Category Archives: current affairs

current affairs, freedom of speech, topographical

Open Government

There’s an excellent short post over at Evolving Thoughts which succinctly addresses the need for open government. In fact it is so good I’m going to quote the key two paragraphs here:

Whenever a government […] wants to be free from oversight, the motivation, whether they are aware of it or not, is empire building and control. No government activity, not even those pertaining to that hold-all of rights denial, national security, should automatically be free from supervision. Democracy only works when government is done in the open. Otherwise it simply becomes a matter of who can rort the system most effectively, as we see with the Bush administration today.

No special powers are required to prevent terrorism, just good old fashioned police work. No special acts of parliament are needed to prosecute them, for insurgency and murder are already crimes. And no special politicians are needed to “lead us out of this mess”, because either every political authority can do this, or we have no hope. And a democratic government, legislature or judiciary knows this already, and will act to protect our rights in a time of stress.

Precisely what I’ve been saying for years.

current affairs, topographical

Going to the Dogs

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Going to the dogs is what a lot of children in Shropshire might be doing today. Why? Because Shropshire County Council have apparently closed a lot of schools today because it might snow later in the day. For heaven’s sake what are these people on? We now have disruption because it might snow – not even because it’s the wrong type of snow.

In my school days (1956-1969) school was never closed, and, unlike now, we were guaranteed snowfall every winter. Even during the very bad winter of 1962-63 my school didn’t close. For almost the whole of that winter term we had up to 2″ (5 cm) of ice on our playground, but school never closed; we came very close to being sent home (within 2-3 hours) as we were running out of heating oil but were saved by the arrival of a tanker at the 11th hour. Boo! Hiss!

How have we got to the situation where things are shut down “because it might snow”?

amusements, current affairs, thoughts

Camel Cavalry

This wonderful picture appeared in today’s Times, in their “Image of the Day” series.

It is captioned “Members of India’s Border Security Force rehearse … for the Republic Day parade in Delhi on Saturday”. This is the sort of pomp and fancy dress which only the British, and the Raj, do so brilliantly.

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, thoughts

Depressing and Predictable

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Following on from yesterday’s post about the views on drugs of the Chief Constable of North Wales … Needless to say said Chief Constable has today come in for the “usual intemperate attack” from the Daily Mail and other papers (eg. this relatively well tempered article in the Daily Telegraph).

Bystander over at The Magistrate’s Blog comments in his usual forthright and perceptive style:

… what is most depressing about this is the entire lack of any reasoned debate. Whenever the drugs issue comes up, the tabloids and some of the rent-a-quote politicians … go into a knee-jerk rant mode …

We have now reached the position where there is no chance of any rational approach to our fellow citizens’ increasing appetite for chemical stimulation.

Our politicians long ago gave up leadership, in favour of a marketing-led approach dependent on focus groups and polls.

… elected politicians … are terrified of upsetting anyone.

The ‘War on Drugs’ has become like the later stages of the Vietnam war: it’s unwinnable, but nobody has the guts to admit it …

I really couldn’t have expressed it better myself, even with all day to think about it!

However the “intemperate attacks” are precisely why I think Brunstrom is wrong. The legalisation he is advocating won’t happen; the tabloid press and the tabloid politicians will ensure it doesn’t; they’ll drown out anyone who dares to think about the subject.

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, medical, science

Drugs to be Legal in 10 Years?

Yes, you read it right! This was the thrust of a BBC News item yesterday. Richard Brunstrom, Chief Constable of North Wales, believes that in about 10 years time drugs which are currently illegal will be legalised. His logic is impeccable:

  • Over 50% of all recorded crime is caused by people feeding a drugs habit.
  • Despite drug misuse falling (slowly) because of better treatment programmes it is still causing a £20bn a year hole in the country’s finances.
  • Portugal has already gone the legalisation route
  • And it is being talked about elsewhere in the world (although the article doesn’t specify where!).

All that is needed is a shift in public opinion (as has happened against drink-driving in the last 20 years or so) and the change will become inevitable, Brumstrom appears to believe.

But interestingly there is one argument which hasn’t been used – and which is sometimes used for the legalisation of cannabis: if it is legal you can regulate the supply (by licencing sellers) and you can tax the proceeds. That has to be powerful: stop large swathes of crime, save £20bn a year, and generate income as well.

