Baron Mandleson Splits Labour And Sells Out

A few months ago Baron Mandelson urged the prime minister to save the Post Office network by allowing it to provide government services and financial products. In the letter to Gordon Brown in October he said "We should examine the prospects for Post Office Ltd becoming a much more significant player in financial services - offering a wider range of attractive products within easy reach of the whole population, available from an institution they can trust."

This week the Baron has supported the conclusions of a report by an independent review panel led by businessman Richard Hooper which advised selling 25% to 33% of Royal Mail to a foreign buyer, closing ever more of these vital community facilities. He has flip flopped on a vital issue, one that has already done huge damage to the party and the country. Labour have already closed most of the 2,500 Post Offices across the country announced in 2007, on top of the 4,000 already shut since 1999. Thats already one third of the entire network, the effect on the community; particularly the elderly and disabled, is huge. Now they want to sell off the rest!

As many as 130 Labour MPs are opposed to the plans, leaving the government relying on the Tories to get the legislation through the Commons. The scale of the backlash against Baron Mandelson's proposals to partly privatise Royal Mail is laid bare today in a warning from Labour's eight largest unions that the proposals are electorally unpopular, politically unwise and damaging to the postal service. In a letter in today's Guardian, the Unions, which speak for 2.5 million members, also say the plan is forming a division in the party, undermining Labour's policy-making process by breaching manifesto commitments. These Unions are backing the wrong party, their support is what is keeping Labour afloat.

This is part of a trend of growing supermarket giants, vast chains of pubs and stores sucking the life out of Britain's villages and towns. Its not just Labour, the Conservative and Lib Dems have the same agenda. Like Labour rebels they often vote for these things while claiming to oppose them. Privatisation benefits big business interests, not consumers. We have seen this in the NHS, BT and the railways, to name a few instances. A report by Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, has failed to find any significant benefits to individual users from the 'liberalisation' of the postal service.

NOTES
Union donations to Labour 2008:
Unite - AMICUS section £2,591,741
UNISON £1,780,122
GMB £1,368,873
Unite - TGWU section £1,364,175
Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers £1,111,049

LINKS
CAPOC
BBC News

One Lords A Texting Gets Only 12 Weeks Sentence

Labours Baron Ahmed was sentenced at Sheffield Magistrates' Court to 12 weeks. Last year he pleaded guilty to driving dangerously on the M1 near Rotherham, South Yorkshire. In 1998 he was appointed to the House of Lords, becoming the first Muslim life peer as Baron Ahmed, of Rotherham, and only the second Muslim peer.

He is quite a controversial figure, skating close to the edge. He was much criticised when he hosted a reception at the House of Lords for the anti-Semitic writer Israel Shamir, who used the occasion to accuse Jews of wanting to set up a world empire! In 2007 he said of a proposal to award a knighthood to Salman Rushdie that 'he was appalled', stating that Rushdie had 'blood on his hands'. I wish he had said that about Blair, it would in that case have been true.

Slovakian Martyn Gombar, 28, who was living in Leigh, Lancashire, died when Baron Ahmed's Jaguar hit an Audi car, which had stopped in the fast lane of the motorway after a separate crash. The court heard how Baron Ahmed sent and received a series of five text messages while driving in the dark at speeds of, and above, 60mph along a 17-mile stretch of the motorway. The peer received three text messages and sent two while driving on the southbound carriageway of the M1, between junctions 40 and 35. His elderly mother and his wife were passengers in the car at the time.

Steve Smith, Baron Ahmed's solicitor, told the court that the peer was "rendered momentarily unconscious" by the impact of the crash and suffered a serious head injury. Smith told the court that 'nothing happened as a result of Lord Ahmed sending and receiving the text messages and stressed the fatal accident was unconnected'. But the court was told that Lord Ahmed sent his last message about two minutes before colliding with the Audi!

Does anyone really believe the crash was unconnected with his texting? The man was in the fast lane of a motorway going at high speed, he has just sent a text and was still distracted, perhaps putting the phone away, or reading other texts. Smith thinks the Barons prominence has lead to him being treated harshly in this case, but most commentators think he has got away far too lightly.

