Faith schools should not be tax-funded, and here's why
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2171981,00.html
If the Catholic church is prepared to ban Amnesty because of its
stance on abortion, what other rights might it censure?
Zoe Williams
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
The Catholic church in Northern Ireland has started a new policy of
advising schools to disband their Amnesty International groups. So
far, only one grammar school in Belfast has actually acted on this
advice, having expressly sought it; but Irish bishops are planning to
meet next month to discuss rolling out the policy to all schools under
the church's umbrella. The reason, predictably enough, is Amnesty's
pro-abortion stance.
As happy as I am to defend the right to abortion to all women
everywhere at any time, this is not the right moment to start tub-
thumping about Catholics with regard to western women and their
choices. This debate, conducted in the UK, where we have free access
to abortion under law, usually turns into a statement of intent, or
type - that is, I am the type of person who will think this type of
thing. While I would fight to the death to defend our abortion laws
and to attack any attempt made to shame or inconvenience the women who
use them, I know it won't come to that. I admit this, I can afford to
get aerated about it, about time limit debates and Ann sodding
Widdecombe, because I don't believe the right seriously to be in
jeopardy, so it's almost like a fire drill - all the thrill of a
battle without actually getting shot in the leg.
Inactivity disorder
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2171980,00.html
Additives fingered as bad for children have also had an alarming
effect on regulators' behaviour
Felicity Lawrence
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Tomorrow when the Food Standards Agency board meets, it will ask
itself if it should have done more about an inconvenient piece of
research published this month. The research showed that certain
artificial colourings and a preservative, widely used in food and
under suspicion for decades, did in fact make children behave poorly.
In rigorously conducted tests, the cocktail of additives induced
precisely the sort of problem behaviour schools complain is on the
rise and disrupts education. The effect was seen in ordinary children,
not just those already suffering from hyperactivity.
The death of relativism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2171979,00.html
The film A Mighty Heart goes too far in likening my son's murderers to
the Guant=E1namo regime
Judea Pearl
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
I used to believe that the world essentially divided into two types of
people: those who were broadly tolerant, and those who felt threatened
by differences. If only the former ruled the earth, I reasoned, the
world might know some measure of peace. But there was a problem with
my theory, and it was never clearer than in a conversation I had with
a Pakistani friend who told me that he loathed people like George Bush
who insisted on dividing the world into "us" and "them". My friend did
not realise that he was in fact falling straight into the camp of
people he loathed.
It's not benefits but the tax system that needs more means-testing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2171989,00.html
The best way to get money to the poor is universal benefits and
progressive taxation, says Kate Green
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Zoe Williams' belief that it is daft to give the same benefits to rich
and poor (The means to an end, September 12) is misguided. She
complains that the newly announced pregnancy grant for women
(potentially worth up to =A3200) won't be means-tested.
"This is the modern way with initiatives," she says. "Especially in
the realm of babies, and other sentimentalised demographic groups."
She acknowledges that the alternative is complicated, but she adds:
"The answer is not to shrug and say, 'too complex, can't be bothered,
let's just give the cash to everyone'."
Tribe is my idea of ace TV
Paul Moody
September 19, 2007 12:54 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/09/tribe_is_my_idea_of_ace_tv.html
Last night's terrestrial TV choices were: Victoria Hervey on the
history of the Labour Party ("Don't Call me Stupid"), Jamie Oliver
cooking new potatoes ("Jamie At Home") or raised temperatures in
"Holby City".
Thank God, then, for Tribe, which is now in its third series. Bruce
Parry's mission to seek out the most isolated communities on the
planet has long been essential, if exhausting, viewing.
Israel declares Gaza 'enemy entity'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2172494,00.html
Mark Tran and agencies
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Israel's security cabinet today declared Gaza an "enemy entity",
paving the way for possible cuts in fuel and water to the Hamas-
controlled territory.
The decision, described by Hamas as a "declaration of war", follows
almost daily rocket attacks from Gaza at southern Israel.
US restricts diplomat travel in Iraq
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2172459,00.html
Haroon Siddique and agencies
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The US has suspended all land travel by its diplomats and other
civilian officials outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone due
to an "increased threat" in the aftermath of the alleged killing of
civilians by the American embassy's security provider, Blackwater.
The move came as the Iraqi government appeared to back down from its
initial statements after Sunday's shootout that it would order
Blackwater's 1,000 personnel to leave the country.
It's the economy, Mr Ahmadinejad
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2172550,00.html
The Iranian president's adherence to 'donkey economics' is damaging
his political stock
Robert Tait in Tehran
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, suffered an embarrassing
blow to his prestige when his own party attacked him for adopting a
jocular tone towards inflation at a time of rampant price rises.
Now the Islamic Revolution Devotees Society, a fundamentalist grouping
of revolutionary veterans co-founded by Mr Ahmadinejad himself, has
added its voice to a rising chorus of economic discontent by warning
the president that spiralling living costs are hurting the poor and
undermining his stated goal of social justice.
Sarkozy announces pension plans in drive to cull sacred cows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2172173,00.html
=B7 Special retirement terms for state workers targeted
=B7 French president begins talks with unions today
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday fired the opening shot in his first major
battle to modernise France, announcing potentially explosive pension
reforms while hoping to avert the kind of strikes that once paralysed
the country and brought down governments.
The French president, who swept to power in May with a mandate to cull
the sacred cows of France's costly state sector, yesterday began with
the divisive issue of special retirement privileges for state workers.
In a hard-hitting speech, he said France's generous social security
system was "financially unsustainable" and he would axe the special
deals which allow some employees at state-controlled companies to
retire as early as 50 on highly favourable terms.
Monks defy Burmese junta
http://www.guardian.co.uk/burma/story/0,,2172401,00.html
Mark Tran and agencies
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Thousands of Buddhist monks today marched in protest against Burma's
military government one day after police fired warning shots and used
teargas to disperse demonstrators.
At least 2,000 monks turned out in the city of Sittwe, in north-west
Burma, the scene of yesterday's clashes.
In Mandalay, more than 1,000 monks from various monasteries marched to
Maha Myat Muni, the most revered Buddhist pagoda in the country's
second-largest city. Elsewhere, about 100 others in dark saffron robes
staged a peaceful march in the western Rangoon suburb of Ahlone.
Former Thai PM rules out early return home
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2172486,00.html
Haroon Siddique
Wednesday September 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra today insisted he
would "definitely go back" to the nation he once governed, but could
not say when.
Mr Thaksin, who was overthrown exactly a year ago in a bloodless
military coup while he was out of the country, faces corruption
charges in Thailand.
Cleveland's workers left to pick up pieces in property collapse
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2172259,00.html
Andrew Clark in Cleveland, Ohio
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Perched on the breezy southern shore of Lake Erie, the Midwestern city
of Cleveland is all too familiar with tough times. Blue collar and
proud, its industrial tradition of steel and autos has shrunk to a
rusting skeleton and its population has halved to 480,000 in six
decades.
