h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Folks, me again!

I posted a little while ago about the Rainforest site - now I'm on about clicking on another site.

Go to water link on My Space and click. It's sponsored by Thames Water who have a target of 4,000,000 (that's four million) clicks by June 2002; reach the target and they will give £50,000 to WaterAid. That will buy 500 toolkits that will dig wells to give over 4,600 people in Africa and Asia safe, clean drinking water for life.

They have already had 2,343,395 clicks since December 1st so they are more that half-way there. Get clicking - and 360, this could be worth a follow-up with one of your Microlights!

And, while I'm at it, [URL removed by moderator] is worth visiting, too. Click and you feed someone hungry.

Was that link for the hunger site dot com ?

I'm posting this here, as well as in the New York section, as I believe it is immensely important and it should be kept out in the open.

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Earlier this month the Environmental Protection Agency , backed by the current Bush administration, ordered GE to clean up the effects on the Hudson River caused by the dumping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls (the dumping of PCBs became illegal in 1977). The cost of this undertaking is estimated to be about five-hundred million dollars by means of dredging the bottom of the river. The cleanup covers a stretch of river over forty miles long, and the results of the cleanup will mean, of course, purer water, as well as healthy wildlife. PCBs, it should be mentioned, are carcinogens.

The cleanup may take several years until it is completed.

It should be mentioned that this decision came after years of lobbying from the EPA (and other concerned groups) and GE, resulting in many cases in a media blitz from both parties; the EPA playing off of the health risks as well as the environmental risks, GE playing off the insecurites of people, mainly how their lives will be disrupted in the resulting cleanup (more industrial/constructural activity, disrupted daily lives), as well as bringing up the fact that PCB levels slowly deplete by themselves over a period of years (this is true, however the rate is not quick enough when measured against the current level of PCBs found in the water).

GE is expected to fight this decision....