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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10 most polluted cities
The Blacksmith Institute, a US-based independent environmental group, published its 2007 world’s most polluted places. It reports an estimated 12 million people affected by the severe pollution, which is mainly caused by chemical, metal and mining industries. Chronic illness and premature deaths are side-effects. The annual review, which debuted in 2006, is listed alphabetically, and …
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Carbon footprint your notebook
Those people that run large IT departments can obtain energy estimates and carbon calculations for their infrastructure and potential purchases reasonably easily: they’ve got the budget and the customer power. For those of us running one or two machines, we might not even think of the carbon footprint. But browsing a couple of sites (How …
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US changing policy; will reduce troops in Iraq
Over the past month there has been a definite change in the US administration policy of troop levels in Iraq. The surge is over and political pragmatism underpins troop reductions. On September 13 Bush said that about 30,000 troops might return home by summer 2008 (pre-surge level), starting with 5,700 by Christmas. Then on 14 …
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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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Build your own virtual world
A free tool that allows anyone to create a virtual world has been launched by Metaplace. Users can build 3D online worlds for PCs or even a mobile phone without any knowledge of complex computer languages. Users make the virtual spaces from simple building blocks. The results, which could be used for gaming, socialising or …
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Ahmadinejad can’t visit WTC site
It is a shame that several authorities have refused permission to the President of Iran to visit the site of the World Trade Center to pay respects. Ahmadinejad arrives today to address the UN general assembly. Permission to visit Ground Zero was requested of and refused by the police department, the US Secret Service and …
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UN still won’t recognise Taiwan
The United Nations has once again blocked Taiwan’s quest for membership. A key UN committee rejected a proposal from Taiwan’s allies to put its bid on the agenda of the general assembly, which met in New York in mid-September. This is the 15th consecutive year that Taiwan’s quest for membership of the United Nations has …
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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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US waking up to the reality of Palestine …?
It is surprising to hear US Secretary of State publicly announcing that Palestine must be recognised if peace talks are to make progress. Surprising partly because it is the same person that provided much of the authority for invading Iraq and partly because it is against the wishes of the Israeli propaganda machine which has …
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