R.I.P Oscar Grant – victim of authority
We are, in the supposedly democratic and developed world, not without terrible events happening on our own doorstep by those that are supposed to be protecting our freedom. Rodney King beaten brutally in the US in 1991 pales in to insignificance compared to Jean Charles De Menezes being murdered by British police because of a poorly executed operation based on flimsy evidence here in the UK, or Alexis Grigoropoulos being shot to death for (allegedly) throwing stones at a police car.
We can now add to this list, along with however many other possible unreported or undiscovered incidents, Oscar Grant, a man being arrested and detained along with several other people on a subway in San Fransisco by transport police, shot in the back despite being restrained by two police officers with another standing by ready to assist. The sad thing is some of his last words are reported to be a fear of getting tazed, in a country that brought us “don’t taze me bro“, he knew he was going to get shot with something while being restrained, little did he know it would be a gun.
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Europe’s centre-left and the Gaza crisis
Our modest Fabian blog Next Left is a newcomer to the progressive blogosphere, but we have recruited an ex-Prime Minister to write regularly for us this year, in Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, who was Prime Minister of Denmark for eight years in the 1990s and who remains among the most significant voices in shaping the European social democratic agenda.
As President of the Party of European Socialists, Rasmussen reports that he has written to Ehud Barak - Leader of the Israeli Labour Party and Defence Minister – on behalf of Europe’s social democrats to express his dismay at the appalling loss of life from the “hugely disproportionate” Israeli military response, calling for an immediate ceasefire and a comprehensive political agreement between Israel and Palestine.
Who’s picking up the tab?
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Top Stories and Blog Review – 9th Jan
Nationwide
UK e-mail law ‘attack on rights’
Banks warn Brown as rates hit 1.5%
Brown goes from boom to bust
Mixed-sex wards ‘blighting NHS’
International
U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce
Israel accused of delaying medical aid
U.N. and Red Cross add to Gaza outcry
Fears of a Hezbollah attack on Israel subside
Indian newspaper publishes Mumbai evidence
U.S. inauguration may be security nightmare
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron
Rumbold on how morons “don’t seem to realise that Mrs. Cohen from number twelve isn’t the head of the IDF.” Anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise. *sighs*
Septicisle, over at The Sun – Tabloid Lies, reports on The Current Bun’s most recent terror-spiked bullshit story.
Crooked Timber. Harry on mixing sport with politics. Very enjoyable read.
Scribo’s James Hooper is critiquing “Radical” Feminism. Brave. Be gentle, girls.
Mike Power points out that Indi columnist Mary Dejevsky is a tool. Agreed.
A Very Public Sociologist offers you a delicious choice between Neil Clark and Mad Mel. Goodie!
Exclusive: Oona King to join Channel 4
The former MP is joining Channel 4 as its new head of diversity. I wonder if this will stop various people trying to push her forward as Labour’s next London Mayoral candidate. I hope it does. An announcement is imminent.
Her remit will be to push C4 to: “reflect all kinds of social diversity including ethnicity, disability, nationality, regionality, age, gender and beyond.”
Guardian scoops: Obama will talk to Hamas
The Guardian’s front page story – headlined Obama camp ‘prepared to talk to Hamas’ - certainly heralds a significant shift in US foreign policy, but the report itself makes clear this is rather less dramatic than it at first sounds.
There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on in his administration, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive.
That this would be the likely direction of travel will not surprise foreign policy analysts. However, the move is much less a reaction to current events in Gaza than something which is likely to be complicated (and delayed) by them.
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Obama meets Spiderman in comic
Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.
Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a “shout-out back” by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor-in-chief.
“How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief,” Quesada said. “It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We’re all thrilled with that.”
The comic starts with Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas.
MSF: ceasefire a ‘paltry response’
The military offensive in the Gaza Strip is affecting civilians indiscriminately, while medical teams continue to face serious obstacles to providing assistance, the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today.
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Public attitudes to inequality have changed
How and in what ways public attitudes have been credit crunched?
As part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Public Interest in Poverty Issues programme, the Fabian Society is currently conducting research exploring attitudes to inequality, and related policy responses. Early findings of the research so far (taken from a Fabian-YouGov opinion poll conducted last month and discussion groups held in London, Bristol, Sheffield and Glasgow over the last five months) provide some clues.
There are signs that media exposure of corporate excess and rewards for failure has started to shift the public mood, opening up space for political action that even three months ago would have looked untenable.
By being seen as violating a basic rule of fair reward, bankers have exposed the vagaries in pay and remuneration processes at the top. As a result, a clear majority of the public want to see tighter rules on corporate pay: 80% agree that bonuses should ‘reward long-term success rather than short-term performance’; 70% think that ordinary employees should be represented on the compensation committees which decide how much city executives get paid; while a small majority (56%) are even in favour of a more radical proposal, to make executives of failed companies ‘pay back their bonuses from the last two years’.
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Top Stories and Blog Review – 8th Jan
Nationwide
Gurkhas decision delay criticised
Why has MI5′s new chief gone public?
How northern children top the happiness league
Gaza conflict fuelling anger in UK, Muslims warn
International
Israel bombards Gaza as U.S. backs ceasefire
Rockets hit Israel from Lebanon
U.S. debt is losing its appeal in China
Over 60,000 Bhutanese refugees want to resettle
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Lee Griffin
Daily Links
Liberal Bureaucracy rightly criticises any notion that the Lib Dem’s are an anti-Israel party, especially when that statement is based on one individual’s views.
Septicisle has a poignant piece about the conflict in Gaza and against this notion that Israeli’s are suffering just as much as Palestinians right now.
Liberal Burblings wonders how the hell a story complaining about being forced to buy better and cheaper light bulbs can make the front page after a school has been bombed in Gaza
Himmelgarten Cafe thinks about the issues of broad spectrum community days (such as International Fetish Day) and the risks of trying to hijack it for one specific cause.
Extras
Rachel North talks about an initiative in Israel and Gaza that is ding really important work in breaking down the conflict for the future. Make sure you check out the Encounter Point trailer.
Shiraz Socialist urges us to do what we can to oppose the changes to the sex industry that are going for a second reading on Monday.
Martin’s Money Tips (ok so it’s not a blog, but I am so angry about the train price rises…) shows us all how to make sure we get the cheapest deal we can. You don’t need to take the great train robbery lying down!
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» Why work “reforms” in Spain are a warning for workers across Europe
» Five things you need to know about the NHS bill
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