Recently - on a relatively cold and bleak night after a long day of work, I stood patiently waiting for the bus to arrive. I usually don't pay much attention to what's happening around me when I'm flat-out tired and just have only the goal of getting home and dropping dead. Something on this occasion hit me though. Whilst just plainly standing there, I was startled by a child with his mother stand close to the window adjacent to where I was quietly standing. Sorry, I don't mean to say that I automatically startled when I see a child and their mother! What came next somewhat startled me by the naivete and carefree nature of it. The child began moving and crouching around the window sill and frame and touching the window as if it was the first time he had seen one. He was oblivious to the fact that I was there or even the presence of his mother. What I want to note is the simplicity of it - how this child isn't afraid of exploring and finding out what is .. what it is.


However juvenile children can appear; they have the utmost freedom to do - while most of their actions are underdeveloped and unconscious/subconscious - whatever they like. On the other hand, adults are knowing of the consequences of the actions; children are not. They are uncontrolled by their social surroundings and social norms that are established at that moment or any moment for that matter. This is why children in themselves hold the largest potential for our future. Although in many of their first years, they have almost no social awareness - psychology literature strongly acknowledges that it is in their later years that the maturation of their general awareness and intellect is built upon the environment they are brought up in. For a person like me who has no psychological education, the merit of that is amazing for me. Because when I look at my nephew, I don't simply see a child who is overtly just running around, messing about, being a kid; I see a child who is progressing into a world that will create him. We take for granted how fundamentally absorbent children are to the world and through their interactions of it. They eat up what the environment throws at them and this will subsequently formulate the basis of how they are developed. Just by virtue of that is stunning.

I was confounded by why this child stirred up this mental note. I think it's because as an adult, we are too involved in the rapid nature of our routines that we forget even the smallest things that are happening around us. It's strange. For all I know, I could've waited for the bus, arrived home and went to sleep.


Shortly after, the bus arrived and we treaded slowly onto the bus. I took my seat in the middle of the bus and pulled out my book to read. Momentarily, the mother and child took their seats as well. The kid was in fact in front of me. For a brief moment, I took a chance to look around and was met by the child's face staring at me. At which he blurted out funny, incoherent phrases and abruptly ended it with laughter. I responded by laughing as well. Again, it just proves the point of how unafraid children are when communicating and interacting with the world. They are unsettled by the social flow of the environment and couldn't care less what people thought or were doing. I think the beauty of being a child lies in that, or somewhere close to that.

I mentioned as well how children have the potential for refining our future and one video clearly re-iterates their potential for doing so. This is a talk by Ken Robinson at the TEDTalks Conference. He explains how schools are stunting the innate creativity that children possess or for that matter, those who attend schools.

He's a genius and tops it off by his humour. I think his wit and versatility in his expression in the video says it all, and further reinforcing how creativity works.

I admire one of his well-spoken quotes, addressing the attitudes of children:

"Kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. Am I right? They're not frightened of being wrong."

And it's true, huh? He also goes on to say that mistakes are so stigmatised that it's become somewhat epidemic in the working class society. I know that this is supposedly how capitalism works through individualism and the goal to perfection and blah blah blah .. but the point raised is that children are not undermined by this. Their mistakes are flaunted in its absolute entirety and they just don't care.


It's magnificient how differentiated how children and adults will react to certain mistakes. Clearly, it is obviously that children don't understand or recognise the full weight and bearing of their mistakes and thus, cannot perceive their mistakes but more clearly, the apathy that children exhibit strikes me as extraordinary, whilst adults (like us) flinchingly react through self-improvement and error-correction when particular mistakes are unravelled. Man, being a child was fun!


I want to end this by articulating the spontaneity of children in their actions, in their mistakes and in their interactions with us as human beings. Take a look or watch when children are scouting around and enjoying themselves. You will realise the value of such simplicity of a child doing something so profoundly unconventional or innocent. Whatever it is, you cannot but help end up laughing or enjoying the moment.

Here's something new to worry about: If you can't figure out how much carbon your company is pumping into the atmosphere, you could face fines or even criminal charges someday.

