February 2012
2 posts
Crossroad In Syria
In an interview with the BBC’s Weekend World Today, Faisal al-Qudsi, a leading Syrian businessman, has said that, largely thanks to western sanctions, the Syrian government has only the resources left to fight the rebels for another six months, ‘the army is getting tired and will go nowhere’ he said.
What this means for the people is not sure. Even if it is so that Assad’s regime only have six...
Iran: the need for a true diplomatic solution
On the 24th of January US President Barrack Obama gave the State of the Union and in it, amongst others, noted the situation in Iran. “America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” he said. “I will take no option off the table to achieve this goal. But a peaceful resolution on this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligation,...
January 2012
1 post
Private Health Care Has No Interest In Your Health
On the day after Boxing Day the government announced new proposals representing the slow and inevitable privatisation of the health service. These proposals took the form of a rise in the current cap on the number of beds and the amount of theatre time that may be dedicated to private patients in NHS hospitals, from its current level of 2% to 49%.
The government claims this will be good for the...
December 2011
3 posts
Are We A Christian Nation?
Religion and politics is one of the most contentious relationships of modern society, and for that matter ancient societies also.
As a British nation we long considered ourselves to be, in some way, above the issue of religion. Although the majority of our residents may consider themselves Christian (to what extent this is genuine faith is disputed), church attendance has been constantly and...
Young, Angry, and Ignored
The economy is in its worst state for decades and it’s predicted that matters are only going to get worse. Unemployment is going to rise, average pay is likely to go down, the rich-poor gap is going to get bigger and the environment is taking a back seat to economic recovery.
This is not simply hearsay or doomsday predictions but the admittance of our own government who, with this in mind,...
Is Shale Gas really worth it?
In the state of Pennsylvania, fracking is common and the supporters claim it provides low cost energy without relaying on foreign, unstable forms of energy which has a lower carbon output than coal. The affects for the local people have been devastating though.
The process utilizes water laced with chemicals and sand pumped in at high pressures to fracture the Shale rock and realise the gas...
November 2011
2 posts
For Rent Control in the Capital
With the London Mayoral elections quickly approaching and our candidates getting into campaign mode, their faces and promises are soon to become ubiquitous around the capital. The debates are sure to take a predictable pattern; transport, crime, council tax, and competitiveness and with the events of the last summer more than likely the protests, occupations, and riots that have defined the...
Seven Billion and the Risks of Urbanisation
At the time of my grandfather’s birth in 1930 there was an estimated two billion people on the planet. Today that figure has increased by 250% and a child born to day is born into a world of seven billion people. It is, in fact, the day I write this that the seven billionth child was born.
Of course we do not know for sure that child was born on this day but we know that with a buffer of six...
October 2011
3 posts
Gilad Shalit and the Military Reality of Imbalance
On the 18th October 2011, Gilad Shalit was freed by Hamas militants into the custody of Egypt and from there flown by helicopter home to Israel, back into the arms of family and friends who had not seen him for five years. In return 1,027 Palestinian’s are to be returned home.
In most scenarios a trade of such imbalance would seem almost preposterous to any other nation. That is unless the captive...
The Re-Birth Of A Liberal World
History is a constant repetition of peaks and troughs, like a double helix raising and falling over time. It used to be that we measured these peaks by emperors and kingdoms, with the interceptions of the lines being marked by wars and invasions.
Of course these lines do not run symmetrically but alter, with every interception forever changing the paths of those that follow and with the end...
David Milliband: Remembering Gaza
In an article for Project Syndicate, former Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote about the need for more international involvement in Gaze and the need to allow the people of Gaza to make their own future. He places the ability to achieve this squarely with Israel yet praises organisations such as Save The Children and The Qattan Center for the Child for their dedication to the alarmingly high...
September 2011
6 posts
The Tax Collector
The tax collector has experienced some of the highest levels of discrimination in history. Portrayed as ravenous in Biblical times, or indulging the Pharaohs at the expense of poor farmers in Ancient Egypt, the tax collector has long been a symbol of overbearing states and the exploitation of hard work.
In the past this discrimination has not been without just cause. The expenses taxes went to pay...
David Cameron on the need for UN backed action to...
“You could sign every human rights declaration in the world but if you stand by and watch people being slaughtered in their own country when you could act, then what are those signatures for?”
Obviously this quote was on the situation in Libya and the Arab Spring where the ‘success’ of intervention has enabled the people of Libya to free themselves from a tyrannical...
Henry Kissinger - On China
Having an ashamedly lack of knowledge on China, its history, and its ideology, I decided to invest in some reading to help solve this issue.
