The Wolf Ridge Press Imaginative Poetry Prize

This poetry book series honors the poet who has demonstrated the best poetic illumination of the mysterious and quirky movements of the human imagination. One manuscript will be published each year by Wolf Ridge Press of San Francisco and distributed by Small Press Distribution of Berkeley, California.

Deadline: December 1. This is a postmark deadline.

Manuscript Guidelines:

• Manuscripts must be typed and single-spaced, no more than one poem per page on good quality paper, 8 ½ x 11 inches.

   

• Photocopies or copies from letter-quality printers are acceptable.

   

• Manuscripts should not be bound or in a folder but binder-clipped or rubber-banded together.

   

• Send them along with the standard entry form below, a $25 entry fee payable to Wolf Ridge Press and a SASE if you wish to be notified of contest results to:
  Wolf Ridge Press Imaginative Poetry Prize,
  350 Parnassus Ave #900,
  San Francisco, California 94117

   

• The manuscript should have a title page without other information on it and a separate title page with the name, address, phone number and email address for the poet.

   

• The author’s name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript proper.

   

• Do not send acknowledgements page or list of previous publications.

   

• Only 48-70 page manuscripts are eligible.

   

• Poems previously published in periodicals are eligible for inclusion but manuscripts previously published in their entirety are not.

   

• This award series is open to all authors writing original works in English for adult readers. Friends or former students of the editors at Wolf Ridge Press are not eligible.

   

• Concurrent submissions are permitted as long as we are notified as soon as your manuscript receives another award.

   

• Revisions during the course of the contest cannot be considered but winning authors will have an opportunity to make changes before publication.

   

• The publication of winning manuscript will be 1000 copies with 50 copies to the author in lieu of royalties. The winning poet will receive a prize of $500.00.

Explore this web site to view our previous publications and read a few selected poems.

The editors at Wolf Ridge Press will judge this competition.

You may download these entry guidelines along with the entry form here.

 

---

 

The Editors

 

Joan Baranow, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of English at Dominican University of California. Her poetry has appeared in The Paris Review, Western Humanities Review, The Antioch Review, The Western Journal of Medicine, and other magazines. Her poetry has also appeared in Women Write Their Bodies: Stories of Illness and Recovery, issued in 2007 by Kent State University Press. Her book of poetry, Living Apart, was published by Plain View Press. With her husband David Watts, she produced the PBS documentary Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine, airing nationally in 2008-2011.

David Watts, MD, has published a second book of stories, The Orange Wire Problem, which along with Bedside Manners, forms a body of work which explores the intricacies of the art of medicine. He has published four books of poetry and a CD of “word-jazz.” He is an NPR commentator on All Things Considered, a producer of the PBS program Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine, and a gastroenterologist at UCSF.

Ann Pelletier earned her MFA in poetry from San Francisco State University. Her work has appeared in the Antioch Review, Alimentum, Arts & Letters, Cider Press Review, Columbia, Loonfeather, The Santa Clara Review, Volt and other journals. She was awarded the Academy of American Poets University and College Poetry Prize three times and received the Arts and Letters Prize for Poetry. She lives and works in Western Nevada.

 

 

Poetry Chapbook Contest Rules

• First prize $1,000 and publication + 5 copies
• Nonprofit mission is to publish new authors — contest only for authors without published book or chapbook
• Deadline: January 15, 2011 postmark
• Submit 20-24 pages of poetry
• Blind review: On a cover sheet submit name, address, and contact information (address, e-mail, and phone #) and the title of your chapbook. On the chapbook manuscript put only its title. Put chapbook title on every page of the manuscript. Author's name cannot appear anywhere on the chapbook manuscript.
• At least three independent readers
• Final judge: Samuel Green, inaugural poet laureate of Washington State
• Reading Fee: $25 in check or money order to Flying Trout Press
• Four finalists get a free copy
• No manuscripts returned without SASE. No electronic submissions.
• Notification in April 2011

info@flyingtroutpress.org
MAILING ADDRESS
Flying Trout Press
P.O. Box 1256
Bellingham, WA 98227-1256

The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry | Danahy Fiction Prize