...

They're calling it Carbox, and it's inspired a green streak in corporate culture--and spawned a cottage industry to deal with the problem. As most people now painfully know, Sarbanes-Oxley, or Sarbox, requires companies to disclose any business risks facing the company to investors in public filings.

And here is the quote that gives the whole game away:

"Companies like Google are adding hundreds if not thousands of servers a month to keep up with demand from all these Web 2.0 sites where you store your photos or music. Those are all powered by servers in data centers. The growth of those things is just incredible." Expect the fees for consultants and lawyers to follow the same path.

What utter non-sense. So of course it's going to happen. Sometimes I think it's a miracle public companies stay in business, much less remain profitable.

The transition is going to be difficult, awkward and disorganised in the beginning; but I will get there. So will you. Some people who are so used to calling me EU are already fighting the change.

This is essential. For me. For my growth. For where I want to be. For where I am beginning to be.

I have been wanting to make this change for the longest time. I don't think I wanted to make the effort but some times one just has to. So I have. The profile picture needs a change too. That will take longer.

My determination comes from this post, an old college friend and the lack of change in my status for some time now.

According to the Asian Development Bank, Metro Manila will add 2.6 million more to it's population by the year 2020. The cities part of Metro Manila are not even ready for the 10 million already living here. What more by 2020?

I would like to think that some cities are in fact trying to cope with this. But at the current rate, it's still not enough. There's no real mass transportation. I'm sorry but adding more jeeps, tricycles and buses isn't the solution. Increasing these moving chicanes further increase congestion and pollution. Water supply is only being tolerable now. Where are we going to get that much water for 2 million more? Electricity is another problem. Isn't anyone going green anytime soon? And of course there's a lot of garbage to handle. The cities already don't know where to put it and the surrounding provinces don't want it. Very few households are segregating garbage and our entire sewage system is untreated.

Unless the people and government take care of this soon, I don't think that Metro Manila would even be a livable place in 2020.

We have destroyed our planet. In our quest for energy we have destroyed everything. We filled out world, first with carcinogenic fumes, and then with radioactive particles. Those elements the world so cleverly locked away have been so violently extracted and consumed by an over-voracious parasite.

Where once there was just the Sahara, the whole world now is like one barren desert. Not one snow-capped mountain remains, nor a shoot of a plant to burst through the soil. Water dried up long ago and now there is nothing.

Did we not realise what would happen? Could we not look at every other planet within our visible universe and find no other freak happening of a water-laden atmosphere?

We had something special and we threw it all away.

We watched too many Mad Max films and thought it was possible to live after the apocalypse, well it's bullshit you can't....

So if this is the end, where did it all start?

Pine needles reflected in a drop of water…

© 2008 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used...(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

Making a quick pond couldn't be easier if you can get your hands on an old iron bath. Yes, you can dig a hole and put plastic liner in, but baths get chucked out often and as they are designed to hold water all the work has been done for you. They are also free, always a plus point! No matter how small your garden, you should be able to find a corner big enough for a bath pond, and you'll do wonders for your garden's biodiversity.

My bathpond has been dropped into a hole so that it's at ground level. The pots are waiting for some reeds which someone is giving me. There are plenty of places for creatures to get in and out of the water (logs, stones, etc) . The tiles around the edge are really just to hide the stark white of the bath, but they have the added benefit of creating little spaces where small toads, etc. could hide. Just out of shot is a pile of rotting logs and various nooks and crannies for who ever wants them. Now the bath is in place, I'll also be able to plant around it so that there's vegetation around the edges. The tyre at the end will be home to a comfrey plant. If the plan works my various toads should spend more time in the veg patch munching those darn slugs and less time trying to get inside the knickers of my guests!

Strong quake damages Japanese atomic power plant
Fire in Japanese atomic power plant

G8 countries want new atomic power plants.
Shame on Germany they don't want atomic power. The swines.
Why not atomic power.

It's cheap. It's safe. It's even renewable, it's clever,
reactors are running with pure oxygen and bubble gum.
And, that's what all say: It's damn good money.

