Posted by Naomi Firestone

Oh goody–JPS is at it again! This time, they’ve widgetized their audio bible. Check it out here.

Pemulihan ekonomi pascakrisis keuangan global akhir tahun 2008 masih sebatas pada pemulihan kepercayaan pelaku pasar modal internasional, tetapi belum menyentuh pemulihan pada neraca keuangan institusi bisnis dunia yang bisa menekan tingkat pengangguran.

Pemulihan pada neraca perusahaan multinasional masih membutuhkan dukungan maksimal dari pemerintah di seluruh dunia melalui restrukturisasi ekonomi.

“Atas dasar itu, masih akan terjadi kejutan-kejutan pada neraca perusahaan lintas batas negara seperti yang terjadi pada Dubai World. Jadi, pemulihan neraca perusahaan masih jauh dari stabil. Akibatnya, aktivitas perusahaan untuk mendorong pertumbuhan ekonomi belum bisa diandalkan,” ujar Menteri Keuangan Sri Mulyani Indrawati di Jakarta, Selasa (1/12).

Menurut Sri Mulyani, pihaknya tengah mengamati langkah-langkah pemulihan ekonomi yang dilakukan Amerika Serikat, salah satu negara tujuan ekspor utama Indonesia.

AS dipastikan akan lebih fokus pada pemulihan ekonomi domestiknya, antara lain meningkatkan anggaran jaring pengaman sosial (JPS).

Langkah itu menyebabkan daya beli masyarakat AS masih akan sangat lemah sehingga tidak bisa dijadikan sebagai tujuan utama ekspor negara-negara Asia, termasuk Indonesia. Kondisi ini diperkirakan akan berlanjut pada tahun 2010 dan 2011.

“Neraca pembayaran di negara-negara Asia dianggap terus meninggi ditandai dengan meningkatnya cadangan devisa. Itu terjadi karena Asia dianggap sebagai kawasan yang memiliki tingkat tabungan paling tinggi di dunia,” ujar Sri Mulyani.

Waspadai AS

Untuk Indonesia, pemerintah sudah melakukan berbagai kebijakan yang mendorong konsumsi masyarakat, antara lain dengan kenaikan anggaran gaji pegawai negeri sipil, penyaluran Bantuan Langsung Tunai, hingga pemangkasan pajak penghasilan.

“Yang jelas, Indonesia perlu menyadari kemungkinan Amerika yang fokus ke domestiknya, bahkan mungkin melakukan proteksionisme,” ujarnya

Kepala Ekonom BNI Tony Prasetiantono mengatakan, Indonesia memiliki dua modal besar dalam menghadapi perekonomian pada tahun 2010. Pertama, stabilitas politik yang baik. Kedua, pertumbuhan ekonomi yang positif yang diprediksi 5,2 persen – 5,3 persen.

“Dalam kondisi normal, pertumbuhan ekonomi 6 persen. Jika bagus mencapai 7 persen, tetapi dalam kondisi saat ini, tumbuh 5,3 persen masih lebih baik,” kata Tony.

Setiap persen pertumbuhan ekonomi sangat penting artinya pada tingkat pengangguran. Setiap 1 persen pertumbuhan ekonomi bisa menciptakan 350.000 lapangan kerja baru.

Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Hatta Rajasa mengatakan, untuk mengantisipasi pemburukan ekonomi tahun 2010, pihaknya mempercepat proses penyelesaian 19 target kebijakan yang termasuk dalam Program 100 Hari. Hingga saat ini, 60 persen dari target penyelesaian itu sudah dituntaskan. “Misalkan untuk Bayam, kami segera meluncurkan area perdagangan bebas yang selama ini terkendala. Itu harus dihilangkan, antara lain menghilangkan daftar induk larangan agar Batam menjadi kompetitif,” ungkapnya.

Sumber  :

Pemulihan Kepercayaan | Kompas, 02.12.2009

La pubblicità realizzata dalle Grandi Case (Major) di Fashion, Moda, Lingerie e Profumi, diventa sempre più erotica e sensuale. Il prodotto viene così supportato da una serie di immagini, per la maggiore di corpi femminili, per lo più nudi e in posizioni provocanti, con audaci modelle in sorrisi languidi, seducenti e sguardi profondi e pentranti.

