The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 567

“Phnom Penh: An official of the Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy said that Cambodia plans to construct the first big hydro-electric dam on the upper Mekong River in Kratie in northeast Cambodia, which can generate 2,600 Megawatts.

“Secretary of State of the Ministry of Industry Mines and Energy, Mr. Ith Prang, said that the feasibility of this potential plan, to provide much electricity, is being studied by an expert company. Mr. Ith Prang stressed that if this plan could be implemented, the dam called Sambo Chumrues would be the first big hydro-electric dam in the history of Cambodia.

[As the name of the expert company is not mentioned, it is also not possible to easily verify how this gigantic plan relates to the Master Plan Study of Hydropower Development in Cambodia, made public by the Japan International Cooperation Agency - JICA – and the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy on 19 July 2007, and planned to be still implemented through 2008, with the consideration that there is 'Rich potential of hydropower but no master plan for orderly development' - 'Selection and prioritisation of 10 hydropower projects from environmental, technical and economic assessment' - 'Preparation of Master Plan of Hydropower Development with time horizon of 20 years' - 'Avoidance/mitigation of environmental impacts and development of priority hydropower projects for the national interests of Cambodia.' - The study covers 29 potential much smaller sites in the same area for which now also the gigantic Sambo Chumrues plan is being studied]

“Mr. Ith Prang added that Cambodia would have enough electricity, and electricity could be sold to some neighboring countries as well in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, if the plan leads to positive results. Mr. Ith Prang expects that this plan might also help to attract investors and help poor citizens to have access to electricity at a cheap price.

“Nowadays, the price of electricity in Cambodia is still higher than in neighboring countries, such as Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, which is a factor that makes most investors, who want to invest in Cambodia, to hesitate. To attract such investors and to meet the shortage of electricity, Cambodia, which has its natural resources as its potential, has created an ambition to develop many hydro-electric dams in different potentially suitable areas.

“Last year, Mr. Hor Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, said that Cambodia will function as a battery storage of Asia, when electricity is not just enough for the needs of the country, but can also be sold to other countries.

“Regarding this plan, Mr. Ngy San, a member of the Rivers Coalition in Cambodia [and Deputy Executive Director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia], said that Cambodia welcomes all development plans of the government to produce electricity, but he suggests that the government should check its plans carefully and should publish information widely to communities and non-government-organizations before it makes final decisions for such constructions, in order to avoid negative impacts on the environment and on the eco-system. Mr. Ngy San continued that what he is worried about most is that the construction of this huge plant might destroy the quality of water and the movement of fish, and it might block shipping on this river.

“Relating to these problems, the government must carefully consider the continuity of the environment and the communities living there before it agrees to investment plans of any company [see also International Rivers – people – water - life and the Foundation for Ecological Recovery].

“The director of the Sesan, Srae Pok, and Sekong Rivers Protection Network [also called '3S Rivers Protection Network'], Mr. Kim Sangha, said that the plans of hydro-electric dams always have more effects on the environment and the eco-system than providing economic benefits. He added that he does not oppose the government development plans, but if the government does not study the context very carefully in advance, there might be serious effects on the citizens’ living and on the environment, and it might create other problems in the future.

“On 13 June 2008, the Cambodian government approved laws for the constructions of two more hydro-electric plants with the power of 246 megawatt and 338 megawatt at Stung Tatai and Stung Russey Chhrum rivers [these regions are mentioned in the joint plan of Ministry Industry Mines and Energy together and JICA, mentioned above], besides many other plants being constructed, such as the Kamchay Hydro-Electric Dam in Kampot and the Atai Hydro-Electric Dam located between Pursat and Koh Kong, which can provide 193 megawatt and 120 megawatt respectively.” Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #41, 5.7.2008

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 5 July 2008

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.7, #1685, 5.7.2008

• The Phnom Penh Municipality Summoned Thirty Passenger Transporting Companies Advising Them Not to Increase Traveling Costs Four Days before and after the Election
• In the First Six Months of 2008, Countrywide More than 2,000 Children Had Dengue Fever, and 23 Children Died

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #41, 5.7.2008

• 2,600 Megawatt Hydro-Electric Plant Is Planed to Be Built
  [Minister of Information] Mr. Khieu Kanharith Supports the Creation of a Women's Journalists' Association
• Thousands of Hectares of Forest Land in Varin District [Siem Reap] Are Being Cleared

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6389, 5-6.7.2008

• At this Meeting of UNESCO in Canada: The Khmer Preah Vihear Temple Is among the 27 World Heritage Sites Proposed to Be Listed
• Two Persons [a man and a 6-year-old child] Were Shot Dead [by Thai black-clad Special Border Police] Among Twelve People, Including Men, Women, and Children, When They Tried to Cross [illegally] into Thailand [3 July 2008 – Banteay Meanchey]
• A 12-Year-Old Girl Was Raped and Drowned [in a shallow pond] in a Palm Oil Plantation [Prey Nub District, Sihanoukville – 4 July 2008]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.15, #3504, 5.7.2008

