The police force accused of hating black people

That headline may give a thought that this news is about police brutality & racism in US, but you would be wrong. This news is about Portugal.

So, if Europeans are thinking that "our European societies have grown out of such uninfluential & petty social issues as racism", then they would be very wrong.

Similar to the people saying, in regards to the police brutality & hate crimes against African-Americans in US, that American society is still very much racially divided, Europe is also still very racially divided. Over the years, I have read news how young black soccer / football players are discriminated against in Italy, or how Russian & Italian professional football matches are marred by racist chants & slogans, or how African migrants are treated badly in Scandinavian countries, or immigrants are treated badly in France (Paris) or the London riots etc.

We recently saw how African migrants are abused & hated in Europe, when they are trying to flee their war-ravaged homes in Middle East & Africa. Even though, those wars are the handiwork of Europeans themselves, by selling billions of weapons to the known corrupt governments of those conflict regions.

So, instead of successfully integrating these migrants in their societies, European countries are essentially rejecting these migrants & making them feel like that they are not wanted in their countries, by treating them "like animals".

So, as the world is seemingly becoming "modern," we, humans are moving backwards in our thinking of other human beings, & social diseases like hatred, racism, violence, & geopolitical conflicts are increasing on a daily basis.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32419952

Jailza Sousa's young son is afraid when she hangs out the washing on their first-floor balcony.
 
"He's traumatised," says the 29-year-old from Cape Verde. "He says, 'Don't go there because you're going to get shot.'"

Looking down the narrow, potholed streets, she remembers what happened one day in February, earlier this year.

It was noon in Cova da Moura - a ramshackle suburb on a hill on the outskirts of Lisbon built by immigrants from Portugal's former African colonies.

It's a colourful, friendly place by day, but it has a reputation for drugs, crime & violence. It's a place that taxi drivers refuse to go at night.

On 5 February, a team of police officers had a young man called Bruno up against a wall. They were searching him & started beating him - his blood stained the wall & street for several days afterwards. Bystanders started protesting, & the police reacted with shotguns loaded with rubber buckshot.

"They treat us like animals," Sousa says of the police. "It's a black neighbourhood - they treat us like we're all here to be exterminated."

Sousa was taken to hospital while 2 people who work for a local human rights organisation, Moinho de Juventude, or Mill of Youth, set off for the police station to find out what had happened to Bruno.

The two men, Flavio Almada & Celso Lopes, were accompanied by about 5 other young men who had witnessed the incident.

When they arrived at the police station, they say 3 police officers were blocking the entrance.

"Suddenly about 15 or 20 cops came with sticks, with shotguns, & started trying to kick & punch us, trying to hit us with batons," says Lopes.

"And I said 'OK, I'm leaving,'" claims Almada. But he says one police officer cocked his shotgun. "And quickly, he shoot."

Lopes was hit in the leg by rubber buckshot. He, Almada & 3 others were then taken inside the police station, where they were handcuffed. They allege the beatings continued accompanied by extreme racist abuse.

Almada says one officer told him, "You don't know how much I hate you. If I had the power, you would all be exterminated."

He says he was terrified. "I will never forget his face. I will never forget his words."

The men claim other police officers told them they should join Islamic State.

Lopes says for 5 hours they received no medical attention. Eventually all 5 men were admitted to hospital.

Almada says he suffers from terrible nightmares & some of the injuries have still not healed.

4 separate investigations are underway into what happened. Both the Interior Ministry & Portugal's racial discrimination commission are investigating the conduct of the police.

Almada, Lopes & their friends face charges of invading the police station, & they in turn are pressing their own charges of torture & racism against the police.

"When the police come the police are the law," says Lopes. "You are no longer living in a democracy, you are living in a police state."

At the time, the media reported that Bruno had thrown a rock at a police van, breaking a window & injuring an officer. Bruno & eyewitnesses deny this.

It was also reported that the men had tried to storm the police station & that the 5 who were detained had suffered "minor" injuries after resisting arrest. There were later reports that a police officer was taken to hospital with a broken arm.

This incident re-ignited long standing claims of police brutality & racism - a story told in the graffiti on Cova da Moura's walls.

