Dear Joe, I hope these make you happy.
Friday 22 July 2011
Thursday 21 July 2011
In praise of ...
... Amy Goodman
Possibly my favourite person. In the world. Ever.
Go see >>http://www.democracynow.org/
Nine Lessons And Carols for Godless People
If like me you are a) Godless and b) a fan of comedy and/or science and/or evidence based fact then this is the thing for you.
Nine Lessons And Carols for Godless People
Hosted by the fantastic Robin Ince.
Book now or forever hold your peace.
http://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/1604
It's basically just amazing.
Nine Lessons And Carols for Godless People
Hosted by the fantastic Robin Ince.
Book now or forever hold your peace.
http://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/1604
It's basically just amazing.
Wednesday 20 July 2011
Cynicism Extended
Following on from last night, the famine in Somalia has somewhat piqued my curiosity. I admit, I had a vague notion of what was going on; I received an Oxfam Appeal though my letterbox last week and there was a very interesting Food Programme special on R4 about how emergency foods are made, procured and distributed. The current crisis in the Horn of Africa was mentioned in that. However, as I wrote yesterday, there has been very little news on the subject. But that is not the point to be made today. I believe I have already made it.
The point is, I did a bit of reading, and followed some links - the sort of thing one does when researching. I came across this page;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development
A very good page I must point out. Showing that articles have been written on the subject but not published on the front page. However, what I would like one to note is what is written to the right of the 'global development' title.
It says, "In partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."
Now I am a little uncomfortable with this for a few reasons. Firstly, although the foundation is a charity and does a superb job on many fronts around the world, it is owned and run by one of the most powerful men in the world. Although he is not in control of our media in the same way old Murdoch is, Bill Gates and his companies control the computer market. All schools run Windows,all businesses run Windows, most homes run Windows. As little Ed Miliband said in The House earlier today on News Int., "such a concentration of power is unhealthy."
The second issue I have is that the Gates Foundation has faced criticism for investing in companies such as Cargill (http://www.cargill.com/) and Monsanto (http://www.monsanto.co.uk/), a commodity giant and a GM company respectively. From the outside this does not seem to be the work of a charitable foundation focused on providing a better life for millions of the poorest people around the world but the work of yet another global company looking to make a profit regardless of the ethics.
Now, I take no umbrage with my favourite Guardian becausetry as I might the love is too strong they provide a lovely little page explaining how they retain editorial independence blah blah blah. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/sep/14/about-this-site accessed July 20th, 2011). But nonetheless I am uncomfortable.
I've written all of this, but now I've reached the end, I'm not entirely sure of the point I am making. It's clearly too early in the day for clear thinking. Should have just written about the dreams I had last night.
(apologies, I've not proofread this. Would rather go and have a bath.)
The point is, I did a bit of reading, and followed some links - the sort of thing one does when researching. I came across this page;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development
A very good page I must point out. Showing that articles have been written on the subject but not published on the front page. However, what I would like one to note is what is written to the right of the 'global development' title.
It says, "In partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."
Now I am a little uncomfortable with this for a few reasons. Firstly, although the foundation is a charity and does a superb job on many fronts around the world, it is owned and run by one of the most powerful men in the world. Although he is not in control of our media in the same way old Murdoch is, Bill Gates and his companies control the computer market. All schools run Windows,all businesses run Windows, most homes run Windows. As little Ed Miliband said in The House earlier today on News Int., "such a concentration of power is unhealthy."
The second issue I have is that the Gates Foundation has faced criticism for investing in companies such as Cargill (http://www.cargill.com/) and Monsanto (http://www.monsanto.co.uk/), a commodity giant and a GM company respectively. From the outside this does not seem to be the work of a charitable foundation focused on providing a better life for millions of the poorest people around the world but the work of yet another global company looking to make a profit regardless of the ethics.
Now, I take no umbrage with my favourite Guardian because
I've written all of this, but now I've reached the end, I'm not entirely sure of the point I am making. It's clearly too early in the day for clear thinking. Should have just written about the dreams I had last night.
(apologies, I've not proofread this. Would rather go and have a bath.)
Phone hacking vs famine in Somalia
I spent the whole day today watching the Home Affairs and Culture, Media and Sports Committees hear evidence from the (ex) police officers and slimy News Corp family. all very interesting. Of course every news bulletin lead with the story and things got particularly frenzied when a stupid man when for old Rupe with a plate of foam (kudos to the Lady Murdoch for her intervention). I then happened to leave iPlayer on after The Hour (not that good but a bit good) and watched the 10 O'clock news followed by an extended edition of Newsnight.
Everything, and I mean everything, was focused on the phone hacking scandal and particularly evidence provided by Brooks and the Chuckle Brothers. Now that is fine and all.
But, I happened to see in a 2 minute segment at about 10:15 that the United Nations is about to declare a famine in Somalia.
Now this is quite a serious matter. No famine has been declared by the UN since 1992 and the conditions that must be met in order for an official famine to exist are as follows: "Two adult deaths or four children deaths from hunger per 10,000 people a day, more than 30 per cent of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition and the population must have access to less than 2,100 kilocalories of food per day." (see link at the bottom for source of this quote)
This is bad. I reiterate, this is very serious. However, I have heard almost nothing in the news about the drought, famine and also the recent onset of violence in Sudan following the official independence of Southern Sudan. And yet phone hacking has taken over. Completely. Even, usually eclectic, Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/), spent 20 minutes of the hour long programme discussing the Select Committee hearings.
Now I'm fairly certain that the official declaration of famine in Somalia is far more newsworthy than some naughty journalists and policemen taking bribes and hacking phones. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the imminent deaths of thousands, if not millions, of people from starvation is far more important 'hackgate' (or whatever they're calling it now).
I'm sure I've not made a new or previously unobserved point, but it's better than keeping quiet.
I think.
[quote taken from
Everything, and I mean everything, was focused on the phone hacking scandal and particularly evidence provided by Brooks and the Chuckle Brothers. Now that is fine and all.
But, I happened to see in a 2 minute segment at about 10:15 that the United Nations is about to declare a famine in Somalia.
Now this is quite a serious matter. No famine has been declared by the UN since 1992 and the conditions that must be met in order for an official famine to exist are as follows: "Two adult deaths or four children deaths from hunger per 10,000 people a day, more than 30 per cent of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition and the population must have access to less than 2,100 kilocalories of food per day." (see link at the bottom for source of this quote)
This is bad. I reiterate, this is very serious. However, I have heard almost nothing in the news about the drought, famine and also the recent onset of violence in Sudan following the official independence of Southern Sudan. And yet phone hacking has taken over. Completely. Even, usually eclectic, Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/), spent 20 minutes of the hour long programme discussing the Select Committee hearings.
Now I'm fairly certain that the official declaration of famine in Somalia is far more newsworthy than some naughty journalists and policemen taking bribes and hacking phones. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the imminent deaths of thousands, if not millions, of people from starvation is far more important 'hackgate' (or whatever they're calling it now).
I'm sure I've not made a new or previously unobserved point, but it's better than keeping quiet.
I think.
[quote taken from
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110719/un-security-access-somalia-relief-110719/ (accessed July 20th, 2011)]
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