Monthly Archives: October 2008

Prix Pictet

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Climate Change is the big environmental issue, but what are the effects, here in the UK it’s expected that our climate will become Mediterranean although looking at our last two summers that’s pretty hard to believe.

With his series “The Chinese Dust Bowl” Benoit Aquin, the winner of the first Prix Pictet, what is claimed as the world’s richest photographic prize, shows the brutal effects in northern China which is turning 400,000 square km of once-fertile farmland into desert.

Sanggen Dalai, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Sanggen Dalai, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Gansu Province, China, 2006

Gansu Province, China, 2006

Wuwei Region, Gansu, China, 2006

Wuwei Region, Gansu, China, 2006

Wuwei Oasis, Gansu, China, 2006

Wuwei Oasis, Gansu, China, 2006

Wuwei Oasis, Gansu, China, 2006

Wuwei Oasis, Gansu, China, 2006

Hongsibao, Ningxia, China, 2007

Hongsibao, Ningxia, China, 2007

Bayannur Region, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Bayannur Region, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Xilinhot City, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Xilinhot City, Inner Mongolia, China, 2006

Hongsibao, Ningxia, China, 2007

Hongsibao, Ningxia, China, 2007

Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 2007

Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 2007

Source: BBC.

Don’t Vote For This Man if You Hate Racists

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Tory MP for Harwich and Clacton, Douglas Carswell writes about his opposition to ID cards and his belief that they’ll do little to protect the country from terrorists, and much as it galls me to agree with a Tory, I have to agree. Carswell the goes on to list three things he believes the government should be doing, his second point is.

They’d stop handing out British passports and visas overseas the way that they do. (Soon after entering Parliament, I discovered, for example, that the Foreign Office has given away so many British passports in Pakistan that no one even really knows how many people living in Pakistan now have UK citizenship.)

I can’t make a better reply than the author of the Conservative and Unionist Blog:

Guess what, Douglas old pal. I’ll bet they don’t know how many people living in Germany have British citizenship either – because the UK’s foreign office have no control over who lives in either country. But, hey, Germans (in general) aren’t as likely to scare the voters.

As I said at the start don’t vote Tory if you hate racists.

Gloucester Rape Centre 0845 Fiasco

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A new centre is due to open in Gloucester to help victims of sexual assault and rape.

Hope House Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) will provide a place where victims can receive medical care, counselling and police services.

It is thought SARC is the only centre in England connected to a hospital and its sexual health services.

A person who has experienced sexual assault or rape can visit SARC or can make contact by telephone. Source: The BBC.

Now there’s the problem the numbers set up are all 0845 numbers. The cost of phoning these numbers from a phone box or mobile is pretty expensive.

The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) reported.

One concern is that 0845 services are often advertised as local rate calls, yet increasing competition for fixed-line telephone calls has resulted in a broad range of prices and discount call packages for local and national calls to geographic numbers. This means the cost of calling a 0845 number can be higher than the cost of a local call. The cost of calling these numbers may be unclear at the outset and leave vulnerable customers unaware of the actual cost of calling.

In a survey the SSAC conducted it found calls to 0845 numbers costing as much as 40 pence per minute from a pay as you go phone.

Surely the most important part of the new centre is access – charging people up to 40p a minute is surely one way to put people off. The SSAC also reports that Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres “earned” over £250,000 through revenue sharing from its use of 0845 numbers. I hope nobody thought we could make money out of rape victim’s phone calls.

Hat Tip: Pickled Politics.

Next Rufus Album Just Piano and Vocals

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As a complete Rufus devotee I’m always looking forward to a new album, the NME reports.

Rufus Wainwright has revealed that he plans to record a new pared-back album featuring just piano and vocals following the airing of his forthcoming opera, ‘Prima Donna’, next summer.

Wainwright told Billboard that the idea was a reaction to his recent epic work on the opera and last year’s ‘Release The Stars’ album.

“That the album will just be a solo piano/voice, just sitting in the studio alone and making it about the music,” he said. “After all that, it’s an opportunity to have this slight moment of intimacy with me – which I know everybody wants.”

Review of Red Letter Year

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Review by Gavin Martin for Uncut

DiFranco’s first album since becoming a mother is filled with infectious joie de vivre – it begins on a magic mushroom binge, and ends with an exuberant, brass ensemble jam. The lovely lyrical lily of “Present/Infant” defines the album’s purposeful upbeat attitude, and DiFranco’s ability to spin poetry out of domestic and mundane settings is constant delight, She can still be eloquently defiant (“Alla This”) but, in tandem with producer partner Mike Napolitano, negotiates a melodic and engaging musical landscape.

