Twenty years ago, in 1992, the so-called leaders of the world met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss climate change. At that conference, actual meaningful measures to combat the issue were discussed, and legally-binding agreements were signed.
Today, 20 years later, in a follow-up conference, the story is very different. Rio+20 is little more than a corporate-sponsored sham.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)
This, dear reader, is not an abstract problem. This is an issue which threatens the very survival of our species on this planet, (not to mention the survival of literally thousands of other species). Yet the "leaders" of the world's major nations seem blithely unconcerned. Are they blind? Are they stupid? Are they simply incapable of opposing the will of the big multi-national corporations? The first two seem unlikely, and the third possibility still doesn't explain the utter lack of apparent long-term concern.
We've all read science-fiction novels in which the Earth has become either partially or completely uninhabitable. In 1943, Henry Kuttner published, (under the nom de plume of Lawrence O'Donnell), a story entitled Clash By Night, which took place on Venus, where the remnants of humanity struggled to survive after Earth had been consumed by runaway nuclear power plant accidents. This was very prophetic stuff for the year 1943, and shows that there was considerable publicly-available information on "Atomic" energy several years prior to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Laugh at Science Fiction if you will, it has proven again and again to be the best venue for imagining future events. And if we cannot imagine the future, how then shall we prepare ourselves for it?
And what, you may ask, does this have to do with Rio+20? Or is your favorite beady-eyed marsupial varmint simply maundering pointlessly about days gone by, and days to come? The answer is simply this - the future will come, whether we will or no. The future will happen to us, prepared or unprepared. If we do not take action now, to shape that future for our own benefit, (indeed our own survival, if the ugly truth be spoken aloud), if we do not act now, then that future will be a nightmare shaped only by chaos and the ruthlessly inhumane greed of the rich elites and the corporations which they control.
What are we going to do about it?
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Kiribati is drowning
There is an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald about the fate of a Pacific island nation called Kiribati.
It's going under the waves.
You see, Kiribati consisted of 32 coral atolls, totaling about 800 square kilometers. The average height above sea level was less than 2 meters. The only part of Kiribati you're likely to ever have heard of is Tarawa, and then only if you've read about WWII in the Pacific. Yes, it's that Tarawa, of bloody memory.
And now, rising sea levels, (global warming is a myth; The Koch brothers have paid good money to get "scientists" to say so!), are gobbling up the coral atolls at an accelerating rate.
But don't worry, the same "scientists" who have assured us that global warming is a myth, (just ignore the melting glaciers and Arctic ice cap), now assure us that the sea level isn't really rising. Kiribati's problem is just coastline erosion.
It's going under the waves.
You see, Kiribati consisted of 32 coral atolls, totaling about 800 square kilometers. The average height above sea level was less than 2 meters. The only part of Kiribati you're likely to ever have heard of is Tarawa, and then only if you've read about WWII in the Pacific. Yes, it's that Tarawa, of bloody memory.
And now, rising sea levels, (global warming is a myth; The Koch brothers have paid good money to get "scientists" to say so!), are gobbling up the coral atolls at an accelerating rate.
But don't worry, the same "scientists" who have assured us that global warming is a myth, (just ignore the melting glaciers and Arctic ice cap), now assure us that the sea level isn't really rising. Kiribati's problem is just coastline erosion.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sad Times In Africa
In addition to the hideous situation in Somalia, which is spilling over into northern Kenya, (and which has made the news cycle), there is more grim news out of Africa.
South Africa is preparing a mass expulsion of between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabwean refugees. Now, to refresh your memory, those Zimbabweans fled across the border to South Africa because their nation has been reduced to a basket case by 30 years of dictatorship under a man named Mugabe. More specifically, they fled a cholera epidemic, government violence against political opponents, and an inflation rate that ran into five digits. Yes, I'm serious.
Zimbabwe, where to begin. Zimbabwe is one of the most promising nations in sub-Saharan Africa, and all of that promise has been squandered, murdered, bastardized, prostituted, and sold down the river. Zimbabwe was once a major exporter of food to its neighbours. Today, Zimbabwe is a major importer of food. Zimbabwe once had the best educational system on the African continent. Even today, after thirty years of neglect, 90% of all Zimbabweans over age fifteen are literate in English. Yes, the official language of Zimbabwe is English.
