Study: Widespread hunger in Haiti after storms

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitians have suffered widespread hunger following an unusually active storm season this year and are likely to experience more, according to a study released Friday. The report, backed by a Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-based think tank, found that rural households in the heavily hit areas of Haiti's west, north and Grand-Anse departments experienced what it termed "severe food shortages" after Hurricane Sandy and an unnamed storm that followed. The two merely brushed the Caribbean nation in October and November but caused major flooding and killed as many as 66 people. Nearly 70 percent of the more than 1,000 households interviewed said they experienced moderate or severe hunger, according to the study, "After the Storm: Haiti's Coming Food Crisis." The report was written by social scientists Athena Kolbe, Marie Puccio and Robert Muggah, who frequently work in the impoverished country. It echoes U.N. warnings that more than 1.5 million of Haiti's people are at risk of malnutrition because they lost crops in the storms. As much as 90 percent of Haiti's harvest season, much of it in the south, was destroyed in Sandy's floods, the world body said. "We look at all these things and expect to see there's going to be food insecurity in six months," said Kolbe, a doctoral candidate in social work and political science at University of Michigan. "There are going to be a lot of areas where there is not a lot food and we know what happens when there's not a lot of food." Added Kolbe: "It's pretty bleak." Kolbe and humanitarian workers fear Haiti could see a repeat of what happened in 2008. That year, a jump in food prices triggered more than a week of deadly rioting that ended in the ouster of the prime minister and his Cabinet. In recent months, anti-government demonstrations have taken place in the capital and countryside. The protesters have aired grievances that range from alleged corruption in the administration of President Michel Martelly to a rising cost of living. Backed by the Brazilian nonprofit think tank, the Igarape Institute, the study drew on data from 1,355 households, with a response rate of 84.7 percent. The surveys were done immediately after Hurricane Sandy and the unnamed storm that followed. In all cases an adult living in the household was randomly chosen, based on which member had the most recent birthday, to complete the survey. Those interviewed reported a wide range of damages and losses. Farmers lost plenty, with 68.3 percent reporting their crops destroyed, 77.3 percent losing seeds and 73 percent the loss of farming equipment and tools. Such damage will force Haiti to import food from outside, which is often expensive, the study's authors noted. Help from family and friends abroad who wired money stemmed the spread of additional hunger, the report said. Households that received overseas remittances in the last 12 months were 8.1 times less likely to go hungry after the storm, it added. Crops such as sorghum, millet and cassava plants were the most likely crops to survive the storm, farmers said. But crops that are fragile were partially or completely destroyed, including beans, peas, carrots and beets. The study also said people in the countryside reported a "complete absence" of municipal services during the week after the hurricane. That meant no debris removal or contact with police and other government employee.

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Resilience Key to Feeling Good in Old Age

Despite worsening physical health and mental abilities, adults say they feel better about how they've aged as they get older, a new study finds. Researchers surveyed about 1,000 adults ages 50 to 99 living in San Diego. Participants were interviewed over the phone to assess their physical and mental health. They were also asked to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how successfully they thought they had aged, with a rating of 10 being the most successful. The average rating was 8.2, and older adults were more likely to rate their aging success more highly than those in middle age. However, older age was linked with worse physical and cognitive functioning. A person's levels of resilience and depression seemed to be just as important as physical health in terms of the effect on successful aging, the researchers said. For instance, people with poor physical health but high levels of resilience rated themselves similarly to those who were physically healthier, but had lower resilience. The results are in line with earlier research showing that well-being increases with age. The findings suggest "increasing resilience and reducing depression might have effects on successful aging, as strong as the effects of reducing physical disability," the researchers write in the Dec. 7 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. "This ending points to an important role for psychiatry in enhancing successful aging in older adults, even in those with physical disabilities," they wrote. The researchers gathered information at just one point in time, so studies that follow the same people over time are needed to confirm the results. The study did not include people in nursing homes, and it's possible that people who would have given themselves lower ratings were not included in the study due to death or institutionalization, the researchers said. However, the researchers noted the study participants were also not unusually healthy in any particular way -- aging was still linked with worse physical health and mental abilities. Pass it on: Older adults are more likely to say they've aged successfully than adults in middle age.

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'Borderlands 2,' 'Dishonored' win at Spike VGAs

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The cartoony post-apocalyptic shoot-'em-up sequel "Borderlands 2" and the stealthy first-person game "Dishonored" were among the early winners at the Spike Video Game Awards on Friday. "Borderlands 2" was picked as best shooter and multiplayer game, while "Dishonored" was awarded with the best action-adventure game trophy at the gaming extravaganza. The ceremony honors outstanding achievements within the gaming industry over the past year. "The Avengers" star and shooter fan Samuel L. Jackson hosted the 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios — his fourth time as the show's emcee. This year's ceremony was scheduled to screen never-before-seen footage from such upcoming titles as "The Last Us," ''South Park: The Stick of Truth" and "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2." It will also serve as the launch pad for newly announced game "The Phantom Pain." For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on show components such as what songs and clips would be played during the ceremony.

