Video of the Week - Thank You Onion

John Biggs: Tower Hamlets Labour Mayor Candidate

 London Assembly member John Biggs is standing to be the Labour Party candidate to run for Tower Hamlets Mayor.

There has been the usual exciting and colourful Tower Hamlets selection process.

Labour Party members (only) will vote on Saturday on who they want to be their candidate in the Mayoral election on 21 October 2010.

I have worked in Tower Hamlets for the past 20 years or so - but I am not of course a local member so I shouldn't really interfere in the selection process.

But - this being Tower Hamlets (my 2nd favourite London borough ever) I can't help mentioning that in a strictly personal capacity - I thought John was an excellent Labour Council leader and London Assembly member.  He is also a stanch trade unionist and a very decent person with good politics who you can rely on. We don't agree all the time but there again - who does!

There are other good candidates standing but if I had the choice (and I don't) then I would definitely be voting for Mr Biggs to be Tower Hamlets Mayor. 

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies".

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."

Thomas Jefferson, third U.S. President (1743 - 1826).

Some things never change!

Hat-tip thingy to my new UNISON Eastern region RO.

Lessons from Katrina

As we approach the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina destroying New Orleans, I am heading out to the annual APSA convention. Once again the conference is in Washington, DC - as it was on that weekend in 2005. Posts will be - at best - intermittent through Sunday.

But here are a set of essays by Rebecca Sonit on lessons for the post-Katrina world - from The Nation here, The L.A. Times here, and from Yes! here. Solnit points out, once again, that the dangers in NOLA in the immediate wake of the storm emerged more from ineptitude and malign neglect on the part of government, the misrepresentations of the media and the violence of mercenaries, police and white vigilantes - all animated largely by racist fear fear and animosity - than from the poor residents whom the storm displaced.

“The Spark of Rebellion in Bow and Mile End”

"Walk the streets where strikers, suffragettes and rebel councillors made their stand for the rights and dignity of ordinary working women and men from the 1880s to the 1920s. Find out what they did, who led and supported them, and why they should be remembered and celebrated. Places on this walk will be strictly limited to 30 on a first-come first-served basis. £7/£4".

2.30pm on Sunday September 12th.

See East End Walks.  Hat-tip Andy at Socialist Unity

Ego & Democracy Fail: Ma and Putin

Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister recently gave an interview to Andrey Kolesnikov, Kommersant's special correspondent and Russia's best-known print journalist, who travelled with the prime minister along a new federal highway between Khabarovsk and Chita. Putin made comments that curiously echo those that have been made by Taiwan's President Ma. To whit:

Vladimir Putin today angrily dismissed protests against his regime as "provocations" and said anyone who took part in unsanctioned street rallies against the Kremlin should expect a "whack on the bonce".

Putin said Russians needed to get permission before they could take to the streets.

He explained: "You've got it? Go and march. If not, you don't have the right. Go to a rally without permission and you get a whack on the bonce. It's that simple."

He said that in London demonstrators who protested without permission also got a "whack on the nut".

Writing on his blog today the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov said the interview revealed Putin to be "mendacious, ignorant and spiteful".

Moscow's city government has consistently refused to grant permission for opposition rallies, and last week fenced off Triumfalnaya square ahead of tomorrow's protest. Asked why the government seemed bent on thwarting the rallies at all cost, Putin said: "Believe me, I don't know about this. This isn't my affair."

Asked whether he had made mistakes over the past decade, Putin said he could not think of any.

Putin's message is that all assemblies are allowed if they have permits. If they don't, police brutality is justifiable. The PM has no hand in restricting rallies and refusing to grant permission and he has made no mistakes in the past decade. The only difference with President Ma and KMT of Taiwan is that police brutality is only allowed when the KMT are likely to lose big face in front of visiting Chinese delegations. Otherwise, the police just form a barrier or cordon off streets so that impromptu assemblies are restricted to the point of ineffectiveness. Ask the police what law they are acting on in Taiwan and you are likely to get the answer that they either need to look it up and get back to you or 'shouldn't probably say' (see recent Tibetan protest at the National Palace Museum).

