whythawk ratings: measuring effective development

1. Perlemoen and the Tragedy of the Commons
(Analysis/Analysis)

...sistence farmers grazed their sheep and cows on commonly held grazing land. Herds intermingled, livestock diseases travelled easily, and the soils were depleted. The problem that medieval peasant fa...

2. Science gone wrong: when self-delusion leads to death
(Analysis/Analysis)

...has been accused of profiteering at the expense of the poor. Of not doing enough to find solutions to the diseases of the poor. And, when they do develop cures for the poorest, the patents are promp...

3. Suburbanise! How aid and trade obliterate unique cultures
(Analysis/Analysis)

...y. They appear, begging bowl in hand, at every international gathering. They demand aid to support their diseased, illiterate, and infrastructurally barren nations. They take this cash. Perhaps it...

4. Sarkozy's French Election: when elephants fight only the grass gets trampled
(Analysis/Analysis)

...e is self-inflicted, and some arises from the nature of the environment of Africa itself (big weather, big diseases, lots of space). Then comes 11 September 2001, and the excuse for war with Iraq in 2...

5. Making money, doing good
(Analysis/Analysis)

...s health workers send reports by cellphone directly from the field. First deployed five years ago to track disease outbreaks in the Amazon basin, Voxiva’s system is also being used in Indonesia ...

6. Zackie Achmat, campaigner for HIV antiretrovirals, charged with genocide
(Analysis/Analysis)

...de and offer a judgement in someone’s favour.  Scientists may not have the perfect cure for the disease but health professionals the world over are convinced that antiretrovirals can signif...

7. AIDS-related illnesses cost South African businesses up to R 2.2 billion per year
(Analysis/Analysis)

...n annually so being able to offer counselling and medical advice onsite while providing access to a formal disease management programme including access to antiretroviral medication is paramount,&rdqu...

8. Poverty: when second best isn't good enough
(Analysis/Analysis)

...n rich and poor. They turn poverty - a problem of slow development and limited initiative - into a chronic disease requiring ongoing medical support. It is almost as if rich countries are saying to po...

9. The Feedback Loop
(Analysis/Analysis)

... biological systems require a mixture of measurement and feedback. When feedback breaks down the result is disease. Diabetes is the result of the body’s inability to control the appropriate leve...