The 66th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has ended with the Palestinian statehood bid being referred to the Security Council for lengthy consideration meaning that the most exciting development was an actual fight between members of the Turkish delegation and building security. It all could have been so different though.
Before the general debate the assembly hosted a high level discussion on resolution 65/160 which covers drought, desertification and poverty. This is a stand alone environmental problem that has affected humanity for hundreds, if not thousands of years. However it is a problem that seems to be getting worse and many people blame the change on global warming/climate change. So by choosing this topic for discussion the UN was hoping to build momentum towards the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) global warming/climate change conference that takes place in South Africa at the end of November 2011.
COP17 should be one of the most exciting global warming/climate change conferences ever held. At present there are two main schools of thought on what is causing global warming/climate change. Either it is man made caused by greenhouse gases trapping heat in the earths atmosphere or it is a natural phenomenon caused by fluctuations in the amount of heat given out by the sun (solar energy). Solar energy levels are currently as close to constant as they're going to get and at their lowest level in decades. As a result the data collected about global temperature during this period will go a long way towards settling the argument between the two schools of thought one way or another. However for this to happen the nations with the resources to collect this data - basically the United States and China - will have to agree to share that data with each other and others so it can be properly analysed.
Unfortunately this isn't going to happen in time for COP17 and that is mainly the United States' fault. Rather then trying to co-operate with China and ring fence climate data as far a possible for the common good the US has been trying to force a much wider range of scientific data out of China by putting them under pressure on issues like the Israel/Palestine conflict and the European economic crisis which both require a lot of maths. If these efforts are successful it would put China at a disadvantage making it harder for them to co-operate and share data. Also the US allowed itself to get bogged down in the Libya conflict wasting a lot of energy and complicating matters further.
However the US President Barack Obama has promised a lot of people both domestically and internationally that he is going to be different from his predecessors and under his leadership the US will finally take the issue of global warming/climate change seriously. So it would be hugely embarrassing for him and a massive set back for the US if it looks like the US is once again blocking global efforts on global warming/climate change. This fear of discovery prompted the US to focus a lot of attention on it's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) as it crashed back to earth during the UNGA.
Although launched in order to study the effect of CFC's and other aerosols on the atmosphere UARS has also gathered data on how solar energy effects certain chemical elements (photochemistry) along with data on fluctuations in solar energy and solar winds. So a first glance apart from provoking speculation on how I would spend that Friday night (in the drink apparently) it looked as though that the US was sharing information in order to start a conversation with China about atmospheric research satellites and the climate data they produce. However in terms of COP17 it is now far too late to be starting this type of complex conversation so the US was really trying to make it look like they were trying to help while really piling a whole lot of extra pressure on China ahead of the Security Council meeting on Palestinian statehood and that weekend's IMF meeting on Europe.
The Italians also tried to force their way in on the act. On that Friday (23/9/11) Antonio Ereditato, an Italian scientist working at the OPERA collaboration held a press conference claiming to have discovered particles moving faster then the speed of light. This contradicts Einstein's famous relativistic mass formula (E=mc^2) which has governed the way we consider the behaviour of particles for the best part of 100 years. So if these OPERA results are accurate everything we think we know about what light is, how it travels to earth and how it effects chemical elements along with many other things is probably wrong and will have to be re-written.
In the first instance the OPERA results caused arguments between the possibly 10,000 people world wide who properly understand them and gave everyone else a massive headache*. It also seemed to be an Italian attempt to hedge it's bets by starting to argue that if the climate data does prove the man made school of thought then the data itself and the way it was collected and analysed must be incorrect. However the OPERA results seem to be so so sensationalist and likely to be disproved it also seemed to me to be Italy mocking the US' attempts with UARS.
The relationship between US President Barack Obama and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has never been close with Berlusconi once appearing to racially abuse Obama. Berlusconi is currently under intense pressure domestically with several criminal prosecutions against him on going, the Italian economy close to crisis and the financial markets openly calling for his resignation. The main point of tension between Italy and the US at the moment though is over the Amanda Knox case. If you are unfamiliar with the case Amanda Knox is a US citizen who was convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, a British citizen in Perugia, Italy in 2007. She is currently appealing against her conviction and her 26 year prison sentence. Although her guilt is hardly in question on Monday (3/10/11) Knox is widely expected to be freed and allowed to return to the United States. The reason for this is Amanda Knox appears to be an actual sociopath. Although that term is not well defined and often over used genuine sociopaths are fortunately incredibly rare and female sociopaths are the rarest of them all. This means that Ms Knox's research value is immense and Italy and the US are actually arguing over who gets the opportunity to study her.
So while this years UNGA saw many plays, much pouting and a few childish tantrums around the issue of global warming/climate I saw little progress on the topic being made. As a result I'm not holding out much hope for COP17.
*seriously don't start thinking about the special theory of relativity when you're a bit stoned.
Edited at 23:18 on 30/9/11: Sorry I'm a little bit late but having being forced to wake up the physics bit of my brain I was equally forced to drink enough alcohol to kill it again whilst listening to Bob Dylan's re-recording of U2's Judas Tree album. I felt this was excellent but I'm still sending the tab to the Italians.
As for Micheal Jackson's doctors trial. I think it all started out as a rather rude enquiry as to why I'm unable to keep LA time. The simple answer to that is I woke up at about midnight this morning.
Anyway as for the OPERA results one possible explanation that has been suggested by string theorists is that the neutrinos were travelling at the speed of light. However they were travelling in a previously undocumented fifth dimension. If true this would finally unite string theory with the theory of relativity creating what has been dubbed "the theory of everything." Personally I don't see what's wrong with watching Strictly Come Dancing. After all Holly Vallance certainly seems to be packing them in.
Friday 30 September 2011
Thursday 29 September 2011
Grandmother Update.
Neither my father or I have actually visited my grandmother today (29/9/11) but we've got about a week to ten days to catch up on.
When I visited my grandmother last Thursday (22/9/11) and Friday (23/9/11) her condition had dramatically improved. Although there is a limit to what can be achieved through bed rest alone she was calm, lucid and relatively happy. She was able to engage with and follow a conversation about my mother's recent wedding and associated cousins. She was able to recall names, anecdotes and ask relevant questions such as whether photographs of the day are available unprompted. She was also able to remember and tell me stories about other patients on the ward. Far point one of those patients - who was in her 80's - was absolutely convinced that she was in hospital to give birth to eight babies but that's hardly my grandmother's fault.
When I left I promised that I'd visit again on Sunday (25/9/11) but failed to do so as I was really busy with menial tasks and really tired. According to my father's less then accurate reports my grandmother's condition dramatically worsened on Sunday and she spent the next three days being depressed, confused and aggressive. When I visited again on Wednesday my grandmother had been given a special bed with no legs meaning that she was essentially just lying on a mattress on the floor at a much lower level then the other patients. While I sure there was some valid medical reason for this my grandmother clearly found it to be a very demeaning experience and reacted in the way my grandmother has always done to such circumstances by becoming very verbally aggressive to everyone and anyone. As a result it was a very short visit.
All this indicates that my grandmother's mental status is responsive to emotional stimuli rather then being the result of neurological impairment. She is also displaying the cyclical recovery pattern that is common amongst psychiatric patients. So all we're really waiting for now is for the hospital to provide a valid diagnosis so we can start treatment and discussions about after care. Unfortunately they still seem highly resistant to do this because they seem to have got all confused about the strong rumours from last weekend's IMF conference that Greece will be allowed to default on or not pay 50% of it's debt.
So I should explain that the main part of that story is about finding a way to solve the Greek crisis without costing Italian banks so much money that they fail and drive Italy into crisis. However if you want to think about it in terms of code then Britain (the Greek) owes two large debts. The first is to me and my kin. The second is to all the nations that it convinced to go along with this scheme on the promise of some high quality scientific research. So with all these other nations saying the Greek doesn't have to pay half their debts they seem to be saying that Britain still owes it's debt to me and if it wants to continue on it's current path it will do so alone.
I should also point out that my father still doesn't know about the Section 4 request so I wouldn't put much faith in what he says or does when he's not in full possession of the facts.
When I visited my grandmother last Thursday (22/9/11) and Friday (23/9/11) her condition had dramatically improved. Although there is a limit to what can be achieved through bed rest alone she was calm, lucid and relatively happy. She was able to engage with and follow a conversation about my mother's recent wedding and associated cousins. She was able to recall names, anecdotes and ask relevant questions such as whether photographs of the day are available unprompted. She was also able to remember and tell me stories about other patients on the ward. Far point one of those patients - who was in her 80's - was absolutely convinced that she was in hospital to give birth to eight babies but that's hardly my grandmother's fault.
When I left I promised that I'd visit again on Sunday (25/9/11) but failed to do so as I was really busy with menial tasks and really tired. According to my father's less then accurate reports my grandmother's condition dramatically worsened on Sunday and she spent the next three days being depressed, confused and aggressive. When I visited again on Wednesday my grandmother had been given a special bed with no legs meaning that she was essentially just lying on a mattress on the floor at a much lower level then the other patients. While I sure there was some valid medical reason for this my grandmother clearly found it to be a very demeaning experience and reacted in the way my grandmother has always done to such circumstances by becoming very verbally aggressive to everyone and anyone. As a result it was a very short visit.
All this indicates that my grandmother's mental status is responsive to emotional stimuli rather then being the result of neurological impairment. She is also displaying the cyclical recovery pattern that is common amongst psychiatric patients. So all we're really waiting for now is for the hospital to provide a valid diagnosis so we can start treatment and discussions about after care. Unfortunately they still seem highly resistant to do this because they seem to have got all confused about the strong rumours from last weekend's IMF conference that Greece will be allowed to default on or not pay 50% of it's debt.
So I should explain that the main part of that story is about finding a way to solve the Greek crisis without costing Italian banks so much money that they fail and drive Italy into crisis. However if you want to think about it in terms of code then Britain (the Greek) owes two large debts. The first is to me and my kin. The second is to all the nations that it convinced to go along with this scheme on the promise of some high quality scientific research. So with all these other nations saying the Greek doesn't have to pay half their debts they seem to be saying that Britain still owes it's debt to me and if it wants to continue on it's current path it will do so alone.
I should also point out that my father still doesn't know about the Section 4 request so I wouldn't put much faith in what he says or does when he's not in full possession of the facts.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 7, Week 2, Day 1.
On Saturday (24/9/11) Mahmoud Jabril of the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) gave his first speech representing Libya at the United Nations General Assembly. To co-incide with this the rebels mounted another assault on Sirte. As of today (29/9/11) they have entered the city from the east and with the support of NATO air strikes have taken control of Sirte's air and sea ports. This is roughly as far into Sirte as they got on their last assault before being turned back by strong resistance for Libyan government forces.
At Bani Walid the situation remains unchanged with government forces keeping the rebels pinned down on outside the city. On Tuesday (27/9/11) the rebels suffered a significant set back when Dauo al-Salhine al-Jadak - the rebels battlefield commander in charge of the Bani Walid operation - and members of his command cell were killed by government rockets.
At Sabha the rebels advance has ground to a halt with them being unable to expand their control of the city beyond the districts around the airport and the city centre. As a result they seem to have changed tactic flying some 20 million Libyan Dinar into the area in an attempt to buy support from the defenders of the city. This does not bode well for a post-Qaddafi Libya because it suggests a nation populated by disparate and heavily armed groups all out for what they can get rather then being united by some sort of revolutionary ideal. That would put Libya in a prime position to become the next Afghanistan, Somalia or Democratic Republic of Congo.
As for Muammer Qaddafi himself the rebels now believe that he is located in Ghadamis on the Tunisian border. If this is true then it is really bad news for the rebels because Ghadamis was one of the first towns the rebels seized on their Nafusa mountains offensive and from where they mounted their assault on Tripoli. So if Qaddafi and government forces have been able to travel from Tripoli to Ghadamis then the rebels have no where near the level of control they claim to exert over the country and instead seem to be rushing from battle to battle rather then securing and holding terroritory.
This culture of chaos has been reinforced by the announcement that the rebels have once again failed to form an executive committee/political cabinet. Instead they have announced that they do not intend to form a government until after the fighting has ended and Qaddafi has been captured. This is a shame because the prolonged fighting should provide the time for the rebels to iron out any problems with that new government before it actually has to run the country. Plus the way the fighting is going it also means that Libya could be without a functioning government for a very long time to come.
Meanwhile the French oil company Total and the Italian oil company Eni have both restarted oil production in Libya.
At Bani Walid the situation remains unchanged with government forces keeping the rebels pinned down on outside the city. On Tuesday (27/9/11) the rebels suffered a significant set back when Dauo al-Salhine al-Jadak - the rebels battlefield commander in charge of the Bani Walid operation - and members of his command cell were killed by government rockets.
At Sabha the rebels advance has ground to a halt with them being unable to expand their control of the city beyond the districts around the airport and the city centre. As a result they seem to have changed tactic flying some 20 million Libyan Dinar into the area in an attempt to buy support from the defenders of the city. This does not bode well for a post-Qaddafi Libya because it suggests a nation populated by disparate and heavily armed groups all out for what they can get rather then being united by some sort of revolutionary ideal. That would put Libya in a prime position to become the next Afghanistan, Somalia or Democratic Republic of Congo.
As for Muammer Qaddafi himself the rebels now believe that he is located in Ghadamis on the Tunisian border. If this is true then it is really bad news for the rebels because Ghadamis was one of the first towns the rebels seized on their Nafusa mountains offensive and from where they mounted their assault on Tripoli. So if Qaddafi and government forces have been able to travel from Tripoli to Ghadamis then the rebels have no where near the level of control they claim to exert over the country and instead seem to be rushing from battle to battle rather then securing and holding terroritory.
This culture of chaos has been reinforced by the announcement that the rebels have once again failed to form an executive committee/political cabinet. Instead they have announced that they do not intend to form a government until after the fighting has ended and Qaddafi has been captured. This is a shame because the prolonged fighting should provide the time for the rebels to iron out any problems with that new government before it actually has to run the country. Plus the way the fighting is going it also means that Libya could be without a functioning government for a very long time to come.
Meanwhile the French oil company Total and the Italian oil company Eni have both restarted oil production in Libya.
Wednesday 28 September 2011
Dale Farm Delays.
As I sure you're all aware Basildon Council in the UK have been trying to evict a group Irish travellers from a site known as Dale Farm over alleged breaches of planning law. However these attempts have been delayed by a High Court injunction and could possibly be halted entirely pending a Judaical Review of the case. While these delays have frustrated Basildon Council they have allowed new information about the way that council enforces planning legislation to come to light.
Throughout the process Basildon Council and some members of the local settled community have argued that the travellers can't expect special treatment and if anyone else built on a greenbelt/greenfield* site without planning permission they too would be evicted. Lead amongst those making this argument has been a Mr Len Gridley who owns a property next to Dale Farm known as Windy Ridge. Mr Gridley has given many media interviews complaining about the travellers and has apparently specially rented three cherry picker mobile platforms to allow him to enjoy a perfect view of the eviction. However a search of the council's own planning records reveal that Mr Gridley's Windy Ridge property has something of a chequered history.
Prior to 1981 Windy Ridge was a greenfield site containing nothing but grass and a derelict agricultural building of unclear origin which dates back to before the introduction of planning regulations in 1948. Then the owner, Mr Selway renovated the agricultural building turning it into a dwelling/home. This type of land use change requires planning permission but in this case such permission was neither sort or granted but Basildon Council did nothing. Then in 1985 Len Gridley's father brought Windy Ridge from Mr Selway extended the dwelling, moved two caravans onto the site and built a number of sheds to be used as industrial workshops all without planning permission. In 1986 this prompted Basildon Council to issue three enforcement notices calling for; (1) the demolition of the dwelling and the sheds on the grounds they had been built without planning permission, (2) the removal of the caravans as they constituted an unauthorised change in land use and (3) the removal of the dwelling and the sheds as they also constituted an unauthorised change in land use. Mr Gridley Sr appealed against these notices and (2)&(3) along with the part of (1) referring to the dwelling were overturned on questionable grounds but the part of (1) that referred to the sheds was upheld. However Basildon council then failed to appeal the appeal and took no action to remove the sheds. Then in 1988 retrospective planning permission was applied for and granted by Basildon Council.
