The New Partnership for Africa's Development: Social,Economic and Environmental Contradictions

Richard D. North: Life on a Modern Planet: A Manifesto for Progress. Manchester University Press, 1995.     

The Levant: A Profoundly Disturbed Environment

An account of two separate expeditions to climb mountains in Tibet, which, while not among the highest in the world, offer a technical challenge equal to the Matterhorn – indeed they are roughly the same height (about 6,500 metres). The first expedition was to Kajaqiao, which the author, Mick Fowler successfully climbed with Chris Watts, the second, a couple of years later, was to Manamcho, which was climbed with Paul Ramsden. The article contains a wealth of detail about the technicalities of this sort of climbing.     

Subjective Invulnerability,Optimism Bias and Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood

The relationship between subjective invulnerability and optimism bias in risk appraisal, and their comparative association with indices of risk activity, substance use and college adjustment problems was assessed in a sample of 350 (M _age = 20.17; 73% female; 93% White/European American) emerging adults. Subjective invulnerability was measured with the newly devised adolescent invulnerability scale (AIS). Optimism bias in decision-making was assessed with a standard comparative-conditional risk appraisal task. Results showed that the danger- and psychological invulnerability subscales of the AIS demonstrated strong internal consistency and evidence of predictive validity. Subjective invulnerability and optimism bias were also shown to be empirically distinct constructs with differential ability to predict risk and adjustment. Danger invulnerability and psychological invulnerability were more pervasively associated with risk behavior than was optimism bias; and psychological invulnerability counter-indicated depression, self-esteem and interpersonal problems. Results support recent claims regarding the “two faces” of adolescent invulnerability. Implications for future research are drawn.