The property market in North Cyprus is undergoing serious changes at the moment, with the currently low property prices rising – and looking set to continue rising – at an unprecedented rate. In addition, a new type of property development is beginning to appear in the north side of the island – namely, upmarket and luxury apartments – that are clearly designed for people wanting to buy investment properties in this emerging market.

The reason for this change is, simply speaking, the reunification talks between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot delegates that are now striding ahead. International optimism regarding, and support for, a successful resolution – which have snowballed since Demetris Christofias’ election victory this February – is heartening evidence that, after years of hampered talks and deliberate stalling, there is now a genuine and tangible attempt to restore the divided island.

Each week Christofias and the Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Ali Talat are meeting to discuss the exactitudes and workings of a blueprint for reunification. This week, Turkish Cypriot delegates outlined the importance of addressing the historical chronology of the Cyprus problem for the current set of talks to be a success, according to the Cyprus Observer’s website.

‘After this point, both sides should negotiate with full capacity and complete responsibility and, ultimately, introduce an agreement which will be submitted to approval of two peoples,’ the Turkish Cypriot diplomats were quoted as saying.

Talat and Christofias, during their weekly talk, were discussing the issue of power sharing in a reunified state, and Greek Cypriot President Christofias caused somewhat of a stir by announcing that the Greek Cypriot side had granted a concession to the Turkish Cypriot side by accepting the notion of a bizonal federation that was devised by President Makarios in 1977.

Christofias rejected the possibility of forming a new state in the north Cyprus through ‘virgin birth’ and also rejected the possibility of a confederation. The only possibility, Christofias maintains, is a ‘federal solution…a partnership of the two communities.’

Both he and his North Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, are left-wingers who have made it clear that they desire to bring reunification to the island. Seeing them at joint social events, and the fact that they met five times before the historical September 3rd meetings began, highlights how different North-South relations are under these leaders.

Speaking after he addressed the issue of confederation between North Cyprus and South Cyprus, Christofias addressed his counterpart as ‘my comrade and friend Mehmet-Ali’ before adding that ‘the time has come for us to take joint action and to respond to the call of history, to realize the vision of a reunified homeland.’

The new political will that is epitomised by Christofias and Talat is already causing property prices in North Cyprus – where prices are far lower than they are in the South – to shift upwards. With Turkey’s EU membership talks restarting next year, it can be expected that Ankara will be keen to be seen to be assisting the talks, which is another reason for being optimistic about the immediate future of this ancient, idyllic island.

Stay up to date with the reunification of North Cyprus at www.whiterocksbafra.com

You’ll never find a presidential candidate without a large ego. It takes a big ego to be a world leader. Look at the great figures in history, be they heroes or villains, they are larger than life. But the truly great leaders, while possessing big egos, also know the value of humility. They recognize the dangers of ego and have learned how to manage their own.

There are a host of big problems waiting for the next occupant of the White House-– war, economic uncertainty at home, and a tarnished image around the world. This president will need extraordinary relationship-building skills, particularly when dealing with ego-maniacal leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-il and others. Challenging times lay ahead of us and at the feet of the next Commander in Chief.

Political policies aside, in a perfect world we’d have a president with just enough ego, who is truly genuine, remarkably courageous and determined, and at the same time, deeply humble. Nelson Mandela is the ultimate example of leading with courage. He was driven by a noble cause and endured terrible suffering to find a way to achieve freedom for his people.

How are the current presidential candidates managing their egos?

Barrack Obama is a great orator and clearly thrives on large crowds and applause. He inspires people with his message of hope and the promise of change. He also seems to be buying into his own press that he’s a savior-of-sorts and the next JFK.

Early on in the campaign, Obama’s speeches had an air of genuineness and humility. You could see it in his body language and hear it in his voice. It felt real. After all these months and playing to huge, adoring international audiences is it possible that his humility has shrunk? Today he appears to swagger onto the stage and seems to be speaking more from his head than from his heart. It raises questions as to whether there is true alignment between who he really is and what he says.

