text:
Malaysia's Corporate Disease: GLCs such as PETRONAS with Racist Policies
From Reader of Malaysiakini: "Seetha"
"...I am sick and tired of this bumiputera policy and when an institution like Maybank decides to apply discriminatory policies based on racial bias then it has no business of having my money.
Having worked in MNCs and GLCs I can confirm that the "support bumi" mentality is so pervasive that the GLC and MNC managers are willing to sacrifice quality, customer service, business growth, productivity and in some cases corporate governance in order to support the bumis.
Each GLC now has to have a Bumiputera Vendor Development programme that must develop businessmen from one race only.
In one instance, one company in Kedah dumped a well-performing supplier of Chinese descent and appointed a Malay supplier who failed to provide the requisite service in time or quality, and then had to do a Ali-Baba joint venture with the Malay supplier seeking rent rather than adding value.
The problem seems to be, knowing that they will get the contract no matter what, the Malay contractors or service providers put their legs up and take it easy, thus destroying the quality of products and services rendered to these GLCs.
However no CEO of any GLC has the guts to do anything as their own term is limited to two to three years and they had better behave or their term would not be renewed.
I will be terminating my Maybank account (current and savings) which I have held for 20 years with effect from July 1, 2007. The bank should be acquiring the services of the best lawyers it can get to serve its customers but instead it has chosen race as the criteria.
Maybank is just the latest of this tragedy.
From: Reader of Malaysiakini: Vevelus
All this hue and cry about discriminatory policies is just a tip of the iceberg.
It is well known that the policy of the government is to provide contracts to bumiputera companies.
This practice is on-going in the healthcare industry where we have to deal with the Ministries of Health, Finance and Education.
Only bumiputera companies are given supply contracts for equipment and consumables.
Construction contracts for new hospitals are also given to bumiputera-controlled companies.
The policy of Maybank, which is a GLC company, is basically to continue a policy that has been set by the government.
There is no denying this, as this was a policy set forth from the time of our former premier.
PETRONAS - MOST RACIST GLC OF ALL
FROM: Reader of Screenshots: "ordinarperson"
"..What Maybank proposed to do is pale in comparison to Petronas policy.
Under their vendor developement programs, all those in this program has to be 100% bumi owned & operated.
This is just the 1st teir vendors. 2nd teir vendors (or other vendors) have to have minimum of 50% bumi equity AND 50% of all level of staff has to be bumis, including management and excutives level.
All vendors who wants to deal with Petronas has to apply for Petronas License and bumi equity, and percentage of bumi personnel is one of the main criteria.
The descrimination policy stops NOT only on the vendor level. It extends even to the sub-vendor level.
When a tender is called, one of the tender requirement is to reveal the sub-vendor's bumi equity & the percentage of bumi personnel within the sub-vendor's organisation.
I know about this policy because I have personnaly seen similar discriminatory clauses written in Petronas tender document as a requirement.
Not only Petronas impose such discriminatory on it's vendors, they also dictate all the other oil & gas operators in Malaysia to practise & impose such policy on their respective vendors, as well as on the operators themselves.
I guess people from the "S" (red & yellow clam shell) and, "E" or "M" (blue & read wording in their logo) operators can tell you more about this....
These cooked up policy from Maybank is nothing new in the banking industry. It's even worst in the oil & gas industry.
Because PETRONAS dictate all these bumi/non-bumi discriminatory policies in the whole of Malaysia.
Find me the most recent petrol station owner, and I can tell you, 99% he/she/they are bumi majority. Find me a vendor, any Petronas' vendor, and I will tell you they are majority owned by bumi. "
MUST READ !! FROM: Reader of Malaysiakini: C.H. ONG
"...Maybank's policy that legal firms must have at least 50 percent bumiputera equity in order to qualify for appointment to it's panel of lawyers is similar to that being practised by other GLCs over the years.
However the other GLCs do not announce their discriminatory policies. They simply implement such policies. I have not come across Petronas service stations being operated by non-bumiputeras.
I am a non-bumiputera professional in private practice without a bumiputera partner and my professional services are NOT welcomed by Petronas.
Because of Petronas' discriminatory policies I have stopped patronising Petronas service stations.
If only all non-bumiputera Malaysians stopped patronising Petronas service stations, then perhaps the Petronas management will rethink their discriminatory policies.
I used to buy petrol from BP service stations but since BP has been bought over by Boustead, I have stopped patronising them. I don't even know what they are called now. The reason is that I found out Boustead's property division also practised discriminatory policies when appointing consultants.
In the early eighties, when Sime Darby's property division was headed by a non-bumiputera (an Indian gentleman), I was appointed to provide professional services. As soon as bumiputeras took over, my services were no longer welcomed and required.
Also in the early eighties my company was a customer to bumiputera company. This company was an associate company of Island and Peninsula. However when I approached Island and Peninsula with the intention of getting my company registered as a provider of professional services, I was told clearly that my services were not welcome because my company did not have any bumiputera partners.
I then did some research and discovered that generally the so-called GLC property companies being run by bumiputeras practise discriminatory policies. Since then I have never considered buying any property from such companies.
All the above are facts which I am aware of. All these GLCs may well be practising other discriminatory policies which I am not aware of and which I shall not speculate on.
I have been a customer of Maybank, for both banking and credit card services, for more than 25 years. Since Maybank has decided to openly practise discriminatory policies, I have also decided to take steps to terminate my accounts with Maybank, and I shall definitely let them know my reason for terminating my accounts.
I believe that if all non-bumiputeras let all these GLCs know how they feel about their discriminatory policies, by way of action and not just words, then perhaps they will not be so arrogant. ..."
FROM: Racial Discrimination in Malaysia: Read here for more on WorldPress.org (posted: March 29, 2006)
"...There is a list of statistical data detailing racial discrimination in Malaysia, practiced by the government and its agencies. This list is an open secret. Its existence is best verified by government itself since it keeps the statistics.
Figures in this list(see below) are merely estimates, so please take it as a guide only.
The government of Malaysia has the most correct figures. Is government of Malaysia too ashamed to publish their racist acts by publishing racial statistics?
This list covers a period of about 48 years since independence (1957).
List of racial discriminations (Malaysia):
(1) Of the five major banks, only one is multi-racial, the rest are controlled by Malays.
(2) 99% of PETRONAS directors are Malays.
(3) 3% of PETRONAS employees are Chinese.
(4) 99% of 2000 PETRONAS gasoline stations are owned by Malays.
(5) 100% all contractors working under PETRONAS projects must be of Bumis status.
(6) 0% of non-Malay staff are legally required in Malay companies. But there must be 30% Malay staffs in Chinese companies.
(7) 5% of all new intake for government police, nurses, army, are non-Malays.
(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), a drop from 40% in 1960.
(9) 2% is the percentage of non-Malay government servants in Putrajaya, but Malays make up 98%.
(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the entire government (in 2004); a drop from 30% in 1960.
(11) 95% of government contracts are given to Malays.
(12) 100% all business licensees are controlled by the government, e.g. Taxi permits, Approved permits, etc.
(13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah had to be sold to Malay controlled Bernas in 1980s. Otherwise, life is made difficult for Chinese rice millers.
(14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by Malays since 1970s, e.g. UTC, UMBC, MISC, etc.
(15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia in the past 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other Malay transport companies due to rejection by Malay authorities to Chinese applications for bus routes and rejection for their applications for new buses.
(16) Two Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and three were Chinese in Oct. 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given.
(17) 0 non-Malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station (Nov. 2004).
(18) 8000 billion ringgit is the total amount the government channeled to Malay pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatization of government agencies, Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over a 34 years period.
(19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down from 1968 - 2000.
(20) 144 Indian primary schools closed down from 1968 - 2000.
(21) 2637 Malay primary schools built from 1968 - 2000.
(22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Indian schools got only 1%, Malay schools got 96.5%.
(23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school textbook loan, a Malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible.
(24) All 10 public university vice chancellors are Malays.
(25) 5% of the government universities' lecturers are of non-Malay origins. This percentage has been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004.
(26) Only 5% has been given to non-Malays for government scholarships in over 40
(27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under the "Look East Policy."
(28) 128 STPM Chinese top students could not get into the course to which they aspired, i.e. Medicine (in 2004).
(29) 10% quotas are in place for non-Bumi students for MARA science schools beginning in 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% Malays.
(30) 50 cases in which Chinese and Indian Malaysians are beaten up in the National Service program in 2003.
(31) 25% of the Malaysian population was Chinese in 2004, a drop from 45% in 1957.
(32) 7% of the Malaysian population is Indian (2004), a drop from 12% in 1957.
(33) 2 million Chinese Malaysians have emigrated in the past 40 years.
(34) 0.5 million Indian Malaysians have emigrated overseas.
(35) 3 millions Indonesians have migrated to Malaysia and become Malaysian citizens with Bumis status.
(36) 600,000 Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship in the past 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism, based on how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compared with the Chinese and Indians.
(37) 5% - 15% discount for a Malay to buy a house, regardless whether the Malay is rich or poor.
(38) 2% is what new Chinese villages get, compared with 98% - what Malay villages got for rural development budget.
