GreenFeed

The following table is from the Palestinian Red Crescent website:

Table of the total of casualties:

Total number of Deaths	Children	Women	Men
557	100	35	422
Total number of injuries
2690	770	350	1570

Source Palestinian Red Crescent - http://www.palestinercs.org/news_details.aspx?nid=86

This data therefore does not include the 30 plus children who were killed today when the Israeli army targeted a UN school.

Our leaders are failing us and the Palestinians with their weak statements blaming both sides rather than having the courage to call out right for an immediate stop to Israeli hostilities.

The media is often biaised referring to the democratically elected Hamas as terrorists while doing little to condemn Israel of allow spokespersons from the Palestinian side. To give Channel 4 news their due, they did broadcast an interview with a Hamas spokesman.

Thankfully the Green Party is making a stand:

Jean Lambert MEP's statement can be read here - http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2009-01-06-jeanlambertgaza.html

and Caroline Lucas MEP's statement here - http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/Gaza-eu-israel-association-agreement.html

We must continue to call our leaders and media to account, continue to protest and boycott Israeli goods

I saw riot police charging the first few rows of protestors with their shields, and beating many with batons. The protestors retreated about ten metres back, as did the riot police. A man had been knocked to the ground and was unconscious, and some protestors eventually were able to carry him to the police to be taken to safety. It was all quite brutal, and with thousands of us in an enclosed space like the underpass, we had nowhere to go. An old lady was wondering around in the space between the protestors and the police: I told her she should get out of there before the police charge again but she said she wouldn’t leave until she found her husband.

I am not the only member of the Green Party of England and Wales protesting, Rayyan has been blogging and demonstrating.

Take a look at his blog....and get along to the daily demonstration 5.30-7.30pm at the Israeli Embassy.

A UN school bombed today, the IDF say that Hamas fighters were using it, the UN and Hamas deny this.

No journalists allowed into Gaza...so IDF propaganda rules...I wonder whether they will claim that their own solidiers they killed today were used as a human shield by Hamas.

Looking at all the blood coming out of my TV

MEPs from the Green Party and other parties have demanded an emergency debate in the European Parliament on the Gaza crisis - and have been rebuffed.


Jean Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, issued the following statement today: "An immediate ceasefire is vital to prevent the further loss of innocent lives. Israel cannot justify this continued assault and the devastation it is bringing to the people of Gaza. The Greens called for an exceptional statement from the Council and Commission and an urgent debate on the crisis in the Parliament this week. It has been confirmed that the plenary debate will not take place, but an exceptional meeting of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee will be held tomorrow.

"Certainly this is not the time for the EU to be upgrading relations with Israel, indeed there is a case for examining the existing agreements. The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides, since Hamas, too, bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians." Jean, who was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005, added,


"Being in Gaza almost a year ago I witnessed the severe suffering of Palestinians as a result of the siege, and a lack of medical equipment and other essential supplies. The situation now must be unbearable, with many hundreds dead and thousands injured as a result of the air strikes and ground offensive. "It is imperative that the provision of humanitarian aid takes into account the deficit of goods and services which existed prior to these latest attacks. As well as the emergency response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the lives and communities of those affected."

URL: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2009-01-06-jeanlambertgaza.html

Jane, my long suffering partner pointed out to me how notably cheerful I had been over Christmas. This was in notable contrast to how I had behaved in the three months prior to this. This was because I turned of the computer and didn't look at it for two weeks, and even managed to stop thinking about residents parking for a week or so

Funny thing is, I spoke to another councillor on Monday night - who said his partner had told him exactly the same thing (about being cheerful, I mean).

I wonder - is there a theme emerging here?

.

In addition to Tales To Tell, the blog from Gaza mentioned in my previous post, there's another blog done by an International Solidarity Movement volunteer called In Gaza.

All of the following casualties were injured by the Israeli Defence Force. Can you spot which one is the odd one out?












If you opted for terrorist number four, the IDF man hit by friendly fire, you'd be wrong, it was of course a trick question. There is no odd one out, they're all terrorists - to suggest otherwise might hurt someone's feelings, and at a time like this hurt feelings really are the most important thing to avoid.

It has been a delight hearing Clive James on the Point of View slot on Sunday mornings. Ok, I'm showing my age now, because rather than razzing it up on Saturday night and lying in on Sunday morning I often catch not only this essay at 8.50 but actually also Something Understood at whatever horrendous time that is on.

Clive James had certainly understood something this week, in his essay called Get Rich Quick - still available from the BBC podcasts page. I don't expect Clive James to be on my political wavelength, and usually he isn't. I listen to him because he is witty and clever and has a rather pleasing Australian accent which is quite soothing of a Sunday morning.

His theme this week was a suitably new year one - the change in consciousness that the financial catastrophe has brought in its wake. He predicted that getting rich quick will cease to look smart and begin to look silly: 'Excess wealth is gone, like the codpiece.' His confidence in making this 'prediction' lay in the fact that, in reality, the change has already happened.

For me, this change is deeply reassuring. Not because I feel vindicated or less uncomfortable about my inability to deal with constantly changing fashions (or is that just total lack of interest?). It is more that I have felt so uneasy about the rampant conspicuous consumption of others. This feeling doesn't arise from inherent frugality, or judgementalism or even a concern for the ecological impossibility of it all. It's more a sense of deep disappointment that so many people have no conception of what really matters in life.

We are going to need those things in a big way this coming year. We are going to need to value comradeship and the kindness of strangers. The human resources on which Britain traditionally prides itself - communitarianism, courage, humour and stoicism - are going to be the character traits most in demand in 2009. And underpinning them all we are going to need a faith to replace the fear that swirls around the shopping malls where empty shopfronts are rapidly replacing hyperactive consumers.

So we start to wave a fond farewell to the incandescent light - since its first demonstration in the 19th Century it has served us well, but the brutal march of progress has made it obsolete since the development of CFLs over 30 years ago. Even though the current depletion of 150W, 100W and 75W bulbs being reported in the press is only part of a voluntary agreement (no sensible efficiency standards here), there's a binding EU agreement (of sorts) on the way and the days of the filament bulb are numbered.

This rather quiet victory in the struggle for improved energy efficiency standards has not gone unnoticed by the more conservative sections of the media. The comments attached to the Daily Mail's story (they never fail to stir my blood) are, needless to say, fit to bursting over this intervention in the natural order of things. But is it any wonder when the paper itself explains that the phase-out is "part of a government campaign to force people into buying low-energy fluorescent bulbs".

