Blog Catalog

Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Nicholas Kristof Poses a Great Question---and Indicts Our Own Home State of Missouri and the Nation


Today's op/ed piece in the New York Times from Nicholas Kristof poses a great question.

What if There Were No George Floyd Video?


A great, even important question.

We wouldn't be trying to, at long, long last, heal these racist, racial wounds in the nation.  

George Floyd's death should never have taken place, of course.  At least we are finally, finally addressing these problems, these issues, this issue of race in America.

But by way of asking this question and addressing these issues, Mr. Kristof also makes a great and important point---and indicts our own state of Missouri, too. He states:


There is no video to show that a black boy born today in Washington, D.C., Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi or a number of other states has a shorter life expectancy than a boy born in Bangladesh or India.

Get that.

To repeat, a black boy born in these states, including our own home state of Missouri, has a shorter life span expectancy than that of a boy born in Bangladesh or India.

That is obscene.

It's also racism. It's one of the many results of racism in our nation.

We have got to do better.

And we've got to do better quickly. 

Now would be good.

Sunday, September 17, 2017

The Weather Events Our Media Don't Seem to be Reporting


Sure, we're getting coverage, some, anyway, of first Hurricane Harvey that hit Southeast Texas and Western Louisiana. And then we got coverage of Hurricane Irma that hit Florida---and, far more devastatingly, the Caribbean but hey, let's focus just on our 50 states, right?

We and our media have already seemed to have moved on from the Houston area.

Unless you've actively sought out information on that area and storm, Texas and Louisiana and Harvey, it doesn't seem like we're seeing or reading or hearing much about their plight now. We have, again, moved on, as a country, as a people. We're no longer paying them any "never mind."

Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, yet another hurricane is out there and building strength and heading for the same areas. It is Hurricane Marie, thank you very much. And tropical storm Lee is right behind.

So yeah, we're moving on. We're too busy to keep up with all that rebuilding down there in the ravaged South.

And speaking of moving on, how about the areas of the world that have also, in even recent weeks, let alone the last month or so, been ravaged by weather events? Do you have any idea what's been happening lately, around the world?

The Climate Catastrophe We're All Ignoring


Flooding in Bangladesh has submerged a third of the country. (Photo: British Red Cross)

"...multiply the damage from Harvey and Irma a hundredfold and you’ll get a feeling for the climate-related suffering taking place right now in the rest of the world. In India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, an estimated 40 million people have been affected by massive flooding, with over 1,200 deaths. More than one third of Bangladesh’s land mass has been submerged. As if that’s not enough, Africa has been suffering its own under-reported climate disasters, with hundreds of thousands affected by flooding in Nigeria, Niger, Congo, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

So yeah, maybe we need to know and recognize what, exactly, is already taking place in the world so we can put things, everything, in perspective. The climate scientists have said our planet is warming. They said devastating climate events would increase, from droughts to floods, at least.

Maybe we need to pay attention?

Listen?

Act?


Tuesday, September 5, 2017

What the Last Week Wrought on the World


Naimey, by the way, is in Niger.

And this doesn't include Nepal or Sierra Leone or Bangladesh or California's blistering heat wave and the wildfires there and across the Western US.

Image may contain: one or more people and outdoor

Friday, September 1, 2017

Do You Really Know All the Weather Events Taking Place This Week Across the Planet?


Let's evaluate what has happened and what''s going on of late, shall we?

Image result for harvey flooding pictures

The United States' fourth largest city and a good section of Southeast Texas is under water and will be for some time.

Flooding stretches for miles in east Texas 

- Videos - CBS News


There have been and are floods and flooding over a large swath of Bangladesh and Sierra Leone.  More than 1000 were killed in those mudslides in Sierra Leone, according to Al Jazeera, while at least 1200 have been killed in the Bangladeshi floods.

Floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal kill 1,200 and leave millions homeless


Back in another part of the US, a blistering heat wave gripped California this week with firefighters, statewide, tackling massive wildfires that forced thousands of people to flee their homes.


LADWP sees highest demand ever as Angelenos roast in record-breaking heat wave


And people want to ignore or deny what the scientists have said, are saying about man made climate change and how much carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere, warming the planet?

Really?

Links:

How Climate Change Likely Heightened 

Hurricane Harvey's Fury