I know that on one level I'm scared that the right wing in its many guises is so powerful. But on another, it's a source of eternal mystification and amusement that some of them are so plain barking.
Take 'Eddie,' author of an article called 'Destructive Environmentalists' on Bloggerbase, yet another we'll-make-your-rantings-world-famous writing platform. Now, I know that the Daily Mail article OA & I were interviewed for a good couple of years ago bore about as much relation to reality as Katie Price's mammaries, but at least it managed to get right which of us has been... err... snipped. But good ol' boy Eddie (who cites 'conservatives' who think the Sierra Club is 'extremist'... jeez... and then perpetrates the usual tedious-but-unfortunately-widely-believed climate denialist waffle) apparently can't scan a tabloid article and even come out with its version of events. To whit, this: "Sarah Irving, from Ethical Consumer magazine, who sterilised herself..."
Wow. I sterilised myself? Without noticing? Cool. Wonder how I pulled that one off. DIY pain-free operations - I must patent this invention. Could be worth gazillions. And poor OA, not getting credit for HIS snip.
Second version of this is even more odd. Now I, despite obviously being a terrorist sympathising dangerous unwomanly unnatural extremist etc etc, can grasp why a lot of people around the world are less than chuffed with one Leila Khaled, even if I find her interesting enough to write a book about. I also know that there are a lot of misconceptions and exaggerations about her dotted about the web. But this article on the Northeast Intelligence (ahem) Network's (NIN) website is a real odd 'un. It states: "Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled, who murdered 24 year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem in an airplane hijacking in Beirut in 1970."
Now, I spotted this and started to worry that maybe there was some big chunk of LK's life story I'd missed out on completely, which would be mildly embarrassing. But no, it's Douglas J. Hagmann, Director of NIN, who needs to be hiding his blushes.
An organisation which claims to be 'INVESTIGATING THREATS TO OUR HOMELAND' would, you think, at least get its martyrs straight. Because "24 year-old US Navy diver Robert Stethem" was actually on vac from his US Navy underwater construction team in 1985 (yep, 15 years after Leila Khaled's hijackings) when he was on a plane hijacked by Hizbollah (no, not Khaled's PFLP) and killed and dumped on the tarmac at Beirut airport when the hijackers' demands for the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israel was not met.
As usual, Hagmann's article also conflates Islamism and parts of the Palestinian resistance which 25 years ago American rightists would have been squealing about as part of a global Communist threat rather than a religious one. 25 years ago, of course, the US authorities were busy bankrolling Islamic militants like one Osama Bin Laden, as well as supporting Israel in its tolerance of Palestinian Islamic groups like Hamas (because in the late 80s Israel preferred the likes of Hamas to the likes of the PFLP, and the US broadly agreed).
Hagmann also goes on to make various truly bizarre claims about shadowy, dangerous links between completely above-ground organisations - for instance claiming that Al-Awda (an organisation which campaigns and educates on the right to return for Palestinian refugees) "is one part of a larger network known as the International Solidarity Movement." Errr, that would be the International Solidarity Movement that is a human rights observation and intervention organisation in the West Bank (plus some supporters overseas)? They may over the years have crossovers of personnel, be related in their aims, have similar viewpoints on many issues - but they have very different focuses and activities, and one is certainly not "part of" another. NIN claims to be "veteran, licensed professional investigators, analysts, military affairs specialists and researchers," which is really quite funny if they're happy to put this level of 'research' into the public domain. And this loon Hagmann also manages to drag in Obama, Kucinich and the revolting George Galloway as part of a giant anti-Zionist conspiracy. If only.
Showing posts with label childfree/childless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childfree/childless. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
More Onion genius
Some people will hate this. But I think it's hysterical. And it's my blog.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_study_reveals_most_children
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/new_study_reveals_most_children
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Pubs, politics and Palestine
With lots in the news at the moment about pubs closing due to the recession, I was extremely pleased this week to find a great pub which combines proper beer with genuine community spirit.