Also complaining is Stuart Jeffries in the Guardian. I'm not quite sure what his gripe is, but it seems to be based on aesthetics: "...these pendulous pear-like fruits of the Industrial Revolution must die as ugly design extends its endless remit," he wails. Each to their own, I suppose, but artists have been using fluorescent lighting for years such as Dan Flavin and, more recently, Jason Bruges.

But never mind that. Have you seen the pretty pictures of the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square? It's stuffed full of LEDs which are even more efficient than the best CFLs currently on the market. They're a bit too expensive for mass consumption just now, but as the price comes down they'll become more common and who knows? Perhaps in years to come, the Mail will be moaning about the disappearance of our traditional CFLs.

MEPs from the Green Party and other parties have demanded an emergency debate in the European Parliament on the Gaza crisis - and have been rebuffed.

Jean Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, issued the following statement today:

"An immediate ceasefire is vital to prevent the further loss of innocent lives. Israel cannot justify this continued assault and the devastation it is bringing to the people of Gaza. The Greens called for an exceptional statement from the Council and Commission and an urgent debate on the crisis in the Parliament this week. It has been confirmed that the plenary debate will not take place, but an exceptional meeting of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee will be held tomorrow.
 
"Certainly this is not the time for the EU to be upgrading relations with Israel, indeed there is a case for examining the existing agreements. The EU needs a strong voice on this conflict, calling for a sustained ceasefire on both sides, since Hamas, too, bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians."

Jean, who was named Justice and Human Rights MEP of the year in 2005, added,
 
"Being in Gaza almost a year ago I witnessed the severe suffering of Palestinians as a result of the siege, and a lack of medical equipment and other essential supplies. The situation now must be unbearable, with many hundreds dead and thousands injured as a result of the air strikes and ground offensive.
 
"It is imperative that the provision of humanitarian aid takes into account the deficit of goods and services which existed prior to these latest attacks. As well as the emergency response, extensive supplies of health, housing and education resources will be needed to rebuild the lives and communities of those affected."

I'm not blogging about the job of being a candidate, but about the paid work I do to ensure we can pay the bills at the end of each month.

I work in the Press team for Parentline Plus which is a parenting support charity, and I have been doing so since August last year. As I've said time and again to anyone that knows me, this is the most enjoyable job I've had since I worked on security at my Student Union fifteen years ago, and some great experiences since then.

What makes a great job? I can tell you what doesn't. Selling crisps off the back of a car (1994 to 95) and giving financial advice (1995 to 97). I had trained to be a teacher and read PPE at University - selling Monster Munch and Doritos wasn't what I had anticipated doing with my life. While the Financial Advisor role I switched to was better, it wasn't sustainable. Frankly, I didn't believe in some of the stuff I was asked to sell under "best advice" guidelines.

However in 1994 the economy was still recovering from the last recession. A lesson many of today's students sadly look set to find out in the next few years, is that there isn't a lot of graduate opportunity when the economy is struggling. It took me until this decade to get employment that was worthwhile and felt like a contribution to society, as a social worker and FE/HE lecturer. I've worked in both sectors on and off for 8 years, trying to balance that work with my political activity, which has never been easy, time wise or financially.

I'm now on a 21 hour a week contract, working with some very positive and intelligent people who are trying to make a difference. I enjoy the Press work, which is something I learned to do while in the Greens. I'm also grateful for an understanding boss, which is why I'm blogging right now. My wife wasn't well today, and with a young baby to look after, there was no hesitation in letting me return home. The hours I've missed will be made up on Friday.

Flexibility in a job contract or in an employed role means flexibility both ways, not just for the employer. I'm lucky enough to have a job I enjoy, shows me flexibility, challenges me and allows me the time to campaign for election. I enjoy my work, but I'm very clear that on June 7th (results day from the election), the other work I've put in over the last nine years in politics may require me to take up an elected post. I'm ready and willing, but that decision will be up to voters in North West.

It's been a while since I had a post on how backwards Cambridgeshire can be. However picking up a copy of the Cambridge Evening News can reveal a goldmine of information on how dim people round here can be sometimes.

First we have the complaints about a school play. On the front page. The peasants are up in arms over a production of "fiddler on the roof" which contained a video montage which "showed a variety of scenes from Middle Eastern conflicts".

The producer of the musical, which depicts the ethnic cleansing of Jews in Tsarist Russia, Richard Fredman, said in the programme notes "I make no apology for dedicating this production to all people forced from their homes by intolerance, ignorance and fear." Perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the play you might think.

The problem? Some (not all) of the video footage was of Israeli tanks and soldiers rounding up Arabs.

The CEN says that as well as protests from a local group (who they mistakenly identify as representing the entire Jewish community in the area) "Prof Geoffrey Alderman, a columnist for the Jewish Chronicle, called on the college to issue an "unreserved apology", and said: "The effect - presumably fully intended - was to turn the Hills Road Fiddler from a musical depicting Jewish suffering in the Pale of Settlement into a piece of anti-Zionist and even (some might argue) anti-Jewish propaganda.""

It's probably news to the Jewish director that he's anti-semitic for putting in loads of hard work producing a play that opposes the ethnic cleansing of Jews by choosing to broaden the scope to all human beings forced from their homes. Seems like only some refugees really matter.

Secondly, we have the local residents celebrating climate disaster.

That's right, the "wind farms are evil brigade" have won a short term victory against renewable energy. It appears they think that their rural idyll (bi-sected by the A428 and the A14) would be spoiled by the erection of turbines at Cotton Farm, Gravely.

They think, incorrectly, that the turbines will be noisy (I lived one hundred meters away from Europe's tallest wind turbine and you couldn't hear a thing, even when it was going full pelt, very eerie to watch at night) and that they would have a "negative visual impact" - presumably more negative than being submerged under three foot of water or the sight of human tragedies all over the globe.

Now I understand that not everyone appreciates the sleek beauty of wind turbines as much as I do but frankly these backwards tossers, who are wrong about almost everything, should not be allowed to halt progressive change for everyone else. You wouldn't hear the turbines over the network of busy roads that crisscross the area and they'd improve the frankly shitty landscape - particularly if the local residents moved away because of them.

There - that's my helpful contribution of the day.

Good elections are like fine wines - you really can't rush them. Yes, sixty two days does seem like quite a while to count votes, but you can't rush these machines you know. If only the state could have afforded those new fangled boxes that you put the slips of paper in.

This is the wonderful news that Al Franken has won the race to become senator of Minnesota by 225 votes. That's less than 0.0075 percent of the 2.8 million votes cast. This means the incumbent, the right wing Republican Norm Coleman, will be looking for work along with a large number of his constituents. Good luck to you sir.

