Blah-di-blah. Raar raar Raar.

I posted a very cool screenshot the other day, of Sky News (apparently inadvertently?) declaring that Bush is one of the worst disasters to hit the U.S..

Even better is that I now find out that snopes has declared it to be TRUE!

Choose Respect is an interesting article from The Guardian about mental health services, mental health problems, stigma and community attitudes and approaches. It is worth a read, here.

From FoE:

Less than a third of waste oil produced by the DIY motorist is recycled and the rest ends up polluting rivers, causing harm to fish, ducks and swans and removing vital oxygen from the water. The volume of waste oil from one oil change alone is enough to form a film over a 4 acre lake! So instead of pouring yours down the drain, find your nearest oil recycling bank at http://www.oilbankline.org.uk.

Last week online I was very disturbed to read that the NUS (National Union of Students) National President, amongst others, are involved in a government campaign which will explain and justify how University education is funded - i.e. loans instead of grants, and tuition fees. This is an absolutely dreadful betrayal of all the students she and others are supposed to represent.

When I was at Uni I was in the last days of student grants, although I didn't get one. A lot of my involvement with NUS at the time was campaigning and lobbying against the abolition of grants and the introduction of larger and larger loans to make up the difference.

I was reminded of all of this when I was sent to a Study on Student Finances and Health. I don't think anybody would be surprised to hear that

A study investigating the link between student finances and health has found British students have more debt, more financial worries and poorer health than their Finnish counterparts (despite the countries having similar health standards overall according to WHO figures). In Britain, student tuition fees have been introduced and maintenance grants abolished. In Finland, by contrast, there are no tuition fees, and students receive grants and housing benefit.[...]read more...

It is so obvious. So very, very obvious. Education is a right not a privilege, poverty causes ill-health, tuition fees make education accessible for the rich and even less accessible for the poor than it already was. Raar Raar raar.

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Technorati tags: anti-Bush; mental health; community; environmentalism; incurable_hippie; car maintenance; save water; student debt; education; money; poverty; health.

Free for Sheffielders, Free for All.

To anyone in Sheffield - if you want a free compost bin, you can get one! Details here.

Info:
How to make compost.

Community Composting Network.

My Marvellous Compost Bin animation.

More Money-Saving Frugality:

Frugal Living (UK)
Forums - incredible discussions from Money Saving Expert.
Greasy Palm (cashback when you buy stuff online).
Say No to 0870 - get the geographical numbers for all those calls to businesses that are otherwise not included on most free call plans.
Pound Savers - Friends of the Earth ideas for saving money and the planet!
Project Gutenberg - more free ebooks than you could ever believe.
UK Vouchers for money off stuff.
National Downshifting Week.


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Technorati tags: sheffield; compost; incurable_hippie; animation; frugality moneysaving.

Saturday Evening in my Pyjamas.

I had heard the name Ann Coulter, usually in negative terms, but I did not know who she was, nor what quite was supposed to be wrong with her. Until, that is, I came across The American Taliban site.

It is a list of quotations from various influential Amerikans, from George Bush senior ("I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.") to James Watt the Secretary of State of the Interior with responsibility for the environment ("We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand."), through Kay O'Connor, a female Kansas State Republican ("I'm an old-fashioned woman. Men should take care of women, and if men were taking care of women today, we wouldn't have to vote.") and William G. Boykin, an army general (“George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States, he was appointed by God.”).

But right at the top of the page is the aforementioned Ann Coulter. She has the appearance of a typically beautiful blonde American woman, but her words are so full of hate and spite and evil it is frightening. So much so that I don't want to repeat them here, though you can see them there.

All of this makes me very keen to do the Ann Coulter g0og1e8omb, so here we go with that...

Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter Ann Coulter

Huge thanks to Uniquely Alike, without whom I may not have seen this fantastic screenshot. I love it!

Last week there was a protest in Sheffield against deporting asylum seekers to Iraq, as it is obviously a totally unsafe place for anyone to be. As it is, I'm pretty much against deporting anyone anywhere, but in places like Iraq it seems so bloody obvious that noone at all should be being sent there.

I couldn't go to the protest but was very glad to find these fabulous photos of the demo.

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Technorati tags: fundamentalist bigots; googlebomb; asylum; sheffield; incurable_hippie; anti-bush.

Inappropriate, Unacceptable, Unmentionable.

WHSmith sells stationery (amongst other things). It has wide ranges of 'back to school' stock at the moment, and throughout the year markets and sells pencil cases, pads, bags, pens etc. to schoolgirls particularly.

It often involves cutie animals and such, but they also have a whole Playboy section, marketed to these school-age girls, probably age 10-16.

The Guardian published a good article by Rachel Bell on the subject which is well worth a read, and there was a deluge of emails in response which are interesting.

WHSmith, it seems, are saying that the Playboy bunny logo is very different from porn - no connections at all. It is a cute bunny - awww - and little girls like cute bunnies. It appears to deny any connection at all between this logo, this company, and the sexualisation of girls and women and the objectification and abuse of girls and women in pornography. Pornography that, if nothing else, is presumably being funded by the purchases of these 'cute bunny' pencil cases.

There is a petition to ask WHSmith to stop selling porn-branded stationery to kids.

On similar lines, back in March I asked you to guess where I was shopping when I took this photo. The answer, discussed here, was that those mags were being sold in Marks & Spencer. Outrageous and disturbing!

Now, according to Object, it seems that M&S are phasing out lads mags altogether, as 'inappropriate' (quite right!) but are still going to be selling The Sun and the Star. Big sigh and even bigger grrrrrrrr.

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Ex-Gay Watch is an interesting blog about homophobia, and most specifically, about those types of organisations which are keen to retrain gay people to become heterosexual. They keep an eye on the news about these things and it is important that somebody does, as they are scary.

A few days ago, An Open Letter to my Sixth-Grade Gym Teacher was published on there, and it was a saddening, but not at all surprising read. It wasn't the way I'd have approached such a letter, but that means nothing as it wasn't me who wrote it.

I commented, as did many others, and I just nipped back there to see how the discussion was going. Now, please bear in mind that I know this is all a sensitive issue, I feel strongly for the author of the letter, and I appreciate the supportive and helpful comments.

But how can I not laugh at the LA Times article posted by one commenter, which states,

She was disciplined for hugging and kissing her girlfriend. She was a straight A student, but the disciplinary action against her included transferring to another school and her grades dipped.

She was a straight A student, was she? Her or her girlfriend? Just how straight can a lesbian, or a lesbian's girlfriend be?

I rewrite,

She was disciplined for hugging and kissing her girlfriend. She had consistently high grades but the disciplinary...

Or even why not just go for she was a lesbian A student. Humph! Hehe.

