'Best of Luck' Horace.

It is with deep sadness that I have just heard of the demise of Horace, one of the great characters of Finchley and North London. He spent over thirty years wishing people ‘The best of Luck’ at all hours of the day and night, while usually dragging a large suitcase around with him.
 He was usually in great humour except when kids tried to rile him by calling him Stanley.
He regularly bought records when I had a shop in East Finchley and always greeted me on the street with a shout of ‘Hello Geezer’ and ‘The Best of Luck’ as we departed.

Someone told me recently that he was also quite a good artist.

He will be missed.

Here is a report from the Richard Osley blog:

BEST of luck, best of luck and the best of luck again… Poor old Horace. Or poor old Stanley, it wasn’t ever quite clear what his real name actually was. I just know that calling him Stanley would always trouble Horace, sometimes triggering angry shouting, which was sad because he spent most of his life wishing people good things, wishing people ‘the best of luck’.

As news of his sudden death filters through north London – it is reported that Horace collapsed close to the Whittington Hospital on his way to an appointment on Monday - some people will know him as the guy who did just that. He wished them the ‘best of luck’. Always the best of luck. Everybody and anybody would get wished the best of luck. He must have been wishing the people of Finchley, Barnet, Muswell Hill and Camden Town the best of luck going on for 30 years. No wonder a north London legend grew around him.
He was one of the characters of the streets who help thread together what is really London’s collective patchwork of a story, people who, without ever planning to, become better known than our local politicians and breed warmer familiarity than some of our celebrity neighbours. I might not know you, you might not know me, but chances are we’ve both been wished the best of luck by Horace at some point, whether you remember it or not.

I don’t know much about his life story, his tale is largely rooted in Barnet. I hope he got help where he needed it. I guess everybody liked the idea of somebody devoting their time to wishing complete strangers the best of luck, an upbeat message sometimes whispered, often bellowed. It made us smile, without thinking too deeply about the troubles that a man who stood outside a fast food shop or the post office shouting the best of luck repeatedly could be facing. The saddest thing is that some people didn’t just smile, nor did they stop for a chat. They taunted him. Some people actively tried to trigger his angrier side, calling him Stanley despite his distress. Others tried to goad his catchphrase out of him, behind adolescent cackles. Search his name on YouTube and the footage doesn’t really tell his story.
It’s a curious thing, hard to explain, but it’s only after you read that somebody like Horace has died that you realise how they play, albeit inadvertently, such binding roles in our communities. Somebody on Facebook compared Horace’s ever presence to the ravens at the Tower of London. Here was a man who never seemed to age, never changed his greeting and always seemed to be there as the shops, people and technology around us changed. There is a quality in that which is difficult to define.
There are other people like this, sort of living their lives in public, sometimes without choice due to their housing needs, but becoming part of all of our worlds. We look on, but rarely intervene. The fondness for Horace reminds me of the affection felt for Ushi Bahler, the woman who lived on the doorstep of the home she had been evicted from in West Hampstead for many years, despite her advancing age. The door locked, she lived among her saved possessions in the front yard. You see similar affection too for the shaven haired Big Issue seller who pushes a trolley around Camden Town selling bits and bobs. Unplanned, these people enter our minds and memories in a way that the man in the office suit who gets the same bus as you at the same time every day, sitting in a seat nearby, can’t.
Another example: the Big Issue seller outside Angel who got on with his work with a cat curled up around his shoulders. Every crook of London has people we all recognise collectively without ever really knowing. The Lion of South End Green is another example.
Given this curious neighbourhood fame – Horace has 4,000 6,000 ‘likes on Facebook’ and a petition for a bench marking his memory – maybe we should stop for a chat more often. Maybe at least we should make sure the YouTube footage is kinder.
The best of luck, Horace, the best of luck.

 

The real weather report.