The question below has been submitted by me to the next full Bristol City Council meeting (13 Jan 2009) for Cllr Rosalie Walker. It follows up on a series of questions I put to the November Cabinet meeting (see B1 on the list if you follow the link) and follows my complaint to the council that official green spaces policy is not being followed.

Note that a 31 page, 13,000 word document of complaint was sent to the Local Government Ombudsman by me this morning saying: that Bristol City Council has not followed its own green spaces policy and procedures; that senior officers have taken ad hoc decisions; that prominent figures with a vested interest in developments have had undue access to officers and influence over decisions; that officers and councillors did not respond adequately and promptly to communications; that the decision on not conducting an environmental impact assessment on the 'cycle house' plans may not have been taken on a proper basis; that dealing with my complaint was consistently delayed, lacking in detail, lacking in references, lacking in explanation and lacking in direct response from those with the most specific expertise; that current consultations are sorely lacking compared to official policy.

I've been compiling this document as the issue has developed over weeks/months and every time I've thought it was complete another relevant development has occurred eg the 'consultation' referred to in the question below (very ably criticised by the Bristol Greengage and Green Bristol Blog).

Q. Consultations have begun over the sale/lease of land on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path to property developers Squarepeg, though the process appears to be a very, very poor substitute for the Area Green Space Plan process laid out in official policy, the Parks and Green Spaces Strategy and appears to focus in much more on the development issue via leading questions than on the land sale/lease: can you explain why the Area GreenSpace Plan process, now underway in several parts of Bristol, was not brought forward for the locality encompassing this land ??


Follow-up questions to Cllr Mark Bradshaw on transport issues in South Bristol also submitted to the same meeting:

Q1. In response to questions I put to the November Cabinet [see C2, C3, C4 on the link] meeting about the South Bristol Link you informed me that estimates of the impact on air pollution and congestion in the Knowle/Brislington area had not been released: what are your thoughts on the importance of information such asthis being made widely available asap during a consultation period??

Q2. In response to questions I put to the November Cabinet meeting you confirmed that you may use Cycling City cash to buy land along the Callington Rd Link (intended to be part of a strategic road network): will cash be returned to the cycling budget if a road is built there??


Further detail on previous green spaces and transport questions here and here.

MOVIMIENTOS 50 years of Cuban Revolution special Thursday 8th January @ Salmon & Compass
Event date & time:
Thursday, 2009, January 8 19:00 Europe/London
Venue:
Salmon and Compass Bar
Thursday 8th January

@ The Salmon & Compass, Angel, 7pm – 2am / £3 / Donations before 9
50 years of Cuban Revolution special with short films, speakers and discussion with speakers from Cuba Solidarity Campaign, and Derek Wall from the Green Party discussing the challenges facing Cuba politically and environmentally

Film screening @ 7.30pm
Rice N Peas’ “With Or Without Fidel”
+ Resident DJs Cal Jader, Clem George, & Pablo N
+ Guest DJ exclusively from Berlin / Barcelona – Miss Blitz



We all know about climate change, forest destruction and other ecological threats but in Latin America environmental concern is treated more seriously than perhaps in any other part of the world.

In 2006 I visit Venezuela with my partner Sarah, we were there to see our friend Cesar Aponte who works in the Ministry of the Environment. Although Venezuela is an oil economy and Caracas is a sprawling polluted city, Chavez's government are working hard to promote ecodevelopment. We visited an ecological high school where kids were taught organic agriculture and saw the huge permaculture city farm in Caracas next to the Hilton Hotel.

Venezuela's own energy needs are nearly all from renewables and there is a plan to stop using petrol for cars, new railways have been built and organic agriculture is a big priority. Visiting London Hugo Chavez' praised the congestion charge and defined one person one car culture simply as 'a thing of stupidity.'

There are other examples from the region. The Peruvian peasant leader Hugo Blanco is part of a huge continental ecology movement and Bolivian President Morales is famous for making an inspiration speech on climate change to the UN.
However, ecological concerns have gone furthest in Cuba and the Cuban government have shown a long term interest in ecology. In 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Fidel Castro observed prophetically:

"An important biological species is at risk of disappearing due to the rapid and progressive elimination of its natural habitat: man.
"(...) consumer societies are fundamentally responsible for the atrocious destruction of the environment.

"The solution cannot be to hinder the development of the neediest.”

The Cuban constitution enshrines environmental protection. Cuba has been identified as the one country in the world that has been able to develop in an ecologically sustainable way by the WWF. Uniquely Cuba has balanced a rising standard of living with practices that are ecologically sustainable. While it is pretty shocking for the rest of the globe that no other state has achieved this, it shows just how important the example of Cuba is if we are to meet environmental challenges such as climate change and to deal with global problems of poverty and injustice at the same time. Put most simply to achieve a green world, we all need to learn from Cuba.

Cuba is perhaps most famous for its organic agriculture. During the 1990s the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that the country no longer received cheap oil from Russia. The ‘Special Period’ as most readers know led to much hardship but it also meant that Cuba had to go on a crash course of oil reduction. Non-organic agriculture is heavily dependent on oil, for example, most pesticides and chemical fertilizers are a by-product of petroleum. To survive Cuba had to go organic. Cubans were encouraged to produce as much of their food as possible and to use low impact ecological methods.
In Havana highly productive organic allotments can be found between tower blocks and all sorts of land that would be otherwise unused. Cuba has over 7,000 urban allotments know as 'organopinics' nearly 100,000 acres.

Cuba imported organic expertise from around the global and is celebrated in particular for its use of permaculture. Permaculture uses complementary planting and biological techniques to reduce digging and to make it easier to produce crops. Instead of monoculture where one uniform homogenous crop is grown, interplanting makes it easier to avoid pests and to maintain soil fertility. Organic waste such as vegetable peelings is composted and used to restore soil nutrients. Worm bins are particularly important. The worms accelerate the breakdown of compost, turning waste into horticultural gold.

The special period forced Cuba to go green but in recent years awareness of global ecological problems particularly climate change caused by rising CO2 levels have increasingly motivated the countries environmental reforms. Fidel Castro has been a pioneer of such concern, identifying the ecological costs of neo-liberal globalisation and noting that capitalist economic growth is unsustainable.

