Asylum Monologues will be performed at the Greenham Common Peace Garden Saturday 4th Sep

The Asylum Monologues will be performed at the Greenham Common Peace Garden on Saturday 4th September from 2 to 5pm.

Here's how to find the Garden
RG19 6HP

The garden is just outside New Greenham Park.
By public transport, take the Number 32 bus from either Newbury or Basingstoke and get off at the entrance to New Greenham Park.
Come along and celebrate the launch of the garden as a Garden of Sanctuary; part of the City of Sanctuary movement, on the anniversary of the start of the Women's Peace Camp.

Shelter provided if it's raining.

Free Refreshments.


And Trident Ploughshares has a Summer Gathering on the 2nd September - 6th September at Church of St John & St Stephen, 121-147 Orts Rd, Reading, Berkshire RG1 3JN.
‘A chance for new and experienced activists to come together to plot the end of those nasty nukes.’ At the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE bomb factory) at Aldermaston.

Join us for a fun and action-packed few days of:
- Workshops & Discussion
- Local Networking & Outreach
- Nonviolent Direct Action Training
- Action Planning
- Trips to the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (where nasty new warhead developments are well underway)

TO BOOK YOUR PLACE and for more info:
- Tel: 0845 45 88 361
- E-mail: tpgathering[at]yahoo.com

1000 Posts

This blog has been going for three years, and this is the thousanth post. Happy anniversary readers.

NHS Direct Vs 111

A few people have commented about the proposed cutting of the NHS direct 24/7 health advice service 0845 4647. Most are surprised its for the chop as its not very expensive, is popular, providing information on health issued without needing to make an appointment at a busy GP or A&E.

Local LD Cllr Warren Swaine manages to make even more typos than even me in a post dedicated to justifying the ConDem coalition actions. 'Electiion', 'iis', 'kust' might be cost. Perhaps he is still under the influence of those dodgy free Reading festival tickets given to Cllrs.

He says "Helpdesks exist to do one thing, to take cost out of an organisation." Oh dear. There I was thinking they were there to help, so in many cases you don't have to actually visit. As such they are a money saving option for the organisation as well as the client. But in the case of NHS direct its the all night service that is critical, saving on calls to 999.

ConDems propose to replace NHS Direct with a new non-emergency phone number 111. But just because Labour oppose this does not make it right, we must judge on its own merit. Actually the new number would be an improvement, its easier to remember, quicker to dial. But replacing health professionals with operators is not so clear.

A new team of partly trained call advisers will run the 111 service. These callers will as before be available 24/7 to attend the patients’ calls and provide them with the information as swiftly as possible.

NHS Direct currently employs more than 3,000 staff, 40% of whom are trained nurses. It is understood the ratio on the 1-1-1 helpline is "slightly less" in the pilot, but no figures are yet available for what will happen when the scheme is rolled out nationally. Anyone dialling 111 will speak to non-specialist "call advisers" who have completed a 60-hour course rather than a degree.

On average 14,000 people a day call NHS Direct for medical advice, with the service costing £123m a year to run.

Green Peter Cranie says 'Cutting NHS Direct is wrong, stupid and a false economy'. He explains how the service has helped his family.

Jim is not so sure. He makes a wider point about 'deskilling the professions'. "So we have PCSOs, teaching assistants, and call centre workers instead of police officers, teachers and doctors. All of the former do good things, but as a trend it undermines the quality of public services. It restricts the number of professional jobs that command professional wages available."

The ConDems should await the pilot scheme and learn from the results.

Incinerators, Burning Waste Is Toxic

Blogger Gideon Mack says that there is a plan to take Readings waste MDF to be burned in an incinerator in Kent!

As Greens we regularly campaign against incineration of waste. We want a zero waste strategy, not a scheme that encourages the production of more waste in order to feed an incinerator.

We should be producing much less waste, reduce, reuse & recycle; not burning rubbish and releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere. Waste incineration encourages councils not to bother with recycling or reducing waste. This is not the message we should be sending out.

The Greens say that burning rubbish encourages more waste, is inefficient in producing energy, wastes resources, produces pollution and still creates toxic ash which needs to be disposed of.

Some examples:
Surrey, Slough, Wales , Bristol, Yorkshire, Newcastle & Brighton.

Antiziganism; First they came for the Gypsies...

First they came for the Gypsies
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Gypsy...

Pastor Martin Niemoller

France has begun the first deportations of 700 members of the Roma Gypsy minority, to Romania and Bulgaria, as part of its controversial crackdown on communities officials hold responsible for criminal activity. The expulsions are set to be completed by the end of the month. Also affected by the law-and-order push are the nomadic "travelers" group the Roma are a subset of; delinquents and their families in France's troubled suburban housing projects; and human traffickers and the illegal immigrants they smuggle into France. But the highly publicized targeting of Roma in particular has been criticized as a cynical move by the conservative government of President Nicolas Sarkozy to seduce hard-right voters in the long march toward the President's 2012 re-election bid. It's also raising alarms from Romanian and European Union officials that France's drive may be fanning xenophobia and impinging on the rights of fellow E.U. citizens. Romania has been a member of the E.U. since 2007.

Worries about antiziganism in France are well-founded. The UN Commission on the Elimination of Racism has warned France about prejudiced and discriminatory language and acts. One of its members:
“Our concern is that the removal or return of the Roma has been done on a collective basis rather than examining their individual circumstances so it gives the appearance that a group has been identified rather than individuals.”

