The following motion was passed at last night's meeting of London federation of Green parties:
"Royal Mail provides a vital public service to our communities, rural and urban alike. The Government intends to bring forward legislation to privatise and break up Royal Mail. We are convinced that this will lead to widespread closure of Post Offices, jeopardise the uniform tarriff and universal service for letters, and lead to a deterioration of services provided - particularly for small businesses, domestic customers, vulnerable groups and communities. We therefore commit the London Federation of Green Parties to supporting the Keep the Post Public Coalition."
Proposed by: Noel Lynch, London fed Coordinator.
Seconded by: Romayne Phoenix, London Fed Campaigns Coordinator.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Greens on 32%
Actually, it’s the London Green vote in the Australian elections.
Check out this article in the Australian Times...
http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/London-exit-poll-reveals-swing-away-from-Labor
There are still a few days to go and our Australian Coordinator, Mat, could do with a bit of help at the polling station in the Australian Embassy.
Contact him on 0758 865 9796
Check out this article in the Australian Times...
http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/London-exit-poll-reveals-swing-away-from-Labor
There are still a few days to go and our Australian Coordinator, Mat, could do with a bit of help at the polling station in the Australian Embassy.
Contact him on 0758 865 9796
+ HAS THE COALITION ADOPTED THE DATABASE STATE? +
From the NO2ID newsletter.
Up to now NO2ID has had reason to be pleased with the new government. It may not have moved as certainly or as far as we would like on mass surveillance projects, but it has shown willing, quickly cutting back the ID scheme and cancelling ContactPoint. But this week's pre-announcement of the idea of using credit-reference agencies to detect benefit fraud is a sign that the ideas of "Transformational Government" have not vanished from Whitehall alongside the terminology.
No-one wants to promote fraud. But that does not mean anything claimed to be an anti-fraud measure is worth its other consequences. The details of the scheme are very sketchy so far, but NO2ID will be taking a very close interest in the costs to privacy as well as the cost-effectiveness of any mass data-sharing that it involves. Fishing expeditions to turn up suspects are a very different matter from targeted investigations.
'Computer says no,' would be a weird way to run a welfare system.
We need to be alert to how information about individuals is used. It must be limited to one purpose, not passed on in detail to government departments where there will be a temptation to find other uses. Nor must the contractors be rewarded without responsibility. They should be subject to the same data-protection spot-checks as would DWP doing the same work for itself. And if they are to be paid a bounty for catching fraudsters, then we should also ask about compensation for intrusions and erroneous accusations against honest people.
Turning to databases and information-sharing as a magic answer to intractable old problems was a bad habit of the previous administration.
If the Cameron government takes up that habit, then NO2ID will fight it every step of the way.
Up to now NO2ID has had reason to be pleased with the new government. It may not have moved as certainly or as far as we would like on mass surveillance projects, but it has shown willing, quickly cutting back the ID scheme and cancelling ContactPoint. But this week's pre-announcement of the idea of using credit-reference agencies to detect benefit fraud is a sign that the ideas of "Transformational Government" have not vanished from Whitehall alongside the terminology.
No-one wants to promote fraud. But that does not mean anything claimed to be an anti-fraud measure is worth its other consequences. The details of the scheme are very sketchy so far, but NO2ID will be taking a very close interest in the costs to privacy as well as the cost-effectiveness of any mass data-sharing that it involves. Fishing expeditions to turn up suspects are a very different matter from targeted investigations.
'Computer says no,' would be a weird way to run a welfare system.
We need to be alert to how information about individuals is used. It must be limited to one purpose, not passed on in detail to government departments where there will be a temptation to find other uses. Nor must the contractors be rewarded without responsibility. They should be subject to the same data-protection spot-checks as would DWP doing the same work for itself. And if they are to be paid a bounty for catching fraudsters, then we should also ask about compensation for intrusions and erroneous accusations against honest people.
Turning to databases and information-sharing as a magic answer to intractable old problems was a bad habit of the previous administration.
If the Cameron government takes up that habit, then NO2ID will fight it every step of the way.
Saturday, 14 August 2010
Hustle con
Hustle con
A couple of nights ago I watched "The Real Hustle: Celebrity Scammers" on BBC. It’s on again tonight on BBC 3 at 7pm.
In it a punter is taken for £1,900 in a sham auction con. The ‘mark’ overhears someone in a bar receiving a phone call to say that a certain picture in a nearby junk shop is worth £2000 and is on sale for £50. While that person nips to the toilet, the marks goes to the shop and buys the picture. They are met outside by the person who was on the phone who tells them that the picture is worth £2k and that while he would not be making any money (Oh Yeah!) he has a friend with an auctionrooms around the corner who could slip it in to the auction which was about to start (as if!!). There are about 20 customers at the auction. The first conman tells the marks that they might have to bid the picture up a bit. They are bidding against a phone bidder who they already are told will go to £3k. The mark is at £1900 when the phone ‘breaks down’ and the picture is knocked down to the mark. The con men then organise a deal with the phone bidder and pay the mark with a check, but he has first of all to pay the £1900 for the picture, which he does in cash. He still thinks that he has made a big profit, except, of course that the cheque is a dud.
I'd also like to know how an auctionroom could survive while charging commission to neither the buyer or the seller.