A video circulating on social media shows another recent police raid in Cova da Moura which was filmed by a resident. In the early hours of the morning, police with shotguns & wearing balaclavas can be seen walking through the streets, & shots can be heard.

These police are part of what's known as a Rapid Intervention Team - highly trained & heavily equipped, & normally only called in when a situation escalates beyond what the regular police can handle. But Almada says they are a common sight.

He introduces me to Whassysa Magalhaes, a teacher & part of the management of Moinho de Juventude. One day the police stopped her and asked for her ID.

"I was late & said I had to go to university & they said, 'Black people study?'" she recalls, adding that they used a derogatory term for black people.

Others tell stories of being called monkeys or having their ID cards destroyed by police.

"Here, police just ask you to stop & if you don't stop or you ignore them, they shoot at you, start kicking you, hitting you with sticks," says one young man, Fabio.

"They hate black people."

In another part of Lisbon, Quinta da Lage, the side of one house is painted with a mural of a young black man, & the words "RIP Kuku, let justice be done."

The house belongs to Domingas Sanches. In 2009, her 14-year-old son Elson, also known as Kuku, was driving with friends in a stolen car when they were stopped by police. They started to run away, but Elson was caught by one of the officers. He managed to break away, & was then shot in the head at point blank range by the policeman.

"It's difficult but life goes on, sometimes I cry, I miss him," says Sanches.

The policeman was tried for gross negligent manslaughter & acquitted after claiming he heard a sound like a pistol being cocked, & saw a metallic object in Elson's hand. A weapon was recovered at the scene, although Elson's defenders say it had no fingerprints on it & claim it was planted.

"I felt a great disgust," says Sanches. "If it were a 14-year-old kid killing a policeman, then someone would be found responsible."

"The only thing I wanted was that justice be done, but it probably won't be."

This sense of injustice is widespread. Activists claim that 14 young black men have been killed by police since 2001, & that no police officers have been held responsible for those deaths, though the numbers include some deaths where police responsibility is disputed.

One person who remembers the first of those shootings is Lieve Meersschaert. Born in Belgium she came to Cova da Moura in the early 80s where she co-founded Moinho de Juventude, the organisation that Almada & Lopes work for.

In 2001 a police officer killed a man by shooting him in the back, she says, prompting an escalation of violence.

Eventually Moinho arranged a dinner for local police commanders to meet young people from the neighbourhood - including the sister of the man who was shot.

"It was very funny when the 35 police station commanders arrived, they didn't want to come in. And afterwards we almost had to kick them out, because they didn't want to leave," she says.

After that meeting the police commander of the local area, Antonio Manuel Pereira, worked on improving relations between police & residents. They held football tournaments & children spent time with the officers.

But Pereira retired in 2012 & his replacement put less emphasis on community policing, says Meersschaert. Around the same time a pilot programme called the Critical Neighbourhoods Initiative, which promoted closer co-operation between police & residents, was cancelled by the newly elected conservative government.

Meersschaert says brutality has got worse since then, & that the government ignored warnings.

The BBC made several requests for interviews to the Interior Ministry & the Prime Minister's office, which were all turned down. Eventually the Ministry provided a statement about the police, referred to here as the PSP.

"We reject the suggestion of the existence of police violence & racism. Community policing was, & will continue to be the basis for the deployment of police resources, with a view to ensuring the safety of people & property & to prevent crime. [Community policing] has never been abandoned by the PSP, either in Cova da Moura or in any sensitive urban area. On the contrary, the PSP carries out, on average, more than 15,000 community or neighbourhood policing operations a year, & in sensitive urban areas, interventions of this nature have been increasing. It is not correct to establish a correlation between the reduction of police officers in recent years & purely economic measures."

Almada feels that the problems in Cova da Moura come from a deeper attitude in Portuguese society.

"Racism is beyond the police, it's the whole frame of society, it's a big issue & I don't believe they want to change all these things," he says. "If you see Portugal receiving a prize for well integrated immigrants it's a big lie."

But Portugal's High Commissioner for Migration, Pedro Calado disagrees. "We don't have this big problem of racism in our society," he says.

Calado - the head of the government body tasked with promoting integration, & dealing with racial discrimination - points to the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). This global study ranks countries according to how successfully they integrate migrants. Portugal currently comes second, behind Sweden.