It's enough to make you scream for the sheer criminal waste of human potential.
And further north in Kenya, the government has just carved a big chunk off the Selous Game Reserve, a World Heritage site, in order to make room for a uranium mining project.
Now, let's think about this. A game preserve, a place where a small fragment of East Africa's rapidly vanishing wildlife is given a home relatively safe from poachers and bulldozers. And they're going to carve a chunk off of that for a massively polluting, incredibly toxic uranium mining complex.
Granted, there are other problems closer to home. Granted, as a 99er, I have umpteen bazillion things to worry about, and which have more to do with how well I eat next month, and whether I can keep lights, water, and internet turned on for another 30 days. But in the end, I am only one person. If I fall over dead five minutes from now, the planet will keep spinning and life will go on and the species will survive. But if we irretrievably fuXX0r our planet, the species Homo sapiens will not survive.
South Africa is preparing a mass expulsion of between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabwean refugees. Now, to refresh your memory, those Zimbabweans fled across the border to South Africa because their nation has been reduced to a basket case by 30 years of dictatorship under a man named Mugabe. More specifically, they fled a cholera epidemic, government violence against political opponents, and an inflation rate that ran into five digits. Yes, I'm serious.
Zimbabwe, where to begin. Zimbabwe is one of the most promising nations in sub-Saharan Africa, and all of that promise has been squandered, murdered, bastardized, prostituted, and sold down the river. Zimbabwe was once a major exporter of food to its neighbours. Today, Zimbabwe is a major importer of food. Zimbabwe once had the best educational system on the African continent. Even today, after thirty years of neglect, 90% of all Zimbabweans over age fifteen are literate in English. Yes, the official language of Zimbabwe is English.
It's enough to make you scream for the sheer criminal waste of human potential.
And further north in Kenya, the government has just carved a big chunk off the Selous Game Reserve, a World Heritage site, in order to make room for a uranium mining project.
Now, let's think about this. A game preserve, a place where a small fragment of East Africa's rapidly vanishing wildlife is given a home relatively safe from poachers and bulldozers. And they're going to carve a chunk off of that for a massively polluting, incredibly toxic uranium mining complex.
Granted, there are other problems closer to home. Granted, as a 99er, I have umpteen bazillion things to worry about, and which have more to do with how well I eat next month, and whether I can keep lights, water, and internet turned on for another 30 days. But in the end, I am only one person. If I fall over dead five minutes from now, the planet will keep spinning and life will go on and the species will survive. But if we irretrievably fuXX0r our planet, the species Homo sapiens will not survive.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
BP Anniversary
April 20th marks the 1-year anniversary of what is shaping up to be the greatest environmental disaster in the history of mankind. Although, to be fair, we still haven't seen the worst of the Fukushima meltdown disaster. But, back to BP.
One year ago on the 20th, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, beginning an oil spill that would eventually dump at least 5 million barrels of oil into the ocean. A barrel, by the way, is 42 US gallons, (or 34 Imperial gallons, or 160 liters). If we do the math, that is 210 million gallons of oil. Minimum. It could have been two or three times that much, we just don't know.
In the "clean-up", which was more like a cover-up, BP sprayed roughly 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants, which are so toxic that they are banned in 19 countries, including the United Kingdom.
In August of last year, a study by the University of Georgia suggested that 70% or more of the oil which was spilled, "has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem".
Rather than quoting extensively from what is, after all, someone else's work, let me just suggest that you read the article at AJE.
One year ago on the 20th, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, beginning an oil spill that would eventually dump at least 5 million barrels of oil into the ocean. A barrel, by the way, is 42 US gallons, (or 34 Imperial gallons, or 160 liters). If we do the math, that is 210 million gallons of oil. Minimum. It could have been two or three times that much, we just don't know.
In the "clean-up", which was more like a cover-up, BP sprayed roughly 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants, which are so toxic that they are banned in 19 countries, including the United Kingdom.
In August of last year, a study by the University of Georgia suggested that 70% or more of the oil which was spilled, "has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem".
