UK Gaza demos round-up
Israel has now launched a full-scale ground attack against the Gaza strip, which no doubt means many more innocent civilians will lose their lives over the coming days. To that extent, I think the demonstrations across the UK to express solidarity with the people of Gaza (not Hamas) were important – even if previous demonstrations haven’t had the desired effect: they send out a symbolic message, while expressing the degree of anger.
Anyway, you can read write-ups and see pictures by: Harpymarx, Derek Wall, myself, James Hooper, Rayyan Mirza, Lenin, Liam Mac Uaid, Shiraz Socialist, Janine, Andy D’Agorne, permanent revolution, on Harry’s Place and bigbluemeanie. [hat tip: Jim Jay for some links].
More pictures also on Flickr, and by Kate Belgrave.
If I’ve missed anyone out, please let me know below. Also, a few notes about my stance on the issue.
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White-washing George Bush’s legacy
A CNN poll shows that: “Eight in ten Americans said Obama inspires confidence, can get things done and is tough enough to be president, three characteristics Americans look for in a leader and the three qualities on which Obama got his highest scores.”
That’s the best number an incoming president has gotten on that dimension since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. “The public’s rating of his leadership skills is already as high as George W. Bush’s was after 9/11 and easily beats the numbers that both Bush and Bill Clinton got at the start of their first terms in office. … He also gets higher marks than Bush did in 2001 on honesty, values, issues, management abilities and compassion.
Which shows not only that he’s done well so far, but Americans are really really desperate to see the back of the monumental failure that has been GW Bush. I sympathise. So it’s rather amusing to see that Tim Montgomerie over at ConservativeHome is, rather embarassingly I’d say, desperately trying to pretend Bush was actually a kind-hearted nice guy who leaves a great legacy behind. It’s an old tradition on the right to try and paint glowing legacies for political leaders who have been abject failures (think Ronald Reagan) so they can look back and reminisce about the entirely made-up good old days. Next he’ll be telling us most Americans are anti-American for hating on Bush.
Top Stories and Blog Review – 3rd Jan
Nationwide
Frozen embryos: the future for IVF?
Darling on brink of second bailout for banks
Credit squeeze set to intensify in 2009
UK sets drug guidelines to help terminally ill
International
Factional divide rules out show of Palestinian solidarity
Israel prepares to send in the tanks
Foreigners leave Gaza; Israeli escalation feared
International protests grow as bombardment continues
Sri Lanka army captures Tamil Tiger capital
AirTran apologizes after Muslim family removed
Australia asked to take Guantanamo inmates
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Sunny
No blog round up, just a video today…
Youth crime and Tories; another broken record
Since the Tory conference 2007, there have been periods where every week or so, the Conservatives announce a new policy with which they hope to win over more votes. It seems to be the nature of politics these days; one doesn’t exist unless one is appearing in the media. When announcing such policies, the Tories in question often indulge in hyperbole, blaming Labour, citing the end of Labour, citing the awakening of popular consciousness against Labour and so on, ad nauseam.
The last few weeks have seen such behaviour with regard to crime – knife crime at first, then moving to general crime and now it is the turn of youth crime. “Back public against crime – Tory” is the ridiculously jingoistic title of the BBC piece showcasing Dominic Grieve’s interview with the Indy. The Shadow Attorny General has been saying that we should give adults the right to intervene with any young person they feel to be acting in an anti-social manner.
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Toyota developing solar powered car?
Toyota Motor Corp. is secretly developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy in an effort to turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car, a top business daily reported Thursday.
The Nikkei newspaper, however, said it will be years before the planned vehicle will be available on the market. Toyota’s offices were closed Thursday and officials were not immediately available for comment.
According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.
Gaza demonstration tomorrow
The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign is hosting the demo tomorrow:
HANDS OFF GAZA: STOP THE BOMBING: FREE PALESTINE
Assemble 12:30pm Along Embankment, by Embankment tube station, LONDON WC2
Nearest tube Embankment or Charing Cross
Details of demos across the country on this page.