Uncut rates albums out of five stars – how many do you think martin gives the album after reading his review? Just three – why. Ani DiFranco continues to be the most under rated artist by the music press – listen to the album here and you decide how many stars Red Letter Year should receive. But why am I surprised in the printed version of the magazine Uncut couldn’t even get the album title correct calling it Red Letter Day??

Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2008

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Steve Winter's snow leopard photo

Steve Winter's snow leopard photo

Steve spent 10 months in remote Indian mountains using remote-controlled cameras to take pictures of snow leopards. One freezing May morning, he found this snow leopard gazing back at him. “I was thrilled to have finally captured the shot I had dreamed of – a wild snow leopard in its true element”

Source: The Guardian.

Peak Oil

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We all know that eventually oil is going to run out and then we seem to blindly hope that science will have come up with a replacement. However there’s another theory and that is Peak Oil the point when maximum rate of production is reached, that’s when problems start; daily production exceeds daily demand.

A report from the Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil & Energy Security comes to the conclusion that the effects of peak oil will be felt in the next five years – during the next term of government.

Even if the report is being pessimistic the priorities for Alastair Darling’s spend spend spend strategy must surely be aimed at drastically reducing the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels – if we are to rob the proverbial Peter to pay Paul, then let’s try and ease the taxpayers pain in paying Peter back.

Source: The Guardian.

US Interest Rate, Just 1%

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There is some good news for UK householders amongst the gloom of the current financial crisis:

The US Federal Reserve last night led the way in a series of interest rate cuts aimed at heading off a deep and prolonged global recession when it reduced borrowing costs to 1%. Source: The Guardian.

The Question is how low can UK interest rates go? The last time the US rate was at 1% was in May, 2004 at that time UK interest rates where rising from 3.5% in August, 2003 to eventually peak at 5.75% in July, 2007. This time we’re in uncharted territory, some commentators predict rates at 3% which would be the lowest since May, 1954 – still that’s a cut of just 1.5% on current rates, somehow not enough – I’m feel that at least a couple of percentage point cuts are required which means just 2.5% not seen since Nov, 1951.

Source: The Bank of England.

Co-Op The Ethical Bank – Not When it Comes to Employees

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The Co-Operative Bank likes to trumpet its ethical stance and compared to other UK banks it is a paragon of virtue, however in a drive to save money the Bank via its proxy French firm Steria which took over IT in 2007 – The 176 staff were told in the summer that work would be moved to India and the company was looking for 90 voluntary redundancies. Steria expects to save the Co-op money by shifting work to India – eventually 70 per cent of work will be done there. Seems profit before ethics – basically; how can we reduce costs? Sack some workers and get some others in who’ll do the job for less.

Source: The Register.

18,000 Complain about Brand and Ross

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What is it all about Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross’ phone call to 78-year-old actor Andrew Sach, best known for playing Manuel in Faulty Towers.

The Guardian reports.

Yesterday morning brought news that the media regulator was launching its own investigation into whether Brand and Ross had broken its rules on harm and offence when they called 78-year-old actor Andrew Sachs’ answer machine to say that Brand had “fucked your granddaughter”.

By mid-afternoon, questions had been asked in the House of Commons and the leader of the opposition had added his voice to calls for an inquiry. By early evening, complaints to the BBC had topped 10,000, the corporation was leading its own Six O’clock News with the row and the Prime Minister Gordon Brown had diverted his mind from the global financial crisis to condemn the pair’s “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour”.

Blimey, mentioned in the House of Commons even condemnation from Gordon Brown. What is it about this phone call – lets try something replace Brand for, I don’t know much about Radio 2 presenters – there seems a dearth of women though (but that’s another story); Radio 6 is more my thing, anyway but for arguments sake lets say Jo Whiley (by the why that’s no reflection on Jo, she’s not as dim as Brand or Ross) lets replaced granddaughter for grandson, now where’s you’re outrage – I’m fed up with this sexism, why is it women have something done to them?

On the phone call – personally I hate these puerile school boy jokes – cheap humour for the dumbed down media.

The latest is news is the BBC has suspended Brand and Ross – good riddance I say – and how about filling those vacancies with a few women presenters?