Rather than quoting extensively from what is, after all, someone else's work, let me just suggest that you read the article at AJE.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Gulf Disaster Part II - The Gulf Stream Is Dying
It has been brought to my attention that the contaminated seafood I wrote about yesterday is not the worst effect of the massive disaster inflicted upon us by BP and the Obama Administration.
It would appear, from satellite data, that the Gulf Stream is dying or has already died.
I confess, I needed a refresher on how the Gulf Stream works. Essentially, a warm water current comes up the NE coast of South America, does a loop in the Gulf of Mexico, and then passes by the tip of Florida before heading diagonally across the Atlantic to pass by the British Isles and Scandinavia. Technically, the part before the tip of Florida has a different name, but it's all one continous current, or it used to be.
The dumping of a billion gallons of crude oil, and two million gallons of toxic dispersant, (brand name Corexit), into the Gulf of Mexico, however, has screwed this up royally. Instead of flowing across the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream is now breaking down in a series of whirlpools in a region that stretches from off the Carolinas to the mid-Atlantic.
Here is a graphic showing how the Gulf Stream is supposed to flow. Apologies for not embedding it, but if I reduced it to fit, you wouldn't be able to see WTF was going on.
Here is a site with weekly-updated satellite data.
Here is an archived graphic from late October of 2009, roughly a year ago, from the same site, showing the same data.
At first glance, the two appear substantially the same. But look at the top right corner. In the graphic from a year ago, the stream continues off the map, toward the UK. In the most recent graphics, nothing makes it off the map. The Gulf Stream is breaking up in mid-Atlantic.
What does this mean? Well, for starts, it's the warmth of the Gulf Stream that keeps Europe from freezing solid in the winter. And it's the Gulf Stream, continuing as the North Atlantic current, that flows over the top of the Asian landmass and determines weather across much of Russia.
Russia, which has had the hottest Summer on record, causing massive wildfires, and devastating their wheat crop to the point where all exports have been banned.
So, dear reader, it would appear that BP, with the help and collusion of our oh-so-dearly-beloved President, has screwed us at least three different ways. The Gulf seafood is not safe to eat, much of the Atlantic seafood will soon be unsafe to eat, and the weather is screwed up to the point that grain production will be curtailed severely, has already been curtailed severely.
Can you say rising food prices, boys and girls? And at the same time, we can look forward to renewed inflation, since Ben Bernanke has just decided to print another 900 billion dollars in paper money, and give it to the bankers.
Because, after all, those poor bankers really need the help...
It would appear, from satellite data, that the Gulf Stream is dying or has already died.
I confess, I needed a refresher on how the Gulf Stream works. Essentially, a warm water current comes up the NE coast of South America, does a loop in the Gulf of Mexico, and then passes by the tip of Florida before heading diagonally across the Atlantic to pass by the British Isles and Scandinavia. Technically, the part before the tip of Florida has a different name, but it's all one continous current, or it used to be.
The dumping of a billion gallons of crude oil, and two million gallons of toxic dispersant, (brand name Corexit), into the Gulf of Mexico, however, has screwed this up royally. Instead of flowing across the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream is now breaking down in a series of whirlpools in a region that stretches from off the Carolinas to the mid-Atlantic.
Here is a graphic showing how the Gulf Stream is supposed to flow. Apologies for not embedding it, but if I reduced it to fit, you wouldn't be able to see WTF was going on.
Here is a site with weekly-updated satellite data.
Here is an archived graphic from late October of 2009, roughly a year ago, from the same site, showing the same data.
At first glance, the two appear substantially the same. But look at the top right corner. In the graphic from a year ago, the stream continues off the map, toward the UK. In the most recent graphics, nothing makes it off the map. The Gulf Stream is breaking up in mid-Atlantic.
What does this mean? Well, for starts, it's the warmth of the Gulf Stream that keeps Europe from freezing solid in the winter. And it's the Gulf Stream, continuing as the North Atlantic current, that flows over the top of the Asian landmass and determines weather across much of Russia.
Russia, which has had the hottest Summer on record, causing massive wildfires, and devastating their wheat crop to the point where all exports have been banned.
