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December 17th, 2007
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China: Pollution map of China released
Just over a year since their first [zh] mashup was released, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), headed by journalist-environmentalist Ma Jun, has just released its Air Pollution Map [zh], complete with its own BBS and space for feedback forum.
Based on official statements and public records of pollution incidents dating back to 2004, 40 of the 4,000 corporations the mashup fingers are foreign-owned multinationals.
Video uploaded to 56.com by user feihe in May this year and shot on the outskirts of Beijing.
A step toward making pollution economically unsustainable for offending corporations, or just another way to postpone fixing China's pervasive pollution problems? The environment has been a steady topic in prominent parts of the blogsphere this year and the air pollution map made no small splash on the internet over the weekend.
Judging from this Dec. 14 post, is it possible the indie blogger ‘Picturesque Darkness' has only just heard of IPE's existence?
环境是人类赖以生存的根本，但一些企业、商家、甚至跨国企业为了效益，根本不管不顾。除了领导及相关责任人的玩忽职守之外 ，国家管理机构为什么没有治理， 我们的法律 法规还是跟不上发展的步伐。领导的意识要走在前面。
此外，大家应该理性的思考问题，对关于自己和子孙后代切身利益的问题。要敢于为自己说话。我们虽不能做什么大事情，但是群众的力量是不可小觑的，支持一下这家民间组织（公众与环境研究中心）作点力所能及的事情，声援、或者捐款。方式众多，量力而行。对于那些不负责任的企业、公司进行谴责、声讨。他们会感觉到压力的、政府会感觉到压力的。从量变会发展到质变。请大家一起努力。再次感谢公众与环境研究中心、感谢他们敢于说实话。敢于面对各方压力。祝公众与环境研究中心越来越权威，越来越有威慑力。
What's more, people need to be thinking rationally about this problem of their own vital interests and that of the next few generations. People need to start speaking up for themselves. Though there's not a lot we're able to do, the strength of the masses is undeniable. Support this NGO (IPE) by doing what you can, as a cause, or through donation. There are many ways, so do what's within your capability. As for those irresponsible corporations and companies, denounce and condemn them. They'll feel the pressure, and the government will too. Quantitative change will grow into qualitative change. Everybody, please work together. Again, thank you, IPE, for daring to speak the truth. For daring to face down all sorts of pressure. May the IPE grow in its authority, and in its deterrence.
Also an indie blogger, Xiao Kong merely adds a line to a reposted media report regarding the new Air Pollution Map in a Dec. 15 post titled ‘Let every corporation lose face':
看来，中国的污染不是说让老百姓少开一天车或者少抽一根烟就缓解了的，大企业应该在这方面率先解决问题。
MSN Spaces blogger Ina Huang picks up on recent Western mainstream media coverage of health risks China poses in her Dec. 16 post, “First toys, now marine products“:
今天NEWSMAX头条和周六的NEW YORK TIMES都报道了CHINESE SEEFOOD的水质问题.标题为: Chinese Commercial Fish from Toxic Waters.一看到这个标题我就想,玩具刚平息一段时间, 水产也要完了.
目前还没有在国内媒体上看到这方面的报道,不知道会不会又引起像玩具那样的广泛关注与讨论.如果我们将玩具问题说成是美国的技术壁垒,那么水产真的是中国人的咎由自取. 当时出铅玩具问题的时候,吴仪说要严抓质量,尤其是食品质量,想不到才过几天,又被老美真真抓了把柄.食品安全早已是老生常谈了.从大米,到奶粉,到蔬菜水果,到多宝鱼,哪一样是真正可以让人安心的?鱼米之乡的我们都会吃得不安心. 据说有些菜农,去卖的菜和自家吃的菜是分开来种的.心寒啊.国外说我们中国has notoriously lax environmental standards,也是有道理的.工业发展,却对环境不管不顾.但其实老外是没有资格来评论我们这一点的.外企工厂不是在中国的土地上肆虐吗? 马军的那张电子地图就说明了一切. 怕就怕: 老外保护自己国家的环境,把要破坏环境的工业迁移到中国,赚了钱,用了产品,完了还说中国环境差!
中国人只有以一颗诚信的心, 发展工业,保护环境,这才是生存之道.否则像玩具和水产, 一旦出了问题将会付出很大的代价来收复市场失地!
在这样的人文环境下,谈诚信又何其容易? 所以只有从自身做起了.很佩服马军, 希望大家都可以去关注他一下.一年之前看他的专访,有些鼓掌难鸣的无奈,现在他还是.毕竟,环保是全社会,全人类的事业.
