Monday, 15 June 2009
Rally On!
Contrary to earlier reports, Mousavi had joined his supporters in protest in Tehran's Revolution Square. Good for them for exercising peaceful protest - I hope that with the world watching and criticism already pouring in from initial use of force, the Government militia-led response will be kept at bay....
Chaos in Iran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab may claim that his recent re-election result was "real and free," though emerging stories suggest the antithesis. Iran's defeated moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has urged Iran's Guardian Council to annul the election on the grounds of fraud, urging peaceful and legal protest from his supporters.
Yet this morning the BBC reports that Mousavi has called off an election protest rally after being threatened by Iranian authorities that militias policing the rally would come armed with live rounds (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8099952.stm). This warning looks particularly ominous as additional reports of violence emerge, notably a Monday morning attack on student demonstrators at Tehran University. Andrew Sullivan highlights the brutal and acrimonious response to this and other protests on his Daily Dish. This makes disturbing but real reading that should be further brought to light by the mainstream media, in my opinion.
In the wake of the UK's MP expense scandal hype and the current political in-fighting, situations like this are a wake up call as to how lucky we are to live in a democratic country and should remind our leaders of what they represent. It's important that MPs use our egalitarian political system to tackle real issues, rather than resorting to expense greed and boundary pushing politics for the sake of politics. Our democracy should be upheld and used to productive ends. This country and the world clearly have far greater issues at stake that need to be a focus.
Yet this morning the BBC reports that Mousavi has called off an election protest rally after being threatened by Iranian authorities that militias policing the rally would come armed with live rounds (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8099952.stm). This warning looks particularly ominous as additional reports of violence emerge, notably a Monday morning attack on student demonstrators at Tehran University. Andrew Sullivan highlights the brutal and acrimonious response to this and other protests on his Daily Dish. This makes disturbing but real reading that should be further brought to light by the mainstream media, in my opinion.
In the wake of the UK's MP expense scandal hype and the current political in-fighting, situations like this are a wake up call as to how lucky we are to live in a democratic country and should remind our leaders of what they represent. It's important that MPs use our egalitarian political system to tackle real issues, rather than resorting to expense greed and boundary pushing politics for the sake of politics. Our democracy should be upheld and used to productive ends. This country and the world clearly have far greater issues at stake that need to be a focus.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Monday, 27 April 2009
Cover your mouth please sir....
First of all for those that ran the London Marathon yesterday, congratulations! I'm proud to say that I've been in your shoes, but happy that I wasn't sweating it out with you this year!
Moving on...
With fear of swine flu running rampant, I was really pleased to be crammed into my train car like battery hen on my commute home from work today. Surrounded by men a foot taller than me with my arms pinned to my side, I couldn't even turn the pages of my newspaper. Ideal. Even more so, when the kind gentleman behind me began to cough unceremoniously without covering his mouth!
Come on man - it's common courteously to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. (My mom taught me a great little song about this - maybe I should have burst into song on the train to teach him a lesson). This is particularly in order in our current climate, where the first confirmed cases of swine flu were made in Scotland today, adding to the spattering of confirmed cases of swine flu across the globe since its initial outbreak in Mexico.
Fortunately swine flu, the H1N1 flu strain doesn't seem to be as mutatable or grave as the H5N1 avian flu, however in today's mobile society the prospect of flu outbreaks and pandemics are daunting. People are already out buying face masks - in fact, cunning Google was already cashing in on face mask advertising alongside flu related searches - however I propose reining in initial hysteria in exchange for everyone agreeing to cover their mouths when they cough on the train! Common colds are often considered collateral damage of such careless behavior; changing this mindset could help stem worse disease in future, and could keep us a little healthier in the here and now!
And for those that want to learn a little more on the risks of the recent flu outbreak, check out news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8021958.stm
Moving on...
With fear of swine flu running rampant, I was really pleased to be crammed into my train car like battery hen on my commute home from work today. Surrounded by men a foot taller than me with my arms pinned to my side, I couldn't even turn the pages of my newspaper. Ideal. Even more so, when the kind gentleman behind me began to cough unceremoniously without covering his mouth!
Come on man - it's common courteously to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. (My mom taught me a great little song about this - maybe I should have burst into song on the train to teach him a lesson). This is particularly in order in our current climate, where the first confirmed cases of swine flu were made in Scotland today, adding to the spattering of confirmed cases of swine flu across the globe since its initial outbreak in Mexico.
Fortunately swine flu, the H1N1 flu strain doesn't seem to be as mutatable or grave as the H5N1 avian flu, however in today's mobile society the prospect of flu outbreaks and pandemics are daunting. People are already out buying face masks - in fact, cunning Google was already cashing in on face mask advertising alongside flu related searches - however I propose reining in initial hysteria in exchange for everyone agreeing to cover their mouths when they cough on the train! Common colds are often considered collateral damage of such careless behavior; changing this mindset could help stem worse disease in future, and could keep us a little healthier in the here and now!
And for those that want to learn a little more on the risks of the recent flu outbreak, check out news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8021958.stm
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
G20 Summit: Let's See Some Action!
Yes, I want to see some action, and not the rioting, violent, “I’m scared to walk my normal route home from work for fear of being caught in the crossfire” action. Many Londoners went into work in jeans today, buying in to a ubiquitous dress down policy enforced through fear of attack from the protesters. Fortunately I have seen limited aggression so far; in fact, it pretty much seems business as normal to me from my vantage point in the City.
But I digress. I want to see action in the form of cooperation and progress at this summit. I’m not looking for mighty, unrealistic plans of grandeur but practical, cooperative strategy that addresses our current grim economic reality. Obama speaks of cooperation with the UK and Gordon Brown reasserts that the UK and USA will renew their special relationship through a “partnership of peace.”
This is all fine in principle but talk is cheap without show. There have been many rumblings of disagreement between the USA’s stimulus approach to economic reform versus the more regulatory approach favored in Europe. This debate will need to be had.
Economic upturn won’t come overnight but international cooperation may bring it one step closer. So I wait with the world for some first steps and positive actions.
But I digress. I want to see action in the form of cooperation and progress at this summit. I’m not looking for mighty, unrealistic plans of grandeur but practical, cooperative strategy that addresses our current grim economic reality. Obama speaks of cooperation with the UK and Gordon Brown reasserts that the UK and USA will renew their special relationship through a “partnership of peace.”
This is all fine in principle but talk is cheap without show. There have been many rumblings of disagreement between the USA’s stimulus approach to economic reform versus the more regulatory approach favored in Europe. This debate will need to be had.
Economic upturn won’t come overnight but international cooperation may bring it one step closer. So I wait with the world for some first steps and positive actions.
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