Where are you Ben???

Hello Everyone!!

Ok, so let me apologise for the lack of new content on here in the past few weeks.  I have been extremely busy recently, what with starting a new job and getting used to the lifestyle of being a working man.  I know it appears a strange time for me to go quiet, especially as the whole of the Middle East/Asia is erupting in a fight for democracy.  Trust me, I have alot to say, just not enough time to say it!  With the resurgence of the Green Movement in Iran and the outbreak of new protests on the streets of the country rest assured you will be reading some new posts in the near future...

Weird or What? (An Interesting Documentary Suggestion)

We want to believe there is a reason for everything. That everything that happens in our world, no matter how bizarre, no matter how baffling, can be explained. But sometimes things happen that seem to defy logic. This documentary series tries to use science to explain weird events that happened around the world.

To watch this documentary follow the link - go to the bottom of the page where there is an embedded YouTube video playlist. Once you start the video it will run through numerous different episodes. They are all very interesting.

Click Here to be Redirected - courtesy of The Discovery Channel

Hamilton's Pharmacopeia: Nzambi (An Interesting Documentary Suggestion)

"In Nzambi, intrepid VBS correspondent Hamilton Morris enters the world of Haitian voodoo, seeking to uncover the truth behind tales of human reanimation in Port-Au-Prince. Along the way, Hamilton meets experts in ethnobotany and Haitian history who corroborate these seemingly fantastic stories of real zombies."

A really interesting documentary that I thought I would share.  This is quite strange.

To watch Click on the Links Below:

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

- Curtousy of VBS.tv

Hamilton's Pharmacopeia: The Sapo Diaries (An Interesting Documentary Suggestion)

Watched this documentary last night and found it interesting. If your bored, take a look.  Courtesy of VBS.tv

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Justice? Excessive sentence for fire extinguisher thrower.

Edward Woollard, the 18 year old who threw a fire extinguisher from the top the Millbank complex during a student protest in November was sentenced today to 2 years and 8 months in prison.

Although there can be no doubt that what Woollard did was both extremely foolish and dangerous, the punishment he has received strikes me as disproportionate.  Criminals found guilty of far greater crimes repeatedly receive lesser sentences than Woollard.  Thugs can violently attack, beat, rob and even stab people and receive lesser punishments than nearly 3 years in prison.  Woollard is an 18 year old boy, still in full time education, with no previous convictions of any kind. He handed himself in to the police and pleaded guilty to throwing the fire extinguisher.  It appears that none of these factors were taken into account by the judge responsible for convicting Woollard.

Had the fire extinguisher actually hit someone, and someone was seriously injured or killed, this case would be looked at in a very different light; this was not the case however and so we must take into consideration that although the act was extremely dangerous no one was actually hurt.  Woollard does deserve some form of punishment for his actions but such a long stint in prison is completely disproportionate.  At most he should have received a suspended jail sentence for his actions.  Despite the fact that there is no real justification or defense for this young mans actions, it is more than likely that Woollard bought into the 'mob mentality' and acted impulsively.  Luckily, as no one was injured, the court should have taken this into account when thinking of a suitable punishment.

On a final note, regardless of the excessive sentence in itself, imprisoning a young boy for this mindless act is simply counter productive.  Woollard is no hardened criminal or real threat to society and so to place him with those that are will do nothing more than take away any chance of Woollard becoming a contributing member of society.  Woollard will now face the rest of his life as an ex-con, who will probably leave prison with a 3 year degree in crime.  Imprisoning people is extremely expensive to the tax payer and only really effective if inmates leave rehabilitated or are kept locked away from society inorder to protect it.  As Woollard does not threaten society or need rehabilitating then would it not make more sense to sentence him differently?  How about a long term community service order?  This punishment would suffice as he would still 'pay' for his actions whilst coming to terms with the severity of them himself.  He would also be contributing to society and the community and saving the government and thus the tax payers £31,106 a year. (http://www.sps.gov.uk/)  Isn't this a time of austerity and government spending cuts?

Petition to Government to reduce fuel tax!

Do you along with millions of others in the UK think that the cost of fuel is just too high?  Petrol has hit prices of around £1.30 a liter now and two thirds of this price is going to the government as tax! Petrol is not so expensive because of supply, its because the government has decided that driving is a luxury not a necessity. Sign this petition if you wish to make a point that enough is enough - its time to reduce the fuel tax! Also - even if you are not a driver and you use public transport, the tax affects you too! Why do you think the cost of public transport keeps rising? (apart from the fact that all of our public transport is privatised and thus all the companies charge the earth in order to maximise profit - a rant for another time...).

Sign The Petition Here

California: Pot Possession No Longer a Crime.

