Martes, 23 de mayo de 2006 (Continuación)

ReflexionesNaturalezaEuropaUnión Europea, , ,

By Polly Toynbee (THE GUARDIAN, 23/05/06):

From the control tower of the Thames barrier, gaze down on one of London's heroic wonders. Those gigantic silver sails stretching half a mile across the river float above the water, standing guard against the rising risk of flood. Here global warming is measured by how often the steel gates are closed; in 1987, it was only once every two years: now it's four times a year, eight times more often. By the century's end the barrier will close 300 times a year at this pace of climate change.

The river is rising 6.6mm a year, with more storms and extremes as ice caps melt.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

By Natasha Walter (THE GUARDIAN, 23/05/06):

It's hard to read the story of the Zimbabwean refugee who was asked for sex by a UK immigration official in return for help on her case without feeling horrified by the way that vulnerable women are treated when they come to seek refuge. Tanya, whose story was reported in Sunday's Observer, had already fled sexual violence in her own country when she found herself targeted for sex by a senior employee at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. But Tanya's story, awful as it is, is only a small part of what rape survivors who are seeking asylum here are going through day by day.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

By Martin Samuel (THE TIMES, 23/05/06):

The cliché goes that Americans do not understand irony. Not true. Seinfeld ran for 181 episodes and TV Guide rated it the best comedy show ever. Maybe they just didn’t get it in the New York Governor’s office, or at the Pentagon. A warship is to be built in part from the wreckage of the fallen World Trade Centre. No? Oh, come on, this is good stuff here. Anyone in from out of town? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

Shortly after the September 11 tragedy George Pataki, the Governor of New York State, contacted Gordon England, the Secretary of the United States Navy, with the request that the name of his state be given to a surface warship, engaged in the War on Terror.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

By David Aaronovitch (THE TIMES, 23/05/06):

OH, FOR CLEARER times when men were men and Tories were vermin. Each child born alive was either a little Red or a little Blue, with a few Cornish vacillators wearing the awkward yellow favours of the in-betweenies. Oceans of blood separated us. The Blues loved the Americans, we Reds (sotto voce) thought that the Russians got a bad press. They were for no taxes and lots of poverty, we were for massive taxes and no wealth. They were turned on by soldiers and the Bomb, we were turned on by women with peace symbols painted on their bare breasts.…  Seguir leyendo »