Mapping the credit crunch with BBC Radio 4

Came across this blog on the BBC Radio 4 site which attempts to assess and map the UK public mood on on particular issues, starting with this question:

What single factor is hurting you most about the credit crunch?

You can choose from six options and will be asked for the first part of your postcode - that's it. It should take less than a minute to complete and the map is updated every 30 minutes.

You won't be asked for any personal information and what you do submit won't be used for any other purpose.

BBC Radio 4 are working on this project with CASA (Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis) based at the University College London, who've developed MapTube, a map-sharing website.

You can view the current map here.

Liberal Democrats can't spell, but support the lorry ban

The Liberal Democrats have been doing their best to fill up my recycling box with numerous leaflets and newsletters.

Mind you, so has Labour.

I had to post this article from their Norwich Mail newsletter. Not because of the worthy campaign to block lorries from using the cycle lane on Newmarket Road.

Rather the fact that the current Councillor for Eaton is holding a makeshift sign that has a spelling mistake on it. Can you spot it (and no, there is no prize)?

Yes, I'm being pedantic. It does not inspire much confidence though, as the inability to spell or quality check your communications when you plan to abolish one tax and replace it with another.

At the last general election, I checked out the Lib Dem's new tax proposals and my household was significantly worse off. We aren't well off so that wasn't an attractive proposition.

Much as I agree with some Lib Dem ideas and have voted for them in the past, I am concerned about whether they really know what they are doing. In this case it may only be forgetting to spell check a road name.

I do hope that lorries will be kept out of this cycle lane, not least as it was only recently that a cyclist was killed on Newmarket Road.

Fingers crossed that the 500+ signatures handed in to City Hall by the Lib Dems will end this bad idea before it is given a trial.

Prime Minister Brown and the Bags of Doom

Got an email to say that Number 10 has responded to the online petition to put a tax on plastic carrier bags.

You can read the Number 10 response here. The original petition "Introduce a tax on plastic carrier bags" was signed by 1,964 people when it closed on 28th February. May not seem a lot but it does at least give you hope that a few like minded people with a worthy cause are occasionally listened to by the government.

Hopefully we will soon stop seeing these bags flapping around in trees and discarded on our streets and countryside. We shouldn't wait for the government to act though, and keep on leading by example by reusing bags, refusing new ones at supermarkets if they try to pack for you, or using non-plastic ones.

Fairtrade Fortnight 25th February - 9th March 2008

Fairtrade Fortnight started on 25th February.

More of us are concerned about where our food and goods come from and the circumstances of their production, the human rights, ethics and environmental aspects.

You can get lots of ideas about how you can get involved and raise awareness over the next few weeks on the Fairtrade Fortnight website. There are resources available to help put up displays and hold events at your school, workplace or within your community.

Go to the website to download the Fairtrade Fortnight 2008 Action Guide and get more information.

A list of events taking place in Norfolk are:

• Sheringham Quaker Meeting House: A Fairtrade sale selling merchandise and locally produced organic produce will be held at Sheringham Quaker Meeting House, Cremer Street, on March 1, 10am-noon in aid of Practical Action and Quaker Peace Projects in Northern Uganda. There will also be tea, coffee and biscuits available, all using Fairtrade ingredients.



• Dereham Baptist Church: To celebrate Dereham Baptist Church becoming a ‘Fairtrade Church’ it will be holding a ‘Fantastic Fairtrade Fare’, including a cafe serving Fairtrade tea, coffee, chocolate and homemade cakes, and stalls selling Hatti Hand-bags, Traidecraft and Stop the Traffik. March 1 from 10 am-12.30pm at Dereham Baptist Church.



• The Forum in Norwich: The Forum in Norwich is marking the end of the fortnight by holding a day of ‘Fairtrade festivities’ with local and national stalls selling fairly-traded produced, family entertainment, games and music – including the Norwich Samba Band. Saturday 9th March from 10am to 5pm.



• Wells library: 'Wells Action for Fair Trade’ is holding an exhibition throughout the fortnight at Wells’ library.



• Ethika, Timber Hill, Norwich: The shop which sells ethically sources, fair-trade and locally created clothes and homewares is holding a photo-graphic exhibition in the Timber Hill entrance of the The Mall in Norwich during Fairtrade Fortnight. The images will show how some of the shops produce is made both locally and in the developing world, including Rajasthani women creating the striking hand blocked tiger linens, wood turners and weavers in Thailand and East Anglian artists and crafts people whose work is also available at Ethika. From February 28 to March 8, 10am to 5pm daily.

Even if you don't want to go to any of these events, if you go to your local Co-op, you will get 20% off the price of all Fairtrade products.

Time to bulk buy on those goods you like to cut down on the number of journeys you make.

Chocolate for me then! ;-)

Join the "Stamp It Out" Campaign

It is my view that there is only one race, the human race. And yet we see and experience inequality and discrimination.

In the UK we are lucky that we have a voice and most people recognise and increasingly speak out against racisim and inequality.

One of the most subtle forms of reinforcing false difference, and promoting inequality is the use of language.

This is most dramatic in its effect when you consider the work of charities such as Survival International. They and their supporters fight for fair and equal rights for tribal peoples around the world.

The power of the media can be a force for good and if innappropriate language is chosen instead, the media can be a force for harm.

Using words such as "primitive" or "stone age" are more than innacurate or insulting - they can be a way of building a campaign to justify the supression and persecution of contemporary tribal peoples.

If you are like minded, please visit the Survival International link to get involved in the "Stamp It Out" campaign.

This campaign is just over 2 years old and I think it is worth me giving it some promotion, and getting involved myself.