The Blue Bell, on Barlow Road in Levenshulme, doesn't look terrifically prepossessing from the outside. It's one of those big pub buildings which all too often nowadays have plastic signs proclaiming steak dinners for £3.99 or burgers for less - conjuring up images of hideous livestock conditions and inedible meat. Inside it's presentable but nothing special, with a certain amount of the kind of faux-traditional chintziness which dominates so much pub decor.
I'd been lured to the Blue Bell after having, in a rash moment of helpfulness, offered to answer questions about co-operatives and social enterprises at a public meeting of people wanting to form a co-op to save their local shop, the Village Stores. So I didn't even get as far as the bar before I was sitting down and fielding queries.
Then I noticed the beermats, which proclaimed that this was a Samuel Smith's pub. This, to me, is always a good thing, as even in the most hideous depths of central London it tends to herald good beer, reasonably priced. Sam Smith's, based in Tadcaster, is still an independent brewery and produces a full range of ales, milds and lagers, including an organic lager. And the plural of mild is advisedly used – rarely, it brews both a light and dark mild, and that is a rare and wonderful thing nowadays. The full range is Vegan Society approved and the company's tied pubs have stocked Fairtrade orange juice for some years – ie before it became a hugely successful marketing bandwagon.
But my reasons for being all excited about the Blue Bell don't stop with its beer. Licensees Mark and Mary Dunn seem to be genuinely committed to being part of and improving their local community. The room we used for the meeting for the putative co-op was provided free, as it is for a number of other organisations – from swimmers' groups to tenants' associations – during the rest of the week. Mark himself sat in on the meeting, and seemed keen to make sure that the street's excellent local shop was maintained somehow.
The descendant of market traders, Mark is bringing his interest in Manchester's history of local food production to bear on his community activities. He and other residents are planning a People's Orchard, planted with regional fruit tree varieties – and he is well able to list the kind of apples he wants to see promoted, varieties like Jonathan which have distinctive flavours and textures, instead of the bland offerings in British supermarkets.
The Blue Bell also has a wild patch out the back, where there are logs for hedgehogs to hibernate in and native flowers growing. And every year, the pub presents any children who want to enter its Garden Competition with a tub and some money to buy plants and seeds from Village Stores, and at the end of the summer the best mini-gardens win prizes. As Mark says, “it keeps them out of trouble and gives them a real sense of achievement.”
On other topics, the students occupying a building at Manchester University in solidarity with the people of Gaza are still there, a fantastic array of banners still adorning the front of the Simon Building and a great range of film showings, Dabke dance workshops and Fairtrade Palestinian olive oil launches taking place in the occupied space.
In Gaza, my friend Sharyn has moved from working with ambulances and medics to accompanying farmers into their fields where, it is hoped, the presence of internationals will allow them to harvest their crops – vital for the income of so many families and communities – without the worst excesses of Israeli military brutality. To date, results have been mixed, and despite the presence of ISMers several farmers harvesting parsley and other crops have been injured and killed by Israeli soldiers shooting at them.
On the climate change front, efforts to put together a 'Call to Real Action' in response to Manchester City Council's laughable 'Call to Action' effort continue apace, drawing in a wide range of people increasingly concerned about the lack of any real constructive activity on the subject.
And the interviews Marc and I gave to the Observer and the Mail on the subject of not having kids, which spawned a host of invitations to do more interviews, appear on the radio and feature in documentaries, has come back to haunt us yet again. Some freelancer called Britt has being trying to get in touch for an interview, pitching an article to the Guardian which – she rather misguidedly tried to reassure me – would also feature Teri 'I had an abortion for the planet' Vernelli, the other interviewee from the Mail article. The unusual thing about this Britt woman, who appears to work for IPC Media when she's not freelancing for the Grauniad, has been her persistence, sending me several emails, but more annoyingly harassing my former employers at Ethical Consumer and Togetherworks social enterprise network, where I'm a director, for my sins.