The real weather report - what it would look like if they were honest
(funny)
http://www.eco-tube.com/v/GAIA/The_real_weather_report.aspx

Revealed: Monsanto GM corn caused tumors in rats

French scientists have revealed that rats fed on GMO corn sold by American firm Monsanto, suffered tumors and other complications including kidney and liver damage. When testing the firm’s top brand weed killer the rats showed similar symptoms.

The French government has asked its health and safety agency to assess the study and had also sent it to the European Union's food safety agency, Reuters reports.

"Based on the conclusion…, the government will ask the European authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health, measures that could go as far as an emergency suspension of imports of NK603 maize in the European Union," the French health, environment and farm ministries said in a joint statement.

Researchers from the University of Caen found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a seed variety made tolerant to amounts of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller – or given water mixed with the product, at levels permitted in the United States – died earlier than those on a standard diet.

The research conducted by Gilles-Eric Seralini and his colleagues, said the rats suffered mammary tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The study was published in the journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology and presented at a news conference in London.

Fifty percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely, compared with only 30 percent and 20 percent in the control group, said the researchers.

Monsanto spokesman, Thomas Helscher, said the company would review the study thoroughly but stated that other scientific studies had proved the biotech crops’ safety.

Some scientists however criticized the French researchers’ statistical methods and the use of a particular type of rat, saying the albino Sprague-Dawley strain of animal had a tendency to develop cancers.

But despite skepticism, the study draws attention to controversy surrounding genetically modified crops and the US biotech giant Monsanto.

Michael Antoniou, a molecular biologist at King’s College London – who acted as an adviser to Seralini's team – told reporters that the study stresses the “need to test all GMO crops in two-year lifelong studies”.

“I feel this data is strong enough to withdraw the marketing approval for this variety of GMO maize temporarily, until this study is followed up and repeated with larger number of animals to get the full statistical power that we want,” he said as quoted by Reuters.

Last Friday France said it will uphold a ban on genetically modified crops produced by the Monsanto. The move came as President Francois Hollande pushed his plan to put the environment back at the top of the international agenda.

In the wake of the publication, Jose Bove, vice-chairman of the European Parliament’s commission for agriculture, called for an immediate suspension of all EU cultivation and import authorizations of genetically modified crops.

“This study finally shows we are right and that it is urgent to quickly review all GMO evaluation processes,” he said following the announcement of the research.

While being widely used in the United States, GMO crops have been less popular among European consumers, due to concerns about its impact on people’s health and the environment.

In California, opponents of genetically engineered food are fighting to have it removed from the food supply. They are also pushing to pass Proposition 37, a law that would legally require genetically modified foods to be labeled as such. Monsanto stands opposed to such a proposal and has donated over $4.2 million to lobby against it.

Agriculturalists across America have previously tried to take the biotech giant to court over charges stemming from their lab-made corn GMOs. Over 2,000 farmers have petitioned the US government to more thoroughly investigate the impact that genetically modified corn crop from Monsanto will have on the country.

As RT reported before, Monsanto wants to plant a corn variant across America’s Midwest that will be resistant to a powerful pesticide produced with 2,4-D, the same compound crucial to the make-up of the notorious Vietnam War-era killer Agent Orange. If approved, the new corn will be able to thrive as farmers douse their fields in the chemical, killing off unwanted weeds in the process, while at the same time subjecting Americans to a pesticide linked to cancer risks.

Assembly calls for end to plastic bag giveaway

Assembly calls for end to plastic bag giveaway The London Assembly has called on the Government to introduce a mandatory charge on all single-use plastic bags in light of supermarkets’ failure to cut the number they give out to shoppers.

The motion, agreed[1] unanimously by Assembly Members, urges the Secretary of State for the Environment to enact reserve legislation, part of the Climate Change Act 2008, that would force retailers to introduce a levy on all single-use plastic bags.

According to figures from the waste reduction body Wrap, supermarket customers used almost eight billion carrier bags in 2011, a 5.4 per cent rise on the 7.6 billion in 2010, with each person using an average of almost 11 a month[2].

