In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading has concluded a three year investigation by bringing charges against the main supermarkets for price fixing with dairy producers, naming Asda, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as dairy processors Arla, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, The Cheese Company and Wiseman. They claim consumers were defrauded of …
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Category:7 Holonics and Life
Catholics go green
At last the Pope has jumped on nature’s band-wagon. In early September, Pope Benedict joined about 300,000 young Roman Catholics for an eco-friendly festival at the shrine of Loreto, in Italy. Wearing green vestments, the pontiff told the crowd it was up to them to save the planet from development which often upset “nature’s delicate …
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Embrace Islam
What a good idea! It sounds strange given the geopolitical tension around the world. But embracing Islam would be a whole lot more productive than condemning it. Now, being atheist, I’m not advocating religion. Rather, I’m suggesting that a positive attitude that embraces people would have better results than a divisive and condemning one that …
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Starchy veg, not meat, is the key to human’s brain development
Recent genetic studies reported in Nature Genetics suggest that human’s ability to digest starchy foods, like the potato, may explain our success on the planet. Compared with primates, humans carry extra copies of a gene, called AMY1, which is essential for making the salivary enzyme amylase that digests calorie-rich starches. The University of California …
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Children’s play is critical to development
In the UK a group of experts wrote an open letter to the Daily Telegraph warning that overprotection of children is injurious to their health. Signatures to the letter were gathered by Sue Palmer, author of the book Toxic Childhood, and Dr Richard House, a senior lecturer in psychotherapy at Roehampton University. 300 signatories include …
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China also turning away from the death penalty
China’s Supreme Court has ordered judges to be more sparing in the imposition of the death penalty, ordering that execution should be reserved for “an extremely small number of serious offenders”. The Supreme Court said murders triggered by family disputes should not always result in the death penalty and the death penalty should be withheld …
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UK gambling down despite online options
Surprising data from the UK’s Gambling Commission shows that the internet and other new forms of gambling have not led to an increase in gambling since 1999. In fact, due to a drop in the National Lottery sales, the numbers of people gambling fell from 72% in 1999 to 68%. The Gambling Prevalence Study questioned …
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Cronyism still (unfortunately) more important than ability
In the UK, the Sutton Trust charity analysed admissions from 2002-06, and has concluded that state school pupils are losing out. The trust found the number of pupils at the top 30 comprehensives who went to Oxbridge was just a third of what might be expected if based on ability; while at the top 30 …
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Building a holonic workplace
This GreenBiz article outlines in a few paragraphs the dimensions of creating a sustainable workplace. A succinct thought-piece on social and environmental considerations internal and external to the workplace.
Vatican’s relationship with China thaws
The rapprochement between China and the Vatican continued in September as the appointment of a bishop by China’s Patriotic Church (catholic) was tacitly approved by the Vatican. Pope Benedict previously initiated reconstruction of the relationship by writing to the Patriotic Church. China severed ties with the Vatican in 1951, angry at the Vatican’s recognition of …
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