So, dear reader, it would appear that BP, with the help and collusion of our oh-so-dearly-beloved President, has screwed us at least three different ways. The Gulf seafood is not safe to eat, much of the Atlantic seafood will soon be unsafe to eat, and the weather is screwed up to the point that grain production will be curtailed severely, has already been curtailed severely.
Can you say rising food prices, boys and girls? And at the same time, we can look forward to renewed inflation, since Ben Bernanke has just decided to print another 900 billion dollars in paper money, and give it to the bankers.
Because, after all, those poor bankers really need the help...
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Gulf Seafood Still Toxic; Coverup Underway
Shrimp, crab, and other seafood taken from the Gulf of Mexico still contains toxic levels of dispersant sprayed by BP in the aftermath of the oil spill disaster, and the FDA is doing its best to conceal that fact.
On October 29th, the FDA and NOAA finally issued a press release announcing the beginning of a testing program for dispersant residues in seafood. The devil, as usual, is in the details.
The allowed level of contamination has been set at 100 parts per million for fish, and 500 parts per million for shrimp, crab, and oysters. By contrast, when runoff water from your neighborhood storm drain reaches the sea, the maximum allowed level of chemical residue is 5 parts per million.
Think about this, my friends. When runoff water goes into the sea, the maximum allowed level of chemical residue, is 5 parts per million. But for seafood you are going to eat, they allow 500 parts per million? One hundred times as much, and this is supposed to be "safe"? And at that, they are only testing for the least toxic of the contaminants.
(direct quote from story in Al Jazeera English)
Hugh Kaufman is a senior policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) office of solid waste and emergency response. Kaufman, a leading critic of the US government's decision to use Corexit, told Al Jazeera this about the press release: "They say it perfectly clear: the purpose of the test they developed is to make the public confident, not whether the seafood was safe or not."
"They selected the one compound that doesn’t bio-accumulate, as opposed to testing for the toxic ingredients that have a low safety threshold and do build up in tissue. They are not looking for those."
Kaufman, who has been the EPA's chief investigator on several contamination cases, including Love Canal and Times Beach, said: "They want to be able to tell the public the seafood is safe. But if you are going to test seafood to see if it’s safe or not, you want to test for the ingredients of Corexit that have a low safety threshold and do bio-accumulate in tissue."
(end direct quote from AJE)
And there you have it, dear reader, a direct quote from an experienced EPA specialist. The government is lying to you, coldly and deliberately, in order to cover up the results of their own incompetent failure to regulate BP. And note please, I am being generous in attributing this screw up to incompetence rather than blatant corruption.
Original story at AJE here.
On October 29th, the FDA and NOAA finally issued a press release announcing the beginning of a testing program for dispersant residues in seafood. The devil, as usual, is in the details.
The allowed level of contamination has been set at 100 parts per million for fish, and 500 parts per million for shrimp, crab, and oysters. By contrast, when runoff water from your neighborhood storm drain reaches the sea, the maximum allowed level of chemical residue is 5 parts per million.
Think about this, my friends. When runoff water goes into the sea, the maximum allowed level of chemical residue, is 5 parts per million. But for seafood you are going to eat, they allow 500 parts per million? One hundred times as much, and this is supposed to be "safe"? And at that, they are only testing for the least toxic of the contaminants.
(direct quote from story in Al Jazeera English)
Hugh Kaufman is a senior policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) office of solid waste and emergency response. Kaufman, a leading critic of the US government's decision to use Corexit, told Al Jazeera this about the press release: "They say it perfectly clear: the purpose of the test they developed is to make the public confident, not whether the seafood was safe or not."
"They selected the one compound that doesn’t bio-accumulate, as opposed to testing for the toxic ingredients that have a low safety threshold and do build up in tissue. They are not looking for those."
Kaufman, who has been the EPA's chief investigator on several contamination cases, including Love Canal and Times Beach, said: "They want to be able to tell the public the seafood is safe. But if you are going to test seafood to see if it’s safe or not, you want to test for the ingredients of Corexit that have a low safety threshold and do bio-accumulate in tissue."
