2 Jul
Of Forests and Fairytales
Before you buy it, do you FSC it?
Buy wood of course.
Sorry, I tried and tried to come up with a clever, rhyming soundbite but nothing worked and that’s why I’m a demonised, economy-crushing public-sector worker and not a high-flying, over-paid writer of cheesy soundbites.
Anyway, did you know or care that 2011 is the International Year of the Forest as declared by none other than the UN? Well it is. And we should care!
I do love forests. I find them mystical and awesome and I can’t think of anything more fun than losing myself in one. Well, that’s not quite true. I’m not Snow White and there would be no Bambi or Thumper rushing to my aid if I got lost in one. I’m more like Red Riding Hood with her bad friendship choices and dodgy hoodies. But they are enchanting places to explore. I spent many an idle childhood hour in the woods building imaginary tree-houses or making endless daisy chains. Or I’d be chasing Faeries and hunting for witches. The imagination at its unburdened best and not an XBox or iPod in sight. Sigh.
Anyway, enough of the wistfulness, the good guys at WWF have a campaign running which asks the question . . . ‘If you knew where your wood came from: What wood you choose?’
Facts are that approximately 1.5 million cubic metres of illegal timber and wood products are imported into the UK every year and it doesn’t need me to tell you that these statistics have a significantly detrimental impact on forests, species, habitats and wildlife. And it threatens the livelihoods of people from some of the worlds poorest communities.
Most people are aware of the Fair Trade campaign and no-one can argue that buying our food ethically whenever we can is beneficial and good but we seem not to think as much about where our non-food items are sourced – everyday items such as paper and loo roll, not forgetting bigger things such as decking, flooring and furniture.
Basically, illegal logging is having a devastating effect on people and wildlife and is contributing to the decline of endgangered species. While we continue to buy products that have been illegally sourced, the deforestation, destruction and exploitation will continue.
As WWF states, you don’t have to stop buying timber products. Wood that has been harvested and managed responsibly is a renewable and sustainable resource that can help support the forests, the wildlife and the communities that depend on them. All we need to do is look for the FSC logo on the product we are buying. Simple as that.
[Click the logos for more info]
28 May
Amnesty – fifty years today
Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International, lighting the first Amnesty candle – the small light of hope.
Thank you Amnesty! You really have changed the world. Because of your continuous fight against injustice everywhere the world is now a better place. Here’s wishing for the time to come when the world no longer needs you.
24 May
Deporting Rania
I just stumbled upon an appalling piece of news. The Home Office wants to deport a severely disabled five-year old girl.
Brief background . . . she is half-blind, has epilepsy and quadraplegic cerebral palsy. She came to the UK from Algeria on a six-month visa to give her mother a break and seek treatment for her condition but because of the seriousness of her condition, she was allowed to extend her stay in order to receive further treatment. She has been staying with her aunt and uncle who apparently want to adopt her. Now I don’t know the circumstances regarding her birth parents but I do know there is still a lot of stigma attached to epilepsy in Algeria so although we can all speculate, t’is sufficeth to say, mothers will do anything to protect their child.
The little girl is doing really well in our compassionate country and we should be proud of that. She has overcome many difficulties and is responding well to treatment. And she is attending mainstream school which is remarkable in itself. Her family here are dedicated to her but if she is sent back to her home country, there is a very real possibility that she will not survive.
I know the morally-challenged hard-faces at the Daily Fail and readers thereof will be sneering and accusing her family of nothing more than trying to get free NHS treatment but even if that’s true, so what? So bloody what? Again, what loving parent wouldn’t move mountains to improve the quality of their child’s life?
Basically, not only is the poor girl fighting a life-threatening condition but she is now facing deportation to a country that a) doesn’t have the means to treat her condition and b) still widely believes that epileptic fits are caused by demonic possession.
Deporting this child would be cruel and shameful. And the stupidly frustrating thing is, it’s just not necessary. Please sign the petition here and urge the dreadful Theresa May to reconsider her ruthless decision to deport little Rania.
22 May
To Kindle or not to Kindle?