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Technorati tags: anti-porn; feminism; incurable_hippie; campaigning; homophobia; humour; language.

Photo Friday - Massive

100_0418
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

Massive.. Park Hill flats, Sheffield.


Technorati tags: photo; Park Hill; incurable_hippie; sheffield.

100_0536a

100_0536a
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

The best ever wholefood co-operative today outshone even itself, in my humble opinion, with purple cauliflower.

Purple cauliflower!

Even makes the purple broccoli look quite mundane...


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Technorati tags: purple; vegetables; incurable_hippie; photo.

100 Things You Might Not Have Known About Me (Meme alert...)

It could be the time of year, but 100 Things About Me memes are starting to appear.

1. I've just got broadband.
2. I think Lynne Truss is great
3. and I would also support her idea for a militant wing of the Apostrophe Protection Society.
4. Zinnia's blog often makes me cry.
5. I boycott Nestle and have done for 11 years.
6. My favourite fruit is raspberry.
7. or maybe fresh lychees.
8. I smoke rollies.
9. I sent my Christmas cards late
10. but for years until this year I didn't send any at all.

11. I'm scared of the dentist.
12. and spiders.
13. I have never eaten sushi. It scares me.
14. I started using the internet in 1995
15. when I came to University.
16. I listen to an awful lot of BBC Radio 4
17. and particularly love much of the Radio 4 comedy selection.
18. I started writing this 101 Things on the 12th December 2004 and have only just remembered (13th June 2005) that I never finished or published it.
19. I never know the difference between archaeologists and architects
20. and so I tend to call them archi-diggers and archi-buildings.

21. I also get mixed up between emasculate, emancipate and emaciate.
22. I was bullied at school
23. but hardly told anyone because I was embarrassed at being bullied by girls.
24. Today I have won a rare victory over an errant bank charge.
25. This has made me rather happy as I don't think it has ever happened before.
26. I wanted to be a professional flautist
27. until a heart murmur meant I had to stop playing the flute.
28. I am really struggling to think of things to say here.
29. I got 11 As and a B in my GCSEs.
30. I actually got an A* for German, which I did a year after my main ones

31. but I rarely tell people that because it looks like I didn't get A*s in my others
32. when in fact A*s didn't exist when I took my others.
33. I did my French GCSE age 14 and got the highest mark in the school's history
34. but I was never appropriately proud of myself for that.
35. I then went on to do a BA degree in French
36. but only because I couldn't do music because of no. 27.
37. My Confirmation Name is Maria.
38. Lack of Radio 4 is something that makes me question moving back to France. I would miss it too much.
39. But in virtually every other way, I really really want to move back to France.
40. I have just signed the Moses Must Stay petition.

41. And I think you should too.
42. I love eating tinned tomatoes on toast
43. and beans on toast
44. But otherwise I hate toast.
45. I do like marmite.
46. I was vegetarian for 11 years and vegan for 10 months
47. until I got seduced by a sign for hot chicken and stuffing sandwiches
48. and I have been a (virtually) unapologetic carnivore since then.
49. The first single I ever bought was Tiffany - I think we're alone now.
50. When I wrote number 13. it was true, but now I have eaten sushi and it wasn't as scary as I had thought.

51. I start lots of things but am crap at sticking to them.
52. and I hate that in myself. It makes me start to be scared of starting anything.
53. I hate lots of things in myself, but I like some too.
54. I want to start doing real-life volunteering again
55. though I'm not sure what I would want to do.
56. One of my hamsters was the star of a magazine a few weeks ago. He doesn't know this.
57. I am 28 years old.
58. Whenever I smell cut grass it makes me think of exam time.
59. I love the smell of sawdust.
60. I cannot bear bananas - eating, smelling or thinking about them.

61. I firmly believe that summer is the best time of the year for fruit, and eat as many raspberries as I can for the short period they're around and tasty for, without costing £way too much.
62. At the time, I felt guilty that I couldn't (single-handedly) stop the war in Iraq from starting.
63. I even considered going to Baghdad to be a human shield
64. and I still feel slightly guilty that I didn't.
65. I sometimes spend more time messing about with the template of this blog than I do posting in it.
66. It is almost 10 months since I started writing this list!
67. My dad has cancer, which terrifies me.
68. I am scared of my mobile phone.
69. I started reading the latest Harry Potter book this afternoon. It came out a month and a half ago.
70. I love, adore and worship Beethoven. Well, his music at least. He was a bit of a bastard.

71. Last time I went to the cinema I saw Planet of the Apes. It was dreadfully dull.
72. But it was on September 11th 2001. That meant I didn't complain too much about my wasted £3.
73. I only actually went as a favour for someone else, who had organised the trip and was upset that noone was going.
74. I came out as a lesbian when I was 19. Best thing I ever did.
75. Being sick terrifies me.
76. I drink an awful lot of Pepsi Max.
77. I kind of believe in karma, though I know I don't understand the true Buddhist meaning of it entirely. I just think it happens.
78. My three favourite films of all time are Amadeus, The Sound of Music and Shine.
79. I like coding html because it makes sense and has an order that not much else in life does.
80. I had a Quorn Minted Lamb Burger for lunch and it was really, really tasty.

81. I regret not buying the spinach that was drastically reduced in price yesterday.
82. The broccoli was good though.
83. I really like fresh vegetables. Except turnips, and of course sprouts (the Brussels variety.. beansprouts are lovely).
84. I used to make amazing soups.
85. My steamer is my kitchen gadget of choice at the moment.
86. I laugh a lot at the radio when I'm taking things too literally and they're using odd metaphors.
87. I used to prefer Just a Minute but now I prefer I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
88. I am a huge stand-up fan.
89. I don't know if I have repeated things in this endless list
90. and I'm slightly past caring.

91. I talk nonsense in my sleep
92. and apparently announced last night that I was falling out of a trolley in Safeway.
93. I consider myself to be a Recovering Catholic. It never quite goes away.
94. I have had periods of being very religious, and others of devout atheism.
95. I also spent a while at an Evangelical Church, but they were very scary.
96. I have been to Lourdes twice.
97. I used to live in Aix-en-Provence, which was an incredibly beautiful and sunny place.
98. There has only been one year in the last eleven that I haven't been taking psychiatric medication. That was when I was in Aix.
99. I try to walk 5000 steps a day, and to my surprise I frequently manage it.
100. I am really glad to have finished this list.

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Technorati tags: 100 things; incurable_hippie; blog.

Katrina Kaos.

I don't understand the world at the moment and given the way it is, I'm not sure I want to.

I have, as has everyone else, heard a lot about the destruction and devastation left behind by Hurricane Katrina. Over a few days the news has got more and more disturbing, and the stories make the places seems less and less like the most powerful and richest place on earth.

