The Huffington Post recently published photos and information about the 9 most polluted places.  Check out their site to view all of the images: Huff Post/Polluted Places

1. Linfen, China – According to The Daily Green, if one puts laundry out to dry, it will turn black before finishing drying. Located in China’s coal belt, spending one day in Linfen is equivalent to smoking three packs of cigarettes.

2. Los Angeles, United States - Los Angeles is the city with the most ozone pollution in the United States.  The local Air Resources Board estimates that air pollution causes 9,200 premature deaths per year in California.

3.  Niger Delta, Nigeria -  Nine to thirteen million barrels of oil have been spilled into the third largest wetland on the planet. Due to continuously ruptured pipelines and the presence of oil contaminates, the Delta’s mangroves, rivers, and wildlife are perpetually damaged.

4.  Greater London, United Kingdom – Greater London has experienced some of the worst air pollution worldwide as a result of car, factory, agriculture and house pollution. The life expectancy of Britons has been reduced by nine years due to air pollution.

5. Dzerzhinsk, Russia - Between 1930 and 1998, Dzerzhinsk was the dumping site for 300,000 tons of improperly disposed of chemical waste.  In 2003, the city’s death rate surpassed its birth rate by 260 percent.

6. Greater Phoenix, United States - The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area is 2010′s worst place in the United States for year round particle pollution, a mix of dust, soot and aerosols.

7. Bandung, Indonesia – Citarum, Indonesia hosts the most polluted river on the planet, the Citarum River. With nearly 5 million residents living near the river, Citarum is a main water source.

8. La Oroya, Peru – Over 35,000 of the residents have been affected by lead, zinc, copper and sulfur dioxide pollution from the company’s metal mining and processing. According to Time, 99 percent of the mining town’s children have blood levels that surpass suitable limits of exposure.

9. Lake Karachay, Russia - This region is considered to be the most polluted location on Planet Earth. This Russian nuclear weapon production site turned Soviet Union nuclear dumping location has 120 million curies of radioactivity. The radiation has infiltrated the region’s groundwater supply.

A sculpture made out of bicycles is seen at the Gdansk Shipyard during the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Solidarity movement in Gdansk , Poland, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010. Bicycles were the most common mode of transportation for shipyard workers.

Gary Locke the Commerce secretary did meet this week with several country music musicians and other music industry representatives in Nashville to talk about what the Obama administration is doing to stop music piracy.

During a speech at Belmont University Locke quoted Vice President Biden’s previous statements on piracy, calling it “flat, unadulterated theft” that should be dealt with seriously.

The administration this year established an Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator that is pulling together the various government efforts focused on piracy and intellectual property issues.

One internet blogger, in disagreement with Locke’s stance said: “Piracy is not theft. The act of theft by its very definition implies the taking of property without consent and with intent to deprive the owner of its use. Copying a song over P2P does not remove the original, no one is deprived, and it is done with consent of the owner of the file. Filesharing is no different from making someone a mixtape. Just because the actions are on a larger scale and take place on the Internet do not mean it is theft.”

These are always good for a laugh…
Subject: Re: Unauthorized Use of DreamWorks SKG Properties

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 KMWLAW@flash.net wrote:

> Dennis L. Wilson, Esq.
> KEATS McFARLAND & WILSON, LLP
> 9720 Wilshire Blvd., Penthouse Suite
> Beverly Hills, CA 90212
>
> August 23, 2004
> ThePirateBay.org
> Box 1206
> Stockholm 11479
> SWEDEN
>
> Re: Unauthorized Use of DreamWorks SKG Properties
>
> To Whom It May Concern:
>
> This letter is being written to you on behalf of our
> client, DreamWorks SKG (hereinafter ^ÓDreamWorks^Ô).
> DreamWorks is the exclusive owner of all copyright,
> trademark and other intellectual property rights in
> and to the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô motion picture. No one is
> authorized to copy, reproduce, distribute, or
> otherwise use the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô motion picture without
> the express written permission of DreamWorks.
[...]
> As you may be aware, Internet Service Providers can
> be held liable if they do not respond to claims of
> infringement pursuant to the requirements of the
> Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In
> accordance with the DMCA, we request your assistance
> in the removal of infringements of the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô
> motion picture from this web site and any other sites
> for which you act as an Internet Service Provider.
> We further declare under penalty of perjury that we
> are authorized to act on behalf of DreamWorks and
> that the information in this letter is accurate.
> Please contact me immediately to discuss this matter
> further.

As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a state in the United States
of America. Sweden is a country in northern Europe.
Unless you figured it out by now, US law does not apply here.
For your information, no Swedish law is being violated.

Please be assured that any further contact with us, regardless of medium,
will result in
a) a suit being filed for harassment
b) a formal complaint lodged with the bar of your legal counsel, for
sending frivolous legal threats.

It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are ……. morons, and
that you should please go sodomize yourself with retractable batons.

Please also note that your e-mail and letter will be published in full on
http://www.thepiratebay.org.

Go fuck yourself.

Polite as usual,
anakata”