For as long as anyone can remember violence and conflict have been part of daily life: humanity appears incapable of living peacefully together. There are the brutal cries of war, the vile acts of terror, homicides, rapes and assaults of all kinds. People everywhere long for an end to such conflicts, and are crying out … Continue reading Priorities of the Time: Peace
I had known John for 40 years on and off; just over a year ago he died. He was 62 and homeless, an alcoholic who over the course of four years or so had drunk himself to death. He died alone in a tiny basement room of a dreary hostel in London, where the local … Continue reading Alcohol: Why do we drink?
Throughout the world heat waves, flooding and uncontrollable wildfires have caused widespread havoc, lives have been lost, homes destroyed, livelihoods ruined. Unprecedented levels of heat have been recorded in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. According to The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) record cold … Continue reading Climate Change, Extreme Weather, Destructive Lifestyles
In December 2017 the New York Times (NYT) revealed details of a hitherto secret defense program set up to investigate reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) was funded ($22m) by Congress and led by Luis Elizondo, a senior military intelligence officer. It ran from 2007 to 2012 when, the Pentagon … Continue reading UFO’s: Proven ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’
As a result of the protest campaign that started in 2015, political change is at last underway in Ethiopia, and a feeling of optimism is beginning to pervade the country. The new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, deserves much credit, but it was the actions of thousands of people who took to the streets calling for … Continue reading A Time of Hope for Ethiopia
Across the western world June is exam time in schools; in Britain, written tests taken halls of silence and tension have triggered a mini-epidemic of anxiety rooted conditions. Pupils have reported mental exhaustion, panic attacks, crying, nosebleeds, sleepless nights, hair loss and outbreaks of acne. Over the past 25 years, depression and anxiety amongst teenagers … Continue reading Education and the Mental Health Epidemic
Climate Change sounds vast and impersonal, but it’s really a very personal matter; a global crisis caused by the individual actions humanity has collectively taken. All too often such actions proceed from a position of ignorance selfishness and habit, and are undertaken with little or no understanding of the effects on the natural environment. The … Continue reading Diet, Ignorance and the Environmental Crisis
The environmental effect of the annual consumer frenzy, over-indulgence and extravagance is lasting damage. And year on year the cost of Christmas to the planet grows. For the best part of a week in early January the street in which I live in London was littered with mountains of rubbish and discarded Christmas trees, real … Continue reading The Environmental Christmas Hangover
Under relentless popular pressure the Ethiopian Prime-Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, has been forced to resign, other members of the government are expected to follow. In his resignation speech he acknowledged that, ”unrest and a political crisis have led to the loss of lives and displacement of many,” Reuters reports. ‘Loss of lives’ of innocent Ethiopians at … Continue reading Ethiopia: Final days of The TPLF Regime
Year on year the economic divisions and sub divisions in the world deepen, the associated social ills increase: The rich, comfortable, and the very extremely rich keep getting richer, and the rest, well, whilst some may be raised up out of crippling poverty into relative poverty, the majority of people continue to live under a … Continue reading Inequality Social Dysfunction and Misery
graham peebles 