Guardian: Police ‘assaulted’ bystander who died during G20 protests

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/05/g20-protest-ian-tomlinson

And it snowed

Warning: if cynicism is an incurable trait in you, you may wish to read no further.
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When the snow started on Friday night it was clear it was something different to anything London had seen in recent years. The snow was just somehow ‘different’. Almost immediately people were outside, failing to make snowmen (newly fallen snow isn’t that good for making them it seems).

The real delight came yesterday, however, when London was transformed. 20cms of white stuff and all the kids in my street had massive grins on their faces. A short walk outside and I was talking to neighbours, children and even getting into snowball fights with teenagers in the street (the aim of some of the yoof today is shocking – what do they teach them at school?! :p). Somehow, the lines were redrawn. Even the police were getting into it!

We might be in the middle of a ‘credit crunch’ but were I religious I would say that yesterday was God’s way of telling everyone they work too hard and need to take time off.

I managed to get into Central London on a riverboat. The views from the Tate (opened by seemingly a handful of dedicated staff who were all grinning) were awesome. St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament in the snow are just sublime. The fact that you could walk the streets of London and talk to people as you passed them, look at everyone with the knowing grin ‘yes, I’m enjoying this too!’ was worth a million times more than the £2bn that was lost according business leaders. For once, innocence rather than capitalism was the order of the day.

There were a few who insisted on tutting and wishing the transport system worked but I for one hope we never ‘fix’ the fact that once in a while, London, one of the world’s foremost financial capitals, shuts down in the face of white stuff that comes out of the sky. Long may we remain incompetent in the face of snow.

I hope you all stayed safe and had the chance to have some fun!

We made a God called ‘Money’, we worshipped it and forgot that it was our own creation.

studentmedic

A couple of pictures from the last couple of days. Including the snowman I made with some friends :p

It’s Snowing

In case you hadn’t noticed.

Now go out and have some fun. This is nature’s way of telling us we work to hard and need to have a day off (apologies to those who really can’t, hope your days at work at too bad)

Be safe!

Global Warming Video

Global Warming from ivan oviedo on Vimeo.

New Blogger

http://greenmpforvauxhall.blogspot.com/

Joseph Healy, Green Party List candidate for London MEP in the June elections and Parliamentary Candidate for Vauxhall has joined the blogosphere (finally!). Joseph is a tireless campaigner for social justice, peace and the environment, seeing all three as inextricably linked. He is a real example of a Green with a capital ‘G’: someone with a real agenda for change rather than being content with tinkering round the edges of a rotting system.

I look forward to reading more from the man who helped me find my feet in the Party and encouraged me to get involved when I was a newbie.

Obama

Well, it is certainly historic and I certainly felt emotional during his speech. He could well be the best president in a generation.

I have to be honest and say I wish to reserve judgement for the most part. He will do good and bad, I am sure.

Let’s just be glad that we survived Bush and maintain a little bit of optimism that things might get a bit better however much our intellect might suggest otherwise. Sometimes it’s good to have a bit of cautious hope.

The left has to ask itself serious questions about how it wishes to act under an Obama administration. My two cents are that we should not forget that we want something more radical than he is ever going to offer but at the same time we cannot ignore the real improvements to peoples lives, however small, which will almost certainly come. Bush certainly wasn’t a hard act to follow.

At the very least, we can celebrate surviving 8 years of the Bush presidency.

Have a read of this from the socialist unity blog too: http://www.socialistunity.com/?p=3423

Re-Elect Jean Lambert

She has been actively speaking out against Israel’s actions in Gaza, has pushed for greater protection for workers and has campaigned against creeping liberalisation of the health service. In 1999, Jean Lambert was elected as London’s first Green Party MEP – and in 2004, she was re-elected with an increased share of the vote. On June 4th 2009, she faces re-election again – but due to EU enlargement, there are less European Parliament seats to go around in the UK, and more votes are needed every time to achieve re-election.

The work of the European Parliament can sometimes feel remote from people’s everyday experience – but nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the UK’s environmental, social and human rights legislation is now decided at an EU level, and the often unheralded work of our MEPs makes an enormous difference to the shape and impact of those laws. Jean has been tireless in working for social justice, environmental sustainability and peace – as recognised by the fact that she was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005.

Among other issues, Jean has focused on trade union rights, fairer treatment for asylum seekers, and the abolition of the UK opt-out to the Working Time Directive. She has been a prominent voice in proving that Green issues are not confined to the environment, but are concerned with building a more fair and just society. There is little doubt that she is one of the most progressive voices anywhere in UK politics today.

And now, she needs YOUR help! To continue her excellent work in Europe, Jean needs to get the message out to millions of Londoners – and she can only do that if progressive voters spread the word, volunteer, and donate
to her campaign. She isn’t funded by corporations, lobbyists or millionaires – instead, her re-election campaign is relying on the efforts of ordinary Londoners.

Could you spare £10/£20 to help re-elect one of the UK’s most effective and progressive politicians? Or perhaps you could spare an hour or two to volunteer with the campaign? If you’d like to donate online, please, visit http://tinyurl.com/8rh9qh – and if you’d like to volunteer in anyway, contact the campaign at reelectjean@hotmail.co.uk, and keep in touch with
developments through Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/6e8ceh. Jean can keep changing things for the better – but only with your help!

