3. I remember when I was in East Timor (where there aren't even any street lights), I was surprised to find Coca Cola being sold in every tiny store you can see. I found out about this video through a friend a few days ago. It's quite shocking to find out what this giant global corporation is doing to the innocent people of India and probably many other countries. It's not a news article, but I thought it was well worth sharing with the others.
1. Inyun Choi 2. Bangladesh diary: Cyclone aftermath 3. When poor countries have got in trouble due to natural disasters such as tsunami, typhoon, flood or something, people there struggle to recover from the aftermath. However, the poorer they are, the more difficult it is to escape from it. There will be lots of huddles; lack of clean water, houses, medicines, and other supplies to cure physical as well as psychological damages. The real problem is not the way how to deal with aftermath of unexpected disasters, but the origin causes, that is, climate change. Global warming is one of the most severe problems in the world, especially the Third World. Developing countries are much more influenced by it. Even though NGOs carry on aid, it is still not enough to save all of them because of their vulnerable condition surrounding humans. You should remember that there are a lot of people who are suffering from climate change caused by your bad life style right at this moment. We’ve heard the warning about the increasing temperature of the earth, on the other hand it has been a real problem in the opposite part of where you live. In short, environmental problem is also able to be considered as an issue for bottom billions. ---------------------------------- I have read a lot about Bangladesh and the threat of rising seas but never thought I would feel the effects myself. But when we visit a project to repair a breach in the sea defences around Gabura Island, the only way to get good shots is to leave our boat and join the labourers. In the thick of it. The process involves the men scooping up mud and passing the lumps in a human chain to be pressed into an embankment. It is an apocalyptic scene, like something from the pre-industrial age, swarms of men toiling in the heat, nothing mechanical in sight, only loud cheers periodically keeping the work going. I recall seeing how the Dutch do these things, with monster machines hauling rock and concrete. Here it is a more elemental struggle of bare hands and mud against the sea, the reward being a chance to keep a family's hunger at bay with five kilos of rice per man per day. To begin with I only sink in up to my ankles, the warm brown water filling my boots, something I prefer not to think about in too much detail, given that the number of people living upstream is several hundred million at least. --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8239712.stm
1. Hanseul Lee 2. Tragic aftermath of Assam's bombs 3. On 31 October 2008, a number of people were killed by bomb explosion in Assam, India. Indeed, the terror was happened at one civilian wedding ceremony. The bombs have brought unprecedented misery and suffering. These days, it usually happens especially in the third world. Terrorism is a world issue that must be solved, because targets are usually civilans who are innocent. People are easily wounded and shocked by deaths around them, and civilians who were survived from terror must have been shocked mentally. It was fairly shocking to me because these happen in the planet where we live. Consequently, terrorism is a serious issue that must be considered in the third World.
------------------------------ It was his youngest son's marriage next week and Rama Das was out in Guwahati's crowded Pan Bazar with his whole family to buy Assam silk and gold.
"Just then a car exploded right in front of the silk shop. The other vehicles in the parking lot caught fire and it was hell. I got up and found my daughter in a pool of blood," Rama Das recalls, as he stands in the hospital to receive his daughter's body.
Ram Das's son, Animesh, is weeping profusely, unwilling to go ahead with the marriage now because his sister is among the dead.
"How can I accept this?" is all he has to say.
'Scarred forever'
Pan Bazar in the heart of Assam's main city, Guwahati. It was one of the several places hit by car bombs on Thursday.
Padma Hazarika lies in a bed in Guwahati's MMC hospital, listless and distraught, his face in bandages.
The bombs have brought unprecedented misery and suffering
He escaped death at Ganeshguri, site of the second blast in the city and the deadliest of the car bombs used on Thursday.
"But my face will be scarred forever and so will be my memory," Hazarika, a small trader, told the BBC.
> "Belatedly, Egypt Spots Flaws in Wiping Out Pig".
----------------
The article is about the Egyptian way of handling with the novel disease H1N1, also known as the swine flu. Back in may - way before the first infection hit Egypt, the president ordered all (all!) the nation's pigs killed at once. And so they did. The problem now is logistics. Because in every society all different animals has their 'place' in the environment around them. In Egypt the pigs were not only food, but also garbage-men. Basically the pigs used to eat all the organic waste the Egyptians would leave on the streets!
Now, there is no garbage-men, and the governments effort to deal with the problem is far from effecient. Putting garbage-cans on the streets is a western thing - Egyptian are used to having garbage-men coming to pick up their waste in front of their doors.
The result: Garbage-filled streets in Egypt.
This is a clear-cut case of good intention and bad research. It would almost be tragic-comedic, besides the fact that it is actually real.
---------
CAIRO — It is unlikely anyone has ever come to this city and commented on how clean the streets are. But this litter-strewn metropolis is now wrestling with a garbage problem so severe it has managed to incite its weary residents and command the attention of the president.
“The problem is clear in the streets,” said Haitham Kamal, a spokesman for the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs. “There is a strict and intensive effort now from the state to address this issue.”
But the crisis should not have come as a surprise.
When the government killed all the pigs in Egypt this spring — in what public health experts said was a misguided attempt to combat swine flu — it was warned the city would be overwhelmed with trash.
The pigs used to eat tons of organic waste. Now the pigs are gone and the rotting food piles up on the streets of middle-class neighborhoods like Heliopolis and in the poor streets of communities like Imbaba.