By creating unsustainable consumer patterns in industrialised countries and sowing impossible dreams throughout the rest of the world, the developed capitalist system has caused great injury to mankind. It has poisoned the atmosphere and depleted its enormous non-renewable natural resources, which mankind will need in the future.
Please, do not believe that I am thinking of an idealistic, impossible, absurd world; I am merely trying to imagine what a real world and a happier person could be like. It would not be necessary to mention a commodity, it suffices to mention a concept: inequality has made more than 80 per cent of the people on the planet unhappy, and this is no more than a concept. (Castro 2003: 18)
While George Bush has attempted to derail international action on climate change, Cuba has been a world leader. It was one of the first countries to sign the Convention on Climate Change and, its successor the Kyoto Protocol. The country was one of the first to move to low energy light bulbs to cut CO2. While Cuba now swaps oil with Venezuela in exchange for health care, it has developed renewable energy on a large scale including solar and wind generated electricity.

In March this year Jose Manuel Presa, deputy minister of the Basic Industry (energy and mining) told the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Environmental Respect that Cuba had saved the equivalent of one million tons of oil in 2006 and 2007. The Cuban government’s ‘energy revolution’ has not only promoted renewables but carefully planned ways of conserving energy. The country is also exporting its expertise to other Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Recycling is also highly developed the country. Virtually all waste is reused both out of environmental concern and ecological necessity. In contrast in Britain low levels of recycling mean that many local authorities risk being fined by the European Union and there is a drive to build new incinerators despite the pollution they produce. Wildlife conservation is also a priority and the country has recently banned the hunting of all marine turtles to prevent extinction.

Many supposedly green solutions have proved to be both environmentally damaging and social unjust. Sustainability must be driven by sound scientific research and a commitment to ending poverty and inequality. One example of a supposed solution, which is neither, is biofuels. While it sounds like an obvious solution to crop energy crops instead of burning polluting fossil fuels, there are a number of devastating consequences. In South East Asia the fastest growing threat to rainforest is from biofuels, with forests being cut down to make way for palm oil plantations.

Fidel Castro has been one of most important critics of this policy pointing out that while biofuels production from waste may make sense, growing crops for fuel will mean environmental damage and lead to starvation as the area used for food production is reduced.

It would be possible to think of areas where Cuba could make more progress, however criticism must be balanced with an understanding that Cuba is unique in its commitment to raising the standard of living of its people, while maintaining environmental quality.

During the 20th century socialism seemed largely divorced from green concerns. However in the 19th century Marx and Engels were already aware of environmental issues including soil erosion, deforestation and industrial pollution. It is fitting that Cuba more than any other country has come closest to implementing eco-socialist policies that can be traced back to Marx and Engels.

The defence of Cuba is vital task for all serious greens. Capitalism is unsustainable, so an eco-socialist model is necessary. Cuba shows the way and its example is already inspiring other countries, particularly in Latin America, to follow a green path.

Castro, F. (2003) On Imperialist Globalization: Two Speeches. London: Zed.

Further information: The Power of Community – How Cuba survived peak oil

Watch this 53 minute DVD for more details on how Cuba coped with the loss of its oil imports overnight and the lessons for other countries. Available from CSC for £12 + £1 p&p

Hope ! The holy grail for renewable energy is to use sunlight to split water, thereby producing hydrogen, which can then be either burnt as a fuel, or run through a fuel cell to produce electricity. Researchers have been able to perform this reaction, but it has so far proven to be too inefficient and expensive to be viable (e.g. it has required the use of expensive and rare catalysts such as

Israel's stated aim in its invasion of Gaza is to stop the rocket attacks. The practical way to achieve this is to have a ceasefire, and set up a for a third party trusted by both sides to patrol Gaza with units led by dogs trained to identify the odour of rocket fuel. They would be able to react to caches of Qassam rockets, which could then be confiscated and destroyed.

The Green Party has adopted the expanded use of dogs to pinpoint ammunition caches. This is proven tachnology (if dogs can be called technology) and is not expensive. Success with use of dogs in this application could bring forward the wider use of dogs in this role, and lead to a global reduction in the availability of ammunition in small arms and light weapons.

If the Israelis reject this option, it would provide evidence that their stated objective is just a cover for a wider agenda - namely, regime change. The Israeli Government says that it does not intend ot occupy Gaza, but their actions are calculated to destroy the democratically elected government of Gaza - so what is their plan? Another election? Is Fatah in a position to contest an election in Gaza? Or do the Israelis envisage a governmental vacuum, as in Somalia?

It seems that the action is no more thought through than the invasion of Iraq. It is simple to win a war, if you have military supremacy and you do not have any scruples about killing civilians, but to win the peace is a more complex matter.

With the government's long-delayed decision on a third runway at Heathrow rumoured to be imminent, the intrepid women and men of the Climate Rush will be making their suffragette-inspired opposition felt at the airport next week.

MPs return from their winter holiday on Monday 12 January, so that evening at 7pm the Climate Rushers will hit Heathrow Terminal 1 for a peaceful picnic. Terminal 1, for those not familiar with the airport, deals principally with domestic flights, the sort of short-haul journeys which could easily be made by other, less climate-wrecking forms of transport. And they are inviting all of us who are fed up with the obvious lack of action on this most serious of issues to join them.

The plan is to arrive in Edwardian dress (preferably hidden under a big coat until the event starts!), bringing picnic food so that we can all have our 'Dinner at Domestic Departures' - that's upstairs by the departure gates. At the stroke of seven, a string quartet will start to play and everyone will reveal their costumes and start the picnic.

More entertainment will be provided by a 100-strong artistic collective aiming to turn the airport - however briefly - into an 'artport' filled with performance pieces and installations. It will all be fun and non-confrontational - there'll be no chance of getting arrested as all we'll be doing is sitting down in a public space.

So, start hunting through your wardrobes for suitable attire - in the words of the original suffragettes it's now time for "deeds not words". If the third runway and mixed-mode gets the go-ahead it will be more evidence that our politicians and business leaders have no real interest in taking climate change seriously. They promise action yet always continue with business as usual. Right now it's more important than ever to remind our elected representatives that their primary function is to safeguard the nation's long-term interests, not to maximise short-term profits for multinational companies in the hope of getting a directorship once they leave office.

So come along and make it an evening to remember. More details on the Climate Rush and Artport Facebook groups.

And for everyone who lives closer to Manchester than Heathrow, there's a Northern Climate Rush taking place at Manchester Airport Terminal 3 (Domestic Departures) at exactly the same time - Monday 12 January at 7pm.

The protest last night in Coventry attracted 150 people. I've been dreadfully ill (since New Years Eve), so I wasn't able to go. There will be another protest in Coventry next Monday (at 6pm), and a national demo this coming Saturday in London.

You can find out more information about next Monday on Facebook (the Socialist Party has set up an events page for the next demo).