They become lobbists and advise / pay the Governments.
Then the Governments meet and say: Let's build new atomic reactors.
People say: Atomic energy is dangerous.
Governments say: No, IAEA and ICRP say it's NOT.

This is IAEA
This is ICRP

The operators are ready to invest in their atomic power plants.
That's nice of them, isn't it.

Who one wonders, they get 37,000,000,000 EUROs of money
(our money) as subsidies for their atomic money maker plants.

And they don't have to assure them - that's up to 2 - 5,000,000,000,000 EUROs
of money for each reactor. Which other energy is so clever? Tell me!

Even better: The subsidies will rise because
the needed Uranium will be more expensive if countries still
want to use their atomic reactors and even build new ones,
as McCain wants, the IEA wants, Toshiba wants and other countries
want. More dependence on atomic energy. More money.

McCains 45 atomic reactos
IEAs 1,300 atomic reactors
Toshibas 65 atomic reactors
France atomic reactors
Switzerland atomic reactors

To get 1 ton of Uranium you cause 2,000 tons of radiative material.
But there is no lobby for the Uranium workers in such countries like... well
which countries? No matter.

And even if one reactor crashes - the atomic industry is
building on the ALARA (made by the ICRP / IAEA) principle -
this allows them not to pay if people are affected by radiation exposure
- when something happens in / with their reactors.

IAEA and ALARA - we don't help you

This so clever.
Make your own rules (Atomic Industry, IAEA) and it even is accepted!
More money, money, money!

Atomic power plants have turbines - they are running with steam.
It's the oldest principle. But hey! It's atomic power, it's modern.
But why do we have to use Uranium to make steam at the end?
I don't know, who asks. More money, that's why.

Atomic power is a centralized energy - destroy the center - no energy.
That's the same with the Fusion reactor in ITER / France (Funded with
10,000,000,000 EUROs of money - 100,000,000,000 EUROs of money till
2050 in the E.U.). But credit the money, if you are clever you also
have your hands in Fusion not only atomic power.

The atomic industrys servant IEA / IAEA says atomic power will go
back in the year 2030. Who wonders? My money wonders.
Uranium will end in 60 years and be more expensive. More money.
Renew Uranium? That's even more expensive and causes huge
amounts of radiative waste. But it's more money.

Remember - there is no radioactive waste disposal on the world,
even for the 1st Generation waste directly from atomic power plants.
That costs too much money.

In the past money was worth much more, now money loses it's value.
Attention, it's clever! With less valuable money it's harder to
build new energy like environmental friendly / renewable energy.

So, let's wait and wait and wait - it will become nearly impossible.
People think: Renewable energy is too expensive and ineffective.
But wait, instead we have atomic power from the past with the good
old frameworks - as the subsidies. Let's bet on this, let's sell
it during G8.
Money!

Who cares for the future, when your country has hundreds of atomic power
plants - which need to be demolished - this costs more than the construction and takes
a longer time (10 years).

And with all these massive problems - who cares about a missing radioactive waste disposal.
or problems after all. Or the German KiKK Study about higher cancer risc near atomic power plants.
Guess what, let's build more atomic power plants - so everyone lives next to one. The study will
be out of date then.

Goodnight G8

Life-Upgrade.com

• Nyalakan komputer pada model penghematan daya dan pastikan piranti tersebut mati setiap kali selesai digunakan.
• Jangan meninggalkan komputer dalam posisi stand by dalam waktu panjang karena ia tetap menyerap energi listrik.
• Saat meninggalkan kantor, pastikan mematikan tombol monitor. Meskipun layar tidak menyala, monitor tetap menyedot listrik sebelum tombolnya dimatikan.
• Matikan perangkat elektronik yang tidak setiap saat digunakan seperti printer dan mesin fax.
• Tutup pintu atau akses masuk agar udara dingin dari AC tidak terbuang sia-sia.
• Pilih temperatur AC sewajarnya atau jangan terlalu dingin.
• Matikan lampu-lampu saat meninggalkan kantor.
• Kurangi penggunaan stepler bila ingin berkontribusi dalam menghemat ton baja.

