AGRICULTURE-ETHIOPIA: Changing Mindset Over Markets August 30th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Good Luck to Eleni - I am not Economist I cannot say much what she intend to do and what her goal is in order to improve the poverty of Ethiopia. However, from many years of my experience in the country poverty cannot be controlled only by dominating the market. Why poverty is chronicle problem for Ethiopians? In my opinion, not much initiative to deploy the non-working force to work. 2. Young man power is wasted; where us when they could be encouraged to train on vocational streams they are just remain ideal. 3. Year after year to see young children starving is unbearable. They are too young to understand what is going on, but they are punished of hunger. Is that considered in the new venture? 4. There is plenty of unused farmland in the country - is there any attempt to deploy the ideal man power? 5. Of course, education is one of the most important factors for progress, if a farmer be able to read and write that would make a great difference in his life. If they know how to read they will cope with current situation in the country by reading news paper or whatever material is available. Otherwise, they will remain dormant. My final taught, for that beautiful country the solution would be leaving criticism and stop to be hostile of each other and become align; concentrate on hard work and educate the young generation. Also eliminate to be self-center and think for less fortunate ones, please.
BOLIVIA: Santa Cruz Autonomy Statute Violates Constitution August 30th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I have read your article and I saw that you are referring to article 136 of the new Bolivian Constitution. I have this constitution right here and have read the whole lot. Articles 136 and 137 refer to popular actions, which in turn give the right for any individual or group to expropriate anyone for non-compliance with their obligations to the community. Furthermore, this constitution states that the aggrieved party has no recourse in justice or any other governmental avenues. However in article 400 it allows for just indemnity. Frankly this is ambiguous as on the one hand the constitution states that an expropriated person is entitled to just compensation but on the other hand through articles 136 and 137, it disallows for any recourse in justice. This is the course of a lot of civil unrest in the country and lawlessness. I suggest you have a look at the case of ex-vice-president Victor Hugo Cardenas who had his house ransacked. There is plenty of documentary evidence on the net, if that if just then the whole country is falling apart.
TAJIKISTAN: Recalling the Good Old Soviet Union August 27th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Tajikistan has Typha. Generally, where you find desertification, you’ll find Typha or one of the other aquatic weeds as part of the problem. Aquatic weeds are dessication machines and siltation machines. Enough to cause a problem is enough to harvest for a renewable solution to part of your fuel shortage. Typha is a particularly good fuel feedstock. You can make it into charcoal, biomass briquettes, methane, or ethanol.
MIDEAST: Non-Story Sets Off Ripples of Trouble August 27th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I am baffled by the attitude of the authors of the article mentioned.
It is shocking to see journalists of such a normally high calibre automatically discounting as a “non-story” the very serious allegations of a fellow journalist, who himself was witness to the events he chronicles. Not to mention the allegations of the family’s of the alleged victims who have been rather maliciously disregarded as liars. It is one thing to express doubt or reservations. It is an entirely different thing to reject out of hand these accounts as untrue based on “all accounts”. Well, Mr. Bostrom’s account is one. Who are the others?
Of course the allegations are unsubstantiated but that does not automatically indicate they are false. This is the attitude that has allowed Israel to get away with numerous crimes over the years, the “non-stories” of harassment, theft, intimidation and murder. “Libellous”? … please, do your journalists say the same when similar stories come out about Chinese prisoners having their organs removed without anyone’s permission or the myriad other stories from all over the world about the organ-theft trade ? The information in the article has enough teeth to warrant further investigation and I would have thought that would have been the normal reaction from any self-respecting member of the journalistic profession. The attitude displayed in that article however, gives the impression that there is indeed something to hide and that Israel should shut up before too many people start hearing about it and asking for investigations.
