More Than Meets The Eye Pre Budget Analysis 2005 06

Given the importance of this adjustment Indeed, both the current-year estimates of for the government's ability to show a reduc- revenue and expenditure and the medium- tion in the deficit in its first year in office, term fiscal outlook are designed more to one would have expected the Minister of Fi- manage expectations and maximize the gov- nance to be concerned when the Provincial ernment's fle [...] Forecast revenue evi- meet three overriding political constraints: dently includes a substantial cushion against the need to balance the budget by the end of the possibility that growth forecasts from No- the government's first term in office; the need vember may be revised downwards. [...] How- jected deficits as well as cash costs that are ever, a detailed review of the terms of the not included in budgetary deficit calculations securities up for refinancing shows that a will increase the government's total borrow- substantial proportion of the debt which is ing by approximately 4% in 2004-5, 3% in subject to refinancing in the years 2005-6 to each of 2005-6 and 2006-7 and 2% in 20 [...] All of these exemptions un- that negative impact amounts to a retrospec- dermine the fairness of the system; all of these tive endorsement of the policies that created exemptions cost the people of this province it, and a fiscal plan designed to accommo- a substantial amount in lost revenue; and date Ontario's public services to that reduced none of these exemptions meets the test of capacity amou [...] While the Government's mishandling of More important, exemptions from the the tax issue during and after the election Employer Health Tax are inconsistent with has limited its political options, there are ar- the history behind its creation and the role 10.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

The Committee reports on the progress made by the Treasury in placing environmental objectives at the heart of its fiscal policies. This year's pre-Budget report (Cm. 6701, December 2005, ISBN 0101670125) is found to be inadequate, especially in the context of UK CO2 emissions actually increasing once more. No significant new measures were announced, and the Committee sees a continued slowing down of the Treasury's momentum in turning rhetoric into action. It believes the Treasury should redefine Air Passenger Duty (APD) as an environmental tax and that APD rates should more accurately reflect the carbon emissions of the flights to which they apply. Charging APD on flights rather than passengers could also act as an incentive to more efficient use of aviation fuel. The Committee also recommends action on aviation fuel duty, biofuels, car energy efficiency, steps to wean the economy off over-reliance on oil, stamp duty and council tax reductions for homes built or refurbished to high environmental standards. Each pre-Budget report should include figures on total revenue from the climate change levy, aggregates levy, and landfill tax. Although the Treasury accepts the principle of increasing taxes on "bads" rather than "goods" its reluctance for bold reform of the tax system mystifies the Committee. A Green tax Commission should be reconsidered, to develop a proper communications strategy to sell the environmental programme to the public. The Committee exhorts the Government to make moves on the climate change problem, as waiting for universal agreement is a recipe for stasis. Finally, the Committee regrets the Treasury's decision to abolish the Operating and Financial Review required from large companies, in that it appears to view sustainable reporting as an optional extra. It hopes that the proposed new business reviews will continue to require some form of social and environmental disclosure from companies.

The study edition of book the Los Angeles Times called, "The most extensive review of U.S. intelligence-gathering tactics in generations." This is the complete Executive Summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into the CIA's interrogation and detention programs -- a.k.a., The Torture Report. Based on over six million pages of secret CIA documents, the report details a covert program of secret prisons, prisoner deaths, interrogation practices, and cooperation with other foreign and domestic agencies, as well as the CIA's efforts to hide the details of the program from the White House, the Department of Justice, the Congress, and the American people. Over five years in the making, it is presented here exactly as redacted and released by the United States government on December 9, 2014, with an introduction by Daniel J. Jones, who led the Senate investigation. This special edition includes: • Large, easy-to-read format. • Almost 3,000 notes formatted as footnotes, exactly as they appeared in the original report. This allows readers to see obscured or clarifying details as they read the main text. • An introduction by Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones who led the investigation and wrote the report for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a forward by the head of that committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Recent crime and criminal justice system trends in the countries of Europe and North America are reported, based on data in the sixth through the ninth United Nations Surveys on Crime Trends and the Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (CTS). The CTS is the main source of worldwide data on national recorded crime rates and criminal justice system operations. Data for the years 1995-2004 were obtained from official agencies in Canada, the U.S. and more than 30 countries in Europe, and were analyzed by a working group of international experts. The biggest strength of this dataset is that it allows the study of crime and criminal justice systems over a full ten-year period. Two of the major trends across Europe and North America in this period were: (1) On average, the number of criminal justice personnel and the resources of the national criminal justice systems remained stable. (2) The numbers of recorded assaults, robberies, drug-related offenses and frauds increased, while the numbers of thefts, auto thefts and burglary suspects decreased. The following 11 chapters provide extensive analyses of and statistical data on multinational trends: Introduction by Kauko Aromaa; Trends in Criminal Justice System Resources 1995-2004 by Beata Gruszczynska and Ineke Haen Marshall; Trends of Recorded Crime by Kauko Aromaa and Markku Heiskanen; Persons Brought into Initial Contact with the Police by Markku Heiskanen; Prosecution and Courts by Paul Smit; Juvenile Justice and the United Nations Survey on Crime Trends and Criminal Justice Systems by Steven Malby; Trends in Prison Population 1995-2004 by Roy Walmsley; An Empirical Approach to Country Clustering by Paul Smit, Ineke Haen Marshall andMirjam van Gammeren; Measu

Does a longer life mean a healthier life? The number of adults over 65 in the United States is growing, but many may not be aware that they are at greater risk from foodborne diseases and their nutritional needs change as they age. The IOM's Food Forum held a workshop October 29-30, 2009, to discuss food safety and nutrition concerns for older adults.