Noise annoys
Open Thread
August 14, 2007 1:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/open_thread/2007/08/noise_annoys.html
Police in Birmingham have announced that drivers who "cruise" around
the city centre blasting out loud music from their cars could risk
having the vehicles confiscated. The central Broad Street area, part
of Birmingham's entertainment complex, is apparently a hotbed of noise
pollution, with residents complaining more about noise from cars than
drunken or violent behaviour in recent months. If you are caught
inflicting ear-splitting techno, hip-hop or even Rihanna on innocent
passers-by, officers can first issue a warning and then go so far as
to confiscate your car, if the offence is repeated within 12 months.
Shocks and the City
Larry Elliott
August 14, 2007 1:01 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/larry_elliott/2007/08/shocks_and_the_ci=
ty.html
Today's inflation figures were a shock to the City. A real shock. All
the talk in recent weeks has been of upward pressure on the cost of
living. Oil prices have been well above $70 a barrel and there has
been talk of petrol at =C2=A31 a litre. The sort of summer to gladden the
hearts of climate change sceptics has left food rotting in sodden
fields, prompting talk of shortages. In the background, the Bank of
England has been making threatening noises about the possible need for
a sixth increase in interest rates to cool the economy down. As far as
City economists were concerned, it was not a question of if rates
would go up again, but when.
Well, today's official data puts a different gloss on matters. There
were still plenty of red-faced analysts coming up with slightly
convoluted explanations for why the fall in inflation was not perhaps
as dramatic as it seemed, but as DH Lawrence once said, don't trust
the artist, trust the tale. The pound fell back through the $2-level
as the foreign exchange markets had second thoughts about the
likelihood of further increases in the cost of borrowing.
A difficult birth
Yasmin Khan
August 14, 2007 12:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/yasmin_khan/2007/08/a_difficult_birth.h=
tml
Pakistan's current political crisis is linked to many recent world
events and domestic sticking points: high up on the list are the war
in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the so-called war on terror today and the
pressures of an entrenched military regime. Some would say it's a
copout to blame history for Pakistan's woes. But on the other hand
it's worth remembering the legacies of the end of the British Raj for
Pakistan in 1947 and the extremely problematic situation that the new
nation faced from the moment of its inception. In some ways, Pakistan
has never resolved problems inherent in the moment of its foundation.
After independence, Pakistan was comprised of two wings, East and West
Pakistan, over a thousand miles apart, and the country included a
conglomeration of different Muslim peoples - speaking languages
including Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu - with little gluing them together
apart from their "Muslimness" (and even what this meant was contested
from day one). Partition caused epic violence and dislocation which
meant that perhaps one in five people in West Pakistan was a refugee
at the time that the new state came into existence. Many more had lost
loved ones, succumbed to injury or suffered loss of property or
business during the rioting.
What is Karl Rove hiding?
Marcy Wheeler
August 14, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/marcy_wheeler/2007/08/what_is_rove_hidi=
ng.html
The most intriguing line from Karl Rove's interview with Paul Gigot of
the Wall Street Journal, announcing his surprise resignation, is the
description of his biggest failure in the 2006 mid-term election, in
which Democrats won control of both houses of congress. "His biggest
error," Gigot wrote, "was in not working soon enough to replace
Republicans tainted by scandal."
The assertion comes, of course, from a man who is now effectively
having himself replaced, just before the 2008 presidential campaign
shifts into full gear. Should we think of Rove's resignation as his
attempt to avoid making the same mistake twice?
A year in black and white
Lemn Sissay
August 14, 2007 11:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/lemn_sissay/2007/08/lemn_sissay.html
I was born in Billinge, Wigan, in 1967. My mother flew from Addis
Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to study here. She sought out a social
worker who would help with short-term fostering while she finished her
studies. I remained in foster care for 11 turbulent years. Apparently
I had the devil inside me. The foster parents were Baptists.
Fundamentalism in Christianity was doing a roaring trade in 1967.
From the age of 11 to 18, I was harboured in various children's homes
in Lancashire. At 18, the government (no longer my parent, my legal
guardian) left me with a birth certificate and a letter. The birth
certificate dated 21 May 1967 revealed my real name: Lemn Sissay. The
letter, rifled from my files by a sympathetic social worker, dated
1968, was from my birth mother. "How can I get Lemn back?" she said.
"I want him to be with his own people, in his own country. I don't
want him to face discrimination."
The Biffen factor
Michael White
August 14, 2007 11:05 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/michael_white/2007/08/the_biffen_factor=
..html
In all walks of life there are people whom pretty well everybody seems
to like. I won't tempt fate by naming a few, merely observe that John
Biffen, the Tory politician who died in hospital earlier today, was
one of them.
A curious fact on the face of it, since Biffen was a Thatcherite
before Thatcher, and a friend and economic disciple of Enoch Powell,
two politicians who did not attract near-universal respect, let alone
affection across party divides - though Michael Foot was a friend of
Powell's.
Beats, rhymes, but few signs of life
Alex Stein
August 14, 2007 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alex_stein/2007/08/beats_rhymes_but_few=
_signs_of_life.html
Who will you choose? This time it's a genuine choice. Two figures
offering a clear alternative for the future of a nation in crisis. The
prophecies have been made, the rhetoric continues. Will we live, or
will we die?
For devoted fans of hip-hop, the issue really is that serious. In
under a month, the world's two biggest rap stars - 50 Cent and Kanye
West - will both release albums on the same day - Curtis and
Graduation respectively. The hype in the hip-hop community is
enormous. As if that wasn't enough, the date of release is already
marked in infamy: September 11.
A room of one's own
Anna Shapiro
August 14, 2007 10:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/anna_shapiro/2007/08/a_room_of_ones_own=
..html
There's a trend in the newest McMansions in the US, and even in more
modest renovations, for his-and-hers master bedrooms. That's right -
no longer is the master suite, with superking-size bed, dressing room,
walk-in closets, and separate bathrooms enough: now a couple can sleep
separately, do their bedtime reading or telly-watching separately,
turn in or wake up at different times, have the extra blanket or not,
you name it, all without squabbles, compromises, or resentment.
But Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have gone them one better
right here in Hollywood-on-Thames, or at least Hollywood on Haverstock
Hill: they've got his-and-hers houses (so there, members of the merely
aspiring classes). The houses, however, are next-door, and they've
been connected by a corridor their 3-year-old can toddle through so he
can go from his bedroom at Dad's to have tea by the fire with Mum,
whose house is allegedly cosier. And somehow, with all this, the
Burton-Carters have managed to make another baby.
A bridge not far enough
Christopher Harvie
August 14, 2007 9:15 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/christopher_harvie/2007/08/a_bridge_not=
_far_enough.html
The Forth road bridge is falling down. The rail bridge seems covered
with sticking plaster. It takes two-and-a-half hours to get from
Edinburgh to Aberdeen by train, as in the days of steam. Never mind,
as you chug through the rusting girders you can (for the coming nine
years) look west and see Gordon's Giants - Airstrips Two and Three -
building at Rosyth.
The 62,000 ton aircraft-carriers will cost four billion, and God knows
what will be blown on Trident Two. Neo-imperial Viagra costs.
In Jinnah's footsteps
Sarfraz Manzoor
August 14, 2007 8:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sarfraz_manzoor/2007/08/in_jinnahs_foot=
steps.html
This week, Pakistan is 60 years old; that it exists at all is due to
one man: Muhammad Ali Jinnah. As the historian Stanley Wolpert noted
it is rare for one man to change the course of history, rarer still
for an individual to modify the map of the world and hardly anyone can
be credited with creating by force of will alone a nation-state.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three: on August 15 1947, Jinnah took his
oath as the first governor general of the new nation of Pakistan. The
other players in the story of independence and partition - Gandhi,
Mountbatten, Nehru - are far more familiar than Jinnah, the man
Pakistanis refer to as Qaid e Azam - the father of the nation.
After the Raj
Matt Seaton
August 14, 2007 8:00 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/matt_seaton/2007/08/after_the_raj.html
The end of British imperial rule in the Indian subcontinent in 1947
was a triumph for the anti-colonial campaigners. But at the very
moment when an independent, democratic, self-governing India was born,
the hope of Mahatma Gandhi and others for a multi-faith, united state
was dashed. Parturition meant partition - a traumatic division of
territories, largely along ethnic and religious lines.
Partition may have forestalled the outright civil war that had been
feared, but it still resulted in widespread and bloody communal
violence. It also led, later, to protracted conflict in West Bengal
and East Pakistan (the latter of which became the independent nation
of Bangladesh in 1971, following the defeat of Pakistani forces in a
civil war). To this day, Kashmir remains a bitterly disputed and
highly militarised region, where a full-blown shooting war constantly
threatens to break out - with consequences scarcely to be thought of,
given the nuclear capability of both nations.
A question of substance
Niall Stanage
August 13, 2007 9:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/niall_stanage/2007/08/go_joe_biden.html
How far can candor and substance take a politician? People claim to
crave these virtues. Mourning their absence from civic life has become
routine on both sides of the Atlantic.
The battle for the Democratic party's presidential nomination suggests
the picture is more complicated. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware has as
much substance as any other candidate. He is more candid than any of
them. There is nothing wild-eyed about his policy positions. Yet
opinion polls typically put his level of support below 5%. There is
still plenty of time for Biden to improve his standing. He certainly
deserves to do so.
Making corporations pay
Jared Bernstein
August 13, 2007 8:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jared_bernstein/2007/08/corporate_tax_p=
lans.html
The Bush treasury department recently called for a major overhaul of
the system of corporate taxation in the US. The department's report is
motivated by the very reasonable observation that "our current system
for taxing businesses and multinational companies has developed in a
patchwork fashion spanning decades, resulting in a web of tax rules
that can harm the competitiveness of US companies."
Corporate taxation actually holds a fairly unique place within our
highly contentious debates on tax policy. You want to argue about the
income tax, the estate tax, cap gains, dividends? No problem:
partisans are far apart on these issues, with both sides "loaded for
bear." In fact, much to the administration's chagrin, Democrats (along
with a few Republicans) may well succeed in closing a fat tax loophole
on hedge fund managers, leading to a hefty increase in their income-
tax bill.
'Vice' squad losing its grip
Dana Moss and Zvika Krieger
August 13, 2007 7:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dana_moss_and_zvika_krieger/2007/08/vic=
e_squad_losing_its_grip.html
It was business as usual for Saudi Arabia's religious police one night
in June this year when a dozen of them stormed into the house of 28-
year-old hotel security guard Salman al-Huraisi, arrested 10 members
of his family, and ransacked his property in search of banned
alcohol.
Known as the mutawa'in, this strike force of the Kingdom's Committee
for the Protection of Virtue and the Suppression of Vice have
essentially had unlimited power since their establishment, patrolling
the streets with short sticks to flog those who overstep their strict
Wahhabi version of Islam. Their "work" ranges from enforcing prayer
times to ensuring segregation of the sexes.
The Tories' Vulcan death grip
Denis MacShane
August 13, 2007 7:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/denis_macshane/2007/08/the_tories_vulca=
n_death_grip.html
Enjoy your bucket and spade while ye may. The Vulcan is back and wants
to take away your holidays. You might have thought the Tory barmy army
had run out of feet in which to shoot themselves. But up pop the
dynamic duo of John Redwood and George Osborne to tell the millions of
Brits enjoying weeks of sun abroad and days of rain back home that the
brief period when we had the legal rights to four weeks paid holiday a
year are soon to be suspended by the Conservatives.
Today in the Financial Times, George Osborne announces he wants to
pick a fight with Europe. Yawn, yawn. Anti-European outfits are always
announcing their fight with the EU. Open Europe, which specialises in
closed minds on Euro reality, does so every day. According to the
latest register of MPs' interests, William Hague has made just short
of a cool quarter of a million pounds from speeches in the last 12
months, and he never gets close to a microphone without his quips
about foreigners and Europeans from the Les Dawson scrap book of
xenophobic jokes ready to be deployed.
Let them all in ...