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Leggi tutto l’articolo, guarda e fai il download delle immagini di Sexy Advertising.

Buses in Israel have the following written over the priority seating reserved for the elderly: mipnei seivah takum. Though the first two words sound esoteric to adult Israeli speakers and are often incomprehensible to children, the line is, in my opinion, a beautiful nod to the holiness code of Leviticus: “Stand before the elderly.”

Unfortunately, even if we wanted to (and even if it were legal), we couldn’t do the same thing in the U.S., because everyone has a different (often bad) translation. The KJV “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head,” would prompt more than a few laughs but it wouldn’t do the job. The ESV, “you shall stand up before the gray head” is only a little better. (Why aren’t these heads attached to bodies?) The NAB “stand up in the presence of the aged” is much better, but those who grew up with the KJV might not even recognize it as Leviticus.

Relatedly, I was recently at a Jewish funeral. Some 1,000 people came to mourn, and there were no prayer books, bibles, or printed guides of any sort available. “Please join me in reciting Psalm 23,” the rabbi nonetheless instructed. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures…” the whole group responded, basically quoting the NKJV. This even though most people in the room had been studying from a different translation (the 1984 NJPS) for over 20 years. That translation renders the Psalm “…I lack nothing.”

I understand that proponents of the ESV try to keep “the Bible” from changing precisely because of issues like these, but it’s worth keeping in mind that neither the (N)KJV nor the ESV would help with the buses.

It seems as though, in many cases, we have to choose accuracy or standardization; we can’t have both, even though they both have merit.

And unfortunately, beyond lamenting the situation (or foolishly suggesting that everyone should learn Hebrew and Greek), I can’t think of a solution.

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Naomi from the JPS Blog muses on the greatest Jewish books never written:

“Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war!” -Scarlett O’Hara, Gone With the Wind

I’ve always been interested in war. Not in battles, bloodshed, or that famous opening scene from Saving Private Ryan – rather, I’ve had a growing fascination over the years in the causes and consequences of war. Some would call those the peripherals; I would call them the essentials. In college, I always found myself gravitating towards paper topics related to war (the underground newspapers of the Vietnam War, the political causes of armed insurrections in Africa, etc etc). Read On

I was at work the other day when a women came in and asked for “some GPS”.  I didn’t know what she was talking about since where I work doesn’t carry Global Positioning Satellite devices.  When I asked for some clarification, she said, “You know, GPS cigarettes.”  I finally clicked in that she was asked for John Players Specials cigarettes.

When I said, “Do you mean JPS?” She replied in a demeaning tone, “There is no J in John Player Specials cigarettes.”

No, of course not, the customer is always right and SIAST needs to re-evaluate their entrance criteria.

(Gotta count that dough...courtesy of http://www.freefoto.com/preview/04-28-47?ffid=04-28-47&k=US+Dollar+Bills)

When I set up the Donations section on the Meager Med Student blog, I promised to give you weekly reports about what I spent money on. Sort of a way of to be transparent with you all so you could see I’m not blowing money. Usually these reports will be posted every Monday. Because of getting acclimated to the rush of med school, however, I didn’t get around to posting one last week.

So here is an expense report for the last two weeks.

Expense Report:

• $200: Two weeks of my rent, which covers rent, utilities, food, laundry, internet and parking
• $5.25: Switchback Beer at JP’s (see Orientation Day 5. Includes $1 tip.)
• $9.63: Two sticks of deodorant from Rite Aid

Until next week!