It isn’t as if the precedent has not already been set. There are a number of stories about international’s who’ve died in Israel having their organs taken without permission from the families, not to mention Israel’s lack of laws governing transplants of organs illegally obtained. I hope you will register my complaint with the two journalists concerned in the hope that they might offer an apology to all the Palestinian mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters they’ve insulted … indeed, libeled, without a second thought and that they adopt a more professional, balanced approach to the subject
without prejudice
Sincerely
J Caldwell
Adelaide, Australia
Dear Editor:
I recently emailed a complaint about the subject title article and stated therein that the journalist of the Swedish article, Mr Bostrom was witness to the events he writes about. That was an error and retract it with apologies. That said, it does not detract from anything I stated in the complaint.
EUROPE: Wind Becomes More Energising August 27th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Just to let you know that Ireland has just one very small offshore wind farm installed at Arklow Bank. It is a 25MW pilot built owned and operated by General Electric as a test facility for its 3.6MW turbines (which are not now going into production). It is not a commercial operation. Readers of your article may be misled.
ENVIRONMENT: Ozone Treaty May Hold Key to Halting Climate Change August 26th, 2009
Dear Editor:
The stepping stones to a safe environmental future each must allow for the human comfort and development we strive for in our society. To this end after the battle agaianst the ‘Freons (CFC’s) we are now faced with HFC’s which don’t harm the ozone but do contribute to climate change.
The need for refridgerants for food preservation, coolants for habitat comfort and the industrial needs for air cooling and drying is still present. Have we got a handle on the next step to do these jobs and will it just push the problem further down the line?
The level of technology and engineering needs to get to the point of ending problems rather than pushing them to the future. Todays world is a product of these delay tactics that whether known or unforeseen have pushed us into a corner that we may not be able to deal ourselves out of.
We must find SOLUTIONS not just sidestep these problems. So what are the directions we are headed in this problem?
HEALTH-US: Tiny Town Demands Justice in Dioxin Poisoning August 25th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I’m from Simi Valley, California. I’m told that during the 1960’s and seventies, Rocketdyne Aviation, a division of North American Rockwell burned toxic and even radio-active waste over Simi Valley, especially the Santa Susanna neighborhood. In the nineties there was a lawsuit that proved the facts, but lost because the whistle blowers waited until the statute of limitations was past.
My father worked for Rocketdyne, as a “test engineer”. I come from a family where cancer and diabetes were nearly non-existent. We know that. We’ve done the geneology. Most of the family dies of heart disease or strokes, BUT about seven years ago, within a three year period, both of my parents (in their late seventies), my older brother and sister (in their fifties) were diagnosed with diabetes. .
Then I was diagnosed, first with diabetes (also in my fifties), then uterine cancer - all of us within 3 year period. To me that said we were all exposed to something at nearly the same time.
I was told that our case couldn’t be related to the burning of toxics (rocket fuel from the Apollo Space missions) on the hill over our town, but I just heard of dioxin poisoning causing cancer and diabetes. I was looking it up online and found your article.
How would I find out if we were exposed to dioxin? IS there any way of treating dioxin exposure, beyond avoiding further exposure?
It could have been something as simple as washing my father’s clothing in the same machine (same loads) as the rest of the family wash. But no one ever told my father that he was exposed to anything dangerous.
HEALTH-AFRICA: Where To Find A Million New Nurses? August 25th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Task shifting is a noble innovation which if well planned and implemented will help to strengthened health care system in developing countries especially Africa. In engaging Nurses and other lay health
care workers to initiate and counsel patients on HIV/AIDs care, how about other aspect of clinical services such as Pharmacy where the ratio of a Pharmacist to patients is so high. With above work load how can our Pharmacists address various issues of Pharmacy best practices in our numerous health facilities? Thank you.
EGYPT: Christians Split Over Presidential Scion August 24th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I thoroughly enjoy reading Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani’s articles on IPS and read them every chance I get. Being an Egyptian living in Canada I find their articles informative and well balanced. Well done and thanks for keeping me close to home.
POLITICS-KENYA: Broken Bodies, Unbroken Spirit August 23rd, 2009
Dear Editor:
We need not see the wind to know that it’s there and blowing. For long we have been told a lie that we’re the future leaders .No! We are not tomorrow’s leaders but today’s. That why we Kenyan youths and women ought to criticize today’s evils for a better tomorrow.