(end direct quote from AJE)
And there you have it, dear reader, a direct quote from an experienced EPA specialist. The government is lying to you, coldly and deliberately, in order to cover up the results of their own incompetent failure to regulate BP. And note please, I am being generous in attributing this screw up to incompetence rather than blatant corruption.
Original story at AJE here.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Toxic Aftermath Of Dispersants Used by BP
A new report by Al Jazeera English documents the ugly toxic aftermath of banned chemical dispersants used by BP in the Gulf Oil Spill.
BP admits to using 1.9 million gallons of the chemicals known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons. According to data provided by chemist Bob Naman of the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab, in Mobile Alabama, these compounds are making people dangerously ill. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, bloody urine, and lung disease.
Our government, my friends, allowed BP to use huge quantities of these carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic chemicals in the so called cleanup process, in spite of clear warnings from Alaskan scientists and fishermen about the toxic after-effects of such chemicals when they were used in the Exxon Valdez disaster. Make no mistake, the sole purpose of these chemicals is to cover-up the magnitude of the disaster. They do nothing to make the situation any better, they simply hide the oil long enough for the oil company to declare the "clean up" completed, thus limiting their expenses.
Why did the Obama administration permit this, in the face of clear scientific evidence that it was going to make the ecological disaster far worse in the long run? Why? Because, like everyone in DC, they are totally divorced from reality, and insulated from consequences. The Obama administration was thinking only about "spin".
Now Americans are sick and dying. Now there is a huge dead zone in the Gulf, which was already teetering on the brink of ecological disaster. But the spin has been managed, Robert Gibbs and the other talking heads have glibly declared "problem solved", and the corporate-owned mainstream media have moved along to another news topic.
Thanks, Mr President. Truly, this is "change we can believe in". You lying bastard.
Original article in AJE here.
BP admits to using 1.9 million gallons of the chemicals known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons. According to data provided by chemist Bob Naman of the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab, in Mobile Alabama, these compounds are making people dangerously ill. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, bloody urine, and lung disease.
Our government, my friends, allowed BP to use huge quantities of these carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic chemicals in the so called cleanup process, in spite of clear warnings from Alaskan scientists and fishermen about the toxic after-effects of such chemicals when they were used in the Exxon Valdez disaster. Make no mistake, the sole purpose of these chemicals is to cover-up the magnitude of the disaster. They do nothing to make the situation any better, they simply hide the oil long enough for the oil company to declare the "clean up" completed, thus limiting their expenses.
Why did the Obama administration permit this, in the face of clear scientific evidence that it was going to make the ecological disaster far worse in the long run? Why? Because, like everyone in DC, they are totally divorced from reality, and insulated from consequences. The Obama administration was thinking only about "spin".
Now Americans are sick and dying. Now there is a huge dead zone in the Gulf, which was already teetering on the brink of ecological disaster. But the spin has been managed, Robert Gibbs and the other talking heads have glibly declared "problem solved", and the corporate-owned mainstream media have moved along to another news topic.
Thanks, Mr President. Truly, this is "change we can believe in". You lying bastard.
Original article in AJE here.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Ugly Secret Behind Pakistan Floods
Zeina Khodr reports from Pakistan's Sindh province, (South-East corner of Pakistan), that there are ugly secrets behind the worst of the flooding in Sindh and Baluchistan provinces.
First, that the channel of the river Indus was greatly narrowed by illegal construction along the banks, where the rich and powerful had constructed not only large farms, but villas and palaces. (Obviously, a wider river channel can accommodate a far greater volume of water than a narrow channel, all other things being equal.)
Second, that these powerful individuals then deliberately breached the embankment on the right bank of the river, in order to spare their own properties along the left bank.
A word on this Right Bank, Left Bank business; this is reckoned as though one were facing downstream. Since the Indus flows southwards, the Right Bank is to the West, toward Baluchistan and the Iranian border, while the Left Bank is to the East.
As an aside, with all due respect to the good folks at Al Jazeera, the title of this video is rather misleading. The video is about the causes of the flood, not the relief efforts. While AJE's standards of journalism are generally excellent, one encounters grammatical errors in Al Jazeera English stories in print on a distressingly frequent basis, and I suspect this is another aspect of the same problem. They definitely need to hire a good proofreader.
