To the latest blog posts
 

So many people ask me, what can I do - what difference can I make, I'm only one person? Well yes, you are only one person and if it were just you, changing your energy consumption or buying fairtrade then it wouldn't make any difference. But the fact is it's not just you, there's me and thousands of people like us, together we make a big difference. That's partly the point of this website so we know there are other people out there who care and we are pulling in the same direction.

To this end I've decided at least once a week, in this blog, I'll list one thing that you can do, that with all the others out there will make a difference. Most of these things won't take more than one or two minutes.  If you have any good ideas of easy things people can do send them to me. nigel@wildberrys.org.uk

If you're in the UK -

Go to the Make Poverty Action site and email your MP asking him to support Make Poverty History Early Day Motion. So far, the record for most signatures on one EDM is 502. The Make Poverty History EDM already has 354 signatures – they just need that final push to reach the record and put the Make Poverty History campaign firmly centre stage in Parliament.

If you're in the USA -

Go to the Global Exchange website, email M & M/Mars to get them to buy fairtrade cocoa. They say, 'Companies like M&M/Mars make huge profits selling chocolate. Their products that have become favorites among children around America. However, chocolate is no treat for the hundreds of thousands of child cocoa laborers who work on their poor families' farms or even as slaves on cocoa farms far from home. The US chocolate industry has agreed to work to end child slavery by 2005, but their plan involves "voluntary standards" and does NOT guarantee fair and stable cocoa prices, which is the only way to end child slavery and exploitation for good.'
 

If you're outside the UK and USA - I'd love to hear from you I only ever seem to get hits from the UK or USA. Maybe you would like to suggest something your compatriots should be doing.
 

Watershed in Bristol

A great place to eat being added to the directory. If you live in Bristol I'm sure you know of the Watershed, but if you're visiting it is well worth a look. The Watershed has three cinemas, though two are currently being refurbished, a great cafe bar with a really good atmosphere that serves excellent food (several veggie selections) and fairtrade coffee. They also host a large number of courses in all aspects of film making, photography, animation, they have conference facilities, I can't recommend it enough. Really worth a look.

Take care - Wildberry.

Sorry for the gap in the blog, I've been away for a few days and have quite a bit of catching-up to do, but hopefully normal service will be resumed next week!

That's where the moral dilemma comes in, I had to go to Germany on business and I stress the words 'had to go', because dear readers I flew, not by choice I must stress. If you've read previous comments on the subject you may have realized that I hate flying, I don't use the word hate lightly, this isn't an over-dramatised dislike. This is real full on hate. I hate the whole process, the way you are treated by the airlines, I hate the airports themselves, the crowds, the queues, the food, the noise and the smoke. I hate the planes, the cramped seats, more noise, the scrum to pack away your hand luggage. Yes, I hate the whole process.

But my most serious concern is the damage I'm doing to the environment as I sit there in my little bubble of displeasure. If I were reading this I would think, 'he's taking himself a bit seriously isn't he!, I bet he's over dramatising cause he doesn't like it'. But honestly I really do sit there thinking of the carbon dioxide, the nitrogen oxides, the un-burnt hydrocarbons, the soot and the sulfate particles, I can almost see them coming out of the engines. I tried to get my boss to excuse me from going, I really did, I even tried to get him to let me go by train (and I love travelling by train) but he wouldn't go for it.

So back to the dilemma, do I carry on in this job with it's environmental impact and carry-on moaning to you or do I say, 'no I'm going to jack it in', stand-up for my principals and look for another job. I've had this conversation with myself before, I've not written it down for the whole world to see (don't worry I don't think the world is reading it - I'm not that deluded), but I've thought it. My reasoning for not doing anything in the past has been, well, I know for sure someone else will take my place, someone who may not take the positive choices when they can. Someone who may never take the train. So would I really be making any difference if I jacked it in? It might make me sleep a bit easier at night, but it would it really change anything? What do you think? No really - what are your thoughts?

Have a great weekend and keep warm - Wildberry

It isn't appropriate to gloat over the end of hunting with hounds in the UK, there will be some who loose their livelihoods, and that is never a good thing. But the practice of chasing foxes and stags with a pack of hounds, just for fun, is a cruel sport and it shouldn't be condoned in the 21st century.

On this morning's Today programme on Radio 4, the poet Ian McMillan read his excellent poem 'Farewell', reflecting his feelings towards the end of hunting. I hope he doesn't mind me publishing it here.