• International Human Rights Organization [Human Rights Watch] Pushes Yuon [Vietnamese] Authorities to Return Tim Sakhan to Cambodia Soon
• Kampot Election Committee Keeps [Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian] Ms. Mu Sochua’s Lawsuit Unsolved [against a deputy village chief for the attempt to hit her with a motorbike, and against the Kampot municipality deputy secretary, for the use of a car with a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces license plate during a Cambodian People’s Party’s election campaign, and for twisting her arm, so that her blouse opened and exposed her body, when she tried to take a picture of the car's license plate]

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4633, 5.7.2008

• Cambodia Is Strongly Determined to Implement Laws against Sexual and Human Trafficking
• [Thai Prime Minister] Samak Asserted that There Was a Clandestine Plan to Arrest Him [at an air force airport] to Start a Coup on 4 July 2008 [when he returned from his official visits to China and Brunei, but he directed his plane to land at the civilian international Suvarnabhumi Airport]
• 1.5 Billion People Might Die because of Starvation [according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO]
• Oil Price Increases to US$146 per Barrel [in New York]

Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.15, #3351, 5.7.2008

• Cambodian People’s Party [in Kratie] Sues the No-Longer-Opposition-Party President [Mr. Sam Rainsy] for Insult [of the current leaders, as he said that they are thieves who steal from the nation, during his election campaign]

Have a look at the last editorial - Preah Vihear still in the headlines - more information about Thailand's and Cambodia's documents.

Back to top

• Introduction to Water Drops
• Municipal Water Supplies
• Pricing Water
• Water in Culture
• Water in the World
• Corps of Engineers
• NOAA
• Agricultural Drought
• Chance of Flood
• Runoff

iTunes for OS X or Windows required. Get it here.

The Physical Environment textbook links: "The Hydrosphere"

(A rough translation would be something like "awesome.")

Anyway. And Ah-hem. Part I:

We arrived on my mom's birthday (May 21) in Vila Bela, a picturesque spot of a town that used to be the former capital of the state of Mato Grosso. Most roads were dirt - red dirt that crept and lodged, permanently it seemed, into seams and crevasses of seams and crevasses.

The town centered around a park with cement benches, neatly-cut (if faded) grass, and a bizarre and massive structure covering a rather small set of old town ruins.

It seemed a bit out of place, but congruous with the way development seems to occur in this state... Over the top and without regard for maintaining the basics. I'm not trying to judge, but the amount of money that seems to flow through Mato Grosso is somewhat grotesque, particularly in light of the level of poverty and dilapidation.

On this evening though, the sky had transformed itself into a brilliant show of gloomy, glowing red. The heat of the day fighting mercilessly against the cooling of the night. We felt lucky and even more so when we got serenaded by Vila Bela's own Frank Sinatra (thank you, thank you very much) and looked at soft porn on a friendly guy's cell phone over beer and grilled meat.

We took our time the morning of our launch. We knew we should start early on - the days only get hotter as the sun reaches its post-noon-time pinnacle, but it was a holiday and businesses were closed. We had some last-minute sundries to purchase and Carolina took advantage of a final morning of sleeping-in (well, not really - there would be a few more).

The drive to Vila Bela was stunning. We'd managed to hitch/pay for a ride in a pickup truck that might or might not have already been on its way there for some sort of business. We counted ourselves lucky - navigating buses/taxis with all our gear would have been doable, but a bit less relaxing - and with fewer stops. We drove through the countryside, rain forest turned into cattle ranching land.

Herds of cattle stretched out before our eyes, and I couldn't help but think about the Nebraska landscape of my parents youth and look for similarities. I could find few, even the cows were a different breed.

We arrived with the setting of the sun over the Guapore, which stretches rather glumly through town. The reflection across the wide, hot river made us pause for photos. I contemplated what the hell we were doing, figuring I'd leave the why to old age. Carolina pointed out a yellow-slatted bar on stilts over yonder. This would later be the locale for our last cold beer... The celebratory round of Skols before heading off into the land of warm beer...

But I am getting ahead of myself. The morning of our departure, Brooke and I spent the time doing last minute grocery shopping and searching for a sheet (yes, it is true, Arctic-dwellers, we did not have all our bedding) for myself and Carolina. We were unsuccessful, Vila Bela was in the throes of celebrating a holiday of some sort and the only store open was the one for groceries. Oh well.

We discovered two rusty wheelbarrows in the back garden of the house we were staying and knew we'd scored our wheels for transporting our gear down to the river's edge - about a six block trek. Not far, but some of our gear consisted of some awkwardly-shaped barrels and bags that were profoundly easier to cart than carry.

There was no shade in which to assemble our Ally Pack boats. I quickly became hot and kept lathering on the sunscreen, 40+ (I don't mess around). We made a few mistakes and had to make some adjustments, but mostly the assemblage went off without a hitch.

The guys who drove us down came by to check out the boats (you can see them resting in the cool of the shade behind Carolina and me in the photo on the right). The look on their faces when they saw how neat the finished product was similar to ours - generally impressed. There is something about the way the folds of canvas and odd collection of poles transform into a viable, strong boat that makes one take a step back, filled with a sense of admiration for someone else's ingenuity.