I’ve been wondering recently whether to put a Kindle on my birthday wish list. It’s not my birthday yet folks so don’t panic but you have to realise that in my house I have to start dropping the hints early-on and at regular intervals so they become fixed into the minds of all my family because that way there’s a tiny, teeny chance that I’ll get at least one thing that I want. Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Anyway, these kindle things. They’re popping up in more and more places. Every time I go into the rest room at work I see yet another colleague with lunch in one hand, kindle in the other. And at swimming club, the bloke who sits next to me has one. My friend bought one recently too because she says they’re great for taking on holiday and I have to say, that’s probably the biggest advantage. It must be nice to read a book by the pool or on the beach without said book falling apart due to sand, beer, salt-water, tequila’s, sun-cream, ice-cream, wine etc. getting all over it.
So Book or Kindle? Let’s see . . .
- Convenience – the holiday thing as mentioned above. But at least you can share books. I suspect that not many people would be prepared to lend out their Kindles. You finish one book on holiday and then you lend it to your friend/sister/whoever and they lend you one back that they’ve just finished. And there are book shelves in most hotels anyway where visitors take and leave books so you needn’t really take any books with you unless there’s a particular book you want to read.
- Takes up less space. Yes, but my book shelf wouldn’t look half as homely with one little kindle sat there instead of my musty collection of books. In fact it would look really quite lonely.
- Much easier to read in bed. Got me there. I find it really hard to hold my book when I’m led in bed, especially if it’s a large book or a hard-back. I just can’t get comfy and my wrists start to ache after a while from trying to keep the book open with my thumb.
- E-books are cheaper. Yes but it would take a lot of e-book purchases to cancel out the initial cost of the Kindle. In any case, there are second-hand book shops. Used books are cheap. And what about the little corner book shops? Amazon, on-line Waterstones and what-not have already started to cripple the independents. How can they ever hope to compete with a Kindle. And there are the public libraries. Oh, erm Gideon and Cammy-boy are getting rid of those aren’t they. Well the central libraries will still be there (I think. Hope). I can’t see those libraries lending out Kindles although I’m sure there will come a time when libraries are lending out e-books.
- Kindles make great gifts. Well that depends on how much you want to spend. I often buy books as gifts for friends and family. I love buying people books for their birthday. It’s so easy. You just choose something that’s appropriate to their views or personality and they love that you’ve given them something so thoughtful. And I love the ritual of writing a witty, personal message on the inside cover then dating and signing it. How can I do that if the Kindle replaces real books?
Well, there you go. I think I’ve just talked myself out of abandoning the lovely, pulpy book for a Kindle. Yes, for me there’s just something about the good, old-fashioned book that can never be replaced by electronics. It’s the smell. The feel. The look. I love my books. And I love my beloved book shelf that displays everything I’ve read over the years – each book instantly there to refer to, talk about, hold in my hand and marvel over how much I loved it.
But . . . . wait just one cotton-picking liddle minute you silly girlie. You’ve forgotten one crucial factor.
Yes, how could I forget the most important issue? The impact. THE impact. Me, who named myself after our lovely planet and consistently banged on about the protection thereof, has recklessly failed to consider the environmental impact factor of both the Kindle and the book!
[Please turn away now while I partake of some serious self-beratement]
So I did some research and t’would appear that although the production of one single Kindle uses up tons more energy than the production of a seemingly pure and innocent book, from hereon-in it gets much worse for the poor book. In fact, the pulped version turns into a eco-nightmare compared to the e-book. I won’t go into detail because it hurts too much but trust me, I’m mortified.
Gutted folks. Truly gutted. But I have to stay true to my eco-me and so, taking all things into consideration, I have come to the decision that (sob, sniff) the books are not as kind to the environment as Kindles are and it is with the greatest of sulking begrudgement that all my future book purchases will be either used books or e-books.
When I get my Kindle that is.
11 May
One Love
6th February 1945 – 11th May 1981
Aged 36
Me only have one ambition, y’know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together – black, white, Chinese, everyone – that’s all.
That’s all.
Not much to ask for.
Simple. Basic. Powerful.
Bob Marley – a spiritual force with a desire for peace and justice that was expressed with depth in his music.
I hope you’re jamming somewhere beautiful Mr Marley. After thirty years without you on this good Earth, your legendary music is still playing.