In addition, a vote for Jean Lambert helps keep the BNP out (arguably, given that she’ll probably be contending for the 8th London seat, against the BNP, it is probably the most effective ‘tactical vote’ to keep them out). If you haven’t done so already, register to vote (http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/)! EU Citizens resident in the London can also vote for Jean but need to contact their local Electoral Returning Officer (details can be found here: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/) to get a form. Do it today, that way you won’t forget!

Hands off Gaza, Protest! Saturday 3rd January

Assemble @ 12:30pm, Victoria Embankment.

Greens to meet at Villiers Street, by the park entrance on the Charing Cross side of the Embankment Tube Station
If it is pouring with rain, up the stone stairs at the higher end of this little street, at the side entrance to Charing Cross Station.
Meet for 12.30. The off won’t be ’till later.

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TEN REASONS TO SUPPORT THE DEMONSTRATION (From StWC)

* 1. Close to 400 people have already been killed and Israel
is committed to continuing the mass murder. With Israeli
elections due in two months, all Israeli leaders are
competing over who is the toughest and who is ready to kill
more in Gaza.
* 2. Most of those killed have been civilians. The figure of
60 civilians which has been given out is nonsense, based on
the exclusion of all male victims from the dead.
* 3. Over 1000 people have been injured, many of them
seriously, with loss of limbs, eyes etc.
* 4. Despite letting in a little aid one day this week,
Israel is maintaining the most severe blockade seen anywhere
in the world for over 50 years, which starves Gaza of food,
medical supplies, water, fuel and other essential resources.
* 5. UN commissioner-general, Karen AbuZayd, says the
situation in the region is desperate: “There’s no fuel,
there’s no power plant, there’s no electricity working now.”
* 6. Medical services in Gaza, already depleted by the
Israeli siege over the last year, are close to collapse,
with doctors and nurses only able to deal with the most
serious cases, many injured left to die in hospital
corridors, the morgues full and ambulances not working for
lack of fuel and spare parts.
* 7. The UN, on which under the Israeli siege most people in
Gaza depend for food, has stopped distributing food because
its agencies have run out of fuel for vehicles. Nine out of
ten Gazans live below the poverty line, with many families
forced to eat grass to survive.
* 8. The infrastructure in many areas has been so destroyed
that residents have no access to water or electricity. The
UN says the Israeli blockade has resulted in Palestinians
receiving running water only once every five to seven days
* 9. Israel is in breach of many Geneva Conventions and
international laws amounting to war crimes, including,
wilful killing, extensive destruction of property not
justified by military necessity and collective punishment.
* 10. The condemnation of Israel’s actions must become so
overwhelming that it is forced to stop its policy of mass
murder and collective punishment against a defenceless
people.

Attack on Gaza

Absolutely tragic situation in Gaza currently. Israel’s actions are disgusting and utterly abominable.

Eyewitness account here.

Protest tomorrow (29th December), 4pm outside the Israeli Embassy, Kensington High Street.

Green Party press release here.

I must link to the December 18th campaign here, supporting brave men and women of 18 or 19 years old refusing to serve in the Israeli military and being sent to jail for their conscientious objection.

Mass testing and treatment for HIV

Interesting plans published in the Lancet and reported in the Guardian today in time for World Aids Day on the 1st December (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/26/aids-testing-world-health-organisation).

The plans are for universal testing for HIV in areas of high prevalence and treatment of all those who have the virus with anti-retrovirals (ARV’s). In the western world, treatment with ARVs is usually delayed until a patient’s status reaches a certain level (a CD4 count of below 350) but the study authors are suggesting that all those with the virus should be treated regardless of CD4 count since there is an additional ‘public health’ benefit that being on an ARV reduces risk of HIV being transmitted to others.

Of course there are major ethnical dillemas here: doctors would asking patients to take a drug which has strong side-effects when the benefit is more to ‘public health’ than it is to the individual patient. However, as long as patients are informed and not forced I think it may well be an important part of the solution to this epidemic which is causing such huge amounts of suffering throughout the world.

It is not the ideal solution and usually I’d be much more critical of such a scheme in terms of its ethical implications (why can’t we make sure people are provided with adequate support so that they can begin on ARVs at the appropriate time? &c.) but this is an exceptional epidemic and I think if we wait until a better programme is rolled out, we will be waiting a very very long time and a great deal more people will have lost their lives due to AIDS. We need to deal with the crisis and we really do need to deal with it now. The authors of the paper suggest that their plan could reduce HIV prevalence to under 1% in under 50 years. This would be a huge acheivement.

Of course, this plan will need to be debated before it is rolled out and far more knowledgeable people than me will probably find important holes to pick in it. I am keen to see how the debate evolves and to see whether other arguments change my view. But I hope it will prove to be as useful an idea as it sounds and can form part of a positive move against a virus that has blighted so many lives and has been so difficult to control. A solution of some sort needs to be found to control it.

I have to say here that it goes without saying that poverty reduction, education and provision of condoms also need to form central planks in any HIV strategy, particularly in the long-term. Indeed, all three of these are vital even in the absence of a HIV epidemic!