So far I haven't seen any mainland media reports like this, so I don't know if this will bring the same kind of widespread concern and discussion that the toys did. If we said the toy problems go back to American barriers on sharing technology, the only blame for the marine products lies with us Chinese. Right when the lead paint toys problem arose, Wu Yi said there would be a serious crackdown on quality problems, especially with the quality of food products. Who knew that just a few days later, the Yankees really got us by the tail. Food safety is not a new problem here. From rice to milk powder, to fruit and vegetables, to turbot, can we truly feel safe about any of them? Even with as much fish and rice as there is in this land, even we don't feel assured about eating it. They say farmers even separate the kinds of produce they bring to market from what they eat in their own homes. It's depressing.
Overseas they say we in China have notoriously lax environmental standards, and there's some truth in that; industry, as it develops, cares nothing for the environment. But those foreigners have no capacity to criticize us on this one. Aren't foreign companies and factories here ripping through Chinese land? That mashup map of Ma Jun's says it all. So what if they're afraid? Those foreigners protect their own countries and environments, and move all their environment-destroying industry over to China, make their money, use their products, and then they still say China's environment is bad! The Chinese people must develop industry and protect the environment, all in good faith, this is the only way we will survive. Lest things go the way of the toys and marine products and something goes wrong and we have to pay a big price to recover markets and lost territory!
In this kind of environment, just how easy is it to speak of good faith? That's why this can only start with us. I really admire Ma Jun, and I hope everyone can pay him more attention. A year ago I saw a feature on him, and he spoke a bit of feeling helpless faced with lack of support, as he still is. But when it comes down to it, protecting the environment is a project for everyone, for all of humanity.
Ina's reader Jay left the following comment:
什么时候变得这么忧国忧民了：）
其实从注重盈利到讲究品质是每个国家和社会发展道路上的必经之路。美国在市场经济发展的初期也是这样的，有毒奶粉，劣质猪肉，民众对企业的极度不信任。每个行业都需要时间来实现自身的制度化和标准化，给自己国家的企业一点宽容和改进的时间嘛。美国这个样子说话，就像一个研究生在说一个小学生没有文化一样，这个客观来说是对的，但是也有斟酌的地方：）
Anyway, the move from emphasis on profit to being particular about quality is one that every country and society on the road to development must make. America, in the early stages of its market economy development, was the same: poisoned milk poweder, rotten pork, and massive distrust in corporations. Every industry needs time to fully adapt to a system and standards, so give your own country's enterprises a little lenience and time to adjust. For America, to be talking like this, it's like a PhD student to be telling someone in elementary school that they don't know anything. Sure, objectively that true, but there's still room for discretion. :)
Back to air pollution, MSN Spaces blogger Chen Jiangang picks up on the International Olympic Committee executive games director Gilbert Felli's mention last week that Olympic events will be rescheduled if Beijing's air pollution poses a threat to athletes' health by looking closely at what other steps the Beijing Olympic Committee is or has been prepared to take:
北京的其他计划包括在奥运会期间暂停大规模建设以及关闭制造污染的工厂。
北京的奥运会组织者将北京改善空气质量的努力称为“蓝天计划”，在目标时间内将污染物浓度控制在可接受的水平内。
北京已经向奥运会环境项目投入了大约1200亿人民币，关闭污染工厂，禁止数千高污染出租车和公交车上街。
Beijing's Olympic Games organizers' efforts to improve Beijing's air quality is being called “Plan Blue,” which aims to bring the thickness of Beijing's pollutants down to a manageable level within a certain time period.
Beijing has already invested roughly 120 billion RMB into the Olympic Games Environment Project, closing down polluting factories and prohibiting thousands of heavy-polluter taxis and buses from being on the streets.
Ma Jun hasn't updated his own blog since August this year, and the title of the most recent post reads: ‘Bringing water pollution under control needs the public to first be making green choices.'
Caribbean: A More Violent World?
Are we living in a more violent world? Some say we are; others believe that violence is simply more widely reported. Earlier this year, the World Bank suggested that the Caribbean (as a region) may have the highest murder rate in the world - and it is having a serious effect on economic growth. More and more, Caribbean bloggers are discussing the issue - and their concerns transcend territorial boundaries, economic realities and regional politics…
Living in Barbados posts an overview of the regional crime situation:
Most countries in the Caribbean region have had a long experience of peace with other nations; few have actually been directly at war with other nations. However, we find that we are increasingly “at war” amongst ourselves.
