The Private Water Industry's Stake in Shale Gas Development
Turn the planet into Arrakis ( Dune* : Frank Herbert ) by poisoning the wells and you have instant Hydraulic Empire : as per the End of an Era post I made in Opera and cached in Water - Wealth and Power ( Topical Index )...never mind just corporate water sales. It's called slavery of the most stable variety. That's why the U.S. always targets infrastructure of its victims of 'colonialism'. Or did until the wholesale poisoning with Depleted Uranium and Enriched Uranium.
*Atrocity is recognized as such by victim and predator alike, by all who learn about it at whatever remove. Atrocity has no excuses, no mitigating argument. Atrocity never balances or rectifies the past. Atrocity merely arms the future for more atrocity. It is self-perpetuating upon itself — a barbarous form of incest. Whoever commits atrocity also commits those future atrocities thus bred.g
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Philippine govt bars citizens from working in 41 countriesThe Philippines said Wednesday it had banned Filipinos from travelling to work in 41 countries and territories that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect them from abuse.
The Department of Labor and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers.
Shandong baby trafficking ring taken downUS should be paying bills, not funding soldiersChina accomplishes first space docking
Poisoned WellsFor years, Song Jianlin, a poplar grower in Yantai city's Muping district in Shandong Province, has been reporting to authorities the pollution problems of the Shandong Humon Smelting Company.
The listed company, as introduced in its IPO prospectus, has seven gold mines located in the Muping district, which has seen increased rates of gastric and colorectal cancer in recent years according to a local hospital report.
Song finally saw some hope last month when the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced to suspend the environmental inspection for Shandong Humon, a routine check for listed companies, and instead asked the company to rectify their problems because its Shangzhuche gold mine violated the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution for operating in a Tier II drinking water protection area.
Villagers from the nearby Hanjiakuang village in the Muping district, where the mine water flows, have complained about the "yellowing" and "strange smell" of their wellwater, and many have linked the groundwater to the high rate of gastric and lung cancer cases in their village, according to a National Business Daily report.
However, the concern over water pollution hasn't been limited to the Muping district.
"In the process of industrialized development, China is now facing the increasingly deteriorating quality of groundwater after so many years of soil infiltration by city sewage, household garbage, industrial wastes, fertilizer and pesticides," Yang Haizhen, an environmental science professor at Tongji University, told the Global Times.
Last Friday, the Chinese ministries for environmental protection, land and resources, and water resources, jointly released the National Plan on Groundwater Pollution Control for 2011 to 2020, the first for the country.
A total of 34.66 billion yuan ($5.46 billion) will be invested in three major tasks, including investigation and assessment, underwater pollution prevention, and pilot remediation, according to the plan.......Over the past decades, China's usage of groundwater increased from 57 billion cubic meters in the 1970s to 109.8 billion cubic meters in 2009, accounting for 18 percent of the total water supply. In northern regions, 65 percent of domestic water, 50 percent of industrial water, and 33 percent of agricultural irrigation water comes from groundwater. Also, more than 60 percent of 655 cities nationwide are using groundwater as a source for drinking water
Greece calls off referendum Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou canceled his proposal for a referendum on the eurozone bailout package Thursday, a sharp backtracking from a threat that overshadowed the first day of the G20 summit in the French resort of Cannes.
Respecting Africa's decisions will benefit China
GT: Some say that China chooses to engage in peacekeeping just to protect its interests. What's your view?Mariani: The presence of Chinese peacekeepers in resource-rich countries such as the DRC or Sudan is highlighted as evidence of this. However, it should also be noted that Chinese peacekeepers do not only deploy to resource-rich countries, as confirmed by their presence in Western Sahara and Haiti.GT: How do you see the West's accusation of Chinese neo-colonialism in Africa?Mariani: China's growth in Africa needs to be put in the right context. China's increasing engagement in Africa is relatively new, while Europe and the US are the old traditional powers there. China is not the main actor.In addition, China doesn't have a legacy of colonization in Africa. But it is important for China not to repeat mistakes that other countries have committed in Africa in the past, such as the colonization of African countries.- Sino-EU relations moving toward realism
Eritrean dissident in Cairo slams human trafficking through SinaiOver 200 Eritrean refugees are believed to be held in captivity by human traffickers in Sinai and around 600 held in Egyptian prisons since the January uprising, according to Eritrean dissident Adam Al-Haj Moussa.They are held for ransom or as part of organ trafficking rings
A recent report by Agence France-Presse suggested that up to 500 Eritrean refugees were held for ransom in Egypt. The report cited the testimony of Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest and head of the Habeshia humanitarian organization.
