Thanks to Sam Stockard of the Tennessee Lookout Online for the Headline
A death sentence is so final I am convinced that no human has the right to decide the end of another human’s life for criminal offences no matter how heinous. My reasoning is , one mistake is one mistake too many.
To sit in an office , any office and sign a piece of paper which continues with the process of taking the life of another person does not seem right. It seems detached from the reality of the situation.
The lawyers in this case will keep arguing until the end, their reasoning is that the method of execution is barbaric and cruel as the state has not employed a doctor qualified to implement the procedure competently.( I won’t go into details , but a previous attempt with another death row inmate went terribly wrong).
No you can’t detach yourself and sit in an office and sign off on something like this as if signing off building regulations, it’s barbaric to do so.
As I’m really not much of a talker and wouldn’t just like to talk about writing, I’d have to invite a few to watch them interact with each other. (They are in no particular order) Sylvia Plath, Victor Hugo, George Orwell, Thomas Hardy, Mark Twain ,Douglas Adams, Stieg Larsson, James Baldwin, Daphne du Maurier, Ian Fleming Herman Melville. That would be a start and I’d have to check what they all enjoyed to eat and drink.
Ah a “good” billionaire story. Ian Wace is a very successful hedge fund manager who bought an 800 acre remote Scottish Island in 2017 called Tanera Mor and has turned it back into the thriving community it once was.
How did he do it and more importantly why did he do it? They why was basically he saw that the Island was dying.
The how is by investing money to restore old buildings, planting trees ,reviving traditional crafts, rebuilding farmland and creating new communal spaces. The project is also designed to support the wider Scottish Highlands Community.4.5 miles of roads along with paths and other infrastructure needed to reconnect different parts of the island and support the growing number of people working and staying there.
Also eight fresh water ponds have been creating with the planting of hundreds of native and aquatic plants creating around 1.5million litres of freshwater pond habitat. Also about 28 acres of historic agricultural land have also been reclaimed with orchards pastures and other areas of the island being restored.
There has also been an attempt to regenerate traditional skills such as boatbuilding (relating to the Island’s History of Herring Fishing), A restored loom is being used to weave Tanera tweed, there are workshops including sailmaking, breadmaking , art , writing , flower arranging and land management.
A former quarry has been transformed into an operational centre containing offices , accomodation and workshops , while other facilities include a pub, chapel, art studio , cinema, gym and sauna. The idea is not separate private residences but shared space.
One particularly innovative idea , is to offer restorative breaks to Public-Sector workers in front-line demanding roles such as the NHS, Police and Army given them time away from their normal working environments. Around 150 people can be working and staying on the island at a given time.
The innovative nature of the project has led to a wider involvement in the “Highlands Community” with 8000 acres of maniland land gifted to the Coigach Community Development Company with a wider programme to restore properties including Achnahaird Farm and the Summer Isles Hotel(planned opening in 2027).
Tanera was transferred into a charitable trust in 2020 to continue it’s objectives of invigorating community life in the Scottish Islands .
I delved into seeing if any of this land would be used for Grouse Shooting and I could see no evidence of it. I suppose there must be good billionaire’s after all.
Thanks to Hugo Rojas and The Pulse Online for the headline
Oh joy, I can feel the tiny threads of fibre glass impregnating my soul and causing eternal pain. The good news is that they are now making Wind Turbine Blades out of more recyclable materials , so that should stop them having to put the out of life Wind Turbine Blades in landfill or for them to be a component in recycled cement. How much more cement do we need?
In the meantime cutting them up into three pieces on site and nesting the smaller girth pieces inside the larger girth pieces and putting them in landfill is the only way to dispose of them. Each blade takes the space of about three cement mixer trucks.
The science of landfill is that everything on a tip works by crushing, compacting or shredding whatever arrives, however a cured composite cannot be unmade . So landfill it is.
An alternative use for the redundant turbine blades are to crush them into it’s components which are 75% silica and can be used to make cement and the rest of the material can be burnt for heat.
