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Who will watch the watchers?

Anger over undercover police stealing the identities of dead children is fully justified. At least two police units seem to have been involved and the number of dead children's identities stolen may be over 100.The row currently focuses on the families' indignation and the morality of police actions, with undercover agents fathering children and then disappearing. That all needs investigating, followed by apologies and policy changes. But let's not forget the need to question the entire basis of this spy scandal: to infiltrate and monitor (and sometimes provoke) political and environmental groups, some of which were committed to non-violent action.Many in the environmental movement - toiling in what often seems a hopeless struggle against entrenched political and economic interests - might smile ruefully at \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Feb 7, 2013.

Enjoy the Feast

Feast sets out to distil the extraordinary, 300-year history of the spread of Yoruba people and culture from west Africa to the rest of the world into 90 minutes on a London stage. Does it succeed? Of course not. How can such a vibrant people and intricate cosmology be captured and condensed in an artificial, confined space? The slavers tried, triggering one of the world’s epic migrations, and thankfully failed. But not succeeding is not the same as failing – as Yoruba’s multi-spirit, life-affirming, paradox-filled belief system might say – and Feast is a joyous celebration. It celebrates survival, diversity, complexity, humanity, life. The sets and stagecraft, the singing and dancing are brilliant. There’s more fun and enjoyment here than in a dozen London theatres put \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Feb 3, 2013.

'When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?'

Environmental activist and author Mark Lynas and his organic farming father,  Bry - both with strong OneWorld connections - are making waves with their rethinking on nuclear power and organics.Mark started it off with an \"I was wrong\" declaration on nuclear power. The former OneWorld Editor, GM-crop trasher, pie-thrower and pioneer climate change militant wrote an article in 2010 headlined \"Why We Greens Keep Getting It Wrong\" and decided that nuclear power was not the enemy but was an essential weapon in the anti-global warming armoury.He followed up with an apology for his previous anti-GM stance. Interestingly, he defended his switch by arguing that it was important to go with the science: \"My anti-science environmentalism became increasingly inconsistent with my pro-science environmentalism with \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 27, 2013.

Goodbye, Major Bob

The Guardian belatedly today reported the funeral of Bob Astles, an ex-British soldier who went to Uganda as a colonial officer, building roads. He married a Ugandan, set up an air transport company and, with interruptions in jail as he fell in and out favour, worked for both Presidents Milton Obote and Idi Amin.His activities have never been throroughly investigated, but he knew how to make himself useful to whoever was No.1 and during my years in Uganda, and subsequently, he was a useful go-to guy. For example, he flew me in his light aircraft when I needed transport to cover the visit of Britain's Princess Margaret. More tellingly,  when I needed confirmation that white mercenaries were heading from Congo to Uganda it turned out that \"Major Bob\" (aka the White Rat) was the only person in the country - \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 22, 2013.

From Harry to Barry: yes we can

By a delightful coincidence, Barack Obama's inauguration address in the US was followed in this country by a TV screening of a fascinating documentary, Sing Your Song, about the life of Harry Belafonte.Belafonte used his good looks (“He decided to tighten the pants a little and open that shirt”) and singing and acting talent to break racial barriers in US entertainment, and was a genuine activist in the civil rights movement, unlike most contemporary stars who think that looking serious in a refugee camp is a contribution to changing the world.What made the screening so timely were not just the newsreel shots of white violence and bigotry in Mississippi or Alabama, but the revealing show biz illustrations of the racial hysteria of the time - such as the row that erupted when white British singer \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 22, 2013.

Journalists with bees in their bonnets

Perfect timing: the screening of The Murder of the Honeybee as part of the Centre for Investigative Journalism’s Investigative Film Week in London coincides with a European Food Safety Authority announcement that its scientists have identified a number of risks posed to bees by three neonicotinoid insecticides.Using one of those puns so beloved of our media and NGOs, Friends of the Earth said today: \"The clear link between neonicotinoid pesticides and declining bee health must sting the Government into action – we can’t afford to dither when it comes to protecting these key pollinators.\"Film-maker Manon Blaas looks not only at the allegation that the decline in bee numbers is caused by a pesticide, but also the claim that corporate power outweighs other considerations and can affect what \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 16, 2013.

'More NGOs per square mile than any other country...'

After a series of articles, letters to the editor and reports, the questioning of the post-earthquake relief effort in Haiti hits another peak today (11 January) with a \"speakout\" the Red Cross at 44 Moorfields in London.The organisers - Global Women’s Strike, Women of Colour in the GWS/London, Payday men’s network/Refusing to Kill - claim: \"Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating in Haiti for months. Three years after the earthquake, despite billions donated by a generous public, hundreds of thousands of people are still struggling to survive in tent cities, surrounded by rubble. They are still without clean water or food security or income, still fighting the cholera imported by UN troops. And now they face the further devastation of Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed 70% of the crops (but \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 10, 2013.

Defending aid

No sooner had I written a short piece on the spate of criticisms and defences of the effectiveness of aid, than I receive the latest newsletter from Mark Galloway of the International Broadcasting Trust in which he says that \"IBT hopes to examine the proactive aid agenda in future research.\"He also says that in February the IBT will be co-hosting a parliamentary breakfast meeting that will look at how to use the media to engage the public with aid and how to respond to media criticism of aid. He hopes international development minister Justine Greening will take part.It will be interesting to see whether participants, particularly those from traditional aid agencies, are caught up in the need to encourage public confidence at all costs, because their organisations need generous responses to specific \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 8, 2013.

Haiti as a test of aid

That hardy perennial, Is aid effective?, is under discussion again.There have been a few NGO comments on the slowness of post-2010 earthquake reconstruction in Haiti, and just before Christmas Oxfam reported that more than 86 per cent of people living in camps in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince say that they were unable to leave these tent cities because they cannot afford to pay rent. This was followed by a warning from the International Organization for Migration that at least 84 per cent of the population living in Haitian camps in 2012 were already there in 2010. On 30 December, an opinion piece by Ian Burrell in The Guardian in London headlined ‘Disastrous relief for Haiti’, said: “Three years on from the quake, it's evident reconstruction has been fatally undermined by \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 7, 2013.

The triumph of Timor-Leste

The ending of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste on the last day of 2012 is another reminder of one of the great political turnarounds of recent years: it's up there with the achievement of majority rule in South Africa and the collapse of the Soviet empire.Ok, East Timor is a small and little-known country, but Indonesia's grip on it looked cast-iron, backed as it was by Western real-politik. I remember thinking sadly about the brave impossibility of the independence fighters' task. But the politics of Indonesia changed, the West shifted, and the courage of the Timorese was unwavering.Independence came with a final shameful, destructive act by Indonesia, working with local thugs to trash the country's physical infrastructure, bequeathing a country in ruins. I was proud to be a tiny, \[...\]
from Daniel Nelson on Jan 1, 2013.
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