First, that the channel of the river Indus was greatly narrowed by illegal construction along the banks, where the rich and powerful had constructed not only large farms, but villas and palaces. (Obviously, a wider river channel can accommodate a far greater volume of water than a narrow channel, all other things being equal.)
Second, that these powerful individuals then deliberately breached the embankment on the right bank of the river, in order to spare their own properties along the left bank.
A word on this Right Bank, Left Bank business; this is reckoned as though one were facing downstream. Since the Indus flows southwards, the Right Bank is to the West, toward Baluchistan and the Iranian border, while the Left Bank is to the East.
As an aside, with all due respect to the good folks at Al Jazeera, the title of this video is rather misleading. The video is about the causes of the flood, not the relief efforts. While AJE's standards of journalism are generally excellent, one encounters grammatical errors in Al Jazeera English stories in print on a distressingly frequent basis, and I suspect this is another aspect of the same problem. They definitely need to hire a good proofreader.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Spratly Islands, Part III
South Korea and the USA are scheduled to begin joint naval exercises today in the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea. To quote from a story in the BBC -
The latest drill, which will run until 9 September, "will focus on anti-submarine warfare tactics, including detecting and destroying North Korean submarines", an unidentified military official told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Meanwhile, the Chinese navy began its own series of live-fire "naval exercises" in the South China Sea on September 1st, exercises which official sources describe as -
"annual routine training, mainly involving the shooting of shipboard artillery"
In late August, China conducted a series of air exercises in the area, which were seen by many observers as a response to recent US interest in the region.
See also previous entries on the Spratly Islands dispute here and here
The latest drill, which will run until 9 September, "will focus on anti-submarine warfare tactics, including detecting and destroying North Korean submarines", an unidentified military official told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Meanwhile, the Chinese navy began its own series of live-fire "naval exercises" in the South China Sea on September 1st, exercises which official sources describe as -
"annual routine training, mainly involving the shooting of shipboard artillery"
In late August, China conducted a series of air exercises in the area, which were seen by many observers as a response to recent US interest in the region.
See also previous entries on the Spratly Islands dispute here and here
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Another Rig Explodes in the Gulf of Mexico
Earlier this morning, another oil rig explosion occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, about 200 miles west of the scene of BP's disaster.
Al Jazeera English is reporting that Coast Guard Spokeswoman Crystal Clear (please tell me her name is a joke?!?) claims were no fatalities, and it is not known at this time whether any oil is leaking.
Is it just me, or does this sound to you folks like another case of doling out the bad news in small bites? If there was another big oil leak, would they tell us? The fact that we find ourselves wondering this illustrates the corrosive effect of habitual lying by the US government. When they make a habit of feeding us bullshit, we start to suspect everything of being bullshit...
Al Jazeera English is reporting that Coast Guard Spokeswoman Crystal Clear (please tell me her name is a joke?!?) claims were no fatalities, and it is not known at this time whether any oil is leaking.
Is it just me, or does this sound to you folks like another case of doling out the bad news in small bites? If there was another big oil leak, would they tell us? The fact that we find ourselves wondering this illustrates the corrosive effect of habitual lying by the US government. When they make a habit of feeding us bullshit, we start to suspect everything of being bullshit...
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Cholera in Pakistan
I've said before that sometimes I hate being right.
In the second paragraph of my post on August 10th, I said that the situation in Pakistan was "ripe for an massive epidemic of cholera or worse".
Sure enough, today it was announced officially that cholera has begun.
AJE is obviously trying to keep it low-key, nobody wants to start a panic. You'll notice in this video they dance around the subject, using the generic term "disease", and describing all the symptoms, but only actually mentioning the word "cholera" once, at about 1:34
It doesn't take a genius to predict this, of course. Floods, inadequate sanitation, large numbers of dead bodies left unburied in wet conditions, these things produce cholera quite predictably and reliably. And cholera, dear readers, is one of those diseases which can spread through a vulnerable population with unbelievable rapidity. And 15 million Pakistanis have been displaced from their homes by these floods.
It is by no means inconceivable that the death toll from this could reach into the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Let us earnestly hope that I am utterly and completely wrong this time.
