What’s New March 2007

This page lists changes to this site for March 2007.

See below for other updates and to get notified of changes to the site.

For many years, large, influential businesses and governments have been against the idea of global warming. Many have poured a lot of resources into discrediting what has generally been accepted for a long time as real. Now, the mainstream is generally worried about climate change impacts and the discourse seems to have shifted accordingly. Even some businesses that once engaged in disinformation campaigns have changed their opinions, some even requesting governments for regulation and direction on this issue. However, a few influential companies and organizations are still attempting to undermine climate change action and concerns. Will all this mean a different type of spin and propaganda with attempts at “green washing” and misleading information becoming the norm, or will there now be major shift in attitudes to see concrete solutions being proposed and implemented?

World military spending, in particular that of the United States, keeps increasing. Different factors include those fighting wars, those with geopolitical ambitions, while others are prospering economically and so increasing their defense spending accordingly. US military expenditure is far bigger than anyone else’s and the requested amount for fiscal year 2008 is even higher. New and updated tables, graphs and charts reflect some of these issues further.

UNICEF’s recent report on the state of the world’s children notes that enhancing rights of women has a positive effect on children. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is one of the most universally accepted treaties, on paper, though many countries fail to live up to the agreed principles. Furthermore, from birth to old age, women face many different types of struggles and face various forms of discrimination. In addition, women continue to be paid less than men, even though they often work more. Some of these issues apply in industrialized nations as well. While progress is being made, these issues still show that we have a long way to go. The Women’s Rights page on this site has been updated to reflect this further.

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