California, the pioneer in forward thinking marijuana policy, brought into law Senate Bill 1499 on January 1st 2011.  The bill signed by now former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger during his last days in office brings an end to the criminalisation of californians in possession of the drug.  It is now no longer a criminal offence in california to be in possession of up to an ounce of non-medicinal marijuana.  Possession has been reclassified from a criminal misdemeanor to an infraction, punishable by no more than a $100 fine — meaning an end to court appearances, court costs, and most importantly criminal records.  Whilst the drug remains illegal, recreational users no longer have to fear being criminalised for using it.  The enactment of the law will spare tens of thousands of Californians from criminal prosecution, and will save the state tens of millions in court costs.  Whilst California's new law is similar to existing laws in Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and New York as well as a select few countries across the world it is still surprising to see how few nations are willing to adopt such laws.  It clearly makes more sense to move towards a system of decriminalisation, if not legalisation.  Too many peoples lives are ruined daily by the criminal records slapped upon them for being in possession of narcotics.  The illegality of drugs is justified as necessary to help protect the people, in more cases than not lives are ruined by being caught in possession of a substance than actually using the substance itself.  If drugs are to remain illegal, then shouldn't police attention be focused on the providers and dealers rather than the user?  A criminal record can significantly affect peoples lives, making it harder to find employment especially in certain professions such as those working with children or in a medical environment and can even go so far as to limiting travel.  If our laws are in place to save people from themselves then we should help them rather than branding them a criminals for life.

Although california is on the right path with marijuana it still adopts draconian measures against the possession of all other narcotics.  Portugal provides the world with the perfect example of how decriminalisation of all narcotics can work.  In Portugal NO ONE is criminalised for the possession of small amounts of ANY DRUG.  Portugal's liberal drugs policy has seen the country tackle many of the problems caused by and associated with drug use/abuse, has effectively reduced use of 'harder' drugs and has seen reduced appeal among the youth.  All his has been achieved while avoiding the criminalisation of thousands upon thousands of citizens.

Whilst the world continues to believe in the effectiveness of the policy of prohibition and the war on drugs, decriminalisation seems like an obvious path to walk.  Authorities should focus their attention on the providers of drugs whilst protecting the occasional user rather than punishing them.

See also:

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? (Time.com)

A hypocritical frenzy over the Camilla 'attack'

• • 
    Laurie Penny - A hypocritical frenzy over the Camilla 'attack'
  • guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 January 2011 12.00 GMT
  • CLICK HERE TO READ.

Rest In Peace Prince Alireza Pahlavi

Prince Alireza Pahlavi

April 28 1966 - January 4 2010

I would just like to pay my respects to Prince Alireza Pahlavi who passed away late last night.  Alireza, the youngest son of the former Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had battled with depression throughout his life and eventually ended his own life.  I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the young prince, who went into exile at age thirteen in 1979, to have lived a life in which he had lost everything including his own sense of identity.  This is the second such tragedy faced by the Pahlavi family, following the suicide of Leila Pahlavi (daughter of the former shah) back in 2001.  My thoughts are with the surviving members of the Pahlavi family.

St Moritz holiday ... the royal family in 1969, from left, Crown Prince Reza, Prince Alireza, the empress Farah, Princess Farahnaz and the shah

Julian Assange Exclusive Interview with MSNBC

Julian Assange, founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, was interviewed on the 21st December 2010 by Cenk Uyger of MSNBC.  Having watched this interview I found myself captivated by what Assange had to say and how he defended both himself and the Wikileaks organisation.  There are two major points from the interview that I would like to discuss further, but firstly I encourage you to watch the interview for yourselves:

Interesting?

Ok, so here I go.  The first part of the interview that I wish to comment on was the part when Assange discussed some of the comments made by some major political figures/analysts.  I agree completely with what Assange says on the matter and as a result I don't believe I can say anything that he hasn't already said himself.  I think that it is absolutely disgraceful that the United States, the 'land of the free' where free speech is 'protected' by the First Amendment, can allow important politicians to openly call for the illegal murder of a publisher.  After all, regardless of what documents Wikileaks has published, they are simply publishing documents that they have been sent by others and even though these may contain information of a sensitive nature, according to both NATO and the Pentagon, to date no one has been hurt as a result of these publications.

As Assange himself said in the interview:

"If we are to have a civil society we cannot have senior people making calls on national tv to go around the judiciary and illegally murder people.  That is incitement to commit murder, that is an offence. We can not have senior people on national TV asking people to commit an offence.  That is not a country that obeys the rules of law.  Does the United States obey the rule of law? because Europeans are starting to wonder..." 

Im sure that the United States would have been quick to condemn any Russian politician who called for the illegal assassination of a member of the press.  Do you remember the controversy around the case of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB/FSB officer turned journalist who suddenly fell ill in November 2006, due to what was established as a case of radioactive poisoning?

