What is it with sick white boys?
December 16, 2012
What is it with sick white boys? Their mental health is dominated with macho, bullying and revenge for real or perceived insults to their manhood. They feel it necessary to be violent to get respect. They will challenge anyone who suggests they need help.
The glory of violence is in our face every day and is the accepted option offered to our children daily. Look at all the heroes we offer up to our children. Before WWII it was cowboys and Indians and frontier wars with well-defined good and bad guys. After WWII it was the GI Joe mentality. Again, there was a clear distinction between the good guys and bad guys. After the internal revolution of the 1960s, the line between good and bad became more and more blurred with the spread of drugs. Some heroes were drug dealers, some heroes were those fighting drug dealers. Then the James Bond era identified the good guys as glorified hit men with kick ass toys and beautiful women jumping into bed. The bad guys, bent on world domination, also had kick ass toys and beautiful women. They also had some really scary henchmen.
Today, in a world running out of fuel, water and food the heroes are killing and maiming in sick wars around the world. The heroes are not the Doctors and Rescuers, but they are the Black Ops Mercenaries who go to world hot spots and kill and maim indiscriminately.
This puts a lot of pressure on today’s young white male to be accepted by his peers. When acceptance fails, young men go through a very traumatic psychological transition into revenge mindset.
They feel it necessary to disrespect girls calling them bitches.
They resent any discipline that accompanies education, whether it is at home or school.
They must show their peers they are tough and aren’t afraid to hurt or kill someone or something.
They feel repressed. Who? What? Why do these sensitive young men feel repressed and disrespected?
What kind of peer pressure are these young men really exposed too?
Who are those helpers? When a family or caregiver is too embarrassed to reach out, nothing is done for the one who needs help. Don’t admit to anyone there is a problem … you don’t want anything like that on your record …
Yes, there are other ethnic groups that use firearms to kill and maim. There are always gangs and cartels who use guns as a tool in their daily business of drug distribution. That is a sick business model, but it has a business purpose similar to Black Ops Mercenaries. It is profit driven.
Mental Health is just that. It should be part of everyday concern, just like eating right and getting physical exercise and visiting the doctor when you are sick. America’s social system is very backward when it comes to mental health in general. The undercurrent is a stigma imposed by communities of churches and schools. You are told that anything on your record that implies any mental health problems will follow you throughout your life and prevent you from getting some jobs. That is what America is up against. Don’t admit you need help, because it will mess up your future ability to get a job. Don’t admit you need help because it will make you suspect in social circles. Don’t admit you need help, because it will affect the social status of you family … America has done this to itself.
You hear horror stories of children being held in closets and basements for years … because they may show signs of unusual behavior. Seeking mental health help is never considered by a dysfunctional family. In America, it is the outward appearance that rules how we treat each other and how we survive in a materialistic culture. Keeping up with the Jones mindset means you have perfect children.
We are all the product of multiple influences on our lives from the time we are born. When we enter adolescence, the pressures and trauma of becoming social creatures is magnified. This is where a dysfunctional childhood can push someone into violence out of frustration. Acting out to spite whoever and whatever is perceived to be causing the personal trauma. Hate and vengeance can fill the voids in the hearts and minds of frustrated and alienated children. A frustrated person with a social issues that has access to any weapon is dangerous. A dangerous person that has access to firearms can hurt many people at one time. When that dangerous person has a firearm and wants to lash out, available targets most often don’t even know that person and have no idea they are random targets of unaddressed mental illness. Unaddressed mental illness breeds terror-ism!
Until America outgrows it’s concept that mental health should be locked away in the closet or basement, and, until America decides that mental health is just that HEALTH! Denial will provide horrific entertainment in the media until there is no one left to watch the commercials.
Until America outgrows it’s concept that mental health attention is something to be avoided and hidden away and lied about, there will be horrible acts against living things. Hate is a mental health issue. When someone hates themselves, everyone is a target!
My heart goes out to all the loved ones who have experienced losses as a consequence of America’s denial-ism.
America’s Affordable Health Care Act should be used to assist Mental Health Treatment for anyone who needs it. But, it has to become socially acceptable to seek help!
I have written about Mental Health negligence before:
2012/08/24/do-you-feel-better-it-wasnt-terrorism/
2012/05/17/lessons-of-the-weeping-camel-for-texas/
2012/07/20/i-have-a-gun-and-i-have-a-grudge/
2012/05/06/afghanistan-cheap-drugs-and-soldiers-vietnam-and-denial/
2012/05/23/when-they-come-home-critical-update/
2009/04/02/no-insurance-meds-denied-mayhem-and-murder-op-ed/
2009/08/22/bi-polar-america-who-is-worthy-of-a-healthy-life-and-who-is-not/
2007/12/01/hostage-crisis-or-mental-health-crisis-%E2%80%93-op-ed/
2008/12/06/critical-state-of-american-health/
2008/08/05/your-profile-determines-your-insurability-but-inmates-get-free-health-care/
2008/12/07/us-health-care-plunges-texas-drops-9-points/
Mr. Rogers was very insightful:
You know, you don’t have to look like everybody else to be acceptable and to feel acceptable.
How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us.
Has It Really Been 40 Years?
December 13, 2012
40 years ago the last Apollo Mission was launched. I worked the Apollo 17 Mission from start to finish, nestled inside the Audio Control Room at the Manned Spaceflight Center.
My memories of the last moon mission are spotty at best. I had been recording, documenting and time stamping launch preparations for weeks. Keeping track of 8 to 12 audio sources, and isolating specific audio clips to be released to the news media, was no small task. Catering to news media personalities was frustrating at best. All the world’s high profile news paper, radio and television networks were there … along with their pretty faced anchor men. There were very few anchor women in those days. We had to be careful not to favor one over the other … although sometimes personalities would clash. We had to be instruments of 1970s diplomacy.
Apollo Missions were like preparing for an Olympic Event. Everything was in the process of getting ready, reconfiguring and retesting everything over and over to make certain it was ready to go.
After all, during Apollo the whole world watched. The world watched the end result of what we said and did. At that time in history, America was out to impress the world with it’s technical prowess.
Sometimes a news-person would burst into our control room insisting on some audio clip right now! We would be working with “Super Tape” that recorded all the ‘back line communications’ at Mission Control, which was “Red Badge” stuff … This was in the middle of the Cold War, so everything was classified as Confidential, Secret or Top Secret. The badges we wore allowed me entry into the security level I was cleared for. During Apollo I wore a Red Badge that allowed me access to “Secret stuff”. The last thing any of us wanted is to be exposed to “Secret stuff”. Whenever we could avoid “Secret stuff” we would. If you want to know what the “Secret stuff” was, sorry, it is still “Secret”. Whenever you were exposed to “Secret stuff” you would have to be “Debriefed”. We all hated that. Those infamous stern looking men in sunglasses and dark suits sat you in a small room and asked ‘pointed’ questions. Regardless of what you saw or heard, it was nerve wracking.
The Apollo 17 crew, Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmidt, launched on December 7, 1972, from launch pad 39-A. Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmidt touched down on the lunar surface on December 11 in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, Moon. Ron Evans kept orbital and module integrity and documented the moon surface.
Harrison Schmidt was the first and only real geologist to see the moon first hand … he was the ‘kid in the candy store’ and had to be reined in from his science adventures to return to the module … especially when his air pack was getting low. Ronald Evans was the sweetest astronaut I ever met during Apollo … As always, before the water had settled on the ocean from the splashdown, the Public Affairs boss would burst into our control room and hand expensive cigars to all of us. We all lit up whether we smoked or not. It was ritual. You would not believe all the rituals the space program had back then. Today’s space program is just a corporate mechanism, the adventure is long gone.
Years after the last Apollo Mission, conspiracy theorists have decided that some “air-to-ground” conversations between the astronauts and Houston reveal evidence of a cover up. They try to point out that the astronauts talked in code to disguise evidence of alien or ancient human occupation on the moon. They point to common natural phenomenon and assert that they are UFOs. My goodness, when you are in space, everything is a UFO! Unless you can call it by name, it remains UNIDENTIFIED.
