Gaza: Brilliant wonderful news - BBC reporter Alan Johnston has been finally released, after much worry and an agonising, 114 days in captivity.
and the Guardian
What will be interesting to see as we get more information - is what role Hamas have played in this release, and how the world reacts to this, how this affects the dynamics of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and certainly Hamas-Fatah dynamics.
A photography exhibition at St. Paul”s Cathedral which documents the ordinary lives and everyday locations caught up in human trafficking and calls for an end to this illegal 21st century trade. The exhibition seeks to expose the reality of trafficking and the action needed to tackle it. Running until the 29th March, produced by Panos Pictures, in partnership with Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, Eaves and UNICEF UK. Photographs by Karen Robinson and David Rose.
Calling all modern-day abolitionists! Please sign the petition to urge the UK government to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings, bringing help and protection for all trafficked people in the UK a step closer. Tony Blair announced in Jan 2007 that he would do so - the petition requests that this be done so as a matter of urgency.
Breaking News: “Plot to blow up planes disrupted”
well good job the “plot” was disrupted. Doesn”t seem to be clear what the hell is going on - but Heathrow”s closed to all “incoming flights” - goodness! that sounds like it will cause mass chaos - and “all flights have been cancelled to Europe”. Right bang in the middle of holiday season so it must be pretty damn chaotic right now.
Additionally Lufthansa and Iberia have also cancelled flights to the UK.
MI5″s current threat level has been raised from SEVERE to CRITICAL - i daresay this is the highest it can get.
So what”s going on? - Scotland Yard says “A plot to blow up planes from the UK mid-flight and cause “mass murder on an unimaginable scale” has been disrupted”. Oh dear! No details yet but mentions of upto 10 flights involved - and recent BBC headlines point to upto 21 arrests being made in London and West Midlands.
The Met says:
We believe that the terrorists” aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight. We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America.
and BA says:
It was too early to estimate the cost of the disruption, adding that it had temporarily halted all short-haul flights to and from Heathrow.
Airport operator BAA said that Heathrow had been closed to all incoming flights not already in the air and warned passengers to stay away.
and what”s been happening in the US:
The US Department of Homeland Security increased the threat level applied to US-bound commercial flights originating in the UK to “red” - the first time it has done this for flights coming in from another country
Hopefully as the day progresses, we”ll have more news and detail - though realistically this will all be clouded in confusion and no one will know what”s been going on, how the bomb plot was averted, who”s been arrested, etc. etc. Naturally, for selfish reasons - given it”s prime holiday season - people will need to have information - especially if they have flights to catch etc. and need to make other arrangements. Tony”s on holiday and Ministers are in “Emergency Meetings”. A BBC Security Correspondent has said that the
plot had an “international dimension” and the investigation had involved the CIA.
Great title eh?
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has published its report on the classification of drugs: they’ve got a good sense of humour I see. The title of the report is: “Drugs Classification: Making a Hash of It?”
This is the fifth report of the session 2005-2006 and the Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to “examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Office of Science and Innovation and its associated public bodies.”
The report is the “second of three case studies under the Committee’s over-arching inquiry into the Government’s handling of scientific advice, risk and evidence in policy making. It addresses the relationship between scientific advice and evidence and the classification of illegal drugs“
So what do they have to say about the government”s drugs reclassification policy and actions?
“With respect to the ABC classification system, we have identified significant anomalies in the classification of individual drugs and a regrettable lack of consistency in the rationale used to make classification decisions. In addition, we have expressed concern at the Government’s proclivity for using the classification system as a means of ‘sending out signals’ to potential users and society at large—it is at odds with the stated objective of classifying drugs on the basis of harm and the Government has not made any attempt to develop an evidence base on which to draw in determining the ‘signal’ being sent out.â€
Overall Recommendation:
“We have found no convincing evidence for the deterrent effect, which is widely seen as underpinning the Government’s classification policy, and have criticised the Government for failing to meet its commitments to evidence based policy making in this area. More generally, the weakness of the evidence base on addiction and drug abuse is a severe hindrance to effective policy making and we have therefore urged the Government to increase significantly its investment in research.â€
Ah…very interesting! So perhaps there may be something to what I”ve been saying on posts on this site a while back about the cannabis debate- when the re-re-classification hoo-ha was raging. I”ve always had a sneaking suspicion that the drug classification of cannabis has to do more with funny ideas and attempts at moralizing (not very good ones i might add ) on the part of Government, the sort of thing that only leads to less information on what”s actually going on, a good source of income for criminals, lot of work for the police, hassle for spliff lovers, and not much else.