(39) 50 road names (at least) had been changed from Chinese names to other names.
(40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Leong (in Malacca) was altered to another name (e.g. Dewan Serbaguna or something like that) when it was only officially used for a few days. The government tries to shun Chinese names. This example of racism occurred around 2000.
(41) 0 temples/churches were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate got at least one mosque/surau built.
(42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughout Malaysia since 1970. No temples or churches are required to be built in housing estates.
(43) 1 Catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to have a building constructed. But they were told by Malay authority that it must look like a factory
and not like a church. As of 2004 the application still have not been approved.
(44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002).
(45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are directors of non-Malay origin.
(46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese faces, and the good guys had Malay faces. You can check
it out since 1970s. Recent years, this has become less of a tendency.
(47) 10 times, at least, Malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13, since 1969.
(48) 20 constituencies won by DAP would not get funds from the government to develop. These Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be
developed.
(49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racially re-delineated so Chinese votes were diluted for Chinese candidates. This is one of the main reasons why DAP candidates have consistently lost in elections since the 1970s.
(50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by the Malaysian government since 1960.
(51) 0 - elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights) has not been ratified by Malaysian government since 1960s.
(52) 20 reported cases whereby Malay ambulance attendances treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and Malay government hospital staffs purposely delayed attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200.
(53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths, are being beaten up by Malay youths in public places. Police reports may be checked to verify this, provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record.
(54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down Malays were seriously assaulted or killed by Malays.
(55) 12% is what ASB/ASN got per annum while banks fixed deposits are only about 3.5% per annum.
There are hundreds more examples of racial discrimination in Malaysia to add to this list of "colossal" racism.
The Malaysian government should publish statistics showing how much Malays had benefited from the "special rights" of Malays and at the same time release the statistics which show how minority races are being discriminated against.
Hence, the responsibility lies in the Malaysia government itself to publish unadulterated statistics of racial discrimination.
If the Malaysia government hides the statistics above, then there must be some evil doings, immoral doings, shameful doings and sinful doings, like the Nazis, going on with the non-Malays of Malaysia.
Civilized nations, unlike the evil Nazis, must publish statistics to show its treatment of its minority races.
This is what Malaysia must publish.
We are asking for the publication of the statistics showing how "implementation of special rights of Malays" had inflicted colossal racial discrimination onto non-Malays. ..."
Labels: Nation
muststopthis said...
Au contraire, I would like to support the Maybank policy.
You see, since my wife and I went through some really tough times, (I was retrenched by IBM and she was terminated from MAS due to her third pregnancy), we have had some legal issues to settle with the banks.
If Mybank insist on their bumiputra policy, when we well know that this may affect their performance, so be it. This way, my legal cases with the banks may also be prolonged due to their inept!
Ok, now this is joke, and not like the ones the monkeys said in parliament.
Personally, I know of two Malay Lawyers, who gained my respect.
They both have their values right, and they are extremely helpful!
Syabas, Malik & Harris!
Take a bow! And I know you would't like to be associated with this kind of policy!
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Ohhhh, dude, the "Chipotle" one annoys me every. single. time.
What about "nucular"? Oh wait, that's not food-related. Whoops.
I don't like it when people pronounce "hummus" like "humus". It's not forest-floor compost, people.
OOH! I thought of another! Pecan. It's "puh-con". Not "pee-can" or "pee-con".
It's pronounced "broosketta," not "brooshetta." Just like "chianti" is not pronounced "sheeantee."


text:
The Water Thread
Author Topic: The Water Thread (Read 146 times)
Photo at top: The Dead Sea, at more than 400 meters (about 1,300 feet) below sea level, is the lowest point on earth. The body of water, which serves as one of Israel's main tourist attractions, is shrinking due to drought, evaporation and continual pumping for industry. (Karyn Simpson/MEDILL)
ISRAEL'S SEA OF GALILEE AND DEAD SEA ARE DYING – WHAT IS BEING DONE?
By Karyn Simpson
Medill Reports
ISRAEL – The Dead Sea is dying. So is Israel's Sea of Galilee – the country's only surface-level source of freshwater. The effort to save these sacred and historic lakes involves a convoluted mix of religious tradition, tourism and technology.
Over the past several decades of carving out an oasis from the desert, Israel has pushed back countrywide water scarcity through desalination, conservation, efficient use of the country's limited freshwater, and wastewater treatment and reuse. Today, approximately 80 percent of Israel's drinking water comes from desalination plants, meaning that even as Israel enters its sixth consecutive year of drought, the country should continue to have a stable supply of drinking water for its residents.
The main concern surrounding the drought is the health of Israel's two natural, above-ground bodies of water, the freshwater Sea of Galilee and the saltwater Dead Sea – both sacred to residents, if for entirely different reasons. While the Dead Sea is valued particularly because of its contributions to Israeli tourism, the Sea of Galilee holds special import in religious history and because many residents remember when it was the country's main source of water.
"The Sea of Galilee, for all the people in Israel, is emotional – 100 percent emotional," said Arnon Eshel, who works at Sapir, the water pumping station for the Sea of Galilee. "We come here, we see the Sea of Galilee as it looks now, we are in totally depression."
The ongoing drought has reduced the Sea of Galilee to some of its lowest levels in history, 215.5 meters (about 707 feet) below sea level. To try to assuage the rapidly decreasing levels and prevent any irreparable environmental damage, Israel has almost completely ceased pumping from the Sea of Galilee. But some pumping is necessary to keep the machines working and to fulfill Israel's peace agreement with neighboring Jordan.
This water holding tank at Sapir, the pumping facility alongside the Sea of Galilee, mirrors the sea's water level. On the far side of the tank, just below the fence, a red marker shows the sea's normal level: 208 meters below sea level. The water is currently at 215.5 meters below sea level. (Karyn Simpson/MEDILL)
"For Jordan, by peace agreement, we have to supply to them 50 million cubic meters (about 13.2 billion gallones) per year from the Sea of Galilee," Eshel said. "Which means that Jordan is the biggest customer of water from the Sea of Galilee."
Some of the streams which feed into the Sea of Galilee flow from Jordan, meaning that a portion of the water that ends in the Sea of Galilee should belong to the Jordanians – the crux of the peace agreement. While Israel once faced attacks from Jordan, as evidenced in the historic Yom Kippur War, having water be part of the peace agreement has ensured cooperation between the two countries, Eshel said.
"One of the things that Israel understands, that it's smart to make cooperation with the agriculture in Jordan, by the government, of course, and have a quiet border – 400 kilometers [248.5 miles], totally quiet border," Eshel said. "If some terrorists want to try to attack Israel, they say not from here. If it come from here, Israel [will] destroy that area."
Though Israel has considered building a pipeline from the seawater desalination plants to Jordan to fulfill this water requirement without having to pump from the already-low Sea of Galilee, Eshel said that the construction for such a project would be too cost-prohibitive to be feasible.
Today, only 5 percent of Israel's drinking water comes from the Sea of Galilee, amounting to approximately 25 million cubic meters (abut 6.6 billion gallons). That is just enough to keep the machines working, Eshel said. The biggest culprit to the sea's decline is evaporation, and without adequate rainfall, the sea has no chance to replenish what it is losing.
"Every year, we [lose] something around 240 million cubic meters (about 63.4 billion gallons) to evaporation," Eshel said, which appears as about one meter each year in depth. This descent can be seen from the shoreline, which now contains meters of sand where there used to be water.
"When I was a child, every day I need to choose whether I'm going to school or going to swim. Most of the time I'm going to swim. Don't judge me – there was no air conditioning when I was a child," Eshel said. He grew up along the Sea of Galilee and held up a picture of the coastline by his home – a long stretch of concrete sidewalk that ended at the water's edge. In the photo, water lapped against the wall about a foot below walking level, and small boats floated only a meter or two away from shore.
"I never even needed to think if we have the ability to jump or not," Eshel said.
He held up a second picture – that same stretch of coastline outside his childhood home taken in recent years. The water's edge had receded 15 to 20 feet, leaving only sand near the concrete sidewalk where Eshel used to jump off, and old boats were beached on the sandy bank where they used to float.
An idea has been proposed to build a pipe sometime in the next three years that would funnel desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee, Eshel said.
Agelbert NOTE: They have to work quickly or the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret lake) is toast, regardless of "a good winter will replenish the lake " wishful thinking. As you read above, the water, as of October of 2018, was at 215.5 meters below sea level. The lake has now reached a point where it CANNOT recover without adding massive amounts of desalinated water. From Wikipedia:
After 5 years of drought as of 2018, Sea of Galilee is expected to get to the black line.[22] The black elevation line is the lowest depth from which irreversible damage begin and no water can be pumped out anymore.[23] Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research describe it as "The black line marks -214.87 m, the lowest-ever level reached since 1926 when the water level record began. According to the water authority, the Kinneret water level must not decline below this level."[24]In February 2018, the city of Tiberias requested a desalination plant to treat the water coming from the Sea of Galilee and demanded a new water source for the city.[25]
In September 2018 the Israeli energy and water office announced a project to pour desalinated water from the Mediterranean sea into the sea of Galilee using an underground tunnel. The 💧 tunnel is expected to be the largest of its kind done in Israel and will transfer half of the Mediterranean desalted water and will push 300 to 500 million cubic liters of water per year.[27]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee
This would be intended to provide water to the settlements around the Sea of Galilee and to help combat the effects of the drought on the lake, but some Israelis are hesitant to support such a project because of the "one good winter" concept, he said.