Since I was recording these “air-to-ground” conversations 12 to 13 hours a day, during the mission, I think I have some news for these mystery mongers. Astronauts talk funny. They have their own language, especially when they try to describe what they see and do. Much of these descriptions are unique to the training they receive and pre-agreed upon. But, some of these descriptions are unique to the astronaut who cannot remember how to pronounce the convoluted names old astronomers gave to different lunar features. On the engineering side, astronauts and engineers use shortcut descriptions to call back instrument readings. My favorite is “all balls” to describe a line of zeros.
At the end of my time with the Manned Space Programs, I returned to what is now considered a “Normal” world. My wake and sleep cycles were no longer at the whim of orbital mechanics or the waking cycles of the astronauts … which changes by 30 minutes to an hour every day of the mission.
I no longer have to be bright eyed and lucid at 3 AM, to open Audio-Visual connections with Russia or Washington, or Alameda, California or Huntsville, Alabama or the Moon.
I agree with Commander Cernan’s observation, “It’s almost like you’ve lived two different lives”. “It’s the loss of that good science that frustrates Cernan when he contemplates America’s 40 years of space drift. But it’s the loss of that sense of surrendering to the pull of the moon, of Mars, of deeper space, that galls him more“.
I no longer think that the most important tool to save the human species is space exploration. Humanity has lost it’s adventure. Education systems no longer want to learn about everything that crosses it’s path and discover new truths. I see human inquisitiveness decline and fall into self absorption. I do miss the excitement of the 1970s. I miss the defined goal of taking humanity into the cosmos and saving life as we know it. The early space program was pure guts and nerve and creativity and made you feel like you were part of humanity’s advancement. The Apollo years were pure adventure. The Shuttle years were the winding down toward corporate takeover … and the Space Station is an International collaboration that is bought and paid for by multi-national conglomerates.
My 20 years working with some of the most brilliant minds America had to offer, has given me enough material to write 100 novels. But I am just BossKitty and sometimes I just think too much.
Reluctance and Reality at DOHA Climate Change Conference
December 7, 2012
December 8, 2012: UN climate talks extend Kyoto Protocol, promise compensation – UN climate talks in Doha have closed with a historic shift in principle but few genuine cuts in greenhouse gases. The summit established for the first time that rich nations should move towards compensating poor nations for losses due to climate change. Developing nations hailed it as a breakthrough, but condemned the gulf between the science of climate change and political attempts to tackle it. The deal, agreed by nearly 200 nations, extends to 2020 the Kyoto Protocol.
The deal, agreed by nearly 200 nations, extends to 2020 the Kyoto Protocol. It is the only legally-binding plan for combating global warming. The deal covers Europe and Australia, whose share of world greenhouse gas emissions is less than 15%. No US veto The US had been adamant that this measure would be blocked, and the EU nearly vetoed it, too. Todd Stern, the US head of delegation here, was seen for much of the past few days walking in circles near the tea bar on his mobile phone to Washington. He told me: “We don’t like this text, but we can live with it.”
Doha Climate Change Conference – November 2012
The 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol opened on Monday, 26 November and continued until Saturday, 8 December 2012 at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar.
But the conference also cleared the way for the Kyoto protocol to be replaced by a new treaty binding all rich and poor nations together by 2015 to tackle climate change. The final text “encourages” rich nations to mobilise at least $10bn (£6bn) a year up to 2020, when the new global climate agreement is due to kick in.
This is remarkable. This conference drew a line in the sand … You know there is going to be backlash from rich corporations who consider accountability someone else’s responsibility.
It is 2012 and a lot has already happened this year. The 2012 list has already recorded extreme weather events, disasters, United States Elections and never ending WARs. The opportunity to change the direction the whole world is going is slipping out of our hands. Everyone is experiencing some kind of discomfort because of accelerating disasters. Discomfort is putting it too mildly!
How much have you followed the Climate talks going on at the UN Climate Change Conference?
All hype aside about the “End of the World”, and the Mayan Calendar, and Nostradamus Quatrains, and “Religious End Times”, Earth’s so called intelligent inhabitants aren’t so smart anymore.
Attendees at the DOHA Climate Talks agree that the planet has reached a crisis point for human beings, but attendees at this conference have their hands tied by their politicians back home. World governments cannot get their minds around working together for common survival. Apparently, world leaders are satisfied with conventional answers to population control … WAR. Governments totally ignore the cost and environmental damage that WAR imposes on AIR, WATER and SOIL … of course people are always expendable. The wide ranging consequences are never considered, the short term rewards are always temporary, but the toll is irreparable.
Infographic: The politics of climate change
The significance from this critical DOHA conference is lost to the world. Main Stream Media in America is ominously silent. Why? Because America’s Main Stream Media is corporate owned and operated. Corporations do NOT want to address anything that will hold them accountable for anything they do. That’s why America is flirting with the “Fiscal Cliff”. Hype about “Small Business” is a smoke screen for huge corporations who want to avoid accountability for their less noble actions.
No one wants to deal with global cooperation about anything … except petrochemicals, dogma and ignoring less fortunate countries who are already suffering the consequences of Climate Change. Those topics are guaranteed to NEVER be agreed upon.
Are all of us really on our own to deal with earth’s changes? If governments are so busy studying their navels, weapons and stock markets, they will be useless to individuals … that means You and Me. In the mean time, if you are really concerned and plan on giving survival a chance, there are multitudes of resources to draw from, common sense is your most critical tool.
UN secretary-general calls for spirit of compromise, saying that global warming poses ‘existential challenge’ to humans.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions rose by about three percent last year, according to a new study.
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Steady as she goes – Some of the negotiators in Qatar privately share some of Mr Ashton’s sentiments but they are paid to stick to their national interest.
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Opinion excerpts from journalists around the world:
REPEAT: Will anything significant result from this critical conference? Have the big nations just agreed to give ‘lip service’ to the reality of their role accelerating the natural cycle of climate change? Corporations don’t want this because it cuts into their short term profit margin. One would expect that longer term sustainability would be more important.
Until government leadership steps up and makes radical changes to the way governments do business, all of us really on our own to deal with earth’s changes? If governments are so busy studying their navels, weapons and stock markets, they will be useless to us as individuals. In the mean time, if you are really concerned and plan on giving survival a chance, there are multitudes of resources to draw from.
BossKitty’s frustration:
Science, at least, tries to measure and understand the scope and magnitude of where we are in the big picture. Religion and Politics focuses on the immediate purpose of controlling humanity, and does not really care about the big picture. But, on a cyclical basis, the big picture intrudes on the human condition… This is where humans require some kind of explanation or reason behind events beyond their control. At times, humans will acquiesce to events beyond their control.
Religion and Politics are human creations that seek acquiescence and often, tribute from their followers. The only importance that holds true, is interaction between and among humans. Things humans create are only flashes of consciousness that cannot be seen from the center of the galaxy. Religion applies mysticism to things beyond earth, politics is only interested in pleasing corporations who want to use up earthly resources before the universe runs out of patience with the arrangement of our solar system.
Given the reality of Planet Earth (and it’s mechanisms), and the space it occupies in the universe (and it’s mechanisms), humans do have the capability of contributing to their own comfort and maybe survivability. Humans have no influence on the cosmos. All we can do is measure … all we can do is prepare. How can we prepare when our focus is held hostage by corporate priorities? How can we survive, when corporate priorities and technical priorities are using up and fouling earth’s remaining resources faster than life can adapt?
Look at the influences on your daily life. Be aware of the little things you do that may contribute to waste or sustainability. Encourage common sense behavior concerning Water Air and Soil … try not to damage the planet you live on.
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Water – Supply and Demand, Cause and Effect
November 25, 2012
Most Americans do not seriously understand the reality of water supply and demand, unless there is a disaster. After a disaster, supplies of water are restored, to the average American, within weeks or, at worst, months. During that time, those deprived of their conveniences are hollering at the top of their lungs and angry as hell.
Water is shipped in to the disaster areas to alleviate temporary inconveniences. This is not a sustainable situation. While America’s awareness is still fresh from recent disasters, this is the time to start nudging everyone toward a more sustainable direction.
This is the time to start nudging our lawmakers to act more responsibly about infrastructure and sustainability.
This is the time to add personal responsibility to our education system. If our children are not taught about the environmental consequences of their actions, the consequences of neglect and the consequences of waste, then there is no hope for the dream of surviving a changing world. Teach everyone the reality of cause and effect.