FAREWELL

Farewell to the scarlet coats thundering through woods
Farewell to the sharp stink of fear
Farewell to the Foxhunt, and I’m saying ‘Good!’
And I’m raising my voice in a cheer!

Farewell to tradition, if that’s what it is
Though it’s feeling quite feudal from here
Farewell to the blood from a foxhound’s sharp kiss
And I’m raising my voice in a cheer!

Farewell to the mornings when mist cools your face
An England of cricket, warm beer
And folks in big flat caps who all know their place
And I’m raising my voice in a cheer!

You’re chasing the past, chaps, not chasing a fox
You’re chasing a country that’s gone
They’ve altered the windows and changed all the locks
You’re riding a land that’s moved on!

And I didn’t see the hunters at the head of the crowd
When they closed down the factories and mines
I didn’t hear the hunting horn blaring out loud
At the head of the picket lines…

Democracy’s spoken, the pack’s caught you up
And let down the tyres on your sport
So please don’t be whining like a like a whipped hunting pup
‘cos it’s farewell to you and your sort.

Farewell to the stirrup cup, farewell the thrill
Of tearing a fox like a shredder shreds bills
And look, there’s a fox, and he’s standing quite still
No: he’s raising two fingers from the top of that hill!

Farewell to the scarlet coats thundering through woods
Farewell to the sharp stink of fear
Farewell to the foxhunt, and I’m saying ‘Good’
And I’m raising my voice in a cheer!

If you want to here Ian read it, unfortunately you can preceded by Clive Aslett, editor of Country Life's, defence of hunting. Follow this link.

Royal Mail - we won't appreciate it until it's gone!

The Royal Mail's 350-year monopoly is to end at the start of 2006, 15 months earlier than previously planned. The regulator 'Postcomm' has announced today the bringing forward of the date. (BBC report)

I'm afraid this sort of nonsense makes me really angry. We have an excellent institution that does a great job, delivers 82 million items to 27 million addresses each day! (yes, each day), employees over 200,000 people and we mess around with it, just  for the sake of messing.

I know the Post Office has it's critics, but it's always easier to criticize something, than it is to do it. I can send a letter from the south of England to the north of Scotland for 28 pence and it'll arrive in a couple of days. How good is that? (it's bloody good!)

It's our obsession with profit, that drives this? Why can't we just accept that there are some organisations that should be run for the benefit of the population. Now I'm not suggesting that the Post Office shouldn't be run efficiently, for the most part I think it is, but why does it need to make a profit. It doesn't, it's just in this corporate world, we're not allowed to conceive of an organisation that's just run for the good of all of us.

I feel the need to bang our collective heads together.
 

Confessions of a US Mini driver

This from the BBC Magazine, 'It's been a great week for the Mini, as BMW puts another £100m into its Oxford factory. Business has been buoyed by 36,000 sales in the US - but can it be comfortable driving a Mini on American roads where other cars are as big as tanks? Magazine reader and Mini driver Candace Sleeman, from New Jersey, here tells of the view from the kerbside.'

See the rest of the article here.

Have a great weekend, and be careful out there - Wildberry.

 

It was great to see in the BBC news yesterday that The European Court of Human Rights has found in favour Helen Steel and David Morris, in their claim that not receiving legal aid in their libel case with McDonalds, infringed their human rights.

The case, that became to be known as the 'McLibel' trial, turned into the longest trial in British legal history. The BBC article goes on to say that, 'The Strasbourg court's verdict is the end of a subsequent courtroom fight in which the activists accused the UK Government of breaching their human rights. It ruled they did not receive a fair trial as guaranteed under the Human Rights Convention, to which the UK is a signatory, and that their freedom of expression was violated by the 1997 judgment. The pair had argued the UK's libel laws, which did not allow them legal aid, denied them freedom of speech.'

Helen Steel and David Morris were accused by McDonalds of libel for handing out leaflets attacking McDonalds outside a McDonalds in North London. What's interesting is that the judge in the original trial agreed with many of the statements in the leaflet.

If you go to the McSpotlight site you can get much more information about the trial, you can down load copies of the updated 'What's wrong with McDonalds' leaflet to distribute outside your local McDonalds.