Both Ma and Putin are members of formerly hard line Leninist parties who have found a niche in a post communist order to gain popular support to effectively reinvigorate those orders in a new 'democratic' form. Both exercise high levels of influence over the media, police, and judiciary and both have previously openly stated their distaste for democratisation and individual freedoms. Both sport bloated egos and both have a penchant for drama - Putin likes to cultivate a rough and populist outdoors 'xtreme' image whilst Ma prefers utilising Confucious and the manufactured narrative of ROC lineage to 5000 years of Chinese history and the Greater China people, not to mention copious references to the Yellow Emperor, to build an image of the educated, benevolent but firm classical Chinese monarch.

I can't wait for the ROC 100 year 'celebrations' to watch a hugely expensive turkey absolutely fail to generate any public enthusiasm whatsoever. Before that, we get to see on November 28th just how popular with the public Ma's 'new' KMT really is ....

Disgusting: This is why I have little sympathy for Israeli nationalists

(Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, center, the spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, addresses a convention of religious Jewish women in Jerusalem on June 28. Photo: EPA)

89 year old Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual head of the religious Shas party in Israel’s government has made the following comments:

“Abu Mazen ( Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) and all these evil people should perish from this earth” “God should strike them and these Palestinians — evil haters of Israel — with a plague.”

The US called the comments 'inflammatory' whilst Netanyahu's Government distanced themselves from them (though we know they are sympathetic to them).

Note that the picture is from an address to Jewish women yet not one person surrounding the outspoken and racist cleric is female ... how many are from Brooklyn I wonder?

Yuma

Every once in a while I treat myself on a journey to a comfortable overnight resting point. Last night it was at the Yuma Motel in Taipei County. With weekday rates at almost 50% of Fri-Sun rates, I couldn't resist booking a night in a room that features all the advantages of a hotel with the bonus of space to fit in a spa ...

1. The garage is immaculate ...
2. Inside I find a large soft bed and a separate KTV room ... (the selection of English songs was limited)

3. Bathroom prep area. The toilet is around the wall to the right.

4. The end of the spa room. Note the option of standard shower and 'raining' shower as well as (top left) a waterfall feature that is like standing in a warm typhoon without the wind.

5. I am useless with my camera. This was the best picture of the spa area that I could get with a flash. The back pool is the hot tub / jacuzzi and the one at the front is larger and for cooler water.

6. The hot tub all lit up. Attention is given to lighting that adds a touch of romance to the spa experience ....

7. The lights are also built into the cool pool to very nice effect ...

... all that for NT$3600 which I think is a steal. I stayed there from 6pm til 10am the next morning. If I had the budget I would stay at motels over hotels any day. Two things that the UK desperately needs: 1. Decent pool / spa facilities for plebs like me in every town and 2. high class motels on commuter routes in Cornwall, the north and Scotland.

Newham Councillors & Mayor 2010: The Largest Labour Group in the Country

 I thought I would cheer up every one's Bank holiday by posting this picture from the AGM of Newham Council. 

The photo was taken in the historic Old Town Hall in Stratford. 

I hope this isn't seen as political boasting but:-

In the London Borough of Newham 60 out of the possible 60 elected Councillors are Labour Party candidates.

The directly elected Mayor, Sir Robin Wales is Labour. So are both MP's,  Stephen Timms (who has the largest majority in the country) and Lyn Brown.  The local directly elected London Assembly member, John Biggs, is Labour as is the directly elected Member for the European Parliament, Claude Moraes.

Is there something in the Newham - clear red water?

"Crisis, what crisis?"... CONDEM porkies about National Debt

 You would think from recent announcements by Osborne (and whatever Libdem spokesperson) that we are indeed about to go cap in hand to the IMF at any moment. 

This BBC graph based on IMF figures reported upon yesterday on Labour list by Howard Dawber makes you think "wot?".