Even so, personally, I can’t see it happening. I cannot see any politician sticking their neck out and advocating such a policy, let alone voting for it. The legalisation of cannabis I think will come, although it may take a while yet. However I’m not sure that the legalisation of heroin, cocaine, etc. isn’t a step too far even for me, at least at present. But it is an interesting idea, and one worthy of discussion. And hoorah for a senior plod who has enough foresight to be able to think outside the box!

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, topographical

Picking the Crap Out of 2007

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What happened in 2007? Here are some of the highlights …

January
US commits even more troops to Iraq in the name of preventing violence.

February
H5N1 Bird Flu confirmed on a turkey farm in Suffolk; it’s been imported from Eastern Europe.
Heavy snow in parts of western UK surprises everyone – can’t have snow, it’s winter!
One woman dies in rail crash in Cumbria caused by failures in track maintenance.

March
Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer found dead in Jamaica during Cricket World Cup amid match fixing row; cause of death never properly established. Negotiation of film rights expected to conclude imminently.
Power-sharing returns to Northern Ireland when Protestant Ian Paisley and Catholic Gerry Adams meet face to face for the first time ever; but they don’t have the courtesy to shake hands.
Unfit for purpose Home Office split into two unfit for purpose ministries, further confusing everyone including the judiciary.
BBC journalist Alan Johnston is kidnapped in Gaza; he is released in July.

April
Earthquake in Folkestone; no-one is hurt.

May
Blonde tot Madeleine McCann abducted in Portugal and we never hear the last of it.
Fire fails to destroy the Cutty Sark.

June
Tony Blair finally steps down as Prime Minister after 10 years and is succeeded by Gordon “Bottler” Brown – away with the deceitful, in with the asset-stripping accountant.
Crap logo for 2012 London Olympics unveiled; video version causes epileptic fits.
Two car bombs left in London’s West End; both fail.
Terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport causes little damage but paralyses everything. As a result thousands have their gas-guzzling, CO2-spewing holiday flights cancelled.
Jacques Chirac loses French presidential election to Nicolas Sarkozy. Anyone noticed the difference?
Severe flooding in Yorkshire at the start of one of the wettest summers on record. York is flooded – nothing new there then.

July
Severe flooding in western England following further interminable amounts of rain. Thousands of houses built in flood plains are submerged.

August
Outbreak of Foot & Mouth Disease in South-East England; turns out it is released from a government research facility and vaccine production plant.
Billions wiped off London Stock Market in sharp falls across the world caused by the collapse of the sub-prime loans market in the US.
Wildfires spread across Greece.

September
Bank of England has to provide £10B loan to prevent Northern Rock becoming bankrupt; the government continue to pump taxpayers’ money in to support Northern Rock and its shareholders
Bluetongue Disease arrives in England; this time the weather is blamed.
BBC admits to fixing the results of polls on programmes like children’s show Blue Peter.
Jose Mourinho (who?) sacked as manager of Chelsea FC.
Death of tenor Luciano Pavarotti; “Nestling Dormouse” is heard the length and breadth of the land.
“Saffron Revolt” of Buddhist monks in Burma is brutally crushed by the military regime.

October
Lewis Hamilton fails to win Formula One Grand Prix championship at the first attempt. It was ever thus.
Inquest into the 1997 death of Princess Diana finally opens in London. What’s the point, anyone?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown bottles it by not calling a general election when expected to do so.
Sir Menzies Campbell resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats; he’s too old at 66.
Former US Vice-President Al Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize for flying millions of miles a year while campaigning on the environment.
Bush fires rip through California (no, not that Bush – for once!)

November
Four fire-fighters die in vegetable warehouse blaze.
Cruise liner Explorer sinks in Antarctica after hitting an iceberg; all passengers and crew cold but rescued.
The Spice Girls begin their reunion tour. Why?
The Queen and Prince Philip celebrate their diamond (60th) wedding anniversary.
HM Revenue & Customs lose 25 million taxpayers’ personal details on two lightly encrypted data CDs.
In football England surprise no-one by failing to qualify for the 2008 European Cup.
English teacher arrested and nearly executed in Sudan for allowing children to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
“Drowned canoeist” John Darwin reappears after 5 years and is promptly arrested for fraud.
Another outbreak of H5N1 bird flu threatens to disrupt the supply of Christmas turkeys; sadly it doesn’t.
Declaration of state of emergency in Pakistan, thus postponing elections and prolonging the military regime – a key ally of the US.

