A big Presentation

Labour have announced a 'big conversation' which will be held online between politicians and the nation.

It looks like a good idea, we can fire questions to assorted ministers and presumably at some point some heavyweights as well. They answer and we all learn that little bit more. Except that when you look at the rules on the questions they are these...

What we're really getting is interactive Prime Ministers Questions, with all the difficult questions taken out. Wouldn't it have been more effective (and more of a conversation) to wander round the country taking questions at local venues from interested public? The results could have been videoed and put online.

They could have done every constituency with a labour MP and then every constituency they're challenging in. People could have gone to the next election able (if they wanted) to have watched an hour long Q and A session with their local candidate.

As is so often the case when politicians try to engage the point of the exercise seems to have been lost in the small print. Still, I guess its a good start.

Update Apparently this is loosely connected with Tom Watson, a labour MP who is genuinely conversing with his constituents.

Oh and you could look at New Wave Labour, but it might be worth waiting until there's some actual content on the website.

Upgrading

This blog now has comments courtesy of Haloscan, and archives, courtesy of me bothering to add the code for them.

I've also sorted out the Timezone (I now appear to be in Amsterdam, not Los Angeles) and the date formatting at the end of the post. (I now know what day it is) all in all a productive thirty minutes.

Culture Crash

Doc Searls is looking for Republican Hackers, by which he means programmers not criminals. He's having trouble finding cool uses of IT (specifically Linux) which are in use by Republican campaigns.

I'm not sure he'll find much. I think there's something in the culture of the two parties that pushes the Democrats toward the kind of lo-tech, distributed, hi-idea platforms that are tying together some of their campaigns and makes Republicans want hi-tech, centralised, easy to understand solutions (probably from Bill) for theirs.

Its probably all part of the tradition of leftist imaginative dissent. From suffragettes chaining themselves to the railings of Buckingham Palace and Ten Downing Street to Flash Mobs in Seattle the left - short on resources but long on imagination - have come up with the more memorable protests.

The two right wing protests that stand out for me are the Nuremburg Rallies and the KKK marching on Washington, both of which were organised by groups so extreme I'm not sure they belong in this post.

Donkey Carts and Stealth Bombers

David Hackworth is America's most decorated soldier, and he's been an odd mix of supporter, critic and commentator on the iraq war from the start. Here's his take on what's going on at the moment.

Drug Dealing

Tony is currently unsure about what to think about Intellectual Property law and generic drugs for AIDS treatment. For me this is one of those issues where the moral side of the thing 'it extends thousands of lives' obliterates all thoughts of economics and such. It may event prevent the emergence of several more failed states in sub-saharan Africa which would make the world a far safer place.

In any event here is some reading to help Tony make up his mind


Word Bank Paper on the scale of the problem
Globalisation Trade Deals and Drugs
a Canadian Doctor on the implications of TRIPS
Brazils successful treatment program
Includes pricing data
The Medicin sans frontiers
campaign site
This report on an Overseas Development Institute
allowed someone from Medicine sans Frontiers to debate with someone from Glaxo Smithkline

The last one is interesting since the guy from Glaxo has a lot of interesting statistics. The MSF guy has some good data on missing markets and market failures. Also addresses the Glaxo guys argument that despite patent free drugs 30% of people needing TB treatment don't get it therefore the problem isn't with the patents. For HIV the figure is 95%, so maybe it is.

Things to object to

I'm feeling a bit behind on the blogging. Stuff I'd liked to have ranted about but missed

English sporting triumph, plus why when rugby is played by men the size of Martin Johnson is the cup so small?
The remainder of Bush's visit
Bush goes negative before the election starts (Bush attacks, you respond)
Love Actually (actually not as clever a script as it seems but quite a nice film)

Oh yeah, and having heard from Bush that freedom is a beautiful thing Blair has decided that the British should have some too.

More later.

Now running at speed

Following three whole days without an internet connection caused by a hardware fault with my modem I'm back online. Now though I'm on ADSL, courtesy of McKinsey and Co. As the guy who did the install said it looks like a good time not to need a modem anymore...

New LastMinute.com MD not blonde/female enough, shares drop

Its market behaviour likes this that makes me view 'strong form efficient' descriptions of the stock market as bollocks. Martha Lane Fox, a 30 year old entrepreneur has quit as MD of LastMinute.com and been replaced by her COO.