Inayat Bunglawala
August 13, 2007 6:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/inayat_bunglawala/2007/08/let_them_all_=
in.html
The fate of more than 90 Iraqi translators working for the British
army - whom the Home Office refuses to grant asylum to in the UK
despite requests from army chiefs - has rightly caused quite an
outcry.
Neil Clark was surely right on Friday to draw our attention to the
hypocrisy of some pro-war bloggers including Harry's Place and Stephen
Pollard who have backed the campaign to get the translators settled in
the UK for fear they might get killed, but have shown scant concern
for the deaths of thousands of other Iraqis at the hands of the US
army since the 2003 invasion.
Green Labour turns Brown
Peter Tatchell
August 13, 2007 6:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/2007/08/green_labour_tur=
ns_brown.html
Labour's renewable energy programme is a shambles. Despite the
government's loudly-proclaimed green commitments, its top advisors
have privately admitted that Britain will, at best, generate only 9%
of its energy from renewables by 2020 - not reaching even half the EU
target that Tony Blair pledged in the spring.
Within a mere three months of signing the EU renewable deal, it is now
apparent that it is a worthless piece of paper. Ministers have shown
none of the leadership, imagination or funding needed to meet the EU
target.
Building on the foundations
Abdul-Rehman Malik
August 13, 2007 5:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/abdulrehman_malik/2007/08/building_on-t=
he_foundations.html
Attending primary school in my native Canada, I remember being
subjected to all kinds of earnest attempts at social engineering.
Nothing was more emblematic of this than the Safety Scouts, a group of
hyperactive puppets that were employed to teach us how to survive
potentially dangerous encounters with heavy machinery, wild animals
and poisonous plants. Reading Friday's report that the Metropolitan
Police, under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Tarique
Ghaffur, was planning to set up a "safety foundation" triggered
childhood memories. I couldn't help but think this was an(other)
effort to turn British Muslims into eager, willing, self-reporting
"safety scouts".
The foundation's planned work will include pinpointing extremists in
the UK, understanding the "dynamic of disaffection", sorting out
failing Islamic institutions, encouraging leaders to speak out more
and convincing ordinary Muslim to "self-report" terror threats. It is
ambitious in scale, but unimaginative in scope. Truth is that
Ghaffur's wishlist is already being tackled by many Muslim groups,
think-tanks and voluntary sector organisations. The difference is that
the "safety foundation" will work within a security apparatus that is
increasingly looked at with apprehension.
Redwood, dead wood
Vincent Cable
August 13, 2007 5:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/vincent_cable/2007/08/redwood_dead_wood=
..html
Yesterday's report by John Redwood on "red tape" (or rather the pr=C3=A9cis
released to the media) which David Cameron has apparently endorsed,
contains some familiar themes: a criticism (some of it justified) of
the burden of regulation on small business; a suspiciously precise
estimate of the savings from scrapping this regulation (=C2=A314 billion);
a hint that these savings can somehow finance big tax cuts; and a
sideways swipe at Europe which is responsible for some of the
regulation.
I am sure these messages will be well received in local chambers of
commerce and by the party faithful for whom they are no doubt
intended. What is less clear is whether they will help David Cameron
out of the hole he is currently in, or will deepen it further.
Adding consult to injury
Peter Lockley
August 13, 2007 4:30 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_lockley/2007/08/adding_consult_to=
_injury.html
"We accept that climate change is happening ... we accept that there
must be radical cuts in carbon dioxide emissions and that aviation
should enjoy no special treatment," I heard him say as I brushed my
teeth this morning. These words came out of the mouth of Simon Baugh,
head of government affairs at BAA, but they must have bypassed the
analytical part of his brain, because he certainly hasn't grasped
their implications.
The UK has to make carbon cuts of 80-90% to stand a reasonable chance
of avoiding more than 2C of warming - the target we've set ourselves
because it gets a lot nastier after that. We cannot achieve this if we
continue to expand our airports.
Bush and Lyme disease: what's the secret?
Dean Baker and Helene Jorgensen
August 13, 2007 4:10 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dean_baker_and_helene_jorgensen_/2007/0=
8/bush_and_lyme_disease_whats_th.html
The White House reported last week that President Bush was treated for
Lyme disease last summer after he discovered the bull's eye rash
associated with the disease on his leg. According to the spokesperson,
Bush's doctors determined that he had fully recovered from the disease
in his annual physical earlier this summer. However, the spokesperson
refused to disclose the treatment that Bush had received, citing
doctor-patient privilege.
While Bush has the right to keep details of his medical treatments
private, this is certainly a sharp contrast with how the White House
dealt with Bush's recent surgery. The public got the play-by-play on
the operation in which several polyps were removed from the
presidential colon. By comparison, the course of treatment for Lyme
would appear to be G-rated.
Time to honour the martyrs
Tristram Hunt
August 13, 2007 3:50 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tristram_hunt/2007/08/time_to_honour_th=
e_martyrs.html
It is enervating to know that behind the corporate vista of modern
Manchester - with its gargantuan hotels, bustling Deansgate, and loft
living - the radical heart of "Cottonopolis" still beats. This week's
plans for a new monument to the Peterloo massacre, organised by the
Peterloo Memorial Campaign, will cement Manchester's place in the
radical map of Britain. Coming on the back of October's celebrations
of the 360th anniversary of the Putney Debates, as well as the planned
restoration of Monmouth's Shire Hall (scene of the Newport rising
Chartist trials), it also signifies a growing national interest in our
subversive heritage.
On August 16 1819, some 60,000 workers, artisans, journeymen and
radicals congregated on St Peter's Fields on the edges of fast-
industrialising Manchester to demand adult male suffrage and a repeal
of the Corn Law price-fixing cartel. The meeting represented a
dangerous challenge to the political and economic monopoly of the
landed aristocracy. Manchester's workers had realised they would never
reap the riches of industrialisation without first gaining political
power.
Monday's mp3: Obama! Obama!
http://soundroots.org/2007/08/mondays-mp3-obama-obama.html
Don't let that headline give you the wrong idea. While I'm excited
about the idea of a more diverse group of potential presidential
candidates, I'm not thrilled that the election season now runs
something like two or three years. And I'm not ready to issue an
endorsement. Besides, the discussion of electoral politics is
something of a stretch for SoundRoots, given our focus on global music
and culture, so let's approach this musically.