It’s not that we are ungrateful ingrate, but Kibaki’s presidency is, it has taken us voters for dumbbells with its weird opinions on hotch potch of issues, sanctimonious political ideologues which are shamelessly hypocritical and lack of dynamism and abdication to leadership.
Sustained growth is the cornerstone for poverty reduction ,while human resources is quintessential for enhancing the productivity, but this ought to be accompanied by integrated strategies that would encompass economic and social policies to enable the poor to be part of the growth process.
If there is anything that Kibaki’s presidency has succeeded in, is to prove to us that academic excellence doesn’t translate into leadership prudence. In this presidency poverty and inequality has remained entrenched with huge disparities between the rich and the poor. This ought to have been tackled by provision of the poor with opportunities to improve their living standard through access to quality education, health, infrastructures and financial services.
We need a presidency that will be committed to expansion of financial services to the poor through broadening the reach of formal financial institution by improving the banking sectors infrastructures for financial intermediation and developing approaches that would encourage banks to offer affordable financial products to poor households.
We need a presidency that will equalize opportunities thus higher incomes eventually a higher quality of life. Indeed this was the dream that got killed by Kibaki’s presidency of greed, bad governance and sectarianism. But enough is enough we are tired of this ethnic chauvinism and political parochialism.
2012, General Election, Kenyan youths and women lets separate the wheat from the chaff. Down with selfish, shortsighted political dwarfs whose leadership impotence and incompetence have blackened our tomorrow with sorrow. Come the voting day lets us explicitly elucidate to them that Kenya has its owners who are the voters in general and women and youths in particular. We will vote in a presidency that will erase the notion of Kenya having two tribes christened wananchi and wenyenchi, Dedan Kimathi stood strong against the colonist, Hezekiah Ochuku and Solomon Muruli among others stood strong against neo-colonism, and now it’s our turn to stand strong against political intimidation and ineptudeness by casting that vote based on principality and not dictates of our stomachs and loins. Presidents will come and go but our Kenyan presidency shall remain.
Of the four vying for presidency last year, namely Pius Muiru, Kalonzo Musyoka, Mwai Kibaki, and Raila Odinga. The latter was the least pretender at the presidency for he stands for real change and not cosmetic change in piecemeal as we are being treated to by Kibaki’s presidency. Save for Raila Odinga who is a reformist the rest were and are still conformist who only camouflaged to gel with the populist politics of the day that called for change during last year’s General election.
God created two kingdoms .The heavenly kingdom ruled by word of God or gospel of Christ and the worldly kingdom ruled by men or secular leaders. God is the king of both but the two should never be mixed. Upon this I welcomed pastor Muiru to meditate and i hope he has wisen up.
The Kenyan presidency needs a woman .Kenya is not lacking in women able to go beyond the ordinary in leadership. What about the likes of Ester Passaris, Wangari Maathai, Yvonne Khamati, Emma Madegwa, Selipher Sennah Madara, Njoki Ndungu, to name but a few? We no more can afford misguided, misdirected and foul mouthed pretenders at the presidency full of empty cheap rhetoric’s at the expense of development.
The future of Kenya is young, Kenyan future is in the hands of the youths and women. The future of Kenya is now. God bless Kenya, Amen.
ENVIRONMENT: Open Pit Disasters in Mexico and Peru August 22nd, 2009
Dear Editor:
The recent problems with items from China reminds me of the problems with scientific research in related issues — arsenic and mercury toxicities.
This is a response to the research done by Dartmouth College on arsenic (and on the lack of cancers in the residents of Armagosa Valley, CA, that has very high arsenic content in its drinking waters): http://www.wateronline.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=90e36731-f6ec-45bd-8168-c56e58fb6e92&VNETCOOKIE=NO
As a retired Univ. of California degree tech staff member, I have worked with and talked to many researchers about their methods of designing their research and experiments on arsenic, mercury and lead toxicity. There are some major problems with the basic methods and scientific “assumptions” that these people have made.