David Cicak, Mr Gombar's cousin, said: “We’re not happy with this. He could be out in six weeks, that’s nothing. [My cousin] left behind two small kids now with only their mother.”

Baron Ahmed will serve half the sentence behind bars and the rest on 'licence'. His solicitor said he would appeal against the sentence, claiming the peer was being made a "scapegoat" because of his profile.

It isn't easy to compare different cases, but here is a recent one that is similar. A motorist (Philippa Curtis) sent and received more than 20 text messages before she crashed into another car killing its driver. She has been jailed for 21 months. The Judge said he hoped the case would send out a warning to other drivers not to use their phones when behind the wheel. Sergeant Bill Sykes of Thames Valley Police said: "The court has rightly judged that such acts do amount to dangerous driving and those responsible are being held accountable for that. There is no phone call or text message that is so important that you cannot stop or wait until you can pull over and it's safe to receive or make that text message."

In another case the driver got 4 years in prison. Kiera Coultas was also banned from driving for five years. She was doing 45mph in a 30mph zone, had just gone through a red light while texting and then killed a cyclist she hadn't seen. Sgt Alyson West, of Hampshire Constabulary, said the ruling would hopefully discourage others from using their mobile phones while driving. The "sentence will not bring back Jordan Wickington. However, it will hopefully help to deter drivers who continue to flout the law by using their mobile phones while driving."

Clearly these judges thinks its is a terrible crime to kill by not being in controll while driving. Baron Ahmed was very 'lucky' to get a more sympathetic judge. I think Baron Ahmed, along with other disgraced peers such as Jeffrey Archer and Mandleson, should be thrown out of the house of Lords. I've even got a new name for taking this action, lets 'denoble' those without honour. I would include all those who 'coincidentally' gave millions in donations at the same time as their enoblement.

Judges were told that for motorists who read or write text messages on a mobile phone should face jail sentences of up to seven years if they cause a death, under new guidelines from a sentencing watchdog last july. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said that the use of mobile phones is also treated “robustly”, with advice that if an offender is distracted by a hand-held mobile phone when the offence is committed, it will be treated as “particularly” serious. The guidelines state that a driver with no previous convictions who causes an accident leading to death because they were using a mobile phone can expect a prison sentence of 15 months or more.'

See also where Labour people debate this.

Hansard Society Report on MPs Internet Use

There's a report published by the Hansard Society which shows that MPs are getting slightly better and transmitting messages on the internet, but they're not so hot at receiving them. Online engagement is still pretty poor.

MPs’ responsiveness (source: WriteToThem.com and www.hansardsociety.org.uk)

Year Emails sent ave per MP
2005 29,976 46
2006 62,033 95
2007 88,200 135

This chart was on the website above, I just worked out the average number of emails this would represent myself, and its very low. Imagine only responding to 135 emails a year, thats only a couple a week! And a staggering 8% of MPs dont even have an email! Talk about Luddites.



Summary of survey in numbers:
• 92% of MPs use email
• 83% of MPs have a personal website
• 23% of MPs use social networking
• 11% of MPs blog
• Younger MPs (born after 1960) are highest users (38%); Older MPs (born before 1940) are lowest users (14%)
• MPs elected in or after 2005 are highest users (40%); MPs elected in or before 1986 are lowest users (5%)
• The marginality of a constituency has little affect until the MP’s majority exceeds 30% - when there is a sharp decline in adoption

BBC Childrens presenter Cerrie Burnell targeted for scaring kids

The BBC have had 9 complaints have been sent in by people saying that CBBC presenter Cerrie Burnell she may "scare children." One father said that he wants to ban his daughter from watching the channel because he fears she may 'suffer nightmares'. I wonder how those parents feel about having a statue of a man with one arm in Trafalgar Square?

Cerrie Burnell told Sky News "It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children," she said. "It just goes to show how important it is to have positive disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general."

There is a 1251 member facebook group set up already. They say:

For anyone without toddlers, Cerrie is new on CBeebies, the BBC's channel for young children - she's gorgeous and she's a brilliant presenter.