"People are afraid we will invest a lot of money for that kind of project, and after one good winter, we won't need to use it," Eshel said, referring to how, in non-drought years, Israel typically gets enough rain in the winters to make up for the hot, dry summers. "This is people without vision. People with vision understand, even if we have a good winter, so it's going to be just one. Then we have another 10 years of drought years. You need to be with courage, but it's not easy."
A similar debate surrounds the Dead Sea, which is too salty to be used for drinking water, but is a big part of Israel's tourism industry.
"The Dead Sea is shrinking because the input from the lower Jordan River is about less than 10 percent" of what it once was, said Noam Weisbrod, a hydrology professor and the director of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "Simply, there is no input and the output is bigger than the input, so the net reduction in the water level is about one meter per year in the last 30-40 years. In the last two years, it was 1.15 meters per year vertically."
That 1.15-meter, or approximately 4-foot, vertical decline means the Dead Sea's coastline has shrunk several meters inward depending on the location along the coast, Weisbrod said. Even with the drought, what Weisbrod called the "Dead Sea works" – the factories that process and sell water, salt and mud from the Dead Sea – are still drawing water.
"Water level in the Dead Sea is going down dramatically, and it's not just the water supply," said Yael Dubowski, civil and environmental engineering professor at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. "It's also the fact that we have lots of industry here both on the Israeli and the Jordanian side that actually uses, evaporates the water… to get the minerals. So there is an industry in the south that celebrates evaporation, and you have less fresh water coming in, and this lake is basically dying. The Dead Sea is dying."
The solution, which has already received preliminary funding from the World Bank, has been called the Red Sea-Dead Sea project and will involve Israel and Jordan working together to pipe water from the Red Sea, in Jordan, to the Dead Sea, which is on the border between both countries.
"The advantage of this program is mostly because it's along the border between Israel and Jordan," Weisbrod said. "Because it's going to help both Israel and Jordan, you can define it as something that will help the environment and at the same time will deepen the peace process and the agreement between the countries."
Adding water to the Dead Sea would be beneficial to both countries, as well as hopefully help stop the formation of sinkholes along the coastline. But the project is facing even more pressure from Jordan than from Israel, Weisbrod said. This is because the plan involves building a desalination plant at the saline Red Sea, desalinating the water, and sending the fresh water to Jordan and southern parts of Israel. The twice-as-concentrated brine, the output from saltwater desalination, will then be piped to the already-saline Dead Sea.
"The pressure from the Jordanian side is bigger than the pressure from the Israeli side because Jordan really needs the desalinated water that will be part of this thing," Weisbrod said. "The water situation in Jordan is really on a level of catastrophe. There is running water in Amman, which is the capital, only two, three days a week, and we're talking about a city with more than 1 million people."
While it seems like a beneficial plan on most counts, significant environmental concerns must be addressed, Weisbrod said. Scientists are not sure how the water from the two seas will react, but their high concentrations of calcium and sulfate could combine to create gypsum, which would float on the surface of the Dead Sea. Another problem is that the pipeline will likely run along the rift valley in Jordan, an area that is prone to earthquakes.
"What happens if there will be an earthquake that will end up in a leak of seawater into the aquifers?" Weisbrod said. That would ruin the aquifers. "This is irreversible situation, and these aquifers are being used for the villages along the Arava… In general, some people say, 'Look, the history show us that every time we, you and me, people, try to control the environment and change the world by doing such mega project, it ends up in a disaster.'"
Funding has been secured, according to Dubowski, but not without heavy debate. Some parties wanted Israel to bring water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River in the north 👍, and let the Dead Sea be replenished more naturally 👍, Dubowski said, which would also remove the political aspect of the problem.
"Scientifically, I think it makes more sense to go for the north, but you cannot separate between science and politics also," Dubowski said. "And with regard to political issues, it makes more sense to choose this solution, so Jordan will have its own desalination factory and have more control on it. It was a very complex suggestion where you need to consider all aspects – political, geographical, scientific ones."
https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/israels-sea-of-galilee-and-dead-sea-are-dying-what-is-being-done/
Agelbert additional observation: The Sea of Galilee was a HUGE part of the Ministry of Jesus Christ while He walked among us. Moreover, He appeared there AFTER His Resurrection, cooking a fish on the beach.
Jesus Christ appears on the shore of Lake Tiberias by James Tissot
Maybe I am wrong, but I think Jesus Christ has a soft spot for that lake. If the Sea of Galilee dries up, perhaps that is still another sign that we are experiencing the End Times that the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied about over two thousand years ago.
Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. -- Proverbs 28:14
« Last Edit: June 24, 2019, 07:27:18 pm by AGelbert »
Over One-Tenth of Global Population Could Lack Drinking Water by 2030
As civilization faces existential threats, Trump is trying to end long-term climate studies. Meanwhile, the global water crisis spurred by climate disruption continues to unfold dramatically.
SAWITREE PAMEE / EYEEM
Outside on my front porch, alder chip smoke billows out of my small smoker. The racks inside the tin smoker are filled with wild-caught Alaskan Coho salmon, provided to me by my friend Jonathan. He and his wife take their three daughters in their fishing boat and head north from our town on the north coast of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula for the late summer salmon runs in Southeastern Alaska. They return with a hull full of frozen fish, for those of us here lucky enough to have placed our orders for it.
Several friends here attached to the land where I live are also outside, busy doing their own things: one is preparing his sailboat to launch in a week, another is working in the garden, two others are pitching a tent, another is out working his summer job with the Washington Conservation Association, and still another is reading and contemplating what she might write in the next column we co-author for Truthout.
It is truly idyllic. A dream I've had for decades is finally coming true: I'm living in a way that is close to the Earth, which enables me to minimize my carbon footprint. I'm growing much of my own food and living in community with like-minded people.
Yet all is taking place against the backdrop of a global climate crisis. Runaway human-caused climate disruption is already making life unlivable for millions around the globe, and is an integral reason why we are already in the Sixth Mass Extinction Event.
Each of us in this small community of ours is fully aware of the crisis that is upon us. We understand we are living in a bubble, in that we are able to grow much of our food, smoke this fish, go for hikes, share healthy meals, and have enough water to do all of this. Our conversations tend to run the gamut: ranging from discussing the latest breakdowns of portions of our global life support system, to when are we going to hang the bat house, to where to put the clothesline, to what happens when the cities run out of food, to when am I leaving for my next climbing trip.
Meanwhile, the news of the collapse continues to roll in.
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that sea-level rise could be twice as bad as previously expected, due to accelerated melting in the Antarctic and Greenland. Instead of the previous worst-case scenario of 1 meter by 2100, the study has doubled that figure. Several scientists this writer has interviewed believe the realistic figure of sea level rise by 2100 will be even higher than this recent study's prediction.
Another report showed how the state of Florida could be facing a $76 billion bill to mitigate and adapt to climate crisis impacts by just 2040, mostly from rising sea levels.
In some areas of China, fruit trees have to be pollinated by hand due to lack of pollinators.
To give you an idea of how far along we already are in this crisis, in some areas of China, fruit trees have to be pollinated by hand due to lack of pollinators. Climate disruption is a major contributing factor toward the loss of insects around the planet.
The Arctic, our proverbial canary in the climate coalmine, just saw its hottest May ever recorded. Coastal erosion of permafrost is happening at a rate of up to one meter every day, and the current rate of coastal erosion is already six times higher than the historical rate.
In Siberia, carbon-laden permafrost has warmed by 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (1.6°F) in just the last 10 years alone. This is an ominous sign, for as the permafrost thaws it releases carbon and methane, making this one of the most dangerous feedback loops in the climate crisis, given that permafrost around the globe contains twice the amount of carbon that is already in the atmosphere. In fact, it has now been shown that the permafrost is thawing 70 years sooner than previously predicted.
According to a 2017 study, tundra in Alaska is already warming up so quickly that it has become a net emitter of CO2 ahead of schedule — rather than sequestering carbon, as it has historically done. Thawing is occurring so rapidly in the Arctic now, sinkholes are becoming increasingly common across the region.
To make matters worse, Arctic sea-ice extent for early June was at a record low, and the ice could be on track now for a record melt year at the current trajectory.
Another well-researched report has recently been released warning the end of human civilization could be on the horizon if we don't change course.
Underscoring the severity of the crisis, yet another well-researched report has recently been released warning the end of human civilization could be on the horizon if we don't change course. In the report, climate scientists predict 2050 as the year we face complete climate catastrophe.
The authors predict, "More than a billion people may need to be relocated, and in high-end scenarios, the scale of destruction is beyond our capacity to model, with a high likelihood of human civilisation coming to an end."