As ever, when these big news stories hit, as I don't have a TV I miss a lot of the visuals that most people get. I see the front pages of the papers, and the occasional pic online, but I don't see the general scope of pictures which most people do as a matter of course.

So today I was looking at one of the free papers, and saw a series of several photos of how people are trying to survive in New Orleans. The thing that struck me was that in almost every picture, those struggling, fighting for survival, were all black. All. Now, I'd heard over the past few days many descriptions of New Orleans as multicultural, and until a few days ago I didn't know much more about it than that some rather fantastic music came out of it, but the photos I saw weren't representing a multicultural society, they were showing only black people - crying and frightened, about to be shot by the police, and one older black man who was dead in a deckchair. The only people in any of the photos I looked at who were white were the three policemen pointing their guns at a (black) looter.

I couldn't make any sense of this at all. It could be that the photographer was selective in the photographs they took, or that the photographer was in areas where more black evacuees were than white ones, but I wasn't sure. And then I read, in the article accompanying these pictures, that many of those trying to survive in the stadium and similar were the poorer members of the city's community.

Often it was those without cars who found it more difficult to escape with the speed that those who do own cars could. They are reporting that even after they had been advised to leave the city, nobody sent any buses or coaches to help people out. So, the richer people (with cars) could get out and those with less money (without cars) couldn't.

And what does that say to us? Well, to me it says that yet again poorer people have it harder in almost every way, and not always to do with not being able to afford obvious things like clothes or technology. It says that yet again the black communities live in more poverty than white communities. It says that yet again people don't really care that black people are poorer, have a much worse chance of survival (in day-to-day and more extreme events) than white people, than richer people.

If my inferences are correct then I guess it would be similar to here in the UK, where people from black communities earn less due to prejudice, discrimination, poorer health, lower wages, less valued jobs, fewer rights, and fewer people caring.

And in a situation like this Hurricane it seems that the problems with black communities, disabled communities, poor communities, communities of women, of lesbians, and every other unnecessarily-badly-treated community, are all magnified and are seen more acutely, more immediately, and more terrifyingly. And in so many ways it is the same as the daily situations in people's lives, but in these drastic situations it is in the news and we actually hear the women crying.

The situation is appalling. The response of the American government is appalling.

Oh, and in terms of the disgusted reactions to petrol (gas!) price increases in Georgia, amongst other places, I did just want to point out that according to my research, those of you in the US are just about approaching the normal UK prices ;-)


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Technorati tags: hurricane katrina; television; racism; poverty; oppressed communities; incurable_hippie.

Sheffield Fayre.

100_0474
Originally uploaded by incurable_hippie.

I went to Sheffield Fayre yesterday, at Norfolk Heritage Park in the South-East of Sheffield. It was a fab day, with good community information, craft stalls, free energy-saving lightbulbs (had we got there earlier), and the most amazing prize flowers and vegetables.

Some were huge, others beautiful, some were even perfection. Many were breathtaking and some were odd, or even comical.

I absolutely loved it.

Except the whole battle re-enactments business. Bang bang bang. Bang bang. Bang bang bang. Bang. Bang.

Grown men - hundreds of them - marching around with big fuck-off guns. It was like a playground pretend scene, but made up of adults, in dress-up costume, glorifying battles, wars and death weapons.

Nice.

And so many bangs! At one stage as we were sitting on the grass and cannons were going off a few hundred yards away, a young boy was crying to his dad about how it was scaring him. I was rather tempted to tell him it was scaring me too.

And as if the pretend armies (from the Romans to WWII) weren't enough, we were faced with real armies too! Providing information about joining up, combined with fun rides for the kids. Yeah, get recruiting at a community park fun day, great stuff.

And I didn't donate any money to the army's Benevolent Fund. I didn't feel any benevolence towards them, mainly because the army shows benevolence to no-one.

Eddera-a-dix - unlucky for some.

Through clicking for a random blog on the Yorkshire Bloggers webring, I found myself chez supermum who not only has an intriguing (and I have to say, rather disappointing) link to the Feminist Mormon Housewives blog, she has also linked to an interwebnet corner of amazingness. Oh yes.

Counting Sheep is about the local and ancient dialects used by farmers to count their sheep, which is vital for many reasons explained there.

Having grown up in Lancashire and living now in Yorkshire I have always been fascinated by the local dialects of each, the new words I learned on moving over here, and the little turns of phrase and usages which I find myself using naturally now, to be greeted with a raised eyebrow by many of the old Lancastrian crowd.

In Lancashire I felt I was virtually witnessing the local language and dialects die out. Children and young people just didn't use a lot of the words and phrases that the older generations did. In Sheffield it feels somewhat different. People under the age of 30 or so use at least some aspects of the Yorkshire dialect freely, and it feels less threatened than the Lancs ones, although not altogether thriving.

So, finding the Counting Sheep page filled me with glee. The ways of counting to 20 from village to village, changing, the same, similar, different. Really, really interesting, and very exciting that this info is being gathered. Well, for linguistic geeks like me.

From Bolland (Bowland):
1 - Yain
2 - Tain
3 - Eddera
4 - Peddera
5 - Pit
6 - Tayter
7 - Layter
8 - Overa
9 - Covera
10 - Dix
11 - Yain-a-dix
12 - Tain-a-dix
13 - Eddera-a-dix
14 - Peddera-a-dix
15 - Bumfit
16 - Yain-a-bumfit
17 - Tain-a-bumfit
18 - Eddera-bumfit
19 - Peddera-a-bumfit
20 - Jiggit.

And the other places - nearby and also through Wales, Cumbria, Brittany and Cornwall, are all listed and it is really, really very cool.

You scored as Anarcha-Feminist. Anarcha-feminists put a strong emphasis on the importance of patriachy, arguing that all forms of hierachy can be traced back to man's domination over woman. Although associated with the 1960s, the movement has its roots in the theories of Emma Goldman and Voltarine DeCleyre. Anarcha-Feminist 100% Anarcho-Communist 60% Anarcho-Primitivist 55% Anarcho-Syndicalist 40% Anarcho-Capitalist 25% Christian Anarchist 20% What kind of Anarchist are you? created with QuizFarm.com

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Some of the new links added to the right today are:

John Peel Day on October 13th.

Ministry of Reshelving. If you feel that Orwell's 1984 would be more at home in the Current Affairs or US / UK Politics sections of your bookshop than they are in the Fiction section, you might want to pay the Ministry of Reshelving a visit.

BBC Free Video Clips for VJs.

The Apostrophe Protection Society and Project Gutenberg should have been in the links for ages, but I have only just got round to putting them in. But they're there now.