Finally the truth about the Daily Mail

The mayor of London Ken Livingstone has been embroiled in row about comments he made to a London Evening Standard Journalist. Generally I support Ken, but I don't agree with what he said, it was offensive and he probably should apologize to the individual journalist. However for me the most important part of the story is that someone has spoken out in public about the cancer in Fleet Street that is the Daily Mail. For years now the Daily Mail has spread its nasty, spiteful, poisoned view of the world gradually affecting the views of those who read it until they finally see the world in it's light. (See yesterdays Mail front page, this is a typical headline, stirring up racism and hatred over the issue of asylum seekers)

An article in the Guardian reports, 'At a routine press conference this morning, Mr Livingstone insisted his remarks were justified, reiterating his claims at the London Assembly yesterday that he had suffered a 24-year hate campaign by newspapers, particularly those within the Daily Mail group.

"Although we uniquely have some brilliant newspapers and first-rate journalists, their standing is dragged down by what must be some of the most reprehensibly managed, edited and owned newspapers in the world. "They have a disgraceful record, none more so than the Daily Mail," he said. "When it was first set up [in 1896] its first campaign was against Jewish refugees coming to London from the pogroms. It continued its anti-Semitism in the 1930s, fighting any proposals that Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler should be admitted to this country."'

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect today, it's difficult not to feel it's going to be too little, too late. 141 countries - who account for about 55% of greenhouse gas emissions - have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2% by 2012.

The US and Australia have abstained for economic reasons, and developing countries such as China and India are outside its framework. See the BBC report here. If you want a good background to the issues of climate change the BBC website has a really good straight talking explanation in their Planet Under Pressure site.

Take care - Wildberry.

 

It's Friday evening and having had a cold for most of the week it's definitely time to be mellow and sink into the weekend. I want to recommend a book that has been a favourite of mine for a long time. If you're interested in self-building, eco-building or just the relaxed days of the 1970s then this book is for you. It seems to hark back to a time when life was a bit simpler than it is today.

Shelter Publications have over the years produced a number of books, which have now almost entered folk law as the books of record for free thinking self-builders. These books are not intended for those wanting to construct a standard three bedroom town house. Probably the most well known book is Shelter, originally published in 1973 and still in print, it is a fantastic record of alternative self-build projects mainly throughout the USA. Although not restricted to green building methods, the concepts of use of natural materials and the re-use of materials are high on the agenda. Other books worth looking out for are the Domebooks 1, 2 & 3, all of which now reach high prices on second-hand sites on the web. A recent publication to follow on the tradition of Shelter, though with a smaller format, is Homework, this covers the developments in self building since the publication of Shelter. Homework is readily available on Amazon etc. A fascinating read whether you're going to build you own house or not.


jackstuff

I mentioned the other day I've been looking at Photoblogs, something that's prompted me to buy a new digital camera - but that's another story, and I've come across jackstuff, from what is obviously a young guy from the UK. Now some of his musings make me feel distinctly middle-aged, but the photos are really good. No I mean really good! I was going to post one here, but this horrible green background didn't show them off as they deserve. Please check it out.

Have a great weekend - Wildberry

 

Can you believe an estimated 4,000 - 6,000 turned up at Ikea in Edmonton on North London at Midnight to try to get a bargain in the store's opening sale! BBC report. So many people turned up that several people had to be taken to hospital and the store closed 30 minutes after opening. I've heard discussion on the radio about the irresponsibility of Ikea opening at that time and they have been irresponsible, but surely the most amazing thing is the greed of the shoppers themselves. I'm afraid this is just a symptom of our consumer society, that people are prepared to do this some of them bringing small children shopping in the middle of the night. Were they looking for a bargain or a life?


The CIA - a surprising mine of information

Now when I say CIA, what's the first that comes into your head? Is it blokes in dark glasses bundling people into the back of big cars? Yes, me too, funny that isn't it! Well something I discovered sometime ago is the CIA World Factbook, it's true, the men in black not only research all this stuff for George Jnr. but they also publish it for you and me, and once you start looking you really can't stop. It's like when your parents buy you the Guinness Book of Records for your eighth birthday, you just can't stop looking at it.

For example, did you know the population of North Korea is 22,697,553, now how the hell do they know that! Mmm better not ask! or that as of July 2004 the population of the USA was 293,027,571 and the average age of the men was 34.7 years and the women was 37.4 years, good for the women I suppose.

I was going to stick the CIA logo at the top of the page but thought better of it!

Take care, and stay away from men in dark glasses - Wildberry.