He also worries about the escalating crime rate in Jamaica, the island of his birth:
If you have no notion of what violent crime does to a society you need to visit Jamaica. A rate of murders that leads the world and many acts of brutal violence has scarred this country and changed dramatically how people live their lives.
On the heels of two high-profile murders in the Bahamas, Craig Butler, writing at Bahama Pundit, says we're living in “trying times”:
…We as a nation need to figure out what the nature of our problem is before we can adequately address it. It is my view that education, or the lack of it amongst marginalized young men, is the key. I will continue to say that a man who has no training, and thus an inability to think and make reasoned decisions, is susceptible to anything. In our case, it’s a life of easy money derived from crime.
Butler's fellow Bahamaian blogger, Nicolette Bethel, writes:
There’s a lot of fear going about out there. My mailbox lights up on a regular — almost daily — basis. I receive local news circulars, you see, and the focus of every one is violent crime. There’s one email update that keeps count of 2007’s murder rate; there are others that blaze headlines across their tops when you open them. And talk shows and newspapers keep us thinking about our crime rate.
In analysing her country's crime situation, she refers to studies which suggest that “the higher the religiosity of any society, the more violent that society is.”
Like many other bloggers, Daniel Henrich, a journalism professor at the College of the Bahamas is trying to be an agent of change, outlining a “barebones strategy to combat the rising incidences of violence in Bahamian society among at-risk youth.”
Even heads of state are not immune to threats of violence, notes A Limey In Bermuda, who was “horrified to hear about the bullet and threatening letter sent to the Premier.” He is also uncomfortable with the political intonations that accompanied the death threat:
I suspect it's still too early for the police to say who mailed the bullet. It could have just as easily come from a deranged PLP supporter unhappy about Dr. Brown's leadership as it could from a supporter of the UBP. It's time for all politicians and their supporters to end the spiral of nastiness and mistrust that has lead to this latest low.
Cuban bloggers are quite vocal about the violent tactics used against demonstrators who chose to march on International Human Rights Day, while Jamaican Francis Wade attempts to find a link between violent crime and GDP. Domestic violence is also quite prevalent in Caribbean societies and Stella Ramsaroop blogs about the issue from a Guyanese perspective.
Trinidad and Tobago bloggers have a lot to say about spiraling crime rates in the twin-island nation. Jumbie's Watch posts front-page images from the local media to make his point:
This is what crime is doing to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This is the face of grief, of pain, of hopelessness.
Ramblings and Reason acknowledges that “things are bad. The numbers are undeniable…such an awful picture, such horrible statistics!” She also wonders about the media's role in shaping perceptions of violence.
Now Is Wow says ” there was a time when seeing the photo of a dead body on the street inspired shock and horror. Then, sadly, we ‘get used to it' as a nation.”
If the reaction of the regional blogosphere is any indication, the Caribbean does not want to ‘get used to it', but Ramblings and Reason laments that “we are giving in to the fear”:
It causes churches to reschedule midnight mass and priests to turn away murder witnesses. It gives rise to notions about which kinds of places are safe to lime in and which kinds of people are likely to rob us. It makes us crawl inside the safety of ourselves, separating us from each other more and more.
Lebanon: Who Killed Francois Hajj and Why?
Lebanon grabs the international headlines again, with another assassination. Who was killed and why? Who is blaming whom and what have the region's bloggers got to say.
Lebanon's army chief of operations General François Hajj, who was tipped to be the next head of the country's army, was killed in a car bomb-assassination. According to news reports: “it was the first time that the Lebanese army, which is widely seen as the only force capable of holding the country together, had been a target, representing the worst crisis since the civil war.” Hajj's assassination also has a rippling effect on the doldrums paralysing the selection of Lebanon's next president. The 55-year-old Maronite Catholic was a potential candidate to succeed the army commander Michel Suleiman, who could be appointed president.
The region's citizen journalists were quick to point fingers at everyone - from Israel and the US to the usual suspects - political foes, Syria, Iran, Hezbullah and Al Qaeda.
Assassinating Salvation:
Blacksmith Jade expresses her shock and is clear about who she thinks is behind the carnage. She writes:
It’s not easy to quantify the sense of shock, desperation, and fear that this most recent ‘hit’ [on Lebanese Army Brigadier General Francois el Hajj] by the Syrian killing machine has rendered on the country.