Cause and effect are lost on people dealing with the immediate personal traumas a disasters bring. Personal losses do not allow any time to reflect on the larger picture. Over all drinking water is depleted!
Trucked in water is a panacea. Transporting a finite resource does not make it more plentiful.
Complacence has allowed neglect to overrun America’s critical infrastructures, including water management. America’s water is NOT managed, it is wasted and fouled and generally made unusable. Water and land are forever connected, when one is made unusable the other becomes unusable, too.
Education, or lack of, has allowed our children, students and families to bypass personal responsibility for their contribution to the water crisis and pollution crisis, in general. They do not understand because they are not taught. Awareness is everyone‘s responsibility.
Sadly, Americans are led and taught by product advertisement from all media sources. The last thing corporations want consumers to do is think about the consequences of lusting after their products. Fortunately, for decades, China and South East Asian countries have taken the toxic hit to please the Western consumer. They are paying the price.
Knowledge is everywhere! Web based resources are plentiful and always available 24/7. Not learning about the relationships among Water, Air and Soil is deadly. The old adage, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” is what Western Civilization is experiencing right now. Information is available everywhere and everyone is encouraged to learn what they can do about the crisis. But, it is not taken as seriously as it should. Somehow, the “someone else will figure it out” attitude is common. Maybe some news stories will highlight portions of one infrastructure problem or another, but watch the meaning become lost in political rhetoric about spending and “entitlements” and taxes. The only thing that will fund the phenomenal cost of repair and education, is taxes … don’t expect any corporation to step up and take responsibility.
What any solution takes is FOCUS! Right now, corporations demand consumer FOCUS to remain on consuming disposable products as fast as they can. Education should include following the path of all products from inception, manufacturing to disposal. In America, disposal comes at a high price, both monetarily and environmentally.
Politics has made it sinful to be conscious of the world you live in and act responsibly … too many Right Wing organizations dismiss any calls for environmental awareness … this is also deadly for our children. All because corporate profits may be threatened … in the short term. Corporate profits will be non-existent after the last drinkable water is gone. Of course, corporations will shift their attention to filtering and processing expensive water for those who can afford it, for as long as they can.
Significant HYDROLOGY Reports.
Global groundwater use outpaces supply – Measure reveals unsustainable use of world’s aquifers
A handful of thirsty countries are guzzling their groundwater reserves much faster than those resources can be renewed.
India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, and the United States lead the global pack of water-thirsty nations, researchers report online August 8 in Nature. Irrigation for agriculture drives much of the demand, says hydrogeologist and study coauthor Tom Gleeson of McGill University in Montreal.
… “groundwater footprint” measure to evaluate the sustainability of withdrawals from the world’s aquifers. The analytic tool balances water coming in with water going out, and gauges how large an aquifer would have to be to accommodate current withdrawals. A groundwater footprint larger than its aquifer means people are sucking down water faster than it can be replenished — treating it as a nonrenewable resource, Gleeson says.
Though 80 percent of the world’s aquifers have sustainable footprints, people drawing on other aquifers are draining the world’s water supply. For these overtapped reservoirs, groundwater footprints vastly exceed aquifer areas. “It’s not sustainable,” Gleeson says. “We don’t know how long the aquifers will last.” Very interesting comments followed this article
Scientific resources below to show the range of the global water crisis
Global Groundwater Information System (GGIS)
A GGIS is an interactive and transparent portal to groundwater-related information and knowledge.
The system is meant for various categories of stakeholders, including both professionals and the general public. The GGIS is simple to use and completely publicly accessible. It leads the user from aggregated, global information (Global Overview) via related information sources (Meta-Information Module) towards a direct information exchange (Collaborative Environment).
Global Groundwater Monitoring Network (GGMN) is the youngest and the most demanding GGIS module. Its purpose is to monitor a global change of groundwater resources.Mexico and the US have agreed new rules on sharing and managing water from the Colorado River, which serves some 30 million people in the two nations. Under the deal, the US will send less water to Mexico during a drought, while Mexico will be able to store water north of the border during wet years. The Colorado River flows 1,450 miles (2,230km) from the Rockies into the Gulf of California. Recent droughts and increased water usage have put pressure on the river. “We have chosen collaboration over conflict, we have chosen co-operation and consensus over discord,” said US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
Past and future contribution of global groundwater depletion to sea-level rise: Key Points:
- Future projection of the contribution of groundwater depletion to sea-level rise
- The contribution of GW depletion outweighs the negative contribution by dams
- GW depletion will be a dominant contribution to SLR from land in coming decades
With declining drinkable water and rising sea levels the seriousness of the world’s water systems is upon us …
UN says carbon cuts too slow to curb dangerous warming
A report by the UN says global attempts to curb emissions of CO2 are falling well short of what is needed to stem dangerous climate change. The UN’s Environment Programme says greenhouse gases are 14% above where they need to be in 2020 for temperature rises this century to remain below 2C. The authors say this target is still technically achievable. But the opportunity is likely to be lost without swift action by governments, they argue.
Until people learn to be conscious of the world around them, and the consequences of their personal actions, the “FISCAL CLIFF” is a cake walk compared to the WATER CLIFF the world is tumbling over.
When our children and students are denied practical, common sense education about the world around them … and how they personally fit in, the future of the human race is doomed. When kids come home from school, the first drink is usually NOT water. That’s good you think? Well, think again. The sugar infused soda or juice they usually grab has a LOT of water, treated with flavorings. Those flavorings are part of the marketing extravaganza that is imposed on our kids. The education our children are receiving today is corporate based. Corporations are insuring whole new generations of consumers … with unsustainable products that are designed to become useless or obsolete shortly after they are purchased. By brainwashing our children to become consumers, the whole education system is polluted with unsustainable information, that has little promise of helping Americans, or the human race, to survive depletion of resources. Educators have warned for over a century that without practical, useable knowledge, and ability to solve common sense problems, the American public will be divided into classes of have and have not, without promise of achievement or survival … because they will become sicker as clean water is no longer available or affordable. Picture American scavengers ….
Just reading through the United Nations World Water Development Reports posted on the United Nations website should scare the hell out of anyone who still has doubts or enjoys denial.
‘Water for Life’ Decade
Water scarcity, poor water quality, and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood choices, and educational opportunities for poor families across the world. Water-related natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and tsunamis exert a heavy toll in human life and suffering. And all too regularly, drought afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries, exacerbating hunger and malnutrition.
Beyond meeting basic human needs, water supply and sanitation services, as well as water as a resource, are critical to sustainable development. It is a major source of energy in some parts of the world, while in others its potential as an energy source remains largely untapped. Water is also necessary for agriculture and for many industrial processes. And in more than a few countries, it makes up an integral part of transport systems. With improved scientific understanding, the international community has also come to appreciate more fully the valuable services provided by water-related ecosystems, from flood control to storm protection and water purification.
Water challenges will increase significantly in the coming years. Continuing population growth and rising incomes will lead to greater water consumption, as well as more waste. The urban population in developing countries will grow dramatically, generating demand well beyond the capacity of already inadequate water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services. According to the UN World Water Development Report, by 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of freshwater.
It seems there are more than few reasons to put water and sanitation at the top of the world’s agenda…
All of these facts are in front of our faces every day. These truths are masked by too many diversions and distractions that are not quite as critical as survival of the human race. The lazy way to reduce earth’s competition for water is to have more and more wars. That may be a way to deplete populations, but it also fouls the environment required to sustain life … even for the winners/survivors. With Mother Nature intervening with weather extremes, those humans that pay closer attention have become “Doomsdayers” and are hunkering down to survive whatever meltdown is approaching earth’s civilizations. Too many are embracing the whole Armageddon thing and think they have a survivable formula. Certainly, they may be able to outlast the majority of humans by a few months, but don’t count on much else. Without clean water and clean land to grow real food on, even the most daring survivalist will be out of luck. Because too few foods have an indefinite shelf life, and water filtration eventually runs out, humans may not really have the ability to adapt long enough for Mother Nature to clean up after us.
Water related resources made available through the United Nations.
Under suitable circumstances, slow sand filtration may be not only the cheapest and simplest but also the most efficient method of water treatment.
