- A teacher living in Somalia, amid the fighting and chaos, corresponds with an American journalist via email, conveying what he sees.
- Experts say there could be 200 million climate refugees (people displaced by changes in their environment caused by global warming) by 2050. The UN’s General Assembly is expected to draw up a resolution connecting this to peace and security.
- Interesting story of two men: one who was quite successful at publishing in the New York Times’ letters section; the other not so much.
- “Climate change is disproportionately affecting the poor and minorities in the United States”
- What the way you hold your glass says about you. I'm apparantly "The Jack the Lad".
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Round-up
- The UK director of Amnesty International penned a primer on how the global economic downturn is undermining the human rights of the world’s poor. 150 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty (income of $2 a day) during 2008, because of increased food and fuel prices. Poverty and food shortages have led many to protest, which in turn has prompted their governments to respond with violent suppression. And governments have neglected human rights, focusing instead on the recession, financial negotiations, and bailouts.
- Two writers from the progressive periodical, The Nation, argue that Obama and his administration must strike now – while the Democrats have control over the House; Obama has his mandate; and the general spirit of the American public longs for reform. The writers call on Obama to be less inclined to compromise with Republicans who would like to dilute proposed reforms, and instead push hard for progressive changes to education, energy, and health care.
- Nicholas Kristof discusses the differences between Liberals and Conservatives – temperamentally speaking. Liberals are more likely to slap their fathers, assuming he’s given them permission. And Conservatives are more likely to feel disgusted to find they had inadvertently sipped from a friend’s cup. Kristof then calls for greater understanding and harmonization between the two mutually antagonistic types.
- Some video games are actually good for us. They promote social qualities like cooperation and empathy for others.
- 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war. This number is about 3 times higher than the official record claims. Reports also show they were killed primarily by the Sri Lankan army – not the Tamil Tigers.
- Two writers from the progressive periodical, The Nation, argue that Obama and his administration must strike now – while the Democrats have control over the House; Obama has his mandate; and the general spirit of the American public longs for reform. The writers call on Obama to be less inclined to compromise with Republicans who would like to dilute proposed reforms, and instead push hard for progressive changes to education, energy, and health care.
- Nicholas Kristof discusses the differences between Liberals and Conservatives – temperamentally speaking. Liberals are more likely to slap their fathers, assuming he’s given them permission. And Conservatives are more likely to feel disgusted to find they had inadvertently sipped from a friend’s cup. Kristof then calls for greater understanding and harmonization between the two mutually antagonistic types.
- Some video games are actually good for us. They promote social qualities like cooperation and empathy for others.
- 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed during the last months of the Sri Lankan civil war. This number is about 3 times higher than the official record claims. Reports also show they were killed primarily by the Sri Lankan army – not the Tamil Tigers.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Round-up
- A tropical storm has displaced millions in India and Bangladesh. For those that will return home, they’ll most likely find their crops ruined, their homes destroyed, and their farm animals killed.
- Woody Allen, Larry David, the dying of Jewish humor. Fun feature story.
- “Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist, said yesterday that making roofs and pavements white or light-coloured would help to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space. It would, he said, be the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world off the road for 11 years.”
- Many of the minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold) in your cell phone and in your laptop, among other electronics, were extracted from the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The war in that central African nation has now left armed militias free to take control of the trade in these “conflict minerals”, making us indirectly complicit in a host of abuses.
- The African Union has recommended the United Nations Security Council impose sanctions on Eritrea for supporting Somali insurgents.
- Woody Allen, Larry David, the dying of Jewish humor. Fun feature story.
- “Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist, said yesterday that making roofs and pavements white or light-coloured would help to reduce global warming by both conserving energy and reflecting sunlight back into space. It would, he said, be the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world off the road for 11 years.”
- Many of the minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold) in your cell phone and in your laptop, among other electronics, were extracted from the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The war in that central African nation has now left armed militias free to take control of the trade in these “conflict minerals”, making us indirectly complicit in a host of abuses.
- The African Union has recommended the United Nations Security Council impose sanctions on Eritrea for supporting Somali insurgents.
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