Given that she's staying on the board LastMinute.com can still rely on her to pop up on TV or in the newspapers doing her 'young, blonde, oxbridge' thing, or to smile sweetly at the banks. Was 10% of LastMinute's value really down to her? Is the new guy (who's been COO for years) really that bad?

Besides which its at about this stage in a companies life that you're supposed to ditch the entrepreneur and bring in the kind of hardened big company businessman who looks good in a suit. Market efficiency - don't believe it.

Mouse pads, shoe leather, and hope

Found this great article via Doc Searls. Taking my partisan hat off for a minute its a very solid summary of something I'd been meaning to write about. Dean's campaign isn't doing well because of the blog or the websites - its performing because its using those tools to do things in the offline world.

Like so many things about internet marketing its all terribly old fashioned really. They've got people writing letters - Amnestly International has been doing this for years. They've got people getting together to talk about politics - the American War of Independence was planned in a similar way in the coffee shops and tea houses of Boston (less Starbucks then I suppose) and I have no doubt that the conspirators who brought down Ceaser enjoyed a convivial beverage as they planned their coup. It's what politics should be, a big discussion.

New Memorials

The BBC have pictures of the finalists in the 9/11 memorial design contest. I like numbers one and eight. I don't know how they're choosing the winner, one would hope there'll be an open ballot of New Yorkers or something similar.

New comic to read?

Bloom County never made it to my regular comic reading, what with it being the 80's and me not being American. So it's good to know that it's creator is launching a new strip and that it's probably going to be my kind of thing.

Click through the Salon advertisements to read about it here.

Protests warming up a bit

If the way the interwebnet.org server is slowing down is anything to go by updates on the protests are a fairly popular service. In the mean time Tim has nearly been arrested for 'upsetting tourists' - the horror.

Prime Ministers Questions today featured a back from the grave Michael Howard laying into Blair for considering supporting Ken Livingston as mayor of London and followed up with questions about the Minister for Children. Blair promptly exploded into a serious rant about the last Tory government the like of which hasn't been seen since the Tories were in power.

I have a theory. Having a genuine reminder of Conservative horror stalking him may actually remind Blair that he's supposed to be on the left. This may actually be a good thing.

In other news, I have a job interview with an e-learning company. So far today is shaping up quite well.

Bush's speech in advance

According to the Guardian this is what Bush will be saying today

The speech will be about what the Bush administration sees as the "three pillars for peace and security". Those pillars are: "strong support for international institutions and alliances (except when they might get in the way)", and recognition that "the use of force is sometimes necessary (especially in the West Bank)" and democratic countries have an obligation to spread democracy through the rest of the world, including the Middle East (democracy is best introduced at gunpoint).

I added the bits in brackets.

Surely this man is too good to lose?

OK, so he's wobbly on guns, but it's not like any US president can do anything about that anyway... In the mean time someone should start the campaign to make Howard Dean head of the Labour Party if he loses in America.

Here's his very sensible internet policy

Good boys can't spell

If you head down to the post on Sinter Claus you'll see a note at the end suggesting that some of the spellings may be less than accurate. It turns out that about the only accurate thing in the whole post was that note. Correct spellings are as follows...

Zwarte Piet

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas Kapoentje
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje
Dank u Sinterklaasje

Which at least explains why I was having trouble pronouncing Gooi / Hoy. I am however confused about the spelling of Sinterklaasje only because I'm sure I saw it spelt differently on a poster...

One man and a website

Regular readers of Bloggerheads will have been able to trace over the last year the transformation of mild mannered marketeer Tim Ireland into online crusader and activist extraordinaire. For the next few days Tim is going to be

CHASING BUSH

Should George Bush come to England?

Today Bush arrives in London and you can bet there will be massive protests. Meanwhile the authorities have played all the cards they can to try and reduce protest numbers and diffuse the impact. We've had news stories about how children played truant to attend the stop the war demo and how schools will take a dim view of this behaviour happening again. We've been told, despite the stop the war protests passing off without incident, that the anarchist fringe will be intent on starting riots. We've been reminded again and again about trigger happy US security staff and islamic extremists. The bill for all this will be massive.

More importantly if this goes well for Bush it'll be a step on his road to re-election. Last time out it was suggested (fairly accurately it seems) that he wasn't going to be much of a diplomat. Years of unilateralist bullying, posturing and intimidation later it seems we were right. There will be those who point to various Bush coalitions as evidence to the contrary but this is disingenious. Bush plunged into Iraq with only the British and a handful of of Spanish and Polish troops for company. I still believe the only reason the British are there was because Blair thought that only by being involved could he try and talk Bush into going through the UN - and if that failed we'd have no choice but to go in ourselves. The coalition of the willing apparently numbers 45, but once you're including places like Eritrea and bribing your allies with aid money it looks more like the coalition of the affordable.

