[Laughs_Last]

Chicken-bombing will only prompt a weaponized foodstuffs escalation. Britain has already been experimenting with dropping turkeys on people's heads as part of project "Bean".

[kublikhan]

Ethiopia started to divert the flow of the Blue Nile river to construct a giant dam on Tuesday, according to its state media, in a move that could impact the Nile-dependent Egypt.

Downstream nations Egypt and Sudan have objected to the construction, saying it violates a colonial-era agreement which gives Egypt nearly 70 percent of Nile River waters. Egypt says its population of 90 million is among the largest in Africa and that unlike other Nile Basin countries, it does not have readily available alternative water sources.

Ethiopia says the dam will not affect Egypt and that the 1959 agreement ignores the needs of five upriver countries. Some 84 percent of the water from the world's longest river originates in Ethiopia.

Egypt's presidency said Tuesday that it is awaiting a report by the Tripartite Nile Basin Committee, comprised of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, to determine its next steps. President Mohammed Morsi's spokesman downplayed concerns from the move, saying it will not have a negative impact the amount of Nile water reaching Egypt.

Ethiopia diverts flow of Blue Nile, fears in Egypt

[rollin]

With less than 0.1 acre of arable land per person and only one source of water, I can understand Egyptians being anxious about changes to their water source. Egypt is not in a good position being the final fresh water user, surrounded by desert and salt water.

[dinopello]

This map, if accurate shows a lot of Dams. But, Egypt is definately in the vulnerable position with water.

Nile Basin

[Plantagenet]

The rain that falls on Ethiopia belongs to Ethiopia.

Its not unreasonable for Ethiopia to dam the Nile to retain their own rain water. Its not like they are asking Egpyt to ship any of Egypt's rain water to them.

[KingM]

The rain that falls on Ethiopia belongs to Ethiopia.

Its not unreasonable for Ethiopia to dam the Nile to retain their own rain water. Its not like they are asking Egpyt to ship any of Egypt's rain water to them.

Which of course would destroy an entire nation if they did so.

[Plantagenet]

The rain that falls on Ethiopia belongs to Ethiopia.

Its not unreasonable for Ethiopia to dam the Nile to retain their own rain water. Its not like they are asking Egypt to ship any of Egypt's rain water to them.

Which of course would destroy an entire nation if they did so.

??

The greatest danger to Egypt is the continued growth of its own population.

Egypt already has to import about 40% of its food, while simultaneously relying on huge amounts of foreign aid from the US and other countries to pay for the food. Egypt's population also continues to grow rapidly even though Egypt already can't feed its own people.

Egypt would be well served to take steps to increase the use of birth control in order to reduce their population to a size that the country can actually support. Its just poor policy for Egypt to become ever more reliant on food imports they can't afford, foreign aid they may not receive much longer, and water from Ethiopia that isn't their water.


Ancient Egyptians practiced birth control--now modern Egypt needs to reduce their population size

[kublikhan]

Egyptian officials tried to cool tensions with Ethiopia Wednesday over the new Nile River dam project by highlighting its “neighborliness” as the Ethiopian prime minister’s spokesman insisted that nothing would stop the dam from being completed upstream from Egypt, which is wholly dependent on Nile River water.

Since Ethiopia announced it was going to build the dam in March 2011, it has insisted the water flow to Sudan and Egypt will not be affected. It has initiated a tripartite Egypt-Sudan-Ethiopia experts panel to study the impact of the dam. The 10-man panel, which includes four international experts, submitted its report to the countries last weekend. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water and Energy said the report concluded the dam “will not significantly affect” either Sudan or Egypt.

Egyptian political leaders on Monday met Morsi to discuss the report. Apparently unaware their discussion was being televised live, some of them proposed hostile acts including aiding rebels inside Ethiopia and destroying the dam itself. Ethiopian officials long have accused Egypt of backing anti-government rebels in Ethiopia. The live transmission of the politicians’ comments has kicked off an uproar in Egypt’s independent media, with many government critics saying that carrying the meeting live on TV has shown the extent of Morsi’s mismanagement of a national security issue.

Ethiopia official labels Egyptian attack proposals over new Nile River dam day dreaming

[Newfie]

Not surprising.

This is how the beginning of the end accelerates.

India vs Pakistan

Farmers vs cities in our own SW.

We vs us.....would you rather drink or eat?

No good answers.

To me this is even more obvious than global warming, and yet denied even more strongly. Sad, just sad.

[ROCKMAN]

Newfie – “…it has insisted the water flow to Sudan and Egypt will not be affected”. I suppose this is the best they could come up. If they just capture the water and don’t draw on it during the dry season then that statement might be reasonable. OTOH how would they justify the expense just to make a pretty lake. If the water is diverted to Ethiopian ag projects then obviously the net water downstream has to decrease. Just part of the inevitable struggle for all resources some have predicted for decades. It's not as if this is the first time resource control has played a role in a developing crisis. When the US restricted oil imports to Japan that wasn’t necessarily a direct cause of the war in the Pacific. But most historians credit that move with empowering that Japanese military with increased influence over the civilian govt. Difficult to not imagine a similar dynamic in the ME given how rather unstable politics are already in the region. Lots of well armed and unemployed angry young men in those parts.

[dolanbaker]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26222674
The co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines plane flying from Addis Ababa to Rome has been arrested after hijacking the aircraft and flying it to Switzerland.

The hijacker, identified by officials as Hailemedehin Abera Tagegn, waited for the pilot to go to the toilet before locking himself in the cockpit.

He was unarmed and, after landing at Geneva airport, said he was requesting asylum in Switzerland.

The airline said all 202 passengers and crew were safe.

OK, so how do you protect the aircraft if one of the pilots decides to mutiny?

[rollin]

That is sort of different, sounds illegal though. Couldn't he think of a better way to leave the country?

[dolanbaker]

That is sort of different, sounds illegal though. Couldn't he think of a better way to leave the country?

Flying out in the company jet must be one of the best ways to leave the country.

[Poordogabone]

It was a Boeing 767, Not easy to land one of those big bird on your own.
Probably an outstanding pilot, just gave up his flying career for freedom.
Ironically he is locked up right now.