Bye for now xx

Gravitas, Gravity and Grave Errors.

Thank you for lovely comments following my last post. The funeral was on Thursday and it was fairly harrowing, though also ended quite positively. Well, as positively as these things can be. But thanks, your supportive words mean a lot.

--
It has been well-known for a while now that in areas of America, what used to be Science lessons are now being filled with the oddity that is the theory of Intelligent Design. Not evolution, oh no.

And now, thanks to the joy that is The Onion, we have a shocking new understanding of the world. It is not gravity... oh no, it is actually intelligent falling:

[...]
According to the ECFR paper published simultaneously this week in the International Journal Of Science and the adolescent magazine God's Word For Teens!, there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular gravity alone, including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus ascended into Heaven, and how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise.
[...]

.

Every week I love to receive my World Wide Words email newsletter. It contains info on new words and phrases (paternal discrepancy), weird words and phrases (Ignivomous - Vomiting fire), questions on language and word issues. There is also the Sic! section, which even if I don't have time to read the rest of the newsletter, I always make time for. Readers from all over the world send in examples of tenuous, dubious and hilarious uses of language. Some are errors, others are missing clarity, and others are complete nonsense.

My favourite this week:

Last Saturday, as Bernard Robertson-Dunn pointed out, a sub-editor
wrote a remarkable headline over a story on the Web site of the
Independent: "US editor ignites evolution row at Smithsonian over
editor institute mithsonian engulfed by row over evolution at
centre of row over evolution." Whatever he's on, can I have some?
[The headline has since been corrected to the prosaic "US editor
ignites evolution row at Smithsonian".]

My Grandpa died.

Grief, Bereavement and Depression.

Coping with Grief.

Bereavement.

:*(

Sheffield WebRing.

This is a newly set up ring for Sheffield people with blogs and / or websites.


Join / List / Random


To qualify, you must live in, or come from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. The blog or site's subject does not have to be Sheffield-focussed, though.

Photoblogs, online diaries, blogs, websites, message boards and more, are all welcome to join the Sheffield Ring.

Sites which contain pornography or articles / pictures which could be racist, sexist, ableist, xenophobic etc. will not be allowed to join.

All sites which join the ring will need to display the link back to the Sheffield Webring to maintain membership.

Sheffield-on-Sea

More photos of the City Centre Seaside here.

An explanation of a landlocked city centre becoming a beach here.

Mo Mowlam, Jean Charles de Menezes

R.I.P. Mo.

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From Schnews and Active Catalogue:

"We demand a full and speedy public inquiry into Jean's murder. We
believe that the web of deceit that was spun by the Metropolitan
Police means that Sir Iain Blair's position is now untenable and
he should resign immediately. Furthermore we believe that it is
inconceivable that the Home Office and government were not aware
of these circumstances. They failed not only to counter the lies
in the public domain but actively counselled against Jean by press
releasing details of his visa status on the day of his funeral" -
Justice for Jean campaign

Following leaks from inside the IPCC inquiry the mainstream media
has finally grown suspicious of police actions surrounding the
killing of Jean Charles Menezes on a tube train on July 22nd.
Leaks from the inquiry have provided a picture very different from
that initially provided by police.

Furthermore, it would appear that the Met are actively attempting
to intimidate Menezes' family from demanding a public inquiry.
SchNEWS has learned of a campaign of outright obstruction to the
family's involvement in the inquiry, including an attempt to buy
them off.

The leaked witness statements from the inquiry published in the
mainstream press are damning enough. They demonstrate that the
Met's initial reaction was damage limitation and concern for
reputation rather than any attempt to obtain the truth. Ian Blair
(Commissioner of the Met) repeatedly fed the press a diet of
outright falsehoods. We learned that Jean Charles was running, had
vaulted a ticket barrier and refused to stop when challenged. In
some news accounts he was wearing a bulky jacket with wires
protruding, and no overt denials of this were made by police. We
now know that he didn't run, didn't jump the tube, wasn't
challenged and was executed by two officers, while another pinned
his arms to his sides. He was placed under surveillance by an
officer who had left the army a year ago. SchNEWS reckons a year
is quite a short time for a beat bobby to be promoted to an
anti-terrorist unit. How many other soldiers have been
fast-tracked into London's anti-terrorist police we wonder? These
lies were propagated for weeks after the killing, long after the
police must have known they were wrong. Police press releases
peddled lies while the real evidence was suppressed.

In a clear sign of a cover up, Ian Blair delayed the entry of the
Independent Police Complaints Commission into the investigation
for six days. Police obstruction of scrutiny is nothing new. The
years it took the Lawrences, the Stanley family etc etc to gain
even a glimmer of justice are evidence of that. This time however,
the stakes are higher than one family's justice. The shooting of
Jean Charles calls into question how the 'war on terror' will be
fought on the domestic front. Already the right-wing press is
calling for all firearms officers to be exonerated from criminal
charges - i.e State sanctioned death squads. The Menezes' case
calls into question not only Operation Kratos and 'shoot to kill'
but the whole raft of anti-terror policies and the current attack
on civil liberties.

The establishment approach to the inquiry has been to sweep the
matter under the carpet and substitute a version of events more
useful to their agenda. The public perception was meant to be that
a regrettable accident had occurred, but perhaps Menezes was in
many ways culpable. That story is now lies shattered.

TUBEWAY BARMY

One major obstacle to their approach has been the public sympathy
for Jean Charles' family. There have been solidarity
demonstrations both here and Brazil. A broad swathe of the public
can empathise as easily with a young man gunned down on a tube as
they can with the victims of the 7/7 bombings. Just like
terrorists, the police are now to be feared as the agents of
random death. In short the case has turned into a public relations
disaster for the government's policy on terrorism.

The Justice for Jean campaign still have a number of unanswered
questions and are outraged at the revelations of a cover up. They
are demanding a public inquiry. Among the questions they want
answered are:

* "Where did a "shoot to kill" policy emanate from and on what
claimed legal basis? What public debate and democratic
accountability surrounded the coming into being of that policy?"

* Why was the pathologist at the post mortem conducted on July
27th (at which senior investigating police officers were present)
told the following: "This man's death occurred as part of the
emergency relating to the planting of bombs on public transport in
London. On the morning of the 22 July 2005 he was pursued by armed
police officers as a result of surveillance. He was followed into
Stockwell Tube Station where he vaulted over the ticket barrier.
He ran downstairs and onto a tube train where it appears that he
stumbled. The officers then immobilised him and a number of shots
were fired. At the present time I am not sure as to any further
details."

* "What CCTV footage from Stockwell underground station and the
underground train exists? If there is none, why is there none?"

