More Eurosceptic advice for Iceland
Iceland’s new Social Democratic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir is to lead a coalition government with the left-green party, expected to be formally announced today, with external support from another small Progressive Party, which is expected to seek a mandate for European Union membership in a General Election in May.
As day follows night, here is a dissenting note from our favourite deeply Eurosceptic Tory MEP Dan Hannan. He is a close observer of Iceland, particularly as a possible model for Britain’s own EU-free future, but he does rather, in these tricky circumstances, massively overplay his standard ‘EU as enemy of democracy card’.
Top Stories and Blog Review – 31st Jan
Nationwide
Mediators called in as UK oil strikes spread
Cruddas: This is a race to the bottom
Will women bear the brunt of job losses?
Cameron: We’ll stand up to the corporations
International
Republicans elect first black chairman of party
Tony Blair – bring Hamas into peace talks
Vladimir Putin calls for end of dollar stranglehold
Holocaust-denying bishop says sorry to pope
Washington’s Democrats push Obama to the left
SATURDAY VIDEO / by Sunny
If Israel wants peace, why does it keep building settlements?
We were constantly told, by defenders of Israel’s recent invasion of Gaza, that the country was dedicated to peace and Hamas was the true obstacle to peace. That’s not necessarily the case; I think there are parties on both sides that have an interest in the continuing this conflict and avoiding a two-state solution.
And though Hamas’ rockets into Israel undeniably invite a retaliation, I also wonder why an Israel that wants peace would continue to build illegal settlements. Not only just build them, but expand them at a frightening rate.
continue reading… »
News media: not just biased, but rubbish
I don’t know what confluence of planets has caused me to notice this at the present time, but the media are really, really bad at their jobs. I’m signed up to a number of RSS feeds, from the BBC and Sky onwards. I read the Guardian and the Times if not daily then every other day.
And yet there are an enormous amount of stories which are of huge importance but which are receiving minimal coverage, for some reason.
British jobs for British workers, in practice
A few weeks ago, Chris Dillow warned of some of the nasty social side-effects of the recession. He noted that “the main effect of recession is not to cause poverty, but insecurity. And when people are insecure and anxious, they care less for others.” In short, fear makes us all more selfish.
On one level, what’s transpired in Immingham over the last few days has been the opposite of that stark prediction.
The unofficial walk-out by employees at an oil refinery – protesting their company’s decision to employ foreign labour – was an act of solidarity, not selfishness.
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Why Digital Britain could be bad for you
Digital Britain is one of those government initiatives that might provoke a degree of cynicism, since it comes at a point when many people are not expecting the authors to hold power for much longer.
Both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have criticised it as being unambitious in its headline conclusions about broadband roll out.
But that’s not the only thing about this report that should be worrying you.
continue reading… »
Top Stories and Blog Review – 30th Jan
Nationwide
Legal threats over lack of rape support
UK energy saving policy ‘failing’
Taxpayer faces bigger bill for 2012 Olympics
‘Cameron’s solution doesn’t add up’
International
London Review of Books – Israel’s Lies
Japanese production ‘unprecedented’ fall by over 10%
North Korea tears up all agreements
U.N. leads evacuation from Sri Lanka
Iran: Ready to work with Obama
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Sarah Ismail
Angela Saini: Thinks countries can be successful, whatever the weather.
Clairwil: Is trying to recover from Blogger’s Block. First Friday Fun.
Daily Mail Watch: Taken From Grandparents, Given to Gay Men.
Hagley Road to Ladywood: Money makes you a better person. Apparently.
Jamie Saddler – Is the Russian bear already responding to a change in Washington?
MediaWatchWatch: Don’t kill God!
Nosemonkey: Has some good advice for new bloggers. But it applies to everyone. So it’s your second Friday Fun.
Natalie Bennett: Women need to keep hold of their jobs.
Our Kingdom: On Australia Day 2009, Ben Wellings had tea with the Republicans.
Whipped Senseless – A former Bushie defends torture and condemns Obama’s torture-free approach.
See you in court
A directions hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice earlier this week ruled that the libel action brought against me by former Labour Party parliamentary hopeful, former Respect member, former Communist Party member and current Tower Hamlets Tory activist Johanna Kaschke should go to a four-day jury trial towards the end of this year.
The case centres on Ms Kaschke’s arrest on terrorism charges in 1970s Germany, which she admits; you can read a summary of the issues involved here.
Ms Kaschke is also bringing a separate action against Alex ‘Recess Monkey’ Hilton and John Gray of John’s Labour Blog, which still faces procedural issues. Many of the ‘words complained of’ – to use the legal expression – were not even written by me, but consists of comments from the comments box. While I am confident that all of them fall within the realm of fair comment, the outcome of the case could have considerable implications for the freedom of the blogosphere.
Two future battles within the Conservative party
We’ve been sent a press release courtesy of “neo-con rag” Standpoint magazine, which has an article this month by a senior Tory insider whispering against Steve Hilton – public relations man for David Cameron – while playing up Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome.
But I think there’s more to this than meets the eye.
continue reading… »
Protect Your Data Watch
I didn’t know what to expect when I turned on the feed to watch the parliamentary debate on the Coroners and Justice Bill. Would it be all about protecting people from terrorists? Would it be about efficiency, saving the tax payer money? How would they spin the fact that they are essentially allowing any government minister to abandon the Data Protection Act, and furthermore to allow in the same breath to change *any* act of parliament to suit their needs?
Essentially Mr Straw has created a genie in a bottle piece of legislation. It’s all powerful, its range is almost limitless (you can’t wish for data that isn’t relevant to a “policy objective”), and it’s perfectly fine to possess that genie in a bottle because only good intentioned people are ever going to give it a rub.
continue reading… »
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