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For charity, Axelrod shaves his mustache on MSNBC

Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod started his Friday facing a straight razor as he made good on his promise to shave his mustache for charity live on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "I just wanna leave with the same woman I came in with," Axelrod quipped as his wife looked on in the studio. In November, Axelrod, who has sported facial hair for 40 years, pledged to "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough that he'd cut off his mustache if President Barack Obama lost Minnesota, Michigan or Pennsylvania. Though the president carried each state, Axelrod kept the bet going, turning it into a charity cause through his "Slash the 'Stache" drive. The bet: If $1 million was raised for CureEpilepsy.org, the 'stache would go. As the lather was wiped off and Axelrod's naked lip made its national debut, CureEpilepsy donor Donald Trump called in and expressed his support for the charity. Axelrod said, "There are people who've lost a lot more than a mustache to epilepsy," adding that he was happy to see so much money going to research. Both Axelrod's daughter and "Morning Joe" contributor Mike Barnicle's daughter have the disorder.

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Fiscal-Cliff Showdown Mirrors Payroll-Tax Fight

The fight over the fiscal cliff, politically at least, is starting to look a lot like last December’s message wars over the payroll-tax holiday. You remember that scene, don’t you? President Obama received a huge political boost when he managed to isolate the House Republicans politically and sought to blame them for increasing payroll taxes on 160 million Americans just days before Christmas. Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board balked at the House Republicans' stance, calling the fight a “fiasco.” And, in those days in mid-December, the president stopped just short of calling the Republicans the Grinches who stole Christmas. A repeat of that scenario is fast-approaching, if Congress and the White House cannot cut a deal in the next few weeks on the fiscal cliff’s mix of more than $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts. Even before the president won reelection, the Democrats had the 2011 payroll-tax fight in mind as a potential playbook, says one Democratic congressional aide familiar with the negotiations. The payroll-tax fight had a far better ending for Democrats than the debt-ceiling debacle in the summer of 2011. This strategy also keeps the focus of the fiscal cliff fight squarely on the question of tax rates, as opposed to the the broader menu of spending cuts, unemployment benefits, the alternative-minimum patch, or business tax breaks. It maintains the pressure on the Republicans to agree to a single tenet—politically challenging for them but easily boiled down to a nice slogan for normal, outside-the-beltway Americans: "Raise taxes on the richest Americans." “The Democrats went from asking the rich to pay more in the days after the election to locking in on increasing marginal tax rates,” says Alex Brill, a former policy director of the House Ways and Means Committee and a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “A lot of the rank-and-file Republicans draw the line on statutory rates. I think that’s really hard.” Yet, tax rates were the president’s primary focus this week, as they've been since he won the election and gained additional leverage in the fiscal-cliff showdown. On Thursday, Obama upped the ante by heading to Fall Church, Va., to meet with a high school teacher named Tiffany Santana and her family, including her 6-year-old son, to talk about the importance of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for households with annual incomes below $250,000. The president sat at the family’s round kitchen table and spoke about the need for higher taxes for the rich. "Everyone is going to have to share in some sacrifice. But it starts with folks who are in the best position to sacrifice,” he said, according to pool reports. The visit came toward the end of a week in which the president waged a huge outside campaign to pressure the Republicans to cave. In addition to tweeting about the need for middle-class tax cuts with the hash tag #my2K, the president met with business leaders. He told them that if the Republicans moved on tax rates, the White House and Congress could easily reach a deal—as if that were the only component at stake. The business leaders left the meeting thinking the president was totally reasonable and sensible, says one financial-services industry leader, who asked not to be named to preserve his ties to the administration. Though the business community cannot dictate the terms of the deal to the tiny number of negotiators, the business community can “urge them to reach a deal and dissuade them of the notion that going over the cliff is OK,” the financial-services leader said. “They can also provide cover for the deal.” Privately, lobbyists with close ties to the Republicans predict that the GOP will cave in some way on taxes. Republican politicians and staffers on the Hill have been trying to combat the president’s effort to repeat the payroll-tax strategy by talking about the way income-tax hikes would hurt small businesses;kill off investment for businesses; or hurt the prospects for tax reform in 2013. So far, these messages do not seem to resonate with American voters. A poll from the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, released on Tuesday, showed that 53 percent of respondents say they would blame congressional Republicans if the parties failed to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff by the end of the year. Just 27 percent would blame Obama, according to the polling data. House Speaker John Boehner “may be forced to pivot and the rates will go up,” Brill says. Most likely, if the Republicans do agree to any rate increases, the tax rates will not return to a top rate of 39.6 percent, and the two parties will find additional revenue by capping itemized deductions either through a dollar cap or a percentage of a person’s adjusted gross income. “I always thought there was an obvious deal, if the parties don’t take the top rate as high as 39.6 percent. It’s just about numbers,” says Ken Kies, managing director of the lobbying shop Federal Policy Group and a former chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation. “The problem with all of this is that we’re rapidly running out of time.” The To Do list is lengthy, as Congress and the White House wrap up week four of the fiscal-cliff negotiations. Still, one should never doubt the way the threat of a cancelled vacation—and the optics of raising taxes on middle-class people right before Christmas—motivates politicians. That, at least, seems to be what White House officials are betting on, based on the lessons they learned from last December's payroll-tax standoff.

