News - European press review
Posted on May 26, 2008
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The Spanish press on Friday is decidedly about a change in the law which could mean the jailing of the Basque prime minister, if he defies Madrid with a planned referendum. Elsewhere there is a cautious welcome for Iran’s return to the nuclear fold. And in Bulgaria, criticism of the government’s anti-crime record. ‘Go to jail’ card The Spanish opposition parties’ boycott of the parliamentary vote on Thursday did not prevent the Penal Code from being amended.
Madrid’s El Mundo sees the banner held up by protesting MPs with the words “Everyone to prison!” as reflecting an opposition “driven to mockery in its impotence”. With this attitude, the paper says, “the opposition, far from punching the Popular Party into the ropes, exposed its own powerlessness against the government”. El Pais is unhappy about the government’s “dubious amendment”, saying it is “undoubtedly a novel idea, but not a good one”. Barcelona’s El Periodico sees the amendment as an augur of the “dangerous and avoidable reintroduction of the political crime”. “It is true,” the paper acknowledges, that the Basque prime minister’s plan “encourages the hopes of the men of violence to see their crimes rewarded”, and it “aims to bring about constitutional reforms by fraudulent means”. But all of this “can be countered with the democratic instruments of the law-based state”, instead of which “the government has chosen to substitute mere threats for the debate of ideas”. Iran’s nuclear file Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel welcomes Iran’s signing of an agreement with the UN allowing tougher nuclear inspections, but it warns that much will depend on its implementation. “Yesterday was a good day for the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the paper says, “and for all those who want to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands.”
However it points out that the Iranian leadership not long ago appeared divided on the issue, and that hard-liners may still be trying to build a nuclear bomb secretly. Events in the coming months should clarify matters, the paper suggests, and “show”, “whether the Iranians intend to use ploys, following the example of North Korea or Iraq, or instead are seriously interested in settling their differences with the West”. Austria’s Die Presse hails the development as “a triumph for diplomacy”, noting that the decision was preceded by visits of the British, French and German foreign ministers, the head of the IAEA and the European Union’s foreign policy chief. “In the end,” it says, “persistence paid off, the mediation mission was a success - and this time the hawks in Washington were on the outside.” “When the Europeans pull in the same direction, they can make things happen,” the paper concludes. The Swiss Le Temps, however, warns that the good news should not be allowed to hide “the disturbing fact” that the whole non-proliferation system is suffering “from a crisis of confidence… with some American political officials challenging the very principle of such a system”. The paper points to the fact that Tehran has been shown to have benefited from foreign - and specifically Pakistani - technology. ” heavy suspicions fall on Islamabad,” it says, “and some do not hesitate to regard” Pakistan “as the third member of the ‘Axis of Evil’, now that Iraq has fallen”. Le Temps wonders if Tehran will be willing to put a complete stop to its production of enriched uranium, and concludes that “the Iranian nuclear file” is “far from closed”. Making waves again Statements made earlier this week by Austria’s maverick Freedom Party figure Joerg Haider in which he appeared to liken President George W Bush to Saddam Hussein continue to make headlines in the country’s press.
Vienna’s Der Standard says Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has failed to come down hard enough on the politician and coalition partner. He could have demanded Joerg Haider’s resignation from his posts, the paper suggests, and “placed the continuing existence of the coalition on the line in the event of a refusal”. “He is still on time to do so,” it points out. Crime worries Bulgaria’s Troud warns that the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has not given up the idea of calling “a no-confidence vote in the government over the crime situation in this country”. This lack of confidence in the government’s crime fighting is echoed in Douma which, quoting the BSP leader, Sergei Stanishev, describes the updated government programme for combating crime as “inadequate”. “Mafia has infiltrated the State; Interior Ministry doesn’t care,” the paper laments. Sega, referring to a statement by Mr Stanishev, says that there is “no organised body” to fight against organised crime and “the fight against offenders is led randomly as many efforts are spent on small problems”. And the government’s latest initiative, the reintroduction of registering with the police when someone visits another city, is not welcomed by the paper. The lifting of the requirement for such registration in the early 1990s was believed to be “one of the first achievements of Bulgarian democracy at the time,” the paper points out. The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.
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News - Opening shots in Iran’s power struggle
Posted on May 25, 2008
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This election is no exception. Nearly six weeks before the ballot, a fierce battle erupted after it became clear that vetting committees under the unelected and highly conservative Council of Guardians (GC) had disqualified more than 3,500 of the 8,000 or so would-be candidates nationwide, the majority of them believed to be reformists.
The speaker of the outgoing, reformist-dominated Majlis, Mehdi Karroubi - a moderate reformist whose election credentials were approved - accused the GC’s vetting committees of planning the systematically in order to ensure a conservative victory.
Some hardliners have made it clear they would like to see the reformists, whom they regard as little more than traitors pandering to the West, eliminated from political life.
Threats, bluffs and bargaining
But the trial of strength is now on, with the objective being to pressure the GC in one direction or the other as it considers appeals lodged by many of the disappointed hopefuls.
Mr Khamenei alone has the authority to resolve a deadlock
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The first stage of the appeals process ends on 30 January, and a follow-up review takes place early the next month before the formulation of a final list by the GC by 9 February. It is in this process that the real battle takes place.