Whilst there can be no doubt that as a nation of people we are very wasteful when it comes to buying our food and probably consume far more than is healthy for us, it does not behove the Prime Minister well to be lecturing us upon our habits. The "waste not, want not" message is all well and good coming from parents but coming from someone who earns a huge salary out of our hard earned and paid for taxes, and then spends eleven years throwing cash around like confetti, it smacks of "people living in glass houses". Such talk is always likely to sound like "nanny knows best" statism.

With world oil prices contributing to food costs indirectly but crucially in the areas of fertiliser production and transport costs, Brown could do much to alleviate these costs by reducing the amount of taxation that the British government takes from oil, petrol, and derv, yet he gets his civil servants to chant the mantra that this would result in reduced government expenditure, or increased taxation, elsewhere. What utter complete tosh!

As world oil prices have risen the government has reaped untold rewards in additional taxation which was NOT PLANNED for at the beginning of the fiscal year, this is all EXTRA cash, a big bonus, just  like winning the Lottery! There are very good reasons why Gordon doesn't want to see this windfall reduced or wasted of course, there is the huge debt created by the 10p tax rate climb down to pay for, as well as the costs of buying the Ulster Unionist votes for saving the 42 day clause. If South Shields families are forking out an extra £400 odd per year on wasted food then they are certainly forking out twice that amount on extra taxation introduced over the the lifespan of the NuLabour experiment, with little real improvement in family life to show for it!

Broon also conveniently forgets to mention the effect of so called "green policies" pursued by NuLabour and other western governments in their fascination with the climate change agenda with a secret World Bank report suggesting that the production of biofuels is responsible for forcing up global food prices by 75%.

A separate report for the British government also warns of the dangers involved in pressing the biofuels agenda;

The Gallagher report on biofuels, to be published by the Transport Department, is expected to sound a warning that far more research is needed on the impact of biofuels such as corn ethanol and biodiesel on land use and food production before the Government sets any targets for their use in transport.

Britain is expected to press for EU targets on extending the use of biofuels to be scaled back. Food prices have risen because farmers have replaced traditional food crops with those to produce biofuels.

Meanwhile David Cameron's Conservatives appear to be looking for the populist approach by tinkering with the fuel tax escalator, it will strike a chord with the average family car driver but the danger is that the oil and petrol companies will not pass on the savings to the consumer when the price of a barrel of oil rises, and when it falls the pump price is unlikely to follow at the same speed. With some refinement, they may find a suitable vote winning policy, but the mechanics still need some adjustment, the upside for the Tories is that they are speaking a language that looks more "in touch" with the aspirations of the British people which contrasts rather well with the condescending talk from Gordon Brown.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Obsessively Weird about Dirt: Reverse Graffiti

Reverse Graffiti: Cleaning Without a Permit

The New York Times interviewed the British artist Paul Curtis:

The British artist Paul Curtis is not sure what to call his version of vandalism. "People call it ‘reverse graffiti,' " he says, "but I prefer something less sinister: ‘clean tagging' or ‘grime writing.' " Curtis (a.k.a Moose) selectively scrubs dirty, derelict city property (tunnel walls, sidewalks) so that words and images are formed by the cleaned bits. "It's refacing," he says, "not defacing. Just restoring a surface to its original state. It's very temporary. It glows and it twinkles, and then it fades away."

Critics have accused him of breaking the law, but for what? Cleaning without a permit? "Once you do this," he says, "you make people confront whether or not they like people cleaning walls or if they really have a problem with personal expression."

[wpvideo ZKAp9COr w=460]

Reverse Graffiti: Cleaning Without a Permit

Reverse Graffiti: Cleaning Without a Permit

Technorati: Paul Curtis, Moose, Reverse Graffiti, Reverse Graffiti Project, England, Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom, London, San Francisco, art, graffiti art, celebrities, photographs, photography, gallery, photo-gallery, slideshow, entertainment, multimedia, video, culture, cultural, social, social issues, social life, society, psychology, green, environment, news, world news, world

Please Remember Me and Bookmark This:

 Heathrow air quality.  Do check out 21 competition entries, later:   

No words necessary: The cartoonists tackle climate change

From The Sunday Times
July 6, 2008
Public ‘misled’ over Heathrow pollution
Jon Ungoed-Thomas

The government’s adviser on air quality has warned that ministers are “pulling the wool” over the public’s eyes to justify building a third runway at Heathrow.