Of course, Brooke told me that real canoe aficionados don't think much of these canvas contraptions, but since I'm not one of those, you know canoe snobs, I allowed myself to wallow in wildly impressed stage. Hell, we wouldn't be there without them.

After a lunch - and cold beer - at the aforementioned establishment, we launched at roughly 2:45 p.m. Brooke and I took over one boat, with Carolina steering solo in the other. We figured we would switch around in the coming days enough that it probably didn't really make a difference.

The first thing we noticed was that not only did the river look fat and slow, but it was fat and slow. Not even a ripple except for the ones we caused by our own paddles. Within the first half hour, a pink dolphin began swimming near us. We heard it before we saw it - a loud, quick exodus of air and water through a blowhole. We took it as a good omen.

In the coming days, we would see more animals than you could shake a stick at; hear sounds that would make most forearms shiver; and more than once, worry that we might be actually heading backwards. Dangerous times.

Our first concern, however, was to figure out where the hell to camp.

To be continued...

, originally uploaded by Ｒｉｃｅｂｏｙ.

So, its been a while, no? I got the idea from a friend to start video blogging and then posting them up on Xanga, so I took a video the other day, only to realize I can't find the cord to transfer it! The story of my life it would seem...

Either way, what inspired me to post today was a picture I saw on Flickr, by this guy I know who lives in Seoul, Korea. (Tron, find dude, he seems like a cool guy!) He goes by the name "Riceboy". I've been keeping up with his photos for a few months now, and I must say every time at check out his stuff it moves me. Not necessarily the same way each time, but each one seems to have a story behind it. At first I thought, "Well he always has interesting people in his photos," but then I see other people's nature shots and its the same thing. In the least its something to work towards. If you have a minute, check out his stuff!

From here on out these are my photos...

The Large Toad hath return-ed after 6 months

Coming back from a hike with a friend. Fun but I lost one of my lenses! Arg

Discovered a water pipe right next to the apt complex. Couldn't pass it up...

From the brigde in Okawa(Big River) village. Even more country than where I live, which is saying something

The Sky, with clouds in it. Nuff said.

The "Ajisai" flower is famous for blooming only during the month of June in Japan. They range from purple, to light blue, to pink even. Really a beautiful flower and you will literally find them all over Japan around this month. The Kanji is really interesting too. It means "Purple, Positive Ion, Flower", for all you Kanji nerds, 紫陽花（アジサイ）Also known as the Hydrangea in English.

But then there are scenes like this one, a snowy egret making her way through the swampy banks, snacking, bobbing her head, and, if you wait long enough, stretching out her wings and flying low along the river.  The picture I snapped cordones off all those other views, isolating what might be perceived as "naturally" beautiful.  I can, as I ride, attempt to narrow my field of vision as the camera does, but I choose not to.  The river, the levee, the cities on either side--all are part of the view.  Today, though, I choose to remember this part, this egret in this water, neither of which will necessarily be there tomorrow.

Drag out your waders, pull on your boots and hit Norfork in the mornings. Norfork Tailwater has been offering wadeable water for a goodly chunk of the morning, if you are an early riser. And above is the proof from Gene's Trout Fishing Resort's newest webcam.

 We mentioned last month how Gene's has replaced the original webcam which was swept away in opening of the spillgates earlier this year.

Well now they have added a second cam with a downstream view _ both cams seem to be appreciably higher than the original. Hopefully SWPA will continue the generation pattern through the July 4 weekend, to let all the visitors enjoy some wading, then hit the big water in the afternoons. But then again you how good we are with predictions of water levels.

The SWPA generation schedule is its usual helpful self, though I did see some fly fishers suggesting it had been accurate of late. Well absolutely IF you check it after you have fished. As this is being written its 10am on Tuesday, yet there is no prediction up for tomorrow or any other day forward. I know you would all appreciate a few days guidance on what the water will be doing so you can plan your adventures this weekend or any weekend. After all Norfork is one of the premier trout waters of the entire south, and a playground for fly fishers from all over Ar, Tx, La, Ok, Mo and Tn, just those of us who can drive to the water in 20 minutes.

So take a punt if you are jonesing for some wadeable water, and then be prepared to be flexible.

I found out that your bra can set off the airport security system. Seriously. I took off all my jewelry (except my rings which never set off the alarms) and I still buzzed the thing twice. They said, something up high is setting it off and when they ran the little wand over me it was the wires and clips on my bra. I bought it on sale but it's well made.

I sat beside a horse rancher who had fingers the size of breakfast sausages and then some. Several fingers were bent to the side and I didn't know if that was just from arthritis or from breaking horses all his life. He was a nice guy and we chatted about geography, him showing me the copper mine by the great salt lake (which I certainly wouldn't have noticed) and talking about how the land had changed and cities come up. We talked about floods in Iowa and about the land flying over. He told me if I talked about sports in Lawrence I couldn't go wrong as they called it the "sport city." I guess the college basketball team has won championships.