An unwelcome new phenomenon, though, is the rash of hastily boarded up
homes scarring Cleveland's sprawl of low-rise suburbs. The sub-prime
mortgage crisis has dug its nails deep into the city's flesh - and the
pain is evident.
Peru meteorite crash 'causes mystery illness'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,,2171920,00.html
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
Tuesday September 18, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
A meteorite has struck a remote part of Peru and carved a large crater
that is emitting noxious odours and making villagers ill, according to
local press reports.
A fireball streaked across the Andean sky late on Saturday night and
crashed into a field near Carancas, a sparsely populated highland
wilderness near Lake Titicaca on the border with Bolivia, witnesses
said.
The orange streak and loud bang were initially thought to be a plane
crashing. When farmers went to investigate, however, they found a
crater at least 10m wide and 5m deep, but no sign of wreckage.
US central bank slashes interest rates
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2172164,00.html
Video: US reaction to interest rate cut
Larry Elliott, economics editor
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
The Federal Reserve, America's central bank, last night slashed
interest rates in a dramatic move designed to prevent the ailing US
economy falling into recession.
Abandoning its previous hardline stance against inflation, the Fed cut
by half a point both its federal funds rate - the nearest equivalent
to Britain's base rate - and the discount rate at which banks lend to
each other.
Shares on Wall Street rallied instantly on the news that the Fed had
performed a policy U-turn since stressing the risk of inflation at its
last meeting little more than a month ago. The Dow Jones average
closed up 335 points, or 2.5%, its biggest one-day rise since 2003,
after news that the Fed funds rate would be reduced to 4.75% and the
discount rate to 5.25%.
Families cannot sue firm for Israel deaths
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2172171,00.html
=B7 Caterpillar machines used in demolition of homes
=B7 Parents of activist Rachel Corrie part of legal suit
Ed Pilkington in New York
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
The parents of Rachel Corrie, the US peace activist who was crushed to
death four years ago in the then Israeli-occupied Gaza as she was
protesting against the demolition of Palestinian homes, have been
refused permission to sue the company which made the bulldozer that
killed her.
On Monday a federal appeals court ruled that Caterpillar Inc, the
Illinois-based company that has supplied several bulldozers used by
the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in house demolitions in the occupied
territories, could not be sued as to do so would bring the judiciary
into conflict with the executive branch of the US government.
Saudi women fight driving ban
http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,,2171954,00.html
Ian Black, Middle East editor
Tuesday September 18, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Saudi Arabian women are mounting a challenge to the ban on female
drivers in a rare sign of public opposition to the kingdom's ultra-
conservative social mores.
The Committee of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive is to submit its
petition - the normal form of communication with King Abdullah - to
mark Saudi national day next week.
The appeal has sparked debate in the media, but there is said to be
little immediate chance of it succeeding.
Change to constitution could let Mugabe pick successor
http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/article/0,,2172183,00.html
=B7 Opposition backs move in hopes of further reform
=B7 Country closer than ever to collapse, thinktank says
Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Zimbabwe's parliament began debating a change to the constitution
yesterday that will permit President Robert Mugabe to appoint his
successor without holding a general election.
The opposition had criticised the proposal, which it said was intended
to ensure that the ruling Zanu-PF retains power for years to come
despite its deepening unpopularity. But yesterday the Movement for
Democratic Change said it would not oppose the measure because the
government agreed to abolish the president's power to appoint
unelected members to the lower house of parliament, and because the
change could lead to wider constitutional reform that will eventually
ease Mr Mugabe from power.
US intelligence chief says China is spying on cold war scale
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2172240,00.html
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
China and Russia are spying on the US on a scale not seen since the
end of the cold war, the head of US national intelligence, Mike
McConnell, said yesterday.
Giving evidence to a Congressional committee, Vice Admiral McConnell
said that US facilities, intelligence services and development
projects were all being targeted.
He was speaking weeks after the Pentagon had claimed it had come under
attack from Chinese computer hackers. The Foreign Office is among
British government departments that appear also to have been targeted.
How climate change will affect the world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/19/climatechange
* David Adam
* The Guardian
* Wednesday September 19 2007
The effects of climate change will be felt sooner than scientists
realised and the world must learn to live with the effects, experts
said yesterday.
Martin Parry, a climate scientist with the Met Office, said
destructive changes in temperature, rainfall and agriculture were now
forecast to occur several decades earlier than thought. He said
vulnerable people such as the old and poor would be the worst
affected, and that world leaders had not yet accepted their countries
would have to adapt to the likely consequences.
Hospital with bed shortage puts pregnant women in hotel
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2172083,00.html
Henry McDonald in Belfast
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
One of the world's oldest maternity hospitals, the Rotunda in Dublin,
is transferring pregnant women to rented hotel rooms because of a lack
of beds.
Patients have been checked into Jurys Inn, close to the Rotunda, in
the centre of Dublin. Health officials said women in the early stages
of pregnancy and who were in good health would not be affected by
moving them into the hotel. However the lobby group Patients Together
claimed it put the lives of the mother and unborn child at risk.
Pavarotti's will leaves US property to his second wife
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2172193,00.html
John Hooper in Rome
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
Representatives of Luciano Pavarotti's two families were last night
squaring up for a tussle after the publication of a second will
leaving all of his property in the US to his second wife, Nicoletta
Mantovani.
A lawyer representing the three daughters of his first marriage said
he wanted an independent verification of the new document which, he
said, appeared to be "seriously prejudicial" to their interests.
What no one knows is what share of the singer's estate is represented
by his US assets. They have been valued at at least =A310m. Reckonings
of his overall worth range from over =A3130m down to =A320m.
Move over Tolstoy: detective tales of Tsarist era take Russia by storm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2172275,00.html
Author who spotted a gap in the market sells millions of novels to
country's emerging middle class
Luke Harding in Moscow
Wednesday September 19, 2007
The Guardian
He has amazing deductive powers, an array of hidden weapons and the
lethal reactions of a samurai. What's more Erast Fandorin - special
agent, gentleman, polymath and all round lucky bloke - is capable of
solving any mystery.
His cases involve murdered Russian generals, secret anarchist cells,
and international lady criminals. Throw in a whiff of Great Power
intrigue and a white-eyed assassin and you have a sure fire recipe for
literary success.
When it comes to the crunch
Prem Sikka
September 19, 2007 4:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/prem_sikka_/2007/09/when_it_comes_to_th=
e_crunch.html
As anxieties about the credit crunch and banking spread, attention
should shift to the way banks and insurance companies are governed.
Savers often stand to lose more money than shareholders. There should
be a serious scrutiny of who is responsible for safeguarding their
savings and investments.
Banks and insurance companies are managed by their board of directors.
Some reassurance about their probity may be provided by audited
financial statements, but the system does not privilege the interests
of savers.
