people seem to have forgotten it. Today we live in a time where extensive parts of humanity live in misery and destruction and ever more beings experience comparable fate on an every day basis, so it has become a question of survival to remember the grand original dream of a healthy planet, home to everything that lives.
Do we know our true power? Do we know what a small group of people following a clear vision of the future can change? Those who want to end war need a vision for peace.

After three years of peace research of the Monte Cerro Peace Experiment, Tamera Peace Research Center invites to a summer of vision building.

The vision of a Global Grace Village
How do future societies that are not based on fear, domination, and violence, but instead built on trust look like? Which kind of technological, ecological, architectural, and social structures will societies, resonating with the cosmic order of life, display? How will future societies, where children fully trust their parents again and where lovers never have to leave each other ever again, come into being? Which professions will they have and how will young people learn how to invest their strength for peace?
We call this vision of peace Global Grace Village. We assume that when the first planetary peace model is fully realized in all its depths, it will be a decisive contribution to a future without war.

Next steps of realization: Peace Research Village Middle East
Currently a group of Israelis, Palestinians, and Internationals are preparing the concrete construction of the first peace model. They will present themselves and their project. After the Summer University they will head off to the Middle East and check if the first Peace Research Village can be built there. We will also host representatives from the Peace Village of San José de Apartadó, Colombia, as well as many other guests.

Visionaries, scientists, youth activists, love adventurers:
With global crises overlapping, it is becoming evident that we are close to facing a paradigm shift; so let´s get together and learn to SEE!

Please note: You can stay longer!

Youth Future Village - Global youth summer with Mara Vollmer - July 18th to August 31st
How does a Movement for a Free Earth arise? Tamera International Youth Center invites young leaders for a 6-week intensive workshop. We also invited people from crisis areas like San José de Apartadó, a peace community in Colombia, young representatives of indigenous cultures, and people from Dharamsalla, a Tibetan exile haven in India. The gathering will serve to establish and deepen contact between cultures and religions, to awaken towards a global thinking, loving, and acting. Let's have a new love affair for a future without war.

Following the Tamera Summer University: Vision Quest with Ofer Israeli - August 12th to the 17th
A vision quest is a sacred ritual for the healing of people and Earth. The core of it will be to spend four days and nights alone in the wilderness.


Price (including Food and Accommodation): 640,- Euro,
reduced price for people up to 25, students, people from Portugal and poor countries: 320,- Euro

Young people, please note:We invest for a future. Tamera has created a contingent for 30 young people who can take part in the Summer University for the symbolic price of 100,- Euro. This contingent is meant for active and committed young people up to 20. Please apply for it until the 30th of June. Once the 30 places have been taken, you can still register for the reduced price of 320 Euro. Please only apply if you cannot come for the normal price.

For those who are interested in investing for a future: You are invited to increase the number of 30 people with a donation.

Registration: office(at)tamera.org or fon: 00351 -283 635306

register : http://www.tamera.org/index.php?id=164
event url : http://summeruniversity.tamera.org/su09/

April 13, 2009 | 9:00 AM Comments  0 comments

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STIGMATISATION

HIV/AIDS
A young child, standing by the side of the doorway, using the palm to wipe the tears of another child crying. A woman appeared from the dark way shouting, bad and shameless parents of yours! hey my son, don’t touch him!! He may even spread it to you, and you leave now, get out!! Get out at once!!
The crying boy took some steps off toward the footpath, and headed toward the refuse dump with tears across the cheeks. He stopped suddenly and wiped his tears, slowly he started asking himself questions, who was AIDS? Was he a policeman, why did he arrested my parents and what did my parent do? If not my grandmother, who would have given me food? Where would I stay? I will ask her again to show me where my parents are, so I can go to them and ask them why people treat me this way.

STIGMATISATION
This is one of the most dangerous tags given to PLWA who are either parents or their children. The suffering of the young child through discrimination makes him ask such terrible questions. The parents could have been in the hospital or dead or quarantined. The questions he asks really shows the rejection he faces as a result of the misconception of HIV/AIDS. The popularity of AIDS and their unknown means of transmission.

This incident eventually happened in a community I visited to discuss about how to live with PLWA. Imagine how my discussion went.

The real truth is; ask yourself even you the advocate, the health advisor, how you feel when you meet PLWA and please keep the answers in your head.

Well I need financial help to solve some of these problems in my community please visit our website http://yiaicd.synthasite.com and help us any amount you can to help solve such situation for the stigmatization is equally at strength with the popularity.