They found that by 2050, total ecological collapse could bring about huge social consequences like "increased religious fervor to outright chaos." The report warns that catastrophic environmental disasters could result in widespread pandemics, forced migrations from places that no longer support humans, and the spread of war over diminished resources.
The report describes one possible scenario, in which "planetary and human systems (reach) a 'point of no return' by mid-century in which the prospect of a largely uninhabitable Earth leads to the breakdown of nations and the international order."
It would be an error to think there is that much time before this kind of breakdown. If you live on the delta in Bangladesh, or in Paradise, California, or on the coastline of northern or western Alaska, the crisis is already upon you.
Extreme weather events fueled by human-caused climate disruption are already severely affecting food production, causing food price shocks in the U.S. A report focusing on the recent flooding in the Midwest illustrated how rain-sodden fields across the Corn Belt, along with massive numbers of drowned livestock, are contributing factors. This issue is only set to deepen.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that human-caused climate disruption is, in many ways, a geoengineering experiment gone badly, ongoing discussion within the scientific community of using geoengineering to completely solve it continues to escalate.
Extreme weather events fueled by human-caused climate disruption are already severely affecting food production, causing food price shocks in the U.S.
Despite the clear dangers of unforeseen consequences, generating conflict between nations, and the immorality inherent in the idea of attempting to control parts of the biosphere, some scientists are proposing strategies like spraying aerosols of sulphate particles into the stratosphere and using tall ships to pump salt particles from the ocean into polar clouds to brighten them in order to attempt to refreeze warming parts of the polar regions.
Meanwhile, experts from 27 different national science academies released a report showing how climate disruption is already negatively impacting people's health via heatwaves and floods, but also indirectly by things like the spreading of mosquito-borne diseases and deleterious mental health impacts.
"There are impacts occurring now [and], over the coming century, climate change has to be ranked as one of the most serious threats to health," Andrew Haines, a co-chair of the report for the European Academies' Science Advisory Council told The Guardian.
The endangered North Atlantic Right Whale's already scant population is declining, and this decline has been linked directly to oceanic warming, which is of course, being caused by climate disruption, according to a recent report. Warming oceans have caused the whales' food supply to shift locations, causing them to have to travel farther to find it, along with moving them into areas closer to shipping lanes which are dangerous for them.
Meanwhile, dozens of grey whales have been found dead and washing up onto beaches up and down the west coast, from California to well up into Canada, causing U.S. scientists to launch an investigation into the unusually high mortality event. Scientists believe the number found dead is but a fraction of the actual number, since most of the dead whales will not wash ashore.
Hundreds of "severely emaciated" dead puffins have washed ashore at St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs of Alaska, believed to have starved to death from the warming waters.
"Many of the whales have been skinny and malnourished, and that suggests they may not have gotten enough to eat during their last feeding season in the Arctic," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spokesman Michael Milstein told reporters of the mortality event.
Also, hundreds of "severely emaciated" dead puffins have washed ashore at St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs of Alaska, believed to have starved to death from the warming waters they forage from having less food available for them to eat. Estimates of the total number of dead puffins range from 3,000 to 9,000.
A stunning study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that warming oceans will likely reduce the oceanic content of fish and other marine life by one-sixth by the end of this century. The study warned that for every 1 degree Celsius (1°C) warming of the world's oceans, the total mass of sea animals is projected to drop by five percent.
Meanwhile, the global water crisis spurred by climate disruption continues to unfold dramatically. A recent report warned that by 2030, half of the entire population of India (roughly 700 million people, or to put another way, one tenth of the entire population of the globe), may lack adequate drinking water. (This is, of course, in addition to all the other places in which drinking water supplies will be inadequate.) The same report warned that the cities of Bangalore and New Delhi could run out of useable groundwater by as early as 2020.
India's sixth biggest city, Chennai, is already dealing with massive water shortages as that city's four reservoirs recently ran dry. People are fighting while lining up for water. Many are unable to take showers, and hotels are warning people about water shortages. Most of that city's population of 4 million are already relying solely on government tankers for their water.
Back in the U.S., southeastern Alaska, normally a rain-soaked temperate rainforest, is experiencing its first ever recorded extreme drought. This is normally the wettest region of the state of Alaska.
Things aren't any better underwater. A stark report has shown that the Southern Ocean of Earth could be less of a "carbon sink" than previously thought. In fact, it could well already be belching more CO2 into the atmosphere than it is absorbing.
The Welsh village of Fairbourne is on track to become the first village in Britain to be abandoned to sea level rise, as the entire population will have to be relocated.
Furthermore, climate disruption is altering the composition of the world's plankton communities, according to another study. "Large and globally consistent shifts have been detected in species phenology, range extension and community composition in marine ecosystems," reads the abstract of the study. It is worth remembering that plankton provides a large percentage of the oxygen on the planet, with scientists estimating they provide between 50-85 percent of the oxygen to Earth's atmosphere. There has been a 40 percent decline in phytoplankton since just 1950.
Melting ice and thermal expansion of warming waters are the two leading contributors to sea level rise, and they are continuing apace.
The Welsh village of Fairbourne is on track to become the first village in Britain to be abandoned to sea level rise, as the entire population will have to be relocated. Like others that will be abandoned, the resettlement plan for the refugees remains unclear.
The residents of Fairbourne are far from alone. Thousands of communities along the coasts of the globe will have to be abandoned as seas continue to rise. In the U.S., communities in which at least 21 percent of homes will be at risk of chronic flooding by 2060 include Miami Beach and Key West in Florida, Hoboken and Atlantic City in New Jersey, Galveston, Texas, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Meanwhile, major climate disruption impacts have devastated Midwestern farmers, who in many places weren't even able to plant their spring crops. And the question is not whether this kind of devastation will occur again, but when and how often. Croplands across that region were literally drowned by weeks of relentless rains over the spring.
This trend continued into May, as the U.S. officially had its second wettest May ever recorded, according to NOAA.
The same has been true in Canada, where once-in-a-century floods have happened two years in a row, deluging communities across Atlantic Canada and forcing residents to make a stark choice: rebuild or relocate.
The American West is set to experience chronic summer wildfire smokefrom megafires, according to a recent report. Nevertheless, most of the region has done next to nothing to prepare for what is seen to be a massive and ongoing threat to human health from respiratory issues.
The Trump administration recently carried out one of its most overt attacks on climate science to date.
This isn't relegated only to the west. Minnesota, as far away as it is from the source of the smoke, is also already experiencing a dramatic increase in smoke because of the wildfires besetting the Canadian Rockies and the Western U.S.
Underscoring both of these situations is an analysis generated by Climate Central that shows how the afflicted region's wildfire season is currently 105 days longer than it was in the 1970s, and is burning six times the area of acreage. The region also has three times more fires over 1,000 acres in size than it did in the 1970s.
Temperatures in the Arctic Circle in Alaska were 22°C above normal in some places in March. This is critical for multiple reasons, particularly due to the fact that in the Arctic, ice functions as part of the infrastructure across that region given how roads, homes, buildings, and other structures are built atop the permafrost, and subsistence hunting is a way of life for many Inuit people. If current trends continue, that way of life is, devastatingly, on the way out.
A heat wave in Japan during May killed five people and hospitalized another 600 people suffering from symptoms of heatstroke. Then in mid-June, a major heat wave in India killed dozens of people as temperatures reached 120°F across vast swaths of the country. In one area alone, 49 people died in just a 24-hour period. It's worth noting that 11 of the 15 warmest years on record in India have taken place after 2004.
In the U.S., a heat wave in June across the west saw temperatures reach 120°F, as record highs were seen across the region.
Denial and Reality
Meanwhile, the lengths the Trump administration is going to in order to placate its fossil-fueled backers continue to astound.
The Trump administration recently carried out one of its most overt attacks on climate science to date when it attempted to prevent an employee of the State Department from testifying about the climate crisis, according to The New York Times. Intelligence analyst Rod Schoonover had submitted his testimony to the White House for approval before he appeared in front of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to share his remarks covering the security risks posed to the U.S. by the climate crisis. But as The Washington Postreported, the Trump administration refused to approve his testimony for entry into the congressional record, stating that his analysis did not align with the views of the executive branch.
Additionally, Trump's Energy Department rebranded U.S. gas exports as "molecules of freedom."
Back in the world of reality, in May, a record number of students across the world walked out of their classes amid a global strike to bring attention to the climate crisis.
This is a good thing, as recent data shows no signs of the climate crisis slowing down. In fact, it is only accelerating, as atmospheric CO2 content has increased by its second highest annual rise in the last 60 years. That makes this the seventh year in a row of steep increases of CO2 content in the already overburdened atmosphere.
NOAA also recently reported that this year is on track to become the third warmest ever-recorded in 140 years of temperature records.
The signs of collapse of industrial civilization are all around us. We must pay attention, and prepare ourselves for living in the world that the disrupted climate has brought upon us.
For myself and my community, this means connecting more deeply to the Earth, to build psychological, social, spiritual and physical resiliency, in addition to taking as good care as we are able of the land that is caring for us. In this way, we are working to model on a micro scale what might be done on the macro, even in the midst of this era of great loss.
