Baltimore Mayor hits back at Grayling over ‘Wire’
The Mayor of Baltimore has hit back at Tory MP Chris Grayling over comparing parts of Britain to The Wire.
In a statement posted to her website, Sheila Dixon said Baltimore had a per capita homicide rate “a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders.”
Fellow citizens
This week I was alerted to a speech made by a Member of the British Parliament, a Mr Chris Grayling, who suggested his country should fear becoming like our city of Baltimore as portrayed in the HBO series, The Wire. We all watched The Wire and while it was sometimes a heart-breaking reflection of reality, it was in the main, merely entertaining fiction.
The television show failed to reflect the best we have in this city, our sense of community, our hospitality and our proud history and culture. To present a television show as the real Baltimore is to perpetuate a fiction that dishonours our city. It is as pointless as boasting that Baltimore has a per capita homicide rate a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders.
The Baltimore Police Department is working hard to protect the people of this city and it should be remembered that The Wire was just a television show. As this video shows, there is so much more to Baltimore than The Wire.
She links to a website with a full count of homicides in Midsomer Murders.
Chris Grayling has yet to respond.
Update: It’s a fake. But this accompanying video is pretty funny though.
And Chris Grayling is still wrong.
Another update, in response to Iain Dale
There never was a press release to the story.
I heard about it on Twitter and passed it along to post up on the site.
The sanctimonious attitude of Dale and Fawkes is funny – I suppose they’ve never linked to a website with a comment.
http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/08/extent-of-government-funded-lobbying.html
http://order-order.com/2009/08/04/think-tanks-on-the-taxpayer/
Dale – I know you’re still pissed off we forced you to apologise to Tom Watson for libelling him, but this really is quite amusingly sad.
Labour Mayor compares campers to hooligans
The Labour Mayor of Lewisham, Steve Bullock, has compared people assembled at Climate Camp this week with football hooligans.
In a blog post on his website he said:
There may seem to be little connection between the thugs who wreaked havoc at the West Ham/Millwall game on Tuesday and the Climate Change protestors who occupied Blackheath last evening.
One group are only interested in satisfying their own selfish need for violence whilst the other are doing something positive to help save our endangered planet. Football and Climate Change are two things I feel very deeply about – but in very different ways this weeks has seen actions by other peopel raise serious questions about both of them.
He goes on to say:
The problem with the Campers is that no matter how well intentioned and nice they are what they are doing is counterproductive in my opinion. It will be seen as self indulgent by lots of people who are struggling through the recession and could even make it harder to win support for some of the difficult measures that will have to be taken in the future.
And who do you think is going to have to pay to take the rubbish away, provide water and repair the Heath when they’ve gone? That’s right you and me – the taxpayers of Lewisham who were never asked and never agreed to the camp being here.
The Mayor fails to notice however that many of the people at Climate Camp themselves are unwaged. Furthermore, does the existence of a recession mean people should stop campaigning about the environment entirely? Can the two not co-exist?
What is so ‘self-indulgent’ about protesting about an issue the Mayor himself recognises is important?
The Heath is a Common Land and an open space. Rather than complaining about people coming there, he should welcome people trying to revive the British tradition of protest and direct action about an important issue.
The environment secretary Ed Miliband himself has said plenty of times he wanted to see more people out on the streets and getting angry about climate change. Clearly other parts of his own party haven’t heard him well enough.
Climate Campers do their best to clear away the rubbish and any mess before they leave. The Camp has adequate provisions for collecting waste. This fact also seems to have missed Mayor Bullock by.
New figures expose immigration scare tactics
A dramatic fall in migration figures published today exposes the scaremongering of anti-immigration groups, says the think-tank ippr.
Latest government figures published today show that net migration to the UK dropped by 44% in 2008.
The surplus of those immigrating over those emigrating for 2008 was 118,000, after a number of years when it was in excess of 200,000.
Leading think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) highlights the fact that the drop is largely explained by rapid increases in the emigration of non-British citizens from the UK – up 50% in 2008. This trend is particularly marked for migrants from new EU member states – net migration from these countries was just 14,000 in 2008, down from a peak of over 80,000 in 2007.
ippr argues that these trends are unsurprising. There is strong evidence that migration responds to economic conditions – people come to the UK when there are jobs, and leave when there aren’t. The cyclical pattern of migration in the most recent period of economic growth was exaggerated in the UK by the impact of EU accession, but this was only a short-run effect – most of the migrants who came to the UK after 2004 always planned to go home.
ippr’s Head of Migration, Tim Finch said: “ippr has pointed out for some time that migration flows go in cycles, and these latest figures for 2008 indicate that after a number of years in which net migration was high, it is now declining sharply – almost certainly because of a combination of the economic downturn, the short term nature of much migration from new EU countries, and the impact of stronger controls and management put in place by the government.
“There has been a lot of irresponsible scaremongering about immigration in recent years which was based on the false assumption that high net migration into the UK was inevitable for years to come. As our recent report on re-migration showed, migration flows go both ways and we now need to be thinking about how our managed migration systems can continue to attract and retain the migrants we need to help our economy to recover and grow.”
All statistics taken from Office for National Statistics Migration Statistics Quarterly Report, August 2009, available at : http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15230
Is Dan Hannan really a libertarian?
contribution by Soho Politico
As we have all now read, yet another recorded interview with culture warrior Daniel Hannan has surfaced and caused much controversy.
What I’m interested in is the defence of Daniel Hannan over this emanating from the right.
Their claim is that Hannan’s lionising of Powell is benign, because he never associated himself with Powell’s views about immigration specifically, and is in any case personally a ‘libertarian’ on borders.
continue reading… »
The Scum editor wait finally over
The waiting then is finally over. The moment the nation has been looking forward to has arrived. After months of tension, irritation and terrible puns, not to mention writing, the next editor of the Sun, taking over from Rebekah Wade will be… Dominic Moron (surely Mohan? Ed.).
