April 17, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
A report in the New York Times cites an anonymous Canadian government source as saying Canada will soon declare bisphenol-a (BPA), a chemical found in some plastics, toxic. The move is prompted by concerns over observed effects on animals, potential environmental contamination, and fears of public health impact in the human population.
More on page 115
March 23, 2008 :: admin :: 2 Comments
As part of the Crisis Policy Forum, the HotSpring collaborative innovation initiative is now planning an effort to tackle the problem of food supply management and chronic food and water scarcity in Africa. The lessons from this experiment in collaborative research will be applicable in many cases to other situations around the world, and we are open to spurring dialogue in those areas as outgrowths of this ongoing discussion.
More on page 86
March 10, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
A new study has found that selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI, or anti-depressants), sex-hormones, painkillers and anti-biotics in significant quantities in the drinking water of 24 out of 28 major metropolitan areas in the United States. Though the term “trace amounts” appears multiple times in today’s reporting of the findings, that term does not necessarily speak to quantity.
More on page 81
September 30, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
The Elders is a humanitarian initiative led by South African archibishop Desmond Tutu and former South African pres. Nelson Mandela, designed to bring the African “village elders” concept to the global village, in an effort to defuse flashpoint crisis situations and speed responsible policy-making. Its foundations are the basic principles of human rights and the experience and credibility of the group’s emissaries.
More on page 70
September 26, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
Former US pres. Bill Clinton’s Global Initiative (CGI) holds a major international stakeholders’ and donors’ conference each year in conjunction with the UN’s General Assembly, in New York City. This year’s convention brings together 1,300 delegates from 72 countries. 52 active or former heads of state are participating, in only the 3rd year of this no-nonsense charity initiative.
More on page 69
September 19, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
The world is facing a major environmental crisis, with multiple serious battles to fight on various fronts, if we are to avert crippling long-term environmental degradation. One fundamental problem is that post-industrial societies have not sufficiently divorced their economic activity from extreme contaminants like carbon-based fuels, so that special cases of exorbitant economic growth continue to bring with them high levels of particulate air pollution.
More on page 62