Just the basics, World Toilet Day 2012
November 19, 2012
This most under appreciated topic is a world wide issue. What we take for granted in America is almost unknown in less fortunate countries. America’s infrastructure has sanitation and treatment facilities to deal with human waste products. Admittedly, America’s system is under a lot of stress right now and needs to be addressed. But, for many countries, what we call a “bathroom” is a luxury that only rich people can enjoy. Sanitation conditions are critical world wide. What America only experiences after disasters, many countries live with every day. 2.5 billion people lack a clean toilet. Remember the outhouse scene in “Slumdog Millionaire”? That’s 40 per cent of the world’s population.
Did you know :
Thanks to the efforts of Jack Sim, Founder of World Toilet Organization (WTO) hosts a yearly Summit, created World Toilet Day and started the World Toilet College (WTC) conducting training courses since 2005. World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation.WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation.
The 12th World Toilet Summit, The 1st for Africa, hosted by SATO and FPD, in December 2012, have been designed to muster the individual and collective minds of academia, legal professionals, technical specialist, industry leaders, gender advocacy, civil society, governments, educators and all other role players in the fields of sanitation, education, health and hygiene and human rights.
19 November every year: Raising awareness of sanitation issues, and of the 2.5 billion who don’t have access to proper sanitation.
Whilst this may sound like quite a frivolous subject for a ‘World Day’, it’s actually very serious. World Toilet Day focuses on the importance of sanitation and aims to raise awareness about the 2.6 billion people (nearly half the world’s population) who don’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation. In the UK, the water charity WaterAid use World Toilet Day to raise awareness of sanitation issues.
We’ve written a whole article on the subject, see Toilets: We all need to ‘go’ for a wealth of background information and suggestions for approaching this issue in class.
WaterAid in America have a very silly, but educational, online comic, The Adventures of Super Toilet which aims to introduce primary school children to global water and sanitation issues (assuming they can stop giggling, that is…). There are also accompanying activities and notes for teachers and parents.
To find further resources that can help you mark World Toilet Day, in your school, have a browse through the ones listed on the Global Dimension database under the topic of Water. You could also read through our background article on Water.
World Toilet Day 2012: More People Own A Cell Phone Than Toilet, Other Facts To Know
Raising a stink about global sanitation
On 19 November each year World Toilet Day highlights the importance of toilets and each individual’s right to a safe and hygienic sanitary environment.
Lack of safe sanitation has been called a ‘silent crisis’. The international community recognizes World Toilet Day every 19 November to advocate for those who need better sanitation.
Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. World Toilet Day highlights this ‘silent crisis’. Founded in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), the event celebrates the importance of sanitation by supporting and accelerating efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.
This year, WSSCC and WTO proudly present a brand new World Toilet Day campaign. Please take a look and see how you can get involved with the day of not just advocacy but also of real action.
Do you give a shit? We do! http://www.worldtoiletday.org/
This problem is not exclusive to 3rd World Countries. America has shameful examples of this problem … you don’t hear much about it.
Wastewater – Aging systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into U.S. surface waters each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the nation must invest $390 billion over the next 20 years to update or replace existing systems and build new ones to meet increasing demand.
First Coast vets speak out on impact of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune
Cleanup of Worst U.S. Contaminated Groundwater Sites Unlikely for Many Decades
Tap Water in 42 States Contaminated by Chemicals – EWG Tap Water Probe Reveals 141 Unregulated Chemicals Flowing into U.S. Homes
Water is the key element for life, on this planet. When space exploration looks for planets, the first element that categorizes that planet is if it has water. Second, is whether it has an atmosphere … which is connected to what kind of water is available.
What humans take for granted, will ultimately bring about their extinction. You can hoard all the water you want. But, your personal ecosystem is critically tied to the ecosystem of the entire planet. Planet Earth is not your personal ‘Cat Box’. Mother Nature will dump that box, with you in it, when she is ready to clean it out.
Solutions
- Increase funding for water infrastructure system improvements and associated operations through a comprehensive program;
- Create a Water Infrastructure Trust Fund to finance the national shortfall in funding of infrastructure systems under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, including stormwater management and other projects designed to improve the nation’s water quality;
- Retain traditional financing mechanisms, such as appropriations from general treasury funds, issuance of revenue bonds and tax exempt financing at state and local levels, public-private partnerships, state infrastructure banks, and user fees on certain consumer products;
- Expand innovative financing mechanisms, including broad-based environmental restoration taxes.
There are associations and organizations around the world that focus on water, keeping it clean, and educating people how to preserve it. The first step is understanding HYGIENE. Hygiene done right can preserve life giving water, hygiene done wrong can ruin perfectly good water by introducing toxic cleaning materials. Personal hygiene is always the first step to preserving the water you depend on. Making personal hygiene available to the world will do wonders by reducing the magnitude of pollution our children have to live in. The magnitude of pollution we live with changes our DNA and makes us SICK!.
Courtesy of JustBathroomSigns.com a SmartSign store.
Hurricane Sandy The NATECH Disaster
November 12, 2012
America’s bell has been rung! I just hope that someone is listening. For decades, and if you watch the History Channel, possibly hundreds of years, dire warnings have been shouted by prophets, philosophers and scientists. The human occupants of of planet earth have drifted too far way from reality, and common sense, that their very existence is threatened.
Humans live on a PLANET! That PLANET is only Sooo big and has only Sooo much resource to accommodate it’s occupants’ comfort and survivability. The highest population concentrations surround coastal areas for economic and commerce reasons. So, Human Nature has drifted into the path of Mother Nature’s Hurricane and Tsunami freight trains.
Thousands of those effected by Hurricane Sandy’s multi-faceted disaster remain at risk. Power, shelter, water, food, hygiene and medication are still risky for those effected. Emergency response times are hampered by disaster conditions and a political environment that considers Federal Assistance, of any kind, is an “Evil Entitlement”. Federal Assistance should not burden taxpayers or corporations, according to Grover Norquist, the God of the Tea Publican face of giant corporations. Unfortunately, we can no longer protect ourselves from ourselves with our current diminished educational capacity. Today’s generation has been crippled by educational omissions. Not only does our corporate sponsored education system neglect to teach fundamental history and science, but it deliberately omits the science of cause and effect. The end effect is squandering of America’s ability to survive the future … especially after so many NATECH Disasters.
After Sandy world weighs in on disaster risk reduction
Current World Population November 12, 2012: 7,078,538,763 and counting
Population growth today – Births today – 150,037
Deaths today – 64,080
Net population growth today – 85,957
Current projection for global human population growth, without population reducing factors, is:
2011 – 7 billion
2025 – 8 billion
2043 – 9 billion
2083 – 10 billion
After all the dust settles from the three punches that fell on the most populated side of the United States of America, important lessons should be understood by now. Mother Nature’s wake up call to modern human beings, who have forgotten how to live WITH the earth, has rung the alarm. Hurricane Sandy, PLUS the Super Cold Front, PLUS the snow heavy Nor’Easter still hampers infrastructure recovery efforts. The cost of this lesson will be paid back for years in recrimination and inconvenience … or suffering.
The resulting illness from toxic exposures has not been addressed adequately by the media yet.
When natural events, such as floods, earthquakes, lightning, landslides etc., affect an industrial facility it could result in an accident with major consequences on the population and/or the natural and built environment, this is called a NATECH disaster.
SENDAI, Japan NATECH Disaster
Definition of Natech (Natural Hazard Triggering Technological Disasters): … natural disasters can trigger technological disasters (a dynamic also called domino effect), and that these concomitant events (also known as natechs) may pose tremendous risks to countries and communities that are unprepared for such risks. NATECH: A “Natech” accident is a “chemical accident” caused by a natural hazard or a natural disaster. “Chemical accidents” include accidental oil and chemical spills, gas releases, and fire or explosions involving hazardous substances from fixed establishments (e.g. petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pesticide, storage depot), and oil and gas pipelines.
Hurricane Sandy NATECH Disaster
Lessons learned from Katrina as a Natech Disaster Toxic Contamination and Long-Term Risks for Residents of New Orleans – J. Steven Picou, University of South Alabama. … both the immediate (3 years) and, most important, long-term (20 years or more) social and health consequences of Katrina must be understood in terms of natech disasters. Natech disasters combine etiological elements of both natural and technological disasters and this conceptual framework forces a recognition of the risks of toxic contamination.
