Its not just people in the street that are starting to feel the pinch. Official data says it too – so it must be true. We’ve noticed price increases in many areas (except housing). Certainly petrol and other oils are up by at least 10% this year so far. And food prices seem to have …
Continue reading The mood has changed, time to face reality.
Natural power!
More than 55,000 people are known to have died in the earthquake that struck south-west China on 12 May, according to the vice-governor of Sichuan province. The earth quake in China has displaced more people (over 5 million) than the population of Ireland (where I live) and created new land features. These satellite pictures from …
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Making jails part of the community
The Urban Institute’s recent work on jails and recidivism in the US shows that integrating jails with other community life reduces the liklihood of reoffending and lowers the costs of incaceration. This report from the Futurist: Local jails in the United States handle 9 million individuals a year, far more than state and federal prisons …
Continue reading Making jails part of the community
Watching life disintegrate – species extinction.
Another depressing report about humanity’s greedy footprint: Wildlife Populations Plummeting. The Zoological Society reports continuing (accelerating) species extinction on land and in water. Between a quarter and a third of the world’s wildlife has been lost since 1970. Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%. Humans are wiping …
Continue reading Watching life disintegrate – species extinction.
What about me?
Check out the trailer and episodes online. Big picture sound and video: What About Me?
Oil price rising at over 100% pa
We noted in April’s BT notes that energy prices are likely to be the daunting news of May, and now look at the report from Goldman Sachs. They think oil prices will hit $200 a barrel within 6 months. Here are the links showing that oil is approaching an all time high in real terms …
Continue reading Oil price rising at over 100% pa
End of credit crunch …?
US Treasury Secretary thinks that it is the “end of the credit crunch“. It is likely that he said “peak” rather than “end”, or meant that anyway. And take that message with caution: yes this may be the peak of the unwinding of the US sub-prime mortgage mess, but unwinding will continue till year end. …
Continue reading End of credit crunch …?
Humanity Ascending
Humanity Ascending is a foundation bringing together enlightened thinking from leaders in the field and primarily sponsored by Barbara Marx Hubbard. The principal product is a movie: The Untold History of Humanity As Seen Through Evolutionary Eyes. Six more films will be released over the next couple of years.
CDP supply chain carbon emmissions
The Carbon Disclosure Project released the findings of its Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration. See the report here and read Social Funds’ review here.
Another Fed rate cut … how low can you go, Ben?
The US Fed cut again from 2.25% to 2%. Now is the time to be reducing rates. But they’ve already come down so much in the past 2-3 quarters, while behaviour of policy makers and fiduciaries remains behind the game. I’m sure Ben would like to have additional room to reduce rates in case stimulation …
Continue reading Another Fed rate cut … how low can you go, Ben?