One of the crucial ways disabled people are changing the world, is simply by being seen in public roles and being ourselves. CBeebies in recent years has been exemplary in including disabled people - it is important that we have disabled people on kids TV.

This is one of the ways we grow a society which is not afraid of disabled people because they are kept out of sight. We change the minds of our youth by just presenting a truer picture of society and who is in it.

Firstly, let's show Cerrie that those who support her outnumber those who have a personal problem with prejudice.

Secondly, let's show the BBC that although a few people have complained, that we think Cerrie is a brilliant presenter and those of us who support her presence on kids TV outnumber those who would rather disabled people were hidden away in dark places.

Let's show the BBC that they get it right by being an equal opportunities employer.

Cerrie is helping show our youngsters that we live in a beautiful and diverse world and that it is great!

Please contact the BBC here and show your support, : http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/contact/forms/tv_form.shtml

share your messages to help give other people's ideas

The media are coving this
here
and
here

AWE Burghfield campaign update Feb 2009

What a barmy idea it is to have a nuclear facility so close to the large town of Reading. And what a stupid idea to transport nuclear waepons from the Trident base at Faslane in Scotland all the way to AWE, driving hundreds of miles across the country. Even without the threat of terrorism, there is the possibility of the convoy getting lost in the fog(which has happened), lorries breaking down or crashing. Vast numbers of the population are put at risj due to bad planning. This planning can still be affected, as AWE constatntly plans to enlarge, but they can be stopped.

I have written about AWE before, here and here.

Also I took a short film of a blockade, nearly 500 people have seen this;


Over a thousand have seen this;



Here is an update from local peace campaigners.

Things are looking good on the campaign to prevent a new nuclear warhead assembly facility from being built at the Atomic Weapons Burghfield outside Reading. The next few weeks will be an important time in decision making over the campaign, and there is plenty you can do to help influence those decisions

Over 1000 objections have been made to the planning application for the new development, sending a very strong message to West Berkshire Council’s planning committee that the development is not wanted locally. See the BBC News website

Many thanks to everyone who wrote to the council to register an objection and who helped collect signatures during all our street campaign work in January.

Reading Borough Council has shown an interest in the planning application and has submitted a holding objection to West Berkshire while they consider the details of the application. In itself this will not stop the development, but it will probably delay things for a few days and buy us some time. We need to persuade Reading Borough Council that the development is a big enough threat to their interests for them to ask central government to ‘call in’ the development for a decision by
a Minister or, even better, at a public inquiry.


What next?

There are three things we need to do now:

- Continue getting members of the public to write in with objections to the development. A push over the next couple of weeks which brings in another couple of hundred objections will show that opposition to the development remains strong and has not died down.
- Ask local MPs to write to Ministers to say that the development should be called in.
- Demonstrate our opposition to the development to Reading Borough Council so that they ask for the development to be called in.

How you can help

1. Come along to a planning committee meeting to demonstrate your views. A key meeting will take place on 4th March – although we aren’t quite sure where yet! West Berkshire Council have scheduled a meeting to determine the planning application on this date, but Reading Borough Council have written to them asking for the meeting to be postponed, as Reading’s planning committee are also meeting to decide on their
position on the same date!

Assuming the West Berkshire meeting is cancelled, we will attend Reading’s planning committee meeting to show our opposition. Meet at 5.45 pm at the Civic Centre, Reading – bring banners, placards, and suitable fancy dress if you have it!

If the West Berkshire meeting goes ahead after all, we will meet at 5.45 pm at the Council Offices in Market Street, Newbury instead. Watch this space for more details!

2. Can you help us in lobbying local MPs at their constituency surgery meetings this Friday? Rob Wilson (Reading East) is holding his surgery on Friday 27th February at Woodley Library and Martin Salter (Reading West) is holding his surgery later the same evening at the Whitley Advice Shop.

