German experiment will test whether the welfare state can be replaced by a basic guaranteed income

...

If basic income were to be implemented, the government would ultimately abolish the bureaucratic welfare state and would instead divide the money equally across the total population, without basing the payouts on status or qualifications of the applicant.

"A basic income paid out to everyone could unleash enormous amounts of creativity," said Bohmeyer, who left his internet startup business before forming his basic payment experiment, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
...
Every few weeks, Bohmeyer picks more people through drawings to receive the monthly checks. The experiment team picks from a pool of more than 66,000 applicants. Drawings take place whenever enough donations are collected. So far, a total of 31,449 people have made donations.

Germany is not the only country considering implementing universal basic income; several other European countries have floated the idea, too.

Why Living in a Poor Neighborhood Can Make You Fat

The sheer stress of an environment contributes to obesity and diabetes.

Called “Moving to Opportunity,” the study was designed to answer a question that had divided social scientists and policymakers for decades: Did getting people off of welfare and other forms of social assistance depend on changing their social context?

More than a decade later, the researchers found that a lot of things hadn’t changed. Many people offered housing vouchers didn’t move. The people who did move to better neighborhoods didn’t change their diets or daily lifestyles. Their kids showed no improvement in reading or math scores. And moving didn’t make people any more or less economically self-sufficient, the question the study was designed to answer.

But as the experiment went on, researchers began encountering anecdotal evidence that surprised them. The people who moved out of poor neighborhoods were healthier. When they went back and measured the differences between people who got vouchers and people who didn’t, the results were remarkable: The people who got vouchers to move to low-poverty neighborhoods had significantly lower rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

http://nautil.us/issue/31/stress/why-living-in-a-poor-neighborhood-can-make-you-fat

Flooding 'worst in 50 years', as 150,000 flee in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay

Days of heavy rains brought on by the El Nino weather phenomenon have caused three major rivers to swell, and officials report at least six deaths.
A state of emergency is in force in Paraguay, the worst hit nation, where 130,000 people have fled their homes.
In northern Argentina, some 20,000 people have left their homes.
Dry weather is forecast for the Brazil-Uruguay border region in the next few days, but in Paraguay and Argentina water levels are still expected to rise.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35184793

Black Lives Matter Protests Roil Cities Across The US

Demonstrators protesting police shootings of black men confronted last-minute holiday shoppers and travelers in California and the Midwest this week, seeing the crowds as an opportunity to draw attention to their cause.

In Chicago on Thursday, more than 100 demonstrators marched down North Michigan Avenue, the city’s premier shopping corridor, and laid down on the street for a “die-in.” They also blocked access to some stores where Christmas Eve shoppers were hoping to wrap up their tardy gift-buying.

A day earlier, shoppers and travelers also encountered demonstrators in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Minneapolis.

On Wednesday afternoon, activists affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement shut down the southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway in Westchester for about 10 to 15 minutes, writing chalk messages on the pavement. Up to nine demonstrators were arrested.

“On one of the busiest travel days of the year, Black Lives Matter is calling for a halt on Christmas as usual in memorial of all of the loved ones we have lost and continue to lose this year to law enforcement violence without justice or recourse,” a statement from Black Lives Matter organizers said.


https://www.popularresistance.org/black-lives-matter-protests-roil-cities-across-the-us/

Emily Grossman, 36, was kept from getting an iPhone at the Apple Store. “I hate to put myself first, but this is BS,” she said.
Yeah, a-hole, yr i-phone is definitely more important than Black lives.

Argentine “stolen baby” reunited with grandmother after 39 years

Source: Euronews

After a search that’s taken almost 40 years, Chicha Mariani has at last been reunited with her granddaughter, Clara. Clara was one of Argentina’s “Stolen babies” – children snatched by the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983.

Chicha founded the Grandmothers of May Square in 1977 to held find those missing children. She also kept attention on Clara’s case through a series of open letters. “They tried to convince me that you were killed along with your mother, but I knew you were alive,” she wrote in one letter last March.