I've flown often enough and never fail to love looking down on the land and seeing its great scape and what tales it tells of time passing. The was the first time I saw a truly awesome alluvial plain. I could see where there had once been a great river, wide and high and lake like in its middle, how it pushed might torrents of water along and through the land, carving out veins that branched and branched, growing ever smaller. The dark lines of those veins and the rivulets, even now long dried out, were still there to tell the tale. It was amazing. Then as the land flattened past the Rockies, there was evidence of a great lake, where the banks were still built up and the water had overflowed, pouring down one side, then eventually shrinking in on itself, smaller and smaller over thousands of years until only a few streams and possibly rivers remain.

We then hit the flat farm fields of Kansas, beautiful in the chequered pattern of greens, golds and browns, quartered and sectioned. Even through the farmlands the evidence of rivers still reveal themselves. Those branches and veins still flow with life-giving water, and trees delineate and embroider the shapes of the rivers. This was one of the best histories of geography that I've flown over and I've flown into the British Isles, India, the Himalayan foothills, Mexico and Cuba.

Oro, one of the short fiction workshop folk who lives in Kansas City picked me up at the airport and gave me a ride. We got lost at first, going north instead of west. Oro apologized and for the fact his car didn't have air conditioning but I just said, hey, it's an adventure. I've amazingly looked at all the travel delays with pretty good humor, which is a good thing. In some cases I would get downright bitchy so maybe all that work I've been doing on my brain is paying off. I just took everything as part of the whole grand adventure.

The dorms in Lawrence are...well, dorms, but way more spacious than I thought. Rhea and I are sharing a room, which actually turns out to be a room with a wide kitchen space and bathroom in the middle and another room at the other end. If we were college students we would have another buddy in each room but we have the rooms to ourselves and doors to each bedroom. I nearly froze the first day because I hadn't figured out the esoteric air conditioning.

I've met all the workshop people: Lane, Barbara, Jerry, Larry, Stewart, Eric, GS (and Rhea) for the novel portion, and Mannie, Mallory, Eric, Chuck, Kent, Oro, Ben, Robert, Jean, (Carolyn who I met the next day) for the short fiction portion (though I think I'm missing a name). Barbara, Larry and Jerry are doing both. And of course there is Chris, Kij who is teaching the novel portion,and Jim Gunn, saying what they wanted to get out of the workshop. I of course want fame and riches. But seriously, it's great to brainstorm and get other perspectives and see if there's something I'm missing in plot.

I drank some homemade limoncello by the novel workshop Eric. Very nice and strong stuff, actually better than the store bought, which doesn't have enough tang for my tastes. Last night we ate at a Greek restaurant (the only one in Lawrence), which also serves falafel and pasta. It's the first time I've ever had a Greek salad with lettuce in it. They asked me if I wanted the olives and I said yes. I was given a whole two. We then took a walk around a wee park and a wee-er Japanese sort of garden, then meandered along a street of cool shops. Last night was very pleasant and it was great to meet fellow writers tonight where we ended up talking new technologies, conservation, pollution, etc. My brain is happy.

I'll soon be doing some poetry editing for Chizine so Sandra felt obliged to actually get to my poems before I come on board. She accepted "Trials of Lemons," a poem about bitter fruit and dragonflies. I'm not yet sure when it will be up.

The divide between the poor and the rich is stark in most developing countries. It is clearly seen in the photographs, taken by Suraj Shakya, of a commuter steamer-boat going from the southern city of Barisal to Dhakka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Boats are often the mode of transportation in a country veined by rivers flowing from Himalayas of the neighboring countries. Waterway is well net-worked and hundreds of passengers traveling from one city to another, do so by paddle-boat steamers. The system is old as the trains in India, both of which were introduced by the British during the Raj.

The luxury room is a double bed, with TV and attached bath. It accomodates up to five people. It sits right above the deck, on which about a hundred Bangalis accomodate themselves. The suite costs up to 3,000 takkas, and the deck, up to 50 takkas.

"Hundreds of passengers accommodate themselves in the deck class of the steamer headed from Barisal to Dhaka, risking their lives as they travel in hazardous conditions," said Shakya via e-mail.  Check for travel reviews.

This week’s show discusses opening up the untapped oil reserves of the U.S.A, the June 14th Japanese earthquake and the early warning system, and the recent flooding in the mid-west of the U.S.

Participants

Chris - goodSchist

Brian - Clastic Detritus

Jess (Tuff Cookie) - Magma Cum Laude

I had some connectivity issues with Skype during this ... but you wouldn't know it by listening to it. Chris did a masterful job at editing.

Give it a listen.

Want to join in? Find out the details here.

-

Speaking of science podcasts, this week's Nature podcast is unusually rich in geoscience topics. They discuss (1) ideas about how the crustal dichotomy on Mars may be a result of a large impact, (2) more about the effects of impacts within the context of the 100 year anniversary of the Tunguska event, and (3) explosive volcanism in the deep sea. You can see the transcript and get the audio here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still catchy and worth a shot.

Now just Rivers' band.

"Urgent and fundamental changes" are needed to improve flood defences, the report into last summer's floods says.