The mass disqualifications issued by the GC on 10 January represented the opening bid by the in a campaign of pressures, threats, bluffs and hard bargaining that is now under way.
It was a high bid indeed. At this stage in the 2000 general election, 758 would-be candidates were disqualified out of 6,860 who registered nationwide. While the registrations this time are somewhat higher, the number of disqualifications is nearly five times as many.
The reformist reaction has been commensurately outraged, with sit-ins by angry MPs - more than 80 of whom had been told they could not run for office again - and resignation threats by reformist officials.
The reformists are obliged to make as much noise as they possibly can, to try to maximise the pressure they can exert, through leaders such as President Khatami and Mr Karroubi, on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the GC itself.
Arbiter’s role
It is Mr Khamenei who will act as the fulcrum around which the balance settles. He alone has the authority to intervene in case of deadlock or a danger of tensions exploding out of hand.
His influence with the GC cannot be gainsaid - of its 12 members, he appoints six outright, and the other six (although endorsed by parliament) are appointed by the head of the judiciary, himself a Khamenei appointee.
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 The outcome of the poll is by no means certain - the Iranian electorate has in the past produced many surprises, not least the landslide election of Mr Khatami himself in 1997
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Ayatollah Khamenei is not a power figure with an independent base in his own right. His authority is drawn from his position, but in reality he is an arbiter trying to balance conflicting pressures and use his influence to persuade or dissuade.
While the reformist side can try to maximise pressure, the decision is ultimately in the hands of the right wing, which holds much of the real power.
The question is whether it really intends to go for broke and cripple the reformists in advance of the polls, or whether the pragmatic, moderate can persuade the leader and the GC that a compromise must be sought.
Thrown into the balance on the side of moderation will be the argument that the wholesale elimination of reformist candidates could force those who want change to move outside legal frameworks, with potentially violent consequences.
A one-sided field would also be highly likely to produce an extremely low voter turnout, raising an immediate question of legitimacy for a minority right-wing government.
That in turn would be expected to put the regime under increased pressure and isolation. Both the US and the European Union have already expressed concern over the high level of disqualifications.
Pragmatic trend
If the GC stands rigid, it could well leave President Khatami and his reformist with no choice but to resign, with further consequences for Iran’s international position.
Reformists like Mehdi Karroubi (2nd left) may gain from sympathy votes
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Mr Khatami has promised to stay true to his pledge to safeguard the rights of the people to elect and be elected. He has dissuaded top officials from resigning now, and tried to call off the MPs’ sit-in, on assurances that the GC would exercise moderation.
If those assurances prove misplaced, he would feel doubly obliged to stand down.
Some hardliners - who believe ultimately that authority comes from God through the leader, and not from the people - would undoubtedly be prepared to shrug aside such concerns.
But the recent trend in Iranian politics has favoured the pragmatic conservative moderates. The crisis late last year over the country’s nuclear programme was resolved - at least temporarily - with their support and that of the leader for compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the real hardliners were obliged to stifle their strident objections.
If that trend prevails, a reasonable number of reformist candidates would be re-qualified and allowed to run.
Reformist leaders have said that in such a situation, they would expect to win at least half the seats.
Sympathy vote
Even before the current crisis, the reformists’ electoral prospects were not looking bright. Many reformist officials feared a repeat of last February’s local council elections, which saw widespread popular disillusion reflected in a massive abstention - voter turnout in Tehran itself was around 12%.
As the conservatives can always count on a bedrock vote of regime loyalists, they regained Tehran city council and others.
The mass disqualification could win a sympathy vote for surviving reformist candidates - though it also underlines the impotence that has been forced on them by right-wing obstructionism during their years in office.
Looking for silver linings in a decidedly black cloud, some reformist leaders said that if the current situation produces a parliament heavily influenced by pragmatic conservatives, it would be a major reformist achievement as it would take power away from the real hard-liners.
The outcome of the poll is by no means certain even once the list of candidates is finalised. The Iranian electorate has in the past produced many surprises, not least the landslide election of Mr Khatami himself in 1997.
All recent national votes have shown at least a solid 70% favour reform and that is unlikely to change. The huge and unpredictable variable is how many will bother to vote. Many people have said they would not - but a late swing back, as happened in Mr Khatami’s second election in 2001, can by no means be excluded.
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News - Redford responds to Sundance jibe
Posted on May 23, 2008
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Hollywood veteran Robert Redford has said he is “” about criticism of his Sundance film festival in a new book about independent movies. In his book Down and Dirty Pictures, author Peter Biskind accuses Redford of having broken and failed to follow through on commitments. He said Redford had been for keeping people waiting, and concluded that the festival was a failure. Redford said the US festival’s success over 20 years spoke for itself. Goal Actor Redford founded the independent film festival 20 years ago, and last year it 38,000 film makers and investors to Park City, Utah. This year’s Sundance opened on 15 January and will show 255 films including new movie The Clearing. Biskind wrote: “Judged by one of its original, loftier goals, an institute to help outsiders, Sundance has failed.” Asked about the book on Monday, Redford said: “You’re only human. You have to be disappointed, but you also know that there’s an impotence to your position. “There’s nothing you can do about it. So you just live with it and move on.” He added: “I’m pretty well okay with the fact that I think Sundance is not going to be stopped by that kind of stuff.”