Millions of people without power, food, shelter, drinkable water, transportation and most of all, hygiene for any length of time is a health crisis. In a weakened and vulnerable state, those effected by any number of these inconveniences with the addition of exposure to undocumented toxins, will remain at risk long after the weather and housing crisis comes under control.
Another Need in the Aftermath of Sandy: Toxic Soup Testing
How many people are still without power and safe drinking water? How many people are still at risk from breached gas lines that threaten explosions in populated areas?
Looking for all Born Again Thinkers. If Hurricane Sandy, mating with a Big Cold Front in a great East/West Clash does not get your attention, then maybe the visual evidence bombarding our senses will. The operative word is INFRASTRUCTURE. If you don’t know what that means then you are more clueless than your goldfish.
The mechanical and physical mechanism that allows electricity to reach your coffeepot, television and charge your phone or laptop, is the Power Infrastructure.
The mechanical and physical mechanism that brings clean water to your faucet, so you can make coffee and wash your hands is Water Management.
The mechanical and physical mechanism that takes the contents of your toilet away is the Waste Management Infrastructure.
The mechanical and physical mechanism that provides you streets to drive on, sidewalks to walk on, bridges to span water is Transportation Infrastructure.
The mechanical and physical mechanism that provides Fire, Police and Emergency First Responders is part of your Social Safety-net Infrastructure.
All these Infrastructures require maintenance and periodic upgrades. All these systems are paid for by your local, county, state and federal taxes. These are mistakenly called “ENTITLEMENTS” and the subject of ridicule by Tea-Publicans.
Our needs are very different, depending on where we live, in one of the many regions that comprise America. What works for me in a rural suburb to a medium sized city, does not work in a highly populated big city. Our needs are so different that my system would fail in a metropolitan region. Today’s politics are trying their damnedest to convince the voting public that “one size fits all” from rural to metropolitan. That concept is SO off base, that anyone who accept that premise is a ‘clueless goldfish’. The sad truth is that too many ‘goldfish’ vote.
Oil Spills
Six large oil refineries were located in the hurricane’s path, according to Reuters reports.
Sewage and Chemicals
Raw sewage and other pollutants, including industrial chemicals, poured into New York City waterways as a result of the extensive flooding. Five of New York City’s 14 wastewater treatment plants were located within the mandatory evacuation zone. Many of the plants filled to capacity or flooded, which dumped a mix of sewage and storm water directly into rivers, flooded streets, and buildings. The New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene advised residents to avoid “direct contact” with several waterways, including the Hudson River, East River, New York Harbor, Jamaica Bay, and the Kill Van Kull.
The storm caused “widespread pollution of the Hudson River and New York Harbor by a variety of toxic chemicals, including petroleum and fluids from cars and boats; contaminants from flooded subways, roads, parking lots and tunnels; and contaminants washed from shoreline industrial sites, as well as commercial and residential buildings,” said Riverkeeper, a New York-based clean water advocacy group. “Oil sheens and debris have been observed – everything from 55-gallon drums and quart-sized containers of transmission fluid, to wrecked boats and swamped vehicles with leaking fuel tanks,” the group noted.
Educating Citizens: Local officials should be communicating known health hazards to recovery workers and returning residents through all available means. Health warnings, symptoms to watch for, and steps to take should be disseminated broadly via print and broadcast media. Protective equipment, with instructions on appropriate usage, should also be made available to first responders, clean-up crews, and any residents involved in debris removal and rebuilding.
Dysentery, salmonellosis, cryptosporidium, and hepatitis are among the maladies transmitted by sewage in drinking and bathing water.
The eye opening facts are presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in their presentation Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.
- 3.1 Transportation infrastructure
- 3.2 Energy infrastructure
- 3.3 Water management infrastructure
- 3.4 Communications infrastructure
- 3.5 Solid waste management
- 3.6 Earth monitoring and measurement networks
America’s infrastructure crumbling, says American Society of Civil Engineers
… a nation’s infrastructure is a direct reflection of its overall moral, social, economic, and political health. If this is true, then the United States is in some very serious trouble, as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), America’s oldest national engineering society, has given a near-failing grade to almost every national infrastructure category in its most recent Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.
As far back as 2009 America’s Infrastructure approached crisis. In 2012, America’s Infrastructure is it’s own disaster and cannot carry the burden of any more stresses.
The most unfortunate circumstance stands in the way of healing America’s situation. … a Tea Publican Congress continues to adhere to Grover Norquist’s “no tax” pledge, while the infrastructure crumbles. From watching the Katrina disaster, the droughts, the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown, wildfires, and now the triple punch from Hurricane Sandy and it’s family of weather disasters, it would appear that enough information would have been provided to wake up America’s policy makers.
It will take not only better application of tax funds, but we will have to pay just a little more to fix the problem. The second most disgusting phenomenon is the promotion by “Big Pharma” and too many religions, to procreate. Advertisements abound for procreational activities, but seldom addressed is the consequence of adding more humans to an already overcrowded planet. Over population combined with failing infrastructure, political obstructionism, and religious zeal about “God’s Plan, combined with increased dependence on unnatural materials that humans associate with quality of life, guarantees disaster.
There is an eyeopening study worthy of scrutiny by all policy makers in America and around the world.
Sustainability and Profit: From Trade-Off to Essence – By: Wladimir Nikoluk | November 8, 2012
Economic paradigms come and go. The seemingly endless debate between neo-liberals and –Keynesians in the past century provides a fascinating account of this. It shows that there must be words in economic debate other than last words – that no matter how certain an insight might seem in a particular instance, it will likely be proved wrong in the myriad combinations of circumstances that history inevitably yields. … One misconception is to think of profit and sustainability in terms of trade-offs and sometimes even as mutually exclusive objectives. The willingness to sacrifice a fraction of earnings to become more sustainable is ubiquitous, but publicly displayed concerns for sustainability are more often about CSR reports than about meaningful impact. As even the least sustainable companies are claiming to be sustainably conscious, sustainability is becoming more of a buzzword than a credible course of action. As a consequence, companies find it increasingly hard to convince the general public that they are doing more than paying lip service to an abstract ideal of goodness. … This conception of profit and sustainability is likely to change within the next decade as the link between profitability and sustainability is established through the absence of alternatives.
Sustainability is neither a sacrifice nor a trade-off. As public opinion, regulations and competition advance, it is becoming the essence of profit-making itself and the only competitive advantage that provides a solid foundation for a long run sustainable development. The race for this advantage has already begun, as ever more global players such as Nike, Coca Cola, Walmart and others are realizing its vitality. As long as markets are allowed to work more or less freely, companies that are desperately trying to protect the status quo, are bound to fail. Our economic paradigm is shifting. All business leaders, economists and politicians are invited to adapt..
The human race is living beyond its means.
… almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.
… the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.
… human demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel, more land has been claimed for agriculture in the last 60 years than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined.
… An estimated 24% of the Earth’s land surface is now cultivated.
… Water withdrawals from lakes and rivers has doubled in the last 40 years. Humans now use between 40% and 50% of all available freshwater running off the land.
… At least a quarter of all fish stocks are overharvested. In some areas, the catch is now less than a hundredth of that before industrial fishing.
… Deforestation and other changes could increase the risks of malaria and cholera, and open the way for new and so far unknown disease to emerge.
Sandy Stirs Toxic-Site Worry.
Fla medical team heads to NYC to help post-Sandy
News Releases and Documentation
- Nov 11 – EPA, State and County to Launch Household Hazardous Waste Pickup and Drop-Off in Suffolk County
- Nov 10 – Gowanus Canal Sampling Results (PDF) (3 pp, 31K, about PDF)
- Nov 5 – No Action Assurance for the States of Maryland and Massachusetts (PDF) (4 pp, 245K,
Response Efforts
- As of November 11, 2012: In response to requests from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and municipalities, EPA is providing assistance in assessing drinking water and wastewater facilities across the state.
Flood Water Exposure
Flood waters or standing waters may contain potentially dangerous materials, such as sewage, agricultural runoff, and chemicals from industrial areas. Exposure to flood waters can also cause infections or result in injuries.
Buildings or facilities that have been damaged by or exposed to flood waters may also pose health risks from mold, chemicals, electrical hazards, and displaced animals.