Babies born in captivity to political prisoners or, like Clara, orphaned by assassinations were given to families sympathetic to the regime.

Clara is the 120th child to be identified. An estimated 400 other children are still missing. And their grandmothers – many now in their 80s and 90s – are still searching.



Read more: http://www.euronews.com/2015/12/25/argentine-stolen-baby-reunited-with-grandmother-after-39-years/

Hackers step up cyberattacks in Turkey, hit banks

Source: Reuters via Al Arabiya

Turkish banks reported sporadic disruption to credit card transactions on Friday as hackers stepped up a two-week barrage of cyberattacks, believed to be the worst the country has seen.

Local media have suggested that the bombardment of public and financial websites could be coming from Russia, after a sharp worsening of tensions between Moscow and Ankara, or staged by hacking group Anonymous. But no clear evidence has emerged, and authorities have avoided pointing the finger.

Officials at several Turkish banks including Isbank, Garanti and state lender Ziraat Bank confirmed the attacks, saying they had caused intermittent disruption. Bank shares were unmoved by the news.

“The attacks are serious,” said Onur Oz, a spokesman for Internet provider Turk Telekom. “But the target is not Turk Telekom. Instead, banks and public institutions are under heavy attack,” he said.

Read more: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2015/12/25/Hackers-step-up-cyberattacks-in-Turkey-hit-banks-.html

Advice needed re buying a BASIC phone

I want a phone that allows me to call people that live too far away to visit.
I don't need a phone that makes coffee.
ie, I don't need any bells and whistles.
I wanted a corded phone, bec. they are less harmful to the brain than cordless.
(landline)

Last time I needed a phone it took a long time but I found an ATT model which suited me.
ok, it was cheap - I think $25.oo,
but the danged thing just gave out, I had it a little over a year.

so no more AT&T.
(The previous AT&T phone I had had lasted 20 years, but it was made in the era when things actually lasted).

I always check consumer reports for products, I will do that.
I wonder if they even rate the kind of phone I want, since no one much uses them any more.

any ideas much appreciated what brand, where to look ---

{I know I am a dinosaur, so pls don't tell me to get with it. I know what I want. }

thanks.

ellen

I want to buy a BASIC phone

if any such exist any more.
(I've been told ok to ask here).

I want a phone that allows me to call people that live too far away to visit.
I don't need a phone that makes coffee.
ie, I don't need any bells and whistles.
I wanted a corded phone, bec. they are less harmful to the brain than cordless.

Last time I needed a phone it took a long time but I found an ATT model which suited me.
ok, it was cheap - I think $25.oo,
but the danged thing just gave out, I had it a little over a year.

so no more AT&T.
(The previous AT&T phone I had had lasted 20 years, but it was made in the era when things actually lasted).

I always check consumer reports for products, I will do that.
I wonder if they even rate the kind of phone I want, since no one much uses them any more.

any ideas much appreciated.- what brand to look for, where to look--

{I know I am a dinosaur, so pls don't tell me to get with it. I know what I want. }

thanks.

ellen

any ideas re a basic phone?

I just asked a question on GD re if there is a forum on buying stuff like this to ask for advice.
Maybe other seniors also prefer the basics--

I want a phone that allows me to call people that live too far away to visit.
I don't need a phone that makes coffee.
ie, I don't need any bells and whistles.
I wanted a corded phone, bec. they are less harmful to the brain than cordless.

Last time I needed a phone it took a long time but I found an ATT model which suited me.
ok, it was cheap - I think $25.oo,
but the danged thing just gave out, I had it a little over a year.

so no more AT&T.
(The previous AT&T phone I had had lasted 20 years, but it was made in the era when things actually lasted).

I always check consumer reports for products, I will do that.
I wonder if they even rate the kind of phone I want, since no one much uses them any more.

any ideas much appreciated.

{I know I am a dinosaur, so pls don't tell me to get with it. I know what I want. }

thanks.

ellen

is there a forum/group to ask a phone question? the closest I see is "computer Help" TIA.