John McCain, on the other hand, appears more authentic and less ego-driven. But is this true? It would be important for us to know. His body language is stiff and awkward-– is this because of his war injuries or is it a sign of humility? Or both? Over many months, his stage presence has remained unchanged. He’s focused, has no airs and graces, and enjoys a joke. His style may be less inspiring than Obama’s, but is it because he’s less interested in bells and whistles? Is it that his life experience gives him a different kind of quiet confidence, one that comes from years as a prisoner of war and a man who’s lived a full life? Or is he just simply uninspiring?

We know that McCain has an ego problem– his temper. He’s spoken openly about it and seems to be aware that he needs to manage it. But can he? Once again, these are things we need to think seriously about.

The entire election season has been filled with examples of ego gone awry. Hillary Clinton’s ego got in the way of her achieving the Democratic nomination. Her message was all about “I, me, and mine.” Then there’s her husband Bill, whose ego hurt his own image during her campaign. John Edwards publicly blamed his ego when his affair with a campaign photographer was recently revealed.

So will it be political policies that decide the election in November? Age? Race? I truly believe the candidate who shows the most genuine display of personal authenticity, will be the one who wins. People are smart -– they know when someone is not authentic. They know pseudo realness from genuine realness. And guess what the word for that is? Humility! We want -– and need -– a president who is a visionary, who is confident, courageous and bold. And one who mixes that with a strong dose of integrity and humility.

We absolutely cannot afford a leader whose ego will become involved in the enormous decisions that have to be made and the critical relationships that have to be forged. It’s up to the American public to watch and listen for the signs of ego and the signs of authenticity and vote accordingly.

Sandy Gluckman, Ph.D., teaches

All the way back in January 2004 Sir David A. King, the Government’s then chief scientific adviser, described global warming, and the climate change that it drives, as a greater threat to the world than international terrorism. King, who caused quite a stir with his comments, said that industrialized countries had a commitment to place a serious effort into developing sustainable and carbon capture technologies.

Now, over four years on, the momentum that King called for has not materialized anywhere but in the showboating embroidery from our politicians and in the cynical green-washing from our captains of industry. The Kyoto agreement - which was widely seen as a last ditch attempt to press the greed and stupidity that drive climate change every just as much as the pollutants themselves - failed. Bush, in his enlightened wisdom, decided that further research into climate change was needed before carbon taxes could be introduced. Thus, 4% of the world’s population – America – continued to account for over one fifth of the world’s carbon emissions.

A successor to Kyoto is due to be thrashed out in 2009 amidst the lushly upholstered suites and complimentary coffee lined tables of Copenhagen’s most suitable venue: the greenhouse-like Copenhagen Congress Centre. The centre will, in a completely non-symbolic gesture, be powered by its very own wind turbine. So this time, you know they mean business.

The reassurance of a windmill and some serious political hyperbole and media speculation have not been enough to persuade the UN Secretary, General Ban Ki-moon, to let the international community rest upon their…well, success would be too strong a word, but the little bit that they have managed to achieve, until the Copenhagen climate deal.

General Ban Ki-moon, talking to the diplomats gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the UN climate panel, said that the politicians should aim to make some serious headway before then this December in Poznan, Poland.

The Kyoto Protocol, which will expire in 2012, has been largely seen as a complete failure in terms of reducing carbon emissions. 37 countries, all developed, signed the protocol, but there are some rather serious holes in the thing. For one, America and China have completely failed to impose any limits under Kyoto. For two, the carbon balance sheets ignore certain, little things. Like shipping and air travel. Whoops.

The fear caused by the knowledge that climate change is already affecting us has resulting in an increased impetus in the battle between action and continued inaction. The one hundred months campaign (http://www.onehundredmonths.org) for example, reckons that “We have 100 months to save the planet”, because after that we “could be beyond the climate’s ‘tipping point, the point of no return.’

Talking to Reuters, Ban Ki-moon suggested that the Poland meeting should serve as a “very successful bridge” for the later meetings in Copenhagen. It is encouraging that climate change has stopped being seen as a long term issue, and hopefully the immediacy of its effects will bring about a mature, effectual political response to the problem.