10 May
Bluebells, Caves, Lakes . . . and not a lot more
Well what do you expect when we get two long weekends back-to-back and the sun shining throughout? Nothing to do with the fact that my synapses are refusing to fire up and I can’t seem to put anything together that would be worthy of reading. What’s that saying? The mind is willing but the . . . erm . . . never mind. The photo’s will have to do – taken in Rydal Water – a family favourite that we visit often over the seasons. Although there have been some treason-like mutterings from within recently that go something like . . . not there again! Can’t we think of somewhere different? And that’s just the husband! It’s mutiny I tells ya!
9 May
Sack Andrew Lansley
Seriously, seriously! Why is this guy still here? His manic NHS mission has been nothing short of shambolic from the very start. But then, Cameron – the man in a position to sack him – has stubbornly supported his reckless scalpel-wielding all along so he needs to be punished too.
Really folks, he so badly shouldn’t be here now. He has failed on many levels and the bill hasn’t even gone through yet! The scale of opposition to this remarkably ideological Health and Social Care Bill is vast yet Lansley and Cameron, in their isolated world of privatisation and non-accountability, continue to arrogantly bulldoze their way through while pretending to listen to the health care experts who are screaming WOAH! at every hurdle.
It’s actually really bad.
But, let me pause for a minute . . . we’re not stupid. We can see what they’re doing. I see health care workers on all levels growing more alarmed and I’m confident that these reckless plans will crumble. Even David Cameron’s spinning skills won’t be able to salvage this bill.
Thing is, the very fact that they pursued this crazy dream of bulldozing the NHS and turning it into a profiteering machine for themselves and their buddies in the first place shows just how inept, uncaring, arrogant, and totally profit-centred these Tory boys are . . . so we need to stay vigilant.
If we want to see health justice, Lansley, having lost all credibility, must be sacked, the current bill must be scrapped . . . and Cameron must be slapped across the face, repeatedly, with a soggy dressing that has just been removed from a chronic leg ulceration. (I have contacts in that department).
Seriously folks, for the sake of the nations health (and my mental health), please let me wake up tomorrow to the news that Andrew Lansley has been fired.
29 Apr
This and that and rather a lot more
It’s increasingly challenging for me to find the time to blog these days so it’s frustrating to say the least when there’s just so much to blog about. For instance, George Monbiot’s nuclear-powered, shot0gun-held-to-his-head U-turn on nuclear power. Well he must have had a shot-gun held to his head when he wrote this. Either that or his body was taken over and possessed by an evil force from the nuclear industry. I mean how else do you explain such an aggressive change-of-heart from someone who spent most of their life campaigning against nuclear power. He appears to have based his newly-found affection for nuclear energy on the fact that Fukushima was hit by an earthquake and a tidal wave and didn’t cause a global catastrophe. Oh! He plays down his pre-Fukushima stance by describing his then views as nuclear-neutral. Well that’s a load of tripe! He was never nuclear-neutral. He was blatantly anti-nuclear. Here’s what he said a few years ago…
There’s loads more where that came from. Hmph! Bloody turn-coat.
And what about this quiet little item? A new EU directive comes into play soon which will give more power to Big Pharma. More power! I hear you exclaim. I know! Anyway, this new directive sounds ok at first glance. Indeed, but there are implications. A EU-wide ban will be in place in a few months but from the 1st of May, hundreds of herbal remedies that have been used in the UK for decades will no longer be available to people who have been benefiting from their properties. This of course may result in people trying to get hold of them via the Internet thus making the control of such remedies impossible . . . and there’s also the added risk that some of these Internet-acquired products will be of a much poorer quality. It’s a big win for the pharmaceutical profiteers but let me just ask the politicians who’ve made this decision (I suspect muchly due to some sneaky hand-shaking and bribery from the drug companies) a question . . . What do you think people were doing to relieve their illnesses hundreds and hundreds of years ago? And actually, an important thing to consider is that many herbal medicines are taken by healthy people in order to try and prevent illness. And we all know the saying about prevention and cure. But there’s no profit in healthy people is there. Avaaz have a petition up here.
They’d better keep their hands off my herbal tea!!
Is there room to squeeze in a little personal message to David Cameron? Yes? Ooh goodie. . . .