Moussa explained that Eritrean refugees begin their long journey either from Eritrea itself or from UN refugee camps in the Kassala province in eastern Sudan, traveling either west through Darfur into Libya and then to Mediterranean sea-routes to Europe, or eastward into Egypt through the Sinai to reach Israel as their final destination.
“Human traffickers use methods to prey on the refugees at the Eritrean-Sudanese border by infiltrating the over-cramped UN refugee camps and persuading them to leave, promising them a better future in Israel afterwards,
Right after the landslide victory of the AKP in the 2007 elections, the government led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan felt secure enough to follow a very active and more independent foreign policy under the supervision of Ahmet Davutoglu, appointed minister of foreign affairs in 2009. Even before the outburst of the "Arab spring", Turkey was vigorously trying to return to the Middle East — a region that the Kemalists had deliberately stayed away from in their westernization zeal. This new foreign policy discourse does not content itself with being a regional power but seeks to make Turkey a global player, which is justified by the legacy of the Ottoman Empire.Despite fluctuations and setbacks in Turkey's response to the Arab spring, I contend it will play a crucial role in the Middle East in the coming decade. It is not difficult to anticipate the coming of "new Erdogans" — populist Muslim leaders — out of the ballot boxes of the new Middle East.As the largest minority of the Middle East, the Kurds are dispersed throughout Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Until recently, the seemingly rival states of Turkey, Syria and Iran were collaborating in violent suppression of the Kurds. The Arab spring has abruptly ended or shaken this uneasy alliance against the Kurds. Syria and Iran are further distancing themselves from Turkey due to the latter's increasing assertiveness in favor of the democratic movement in Syria. If Turkey chooses the option of a peaceful and democratic settlement of the Kurdish issue, it will have a boomerang effect in the region, making it increasingly difficult to use violent means against a people experiencing an awakening. It is clear that this move would erode the legitimacy of Syria and Iran by further isolating their anachronistic regimes.
A thousand fatwas for Somalia
Al-Shabaab is blocking most international relief agencies from accessing famine areas, preventing famine victims from reaching help, and forcing farmers back to their barren land, where most will die unseen and unrecorded. A half-million people could perish on Al-Shabaab’s watch.
Ken Menkhaus is a professor of political science at Davidson College and a fellow at the Enough Project, an anti-genocide group based in Washington, DC. This commentary is published by DAILY NEWS EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).
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Daniel Gros Series: Euronomics 2011-11-03Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s call for a referendum on the rescue package agreed at the eurozone summit in October has profound implications for European governance and the euro's future. Financial markets have reacted so strongly because investors now comprehend that “sovereign debt” is the debt of a sovereign that can simply decide not to pay.... read
The Education Solution
Mahmoud Mohieldin Series: Frontiers of Growth 2011-11-03
'Higher Education' and UNESCO )
The global challenges that we face today are proof that we need a world of problem solvers – people who are productive, resilient, creative, and versatile enough with technology and culture to find solutions to the many challenges we face. Education helps to build that world.... read
Winners and losers in the Arab revolutions: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine 'Spring-less' Palestine? Ibrahim Shikaki A different pattern is evident now, a pattern of solidarity. Israel: positive and negative ramifications Itamar Rabinovich For Israel's critics, this is yet another manifestation of the country's location "on the wrong side of history". The Arab world's intifada Phyllis Bennis When experts ruminate about "when will there be a Palestinian spring?", it's generally because they have no historical context. Lebanon: the risks of a wider Syrian conflict Nizar Abdel-Kader Assad could ask Hizballah to attack Israel, adopting what might be called a 'Samson option'.
The latest Quartet initiative | Palestinian-Israeli Crossfire An Israeli View A Palestinian View Pointless and depressing Yossi Alpher Whatever the Quartet says or does, it appears to have lost all credibility in both Israel and Palestine. A serious challenge Ghassan Khatib Israel's settlement construction challenges the Quartet to act. A dangerous illusion of conflict management Akiva Eldar The Quartet can only play a limited role. Limited, but very significant. The Quartet facade Sam Bahour Israel and the US have perfected the management of international players in the Mideast conflict. - Sino-EU relations moving toward realism
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