The family are also voicing concern about the processes of the
inquiry. They are demanding to know:

* Are police officers, including those who fired the shots, making
statements as witnesses or as potential suspects i.e. are those
interviews being conducted under caution.

* At what levels police officers, including senior police
officers, are being interviewed and whether they are under caution
or not. Who is being interviewed and by whom?

* Do these include senior police, past and present who appeared to
believe, wrongly, that they were entitled to order a blanket
"shoot to kill" practice.

These and other questions, if asked and answered in public as Jean
Charles' family wish, will surely shed light on areas of domestic
policy concerning civil liberties, the militarization of the
police and the 'war on terror' that Blair & Co. would prefer
shrouded.

read more...

There will be a protest outside Downing Street - Monday 22nd
August at 6pm called by Jean Charles de Menezes Family Campaign.

It happens every year, and it makes me so angry.

So, to anyone who did A Levels this time - well done if you got through them at all. They are really work-intensive and hard, and often an awful lot depends on them so they are more stressful than most other exams.

As on this day every year, the news has been full of reports of how A Levels are getting too easy, they are dumbed down, they are a waste of time.

A Level time is so, so awful. If you have had your A Level results today and you have done well - Well Done! - don't listen to a word of what these spoilsports are saying. You have done really, really well and them talking about lies, damn lies and statistics should not be discussing this in the way they are, which seems in every way to downgrade your achievement.

If you have had your A Level results today and you have not done well, or as well as you wanted to, you probably feel even worse. Not only have you not done as well as you wanted to, but the media will lead you to believe that not achieving what you wanted is even worse than it is, because the exams are supposedly so effortless and straight-forward now. This is just not true. Don't beat yourself up, and certainly don't do it on the basis of this national outcry nonsense which I can honestly and truly tell you is discussed every year on this day. Every year. Really. And it has been for years, and it will be for more years.

I hope you get what you want, I hope if you want to go to Uni you can do so, and that if you go it is fantastic. I hope if you want a job you find a great one. Doing great in your A Levels is a fantastic feeling, doing badly feels like the end of the world. The intensity will pass, and things will work out, but please ignore the media. Please.

I got my results 10 years ago, I had done well, got into the Uni I wanted to go to, and was really pleased. A close friend didn't. She was devastated, but through clearing she got the course she wanted at a different Uni, and never looked back.

Hang on in there, especially anyone who has had their achievement dampened, or their disappointment fuelled by the insensitive crap that is being churned out.

R.I.P. Robin Cook.

"It has been a favourite theme of commentators that this House no longer occupies a central role in British politics. Nothing could better demonstrate that they are wrong than for this House to stop the commitment of troops in a war that has neither international agreement nor domestic support. I intend to join those tomorrow night who will vote against military action now. It is for that reason, and for that reason alone, and with a heavy heart, that I resign from the government."

So it was Robin Cook's funeral today.

"It is revealing that Britain now has a prime minister who uses "liberal" as a term of abuse, in the way that a North American politician would."
Robin Cook, July 2004

slow download has reproduced his incredible resignation speech when he left Government over the war.

"We should not accept the implicit assumption of Bush's muscular foreign policy that freedom can be delivered from 38,000ft through the bomb doors." Robin Cook, January 2005

"What has come to trouble me is the suspicion that if the 'hanging chads' of Florida had gone the other way and Al Gore had been elected, we would not now be about to commit British troops to action in Iraq."
Robin Cook, March 2003

"There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in. It was we who gave the perfect conditions in which Al Qaeda could thrive."
Robin Cook.

"It's hard to see how we are going to secure both of these [climate change and peace in the Middle East] with a president in America who is not committed to them."
Robin Cook.

"The longer we remain in Iraq the more our occupation becomes part of the problem... rather than the solution."
Robin Cook.

"We cannot base our military strategy on the assumption that Saddam is weak and at the same time justify pre-emptive action on the claim that he is a threat."
Robin Cook.

See also Robin Cook's column in the Guardian.

Hands Off Our Homes!

Six years ago I was looking for somewhere to live, as I was had got to the end of the contract for my student house. On buses and various other places around Sheffield there were ads for their social housing, advertising the fact that there were lower rents and no bonds to pay. This all appealed to me and I applied and a few weeks later moved into a council flat.

I was living somewhere bigger, and cheaper, than I ever could have with private renting, and not having to give anyone a £severalhundred bond was very helpful during this period, as I had no income at all.

I had thought that there were rules as to who could and couldn't get council properties, but discovered that mostly this was true. I also learned that Sheffield was one of the few places in the country which had more council properties than they needed. I thought (and still think) that this is a great state of affairs, and it means that it is available and accessible to people quickly, as it was for me.

Of course, there were areas it was more difficult to get into, which required long waiting times, but the availability of others in other, maybe less desirable, areas was positive.

And then at some point, council housing estates started being demolished. Some were in very bad disrepair, and others were not popular. Others needed money spending on them that wasn't available, and others because there were a lot of social problems.

I lived on Park Hill, and neighbours just down the road in the Claywood Flats were told that they all had to move out of their homes because the flats (tower blocks) were being demolished. Many of the tenants did not want to have to move, but there was no choice.

A few years later, it was announced (in the newspaper!) that Park Hill flats were going to be sold to developers and then private buyers, private business and a housing association. There was a lot of anger amongst residents because we found out the news from the local paper, we had not been consulted (although the tenants association had been), and all of a sudden it was a done deal.

In any case, the clearance started and I, among thousands of others, have moved away. But finding a new property - even with the extra priority points I was awarded because of being part of a compulsory clearance - was really, really difficult. It was becoming clear that many council properties were being demolished or sold, and they just weren't being replaced.

Claywood Flats had been demolished, as had Norfolk Park (including 15 tower blocks), and Park Hill and Skye Edge flats were being cleared. St George's flats were being demolished too, and somewhere around that point was when I lost track.

So I was interested to hear that on today's Thinking Allowed, which I was listening to earlier, they were talking about high rise flats in Sheffield and, more specifically, their demolition. It was focussed on the Norfolk Park area of the city.

Between 1963 and 1966, after slum clearance, 15 tower blocks, several hundred maisonettes and several hundred terraced houses were built. Homes for 9000 people were built in 3 years, and they were very popular, modern and desirable, with huge waiting lists for new tenants.

However, as time went on problems began to emerge, as a result of bad maintenance, problems with the original building, changes in how the Housing Benefit system worked, and huge problems within the local economy due to the demise of the steel industry.

In the 90s, the demolition of all 15 tower blocks, and most of the other properties began. The newly built tram system had just come into operation before the demolition and clearance process started, so their stops for the area were hugely underused. It was only four and a half years after the demolition that the first of the new properties were built, and the big, big delay in rebuilding has caused problems.