Portugal's defenders also point out that it hasn't had riots like London or Paris, & that there's little anti-immigrant political rhetoric in Portugal.

"I have this clear perception that what happened in Cova da Moura is not the general situation of the country. This was an exception," says Calado.

He also oversees Portugal's Commission for Equality & Against Racial Discrimination, which handles racial discrimination complaints.

"We don't have many complaints," he says as he shows me a report containing the data. It indicates that from 2005-13, there were 75 complaints against the security forces.

I ask how many of those complaints were upheld.

"We would have to look at the data," says Calado. "I cannot tell."

Despite several weeks of emailing back & forth after our interview, the High Commission wouldn't tell me the number of complaints upheld against the security forces for racial discrimination. They say they lack the resources to process the data.

But piecing together the data that is available, it seems that fewer than 10 racism complaints against the security forces have been upheld in the past 10 years in the whole of Portugal. In places such as Cova da Moura, this is seen as evidence of a broken system which doesn't hold police accountable.

Although Portuguese officials deny a deep, systemic problem with the police, the recent incident involving Almada and Lopes has led to some changes.

The Interior Ministry met people from neighbourhood organisations, including Moinho de Juventude & promised to set up a new Early Warning Commission to avoid conflict.

Almada says he hopes that what happened to him might make a small difference, but he's cautious.

"I want to see the results," he says. "I'm like that guy the disciple of Jesus, I just want to see."

The $18 Billion arms race helping to fuel Middle East conflict

Nothing much to say here (since, I've blogged quite a few times how members of the UN Security Council & developed countries sell weapons & arms to developing countries to keep destabilizing those regions).

The Middle East is destabilizing & turning into a war zone very rapidly, thanks to the developed countries' constant need to sell arms & ammunition to these countries, & when these weapons are used by these countries against each other or against their own public, we in the West decry how "uncivilized" these people in Middle East are.

Canada used to be considered a peaceful nation. Now, "the one Canadian deal alone – to supply Saudi Arabia with light armoured vehicles – will account for 20% of the military vehicles sold globally in years covered by the contract." That's how much Canada has changed in the global weapons market.

Why don't these developed countries sell green energy, for instance, to these developing countries? Wouldn't that be a much better investment to make the world a better place? That move alone, for instance, wouldn't create so many refugees, either, which in itself, is creating another migrant crisis in the developed countries of Europe.

Developed countries have so much modern technology in non-arms area that they could & can easily sell that technology hardware & software to developing countries & regions, & help improve lives for all. It does happen but compared to billions of weapons transactions, these transactions have not much scope & influence.

So, if we want peace in this world, the first step is to stop the developed countries to stop giving weapons to the madmen of developing countries. Who is willing to take this first step? (Per my answer, not even one developed country).
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/23/the-18bn-arms-race-middle-east-russia-iran-iraq-un

The Middle East is plunging deeper into an arms race, with an estimated $18 billion expected to be spent on weapons this year, a development that experts warn is fuelling serious tension & conflict in the region.

Given the unprecedented levels of weapon sales by the west (including the US, Canada & the UK) to the mainly Sunni Gulf states, Vladimir Putin’s decision ... to allow the controversial delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran ... seems likely to accelerate the proliferation.

That will see agreed arms sales to the top 5 purchasers in the region - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt & Iraq – surge this year to more than $18 billion, up from $12 billion last year. Among the systems being purchased are jet fighters, missiles, armoured vehicles, drones & helicopters.

The Russian declaration came only 2 days before Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, disclosed that he was seeking arms worth billions of dollars from Washington – with payment deferred – for the battle against Islamic State (Isis).

Last week France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, disclosed progress in talks to sell Rafale fighter jets to the UAE, one of the Middle East’s biggest & most aggressive arms buyers.

With conflicts raging in Syria, Iraq, Libya & Yemen, & with Egypt also battling Islamist extremists in the Sinai, the signs that Russia is preparing to increase its own arms sales – & to the Gulf states’ biggest rival, Iran – are raising fears that tensions will be stoked further still. In particular, Saudi Arabia & Iran are facing off in the conflict in Yemen ... .