The high price of citizenship
Yvonne Roberts
September 19, 2007 4:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/yvonne_roberts/2007/09/the_high_price_o=
f_citizenship.html
Julie Spence, chief constable of Cambridgeshire, says migrants have
left her force struggling to cope with language difficulties and in
increase in drink driving and other offences. Martin Kettle points out
that opinion polls this week show that the public is deeply alarmed
about immigration, thinks there is too much of it, fears that the
controls are inadequate and the government have mismanaged the
problem.
Now, Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, has
proposed an amnesty, allowing up to 600,000 illegal immigrants who
have lived here for 10 years permission to stay in what he calls
"managed" migration.
Thank you, Mr Bush
Soumaya Ghannoushi
September 19, 2007 3:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/soumaya_ghannoushi_/2007/09/thank_you_m=
r_bush.html
History may remember Iraq as the highest point of American global
power, but as the starting point of its decline too. It is ironic that
Bush, America's most unilateralist president, promises to be the
catalyst for the emergence of a "new" multipolar world order. With his
excessive reliance on military force and exaggerated use of threats of
its deployment, he has done more than any other leader in America's
history to shatter America's world dominance and pave the way for a
more balanced international order.
The Chinese have much to thank Bush and his administration for.
Immersing itself in military conflicts and heavy political involvement
within the Middle East region, it has left China to its own devices.
With the world's gatekeeper distracted, China has been able to improve
its strategic situation, laying hand on important energy resources in
Africa and Asia, winning new markets for its developing industry, and
dramatically improving its military capabilities. Not only is China
today an economic giant, with an economy expected to be double the
size of Germany's by 2010 and to overtake Japan's by 2020, it is on
its way to being a military superpower.
Death-bed activity
Herman Ouseley
September 19, 2007 3:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/herman_ouseley/2007/09/death_bed_activi=
ty.html
It is amazing what is capable of being said when the pressure is off.
What the hell! Publish and be damned! The Commission for Racial
Equality (CRE) has sprung to life in recent months, knowing that it is
running on borrowed time and needs to leave a legacy of achievements
as well as things still to be done before the new Commission for
Equality and Human Rights swallows it up on October 1.
Its belated but welcome condemnation of 15 government departments for
failing to meet their statutory obligations on race equality is long
overdue. For too long in recent years the CRE has been happy to have
cosy relationships with government, some of its ministers and
permanent secretaries, thus being compromised from making public
criticism of their blatant failings in tackling racism, discrimination
and exclusion.
Chris cross at Nick's candour
Nicholas Watt
September 19, 2007 2:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/nicholas_watt/2007/09/chris_cross_at_ni=
cks_candour.html
As Martin Kettle describes, the Nick 'n' Chris show has been playing
to packed houses on the windy seafront of Brighton this week as Lib
Dems size up the two frontrunners to succeed Sir Menzies Campbell.
A polite and good-humoured contest between Nick Clegg, the 40-year-old
home affairs spokesman, and Chris Huhne, the 53-year-old environment
spokesman, turned frosty this morning after a rare blast of honesty
from a politician.
Smiley like you mean it
Open Thread
September 19, 2007 2:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/09/smiley_like_you_mea=
n_it.html
:-) Bday 2U! Hv a gr8 day! 25 yrs? Ur that old! ;p. Rofl! Tk ur
pressie ---<- {@
The emoticon is celebrating its 25th birthday. That little smiling
face has spent a quarter of a century expressing our feelings in
punctuation and giving instant messengers neck strain.
The succession question
Martin Kettle
September 19, 2007 1:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_kettle/2007/09/the_succession_qu=
estion.html
There was no disguising the relief - the euphoria even - in the
Menzies Campbell camp last night when news began to circulate in
Brighton that the Guardian's latest poll had put the Liberal Democrats
back up to 20%. This is a conference and a party under siege,
struggling to come to terms with the challenges of David Cameron and
Gordon Brown, and whose confidence is slowly draining away after the
advances of 1997-2005. The downward drift in the party's standing may
not be Ming's fault, but it is happening on his watch and when things
go wrong it is the boss who carries the can. So the boost in the
Guardian ICM poll from 18% in August to 20% today lifted Campbell's
spirits by far more than 2%.
Unless there is an early general election, however, the Lib Dem
leadership question is not going to disappear. The longer Brown waits,
the more space he allows for Lib Dems to wonder whether a new leader
might save them seats which otherwise, even on a 20% share of the
poll, the party now looks likely to lose. Some MPs in the Lib Dem
marginals think Ming and the earlier generation of well dug-in Lib Dem
MPs don't understand how vulnerable things are in the southern - and
some northern - seats that the party captured in the last decade. I
think it is more likely than not that Ming will have gone by this time
next year, either because it will be time for a change after an early
election or because MPs will gamble that a new face might save their
seats in a delayed election in 2009 or 2010.
A perfect spy?
Khaled Diab
September 19, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/khaled_diab/2007/09/a_perfect_spy.html
If John le Carr=E9 is looking for inspiration for a new novel in this
post-cold war world about the hazards, moral ambiguity, intrigue and
murkiness of the spy game, he should turn his attention away from
Eastern Europe and towards the Middle East - and to Ashraf Marwan, the
Egyptian master spy, in particular.
Like many good spy thrillers, the saga begins with a death. On June
27, the 62-year-old Egyptian billionaire fell to his death from the
balcony of his luxury fifth-floor apartment overlooking St James's
park in London.
Adapting to change
Jon Cruddas
September 19, 2007 12:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jon_cruddas/2007/09/adapting_to_change.=
html
Migrants who come to Britain work hard. They boost our economy, by as
much as 10% according to government figures. The overwhelming majority
- be they here legally or illegally - make a massive contribution but
often are on the front line of abuse from unscrupulous employers,
landlords or criminal gangs.
But this isn't the story that gets told to the public. Instead of
discussing the issue with care, thought and with both eyes on the
prize of a tolerant society which looks after the material needs of
all, too many in the media and in politics are focused on side issues,
headline grabbing and the fabled art of triangulation.
View from the north
Peter Hetherington
September 19, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_hetherington/2007/09/view_from-th=
e-north.html
Judging by every television, radio bulletin and national newspaper,
you could be forgiven for thinking that the Northern Rock crisis has
dealt a disproportionate blow to middle England. Panic-stricken
pensioners are pictured, and interviewed, queuing outside beleaguered
branches, from Bromley to Golders Green. The government might have
taken unprecedented action to guarantee their investments, but no
matter: some southern savers are still complaining that cash piles
amounting to several hundred thousands of pounds are still at risk.
Three hundred miles away on Tyneside, near Northern Rock's fast-
expanding headquarters, I happened to find myself in South Shields
this week. Once a busy industrial town, dependent on shipbuilding,
engineering and mining, it now wallows in high levels of
"worklessness" - people hidden beyond the dole on incapacity benefit
or outside the net of the job-seeker's allowance - and official
unemployment. While the queues this week were just as long as in
southern England, the savers were very different: middle-aged people,
old before their time, some of them made redundant several times over
as shipyard, after coal mine after factory has closed. They were
anxious to protect more meagre savings.