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News - Making a fortune from Super Bowl ads
Posted on May 22, 2008
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Feeling decadent, you could fill up your bathtub with Chanel No. 5 for $1.6m (800,000).
But if you want a 30-second advert during the Super Bowl, the championship of American football, it will cost almost $2.3m (1.3m).
With declining television audiences in the US, the Super Bowl is one event that can guarantee the most eyeballs for their buck.
A media event
The cost for advertising has risen dramatically in the last 38 years. In the first Super Bowl in 1967, a spot cost almost $240,000 in today’s dollars.
But there are few television events like the Super Bowl that can guarantee an audience of 140m viewers, especially with a declining network TV audience due to the Internet, DVDs and hundreds of cable, satellite and channels. “This is a throwback to old TV, when you didn’t have a choice. You couldn’t zap away from the commercials,” said Matt McAllister, an advertising and culture expert at Virginia Tech University.
“The Super Bowl is not just potential exposure to those eyeballs. It is exposure to those eyeballs. The idea that people channel surf at Super Bowl parties is absurd.”
And over the years, the ads have become an event unto themselves.
“The Super Bowl is something where the ads are covered as news themselves,” said Mr McAlister.
They are the only event in the TV year where the ads are previewed, and then critiqued on the morning news shows after the Super Bowl.
“Even the flop ads get free air time,” Mr McAlister said.
Cultural icons
The tone of the ads over the last few years have been more sombre following the attacks of 11 September and the lead up to war in Iraq.
But, back this year is the irreverent tone that has made many of the ads cultural icons.
This year, Pepsi and Apple Computer will be poking fun at online music file traders.
Pepsi will be giving away 100 million from Apple’s iTunes music store, and the commercial features 16 teens who were sued by the recording industry for illegally music.
The ad is set to punk band Green Day singing, “I fought the law (and the law won).”
An ad for office supply store Staples features a worker who rebels against an office supply clerk who demands pastries in exchange for folders and paperclips.
Instead of going through the supply clerk, he buys his supplies at Staples and with the help of some mobster muscle demands a pastry in return.
Politics-free zone
But in addition to humour this year, election year politics has tried to invade this perfect advertising environment. The CBS network rejected ads from political activist group Moveon.org and from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).
The Moveon.org ad criticised President Bush for the ballooning national deficit, and the Peta ad promotes vegetarianism with the message that eating meat can cause impotence.
CBS rejected both ads on the basis of its policy against advocacy advertising, saying the policy was designed to prevent those who can afford advertising from having an undue influence on “controversial issues of public importance.”
Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz said in an online discussion that the networks’ prohibition against advocacy advertising applies to everyone.
“When some group gets its ad rejected by ABC, CBS or NBC, it cries foul and political bias and censorship. But everyone in the issues realm is basically shut out,” he said.
But Peta spokeswoman Lisa Lange said: “CBS not only takes advocacy ads, but has shown them during the Super Bowl, including Truth.com anti-smoking ads and anti-drunk driving ads sponsored by beer companies.”
A night at the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis Hotel will only set you back $25,000 (13,700) a night.
News - Iran’s power struggle deepens
Posted on May 21, 2008
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This election is no exception. Nearly six weeks before the ballot, a fierce battle erupted after it became clear that vetting committees under the unelected and highly Council of Guardians (GC) had disqualified more than 3,500 of the 8,000 or so would-be candidates nationwide, the majority of them believed to be reformists.
The speaker of the outgoing, reformist-dominated Majlis, Mehdi Karroubi - a moderate reformist whose election credentials were approved - accused the GC’s vetting committees of planning the disqualifications systematically in order to ensure a conservative victory.
Some hardliners have made it clear they would like to see the reformists, whom they regard as little more than traitors pandering to the West, eliminated from political life.
Threats, bluffs and bargaining
The mass disqualifications issued by the GC on 10 January represented the opening bid by the right-wingers in a campaign of pressures, threats, bluffs and hard bargaining that is now under way.
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Mr Khamenei alone has the authority to resolve a deadlock
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It was a high bid indeed. At this stage in the 2000 general election, 758 would-be candidates were disqualified out of 6,860 who registered nationwide. While the this time are somewhat higher, the number of disqualifications is nearly five times as many.
On Friday, the council reinstated a third of the candidates, but this falls far short of the full demanded by reformist MPs, 80 of whom are themselves on the blacklist.
The reformists are obliged to make as much noise as they possibly can, to try to maximise the pressure they can exert, through leaders such as President Khatami and Mr Karroubi, on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the GC itself.
Arbiter’s role
It is Mr Khamenei who will act as the fulcrum around which the balance settles. He alone has the authority to intervene in case of deadlock or a danger of tensions exploding out of hand.
His influence with the GC cannot be gainsaid - of its 12 members, he appoints six outright, and the other six (although endorsed by parliament) are appointed by the head of the judiciary, himself a Khamenei appointee.
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The outcome of the poll is by no means certain - the Iranian electorate has in the past produced many surprises, not least the landslide election of Mr Khatami himself in 1997
|
Ayatollah Khamenei is not a power figure with an independent base in his own right. His authority is drawn from his position, but in reality he is an arbiter trying to balance conflicting pressures and use his influence to persuade or dissuade.