3. Is anyone up for some street campaign work in Reading next Saturday (28th February) to collect more signatures on letters opposing the warhead factory? If so, please let me know. There are still some of you who have not yet written to West Berkshire to give your own views, so if you haven’t yet done so, please take a moment to contact West Berkshire Council to lodge an objection. You can do this online here.

Just click the ‘Submit comments’ box at the top of the page, add your name and address on the form, and remember to mark the box to show that you object to the planning application. You can put a few words in to explain why you are objecting – remember to say that you are a local resident and you are concerned about safety and flooding risks. It only takes a couple of moments – you can ask friends and family who live locally to object, too!

Thanks again for all your help in this campaign and we look forward to your continuing support over the next couple of weeks.

Save Readings School of Health and Social Care!

In an article in yesterday's Evening Post there are plans to close Readings School of Health and Social Care. The school could close in 2011 as a money-saving measure following a review by Reading University. The university came under fierce criticism in November when it closed its physics department.

I have signed the petition against the closure; please sign it too.

To close this department at the current time would be both short-sighted, with economic gloom on the horizon we will need social services more than ever.

This news is a further blow following recent inspections which highlighted genuine concerns about the quality of services the Labour-run Council provides for vulnerable children and the elderly in Reading.

The Chief Executive of Reading Borough Council Council admitted recently that the Council is having real difficulty recruiting social workers to work for RBC and as such it has been flagged as a major concern on the Council's corporate 'risk register.'

Michelle Humphries said: “I chose this university as I am a mother-of-three living and working in the Reading area. “I have worked in the social care field for 17 years. It would not have been possible for me to study anywhere else as I needed to be able to balance my work/home/ study time so that nothing was sacrificed. Closing the School of Health and Social Care will deny lots of other mature students like me the chance to go to uni.”

The problem goes wider than Reading, however. Nationally we are told that around 'two in three councils are struggling' to recruit and retain social workers.

Support the campaign and join the Facebook group

LGBT Political Meeting At Reading University 17 Feb 09

What an interesting debate on LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender) issues last night at Reading University. It was organised by Andy Adams, President of Reading University LGBT and was well attended.

Speaking were; Labour PPCAnneliese Dodds and James from the LBGT group Brighton, Conservative Cllr Rikhard Willis,Lib Dem Alex Wilcox and from the Greens Nigel Tart, Brighton-based National Green Party Spokesperson for LGBT Issues.

Anneliese Dodds and James spoke first, they had a powerpoint presentation listing Labours achievements towards equality for LGBT people; including Gays in the military and the equal age of consent. The others responded that what had happened was inevitable due to pressure of legal action and campaigning.

Rikchard Willis surprised a few people by saying 7 of the 18 Conservative Cllrs were gay, but that not all were out. He stated that there were bigots in all parties and that David Cameron was the party leader with the best record of voting on these issues (the others shook their heads).

Alex Wilcox had a very combative style of speaking, and engaged in debating with the audience to make his case that LD had the best policies. He also made the caste that his party leader had the best record on LGBT issues, and Brian Paddick London Mayor candidate in 2008 perhaps the most prominent gay politician.(1)

Nigel Tart paid tribute to the Lib Dem LGBT policies saying they were the closest to the Greens who lead the way on social justice. He said the when Darren Johnson was party leader in 2002 we were the first party with an LGBT party leader. The Greens lead on gay marriage, civil partnership is a compromise. Green PPC in Oxford East Peter Tatchell was mentioned by a few as a national treasure, though Rik did not agree. (2)

Nigel spoke about being sacked 3 times in 10 years as an 'out' teacher, clearly not all employers are enlightened.He is part of schools out who have just launched LGBT History Month. Hamaphrodite people should now be called Intersex.

There were questions about; campaigning groups Stonewall and Outrage, freedom of speech, trans people, sharing a platform with the BNP.

James said we don't have freedom of speech! He discussed the policy of Hezbollah to throw gays of buildings from his days as a Student Union organiser!

Nigel said we need a national debate on feedom of speech. Peter Tatchell likened civic partnership with apartheid.