Unfortunately some politicians in all countries attack the Roma, perhaps thinking that it willl give them votes at little cost. The portrayal of Roma and the travelling community as thieves and criminals is a false one. Channel 4’s documentary 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. The Cutting Edge film had 5.3 million viewers – five times what the strand normally gets and its best show since 1996. The film, following four gypsy marriages across the country, showed a community with strong Catholic values with a somewhat conservative view of the world. They're faithful to their own traditions and customs with religion playing a very important part life.

The Roma, the people we know in the west as Gypsies, were said to have emigrated from India to the Balkans in the early Middle Ages. Yet they have retained their identity. Kept as slaves for centuries, they faced extermination during Romania’s World War Two alliance with Nazi Germany and forced assimilation under communism. Granted minority status only in 1990, a year after the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, they remain on the fringes of Romanian society, with little or no education or jobs among the Balkan country’s largely impoverished 22 million population.

In 1994 the Tories repealed the obligation of local councils to provide sites for travellers. It was estimated that Britain is short of about 3,500 sites for the 300,000-odd strong Romany and travelling population (most of whom live permanently in one place). Travellers have been forced to move across the country and sometimes camp illegally.

Things were little better unnder Labour, and now the coalition government has cut further, reversing policies giving incentives to councils to develop land for Gypsy and Traveller communities.

Jake Bowers runs the Gypsy Media Company, which provides education about Gypsies and Travellers, and presents Rokker Radio, a BBC programme for the Travelling community. He says that "the noose is tightening around the neck of the Gypsy and Travelling community". "If the government continues along these lines, Britain will see resistance and campaigns of civil disobedience on a scale not seen since the 60s," says Bowers, who grew up on the road as one of 17 children.

There have already been discussions among the UK's 300,000 Gypsies and Travellers about holding a series of co-ordinated protests, including jamming the motorway network with caravans. "We're ideally suited to disrupting the motorways: we live on the road, so it makes no difference to us to stop on the fast lane of a motorway for a couple of days," says Bowers. "There will definitely be a lot of non-violent, civil but radical actions if things carry on like this. We do it every day anyway: just our continued existence is an act of civil disobedience."

Taxi By Lotus

London Taxis are well known for being noisy and very inefficient.

There is a plan to have a hydrogen-powered cab developed to showcase zero exhaust emission vehicles during the 2012 London Olympics.

All well and good, but why have it done by Lotus? It is one of the few British car companies left.

From the outside, the taxi looks like any other black cab and it weighs a whopping 2.6 tonnes. So why produce a car thats so overweight? It only does 30 mpg!

The eco-friendly taxi service based in London, Climatecars, has opted for the Toyota Prius as its choice of fleet vehicle.

The Toyota Prius would be a much more interesting choice for the London taxi, with and excellent combined mpg figure of 72.4 mpg, zero cost road tax.

A rat race is for rats

These are the words of Jimmy Reid, 1932 to 2010. He declared "A rat race is for rats. We're not rats. We're human beings". He died last week.

He left the communist party in 1976 to join labour. He left labour when Tony Blair took over and in 2005 joined the SNP. He remained true to his principles.

He was a strong unionist, opposing the closing of the upper clyde shipyard. It remains open.

Indy
Guardian
Jimmy Reid on youtube
Memorial service

Farm Shops Near Reading

I go to the True Food Coop and the Farmers Markets, but on occasion its nice to go to farm shops. I used to go to one near Pangbourne but unfortunately that closed.

Hare Hatch Sheeplands‎, London Road, Reading RG10 9HW‎ - 0118 940 1600‎

The Organic Farm Shop, Holdshott Farm, Reading Road, Heckfield, Hook, Hampshire RG27 0JZ, 0118 932 6650

Theres the Wellington Farm Shop attached to Stratfield Saye, its a bit expensive.

cross lanes fruit farm, Mapledurham, Reading RG4 7UW 0118 972 3167

Garlands Organics is in Pangboourne. They have a blog.

Sheepdrove are a bit further away (Lambourn) and also have a blog

Wysipig, Ellis Hill Farm, Sindlesham Road, Arborfield, Reading, RG2 9JG Tel: 0118 976 0505

I have not yet been to:
Hill Farm, Manns Hill, Burghfield Common, RG7 3BD 0118 983 4869
Nursery Cop Farm, Midgham, Reading, RG7 5UL Tel: 0118 971 0300
Warren Farm, Rectory Rd, Streatley, Reading, RG8 9QE Tel: 01491 872149






Theres a list here

Pakistan update

20 million people affected by devastating floods in Pakistan. Rescuers are struggling to reach 27,000 people still cut off by the floods, which are the worst in 80 years. At least 1,100 people have died.

Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, called for international aid. The disaster, he said, had spiralled beyond the government's capacity. "Millions of people have suffered and still there is more rain and further losses are feared. I appeal to the world to help us, we are doing what we can," Gilani told reporters.

Some of the media has focused on how poor the government response has been, but to be fair no authority could cope with this. Imagine an area the size of the UK flooded. I used to work for an Aid agency, I heard tales of the media showing up and taking all the available transport. So while reporting on failure they can contributre to it.