My complaint is that the program itself is a con. Think about it:
3 principal con artists.
About 20 bit players.
Hire of an ‘auctionrooms’
Plus the signs, props etc
ALL FOR A TAKE OF £1,900!!!
…………………………………………
On another matter: I watched the One Show, also on BBC during the week. On it the presenter was speaking about the 1933 1d. She stated that the coin was worth about £65,000 – probably correct. However, she was handling the coin, not very professionally, with her bare hands. If I had a £65k coin I would not let someone like that handle it without gloves. My guess is that the coin was a replica.
A couple of nights ago I watched "The Real Hustle: Celebrity Scammers" on BBC. It’s on again tonight on BBC 3 at 7pm.
In it a punter is taken for £1,900 in a sham auction con. The ‘mark’ overhears someone in a bar receiving a phone call to say that a certain picture in a nearby junk shop is worth £2000 and is on sale for £50. While that person nips to the toilet, the marks goes to the shop and buys the picture. They are met outside by the person who was on the phone who tells them that the picture is worth £2k and that while he would not be making any money (Oh Yeah!) he has a friend with an auctionrooms around the corner who could slip it in to the auction which was about to start (as if!!). There are about 20 customers at the auction. The first conman tells the marks that they might have to bid the picture up a bit. They are bidding against a phone bidder who they already are told will go to £3k. The mark is at £1900 when the phone ‘breaks down’ and the picture is knocked down to the mark. The con men then organise a deal with the phone bidder and pay the mark with a check, but he has first of all to pay the £1900 for the picture, which he does in cash. He still thinks that he has made a big profit, except, of course that the cheque is a dud.
I'd also like to know how an auctionroom could survive while charging commission to neither the buyer or the seller.
My complaint is that the program itself is a con. Think about it:
3 principal con artists.
About 20 bit players.
Hire of an ‘auctionrooms’
Plus the signs, props etc
ALL FOR A TAKE OF £1,900!!!
…………………………………………
On another matter: I watched the One Show, also on BBC during the week. On it the presenter was speaking about the 1933 1d. She stated that the coin was worth about £65,000 – probably correct. However, she was handling the coin, not very professionally, with her bare hands. If I had a £65k coin I would not let someone like that handle it without gloves. My guess is that the coin was a replica.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Everything you wanted to know about GM food but were afraid to ask
Excellent article from the Western Mail.
Behind the headlines: GM food
Prince Charles caused a stir this week with his strongest comments yet on GM food. But why? Farming editor STEVE DUBE investigates
What’s it all about?
Prince Charles doesn’t like genetically modified (GM) food. It gives him nightmares.
Why?
As a passionate organic farmer, Prince Charles is worried that the GM genie might wreak havoc once it’s out of the bottle. There have been food scares before – look at Mad Cow Disease.
What does he think might happen?
He thinks GM could be the biggest environmental disaster of all time and says “millions of small farmers all over the world face being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness”.
How does he work that one out?
Well, he knows that farmers and plant breeders have been improving plants for thousands of years by carefully selecting the best ones. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Long live the Brussels Sprout.
But genetic modification is different because scientists extract one or more genes from one species and add it to another.
What’s wrong with that?
Well, no one can control what happens when genetic material from different species is mixed – like putting a gene from, say, a fish into a plant. It might do what you want it to do, or it might change the plant in unexpected ways and even make it poisonous. For example, when scientists tried to increase the starch content of potatoes with yeast genes, they found the starch content actually fell, and there were other undesirable effects.
It can’t all be bad?
Some of it is very good, according to the biotechnology companies. But they would say that, wouldn’t they, because they are investing heavily in GM technology. There are 30 million kinds of plants in the world and just four – rice, wheat, maize and soya – provide 60% of our food. The biotech companies are concentrating on these.
One particular gene, which provides resistance to a type of weedkiller called glyphosate, has been inserted into at least nine different crop plants now on the market in the EU and the United States.
Sounds like there’s a lot being grown?
Too right. The Agriculture Biotechnology Council, the umbrella body for the huge multi-nationals that produce GM seed, says 12 million farmers in 23 countries plant GM crops. And Americans have been eating GM food for a decade or more.
So the gene genie is already out of the bottle then, isn’t it?
Yes. It’s been in our shopping baskets since 1996 when Sainsbury’s and Safeway put the first tin of American-grown GM tomatoes on sale.
So what’s the problem?
Those tomatoes were clearly labelled as being genetically modified. And hardly anybody bought them. European consumers don’t like GM.
So how come it’s in our shopping baskets then?
Any processed food containing maize or soya – and that’s a lot of food – is likely to contain GM material. And it only has to be labelled in Europe if the GM content exceeds 0.9%. But animal feed does not have to be labelled, and nor does food produced from animals that are fed GM – and that’s just about all cattle, pigs and poultry, except those produced organically. There is no GM labelling at all in the United States.
It’s not done the Americans any harm, has it?
Strangely enough, nobody knows because nobody is asking that question, although we do know that American life expectancy is getting shorter and more Americans are dying early from food-related problems. But some scientists have tried to ask questions. Take the mysterious case of Arpad Pusztai.
Who’s he?