The post title is also part of the refrain of a campaign song put out
by Amigos de Obama. It's more innovative politically than musically,
but still a fun sing-a-long.
Obama follows Clinton and Gore on GQ
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/13/184713/313
by Better Days
Mon Aug 13, 2007 at 03:58:00 PM PDT
For the first time since Bill Clinton and Al Gore did it in 1992 a
presidential candidate is on the cover of GQ. As someone with little
interest in fashion (just ask my wife) I didn't think this was a big
deal. I guess it does because it reinforces Obama's image as a stylish
politician. But for me it was the substance of the article. It is a
very interesting read. The reporter, Ryan Lizza, has been following
Obama for a long time and has some interesting analysis. He explores
how different this campaign is and what Obama is trying to do to
politics. I suggest you read the entire thing at
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=3Dcontent_5841 but here is
an interesting excerpt after the break
Democrats Worry Clinton May Be Drag On Candidates
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/local_story_224191012.html
(AP) WASHINGTON Looking past the presidential nomination fight,
Democratic leaders quietly fret that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at
the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom.
They say the former first lady may be too polarizing for much of the
country. She could jeopardize the party's standing with independent
voters and give Republicans who otherwise might stay home on Election
Day a reason to vote, they worry.
Obama First Politician To Land GQ Cover In 15 Years
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/08/13/obama-first-politician-to_n_60198.=
html
GQ | Ryan Lizza | August 13, 2007 12:05 PM
On a cloudy morning in mid-June, with polls showing Barack Obama
competitive with Hillary Clinton in key states and the question
hanging over him of whether he can parlay his status as the potential
savior of the Democratic Party--and depending on whom you talk to,
perhaps even America--into actual votes, Obama is on his way to clinch
the endorsement of a South Carolina mortician. Later today, the
senator will deliver a widely covered speech in Spartanburg and wow a
rally in Greenville, but right now he and his nine-car motorcade are
quietly slipping into the rural heart of the state for a private
meeting, one not listed on his official schedule, with Anne Parks, a
funeral director who also happens to be a state representative--and
thus a local power broker worthy of a presidential candidate's
attention--who demanded the senator come pay his respects in return
for her support.
The editorials urge us to cut emissions, but the ads tell a very
different story
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2148074,00.html
Newspaper exhortations on climate change sit uncomfortably alongside
promotions for budget flights and oil companies
George Monbiot
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
I am sorry to be crude, but however else I try to say it, the phrase
"lying bastards" comes to mind. In March, I claimed that the
government was fudging its figures on cutting carbon emissions and
that it was due to miss its targets for renewable energy. It denied
the charges, claimed its cuts were " correctly quantified" and
suggested I had got my facts wrong. Yesterday, the Guardian published
a secret briefing by civil servants admitting that the government's
programmes are way off track and urging ministers to try to amend them
not with new investments but through "statistical interpretations of
the target".
Role models should come from the home, not the TV
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2148082,00.html
Allowing black families to believe their children's problems are all
the fault of schools or the media is a huge own goal
Joseph Harker
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
It's more than a quarter of a century since the inner-city riots that
sparked the landmark Scarman inquiry, which lifted the lid on racism
in Britain - and it's about the same period since people began calling
for positive role models as a way of tackling inequality. In the 80s,
it seemed a sensible idea; media images of black people were rare and
almost always negative. If only they showed more of our real lives, we
would argue, it might help break down the barriers holding us back.
Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for.
Chemistry lessons
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2148084,00.html
Tom and Katie be warned: the pursuit of that onscreen sexual spark is
a fool's errand
Sarah Churchwell
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
If reports are to be believed, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are
planning a "steamy photoshoot", following in the footsteps of their
close friends and arbiters of good taste, the Beckhams. According to a
"friend" who has been widely quoted in the gossip rags, "Tom and Katie
really have amazing chemistry. They want to show the world how much."
This seems like a very peculiar thing to want to show the world - and
to expect the world to want to see. Cynics would no doubt say that
it's to quash persistent rumours that theirs is a marriage of
convenience. But even if they generate "chemistry" in this photoshoot,
that is no proof they have chemistry in real life.
This is no time to waver
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2148083,00.html
Fresh hopes of an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation will only be
destroyed by including Hamas
Zvi Heifetz
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
A flurry of diplomatic activity has in recent weeks renewed hope of an
Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yesterday, Mike Gapes MP suggested in these
pages that those efforts should include Hamas. Gapes, who chairs the
Commons foreign affairs committee, is held in highest esteem by
Israelis and Palestinians alike for his efforts to foster
reconciliation in our region. But by calling for dialogue with
extremists, he risks damaging the peace process just as a few green
shoots are beginning to show.
East Timor, fragile test-bed for intervention
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldbriefing/story/0,,2148269,00.html
Simon Tisdall
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Gang violence, rape and arson attacks following the appointment of a
new government in East Timor have underscored the country's continuing
fragility eight years after the international community, improvising
on a theme developed by Tony Blair, intervened to end Indonesian
control.
As with other noted "humanitarian interventions" in Kosovo and Sierra
Leone during the same period, Timor is seriously unfinished business -
but no longer enjoys the political attention that briefly made it an
international cause celebre. As a result, the nation-building agenda
laid out after formal independence in 2002 remains as daunting as ever
- and may yet fail.
Apartheid-era atrocities cannot be blamed on De Klerk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2148107,00.html
The former South African president is not implicated in any
wrongdoing, says Dave Steward
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Chris McGreal reports that the death of "five sleeping teenage boys"
who "were shot by a military hit squad days before FW de Klerk
received his Nobel peace prize" have returned to haunt the former
South African president, who has consistently denied knowledge of
"assassinations, bombings and torture against the regime's
opponents" (Apartheid-era murder of sleeping teenagers returns to
haunt De Klerk, August 6).
De Klerk did authorise the attack. But his decision - despite its
tragic outcome - was in keeping with national and international law
and cannot be compared with the extra-legal activities of apartheid
"hit squads".
