Improving Maths and Science education

Another politician, this time Michael Gove, bemoaning the fall in UK maths and science. However, the decline, as measured by the OECD is real enough. The government's review group reports in August. Finland does well in the rankings with a high degree of teaching and curriculum freedom.

At school, British 15-year-olds' maths skills are now more than two whole academic years behind 15-year-olds in China. In the last decade, we have plummeted down the international league tables: from 4th to 16th place in science; and from 8th to 28th in maths. While other countries - particularly Asian nations - have raced ahead we have, in the words of the OECD's Director of Education, "stagnated."

Speaking Truth to Power

Victims, in uniform or out of uniform. Watch here.

Flashback: Mumbai

I know nothing about today's synchronised bombings in Mumbai. But here's a pertinent flashback to the 2008 Mumbai massacre care of Global Research TV.

The Accidental Terrorist

Summer reading idea. Erm, my novel. Available on Amazon.

Mounting Evidence that Dominique Strauss Kahn was Framed

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25533

Debtocracy

An auditing of who a country owes it's debt to seems a compelling argument. Especially when the austerity measures including cuts to health and social spending mean that the country's own people die so that offshore bankers get paid. Bankers and international financiers who lent money in the first place with interest that reflected the riskiness of the loan.

Often, as in the case of Greece, debts were built up based on dodgy accounting and bribes. Not done by the people but by a small group of corrupt politicians and lobbyists.

This documentery, called Debtocracy, is well worth watching. It looks at Ecuador as an example of how to audit debt and reduce what is owed by discounting odious or illegitimate debt.

http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2011/07/debtocracy-exposing-greek-debt-crisis

Union leaders pay

The Taxpayers Alliance lists the pay of the top UK union leaders. Benefits aside, the range is from £80 - 100K. What should a union leader get? The same as a headteacher, GP? Slightly more than an MP's basic of £70K?

Just what are those Greek austerity measures?

Interesting breakdown of what life on the ground is like in Greece. Although it doesn't go into personal income tax rates.

https://aleksandreia.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/just-what-are-those-greek-austerity-measures/

Greece - D Day

From Graham Summer's Market Forecast:

However, the facts remain the same. The world is awash in garbage debt. The only reason the banks and others haven’t taken the “hit” that they NEED to take is because they’ve bought out the politicians. Put another way, we are seeing clearly that the two primary principles of the West (capitalism and democracy) have both become jokes: alleged “capitalists” like the banks don’t ever actually see losses for mistakes and “democratically elected” leaders are in fact owned outright by the banks via donations/ bribes.

Another great Adam Curtis piece

Syria: The baby and the Baath water


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/06/the_baby_and_the_baath_water.html

Another week in Libya...

Another £40 million...

Military chiefs have acknowledged that the air campaign would last six months. At this rate, the Ministry of Defence's own estimates will put the cost of war at about £400m, but the expert view is that the figure will top £1bn by September.

potential dangers of electromagnetic fields and their effect on the environment

From Council of Europe draft report on the potential dangers of electromagnetic fields and their effect on the environment. As they say, it 'sounds like a plan'... I wonder what the final report will read like?

8.2.1. set preventive thresholds for levels of long-term exposure to microwaves in all indoor areas, in accordance with the precautionary principle, not exceeding 0.6 volts per metre, and in the medium term to reduce it to 0.2 volts per metre;

8.2.2. undertake appropriate risk-assessment procedures for all new types of device prior to licensing;

8.2.3. introduce clear labelling indicating the presence of microwaves or electromagnetic fields, the transmitting power or the specific absorption rate (SAR) of the device and any health risks connected with its use;

8.2.4. raise awareness on potential health risks of DECT-type wireless telephones, baby monitors and other domestic appliances which emit continuous pulse waves, if all electrical equipment is left permanently on standby, and recommend the use of wired, fixed telephones at home or, failing that, models which do not permanently emit pulse waves;

8.3. concerning the protection of children:

8.3.1. develop within different ministries (education, environment and health) targeted information campaigns aimed at teachers, parents and children to alert them to the specific risks of early, ill-considered and prolonged use of mobiles and other devices emitting microwaves;

8.3.2. ban all mobile phones, DECT phones or WiFi or WLAN systems from classrooms and schools, as advocated by some regional authorities, medical associations and civil society organisations;

Bin Laden oddities

Amar al Sadah, the mysterious fifth wife of Bin Laden is still being interrogated in Pakistan. I'm very interested to hear what she says. The latest speculation is that she tipped off the US about where Bin laden and his two other wives and children were hiding. Or, alternatively

The joke doing the rounds in Pakistan is that Bin laden gave himself away to the Americans as he found his life with three wives and many children too hot to handle

Also

On 13 May, the Times of India reported that Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the claim that Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in the Abbottabad compound for the past six years "is not authentic."