Indeed, for a country now all too used to the roving bands of assassins striking at its politicians [while other politicians quickly move to exploit their murder], this latest assassination has struck a particular chord. Echoing off the Army’s recent victory against a malicious terrorist cell in Nahr el Bared, and striking at the one institution in which most Lebanese had placed their faith for their salvation. A salvation they had pursued so far as to propose the amendment of the constitution, in order to bring to the nation’s head the man at the head of that [perceived] salvation.
This latest assassination is what it always is: Syria’s use of death, terror, and destruction to try and keep the Lebanese “in line”.
Complete Brutal Domination:
Along similar lines, and in more detail - including how inter-Arab relations come to play, Tony Bey explains the motives behind the assassination here.
The bottom line is that Syria's only conception of its relationship to Lebanon is complete brutal domination, where Syria decides every single minutae of Lebanese life, including who gets to be president, prime minister, speaker, Army Commander, security officials, election law, cabinet make-up, cabinet portfolios, cabinet policy statement, etc. This is precisely the threat Bashar relayed to Rafik Hariri in their last meeting before he ordered his killing: I alone decide who Lebanon's president is, and if you disagree, I will break Lebanon over your heads.
This is the framework within which the assassination has to be placed, along with another parallel, inter-Arab framework..
3.5 Theories on Who Killed Hajj:
Beirut Spring's Mustapha shares with us his 3.5 theories on who the assassins could be. They range from Syria, to Israel and America to Al Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalists. The final 0.5 “suspect” is former President Fouad Siniora, who gets an honorary mention here:
Honorary mention, Theory 3.5: The Evil Saniora
Who killed him: Fouad Seniora’s negligence
Why he did it: To undermine the Christians and monopolize power.
Why it’s plausible: It’s always Seniora’s fault
Who believes this theory: Michel Aoun
Why the theory could be in doubt: …
His readers add a few more “suspects” in the comments section.
Lebanese-Palestinian Politics to Blame?
Lebanese commentator and Angry Arab, Assad Abu Khalil, weighs in. He blames Lebanese-Palestinian politics for the incident.
Who killed Francois Al-Hajj, chief-of-operations for the Lebanese Army? Nobody knows of course. He certainly was not close to the Hariri camp; and there is the widely circulated reference to an article in As-Siyasah (from January 26th, 2007) in which he was identified as an enemy of March 14. Personally, I think the explanation may be found not in Lebanese politics, but in Lebanese-Palestinian politics. I had predicted when the Lebanese Army (supported by March 8th and March 14th–government and opposition alike) was destroying the Nahr Al-Barid camp that the horrors would produce a new vengeful organization, just as Black September was born out of the Jordanian massacres of Palestinians. Al-Hajj had a key role in the Lebanese Army operations in Nahr Al-Barid.
Bombs Give Way to Other Bombs:
Egyptian D B Shobrawy tackles the issue from a different aspect. He explains:
People have trouble understanding the fragility of the Middle East sometimes. Lebanon especially is a country whose political structure demands chaos. The constitution requires a Maronite Christian president, a Sunni prime minister and a Shi’a speaker. Positions along religious lines go straight down to the military as well. The most powerful position in the country is represented by a small minority and I dont have to tell you how sensitive religious identities are in this region…Now consider that the different groups in this country have a very difficult time getting along and EVERYONE has guns in their home. A friend of mine has a couple AK-47’s, a M-16, some other assorted machine guns, 3 Desert Eagle’s and 2 rocket launchers…and his family are a bunch of well off bankers and business owners.
All we can do now is sit and wait to see what happens next. Bombs have a way of giving way to other bombs, hopefully this bomb doesnt give birth to more.
Video Footage:
Finkployd, from Lebanon, brings us video footage from the assassination scene in this post.
Simple Idea for the Simple-Minded:
Frustrated with dead-end investigations into car bombs, Lebanonesque's JoseyWales shares his thoughts on how to pin down culprits:
Asking for special or expanded powers to search for weapons, explosives and political assassins is still not high up on the government’s priority list…
After your now routine car-bomb and routine condemnations, the other very familiar story: people arrested in connection with the exploded car, people claim they sold the car to unknown, people released, end of story and end of investigative track…
It’s getting to be boring by now, in each car-bomb murder the sales chain ends with a guy who sold it to “unknown” for cash.(H)ow about making it ILLEGAL to sell to “unknown”, like after the 4th or 5th or 6th car-bomb. We are now at number 12 or 14 depending on how you count.
How difficult is it to pass a law that puts the (or some) responsibility of these crimes on the last KNOWN idiot in the chain of sales. You are selling your car? By law, you will need to know the name of the buyer and ID him/her. Make a lapse punishable by 10 years in jail or even by a death sentence for all I care.