While the reformist side can try to maximise pressure, the decision is ultimately in the hands of the right wing, which holds much of the real power.
The question is whether it really intends to go for broke and cripple the reformists in advance of the polls, or whether the pragmatic, moderate conservatives can persuade the leader and the GC that a compromise must be sought.
Thrown into the balance on the side of moderation will be the argument that the wholesale elimination of reformist candidates could force those who want change to move outside legal frameworks, with potentially violent consequences.
A one-sided field would also be highly likely to produce an extremely low voter turnout, raising an immediate question of legitimacy for a minority right-wing government.
That in turn would be expected to put the regime under increased pressure and isolation. Both the US and the European Union have already expressed concern over the high level of disqualifications.
Pragmatic trend
If the GC stands rigid, it could well leave President Khatami and his reformist administration with no choice but to resign, with further consequences for Iran’s international position.
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Reformists like Mehdi Karroubi (2nd left) may gain from sympathy votes
|
Mr Khatami has promised to stay true to his pledge to safeguard the rights of the people to elect and be elected. He has dissuaded top officials from resigning now, and tried to call off the MPs’ sit-in, on assurances that the GC would exercise moderation.
If those assurances prove misplaced, he would feel doubly obliged to stand down.
Some hardliners - who believe ultimately that authority comes from God through the leader, and not from the people - would undoubtedly be prepared to shrug aside such concerns.
But the recent trend in Iranian politics has favoured the pragmatic conservative moderates. The crisis late last year over the country’s nuclear programme was resolved - at least temporarily - with their support and that of the leader for compliance with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the real hardliners were obliged to stifle their strident objections.
If that trend prevails, a reasonable number of reformist candidates would be re-qualified and allowed to run.
Reformist leaders have said that in such a situation, they would expect to win at least half the seats.
Sympathy vote
Even before the current crisis, the reformists’ electoral prospects were not looking bright. Many reformist officials feared a repeat of last February’s local council elections, which saw widespread popular disillusion reflected in a massive abstention - voter turnout in Tehran itself was around 12%.
As the conservatives can always count on a bedrock vote of regime loyalists, they regained Tehran city council and others.
The mass disqualification could win a sympathy vote for surviving reformist candidates - though it also underlines the impotence that has been forced on them by right-wing obstructionism during their years in office.
Looking for silver linings in a decidedly black cloud, some reformist leaders said that if the current situation produces a parliament heavily influenced by pragmatic conservatives, it would be a major reformist achievement as it would take power away from the real hard-liners.
The outcome of the poll is by no means certain even once the list of candidates is finalised. The Iranian electorate has in the past produced many surprises, not least the landslide election of Mr Khatami himself in 1997.
All recent national votes have shown at least a solid 70% favour reform and that is unlikely to change. The huge and unpredictable variable is how many will bother to vote. Many people have said they would not - but a late swing back, as happened in Mr Khatami’s second election in 2001, can by no means be excluded.
News - Prostate test ‘of little value’
Posted on May 19, 2008
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A screening test which can reveal prostate cancer is too unreliable to be recommended to patients, it is claimed. PSA, or prostate specific antigen testing, is often offered to older men as part of private health assessments. However, a UK expert writing in the British Medical Journal says it should not be widely used as it is not clear whether it actually benefits patients. Men testing positive do not fare better than those whose cancer is only spotted when symptoms emerge, it is claimed. The prostate gland is found in men near the bladder, and makes an ingredient of semen. Prostate cancer is the most common in men, and often, by the time symptoms arise in aggressive cases, it has spread beyond the gland itself. This makes it far harder to treat . Cancer hint
However, it does not confirm cancer - a man needs to have a biopsy operation to make sure - and the test is often wrong.
Another problem is that prostate cancer is often a relatively slow-growing disease of older men - who, if left untreated, would die with the disease rather than of it. A positive PSA test can mean that many cancers which could easily have been left untreated with no ill effects for the man are removed by surgeons, creating unnecessary risk - and a chance of disabling side-effects such as and loss of sexual function. ‘Unproven value’
However, some firms routinely offer the test to men over 50 years old. Professor Malcolm Law, from the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London, wrote in the BMJ that public health authorities should not advocate tests of “unproven value”. He said: “At present the one certainty about PSA testing is that it causes harm. “Some men will receive treatment that is unnecessary - and the treatment will cause incontinence, impotence and other complications. “In one study over two-thirds of men receiving either radical prostatectomy (surgical prostate removal) or radiotherapy were affected.” Breast advice
advice has now been dropped in favour of breast and testicle “awareness”, in which people are urged to be alert for changes, rather than actively seek them out. Dr Chris Hiley, Head of Policy and Research at The Prostate Cancer Charity, agreed that PSA screening was not worthy of recommendation by doctors. She said: “We’re not in favour of PSA screening. “We can measure the harm caused by prostate testing - we can’t measure the benefits. “Men considering taking a test like this should think very hard and get good advice about whether it is suitable.”