Dahr Jamail, a Truthout staff reporter, is the author of The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption (The New Press, 2019), The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan(Haymarket Books, 2009), and Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq(Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from Iraq for more than a year, as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last 10 years, and has won the Izzy Award and the Martha Gellhorn Award for Investigative Journalism, among other awards. His third book, The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible, co-written with William Rivers Pitt, is available now on Amazon. He lives and works in Washington State.
The global water crisis spurred by climate disruption continues to unfold dramatically
Quote from: Surly1 on July 04, 2019, 08:58:05 am
As civilization faces existential threats, Trump is trying to end long-term climate studies. Meanwhile, the global water crisis spurred by climate disruption continues to unfold dramatically. SAWITREE PAMEE / EYEEM
By Dahr Jamail 👍
True. Dahr Jamail is an honest journalist who has an in-depth knowledge of the length and breadth of Catastrophic Climate Change. Thank you for posting this article.
Most people do not get the fact that lack of potable water will kill human civilization long before the heat does. I hope that Dahr Jamail's warnings are heeded, but that hope may be overly optimistic, considering the fascist intertia prevalent in world politics at present.
Sydney's water supply falling at fastest rate on record due to drought
FILE PHOTO: A woman drinks water from a water fountain during a hot day in central Sydney January 5, 2010. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's biggest city Sydney is running down its water supply at the fastest rate on record with dams expected to fall below half maximum capacity due to the worst drought on record, the government said on Friday.
Warragamba Dam, the city's main water supply, was sitting at 51.4% capacity, down 17.8% in a year and little more than half its level just two years earlier. The amount of water flowing into the dam was just 10% of what it was a year ago, according to the New South Wales (NSW) state regulator WaterNSW.
The total water level in Sydney's 11 dams was 50.1%, forcing authorities to introduced water restrictions in recent months.
"We have never seen these kind of inflows," said NSW Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey.
"Catchments that have been historically reliable ... are now facing a critical shortage of water," she added.
At the current rate of decline, discounting rainfall, Sydney dams would only have enough water reserves for another two years, according to figures provided by WaterNSW.
Pavey said "major (inland) cities ... run the risk of running out of fresh water in the next 12 months". "That is the stark reality for our regional communities," she added.
Sydney has resorted to water-saving methods in recent months including enforced water restrictions, which limit the amount of water people are allowed to use outdoors.
In March, Sydney's desalination plant started working at full capacity to process sea water, with the aim to lift the city's water reserves to 70%. The state government said this week it plans to expand the plant.
In April, researcher Kantar Public surveyed 1,000 Sydney residents and found that despite the dry conditions and declining water supply, 47% of people did not realize there was a drought.
Reporting by Mell Chun; Editing by Byron Kaye and Michael Perry
Re: The Water Thread
We'd Better Retreat from the Coasts While We Still Can, Scientists Urge Amid Climate Crisis
Do it now or do it later, with much, much worse outcomes.
By Brandon Specktor
Flooded streets after Hurricane Sandy show the damage that can occur in vulnerable coastal areas. We should plan for the inevitable and strategically retreat from such vulnerable coastal communities now, scientists argue in a new paper. (Image: © jonathansloane/Getty)
As many as 1 billion people are expected to be forced out of their homes by the droughts, floods, fires and famines associated with runaway climate change over the next 30 years — and they all have to go somewhere. This massive global exodus can go one of two ways: either it will be a chaotic mess that punishes the world's poor, or it can be a path to a fairer, more sustainable world.
In a new policy paper, published today (Aug. 22) in the journal Science, a trio of environmental scientists argue that the only way to avoid the first scenario is to start planning now for the inevitable "retreat" from coastal cities.
"Faced with global warming, rising sea levels, and the climate-related extremes they intensify, the question is no longer whether some communities will retreat — moving people and assets out of harm's way — but why, where, when, and how they will retreat," the authors of the paper wrote.
Rather than dealing with these forced migrations on a reactive, disaster-by-disaster basis (as many emergency evacuations do now), the researchers propose taking a "managed and strategic" approach to the problem, setting up policies and infrastructure now to help climate refugees transition into new homes and out of harm's way as soon as possible.
The steps to accomplish this task range from the commonsense — for example, limiting property development in at-risk areas (like coastal cities) and instead investing in creating affordable housing in safer inland communities — to the incredibly complex. For instance, the authors want to build infrastructure that maintains the cultural heritage of marginalized communities that wind up having to leave ancestral homes.
"Retreat may exacerbate historic wrongs if it relocates or destroys historically marginalized communities," the researchers wrote. "Conversations around who should pay for retreat will almost certainly need to address reasons why certain communities find themselves at risk."
Indeed, the researchers wrote, retreat could be an opportunity to revitalize communities and redistribute wealth in a more sustainable way. For example, it could be a chance to end real estate practices that incentivize living in at-risk areas. Retreat could also be a chance to subsidize new schools, hospitals and affordable housing in safer inland regions instead of making belated improvements to at-risk areas, like building expensive new sea walls to shield communities that have already been battered by severe storms and abandoned before.
"One proposal for Bangladesh suggests investing in a dozen cities to provide infrastructure along with educational and employment opportunities to draw successive generations of people away from low-lying coasts," the authors wrote. "Retreat is not a goal in and of itself, but a means of contributing to societal goals."
While widespread evacuation of climate-prone communities may not occur for a decade or more, the only way to prepare for this unprecedented global challenge is to start planning now. Leaving home is never easy — however, with enough research, investment and strategic thinking, it doesn't need to be a disaster.
BY Jasmine Banks & Samantha Parsons, Truthout
🦖 David Koch Is Dead. We Must Now Take On His Harmful 🙉🙊 Legacy in Higher Education.
JASMINE BANKS & SAMANTHA PARSONS, TRUTHOUT
As David Koch's family mourns his loss, we are taking a moment to pause and grieve, too. We grieve for the families who lost loved ones due to limited health care access. We grieve for the Black communities living alongside waterways polluted by Koch's chemical plants. We grieve for the Indigenous nations whose lands were used to build Koch's industrial wealth. We grieve the destruction of democratic values through Koch's investments in higher education.
https://truthout.org/articles/david-koch-is-dead-we-must-now-take-on-his-harmful-legacy-in-higher-education/
Quote from: Surly1 on August 24, 2019, 06:17:04 pm
Rising sea levels and catastrophic storm surges could displace 280m people
Climate crisis: Rising sea levels and catastrophic storm surges could displace 280m people, UN warns
IPCC draft report is fourth to call for radical action to tackle environmental disaster
The damage caused by catastrophic "superstorms" combined with rising sea levels could increase by a hundred-fold or more, displacing hundreds of millions of people from coastlines around the world unless more is done to limit greenhouse gas emissions, according to a draft report by the United Nations.
According to French news agency AFP, which said it had obtained a copy of the report, the document outlines a grim scenario in which the warming oceans are "poised to unleash misery on a global scale", with declining fish stocks, the melting of sea ice and glaciers, and increasing levels of human displacement.
Unless there are serious cuts to man-made greenhouse gas emissions, at least 30 per cent of the northern hemisphere's surface permafrost could melt within just 80 years, the report warns.
his melt would unleash billions of tonnes of carbon stored in what are currently permafrost areas, which will accelerate rates of global warming even more.
The upshot would be warming seas and rising coastlines, which could immediately threaten 280 million people, the document says.
The findings come from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is a "special report" on oceans and the Earth's frozen zones, known as the cryosphere.
It is the fourth report in the last year to be published by the organisation examining the impacts of the unfolding climate crisis, with the other three examining issues including declines in biodiversity, forest management and food, and how the effects of a 1.5C increase in average global temperatures since pre-industrialisation will be felt.
All of the reports warn major change is required to avert disaster.
The warning comes as MPs and scientists have warned the UK is already on track to miss its environmental goals, including a government pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Last week a report from the Science and Technology Select Committee said efforts to reduce emissions have been undermined by "unacceptable" cutbacks and delays, meaning we face "dire consequences".
And on Thursday, the government's chief environment scientist said the UK cannot hit its net zero emissions goal while ministers are fixed on economic growth as measured by GDP.
Globally, many countries are also dragging their heels on putting policy in place to tackle emissions.
The US – the second biggest contributor of CO2 – is exiting the Paris agreement on climate change, under Donald Trump's leadership.
China – the world's biggest polluter – is making strong progress in renewable technologies, but has relaxed air pollution controls and coal use is creeping upwards.
In India, an enormous drive to open coal power plants is underway, though the country is also increasingly relying on solar-generated electricity.
And in the EU, progress towards a mid-century net zero goal is slow due to some member states' reluctance to vote for policies legally requiring them to reduce emissions.
The Paris agreement called on all countries to work to ensure average global temperature rises remain "well below" 2C warmer than the world was before the industrial revolution.
Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Centre at Pennsylvania State University told AFP one of the key problems was the idea humanity can overcome any problems resulting from sea-level rises.
"There is a pervasive thread in the US right now, promoted by techno-optimists who think we can engineer our way out of this problem," he said.
