The 2009 Global Peace Index is out, and NZ leads the world!
The top ten is:
Interesting how many of these top ten have violent pasts – Austria and Japan, and Slovenia more recently.
The bottom 10 are:
More… ➡
Sea levels could rise faster along the U.S. East Coast than in any other densely populated part of the world, new research shows, as changes in ice caps and ocean currents push water toward a shoreline inlaid with cities, resort boardwalks and gem-rare habitats.
Three studies this year, including one out last month, have made newly worrisome forecasts about life along the Atlantic over the next century. While the rest of the world might see seven to 23 inches of sea-level rise by 2100, the studies show this region might get that and more — 17 to 25 inches more — for a total increase that would submerge a beach chair.
More… ➡
We hit 103 F in Seattle today which beat the old record, I think by 7 degrees. Here where we live, about 35 miles inland and to the north, we hit 107 F.
And all of this after Seattle had one of the worst winters in recorded history.
I know, I know, one Swallow doesn’t make a spring.   But, this stuff should make folks think.
A plague of tree-killing beetles which swept across British Columbia is threatening to spread to the US.
The mountain pine beetle has killed more than half of all lodge pole pine in the province and is now active in neighbouring Alberta.
Cold winters usually kill off the beetle larvae, but the region has been warmer than usual in recent years.
Scientists say the beetle could attack and kill jack pines, which are found throughout North America.
More… ➡
CANBERRA – A widening of the world’s tropical belt that will turn Sydney’s climate into that of Brisbane will hammer Aboriginal communities and the poor nations of Asia and the Pacific, new studies warn.
The studies say there is already evidence that the tropics are moving further north and south in a trend that will also extend the range of sub-tropical climates, drying out present fertile regions with devastating effects on health and food production.
James Cook University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sandra Harding said tropical climates had already moved more than six degrees of latitude beyond the traditional confines of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and were continuing to expand.
About half the world’s population, including most of its poorest and least educated, lived in tropical climates that were also home to 80 per cent of plant and animal species, and which generated about 20 per cent of the planet’s wealth.
“It is in the tropics where we have new and dangerous diseases evolving and spreading,” Harding said.
“According to genetic studies, about 80 per cent of infectious diseases arise in the tropics, with many new illnesses resulting from viruses that jump from animals to humans.
More… ➡
CAIRO – Sudanese police arrested 13 women in a raid on a cafe and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers in violation of the country’s strict Islamic law, one of those arrested said.
The 13 women were at a cafe in the capital, Khartoum, when they were detained by officers from the public order police, which enforces the implementation of Sharia law in public places.
The force, which is similar to the Saudi religious police, randomly enforces an alcohol ban and often scolds young men and women mingling in public.
One of those arrested on Friday, journalist Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which can be punishable by up to 40 lashes.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Hussein said.
Islamic Sharia law has been strictly implemented in Sudan since the ruling party came to power in a 1989 military coup.
More… ➡
When it rains, it pours
The various things going on in my life; my New Zealand immigration, my pending divorce and my prostate cancer treatment are all tracking along in their slow ways.  As much as I’d like all of this to hurry up and come to some resolution so I can regroup and move on after the dust settles, it just isn’t going to happen any sooner than it is going to happen.
The divorce could be dropped, or it could finish as soon as the first week in October or it could drag on.  Time will tell.
The Prostate surgery is currently scheduled to happen on September 1st (or sooner, if I can grab a cancellation).  I’m going to go with a high-tech approach which you can read about here, if you are curious.
I currently am holding a ticket to New Zealand that has me flying out of LAX headed south on November 25th.
In the mean time, the world continues in its uneven progress and, in spite of the fact that I haven’t been Blogging on-topic since July 1st, I’ve still been reading the news via my RSS news Aggregator and setting aside appropriate articles for the theme of this Blog.
So, I’m going to resume posting stuff.  Maybe, it’ll keep me busy and help speed me through the rest of this stuff.
Don’t misunderstand the graphic, above. I do feel like a bit of a lightening rod these days but I am not feeling sorry for myself.  All this stuff has purpose and meaning and it is mine alone to figure out what it is.
Cheers, my friends.
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has
not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
I am making such material available in my effort to advance
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted
material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for
purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.