Community action
Elisabeth Hoodless
September 19, 2007 11:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/elisabeth_hoodless/2007/09/community_ac=
tion.html
With such a big focus on tackling child poverty in the developing
world, it is understandable why it might be easy to overlook the
situation closer to home.
But the figures are startling. Child poverty in this country impacts
on the lives of 1 in 3 children - that's 3.8 million children living
in poverty. The UK has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the
industrialised world.
Bebo boomers make a stand
Ewan McIntosh
September 19, 2007 11:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ewan_mcintosh/2007/09/bebo_boomers_make=
_a_stand.html
I seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time convincing education
leaders and sceptical teachers that the net is no more evil than the
"real" world in which our children live. For today's British teens,
the least happy in Europe no less, according to this year's Unicef
report, it might actually be more comfortable living online than out
in the cold. Yet as adults we persist in our desires to lock down,
block or generally put down any point of self-expression on the web,
especially if it's one that's fun, popular and used by teens.
These attitudes might change for some in Edinburgh, though, since, at
the beginning of this month, a campaign secretly run through the Bebo
site helped save 22 capital schools from closure. It seems the Bebo
boomers might have more to offer than Luddite leaders at the council
had thought.
At home in the stalls
Jonathan Calder
September 19, 2007 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jonathan_calder/2007/09/at_home_in_the_=
stalls.html
If you want know what the Liberal Democrats are really like, don't
listen to the debates in the conference hall.
Don't even go to the fringe meetings that fill every function room in
Brighton. These days they are organised by outside pressure groups
here to seek the party's support rather than by Lib Dem members
themselves.
Fool's goals
Emily Hill
September 19, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/emily_hill/2007/09/fools_goals.html
Thanks to a report published in the Guardian last month, everyone
knows being a rock star can lop years off your life. Whether through
suicide, overdose or "bizarre gardening accident" the very best rock
stars rarely make it past 40. Thinking of poor old Kurt Cobain, heavy
in his heart, with his toe in the trigger, or fat old Elvis, slumped
off his toilet with the television still on, makes you sorry they went
so early. But one can at least take comfort that these great stars
still burn bright in the memory, their reputations unsullied by
whatever mental views or bad solo albums they might have gone onto
produce in later life. A Paul McCartney who'd departed with the 1960s
never would have given us Wings, for example. A Bono who had died on
the Zoo tour would never have teamed up with American Express to
produce red stuff.
And now there is the emerging case of Ian Brown, legendary front man
of the Stone Roses. Brown did not so much live fast, die young, leave
a set of pristine monkey cheekbones, but live fast, lie low, then
begin spurting a load of hogwash right into his forties. Last
Saturday's Guide provided a case study in how a great musician,
surviving his prime, can so easily fall into gibberish.
Beyond the big idea
John Crace
September 19, 2007 9:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/john_crace/2007/09/beyond_the_big_idea.=
html
Even the best of us can get lost in our metafictive regressions.
Julian Gough, writing on Cif on Monday was so keen to have a pop at
modern writers - Ian McEwan in particular - for having no ideas big
enough to carry a novel, that he forgot to make sure that his own
ideas could sustain his argument.
Now I'm no big fan of Ian McEwan. I find his prose forensic and cold,
his characters uninvolving and his last two books have been easily his
worst; Saturday was unbearably twee, with a story that bordered on the
facile, and On Chesil Beach featured a dull couple and a plot twist
that was totally unbelievable. But to argue that McEwan's key themes
are so thin they can only sustain a short story is just nonsense.
The price of privilege
Mike Ion
September 19, 2007 9:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mike_ion/2007/09/the_price_of_privilege=
..html
Good news. According to a new report some private schools are at risk
of going out of business because they are, in effect, pricing
themselves out of the market - let us hope the government does not
apply any "Northern Rock" type support if one or two do go under.
Surely all those that espouse progressive politics should rejoice at
such news. After all the sad truth is that in the last 10 years the
number of parents choosing to send their children to private school
and not to the local - and probably excellent - comprehensive, has
increased.
It does not seem to have mattered that that the fees for many private
schools, which were the subject of an inquiry in 2005 by the Office of
Fair Trading for potential collusion, have risen exponentially. Why?
Because in the pursuit of privilege many well off (and not so well
off) parents will do whatever it takes to ensure that their child
starts the race to achieve success and prosperity further down the
track than other children.
Celebrity-free politics
Jenny Jones
September 19, 2007 8:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jenny_jones/2007/09/celebrity-free_poli=
tics.html
The Green party has had an excellent track record over the past 30
years of predicting the environmental and social catastrophes that are
unfolding now, in our lifetimes. Our Cassandra ability didn't stretch
to the details, for example: the US and Russia have more than 5,000
nuclear warheads each, and the Yangtze river dolphin looks as if it is
extinct, but we saw the trend towards rampant global inequalities in
wealth, and the disastrous progress of climate change.
Now a group within the party, for whom Caroline Lucas put the case
here, thinks that the reason we haven't been able to put that message
across with sufficient strength and urgency is because we haven't had
a leader. Never mind Britain's archaic first-past-the-post elections,
never mind the difficulty of selling an alternative green vision to
constant economic growth and the necessary killjoy messages about not
having fun flying or motoring on holiday, and never mind the party's
chronic lack of money. No, it's all because we don't have one
recognisable face.
Retiring Mugabe
Aryeh Neier
September 18, 2007 8:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/aryeh_neier/2007/09/retiring_mugabe.html
At least for purposes of public consumption, southern Africa's
political leaders continue to stand by Zimbabwe's president, Robert
Mugabe, despite his country's ever-deepening economic crisis, which is
directly attributable to his tyrannical rule. Indeed, years of
economic mismanagement have produced an unemployment rate of 80%, with
annual inflation nearing 5,000%.
Though Zimbabwe was once known as "the breadbasket of Africa," many of
its citizens now go hungry and depend on international food donations
for survival. About 3,000 people flee the country every day, often
risking their lives when crossing the crocodile-infested Limpopo River
- celebrated in Kipling's tale of "How the Elephant Got Its Trunk" -
and scaling a border fence to enter South Africa.
The EU's catch-22
Ilana Bet-El
September 18, 2007 8:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ilana_betel/2007/09/the_eus_catch_22.ht=
ml
Serbia has announced that possible EU membership will not change its
mind over Kosovo. Velimir Ilic, Serbia's minister of infrastructure
and an important political ally of the Serbian prime minister, said
that if western countries recognise Kosovo, then "we do not need the
European Union".
There are two important aspects to this statement: the first and most
obvious relates to the status of Kosovo - which Serbia will not simply
relinquish because the EU, Nato and the US have decided it is the only
way out of the impasse they created by de facto taking the province
away from its sovereign ruler in 1999. The lack of creativity in
resolving this mess is indicative of the poor foreign policy
capabilities of all the states and organisations involved, and a
sensible solution, which must involve agreed partition, seems a long
way in the offing.