The little you do to day will never be forgotten in the minds and believe and happiness as wells as smiles of others who benefited. Thank you

George A Ben-Smith
YIAICD-Ghana
P.O Box AD 501
Cape Coast
Ghana, West Africa
http://yiaicd.synthasite.com
cell: +233 244 221515



February 24, 2009 | 1:41 PM Comments  0 comments

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hanrsan   hanrsan Hansha Sanjyal's TIGblog
Hansha Sanjyal's profile

Nepal’s Faltering Peace Process

Despite successful elections and a lasting military ceasefire, Nepal’s peace process is facing its most severe tests yet.

Nepal’s Faltering Peace Process,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the fragile state of Nepal’s peace process. Ten months after the elections, the constitution-writing process is finally getting underway, but major parts of the peace deal remain unimplemented. Impunity is rife, and public security alarmingly weak. The consensus underlying the process has frayed, relationships between the parties are increasingly acrimonious, and fundamental elements of the deal are being challenged. Key political players, particularly the governing Maoists and the opposition Nepali Congress (NC), urgently need to rebuild consensus on the way forward.

“The Maoists must take the first steps to restore trust by proving their commitment to non-violence and political pluralism”, says Rhoderick Chalmers, Crisis Group’s South Asia Deputy Project Director. “In turn, their opponents should offer constructive criticism within the framework of the peace process rather than spoiling for its own sake”.

The Maoist-led administration’s first six months have been frustrating, with the government’s achievements overshadowed by poorly handled controversies. The Maoists’ longer-term intentions remain suspect, their strong-arm tactics still allied to a revolutionary strategy aimed at a people’s republic. There is little unity of effort or intent among their coalition partners and the opposition NC is in organisational and political disarray. The established parties have yet to face up to the need for reform to counter their poor past record, become more representative and reconnect with voters.

Very different interests and positions remain to be bridged – a task that is possible but that cannot be wished away with over-optimistic language. Heightened tensions between the Maoists and the Nepalese Army underline the urgency of tackling the future of the security sector. Issues such as the implementation of federalism will generate intense debate. Addressing these challenges is the job of Nepal’s leaders. But the international community must recognise the fragility of the process and be prepared to stick with it.

International actors have played important roles in promoting peace and now need to maintain consistent pressure on all parties to live up to their commitments and encourage them to face the threats to peace. Allowing parts of the peace agreements to drift into abeyance will put the entire process at risk.

“A successfully completed peace process could have broad positive effects for the Nepalese people and for the region”, says Robert Templer, Crisis Group’s Asia Program Director. “The need is for carefully targeted assistance and political pressure”.

February 20, 2009 | 1:30 AM Comments  0 comments

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hanrsan   hanrsan Hansha Sanjyal's TIGblog
Hansha Sanjyal's profile

Foreign investment dispute resolution mechanisms ill-prepared to deal with HR impacts

A growing number of disputes between foreign investors and host governments are being determined within a closed, often secretive web of judicial tribunals that are ill-equipped to deal with the human rights impacts of investment projects. This is the main finding of a new report released today by Right & Democracy (the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development), entitled Bilateral Investment Treaties and Human Rights: Mapping the role of human rights law within investor-state arbitration.

The report, which is the result of a two-year research initiative by Rights & Democracy, describes the foreign investment protection regime as a maze of more than 2600 bilateral investment treaties and free-trade agreements designed to protect investors and their assets. While the agreements place strict legal restrictions on what actions can be taken by host governments, they impose no limits and confer no responsibilities on investors, even with respect to the protection of human rights.

Through a review of recent and current investment treaty dispute proceedings, chief researcher and author Luke Peterson describes in the report how some investors have invoked human rights jurisprudence to support their claims against governments. Conversely, there is only one example – revealed here for the first time – in which a respondent host-government has presented human rights arguments in its defence against the company claims.

"No one doubts that investment and the arbitration of investment disputes have direct implications for the human rights of people living in the project area," said Carole Samdup, Senior Advisor, Economic and Social Rights at Rights & Democracy. "But governments have an obligation to protect their people from human rights violations, even if those violations result from foreign investment projects. Signing investment treaties should not interfere with that obligation."

February 20, 2009 | 1:29 AM Comments  0 comments

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hanrsan   hanrsan Hansha Sanjyal's TIGblog
Hansha Sanjyal's profile

"Unregulated Money in Politics Is Greatest Corruption Threat globally"

Iraq and Somalia Included For First Time in New Report Assessing Anti-Corruption Mechanisms and Government Accountability in 57 Countries.