According to the New York Times, defence industry officials have notified Congress that they are expecting additional requests from Arab states fighting Isis – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan & Egypt – for thousands of new US-made weapons, including missiles & bombs, to rebuild depleted arms stockpiles.

Ironically, among the key weapons suppliers in the arms race are permanent members of the UN security council who have been at the centre of 2 unconventional arms control initiatives – disarming the Syrian government’s stockpiles of chemical weapons & negotiating for a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.

The scale of the arms race was revealed this year in reports published by IHS Jane’s Global Defence Trade Report & the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). They showed how Saudi Arabia had become the world’s largest importer of weapons & fourth largest military spender & that other Middle East states were sharply increasing their arms purchases.

Adding to the concern is the fact that the spending spree on arms comes against the background of a marked increase in military interventions by countries in the region since the Arab spring in 2011. Saudi Arabia has intervened in Bahrain (at the request of that kingdom’s ruler during the so-called Pearl revolution), in Yemen in 2009 & again in Yemen this year.

And among those concerned by Saudi’s new military assertiveness - on the back of its arms buying spree - was the Iraqi prime minister, Abadi. “The dangerous thing is, we don’t know what the Saudis want to do after [their intervention in Yemen],” Abadi told US reporters last week. “Is Iraq within their radar? That’s very, very dangerous. The idea that you intervene in another state unprovoked just for regional ambition is wrong. Saddam has done it before. See what it has done to the country.”

And if the Saudi intervention in Yemen has been overt, no less real has been the proxy conflict that has set Iran & the Gulf states against each other in Syria, where Tehran has backed the government of Bashar al-Assad with military assistance & weapons, & Gulf states have backed different rebel groups, including Islamist ones.

“It’s crazy,” says Ben Moores, author of IHS Jane’s annual report on arms buying trends. “The one Canadian deal alone – to supply Saudi Arabia with light armoured vehicles – will account for 20% of the military vehicles sold globally in years covered by the contract. And this is just the thin edge of the wedge. Saudi has booked enough arms imports in 24 months for them to be worth $10 billion a year.”

While some countries, such as Kuwait, are in the process of modernisation, a key trend identified by Moores is how states are retooling to fight insurgency conflicts in the same way the US military has in Afghanistan & Iraq. “Look at UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt & Algeria. They were all countries that bought a lot of conventional arms in the past that are no use in a sectarian war or an insurgency.

“If you look at what was bought at the recent Idex arms fair in Abu Dhabi, it was drones, high-end surveillance satellites, strategic transport aircraft for projecting power. One of the reasons Egypt went with its recent purchase of Rafale jets [from France] is because it wanted planes that could deliver precision-guided standoff weapons.”

And as Tobias Borck of the Royal United Services Institute points out, states in the Middle East are now more prepared to use the weapons they are buying. “[The] Saudi-led military operations in Yemen [are] the latest manifestation of Arab interventionism, a trend that has been gaining momentum in the Middle East since the uprisings of the Arab spring,” he says. “Middle Eastern countries appear to be increasingly willing to use their armed forces to protect & pursue their interests in crisis zones across the region.”

Referring to the inconsistent approach by key security council members towards arms control in the region, he adds: “There are a lot of different streams feeding into this arms race. On Syria’s chemical weapons & the Iranian nuclear programme, the 2 issues were ring fenced as pure arms control questions. When it comes to how we perceive our arms sales – whether they are British or US or whatever – it tends to be seen as a domestic economic issue – protecting our factories.

“That neglects the regional political dimensions, with arms sales taking place with a lack of regard for that context & without long-term strategic awareness.”

Borck says that the scale of the arms being supplied to countries such as Saudi Arabia & the UAE by the west may also be acting as an incentive for Russia to get back into the Middle East – not least via arms sales to its old clients such as Iran – & may have been a motivating factor in the Kremlin’s decision to lift the ban on the delivery of the S-300 missile system.

Putin, defending the decision to supply the missiles during a call-in television show last week, cited Russia’s prerogative to pursue its own foreign policy initiatives & suggested that the missiles could represent “a deterrent factor in connection with the situation in Yemen”.