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Pemerintah Sebaiknya Alihkan Subsidi BBM ke Tiket MRT

Pemerintah Sebaiknya Alihkan Subsidi BBM ke Tiket MRT Jokowi masih galau mengenai proyek Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) di Jakarta. Selain terkait masalah pinjaman dana dari Jepang, mantan Walikota Solo itu masih pusing karena harga tiket MRT yang dipatok terlalu mahal. Pengamat transportasi dari LIPI Taufik Hidayat mengusulkan Jokowi tetap meneruskan pembangunan MRT, dengan syarat terus dievaluasi pelaksanaannya. Agar beban pemerintah provinsi DKI Jakarta tidak terlalu berat, Taufik mengusulkan pemerintah pusat bersedia memberikan subsidi untuk tiket MRT. "Tetap dilanjut (proyek MRT), tapi dievaluasi lagi. Apa yang diminta Jokowi (terkait subsidi tiket) saya rasa wajar. Pemerintah memang harus memberikan subsidi. 60% dan 40% - lah dengan pemerintah provinsi. Apalagi ini ibukota negara," kata Taufik, saat berbincang dengan detikcom, Minggu (2/11/2012). Menurut perhitungan sementara, tiket MRT dipatok Rp 38 ribu. Jokowi mengusulkan Menkeu memberi subsidi sehingga tiket bisa ditekan menjadi Rp 15 ribu. Namun Menkeu menolak memberi subsidi. Taufik menjelaskan, sejauh ini kemacetan di Jakarta tak kunjung berhasil diurai, masyarakat lebih memilih menggunakan kendaraan pribadi, terutama sepeda motor, dengan alasan lebih aman dan cepat sampai. Pada akhirnya kendaraan pribadi yang berasal dari dalam dan luar Jakarta semakin menumpuk. Taufik menyarankan pemerintah pusat mengalihkan subsidi BBM untuk warga Jakarta menjadi subsidi tiket MRT. Nantinya orang yang biasa menggunakan kendaraan pribadi mau beralih ke MRT dengan harga tiket yang murah, aman, dan tanpa macet. Selain itu tentu saja lalu lintas jalanan Jakarta juga menjadi lebih lowong. "Biaya yang kita habiskan untuk membakar bahan bakar... coba bandingkan subsidi yang diberikan pemerintah untuk MRT dan berapa triliun yang pemerintah keluarkan untuk bahan bakar setiap tahunnya. Sejauh ini macet tetap berjalan," lanjut Taufik. Pada Jumat (30/11) Menteri Keuangan Agus Marto menolak usulan Jokowi untuk memberikan subsidi pada tiket Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) yang terlalu mahal, Rp 38 ribu. Agus menilai subsidi untuk transportasi publik adalah tanggung jawab pemerintah daerah. "Pemerintah daerah akan mendorong subsidi ke transportasi publik, saya rasa itu arahan yang baik tapi itu dilakukan oleh pemda, kalau tidak nanti pemda-pemda yang lain tidak tangkap masalah transportasi publik itu merupakan prioritas pemda," ujar Agus Marto. Agus Marto menyatakan sampai saat ini subsidi pemerintah masih ditujukan untuk subsidi umum yang bisa menyangkut kepentingan bangsa, seperti subsidi Bahan Bakar Minyak (BBM). "Jadi kalau subsidi transportasi tidak. Kita sekarang ini yang kita bayangkan kalau bentuk dukungan itu dalam bentuk BBM dalam bentuk konversi BBM ke gas, mendorong energi terbarukan," ujarnya. Sebaliknya, Menko Perekonomian Hatta Rajasa berpendapat MRT selayaknya mendapatkan subsidi dari pemerintah. "Tarif di mana-mana di seluruh dunia ada subsidi dari negara untuk kereta api. Karena transportasi massal namanya juga kereta api ini masyarakat ke bawah yang naik jadi menurut saya, MRT tetap harus komponen fiskal yang harus kita gunakan untuk memberikan perlindungan bagi masyarakat," kata Hatta, Jumat (30/11). Negara saat ini mengucurkan subsidi Rp 5.000/liter ke BBM. Sementara jumlah BBM subsidi yang dikucurkan tahun ini dalam APBN-P 2012 mencapai 44 juta kiloliter (KL), bahkan direncanakan bertambah lagi 1,2 juta KL. Orang kaya pun bisa mendapatkan subsidi ini, karena BBM subsidi dijual bebas. Orang kaya bisa mendapatkan subsidi Rp 1 juta-Rp 2 juta/bulan dari pemerintah akibat kebijakan ini.