Sir Michael Pitt, who carried out the independent review, said building regulations must be stricter in flood-prone areas and planning better.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7472564.stm

(Shenandoah River. West Virginia. June 2008. © Robin)

Drop upon drop collected will make a river. Rivers upon rivers collected will make a sea.

~ Sa'Di

Apropos of nothing in this post so far...

If you were hanging around here on Mother's Day, you might remember that my youngest son designed a website for my Mother's Day gift this year.  One of the reasons for this is that I've had inquiries regarding selling prints of some of my photos, and (believe it or not!... cos it still surprises me) I have actually sold a few.  I won't be retiring on that money, but it more than paid for the website.

The link has been available here (in my blogroll).  Someone clicked on it today so I decided it was time to stop hiding and waiting.  I still have a lot of work to do on the site, but if you'd like to check it out, you can find it here.  Any and all constructive criticism is welcome, especially in regards to navigating the site.

And, you know, if there's a photo you think should be there that isn't or you'd like a print, contact me.  (I'm told I have to say that because if I don't advertise for myself, no one else will.  Still and all, it feels weird.)

Let me first say that for the past month my computer has been in and out of the computer hospital, and has been on life support ever since. A dear friend has offered to lend me his old computer until I can purchase it from him, which is pretty awesome. I say old because he just bought a new one but it is really a nice machine.

So, during my days with no computer, I spent my time practicing piano - the songwriting, the jazz chops, and the sightreading - playing guitar and doing a lot of planning. A couple of friends and I are working on a radio play together, so in the absence of any means to record we worked on the script, made casting decisions, and had lots of drinks in the name of art. Now that I'm about the have a computer again we can start the thing in earnest, and I can't wait.

The planning extends beyond the radio play however. I've been meaning to make an album for years, and keep finding myself in this perpetual trap of starting something new just as I think I have all the material I want to put in. So I start feeling like I'm on the brink of the next thing in my artistic development and decide to wait until it matures, but of course it never does.

This time away from a screen has made me realize that I can't effectively get to "the next thing" until I've finished the first one, and also gave me a chance to reflect on exactly how I want this process to happen. Many of these songs have lots of potential in my head but fall short with just voice and piano. However, funds being limited, I need to think hard about how I can best make this investment be worth the time and the money. Because let's face it, I can't afford to do this thing twice, and I'm just not willing to waste all that energy on a shitty album.

Since my time in the studio is going to be limited, I want to know exactly what to record when I go in. This means having a pretty good idea ahead of time of what kinds of overdubs and instrumentation I'm going to need. Fortunately, having a computer again means that I can record the songs with a lower sound quality but still have the means to play with different arrangements and voicings.

And so begins pre-production for my very first album. It's about frigging time.

T.S. Eliot was so identified with England that most have forgotten - or never knew - that he was born in St. Louis, Missouri. It may have been a faint, visceral memory of the American heartland that informed his verse when he gave those flowing English waters an appraising glance and said,

I do not know much about gods;
but I think that the river is a strong brown god–sullen, untamed and intractable,
Patient to some degree, at first recognized as a frontier;
Useful, untrustworthy, as a conveyor of commerce;
Then only a problem confronting the builder of bridges.
The problem once solved, the brown god is almost forgotten
By the dwellers in cities–ever, however, implacable.
Keeping his seasons, and rages, destroyer, reminder
Of what men choose to forget. Unhonored, unpropitiated
By worshippers of the machine, but waiting, watching and waiting.

T. S. Eliot, Dry Salvages, The Four Quartets

The phrase “strong brown god” is apt. Anyone who has seen the roiling, swollen reality of an unbanked river knows that, like the Lord, the river giveth and the river taketh away. It can be difficult to bless the rivers of our lives when they cease their ”waiting, watching and waiting”, and become forces of destruction, implacable reminders of truths we prefer to forget. The world is the world, after all, and while we may inhabit it for a time, ultimately it is beyond our ability to control.

When the river, the “strong, brown god” gives up its waiting and overflows its banks, memory itself floods like water, breaching levees built of forgetfulness and buttressed with time. Everyone knows the Mississippi, but not everyone knows the Cedar, the Iowa, the Des Moines, the Raccoon and the Skunk. Those were the rivers of my childhood and youth, forgotten until today's flooding started.  Today, everyone with ties to the Heartland is remembering their own rivers and watching them wash away vestiges of the past. The Missouri, Grand and Blackwater in the state of Missouri, the Rock River in Wisconsin and Illinois, the Vermillion in South Dakota, the White and the Wabash in Indiana - each has declared its allegiance to the strong, brown god.

Even the creeks - meandering bits of water with homey names like Indiana's Mill, Plum and Sugar  - have done their damage. Along the banks of those creeks and rivers, in the small towns, down country roads as innundated as the fields that surround them, people understand the meaning of “neighbor”. In the town of Oakville, on the Iowa River, “when it became clear the levee would fail, trucking company owners Trina and Ward Gabeline scrambled to help friends save whatever they could.They gathered about three dozen truck trailers and dropped them off at houses so families could load them with furniture and heirlooms. Then the company retrieved them and carried the cargo to higher ground.”