Rikchard said that the BNP have success with disillusioned people, and felt that debating and out campaigning them was the best approach. Marriage is a classic British compromise, and the peers would have blocked its passage through parliament. He mentioned organisations rank outsiderscampaign to change law on LGBT in the military, positiveresponse support for Africans with Aids and 'Reading Aid Chorus'.

The meeting ended after a couple of hours, I think we all learned something about issues and party policy. So thanks to Andy Adams, the Reading University LGBT, and to the University.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the meetingI did a little research
1. The 50 most powerful LGBT people in British politics lists Brian Paddick only at number #21, Peter Tatchell at #23, at #39 Darren Johnson.
#1 is Spencer Livermore Director of Political Strategy at 10 Downing Street,
#2 is Nick Brown, 57, Deputy Chief Whip and MP,
#3 Peter Mandelson...


2. OutRage! Invaded the Labour Party National Executive Committee meeting where it protested about the 35 Labour MPs who had voted against equality!
During his time in Gay Liberation Front (GLF) Peter Tatchell was prominent in organising sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve “poofs”, and protests against police harassment and the medical classification of homosexuality as an illness.

In 1983 he was selected to stand for Labour in a byelection, it was described by Gay News as "the dirtiest and most notorious byelection in British political history" because of the slurs against the character of the Labour candidate and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell by various opposition campaigners.

Lib Dem Simon Hughes leaflets have been condemned by some for claiming the election was "a straight choice" between Liberal and Labour, Hughes has since apologised for what may be perceived as a slur in 2006 during the same few days revealing his own homosexual experiences and said that he is bisexual after being 'outed' but the Sun newspaper.

Mr Tatchell said: "Some of their male canvassers went around the constituency wearing lapel stickers emblazoned with the words 'I've been kissed by Peter Tatchell'. "On the doorsteps, they spread false rumours that I was chair of the local gay society; no such society existed." Mr Tatchell said one Liberal member admitted to him that the party was behind the anonymous and illegal campaign leaflet "Which Queen Will You Vote For?", which ridiculed his sexuality and "invited local voters to have a go at me by listing my home address and phone number".

Mr Hughes said "I hope that there will never be that sort of campaign again. I have never been comfortable about the whole of that campaign, as Peter knows, and I said that to him in the past . . . Where there were things that were inappropriate or wrong, I apologise for that."

White 'ghost bikes' pay tribute to dead riders in danger spots across Britain

They are unfortunately becoming a familiar sight alongside many British roads.

More than 100 old bicycles painted white and chained to lampposts and railings have sprung up at ‘danger-spots’ over the past year. Dubbed ‘ghost-bikes’, they have been put there to warn motorists approaching dangerous bends to look out for cyclists and, in many cases, have been left at locations where riders were killed.


Memorial: The scene of James Danson-Hatcher's death in Brighton

The UK campaign was started by road safety campaigner Steve Allen after his friend was killed in a North London street. In July 2003, cyclist James Foster was struck by a drunk driver doing 55mph on a 30mph road. Sabrina Harman, 29, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and banned from driving for three years.

Angry at what he believed to be a lenient sentence, Mr Allen set off on a quest to highlight the dangers for cyclists on Britain’s roads. He travelled to America where he teamed up with Ghost Bikes, the campaigning group that started the white-bike idea in 2000. It now operates in 43 countries worldwide. When he returned home, Mr Allen established a UK branch of Ghost Bikes. He picked up the bikes for a pittance from landfill dumps and scrap metal merchants and painted them white in his back garden.

The website developer has since placed more than 100 of them on the roadside in London, Oxfordshire, Manchester and Brighton, although local councils have removed many of them. He said: ‘Something had to be done. James was a great mate, a young man in the prime of his life.

‘Cycle deaths on the road in the UK go largely unreported and I wanted to put something tangible out there to document the tragedies and warn drivers to look out for cyclists.’ One of the white bikes is on a junction in Hackney, North London. It was erected in April after the death of cyclist Anthony Smith, 37, who was crushed by a lorry.

