Floods for Pakistan; Floods of Money -- For its Leader
By Tariq Ali'
CounterPunch : August 27-29, 2010
Tariq Ali's latest book, The Protocols of the Elders of Sodom and other
Essays, has just been published by Verso.
A disaster of biblical scope: the floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains a
month ago have affected more than 17.2 million people and killed over 1,500,
according to Pakistan's disaster management body | August is the monsoon
season in Pakistan. This year a hard rain keeps falling, which is why the
floodwaters are not abating. Nearly two thousand deaths and over 20 million
people are homeless. The man-made disasters - war in Afghanistan, its
spillage into Pakistan - are bad enough. Now the country faces its worst
ever natural disaster. Most governments would find it difficult to cope, but
the current regime is virtually paralyzed.
Over the last sixty years, the ruling elite in the country has never been
able to construct a social infrastructure for its people. This is a
structural defect that goes deep and affects the bulk of the population
adversely. Today the country's rulers eagerly follow the neoliberal dictates
of the IMF, to keep the loans flowing. Not helpful at the best of times they
are useless when the country is undergoing its worst humanitarian crisis of
recent decades.
The response of the West has been less than generous causing panic in
Islamabad with pro-US journalists in the country pleading that if help is
not forthcoming the terrorists might take over the country. This is
nonsense. The Pakistani Army is firmly in control of the flood-relief
effort. The religious groups and others too are raising money and helping
the homeless. It's normal.
Since 9/11 a rampant Islamophobia has gripped Europe and parts of North
America. A recent opinion-poll in "multicultural Britain" revealed that when
asked what their first thought was on hearing the word "Islam" over fifty
percent replied "Terrorist". France and Germany, Holland and Denmark, are no
different.
This treatment of Islam as the permanent "other" is not unrelated to the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but the attitude is as wrong as the
anti-Semitism that ignited prejudice and genocide during the first half of
the 20th century. A million Iraqis dead since the occupation: Who cares?
Afghan civilians dying every day: It's their own fault. Pakistani engulfed
in floodwaters. Indifference. That is undoubtedly one reason for the lack of
response.
Zardari joins the Shoe Club with Bush
Another is home-grown. Many citizens of Pakistani origin I have spoken to in
recent weeks are reluctant to send money because they fear it will end up in
the huge pockets of the corrupt leaders who govern the country. As the
floodwaters began to surge through Pakistan, the country's President left
for Europe. Properties had to be inspected; his son had to be crowned as the
future leader of Pakistan at a rally in Birmingham, England.
"1000s dying, president is holidaying": As images of a drowning country were
being shown on European television, Pakistan's president was on his way to
his 16th century chateau in the French countryside | The coronation in
Birmingham was postponed. It was too crass even for the loyalists. Instead
Zardari delivered an appalling speech and a Kashmiri elder, angered by the
nonsense being spouted, rose to his feet and hurled one of his shoes at the
businessman-president calling him "corrupt and a thief". Zardari left the
hall in anger. "Zardari joins the Shoe Club with Bush" was the headline in
the largest Pakistani newspaper.
Some demonstrators held up shoes to pictures of Zardari, while others held
placards reading, "1000s dying, president is holidaying", "Thousands killed,
millions homeless" and "Are the Zardaris enjoying England while Pakistan
drowns?" None of this helped raise more money.
As images of Pakistan coping with the crisis and of its destitute people
were being shown on European television, a French air force helicopter was
transporting the richest man in Pakistan to his most extravagant European
property, the 16th century chateau, Manoir de la Reine Blanche, with its
five acres of parkland, lakes and forests. Originally built for the widow of
King Philippe VI it is now the property of the Pakistani widower. How can he
afford it? Everybody knows. Pay-offs from companies investing in the
country.
Back at home the Jang group, the country's largest media empire, was advised
by the government to exercise restraint and not show images of the
shoe-throwing incident on Geo TV. They rejected the suggestion and instead
interviewed the shoe-thrower.
Unable to curb YouTube, Zardari's men switched Geo and another network, ARY,
off the air in Karachi and parts of Sind. And hundreds of Zardari's jiyalas,
i.e. unthinking party loyalists, gathered outside Geo's Karachi office,
pelting the building with stones and shoes. All in reaction to Geo's
decision to report on the shoe-hurling incident.
Jang groups newspapers torched all over Karachi. No sign of the police. In
reaction, Geo started replaying clips of Benazir Bhutto defending press
freedom. The floods continue.
***
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/08/27-7
Factory Farms Make You Sick. Let Us Count the Ways
by Russell Mokhiber
Corporate Crime Reporter: August 27, 2010
Just last week, more than half a billion eggs recalled.
Why?
Salmonella poisoning.
More than 1,300 people sick.
Just last week, a recall of more than 380,000 pounds of deli meat products
distributed nationwide to Wal-Mart stores.
Why?
Possible contamination with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.
The bacteria can cause listeriosis - a rare but potentially deadly disease.
Move over Animal Farm.
Here comes Animal Factory.
And the animal factories are dominating the agricultural landscape.
Making us sick and poisoning the environment.
The Obama administration, which ran on a platform to confront factory
farming, has done little to confront the problem.
"They don't have the stomach to take on the factory farms," David Kirby,
author of the book Animal Factory (St. Martin's Press, 2010), told Corporate
Crime Reporter last week. "They are gun shy. I'm disappointed."
While the Justice Department and the Department of Agriculture are holding
hearings on concentration in agribusiness, Kirby see the exercise as a
glorified listening tour.
He doesn't anticipate federal intervention to prevent a disaster.
But he says what needs to be done is clear - move from factory farms to
family farms.
How?
Ban non-therapeutic antibiotic use in animals.
Bust up the processing cartels.
"There are so few processing plants now and they are so centralized and big
they want to process only factory farm animals," Kirby says.
Cut the billions in subsidies to agribusiness.
"And by the way, why aren't the tea partiers out there screaming about the
billions of dollars we give away every year to these massive farms?" Kirby
asks.
"And then take some of those subsidies and give them to small independent
farmers who can really use it to compete."
He says that the Obama administration ran on a platform to do some of these
things.
But it refuses to take on big agribusiness.
Kirby says it will take a disaster to change the system.
"You can pass all the laws you want, organize all the boycotts," Kirby said.
"But ultimately when you cram thousands of animals into a single confined
space without access to fresh air, outdoor sunlight, pasture, natural animal
behaviors - you are asking for problems in the form of diseases that attack
people."
"Mother nature will have the last word. Mad cow disease was a warning. Swine
flu was a warning. MRSA was a warning. The egg recall was a warning."
"But we haven't hit the big one yet."
"Things are changing. Consumers are waking up."
"I understand that there are lines around the block at farmers markets where
eggs sell out by noon."
"Demand for sustainably grown eggs right now is huge. That will make
companies sit up and take notice."
"Things are changing. But for a massive shift away from factory farming, it
will probably take some new super-virus combining the killer bird flu and
some killer swine flu."
"And that could happen. These chicken farms in Iowa are just down the road
from the hog farms."
"And birds and rodents and insects are moving in and out of these places."
That disaster would force public action. But what about preventable public
action by the Obama administration.
"It won't be enough to have a serious impact on the structure of the factory
farms," Kirby says. "We are awash in apathy in this country."
[For a complete transcript of the Interview with David Kirby see 24
Corporate Crime Reporter 33(10), August 30, 2010, print edition only.]
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
Reporter. He is also founder of singlepayeraction.org.
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