Wednesday 9 February 2005
Tesco too big, says Britain

In a report on Reuters it is interesting to see, that in a telephone poll, almost half of those surveyed thought that Tesco is too big and making too much of an impact on the British High Street. In the article they say, 'The company is expected to post sales of 34.2 billion pounds for the current year and profits of over 2 billion pounds. Some experts believe it will overtake France's Carrefour within a few years to become the world's number two retailer after the mighty Wal-Mart.'

Of course there is an easy answer to this, which doesn't require the input of the government or local planners, just don't shop there! Take you custom to your local shops or farmers' market, because if you don't use them they will disappear. I hear so many people comment, isn't it a shame that our local butcher/baker/post office has closed. Yes it is, but did you shop there, the answer is invariably NO! Well then what do you expect, get out there use your local shops, make friends with them, get to know them and get back your feeling of community in the process. I tell you for sure Tesco don't care about you as much as your local shop keeper will.

Climate change guide

I came across a really good explanation on the BBC website to the various aspects of climate change. It has animated presentations showing how the temperature is expected to change between now and 2099, the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, feedback effects and an issue that is really worrying of you live in the UK, the possibility that the gulf stream will be affected giving us a Canadian climate.

Be careful out there! - Wildberry.

I was so pleased to see the suggestion from the French and German Governments, reported in The Guardian on Saturday, that a tax should be levied on European flights to help fund the increased aid required for Africa. As I have said for some time the situation where airline fuel is untaxed, only encouraging the growth in cheap air travel, needs to be addressed. Using that revenue to help those in greatest need in Africa can only be a good thing. Here is a link to the The Guardian letters page on the same subject.
 

.. even more good news!

Another piece of good news from The Guardian on Saturday. It is proposed that cars will be rated on the amount of CO² produced and be colour coded with a sticker, as currently happens with fridges and washing machines etc. Green for high MPG cars through to Red for the lowest MPG vehicles. I would suggest the stickers should be large and it be a requirement that they stay on for the life of the vehicle. They give examples of the cars which would fit into each band as follows:

· Band A (less than 100 g/km) - Honda Insight (80g/km)

· Band B (101 to 120) - Toyota Prius (104)

· Band C (121 to 150) - Fiat Panda 1.1 Active (135)

· Band D (151 to 165) - Citroen Xsara 1.4i Forte (159)

· Band E (166 to 185) - Ford Mondeo 1.8 SCi Ghia (179), Rover 45 1.4 (168).

· Band F (more than 185) -Lamborghini Murcielago (500), BMW 520i SE (219).

This will hopefully make people think before they buy that new car.
 

Photoblogs

I've recently been looking at some of the photoblogs on Photoblogs.org, I've been amazed by the incredible quality of the pictures posted. I was trying to pick one to recommend, the quality of all of them is so high. One I do look at is Mike Golding - Photos from London, firstly because the photos are great, but also London is where I was born - I love it and it's great to see it so well portrayed. I wouldn't show any of the photos here without asking the photographer first, so get yourselves over there and have a look.

Take care - Wildberry.

It is expected that Lucien Freud's portrait of Kate Moss may sell for $6 Million when it goes on sale next month. I saw this painting when it was on show in London, I'm a huge fan of Lucien Freud and quite fond of Kate Moss, I have to say, but I'm afraid I just don't see Kate in this painting. Maybe I'm coming across as a complete philistine, but art is nothing if not subjective. Sorry about the tiny image it's the best I can find.

Earth on Empty

I've been looking at links to add to the Transport page in the Directory and I came across the site of Earth on Empty. This group have a ticket, similar to parking tickets, that they put on the windscreens of SUVs. Apparently they've posted about one million tickets to date in over 500 cities across the US.

The wording on the ticket says, 'Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and try to get honest with yourself. Did you get excited when you saw that ad of a SUV in the remote wilderness? Did you want to sue the manufacturer for FALSE advertising when you started driving it to the shopping center? Are you REALLY going to take that shiny new $40,000 SUV off road? We made this ticket because we live in the city, and so do you, and there’s something really wrong about the way the SUV is changing our streets and the air we breathe. This is not a militarized zone! Your truck contributes to a hostile and unhealthy environment for everyone. Think about it! Why not use it to carpool? Try taking the subway!! Find out more at www.suv.org! After all, there’s nothing in the American dream about sitting in traffic in your car by yourself for hours on end every day.'