Jenny Jones AM, who proposed the motion, said:
"Free supermarket plastic bags are a myth; they cost us a lot money to deal with as damaging rubbish. Almost 1.5bn are given out in London every year, most destined to be used for no more than 20 minutes before being thrown away.


"The shame is that discarded bags are one of the easiest environmental problems to solve – a simple levy introduced in Ireland cut their number by 90 per cent – yet in England, the number being given out by the big supermarkets is actually rising.


"Supermarkets have failed cut plastic bag use voluntarily. We now need decisive action."

Murad Qureshi AM, who seconded the motion, said:

"You just have to go down the foreshore of the Thames to see the damage discarded plastic bags can do to our environment. Single-use plastic bags take decades to break down and are a hazard to plants and animals as well as being an eye sore for visitors and residents alike.

"England is clearly falling behind the rest of the UK on this issue. Wales has already introduced a charge, with Scotland and Northern Ireland due to follow suit. The Mayor pledged to introduce a levy on single-use plastic bags in the run up to the Olympics, I hope he hasn’t forgotten about it."

Andrew Boff AM, who successfully amended the motion, said:

"We recognize that these are difficult times for small business so it is essential that any levy on single-use bags does not put an unnecessary burden on them. However, there is no excuse for the incredible waste we witness everyday from the big supermarket chains.

"As it does not look like they the supermarkets are about to change their ways, its time for the Government to intervene. A small charge, introduced in the right way, could make a big difference."

The full text of the amended motion agreed at today’s meeting reads as follows:

"This Assembly notes the failure of supermarkets to prevent an increase in the number of single use plastic bags issued by them, through voluntary measures, over the past two years. It also notes the London Assembly's 2007 report[3], 'Bag to Basics', which supported the introduction of a national levy on single use carrier bags.

This Assembly calls on the Mayor to request that the Secretary of State for the Environment enacts the reserve legislation in place under the Climate Change Act 2008, and introduces a mandatory charge on all single use carrier bags, ensuring that small businesses are protected from any additional administrative burden."

The motion was agreed unanimously at a meeting of the full Assembly. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.


For more details, please contact Alastair Cowan in the Assembly Media Office on 020 7983 4504/4283. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit, Greater London Authority, on 020 7983 4100.

Green Room write-up in Camden New Journal

'THE SMALL FACTS OF HISTORY': Why Green Room could be London's most curious shop

The Green Room manager Noel Lynch: 'We’re all the time looking for something that’s a bit unusual'

Published: 30 August, 2012

Dinosaur turds, ‘Devil’s Toenails’, Thatcherabilia – The Green Room has it all,as SIMON WROE discovered

"IN the mountains of truth you never climb in vain,” declares a small notice in The Green Room in Archway Road, Highgate, a serious contender for the title of London’s most curious shop.

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/reviews/books/2012/aug/small-facts-history-why-green-room-could-be-londons-most-curious-shop

Plastic Bags

From The Guardian 1/8/12

A levy on single-use plastic bags should be introduced in England, environmental groups urged on Wednesday.

The call comes after the latest figures showed the number of carrier bags being given out by supermarkets rose by more than 5% last year across the UK, the second annual rise in a row.

According to figures from the waste reduction body Wrap, supermarket customers used almost 8bn carrier bags in 2011, a 5.4% rise on the 7.6bn in 2010, with each person using an average of almost 11 a month.

But in Wales, where a 5p charge was introduced last October, the amount of single-use bags being taken home has fallen significantly.

England is the only part of the UK which has no plans for a plastic bag charge, and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Keep Britain Tidy, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Surfers Against Sewage are calling for one to be brought in.

The organisations say plastic bags end up littering England's streets, countryside and beaches, while in the sea they can entangle or be swallowed by wildlife.

Most plastic takes an estimated 450 to 1,000 years to degrade at sea, but plastic may never fully degrade but simply break down into smaller and smaller pieces – eventually forming plastic dust, the environmental groups said.

And research is looking at whether small particles of plastic may be able to absorb toxins from the sea and then be eaten, with the toxins passed up the food chain to people.

