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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.
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from DAILY SABAH
Media/News Company · Newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey
Mexico's growing Native American Muslim community finds relief against poverty with support from the Turkish development aid agency, TİKA. The agency supplies livestock and sewing machines to the small community, which survives on livestock breeding and selling clothes they sew.
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from Direkt36
Nonprofit Organization in Budapest, Hungary
While Viktor Orbán’s government has closed down borders for refugees and migrants, the country’s controversial residency bond program offered a backdoor for wealthy investors to Hungary and the EU. The government refused to disclose the names of these investors but a joint investigation by Direkt36, 444 and Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has revealed that a number of influential Russian individuals, including politicians and executives of state companies, received Hungarian residence permits. In several cases, we could confirm that they did it through investment in Hungary’s bond program. The family members of the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) and a Russian businessman reported to be connected to an organised crime group were also clients of the Hungarian Immigration Office, though the Office declined to share more details about their exact involvement.
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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
Value-Added Taxes Make It Easier to Raise Taxes—That's Why Governments Love Them
The value-added tax was first imposed in Europe starting about 50 years ago. Politicians in nations like France approve of this tax because it is generally hidden, so it is relatively easy to periodically raise the rate. And that’s the reason I am vociferously opposed to the VAT. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the burden of government spending dramatically increased in Europe once politicians got their hands on a new source of revenue.
Can We Make Society Civil Again?
Respect and civility ultimately reflect our social competency. Their decline can be attributed to a number of factors in our modern world: Abrupt encounters between different beliefs (e.g., through immigration and refugee “crises”), the disbelief and denial that social inequalities still persist, social media algorithms that only expose us to beliefs that are similar to our own and the rise of both real and artificial online trolls.
Student Loan Forgiveness Is an Even Worse Use of Taxpayer Money Than You Thought
Politicians have a taste for promising student loan forgiveness. The Obama administration made federal student loan borrowers in certain repayment plans eligible for forgiveness five years earlier, while the Trump administration has proposed moving the forgiveness date up yet another five years for undergraduate borrowers. At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, a loan forgiveness program for public-sector workers has received bipartisan support in Congress, and some members have even proposed expanding it to farmers. But a new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper suggests that loan forgiveness isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The paper analyzes a mortgage-modification program created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, which offered partial loan forgiveness to certain underwater homeowners. The authors find no evidence that forgiveness had any effect on subsequent mortgage default rates. To be sure, the NBER paper dealt with home mortgage debt, so its findings are not directly applicable to student loans. But it does present a warning to those who look to loan forgiveness as a way to relieve struggling student borrowers.
This Presbyterian Night Shelter Is Waging a War on Poverty that Is Actually Working
Clean Slate is an initiative of the Fort Worth, Texas-based Presbyterian Night Shelter. While marketed as picking up trash for the city, the program goes well beyond public works. Clean Slate is a business, not a handout program. It is fully revenue-based, and operates as a contractor with businesses and entities in the area. Rather than the homeless getting cash for trash, Clean Slate actually seeks contracts with those in need of services and provides employees to meet those needs. The city of Fort Worth is merely one customer, with a $48,000 annual contract for trash pick up. Through litter services, the program cleaned 3,856 tons of waste off the streets in 2017 alone. The program is far more sustainable than war-on-poverty style government projects. It meets real demand, provides real opportunity, and has real results. Private actors can accomplish far more–and do so more efficiently–than government, and this is no exception. In the fight against homelessness, creative opportunities and honest hard work provide the most effective remedy.
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from Hoover Institution
Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California
Will China One Day Dominate the Seas? History Provides Some Clues
The United States has grown used to its superiority on the high seas and domination over the global commons, but this superiority is not a divine right. China’s growing economic capacity suggests that its military capabilities will soon enable the Middle Kingdom to contend for control over global sea lanes. If one peers far enough into the past, the vision of potential Chinese naval superiority comes into focus. In the 15th century China possessed the largest seafaring fleet in the world, with upwards of 3,500 ships plying the high seas. Chinese maritime technology was at least as advanced as the contemporary ships of Western Europe. Some Chinese vessels measured 120 meters in length; by comparison, Christopher Columbus’ flagship, the Santa Maria, was only 19 meters long. Chinese fleets numbered in excess of 300 vessels.
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Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California
Will China One Day Dominate the Seas? History Provides Some Clues
The United States has grown used to its superiority on the high seas and domination over the global commons, but this superiority is not a divine right. China’s growing economic capacity suggests that its military capabilities will soon enable the Middle Kingdom to contend for control over global sea lanes. If one peers far enough into the past, the vision of potential Chinese naval superiority comes into focus. In the 15th century China possessed the largest seafaring fleet in the world, with upwards of 3,500 ships plying the high seas. Chinese maritime technology was at least as advanced as the contemporary ships of Western Europe. Some Chinese vessels measured 120 meters in length; by comparison, Christopher Columbus’ flagship, the Santa Maria, was only 19 meters long. Chinese fleets numbered in excess of 300 vessels.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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