Over the top analogy, not at all, Stephen Harper at the behest of industry is aiding and abetting in murder, the murder of millions of Chinese, there is no difference in what Stephen Harper is doing in wanting to ship more Alberta crud oil to China, that goes for the BC Liberals too for boasting on record tonnage coal exports to China, more than just boasting but clamoring for more coal exports, if you knew your actions and exports were directly causing cancers, causing early death, sickening children and leaving them suffering a slow painful death from heavy metal exposure, innocent children being poisoned by the air they breathe and water they drink, there is no difference, murder by poison or murder by gun...
Canada is supplying the bullets for China`s environmental destruction gun, this isn`t assisting suicide of suffering Asians, this is complicity in full-scale industrial mass-murder.
How long can we sit back and just watch this slaughter, corporate greed has infiltrated the Chinese Government and report after report are leaking out, reports on air unfit for human use, heavy metal laden water, poison in milk and cat food, lead filled toys year after find their way onto north American shelves, our Governments will usually respond quickly and remove these offending products, so why does Canada not only look a blind-eye to millions of early, preventable Chinese deaths but actively lobbies for more, more toxic air, more poisoned water and sadly more dead Chinese children. Corporate profits at any cost, millions dying a slow painful toxic death, Canada can`t wash the shame off our hands
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China cadmium spill threatens drinking water for millions
"BEIJING -- A cancer-causing cadmium discharge from a mining company has polluted a long stretch of two rivers in southern China, and officials warned some 3.7 million people of Liuzhou in the Guangxi region to avoid drinking water from the river, state media reported on Friday.
Pollution of waterways by toxic run-offs from factories and farms is a pressing issue in China, prompting authorities to call for policy tightening, though the problem shows no sign of going away.
Officials opened sluices at four upstream hydrological stations on the Longjiang River, a tributary to the Liujiang that runs through Liuzhou, hoping to dilute the pollutants after the toxic metal cadmium was first detected nearly two weeks ago in Hechi, Xinhua state news agency said.
Many fish died despite efforts by local fire officials to dissolve the cadmium by pouring hundreds of tonnes of neutralizers into the river, and authorities reported panic buying of bottled water by local residents.
Xinhua said officials blamed the Guangxi Jinhe Mining Co. for the Jan. 15 spill, but it was not clear how long the company had been discharging the chemical into the river or how much had had been released.
As of Friday, elevated levels of cadmium were being detected in Liuzhou, more than 130 km downstream from the plant, according to the report.
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But it added that local authorities had warned citizens not to drink water from the polluted sections of the river, and the government began looking for alternative water sources out of concern the pollution might spread further.
As of Friday, hundreds of residents near the source of the spill were still dependent on bottled water because wells there had also become contaminated, Xinhua said.
Despite Beijing’s frequent pledges to reduce pollution, local officials often put economic growth, revenue and job creation ahead of environmental concerns."
Read more here
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Exposure to smog is severe hazard
"In Beijing, the lung cancer rate has increased by 60 percent during the past decade, even though the smoking rate during the period has not seen an apparent increase, said Mao Yu, deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau.
"Increasing air pollution might be largely blamed for that," said Zhi Xiuyi, director of the Lung Cancer Treatment Center at Capital Medical University.Lung cancer, the leading killer among cancers, claims more than 600,000 lives on the mainland annually, according to the Ministry of Health.
In the past 30 years, the mortality rate among lung cancer patients increased by 465 percent on the Chinese mainland.
"Long-term exposure to that (particulate matter) also substantially increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases," said Ma Changsheng, a cardiologist at Anzhen Hospital in Beijing.
"The smaller the particle, the more hazardous it is for public health," Shi Yuankai said. "Worse, protective measures like wearing face masks barely help because the particles are too small."
The disastrous effects of smog are nothing new.
In the winter of 1952, dense smog in London caused mainly by heavy coal combustion killed about 12,000 people in the city.
That incident prompted the British government to move to clean up the air, and the effort paid off, for today, PM10 concentrations read at the significantly lower level of around 30 micrograms per cubic meter in the city.
According to the World Health Organization, the main components of particulate matter are sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, carbon, mineral dust and water.
Even in the EU, average life expectancy is 8.6 months shorter due to exposure to PM2.5, though the lung cancer rate has slightly decreased there in recent years, studies found.
"It is possible to derive a quantitative relationship between pollution levels and specific health outcomes," according to a 2005 World Health Organization report. Yet, in China, "we have few such studies", said Shi Yuankai.
The bad air has also disrupted traffic in the country.
