Memory Loss

1988

Iran Air Flight 655

300 killed

66 children


"The US government has never admitted responsibility or apologised for the tragedy.

Some believe the Lockerbie bombing, carried out six months later in December 1988, was masterminded by Iranians in revenge for the Airbus tragedy, although a Libyan man was convicted and jailed in 2001.

In February 1996 the US agreed to pay Iran $61.8 million in compensation for the 248 Iranians killed, plus the cost of the aircraft and legal expenses.

It had already paid a further $40 million to the other countries whose nationals were killed".*


Now, you were saying, MISTER FBI?

* from the BBC

Get well soon...

Interesting article here.
Well, it caught my eye.
I enjoyed exploring
the use of words
especially "slash".

As there is Society
does it have a memory?
Are we heading for a
token Peace Hour
in the Notional Curriculum?

And has anyone out there
met Ferdinand the Bull?

Iraq inquiry...

And now
Freedom of Information
is a private matter
between dissenting adults

Choice fruit fruits

This
morning
morning's
subject
matter
matters:

A punnet of "mixed fruit";
the church bell
tolls
tolling
for a funeral;
the usual
politic
politics;
or
Aung San Suu Kyi's
trial
trials?

Decision postponed
generals
generally.

It's a thing we can't deny*

"nine million bicycles in Beijing"
has a certain ring to it;
"26 million out of work in China"
sounds a much bumpier ride.


*appropriate credits to Katie Melua

Gerald Kaufman MP: Israel acting like Nazis in Gaza

I did hear some mention of Gerald Kaufman's speach in Parliament the other day. He should have been quoted more widely.

"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town of Staszów. A German soldier shot her dead in her bed. Madam Deputy Speaker, my grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza. The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt among Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians. The implication is that Jewish lives are precious, but the lives of Palestinians do not count. On Sky News a few days ago, the spokeswoman for the Israeli Army Major Livovich was asked about the Israeli killing of, at that time, eight hundred Palestinians. The total is now a thousand. She replied instantly, "Five hundred of them were militants." That was the reply of a Nazi. I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw Ghetto could have been dismissed as militants.

and

"Hamas is a deeply nasty organization, but it was democratically elected, and it is the only game in town.

and

"It's time for our government to make clear to the Israeli government that its conduct and policies are unacceptable and to impose a total arms ban on Israel. It is time for peace, but real peace, not the solution by conquest, which is the Israelis' real goal, but which is impossible for them to achieve. They're not simply war criminals; they're fools."

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Kaufman

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qMGuYjt6CP8

Money isn't working...

"The City of London underwent the "Big Bang" of deregulation in 1986 that
helped expand the financial services sector, create scores of thousands of
jobs and enhanced upward mobility for classes of workers that had
traditionally experienced a glass ceiling in the City..."

Margaret Thatcher: Radical visionary who rescued Britain. Daily Telegraph, April 2008
full article here

New Labour took up Maggie's torch and carried it well.

Peter Mandelson: "We are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich".

And now there's another blue queue at the trough.

Is the future Conservative?

"New Labour has created a more individualised and wealthier society, but not a freer or more equal one. And now the party lacks a vision that can challenge the Tory revival.

It is time for the left to take on the New Tories. This challenge cannot be separated from the need to address the problems facing post-New Labour social democracy. By critically engaging with Cameron's Conservatives the left can rethink its principles and renew itself".

- Jon Cruddas and Jonathan Rutherford, New Statesman, September 2008.

Full article here

Do the Super-Rich matter?

"It's the controversy that is becoming symbolic of a wider debate about the future direction of the UK. Should we be 'intensely relaxed' about the superrich, as Peter Mandelson claimed?

Or are they symptomatic of something fundamentally wrong with Britain? Do the Super-Rich Matter? forensically analyses the impact the wealthiest are having on our wellbeing. It reveals an economy increasingly skewed to serve the interests of a tiny minority and a society losing touch with a basic sense of fairness.

Uniquely, Do the Super-Rich Matter? proposes a bold programme to address these worrying trends".

- briefing paper and pamphlet download here

Another Fine Mess, George....

What is it with George Bush and oil? Surely Iraq is enough of a mess, even for George's greedy backers? Oh no, they have to drip sump oil all over lunch. For those who have a lunch that is...

"Biofuels are prime cause of food crisis, says leaked report

"Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated.......

"The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises.....

"President Bush has linked higher food prices to higher demand from India and China, but the leaked World Bank study disputes that: 'Rapid income growth in developing countries has not led to large increases in global grain consumption and was not a major factor responsible for the large price increases.'

