New Zealanders recently voted to legalize euthanasia for the October general election ballot paper. The results are binding and the Act will come into effect 22 months from the final results on 6 November 2021. The vote makes New Zealand the seventh country in the world to legalize assisted dying. On the other hand, New …
Continue reading ‘Legalizing assisted dying (but cannabis remains illegal)’ »
When you read about desperate refugees crossing the English Channel in dinghies, do you ever ask yourself why these people left home in the first place? Few give it much thought. To most, migrants seem just a fact of life. But the reality is they’re “the thin edge of the wedge of a vast exodus” …
Continue reading ‘The cataclysm caused by the war on terror’ »
Lisa Montgomery was executed in Indiana last Wednesday morning, becoming the first woman to die under the federal death penalty in nearly seven decades. Her sentence was carried out after the Supreme Court lifted one stay and declined to grant another last-minute request for a delay from her attorneys. The court’s three liberals, Justices Stephen …
Continue reading ‘The disgraceful execution of Lisa Montgomery’ »
In January, the World Economic Forum, backed by US president Donald Trump, announced the One Trillion Trees to plant or protect a trillion trees by 2030, bolstering the estimated 3 trillion that already exist. The scheme joins existing reforestation efforts such as the “Trillion Trees” project launched by conservation groups in 2017. “One Trillion Trees” …
Continue reading ‘What happened to all the tree-planting plans?’ »
( I will not comment on the coup attempt itself- it has had excellent coverage. What interests me is the historical parallels) The last four years (and yesterday was culmination) has shown the underbelly of the nation, what happens when jobs are scarce and insecure, education is dreadful unless you have a lot of money, …
Since 2016, the District of Columbia has spent more than $40 million to settle police misconduct lawsuits, according to the records released by the Office of Attorney General . The records did not include several other settlements for lawsuits which, the police department told the council, cost taxpayers $805,000. About $33 million detailed in the …
I would like to wish every reader a happier and calmer 2021! Meanwhile I am having to note what I think is a dubious start. I refer to the fact, firstly, that the UK has officially left the EU (groan for the future of the grandchildren! The disaster has finally come to pass!). Secondly, some …
This may be of academic interest to many readers, but, for those interested, the following is a quick guide (The full agreement is more than 1,200 pages long; here are some of the key points, a bit long, but what do you expect?) Trade There will be no extra tariffs or limits on the amount …
In the midst of the worst pandemic since 1918, one only growing ever more severe as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths rise precipitously, if you haven’t lost your job or had your hours and wages cut back severely, if you can cover your rent or make your mortgage payments, you may not have noticed …..but more …
Scottish independence: a matter of time? Without rejuvenation, the Union will be gone within ten years. Brexit and Covid have combined to seal its fate. A recent Ipsos Mori poll found the highest ever level of support for independence, with 58% of Scots who have made up their mind saying they would vote Yes, and …
Before the covid epidemic about 3.7 million evictions were filed for every average year. Most poor renter families spent at least half their incomes on housing, and about 1 in 4 of these families spent more than 70%, most of whom are Black (most White families own their own houses). Housing is the main driver …
After nine months of pandemic punishment, could talk of conflict between former EU allies be less helpful? Yet, days before the deadline for a deal on the terms of the EU/UK divorce, Boris Johnson threatened to deploy warships against French fishing boats in the English channel. The gunboat diplomacy is pantomime more than poker. In …
It was a Rand Corporation study showing that, between 1975 and 2018, the equivalent of $2.5 trillion (no, not “billion”!) was transferred annually from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. (In those years, even the 2% to 9%-ers essentially twiddled their financial thumbs.) Such a transfer of wealth, close to $50 trillion, …
The danger posed by America’s militia groups was brought home when the FBI revealed it had thwarted a plot by one to kidnap the Democratic governor of Michigan. These bands of armed vigilantes have become increasingly visible, staging protests and organising street patrols with the purported aim of protecting property. Alarmingly, they claim to have …
America locks away far more people – about 2.1 million – than any other nation. But the pandemic could be what finally caused it to unwind its “signature practice of mass incarceration”. In the spring, the rapid spread of Covid-19 forced officials to take radical steps to reduce prison overcrowding. Inmates were released early; and …