Mike Pilling, who chairs the government’s expert group on air quality, said the public were being misled over claims that Heathrow’s expansion would not cause unlawful and dangerous levels of pollution.

His comments came as it emerged that Ruth Kelly, the transport secretary, has been forced by the scale of the public backlash to postpone her decision on expansion. It was due this summer, but sections of it are now likely to be rewritten.

This weekend the National Trust also came out in opposition to the expansion proposal and to plans by Nats, the air traffic service, to redraw flight routes across the country to ease congestion.

…

The full article is worth reading.

Extending the argument further:

• air quality is the immediate, visible thin end of the wedge
• climate change is the long-term, invisible thick end of that same wedge

Any government that practises deception on this scale on the easy day-to-day issues of air quality, is too dangerous to trust with lifetime challenges as serious and as urgent as climate change.  How can people sit back and ignore this?!  (Oh, sorry, I forgot.  You are busy watching sport …)

P.S.  Now listening on iTunes to this soulful song, thinking of the residents of Sipson who will have to be removed, and the rest of us who have been deceived, by this government if Heathrow expansion goes ahead:

Aretha Franklin Border Song (Holy Moses) Lyrics

Holy Moses, I have been removed, 
I have seen the spectre, he was been here too, 
Distant cousin from down the line 
Brand of people who ain't my kind 
Holy Moses, I have been removed 

Holy Moses, I have been deceived
Now the wind has changed direction I think I'll have to leave 
Won't you please excuse my frankness but it's not my cup of tea 
Holy Moses, I have been deceived

Yes I have! 

I'm going back to the border 
Where my affairs, my affairs ain't been abused 
I can't take any more bad water 
I've been poisoned from my head down to my shoes

Yes I have! 

Holy Moses, I have been removed

Holy Moses, can we live in peace?
Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease 
There's a man standing over there, 
What's his colour? do you care? 
Holy Moses, can we live in peace?
Holy Moses, can we live in peace?
Holy Moses, can we live—
I wonder can we can we can we live—in peace?

Indians are forever spraying, spewing and releasing toxins in other forms into their environment, blissfully ignorant about the impacts of harmful chemicals on themselves and their natural surroundings. Without preserving the health of nature, they will not get clean air and water for sustenance of life. Yet, such elementary logic does not impress the consuming class.

The NYT piece, though by no means a sterling piece of journalism (it says inexplicably that the toxic chemical waste on the Union Carbide/Dow site is "languishing" for years now), serves the purpose of summarising the situation. It also points out that many years after the tragedy, there are people living amidst the polluted surroundings. 

The State Government, which belongs to the bigoted "India Shining" brigade, has done nothing to help. It took a Supreme Court order four years ago, and two decades after the deadly gas leak, to provide water to the wretched people living in the gas leak area.

How starkly different the world of these miserable people is from the comfort zones that India's middle class imagines iteself to be in, with its opulent villas, gated security, health spas and polished cars. It is unlikely that this class of people, feeling a false sense of security thanks to their isolation from reality, will appreciate the story in question. They are unlikely to be moved, because of their deep ignorance, of the narration of Government indifference, corporate corruption and the emaciated nature of India's environmental laws and the implementing agencies.

The tragedy is that the middle class is unable to see the creeping poison under its feet, as the toxic sludge from a variety of poorly regulated industrial activities is poisoning its land, water and air. It happened quickly for those closer to the Bhopal site, but is taking place at a slow but sure pace for the rest of us.

The Star's Bahasa Malaysia portal Mstar reports that the Tarantulas are disappearing from our highlands, especially Fraser's Hill in Pahang, because they are ending up as pets overseas.