Matt Gammie is a writer for ecoswitch

Let me offer you a non-american perspective on this year’s US election race between Barack Obama and John McCain. In this short article I want to explain to you - especially you, dear readers and friends from the US - why many Europeans such as me (and many other non-americans too) feel that Barack Obama would be a much better option for the US president than John McCain.

As I offer this perspective, I want you to have in mind that I have never lived in the US, I don’t feel the economic problems of US personally (however interdependent the world has become, this has not influenced my life in any significant way yet), I am enjoying a universal health care (currently, in England) and I am not writing this particular piece out of my sympathy for many Americans who suffer problems because of bad US economy or the high costs of health care.

What I want to talk about is the image of US in the world and how electing Barack Obama would help to correct that image. It is very clear that, during the last decade, this image eroded to its lowest point (possibly in the whole history of US!) all over the world. America has never before been perceived in such an unfavorable light. Several American friends of mine have a hard time to even grasp how unloved their beloved country has become. Majority of the world has a grim picture of the US, said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) when he was commenting the large international poll for BBC. “Negative feelings about Bush are high and are generalizing to the American people who re-elected him”, worries Kull.

Of course, this perception is much worse in the Muslim world than in Europe, and it produces a deep motivation to fight against US and its allies. But I am not the only European who feels that the behavior of US leadership in last decade has been really bad and has made the world more dangerous place. Unwise moves and oil-hunger-driven wars, a great lack of understanding of the mindset of the people whom US operations were supposed to help (like Iraqis or Afgans etc.) and turning a blind eye towards the regimes like Saudi Arabian or Pakistani, who happen to suit America’s interests - all this has undermined the fair amount of trust US have once enjoyed, also in Europe.

The situation has left the world hoping for a significant change in the White House. Those who speculate and make theories out of Barack Obama’s middle name never seem to get it: this Muslim-sounding name could actually reduce the number of the terrorist threats to USA, although all “Muslim theories” about this name are complete nonsense. And another seemingly superficial thing is significant as well: If Barack Obama will become president, the color of the president’s skin will speak to many around the world about the victory over racism in USA (whether it would be true or not).

Remember: public perception of the president (at home but very much so also around the world) is hugely important factor for the success of his country on many fronts, even if he makes mistakes. Kennedy was - at his beginning at least - very popular in Europe and around the World also because of his youth and charming personality. And there can be no serious discussion about public perceptions of Barack Obama vs. John McCain in the world: Barack is doing much better! Even in Israel , he “leads” the republican candidate by a big margin. This alone is hugely important even if Barack Obama’s political program would be up for grabs. But it isn’t.

Gorazd Andrejc is a postgraduate at Cambridge University. He writes on religion, ethics, philosophy and social issues. His Eco Friendly Lifestyle blog is for “ordinary people” (not necessarily activists) who want to change their lifestyle to live increasingly more environmentally friendly.

With the success of Barack Obama’s presidential bid, many critics of preferential programs for minorities and women have argued that it is time to dismantle all affirmative action policies in the workplace and institutions of higher learning. Recently, John McCain brought attention to the issue by stating that he supports a constitutional amendment in Arizona that would outlaw all affirmative action programs in his home state.

Nebraska and Colorado, along with Arizona, are pushing anti-affirmative action initiatives for the November presidential election. The initiative is already slated for the Colorado ballot, while Nebraska and Arizona officials are currently verifying petition signatures.

Ward Connerly is funding the initiative in Arizona and said that the amendment would outlaw programs such as the Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise Program in Tucson, Ariz., which allows minority and women-owned businesses to bid more for city contracts and forces prime contractors to make an effort to hire them.

“Those clearly would be outlawed. Any standards that are applied to groups based on race. Any jobs where there are different standards for admissions,” Connerly said.

Despite the constant criticism of affirmative action and the success of African Americans such as Obama, there is still a racial disparity in this country, when it comes to employment and income, among Blacks and Whites.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Household Data Annual Averages Report, White high school dropouts had a 6.5 percent unemployment rate while Blacks with a high school diploma had a 7.3 percent unemployment rate in 2007. In addition, Blacks with an Associate’s degree had a 4.8 percent unemployment rate, while Whites with just a high school diploma had a 3.9 percent unemployment rate.