Regardless of income levels, the #1 corruption threat facing a majority of countries
is the unregulated flow of money into the political process, a new report finds. The report, a major investigative study of 57 countries, was released today by Global Integrity, an award-winning international nonprofit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends globally.

“For the third straight year, poor transparency around the financing of political parties and candidates was the weakest element of most countries’ anti-corruption frameworks,” said Global Integrity’s Managing Director, Nathaniel Heller. “If we’re serious about rolling back corruption and abuse of power in both the developed and developing worlds, more effective safeguards to curb the influence of money in politics are desperately needed. The Rod Blagojevichs of the world are just the tip of the iceberg.”

The Global Integrity Report: 2008 covers developed countries such as Canada, Japan and Italy as well as dozens of the world’s emerging markets and developing nations, from Argentina and China to the West Bank and Iraq. Rather than measure perceptions of corruption, the report assesses the accountability mechanisms and transparency measures in place (or not) to prevent corruption through more than 300 “Integrity Indicators.” Gaps in those safeguards suggest where corruption is more likely to occur.

Global Integrity’s new Grand Corruption Watch List, introduced as part of the 2008 report, includes Angola, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Iraq, Montenegro, Morocco, Nicaragua, Serbia, Somalia, the West Bank, and Yemen, all countries viewed at serious risk for high-level corruption. The Watch List identifies countries where the lack of effective conflicts of interest regulations, unregulated flows of money into the political process, and poor oversight over large state-owned enterprises combine to pose a systemic risk of large-scale theft of public resources. “Watch List countries are unfortunately characterized by a toxic mix of corruption risk factors that should be cause for alarm,” said Heller.

Other major findings of the report include the following:
. The most significant anti-corruption failure in much of the Arab world is poor access to government information. While the countries in the Middle East and North Africa assessed in the 2008 Report struggle to match global medians on many factors, their comprehensive lack of effective access to government information is virtually double those countries’ deficit on any other issue assessed by Global Integrity.

. Several key countries experienced gains or backsliding since 2007. Important anticorruption improvements were noted in Bangladesh and Nigeria; in China, a more positive assessment was linked to the introduction of a new regulation granting citizens access to government information. Noticeable decliners included Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ecuador; Georgia also slipped for the second straight year and continues to struggle consolidating democratic gains since the 2003 Rose Revolution.

. Corruption and transparency challenges appear to be worsening on the Horn of Africa, threatening to exacerbate tensions in an already-fragile security situation. Drops in performance in Kenya and Ethiopia, combined with Somalia’s ignominious honor of boasting the worst-ever overall Global Integrity country score, do not bode well for establishing the kinds of checks and balances in all three countries that could promote good governance and improve stability.

“The country assessments that comprise the Report offer among the most detailed, evidence-based evaluations of anti-corruption mechanisms available anywhere in the world,” said Global Integrity’s International Director, Marianne Camerer. “They provide policymakers, investors, and citizens alike with the information to understand the governance challenges unique to each country and to take action.”

February 20, 2009 | 1:28 AM Comments  0 comments

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hanrsan   hanrsan Hansha Sanjyal's TIGblog
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Asia's Local Currency Bond Markets to Expand This year- ADB

Emerging East Asia's local currency bond markets are expected to expand this year with several governments likely to sell debt to pump-prime their economies.

Companies are also expected to turn to local markets to refinance or raise fresh funds, says the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank’s Asia Bond Monitor (ABM).
However, there are risks. Increased sovereign bond sales could raise yields, making issuance costlier. Also, investor concerns over sustained fiscal deficits could push up risk premiums and hurt sovereign credit ratings of some economies.

Companies face greater financing risks with borrowing costs remaining high and may get crowded out by higher debt issuance by governments. With Asia's financial firms huge buyers of government's bonds, debt sales need to be managed carefully to maintain financial stability.

"The economic outlook remains gloomy," said Jong-Wha Lee, Head of the ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration. "Several Asian nations will rely more on local currency bonds to finance their fiscal stimulus packages. This provides an excellent opportunity for the region to further develop a more dynamic domestic bond market."

Overall, emerging East Asia's local currency bond markets held up well in the face of the global financial storm, continuing to expand throughout 2008. By end-December, total outstanding local currency bonds were US$3.7 trillion, 14.9% above the end-2007 level. The increase, however, was below the 17.6% annual growth rate in the third quarter of the year.
Foreign holdings of Asia's local currency government bonds appear to have held steady in most markets, indicating offshore investors have faith in emerging East Asia’s local currency sovereign debt.