Where I come from, that’s just the way folks are, and that’s simply what people do. Part of the great frustration of watching such events unfold from a distance is knowing what needs to be done, and not being able to do it. Writing a check does help, and it’s important. But it’s not as satisfying as filling a sandbag or a tractor trailer. It just doesn’t feel “neighborly”.

So, in the spirit of neighborliness and for the sake of a lot of people who are asking, “What can I do for the victims of the midwestern floods?", I offer a few suggestions. At first glance they may seem silly, or tongue-in-cheek, or irrelevant, but they are not. I’m perfectly serious about all of this, and if you take just one suggestion and implement it, you’ll begin to understand how serious I am.

If you ever have used the phrase “flyover country”, swear right now never to speak the words again unless you truly are from Mechanicsville, Iowa, and enjoy using them as a little joke. Referring to everything from New York to LA as one homogenous piece of turf is anaolgous to referring to Africa as though tribes, nations, ethnic loyalties and sheer geography are insignificant. The variety of peoples, locales and customs in the world is staggering. Kenya isn’t Mali isn’t Ghana, and the iron ore fields of Hibbing, Minnesota are as different from Kansas wheatfields as both are from southern Missouri hills.

Even if you aren’t religious, even if you profess no faith, even if you haven’t said grace at table in years and don’t intend to ever again, stop for a minute before each meal and think of those who have worked to produce what appears on your table. You may grow your own fruits and vegetables, you may hunt and process meat, you may even have a milk-producing goat roaming the back yard - but there is no doubt that the farmers of America bless you with something every day.

While you’re at it, learn something about the Midwest. Even if you live in Omaha, Nebraska,  you may not know a lot about St. Charles, Missouri.  When you see a picture of flooded fields, get a map. Find the town or county that’s referenced, look at the population, find out what they produce. Then, explore a little further. Which state is the land of 10,000 lakes? Where is the Corn Palace? What is lutefisk? What Broadway musical featured a song about Gary, Indiana? Why are the Flint Hills important? What are the four basic ingredients of tuna hot dish? Complete this analogy: lime jello is to salad as Crisco is to….

Speaking of lime jello and tuna hotdish, If you haven’t listened to Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Woebegon on the PBS broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion, look up the schedule and gather around the radio. Drink iced tea or lemonade. Get to know the Tollefsons, and the congregation from Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility Catholic Church. Ralph’s Pretty Good Grocery probably has everything you need, and if Ralph doesn’t have it, you don’t need it. For pie and good gossip there’s always the Chatterbox Cafe, where the bulletin board announces the split-up of local couples as well as the price of a split cord.

In case you think this is all fiction and those silly Midwesterners are laughing just because they’re easily amused, read some good Heartland of America blogs on a regular basis. They’re bulletins from the real world, reminders of a common past and sensible guideposts to the future. These will get you started:

The Rural Populist

Iowa Tractor Boys

Flyover People

Dispatches from Kansas

Learn about the history of the Grange movement, about sod shanties on Nebraska prairies and Scandinavian migrations into Minnesota.  Find out where Mark Twain's name came from, and who burned the prairies as easily as we email.  Listen again to Carl Sandburg and William Least Heat-Moon.  Follow the Trail of Tears, and the path of the glaciers.

And if you can, in the midst of today's flooding, find someone who remembers the great floods of the past, someone who has learned their lessons.  It's a favorite human conceit that things will remain as they are, that blind, immutable forces will not destroy the frail products of human endeavor and that rivers are tamed and trustworthy.  A good flood washes away that sense of false pride, as well as the belief that we can live in isolation or the illusion that we are in control of our lives. 

Above all, remember who you are and understand that, sometimes, things can be better.   After the flooding has gone its way, sweeping everything from its path and leaving people no option but to gaze with astonishment from the bank, it can become possible to see the river for what it is: not an implacable, strong brown god, but only water that rose, and will recede.  

Even in the midst of flooded fields, towns and homes, hearts can be flooded with gratitude for what remains.  Even today, if you listen carefully, you can hear the Heartland singing, down at the water's edge. 

COMMENTS are welcome.  To read previous comments or post one of your own, please click on the tiny "Comments" link below.  Eventually, I'll learn CSS and revise the template, but this will have to do for the time being.

Since we both love fishing we decided to take some time and go out a few days this past week. It seems that this is been a hard year to fish. Every time we decide we want to go out either it is very windy or raining. With all the rain we have seen the lakes really rise this year. Here in the Midwest most of the river’s are at flood stage.

The sunnies were really biting this past week and we have caught quite a few. They sure taste great with a butter sauce. Yesterday we both caught a large-mouth bass.
This is what Craig said I caught:

Here is what I say I caught. Just a little different. LOL

Actually his bass was about 2 lbs and mine was about 2 ½ lbs. I think that it is important when you run a business such as ours to relax and do something that you really enjoy now and then.

Oh well time to get back to work:) Happy fishing!!

உ . ரா. வரதராசன்

தமிழ்நாட்டின் பொருளாதாரத்தில் பல்வேறு துறைகளின் பங்கு (2001 - 02ஆம் ஆண்டில்) கீழ்வருமாறு அமைந்திருந்தது.