Hardback Book Publication • $2,000 Award • Selected Poems in Tampa Review Winning manuscripts are issued in both hardback and paperback editions & authors receive royalties on sales in addition to the cash award. Past winners include Jordan Smith, Julia B. Levine, Sarah Maclay, Lance Larsen, Jane Ellen Glasser, Steve Kowit, and Kent Shaw, and range from first books to new titles by well-published poets. Guidelines for Submission Manuscripts must be previously unpublished. Some or all of the poems in the collection may have appeared in periodicals, chapbooks, or anthologies, but these must be identified.   Manuscripts should be typed, with pages consecutively numbered. Clear photocopies are acceptable. Manuscripts must be at least 48 typed pages; we prefer a length of 60-100 pages but will also consider submissions falling outside this range.    Please submit your manuscript as loose pages held only by a removable clip or rubber band and enclosed in a standard file folder.  Do not staple or bind your manuscript.    Entries should include a separate title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available).    Entries must include a table of contents and a separate acknowledgments page (or pages) identifying prior publication credits.   Submissions must be postmarked by Dec. 31. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but the University of Tampa Press must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.   Include a nonrefundable handling fee of $25 for each manuscript submitted. Make check or money order payable to “University of Tampa Press.”   The winning entry will be announced in the subsequent spring, usually by May 15. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard for notification of receipt of manuscript, and a stamped, self-addressed envelope for notification of contest results. No manuscripts will  be returned; the paper will be recycled. All contestants enclosing SASE will be notified following the final selection.  Manuscripts should be sent to: The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry University of Tampa Press 401 West Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33606-1490 http://tampareview.ut.edu

The Danahy Fiction Prize

The Danahy Fiction Prize is an award of $1,000 and publication in Tampa Review given annually for a previously unpublished work of short fiction. Submissions between  500 and 5,000 words are preferred; manuscripts falling slightly outside this range will also be considered. Tampa Review editors will judge, and all entries will be considered for publication.  Manuscripts should be double-spaced and include a cover page with author’s name, mailing address, and other contact information, plus a total word count for the manuscript. Enclose a $15 entry fee payable to “Tampa Review.” All entrants receive a one-year subscription to Tampa Review. Entries must be postmarked by November 1 and mailed to: Tampa Review Danahy Fiction Prize The University of Tampa 401 West Kennedy Blvd. Tampa, FL 33606-1490

Sunday, 3 October 2010

Black History Month 2010

When I first thought of doing this post it was going to be on the up and coming literature festivals that were taking place around London during autumn. Unfortunately if you were looking to hear from any of the wonderful authors with a black heritage from anywhere in the world you would have been very disappointed. That is not to say that Hampstead, Chiswick, Henley or the Woodstock litfest events did not have interesting authors taking part or lively and challenging discussions. It’s just that they were less likely (note the use of ‘less’ – not ‘unlikely’ – I was not there so cannot be so definitive) to have covered issues that get people like us (PLUs - to nick a Mitford-style abbreviations!) excited or engaged.  While I do not want to suggest for a moment that an international book fair compares to a relatively local London litfest event, I do want to share with you the roster of authors that were at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden recently, so that you can see that it is even more surprising that these London events cannot muster even one - just one, recently published black author. From Pettina Gappah’s blog.

Do you think that PLU read more widely? In a spat on the Guardian Books website recently it was mentioned that the reason that prizes like The Orange Prize (the women only literature prize) are so important is that women read books by both men and women, and men largely only read books by other men. That then is the reason why in prizes such as the Man Booker, men tend to dominate the long and short lists, because generally more people have read their books and have a view on them. Translate that argument on to books most likely to be read by PLU, and what do you imagine happens? I am so happy that Andrea Levy is on the short list for the Man Booker, but surely for example Aminatta Forna’s Memories of Love should have been on the longlist too? Is the issue a double-bind – fewer men and non-black people will have read and have an opinion on these books?

As the Jill Scott song says “I’m a positive person…” so I looked around for something else to write about and with October being Black History Month (BHM) in the UK I decided to check out a few of those up and coming events. And as you can see below, from a few clicks and a light touch trawl through a handful of websites I have found a rich feast of authors and events that I would be interested in attending. So as we move into the season when others will be asking ‘Isn’t BHM racist?’ or Do we still need BHM? Your answer should be something like ‘Somehow the variety of cultural skills, voices and opinions of PLU just don’t otherwise get an equal airing and that is why BHM month should still be an important part of the cultural calendar.‘

Let me know what book events you will be attending this month!