"But the US is not ready for a metre of sea level rise by 2100.
"Just look at what happened in the wake of superstorm Sandy, Katrina, in Houston, or Puerto Rico."
The IPCC's Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is due to be published on 25 September.
The Independent has contacted the IPCC for comment.
Quote from: Surly1 on August 30, 2019, 07:20:35 am
Yep. IOW, it will get 🌊 Catastrophically Worse, (long before 2100) no matter what the techno-fix wishful thinkers come up with.
No ethics = no solution, PERIOD.
This Robert Jensen 👍 interview from over a year ago sums up our ☠ situation accuratetly:
Robert Jensen "The News Is Bad, And It's Getting Dramatically Worse Faster Than We Thought"
https://youtu.be/NzaTTlMbq_E
Collapse Chronicles
Category People & Blogs
« Last Edit: August 30, 2019, 07:36:36 pm by AGelbert »
Mekong water levels reach low record
Vientiane, Lao PDR, 18 July 2019 – The Mekong water levels during this early flood season from June to July are among the lowest on record, falling below their historical long-term minimum levels. But the situation is expected to get better at the end of July.
From the upper reaches of the lower Mekong basin in Thailand's Chiang Saen to Lao PDR's Luang Prabang and Vientiane and further down to Thailand's Nong Khai and Cambodia's Neak Luong, the water levels are all below those that occurred in 1992, which was by far the year with the lowest flow on record.
For example, the current water level in Chiang Saen, 2.10 meters, is 3.02m lower than its long-term average – the average water level measured over 57 years (1961-2018) – over the same period. It is about 0.75m lower than the minimum level ever recorded. Between 14 June and 18 July this year, there was also a drop of 0.97m at this station.
In Vientiane, the water is 0.70m or 5.54m below its long-term average over the same period. It is about 1.36m lower than the minimum level. Between 16 June and 18 July, there was a drop of 5.58m at the station
Water level hydrograph in Vientiane of Lao PDR on 18 July.
The water in Kratie, 9.31m, is about 5.40m below its long-term average. But it is about 0.16m higher than the minimum level ever recorded. Between 10 June and 18 July, there was a drop of about 0.38m at the station.
Although the relatively rapid and sustained decrease in water levels and discharge from June to July 2019 has been unprecedented, it does not reflect the natural recession of the seasonal flows when during this period the water should be slowly increasing.
According to the Mekong River Commission's (MRC) analysis and available information, some key factors have contributed to the current state of what is described as the "regional low flow" of the Mekong river basin.
There has been very deficient rainfall over the Mekong basin since the beginning of this year. In the upper reaches of the lower Mekong basin, Chiang Sean had the lowest rainfall this June compared to the other areas downstream. Its June's average rainfall was only about 67% of the total amount of monthly rainfall in June 2006-2018.
The average lower-than-normal rain volume in the lower Mekong basin during June-July could also cause the deficient groundwater in the region. This means there is insufficient groundwater contributing to the Mekong mainstream.
The amount of water flowing from the upper part of the basin, where the Mekong is known as Lancang, could also be a potential contribution of the low flow. According to the notification from China, starting from 5 to 19 July the amount of water flowing out from the Jinghong dam in Yunnan province would be fluctuating from 1,050 – 1,250 cubic meters per second (m3/s) to 504 – 600 m3/s due to "grid maintenance".
Besides, the drier-than-average conditions are expected in July over parts of the southern ASEAN region. Thailand, Lao PDR and Myanmar are some of the countries that would be hit, according to the Asian Specialized Meteorological Center (ASMC).
But the current state of the lower water in the basin is anticipated to improve at the end of this month, with rain in the forecast.
According to the ASMC, wetter-than-average conditions may develop over parts of the region between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and eastern Mekong sub-region, including the four lower Mekong countries plus Myanmar.
More information about water levels on the Mekong mainstream can be found at: http://ffw.mrcmekong.org/bulletin_wet.php.
The MRC is an intergovernmental organization for regional dialogue and cooperation in the lower Mekong river basin, established in 1995 based on the Mekong Agreement between Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. The organization serves as a regional platform for water diplomacy as well as a knowledge hub of water resources management for the sustainable development of the region. Both China and Myanmar are Dialogue Partners of the MRC.
Expert Says Indians Will Soon Become Water Refugees Heading for Water-Rich Europe
Rajendra Singh, also known as the "Waterman of India", says over 70 percent of the country has dried up, and this may lead to climatic migration to other countries.
By Pallavi Pundir
18 September 2019, 8:19am
PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
As various reports show India approaching 'Day Zero' (the day when a place's taps dry out and people have to stand in line to collect a daily quota of water), a top Indian expert has warned that Indians may soon become "water refugees" who'll migrate to water-rich European countries. Rajendra Singh, a Magsaysay-winning conservationist and environmentalist, and popularly known as the "Waterman of India", made this statement at the recently-concluded Stockholm International Water Institute.
India is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, with almost 50 percent of the country facing drought-like situation. In fact, 21 major Indian cities will start running out of groundwater by next year, affecting millions. But Singh adds that as more than 70 percent of aquifers in India dry up, people are going to start migrating westwards unless we fix it. He compared the situation to parched regions in Africa and Asia, from where people have migrated to European states and precipitated political crisisamong and within the EU states. He also added that this may disturb the harmony of the world.
"In India, such migration is taking place from villages to cities. However, the current water crisis may lead to such climatic migration in the future to other countries," he told The Press Trust of India. In fact, in India, a March 2019 report by the World Resources Institute has warned that the climate change impact will be considerable because of its large population—at 1.37 billion as of September 18—depending heavily on environment-sensitive sectors such as agriculture. "These factors make adaptation critical," says the report.
Reports have also shown India is facing horrible droughts and floods, both at the same time. "This deadly combination of floods and droughts cannot be tackled by providing piped water but only through community-driven water management," said Singh. "The responsibility of providing water to everyone can only be fulfilled if the government collaborates with people at the ground level rather than handing over the work to contractors, whose only interest is to earn benefits or profits."
However, even though it seems like much is lost, Singh says things can still be fixed. One could be to discontinue the use of mechanised herbicides and pesticides, which are messing with the water aquifer system. Other ways to salvage the crisis, he said, would be to develop water harvesting systems to protect our reservoirs from drying up in the sun. This way, the country can develop reserve banks of water even when there's a drought-like situation. He also stressed on indigenous methods of water management, designed by the local people.
But with the statistics suggesting much is lost, it's safe to say that India is running out of time. "In fact, we have lost all the time to act," said Singh. "A country whose 70 percent aquifers are dry has no time left."
Follow Pallavi Pundir on Twitter.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Launch of latest Flavia Albia crime story
The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis, the latest in the Flavia Albia series.
Lindsey Davis launches her latest thriller at the Corn Exchange, Melrose on Thursday, May 18 at 7.30pm.
The Third Nero or Never Say Nero Again!, is the lastest in the series of Flavia Albia adventures that have brought historical novelist Lindsey Davis many fans.
The heroine is Falco's adopted daughter, Flavia Albia, who has grown from a troubled teenager to a feisty woman and who is an investigator in her own right. Her father, Marcus Didius Falco, has been the hero of 20 books by Davis, set in the days of the Roman Empire.
In this fifth novel of the Flavia series, the heroine investigates threats to the Emperor Domitian, whilst at the same time coping with marital and financial problems.
There will be discounted signed hardback copies of the novel and also the 2016 paperback for sale.
Admission £5 from www.borderevents.com. More information from 01896 822651.


Chris is responsible for financial project management for numerous residential development projects in Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch, Mountain Star, Breckenridge and Vail.
A Colorado native, Chris earned her B.S. in Business from the University of Colorado. Shortly after graduation, Chris moved to Vail and was Controller for the Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts for eight years. Chris and Jen have three college age children, Devon, Andrew and Michael.


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Rimless Aquarium: 9 Things You Should Know (For Beginners)
Fish & Aquariums / By Robert Taylor / December 18, 2021 December 29, 2021
Rimless aquariums are slowly making their way to aquarists' homes and collections due to their timeless aesthetic and elegance. Not long ago were braced aquariums the norm in the aquarist hobby, but of course, people's preferences change, especially in terms of aesthetics.
This begs the question, are rimless tanks safe? How long do they last? Do these rimless tanks leak? Find out more about rimless tanks by reading this article.
[Open][Close]
Is Rimless Tank Safe?
Why Are Rimless Aquariums So Expensive?
How Long Do Rimless Aquariums Last
Do Rimless Tanks Leak?
Why Do Aquariums Have Rims?
Can You Make Any Tank Rimless?
How Do Rimless Aquariums Stay Together?
Rimless V.S. Rimmed Fish Tank, Which Is Better?
Rimless Fish Tank
Rimmed Fish Tank
Popular Rimless Aquarium
Yes, rimless tanks are safe. Despite being made out of low iron material, this glass is as durable as rimmed tanks.
Rimless tank aquariums are usually made out of a glass of high purity so the thickness of these tanks is undeniable. Also, the materials that make up rimless tanks consist of silicone as well and this makes it easy to support the overall weight of the tank.