Local Labour ex Cllr Richard Mackenzie managed to get confused with the Earthquake five years ago. He refers to 'thousands of people being displaced' when its actually millions. Oh dear.


The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Pakistan Floods Appeal has reached £4 million, less than 48 hours since the first television appeals began broadcasting on Thursday evening (05.08.10). Call 0370 60 60 900 or visit DEC.

Afghanistan gives $1 million to Pakistan flood victims.

100 Days into Coalition

After 100 days in office its traditional to judge the new government. So far they have broken many promises, and like Labour instead of debates in Parliament they announce policy to get maximum publicity, just like Labour used to.

They claim to want to increase fairness, but the VAT increases and cuts will hit the poorest hard. The Academy schools take funding from local schools that needed it. Going after benefit cheats while ignoring tax dodgers sends out the message that the richer are protected at the expense of the poor.

Osbourne promised that once the books were back in balance, the Government could focus on delivering a more equal society! That might be a long wait.

They abolished the Sustainable Development Comission, Jonathan Poritt says 'Civil servants across Whitehall are contemplating the carnage with growing ill-ease. It’s relatively easy to get rid of thing you don’t like. It’s a damn sight harder to bring forward better in their place.' '... I would say that less than 5% could make any sort of claim to sustainability being “fully embedded”.'

They got rid of the Audit Commission, the body that reduced waste from public spending.

In 1985-86 the commission led the investigation of the rate-capping rebellion which resulted in 32 Lambeth councillors and 47 Liverpool councillors being surcharged and banned from office. The gerrymandering 'homes for votes' scandal at Westminster Council was uncovered by the Audit Commission. In 2010 the commission carried out a corporate governance inspection of Doncaster Council in the light of 'serious concerns about the council's performance and the threat to public confidence caused by recent events', being the brutal attack on two boys by two brothers in Edlington. Recently over £200m of fraud has been detected through the National Fraud Initiative.

‘Echoes of Thatcher’ as Coalition scraps free infant milk. A cherished scheme which has given infants free milk for 70 years is to be scrapped in Coalition budget cuts, in what could prove a public relations disaster for David Cameron.

The Regional development agencies were scrapped. Their mission statement claims that they "promote and enable economic growth in England's regions by creating the conditions to grow businesses and by helping to create additional, better quality, higher-paid jobs."

Despite their saving many lives, speed cameras are being scrapped around the country.

Some of the UK's poorest families have been hit by more than 100 unfair spending cuts during the first 100 days of the new Government, a TUC analysis of departmental spending reveals today.

So not a good start. At least we havent invaded any more coutries, so far. But what about reducing emissions? The nation expects action.

Trident: what’s the Lib Dem alternative?

Nick Clegg said in April:

What we’re saying is there are a number of options that you could explore in the future… you could equip the Astute submarine. What we’ve done is, I asked Menzies Campbell to look at the range of options and he’s published a number of options simply to make the point which the other parties won’t even accept that there are alternatives to a like-for-like replacement for Trident.

“We haven’t yet settled on which of those options. What we’re doing is something the government are refusing to do, and the Conservatives refuse to do – they wont even include it in a future defence review. Whether we have a nuclear deterrent or not depends heavily on whether multi-lateral nuclear disarmament in the non-proliferation talks succeed or not I am a multilateralist.

Recently, at one of his town hall style meetings Lib Dem Leader and Deputy PM Nick Clegg said that housing benefit payments were more important than Trident.

Reading Lib Dem Cllr Glenn Goodall said the idea was 'not have a like-for-like replacement of Trident since it is an out dated relic from the cold war.' He suggests 'a cheaper cruise missile based system.'

I dont want to belittle what is a slight improvement on Labour and Tory policy but thought cruise missiles were a cold war relic anyway. So replace one relic with another, oh dear. Why not scrap it? It does nothing for our security, actually it may make us a target. More to the point if we believe the govt about out terrible financial state we cant afford it. And it sends the wrong message, some countries think that by having weapons like ours they will join us in power and influence.

Top Green UK Blogs July 2010

After doing the Berskire Blog review, I thought I would have a look at the Green blogs on wikio.

1, 144 Daily (Maybe)
2, 194 Another Green World
3, 199 The Third Estate
4, 240 Random Blowe
5, 244 Philobiblon
6, 265 Two Doctors
7, 304 Greenpeace UK
8, 481 Green Reading
9, 639 Green Ladywell
10, 685 Bright Green
11, 711 Greenerblog
12, 782 Transition Culture
13, 857 Jonathan Poritt
14, 896 Ruperts Read
15, 981 Ruscombe Green
16, 997 Gaian Economics
17, 1123 Green Gabbles
18, 1229 Bloggy Blanc
19, 1354 The Green Room
20, 1398 Flesh Is Grass
21, 1767 Adrian Hollister
22, 1825 Greener Leith
23, 2331 Wessex Equality Trust
24, 2346 How can I recycle this
25, 2394 Gayle O'Donovan
26, 2852 Environmental News
27, 2871 Green Despatches
28, 3152 Scortched Earth
29, 3465 A Week Is A Long Time
30, 3833 Barkingside 21
31, 3977 Croydon Greens
32, 4245 Earthenwitch
33, 4435 Mysterious World Matt Blackall
34, 5000 Greenmans Occasional Organ
35, 5088 Ecomonkey
36, 5236 Diary at the centre of the earth
37, 6322 Recycle Blog
38, 6422 Coventry Green Voice
39, 6503 Andy D'Agorne
40, 7561 Dispatches from the cat
41, 17484 Green Jellybean
42, 17531 A Human Ecologists View

There are many more Green blogs than this, but most are not on wikio. Many more are at Greenfeed.