There are major experimental design questions here:
Just what is the concentration of the arsenic used in the experiment? Was this equivalent to the concentration found in normal human blood after drinking water with groundwater arsenic? Too often experimenters in the past have made the ionic concentrations way too high for what is found in humans (blood and urine and other types of samples), after they drank groundwater with high arsenic content.
Was the CHEMISTRY of the experiment truly equivalent to the chemistry found in human blood after groundwater ingestion AND the resulting biochemical interactions that take place in the digestive tract, blood, arteries, etc.?
We have seen many other experimenters use arsenic tests that did NOT have the same blood chemistry and did NOT have concentrations found in human blood after ingesting.
They used “tissue samples”. But are these conditions truly equivalent to what humans have in terms of the tissues that receive their ions from blood and plasma through the arteries and other biochemical processes within the human bodies?
See also the problems with biological models: http://www.the-scientist.com/article/home/53306/.
Recently there has been controversy over the change in arsenic (As) standards and in Mercury (Hg) standards. If those who want tighter arsenic standards in drinking water had true geologic knowledge, they would know that both arsenic and mercury are some of the many elements that Nature put in the earth and that the groundwater has picked up over the thousands of years. Often, arsenic (As) is associated with gold deposits, even low grade, and other sulfide ore deposits. In many places in the USA, there are geological deposits of the mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) and pure mercury, such as the Big Bend area of Texas near the Rio Grande river. Over geological time, the groundwater has picked up mercury in many places over thousands of years. There are also geological formations that contain trace amounts of mercury in their sediments that for eons have been washing into the rivers, groundwater, and soils.
There are several hundred naturally-occurring lead deposits (lead sulfide and lead carbonate) in the USA that were in existence long before any Europeans explorers came around in the 1500s and 1600s. In many drinking water sources, there are a number of other elements in natural drinking water, such as uranium, lead, molybdenum, nickel, sulfur, etc. that originated from natural mineral deposits.
Some researchers have been giving statements that are not based upon complete analysis, but come across as fear. One researched stated “all the time people were dying of cancers now associated with drinking that arsenic-contaminated water”. But we would have to assume that all autopsies of ancient and modern humans has shown a 100% statistical correlation to arsenic and not to other factors, such as other chemicals, other metals, diet, sun exposure, prescription drug effects, genetics, other elements, etc. In addition, a number of other studies did not show good statistical analysis / correlation on the level of arsenic (percent or parts per million) and health effects. The residents of Amargosa Valley and Beatty in Nevada and the Death Valley areas in California have elevated levels of arsenic in their drinking waters, but cancers are not prevalent there. A number of residents several of us know have lived to the age of 80s and 90s. How do we explain that?
In talking to the environmental and biological scientists on the West Coast about this issue, a peculiar point was brought up. Most of them have mathematically matched arsenic levels to human health affects through regression methods. These are the SAME types of methods used on Lead and Mercury research, as seen in the scientific publications. These methods “assume” a straight statistical correlation (both linear and non-linear) between the input of arsenic and the output (health affects). But how could they have known what other elements in the drinking water were doing in conjunction with arsenic? None of these scientists have filtered out those inputs that are either not affecting the output, or are affecting in minor ways, or are affecting in combined effects that do not show up until certain conditions are correct. The methods are the analyses of variances and other advanced techniques, which do not appear to be well known by these scientists.
Few scientists and researchers know how to use statistics properly to be able to filter and view data for the actual, true cause-and-effects. Too many times researchers use statistical regression methods that assume a direct relationship between the causes and effect, which may not be real. Although there are several books on the market, one of the best books that can help researchers, analysts, and scientists is a book entitled, “Statistics for Experimenters,” by Box, Hunter, and Hunter.
Native peoples have been drinking water here in America and many other places for centuries with arsenic and other “contaminants,” (like lead) long before there was ever a Federal government to protect us from the Earth. Why don’t the environmentalists understand basic Earth Sciences?