People who were determined to come back to Norfolk Park when it was rebuilt are not actually doing so, as they have lived in their supposedly-interim areas for so long now that they are quite settled, so instead of reuniting the local communities, as the properties are built, a whole new population will be moving in. A lot of shops are boarded up. And as the new properties are mainly either privately owned or run by a Housing Association, rents are higher and the tenancy agreements are less secure.

Listening to this programme this afternoon really got me thinking again about the whole situation. Sheffield has gone from having an excess of Council Housing, to having huge waiting lists and difficulty getting in to even quite unpopular areas. Communities are being broken up, and tenants feel like promises are being broken, and big decisions are being made which might not be the correct ones.

Photos of Park Hill Flats, Sheffield

Photos of Demolition of Claywood Flats, Sheffield, by 'nibbler'

Photos of Demolition of St George's Flats, Sheffield

Defend Council Housing

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And hippie blog has bypassed 15,000 visitors :D

Strawberry Sickness.

Do You Remember That Time Strawberry Ice Cream Made You Sick is a summary of a research study in which it was found that when psychologists implant memories of having been sick after strawberry ice-cream as a child made people less likely to want to eat strawberry ice cream. This is presented as a potentially great dieting tool.

I commented and said the following:

I'm really, really wary of this idea. As a child I developed emetophobia severe enough that I eventually stopped eating at all, as that seemed the most effective way to never be sick. This led to secondary anorexia, which then became the primary problem.

Nowadays I still utterly fear being sick, but unlike then it doesn't rule my life. I generally eat what I want to, go where I want to, see who I want to, without having to plan it all around likeliness of sickness.

But for several years, terror at the thought of being sick meant that I was petrified of a lot of food, especially any which had any association with sickness (something I'd eaten before being sick, something I'd read about causing food poisoning, something I ate before seeing someone who looked pale or ill, something I'd eaten without being close enough to a toilet in case I was going to be sick, you see the theme...). So for a long time I ate virtually nothing.

This was a totally miserable period of my life, and I don't think weight loss is important enough to try and deliberately induce these feelings and fears in people. It seems an irresponsible way of practicing.

I really feel this strongly. It brought me so, so much misery when I was younger - and still does in fact, but generally in a more manageable way. But if I ever, god forbid, am sick, I get totally terrified. I can't help but think inducing this in someone to help them lose weight, could be really damaging.

Just Imagine... (1)

These people...



They send you freepost envelopes, they send you pages and pages of drivel... What else to do, than a bit of honest collage...


'Imagine Finance are no friends of mine'


'Just imagine how your home may be repossessed'


'Thousands of our customers can not keep up repayments'


'Please hesitate before securing debts against your home'


'Imagine inconvenient payments'

continued... imagine finance part 2
--
Freedom Finance 2
Freedom Finance 1

Just Imagine... (2)

And then they give you all the space on the back of the envelope to play with too..


'Imagine a better life without debts'


'No ifs, no buts. Contact a debt counsellor now!'


'I would certainly not do business with your company'.


Imagine Finance Part 1
--
Freedom Finance 2
Freedom Finance 1

ugly? 

Intermittent Chocolate God Everybody Gay Fly Moon Sunshine.

My blog recommendations for the day:

- NonCompliance - Mcbeth does an incredible mix of photos and words. She is insightful and immensely perceptive, and writes with an unparalleled eloquence (of the type that makes me use phrases such as unparalleled eloquence...). Quote, "Now this one, she's something. Really something. You probably already know this, but the cherishable ones, I think, are the ones who don't think they are. Hidden gems. It's not my job to make someone see their worth, but I sure can see it if it's there, and when it is there - oh my yes. The eyes, the smile - oh my yes. Now I'm beginning to understand what it is that you must be seeing in beatific winsome glances. I kissed her, you know. It was just a soft kiss on her cheek, but I meant six years worth of please let me catch up in that kiss. I called her while driving home, to tell her that I intended not to aim for her cheek the next time. She laughed and blushed across the telephone lines and though I was mystified how I possibly could find the courage within myself to follow through, I think about her eyes, her smile - oh my yes. So I am learning what you also have had to learn, that I can aim with delightful accuracy the next time."

- Chocolate and Zucchini is as close to eating as you can get without actually eating. You will taste, smell and crave with every line you read. Quote, "Softshell crabs are crabs that have newly molted, so they are still small, and their shell is still, well, soft, so the whole thing can be eaten (and don't you oh-poor-adolescent-crab me). This dish had so many of my trigger ingredients that I simply couldn't pass it (Crab, avocado, lime and ginger? Dish! Will you marry me?) and it was indeed just what I'd hoped, a great combination of tastes and textures, very refreshing."

- GodSpeak - listen to God's weekly message to the world here. Am I allowed to make a stupid pun about a God Podcast being a Godcast?? But fun, anyway. Quote, "In other news, Britney Spears grew up. Get used to it, people [...] Anybody who went to see Star Wars today instead of going to Church is a lame-assed bastard. You won't go to hell for it, but I gotta tell you, I'm irked."

My animation, vid, song recommendations for the day:

- Everybody Dance Now - a lad who often finds his roommate dancing madly to 80s/90s dance music sets up a webcam in the room. The results are surprisingly good!

- GayBar: Bush and Blair Mix - you may have seen the original Gay Bar animation, but this Bush / Blair adaptation is very funny, with good lip synching.

- Fly Guy is an interactive animation which is clever, subtle, cute and quite relaxing and fun.

- We Like Tha Moon is an oldie but a goodie.

and Bring Me Sunshine just makes me smile. Good old Eric and Ernie.

(Many more here).

And finally... See, see! Hippie google logo. Fun!

Imagining my Day, Living my Day, and Imagining an Imagining.

Today was supposed to go like this:
Go into town on the bus, go to Post Office to collect money and pay bills. Then go to bank to pay more bills, get some food in, and then see social worker. Then home.

Today actually went like this:
Go into town on the tram, go to the Post Office who tell me that they can't do my money, but they don't know who should be doing it. Go to JobCentre Plus to find out which Post Office I need to go to, and after being directed to a phone on the wall, listen to a phone ring for 25 minutes then give up before anyone answers. Ring an outside line and call the switchboard, who put me through in a matter of seconds. Find out that I need to go to a Post Office miles away. Cry.

Go to bus stop to get to appointment with social worker. Wait 35 minutes for a bus that should come every 6-7, eventually give in and phone and cancel when 20 minutes into appointment time and still no buses.