Omar Ashour, an expert on Middle East security issues at Exeter University, has sounded a further note of caution, this time over the intentions of the new Saudi-led Arab coalition, warning that its interventions are unlikely to contribute to stability. “The rise of Arab military coalitions raises serious concerns,” he wrote in a recent piece for Project Syndicate. “Such interventions were usually aimed at empowering a proxy political force over its military & political rivals, instead of averting humanitarian disaster or institutionalising a non-violent conflict-resolution mechanism following a war.”

Speaking to the Guardian last week, he added: “On top of that, the increases in arms sales are bound to be extremely destabilising. At the moment most of the interventions have been against softer targets – Saudi Arabia targeting guerrillas in Yemen; Egypt against Bedouin in Sinai; or strikes against ragtag armies in Libya. But if the ‘soft’ keeps being hit hard, they won’t remain soft. They will find their own patrons & proxies & hit back & it will lead to a vicious cycle.”

Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at Sipri, which maintains a database tracking arms contracts, raises another concern. “Something that doesn’t get mentioned is the complete lack of interest in arms control among the countries in the region. It is not in the minds of leaders & decision-makers, except for the need to arm to defeat any potential opponent.

“There is already instability in the region on several levels. You have instability in Yemen, Syria & Iraq. There is instability between Iran & the Gulf states. What is important now is how the massive expansion of the armed forces of Saudi Arabia, UAE & Qatar will be seen as posing a clear threat to Iran.”

Borck adds a final warning: “If you are going for an ever bigger hammer, then the more desperate you are to make every problem a nail.”

"Civic Duty Slipping" by Steve Kelley

"Civic Duty Slipping" - Steve Kelley, Times-Picayune, New Orleans, LA, US

Animal-sex tourism banned in Denmark

Speechless after reading this news. What humans are becoming. Question to evolutionists: can we call this de-evolution?

I was surprised to read that there are actually organized animal sex shows & clubs in Denmark. Bestiality is still legal in Romania, Finland, & Hungary. So, this ban will only drive more traffic to those countries.

Next, Pride's slogan of "marriage equality for all," will be used by bestiality aficionados for themselves. Thinking logically, "marriage equality for all," should include them & their carnal desires to marry their dogs, cats, cattle & whatever other animal come across their way. But then where is the social boundary, if at all?

That's why, Islam recommended Muslims to marry so they have each other for their own sexual satisfaction. It provided relationship boundaries among Muslims who is legal for whom & when. Islam used months like Ramadan & fasting to train Muslims in controlling their physical urges for food, water, & sex.

I simply can't fathom where is the human race is heading. Are we really so much hungry for sex that anything & anyone will do, be it a little kid, a sex slave forced into this prostitution trade, or even an animal? Are we humans not worse than any other animal, which at least, satisfies itself only with its own species?
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http://rt.com/news/252065-denmark-bans-animal-sex/

Denmark has approved a law banning bestiality, in a move to tackle animal-sex tourism. Those found guilty of engaging in sexual relations with an animal will now face fines & prison terms.

Those in favor of the legislation said Denmark did not want to remain the last northern European country where bestiality was legal, as this was attracting animal-sex tourists.

"There are frequent reports of the occurrence of organized animal sex shows, clubs & animal brothels in Denmark," the Danish Ethical Council for Animals, an independent advisory board under the food & agriculture ministry, said in a report, as quoted by Reuters.

A 2011 Justice Ministry report found that 17% of veterinarians surveyed suspected an animal they treated had previously been subjected to intercourse with a human.

Farm Minister Dan Jorgensen didn't believe the current law was adequate & sought to strengthen animal welfare & protection in the country.

"The current legislation does not protect the animals enough. It's hard to prove that an animal suffers when a human has sexual intercourse with it, & that is why we must give the animal the benefit of the doubt,” he wrote in an opinion piece.

He also said earlier this month that offenders “must be made aware that we find maltreatment of animals absolutely unacceptable."

Animal rights campaigners, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), also petitioned Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt & Jorgensen to amend the existing legislation.

But members of the Liberal Alliance, a libertarian party, have expressed opposition to the new law.

“Best case, this is a superficial law. Worst case, it is political populism & moralism,” Liberal Alliance's Joachim Olsen said in February, as quoted by Mashable.

Once the law goes into effect on July 1, anyone found guilty of having sex with an animal will face fines & time in prison.

