What are you doing about it? Must be nice to sit around and watch all the work being done then bitch about how it is being done.
Don't like it. Change it.
Once humans start glorifying they immediately look at how to tear it down.
Profit over health of innocents': Arkema indicted for Hurricane Harvey toxic chemical release
Top managers at French multinational Arkema could face up to five years in prison after the company was indicted for “reckless” emissions of toxic chemicals from its Houston, Texas plant during last year’s Hurricane Harvey.
The Harris County court grand jury ruled that Richard Rowe, the CEO of the Paris-based company, and Leslie Comardelle, the manager of the Houston plant, were personally at fault for the emission. Arkema itself faces a fine of $1 million.
“Companies don't make decisions, people do. Responsibility for pursuing profit over the health of innocent people rests with the leadership of Arkema,"Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement.
The facility lost power after being submerged in up to six feet of water during last August's devastating storm. As a result power went out, causing organic peroxides to become unstable. Through the course of a week, the flammable materials caught fire and exploded over the plant, sending plumes of smoke into the air. This caused documented damage among a half-dozen first responders, and more general complaints elsewhere.
The jury, backed by a Chemical Safety Board review published in May, concluded that the impact could have been avoided.
“Indictments against corporations are rare. Those who poison our environment will be prosecuted when the evidence justifies it,”said Ogg.
The company has called the ruling, formulated as a violation of the Texas Water Code, “astonishing” and unprecedented, and plans to challenge it.
“It is outrageous to assert that Arkema or any of its employees behaved criminally. No one needs a reminder that Hurricane Harvey devastated a wide region,” said spokesperson Janet Smith. “It overcame the preparedness efforts of millions of individuals, and many, many companies and government agencies. It is hard to believe anyone would seek to criminalize the way in which one facility was impacted by such a crushing natural disaster.”
https://www.rt.com/news/401796-chemical-disasters-history-toxicity/
As Turkey seeks to join the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) union, RT has talked to an analyst about what the country brings to the table for the world's emerging economies.
“The economy of Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, despite the political events of the recent years and its geographical proximity to hot spots in the Middle East,” says analyst Vladimir Rojankovski from the International Financial Center.
“Turkey is a secular state with a predominantly Muslim population, it stands out favorably against other religious Islamic countries and monarchies in the region. Turkey's accession to the bloc of countries with the Russia-China vector is a serious shock for Europe and the United States,” the analyst added.
In terms of GDP, Turkey ranks 17th in the world, Rojankovski notes. In terms of GDP, adjusted for PPP (purchasing power parity of citizens), it is 13th. This means that from the economic point of view Turkey is on par with all BRICS countries and is well ahead of South Africa.
Turkey’s desire to join BRICS was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday. “We are in the G20 with five of those countries. I wish they would take the necessary steps to let us in and we could take our place in BRICS,” Erdogan told Hurriyet on the sidelines of the BRICS Forum in South Africa.
BRICS was founded in 2006 during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Initially, it was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining the bloc in 2010.
Together, BRICS countries account for 26.46 percent of world land area, and 42.58 percent of world population.
According to IMF estimates, BRICS member states generated almost a quarter of the world’s GDP in 2015 and have contributed more than half of global economic growth in the last 10 years.
Leaked UN report claims North Korea's nuclear & missile programs still active
North Korea has not abandoned its nuclear and missile programs, despite this year's earlier diplomatic breakthroughs and destruction of test sites, Reuters reports, citing a confidential UN paper.
The leaked report is said to be a six-month review by independent experts monitoring the implementation of United Nations sanctions on North Korea, and was submitted to the relevant UN committee late on Friday.
The paper, as cited by Reuters, alleges that Pyongyang has not abandoned its pursuit of missile and nuclear programs. It is also violating UN sanctions by exporting weapons to a "range of Middle East [and] African states," including to the Houthi rebels fighting against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and has shipped coal, petroleum and textile products, all made illicit by the sanctions regime.
The report comes two months after North Korea made an unprecedented gesture by demolishing its only nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, while inviting a group of international journalists to witness it. An RT crew was at the scene. With the UN report covering six months, the excerpts quoted by Reuters do not clarify whether Pyongyang's alleged nuclear- and missile-related activities came before or after the demolition, nor do they specify the evidence used to establish the fact of the violations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un indicated he was willing to denuclearize at an April meeting with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in. The credit for this pledge was claimed by US President Donald Trump and his administration, and in June Trump himself went to meet Kim in an unprecedented personal visit, where Kim confirmed his commitment.
Despite the diplomatic breakthroughs, the US says the sanctions, which have been gradually choking off every venue of export and import for North Korea, must remain in place until Kim gives up all of his nukes. In July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it should take 2.5 years for that to happen. In a later interview, he said it was Kim's decision to set an actual timeline for the process.
Earlier this week, several media reports, citing anonymous officials and unspecified intelligence reports, claimed there was renewed activity at a North Korean missile factory, and that Pyongyang was making "one or two" new intercontinental ballistic missiles.