"Since April, all petrol and diesel in Britain has had to include 2.5% from biofuels....."

Full article in today's Guardian:

here

Market Stalls

Where does that leave us?
The shine off 'New' Labour,
the worm in the rose,
the filthy rich whiff,
the sound bite spit in the Sun.

Fat cats
doze comfortably
under hedge funds.

And there's a long blue queue at the trough.

'New' Labour's Identity Crisis

Good question:

"what's Labour for and what is it definitely against?"

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian here

a friend of a friend of a poster on the internet

I read this
so thought
pass it on

it's the least I can do.

over to you...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7470761.stm

Statesman

Alan Little gave an interesting summary on the Today programme this morning:
here
His comments on Mbeke's and Mugabe's respective background have me thinking what is the difference between a statesman and a politician.
The entry in Wikipedia
here
is a good one.

Mugabe has proved he is not a statesman.
Bush, despite leading the most powerful nation for years, is still a grubby politician.
Blair talks more the part
has more of "the vision thing"
but lacks rational principles.
Zimbabwe has given Mbeke an opportunity to show he is more of a stateman.

(I raise the "'statesman' v 'politician' debate" in the context of some of the world's "leaders". If "statesman" gives a clue to desirable qualities for world or national leadership - or just political leadership - then it may be worth defining that more closely. An informed, intelligent electorate is better than one which elects on the basis of hairstyle, willingness to ride a bike, or similar minutiae.

The Wikipedia quote particularly appeals to me because of the use of "disinterested" i.e. "free from bias or partiality; objective" (O.E.D. definition). "Disinterested" in the context of world leadership raises questions about much of the assorted machinery of "democracy" - and, for instance, the power and role of the U.N. Security Council.

The Today piece I referred to, Alan Little, struck me as a short but very thoughtful analysis of the current crisis in Zimbabwe including a brief attempt to explain some of it in the context of some recent African history, colonial past, the distribution of world power (i.e. China), and some personal psychology.

I hope the situation in Zimbabwe - and southern Africa - can be resolved satisfactorily and that lessons learned can be applied to the many other troubled regions of the world.)

Cash 4 - Honours 0

Peter Mandelson, New Labour, said, "we are intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich".

He did go on to say, "so long as they pay their taxes".

But "filthy" gave the game away.

Mass Distruction

Politicians
sometimes jump
to conclusions.
Wars don't.

iniquity

how come
someone
leaked news
to newspapers
re Stephen Lawrence
YESTERDAY?

who leaked that news?

who 'sexed-up' that news?

news which hampers
the ongoing Stephen Lawrence enquiry?

who tried
to avoid
any IPCC
investigation
re Jean Charles de Menezes
the report on which
was published
YESTERDAY?

who tampered
with the police
surveillance log
changed the meaning?

Jean Charles de Menezes

He was shot
in the head
like a dog
on the tube.

It stinks.

And for the first time
ever
really
I don't understand
Ken Livingston.

BBC report and IPCC Report download link here

first draft - belief 2007

You can trust me*
You know you can - don't you
Don't you believe me?
How can you look at me
and say you don't believe me?
After all this time?
I trust you.
I'd lay down my life for you.
I'd do anything for you.
I love you.
I'm your father, mother,
sister, brother.
[use capitals for that lot]
I'm here for you baby,
my man,
[look at gender stats on this one,
don't want to miss a beat]
you KNOW that, for real.

* me is a lying hound.
I'm just being devil's advocate.

faith
belief
hope
knowledge
certainty
proof
[not sure about that one]
charity
mystery
love

but the greatest of these is...

why swim deep
climb high
surf on the breeze
go the extra mile
exceed expectations
earn more than you can spend
[potential corporates?]
buckle the bomb belt
[check]
on your knees and bow

knowledge is flat earth
faith soars into the unknown
knowledge is an apple on your head
faith is a safe landing, without wheels

believe me

I* know

* me is a lying hound.
I'm just being devil's advocate.

You know I'm right.
Right is Right
Fight the Good Fight, Fight, Fight.
I had a dream
You and me
Eternity

[loop tape - tea break]

* ignore - personal diary only,
though keep cutting edge -
that's what they believe in.

Maybe they're right.
Shit, maybe I'm right.

* need to re-assess

Blue Ribbon

It was dull and gloomy
heading west through Wales.
The last run towards Anglesey
looking down towards the coast
a strip of brilliant sunlit blue
wide and deep enough to swallow thousands
of armies and more rewarding
than blood red streams and pools
of oil and poppies in Iraq and Afghanistan.