Decide to try and find the Post Office miles away. Get a bus, am always pretty scared on bus routes I don't know. Find the Post Office, get money, pay most bills (except one where they would have charged £1.65 to pay a bill of £3.75). Wait for bus to get back into town. A bus that isn't going my way comes and pulls in, while a woman in a car pulls out, there is an awful crunching noise. I check the woman is ok, but judging by the yelling when she and the bus driver come face to face, I think she is fine (but angry). He apologised and took responsibility (although I wasn't sure it was entirely his fault), a woman comes out of her house to see what is happening, and I am glad to see that the bus I do want comes.

Back into town, crossing a road (with the green man, of course), almost get flattened by an idiot taxi driver speeding through a red light. Man from behind runs to check I'm ok and rather understates, 'that was close'. Yes it was.

Shop, food, bus, home. Phew. Not at all as it was supposed to be.

If you want to pretend, albeit briefly, that the world is not as disastrously awful as it actually is, why not listen to George Bush singing 'Imagine'?

Playground on Park Hill. 

Billionaires, Bigots, and more decline of a Bastard.

Usually when I'm in town, or any old shop really, I have a look at the various newspaper headlines and front pages. There are usually some containing, or conveying extremely racist, bigoted or misogynist shite, from the usual suspects.

But then I saw this one. The Daily Express gave us Bombers Are All Spongeing Asylum Seekers.

I was kind of dumbstruck with disbelief, horror, and vague amusement. What on earth?! (And in any case, wisdom seems united that there is no e in the word - it is sponging, not spongeing).

Great news this evening that the man who has brought himself to my attention for absolutely deserved slating, mocking and hatred - otherwise known as (when I'm being polite) Kilroy, has resigned from the leadership of his own party!

Oh yes, Veritas (the party for the vain and crass) is even more of a failure than was already obvious. Ha. The Guardian, amongst others, gives us the full and frank humiliation.

In possibly even stranger news, JK Rowling is now the UK's most powerful woman. She has overtaken Cherie Booth (whose husband is the Prime Minister... sounds so much better than the PM's wife!). In the latest list of the world's 100 top women compiled by the U.S. business magazine Forbes, Mrs Harry Potter comes 40th, Cherie B has slipped to 62nd, and Queenie comes a mere 75th. Mary McAleese (Irish President) is 21st, and the overall most powerful woman in the world is Condoleezza Rice. Hmmm. Others near the top are Oprah, and Bill Gates's wife Melinda (or should I say Melinda, whose husband is Bill Gates).

All of that led me, quite unexpectedly, to a 2005 list of billionaires. A rather ridiculous number are from the US, and certain European countries come up again and again. And it's not just because it's easier to be a billionnaire in America than in the UK (because $billion is quite a lot less than £billion), because the total wealth of each individual on this list is listed in dollars, for whatever reason.

The Freedom To...

Ha! Freedom Finance wrote to me again (or Subvertising is fun).



Am I sure I don't want a homeowner loan?



"Brighten up your summer with a severe credit problem like this".



"If you think finance is freedom, we would definitely recommend seeking help"



Back of envelope - Warnings of risk, and examples of loan repayment amounts - "£25,000 x 300 months @ £218.70 per month - total amount payable £65,610.00".. Seriously.

Well, it's all in their own words. I may have mixed a couple up, but it's truthful now at least.

See also the original freedom finance subvertised junk mail.

Justifiable Homicide?

Yesterday on the news I heard a man talk of his experience that morning of witnessing a man being shot dead on a tube train by plain clothes police officers.

He talked of a man running from three men, looking like a cornered rabbit. Then the men, who the eye witness presumed to be undercover cops, pushed him to the floor on the underground train and discharged 5 shots into him. He died.

He was a young Asian man and he was wearing a padded jacket which seemed inappropriate for the warm weather. Apparently he had come out of a house which was under police surveillance. Maybe the police thought he was about to blow up the tube train there and then? But if so - if he was carrying or wearing explosives - was pushing him over and shooting him the best idea? Will those things not be likely to ignite any explosives?

The implication was that he was one of the people who had tried unsuccessfully to blow up more people on the tubes and bus the day before. The police killed him. To prevent further death?? I don't know.

The people in that carriage of the tube train were, by all accounts, very traumatised at having witnessed a shooting at such proximity. Understandably.

(When I lived in France, I never got used to the police carrying guns around on their daily business. Each time I saw a copper I would become totally preoccupied by the fact that he had a gun on his belt, and it really, really scared me. I never, ever got used to that. And that was just them carrying them, not using them, and not killing people with them while I watched.)

So I was listening to this man on the radio news, who had witnessed the shooting. The man who had been shot had been wearing a top with New York written across it, and it was suggested that this was a nod to the September 11th attacks. Also he was wearing a padded or thick jacket, which in this weather must have meant there were explosives underneath.

(Really?? Must it have meant that? I want to know just how much these police had to go on when they made the move to kill him.)

But anyway, for many reasons, or for none, they shot him dead. I could kind of understand. If he was about to blow up a whole train, then them killing him and noone else dying is perhaps justifiable.

Perhaps.

But no no. It's like death penalty without even a trial. I don't agree with the death penalty ever. Not with any number of jurors, judges, barristers, magistrates involved. So the sentence of death penalty as decided by 3 undercover cops, as a spur of the moment decision, that can't ever be right. It just can't.

(And shooting someone who has explosives on him? Is that really likely to kill him and not detonate the explosives at the same time? Because it seems to me it would be more likely to detonate things. And if so, there is even less justification for the shooting.)

But no, keeping an open mind. They wouldn't have shot him without really, really good reason, good back-up, good safety information, good intentions. I mean, you just can't go shooting someone dead Just In Case, can you?

No, they'd have done something like that only when they had no doubt at all of who they were dealing with, and a clear immediate threat, and that it was the only only way.

(Surely.)

UK Police: Man Killed Unrelated to Probe
LONDON (AP) - The man shot and killed on a subway car by London police in front of horrified commuters apparently had nothing to do with this month's bombings on the city's transit system, police said Saturday in expressing their ``regrets.''

So no. No! They were wrong! They shot someone - shot him dead - with no trial or truth. The utter bastards.

Was the evidence against this lad really that he was Asian and wearing a padded jacket?? Lord help us if that was it.

There will be an inquiry. I will be interested to see what it throws up but I doubt we will get anywhere near the truth.

The whole thing was wrong. Scaring commuters, making people witness first hand a man being shot five times in the head and body, and die in front of them. Killing this man for... well, clearly no good reason, because the police have even said as much!

Guns are evil. I am angry and disillusioned. The world I live in is racist and presumptious and just horrible.

But the police are sorry, so that's ok.

(It is just not. Never.)

Budme Veseli!

Long ago, in deepest, darkest December, I wrote about some BBC animations designed to reassure teenagers who were worried they were freaks, in relation to various puberty um, developments. These were Funny Flaps for the girls and Willy Wonky for the boys.

