katrina principals

it is ironic that the u s of a, which declined to sign the kyoto protocol, should now face the absolutely terrifying tragedy that continues to unfold in the wake of hurricane katrina. it is shocking because this is america and not some war torn blighted third world country in asia or africa. the images on our idiot boxes seem to mock bush’s decision to stay out of the treaty signed by 35 other industrialized countries. the evacuation of an entire city is nature’s reply.

the agreement deals with the reduction of emissions of six greenhouse gasses ( mainly carbon dioxide) by 2012 to 5% less than 1990 levels. the main reasons for u s non-signing were (a) damage to the american economy in that it would require costly changes to manufacturing methods, transportation and other aspects of business, and (b) that the agreement did not include some rapidly developing countries notably china and india.

carbon dioxide is one of the main reasons for the greenhouse effect and one of the primary reasons for increase in levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (an increase of approx. 35% over the past 100 years) are the emissions from the oil and coal industry. it doesn’t take rocket science to connect the dots. bush is a texan and his election bids were part financed by the oil industry. as for the weather, just flip through the news over the past couple of months. floods in mumbai, floods in eastern europe, drought in western europe, drought in africa. and so on.

i also find it pathetic that america goes in to the war in iraq on a stated platform of bringing about concepts of freedom and democracy, rights of the individual, equality and all the jazz (not a word about the oil, of course). and then they ignore the blacks in new orleans. watching a news special on the devastation on bbc last night, a black woman screams into the camera “they are raping babies. help us…” as at today no one even knows how many people have died in the devastation. even in sri lanka, we knew that. this is from the greatest economy the planet has ever known. bye bye miss american pie.

it is time america woke up. the alternatives for the rest of the world, leave aside herself, if she doesn’t, will be far stranger and more terrible, than fiction.

“the darkness drops again;

but now i know that twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
and what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
slouches towards bethlehem to be born?

w.b. yeats – the second coming