Flood Waters or Standing Waters
Health Risks: Flood waters and standing waters pose various risks, including infectious diseases, chemical hazards, and injuries.
Infectious Diseases, Diarrheal Diseases, Wound Infections, Chemical Hazards, Injuries, Drowning, Animal and Insect Bites, Electrical Hazards, Wounds
Conclusion? Reality will trump all delusions politicians and clergy have entertained and profited from for hundreds of years. Numbers don’t lie. Science has a better grasp of reality than the best advertisers money can buy. Doomsday Preppers may only enjoy a short victory, because once their supplies run out, what will be left behind is the toxic legacy of a technologically advanced but common sense deprived civilization. Common sense would have, at least, left something useable behind for survivors to use.
WIKI: Sustainability is the capacity to endure through renewal, maintenance, and sustenance, or nourishment, in contrast to durability, the capacity to endure through unchanging resistance to change. For humans in social systems or ecosystems, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship, the responsible management of resource use. In ecology, sustainability describes how biological systems remain diverse, robust, and productive over time, a necessary precondition for the well-being of humans and other organisms.[1] Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems.
Some group always feels the need to reduce populations somewhere, for their own short term benefit. WAR and resource EXPLOITATION damage people and make the land and water unusable. We do not have to Squander our remaining resources, and then waste them and end up with so little that survivors have too little left to live on, especially when we already know Mother Nature’s cycles will become more violent.
Corporate Takeover Fails To Win White House
November 7, 2012
NO! The “Ground Game” for campaign GOP workers could not change the fact that the Tea-Publicans brought too much baggage into the election. Arrogance, theocracy, bigotry and personal intrusion into women’s lives, turned their rhetoric toxic, using a disgusting demonstration of hatred. Social Engineering is NOT an American value! 
By appealing to childish racism and unrealistic interpretations about “Good and Evil” and Science, the Tea-Publicans made fools of themselves by adding Social Manipulation into their platform. Today, November 7 2012 Wolf Blitzer interviewed a GOP spokeswoman who just blew me away with the hatred and vicious rhetoric she spewed about Romney losing. Yes, Romney is a nice guy, but he allowed himself to become a Sock Puppet for the Corporate manipulators that took over the RNC.
A country divided by hatred is doomed.
All of America needs to tighten it’s COLLECTIVE Belt! Everyone has to pitch in to repair what is so broken and PAY for the services they receive … maybe reforming how taxes are assessed and collected. Targeting those least able to defend themselves is NOT a solution. The least among us are NOT able to carry the burden for everyone. This is an ALL IN effort that must solve the reasons why America is NOT ready to protect itself against the reality of diminishing water supplies, pollution, crumbling infrastructure and weather changes. Tea-Publican disinformation will block any progress America tries to make.
Grover Norquist, Carl Rove and Koch Brothers Oligarchy Loose The White House
WIKI: Who is Grover Norquist?
UK Guardian: Koch brothers
America is not as stupid as corporations would like them to be.
Social Conservatism and Theocracy dealt a set back for now.
Climate facts, Planet Abuse and Population Poisoning can finally be addressed.
Corporate ‘Sock Puppets’ still work to undermine what America stands for.
Alan Simpson called Grover Norquist for what he is. The ‘Man behind the curtain’ who does not want the responsibility of answering to voters. He just wants our representatives to answer to him and his lobby, Americans for Tax Reform and the Tea Party. Grover Norquist, the Poster Boy for Oligarchy, has ruined the Republican Party.
The Tea Party started as a viable idea, but opportunistic elements bought and paid for it 
by appealing to the uneducated voter. Opportunistic coporate blocks decided the best way to take over the Tea Party was to paint a whole segment of America as unacceptable. .
There is a huge population that wants huge corporations to dictate their religion, to accept questionable science to allow irresponsible manufacturing to poison a whole population so that corporations can profit. Tax reform MUST include oversight and enforcement of regulations. Lobbyists are always looking for loopholes in regulations their corporations can slip through. If their clients cannot slip through a loophole, the lobbyists will buy enough politicians to fight regulations.
There are still enough Corporate Sock Puppets to cause GRIDLOCK in Washington DC and that is because the Supreme Court has given Big Corporations a Superhighway to take over America and make it into a ‘Sock Puppet’ nation … reminiscent of modern dictatorships. Corporations buy HATE, they exist because they sell something that someone wants and they profit. Profit is a drug that corporations are addicted to and, like someone addicted to heroin, cocaine or prescription drugs, they will do ANYTHING for their FIX.
Sadly, Tea-Publicans feel it necessary to be MEAN to anyone who disagrees with them.
Obama’s first term was difficult at best, his second term will be just as daunting. Maybe he can actually get enough legislators on the same page to slam the brakes on this driverless bus … finally.
URGENT: Impending Health Crisis After Sandy
November 2, 2012
The plight of Hurricane Sandy Survivors is deteriorating. The longer so many people remain isolated without power, water, food amid a crowded metropolis, the faster the survivor/victims will turn to chaos. Reports of dumpster diving for food is incredible. Whole East Coast Communities in chaos are still waiting. The whole East Coast is at risk of a PLAGUE!.
While all the focus is on New York City, there are millions of people stranded in the suburbs and other states along the Eastern United States. The logistics are indeed incredible, but those in crisis don’t care, they are in 
trouble. Survivors are at risk! New York City is just a little too arrogant right now! Applying critical resources to pomp and bling is criminal! There are people living with candles and batteries. Why can’t Navy and Coast Guard ships provide power and support to devastated areas? Food, water, power medical are needed to those at risk!
The carcasses of dead rats and other creatures are mixing in the already toxic soup that covers the Hurricane Sandy path. Carcasses bread PLAGUE! People need hygiene NOW!
Why Is Bubonic Plague In America
Tunnel flooding may drive subway rats onto NYC streets – Most vermin will drown, but if lairs dry out quickly, it’ll bring a bounty of garbage for scavenging.
NY, NJ shelter victims to get help for hotel stays
Tens of thousands of people displaced by storm Sandy could soon need housing as cold weather closes in, New York’s political leaders have warned. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg put the figure at 30,000-40,000 people.
Federal agencies are looking for flats and hotel rooms in order to get people out of shelters, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has said.
At least 106 US deaths – 40 of them in New York City – have been blamed on Sandy, which struck on 29 October.
Homes without heat would become uninhabitable as temperatures fell, state Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Residents who had so far refused to leave their homes would have no other option, Mr Cuomo told a news conference on Sunday.
He also said there would be increasing pressure on public transport on Monday, as more people returned to work and the schools re-opened.
Fuel shortages were easing, but Mr Cuomo urged New Yorkers not to hoard petrol, saying more supplies were on their way.
Housing crisis looming in post-storm New York Authorities in the US say tens of thousands of people affected by superstorm Sandy in New York are going to need emergency housing as cold weather moves in.
New York City Marathon canceled after severe backlash from public
Under enormous pressure from a city in distress, New York City Marathon officials decided late Friday afternoon to cancel the race less than two days before it was scheduled to begin.
The announcement came only a few hours after Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision to keep the marathon scheduled for Sunday. Bloomberg called the annual event a way to show “solidarity” with the millions affected by Hurricane Sandy, many of whom still remain without power and plumbing several days after the storm devastated the region.
Where the Power Is Out and Returning Across the Northeast
Image over substance: The great idea to hold a marathon in downtown NYC is appalling. The giant generators in place for the marathon should be sent to blackout areas. The weather is getting colder. People are getting desperate. They will want to burn debris for warmth … that is another disaster in the making! Not only does furniture wood have toxic components, there are still broken natural gas lines spewing everywhere. The toxic debris may be contaminated with toxic materials from spills spread all along the East Coast.
The first priority is getting power back to the effected areas to prevent more explosions and fires.
Desperation can refer to: Panic
The dangers threatening survivor health increases the longer they are exposed to unsanitary conditions. Survivors cannot control their personal hygiene, as long as the power and water are missing.
FEMA has volumes of information addressing Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery.
OPM has Post-Disaster Guidance and Other Information but, where are these guidelines being implemented? Words vs inaction. 
Why are precious resources being provided to concerts and marathons when people are dying and suffering without power, water, food and in unsafe structures?