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Setelah Sidak Camat Setiabudi, Jokowi Beri Penghargaan di Istora

Gubernur DKI Jakarta Jokowi pada Jumat (30/11/2012) lalu sempat melakukan inspeksi mendadak (sidak) ke Kecamatan Setiabudi. Pada pukul 08.30 WIB, Camat Setiabudi Makmur HN, tak ada di kantornya. Namun hari ini, Camat Setiabudi itu diberi penghargaan oleh Jokowi. Lho kok? Pantauan detikcom dalam silaturahmi dengan camat, lurah dan RT-RW se-Jakarta di Istora Senayan, Minggu (2/12/2012) penghargaan itu diberikan kepada camat, lurah, RT, RW, Posyandu dan PKK berkinerja terbaik. Berikut penerima penghargaan itu: Camat Pasar Rebo Premi Lasari, Camat Tambora Hisnawa Adji, Camat Setiabudi Makmur HN, Lurah Lebak Bulus Haris Abidin Muchlis, Lurah Munjul Iin Muthamainnah, Lurah Petojo Utara Andri Ferdian AP. Kemudian untuk RT-RW terbaik: RW 1 Pondok Ranggon Cipayung, RW 06 Sukapura, Cilincing, RW 07 Mampang Prapatan Jaksel. RT 002/RW 03 Duri Kosambi Cengkareng, RT 008/RW 015 Cipinang Muara Jaktim, RT 005/RW 1 Pulau Harapan Kepulauan Seribu. Posyandu Melati 2 Rawa Badak Selatan Koja, Jakut, dan penggerak PKK Jakarta Pusat. Aksi teatrikal pemberian penghargaan ini sempat dilakonkan oleh Nurdin, petugas kebersihan dengan mengenakan seragam dan helm petugas kebersihan. Nurdin naik sepeda di Istora hingga ke depan Jokowi dan menyerahkan map berisi penerima penghargan. Jokowi lantas maju ke depan menyerahkan penghargaan itu. Lantas apa tanggapan Jokowi mengenai Camat Setiabudi? "Bagus dapat penghargaan, kan belum dicek mengapa terlambat," kata Jokowi ketika ditanya wartawan tentang sidaknya hari Jumat. Yang menilai siapa sehingga Camat Setiabudi mendapat penghargaan? "Yang nilai ya tim penilai, ya nggak tahu. Saya kan hanya memberi penghargaan. Jangan tanya rinci ke saya," jawab Jokowi.

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Awas Macet! Rhoma Irama 'Manggung' di Jl Syahdan Kemanggisan Nanti Malam