ITALY: Filipinas Spur Gender-Based Development August 21st, 2009
Dear Editor:
Thank you for a moving and enlightening article on Filipino Women migrant workers. I am very glad to have read this article, and will pass it on to others. My name is Jasper Sanidad, and I am a native Filipino now studying in the United States. I am majoring in Photography at San Francisco State University, and am planning to apply for a U.S. Fulbright Grant to pursue a personal project in documenting Filipino Women migrant workers in Italy. I am writing to inquire how I can get in contact with Ms. Charito Basa, who is head of the Rome-based Filipino Women’s Council. I would like to seek her affiliation, guidance, and support in undertaking my project through the Fulbright Grant. If you could forward me her email, and any other relevant information, I would be very grateful. I’ve searched the web through and through and have not been able to find an email for Ms. Charito Basa or anyone from the Filipino Women’s
Council in Rome or Italy. I thank you for your time in reading, and look very forward to hearing
from you. And thank you again for your esteemed news reporting.
Best Wishes,
Jasper Sanidad
San Francisco, CA (USA)
EDUCATION: Mother Tongue Absent in Thousands of Classrooms August 20th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Have you ever heard the story of the Irish language? Here we have a native language, but it is ignored by the government and education system. Our native tongue is not recognised as a native language by the EU.
LEBANON: Global Warming Makes Mischief Worse August 18th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I want to mention that “global warming” is not the cause of the “long, dry summers” in Lebanon. In fact, the opposite is true. When the earth warms, precipitation increases. Around the world, over the past 10 years, there has been strong evidence of a little ice age beginning. This could explain the dryness of certain areas, as well as the low temperatures elsewhere. I’m an archaeologist who has studied climate change professionally. The reason the idea of “global warming” is promoted is for political or financial gain. I’m telling you this so that others like me will continue reading your website. I’ve actually stopped reading websites that mention “global warming”, even National Geographic and Archaeology. I hope you do your own research on climate change, instead of believing the “experts” who get paid to brainwash the public. Thank you for your time.
RIGHTS-UGANDA: Women Press for Domestic Violence Bill August 16th, 2009
Dear Editor:
It is high time politicians acknowledge the fact that the safety and well-being of women is a ‘ human rights’ issue and not be swept under the carpet. In this twenty first century women should be treated with respect and equal without discrimination of any kind. It does not matter whether one is educated or not. Politicians have the duty to protect the voiceless as well as those who have the means to voice their views.
Frederick Wamala
Domestic Violence Counsellor
Men’s Referral Service
NO TO VIOLENCE
Melbourne, Australia
POLITICS-US: New Jewish Lobby Seeks to Redefine “Pro-Israel” August 14th, 2009
Dear Editor:
So Ben Ami’s grandpa helped in the founding of Tel Aviv? Since he’s such a strong advocate of ‘Land for Peace,’ how does he feel about evacuating all Jews from Tel Aviv and ceding the city to Hamas? Surely that would finally end the Middle East turmoil once and for all. Right?
DEVELOPMENT: Should Water Be Legislated as a Human Right? August 14th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Please, Legislate that Water is a Human Rights’s issue. After, reading a National Geographic article on the results and suffering of a western African country, as a French Water Company had destroyed their economy. The suffering of the population was so unnecessary, but the greed of foreign investors, could have cared less. It is wrong, when a few control the substances of life. Water is a human right, not a product to sell, or be used as a power item on the global market. Men can’t help themselves of being greedy, a legislate bill and enforcement to follow the law is the only balance to man’s greed.
US: Children Call for End to Immigration Raids August 14th, 2009
Dear Editor:
In regards to a recent story on the children of illegal aliens whose parents have been arrested for identity theft, it is important to note that according to a senior Social Security official, 75% of illegal aliens use fraudulent Social Security numbers. In many cases, these numbers belong to American citizens or legal residents. Under Arizona state law this is identity theft - a felony.
Arizona leads the nation in overall identity theft and according to the Federal Trade Commission, 33% of total identity theft in Arizona is employment related. It is also estimated that over one million Arizona
children have their identities being used by someone else, mainly illegal aliens to get jobs. These are real crimes with real victims.