I have selected blogs that discuss Green issues, there will be some that I have missed. And some that perhaps may not want to be included. Please leave a comment, or email me adrian at windisch.co.uk replace at with @.

Labours Costly Legacy

I was reading a Labour Peers comments about how much is wasted on the EU. Aparently Herman van Rompuy, with his staff, travel expenses and salary, costs £5m.

Labour Peers know lots about waste. The Olympics budget went from £2.4 to 10 billion. Cold war weapon trident will cost £100 billion to replace. ID cards would have wasted £18 billion. PFI schemes may cost us an extra £50 billion. Britain's destructive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq cost many lives, damaged or reputation, made the world less safe, and cost £4.5bn a year.

Lets not forget its Labout that got us this EU president anyway. Aparently the new EU President will earn €350,000 a year, taxed at 25 percent, and will have a staff of 22 press officers, assistants and administrators, in addition to 10 security agents.

Even Peers cost £300 a day in expenses, and we have far too many. Perhaps Lord Stoddart should do the decent thing and retire.

In Transition Reading RISC 19th August, Transition Town Meeting

Transition Town Reading will be showing the film 'In Transition', Thursday the 19th of Aug, at 6.45pm at RISC.

The film is an inspirational look at how people all over the world are coming together to face the challenges of economic crisis, peak oil and climate change.

Afterwards there'll be a talk, and discussion (and more!) about how we are going to bring transition to Reading , and start the adventure of moving towards a positive, fossil fuel free future.

It would be great if you can spread the word and help us to publicise this event.

Transition towns start with a small collection of motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern: how can our community respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil and Climate Change?

Free Solar Power

A few companies are offering Free Solar Power for houses. You may ask whats in it for them? They get the feed in tariff while the residents get the power during the day. Yesterday I looked at local wind power, today its solar electric.


If you own a house with a clear south-facing roof that is un-shaded you may be eligible for free solar power. They will install, operate and maintain around a 3kW solar system on your roof. You can use all of the electricity it generates and never have to pay them anything.

They estimate you will save £300 a year for 25 years completely free of charge. If you move the future owners will have to continue with the deal. Considering they get cheap power they would be foolish not to. And after 25 years the system is yours.

The Guardian says be wary of 'solar for free' offers. If you can afford to fit the panels yourself the benefit is greater, apparently even f you borrow the money. If you cant afford it, I think the free offers are good news.

Simon Osborn, policy advisor at Which?, said: "If you have the means to pay for solar panels yourself, then you may well be better off arranging to have them installed yourself." Consumer Focus has published a checklist people should ask before signing up, including who has liability if something goes wrong with the panels.

Under the "free solar" model, a homeowner would save in the region of £2,750 on energy bills over 25 years, the length of the tariff offer. By paying for their own panels with a loan at 7.7% interest repaid over 10 years and earning income from the feed-in tariff, they could save around £6,506 over the same period.

The advice comes as installations of solar photovoltaic panels have exploded in the UK, with the number installed in four months in 2010 more than doubling on the whole of 2009 since a government financial incentive was launched in April.

Homesun, Isis and A Shade Greener (in Yourshire/Derby/Notts region) are three of the firms planning to do a deal with more than 120,000 homeowners by 2015.

Residents are advised to install basic energy efficiency measures first, before installing renewable technologies. These include insulation for lofts and cavities, heating controls and low energy lighting. These measures are relatively inexpensive and will save more money than renewable technologies, once the cost of installing technologies is taken into account. They will also make the consumer’s home more comfortable.

Theres a cooperative that sells solar panels locally, smartenergy.

Personally I am delighted at the idea of my roof being used for solar power generation, even if I got no benefit at all. However it makes sence to shop for the best offer. I am looking at going with one of these companies, I shall say more when I know more.

Portugal 45 UK 2

Nearly 45 percent of the electricity in Portugal’s grid will come from renewable sources this year, up from 17 percent just five years ago. In the UK we were on 1.8% in 2007.

Five years ago, the leaders of this sun-scorched, wind-swept nation reduced Portugal’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, they embarked on an array of ambitious renewable energy projects — primarily harnessing the country’s wind and hydropower, but also its sunlight and ocean waves.

In Reading we have a plan for 4 big turbines near the M4. You would think that being set in a field near a motorway there would be little cauuse for complaint.

Unfortunately a NIMBY local group HARM claims that Reading won't sleep at night, or generate enough power and the view will be spoilt. We had similar claims when they built the single turbine at GreenPark, also near the M4. Yet no one complains about this one any more, its one of the most visible turbines in the region and is a landmark. Its easy to visit and people can see and hear for themselves what impact it has on the environment. Unfortunately in their desire to keep renewables out of Reading, this group will stop at nothing, make any claim. "We are not against wind farms, but not this close to where people are living." They want turbines to be over 2 miles from any house, so there would be very few built in England.

Reading Green Party have come out in support of this scheme.
During the General Election the Labour candidate for Reading East came out in support. But the site is in Wokingham, I heard nothing from their Wokingham candidate, or local party.

