Zephyrist's sunday night briefs - week 15, 2007

Well the week of the grand national with plenty of sunny weather. Here are some of the articles I have been reading this week.

Google Earth turns spotlight on Darfur (BBC)

Now if you zoom in on Darfur in google earth you will see high tech satellite imagery combined with photo's and eyewitness accounts.

You can see the satellite images of the desstroyed villages, scorched earth and vast refugee camps. These images will also be updated as things change.

"We need President Bashir and other perpetrators to know they are being watched..."

-Daowd Salih, a former red cross and red crescent worker
who was forced to leave his home in Wetern Darfur.

Hopefully, the stark imagery and eye witness accounts will reach a much wider audience and in turn put pressure on world governments to finally take action.

Browne may need to quit - Cameron (BBC)

The row over the captured RN personnel in Iran selling their stories rumbles on. The media have gone into resignation mode, if they shout loud enough maybe someone will resign.

The real lesson is that tabloid journalism is socially unacceptable and society should stop buying the trash rather than moan about everyone selling their stories and then secretly popping down the news agents to buy the latest instalments of tabloid trash. The only people that should resign are the people that buy the red top newspapers.

It is good to see that the media writing the stories have not done any soul searching over the matter, as long as they sell papers ironically they cannot afford to worry about morals.

Why should we have eight hours' sleep? (BBC)

This is a story that strikes a cord with me, I am a night owl but my job requires me to get up just after 6 am, hence I am always short on sleep.

This survey reports that only a small minority get the recommended 8 hours a night, but not to worry the real test is whether you are tired during the day.

The 19th Century labour movement's classic demand was

"Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest"

Obviously they didn't have to worry about long commutes in the 19th century.

And that as they say is the week that was. Good night and don't have nightmares about fridges.