Dr Pusztai is a Hungarian-born scientist who worked in the Rowett Research Institute at the University of Aberdeen.
He was a world expert on plant lectins. These are proteins in plants that kill insects and other invaders. Pusztai had published more than 300 scientific papers, when, at the age of 69 in 1998, he spoke about GM potatoes in a World in Action TV programme. He said he had compared rats fed ordinary potatoes with others fed potatoes that had been genetically modified with a lectin from snowdrops.
The rats on the GM diet suffered damage to their intestines and immune systems. That’s when all hell broke loose.
What happened?
The Institute’s director Philip James phoned to congratulate him after the programme. But the following morning his attitude mysteriously changed. Professor Robert Orskov OBE, who worked at the Rowett for 33 years and is one of Britain’s leading nutrition experts, claims the sudden change followed a series of phone calls that started with the US biotech multinational Monsanto, which produces most of the world’s GM food. This first call went to then US President Bill Clinton, who phoned then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who in turn phonedJames.
Pusztai was suspended and later dismissed, his data seized and he was banned from speaking publicly. So he had to stay silent when he read newspapers saying his GM potatoes contained a lectin gene that is poisonous to mammals.
Did they?
No. The misinformation was included in a press release issued by the Rowett Institute. James says Pusztai approved the press release but Pusztai says he knew nothing about it. Even today pro-GM scientists dismiss his research as muddled and based on a schoolboy error.
Does everyone share that point of view?
No. Pusztai is a hero to anti-GM campaigners, who regard him as someone who stuck his neck out for the public good. And they’re not alone. In 2005 he was honoured with a whistleblower award from the Federation of German Scientists.
What happened to his research?
A paper was published by Pusztai and a colleague in the prestigious medical journal the Lancet in October 1999.
Because of all the controversy the paper was reviewed by six scientists – three times the usual number – and five approved it. The paper used data held by Pusztai’s colleague Dr Stanley Ewen, so it was not covered by the ban. It showed that rats fed on the GM potatoes with the snowdrop lectin developed unusual changes to their gut tissue.
No doubt there has been other research, if so, what has it found?
There has actually been very little independent research. The first known human trial of GM food was carried out by scientists at Newcastle University and published in the journal Nature Biotechnology in 2004. It showed that DNA material transfers from GM food into the human gut – disproving the claims of the biotech industry. The Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the research in response to public pressure, said the results were not significant.
It sounds as though more research is needed. Is anyone doing it?
Unfortunately no, and for a simple reason. GM seeds are owned by the company that manufactures them and scientists can study them only if the company agrees.
Is the only research into the safety of GM food done by the companies that produce it?
That’s right. And since 99.9% of GM varieties are designed to resist or absorb pesticides or to produce a toxin that kills any insect that bites it, it’s the first time in history that what amounts to a drug or pesticide is not tested before release by anyone other than the company that makes it.
And the stakes are high. Farmers who sign up for the promise of GM crops have to agree to use fertiliser and pesticides from the seed supplier and not to save any seed. Some are even “terminator” seeds that are infertile. Meanwhile GM corporations are systematically buying up seed companies and taking varieties off the market. Control the seeds that feed the world you become 100 times richer than Bill Gates, because you can say which country has which seed, and you get paid every time someone uses your seed. And once you add green oil – bio-fuel – into the equation you become master of the world – richer than any country. The eight biggest drugs companies are the biggest producers of GM, and the biggest pesticide manufacturers. They began with maize and soya, they had the patent last year for wheat in the US and now they’re working on rice.
What about insulin for diabetics? I heard that’s now nearly all GM material.
It is, but there’s a case in point: some people have an adverse reaction to it and can’t use it.
But won’t GM crops help us to feed the world by making stronger plants with bigger yields?
You’ve heard the propaganda put out by the GM companies, who have a permanent presence at European Commission and easy access to ministers and civil servants that for some reason believe what they’re told. The United National International Assessment of Agriculture, carried out by 400 leading scientists, found no evidence that GM crops increase yields or that they could feed a hungry world. And the US Department of Agriculture reported earlier this year that some GM crop yields are actually lower. GM is not about feeding starving children. People are hungry not because there’s not enough food in the world, but because they haven’t got the money to buy it. GM won’t make their pockets any heavier, and they won’t be able to afford to buy the seed.
Is that why Prince Charles is worried?
Partly. There’s also the environmental impact – the effects of increased pesticide use on insects, birds and other wildlife. And the Prince thinks GM systems and the agribusiness and globalisation promoted by the world’s Big 8 nations such as the US and UK, are behind a worldwide decrease in the number of small farms. And as people leave the land they end up unemployed and disaffected in Third World slums.
Is there any evidence for this?
The UN says globalisation is the biggest underlying reason for the growth in slums – the Prince’s “unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness”.
OK, we know he doesn’t like GM. But surely it’s worth giving it a go?
Perhaps, but maybe not like it’s being done now. Professor Barry Commoner, a distinguished biologist and philosopher of science at Queens College, New York, sums it up like this: “The genetically engineered crops now being grown represent a massive uncontrolled experiment whose outcome is inherently unpredictable. The results could be catastrophic.”
So what’s the answer?
