http://www.counterpunch.org/ali08272010.html
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. 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