December
Several large food retailers fined for price fixing of dairy products. You mean you’d not noticed they all charged the same prices?
More outbreaks of Bluetongue Disease in different parts of the UK.
Christmas comes round again.
Assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto; turmoil follows, further threatening the prospect of elections.
Kenyan elections end in chaos and allegations of vote-rigging.
“Mini-Starlet” Kylie Minogue features at the top of the New Year Honours List.

So all-in-all a pretty crap year. Now can we rise to the challenge of making 2008 even worse?

beliefs, current affairs, freedom of speech, history

Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

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Jilly, writing over at jillysheep has prompted me to write something about the assassination today of Benazir Bhutto, although I was not intending to do so as I don’t usually descend into international politics.

Sadly I have to agree with Jilly’s sentiments of being “shocked … but hardly surprised” and hoping “this does not make the situation in Pakistan worse than it already is, though I can’t help feeling it will do”.

This was a disaster waiting to happen, entirely predictable and IMO should have been avoidable without Ms Bhutto having to return to exile. But of course her presence was unwelcome by the existing dictatorship who could well have had some part in the affair (not that we will likely ever know if they did) and she is less of a problem dead than waiting in exile.

I fear that Imran Khan may well be the next martyr (sorry, victim) on the list. I also fear that Pakistan is likely to descend into a blood-bath before the situation gets sorted out – and that the sorting out could well be at the hands of the Taliban. I also reckon South Africa won’t be far behind once Nelson Mandela dies – I think he still wields a controlling influence over many of the factions. Similar internecine warfare seems quite likely in Zimbabwe too when Mugabe goes. And countries like Russia, while paying lip-service to democracy, seem still to be ruled by old-style dictators.

But should we really be surprised? I don’t think so. We must remember that these people have no tradition of democracy; they’ve always had tribal, monarchical and/or feudal rulers of one form or another. We started on the road to democracy some 700 years ago with Magna Carta and to get to meaningful and stable democracy took us two civil wars, an interregnum, numerous petty squabbles and over 500 years. And we expect to be able to impose our view of democracy on these countries effectively overnight. I ask you: what chance do Pakistan, South Africa, Zimbabwe or even Russia stand? Absolutely none!

Another Afghanistan or Iraq anyone?

books, current affairs, people, quotes

Hugh Massingberd RIP

It greatly saddens me to have to report the death on Christmas Day of Hugh Massingberd after a long battle with cancer; he was just days short of his 61st birthday.

“Hugh Massingberd was a true gentleman of letters” (Dr Nicholas Birns) who was variously a prolific author and editor of books on the English and country houses, editor of Burke’s Peerage and Burke’s Landed Gentry, book reviewer and writer. However he will probably be best remembered as the father of the modern obituary, being for some years Editor of the Daily Telegraph‘s Obituaries pages; “his creed was that an obituary should give pleasure to relatives and friends as well as to the general reader” (International Herald Tribune). He will also be remembered for being guyed in Private Eye as “Massivesnob” – something which greatly amused him.

More importantly for me Hugh was President, and latterly an Hon Vice-President, of the Anthony Powell Society, and had a quiet but significant influence on the early days of the Society. He was a great friend of the Powell family and of the Society. In December 2005 (when already unwell) he produced an entertainment “Love and Art” for Anthony Powell’s centenary celebrations. He was also a major influence on the Wallace Collection’s Powell centenary exhibition, being instrumental in suggesting (and helping locate) potential objects for inclusion; he seemed to know of, and know the whereabouts of, every possible Powell-related artifact that ever existed!

I had the privilege of knowing Hugh and sharing, all too briefly, his unending friendship and camaraderie. He will be very greatly missed by many.

Obituaries: Daily Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, Independent.

amusements, current affairs, environment, medical, quotes, science, sexuality, thoughts

Dr Alice Roberts

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In the latest issue (January 2008) of BBC Focus magazine (science for the intelligent 10-year-old) there’s a mini-interview with one of the few females on TV who really do make my heart beat faster: Dr Alice Roberts, “clinical anatomist, archaeologist, TV presenter and author”, also a very talented artist and a qualified medic. Those of you in the UK who’ve watched either Time Team (Channel 4), Coast (BBC2) or Don’t Die Young (BBC2) will know Alice Roberts as the slightly off-the-wall girlie with the dyed red hair. The interview includes:

What’s the greatest threat to humanity?
Humanity.

Who would you clone?
I wouldn’t. Sexual reproduction is much more exciting.

What would your epitaph say?
Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni. And I’d be buried in a chariot just to fool future archaeologists.

Seriously Zen Mischief!