Just look at the current and projected debt levels?

This is what Howard said "49. THE WHOLE JUSTIFICATION OF THE DEFICIT REDUCTION PACKAGE

The ConDems have based their whole economic policy on the idea that the economy is tanking, that there is no spare money in government, but that growth is strong enough to cope with a massive reduction in public spending. In their analysis Britain’s deficit and debt puts us on a par with Greece and if we don’t take drastic action the whole economy will collapse. Labour’s plan to halve the deficit in 4 years, generally regarded as ambitious but workable by economists, is too slow. They want to halve it in two years.

Why is it a bad idea? The ConDems have their facts wrong, and on top of that have the wrong strategy as well. Despite being faced with the worst world-wide recession in decades, Labour took brave decisions to support the banks, stimulate the economy and keep spending under control. As a result, unemployment when Labour left office in 2010 was lower than when Labour came to power in 1997. Interest rates remain the lowest they have been for decades. Having got the economy out of recession at the end of last year, growth is now higher than expected – the economy grew by 1.1% from April – June. Unemployment fell in the last quarter and is lower in the UK than the EU average. Our banks have been stable and secure.

And what about our terrible, terrible debt – the reason the Tories keep talking about the “unavoidable” cuts? UK debt as a percentage of GDP reached 68.7% earlier this year and is still rising. That’s not great. But it is comfortably lower than the other G7 countries like Germany, the United States, France, Canada, Italy or Japan. Last time the Tories were in power they put up our debt from 34% of GDP to 51% to help get through the recession of the 1990s. This time they are doing the exact opposite to what most countries around the world agree is the right way to get back into sustainable growth. For a comparison with our major international competitors see this graph. The “savage” cuts programme is not just wrong because it is not based on a real understanding of the economic position of the country, it is wrong because it may reverse the positive trend of growth.

The Bank of England says that the ConDem plans will lead to a slower recovery and higher inflation than previously expected with Labour’s plans.

Finally we taxpayers are already £5bn in profit on the government’s investment in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland. Within a year of the end of the recession Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s decision to step in with funding has been proved not just right but very profitable too. The Tories, incidentally, want to sell these shares off at a loss to benefit their friends in the stockbroking and hedge fund industry".

National Health & Safety Inspection Day: Wed 27 October

 The Wednesday of "European Health and Safety week" (25-29 October 2010) is also "National Health & Safety Inspection Day".  All trade union safety reps are encouraged to carry out a safety inspection of their workplace with their local management on that day.

This year's theme for European Health & Safety week is "Maintenance" (click on word for TUC guide).

Even if you are not trained (yet) as an appointed trade union safety representative encourage your line manager to walk around your workplace with you, look out for obvious danagers such as trip hazards and speak to staff and ask if they have any safety issues or concerns.

I hate DIY...why don’t we have a decent rental sector for everyone in the UK?

I have spent most of this Bank “holiday” weekend painting and decorating (Ugh)! Tomorrow I will try and finish off the living room. I now look up at the freshly painted ceiling and it still looks a bit of a mess. I freely admit to being really, really rubbish at DIY.

I had the simply awful experience of having to go to the local “B&Q” last weekend (“the horror!, the horror...!”) to get paint and stuff and then to nearby Homebase yesterday (don’t ask) to get the things that I had forgotten to get or couldn’t face looking for in B&Q.

In most civilised parts of the world people rent all their lives and don’t share the British obsession with home ownership. Friends working aboard tell me that it is perfectly normal for them to pay reasonable rents for well maintained (and professionally decorated!!!!) homes.

A major reason for this is that unlike in the UK most European countries expect home owners to pay fair taxes on any capital appreciation in the value of their properties.  This helps level out the "housing tenure" playing field.   

Video - the Royal Family (and twiggy!) show us how DIY really should be done.

And While we are Talking About King ...