At the moment, it IS the stuff of nightmares. History has shown that we need scientists with the public good in mind to study new technologies and give honest answers about its effects on nature and humans. That way we may avoid disasters like thalidomide and Mad Cow Disease. But while science is powered by the pursuit of money, people like Prince Charles are right to put up their hands and ask why.
Behind the headlines: GM food
Prince Charles caused a stir this week with his strongest comments yet on GM food. But why? Farming editor STEVE DUBE investigates
What’s it all about?
Prince Charles doesn’t like genetically modified (GM) food. It gives him nightmares.
Why?
As a passionate organic farmer, Prince Charles is worried that the GM genie might wreak havoc once it’s out of the bottle. There have been food scares before – look at Mad Cow Disease.
What does he think might happen?
He thinks GM could be the biggest environmental disaster of all time and says “millions of small farmers all over the world face being driven off their land into unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness”.
How does he work that one out?
Well, he knows that farmers and plant breeders have been improving plants for thousands of years by carefully selecting the best ones. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Long live the Brussels Sprout.
But genetic modification is different because scientists extract one or more genes from one species and add it to another.
What’s wrong with that?
Well, no one can control what happens when genetic material from different species is mixed – like putting a gene from, say, a fish into a plant. It might do what you want it to do, or it might change the plant in unexpected ways and even make it poisonous. For example, when scientists tried to increase the starch content of potatoes with yeast genes, they found the starch content actually fell, and there were other undesirable effects.
It can’t all be bad?
Some of it is very good, according to the biotechnology companies. But they would say that, wouldn’t they, because they are investing heavily in GM technology. There are 30 million kinds of plants in the world and just four – rice, wheat, maize and soya – provide 60% of our food. The biotech companies are concentrating on these.
One particular gene, which provides resistance to a type of weedkiller called glyphosate, has been inserted into at least nine different crop plants now on the market in the EU and the United States.
Sounds like there’s a lot being grown?
Too right. The Agriculture Biotechnology Council, the umbrella body for the huge multi-nationals that produce GM seed, says 12 million farmers in 23 countries plant GM crops. And Americans have been eating GM food for a decade or more.
So the gene genie is already out of the bottle then, isn’t it?
Yes. It’s been in our shopping baskets since 1996 when Sainsbury’s and Safeway put the first tin of American-grown GM tomatoes on sale.
So what’s the problem?
Those tomatoes were clearly labelled as being genetically modified. And hardly anybody bought them. European consumers don’t like GM.
So how come it’s in our shopping baskets then?
Any processed food containing maize or soya – and that’s a lot of food – is likely to contain GM material. And it only has to be labelled in Europe if the GM content exceeds 0.9%. But animal feed does not have to be labelled, and nor does food produced from animals that are fed GM – and that’s just about all cattle, pigs and poultry, except those produced organically. There is no GM labelling at all in the United States.
It’s not done the Americans any harm, has it?
Strangely enough, nobody knows because nobody is asking that question, although we do know that American life expectancy is getting shorter and more Americans are dying early from food-related problems. But some scientists have tried to ask questions. Take the mysterious case of Arpad Pusztai.
Who’s he?
Dr Pusztai is a Hungarian-born scientist who worked in the Rowett Research Institute at the University of Aberdeen.
He was a world expert on plant lectins. These are proteins in plants that kill insects and other invaders. Pusztai had published more than 300 scientific papers, when, at the age of 69 in 1998, he spoke about GM potatoes in a World in Action TV programme. He said he had compared rats fed ordinary potatoes with others fed potatoes that had been genetically modified with a lectin from snowdrops.
The rats on the GM diet suffered damage to their intestines and immune systems. That’s when all hell broke loose.
What happened?
The Institute’s director Philip James phoned to congratulate him after the programme. But the following morning his attitude mysteriously changed. Professor Robert Orskov OBE, who worked at the Rowett for 33 years and is one of Britain’s leading nutrition experts, claims the sudden change followed a series of phone calls that started with the US biotech multinational Monsanto, which produces most of the world’s GM food. This first call went to then US President Bill Clinton, who phoned then British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who in turn phonedJames.
Pusztai was suspended and later dismissed, his data seized and he was banned from speaking publicly. So he had to stay silent when he read newspapers saying his GM potatoes contained a lectin gene that is poisonous to mammals.
Did they?
No. The misinformation was included in a press release issued by the Rowett Institute. James says Pusztai approved the press release but Pusztai says he knew nothing about it. Even today pro-GM scientists dismiss his research as muddled and based on a schoolboy error.
Does everyone share that point of view?
No. Pusztai is a hero to anti-GM campaigners, who regard him as someone who stuck his neck out for the public good. And they’re not alone. In 2005 he was honoured with a whistleblower award from the Federation of German Scientists.
What happened to his research?
A paper was published by Pusztai and a colleague in the prestigious medical journal the Lancet in October 1999.
Because of all the controversy the paper was reviewed by six scientists – three times the usual number – and five approved it. The paper used data held by Pusztai’s colleague Dr Stanley Ewen, so it was not covered by the ban. It showed that rats fed on the GM potatoes with the snowdrop lectin developed unusual changes to their gut tissue.
No doubt there has been other research, if so, what has it found?
