by Richard Gowan | Feb 6, 2009 | Climate and resource scarcity, Cooperation and coherence, North America
While the UK struggles with snow, spare a thought for Kentucky, which is suffering from an ice storm:
The storm has been blamed for 27 deaths in Kentucky, mostly from carbon monoxide poisoning from generators. More than 175,000 homes and businesses served by 55 water systems remained under orders to boil water, emergency officials said.
But there’s good news for my GD colleagues who major on community resilience:
The chairwoman of an Ohio County school board converted a middle school into a shelter. And in Murray, Murray State University’s student-run radio station was the only source of communication.
An unexpected problem has emerged, however: a peanut panic.
Making matters worse, because of a recent salmonella outbreak, federal officials on Thursday recalled all “ready to eat” meal kits that included packets of peanut butter. The packets had been distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In a news conference on Thursday, Gov. Steve Beshear tried to send a reassuring message to residents who had received the food packages. He said there had been no reports of food-related illnesses, even though more than 100,000 emergency packages had been given out in storm recovery efforts.
Mr. Beshear said he had eaten one of the peanut butter products and suffered no ill effects. As an alternative, emergency officials were trying to hire a private food vendor to secure hundreds of thousands of prepared meals, the governor said.
Yum yum.
by David Steven | Feb 6, 2009 | Conflict and security, South Asia
With AQ Khan – the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb – released from house arrest, what better day to savour some highlights from the scientist’s own website?
By their deeds and actions such persons, though not prophets, demonstrate that they are an extension of the will of the transcendental. These are the people, who are destined to make history in the elevation of nations. Such is the personality of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan…
It is entirely due to his efforts that the process of enrichment of Uranium was successfully completed in Pakistan… The list of his contribution and achievement is far too long to be mentioned in this short citation. He is a person imbued with the spirit of serving the cause of Pakistan and Muslim Ummah through his able researches, high acumen, intellectual robustness and unwavering devotion.
So numerous are his activities that every segment of society has praised him in different forms. He has been awarded 42 gold medals by various national institutions and organizations. He was also presented with 3 gold crowns
He has contributed immensely to the establishment of educational and research institutes in Pakistan. These include several colleges, schools, Institutes and academies. So wide are the applications of his activities that his contributions extend to the construction of 11 mosques, 1 tomb, a number of dispensaries and community health centers…
It is rare that a person in single life time accomplishes so much. This is done only by men who are endowed with special abilities by God and who prepare themselves through hard work and devotion to fulfill the mission of serving mankind.
Never before have greatness and modesty mingled to such effect, say I.
by David Steven | Feb 6, 2009 | What we're watching
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2I0uGR_ZVI[/youtube]
by Richard Gowan | Feb 5, 2009 | Cooperation and coherence, Global system, Influence and networks
The Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat has interviewed Ban Ki-moon, and the English transcript of the Secretary-General’s comments is powerful stuff:
When was the last time you got really angry?
There were a few moments.
Like? I want to get to know you. People don’t know you well—Ban Ki-Moon the Secretary General or Ban Ki-Moon the man.
There were a few moments when I was so angry… First of all when things were not moving as I expected and as I have urged in the situation in Gaza. The humanitarian sufferings, the UN humanitarian assistance were not delivering properly… people were suffering from lack of water, electricity. They were not able to move and I was very angry and I expressed this emotion when I talked to Israeli authorities.
Sometimes I was angry if my reform agenda was not moving as quickly as possible. There was some bureaucracy within– inherently embedded through some resistance in the agencies among the staff. Then, you know, I exploded, myself.
What do you do when you get angry?
Oh, I express my anger.
Do you shout?
Yes, I shout it. (Turning to his spokeswoman Michel Montas) As you have witnessed many times.
On a personal level, have you been angry recently? You know we all get angry with our children, our family, our brothers or sisters…
I don’t have any such occasions when I was angry with my own family members. It’s just, you know, I am disciplined. And my family members are also very disciplined and show respect for all these rules. There are some rules and some relationships you have to keep. With others, I get, of course, angry.
Learning this, the interviewer goes out of his way to piss off the SG… (more…)
by David Steven | Feb 5, 2009 | Off topic
Thanks to Flickr user g-hat
Apartheid – described by Nelson Mandela as an ‘evil system’ – is thought by many to have ended in 1994 when twenty million South Africans voted in the country’s first free and fair elections.
Not so, according to the Institute of Directors – which has just released a report exploring pensions apartheid, a system which sees some British public sector workers get higher retirement benefits than their private sector equivalents. This, the business lobby group believes, is analogous to decades of black African racial segregation, discrimination and abuse.
Some ideas for future IOD publications:
- Shoah – gassing small business with regulation
- Gang Raped by Government – changes to the tax code for non-domiciled high net worth individuals, and
- 9/11 – terrorized by the European Working Time Directive
After all, when surrounded by evil, you have a duty to speak out.