Unfortunately in the past Conservatives, Labour and LibDem Councils have a poor record on alowing renewable projects to pass.

I hope all parties that say they want renewables support this scheme.

We should be aiming for 45% renewables like Portugal.

Speed Cameras Cuts

Lives will be put at risk as a result of government cuts to speed cameras, Britain's top traffic police officer has warned.

Chief Con Mick Giannasi, of Gwent Police, said casualties had almost halved over an eight year period due to the use of speed cameras. This comes after the government cut £38m from this year's road safety budget.

The Department for Transport has said road safety remains a priority for councils despite speed camera cuts. The government has also ended central funding for speed cameras - a central plank of its promise to "end the war on the motorist". That would be the 'war' that has seen motoring costs relatively stable while public transport costs have increased.

Speed camera opponents hail success of Swindon switch-off - but do figures back that up?

Earlier this month, Oxfordshire became the first county to turn off speed cameras, and Wiltshire is due to follow suit in October. Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire is cutting one in five of its speed cameras, Lancashire has stated that it, too, expects to reduce the number it operates, and Essex and Dorset are reviewing funding which may lead to a reduction in cameras in operation in those two counties.

Local councilor Peter Greenhalgh, hailed “a new motoring hero” by Top Gear in 2008 for his efforts to abolish speed cameras, said: "I think our decision has been vindicated because here in Swindon we have seen a slight fall in the number of accidents. We have been able to invest the money we were spending on cameras in other physical road safety measures such as vehicle-activated warning signs.”

He continued: "I'm not going to claim that everywhere should turn off their cameras but there are a lot of cameras around the country that aren't delivering the results in road safety that everyone would want."

Katie Shephard of the road safety campaign Brake, which is against the removal of speed cameras, disagreed, saying “There is a wealth of academic research that demonstrates that speed cameras are an effective way to reduce crashes and nine months is still too short a period to assess the situation in Swindon."

Meanwhile, Julie Spence, who is soon to step down as Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Police and is the longest-serving head of any police force in the country, condemned speeding as “middle class antisocial behaviour." "People think, 'We should be able to get away with it'. They wouldn't tolerate law breaking by somebody else but they do it themselves without thinking.” "It all seems OK until something tragic happens, like a child dies because of a road traffic accident."

The Chief Constable added that while anti-social behaviour is typically thought of as vandalism or disruptive youths, “for too many it is the antics of drivers who refuse to accept that speed limit signs apply to them. Driving without care or consideration for other road users is probably among the worst kind of anti-social behaviour in its truest sense, because serious offenders can, and do, kill,” she added.

So we can expect more deaths from speeding drivers.

And less revenue collected so other taxes will go up to make up the shortfall.

Anne Mustoe; cycle round the world 1933 to 2009

Anne Mustoe headmistress and author died last year.

She travelled by Roman roads across Europe; Alexander the Great’s route from Greece to the Indus Valley; Pakistan and India with the Moghuls and the Raj. Across the United States she followed the great pioneer trails, and undeterred by downpours, heat, political turmoil or amorous waiters, she promptly decided to do it all over again, in reverse direction.

She set out from London to ride round the world from west to east in 1987 and completed the circumnavigation 12,000 miles and 15 months later. Her first book, A Bike Ride, dealt with all the preparations, route-planning, packing and budgeting, as well as the riding.

She followed Roman roads to Lisbon, the Conquistadors across South America, Captain Cook over the Pacific, and the Silk Route from China back to Rome. Special chapters dealt with the day-to-day difficulties of the voyage up the Amazon in small cargo boats, and cycling the Australian Outback, the Gobi Desert and the Karakoram Highway.

Two Wheels in the Dust, encapsulated five winters on the Indian sub-continent.
For Cleopatra’s Needle the indefatigable cyclist set off from the obelisk of that name on the Thames Embankment to ride back to its original location, Heliopolis in Egypt.
Che Guevara and the Mountain of Silver she cycled from Buenos Aires in the wheeltracks of the 500cc Norton as ridden by Che in his early life, and recalled in the film The Motorcycle Diaries.

Mustoe cycled off on her last expedition in May 2009, but became ill in Syria. She died in Aleppo in November.

School Holidays, Why So Long

The current structure of the school year dates from the time when children were needed to help out on family farms during the summer fruit-picking season.

For some the summer is a time for new experiences, but not all children have the same access activities. Kids from more advantaged backgrounds are the ones who are most likely to get to go to these activities.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said studies suggested pupils' reading and maths abilities regressed because the summer break was too long. The IPPR suggested the summer holiday should run from mid-July to mid-August, followed by two eight-week terms before Christmas.

The IPPR's suggestion came after schools watchdog Ofsted warned that a long-term rise in education standards appeared to have "stalled".

Report author Sonia Sodha said: "There have been many positive gains in education over the last decade, but in recent years results have plateaued.
"That's reflected in statistics on anti-social behaviour and youth offending, and we know that those levels are higher during the summer holiday, particularly towards the end."

There is a dramatic change in the costs of holidays when schools are off. Parents taking children abroad for a half-term holiday are paying up to 80 per cent more for than if they went during school time. Family groups and parents accuse tour operators of taking advantage of those who cannot take their children out of school.

