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I am a slow sheep
Jun. 12th, 2002 12:05 amBut I could give a rat's ass. So shove it up your ass you bastard!
Jun. 12th, 2002
toxic waste
Jun. 12th, 2002 02:45 pmHigh-Tech Headache
By Ted Snyder
from Earthwatch Radio
More computers hit the recycling bin every year. That leads to a nasty cleanup job on the other side of the world.
Most of the computers turned in for recycling in the United States end up on a boat to China, where workers pick them apart by hand. They're exposed to hundreds of harmful substances, including lead and dioxin.
Jim Puckett is with the Basel Action Network, a group in Seattle that takes its name from the Basel Convention, a treaty to ban the export of toxic waste. Puckett recently visited China's Guangdong Province, where computers arrive by truckload from a nearby port. Workers salvage metal wires by burning away the plastic insulation.
"We saw whole villages of people that are squatting by the rivers, that make their living by the sorting of wires by day, and the burning of wires by night."
Puckett says the burning plastic releases dioxins and other poisonous chemicals. He says about 100,000 migrant workers; many of them displaced farmers with no industrial training, live amid piles of burned computer parts.
"And the children in these villages are playing in the ashes as if it were a sandbox; it's covering their homes, just the whole area is blackened by this material. We saw women all over the village crouched over these hotplates where they basically are cooking up the circuit boards from the computers to the point where the solder melts and they can pull off the chips."
The workers breathe in lead vapor from the hotplates. Puckett says a water test from a nearby river found lead at 200 times the World Health Organization's standard. His group is calling on the U.S. government to sign the Basel Convention to ban the export of toxic waste, including some computer parts.
By Ted Snyder
from Earthwatch Radio
More computers hit the recycling bin every year. That leads to a nasty cleanup job on the other side of the world.
Most of the computers turned in for recycling in the United States end up on a boat to China, where workers pick them apart by hand. They're exposed to hundreds of harmful substances, including lead and dioxin.
Jim Puckett is with the Basel Action Network, a group in Seattle that takes its name from the Basel Convention, a treaty to ban the export of toxic waste. Puckett recently visited China's Guangdong Province, where computers arrive by truckload from a nearby port. Workers salvage metal wires by burning away the plastic insulation.
"We saw whole villages of people that are squatting by the rivers, that make their living by the sorting of wires by day, and the burning of wires by night."
Puckett says the burning plastic releases dioxins and other poisonous chemicals. He says about 100,000 migrant workers; many of them displaced farmers with no industrial training, live amid piles of burned computer parts.
"And the children in these villages are playing in the ashes as if it were a sandbox; it's covering their homes, just the whole area is blackened by this material. We saw women all over the village crouched over these hotplates where they basically are cooking up the circuit boards from the computers to the point where the solder melts and they can pull off the chips."
The workers breathe in lead vapor from the hotplates. Puckett says a water test from a nearby river found lead at 200 times the World Health Organization's standard. His group is calling on the U.S. government to sign the Basel Convention to ban the export of toxic waste, including some computer parts.
Carve Away the Stone
Jun. 12th, 2002 10:58 pmYou can roll that stone to the top of the hill Drag your ball and chain Behind you You can carry that weight With an iron will Or let the pain remain Behind you Chip away the stone (Sisyphus) Chip away the stone Make the burden lighter If you must roll that rock alone You can drive those wheels To the end of the road You will still find the past right Behind you Try to deny The weight of the load Try to put the sins of the past night Behind you Chip away the stone (Sisyphus) Carve away the stone Make a graven image With some features of your own You can roll that stone To the top of the hill You can carry that weight With an iron will You can drive those wheels To the end of the road You can try to deny The weight of the load Roll away the stone (Sisyphus) Roll away the stone If you could just move yours I could get working on my own copyright 1996 Core Music Publishing (SOCAN) used without permission |
I'm tired and I'm going to bed early for a change. 11:30 instead of 12:30. I didn't get much done tonight, like I had expected. I helped a friend move some furniture, got food at my mom's, talked with Cyn, cleaned the basement a little, and read a magazine. None of those were on my approved list of things to do. Oh well.