Survival's Stamp It Out campaign aims to challenge racist descriptions, however unwitting, of tribal peoples in the media.

Several examples are cited by Survival and perhaps suprisingly, although regrettably, the UK is not exempt. A UK example of such innappropriate descriptions and language in the media is the article entitled 'Face to face with Stone Age man' in the Daily Mail on 21st July 2007.

Visit the Survival web site to get involved and find instructions on how to send one of the Stamp It Out postcards or e-cards to make a real difference to people's lives.

Calendar of Norfolk and UK Green and Ethical Events

I've decided to try to keep a calendar going of events in Norfolk and the UK that have an environmental or ethical living theme.

It's called NUKGEE for short, or Norfolk and UK Green and Ethical Events.

Over time it will improve and if you have any events that you think are relevant and of interest, please get in touch and I will add them to the calendar.

Although I put it together for my benefit so thay I didn't forget and miss out on things, I hope you find it useful too.

More on a UK Ban for Patio Heaters

There is a good review of the debate on patio heaters on the Mygreenweek site.

Although this opens the debate more on the potential energy inefficiency and harm caused by patio heaters, suggesting it is not so clear cut, I would urge people to consider the fact that it is not just CO2 and water vapour that is emitted, they also give out other harmful, unfiltered by byproducts and gases, as pointed out by Leo Hickman of The Guardian newspaper.

We know that B&Q will stop selling patio heaters when its current stock is sold. Wyevale were the first when they announced they would stop selling these back in April 2007.

In the UK, there is increasing support for a total ban on these heaters with various campaigns, perhaps led most prominently by Friends of the Earth. I came across this plain speaking one called Patio Heaters are Evil. Definitely worth looking at if you are considering buying one of these things.

You can read the full details of the EU's Energy Efficiency Motion in its full proposal, which includes the proposed withdrawal from sale of patio heaters.

It is obvious that this is going to be most strongly opposed by the pub and catering trade who have had to deal with the smoking ban introuduced last summer in the UK. I have seen figures that suggest it could cost the pub and the catering industry £250 million per year in lost trade.

Maybe if we ban smoking completely as well then we can have the double benefit of improving human health and reducing the gases that cause climate change? ;-)

EU debates patio heater ban

The EU will debate a ban on patio heaters tomorrow. It seems a bit mad for us all to be encouraged to save energy and produce less greenhouse gases, only for these things to be allowed to heat up the night sky outside pubs. bars and restaurants. Fingers crossed that the EU can take the lead on this and vote to ban these devices of doom.

Save our Puppet Theatre - Norwich Puppet Theatre under threat

I read in The Independent about the Arts Council cutting funding for many organisations, including all of the fudning it gives to the Norwich Puppet Theatre. You can read the Atrs Council Chief Executive's comment on the reasons behind the cuts here.

There are only 2 of these puppet theatres in the country and we have been looking forward to taking our son there when he is a bit older and able to appreciate it. Here's a bit of background about this innovative use of the old church of St James Pockthorpe.

The cut is £60,000 and represents about 35% of the Theatre's funding. As this Evening News article says, not surprisingly, the staff are shocked.

What is the world coming to that we devalue such things so easily, not least in the run up to Christmas when they are most likely to be popular and visited by many families?

This isn't some rubbish outfit. The theatre is a part of the community, and is a custodian for an art form and profession for the whole of the country. It even runs courses and workshops via the Norfolk Adult Education programme.

Proof of the regard in which this theatre is held at a local level can be seen by the support received by Norwich and Norfolk Councils. Why is the national importance going to be ignored?

The Arts Council is looking to support excellence, and yet they do not recognise the clear importance of Norwich Puppet Theatre.

The theatre acts as an Ambasador for the UK both abroad in touring in countries like Finland, Spain, Mexico and Canada, and as a host to touring companies from overseas.

Through the art of puppetry, the young can have their minds and imaginations opened to different ideas and cultures from around the world.

At a time when anti-social behaviour is seemingly on the increase and we are told that government is spending tax-payers money on preventative schemes to provide more effective, long term solutions, why are we trying to kill off Norwich Puppet Theatre when it has the potential to educate children and their families about the world beyond East Anglia and the UK, and perhaps foster greater understanding and tolerance?

Shame on the Arts Council.

No doubt their big favourite theatres in London that receive support won't suffer.

Norwich Puppet Theatre has a Friends scheme, which I will try to find out about and will post the details.

You can find out more about becoming a Friend of Norwich Pupprt Theatre here.

Even if you do not leave locally, you can still, like me, feel strongly about the need to keep places like this going for the benefit of UK culture, and could still become a Friend.

UK's Top 20 Green Blogs 2007 - please vote for me as the "People's Choice Award"!

I was amazed to receive an email from the Jim Jay of The Daily (Maybe) saying that I had been listed in the Top Twenty Green Blogs 2007. Wooo hooo!

His email said:

Hi,

This is the second year of the the UK's Best Green Blogs
which has just been published in Iain Dale's Guide to Political
Blogging and was compiled by myself, Jim Jay, at The Daily (Maybe)
where you can read the entire list.

http://jimjay.blogspot.com/

I'm
just sending you a quick message to let you know you're in the top
twenty, congratulations. As a side benefit this also means you're in
with a chance of the coveted "People's Choice Award" too, where readers
vote on who of the top twenty is their favourite read.

Yours,

Jim

Not sure whether this is good or bad as Mr Dale is a Conservative supporter! Oh well, someone has to be I guess. ;-)

The Daily (Maybe) is worth a look though, even if you don't vote for me.