Another was placed on a Brighton street where James Danson-Hatcher, 23, was killed by a car driving at 60mph in April last year. James’s grieving sister Alison Swann said: ‘I am glad a ghost bike has been put at the spot where he was killed. Anything that helps raise awareness of road safety is a good thing.’

In April this year, a white bike was left on a street in Manchester after 55-year-old Stephen Wills was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He suffered fatal head injuries after being knocked off his bike but no one has been prosecuted.

Some ghost bikes are temporary; the Oxford and York bikes have gone and one in Greenwich Park, south east London, was 'reluctantly removed after a month' following discussions with the Royal Parks. Some local authorities are more tolerant - the Brighton bike has been in place for nearly a year, while Transport for London, which controls the major routes in the capital, says: 'We wouldn't expect to be asked permission for a ghost bike and we wouldn't seek to remove it.'

Last year 3,000 people, including 500 children, were killed on UK roads. More than 130 were cyclists.

hattip Sebastian Achaibou on Facebook.


See also:
ghostbikes, theherald, guardian, mail

Dutch MP Expelled

Dutch Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was thrown out of the country after he had been invited to show his controversial film in the UK's House of Lords, by UKIPs Lord Pearson. This says a lot about UKIP.

So after flying here, he isn't allowed to enter the country, the whole process is filmed to ensure maximum publicity for the bigot. Could they have managed the affair in a worse way, the man is now famous.

Now heres an idea, why not allow him to enter the country, and then arrest him under The Racial and Religious Hatred Act, then kick him out. Its an offence of inciting (or 'stirring up') hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. Brown would have looked much better doing this, instead of like a coward or fool. Mr Wilders is facing similar charges in his own country for inciting hatred. He called the Koran a "fascist book", his controversial film links the Islamic holy book to terrorism.

Labour peer Lord Ahmed, who expressed his concerns to the parliamentary authorities about Mr Wilders' visit, told the BBC: "This man doesn't have any respect for law. He's doing this for publicity." And Labour people are famous for their respect for the law and spin; Illegal war, dodgy dossier, Peers for hire, Prescott beating up a protestor, corrupt Kieth Vaz, Mandleson etc.

Happy 200th Birthday Charles Darwin

Today, Thursday 12 February, we celebrate 200 years since Charles Darwin, one of the world's most creative and influential thinkers, was born.

Darwin200 is a national programme of events honouring his scientific ideas and their impact. The celebrations have already begun and will continue until 24 November 2009, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book, On the Origin of Species.

Darwin is now a household name whose ideas over the last 150 years have revolutionised our understanding of nature and our place within it. He challenged the thinking of the day because his observations - that every living thing is related and belongs to one big family - placed humans firmly within the natural world.

As the following quotes indicate, Darwin’s innovative thoughts are just as important to our lives today.

*'Charles Darwin's concept of evolution through natural selection is one of the most illuminating scientific ideas of all time for understanding our biosphere and humanity's place in nature. As an iconic figure, Darwin is matched only by Newton and Einstein - indeed, he has perhaps had a more pervasive influence on human culture than any other scientist.' Lord Rees of Ludlow, The Charles Darwin Trust's Science Advisory Panel

*'The two governing ideas of modern biology are first, the molecular basis of all life processes and second, the origin and evolution of all life processes by Darwinian natural selection.' Professor E O Wilson, The Charles Darwin Trust's Science Advisory Panel.

*'No single researcher has since matched his collective impact on the natural and social sciences; on politics, religions, and philosophy' nature

Carbon Capture and Storage Myths

Coal is our cheapest and most abundant source of fossil-fuel energy. We have enough to keep the world powered for hundreds of years. The trouble is, carbon emissions from burning it all would make the planet uninhabitable long before this. Is there a way to get the energy without the emissions? Yes say coal technologists. Capture the carbon dioxide produced when coal burns and bury it underground, back where the coal came from.

Most of the CCS technology to do this is proven, and there are enough places underground to store the CO2 and keep it secure for thousands of years. That at least is the pitch for carbon capture and storage. If it lives up to the claims, the vast coal reserves in the US, China, India and elsewhere could fuel the post-industrial era just as European coal fuelled the industrial revolution two centuries ago. Forget renewables, coal can be a zero-carbon energy source too. So what are we waiting for?