So in a way Len Gridley has a point because travellers do seem to get special treatment at the hands of Basildon Council. After all when members of the settled community build on greenbelt land without planning permission the council lets them but when travellers do the same the council spends £18 million trying to stop them.
*The greenbelt is a ring or belt of greenfield sites surrounding Britain's cities in order to prevent them encroaching into the countryside. So while a greenfield site is not necessarily part of the greenbelt a greenbelt site has to be a greenfield site. So in this instance the terms are pretty much interchangeable.
Throughout the process Basildon Council and some members of the local settled community have argued that the travellers can't expect special treatment and if anyone else built on a greenbelt/greenfield* site without planning permission they too would be evicted. Lead amongst those making this argument has been a Mr Len Gridley who owns a property next to Dale Farm known as Windy Ridge. Mr Gridley has given many media interviews complaining about the travellers and has apparently specially rented three cherry picker mobile platforms to allow him to enjoy a perfect view of the eviction. However a search of the council's own planning records reveal that Mr Gridley's Windy Ridge property has something of a chequered history.
Prior to 1981 Windy Ridge was a greenfield site containing nothing but grass and a derelict agricultural building of unclear origin which dates back to before the introduction of planning regulations in 1948. Then the owner, Mr Selway renovated the agricultural building turning it into a dwelling/home. This type of land use change requires planning permission but in this case such permission was neither sort or granted but Basildon Council did nothing. Then in 1985 Len Gridley's father brought Windy Ridge from Mr Selway extended the dwelling, moved two caravans onto the site and built a number of sheds to be used as industrial workshops all without planning permission. In 1986 this prompted Basildon Council to issue three enforcement notices calling for; (1) the demolition of the dwelling and the sheds on the grounds they had been built without planning permission, (2) the removal of the caravans as they constituted an unauthorised change in land use and (3) the removal of the dwelling and the sheds as they also constituted an unauthorised change in land use. Mr Gridley Sr appealed against these notices and (2)&(3) along with the part of (1) referring to the dwelling were overturned on questionable grounds but the part of (1) that referred to the sheds was upheld. However Basildon council then failed to appeal the appeal and took no action to remove the sheds. Then in 1988 retrospective planning permission was applied for and granted by Basildon Council.
So in a way Len Gridley has a point because travellers do seem to get special treatment at the hands of Basildon Council. After all when members of the settled community build on greenbelt land without planning permission the council lets them but when travellers do the same the council spends £18 million trying to stop them.
*The greenbelt is a ring or belt of greenfield sites surrounding Britain's cities in order to prevent them encroaching into the countryside. So while a greenfield site is not necessarily part of the greenbelt a greenbelt site has to be a greenfield site. So in this instance the terms are pretty much interchangeable.
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Yep It's Definately a Slow News Day.
The United Nations General Assembly is winding down, the Greek Prime Minister has been visiting Germany as the second Greek bail out slowly takes shape and yesterday the pop star Rhianna was filming a video in Northern Ireland before a clergyman told her to put some clothes on.
I know about that last point because it was on the news. Not the gossip columns or the entertainment channels but the actual, honest to god news. Well I suppose they had to do something before Ed Miliband's speech to the Labour Party conference sucked all the charisma out of the universe.
And yes it's around 20:05 on Tuesday (27/9/11) and I'm back from the pub with nothing of note to report.
I know about that last point because it was on the news. Not the gossip columns or the entertainment channels but the actual, honest to god news. Well I suppose they had to do something before Ed Miliband's speech to the Labour Party conference sucked all the charisma out of the universe.
And yes it's around 20:05 on Tuesday (27/9/11) and I'm back from the pub with nothing of note to report.
Monday 26 September 2011
The Dale Farm Hearing Resumes.
The High Court hearing into the eviction of the Dale Farm travellers site continues today (26/9/11) and the Judge has stated that he intends to return a verdict at 16:00 (15:00GMT) today. If the court sticks to that time scale it will leave the bailiffs with three to four hours of daylight to carry out the eviction. As it would be quite dangerous for all to attempt the eviction in the dark it is most likely that any eviction attempt will now wait until tomorrow (27/9/11). However I cannot totally rule out the bailiffs make a start as soon as the injunction is lifted.
Edited at 15:55 on 26/9/11:
The Judge in the Dale Farm case returned his verdict early and surprised everyone by extending the injunction against eviction until Thursday (29/9/11). This was done because the Judge felt there was a triable argument over what can be removed from every single plot on the site. Therefore the injunction has been extended until the travellers application of Judical Review can be heard on Thursday. That Judical Review is being sort on the grounds that the eviction is disproportionate under the terms of the European Human Rights Act however if allowed I think it will also have to consider if Basildon Council are correct in refusing planning permission on the grounds of greenbelt because that classification seems wrong.
Edited at 15:55 on 26/9/11:
The Judge in the Dale Farm case returned his verdict early and surprised everyone by extending the injunction against eviction until Thursday (29/9/11). This was done because the Judge felt there was a triable argument over what can be removed from every single plot on the site. Therefore the injunction has been extended until the travellers application of Judical Review can be heard on Thursday. That Judical Review is being sort on the grounds that the eviction is disproportionate under the terms of the European Human Rights Act however if allowed I think it will also have to consider if Basildon Council are correct in refusing planning permission on the grounds of greenbelt because that classification seems wrong.
Saturday 24 September 2011
Israel & Palestine; The Speeches.
The chair of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has confirmed that the council will discuss Palestine's application for statehood on Monday (26/9/11). However it is unlikely that there will be a vote on the issue with the council more likely to request that reports are prepared to be presented ahead of a possible vote at some point in the future. That said Britain, France, the United States and possibly French Lebanon will all be pushing hard for a vote and no-one expected the UNSC to pass resolution 1973 on Libya as quickly as it did so I can't totally rule out the possibility of a vote.
With Palestinian statehood only being considered by the UNSC the opinions of the wider United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) are less critical. However the speeches given by the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UNGA on Friday (23/9/11) gave both sides the opportunity to lay out their arguments for and against the proposal. Unfortunately neither speech really added anything new to the debate.
Abbas went first and gave a speech which I have to say - in the English translation at least - seemed confused and difficult to follow. He began by giving a history of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine and blamed Israel for all the previous failures. He went on to highlight the problems of trying to negotiate with Israel while Israel continues to build settlements and separation walls that divide up and undermine the viability of Palestinian communities. Other commentators have likened this problem to two people trying to negotiate how best to share a pizza while one of the people just carries on eating. Abbas then spoke of the torment that Palestinians suffer on a daily basis at the hands of Jewish settlers. Abbas stated that the PLO hold the Israeli state responsible for the actions of these religious extremists. This seems to be an indication that if Palestine were to be given statehood it would use a lot of it's energies pursuing Israel for past crimes through the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is a worry for many people because it is a huge waste of energy that will make future negotiations more difficult and pursuing crimes of some 30 years ago at the expense of moving forward reeks of a thirst for vengeance rather then justice. By contrast Abbas also spoke about all those Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes during the creation of Israel and how in those cases the PLO would be prepared to settle for relative justice rather then full justice. This was a clear indication that the PLO intends to abandon the right to return of Palestinian refugees in return for statehood. Abbas then went on to list the pre-conditions for future negotiations with Israel including a freeze on settlement building in order to avoid the pizza problem. He then finished up by demonstrating that the PLO is ready to run a nation state by hailing their somewhat questionable efforts at reconciliation with Hamas, the improvements in infrastructure and economic development and their commitment to democracy.
Although his delivery was much more polished and nuanced Netanyahu's speech was probably the more offensive of the two. He again restated Israel's long standing position that it is a special nation ordained by divine religious rite which is constantly under threat of destruction at the hands of a sinister Islamic conspiracy. Unless you subscribe to a very literal interpretation of the Christian Bible this sounds more then a little bit crazy and if you're a Muslim it sounds downright offensive. Netanyahu singled out Iran as being at the heart of this conspiracy, mocked the Iranian President's speech to the UNGA and warned of the dangers of a nuclear armed Iran.
On a more practical level Netanyahu spoke of the difficulties Israel has faced removing settlers for Gaza in the cause of peace and how that sacrifice was only met with more violence from the Palestinians - in effect blaming the Palestinians for the failure of previous negotiations. Based on the facts it is hard to find much sympathy for Israel on this point because they wouldn't have had to remove illegal settlements if they hadn't built illegal settlements in the first place. Also Israel's hands are less then clean when it comes to the greatly reduced levels of violence coming from Gaza. Netanyahu went on to speak about the security threat of Israel withdrawing fully from the occupied West Bank citing the west bank mountains that overlook major Israeli cities as an example. Although there are legitimate security concerns around areas like the Jordan valley it is again hard to find sympathy for Israel on the cited example. While the location of mountains is determined by nature humans get to choose where they build their cities. So Netanyahu seems to be arguing that Israel can't possibly have peace with Palestine because the Israeli government are terrible at urban planning.
Overall Netanyahu seemed to be using his speech as an opportunity to offend as many people as possible. He attacked the UNGA as being anti-Israeli and attacked the UNSC specifically for being chaired by what he described as a Lebanon run by the Hezbollah terrorist group. He called Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Libya close friends of Israel. Considering the populations of these nations are less then keen on Israel and the Libyan rebels especially have a strong current of anti-semitism running through them being called a close friend of Israel puts huge pressure on the governments of those nations to prove that they're not. Netanyahu also appeared to mock the hand gestures used by US President Obama which considering the overwhelming support Obama has shown Israel this week seemed ungrateful and downright rude.
So Netanyahu seemed to be supporting the Palestinian statehood plan by telling everyone he's against it but encouraging everyone to disagree with him by insulting them.
With Palestinian statehood only being considered by the UNSC the opinions of the wider United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) are less critical. However the speeches given by the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UNGA on Friday (23/9/11) gave both sides the opportunity to lay out their arguments for and against the proposal. Unfortunately neither speech really added anything new to the debate.
Abbas went first and gave a speech which I have to say - in the English translation at least - seemed confused and difficult to follow. He began by giving a history of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine and blamed Israel for all the previous failures. He went on to highlight the problems of trying to negotiate with Israel while Israel continues to build settlements and separation walls that divide up and undermine the viability of Palestinian communities. Other commentators have likened this problem to two people trying to negotiate how best to share a pizza while one of the people just carries on eating. Abbas then spoke of the torment that Palestinians suffer on a daily basis at the hands of Jewish settlers. Abbas stated that the PLO hold the Israeli state responsible for the actions of these religious extremists. This seems to be an indication that if Palestine were to be given statehood it would use a lot of it's energies pursuing Israel for past crimes through the International Criminal Court (ICC). This is a worry for many people because it is a huge waste of energy that will make future negotiations more difficult and pursuing crimes of some 30 years ago at the expense of moving forward reeks of a thirst for vengeance rather then justice. By contrast Abbas also spoke about all those Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes during the creation of Israel and how in those cases the PLO would be prepared to settle for relative justice rather then full justice. This was a clear indication that the PLO intends to abandon the right to return of Palestinian refugees in return for statehood. Abbas then went on to list the pre-conditions for future negotiations with Israel including a freeze on settlement building in order to avoid the pizza problem. He then finished up by demonstrating that the PLO is ready to run a nation state by hailing their somewhat questionable efforts at reconciliation with Hamas, the improvements in infrastructure and economic development and their commitment to democracy.
Although his delivery was much more polished and nuanced Netanyahu's speech was probably the more offensive of the two. He again restated Israel's long standing position that it is a special nation ordained by divine religious rite which is constantly under threat of destruction at the hands of a sinister Islamic conspiracy. Unless you subscribe to a very literal interpretation of the Christian Bible this sounds more then a little bit crazy and if you're a Muslim it sounds downright offensive. Netanyahu singled out Iran as being at the heart of this conspiracy, mocked the Iranian President's speech to the UNGA and warned of the dangers of a nuclear armed Iran.
On a more practical level Netanyahu spoke of the difficulties Israel has faced removing settlers for Gaza in the cause of peace and how that sacrifice was only met with more violence from the Palestinians - in effect blaming the Palestinians for the failure of previous negotiations. Based on the facts it is hard to find much sympathy for Israel on this point because they wouldn't have had to remove illegal settlements if they hadn't built illegal settlements in the first place. Also Israel's hands are less then clean when it comes to the greatly reduced levels of violence coming from Gaza. Netanyahu went on to speak about the security threat of Israel withdrawing fully from the occupied West Bank citing the west bank mountains that overlook major Israeli cities as an example. Although there are legitimate security concerns around areas like the Jordan valley it is again hard to find sympathy for Israel on the cited example. While the location of mountains is determined by nature humans get to choose where they build their cities. So Netanyahu seems to be arguing that Israel can't possibly have peace with Palestine because the Israeli government are terrible at urban planning.
Overall Netanyahu seemed to be using his speech as an opportunity to offend as many people as possible. He attacked the UNGA as being anti-Israeli and attacked the UNSC specifically for being chaired by what he described as a Lebanon run by the Hezbollah terrorist group. He called Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Libya close friends of Israel. Considering the populations of these nations are less then keen on Israel and the Libyan rebels especially have a strong current of anti-semitism running through them being called a close friend of Israel puts huge pressure on the governments of those nations to prove that they're not. Netanyahu also appeared to mock the hand gestures used by US President Obama which considering the overwhelming support Obama has shown Israel this week seemed ungrateful and downright rude.
So Netanyahu seemed to be supporting the Palestinian statehood plan by telling everyone he's against it but encouraging everyone to disagree with him by insulting them.
Good Morning.
With no formal business scheduled at the UN General Assembly over the weekend I'm planning to use the time catching up on the speeches I missed. I hope this won't be a problem because it's hardly my idea of how to spend a fun Saturday afternoon either.
Friday 23 September 2011
Well I'm Certainly Voting For A Sovereign State.
Mainly because I've been drinking since about 17:00. It's now fast approaching 23:00 and I must confess that I've not got around to watching all of today's speeches at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
This is because, as far as I understand it, the Palestinians have only made their application for full statehood to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) today (23/9/11). Normally this type of application will first require UN staffers to prepare a full report that will be sent to committee. If the committee approve that report the matter will then be sent to the UNSC for consideration and eventually a vote. This process usually takes several weeks so there is little chance of a result being announced before the end of this UNGA. However I have heard rumours that in this instance the process may be speeded up to allow a UNSC vote on Sunday (25/9/11). However I don't think this can possibly be true because it would force UN staffers to work at the weekend rather then going out tonight and getting drunk before waking up tomorrow in their hotel rooms crying.
Anyway did I mention the drinking?
This is because, as far as I understand it, the Palestinians have only made their application for full statehood to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) today (23/9/11). Normally this type of application will first require UN staffers to prepare a full report that will be sent to committee. If the committee approve that report the matter will then be sent to the UNSC for consideration and eventually a vote. This process usually takes several weeks so there is little chance of a result being announced before the end of this UNGA. However I have heard rumours that in this instance the process may be speeded up to allow a UNSC vote on Sunday (25/9/11). However I don't think this can possibly be true because it would force UN staffers to work at the weekend rather then going out tonight and getting drunk before waking up tomorrow in their hotel rooms crying.
Anyway did I mention the drinking?
Dale Farm Update.
The High Court hearing into the Dale Farm eviction has begun and the Judge, Justice Edwards-Stuart has already indicated that as far as he is concerned all questions about the legality of the eviction have been answered. They are now arguing over all the technical details of every item and person on the site right down to the last paving slab. That means there is little chance of a decision being reached by the close of business today (23/9/11) meaning that the hearing will resume on Monday (26/9/11).