The US Military has instant shelter resources they deploy and waste all over the world and usually leave them behind. The US Military has emergency food rations they supply to disasters all over the world and usually leave them behind. The US Military has Emergency Field Hospitals and Field Kitchens they deploy all over the world and usually leave them behind. Show us these resources RIGHT NOW!
KITCHENS
SHELTERS
.
HOSPITALS
EMERGENCY POWER
WHERE ARE ALL THESE RESOURCES?
These facilities are ALWAYS available for concerts and “Marathons”. What about the displaced hurricane victims?
Whatever and however relief arrives, it must be faster! Victims do NOT need their assistance applied to a publicity stunt!
There is always the risk of mis-managed disaster funds, like after Katrina. Sleazy FEMA contractors abused the system and put victims at greater risk. Only years later are some of those crooks being held accountable in court. Litigation is a very expensive investment, so the dollar criteria has to be high enough to justify all the attorneys and court costs. All the fraudulent scams under $10,000 have been written off and the contractors blacklisted. Much of that outsourced money has been forever lost. I don’t want to see more headlines in America like the one Japan is suffering through:
Outcry in Japan Over Diversion of Post-Disaster Aid Funds TOKYO — Japan has funneled much of the money it promised to disaster-ravaged communities into an array of unrelated projects, recent independent audits have shown, setting off outrage among a public already wary of the government and its response to last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear crisis that followed…
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“Evil” Entitlements Soar As Hurricane Sandy Redraws America’s Map
October 31, 2012
For years America has been focused on PROFIT over PREPARATION. Our leaders have humored environmentalists by giving lip service to protecting the environment from the Toxic Soup released by disasters. But no serious legislation has been presented, and enforcement of what little protections we have has been laughable.
The US Government has a Constitutional duty as described in the Preamble of the Constitution: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
My questions: How many interpretations of the opening statement to the Constitution have you heard lately?
Whose “posterity” do we want to protect?
Why do Tea-Publicans insist that when government promotes the general Welfare, they call it “ENTITLEMENT”?
What part of toxic Superfund sites protect our “Posterity” and “General Welfare”? Has anyone asked about the Plum Island Bio Research Facility? “This lab is not a threat to the nation. This lab is here to protect the nation,” said Larry Barrett, director of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.
Does responsibility to it’s Tax Paying Citizens mean America is a “Nanny State“?
Super Fund Sites and Irresponsible Behavior have grave consequences during disasters! Notice how many Superfund sites occupy the disaster area! Superfund Sites in New York – Superfund Sites in New Jersey – Superfund sites in Rhode Island – Superfund sites in Connecticut – Superfund sites in Washington, D.C. – List of Superfund sites in Pennsylvania – Superfund sites in New Hampshire – Superfund sites in Vermont – Superfund sites in West Virginia – Superfund sites in Delaware – Superfund sites in Maryland – Superfund sites in Virginia
OMG! Did we forget PLUM ISLAND? Sadly, the news has avoided mention of Plum Island – Top-secret Germ Warfare Facility Still Operational
October 31, 2012 –Though battered, Plum Island weathered storm well – By Dave Rogers Staff Writer Newburyport Daily News
Hurricane Sandy a spectacle in Plum Island
Hurricane Sandy Spills Sewage, Triggers Toxic Troubles
One particular concern is the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn, which abuts a 1.8 mile canal that was recently designated a Superfund cleanup site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency due to a legacy of industrial pollution and sewage discharges. So far, only reporting about the homeowners on Plum Island have been reported about. No mention about the conditions at the once infamous Biological Warfare Facility.
Too many Americans underestimate the planet they occupy.
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Mother Nature speaks! Disaster rings the cash register. Disaster rings throughout the population displaced. Every location has it’s disaster personality and the humans that populate those locations gamble with the earth events, including weather. At this writing millions of people are still without electricity. Thousands have been displaced and may not have livable homes for weeks or months. Hospitals are still evacuating to already overcrowded hospitals that still have electricity. Casualties are still being counted. Devastation will not be assessed for weeks and maybe months. All the consequences are still speculation.
Disaster “ENTITLEMENTS” will exceed Hurricane Katrina. FEMA has been demonized over and over, but when the going gets tough, who do you call? Do you think that when the Tea-Publicans get through with FEMA there will even be a place for it in our memories? If you are displaced and in trouble, are you able to help you neighbor who is in the same condition as you are? Is there a well trained larger system in place that knows what to do to help you? NOPE! You are Shit out of luck. Your tax dollars went to a “more important program”, but don’t worry, your elected lawmaker is well compensated by the industries that benefit from your TAX DOLLARS. 
An ex-employee, Mr. Bosner worked for FEMA from its creation in 1979 until 2008, is especially critical of FEMA’s management during the George W. Bush administration.
“The Federal Emergency Management Agency – FEMA – became an object of derision as it appeared to sit by helplessly as thousands suffered and died in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But many have forgotten that FEMA responded quickly and effectively to countless emergencies and disasters during the 1990s. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, the Oklahoma City Bombing, all saw a swift response from FEMA, a sharp contrast to FEMA’s performance after Hurricane Katrina.”
FEMA has suffered from political interference, with it’s objectives and leadership, and has NOT been allowed to do the job it was tasked to do, since it’s creation. As a result, especially after Katrina, FEMA has been the target of conspiracy nuts who see it as a BUNGLING Jack-Booted Big Brother. Putting FEMA under the Homeland Security mandate was another disaster. FEMA services, Tea-Publicans view, are ENTITLEMENTS.
The Wall Street Journal editorial blasted the idea of ENTITLEMENTS in August of this year:
Are Entitlements Corrupting Us? Yes, American Character Is at Stake “… the federal government has become an entitlements machine. As a day-to-day operation, it devotes more attention and resources to the public transfer of money, goods and services to individual citizens than to any other objective, spending more than for all other ends combined.”
Ah, the “ENTITLEMENTS”! Unfortunately, for political purposes Republicans have redefined the term “ENTITLEMENT”, and made it a major issue driving how America defines it’s government. “ENTITLEMENT” is a VERY general term, but has very specific DIFFERENT components.
Sadly, the Republican attitude about “ENTITLEMENT” lumps everything into that term. NOT all “ENTITLEMENTS” are the same. Republicans DO NOT GET THIS!
Romney-Ryan and the Fallacy of Fiscally Conservative Republicans
“The growth of entitlement spending over the past half-century has been distinctly greater under Republican administrations than Democratic ones,” AEI demographer Nicholas Eberstadt explains in A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic. “Between 1960 and 2010, the growth of entitlement spending was exponential — but in any given year, it was on the whole over 8 percent higher if the president happened to be a Republican rather than a Democrat …. The Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush administrations presided over especially lavish expansions.”
The deficit has exploded under Republican presidents too.
What is lost in the Republican definition of Entitlements is the FACT that Americans pay the government to protect them and help them get back on their feet when their lives are disrupted. The EVIL ENTITLEMENTS that Republicans have targeted are those same ones that save lives. Most Americans PAY taxes. The government uses those taxes for a myriad of purposes and projects … some of which are VERY questionable and obscured from public scrutiny. The Republican controlled Congress has historically shaved funding from Entitlement Fraud enforcement for government agencies and humanitarian programs … then they have the nerve to complain about all the fraud and waste rampant in those same government programs.
State of Connecticut: Hurricane Sandy: Important Health Information
Water quality in CT potentially compromised by Hurricane Sandy
Hollywood has entertained us with fantastic disaster scenarios for decades. Now, the dense population along the East Coast of the USA is experiencing THE Hollywood nightmare and are surrounded by toxins that are contaminating everything it touches.
Hurricane Sandy flood waters recede to reveal the inevitable toxic soup of debris remain. Not all the contamination will be evident right away. Much of the danger is invisible to the naked eye. Bactria, virus, chemical agents from petroleum, drugs, household cleaners and of course, sewage is the Witches Brew you see survivors wading in.
Of course the inevitable mold will follow, creating an even larger toxic hazard. Will we run out of Clorox? 
As Hurricane Sandy First Responders Begin to Work, Many Face the Unseen Dangers of Asbestos Exposure
.…building structures that contain asbestos materials are disturbed, the toxic fibers can be released into the air and become a threat to those in close proximity. … Hurricane Sandy inevitably disturbed countless structures that contained asbestos and released large amounts of asbestos fibers.