In the second paragraph of my post on August 10th, I said that the situation in Pakistan was "ripe for an massive epidemic of cholera or worse".
Sure enough, today it was announced officially that cholera has begun.
AJE is obviously trying to keep it low-key, nobody wants to start a panic. You'll notice in this video they dance around the subject, using the generic term "disease", and describing all the symptoms, but only actually mentioning the word "cholera" once, at about 1:34
It doesn't take a genius to predict this, of course. Floods, inadequate sanitation, large numbers of dead bodies left unburied in wet conditions, these things produce cholera quite predictably and reliably. And cholera, dear readers, is one of those diseases which can spread through a vulnerable population with unbelievable rapidity. And 15 million Pakistanis have been displaced from their homes by these floods.
It is by no means inconceivable that the death toll from this could reach into the hundreds of thousands or even millions. Let us earnestly hope that I am utterly and completely wrong this time.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Pakistan Goes From Bad To Worse
The plight of the 99ers here in the US remains grim, but the situation in Pakistan has gone beyond that.
Farhan Safdar is a volunteer working for Doctors Worldwide, the British medical relief organisation, in the Pakistani province of Nowshera. What he is carefully not saying in his blog is that the situation is ripe for a massive epidemic of cholera or worse. Contaminated water, unburied dead bodies, huge numbers of refugees crowded into camps with grossly inadequate sanitation facilities, these are a certain recipe for disaster.
The United Nations is issuing a call for "hundreds of millions" in emergency aid, according to an announcement yesterday from UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. The UN has also said that the devastation from these floods is worse than the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (see a pattern here yet?), or last year's earthquake in Haiti.
Landslides in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan's Northwest, have cut the region off completely from surface traffic. And torrential rains have made it very difficult for helicopters to fly.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Express Tribune is reporting that food prices have quadrupled overnight. With the UN reporting that 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed in the Punjab region of Pakistan alone. Note, however, that the UN statement does not specifically say food crops, and a great deal of cotton is grown in Southern Pakistan.
My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan, but I cannot help but wonder, where is the rest of the Islamic world? Where are the Saudis, with their trillions in oil money? They claim to the the ultimate arbiters of Islamic correctness, why have they not stepped forward to help their fellow Muslims? By all means let us assist Pakistan, but let the umma help as well.
Farhan Safdar is a volunteer working for Doctors Worldwide, the British medical relief organisation, in the Pakistani province of Nowshera. What he is carefully not saying in his blog is that the situation is ripe for a massive epidemic of cholera or worse. Contaminated water, unburied dead bodies, huge numbers of refugees crowded into camps with grossly inadequate sanitation facilities, these are a certain recipe for disaster.
The United Nations is issuing a call for "hundreds of millions" in emergency aid, according to an announcement yesterday from UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon. The UN has also said that the devastation from these floods is worse than the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan (see a pattern here yet?), or last year's earthquake in Haiti.
Landslides in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan's Northwest, have cut the region off completely from surface traffic. And torrential rains have made it very difficult for helicopters to fly.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Express Tribune is reporting that food prices have quadrupled overnight. With the UN reporting that 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed in the Punjab region of Pakistan alone. Note, however, that the UN statement does not specifically say food crops, and a great deal of cotton is grown in Southern Pakistan.
My heart goes out to the people of Pakistan, but I cannot help but wonder, where is the rest of the Islamic world? Where are the Saudis, with their trillions in oil money? They claim to the the ultimate arbiters of Islamic correctness, why have they not stepped forward to help their fellow Muslims? By all means let us assist Pakistan, but let the umma help as well.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Quo Vadis
Where are we going?
I think even the most casual of observers must have realized by now that life in the USA is no longer business-as-usual.
The earth is changing around us in visible ways. To offer a few examples, the Arctic ice cap is melting, the glaciers in the Andes mountains are melting, the blue fin tuna fishery is in utter collapse, and the Gulf of Mexico, which already had huge dead zones, has been given the kiss of death by BP, aided and abetted by the dithering incompetence of our beloved President. Let us just hope they have not killed the entire Atlantic Ocean.
