Month: September 2009

Patents standing in the way of Combating Climate Change

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As we approach the Copenhagen conference in December 2009, we’re finding a divide between developed countries like the US and developing countries like India and China. This is because rich nations want poorer countries to commit to drastic carbon emission cuts that the latter are unwilling to do without assistance. Clean Technology and Intellectual Property … Read more

Rape and Men’s Psychology

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This is a post, which I admit reveals rather more about myself than I would like. Nonetheless, I have something to say. More so because not a single site or article on the Internet says what I feel is the truth. Not even close. The time has come for someone to stand up and stick out his neck with the facts.

First, my formal position on the whole rape issue. I do not condone rape. It’s a violation of a person’s privacy. This article is merely an examination of mostly subconscious responses in more or less every man or woman I have spoken to and is academic in nature. So no flaming please!

Here goes…

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SC hearing on Article 377 postponed from 14th September to 29th

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I really wish the media would take the trouble to keep us posted of important court cases when they’re scheduled for a hearing. We were all waiting for the SC to arbitrate Article 377 on the 14th of September 2009 and when the date arrives, no report in the media to keep us informed of what happened. Luckily, my Google Calendar is set up to notify me a day before the date approaches, and so when I found there was no mention of it, I decided to dig the records for myself.

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The Real cost of Natural Resources

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A strange way of viewing man’s activities on earth occurred to me a few days ago – the economic point of view. We often hear of moral or scientific arguments but not many economical ones. Let me explain what I mean.

Natural Resources – Artificially low prices

There’s something skewed about the price we pay for the products we consume and the fuel we burn. To take an example, I bought a plastic bag today at Aldi’s (I had to – needed to walk 2.5 km back home with groceries) for 10c. It’s so cheap that one wouldn’t mind paying for it at all.

And yet, that plastic bag poses a real problem as far as its effects go. Depending on the type of plastic, it can take anywhere from 20 to 700 years to decompose naturally in a landfill and it’s incredibly difficult to recycle. You don’t want to try burning it either because quite apart from the horrible smell (as anyone who has smelt plastic burn can attest), it could – again depending on the plastic – release toxic dioxins.

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Book Review: "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair

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It’s not often that I get to read a book that is as big an eye opener as “The Jungle“. It’s on the same plane as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and from what I read afterwards, was far more instrumental in bringing direct change to one of the largest industries in America based in Chicago – … Read more