The UN has warned against the dangers of too much data and too much surveillance. In a report, the UN body said more needed to be done to ensure that surveillance was balanced against its harm to personal privacy, noting that: mass retention of data to aid surveillance was “neither necessary nor proportionate”. “disturbingly little” …
Continue reading Even big brother thinks big brother can be dangerous.
Category:Living
A world without growth – IMF.
Well that doesn’t seem natural because the plants grow every year and add to the planet’s biomass. When the IMF talks about no economic growth for years, it should raise concern. The head of the IMF talks technically about inflation and capacity but irrespective of accounting, laws and economics, the natural resources of the planet …
Continue reading A world without growth – IMF.
Sad but true: Violence against females is pervasive.
A broad based survey indicates that 1/3 of women in the EU are affected by violence. That should surprise you, but if you’re female, maybe it doesn’t. Clearly unfair prejudices still dominate modern, rich cultures. For example, it is saddening to still see and hear behaviour which puts down women. Clearly there are economic differences …
Continue reading Sad but true: Violence against females is pervasive.
There’s nothing wrong with hard work, unless …
Working hard is fine, and many people have to work hard just to get by, but whether it’s by choice or necessity when it makes you sick, stressed, stupid, off-balance and disengaged, the balance is wrong. The Washington Post offers 5 reasons why you shouldn’t work too hard, at least from an American perspective. What …
Continue reading There’s nothing wrong with hard work, unless …
A minimum wage stimulates the economy?
I’ve always been against the hand of the state in private decisions and forcing a minimum wage is one of those interferences which has always grated. However, in a world where technology is raising productivity and reducing the demand for labour there ought to be a popular desire for everyone to have the ability to …
Continue reading A minimum wage stimulates the economy?
Farming in the city.
It’s a cute idea and seems to have much merit. Put a fish farm in a shipping container, plonk a hydroponic greenhouse on top and “hey presto” you have a self-contained, eco-efficient food production system that can sit in a small garden or yard behind your house or urban industrial/commercial building. ECF Farmsystems Containerfarm claims: …
Continue reading Farming in the city.
A “Tidal Wave” of Cancer.
Those are the words used by the World Health Organisation to describe the trajectory of the growth of new cancer cases. They predict a jump from 14 million a year now to 24 million new cases per year by 2035 – about 2.5% growth a year (compounded). That better be faster than the growth of …
Continue reading A “Tidal Wave” of Cancer.
It’s easy to ignore what you put in your mouth.
The Ecologist Guide to Food, written by Andrew Wadsley, is to be published in mid-February. I reckon I know about what I put in my mouth. After all I grow a lot of it in the garden. But I happened to click over to the book promotion page and was reminded how easy it is …
Continue reading It’s easy to ignore what you put in your mouth.
Winning without trying.
Sun Tzu’s philosophy was to avoid conflict if possible. He recognised the waste of resources and the cost of the risk that aggression creates. Many modern managers think that he was all about fighting, but his philosophy was much ore about fighting without fighting, as Bruce Lee said, and if you have to fight, do …
Continue reading Winning without trying.
85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world
That’s a shocking fact. The timing of that headline is appropriate as the rich gather to enjoy the luxuries that Davos, in the Swiss Alps, has to offer the World Economic Forum. Anyone reading this is unlikely to be one of those 85 people, but you are definitely in the top 10%. And everyone at …
Continue reading 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world