Farewell to Freetown
Harriet Riley
September 18, 2007 7:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/harriet_riley/2007/09/farewell_to_freet=
own.html
After nearly four decades of independence from Denmark and the EU,
Christiania's dream of a subsistence lifestyle, free from capitalist
constraints and social segregation, is finally coming to an end. Last
week the council of Christianian elders and representatives of the
city of Copenhagen met to ratify what is more a peace treaty than a
business deal, ending the battle that has raged between them since the
Freetown's inception in 1971.
Residents cannot help but see it as surrender; over the next 10 years
their land will be gradually ceded to the government for
redevelopment. Everybody, both inside and out, understands that this
is the end of an era in the fight against mainstream consumer-culture.
The market creeps in over the ramshackle fence and this legendary
bastion in the war against capitalism knows that within another decade
it will have left the field for ever.
Geldof, meet the real Gadafy
Hisham Matar
September 18, 2007 7:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/hisham_matar/2007/09/no_hope_for_change=
..html
In Libya's second city, Benghazi, Colonel Muammar Gadafy's son
recently made a major address to the nation's youth - a speech that
was clearly meant to prepare them for his future succession.
Even so, the audience was excited as Seif al-Islam has been known to
criticise his father's regime in public: fingering the "fat cat"
businessmen who profited by association, and admitting that the
authorities had indeed used torture to extract confessions. Were such
pronouncements genuine or a cynical attempt to gain the confidence of
the Libyan people and save face under the scrutiny of foreign
journalists? This was the question many had hoped Seif al-Islam's
speech would answer. And it did.
Keisler: more intrigue at justice
Marcy Wheeler
September 18, 2007 6:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/marcy_wheeler/2007/09/keisler_more_intr=
igue_at_justi.html
The White House has pulled off a clever bid to sustain the
administration's legally suspect terrorist policies, particularly
warrantless wiretapping. But it's not so much the selection of Michael
Mukasey as the nominee to be attorney general. While Mukasey has
called for strong legal tools with which to pursue terrorists, he also
shows a real respect for the rule of law.
The really clever move was in the administration's substitution of
Peter Keisler as acting attorney general for Paul Clement, whom Bush
had named last month when Alberto Gonzales first resigned. By
appointing Keisler acting attorney general, Bush has given the slot of
chief law enforcement officer in the land to a longtime ally of AT&T,
a telecommuncations giant whose decisions about cooperating (or not)
with the government could have tremendous impact on the
administration's surveillance policies.
Crossing the radioactive line
Ros Taylor
September 18, 2007 6:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/ros_taylor/2007/09/crossing_the_radioac=
tive_line.html
Never underestimate the Lib Dems' distrust of nuclear power. It goes
to the heart of the party. Yesterday one of the party's MEPs, Chris
Davies, said the party needed to drop its opposition to nuclear power
if it was serious about cutting emissions. But Ming Campbell had
already slapped him down on Sunday night when he told a Climate Clinic
reception the Lib Dems would never support building new stations. He
was cheered, and Davies' motion duly failed. Chris Huhne, the party's
environmental spokesman, did not even mention nuclear power in his
speech. He is full of praise for Australian PM John Howard's recent
conversion to greenery. But Howard wants to go nuclear. "If we're fair
dinkum about this climate change debate, we have to open our minds to
the use of nuclear power," the Australian PM said in April.
Davies is not advocating a massive expansion in nuclear power of the
kind the environmentalist James Lovelock now proposes. He simply wants
to replace existing stations as they are decommissioned. "I share all
the concerns of my colleagues," he told me today. He has "no
enthusiasm" for the technology and is anxious not to give succour to
the resurgent nuclear industry. But he thinks it will be needed to
"bridge the gap" until renewables can replace coal and gas.
The Iran offensive builds
Stephen Kinzer
September 18, 2007 5:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/stephen_kinzer/2007/09/the_iran_offensi=
ve_builds.html
When President Bush took his place in front of television cameras last
Thursday to deliver his latest assessment of conditions in Iraq, one
thing was certain. He would utter the word "Iran" more than once.
Sure enough, Bush blamed "Iranian-backed militants" for much of the
violence in Iraq. He said the United States had to keep fighting in
Iraq in order to "counter the destructive ambitions of Iran." Then he
warned that Iran's efforts to influence events in Iraq "must stop."
Fianna F=E1il branches out
Mick Fealty
September 18, 2007 5:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mick_fealty/2007/09/fianna_fail_branche=
s_out.html
Bertie Ahern may not have his troubles to seek, but he's clearly not
going to let things lie where they were before his three-in-a-row
electoral victory in May. In a speech in Dublin yesterday, he let
several cats roam freely among the pigeons, when he authorised a high-
level committee, chaired by his namesake Dermot Ahern and the
Republic's minister of foreign affairs, to look into the possibility
of his party organising in Northern Ireland.
Though it seems innocent enough, the immediate reaction from the
Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey, suggested it was the equivalent of
"throwing a grenade into politics in Northern Ireland" if they decided
to organise and fight elections there. More interesting is the silence
from the much larger DUP on the matter, which was first flagged in a
newspaper article on Sunday. Had there been a briefing, or are they
simply playing the role of discreet neighbours?
Principle or power?
Martin Kettle
September 18, 2007 4:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_kettle/2007/09/principle_or_powe=
r=2Ehtml
In order to move closer to real political power, the Liberal Democrats
must prove to the public that they worry about the problems that the
public also worries about. This was the message delivered by Chris
Huhne, one of the most serious senior Liberal Democrats and a very
possible successor to Menzies Campbell, at a packed fringe meeting in
Brighton last night.
But how does today's conference debate about Liberal Democrat
immigration policy square with Huhne's demand for such an
unsentimental focus? This morning, the Lib Dems adopted a policy
motion which starts from the view that immigration has been an
"enormous benefit to the economy and society" - which may well be true
but is not widely accepted by voters - and goes on to propose an
"earned route to citizenship" for some 600,000 "irregular" migrants
(in other words illegal overstayers or entrants).
UN's talking shop
Rosa Davis
September 18, 2007 4:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/rosa_davis/2007/09/un_talking_shop.html
It is not often that one hears a country calling into question the
mental health of another state in a formal and public setting. Yet
Monday's events at the Human Rights Council of the United Nations saw
debate on the issue of self-determination descend into this childish
type of behaviour. Morocco's delegate, when faced with a rather
peculiar allegation by Algeria, retaliated with the accusation: are
you schizophrenic? Whether this was a referral to the Algerian
delegate, government, or even the entire country, was not quite clear.
However, it was taken in the spirit in which it was meant - thus
creating further animosity between the two countries, in the debate at
least.