The US economy, in spite of the grossly falsified "official" figures, continues to slowly melt down into smoking ruin, as the numbers of the unemployed, the real numbers, remain the same or increase. And the Obama administration, desperate to show improvement in exchange for billions in stimulus money poured down the toilet, resorts to publishing unemployment numbers which do not include those who have exhausted all their UI benefits.
I do believe that historians of the future, looking back upon this time, will record this as the deliberate destruction of the American Middle Class.
So where are we going?
Think back, if you will, to Inauguration Eve of 2009. We were outraged at the newly-revealed proof of torture, outraged that prisoners had been tortured into giving false confessions of Saddam-Al Qaeda connections, so that Cheney could justify the invasion of Iraq. We were eager to see those responsible prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and Eric Holder assured us he would be investigating the matter fully, (that should have been our first clue). So, a year and a half later, any progress? When was the last time you heard any mention of the torture issue in the media?
On Inauguration Eve of 2009, we were so sure Guantanamo would be closed down within a year, and all those within would either be released, or given a fair trial in a court of law. Keep in mind these people were kidnapped off the street on the mere suspicion of terrorist connections. A year and a half later, Obama is still using "extraordinary rendition" to abduct people and imprison them without trial, and most of those who have left Guantanamo have been transferred to Bagram prison instead, where we can say they're no longer in US custody.
And while we are speaking of the triumphant accomplishments of our dearly beloved Chief Executive, let us not neglect to mention al-Amrikki. In short, a US citizen turned jihadi. Perhaps a madman, perhaps a traitor, perhaps a clown, but definitely a US citizen. And not even Benedict Arnold was executed without a fair trial. Yet Obama has authorized the death of this man. Without any sort of due process, without a trial by a jury of his peers, without any of the things that the US Constitution says a citizen is entitled to.
And yet there is no protest, because after all he's a terrorist.
So, tell me, where are we going?
I think even the most casual of observers must have realized by now that life in the USA is no longer business-as-usual.
The earth is changing around us in visible ways. To offer a few examples, the Arctic ice cap is melting, the glaciers in the Andes mountains are melting, the blue fin tuna fishery is in utter collapse, and the Gulf of Mexico, which already had huge dead zones, has been given the kiss of death by BP, aided and abetted by the dithering incompetence of our beloved President. Let us just hope they have not killed the entire Atlantic Ocean.
The US economy, in spite of the grossly falsified "official" figures, continues to slowly melt down into smoking ruin, as the numbers of the unemployed, the real numbers, remain the same or increase. And the Obama administration, desperate to show improvement in exchange for billions in stimulus money poured down the toilet, resorts to publishing unemployment numbers which do not include those who have exhausted all their UI benefits.
I do believe that historians of the future, looking back upon this time, will record this as the deliberate destruction of the American Middle Class.
So where are we going?
Think back, if you will, to Inauguration Eve of 2009. We were outraged at the newly-revealed proof of torture, outraged that prisoners had been tortured into giving false confessions of Saddam-Al Qaeda connections, so that Cheney could justify the invasion of Iraq. We were eager to see those responsible prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and Eric Holder assured us he would be investigating the matter fully, (that should have been our first clue). So, a year and a half later, any progress? When was the last time you heard any mention of the torture issue in the media?
On Inauguration Eve of 2009, we were so sure Guantanamo would be closed down within a year, and all those within would either be released, or given a fair trial in a court of law. Keep in mind these people were kidnapped off the street on the mere suspicion of terrorist connections. A year and a half later, Obama is still using "extraordinary rendition" to abduct people and imprison them without trial, and most of those who have left Guantanamo have been transferred to Bagram prison instead, where we can say they're no longer in US custody.
And while we are speaking of the triumphant accomplishments of our dearly beloved Chief Executive, let us not neglect to mention al-Amrikki. In short, a US citizen turned jihadi. Perhaps a madman, perhaps a traitor, perhaps a clown, but definitely a US citizen. And not even Benedict Arnold was executed without a fair trial. Yet Obama has authorized the death of this man. Without any sort of due process, without a trial by a jury of his peers, without any of the things that the US Constitution says a citizen is entitled to.
And yet there is no protest, because after all he's a terrorist.
So, tell me, where are we going?
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