Starting at the weekend, heavy fog shrouded northern and eastern parts of China. On Monday, about 219 flights were canceled and 118 delayed as of 3 pm at the Beijing Capital International Airport, according to the airport's website.
Apart from Beijing and Tianjin, nine other provinces, including Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi, were shrouded in heavy fog, snarling traffic.
Cars along the highway from Beijing to Harbin were backed up more than 50 kilometers in Liaoning province on Monday morning, China National Radio reported."
Read more Here
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China's Pollution Nightmare
"Unregulated industries contaminate local water sources, sickening thousands.
China is facing a "grave" environmental crisis, with more than half its cities affected by acid rain and one-sixth of its major rivers too polluted even to water the crops with, officials said recently.
Three decades of breakneck economic growth have taken their toll on the country's natural resources, sparking a huge increase in public unrest linked to environmental degradation and health problems caused by pollution.
"The overall environmental situation is still very grave and is facing many difficulties and challenges," deputy environment minister Li Ganjie told a news conference in Beijing in June.
Activists say that China has an exemplary set of environmental protection legislation, but that environmental officials lack the power to impose it on powerful vested interests at local levels.
Li said China's only clean coastal waters are to be found off the resort island of Hainan and some of the northern coastline, while the waters around Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Shanghai are rated as "severely polluted."
He said that 16.4 percent of China's major rivers have failed to meet the standard needed for agricultural irrigation, while the air quality is rated as exemplary in only 3.6 percent of Chinese cities.
He said the impact of heavy metal pollution on people's lives has been particularly severe.
"These heavy metal pollution incidents not only seriously threaten people's health, they affect social stability, and it ought to be said this is a rather severe issue," Li said."
Read more here
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The Government: drinking water for 32 million farmers, but ten times more are left without
"The Government: drinking water for 32 million farmers, but ten times more are left without
Clean drinking water promised by 2010, but 320 million are left without and a further 190 million forced to drink toxic water. Beijing’s interventions are hindered by industrial pollution and the lack of cooperation from local governments who focus on economic growth to the detriment of the environment. The Bohai sea is in Danger. Fourth Dossier on pollution.
CHINA Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The government will spend 6.4 billion Yuan each year to give drinking water to over 32 million rural villagers by 2010. Wang Shucheng, minister for water resources announced the move during a conference at the beginning of January.
But experts maintain that it is necessary to eliminate industrial waste and protect the environment first, even if that means slowing economic development.
But experts maintain that it is necessary to eliminate industrial waste and protect the environment first, even if that means slowing economic development.
According to official data, in 2004 over 320 million rural farmers had no access to clean drinking water -34% of the agricultural population- 125 million of whom live in the western provinces, 138 million in the centre and 69.9 million in the east. Of these, 190 million drink water containing toxic substances above security standards. According to the States Administration for the protection of the environment, out of a total of 234 villages tested in 2006 only 8.81% had sources of clean drinking water. Wang admitted that “hundreds of thousands of Chinese suffer from various illnesses because they consume (unclean) water” and has assured his commitment to seeing that these projects are carried out.
The project is part of a five year plan, begun in 2006, to bring drinking water to over 160 million farmers. Official sources point out that the government spent over 22 billion Yuan between 2001 and 2005 to bring drinking water to 67 million rural villagers, but has only reached a third of its target in tackling polluted rivers
. 90% of rivers and lakes are polluted, above all in the north with over 70% of river water from the Yellow, Huai and Hai rivers “too polluted for human."
. 90% of rivers and lakes are polluted, above all in the north with over 70% of river water from the Yellow, Huai and Hai rivers “too polluted for human."
Read more here
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For the Chinese, pollution and the environment top list of problems
" For the Chinese, pollution and the environment top list of problems
Water, air, contaminated food are “a serious threat” for 80 per cent of the population. There is trust in government but also concern. Few are those willing to file complaints against polluters. AsiaNews begins a series of reports on the issue.
When will your child be exposed to a river of blood, who`s child is next?
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
For the Chinese, pollution and the environment top list of problems
" For the Chinese, pollution and the environment top list of problems
Water, air, contaminated food are “a serious threat” for 80 per cent of the population. There is trust in government but also concern. Few are those willing to file complaints against polluters. AsiaNews begins a series of reports on the issue.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Environmental issues have become the public’s main worry, a study shows. The China Environmental Culture Promotion Association, an agency overseen by the State Environment Protection Administration, yesterday released the results of nationwide survey on the environment that supports that view.
