The World Without Us





















The Beginning

Catastrophic failure strikes me unexpectantly

Deliberate Misrepresentation

Fig. 1: Building permits issued for Infill and Greenfeild land areas.

Source: http://clear.london.ca/Urban_Planning_Infill.html

The Community of London Environmentally Awareness Reporting (Clear) Network’s website states that, based on building permits issued, developments in Greenfeild and Infill land areas have been “Staying The Same” over last twelve year time period, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

However, over the twelve year time period represented in the figure, the data clearly indicate an increase in Greenfeild developments of approximately 15%, with the coinciding Infill developments decreasing 14%. A 29% shift over a twelve year period should not be presented as “staying the same”.

CLEAR could just as accurately draw the following conclusion from the building permit data:

• If Greenfeild developments continue to increase at the current rate of 1.25% per annum, than in another 22 years all new developments will be occurring in Greenfeild land areas, with Infill developments representing zero percent of all new development.

The intentions of the CLEAR network are noble and commendable, but the blatant misrepresentation of the data is disheartening and inexcusable. Within CLEAR’s ‘Disclaimer’ it is stated that the “…Internet site is being provided for information purposes only”. If that’s the case, than why not just provide the information and omit the misleading analysis and politically paltry explanations?

From the Front Lines of Conducting Designated Substance Surveys on Subsidized Housing

Completing surveys on subsidized housing I expected to be entering the homes of the underprivileged, physically and mentally handicapped, ruffian lifers and general social outcasts. But expectations being your projection of what you think may occur always seem to be humbly inadequate. Although I waded through the nicknack cluttered, shit and piss smelling, flee infested, crayon painted, garbage littered homes of the characters I expected, I did so with apathy and lack of judgment. But my apathy and lack of judgment for others living quarters and self expression quickly turned itself inside out; turning into righteous self concern and hip-shooting, rapid fire judgment.

As I was greeted at the door I became slack jawed and nervous, digging deep for any scrap of professionalism I introduced myself and my business. I was face to face with the most outwardly unique individual that I had encountered in my personal or professional life. I was concerned for my personal wellbeing, but was slightly comforted after considering the self-defense or pain inflicting tools that I had slug over my shoulder in my sample bag: a stainless steel utility knife, a seven inch flat head screw driver, a hammer and a twelve inch Mag flashlight. Under the pretense that I could escape any situation by acting in rage to inflict massive amounts of pain I entered the dwelling. I was relieved now that I was more concerned for the fate of the individual inviting me into their dwelling than I was for my own personal wellbeing.

40oz's of Max Ice evenly placed down each step of the stairwell lead me to the basement. I recall being surprised that the shards of only one 40 seemed to have been littered at the bottom of the stairs. I also recall that the resident of this dwelling was washing down their 10:30 am brunch of brown beans and bread with a 40 of Max Ice. More 40oz's of Max Ice littered the basement floor in all directions, these ones being markedly more dusty. Overcoming my dismay of why someone would buy cheap, strong beer and not recoup the deposit on the bottles for more cheap, strong beer I began to assess my surroundings.

My mind was racing as I assessed the basement, flashes of such movies as the human-flesh-clad freak in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', and the intense basement scene in 'The Zodiac' began to bring back my initial nervousness and concern. As soon as I seen the door fasten shut with eight, still shinning screws, the news story of the Aussie girl locked in basement cellar for eight years grabbed a hold of me. There was a small gap at the top of the wall where an air duct ran into the bolted-shut room. For a proper room it was, as I could kinda see by shining my flashlight through a gap by the duct. As I considered the resident of the dwelling, and my pop culture knowledge of terror and horror, I couldn't help but press my lips together and emit an attention grabbing "PSST!" sound. After a couple of flashes from my Mag light through the gap and into the room I made a more audible "Hey". Nothing, no response from anything. I reached into my sample bag to retrieve my screwdriver. But I was both relieved and disapointed as my screwdriver was a flat head and the still shinny, deeply sunken screws required a square head. Accepting defeat and realizing that I was overreacting I continued on with my survey.

Upon finally exiting the dwelling I was relieved to be outside in the open. I began doing my external walk around of the dwelling, and was struck by the realization that if the resident had the foresight to screw shut that door, then they surly would have the foresight to subdue and incapacitate their capture. The nervousness and concern hit me once again, this time joined with a shudder and a small quantity of cold sweat. I pushed the idea from my mind, clearing my head by closing my eyes and drawing a slow breath of fresh air through my nostrils. My clear mind and comfort were short lived though. As I reopened my eyes they immediately focused on the residents' close line. The mid 40's, alcoholic, he-she, transvestite, cross-dresser, was air drying their laundry; pink and white panties and black stockings were interwoven with men's jeans and dark T's. Nauseous I became. Hurriedly I left.

I hope that my righteous self concern, hip-shooting, rapid fire judgment and imagination got the best of me and that I never hear of basement contained victims from within that town.

Water Quality Of Life

As you know, the Great Lakes basin is the largest freshwater ecosystem on earth and holds one fifth of the world's freshwater. Community access to the Great Lakes basin’s waterfront is commonly unsafe for recreational use, largely due to industrial and municipal sources of pollution.

The heaviest burden on water quality causing unacceptable levels of contamination in the Great Lakes’ basin originates from industrial and municipal sources. This includes discharges from sewage treatment plants throughout our region.

The problem of inadequate sewage treatment is particularly disturbing because sewage is not simply what gets flushed down our sinks and toilets. It typical includes a toxic mixture of human waste, animal waste, micro-organisms, disease causing pathogens and hundreds of highly toxic chemicals.

The Sierra Legal Defence Club recently released a report detailing the municipal sewage treatment and sewage discharges into the Great Lakes basin. The report considered twenty North American cities that fall within the Great Lakes basin. Windsor received one of the worst grades on how well sewage was collected, treated and disposed of. http://www.sierralegal.org/reports/great.lakes.sewage.report.nov.2006b.pdf

Please feel free to click-on, print and forward the postcard, along with any personal comments and your signature, to MP Sandra Pupatello, to inform her that you are demanding action and change.

Nobel Laureate James D. Watson, the scientist who co-discovered the structure of DNA, became the first person to receive his personal genome sequenced - all three billion base pairs mapped and provided to him in a computer print out. The cost of the undertaking was reported at $1 million, and took two months to complete.

A million dollars for a map of all your genes is way out of reach for most people. The National Institutes of Health would like bring down the price of rendering your genetic blueprint to $1,000 by the year 2014.

The potential, the ethical debate, the quest for perfection...

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