Furthermore, Blacks with a Bachelor’s degree or more had a three percent unemployment rate in 2007, while their White counterparts with only two years of college had a 2.7 percent rate. The Census Bureau reported that Blacks earn less money for every educational level than Whites with the same credentials.

However, in Ebony magazine, radio talk show host Larry Elder says 80 percent of Blacks live above the poverty line, with the majority living a middle class or better lifestyle. The unemployment rate for a married Black man equals that of a married White man. In addition, Black females with a college degree make more money than their White female counterparts, Elder says.

Elder goes on to say that African Americans have held CEO positions at such prestigious companies as Merrill Lynch, American Express and Time Warner, while African American-owned business are growing at a faster rate than White-owned companies.

Nevertheless, critics have accused Connerly of duping Arizona citizens by referring to his position as a civil rights initiative that would outlaw discriminatory hiring practices and not as a measure that would end affirmative action.

“If you put things in deceptive terms, like if you say ‘We’re trying to get civil rights protections for everybody,’ then, you know, people say ‘yes.’” Shanta Driver, lawyer for Detroit-based affirmative action coalition By Any Means Necessary, said. “They don’t know these terms mean something completely different.”

Todd A. Smith is the web master for Regal Mag The preeminent Online Magazine for African American Men For more information on affirmative action, visit our Community section.

Cities and towns throughout the United States are gearing up to celebrate the nation’s 232nd birthday this July 4 - hanging bunting and flags, sprucing up parks, and laying out parade routes and fireworks shows.

No matter what your opinion of the current political environment is, you have to admit that the United States is a great country. Why not show your love of country this Independence Day by adding a bit of patriotic flair to your summer wardrobe?

You can go the easy route - i.e., add to the slobbification of America - by donning a message T-shirt and a pair of that all-American staple, blue jeans. You could also channel Abbie Hoffman and wear a flag shirt, or go really nutty and don an Uncle Sam costume.

But, really - how much respect would any of that show to a country that allows you to make a great living, drive a big honkin’ SUV, and then dump all over it when every little thing doesn’t go your way?

There’s no question that a military uniform is the most patriotic of all men’s ensembles, followed closely by firemen’s uniforms and police uniforms. However, if risking your life and limb for fashion - much less the good of all mankind - doesn’t quite fit into your schedule, why not look at adding a little American style into your wardrobe via your accessories?

Women figured out the glory of accessorizing many generations ago. There was a point when it seemed that men were embracing the idea of gussying themselves up with a few baubles - namely, any European royalty in the eighteenth century - but that’s long passed by the wayside. Especially in the post-1960s environment, as fewer and fewer men dress up on a regular basis, men’s accessories have indeed become scarce.

The thing about accessories, however, is that you can stretch a good ensemble to make many more. Without accessories, a man could really just spend a fortune to buy a lot of well-made suits, or even a lot of really crappy ones. With accessories, however, a man can take one or two great suits and a handful of excellent shirts but give the appearance of owning a wardrobe to rival that of any celebrity of member of the royal family.

Adding patriotic sensibilities to your outfit is as simple as wearing a tie with an all-American pattern such as stars, stripes, or even little flags. Try not to get kitschy with your tie, however. Big old Statues of Liberty, Barack Obamas, John McCains, and flag-waving dancing babies do not belong on your tie unless you want to trigger the gag reflex of every person within your state lines.

One of the coolest guys I know effortlessly adds a little Fourth of July style to his wardrobe during the workweek before with a variety of ties that bring the red, white, and blue color scheme to his otherwise lawyerly ensembles. He has a striped tie that is mostly red with a thin blue and white stripe worked in, foulard and paisley ties in a patriotic palette, and a bright blue tie with tiny white stars all over it. From afar, the starry tie looks like hounds tooth, but close up, you see fifty-plus stars.

