If you’re like me, then you’ve already grown weary from the plethora of 9/11 stories that have surfaced for the 10th anniversary. So I’ll keep this one brief.
Terrorists win when the response they provoke does more damage than the initial attack. In this sense, America has lost, and is continuing to lose badly, ever since September 11, 2001.
Just look at what is happening in New York this weekend – security stops everywhere, fully automatic weapons menacing the street corners, an entire city on edge – it’s a veritable police state. That ain’t freedom, nor is it a state of being worth protecting.
And look at what the American military has been doing in response to the attacks: trillion dollar wars costing millions of lives, campaigns of terror all around the world, and an economy that is threatening to collapse.
All this from a single event, albeit a high profile one. And, apart from some superficial changes, America is no more secure than they were a decade ago.
So what happens the next time a bomb goes off… will American’s withdraw even deeper into their shell, selling off any remaining liberties in a desperate bid for the illusion of more security?
Or will the US population finally learn from their decade long folly see that the most effective way to deal with terrorists is with defiance – simply ignore them as best you can and go on living life to the fullest.
Lack of clean water and proper sanitation is a leading cause of easily preventable disease around the globe. Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
New technology will help to alleviate this problem. Low cost solutions, like the SODIS method which purifies water by leaving plastic bottles in the sun, is one such method. As well, there is the “UV Waterworks” system that provides a very cheap source of clean water for entire communities.
It is estimated that half the population in the poorest countries are sick with some type of dirty-water related health issue. If they were no longer sick, they would be far more productive. Providing clean water for the billions who currently go without with be a huge boon to developing nations general well-being and economy, helping them to help themselves.
Many NGO and governmental organizations are working to alleviate the clean-water crisis. Once such organization is the Carter Center. The Carter Center, founded by former US Prez Jimmy Carter, is an organization committed to “advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering”. They promote excellent ideals: waging peace, fighting disease, building hope.
Here are two videos highlighting their work to prevent guinea worms and river blindness by bringing about clean water solutions. The reported cases of both of these diseases are on the decline, which is excellent.
