Still a primitive world – AI report on human rights 2008

Amnesty International released their annual report on human rights.  It continues to paint a stark picture of humanity.  Violence is the culture of too many places, and of too many rich countries.  With the richest countries still failing to respect human life, despite teh intellect and wealth available to nurture, it remains a dream that …
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The mood has changed, time to face reality.

Its not just people in the street that are starting to feel the pinch.  Official data says it too – so it must be true. We’ve noticed price increases in many areas (except housing).  Certainly petrol and other oils are up by at least 10% this year so far.  And food prices seem to have …
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Natural power!

More than 55,000 people are known to have died in the earthquake that struck south-west China on 12 May, according to the vice-governor of Sichuan province. The earth quake in China has displaced more people (over 5 million) than the population of Ireland (where I live) and created new land features. These satellite pictures from …
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Making jails part of the community

The Urban Institute’s recent work on jails and recidivism in the US shows that integrating jails with other community life reduces the liklihood of reoffending and lowers the costs of incaceration. This report from the Futurist: Local jails in the United States handle 9 million individuals a year, far more than state and federal prisons …
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Watching life disintegrate – species extinction.

Another depressing report about humanity’s greedy footprint: Wildlife Populations Plummeting. The Zoological Society reports continuing (accelerating) species extinction on land and in water. Between a quarter and a third of the world’s wildlife has been lost since 1970. Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%. Humans are wiping …
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End of credit crunch …?

US Treasury Secretary thinks that it is the “end of the credit crunch“. It is likely that he said “peak” rather than “end”, or meant that anyway. And take that message with caution: yes this may be the peak of the unwinding of the US sub-prime mortgage mess, but unwinding will continue till year end. …
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