What do you think The Bacchae is about?
Mark Fisher
August 14, 2007 11:23 AM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2007/08/bacchae.html
What's The Bacchae about? It seems it depends on what paper you read.
If you take the Daily Telegraph, you will believe it is about "the
horrors of religious fundamentalism still being unleashed on the world
today". That's the assessment of Charles Spencer who sees in the
National Theatre of Scotland production a metaphor for the global
tensions of 2007.
If, on the other hand, you are a reader of The Scotsman, you will be
in no doubt that Euripides was writing about the challenges to a civic
society. In her assessment of the show, Joyce McMillan argued it is "a
political parable about the terrible fate that awaits a state which
cannot acknowledge and find a balance between the different aspects of
human nature."
You review: The Enemies of Reason
James Donaghy
August 14, 2007 11:19 AM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/08/you_review_the_enemies_of_reas.html
Last night saw the return to our screens of Darwin's rottweiler and
tormentor of the devout, Professor Richard Dawkins, with The Enemies
of Reason, his two-part broadside against irrational belief systems,
astrology, complementary medicine, psychics, crystal merchants and
dirt worshippers.
While the critics generally found themselves in alignment with
Dawkins' argument, most struggled to see the point of the show.
Writing in The Scotsman, Paul Whitelaw said: "It's an enjoyable piece
of polemic, even if Dawkins is, as ever, preaching to the converted."
The Times' Andrew Billen felt the good Professor was getting upset
over nothing: "What Dawkins doesn't seem to get is that for most
people clairvoyance is not a rival to science but part of the
entertainment industry". Whereas The Guardian's Sam Wollaston simply
saw a bit of a mismatch, pointing out that, "These people are bonkers.
Pitching Professor Dawkins against them is a little unfair."
Why do film-makers love a loser?
David Bennun
August 14, 2007 12:42 PM
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/08/joke_failure_hopeless_heroes_m.html
In an age when celebrities are, it's often said, famous for being
famous, we're entitled to feel a twinge of nostalgia for a time when a
fellow could become famous for being crap. Such was the accomplishment
of ski jumper (or as an Italian journalist had it, "ski dropper")
Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, who may not be the worst Olympian in the
august history of the games, but is without question the most
memorably poor.
Ridiculed and patronised in equal measure, Edwards parleyed his status
as a national joke into a career, one he evidently preferred to his
former occupation of plasterer. Now that our pre-eminent screen clown,
Steve Coogan, has signed up to play the title role in a film of
Edwards's life, you might expect that joke status to be revived. But,
fingers crossed, Coogan could be just the man to give Edwards the
portrayal he deserves.
The new India: a special issue
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/g2/0,,2148380,00.html
For decades after independence, India was viewed by many as a land of
unfulfilled potential, stricken by poverty. But today it's a success.
Ahmadinejad's first Afghan visit ruffles US feathers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2148530,00.html
=C2=B7 Meeting with Karzai in open defiance of Washington
=C2=B7 Iran denies US claims it is arming Taliban
Robert Tait in Tehran
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, audaciously signalled his
determination to counter US global power today by meeting his Afghan
counterpart, Hamid Karzai, in open defiance of Washington's wishes.
Mr Ahmadinejad led a high-ranking Iranian delegation to Kabul in a
demonstration of growing Iranian influence in Afghanistan, where the
US, Britain and other western powers are engaged in a bitter struggle
with the Taliban.
Celebrations and ceremonies mark Pakistan's independence
http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,,2148452,00.html
James Orr and agencies
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Pakistan today marked the 60th anniversary of its creation and
independence from Britain with a series of celebrations and military
ceremonies.
At dawn, a 31-gun salute in the capital, Islamabad, marked the start
of festivities to commemorate August 14 1947, the day colonial rule
ended.
Thailand issues arrest warrant for Thaksin
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2148543,00.html
Ian MacKinnon, south-east Asia correspondent
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Senior Thai judges issued arrest warrants for the ousted prime
minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife today on the grounds that
they had sought to evade corruption charges over a multi-million pound
land deal.
The former leader, who was deposed in a bloodless coup last September
while abroad, has been living in exile in London and failed to appear
before a hearing scheduled to begin today.
'Bush's Brain' goes off to spend more time with his family, ending era
at centre of US politics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2148233,00.html
=C2=B7 Karl Rove's high ambition for Republicans in tatters
=C2=B7 Democrats vow to pursue retired strategy adviser
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Democratic Congressmen warned yesterday they would keep up the
campaign to have George Bush's strategy adviser, Karl Rove, brought to
book, in spite of his announcement he will leave the White House at
the end of the month.
Democrats have been pursuing Mr Rove on a host of issues, mainly the
sackings of eight attorneys which they say were politically motivated.
Mr Rove has ignored subpoenas demanding his attendance to give
evidence on Capitol Hill.
How Rove became victim of administration's hubris
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2148272,00.html
Julian Borger,diplomatic editor
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Karl Rove's departure from the White House to spend more time with his
family and to write his memoirs marks the end of the dominant
political partnership of the past decade in US politics.
Mr Rove took George Bush under his wing when he was no more than the
figurehead of a Texan baseball team, the wayward son of a political
dynasty who was not expected to amount to anything.
Through constant drilling and intense discipline the Austin-based
political consultant turned his protege into a fearsomely effective
campaigner, Texas governor and, ultimately, a two-term president.
After his 2004 reelection, President Bush hailed Mr Rove as "The
Architect". The critics called him "Bush's Brain".
22 dead as Chinese bridge collapses
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2148487,00.html
Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
At least 22 people were killed today when a newly-built bridge
collapsed in central China, raising fresh concerns about safety
standards amid a nationwide construction boom.
Just weeks before it was scheduled to open, the 328m stone bridge over
the River Tuo in central Hunan province broke apart and fell into the
waters below.
More than 100 workers were removing scaffolding when the accident
happened, and the death toll could rise significantly higher.
According to local media, 22 people were injured and 46 are still
missing.