David, do be quiet dear. Do try to stop being such a condescending twit. I know it’s hard to keep up the facade of nice, popular man-of-the-people but please try harder to hide your real chauvinistic, homophobic character. We know you were only trying to be funny and clever and that, but you’re not funny and clever. You’re witless and boring so do hush up. Oh and David dear, please try to keep that arrogant, snot-faced, creepy little chancellor of yours under control. His sneering, giggly, immature face is really making me want to vomit bucket-loads each and every time I see it. Thank you dear.
Speaking of the patronising Cameron, I’m taking bets on how long after the Royal wedding will it be before Shallow Cam starts using the happiness of the event to spin his ideological visions for Britain.
And to finish, I’ll pop up a picture or two, just to keep the place alive, barely, but alive just the same. Oh and I’ve sneaked a little video in at the end – a party political broadcast of the Green variety. Go on – vote for the Green party. You know you want to.
My middlie taking part in the May Pole dancing for St. George’s day. So there, BNP. You can stop spreading the myth that celebrating Englishness is being outlawed.
Bolton Abbey Priory. I took that picture with my broken little Nikon Coolpix L22. Impressed? I am.
4 Apr
ALUNA
It’s getting to be that every time I switch on the news, I’m closer to believing the Mayan 2012 prediction. We appear to have seriously evoked the wrath of the gods and it’s all starting to feel a bit doomsday. Of course I don’t really believe all that. I mean I’ve lost count of all the Armageddons that have been prophesied thus far but there’s no denying that the news is grim and while I say I don’t believe in prophecy, I do feel strongly that, as the masters of our own destruction, it’s not really that hard to predict some of the things that may happen. I was thus intrigued when I read about the Kogi, a lost civilisation living in the mountains close to the Colombian/Carribean coast who live in harmony with nature and believe we are heading for a disaster of our own making and, as natural guardians of Mother Earth, they are making a (second) movie to tell us how we can still prevent it.
[Thanks Ecomonkey]
From the movie website:
The People
The Kogi are the last surviving civilization from the world of the Inca and Aztec, and their cities are untouched by our world. The mountain they inhabit is an isolated triangular pyramid rising over 18,000 feet from the sea, the highest coastal mountain on earth. It is on a separate tectonic plate from the Andes, and its unique structure means that it is virtually a miniature version of the planet, with all the world’s climates represented. The mountain is quite literally a micro-cosmos, a mirror of the planet on which every ecological zone is represented and in which most of the plants and animals of the planet can find homes.
The Message
The Kogi are profoundly frightened by what we are doing to the world, but also well aware that we have no understanding of the forces which we are unleashing. They believe that the only hope of survival for mankind is if we can learn why they are so scared, and they know that we will only believe what we can see.
The Movie
The Kogi say that without thought, nothing could exist. This is a problem, because we are not just plundering the world, we are dumbing it down, destroying both the physical structure and the thought underpinning existence. The Kogi believe that they live in order to care for the world and keep its natural order functioning, but they recognized some years ago that this task was being made impossible by our mining and deforestation. In 1990 they emerged to work with Alan Ereira, making a 90-minute film for BBC1 in which they dramatically warned of our need to change course. Then they withdrew again.
But now the Kogi have summoned Alan Ereira back to say that we did not actually listen to what they said. We are incapable of being changed by being spoken to. They now understand that we learn through our eyes, not our ears. In the face of the approaching apocalypse, they have asked Ereira to make a film with them which will take the audience on a perilous journey into the mysteries of their sacred places to change our understanding of reality.
This is not a work of fiction. ARE YOU READY TO BE CHANGED?
30 Mar
Arts cuts, police cuts, nursing, crime and tangents . .
Isn’t it strange how the news regarding police cuts doesn’t seem to get the left as animated as they get towards other cuts. I know the police have not won many public hearts lately due to their public displays of aggression and intimidation at recent protest rallies and suchlike – and quite right too. We’ve seen some appalling police behaviour and the lack of accountability is downright criminal but I guess they’re not all our enemy. Just as there are good and bad nurses and good and bad teachers, the same surely applies to the police.
