I ifnd it interesting that the following comment disappeared. Perhaps you could explain why?

Dear Mr. Friedman,

Funny how smoke and nitrates can get your attention, but war crimes seem to slip by.

How about throwing some light on the real “eco-nightmare;” the US and GB use of DU (Depleted Uranium or radioactive “U238”) in the middle east and Bosnia.

We have not just poisoned Mr. Bush’s enemies (I think it has been well proven that Iraq was never a serious enemy of the US), but we have poisoned several hundred thousand of our own men and women in uniform.

We are also poisoning India, including her rivers that feed her with the dust.

The bible says something about worrying about the log in your own eye before worrying about the small speck in your neighbor’s eye.

Try it.

November 16, 2006 @ 5:53 am | Comment

BTW, anyone who lives in Asia (especially China) is going to be affected.

The people of India will go where when their environment is poisoned by radiation?

The wind is blowing in what direction?

Depleted Uranium is a billion year curse.

November 16, 2006 @ 6:36 am | Comment

It seems I’m not the only one who believes that Friedman is a part of a nuclear energy lobby.

What Friedman saw wasn’t smoke and nitrates; it was $$$$.

November 16, 2006 @ 9:58 am | Comment

I don’t doubt what he says, but theres also this article that says China’s forests are actually getting bigger.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/world/14forest.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

November 16, 2006 @ 10:24 am | Comment

Sometimes I think that China’s environmental problems are not their fault because their massive population makes the problems inevitable. They do have a one child policy, which means they are working on it. But then I remember that it is standard practice to cover up problems, point blame at someone else, and pretend like nothing is wrong. So, I guess it’s a little bit of both.

@Your Faithful Reader
Any sources on the DU?

November 16, 2006 @ 12:36 pm | Comment

Pha,

You may want to read this old Sunday Herald report about the use of DU during the Gulf War. The Christian Science Monitor and BBC also have some very good articles on this topic.

November 16, 2006 @ 1:32 pm | Comment

Pha,

You may want to read this old Sunday Herald report about the use of DU during the Gulf War. Christian Science Monitor and BBC also have some very good articles on this topic.

November 16, 2006 @ 2:03 pm | Comment

Sorry to be slow.

If you have a very strong stomach, click on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnOEvcX9D9A
It is the first part of 7.

Fat Cat, thanks for the articles.

BTW, this is Joe Craine. I had some problem with the post as you can see in my first post kept.

I have made Richard and some of his friends angry with my insistence that the “liberal” NYT editorial writers do some real investigation. They sometimes consider me to be a CT troll.

I am not. I just want someone who has pull and an audience to start asking the obvious questions.

An example is
http://americanhistory.si.edu/september11/images/large/133_286.jpg
Why did the back of this firetruck melt?
See
http://americanhistory.si.edu/september11/collection/transcript.asp?ID=6
for the transcript.

November 17, 2006 @ 1:07 pm | Comment

I don’t know if this is an over-reaction, but after reading much about the rampant pollution in China, I’ve stopped buying food manufactured there and imported into Canada. I’m thinking, what’s IN that water in that can of shitake mushrooms?
Or those rice crackers? What are those tainted with?
As far as edibles from China are concerned, my new motto is “just say no thanks”.

I worry about global warming. If western democracies like Canada and the US are dragging their feet on C02 emission reduction,
can we expect China with its fast growing auto ownership growth, and manufacturing , to get serious about greenhouse gases any time soon?

Of course, global warming threatens to be not only a massive environmental diasaster, but an economic one as well, which may be the factor that finally sways leaders who currently are in do-little-or-nothing mode.

But as Friedman says, there’s the difficulty that by the time the problems are finally acknowledged and remedial steps taken, it may be too late.

November 22, 2006 @ 11:29 am | Comment

I get the same jitters when I eat fish in China. Is there any clean water for fish to swim in? The fish I ordered in Beijing two weeks ago tasted like it was fresh out of the sewer.

November 22, 2006 @ 6:04 pm | Comment

Sewer catch of the day! Mm mm good….yes, fish are no doubt riskier than
many other foods, because of the concentration of toxins effect. I’ve cut back somewhat on fish in general, from every source, while taking more fish oil supplements to still gain benefit from fishy Omega 3 rich oils. Even fish caught off the B.C. coast here have ever increasing levels of dioxins, pcbs and other nasty stuff. And farmed salmon here have 10X the toxin levels of wild fish, ’cause of the food pellets they’re fed… I wonder if those food pellets just might possibly derive from fish from Chinese rivers or estuaries?

November 23, 2006 @ 12:30 am | Comment