When asked Children have a variety of opinions,
"School holidays are brilliant; I think they should be longer!"
Johnandrew, 10, West Lothian, Scotland

"I think school holidays go on for too long because it seems like they go on for ages, but they only go on for six weeks."
Megan, 10, Edinburgh, Scotland

Debt Vs Bank Bailout

From figures published May 2010, UK public sector net debt was £903.0 billion. (or 62.2% of National GDP) – Source: Office National Statistics.

And £850bn was the official cost of the bank bailout.

Notice how close these numbers are? £903.0 billion debt less £850bn from the bank bailout would leave our debt at £53 billion. Relatively speaking this is small beer. Currently we are at 62.2% of GDP, 22nd worst in the world. At £53 bn our debt would be 4%, ranked one of the lowest in the world.

Now I don't claim to be a financial genius, but why arent these figures talked of more often?

Why do the ConDems keep on about the massive cuts needed for us taxpayers to pay back the debt? They could simply force the banks to pay back what they owe. Clearly they couldnt do it all in one go but considering the big bank profits recently they could make a start.

The ConDems seem to enjoy cutting services.
Why else do they refuse to cut Trident?
We are not all in this together.

Cuts To Child Protection database closure could put children at serious risc

ContactPoint £235m government database containing the records of England's 11 million children is being switched off.

It was established in the wake of the Victoria Climbie child abuse case to aid child protection. The Victoria Climbie Inquiry heard 12 points when authorities could have made a difference.

The Database closure could put children at serious risk, warns NSPCC. The controversial system was beset by delays, technical problems and fears over security.

But the NSPCC said: "We are concerned that the government's decision to shut down ContactPoint before a suitable replacement is in place could lead to vulnerable children being seriously harmed. Numerous reviews into child abuse cases have shown vulnerable children are at serious risk when professionals fail to share information speedily and effectively.

"It is vital we have a system that allows concerns about children to be spotted and acted on rather than being allowed to fall between the different agencies working with them."

The coalition government argued the system was disproportionate to the problem, so is looking at developing other solutions. Within two months of the switch-off all the data collected for the system is to be destroyed.

Earley Green fair Saturday 7th August 10 am to 3 pm at Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve

I went last year, and am going to this one too.

Its 10 am to 3 pm at Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve Beech Lane, Earley.

Come and join in the fun!
Visit the variety of stalls including –
Environmental – RSPB, BBOWT, Ramblers, Reading Ornithological Club, Sustrans, Friends of the Earth, Earley Environmental Group, Recycling, ECONET,
Butterflies and moths
Craft and charity stalls
Refreshments – have a cup of tea, cakes etc
Spinning demos
Face painting for the kids and other activities
Cakes & Jams
Second-hand books
Garden Plants
and many others
This event is organised by the Park Rangers Service. For more information
please phone 0118 9868995

Update:
It was a fun afternoon, lots of people enjoyed themselves. It was hot then wet then hot again. I was wearing my solar powered hat fan, which got a certain amount of comment.

I spent the afternoon helping at the Friends of the Earth stall, mostly talking about the Rushey Mead Wind Farm. Most people liked the idea, the turbines would be next to the M4 so the slight sound they make would not be heard over the car noise. But a small number of people have formed an anti group, calling themselves HARM. They even came to the Green Fair, though there message is NIMBY and anti Green.

Like many people I like the look of turbines, but a few people think that turbines do not look good. I pointed out that motorways look worse, but that gets ignored. The main point I made was to encourage the undecided to stand under the Green Park turbine, and judge for themselves.

We also talked to people about what can be recycled on the Kerbside, a disappointing list of things can not. Most plastics, glass, timber etc.

The Future Of The Health And Safety Executive

What are we to make of David Cameron’s pre-election rhetoric about introducing changes to how the government handles health and safety issues?

Prior to the general election, David Cameron stated, “something EDP Health, Safety & Environment, The Conservative Manifesto 2010has gone seriously wrong with the spirit of health and safety over the last decade”. He also said, “an ‘over-the-top’ health and safety culture has become embedded in the national way of life”.

More recently, the Prime Minister reiterated similar sentiments in the words, “The rise of the compensation culture over the last 10 years is a real concern, as is the way health and safety rules are sometimes applied.” He then went on to say, “We need a sensible new approach that makes clear these laws are intended to protect people, not overwhelm businesses with red tape.”

Lord Young of Graffham is to head up a review. In regard to health and safety, Lord Young is quoted as saying, “Health and Safety regulation is essential in some industries but may well have been applied too generally and have become an unnecessary burden on firms, but also community organisations and public services. I hope my review will reintroduce an element of common sense and focus the regulation where it is most needed.”

A decade ago, the Health and Safety Executive could be expected to turn up at the average UK workplace once every few years. But unpublished official figures obtained by Hazards show workplaces are now lucky to see the pared back watchdog once in a working lifetime.

Unison have been campaigning on this. They say the HSE by 2008 have lost around 17% of the staff it had in 2002.

Surveys consistently show that the HSE as one of the most highly regarded public bodies amongst members of the public, employees and employers. HSE is also internationally respected for its expertise on health and safety and has provided a model for many other countries. It produces authoritative advice and guidance, quality research, and a first class forensic capability when things go wrong such as
Buncefield. They have experts in engineering, nuclear safety, occupational health and so on. But many specialist skills are facing severe shortage, as HSE is unable to recruit at market levels and can no longer afford to maintain its expertise.
The HSE uses a range of techniques to remove risks from the workplace, and to improve the way health and safety is managed. They prefer to get voluntary compliance but when that does not work they can force changes. They also take action when things go wrong and prosecute for serious breaches of the law. Simply put: they save lives!