Having never been to a Human Rights Council session before, I was
hoping that this type of behaviour did not embody the spirit of the
meetings, yet it seemed to be somewhat typical of the atmosphere in
the room. I arrived at the council as an observer of behalf of an NGO,
and I brought along my personal expectations of seeing in action the
desire of countries to protect and promote human rights. I was
therefore disappointed by the antagonism of some of the exchanges,
most notably between India and Pakistan despite ongoing efforts on
both sides to promote dialogue and harmony between these states.
Fault from the vaults
Dave Hill
September 18, 2007 3:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dave_hill/2007/09/fault_from_the_vaults=
..html
For all I know those impervious queuers who've been emptying the
vaults of Northern Rock really are the bunch of lemmings both the bank
and government's top brass think they are yet daren't say so. But I'm
inclined to look on them more fondly. Would you sink a single penny
into that company just now? The sound of on-message Andy Burnham,
chief secretary to the Treasury, squirming away from just such a
question on yesterday's PM programme has been a highlight of the Great
Rock Crumble so far.
What its customers think they know, is that investors, City wiseguys,
politicians and the rest know that no one is in full control of this
credit crunch thing, and that the whole edifice of debt whose shadow
we've been gorging in is wobbling. Listen again (from 0708) to those
interviewed hours before dawn this morning and you'll see what I mean.
It's sobering stuff. At the same time there's something horribly
thrilling about catching the great god of global finance, if not in
its birthday suit, then in surprisingly threadbare underwear. That
goes too for the search for scapegoats. Perhaps it's a further measure
of how amorphous is that mystic entity "the markets" - hallowed be
their name - that no one can agree on what or who is to blame.
The story is ... there is no story
Olly Kendall
September 18, 2007 3:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/olly_kendall/2007/09/the_story_is_there=
_is_no_story.html
Gordon Brown may have just done the Liberal Democrats a big favour. By
refusing to rule out a general election in the autumn or the spring,
he is ensuring that the ranks of Lib Dem activists and MPs are toeing
a strict party line at this year's annual conference.
In spite of what you might have read in the mainstream media, there's
barely a murmur of dissension from the ranks. Everyone, it seems, is
gearing up for an early poll and few are prepared to give the media
the satisfaction of a juicy off-message quote. However, to attribute
such loyalty and disciple singularly to the ambiguities of the prime
minister is unfair. The party has been kicked into shape by its
leader: there is more discipline now than when Paddy Ashdown turned a
rowdy rabble into a successful electoral fighting force. Arguably
Ming's focus on building a more professional internal team, although
critical for future success, may have gone too far, to the detriment
of improving his own personal profile.
Tehran's misguided defiance
Simon Tisdall
September 18, 2007 2:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_tisdall/2007/09/tehrans_misguided=
_defiance.html
Asked in Tehran earlier this year about the possibility of a US
military strike on Iran, a senior official laughed out loud. "Are you
serious?" he asked. "They will never attack us. That would be
madness." His amusement was genuine - and chilling.
Ignorance and complacency about American motivations and intentions
abound in equal measure in the land of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Uniquely among the
countries of the world, Iran has been almost entirely cut off from US
cultural, social and economic influence since the Islamic revolution
of 1979.
Liberals: abandon the BBC
Sunny Hundal
September 18, 2007 2:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sunny_hundal/2007/09/liberals_abandon_t=
he_bbc.html
Two years ago when I first started blogging, one of the few buttons I
proudly displayed on my blog was Tim Ireland's I believe in the BBC
campaign. Now I'm not so sure. And I think it's time those on the
liberal left made their voices heard.
Let me be clear on one point: I believed in the BBC not because of its
supposed liberal bias but because I view it as as serving the public
good. A vibrant democracy needs independent and non-commercial media
outlets driven by a commitment to editorial balance. It may be
imperfect and its licence fee may be a tax, but using the latter
argument to favour privatisation is feeble, since we pay a whole
variety of taxes to incompetent institutions that are supposed to
enshrine the public good.
Disintegrating Britain
Open Thread
September 18, 2007 1:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/09/state_of_race.html
The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), which will wind up its
operations later this month, to be replaced by the Commission for
Equality and Human rights, will publish a report tomorrow analysing
the state of race relations in Britain.
The report, A Lot Done, A Lot More To Do, Our Vision for an Integrated
Britain, claims that 30 years after the Race Relations Act and the
creation of the CRE, segregation and extremism are growing as bonds of
solidarity across society reduce and tensions increase.
From the Daily Me to the Daily We
Dan Kennedy
September 18, 2007 1:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dan_kennedy/2007/09/daily_me_to_daily_w=
e=2Ehtml
Not too many years ago, the big brains of the Internet were telling us
that news was shrinking into the Daily Me - an infinitely customizable
digital newspaper that would pre-select stories according to your
interests and filter out anything that didn't match your criteria.
Want the latest on post-grunge punk without being bothered over the
war in Iraq? Not a problem.
I'm exaggerating, of course, and personalized news has its uses. But
for those of us who care about the news, the Daily Me was a nauseating
prospect. Fortunately, the real power of the Internet turned out not
to be the individual but the community. And the fastest-growing sites
have been social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and sites such as
Flickr, which allow you to share content.
Will we boldly go?
Kevin Fong
September 18, 2007 12:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/kevin_fong/2007/09/will_we_boldly_go.ht=
ml
On September 13 2007 the UK Space Exploration Working Group (SEWG)
published its final report making a series of recommendations to the
British National Space Centre to be taken into account in the
forthcoming revision of UK space strategy. Among these was a call for
the UK to engage in both human and robotic aspects of space
exploration and to seek flight opportunities for British astronauts
within the next decade.
This is a new era in space exploration, one in which the world's space
faring nations will combine and co-ordinate their exploration efforts,
seeking answers to questions of fundamental importance to science.
Negotiations between the various international space agencies,
finalising the details for this cooperative framework, are currently
underway. The UK has but a brief opportunity to decide its role in
this endeavour. Within this new challenge lies an opportunity to
redefine UK space strategy in a way that allows us, for the first
time, to reap the full spectrum of benefits associated with space
exploration.
A prickly subject
Fergus Drennan
September 18, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/fergus_drennan/2007/09/a_prickly_subjec=
t=2Ehtml
So, archaeologist Dr Fairchild of the University of Wales Institute in
Cardiff has revealed that, 6,000 years ago, hedgehog was one of the
choice or, more accurately, opportunistic meat finds for the Sunday
roast. Our ancient ancestors may possibly have expressed their hairy
lip-smacking and furry finger-licking appreciation of its unique
culinary merits with deep hedgehog mimicking grunts of guttural
satisfaction; but the question that needs answering is, what exactly
does it taste like?
With the language and poetic yearnings to express themselves, how
might aspiring Oz Clarks of the stone age have grappled with the
highly subjective nature of taste and smell in describing the culinary
pleasure of hedgehog munching? No doubt comparatives would abound -
descriptive words and names drawn from a range of creatures now long
extinct. Yet, to answer our question, we must turn to stories of
gypsies, crisps, modern-day roadkill and contemporary edible beasts.
