Category: Uncategorized

The traditional 7 spot ladybird is under threat from a foreign invader.

The Harlequin Ladybird

A new ladybird has arrived in Britain. But not just any ladybird: this is the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, the most invasive ladybird on Earth.

The harlequin ladybird was introduced to North America in 1988, where it is now the most widespread ladybird species on the continent. It has already invaded much of of northwestern Europe, and arrived in Britain in summer 2004.

The distribution map on the left shows that it has spread rapidly throughout the southeast of England since its first sighting.

There are 46 species of ladybird (Coccinellidae) resident in Britain and the recent arrival of the harlequin ladybird has the potential to jeopardise many of these. The Harlequin Ladybird Survey will monitor its spread across Britain and assess its impact on native ladybirds.

Tags: nature

Thanks to Jason Kottke I happened across the exquisite Japanese woodblock prints produced by David Bull.

Unusually he doesn’t sell individual prints instead he insists that you subscribe to a series of prints which he will the despatch to you on a regular basis throughout the year. He explains why here.

This year’s subscription is
The ‘Hanga Treasure Chest’, a series of 24 smaller prints at what I think is a very reasonable price.

For many years now I have made my new year card prints in the Japanese postcard size. Many of my collectors and fans have urged me to make ‘more’ of this type of print, and I think it’s time to oblige!

The ‘Hanga Treasure Chest’ is a set of 24 woodblock prints of that size and general type which will be issued throughout 2005 at the rate of a new one every two weeks. Subscribers to the set will receive (together with the first print, and at no extra charge) an attractive storage box. The prints are mounted on cards, and enclosed by a paper wrapper that also contains a short descriptive explanatory piece … ready to slip into the box for safe-keeping.

David Bull is not without his detractors though including those who accuse him of grave-robbing for producing prints of classical Japanese artworks.

If you don’t have anything to say to the world as an artist on your own merit then maybe you should wait until you do instead of pawning off beautiful, old prints as your own just because the original artists can’t defend their right to it.

Would the writer of this email accuse the director of a production of Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet of the same crime?
Should Shakespeare’s plays be put aside and left to their own time?

New artistic works are invariably built upon the artistic works of the past in some form or another even if the links are too insubstantial to recognize. In addition if classic works are not republished or reintepreted then they get lost to history and our culture is worse off.

Without David Bull to reproduce these great Japanese works of the past then many would never get to see them.

Tags: art

So the Prevention of Terrorism Bill was finally passed and Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta is looking ever more prescient. The controversy of the Bill is mainly concerned with the Control Orders which would allow suspected terrorists, whether a UK national or a non-UK national to have severe restrictions placed upon under the orders of the Home Secretary without trial.

Thanks to the truly excellent website They Work For You the entire epic commons debate is available in an easily read format with much background information. It is split up into a m umber of segments due to the bill being passed back and forth between the Houses of Commons and Lords as amendments to the Bill were suggested and considered.

9th March debates
Prevention of Terrorism Bill (Programme) (No. 3)
Orders of the Day — Prevention of Terrorism Bill
Clause 1 — Power to Make Control Orders

10th March debates
Prevention of Terrorism Bill Debate
Prevention of Terrorism Bill Debate
Prevention of Terrorism Bill Debate

Finally the Bill was agreed upon and given
Royal Assent.

However both the Government and the Opposition are claiming victory due to the Bill being now greatly diminished from what the government wanted and yet it has now passed into law. Whoever claims rightful victory it would seem to me that it is the British public that have lost.

I have not yet been convinced of the necessity of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2005, the government is primarily argued for it’s introduction to counter the threat of the 200 or so terrorists that are loose within our borders.

They fail to mention that of those 200 people most are only suspected of loose affiliation with terrorists i.e. funding or providing safe houses. Intelligence officials have estimated that perhaps only 30-40 individuals would be prepared to kill themselves or others.

In addition it must be said that the police and security services are doing their job in containing these ‘terrorists’. They are clearly known individuals if we have accurate numbers and they are under surveillance. The fact that they have been in the country for years without having been arrested would be an indication that there is no evidence of wrongdoing. They may well have been trained at camps with Al-Qaeda but if they then do nothing at all with that training then they cannot really be considered as terrorists.

The BBC reports that the remaining foreign detainees at Belmarsh were released and that the Home Secretary was issuing control orders under his new powers for each of the former detainees.

The former detainees face bail conditions which include:

* Electronic tagging
* A night-time curfew from 1900 to 0700
* A ban on using mobile phones and the internet
* Obtaining permission from the Home Office if they wish to meet anyone outside their home
* Living at an address notified to the Home Office and police, who can search the property without warning
* No visitors unless the Home Office has been notified in advance, except for under-16s
* Notifying the Home Office of any intended departure from the UK, and the port of embarkation
* Bank account restrictions and sending monthly statements to the Home Office.

And finally at least we are aware that our civil liberties are being eroded unlike the Russian populace, if the newly retired chess genius Garry Kasparov’s assessment is correct.

Tags: security, surveillance, terrorism

The map of the London Underground we know and love was designed by Harry Beck in 1933, an electrical engineer he based the map upon the schematic of a circuit diagram.

But was Design’s gain Geography’s loss?

Is our image of London distorted by the Underground map?

Tags: map, tube

Last night I watched Torture: Guantanamo Guidebook on Channel 4 and was shocked and appalled by it, more than I thought I would have been. I think having an introduction to each of the seven detainees rather than them being simply anonymous people I had more empathy for them than I had for the real detainees at Camp Delta in Cuba.

I’m really quite disturbed that people are suffering worse abuse than was depicted in the programme and have been for years with no end in sight no wonder the incidence of suicide is high or should I say incidence of ‘Manipulative self-injurious behaviour’ as the US Government has now termed it.