The video below shows Bob Beckel and a Panel of Analysts discussing and calling for the assassination of Julian Assange:

The second point that I wish to briefly address is the treatment of Private Bradley Manning who is suspected to have been responsible for a major leak of classified documents to Wikileaks.  Manning has been kept in solitary confinement at a military prison since May 2010, under extremely pressing conditions yet has not been convicted.  The treatment of Manning has been referred to as 'cruel and inhumane' by many of the worlds top human rights analysts and personally I am a member of the same school of thought.  If Manning is guilty of leaking official documents, then he should face a fair trial and the justice system should agree the correct punishment.  He should not be held, under such conditions, based upon the fact that he may be guilty.  Whatever happened to the idea of 'innocent until proven guilty'? 

Liar Liar!

Unfortunately, Captain Ska's Liar Liar didn't make it to Christmas No.1 this year.  It got stuck down at number 89. Regardless of this, I would like to see the popularity of this song continue to grow in the New Year.  I agree with Captain Ska!

Wikileaks - A Documentary.

I just thought that I would share this documentary with you all.  For now, I have decided to not comment about my own personal opinions on Wikileaks or Julian Assange.  There are many reasons for this decision, the main (in all honesty) being that I have as of yet still not formed any strong opinions or solid ideas/views.  I was linked this documentary late last night and found it extremely interesting and so thought that I would share it with you.  Please feel free to comment with your own ideas or views on Wikileaks here.  I am encouraging an open debate.  I hope the documentary is of interest to you.

Watch the Documentary Here..The Story of Wikileaks

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Hello!

I just wanted to leave a short message wishing you all a very very merry christmas!! I hope that you all have truely fantastic day's!  Thank you for reading my blog! Ben x

Met. Police seek to take away democratic right to protest.

In yet another shocking development from the developing UK police state, Chief commissioner of the Met. Police Paul Stephenson (the sir has deliberately been left out here) has refused to rule out the possibility of banning further protests in London city.

"It is one of the tactics we will look at and something we will keep under review, and if we think it is the right thing to do then we will do it" he has said.

Whilst it is important to remember that demonstrations cannot be banned in the UK (yet) marches can be - meaning that we still retain the right to gather in any particular area to demonstrate but the police will have the right to control our movements and where we are allowed to congregate.  Under these plans we will no longer be able to march from location to location.  So, basically when turning up to a demonstration you will be turning up directly at the police 'kettle' and then they will be able to move us where ever they like, most likely out of sight from the public.

How can Britain, a nation that prides itself as being a pioneer of democracy, allow such plans to be openly discussed by our police?  Especially using as valid reasoning some small-scale violence witnessed at recent protests.  The UK is not the only country in Europe to face violent protests in these times of austerity.  Countries such as France, Greece and Italy have been rocked by rioting in recent months, yet none of these states have proposed such preposterous measures.

To quote the words of Aaron Porter, the president of the NUS (National Union of Students) "Peaceful protest is an integral part of our heritage and it is the responsibility of the police to help facilitate that."

I cant help but think that should such measures ever come into effect the resulting backlash would be an increase in violence and destruction at any future event fueled by anger and frustration aimed at the police.  This however may be just the reaction the met are looking for in order to use the stories published in the media as a tool to discredit those who attend protests.  There can be no denying how recent police tactics have been designed to enrage protesters who are falsely imprisoned for hours in the freezing cold with no access to food, water or toilet facilities.

Peaceful protests, the media are just not interested enough.

Whenever there have been so called riots on the streets of the UK the media coverage has been overwhelming, yet for some reason if the protests don't turn violent, well we just don't hear a thing.  Although similar criticisms can be made of all the mainstream media, from the newspapers to internet and television broadcasters I have decided to focus primarily on the BBC for the purpose of this post.  After all the BBC is our 'unbiased national news network' and so if there was any news network that would be expected to show us what's happening in our own country, Im sure the BBC would be the one.  Well, thats simply just not the case.  More so than ever, since the growing number of regular protests in opposition to the ConDem governments fees and cuts, I have noticed the bias of our mainstream media.  It appears that the majority, and in some situations ALL of the mainstream UK based media will simply not cover stories that in any way give attention to peaceful protesters and their cause.