In the meantime lawyers representing the residents of Dale Farm are in the process of submitting three applications for Judicial Review on grounds I am not aware of. If these applications there will be a further delay while those Judaical Reviews take place.
Edited at 18:10 on 23/9/11: With the Dale Farm verdict not expected until Monday now this afternoon I found myself with some unexpected free time on my hands so I went to visit my grandmother. With my sister also in town on her day off I also met up with her at the hospital. Beyond that there's really not much to report. I didn't mention it in advance because it was spur of the moment decision and I only got back in time for the start of Abbas' speech. I won't comment on that until the Israeli speech has also taken place which with time difference will probably mean tomorrow (22/9/11).
In the meantime lawyers representing the residents of Dale Farm are in the process of submitting three applications for Judicial Review on grounds I am not aware of. If these applications there will be a further delay while those Judaical Reviews take place.
Edited at 18:10 on 23/9/11: With the Dale Farm verdict not expected until Monday now this afternoon I found myself with some unexpected free time on my hands so I went to visit my grandmother. With my sister also in town on her day off I also met up with her at the hospital. Beyond that there's really not much to report. I didn't mention it in advance because it was spur of the moment decision and I only got back in time for the start of Abbas' speech. I won't comment on that until the Israeli speech has also taken place which with time difference will probably mean tomorrow (22/9/11).
Thursday 22 September 2011
David Cameron's Speech to the UNGA.
I have to ask did the British Prime Minister's speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) co-incide with lunch because otherwise it kind of looks like he got snubbed. It was though nice to see the British news media finally admit that the UNGA is currently going on. Up to now we've been fed on a diet of the largely irrelevant Liberal Democrat party conference and the sort of odd stories that normally accompany big global summits. So far I've declined to comment on these on the assumption that the busy people involved in the UNGA probably wouldn't have the time to find them on their own. However today (22/9/11) one has come up that might be worth closer attention.
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has promised to pay compensation to the victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre where they have a legal duty to do so. Of course what they're actually referring to is the second Bloody Sunday massacre when in 1972 soldiers from Britain's Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march in LondonDerry killing 14. The first Bloody Sunday massacre occurred in 1920 when British soldiers marched into the Croke Park sports stadium in Dublin in what was then occupied Ireland and indiscriminately opened fire into the crowd gathered to watch a Gaelic football match killing 31 in revenge for the killing of British spies.
The main purpose of today's announcement was to make a lot of noise and generally spread confusion but it does touch on an important point. The 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre is synonymous with the Northern Irish (NI) troubles which were ended by a peace process led by US Senator, George Mitchell. Mitchell went on to become the US' lead negotiator in the Palestinian/Israeli peace negotiations but was recently removed from the post. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) cite Mitchell's removal as evidence that the US is not committed to meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine. However the main reason why Mitchell was replaced was because he is still so heavily associated with the NI process it meant that every time Britain wanted to interfere and complicate the Israel/Palestine negotiations all they needed to do was set off a bomb, shoot a police officer or provoke a big old riot in NI. So the US had to remove Mitchell in order to protect the NI peace process if nothing else.
Also I wouldn't worry too much about today's turmoil on the world's financial markets. It's all part of the US' big plan increase pressure on China which has been they're main focus this year. The idea was that by putting an incompetent in charge of the IMF the Eurozone would get worse. This would force China to intervene in order to protect it's second largest export market and the US could sit back and watch China intervening. Today's plunges have be engineered to maximise the pressure on China ahead of tomorrows speeches by both the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to the UNGA.
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has promised to pay compensation to the victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre where they have a legal duty to do so. Of course what they're actually referring to is the second Bloody Sunday massacre when in 1972 soldiers from Britain's Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights march in LondonDerry killing 14. The first Bloody Sunday massacre occurred in 1920 when British soldiers marched into the Croke Park sports stadium in Dublin in what was then occupied Ireland and indiscriminately opened fire into the crowd gathered to watch a Gaelic football match killing 31 in revenge for the killing of British spies.
The main purpose of today's announcement was to make a lot of noise and generally spread confusion but it does touch on an important point. The 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre is synonymous with the Northern Irish (NI) troubles which were ended by a peace process led by US Senator, George Mitchell. Mitchell went on to become the US' lead negotiator in the Palestinian/Israeli peace negotiations but was recently removed from the post. The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) cite Mitchell's removal as evidence that the US is not committed to meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine. However the main reason why Mitchell was replaced was because he is still so heavily associated with the NI process it meant that every time Britain wanted to interfere and complicate the Israel/Palestine negotiations all they needed to do was set off a bomb, shoot a police officer or provoke a big old riot in NI. So the US had to remove Mitchell in order to protect the NI peace process if nothing else.
Also I wouldn't worry too much about today's turmoil on the world's financial markets. It's all part of the US' big plan increase pressure on China which has been they're main focus this year. The idea was that by putting an incompetent in charge of the IMF the Eurozone would get worse. This would force China to intervene in order to protect it's second largest export market and the US could sit back and watch China intervening. Today's plunges have be engineered to maximise the pressure on China ahead of tomorrows speeches by both the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to the UNGA.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 7, Week 1, Day 1.
In Libya the situations around Sirte and Bani Walid remain unchanged with Libyan government forces keeping the rebels pinned down outside of the cities. In Sabha rebel forces have succeeded in holding onto the district around the airport and appear to have been able to extend their control to the district around the city centre.
The big development though is that yesterday (21/9/11) NATO extended their mission for another 90 days taking it up to December 25th - Christmas day. Although it took a very long time to get all NATO members to agree to this extension has seemed likely ever since the United States indicated that they will continue the operation with or without a NATO mandate. While the United States has avoided taking part in combat missions in Libya it provides around 80% of the tanker flights that make the patrol and strike flights possible. They also provide the bulk of the battlefield intelligence which identifies the targets for the strike missions. So if the US is prepared to continue these operations without a NATO mandate it would make little practical difference if NATO withdrew it's mandate.
I'm actually surprised that the US hasn't made more of it's central role in continuing the operations against Libya because it would fit in perfectly with the game their playing at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to trick the body into supporting the Palestinian statehood plan.
Over the last couple of days the US has made a lot of noise about their efforts to discourage the Palestinians from continuing with their plan. However it looks like the US is doing just enough to make it seem like they're making an effort but not enough to actually achieve anything. Then in his speech to the UNGA yesterday (21/9/11) US President Barack Obama specifically warned against the Palestinian plan. He then went on to justify the US' wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya along with their killing of Osama bin Laden - all things that have damaged the US' reputation especially amongst Muslim nations. He also went on to effectively call for the violent overthrow of Israel's enemies in Syria in the name of the Arab Spring while calling for compromise on the part of demonstrators in Arab nations like Bahrain where the US has close relations with the dictators the people are trying to overthrow. At times Obama also seemed to be using his speech to appeal to voters in his country which is highly disrespectful to the assembled world leaders he was supposed to be addressing. So Obama seemed to be playing the role of the ugly American in order to provoke the UNGA into supporting the Palestinian plan in order to punish him.
This was alongside the speech of French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Under a previous President France was a very vocal opponent to the US' invasion of Iraq and won a lot of friends in Muslim countries in doing so. In his speech Sarkozy spoke quite strongly in support of the Palestinian plan even repeating the Israeli claim that failing to give Palestine statehood would provoke a violent Palestinian uprising. So the allies on Libya - Sarkozy and Obama - seem to be teaming up again to use a combination of perceived American unpopularity combined with perceived French popularity to generate support for the Palestinian plan.
Oh and I'm off to visit my grandmother in hospital. This is just me visiting a relative in hospital rather then something dramatic but I felt the need to mention it.
The big development though is that yesterday (21/9/11) NATO extended their mission for another 90 days taking it up to December 25th - Christmas day. Although it took a very long time to get all NATO members to agree to this extension has seemed likely ever since the United States indicated that they will continue the operation with or without a NATO mandate. While the United States has avoided taking part in combat missions in Libya it provides around 80% of the tanker flights that make the patrol and strike flights possible. They also provide the bulk of the battlefield intelligence which identifies the targets for the strike missions. So if the US is prepared to continue these operations without a NATO mandate it would make little practical difference if NATO withdrew it's mandate.
I'm actually surprised that the US hasn't made more of it's central role in continuing the operations against Libya because it would fit in perfectly with the game their playing at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to trick the body into supporting the Palestinian statehood plan.
Over the last couple of days the US has made a lot of noise about their efforts to discourage the Palestinians from continuing with their plan. However it looks like the US is doing just enough to make it seem like they're making an effort but not enough to actually achieve anything. Then in his speech to the UNGA yesterday (21/9/11) US President Barack Obama specifically warned against the Palestinian plan. He then went on to justify the US' wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya along with their killing of Osama bin Laden - all things that have damaged the US' reputation especially amongst Muslim nations. He also went on to effectively call for the violent overthrow of Israel's enemies in Syria in the name of the Arab Spring while calling for compromise on the part of demonstrators in Arab nations like Bahrain where the US has close relations with the dictators the people are trying to overthrow. At times Obama also seemed to be using his speech to appeal to voters in his country which is highly disrespectful to the assembled world leaders he was supposed to be addressing. So Obama seemed to be playing the role of the ugly American in order to provoke the UNGA into supporting the Palestinian plan in order to punish him.
This was alongside the speech of French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Under a previous President France was a very vocal opponent to the US' invasion of Iraq and won a lot of friends in Muslim countries in doing so. In his speech Sarkozy spoke quite strongly in support of the Palestinian plan even repeating the Israeli claim that failing to give Palestine statehood would provoke a violent Palestinian uprising. So the allies on Libya - Sarkozy and Obama - seem to be teaming up again to use a combination of perceived American unpopularity combined with perceived French popularity to generate support for the Palestinian plan.
Oh and I'm off to visit my grandmother in hospital. This is just me visiting a relative in hospital rather then something dramatic but I felt the need to mention it.
Dale Farm Versus Nicholas Sarkozy
As I think I've mentioned once or twice Britain is currently trying to evict a traveller/gypsy site in Essex known as Dale Farm. Inevitably this has led to comparisons with the French President's mass deportation of gypsies in 2010. However there are a number of key differences between the two. Obviously I don't want to get into talking about good gypsies and bad gypsies because the entire culture is far too complex to define in such simple terms. There are though two main types of gypsy; Irish Traveller and Roma Gypsy.
The residents of Dale Farm are overwhelmingly Irish traveller. Coming from Ireland this group are strict Catholics and have been travelling around Britain and Ireland for over a thousand years. Although never exactly popular Irish travellers have always had their place in society acting as traders, especially of horses, connecting up the various remote towns, villages and farms that make up rural Britain. Their problems only really began in the 1980's when the Thatcher government effectively declared war on them making many aspects of their culture illegal and systematically denying them planning permission for new sites while evicting them from existing sites like Dale Farm. Obviously this level of animosity led to increased tensions between both sides with travellers losing all respect for a society that doesn't have any respect for them leading us to a point were travellers are pretty much the only ethnic group in Britain that it is still ok to be racist towards.
The gypsies that France deported in 2010 were overwhelmingly Roma Gypsies - a separate ethnic group with a much more chequered history. Originating almost two thousand years ago in what is now India/Pakistan/Afghanistan the Roma mainly travelled across continental Europe again acting as traders linking up different settled communities. They tended to centre around eastern Europe because it is more or less the middle of the continent. The Roma's problems really began with the rise of Nazi Germany who treated them at least as badly as they treated the Jews forcing them into concentration camps, sterilising them to stop them breeding and ultimately killing millions of them. However at the end of the second world war while the Jews were allowed to go off and set up Israel the Roma were left to live under Stalin's USSR who if anything treated them worse then the Nazis. In fact the only way that many Roma were able to survive the Communists was by carving out a niche for themselves doing the things like drug smuggling, prostitution, people trafficking and gun running that the Communist wanted doing but couldn't be seen to be doing themselves. Some Communist leaders also kept Roma gangs on the payroll in order to intimidate political dissidents and keep their populations in line. So while it's not part of Roma culture in recent years many Roma have become heavily involved in very serious and very unpleasant organised crime. Plus many people who claim to be Roma are just organised criminals trying to hide behind the Roma's status as a protected ethnic group.
After the end of the cold war and Europe's ensuing wars many of the Roma again started to travel to western Europe where the standard of living is far higher. This led to countries like France being overwhelmed by large numbers of gypsies who set up illegal camps on other peoples land and threatened to destabilise French society by bringing with them huge amounts serious and organised crime. So what Sarkozy did in 2010 was to clear all the illegal camps and deport all the residents knowing full well that European freedom of movement rules meant that they could all return to France straight away if they wanted.
While I wouldn't go so far as to say what Sarkozy did was right it did show at least some understanding of gypsy culture and was more an attempt to shake things up in order to get the community to self regulate. By contrast what Britain is doing has no interest in compromise or forming some sort of accommodation with the travellers. Instead it is just the latest effort in a long running battle to eliminate travellers and their way of life.
As for the residents of Dale Farm their next court appearance takes place at 11:30 (10:30GMT) on Friday (23/9/11) where the High Court will give it's final ruling on the restraining order preventing the eviction taking place. The temporary order was granted over fears that the council intends to do more to the site then return it to the state it was in before the travellers built on it. As that state was of an industrial site rather then a greenbelt site there is a possibility that the court could rule that the council's refusal to grant planning permission on the grounds of protecting greenbelt land was illegal therefore making the entire eviction process illegal. However the conditions of the order were that the council provides detailed, plot by plot plans of what they intend to do and the residents remove all barricades to allow bailiffs access to the site. So what is most likely to happen is that the court will rule in the council's favour and impose huge costs on the travellers. This will set in motion a race against time as the bailiffs attempt to get access to the site before the residents are able to barricade it again. So it will really be a contest of who's got the best communications between court and site, the travellers or the bailiffs.
The residents of Dale Farm are overwhelmingly Irish traveller. Coming from Ireland this group are strict Catholics and have been travelling around Britain and Ireland for over a thousand years. Although never exactly popular Irish travellers have always had their place in society acting as traders, especially of horses, connecting up the various remote towns, villages and farms that make up rural Britain. Their problems only really began in the 1980's when the Thatcher government effectively declared war on them making many aspects of their culture illegal and systematically denying them planning permission for new sites while evicting them from existing sites like Dale Farm. Obviously this level of animosity led to increased tensions between both sides with travellers losing all respect for a society that doesn't have any respect for them leading us to a point were travellers are pretty much the only ethnic group in Britain that it is still ok to be racist towards.
The gypsies that France deported in 2010 were overwhelmingly Roma Gypsies - a separate ethnic group with a much more chequered history. Originating almost two thousand years ago in what is now India/Pakistan/Afghanistan the Roma mainly travelled across continental Europe again acting as traders linking up different settled communities. They tended to centre around eastern Europe because it is more or less the middle of the continent. The Roma's problems really began with the rise of Nazi Germany who treated them at least as badly as they treated the Jews forcing them into concentration camps, sterilising them to stop them breeding and ultimately killing millions of them. However at the end of the second world war while the Jews were allowed to go off and set up Israel the Roma were left to live under Stalin's USSR who if anything treated them worse then the Nazis. In fact the only way that many Roma were able to survive the Communists was by carving out a niche for themselves doing the things like drug smuggling, prostitution, people trafficking and gun running that the Communist wanted doing but couldn't be seen to be doing themselves. Some Communist leaders also kept Roma gangs on the payroll in order to intimidate political dissidents and keep their populations in line. So while it's not part of Roma culture in recent years many Roma have become heavily involved in very serious and very unpleasant organised crime. Plus many people who claim to be Roma are just organised criminals trying to hide behind the Roma's status as a protected ethnic group.