A little all-American bling is a good thing, too. In the months right after Sept. 11, 2001, nearly every lapel sported one of those little flag pins. Those are still perfectly acceptable, if a little done. Instead of choosing to show your unity by adopting the same style as millions of other men, why not stand out from the crowd with form-follows-function jewelry that embodies good-old American ingenuity - some patriotic cufflinks?

Paired with a shirt with French cuffs, this is the ideal way to show the world that Americans not only have the ingenuity and spirit to be leaders in the world, but also the style to make the world stand up and take note. You can show your colors with cufflinks in the form of flags, Uncle Sam, and even the U.S. Capitol building! In addition, you could choose to wear a pair that shows your political colors as well as your nationality. There are cufflinks available with the logos and symbols of the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as the names of the candidates of those parties.

Choosing to show your patriotic tendencies with a classic suit and accessories may not have the out-and-out in-your-faceness of an Abbie Hoffman shirt or painting your belly

In recent months, the island of Cyprus has seen a renaissance. Tourism is booming, and in the TRNC the North Cyprus Property Boom has been marked as the peak of prosperity for the partitioned island;it has been named as one of the world’s chief property hot spots.

Politically, too, Cyprus has seen a new level of stability; after 34 years of division and political tension, Turkish Cypriot president Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias have now set up weekly meetings with the aim of solid reunification plans being realised by the end of the year. In fact commentators are marking out the two leaders as the first pairing in Cyprus to believe genuinely and actually in reunification of the island.

Certainly, the island can flourish. Its landscape is beautiful and fertile, and it has a rich cultural heritage; it lays in the Mediterranean and was part of the ancient Kingdom of Phoenicia, so that it springs from the same roots as the great cultural nations of Greece - and as a result of the Roman appropriation of ancient Greek thinking - modern Italy.

Indeed its importance to ancient Greece is paramount; the island of Cyprus is in Greek myth the home of the love goddess Aphrodite, and it is said that it was on the banks of the island that she first emerged from the Mediterranean, merging the beauty of the land with the beauty of the sea, in the literal meaning of her name - ‘foam born’ - and her choice of Cyprus as home.

It has been her seat ever since, and the myth, even though it is a myth, shows just how beautiful the Phoenician Greeks though the island; Aphrodite, goddess of love, beauty and lust, so pleasing that it was said that a man would only need look at her to fall irrevocably in love with her, became synonymous with the island, even to the extent that she was sometimes known as Kypris, after the island. Indeed she was referred by Homer, the great composer of the first great works of western literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey, as ‘the Cypriote’.

Not for the first time, the metaphorical and the fantastical reflect the actual, and over its many years as the mythical home of the goddess, it has been seen as one of the most beautiful and striking landscapes in Europe.

Indeed it was that beauty which brought investors back to the island in recent years, and it was that beauty which formed the basis for the North Cyprus Property Boom. Cyprus is certainly not barren, and it never has been; what held people off was the political situation. With that easing, and with reunification looking almost certain, that will change.

With the island reunited, political tension will no longer steer people away from the beauty of the island, and it can dominate, as it once did, so that the true face of the island can flourish. Then Aphrodite can return home, and take up her throne on the fertile island.

Chris Woolfrey writes for a number of websites, including http://www.whiterocksbafra.com, where he is the resident expert on Cypriot history.

Today, in America, the call to unity has become louder and more vocal, emblazoned upon the banner of current presidential political campaigns, and awakening within the heart a feeling of hope and of striving. Unity moves with the new vibration of spiritual light that is arriving. But what is unity?

There are many people hungry today for a vision of the world in which people do not hurt each other, in which anger and rage no longer take the toll in human life and in human pain that they presently do, and in which conflicts between people, groups, parties, cultures, and nations can be resolved peacefully, without recourse to bitterness, force, or denial of the right to respect that each human being must be accorded.

This vision of unity is awakening in the hearts of people everywhere. It is a hunger for cooperation instead of enmity; for brotherhood instead of separation; for compassion instead of indifference; and for the perception of a world in which the human family includes all persons, no matter what their political, social, or sexual orientation, and no matter how reprehensible we feel their behavior to be.