The report shows that more than 40 per cent of those surveyed identified the environment as the issue of greatest concern, particularly in relation to food safety.
More than 80 per cent thought food contamination was an imminent environmental threat, and there was a similar level of concern about the dangers of water and air pollution.
More than 80 per cent thought food contamination was an imminent environmental threat, and there was a similar level of concern about the dangers of water and air pollution.
Destruction of the environment is the result of unrestrained industrial development over the past 20 years. This has created a situation, according to official data, in which more than 320 million farmers do not have access to clean water and 190 million drink contaminated water.
Stinking polluted water is often used in irrigation, especially when drought limits other water sources.
Food grown on farms relying on polluted water ends up on the nation’s tables because it cannot be distinguished from the rest.
A lot of fish also comes from polluted areas."
Read More here
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Stephen Harper and his big oil string pullers can`t be allowed to drag Canada into an environmental genocide, when there is proof positive that millions of innocent children are being poisoned by needed air, children developing cancers from merely drinking water and eating toxic food, we as a developed nation, educated, we can`t look a blind eye anymore we can`t pretend everything is all-right, it`s immoral to stand back and allow industry to poison future generation`s water, air, food, it doesn`t get any more basic than that...
Arguments of {If we don`t sell it to the Chinese someone else will}...Let them, let others engage in mass murder, what kind of civilized society watches their global neighbor slaughter and poison their children, the Chinese truth seekers are rising in power, demonstrations and violence is growing by the day, these people, these Chinese citizens aren`t fighting for money, they`re risking everything to save their children from death by TOXINS, 2012 is the year of the dragon it`s also the year of internal backlash the likes that haven`t been seen since tank-boy in Tiananmin square, back then the battle was for human rights today the battle rages for human health..
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In at least the third clash in as many weeks, 2,000 riot police fired tear gas and warning shots during a violent confrontation with anti-pollution protesters near an industrial plant in Quanzhou, Fujian Province.
The demonstrators destroyed cars, threw stones at police and took an official hostage last weekend in an attempt to sabotage a tannery and chemical plant that they blamed for a foul stench and high rates of cancer. Tensions have risen as the smell has worsened, locals said.
According to the local government, the "rioters" badly beat four chemical factory employees, the chief of the nearby Chengping village and at least one policeman during sporadic fighting over the past week.
The authorities said the hostages have been freed and calm has been restored, but locals told the Guardian that at least 100 protestors were still blocking access to the plant.
"Don't believe what the government is saying," a resident named Zhang said by telephone.
Images posted anonymously online showed upturned cars and long ranks of police carrying shields and batons.
On a local government website, the odour problem is blamed on a broken pipe at the Quangang Urban Sewage Plant.
But residents said the facility, built about three years ago, discharged industrial waste that polluted the sea shore and threatened the health and incomes of local people.
"The stench is awful," said a man, who gave only the surname Liu. "Nobody wants to buy our fish. We can't earn money. The fishing boats have been abandoned on the shore."
Calls to government offices in Quanzhou rang unanswered today.
Earlier in the week, the state-run Straits Metropolitan News, blamed "unlawful elements" for the trouble, but it said only 200 protesters were involved.
The clash in Fujian follows recent disturbances in Shaanxi and Hunan provinces, which has led to the arrest of 15 people, say authorities.
That unrest had been sparked by the lead poisoning of more than 2,000 children."
Read more here
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This is why voices are disappearing in China, journalists, bloggers, whistle-blowers are being jailed tortured censured but they won`t be silenced, China is on the verge of domestic war, the first war of its kind, a war not for money not for land this war is for air and water that`s fit for human consumption.
Canada needs to take a long-hard look in the mirror, is this acceptable, when China awakes will Canadian oil whores move on, move onto a new set of victims, this story isn`t about global warming truth or hype, believers or deniers, I could care less about the CO,2 level argument, global warming is but a tiny part of a much larger inter-connected ecological picture, I`m talking about water pollution, sewer discharges killing oceans, poisoning fish, tailing ponds waiting to kill anything that gets near, I`m talking about coal particles..
What we are talking about is Stephen Harper`s Conservatives wanting to destroy British Columbia`s water supply, to eradicate our salmon, pollute our fragile pristine coastline, to risk everything British Columbia holds dear for the sole purpose of bigger corporate profits and that price, the price of those profits is the suffering and death of millions of Chinese children, along with damaging and risking catastrophic spills in British Columbia`s salmon rivers or fragile coast..
My stomach turns just thinking about it, a goddam Stephen Harper implicating Canadians in an Environmental Genocide..