The Blue Bell, on Barlow Road in Levenshulme, doesn't look terrifically prepossessing from the outside. It's one of those big pub buildings which all too often nowadays have plastic signs proclaiming steak dinners for £3.99 or burgers for less - conjuring up images of hideous livestock conditions and inedible meat. Inside it's presentable but nothing special, with a certain amount of the kind of faux-traditional chintziness which dominates so much pub decor.
I'd been lured to the Blue Bell after having, in a rash moment of helpfulness, offered to answer questions about co-operatives and social enterprises at a public meeting of people wanting to form a co-op to save their local shop, the Village Stores. So I didn't even get as far as the bar before I was sitting down and fielding queries.
Then I noticed the beermats, which proclaimed that this was a Samuel Smith's pub. This, to me, is always a good thing, as even in the most hideous depths of central London it tends to herald good beer, reasonably priced. Sam Smith's, based in Tadcaster, is still an independent brewery and produces a full range of ales, milds and lagers, including an organic lager. And the plural of mild is advisedly used – rarely, it brews both a light and dark mild, and that is a rare and wonderful thing nowadays. The full range is Vegan Society approved and the company's tied pubs have stocked Fairtrade orange juice for some years – ie before it became a hugely successful marketing bandwagon.
But my reasons for being all excited about the Blue Bell don't stop with its beer. Licensees Mark and Mary Dunn seem to be genuinely committed to being part of and improving their local community. The room we used for the meeting for the putative co-op was provided free, as it is for a number of other organisations – from swimmers' groups to tenants' associations – during the rest of the week. Mark himself sat in on the meeting, and seemed keen to make sure that the street's excellent local shop was maintained somehow.
The descendant of market traders, Mark is bringing his interest in Manchester's history of local food production to bear on his community activities. He and other residents are planning a People's Orchard, planted with regional fruit tree varieties – and he is well able to list the kind of apples he wants to see promoted, varieties like Jonathan which have distinctive flavours and textures, instead of the bland offerings in British supermarkets.
The Blue Bell also has a wild patch out the back, where there are logs for hedgehogs to hibernate in and native flowers growing. And every year, the pub presents any children who want to enter its Garden Competition with a tub and some money to buy plants and seeds from Village Stores, and at the end of the summer the best mini-gardens win prizes. As Mark says, “it keeps them out of trouble and gives them a real sense of achievement.”
On other topics, the students occupying a building at Manchester University in solidarity with the people of Gaza are still there, a fantastic array of banners still adorning the front of the Simon Building and a great range of film showings, Dabke dance workshops and Fairtrade Palestinian olive oil launches taking place in the occupied space.
In Gaza, my friend Sharyn has moved from working with ambulances and medics to accompanying farmers into their fields where, it is hoped, the presence of internationals will allow them to harvest their crops – vital for the income of so many families and communities – without the worst excesses of Israeli military brutality. To date, results have been mixed, and despite the presence of ISMers several farmers harvesting parsley and other crops have been injured and killed by Israeli soldiers shooting at them.
On the climate change front, efforts to put together a 'Call to Real Action' in response to Manchester City Council's laughable 'Call to Action' effort continue apace, drawing in a wide range of people increasingly concerned about the lack of any real constructive activity on the subject.
And the interviews Marc and I gave to the Observer and the Mail on the subject of not having kids, which spawned a host of invitations to do more interviews, appear on the radio and feature in documentaries, has come back to haunt us yet again. Some freelancer called Britt has being trying to get in touch for an interview, pitching an article to the Guardian which – she rather misguidedly tried to reassure me – would also feature Teri 'I had an abortion for the planet' Vernelli, the other interviewee from the Mail article. The unusual thing about this Britt woman, who appears to work for IPC Media when she's not freelancing for the Grauniad, has been her persistence, sending me several emails, but more annoyingly harassing my former employers at Ethical Consumer and Togetherworks social enterprise network, where I'm a director, for my sins.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Meeja horing
Well, rather bizarrely OA and I seem to have degenerated into poster children for not having kids for environmental reasons - OA's vasectomy has now managed to make its way into Ethical Consumer magazine, the Metro, BBC2's Heaven & Earth, the Observer and now the Femail section of the Daily Mail.