The Fraser's Hill Tarantulas are said to be about 40 years old. These hairy, scary fellas are known as Old World Spiders and are said to have a lifespan of up to 60 years.

So I guess there is a market out there for uncle and aunt Tarantulas. In Japan, according to the article, Aunt Tarantula fetches the yen equivalent of RM228. That is not very expensive if you consider that these critters are rare.

So our brave fellas go into the jungles and hunt down these beauties to be sold abroad. Unconscionable rape of the forest and thievery that brings nothing much. One must consider the fact that the catch cannot be any good.

These Tarantulas mate once a year, (they evidently have not discovered Tongkat Ali) so I suppose the proliferation of these big spiders are not at a healthy stage, what with loss of habitat and poaching.

Malaysia is home to 12 different types of Old World Spiders. In Malaysia, there is a group called the Malaysian Tarantula Society that's trying to educate our fellow citizens about these gorgeous Arachnids/Theraphosidae.

Visit their site for more information, and the next time you see people poaching spiders from our old forests, beat them up. I mean it.

That is, of course, after liberating these babies, capisce?

There is a RM50,000 fine for those caught in possession of these Tarantulas under our Wildlife Protection Act. It's no joke.

The one nice thing I say about this despicable trade in endangered species is that, these spiders are actually ending up as pets in foreign countries. I guess they fare much better than the Malaysian chicks who became drug mules and now languishing in prison.

And despite apparently rating Marketing Birmingham, the agency created to do that job, Mick Laverty has revealed he is setting up a regional marketing board to tackle the problem.

It would be interesting to know what Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham who Mr Laverty also "rates", makes of this suggestion.

Mr Laverty's new-look board would seek to co-ordinate the activities of Marketing Birmingham and other agencies in the region, such as InStaffs. He clearly wants a more joined up approach and feels a region-wide umbrella body is the way forward.

And yet I can't help thinking the last thing that the West Midlands is another board.

Isn't it simply adding yet another layer of bureaucracy to an already confused and confusing picture?

The likes of Marketing Birmingham have a tough enough time cutting through the red tape and dealing with the slow-working public sector machinery and machinations without adding yet another body it has to contend with and appease.

Marketing Birmingham has made progress, but there is still criticism that can be levelled at the agency as highlighted by this recent attempt by The Guardian to locate the city's cafe culture. The article features the usual suspects that Marketing Birmingham will want to push, but as some point out it doesn't exactly give a true flavour of the city.

Yet part of Birmingham's problem is identifying what that "true flavour" actually is.

It is a city that means so much to so many different people, making marketing Birmingham difficult enough without having to deal with layer upon layer of bureaucracy that effectively stifles any creativity and progressive-thinking that might exist.

The aim of the Big City Plan appears to be to engage everyone to answer some of these important questions about Birmingham - what it is; what it will be; and what it wants to be? But, again, progress on the big plan is not as swift as some would like.

AWM's new top man has a point, although there is an element of glass houses syndrome in his observations given some of the recent less than glowing reaction of the business community to his agency's performance.

It is also good to see him acknowledge the strength and potential of Birmingham's digital media and creative industries.

But I'm sure if he had gone to Neil Rami and asked what AWM could do to provide more effective help and support to Marketing Birmingham, the answer would not have included "create yet another region-wide body we have to answer to as well".

In addition I think they should be looking at how the wars going on among nations and among gangs and other groups can be stopped. Certainly these hands could be put to more peaceful use. Most of all, money spent on weapons could otherwise be invested in food, medicine and other essential resources.

Hundreds of tons of waste still languish inside a tin-roofed warehouse in a corner of the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide factory here, nearly a quarter-century after a poison gas leak killed thousands and turned this ancient city into a notorious symbol of industrial disaster.

The toxic remains have yet to be carted away. No one has examined to what extent, over more than two decades, they have seeped into the soil and water, except in desultory checks by a state environmental agency, which turned up pesticide residues in the neighborhood wells far exceeding permissible levels.