Time to wake up Canada, if Harper will assist in slaughtering these children...
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Further anti-pollution riots break out in China
"controls have failed to keep pace with economic development, the country's environment minister has admitted as details emerged of another riot sparked by fears of industrial contamination.In at least the third clash in as many weeks, 2,000 riot police fired tear gas and warning shots during a violent confrontation with anti-pollution protesters near an industrial plant in Quanzhou, Fujian Province.
The demonstrators destroyed cars, threw stones at police and took an official hostage last weekend in an attempt to sabotage a tannery and chemical plant that they blamed for a foul stench and high rates of cancer. Tensions have risen as the smell has worsened, locals said.
According to the local government, the "rioters" badly beat four chemical factory employees, the chief of the nearby Chengping village and at least one policeman during sporadic fighting over the past week.
The authorities said the hostages have been freed and calm has been restored, but locals told the Guardian that at least 100 protestors were still blocking access to the plant.
"Don't believe what the government is saying," a resident named Zhang said by telephone.
Images posted anonymously online showed upturned cars and long ranks of police carrying shields and batons.
On a local government website, the odour problem is blamed on a broken pipe at the Quangang Urban Sewage Plant.
But residents said the facility, built about three years ago, discharged industrial waste that polluted the sea shore and threatened the health and incomes of local people.
"The stench is awful," said a man, who gave only the surname Liu. "Nobody wants to buy our fish. We can't earn money. The fishing boats have been abandoned on the shore."
Calls to government offices in Quanzhou rang unanswered today.
Earlier in the week, the state-run Straits Metropolitan News, blamed "unlawful elements" for the trouble, but it said only 200 protesters were involved.
The clash in Fujian follows recent disturbances in Shaanxi and Hunan provinces, which has led to the arrest of 15 people, say authorities.
That unrest had been sparked by the lead poisoning of more than 2,000 children."
Read more here
_______________________________________________________
This is why voices are disappearing in China, journalists, bloggers, whistle-blowers are being jailed tortured censured but they won`t be silenced, China is on the verge of domestic war, the first war of its kind, a war not for money not for land this war is for air and water that`s fit for human consumption.
Canada needs to take a long-hard look in the mirror, is this acceptable, when China awakes will Canadian oil whores move on, move onto a new set of victims, this story isn`t about global warming truth or hype, believers or deniers, I could care less about the CO,2 level argument, global warming is but a tiny part of a much larger inter-connected ecological picture, I`m talking about water pollution, sewer discharges killing oceans, poisoning fish, tailing ponds waiting to kill anything that gets near, I`m talking about coal particles..
What we are talking about is Stephen Harper`s Conservatives wanting to destroy British Columbia`s water supply, to eradicate our salmon, pollute our fragile pristine coastline, to risk everything British Columbia holds dear for the sole purpose of bigger corporate profits and that price, the price of those profits is the suffering and death of millions of Chinese children, along with damaging and risking catastrophic spills in British Columbia`s salmon rivers or fragile coast..
When will your child be exposed to a river of blood, who`s child is next?
The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open
Herr Harper doesn't care who he poisons, nor how many. He is rabid with greed and for power. He sees himself, as the leader of a, Thousand Year Reich, or the Global Governance, which he wants for Canada. He even gave a speech on that subject. Harper is an absolute fanatic, as dictators usually are.
ReplyDeleteOther country's are also complaining, of China's pollution drifting into their country's. And yes, Harper is stupid enough to pollute China even more than, that country is already.
As usual, Harper managed to piss off everyone in Davos. He was dictating and lording it over the other country's leaders, how they were less intelligent than he was, and they must do as he tells them, to survive.
Harper avais trying to take the credit, for Canada's good standing in the recession. Thank the Lord, a previous P.M. saved Canada, before Harper got his dirty hands on this Nation.
Since Harper's majority, Canada has been sliding steadily backwards. I don't know how in the hell anyone, will ever be able to, clean up Harper's mess.
He has said, Enbridge will go through. We say, it will not. Harper is insane, to string a pipeline through BC. However, dictators usually do, have bats in the belfry.
The toll on China will remain with or without the tar sands goop.
ReplyDeleteThey will satisfy their oil hnger from many other areas of this world.
The 44 thousand people (predominantly First Nations) that live downstream of the tar pits and depend on the Athabaska River and Delta for virtually everything in their quality of life, need help in stopping the madness and insanity of the international oil companies assault on their homeland.
This 'Harper' government must be stopped one way or another.