If you have photos from last night, or want to write a brief (50-100 words) impression of what you thought, please send them along: sgredding2003@yahoo.co.uk.

Here is one from Roy Sandison, with the Rugby Green Party:

Last Sunday I described the current Residents' Parking Scheme as divisive in that opposing views within communities were becoming polarised with competing websites and leafleting, but I hadn't realised quite how far things have already deteriorated. At last night's Council 'call-in' meeting one of the pro-RPS campaigners reported that serious threats have been made via email, specifically to set fire to her car and house.

The email said "hope you have a fire proof letterbox" and warned her she also faced having excrement posted through her door. The recipient, criminal lawyer Suzanne Gardner, said "I had an e-mail from what turned out to be a fake name, saying our car might be burned, and that this person and several others wanted to come to set fire to our house, so they hope we have a fireproof letter box".



All this in relatively well-heeled Cliftonwood. What will happen when RPS is rolled out into less middle class areas where people are less inclined to vent their anger through such literary media as emails? I think this underlines the point I made in my previous post - that we urgently need to develop a less confrontational way of progressing the Controlled Parking Zones that are essential to cope the excess of demand over supply when it comes to inner city parking spaces.

My suggestion remains that people should have the choice of opting in or out on an individual household basis. This would do much to reduce, although not entirely eliminate, the sense of RPS being imposed on unwilling residents. Anyone who didn't like it would simply remain out of the RPS scheme and continue to compete for those parking spaces that remained uncontrolled, which would be whatever was left over after enough spaces had been brought within the RPS to meet the basic (one car per household?) needs of those who have opted in.



Of course in practice everyone would realise, sooner or later, that opting in to RPS is hugely advantageous and the cost, at least the £30 for the first car, purely nominal. Even a household with 2 cars will only pay £55 per car which is a tiny fraction of the value of such parking spaces. So the net effect will be that RPS will be accepted more readily in the first place and spread more rapidly, but on an entirely voluntary basis.

One critic of my proposal said that it would result in more motorists cruising around looking for the remaining uncontrolled spaces, which is true if there were significant numbers of uncontrolled spaces remaining . But I believe that in practice virtually everyone would opt in once they saw the disastrous consequences of remaining out of RPS, so there would be few if any uncontrolled spaces. The more rapid spread of RPS beyond the pilot areas would result in less 'cruising' for parking spaces overall.

Pics - Pavement parking courtesy of Ambra Vale residents.

You would have thought that after the Glenrothes byelection set back the SNP would start to pick their fights a little bit more carefully. However, the SNP seem determined to push this one as far as they can.

First they abolish bridge tolls on the current Forth road bridge. A populist move that may have had something to do with them winning some votes in the kingdom admittedly. But given the uncertainty at the time over the remaining working life of the bridge it wasn't a prudent long term move, as it meant that the SNP could not perform an about turn to introduce tolls to pay for a replacement bridge, or indeed a 2nd bridge. Nor could 'smart' tolls be introduced on the crossing to incentivise green travel or manage congestion.

Then, when it became clear that the current bridge had a much longer lifetime than previously thought, the SNP continued to support the building of another crossing, right next to the current one, despite predictions that this would increase congestion in the surrounding areas, not to mention increases in pollution and CO2 emissions. I'm sure I remember the original proposals, with a fancy dan double decker approach - with trams, cycle lanes, dedicated bus lanes and so on, on a seperate deck from the heavy traffic.

Now, we see these all singing, all dancing proposals stripped right down to a straightforward road bridge, halving the cost of the project to a mere £2billion or so. The cuts make the design even less appealing of course, and will mean that the increased congestion and pollution linked to the bridge will be even worse in the surrounding areas.

The fact that the bridge isn't needed now hasn't detered the SNP from trying to use it to blackmail westminster into providing them with a loan to cover the cost of the project. Unsurprisingly, Gordon Brown isn't going to help Alex Salmond build his vanity project during the credit crunch. However, the idealogical opposition the SNP have to PFI, and the fact that the SNP alternative - the Scottish Futures Trust - hasn't delivered a single capital project whatsoever yet, means that any new bridge must be directly funded by the Scottish Government. This means other capital projects will have to "wait in line".

What are these capital projects that may need to wait? A new hospital in Glasgow? A whole host of urban public transport improvements (like expanding the tram network in Edinburgh, or developing rapid transit in Glasgow), perhaps the SNP could try to comission some new schools some time during their administration? All of this stuff is at risk of cancellation or delay. Investment in all of these areas is badly needed, and would support the development of the 'healthier, wealthier, fairer, greener' scotland that the SNP bang on about all time much better than a new bridge over the Forth.

Meanwhile the Scottish Government seems happy to pledge millions to save art for the nation or to subsidise a further freeze in council taxes.

And of course at the end of the day, there's no guarantee that residents of Fife would even thank the SNP for their efforts.

The big question is whether the ever higher stakes grievance politics of the SNP is going to keep washing with the Scottish people. A surprisingly large number of people seem to love it and buy the claptrap about 'sticking up for Scotland,' when really the SNP seems to be doing nothing but sticking up for the SNP and Alex Salmonds need to appear in ever more high profile press launches.

 

A few days before Christmas in Totnes, the monthly Wondermentalist Cabaret shifted its poetic gaze towards Transition…. host and local poet-in-residence Matt Harvey has been making a short film for the BBC about Transition, and so part of the show featured his thoughts on it for the programme.  You can hear it using the ‘Traydioplayer’ below. His set also included his rather good Christmas poem.

For any of you who know my good lady wife, you will hear her rather distinctive laugh through most of the recording! Part of the evening also included a part where the audience wrote different lines about Totnes in 2030, which were then assembled into the evening’s group poem, which you can hear Matt reading here.

This was, in part, in preparation for the event being run by TTT and Wondermentalist on January 17th.  This will be a Transition Tales-writing workshop, writing material that will then be used in a Transition-themed Wondermentalist Cabaret that evening…. do come, as you will be able to tell from the podcasts above, it should be a fantastic day.  Contact the TTT office if you’d like to come (01803 867358).

The last day of the Christmas holidays. Boys bouncy and excited... not sure what about though.

Gill took our eldest into town to try for a third time to find trousers that fitted him, and I think they were successful, as most of the evening Gill was putting in new hemlines and sewing in nametags...

