The past couple of weeks have brought an unusual bout of coverage of politics in Myanmar. But now the killing has started publicly. Unfortunately we will do nothing. Myanmar has suffered under a brutal military regime that has been propped up by oil deals with western companies and countries while it enslaves and tortures peaceful …
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Iran’s defiance of the security council might motivate arms reduction …?
Iran’s defiance of security council resolutions (declared again this week by President Ahmadinejad at the UN general assembly) is discomfiting, but not unreasonable. Iran’s stubbornness is fueled by the autocratic approach of the security council and its members, particularly the US. Iran’s testament that the security council should lead by example is more appropriate than …
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Global CSR review by EIRIS
EIRIS‘ new report “The State of Responsible Business” details growing corporate responsibility in businesses worldwide. The study, “The State of Responsible Business: Global corporate response to environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges” casts a wide net, offering an overview of current corporate responsibility. It also points out trends in corporate responsibility. Generally, more and more …
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Further indictment of US oil industry corruption
The US love of energy has been supported by subsidies and protection of the oil industry. Last month the administration took a step to reducing those subsidies in a new energy bill. And now a report confirms the collusion and apathy among regulators and the industry. A report has unsurprisingly declared that the Interior Department’s …
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Let poor children suffer
Despite the rhetoric being bandied about by Presidential candidates Bush has threatened to veto additional federal funding for a the State Children’s Health Insurance Program which insures children from low-income families. Another sad sign of where the current administration’s priorities are. Our hope for enlightened leadership from the global superpower dims a bit more.
Should the state be on death row
The US Supreme Court agreed to reevaluate execution by lethal injection just as Texas was preparing for its 27th execution this year on 27 September. This article summarised the recent trend. But reading it made it clear that there is a self-evident inequity in capital punishment in an advanced nation. It seems that the proportion …
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Invest in Kenya: Focus Kisumu
A new African investment guide, Invest in Kenya: Focus Kisumu, was launched by the Millennium Cities Initiative and the Columbia Program on International Investment in Nairobi on September 26. MCI’s first investor’s guide focuses on Kisumu, the first city named a Millennium City. Kisumu, located on Lake Victoria, is Kenya’s third largest city and an …
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Carbon auction on regulated exchange
The first carbon auction held on a regulated exchange just concluded in Brazil. 800,000 tonnes of carbon rights were sold by the City of Sao Paolo which is earning them from power generation from methane released by a massive urban landfill. The winning bidder, Fortis a European bank, paid € 13 million or about € …
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Gender pay gap increasing again as corporates opt for convenience.
In the UK at least, the gender pay gap among managers has widened for the first time in 11 years. The Chartered Management Institute disclosed in early September that women, from trainees to chief executives, have failed to keep pace with the rise in male earnings. In a survey of more than 42,000 managers in …
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Hacking government IT systems – the next level of war.
There are increasing media reports of the vulnerability of government IT systems to hackers. While much of the media attention has been to Chinese attacks on systems at the US Pentagon, UK government and German government, we should not be deluded into thinking that this is a one way street. US, UK and German forces …
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