An 83 year old man went to the ATM in Essen, Germany, and surveillance cameras show he made three attempts but couldn’t reach it. He would fall. After the third attempt he couldn’t get up and stayed on the floor. The cameras further show that 4 people went by, ignored him and went around him to the ATM. The 5th person finally called for an ambulance. The man died a week later. The courts have just fined 3 of the people who ignored the man. The fourth, said the NYT article, was deemed unfit for trial. The incident may be striking in Germany since they have a strong civic culture, but it could happen Continue reading “Rendering Aid”
Category: Values
Private Prison Boom
I found a small article in der Spiegel magazine disturbing although I know there are those who will find in it a good tip, or a good move. I had already read that the Trump administration, in this case the Justice Department under Jeff Sessions, was undoing the phasing out of private prisons begun under the Obama administration. But this article went further. It took notice of this action because Deutsche Bank issued a report saying Continue reading “Private Prison Boom”
Children and Guns
Here are some statistics about children and guns
- In a typical week in the US 25 children die from gunshot wounds
- Between 2012 and 2014 1297 children under 18 died each year as a result of firearm injuries
- In addition there were 5790 non-fatal injuries from gunshots
- African American children are 10 times more likely to be killed by homicides than white children: 3.5 per 100,000
- Suicide among white children is 4 times as high as it is for African American children
- The rate of unintentional firearm deaths is twice as high for African American children than it is for white children
- The District of Columbia and Louisiana had the highest firearm death, respectively 4.2 and 4.5 per 100,000
- Child suicide by gun were highest in Montana, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Alaska
- Most children who died of unintentional gun injury were shot by another child about the same age
- Child gun homicide deaths have declined, but suicide have increased by 36% from 2007 to 2014
- Gun suicide rates for that period increased 60%
1400 Mayors and Climate Change
1400 US mayors have passed an agreement to have their cities rely totally on renewable energies by 2035. While the pledge came as part of the United States Conference of Mayors meeting recently, it was not unanimous. Some mayors who do not believe in the issue of climate change abstained. Critics also say that this resolution doesn’t solve the climate change problem. That may be but when 1400 mayors from red states as well as blue states agree on something like that, it can have positive effects for the environment and that is important. A group within the US Conference, Mayors for Continue reading “1400 Mayors and Climate Change”