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News - Your comments
Posted on May 18, 2008
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If you would like to comment on the Tackling Tomorrow’s Tearaways programme, then click here to find an email form. Then simply fill in the email form, complete with name, e-mail address, town and country and hit the send button. Due to the high number of e-mails we get we cannot guarantee to publish every single message we receive. We may also edit some e-mails for legal reasons and for purposes of clarity and length. The views expressed on these pages are not necessarily the views of the BBC.
The e-mails published will be reflective of the messages we have been sent.
The problem is that these kids are allowed to get away with murder (sometimes literally). They should be punished for the crimes they commit. We should invest in a building program of prisons in this country. Lock them up for 10 years and once they have finished their punishment, then and only then begin rehabilitation and education. If they are not willing to start learning how to behave after a few years in solitary then they remain in prison until they do. We need to get tough on criminals and not pamper them. Most of us work for a living and we should not have to pay for these scumbags to have a good time and laugh at the rest of us law abiding citizens.
What exactly was the purpose of your programme on YIP’s? Billed as how the govt is to tackle delinquency it seemed to concentrate purely on the ‘rights’ of kids to know whether others had labelled them as delinquents - as if the labelling were the issue!
I think that the programme was a real eye-opener for all of the parents and teachers watching. Children only get up to mischief when they are bored and as they grow older it gets worse and worse. Thank God for schemes like Y.I.P because I know that if there were things like that going on when I was 13 or 14 I it would have distracted me from things like alcohol and recreational drugs. I don’t agree with rewarding bad behaviour with trips to Blackpool because sooner or later they will have to pay the price for their wrong doings but locking up youngsters will only make the problem worse. Youngsters need to relate to someone who’s been there and done that, so they can learn from other peoples experiences. If you bring in a teenage boy who’s been locked up for however long for dealing drugs or doing robbery they will see that making fast quick easy money only leads to a cell, if you’re lucky, or a grave. After watching your programme I was amazed to see how much the government is putting into young people and their issues. My worry for these young people is their parents. Not enough is being done to try and solve the issues where the parents are concerned. Trying to deal with the young people is treating a symptom and not the cause, I would dearly love to see programmes geared towards better parenting and where they may be making mistakes with their children. I am not blaming parents for their children’s behaviour the young people are responsible for their choices but why is it some of the young people from the same estates don’t behave in the same way as those who get into trouble look to the parenting, it makes it a lot easier to deal with youth than it is with parents. >Amanda Foran, uk Watching this programme tonight only highlighted to me that schools have a moral obligation to assist children early on, to help prevent future problems. Schools have access to outside agencies to help children at risk, schools should not be allowed to permanently exclude children. They should introduce new policy to include all children and support them positively, by every means possible. But if YIP or others schemes alike help one child then it’s good. But to me the buck stops with schools. These schemes are good from the point of view that they are stopping children from getting into trouble. But what about the good kids, the kids that don’t cause trouble, the kids that belong to parents that don’t have enough money to take their kids on day trips to Thorpe park or holidays, or even be able to afford lessons on DJ’ing and such like. What is going to become of these youngsters? I have a feeling that these youngsters are going to be turning to petty crime, truancy and such like to enable them to feel IMPORTANT and to be part of this IMPORTANT scheme. So Sir Charles Pollard what do you intend to set up for these kids, the ones that stay in school, the ones that are constantly being teased for being a swat, the ones that get A* Grades. When are these children going to be getting what they deserve? I watched your programme on teenage tearaways and I think that it is absolutely disgraceful that so much money and work is wasted on these youngsters. If any other person without any background problems did the crimes they commit, they would be prosecuted whereas these youngsters are being treated to Mcdonalds and taken on trips. I’m sure that the law is there for everyone to abide by and it isn’t different for those with certain background problems. So if you do the crime you do the time not go to Blackpool as a reward. Sir Charles Pollard seemed to believe that the legal system on prosecution was not in fact a beneficial punishment but a way to get them into more trouble, so as far as he is concerned the jails we have are of no use so why on earth do we have them and why do other criminals such as murders not get taking to Alton Towers for a day out rather than sent to jail to do the time in which they deserve. It is shocking to see how the authorities are apparently only interested in people as risk factors and not as human beings. Watching the programme it is difficult not to be cynical and believe that the schemes are more useful in providing jobs for than in solving social problems. Surely, being “tough on the causes of crime” means rejecting a society that does not care for anything except for cyphers and targets on the one hand and commercial profit on the other hand.
Trevor Batten, NL As a parent of five children between the ages of 10 and 17, I would like to think that if any of my children were on the top 50 list, it would be discussed with me and we could work together to prevent them from offending. I think the scheme sounds good, but if information is been held on under 18 year olds and parents are not aware is data protection not been infringed. It is sad to see young people behaving in such a manner and getting themselves into trouble with the police so early in their lives. Youth Inclusion Programmes are a good idea, but I do wonder if they are catching the children early enough. I thought that by the time many of the children came to their attention, it was too late for some of them. The 8 to 12 age group is probably the right age to begin a programme like this. They will benefit greatly at this age before getting into more serious trouble. More attention should be focused on the cause of their many problems. These programmes and the people who run them are to be applauded for trying their best to help the children. It is however a two-way process and the children have a big part to play if they are to gain the best advantages from the programme they are on. I thought the programme was very good. I’m only 15 years of age and I think that their should be something like a youth club in my area. Manchester, Cheetham Hill I watched your programme with great interest. I’ve been watching the programme tonight. One of the kids in the programme said they committed crime because they were ‘poor’. If it wasn’t so serious it would have made me laugh - I was in Africa last week and somebody dressed from head to foot in designer gear couldn’t call themselves poor. Disclaimer: The BBC may edit your comments and cannot guarantee that all e-mails will be published.