Four killed in Israeli raid on Gaza
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2148484,00.html
Fred Attewill and agencies
Tuesday August 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Four Palestinians were killed when Israeli troops and aircraft
launched an offensive against suspected militants in Gaza today.
Two Hamas fighters and two civilians died, while 15 people - including
seven civilians - were injured, Palestinian medical officials said.
The Israeli army said its forces had struck "terror targets" after a
rocket was fired into Israel from Gaza this morning. There were no
reports of any injuries from the rocket attack.
Child-trafficking fears as Guatemalan police rescue 46 from house
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2148126,00.html
=C2=B7 Mothers pressured to put babies up for adoption
=C2=B7 Illegal agencies target sales to western parents
Rory Carroll in Guatemala City and agencies
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Police in Guatemala have rescued 46 children from a suspected illegal
adoption agency, renewing concerns about the trafficking of infants
from the central American country. The children, aged from just a few
days old to three years, were discovered at the weekend at a house in
the city of Antigua, near the capital.
"We searched the house after we got a tip from neighbours telling us
that every day they would see foreigners pick up children there," a
police spokesman, Carlos Calju, told reporters.
Obama profits from Clinton's fundraising glitch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2148229,00.html
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
The Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has been forced
to revise downwards the $26m (=C2=A313m) she claimed to have raised in the
first three months of this year, putting her on a par with, rather
than ahead of, her rival Barack Obama.
Her fundraising total for that period has now shrunk by $400,000
(=C2=A3200,000) because of bounced cheques, donors whose credit cards were
mistakenly charged twice and donations that exceeded the legal limit,
according to the New York Times.
Mayor offers too-fat Italians money to diet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2148222,00.html
Tom Kington in Rome
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
The mayor of a picture postcard town in the foothills of the Italian
Alps has become so alarmed by the thickening of residents' waistlines
he is offering them cash prizes to lose weight.
Residents in Varallo Sesia who lose 3kg (6.6lbs) in a month can claim
=E2=82=AC50, and another =E2=82=AC100 if they can keep it off for a further=
five
months. Men shedding 6kg in two months - 5kg for women - can also
claim =E2=82=AC50 and then =E2=82=AC200 after five months. "Dieting needs s=
trong
motivation, and I am trying to muster some collective will here," said
the mayor, Gianluca Buonanno, who is trying to lose 6kg after his son
called him "big belly".
Farmer 'lucky to be alive' after web bride scam
http://www.guardian.co.uk/australia/story/0,,2148188,00.html
Barbara McMahon in Sydney
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
An Australian farmer held captive in west Africa after being tricked
in an internet bride scam has returned home, warning other lovelorn
bachelors to be more careful than he was.
Des Gregor said he was lucky to be alive after a 12-day ordeal in Mali
in which he was kidnapped, beaten, had his cash and credit cards
stolen and was told that his limbs would be hacked off with a machete
if his family did not pay a ransom. The 56-year-old wheat farmer from
South Australia was freed after a joint operation by the Australian
and Malian police.
Hollywood tears up script to make anti-war films while conflicts rage
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2148218,00.html
Tradition overturned as star-studded movies deal with Iraq and
Afghanistan
Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
For Americans sitting in cinemas watching the summer's fun movies,
such as The Simpsons and Hairspray, the trailer for Lions for Lambs is
jarring and unexpected. It opens with a moody shot of the Washington
Memorial, and shifts to a series of quick-fire scenes about President
George Bush's "war on terror".
Lions for Lambs, scheduled for release in the US on November 9, is not
a documentary nor an art house film nor even a Michael Moore-style
piece of agitprop. It is mainstream Hollywood, starring Tom Cruise,
Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who also directed it. It is one of
about a dozen Hollywood films due for release or being made that deal
with America divided, the national debate over Iraq and Afghanistan,
and other consequences of 9/11.
Ancient urban sprawl surrounded Angkor Wat
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2148132,00.html
David Adam
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
The famous medieval temple at Angkor Wat in Cambodia was once
surrounded by a giant urban sprawl of settlements, according to a new
map of the area published by an international team of archaeologists.
The experts spent years studying Nasa images of the Angkor region and
checking possible sightings on the ground, and found enough ruins to
conclude that the site was the largest settlement in the pre-
industrial world.
Carpeted with vegetation and obscured by low-lying cloud, the ruins
spill over 400 square miles around the distinctive temple, and are
linked by a complex irrigation system.
First human trial of DNA-based vaccine cheers MS researchers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/14/sciencenews.medicalscience
=C2=B7 Number and size of lesions drop sharply during tests
=C2=B7 Scientists urge caution and call for further work
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian Tuesday August 14 2007
The first human trial of a DNA-based vaccine to combat multiple
sclerosis has been declared a success by doctors in America after
tests on patients revealed signs that their condition had improved.
However, the trial is only the first small step in developing an
effective treatment against the debilitating degenerative disease,
which affects about 85,000 people in the UK.
The vaccine works by dampening down the immune system, which is
believed to become overactive in people who develop multiple
sclerosis.
Universities use scholarships to coerce poorer applicants, say critics
http://education.guardian.co.uk/students/news/story/0,,2148318,00.html
=C2=B7 Institutions demand to be ranked as first choice
=C2=B7 Practice condemned for tying hands of students
Jessica Shepherd
Tuesday August 14, 2007
The Guardian
Universities are exploiting their brightest and most cash-strapped
applicants by offering scholarships only to students who agree to make
them their first choice.
The Guardian has learned that at least nine universities, including
many of the most prestigious names, use scholarships worth several
thousand pounds a year to coerce academic high-flyers into picking
their courses.
Wolfowitz 'tried to censor World Bank on climate change'
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2861732.ece
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
Published: 14 August 2007
The Bush administration has consistently thwarted efforts by the World
Bank to include global warming in its calculations when considering
whether to approve major investments in industry and infrastructure,
according to documents made public through a watchdog yesterday.
On one occasion, the White House's pointman at the bank, the now
disgraced Paul Wolfowitz, personally intervened to remove the words
"climate change" from the title of a bank progress report and ordered
changes to the text of the report to shift the focus away from global
warming.