Another option is to make small sturdy pedestrian bridges out of the turbines. (Frankly I’m feeling very dusty and gritty now)
So there you have it the afterlife of a wind turbine. And if anyone has cared to cost those options and add it to the energy generated by wind-power and the cost of maintenance and disposal then I think this must be considered when looking at the benefits of wind power.
Perhaps I’m being morbid, but I think the prompt is really being polite, what it really wants to ask is what message would you write on your grave stone? I probably won’t be able to afford one never mind get it engraved.
If I was unlucky enough to be in one of those graveyards where Council’s are laying grave stones flat as they are loose or unsteady and therefore a health and safety risk then this is the message I would hope to say.
“Please Leave No Stone Unturned.”
Whether I was dead or alive it would seem appropriate.
Thanks to Al Jazeera Staff and Al Jazeera Online for the Headline
There are recurring outbreaks of diseases like Cholera and Diptheria in Yemen. Over 50% of the medical centres that were set up, are now non- functioning due to years of conflict, lack of funding and the collapse of the Yemen Health Care System.
The only option for people who cannot afford treatment abroad is to turn to alternative traditional medicine. Frankly , this will not work, it didn’t work in medieval times and it won’t work now. Alternative medicine is an aid not a treatment.
Why have we invested money both from the Public, Private and Charitable Sectors and we still can’t fund access to Health Care all over the World? Why will a child catch diptheria because he/she is not innoculated, how can a woman who is pregnant not be diagnosed with anemia. We have the knowledge but not the will.
The situation is complicated by the fact that these alternative medicines come from practitioners who link their services to belief mechanisms and the historical dissemination of training and information in herbalism. The reality now is that it also comes down to accessibility and cost for the population.
Thanks to Mark Rowe and the Geographical for the Headline.
I can approach this story as the men of Ness have not been given the License to sail to Sula Sgeir and do what their forefathers have done for centuries and kill the guga chicks to eat.
Nowadays they don’t eat them they send them to far off places in jars as a delicacy, for those who miss their homeland. The likelihood of these absent connoisseurs being able to sail a boat in those dangerous waters and spend two weeks “processing” the guga chicks is unlikely, they will eat the contents of the jar even though it is an acquired taste. In their far off lands, with fork in hand they reminisce about the “tradition”.
However, with the onset of bird flu Gannet breeding has not been doing so well , neither have other species who live on the Island who are affected by the commotion associated with the hunt. So Nature Scotland has declined to give them the license this year.
So the bludgeoning and burning, well documented in two films made about the “Hunt” which is by no means a “Hunt”.
The hunters themselves are upset as been classed as “baby killers”. Are they all men? Do women go on this fortnightly expedition? Is it just an opportunity to live wild and show off their prowess at sailing. Surely , the reason is not to kill a young bird that can hardly waddle.
I couldn’t have written about this story if it hadn’t been banned this year.Why can’t the men of Ness go around Britain sailing and take up the very dangerous Oxfordshire Sport of Aunt Sally. I hope this slaughter of baby birds is stopped permanently.
Keep the films and the photographs as memories of a past best forgotten.
Thanks to Awogbemila Temitope and Business Insider Africa Online for the Headline
In 2009, Muammar Gaddafi denounced the UN Security Council as a “Terror Council” mainly for reasons that are well documented in history and have to do with the Veto use of the five Permanent Members China , France , Russia , The United States and The United Kingdom. He tore up their charter in front of them.
Now backed by Japan , Libya is looking to become one of the ten non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. Surely this is a very positive step, although I think it has been proven by time that the Permanent Members should have their Veto removed. It makes no sense now, it can only be used to protect their self interest, which was probably Gaddafi’s point.
Japan and Libya are working jointly on Economic and Diplomatic ventures , with the possibility of the reopening of the “consular section” of the Japanese Embassy in Tripoli, which would give Libyan’s access to visas to visit Japan.
Small steps but important ones to rebuild Libya and also to enhance International Relations.
