new eco tidbits

The Economist, November 20th-26th

Worried by an investigation close to Tom DeLay, their majority leader, House Republicans changed a rule that would have forced any official to step down if indicted on felony charges. And I thought this was purely a Latin American specialty.

UN figures showed that this year's was a bumper opium crop in Afghanistan. The area under poppy cultivation jumped by 64%, and only crop disease prevented this from being the largest opium harvest ever recorded. Did 'we' win the war?

Dieticians and politicians have been banging on at them to skip the chocolate bars, eat up their green veg and do more exercise, but too many still refuse to. What's more, the smokers and chocolate-munchers are disproportionately poor, which makes the left feel especially uncomfortable. If the poor refuse to help themselves, it feels, something must be done to help them. Or should the price of a private trainer, liposuction, a monthly subscription to Fitness and better education be lowered?

[By the way, I went to yet another talk last week which said something that struck me: apparently, democrats are indirectly subsidizing republicans to the tune of $6,000 a year. Ouch.]

Iraq's neighbors are meeting to help bring the country gradually back to normality.

Apparently, in the words of former UN secretary-general, the United Nations were created "not to take humanity to heaven, but to save it from hell." It's interesting when you think about it. And it's a lot more gray than US news tend to report on.

"Lock up your daughters" was the title of a piece on Education. Isn't that a bit much for an article merely on same-sex schools and whether they are providing better success (for both sexes)?

Democrats have come up with lots of crap reasons why Bush won. One of the most popular ones was that Bush won out of fear. Actually, it seems that he won more out of "hope and growth", according to exit polls at least (the same story was picked up by the BCC tonight. It was kind of bizarre to see on the news the same story I had in the paper in front of my eyes.)

And when you thought all was lost for the Banana Republics... For the most part, the [Latin American] region is not relevant to the strategic interests of the US. The main focus is economic." Where's the hope?

[special report to the Seattle-ites:] Most Vancouverites love it when, as frequently happens, their city gets rated as one of the nicest places in the world in which to live. However they're facing an increasingly large problem and the Downtown Eastside is the most concentrated picked of poverty and crime in Canada.

A Chinese herbal medicine (qinghao, aka Artemisia annua) is effective against malaria. But there is not enough of it to go around. And short supplies means rising prices and threaten global efforts to loosen malaria's grasp on the developing world.

[Feel free to skip the Economist posts. I have to read it, and need to vent. Hence the frequency and length. You don't have to.]