Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away?

[Tehon]

I didn't see this story posted, has it not been in the news? It seems like the Indonesian people and the environment have a high toll to pay for those who profit off of palm oil.

Snip:
Why is this happening? Indonesia’s forests have been fragmented for decades by timber and farming companies. Canals have been cut through the peat to drain and dry it. Plantation companies move in to destroy what remains of the forest to plant monocultures of pulpwood, timber and palm oil. The easiest way to clear the land is to torch it. Every year, this causes disasters. But in an extreme El Niño year like this one, we have a perfect formula for environmental catastrophe.

The president, Joko Widodo, is – or wants to be – a democrat. But he presides over a nation in which fascism and corruption flourish. As Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary The Act of Killing shows, leaders of the death squads that helped murder a million people during Suharto’s terror in the 1960s, with the approval of the west, have since prospered through other forms of organised crime, including illegal deforestation.

They are supported by a paramilitary organisation with three million members, called Pancasila Youth. With its orange camo-print uniforms, scarlet berets, sentimental gatherings and schmaltzy music, it looks like a fascist militia as imagined by JG Ballard. There has been no truth, no reconciliation; the mass killers are still treated as heroes and feted on television. In some places, especially West Papua, the political murders continue.

Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away? | George Monbiot

 

[Old Rocks]

There is money to be made, and what the hell do a few, or few million, human lives matter. Part and parcel of the sixth Great Extinction.

 

[Tehon]

Drone footage of the fires.



And as seen from space.

 

[skookerasbil]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

 

[Tehon]

 

[Tehon]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

So you agree that the Indonesian people have legitimate concerns about their health and environment and the only way to solve it is through violence? And what about the neighboring countries who are also affected, do they also have your blessing to use violence against the government of Indonesia?

 

[longknife]

It's all GW Bush's fault!

 

[Billy_Bob]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

So you agree that the Indonesian people have legitimate concerns about their health and environment and the only way to solve it is through violence? And what about the neighboring countries who are also affected, do they also have your blessing to use violence against the government of Indonesia?

Freedom is expensive.. You have a huge socialist dictatorial control of that region and the only way to regain control of that region is to remove the socialists by force.

Thinking that feel good crap is going to do it for you is simply asinine..

This is man caused due to land use change. It is not caused by CAGW..

Tell me, what are you going to do with the land once you take control? Turn it back into swamp and let the people starve? There is much more to this than just a simple burning off of the jungle.

 

[Tehon]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

So you agree that the Indonesian people have legitimate concerns about their health and environment and the only way to solve it is through violence? And what about the neighboring countries who are also affected, do they also have your blessing to use violence against the government of Indonesia?

Freedom is expensive.. You have a huge socialist dictatorial control of that region and the only way to regain control of that region is to remove the socialists by force.

Thinking that feel good crap is going to do it for you is simply asinine..

This is man caused due to land use change. It is not caused by CAGW..

Tell me, what are you going to do with the land once you take control? Turn it back into swamp and let the people starve? There is much more to this than just a simple burning off of the jungle.

So why all the talk about the costs of freedom? Indonesia is not a socialist country. It is in fact beholden to the IMF which is probably the root cause of the people's concerns related to living conditions and health. At any rate, I never suggested the people overthrow their government so everyone just take a deep breath...................and exhale.

 

[skookerasbil]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

So you agree that the Indonesian people have legitimate concerns about their health and environment and the only way to solve it is through violence? And what about the neighboring countries who are also affected, do they also have your blessing to use violence against the government of Indonesia?

s0n.....I dont engage in debate with those who cannot connect the dots.

So my electric bill should double because these people have no balls? I dont think so........especially while China continues hog-ass wild using coal. And BTW.....most knuckleheads dont realize that China's coal use is going to DOUBLE between now and 2050!!

Nobody cares about Indonesia...........sorry, I got enough to worry about. Most AGW assholes have no real responsibilities in life so they can obsess on all this nonsense.

Life always comes down to 2 things.........suck vs. suckier. Hard care progressives never get the memo on this...........

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Never been to Indonesia, can't say I had plans to visit Indonesia, and as the world's most populous Muslim nation don't pretend to care if every last man, woman, and child falls over dead in Indonesia.

They still execute poeple suspected of sorcery for crying out loud. Maybe a little natural selection is a good idea?

 

[skookerasbil]

human racism is ghey

 

[skookerasbil]

Never been to Indonesia, can't say I had plans to visit Indonesia, and as the world's most populous Muslim nation don't pretend to care if every last man, woman, and child falls over dead in Indonesia.