Hiroshima 65th Anniversary 6th August

At 2:45 in the morning of August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber flew north from Tinian Island in the Marianas toward Japan. Three and a half hours later, over the city of Hiroshima, the Enola Gay dropped an 8,900-pound atomic weapon from its specially modified bomb bay. Two thousand feet above the ground, the bomb, dubbed "Little Boy" by its makers, detonated, leveling almost 90% of the city.

On August 9, another B-29, Bockscar, set out for the Kokura Arsenal on the southwest Japanese island of Kyushu. Foul weather, however, persuaded the pilot to proceed instead toward Nagasaki, the home of a Mitsubishi torpedo factory. Over this secondary target Bockscar dropped a larger device, code-named "Fat Man." Local geography spared Nagasaki from the near total devastation suffered by Hiroshima; only one third of the city was destroyed.

The decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first and last use of atomic weapons in combat, remains one of the most controversial in military history. Altogether, the two bombings killed an estimated 110,000 Japanese citizens. By 1950, another 230,000 Japanese had died from injuries or radiation. Though the two cities were nominally military targets, the overwhelming majority of the casualties were civilian.

An exhibition documenting the impact of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II opened in London this week.

Stopped clocks, flattened clothing, the charred contents of a tin lunchbox and a mangled glass bottle recovered from the wreckage of the two Japanese cities and brought to the UK for the first time to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the attacks.

I met a survivor of the bomb, you can see him speaking to Reading children on youtube here. I blogged about it at the time here.

Unfortunately the threat of nuclear weapons is not just in history. Yesterday a fire broke out at AWE that could have been catastrophic.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader and MP for Brighton Pavilion, wrote yesterday to Defence Secretary Liam Fox, a day after a fire on Tuesday night at Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, in Berkshire.

The fire was severe enough for local roads to be cordoned off, and for residents to be evacuated.

AWE Aldermaston is the facility which designs, produces and maintains components for all British nuclear warheads.

Fire At AWE Bomb Factory

Last night there was a fire at Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). The blaze forced the evacuation of the base and local residents as authorities sealed the area off as a “precaution”.

All roads for four miles around the top-secret base were sealed off today as firefighters remained at the base damping down the building. (Update, the four mile figure was taked from the Daily Mail, and was not correct).

'The fire is thought to have occurred in the explosives area of the Aldermaston site, where there is a risk that a 'domino effect' of explosives igniting each other can lead to a rapid spread of fire.

'It raises questions about regulatory standards at AWE, where a number of operations are not regulated by the Health and Safety Executive but are instead controlled by the Ministry of Defence itself through a secretive process of internal regulation'.

Peter Burt, Director of the Reading-based NIS added: 'The incident was serious enough for the fire service to be called out, local residents to be evacuated and local roads cordoned off.

'It seems that we came within a hair's breadth of everyone's nightmare scenario.

'AWE handles radioactive materials, explosives, and hazardous chemicals and despite extensive safety precautions on the site, this incident shows that accidents can and do happen.

'There is no room for complacency and last night's accident is a reminder that AWE poses considerable risks to local communities.

'We wish to see a full independent inquiry held to investigate this incident as soon as possible. The results of the inquiry must be made public so that local people can see that lessons have been learned and that their safety is AWE's number one priority'

In May the Defence Environment and Safety Board, the Ministry of Defence's top-level body charged with overseeing the safety of all military activities highlighted the MoD's poor safety record and warned that planned cuts in defence spending will “test safety management” and add to existing pressures on safety.

On the 20th July 2007 AWE flooding came close to overwhelming the site, resulting in a ‘near miss’ event and causing long-term disruption to nuclear weapons manufacture. Executives at the Atomic Weapons Establishment covered up the true scale of the flooding, which resulted in live nuclear work being suspended for nine months.


An investigation has been launched into what sparked the blaze at the AWE in Aldermaston, Berkshire, which maintains the warheads for the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent.

One staff member suffered minor injuries during the fire at the atomic weapons base, which started around 9pm on Tuesday night.

Authorities said the fire, which broke out in the “non-nuclear explosives area” of the base, had “no radiological implications”.

Ministry of Defence sources described the fire at the base, where Britain’s nuclear warheads are designed, built and maintained, as “minor”.

At least six fire appliances were sent to the blaze. It remains unclear what sparked it.

A spokeswoman for the base said: “At around 9pm on Tuesday 3 August, a fire broke out in a building within the conventional non-nuclear explosives area of AWE Aldermaston. AWE’s fire and rescue service were quickly on the scene and were supported by Royal Berkshire fire fighters. One member of AWE staff received minor injuries in the incident and was treated… on the site.”

She added: “As a precautionary measure, a 600 metre cordon was set up around the building and a small number of local residents were evacuated overnight from their homes in the Red Lane area. A full investigation in the causes of the incident, which has no radiological implications, will be undertaken.”

She said the MoD and the base’s regulators had been informed. An MoD spokeswoman said it was aware of the fire but referred inquiries to the AWE statement.