A genetically modified story?
Peter Melchett
September 18, 2007 11:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_melchett/2007/09/a_genetically_mo=
dified_story.html
The front page of Monday's Guardian announced firmly "Return of GM:
ministers back moves to grow crops in the UK". The story alleges that
ministers have suddenly decided we will all love GM crops and want
them grown in the UK. This is nonsense.
It is based on an anonymous briefing by one individual, who, because
he or she is described as being "a senior government source" (code for
a civil servant) is not actually a minister at all. The story by the
Guardian's science correspondent neatly coincides with the departure
of one of the government's longest standing pro-GM campaigners,
Professor Howard Dalton, who finishes his job as the Department of
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' chief scientist this week. I've
no idea if Howard Dalton is the Guardian's source. But the story
certainly contains enough pro-GM fantasy and inaccuracies to indicate
that it came from someone inside the government with a very strong
desire to impose GM on the British public, and maybe even a burning
resentment that they have so far miserably failed to do so.
Leading article: Mercenaries and murder
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2976639.ece
Published: 19 September 2007
Has ever a claim of progress been so comprehensively undermined? Last
week, the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, gave a
startlingly optimistic analysis of the security situation in the
country to Congress, a message he repeated yesterday on a visit to
London. Yet within days of this first testimony, a key tribal ally of
the US, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was murdered in a bombing outside his
home. And now we learn of a terrible incident on Sunday, in which a
private US security company, Blackwater, killed 11 civilians after
firing into a crowd in the Mansour district of Baghdad.
Mark Farmaner: Sanctions could make a difference
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2976661.ece
Published: 19 September 2007
The new wave of protests engulfing Burma has echoes of the democracy
uprising in 1988 and the student-led protests in 1996, which were
brutally suppressed. Sadly, the response from the international
community has also been muted. Expressions of concern but no practical
action.
There is a myth that the regime in Burma is immune to international
pressure, that sanctions and political engagement have failed. This is
far from the truth. The regime depends on international trade and
investment to fund the half million-strong army that keeps it in
power. Only one country, the US, has trade sanctions against Burma.
Billions of dollars have been invested in Burma since 1988, but
ordinary people are sinking deeper into poverty.
Hell and heroism: Tyranny that rules by terror is threatened by brave
few
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2976660.ece
In a rare report from Burma, Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent,
talks to some of the dissenters who live in fear of the ruling junta
Published: 19 September 2007
The Junta has a list - a list that has reverberated through this rain-
soaked, fear-ridden city. Arranged in order of their "wanted"
priority, the list contains 22 names and faces, addresses and personal
details, anything that could help the military find these pro-
democracy activists and throw them behind bars.
Scores have already been locked up, dragged off to jails from where
emerge reports of abuse and torture. But the junta is desperate to
find those still at large.
Top Khmer Rouge leader arrested in Cambodia
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2977688.ece
AP
Published: 19 September 2007
Nuon Chea, the top surviving leader of Cambodia's notorious Khmer
Rouge, whose radical policies were responsible for the deaths of an
estimated 1.7 million people, was arrested today and put in the
custody of an UN-supported genocide tribunal.
Police surrounded his home in Pailin in northwestern Cambodia near the
Thai border and served him with an arrest warrant in connection with
atrocities carried out by the communist group when it held power in
the late 1970s.
Zimbabwe on brink of complete economic failure
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2976689.ece
By Daniel Howden, Deputy Foreign Editor
Published: 19 September 2007
Zimbabwe is "closer than ever to complete collapse" as economic
meltdown and chronic food shortages threaten to spill over into a
regional crisis, according to an independent report.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said yesterday
that Western sanctions had failed to weaken the regime of Robert
Mugabe and that "international actors must close ranks" behind South
African President Thabo Mbeki's efforts to mediate in the crisis.
Baghdad revealed as bank robbery capital of the world
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2976691.ece
By Kim Sengupta in Baghdad
Published: 19 September 2007
The attack had been planned with military precision. Twelve men,
masked and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles stormed into the al-
Sanik branch of the Bank of Baghdad, disarmed the guards, tied them up
and then terrified the staff by firing into the ceiling. About
$800,000 (=A3400,000) in US dollars and Iraqi dinars was grabbed before
the gang drove away in three cars, untroubled by the many checkpoints
in the area.
The raid was just the latest of a long and lucrative line that sees,
on average, a million dollars a month being taken at gunpoint. Bank
executives have been kidnapped from their homes for ransoms as high as
$6mn. Amid the bombs and gunfire, there is one "industry" is doing
remarkably well - Baghdad is now the bank robbery capital of the
world.
Palestinians left helpless by Israelis, World Bank warns
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2976690.ece
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Published: 19 September 2007
The Palestinian economy is starting to "hollow out" as Israeli
closures and an unprecedented flight of capital leave an already
deeply impoverished Gaza and the West Bank dependent on aid, the World
Bank will tell international leaders next week.
Tony Blair, the new international Middle East envoy, and key donor
countries meeting in New York will be given an alarming picture of
economic run-down in which Gaza in particular faces an "extreme
scenario" in which children under 15, comprising half the population,
will soon "be thrust into a non-existent labour market".
The languages of extinction: The world's endangered tongues
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2976695.ece
Every fortnight, another language dies; some 40 per cent of the
world's languages are thought to be at risk. Now a new study has
identified those that are most endangered. Claire Soares reports
Published: 19 September 2007
For the Nivkh people of eastern Siberia, it's not as easy as one, two,
three. Depending on whether they are talking about skis or boats or
batches of dried fish, there are different ways of counting. Twenty-
six different ways in fact. Small wonder, then, that 90 per cent of
Nivkhs choose to communicate in Russian but that choice has put Nivkh
on the list of endangered languages.
And it is not alone. Linguists believe half the languages in the world
will be extinct by the end of the century. The 80 major languages such
as English, Russian and Mandarin are spoken by about 80 per cent of
the global population, while the 3,500 linguistic minnows have just
0=2E2 per cent of the world keeping them alive.
Iraq to review legal status of private security companies
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2976692.ece
By Kim Sengupta
Published: 19 September 2007
The Iraqi government announced yesterday that it will review the legal
status of all private security contractors working in the country in
the wake of the banning of the American company Blackwater USA over
the killing of civilians.
The death toll from the shooting on Sunday rose to 11, with 13
wounded. Blackwater has refused to apologise and claimed that those
shot, who included women and children, were "armed insurgents and our
personnel acted lawfully and appropriately". It has also been claimed
that as well as shooting at civilians, the Blackwater guards exchanged
fire with Iraqi police and soldiers.