There has actually been very little independent research. The first known human trial of GM food was carried out by scientists at Newcastle University and published in the journal Nature Biotechnology in 2004. It showed that DNA material transfers from GM food into the human gut – disproving the claims of the biotech industry. The Food Standards Agency, which commissioned the research in response to public pressure, said the results were not significant.
It sounds as though more research is needed. Is anyone doing it?
Unfortunately no, and for a simple reason. GM seeds are owned by the company that manufactures them and scientists can study them only if the company agrees.
Is the only research into the safety of GM food done by the companies that produce it?
That’s right. And since 99.9% of GM varieties are designed to resist or absorb pesticides or to produce a toxin that kills any insect that bites it, it’s the first time in history that what amounts to a drug or pesticide is not tested before release by anyone other than the company that makes it.
And the stakes are high. Farmers who sign up for the promise of GM crops have to agree to use fertiliser and pesticides from the seed supplier and not to save any seed. Some are even “terminator” seeds that are infertile. Meanwhile GM corporations are systematically buying up seed companies and taking varieties off the market. Control the seeds that feed the world you become 100 times richer than Bill Gates, because you can say which country has which seed, and you get paid every time someone uses your seed. And once you add green oil – bio-fuel – into the equation you become master of the world – richer than any country. The eight biggest drugs companies are the biggest producers of GM, and the biggest pesticide manufacturers. They began with maize and soya, they had the patent last year for wheat in the US and now they’re working on rice.
What about insulin for diabetics? I heard that’s now nearly all GM material.
It is, but there’s a case in point: some people have an adverse reaction to it and can’t use it.
But won’t GM crops help us to feed the world by making stronger plants with bigger yields?
You’ve heard the propaganda put out by the GM companies, who have a permanent presence at European Commission and easy access to ministers and civil servants that for some reason believe what they’re told. The United National International Assessment of Agriculture, carried out by 400 leading scientists, found no evidence that GM crops increase yields or that they could feed a hungry world. And the US Department of Agriculture reported earlier this year that some GM crop yields are actually lower. GM is not about feeding starving children. People are hungry not because there’s not enough food in the world, but because they haven’t got the money to buy it. GM won’t make their pockets any heavier, and they won’t be able to afford to buy the seed.
Is that why Prince Charles is worried?
Partly. There’s also the environmental impact – the effects of increased pesticide use on insects, birds and other wildlife. And the Prince thinks GM systems and the agribusiness and globalisation promoted by the world’s Big 8 nations such as the US and UK, are behind a worldwide decrease in the number of small farms. And as people leave the land they end up unemployed and disaffected in Third World slums.
Is there any evidence for this?
The UN says globalisation is the biggest underlying reason for the growth in slums – the Prince’s “unsustainable, unmanageable, degraded and dysfunctional conurbations of unmentionable awfulness”.
OK, we know he doesn’t like GM. But surely it’s worth giving it a go?
Perhaps, but maybe not like it’s being done now. Professor Barry Commoner, a distinguished biologist and philosopher of science at Queens College, New York, sums it up like this: “The genetically engineered crops now being grown represent a massive uncontrolled experiment whose outcome is inherently unpredictable. The results could be catastrophic.”
So what’s the answer?
At the moment, it IS the stuff of nightmares. History has shown that we need scientists with the public good in mind to study new technologies and give honest answers about its effects on nature and humans. That way we may avoid disasters like thalidomide and Mad Cow Disease. But while science is powered by the pursuit of money, people like Prince Charles are right to put up their hands and ask why.
Friday, 6 August 2010
A saint?
Today I acquired a little booklet called “The Poems and Parodies of Brother Stephen”
His poems mainly consist of snapshots of a by-gone age in rural County Limerick “When we built the rick of hay” “Teapot by the fire” “The lifting of the latch” “The Oola Farmer’s wife” “The cattle dealing man” etc.
He was the nearest that I have ever come to meeting a saint. However, he was not always so saintly!
He was notorious where I come from but more of a ‘scamp’ than a villain. He was involved in certain anti-government activities and was incarcerated in Limerick jail, then the most secure jail in Ireland. He escaped, disguised as a woman. He was also a bit of a con artist, but most of all liked a drink or three!
Then one day he was in the snug (a small room in old Irish pubs, where one could have a drink in private) when he heard two of the drinkers in the bar discussing him. “Jim Russell (his birth name) is getting to be a right bum, these times” said one.
This knocked him back a bit. My mother said that it also coincided with his girlfriend chucking him. Anyway, he decided to change his ways and go into religion. One problem was his reputation and no local order would accept him. Eventually he found a small order in Warrenpoint, Co. Down, which is about as far away as from Kilmallock as you can get without being drowned.
The Alexian brothers were prepared to accept him but there was still one problem – they wanted a letter of recommendation from his parish priest. Naturally, the priest knew of his disreputable reputation and would not give a recommendation. Nothing daunted, Jim forged the letter!! He joined in 1945, got the habit in 1946 and was professed in 1948.
He spent the next 20 years working among and ministering to the homeless and the destitute in Belgium and the UK. He felt a particular affinity to alcoholics. One of his books of poetry was called “There but for the grace of God…..”