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News - UN urges stand on internet drugs
Posted on May 17, 2008
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should do more to crack down on the illicit trade in controlled drugs over the internet, according to a new report by a UN organisation. The International Narcotics Control Board reports that there is an increase in dealers using cyberspace to market narcotics and drugs. Its annual report says internet pharmacies are shipping prescription- only drugs across the globe. They are targeting former patients who have become addicted to drugs, it says.
The report warns the drug ritalin - used to treat hyperactive children - carries a high risk of abuse but was advertised on some websites as a “mild and harmless stimulant”. It calls on governments to ask the judiciary to “ensure that adequate penalties be attributed” to people caught trafficking controlled drugs on the internet. An INCB board member, Hamid Ghodse, told a news conference in London that the trafficking of controlled drugs over the internet was “extremely serious”. “There are more sites on how to make drugs, how to manufacture and produce them and even how to avoid detection by the police than there are on drugs education.” Global issues The INCB also reported the following findings:
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News - Nandrolone explained
Posted on May 16, 2008
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| Tennis player Greg Rusedski tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone, but was found not guity of doping.
So what is nandrolone, and how is it detected in the human body? Are tests for nandrolone conclusive?
Certain animals may create a bigger risk, particularly horse and boar - and athletes are warned to avoid offal from these animals.
Again, athletes are warned not to believe everything they read on the labels of these supplements. A UK Sport report on nandrolone said: “We recommend that the sports community should be reminded they must maintain a high level of awareness of the possible hazards of using some nutritional supplements and herbal “.
The other source of nandrolone metabolites is other types of steroid - but these are also banned by world sport bodies. What are anabolic steroids? Anabolic steroids are drugs that are usually from the male reproduction hormone testoterone. They have been banned by many sports because of their danger to health. Their exact effect on the body is still a matter of scientific debate. Why do sportsmen take them? Anabolic steroids can improve the body’s capacity to train and compete at the highest level. They reduce the fatigue associated with training, and the time required to recover after physical exertion. They also promote the development of muscle tissue in the body, with an associated increase in strength and power. This is achieved by stimulating the production of protein in the body. However, some of the increased muscle bulk may be due to the laying down of water and minerals, so the increase in strength may not be as pronounced as expected. What are the risks associated with anabolic steroids? Anabolic steroids promote the growth of many tissues in the body by stimulating the release of the hormone testoterone. By disturbing the body’s equilibrium, anabolic steroids can potentially cause damage to many of the body’s major organs, particularly the liver, which has to deal with breaking down the compound. There is also a risk of damage to the heart, which is made of muscle tissue. Anabolic steroids can lead to an expansion of the cardiac muscle, which can cause heart attacks. The drugs also promote the growth of bones, particularly facial bones such as the jaw, and the teeth. There is also an increased risk of cancer. Other side effects include:
John Brewer, director of the Human Performance Centre at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre, said: “The health risks associated with anabolic steroids are as serious as you can get. “They greatly increase a person’s risk of dying early or of suffering long-term physical problems. “While the rewards of success in sport are getting greater and greater, the temptation to take anabolic steroids should be offset by the risk of an early grave.” Are all anabolic steroids detected by drugs tests? Some sports people who take anabolic steroids escape detection because they stop taking the drugs prior to competition, giving the body time to break down the compounds.
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News - Striking tales: 1984-5 remembered
Posted on May 15, 2008
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| The miners’ strike of 1984-5 turned whole communities lives’ upside down, setting miners against the government, the police and sometimes each other.
Here, News Online prints some memories of the period from people who were affected by it in Wales.
The boy in the picture is me. I just used to go over the tip with my mates to get coal for my mum and dad. The times were hard, but it was a better time. People rallied together.
This boy in the picture is Craig Williams from Penrhiwceiber. I think he is in Cwmcynon pit as it’s just down the hill from his house. I was in school with him. His parents still live in Penrhiwceiber. He’s sieving coal in a shopping basket - he was about eight in this picture. I was still living at home in Penrhiwceiber with all my family involved in the mining industry. It was a sad time as we were having to survive on hand outs of food parcels. The behaviour of the government of the day was disgraceful, undignified and scandalous. No modern, civil society should ever have to endure that again. My house used to look over the old Cwm Cynon pit (pictured above) that had been closed for many years, and this is where the photograph was taken. Everyday you would see people both young and old sifting through the coal on the tips and then walking back across the bridge to the village. During the strike I was living in London and so had a slightly different perspective on the day - to - day developments of events. For the most part the strike was just another news story that didn’t really affect the routine of Londoners who were largely ignorant of and in the plight of mining communities. However, as I came from the south Wales coalfield, I remember the shock of seeing striking miners walking through the City of London carrying buckets and asking passers - by for money in order to boost the strike fund. I thought I had stepped back into the 1920s.