The Observer, done by their environment & transport editor Juliette Jowit, was generally a fairly positive experience. Juliette was a genuinely interesting person to talk to, wrote an excellent article and was obviously very interested in properly exploring the issue of population and the environment. After the horror of the Observer Woman section and its general pathetic vacuousness, being involved in this article kind of restored a small amount of my faith in this publication (though I still want one of those Observer Woman Makes Me Spit t-shirts). The pic of me was a bit of a horror, but at least Albert's beans on the allotment looked good!
Daily Mail writer Morag Turner wasn't as horrible as I was expecting from this fascist rag (Overgrown Antipodean and I will be donating half our fee for the piece to the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns), although she obviously had a fairly shallow understanding of and interest in the subject. You kind of got the impression that she was a bit bored of writing the usual tripe that goes in Femail and had aspirations (not matched by the quality of her article, unfortunately), to write 'proper' stuff. The quotes from OA and I that made it into the article bore a slightly bizarre and vague relation to what we actually said, but that's tabloids for you. The most traumatic bit of this whole experience was getting photographed - I knew we were going to have a photographer round, but was utterly unprepared for the appearance of the makeup artist, who proceeded to plaster me in more slap than I've worn in about the last 15 years and certainly more than I have ever worn at one time in my entire life. I looked like a raddled old slapper and my hair kept sticking to me. The photographer was a kind of old-style gent, but the makeup artist was weird - we started off thinking that she was rather standoffish, but rapidly realised that actually is was just that breahing occupied all synapses, and she certainly couldn't walk and speak at the same time. And the result was infinitely more horrible than anything the no-makeup, bit-of-a-weird expression Observer guy inflicted on what miniscule public reputation I may have!
Well, Daily Mail woman is now talking about pimping us to Grazia or something similar. Will have to see what the fee would be... and maybe donate half of that one to something radical feminist. Unless of course they see this blog...
Observer article:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2206650,00.html
Daily Mail article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=495495&in_page_id=1879
The Observer, done by their environment & transport editor Juliette Jowit, was generally a fairly positive experience. Juliette was a genuinely interesting person to talk to, wrote an excellent article and was obviously very interested in properly exploring the issue of population and the environment. After the horror of the Observer Woman section and its general pathetic vacuousness, being involved in this article kind of restored a small amount of my faith in this publication (though I still want one of those Observer Woman Makes Me Spit t-shirts). The pic of me was a bit of a horror, but at least Albert's beans on the allotment looked good!
Daily Mail writer Morag Turner wasn't as horrible as I was expecting from this fascist rag (Overgrown Antipodean and I will be donating half our fee for the piece to the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns), although she obviously had a fairly shallow understanding of and interest in the subject. You kind of got the impression that she was a bit bored of writing the usual tripe that goes in Femail and had aspirations (not matched by the quality of her article, unfortunately), to write 'proper' stuff. The quotes from OA and I that made it into the article bore a slightly bizarre and vague relation to what we actually said, but that's tabloids for you. The most traumatic bit of this whole experience was getting photographed - I knew we were going to have a photographer round, but was utterly unprepared for the appearance of the makeup artist, who proceeded to plaster me in more slap than I've worn in about the last 15 years and certainly more than I have ever worn at one time in my entire life. I looked like a raddled old slapper and my hair kept sticking to me. The photographer was a kind of old-style gent, but the makeup artist was weird - we started off thinking that she was rather standoffish, but rapidly realised that actually is was just that breahing occupied all synapses, and she certainly couldn't walk and speak at the same time. And the result was infinitely more horrible than anything the no-makeup, bit-of-a-weird expression Observer guy inflicted on what miniscule public reputation I may have!
Well, Daily Mail woman is now talking about pimping us to Grazia or something similar. Will have to see what the fee would be... and maybe donate half of that one to something radical feminist. Unless of course they see this blog...
Observer article:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2206650,00.html
Daily Mail article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=495495&in_page_id=1879
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