Today, as we all know, is the anniversary of the assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by the young Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.
This became the justification for events that led to the Great War of 1914-1918.
This was the single most catastrophic event to befall Europe, since the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century.
Strangely enough, there were huge ramifications, an end to empires, the greater emancipation of women, and of course the rise of the Labour Party.
It also puts me in mind of Henry Allingham who celebrated his 113th birthday a few weeks back. Mr Allingham is the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces and the oldest surviving veteran of the Great War.
And on the occasion of the first ever Armed Forces Day, our thoughts go to him and all those who served the nation.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Ich bin ein Berliner!
I forgot to say that yesterday was the anniverasry of Jack Kennedy's famous speech from the balcony of Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin, when he said,
"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"
Who would have thought that a quarter of a century later, The Wall would have fallen, and that we'd have the privilege of living in a United Europe, where never the spectre of war will haunt us?
I echo JFK's words in saying, "Civis Europaeus sum".
"Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'... All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'"
Who would have thought that a quarter of a century later, The Wall would have fallen, and that we'd have the privilege of living in a United Europe, where never the spectre of war will haunt us?
I echo JFK's words in saying, "Civis Europaeus sum".
The Stonewall Riots-40 years on
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that took place in Greenwich Village in New York.
This event marked the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.
Last week-end I had the huge honour of opening Calderdale's first Pride event, at the Piece Hall, the sun shone, there were hundreds of people, dozens of stalls and loads of cabaret acts.
It was brilliant.
I believe that there has been a revolution in attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and that a majority of the public want them to share identical rights to everyone else.
According to a Times poll, 61% of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.
Half believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights.
But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that more than half of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.
Overall, nearly 70% of the public back "full equal rights" for gay men and lesbians.
I couldn't agree more.
This event marked the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement.
Last week-end I had the huge honour of opening Calderdale's first Pride event, at the Piece Hall, the sun shone, there were hundreds of people, dozens of stalls and loads of cabaret acts.
It was brilliant.
I believe that there has been a revolution in attitudes towards gays and lesbians, and that a majority of the public want them to share identical rights to everyone else.
According to a Times poll, 61% of the public want gay couples to be able to marry just like the rest of the population, not just have civil partnerships.
Half believe that gay couples should have equal adoption rights.
But perhaps the most surprising discovery is that more than half of the public want children to be taught in school that gay relationships are of equal value to marriage.
Overall, nearly 70% of the public back "full equal rights" for gay men and lesbians.
I couldn't agree more.
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Anna Akhmatova
Today is the 120th anniversary of the poet Anna Akhmatova's birth, and a quatrain from her beautiful work "Requiem" come to mind, as I think of what's going on in Iran.
No foreign sky protected me,
no stranger's wing shielded my face.
I stand as witness to the common lot,
survivor of that time, that place.
No foreign sky protected me,
no stranger's wing shielded my face.
I stand as witness to the common lot,
survivor of that time, that place.
Monday, 22 June 2009
Iran's Election Fraud
Interesting paper by Chatham House and the University of St Andrews analysing the voting figures in this month's Iranian Presidential Elections.
Comparing this and the previous elections of 2005, the team come up with some fascinating observations:
* In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.
* If Ahmadinejad’s victory was primarily caused by the increase in voter turnout, one would expect the data to show that the provinces where there was the greatest 'swing' in support towards Ahmadinejad would also be the provinces with the greatest increase in voter turnout. This is not the case.
* In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but up to 44% of former reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.
* In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in provinces that are more rural flies in the face of these trends.
So whichever way you play it the election was STOLEN!
The complete paper can be downloaded from:http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
Comparing this and the previous elections of 2005, the team come up with some fascinating observations:
* In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.
* If Ahmadinejad’s victory was primarily caused by the increase in voter turnout, one would expect the data to show that the provinces where there was the greatest 'swing' in support towards Ahmadinejad would also be the provinces with the greatest increase in voter turnout. This is not the case.
* In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but up to 44% of former reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.
* In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas.
That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in provinces that are more rural flies in the face of these trends.
So whichever way you play it the election was STOLEN!
The complete paper can be downloaded from:http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/14234_iranelection0609.pdf
Tories... Modest as ever!
Oh dear, David (call me Dave) Cameron, presses his front bench to give up as many of their extra-Parliamentary activities and interests as possible, or at least to declare how much they get paid for them, just to show that the Tories are no longer the "Nasty Party".
They're not all posh nobs you know. Yes, some of them have the moats of their second homes cleaned at the public's expense. Yes, some of them spent £1,645 on a floating duck house in their garden pond. Yes, half the front-bench went to private schools.
Yes, some of them had jolly japes up at Oxford, a few were members of the Bullingdon Club (think Bertie Wooster, but without the wit, charm, likeability, and certainly not Jeeves).
But apart from that, honest, they're just like you and me.
Along comes the MP for Windsor, or at least his chief of staff, who fires off an e-mail to a magazine for having the temerity to paint his boss as some sort of a pauper, according to the Independent.
"Would you mind taking on board one correction?" wrote Russell Walters. "You say he is worth £13m but this is a significant understatement. Earlier this decade he sold one company... of which his share was £13m, but... his actual worth is somewhere between £50m and £100m".
I'm glad that's cleared up then.
Ah, plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
They're not all posh nobs you know. Yes, some of them have the moats of their second homes cleaned at the public's expense. Yes, some of them spent £1,645 on a floating duck house in their garden pond. Yes, half the front-bench went to private schools.
Yes, some of them had jolly japes up at Oxford, a few were members of the Bullingdon Club (think Bertie Wooster, but without the wit, charm, likeability, and certainly not Jeeves).
But apart from that, honest, they're just like you and me.
Along comes the MP for Windsor, or at least his chief of staff, who fires off an e-mail to a magazine for having the temerity to paint his boss as some sort of a pauper, according to the Independent.
"Would you mind taking on board one correction?" wrote Russell Walters. "You say he is worth £13m but this is a significant understatement. Earlier this decade he sold one company... of which his share was £13m, but... his actual worth is somewhere between £50m and £100m".
I'm glad that's cleared up then.
Ah, plus ça change, plus c'est pareil.
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Disgusting news from Belfast
How tragic to see the hunted faces of the 100 Romanians being chased out of their homes in Belfast, by gangs of hooligans.
What was doubly horrible was that it was obvious that these people were Roma and so visibly dark-skinned.
You would have thought that this level of racist xenophobia would be nigh on impossible in a place that is coming out of its own long nightmarish period of "The Troubles".
The positive thing we can take is that nearly everyone else has come out in support of the Roma, the main political parties, the churches, and ordinary decent folk.
There is no room for this sort of thuggery in today's society.
What was doubly horrible was that it was obvious that these people were Roma and so visibly dark-skinned.
You would have thought that this level of racist xenophobia would be nigh on impossible in a place that is coming out of its own long nightmarish period of "The Troubles".
The positive thing we can take is that nearly everyone else has come out in support of the Roma, the main political parties, the churches, and ordinary decent folk.
There is no room for this sort of thuggery in today's society.
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