விவசாயம் - 15 சதவிகிதம், தொழில் - 31 சதவிகிதம், சேவைப்பணிகள் - 54 சதவிகிதம்.

மாநிலத்தின் பொருளாதார வளர்ச்சிக்கு 15 சதவிகித அளவிலேயே வேளாண்துறையின் பங்களிப்பு இருக்கிறது.

ஆனால் மாநிலத்தின் மொத்த மக்கள்தொகையில் சற்றொப்ப 60 சதவிகிதத்தினர் வேளாண் துறையையே சார்ந்து வாழ்பவர்களாக உள்ளனர்.

தமிழ்நாட்டின் மொத்த நிலப்பரப்பான 1.30 லட்சம் கிலோ மீட்டரில் 17.59 சதவிகிதம் காடுகளாகும்.

இவை நீங்கலாக உள்ள நிலப்பரப்பில் வேளாண்மைக்குப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் நிலங்களில் பாசன வசதி அமையப்பெற்றது 48 சதவிகிதம் மட்டுமே; மீதமுள்ள 52 சதவிகித நிலங்கள் பாசன வசதியற்றவையாகும்.

1979 - 80இல் தமிழ்நாட்டின் மொத்த நிலப்பரப்பில் 48.1 சதவிகிதம் பயிர் சாகுபடிக்குப் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட நிலை இருந்தது.

இது 2005 - 06இல் 38.5 சதவிகிதமாகச் சுருங்கிவிட்டது என்பது அலட்சியப்படுத்த முடியாததோர் அபாய அறிவிப்பாகும்.

தமிழ்நாட்டில் பயிரிடப்படும் மொத்த நிலத்தில், பாசன வசதி கிடைக்கப்பெறும் நிலங்கள் சரிபாதிக்கும் குறைவு என்பது ஒன்று.

இந்தப் பாசன வசதியும், பருவமழையைப் பொறுத்ததுதான் என்பது இங்கே நினைவில் கொள்ள வேண்டிய மற்றொன்று.

பருவமழை பொய்க்கும்போது, தமிழ்நாடு வறட்சி நிலைமைகளைச் சந்திப்பது தொடர்ந்து நாம் அனுபவித்து வந்துள்ள துயரமான நிகழ்வுகள் என்பது மறக்கக்கூடியதல்ல.

தமிழ்நாட்டு விவசாயத்திற்குப் பாசன வசதியைப் பெருக்குவது என்பது, நமது அண்டை மாநிலங்களுடனான நதிநீர்ப் பங்கீட்டுப் பிரச்னை மிகவும் சிக்கலாக நீடித்து வருவதால், உடனடியாக சாத்தியப்பாடு இல்லாத விஷயம்.

எனினும், சிறிய நீர்ப்பாசனத் திட்டங்களைச் செயல்படுத்துவது, பருவமழை சராசரி அளவுக்கும் அதிகமாகப் பெய்யும் காலங்களில் மாநிலத்திலுள்ள நீர்த்தேக்கங்களின் கொள்ளளவை மீறி நீர் வெளியேறிக் கடலில் கலப்பதைத் தடுப்பது, பாசனக் கால்வாய்கள் தூர்வாரப்படுவது, நீர் சேதாரத்தைத் தவிர்க்கும் வகையிலான பராமரிப்புப் பணிகளை மேற்கொள்வது, பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ள நீர்நிலைகளில் ஆக்கிரமிப்புகளை அகற்றி அவற்றின் கொள்ளளவை அதிகரிப்பது போன்ற நடவடிக்கைகள் மேற்கொள்ளப்படுவது வேளாண்துறையைப் பலப்படுத்த உதவும்.

மாநிலத்தில் விவசாயிகள் கையில் உள்ள நில அளவு மற்றோர் அடிப்படையான அம்சமாகும்.

1995 - 96ஆம் ஆண்டுக் கணக்கெடுப்பின்படி, மாநிலத்தில் 74.3 சதவிகிதம் உள்ள ஏழை - குறு விவசாயிகளிடத்தில் மொத்த விளைநிலத்தில் 30 சதவிகிதமே இருந்தது என்று அறியப்பட்டுள்ளது.

சிறிய - நடுத்தர - பெரும் விவசாயிகளின் சதவிகிதம் 10 மட்டுமே; ஆனால் அவர்கள் கையில் உள்ள நிலம் 46.1 சதவிகிதம் என்று அதே கணக்கீடு எடுத்துச் சொல்கிறது.

இந்தக் குறு விவசாயிகளின் எண்ணிக்கை ஆண்டுக்கு ஆண்டு கூடிவருவதும், இதனால் தமிழ்நாட்டின் விவசாயப் பெருங்குடிகளில் ஒரு பெரும் பகுதி ஏழ்மையில் தள்ளப்படுவதும் தொடர்கிறது என்பதையும் அரசுத்தரப்பு ஆவணங்களே ஒப்புக்கொள்கின்றன.