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Matthue Roth of MyJewishLearning interviews David Berman (former lead singer of the Silver Jews), poet and author of The Portable February: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/culture/david-bermans-the-portable-february/

Josh Lambert (American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide) recommends “Ten Lost Treasures of American Jewish Fiction” on the JPS Blog: http://jpsblog.org/2009/07/josh-lambert-recommends-ten-lost-treasures-of-american-jewish-fiction/

COMMENTS | JPS
Exactly 10 years ago, on 22 July 1999, I defended my graduation thesis at FAUP ( School of Architecture, University of Porto) achieving my official graduation as an Architect. The research work I presented to the  Jury was called “The Architecture on Screen” and was dedicated to study and classify the nature of digital representations used by architects at that time. Developed over a 6 month period, this written work ended up to mean something more than simply a required path towards a graduation.On the one hand, I was fortunate enough to develop it under the guidance of Prof. Fernando Lisboa, who was one of the greatest persons, teachers and scholars I have ever met, and continues to be an ever-present inspiration for me today, despite his disappearance. On the other hand, with his help, a personal interest in the technological and cultural aspects of the digital realm was consolidated, driving my trajectory since then. Now, after 10 years full of intensive and non-linear experiences, and enriched by several personal influences and contributions, I’ve decided to create this website as a dynamic repository where past, present and future stuff can converge.

_

Watch some of these videos made by Malaysians for this 1Malaysia Dream…As Ramli thinks..We Need Revolusi Aksi among all Malaysians to make this 1Malaysia Dream a Reality in this New Future…No Action No Results…
BUT first all Malaysians must believe in this 1 Malaysia Dream..then Doa…then Do IT…..

Siapa yang akan menyelamatkan ekonomi dunia tahun ini ?  Lewat tulisannya pada Kompas (3/7) Orin Basuki memaparkan bahwa negara-negara maju menganggap Asia telah banyak menyimpan uang dan kini saat yang tepat untuk membelanjakan dana itu. Cina, India, dan Indonesia diharapkan menjadi sang dewa penolong. Oleh sebab besarnya konsumsi rumah tangga pada ketiga negara ini yang dapat memicu pemulihan perekonomian kawasan dan akhirnya secara global.

Lantas apa manfaat dari tudingan itu bagi perekonomian kita ? Setidaknya, jika tingkat konsumsi rumah tangga di Cina serta India semakin menguat, Indonesia bisa berharap akan mendulang manfaat dari kenaikan ekspor pada Semester II – 2009. Atas dasar inilah pemerintah optimistis, pelambatan ekspor pada paruh kedua tahun 2009 tidak akan separah paruh pertama tahun 2009. Pada Semester II – 2009 ini ekspor diharapkan terkontraksi (tetap bergerak meskipun tidak tumbuh melampaui Semester I – 2009) pada minus 9,7 persen. Itu artinya membaik dibandingkan konstraksi ekspor Semester I -2009 yang minus 16,7 persen.

Pulihnya Cina dan India diharapkan akan menular ke negara-negara di kawasan dalam bentuk penanaman modal. Pemerintah kita berharap pertumbuhan investasi Semester II – 2009 akan mencapa 9,2 persen. Lebih tinggi dari Semester I – 2009, takni 5,6 persen. Pada Semester I – 2009 tercatat nilai investasi berbentuk portofolio di pasar modal yang keluar sebesar 1,178 milliar dollar AS, pada Semester II – 2009 diharapkan ada aliran modal masuk sekitar 420 juta dollar AS. Begitu pun dengan investasi asing dalam aliran modal langsung ke sektor riil diharapkan masih akan ada yang masuk sebesar 1,7 milliar dollar AS pada Semester II – 2009 ini.

Ekspor dan investasi harus tumbuh sebagai pengganti sektor konsumsi rumah tangga yang diperkirakan akan menurun dibanding Semester I – 2009. Tapi Indonesia tidak bisa berharap banyak pada konsumsi rumah tangga pada semester II – 2009 karena sektor ini akan didera tekanan inflasi yang lebih tinggi, juga empat hal lain yaitu : (1) Musim masuk sekolah, (2) Dua kali hari raya keagamaan yaitu Idul Fitri dan Natal, (3) Bulan Ramadhan dan (4) Perayaan Tahun Baru 2010. Empat hal ini akan mengerek harga-harga naik. Atas dasar itu diperkirakan laju inflasi Semester II – 2009 mencapai 5 persen, lebih tinggi daripadaSemester I – 2009 yaitu 4,2 persen.