In December ministers sold off the Government's last remaining one-third ownership to a Californian engineering company.

In the USA President Obama has forced multinational oil company BP to pay for the mistakes it has made over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but here in the UK the Ministry of Defence is quite happy for hard working taxpayers to pay. AWE is a consortium of some of the richest military contractors in the world, why should we pay so that the company doesn't lose money over the damage caused during the floods or fire?

Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail, NIS, AWE, Newbury Today, BBC, Independent

Woodley Cuts On Toilets

A survey conducted by the Woodley Town Centre Management Initiative in May showed 77 per cent of shoppers were not satisfied with toilet facilities in the town centre.

The town’s public toilet block was closed last year to save Wokingham Borough Council maintenance costs of £40,000 per year.

There are now four toilets in the town centre operating under the Local Loo Scheme which invites local cafés and community centres to open their toilets to the public.
Councillor Beth Rowland, leader of Woodley Town Council, said: “One of the issues of going into the cafés is you have to walk through a café just to use the toilet. The public do think they have lost something even though the old toilets were appalling.”

Claiming that they did this because the old toilets were tatty is to admit that the councils failed to look after the old toilets. Its just an excuse to cut back on services. I expect we will see lots more of this over the coming months, until they are as bad as they were under Thatcher.

Only 2 per cent of Woodley town centre users were very satisfied with the available facilities while 21 per cent said they were satisfied.

Comic Genius: Wilson, Keppel and Betty

Wilson & Keppel dancing in the 1930s to Elvis Presley Conversation in 1968. Comic Genius.

Wilson, Keppel and Betty were a popular British music hall act in the middle decades of the 20th century who capitalised on the trend for Egyptian imagery following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Their stage act, called the "sand dance", was a parody of Egyptian postures, combined with references to Arabic costume. The lithe and extremely lanky Wilson and Keppel, who wore long mustaches and made up to emphasize the sharp angularity of the features so as to appear almost identical, would demonstrate their impressive suppleness in adopting wild gestures and dancing in identical "stereo" movements (using gestures vaguely reminiscent of Egyptian wall paintings).


Sometimes they were joined by Betty, over the years there were 8 'Bettys', most of these appearing during the act's later years. Their "Cleopatra's Nightmare" routine was performed in 1936 in Berlin and condemned by Joseph Goebbels as indecent. He was disgusted at the display of their bare legs, calling them ‘bad for the morals of Nazi Youth!

In what has to be one of the most amazing variety pairings of all time, they even appeared on the same bill as Frank Sinatra when he appeared at the London Palladium for a short season during July 1950.

When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains

When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!
The Young British Soldier

By Rudyard Kipling, the bard of British Imperialism. Poem in full here

Here is a shocking statistic that you won’t hear in most western news media: over the past nine years, more US military personnel have taken their own lives than have died in action in either the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Last year alone, more than 330 serving members of the US armed forces committed suicide - more than the 320 killed in Afghanistan and the 150 who fell in Iraq.

Time we left.



hattip Robert Hand

Pakistan Floods Appeal

Up to two-and-a-half million people have been affected by devastating floods in north-west Pakistan, the International Red Cross has said.

Monsoon rains have caused extensive flash flooding throughout Pakistan, killing more than a thousand people and causing widespread damage.

Rescuers are struggling to reach 27,000 people still cut off by the floods, which are the worst in 80 years.

"In the worst-affected areas, entire villages were washed away without warning by walls of flood water," the Red Cross said in a statement.

There are fears diarrhoea and cholera will spread among the homeless. Food is scarce and water supplies have been contaminated by the floods.

Donate to the Red Cross Pakistan appeal here.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society, which has branches and volunteers across the country, has been helping survivors since the flooding began by delivering food, health services, shelter and relief items (including hygiene kits and cooking equipment).

The British Red Cross has donated an initial £50,000 from its Disaster Fund, but the needs are significant and the true scale of the disaster is not yet clear. We urgently need your help to support the relief effort.

I visited the Peshawar region over 20 years ago, the region was beautiful and the people friendly. I traveled overland with a group of people in a truck, London to Nepal, it took about 3 months.

Reading has a large Pakistani community, I am sure they will be concerned about family and friends in the region.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Pakistan the image of David Cameron is being burned, after his speech. Cameron said Pakistan should avoid links with groups that "promote the export of terror". It doesn't sound that controversial to me. He said no-one was in "any doubt" there were terrorist groups operating in Pakistan. Well we know terrorist groups have operated in the UK, Spain & the USA so why would Pakistan be different?

Speaking to reporters after a speech in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Wednesday, the prime minister said: "We should be very, very clear with Pakistan that we want to see a strong, stable and democratic Pakistan.

"We cannot tolerate in any sense the idea that this country is allowed to look both ways and is able, in any way, to promote the export of terror, whether to India or whether to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world."

I think part of the problem is that he siad this while in India, which will appear to some to be favouring India over Pakistan in some way. David Miliband has tried to milk his but his own record is so poor he should keep quiet.

In answer to a question about terrorism, Miliband said "yes there are circumstances in which it is justifiable and yes there are circumstances in which it is effective, but it is never effective on its own".

After his trip to India in 2008 following the Mumbai attacks, Miliband wrote in an article that "resolution of the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders". This upset many in India.