Chilly waters
I can do politics too, damnit.
On the border between Chile and Argentina lies the Valle de San Felix, and three glaciers supplying essential water to the local farmers; in fact, some of the purest in chile, in case you’re a Volvic wanker. Crucially, they also lie between the Barrick Gold Corporation and a massive gold vein.
Barrick proposes to dig two immense holes in the glaciers, one for drilling and one for landfill. The drilling won’t just destroy the glaciers, the extraction will permanently contaminate the waters with cyanide and sulphuric acid. All of the gold and silver will leave the already impoverished region, feeding instead the massive multinational - whose members include George Bush Sr. if you need an extra push to hate them. It’s true that the mines will bring jobs to the area, but employment is already high in the farming community that the mine will destroy. After the seventeen years - far less than one generation - of proposed drilling are over, Barrick will leave the area contaminated, unusable and unemployed. It’s as close to raping an entire community as you’re ever likely to get outside one of Ian’s Japanese Specialist Videos.
I know, appeals are made to everyone reading this blog every day, and it’s nothing that’s really ever going to affect you. The fact is, there’s very little you can do directly to affect IT. They don’t want your money, or your time. Petitions, especially the email variety, while well-meaning are counterproductive. Just knowing about it helps, and letting the real movers KNOW you know. If you’re interested and want to know more about the situation, visit the official campaign site, MiningWatch for the impartial skinny, see Barrick’s very carefully worded response to the campaign, and Snopes if you think my pants are on fire.
This is the Whining Liberal, Purveyor of Justice, signing off. And I promise the next one’ll be funny.
I try not to slag off one political party, partially because in many ways they’re all as rotten as each other. However one guy in particular is frankly taking the piss. He’s at the head of a party with disappointing recent performance. A party who for so long used to run the country but which now takes such a beating that it’s embarrassing. This man is David Cameron. He’s like a small child, running around his mothers legs, making as big a noise as possible in a desperate attempt to get attention and oh boy, does he try hard. We’ve had