In general, the overall structural integrity of rimless tanks is safe, however, that doesn't mean that it's automatically safe for tank inhabitants. Snails and fish are more exposed to coming out or jumping out of rimless tanks due to the absence of covers and rimmed edges.
There have already been several accounts of aquarists that have shared their story of finding their tank inhabitants outside of their tanks and ending up on the floor when they decided to have a rimless tank setup. This is why so many aquarists have either ditched their rimless tanks and switched to a rimmed one or they changed their tank inhabitants to less jumpy species of fish.
Another factor that makes rimless tanks unsafe for tank inhabitants would be the entry of toxins into the water column. Since rimless aquariums don't have anything covering the top, toxins can easily make their way inside the tank and disturb the balance of the water.
Overall, a rimless tank would be more suitable for a planted tank so that the possibility of having fish jump out of tanks and end up dead on your floor will be prevented.
Rimless aquariums are expensive due to their material. Rimless tanks are made up of high-grade glass and this glass is beveled, not to mention the labor that is spent in making these rimless tanks. All these factors are what make a rimless aquarium expensive.
Moreover, rimless aquariums use thicker glass compared to traditional braced/rimmed aquariums and this is why rimless aquariums come at an expensive price point.
It would make sense that rimless aquariums come at an expensive price because you'll be paying for an aquarium that has thick high purity glass and low iron material, both of which provide a solid build and an unbeatable aesthetic. The low iron material is responsible for a much clearer aesthetic and it doesn't have that greenish/bluish tint that most traditional rimmed aquariums have.
On the other hand, traditional rimmed aquariums are only made out of either regular glass or high-strength acrylic. When comparing the two raw materials, the glass would naturally be the pricier one.
When it all boils down to aesthetics, rimless aquariums are the sure winner. If you read this line again, you'll notice that rimless aquariums merely provide aesthetics, so if you're going for a sturdy and durable tank it would be best to go for tanks made out of acrylic.
The majority of rimmed aquariums are made out of acrylic material and what makes this a lot more durable than glass is its panels are bonded/welded instead of glued together. With that being said, acrylic tanks are shatter-resistant, unlike glass tanks.
There's no definitive number that would determine how long rimless aquariums would last. If the rimless tank is taken care of properly, chances are they can last for a long time and may probably last more than 20 years or so.
Several factors would determine how long a rimless aquarium, or any type of aquarium for that matter, would last. For instance, the aquarium shouldn't have any defects on it, it should be well made, and it should be maintained properly by its owners. If all these are observed properly, your tank will likely last for a long time.
When it comes to rimless aquariums, if you want them to last long then you should have them balanced and leveled properly on its stand. This must be done because the weight of the rimless tank is being distributed directly on its stand. Uneven aquariums would be susceptible to warp over time and that would be detrimental to the lifespan of the aquarium itself.
Yes, rimless tanks leak. Like most tanks, rimless tanks are susceptible to leaks as well and this may be due to defects upon purchasing them or it may happen over time as the sealant of the glass panels starts to become weak.
The silicone that keeps the glass together can warp and shrink over time and this causes the rimless tank to leak. The biggest cause of rimless tank leakage would be due to sealant problems.
You can encounter sealant problems from the date of purchase or as time passes. Leaks can either be minor or major depending on how big the leak is. For instance, if the leak is as small as a dot or a pinhole then that would be considered a minor leak. On the other hand, if the leak is coming from a large broken seam, that would be classified as a major leak.
Luckily, there are solutions on how to fix leaking rimless tanks. Refer to the bullet list below to know exactly how you can address the leaks on your rimless tank:
Avoid using the wrong type of sealant. Always make use of a sealant that is non-toxic and is specifically for aquarium use.
Use the right amount of silicone sealant.
When sealing the glass panels together, you must make sure that the edges are properly aligned.
Once the silicone sealant is applied, ensure that they are dried properly before you put water and your tank inhabitants back inside.
Avoid fixing the leaks on your rimless tanks during humid weather.
Aquariums have rims due to structural purposes. Rims provide lateral support to an aquarium and keep it from bowing. Also, it serves as protection by covering the sharp edges of an aquarium.
People may be tempted to remove the rims on their aquariums for various purposes such as making it look a lot more visually appealing and such, however, this isn't recommended since rims are a part of an aquarium for a reason.
There was one instance wherein an aquarist shared their experience when they removed the rim on their aquarium tank and that decision ultimately lead to the demise of the tank because it ended up breaking.
Rimmed aquariums need to have their rims retained for safety purposes. This would ultimately keep an aquarium from chipping when it's moved and it prevents it from bowing as well.
You can make certain types of tanks rimless but do take note that you can't do that all kinds of tanks. Some factors would determine whether a tank can be made rimless: the thickness and length of the glass or acrylic tank.
If the tank has a center brace then it would be best to leave them as-is and not bother in making it rimless. Tanks that have a center brace are there for a reason and this is to provide support to their thin glass panes.
In addition, if the tank is a lot larger than 15 gallons then it's not recommended to make them rimless. First off, the process is tedious and dangerous, especially for larger tank capacities.
Do take note that removing the rims on a tank would expose its sharp edges and that can be very dangerous for you. De-rimming a tank is considered pointless by a lot of aquarists due to the dangers it poses and how agonizing the process can be. Not to mention, you may end up spending a whole lot more, especially if you end up breaking the tank.
Tank repairs are expensive, so to avoid this, we'd recommend that you go and purchase a rimless tank instead of doing the de-rimming yourself.
The combination of thick glass panels, the pressure from the water inside the aquarium, and the silicone sealant that keeps the glass panels sealed are how rimless aquariums stay together.
The thick glass used in rimless tanks is not that quick to break and crack, also, the use of thick glass prevents the entire rimless tank from bowing. In addition, thick glass also has something to do with the silicone sealant. The combination of both these materials makes up almost the entirety of a rimless tank's solid structure.
Lastly, the kind of silicone sealant used in rimless tanks is a whole lot stronger and of high quality compared to traditional tanks. RTV 100 or RTV 103 are usually the types of silicone used for rimless tanks and it just makes sense since these tanks need all the support they can get due to the absence of rims.
A rimmed fish tank would be better compared to a rimless tank because it has better structural integrity. Also, it's supported by rims so it keeps the glass or acrylic panels together.
There are pros and cons to both rimless and rimmed fish tanks, please refer to the bullet list below and see the difference between the two fish tanks:
The aesthetics that rimless fish tanks provide are hard to beat. These tanks provide a clear aesthetic that is free from green/blue tints that are mostly seen in traditional fish tanks.
Gas exchange on rimless fish tanks is a plus since these tanks don't have any covering on top, in turn, this allows easy O2 and H2O exchange.
The water line on rimless tanks is visible since there are no rims on the tank that would usually cover them. Some aquarists hate this because it's distracting them from appreciating the aesthetic of their tank.
Can't support large loads of water.
Tank inhabitants, usually snails and fish, are susceptible to crawling/jumping out of rimless tanks due to the absence of coverage on top of the tank itself.
Toxins can easily enter inside a rimless tank due to the absence of a cover on the opening of the tank itself.
Rimless tanks come at an expensive price point.
Rimmed fish tanks have a plastic hood that covers the opening of the tank itself which eliminates any possibility of tank inhabitants jumping out.
Rimmed fish tanks have rims and this makes them a lot more durable compared to rimless tanks.
Rimmed fish tanks can support a larger water load compared to rimless tanks.
These tanks can hide the water line which is why most aquarists prefer such tanks.
Most traditional rimmed fish tanks are affordable.
Most traditional rimmed fish tanks have that greenish/bluish tint on the acrylic or glass panels. This would make the tank look a lot less appealing compared to the clear and vibrant aesthetic of rimless tanks.
Lifeguard Rimless Aquarium Tank, Lifeguard Aquatics Crystal Aquarium, and LANDEN Rimless Aquarium are some of the popular rimless aquariums in the market.
All three products mentioned above have high ratings from fellow aquarists so if you're searching for that quality rimless aquarium, you may refer to the links shown below:
Lifeguard Rimless Aquarium Tank
Lifeguard Aquatics Crystal Aquarium
LANDEN Rimless Aquarium
Out of the three rimless aquariums, we would recommend the LANDEN Rimless Aquarium since it comes in different sizes so you're not restricted to just one size. Moreover, this rimless tank can accommodate both planted and freshwater fish. You won't have to worry about sharp edges as well since the LANDEN Rimless Aquarium utilizes a smooth chamfering design.
https://oceansaquarium.com/2019/07/glass-or-acrylic-aquarium/
https://www.thesprucepets.com/solving-leaky-glass-aquarium-problems-2920654


text:
Q: Buffer cannot be Null Parameter:Buffer I am working on an image upload from iphone to an C# web service. Here is the iPhone code
NSString *soapMessage=[NSString stringWithFormat:
                       @"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>"
                       "<soap:Envelope xmlns:xsi=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance\" xmlns:xsd=\"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema\" xmlns:soap=\"http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/\">\n"
                       "<soap:Body>\n"
                       "<PutImage xmlns=\"http://tempuri.org/\">\n"
                       "<ImgInputString>%@</ImgInputString>\n"
                       "</PutImage>\n"
                       "</soap:Body>\n"
"</soap:Envelope>\n",imageString];

NSLog(soapMessage);
NSURL *url=[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://192.168.2.7/ImageWebService/Service1.asmx"];
NSMutableURLRequest *theRequest=[NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:url];
NSString *msgLength=[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d",[soapMessage length]];

[theRequest addValue:@"text/xml; charset=utf-8" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];
[theRequest addValue:@"http://tempuri.org/PutImage" forHTTPHeaderField:@"SOAPAction"];
[theRequest addValue:msgLength forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Length"];
[theRequest setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
[theRequest setHTTPBody:[soapMessage dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];

NSURLConnection *theConnection=[[NSURLConnection alloc] initWithRequest:theRequest delegate:self];

But when i am accessing the server I am getting this error message. But when i copy and paste the image string in the webservice directly I get the image. It's only from the iPhone it is throwing the error.