Post Storm Inspection
Homeowners need to use caution when re-entering their homes and to do so only after floodwaters have receded. FLASH recommends that you visually inspect your home for any damage that could make it unsafe to enter.Hurricane Sandy Spills Sewage, Triggers Toxic Troubles
NEW YORK — Raw sewage, industrial chemicals and floating debris filled flooded waterways around New York City on Tuesday.
Left in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the toxic stew may threaten the health of residents already dealing with more direct damages from the disaster.
John Lipscomb of the clean water advocacy group Riverkeeper said in a statement:
“Normally, sewer overflows are just discharged into waterways and humans that generate the sewage can avoid the consequences by avoiding the water,but in this case, that waste has come back into our communities.”
Recently in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, a Superfund site was declared to due abnormally high levels of industrial pollution. The site was hit hard by raging floodwater from the storm and there is concern that the toxic sewage could be cycled back into city drinking water.
Hurricane Sandy Spills Sewage, Triggers Toxic Troubles
One particular concern is the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn, which abuts a 1.8 mile canal that was recently designated a Superfund cleanup site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency due to a legacy of industrial pollution and sewage discharges.
Watchdog: Storm Released ‘Staggering’ Amount of Pollution into Hudson – “The toxic legacy from this storm will continue”
America is experiencing what has been forewarned by environmentalists and climatologists for decades. It has not been politically expedient to give serious attention to these voices. It has always been more lucrative to pander to the industries that prefer profit over preparation. I am sick and tired of the LET THEM EAT CAKE attitude of Tea-Publicans.
Let me quote myself when I wrote about the devastation following Cyclone Nargis that hit Burma in 2008:
As the world watches this dramatic catastrophe unfold. The casualty numbers erupt. Collateral damage is the lesson. The world is not a bunch of isolated countries competing for market space anymore. The world is a complex intertwined community. A ripple on one side of the world can become a tsunami on the other side of the world. People and lives, we will never see, impact every one of us. The mounting death toll from catastrophes like this can erase memories and human potential.
Its not always about market. The world may have lost a genius, a leader, a scientist, a family member or a friend. In less fortunate countries, the death toll will mount as disease and hunger encroach upon the victims. A government that puts it’s political policy above the welfare of its population must answer to world scrutiny. Disaster casualties are pieces of all of us.
The Globe, is a giant organism that depends on each of its parts. Neglecting one part threatens the whole. Countries, religions and political factions that fracture a global family image, are threats to the survival of the human species.
What do you call those arrogant individuals who scoffed at mandatory evacuation orders ahead of Hurricane Sandy? “We never thought it would be this bad …”! One of the first necessities to fail, in any human related crisis, is hygiene. Even people who are educated about personal health, struggle to maintain cleanliness when they loose control of their environment. This sounds like the elementary school lesson you slept through, but its not! When crisis, disaster or disruption enters your environment you no longer control your hygiene, nutrition or shelter. The bio hazards that surround you may breach, exposing you to elements and unpronounceable compounds. Most Americans are happily unaware or uninterested in the toxins surrounding them, until disasters like Hurricane Sandy the FrankenStorm!
Forgotten victims of Hurricane Sandy:
Here’s an Area Hit Hard by Hurricane Sandy That No One is Talking About
I repeat, I am sick and tired of the LET THEM EAT CAKE attitude of Tea-Publicans, especially during such a widespread disaster.
God’s Will And The 2012 Election
October 28, 2012
If the weather is really an expression of God’s Will, Insha’ Allah … Do you think Hurricane Sandy from the East and the Cold Front from the West, aka the “Super Storm’, is a sign? Will Mother Earth decide the US Presidential election? Will the next four years be determined by all the attention placed on this storm?
NOAA real time Atlantic satellite view should update throughout the day. If not just click on THIS.
Election day, November 6, 2012, will be tense at best. The close Presidential and Congressional races will be determined by how many votes are counted. The news media has speculated about the weather impact on voters. Possible mass evacuations could disrupt polling places along the United States East Coast. Hurricane Sandy may have the last word … Climate discussion has been relatively ignored in this election. More attention has been given to what we do to each other as humans.
Hurricane Sandy: The Aftermath
A Slow Return to Normal Skips the Gas Station
After Hurricane Sandy: Lessons for the data center
You never want to say ‘I told you so,’ but now is a good time to bring up the need for better monitoring, backup power, and other improvements
Sandy’s impact: State by state
Everyone will spin their opinions to their liking, but do you think Mother Nature is really concerned about mere human opinion? Human arrogance is getting a spanking this election year, and it appears that Mother Nature is frustrated. Enter Hurricane Sandy and the big Cold Front from the West to battle it out over the most populated side of the United States of America … at a pivotal time!
Earth’s occupants have disrespected each other and the planet they collectively occupy for millennium. Earth changes are inevitable natural cycles. Some of these cycles may have been influenced by human behavior. Humans have the tendency to obsess on trivia surrounding Earth’s Natural cycles … like ancient populations, religions will use this storm as a sign to boost their rhetoric. Millenia of trying to appease this unknown personality have become religions.
Humans have become too comfortable passing responsibility for their personal behavior to an unknown personality, they call YHWH, God, Allāh, Waheguru …
There are many interpretations for God’s Will (WIKI):
One general monotheistic concept is the Kingdom of God, with God as being a king, and of all “creation” as his kingdom. …
In Judaism, the will of God is said to be encompassed both in the Ten Commandments and in the Mitzvah … There are various Christian views on the old covenant
In Christianity, some assert the Law of Christ, a supercessesionist view that Jesus “commandments” superseded Jewish law.
In Islam, submission and surrender are terms referring to the acceptance of God’s will, while Sharia is a concept expressing Islamic jurisprudence, or an Islamic form of religious government, claims to be the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God.
In Sikhism, Hukam is a Punjabi word derived from the Arabic hukm, meaning “command” or “order.” God whose is referred to as Waheguru. It is by the command of Him that we are born and we die. In the Sikh Scripture, the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak says: … by the Hukam of God’s Command, we come and go in reincarnation. ((20)) —Japji Sahib Stanza 20
The whole of the Universe is subject to the Hukam of the Creator God. Nothing ever happens without the Will of Him. This is accepted as one of the primary concepts of Sikhism. For the Sikh, the acceptance of His Hukam is a concept that needs to be learnt and understood.
As for Deism, it has been explained: … reason to be an innate faculty of all people. Reason, the very image of God in which all humans are created, makes possible knowledge of the will of God. … The world, nevertheless, continued to function according to the laws that God had established at creation, laws that operate without the need of divine intervention.[1]
A similar formulation would apply to the subtype Pandeism, except that instead of becoming remote, God has become inaccessible and non intervening through its choice to fully become our Universe.
WIKI, Insha’Allāh is said when speaking about plans and events expected to occur in the future. The phrase also acknowledges submission to God, with the speaker putting him or herself into God’s hands. Muslims believe that everything is maktub [lit.: written] and so whatever it is one wishes to do, will only occur if it is within God’s plan. This does not take away from the concept of free will. One’s use of Insha’Allāh indicates not one’s desire to succeed in an endeavor, but rather that the endeavor one embarks on will be within God’s will, which might be interpreted as that which is best for Humanity, the Earth, and all of Allah’s creation.
There are so many examples of the human concept of God, that it can really confuse larger realities.
It must be the human God’s will to create the grand PONZI Schemes called RELIGION and POLITICS … wearing the cloak of authority over the human spirit, but hiding an agenda of exploitation!
The highest reality created a Universe, Galaxy, Solar System and Habitable Planet.
If God’s Will is to create and destroy. Why do humans, with their own free will, pick and choose who THEY want to create or destroy, and lie that it is really God’s will? When humans look you in the face and say their actions are God’s Will, they are perpetrating a Ponzi scheme on believers.
The truth of these matters are unfolding every day. Reality has a power of it’s own. Mother Nature and the power that created the Earth, Solar System, Galaxy and entire Universe has no concern for Religion or Politics. I repeat, Climate discussion has been relatively ignored in this election.
Frankenstorm: Has Climate Change Created A Monster?
More attention has been given to what we do to each other as humans. Mother Earth will do as she pleases, whether our politicians or clergy ignore it or not.
By the way, has anyone noticed the flurry of Earthquakes along the west coast of the North American Continent … ? 
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