BHM in Brent

I always hear really good things about the events that take place in Brent and this year they have a collection of fantastic sounding, not to be missed events.  You can see Precious Williams talking about her acclaimed memoir Precious on the 4 October.  On the 6 October Ngamo Bishop will be discussing her book Spread Your Wings and Fly, which is the story of children who came to England from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 60s.  Orange Prize nominee Monique Roffey will be discussing her book set in Trinidad –  The White Woman on a Green Bicycle on 13 October.  Here is the review that I did back in June:  TWWTGB.  On the 18 October there is an event called Banned Books, looking at why books are banned, this is a discussion on Toni Morrison’s Beloved.

During BHM Brent are also running a Children’s Book Week programme of events 4-10 October. The publishing editor of Tamarind Books, Patsy Isles, will be leading a books based session on identity called Where are my roots?

Take a look at the Tamarind Books collection here: Tamarind Books

Check details here: Brent.

BHM in Southwark

First of all just to say that Southwark’s BHM brochure is illustrated by the beautiful portraits of the photographer Franklyn Rodgers. I understand that Southwark is hoping to show the photographs in the borough during BHM. Fingers crossed that it all comes about. The book of the photographs  (The Philosophy of Strangers) is available from the online booksellers The Book Depository Though you might be able to get a copy from the publishers – Autograph.  Or visit Franklyn’s website.

Southwark’s BHM book/spoken word events also include Roma Tearne talking about her book Brixton Beach which is an exploration of the effects of war and migration on a family from Sri Lanka who eventually settled in Brixton.

There is an event called Milestones, which is a celebration of the eightieth birthdays of the authors Kamau Braithwaite, Chinua Achebe and Derek Walcott. Their famous and recent works will be discussed on 27 October. Southwark has also organised a series of quizzes on black writing and authors for young people and senior citizens throughout October. Though, I have to say that I am most tempted by the event to learn Caribbean dominoes.

Check details here: Southwark.

BHM in Kensington and Chelsea

To be fair the royal borough of K&C actually describes its BHM as a celebration of the arts and cultures of the communities of the area, and as such includes events and activities from outside black cultural sphere. None the less The October Lecture guest speaker is the Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, (4 October) reading from and talking about his work, answering questions and taking part in a book signing. I am very much looking forward to that.

Looking back looking forward is a spoken word performance event with a line-up of Black and Asian writers (22 October) Writers Malika Book and Anthony Joseph are taking part, as well as the poet/songwriters Speech Debelle and Ms Dynamite, and will be hosted by the writer and author Bidisha.

More information: RBKC.

BHM in Tower Hamlets

In my own neck of the London woods the Ghanian author

Yaba Badoe will be talking about her book True Murder on 14 October at the architect David Adjaye’s beautiful Idea Store in Whitechapel. Watch a video of Yaba talking about her book here: Yaba interview

Check for more details: Tower Hamlets.

BHM in Leeds 

Of course BHM events are happening all around the UK. So in order to be a little less London-centric in this post, I looked up what was taking place in Leeds. There 4 events literary events planned that will take place on the 30 and 31 October to celebrate Black British Poetry. The first is a creative writing workshop led by Bernadine Evaristo; a discussion/workshop on the history of Black British literature in Britain; a spoken word performance event, that includes many of the best British poets and whose work is published by Peepal Tree Press – publishers of the best in Caribbean writing. The last of the four events is a writing workshop led by Jacob Ross, who will be the editor of the next Inscribe/Peepal Tree Press anthology.

Check here for more details: Leeds.

Posted by: lisaparavisini | October 3, 2010

Heavy storm leaves 8 dead in Haiti

Another eight people have been killed as heavy rains lash Haiti, bringing the death toll in the impoverished Caribbean nation to fourteen.

Officials say three people were caught by overflowing rivers in the South, while another three were buried in a landslide and another two killed in floods, AFP reported on Friday. Officials have issued a yellow warning for the entire country as storms continue to intensify.

The storm has destroyed dozens of homes, flooded fields and in the south, roads have been cut off preventing rescue teams from reaching storm-hit areas. Officials warn that the death toll may rise.