What the children of illegal aliens appear to be saying is “Let our parents keep using your stolen identities, ruining your credit, leaving you with unpaid tax liabilities, saddling you with their police records and corrupting your medical records with life threatening consequences.”
The children of illegal aliens have to recognize the damage that their parents are doing to other people and tell them to stop it. Demanding that their parents be allowed to continue using stolen identities and
ruining lives is cruel and mean spirited.
POLITICS: Obama to Bolster Nuclear Disarmament at U.N. August 13th, 2009
Dear Editor:
I was pleased to read your article this morning, but recognized the opportunity to cause others to become aware of my innovative thinking in terms of security for all facing the threat of nuclear 1st strike. Interested persons can review my first U.S. Patent of a Mutual “Offensive” Missile Control System # 5,046,006, originally designed for the Soviet Union and the U.S., technologically preventing the initiating of a first strike by either nation, but allowing nuclear arsenals to be used for retaliatory strikes only. The system of C3 & I (Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence) interfaces with an anti-ballistic missile system, guarding against rogue nation missiles and missiles launched by terrorists.
A second Invention is a modification of the earlier patent, redesigning the system as a Multi-Party Missile Control System, suitable as a global system, including all nations possessing “offensive” nuclear arsenals. This second patent is pending in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
Getting rid of all nuclear weapons is likely to take considerable time and a system, as described above, will offer security against a first strike, pending the complete elimination of such weapons from all nations.
HONDURAS-US: Obama Administration Restating Its Position? August 12th, 2009
Dear Editor:
It is a GOOD thing the United States has taken little action, because they are picking the wrong horse here. And it is none of our business. Most people from Hondurans do not want him back and we shouldn’t be forcing them to accept a corrupt, bank robbing, election fixing, drug smuggling wannabee dictator. His own cousin says he is crazy. He broke the law and he will be arrested if he returns. Obama and Clinton should just butt out.
RIGHTS-EUROPE: ‘Non-lethal Weapons’ Tackle Protests Against Globalisation August 10th, 2009
Dear Editor:
Most of the stories I have read about Tasers being used do not emphasize that they fire two fish-hook-like darts or projectiles on the ends of the wires carrying 50,000 volts to the person being tased. Why not?
CUBA: Following the Trail of a Woman Who Lived as a Man August 5th, 2009
Dear Editor:
read your story about the recent book about Enriqueta Favez with great interest. It’s a fascinating and thus far little-known chapter of Latin American history. I am especially grateful that you included
information on how to get my hands on the book. It turns out you can download it FOR FREE from the/ Red Iberoamericana de Masculinidades. /Rejoice! It’s the neatest e-book I’ve ever seen, complete with photos, a map, and a highly readable format.
ENVIRONMENT-BURUNDI: Urban Waste Becomes Urban Fuel August 5th, 2009
Dear Editor:
This is excellent news! It needs to be publicized all over Africa. Briquetting for fuel is also a way to dispose of another waste that I know your country has, but do not know if it is yet a problem: Typha and other aquatic weeds. And newer, more efficient stoves designed for biomass are being developed regularly now. HEY LAGOS! Look at this!
URUGUAY: Rural Schools Threatened by Emptying Countryside August 2nd, 2009
Dear Editor:
My name is Enrique, I’m Uruguayan and live in the US, I just came from six weeks of vacation/field work in Tacuarembo Uruguay, where I visited several rural schools and farms. It’s amazing the conditions in which these people live, without electricity or running water, sometimes with a cellular phone without charge, in case of emergency, a child sick or something it will take half a day in a horse to reach for some kind of help. My interest this time is to find out if any organization could help on the installation of solar panels for this (to begin with) rural schools, where the kids might be able to charge their cellular phones and also how can I help in providing info to these people on how to purchase and install solar panels to illuminate their houses and/or pump water from a well four blocks away, instead of carrying the water in buckets. Oh, your article was excellent.
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