Please help

A: I've had trouble with this too, I believe it was the encoding, (MS server specific?) here's what I would suggest.
 [theRequest setHTTPBody:[soapMessage dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding allowLossyConversion:YES]];

A: I got this solved. I had changed my server side input to be string( a bas64 string), but the web service i was hitting was not the updated one, was the previous byte[] input. So, i hanged the dll of my web service in the inetpub/wwwroot/bin to the new chnaged web service .dll. Now it works like a charm.
And NWCoder, you can encrypt your string to base64 encoding and send it as a string to your c# web serice and then convert i into a byte[]. This was smooth for me. Any ways thsnks for your suggestion.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT joint venture to launch HTS for Asia-Pac
Wednesday, 04 November 2015 | Communications & Cyber Security
Horizons 3e will be based on Intelsat's EpicNG class design
Intelsat and Japan's SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation have signed an agreement to form a joint venture that will launch a new satellite with C-band and high throughput Ku-band capacity to meet connectivity demands in the Asia-Pacific region.
Intelsat
SKY Perfect JSAT
Satellite Launch
EpicNG
Maritime Ku band VSAT
Inmarsat launches fifth GX satellite
Inmarsat has confirmed the successful launch of GX5, the fifth satellite in the Global Xpress (GX) fleet.
Intellian launches first 1.25 metre Ku-Ka convertible VSAT system
Intellian has launched v130NX, the latest model in its new NX Series VSAT antenna portfolio. The terminal is the first Ku-Ka convertible VSAT terminal with a 1.25-metre reflector, making it suitable for high-speed global Internet on ships, offshore vessels, and superyachts.
Marlink and Intelsat expand connectivity services
Marlink and Intelsat have agreed to a multi-year renewal and expansion of their partnership to provide broadband services to maritime vessels around the world.
France and India to develop space-based continuous ship tracking
A constellation of satellites jointly operated by France and India to track and monitor ships in the Indian Ocean is under development, the French National Space Agency (CNES) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have confirmed.
Intelsat 39 successfully launched
Intelsat has successfully launched Intelsat 39 to provide video distribution and connectivity services for maritime service providers, mobile network operators, enterprises, governmental entities, and aeronautical service providers operating in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Swire agrees Global Eagle connectivity deal


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text:
Write-up: 'Umiyuri Katsuyama: Queen of Tenohira Kaidan' by Toshiya Kamei
Curious about Japanese horror? Me too! Insignia Stories' resident translator and drabble contributor, Toshiya Kamei, was kind enough to write the following overview of the horror genre in Japan, and to introduce the work of one of his clients, Umiyuri Katsuyama.
Umiyuri Katsuyama, Queen of Tenohira Kaidan
By Toshiya Kamei
The Japanese word kaidan 怪談 denotes a strange tale that often centers around death and frequently features ghosts, yōkai, and monsters. Kai 怪 indicates "strange" or "mysterious," and dan 談 has its origins in oral traditions of storytelling. Many cultures around the world value sharing stories to pass down a collective history and to entertain—sharing stories around a campfire is a popular example. Japanese families gathered in intimate circles. Children sat around an irori fire and listened to their grandmother as she told an old tale before bedtime. Combined, kaidan literally means "mysterious tales."
Examples of kaidan were collected as early as the late Heian period (twelfth century), and the popularity of the form peaked during the Edo period (1600 to 1868). Often associated with summer, the most notable tales of this era include Yotsuya Kaidan (1727), Banchō Sarayashiki (the late 1700s), and Botan Dōrō (circa. 1861-1864).
Tenohira kaidan is the modern reincarnation of the genre. As tenohira indicates "palm of the hand," these brief texts are weird tales consisting of 800 Japanese characters. They are particularly suited for online consumption. Not coincidentally, tenohira kaidan came into existence in the internet era, when blogging emerged as a new mode of personal expression. As Japanese writer Tetsuzō Fukuzawa points out, kaidan brings people together, namely connecting tellers with listeners as well as writers with readers through the uncanny.
The BK-One Kaidan Taisho was a literary contest in the kaidan genre held by the online bookseller BK-One from 2003 to 2011. Today, it is credited with having discovered new writers and helped launch their careers. My frequent collaborator Umiyuri Katsuyama exemplifies this tradition.
In 2006, Umiyuri's story "軍馬の帰還" won the grand prize in the fourth BK-One Kaidan Taisho. In October 2020, the story appeared in English translation at Fudoki Magazine (read). In addition to her award-winning story, she went on to contribute several more tales to the Tenohira kaidan anthology series (2007-2012). Some of them have been translated into English. My translation of "魚怪" forms part of Horror Matsuri 2020 (read). The English version of "呪いと毒" is forthcoming in Frozen Wavelets.
In 2007, Umiyuri was runner-up in the second Yoo Kaidan Bungakusho for her short story "竜岩石." A year later, it became the titular story of her debut collection, 竜岩石とただならぬ娘. This volume collects twenty stories of varying lengths featuring Asian motifs. In December 2020, the last vignette of "竜岩石" appeared as "Dragon Rock" at The Fortnightly Review (read). As of February 2021, Antipodean SF has showcased two stories from this collection: "羅浮之怪" (read) and "白桃村" (read).
In addition to kaidan, the recent years have seen her incursion into other adjacent genres. In 2020, her short story "あれは真珠というものかしら" won the grand prize in the first Kaguya SF Contest organized by Virtual Gorilla Plus. My Spanish translation of the story was published at Nagari Magazine (read) in October 2020. It was later reprinted in Korad (read). With multiple drabbles in the forthcoming anthologies Hundred Word Horror: Home, Mythical Creatures of Asia, and Mythical Beings of Asia, 2021 promises to be another productive year for Umiyuri.
'Home' anthology, featuring Umiyuri Katsuyama &Toshiya Kamei.
Umiyuri Katsuyama is a multiple-award-winning writer of fantasy and horror, often based on Asian folklore motifs. A native of Iwate in the far north of Japan, she later moved to Tokyo and studied at Seisen University. In 2011, she won the Japan Fantasy Novel Award with her novel Sazanami no kuni. Her most recent novel, Chuushi, ayashii nabe to tabi wo suru, was published in 2018. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous horror anthologies in Japan.
Toshiya Kamei holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Arkansas. His translations have appeared in venues such as Clarkesworld, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Strange Horizons. His short fiction has appeared in Nagari Magazine, New World Writing, and Hundred Word Horror, among others.
Horror Matsuri 2020 cover
Both Umiyuri Katsuyama and Toshiya Kamei were contributors in last year's Horror Matsuri 2020, and have drabbles in the upcoming Mythical Creatures of Asia anthology. Kamei-san has also translated works for numerous other Insignia Stories' anthologies. Browse his Author Page here to see the full list.
Women in Horror Month banner
Next on the schedule for WiHM is an interview with another of Toshiya Kamei's clients, Fusako Ohki. Don't miss it on Saturday 20th! See the calendar of events for the rest of the month here.
Author Spotlight, Horror Matsuri, Insignia Drabbles Series 2020, Women in Horror Month
Asian fantasy, Asian SFF, horror, Horror Matsuri 2020, Insignia Drabbles Series, Insignia Stories, Japanese authors, Japanese horror, SFF, Toshiya Kamei, Umiyuri Katsuyama, WiHM, Women in Horror Month
Welcome to Women in Horror Month at Insignia Stories!
WiHM & AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: FUSAKO OHKI
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Miller School of Albemarle has a robust service program. Every other Wednesday, students depart school at 12:00 PM and spend the afternoon working with a service group. These groups complete tasks that range from on-campus projects such as organizing the library and cutting firewood to off-campus projects such as helping to organize the Virginia Festival of the Book and assisting at the African American Heritage Center.
Once a year, the entire student body and faculty work together on a campus-wide clean-up project. This year, the clean-up day was orchestrated by Sarah Goodbar. Students worked in task-force groups that focused on a particular section of campus--from faculty apartment basements to old landfills.
In total, the students and faculty completed over 600 hours of service and filled ten dumpsters with junk and trash previously scattered across campus.