Last week, a storm blasted the country’s capital Port-au-Prince, blowing roofs off houses, uprooting trees, cutting power lines and destroying makeshift tent cities where most earthquake survivors have been living. Six people were reported killed and dozens injured.

Storms are ripping through the impoverished country, which is still recovering from a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake, which hit earlier this year, killing 250,000 people and leaving millions homeless.  It has been estimated that only 2 percent of the 33 million cubic yards of rubble from the earthquake has been cleared and much of the debris is contaminated with human remains and other materials.

For the original report go to
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/144854.html

The Guatemala Syphilis Experiment's Tuskegee Roots

Recent revelations that the U.S. government knowingly infected Central Americans with syphilis in the 1940s have eerie echoes to the infamous 40-year experiment with 400 infected black men in Macon County, Ala. As it turns out, this is no coincidence.

• By: Linda Villarosa | Posted: October 2, 2010 at 4:44 PM

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized for a diabolical human experiment conducted in Central America 64 years ago and engineered by the U.S. government. From 1946 to 1948, scientists deliberately infected Guatemalan research subjects with syphilis to study how well penicillin worked.

Sound familiar?

National Archives

It should. This experiment is eerily similar to the notorious 40-year Tuskegee Study that used African-American men as human lab rats. Beginning in the 1930s in Macon County, Ala., the U.S. government left more than 400 syphilis-infected black men untreated to study the course of the disease. The men, who suffered from the often debilitating, sometimes deadly late-stage form of the sexually transmitted disease, thought they were getting free medical care for "bad blood." They were never told that they were actually subjects being followed in a long-term, "no treatment" study that finally ended in 1972. The men, poor and uneducated, were also given free meals and promised money for burials if they allowed their bodies to be autopsied after they died.

The other Clinton, former President Bill, officially apologized for the Tuskegee Study in 1997. Surrounded by survivors and their family members, he called the experiment "deeply, profoundly, morally wrong, something Americans prefer not to remember but dare not forget." Miss Evers' Boys, a 1997 Emmy Award-winning HBO film starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne, brought to life what ethicists and experts continue to refer to as the darkest hour in medical history.

Until now.

Though many believe that the men in the Tuskegee Study were secretly and intentionally infected with syphilis, they weren't. They already had it. But in the Guatemalan experiment, U.S. government officials did intentionally give subjects the disease. What's even creepier, the stuff of conspiracy theories, is that the same physician was linked to both the Tuskegee and Guatemala experiments. Dr. John C. Cutler, who rose as high as assistant surgeon general in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), conducted the study in Guatemala, according to his own records. He was also a key researcher in Tuskegee.

Susan M. Reverby, a Wellesley College professor, unearthed the experiment in Guatemala while working on a follow-up to her 2009 book, Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. "Public Health Service researchers did, in fact, deliberately infect poor and vulnerable men and women with syphilis in order to study the disease," Reverby writes in an article that will be published in the January issue of the wonky Journal of Policy History. "The mistake of the myth is to set that story in Alabama, when it took place further south, in Guatemala." The article is now available on Reverby's Wellesley faculty page.

In an unusual move in her world, where academics keep their research hush-hush before publication, Reverby alerted the federal government to the case in Guatemala before her work was to appear, which led to yesterday's apology.

According to Reverby, PHS doctors used incarcerated men as subjects and exposed them to syphilis or gonorrhea by allowing prostitutes infected with the disease to visit and sleep with them. That government researchers were pimping research subjects -- literally -- seems bad enough. But Reverby also explains that, in an act of cruelty worthy of Josef Mengele, hundreds more subjects -- this time mental patients -- were infected with STDs, either through injections or by having the bacteria poured into wounds. 

Unlike in the Tuskegee Study, most of the subjects in Guatemala received treatment. But according to HHS, at least one patient died; it remains unclear whether the prostitutes were treated.

In their joint-apology statement, Clinton and Sebelius said they deeply regretted what had happened and promised to appoint a committee of independent scientists to conduct a fact-finding investigation and issue a report. Their apology and actions were proactive, appropriate and especially timely right now. As flu season approaches, for the first time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending the flu shot for everyone over 6 years old. And this year's injection protects against three flu strains, including H1N1, or swine flu, which caused so much mayhem last year.