Afghanistan operation 'is a long-term commitment'
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2861734.ece
By Kim Sengupta
Published: 14 August 2007
The Defence Secretary, Des Browne, acknowledged yesterday that
Afghanistan was a "long-term commitment" for Britain. He said he had
"never underestimated the degree of difficulty we face" in the
country, a very different position from the one taken by his
predecessor, John Reid, who declared when he sent UK forces into
Helmand at the beginning of last year that the mission would last
three years and might end "without a shot being fired in anger".
Now, two million rounds of ammunition and dozens of casualities later,
no one in the British military and diplomatic circles believes that
Afghanistan is going to be anything but a very long haul. The
international community, with the UK playing a central role, we are
told, can expect to be in the country from anything between 10 and 30
years.
Pakistan's birthday overshadowed by extremist violence
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2861726.ece
By Omar Waraich in Islamabad
Published: 14 August 2007
Pakistanis are set to celebrate 60 years of independence today against
a backdrop of Islamist bombings that have shaken General Pervez
Musharraf's government.
Four civilians were killed by a roadside bomb yesterday in the
volatile North West Frontier province, while security forces clashed
with Islamic militants close to the Afghan border after their
checkpoints were attacked.
Tourism hit again as woman dies from bird flu in Bali
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2861749.ece
Kathy Marks, Asia-Pacific Correspondent
Published: 14 August 2007
The death of a young woman from bird flu on the Indonesian island of
Bali has raised fears among British holidaymakers, giving visitors
another reason to stay away and dealing another blow to the tourism
industry.
Bali has suffered two terrorist attacks in recent years, with more
than 200 people killed in nightclub bombings in 2002. The tourism
industry was starting to recover when two restaurants were blown up in
2005. Twenty people died, including five foreigners.
Irish student arrested for 'mooning' at house of Senegalese governor
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2861745.ece
By James Macintyre
Published: 14 August 2007
An Irish student has spent almost three weeks locked up in Senegal
after being caught allegedly flashing his bottom in a dare outside the
home of one of the country's governors.
Patrick Devine, 19, from the seaside village of Dunfanaghy, Co
Donegal, was arrested last month after dropping his trousers and
"pulling a mooner" outside the residence.
Irish student arrested for 'mooning' at house of Senegalese governor
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2861745.ece
By James Macintyre
Published: 14 August 2007
An Irish student has spent almost three weeks locked up in Senegal
after being caught allegedly flashing his bottom in a dare outside the
home of one of the country's governors.
Patrick Devine, 19, from the seaside village of Dunfanaghy, Co
Donegal, was arrested last month after dropping his trousers and
"pulling a mooner" outside the residence.
Bush's brain goes missing as Karl Rove retires
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2861719.ece
To Republicans, he is a brilliant strategist who kept their man in
power. To Democrats, he is a ruthless manipulator whose machinations
banished them to the sidelines. Now Karl Rove is retiring.
By Leonard Doyle
Published: 14 August 2007
"Karl Rove RESIGNS!!! Karl Rove Resigns - Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead
[breaking news - no irony] Short and Sweet: Rove resigns!"
The bloggers were at it early yesterday morning, as the online bush
telegraph breathlessly passed on the news that the man the Democrats
love to hate, the tousle-haired and bespectacled Andy Warhol
lookalike, Karl Rove, had announced his departure from the Bush White
House.
Aussie 'Jaws' takes lead role in new horror film
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2861720.ece
By Kathy Marks in Sydney
Published: 14 August 2007
The man-eating saltwater crocodiles that roam the waterways of
northern Australia are among the most fearsome creatures in a country
brimming with lethal wildlife. But tourism officials believe that a
new film about a rogue "saltie" will boost visitor numbers to the
area.
Rogue, written and directed by Greg McLean, received its premiere in
Darwin, the Northern Territory capital, at the weekend. Australia's
biggest-budget horror movie to date, it tells the story of a group of
tourists terrorised by a saltwater crocodile.
Saudis to build their own version of Eden Project
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2861728.ece
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 14 August 2007
A series of botanical landscapes that go back in evolutionary time are
to be built in the desert of Saudi Arabia as part of an ambitious
project to design the world's biggest indoor gardens.
British architects and scientists are to act as advisers on the
project to erect two giant crescent-shaped enclosures which will be
five times the size of the Eden Project's famous transparent domes in
Cornwall.
All sides guilty of war crimes in Somalia, says Human Rights Watch
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2861729.ece
By Steve Bloomfield in Nairobi
Published: 14 August 2007
War crimes have been committed by all sides in the conflict in Somalia
- Ethiopian troops, Somali government forces and the insurgents they
are fighting - according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.
Researchers say Ethiopian forces indiscriminately bombarded highly
populated areas of Mogadishu with rockets, mortars and artillery
during two periods of intense fighting in March and April. Hospitals
were targeted and some civilians were executed.
Noriega nears end of jail term but US fights against his release
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2861724.ece
By David Usborne in New York
Published: 14 August 2007
They may die eventually, but one old soldier, General Manuel Noriega,
the deposed dictator of Panama, is suddenly back on the battlefield.
Now in his early seventies and nearing the end of a prison sentence in
the United States, he is embroiled in a new legal struggle over where
he will be allowed to settle next.
Noriega, who is due to be released from prison in Miami on 9
September, has his own plans - to return to his native Panama, a
country that is much changed since his overthrow during an invasion
ordered by former president George Bush Sr in 1989. The US government,
however, has other ideas for him.
Nuclear deal with US 'good for India'
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2861725.ece
By Y.P Rajesh in Delhi
Published: 14 August 2007
India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has mounted a strong defence
of his nuclear energy deal with the United States, saying it was
crucial for the country's prosperity.
The deal, seen as the cornerstone of a new friendship between Delhi
and Washington, has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum
and raised fears it could destabilise Mr Singh's coalition.
The Big Question: Sixty years after partition, why is India doing so
much better than Pakistan?
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2861707.ece
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
Published: 14 August 2007
Why are we asking this now?