Kissinger’s knowledge on the issue of China is perhaps one of the most comprehensive amongst western diplomats. Having worked as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State for Presidents Nixon and Ford, Kissinger saw in talks between the US and...
Amnesty International - Libya Refugees 'Shamefully...
In a recent article, we questioned the intentions of the NATO intervention in Libya. The need for action in this crises was not, as they claimed based on the support of democracy or humanitarian support but simply for the removal of a world leader who hampers the west’s world vision.
Now Amnesty International is claiming Europe has failed African refugees and their resetllement saying,”This...
Double standards on the Arab Spring
We are all aware that western intervention in the disputes of other nations is rarely done for the ‘humanitarian’ reasons the leaders are always so quick to claim. Underlying hostilities and old wounds which appeared benign soon come back to the surface when an excuse for war can be found, and if this excuse can be for the protection of democratic values, even better.
With the Libyan rebels...
August 2011
3 posts
Abstinence Only or Everything But?
Everybody who has ever taken part in sex education in school remembers it vividly.
The awkwardness of the teacher’s attempts at nonchalant-ness, combined with horrifyingly graphic images of body parts affected by sexually transmitted diseases. In truth, sexual education did as much for one’s sex drive as Jaws does for fishing off the New England coast.
Still, a large part of the population,...
The True Cost of the London Riots
In the wake of the riots that tore through the outer boroughs of London and continued across the cities of the UK and across the Atlantic, many are quick to point fingers at the rioters and the government, and many a quick to speculate how this may affect, “Brand London”. However, few have commented on the likely effects this will have on the relationship British society has on the youth, a...
Netanyahu to negotiate on ’67 borders?
The Israeli-Palestinian border has remained one of the most contested issues in international relations for half a century. Despite a continuation of Israel’s slow but constant encroachment onto recognisable Palestinian soil and a public hard-line stance, reports are surfacing that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may be weakening.
Ahead of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United...
July 2011
10 posts
Protestors Loyal To President Bashar al-Assad...
In response to the US and French ambassadors to Syria visits to Hama on thursday, pro-government activists attacked both embassies today, injuring embassy staff and vandalizing property. The two ambassadors visited the town of Hama, a strong-hold of the rebels, to a hail of rose petals and olive branches to show solidarity with their cause. The act was quickly dismissed by the Syrian government...
Welcome to the Republic of South Sudan
After a long and bloody civil war the Southern Sudanese voted for independence in January and today this comes into fruition. Here’s to a long history of peace and stability.
Subaru First Target In The Saudi Women's War On...
Subaru has become the first company targeted by The Saudi Women For Driving coalition to pull out of Saudi Arabia until the ban on female drivers has lifted. The demand has come through a change.org petition which reads: “As Saudi women our lack of freedom of movement places an extreme burden on our lives. We lack a public transportation system and the most basic errands and medical...
Is Overpopulation a Myth?
I recently came across a website, overpopulationisamyth.com and their series of videos supporting their apparent claims. In these videos they deal with the history of the Overpopulation ‘myth’, childbirth, food, and poverty.The issue of overpopulation remains a true issue and there are many misconceptions on both sides of the field. Just as with environmental issues, we must not be afraid of the...
EU plans to phase out petrol cars in city centres...
The UK has rejected plans proposed by the EU to phase out conventionally fuelled cars from city centres by the year 2050. Norman Baker, the UK Transport Secretary, sights the reason for this rejection as being that the EU should not be involved in the transport choices of individual cities, despite claims by the European Commission that this would help cut carbon emissions by 60%.This comes just...
Israeli Government denies the right to recognise...
Palestinian’s fleeing their homes in 1948.
The Israeli parliament voted yesterday on a law allowing the state to deny funding to institutions that question the status of the country as a Jewish state most notably through recognition of the Nakba, a day of mourning to mark the sacrifice of Palestinians in the creation of the state.For Arabs the Nakba, or “catastrophe” is marked by the...
What I learnt from Fukushima? We’re slowly killing...
The recent events in Japan have made many re-think nuclear power and whether the pro’s are worth the potential risks. For some the disaster was too close a call to be brushed aside and with nuclear power plants in both California and Germany being temporarily closed for inspection and improvement to protect against the unforeseeable it seems most are still not comfortable dismissing the risk of a...
Noam Chomsky on Jeremy Paxman
One of the most famous living philosophers took to Jeremy Paxman recently to discuss technology, Libya, America’s handling of the middle east, and old age. A must see for everybody.
Find it here.