Samantha Harding, CPRE "stop the drop" campaign manager, said bag levies had been shown to work in Wales and in Ireland, where plastic bag use fell by 90% following the introduction of a charge.

"A levy is coming to Northern Ireland and Scotland is already consulting on one. Why must the English countryside be the last to benefit from good environmental policies?" she asked.

Sue Kinsey, litter policy officer for MCS, said: "Single-use bags and plastic bags in particular are a menace to the amazing marine wildlife found in English waters.

"Animals get entangled in them and mistake them for food. This can lead to infections, strangulation, starvation and even death. A levy is a simple, effective way to stop such a pervasive and ubiquitous form of pollution."

Some retailers have introduced charges for their single-use plastic bags, but the groups are urging the government to follow the lead of Wales and bring in a small levy on carrier bags across England.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "We want to work with retailers to help them lift their game to cut the number of bags they hand out.

"We are monitoring the results of the charging scheme in Wales and the outcome of the Scottish consultation on a charge."

Shell stuck in a bog.

Shell and Gardaí mobilise to rescue TBM

Friday 3rd August 2012

This morning at about 4am hundreds of Gardaí and Shell private security (IRMS) mobilised to Glenamoy crossroads where sections of Shell's tunnel boring machine has been stuck on a jack-knifed lorry for the last number of days. Since then convoys of lorrys have been hauling stone from a stock pile inside the refinery to the site, dumping it into the field below the cab of the jack- knifed lorry. It is thought that they need better foundations than the bog road and fields in order to use a crane big enough to lift the weight of the lorry and the TBM.

Since this morning the area is under police occupation on a scale similar to that during the Solitaire pipelaying operation in 2008 and 2009. With no warning or notices the  North coast road between Glenamoy and Ballinaboy has been closed, there are Gardaí posted every 50 metres along this new haulage route and freedom of movement has been seriously curtailed.  Anyone who wishes to come down to document the occupation and harassment of the community would be most welcome.

Glenamoy locals have noticed the road subsiding under all the weight - this will become worse if they get a crane in there. The desperation of behalf of Shell and the Gardaí mirrors what is at stake - the Corrib project is literally at a crossroads and could be slipping into the bog that Shell have been fighting against for all these years.

The camp is open and if you ever thought about coming up here then now is the time. The resistance over the last few days has been inspiring - starting with the protest presence Dublin port, the tracking across country and the protests and blockades in Mayo. Would the convoy drivers have decided to head down a bog road to turn for a better angle on the last corner if there had been no pressure?

Besides protest actions to stop the delivery of the TBM to the tunnelling site (if they manage to move it at all) there is all the other work needed to keep the show on the road (and the TBM stuck on it)  - housekeeping, reporting, media work, tea, food, transport and lots more.

If you can't come please spread the word, and we'll try keep you up to date as things happen.

All the best
Everyone at the Rossport Solidarity Camp


www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org
www.shelltosea.com

Hilarious incompetence by Boris Deputy Mayor

Assembly questions the empty chair and the other guy

http://www.itv.com/news/london/2012-06-22/empty-chair-at-the-gla-causes-confusion/

RIP MARGARET

It is with deep regret that I have been informed of the demise of another Green Party stalwart. 

Margaret Wright, GP councillor in Cambridge until recently, passed away last night.

I first met Margaret when she was Principal Speaker and I was her GPRC Friend.  She always had great energy and was a true trouper.

I remember meeting her after her appearance on the Ali G show. She was exhausted but triumphant.  She was the only guest that ever got the better of him when during a debate on aerosols she stuck her armpit in his faceJ  For once he was speechless!  I have the video of it somewhere.

When she came to Barnet for an election, the reporters were not interested in the MP’s; they all wanted to meet ‘the housewife who had bested Ali G’

I will miss her big smile and our phone chats.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Former-Green-councillor-dies-after-illness-22062012.htm

Don't drink in this pub.