I had three police officers at my house this morning. Two officers came and went followed by a crime scene investigator. They were here, in short, because my eldest daughter’s car was broken into. The poor girl has only had the car for one week. She was chuffed to bits about it. What with the sky-scrapingly high insurance costs for new, young drivers, she thought she would never be able to afford a car. But to her credit, she somehow made it happen. She chose the smallest, cheapest, cutest little car available – one with low economical running costs and not so harsh on the environment.
Being a student nurse, she receives a little bursary each month which just about pays for said car. But crucially, being a student nurse, she has to go on placements far and wide and at all times of the day and night so a car is really quite essential. I was very tempted, incidentally, to talk her out of nursing. She was all set up for university. Had a guaranteed place at Liverpool and everything. She couldn’t wait to start. Why she changed her mind, I’ll never know. And why she chose to go into nursing befuddles me even more but I suspect her boyfriend, and the reluctance to leave him, had something to with the decision. Ho hum.
Anyway (tangents dear girl, tangents), her shiny, new little car was violated right outside our house the other night and she was gutted. The perpetrator just popped the lock right out of the door. Nothing was taken because there was nothing to take. The police officer said he was probably looking for spare change or hoping to find an ipod because the car came with an ipod thingy where you can plug in your ipod and listen to your playlist.
The first two officers who attended were very nice and helpful. They showed care and concern towards my daughter and were very attentive. After they’d completed their bit they left and told me a crime scene investigator would come along later to take fingerprints and stuff. They asked my daughter if she would need to use the car today and she said yes – she had to go into uni at 12 o clock so they said they’d try to get the forensic guy to come before then. I didn’t expect this to happen but lo and behold, the lovely lady turned up at about 10.30 with her little black bag of forensics tools. I was impressed. She too was very caring and concerned but she couldn’t do any dusting on the car door because it was raining.
I had been listening to the news all morning and there was much talk about the police cuts and cuts to the Arts. Objections to the Arts cuts, by the way, are easy to dismiss but I don’t mind admitting that I object to these cuts almost as much as other cuts, not least because Art enriches all our lives but more importantly, there will be many-a knock-on effect by way of employment, education and suchlike and will result in only the well-off being able to afford to study an Arts degree or pursue a particular ‘Arts’ talent. And youth theatre groups, sports groups . . . what about all those youngsters who are committing time and energy to something fulfilling that they enjoy . . . something that helps to keep them fit and healthy. We already know that too many unfit teenagers spend their time hanging around streets with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Tell me what’s beneficial about taking away their facilities when those things give them a focus, where they can learn about commitment, self-respect and teamwork. The Arts have the power to transform and vastly improve lives. I’ve seen it working. Dance teachers are creating community dance-groups everywhere. It’s classless, genderless and available across the scale. The kids who attend such groups are growing daily in self-esteem and self-confidence. And they’re active for god’s sake! Off the streets. Not being thugs! Not being a nuisance! Not committing crimes! Isn’t that the goal? You need look no further than the absolutely fantastic Dance United to realise just how effective and empowering such groups can be.
Basically, Arts funding is there to provide equal opportunities for everybody to have their lives enriched and improved. The Arts cuts are regressive and will make Art and Culture elite and inaccessible to all but a privileged few. Osborne’s few.
Anyway, where was I? (More tangents. Focus girl!) My police experience, although brought about by a nasty and annoying crime, was an altogether positive one but it got me thinking about the cuts and how it might affect the three nice officers who dealt with our case. I don’t know anything about the structure of police forces. I know that like nurses, doctors, paramedics etc. police officers take a lot of crap from the public. They deal with aggressive and abusive people on an almost daily basis and are always the first in line for a bashing and being blamed for everyone’s problems. I do stand by my belief that a lot of officers join the police force for the wrong reasons (ie: power, means to bully etc) but generally speaking, I like to think that, like nurses, teachers etc., most of them are decent with a genuine desire to help others and like most of us, they face worrying times and insecurities.
There’s more to a police force than the images we see of police thuggery on our TV screens and the government’s promises not to cut front line jobs is meaningless given that front-liners depend on non-front-line staff to do their jobs properly so no matter how they spin it, the cuts will detrimentally affect the police and how they protect the public and no matter how bitter the relationship between activist and policeman is, it’s surely in our interest to support them at this time.
Gosh! It’s all or or nothing with me.
You said . . .