For this vision to become real, the heart must find a way of remaining in a state of love, and of extending compassion and forgiveness even to those with whom we disagree vehemently – even to those who might wish to harm us, recognizing in this wish to harm, the underlying causes of desperation, outrage, and helplessness, rather than evil. As our hearts become more expansive, we do not need to expand our acceptance of wrongdoing, for justice must still hold all people accountable for their actions, no matter how they feel. And individuals, while forgiven for their feelings, cannot be excused for their behavior where it impinges on others.

Despite such behavior, the heart and soul of all beings must be recognized. It must be recognized and it must be honored, no matter how culpable the outer behavior of another, no matter how painful to the heart. Unity can only be inclusive for all or it is not unity, but only a new and more subtle form of prejudice which cannot find respect or accord equality to all.

Unity cannot tolerate disdain toward those who disagree with us while we maintain a position of superiority and relegate others to an inferior position.

Unity cannot claim to love all, while denouncing those who do not believe that unity is possible or who seek a different goal.

Unity cannot sanction prejudice of any kind, and must be firmly rooted in an honest appraisal of the means, both subtle and obvious, by which people are treated unequally.

Unity cannot speak with a voice of sarcasm, derision, innuendo, ridicule, meanness, backbiting, or disrespect toward others, no matter how different or wrong their point of view may seem.

In a word, unity cannot claim to be true to its origins and meaning if it allows even one other to be held as less worthy than the rest.

For this to be realized as part of a political system, national ethic, or personal creed, it is necessary to stop justifying our anger and to stop acting out of fear. These are not simple things to do, however. They are deep and profound adjustments of the psyche that require us to place love in the supreme moral position within our hearts, allowing no other motive, feeling, or response to compete with it.

For this to take place, we must feel strongly the pricelessness of each human life and each human heart, and must seek to honor and uphold each.

For this to be realized, we must seek to go beyond the words we use which may articulate the ideals we cherish, to a more honest appraisal of the tone of voice we use, and the feelings we display both in public and in private, as individuals and as nations, to determine whether we are just speaking of unity, or practicing it as well.

This movement toward unity may not happen all at once. It may not happen without difficulty as the counterforces which create special interests and selfish motives continue to seek their day in the sun. But it will happen, it must happen, because the time for unity’s expression is now, and we are witnessing, even amongst the division and discord that still cover our interactions with others, the birth of a new way of being in the world and of a new life for the heart. This new life is infusing the deeper layers of consciousness of many people in many places, and will one day make itself visible as the dominant ethic that governs a free society and the dominant motive that governs each human heart.

For today, we participate in this transition by examining the motives of our own heart, and by allowing ourselves to notice where we have set another apart from the rest – apart from our compassion and forgiveness. When we reclaim our own hearts and allow them to beat to the new vibration of unity with greater purity, we simultaneously elevate our own consciousness, and contribute to the advent of greater peace in the world around us.

Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega, a center for spiritual teaching and healing whose purpose it is to create an understanding of the sacred transition into light that the Earth is presently going through and the changes this will bring to individual and planetary consciousness.

The divided island of Cyprus, split between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Greek protected Republic of Cyprus, for 34 years, now sees a new round of peace talks, which began this morning (03/09/08). It is the fourth meeting between the leaders of the partitioned island since Demetris Christofias, head of the Greek Cypriot state, took office early this year.

Indeed, commentators are excited and intrigued. TRNC president Mehmet Ali Talat has been in power for three years, and has reiterated time and again a preference for reunification.

The stumbling block in the past, it seems, was former Republic of Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos, who favoured isolation from the Turkish Cypriots, and went as far as making the maintenance of the partition part of his governmental ideology when he took office in 2003. When the U.N led Annan Plan for unification came to referendum in 2004, he publicly advised Greek Cypriots to vote against the move, famously making the statement,”I received a state; I will not deliver a community”.

Under Papadopoulos’ presidency, then, reunification was an unlikely scenario. Indeed the Annan Plan referendum closed with a TRNC positive majority totaling close to 60%, and a negative majority of closer to 75% from the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. As the referendum was predicated on acceptance from both sides of the island, reunification plans were scrapped.