Our youngest took advantage of the time and space to have numerous Wii race games. I spent some time on the computer and got a message which looked like it was from windows, so downloaded it and oh n, it was a virus called Antivirus 2009 which proceeded to perform a series of pop ups warning me of virus infection and inviting me to pay for a patch to get rid of them... I realised this was a con, and went hunting for solutions, not easy as one of the things the virus was also doing was blocking most of the web pages I tried to look at, again suggesting they had bad software in them.

It was very frustrating. I got quite annoyed. This was obvious to the other family members and the children offered to help me get rid of the problem, which was sweet of them but just not helpful and I wasn't as empathic and gentle as I could have been and this caused a row just before I had to go out to the LETS meeting... not a nice situation to leave Gill with.

But I had to go to the meeting as we were expecting some visitors from the Council who wanted to know more about LETS and how it could be part of a toolkit connected with social inclusion etc. I think we looked reasonably together to them, and there should be some mutual help. However, I have to organise our bank account to get new signatories, and then get together with my favourite funding advisor Melody to get a grant for our new software... more work!

But had good chats to them afterwards about Local Agenda 21, York Credit Union, York Rotters, my book and much more.

Home to try and sort out my computer... found some freeware called Malwarebytes which was very easy to install and it removed the crazy virus rubbish. Whilst the scan was going on, did a batch of washing up whilst Gill ironed for tomorrows 'back to school' event!

Like many I have been horrified by the situation in Gaza. I have just been sending out a news release regarding a large peace vigil planned for Stroud High Street 11.30-12.30 this Saturday 10th January. Infact read the press release as I am shocked that the EU seems to be planning to reward Israel rather than sanction the actions. Photos: I unexpectedly had a half day off work and rather than

More images of war here.

Well, that last post was depressing, wasn't it?

To balance things out, then, here is some sublime music by an English genius, Thomas Tallis. Enjoy.

Well, what to say about this?

It's difficult, when confronted with such an awful cycle of hate and bitterness, not to simply despair. Either despair, or, I suppose, self-righteously identify oneself utterly with one side or the other, demonising anyone who differs from ones own point of view. In no political argument in the last fifty years has this been more true than Israel/Palestine - the readiness of otherwise sane pro-Israeli commentators to scream anti-Semitism (thus devaluing the impact of genuine anti-Semitism, which certainly exists) or of pro-Palestinian activists to uncritically identify themselves with fundamentalist, misogynist, homophobic *&^%wits, is terrifying. I walked off of a protest during the Lebanon crisis a couple of years ago, when virtually the entire march started to chant "We are all Hezbollah". I'm bloody not. I'm a libertarian secularist communist, thanks very much.

For my part though, of course I condemn absolutely Israel's actions over the last week, as the Green Party has also done. I condemn them not only because of their moral abhorrence (though, make no mistake, they are abhorrent) but also because they are so utterly stupid. You cannot stop a few rockets being launched from Gaza every day by launching a military invasion, unless your intention is to kill each and every one of the 1.5 million people living there. Israel's invasion will do nothing but further harden the support for Hamas which, after all, has been democratically elected by the Palestinian people. It makes no sense, unless interpreted as part of a fifty year cycle of hatred and oppression - a psychological acting out by a society scarred by violence and lashing out against 'the other'.

Of course, if you want to get really depressed, just look at the reaction in the States. Smirking chimp-man George W Bush needs no opportunity to remind us of his credentials as a soulless mass-murdering bastard....but the consensus in mainstream American politics in support of Israel is seriously gloom-making. Look up any of the statements that Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat) has made about the issue if you really want to curl up under a duvet and hide....

Apologies for this gloomy first post of 2009. The fact that I seem to have contracted the plague can't be helping! Lets hope my plague vanishes soon...and that somehow, someone in the Israeli government sees sense in the next few days. If they don't - Saturday January 10th, National Demonstration, Hyde Park to the Israeli Embassy. See you there.

ADDENDUM: David Osler says exactly what I was trying to say, except..ummm... better.

Had this comment which I wanted to flag up, it shows, we need to engage in building strong ecosocialist and green sections in Green Parties every where

While I am a bit underwhelmed by the Green Party website over here (although the Village People were fun) may be we need to move on from taking the piss of the pope and get some solid anti-war graphics up, at least our Green MEPs Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas have worked tirelessly for Gaza and lots of other causes. The party has been mobilising pretty well on a local basis to challenge the war.

The Pope was out of line, using 'nature' to attack LGBT...but don't we need to update the web with some more stuff!?

Cynthia Mckinney (bless her) is like a Green Party super women for the people of Gaza, enemy number one of the war mongers, who make racist comments about her.

But other Green Parties have become less radical 'Joseph' here flags up two examples, I am no fan of the Irish Green Party who have become through motorway building running dogs of business as usual capitalism, however to be fair to them that have condemned the current bloodshed in Gaza, with some vigor will post if I have a moment their statement

Was part of a small but loud ecosocialist Green Party posse on this evenings demonstration outside the Isreali Embassy in London, every night 5.30-7.30 so get down there..any how on to the sage comment!


Our friends in the Czech Green Party, whose nominee is the Foreign Minister, are also supportive of Israel. Not content with supporting US Star Wars radar bases on Czech territory, which most of the population are opposed to, they now also buttress Israel as a part of the Czech government. Thankfully two Czech Green MPs have broken ranks with this disgraceful government and are voting against them on a number of issues, particularly the bases.

My two lease favourite Green parties - the Irish and the Czechs. And who did the Irish invite to be guest speaker at their conference last year? Yes, you have guessed it , the Czech Green Education Minister.

Both parties in bankrupt right wing coalitions, who will each pay the price with the voters next time around. Both offer grim warnings about Green 'pragmatism' and lack of ideology.

The Czech government at present can be expected to support everything dreamed up by Bush and the neo-cons, from NATO expansion to unconditional support for Israel.

In the latest sickening move in Dubya's last days he has decided to award Tony Blair, ex-Australian PM John Howard and Colombian President and US stooge Alvaro Uribe the US medal of freedom.

Thankfully Howard and Blair are now gone and reviled in their own countries. Uribe is still in place presiding over a country where forced displacement has increased, extra-judicial executions have gone up, the numbers of political prisoners in Colombian jails has soared and more trade unionists are being murdered each year.

Gaza
Lots of coverage of the situation in Gaza and the demonstrations against the continuing Israeli assault from my regularly linked bloggers this week including Derek, Jim (who has a helpful selection of links), Dave Osler and Matt S.
There is another demonstration arranged for this Saturday in London.