Still I'm sure the plan was for Bush to come here and present it as a triumph of his foreign poicy. Look everyone, George can get on with the foreigners - those know it all Democrats were wrong again!

So plenty of reasons for him not to come then? I don't think so. I think we should send him a bill, but more importantly I think we should send him a message. It's not about whether or not he comes, it's about what he gets out of it. I sincerely hope that at some stage he does come face to face with the protestors - the notion of 'free speech areas' that US demonstrators are confined to it one of the most Orwellian notions I've ever come across. I hope that Charles Kennedy gives it to him straight over the war and makes it clear that a lot of British people don't like, trust or respect him. Not because we've been infected by the 'liberal media' but because we haven't been.

So get out there and protest or support. Take to the streets and remind Bush what a functioning democracy actually looks like. We can remind Blair later, assuming Brown doesn't get him first.

Sinta Claus Capuncha

Sinta Claus day is the 5th of December in Holland and its then not the 25th that good Dutch boys and girls get their presents. However there is something of a run up to Sinta Claus Day as the good saint arrives in the country well in advance - this year he arrived on the 15th November.

He arrives on a steam ship and the event is covered on TV. He rides a horse and is accompanied by dozens of Svartie Piets a kind of Dutch Elf (only they're from Spain) who dance about and distribute candy to all the little boys and girls. Maria and I weren't in to see the steamboat arrive, but that was OK because Sinta Claus is magic. He can be in many places at once, which meant that even as he was disembarking from a steamship he was part of a parade around our local supermarket.

The parade was definately cool, and felt a bit like small town America meets German village. There was a marching band playing oompah versions of carols, there were assorted groups of schoolchildren carrying banners and there were dozens of Piets. The Piets incidently appear to be Moorish in nature, all of them being black (or at least white people blacked up). No-one in Holland seems the least bit bothered by what in other countries would be a very unPC event indeed.

Once the Piets had been round Sinta Claus himself appeared riding in a carriage drawn by two horses. Sinta Claus is a very stern and slightly forbidding character - the harsh judge of good or bad. No "Ho Ho Ho" here, just a lot of handshaking and occasional waving with a white glove. Meanwhile all the children clamoured to say hello to him and shake his hand.

Then he was gone and we went home. However Sinta Claus is generous during his time in Holland. From now until Sinta Claus day children can get themselves candy by doing the following...

Sing a song for Sinta Claus
Leave your shoe out when you go to sleep with either a carrot or some straw for his horse
Be good

When you wake the carrot will have been replaced with candy. I know this is true because I tried it and it worked. Here's the song I sang.

"Sinta Claus Capuncha" / Santa Claus Capuncha
Hoy vot in mein Schoontche / Put something in my shoe
Hoy vot in mein Laasha / Put something in my boot
Dank u Sinta Claus" / Thank you Santa Claus

(spelling and grammar of the above needs tidying up...)

Lets get started

The two posts that preceeded this one (ie the ones further down) were trial posts to check that this thing is working right. Last night my better two thirds pointed out that 'you should be blogging, you've had so many adventures here.'

She's right. When you move to a foreign country lots of things become adventures. My most recent adventure concerned Santa Claus or Sinta Claus as he's known here (and it's pronounced different btw.) You see I met him...

Great TV

I've just seen something called 'No Comment' on EuroNews. They show news footage without any commentary at all, just a time and place on the captions. So today we had footage of protests in Georgia, I know there are allegations of vote-rigging in Tblisi, but I couldn't tell you who the man in the suit with the megaphone was, I couldn't tell you what the army was doing there either. It was a very odd experience seeing this kind of footage stripped of all context.

After that was footage of what I presume were US soldiers in Afghanistan. They were dropped off by helicopter, they wandered through the mountains, at one point they fired a mortar round - it was impossible to tell what at, they certainly didn't seem to be in combat. Later they blew something else up and then got back on their helicopter and went away again - back to base I guess. It was, I suppose, a routine patrol. Watching it like that was interesting, good.

Unvarnished TV. I think there should be more of this stuff.

The blog is starting to come together

Right now however, I have to depart for the Foreign Police, and Immigration. Soon I will no longer be a resident of the British Isles, I will be a resident of Holland, and that's kind of odd.