The history of the world: Without the boring bits
http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/features/article2977337.ece
The story of mankind is one long tale of greed, lust, debauchery and
murder - if only you know where to look. Ian Crofton trawls through
the annals of history to find all the juicy bits
Published: 19 September 2007
4004bc
'The Day of Creation'
The date of Creation, according to James Ussher, Protestant Archbishop
of Armagh, in his 1650 work Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi
origine deducti ("Annals of the Old Testament, deduced from the first
origins of the world"). More precisely, Ussher calculated - on the
basis of his interpretation of biblical texts - that the Earth had
been brought into being on the evening preceding 23 October 4004BC. It
turns out that the Earth is nearly a million times older than Ussher
suggested.
The world of the orchid
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2977388.ece
Scientists now believe that the planet's most prized plants are up to
85 million years old. Simon Usborne celebrates the exotic blooms that
fuel a billion-dollar industry
Published: 19 September 2007
Generations of botanists and florists seduced by the orchid's natural
beauty have long known there is something special about the
"supermodel of the plant world". Now, the history of the floral pin-up
will need to be re-written; a new discovery suggests that orchids
bloomed when dinosaurs roamed the earth - far earlier than previously
thought. A team of American scientists in the Dominican Republic
found, perfectly preserved in a lump of amber, grains of orchid pollen
attached to the wings of a 20-million-year-old bee. Until now, plant
historians were forced to rely on scant fossil records to chart the
origins of the plant, but the new find, detailed last month in the
science journal Nature, suggests that orchids arose as long as 85
million years ago.
'Too late to avoid global warming,' say scientists
http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2976669.ece
By Cahal Milmo
Published: 19 September 2007
A rise of two degrees centigrade in global temperatures - the point
considered to be the threshold for catastrophic climate change which
will expose millions to drought, hunger and flooding - is now "very
unlikely" to be avoided, the world's leading climate scientists said
yesterday.
The latest study from the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) put the inevitability of drastic global warming
in the starkest terms yet, stating that major impacts on parts of the
world - in particular Africa, Asian river deltas, low-lying islands
and the Arctic - are unavoidable and the focus must be on adapting
life to survive the most devastating changes.
'Health disaster' in French Caribbean linked to pesticides
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2976687.ece
By John Lichfield in Paris
Published: 19 September 2007
The indiscriminate use of toxic pesticides on banana plantations in
the French Caribbean has left much of the islands of Martinique and
Guadeloupe poisoned for a century to come, a report to the French
parliament warned yesterday. The two islands and their 800,000
inhabitants faced a "health disaster", with soaring rates of cancer
and infertility, said Professor Dominique Belpomme, a French cancer
specialist.
Based on present trends, half the men of Martinique and Guadeloupe
were likely to develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives,
Professor Belpomme said. Birth defects in children were also becoming
far more common, he warned.
The virtues of Vitamin D: It's time we saw the light
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2974479.ece
There's no such thing as a cure-all, but Vitamin D comes pretty close.
Jeremy Laurance explains how a little sunshine could help you live a
lot longer
Published: 18 September 2007
It may not be the first supplement to be called a "wonder vitamin",
but it is one of the few to have lived up to the name. Last week, the
biggest review of the role of vitamin D in health found that people
who took supplements of the vitamin for six years reduced their risk
of dying from all causes.
Meet Barack
Filed under: Uncategorized - texasblackwomenforobama @ 1:41 pm
http://texasblackwomenforobama.wordpress.com/2007/09/19/hello-world/
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father,
Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya,
where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic
servant to the British.Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-
town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and
then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched
across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber
assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill,
bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to
Hawaii.
Obama: Visonary, not fraudulent
http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/09/19/obama_visonary_not_f.php
by Letters to the Editor
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
I was disappointed to read a recent column by Kyle Szarzynski ("Barack
Obama: Presidential special interest *****," Sept. 18) that is, at
best, disingenuous. I thank The Badger Herald for allowing me to share
the truth about Senator Obama's record and vision.
At a time when opposing the war was unpopular, Obama courageously led.
He is the only Democratic contender to have done so, and his
leadership continues today. Obama's plan to get America out of Iraq is
the most detailed in the field. Not only has Obama demonstrated
superior judgment and foresight, but he is also committed to ending
the war in a responsible way that does not needlessly put troops at
risk. This isn't "special interest whoredom." Rather, it is bold,
responsible leadership.
Barack Obama: Presidential special interest *****
http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/09/18/barack_obama_preside.php
by Kyle Szarzynski
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Every decade or so, a liberal politician bursts onto the forefront of
the American political landscape and achieves stardom among young,
optimistic voters. This politician uses lofty rhetoric, promises major
social change and instills confidence in the progressive potential of
America. Bobby Kennedy was this politician in the 1960s. U.S. Sen.
Barack Obama, D-Ill., is this politician today.
The enthusiasm Mr. Obama has inspired among the collegiate is nothing
short of astounding. The crowds he attracts on campuses are always big
and loud, and his Facebook group now has almost 350,000 members. It
seems the idealistic sons and daughters of the liberal middle class
everywhere are jittery with excitement over their candidate.
Obama on Tax Reform and Putting Online Supporters to Work
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/9/19/23315/8900
by psericks, Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 02:33:15 AM EST
Part of the candidate blogger series for Obama - I'm a supporter
unaffiliated with the campaign
Populista has already written up a nice summary of the tax reform plan
Obama released today. I thought I would expand on one of the smaller
provisions to ease tax filing. So what does this have to do with
progressive politics?
Obama's plan would eliminate the requirement for seniors making less
than $50,000/yr to file a return. It would also make it radically
easier for most Americans to file simple returns. John Edwards has
also proposed a similar plan.
Obama Rolls Out "Robin Hood" Tax Plan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/18/obama-rolls-out-robin-ho_n_64951.h=
tml
CNN | September 18, 2007 11:18 PM
Barack Obama unveiled his tax cut plan Tuesday in Washington. Some
would call it a Robin Hood approach, taking from the rich and giving
to the poor. (Related: Obama tax plan: $80 billion in cuts, five-
minute filings)
Black voters backing away from Edwards
http://www.charlotte.com/politics/story/283893.html
JIM MORRILL
jmorrill@charlotteobserver.com
Four years ago, Aaron Polkey, an African American lawyer from
Charleston, lined up behind Democratic presidential candidate John
Edwards. Now he's backing a rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
"Edwards has already had his chance," Polkey says, "and Obama is a
breath of fresh air."
"That's not who we are."
http://hatchet-man1028.livejournal.com/9431.html
On my way home from a professional seminar in Washington, I stopped to
hear Barack Obama address a late-afternoon rally, the first time I've
heard him speak in person. I took my camera with me and got these
shots. I had hoped to take notes, but the City Center parking lot,
where the rally was held, was so crowded that I couldn't get my
notebook open without bumping into something or someone.
Any mystic revelations I might have about the rally will have to wait
until later; I'm simply too tired to do it tonight. I'm sure the Post
will have a story about it in the morning. But I can offer a couple of
quick impressions before I collapse.
.
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