The sight of soup kitchens in Wrexham to support the striking miners brought home how little progress had been made to help working people in the twentieth century. My other main memory (I was only twelve) was of Thatcher visiting a factory next to my house a couple of years later. The whole area had to be closed down as the miners and other unions made a last protest to her at how she had destroyed their livelihoods.
I was at school in Llandovery, hitch-hiking back to Cardiff for the weekend after missing the last train out, along with my brother and two friends. We had a short distance left and were thumbing for a lift when we got bored, as boys do, and starting throwing stones at a small sign! Within minutes, four police cars came roaring up the slip road. Jokingly we ran up the embankment not thinking they were after us. Once we realised they were we ‘gave ourselves up’ and were each taken away in separate cars. We had a slap on the hand and 20 fines, which of course we deserved. They then gave us a lift home. They thought we had been strikers, throwing bricks from the over-pass at the coal trucks breaking the pickets.
I remember the strike quite well since I worked for the Japanese Sony electronics company in south Wales at the time and knowing what the government of the day was like, the evil Thatcher I called her and such, wanted to help them as much as I could. At first the company allowed them to do collections so we all contributed, after all we believe it the right of everybody to protect his own livelihood. Then they forced the organisers to stop this. I remember the atrocious behaviour of the media and you lot, feeding the public with misinformation, lies and inaccuracies. I will never forget you lot for this. I also believe things have still not changed much and I know you know this also. You and your police should be ashamed of yourselves.
Response from Sony to Dave’s comments about the collections: This was a long time ago, but we cannot believe that the company’s policy then was any different to what it is today. We adopt a very politically neutral position, and would not allow any collection to be made in work time which would not reflect the company’s (neutral) position. Memories: miners’ wives collecting for the strike in cold and sleet outside the (centrally heated) Port Talbot shopping centre because the Labour council refused them access. A letter from Emlyn Williams, then president of the south Wales area of the NUM, thanking me for a modest contribution to the strike, and asking me to “convey to friends in Nicaragua the feelings of the miners in this terrible struggle against a neo-fascist government”. The feeling of sadness and defeat, walking down to the pit at Blaengarw at the strike’s end, the feeling of bitterness and impotence at the triumph of the plutocracy that rules us and the compliant middle class that serves it
I grew in a village where a lot of people worked at the Point of Ayr mine. Life was tough for a lot of people and it tore the village I lived in apart. My biggest memory is going to the beach in Talacre. We had to walk through property owned by Point of Ayr. I recall at the age of 14 walking past the picket line with a group of similar aged friends, where the striking miners joked that the “scabs” were looking younger. Then walking through the police lines where they would joke that they needed to keep an eye on this lot.
Our school bus route passed a heavily-policed picket line at the Cwm colliery. I can recall one of the boys on the bus singing “spot the miner, win 20 thousand” as we passed by.
I remember when all the men from the Maerdy coalmine were going back to work after the strike. The look of defeat on their faces was really too much for all our community to bare. I was only 10 at the time but vividly remember my uncle telling us that our communities would be dead within two years and so he was right. The pit closed in 1989 and the whole community was ruined when the shops and other services closed down soon after. Myself and seven other members of my family had to emigrate to Australia to carve out new lives for ourselves. Out of all the miners who lost their jobs when Maerdy closed eight went to Australia and 20 to America. I haven’t been back to Wales for 10 years but I’m sure the place is bad as when we left there in 1989. I feel sorry for the people of Wales. They have been destroyed by the legacy of Thatcher. I am so lucky that we managed to escape to a better life in Sydney.
I remember having coal delivered at night in a Volvo. We lived in a village near the opencast site. Jones the Rat delivered it, I don’t know how we would have managed without that coal. It was very cold that winter. I was a child when the miners’ strike happened. My dad was a local vicar in one of the south Wales’ mining towns. There were regularly riots outside our house and the poverty that people experienced hit the town hard. My parents were often approached in the middle of the night by people asking for help with clothing and shoes for their children. Such pleas always took place in the night because they were afraid of the repercussions from others on strike. It was all about sticking through the difficulties together - through thick and thin.
One memory is the police waving their payslips saying “come on boys just another couple of weeks and the villa in Spain will be paid for”. My family and I were in Wales during the strike. Since the ancestor I’m named after was a coal miner before he came to America in the mid 1850s, we were (and always will be) behind the strikers. If we had had more time, we would have walked the picket line with them.
Today, in California, our supermarket workers are striking for health care. We stand behind them as well and have not crossed the picket lines. We can no longer have two groups of people, those who work for a living and those who enjoy the fruit of others who work on their behalf. Our family will never cross a picket line.
I lived in Machynlleth at the time of the miner’s strike and I can remember thinking to myself in October when the strike was already seven months and was getting worried about how my (who I lived with at the time) were going to heat our house with three downstairs rooms and eight upstairs rooms.
I was in primary school in the valleys at the time. Although my late father wasn’t a miner at that time, I can remember the schools being open one day a week because of the coal shortage, real suffering among those families which had fathers on strike, yet a real community spirit and people pulling together. I also remember the images of the violent struggles on the picket lines which seemed so far away from the rivers which had ceased to run black.