Even if I believed that the ‘ends justified the means’ this is wrong because I’m sure that the quality of information gained from the torture is far outweighed by the level of abuse required to extract it. Only a minority of detainees possibly had important information and after two years surely even those people no longer have information of any worth.

Interestingly whilst searching the internet for further information regarding this programme I discovered that one of the detainees is a professional kickboxer named Gary Turner who has written about his experiences here. He says that he found the experience uncomfortable but easy to get through.

I do really think that my sports training saw me through. Mental and physical strength. Discipline and fitness. Made it much easier to get through.

But thanks to my fight training, it was a surprisingly easy, although uncomfortable, thing to go through.

He goes on to say.

I too have no sympathy for the terrorists, only the innocents, who I feel real sorry for. I think I would have gone mad within a month. They’ve been there for years. Talking with the interrogators over dinner afterwards we were told of the real problem of Guantanamo Bay. That is resources – all the interrogators can earn so much more in the corporate world, like them, therefore leave the army! They say that without doubt there are innocents at Guantanamo Bay, but they just aren’t being processed due to lack of resources…they’re the ones I feel so sorry for.

Tags: torture

Senators Clinton and Boxer, Representative Tubbs Jones And Others Unveil Major Election Reform Bill

The Count Every Vote Act of 2005 will provide a voter verified paper ballot for every vote cast in electronic voting machines and ensures access to voter verification for all citizens, including language minority voters, illiterate voters and voters with disabilities. The bill mandates that this ballot be the official ballot for purposes of a recount. The bill sets a uniform standard for provisional ballots so that every qualified voter will know their votes are treated equally, and requires the Federal Election Assistance Commission to issue standards that ensure uniform access to voting machines and trained election personnel in every community. The bill also improves security measures for electronic voting machines.

To encourage more citizens to exercise their right to vote, the Count Every Vote Act designates Election Day a federal holiday and requires early voting in each state. The bill also enacts “no-excuse” absentee balloting, enacts fair and uniform voter registration and identification, and requires states to allow citizens to register to vote on Election Day. It also requires the Election Assistance Commission to work with states to reduce wait times for voters at polling places. In addition, the legislation restores voting rights for felons who have repaid their debt to society.

The Count Every Vote Act also includes measures to protect voters from deceptive practices and conflicts of interest that harm voter trust in the integrity of the system. In particular, the bill restricts the ability of chief state election officials as well as owners and senior managers of voting machine manufacturers to engage in certain kinds of political activity. The bill also makes it a federal crime to commit deceptive practices, such as sending flyers into minority neighborhoods telling voters the wrong voting date, and makes these practices a felony punishable by up to a year of imprisonment.

The commenters at Daily Kos seem pretty doubtful that this will pass out of the committee stage.

I’m not so pessimistic, if this gets reasonable coverage in the media I can’t see this not becoming law, what politician could survive voting against this bill and being seen to be in favour of not having every vote count.

If the US is to be a beacon of democracy throughout the world then first it must build itself a system that is above reproach and this is a step towards that.

Tags: politics

BBC News: Blair faces terror plans grilling

I don’t believe that the case has been made that these ‘control orders’ are at all necessary.

Tags: politics, terrorism

Noticed this Daily Express headline at the newsagents this morning.

Having had my scare-mongering detector set off I looked for a more reliable source of information but apparently even the BBC is at it.

BBC News: Election ‘could be terror target’

Terrorists might try to target the UK in the run-up to the election, London’s most senior police officer has said. Sir Ian Blair said terror groups would remember the effect of the Madrid bomb on Spain’s general election last year.

Other potential targets were the royal wedding and the UK’s presidency of the European Union and G8, he said. He refused to say if there was specific information about the risk of a pre-poll attack. No 10 was similarly cautious but said the threat was real.

‘Difficult issues’

The comments come after Tony Blair defended his controversial anti-terror proposals, warning that it would be wrong to wait for an attack before acting. Sir Ian told a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority it would be “unwise” to speculate about whether there was specific information about risks of a pre-election attack.

But he said: “Terrorists have long memories. They understand what happened in Madrid and know what the impact of that was on the Spanish electorate. “This year we are responsible for the EU presidency, presidency of the G8, a royal wedding and a general election.

“There are obvious and enormous targets which we have to deal with.” Sir Ian said the debate over anti-terror plans was one for politicians, not the police, who would enforce any new powers.
More…

This ain’t news it is just speculation. There is no intelligence of any specific threat of terrorist attack, this is just yet more fear-mongering by the Government and the police.

Yes with such high-profile events happening in the UK this year the security services should be on heightened alert but it does not mean that the public should be fed this wild speculation. Call me cynical but I believe that this announcement is nothing more than another scare story to help justify the Government’s proposal to hold terror suspects without trial under house arrest indefinitely.

Tags: politics, security, terrorism

Many stories from the last few days have concerned the threat of terrorism to the UK and the Government’s response to the perceived threat.

Two days ago during a debate in the House of Commons about the Prevention of Terrorism Bill Brian Sedgemore Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch in his last speech in the house attacked the Government and his party’s backbenchers who have supported the government in their trampling of individual’s liberty.

In their defence, the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary say that they are behaving tyrannically… because they are frightened, and that the rest of us would be frightened too if only we knew what they will not tell us. They preach the politics of fear and ask us to support political incarceration on demand and punishment without trial…

How on earth did a Labour Government get to the point of creating what was described in the House of Lords hearing as a “gulag” at Belmarsh? I remind my hon. Friends that a gulag is a black hole into which people are forcibly directed without hope of ever getting out.

The full transcript of his speech is available here or the speech can be viewed as video here.

Links via Phil Gyford and BoingBoing .

Tags: politics, terrorism