I first met him around this time. My aunt was married to his brother, so we were of close family. In height and physique he always reminded me of Churchill. Anyway, this old man came in to our kitchen and said to my mother “Nancy, I must be getting old. On my way down here I tried standing on the saddle of the bike, but couldn’t manage it”
He was well known for his humour and jolly outlook in life. He once performed at a concert in Effin (a local area) and came on stage walking on his hands while dressed as a woman, complete with bloomers etc. It really shocked some and a few Holy Janes complained to the bishop :-)
Some years later, he appeared on the Late Late Show on RTE. He gave a much sanitised version of his life, but it caused more complaints and the bishop silenced him for several years.
In the early 70’s there was another sex scandal in Britain. A call girl called Norma Levy was found to be having-it-off with a Government Minister, Lord Lampton. Norma’s real name was Noreen Russell – Brother Stephen’s niece. She later wrote a book “I, Norma Levy” about her life. She speaks kindly of her uncle.
In 1973, he was called back to Limerick by Bishop Murphy (another family connection. His brother actually nominated me for my first election in 1969). He was put in charge of the Simon Community Hostel in Limerick City. He and another brother did trojan work. Every night they would drive around the city until they had collected all the rough sleepers and take them back to the hostel, wash and feed them before putting them to bed.
He also ate with his clients and this may have been the cause of his death as he died of stomach cancer in 1975 – aged 64.
My memories of him are of a really jolly, but humble and caring person. If I visualise him, it is always with a big unsaintly smile.
His poems mainly consist of snapshots of a by-gone age in rural County Limerick “When we built the rick of hay” “Teapot by the fire” “The lifting of the latch” “The Oola Farmer’s wife” “The cattle dealing man” etc.
He was the nearest that I have ever come to meeting a saint. However, he was not always so saintly!
He was notorious where I come from but more of a ‘scamp’ than a villain. He was involved in certain anti-government activities and was incarcerated in Limerick jail, then the most secure jail in Ireland. He escaped, disguised as a woman. He was also a bit of a con artist, but most of all liked a drink or three!
Then one day he was in the snug (a small room in old Irish pubs, where one could have a drink in private) when he heard two of the drinkers in the bar discussing him. “Jim Russell (his birth name) is getting to be a right bum, these times” said one.
This knocked him back a bit. My mother said that it also coincided with his girlfriend chucking him. Anyway, he decided to change his ways and go into religion. One problem was his reputation and no local order would accept him. Eventually he found a small order in Warrenpoint, Co. Down, which is about as far away as from Kilmallock as you can get without being drowned.
The Alexian brothers were prepared to accept him but there was still one problem – they wanted a letter of recommendation from his parish priest. Naturally, the priest knew of his disreputable reputation and would not give a recommendation. Nothing daunted, Jim forged the letter!! He joined in 1945, got the habit in 1946 and was professed in 1948.
He spent the next 20 years working among and ministering to the homeless and the destitute in Belgium and the UK. He felt a particular affinity to alcoholics. One of his books of poetry was called “There but for the grace of God…..”
I first met him around this time. My aunt was married to his brother, so we were of close family. In height and physique he always reminded me of Churchill. Anyway, this old man came in to our kitchen and said to my mother “Nancy, I must be getting old. On my way down here I tried standing on the saddle of the bike, but couldn’t manage it”
He was well known for his humour and jolly outlook in life. He once performed at a concert in Effin (a local area) and came on stage walking on his hands while dressed as a woman, complete with bloomers etc. It really shocked some and a few Holy Janes complained to the bishop :-)
Some years later, he appeared on the Late Late Show on RTE. He gave a much sanitised version of his life, but it caused more complaints and the bishop silenced him for several years.
In the early 70’s there was another sex scandal in Britain. A call girl called Norma Levy was found to be having-it-off with a Government Minister, Lord Lampton. Norma’s real name was Noreen Russell – Brother Stephen’s niece. She later wrote a book “I, Norma Levy” about her life. She speaks kindly of her uncle.
In 1973, he was called back to Limerick by Bishop Murphy (another family connection. His brother actually nominated me for my first election in 1969). He was put in charge of the Simon Community Hostel in Limerick City. He and another brother did trojan work. Every night they would drive around the city until they had collected all the rough sleepers and take them back to the hostel, wash and feed them before putting them to bed.
He also ate with his clients and this may have been the cause of his death as he died of stomach cancer in 1975 – aged 64.
My memories of him are of a really jolly, but humble and caring person. If I visualise him, it is always with a big unsaintly smile.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Climate Change deal allows loopholes for rich nations.
Developing countries have argued strongly for minimum 40% emission cuts from industrialised nations by 2020. But new analysis from the Stockholm Environment Institute and Third World Network (TWN), released at the latest UN climate talks in Bonn, showed that current pledges amounted to only 12-18% reductions below 1990 levels without loopholes. When all loopholes were taken into account, emissions could be allowed to rise by 9%.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/04/climate-deal-loopholes-rich-nations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/04/climate-deal-loopholes-rich-nations
Sunday, 1 August 2010
HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI REMEMBERANCE CERMONY.
Saturday, August 7th. 11am.
Venue: Victoria Park, Ballards Lane, Finchley.
By the Commemorative Cherry Tree.
Please bring along a poem, song, memory or thought to share.
Contact: Gardi Vaswani 020 8445 6312 or Noel Lynch 07961 44 1722.