“The ‘Merton Rule“ is the groundbreaking planning policy, pioneered by the London Borough of Merton, which requires the use of renewable energy onsite to reduce annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the built environment. Hundreds of local authorities look set to follow Merton’s lead, which will impact all new major development projects throughout the UK.â€
The policy was adopted in October 2003 in the London Borough of Merton’s Unitary Development Plan.
A Unitary Development Plan - for those of you who aren”t in the know! - is a statutory document ( written by the Local Authority ) which sets out the strategic framework for the use of land and detailed policies and specific proposals for development. For a list of other Boroughs which have now adopted this policy, check out the Merton Rule page, which is the definitive resourcce promoting planning policies for renewable energy. There are also case studies demonstrating how renewable energy systems can be incorporated into development.
Full text of the policy reads:
” The Council will encourage the energy efficient design of buildings and their layout and orientation on site. All new non-residential developments above a threshold of 1,000 sq metres will be expected to incorporate renewable energy production equipment to provide at least 10% of predicted energy requirements. The use of sustainable building materials and the re-use of materials will also be encouraged. As will the use of recycled aggregates in the construction of buildings. This will be subject to the impact on the amenity of the local environment, taking into account the existing character of the area..”
thanks to uniteddiversity.com for highlighting this
I’ve been following the collaborative blog Pickled Politics for a while and I now am contributing through my own diary page on the site - the oh-so-creatively named ..Sonia’s Diary.
Incidentally, Pickled Politics has been nominated for the New Statesman’s New Media Awards 2006 - under the ‘Contributing to Civic Society’ theme.
I would also like to point to another journal I have recently launched - which will be slanted towards literature, art and travel, in addition to any theorizing I may come up with of course.
this morning”s epolitix summary highlights the following about Tony Blair”s trip to the US: -
“Before heading back to the UK, the prime minister delivers a keynote speech setting out his views on the role of international institutions in an era of globalisation. Ahead of the speech, Blair said the international community needs to deal with global problems. “If they”re not tackled, the consequences are very quickly felt around the world,” he said. “And you have got to have institutions that are capable of taking them on and tackling them and getting action taken.”
ah ha! very interesting - thanks tony for pointing out the role of international institutions. precisely. who are these international institutions, what “power” have they got - who controls them - and the most important questions are - is there any democratic accountability?
publictechnology.net are running a story on how silver surfers are bridging the ‘digital divide.”
A new survey in Wales undertaken as part of the ‘Broadband Wales Programme‘ suggests that 84% of respondents said they felt their online ability is generally underestimated particularly by the younger generation. Silver Surfers Week is running from the 22nd to 26th May and focuses on helping over50’s gain the most from cyberspace.
there’s been a lot of things happening - a week now since the elections and boy what a fallout. More on that later in another post. ( isn’t it amusing all this talk of a civil war between Blair and Brown? chuckle..)
i’ve just read this in the epolitix round up and wanted to highlight:
“John Reid publishes the government’s ‘narrative of events’ surrounding the July 7 terrorist attacks in London. The home secretary will resist the pressure to hold a public inquiry into the bombings.
The July 7 statement coincides with the publication of a report from the intelligence and security committee on intelligence matters relating to the July terrorist attacks, to which Reid will also deliver the government’s response. The MPs and peers are expected to conclude that the London attacks could not have been prevented. It will say that the bombers were inspired by al Qaeda but not directed by the terrorist network. However it is also expected to question why the intelligence services lowered the official terrorist threat level one month before the the tube and bus bombings.”
interesting. why just think - echoes of 9/11. the same thing that’s given rise to so many conspiracy theories about that- the fact that the government refused to have a public inquiry. now that just makes people think “what are you trying to hide?”
of course, as we know - the world of politics is really more concerned with who gets blamed for what - so naturally they don’t want to open a can of worms which in their mind - will simply be about finding some scapegoat or other. so stand by..
Voting currently underway. the BBC”s website has a map which will be updated with live results throughout the night.
On another note, i thought this website was interesting - Election Memory - Online Hustings for the Lambeth elections - now there”s an idea!
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