After the end of the cold war and Europe's ensuing wars many of the Roma again started to travel to western Europe where the standard of living is far higher. This led to countries like France being overwhelmed by large numbers of gypsies who set up illegal camps on other peoples land and threatened to destabilise French society by bringing with them huge amounts serious and organised crime. So what Sarkozy did in 2010 was to clear all the illegal camps and deport all the residents knowing full well that European freedom of movement rules meant that they could all return to France straight away if they wanted.
While I wouldn't go so far as to say what Sarkozy did was right it did show at least some understanding of gypsy culture and was more an attempt to shake things up in order to get the community to self regulate. By contrast what Britain is doing has no interest in compromise or forming some sort of accommodation with the travellers. Instead it is just the latest effort in a long running battle to eliminate travellers and their way of life.
As for the residents of Dale Farm their next court appearance takes place at 11:30 (10:30GMT) on Friday (23/9/11) where the High Court will give it's final ruling on the restraining order preventing the eviction taking place. The temporary order was granted over fears that the council intends to do more to the site then return it to the state it was in before the travellers built on it. As that state was of an industrial site rather then a greenbelt site there is a possibility that the court could rule that the council's refusal to grant planning permission on the grounds of protecting greenbelt land was illegal therefore making the entire eviction process illegal. However the conditions of the order were that the council provides detailed, plot by plot plans of what they intend to do and the residents remove all barricades to allow bailiffs access to the site. So what is most likely to happen is that the court will rule in the council's favour and impose huge costs on the travellers. This will set in motion a race against time as the bailiffs attempt to get access to the site before the residents are able to barricade it again. So it will really be a contest of who's got the best communications between court and site, the travellers or the bailiffs.
Wednesday 21 September 2011
The Travellers Who Won't Travel.
With the eviction of Dale Farm delayed until Friday (23/9/11) at the earliest I should take the opportunity to answer the question posed by many of the sort of people who leave comments on Internet news sites; Why don't the travellers want to travel?
The short answer is that they do. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Travellers/Gypsies have been part of life in Britain for well over a thousand years and up until the 1970's they played a crucial role in connecting up settled, mainly rural communities. Then in 1979 Margret Thatcher was elected as Conservative Prime Minister and embarked on a radical shake up of the British economy. These reforms not only changed the fabric of the British economy but also the fabric of British society. It also created a huge number of mainly young unemployed people. With little money and few ties to their local communities many of these young unemployed adopted parts of traveller culture by buying vans to live in and travelled around the country is convoys. They soon became known as new age travellers
Eventually the Thatcher government realised that although there was no work for these people to do they weren't paying rent, buying gas or electricity from the newly privatised utility companies and weren't paying what was then known as local council rates. So the government decided to replace local council rates with a new flat tax called the Community Charge. As this new tax was to be paid by everyone registered to drive a car or registered to vote this new tax quickly became known as the Poll Tax. As a fixed rate tax to be paid regardless of earnings or housing status the Poll Tax disproportionately affected the poor, travellers, new age travellers, squatters and people who simply chose to live in shared housing with friends or relatives. So all these people grouped together to campaign against the poll tax leading to the 1990 Poll Tax Riot. More importantly though the campaign also saw so many British people simply refuse to pay the tax that it was impossible for the state to prosecute them all so the Poll Tax was abolished and Marget Thatcher was forced to resign defeated.
However the Conservative Party remained in power and quickly introduced what became the 1994 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act. This was basically a giant f*** you! to all the people who had brought down Thatcher and the Poll Tax. Among it's many provisions Sections 77-79 made it illegal for anyone to set up camp on common land which is something travellers and gypsies had been doing since the middle ages. Some travellers decided to ignore this new law while others tried to compromise by buying their own land and setting up a network of sites like Dale Farm that they could then travel between. The Conservatives were voted out of power in 1997 and this compromise worked well for the next 13 years.
Now the Conservatives are back in power and trying to introduce new laws on planning and squatting that will make life for travellers even more difficult while at the same time evicting sites like Dale Farm. So the message seems to be quite clear; There's no point negotiating or trying to compromise because Britain won't stop until this undesirable ethnic group has been completely eradicated.
The short answer is that they do. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Travellers/Gypsies have been part of life in Britain for well over a thousand years and up until the 1970's they played a crucial role in connecting up settled, mainly rural communities. Then in 1979 Margret Thatcher was elected as Conservative Prime Minister and embarked on a radical shake up of the British economy. These reforms not only changed the fabric of the British economy but also the fabric of British society. It also created a huge number of mainly young unemployed people. With little money and few ties to their local communities many of these young unemployed adopted parts of traveller culture by buying vans to live in and travelled around the country is convoys. They soon became known as new age travellers
Eventually the Thatcher government realised that although there was no work for these people to do they weren't paying rent, buying gas or electricity from the newly privatised utility companies and weren't paying what was then known as local council rates. So the government decided to replace local council rates with a new flat tax called the Community Charge. As this new tax was to be paid by everyone registered to drive a car or registered to vote this new tax quickly became known as the Poll Tax. As a fixed rate tax to be paid regardless of earnings or housing status the Poll Tax disproportionately affected the poor, travellers, new age travellers, squatters and people who simply chose to live in shared housing with friends or relatives. So all these people grouped together to campaign against the poll tax leading to the 1990 Poll Tax Riot. More importantly though the campaign also saw so many British people simply refuse to pay the tax that it was impossible for the state to prosecute them all so the Poll Tax was abolished and Marget Thatcher was forced to resign defeated.
However the Conservative Party remained in power and quickly introduced what became the 1994 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act. This was basically a giant f*** you! to all the people who had brought down Thatcher and the Poll Tax. Among it's many provisions Sections 77-79 made it illegal for anyone to set up camp on common land which is something travellers and gypsies had been doing since the middle ages. Some travellers decided to ignore this new law while others tried to compromise by buying their own land and setting up a network of sites like Dale Farm that they could then travel between. The Conservatives were voted out of power in 1997 and this compromise worked well for the next 13 years.
Now the Conservatives are back in power and trying to introduce new laws on planning and squatting that will make life for travellers even more difficult while at the same time evicting sites like Dale Farm. So the message seems to be quite clear; There's no point negotiating or trying to compromise because Britain won't stop until this undesirable ethnic group has been completely eradicated.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Back Late. Left Late.
Due to a football match. Anyway it's around 20:35 on Tuesday September 9th and I am home with no major problems and nothing to report.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 6, Week 5, Day 1.
In Libya this week things have remained pretty much dead locked. On Thursday (15/9/11) French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron both paid a joint visit to both Tripoli and Benghazi to celebrate the rebel victory that has yet to arrive. Their visit acting as a catalyst for a large rebel offensive on Sirte, Bani Walid and Sabha at the edges of the large section of the country still under the control of the Libyan government.
At Bani Walid the rebel assault was quickly turned back by Libyan government forces as was a second assault on Friday (16/9/11). The rebels now claim that they are waiting for civilians to leave the area before attempting another assault. At Sirte the rebels had slightly more success making advances throughout Thursday and Friday with the help of NATO air support. By Saturday (17/9/11) though Libyan government forces succeeded in halting the rebels some 40km (25 miles) outside the city where they remain. At Sabha the rebels were able to capture the district surrounding the airport by Monday (19/9/11). They are currently trying to consolidate their position amid fierce street to street fighting.
The rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) remains in chaos. On Sunday (18/9/11) they once again failed to form an executive committee/political cabinet meaning that the TNC currently consists of just the President Mustafa Abdel Jalil and the Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril.
On the diplomatic front the TNC were given last minute permission to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Libya's behalf. This allowed a meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya to be held as a side event at the UNGA today (20/9/11). So far all that's been announced is that the United States will re-open it's Embassy in Tripoli and it will be the UN's responsibility to deal with Libya's overland river network that was destroyed by NATO bombing creating a drought and possible humanitarian crisis in Libya.
At Bani Walid the rebel assault was quickly turned back by Libyan government forces as was a second assault on Friday (16/9/11). The rebels now claim that they are waiting for civilians to leave the area before attempting another assault. At Sirte the rebels had slightly more success making advances throughout Thursday and Friday with the help of NATO air support. By Saturday (17/9/11) though Libyan government forces succeeded in halting the rebels some 40km (25 miles) outside the city where they remain. At Sabha the rebels were able to capture the district surrounding the airport by Monday (19/9/11). They are currently trying to consolidate their position amid fierce street to street fighting.
The rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) remains in chaos. On Sunday (18/9/11) they once again failed to form an executive committee/political cabinet meaning that the TNC currently consists of just the President Mustafa Abdel Jalil and the Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril.
On the diplomatic front the TNC were given last minute permission to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Libya's behalf. This allowed a meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya to be held as a side event at the UNGA today (20/9/11). So far all that's been announced is that the United States will re-open it's Embassy in Tripoli and it will be the UN's responsibility to deal with Libya's overland river network that was destroyed by NATO bombing creating a drought and possible humanitarian crisis in Libya.
Non-News Alert.
Today (20/9/11) the credit rating agency Standard & Poors (S&P) have downgraded the outlook for Italian Sovereign debt from A+ to A. This is widely and wrongly being reported as Italy having it's credit rating downgraded.
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi has responded to this with his usual "most oppressed man in history" routine blaming S&P's decision on politics. Mainly this is to shore up his own domestic political support but along with the recent, violent anti-austerity protests in the country it is also an attempt to raise the whole issue of the Eurozone crisis at the United Nations General Assembly. Specifically the allegation that the United States is trying to destabilise the Euro in order to maintain the US dollars dominance as the global reserve currency. Although this was most certainly the case earlier in the year America appears to have backed off from that approach in recent months. Greece is the exception because in the code Britain's Prince Phillip is known as "the Greek."
As for the Italian economy the markets seem to have been largely unmoved by today's announcement by S&P. However the interest rates on Italian sovereign debt remain at around 6% - close to crisis levels. So it's either time for Berlusconi to resign or accept that running Italy is not something he can do in his spare time.
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi has responded to this with his usual "most oppressed man in history" routine blaming S&P's decision on politics. Mainly this is to shore up his own domestic political support but along with the recent, violent anti-austerity protests in the country it is also an attempt to raise the whole issue of the Eurozone crisis at the United Nations General Assembly. Specifically the allegation that the United States is trying to destabilise the Euro in order to maintain the US dollars dominance as the global reserve currency. Although this was most certainly the case earlier in the year America appears to have backed off from that approach in recent months. Greece is the exception because in the code Britain's Prince Phillip is known as "the Greek."
As for the Italian economy the markets seem to have been largely unmoved by today's announcement by S&P. However the interest rates on Italian sovereign debt remain at around 6% - close to crisis levels. So it's either time for Berlusconi to resign or accept that running Italy is not something he can do in his spare time.
Monday 19 September 2011
James Murdoch Needs Shooting.
James Murdoch is the head of News International the British arm of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's multi-national media empire. As you may have heard News International has recently been in a bit of trouble over the phone hacking scandal. One of the phones News International journalists were accused of hacking into belonged to the family of murdered British schoolgirl Amanda (Milly) Dowler.
In a development unrelated to the phone hacking scandal the Dowler family were recently in the news during the lengthy trial of Levi Bellfeild a serial killer who'd been protected by the state. In that trial Mr Dowler was revealed as a man with an extensive collection of extreme pornography and a less then healthy interest in rape who may or may not have allowed his daughter to be sacrificed to keep one of Britain's pet killers happy. Then without shame Mr Dowler chose to participate a media circus that was designed to inflict maximum pain and suffering on my family with Milly Dowler being a metaphor for my elder sister. That wasn't enough for the Dowlers so they then freely participated in the phone hacking scandal which has already had pretty catastrophic consquences for press freedom in the UK.
James Murdoch has now decided to reward the Dowler family for all this with a damages payout worth several millions of pounds in damages for the phone hacking. He has also decided to announce this on the day when my father was having a dramatic sounding meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury during the United Nations General Assembly.
And to think there are politicians in Britain who used to be intimidated by News International.
Edited at 11:00 on 20/9/11: If you've been following the phone hacking scandal it was largely the result of a campaign by rival newspaper "The Guardian" in what looked like a spectacular fit of jealousy. The latest development is that The Guardian has been served with a court order forcing it to reveal it's sources. If they fail to comply then their journalists and editorial team face lengthy prison sentences under the Official Secrets Act - designed to protect national security. As a result most of the British media have seen the scandal for what it is, an attack on them all and backed off. That makes News International's decision to settle with the Dowler family for about 300 times what even the most generous court would award in compensation look like an act of wanton cowardice.
In a development unrelated to the phone hacking scandal the Dowler family were recently in the news during the lengthy trial of Levi Bellfeild a serial killer who'd been protected by the state. In that trial Mr Dowler was revealed as a man with an extensive collection of extreme pornography and a less then healthy interest in rape who may or may not have allowed his daughter to be sacrificed to keep one of Britain's pet killers happy. Then without shame Mr Dowler chose to participate a media circus that was designed to inflict maximum pain and suffering on my family with Milly Dowler being a metaphor for my elder sister. That wasn't enough for the Dowlers so they then freely participated in the phone hacking scandal which has already had pretty catastrophic consquences for press freedom in the UK.
James Murdoch has now decided to reward the Dowler family for all this with a damages payout worth several millions of pounds in damages for the phone hacking. He has also decided to announce this on the day when my father was having a dramatic sounding meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury during the United Nations General Assembly.
And to think there are politicians in Britain who used to be intimidated by News International.
Edited at 11:00 on 20/9/11: If you've been following the phone hacking scandal it was largely the result of a campaign by rival newspaper "The Guardian" in what looked like a spectacular fit of jealousy. The latest development is that The Guardian has been served with a court order forcing it to reveal it's sources. If they fail to comply then their journalists and editorial team face lengthy prison sentences under the Official Secrets Act - designed to protect national security. As a result most of the British media have seen the scandal for what it is, an attack on them all and backed off. That makes News International's decision to settle with the Dowler family for about 300 times what even the most generous court would award in compensation look like an act of wanton cowardice.
It Must Be Time For An Assembly.
Technically the 66th (2011) meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) began last Tuesday (13/9/11) with low level committee and plenary meetings. However it is today (19/9/11) when things really start to get serious with a high level meeting to discuss resolution 65/238 which covers non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and tobacco smoking related diseases. This meeting will continue into tomorrow (20/9/11) when there will also be a high level meeting on resolution 65/160 which covers issues of drought, desertification and poverty. This meeting will inevitably expand to include the current east Africa food crisis/famine and the issues surrounding global warming/climate change. There will then be a general debate from Wednesday (21/9/11) until the following Tuesday (27/9/11). As a general debate this will cover a wide range of diverse topics including human rights and the eradication of racism. However the big topic will be Palestinian statehood with the leaders of both Israel and Palestine addressing the meeting on Friday (23/9/11).
Apart for the Dale Farm eviction* Britain's opening salvo for the meeting has included seven arrests in an Islamic terror plot in Birmingham to raise the issue of Islamic terrorism. There has also been the news that British doctors have successfully separated two Sudanese conjoined twins, Ritaj & Rital Gaboura after a series of complex surgical operations that began in April 2011. The big change since last years UNGA is that the east African nation of Sudan has separated into two with a predominately Muslim north and a predominately Christian and oil rich south. South Sudan has become the UN's newest member and this is Britain's way of both welcoming them and claiming responsibility. Obviously the separation of Sudan reveals Britain's intentions towards Nigeria and east Africa including Libya. However the aspect Britain was hoping everyone would focus on is the widely held, in Britain at least, belief that Israel has been manipulating the Sudanese civil war which led to the separation, particularly the situation in Darfur to act as a metaphor for the Israel/Palestine conflict. So Britain is hailing the operation as a complete success in order to firstly check to see who else shares that belief and to throw it's support behind plans for Palestinian statehood especially one that would see the natural gas rich Gaza become part of Israel.