Hungary, Finland, & Romania are now the only EU countries where bestiality is legal.

Global drug market approaching scale of $4 Trillion oil & gas industry

Thanks to US & its allies' activities in further destabilizing sensitive areas of the world, not only we have groups now, conducting physical violence, we also have a booming drugs trade. What did US & NATO achieve in Afghanistan when Taliban are back there & apparently, 80% of heroin is being produced there? What did US achieve with its covert war tactics against Colombia & Nicaragua where, apparently, 100% of cocaine being produced there?

It seems to me that all those billions of $$$, which the world was led to believe that that money would be spent on war & reconstruction efforts, went into pockets of defense department's top generals & contractors.

Ironically, the losers are American general public because they are increasingly turning into drug addicts because of lack of spending on welfare, healthcare, education, infrastructure, job creation etc. Sort of like a double whammy for the general American public.

Adding further insults to injuries is that not only criminal organizations are earning trillions of $$$ through their drugs trade, but they also help fuel more crime, e.g. due to a lack of jobs & increasingly expensive post-secondary education, youths turn towards dealing drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, arms smuggling, & terrorism etc. to make a living. Authorities can't turn them towards non-criminal activities, since those activities don't provide the kind of lifestyle criminal activities do.

So, essentially, all those wars US & its allies initiated in foreign lands are, & will, increasingly raise their ugly heads in North America & Western Europe. And rich business & political elites, who are the ones starting, & profiting, from the wars will not feel the effects but the poor general public will be adversely affected by those crimes.
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http://rt.com/business/252057-global-drug-market-size/

The dark underworld of drug trafficking will soon be bigger than the world’s $3.7 trillion oil & gas market, & is already bigger than the global auto industry, the director of Russia’s drug control agency said.

“We see that drug trade is a significant part of the global economy. Unfortunately we have to state today that the drug traffic market is bigger than the automotive industry & its volume is approaching that of the oil & gas sector,” Viktor Ivanov said during a ministry meeting with BRICS countries to discuss the war on drugs.
 
Ivanov singled out Afghanistan & South America as major drug production hubs, noting that more than 80% of heroin is produced in Afghanistan & 100% of cocaine in South America, by his estimates.

“Unfortunately, production has once again started to increase in the so-called Golden Triangle of Thailand, Myanmar & Laos,” said Ivanov.
 
Before, Ivanov estimated that underground drug dealers in the informal sector inject $1 trillion into the global financial system per annum. Many of these drug revenues end up being funneled to criminal organizations, & often terrorism.
 
Sales of autos in the US alone was $1.1 trillion in 2014. Revenues from the top 10 car retailers already surpassed $1 trillion in revenue, not even counting some of the smaller players like Kia, Chrysler, Renault or Mazda. The global oil& gas market in 2015 will see more than $4 trillion in revenue, according to IBIS World’s Global Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Market Research Report released in March 2015.
 
It is difficult to precisely quantify the exact figure of the illegal drug market, as most transactions are kept off the books due to their illicit nature.

Home Again (facts)

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Breathing poison in the world's most polluted city

Whenever I come across these kinds of stories, about air pollution in major European or Asian cities, only one movie comes to my mind: Lorax.

As water is becoming a very precious commodity around the world, & companies like Nestle, are making billions from selling bottled water, there soon will be a time when clean oxygen tanks will be selling like bottled water.

First, food became unaffordable for millions around the world. Meat & meat-derived products are a luxury for millions of people who live below the poverty line (which in itself is very low). Even fruits, vegetables, & grains are becoming unaffordable now.

Next up was water. Well, be it US or Pakistan, Nigeria or Uganda, Sao Paulo (Brazil) or Peru, water is becoming the next gold or oil ... except, water is needed to live, unlike oil or gold. Bottled water is a billion-, or perhaps, trillion-$$$ business around the world.

After that, clean air is the next up to be bought & sold. Oxygen is even more precious than water or food. A human can live for days without food & a couple of days without water. Muslims fast in Ramadan around the world, during which, they don't eat or drink at all, during the day. But nobody can survive for a few minutes without oxygen.

