What do Somali Pirates and Autism have to do with each other

[Guest guest]

You all remember the stories of Somalis in the US developing autism?

Somalia has been a dumping ground for european nuclear waste for years. Hundreds

have died - we dont hear about it. This waste, full of heavy metals has actually

been found strewn on Somali beaches.

BINGO - Somali children in the US (refugees) developing autism - no brainer.

Dont hear about this in the news though.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/what-international-media-isnt-telling

What The International Media Aren't Telling You About Somalia Pirates

By Susie Madrak Sunday Apr 12, 2009 6:30am Johann Hari from The Independent:

In 1991, the government of Somalia collapsed. Its nine million people have been

teetering on starvation ever since – and the ugliest forces in the Western world

have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and

dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European

ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the

ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange

rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of

the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from

radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: " Somebody is dumping

nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and

mercury – you name it. " Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and

factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to " dispose " of

cheaply. When I asked Mr Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing

about it, he said with a sigh: " Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no

compensation, and no prevention. "

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their

greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish stocks by

overexploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m-worth of

tuna, shrimp, and lobster are being stolen every year by illegal trawlers. The

local fishermen are now starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of

Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: " If nothing is done, there soon

won't be much fish left in our coastal waters. "

This is the context in which the " pirates " have emerged. Somalian fishermen took

speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least levy a " tax "

on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia – and ordinary

Somalis agree. The independent Somalian news site WardheerNews found 70 per cent

" strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence " .

No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just

gangsters – especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But

in a telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali: " We don't

consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who

illegally fish and dump in our seas. " would understand.

Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling

in our toxic waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in

London and Paris and Rome? We won't act on those crimes – the only sane solution

to this problem – but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the

transit-corridor for 20 per cent of the world's oil supply, we swiftly send in

the gunboats.

You can read the United Nations report here.

I wonder which principled member of our corporate media will point out that, in

the big picture, the Somali pirates are acting in self-defense?

http://cbs13.com/health/somali.community.autism.2.780617.html

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (CBS) ¯

For refugees, Minneapolis offered a place to start a new life, a new business,

or a new family.

" Many things attracted Somalis to Minnesota to stay. Good health cover and good

education, " said Huda Farah.

Farah works on refugee resettlement with the Minnesota Department of Health.

It's through her work that she's noticed something troubling within her

community.

" We're seeing (an) increased number in autism, " she said.

Reporter Amelia Santaniello asked her, " Is there autism in Somalia? "

" Not many, not many, " replied Farah.

The Minneapolis School District is seeing a higher than expected rate of autism

in its early childhood special education classrooms too.

" It's so glaring here in Minneapolis, I couldn't not see it, " said Anne

Harrington.

Harrington has been identifying kids on the autism spectrum for Minneapolis

Schools for over 20 years.

" We have seen a tremendous number of children that are Somali, but born here in

the United States or in Minneapolis who have autism, " she said.

Out of 100 children in the Minneapolis Schools early childhood special education

classroom program for autism, 25 percent of them are Somali. The district as a

whole has only about 6 percent of students who speak or hear Somali language at

home.

" They are showing the more severe forms of autism, not the broad spectrum of

autism that we see in our general population, " said Harrington.

Shaimake Osman is one of these kids.

" I knew it (was) something wrong, but I didn't know (what) was wrong. I never

heard anything about 'autistic' or 'autism,' " said his mother, Farah Osman.

Osman said when he was 18 months old, he would bang his head all the time. He

wouldn't sleep. He couldn't talk.

" They tested for school first. In school. Then after that, they said he has

autism. And I never heard, what does that mean, 'autism'? What kind of

sickness? " said Osman, describing when she first received her son's diagnosis.

Perhaps the most troubling is that all of the Somali children the Minneapolis

Schools have identified with autism were born here in Minneapolis, like

Shaimake. The district doesn't have a single child born in Somalia who

immigrated here receiving special education services for the disorder.

" I believe (it) is vaccination, " said Osman when asked what she thinks is the

reason for her son's autism.

" In rural Somalia, there's no immunizations, " said Farah.

She said parents like Osman in the Somali community all have questions about

immunizations. She said they worry not only about the vaccinations their kids

receive, but about the immunizations they themselves received before entering

the U.S.

" When Somali parents come from the refugee camps, some of them get immunizations

within those camps regardless of whether it's in Ethiopia or Kenya or other

countries, " said Farah.

She added that because of poor recordkeeping in those camps, some Somalis

receive the same vaccinations three and four times.

" That's very worrisome. We need to find out what's going on, " said Farah.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control said that research so far

has shown no link between vaccinations and autism, but a number of studies are

still underway.

Doctors in Sweden are calling for research on another possible cause of autism

that could hold answers for the Somali community in Minnesota. Sweden has a high

incidence rate of autism in its Somali children as well.

Doctors there are wondering if, for Somali people, a lack of sunlight in the

winter, the widespread use of sunscreen, and efforts to avoid sun exposure are

resulting in too little vitamin D being absorbed through their dark skin.

They theorize that a lack of vitamin D, possibly in conjunction with genetic or

environmental factors, could be a cause of the disorder. They're calling for an

official study.

" I think it's something that is interesting and should be pursued through

research, " said Judy Punyko, a maternal and child health epidemiologist for the

Minnesota Department of Health. She said we're not currently set up to do that

kind of research here.

" We are attempting to develop a data system that will collect data that is

reliable and valid so that we can identify cases and track them over time, " she

said.

The Department of Health is just in the beginning stages of setting up that

system, but in response to the high Somali autism rates reported in Minneapolis,

the Department has formed a small study group made up of school representatives,

epidemiologists and U of M medical experts to look at possible causes.

" It's very concerning. It's astounding to hear the numbers are so large, " said

Punyko.

For now, the questions in the subset of our community continue.