In other news my father is this evening attending a special service at Saint Benets - my grandmother's Welsh Church. There he will meet up with Lloyd Lloyd the ex-Barrister who acted as a named person in my grandmother's powers of attorney. They will be joined by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. There shouldn't be anything too dramatic about this it's just it sounds so strange I think I'd better mention it to confirm the rumour.
*In the last two hours Britain's High Court has issued a restraining order which prevents the eviction of Dale Farm until a full court hearing can take place on Friday (23/9/11). I'm not aware of the full details of the case but from what I can gather the issue is how the eviction will take place rather the if the eviction can take place. So this is just a delaying tactic partly in the hope that the activists at Dale Farm will get bored and go home and partly to force the whole issues of ethnic cleansing, the Nazi Holocaust and the clearance of unauthorised settlements to the top of the agenda on the day the leaders of both Israel and Palestine address the UNGA.
Apart for the Dale Farm eviction* Britain's opening salvo for the meeting has included seven arrests in an Islamic terror plot in Birmingham to raise the issue of Islamic terrorism. There has also been the news that British doctors have successfully separated two Sudanese conjoined twins, Ritaj & Rital Gaboura after a series of complex surgical operations that began in April 2011. The big change since last years UNGA is that the east African nation of Sudan has separated into two with a predominately Muslim north and a predominately Christian and oil rich south. South Sudan has become the UN's newest member and this is Britain's way of both welcoming them and claiming responsibility. Obviously the separation of Sudan reveals Britain's intentions towards Nigeria and east Africa including Libya. However the aspect Britain was hoping everyone would focus on is the widely held, in Britain at least, belief that Israel has been manipulating the Sudanese civil war which led to the separation, particularly the situation in Darfur to act as a metaphor for the Israel/Palestine conflict. So Britain is hailing the operation as a complete success in order to firstly check to see who else shares that belief and to throw it's support behind plans for Palestinian statehood especially one that would see the natural gas rich Gaza become part of Israel.
In other news my father is this evening attending a special service at Saint Benets - my grandmother's Welsh Church. There he will meet up with Lloyd Lloyd the ex-Barrister who acted as a named person in my grandmother's powers of attorney. They will be joined by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. There shouldn't be anything too dramatic about this it's just it sounds so strange I think I'd better mention it to confirm the rumour.
*In the last two hours Britain's High Court has issued a restraining order which prevents the eviction of Dale Farm until a full court hearing can take place on Friday (23/9/11). I'm not aware of the full details of the case but from what I can gather the issue is how the eviction will take place rather the if the eviction can take place. So this is just a delaying tactic partly in the hope that the activists at Dale Farm will get bored and go home and partly to force the whole issues of ethnic cleansing, the Nazi Holocaust and the clearance of unauthorised settlements to the top of the agenda on the day the leaders of both Israel and Palestine address the UNGA.
Dale Farm's Day Has Come.
08:00 today (19/9/11) marked the official start of the operation to evict people from the Dale Farm site in Essex, UK. However as of 11:30 very little has actually happened and if previous traveller evictions are anything to go by this operation will take at least a week rather then a day. At the moment the council employed bailiffs - Constant & Co - main strategy seems to be to create divisions between residents of the site and activists who are helping to barricade the site in order to trick the residents into removing the barricades on the pre-text of allowing officials onto the site for negotiations.
The only major development so far is that most of the British media have finally stopped referring to Dale Farm as an illegal site. What actually happened was that the residents brought the land from the council on the understanding that it would be granted planning permission. They then built on the land and applied for planning permission all of which is entirely legal.
The problem only arose when the council then refused to grant that permission on the grounds that the site is on environmentally protected "greenbelt" land. However in the 30 years before Dale Farm was set up the site was used as a scrap yard/industrial site and is heavily polluted as a result. The local council made no attempt whatsoever to evict the scrap yard meaning that the land really should no longer be classified as greenbelt. Also just because land is classified as greenbelt doesn't automatically mean that the council is unable to grant planning permission. For example Essex County Council have recently given a property developer permission to build 900 new homes on a greenbelt site near to Dale Farm.
So the only illegal thing about Dale Farm is the council's refusal to give it planning permission and it seems the only reason they're refusing is because they don't like the ethnicity of the people living there.
The only major development so far is that most of the British media have finally stopped referring to Dale Farm as an illegal site. What actually happened was that the residents brought the land from the council on the understanding that it would be granted planning permission. They then built on the land and applied for planning permission all of which is entirely legal.
The problem only arose when the council then refused to grant that permission on the grounds that the site is on environmentally protected "greenbelt" land. However in the 30 years before Dale Farm was set up the site was used as a scrap yard/industrial site and is heavily polluted as a result. The local council made no attempt whatsoever to evict the scrap yard meaning that the land really should no longer be classified as greenbelt. Also just because land is classified as greenbelt doesn't automatically mean that the council is unable to grant planning permission. For example Essex County Council have recently given a property developer permission to build 900 new homes on a greenbelt site near to Dale Farm.
So the only illegal thing about Dale Farm is the council's refusal to give it planning permission and it seems the only reason they're refusing is because they don't like the ethnicity of the people living there.
Friday 16 September 2011
Tony Blair Strikes Again.
In his role as the Chair of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas has today confirmed that the PLO will use this year's United Nations General Assembly to push for a vote on recognising Palestine as a sovereign state. There are actually two ways to go about this. Firstly they can call a General Assembly vote on the motion and if it is passed by a two thirds majority it will be passed up to the Security Council where it can be ratified by eight members voting yes or vetoed by one of the five permanent members. Alternatively they can just refer the motion directly to the Security Council.
Although both of these routes are equally valid the General Assembly route will require more nations to actively vote in support of a Palestinian state and will therefore be seen to carry more credibility. Initially this was the route the PLO were intending to take but today (16/9/11) Abbas confirmed that they will instead be going straight to the Security Council. This is being done over worries that the motion may not pass the General Assembly because of genuine concerns amongst it's allies that Palestine is not yet ready for all that statehood entails and a wider desire to avoid having the issue brought before the Security Council at this time. This last point is because as soon as the matter comes before the Security Council it will stop being about Palestine and become a battle of wills between the USA on one side and China and Russia on the other which will encompass all the complex geo-political pressure points between these three great adversaries. The USA have already indicated that they will veto the motion but I think they're bluffing and will instead abstain from the vote. This puts huge pressure on Russia and China to either use their veto and risk the allegiances they built up on their support for Palestine or vote for the motion and risk having the Palestinians being left with a resolution they may well live to regret.
If Palestine does become a state then there are a number of things that will have to change. Firstly the PLO will have to be replaced with a national government. Although there are a number of ways this can happen the PLO have indicated that they simply intend to change their name. This presents a problem because due to a number or reasons, not all their own fault, the PLO is not really capable of becoming a credible national government. For example they don't really control the Gaza part of Palestine. It is also a problem because the PLO is an unelected body that doesn't represent the views of large sections of Palestinian society. So if the PLO were to become the national government then Hamas and it's supporters could well find themselves frozen out of the new Palestine state. This will suit Israel and the Zionists in the USA and Britain perfectly but will be a problem for Hamas supporters and a big problem for all Palestinians if the tensions it will create leads to a civil war.
Secondly if Palestine becomes a state then all the different armed groups associated with the PLO will either have to become part of a Palestinian national army or be controlled by the national army. Israel has time and time again shown itself to be opposed to the Palestinians setting up an armed security force let alone a fully fledged army so will make this task as difficult as possible. This creates a very real risk that one of these armed groups or even a false flag group will attack Israel again. If Palestine is a sovereign state it will be much easier for Israel to argue that the attack is a Palestinian act of war against Israel with all the consequences that entails.
Thirdly if Palestine becomes a state then it's borders and territory will become fixed. This leaves little room for future negotiations and possible land swaps that could be required to take into account future discoveries of natural resources like gas and water. Also giving Palestine a fixed territory offers little protection against future Israeli expansion because as Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon will testify Israel has no qualms about invading sovereign states and settling Jews on the stolen land.
Fourthly if Palestine becomes a state it will have to officially make Palestinians citizens of that state. Again there are a number of ways this could happen but it is most likely that Palestinians living abroad as refugees will not only have to give up their right to return but also their claim to Palestinian citizenship and become stateless with no-one looking out for their interests.
So if I was part of the PLO I wouldn't be in such a rush to get statehood and should perhaps be prepared to settle for enhanced observer status for the time being
I should also say that now I've had time to think about it the Welsh mining disaster also looks like a British attempt to muscle in on the possibly impending USA, China, Russia argument. Russia recently had it's own mining disaster which I believe killed 12. So Britain having it's own mining disaster was an attempt to start a conversation with Russia over where they stand. The safety record of China's mining industry is less then ideal and if the recent high speed train crash is anything to go by public safety is an issue that mobilises China's increasingly assertive population to demand more from their government. So Britain bringing up the issue of mining safety looks like an attempt to put extra pressure on China ahead of the meeting. Also mining involves digging lots of tunnels. I'm sure the Palestinians, especially the one's in Gaza, know a thing or two about that.
Although both of these routes are equally valid the General Assembly route will require more nations to actively vote in support of a Palestinian state and will therefore be seen to carry more credibility. Initially this was the route the PLO were intending to take but today (16/9/11) Abbas confirmed that they will instead be going straight to the Security Council. This is being done over worries that the motion may not pass the General Assembly because of genuine concerns amongst it's allies that Palestine is not yet ready for all that statehood entails and a wider desire to avoid having the issue brought before the Security Council at this time. This last point is because as soon as the matter comes before the Security Council it will stop being about Palestine and become a battle of wills between the USA on one side and China and Russia on the other which will encompass all the complex geo-political pressure points between these three great adversaries. The USA have already indicated that they will veto the motion but I think they're bluffing and will instead abstain from the vote. This puts huge pressure on Russia and China to either use their veto and risk the allegiances they built up on their support for Palestine or vote for the motion and risk having the Palestinians being left with a resolution they may well live to regret.
If Palestine does become a state then there are a number of things that will have to change. Firstly the PLO will have to be replaced with a national government. Although there are a number of ways this can happen the PLO have indicated that they simply intend to change their name. This presents a problem because due to a number or reasons, not all their own fault, the PLO is not really capable of becoming a credible national government. For example they don't really control the Gaza part of Palestine. It is also a problem because the PLO is an unelected body that doesn't represent the views of large sections of Palestinian society. So if the PLO were to become the national government then Hamas and it's supporters could well find themselves frozen out of the new Palestine state. This will suit Israel and the Zionists in the USA and Britain perfectly but will be a problem for Hamas supporters and a big problem for all Palestinians if the tensions it will create leads to a civil war.
Secondly if Palestine becomes a state then all the different armed groups associated with the PLO will either have to become part of a Palestinian national army or be controlled by the national army. Israel has time and time again shown itself to be opposed to the Palestinians setting up an armed security force let alone a fully fledged army so will make this task as difficult as possible. This creates a very real risk that one of these armed groups or even a false flag group will attack Israel again. If Palestine is a sovereign state it will be much easier for Israel to argue that the attack is a Palestinian act of war against Israel with all the consequences that entails.
Thirdly if Palestine becomes a state then it's borders and territory will become fixed. This leaves little room for future negotiations and possible land swaps that could be required to take into account future discoveries of natural resources like gas and water. Also giving Palestine a fixed territory offers little protection against future Israeli expansion because as Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon will testify Israel has no qualms about invading sovereign states and settling Jews on the stolen land.
Fourthly if Palestine becomes a state it will have to officially make Palestinians citizens of that state. Again there are a number of ways this could happen but it is most likely that Palestinians living abroad as refugees will not only have to give up their right to return but also their claim to Palestinian citizenship and become stateless with no-one looking out for their interests.
So if I was part of the PLO I wouldn't be in such a rush to get statehood and should perhaps be prepared to settle for enhanced observer status for the time being
I should also say that now I've had time to think about it the Welsh mining disaster also looks like a British attempt to muscle in on the possibly impending USA, China, Russia argument. Russia recently had it's own mining disaster which I believe killed 12. So Britain having it's own mining disaster was an attempt to start a conversation with Russia over where they stand. The safety record of China's mining industry is less then ideal and if the recent high speed train crash is anything to go by public safety is an issue that mobilises China's increasingly assertive population to demand more from their government. So Britain bringing up the issue of mining safety looks like an attempt to put extra pressure on China ahead of the meeting. Also mining involves digging lots of tunnels. I'm sure the Palestinians, especially the one's in Gaza, know a thing or two about that.
Hooray For The Welsh Mining Disaster !
Yesterday (15/9/11) some sort of disaster occurred at a drift style coal mine in the Swansea Valley, south Wales. This apparent water problem trapped four miners inside the shaft and today (16/9/11) one of the miners has been found dead. Coming on the day that I submitted a section 4 request to my Welsh grandmother's consultant this is clearly the Brit's way of explaining that situation to the world with the "disaster" being my submission and the "rescue effort" being their attempts to make sure my grandmother is denied the medical care she needs.
When you think about it it's actually quite clever because I don't think anyone wants the actual rescue effort to fail. So by giving the story wall to wall TV coverage probably over several days it will have a drip, drip effect building up an almost subconscious belief in the British public that it is in their interest that my grandmother is rescued from appropriate medical care.
Beyond that I wouldn't get too caught up in the details of the story because it is mainly there to cause confusion and cover while the Brits figure out what they're going to do. However there are two things to be aware of. Firstly it is almost impossible to talk about mining disasters without being reminded of 2010's sensational rescue of the Chilean miners. Chile is currently going through a period of quite serious social unrest and political protest fuelled, in part, by the way the rescued miners have been treated since their rescue. So the Welsh story could be being used to gain Chilean support for the Brit's plan by trying to convince the Chilean government that I'm responsible for the current unrest and by doing so energise Pinochet's old allies.
Secondly a similar disaster occurred at a similar drift style mine in November 2010 in New Zealand. New Zealand is a very active British ally providing special forces troops to both Afghanistan and Libya. New Zealand is also currently hosting the Rugby Union World Cup. So the Welsh story could be used for coded discussions between the two nations over those three other situations.
While I'm here I should point out that my father is currently unaware of my section 4 submission. I suspect when he does find out I'm going to get yelled at so hopefully that won't happen for a while yet because later today the Palestinians are supposed to be laying out their game plan for the UN General Assembly.
When you think about it it's actually quite clever because I don't think anyone wants the actual rescue effort to fail. So by giving the story wall to wall TV coverage probably over several days it will have a drip, drip effect building up an almost subconscious belief in the British public that it is in their interest that my grandmother is rescued from appropriate medical care.
Beyond that I wouldn't get too caught up in the details of the story because it is mainly there to cause confusion and cover while the Brits figure out what they're going to do. However there are two things to be aware of. Firstly it is almost impossible to talk about mining disasters without being reminded of 2010's sensational rescue of the Chilean miners. Chile is currently going through a period of quite serious social unrest and political protest fuelled, in part, by the way the rescued miners have been treated since their rescue. So the Welsh story could be being used to gain Chilean support for the Brit's plan by trying to convince the Chilean government that I'm responsible for the current unrest and by doing so energise Pinochet's old allies.
Secondly a similar disaster occurred at a similar drift style mine in November 2010 in New Zealand. New Zealand is a very active British ally providing special forces troops to both Afghanistan and Libya. New Zealand is also currently hosting the Rugby Union World Cup. So the Welsh story could be used for coded discussions between the two nations over those three other situations.
While I'm here I should point out that my father is currently unaware of my section 4 submission. I suspect when he does find out I'm going to get yelled at so hopefully that won't happen for a while yet because later today the Palestinians are supposed to be laying out their game plan for the UN General Assembly.
Thursday 15 September 2011
Ok I've Moved.