More reactions can also be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Panama: The Kuna Indigenous Group and the Use of Technology
It was a great moment when I learned about Gilberto Alemancia and his profound contribution to Panama’s tourism industry as a multilingual guide in the Panamanian rainforest indigenous areas, and in the most colorful of the jobs ever, capturing nature and people with the lens of a digital camera.
Gilberto Alemancia is an independent eco-tourism consultant - he is also an advisor on various eco-tourism programs in indigenous communities for Central America, Asia and Panama. He has given talks on ecotourism, conservation and culture at universities throughout Central & South America, Asia and Europe. He has also spoken at various international eco-tourism conferences for Outside and National Geographic Magazines. (from Pilotguides.com)
One of the first things he mentioned when we were first corresponding by e-mail was that he is from Kuna origin. Then, he went on and mentioned it again in another e-mail, without me even asking. It was then when I reacted and wondered, “…well, he might be a person who has experienced in his lifetime the cultural stigma that labels people with indigenous roots in our country. Maybe not, …maybe he is just a very proud one.”
Then, I found myself before the missing link I have been looking for so long: someone with the knowledge on the different indigenous groups of our country and their dialects, with the disposition to share and interested to teach his own. I started asking questions, it was my chance…Finally!
Melissa De León: From the cultural perspective, what is your perception of the impact technology and internet has had in the Kuna ethnicity?
Gilberto Alemancia: It is sad to admit that today, technology is almost non existant in the Kuna Yala islands. There is no internet available in the Comarca Kuna Yala, although through the islands runs a fibre-optic submarine cable which provides vast infraestructure capacity making Panama highly competitive in the use of communications in logistical services, a project developed by Cable & Wireless Panama and financed by ARCOS (Americas Region Caribbean Ring Systems). The Kuna caciques (chiefs) and the General Kuna Congress failed to include in the contract signed in April 2001 that Cable and Wireless would provide Internet to the Kuna islands and its people. I understand technology is very important in the education precess and could help us teach others about our culture and traditions. In nowadays Cable and Wireless only pays a monthly fee for the use of the Kuna Yala territory to host the submarine cable, but that’s all. I know this company (Cable & Wireless) always talks about supporting education through technology, but that may be in the city, because the story is totally different in our islands.
MD: What motivated you to learn photography? Where did you learn it?
GA: To tell you the truth, I never formally studied photography. My work is in the Turism and Recreation field, but eight years ago we began organizing photographic excursions in Panama with a very good friend from New York, Rick Sammon, who writes for the Associated Press and is the author of ten books about digital photography. I was very much interested when I saw him taking photos of nature and people, then I start organizing exclusive photography tours in Panama with other internationally famous photographers. At the same time I was learning from their workshops. It is a hobby for me, but some of my photos have been in magazines in Panama and internationally they have been published in publications as such as Iris Times, Outside Magazine, Native Peoples, Island Magazine. It is very important that every time we try to teach the people from the indigenous groups we visit about photography, at the same time we make donations.
In our photographic excursions we visit Kuna Yala (Kunas), Darien (Embera y Wounaan) and the Ngobe Bugles. I have noticed that young people want to learn and maybe work in this field, but the only problem is that the digital cameras are expensive. We teach them, because what we do are interactive classes, and because it is good for them and a way to show the world about our culture and traditions.
Photo Credits: All photos from this post are by Gilberto Alemancia and used with permission. All rights reserved unless authorized by the author.
Hungry for more? …well, then you’ll have to visit his Flickr!
Links for Mon, 2007-12
Srebrenica Genocide Blog reports on the sentencing of Dragomir Milosevic “for the shelling and terrorism campaign (all 5 counts of terror) against Sarajevo and its citizens from August 1994 to late 1995.”
Alive in Baghdad's special correspondent in Iraq Ali Shafeya was killed at his home in Sadr City, announced the site, which is collecting donations for his funeral and family. Ali took 31 bullets between the chest and the head and died immediately. Two of his brothers were killed in the Firdos Square bombing in 2005. He is survived by his mother and sister, who are living as refugees in Syria.
Eternal Remont writes about Andrew C. Kuchins' “Alternative Futures for Russia to 2017″ report and the Russian media's reaction to it.
aruni pradeepika reports that her father has been abducted by the LTTE.
All Things Pakistan on Bangladesh turning 36, and the need to bring Pakistanis stranded in camps back to Pakistan.
Gustavo Coronel of Las Armas de Coronel summarizes the content of a forum about Venezuelan social issues held at the Center of Strategic and International Studies.
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