Venue: Victoria Park, Ballards Lane, Finchley.
By the Commemorative Cherry Tree.
Please bring along a poem, song, memory or thought to share.
Contact: Gardi Vaswani 020 8445 6312 or Noel Lynch 07961 44 1722.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Now for something different
Going to a Hip-Hop gig tonight.
Anyone into this type of music should come along. RELENTLESS MC is a Green Party supporter and has performed in GP gigs. Jean Lambert was at his last gig. She is also a big fan.
Start 9pm.
Venue: Elixir Club, 162 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BL (Close to Euston Station)
"A nite of some of the funkiest conscious hip-hop soul..."
Website: myspace.com/mcrelentessuk
Anyone into this type of music should come along. RELENTLESS MC is a Green Party supporter and has performed in GP gigs. Jean Lambert was at his last gig. She is also a big fan.
Start 9pm.
Venue: Elixir Club, 162 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BL (Close to Euston Station)
"A nite of some of the funkiest conscious hip-hop soul..."
Website: myspace.com/mcrelentessuk
Monday, 26 July 2010
Caroline's Early Day Motions.
Caroline Lucas is fast making a name for herself as one of the most effective and hard-working members of parliament.
Among other things she has promoted the following Early Day Motions:
ARMS AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT SALES
INTERNATIONAL FUNDING FOR DRUG ENFORCEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS
NUCLEAR TRANSPARENCY OBLIGATIONS
BACK BENCH BUSINESS ON WEDNESDAYS
REFUGEE AND MIGRANT JUSTICE CHARITY
WIDENING OF FOOTBALL PARTICIPATION IN SUSSEX
BP AND CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER
TRAFIGURA AND SHIPPING HAZARDOUS WASTE TO THE IVORY COAST
as well as signing and supporting 115 other EDMs.
You can see the full list here:
http://tiny.cc/68wb0
Among other things she has promoted the following Early Day Motions:
ARMS AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT SALES
INTERNATIONAL FUNDING FOR DRUG ENFORCEMENT AND HUMAN RIGHTS
NUCLEAR TRANSPARENCY OBLIGATIONS
BACK BENCH BUSINESS ON WEDNESDAYS
REFUGEE AND MIGRANT JUSTICE CHARITY
WIDENING OF FOOTBALL PARTICIPATION IN SUSSEX
BP AND CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEEPWATER HORIZON DISASTER
TRAFIGURA AND SHIPPING HAZARDOUS WASTE TO THE IVORY COAST
as well as signing and supporting 115 other EDMs.
You can see the full list here:
http://tiny.cc/68wb0
Friday, 23 July 2010
Ban protests to save money says Tory AM
A Conservative London Assembly Member has called for bans on protests in the capital, in order to save money.
Steve O'Connell, one of the highest paid councillors in the country, said yesterday that we could no longer afford the "luxury" of demonstrations:
"The point I'm making here is in the new era of very difficult financial choices are we able to continue with the luxury of demonstrations going forward in a very liberal manner with a small 'l' and commit the costs that we have in the past? I don't believe we can afford to go forward in that way."
Speaking to the Metropolitan Police Authority, O'Connell said that policing protests would no longer be seen as a "priority" by residents
See the story here:
http://torytroll.blogspot.com/2010/07/ban-protests-to-save-money-says-steve.html
Steve O'Connell, one of the highest paid councillors in the country, said yesterday that we could no longer afford the "luxury" of demonstrations:
"The point I'm making here is in the new era of very difficult financial choices are we able to continue with the luxury of demonstrations going forward in a very liberal manner with a small 'l' and commit the costs that we have in the past? I don't believe we can afford to go forward in that way."
Speaking to the Metropolitan Police Authority, O'Connell said that policing protests would no longer be seen as a "priority" by residents
See the story here:
http://torytroll.blogspot.com/2010/07/ban-protests-to-save-money-says-steve.html
Thursday, 22 July 2010
*No prosecution for police killer of Ian Tomlinson
In spite of this statement:
"The CPS concluded that there is sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of proving that the actions of PC 'A' in striking Mr Tomlinson with his baton and then pushing him over constituted an assault. At the time of those acts Mr Tomlinson did not pose a threat ... There is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of proving that his actions were disproportionate and unjustified."
There is to be no proecution of Ian Tomlinson's killer.
I'd like to say i'm surprised, but I wont! After all, this is the 5th aniversity of the execution of Charles de Menezes - disgusting!!! Words fail me.
"The CPS concluded that there is sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of proving that the actions of PC 'A' in striking Mr Tomlinson with his baton and then pushing him over constituted an assault. At the time of those acts Mr Tomlinson did not pose a threat ... There is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of proving that his actions were disproportionate and unjustified."
There is to be no proecution of Ian Tomlinson's killer.
I'd like to say i'm surprised, but I wont! After all, this is the 5th aniversity of the execution of Charles de Menezes - disgusting!!! Words fail me.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
TOMORROW: CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE REPORT INTO DEATH OF IAN TOMLINSON
THURSDAY 22 JULY, 1PM @ NEW SCOTLAND YARD
TOMORROW: CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE REPORT INTO DEATH OF IAN TOMLINSON Tomorrow, Thursday 22 July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, we expect to hear the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.
