united-nations: Are you a waster? The answer is yes. We’re all wasters when it comes to wastewater: 80% of it just flows back to nature untreated, polluting the environment. Wednesday’s World Water Day is about taking action to tackle the water crisis. Freshwater is the single most important natural resource on the planet, and it’s finite and increasingly scarce. We need to treat and reuse more wastewater, at the same time as we reduce the quantity and pollution load of wastewater we produce. So, don’t be a waster. Reduce and reuse wastewater. Learn more here: http://www.worldwaterday.org/
Happy Sunday, Everybody! I hope your spring is going well so far! I was on a short holiday for the second half of the week, so I missed Saint Patrick’s Day as well. Hope you all had a good one! I always wear green for work that day, but no-one ever notices (LOL), so this time I celebrated quietly at home. This week the victory of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy in the Netherlands is another hopeful sign that democrats are still in majority, and now alarmed by last year’s events, they don’t take risks by letting others…
Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the European Commission issued a White Paper on the future of Europe. Subtitled as “Reflections and scenarios for the EU27 by 2025″, the document draws up integration alternatives for the now effectively 27 member organization. White papers of the Commission contain proposals for EU action in a specific area. The aim of this particular white paper is to present possible responses of Europe to challenges ahead taking into account foreboded changes in all major factors like security, world economy, world politics, population and climate change. “Europe’s challenges show…
Happy Sunday, Everybody! I am well into the process of rescheduling my life to fit in everything I already wanted to and also some more weeks of intense studies. I will be honest, it is not going very well… In spite of all that, I have some pretty exciting things coming up in the next few weeks. But first, I will leave for a short holiday next week. There weren’t too much interesting topics covered this week, there are some weeks like that, but I tried hard to pick something for you. 6 million people are at risk of starving…
I know I am a little late with this, I haven’t really had the time in the past weeks since the report came out, yet I really wanted to reflect on it. Amnesty International’s Report on the State of the World’s Human Rights provides a very detailed account on human rights in the examined 159 countries of the world. The overall conclusion is that 2016 saw a huge decline in human rights. This is true for armed conflicts all over the world, for the treatment of refugees fleeing said armed conflicts, but also true for the spreading of dangerous ideologies,…
Happy Sunday and Happy Spring Everybody! One failed exam later I am determined to return to the blog and to life and find a different approach for taking this exam. One that doesn’t involve neglecting everything else that matters to me or matters even more than taking an exam I wouldn’t even need later on. I might even write a post about it one of these days. But for now, let’s see this week’s stories. Excuse the hastiness of this post, I had very little time this week. Unconstitutional and Invalid: South Africa’s Withdrawal from the ICC Barred (For Now)…
Happy Sunday, everybody! I can’t believe two months of this year has already gone by. Especially since I don’t remember doing anything else but studying for the past several weeks. One more week of studies before I am done with the first round of the bar exam. That is, if I pass. But let’s not talk negative just yet. I pinned the above photo several years ago and captured it like: “this actually made me miss law school”. I know, I am crazy, right?! And the photo pretty much sums up my life right now, so I can’t complain. Be careful…
Welcome to the 200th Sunday Smack! Less than two weeks to go for the first round of the bar exam, so instead of celebrating, I spend today (and the weekend, and the whole week, and every minute these days for that matter) studying like crazy. Meaning, I really don’t have time to mark the occasion properly, but this is the 200th week I am doing this weekly round-up! 200! Doing something this long, I could almost be proud of the achivement, if it felt like an achivement and not something I enjoy so much. I can only hope you enjoy it…
Happy Sunday! Things don’t seem to calm down in US politics while there are lots of other things to talk about. On a completely different note, have you seen Hidden Figures yet? I have just watched it yesterday, partly in appreciation of International Day of Women in Science. Those three remarkable ladies are true role models! Go watch the movie, if you can! Anyway, I am struggling to be able to complete these posts every week, because of studying for the bar exam, which literally eats up all my time these days. Nevertheless, I will try to think of something special…
Happy Sunday! I hope this finds you well. One twelfth of this year is already gone, I hope you have spent it great! I spent it studying most of the time and there is one more month ahead doing just that. Then perhaps a little rest. And then more studies. But also some exciting working projects to come in between. How about you all? The disturbing political actions of last weekend have not ceased to be disturbing over the course of the week. Here’s this week’s roundup. UN Says 20,000 Refugees Could Be Immediately Affected By US Ban And many…