Pakistan celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence from
Britain today (14 August) while India marks the occasion precisely 24
hours later. For much of the long campaign for independence - led by
Mahatma Gandhi - the campaigners' demand was for the creation of a
single independent nation in which the rights of Hindus and Muslims
would be protected. The campaign for an independent Pakistan grew
during the 1930s and 1940s, under the direction of Mohammed Ali
Jinnah, the leader of the All India Muslim League and the man who
served as Pakistan's first Governor General. In the years since
Partition India has proudly and robustly championed its occasionally
chaotic democracy while Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators
for more than half its history (1958-71, 1977-88, 1999-present). Now,
at the age of 60, India's image is that of a resurgent, confident
regional power racing to compete with China and the West. Meanwhile,
Pakistan's image - at least in the West - is as a broken, backward
country that provides a safe haven for extremists.
Imam attacked as anti-Muslim violence grows
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2861744.ece
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 14 August 2007
A brutal assault on a London imam has highlighted fears that Muslims
are suffering a sharp increase in race attacks after the failed car
bombings in June.
The 58-year-old imam from Central Mosque in Regent's Park, is in a
critical condition after emergency surgery to both of his eyes.
Inside the biker gangs: the truth about guns, drugs and organised
crime
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2861799.ece
The drive-by shooting of a motorcyclist on the M40 throws a chilling
light on Britain's biker gangs. In a gripping extract from his best-
selling book, Tony Thompson rides with the Hells Angels =E2=80=93 and uncov=
ers
a violent criminal underworld
Published: 14 August 2007
According to its one-time spokesman, the late Ian "Maz" Harris, PhD:
"The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a loosely based organisation of
motorcycle enthusiasts who own bikes of 750cc or more. We are
primarily and exclusively a motorcycle club. That is all."
The Memorandum of Association for Hells Angels Limited, registered at
Companies House in October 1976, adds the following objectives: "To
foster, encourage and advance the sport and recreation of motor-
cycling and to promote the acceptance of the ethical code of morality
of the Hells Angels club; to encourage, promote and hold race
meetings, happenings, rallies, reliability trials, exhibitions and
shows and give entertainments of all kinds related to motor-cycling."
Exotic marine life of Italy's 'Blue Grotto' under threat from boom in
tourism
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2861721.ece
By Peter Popham in Rome
Published: 14 August 2007
One of the world's most extraordinary marine environments risks being
destroyed by its popularity. The interior of Grotta Azzurra, "Blue
Grotto", at Palinuro in the far south of Italy's Amalfi coast, is
pitch black because of the narrowness of the cave's entrance. Yet the
grotto's waters teem with exotic marine life, including giant sponges,
oversize mussels and lobsters, and luridly coloured coral.
The reason marine life can survive inside the cave is because of the
sulphidic springs that pipe hydrogen sulphide into its water. This
provides a source of energy for the marine life, as it is a viable
alternative to sunlight.
Lebanese militants vow to take battle outside camp
http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2861723.ece
By Robert Fisk in Beirut
Published: 14 August 2007
It was a familiar routine. Just as the Lebanese army boasted of
another "victory" amid the wreckage of the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian
camp - its al-Qa'ida-style rebels still holding out against the state
authority - one of the Islamists' spokesmen announced in an audiotape
that some of the gunmen had escaped and were planning a "black day"
for the government.
This is grim news indeed for a country facing a presidential election
crisis and whose administration is being militarily supported by the
United States as part of its "war on terror".
Leading Article: The science of failure
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2861714.ece
Published: 14 August 2007
The confederation of British Industry called for emergency action
yesterday to save the sciences. It wants undergraduates to be offered
=C2=A31,000-a-year bonuses by the state to study sciences and engineering
at universities.
It is certainly true that science is less popular among students than
it used to be. Despite a rise in university applications this year,
the numbers studying A-level physics and chemistry have declined by 57
per cent and 28 per cent respectively in the past two decades. Just 12
per cent of graduates leave university with a science, engineering or
technology degree. And, of those, many are tempted away by the higher
salaries offered by the financial services industry.
Joan Smith: These preachers of hate must be exposed
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_m_z/joan_smith/article2861717.e=
ce
The decision to investigate the Wahhabi influence in British mosques
cannot be faulted
Published: 14 August 2007
In January last year, the Government suffered two shock defeats when
MPs refused to overturn amendments made in the Lords to one of its
flagship bills. The second division was lost by a single vote: the
slenderest of majorities, but sufficient, it now turns out, to save
Channel 4 from a prosecution for incitement to religious hatred.
At the time, those of us who campaigned against aspects of the Racial
and Religious Hatred bill were accused of being alarmist when we
argued that the law would be used to prevent legitimate criticism of
religion. But events of the past few days, farcical and outrageous in
equal measure, have shown how right peers were to insist that an
offence of incitement to religious hatred has to be intentional.
Kanya King: There's more to black music than gangs and guns
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2861711.ece
When I look back, I see nothing but a history of outspoken social
messages
Published: 14 August 2007
No one could doubt that there are some serious challenges facing the
black British community. In areas where poverty and crime go hand in
hand, violence and so-called "gang culture" are becoming more and more
of a media issue. And then, of course, we are treated to the usual
list of suspects that appear whenever the question of crime and the
black community appear: music, role models, family issues, drugs. It's
like a mantra, loved by politicians and media alike.
Do these issues exist? Of course they do. Does the black community
want and need to address them? Of course. But there's something about
the way it's presented that is uncomfortable. When Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold shot their classmates in Columbine in 1999, the media
dragged Marilyn Manson into the debate; I don't remember ever seeing
that referred to as "white music" or "rock" or anything similar. Yet,
when it comes to violence surrounding black teenagers, we're so quick
to invoke the phrases "black music", "rap" or "hip-hop". Why?
Public school embarrassed by pupils' 'class war' hunt video
http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2861750.ece
By Robert Verkaik
Published: 14 August 2007
One of Scotland's most expensive public schools has tried to distance
itself from an amateur video in which its students dressed as huntsmen
and pretend to chase and kill teenagers wearing tracksuits, trainers
and Burberry caps.
Pupils from Glenalmond College in Perthshire filmed the spoof hunt in
the grounds of the school's 300-acre estate and posted the video on
YouTube.
.
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