Negotiations about my grandmother's care have ground to a halt. So today (15/9/11) I submitted a formal request for a psychiatric assessment under Section 4 of the Mental Health 1983 to her consultant. This should force him to pass the case over to the social services and mental health departments. In the event that this doesn't happen I've also forwarded a copy to the mental health department at the Royal Bethlem Hospital.
As the provider of mental health services in their borough and home to the national specialist centre for eating disorders the Royal Bethlem oversaw my sister's care for the best part of a decade. So although the had very little success in her case they should be well aware of the specific issues with the family unit.
I accept that coming so close to the UN General Assembly this is probably not the best time to do this but unfortunately due to time pressures it is something that needs to be done now. I should also point out that a Section 4 assessment is the same as a Section 2 assessment which is the same as a Section 3 assessment. These must be carried out by two doctors so if people were interested in getting first hand knowledge of my grandmother's condition and case history now would be a perfect time to insist that one of those doctors is one of their people.
As the provider of mental health services in their borough and home to the national specialist centre for eating disorders the Royal Bethlem oversaw my sister's care for the best part of a decade. So although the had very little success in her case they should be well aware of the specific issues with the family unit.
I accept that coming so close to the UN General Assembly this is probably not the best time to do this but unfortunately due to time pressures it is something that needs to be done now. I should also point out that a Section 4 assessment is the same as a Section 2 assessment which is the same as a Section 3 assessment. These must be carried out by two doctors so if people were interested in getting first hand knowledge of my grandmother's condition and case history now would be a perfect time to insist that one of those doctors is one of their people.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Like I Said.
Nothing broken. Nothing stolen.
However it is about 22:50 on Tuesday September 13th 2011 (13/9/11) and I'm about to go live on the Internet so no promises.
However it is about 22:50 on Tuesday September 13th 2011 (13/9/11) and I'm about to go live on the Internet so no promises.
Ok That's a Bit Weird.
As it's Tuesday night my father went to the pub for dinner as usual. Due to a Carling Cup game being played at 20:00 we left a little bit late and arrived home a little bit late (20:25 approx). For a change I had a chicken burger rather then a beef burger. However that is not the weird bit.
When we got home it quickly became apparent that someone had effected entry to the property while we were out. I hesitate to say broken into because nothing was damaged and as far as we can tell nothing was stolen. However the mystery guests did leave a carefully placed copy of the South London And Maudsley (SLAM) psychiatric Hospital's Summer 2011 newsletter with the front page headline "Refreshing Websites" which hopefully can be seen below;
Of course if my grandmother were to be referred to a psychiatric hospital she would be referred to the South London And Maudsley hospital and I did spend a little time last (12/9/11) night checking out their website. So I guess the question now is what message were the mysterious little visitors trying to send? Personally I'm going with fear and intimidation.
Now do I really need to explain today's (13/9/11) "Taliban" attack on the US Embassy, NATO headquarters and the offices of the Iranian news channel "Press TV" in more detail?
When we got home it quickly became apparent that someone had effected entry to the property while we were out. I hesitate to say broken into because nothing was damaged and as far as we can tell nothing was stolen. However the mystery guests did leave a carefully placed copy of the South London And Maudsley (SLAM) psychiatric Hospital's Summer 2011 newsletter with the front page headline "Refreshing Websites" which hopefully can be seen below;
Of course if my grandmother were to be referred to a psychiatric hospital she would be referred to the South London And Maudsley hospital and I did spend a little time last (12/9/11) night checking out their website. So I guess the question now is what message were the mysterious little visitors trying to send? Personally I'm going with fear and intimidation.
Now do I really need to explain today's (13/9/11) "Taliban" attack on the US Embassy, NATO headquarters and the offices of the Iranian news channel "Press TV" in more detail?
Operation Oil Theft: Month 6, Week 4, Day 1.
On Friday (9/9/11) Libyan rebels launched their long promised assault on Bani Walid in the west of the country. They claim that artillery fire from Libyan government positions forced them to mount the assault the day before the promised deadline for surrender. On Saturday (10/9/11) the rebels were forced to pause their assault while NATO aircraft attacked Libyan government forces on the road into the town. On Sunday (11/9/11) the rebels had reached the gates of the town and begun street to street fighting. By Monday (12/9/11) fierce resistance by the residents of Bani Walid which saw the rebels take an average of a dozen casualties a day forced the rebels to abandon their assault.
Also on Monday Libyan government forces counter-attacked from Sirte mounting an assault on the town of Ras Lanuf although these seem to be smash and grab raids rather then a full scale military break out.
On Saturday (10/9/11) the leader of the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, made his first visit to Tripoli and gave his first speech there. Although billed as a "Declaration of Liberation" this is actually an attempt by the 40 strong group of Benghazi lawyers that make up the TNC to impose their rule on the west of the country. This will be no simple task because the Tripoli rebels have already rejected the TNC's choice of local military commander, appointed their own and are refusing to follow orders from the TNC's National Liberation Army (NLA). Meanwhile fighters from Misrata and the Berber tribal regions seem to want to have nothing to do with the TNC.
The task of bring these disparate groups together is not going to be made any easier by a report published by Amnesty International today (13/9/11). This report finds rebels in the east of the country responsible for multiple atrocities and possible war crimes including the use of indiscriminate weapons against civilians, multiple racist killings, abductions and kidnappings, mistreatment of prisoners including beatings, torture and rape and the deliberate killing of civilians in order to pass them off as victims of Libyan government atrocities - so called "black propaganda." The report calls on the TNC to bring those rebels responsible to justice but only covers the period up to the end of July so misses out August's assault on Tripoli where the worst rebel atrocities are said to have been committed and they're still recovering bodies by the dozen.
The most interesting development of the week though hasn't really involved any Libyans at all but has focused on the main objective of the operation - who gets the oil. Last Monday (5/9/11) the Chinese government were forced to comment on documents leaked by a Canadian newspaper that detail a meeting between Libyan government officials and a Chinese arms manufacturer as recently as July 2011. The meeting itself isn't that interesting because it took place without the Chinese government's knowledge, no deal was done and no weapons were supplied. The leaking to the documents is very interesting though. On one level it was designed to make it difficult for the TNC to sign deals with Chinese rather then British oil companies by presenting China as an ally of Qaddafi in the Libyan public consciousness. On another level it was designed to put pressure on the United States to continue the NATO mission in support of the rebellion by raising the threat that Libya's oil will go to China should that rebellion fail.
At the start of the mission against Libya support amongst NATO members other then Britain, France and Canada was very low. As the mission has dragged on and it's true objective has become clear that support has all but disappeared making it unlikely that the NATO mandate will continue beyond September 27th. However as always the key player is the United States because if it is prepared to continue military action against Libya without a NATO mandate then very little will change so the other NATO members may well put aside their objections and continue the mandate in the interests of harmony within the alliance.
The leak of the China meeting also adds a new dimension to last weeks Nevada shooting in the US because the shooter used a Chinese AK-47 which has been banned from import into the US since about 1994. This led to a dialogue between the US and China over the issue of importing weapons despite arms embargoes. The result was that China dropped it's objections allowing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to officially recognise the TNC and today (13/9/11) China itself has also recognised the TNC. This seems to put China back in pole position in the race for Libya's oil because the Chinese approach to trade deals is all about business rather then honouring war time allegiances so they're likely to offer the highest price.
Also on Monday Libyan government forces counter-attacked from Sirte mounting an assault on the town of Ras Lanuf although these seem to be smash and grab raids rather then a full scale military break out.
On Saturday (10/9/11) the leader of the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC), Mustafa Abdel Jalil, made his first visit to Tripoli and gave his first speech there. Although billed as a "Declaration of Liberation" this is actually an attempt by the 40 strong group of Benghazi lawyers that make up the TNC to impose their rule on the west of the country. This will be no simple task because the Tripoli rebels have already rejected the TNC's choice of local military commander, appointed their own and are refusing to follow orders from the TNC's National Liberation Army (NLA). Meanwhile fighters from Misrata and the Berber tribal regions seem to want to have nothing to do with the TNC.
The task of bring these disparate groups together is not going to be made any easier by a report published by Amnesty International today (13/9/11). This report finds rebels in the east of the country responsible for multiple atrocities and possible war crimes including the use of indiscriminate weapons against civilians, multiple racist killings, abductions and kidnappings, mistreatment of prisoners including beatings, torture and rape and the deliberate killing of civilians in order to pass them off as victims of Libyan government atrocities - so called "black propaganda." The report calls on the TNC to bring those rebels responsible to justice but only covers the period up to the end of July so misses out August's assault on Tripoli where the worst rebel atrocities are said to have been committed and they're still recovering bodies by the dozen.
The most interesting development of the week though hasn't really involved any Libyans at all but has focused on the main objective of the operation - who gets the oil. Last Monday (5/9/11) the Chinese government were forced to comment on documents leaked by a Canadian newspaper that detail a meeting between Libyan government officials and a Chinese arms manufacturer as recently as July 2011. The meeting itself isn't that interesting because it took place without the Chinese government's knowledge, no deal was done and no weapons were supplied. The leaking to the documents is very interesting though. On one level it was designed to make it difficult for the TNC to sign deals with Chinese rather then British oil companies by presenting China as an ally of Qaddafi in the Libyan public consciousness. On another level it was designed to put pressure on the United States to continue the NATO mission in support of the rebellion by raising the threat that Libya's oil will go to China should that rebellion fail.
At the start of the mission against Libya support amongst NATO members other then Britain, France and Canada was very low. As the mission has dragged on and it's true objective has become clear that support has all but disappeared making it unlikely that the NATO mandate will continue beyond September 27th. However as always the key player is the United States because if it is prepared to continue military action against Libya without a NATO mandate then very little will change so the other NATO members may well put aside their objections and continue the mandate in the interests of harmony within the alliance.
The leak of the China meeting also adds a new dimension to last weeks Nevada shooting in the US because the shooter used a Chinese AK-47 which has been banned from import into the US since about 1994. This led to a dialogue between the US and China over the issue of importing weapons despite arms embargoes. The result was that China dropped it's objections allowing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to officially recognise the TNC and today (13/9/11) China itself has also recognised the TNC. This seems to put China back in pole position in the race for Libya's oil because the Chinese approach to trade deals is all about business rather then honouring war time allegiances so they're likely to offer the highest price.
Apparently We're Not Visiting My Grandmother Today.
At around 14:00 today (13/9/11) my sister is coming up to visit. According to my father this made it completely impossible to go and visit my grandmother and speak to her consultant following the Tuesday ward round at 12:00.
Clearly this is my father using blocking tactics. Partly because like the other locals he has yet to accept that this situation is only going to end one way and it's not the way they planned. Mainly though it is just an attempt on his part to buy time in the hope that something, anything will come up at an unspecified point in the future to alter the situation.
This is a shame because I was hoping to sort all this out through negotiation and mutual agreement but sadly there is a limit to how long you can delay giving medical treatment to a sick person.
Clearly this is my father using blocking tactics. Partly because like the other locals he has yet to accept that this situation is only going to end one way and it's not the way they planned. Mainly though it is just an attempt on his part to buy time in the hope that something, anything will come up at an unspecified point in the future to alter the situation.
This is a shame because I was hoping to sort all this out through negotiation and mutual agreement but sadly there is a limit to how long you can delay giving medical treatment to a sick person.
Monday 12 September 2011
Expletive Deleted.
Yesterday (11/9/11) Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) with the help of Bedfordshire Police raided a caravan park in Leighton Buzzard in order to free 24 men who were being held as slaves and arrest 5 under the 2010 Slavery and Servitude Act. Although there is no evidence that this is anything other then people being held in cheap accommodation on a public caravan park the story is being reported by the BBC as "Slaves freed from Traveller site."
With the eviction of the Dale Farm Traveller site scheduled to begin next Monday (19/9/11) it would be all to easy to dismiss this police operation as an anti-Traveller smear campaign. However the full motivation behind it is far more sinister then that.
Firstly it is an anti-traveller smear campaign but one so obvious that it was designed to provoke people like me to leap to the defence of the Dale Farm residents. This would involve explaining the differences between Britain's Traveller evictions and France's recent Traveller evictions which would please France and improve relations between Britain and France over Libya. Secondly it was an opportunity to bombard the Americans with controversial phrases like "Travellers," "Gypsies," "Slaves," "SOCA," "Alcoholics" and "Institutionalised" on the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
So if you remember nothing else about this story remember that it was 2010 - last year - when Britain finally made slavery illegal.
With the eviction of the Dale Farm Traveller site scheduled to begin next Monday (19/9/11) it would be all to easy to dismiss this police operation as an anti-Traveller smear campaign. However the full motivation behind it is far more sinister then that.
Firstly it is an anti-traveller smear campaign but one so obvious that it was designed to provoke people like me to leap to the defence of the Dale Farm residents. This would involve explaining the differences between Britain's Traveller evictions and France's recent Traveller evictions which would please France and improve relations between Britain and France over Libya. Secondly it was an opportunity to bombard the Americans with controversial phrases like "Travellers," "Gypsies," "Slaves," "SOCA," "Alcoholics" and "Institutionalised" on the tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
So if you remember nothing else about this story remember that it was 2010 - last year - when Britain finally made slavery illegal.
Sunday 11 September 2011
They Say That Time & Tide Wait For No Man.
So while I understand that for many it is still the highly emotional tenth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks it turns out that I've still got work to do.
This evening (11/9/11) my father and I had an early dinner at the pub at around 17:00 before going to visit my grandmother in hospital together at around 18:00. There are really only two things to report. Firstly she has been moved to a bed in direct line of sight of the nurses station. The second thing is really not pleasant to talk about and even less pleasant to post on the world wide web. Due to her mobility problems my grandmother is unable to use the bathroom unaided. As it is impossible for a nurse to be with her whenever the need may arise she has been provided with adult diapers. On a medical ward where there are a number of patients - some with serious, life threatening conditions - and only a limited number of nurses this is a perfectly reasonable compromise. However it does serve to underline why a medical ward is really inappropriate for my grandmother's care needs because if she was on a psychiatric ward she would be under close observation meaning that a nurse would be with her 24 hours a day. Also people who use adult diapers are more at risk of contracting urinary infections. Considering that urinary infections have frequently been used in the past to dismiss my grandmother's fragile mental state I would say that this failure of care is diagnostically relevant.
As for the current terrorist threat to New York and Washington while I don't want to be the one to tell the security staff not to bother I wouldn't be that worried. The tip off provided by the Pakistanis is remarkably similar to intelligence that was recovered by the Navy SEAL's when they raided Osama bin Laden's compound. So it just seems to be Pakistani intelligence trying to wind up American intelligence for launching a military operation in Pakistan without permission. American intelligence initially took this in their stride when the tip came in on Wednesday (7/9/11) because this sort of message sending happens all the time in espionage circles. However they went public with it on Thursday (8/9/11) as a way to comment on my previous post describing the threat as "detailed, credible but unconfirmed." I am a little concerned though that American intelligence also mobilised their security apparatus because that looks like someone hiding behind me in order to continue to exploit 9/11 so they can do away with more and more American freedoms and trap us all in a state of continuous war.
Or to put it another way;
Screw the dignified silence. I'm going to the pub.
This evening (11/9/11) my father and I had an early dinner at the pub at around 17:00 before going to visit my grandmother in hospital together at around 18:00. There are really only two things to report. Firstly she has been moved to a bed in direct line of sight of the nurses station. The second thing is really not pleasant to talk about and even less pleasant to post on the world wide web. Due to her mobility problems my grandmother is unable to use the bathroom unaided. As it is impossible for a nurse to be with her whenever the need may arise she has been provided with adult diapers. On a medical ward where there are a number of patients - some with serious, life threatening conditions - and only a limited number of nurses this is a perfectly reasonable compromise. However it does serve to underline why a medical ward is really inappropriate for my grandmother's care needs because if she was on a psychiatric ward she would be under close observation meaning that a nurse would be with her 24 hours a day. Also people who use adult diapers are more at risk of contracting urinary infections. Considering that urinary infections have frequently been used in the past to dismiss my grandmother's fragile mental state I would say that this failure of care is diagnostically relevant.