Harper doesn't care about the children in China any more than he cares about the children in Canada. Children in China are living in a toxic mess and children on reserves in Canada are also living in a toxic mess. In China it is the result of industrial pollution. In Canada its the result of poorly built and inadequate housing which are now full of mold.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what Harper is thinking, but I can only conclude he thinks it will be o.k. for these children to die. They go to heaven. I can't figure out why else you would allow children to die. I don't see him sending his children to mold infested schools.
His carrying on at international conferances about Canada's banking system is a laugh. If previous Liberal governments hadn't enacted the banking legistation they did, Canada would be in the same position as other countries.
Harper was opposed to the Liberal banking legislation and at one point in his political career said he wanted to change them. Well he didn't get to and thank god. It has kept Canada in a better financial position but Harper should fess up. It has nothing to do with him and everything to do with previous Liberal governments. (I'm not a liberal supporter.)
Harper took to the world stage to tell Canadians he is going to cut back on seniors' pensions. He wants to extend the age to 67 from 65. Well lets see him set an example by changing the MPs pensions. I do recall him caimpaigning at one time in his career on reforming the "gold plated pensions". I guess not, now that he is in line for one.
Canada will not suffer any financial set backs by keeping the pension system as it is. The only reason Canada is running a deficiet is Harper keeps reducing corporate taxes and taking Canada into expensive wars which for the most part weren't any of Canada's business.
Herr Harper has his majority. He will do as he pleases which includes but is not restricted to, putting pipelines through the north, sending oil tankers down B.C.'s coast, reducing our medical system, reducing pensions for seniors, causing illness and death of First Nations children, sending more people to prison, increasing policing costs, getting rid of the gun registry. Ontario alone complains it will cost them $1Billion more because of Harper's crime bill. The money would be better spent on seniors' pensions. Of course if seniors' are stealing to get by, I guess the prisons might work as new places to live.
He said we wouldn't recognize Canada if he obtained a majority and he wasn't kidding. People voted for him and the chickens are coming home to roost.
The monied class never seem to worry about the environment. In fact the envirnment pays for their wealth until it is tapped out and then us humans do.
ReplyDeleteThe war is a class one and we need to recognize that.
Just like to say that thecanadian.org's comments on all things pipeline are way up! And comments are running 95% in favour of Rafe - who as you know wants no part of this gateway to hell and gone.
ReplyDeleteThese are early days and the last time I saw this kind of political response we all managed to stop the HST.
The neocon Canadian government can threaten all they like - this is far from over. Of course the mainstream media will spend at least 10s of millions trying to 'spin' this pipeline so people support it, and the government has said that Canadians who don't like it are 'enemies of the state'. But they got it backwards - the present government is the enemy of the people. Every time I go on 'foreign' sites I do my best to get them involved in helping us defeat this pipeline. Commondreams.org is a good place to comment and solicit help. (huge readership - recommend this site.)
This pipeline is the last straw, next step for BC is the same as Nigeria where they have lots of wealth flowing out and incredible pollution of their waterways, but where the locals get next to nothing. It will be the same in BC if they win.
@Anonymous at 6:17 PM:
You are right about the pollution running out of the leaking Fort Mac toxic ponds and how they poison the people down stream. Just last week Chevron lost a 20 year court case, even though they picked their venue and were accused of trying to buy the verdict the natives there won 18 billion for the destruction of large tracts in Ecuador. Why don't the natives down stream in Northern Alberta sue the government and oil companies (one and the same under Harper) for billions for the destruction of their environment and health?
Also, all that water eventually flows into the Mackenzie river, which is the third largest watershed in the world. Would recommend reading Andrew Nikiforuks book 'Tar Sands' as it gives a good idea of the whole oily deck of cards which is about to collapse in Northern Alberta. You can get it at your library. This is crazy!
This is such an excellent piece of work, Grant, I'm going to take you up on your offer to borrow a bit of it for my own blog. And thank you.
ReplyDeleteQ. Do you know where David Emerson fits into this evil web of corrupt corporations selling off Canadian public assets? I had heard that Emerson has joined a large Chinese corporation. Not sure if he has moved from Vancouver to China or [shudder] or if he finds there's no real need to move to China.
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Thanks M...Use whatever you like..
ReplyDeleteCheers
I heard the oil leak out on Sumas Mountain in Abbotsford last week is ALOT bigger than anyone is letting on, the media aren't reporting the extent of it. They were trying to take gravel out, but were stopped because it is saturated and deep in oil.
ReplyDeleteIt appears some of our big media has quit reporting. AGAIN.