A chance to outlaw homophobic hatred
Some may recall the homophobic campaigns run by the Sun in the not-so-distant past, including that of labelling HIV ‘the Gay Plague’ and the one about the ‘Gay Mafia running the country’ in 1998. You may also recall the Sun’s false allegations about Elton John. They only stopped when they were forced to pay £1m in damages. Overall, they did more to stigmatise gay people and those with HIV than any other publication in Britain.
It’s no surprise then that Fergus Shanahan, their most right wing columnist, is lashing out at the currently debated Coroners And Justice Bill. Some MPs are lobbying to include Clause 58 – which would extent the offence of incitement to hatred to the area of sexual orientation, placing homophobic hatred on a par with the areas of racism or religious hatred.
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Earth Hour this Saturday
Earth Hour is taking place this Saturday 28th March 2009. At 8.30pm around the world, people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will switch off their lights for an hour, making a statement to the world’s governments for more urgent and effective action on global warming. If you want to be part of this global message, then why not take part and / or sign up to show your support.
You can also embed this nifty light switch widget (see top right), or use one of the videos or banners that are available. Every contribution, no matter how small you think it might be, is important.
Top Stories and Blog Review Wednesday 25th March
Nationwide
Now ‘Big Brother’ database targets Facebook
Blears continues standoff with Muslim body over anti-terror
US Taser death prompts call for UK rethink
Pupils get morning-after pill by text service
International
Dozens hurt after march by Israel extremists
US weighs Sharif as possible partner in Pakistan
Obama cites complexities of Mideast peace effort
The end of the Global War on Terror
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Andrew Hickey
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Yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day, an international day of blogging about women in technology. There were many, many excellent posts made, all of which can be found here, but some that jumped out were Debi‘s post on Adria Richards and two posts about women on the borderline between music and technology who are heroes of mine – Bird of Paradox on Wendy Carlos the transwoman whose Switched On Bach is a masterpiece of baroque Moog, and Rain Rainycat on Delia Derbyshire, the creator of the original Doctor Who theme.
Costigan Quist writes about the diabetes ‘epidemic’ and what is actually happening.
Geoffrey Payne at Lib Dem Voice on ‘economic liberals’.
Fred Clark on ‘just war’ doctrine and the recent reversal of the ban on photographing coffins of US servicepeople.
Leonard Pierce on why the destruction of the US (and world) economy is not ‘a crime too big to punish’.
James Graham asks why he doesn’t know the names of more women in technology.
The Honourable Lady Mark writes about the Tories figuring out only twenty years after everyone else that there are downsides to the ‘right to buy’.
And finally The Prestigious Internet advises on the US tax-deductibility of kidnapped children, or browse through previous Netcasts
Top Stories and Blog Review – 25th March
Nationwide
Now ‘Big Brother’ database targets Facebook
Blears continues standoff with Muslim body over anti-terror
US Taser death prompts call for UK rethink
Pupils get morning-after pill by text service
International
Dozens hurt after march by Israel extremists
US weighs Sharif as possible partner in Pakistan
Obama cites complexities of Mideast peace effort
The end of the Global War on Terror
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / coming later
Are we learning from Obama’s campaign?
There is a real difficulty in translating the Obama campaign to the UK. Inevitably, we end up focusing on the easy bits – the technology for example. The tougher bits such as how you pluck a energised movement out of the ether tend to be ignored. We focus on the more recent influences on Obama ’08 – moveon.org and the Howard Dean campaign – and forget that it is actually rooted in very old-fashioned politics.
The Fabian Society’s Change We Need launched with self-conscious irony in Millbank Tower last night. Though excellent in many respects, it falls into this trap to a degree.
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New Deal of the Mind launches today
From a press release
Today sees the launch of New Deal of the Mind, a coalition of creative industries dedicated to combating the effects of the recession.
To mark the launch, more than fifty individuals from across the worlds of culture, media and new technology gathered at 11 Downing Street for a meeting hosted by Maggie Darling, the wife of the Chancellor, Alistair Darling.
The cross-party summit was attended by Andy Burnham, Culture Secretary, and James Purnell, Work and Pensions Secretary, as well as shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey and Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone, who is responsible for new technology.