As a lad I can still remember the miners’ wives asking people for food when they left the Asda. I hope that the modern society has changed ???
I was only 10 yrs old at the time. My father and three of my uncles were involved in the miners’ strike. They were based in the Betws colliery in Ammanford. One distinct memory I have of the miners’ strike is on every Sunday my father used to go down to the local pub to collect a food parcel. This was funded by local women collecting money and then all the families which were involved with the strike would get a bag of food. This would include tins of beans, soup breakfast cereal and so on. I also remember that the local people organised a day out on a double-decker bus to Pembrey country park for all the families.
Time goes by and names change. I attended the Polytechnic of Wales, now called the University of Glamorgan during the miner’ strike. I come from the valleys and knew the passions that went with coal mining but I thought little about the strike. The students union had its share of left-wing activists who wanted us to strike in support of the miners but many of us could not see what it had to do with us. Once the strike was under way, the old name of the Polytechnic of Wales came back to haunt us. We were the College of the Mines and there were still a number of miners attending the polytechnic. Soon we had to face picket lines at the polytechnic. To be fair, they were peaceful and directed mainly at mining students but it was very intimidating to see fellow students, many of whom we had begun to form friendships with, on the picket line. The feelings of guilt and resentment that were generated as we crossed the line to continue our studies tarnished relationships that were in their infancy. We were only playing a student game but for the miners this was akin to civil war, brothers and friends on opposite sides of a battle to save a way of life. I have often wondered how I would have felt if it had been more than a name that caused me to become involved. Would I have been able to cross a picket line where lifelong friends and relatives stood or would I have been on those lines alienating and despising my friends and family who dared to defy the union? I was teaching in Burry Port at the time of the strike and I remember the terrible feeling of doom amongst the children. The staff used to buy breakfast for the miners’ children because they looked so pale and cold. We used to give money to the miners holding plastic buckets in Llanelli. I can still cry bitterly about what happened to the miners and their families - decent people who were treated abominably by the Thatcher government.
What a time! Both my parents were really active and we would be at Onllwyn Welfare sorting out clothes, awaiting deliveries and then sorting out food parcels for the entire Dulais Valley. Then there were the diverse people we met throughout the time of the strike - as supporters who came to spend the weekend and find out about the struggle. The strike and its effects on the family came home to roost watching the news. We could see my dad being arrested, in his grey jumper with two red hoops on each arm followed by a couple of truncheon hits to the head. That was so scary and it seemed endless till he came back home. Despite not having much money, the solidarity and support from so many others being in a similar situation, the friendships developed were strong and it is this that gives me my strongest memories of the strike. It had a huge impact on the way our lives went from here, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!
I was at the Pavilion in Porthcawl on the day the south Wales NUM voted to go out on strike. I was 24 at the time and newly married. A year later and 7000.loss of earnings I returned back to work. A year later my marriage was over maybe not directly resulting from the strike but it sure did not help. Was it worth it,? well it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was living on the Colliery site, my parents had a house behind Coedely Cokeovens, my father worked as an electrician on the site. We had to cross the picket lines every day. Watching the men shouting and turning the coal trucks away. Now that things have calmed down I’m sure that the future will bring new details and controversies. Especially the source of all those ‘extra’ policemen with no numbers on their shoulders. Did Thatcher use the British Army and Royal Marines on the streets of mainland UK? Not beyond the bitter and mad personality that still haunts the Welsh communities. History I hope will record her like Edward Longshanks, with the call centres and McDonalds as her castles by proxy. I vividly remember the coal convoys heading along the M4 in south Wales, escorted by the police. They were usually more than 20 lorries long and moved as a black snake through the country side. They were quite forbidding and looked as though nothing would stop them.
I’m originally from Knebworth, Hertfordshire and I was a 21-year old University of Portsmouth student when the strike started. Another student and I volunteered to hire a car and drive to South Wales to deliver food and money. The Portsmouth Trades council had been collecting and filled the boot and back seat of the car. We were immediately welcomed into the South Wales community, taken to the Union Hall, given a tour of Brecon Beacon and taken to the bottom of a mine as the lift operators were not on strike. I was shocked to see such poverty and observed men(no women) sitting in a cafe with one pot of tea to last all day. I continued supporting the miners, picketing in Yorkshire, letters to the paper, and donating money. As I passed through King’s Cross on my way home each term, I would stop and chat with the miners collecting money to ask how the strike was going. Despite unions being the foundation of socialism, the miners’ strike was a fine example of abuse of position (by the Union and its officials) where some were intimidated by others against their own (forced to strike). The tail wagged the dog!! The boy in the photograph is Craig Williams, formerly of Penrhiwceiber Road, Penrhiwceiber, Mountain Ash I remember getting married and moving into our new house in October 1983 and then being on strike in March 1984, however the little things are what stick in my mind now. Firstly, there’s an ITV news reporter still on TV today who makes my skin crawl. His name’s Mark Webster and he seemed to be on TV every week saying negotiations for a return to work looked promising only to leave me despondent when they fell through. Also tins of Goblin hamburgers handed out in our food parcel!! It seems almost absurd to think this happened during my lifetime let alone fairly recently. It’s just so surreal now.
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