Frogman's Photoblog

And the new US president is…

Most people won’t know the winner of US presidential elections until later this year. Initially, I thought that the next president will be decided by who can profit most from the insanely insecure voting machines…

Now, however, I have changed my mind and realised that security vulnerabilities are not as important anymore, as the most important and decisive factor of them all has decided to reveal himself and swing his weight behind Mike Huckabee! He would probably become the president himself, if only it wasn’t so boring. Who needs the nuclear briefcase anyway, when a roundhouse kick right to the face can solve any and all problems?

Ladies and gentlemen, please bow low for Chuck Norris and his will of steel! :-)

Bombs or Cholera. Pick one?

It is expectable that poor people in a country with seriously damaged infrastructure would suffer from various diseases. Thus, it came as a little surprise that a few weeks ago, cases of cholera started to appear around Baghdad. According to BBC, at least 2000 cases have been confirmed, and the number is growing fast. It is also far from final, as there have been around 30 thousand cases of acute water diarrhea, which may later be confirmed as cholera.

Cholera is a disease often linked to contaminated supplies of drinking water. “It causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, and patients, particularly children and the elderly, are vulnerable to dangerous dehydration as a result. Treating the condition – or rather alleviating these severe effects, requires only simple measures. However, the clean water and rehydration salts required are often in short supply in areas where they are needed most.”
Indeed, the article also reports that only one in five Iraqis have access to effectively sanitised water. That struck me as little weird, so I started to dig around a little. Obviously, most waterworks in the city are now entirely without chlorine. Curious. Isn’t chlorine cheap and easy to produce?

However, chlorine has been dubbed Evil™, and it’s import banned. Why? Iraqi insurgents have used it as a payload for bombs a few times. According to WHO, there are 100 kilotons of water sanitiser waiting on border with Jordan, and because of fear someone could use it to make bombs, it can not get into the country.
As is often the case, the worst damage does not come from the terrorist actions themselves, but from our overreaction to them. Chlorine chemical bombs are not particularly effective, compared to other possible payloads, and their usage is dying out. According to wiki: “Higher levels of exposure can cause fatal lung damage; but because the gas is heavier than air it will not dissipate until well after an explosion, and so it is generally considered ineffective as an improvised chemical weapon.” Although chlorine, particularly potassium chlorate, can also be used as an ingredient to produce some explosives, it generally is not effective either, and can be easily replaced.

But the “side-effects” of these bombings are adverse. They have caused the country to lose its supply of drinking water, which could cost thousands of people their lives. It definitely shows how US Army cares about civilians of the area. Also, surprisingly, no one thought of banning salt. :-P All you need to produce chlorine is salt, water, and electricity. Then again, we should probably also ban water. And electricity.

Now here’s a thought for terrorists. Next time, mix a little wheat in your bombs. Following this pattern, the security forces will identify it as a bomb ingredient and issue a countrywide ban. Of course, people will be dying of famine, but that’s only necessary to keep them safe from evil insurgents. In your face, terrorists!

Volksrepublik China ist wunderbar!

Newsweek, Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue:
In one of history’s more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is “an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.”

Now this is quite interesting. I don’t think I’ve seen a dictatorship reach into the afterlife like this before. The funny thing is, though, that by trying to control who reincarnates how, China has officially, although unintentionally admitted, that reincarnation is possible. Whoops! :-)

Of course, the true motive of very materialistic Communist Party is to strengthen its hold on Tibet. Fully abusing this law by Chinese government could effectively mean, that China would choose who gets to be the next Dalai Lama, the next symbol of resistance against the occupation. Just a quick history note, we’ve seen them meddle with Buddhist officials before, when some dozen years ago, or so, the Panchen Lama disappeared and wasn’t heard from since.

Meanwhile, the current Dalai Lama proves his wits by proclaiming that he is not going to reincarnate in Tibet, as long as it’s occupied, so his successor will probably be born in exile. I have to admit am a little jealous of his powers over his own reincarnation. ;-) Anyway, I’m rather curious to see this story unfold.

Edited to add: As my friend has remarked, we are quite curious about the methods used by the Chinese government to monitor reincarnations. Unless, of course, people brag about them, just like the Dalai Lama needs to. Also, we’d like to know if you have to pay the administration fees and fill out the reincarnation permits before you die. And what if you cannot actually control your own reincarnation process? Oh aye, China seems to have screwed up big time with this one.