இந்த நிலைமைகளைக் கணக்கில் கொண்டு எடுக்கப்பட வேண்டிய முன்னுரிமை நடவடிக்கை என்பது அடிப்படை நிலச் சீர்திருத்தங்களை மேற்கொள்வதாகும்.

தமிழ்நாட்டில் இன்றைய திமுக அரசு அறிவித்துள்ள இலவச நில விநியோகத் திட்டம் விரிவாக்கப்படுவதும், விரைவுபடுத்தப்படுவதும் அவசர அவசியத் தேவையாகும்.

இதில் செல்வாக்குப் படைத்த தனியாரிடத்தில் உள்ள புறம்போக்கு மற்றும் ஆக்கிரமிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள அரசு நிலங்களைக் கண்டறிந்து கையகப்படுத்தும் முயற்சிகளில் அரசு இறங்க வேண்டியது உடனடிக் கடமையாக முன்நிற்கிறது.

இந்த இலவச நில விநியோகத் திட்டத்தையும் தாண்டிச் சென்று, தமிழகத்தின் கிராமப்புறங்களில் இன்று நிலவுகிற நிலக் குவியலைத் தகர்ப்பதற்கான நிலச்சீர்திருத்த நடவடிக்கைகள் தீவிரப்படுத்தப்பட வேண்டியவையாக உள்ளன.

தமிழ்நாட்டின் மொத்த நிலப்பரப்பில் பயிர் சாகுபடிக்குப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் நிலத்தின் அளவு 1979 - 80இல் 62.59 லட்சம் ஹெக்டேராக இருந்தது; இது 2005 - 06இல் 50.10 லட்சம் ஹெக்டேராகக் குறைந்துவிட்டது.

சதவிகிதக் கணக்கில் 48.56}லிருந்து 38.46ஆக இதே காலகட்டத்தில் சுருங்கியுள்ளது. இந்தப் பின்புலத்தில், சிறப்புப் பொருளாதார மண்டலங்களும், "ரியல் எஸ்டேட்' கட்டுமானத் துறையில் வேகவேகமாக நுழைய அனுமதிக்கப்படும் வெளிநாட்டு - உள்நாட்டுப் பெரு முதலாளிகளின் நிறுவனங்களும், சாகுபடிக்கு உட்படுத்தப்படும் நிலத்தின் அளவை மேலும் வெட்டிச் சுருக்க அனுமதிப்பது. கிராமப்புறங்களில் ஒரு ஆபத்தான சூழலை உருவாக்கிவிடும்.

இதே போக்கு இந்தியா முழுவதிலும் நிகழ்ந்து வருவது கண்கூடு. எனவே இந்த நிகழ்ச்சிப் போக்கைத் தடுத்து நிறுத்தாவிட்டால், 100 கோடியைத் தாண்டிவிட்ட இந்திய மக்களின் உணவுப் பாதுகாப்பு கேள்விக்குறியாகிவிடும்.

பொருளாதார வளர்ச்சியில் வேளாண்துறையின் பங்கு குறைந்து வருவதையடுத்து, இதைச் சார்ந்து நிற்கும் சற்றொப்ப 60 சதவிகித மக்களைப் படிப்படியாக வேறு துறைகளுக்கு மாற்றுவது என்பது தவிர்க்க முடியாதது.

ஆனால் இன்று இந்தக் கணிசமான மக்கள் பகுதியினருக்குப் பயனுள்ள - வருவாய் ஈட்டத் தகுந்த - மாற்று வேலைகள் பெற்றுத் தருவது என்பது சுலபமல்ல.

எனவே கிராமப்புறங்களிலேயே வேளாண்துறையைச் சார்ந்த இதர தொழில்களை வளர்ப்பதில் ஒரு திட்டமிட்ட முயற்சி மேற்கொள்ளப்படுவது இன்றியமையாததாகும்.

தமிழக கிராமப் பொருளாதாரம் தொடர்பான இந்தக் கவலைக்குரிய அம்சங்களில் மாநில அரசு உடனடியாகக் கவனம் செலுத்துமா என்பதே கேள்வி!

(கட்டுரையாளர்: தேசியச் செயலர், சி.ஐ.டி.யூ.)

Here is Weezer's latest genius video.  They are always my favorite band to style and I think the Red Album is one of the best album's of any band in years. 

First we have, "Midwest Flooding Could Push Prices of Foods Higher" by Grant Schulte, Judy Keen and Andrea Stone at USA Today. It amazes me how many factors can influence food prices.

Then this article was in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch entitled " Floods Cast Cloud Over Food Prices" by Rick Callahan of the Associated Press. Unfortunately I couldn't locate the link. I will try again tomorrow.

There was this article over at the New York Times "In Midwest Floods, a Broad Threat to Crops" by Susan Saulny. This article tells the story of Dave Timmerman's small farm up in Newhall Iowa, near Cedar Rapids (where I was born many years ago).

Finally, this last article talks about the shipping of food and it's entitled "Midwest Floods Cripple Shippers" by Alex Roth and Thomas M. Burton. Unfortunately, it's available as it's over at the Wall Street Journal.

Sincerely-

Green Librarian