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. Wonmi Nam
ReplyDelete2. Coca Cola dries up India
3. I remember when I was in East Timor (where there aren't even any street lights), I was surprised to find Coca Cola being sold in every tiny store you can see. I found out about this video through a friend a few days ago. It's quite shocking to find out what this giant global corporation is doing to the innocent people of India and probably many other countries. It's not a news article, but I thought it was well worth sharing with the others.
---------------------
please watch the utube video
---------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRFyfTnxj80
1. Inyun Choi
ReplyDelete2. Bangladesh diary: Cyclone aftermath
3. When poor countries have got in trouble due to natural disasters such as tsunami, typhoon, flood or something, people there struggle to recover from the aftermath. However, the poorer they are, the more difficult it is to escape from it. There will be lots of huddles; lack of clean water, houses, medicines, and other supplies to cure physical as well as psychological damages. The real problem is not the way how to deal with aftermath of unexpected disasters, but the origin causes, that is, climate change. Global warming is one of the most severe problems in the world, especially the Third World. Developing countries are much more influenced by it. Even though NGOs carry on aid, it is still not enough to save all of them because of their vulnerable condition surrounding humans. You should remember that there are a lot of people who are suffering from climate change caused by your bad life style right at this moment. We’ve heard the warning about the increasing temperature of the earth, on the other hand it has been a real problem in the opposite part of where you live. In short, environmental problem is also able to be considered as an issue for bottom billions.
----------------------------------
I have read a lot about Bangladesh and the threat of rising seas but never thought I would feel the effects myself.
But when we visit a project to repair a breach in the sea defences around Gabura Island, the only way to get good shots is to leave our boat and join the labourers.
In the thick of it.
The process involves the men scooping up mud and passing the lumps in a human chain to be pressed into an embankment.
It is an apocalyptic scene, like something from the pre-industrial age, swarms of men toiling in the heat, nothing mechanical in sight, only loud cheers periodically keeping the work going.
I recall seeing how the Dutch do these things, with monster machines hauling rock and concrete.
Here it is a more elemental struggle of bare hands and mud against the sea, the reward being a chance to keep a family's hunger at bay with five kilos of rice per man per day.
To begin with I only sink in up to my ankles, the warm brown water filling my boots, something I prefer not to think about in too much detail, given that the number of people living upstream is several hundred million at least.
---
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8239712.stm
1. Hanseul Lee
ReplyDelete2. Tragic aftermath of Assam's bombs
3. On 31 October 2008, a number of people were killed by bomb explosion in Assam, India. Indeed, the terror was happened at one civilian wedding ceremony. The bombs have brought unprecedented misery and suffering. These days, it usually happens especially in the third world. Terrorism is a world issue that must be solved, because targets are usually civilans who are innocent. People are easily wounded and shocked by deaths around them, and civilians who were survived from terror must have been shocked mentally. It was fairly shocking to me because these happen in the planet where we live. Consequently, terrorism is a serious issue that must be considered in the third World.
------------------------------
It was his youngest son's marriage next week and Rama Das was out in Guwahati's crowded Pan Bazar with his whole family to buy Assam silk and gold.
"Just then a car exploded right in front of the silk shop. The other vehicles in the parking lot caught fire and it was hell. I got up and found my daughter in a pool of blood," Rama Das recalls, as he stands in the hospital to receive his daughter's body.
Ram Das's son, Animesh, is weeping profusely, unwilling to go ahead with the marriage now because his sister is among the dead.
"How can I accept this?" is all he has to say.
'Scarred forever'
Pan Bazar in the heart of Assam's main city, Guwahati. It was one of the several places hit by car bombs on Thursday.
Padma Hazarika lies in a bed in Guwahati's MMC hospital, listless and distraught, his face in bandages.
The bombs have brought unprecedented misery and suffering
He escaped death at Ganeshguri, site of the second blast in the city and the deadliest of the car bombs used on Thursday.
"But my face will be scarred forever and so will be my memory," Hazarika, a small trader, told the BBC.
-----------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7701839.stm
> Christoffer Grønlund
ReplyDelete> "Belatedly, Egypt Spots Flaws in Wiping Out Pig".
----------------
The article is about the Egyptian way of handling with the novel disease H1N1, also known as the swine flu. Back in may - way before the first infection hit Egypt, the president ordered all (all!) the nation's pigs killed at once. And so they did. The problem now is logistics. Because in every society all different animals has their 'place' in the environment around them. In Egypt the pigs were not only food, but also garbage-men. Basically the pigs used to eat all the organic waste the Egyptians would leave on the streets!
Now, there is no garbage-men, and the governments effort to deal with the problem is far from effecient. Putting garbage-cans on the streets is a western thing - Egyptian are used to having garbage-men coming to pick up their waste in front of their doors.
The result: Garbage-filled streets in Egypt.
This is a clear-cut case of good intention and bad research. It would almost be tragic-comedic, besides the fact that it is actually real.
---------
CAIRO — It is unlikely anyone has ever come to this city and commented on how clean the streets are. But this litter-strewn metropolis is now wrestling with a garbage problem so severe it has managed to incite its weary residents and command the attention of the president.
“The problem is clear in the streets,” said Haitham Kamal, a spokesman for the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs. “There is a strict and intensive effort now from the state to address this issue.”
But the crisis should not have come as a surprise.
When the government killed all the pigs in Egypt this spring — in what public health experts said was a misguided attempt to combat swine flu — it was warned the city would be overwhelmed with trash.
The pigs used to eat tons of organic waste. Now the pigs are gone and the rotting food piles up on the streets of middle-class neighborhoods like Heliopolis and in the poor streets of communities like Imbaba.
-----
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/africa/20cairo.html