Source:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-13/news/29539863_1_al-sadah-abbottabad-compound-bin-laden

You'd think the Seal team would take a wife or three to get humint from. Anyway, the whole marriage arrangement sounds very bizarre:

International Channel Watch News says her marriage to Bin Laden was arranged by a prominent Al Qaeda leader in Yemen called Sheikh Mohammed Rashed Saeed Ismail.

The task of convincing the parents of Amal that Bin Laden was a suitable bridegroom lay on Ismail too. He told the parents that Bin Laden was looking for a wife and that the bridegroom was "famous and known for his piousness, humbleness, religion, strong belief, generosity and goodness. I told them that he would be a good husband for your daughter.”

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/142095/20110506/bin-laden-wife-amal-al-sadah-fifth-5th-afghanistan-yemen-9-11.htm

Granted this was just before 911, but what an interesting person this Sheikh Ismail sounds. A quick search turns up not very much on him. Will he disappear back into the shadows?

Illuminating documentary on assassinated Egyptian President Sadat

From Adam Curtis's BBC blog:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/02/sadats_dat.html#comments

'Zombie' Bin Laden could be new weapon in War on Terror

• Bin Laden more dangerous dead than alive

American Predator drones are constantly patrolling the site of Bin Laden's watery grave in case Al Qaida attempts a daring sea bed recovery. 'Officially, Bin Laden still exists and we're not going to risk terror striking out of a clear blue sea.'

A new Al Qaida video shows Bin Laden looking defiant even though he's dead and under the ocean. Fears are growing that the next terror attack could come from beneath the waves. 'This would be a Domesday scenario,' said a security source.

'Despite being dead, Osama Bin Laden is still spiritually leading Al Qaeda from the bottom of the ocean,' said a security source.

Bin Laden is sending out powerful messages to would be terrorists to act on their own. The biggest threat of terror attack comes from so-called 'lone wolf' extremists, who have never heard of 9-11 but could be inspired to carry out exactly the same attack.

This raises the prospect that Bin Laden could be brought back to life to make the world safer. The 'Zombie Bin Laden' option is being discussed behind closed doors at a top level. 'It would be better to have a Zombie Bin Laden we control, rather than a dead one under the waves that we can't,' a well-paid spook said.

Shifting loyalties in Libya

So, let me get this clear. The leader of the 'rebel' forces in Libya, al Hasidi, previously fought against the 'allies' in Afghanistan. He is commanding fighters who previously fought against US and British forces in Iraq.

Nato forces are now supporting these rebels against Gaddafi. A leader who Al Qaeda attempted to assassinate, with alleged western backing, in 1996.

Gaddafi stopped supporting terrorism, seeking WMD's and did deals with the west, including BP, and embraced Tony Blair in 2008. This apparently wasn't enough. Sends a clear signal to Iran and North Korea if they were ever tempted to deal with the Anglo-American axis...

So what does it matter if Gaddafi offers a ceasefire? He's no longer recognised by the US who only deal with the catchily-named Interim Transitional National Council.

See here.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8407047/Libyan-rebel-commander-admits-his-fighters-have-al-Qaeda-links.html

Graphic debt charts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13361934

If WiFi harms trees, what about children?

Via Magda Havas:

The debate about WiFi being used in schools continues to escalate as new research from the Netherlands shows that when ash trees are exposed to radiation emitted by WiFi base station antennas, the leaves discolor and gradually die. The study reported that 70% of all trees in urban areas (but not those in dense forests) show the symptoms, compared to 10% five years ago. Although this is a preliminary study, which has not yet been published, it should be taken seriously.

Sensible WiFi advice

From Magda Havas:

Most schools in North America are opting for a total WiFI wireless local area network (WLAN) that allows computers and laptops to be connected to each other without wires. But the Swiss and German governments prefers – LAN – wired networks that do not emit microwave radiation.

Click Here to read the WiFi warnings and suggestions that Switzerland and Germany provides to schools.

For example, on their public health website, they specifically warn about the dangers of WiFi:

“Only switch your WLAN (WiFi) on when you need it. With laptops, in particular, it is a good idea to switch the WLAN (WiFi) off as otherwise the device will repeatedly try to connect to a network, leading to unnecessary radiation…and caution should be exercised primarily when using devices held close to the body, such as laptops, PDAs and Internet telephones”.

Egypt's Revolt

Some good understanding on Egypt

From the Nation

Nafeez Ahmed in Op Ed News

Inequality in US is greater than Egypt.

Being on the right side of the world revolution

The words of Martin Luther King are just as relevant today. Note how the use of language changes: 'revolution' is a word now closely paired with violence or terrorism in mainstream western political discourse.

These words are from his first public anti-Vietnam war speech on 4 April 1967. It marks the broadening of his campaigning from racial segregation into wider issues of unjust war, poverty and global injustice. He became a threat to power, and some powerful people made the decision to silence him. Exactly one year later he was assassinated:

"...the words of the late John F. Kennedy come back to haunt us. Five years ago he said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Increasingly, by choice or by accident, this is the role our nation has taken -- the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered"