Sad News that Phil Everly has died

Sad news at the start of the new year with the passing of Phil Everly. The Everly Brothers were a major influence on early pop and rock. Their wonderful close harmonies set the standard with a string of hit singles in the 50s and 60s. There interpretations remain the standards of today. The Everly Brothers were simply legendary. So here is my tribute to them:

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Bad trade kills the planet.

One problem with the financial crisis of 2008/9 is that it focused attention on the banking system as if it could be separated from global economics. It fostered the notion that all that was needed was to reform the banks and all would be well. The underlying assumption was and is that global economics didn't and doesn't need fixing. Everything works well but for the financial system. Let's all keep calm and carry on.

Yet, the focus on a bad banking system hides an underlying economic malaise, The economy depended on banks lending, and growth was predicated on debt, debt and more debt. This was not simply a problem of the banking system. It was, and remains a problem arising from the mythology of economic growth.

Politicians have long fostered the mythology of growth. Growth became a mantra. Growth is good. Good is growth. Let's grow! Growth as and is presented as a miraculous cure.

Let's call this the first neoliberal myth. The second neoliberal myth…

Brexit won't save the planet

Brexit isn't an ideal. It might break the cosy economic and political illusion that all growth and trade is good. But there is little thinking behind it. It won't lead to better trade. It won't save our planet.

No plan for Brexit The UK is now just months away from leaving the European Union, yet still the government has no plan for Brexit. Sector after sector of British society are registering their concerns about the consequences of a 'no deal' Brexit. The country is in the dark about what the future might hold. Key issues remain unresolved, yet it is as if it doesn't matter. Brexit, remember, means Brexit!
Whether we are for or against Brexit we should be concerned that the government can't agree on what kind of deal they want with our biggest trading partner - the European Union.
There is no idealism behind Brexit, and no vision for the future. Instead, there is a blind hope that it will be 'alright on the night'. That somehow a…

Hummingbird exposure to pesticides

Many have responded to the campaigns to stop the use of pesticides killing bees. Bees are not the only animals affected.

Hummingbirds are noted as a species of conservation concern by Partners in Flight, and their populations are estimated to have declined by 60% between 1970 and 2014.

New research reveals that hummingbirds and bumble bees are being exposed to neonicotinoid and other pesticides through routes that are widespread and complex. The findings are published in Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry.

To measure exposure to pesticides in these avian pollinators, investigators made novel use of cloacal fluid and fecal pellets from hummingbirds living near blueberry fields in British Columbia. They also collected bumble bees native to Canada, and their pollen, and blueberry leaves and flowers from within conventionally sprayed and organic blueberry farms.

The researchers detected pesticides and related compounds in cloacal fluid and fecal pellets of hummingbirds revealing…

The Thin End

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