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous
than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

King may have overstated the case a bit - after all, in the category of dangerous characteristics, it is hard to beat either true, shameless venality or sadistic delight in the pain of others. The latter just happen, in my view, to be less widely distributed than the qualities King identifies.

Of Robots and Altars.

We've been in the process of moving over this past month into our first house and the packing has dislodged all our "possessions" from their "right" place and thrown them into a mixed soup of items. As I was dutifully sorting and wrapping up our materialistic karma into the appropriate boxes, I noticed that during the churning maelstrom of the process that my toy, "Robot B-9" from the 1960s, American, science-fiction, t.v. program, titled, "Lost in Space" had found its way to the altar. Anyway, at first glance my conditioned mind saw this clunky, garish, pop-culture refugee, toy as a blight on my otherwise serene, elegant and meticulously designed, altar.

Yet as I questioned this initial reaction from my mind I began to see the cheap, plastic, robot in a different light. I questioned myself, "Why do you see the Buddha differently than the robot?" In a flash my newly focused mind replied, "me." By their nature, the Buddha statue and robot are inanimate objects made unique by their artists yet still of the same nature or essence. It was my mind that was labeling one as "beneficial" and the other as "clutter."

So, just to shake up my habitual mind I've decided to replace the Buddha statue on the altar with the robot for a few days as a kind of koan to contemplate. Religious paraphernalia can be a powerful reminder of what it means to follow the Dharma. However, it can quickly turn to spiritual materialism where we start to think that the items have some sort of power that improves our spirituality; and that without them we're somehow less of a practitioner. Surely the first time I go to bow to Buddha before meditating and instead see that goofy robot I will laugh out loud at my silly mind. Perhaps in a different world in a different part of this universe Buddha takes the form of a robot!! If you find that idea sacrilegious then perhaps you have some of your own spiritual materialism to shed?

---End of Transmission---

Another Falun Gong Practioner Dies in Detention

Between Heaven and Earth reports on a clear reason why 'rights issues' matter, Mrs Clinton.

Excellent Summary of Hsichih Trio Case

Read here ...

Video of the Week

Quote of the Week: 33% of Taiwan's Energy Used to Generate 4% of GDP

This quote from the Taipei Times is this week's winner and my first post back in the country.

Gloria Hsu (徐光蓉) of National Taiwan University (NTU) (a member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU)) told a press conference that the TEPU would publish a brochure titled The Illusory Petrochemical Kingdom to highlight the major mistakes and unanswered questions in the EIA report presented by Kuokuang Petrochemical Corp.:

Hsu said Taiwan imports almost all of its energy sources, with the petrochemical industry consuming about one-third of this but contributing only about 4 percent of GDP.

Funny: Dog Bites Teenager on the Crotch

Just like the video title says, it's a funny video of a teenage boy getting bitten on the crotch by a dog. Enjoy.

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Why Glenn Beck is Right (Meaning Correct, Not Just Reactionary)

Glenn Beck speaks at his 'Restoring Honor' rally in front of
the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010
(Image © AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

I never thought I'd say it, but here goes. Glenn Beck is right! Reviving the message of Martin Luther King , Jr. would indeed go considerable distance toward restoring honor to America.

Unfortunately, Beck fails to grasp the implications of his call; MLK Jr.'s message entails radical politics of just the sort that he and his reactionary followers would find appalling. After all, King preached a message of progressive political-economic reform. For instance, he demanded a universal guaranteed income to directly address the widespread poverty that plagued the U.S. in the 1960s and continues to do so today. He also spoke and acted in solidarity with striking workers - indeed, he was shot in Memphis where he had traveled to support the demands of sanitation workers seeking to exercise their right to form a union. King also spoke eloquently against American military aggression in Viet Nam; his message on that score translates more or less seamlessly to our current disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, let the Merry Becksters re-orient their politics to accommodate King's message. We'd all be much better off.

The fact that those on the left are so pre-occupied with the resonance of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, suggests that they too ought to look more closely at Dr. King's message. He did not stand for freedom and civil rights in the abstract, but for freedom deeply embedded in circumstances of solidarity and justice and peace and equality.