Rich people will always find a way to survive, either by buying clean air or apparatus to clean the air in their homes & offices or moving to places with cleaner air. But what about the billions of poor around the world? They let go of their desires to have meat on their dinner tables. They are letting go of their desires to have clean water & hence, suffering terribly from drinking dirty & polluted water. But how will they let go of breathing clean air?

I am foreseeing a very bad future for the billions of poor, dying on the streets by the scores, because the rich have polluted the air. Poor didn't do anything to deserve such a painful life & death, but they will be the ones who will suffer the most.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32352722

Saharan dust, traffic fumes & smog from Europe may be clogging up London's air at present ... but in the world's most polluted city London's air would be considered unusually refreshing. That city is Delhi, the Indian capital, where air quality reports now make essential reading for anxious residents.
 
In London last week, the most dangerous particles - PM 2.5 - hit a high of 57 - that's nearly 6 times recommended limits.
 
Here in Delhi, we can only dream of such clean air.
 
Our reading for these minute, carcinogenic particles, which penetrate the lungs, entering straight into the blood stream - is a staggering 215 - 21 times recommended limits. And that's better than it's been all winter.
 
Until a few weeks ago, PM 2.5 levels rarely dipped below 300, which some here have described as an "air-pocalypse".
 
Like the rest of the world, those of us in Delhi believed for years that Beijing was the world's most polluted city.
 
But last May, the World Health Organization announced that our own air is nearly twice as toxic.
 
The result, we're told, is permanent lung damage, & 1.3 million deaths annually. That makes air pollution, after heart disease, India's second biggest killer.
 
And yet, it's only in the past 2 months as India's newspapers & television stations have begun to report the situation in detail that we've been gripped, like many others, with a sense of acute panic.
 
At first, we simply shut all our doors & windows & sealed up numerous gaps. No more seductively cool Delhi breezes could be allowed in.
 
We began checking the air quality index obsessively.
 
Then, we rushed out to buy pollution masks, riding around in our car looking like highway robbers. But our three-year-old wouldn't allow one anywhere near her face.
 
Despite our alarm, many Delhi-ites reacted with disdain. "It's just dust from the desert," some insisted. "Nothing a little homeopathy can't solve," others said.
 
But we weren't convinced.
 
When we heard that certain potted plants improve indoor air quality, we rushed to the nursery to snap up areca palms, & a rather ugly, spiky plant with the unappealing moniker, mother-in-law's tongue.
 
But on arrival, the bemused proprietor informed us that the American embassy had already purchased every last one.
 
In any case, we calculated that to make a difference, we needed a minimum of 50 plants.
 
..., we borrowed an air pollution probe from a friend to work out what progress, if any, we'd made.
 
Switching it on, our PM 2.5 levels registered an off-the-charts 44,000.
 
My husband scratched his head, consulting the manual.
 
"This says 3,000 is hazardous."
 
"It must be broken," I said.
 
But it wasn't, so we had to call in the experts.
 
One afternoon, a young man turned up with a small, free-standing air filter, specially modified for Delhi's dust. He pressed a button, which activated something called a "plasma cluster".
 
After 20 minutes, the numbers on our air monitor began to drop... precipitously.
 
My husband & I watched, ... as the readings went down from 44,000, to 20,000, then 11,000. Eventually, the probe settled around the 1,000 mark.
 
That's still worryingly high by global standards... & that's only the air inside our home. There's nothing we can do about the air outside.
 
The government has announced that it will install more air quality monitors in Delhi & that it will ban diesel-belching vehicles more than a decade old.
 
But that's a drop in the ocean compared to India's pro-growth economic policies, which still rely heavily on subsidised, dirty diesel.
 
The trouble is on many days, you can't see the pollution.
 
Right now outside my window is an intensely blue sky filled with flocks of lime green parakeets and frangipani trees just beginning to unfurl their waxy, fragrant blossoms & I find myself wondering if it isn't perfectly OK to take my kids out to play football.
 
But in the past few months, at least a dozen families we know have moved away, either to cleaner towns & cities, or outside of India.
 
And although I'm still lulled by the reassurances of long-time residents - "Don't worry - it's nothing," they chide - I am beginning to wonder if it isn't time to think about moving too.
 
Compared to Delhi right now, London & even Beijing are looking like pretty good options.