Numerous studies have shown that African Americans remain much less likely to get immunizations of any kind. For older African Americans, who more often than their peers of other races have heart disease, diabetes and other serious illnesses, a flu shot can mean the difference between life and death. African Americans of all ages avoid shots -- and the health care system in general -- out of mistrust. Last year, during the height of the H1N1 hysteria, a widely circulated Twitter message warned, "Don't take the swine flu vaccine. Remember the Tuskegee Experiment."

By and large, though, it's not a hazy memory of the Tuskegee episode that's fueling suspicion and distrust of the system. Most of us are too young to remember it; even Dr. Cutler is long gone. Rather, our broken and battered current health care system is what is driving African Americans away from treatment and care. It's been a decade since Congress first admitted officially what 37 million black people already know: that the U.S. medical care system doesn't treat us well. A damning 2002 report by the well-respected Institute of Medicine called "Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care" laid it out point by ugly point for Congress and everyone else. And according to numerous studies, little has changed.

HHS Secretary Sebelius would be wise to use the Guatemala revelation -- and the shadow of Tuskegee -- as an opportunity to get back to fixing America's health care system.

In a statement also released yesterday, black Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands) said it best: "Even today, the memories of Tuskegee Syphilis Study are reinforced by the discrimination many people of color continue to experience, fueling mistrust of the health care system among those who need it most."

Linda Villarosa directs the journalism program at City College in New York and is a regular contributor to The Root.

Nigerian independence day bombings

by Sokari on October 3, 2010

in Governance, Nigeria

I struggled to write this post in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s Independence bombing which has so far killed between 12 and 15  people and injured many many more.   The initial information coming out of Abuja was that the hospitals were empty of staff and one can only imagine the mayhem and suffering people have gone through with their family and friends over the past 48 hours and no doubt will continue in the foreseeable future.    Will the government ensure those injured receive the best medical care?  Will they provide financial aid to the families of the dead? Will those directly affected by the bomb receive compensation from the government?  If the past is anything to go by the answer is NO.  President Goodluck Jonathan will be under close scrutiny by everyone over the next few weeks and months and the choices he makes, not least of all how he treats the injured and the families of the dead, will go a long way to deciding whether this man is worthy of anyone’s vote.  So far he has yet again proved to be a dithering, confused and inconsistent.

Its only 48 hours after the bombs exploded in Abuja and rumours abound as to who was responsible, MEND, AREWA, ex-military dictators or  a mixture of all three.   Whilst  it does matter,  what is even more despicable than the bombing itself,  is there appears to be truth in the fact that  Nigerian intelligence as well as possibly Britain, South Africa and the US, had good reason to suspect a terrorist attack or even worse knew there would be an attack.   Even with the slightest bit of intelligence information, they  should have acted with thorough vigilance over the 24 hour independence period.

The President (Goodluck Jonathan) has claimed MEND were not behind the bombs yet MEND continue to insist they were.   On the face of it this seems ridiculous.  However the President’s spokesperson is now claiming the man behind the bombing is MEND leader, Henry Okah whose home in Johannesburg was raided before the bombing and who has since been arrested.    I can only think that because Okah refused the amnesty he is no longer MEND in the minds of the Nigerian government and is someone else in some other group.  Thus the statement by Goodluck Jonathan that MEND are not behind the bombings!   I may be wrong but so far  those in the Nigerian government are looking very much like characters in a farcical tragedy.

There remain many  questions to be answered and more facts are coming out every hour.  Over the coming days those closer to the scene will be more able to ask these than I so I am not going to speculate further.  Suffice to say I sincerely hope they will have the courage to ask the right questions and demand the right answers because it is becoming increasingly clear that the elite in the Nigerian government knew about the plan well before independence day.

If Nigerians can learn one thing from this day forward it would be to end the culture of secrecy, silence and lack of accountability amongst all levels of government.  When all the rhetoric has ended and we peel back the layers of deceit and intrigue, we should be able to see 1st october 2010 as a turning point in our country’s history.   It should be the point at which Nigerians make a decision – on which way forward we go from today.  Business as usual and a continuing downward spiral or will people decide that no,  we must now engage in a mass mobilization movement on the ground and in the media to move in a new direction.