Whilst the BBC covered in great detail (although in my opinion in a completely bias manner) some of the larger protests in London that have turned violent, most recently those in Parliament Square on the 9th of December, they have chosen to completely ignore similar protests about tuition fees that have taken place.  On tuesday 14th December protesters in London once again took to the streets, although in far fewer numbers, as the House of Lords prepared to vote on the issue of tuition fees.  Where were the news reports?  Similarly protesters turned up at New Scotland Yard as part of a protest against recent acts of alleged police brutality and the Metropolitan Police's tactics of containment, known to most as 'Kettling'.  The protest, although small, addressed an extremely important issue especially in light of the injuries suffered by Alfie Meadows following a blow to the head from a baton and the appalling treatment of Jody McIntyre, who was on two separate occasions (the second caught on film) dragged from his wheelchair by a police officer.  Neither of these two protests appear to have received any media attention.

Yesterday protesters took to the streets across the country as part of a nationwide day of protests against the proposed cuts, no BBC reporters made it to any of these gatherings it seems.

The lack of media attention given to the protests across the nation raises some important questions.  Firstly on the effectiveness of peaceful protests.  Whilst in no way attempting to condone violence or rioting it appears that unless such tactics are used the media simply do not care enough to address the issues being raised by those gathering on our streets.  At numerous times in the past few weeks I have heard those involved in acts of criminal damage or violence make statements along the lines of if we do not act this way we will not be heard, and whilst the government, police, press and even fellow protesters are quick to condemn such actions i believe there is certainly an element of truth to such statements.  If peaceful protests are simply, just ignored, then what is the point in protesting?

Interestingly enough, whilst our own news networks failed to shed any light on the protests happening in our own country, if you were to switch over to Islamic Republic of Iran state funded Press TV on the 14th there was extensive coverage of the protests.  Below I have just one photo from Press TVs website from Tuesday the 14th covering the protests.  Please note the date on the left under the logo and news.

The second major question that comes to my mind is why have the BBC chosen to give no attention to the protesters, after all they are meant to be an impartial news broadcaster aren't they?  Well it appears to me that the BBC are simply the voice of the state, and thus are not likely to address issues that may weaken or oppose the current coalition government in any way.  Giving attention to the peaceful protesters and their message may generate more support for the cause, it is the BBC's role as well as that of most of the mainstream media to discredit the protesters and support the state.

Whilst discussing this issue yesterday on a social networking site, someone made a comment on my question of why the BBC had chosen not to cover the protest taking place across the country on that day and on the previous day, the 14th.  This persons response for why there had been no coverage was:

"It just doesn't seem very news worthy really. The BBC has an obligation to report on things of interest."

A comment to which i could only reply ...

"And so thats why for the past hour they have been showing a harrier jet take off and land ... now thats interesting news ..."

Riots in London? Im sure they were protests with a few minor scuffles.

This is just a short post aimed at expressing my frustration at the way many public figures and the media are addressing recent protests in London.  The protests are very often being referred to as riots now, and although granted there was some violence, and there was a degree of vandalism and destruction I believe that it is ridiculous to claim that London was at any point recently host to riots.  London has been host to a number of both large and small demonstrations over the past few weeks some of which have have turned violent, regardless of this calling these protests riots is just another attempt by the media and politicians to discredit the students.  If what we have seen in London so far can be considered riots, what will happen if we see riots of the scale seen in Greece, for example, here in the UK.  Im guessing headlines along the lines of ARMAGEDDON are to be expected.

"Let there be light!" The Creation Story of this Blog.

Greetings,

and welcome to my blog :)

This first post is aimed at explaining a little bit about why, at long last, I have decided to create this blog and what I aim to get out of it.  For longer than I can remember now I have been actively involved in what I believe in, but have never used a platform greater than the likes of social networking sights such as Twitter and Facebook to put across my ideas to my friends/others.  Although the use of such websites can be useful in conveying information and more often my own feelings and ideas I believe they lack the structure of an organised blog and ideas can usually only be shared as short status updates or tweets.  These updates only give one a small number of characters in which to express BIG ideas and so although they can capture attention they lack detail.  Through this blog I intend to gather an audience to which I can share my ideas with; I welcome followers who both agree with my views or oppose them and thus welcome an open debate on each and every post I make.

What is this Blog about?

This blog is about everything and anything.  What I mean by this is that this blog is not about any certain subject other than movements, political events, global events or beliefs that I have or am involved in.  As a result here you will find posts ranging from the Israel/Palestine conflict to the illegality and handling of raves in the UK.  I will make posts about things that in some way affect my life or about things that I am passionate about.  Due to the timing of the creation of this blog for example, Im sure that many of the first posts here will be in relation to the British coalition government and recent proposed plans regarding fees/cuts and the public backlash that have resulted from them.  As I can not predict the future events of the world, I shall not be able to predict future trends in my posts.

Creating and getting this blog up and running smoothly is going to be a difficult task, mainly due to the sheer amount of information I wish to share already.  My head is full of thoughts and ideas that I would like to post here already; so please bear with me if for the first few weeks if this blog appears slightly unorganized.