Unfortunately the picture isnt so rosy.

Some Carbon Capture and Storage Myths:
#1: CCS cannot deliver in time to avoid dangerous climate change. The earliest possibility for deployment of CCS on a large commercial scale is not expected before 2030. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) does not expect CCS to be commercially viable until at least 2050. Nor does Oil-giant Shell who "doesn't foresee CCS being in widespread use until 2050."

#2: CCS wastes energy. The technology uses between 10% and 40% of the energy produced by a power station. Wide scale adoption of CCS is expected to erase the efficiency gains of the last 50 years and increase energy consumption by one-third.

#3: CCS is expensive. CCS could lead to the doubling of plant costs, and an electricity price increase of 21-91%. The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently pulled out of the only "clean coal" pilot project with CCS technology in the US due to massive budget increases from initial estimate of $800 million to $1.8 billion.

#4: "Capture Ready" coal plants are pure greenwash. CCS is being used as an excuse by power companies and utilities to push ahead with plans to build new coal-fired power plants, branding them as "capture ready." Promises to retrofit are unlikely to be kept. Retrofits are very expensive and can carry such high efficiency losses that the plants become uneconomical.

#5: Storing CO2 underground can have unintended consequences. The world has no experience in the long-term storage of anything, let alone CO2. A 2006 United State Geological Survey (USGS) field experiment showed there is every chance that carbon dioxide will behave in ways that are totally unexpected. The researchers were surprised when the buried CO2 dissolved large amounts of the surrounding minerals responsible for keeping it contained.
For an in-depth look at Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), check out "False Hope: Why Carbon capture and storage won't save the climate," recently released by Greenpeace International.

Hattip coal is dirty

Martin Slater MP Retires - a nation cheers

As predicted, rather than loose, Martin Salter has decided to step down as an MP.
He has been in power as MP and Cllr for 25 years, which quite frankly is about as much as anyone can take.

The question now is, who will be his possible sucessor as Labour candidate?
At Janestheone and muckspreading the speculation is that ex MP Jane will be selected, which seems rather unlikely.

He said '.. after much thought I have decided that a quarter of a century is long enough to serve as a public representative and I am therefore announcing this week that I do not intend to seek re-election at the next general election.'

'.. I really do want to move on and do something else with my life whilst I’ve still got some energy left.' He isn't that old, but with the Golden plated pension scheme MPs get perhaps he can afford to retire.

See this for some of the reasons I oppose him.

It will mean that at the next General Election in Reading West I will be the only one who stood last time!

BNP Wives make the case against the BNP

BNP Wives was shown on Sky 3, what an amazing programme. I've only seen a few minutes but already they have shown a group of BNP campaigners who were trying to stop a Mosque being built in Fareham fail to win an argument and attack the questioner instead.

Person in the street: "It doesn't bother me",
BNP activist (muttering): "It will do if one of them bleedin' rapes your daughter"
A woman asked them why it was a bad idea to have a mosque, they couldnt answer her, instead they said she was a "fat slag" who would "benefit from having a burqua"! They are quite mad.

Their leaflets and speeches are shown to be full of lives. They claim the English have been here for thousands of years, when actually Britain has had waves of migration for centuries, there is no racial purity. They claim the Navy and McDonalds only serve halal food, as though this was a terrible tradgedy. But of course bacon and ham are not hahal, and can anyone imagine the Navy not serving any pork products.

It seems the best way of defeating these idiots is to let them speak.
BNP Wives is now available to view online here. Give them enough rope ...


See also:
stopthebnp
searchlightmagazine

Hamas 'steals' UN Aid

In Gaza the UN said it has suspended all aid shipments, accusing the Hamas government of seizing hundreds of tonnes of food supplies. Ten lorries carrying flour and rice were taken from the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, the UN's Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) said.