One thing is for sure, despite this despicable action by the bombers,  the fact remains that the region which creates 97% of the country’s wealth, remains in dire poverty and underdevelopment. .  It’s just under a year ago since I was in Port Harcourt and I can honestly say I saw no evidence whatsoever NOTHING of any development  in the city or the surrounding rural areas.   This observation is repeated by everyone who lives in or visits the region.   It is my understanding that the point of the amnesty was to end the militancy and to address the reasons which created it in the first place. So far only one side of that promise has been kept – the payoff to the militants including the  training of thousands of youths for jobs that don’t exist.   The development side of that amnesty has not happened.   The government clearly believed it could pay off the militants to stop the violence but continue with business usual.  Anyone with even a minute amount of intelligence would know this could not last.    People were forgiving through the months of  Yar’adua’s disappearance  and the absence of a working president.  When Jonathan  became president he claimed the region would be a priority but he has so far not lived up to that promise – he ignored his own back yard.  Presumably he like many others felt that just because a Niger Deltan was now President everything would flow from there.  Just as those who claim that the United States in post-racial just because there is a Black president.   Instead like many before him in Nigeria and elsewhere, Jonathan became so enthralled with his own self-importance and personal ambition to become an elected president, he forgot  his backyard was a cesspit of oil waste, pollution and underdevelopment.

One of the problems of Nigeria which is seldom discussed in the political circles of the media and blogosphere is the level of state terror unleashed on Nigerians. For example it is a well known fact that years before the militants became a visible force, the Nigerian army and mobile police were known to target Niger Delta youths for execution.  There has never been an investigation or research to try to find out how many young men have been killed over the past 20 years.  Nor has there been any investigation or research into the number of women and girls who have been raped or forced into prostitution and made pregnant by Nigerian military and police.      Even over the past 11 months human rights activists have estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 young men and women have been summarily executed by the Nigerian police force in the South East and South South regions.  Some of these men and women were guilty of kidnapping and other crimes, many were not.  Either way, a country where the state engages in the extra judicial execution of its citizens rather than follow the legal process of the courts cannot expect anything but violence form its citizens in return.     A country which terrorizes its own people cannot expect not be terrorized itself.   These acts are very rarely reported by the media and most Nigerians don’t even know these acts are  taking place.  This speaks to the unwritten ‘censorship’ by the government and or the collusion and self censorship of the media.  Meanwhile we have to wait for reports by various human rights organizations before these facts are exposed and even then these become meaningless unless the government at state and Federal level take notice.  There cannot be a situation where civilians are being murdered with impunity in one part of the country, whether they are guilty or not,  and expect things to be ok elsewhere.

In conclusion – this is a wake up call for all Nigerians  – but will we wake up?.  A wake up call for people to  get out and vote and vote for someone who is going to be courageous in his or her approach to the way the country is run and in particular to the Niger Delta;  its a wake up call for activists in the region who have to reclaim the struggle  away from the militants and violence, and instead build a mass movement of civil disobedience envisaged by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa;  its a wake up call for Nigerian civil society which has been wholly ineffective in challenging injustice  - the pathetic response after the 2007 elections is an excellent example of this.   People have to mobilize and believe in the power of 150 million, 100 million, 50 , million 10 million.

I would like to end by imagining  a different Friday – one to celebrate.  I recall the uprising of the Aba women in the 1920, 25,000 women came out in protest day after day week after week against the colonial government.  Imagine if instead of setting of bombs to kill and maim MEND had mobilized thousands and thousands in Warri, in Enugu, in Yenagoa in Port Harcourt, in Aba – to come and march and keep on marching day after day, hundreds of thousands of women, men and children demanding Goodluck Jonathan and the state governors address the underdevelopment in their communities.    There is much talk of the youth of today turning the country around.  They may do this but meanwhile they would do well to read up on the actions of their grandmothers and great grandmothers!

Lessons On Climate Change From the Pakistan Floods

Thursday 30 September 2010

by: Martin Khor   |  Triple Crisis | News Analysis

Communities in flood ravaged areas of the Sindh province, Pakistan. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin / US Air Force)

There are many lessons from the recent floods in Pakistan. Here are just a few.