Barely Political: Ke$ha and Twitter Parody

I found a couple awesome parodies from Barely Political (the satire group on Youtube that used to have Obama girl) that I needed to post on the blog. The first one is about Ke$ha's intervention:




The second video is about the worthlessness of Twitter as a social media outlet:




I think that the Kesha parody is better than the actual song. The Twitter parody is also pretty good.


Here is my obligatory cute girl to keep my viewers interested (and to provide a cool thumbnail).

Campus Cute Girl

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Save NHS Direct

This BBC report confirms earlier rumours that the CONDEMS are planning to scrap NHS Direct and replace it with a privately run call centre staffed by unqualified operatives. 

So much for the Tory pledge to safeguard the NHS?  NHS Direct is a success and actually saves money by stopping people going to see the GP's or A&E unnecessarily.  They also conversely -save lives since many people (especially men) will not go and seek medical advice in person but will ring up NHS Direct and will then accept their advice that they should see their GP.

This only works because people trust the service and know that they are speaking to properly trained and qualified NHS staff. 

Most privately run medical call centres have a terrible reputation.  People do not trust the confidentiality of these centres and the quality of the advice. 

This is from the UNISON press release: -

STAND UP FOR NHS DIRECT

The Guardian states that Conservative Secretary of State for Health has let slip that the Coalition is to scrap NHS Direct for a cheaper service.

The proposal is to replace 3,000 dedicated specialist nurses and health professionals with a cheap private call centre, with no access to a nurse.

Private call centres with unqualified staff can never replace this excellent service, which provides vital immediate support such as during the swine flu outbreak which saw scores of people die.

NHS Direct UNISON Official Michael Walker states:

"Not one Coalition party stated they would scrap NHS Direct in their manifesto. There is no mandate for cutting this service . If the government attack NHS Direct, what else is next? What other NHS cuts are they hiding? It is time for Cameron and Clegg to come clean about their real plans for our NHS."

Join UNISON's campaign to Save NHS Direct.

Five Random Images of Hot Non Nude Girls

 

Tasteful and not sleazy sexy girl

Since these types of entries end up accounting for nearly 2/3 of my traffic historically, I decided to do another one. Don't worry -- I'm a blogger, not a pornographer: no images of nude girls here. Just for the sake of SEO, I probably should keep repeating that phrase, but I don't want to keep talking about nude girls or non nude girls or girls who wear watermelon shells on their heads. Non nude girls:


1.  Sexy girl from Youtube

Sexy Youtube Girl -- would you watch her channel?

 2. Random Hot Asian Girl

Cute Asian Girl - I Like The Skirt

3.  Hot Female Sports Fan:

Hot Girl Sports Fan - Go Team!

4.  Hot Fresh Faced Sexy Girl

Cute Faced Girl with Necklace

 5.  Cute Latina Girl on Stairs

Cute Latina Girl Waiting on Stairs

Well, I hope that these pics made all of the guys (and possible lesbians) days brighter. I had to look hard to find pictures even this clean and tasteful. I know this will generate huge amounts of traffic in about a month or so. Somehow, I still feel dirty . . .

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UNISON urges vote for Ed Miliband

"Labour Link Enews - Aug '10

UNISON urges vote for Ed Miliband

Welcome to the 26th electronic newsletter from UNISON Labour Link. It is aimed at those both active in UNISON and those in the Labour party who are interested in our campaigns. UNISON is calling on its affiliated members to make Ed Miliband their first preference choice in the Labour Leadership ballot.

UNISON backs living wage call

UNISON has welcomed Ed Miliband's plans to push for a living wage. The Labour leadership candidate has proposed that companies which agree to pay a living wage of at least £7.60 an hour would get a tax reduction. Ed Miliband's Living Wage plan.