As for the current terrorist threat to New York and Washington while I don't want to be the one to tell the security staff not to bother I wouldn't be that worried. The tip off provided by the Pakistanis is remarkably similar to intelligence that was recovered by the Navy SEAL's when they raided Osama bin Laden's compound. So it just seems to be Pakistani intelligence trying to wind up American intelligence for launching a military operation in Pakistan without permission. American intelligence initially took this in their stride when the tip came in on Wednesday (7/9/11) because this sort of message sending happens all the time in espionage circles. However they went public with it on Thursday (8/9/11) as a way to comment on my previous post describing the threat as "detailed, credible but unconfirmed." I am a little concerned though that American intelligence also mobilised their security apparatus because that looks like someone hiding behind me in order to continue to exploit 9/11 so they can do away with more and more American freedoms and trap us all in a state of continuous war.
Or to put it another way;
Screw the dignified silence. I'm going to the pub.
Thursday 8 September 2011
I Have Wasted My Day.
Today (8/9/11) was possibly going to be the date of the second multi-disciplinary team meeting about my grandmother. Although this was only ever an un-firm commitment I spent the day on stand by just in case. In the end it didn't happen so apart from cleaning the bathroom I completely wasted my afternoon.
This evening I met up with my mother for the first time since her recent wedding. As my mother's house is literally across the road from the hospital I first dropped in to visit my grandmother on my own. I found her to be calm, lucid and able to remember details about my mother's wedding and my various cousins. However just before I left she did fall due to severe muscle wastage in her legs.
As muscular-skeletal medicine is not only my mother's area of professional expertise but in my grandmother's case literally her department my grandmother's case obviously came up in conversation. This means that some of the secret is now out so I might as well tell everyone;
My grandmother's condition fulfills the criteria laid out in Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Therefore Section 3 should now be active. This in turn activates Section 114 of the same act which puts the local health authority/primary care trust under a legal obligation to both plan and fully fund aftercare which in my grandmother's case will mean a stay of indeterminate length in a residential facility specialising the care of elderly patients with mental health problems. However the local health authority/primary care trust are still trying to weasel out of their obligation by classifying my grandmother's case under the Health and Social Care Act 2001 which means she has to plan and pay for her own aftercare. What we are now considering are ways to compel the local health authority/primary care trust to activate Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
There are numerous ways to do this including the various criminal offences committed in the course of my grandmother's treatment. However while my grandmother's treatment has been extremely bad the practice of mis-classifying the cases of elderly patients is so widespread within the local health authority/primary care trust they seem unaware of how to properly classify them. Therefore I think the best solution would be for the Secretary of State for Health to impose an intervention order that would strip the local health authority/primary care trust of it's legal status and make health care in the Borough the responsibility of central government until such a time as the staff who have been behaving improperly can be replaced and proper procedures can be put in place.
Apart from stuff about weddings and riots my mother and I also discussed how my sister recently had to be admitted to hospital in Guilford suffering from heart failure due to her care team's refusal to treat a life threatening medical condition. She is now stable and out of hospital but I think that's another casualty we're going to have to chalk up to the Bristol Abuse Case.
This evening I met up with my mother for the first time since her recent wedding. As my mother's house is literally across the road from the hospital I first dropped in to visit my grandmother on my own. I found her to be calm, lucid and able to remember details about my mother's wedding and my various cousins. However just before I left she did fall due to severe muscle wastage in her legs.
As muscular-skeletal medicine is not only my mother's area of professional expertise but in my grandmother's case literally her department my grandmother's case obviously came up in conversation. This means that some of the secret is now out so I might as well tell everyone;
My grandmother's condition fulfills the criteria laid out in Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. Therefore Section 3 should now be active. This in turn activates Section 114 of the same act which puts the local health authority/primary care trust under a legal obligation to both plan and fully fund aftercare which in my grandmother's case will mean a stay of indeterminate length in a residential facility specialising the care of elderly patients with mental health problems. However the local health authority/primary care trust are still trying to weasel out of their obligation by classifying my grandmother's case under the Health and Social Care Act 2001 which means she has to plan and pay for her own aftercare. What we are now considering are ways to compel the local health authority/primary care trust to activate Section 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
There are numerous ways to do this including the various criminal offences committed in the course of my grandmother's treatment. However while my grandmother's treatment has been extremely bad the practice of mis-classifying the cases of elderly patients is so widespread within the local health authority/primary care trust they seem unaware of how to properly classify them. Therefore I think the best solution would be for the Secretary of State for Health to impose an intervention order that would strip the local health authority/primary care trust of it's legal status and make health care in the Borough the responsibility of central government until such a time as the staff who have been behaving improperly can be replaced and proper procedures can be put in place.
Apart from stuff about weddings and riots my mother and I also discussed how my sister recently had to be admitted to hospital in Guilford suffering from heart failure due to her care team's refusal to treat a life threatening medical condition. She is now stable and out of hospital but I think that's another casualty we're going to have to chalk up to the Bristol Abuse Case.
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Nevada Shooting
Yesterday (6/9/11) a 32 year old Hispanic man opened fire in a restaurant in Carson City, Nevada killing three uniformed National Guardsman and one civilian and injuring six others. The gunman then turned his AK-47 on himself and died later in hospital. There is no suggestion that this incident was related to Islamic terrorism and is most likely just a man with pre-existing mental health problems being driven over the edge during the long, labor day weekend.
However while it sounds racist I am interested to know more about the immigration status of the gunman, Eduardo Sencion and his relatives and close friends. There is a possibility that someone in the American intelligence community used any problems to put Sencion up to the attack. However the only real reasons I can think for doing this is to promote about Hispanic immigration into the US especially neighbouring Arizona's controversial laws on the matter.
Also the scene of off-duty but uniformed military reservists being shot and killed in a restaurant/cafe by men armed with AK-47's has been seen before in Israel during Palestinian uprisings. The UN vote on Palestinian statehood is taking place later this month. Israel has been warning that a no vote will lead to another Palestinian uprising. So this shooting could be an American attempt to bring Israel's claim to a wider audience in order to intimidate people into voting yes on Palestinian statehood.
Mind you I've not exactly been overwhelmed with information about the shooting so I could well be wrong.
However while it sounds racist I am interested to know more about the immigration status of the gunman, Eduardo Sencion and his relatives and close friends. There is a possibility that someone in the American intelligence community used any problems to put Sencion up to the attack. However the only real reasons I can think for doing this is to promote about Hispanic immigration into the US especially neighbouring Arizona's controversial laws on the matter.
Also the scene of off-duty but uniformed military reservists being shot and killed in a restaurant/cafe by men armed with AK-47's has been seen before in Israel during Palestinian uprisings. The UN vote on Palestinian statehood is taking place later this month. Israel has been warning that a no vote will lead to another Palestinian uprising. So this shooting could be an American attempt to bring Israel's claim to a wider audience in order to intimidate people into voting yes on Palestinian statehood.
Mind you I've not exactly been overwhelmed with information about the shooting so I could well be wrong.
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Now That Was Painful.
Seriously I think I've pulled a muscle in my shoulder.
It is now around 02:15 on Wednesday September 7th 2011 (7/9/11). I can't pretend that I've read and memorized everything I promised but I have managed to make my own copies of about 27% of what I needed and that will form the basis of a hardcore reading session tomorrow or possibly later today.
So I may just take the opportunity to point out that as a British subject I think it's really f*cking offensive that I can't receive free copies of a relevant legislation as and when I require it. After all ignorance of the law is no defence under the law.
Mind you it could be worse. I could be an NHS consultant responsible for 20+ patients of varying degrees of illness spread out over several wards. So I think it is my duty to inform;
NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) has suspended the transfer of prisoners to several Afghan jails due to concerns over torture. Or to put it another way; don't call us, we'll call you.
And yes yesterday I did have a hair cut so now the stubble on my head is getting about the same length as the stubble on my face.
It is now around 02:15 on Wednesday September 7th 2011 (7/9/11). I can't pretend that I've read and memorized everything I promised but I have managed to make my own copies of about 27% of what I needed and that will form the basis of a hardcore reading session tomorrow or possibly later today.
So I may just take the opportunity to point out that as a British subject I think it's really f*cking offensive that I can't receive free copies of a relevant legislation as and when I require it. After all ignorance of the law is no defence under the law.
Mind you it could be worse. I could be an NHS consultant responsible for 20+ patients of varying degrees of illness spread out over several wards. So I think it is my duty to inform;
NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) has suspended the transfer of prisoners to several Afghan jails due to concerns over torture. Or to put it another way; don't call us, we'll call you.
And yes yesterday I did have a hair cut so now the stubble on my head is getting about the same length as the stubble on my face.
And Of Course
It is about 22:45 on Tuesday September 6th 2011 (6/9/11). Not Tuesday September 5th 2011 (5/9/11) as I earlier mentioned. Did I mention the pub?
Elsewhere England beat Wales 1-0 in the football with Young beating Henessey in the 34th minute and PJ Harvey won the Mercury Music Prize spoiling a million and one jokes about no-one caring about the Mercury Music Prize.
Now if anyone needs me I will be attempting to memorize various English statutes and relevant case law. However I would prefer to keep the specific details vague because while I'm feeling confident I'm not feeling confident enough to give my opponent a free education.
Elsewhere England beat Wales 1-0 in the football with Young beating Henessey in the 34th minute and PJ Harvey won the Mercury Music Prize spoiling a million and one jokes about no-one caring about the Mercury Music Prize.
Now if anyone needs me I will be attempting to memorize various English statutes and relevant case law. However I would prefer to keep the specific details vague because while I'm feeling confident I'm not feeling confident enough to give my opponent a free education.
Sshh Football.
It's 20:00 on Tuesday September 6th and I'm back from the pub. Everything was not only Ok but peaceful on account of the England V Wales game being on the TV.
It's currently 0-0 but England are ranked 4th in the World while Wales are ranked 117th so I'll be f*cking astounded if England lose this. Mind you it could be Wales' night.
It's currently 0-0 but England are ranked 4th in the World while Wales are ranked 117th so I'll be f*cking astounded if England lose this. Mind you it could be Wales' night.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 6, Week 3, Day 1.
Militarily very little has happened in Libya this past week. The rebels are still on the outskirts of both Sirte and Bani Walid but have been unable to advance any further.
Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) though have been very busy in the skies above both Sirte and Bani Walid. Although I don't have access to the exact mission details there are multiple, credible reports that the reduction in bombing missions over the last couple of days has been caused by the RAF's stocks of missiles dropping to single figures forcing them to wait until extra supplies can be brought in from the United States and more can be delivered from the factory. That means that all the rebel's talk of negotiations and rumours of this Qaddafi son being spotted here and that Qaddafi son being killed there are just that. Misdirection to divert attention away from the fact that the rebels are still a long way away from being able to overthrow the Libyan government and are being forced to rely on Britain for help by bombing everything and everyone in Sirte and Bani Walid.
On the diplomatic front the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) used last Thursday's (1/9/11) Paris conference to unveil sketchy plans to hold democratic elections 20 months after the end of the conflict. The problem is that at the Paris conference there were also much more detailed plans circulating to have foreign oil companies back up to pre-conflict production levels 18 months after the end of the the conflict. So it looks like the Libyan people are going to get the sort of democracy that will allow them to decide everything except who gets their money.
On Sunday (4/9/11) the charity Human Rights Watch (HRW) uncovered documents revealing close links between Britain's MI6 and the Libyan departments for external and internal security. In Britain everyone has leapt onto the documents that show Britain was complicit in the extraordinary rendition and torture of Libya terrorist suspects including Abedel Hakim Bel Haj currently the rebel's military commander for the Tripoli region. The TNC have demanded a full investigation and apology and Britain is resisting those calls. So once again we have a huge spectacle designed to convince everyone that Britain's MI6 and the TNC aren't the same thing.
Amid all the drama everyone seems to have overlooked the fact that the documents also show a close and longstanding relationship between MI6 and the Libyan department of internal security that continued up to, during and after the February uprising. This is important because the atrocities that were committed in the east of the country were committed by the department of internal security and the evidence linking those atrocities to the Libyan government come from agents who later defected. So I think it's very important we know exactly when MI6 turned those agents otherwise it looks like MI6 were the ones ordering those atrocities.
Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) though have been very busy in the skies above both Sirte and Bani Walid. Although I don't have access to the exact mission details there are multiple, credible reports that the reduction in bombing missions over the last couple of days has been caused by the RAF's stocks of missiles dropping to single figures forcing them to wait until extra supplies can be brought in from the United States and more can be delivered from the factory. That means that all the rebel's talk of negotiations and rumours of this Qaddafi son being spotted here and that Qaddafi son being killed there are just that. Misdirection to divert attention away from the fact that the rebels are still a long way away from being able to overthrow the Libyan government and are being forced to rely on Britain for help by bombing everything and everyone in Sirte and Bani Walid.
On the diplomatic front the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) used last Thursday's (1/9/11) Paris conference to unveil sketchy plans to hold democratic elections 20 months after the end of the conflict. The problem is that at the Paris conference there were also much more detailed plans circulating to have foreign oil companies back up to pre-conflict production levels 18 months after the end of the the conflict. So it looks like the Libyan people are going to get the sort of democracy that will allow them to decide everything except who gets their money.
On Sunday (4/9/11) the charity Human Rights Watch (HRW) uncovered documents revealing close links between Britain's MI6 and the Libyan departments for external and internal security. In Britain everyone has leapt onto the documents that show Britain was complicit in the extraordinary rendition and torture of Libya terrorist suspects including Abedel Hakim Bel Haj currently the rebel's military commander for the Tripoli region. The TNC have demanded a full investigation and apology and Britain is resisting those calls. So once again we have a huge spectacle designed to convince everyone that Britain's MI6 and the TNC aren't the same thing.
Amid all the drama everyone seems to have overlooked the fact that the documents also show a close and longstanding relationship between MI6 and the Libyan department of internal security that continued up to, during and after the February uprising. This is important because the atrocities that were committed in the east of the country were committed by the department of internal security and the evidence linking those atrocities to the Libyan government come from agents who later defected. So I think it's very important we know exactly when MI6 turned those agents otherwise it looks like MI6 were the ones ordering those atrocities.
Grandmother News
I've been to see my grandmother. The only really thing to report is that the anti-psychotics and rest have been doing their job so she is now calm enough to remember that she's really depressed. I also took the unusual decision to photograph her drugs chart to prove what medications she's been on in case anyone gets any funny ideas about altering her medical records. Unfortunately those photographs are on my phone so I can't post them up yet.
Monday 5 September 2011
It's Almost Too Depressing to Look At.
Since October 2010 Somalia has either been at the point of famine or in full blown famine and it's African neighbours; Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti have been at the point of famine. The scale of this catastrophe is so overwhelming that the bureaucracy that is needed to deal with produces thousands of fresh pages of documents every single day. So you'll excuse me if I'm not fully up to date.
Apart from the obvious problem of tens of thousands of deaths the famine has created a massive flow of refugees - some 2000 per day - out of Somalia and into Kenya and Ethiopia. This has completely overwhelmed refugee camps in the Dollo Ado region of Ethiopia and the Dadaab region of Kenya. With Kenya being the closest and therefore worst hit the Ifo1 refugee camp has seen it's population treble far exceeding it's capacity and forcing new arrivals to set up their own camps outside where death, rape, violence and disease are an every day part of life. Working through a Kenya government that is obviously worried about it's own people Britain saw this as a perfect opportunity to have a discussion about my current situation, especially the occupants of #50 Beechwood Avenue. After weeks of frantic discussion the Kenyan government - on Britain's behalf - finally admitted that they had an unused refugee camp (Ifo2) ready to take Ifo1's problem neighbours and set to work building a third camp (Ifo3). Even with most of the overflow transferred life in all three of the Ifo camps is still very grim with 5 deaths per day and orphaned infants being left to fend for themselves. In both the Dadaab and Dollo Ado camps there is major concern over an impending outbreak of diseases like measles, cholera and malaria all of which are normally fatal for people suffering from malnutrition. There have already been outbreaks or measles in the Dadaab camps and aid agencies led by the United Nations (UN) are frantically carrying out a vaccination program.