It seems that there are new additions to these, so I am pleased to present, Hairy Mary and First Blood in the girls' series, and Hard Times and Virgin Record for the boys.

They're cute and fun.

Today, I came across a random miniature book sale within Sheffield Co-op. More specifically, it was within the Opticians. It was in aid of Childline and had a random selection of mostly dreadful books, for a very, very tiny amount of money.

Having a love of old cookbooks, I bought Cooking for Compliments for 50p and for 25p I bought a Teach Yourself Czech book. I can't imagine I will ever teach myself Czech but it's nice to have the option on those long, insomniac nights.

And then, for another whopping 50p I found a great book from 1979 called The Women's Directory which is just incredibly fabulous. It seems that in those days there was an awful lot of brilliantly radical stuff going on in Sheffield. The book describes itself as

A self-help guide to every thing women are doing and thinking in Britain today: including Health, Sexuality, The Sex Discrimination Act, Welfare Benefits, Work, Children, Rape, The Women's Movement, Fostering, The Arts.

Mis-fit... 

That was one of the things in that book, and I'm looking forward to having a proper read.

There are lots of Alternative Health Warning stickers you can buy to, um, replace the big shiny warnings on packets of fags. Now you can print your own... some ones here and a whole load more to choose from.

ILGA tell me that two boys were executed publicly in Iran on Tuesday. The article and pictures are so sad.

Under the Iranian penal code, girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 can be hanged

ILGA are suggesting people express their protests to the Iranian Ambassador, at info@iran-embassy.org.uk, or Tel: 020 7225 3000; Fax: 020 7589 4440 or by post to:
Iranian Ambassador
Embassy of Iran
16 Prince's Gate
London SW7 1PT.

"According to Iranian human rights campaigners, over 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979.

"Altogether, an estimated 100,000 Iranians have been put to death over the last 26 years of clerical rule. The victims include women who have sex outside of marriage and political opponents of the Islamist government.

"Last August, a 16 year old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, was hanged for 'acts incompatible with chastity.'

I also uploaded the story to Indymedia UK.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Budme Veseli! means Let's be Cheerful in Czech. And, in case you ever need it, proc pises tim spatnym perem? means, Why are you writing with this bad pen? And I leave you with Svezli jste vsechno zito s poli? - Have you brought in all the rye from the fields?

Again??

There may be something else going off in London. Some tube lines closed, Scotland Yard confirming they are dealing with 'a series of incidents', eye witnesses reporting smoke, and a hospital saying it has gone into emergency mode.

'Incidents at three underground stations' according to the radio.

BBC News
Google UK News
Guardian Unlimited

Alert at tube stations
Emergency services are responding to reports of incidents at three London underground stations today, and witnesses reported seeing smoke.
Scotland Yard said they were responding to incidents at Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd's Bush stations on the underground. British Transport police said all of the stations were being evacuated.

A passenger on a tube train about to arrive at Warren Street tube stations said there were reports of an exploding rucksack, the smell of smoke and dozens of panicking passengers running through the train.

"The train was not far short of Warren Street station when suddenly the doors between my carriage and the next one burst open and dozens of passengers started running through," a retired special constable, called Ivan, told Sky News.
Police said the first incident was reported at 12.54pm.

On July 7, two weeks ago today 56 people died when four suicide bombers attacked three tube stations and a bus in the capital. The Metropolitan police have warned of a risk of further attacks

----

'Incidents' spark Tube evacuation

Emergency services have been called to three Tube stations after "incidents", Scotland Yard said.
Police confirmed they had been called to Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd's Bush stations.

There have been reports of smoke coming from the stations and all three have been evacuated.

The whole of the Northern Line has been suspended, along with the Victoria Line and the Hammersmith and City. There are no reports of any casualties.

A spokesman for London Underground said the nature of the incidents was unknown.

One hospital, near Warren St station, has started its emergency plan.

Colour, texture play. 

Ants in your Plants.

Matrix Cow is good, spotted on 2 Queens blog, which also has more pics of the flower woman and man.

Sheffield and St Ives have been chosen to represent Britain in the Europe-wide Entente Florale competition. So the woman made of flowers was added this year along with the steel man from last year.

Last summer, the ‘Steel Man’ dominated the Town Hall Square. The 12-foot high living sculpture of a steel worker came complete with crucible and molten steel and attracted many people each day that came to admire the work – and take a photo!

This year the city has gone one better with a new addition in the form of the Buffer Girl, who is shown polishing cutlery on a buffing wheel.

Local company Escafeld Art Metalwork Ltd has designed both structures, which over the coming weeks will be filled with 22 bags of compost and planted with over 7,000 plants by the City Council Nursery team.

Richard Payne, Assistant Area Manager for the Nursery Team, said: “The Steel Man was a huge hit with both young and old last year. This year we decided to introduce the Buffer Girl to highlight the buffer girls’ role in the city’s history.”

Councillor Harry Harpham, Sheffield Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Green Spaces, said: “The Steel Man and the Buffer Girl will be one of our crowning attractions in our bid to win European Gold in Entente Florale.

“Both structures show the two sides of Sheffield industrial heritage and the work that was carried out in the steel and cutlery industries. It is a great way to tie in both the heritage of the city’s industrial past and link this to Sheffield being one of the greenest cities in Europe.”

Entente Florale has been running for more than 25 years. Sheffield is one of only two places (along with St Ives), chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the 2005 competition.

In the Towns and Cities category, Sheffield will be up against Baden in Austria, Mako in Hungary, Le Plesis-Robinson in France and Potsdam in Germany amongst others. England’s entrants last year were Harrogate in the town’s category and Darley in the villages category, both winning Gold. It’s a great credit to the region that once again a place in Yorkshire is representing Britain in Entente Florale.

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hippie blog formatting has gone annoying. After a bit of playing about I think that the last entry has caused it, as it was fine before then, but since it was posted, the right sidebar has jumped to the bottom of the page.

When this has happened before it has been because either an image is too wide, or because the referrers list gets an entry which has too long a string of characters without spaces.

Neither of these seem to be the case, and given that I can click on other recent entries and when they open with just that entry on the page, the right sidebar is where it should be.

So I've had a good look at the code on the Junk Mail Redistribution entry and can't see what the problem is, so it may be that it's one of those html/blogger oddities and will resolve itself. If it continues to be a problem I will look again.

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Is someone's birthday coming up? You know, those people who are impossible to buy for... you never quite know what they already have, or what music they like, or what colour their bathroom is. Well, you can bet that they don't already have a genuine, dead, three-headed ant going for a mere $108.50 (US) on ebay, with 1 day 6 hours left.