Indonesia patut memperhitungkan pertumbuhan konsumsi rumah tangga karena seperti juga pada umumnya negara-negara di Asia, konsumsi rumah tangga memberikan kontribusi 70 persen terhadap PDB (Produk Domestik Bruto). Atas dasar ini, mempertahankan daya beli masyarakat dan menahan harga barang serta jasa merupakan langkah mutlak yang harus dilakukan demi menjaga permintaan domsetik tetap kuat dan terjaga.

Berikut di bawah ini, kita akan mempelajari bagaimana Cina menyiasati menjaga pertumbuhan pasar domestiknya, seperti yang tercantum pada The Economist edisi 27/6 – 3/7 dalam artikelnya yang berjudul Consumer Spending in Asia : Shopaholics Wanted ; Cina sungguh tidak tanggung-tanggung memberikan subsidi kepada penduduk pedesaan yang membeli barang-barang elektronik dan kendaraan. Cina juga memangkas tarif pajak bagi kendaraan rendah emisi serta memberikan subsidi penduduk di perkotaan yang menukarkan produk elektronik lama dengan produk baru.

Juga pemerintah Cina memerintahkan semua BUMN-nya yang sudah masuk pasar modal sejak tahun 2005 agar mentransfer 10 persen dari saham mereka pada Dana Jaring Pengaman Sosial (JPS) Nasional Cina supaya perusahaan pengelola JPS ini kian kuat struktur permodalannya. Alasannya sederhana, jika penduduk Cina dapat menjadi yakin dengan kondisi keuangannya pada saat pensiun nanti atau pada saat kondisi ekonomi memburuk ; tentu mereka tidak keberatan membelanjakan uangnya saat ini. Cara lain adalah mendorong konsumsi dalam negeri dengan mempermudah prosedur pinjaman bank, alasannya lagi-lagi sederhana bahwa konsumsi yang tinggi akan mendorong perekonomian.

Sumber  :  Kompas, 03.07.2009

The never released Uninc the muvie teaser

Check more from Rdm,Jps,Dcp, Gigi & Jmz here

Posted by Naomi Firestone

Josh Lambert (American Jewish Fiction: JPS Guide) writes on “Judging a Book by More than Its Cover: Charting the Landscape of American Jewish Literature–125 books at a time” for MyJewishLearning.com (we love the new site design!): http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture/2/Literature/Jewish_American_Literature/125books.shtml

And Lambert is is building a comprehensive bibliography of American Jewish fiction on the web…check it out here: www.AmericanJewishFiction.com

Stayed tuned for an article by Lambert in the Summer issue of Jewish Book World

Dem out ah dem raas mind!

Why the hell in these hard economic times you want to rape the people of this country with a 25% increase on their light bills?

What the hell wrong wid unnoo?!

No one is getting a pay increase to deal with the massive rise in the cost of living, but we must take another one up the ass to have any sense of comfort in our homes, which, when you look at it, is no comfort at all.

Mullings in his pronouncements on the matter is only covering his ass for when the OUR approves the rate hike. Trying to seem sympathetic to the plight of the people, forgetting that we don’t all earn the millions guvament Ministers make a year.

Hell, the travelling allowance they make a year is a whole lot more than what many, many people earn. Add their various other business from which they make money, and you see where they will barely be affected by the high costs.

And you know they will soon give themselves another salary increase.

Just wait little it soon come out.

If the guvament had any concern for the people of this country they would see to it that the JPS doesn’t extract another pound of flesh from the already suffering people of this country.

Why should the people not in seats of power be required to tighten their belts but the powerful and the corporations can still gorge themselves like pigs?!?

…

The guvament has a 20% stake in the JPS, one, namely me, wonders how much, if any, of this increase would go to them as shareholders?

…

We suffer and guvament ministers are still running up the bills.

Any attempts through the Access To Information Act to get information related to this waste of money will be met with roadblocks, to keep their living high on our backs from getting out.

So tough luck!

…

sigh…