In Somalia itself the situation is much more complicated with western nations led by Britain, USA and France still treating the crisis as an opportunity to overthrow al-Shabab and impose the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). As a result the UN is still banned from the country. However the reality of life on the ground in Somalia depends on which particular person you're talking too in a particular area on a particular day. So working through local charities and community groups the UN is gradually getting more and more food aid in and getting a clearer picture of the scale of the problem. What they are seeing is not pretty. With the Bay region added to the list today (5/9/11) all six of Somalia's six regions south of the upper Shabelle region are in famine with an average of ten death per hundred thousand per day - double the threshold for famine. The regions between upper Shabelle and Nugal sometimes known as Puntland are in a phase 4 food crisis and are approaching famine (phase 5). Even the relatively more stable regions sometimes known as Somaliland are in a phase 3 crisis and are approaching phase 4. As al-Shabab withdrew from the capital Mogadishu in early August large numbers of Somalis followed them worsening the situation in the famine hit southern regions although this problem seems to be settling now. The people who remain in the makeshift camps in the capital are facing serious shortages on both food and food aid and have to contend with outbreaks of cholera, a disease for which there is no vaccine or real treatment.
The increased access to Somalia has created tensions between charities like the one's funded by Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the UN. The charities are happy to sit in the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia and give out aid there because it's safer, logistically simpler and easier for them to take lots of photographs of the good work they're doing to send to their donors. What the UN want is for those charities to either go into Somalia or share their resources with charities already in Somalia so the problem can be tackled at source. This is because large movements of refugees destabilise both the country they've come from and the country they've gone too making the whole problem much worse. It can also become de-facto ethnic cleansing.
The crisis has also exacerbated an already ongoing dispute over Cash versus Vouchers. Put simply beyond food aid and medication refugees also need everyday things like blankets, cooking pots, clothes etc. Although aid agencies will happily pay for all these things it's long been agreed that it is best if the refugees buy them themselves from local merchants to avoid totally destroying the local economy. The only argument is over the best way to do this; either by giving the refugees local currency or by giving them vouchers that the local merchants can exchange for cash with the charities. Normally I'm all for cash because vouchers make the local merchants dependent on the charities and the local economy still gets destroyed. However given the severity of the current crisis in this instance vouchers will be better in the short term because flooding a disaster area with huge volumes of cash leads to violence, crime and corruption. There should definitely be a switch back to cash though just as soon as the crisis phase has passed.
Speaking of cash the UN's main problem is that they've only received 59% of the US$2.4bn that it needs. So if you have any spare cash feel free to donate it too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
However I would warn against any Somali's living abroad - especially in Britain, USA, France - using wire transfer services like Western Union to send cash directly to Somalia. This method allows the intelligence services in the host nation to gather huge amounts of information about social groups and funding mechanisms. This is how Britain helped Sri Lanka to destroy the Tamils.
Of course if you are a high net worth individual or represent a company you should first read through this leaflet; http://ochanet.unocha.org/p/Documents/Horn%20of%20Africa%20-%20How%20to%20Help,%203Aug2011.pdf
and then contact the UN directly because they will be able to advise you how to get the most bang for your buck.
Apart from the obvious problem of tens of thousands of deaths the famine has created a massive flow of refugees - some 2000 per day - out of Somalia and into Kenya and Ethiopia. This has completely overwhelmed refugee camps in the Dollo Ado region of Ethiopia and the Dadaab region of Kenya. With Kenya being the closest and therefore worst hit the Ifo1 refugee camp has seen it's population treble far exceeding it's capacity and forcing new arrivals to set up their own camps outside where death, rape, violence and disease are an every day part of life. Working through a Kenya government that is obviously worried about it's own people Britain saw this as a perfect opportunity to have a discussion about my current situation, especially the occupants of #50 Beechwood Avenue. After weeks of frantic discussion the Kenyan government - on Britain's behalf - finally admitted that they had an unused refugee camp (Ifo2) ready to take Ifo1's problem neighbours and set to work building a third camp (Ifo3). Even with most of the overflow transferred life in all three of the Ifo camps is still very grim with 5 deaths per day and orphaned infants being left to fend for themselves. In both the Dadaab and Dollo Ado camps there is major concern over an impending outbreak of diseases like measles, cholera and malaria all of which are normally fatal for people suffering from malnutrition. There have already been outbreaks or measles in the Dadaab camps and aid agencies led by the United Nations (UN) are frantically carrying out a vaccination program.
In Somalia itself the situation is much more complicated with western nations led by Britain, USA and France still treating the crisis as an opportunity to overthrow al-Shabab and impose the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). As a result the UN is still banned from the country. However the reality of life on the ground in Somalia depends on which particular person you're talking too in a particular area on a particular day. So working through local charities and community groups the UN is gradually getting more and more food aid in and getting a clearer picture of the scale of the problem. What they are seeing is not pretty. With the Bay region added to the list today (5/9/11) all six of Somalia's six regions south of the upper Shabelle region are in famine with an average of ten death per hundred thousand per day - double the threshold for famine. The regions between upper Shabelle and Nugal sometimes known as Puntland are in a phase 4 food crisis and are approaching famine (phase 5). Even the relatively more stable regions sometimes known as Somaliland are in a phase 3 crisis and are approaching phase 4. As al-Shabab withdrew from the capital Mogadishu in early August large numbers of Somalis followed them worsening the situation in the famine hit southern regions although this problem seems to be settling now. The people who remain in the makeshift camps in the capital are facing serious shortages on both food and food aid and have to contend with outbreaks of cholera, a disease for which there is no vaccine or real treatment.
The increased access to Somalia has created tensions between charities like the one's funded by Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the UN. The charities are happy to sit in the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia and give out aid there because it's safer, logistically simpler and easier for them to take lots of photographs of the good work they're doing to send to their donors. What the UN want is for those charities to either go into Somalia or share their resources with charities already in Somalia so the problem can be tackled at source. This is because large movements of refugees destabilise both the country they've come from and the country they've gone too making the whole problem much worse. It can also become de-facto ethnic cleansing.
The crisis has also exacerbated an already ongoing dispute over Cash versus Vouchers. Put simply beyond food aid and medication refugees also need everyday things like blankets, cooking pots, clothes etc. Although aid agencies will happily pay for all these things it's long been agreed that it is best if the refugees buy them themselves from local merchants to avoid totally destroying the local economy. The only argument is over the best way to do this; either by giving the refugees local currency or by giving them vouchers that the local merchants can exchange for cash with the charities. Normally I'm all for cash because vouchers make the local merchants dependent on the charities and the local economy still gets destroyed. However given the severity of the current crisis in this instance vouchers will be better in the short term because flooding a disaster area with huge volumes of cash leads to violence, crime and corruption. There should definitely be a switch back to cash though just as soon as the crisis phase has passed.
Speaking of cash the UN's main problem is that they've only received 59% of the US$2.4bn that it needs. So if you have any spare cash feel free to donate it too;
Unicef; http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=7542627
The UN's World Food Program; https://www.wfp.org/donate/fillthecup?icn=homepage-donate-cup&ici=big-button-link
However I would warn against any Somali's living abroad - especially in Britain, USA, France - using wire transfer services like Western Union to send cash directly to Somalia. This method allows the intelligence services in the host nation to gather huge amounts of information about social groups and funding mechanisms. This is how Britain helped Sri Lanka to destroy the Tamils.
Of course if you are a high net worth individual or represent a company you should first read through this leaflet; http://ochanet.unocha.org/p/Documents/Horn%20of%20Africa%20-%20How%20to%20Help,%203Aug2011.pdf
and then contact the UN directly because they will be able to advise you how to get the most bang for your buck.
Dale Farm Eviction Date Set.
Although it's not been made official yet local sources have announced that later today (5/9/11) Basildon council will serve letters on the residents of Dale Farm informing them that their eviction will begin on September 19th (19/9/11). As I'm sure you're aware the United Nations have been very vocal in their criticism of Basildon council's plans and called on Britain's UN delegation to suspend what is widely viewed as an illegal act.
The 66th (2011) session of the United Nations General Assembly that will vote on the issue of Palestinian statehood will begin on September 13th (13/9/11) and run until September 27th (27/9/11). That means that the Dale Farm eviction will take place slap bang in the middle of the meeting and there is no chance that the Libya war will have ended by then.
So at the risk of making an already complicated situation worse may I suggest that any members who wish to see Britain expelled from the Security Council vote no on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
The 66th (2011) session of the United Nations General Assembly that will vote on the issue of Palestinian statehood will begin on September 13th (13/9/11) and run until September 27th (27/9/11). That means that the Dale Farm eviction will take place slap bang in the middle of the meeting and there is no chance that the Libya war will have ended by then.
So at the risk of making an already complicated situation worse may I suggest that any members who wish to see Britain expelled from the Security Council vote no on the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Sunday 4 September 2011
The Cheek of It.
On Friday (2/9/11) the nurse at the centre of the Stepping Hill hospital murder investigation was sensationally released from prison. This was primarily to give Britain the opportunity to publicly apologise for the way it's been behaving towards News International. It now turns out that Rebecca Leighton, the nurse, intends to sue a number of British tabloid newspapers for damages. The News International title "The Sun" will no doubt be front and centre of that legal action.
So I think it's worth remembering that the actual Rebecca Leighton has not been cleared of any offence. All that's happened is that the charges against her have been rested because evidence that prosecutors thought would be made available to them has not been made available. So the charges can be restarted just as soon as that evidence becomes available.
I also think that the powers that be were very certain that a police investigation into Stepping Hill hospital would naturally lead to a red haired woman named Rebecca long before the investigation was allowed to begin.
So I think it's worth remembering that the actual Rebecca Leighton has not been cleared of any offence. All that's happened is that the charges against her have been rested because evidence that prosecutors thought would be made available to them has not been made available. So the charges can be restarted just as soon as that evidence becomes available.
I also think that the powers that be were very certain that a police investigation into Stepping Hill hospital would naturally lead to a red haired woman named Rebecca long before the investigation was allowed to begin.
Friday 2 September 2011
I Nearly Forgot About That..
You may remember that at the time of my grandmother's first hospital admission (19/7/11) there were two dominant stories in the British news; The phone hacking scandal and Rebekah Brooks looming appearance in front of a Commons select committee. The massive police operation to find out who was killing patients by tampering with medication at the Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport.
The plan was to promote speculation about who was responsible for my grandmother's erratic and aggressive behaviour at home before the stories converged and the guilty party was revealed as a red haired woman named Rebbecca. Obviously the fact that halfway through my grandmother was admitted to a hospital where her care was monitored by and the sole responsibility of government licensed medical professionals derailed the plan somewhat. In fact forcing this story off the news agenda was one of the lesser reasons for Britain's attacks on Norway.
Today (2/9/11) the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped all charges against Rebbecca Leighton, the nurse at the centre of the Stepping Hill story. This was Britain being forced to retract it's ludicrous allegation over who is responsible for my grandmother's mis-treatment in the face of overwhelming evidence. So I think they'll be plenty of people in Croydon who will struggle to sleep soundly in their beds tonight because the Brits are fast running out of excuses not to prosecute.
The plan was to promote speculation about who was responsible for my grandmother's erratic and aggressive behaviour at home before the stories converged and the guilty party was revealed as a red haired woman named Rebbecca. Obviously the fact that halfway through my grandmother was admitted to a hospital where her care was monitored by and the sole responsibility of government licensed medical professionals derailed the plan somewhat. In fact forcing this story off the news agenda was one of the lesser reasons for Britain's attacks on Norway.
Today (2/9/11) the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped all charges against Rebbecca Leighton, the nurse at the centre of the Stepping Hill story. This was Britain being forced to retract it's ludicrous allegation over who is responsible for my grandmother's mis-treatment in the face of overwhelming evidence. So I think they'll be plenty of people in Croydon who will struggle to sleep soundly in their beds tonight because the Brits are fast running out of excuses not to prosecute.
UN Flotilla Report Leaked.
On May 31st 2010 a flotilla of boats attempted to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) responded by boarding these boats outside of the blockade zone. On board one of these boats - the Turkish ferry the Mavi Marmara - Israeli commandos opened fire killing 8 Turkish nationals and 1 Turkish/US dual national. The office of the Secretary General of the United Nations responded by setting up a panel to examine the incident and publish a report.
That report was completed in July 2011 and both the Turkish and Israeli governments have had access to the report and the panel throughout the process. However both nations agreed to delay the publication of the report to allow them to negotiate compensation payments to the victim's families and avoid escalating the diplomatic situation ahead of the upcoming UN vote on Palestinian statehood. Yesterday (1/9/11) American newspaper The New York Times published a leaked copy of that report on their website; http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/Palmer-Committee-Final-report.pdf and it is explosive stuff. Although the report criticises Israel for using excessive force during the boarding and mistreating detainees afterwards it accepts the legality of the naval blockade and Israels use of force to maintain it. The report is widely seen as a vindication of Israel's actions.
The fact that the leak has made this report public has forced Turkey into responding strongly by expelling the Israeli ambassador and cutting off all military links with Israel. So it seems to me that the leaking of the report was an American attempt to increase anti-Israeli feeling ahead of the vote on Palestinian statehood in order to make sure the motion passes. Although America is officially against the idea and will abstain from the vote in secret both it and Israel want the motion to pass because it will remove the Palestinians right to return and the Israelis will simply ignore it in the same way it ignored most other UN resolutions.
Also both Turkey and Israel share land borders with Syria and both have played an important role in response to the recent unrest in the country. By breaking off diplomatic ties Turkey and Israel are now no longer able to co-ordinate their efforts and we could well see a shift away from a united diplomatic effort towards an Arab track and an Israeli track. Israel will stop at nothing to collapse the Syrian government in as chaotic way as possible because they want to use the chaos to attack Lebanon on the pre-text of destroying Hezbollah. So it looks like Israel's big summer war is evolving into Israel's big winter war.
That report was completed in July 2011 and both the Turkish and Israeli governments have had access to the report and the panel throughout the process. However both nations agreed to delay the publication of the report to allow them to negotiate compensation payments to the victim's families and avoid escalating the diplomatic situation ahead of the upcoming UN vote on Palestinian statehood. Yesterday (1/9/11) American newspaper The New York Times published a leaked copy of that report on their website; http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/world/Palmer-Committee-Final-report.pdf and it is explosive stuff. Although the report criticises Israel for using excessive force during the boarding and mistreating detainees afterwards it accepts the legality of the naval blockade and Israels use of force to maintain it. The report is widely seen as a vindication of Israel's actions.
The fact that the leak has made this report public has forced Turkey into responding strongly by expelling the Israeli ambassador and cutting off all military links with Israel. So it seems to me that the leaking of the report was an American attempt to increase anti-Israeli feeling ahead of the vote on Palestinian statehood in order to make sure the motion passes. Although America is officially against the idea and will abstain from the vote in secret both it and Israel want the motion to pass because it will remove the Palestinians right to return and the Israelis will simply ignore it in the same way it ignored most other UN resolutions.
Also both Turkey and Israel share land borders with Syria and both have played an important role in response to the recent unrest in the country. By breaking off diplomatic ties Turkey and Israel are now no longer able to co-ordinate their efforts and we could well see a shift away from a united diplomatic effort towards an Arab track and an Israeli track. Israel will stop at nothing to collapse the Syrian government in as chaotic way as possible because they want to use the chaos to attack Lebanon on the pre-text of destroying Hezbollah. So it looks like Israel's big summer war is evolving into Israel's big winter war.
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