Hamas admitted a "mistake" had been made and says it will return the goods, but Unrwa says deliveries will not restart until it has assurances that such seizures will not happen again. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Hamas must immediately release the seized aid shipments. He also called on Hamas "to refrain from interference with the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza". Unrwa said the food had been imported from Egypt, and had been due to be collected by its staff at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza on Friday. "The food was taken away by trucks contracted by the ministry of social affairs," the agency said in a statement.

Hamas denied it had confiscated any supplies, saying it was a misunderstanding between drivers. Hamas itself has given very limited financial assistance to some of the thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed in the Israeli offensive. The perception of many in the territory is that the group is only helping its own supporters!

Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis after Israel's recent three-week offensive. About half the population is dependent on UN food aid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7875171.stm
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25011053-23109,00.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN06461976

Tips For Green Love

Thanks to virescent for this. Who in turn was inspired by planetgreen

Want to be greener and do your bit for our planet? There are lots of things we can all do to help out, but have you thought about making your sex life more green?

Top Tips:
1. Shower together- saves water and warms things up nicely. Also useful for getting partner to wash those hard to reach areas.
2. Sexy Massage – What can be greener than a massage that doesn't use any resources other than your hands, its cheap especially if you make your own oils and a great way to relax and get comfortable together.
3. Use condoms for safety. Vegans looking for a latex option (though derived from trees, most latex has a milk enzyme added) can check out Glyde condoms.
4. Th Unmentionables: greenknickers
5. Where to meet your the green lover. Farmers markets, Critical Mass, your local Green Drinks, the Whole Foods checkout isle can be great places to meet people. Or green-passions.

Franks Wood

Franks Wood is one of many to be planted in the Milenium, the year 2000. Every year or two I go and have a look, and take some pictures. Its an unusual oppertunity to see a wood grow from an empty field. I hope to plant my own trees one day, but as you can see patience is required.





Taken 2004 Dec



Taken 2006 Dec



Taken 2008 Dec

Snow Reveals Lack Of Insulation

As discussed by barkingside21, some snow falling will help reveal who has an insulated house. In most houses the heat rises and will melt any on your roof. Those with adequate loft insulation should keep their snow the longest in a row of similar homes.


In an uninsulated home a quarter of your heat is lost through the roof. Insulating your loft is a simple and effective way to reduce your heating bills and you can even do it yourself. A few decades ago 100mm was recommended and most people still have this, I've gone for 300mm so keep my heat inside my house.

If you currently have no loft insulation and you install the recommended 270mm depth you could save around £205 a year on your heating bills and around 1 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO 2) per year.

In the picture above you can see my house in the middle, with snow on the roof and solar panels collecting power even when its snowing. Rather than attempt to put them on my south facing roof, I decided to try them out hanging in my south facing window, they seem to work well. I use them to charge batteries and my phone.

New EPR nuclear reactor's waste is seven times more hazardous

Following the French government’s announcement that it wants to build a second pressurized water reactor (EPR) comes the news that the nuclear waste produced by this so-called state of the art reactor is far more dangerous than that of other reactors.

The disturbing news was buried on page 137 of the Environmental Impact Assessment prepared by Posiva, the company responsible for managing waste at the world's first EPR currently under construction at Olkiluoto, Finland and also in findings by the National Co-operative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra).

In simple terms, the EPR reactor produces more of a radioactive isotope called Iodine-129 making its waste seven times more hazardous. Iodine-129 is an isotope worth remembering. The numbers associated with it are staggering. It has a half-life of 16 million years but is still dangerous after more than 160 million years. To put it in context, the human race evolved from apes just five million years ago.

We as a species simply do not have the technology capable of storing this highly dangerous waste for such a huge length of time. Yet again we see how the nuclear industry’s claims about a ‘clean’ and ‘safe’ energy source are a lie. And that’s before we even get to discussing the enormous costs involved in attempting to dispose of this waste in anything close to a safe fashion (let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this is in any way achievable).

So, the much heralded EPR, this third-generation, state of the art, flagship beacon of technological triumph is about to make the world a more dangerous place - and not just for us but for those living in the distant future.

That’s quite an achievement.


Hatip to greenpeace



E.ON