More:

The Bhopal-Union Carbide story is probably the #1 CSR story about what should not be done. It's the case that probably every business student has gone through.

The saddest part is that 25 years later.... it's still disastrous.  Corporations are dodging responsibility. Governments are stalling, lying, and ineffective.

5 years after the disaster in 1989 - Union Carbide washed its hands clean of the cleanup by giving a meager half billion or so and pushing the responsibility to the local Government.... right.. the 2nd largest chemical company at the time (was sold for over 9 billion in 1999) hands over responsibility to a REGIONAL GOVERNMENT of a DEVELOPING COUNTRY.

Unsurprisingly, the government has failed at cleanup, failed at getting the money distributed (of which there wasn't enough money allocated in the first place) and have failed at informing people about the true medical hazards still present on the site.

The controversial buyout of Union Carbide by The Dow Chemical Company in '99 now pushes the responsibility further and further away from the problem.

In the NYT article, the company's response:

Dow, based in Michigan, says it bears no responsibility to clean up a mess it did not make. “As there was never any ownership, there is no responsibility and no liability — for the Bhopal tragedy or its aftermath,” Scot Wheeler, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail message.

Ownership. Yep, that tricky area of business that is not as easily understood... But how then, when Dow  bought Union Carbide, did it not buy its liabilities? (I actually don't know the legal implications of all this but it seems like buying=owning=responsibility=liabilities, no?)

At the end of the day, as the article so aptly puts it - the corporation is being left alone (at least by the gov't) because it pretty much threatened the government with pulling out investments (which is so badly wanted in a fast growing country like  India) - the CEO stated “in your efforts to ensure that we have the appropriate investment climate.” What a simple statement; what a big implication.

Some more background on The Dow Jones Chemical Company:

• was the sole supplier of Agent Orange (that horrific chemical weapon used during the Vietnam war)
• responsible for 96 of the United States' worst Superfund toxic waste

And something I found interesting while wikipedia-ing this company... their vision statement:

"To be the largest, most profitable, and most respected chemical company in the world".

Right... you may get the first two, but you most definitely should never achieve the that last one.

Corporations can be amoral and this is a case in point. Here's hoping that we, as society, don't let atrocities like this occur again.

I still won't know when they will be up but here they are:

• Kiss of the Blood Red Pomegranate by Kristin Janz
• A Taste of Nettles by Katie Howenstine
• The Girl Who Swallowed the Sky by Jacqueline Bowen
• Year of the Mountain Lion by Maria Schneider
• Helkappe by Claire Cooney

Kiss and Helkappe are underworld stories. They are all strong in imagery and original plots, presenting an alieness or a humanness that is intriguing. We're slowly catching up and I know there are others that have had longer waits. Joe has put some books to bed that he's publishing so we should see things moving faster.

The Lawrence, Kansas workshop is half over and maybe it's time to talk of the town. Lawrence is small, maybe 80,000 people before the students arrive in the fall for KU. There is one main street with stores and a few side streets. The box stores are farther out but they have a bit of everything. It's quaint, it's easy going and there is hardly any traffic. I love that aspect.

It does get blistering hot with high humidity (at least today-we've been luck) and it gets winters and tornadoes. It could be too small too. But it's a nice place to visit. We walked to town yesterday and got to take a closer look at the sandstone(?) buildings on campus. They date to the turn of the century (1900) and are of a light brown stone. They look so clean and light, unlike similar buildings I've seen elsewhere. I don't know if this is because there is less pollution here, the tornadoes scour them (unlikely) or because they scour them. A few buildings are in a deep red brick. The Natural History Museum is nicely done with carvings and gargoyles, and "Darwin" carved below one window and "Huxley" below the other.

There are a number of houses that date to the early 1900s, some earlier. A few are in brick but many of wood with the gingerbread finishings on them. There are a few cobblestone streets of rectangular red bricks, much like the few streets that still exist in Vancouver. And there are many fairly unremarkable homes. The shops offer quite a range of latest fashions.

I don't know if I could live in a town this small over all but it is certainly appealing and the smog is low level. It's definitely tempting.