Drought in Texas

The Horn of Africa is not the only place in the world to be currently suffering from drought; the central south and central eastern states of the United States have been hit by some of the most severe droughts ever recorded.

Riots: the copycat syndrome

If you have been watching the riots in England from afar then you know as much about them as me. Despite living in London and travelling across parts of London I have not see a brick thrown on anger or any burnt out cars and shops, although they are all very evident from the television [...]

Oil, Ogoni and Shell

Oil damages the environment, not just by the burning of it creating climate change but in other more noticeable ways. Since 1958 oil companies have been extracting oil from the Ogoniland region of Nigeria. This is a flat tropical wetland, where the local population have fished and farmed for centuries, interrupted by events such as [...]

A POOR STANDARD FOR THOSE TOO FRIGHTENED TO DECIDE

The herd instinct is an instinct that drives animals to huddle together for protection. There is safety in umbers but not invariably. However, the very protection that exists in large numbers can also lead to dangerous and foolish behaviour. The herd of buffalo stand still waiting for slaughter after their leader is shot, because he [...]

Phone Hacking – defence and attack

Piers Morgan, a former journalist and editor of the Daily Mirror, wrote in the Daily Mail in 2006 “At one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul (McCartney) had left for Heather (Mills) on her mobile phone”. I shall pause there to look at that statement within the context of the law. [...]

Live for the moment, die for the future

Live for the moment, my child but die for the future. We have to live for the moment, but while living for the moment we must think about the future. The future is a state of time to come; we cannot destroy the future without stopping time itself. The future is our future; the planet [...]

A Crisis of Confidence

The financial crisis which started in 2008, three years ago, has shown many forms; Lehman Brothers failed, major banks failed, credit became very tight even though interest rates became low, the world’s major currencies became less valuable compared with minor currencies and commodities, nations printed money and now all the nations suddenly want to balance [...]

Fish Supper, anyone?

I sometimes eat in a fish and chip restaurant close to my office, which has been selling fish and chips for nearly a hundred years. It is called “the Golden Hind” and is quite famous. The owner of this simple establishment tells me he sometimes gets calls from America from people who want to book [...]

Problems with ground source heat pumps

In some parts of the world there have not been enough ground source heat pumps installed for people to understand their advantages and disadvantages properly. The United Kingdom is such a place; Germany and Switzerland have many more heat pumps systems per capita, and have had them for many years. In those places where there [...]

The Tea Party and Mr Putin Find Common Cause

Many of the present problems surrounding the dollar have been exploited by the Tea Party who have sought a balanced budget and refused to permit any more federal borrowing until the federal government have made concessions on spending without raising taxes. In economics there is much to be said for only spending what you have, [...]