"I'll defend the public sector" says Ed Miliband

“If I’m the Labour leader I will be absolutely vigorous in my defence of the public sector” promises Ed Miliband in an exclusive interview with UNISON's InFocus magazine. Ed Miliband interview.

How to vote for Ed Miliband

Affiliated members of UNISON will receive their ballot papers with U magazine in early September. This handy guide will help members fill in the ballot paper correctly and ensure all votes count. Vote Ed Miliband.

Show your support for Ed Miliband

Visit Ed's website and see what events there are in your area and how you can help his campaign. Ed Miliband website.

Want to know more?

If you want to know more about our campaigns, help build the link between UNISON and Labour, or think there's something we should know contact: labourlink@unison.co.uk or call us on 0845 355 0845".

(I got this email yesterday from UNISON Labour Link)

Ceci n'est pas un recouvrement

Free associations: When I read Paul Krugman this morning I wondered immediately whether maybe he has been inspired by the late Michel Foucault.

Ansel Adams or Uncle Earl? Why Should we care who made the Photographs?

Well, silly, . . . because photographs are property and all sorts of people have large financial stakes in controlling the number of Adams snaps in circulation. The law suit reported in this story shows the pretentious art world in all its essential venality. You can find background on the fracas here. In any case, much of my effort on this blog is aimed at shifting attention from worrying about photographs and their characteristics to talking about photography and how it is used. Perhaps the basic difficulty in effecting that shift is that photographs are simply worth so damned much?

Friday Puzzle - Who is Nick going on about?

"I was in fact having this debate with a 'commrade' from Lambeth last night (he happened to be there in the same pub as me) this lefty who is as good looking as Nora Batty and has the wit and charm of Robert Mugabe, was arguing that we (those of us in the Labour party) should regain the party before we start supporting any leaders better still, in his opinion, leave the Labour project and join a real (in his Mugabian reasoning) party. This is the kind of person of course who would rather spend time and energy arguing with the other 28.4 ultra left versions of the far left than concentrate on achieving change and therefore and that way help those wo need it most?"

The World of Nick Venedi

Any ideas?

Update: Nick has clarified his comments here

Selling my tweets on Ebay

I had the bright idea a few weeks ago that I would get rich by selling tweets on my Twitter account on Ebay. After all, I reasoned, I have two active Twitter accounts, one with about 4,000 followers and one with about 2,000 followers. So, I decided to put up an ad and see what would happen.


 I thought that my estimated 5,000-6,000 followers would count for something, 1$, 2$, maybe even 5$ or more. I even had dreams of starting a bidding war where the attention of my thousands of loyal fans could command top dollar and I could retire from my day job and get rich off the fame that my month or so of aggressive following on Twitter has brought me.


Except, it didn't happen.

Days passed, and the end of the three day deadline neared. I fully expected to to have some bids on my item, some indication that a person besides me thought that tweeting was worth something in life.

And then it came: a buyer purchased my tweet. The final selling price?

5 cents.

Yippie.

So, if you've ever wondered what your tweets are worth to the larger world outside of Twitter, I could answer this in two words.

Almost nothing.

Twitter sucks.

Hot Ebay Girl

P.S. Tweets are so worthless apparently that the buyer never even sent me a tweet to send out to my followers -- he just paid me the 5 cents. I'm pretty sure the guy either bought it as a joke or as a mistake.

Think of this story next time you're bragging about how many followers you have on Twitter.

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Safety Matters: Pre-employment health checks, asbestos in schools and risky work fines

Nothing much is supposed to happen in August but check out this week’s TUC weekly on-line bulletin  “Risks”.

Pre-employment health checks are to become illegal under the Equality Act in October. Employers will not be able to ask health questions or make medical checks on job applicants before offering them the job. This will make it far more difficult for them to discriminate against the disabled since they would then have to “justify” why they are withdrawing a job offer after they discover someone has a disability.

Excellent news!