This Wednesday, I found myself in The William Blake in Old Street.  As I was awaiting some friends and AFTER I had bought a drink, the manager came up and told me that I had to take off my baseball cap. I asked  'WHY?'  and he went into a spiel that it was not really their idea but that local authorities insisted on it.  I knew this to be pure bullshit as I drink regularly in the Weathespoon pub, a few doors away.
Then it occurred to me that this was the pub that I had read about in the Islington Gazette - May 17th.  Page 7 -  ALOPECIA SUFFERER 'THROWN OUT OF PUB FOR WEARING A CAP'.
I asked the manager if they were the same pub and he denied it.  I checked when I got home and it was indeed
The William Blake.

I detest this type of clothes fascism and will never again drink there.

Why do (we think) we still need the Royals?

GUEST POST:

The recent out-pouring of patriotic fervour has made me consider a few questions about the meaning of our love for the Royals. 

One obvious question is how much has all this pomp and pageantry been costing us?   I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the answer turns out to be buried in the budgets of numerous departments and the total, therefore, extremely hard to winkle out of our Government.

But there are other, perhaps more interesting questions to ask about why the Royal family remains so popular, costing what it may.  And is it really so popular, or is the whole thing just being manipulated by a government which seems to have seized on the Jubilee to improve their own popularity, or divert attention from less happy events around us?  Rather in the way that Mrs. Thatcher managed to turn falling popularity polls upwards by trading on the jingoism which enabled huge numbers of British people to cheer when a large boatload of Argentinians was sent to the bottom of the sea.

 The suspicion that it must be at the very least a handy strategy for the Tories ( the Lib-Dems having clearly no power at all in our present coalition) is encouraged by the fact that the Queen did have a Golden Jubilee (under Labour)—well when was it ? Ten years ago, wasn’t it?—and did an awful lot happen then?  Not like this anyhow.

And what part do the media play in all this?  Are they too, glad of the diversion, after so much of their dirty washing has been aired in public and some of their biggest names hung out to dry?  On both main TV channels,  not to mention the newspapers, it was wall to wall Jubilee, and anyone who didn’t want to watch it, and didn’t care much for international tennis either, was in for a thin time.

So what is the power of the Royals?  I reckon it’s something almost sacred—no surprise after all, since the Queen is, like all our monarchs since Henry the eighth, Head of the Anglican Church, which is not just any old church, but the established Church of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Note that Henry the Eighth took over the title of Defender of the Faith, from the Pope, and passed it on to every succeeding King or Queen of England. 

It is interesting to me, as a Scot, that this does not include Scotland ( since Scotland was not part of the UK at that time)  Scotland of course has its own established church, which is Presbyterian, where local congregations help to shape policy, although they do have a titular head, the Moderator ( but The ‘King and Head ‘ is said to be Jesus Christ.) 

 But the more important issue is that even although Scotland has a number of reasons for feeling quite separate from England, many of them being argued over currently, yet… royalty fever seems to pervade quite a number of bosoms among the so-called dour Scots.  Yes, even there…were there not many northern accents among the number of people interviewed by the media who had loyally braved cold and wet to stand for hours waving to Her Majesty?  And even if they do prefer to call her Queen Elizabeth the First( she is actually  the first Elizabeth of Scotland, as loudly proclaimed when some pillar boxes with the offending number 2, were blown up north of the border, at the accession) they still want to see her as one of us.  ( Well, her mother did grow up in Scotland).   And it should be noted that the Scot Nats have now quietly side –lined their earlier declarations of republican sympathies.

One popular argument for retaining the royals is ‘Well, who would we have instead ?’  with a list of undesirable and all too fallible politicians reeled off.  No amount of explaining that the Queen has no political power and neither would any one put in her place, will have any effect on these defenders of the Royal role. 

There have of course been rumblings to suggest that after this monarch, things may change.  But a recent poll announced on the BBC claimed that 55% of people thought that the monarchy ‘would last forever’.  What the other 45% thought was not revealed.