The latest eco-catastrophe
The latest eco-catastrophe in the US has not had much coverage on this side of the Atlantic - a huge coal slurry retention pond has broken its banks in Tennessee and flooded some 400 acres of 6' deep slurry (over 1.1 billion gallons) into the Tennessee Valley. It's meant evacuating people, warning others to boil water, and is dumping a huge amount of toxins into the Tennessee River, used as a drinking water source by many communities downstream. A number of people are reporting vomiting after drinking water.
Reports here and here from the regional media.
More info from United Mountain Defense

Activism and Repression
Hot on the heels of their recent attempts to spread security services propaganda about the threat of "ecoterrorism" in the UK (a story based on exaggeration, guilt by association and innuendo and very quickly demolished so that they had to issue a sheepish apology through their "readers editor") the Guardian/Observer and other sections of the media are now busy retailing the exaggerated fairy tales of the French and other security services about the threat of a new wave of "home grown leftist terror" about to sweep Europe.

The Guardian/Observer group, (in addition to continuing a stream of biased knocking copy on the South and Central American left) are fast becoming the conduit of choice for psy-ops and disinformation aimed at radical activists in the UK and Europe. This is nothing new really, some of us remember some "freelance" journalists from the 80's who were very keen to fit up parts of the British anarchist movement on behalf of elements of the secret state.

The texts that seem to have got the French state machine in a tizzy (and it seems to be these that are more the target than the small acts of sabotage that were the pretext for the paramilitary police action) are rather disappointing really, for an old leftist like myself - rehashed Situationist and Autonomist theses with an anti-globalisation flavour and some unpalatable (for me, but it takes all sorts) elements of nihilism and primitivism. Nevertheless, I am never one to avoid an opportunity to offend the powers that be, so here are some links to English Translations of two of the offending documents and you can judge for yourself -

The Coming Insurrection

20 Theses On The Subversion Of the Metropolis

For me, Kovel's analysis and programme in the last chapter of The Enemy of Nature is nearer the spot - I will post some more on this in the near future.

Nevertheless, the fact that states in Europe are "upping the ante" against even potential opposition is interesting, as is their apparent concern that the current crisis will grow so severe that currently marginalised and tiny groups and ideas might gain a larger and more effective following.

I attended the rps call-in meeting tonight. The result was not to call in the decision, or refer it anywhere, but some statements were made about how the detailed consultation should be conducted.

Perhaps the most significant part of the meeting was the public forum with 120 statements - 80 or 90 in favour.....which really does show a body of opinion in the pilot areas support RPS, regardless.

I decided a while back that the issue is now less about the pro's and con's of rps and more about rights - do people in a small area have the right to buy off their parking problems, or do the residents in a larger area have the right to heap parking misery on the residents of the small area.

The answer is quite simple in my mind. I belong to a party which wants to pass decisions down to the lowest possible level - which necessary entails them taking decisions which affect themselves - and you respecting the decisions even if you disagree with them. And I start to wonder if anyone makes a decision anywhere which does not affect other people - be it the decision to drive a car, the decision to build a shopping centre, budget decisions at a personal or public level.

Anyway, Having prevaricated furiously on RPS myself, I have to applaud Mark Bradshaw's role. He has stuck to his guns, rightly or wrongly, and done his best to justify his case in a calm manner. (This doesn't mean I agree with every aspect of what he has said, mind). Contrast this with the LibDems who have prevaricated as much as myself, and the Tories who have taken the easy, populist line.

It makes me wonder if the measure of a politician is how they behave when faced with the shouting hoards of people who regularly frequent council meetings, tell us we are all crap, or should be replaced with planks of wood.....I am not sure my own behavior is all I would wish.

Ten links that I thought might be of interest;

1. Richard Gott on the way forward in Cuba.
   
   
2. Hanley for Hackney is bigging up Matt Hanley who's standing in the Stoke Newington by-election. We came second last time and Matt is in good spirits. Why not lend a hand!
   
   
3. And let's not forget Anne Grey in Seven Sisters another excellent Green candidate.
   
   
4. I'm keeping silence on Obama but Neil Robertson on Obama and Gaza is very good.
   
   
5. There is an emergency national demo on Gaza this Saturday.
   
   
6. At a loose end in the middle of the night? Try ethical sudoku.
   
   
7. Greens for cheap energy? Yes, it's true!
   
   
8. Incidentally I want to promote *again* Green Metropolis which is a brilliant source of cheap books which I'd still use even if they weren't being all ethical and that.
   
   
9. The Glasgow Evening Times thinks socialist Tommy Sheridan might well be the first to be given the Big Brother boot - say it ain't so!
   
   
10. Nine is such an ugly number don't you think? So, at number ten I just thought I'd say I've been on a bit of a Walter Mosley binge recently - he's bloody marvellous!
    

Apparently, even with all the Euroscepticism which exists in Britain, we aren’t interested in the Worst EU Lobbying Awards, given out by the Corporate Europe Observatory. Anyway, a Finnish MEP won the award for worst conflict of interest, while the several lobbyists for agrofuels won the worst lobbying award, for their distortions of the truth.

I like the idea of these awards, but it’d be nice to see the positive work of MEPs highlighted as well. Almost all that is reported about the EU, as with most forms of politics, is negative. It’s no surprise that the public opinion of politics is so low.

Hamish at the Scotsman had the gossip out first, according to my RSS reader. Michael Crow, STV's well-respected political correspondent, is to be the new Director of Strategy and Communications for the Tories. 

There is a Gaza Crisis Meeting at Pakistan Community Centre on Tuesday 6th January at 7.00pm.

The programme will be as follows:

7.00pm Arrivals

7.30pm Opening Remarks

7.45pm Statement from Labour

7.50pm Statement from Conservatives

7.55pm Statement from Libdems

8.00pm Statement from Greens

8.05pm Open to audience for Q&A

9.00pm Close Meeting

Some of you might be interested in a meeting that's due to take place at the Global Café on 19 January.

Cohousing Berkshire is a new group for people interested in the possibility of establishing a cohousing community in the county.

The essential concept of cohousing is a community made up of private homes but with shared space for occasional communal meals and other activities and some shared facilities. Although the main aim of cohousing is to make people feel less isolated, there's also a definite ecological benefit that comes along with it. Sharing resources automatically reduces environmental impact and cohousing communities naturally tend to attract people with a commitment to sustainable living.

To find out more visit www.cohousingberks.org.uk and, if you're free, go along to the Global Café at 7.45 on Monday 19 January.