First, when natural calamity strikes, it can be– and nowadays more often than not it is– devastating. The tsunami that hit Indonesia and many other countries, the Haiti earthquake, and now the Pakistan floods illustrate that. In Pakistan, up to 20 million people have been affected, almost a million homes destroyed or damaged, 10 million were made homeless, and there is widespread damage to agriculture and related livelihoods.

It is the worst natural disaster the UN has dealt with, according to the UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon.

Second, the climate crisis is for real, and its severe manifestations are more evident. It is often not easy to ascertain if an extreme weather event is due to climate change. However Dr. Ghassem Asrar, Director of the World Meteorological Organisation’s World Climate Research Programme, is convinced of the linkage in this case.

In a New York Times article by Nathanial Gronewold, Dr Asrar explained how the higher Atlantic Ocean temperatures were a major factor contributing to the Pakistan floods. Moreover, the same weather phenomena caused the record heat wave in Russia and flooding and mudslides in western China.

In this explanation, the record high surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean resulted in a huge volume of evaporated moisture entering the atmosphere and drifting over the affected area. At the same time, an abnormal airflow pattern prevented the saturated clouds from spreading over a larger area, concentrating the rains in Pakistan’s watershed. The disaster was made worse by deforestation and land-use changes in the affected areas, but the sheer volume of precipitation absorbed by clouds and then dumped on Pakistan is chiefly to blame for the floods, according to Dr Asrar. And he also warned that this is just a sign of more to come.

Third, the floods show again why climate change is an economic and social issue, though the cause may be environmental. The floods have set back Pakistan’s development prospects by many years. Its leaders have estimated that the floods caused $43 billion in damage.

This immense scale was implicitly recognised by Richard Holbrooke (the US special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan) who said “the international community is not going to be able to pick up the bill for $20 billion or $30 billion or more” and Pakistan has to raise its own revenue base.

Fourth, the Pakistan case illustrates an acute deficit in the international approach to climate change. Despite the legal commitment of developed countries, and years of talks in UN Climate Change Convention since 1992, there is still no international system for adequately or predictably financially assisting developing countries that have been affected by climate-change related catastrophes.

Help to countries affected by natural disasters (whether linked to climate change or not) is based on humanitarian concern and charity. In Pakistan’s case, the UN is targeting to raise some $2 billion, and there is also bilateral aid and private charities, but the resources are simply too small to meet the enormous needs of reconstruction, let alone of catching up to lost economic development.

This is where the UNFCCC’s on-going climate negotiations are relevant. The developing countries are pressing for a new Multilateral Climate Fund to be set up, under the authority of the Convention’s Conference of Parties. They have asked developed countries to meet up to their financing commitments, and to provide an annual flow to the fund of at least 1.5% of their GNP, which amounts to around $600 billion. The losses suffered by Pakistan and recent estimates of the needs for financing climate action, show that this is not an exaggerated amount.

In the climate negotiations, the US and Europe are now showing signs that they can agree to the setting up of a new fund. But there is a lack of agreement on a wide range of issues, including whether the World Bank should have a role and if so what role, how the fund should be governed; what would be the sources of funding; and of course, the targeted amount.

Optimistically, perhaps one or two of these points may be resolved by the time the next Climate Conference ends in Cancun in December. It is unlikely, however, that the whole “finance package” will be resolved this year, let alone the “entire package” of a global deal that will have to encompass mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer and a “shared vision.”

Meanwhile there will likely be more climate-related catastrophes like the one in Pakistan to remind us that solutions to the climate crisis are urgently required. 

"COMMENT TE DIRE "EN INTEGRALITE 

Clip de Rycko "Comment te dire" en intégralié écrit par Rycko et réalisé par Piero Battery assisté de Chéyl - Chef opérateur : Guillermo assisté de Béranger...Merci aux exellent aceurs : Seb loew - Clémence Verniau - Jean-Luc...Titre extrait de L'album de Rycko"A force d'y croire" Encore Disponible..www.myspace.com/ryckomusic

A + D'AMOUR

<br /><b>Rycko-Y'a plus d'amour</b><br /><i>Uploaded by armelreal. - Watch more music videos, in HD!</i>

via youtube.com

Tall Enough