The End ... Pakistan

``As he spoke outside the main administration building in the town center, a crowd of women gathered around begging for tents. “It is chaotic,” he conceded. “The population of the town has quadrupled overnight.”''

``Despite the preparations, when the banks broke and flooded the area around Sujawal, people had to flee, villagers said. “My home is inundated,” said Muhammad Saleem Amaro, 30, a father of eight who lives with his extended family of about 50 in the village of Hajji Usman, a few miles from Sujawal.''

``Commandos Storm Prison

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Security forces raided an army intelligence office in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, freeing two prison guards who had been held hostage by three escaped militant prisoners, officials said.

The militants, all Pakistanis, were being questioned by an intelligence agency less than a mile from the United States Consulate when they overpowered the guards about 5 a.m. and seized their rifles, a police spokesman said. After a battle that went on for about 10 hours, commandos from the elite Special Services Group freed the hostages and captured the militants. One guard suffered minor injuries.''

NYT.

Imagine everybody in your place, then in the morning, there are three more for each one of you!

Hey, I need to use the shower!

American soldiers are useless there. Stop this stupid war in Afghanistan President Obama. It is insane to pay one million dollars a year for each one of those American kids you are sending there. This has to stop.

The End of the World as We Know It: Pakistan

Taken from National Geographic (NG)

Floods in Pakistan: Pictures

``Flood Victim

Photograph by Paula Bronstein, Getty Images
Mohammed Nawaz is rescued by the Pakistani Navy August 10 in Sukkur, Pakistan, as floods sweep through the country.

The Pakistani government warned another half a million people Thursday that they should evacuate before overtaken by waters from the country's worst flood in nearly a century, according to Getty news service.

This summer's deluge has left at least 1,500 dead and tens of millions displaced.''

More pictures in National Geographic.

This is Not a Recovery, and Pakistan is Going Down the Drain

Paul Krugman comments on the upcoming speech by Ben Bernanke in Jackson Hole Wyo..

At some susbsistence level the US Economy will go like ``The Little Engine that Could.'' Nevertheless that is not enough. Tell that to the people of Pakistan under the Hundred Year Flood.

Straight talk by Krugman:

``In the case of the Fed, admitting that the economy isn’t recovering would put the institution under pressure to do more. And so far, at least, the Fed seems more afraid of the possible loss of face if it tries to help the economy and fails than it is of the costs to the American people if it does nothing, and settles for a recovery that isn’t.''

Hard times.

End of the World as we Know it in Pakistan

``At the worst points, the inundation extends for scores of miles beyond the banks of the overflowing Indus River and its tributaries, said Cmdr. Iqbal Zahid, a Pakistani Navy battalion commander in charge of rescue operations in Sindh Province.''

From NYT.

Space Photos of Pakistan Flood

Taken from Sciam

8000,000 in Pakistan Reachable only by Air

``“These unprecedented floods pose unprecedented logistical challenges, and this requires an extraordinary effort by the international community,” John Holmes, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a prepared statement.''

From NYT.

Day in and day out no help in sight.

Pakistan Flood Environment

``Maurizio Giuliano, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, has warned that the number of people affected by the Pakistan flood could be more than Haiti's January earthquake, the 2004 tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake combined.''

Taken from DailyGreen

Floods in Pakistan

Pak``The children are often hungry and crying, Mr. Mohammad said. “We don’t know what will happen to us,” he said. “We have lost everything. We have nothing here, just the clothes we are wearing.” ''

``The older people were more resigned. “We will sit under the sky, and God will provide what he wills,” said Qaim Din, 50, a father of eight, who had to abandon his donkey and a buffalo as the family fled the rising waters. ''

``He added, “The state is a failure, and the people will come out, and naturally nothing can stop the wave of people.”

Asked if he was talking about a revolution, he said: “Yes. We are heading toward that, very fast.” ''

From NYT.

Here in Guerrero, Acapulco may get Hurricane Frank anytime now. It is raining slightly in Chilpancingo.

No Doubt

``Most experts are still cautioning against tying any specific event directly to emissions of greenhouse gases. But scientists at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva say there's no doubt that higher Atlantic Ocean temperatures contributed to the disaster begun late last month.''

``"The connecting factor is that clearly the warming is a driver for all these events."''

Taken from Sciam.

Also the same temperature change produced smoke clouds in Moscow.

Here in Chilpancingo, it stopped raining a bit. A few cars on the beaches of Acapulco, but, who cares, right? The road from Tlapa to Cuajinicualapa is not in good shape, but who cares, right?

Actually Guerrerenses are good at adaptation. A friend told me of a man that tied his car, and when the water receded, the car was still there!

That is the spirit!

Revolution of the Stomach

From the NYT today.

``For months and even years, the people of the Indus Valley will not have sufficient income for food or clothing. They will rebuild, if they can afford it, by inches. The corrupt and impoverished Pakistani government cannot possibly make these people’s lives whole again. It’s not hard to imagine the potential for radicalization in a country already rapidly turning to extremist political views, to envision the anarchy that may be unleashed if wealthier nations do not find a way to provide sufficient relief. This is not a problem that will go away, and it is the entire world’s problem. It is said, the most violent revolutions are the revolutions of the stomach.''

I do not like this a bit.