Joining them were key figures from the arts world including Sir Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, Sir John Tusa, chair of the University of the Arts, Mark Thompson the Director General of the BBC, Dame Jenny Abramsky, who chairs the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and Roger Wright, controller of BBC Radio 3 and director of the Proms.
The group started work on an action plan to help those already affected by the financial crisis and unemployment, and to prepare for the thousands of graduates who will join the workforce this summer.
Martin Bright, former political editor at New Statesman, founder of NDotM, said:
The New Deal of the Mind has quickly grown into a coalition of like-minded individuals who believe we need to start working immediately on imaginative ways to tackle the recession. There is a risk that a whole generation of talent could be lost if we don’t act now.
I am delighted that the NDotM has captured the imaginations of so many people, not just writers, artists and musicians, but innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs. It has also won support from politicians across the political divide. Today’s event was a unique opportunity to discuss a range of ideas. But it is now essential to harness the momentum and turn words into action.
The New Deal of the Mind is inspired by the cultural programmes of President Roosevelt’s 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning and writers such as Saul Bellow, John Cheever and Ralph Ellison.
Review: The Rotten State of Britain
Eamonn Butler’s The Rotten State of Britain aspires to be The State We’re In for the 00s. It’s not – and not just because it is a much easier read than Hutton’s tome.
Whereas his was a narrative about our economy and society, most of The Rotten State of Britain is a series of attacks upon New Labour’s failures, with chapters such as ‘spin’, ‘snoopers’ and ‘nannies’. Naturally, some of these hit their targets better than others.
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Lawyer-Client Privilege is No More
Via Purple Cthulhu and El Reg comes the news that The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act specifically authorises bugging of lawyer-client privileged discussions, something that pre-RIPA had been assumed to be sacrosanct
.
“In its natural and ordinary sense [RIPA] is capable of applying to privileged consultations and there is nothing in its wording which would operate to exclude them,” Lord Carswell wrote in his ruling. “It seems to me unlikely that the possibility of RIPA applying to privileged consultations could have passed unnoticed [in Parliament]. On the contrary, it is an obvious application of the Act, yet no provision was put in to exclude them.”
So we can add Lawyer-client confidentiality to the right to silence and habeus corpus and all the other protections for the accused which have gone by the wayside under this government. Another salami slice gone.
Something for my homeboy Huhne to add to his freedom bill, perhaps?
Tories still cling on to Inheritence Tax
In a resigned, disillusioned sort of way it was amusing to listen to top Tories yesterday attempt to cover-up the fact that Ken Clarke broke the official party line. You see, Clarke admitted that when the Conservatives come to power they won’t be able to afford cuts on inheritance tax.
Aside from the brief amusement of watching the Tories try not to squabble and denounce each other in public, it is depressing that the Government-in-waiting thinks that inheritance tax should essentially be scrapped. As I have argued previously on my blog, a foundation-stone of fair society with proper equality of opportunity and anything like social justice is progressive taxation of the rich.
continue reading… »
Top Stories and Blog Review- 24th March
Nationwide
US tried to gag Briton ‘tortured’ in Guantanamo
RSPB calls for more UK wind farms
National Grid chief calls for more renewables
Big freeze starts to hit public sector pay
International
More evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza
Officer killed after suicide bomber targets Islamabad
Obama’s rescue plan dazzles Wall Street
Dalai Lama refused visa for peace summit
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Sarah Ismail
Debi Linton Sexism about fiction in the media; who’da thunk it?
Feministing On four talented, creative, sensitive, inspiring women.
Natalie Bennett A couple of interesting Feminism-related things to think about.
The F Word: Portia De Rossi apologises for getting married.
The Langar Hall: A calendar marks the start of the Sikh New Year. Wishes if you’ll celebrate!
David Semple On Obama, inspired by LibCon.
Tory Troll Boris will celebrate St George’s Day.
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
» Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest?
» To win London, Ken Livingstone has to step outside his comfort zone
» This trade agreement with India will destroy thousands of lives
» UK debt hasn’t hit £1 trillion – mostly because of QE
» The benefits of being a “burden” on society
» Today’s economic figures will simply confirm UK’s “lost decade”
» Have Labour realised the election is more than three years away?
» Violence in the office
» Want a more responsible capitalism? Reform how pensions work
» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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