Total local currency bond issuance in the region fell 15.1% at the end of December versus the end of September and tumbled 59.0% versus the end of 2007. That was largely because central banks and monetary authorities no longer needed to issue paper for sterilization purposes given capital flowed out of the region in the second half of 2008 after hefty net inflows in the first half of the year.

Excluding issuance from central banks and monetary authorities, fourth quarter government bond sales in the region were up 5.8% over the third quarter total, showing that there remains investor demand for safe-haven securities. Gross corporate bond sales increased slightly on the quarter but fell on the year.

The market in the People’s Republic of China - $2.2 trillion in outstanding bonds as of end-2008 - continues as the largest emerging East Asian issuer, accounting for most of the growth in the region's local currency bond markets. Viet Nam, however, posted the fastest quarterly rate of growth in the fourth quarter of 2008 and also grew more than other countries for the year as a whole.

Emerging East Asia refers to the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus the People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; and the Republic of Korea.

February 10, 2009 | 11:49 PM Comments  0 comments

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hanrsan   hanrsan Hansha Sanjyal's TIGblog
Hansha Sanjyal's profile

Timor-Leste: No Time for Complacency

A year after Timor-Leste’s president José Ramos-Horta was shot, security is markedly improved but at the cost of an army that is unreformed and increasingly unaccountable.

Timor-Leste: No Time for Complacency,* the latest update briefing from the International Crisis Group, says the government has been able to face its most pressing security threats, with armed rebels under control. It has at least temporarily addressed several of the most pressing security threats, in large part by buying off those it sees as potential troublemakers.

“There are worrying signs of disdain for the justice system and civilian control over the army”, says John Virgoe, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Project Director. “The police and army depend too heavily on a few individuals and on personal relationships that have been able to hold the security forces together”.

11 February 2008 was a major crisis for Timor-Leste: a rebel leader killed, the president seriously wounded, and an unsuccessful attack on the prime minister. The government imposed a state of siege and curfew. A week later, as the president lay in hospital, the government brought elements of the army and police under a joint command to track down the remaining rebels.

Since then, former soldiers known as the “petitioners” have been compensated, and a good start has been made on sorting out life for the 30,000 internally displaced persons. But the government’s tactics have often amounted to little more than buying off the complainants. The ready granting of money, rice or other economic inducements to various pressure groups – not just the petitioners and the IDPs, but also veterans, civil servants and others – creates social jealousy, risks distorting the economy and may foster an entitlement culture.

The underlying drivers of conflict – most especially in the security sector – remain. The government has bought time to pursue permanent solutions, but a lasting return to health will require the government to seriously tackle the causes of conflict, including fundamental reforms in the security sector, and to promote rather than undermine the rule of law. Presidential interventions in cases involving political violence have undercut an already-weak justice system. Timor-Leste has seen too much impunity, and too many people have evaded responsibility for their actions.

“The current calm is not cause for complacency”, warns John Virgoe. “The government needs to reform the army and police, but they also need to tolerate dissent, be more transparent, and get a grip on corruption”.

February 10, 2009 | 11:47 PM Comments  0 comments

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smithswork   smithswork smith's TIGblog
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THE PROBLEM ABOUT THE FINANCIAL CRISES IS NOT NECESSARILY ONLY A BAIL OUT PLAN
About this category: Globalization


THE PROBLEM ABOUT THE FINANCIAL CRISES IS NOT NECESSARILY ONLY A BAIL OUT PLAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem has to do with high Taxes in USA homeland itself.
Business have moved from the homeland to other place for cheap labor and input cost.
These new places have procedures where profit cannot all be recouped back to USA
It has increased GDP of the global world and not USA.
The problems started years ago so it has now caught up to the neck.
Extra cash into the system will not help. it will move from US home to other place to boost the world market.
Instead let us reduce taxes and encourage factories to spring up again. to cut increase the incomes first clear all existing goods in the market at a cheap rate to other world market. Produce new ones with advanced features than the sold out ones, make the prices affordable. Research into cheap means of travel on energy but safer then before, enacts clauses that will prevent global warming and healthy life. I beg involve the youth, the old heads are different now.

You can email me for discussion at yiaicd@gmail.com or smithswork@hotmail.com

February 6, 2009 | 11:00 AM Comments  0 comments

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