Tak lama setelah dipinang PKB sebagai capres alternatif, Rhoma Irama akan menghadiri acara di Jl Syahdan, Kemanggisan, Jakarta Barat, nanti malam. Untuk memeriahkan acara itu sudah didirikan panggung di jalan tersebut. Kendaraan yang melintas di kawasan ini akan dialihkan ke jalur alternatif. "Acaranya mau memberikan santunan di sebuah masjid di lokasi itu," kata Kapolsek Palmerah Kompol Eddy Poernomo kepada detikcom, Minggu (2/12/2012). Eddy mengatakan, acara itu rencananya akan berlangsung sehabis Isya, namun pendirian panggung di lokasi itu sudah berlangsung sejak pagi. "Kalau pendirian panggungnya dari pagi dan menggunakan dua ruas jalan itu," katanya. Eddy mengatakan, kepolisian sudah menyiapkan jalur-jalur alternatif agar para pengguna jalan tak terjebak dalam kemacetan. "Kita sudah siapkan jalur alternatifnya," katanya. Acara ini tak terkait dengan pinangan PKB terhadap Rhoma. Akibat pendirian panggung yang makan ruas jalan ini, lalu lintas di kawasan padat itu tersendat sejak pagi. Masyarakat diimbau untuk menghindari kawasan tersebut. Sebelumnya, PKB menyatakan menyatakan ketertarikannya menjadikan Rhoma Irama sebagai calon presiden alteratif pada Pemilu 2014 mendatang. PKB akan mengadakan pembicaraan lanjutan terkait pencapresan sang raja dangdut yang dikenal identik dengan ungkapan "sungguh terlalu" ini. "Saya yakin kandidat dari PKB adalah Bang Haji. Saya sebagai Ketua Umum melirik Bang Haji sebagai sosok alternatif buat pencapresan. Kalau Bang Rhoma sudah positif mau nyalon, kami dari PKB akan membicarakan lebih lanjut untuk pencapresan Rhoma Irama," tutur Muhaimin usai bertemu dengan Rhoma di restoran Timteng Al Jazirah, Jl Raden Saleh, Minggu siang.

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Rhoma Cukup Putar Lagu Lama untuk Kampanye Capres

PKB akan menggelar Konser Kebangkitan Bangsa di beberapa daerah untuk menyambut pencapresan Rhoma Irama. Si Raja Dangdut sendiri mengaku tidak mempersiapkan lagu khusus untuk mendongkrak elektabilitas dirinya. "Saya tidak perlu buat lagu baru," kata Rhoma Irama usai mengadakan pertemuan dengan Ketua Umum PKB Muhaimin Iskandar di restoran Timteng, Al Jazirah, Jl Raden Saleh, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat, Minggu (2/12/2012). "Bang Haji tinggal lagu lamanya diputar aja, haha...," timpal Ketua PKB Helmy Faisal Zaini, sambil tertawa. Rhoma Irama yang bernama asli Raden Oma Irama ini adalah artis dangdut yang terkenal sejak medio 1970-an. Sudah puluhan album dan puluhan film dimainkan oleh pria yang pada 11 Desember nanti berumur 66 tahun ini. Dia menelorkan aliran rock-dangdut. Pedangdut kelahiran Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat ini terkenal lewat lagu-lagu klasiknya semacam 'Begadang', 'Darah Muda', atau 'Judi'. Rhoma juga mendapat julukan 'Satria Bergitar' setelah membintangi film berjudul sama pada tahun 1984. Sepak terjang politiknya meloncat-loncat dari partai satu ke partai lain. Tercatat partai-partai besar seperti PPP dan Golkar pada era Orde Baru pernah disinggahinya. Rhoma Irama juga pernah tampil di panggung kampanye PKS. Awal November 2012, Rhoma menyatakan kesiapannya maju sebagai capres setelah mendapat dukungan ulama dan para habib di Jakarta.

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Wow! Jokowi akan Gelar Pertemuan Akbar dengan Warga DKI di Monas

Gubernur DKI Jakarta Jokowi hari ini menggelar pertemuan dengan jajaran RT, RW, lurah, camat dan PKK se-Jakarta. Pertemuan yang sama sudah direncanakan untuk ribuan warga DKI di Monas. Tertarik ikut? "Nanti ada RT, RW, pertengahan tahun dengan warga, nggak tahu 10 ribu atau 20 ribu di Monas dengan warga. Ada masukan seperti apa ditampung. (Diadakan) Juni-Juli (2013) di tingkat kota dulu, baru provinsi. Jadi komunikasi-komunikasi seperti ini penting, agar apa yang di atas sambung dengan yang di bawah, dan di bawah sambung dengan yang di atas," kata Jokowi. Hal itu disampaikan Jokowi usai menghadiri silaturahmi ketua RT, RW, lurah, camat di Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Minggu (2/12/2012). Dari pertemuan dengan warga hingga pejabat wilayah tingkat RT, RW, kelurahan dan kecamatan, Jokowi menjadi tahu keinginan warga. Arah pembangunan DKI pun bisa ditentukan. "Ya paling tidak kita ini bisa komunikasi langsung dengan seluruh RT RW, LMK (Lembaga Masyarakat Kota), Dewan Kota, menyampaikan persoalan DKI apa, mau dibawa ke mana DKI, paling tidak makro...oo Jakarta mau dibawa ke sana," jelas Jokowi. Hari ini ada sekitar 5 ribu sampai 6 ribu pengurus RT, RW, camat hingga lurah serta ibu-ibu PKK hadir di Istora Senayan. Selain itu Jokowi juga menyerahkan penghargaan pada birokrat wilayah dengan kinerja

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