I think it's just the simplicity of it which gets me, but it obviously works in highlighting message, as documentary filmmaker Lynn Weissman is proposing to make a film about the group. They say, 'That’s the Ticket! will document the unspoken public anger towards SUVs and the unfolding of this guerrilla art strike geared to transform this anger into social change. Through interviews and imagery, this documentary will capture the journey of events leading up to, during, and after this snowballing "art-in-action" project around the U.S.' They are trying to involve documentary filmmakers all over the US in the project. You can find more details on the Earth on Empty site.

... SUV bumper stickers

If you want a bumper sticker for your car or SUV (I suppose), head over to The SUV Info Link. My favourite is probably the one above.

Keep safe - Wildberry.

Apparently John Taylor, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary, had made his mind up before he even got to the G7 meeting with Gordon Brown, at which Nelson Mandela spoke today. See the BBC report.

"Not only does the IFF not work for the United States, we don't need the IFF," Taylor said, arriving in London to stand in for his boss Treasury Secretary John Snow who had a cold.

I think he's somewhat missing the point! It's not all about you and the USA, John. The USA seems to be falling into a familiar role as the anchor slowing the world's progress, as it has on the Kyoto protocol, and moves to reduce the impacts of climate change generally. Someone needs to tell George Bush that the best place to lead is from the front not the back.

Stansted Airport – National Trust Speaks Out

I’m really pleased to see the director-general of the National Trust, Fiona Reynolds has spoken out against the expansion of Stansted Airport. In a report in The Guardian yesterday she promised that, the largest conservation organisation in Europe, now with 3.4 million members, would not sit by while the government ignored the value of heritage ‘as the social glue which holds the nation together’.

The National Trust is long overdue in using its unique position to speak out on environmental matters.


CD Baby - the baby with taste

If you like good music, a site that is worth looking at is CD Baby. They only list CDs by independent artists.

As they say on their site 'We only sell CDs that come directly from the musicians. No distributors. Musicians send us CDs. We warehouse them, sell them to you, and pay the musicians directly.' Now that sounds like Fairtrade to me.

The thing I like about the site is their 'Sounds Like' feature, where you type in your favourite well known artist and they suggest people you might enjoy. This tells you one thing about them, they're listening to the music they sell, and that has to be a good start. I've recently bought CDs by Erica Smith, Edie Carey and Esther Golton from CD Baby and they're all to be recommended.

Have a good weekend - Wildberry.

Nelson Mandela will be in London tomorrow, addressing the crowds in Trafalgar Square to support the 'Make Poverty History' campaign. He will put pressure on world leaders to ensure more and better aid, drop the debt and deliver trade justice. He will also call on the public to get involved and take action. This action and others like it are leading up to the G8 summit this year is to be held in Gleneagles in Scotland. If you are in London tomorrow, please go along and give your support, the rally starts in Trafalgar Square at 12noon.

Links updated

All the Co-op links that were in the Blog Monday 24 January, plus others, have been added to the Co-operatives page in the directory. I'm also updating the Fairtrade links prior to the upcoming Fairtrade Fortnight on 1 - 13 March. For further details of Fairtrade Fortnight see the Fairtrade Foundation. If you have any links for either, please send them in.


Other dates for your diary:

Global Week of Action   10-16 April 2005



The Global Week of Action is from 10-16 April 2005. As many campaigns as possible across the world active on trade and neo-liberalism come together in united action. The idea is 'for all of the organisations, networks and movements to take action in their own national and regional campaigns. The aim is to challenge the free trade myth and put forward alternatives by delivering the biggest global mobilisation we have seen'.

World Fairtrade Day  8th May 2005

World Fair Trade Day is a celebration of Fair Trade internationally, with events organised worldwide. On and around May 8th, International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) member organisations based in 60 countries, along with Fair Trade shops and networks, hosted events with campaigning and lobbying - all with the aim of promoting fairer trade with marginalised and small scale producers in the majority world.

..... and in the comedy corner ... Robert Kilroy-Silk

If you live outside the UK, you probably won't of heard of Robert Kilroy-Silk, and think yourselves luck for that small blessing. The ex-Labour MP, ex-TV presenter, ex-UKIP member has decided the only way to massage his huge ego, is form a political party in his own image. The man who famously said, Arabs are 'suicide bombers, limb-amputators, women repressors' is to call his new party Veritas (the Latin for 'truth'). Irony indeed Robert. Veritas will be launched tomorrow. See the BBC story or you could try the 'Kilroy Introduction Generator'.

Be careful out there, Wildberry.