And then there is the question of leadership.  People may be ambivalent about leaders ( the history of the Green Party is a good example of this) but at the same time there does seem to be a primitive, almost atavistic  need to follow a leader, even if only a fantasy one, or a figure head.  No sailing ships in the old days ever felt safe to set sail without one.

 And perhaps this issue of safety comes near to the centre of the conundrum.  We like things the way they’ve always been.  Change is seen as dangerous, especially in difficult times.  And ironically, it may be that the more unpopular this present government becomes, the more we cling to some sort of magical substitute—if not God, then at least God’s representative on earth, as Defender of the Faith was supposed to mean originally.

So at last let’s come back to the issue of cost.  One can say that the parades and flotillas and banquets are  all harmless, and even useful in bringing a bit of colour into our drab lives.  And after all, millions of people came out to show their support for the Queen, who, we know, is both far above us, yet also quite human, just like us.  But is there really no great cost?  How many people in how many countries could have used a quarter of the money spent on this jamboree, just to keep them alive? 

That’s too great a cost, in my view. 

Jean Robertson-Molloy  EGP 6-6-12

SEDGE OF DARKNESS

Kent's Romney Marsh proposed as nuclear dumping ground.


A vast underground silo for lethal nuclear waste is planned for construction under Kent's Romney Marsh. It's a real kick in the teeth for anti-nuclear campaigners and locals who have in fact only recently celebrated the announcement that two Dungeness nuclear power stations are going to be phased out.

Plans for the proposed 250 acre storage facility for the high-level waste of energy and weapons production in Romney Marsh (near to Dungeness) only came to light today (17th). So far the local council claim that they're only testing the waters of public opinion before making any moves, but plans are surprisingly well advanced.

The #12 billion dump would cover an area more than 22 times the size of Wembley Stadium. A network of tunnels up to a 1000m deep would be used to seal up the waste, which would be brought into the area by two trains a week for approximately 80 years. The waste would then be sealed up for ten thousand years until it 'becomes safe'. The debris dug out would be around the same volume as during the construction of the Channel Tunnel.

However, even over and above the obvious eco-objections, nuclear experts warn that the site is geologically unsound for the development as well as being a high flood risk area. Oh, and it's also an earthquake zone.

One man not put off by the idea of some toxic paddling is local Tory councillor Tony Hills. Shepway District Council on the whole also has a history of being pro environmentally destructive mega-developments. While plans for a marsh wind farm were thrown out, it has recently approved an expansion of Lydd airport which would see annual passenger numbers jump from 5,000 to 2 million.

Resistance to the radioactive plans are yet to manifest, but there's bound to be a whole load of people determined to give the Council and the developers their marsh-ing orders.





http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/SEDGE-OF-DARKNESS

Jenny is top candidate for children.

http://4children.org.uk/News/Detail/4Children-Launches-Family-Mayoral-Manifesto


http://www.4children.org.uk/Files/86c21288-6bd7-4feb-9260-a03f00e39fb2/LE_Manifesto_2012.pdf

Jenny Jones: Greens could hold balance of power on London Assembly

Recent polling figures have shown that with the Conservative Party likely to reduce its allocation on the London Assembly after the election next week, the Greens could help hold the balance of power next term.



Green Party Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones, who along with Darren Johnson, is one of two existing London Assembly members, said: “The Greens have consistently been able to play a leading role in determining policy at City Hall, and by voting Green on the Assembly in May London can help ensure whoever is Mayor next year is best held to account.



“The introduction of civil partnerships and the London Living Wage, the prevention of the Thames Gateway Bridge and massive increases in the cycling budget and provision all demonstrate that the Greens are able to set aside personality politics and old rivalries to win real achievements for Londoners.



“Whatever the results in the Mayoral and Assembly elections, we will use our influence next term to win real victories for Londoners on the issues that affect them most: making fares affordable, tackling the air pollution that claims so many lives, restoring trust in the police and making London fairer and more equal for everyone.



“As I said yesterday, the polls don’t always provide a fair reflection on voting attention—and these aren’t even our best results this week—but we are very happy that more and more Londoners are relating to our Green vision for the capital.”