Who he? Well, he’s probably best known for being a former editor of the Sun’s Bizarre showbiz pages, which is increasingly becoming a signifier for going on to “greatness”, with Piers Morgan and Andy Coulson both formerly helming the columns.
More recently he’s been the deputy editor for the last couple of years, although even the sad individuals like myself who “watch” the Sun will have been hard pressed to see any of his personal influence on the paper.
Indeed, he’s even been editing the paper for the last month while Wade, sorry, I mean Brooks, has been getting to know her new husband even better, and I doubt anyone has noticed any difference whatsoever.
FSA chairman backs ‘banking tax’ on pay
The boss of the UK’s financial watchdog has said he backs a new tax on banks as a means to prevent excess bonus payments in the industry.
Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), told Prospect magazine much of the activities of the City of London were “socially useless”.
…
And earlier this month, the FSA said it was introducing new rules to ensure bank bonuses are not guaranteed for more than a year, and that senior employees should have their bonuses spread over three years.
Photos from Climate Camp London
Climate Camp came to the capital today, starting for one week in east London’s Blackheath.
Here are some pics I took.
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There are more pics on the Climate Camp website.
On the 853 blog there is criticism for local politicians making ignorant statements.
NY Times milks its journos for money
The New York Times has decided that if it’s top writers can’t make money for the company behind a paywall, then perhaps other ways might work better.
Neiman Lab reports:
School’s in session at The New York Times this fall, and the professors include some big bylines on campus: Nicholas Kristof, Gail Collins, and Eric Asimov. They’re offering weeklong, largely online courses for Times readers who pay between $125 and $185.
…
The courses taught by Kristof and Collins, both op-ed columnists, include a “live, interactive Webcast,” three written lessons, and a message board where students can interact with their big-name instructors. For that, the Times is asking $185. Kristof’s course is on the exploitation of women in developing nations; Collins’s deals with the history of American women’s rights since 1960. Wine columnist Eric Asimov’s course, for $125, is a single session that students can attend in person or online. (Booze not included.)
But the newspaper of record will have to run a significant number of these courses to generate any serious revenue.
I reported recently that the Guardian was considering a “members’ club” in order to raise revenue.
That follows in the footsteps of the New York Times, which recently unveiled ‘NY Times Gold’ and ‘NY Times Silver’. Both membership clubs are designed to offer readers behind-the-scenes benefits for some extra dosh.
The Guardian is also moving forward with its own plans for a membership club. It recently advertised a job posting on its website:
Increasingly we believe our future resides at the centre of a community of engaged readers and users, whose relationship with us will be much closer and more involved. The Guardian Club will be our transformational next step in bringing these customers to the centre of our business, rewarding loyalty while growing our reach and revenues. We want members of the Club to feel that they are genuinely part of our organisation, and as close as it is possible to get to the editorial heart of our company.
The future of online journalism seems to be shaping up into a battle between pay-walls (News International, FT) and membership clubs. It’s still unclear what the Telegraph group is considering.
Tory MEP Dan Hannan praises Enoch Powell
Daniel Hannan MEP has given another interview to a right-wing US group. When asked who was among his greatest political influences, Hannan says it was Enoch Powell:
Yeah, all of those guys…In the British context, Enoch Powell. He was..as somebody who understood the importance of national democracy, who understood why you need to live in an independent country and what that meant, as well as being a free marketeer and a small government Conservative.”
The importance of national democracy and living in an independent country? More like Enoch Powell was someone who wanted a racial war in the UK merely because a few immigrants had come over to settle here.
According to Paul Waugh, this is the response from the Conservatives:
CCHQ is not going to comment formally, but sources say that Dan’s remarks clearly refer (as I pointed out above) to Powell’s views on non-immigration issues. If he had explicitly praised Powell on race or immigration, David Cameron would have had a different response, I’m told.
I suppose praising the BNP, as long as it’s not immigration related, is ok too? After all Nick Griffin must be a lovely chap as long as you ignore his mad, racist conspiracy theories. Why not invite him around for tea Mr Hannan?
continue reading… »
Want to hear Tony Blair speak?
Fans of former prime minister Tony Blair should be delighted to hear he’s giving a series of seminars and speeches in London over the coming months.
Organised by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, in association with DFID, Islamic Relief, WorldVision and Oxfam, they will cover the subject theme: ‘New Perspectives on Faith and Development’.
A press release states:
Our goal is to explore the vital role that faith can play in all aspects of international development. The role of faith in the context of development is complex – it is often hugely positive, but it can also be deeply problematic. The speakers will represent a variety of faith and secular perspectives, and each seminar will be an honest and open discussion about the role of faith and the contribution of the faith communities to development.
I’m sure you’ll agree Tony Blair has much to teach others on how faith (and foreign policy?) can bring communities together.
Here are the dates and topics
Monday 7 September
Opening keynote address from the Rt Hon Tony Blair on Why Faith Matters for Development.
Wednesday 30
September Faith in the Marketplace?
Tuesday 6 October
Poverty & Conflict: Faith as a Solution or Cause?
Tuesday 20 October
Health and Education- Where Faith Fits?
Wednesday 4 November
Towards a Sustainable Environment: What Can Faith Teach Us?
Thursday 12 November
Closing keynote address from The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
You can request a space by emailing rsvp@tonyblairfaithfoundation.org by the 2nd of September 2009 to register your interest, stating which seminars you would like to attend.
The location of the seminars will be in a central London location, but the exact location cannot be revealed until 24 hours before the first event. Top secret stuff.
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