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The Babri mosque's destruction triggered some of India's worst religious riots [File, AFP]

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The findings of an inquiry into the controversial destruction of a mosque by Hindu mobs that triggered bloody religious riots in the early 1990s has been tabled in the Indian parliament amid noisy disruptions from opposition members.

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Iraq war inquiry opens in UK

A public inquiry into the UK's role in the Iraq war has opened in London, with former civil servants first to appear in hearings that will climax with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, taking the stand.

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The Philippines president has declared a state of emergency in the south following the killings [AFP]

Arroyo vows justice over massacre

Gloria Arroyo, the Philippine president, has said "no effort will be spared" in the hunt for those behind what is believed to have been a politically-driven massacre in the south of the country.

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Sri Lanka general to mount poll bid

Sri Lanka's former military chief will challenge his former boss Mahinda Rajapakse, the incumbent president, in the country's presidential election, an opposition party has said.

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Pakistani forces blame the recent spate of attacks in Peshawar on fighters in Barra, Khyber agency [AFP]

Pakistan launches Khyber offensive

Pakistan's military has launched a major offensive in the northwest Khyber agency, imposing a 24-hour curfew and a shoot-to-kill policy.

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Interethnic violence in DR Congo has claimed the lives of 60,000 people since 1999, NGOs say [EPA]

DR Congo war crimes trial begins

Two Congolese men accused of directing an attack on a village, during which at least 200 people were killed, women raped and child soldiers allegedly recruited, have gone on trial in The Hague.

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Carte Blanche said their undercover reporter was the target of questioning because of his race [AFP]

South Africa deports Israeli 'spy'

South Africa has deported an Israeli airline official following allegations that Israel's secret police, Shin Bet, have been operating in Johannesburg's international airport.

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Aug 12 2008
What are We Doing with our Precious Water? | Print |  E-mail
By Rachael Bliss   
At least thanks to Clean Water Act they are no longer on fire.....but they're still at risk!

Back in the 60's and earlier, we in the USA had rivers on fire. Today I don't think this happens anymore, thanks to concerned citizens and the Clean Water Act.

As one business leaders said recently on C-Span, "There was a war between business and environmentalists, and the environmentalists won."

So no matter what disappointments I face as I try to improve the environment, when I think of that comment, I feel a little better about my efforts. And fellow environmentalists should remember that, too.

Yet, the battle to win clean water is still upon us. Overall, the EPA under the Clean Water Act and some of its amendments have made industry clean up its act. They caused so-called "point" pollution, because we can point to that industry if what it uses in its processes or the wastes it makes ends up in our streams.

Now comes the hard part. Many of our lakes, rivers and streams are still too dangerous to swim in. Some don't support as many critters as cleaner ones. Some are still too dirty to be cleaned up for city drinking water. As you can see, now we have to dig to see what else besides industry is messing up our waters. And many of us don't like what we see. Here are some examples of nonpoint pollution:
  • Human and animal sewage (poop). Many of us live out in the wilds and we put in septic tanks to handle our refuse. But sometimes these systems fail and sewage gets in the nearby stream. The big cities aren't much better with our huge sewage treatment systems. Many are wearing out or haven't kept up with increasing populations. And when it rains, stormwater and sewage will often go into the nearby waters without being treated at all. If you go boating for up to three days after a rain and tip over in your boat, you could be exposed to all kinds of bacteria. Other problems: all the pharmaceuticals we take these days aren't removed by our sewage treatment systems.
  • Urban sprawl and bad development practices. Whenever you put down more pavement and homes, you take away land that acts like a filter to rain when it comes. Ground with nothing on it sheds tons of dirt into our streams when it rains. This top soil is gone forever into our once-clear streams, creating ugly development sites and flooding and contaminated waterways.
  • Our lawns and golf courses. Thousands of tons of fertilizers and pesticides are annually pumped and layered on our beautiful green lawns and golf courses, even our parks. This is unhealthy for our children and pets, even golf course employees and players, but that stuff also washes into our lakes and streams, these chemicals causing overgrowth of algae that clog up our waterways and harm fish.
  • Our farms. What happens on our lawns, you can multiply when we look at farms. Those idyllic places of clean green often are miniature chemical plants because of all the fuel, pesticides and fertilizers farmers use to get higher yields. In many cases, farmers may also have much livestock, causing contamination because the manure to too much to apply to the fields, and thus much of it ends up in our streams.
  • Litter and throw-away society. Walk along any stream, and you'll see an anthropological study of our culture today: drink containers, fast food wrappers, grocery carts, old tires, disposable diapers, car parts and lubricating oil that many still pour down their storm drains.
  • Dumps and landfills. Although this could be considered a point source, what lands in landfills is usually from us, because we don't dispose of hazardous wastes properly, and the big waste management companies love to see us throw it away, especially if they get paid by the ton. (See my Waste Not post from a few weeks ago.)
  • Dams. Huh, they look pretty clean to me! But don't let looks mislead you. Dams make being a fish very hard, especially if you are a salmon trying to swim upstream to spawn. Dams aren't lakes and they aren't rivers. They disrupt the free flow of water which harms the life that lives within it. Dams also cause extreme temperature variations in rivers below them, and the fluctuations of temperatures, sometimes from warm to extreme cold, also is harmful to fish, causing fluctuations of oxygen so necessary to various species of fish, especially those who require more dissolved oxygen than others.
So friends, it's now up to each of us to do the rest of the clean up of our waterways. Are you up to changing habits or getting your hands dirty cleaning up streams for the next generation?

Honor your local waterway by visiting it and cleaning it up. Visit your local sewage treatment plant and see how well your system works. We as humans are mostly water. Let's do our best to keep it as clean as possible. And the more of us there are, the harder that job will be!

Now I need a drink of (filtered) cold H20! A toast to our friend Water!

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