Waltham Forest Council Ace UNISON health & safety rep, Su Manning is mentioned also for “hammering” her employer over HSE enforcement notices about their failure to carry out checks over asbestos and legionnaire disease in schools (schools????? I kid you not)

Another important advance reported was that the Appeal Court has ruled that it was legal for courts to give firms big fines over significant (risky) safety failures which could (but luckily didn’t) have resulted in large numbers of people being killed.

This is fundamental to the H&S principle that prevention is much, much better than cure.

(picture I took of disturbed and crumbling asbestos pipe lagging in a library basement used as a storage area during a trade union safety inspection in 2003)

"Explore the Story of Social Housing in Tower Hamlets"

Shame I cannot make this local history open day on Saturday.  Mind you I still don't like the term "Social Housing" which was a term first used by one Michael Heseltine (I prefer "Public Housing").

"CCTV footage reveals shocking cruelty"

"POLITICAL activists reacted with fury today when Sky News broadcast CCTV footage of an innocent political party being unceremoniously dumped in a wheelie bin.

“Well, no-one was looking and no-one seemed to care anyway,” said the unnamed brute (David Cameron, 44) who carried out the crime. He was seen initially to offer friendship and affection to the party, before quickly opening up the bin and throwing it in when it was least expecting it.

The party remained in the wheelie bin awaiting rescue. But no-one bothered.

Nick Clegg is 30. At the very most".

Hat-tip thingy to Tom Harris MP

(Just in case you don't know...)

Stupid News Stories in the United States Replacing Real News from Other Countries

Image via Wikipedia

Too often, news stories from other countries are ignored in by the United State. Take this hostage situation from the Philippines where 8 people died as an example. If I remember correctly, the Philippines story had a shelf life of about 4 hours and was quickly replaced by some sort of crap about John McCain's reelection or Sarah Palin -- the political pseudo celebrities forced upon the American public by Fox News and friends. Note that I would complain about the left's pseudo celebrities too, except they're not in the spotlight as much lately. 





I think that a lot of this comes with the rise of the 24 hour news channel. Before, news stations had to cram all of their news into a 30 minute TV nightly news program, so they had to be a bit more selective and report real news. Now, it's almost the opposite effect. News stations can't afford to be selective because they have to run something, so news stations keep running stories, no matter how tiring or trite.

What do you think about the news situation inside the United States? Am I being too harsh, or am I on target?

Maria Venus Raj (impersonator): A Philippina hottie!

Maria Venus Raj

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Best Shots (128) ~ Horace Ové

(155) Horace Ové ~ Michael X (behind middle bodyguard)
at Paddington station, 1967 (25 August 2010).

New Ed Miliband for Labour Leader Video: Change to win

Check out this new "Ed Miliband for Labour Leader" campaign video featuring East Ham CLP comrades (there are two featured!)

I've been delivering leaflets this week on behalf of Ed's campaign and have a list of members to call.  Don't forget East London fund raiser this Saturday.

Vienna

Last weekend I went on a business trip to Vienna. Here are some of the photos I took. The city itself is on the Danube in a fairly flat part of the country. The Alps are 200km odd to the south west.

A map courtesy of Geographic Guide . Net:
First up, the St. Stephen's cathedral right in the center of Vienna (I couldn't fit all the interesting parts in one shot). This was right next to the apartment where I was staying - the old center of Vienna. The buildings are mostly 17th -18th century stock but there are a number of churches dating back 4-6 hundred years old and older.

The shops were exquisite and very very elegant ... from clothes to chocolates

Vienna has old and new trams. Would LOVE to see something like this on the roads in Taichung rather than an ugly overground ZaHu line MkII ...

These actors sat motionless then made small moves in the baking afternoon sun ... how the body paint didn't drip I don't know.

One popular way for tourists to view the city. 80 Euros for a long tour, 40 Euros for the short one.

A lunch of sausage and saurkraut ...

This scooter is a 250cc. It would be perfect for touring Taiwan

Finally, 'Mozart's House' museum. 9 Euros for an adult, electronic guide included. Didn't have the funds nor time to go in though, mores the pity.