They still execute poeple suspected of sorcery for crying out loud. Maybe a little natural selection is a good idea?

dang....for once I agree with this guy!!

Indonesia.........like most places in the middle east.......no balls to stand up to the savages. Tough shit on them......I have zero concerns about palm whatevestheshititis. But the US should collectively take the knobby up the pooper because they have some haze over their country's atmosphere?

meh

We have some people with highly fucked up thinking in this forum.........

Disney is ghey..........

 

[skookerasbil]

If progressives have such pronounced concern with every corner of the world except out own country, hey.........go annex some land in Alaska or something and make your own little country and practice your own little society. I'll contribute to start it as would tens of million of others.

You can tax the shit out of others and help out Indonesia. Go no guns. Cut policing down to skeleton force numbers. Disband the military because after all..........who needs them? Solar houses for everybody!!! Make people take dog sleds to work!! Communicate via pony express.( no more cell phones!! ). And thats just a start...........

Happy Now!!!

 

[waltky]

Extinguishing Indonesia's forest fires...

Can Indonesia's forest fires be put out for good?
Mon, 14 Mar 2016 - Indonesia's so-called fire season last year was one of the worst on record, but the fires are back and burning out of control with a state of emergency already declared in one province.

Between about June and October, more than 100,000 fires burned down millions of hectares of fragile forest lands. There were human and animal fatalities, and the economic damage was estimated to be more than $15bn (£10bn). For more than 20 years these fires have been an annual occurrence, as farmers and agricultural companies clear Indonesia's forests and carbon-rich peatlands to make way for pulpwood, palm oil and rubber plantations, or for smaller scale subsistence farming. But the fires have been getting gradually worse. Last year, the fires were so bad, that parts of Indonesia, together with cities across South East Asia, were blanketed in a thick toxic haze for weeks at a time.

Half a million people were hospitalised due to the haze, and it was estimated that in those five months about 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon - roughly equivalent to what Brazil produces in a year - had been released into the atmosphere. Indonesia promised that it would do more to prevent the fires from returning in 2016. But the fires are back already - and now burning out of control. A state of emergency has been declared in the western province of Riau, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and the army and police have been called in to try to fight the blazes. So what more can the Indonesian government do?

What is causing the fires?

Indonesia's government owns the majority of the country's forest land. It provides grants or concessions to small scale farmers and to large companies. In the 1980s burning forest areas to clear land for agriculture was sanctioned by the government, and today Indonesia has the highest rate of deforestation in the world. For the last two decades, however, it has been against the law to clear more than two hectares of land each year, and using slash-and-burn methods for clearing is illegal. But large companies have been accused of paying off small farmers for the use of their concession land - sometimes with just cigarettes and clothes - and then asking those small farmers to clear it for them.

What is 'slash-and-burn'?

 

[waltky]

Slash-and-burn farming is a sin, says Indonesia's highest Islamic authority...

Forest-burning is a sin, says Indonesian fatwa
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 - Indonesia's highest Islamic authority says it is a sin for people to set fire to forests to clear the land for growing crops.

Illegal slash-and-burn farming has devastated large areas of Indonesia and causes air pollution which affects countries around the region. Indonesia has repeatedly been accused of not doing enough to stop it.

Firefighters tackle a forest fire in Riau province, Indonesia​

Government officials said they hoped the moral impact of the fatwa would help reinforce laws against it. At a joint conference in Jakarta, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Indonesian environment ministry said they were in talks about how to enforce it.

Hayu Prabowo, head of environmental protection at MUI, said most of the forest burning was done by companies, but declaring it haram - forbidden by Islamic law - should make the public feel empowered to stand up to them. "This fatwa will make religious leaders and the general public who in the past didn't care, care and start to take responsibility to end forest burning in their area," he said.

Forest-burning is a sin, says Indonesian fatwa - BBC News

 

[Brambo]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

America supports the military order...how will these people fight back against America?

You imperialist piece of human defecation.

 

[skookerasbil]

Holy crap..........I cant believe some of the shit I read in this place.

The whole human racism shit brought on by environmental events.

Ummm..........those people need to grow some balls. Take their own government back.......yes it will be costly and deadly. It is the way the world works and has always worked.

Throwing in the towel is ghey.........freedom costs...............a lot. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it. It will come to this country ( America ) too in time when we end up choosing up sides. That's the way it is and the way it will always be. Only the idiot intellectuals think otherwise.

America supports the military order...how will these people fight back against America?

You imperialist piece of human defecation.

But taking bows s0n.......because my side is winning HUGE!!!

 

[Manonthestreet]

We have to destroy the planet to save it mentality brought to you by libs