As regular blog readers will know I have occasionally picked on local folk and highlighted them. Today is the turn of James Christian who lives in Ruscombe and apart from being a home tutor also teaches maths - he has a new website that is under construction here - in fact all it has at the moment, is his telephone number, but I am assured more is coming soon. James is also Chair of the Safe

The papers have been filled with reviews of the year and we're barrelling into awards season, so it's only fitting that we have some awards of our own. My colleagues over on the very entertaining Nuclear Reactions have been staging their own award ceremony, "to recognise those who have help make the nuclear industry the over-subsidised and under-scrutinised joke it is today".

With tongues placed firmly in cheeks, nukeheads in Europe and elsewhere have been vying for the gongs in several categories:

• Most amazing nuclear miracle
• Worst nuclear facility
• Worst nuclear construction
• Best nuclear spin

Meanwhile, Carbon Commentary's Chris Goodall has been working out what the plunging value of sterling means for the prospects of new nuclear power stations:

If the Finnish construction [at the beleaugered Olkiluoto site] costs were replicated in the UK, and the euro/pound exchange rate had remained at around £1/€1.50, the cost of the project would imply a cost to generate electricity of over £50 per megawatt hour. This is more than the current wholesale price in the UK (although the wholesale price has been much higher than this figure for most of the last 12 months).

In the last days of 2008, the pound/euro exchange rate has hovered around 1.03. At the time of the 2007 consultation paper, the government used a figure of almost €1.50/£1. This change has added over 40% to the cost of constructing a new power station. Expressed in terms of UK pounds, the €5.2bn prospective cost of the Finnish power station now implies a price in UK£ of about £5bn rather than about £3.5bn. This raises the prospective cost of electricity generated by the nuclear power station to around £70 per megawatt hour, or over £20 more than the current wholesale price. To be clear, at today’s electricity prices and exchange rates the operator of a nuclear power station built for the same price as the Finnish plant would lose £20 per megawatt hour. No rational electricity company intent on making a profit would contemplate making an investment in a nuclear station if these conditions persist.

The UK government Climate Change Committee issued a long report in December 2008 on how Britain might reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% between 1990 and 2050. Nuclear forms an important part of these plans. Unsurprisingly, the Committee used a nuclear cost estimate of less than £50 per megawatt hour. The bad news from Finland is only slowly leaking out and, of course, the pound/euro rate changes sharply from day to day.

Almeria 1974, this is the firat in a set of before and after pictures.


Almeria 1987, you can see some of the land by the coast getting covered in plastic greenhouses


Almeria 2004, all the available land is covered, to grow chmically intensive vegetables for the european market. Its bad for the soil, the workers live in terrible conditions, its bad for the environment. But supermarkets get to sell us cheap out of season produce, the real cost of cheap food.


Jeff on the roof


Gardens


Garden Love


Curvey Irrigation


Gardens view


Dryland Terrace


Agave


The Mills

My son bought me a book. It is "The 50 people who buggered up Britain" by Quentin Letts. They are in alphabetical order by surname [except Diana] and I am currently on B. There are lots of Bs and I haven’t even got to Blair or Brown yet.

The next one is a name I don’t recognise – Frank Blackmore, the B who gave us mini-roundabouts.

I’m really pleased to announce that the UK’s very first Eco Chic Wedding & Home Show will take place on Sunday 8th March 2009 from 11-4 in Birmingham.  I have joined forces with fellow green girl Katie from Ethical Weddings and Michelle from Just The Thing to organise this event and we are really excited about the prospect.

Set amid the breathtaking splendour of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in leafy Edgbaston, this exclusive wedding and home event will bring together the very best the UK has to offer in green & ethical weddings and living.

Everything an environmentally conscious couple could wish for will be laid out in one stunning location. Dresses, occasionwear, accessories, photography, flowers, gifts, honeymoon destinations, venues, cakes and much much more. It will be the perfect opportunity to see, touch, taste and try before you buy all the essentials for your Big Day. On display will also be eco friendly homewares, linens and the ultimate in eco chic interiors.

We thought it would be a good idea to bring together the wedding and home elements to show that going green isn’t just about one day. Whether couples are living together already or setting up home for the first time most see their wedding as marking a new beginning with the chance to make some new changes to their home and lifestyle.

We would love to invite everyone to the show so whether you are getting married this year or next or would like to make your home greener please visit the show website for more details. If you are keen to attend more green and eco events in 2009 then see our green event listings page.

Found this at Mike's new site.

I am very impressed by the look of Mike Armstrong's new blog, he has several, he is a key Green Party activist in Croydon, take a look.



Here

My skills are so poor, it would be great to make this another green world look as nice as his blog,

by the way very generous of him to link to me as he is a keen atheist, I don't believe in God and if I did who would believe in a God trivial enough to be concerned about our believe in her/it...however I am quite keen on religion as a Zennist and friend of the Sufis and other cool tolerant religious practices. So atheist may not see me as the real deal. Must blog about the super article about the Sufis in the Economist Christmas issue....

Any way Mike and I both agree about bailing our shitty car companies...(don't get me on to Richard Dawkins, though).

We need to talk about conversion getting car manufactures to produce something a bit more useful...not just types of cars no one wants to buy any more.

Mike Cooley in the book 'Architect or Bee' did this he was a union shop steward at a firm going under in the 1970s and even came to talk about his plans at an Ecology Party conference.

It would be great to get him back

Here is what the wiki says:

Towards the end of the 1970s, Mike Cooley was a senior designer at Lucas Aerospace, and chaired the local branch of the technical trade union TASS. He was one of the militant activists behind the Lucas Plan [1], a radical strategy to avoid workforce layoffs by converting production at Lucas from armaments to civilian products.

The vision of the plan was to replace weapons manufacture with the development of socially useful goods, like solar heating equipment, artificial kidneys, and systems for intermodal transportation. The goal was to not simply retain jobs, but to design the work so that the workers would be motivated by the social value of their activities. The proposals of the alternative plan were not accepted by Lucas management and, in 1981, Cooley was dismissed.

[edit] Architect Or Bee

In 1980, Cooley published a critique of the automation and computerization of engineering work under the title Architect or Bee? The human/technology relationship. The title alludes to a comparison made by Karl Marx, on the issue of the creative achievements of human imaginative power[1].

Since departing from Lucas, Cooley has been active as an advisor on numerous public and private sector projects. He is a founding member and president of the International Institute of Human Centred Systems. He has published over 100 scientific papers as well as fifteen books, and has been a guest lecturer at universities in Europe, Australia, the USA and Japan. Cooley is aa adviser to the technical periodical Artificial Intelligence and Society.

I think we need to be more imaginative in the Green Party and look at these solutions again, well thanks Mike for reminding me!

The radical technology mag Undercurrents, which I was very briefly involved with the 1980s, dealt with this kind of stuff.