HUMAN DEVELOPMENT – Page 125

USA and Canada2012-11-152023-07-12

US Election: Generals and Their ‘Pen Pals’ Hog the Headlines

By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

Washington DC (IDN) – There’s nothing like a real-life scandal involving a spymaster, who is also a bemedalled and highly regarded retired general, to deprive a big-time political event of major headlines, whether in the print or electronic media.

The scandal turned convolute, and the entire activity considered worthy of even more headlines, when the FBI informed the Pentagon that the retired general’s successor in the army (another general) had exchanged “potentially inappropriate” emails with the woman whose informal complaint to an FBI agent sparked the investigation that initially exposed the scandal.

Climate Change2012-11-062023-07-10

Climate Change Calls For Emergency Leadership

By Ian Dunlop*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

SYDNEY (IDN) – The latest evidence on climate change demands a radical reappraisal of our approach. The Arctic has been warming 2-3 times faster than the rest of the world, reducing the area and volume to levels never previously experienced.

Some 80% of the summer sea-ice has been lost since 1979; on current trends the Arctic will be ice-free in summer by 2015, and ice-free all year by 2030, events which were not expected to occur for another 100 years. More concerning, the Greenland ice sheet this year has seen unprecedented melting and glacial ice calving, adding to a trend which will substantially increase sea level rise.

Climate Change2012-11-052023-07-10

Sandy Spanking Disciplines Climate Adamant USA

By Julio Godoy
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BERLIN (IDN) – Back in 1779, the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya painted a scene that obviously was already common at the time in that retrograde country of his: An old man – or it can be an old lady – is beating a child on the bottom in front of numerous other children in a classroom. Some of the children are crying, for they just suffered the teacher’s barbarous pedagogical methods. Goya titled his masterpiece “La letra con sangre entra” – freely translated, “spare the rod, spoil the child.”

USA and Canada2012-11-042023-07-12

US Election: Pre-Poll Mega-Storm Affects Politics

By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTO DC (IDN) – Voters keeping a sharp lookout for an “October Surprise” – an unexpected event that could affect the November 6 presidential election – could not have been disappointed. They experienced several.

Some past October surprises have been both dramatic and significant. To name a few: the British-French-Israeli conspiracy and invasion to wrest control of the Suez Cana from Egypt (1956), Henry Kissinger’s announcement about the Vietnam war that “peace is at hand” (1972), and the news leak, subsequently confirmed, that some years earlier George W. Bush was arrested for drunken driving in Texas (2000).

Biodiversity2012-10-202023-07-10

Small Steps Towards Ensuring Biodiversity

By Devinder Kumar
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

NEW DELHI (IDN) – While official statements about the outcome of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Hyderabad, read rather upbeat, a global environment organisation, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), has criticized negotiators for focusing on false solutions to biodiversity loss and favouring corporate polluters over people and the planet.

Climate Change2012-10-162023-07-10

Clean Development Mechanism Travels to Lomé

By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BONN (IDN) – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat has forged a first-of-its-kind partnership to assist development of emission-reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol in countries that would appear to have been ignored until now.

USA and Canada2012-10-122023-07-12

Of Canada, Khadr, Chief Nelson and Iran

By Eric Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TORNTO (IDN) – After 10 years in Guantanamo, former child soldier Omar Khadr, the last Western national being held there, was finally repatriated September 29, 2012 after years of mistreatment. The illegality of the procedures used against Khadr from day one mean that the Canadian government faces a multi-million dollar law suit for damages.

Various court cases against the government failed to convince it to expedite his return, until the U.S. government finally pulled the plug, forcing the Canadian government to take him after his plea of guilty to various charges, clearly made as the only way to end his ordeal and give him hope of eventual release.

Biodiversity2012-10-072023-07-10

UN Meet To Focus on Planet’s Biodiversity

By Devinder Kumar
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

NEW DELHI (IDN) – What is in store for the natural world? Are governments implementing their commitments on preserving biodiversity? These and related issues are on the agenda of the UN biodiversity summit in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

It will not only review progress so far but is also expected to come up with decisions that will provide further momentum for implementation of the targets, according to conference sources.

Climate Change2012-10-042023-07-10

Global Climate Talks at a Critical Juncture

By Martin Khor*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

GENEVA (IDN) – The latest round of weeklong UNFCCC climate negotiations in Bangkok in September has revealed a major problem. The Bali Road Map launched in December 2007 had two tracks. The Kyoto Protocol track seems to be ending in a very weakened outcome, while the Bali Action Plan track is in danger of being killed without a proper closure or a transfer of its unsettled issues.

USA and Canada2012-09-222023-07-12

US Election: Ann Romney Berates Husband’s Republican Critics

By Ernest Corea*
IDN –InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON (IDN) – “Stop it.” That was Ann Romney’s peremptory order to her husband’s Republican Party critics, when she was recently interviewed by Radio Iowa. The wife of presidential candidate Mitt Romney came across like a highly strung nanny ticking off a rumbustious bunch of rich kids at a summer picnic.

In fairness to Mrs. Romney, however, her lack of experience has obviously moved her towards breaking point as she surveys the fallout from the bombshell that current affairs magazine Mother Jones dropped on the Romney campaign.