But that might be about to change. new president Demetris Christofias, who - as leader of the communist based AKEL, or the ‘Progressive Party for Working People’ - will certainly want to turn the disparate states into one community. Indeed, he based a substantial part of his election campaign on the reunification of the island, marking him out immediately from Papadopolous. As leader of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, Christofias has the support of the E.U behind him, and Talat now has the privilege of working alongside a man who has the same aim at heart; the destruction of the old, war torn barriers.

In fact the readiness of Christofias, and Talat’s commitment to the cause, combined with Turkey’s hankering for a place in the European Union - which the Union will not grant unless the Cyprus Dispute is settled - makes for an interesting diplomatic climate indeed. And of course, the great benefit will be for the Cypriot people, who will see a legitimate end to what can certainly be called a cold war, forgotten in many cases by the people of Europe, but for islanders is real enough to see 35,000 Turkish Troops still stationed in the TRNC of North Cyprus.

Early press reports are positive, and the prospect of progression looks good. With the two sides now committed, a true end to the dispute may well be on the horizon. At their last meeting, Mehmet Ali Talat stated that he wanted an official recognition of the need to reunite, plus some moves towards implementation, settled by the end of this year. Christofias concurred. Perhaps, when the September 3rd talks draw to a close, Cyprus will have its solution. It has been a long wait.

Chris Woolfrey is an expert on the politics of Cyprus, and particularly the TRNC of North Cyprus. He writes for http://www.whiterocksbafra.com

Conceived and promoted by a team of journalists and experts including Peter Myers, Dr. Victoria Johnson and Andrew Simms, the 100 months problem is the idea that in roughly 8 years, our current lifestyles will have taken the earth beyond a revocable point when it comes to global warming and climate change. The project is designed to give people a more systematic approach to the problem; the deadline gives an effective time-scale for the implementation of sustainable infrastructures, so that global warming skeptics cannot claim the movement to be lacking in substance.

Since its introduction, there have been many critics and many dissenters. Despite the program’s attempts to pin down the global warming problem, many are not convinced by the original premise; that, in a relatively short time span, our current CO2 emissions habits will have driven us to a point where climate change and global warming have spiraled out of our control. The problem, as has often been the case for global warming prevention activists, is that most skeptics still do not see the problem as something tangible. And even if they do, it is seen by so many critics as paling in comparison to economic concerns.

As a result, the 100 months project has been called hyperbolic and unfounded. But the importance of the 100 month deadline is not so much the validity of the claim, but the practical and pragmatic approach it grants us towards solving a number of problems at once; without a deadline, and without a potential ‘tipping point’, it would be difficult to justify a systematic approach to the problems of fossil fuel depletion, rising sea levels, and a volatile climate. It is certainly possible to argue that those problems are not real problems, or that perhaps those problems are less severe than environmentalists make out. But what skeptics cannot deny is that CO2 emissions are rising; the EIA reports show a steady annual rise since 1980.

The 100 months program, then, need not limit itself to environmental issues, even if its end goal falls under that sphere. Outside of the stringently environmental effects of CO2 emissions, there are economic effects; fossil fuels are a finite fuel source, and that - as we have seen - is likely to drive prices up. And that cannot be refuted as a natural cause; the U.S contributes to around 20% of CO2 emissions worldwide each year, and it occupies just 5% of the world population. That inconsistency in statistics can only be explained as a failure in lifestyle that has without doubt draining oil reserves quicker than is necessary.

The 100 months concept, then, is not just important for the environment. It gives a time scale for social reform, and - for economics as well as the environment - social reform is needed; our current habits and our current paradigm are not sustainable. To many, the global warming problem is very real indeed, and it is to those people as serious as the 100 months concept suggests. But it is linked to the equally troublesome economic problem, and the 100 month program - if we can subscribe to it, for pragmatic or ideological reasons - will curb that issue through a break from our dependence on fossil fuels.

Chris Woolfrey is the global warming expert at http://www.ecoswitch.com, the green social networking website.