Meanwhile, unsurprising to see Guido Fawkes happily asking for donations for the IDF, which has killed hundreds of civilians over the past week.
PS. If you’re thinking of bringing ‘We Are All Hamas Now‘ placards with you – don’t. Stay away. Don’t bother coming.
Spurious ways to justify Israel’s behaviour
As a denizen of the blogopolis I’ve found the pro-Israel comments offered, from the blogs I tend to avoid and on most of the ones I try not to, intriguing. Although there have doubtless been some hamfisted arguments made “pro-Palestine” the loyalist Zionist commenteers seem to have collectively tried to take things a bridge too far, and lost all semblance of rational coherence. The facts have changed but their opinions remain firm.
This is not a tendency I am alone in noting, on this site Dave Osler stated: “Even its strongest supporters must be finding it difficult to mount a positive case.” and it is this I will explore today.
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Top Stories and Blog Review – 2nd Jan
Nationwide
Foreign secretary frustrated without Gaza access
Nationwide defies Darling on home loan cuts
Asda says Christmas trading beat its expectations
London mayor faces fight to keep voters sweet
International
Israeli strike kills senior Hamas leader
Gazans fight cold and hunger as supplies run dry
Gaza assault boosts Ehud Barak
“It’s 9/11 every hour, every minute, everywhere”
Save the Children launches $10 million Gaza appeal
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron
The chaps at Scribo’ give out the New Year honours.
David Semple is going to critique Marxism.
cabalamat, who always seems to shine on international affairs, reminds us of the imminent Israeli elections and how they are shaping events.
Andrew Leonard/Salon points out that the era of Greenspan is over.
Anton Vowl has his daily pop at The Daily Fail. Hilarious, but utterly NSFW.
Finally… Mark Pack, over at LDV, has a simple tip to make your Firefox browsing more secure. Get to it!
Daft conservatives
We’ve approached the time of year when grown adults like to set aside large parts of the day just to make lists. We list the best/worst things to have happened to us, the best/worst things we have bought, our top 10 love/hate figures or our highest/lowest expectations for the year to come. In this same spirit, ToryHome have decided to list what makes a conservative. It’s a fairly innocuous, predictable read, but alongside statements which veer from vague (”Taxation has dynamic effects”) to platitudinous (”Love of country is fundamental to all conservatism”) to downright cryptic (”Man is a fallen creature”), they include this:
Economic liberalism needs social conservatism
Well, I can understand why, in the interests of coalition building, you’d want the flat-taxers in the same boat as the flat-earthers, but their agendas are far less aligned than this five word declaration makes out.
In its fullest expression, social conservatism is restrictive and censorious: it burns ‘heretical’ literature, pickets outside theatres, demands the banning of video games and enforces prohibition of gambling and recreational substances. Classic economic liberals would balk at such authoritarian measures because people should be allowed the freedom to consume what the market provides. No true classicist would want the state to subsidise marriage, and some would even consider abandoning the expensive, losing ‘war on drugs’.
At their core, social conservatives believe unfettered markets can be damaging, and economic liberals stand against against restrictions on markets. Sure, with lashings of compromise and a moderate, piecemeal application of both sides’ agendas, they can often play along nicely, but to suggest some kind of symbiotic relationship between the two is just daft.
The political storyteller of 2008
This is the time of year when people look back at the year, compile lists and make awards. So I’ve got an award of my own: which politician from any party, political persuasion or country, was the best story-teller of 2008?
It’s lean pickings from the Liberal Democrats, I’m afraid.
New leader Nick Clegg worked all year to tell a story: that Labour have had their day and can’t create a fairer Britain; the Conservatives won’t but the Liberal Democrats will make it happen. It was old third party wine in twenty first century bottles, but showed promise all the same. After the banks went bang, the media meta-narrative took a new turn: the government’s response to the recession and the “Brown bounce”. Nick’s story was squashed flat. Ever since, the party has struggled to tell a story about the economy, as distinct from Vince Cable’s razor-sharp commentaries.
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» Others should follow the Cooperative in boycotting Israeli settlement goods
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