If a police officer is charged with manslaughter it will be the first time this has ever happened in Britain, despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody since the late 1960s. This should be seen as a step forward for those campaigning for justice.
But if it is a whitewash we don’t want them to get away with it. No matter how much they talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment will once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.
We want as many people to gather as possible to either celebrate a victory or step up our campaign for justice.
Gather at 1pm outside New Scotland Yard, 8-10 Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0BG.
This is short notice! Spread this message far and wide: phone, email, text, Tweet, Facebook, chalk on the pavements and bring your friends!
TOMORROW: CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE REPORT INTO DEATH OF IAN TOMLINSON Tomorrow, Thursday 22 July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, we expect to hear the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.
If a police officer is charged with manslaughter it will be the first time this has ever happened in Britain, despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody since the late 1960s. This should be seen as a step forward for those campaigning for justice.
But if it is a whitewash we don’t want them to get away with it. No matter how much they talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment will once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.
We want as many people to gather as possible to either celebrate a victory or step up our campaign for justice.
Gather at 1pm outside New Scotland Yard, 8-10 Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0BG.
This is short notice! Spread this message far and wide: phone, email, text, Tweet, Facebook, chalk on the pavements and bring your friends!
Saturday, 10 July 2010
THE HOLE TRUTH
AS SCHNEWS REPORTS FROM THE NEW ROSSPORT FRONTLINE..
There is still plenty of ire left in Ireland as campaigners ready themselves for another summer of action against Shell and their plans to despoil the coast of County Mayo with a new gas pipeline (see SchNEWS 719). The project is already a decade late and three times over budget; pretty impressive for a small community fighting one of the biggest multinationals in the world.
Previous years' resistance and obstruction - whilst met with intimidation, violence, police and legal harassment - have finally led to a rethink at Shell HQ. Their cunning plan is now to avoid going through the troublesome Rossport area and instead build underneath the nearby Sruth Fhada Chonn estuary instead.
Preparation for this involves drilling up to 80 boreholes to assess suitability, with work due to start this month. The site is a Specially Protected Area (and what self-respecting energy corporation would build anywhere else?), part of the Broadhaven Bay Special Area of Conservation, and the operation will damage parts of the estuary, disturbing the local wildlife, particularly Atlantic salmon and birds found on the intertidal areas.
But, as they have every step of the way, local campaigners and Shell to Sea activists are planning to stop them (without any extra disturbing of wildlife, presumably). They are calling for a 'continuous mass act of civil disobedience' and want groups or individuals to pledge to stop a borehole at some time this summer.
The aim is to assemble a rag-tag bag of 'Shell's angels' and assign each borehole it's own 'Beat the Borehole' group. Actions could range from merely walking out on the sands for picnic to full-on boarding of drilling rigs.
Due to the tides, and seasonal nature of the job, any disruption that slows the process down could prevent them getting an adequate survey done this year. Work has to stop in mid-Oct when the protected Brent Geese arrive for the winter.
The Solidarity Camp is now located on land right next to the estuary.
Everyone is welcome to stay there and equipment / training can be provided. There is also a camp house and local hostel nearby if camping isn't for your (sleeping) bag.
* To pledge to Beat a Borehole email/ring the camp Ph: +353 851141170 Email - rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com
** See also www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org ww.shelltosea.com
There is still plenty of ire left in Ireland as campaigners ready themselves for another summer of action against Shell and their plans to despoil the coast of County Mayo with a new gas pipeline (see SchNEWS 719). The project is already a decade late and three times over budget; pretty impressive for a small community fighting one of the biggest multinationals in the world.
Previous years' resistance and obstruction - whilst met with intimidation, violence, police and legal harassment - have finally led to a rethink at Shell HQ. Their cunning plan is now to avoid going through the troublesome Rossport area and instead build underneath the nearby Sruth Fhada Chonn estuary instead.
Preparation for this involves drilling up to 80 boreholes to assess suitability, with work due to start this month. The site is a Specially Protected Area (and what self-respecting energy corporation would build anywhere else?), part of the Broadhaven Bay Special Area of Conservation, and the operation will damage parts of the estuary, disturbing the local wildlife, particularly Atlantic salmon and birds found on the intertidal areas.
But, as they have every step of the way, local campaigners and Shell to Sea activists are planning to stop them (without any extra disturbing of wildlife, presumably). They are calling for a 'continuous mass act of civil disobedience' and want groups or individuals to pledge to stop a borehole at some time this summer.
The aim is to assemble a rag-tag bag of 'Shell's angels' and assign each borehole it's own 'Beat the Borehole' group. Actions could range from merely walking out on the sands for picnic to full-on boarding of drilling rigs.
Due to the tides, and seasonal nature of the job, any disruption that slows the process down could prevent them getting an adequate survey done this year. Work has to stop in mid-Oct when the protected Brent Geese arrive for the winter.
The Solidarity Camp is now located on land right next to the estuary.
Everyone is welcome to stay there and equipment / training can be provided. There is also a camp house and local hostel nearby if camping isn't for your (sleeping) bag.
* To pledge to Beat a Borehole email/ring the camp Ph: +353 851141170 Email - rossportsolidaritycamp@gmail.com
** See also www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org ww.shelltosea.com
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